Conserving Public Lands

Speaking of public lands, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (WSDNR) announced on August 26 a new approach to forest management that will help conserve public forests in the state.

After I wrote my last two blog entries about the threats posed to public lands by private interests and the need to preserve those lands, the announcement from WSDNR that it will conserve 77,000 acres of forest owned by the state, including all remaining 10,000 acres of older forest, called for a third post.

In the past, WSDNR has often sided with private interests in the choices it's made about Washington's forests, meaning Tuesday's announcement represented a substantial and welcome shift in policy. As my earlier posts argued, a renewed effort to protect public lands is much needed these days, so WSDNR's new policy comes at a crucial time. It's a big win for environmental advocates and defenders of the public good, and hopefully, it's a step toward a better future.

Conserving the forests covered by the new policy also helps address global warming. The older forests can store carbon, and they give WSDNR the ability to sell carbon credits, proving that protecting public lands pays off environmentally and economically.

I wish to thank WSDNR and Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove for instituting this policy. Upthegrove became commissioner in January after winning election in November 2024, and so far, he has demonstrated the vision and courage to lead the department and defend public lands. Thank you for protecting the public interest through conservation.

Changing our Parameters

As I followed the news of the terrible wildfires in Los Angeles, I thought back to reading How Nature Speaks: The Dynamics of the Human Ecological Condition and its definition of nature.

According to Yrjö Haila and Chuck Dyke, the editors of the book, nature is the parameters of what is possible. The Los Angeles fires and their devastation suggested to me new parameters for what is possible and what is not possible.

It is pretty clear that we can and have changed what is possible in terms of wildfires, droughts, and storms. By releasing tons of greenhouse gases, we have warmed the planet, expanding the parameters and therefore the power and impacts of such phenomena.

In return, our expansion of these parameters has received a response from the phenomena. As Haila and Dyke would argue, our actions sent a message to the climate, and the climate engaged with that communication through its parameters. Specifically, the climate is now putting tighter limits on where and how we can live. The increased likelihood and strength of climate-related disasters means that humans will have to adjust to these new parameters. Some areas will likely no longer support the population sizes they once did; others may prove entirely incapable of fostering human life.

We've changed the parameters for nature, and that includes ourselves.

The Lessons of Initiative 2117's Blowout Loss

If the national Democratic Party cares about winning, it should take a look at the November 2024 election results from Washington state, especially the defeat of Initiative 2117, a proposed repeal of the state's cap on greenhouse gas emissions. 

In an election when most Democrats across the United States struggled, and Republicans took control of the presidency as well as both chambers of Congress, Washington state stood out because of its successes by Democrats and progressive legislation. Washington Democrats won every statewide race handily and increased their majorities in the state House and Senate. In addition, three of the four initiatives backed by wealthy conservatives to repeal progressive legislation went up in flames: An initiative to repeal the state's new capital gains tax received just 36 percent of the vote, another initiative that would have made the state's long-term care insurance optional lost with only 45 percent of the vote, and I-2117 barely reached 38 percent support. Only an initiative to prevent natural gas energy from being disincentivized passed with a slim margin of 3.42 percentage points. That initiative's constitutionality is already being challenged in court.

All told, the legislation Washington Democrats passed to address global warming, wealth inequality, and health care received resounding support, and voters rewarded the party by overwhelmingly backing its candidates for elected office as well. Given that legislation on those three issues consistently receives majority support nationwide, Democrats across the country would do well to take notice of the results in Washington.

The national Democratic Party should also look closer at the results of I-2117. It failed in even traditionally conservative counties, and in the counties where it passed, the margin was unexpectedly close. In only a few counties did it even reach 60 percent support.

How did the climate legislation that I-2117 sought to repeal achieve such thorough support across the state? Answer: The legislation turned the funds from the program's cap-and-invest system into projects that benefitted communities all over Washington. These projects helped those communities prepare for global warming's impacts, including wildfires and extreme weather, and they created local jobs. In other words, the legislation addressed an important issue by making a direct and positive impact on a large number of people. When it came time to vote on the initiative that would have repealed the legislation, the people joined in the campaign against the initiative and voted no. While they were voting against the initiative, they also voted for the candidates from the party who had passed the climate legislation.

