The NonSilent Majority

Voters Approve to Protect Open Space

The following appeared in The New York Times. Looks like protecting open space with public money is important to the voters!

Editorial

A Resounding Vote for Open Space

Published: November 18, 2008

Almost unnoticed in the election results was some very good news for the environment — and for land preservation in particular. Despite the financial crisis, voters made it clear that they want to increase spending on preserving open land, even at the cost of higher taxes.

Across the nation, voters approved $7.3 billion in new spending for parks and open-space preservation. Sixty-two of the 87 referendums to acquire or otherwise protect open space were approved. And the support came in rural, Republican areas, as well as in those that lean toward the Democrats.

California and Florida said yes to more than $700 million in new spending on open space. In Minnesota, voters increased the sales tax by three-eights of a cent to generate $5.5 billion over the next 25 years for land preservation and environmental protection. It was the largest open-space state referendum in the nation’s history.

Despite especially tough economic times, New Jersey voters showed that they feel strongly about acquiring open space before it is all eaten up by strip malls and McMansions. The state is reeling from high property taxes, unemployment and a budget deficit. But voters still approved 14 of 22 county and municipal referendums to increase or extend property taxes dedicated to acquiring or preserving open space.

These votes are an explicit rebuke to President Bush, who failed miserably to honor his 2000 campaign promise to fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the government’s main vehicle for buying open space. They should give Congress a strong push to approve a public lands measure that, among other things, would grant permanent wilderness protection to two million acres of public land.

We had hoped that Congress would approve the legislation in the current lame-duck session. On Monday, the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, withdrew it from the calendar after Senator Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican, threatened to filibuster the bill. Mr. Coburn called it a waste of money and an unnecessary expansion of federal control over public lands.

Mr. Reid said the Senate needed to focus on the economic crisis, but he promised to bring the measure up for immediate action early next year.

Old business tends to get lost in the early days of a new Congress, especially when there is a new administration. Come January, we will remind Mr. Reid of his promise and of the voters’ clear commitment to preserving open spaces.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/opinion/19wed2.html?_r=2&ref=opinion&oref=slogin

Vital Ground: A Partner in History-Making Conservation Deal in Canada

As a member of the Board of Advisors for The Vital Ground Foundation, I am happy to promote the following news item out of Missoula, Montana:

Vital Ground is proud to announce that it is a fundraising partner in the largest single private land conservation acquisition in Canadian history.

The effort is being lead by the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), which has made the bold commitment to protect 212 square miles of remote valleys, mountains and lakes in an area known as Darkwoods in south-central British Columbia.

Vital Ground has entered into a memorandum of understanding with NCC, and will be providing a grant and other fundraising assistance over the next two years.

“This is a unique and immediate opportunity to conserve a landscape roughly the size of the entire Island of Montreal,” says John Lounds, President and CEO of the Nature Conservancy of Canada. “Darkwoods is a conservation initiative of global significance. It’s part of a greater vision that will set new standards for conservation success.”

Darkwoods is situated between the towns of Nelson, Salmo and Creston in the West Kootenay region of  British Columbia. The previous owners, the Pluto Darkwoods Forestr y Corporation, had owned and operated the land since 1967. The property connects a network of protected lands and wilderness management areas to create a vast tract covering more than 250,000 acres—enough for wide-ranging animals such as grizzly bear and caribou to roam freely. 

 The project cost is more than $125-million, which includes not only the purchase of the land but the endowment funds needed to ensure Darkwoods will be cared for in generations to come.

Darkwoods supports a tremendous range of biologically rich habitats: rare old-growth forests, sub-alpine meadows, serene valley bottoms, productive creeks and lakefront lands. These habitats are home to 29 provincially-listed species at risk, such as bull trout, red-tailed chipmunk, western screech owl and a streamside orchid called giant helleborine.

“Conserving Darkwoods is essential to the recovery of the South Selkirk caribou population,” says biologist Trevor Kinley. “It could also significantly affect the viability of the local grizzly population, and it will definitely influence the retention of natural biodiversity.”

Because of its great scale and topographical diversity, Darkwoods offers sensitive plants and animals a chance to adapt in the face of global climate change. Species will be able to migrate to different latitudes or elevations as temperatures fluctuate.

The Darkwoods announcement comes on the heels of an announcement by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and The Trust for Public Land (TPL) of a landmark agreement to purchase approximately 320,000 acres (500 square miles) of western Montana forestland from Plum Creek Timber Company for $510 million.

Dubbed the Montana Legacy Project, the effort will keep forests in productive timber management and protect the area’s clean water and abundant fish and wildlife habitat, while promoting continued public access to these lands for fishing, hiking, hunting and other recreational pursuits.

