Your opinion counts! The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services is seeking public input regarding the Coast Guard’s plans to construct new communication towers at Middle Cape and Akhiok on Kodiak Island within the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Surprisingly enough, this spectacular wildlife area, home to the rare Kodiak Brown Bear as well as hundreds of seabirds and bald eagles does not have any special wilderness designation, unlike most parks. These areas are untouched, pristine wilderness and the resulting construction could displace migrating birds and disrupt other wildlife.
From the U.S. Coast Guard website:
In 1972 the U.S. Navy closed their Kodiak station and the Coast Guard moved in. The result is the country’s largest Coast Guard station. Nearly 1,000 active duty personnel are stationed in Kodiak along with some 1,700 family members and several hundred civilian employees. A buoy tender, two cutters, seven helicopter units and five C-130 aircraft conduct patrol and rescue operations throughout Alaska. Communications, navigational support, training and marine safety are also part of the coast Guard’s diverse mission.
Now the Coast Guard wants to make this facility even larger. This effort is the first stage of a major project designed to improve maritime VHF communications coverage throughout South central and Southeast Alaska. The public comment period runs from March 1 to April 5.
You can read about this project on the USFWS website at http://alaska.fws.gov/nwr/planning/nepa.htm.
Comments may be sent to William Freeland by email to William.A.Freeland@uscg.mil, or by mail: Rescue 21 PRO Alaska, 100 Savikko Rd., Douglas, AK 99824-5500. People interested in receiving further information on this and other projects may also request to be placed on a mailing list. For more information contact William Freeland at 907-463-2955.
rescued battery hen
The life of a battery hen is a harsh one. It is chickens like this who lay the eggs you buy in the supermarket. Unhealthy, featherless and weak. Is this a healthy food choice when the chickens are in this state?
Thankfully there is the Little Hen Rescue in Norfolk, England.
It all started with a hen who escaped a battery farm while they were rounding up the chickens for slaughter. That hen was determined to live in freedom and lucky for her, found a caring family who nursed her back to health. After that, they wondered how many other chickens were suffering the same fate? Little Hen Rescue was born.
Like an SPCA, Little Hen Rescue adopts out these chickens who go on to keep laying eggs in a much healthier environment. You might want to start a similar organization in your area or a chicken co-op. Whatever you do, buy only free range eggs!
Here is a video to explain more of what they do:
Tags: chickens, free range eggs
A tailings lake
This is a picture of the tailings ‘pond’ where over 1600 birds died near Fort McMurray, Alberta. The video above shows a few of those birds. This is so large, Syncrude itself has renamed it a ‘basin’.
These birds represent a fraction that have died here and in other tailings ponds and basins throughout this region. Each spring, more than half of America’s birds migrate to this area. This small corridor provides nesting ground for over 300 species of birds.
“Danger In the Nursery: Impact on Birds of Tar Sands Oil Development in Canada’s Boreal Forest” talks about the consequences on migratory birds:
The projected strip-mining of 740,000 acres (300,000 hectares) of forests and wetlands in the tar sands will result in the loss of breeding habitatfor between 480,000 and 3.6 million adult birds. The corresponding impact on breeding will mean a loss of 4.8 million to 36 million young birds over a 20-year period, and 9.6 million to 72 million birds over a 40-year period.
To read about Syncrude Canada Ltd and its waterfowl program which includes such tactics as scarecrows and water cannons click here. Will the birds hear or see the warnings before making their final descent from hundreds of feet above? Or will they be too tired and hungry after flying thousands of miles?
Blanding's Turtle
The endangered Blanding’s turtles live in a small wetland on the western edge of Ottawa. Human encroachment in the name of a highway will fill in this wetland area and extirpate these endangered turtles.
Many locals have argued that this road extension is not needed and is simply a political move to use federal stimulus money. This wetland is in the heart of a green space which contains many trees that are over 200 years old. What makes this wetland unique is that it is home to many other species of turtles including Northern Map Turtles, Painted Turtles and Snapping Turtles.
The Blanding’s turtles are almost extinct in Canada and there are very few places that are suitable habitat. Please sign the letter and save their home.
Yellow Scarfed Tanager
The American Bird Conservancy has started a partnership with other organizations that allows birders to support lodges that contribute to the preservation of bird habitats in Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Brazil.
To check out the list of bird reserves in South America, visit www.conservationbirding.org. You can also subscribe to BirdWire which is their email newsletter that provides updates on bird conservation issues.
Tags: american bird conservancy, bird habitats, conservation issues
The world’s largest Douglas fir, situated on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, near Port Renfrew, is under threat from nearby logging. At 74 metres high and 4 metres wide, this tree towers above a stand of ancient rainforest. This tree is not protected despite its status as the world’s largest Douglas fir tree and nearby logging could expose it to the high winds in the area. The Ancient Forest Alliance is trying to raise awareness. This video from a Victoria, BC news station explains:
Tags: ancient forests, douglas fir
You only need one head, not three or twelve. So why do people have these multiple shower heads? Sometimes called body spas or luxury showers, they can be compared to a car wash. Do you really need all those jets spraying you?
A ten minute shower with one shower head uses approximately 25 gallons of water whereas a multi-head shower with twelve jets uses about 250 gallons of water.
One shower head with a low-flow aerator is the best.
Tags: luxury showers
CPAWS (Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society) of Northern Alberta is asking for public support to create a park in the Athabasca region of Alberta. This is the last remaining region of untouched boreal forest in the vicinity of the tar sands region which is vitally important to the woodland caribou. The Alberta government has said that they will consider a park if there is enough public support. Please sign the CPAWS petition here.
Almost a year ago I wrote a post regarding the fate of Canada’s Navigable Water Protection Act (NWPA). It turns out that the federal government got its wish and later this year they came up with the Minor Works and Waters (NWPA) Order. This means that if the body of water is considered minor, then any project can go ahead without environmental assessment. Their definition of minor:
“200 meter sections of navigable waters is considered a minor water and works that affect its navigability do not require the submission of an application for review and approval under the NWPA if:
The average width of the navigable waters measured at the high-water level is less than 1.20 meters;
OR
The average depth of the navigable waters measured at the high-water level is less than 0.30 meters”
Something to think about the next time you’re paddling down a river.
Avatar Grove in peril
Nicknamed the “Avatar Grove,” after the movie, a tract of old growth Douglas firs and western red cedars on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, have been slated for clear-cutting.
The Ancient Forest Alliance had this to say:
Avatar Grove is in Tree Farm License (TFL) 46. TLF 46 is being logged by Surrey (British Columbia) -based Teal Jones and through the BC government’s BC Timber Sales program involving smaller companies. The Grove is home to dozens of some of the South Island’s largest red cedars and Douglas firs, including several trees with trunks that are over 12 feet in diameter. Moreover, several of the cedars have incredible, alien shapes. With giant bulbous burls ballooning out from their trunks, winding, snake-like roots of hemlock trees growing up their sides, and giant limbs draped in mosses and hanging ferns, many of the trees seem to be from the rainforests of the fictional planet of “Pandora” in James Cameron’s hit movie, “Avatar”. Yet despite its magnificence and easy access, the Grove is slated for logging any day now.
British Columbia’s forest policies have changed a lot since 2001 when the provincial government introduced the Working Forest Policy. At the core of the new policy was to re-classify forests from “Crown” (public) land to a completely new category that applies to all public lands outside of parks and not including private or municipal lands.
As a result, it is very difficult to protect old growth forests because of these new government policies. Photo from Victoria Times Colonist.
Tags: old growth forests
