Tuesday, August 21, 2018

THE WILDLANDS NETWORK vision for an 'Eastern Wildway' is bold and visionary............... "Once as wild as anywhere on Earth, Eastern North America is now a patchwork of protected lands sown into a human-dominated landscape"..............."Conservationists have long dreamed of restoring a vast network of wildlands in this region, from the Acadian forests of Maritime Canada to the subtropical Everglades of Florida"............. "In the early 1920s, wilderness visionary Benton MacKaye imagined an “Appalachian Trail” running the length of the Appalachian spine"............."Millions of hikers have since explored this trail as a portal to wildness"..........."Wildlands Network launched its first blueprint for a wilder East in 2002, when it released the Maine Wildlands Network Vision—a detailed, scientific approach to reconnecting the landscape of New England’s largest and most heavily forested state".............."This ambitious report set the stage for the 2006 report: From the Adirondacks to Acadia, an even bolder Wildlands Network Design comprising the entire Greater Northern Appalachians region"..............."Today, significant progress is being made toward creating a continental-scale Eastern Wildway—an extensive wildlife corridor linking eastern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico"................"The Eastern Wildway contains some of North America’s most beloved national parks, preserves, scenic rivers, and other wild places, from the wilderness of Quebec, the Adirondacks, and the Shenandoah Valley, to the Great Smoky Mountains and Everglades National Park"............."Protecting and expanding these and other key core areas is crucial to rewilding the East"............."The Eastern Wildway also traverses a wide array of eco-regions and climates, with the latter ranging from arctic to tropical. An equally broad diversity of wildlife inhabits these eco-regions, including red wolves, Canada lynx, cougars, eastern coyotes, martens, and other native carnivores".............. "Many resident plants, birds, fish, salamanders, and butterflies are found nowhere else on Earth—particularly those in the southeastern U.S., which was recently identified as one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots".............."In 2015, we formed the Eastern Wildway Network (EWN) to advance our efforts in eastern North America—more than 100 conservation leaders working to restore, reconnect, and protect regional habitats, and to help native species move safely through the landscape and adapt to climatic change"............"Although scientists and conservationists have conducted extensive planning, data analysis and mapping throughout the Eastern Wildway, these efforts have not kept pace with habitat degradation".............."Eastern mountain ranges are located so close to mega-population centers that development has spread into once-remote places"............... "Notably, the cities of Montreal, Quebec, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta are all located within the Eastern Wildway"................"To further complicate matters, many rural landowners are selling off large land parcels for development, logging, and resource extraction as rural economies continue to stagnate"............... "And with a growing number of Easterners building first or second homes in relatively wild places, people are collectively destroying the natural environments and solitude they seek".................To overcome these obstacles will require bold and collaborative action at many levels to make an Eastern Wildway a reality".............."From creating new conservation lands, reforming policies, and providing incentives for private land stewardship to working with transportation agencies to construct wildlife underpasses and overpasses, incorporating smart growth into local planning, and passing new legislation to confront growing challenges, each and every step will bring us closer to rewilding the East"............ "Ambitious? Absolutely!"........... "Necessary? No question!"

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https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2018/08/national-parks-core-reserves-eastern-wildwa...
Monday, August 20, 2018

