summer 2016 summer 2015 - florida trail association · 2016. 12. 4. · blanket and an appetizer to...
TRANSCRIPT
SUMMER 2015
SECTION LEADERS FNST: ANF WEST
Al Ingle (850) 509-1162
FNST: ANF EAST
Richard Graham (850) 878-3616 FNST: ST. MARKS
Dale Allen (850) 656-8050
FNST: AUCILLA
VACANT FT. BRADEN TRACT
Howard Pardue (850) 386-1494
ELINOR KLAPP-PHIPPS PARK
Dawn Brown (850) 668-0091 TORREYA STATE PARK
Jerry Herting (850) 878-3426
MEETING PROGRAMS
July 12 “SOCIAL MEETING and TRAIL TALK.” Come meet fellow trail enthusiasts who want to share their experiences. Meet others who share your dream to explore and want to plan a future event but don’t want to go it alone. Share your favorite hike/paddle trails by bringing your guidebooks / maps / scrapbooks and any upcoming backpacking/hiking/paddling plans. Help others working on their bucket list of trails like the FNST, AT, PCT, Santiago de Compostela, other European trails, or perhaps a paddle down the Apalachicola River. Want to take your first day hike or backpack-ing trip, or paddle our rivers? Start planning your adventures! Grab dinner and a beer/wine and meet in a relaxed atmosphere on the patio at Milano’s Pizzeria located at 514 W. Tharpe St. (in the SW corner of Northwood Centre), Tallahassee at 6:30 p.m.
August – NO MEETING THIS MONTH. Enjoy the vacation.
September 13 USED GEAR SALE, VOLUNTEER AWARDS, “TRAIN FOR THE TRAIL.” 6:30 p.m.--If you have used gear for sale, arrive early to get it displayed. 6:00 p.m.--Annual used gear sale--gear for hiking, backpacking, camping, cycling, and paddling! 7:00 p.m.--Presentation of our annual Volunteer Recognition Awards. 7:30 p.m.--PROGRAM: What can you do off the trail, in the way of exercise, to enhance your hiking experience? In this interactive session, exercise physiologist and hiker, David Wheeler, will help you develop a fitness strategy to train for the trail. This program will combine lecture and discussion with active participation. Come dressed and prepared to exercise. Mats will be provided. David is Wellness & Health Recovery Coordinator at Premier Health & Fitness Center and provides fitness training & health coaching for those contending with health challenges and for healthy adults who want to stay that way. Location TBA.
NEW and RETURNING MEMBERS
February 2016 - April 2016
Denise Arnold, Tom & Cindy Clark, JoAnn Fletcher, Rose Goodson, Kathryn & Arnie Johnson, Stephanie Keith, Ken Kuhl, Donna Miller, Jane Parsons, Jack & Laurie Richardson, Steven Staudt, June Wiaz
As of 5/1/16: 260 memberships / 347 members
CONTENTS
1.........Programs / People 2-3.....July-September Activities 4-5.....Articles From the Chair
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY!
Go Green (get the Blaze via email)
6........FTA Membership Form
Dawn Brown (850)668-0091 or Liz Sparks (850)570-5950.
Meetings are open to the public.
SUMMER 2016
CHAPTER OFFICERS CHAIR
Dawn Brown (850) 668-0091
VICE-CHAIR Al Ingle (850) 509-1162
TREASURER
Elizabeth Slack (850) 320-2760 [email protected]
MEMBERSHIP
Lori Gilbertson (850) 420-0132
[email protected] TRAILS COORDINATOR
Richard Graham (850) 878-3616
[email protected] ACTIVITIES
Ray Cade (850) 508-7593
PROGRAMS Liz Sparks (850) 570-5950
PUBLICITY/WEBSITE/VOL. HRS.
Linda Patton (850) 668-4334 [email protected]
NEWSLETTER
VACANT
Meetings are held the second Tuesday of each month from 7 to 9 p.m. and are open to the public. September’s meeting location TBA; look for it in August on http://www.meetup.com/Apalachee-Florida-Trail-Hiking/events For more information, contact Dawn Brown (850) 545-0351 or Liz Sparks (850) 570-5950.
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PLEASE NOTE: The Florida National Scenic Trail and other forest trails are part of the natural environment. Rough, une-ven, and/or slippery surfaces, protruding roots, encroaching vegetation, fallen branches, mud and water, insects and other wildlife, irritating plants and other hazards may be present. Wear boots and use caution. If you question whether a hike is within your ability, contact the Activity Leader. For more information go to www.apalachee.floridatrail.org and click on “Guidelines for Activity Participants.”
ACTIVITY LEADERS
Dale Allen Gwen Beatty Karen Berkley Cathy Briggs Louis Brooks Dawn Brown Ray Cade Bob Daniels Lori Gilbertson
Richard Graham Dawn Griffin Barry Haber Jerry Herting Ashley Hopkins Al Ingle James Kimbrel Melanie Knapp John Laney Laura Newton
Howard Pardue Linda Patton Adrienne Ruhl Cindy Shrestha Gary Sisco Mike Tucker Carol Watkins George Weaver Kent Wimmer
July 13, 18, 20, 25, 27 Mon. & Wed. P/M Stress Buster Brisk Walks! Join us on our quest to get a bit healthier and slow down the muffin tops! We have been walking 2X a week for 3+ years to burn calories, de-stress and socialize. Mondays we will walk along the Miccosukee Greenway (4-8 miles) and Wednesdays we walk (4 miles) on one of the Lafayette Heritage trails. Meet near the restroom. Come at 5:15 and be ready to hike at 5:30 SHARP. Bring flashlight/headlamp, snack (if needed), and wa-ter. Dress in layers. We will attempt to maintain a pace of 3.0 - 3.2 mph. Come hydrated. Distance and speed is up to you and how you feel that particular day! Walk your own walk. Before starting out, check for dates, meeting location, map, last-minute instructions, and RSVP on Meetup http://www.meet up.com/Apalachee-Florida-Trail-Hiking Contact: Dawn Griffin (850) 509-6103 [email protected]
July 13 Tue. P/L Chapter meeting: Social Meeting and Trail Talk. July 22 Fri. P/L Econfina Creek Day Paddle. Leisurely 6-mile section paddle of beautiful Econfina creek in Bay County. The creek is highlighted by high limestone bluffs, cascades of ferns & crystal clear springs. We'll enjoy a late lunch at a local restaurant before returning to Tallahassee. Limit 12 canoes/kayaks. Contact: Gary Sisco (850) 545-4776 gsisco42@ yahoo.com or Gwen Beatty (850) 539-6027 gfbeatty@ yahoo.com
July 23 Sat. M/L FTA Board of Directors Meeting. Open to all FTA members. Observe the governing process of our organization. Attend and get a broader picture of FTA and the FNST. For venue and meeting time, contact the FTA office toll-free 1-877-445-3352.
