Habitat
Paper Chase
The boreal, a vast forest straddling North America, is crucially important to billions of birds. It’s also the source of paper we use for everything from catalogs and magazines to tissues. Even if large swaths of the forest are now protected, there is still a great deal of the boreal at risk.
By T. Edward Nickens/Photography by Per Breiehagen
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Viewpoint
The Low-Carbon Diet
Want to do your part to fight global warming? Well, insulating your house and making your next car a hybrid are great starts. But if you’re really looking to make a difference, says the author, you’ll take meat off of your shopping list altogether. 
By Mike Tidwell/Photography by Catherine Ledner
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True Nature
Life on Ice
Icebergs may look much like massive ice cubes bobbing lifelessly in our polar seas, with little purpose beyond threatening tour ships. In fact, as scientists in Antarctica have discovered, an awesome diversity of wondrous creatures, from tiny to small to big, flourish atop, under, and around these floating islands.
By Jeff Rubin
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Contributors

Editor’s Note
Later this year the bulk of our magazine will be printed on 100 percent recycled paper. Small thing? Maybe, but the bigger point is, if we all do what we can, the cumulative effect will be enormous.
By David Seideman

Audubon View
The early signs from the new administration are encouraging. But that doesn’t mean this is the time to ease up on the pressure.
By John Flicker

Letters

Field Notes
What a fresh start in Washington means for the environment; a new generation of evangelicals focuses on “creation care”; good news, from Audubon’s New York City office to Mississippi to California; more. 
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Audubon Action
TogetherGreen
A partnership between Audubon and Toyota supports innovative, effective local projects across the country.
By Justin Nobel

Incite
Owl War II
Many assumed that Clinton-era protections had secured the northern spotted owl’s future. Now, as the bird’s numbers continue to slide, a new battle brews in the Pacific Northwest’s old-growth forests.
By Ted Williams
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Earth Almanac
Bottom-of-the-barrel berries; cold weather, warm duck; otter delight; wobbly waxwings; cranky cranes. 
By Ted Williams
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Green Guru
Turning garbage into garden gold; how can you tell where your home’s energy comes from?; there’s nothing to fear from my water bottle, right?
By Susan Cosier

Reviews
High Steaks
Two books on ranching shed some surprising light on the complex, and often thorny, relationship between humans, beef cattle, and the West’s fragile landscapes.
By Hillary Rosner
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One Picture
Bucket Brigade
A tadpole rescue in Vermont.
By Denise Johnson/Text by Les Line

On the cover: Trees in the Canadian boreal, a 1.3-billion-acre forest stretching from Newfoundland to the Yukon.
Photo by Per Breiehagen