I am proud to live in the beautiful State of Oregon. My family and I enjoy our natural surroundings and lovely forests. To walk amongst the great trees brings my heart so much joy! It would be a terrible tragedy to destroy the delicate ecosystem in which we Oregonians have fought so hard to protect. Please read the letter below from Oregon Wild to see the danger our Oregon forests face today…

Dear Teri,

Last fall, we told you about Oregon’s 10 Most Endangered Places. Coming in at #8 on the list were the Tillamook and Clatsop State Forests, threatened by a proposal to ramp up clear-cut logging.

Now, the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) is set to approve this logging increase, and they need to hear from you! Tell them our state forests are vital for the salmon, wildlife, clean water, and recreational opportunities they provide!

Write a letter to ODF today and tell them to protect clean water, salmon, and recreation opportunities in our state forests.

Oregon prides itself on protecting its natural heritage, but what is being done to our state forests should be an embarrassment to every Oregonian. Instead of a legacy of abundant wildlife and clean water, we are leaving our children a heritage of clear cuts, mud slides, and wrecked rivers.

For decades, all forests in Oregon (including the Tillamook, Clatsop, Elliot, and Santiam state forests) were managed primarily for industrial timber production. As a result, most of our old-growth is gone and the species that rely on complex native forests are still vanishing.

Finally, in the 1990s, forest managers began using science to determine how their logging activities would impact things like salmon populations and water quality. Not surprisingly, clear-cutting doesn’t do wildlife and favors and doesn’t keep streams more pristine. Recognizing this, ODF refocused some of their management plans towards restoring more old-growth forest habitat, calling for an even 50/50 split between timber emphasis and forest protection.

Now, they plan to do away with any sense of balance and ramp up clear-cutting on up to 70 percent of State Forest land.

We need to tell them that protecting only 30 percent of our state forests isn’t enough. Write a letter before the January 29th comment deadline here.

With approximately 50% of Oregon’s forests in private hands (and subject to a constant rotation of industrial logging), it is imperative that we protect the small portion of forest land that we all own as Oregonians.

Thanks for standing up for the Tillamook and other state forests.

For wild forests,
Sean Stevens
Communications Associate
Oregon Wild

Salmon survival is at stake in the ODF decision to ramp up clear-cutting. (photo courtesy Wild Salmon Center)

Mitaku ye oyasin (All my relations)… I would like to pass along a very important message, from a sister who walks the Lakota path as I do, concerning our Sacred Earth. Prayers are needed, as well as action from those who know what to do, to help save the land from unnecessary desecration. Please look into your hearts and find the time to send out a message to preserve our lands… Pilama ye for your time in this urgent matter.

“Good Morning,

Carolyn Gray”

EarthWorks takes Action

Rio Tinto and BHP – Billiton have created a subsidiary that is proposing to mine a rich copper vein more than 7,000 feet below sea level east of Superior, Arizona. As a first step, Rio Tinto is currently shopping around a land exchange bill that would end an executive order banning mining from Oak Flat Campground and privitize more that 3,000 acres of public land.

Concerned citizens are worried about the loss of Oak Flat Campground, a very popular recreation area. Birders, climbers, campers, canyoneers, bikers, and hikers enjoy the area throughout the year, all of whom would be greatly harmed if these lands were forever taken from public access. Western Apache people have traditionally used the area for cultural, spiritual, and subsistance. The land exchange would include Apache Leap, a cliff where more than 80 Apache warriors chose to leap to their deaths rather than surrender to the US calvary.

Both the San Carlos Apache Tribe and the White Mountain Apache Tribe has passed unanimous reslutions opposing the mine and land exchange. In addition, the Concerned Citizens and Retired Miners Association in Superior, AZ has been meeting regularly opposing the land exchange and is circulating a petition.

In the next few weeks, the U.S. Forest Service plans to reopen a
road that runs through the heart of grizzly bear habitat in
Wyoming’s Sweetwater Valley.

Please go to www.savebiogems.org/bears/takeaction and urge the
Forest Service to keep the road permanently closed.

With encroaching development on nearby lands, the Sweetwater
Valley — inside the Shoshone National Forest — has become a
secure oasis for threatened and imperiled wildlife.

In the eight years that the road has been closed, an abundance
of wildlife has thrived here, including grizzly bears, wolves,
lynx, cougars and moose.

In fact, grizzlies that have just come out of hibernation are
grazing right now on grass and other plants found in the valley.