The lands to be purchased also offer habitat for wide-ranging big game animals, grizzly bears, lynx, wolverine, bull trout and numerous other wildlife. These lands are also some of the most popular recreation areas in the western United States.

The plan is for the purchased lands to be transferred into a mixture of private, state and federal ownership. The lands sold into private ownership will be subject to conservation easements that will restrict subdivision and home development.

Vital Ground is working closely with TNC and TPL and other stakeholders as the project unfolds.

“This has been an incredible month for conservation,” says Vital Ground’s executive director, Gary Wolfe. “Darkwoods is the largest private land conservation transaction in

Canada’s history, and the Plum Creek deal is the largest private land conservation project in

U.S. history. It’s exciting that Vital Ground is aligned with both of these efforts.”

Vital Ground Protects Wetland Acreage

As a member of the Board of Advisors and the Development Committee for The Vital Ground Foundation, I am happy to share the following news:

Missoula, MT - The Vital Ground Foundation announced today that it has acquired 90 acres of crucial grizzly bear habitat at northern Idaho's Bismark Meadows. Located just west of Priest Lake, Bismark Meadows is an 1,100-acre complex of meadows and wetlands that features a dramatic array of rare flora and fauna. It supports several endangered plant species and provides habitat for moose, elk, deer, black bear, wolves, lynx, westslope cutthroat trout, and eagles, as well as grizzlies.

The project complements a 19-acre parcel bordering State Highway 57 ─ a location especially vulnerable to commercial development ─ that the organization purchased in 2005. Both projects fall under Vital Ground's Selkirk Grizzly Bear Habitat Conservation Initiative, which is designed to help bolster the "Threatened" grizzly sub-population. It is estimated that the Selkirk Grizzly Bear Recovery Zone hosts only 40-50 animals.

"The greatest threat to wildlife today is human intrusion into their habitat," states Gary Wolfe, Vital Ground's executive director. "Our conservation efforts in Bismark Meadows provide an increasingly rare wild refuge for imperiled animals and plants in a growing sea of development."

As the surrounding Selkirk Mountains are often snowbound until early June, grizzlies must seek food in lower elevations when they emerge from hibernation. "This makes the meadowlands vitally important for the bears," continued Wolfe. "Without continued access to these and other low elevation food sources in spring and again in autumn, the Selkirk population may fail."

During 2007, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Idaho Fish and Game Department biologists received reports indicating that up to three grizzly females with cubs were utilizing the meadows during the spring season. One female had two cubs and the other two females reportedly had three cubs each.

Vital Ground's work in the Selkirks is supported in part through a grant from the Canmore, Alberta-based Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y). Through this partnership, Vital Ground is contributing to Y2Y's Grizzly Bear Conservation Strategy, which is designed help strengthen ecosystem connectivity so that grizzlies in the Idaho Panhandle and northwestern Montana can move about safely and intermingle with the more robust populations in Canada.

Vital Ground is also negotiating an option to purchase a third parcel within Bismark Meadows in 2010 and has already completed a 1,647-acre conservation easement near Bonners Ferry, Idaho and additional acquisitions near the U.S./Canada border.

With the grizzly bear as its compass, Vital Ground works to reconnect fragmented landscapes in the U.S. and Canada critical to wildlife movement and biodiversity. Since its founding in 1990, Vital Ground has helped to protect and enhance more than 467,000 acres of habitat crucial to grizzly and other wildlife in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Alaska, and British Columbia.

For more information, visit www.vitalground.org or phone  406-549-8650.

With Record High Gas Prices, What's a Family to do this Summer?

Old Faithful geyser, Yellowstone National Park

With record high gas prices, what's a family to do for a summer vacation?

How about planning your family fun time around any one of America's 391 National Park Sites?

Covering more than 83 million acres, national parks can be found in every state.

To learn more about America's national parks, view slide shows and pictures, or to find that right destination for you and your family, visit the National Parks Conservation Association website.

NO to Loaded Guns in America's National Parks

As a young girl growing up in Montana, regular visits to Yellowstone National Park were part of our family routine.

If relatives came for a visit, we took them to Yellowstone.

If friends came for a visit, we took them to Yellowstone.

If it was long weekend, we went to Yellowstone.

If friends were going to Yellowstone, we were going to Yellowstone.

Yellowstone National Park continues to be one of America's treasures.

And

I couldn't feel more blessed to have grown up in such a spectacular place of peace and beauty.

So, you can imagine my surprise when I learned that the Bush Administration is, once again, cow-towing to the National Rifle Association by seeking to relax a law that has been in place for 100+ years.

A law that bans loaded guns in America's national parks.

For more than 100 years, our national parks have been places of sanctuary for humans and animals alike.

When did they become listed as war zones where loaded guns are necessary?

The time in NOW to say NO to the NRA and the Bush Administration once and for all when it comes to the safety of American citizens.

