More snowmaking, bike trails to be studied by Forest Service Staff Report Citing a lack of recreational opportunities at Copper Mountain, the U.S. summitcountyvoice.com
GR: Wiping out natural vegetation for recreation and for the benefit of a commercial resort at a time when half all Earth’s animals have disappeared is wrong. Close the trails and concentrate on protecting wildlife and its habitat.
“Off-highway vehicle (OHV) recreation is one of the most popular recreational activities taking place on public and state lands in Arizona. Please obey the laws, stay on designated open roads and trails, and ride safely and responsibly.” www.azgfd.com
GR: The sights and sounds of humans on foot and on wheeled vehicles are disruptive to wildlife. Numerous studies have shown their harmful effects on foraging and reproductive success. So why would a wildlife management agency promote such behavior? Why in the midst of the great mass extinction of life on Earth would a government agency promote activities harmful to wildlife? Oh, wait a minute, is it for money? Crazy. Will voters ever come to respect wildlife and require their management agency to dedicate its efforts to protection?
Wild Mallards
“The researchers’ findings could ultimately help shape wildlife conservation practices. The paper notes, for example, that protecting smaller birds might be more dependent on creating environments that reduce human disturbance. The paper also suggested that ecotourism—which has been said to be dangerous to animal species in general—might be less harmful to larger birds than previously thought because larger animals are more likely to be able to tolerate human disturbance.” From: phys.org
GR: Outdoor recreation, including ecotourism, and eco-education, is one of largest human impacts on nature. Researchers have repeatedly shown that human presence is harmful to birds. The study reported in this article found that ecotourism is less harmful to larger birds. It didn’t find that ecotourism was not harmful at all.
You don’t have to go to Brazil to trek through a rainforest – Snowdonia has its very own wet woodland just waiting to be explored
Does the phrase “save the rainforest” conjure up visions of: a) Brazil, b) Borneo, or c) north Wales? www.theguardian.com
GR: How to preserve the forest? Block the trails and stay out of it. Look on from the edge. Hikers carry invasive organisms and they disturb wildlife with their scents and sounds. Nature is dying and we have to become more responsible in our care for the remnants.
BY GARY GRIPP, to a future generation:
“Everything central to our way of life is in the growth mode: the banks, the corporations, all our extractive and service industries, and, not least of all, our population. More people means: more willing buyers of homes, cars, electronic gadgets, and all the trappings of modern life. More jobs, more prosperity, more everything.
“More, more, more. It is in the interest of banks and corporations, as well as businesses large and small, that the market for products continues to grow. More, more, more. Grow, grow, grow.
“On a finite planet with degraded natural systems and diminishing natural resources, this growth imperative, built-in to our systems and into our lives, is an irresistible force coming up against an immovable object. It is us hitting a wall, and doing so at speed. More and more people in my time now see this crash coming.” blog.edsuom.com
GR: Hey grandkids, we just couldn’t help ourselves. (We really couldn’t. To see what it would take for humans to survive on Earth, read Corr Syl the Warrior.)
“Ecotourism has been hailed as a sustainable economic driver and a force for environmental conservation, but a new report says we also need to account for the possible adverse effects of visitation to relatively wild spaces.
“In a new report published in Trends in Ecology & Evolution, researchers said all of those interactions between wild animals and friendly ecotourists eager to snap their pictures may inadvertently put some animals at greater risk of being eaten.
“It’s clear that the ecotourism business is booming.” summitcountyvoice.com
GR: Leopold (1949) wrote about some of the harmful effects of ecotourism under the heading “recreation.” Few people have heard of Leopold, or have enough respect for animals and nature to care.
See on Scoop.it – GarryRogers NatCon News
By Bob Berwyn
FRISCO — The U.S. Forest Service is on track to approve a huge expansion of summer activities at Breckenridge Ski Area that will accommodate up to 150,000 additional visitors during the summer season.
The agency this week released a final environmental study for the new installations and programs, along with a draft decision letter from White River National Forest Supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams, who said he thinks the new facilities — including zip lines, canopy tours and challenge courses — will enhance public appreciation of national forest lands and the outdoors.
The proposal was controversial in Breckenridge, as some residents expressed concerns about drawing more visitors to the already crowded town. Other locals support the plan as a way of increasing tourism revenues and drumming up more business for local restaurants and shops. Sourced through Scoop.it from: summitcountyvoice.com
GR: At all costs, people first! Sad that a national land-management agency would not see the need to preserve nature now that more than half of all animals on Earth age gone primarily because of habitat loss.
GarryRogers Nature Conservation 