conservation Archives ~ Rambling ranger

May 29, 2021May 29, 2021

Let’s Get Wild! Lens-Artists Photography Challenge #150

For this week’s Lens-Artists Photography Challenge, let’s get wild! I’m talking about Mother Nature untouched and untrammelled, allowed to get on with her work without human help or hindrance.

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.”
Rachel Carson

Maybe you’re lucky and have access to some truly wild landscapes. Perhaps you’re not. But give her a chance, and Nature will break free and get wild wherever we let her! Even if your only access to the natural world is the local park, you will certainly find something wild in your world. It could be a bird migrating through on its way north and south, or a wildflower springing up on an empty lot.

I don’t want to see groomed gardens or animals in the zoo. No people or signs of people. I want to see and revel in the natural world in your posts. Where’s the wildest place you’ve ever been? Where do you go to let Mother Nature regenerate your spirit? Please share with us the wild places, plants and beings that are close to YOUR heart!

“But love of the wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth which bore us and sustains us, the only home we shall ever know, the only paradise we ever need – if only we had eyes to see.”
Edward Abbey

Wrangell St. Elias National Park & Preserve — Life in the Wrangells, gateway to the wilderness

The natural world is my passion in life, and I love to share it. A long time ago I decided the most important goal in my life was to wake in beauty every day. Because I’ve made that a priority, I’m more fortunate than most when it comes to being close to nature. With a telephoto lens, this is the view from my bedroom window.

The price for that view is no running water or indoor toilets, and the hard work and logistical challenges of attempting to maintain an off-the-grid homestead. But it’s a price I’m happy to pay, because every morning when I wake up, the angels sing!

I live in the center of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve in Alaska, one of the biggest protected wildernesses on the planet. But these days I usually snowbird it and go south in the winter. There are too many beautiful places in the world to spend your life in just one, no matter how wonderful that one is.

I migrate, like the birds.

I used to be a ranger in Death Valley National Park, which has more wilderness than any other national park outside Alaska. Pretty easy to find the wild there.

A nameless canyon in Death Valley National Park

My favorite way to get next to the wild is to get up close and personal with wildflowers. Drop down to their level. Breathe in their fragrance. Get out a magnifying glass to really check out the intricacies of the tiny flowers. Revel in their beauty, but don’t pick them. Leave them living, so others will have a chance to appreciate them, too. I spend March and April most years following the wildflower bloom, first in the desert…

And then catching the spring flowers in the Sierras and Oregon on my way back to Alaska.

And then there’s the sea. Another way to get close to the wild in the world. I have really fallen in love with the seashore in the last few years. What could be wilder than the ocean?

The ocean is so wild it’s like another planet!

“Wilderness is not only a haven for native plants and animals but it is also a refuge from society. It’s a place to go to hear the wind and little else, see the stars and the galaxies, smell the pine trees, feel the cold water, touch the sky and the ground at the same time, listen to coyotes, eat the fresh snow, walk across the desert sands, and realize why it’s good to go outside of the city and the suburbs.”
John Muir

Wild places are important because we need to learn to share our planet with everything else that calls it home. It does not belong to us exclusively, although we all too often act like it does.

Wild places are also important because they rejuvenate our souls. Wilderness is essential to our mental health. What a sad world it would be if we had no wilderness. Celebrate the wild in the world this summer, and please protect it wherever you may find it!

“…the word of the Lorax seems perfectly clear. UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
Dr. Seuss

Celebrate and care for the wild in your world!

Please join me in this Lens-Artists Photo Challenge and share the wild in your world. Remember to use the lens-artists tag and include a link to my original post.

Next week, Patti will be offering LAPC #151, so be sure to check out her site then! Her theme is From Large to Small. Pick a color and take several photos that feature that color. Start with a photo of a big subject in that color (for example, a wall) and move all the way down to a small subject in that same color (for example, an earring).

Thank you to Tina, Amy, Ann-Christine and Patti for inviting me to host this challenge. It’s wonderful to be part of the Lens-Artists community and I look forward to seeing all your wonderful wild posts this week.

January 22, 2021January 24, 2021

Biodiversity is an Emotional Issue

When it comes to biodiversity, my feelings run through the full gamut of emotions.

Happiness

Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge — Biodiverse landscapes make us happy.

Being close to nature has been a priority of mine for nearly my whole adult life. From my first backpacking trip on, I realized that immersing myself in landscapes teeming with life – many different forms of life interacting easily and naturally with each other – kept me healthy, happy and sane. Knowing that I am just a piece of a very big puzzle, a cog in the unbelievably complex wheel of the Universe, helps me to regain a proper perspective when I get overwhelmed by challenges that seem too great for me to handle. It’s really not all about me; my problems are so inconsequential when I am surrounded by the real Big Picture.

I’m not alone. It has been acknowledged by cultures all over the globe that healthy, thriving ecosystems are necessary for our physical, mental, and spiritual health. Variety IS the spice of life.

Gratitude

Death Valley Monkeyflower — Plant biodiversity is incredibly important in our lives.

