Early settlers saw the continent’s forested wildlands as a fearful challenge. Today people seek nature to recharge their urbanized souls. Nearly 5 percent of U.S. land has been designated wilderness, but how it is used and managed is far from settled. By John G. Mitchell. Photographs by Peter Essick.

The Wilderness Society provided great help with the crafting of this story.

Armed with memories of by gone glory, a centuries-old warrior caste crusades for order and discipline in tumultuous modern Russia. By Mike Edwards. Photographs by Gerd Ludwig.

A dozen times a year Pacific storms and the underwater topography of Maui’s north shore combine to create monster waves called Jaws. Only a handful of surfers even try to ride the Hawaiian behemoths. By Joel Achenbach. Photographs by Patrick McFeeley.

Explore the science behind the story at the Center for Applied Coastal Research or check out the photographer’s book, Jaws Maui.

Be a surfer! Or just look like one! Is there a difference? Hang ten in our gnarly Surf Style forum.

Deforestation and a low reproductive rate could spell the end for tree-dwelling monkeys on the increasingly crowded East African island of Zanzibar. Article and photographs by Tom Struhsaker.

After pack ice trapped their ship, explorer Ernest Shackleton and his men abandoned their dream of crossing Antarctica on foot and began a 20-month struggle to survive. By Caroline Alexander. Photographs by Frank Hurley.

The crypt of an Egyptian priest, hidden deep below the sands and undisturbed for 2,500 years, promises to yield knowledge as valuable as a pharaoh’s treasure. By Zahi Hawass. Photographs by Kenneth Garrett.

Street gangs have sprung up in Omaha, but heartland values hold firm in a land where neighbors are quick to lend a hand. By Roff Smith. Photographs by Joel Sartore.

In Next Month’s Issue of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC:

South China Sea; Dinosaur Embryos; Barcelona; Nunataks; Winslow Homer; Body Beasts; Petra, Ancient City of Stone.