There is no rationale for the Forest Service’s proposal to
reopen the road, which leads nowhere and has languished for
years. Reopening the road would only disturb and threaten the
Sweetwater Valley’s wilderness and wildlife.

Please go to www.savebiogems.org/bears/takeaction right away and
urge the Forest Service to leave the road closed. Time is
running out, as forest officials plan to reopen the road in the
next few weeks.

Thank you for taking action to protect our remaining western
wildlands.

Why is it that we have such a sneaky and conniving President? One would think that our President would have the greater good of the planet, as well as the people in mind when making important and far reaching decisions. To rape and plunder the Earth is a crime beyond belief, and I feel quite strongly about our wild and natural places enough to declare my outrage in hearing about the Bush administrations latest travesty against nature. I firmly believe we have at our disposal the intelligence and scientific data that can give us a solution to our supposed fuel issues, which will keep nature in balance and free from pollution and destruction.

Phew! Here I am again feeling like I am running against the wind, and I am quite distressed at the lack of intelligence and foresight our President and his administration present in their crimes against nature, and the people they are supposed to take care of. Well I will not turn a blind eye, and I do feel it is all of our responsibility to steward this planet with compassion, wisdom and common sense. We can survive without turning the world upside down, and greed just begets greed, no matter how you look at it. These people who think to reshape this planet and harvest all of her resources will be gone soon enough, and what will be left? I do care what our planet becomes, as well as loving all the beautiful wild places that this Earth has for us to enjoy.

I wanted to share a message from a fellow Earth lover, and I did not want to take away from the original content as written by Robert Redford. Please read the following and add your voice in objection if you feel as so many do about this underhanded tactic…

Dear Teri,

No one voted on Election Day to hand over Utah’s Redrock wilderness to oil companies.

But the Bush Administration cynically chose that very day to advance an outrageous plan that will sell off leases for some 300,000 acres of spectacular Utah canyonlands to oil and gas speculators.

While America was voting for Barack Obama and his vision of a clean energy future, Bush and Cheney’s underlings were conspiring to plunder one of the crown jewels of our natural heritage for their fossil fuel cronies.

Please register your own opposition right now.

The auction of Redrock country will take place on December 19. At stake are world-renowned vistas near Canyonlands and Arches National Parks, as well as near Dinosaur National Monument. The highest bidders will earn the right to turn vast tracts of pristine wilderness into industrial wastelands.

It’s bad enough that Bush officials went behind the backs of the American people with this disastrous scheme. But what’s worse, they didn’t even tell their own National Park Service until after the fact.

In my mind, this theft of our heritage goes beyond the cynical — it’s criminal. What will be left to give to our children and their children if we allow this administration, in a parting shot, to destroy our legacy of public lands for short-term gain?

I hope you’re as angry as I am about this blatant land grab, because we’ve got to stop it — and we have to act fast. The NRDC Action Fund is mobilizing more than one million Americans in an outpouring of protest over the coming days.

Send your own message of opposition immediately. Tell the Bush Administration that you will not allow it to destroy one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

We’ll automatically send copies of your message to your two senators, your representative and to the Obama transition team, which has signaled their opposition to this disastrous attack on our Redrock heritage.

The Bush Administration is racing to complete the auction of our lands before Inauguration Day, which will make sales difficult to reverse.

We must fend off this land grab now — before the oil and gas companies can lay claim to the spoils.

Those spoils include stretches of Desolation Canyon, which has been proposed for national park status. Bush’s own Interior Department describes the canyon as “a place where a visitor can experience true solitude — where the forces of nature continue to shape the colorful, rugged landscape.”

The very idea of oil and gas operations invading these remote sanctuaries — which have remained untouched for millennia — is deeply upsetting. Once the dirty deed is done, our wilderness can never be restored. That’s why I’m asking you to help us sound the alarm and organize now.

Tell the Bush Administration to cancel the Redrock auction. Remind them that we the people are the rightful owners of this majestic wilderness and that we won’t stand for its destruction.

And thank you for joining with me and the NRDC Action Fund to save these beautiful wildlands for all future generations.

Sincerely,

Robert Redford
NRDC Action Fund

P.S. After you send your own message of protest, I’ll let you know of an easy way to spread the word to your friends and family. With only 10 days to mobilize one million Americans, I’m counting on you to rally everyone you know to speak out and save this precious wilderness from destruction.