That's how a party wins elections: They make a positive impact on people's lives. The question is does the national Democratic Party really want to win?

No on Initiative 2117

In recent years, I've gravitated more toward direct action than politics, but every once in a while, something important comes up in politics that requires attention, and Initiative 2117 on Washington state's ballot this fall is one of those important issues.

I-2117 seeks to repeal the state's cap on greenhouse gas emissions, and I think Washingtonians should vote no.

After watching inaction on so many levels throughout my lifetime, I was very happy when Washington state passed its Climate Commitment Act in 2021. On its own, the legislation couldn't stop global warming, but it was one positive step forward. It created limits on greenhouse gas emissions and helped fund projects that would allow Washingtonians to prepare for global warming's effects on our region.

This year, wealthy conservatives introduced I-2117 to repeal the legislation, jeopardizing the pollution standards and the projects that would help mitigate the impacts of global warming.

I'm voting no on I-2117, and if you live in Washington, I hope you will too.

Matters in My Own Hands

My recent experiences volunteering for Conservation Northwest's Cascades to Olympics program have produced a lot of lessons, and one of the most important realizations is the power of action over politics.

Even as a kid, the environment and animals mattered a lot to me, and I wanted to translate that into actions that would make for a better world: less pollution, more environmental protections, and protection of other species.

I suppose it was inevitable that my concern for environmental issues would lead to an interest in politics and how political action influenced the environment. However, I came to place too much emphasis on this aspect of the environmental movement. Because I did so, I became disheartened when the politicians of the United States failed time and time again to address global warming. That disappointment began to weigh on me in very personal ways. Feeling powerless is not a good feeling, especially when important issues like global warming are left unresolved.

In early 2023, I began volunteering to clear wildlife corridors for the Cascades to Olympics program, which highlights the importance of southwestern Washington state for wildlife in the region. By reconnecting portions of habitat, the program helps species get where they need to go and find more suitable habitat as the climate changes.

Almost instantly, I felt better. The physical activity of improving the corridors was a good outlet for my frustration at the country's political failures. It was also a chance to connect with others and build community. Perhaps most importantly, it allowed me to translate my concern for the environment into tangible work that could make a difference right away in a place that meant a lot to me.

While I was volunteering last week, I spoke with Conservation Northwest's project manager, and he noted how a lot of people in the area are becoming interested in helping with the program. He said he thought one reason was that participating in it gave people hope in what otherwise seems like a hopeless situation. That's when I realized exactly why volunteering on the project had made me feel better. I said, "You know, I think working on this project has done more to help animals prepare for global warming than any politician who has ever received my vote."

Political action isn't a waste of time, but when it comes down to what's most important, it's sometimes best to take matters into your own hands.

Hot Streak

Our planet currently finds itself in the middle of a terrible string of temperature records.

In sports, hot streaks are cheered. They mean an athlete or a team is consistently playing well and might even be putting up record-breaking numbers.

When it comes to global warming, no one wants a hot streak. Increasing global temperatures have far-reaching, long-term consequences for the planet and all its inhabitants, and we've already started to see record heat and some of its impact.

The planet's latest hot streak is the most alarming yet. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), after March 2024 turned out to be the hottest March on record, the month became the 10th-consecutive month to set a monthly record for global heat. In other words, the hottest ever June, July, August, September, October, November, December, January, February, and March have all been recorded since June 2023. This streak will probably end at some point, but its implications and consequences will be with us for a long time.

It's becoming difficult to see an end to the impacts of global warming.

A Cool Way to End One Year and Start Another

The cold of late fall and winter brought me a warm-weather bird to end 2023 and start 2024.

Late last year, I began encountering a surprising bird on my jogs, and the sightings carried over into this year, giving me the opportunity to add the black phoebe to my list of birds identified in each year.

Historically, black phoebes have avoided the Pacific Northwest in all seasons, preferring the warmer climate farther south. In fact, the fist place I ever saw one was in San Diego. However, as the planet has warmed, the species has moved north. Some individuals even winter over in the PNW. For example, I saw one in western Washington in December 2021 during an especially cold and snowy spell.

