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"It’s a glassy July morning out in the lineup off of the 70th Street jetty in Rockaway Beach, New York. The extreme weather catalyzed by a gathering “super El Niño”—gales, flash floods, even a couple of tornadoes—has brought portents of what’s to come for disaster planners, but a rare window of decent surf for Northeastern surfers. This is one of the anomalies of surfing: There are often opportunities in unrest. Which is why I’m up at dawn navigating an hour commute by subway, surfboard in tow, hoping to catch a few waves before the workday begins.

"El Niño is a naturally occurring phenomenon related to the warming of seas in the equatorial Pacific, which in turn increases global temperatures, alters weather patterns, raises sea levels, and disrupts marine ecosystems. While the phenomenon originates on the West Coast and historically plagues the Pacific, this year in particular, it has been threatening to turn New York City tropical—accelerating a warming trajectory that has been long underway. I try to forget about this as the A train barrels away from the steamy metropolis towards plein air, the Manhattan skyline faintly visible under a thin layer of smog.

"This morning in the water, everyone is scoring rides. But that’s not always the case. More often than not, the Rockaway surf forecast reads generous, and the conditions turn out to be subpar. And far from what one might have in mind of surfing—something like a longboard dancing its way across the open face of a peeling point break—most days at Rockaway you’re lucky to catch a split-second of sweet, up-and-riding suspense before the wave closes out. I often wonder if the ends justify the means, and I know I’m not alone. But my day will be better because I’ve gotten in the water. I’m not alone in this, either."

"Parable of the Surfer," by Anabel Gullo. Photos courtesy of Em Joseph. Video by Paige Meyer-Draffen. Read more at the link in bio.

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Even without holding public office, Beto O`Rourke`s mobilization efforts played a lasting role in driving the Blue Wave.

Back in December 2025, Piper Guinn covered Beto O`Rourke`s continued fight for democracy in every part of Texas. Now, we see the longevity of the good fight.

Read Piper Guinn`s "The Progressive Pugilist; Beto O`Rourke is still fighting the good fight." Photos courtesy of Mario Cantu and Powered by People. Video by Paige Meyer-Draffen.

Read more at the link in bio.

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A golden canyon, a wild river, and a tiny pool of tadpoles high above the Deschutes. In “Beautiful Illusions,” Haley Campbell reflects on shifting baseline syndrome: the way we accept the environment we first encounter as “normal,” even when it has already been altered.

On the lower Deschutes, beauty and change exist side by side. Salmonflies hatch, ospreys dive, and bats fill the dusk sky, while dams, water management, climate pressure, and competing human needs continue to shape the river. The tadpoles offer a powerful lesson: nature can adapt, but not every ecosystem can keep up with sudden change.

By Haley Campbell. Photos by Haley Campbell. Video by Paige Meyer-Draffen. Read more at the link in bio.

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"[Tom] Ross, hiking partner Loren Miles, and I are perched on a 9,900-foot ridge near the geographic center of the Gallatin Range. The range’s summits are covered in October snow, its drainages in Engelmann spruce. The mountains rise from our vantage point, snaking around the basin and blocking our view of Bozeman, the 59,000-person city 50 miles north. Behind us is a wooden signpost letting us know that we’ve left Yellowstone National Park and entered one of the most contested parcels of public land in the country, the Hyalite-Porcupine-Buffalo Horn Wilderness Study Area.

Ross and Miles are both in their seventies, lifelong adventurers and self-described “capital ‘W’ wilderness guys.” Miles wears a full white beard and a pack sewn with patches; Ross has a clean-shaven face and atop his head is a beanie emblazoned with the logo of Wild Montana, the nonprofit they both volunteer with. The pair have led me here to convince me of their organization’s vision for the landscape in front of us. At times, they seem to be talking themselves into it as well.

Areas designated as wilderness by Congress are protected by the nation’s strictest environmental law. They have no commerce—no mining, no drilling, no logging, no agriculture—and limited recreation: no cars, ATVs, snowmobiles, or even bicycles. Unlike most national parks, they have no roads and no permanent structures. Activists speak of them with religious zeal. Many scientists call them the gold standard in preservation. Congress, however, has largely stopped designating them."

