Tortoise smugglers caught with 13% of critically endangered species

©http://www.traffic.org/

Authorities at the Bankok Airport seized suitcases filled with three species of critically endangered tortioses the day after an international wildlife trade show.  According to the Non-profit group TRAFFIC, "In the last three years alone (2010–2012), Thai authorities have seized more than 4300 tortoises and freshwater turtles".  Indian authorities have also made similar arrests.  

In the latest seizure, a Thai man was caught with 54 Ploughshare Tortoises, Astrochelys yniphora, or 13% of the species populaiton in the wild.  He was also busted with 21 Radiated Tortoises, Astrochelys radiata, also a critically endangered species form Madagascar.  He faces 4 years in prison and up to $1300 in fines under Thai law.  

http://www.traffic.org/home/2013/3/19/largest-seizure-of-critically-endangered-ploughshare-tortois.html

Coyote Killing Contest Sparks Outrage

Change.org has teamed up with dozens of conservation and wildlife organizations in an attempt to block a contest in Modoc county to see who can kill the most coyotes over a three day period, says San Francisco Chronicle.  The contest starts February 7th, and has no boundaries, which means that hunters can potentially hunt outside of the county's borders, and without policing, could entice hunters to tresspass on private lands for the big prize.  

It wil be interesting to see how this scene plays out.  Politics, money, and environmental issues are all involved.

The state agency charged with protecting wildlife in California has been under political stress this past year.  It began when the agency's then president Dan Richards came under fire after posting a glory photo of himself posing next to a mountain he'd shot in Idaho, a state where its still legal.  (Read his official letter to to the State Assembly where Richards not only defends himself, but claims to have eaten the lion- its quite strange.)  

Under imense public outcry, the agency voted unanimously to oust Richards, who finishes his term January.  Then, in a move to align itself with the federal agency in charge of protecting wildlife, the agency has changed its name to California Fish and Wildlife, changing the final word "Game" in favor of the more politically correct term "Wildlife".  

So far California Fish and Wildlife has not stepped up to make any changes to the coyote slaughter, but this week the Burea of Land Management announced that the hunt cannot take place on any BLM land.  According to the Chronicle, the Ash Creek Wildlife Area has also made their lands off limit. 

Ground zero for this coyote roundup is the tiny town of Adin, in Modoc county California.  Folks out there claim that killing coyotes is a way of life there, a sort of cultural tradition.  Demographic on wikipedia put this county at a population of a little over nine thousand, and Adin is a two-motel kinda town.  I imagine there must be a huge spike in revenues when hunters flood this tiny town, with registration at 50$ per team of two, plus all the beer, sodas, and meals these guys buy while there.  A cancellation could be a big blow to tax revenues.  

And lastly, there are the environmental concerns.  Coyotes are still vilified by many people, including some ranchers, pet owners, and those who raise chickens in their back-yards, though ecologists like myself love to tell anyone who will listen about the benefits people and nature enjoy because of coyotes doing their thing.

photo credit: Tom Brakefield

While local hunting advocates claim that the shooting of coyotes is an effective way to manage the coyote populations, scientific research has shown that this simply is not the case.  Long term studies show that coyotes manage their own populations, and when the alpha mating pair in any pack are killed, it leaves all the non-breeding females of the group free to reproduce in their own. In fact, coyote populations rebound to their previous numbers typically within 8 months after culling- hunting, trapping, or poisoning, have taken place.  Let's use some logic here and ask the question- If this is the seventh year of the coyote roundup, then why aren't the coyotes all dead yet? 

Now to add to the mix is our rogue wolf of California, known as OR7, is within 100 miles of the hunt.  He is a federally protected species, and though wolves are much larger than coyotes, as recently as December a wolf was killed in Kansas when mistaken for a coyote.  Wolves have not been seen in Kansas since 1905, btw.  Wildlife advocates are calling for a halt to the Coyote Drive in favor of our state's only resident wolf.  

photo credit: Richard Shinn

Coyote outreach giant Project Coyote has been working to develop strategies for peaceful coexistence with predators, and they're involved in this issue.  Check them out to learn the latest in coyote news.

To get in on the hunting controversy, sign the petition at Change.org, then go to Wildcare.org and sign their's too while you're at it.  

Update on Feb 7, 2013 at 9:07 AM by Jennifer

Coyote advocates gathered in Sacramento on Wednesday at the California Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting.  The demands were clear- to stop the killing spree set to begin Friday in Modoc county.  Cal Fish and Wildlife maintains that the hunt is completely legal, though they have said they will review their jurisdiction over hunts like this, according to one report in the SF Chroncle. 

Update on Mar 6, 2013 at 5:35 PM by Jennifer

Followup on Coyote Drive 2013 

Reports from the SF chronicle have the death count for coyotes at 42 for the event, and organizers say this is better than expected. The Chronicle also reports that in town during the event, tensions were high and folks were apprehensive that protestors would be a problem. One reporter and his teeneage daughter were threatened by the sheriff after the girl was stopped from taking photos.  

http://blog.sfgate.com/stew/2013/03/04/42-coyotes-reportedly-killed-in-hunting-contest/

Tribute Trail Public Installation

I've teamed up with Paolo Salvagione for an art project in Nevada City with Art OnSite.

The Article that ran in THE UNION newspaper:  

ART-OnSite/Tribute Trail announces artists for 1st installation

Organizers of the ART OnSite/Tribute Trail project have announced the selection of 10 artists who will produce seven original artworks to be installed along

Nevada City’s Deer Creek Tribute Trail in September.

