The Revelator
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The Revelator
@therevelator.org
Environmental News & Commentary. Published by @centerforbiodiv.bsky.social. Edited by @johnrplatt.bsky.social
The sign in front of the van parked just off Route 1 in Lincoln County, Maine, displayed a simple message in big, hand-written letters: “Eels. $2,000/lb.”

Read more: https://therevelator.org/cites-american-eel/
Can an International Treaty Save the American Eel? • The Revelator
Overfishing and other threats have depleted populations of this iconic species. A new proposal to restrict international trade under CITES could offer them a lifeline.
therevelator.org
November 25, 2025 at 2:40 PM
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“They are so endearing, and their delicate newborns simply slip into my palm,” Monora gushes affectionately. She’s been nurturing and feeding these animals, among the world’s rarest mammals, for the past 28 years.

Read more about these #conservation heroes: therevelator.org/mathchmaking...
Strategic ‘Matchmaking’ Protects the World’s Smallest and Rarest Wild Pig • The Revelator
Tiny pygmy hogs almost went extinct a few decades ago, but a dedicated conservation team is helping give them a second chance.
therevelator.org
November 24, 2025 at 7:45 PM
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Evolving takes patience 🐟🦎🐒🤖
My latest for @therevelator.org
November 24, 2025 at 5:39 PM
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My latest endangered species article for @therevelator.org includes a story I've wanted to tell for more than 13 years...
November 21, 2025 at 4:10 PM
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ICYMI: Earlier this year, I wrote about the collaborative approach taken by the IUCN Shark Specialist Group, and how it lets them write giant global-scale reports with hundreds of experts from all over the world. therevelator.org/global-conse...
What Does It Take to Write a Global Conservation Report? A New Assessment of Sharks Offers Answers • The Revelator
A two-year effort reveals the latest shark conservation statistics, while providing insight into the process to protect large groups of species.
therevelator.org
November 23, 2025 at 8:03 PM
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ICYMI: By me in January

Donald Trump’s Second Term Will Be Bad News for Endangered Ocean and Coastal Animals

The waters around the United States are home to many threatened species who need science-based conservation policies to save them from extinction. therevelator.org/donald-trump...
Donald Trump’s Second Term Will Be Bad News for Endangered Ocean and Coastal Animals • The Revelator
The waters around the U.S. are home to threatened species who need conservation policies to save them from extinction. They won’t get that for the next four years.
therevelator.org
November 23, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Strategic ‘Matchmaking’ Protects the World’s Smallest and Rarest Wild Pig -- an amazing story about the cutest critically endangered species. Read about the efforts to boost their populations: https://therevelator.org/mathchmaking-pygmy-hogs/
Strategic ‘Matchmaking’ Protects the World’s Smallest and Rarest Wild Pig • The Revelator
Tiny pygmy hogs almost went extinct a few decades ago, but a dedicated conservation team is helping give them a second chance.
therevelator.org
November 24, 2025 at 3:47 PM
In two powerful new graphic novels, Peter Kuper tackles climate change, disappearing insects, and other tough environmental topics — but gives us reasons to avoid despair. https://therevelator.org/peter-kuper-insectopolis/
A Cartoonist Finds Hope Amid the Apocalypse(s) • The Revelator
In two powerful new graphic novels, Peter Kuper tackles climate change, disappearing insects, and other tough environmental topics — but gives us reasons to avoid despair.
therevelator.org
November 23, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Let’s Rename the Day After Thanksgiving ‘Extinction Friday’ https://therevelator.org/extinction-friday/
Let’s Rename the Day After Thanksgiving ‘Extinction Friday’ • The Revelator
The annual Black Friday ode to overconsumption sits at the core of our destruction of Earth’s ecosystems. We can flip the script.
therevelator.org
November 22, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Overfishing and other threats have depleted populations of the iconic American eel. A new proposal to restrict international trade under CITES could offer them a lifeline. https://therevelator.org/cites-american-eel/
Can an International Treaty Save the American Eel? • The Revelator
Overfishing and other threats have depleted populations of this iconic species. A new proposal to restrict international trade under CITES could offer them a lifeline.
therevelator.org
November 21, 2025 at 4:09 PM
“A 50th anniversary of The Monkey Wrench Gang couldn’t be timelier,” says Doug Peacock, who inspired the character of George Hayduke in the novel. “Our American wilderness...has never been in greater peril." https://therevelator.org/doug-peacock-monkey-wrench-gang/
Doug Peacock, the real ‘George Hayduke,’ Looks Back on 50 Years of The Monkey Wrench Gang • The Revelator
Now a famed grizzly conservationist, Peacock served as Edward Abbey’s inspiration for the novel’s most pivotal, piercing character.
therevelator.org
November 20, 2025 at 2:32 PM
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Beware of relatives over the holidays, especially if you're a bear.
My latest for @therevelator.org
November 14, 2025 at 7:09 PM
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The next Conference of the Parties of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) starts in a few days. There are lots of shark issues on the docket. Read my explainer here:

