Parents everywhere will be checking their local forecasts the days leading up to Halloween, trying to get an idea for how to pack before heading out with their kids to trick-or-treat. 国产吃瓜黑料 gathered some insight from weather experts on how to prepare, depending on where in the country you live.

If you’re in the East: I’d be wise to bring a poncho and umbrella along, as heavy rain is on its way.

Weather will be “a trick for the East,” AccuWeather lead long-range expert Paul Pastelok said, with temperatures dropping into the thirties and twenties in some Eastern states on Halloween night. He also shared that Southeast and parts of Florida will be “noticeably cooler” and outdoor events could get soaked across New England, but conditions should dry out towards the end of the night.

If you’re in the West: Halloween weather will be a treat, with warm and dry conditions.

Though the weather in most of the western side of the country is expected to be pleasant, “some bulky costumes and inflatable decorations could be blown around by gusty Santa Ana winds in Southern California,” Pastelok shared.

The Best Weather on October 31

Trick-or-treating conditions will be best in the following areas, meteorologists say, where the weather is expected to be dry, clear, and warm.

• Frankenstein, Missouri
• Casper, Wyoming
• Tombstone, Arizona
• Doomsday, Alabama
• Death Valley, California

Halloween Weekend Weather

The West may luck out on Halloween, but a long train of storms will affect the coastal Northwest soon after. Rounds of rain and wind are expected to arrive in Washington and Oregon on Saturday, and snow is possible in the higher elevations of the Cascades.

Weather experts say showers are expected to be especially relentless in parts of the Northeast and Florida. And cooler temperatures will move through northern Florida, parts of the Southeast, the mid-Atlantic, and the Midwest.

On the flip side, warm air will move into the Southwest this weekend, pushing up through the Rockies from California and into the northern Plains going into Sunday.

The post What the Halloween Forecast Looks Like Across the U.S. appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

We park deep in the backwoods of Nelson County, Virginia, on the shoulder of a one-lane gravel road. My wife and I dip around a locked metal gate and follow the grassy service route up a steep hillside lined with towering tulip poplars and white oaks. There鈥檚 no one else in this corner of Lesesne State Forest. Only the sounds of our muffled footsteps, the chitter of songbirds, and the breathy cool of an early-autumn breeze in the treetops break the silence.

The road eventually crests the hill and, after a long flat stretch, we鈥檙e treated to half-mile views of lazy, cotton ball clouds drifting over 4,000-ish-foot peaks in the George Washington National Forest鈥檚 Three Ridges Wilderness Area. With a little bushwhacking, we could easily hop on the Appalachian Trail (AT) or the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Distracted by the eye candy, I slip on what feels like a squishy ball of turf and nearly roll an ankle. I start to curse, but my anger morphs to glee as I spot a pair of spiny, fist-sized chestnut burs buried in the shin-deep grass.

A quick scan of the 50-plus-foot canopy confirms that we鈥檝e found what we鈥檝e come for: A dappling of brownish, green-yellow burs cling to the high limbs of some of the rarest hardwoods on the planet. They signify a major step in a nearly century-old effort to overcome a pernicious blight that effectively drove what used to be one of America鈥檚 most important trees into extinction.

We crunch into the dense forest to find one- and two-foot-wide trunks surrounded by broad patches of understory scattered with the husks of old burs and this year鈥檚 ongoing masting. We spend the next hour or so scouring the ground, heeling open the urchinlike orbs and filling a small grocery bag with dark, leathery nuts. For me, the experience is moving鈥攍ike a glimmer of wild hope amid a conservation landscape dominated by the looming catastrophes to come of climate change.

While the hiking in Lesesne State Forest is limited to gated roads like the one we鈥檙e on, it鈥檚 a worthy place for a stroll. In the 1970s, the Virginia Department of Forestry planted an orchard of American chestnut trees here, and it remains the largest and oldest experimental planting of the species in the U.S., according to Cassie Stark, regional science coordinator for . In addition to the orchard, 422-acre Lesesne holds about 30 acres of natural, second-growth woods anchored by American chestnut trees. Some are upward of 60 years old and produce famously delicious wild nuts that few living people beyond foresters, researchers, and volunteers have ever tasted.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not something that we advertise,鈥� says Stark, but backpackers can now explore groves of healthy, effectively wild American chestnut trees across numerous eastern states and forage for nuts for the first time in about a century. The effort behind them, says Stark, 鈥渋s one of the most epic conservation stories ever told.鈥�

Apocalyptic Blight and The Death Of America鈥檚 Tree

The rewilded orchards at Lesesne might seem commonplace to an uninformed trekker. But if you know their backstory and telling characteristics, feels like a real-life miracle.

