Quote of the week

“Rivers run through our history and folklore, and link us as a people. They nourish and refresh us and provide a home for dazzling varieties of fish and wildlife and trees and plants of every sort. We are a nation rich in rivers.”

— Charles Kuralt

Gore links climate change and Great Lakes problems

The Nobel Prize winner and former veep is, again, on the mark with recent comments he made to a joint aU.S.-Canadian advisory organization. The problems are only going to continue worsening if society – we – don’t do something to curb our greenhouse gas emissions.

Bison reintroduction plan: Public lands in Montana

The bison project outlined in this feature-length article is made possible by the existence of public land in Montana. Here is yet another reason for more land to be owned by the public and placed off limits to sprawl and industrial development. Good luck to the project’s field workers.

Pacific Northwest vole goes on ESA list, but FWS says recovery work will have to wait

The usual argument is put forth by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on this mammalian species: Shrinking budget, workload, etc., are behind the decision. I think as more species are added to the Endangered Species Act lists, that we’ll see this decision again and again. In the meantime, human activities will continue to degrade and destroy habitat. Read about the vole case.

Can ecological corridors heal fragmented landscapes?

Many conservationists say the answer is yes. And I agree. The creation of corridors of wild land between core wild areas is at the heart of the conservation agenda espoused by organizations like Wildlands Network, and The Wildlands Project before it. Read about the question here.

More than a million acres of roadless land vulnerable, biologist warns

Teh 1.3 million acres are in the Crown of the Continent ecosystem, which includes Glacier National Park. Back East, where I sit, it is now impossible, especially in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and probably Virginia too, for a person to get more than one mile from the nearest road. That statistic holds deep ramifications for wildlife.

The fall foliage show: What is climate change doing to it?

by Cole Mellino

Fall foliage may be changing later due to climate change. As certain regions experience warmer average temperatures, the growth season has been extended, causing leaves to change colors and drop later than in the past. Studies from Europe and Japan show that trees are starting to change colors and drop later, so researchers are looking at whether the phenomenon is happening in the U.S. too.

There have been no comprehensive studies performed in the U.S. yet. But a recent AP story on various pieces of research shows that the trend may be taking place:

Researchers at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and at Seoul National University in South Korea used satellites to show the end of the growing season was delayed by 6 1/2 days from 1982 to 2008 in the Northern Hemisphere.

In Massachusetts, the leaves are changing about three days later than they were two decades ago at the Harvard Forest 65 miles west of Boston, according to data collected by John O’Keefe, a retired Harvard professor and museum coordinator who’s continuing to collect data.

In New Hampshire, data collected at the federal Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in Woodstock suggests sugar maples are going dormant two to five days later than they were two decades ago.

In Vermont, state foresters studying sugar maples at the Proctor Maple Research Center in Underhill found that the growing season ended later than the statistical average in seven out of the last 10 years.

Researchers at the National Phenology Network have spent the last four years coming up with standards to be used by observers in reporting foliage color changes. These standards are due out in the next couple weeks. The U.S. Geological Survey is using satellites from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to look at fall foliage from space.

— Cole Mellino is an intern with the energy team at the Center for American Progress

The car vs. wild America

Today’s five-mile exercise walk yielded sightings of the usual road-killed wildlife: squirrels, American robins, skunk, raccoon, opossum, white-tailed deer, monarch butterfly, orang sulphur butterfly, etc. etc. Meanwhile, the American love-affair with the almighty motor vehicle marches on, and on, an on . . .

Deer poachers look out, Robo-deer is here

Actually, as this article notes, robo-deer have been around for many years and continue to be successful in helping wildlife conservation officers catch poachers and slob hunters and the like.

The big fall aerial show of Canada geese arrives

Here’s my newspaper conservation column for today. Dawn is just breaking here in northern Vermont and I heard more geese overhead on my dog’s morning bathroom walk, even with no trace yet of sunrise.