In this month’s feature “Why We Need Wild Places,” by Sheryl DeVore, we discuss why it’s more critical than ever that we invite nature back into our lives and landscapes. Strategies can include saving and rewilding natural settings in parks and prairies, fighting for open spaces in our neighborhoods, visiting national parks and other wild environments to cultivate love of nature in our children, and turning our lawns into natural landscapes by replacing invasive species with native ones and eschewing pesticides and herbicides.

In our Green Living column titled “Technology Meets Nature: Apps Bring Us Closer to Flora and Fauna,” by Sheryl DeVore, we find that Smartphones don’t have to be a mindless distraction; instead, with the aid of an app when out in nature, we can quickly identify mushrooms, bugs, birds, dragonflies, beetles, reptiles, wildflowers and other flora and fauna. Among the more than 6,000 available apps are many that allow a user to photograph and post a finding, to ask questions about what they’re seeing, to suggest an identity and to interact with scientists to share their findings, which can help in researching migratory patterns. Some cities hold nature challenges using the app iNaturalist in which beginning and advanced naturalists document urban flora and fauna for several days.

Also, be sure to view our April Inspiration column “Spring is a State of Mind,” by Marlaina Donato. This month we ponder why Spring is a time for fresh beginnings. As April puts on a new playlist of birdsong and our gardens remind us how to grow one inch at a time, we can make a point to wear that colorful shirt, begin the first chapter of a long overdue memoir or decide that we are deserving to fall madly in love. It’s the time of year to put fresh flowers on the desk, walk barefoot after the rain or simply try on a new perspective.

To conscious living,
Pamela Gallina, Publisher