Leisurely (L) = 1-2 mph walking pace (Ex.: 8/19) Moderate (M) = 2-3 mph walking pace (Ex.: 7/13) Strenuous (S) = 3-4+ mph walking pace (Ex.: N/A)
Your membership in the Florida Trail Association helps make our activities open and accessible to everyone. If you are a member, thank you! If you are not a member, please consider making a donation to the FTA at outings you attend. Give your donation to the hike leader. Or join the FTA today: http://www.floridatrail.org/make-a-difference/become-a-member
July 30 Sat. P/M Wacissa River and Slave Canal Paddle. A wilderness paddle on the Wacissa River and Slave Canal. Expect many pullovers and low trees on this float through bottomland hardwood forest. Limit 15 canoes/kayaks. Contact: Kent Wimmer (850) 528-5261 [email protected] Aug 1, 3, 10, 15, 17, 22, 24, 29, 31 Mon. & Wed. P/M Stress Buster Brisk Walks! Join us on our quest to get a bit healthier and slow down the muffin tops! We have been walking 2X a week for 3+ years to burn calories, de-stress and socialize. Mondays we will walk along the Miccosukee Greenway (4-8 miles) and Wednesdays we walk (4 miles) on one of the Lafayette Heritage trails. Meet near the restroom. Come at 5:15 and be ready to hike at 5:30 SHARP. Bring flashlight/headlamp, snack (if needed), and water. Dress in layers. We will attempt to maintain a pace of 3.0 - 3.2 mph. Come hydrated. Distance and speed is up to you and how you feel that particular day! Walk your own walk. Before starting out, check for dates, meeting location, map, last-minute instructions, and RSVP on Meetup http://www.meetup.com/Apalachee-Florida-Trail-Hiking Contact: Dawn Griffin (850) 509-6103 [email protected]
Aug. 5 Fri. P/L Spring Creek/Chipola River Paddle. Leisurely 4.5-mile paddle down the crystalline waterways of Spring Creek into the Chipola River through floodplain and cypress-lined shoreline seeing lot of birds and fish along the way. What a way to escape the summer heat! Plan to enjoy a late lunch/early dinner at a restaurant in Marianna before returning to Tallahassee. Contact: Gary Sisco (850) 545-4776 [email protected] or Gwen Beatty (850) 539-6027 [email protected]
Aug. 9 Tue. NO CHAPTER MEETING THIS MONTH.
Aug. 19 Fri. P/L Wine, Women and Walking! Downtown Tal-lahassee. Start off the weekend with a leisurely 3-mile stroll, walking past historical places and through Cascades Park. Bring your favorite wine (or other beverage of choice), chair/blanket and an appetizer to share after the walk. Meet other fab-ulous women who like to walk-hike-backpack too. Meet 5:30 PM at the DOT Credit Union Parking Lot adjacent to Cascades Park (corner of Myers Park Road and Suwannee). Wear comfortable walking shoes/light colored clothes. Contact: Dawn Griffin (850) 509-6103 [email protected]
Aug. 19-21 Fri.-Sun. Pacific Crest Trail Days. Marine Park, Cascade Locks, OR. The latest outdoor recreation gear from exhibiting sponsors, free classes & activities, raffles of awesome products, local food and beverages, trail work opportunities, hikes and bike rides, camping under the stars, and a beautiful outdoor setting. PCT Days is family-friendly and free to attend; small fee for overnight camping. Raffle proceeds go to
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the Pacific Crest Trail Association and the American Long Dis-tance Hiking Association-West. http://www.pcta.org/about-us/events/pct-days
Sep. 5, 7, 12, 14, 19, 21, 26, 28 Mon. & Wed. P/M Stress Bust-er Brisk Walks! Join us on our quest to get a bit healthier and slow down the muffin tops! We have been walking 2X a week for 3+ years to burn calories, de-stress and socialize. Mondays we will walk along the Miccosukee Greenway (4-8 miles) and Wednesdays we walk (4 miles) on one of the Lafayette Heritage trails. Meet near the restroom. Come at 5:15 and be ready to hike at 5:30 SHARP. Bring flashlight/headlamp, snack (if needed), and water. Dress in layers. We will attempt to maintain a pace of 3.0 - 3.2 mph. Come hydrated. Distance and speed is up to you and how you feel that particular day! Walk your own walk. Before starting out, check for dates, meeting location, map, last-minute instructions, and RSVP on our Meetup site http://www.meetup.com/Apalachee-Florida-Trail-Hiking Contact: Dawn Griffin (850) 509-6103 [email protected]
Sep. 13 Tue. Chapter Meeting: Used Gear Sale, Volunteer Awards, “Train for the Trail.”