“When is a Mountain Range a Wilderness?” By Matthew Morris. Photos by Matthew Morris and U.S. National Park Service. Video by Paige Meyer-Draffen.

Read more at the link in bio.

🌍 NEW ARTICLE 🌍

"[Tom] Ross, hiking partner Loren Miles, and I are perched on a 9,900-foot ridge near the geographic center of the Gallatin Range. The range’s summits are covered in October snow, its drainages in Engelman spruce. The mountains rise from our vantage point, snaking around the basin and blocking our view of Bozeman, the 59,000-person city 50 miles north. Behind us is a wooden signpost letting us know that we’ve left Yellowstone National Park and entered one of the most contested parcels of public land in the country, the Hyalite-Porcupine-Buffalo Horn Wilderness Study Area.

Ross and Miles are both in their seventies, lifelong adventurers and self-described “capital ‘W’ wilderness guys.” Miles wears a full white beard and a pack sewn with patches; Ross has a clean-shaven face and atop his head is a beanie emblazoned with the logo of Wild Montana, the nonprofit they both volunteer with. The pair have led me here to convince me of their organization’s vision for the landscape in front of us. At times, they seem to be talking themselves into it as well.

Areas designated as wilderness by Congress are protected by the nation’s strictest environmental law. They have no commerce—no mining, no drilling, no logging, no agriculture—and limited recreation: no cars, ATVs, snowmobiles, or even bicycles. Unlike most national parks, they have no roads and no permanent structures. Activists speak of them with religious zeal. Many scientists call them the gold standard in preservation. Congress, however, has largely stopped designating them."

“When is a Mountain Range a Wilderness?” By Matthew Morris. Photos by Matthew Morris and U.S. National Park Service. Video by Paige Meyer-Draffen.

Read more at the link in bio.

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"The storm was headed for Tehachapi and Sherry Mandell was desperate to get her grain in. It was the first week of September 2026 and the winds that blow constantly across this high-mountain basin, about a hundred miles north of Los Angeles, lifted a sweet odor of sun-toasted cereals and straw and earth from her super-ripe fields. She was losing about five percent a week as the grain dropped from the stalks at the end of a hot summer, and now Hurricane Maria was boiling up the coast of Mexico, promising rain and high winds. It was too much.

`I was so stressed,` Mandell sighed. `But this is farming.`"

“A Tasty Revolution: Can Sherry Mandell and the Tehachapi Grain Project grow the future of farming?” By Dean Kuipers. Photos by Kevin Zacher. Video by Paige Meyer-Draffen.

Read more at the link in bio.

#grainful #tehachapigrainproject #regenerativeagriculture #farmtotable

🌍 NEW ARTICLE 🌍

"The storm was headed for Tehachapi and Sherry Mandell was desperate to get her grain in. It was the first week of September 2026 and the winds that blow constantly across this high-mountain basin, about a hundred miles north of Los Angeles, lifted a sweet odor of sun-toasted cereals and straw and earth from her super-ripe fields. She was losing about five percent a week as the grain dropped from the stalks at the end of a hot summer, and now Hurricane Maria was boiling up the coast of Mexico, promising rain and high winds. It was too much.

`I was so stressed,` Mandell sighed. `But this is farming.`"

“A Tasty Revolution: Can Sherry Mandell and the Tehachapi Grain Project grow the future of farming?” By Dean Kuipers. Photos by Kevin Zacher. Video by Paige Meyer-Draffen.

Read more at the link in bio.

#grainful #tehachapigrainproject #regenerativeagriculture #farmtotable

🌍 NEW ARTICLE 🌍

"Step off the cracked, sun-bleached sidewalks of Albuquerque, off the dark, black parking lots radiating heat like lasers and walk into the Bosque, a forest that borders the Rio Grande River as it courses through the heart of the city.

Something shifts here. There is a micro-climate in the Bosque, along these banks, that does not exist anywhere else in New Mexico. It’s more humid, though not exactly the kind that poofs up hair and makes you sweat. But here in the arid high desert, where the air pulls moisture out of you before you’ve noticed it’s gone, the cottonwood corridor along the river feels like a different world. Alive in a way the rest of the landscape isn’t."

