Last week, the beleaguered grizzlies in the Cabinet Yaak ecosystem got a potentially lifesaving break from Federal District Court Judge Dana Christiansen. Christiansen ordered the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to reverse its 2014 decision to downgrade the population’s status under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), from one warranting a designation of “endangered” to the less imperiled rank of “threatened.” (link) This is the latest in a series of positive rulings over t

Photo by Charlie Craighead Two weeks ago, I was part of a celebration of Ted and Joan Major, founders of the Teton Science School (TSS), the much-lauded environmental education center in Jackson, Wyoming. I had served as the school’s Field Studies Director during 1984-1985, and for me, revisiting the school felt like coming home. At 97, Ted held forth amongst former students and fellow board members with stories of the school’s early days, when he and Joan (now 90), started t