Sep. 15-18 Thur.-Sun. North Country Trail Assoc. Rendezvous and Fall Campout. The Cambria Hotel and Conference Center, West Fargo, ND. The theme of the celebration is Building Trails and Discovering History in our Prairies, Valleys, and Wood-lands. You will get to explore North Dakota prairies and grasslands, hike along interest-ing riverfront trails in urban Fargo-Moorhead, and venture into the beautiful Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge in Minnesota. Interpreters on buses and hikes will help you understand the scenic, natural, cultural, and historic features of these areas and explain how the environment and history affect trail building activities in unique ways. The Celebration is designed especially for members of the NCTA and is also open to the general public. The schedule will give attendees time to hike, learn, socialize, and relax. In most cases, you will travel to the event venues on comfortable, air conditioned coach buses with snacks and beverages provided. Besides a great collection of hikes of all types, non-hiking events will be available each day as well. https://northcountrytrail.org/get-involved/special-events 2016-celebration-fargo-nd
Sep. 16 Fri. P/L Moon Over Miccosukee Night Hike. See a 7-mile section of Miccosukee Greenway in a unique way, cast in shadows and moonlight. We may meet at 5:30 p.m. for dinner before heading over to meet the group at 7:30 p.m. at the Crump Road trailhead (across the street from the brick house at 4955 Crump Road) and carpool to the Fleischman Road trailhead to begin our hike. The first 1.5 miles of the trail are natural path. The remainder of the pathway is broad level gravel. The white stones will make following the path an easy task. Wear comforta-ble closed shoes and bring water, a flashlight or headlamp, and bug spray. Before starting out, check for dates, meeting location, map, last-minute instructions, and RSVP on our Meetup site http://www.meetup.com/Apalachee-Florida-Trail-Hiking Contact: Dawn Griffin (850) 509-6103 [email protected]
Sep. 23-25 Fri-Sun. M/M Annual Trail Skills Training.
The Florida Trail Association is hosting its 4th annual Trail Skills Training from 6 p.m. Friday to 6 p.m. Sunday at Camp LaNoChe, 41940 Boy Scout Rd., Paisley, FL, which is located north of Orlando, adjacent to the Ocala National Forest. Join us to learn a variety of trail skills--through hands-on training and practical scenarios--that will better prepare you for volunteering on the Florida Trail (FNST). We will provide food, housing, and instruc-tion. This training is provided at no cost to you. At this event, you’ll have the opportunity to meet and connect with the Florida Trail Association staff and other volunteers from across the state. It’s a great opportunity to network, learn, and have some fun! Sessions include: crew leader training, how to provide food for your trail maintainers, practical trail maintenance training, how to respond to emergency situations, and effective tools and methods for community outreach and fundraising. There will also be sessions on preventive maintenance for your mechanized equipment, and how to report the work that you do on the trail
and why it’s important. Feel free to bring your favorite blazing tools and personal protection equipment (hard hats, gloves, etc.) to show us what you use to make the perfect blaze. Meals are provided. Camping type: Tent sites, bunk-houses (single-gender), and RV (no hookup) sites are available, and the camp has shower and bathroom facilities. Please register based on whether or not you are staying in a bunk-house, RV camping, tent camping, or sharing someone’s RV or tent. Please note: RV camping with hookups (water, sewage, electric) is available at the Clearwater Lake Recreation Area, Ocala National Forest. You are responsible for making your own reservations, and space is limited to first-come, first-served. This type of RV camping is not included in our event package, and is provided to you at an additional cost. To register for this type of RV camping visit Recreation.gov. This is a 18-yrs.-old+ event. Check http://www.floridatrail.org/ volunteer/volunteeropportunities for the regis-tration link when it becomes available.
Sep. 24 Sat. National Public Lands Day. (NPS, NWR, & USFS fee-free day) National Public Lands Day (NPLD) is the nation's largest, single-day
volunteer effort for public lands. Seven federal agencies as well as nonprofit organizations and state, regional and local governments participate in the annual day of caring for public lands. National Public Lands Day keeps the promise of the Civilian Conservation Corps, that worked from 1933-1942, to preserve and protect America's natural heritage. NPLD educates Americans about the environment and natural resources, and the need for shared stewardship of these valued, irreplaceable lands; builds partnerships between the public sector and the local community based upon mutual interests in the enhancement and restoration of America's public lands; and improves public lands for outdoor recreation, with volunteers assisting land managers in hands-on work. http://www.public landsday.org
Sep. 24-30 Sat.-Fri. Take a Child Outside Week. Take A Child Outside is a program designed to encourage children and adults to spend time together outdoors. http://www.takeachildoutside. org
Oct. 20-23 Thur.-Sun. P/L FTA 50th Anniversary Conference. Sanborn Center, 815 South Alabama Ave., Deland, FL. Put this on your calendar now. More details to follow.
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I want to begin this article with an observation from one of the most skilled trail builders I know. Ian Barlow and his crew, “Framing Our Communities,” have been working with the FTA on construction projects and trail skills training for a number of years. He says, “Florida hates trails.” You can build the most beautiful and perfect trail in the world and Florida will do anything it can to destroy your work. Vines and limbs grow across it at an incredible rate. Thunderstorms cause limbs and whole trees to come down across it. The aquifer floods and your beautiful trail bed is buried under a foot of water. If you build a trail and do nothing for 6 months and come back the trail is gone. All this is not meant to point out the futility of trail building in Florida. It’s meant to point out the necessity of maintenance. Personally, maintenance is not my favorite trail activity. It’s one of my least favorites. Major building projects are my favorite trail activities. I was on the crew that built the Spring Creek East Bridge. It was a great eight days of hard work, but I learned more about trail building than I thought possible. I’ve also been on several rerouting projects at Torreya State park. We designed and built sustainable trails on the steep bluffs. People from all over the state came and joined in. Great weekends. When the next Spring Creek boardwalk project is announced, I will sign up the next day. I know several of you who feel the same way I do. But our beautiful bridges and Class 5 trails don’t mean much if people can’t walk on them. Nobody will be able to see the work if the trail is overgrown with weeds. Or blocked by limbs that have come down. My next favorite activity is hiking. I try to get out at least 3 times a week. Sometimes it is to train for a more challenging hike, but sometimes I just like to amble alone in the woods. Sometimes I’m going some place new I’ve never been before. Sometimes I’m taking an old favorite to see if anything has changed. I know lots of you would agree with this sentiment. Our Meetup site is full of great hikes every weekend and they are well attended. But sometimes these hikes are not so much fun. Sometimes it might be cold and near dark and rainy and the trail is so overgrown you can’t even find a blaze. Or maybe it’s hot and you’re wearing shorts and the smilax is cutting into your legs at every step. And don’t forget this is an ideal environment for sand fleas lurking in palm fronds overhanging the trail. Have you ever come to an unfamiliar trail intersection and you can’t find any blazes at all? This is the no-fun of hiking and that’s why maintenance is the most important and fundamental job of our Chapter. I guess we all assume that the maintenance will be done by a few Section Leaders and Trailmasters, but in reality that can’t be the case. Our chapter is responsible for over 130 miles of the FNST. That is way too much to be left in the hands of just a few people. We all need to get out there and pick up a set of loppers, or a paintbrush, or some other trail tool. If everyone would participate in just one work hike a year, we would have the best kept section of the FNST in the state. Recently, I gave a survey to the members of our Chapter Coordinating Committee. The purpose was to assess how individuals felt our chapter was doing on a number of its missions. Most of the respondents felt we were a strong chapter and were doing quite well in most areas. The one area everyone felt was our biggest weakness, however, was maintenance. We have a new set of transit hikes coming up this winter; and our Trail is traversed by FNST thruhikers, some of whom are international visitors. In what condition will our trails be found by all these hikers? It will reflect on us as a chapter. (continued)
~~ WANDERINGS ~~ from the desk of Dawn Brown CHAPTER CHAIR
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VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY !!