While not nearly well known for his biophilia as Billionaire Ted Turner(who owns 2 million protected acres of Ranch lands across the USA), Paul Vahldiek's HIGH LONESOME RANCH northeast of Grand Junction, Colorado is big enough at 260,000 acres(394 square miles) to be a national park..........."These are not exactly untouched lands—some portions have been homesteaded and grazed for more than 100 years—but they’re largely undeveloped"............."The High Lonesome Ranch extends from the desert washes near Highline State Park to Douglas firs atop 9,000-foot Middle Mountain to the beaver ponds of the North Dry Fork valley"..............."If these private lands were deeded to the U.S. Department of the Interior as a national park, they would become America’s 27th largest unit—ranking right behind Rocky Mountain National Park in size"..............."Vahldiek, however, doesn’t want his private property to be like BLM lands or national parks"............."He believes he can do better"..........."Old school and self made, the son of a butcher, Vahldiek lost his mother to lupus when he was 11 years old".........."Coming out of High School, he accepted a scholarship to Trinity University in San Antonio, where he majored in business and played basketball"................."He also made a pact with his college roommate: The first one to buy a ranch would invite the other to come hunting. (Vahldiek was first.)".............. "He parlayed a degree from another San Antonio school, St. Mary’s University School of Law, into a highly lucrative career in personal injury litigation".................."He bought HIGH LONESOME with the goal of improving his hunting grounds by repairing the eroded streams and overgrazed fields".............."Some of what he’d learned came from his participation in the venerable Boone and Crockett Club, whose meetings attract some of conservation’s brightest minds (Vahldiek is one of around 100 regular members who, like the club’s co-founder Theodore Roosevelt, pledge to devote their means and influence to conservation)"..............But how to keep his open space intact for generations to come and fulfill his Roosevelt pledge?...............A innovative combination of select gas extraction combined with best ecosystem sustainability practices and ecotourism has earned him praises from great individual consultants and conservation leaders, ranging from Michael Soulé to Cristina Eisenberg to Shane Mahoney, Roger Creasey, David Ford and Rose Letwin...........Click on the link below to read in full the Conservation vision of Paul Vahldiek

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http://www.5280.com/2018/01/a-modest-proposal/ A Modest Proposal The High Lonesome Ranch in western Colorado is big enough to be a n...
Sunday, August 19, 2018

Why do Frogs croak and "sing?".........."Most frog sounds we hear are advertisement calls to attract mates, and the callers are usually males"..........."In some species, these vocalizations also help male frogs maintain territories against other males"........."If you look closely around the shore of a pond, you often see male green frogs spaced at regular intervals".............."Songs are quite varied, ranging from the quacking of the wood frog to the musical trill of the toad and the soft, grating snore of the pickerel frog"..........."The differences in pitch, timbre, duration, intensity, and spacing of calls help frogs distinguish members of their own species"..........."The calls also provide information on a frog’s individual identity, reproductive status, location, and the resources in its territory"

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"Jug-o-Rum!" “Jug-o-Rum!” by Susan Shea August 13, 2018 0 Comments 65 10 Illustration by  Adela...
Saturday, August 18, 2018

Following up on our POST of the other day discussing NATURE DEFICIT IN CHILDREN......Follow you instinctive "gut feeling" to get you and your loved ones outdoors as often as possible..........And here is why that "outdoor instinct" will pay you dividends......"Your microbiome and your immune system have a close relationship: since 80% of your immune system is located in your gut, the healthier your gut microbiome is, the better your immunity tends to be, and vice versa"..........."Part of this has to do with your body switching into "rest and digest" mode, which it does when you're relaxed and surrounded by nature".......... "When your body gets into this mode, it focuses on bodily functions that tend to get shoved to the side when you're in "fight or flight" mode, like your immune system"............"Likewise, being around plants means that you get exposed to phytoncides, which are chemicals that plants use to protect themselves from certain types of bacteria and fungi"........."When these chemicals enter your body, your immune system responds by increasing the number of specific types of white blood cells called natural killer cells".........."Despite the name, these cells are actually really beneficial: they go after things in your body that are associated with many different health conditions"......... "Bottom line? When your immune system is supported, your gut microbiome can do its work properly––which includes further benefiting your immune system".............."It's a win-win cycle of support".............. "Speaking of immunity...being outside can also help keep your immune system from overreacting to certain stimuli"........... "If you regularly get a temporary runny nose, itchy eyes, or general feeling of haziness when you're exposed to things like pollen, pets, or dust, it's likely that your immune system is overreacting to these things, making you feel less than your best in its overzealous attempts to protect you"........"The answer may just be to spend more time outside, since people who are born or live in microbe-rich environments tend to have immune systems that are "trained" to react appropriately to these types of stimuli"..............Bottom line: "GET OUT OF THE HOUSE, GET YOUR BUTT OUTSIDE---HUGE HEALTH DIVIDENDS TO BE GAINED!