For more than 100 years, loaded guns have NOT been a part of America's national parks.

Let's keep it that way.

Please join the U.S. Park Rangers Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, the Association of National Park Rangers, the National Park Service Retirees, The Wilderness Society, and the National Parks Conservation Association in saying NO TO LOADED GUNS in America's national Parks.

Take action by learning more on each of the above websites AND by sending a letter to the Department of Interior expressing your opposition to the NRA's push for loaded guns in our national parks.

Impressive Difference Between Hillary and Barack

Montana...

Not exactly the state anyone thinks of as being important in a presidential election.

At least not most politicians running for the office.

My state rarely sees a presidential candidate. Considering we are one of the last states to vote in a Democratic primary election and we have one of the lowest populations of all 50 states, I guess our votes are not "important" to most politicians.

But

This year...

We have been visited twice by Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and President Bill Clinton.

While I was unable to attend any of President Clinton's visits, I was able to see speeches by both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Hands down...Hillary's speech was by far above and beyond more impressive of the two.

While both speeches were good, Hillary's was detailed with action items on how she plans to address an enormous number of issues. And she addressed every line item of detail without notes. Her knowledge of every single issue that was raised -- the economy, Iraq, health care, energy, oil, Saudi Arabia, jobs, global warming, taxes, etc. -- was astounding. And not once did she falter, have to stop and think, or try to "find the right word."

She was so spot on knowledgeable about issues relating to coal, tribal relations, the automobile industry, student loans, education, and so much more. She was absolutely engaging with her intelligence on every issue and even more so in her delivery of details on how she plans to address every issue and turn our country around for the better.

Hillary Clinton delivered detailed action items.

Barack Obama delivered a speech.

Doug Seus, Alive and Well

Every day for the past couple of weeks a number of people have arrived at this blog after searching for information on Doug Seus, trainer of grizzly bears Bart the Bear, Little Bart, Honey Bump, and Tank. Evidently many people have been concerned that Doug was the trainer accidentally killed while working with one of the grizzlies.

Doug is alive and well and so are Little Bart, Honey Bump, and Tank.

10 Mother's Day Gifts Under $20 that Rock the World

Still looking for that just-perfect-for-mom Mother's Day gift?

Here are 10 gifts (in no particular order) that are sure to make any mom "oooo, ahhh, ohhh," and think she's raised the most thoughtful, caring, world-friendly child in the world.

1. "Don't Give Up [Africa]" duet by Alicia Keys and Bono available as a download on iTunes. All proceeds benefit Keep A Child Alive, the nonprofit organization partnered with the ONE campaign actively working to combat the AIDS pandemic ravaging Africa.

2. Light of Love Candle with a soothing lavender scent available in sets also on The Animal Rescue Site. With each candle, or set, purchased The Animal Rescue Site will fund 14.0 bowls of food for animals living in sanctuaries or shelters. The candles are made of a lavender colored blend of soy and paraffin waxes and the wicks are 100% lead and zinc free. Soy wax burns cleaner, longer and with less heat than pure paraffin wax. Single candles sell $3.95 and a set of 5 sells for $15.95.

3. Elegant Pashmina Scarf 70% pashmina, 30% raw silk, handmade, hand dyed, hand knotted and fair trade imported from India available on The Rainforest Site. With each scarf purchased, The Rainforest Site will preserve 2290.0 square feet of land. The scarves are available in 4 different colors and are on sale now for $19.95 each.

4. Darling Daisy Shopping Tote by Freeset Bags available on The Literacy Site for only $14.00. With each tote purchased The Literacy Site will fund 1.0 children(s) books to various causes. Darling Daisy Shopping Totes are made of 100% eco-friendly, natural and renewable jute fiber and come in 3 different colors. Handmade and fair trade from India, Freeset Bags tell the individual stories of women rescued from sex trafficking in North Calcutta, India and empowered to live a life of dignity, earning a decent wage while working decent hours with the opportunity to become literate and serve as role models to their daughters and other young women showing them how to break the cycle of poverty and forced prostitution.

5. The Words and Inspiration of Mother Teresa -- LOVE (Hardcover) book available on The Child Health Site for $14.95. With each book purchased, The Child Health Site will fund health services to save or improve the lives of 4.5 children. Inspiring all to believe in the power of love for each other, this wonderful book contains quotes, pictures, and excerpts from Noble Peace Prize-winning humanitarian and Catholic Nun, Mother Teresa.

6. Solar Sunflower Garden Stake available on The Breast Cancer Site starting at $12.00. Each environmentally friendly sunflower is made of heavy-duty resin and mounted atop an easy-to-use garden stake. Also available in sets, the solar LED light in each stake stores the sun's rays during the day and then creates a gentle glow through the sunflower at night.