The artists were selected by a three-­person jury of regional arts professionals, including William L. Fox, director of the Center for Art and Environment at the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno;; Renny Pritikin Sr., adjunct professor at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco;; and Kathryn Reasoner, executive director of the diRosa Art Institute in Napa.

“We were given criteria that I think are very basic, which is: Does this artist work in materials that will lend themselves to the outdoors;; does this artist have experience responding to a site with materials that will survive the elements and works that will help expand the visitor’s awareness while they’re on the site?” said Reasoner.

The 10 artists, all from California, represent a range of mediums from photography, sculpture, site-­specific large and small installations and conceptual art.

All are nationally and internationally recognized artists who will bring a variety of experiences and artworks that will form this engaging exhibition.

“As a photographer, I begin projects not with the images in mind but with a concept that the images would endeavor to illuminate.”

— Richard Baker,

Nevada City

The artists selected are: Nevada City’s Richard Baker, photographer and architect;; Mark Baugh-­Sasaki, photographer and sculptor from San Francisco;; Lisa Blatt, photographer from San Francisco;; Mark Brest Van Kempen, sculptor from Oakland;; Daniel Brickman, sculptor from Sacramento;; Paolo Salvagione and Jennifer Berry, conceptual artists from Sausalito;; and Unmanned Minerals, an art collective formed by Matthew Hebert (conceptual artist), Jared Stanley (writer) and Gabie Strong (videographer), all from San Diego.

In their applications to the ART OnSite project, the artists were asked to provide statements about their work and philosophy, which helped inform the jurors’ decisions.

Richard Baker: “I create works that are conceptual in nature and material. As a photographer, I begin projects not with the images in mind but with a concept that the images would endeavor to illuminate.”

Mark Baugh-­Sasaki: “My sculptures and installations use a combination of industrial and natural materials and processes to create fantastical objects that are inhabitants of or illustrate the evolving systems and interactions that are emerging from this new setting.”

Lisa Blatt: “I examine how landscape may be defined by what is not visible, what is memory or what is trace (historical events with no remaining visible evidence like contrails from stealth planes) using photo, video, sculpture, performance and projections into landscape.”

Mark Brest Van Kempen: “I create art using a place as the actual material for creating sculpture. The work grows out of both land art that uses the physical materials of a site to create large-­scale sculpture, as well as performance art that focuses on processes and actions.

“My work uses both the physicality of a site as well as the processes and activities associated with a site.”

Daniel Brickman: “I experiment with materials and how the interaction communicates ideas that arise through or during the process, providing the framework of form and content in his artistic concerns.”

Jennifer Berry: “My art builds bridges between nature and the built environment and my structural work is an extension of my desire to collaborate with nature.”

Paolo Salvagione: “My work originates as experiments — explorations of volume, space, color and form, and as attempts to make the most of nontraditional

materials.”

The verdict is out...climate change will fuck us

The folks at the National Climate Assessment Development Advisory Committee, a federal agency, have released a report that specifices how we in the United States will be fucked by climate change.  The complete report is available for download and open for public comment until April 2013.  

 Some highlights for coastal communities: 

1. Coastal lifelines, such as water supply and energy infrastructure and evacuation 

routes, are increasingly vulnerable to higher sea levels and storm surges, inland 

flooding, and other climate-related changes. 

2. Climate change increases exposure of nationally important assets, such as ports,

 tourism and fishing sites, in already-vulnerable coastal locations, threatening to 

disrupt economic activity beyond the coast and incurring significant costs for 

protecting or moving them.

3. Socioeconomic disparities create uneven exposures and sensitivities to coastal risks 

and limit adaptation options for some coastal communities, resulting in the 

displacement of the most vulnerable from coastal areas. 

4. Coastal ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to climate change because many 

have already been dramatically altered by human stresses; climate change will 

result in further reduction or loss of the services that these ecosystems provide, 

including potentially irreversible impacts. 

5. Growing awareness of the high vulnerability of coasts to climate change increasingly 

leads coastal regions to plan for potential impacts on their citizens, businesses, and 

environmental assets. Significant institutional, political, social, and economic 

obstacles to implementing adaptation actions remain.

Photo credit: Andreas Gehret

Beekeeping Update

This winter finds me with four out of five hives from the summer in my backyard apiary surviving.  Thriving is more like it.

We had a great summer, with real warm days and less wind and fog than the previous two summers. I added five new hives and started an apiary in my backyard.  My hives were two swarms, two extractions, and a split form another hive in my Petaluma apiary.  I lost one swarm, though it had been a later swarm and I hadn't gotten the queen, so they had a tough beginning.  Not really what I would call a loss, that's for sure.

A few days ago we had cold weather and it froze three nights in a row, and I was a bit worried that I'd lose a hive to the cold.  Today the weather had gotten warmer, to 60 degrees, and so I peeked into the hives so see how everyone is doing.  I have brood in both supers, and the top super in each was packed with honey.  I flipped the positions and put the bottom supers that were less full on top so they can expand their population and not feel crowded.  This will keep them from swarming as quickly, too.  I could see signs of varroah mites, with some opened brood cells and a few bees with deformed wings, known as PMS, or parasitic mite syndrome.  So I added mint patties and drone comb frames to start to control for the mites.  If its warm again next week I will go ahead and put on honey supers to catch the early nectar flow, but I'll have to take out the mint patties or it will flavor the honey.  I live across the street from a large eucalyptus grove and am hoping I can have a good harvest of eucalyptus honey by March.  Mmmmm, eucalyptus honey is my favorite.