Our Neighborhood Blackline/Blueline Firebreak
May 10, 2018 6:00 pm Leave your thoughtsBoth suburban and rural neighborhoods have their advantages and disadvantages for coping with wildfire. Suburban hydrants are close together with... Read More →
Author Archives for Lon Drake
About Lon Drake
This old guy's favorite large-scale conservation projects include integrating soils, water, plants, and animals, especially native species. I still bike through my South Sycamore stormwater management system from 2001.
Have You Come For Me?
May 3, 2018 6:00 pm 3 CommentsTo native people around the world, wild animals have served many roles beyond the utilitarian. Across cultures different species are... Read More →
Call in Your Burn
April 26, 2018 6:00 pm 2 CommentsLast Friday evening, Jason Taylor and I were wrapping up the burn on my little home prairie, when the sheriff... Read More →
Fueling Wildlife and Us
April 19, 2018 6:00 pm Leave your thoughtsPlants are the master chemists, and the bottom line for all terrestrial ecosystems is their ability to convert water and... Read More →
Perceiving Geologic Time
April 12, 2018 6:00 pm 4 CommentsI’ve been teaching at the University for fifty years now and have grown accustomed to folks having difficulty with geologic... Read More →
Deer Metabolism and Deer Vulnerability
April 5, 2018 6:00 pm 2 CommentsOur March 24 snowstorm left a thin icy crust and a few inches of snow on the ground. On the... Read More →
Audubon’s Mammals: A Different Review
March 29, 2018 6:00 pm Leave your thoughtsOn January 4th I posted a blog about how after JJ Audubon had successfully completed his famous bird folio, he... Read More →
Pulling the Plug on Lake Calvin
March 22, 2018 6:00 pm 7 CommentsOn the south side of Iowa City there are some very extensive flat lands that run along both sides of... Read More →
Spark Arrestors: Useful Fire Safety Devices
March 15, 2018 6:00 pm Leave your thoughtsLast year, following the disastrous Gatlinburg, Tennessee wildfires, I offered a blog about upgrading your neighborhood fire safety, with an... Read More →
The False Morel, a Dangerous Mushroom
March 8, 2018 8:25 pm 5 CommentsHunting for morel mushrooms is a favorite back-to-nature recreation for many Iowans, with bragging rights for the person who finds... Read More →
