Opening today with a series of panels and tours, the International Conservation Photography Awards Exhibit includes 75 images—not just of cuddly wildlife but also places threatened by pollution and development. It’s easier, perhaps because of the Internet’s endless supply of squee-worthy critter clips and photos, to focus on the big eyes and soft ears of endangered species. Habitat is a harder sell, especially when it abuts our back lawns. Adorable bear cubs eventually grow into nuisance animals that raid your garbage cans on the Sammamish Plateau. Raccoons are cute at a distance; then they set up a den in your Wallingford basement. Too often we go to parks in search of wildlife, feel disappointed when we see none, then drive home past feathery and furry mounds of roadkill on I-5. Wild animals don’t recognize highway maps or park boundaries, so this ICP show can only ask for more awareness on our side of the lens. BRIAN MILLER

June 30-Nov. 25, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., 2012