Comments wendigo has made

  • Randy...

    ...Salazar has been on the pro-conservation side of forest issues in Colorado.  But he won't have input to U.S. Forest Service decisions, since USFS is part of USDA, not DOI.On Green groups divided over choice of Salazar to head Interior posted 11 months, 2 weeks ago 15 Responses

  • Good Pick

    I think Salazar is a good selection for head of DOI.  From a conservation point of view, I don't think we could have realistically expected better.

    We're never going to get a head of DOI that is completely green...it's just not going to happen, since part of the mandate of DOI includes mining and energy development.

    I'm a former constituent of Salazar.  Even got to meet and talk with him once when he was AG.  My impression of him was that he's smart and thinks before he speaks or acts.  He also opposed drilling on the Roan Plateau, was against "logging for water", helped protect in-stream flows for the Gunnison through the Black Canyon, recovered enough money from a bankrupt (and morally bankrupt) mining company to clean up the Summitville mining disaster, and created an environmental crimes unit under the office of the AG.

    My take is that, as head of DOI, he'll be similar to Bruce Babbitt regarding conservation issues.  So he may not be perfect, but he'll be a hell of a lot better than what we've had over the last 8 years.On Green groups divided over choice of Salazar to head Interior posted 11 months, 2 weeks ago 15 Responses

  • Go Grijalva

    I was at a conference a few years ago where the new Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) data was unveiled.  The keynote speaker noted that the most easily visible difference in the new data, compared to older data, was the missing mountain tops in Appalachia.  In other words, the most visible change to the earth's surface over the last few decades has been caused by MTR.  The
    scale of the damage is astounding.

    The smog around Shiprock, New Mexico is incredible.  There's no big city there; it all comes from the Four Corners Power Plant, which burns Black Mesa coal. So the Hopis and Navajos have been doubly screwed by coal...it's mined there and burned there.

    I think Grijalva would be an excellent choice to lead DOI.  He understands (and actually cares about) the problems caused by unchecked resource extraction.  His votes as a congressman have been consistently pro-conservation.  He has been an
    advocate for increased protections of and funding for public land (what a concept...public lands managed for the public, rather than corporations!).  He would be a vast improvement over the Watt-Norton-Kempthorne lineage, whose philosophy of plundering mountains, forests, deserts, and people has caused so much ruin.On The Black Mesa nightmare returns posted 11 months, 4 weeks ago 7 Responses

  • Bureau of Lame Management

    BLM doesn't even pretend to manage its land any more.  They are all about oil and gas leasing, and have been since the current administration took office.  The situation will not change until we get a new head of Interior.  Norton and Kempthorne have been disasters.

    Jabailo, your grand agrarian experiment has already been tried.  It's called Kansas, and it's not all that.On BLM proposes opening wilderness-y areas in Utah to oil and gas drilling posted 1 year, 1 month ago 5 Responses

  • Roadless Rule should stay

    Backcut, you appear to be attacking strawmen with sweeping generalizations.  Most mainstream environmental organizations either have scientists on staff, or consult with academia, in
    order to guide policy.  Nobody wants catastrophic fires any more than than they want clearcuts.

    Now, back to the topic...

    The Roadless Rule was the most-commented proposed action that USFS ever put forth.  It generated over a million public comments, 95 percent of them in favor of the rule.  The reasons for the
    rule were and still are scientifically sound.  Completely aside from logging, roads bring invasive species, increased fire danger, and habitat fragmentation to a forest.  It would be wise policy, for either presidential candidate, to leave the Roadless Rule intact.On Where the presidential candidates stand on public-lands issues posted 1 year, 1 month ago 27 Responses

  • grammatically incorrect?

    You don't troll for shrimp, you trawl for shrimp.  

    You can also troll for a troll.  It's easy and fun, like this:

    Boy, that Obama sure is great.  Hopefully he'll put an end to this hydrogen economy nonsense, and focus on controlling sprawl.On McCain's 'Farm and Ranch Team' is chock full of agribiz heavies posted 1 year, 1 month ago 8 Responses

  • why scientists aren't persuasive

    I think there are several contributing factors as to why scientists aren't more persuasive.  Off the top of my head:

    1.  The American public is largely science-illiterate.

    2.  People want easy answers.  Deniers give easy answers.  Scientists give complicated answers.

    3.  Scientists hesitate to use concrete words such as "will", and instead usually use less certain words like "may", because there is usually some amount of statistical uncertainty in any scientific study.  Deniers have no problem using concrete words to forward their agenda.

    4.  Most scientists are not very good at oratory (try staying awake at any scientific conference, even if you are interested in what is being presented).  Most (or at least many) deniers are windbags.

