Cookin’ With Sun
Sierra Magazine
November/December 2008

Mike and Martha Port sell solar cookers to outdoor enthusiasts in the United States–and use the profits to subsidize sales of the ovens in developing countries.

Also check out the online-only audio interview with Solar Oven Society volunteer and recipe-maker Bill Potts.

Crop Prices Cut into Conservation
by Katherine Glover
The Environment Report

With grain prices hitting record highs, a lot of farmers are removing land from the federal Conservation Reserve Program, which pays landowners to idle land for conservation. The US Department of Agriculture, which runs the program, says the CRP is still in good shape, but some conservationists disagree.

Iraqi Translators in Danger
by Katherine Glover
Worldview, Chicago Public Radio

An interview with my friend Mohammed, who went back to Iraq after Hussein fell only to learn that things were more dangerous than ever.

“It’s kind of like you know when you watch an action movie,” he said, “but it’s sad movie.”

The story was originally produced through the Gateway “Immigration Here and There” Project at the Medill School of Journalism and also appeared on Windy Citizen (formerly Chicago Methods Reporter) as “Back to Baghdad: An Iraqi collaborator tells his story.”

States Ready for Wolf Delisting?
by Katherine Glover and Carey Biron
Great Lakes Radio Consortium
(now The Environment Report)

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants to remove the eastern population of the gray wolf from the Endangered Species List and turn over wolf management to state control. But not everyone thinks the states are up for it.

A Legal Victory for ‘Rails to Trails’
by Katherine Glover
Great Lakes Radio Consortium
(now The Environment Report)

Private landowners say their rights are being trampled on by hikers when the state implements “Rails to Trails” programs. The landowners claim the property should be theirs now that the railroad is finished with the right-of-way. One state recently won the court’s approval to keep its trail intact, including pieces that cross through private property. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Katherine Glover reports.

GPS Treasure Hunting in Public Parks
by Katherine Glover
Great Lakes Radio Consortium
(now The Environment Report)

I go Geocaching with a guy from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources – just as the department is in the process of figuring out geocaching guidelines and lifting its ban.