The fantastic production work of the government-produced Yosemite Nature Notes has done more to restore my faith in the federal government than anything else in recent years. Their latest is Sky Islands, a look at the rare plant colonies that live in isolation atop high, flat plateaus of the Sierra Nevada.
Nick Kristof of The New York Times has a handy Op-Ed piece that seeks to remind Americans that getting outside isn’t a bad idea. If you can get past his Humblebrags about taking his family on a forced Pacific Crest Trail march you’ll hear all about Rich Louv’s books that nature can provide a balancing force in our lives. Of course this is something all of you have known for ages - it’s the “I have to get out this weekend” phrase that many of us who work in desk jobs find ourselves uttering aloud by Tuesday afternoon. Kristof does make another good point: The more people we get outdoors, the more advocates we’ll have for nature and the planet’s wild places, which is why the park service needs to shift from merely conserving nature to convincing people to get out and use it. I’m going to apply to be the first Park Service Advertising Ranger. I hope they don’t make we wear the ranger outfit while I work on my Mac all day.
At an early morning gathering at the Grand Teton National Park visitor center auditorium a man grabbed a seat in the front row and plopped down onto a can of bear spray. The stuff discharged into the room and the local ranger evacuated the auditorium and called for backup. The center’s ventilation system carried the spray into the lobby and gift shop, and when backup arrived they found about 20 people in the building dealing with side effects. The gift shop goods were bagged to deal with the contaminants at a later date, and the park is airing out their lobby and trying to get the pepper spray out of the furniture. The man who sat on the spray jumped up and ran out of the auditorium at top speed the moment it happened, and the rangers have been unsuccessful in location him.
Photo by Melensdad
Wyoming’s governor is calling for more snowmobiles to be granted access to Yellowstone? It must be fall. Calling on his extraordinary expertise on Yellowstone and ecology, Gov. Matt Mead pulled the number 540 snowmobiles per day out of thin air. While the NPS conducts another impact study, the current limit is about 330 snowmobiles and 80 ‘snowcoaches’ per day. I’m not sure what a ‘snowcoach is, but based on a quick search it’s either a covered, tow-behind sled or a huge snowbus from the 1960s. Regardless, all look like they would do a wonderful job terrorizing Yellowstone wildlife.
Authorities in Yellowstone have trapped a 420-pound grizzly at the site of the fatal mauling of a man from Michigan. It was the second fatal mauling in Yellowstone, though the first bear was allowed to survive since rangers determined it was a defensive attack. The recently trapped bear has had hair samples taken and then it was fixed with a radio collar and released. A lab is running the DNA and comparing it to grizzly hair found on the scene of the mauling. If there’s a match, they’ll use the radio collar to find the bear and kill it. It’s a smart solution; otherwise they just kill the animal and never really know if they caught the right one.
