Nature Highlights

Join Chris Swain for a thirteen-hundred mile swim down one of Americas greatest and most troubled rivers.

How will climate change affect desert environments and ecosystems? Find out from a variety of nature conservationists and ecologists.

In this program produced by Sharon Pieczenik, Erik Patel, a PhD Candidate at Cornell University, discusses his efforts to save silky sifaka lemurs in Madagascar. Ninety-eight percent of Madagascar's mammals, including the rare silky sifaka lemurs, exist nowhere else on Earth. Because of their white fur, and their amazing ability to fly through the forest, silky sifaka lemurs are called 'angels of the forest'. But silkies are one of the world's top 25 most endangered primates.

In this program produced by Sharon Pieczenik, Erik Patel, a PhD Candidate at Cornell University, discusses his efforts to save silky sifaka lemurs in Madagascar. Ninety-eight percent of Madagascar's mammals, including the rare silky sifaka lemurs, exist nowhere else on Earth. Because of their white fur, and their amazing ability to fly through the forest, silky sifaka lemurs are called 'angels of the forest'. But silkies are one of the world's top 25 most endangered primates.

In March 2009, a group of NOAA scientists and marine debris experts gathered on the shores the Potomac River to tackle a problem left ignored for the last 25 years. Abandoned during the construction of a local yacht club since the 1980's, a barge stuck in the mud poses potential environmental and navigational hazards. Yet, no one knows who left it, and no one has been able to remove it. NOAA and the Alice Ferguson Foundation have banded together to sort the problem out.

As a hybrid of natural history documentary, art film, and political commentary, this film explores the complexity of fire management and fire ecology of the Northern Rockies. Shot completely in Montana, this experimental documentary showcases extraordinary footage of black-backed woodpeckers, boreal toads, and other fire-dependent species, as well as behind-the-scenes footage of fire command camps.

The Chesapeake Bay hosts many fragile ecosystems. For year the agriculture industry has shouldered a majority of the blame for the deteriorating water quality that is destroying these precious habitats.

Oysters were once capable of filtering all the water in the Chesapeke Bay in two days. Now after centuries of Oyster harvesting the bay is no longer capable of cleaning itself. A new brand of oystermen is emerging to meet the needs of the bay while also satisfying customers who are hungry for Chesapeake oysters. These Oystermen have replaced antiquated dredging techniques with aquaculture, or oyster farming, and have discovered a sustainable way to harvest oysters.

The beach known as The Children's Pool in La Jolla, California, has been a point of pride in the town for 75 years. Today almost no one goes there to swim, not since a pod of 200 harbor seals took up residence on the sand. Should La Jolla return the beach to use by people or make it a seal preserve? This video takes a quirky look at this unusual controversy through the eyes of some of the people most intimately connected to it.

The beach known as The Children's Pool in La Jolla, California, has been a point of pride in the town for 75 years. Today almost no one goes there to swim, not since a pod of 200 harbor seals took up residence on the sand. Should La Jolla return the beach to the people or make it a seal preserve? This video takes a quirky look at this unusual controversy through the eyes of some of the people most intimately connected to it.

On The Wing is a new documentary which tells the story of Portland, Oregon's Chapman Swifts. Each fall these birds roost in the chimney of a Portland elementary school and put on an amazing nightly aerial display to the delight of hundreds and thousands of observers. The event has become a cult phenomenon over the past 15 years and is a shining example of people choosing to coexist with nature rather than smoking it out.

On The Wing is a new documentary which tells the story of Portland, Oregon's Chapman Swifts. Each fall these birds roost in the chimney of a Portland elementary school and put on an amazing nightly aerial display to the delight of hundreds and thousands of observers. The event has become a cult phenomenon over the past 15 years and is a shining example of people choosing to coexist with nature rather than smoking it out.