7. Yachana Jungle Chocolate from Yachana Gourmet available on The Hunger Site comes in 4 different mouth-watering all natural, fair trade, vegan varieties: Pineapple; Macadamia Nuts; Brazil Nuts and Coffee; and Raisin and Coconut. From the rainforest of Ecuador, these cocoa beans are sun-dried, slow-roasted, coarsely cracked, and sweetened with fresh sugar cane juice creating an end result of pure unprocessed chocolate heaven. The 2 oz. boxes sell for $4.95 and with the purchase of each box The Hunger Site will fund 25.0 cups of food for various charities.

8. Instant Karma CD featuring 23 John Lennon songs sung by today's top artists including U2, Los Lonely Boys, Lenny Kravitz, Big & Rich, Avril Lavigne, Black Eyed Peas, Regina Spektor, Green Day, Aerosmith, Christina Aguerila, Jackson Browne, R.E. M. and more sells for a mere $11.95 from Amnesty International USA with proceeds supporting Amnesty International's work for human rights in Darfur and around the world.

9. Sterling Silver Bear Necklace from the Willow Creek Trading Company available for only $19.95 from The Vital Ground Foundation. Both beautiful and unique, this necklace, which I own, never fails to draw attention. With proceeds from the sale of each necklace supporting Vital Ground's work to reconnect fragmented landscapes in the U.S. and Canada critical to wildlife movement and biodiversity, this piece of jewelry creates a fashion statement as great as the Great Bear itself.

10. Baby Bear Stone Cast Coasters by Big Sky Carvers come in a set of four and are sure to not only bring a bit of the West into any home, but are sure to protect mom's treasured coffee tables and other surfaces from annoying water rings. Also available from The Vital Ground Foundation and with proceeds supporting Vital Ground's important land trust work, these charming conversation starters sell for only $15.00. I own multiple sets of these too!

So, there you go...10 fantastic Mother's Day gifts all for under $20.00 and all that benefit someone or something else in the world while telling your mom how much you love her and how much you care.

Schell Goes Green! Lloyd Schell's green biking machines that is...

James Woodcock (photographer)/Billings Gazette

Going green isn't just about the environment anymore.

With gas prices soaring, we all seem to be watching the green go, go, go.

But

For Lloyd Schell of Lockwood, Montana, watching the green go, go, go has taken on a whole new meaning.

After a work related injury, which affects the strength in his back and legs, Lloyd needed to come up with a new way to make a living that didn't involve a lot of manual labor. And one in which he could work at his own pace.

With a desire to remain active in the outdoors, Lloyd searched for a bike seat that wouldn't put pressure on his back and for something to get around on that was easier on his legs.

What Lloyd found was a new career.

And

A way to help people go green without watching their green go, go, go!

Green-Go Bicycles LLC currently operates out of Lloyd's workshop (aka: shed).

Using recumbent-style bicycles from Day 6 Bicycles out of Bozeman, Montana, Lloyd installs electric motors on each bike.

The motors run on a battery, which comes in three styles: the lessor expensive sealed-lead model (like the kind used in a car), the nickel metal hydride (Lloyd's favorite), and the high-end lithium battery. Each battery lasts for about 600 charges and can be recycled, which is a service Lloyd also provides.

The initial investment in a Green-Go Bicycle may seem a bit steep to some, but considering the price of gas the pay off should be seen fairly quickly. An average bike will cost around $1,500 (depending upon the style of motor and bicycle chosen).

Outside of the obvious benefits to the planet and avoiding the high gas prices, because Green-Go bicycles are just that -- bikes -- here are a few other benefits (these are for MT, check your own state laws for where you live):

• You don't have to own a driver's license to ride one
• You don't have to have vehicle insurance for one
• The batteries run at about 3 - 5 cents per mile
• The bikes can be custom made with a seat and/or backrest that fits you
• Bike speeds can range from 1 speed to 21 speeds (in MT, speeds 20 mph and lower are classified as a bicycle)
• You can enjoy the outdoors

What's not to love about all that?!

If you are ready to quit watching your green go, go, go at the pump, then put on your biking shoes and get your order in for a Green-Go Bicycle.

For more information on Green-Go Bicycle LLC and Lloyd's bikes, please call (406) 208-1789 or email greengobikes@bresnan.net.

The Vital Ground Foundation Narrated by Sir Anthony Hopkins

In celebration of Earth Day, I invite you to learn about The Vital Ground Foundation. Understanding the importance of the grizzly bear as an umbrella species helps to understand the importance of the work being done by all of those committed to Vital Ground.

Enjoy this wonderful video narrated by Sir Anthony Hopkins and then click here to learn more about Vital Ground.

Celebrate Earth Day!

from www.youtube.composted with vodpod