    5.  Our leaders over the past 8 years have been obviously and publicly anti-science.
    On Why scientists aren't more persuasive, part 1 posted 1 year, 2 months ago 12 Responses

  • to paraphrase from "Billy Madison"...

    "Ms. Palin, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul."On More Couric and Palin, on drilling and climate change posted 1 year, 2 months ago 29 Responses

  • on the bright side

    In the past, Denver Post and High Country News columnist Ed Quillen has noted that, during Republican administrations, the economy tends to tank, which means fewer people have money to build second homes in the west, which slows the pace at which forests get converted into suburbs.On Making environmental sense of the financial storm now raging posted 1 year, 2 months ago 4 Responses

  • Bureau of Lame Management

    The BLM under the Bush administration has become a pimp for the oil industry.  

    Funny how Republicans are all for states' rights, until a state (like Colorado) disagrees with their policies.  Most Coloradans do not want more industrial development on public lands in Colorado, but it is being forced down their throats by this administration and the BLM.On BLM finalizes plan for leasing oil shale in U.S. West posted 1 year, 2 months ago 10 Responses

  • NLCD

    The National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD) is derived from Landsat, and shows clearcuts as Class 33 (euphemistically referred to as "transitional").  A new published version of NLCD hasn't been produced in years, but I'm sure someone has done it unofficially...the scan line anomaly in Landsat 7 has been patched, and, as danielg7 notes, once the data is a few years old, it's free.On Google knows what you're doing posted 1 year, 2 months ago 13 Responses

  • no more drought problems?

    That's good to know.  Here in the southwest U.S., we've had a severe lack of rain for the last 9 years, but thank goodness we don't have to worry about drought.On Warming seas make strong storms stronger, says new study posted 1 year, 2 months ago 5 Responses

  • JeffID....

    The chart at the link you provided shows ice area this year slightly higher than last year, but it also shows the overall trend is downward over the last 30 years (the duration represented by the chart).On Earth hotter now than in past 2,000 years posted 1 year, 2 months ago 32 Responses

  • uh...what?

    Why would Democrats be at the RNC?  You do know that RNC stands for Republican National Convention, right?On Spotted in St. Paul today ... posted 1 year, 2 months ago 6 Responses

  • ...to say nothing of the toe-tapping festival...

    ...going on in the men's room stallsOn Spotted in St. Paul today ... posted 1 year, 2 months ago 6 Responses

  • geography 101...

    ...don't leave home without it.On A new Olympic record for retraction of a mistaken analysis of NSIDC data posted 1 year, 3 months ago 3 Responses

  • one of the worst ever at DOI has stepped down

    Paul Hoffman has stepped down:

    http://www.hcn.org/blogs/goat/not-a-moment-too-soon?utm_s ...

    This is the guy who not only did everything he could to undermine the ESA, he also proposed changing the mandate of the National Park Service from conservation to recreation...his version of recreation being dirt-biking and jet-skiing.On Sen. Boxer none too happy about feds' attack on ESA posted 1 year, 3 months ago 11 Responses

  • roads are the opposite of conservation

    Pathos, I realize you are trying to be fair-minded, which I appreciate.  But most USFS roads are built for access to timber sales.  In addition to logging, the roads themselves, either directly or indirectly, bring invasive weeds, increased fire danger, increased stream siltation (which leads to higher water temperatures less hospitable to salmon and trout), and, maybe most importantly, habitat fragmentation.  

    Many studies have shown that increasing road density directly correlates with decreasing animal populations, especially large mammals such as elk and bear (see http://gis.esri.com/library/userconf/proc96/TO450/PAP413/ ... for an example study).  Back in grad school, I did a study that showed a correlation between increased road density and decrease in quality of lynx habitat in Colorado, several years ago when CO was trying to re-establish lynx in the state.  

    There are plenty more studies available, but the point is that roads in a forest generally have a negative effect on the forest itself, and on the animals that live there.On Roadless rule shot down, again posted 1 year, 3 months ago 7 Responses

  • this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone

    The most evil administration in history is going to spend it's last days going all out to attack every environmental law it can.  They've got absolutely nothing to lose. On Green groups and Dems outraged by Bush admin's plan to loosen species protections posted 1 year, 3 months ago 7 Responses

  • yeah, it really burns me up...

    ...when those pesky animals interfere with my wildlife viewing.On Alaska claims protecting wildlife would hurt tourism posted 1 year, 3 months ago 2 Responses

  • suddenly, I have the urge...

    ...to drill here, and drill now!On The Hilton energy policy posted 1 year, 3 months ago 8 Responses

  • congratulations...

    ...but not every location is fortunate enough to have topography and weather patterns that inhibit smog, like the PS area does.  