Having seen a black phoebe in Washington before, I wasn't totally surprised to see one in November 2023. What stood out about this specimen was how long it stayed in the area. Starting on December 24, I saw it on every jog for six weeks. At first, I'd go out jogging and wonder if I'd see the bird. Then, the sightings became so reliable, I would jog with the anticipation of seeing the streak extended another day. Finally, on February 5, I didn't see it, and I've only seen it once since then. Still, the streak was fun while it lasted, and it allowed me to put the bird on my yearly list for both 2023 and 2024.

In a world changed by global warming, sightings of black phoebes in the PNW might become common, but I will always consider it a special memory how this individual visited in the cold months of the year.

Five Months of Summer

Rain and cool temperatures returned to western Washington this week for the first time since April.

After falling in substantial amounts in April, the rain suddenly shut off when the calendar turned to May in the Pacific Northwest. Temperatures suddenly jumped up too with multiple 90-degree days recorded by the middle of May.

The usual rains of May and early June never materialized. It was as if summer had started two months early. Despite cooler temperatures in part of July, the dry spell continued. Even when rain was in the forecast, we hardly received more than a misting. Eventually, the summer weather reached nearly five months before real rain returned on September 23.

Together with the nearly four months of heat and dry conditions that stretched from July 2022 to late October of last year, this year's five-month summer meant that eight and a half of the last 15 months in western Washington have felt like summer conditions.

How much longer can summers like this go on?

Necessary Numbness

When reality becomes too overwhelming, a common response is to tune it out, and I think that's what is happening on the issue of global warming.

A friend of mine recently mentioned sitting in a meeting where attendees discussed how people seemed to no longer pay much attention to major environmental crises, particularly those connected to the larger issue of global warming. The flooding in California was an example of this apparent disregard. 

After I thought about what my friend had said, I suggested that the nonchalance about climate disasters was actually a false comfort and a coping mechanism. Polling shows that Americans believe global warming is a problem and that they want action to address it. However, they see a lack of response from their elected officials and feel discouraged about the possibility of change.

That feeling of discouragement grows into a feeling of being overwhelmed as the government fails again and again to address disasters. I noted for my friend how the failed government response and lack of concerned exhibited by the Biden administration in regard to the fires in Maui just before the California flooding was eerily similar to that same administration's response to the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio; the response to the pandemic under the Trump administration; and the response to Hurricane Katrina under the George W. Bush administration.

If people are faced with dire circumstances with no apparent way out and no help on the way, they are not likely to continue paying much attention to the warning signs about those circumstances.

Therefore, what we see when we see people ignoring the impacts of global warming is a necessary numbness.

The Best Waste of Time Ever

When Project Puffin began in 1973, it was called a "waste of time."

Fifty years later, the project has restored puffins to the coast of Maine. It has also provided a model for similar restoration projects around the world.

The National Audubon Society recently took a look back at the project's history and a look ahead at its future. Read the full article here.

Although Project Puffin still faces challenges, including the impacts of global warming, with a time-tested foundation in place, it seems ready to meet those challenges.

A 50-year legacy of species preservation with more to come on the horizon is certainly one of the best ways to waste time that I've ever heard of.

A Not-So-Hazy Connection

As I saw reports this week of Midwestern skies filling with smoke from the Canadian wildfires, I experienced the feeling of returning to that area in my mind.

Having spent five years teaching at the University of South Dakota, I remember when wildfire smoke turned the skies of Vermillion, South Dakota, orange-pink in the spring of 2016. That smoke was also from Canada though I think it was from the western part of the country. I remember thinking how wildfire smoke can provide a strong connection between people as we deal with the impacts of global warming.

This year's Canadian wildfires have been sending smoke far and wide for months. In early May, I looked out my window in western Washington and saw that familiar yet strange tint of orange-pink in the evening light. As it turned out, that color was courtesy of smoke from western Canada. Later, smoke from eastern Canada darkened skies on the East Coast of the United States.

When the smoke zeroed in on the Midwest, I felt like I was back in South Dakota. I could see myself looking up into the open, hazy sky of Vermillion. It was a powerful feeling.

Through its impacts on air quality and our senses and health, wildfire smoke provides tangible connections to global warming and between people who are hundreds or thousands of miles away.

A Fall of Two Weeks

Fall lasted for about two weeks in western Washington this year.