鈥淲hen the European colonists got here, American chestnut trees were a dominant species throughout most of the eastern piedmont and Appalachian Mountain range,鈥欌�� says veteran forester and TACF board member, John Scrivani, 72. Their trunks could grow to be 10 feet wide and stretch upward of 105 feet into the canopy; limbs spanned an equally wide footprint. The trees could live for three or more centuries and covered an estimated 300,000 square miles of land from Maine to Mississippi.

鈥淭his was the tree of early America,鈥� writes author Susan Freinkel in her book, American Chestnut: The Life, Death, and Rebirth of a Perfect Tree. Carpenters prized their strong, straight-grained, and decay-resistant wood. Farmers praised their ability to feed and produce world-class livestock. Sportsmen revered them as a primary food source for wildlife. Gourmands celebrated their dry fruit as the world鈥檚 tastiest variety of chestnut.

鈥淚t鈥檚 impossible to understate the importance of American chestnuts for the developing U.S.,鈥� Freinkel continues. It came to be known as 鈥渁 perfect tree and had a value and versatility unmatched by any other hardwood.鈥�

Then came a virulent, invasive fungus from East Asia called . Better known as chestnut blight, it was accidentally introduced in New York by way of imported Japanese varieties in the late 19th century and spread like wildfire through eastern forests.

鈥淭he fungus enters a tree through a wound in the bark, spreads laterally around stems and limbs, destroying the vascular system and killing growth above the point of infection,鈥� says Scrivani. 鈥淭he tree eventually dies back to the ground and, while new sprouts often emerge, they rarely grow large enough to flower. Reproduction and natural evolution halt.鈥�

By 1941, the blight had eradicated 3.5 billion American chestnut trees, rendering the species functionally extinct.

鈥淭his is one of the most extreme recorded changes in a natural plant population caused by an introduced organism in history,鈥� says West Virginia University emeritus professor of plant pathology and former TACF president, William MacDonald. Had it been avoided, backpackers on the AT, for instance, would experience a drastically different landscape and be able to roast foraged nuts on their campfires throughout the fall.

Restoration and a Hail Mary Return

While most 1940s biologists forecasted permanent doom for the American chestnut, some clung to a wily optimism.

鈥淭here was tremendous nostalgia around these trees,鈥� says retired West Virginia University professor of plant pathology, Mark Double, who鈥檚 studied American chestnuts with organizations like the TACF and the U.S. Department of Agriculture since the mid-1970s. He recounts the story of a pair of Greatest Generation brothers from Ohio, for instance, who remembered 鈥済athering nuts from a huge tree in their yard to sell at a train station so they could afford new shoes for the winter.鈥�

Similar stories abounded throughout the eastern mountain regions, so interest in restoring the iconic tree rose during the post-war 1950s. A loose cadre of agronomists, foresters, biologists, university researchers, and interested citizens began to take shape. Some studied the blight fungus and looked for clues to how it could be stopped. Others scoured forests for nuts and surviving trees, or gleaned clippings from sapling sprouts that they grafted onto Chinese rootstock for study.

A breakthrough came when an amateur botanist named Robert Dunstan used clippings to cross-breed an anomalous, surviving American chestnut tree from Ohio with a blight-immune Chinese cousin. The result was a hybrid that survived fungal inoculation and bore nuts around 1962. Dunstan presented his findings to fellow members of the Northern Nut Growers Association and his namesake chestnut went on to become a favorite of commercial U.S. orchardists.

The work also caught the attention of conservationists. It and advances like the 1975 discovery of an Italian hypovirus that attacked certain strains of blight helped inspire the formation of the American Chestnut Foundation in 1983. The organization would serve as a central force for disseminating information and furthering research aimed at restoring American chestnuts to the wild. The primary driver of that mission was an ambitious, multigenerational back-cross breeding program that would be to prior efforts what Apollo 11 was to the Wright Brothers.

鈥淭he idea was to back-cross the hybrids with wild stock, 100 percent American parents through seven generations and produce trees that were genetically identical to American chestnuts, but had enough blight resistance to survive in the wild,鈥� says Scrivani, who鈥檚 spent about four decades spearheading related efforts and research at groundbreaking sites like the one at Lesesne State Forest. New generations were inoculated with the fungus at maturity, 鈥渢hen monitored so that we could pick the ones that showed the highest blight resistance for further breeding.鈥�

The work is painstakingly slow: Each generation takes three to five years to reach maturity, survive inoculation, and bear nuts. But dedication and dogged persistence have brought about 700 large-scale plantings across 2,000 acres of public and private land in the eastern U.S. to date. The majority are managed, monoculture research or nursery orchards aimed at producing increasingly blight-resistant trees through a variety of methods. Some鈥攍ike a Maryland-based program that used high radiation in hopes of triggering favorable genetic mutations鈥攆ailed spectacularly. Others, like the rewilded planting at Lesesne, sought to test newly honed resistance in the wild and see how trees competed with dominant native species like oak and hickory. Hikers can trek through dozens of the sites at any time. Visits to most others can be arranged by emailing the catch-all address for the individual TACF state chapters.

