Up in Smoke

I've found that being an environmentalist can be addictive.

This addiction stems from a desire to help protect something I see as immeasurably special. I felt that protective urge very early in life, and it grew until I wanted to protect every single mechanism of nature.

The story of the West Coast fisher provides a great example of my addiction. As I blogged about here, after being virtually wiped out from much of its original range, the fisher has started to make a comeback with the help of reintroduction projects. I first got excited about their return when a population was reestablished in the Olympic National Park. That success led to reintroduction programs in Washington's Cascade Mountains.

Success stories certainly add to the addictive nature of environmentalism, but nothing feeds the addiction more than success that is threatened. And now, all the work that has gone into bringing the fisher back is at risk because of the illegal use of rodenticide (much of which is used to protect illegal marijuana planting) and other factors. As a result, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing listing the West Coast fisher as threatened. Check out a video explaining the proposal below:



This proposal to protect fishers and support the previous work to keep them around further triggered my protective instincts. I submitted my comments in support of the proposed listing and would like to share the opportunity with others. For more information about the proposal and how to comment on it, click here. The deadline is February 4.

Yes, I'm addicted, and I see no end to my desire to protect nature from thoughtless destruction.

At Play in the Mud

Going back rarely takes us forward except at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge in Washington state.

I first went to the refuge in 1994. A lot has happened there since then, but one thing that hadn't happened until recently was my return. Seeing the product of the recent restoration work at the refuge made the wait worth it though.

In 2009, work began to remove a dike that had kept Puget Sound away from the land for more than 100 years. When the restoration was announced, I became excited. The dike had turned the area from an estuary to farmland. Its removal invited the sound back to continue the natural processes that had been blocked for so long.

Because the refuge is visible from Interstate 5, the sound's progress over the last five years continued to interest me. Whenever I drove by, I would sneak a look at the expanding mud flats. The sight of them (or the high tide over them) always made me smile. All that estuary mud represented a return to a time before human intervention and a return of nature.

Two weeks ago, I decided it was time I returned as well. My mom and I visited the refuge and spent several hours walking the trails. We saw bald eagles, great blue herons, a seal, and, because of the low tide, lots and lots of mud. It was awesome. Through the teamwork of people and nature, the refuge had seen an amazing transformation from what it had been on my first trip there. This was no stick-in-the-mud story; it was progress toward a better relationship between the human managers of the land and the refuge itself.

One of the signs along the walking path talked about all that was going on in the estuary's mud, including the lives of creatures that call it home. I'd say that's just the beginning of the story.

Common Ground of the Pacific Northwest

Welcome to the land where environmentalists provide more timber jobs than the logging industry.

For years, the increasing mechanization of logging has stripped away tree-falling and mill jobs in Washington state and Oregon. Work that used to require dozens can now be done by a handful. In contrast, this article demonstrates how the environmental movement can increase logging jobs while addressing important environmental issues.

In summary, the story documents how Oregon Wild, a regional environmental group, enlisted loggers and a mill in John Day, Oregon, to thin forests at risk from wildfires. The thinning reduces fuel for the fires. It has also kept John Day's Malheur Lumber mill going, led to the hiring of more mill workers, and produced a 10-year contract for a local logging company.

The impacts of collaboration in this story are amazing. Some of the old hostilities between environmentalists and loggers are still apparent in the article's quotes, but they serve more as testaments to the power of common ground to overcome major political and social obstacles. Perhaps the most powerful realization is that once the ice was broken, innovative ideas like using logging for conservation purposes and developing ongoing partnerships flowed freely. When we are able to let go of positions that keep us apart, we can achieve a lot.

The partnership between environmentalists, loggers, and the mill in Oregon shows how finding common ground and new ideas can revitalize public discussions, help resolve conflicts, and result in a better world.

The Maturity of Optimism

The environmental and political worlds are aflutter over the optimism of Washington state.

Although it's usually associated with children, fantasy, and naïve behavior, optimism is what allows us to grow. It brings with it the confidence to face major challenges, seek new ways of thinking, and do what is said to be impossible.

On the other hand, it takes no real effort or talent to find reasons something cannot be done, especially when faced with difficult, complex issues. We've heard "can't" so many times on environmental issues that you'd think it were the name of some species or chemical compound. The combination of pessimism and cynicism that breeds (or yields) "can't" poisons our collective decision-making processes and clouds our lives. It certainly isn't inspirational, and it isn't productive either, meaning it's neither youthful nor mature.

This week, Governor Jay Inslee showed the possibility and productivity of optimism by proposing the Carbon Pollution Accountability Act, a cap-and-trade system that would make Washington the world leader in limiting carbon pollution, address costs for low-income families, contribute to public education, and provide funding for transit infrastructure that would reduce the need for cars. Simply put, it is the smartest, most exciting thing I've seen come to the political side of environmental issues. For a full recap and breakdown of Governor Inslee's proposed program, check out this article from the Sightline Institute.

The best part of knowing your limits is waving as you leave them behind.

