October 23, 2025 The Honorable Doug Burgum Secretary Department of the Interior 1849 C Street, N.W. Washington D.C., 20240 Dear Secretary Burgum:

Previous director and assistant director of the National Park Service denounce the current Interior Secretary’s decision to keep the parks open during the government shutdown, asserting that the parks will not be protected under his watch. #opinion buff.ly/uLCEhKu

The Border Lands Conservation Act gives the Department of Homeland Security the power to waive myriad federal laws, including the Wilderness Act, under the pretense of border security, shares Public Domain. buff.ly/S4kysfY

@corporate.comcast.com it seems like you contributed to that demolition being done on the people's house. Guess I need to see who else I can get Internet service from.

Research, wildlife and conservation are in the crosshairs.

An invasive beetle is poised to destroy Oregon ash forests across the Pacific Northwest. As people prepare for the coming loss, Jaclyn Moyer explores the roles this tree plays in ecosystems and communities around the region.

Got a FluentPet intro kit and set up a button to say "Outside". I had to put it up on the table because Marlo had to go outside three times in a row and expected a cookie on each return. The second two times there is no way she actually peed. Flew out, flew in

Our amazing Veterinary Technicians are critical to our zoo veterinary practice—our residents are healthier and happier because of these dedicated professionals. Barb, Kimberly, Leah, Michelle, Caitlin, and Briana—thank you for all you do! #NationalVeterinarTechnicianWeek

The Cherokee Nation has teamed up with DreamWorks Animation and NBCUniversal to produce a Cherokee-language version of the animated film How to Train Your Dragon. The dubbed film began streaming exclusively on Peacock on October 1, marking a major step forward in the tribe’s language... Read More ⬇️

Congratulations to Nobel Prize winner Mary Brunkow, a UW alum whose research in Seattle has led to important developments in addressing autoimmune disease, complications from organ transplants, and cancer. Washingtonians are among the most innovative people in the world.

Profound, poignant, brutal and necessary to say. 🙏 This celebrated human woman is a hundredfold smarter than the collective GOP.

Share this or any other meme assigning responsibility to the GOP for being unwilling to allow Dem any input. Don't be fooled by the 90-day Clean Bill, it's just a stalling ploy by Johnson. Health Care shouldn't break the bank, but it's going to as it stands.

What a remarkable legacy and a testament to empathy, kindness and compassion. So many of us were inspired by Jane’s passion for wildlife conservation and her deep understanding of our interconnected world. Her impact is profound.

*WHEEZING* 🤣

Jane Goodall's work insisting, with evidence from her brilliant and tenacious fieldwork, that we were not so separate from animals, and they were much more like us than the Eurocentric theorists asserted, was so important.

I am so sad to hear about Jane Goodall. RIP to a woman who inspired me with her passion, her kindness, her sense of wonder, and her hope.

It is #remembermethursday As I do every day, I remember Cordelia who went to the bridge almost 2 years ago and who I adopted from Seattle Purebred Rescue. Then there is Marlo who I adopted from Seattle Humane when being dogless became unbearable.An

The Trump Administration is proposing to rescind a rule that has safeguarded some of our nation’s most ecologically and culturally important landscapes for decades.

With all the media companies going dark, it is a good thing I really enjoy reading books.

Women, submit to your husband? Why is this being dredged up today from some dismal past era? Marriage should be partnerships of equals; each brings their own strengths but no one should be subservient to the other. Old fashioned stupid. Sheesh.

When discussing how to handle the unhoused and mentally ill populations, Brian Kilmeade of Fox & Friends recommended to “just kill them” using “involuntary lethal injection.” This is how the Trump regime and its propagandists can normalize and bring about the mass murder of vulnerable populations.

Trying to clean out messages on an iPhone is one of the 9 levels of hell. One false move and you lose all your selections.

Aronia [chokeberry] berries are ripe according to Marlo who had grazed all the lower branches before I caught on. Fortunately she has not discovered the much tastier fuchsia fruit. #foraging #backyardhabitatA

Only someone who avoided the draft would want to rename the Department of Defense to the Department of War.

