Category Archives: Environmental Issues

Issues pertaining to the environment, the planet and landbase upon which we live – stuff like logging and clearcutting, oil drilling, global warming, energy concerns, rivers, forests and all those great thigns we seem to bent on destroying.

Environmental Discourse – a rant.

12 Replies

Trash bottles and construction equipment on construction site, Marietta, Atlanta, Georgia

Trash bottles and construction equipment on construction site, Marietta, Atlanta, Georgia

Hey Folks,

A word (or rant) about ‘pragmatists’.

How often do we hear people cloak their position in this language, smother their position and use the veil of ‘realism’ as a cover for rationale? The phrase “well, sure, that’s too bad, but we need to be pragmatic .. “ is so often merely an attempt to preserve the status quo. Rather than reach a little further, push a little harder, get a little creative, or honestly examine ourselves and the lives we lead, we fall back on language like “realistic” and “pragmatic” – neither of which solve a problem, and, ironically, express a position often seated on neither pragmatism or realism.

Conversations around environmental issues seem to invoke this veil all too often; “we’d love to leave the caribou alone, and let them roam on the coastal plain, but we need to be practical – realistically, we need oil.” An entire platform was built around this excuse for an unwillingness to change that supporters labelled “Wise Use” – it’s nonsense. Continue reading →

Mt. Blackburn and John Muir

10 Replies

Mt. Blackburn in alpenglow, early fall, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.
Mt. Blackburn stands tall to catch the sun’s first rays of alpenglow, high above the Kennicott Valley, early fall, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

I just visited my friend Mark Graf’s great blog, and read with interest his commentary on mountains and the import and grandeur of nature, the role it can play in our lives. Mark prefaces his post with the legendary John Muir, so I’ll do the same:

“Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer. Camp out among the grasses and gentians of glacial meadows, in craggy garden nooks full of nature’s darlings. Climb the mountains and get their good tidings, Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. As age comes on, one source of enjoyment after another is closed, but nature’s sources never fail. – John Muir, Our National Parks, 1901”

While I think it’s a fantastic photo Mark posted, and a great post, (I’d ask that you read it and the comments that follow) I have to be the lone opponent in the discussion here;  Continue reading →

Orcas Killing Sea Otters

5 Replies

Orca attacking a sea otter pup in Kasitsna Bay, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Here’s an interesting thought; there’s been a lot of discussion in Alaska on wolf and other wildlife management, particularly ‘predator management’ (aren’t ALL animals not predators of some creatures, and prey of others?), and this raises the issue of orcas (Orcinus orca) and northern sea otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni). In more recent times, for various reasons, it appears that orcas have begun preying more heavily on northern sea otters in the Southwestern part of the otters’ range – South Central Alaska out across the Aleutian Islands. Orcas, “Wolves of the Sea”, appear to be extirpating the sea otter within this Distinct Population Segment (DPS), and this sea otter DPS is now listed as threatened on the Endangered Species Act. So, what of it? Should the ‘wildlife authorities’ fire up the choppers, Cessnas and Supercubs, hire a sniper or 2, and begin an aerial ‘predator control’ program? Continue reading →

Grizzly Bears or Landscapes, Wilderness Discussion.

7 Replies

A grizzly bear stands and looks over Naknek Lake at Sunset, toward Mount La Gorce, Katmai National Park, Alaska.

“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child — our own two eyes. All is a miracle.” – Thich Nhat Hahn.

Hey Folks,

Well, with all the comments about landscapes versus bear photos on the last few pages, I thought I’d try a compromise. I know, I know, compromises end up pleasing no one, right? Well, so be it.

This is possibly the last photo I took on my trip last month, a sunset over Naknek Lake – I was hoping for some nice clear skies the following morning – and actually had a big sunrise – but then it clouded over, very soon afterward, and no good light was had for the morning shooting. Then I had to pack and get ready for the plane to come pick me up. The trip was all over too soon.

The photo is one exposure, so no real photoshop trickery – I even left the gull in the bay (@ Ron 🙂 ).

The real reason I wanted to post this photo was, honestly, a talk I went to listen to tonight, at a local bookstore, by a great Alaskan writer, Bill Sherwonit. Continue reading →

Caribou, Skolai Pass and the University Range, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

5 Replies

Woodland Caribou herd, Skolai Pass, the University Range in the background, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Here’s another image from my recent trip to Skolai Pass. This, along with the previous image posted of Mt. Bona and Mt Churchill, was taken on the first day of our arrival in the pass. Pretty nice day, eh?