Whilst searching for great places to visit and explore in England, I discovered the Brimham Rocks. Situated on a hill overlooking Summerbridge and Lower Nidderdale, Brimham Rocks are a series of fantastically shaped Millstone Grit outcrops, sculptured by erosion during the last ice age. Although technically outside of the Yorkshire Dales national park boundary, Nidderdale has been designated as an “Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty” and has every right to be included in any definition of the “classical” Yorkshire Dales.

There are many variations of rock formations, caused by the Millstone Grit being eroded by water, glaciation and wind, most of which have achieved amazing shapes. Many of the formations have been named, though some imagination is required and the correct viewing angle is helpful. Examples are The Sphinx, The Watchdog, The Camel, The Turtle and The Dancing Bear. If you wish to enjoy the view, the property is open all year around; typically from 8 a.m. until dusk. These are indeed quite fantastic works of art formed by nature and adding a beautiful and wonderous image to the landscape of Mother Earth.

In honor of my love for nature and all things natural, I am always curious to find places which represent the natural world in ways meant to benefit all, while providing quality education to help nurture a love of the wonders of nature in children. It is so very important to allow these young minds a chance to explore their natural environments, while encouraging them to learn how they too can become responsible and good stewards.

I would like to take this moment to direct those who feel as I do to a wonderful place which opened to the public on March 11th, 2008. Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center really impressed me with their history, as well as their current mission. Originally developed more than 60 years ago, through the vision of H.J Lutcher Stark, a prominent philanthropist who resided in Orange, Texas. Inspired by the mystical retreat represented in the book Lost Horizon, Stark sought to create his own haven of indescribable beauty where time would stand still. His vision became a reality in 1937 when he began creating Shangri-La Botanical Gardens within significant acreage owned by him along Adams Bayou in his hometown of Orange, Texas. Shangri La Gardens and Nature Center represents a place of enlightenment, peace and beauty.

Nestled within 252 acres in the heart of Orange, Texas, Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center is the first project in Texas and the 50th project in the world to earn the U.S. Green Building Council’s Platinum certification for LEED®-NC, which verifies the design and construction of Shangri La reached the highest green building and performance measures.

As one of the most earth-friendly projects in the world, Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center offers a glimpse of how people can live in harmony with nature. The combination of gardens and nature at Shangri La presents a serene oasis for retreat and renewal, as well as the opportunity to explore, discover and learn. I strongly encourage you to visit the Shangri La website to learn more about the wondrous history, the tragic events which caused this beautiful place to close down for 50 years, and the current mission of this magical place of nature. You will discover an ancient Pond Cyprus tree which is at least 1,200 years old, situated within Shangri La. Don’t miss this! I will be taking my daughter on a visit real soon, you can be most certain.

Please take a few moments to read this very important message…

The Bush administration wants to sacrifice some of the wildest regions of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming to produce fuel from two of the most polluting sources: oil shale and tar sands.

This proposed development — spanning an area of more than two million acres of wildlife habitat and outstanding recreation areas across three states — could pollute air and water, jeopardize human health and dramatically worsen global warming.

Please go to http://www.savebiogems.org/yellowstone/takeaction and tell the Bush administration to protect these sensitive wildlands for future generations and promote cleaner sources of energy instead.

Oil shale is rock that produces oil when heated to extreme temperatures. Tar sands contain extremely heavy oil mixed with sand and clay. Tar sands development in Canada has displaced wildlife, created toxic waste sites that go on for miles and generated three times the amount of global warming pollution per barrel produced as conventional fuel.

We must act now to shield our own western wildlands from thisnightmare scenario. Oil shale and tar sands development could release dangerous toxic elements such as arsenic, selenium, and boron into the Colorado River watershed — a vital source of drinking water for local communities.

This area is also home to mule deer, elk, mountain lions, black bears, bald eagles and great horned owls and offers exceptional outdoor recreation opportunities.

Go to http://www.savebiogems.org/yellowstone/takeaction and tell the Bush administration to put the brakes on dirty oil shale and tar sands development in America’s West.

Thank you for helping to save our last western wildlife habitats from destructive development.

In our fight to save Earth’s wild creatures, we are faced with many battles. I will never tire of this worthwhile cause… yet I sometimes wonder if time is our greatest enemy. Time is running out for the beautiful and wild Polar Bears in the Chukchi Sea. Yet truly time is not THE enemy of those who wish to live as Nature intended. Year after year, President Bush has called for harmful drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, one of the most important onshore denning habitats for U.S. polar bears. Earlier this month, his Secretary of the Interior approved the sale of drilling rights in the Chukchi Sea, potentially threatening even more bears with pollution, spills and disruptive activities.