NEEDED: Trailmasters--Apalachicola National Forest--West Section. Pick from 2 to 5 miles (or more) within this 32-mi. section of the FNST to lop and inspect for problems before others do the mowing.
To learn more, contact the Section Leader, Al Ingle: (850) 509-1162 [email protected]
Go GREEN, save our Chapter MONEY, and get a COLOR COPY of THE BLAZE with EXTRA PAGES. Opt into receiving ‘The Blaze’ by email as a PDF (in color) and opt out of receiving a black-and-white copy by mail.
Each member who does so saves the Chapter about $2.40 per year. Currently, 130 members are saving us about $312 !! If you would like to receive the newsletter via email, contact Linda Patton at [email protected]. THANK YOU !!
WANDERINGS ~~ continued... I’m planning to make maintenance on the FNST one of my top priorities for the coming hiking season. I put in plenty of hours at the side trail where I’m the Section Leader, but it’s been a number of years since I’ve really gotten out and worked on the FNST. We have lots of work opportunities coming up in the fall. And Al Ingle may lead some trail care hikes this summer (I understand there is AYCE watermelon involved). His work hikes aren’t scheduled for specific dates—just spur-of-the-moment when conditions are right—so they won't be on our calendar of activities. But he will put you on his contact list and notify you when he plans a maintenance day—just let him know at [email protected] or 850-509-1162. This coming September (23rd-25th), FTA will have a Trail Skills Training weekend workshop. I think it would be great if we could get a whole crew to go down and train together. Then next fall/winter we can put together some trail care weekend events. I think this is a great new direction for our chapter and I’m looking forward seeing you all, loppers in hand, out on the trail.
September 23-25, 2016 4th Annual Trail Skills Training
Camp LaNoChe, Paisley, FL
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http://blog.nature.org/science/2016/04/05/the-four-biggest-hazards-facing-monarch-butterflies-and-how-you-can-help/?src=e.nature.loc_b2&lu=1911786&autologin=true
The Four Biggest Hazards Facing Monarch Butterflies, and How You Can Help By Christine Peterson April 5, 2016 Monarch butterflies are in the media a lot lately, and it’s not good news. What’s really going on? Are the butterflies facing extinction? Our blogger breaks down the issue, including how you can make a difference.
Monarch butterfly. © becky-r/Flickr
Twenty years ago, monarch butterflies occupied so much area in Mexico during the winter you could see it from space. It totaled about 20 hectares, or almost 50 acres, with millions if not billions of butterflies clinging to trunks and branches of trees. Today, that area is around 4 hectares. The previous year had 1.1 hectares, says Brice Semmens, Assistant Professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego.
Semmens was the lead author on “Quasi-extinction risk and population targets for the Eastern, migratory population of mon-arch butterflies” published recently in the journal Scientific Reports. It is one paper in a long line of sobering butterfly news. The monarch likely won’t ever become extinct, Semmens says. Small populations live scattered throughout Mexico, the central U.S. and Canada, and some were moved to places as far away as Hawaii and New Zealand. But the massive eastern migrations between central Mexico and Canada that have inspired people for centuries could be lost. Semmens’ paper used expert opinion to determine how little occupied winter habitat in Mexico would be needed to sustain a viable migratory population – and at what point it simply may not bounce back.
The authors used estimates of extinction rates with various overwintering sizes, and conclude monarchs need about 6 hectares, or about 15 acres, to cut the risk in half. But in order to understand how to boost overwintering numbers, people must first un-derstand what hazards the eastern monarch faces. Semmens and University of Minnesota monarch expert Karen Oberhauser recently walked the Cool Green Science Blog through each threat, as well as some possible solutions.
Habitat Loss
This one isn’t a surprise. Many North American species face some kind of habitat loss, but the eastern monarch is struggling throughout its three-country migration route. In the winter, the butterflies need insulated cover in the form of dense Mexican forests. While the area is protected by the Mexican government, its edges are still being eaten away by illegal logging. But also critical are the other migratory stages. In each one between Mexico, the Midwestern U.S. and southern Canada, monarchs need milkweed. They can only reproduce with the flowering plant. And since each annual migration might create four or even five generations of monarchs, less milkweed directly correlates to fewer butterflies, according to Oberhauser. Unfortunately, the plant has been effectively removed by the millions from most agricultural fields and neighboring areas throughout the Midwest. “The hopeful thing is that monarchs can really use habitat in a lot of different places,” she says. “It’s not like we’re talking about spotted owls that need hundreds of acres of untouched forest. They can find a milkweed plant growing in a crack in a sidewalk.”
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A Monarch butterfly caterpillar feeding on the leaves of a A monarch butterfly on the UCSC Farm. milkweed plant. Photographed at the Grapevine Botanical Photo © Lee Jaffe/Flickr Gardens. Photo © TexasEagle/Flickr
Climate Change
Monarchs suffer under drought and severe storms, two weather events becoming more common with climate change. “If you im-agine an EKG or something, a line going up and down, insect populations in general are very erratic,” says Oberhauser. “They are very driven by weather conditions and what we call stochastic variation, variation we don’t have control over and can’t predict.” The biggest risk with storms is freezing to death. Butterflies can survive temperatures down to about 17 degrees Fahren-heit if the cold is dry.
