Conservation

The long-legged, brightly colored orb weavers are growing more common across the South. Here’s what to do—and what not to do—when you cross paths with one.

A wealth of captivating literary adventures drives a pair of new books on the life and legacies of Jim Harrison and Peter Matthiessen

Generations apart, a shared devotion rises

After a multi-decade restoration effort, the charismatic herbivores roam Kentucky, Tennessee, and the Virginias—and fall is the best time to spot them

Binoculars up! These destinations celebrate the best in birdwatching when temps (finally) dip

A banner year for hatchlings, thanks in large part to an unlikely ally

An unlikely coalition helps the striking raptors soar again

The Port Royal Cypress Wetlands and Rookery is a stunning ecological success story

Safeguarding Helene-threatened salamanders, cultivating gulf oysters, boosting mallard habitat, and spreading native grasslands—the work of this year’s under-the-radar Southern eco-heroes is more important than ever

Venus flytraps are native to a tiny corner of the globe: the Coastal Plain of the Carolinas. As development threatens, one town—spurred on by one tireless botanist—has taken up the shovel to save the world’s most fascinating plant.

A kayaking guide at South Carolina’s Murrells Inlet enjoyed a rare sighting of a harbor seal—and has the photos to prove it

Reclaimed wood, native landscaping, and local art shine on fifty acres that will soon house a county park

Flutter to any of these spots to see the universally adored insect in its element

One Atlanta artist turns to foraged materials to honor and conserve the natural world

The tiny flattened musk turtle lives within a single watershed in Alabama, and biologists are racing to study it before it’s too late

A mystical stroll through a rare, endangered mountain ecosystem brings one writer an afternoon of visual splendor

An age-old question answered…plus everything else you never knew about the South’s most epic epiphyte

“When you visit these places, you’re experiencing a monumental step in the restoration of a historic landscape that had basically vanished from the earth”

In Key West’s backcountry, nature’s storm shelters offer calm waters and a wild world of discovery

“I treated it like I was rescuing a small child,” says Richard Miller, who sprang into action on Folly Beach, South Carolina, to save an injured raptor