Articles

Land purchase halts controversial mine near the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

The Conservation Fund purchase eliminates the largest threat to the refuge in decades

by Chris Hunt - Friday, Jun 20th, 2025

Photo: Chris Hunt.

A controversial heavy sands mining project proposed on the southern fringes of the Okefenokee National Wildlife refuge will not be developed, thanks to a $60 million land purchase agreement between The Conservation Fund and the Alabama-based mining company, Twin Pines Minerals. The purchase was finalized Friday.

The new fly shop

Same as the old fly shop?

by Todd Tanner - Thursday, Jun 19th, 2025

Photo: Christa McCabe.

Pat McCabe just opened a fly shop.

Sorry, that’s not quite right. Pat, along with his brother Pete and his brother-in-law Chuck — not to mention their families — just took the massive financial gamble to open a new fly shop.

Which got me thinking about fly shops in general, and Pat’s shop in particular … and which left me with a few questions.

Cooper's year

Spring, summer, winter and fall — the author and his guide friend celebrate the New England wild

by Ted Williams - Friday, Jun 13th, 2025

Photo: Richard James (cc 2.0).

My friend Cooper carries neither gun nor rod. He is perfectly content to guide me. There is no better upland bird hunting guide in New England. That’s not just my opinion. Everyone who has hunted with Cooper says so.

In the grouse and woodcock woods I often disappoint him, and he lets me know it — but only with dirty looks.

The shore lunch that almost wasn't

Anglers from far-flung places congregate around spruce-wood fire and await delectable morsels of perfectly fried, fresh-from-the-lake fish

by Chris Hunt - Thursday, Jun 12th, 2025

Photo: Earl Harper.

It’s an old trope — a cautionary tale for every would-be travelling angler. The weather may never be as good as the day before you arrive or as bad as the day you climb into your waders for a 40-minute run across a boreal lake in search of pike. There’s likely some math behind this Murphy’s Law of fly fishing, but it escapes this English major’s limited numerical capacity.

Jaws turns 50: Has the iconic film played a role in the dramatic decline in shark populations?

Sharks have experienced the worst declines in their 450-million-year history, what's driving it?

by Dr. David Shiffman - Tuesday, Jun 10th, 2025

Image credit: Universal Studios.

Steven Spielberg’s iconic film Jaws first hit theaters on June 20, 1975 — 50 years ago this month. Based on the bestselling novel by Peter Benchley about a great white shark mauling and killing summer tourists at a Massachusetts beach community, the movie terrified viewers, many of whom blame it for a subsequent lifelong fear of sharks.