Some of George's most recent writings include a variety of guest columns in local newspapers in Western North Carolina. Each one takes a new look at various issues and ideas related to the outside world. Topics have included everything from exotic earthworms to global climate change to Oprah Winfrey. Check out some of his latest columns from the listings below:

• Sometimes it sure feels like it's the end of the world, especially for those on the front lines of conservation. For some fresh perspective on the much predicted end of days, check out "Restoring Earth Before the End of the World" in the August 10, 2011 issue of the Smoky Mountain News. Click here to read the entire column. Quick! Before time runs out...
• Should you be investing your money in local dairy farms? Learn more in this June 29, 2011 column in the Smoky Mountain News, entitled "What does Harvard know about milk, anyway?"
• Why are fewer people enjoying the great outdoors? (And why aren't you outdoors right now?) Check out this column in the May 25, 2011, issue of Smoky Mountain News, originally titled "The Fall and Rise (?) of Outdoor Recreation."  http://www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/4027-the-rise-and-the-fall-of-outdoor-recreation
• Does that earthworm in your yard look harmless? Learn more in this March 30, 2011, column in the Smoky Mountain News: The Attack of the Killer Jumping Worms. Click here for link.
• Do you think you understand the possible impacts of global climate change? Read George's column in the February 9, 2011, edition of Smoky Mountain News , entitled "Turn Down the Global Warming, I'm Freezing" - click here for link.
• Looking for a new public leader for the conservation of nature? Check out George's column from the Dec. 16, 2010, edition of the Asheville Citizen-Times, entitled "Will Oprah Winfrey Save the Natural World?" The column has been archived on the ACT website (click here), or you can simply read the original text below:

Will Oprah Winfrey Save the Natural World?

© by George Ivey

I thought I saw a nature show on television the other day, but the narrator sounded exactly like Oprah Winfrey. Did my eyes deceive me or my ears?

My fiancée, Laura, sat there watching, mesmerized by the visuals or the voice or both. “Is that Oprah?” I asked.

Laura nodded a quick yes. Oprah continued her play-by-play, while hummingbirds with impossible tail feathers hovered on the screen. I simply couldn’t believe it. Oprah!

I’ve watched nature shows all my life. They might have actually inspired my eventual career in conservation. I’ve worked on environmental policy in the nation’s capital. I’ve collected tons of trash and planted thousands of trees from the Chesapeake Bay to a bayou in Arkansas. I’ve raised millions of dollars to protect wildlife, farmland, and rivers. I’ve even written a novel highlighting the humor and tragedy of conservation work.

But it’s never felt like enough. For every success with elk or brook trout, other species continue to decline, from songbirds to elephants. For every acre protected, far more are lost to development. For every dollar raised for conservation, many more finance new roads and buildings. For every volunteer, twice as many do nothing at all.

I’ve struggled to change all that, not in tiny steps, but in leaps and bounds. I’ve always tried to work harder and smarter, but it’s safe to say there’s more work to be done.

And maybe Oprah can help—a lot. She’s an empire of one, followed by millions. She can turn an obscure person into a hero and an undiscovered book into a bestseller. I can only wonder what miracles she can work for nature.

Thankfully, she didn’t stop after narrating the “Life” documentary series. In September 2010, “O” magazine featured a story on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. They didn’t tell readers what to wear or read or how to look their best during an environmental catastrophe. They focused on the disaster itself—foul-smelling air, dying marshes, dead animals. Probably not what her readers usually expect. Maybe it will serve as a wake-up call for some. More recently, Oprah showed her viewers footage of her camping trip to Yosemite, an effort to encourage more African-Americans to visit and enjoy our national parks.

Sure, even Oprah may not be able to clean up the Gulf and nature’s many other troubles. But I see in Oprah a chance to move the conservation struggle forward by feet or yards rather than inches, and that’s what we need. I welcome her narration, her magazine stories, the features on her television show, and whatever else she can do for conservation.

I’ll keep doing my part, too. And since even Oprah may not be enough, I’ll keep looking for other people and ideas to expand conservation’s reach and impact—from the silly to the serious. Nature needs that. And we all need nature.