Having a Department of War seems incompatible with winning a Peace prize.

A 2001 policy restricts road construction on Forest Service land. What happens to at-risk species if it’s removed?

🍃🦓💩🌸 🐝 The smell of fall is in the air and so is the sweet aroma of Woodland Park Zoo’s coveted Zoo Doo! It goes fast, so now is the time for gardeners to place their bulk orders for the zoo’s poopular compost. Pickups will be available over three weekends this fall: zoo.org/zoodoo

bsky.app/profile/mjfr... The Useful Idiots in the Media Abetting Trump’s D.C. Takeover. Imagine if the president’s radical claims about reducing crime were actually scrutinized? newrepublic.com/post/199438/...

Pets are family. No one should be forced to decide between having a roof over their head & keeping their pet. I'm introducing a bipartisan bill to better support homeless shelters so that people don’t have to part ways with their pets.

Last time I was in CA a tornado went through my parent's yard. This time there is a fire nearby. Photo taken from the hill overlooking Pismo Beach yesterday.Brown

“Erasure doesn’t always come with wrecking balls. Sometimes it comes with QR codes.” Brian O’Neill on the Trump admin’s quiet effort to rewrite U.S. history, starting with our national parks.

Another Monday, another day when the news is all bad. But there is this. When I went out to put water in the bird bath a hummingbird came to say hi [or see if my ice blue shirt was a huge flower]. This is why, even in cities, we need to make sure there is room for nature. Our mental health needs it.

One of my favorite news sources also publishes poetry and beautiful prose as the west deserves.

@wck.org is up and running in Texas if you are looking for a way to help, that is a good immediate one.

This was enough for me to sob a little

I was just standing in my kitchen listening to Gillian Welsh sing This Land is Your Land - she's playing at the Woodland Park zoo - and thinking about how long I have been listening to that song and supporting all the work to protect our glorious lands for everyone.

They want to use AI for everything and can't even get a basic search correct. Most of the providers listed by Aetna for cataract surgery are optometrists. I know the we are all letting google trained people do our medical care now but an optometrist is not cutting into my eye.

Help us record firefly flashes! 👇🙏

Despite multiple threats to the Forest Service budget and staffing levels, researchers at the agency continue to try to prepare for the upcoming field season.

A boneheaded move by certified conspiracy theorist Robert Kennedy in firing as eminent a physician as Dr. Chu, makes you worry less about artificial intelligence and more about natural stupidity. RFK Jr. fires 'Washingtonian of the year' from CDC vaccine panel www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

@altyellonatpark.org @altnps.bsky.social @altmtrainier.com @alt-irs.altgov.info @alt-ssa.altgov.info @altdoi.altgov.info Let's see your sign ideas for No Kings Day! Hoping for positive, focused on action. Support independent media! Fight hate with compassion! Fund Democrats! Ideas?!

Interesting that @seattletimes-rss.bsky.social isn't covering Governor Ferguson's response to the situation in CA.

Reading a novel where a Polio outbreak plays a role in the plot is really different since the US HSS was taken over by the anti-science people.

I don't pay much attention to LinkedIn these days but whenever I check out what they are recommending it is mostly right-wing political stuff.

The closest I have come to watching reality TV is watching Bindi Irwin's tribute dance to her dad after the fact. Can we please say reality TV has now jumped the shark?

In honor of our friends up north in Canada, Continuum is showing on ROKU. I have been waiting to rewatch this excellent series for a while now. Seems particularly timely as well. 🇨🇦

Trying to delete a bunch of files from Google drive I didn't know it was saving and I feel like I am in the internet circa 1990's. Unfriendliest interface imaginable.

Apple stuff used to just work. Not anymore. I can't update my iPhone when connected to my mac anymore. The update button there but doesn't actually do anything. Also my phone used to connect to my 2016 Subaru but won't since some software update. So I am carrying CDs in the car again.

Blue Origin sent 2 women who are supposedly authors and journalists plus a songwriter into space and none could come up with anything as eloquent as William Shatner, the actor, did on return from his flight.