What does George Bush have against polar bears?

The Bush/Cheney Administration’s own scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey say that global warming and habitat loss could lead polar bears to extinction in the U.S. by 2050. Yet, the president said little in last night’s State of the Union about what — if anything — his administration would be doing to prevent their extinction.

It is so very important to place this matter on high priority. Please visit Defenders of Wildlife and take the time to send a personalized message urging President Bush and his administration to do the following…

~ Direct the Fish and Wildlife Service to immediately list polar bears as “Threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. The decision on listing has already been delayed once. It’s time for President to act.
~ Abandon plans to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and
~ Protect polar bears by scrapping the planned February 6th sale of leasing rights to drill for oil and gas drilling rights in the Chukchi Sea.

Our fellow Polar Bears are quickly running out of time. I am sending my own personalized message right this moment, and I strongly urge you to follow my example and Take Action Today!

Thank you so much for your support and thoughts for this important cause in helping to protect our four legged friends. We are nearly halfway there… let it be known how precious and sacred ALL Life is, and let your voice be heard!

Save the Polar Bear with us at Defenders of Wildlife

These are some examples of nature persevering despite the war we have waged against her. These plants/trees are this planets oldest living companions. They witnessed Earth in her most pure form, long before the ravages of man blistered and scarred her once beautiful face. And now they bear witness to humanity as we cut down the very air we breath to build our temples and monuments. I can only hope that when the last of mankind has realized his mortality…there is mercy.
~Hiyon Zunshyne

Kings Holly:

1997; King’s Holly (Lomatia tasmanica)
Found in the rainforests of Tasmania. Scientists estimated the age of the plant using a nearby fossil of an identical plant. It was found to be over 43,000 years old! The plants appear to be sterile – incapable of producing flowers and viable seeds. Lomatia is triploid, that is, it has three sets of chromosomes instead of two. Because of this it is unable to sexually reproduce. The clonal thickets reproduce vegetatively by root suckering. Fossil leaves found in a late Pleistocene deposit may be genetically identical to present-day plants. The plant is a rare freak of nature whose origins and age are as yet unknown.

Box Huckleberry :

August, 1999; Box Huckleberry (Gaylussacia brachycera)
Researchers in Pennsylvania have discovered a living plant that is a remnant of the last Ice Age. Using the known rate of growth if this self-sterile plant, they estimated that this 1/4-acre colony is over 13,000 years old. Researchers are still trying to verify the growth rate to determine is that age is an accurate measure.

Mongarlowe Mallee:

March, 2004; (Eucalyptus recurva)
Also known as “Mongarlowe Mallee” or “Ice Age Gum” it is the rarest Eucalypt in Australia or the world, and is known from only 5 individual specimens. Scientists in Australia are undertaking analyses to determine the exact age of one specimen that is estimated to be 13,000 years old. This aging method also relies on determining the plant’s growth rate. Scientists are stilly verifying the growth and performing genetic analyses of neighboring specimens to determine if they are from the same organism.

Creosote Bush:

April, 1980; Creosote bush (Larrea tridentata)
Scientists discovered a giant, and very ancient clone of the creosote bush in the Mojave Desert in California they estimated to be between 11,000 and 12,000 years old.

Prometheus:

1964; Bristlecone Pine (A.K.A.~Prometheus)
Prometheus, an ancient Bristlecone Pine was discovered to be among one of the oldest living trees on earth by Donald R. Curry during the summers of 1963 and 1964. In a ridiculous self-serving attempt to “prove” this, during the summer the United States Congress debated and passed the Wilderness Act of 1964, he managed to reduce the once mighty Prometheus to nothing more than a dead stump. He did this with the assistance of Donald Cox, the Forest Service District Ranger! Prometheus was later determined to be 5,100 years old. The oldest known living thing on Earth at the time. One small step for science, one giant leap for human ignorance!

Methuselah:

Methuselah (estimated germination 2832 BC)
Great Basin Bristlecone Pine (Pinus longaeva) in the White Mountains of California, which was 4,789 years old when sampled in 1957 by Schulman and Harlan. It is the oldest non-clonal living organism still alive, at the age of about 4,839 years old. Located in the “Forest of Ancients” in the Methuselah Grove at between 2,900–3,000 m above sea level, its exact location is currently undisclosed to the public as a protection against vandalism.

Lets hope she never falls prey to the fate of Prometheus.