These caribou are part of the Chisana Herd (pronounced ‘Chushana’) and are, according to legend, the only Woodland Caribou herd in Alaska, and maybe ought be listed on the Endangered Species Act, possibly the strongest environmental legislation in the US. Woodland Caribou are found mostly in Canada (possibly a very small population in Idaho and Washington – often referred to as a separate subspecies, Mountain Caribou), with the great herds of Alaskan caribou, such as the Porcupine Herd, or Central Arctic Herd of the north slope, like the caribou more seen in Denali National Park, being Barren Ground Caribou. Continue reading →

Brooks Mountains Range, ANWR, Alaska

3 Replies

Canning River, Brooks Mountain Range, ANWR, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Here’s another image from the summer just gone by. This one was from near our campsite on the Canning River, in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). We’d had a nice day paddling, enjoying some sunny weather, found a sweet spot to camp, and then I wandered around into the evening looking for a composition that caught my eye. The unnamed mountain across the river is a ridge leading up to Mt. Salisbury. This is one of my favorite areas in the region, right at the edge of the coastal plain and the Brooks Mountains. Typically these kinds of terrains are interesting; Continue reading →

Pectoral sandpiper, anwr, alaska.

5 Replies

pectoral sandpiper, anwr, alaska.

Hey Folks,

Here’s a Pectoral sandpiper photo, taken on our recent trip to ANWR, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska. The shorebirds out on the coastal plain were really a treat – we were so lucky to see a number of cool birds. I’ll try to write a thorough report when I get time. In the meantime, dig this.

Cheers

Carl

PS – I edited this after the great biologist Milo Burcham pointed out the error of my initial post, which said the bird is a buff-breasted sandpiper – Milo, of course, is correct, and I, of course, was wrong – the bird is a pectoral sandpiper. Thanks Milo.

Pacific Loon, Section 1002, ANWR, Alaska

4 Replies

Pacific Loon, Section 1002, ANWR, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Here’s a Pacific Loon image I got late one evening near the Canning River, on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, ANWR, Alaska. This photo took me quite a while, and a lot of walking, to swing. I think it was nearly 2am when I clicked the shutter here. I’d been over near this pond earlier, but not able to get close. I ended up walking around for a long time, finding a few other birds to photograph, and then cam back by the loon pond. This loon and its mate were getting more and more comfortable with this strange tripod-toting creature wandering around, and finally came close enough for me to manage a few photos. I wish the light was a little brighter, and the wind not present, as the rippled effect on the water isn’t as nice as a calmer surface, but one takes what one can in the arctic. At least the wind kept the bugs at bay.

Section 1002, the coastal plain, of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is the area hotly debated over with the proposals to drill for oil. I think the wildlife that live there, will be much better off if drilling and gas extraction aren’t allowed; I think we’ll be better off for it, too.

Cheers

Carl

Too cold for off-shore drilling

2 Replies

Testing the waters of the arctic ocean, ANWR, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Some of you may have read my recent piece on the proposals to drill for oil and gas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. You can read it here.

For those of you who aren’t aware, another hot issue with proposals to drill is the off-shore sites, in the arctic ocean. We were keen to explore this possibility as well, as the testing we did on the coastal plain really showed how magical this arctic oil is. However, howling winds and chilly temperatures proved that off-shore drilling simply isn’t possible.

Any deeper than this in the arctic ocean and nothing would be the same afterward.

So we said “No”, to off-shore drilling.

Cheers

Carl

Climbing in the Brooks Range, Alaska

3 Replies

Climbing on the Pipeline, Brooks Mountain Range, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

I just got back from a trip to Skolai Pass, in Wrangell-St. Elias, and we got SLAMMED by the weather. It was so ugly, I couldn’t help but feel bad for the people on the trip. I didn’t even take my camera out of the backpack the whole week. So I don’t have any images from this trip. That’s a first for me. Instead, I’ll post some more images from previous trips, including this one from our highly vaunted ANWR Drilling Trip earlier this month. I’m not going to say that this climbing around was my idea – and far be it for me to snitch, but I think you can tell from the looks of the 2 people with me that it was their responsibility – they literally forced me onto this pipeline for the photo. 🙂 🙂

Erika and Bob were great folks, and we had an excellent trip to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Cheers

Carl