But temperatures of about 25F with rain often mean death. A single storm in 2002, for example, killed almost 80 percent of the monarch population. “That year the population was pretty high,” Oberhauser says. “But two years ago when the population was down to under 1 hectare, if we lost 80 percent, the number might have been too small to be a viable population.”
Pesticides and Herbicides
Milkweed used to grow scattered throughout corn and soybean crops across the Midwest. But more efficient agriculture practices and products such as Roundup have nearly eliminated monarch habitat, according to Semmens. “It’s not that the use changed, it’s still agriculture, but the weed control changed and made it hard for monarchs,” he says. Monarchs are also suffering from something called neonicotinoids, a relatively new class of insecticides with poison growing in all tissues of the plant. They make the plant itself poisonous to insects
So what can you do?
Leaders of all three North American countries have decided monarchs are a priority. As a result, the U.S. government, through the departments of the Interior and Agriculture, are creating strategic goals for increasing habitat. The U.S. needs about 1.5 billion new stems of milkweed, or about 500 million new plants, to help reach the 6 hectare overwintering goal, says Wayne Thogmartin, a research ecologist with the USGS. “It will require participation from all sectors of society,” he says. “If we try and rely on any single sector we won’t reach our goals. If we say this is an agricultural problem and we need to rely on them to solve it, it won’t get solved. If we say we will achieve this by having everyone plant milkweed in their backyard, it won’t solve the problem. We need everyone’s participation.” But each person can make a difference. Here are a few places the researchers suggest to start:
Create habitat in your backyard, school or office. If you can, remove some grass and put in a garden. Each new plant makes a difference.
Sign up for monarch citizen science projects and collect data for researchers. For more information, go to monarchjointventure.org.
Ask before you buy. If you want to plant a pollinator-friendly garden, ask to be sure the seeds or plants weren’t treated with neonicotinoids.
Talk to your friends, neighbors and relatives.
Donate to organizations working for conservation of habitat including The Nature Conservancy, the Monarch Joint Venture and the Monarch Butterfly Fund.
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The Obama Administration Just Gave The Outdoor Economy A Huge Boost
by Jenny Rowland -- Guest Contributor Apr 20, 2016 Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell kicked off National Parks Week on Tuesday with a major speech outlining a new vision for a second century of parks conservation. The speech highlighted the problems faced by national parks, including maintenance backlogs, lack of robust funding, climate change, and the rise of an extreme movement to sell off public lands.
A major action item from Jewell’s speech was an announcement that the Department of Interior will work with the Commerce De-partment’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) to do a first-ever study to measure the impact outdoor recreation has on the econo-my. Despite the major economic powerhouse that outdoor recrea-tion can be for towns, businesses, and communities near public lands, the BEA has not measured or tracked its outputs as it does the outputs of other major sectors of the economy.
“Hunting, boating, hiking, OHVing, wildlife viewing, and other outdoor activities are so closely tied to the health and accessibility of our public lands, yet this sector has, for too long, been overlooked and undervalued,” said Secretary Jew-ell in the speech. “Industry estimates show that consumer spending for outdoor recreation is almost equal to pharmaceuticals and motor vehicles and parts combined — and yet the federal government has never fully recognized or quantified these benefits.”
A #CountMyJob campaign — started last year by outdoor recreation companies, conservation organizations and the Center for American Progress — called on the federal government to measure the economic impact of outdoor recreation as a sector of the economy.
A fact sheet released Tuesday by the Federal Recreation Council says that, as part of its new report, BEA will incorporate statistics on production, employment, compensation, value added and other economic benefits from the U.S. outdoor recreation industry.
The Outdoor Industry Association, a trade group representing outdoor retailers and manufacturers, has estimated that the recreation economy generates $646 billion in consumer spending each year and supports 6.1 million direct jobs. That’s more jobs than mining, oil and gas drilling, and logging support combined, not to mention the quality of life and health benefits that come from recreation and public lands.
“Including outdoor recreation as part of U.S. GDP shows that leaders in Washington, D.C. agree that investing in outdoor recreation is an investment in America’s healthy communities and healthy economies,” the Outdoor Industry Association said today in a post on their website. “Our hope is that these numbers will be used by policymakers at the federal, state and local levels to invest in recreation infrastructure.”
This new study to measure the contribution of outdoor recreation to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is indispensable to the development of effective, economically efficient policies that promote economic growth and stability. The information gained in the study will help capture the full economic contributions of outdoor recreation and will provide comprehensive and justifiable data to inform decision makers and the long-term management of America’s public lands.
“We want to know the impact of everything from buying gear, to hiring a guide, to renting hotel rooms in gateway communities. This project is the start of a multi-year effort to quantify these contributions in a comprehensive and impartial way,” said Secretary Jewell. “So today, we are putting America’s outdoor economy on equal footing with every other major economic sector. This fast-growing economic powerhouse deserves to be counted.”
Secretary Jewell also discussed the disappearance of western landscapes, building a more inclusive park system that represents the country’s growing diversity, protecting the Antiquities Act, the importance of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, wildlife conservation, and landscape level planning. Jenny Rowland is the Research and Advocacy Associate for the Public Lands Project at Center for American Progress. http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/04/20/3771035/jewell-speech-outdoor-rec-jobs/
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The Next 100 Years of American Conservation April 19, 2016 On April 19, Interior Secretary Jewell discussed the need for a course correction in the way America conserves our public lands, waters and wildlife.
This week is National Park Week — a time when we celebrate the more than 400 natural, historical and cultural sites that make up the most incredible parks system on Earth. Places that attract visitors from around the world and inspire other nations to follow our lead. But being the “best” wasn’t always a forgone conclusion.
During World War II, national parks fell into a state of disrepair. Congress, needing to fund the war effort, directed much-needed resources elsewhere. After the war, veterans packed up their families and drove to the national parks, looking to heal and reconnect in the way that we know getting outside can uniquely do. Instead, the war heroes and their families were greeted by crumbling buildings, roads full of potholes and huge crowds.
