Sierra Magazine

2 weeks ago | sierraclub.org | Delaney Nolan

In Delacroix, Louisiana, it’s easy to see how the land disappears. Houses here are scattered across thin streaks of land, while in every direction, the marsh’s brackish water encroaches onto what was once solid earth. Across Plaquemines Parish, where Delacroix is located, areas that maps show as green land are in fact submerged. Over the last 90-odd years, Louisiana has lost land area the size of Delaware.

3 weeks ago | sierraclub.org | Ben Jealous

The smoke has already arrived. This past week, thick plumes from wildfires in Manitoba and Saskatchewan have drifted into the US, triggering air quality alerts across the Midwest. Cities like Milwaukee, Madison, and Chicago are experiencing hazy skies and dangerous air conditions, with the Air Quality Index reaching levels unhealthy for sensitive groups. Fire has always helped shape our forests, especially in the West.

3 weeks ago | sierraclub.org | Anne Readel

Last year on October 30—as fall was in full swing and most bees had vanished—Bob Plamann stepped into his front yard in Madison, Wisconsin, and noticed a bee in a cluster of borage flowers. The plants' delicate blue blossoms, still open late in the season, had attracted the visitor. Plamann pulled out his phone and snapped a few photos. When he showed them to his wife, Judy Cardin, she felt a surge of emotion. “I actually got tears in my eyes when I saw her,” Cardin told Sierra.

3 weeks ago | sierraclub.org | Anne Readel

Last year on October 30—as fall was in full swing and most bees had vanished—Bob Plamann stepped into his front yard in Madison, Wisconsin, and noticed a bee in a cluster of borage flowers. The plants' delicate blue blossoms, still open late in the season, had attracted the visitor. Plamann pulled out his phone and snapped a few photos. When he showed them to his wife, Judy Cardin, she felt a surge of emotion. “I actually got tears in my eyes when I saw her,” Cardin told Sierra.

3 weeks ago | sierraclub.org | Brandon Withrow |Matthew Tejada

The Ledges Trail is one of my favorite spots to hike at Cuyahoga Valley National Park. A view from the cliff top in the fall opens up to a sea of orange and red hues. Below it is a winding path following old rock formations. As an Ohioan, it’s hard to imagine the once-pollution-plagued land in the park as anything but the beautiful place it is now. At 33,000 acres, Cuyahoga Valley isn’t the largest national park, but it makes up for that in its triumphant origin story.