Every day I am grateful for the complexity of life. Biodiversity is responsible for all the choices we have in the foods we can eat. It is responsible for life-saving medicines, with more being discovered all the time. Lack of biodiversity has been connected to many disease outbreaks. Biodiversity is accountable for resiliency and flexibility in the face of dramatic changes to our planet. It is necessary for the very air we breathe and water we drink.

As a park ranger, biodiversity is essential to my employment. It’s probably the main reason people visit national parks. But you don’t have to work in the tourism industry to be economically dependent on biodiversity. According to the Living Planet Index, people derive approximately $125 trillion of value from natural ecosystems each year. Gotta be grateful for that.

Concern

We are losing our biodiversity at an astonishing rate, a reason for great concern. Species extinctions currently vary between 100 and 10,000 times the background extinction rate of one to five extinctions a year over the history of the planet. That doesn’t even get into the decline in populations of many species not yet in danger of extinction. The average population size of vertebrate species has declined by 68 percent from 1970-2016. Since biodiversity is essential to our survival, we should all be concerned.

Sadness

Monarch Butterflies — The Western Monarch Butterfly population is down more than 99% from the 1980s count.

Witnessing this decline breaks my heart. It makes me very sad when I read about mass die-offs of seabirds in western Alaska or see with my very own eyes the decline of a species like the Monarch Butterfly.

Fear

As I watch ecosystems crash one by one, as we continue to do little to nothing to address this issue, I feel fear. I fear for our quality of life and our very survival as a species as we continue to degrade the resources we need to depend on, both now and in the future.

Guilt

Wramgell St. Elias national Park & Preserve — Like most of us, I need to make more conscious choices.

I’m an American. I’m guilty. It’s ridiculous how much we Americans contribute to the loss of habitat and the loss of biodiversity. All because we have been trained to constantly want more, more, more, just to keep our consumer-driven culture intact.

I didn’t get a driver’s license until I was 50. I didn’t want to become part of the problem. But I am part of the problem. I’ve driven a couple of hundred thousand miles since then.

I’m not much of a consumer for an American. I’m not one of those getting Amazon packages every day. I seldom buy something unless I need it. But I don’t always buy organic or make wise choices about eating locally. Pesticides, herbicides, and industrial farming methods are some of the main drivers behind the loss of biodiversity. Transportation of foodstuffs from one part of the world to destinations tens of thousands of miles away is an incredible waste of our planet’s resources. I could do better. We all could do better.

Anger

graffiti on redwood tree — Disrespect for living things makes me angry.

Although I feel guilt, I feel a lot more anger. I feel angry at everyone that disrespects nature and the diversity of life. The thoughtlessness of an individual vandalizing or destroying a tree or a flower can make me mad, but the heartlessness of powerful corporations and individuals who put short-term profit before the long-term health of the planet makes me rage.

Despair

Sea Star and hermit crabs — Hermit Crabs scavenging a dead sea star

I’ve felt a lot of despair over the last 4 years as I’ve watched all the hard-won environmental reforms of the previous 50 years go by the wayside. I’ve felt despair as I’ve had to stand by while the Trump administration gutted the Endangered Species Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, two key pieces of legislation for the protection of biodiversity.

It can be overwhelming when the reality of the situation really sinks in. When I walk a beach in Olympic National Park that no longer supports starfish, or think of the reefs in the Florida Keys that I used to snorkel that are now white, dead skeletons, I feel despair.

Joy

But it’s not all doom and gloom. We humans have some amazing capabilities. We can turn things around when we really try. There are success stories out there. There are species that have been brought back from the edge of extinction and are now thriving.

Elephant seals are one of those species. So are sea otters. So are bison. They’re out there, those examples of times when we’ve corrected the mistakes we’ve made. I feel great joy when I see these success stories.

Hope

Yellowstone National Park — American Bison have come back from the brink of extinction.

“With unity, we can do great things.” – Joseph R. Biden

Although my emotions run the whole gamut, the main emotion I am feeling right now when it comes to biodiversity is hope. A new day is dawning. We have an opportunity right now to turn things around and build a better world for the future, a world where biodiversity matters. But to make this happen, we need to change our mindsets. Instead of asking ourselves, “What will best benefit me?”, we need to ask ourselves, “What will best benefit us, all of us? What policies can we enact that will be good for not just the short-term, but for the long-term health of our Mother the Earth?” We need to take a good look at how we do things and figure out better ways to do them, ways that protect biodiversity and lead to a cleaner, greener planet. We have a chance, and we need to act on it. Now.

“It’s time for boldness because there’s so much to do.” – Joseph R. Biden

Thank you to Patti of Pilotfishblog for this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge theme, Emotions.

