Report #29 - 31 August 2009

This week's episode takes a very different approach to a report from the mountains. Massive changes are occurring here in the northern Rockies (and everywhere on Earth) that no one has the luxury of ignoring. It may well be that we are the generation of which future generations will say, "they were the ones who had the courage to stand up and change things" -- or future generations will say nothing, because they won't exist, because we weren't all that courageous after all.

There are two kinds of deniers of human-caused global warming: those who profit, directly or indirectly, from the industrial processes that are at the heart of the problem; and those who allow themselves to be misled by the former. There are no deniers who are independent, reputable, informed, and honest scientists.

(See http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070202-global-warming.html
http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=1011
http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/global_warming_worldbook.html)

Here in the mountains of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (G.Y.E.), global warming has allowed an unprecedented rise in mountain pine beetle infestation of the whitebark pine forest -- a forest-type that thrives at an altitude historically too-cold for the beetles. The trees are dying at a visibly-increasing rate. A couple years ago, I could find a few scattered red spots on the mountains beyond the Grizfork Studio. This year, these areas have grown to nearly half of some mountains.

In the G.Y.E., the seeds of these trees provide the most important food source for the grizzly bear. The devastating effect of losing these trees wasn't taken fully into account when the Bush Administration made the rash and politically-based decision to remove the Yellowstone grizzly from the endangered species list. Obama promised science-based decision making, but apparently DOI Director Ken Salazar missed that memo: the Grizzly has been kept off the list.

Here's what the experts have to say:

http://www.counterpunch.org/peacock08272009.html
http://www.onearth.org/article/bear-versus-beetle

A petition to relist the grizzly has been authored by grizzly expert/activist and writer Doug Peacock and co-sponsored by author Carl Hiaasen and actor Michael Keaton. Please take a moment to read and sign this important statement.

The poem I selected to back up this issue is called "Farm Work," and tells the story of the rapid decline and extinction of the passenger pigeon. A victim of human short-sightedness and greed. Unfortunately, one of many such victims; and it's sometimes very difficult to make the case that we have learned anything from our mistakes.

I realize that this week's episode is quite different from what you've heard so far, and possibly a little hard to take. Please indulge me, though: this is too important to ignore, and we must stay aware that in order to enjoy the beauty and mystery of the wild places, we must be vigilant in our defense of them.

The music for this week is "Park Avenue Petite" from Meet the Jazztet by Art Farmer w/ Benny Golson, featuring Farmer on trumpet, Golson on tenor sax, Curtis Fuller on trombone, McCoy Tyner on piano, Addison Farmer on bass, and Lex Humphries on drums.

Listen to the episode here:
Report #29