鈥淲hat they鈥檝e achieved at sites [like Lesesne] is really quite spectacular,鈥� says Double. It took decades of breeding to produce trees with enough blight resistance to survive in a controlled forest setting鈥攁nd even then, more than half died. Careful early management of competitors, though, enabled survivors to establish themselves in the canopy and eventually thrive without further intervention.

鈥淭hese stands are now self-reproducing, and you can find occasional seedlings in the understory,鈥� says Scrivani. When you walk through the forest, you鈥檙e experiencing a natural landscape that countless people have helped resuscitate from the brink of extinction.

Breakthroughs and Next Steps

Scrivani, Double, and Stark agree that the possibility of restoration en masse is still a century or more away. But they鈥檙e quick to add that it鈥檚 no longer a question of if, but of when and across how many acres of land.

On one hand, 鈥渢he breeding program has made tremendous advancements over the past 40 years,鈥� says Scrivani. 鈥淲e鈥檙e now only working with trees that exceed minimum requirements for both disease resistance and a high proportion of American ancestry,鈥� and the results improve with each generation.

The progeny of these select trees are now being used to anchor new plantings on public or public-adjacent lands from Alabama to Maine. Half of them will probably die, says Scrivani, but the others could go on to parent groves like the one at Lesesne. Slow, steady growth, coupled with additive peripheral plantings, would drive natural expansion.

Scrivani acknowledges that there have been setbacks鈥攎ost notably a genetically modified, blight-resistant tree called Darling 58, created by researchers at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in 2012, which showed immense early promise before failing miserably in field plantings. But a slew of other promising advancements reinforce his optimism. Double has been studying the fungus-killing Italian virus for decades and believes it and similar variants can play a vital role in finally beating the blight.

鈥淲e鈥檝e shown that we can safely inoculate trees with the virus and dramatically increase their chances of survival,鈥� says Double. However, USDA regulations forbid the purposeful release of the virus into the wild. Furthermore, it only attacks certain strains of blight.

Double acknowledges the hurdles, but believes they鈥檙e manageable. Ongoing discussions with the USDA are making progress and a genetically modified form of the virus that can attack all varieties of chestnut blight is currently under development. It could eventually be applied to blight-inoculated trees in orchards that are then replanted into the wild.

Scrivani likes to envision a future around the year 2130 where hikers on beloved routes like the AT, Benton MacKaye, and the Long Trail pass through groves of monstrous American chestnut trees and the smell of roasting nuts mixes with campfire smoke in the autumn air. In the meantime, trekkers can visit locations like Lesesne for a taste of what鈥檚 to come.

鈥淚鈥檝e dedicated much of my career working with many others to the goal of making that a possibility for future generations and feel confident that it will happen,鈥� says Scrivani. 鈥淚t brings me joy to think that my great-great-great grandchildren could get to experience something like that.鈥�

Take a Hike Amongst Chestnut Trees

Want to experience an American chestnut grove for yourself? Like Lesesne State Forest in Virginia, these walks carry you through a few of the nation鈥檚 best and most beautiful. Foraging is allowed, but it鈥檚 important to be sparing and practice good stewardship.

Sleeping Giant State Park, Hamden, Connecticut

Early chestnut crusader and Brooklyn Botanic Garden curator, Arthur Graves, began planting chestnuts on his family鈥檚 Hamden farm around 1930. He hoped to establish blight resistance in American trees through crossbreeding and compiled a collection that now includes every species of chestnut and its closely related chinkapin worldwide. Graves eventually donated his land to the park and neighboring Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. Visit the latter鈥檚 to see his incredible collection, then pursue the 5.1-mile through and an 8-plus-acre plot of rewilded American and hybrid chestnut trees upward of 75 feet tall.

Sugarloaf Mountain Park, Dickerson, Maryland

Explore a fascinating piece of history about 28 miles west of the AT crossing at Harpers Ferry at this 3,400-acre National Natural Landmark. About 15 miles of hiking trails loop around the park鈥檚 namesake 1,282-foot peak and pass through a number of experimental American chestnut orchards. and holds big, gnarly trees grown from 100 percent American irradiated nuts grafted onto Chinese rootstock.