Read "What the River Carries" by Isabella Cabral in Red Canary Magazine. Photos courtesy Isabella Cabral. Video by Paige Meyer-Draffen. Link in bio

#RioGrande #NewMexico #Bosque #WaterQuality #EnvironmentalJournalism #ClimateReporting #Albuquerque #Conservation #CleanWater #RedCanaryMagazine

🌍 NEW ARTICLE 🌍

"Step off the cracked, sun-bleached sidewalks of Albuquerque, off the dark, black parking lots radiating heat like lasers and walk into the Bosque, a forest that borders the Rio Grande River as it courses through the heart of the city.

Something shifts here. There is a micro-climate in the Bosque, along these banks, that does not exist anywhere else in New Mexico. It’s more humid, though not exactly the kind that poofs up hair and makes you sweat. But here in the arid high desert, where the air pulls moisture out of you before you’ve noticed it’s gone, the cottonwood corridor along the river feels like a different world. Alive in a way the rest of the landscape isn’t."

Read "What the River Carries" by Isabella Cabral in Red Canary Magazine. Photos courtesy Isabella Cabral. Video by Paige Meyer-Draffen. Link in bio

#RioGrande #NewMexico #Bosque #WaterQuality #EnvironmentalJournalism #ClimateReporting #Albuquerque #Conservation #CleanWater #RedCanaryMagazine

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Paige Meyer-Draffen interviews Piper Guinn on her story “The Great Texas Water Crisis.” Photos by Piper Guinn. Produced in conjunction with the Austin Free Press.

After years of drought and rapid growth, Corpus Christi faced a severe water shortage this year.

In “The Great Texas Water Crisis,” Piper Guinn examines what happened in Corpus Christi—and how Austin and other Texas cities are preparing for growing water challenges.

Read more at the link in bio.

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"A survey of residents of Pine Island and nearby townships found that more than 75 percent opposed the construction of a data center. That finding mirrors those reported elsewhere; a recent poll of Minnesotans found 63 percent of respondents were against a data center being built in their community. Nationally, a Gallup survey found seven in 10 Americans oppose constructing data centers for artificial intelligence in their area."

“To Hyperscale or Not to Hyperscale: Can data centers win over Minnesotans?” By Marianne Combs. Photos courtesy Google and Chad Davis. Video by Paige Meyer-Draffen.

Read more at the link in bio.

🌍 NEW ARTICLE 🌍

After years of drought and rapid growth, Corpus Christi faced a severe water shortage this year.

In “The Great Texas Water Crisis,” Piper Guinn examines what happened in Corpus Christi—and how Austin and other Texas cities are preparing for growing water challenges.

Read more at the link in bio.

“The Great Texas Water Crisis” by Piper Guinn. Photos by Piper Guinn. Video by Paige Meyer-Draffen. Produced in conjunction with the Austin Free Press.

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"Wolf No. 003F was a problem. In the fall of 2018, the female eastern timber wolf apparently didn’t think much of her new home at Michigan’s Isle Royale National Park. By winter, she had disappeared.”

"Wolf 003F was an adult, four years old and weighing 70 pounds, on the small side for her kind. She probably had bred a litter of pups by now. Wolf 003F and several more had been trapped on the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Reservation as part of a National Park Service (NPS) project to move them to Isle Royale, 13 miles off the Minnesota shore. One wolf, a female, reacted badly to anesthesia in the transport and died; ultimately, three females and a male were released on the main island in September and October 2018. Wolf 003F, collared and tagged, with a distinctive black mantle on her brown coat, was one of the October arrivals.”

“Uneasy Peace: The future remains uncertain after decades-long attempts to manage wolves and moose on Isle Royale.” By Mark Neuzil.

Photos by Benjamin Olson, U.S. National Park Service, and Sarah Hoy, courtesy of the Isle Royale Wolf-Moose Project at Michigan Tech University.

Video by Paige Meyer-Draffen.

Background Music by Joe Donnelly.

Read more at the link in bio.

#IsleRoyale #Wolves #Moose #WolfConservation #WildlifeConservation #Ecology #Biodiversity #Rewilding #NationalParks #LakeSuperior #ConservationScience #WildlifeManagement #GreatLakes #RedCanaryMagazine #BenjaminOlson #MarkNeuzil #IsleRoyaleWolfMooseProjectMichiganTechUniversity