Author

Ben Goldfarb

Ben Goldfarb is an environmental journalist based in Colorado whose writing has appeared in in National Geographic, the Atlantic, the New Yorker, Smithsonian Magazine, and many other publications. He is the author of Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2018) and Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet (W.W. Norton & Co., 2023). Follow him on Instagram and Bluesky, and read more of his work at www.bengoldfarb.com

Ben Goldfarb's Latest Articles

a dam on a river
Death by a Thousand Dams

Tens of thousands of small barriers hamper fish recovery in the northeastern United States. But while the demolition of big dams out west gets the most attention, a similar revolution is revitalizing northeastern streams and rivers—one tiny dam at a time.

Wildlife at the Crossroads
Aerial view of Denver, Colorado, suburb
Living in the Sprawl

As housing developments devour open space in the western United States, can local governments stave off habitat loss?

A herd of elk faces off against a wire fence, a common sight in the Colorado mountains and throughout the American West. Photograph by John Boland / Shutterstock
Entangled

Laid end to end, the world’s fences would reach the sun. What are they doing to wildlife?

City of Glass

Meet the dedicated cadre of experts and volunteers working to protect birds from glass in the window-strike capital of the United States.

With only 100 or so individuals living north of the U.S.-Mexico border, the ocelot is thought to be the most endangered feline in America. Photograph by Aflo/NPL
No Country for Old Ocelots

Can wildlife crossings save America’s most endangered feline?

Methow Valley resident Ken Bevis salvages a deer recently struck by a car.
Atonement in the Kitchen

One way to make sense of the senseless slaughter of roadkill? Salvage it for food.

Migratory fish like these mountain mullet (Agonostomus monticola) are a common sight in Central American rivers.
Free-Flowing, For Now

Hundreds of new dams are currently planned for Central American rivers, posing a threat to Indigenous peoples and wildlife alike. Preserving the integrity of these corridors between the mountains and the sea will help them both.

Biologists for the Tulalip Tribe carry a beaver toward the site of its reintroduction along a stretch of river in northern Washington.
They Will Build It

In western Washington, the Tulalip Tribes bet big on beavers.

In Search of Suckers

An endangered fish makes a comeback in the Grand Canyon’s depths—but will the razorback sucker stick around?

Close the CTA

We’re 45 percent of the way there! Help us reach $20,000 by October 2.