Johns Creek Mountain, Pembroke, Virginia

Find a 4-acre grove of American chestnuts competing in a competitive forest environment in the George Washington and Thomas Jefferson National Forest near the famed Mountain Lake Lodge, where 鈥淒irty Dancing鈥� was filmed. Around 1,200 trees with what was then considered very high blight resistance were planted in a clear-cutting on the slopes of the 3,700-foot ridge. About half succumbed to the fungus, but the 14-year-old survivors are thriving and producing nuts. They鈥檙e located down a 2-mile-long, gated forest road, so contact the Virginia TACF chapter to arrange a visit.

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An unprecedented spike in moose-vehicle collisions has occurred along a single one-mile stretch of highway outside Jackson, Wyoming, roughly five miles from Grand Teton National Park. Six separate incidents have been reported in the past five months, an uptick from the usual three or four collisions annually reported in years past.

The moose mating, or 鈥渞utting,鈥� season usually runs from the end of August to mid-October, a period that naturally leads to more moose encounters as the animals are more active, aggressive, and less cautious.

This abnormal crash rate was reported by and .

Over the past ten years, between three and four moose-vehicle collisions have been reported annually along Highway 390, the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation (JHWF) said in a . The six crashes in a single one-mile stretch so far in 2025鈥攁ll but one of which have been fatal to the moose, are 鈥渢otally unprecedented,鈥� Renee Seidle, JHWF executive director, told . Four of these collisions even ccurred at the same intersection.

鈥淔or me in my tenure that I鈥檝e been here, I鈥檝e not seen anything like this at that one spot on the Village Road,鈥� Seidler said.

A 2022 report found that between 2016 and 2020, an average of 69 moose per year were struck by cars in Wyoming, and 鈥渁n average of 21 big-game animals are killed by vehicles per day.鈥� Recently seem to be having an impact in some stretches of the highway, but Seidler counters 鈥渄ense development and access roads on WY390 make it challenging to create effective mitigation solutions鈥� in the area.

Speed is often a factor in moose-vehicle collisions. However, in the two most recent incidents, which involved public buses instead, highway patrol determined that the bus operators were driving under the speed limit and were not at fault.

“The operator goes through a lot, I鈥檒l tell you,鈥� Mike Toronto, executive director of Wyoming鈥檚 Southern Teton Area Rapid Transit, told Jackson Hole News and Guide. 鈥淭he operator in the last accident broke down sobbing because of it. Part of it is the shock, part is the fact that he knows he killed an animal, not intentionally.”

It鈥檚 unclear if buses or cars are more likely to hit animals crossing. Buses are larger, less capable of swerving, and take longer to brake, but bus drivers are also far more likely to drive cautiously and avoid speeding, said Toronto.

Buses also house far more passengers, which means fewer听cars on the road. The bus in the latest incident was carrying four passengers, so 鈥渋f we weren鈥檛 running buses, we could have had four additional vehicles on the road,鈥� Toronto explained. 鈥淲ith more moving vehicles, there鈥檚 a higher probability of hitting an animal.鈥�

According to Seidler, the early fall is the worst time for animal-vehicle collisions in Wyoming for several reasons. Animals at this time are moving for migration, and they鈥檙e distracted by breeding and hunting season. The upcoming end of Daylight Saving Time on November 2 means commuters will begin driving to and from work an hour later, and it will be darker during evening commutes. (Both of the bus-moose collisions occurred in the dark, one at dawn, another at dusk.) Studies have also found a link between animal-vehicle collisions and the end of daylight saving time. For instance, in 2022, researchers determined that collisions with deer the week following the autumnal clock change.

JHWF shared a list of tips to help drivers avoid moose and other large animals, which includes avoiding the use of a cell phone while driving and maintaining the posted speed limit. After an animal crosses the road, keep your eyes peeled for others who are likely to be following. Drivers should keep an eye out for signs of wildlife habitat, such as 鈥渃reeks, streams and other waterways passing under or along the road,鈥� because animals will often attempt to cross at these locations.

If you do spot wildlife near the road, even if it isn鈥檛 attempting to cross, JHWF recommends reducing speed and flashing your hazard lights to warn drivers behind you, in case the animal darts across the road and you need to brake suddenly.

The post An Abnormal Number of Moose Have Been Struck By Cars Near Grand Teton National Park. Experts Are Miffed. appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

In a violent Arctic game of tug-of-war, several polar bears in northern Canada had to fend off an overly eager鈥攁nd outnumbered鈥攂lack bear vying for a meal.听And the entire ordeal was captured on video.

Photographer filmed the brawl while at sea aboard the luxury expedition voyage. The cruise was sailing through the Torngat Mountains National Park and Nachvak Fjord in northern Labrador, Canada, located on the northeastern tip of North America.