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http://thescienceexplorer.com/brain-and-body/scientists-reveal-why-forest-bathing-or-going-beach-boosts-our-well-being Scientists Reveal ...
Thursday, August 16, 2018

"Male Pumas make what are known as 'scrapes' to look for mates but also to mark their territory"........ "The scrapes are usually located along Puma travel routes, such as ridgelines, canyon rims, drainage bottoms, under large trees and ledges, and at kill caches"...........Carnivore Tracker Sue Morse of KEEPING TRACK explains this behaviour in detail as follows: "With his hind feed, a Puma will scrape the ground backwards creating a small mound of dirt and leaves with a shallow hole about 8 inches long in front of it"............."The mound is then urinated upon and sometimes also marked with scat"..............."Although other species of cats "spray" urine and other fluids to scent mark, Pumas do not appear to conduct this behavior"..............."Scratch piles can be found throughout a Puma's homerange but may be found more often along the borders or where his territory overlaps with another cat's".............."By advertising, an adult male may demonstrate his dominance and thereby reduce the degree of trespass by other males (both resident and new immigrants), increase his own chances of breeding with resident females, and decrease the chances his mates and offspring will be harmed"............"Long-term residents have the opportunity to cover an area with scent marks, giving potential intruders ample opportunity to retreat before there is a life-threatening encounter".............."In addition to scat and urination for scent communication, Pumas sometimes also leave scratch markings on tree trunks or stumps through a process called claw raking"..........."Similar to a house cat scratching furniture, a Puma will stand on its hind legs and drag its claws down a tree trunk"..........."The scratches will be approximately four to eight feet off the ground, depending on the size of the cat, and run parallel and vertically down the tree a few feet"............."Although these scrapes may simply be part of the claw-grooming process, many researchers believe it is another way for the cats to announce their presence"............"Scent from the paws is left behind in the tree bark and cougars have been observed sniffing the scratches made by other cats"................"Likely, it marks one's territory to deter intruders and serves as a dating bulletin board for those ready to mate"

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click on this link to view a  video, showing how a male Puma makes a scrape. A few evenings later several coyotes come to investigate. The...
Wednesday, August 15, 2018

I have told my friends and family for years that it is a crime that our schools do not teach our kids the names of the trees, shrubs and flowers that are indigenous to our "neighborhoods.............And the Wall Street Journal today published an article about this, reaffirming my long held belief-----"The country has a growing case of ‘plant blindness’—a term used by botanists to describe the inability to identify basic plants"............."Even biologists struggle".............."“Imagine a medical doctor who didn’t know how to identify the correct body parts,” said William Friedman, a Harvard biology professor"..............“You wouldn’t want that guy working on you"..............."The term plant blindness was discussed in a 2001 essay in the Bulletin, a publication of the Botanical Society of America"............."It laid some blame on how few Americans today make their living off the land"............I would go further and say the blame lies with how disconnected from nature so many of us are.............Add to this the change in growing-up lifestyle that has evolved over the past 50 years with parents being afraid to let their kids play alone outside fearing they will be snatched by some lunatic........Throw in the spiraling epidemic affliction of tick-borne diseases and the lure of social media and on-line gaming and you have kids indoors 24/7, knowing even less of their immediate natural surroundings than that of their mostly un-aware parents..............“We are creating a virtual world and we are not paying attention to the natural world around us"................Does not bode well for enhancing and optimizing biodiversity!

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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB11442974274115914724804584407500626942702.html?mod=ITP_AHED Rhododendron? Hydrangea? America Doesn’t Know...