Answers to last week’s quiz – 1) Purple Cress, alpine 2) Purple Mat, desert 3) Bristly Langlosia, desert 4) Spring Beauty, alpine 5) Bigelow Mimulus, desert

March 4, 2019November 29, 2020

Elkhorn Slough and Moss Landing – Watchable Wildlife Treasure

Shorebirds at Elkhorn Slough, California

I spent a month this winter in Monterey, California. There were a lot of reasons I wanted to explore this part of the central California coast. I wanted to watch wild waves in winter storms. I wanted to search for sea stars in slippery tidal pools. I wanted to hike skinny trails overlooking precipitous cliffs and crashing surf. I wanted to spend quality time getting to know a different environment, one I’d had little opportunity to experience. I wanted to commune with the coast.

I did all those things. I also found another special place, an unexpected treasure.

Elkhorn Slough

Did you ever know someone who was quiet and unassuming, easy to overlook, but pure gold when you got to know them? Elkhorn Slough and Moss Landing are like that. They’re easily overshadowed by the flashier natural attractions nearby. This region to the north of Monterey doesn’t have the dramatic scenery of Big Sur or Point Lobos. It’s not a place where you can stop at a viewpoint, take an Instagram selfie, and say you’ve been there. You need to take your time here. Its power is more subtle.

Elkhorn Slough is a mosaic of private and public land united in the effort to protect the estuary and restore it to a pristine environment. The Nature Conservancy recognized that this could be one of the last great places and got the ball rolling. The lands are now managed by the non-profit Elkhorn Slough Foundation. The waters within the slough are managed by the state. It is a State Marine Reserve and Conservation Area and a National Estuarine Research Reserve.

Elkhorn Slough is the second largest freshwater estuary in the state of California. surpassed in size only by San Francisco Bay. You might be beginning to understand why I consider this place a national treasure.

Moss Landing State Beach, California — Sea Otter napping

This is where the sea otters hang out. Elkhorn Slough hosts California’s largest concentration of sea otters. That’s right, those adorable, ultra-cute, playful little critters that melt everybody’s heart. Sea otters.

Theirs is another great comeback story. Sea otters used to range from Baja California to Alaska. They were hunted to the brink of extinction for their fur, the thickest, most luxurious fur in the world. The southern population came especially close to extinction. By 1938, only about 50 survived, living in remote waters off Big Sur.

There are nearly 3,000 sea otters in California now. They play a vital role in maintaining a healthy coastal ecosystem. They keep the kelp forests alive by eating sea urchins. The urchins’ population has exploded because their main predator, starfish, has declined catastrophically due to sea star wasting disease. Sea urchins are decimating the kelp forests along most of the Pacific Coast, but Monterey Bay’s kelp forests are surviving due to the otters.

Sea otters alone are a good reason to visit Elkhorn Slough. But there’s more. Elkhorn Slough is also a birder’s delight. It provides habitat for nearly 350 different species of birds. Wading birds rule here. There are ducks galore and dozens of different kinds of shorebirds. Raptors to hunt them all. Songbirds, woodpeckers, hummingbirds, the list goes on and on.

You would think a place like this would be overrun with visitors, but it’s not. If it had National Park or State Park after its name it would be, but there’s protection in anonymity. I visited on a Saturday and was the only participant on the ranger-led nature walk.

The best way to visit Elkhorn Slough is by kayak. Although, of course, you need to give the animals their space, you can really immerse yourself in their environment when you’re on the water.

Moss landing State Wildlife Area — Willet and Least Sandpipers

If you are visiting by land, be aware of the tides when you come. If it’s high tide, that’s the time to see the otters. Elkhorn Slough at high tide is an especially good place to see momma sea otters with their babies. If there is a king tide, though, you may not be able to reach the best blind for the sea otters. Pay attention to the tide table and the weather!

Low tide is best for bird watchers. It was low tide when I visited. The birds were fantastic, but I was a little disappointed that I’d missed the sea otters. The ranger empathized and let me in on another little known wildlife watching hot spot.

Moss Landing

Moss Landing State Beach and State Wildlife area is home to a bachelor gang of sea otters. Yup, hanging out with the boys is something sea otter males do. You can find them there practically any time. They are very entertaining to watch. They have a few different games they like to play. One is wrestling, and then there are a couple they play solo; endless somersaults and continuous barrelrolling. Their favorite activity, though, seems to be napping.

Moss Landing State Beach is another great birdwatching location, especially at low tide.

Walk over the dunes to the actual beach, and that’s where the surfers go. You can watch another kind of wild life there!

Moss Landing State Beach is easy to overlook. If you wait for the sign, you’ll miss it, and it’s a busy two-lane highway. It’s hard to turn around, as the traffic is often nearly bumper to bumper. If you’re coming from Monterey, look for the sign that says “Jetty Road” after you pass by the tiny village of Moss Landing.

Moss Landing, CA — You can see seals, here, too!

In the town of Moss Landing, there is yet another great wildlife watching opportunity. Salinas River State Beach and Wildlife Area is at the end of the road.

If you’re in the Monterey area, take a day off from the flashier destinations and head north to Elkhorn Slough and Moss Landing. You’ll be glad you did!

Tag: conservation

Let’s Get Wild! Lens-Artists Photography Challenge #150

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