Shedwick described听the moment as 鈥渟omething out of a Renaissance painting.鈥�

鈥淎s a photographer, you panic, are my settings dialed in? Am I in position? And once you know you are, instinct takes over and you simply marvel at the drama,鈥� Shedwick told听国产吃瓜黑料 via email.

Several of the so-called “sea bears”鈥攚hat appear to be a sow and her cubs鈥攁re shown in the video as they feed on a carcass. At first, another adult polar bear tries to get in on the prize before being attacked by the original bears. Then, a black bear creeps in through the brush and begins tugging, pulling, and sinking its two-inch teeth into the carcass.

The attempted thievery prompts an angry response from one of the polar bears. With blood dripping down its white fur in dramatic form, the enormous polar bear ultimately succeeds in brushing off the black bear.

The winner should come as no surprise. Black bears top out around 600 pounds, and听an adult polar bear weighs听up to three times that.

鈥淓ncounters like this remind us why we explore,” Robin West, Searbourn vice president of expedition operations and planning, told 国产吃瓜黑料. “In the remote wilderness of the Torngat Mountains, few people on Earth have witnessed such a rare interaction between a polar bear and a black bear. Our expeditions are designed to bring guests closer to these moments, always with deep respect for the wildlife and the environments that make them possible.”

Polar bears living along the coast of Labrador primarily feed on seals and, as such, are most often found on sea ice. They visit land for only short periods, but can be forced ashore for several months or more when sea ice is unavailable. Though the exact number of individual bears in this region is unknown, the Government and Newfoundland and Labrador there may be several hundred alive. Canada鈥檚 estimates that there are around 15,000 polar bears across the Arctic nation.

Parks Canada the subarctic Torngat Mountains as having 鈥渁 saw-tooth skyline of jagged peaks and glacier-carved fjords plunges towards iceberg-dotted indigo waters as polar bears and caribou roam amid some of Earth鈥檚 oldest rocks.鈥� We’d add it’s also the proverbial Madison Square Garden of polar bear versus black bear prize fights to that description.

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President Trump just took a significant step toward opening a roadless stretch of Alaskan wilderness to mining. In an announced Monday, October 6, the president approved the Ambler Road Project, a proposed 211-mile industrial access road to allow mining of minerals, including copper, cobalt, and gold.

The new road will run through the second-largest protected area in the National Park Service (NPS) system. Extending west from Dalton Highway, a 414-mile road system that runs north of Fairbanks to Deadhorse on the Arctic Ocean coast, the road will culminate in Alaska鈥檚 remote Ambler Mining District. Most of this ecosystem has remained virtually unchanged by human contact.

鈥淭his is no ordinary road鈥攊t鈥檚 an industrial corridor through intact forests and Alaskan landscapes long enough to connect Washington, D.C. to Philadelphia. Moreover, it would divide the migration route of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd, causing irreversible damage,鈥� said Athan Manuel, director of the Sierra Club’s Lands Protection Program, in a .

Gates of the Arctic is one of eight official national parks in Alaska,听encompassing more than 8.5 million acres, making it the second largest in the U.S. after the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, also in Alaska. There are no roads into the park, so visitors must fly in a small aircraft often equipped with floats or tundra tires. Because there are no trails into the park, river crossings are also necessary for those hoping to hike in, according to the .

Caribou in the Gates of the Arctic undergo one of the largest migrations in Alaska through the Central Brooks Range to the north slope every summer, and south in the winter. For Alaskans who live a subsistence lifestyle, the National Park Service says 鈥渃aribou are a lifeline.鈥�

鈥淭hey are a main subsistence food source for Native residents in Arctic Alaska. Many of these subsistence users identify themselves as “caribou people,” revealing just how deeply rooted caribou are in the history, traditions, and psyche of the people in this region,鈥� NPS on its website.

, the White House said the road will enable access to previously mined minerals and spur the economy of the Last Frontier state. In addition to approving the project, the Whtie House also made the federal government a ten percent shareholder of Trilogy Metals, the mining company. Alaskan Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski have the reopening of the project.

The gravel road and mining project was approved in Trump鈥檚 first term in 2020, but was put on hold after conservation groups sued the administration, citing environmental concerns. The Biden administration later blocked the project after an analysis found future development would threaten caribou, other wildlife, and Alaska Native groups that rely on subsistence hunting and fishing.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will next be required to conduct environmental analysis and review. Because the permit was previously denied, the BLM will also need to provide a different interpretation of the proposal for approval.

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At least 63 grizzly bears have died in the greater Yellowstone Ecosystem this year, according to preliminary numbers published by researchers in the area. That鈥檚 up from 56 at this same time last year, and on track to surpass the previous annual record of more than 70.

More than half of the deaths in 2025 were human-caused.

