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  • Charles Ek
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      Post count: 566

      OMG, the camera-shooting virus has spread westward against the wind. 😉

      Good on ya for getting out to practice and thanks for the video!

      Charles Ek
      Moderator
        Post count: 566

        Thanks for the tip!

        “The strongest explanation for why the wolves have made less of a difference than we expected comes from a long-term, experimental study by a research group at Colorado State University. This study, which focused on willows, showed that the decades without wolves changed Yellowstone too much to undo.”

        Astute, data-craving readers of this thread know that already, of course. 😉

        Charles Ek
        Moderator
          Post count: 566
          in reply to: cool documentary #46106

          Smithhammer wrote: This has been on my ‘watch’ list for way too long. I need to cue it up – thanks for the reminder.

          Yeah, what he said. 😉

          Charles Ek
          Moderator
            Post count: 566

            donthomas wrote: Also, please note that your third reference concludes, in essence, that it’s more complicated than that. It usually is. Don

            Yes, I thought later about clarifying this point, because I could have worded it better. My listing of the three links should not be read as saying that the Monbiot talk and video were based on those three studies in particular.

            I surmised that the talk and video were based on such studies, but I don’t have explicit evidence of that. I added the links for the benefit of those who wanted data from such studies.

            Sorry for any lack of clarity on this point. Correct attribution to sources is a very big deal to me and has been since I participated in my first debate contest, back when Fred Bear was flinging arrows at polar bears. 😉

            Charles Ek
            Moderator
              Post count: 566

              It was indeed Aldo Leopold:

              We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes—something known only to her and to the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters’ paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view.

              – Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, 1949

              As it happens, there was a film released last year concerning what he wrote that you may be interested in:

              Green Fire – Aldo Leopold And a Land Ethic for Our Time

              Charles Ek
              Moderator
                Post count: 566
                in reply to: Spring fever #41477

                The turkey season here in NH opens on May 3rd. I have long held an ambition to use skis to hunt them. Came close a few years back – this year is looking pretty good with a morning low of -6, three feet of snow in the woods and a possible big storm next week.

                I’m inspired by one of the hunters depicted here:

                Böksta Runestone

                Charles Ek
                Moderator
                  Post count: 566

                  Grab your beverage of choice and start reading:

                  The Best Sleeping Pad Review from Outdoor Gear Lab

                  Pads and Air Mattresses reviews from BackpackGearTest

                  Charles Ek
                  Moderator
                    Post count: 566
                    in reply to: Signs of Spring? #37548

                    Fallguy, I’m _sure_ if you drove over to Carlos Avery you’d see the aforementioned Sandhill Cranes right now. Or not. 😈

                    Charles Ek
                    Moderator
                      Post count: 566
                      in reply to: Signs of Spring? #36952

                      Aspen buds appeared a few days ago off our deck here in NH. Used to be a grouse that came by every year to feast on them, but not for the last couple of years. Woodpeckers have been chasing each other around, and it seems like the crows are starting to get a touch rowdy. Cold weather is undoubtedly suppressing some of this.

                      Charles Ek
                      Moderator
                        Post count: 566

                        I thought this sounded familiar. 😉

                        The talk and the video draw on several scientific studies on the subject of riparian effects of reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone.

                        Ask and ye shall receive, Dr. Thomas:

                        River channel dynamics following extirpation of wolves in northwestern Yellowstone National Park, USA

                        Trophic cascades in Yellowstone: The first 15 years after wolf reintroduction

                        Stream hydrology limits recovery of riparian ecosystems after wolf reintroduction

                        Charles Ek
                        Moderator
                          Post count: 566

                          Bearbowman makes the strings I use on my ’58 Kodiak and ’68 Grizzly:

                          flemishstrings.com

                          Warning, he’s also got some good-lookin’ used bows for sale …

                          Charles Ek
                          Moderator
                            Post count: 566

                            “It depends on what your definition of ‘stomping grounds’ is.” 😉

                            While driving once on the Parks Highway between Anchorage and Fairbanks, some movement in the brush alongside the road caught my eye. Nah, it couldn’t be. Circled back and sure enough, it was a musk ox bull, about five hundred miles east of the nearest free-ranging herd.

                            My excitement was tempered, however, by the knowledge that a non-free-ranging herd was located about sixty miles east of my location. Never heard whether he was compelled to return home. I know for a fact certain that he died lonely, if he wasn’t.

                            Charles Ek
                            Moderator
                              Post count: 566

                              It seems the services of the late Mr. Corbett would still be in demand:

                              Tiger Population Grows in India, as Does Fear After Attacks

                              Leopard on Loose Paralyzes Northern Indian City

                              Charles Ek
                              Moderator
                                Post count: 566

                                David Petersen wrote: Might it have anything to do with quadrupling our population in those 50 years or so?

                                It, and virtually every other environmental issue, has everything to do with this.

                                I’m a BHA member living in NH and I support its nationwide objectives. But my fairly harsh advice to the original poster is the path I’ve followed for the last many years: Find a way to relocate out of the Midwest. The population density and the politics of resource management are antithetical to the experiences you’re seeking.

                                Gotta go find my Nomex now …

                                Charles Ek
                                Moderator
                                  Post count: 566

                                  I did go back once afterward to look for tracks, but it was probably still a little early. There’s a largish boar that used to hang out in the vicinity, but I haven’t seen any sign of him for a while. I don’t hunt bear, but I’m a huge admirer of the non-human kind.

                                  Should probably mention that two of my four grandparents emigrated from Finland. The theme music for the video is “Finlandia” by Sibelius. Some of you might remember it from a different, somewhat more modern context …

                                Viewing 15 posts - 301 through 315 (of 514 total)