therevelator.org/cites-sharks/ 🧪🦑🌎🦈
Can a Powerful International Wildlife Conservation Meeting Help Save Sharks? • The Revelator
Seven proposals at the upcoming Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species conference of the parties would benefit up to 70 species of sharks…if they pass.
therevelator.org
November 18, 2025 at 12:24 PM
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Fifty years on, The Monkey Wrench Gang still rattles the machinery. Abbey’s crew—shaped by friend and “Hayduke” muse Doug Peacock—reminds us that defending wild places demands spine, not spin. Their legacy: defiance, love of place, and a refusal to let destruction slide, then or now. Still true.
November 18, 2025 at 5:17 PM
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Today brought our second article about The Monkey Wrench Gang, an interview with grizzly conservationist Doug Peacock, who inspired the novel's character George Hayduke: therevelator.org/doug-peacock...
Doug Peacock, the real ‘George Hayduke,’ Looks Back on 50 Years of The Monkey Wrench Gang • The Revelator
Now a famed grizzly conservationist, Peacock served as Edward Abbey’s inspiration for the novel’s most pivotal, piercing character.
therevelator.org
November 17, 2025 at 7:50 PM
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We've published two articles at @therevelator.org looking back at the 50th anniversary of Edward Abbey’s The Monkey Wrench Gang. First came an essay by the real-world inspiration for one of the novel's characters, Bonnie Abbzug: therevelator.org/happy-50th-b...
Happy 50th Birthday, Monkey Wrench Gang • The Revelator
Half a century after the novel’s publication, the Glen Canyon Dam still stands, now home to the world’s largest mud puddle.
therevelator.org
November 17, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Doug Peacock, the real ‘George Hayduke,’ Looks Back on 50 Years of The Monkey Wrench Gang https://therevelator.org/doug-peacock-monkey-wrench-gang/
Doug Peacock, the real ‘George Hayduke,’ Looks Back on 50 Years of The Monkey Wrench Gang • The Revelator
Now a famed grizzly conservationist, Peacock served as Edward Abbey’s inspiration for the novel’s most pivotal, piercing character.
therevelator.org
November 17, 2025 at 4:06 PM
"I whisper the only apology that matters: You were beautiful, and we should have slowed down for you." https://therevelator.org/ghost-reefs/
Ghost Reefs of 2083: The Paleontology of Color (A Speculative ‘Fiction’) • The Revelator
What will the loss of coral reefs cost the planet — and humanity?
therevelator.org
November 16, 2025 at 1:49 PM
"If every birder in the United States gave up eating chicken, more than 2 billion chickens would be spared this year alone." https://therevelator.org/birding-blind-spot/
Birding’s Tragic Blind Spot • The Revelator
Humans love to watch birds in nature. So why do we ignore the lives of the birds destined for our plates?
therevelator.org
November 15, 2025 at 10:05 PM
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Are new #plastic materials and processes help or hype?

#PlasticPollution is poisoning the planet. Some experts suggest making plastics from more “natural” materials, but research shows those still have risks.

Get the rest in our weekly newsletter, @therevelator.org ➡️ https://bit.ly/3LHSOJj
November 14, 2025 at 6:12 PM
A Cartoonist Finds Hope Amid the Apocalypse(s)

In two powerful new graphic novels, @pkuper.bsky.social tackles climate change, disappearing insects, and other tough environmental topics — but gives us reasons to avoid despair.
https://therevelator.org/peter-kuper-insectopolis/
A Cartoonist Finds Hope Amid the Apocalypse(s) • The Revelator
In two powerful new graphic novels, Peter Kuper tackles climate change, disappearing insects, and other tough environmental topics — but gives us reasons to avoid despair.
therevelator.org
November 14, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Reposted by The Revelator
You read our speculative-fiction reef story in The Revelator. But fiction only becomes future if we let it. Here’s a thread on how we bend the plot toward a hopeful ending: tangible actions anyone can take to change the arc right now. 🌊
#OceanHoptimism #ActNow
November 13, 2025 at 5:01 PM
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ICYMI yesterday while one or two big things dominated the news:

Ghost Reefs of 2083: The Paleontology of Color (A Speculative ‘Fiction’) #climatechange #actonclimate #coralreefs #oceanconservation @therevelator.org therevelator.org/ghost-reefs/
Ghost Reefs of 2083: The Paleontology of Color (A Speculative ‘Fiction’) • The Revelator
What will the loss of coral reefs cost the planet — and humanity?
therevelator.org
November 13, 2025 at 3:38 PM