The summer weather of high temperatures and smoky air continued through October 20. By then, the land was bone dry and the vegetation ready to flame up like tinder. Coniferous trees had begun dying off due to a lack of water. As for the deciduous trees, unless their leaves had dried up or dropped because of the drought, they remained green far into October, giving few signs that the calendar had turned to fall.

On October 21, rain finally arrived. The temperatures slipped into the 50s, and the deciduous trees began to change into their autumn colors.

The fall feeling didn't last long though as temperatures declined abruptly. A November 2 storm even dropped snow at Lake Crescent (elevation 580 feet) near Port Angeles on the Olympic Peninsula less than three weeks after the October 16 record temperature of 87 hit Seattle. 

Such a sudden shift from summer to winter has left many areas without green grass. In a normal year, fall rains would push up green shoots to replenish the grasses that go dormant and turn brown in the dry months of July and August. This year, the rain came so late that much of the grass had barely started growing again before the cold temperatures arrived to discourage further growth. Consequently, many fields and prairies remain brown.

It was a short fall to say the least.

Lost in a Place I Know

I know where I am, but I don't recognize this place.

Never in my life have I seen an October in Washington state like this one. Summer will not let go, and hardly a hint of fall has presented itself. Seattle recorded its latest day of 85+ degrees on October 16 by reaching 88, one degree shy of breaking its all-time October high temperature, which was set on October 1, 1987, more than two full weeks closer to summer.

Perhaps the most disorienting factor comes from the constant presence of wildfire smoke. For the second time since September 2020, Seattle and Portland, Oregon, have the worst air quality in the world because of wildfires. Socked in for days on end, the smoke has defined this October as it had done to August and September in recent years. Today, even despite rain, the smoke would not relent.

Once one of my favorite months, the Pacific Northwest October has become an alien experience. It's hard to make sense of it. 

Something's been lost here, and now, I am as well.

Hot No Matter What

When the Pacific Northwest set all-time temperature records in June 2021, it did so following one of the driest springs on record, so in that sense, the records weren't a huge surprise.

In 2021, summer seemed to start at the beginning of April, giving the temperatures nearly three months to heat up to 110 degrees or more in late June.

The spring of 2022 presented a clear contrast to its predecessor though. Wet, cool weather carried into the middle part of June, bringing to mind springs of 20 or 30 years ago.

Still, the last part of June provided indications that the weather of spring might not hold back summer's high temperatures. From June 25 to June 27, temperatures shot up suddenly, approaching and even surpassing 90 degrees.

Cool weather returned for a couple of weeks to start July. It even brought a little rain around the Fourth of July, again harkening back to the trends of earlier decades.

Then, starting on July 26, an unprecedented stretch of 90-degree weather gripped the Pacific Northwest. For the first time in recorded history, Seattle experienced six straight days that reached at least 90 degrees. The previous record was five straight days of 90-degree weather. It had been achieved three times, most recently in 2015, a year that like 2021, had begun heating up and drying out early in the spring.

In light of 2021's heat, this year's record fits into a larger trend. That the 2022 record came out of a year that had been relatively cool (by recent standards) gives it its own alarming reality though.

The fact is that extreme heat is becoming so common in the age of global warming, it requires hardly any lead-up to take hold and set new records.

Not Much Left to Say and Little Time to Say It

Reading news of the latest climate report from the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change left the impression that not much remains to say about global warming.

It's here now, and its impacts compound as we speak, but we're long past the point of talking. As this article by the National Audubon Society explains, nine percent of species will face extinction within a decade if nothing is done...

The P-Words

Obviously, the pandemic has defined the last two years for most everyone on the planet. However, as I look back on that time, some other p-words also come to mind.

While the pandemic made its impact, I couldn't help but notice the plundering and pillaging that was happening simultaneously. From the corporate bailouts and the giveaways of federal land for oil and gas drilling that plundered the country to the pillaging of natural resources in the Pacific Northwest, the pandemic-era has left its mark far beyond the arena of public health.

To all of this, I might add a fourth p-word: paralysis. The failure of the United States to protect its people during the pandemic has been paralleled by an alarming inaction on important issues like global warming even as heatwaves, droughts, wildfires, and increasingly powerful storms pound our country and the world more frequently.

All I have left to say about this state of affairs is that it's pathetic!

