E. Davidson

Ran into this baby barred owl on a seldom used trail in the redwood forest yesterday. She was standing on the ground. Must have frozen in fear because she was so still that for fifteen minutes she didn't move at all, not even to blink or perceptibly breathe. I began to think it was a hoax and she must be a stuffed owl left on the trail! But then I tipt...

Twice I told David Milarch, founder of Archangel Ancient Tree Archive, an organization cloning champion trees and planting them in Living Tree Libraries all around the world, that I would love to go up in the canopy someday. When I spoke those fateful words, I was watching climbers ascend to take cuttings of the sun needles at the top of the trees, sin...

     There is an abundance of wild life living in the redwoods of northern California: bear, otters, herons, eagles, fox, bobcats, mountain lions, deer, frogs, salmon, and osprey. Normally, I find it exciting to see wild animals, although I've been scared a few times encountering mountain lions.

     Still, the herds of elk are usually no prob...

     My nickname in High School was Elf Ellie because I've always loved to play in wilderness. But I never imagined the perfect job title for an Elf would appear until I joined Tree Sisters, a UK charity devoted to reforesting the tropics, and discovered that they had positions for Grove Tenders. Of course, the pay is in the currency elves lo...

     Clare Dubois, founder of Tree Sisters, is currently in Ecuador doing ceremony with the Kogi elders. The Kogi elders are an indigenous people from Colombia who see themselves as "Elder Brothers". They have been working to keep the energy of the Earth in balance. After centuries of seclusion, they came out in a BBC film in 1992,...

Tree Sisters is a UK charity planting millions of trees, with the goal of a billion a year. Forests, which sequester carbon, can have a real impact to slow climate change. In countries including Kenya, Brazil, Madagascar, and Nepal, Tree Sisters employs people, especially women, to plant trees, which increases clean water, habitat for endangered specie...

Walk in the forest. Feel the wind caress your cheeks. See the light slanting through branches. Smell the fresh, oxygenated air. Hear the shhsh shhsh of fronds rustling in the breeze. Allow your attention to drop out of your head and into your senses. From your own sensual nature, listen to the tree as one wild being to another. Sense her slowness and p...

 In 2010, my husband, Steve, traveled to Colombia to visit the sustainable community of Gaviotas and to ask for founder Professor Lugari's blessing for my picture book telling their story. Although my book isn't out yet, Gaviotas is such a potent example of why we should continue to do our best and not give up hope, no matter how challenging our times,...