In 2024, 74 known or probable grizzly bear deaths were recorded, up from 68 in 2021 and 69 in 2018, according to published by the U.S. Geological Survey. By October 1 of last year, there were 57 reported grizzly bear deaths, putting this year鈥檚 provisional number already ahead of last year’s fall count.

Chris Servheen, the former national grizzly bear recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, told 国产吃瓜黑料 that it鈥檚 unclear why there were more deaths in 2025 than in years past.

鈥淭here may be a few more bears, but mortality numbers can vary from year to year,” Servheen said. “The long-term numbers are what are important, so year-to-year increases indicate ongoing levels of mortality rather than an unusually bad year. Most grizzly deaths are due to humans every year.”

Since 2015, the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team (IGBST) has been responsible for tracking grizzly bear mortalities in the . This region encompasses areas of Wyoming, Montana, and a small portion of Idaho鈥攊ncluding all of Yellowstone National Park, portions of Grand Teton National Park, and several national forests.

Whether it’s a case of mistaken identity by hunters, vehicular strike, or in response to livestock depredation, about 85 percent of all documented bear mortalities are human-caused, according to the IGBST. Tracking human-caused bear deaths helps researchers identify patterns and trends that may aid in reducing future bear deaths.

国产吃瓜黑料 combed through the data and found that of the 63 known grizzly deaths in 2025, 45 involved humans. Causes of another 10 deaths were still under investigation.

The figures come ahead of the opening of rifle hunting season in parts of the Rocky Mountains, a time when people in the woods are more likely to come into contact with a bear, and this worries Servheen.

Over the last decade, hunters killed more than a dozen grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone area after mistaking them for black bears, reported . Hunting is illegal in all national parks. Even so, mistakes and accidents happen鈥攁nd at times, grizzly deaths aren鈥檛 even recorded.

鈥淭here are always unknown unreported mortalities in addition to the known and probable mortalities,鈥� said Servheen, adding that IGBST data is limited to the minimum number of grizzly deaths.

Mortality data adds to an ongoing national debate over whether grizzlies should be removed from the Endangered Species List. At their peak, there were an in the Lower 48, but the species was hunted nearly to extinction. Grizzly bears were listed under the agreement in 1975 at a time when there were in the contiguous U.S. Aside from Alaska, today, there are , most of which are concentrated in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem.

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English zoologist and primatologist Jane Goodall has died at the age of 91. Challenging the boundaries of societal and emotional animal capabilities, Goodall is credited with changing our perception of how chimpanzees love, live, and interact with one another in the wild.

Goodall died on October 1 in California of natural causes, wrote the Jane Goodall Institute. Her death marks the culmination of a lifetime of activism.

鈥淭he Jane Goodall Institute has learned this morning, Wednesday, October 1, 2025, that D. Jane Goodall DBE, UN Messenger of Peace and Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, has passed away due to natural causes. She was in California as part of her speaking tour in the United States,鈥� a shared to her official Facebook page read.

鈥淒r. Goodall鈥檚 discoveries as an ethologist revolutionized science, and she was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world.鈥�

An advocate for volunteerism, Goodall also had an impact on those who love the outdoors and the wild world. Here is what the outside community had to say about her death.

Beth Pratt, director of the National Wildlife Federation, on X that her life’s work was inspired by Goodall’s from an early age.

“I think I’d like to be remembered as someone who helped people to have a little humility and realize that we are part of the animal kingdom not separated by it.” Jane Goodall

鈥淚t actually doesn鈥檛 take much to be considered a difficult woman. That鈥檚 why there are so many of us.鈥濃��

鈥� Beth Pratt (@bethpratt)

In a post to X, the United Nations that the agency mourns her loss.

Today, the UN family mourns the loss of Dr. Jane Goodall.

The scientist, conservationist and UN Messenger of Peace worked tirelessly for our planet and all its inhabitants, leaving an extraordinary legacy for humanity and nature.

鈥� United Nations (@UN)

Goodall often said that her . We wish her well in her quest.

翱耻迟蝉颈诲别听will continue to update this article with more reactions to Goodall’s death.

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Many outdoorsy folks will happily slog for hours toward outdoor fun, despite the fact that any number of adventure derailing smackdowns await us. Gear malfunctions, crummy weather, and bloodied limbs don鈥檛 stop us from heading into the unknown. No one puts this optimistic persistence to better use than lifelong surfer and CEO of the Surfrider Foundation, Chad Nelsen. Chad grew up in smog-choked Laguna Beach in the 1970s, when pipes spilled raw sewage into the ocean regularly. He was inspired to pursue environmental science and a PhD combining his love of surfing with sustainability, thus dedicating his life to protecting and preserving the world鈥檚 oceans, waves, and beaches. Despite bureaucracy, apathy, and disengagement, Chad pursues environmentalism like a surfer paddling into pounding beach break, confident that the wave of his life is just outside the shore pound.