Hot Enough

Now that we've turned the Pacific Northwest into Nevada with temperatures in the 110s and chronic, widespread drought, I wonder if it might be a good idea to address global warming.

Just a thought.

Reflecting on 10 Years of Blogging

What do you do after you have to create a blog for a class assignment and that class ends? If you're a tree-hugger with Finnish heritage, the obvious answer is to retitle it envirofinn and write about the environment for at least 10 years.

For the 2010 spring semester of my Ph.D. studies, I had to start a blog in my rhetoric class. It was simply a blog about assigned readings. Since I didn't have any more of those after the class ended, I decided to take the blog in a new direction on May 19, 2010. I thought it could become a good place to collect and share information about the environment.

Looking back on the last decade of envirofinn, I realize how much I put into its development and maintenance. It turned into a lot more than an information hub. I liked the template I chose so much, I haven't changed it once despite having many new options. The fall theme is just too me. Plus, I think it still looks nice. Besides, I spent a great deal of time trying to find the perfect color scheme for the text, and when I finally found it, I didn't want to let it go. I'm also quite fond of the envirofinn flag I created by adding the green of the blog to the Finnish flag.

A lake in Repovesi National Park reflects
a partly cloudy sky over Finland.

Yes, a lot of myself went into this blog. Eventually, the posts evolved from sharing resources, tips, and events to covering some of my personal experiences and growth as well. A few highlights included going to Finland in 2012 and coming back with material for several posts and the series from summer 2015 that chronicled my coming to terms with the age of global warming.

Some posts also recorded professional accomplishments and development. For instance, I used the blog to announce that I had published a journal article about environmental communication. In addition, I covered my work with Initiative 1631, Carbon Washington, The Nature Conservancy in Washington, and the Black Hills Audubon Society. In short, envirofinn contains some major pieces of my life even though it continues to be a place where I share resources, tips, and events. It probably helped me further my understanding of the environment as much as it helped anyone else learn where to recycle something or how to buy reusable shopping bags.

One thing I take extra pride in is the fact that I have made at least one post in each of the last 120 months. I may not post as often as I once did, but it remains important to me to keep the streak going.

A lot has happened since its inception, but looking toward the future, envirofinn will continue exploring our connection with the environment.

The Real Lost World

It's quite an irony that we make films about the dangers of bringing dinosaurs back from extinction while we threaten the existence of their avian descendants.

Jurassic Park and its four sequels like The Lost World: Jurassic Park have hit home the consequences of wielding genetic power to resurrect the dinosaurs. One of the themes from the films challenges humans to think about the damage they may inflict before mindlessly plowing ahead with a harmful action.

We aren't bringing dinosaurs back at any point in the near future though, so it might be best to first examine how we already impact existing species. If we don't want to stray too far from dinosaurs, let's check out what we are doing to birds, the dinosaurs' living legacy.

A rufous hummingbird, one of the species
most at risk of extinction from global warming.

In a new report, Survival by Degrees: 389 Bird Species on the Brink, the Audubon Society shows how global warming threatens two-thirds of all bird species in North American with extinction. Half of the species in Washington state alone face extinction from a temperature increase of three degrees Celsius. Instead of the power to create addressed by Jurassic Park, we are wielding the power to destroy, and we are doing it just as recklessly as John Hammond and the host of other characters who tried to cash in on dinosaurs.

The report from the Audubon Society does a great job of helping us visualize the possible consequences of our actions. We should take it as an opportunity to consider where we go from here.

No horror from any of the Jurassic Park stories could match the awfulness of wiping out the animals most closely related to dinosaurs.

Last Call

As Election Day nears, the time for talk fades, giving way to action.

My vote for I-1631 has been accepted for tabulation.

Washingtonians heard the call all summer and into the fall: Take action on global warming by passing Initiative 1631. News reports, political ads, letters to the editor, phone calls, yard signs--the arguments for the initiative have sounded for months.

All that ends on Tuesday. With many ballots already returned by voters and the deadline for returns looming at 8 p.m. on November 6, not much remains to say about the initiative.

That makes this my last call. It's a call to do something great, a call to protect our health and our environment, a call for a better future, a call to make history, a call to action.

My fellow Washingtonians, please vote yes on I-1631 and return your ballot by Tuesday's deadline. Thank you.