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The Urban Wildlife Conservation Program is the best outdoor initiative you’ve never heard of. Let these fantastic photos be an introduction.

The mine responsible for turning the Animas River bright orange is far from the only one threatening to poison the country's rivers and streams

Photojournalist Max Whittaker takes you right to the fire line.

As people in Durango watched the Animas River turn a neon shade of orange last week, a pair of rafters took to the water to deliver a message

The winners of the The World at Night's annual photo contest. Whoa!

From the Sierra Club: The best way we have of maintaining recreation areas across the country is in danger of being cut off entirely.

Gone are the days of rangers in fire lookout towers. Now, mountain-top cameras are being used to spot smoke and flames.

Bushwhacking, pack rafts, and a historic float down one of the world's most beautiful wildernesses.

A cool concept that does fisheries good

And meet the man who’s made it his mission to keep it that way

The ultrarunner set a new record on the AT and found himself at the center of a debate about how we should use the wilderness

We asked a great white expert to explain the pro surfer’s terrifying encounter at Jeffreys Bay

The largest marine cleanup project in history is set to launch early next year. The goal: Get rid of half the plastic garbage currently in the oceans. It’s bold, it’s ambitious, and it’s popular with the media (although less so with scientists). But will it work?

New research shows that the bulk of the national park’s iconic plant are in jeopardy from exceptionally dry conditions

Photographer Josh Hydeman has made it his mission to illuminate America's caves and spark interest in what lies beneath.

Plus, 5 tips to avoid a close encounter

A proposal to protect the remaining wild animals from poachers by marketing fake horn instead of the real thing sounds promising. But conservationists worry it'll only make the problem worse.

With petroleum as his paint, English photographer Simon Norfolk took to Africa’s second highest peak, Mount Kenya, to outline the mountains’ vanishing Lewis Glacier.

Shark Week host Paul de Gelder lays out some techniques for finding your happy place around some of the planet’s oldest predators

Andy Casagrande saw his first shark on TV when he was a kid growing up in New York City, and it immediately captivated him.

Sleeping in the wilderness is great. Not so great: making camp and dealing with the inevitable missing stake. So we've got recommendations for tent-free wilderness digs on any budget.

By this summer, Long Island, New York, photographer Eric Meola will have logged more than 100 days and perhaps as many as 25,000 miles in the Great Plains over the past three years.

The country's Sandinista government has cut a deal with a reclusive Chinese businessman willing to spend $50 billion on a larger-than-life transport waterway. There are a few unanswered questions, starting with whether Nicaraguans really want it and how much priceless habitat would be wrecked. Traveling the proposed route by motorcycle, boat, and boots, the author hunts for answers.

The Nature Conservancy is experimenting with innovative strategies to beat back invasive weeds in one of the country’s biodiversity hotspots.

An overview of the weather and climate patterns contributing to the dry conditions

The untouched sections of forest, orca whales, salmon runs, and curling waves inspired Jeremy Koreski's latest project, This is Nowhere, a collection of photographs in which he reminds us that beauty exists in places we can’t easily see or access, and that it’s worth saving.

The famous rock climber put away the trad gear for a research project with UC Berkeley on the California coast in which he pulled samples from the 700-year-old trunk of a giant redwood

Chad Brown put down a gun and picked up a fly-fishing rod. The Navy veteran turned gear designer now wants kids and vets to heal each other on the great American waters that saved his life.

What happens when we start a fire and we can't contain it?

The wilderness cabin just got an eco-makeover

For World Oceans Day 2015, the tech giant is sharing 40 new 360-degree underwater panoramas

The best stories aren't just on paper anymore. Our (totally subjective) ranking assembles the millenium's 33 best new classics.

The oceans are in serious trouble, creating a tough question for consumers: Should I eat wild fish, farmed fish, or no fish at all? The author, a longtime student of marine environments, dove into an amazing new world of ethical harvesters, renegade farmers, and problem-solving scientists. The result: your guide to sustainably enjoying nature's finest source of protein.

Chad Copeland, a professional photographer whose work has appeared on National Geographic Creative and in adventure campaigns around the world, had doubts about the quality of smartphone photography.

The questions to ask, the apps to download, and the labels to seek out if you want to sustainably enjoy nature's finest source of protein

Wild fish? Farmed fish? No fish? This is no Dr. Seuss rip-off; it’s the increasingly confusing situation that seafood consumers are facing.

A new law may prevent people from gathering “data”—including snapping photographs—of the state’s natural environment.

This year’s film festival, which kicks off Friday in Telluride, is chock full of 100 films, ranging from feature length documentaries about climbing the world’s toughest mountains to short, art films. Here are the 10 you shouldn’t miss.

