national park | The Filson Journal

National Forest Elemental Series: The Breath of a Nation

The very air we breathe stems from the trees and forests across the American continent. These are the “lungs” of our nation, giving life-sustaining oxygen to all of us. Our national forests have become reservoirs of clean, pristine air, enjoyed by those who come from near and far to escape the urban stench of carbon by-products and fossil fuels consumption. They remain a bulwark against air pollution, long recognized as an environmental necessity and resource that extends well beyond the beautiful vistas the forests offer to the eye.

National Forests Elemental Series: Water Across the Nation

In celebration of National Forest Week, part of our elemental series, we explore Water Across the Nation. Where water flows, life follows. Marking the passage of time, it etches and alters the very landscapes to which it belongs.

Rebisoning America’s West

As we bounce across the prairie, small groups of bison close to the dirt track watch us roll by, while two bands of elk stare at us from a distance. Meandering along in search of the two bison cows, Austin talks of seeing the landscape restored to its pre-nineteenth-century vigor.