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Chuck Norris may be in his golden years, but he isn鈥檛 over the hill just yet. In fact, he鈥檚 on top of it.

The famed听American star of Walker, Texas Ranger and Delta Force fame, celebrated his 85th birthday in classic form鈥攂y climbing California’s Lassen Peak, a summit of 10,457 feet.

“What a day! I had the pleasure of hiking Lassen Peak once again. While it was heartbreaking to see the damage left behind by the 2021 Dixie Fire, the park鈥檚 beauty still shines through. Walking those trails brought back so many wonderful memories,鈥� Norris wrote on . 鈥淢y wife grew up around these parts, and I鈥檒l always be grateful she introduced me to such magnificent sights.鈥�

 

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Located in northern California, Lassen is the southernmost active volcano in the Cascade Range. It most recently erupted multiple times between 1914 and 1917, which led to the establishment of the surrounding Lassen National Park. Along with听Mount听Saint Helens, Lassen is the only volcano in the continental U.S. that has erupted during the 20th century.

Although it is only 10,400 feet high, Lassen is actually one of the most extensive lava, or plug, dome volcanoes on the planet. Dome volcanoes are formed from very slow, gradual eruptions of highly viscous, thick lava. Unlike other forms of volcanoes, where lava flows freely and quickly away from the vent, a dome volcano鈥檚 thick lava moves so slowly that it piles up and solidifies over and around its vent. This gives the resulting summit a distinctive 鈥渕ound-shaped鈥� appearance.

The National Park Service to Lassen鈥檚 summit 鈥渟trenuous鈥� and estimates that the trail takes four to five hours round-trip. It covers five miles and features approximately 2,000 feet of vertical gain, with hazards including lingering snow cover, sun exposure, altitude, and unpredictable weather.

All in all, no small feat for a guy halfway through his ninth decade. Then again, it鈥檚 Chuck Norris we鈥檙e talking about鈥�

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The battle of the chonk is back, and Alaska’s Fat Bear Week is officially in full swing.

Hundreds of thousands of fish have returned to the salmon runs of Alaska鈥檚 Katmai National Park and Preserve to spawn, and with them, the fat bears. For weeks now, the region鈥檚 brown bears have been gorging on salmon in the Brooks River, packing on the pounds as they compete for the title of fattest bear鈥攁n honor that comes with social media fame.

Fat Bear Week, a March Madness-style contest that pits a dozen of the state鈥檚 beloved brown bears against one another in single-elimination brackets, is now in its eleventh year. Over that time, it has grown from a cheeky one-day event created by a former park ranger to a global sensation, with thousands of people from around the world monitoring the live camera streams beaming out the bears from the Brooks River and Brook Falls.

More than one million people voted in last year鈥檚 contest for the bear they thought had succeeded in putting on the most weight鈥攇enerally a best guess from before and after images since there is no final weigh-in. This year鈥檚 ursine champion will be crowned on September 30.

Salmon numbers along the Brooks River are especially high this year, organizers say, surpassing anything seen in recent memory. With the bears already displaying an impressive heft, the National Park Service and decided to kick things off a few weeks ahead of the contest鈥檚 usual October timing.

Although around 100 bears arrive at Brooks River every year to fatten up, only 11 are featured in the 2025 Fat Bear Week. A few fan favorites have already returned to the limelight, including 2023 and 2024 winner Grazer鈥攖he first mother bear to ever win the contest who is now raising her third litter.

Last year鈥檚 1,200-pound runner-up, Chunk, is also back. He turned up to the river in June with a broken jaw, suggesting he had been injured in a fight with another bear. That might make him less competitive this year, but so far, park staff say he has adjusted his behavior to avoid other large males, and learned to eat salmon without the full use of his mandible.

Notably absent is Otis,听a four-time winner famous for his fishing strategy of patiently sitting on the shore of the Brooks River to scoop up fish, rather than hunting in the water. But Otis is鈥攐r was鈥攏earing the age of 30, the end of a bear鈥檚 lifespan in the wild. He also failed to turn up to Brooks River last year, causing rangers to speculate he may have already passed.

Still, there are plenty of chubby newcomers in the mix this year, ranging from young males to single females battling for the bulge.

Vying for the honor of being named the chonkiest bear is about much more than stardom for these bruins. Fat means survival. And in this arena, Katmai鈥檚 bears are better at bulking up than almost anyone else.

Why Bears Feast Every Fall

When the bears arrive at Alaska鈥檚 salmon springs in early August, they are entering a physiological state known by scientists as 鈥攁 frenzied period of gathering food and gorging before the long, cold winter arrives. Scarfing down as many calories as possible allows the bears to survive hibernation when they won鈥檛 eat for months.