Volcanic activity in and around Patagonia could mean clogged streams and animal deaths, but experts say the region should bounce back quickly.

You’re deep into a long hike and the clouds start rolling in. This is how you interpret the signs—all on your own.

They get paid to climb mountains and raft whitewater. But guiding isn't all a dream—not with whiny clients, lousy tips, and the occasional colleague pranking you in a gorilla suit.

More than 100,000 have already left the city

Integrating drought coverage into the curriculum will not solve the West’s water crisis, but it may be the first step to getting people to finally evaluate their behavior.

Wildfire season is getting longer, scarier, and more dangerous. Here's what you need to know and how to prepare.

Patagonia is upping its own environmental ante with a $1 million investment in Beyond Surface Technologies, a Swiss company that’s pushing petrochemicals out of the gear closet

A must follow, @meg_haywoodsullivan has a killer eye that can transport you right into the square on your phone.

Can an asteroid-impact zone or the shores of a lava lake be beautiful? Absolutely.

A look inside the survival capsule Italian explorer Alex Bellini has commissioned to help him achieve an unprecedented feat: Spend a year on an iceberg as it melts into the Atlantic.

The National Park Service turns 100 in 2016, but this year is shaping up to be one of its most celebrated mile markers in recent memory.

You’ll recognize at least a few of the names on American Rivers’ annual Endangered Rivers list—but what will you do to ensure they remain pristine?

The upcoming picture book ‘The Boy Who Spoke to the Earth’ is a welcome counterweight to our kids’ plugged-in lives.

Chris Burkard is writing a children’s book for young explorers, complete with unreal illustrations inspired by some of his most famous shots

Having been primed to lead Greenpeace into the 21st century, the six-year executive director has suddenly opted to resign.

Don’t just throw money at the problem. Master layering—yes, even for summer!—and the outdoors will never be the same.

Shooting 50,000 images for a 12-image assignment, surviving sub-zero temperatures, and being willing to just wait (for months)—all in a day's work for Paul Nicklen.

The avalanche that effectively closed Everest last spring hasn't stopped crowds of climbers from flocking to Base Camp. These are the stories that will define another controversial season.

A fresh look at Wallace Stegner and Edward Abbey, plus this month's best novel-soundtrack combo

Five years after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, we wanted to know whether the Gulf had recovered—and how much remains to be done.

We asked an expert to watch the horror movie ‘Backcountry’ and break down the myths and realities of encountering one of the forest's most intimidating animals

Human-rights superhero Kumi Naidoo has a tough assignment: lead the organization into 21st-century relevance. But after a year that saw activists lionized (imprisoned in Putin's jails) and then vilified (unfurling a banner on Peru's ancient Nazca lines), can he save the day?

These adventure geniuses will make your next trip the one you never, ever forget.

Journalist Edward Struzik renders a barely recognizable far north—but it’s one worth getting to know.

Hanover, Pennsylvania

Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg will now attempt the first solar-powered, round-the-world flight in their high-tech, carbon-fiber, kind-of-cramped plane

We made our own list of what we love about winter, but it's always more fun to ask. Using the #�����ԹϺ���PerfectThings, our Instagram followers shared more than 1,700 snapshots of their favorite cold-weather comforts. As always, the response was overwhelming. Filled with deep snow, adult sodas, happy dogs, and countless adventures, here are 30 of our favorites. 

It's a long story involving snow gods, the director's next film, and big money for the ski town. Take a seat.

Our national parks are getting louder, and it's affecting both the wildlife and our health.

Good for the conscience, great for the surf

It's time for their doors to be shut once and for all

If you love sleeping under the sky, you should try it in the coziest way possible—within the snug confines of a plush outdoor bed.

Can the largest river restoration project in history serve as a template for other waterways across the country?

Give a bunch of guns and gold to hearty, tattooed Alaskans, and turn them loose.

Fungus farming may soon have its day in the sun

A cooler that does double duty as an air conditioner.

Forest-floor camping is for the birds.

Room for you and a few friends

Following a lengthy trial plagued by missing and mishandled evidence, judges have acquitted seven men charged with the murder of the environmental activist Jairo Mora Sandoval. But with protestors and government leaders incensed by the decision, the case is far from over.

Former reality-show skipper Chris Fischer has revolutionized shark science—with a daring system for catching the beasts alive and a radical new research-funding model. During an expedition off the coast of Chile that was interrupted by an undersea earthquake, our man wonders if this guy is the next Cousteau or a corporate-sponsored hype machine.

Surround your teens with furniture inspired by the 11-time world champ

This month, a bill was introduced that would limit presidential authority to protect the natural wonders of the U.S.—and it is far more likely to pass than its predecessors. Here's why that's a very bad idea.