The U.S. EPA recognized seven communities with its 2012 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement. Specific initiatives include improving transportation choices, developing green, energy-efficient buildings and communities, and providing community members with access to job training, health and wellness education, and other services.
Recent Posts
Wilderness of Minarets: On the Coyote Trail of Muir and Adams
I am on the trail of John Muir, intending to walk into the wild high country, his “range of light,” inspired by the vision of Ansel Adams who once said: “Life is your art. An open, aware heart is your camera. A oneness with your world is your film. Your bright eyes and easy smile is your museum.”
Urban Ecology: Promoting Life in the Concrete Jungle
In the growing field of urban ecology, scientists study cities as if they were ecosystems. With cities launching efforts to slash carbon emissions, reduce water use and improve habitats, scientists are beginning to evaluate how such policies affect the overall health of the urban environment.
Who Bombed Earth First! Organizer Judi Bari?
Oscar-entry documentary chronicles the unsolved mystery of the car bombing of Old-Growth Forests Activists and their later arrest by the FBI for their own injuries. The film also illustrates the Redwood Summer movement to save the Headwaters Forest of Northern California and Judi Bari’s victorious 1st Amendment lawsuit.
Maximón: The Underground Great Grandfather of Western Guatemala
Maximón is a folk saint of the Maya of Guatemala, associated with pre-Columbian earth lords who provide money or economic opportunity to client-petitioners. He is an opener of the way, a bringer of rain and symbolizes male sexual power.
Turkey Day: The Seldom Answered Question of Self-Determination
For that first Thanksgiving in 1621, Governor William Bradford sent “four men fowling” to provide for the feast for which a few dozen pilgrims and some hundred Native Americans would gather. For some reason, consumption of wild turkeys became customary on the day of thanks for North America.
Howler Monkeys Among the Maya: Divine Patrons to the Artisans
John Lloyd Stephens, who documented important Maya sites in Central America in 1839, described howler monkeys found at the ruins of Copán as “grave and solemn, almost emotionally wounded, as if officiating as the guardians of consecrated ground.” Today, in sites such as Tikal, they remain standing guard over the ruins, sharing space with hundreds of tourists.