Many species like to load up on calories when food is plentiful in the late summer and early fall. It鈥檚 what drives squirrels to collect nuts and urban black bears to rummage through garbage with increased vigor.

鈥淪ome animals store food as food, like squirrels and chipmunks and pikas. But others store it as fat. And that鈥檚 what bears are specialized to do,鈥� says bear biologist , who has spent more than 40 years studying grizzlies in British Columbia. “They鈥檝e got to make hay when the sun shines. A bear can store a season of abundant food in fat.鈥�

In Alaska, though, everything is ramped up a notch.

鈥淏ears on salmon streams have that enormous pulse of energy and protein that indeed allows them to max out their intake and fat storage capability,鈥� says , director of research at Washington State University鈥檚 Bear Center, who studies the nutritional requirements of bears.

While Kodiak brown bears and polar bears are larger than Katmai鈥檚 brown bears, bear in the park听gain the most weight proportionally in a concentrated period of time. During the peak of the salmon runs, a single bear will eat between 10 and 40 salmon per day, or about 112 pounds of salmon, explains Robbins. That would be equivalent to a human consuming around 30 pounds of salmon every day.

An adult male bear can therefore easily go from around 700 pounds at the start of the fishing season to toppling more than 1,200 pounds.

Part of the appeal of Fat Bear Week is that its contestants are roughly on equal footing. There are no men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 finals to split up the bruins. Male bears are nearly twice the size of females, but both can rapidly balloon up from their individual starting weights.

Over the past decade, three winners have been female鈥擥razer, Beadnose,听and Holly鈥攁nd two have been male鈥擮tis and 747.

鈥淎ll brown bears try to max out their intake and weight gain in the fall,鈥� says Robbins. 鈥淭his is driven evolutionarily by the fact that the largest males do most of the breeding, and the fattest females have the highest probability of producing surviving cubs.鈥�

Still, some female bears can hit the glass ceiling of Alaska鈥檚 salmon streams, missing out on the best fishing positions. Past research has found that females with cubs due to the risk of an aggressive male bear killing her young. In turn, those females tend to be significantly lighter and have a harder time in winter.

鈥淭he big dominant males hog the best sites,鈥� says McLellan. 鈥淪ometimes you鈥檙e watching them and you get mad at these guys because they are so fat, and catching so many fish, and the moms with cubs are having a hard time getting enough.鈥�

During Hibernation, Bears Lose Up To 40 Percent of Their Body Weight

Following the blubber blowout, Alaska鈥檚 fat bears will retreat from the spotlight to their winter dens, tucked into hillsides or under hollowed-out trees of Katmai. Here, they鈥檒l enter a deep, sleep-like state that runs from around late October to April.

During hibernation, bears lose an enormous amount of body weight. The bear鈥檚 heart rate drops. Its metabolic rate slows. It takes just one breath every minute. The bear does not eat, drink or defecate during this time. To sustain itself, the animal burns off stored fat. Its body recycles urea and other nitrogenous wastes into proteins to stave off muscle loss. By the end of hibernation, the bruin will have lost nearly a third of its body weight, without sacrificing muscle or bone density鈥攁 feat not possible in most other species.

Expectant females will wake around January or February to give birth in the den, caring for the cubs until they emerge later in spring for the green-up. Female bears experience a unique reproductive phenomenon known as “delayed implantation.” After mating, the fertilized embryo remains dormant and will only implant on the female鈥檚 uterine wall once she has accumulated enough body fat, about 20 percent, to get her and the pregnancy through hibernation and the cub-rearing stage.

If she doesn鈥檛 gain enough weight, her body reabsorbs the embryo. This allows for natural crowd control during bad food years.

鈥淔atter females produce cubs earlier and they produce either more milk or better quality milk,鈥� says Robbins. 鈥淭he combination of these two things means that cubs born to fatter females have longer to grow in the den before they emerge, they grow faster, and therefore they are larger when they come out of the den and are better able to stay with their mother.鈥�

Coming out of the den bigger and fatter than other bears also makes spring foraging easier, says McLellan, because the bears can stick closer to home.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 often the time when males kill cubs,鈥� he says. 鈥淚f females can stay in a remote basin and not eat much through May and June, then her cubs will do well. But if she鈥檚 skinny and she has to go down where the food is best, then she takes the risk that others might kill her cubs.鈥�

Can’t get enough of fat bears? An听excellent way to pick your bear for each day of the bracket is to try to figure out which one speaks to you the most鈥攖he real you, if you were a bear lucky enough to live in the salmon-rich waters of Katmai. We鈥檝e made that process easier by building a quiz to help you determine your match.

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