The state of the parks got so bad that Harper’s Magazine ran an essay in 1953 entitled, “Let’s Close the National Parks.” The author, Bernard DeVoto, hoped the shock of suggesting that Yellowstone, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon should be shut down until they were worthy of visitors would push Congress to properly funding the nation’s crown jewels. So that could have been the end of the story, the tombstone reading: Here lies the national parks. Loved to death.
But DeVoto’s essay, plus a few visionary leaders — like Conrad Wirth, who was Park Service Director in the Eisenhower administration — spurred a historic investment in our national parks. Starting in 1956 — the year I was born — and over the course of the next 10 years, more than a billion dollars of capital improvements were completed. Roads were fixed, sewer systems upgraded, and visitor centers added — just in time for the Park Service’s 50th anniversary in 1966. Mission 66, as it was called, was rooted in the simple idea that investing in our national parks was an investment in the heart of our nation — not only our economy, but our very identity.
Corporations also stepped up to help, like the memorable ad campaign of the day: “See the U.S.A. in your Chevrolet,” a jingle that my generation can still hear in our minds.
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And what happened to all those kids who were loaded into the backs of station wagons and taken to Rocky Mountain National Park for their summer vacation? They grew up. They became today’s champions for the national parks. The real legacy of Mission 66 is that it inspired an entire generation — baby boomers, my generation — to love and visit and support the great outdoors. You don’t need to look too hard to see the parallels to today.
Our national parks are being visited in record numbers — 307 million visits last year alone. But our maintenance backlog — nearing $12 billion — is also at record levels. And budget crunches have left our national parks and public lands understaffed and struggling to keep up with day-to-day operations. And the people visiting the parks? It’s still the baby boomers. The majority of visitors to national parks today look like me: older and whiter. Which means we haven’t found a way to connect with the young people of today, who are more diverse, more tech-savvy, and more disconnected from nature than ever before.
Those trends coincide with the emergence of an extreme movement to seize public lands — from Oregon to Puerto Rico — putting lands that belong to all Americans at risk of being sold off for a short-term gain to the highest bidder. This movement has propped up dangerous voices that reject the rule of law, put communities and hard-working public servants at risk, and fail to appreciate how deeply democratic and American our national parks and public lands are. What’s more, climate change — the most pressing issue of our time — threatens our land and water in existential ways, with longer, hotter fire seasons, record-breaking droughts, and more frequent and severe superstorms. Some experts believe that we’re on the brink of the planet’s sixth mass extinction, with humans playing a major role in wiping out species at a rate 53 times greater than normal. And a new analysis by the non-profit Conservation Science Partners finds that natural areas out West are disappearing at the rate of a football field every two and a half minutes.
If you add that all up, you’re looking at a pretty bleak picture. If we stay on this trajectory, 100 years from now, national parks and wildlife refuges will be like postage stamps of nature on a map. Isolated islands of conservation with run-down facilities that crowds of Americans visit like zoos to catch a glimpse of our nation’s remaining wildlife and undeveloped patches of land. Now, that can’t — and won’t — happen. But we, as a country, need to make a major course correction in how we approach conservation to ensure a bright future for our public lands and waters.
Make Parks Relevant to All Americans
First and foremost, we need to kick off the new century of American conservation by issuing a giant, open invitation to every American to visit their national parks and public lands. The National Park Service’s Centennial is about inspiring people — from all ages and all backgrounds and all walks of life — to love the great outdoors and our rich history and culture.
If we’re successful, the next generation of America’s elected officials, scientists, philanthropists, teachers, and Supreme Court justices will understand the value of conservation and public lands. I’m proud of the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation for launching the Find Your Park campaign. The campaign, which kicked off last year, has already made nearly six billion impressions, which is marketing speak for ‘they’ve reached a lot of people.
The campaign is making a special effort to target Millennials and a diverse, young audience. For example, I will admit that I did not know who Bella Thorne was a year ago, but her six million Twitter followers did. So when she tweeted #findyourpark, I hum-bly submit that meant a lot more than when I did it. I’m also proud of the President’s Every Kid in a Park initiative. By providing every fourth grader in America with a free pass to visit our nation’s public lands and waters with their families, we’re breaking down barriers that can keep underserved communities from discovering the great outdoors.
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Some of my favorite moments in this job have been handing out the passes — like to a fourth grade class of Native American students outside Tucson, Arizona. Along with several elders from the Tohono O’odham Nation, we took a hike in Saguaro National Park where we learned how the kids’ ancestors and the desert have co-existed for thousands of years. It was a magical experience. I am committed to making sure that this program lasts long after I leave this office, so that 12 years from now, we’ll have a whole generation of students whose love for public lands was sparked in fourth grade.We also need to ensure that when a diverse class of 4th graders does visit, that they see park rangers who look like them. Or talk to wildlife biologists who share their background. Or see signs in their first language. Or, that they can visit a place that honors their heritage or culture.
For too long, our national parks have ignored important parts of our nation’s story. I’m proud of what this President has done to expand that story and make our national parks and public lands more relevant to all Americans. People like César Chávez, Harriet Tubman and the Buffalo Soldiers now have their contributions to this country rightfully recognized through the national parks. Just last week, President Obama acted again. In establishing the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument, he honored a key chapter in the ongoing fight for political, social and economic equality.
Still, with only a sliver of national parks and historic sites focused on women, minorities and underrepresented communities, there’s more to be done. Right now, there’s not one national park or national monument focused on the struggle for LGBT rights. And we haven’t done enough to celebrate the contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, or Latinos, or Native Americans, or African Americans. That needs to change, and I look forward to continuing our efforts to leave our national parks and public lands decisively more inclusive places than they were in 2009.
To that end, throughout this summer, my team and I will travel across the country to hear from communities about their vision for conservation as we look to the next 100 years. Our goal will be to find and highlight opportunities where we can make progress — both in the near and long term — to ensure that our parks and public lands are benefiting all Americans. From coast to coast, we’ll talk to communities about: What places are special to you and why? What’s important to your community’s economy, your identity, your heritage? And how can we make it easier for you to visit and enjoy your public lands?