    A good source for air quality readings for every metro area in the country is the EPA AirNow site:

    http://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.fcsummary

    This time of year, Houston is usually the worst, but fires are hitting California and North Carolina air quality hard at the moment.On EPA says climate change could worsen smog levels, extend smog season posted 1 year, 4 months ago 6 Responses

  • I love almonds, but...

    ...most of the almonds available in the U.S. come from industrial farms in the San Joaquin Valley.  These industrial farms require lots of irrigation to function.  The irrigation water is supplied by reservoirs in the western Sierra foothills.  These reservoirs were created by damming rivers such as the San Joaquin...rivers that used to host huge salmon runs that are now extinct.On The unshelled story on the nutty side of our food supply posted 1 year, 4 months ago 7 Responses

  • celebrate the return of 100-mile views...

    ...and the end of acid rain.On Landmark ruling halts Georgia coal plant on basis of CO2 emissions posted 1 year, 5 months ago 7 Responses

  • ORV damage

    Chip makes many valid and disturbing points.  The one that is already happening is the destruction caused by ORVs.  Southern Utah has been getting hit hard by illegal ORV use; it seems like everywhere you go in southern Utah there are tire tracks where there shouldn't be any.  I hope a new administration will fund the public land management agencies, particularly the BLM, to the point where there can be more patrols and enforcement.On Radioactive deja vu in the American West posted 1 year, 5 months ago 12 Responses

  • in an area that gets 6 inches of rain per year...

    ...the options as far as where bighorns could move to are very limited by where they can get water.  There are no permanent streams, or any permanent surface water, whether you move up or down in elevation.  All water for animals comes from springs or seeps.  

    You're right as far as speculation goes; all we have to go on are biological science (inexact) and past experience (probably a better predictor).  A good discussion of the problem was in the North County (San Diego) Times from earlier this year:

    http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/01/13/news/top_stori ...
    On Huge Calif. solar plant would run transmission lines through state park posted 1 year, 5 months ago 39 Responses

  • again, NOT just aesthetics

    Powerline corridors in heavily vegetated areas, like the northeast and midwest, provide "edge-effect" habitat for generalist species, such as deer, rabbits, turkeys, and even black bear to some extent (where they exist).  

    But desert bighorns are not generalists...they occupy very specific habitats, of which there are very few left.  They are also not a human-tolerant species...you don't see them in areas that are frequented by people, and you don't see them near roads, unless there is a high cliff above a road.  

    I live about 100 miles from the park, and visit there often.  You can see desert bighorns near seeps on inaccessible cliff faces in the backcountry, and they are normally clustered in these specific places.  If a powerline and associated road access is inserted into their habitat, they will be displaced.  This is a problem in the desert, since areas with suitable habitat and water are few and far between.  The mere act of building the power corridor may be enough to disrupt breeding or lambing, which could damage or eliminate a local herd.On Huge Calif. solar plant would run transmission lines through state park posted 1 year, 5 months ago 39 Responses

  • it's not just aesthetics...

    The proposed route would also run through endangered desert bighorn sheep habitat:

    http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-me-par ... On Huge Calif. solar plant would run transmission lines through state park posted 1 year, 5 months ago 39 Responses

  • response to canis and wolverine

    Canis:  Tribes can set there own rules about access to their land, and the rules can vary widely, and change with new tribal adminstrations.  Here in southern CA, where I now live, the Agua Caliente tribe near Palm Springs allows unguided access to their tribal park, Indian Canyons, for a fee.  You are not allowed to camp or backpack, the fee is only for the day.  Across I-10, the Morongo tribe has built a giant casino on their land (it is the only structure visible from the top of Mt. San Gorgonio, the highest point in southern CA).  The Morongo reservation also abuts San Bernardino National Forest, and the newest tribal administration has cut off access to the SBNF...no non-tribal members are allowed to travel anywhere on the reservation other than the casino, which has cut off public access from the south.  I fear this could be the fate of the Stronghold unit.  I could be wrong, and I hope I am.

    Wolverine:  You seem to jump to conclusions that are black-and-white; the world is much more complicated than you make it.  I myself have distant Cree ancestors; my wife is 1/4 Sioux (don't get offended, that is the term she uses, rather than Lakota), her grandfather on her mother's side (now deceased) being full-blood.  Neither one of us wants the possibility of national park land being closed to most citizens of the U.S.  And no, neither one of us are "invaders"; we were born here, as were our ancestors, both white and Native American.On NPS considers returning half of Badlands National Park to Oglala Sioux posted 1 year, 5 months ago 16 Responses

  • what's being overlooked...

    ...is the fact that, as of now, with the land in NPS hands, anyone can go there, including tribal members.  If the land were transferred to the tribe, it would be off-limits to everyone except tribal members.  Even if it became a tribal park, if the tribe followed the lead of other tribes, it would require hiring a tribal guide (and paying for it) to access the land.

