2019 March/April

Get Sierra free in your mailbox or on your device with your Sierra Club membership

Current Issue: 2024 Winter

All Issues

Illustration of a bear with glasses reading a book.

Feature

Does a Bear Think in the Woods?

Turns out animal intelligence is not so different from our own

By Brandon Keim

February 26, 2019

Departments

Lizzie Carr sits on a paddleboard on a dock next to the River Trent, Nottingham, UK.

Do-Gooder

A Paddleboarder's Quest for Cleaner Water

Lizzie Carr goes the extra mile to get rid of plastic pollution

By Wendy Becktold

March 5, 2019

An insistence on the worth of every animal matters more than ever

Editor’s Desk

Animals Are Persons Too

An insistence on the worth of every animal matters more than ever

By Jason Mark

February 27, 2019

Illustration shows a split panel with sawed-off tree trunks (one has a new sprout growing). The bottom shows several hands putting ballots in a box.

From the Top

One Planet, One Vote

Protecting our democracy is how we save wild places

By Michael Brune

March 1, 2019

Jana Ganion, sustainability director for Blue Lake Rancheria, stands in front of a solar panel array.

Faces of Clean Energy

California Tribe's DIY Electric Grid

Rather than risk losing power in a wildfire, this tribe made a microgrid

March 3, 2019

Illustration shows a toddler in a crib with a backdrop of a snowy forest while a parent reads a book nearby.

Eyewitness

How to Raise Children in a Constantly Warming World

A parent considers the planet his daughter will inherit

By Matthew Black

March 7, 2019

The Pine Mountain State Scenic Trail traces a portion of a 125-mile fault block through one of the largest unbroken forests in Kentucky.

Field Trip

A Hiker Revels in an Appalachia Trail Without the Crowds

Pine Mountain is an ecological treasure in a region known for resource extraction

By Sean Patrick Hill

March 5, 2019

A jaguar bites the neck of a caiman on the bank of a river in Pantanal, Brazil.

Critic’s Notebook

Wildlife Contends With Climate Chaos on "Hostile Planet"

Inside the Bear Grylls–hosted nature show for the environmentally "woke"

By Katie O'Reilly

March 2, 2019

Before I was fully out, I felt the thud of a large cow head butting my behind.

Survive

How to Escape a Cattle Stampede

Good fences make good neighbors, especially when the neighbors are cows

By Elizabeth Rushe

March 4, 2019

Illustration of two Aboriginal men sitting on a log talking about the rise of sea levels at the end of the last ice age.

Up to Speed

All the Environmental News in Case You Missed It

Banning sunscreen, tuskless elephants, disappearing insects, and more

By Paul Rauber

February 27, 2019

Illustration of a woman hiking and snagging her coat on a tree branch

Material World

The Best Gear-Fix Products on the Market

Don't buy new stuff! Extend your old gear's life cycle!

By Megan Hill

March 1, 2019

Changemaker

Why Megan Rast Runs With Team Sierra

Get in shape, raise money for the Sierra Club, and feel good

By Wendy Becktold

March 7, 2019

Taste Test

The Safest, Most Sustainable Seafood to Eat

Here's what's most responsible to put on the table—for now

By Lela Nargi

March 4, 2019

Photo

A Close Encounter With a Grey Heron

Bence Mate takes photographs of unparalleled intimacy

March 3, 2019

The Absent Hand: Reimagining Our American Landscape by Suzannah Lessard (Counterpoint, 2019).

Books

From Suburbia to the Wild and Everything in Between

A writer searches for meaning in a shifting American landscape

By Jonathan Hahn

March 6, 2019

End of the Megafauna: The Fate of the World's Hugest, Fiercest, and Strangest Animals by Ross D E MacPhee, Peter SChouten, W.W. Norton

Books

What Sparked the Megafauna Extinctions?

Ross D.E. MacPhee's new book tries to answer an ancient puzzle

By Jason Mark

March 6, 2019

Ask Mr. Green

Is "Organic" Dry Cleaning Really Organic?

Many businesses still need to clean up their act

By Bob Schildgen

March 2, 2019

Ask Mr. Green

What's the Best Way to Clean Up Ocean Plastic?

Only 9 percent of US plastic gets recycled