This is about lifting up what’s working, and learning what we can do better when it comes to supporting our public lands. My first stop will be this Friday in Florida to celebrate another major milestone in the effort to restore the natural water flows in the Florida Everglades. Then, in the coming weeks, I’ll visit Montana to talk about the nexus between public lands and outdoor recreation. I plan to visit Idaho to discuss building resilient sagebrush landscapes in the face of wildfires. And I plan to visit places, like Utah, where there are a range of conservation proposals — legislative and otherwise — to further protect public lands. My team and I look forward to getting out into communities across the country this summer.
Let me pause for a minute here to talk about the Antiquities Act, because there’s a lot of discussion about it in this final year of the President’s term. For over 100 years, since Congress passed the law in 1906, Presidents have used the Antiquities Act to protect special places that, without action, might be lost forever to wrecking balls, looting, or other destructive activities. I believe it’s one of the most important tools a President has to improve our country. It’s a tool that should not be used lightly or invoked without serious consideration of the impacts on current and future generations. President Obama has been judicious and thoughtful in his use of the Antiquities Act. I do not think the Act should only be used in places where there is complete agreement, as some are suggesting. If that were the case, then Teddy Roosevelt would never have protected the Grand Canyon or Muir Woods. And Franklin Roosevelt would never have protected Zion or Joshua Tree.
These were all controversial when they were established. Just go look up old quotes in the local papers from Members of Congress or developers who decried that a national monument would tie up resources and halt economic progress — all for a little bit of scenery. But their doomsday predictions didn’t come true. And today, every one of those (now) national parks is an economic engine and huge source of pride for its respective state.
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Zion National Park in Utah by Tom Morris There are communities across America who believe that President Obama should act to protect more special places. Places that, yes, help tell a more complete story of America. Places with incredible antiquities at risk of looting or development. Places that could create local jobs and boost small businesses should they be recognized on the national stage. Places that future generations should have the chance to experience for themselves.
I believe these ideas should be heard and discussed. Even when — in fact, especially when –there’s a spectrum of opinions. Or when the path forward isn’t always clear. In some cases, I imagine the best next step will simply be more conversations. But I’ve found in my life — whether as a parent, a banker, a CEO, a volunteer, or an Interior Secretary — that the best results start with the simple act of listening. So that’s what I plan to do.
Think Big: Landscape-level Planning
The second course correction we need to make is to think big. It’s simply not enough to protect a few isolated places.
The same analysis I cited earlier by Conservation Science Partners found that, if you were to randomly drop a pin in a natural area in the West, on average it’d be only 3.5 miles from some form of human development. Think about that. That’s a great statistic if you’re a lost hiker looking to be rescued. But it has highly alarming implications for the mule deer or the grizzly bear who need connected corridors of land to survive.
When I was walking into National Geographic today, I stopped in the lobby to check out the display on Yellowstone. There’s a pan-el that reminded me that it wasn’t that long ago that we didn’t quite know where or why animals disappeared for half the year. Even into the 1800’s, many believed that migrating birds spent the winter buried in mud at the bottom of ponds. Well, we know better now.
We know that healthy, intact ecosystems are fundamental to the health of our wildlife — and our nation. They clean our air and pro-vide our drinking water, they store carbon and combat climate change, and they are critical to our economy. But if their integrity is undermined by a haphazard web of transmission lines, pipelines and roads, where does that leave us 50 years from now? Or 500? It’s an issue that can’t be solved by simply creating a new national park or wildlife refuge — although there’s no doubt that we need those places to serve as critical anchors for conservation.
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What we need is smart planning, on a landscape-level, irrespective of manmade lines on a map. We need to take a holistic look at an ecosystem — on land or in the ocean — to determine where it makes sense to develop, where it makes sense to protect the natural resources, and where we can accomplish both. This isn’t a pie-in-the-sky idea. We need look no further than the greater sage-grouse conservation effort to see what’s possible when people work together across a landscape.
The bird’s 173-million acre range spans federal, state, and private lands across 11 states in the West. Lands that — not surprisingly — overlap in some places where folks want to mine, graze, or drill for oil and gas. Lands that are also home to hundreds of other species, like elk and pronghorn. Rather than shut down all economic activity to save the sage-grouse, or let it go the way of the dodo, stakeholders came together to map out what areas are too important to the bird to disturb, what areas should have development activity modified or adjusted, and what areas should have the green light to continue business as usual. You know how this ends. As a result of this unprecedented planning effort, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that the greater sage-grouse does not need the protection of the Endangered Species Act.
I’m not suggesting that this was an easy task. It wasn’t, by any stretch of the imagination. But the epic collaboration did result in a thoughtful, science-based roadmap for a healthy ecosystem and sustainable development across a landscape. That’s the model for the future of conservation. That big-picture, roll-up-your-sleeves, get-input-from-all-stakeholders kind of planning is how land management agencies should orient themselves in the 21st century. That’s why, this year, I look forward to getting a number of things across the finish line to cement the forward-thinking path we have embarked upon. That includes completing the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, where the Bureau of Land Management is working with state and local partners to map out our part of 22 million acres in the California desert where we want to encourage wind and solar projects, and where we want to manage for conservation. That includes issuing Master Leasing Plans for places like Moab, Utah, where we are collaborating with local stakeholders to develop a blueprint for balancing energy development with conservation and outdoor recreation. That includes finalizing the Bureau of Land Management’s Planning 2.0 rule, which institutionalizes this new way of doing business — engaging early and often with stakeholders. And that includes a comprehensive review of the Federal coal program.
In the meantime, we also have some work left to reexamine whether decisions made in prior administrations properly considered where it makes sense to develop and where it doesn’t. Or where science is helping us better understand the value of the land and water and potential impacts of development. Places like Badger Two-Medicine in Montana, or the Boundary Waters in Minnesota, or the Roan Plateau in Colorado. These are special areas, and I look forward to making progress on them this year.