City Kitties

The City of Angels isn't exactly heaven for big cats, but cougars there do have some guardians who are helping them cross over ... the freeways.

Although we don't tend to associated cougars with cities, a population of them exists in the area around Los Angeles. The city puts a lot of stress on that population though.

As a species, cougars require large territories. Consequently, the roads in L.A. pose a major challenge. Some cougars are killed by cars, and the city's road system segments the population, creating a high risk of inbreeding.

Two environmental groups have stepped in to help address the problem with the "Save L.A. Cougars" campaign. The National Wildlife Federation and the Santa Monica Mountains Fund are working to raise money and support for a wildlife crossing over the 101 Freeway. The crossing would give cougars and other wildlife a safe place to move between the areas divided by the road. To learn more about the project, click here.

It's good to know someone is watching over L.A.'s cougars.

Bye-Bye Birds

We're not talking about just spring that could be silent.

Pesticides threatened bird species, and Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring. Global warming threatens birds on a whole other level by stripping them of habitat, and to communicate the issue, the Audubon Society has released a great new Web site. The site details and articulates how global warming is impacting bird species in the United States. It also contains interactive features and collaborative content.

Using data compiled with the help of citizen science, the site provides visuals of ways global warming affects bird habitat. It spotlights certain species and gives people the chance to see the impacts on their local area. (For instance, it was sad to see that the ruffed grouse, one of my favorite birds, is likely to leave the region of Washington state where I grew up.) Another cool aspect of the site is that it contains content that others have produced in response to the Audubon Society's report, expanding the conversation about the issue. Finally, the site also provides ways to help address global warming.

Perhaps the most startling part of the Web site is the information that 314 of the country's bird species are severely threatened by global warming. Considering that fact, it's vital we put this puzzle together and address global warming soon.

It's either that or we'll be forced to get used to the sounds of silence.

Real Hope

In The Shawshank Redemption, Andy Dufresne is only partially right: Hope is a good thing, but it is also a tricky thing.

Hope has a rocky relationship with reality. We can become so wrapped up in reality, that we lose hope, and we can become so enchanted by hope that we ignore reality. So it is with the issue of global warming. With its enormity and complexity, the reality of the phenomenon can seem hopeless. Meanwhile, if we focus mostly on hope, we might fail to begin taking the steps necessary to address the situation.

For this year's 24 Hours of Reality, which starts on September 16, The Climate Reality Project seeks to bring together the realities of global warming with a theme of hope. Check out the video introducing the theme below:



I'm looking forward to hearing the 24 reasons for hope presented in the 24 Hours of Reality. They have the potential to achieve an important balance between understanding the magnitude of global warming and maintaining confidence in our ability to respond to it.

Hope is indeed a good thing, but the best of things are the actions inspired by hope.

Adding a Voice

Some things are so exciting that they need to be said out loud.

I'm celebrating the submission of a paper I co-authored to a scholarly journal. Last weekend, my co-author and I put the finishing touches on the paper, which discusses how critical rhetoric can be used to analyze news media messages about the environment. The paper represents a potential contribution to communication theory. It is also important to me personally because it would be my first published article if it is accepted. As a result, I thought I would commemorate the submission with a video discussing the paper. Watch it below:



It's a wonderful feeling to contribute to the discussion of environmental communication with a paper that provides ways of identifying voices often ignored in conversations about the environment.

Tinder Moments with a Canine Companion

The search for a fetching date just got a little closer to success.

With apps like Tinder, which uses Facebook profiles to bring together users seeking love, dating in the Internet age has taken on new dimensions, and a dog-adoption campaign hopes to take advantage of these new matchmaking tools. Dogs from Social Tees Animal Rescue now appear on Tinder, giving them a chance to find potential owners. Check out a video for the campaign below:



The adoption campaign is as innovative as it is adorable. We look for the right fit in a pet just like we seek a good match in a human partner. However, until now, the pets have waited for us to make the first move. Using Tinder allows them to go out and mingle, and with those cute faces, they're not likely to be single long.

We live in a world of social media. So much life, including romance, takes place in that world. Therefore, it makes sense that adoptable pets are also going there to find their dream people.

Dating can be rough, but in this case, it can also be Ruff, and that's a pretty good thing.

A Brush and a Lick with the Future

How many licks does it take to get to the center of nature? The world may soon know.

We haven't always had great interactions with nature even when we had the best of intentions. For instance, we thought zoos would help inform people about and connect with the environment, but the disruptive impact of zoos on the animals that live within them has made us question just how much good they do.

Thankfully, today's technology affords us opportunities to watch and experience nature without making it captive. Want to see a marmot up close and personal? We can show you that. Watch the Greenpeace video below:



The intimate interaction (can't get much closer than being licked) with the marmot suggests the dawning of a new future for our connection with nature. If we can't go see an animal in the wild on our own, we don't have to capture it and put it in an enclosure; we can glimpse it through videos as it goes about its life in natural settings. This gets us a lot closer to a true understanding of nature.

And who doesn't want to learn from nature? After all, we went to the owl for an answer to that question about Tootsie Pops.