First Moments in Minnesota: Water, Trees, Birds
After a long drive through the undulating and barren Dakotas, I arrived in Minnesota. Verdant plains, stubbled with ash, cottonwood, and maple, gave way to rolling hills that were blanketed with white and red pine, balsam firs, red cedars and juniper, and a myriad of deciduous trees…and lakes. Coming from the xeric Front Range of … Read more
Monoculture
http://blog.sustainablog.org/monoculture-agriculture/ Overview: Monocultures have been around for thousands of years, and in fact they were prohibited in Hebrew Scriptures. Polycultures were done to improve resilience in the agriculture system, and crop rotations were performed to ease the stress on the soil and added nutrients to the soil. With the advent of industrial agriculture new methods … Read more
Oh my-cology! How shrooms will save the planet
A Jerry Garcia look-a-like proposes a solution to save the planet by using fungi, specifically Mycelium. He surveys the history of the fungi and speaks to its ability to both precede all other forms of life on earth and outlive all other species after a catastrophe (asteroid, volcano, oil spill, all other causes of mass … Read more
Timber Industry Perspective and Definition of Pine Beetle Kill
Timber Industry Perspective and Definition We of the Timber Industry acknowledge that the Mountain Pine Beetle is a native predator of our forests and, as such, their invasions upon pine forests will be expected and seen as a natural occurrence. But this is not the current problem in the U.S. or Colorado. The underlying problem … Read more
Conservationist Definition of Pine Beetle Kill
Conservationism perspective in general: As a conservation biologist I am most interested in humans’ proper ethical role in nature- which by definition is to repair damage and restore lost harmonies. This is done predominantly through restoration and conservation projects, such as managing the impact man has had on nature, managing natural resources and preventing hazards. … Read more
Timber Industry Pine Beetle Management Recomendations
The Timber Industry and the Pine Beetle In a document titled “After the Beetles”, the Colorado Timber Industry Association proposes a three step strategy to address the pine beetle epidemic in Colorado forests. “ Regenerate the affected timberlands Reduce fire risks in adjacent to private lands Implement strategically located firebreaks” ( coloradotimber.org) CTIA proposes that … Read more
Mountain Pine Beetle Preservation Management Suggestion
Because Wilderness Areas–and other forms of preserved landscapes–are outside the realm of human intervention, anthropogenic disturbances does not necessitate management by humans. The question, then, is not, “How do we manage these issues?”, but rather, “How do we appropriately mitigate their occurrences in the first place?” This means tightening regulations on surrounding landscapes that are … Read more
Mountain Pine Beetle: Preservation Perspective
As a preservationist, my landscape management philosophy is that Nature is capable of managing itself and that human intervention further imposes our ideals and our knowledge/science upon the landscape. Nature is prior to our ideals and science and, thus, with the preservation of areas as Wilderness, we allow Nature to carry on as it has … Read more
Pine Beetle Outbreak: Rocky Mountain National Park
This documentary on Rocky Mountain National Park, gives a very good overview about the current outbreak of the Mountain Pine Beetle. He explains that historically outbreaks of this insect are normal, but not at the current scale. He describes this outbreak of the Pine Beetle as the perfect storm, because of warmer winters and hotter … Read more
Biodiversity begins with a B
An interesting video targeted towards younger audiences:
