The gifts of the forest are legion. Today those gifts are thought of as arcane anecdotes to a fast and furious culture disconnected from its environment. Just five centuries ago, the lore of plant foods and medicines and craft materials was the mainstay of the everyday. Every man, woman and child held this knowledge with an intimacy born of pragmatic use and reverence.

by Mark Warren owner and director of Medicine Bow Wilderness School,
teaching nature classes and Native American survival skills in the mountains of north Georgia.

"A Light in the Forest ~ Seeking the Company of Fire" On the list of what to do in an emergency wilderness survival situation, building a fire is often assigned a low priority by survival experts. Here in the Southern Appalachians, two factors have convinced me to change my mind about that. One, the humidity. And two, the lowly chigger.

Mark Warren owner and director of Medicine Bow Wilderness School,
teaching nature classes and Native American survival skills in the mountains of north Georgia.

"Lost Instinct of Knowing What to Eat" Have you ever heard that old adage: watch what the animals eat and you'll know what to eat, too? Well, forget it. It's simply not true. The fact is that there was a time when no one had to teach us what to eat.

Mark Warren owner and director of Medicine Bow Wilderness School,
teaching nature classes and Native American survival skills in the mountains of north Georgia.

Purity, your second most immediate need in a survival situation. Sixth in Mark Warren's series on Primitive Survival. Can you name the three physical intakes - in their order of immediacy - necessary to keep the human body functioning and alive? read on....

Mark Warren owner and director of Medicine Bow Wilderness School,
teaching nature classes and Native American survival skills in the mountains of north Georgia

Creating Butterfly Gardens...the perfect nectar menu for butterflies fluttering about in the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains can be created in an existing garden area or in a spot you choose for new beginnings...read on...

Article by Lynda Gougler of Sunshine Mountain Butterfly Farms

It pains me that some children don’t experience nature as I have. A recent book by Richard Louv, called Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, has brought into the national dialogue the condition of today’s children and in particular their poverty of outdoors experiences. 

The Cornell study of 2,000 adults by professors Nancy Wells and Kristi Lekies revealed in the journal, Children, Youth and Environments, that kids that fish and have unstructured time outdoors grow into adults who care more about conservation and the environment.

by Dr. Mamie Parker, Assistant Director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service in Washington DC, an avid angler, and member of the Arkansas Outdoor Hall of Fame.