    I don't take this lightly.  As a former resident of South Dakota, and frequent visitor to Badlands NP, I value the freedom that the wide-open spaces of Badlands provides.  It's not even that difficult to explore the trail-less areas like the Stronghold unit, and the wildlife is incomparable...more buffalo than you can see anywhere else.  Cutting off access to more than half of the park is to benefit the few at the expense of the many.On NPS considers returning half of Badlands National Park to Oglala Sioux posted 1 year, 5 months ago 16 Responses

  • a bad precedent

    Turning public land over to what amounts to a private group is a terrible precedent to set, and seems like a slippery slope.  A better option would be continued co-management, with perhaps greater input from the tribe.On NPS considers returning half of Badlands National Park to Oglala Sioux posted 1 year, 5 months ago 16 Responses

  • geographic content

    How about more geographic content?  Most of Grist's items include a geographic component...let's see on a globe or map where mountain-top removal is occuring, where coal-fired power plant pollution is likely to impact, the extent of arctic ice, etc., maybe even in 3D, if applicable to the article.On Grist is cooking up a new site; what do you want to see in it? posted 1 year, 6 months ago 32 Responses

  • you are so right, jabailo!

    It is going to be most excellent to be able to afford cheap Gulf Coast property in Memphis!  Surf's up!  WAY up!On Polar-bear listing would hurt the poor, says industry posted 1 year, 6 months ago 19 Responses

  • no trend in a natural system...

    ...is ever completely linear.  Why would anyone expect global warming to be?On Global temps may drop this year but, alas, world still warming posted 1 year, 7 months ago 132 Responses

  • great news

    Wolverines are native to the Sierras.  My guess is that a remnant population has managed to survive, and the photo shows one of them.  On First wolverine in 30 years spotted in California posted 1 year, 9 months ago 21 Responses

  • if at first you don't succeed...

    Hansen is the most visible face of climate-change science.  His career and credentials are impeccable, so the only way those with a vested interest in continuing the status quo can try to bring him down is by throwing out one red herring after another.  Even though none of them are legitimate, it is their hope that by associating Hansen's name with one made-up scandal after another, over a period of time, the public and lawmakers will eventually have a lower opinion of him, and so be less likely to listen to him.  It's a good strategy.  It's also dishonest.On Hansen's response to a claim that he accepted money from George Soros posted 2 years, 2 months ago 7 Responses

  • know your sources

    The Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change (www.co2science.org) is staffed by a single family, and funded by Exxon.  Not surprising what their conclusions are.

    http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Center_for_the ...

    http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Craig_IdsoOn Hansen erroneously accused of predicting an ice age posted 2 years, 2 months ago 39 Responses

  • invalid arguments

    jbailo says:

    "By then we'll know more about cosmological factors influence climate far more than the works of man, who is merely influenced...not the influencer of climate!"

    And:

    "There is a third "kind" -- those who think that the Warming is beneficial and that absolutely nothing needs to be done except to enjoy it."

    These indicate that your mind is already made up, and facts will not change it, which seems to be a pattern among most, if not all, climate-change deniers.  Of course, climate-change does not require adherence to, or denial of, the science in order to happen, any more than gravity does.  All we have is the best and most up-to-date science available, and we can choose to make a decision based on that science, or not.
    On Hansen erroneously accused of predicting an ice age posted 2 years, 2 months ago 39 Responses

  • Hansen Supports Svensmark?

    Uh, yeah...climate science has advanced in the 9 years since this paper was written.  The uncertainty about whether anthropogenic forcings can completely offset GHGs is now a certainty...and the conclusion of more up-to-date science is that they cannot.  When thousands of scientists study something full-time for 9 years, the science advances.On Hansen erroneously accused of predicting an ice age posted 2 years, 2 months ago 39 Responses

  • swift boat idiots

    It seems that people (the swift boaters and some people who responded to the above excerpt) have misconstrued Hansen's explanation, either intentionally or unintentionally.

    Hansen didn't invent Mie scattering code.  It is simply an algorithm that is, and has been, used to remove interference from light-scattering particles.  It is also used in remote sensing, to remove atmospheric "noise" from satellite images, so that a truer picture of whatever is being studied emerges (think of it as a filter).  Hansen simply took the algorithm and wrapped it in a useable computer program, which Rasool then used in his study (many scientists are not programmers, and so rely on others to implement algorithms in code).

    So, basically, Hansen never "changed sides".  He lent a computer program to a fellow scientist, who then used it in his own study.  

    Let me give you an analogy.  Does the fact that most scientific papers are typed in Microsoft Word make Bill Gates complicit in all these analyses?  Of course not.On Hansen erroneously accused of predicting an ice age posted 2 years, 2 months ago 39 Responses