Invest in America’s Public Lands
The third and final area where I believe we need to make a course correction is related to resources. The National Park Service is to release a report that parks generated $32 billion in economic activity for the nation in 2015. They did that on a budget of about $3 billion, meaning that for every dollar invested in the national parks, taxpayers saw a 10 to 1 return on investment. As a businessperson, I can tell you that’s pretty darn good.
But just as we did with Mission 66, our nation needs to make serious investments in our national parks, wildlife refuges, forests, public lands and waters to ensure that they are prepared for the next 100 years. That not only means investments in roads and bridges, but also in “green” infrastructure to check the spread of invasive species, build resilient coastlines in the face of climate change, and restore wetlands and watersheds.
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Congress took a good step with last year’s Omnibus, but we need to do more to give national parks and public lands the resources they need to fund critical infrastructure projects, leverage private donations, and enhance visitor experiences. The Administration’s Centennial Act proposal, introduced in Congress by Senator Cantwell and Representative Grijalva, does just that — and I remain hopeful that, working together, we can get it across the finish line. Congress can also do right by permanently authorizing and fully funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund at $900 million as originally intended.
Congress took an important initial step to reauthorize the fund for three years, but it should not have been the battle it was, and it should not be seen as enough. And Congress can help greatly in dealing with the ever-increasing threat of wildfires by making a simple change in the budget to treat large-scale fires like the disasters they are. This will help the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management avoid borrowing money from other programs — including those designed to prevent future wildfires.
To be sure, there are many great champions for conservation in Congress. I’m hopeful that we can convince even more Members to support public land management agencies in accomplishing what the American public expects of us, which is being in the “forever business.” The federal government can do our part by spending our money wisely, encouraging public-private partnerships and inspiring volunteer service, which fosters a deep personal connection to public lands and has become essential in supporting our visi-tors. We can also do a better job of capturing the value of public lands. Now, I’m not talking about the value of hearing the quiet of the night
pierced by the howl of wolves that once again roam Yellowstone. Or the value of feeling the first rays of sun while catching the sunrise on Cadillac Mountain in Acadia. Or the value of seeing your grandchild try in vain to wrap his little arms around the old growth trees in the Pacific Northwest. There are some things you can’t put a price tag on. But by producing credible data on the tangible economic benefits of public lands, we can help the public and Members of Congress better understand the benefits of investing in them. That’s why, today, I’m pleased to announce that we will work with the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis to pro-duce an independent study on what impact outdoor recreation has on our nation’s economy. Hunting, boating, hiking, OHVing, wildlife viewing, and other outdoor activities are so closely tied to the health and accessibility of our public lands, yet this sector has, for too long, been overlooked and undervalued. Industry estimates show that consumer spending for outdoor recreation is almost equal to pharmaceuticals and motor vehicles and parts combined — and yet the federal government has never fully recognized or quantified these benefits.
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We want to know the impact of everything from buying gear, to hiring a guide, to renting hotel rooms in gateway communities. This project is the start of a multi-year effort to quantify these contributions in a comprehensive and impartial way. So today, we are putting America’s outdoor economy on equal footing with every other major economic sector. This fast-growing economic powerhouse deserves to be counted. I’d like to thank the bipartisan group of Members in the House and Senate for championing this issue.
The Case for Public Lands
We’re celebrating the 100th birthday of the National Park Service this year — but there’s another, much less well known anniversary also happening in 2016. That’s the 40th anniversary of a landmark piece of legislation that provided a framework in which public lands could be managed in perpetuity for the benefit of present and future generations. It defined the Bureau of Land Management’s mission as one of multiple use and sustained yield — a new concept for the times, but which today stands as the agency’s greatest strength. That legislation is called the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, or FLPMA. It just rolls right off the tongue, doesn’t it?
I raise this because being in the forever business doesn’t always lend itself to the best soundbites. I imagine that Mad Men’s Don Draper would not have suggested the name ‘FLPMA’ if given the task of marketing what the Bureau of Land Management does for the American people. And yet, this country’s public lands, national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, and federal waters are some of the most valuable assets that we collectively own.
At a time when public lands face threats from land grabs to climate change, we can’t afford to turn our backs on them. That won’t happen because I believe we are at the dawn of a new conservation era in America. Americans are more determined than ever to solve the problems we face. To take action to confront climate change. To pass ballot initiatives to fund parks and open space. To work the lands in a sustainable way. To give everyone an equal chance to get outdoors.
Teddy Roosevelt, John Muir, Rachel Carson — the conservation movements they ignited fit their particular historical moment. And likewise, the groundswell for conservation that is building today is different from any other we have seen. It is digital, it is diverse, and — more than ever — it is motivated by values that are widely shared among Americans of all political beliefs.
Find me someone who doesn’t take pride in America’s wildlife, in our clean air and clean drinking water. Find me someone who really wants to privatize the national parks. Find me someone who doesn’t want to pass on a healthy planet to their children. When I am with young people in nature — like the 4th graders from a California farming community who squealed when they saw island foxes on the Channel Islands after studying how they have been brought back from the brink of extinction — I am confident that we are waking up as a people to recognize what’s at stake.
The truth is that — outside of Washington, D.C. and the rhetoric heard on some campaign trails, at least — Americans know we need to correct course if we are to ensure a bright future for our public lands and waters. As Americans who continue to benefit from the foresight of Mission 66, we now have a responsibility to inspire a new generation of outdoor stewards to keep public lands public. So, let us use this special year of the National Park Service’s Centennial to set a new path for conservation in the 21st century. One that celebrates the diversity of public lands. One that relies on science and collaboration to chart a sustainable future for entire landscapes and ecosystems. One that invests the necessary resources into these incredible places. And one that welcomes all Ameri-cans to help care for our most treasured assets as though they were their own — because they are!
Thank you to the public servants, public lands advocates, National Geographic and all of you in joining this effort to start the next 100 years of American conservation on the right foot.
-Interior Secretary Sally Jewell
https://medium.com/@Interior/the-next-100-years-of-american-conservation-397c42b8f1f2#.s7od38p3s
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Dawn Brown Chair, Apalachee Chapter, FTA 14219 Otter Run Road Tallahassee, FL 32312
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