Blog Stew: Who Lit the Fire?
¶ After a year, is El Paso County about ready to prosecute someone for starting the Black Forest Fire? It seems obvious that it started at someone's home.
¶ Women & Guns celebrates a 25-year anniversary with a retrospective article about the magazine, concealed-carry purses, bra holsters, and the evolution of the firearms market.
¶ The Denver Post looks at the decline in Colorado's mule deer population, which I think the robust elk numbers tend to mask.
Energy development on the Western Slope — what we used to call "the deer factory" — gets some of the blame.
¶ Women & Guns celebrates a 25-year anniversary with a retrospective article about the magazine, concealed-carry purses, bra holsters, and the evolution of the firearms market.
¶ The Denver Post looks at the decline in Colorado's mule deer population, which I think the robust elk numbers tend to mask.
Energy development on the Western Slope — what we used to call "the deer factory" — gets some of the blame.
The Bachelors
The re-seeding of one of the recent forest fire burns near home, combined with two wet-enough springs in a row, produced wonderful grass. Despite the lack of thermal cover, this one area is holding a little bachelor herd of as many as five (just four here) bull elk, captured in June on one of my scout cameras.
Successful Restoration of State-threatened Peregrine Continues in Shenandoah National Park
Between early May and mid-July, Shenandoah National Park Natural Resources staff, working in partnership with the Center for Conservation Biology at the College of William and Mary, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, and the Virginia Department of Transportation, has successfully restored nine peregrine falcons in the park. The “foster” peregrine chicks used for this program came from coastal bridge nests in Virginia where juvenile peregrine survival has been low due to premature fledging over open water. Additionally, a current pair of nesting peregrines which includes an adult male fostered in the park in 2008 has successfully fledged three young in the park this year.
The restoration process, called “hacking”, at Shenandoah consists of taking at-risk falcon chicks from nest sites in eastern Virginia, and bringing them to the park where they are placed in protective wooden boxes (hack boxes) for approximately 14 days. The hackbox is typically placed on a high cliff ledge that mimics a natural peregrine falcon nest. The boxes are constructed so that the young birds can view and acclimate to their environment as they mature, but are protected from predators such as raccoons. While they are in the boxes, park staff provides for their care and feeding, and monitors their condition, all the while minimizing contact with humans.
When the falcons are ready for flight, the boxes are opened and the falcons are allowed to leave. They will continue to be fed and monitored at the hacksite as they learn to hunt for themselves. The young fledglings will often mimic their brood mates as they refine their flight and hunting skills. Generally, the falcons remain in the local area for several weeks. By late-July they begin to take extended "practice" flights of over 200 miles. By mid-August, they leave the area by wandering into other states and eventually migrating south or east as fall approaches. It is hoped that the birds will imprint on Shenandoah's prominent cliffs and return as breeding adults in 2-3 years.
The goal of this project is to boost peregrine falcon numbers in the Central Appalachians where peregrine recovery has been slow. This restoration work directly supports the conservation and long-term recovery efforts of state-threatened peregrine falcons in the park and throughout the Central Appalachians. As a result of the park’s ongoing restoration efforts, the park has supported a single nesting pair from 1994-1997, 2005-2007, and 2009-2014 (comprised of three different pairs). During this time, these pairs have seen a 62% breeding success rate. The park's current nesting peregrine pair fledged three young in late June. The pair represents one of only two reproductive peregrine pairs in the mountains of Virginia. The adult male peregrine from this pair was restored in Shenandoah in 2008 on Hawksbill Mountain. The higher peaks and cliffs of Shenandoah represent some of the best places to observe these amazing/rare birds of prey in the mountains of Virginia.
For additional information about the peregrine falcon, please click here.
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
The restoration process, called “hacking”, at Shenandoah consists of taking at-risk falcon chicks from nest sites in eastern Virginia, and bringing them to the park where they are placed in protective wooden boxes (hack boxes) for approximately 14 days. The hackbox is typically placed on a high cliff ledge that mimics a natural peregrine falcon nest. The boxes are constructed so that the young birds can view and acclimate to their environment as they mature, but are protected from predators such as raccoons. While they are in the boxes, park staff provides for their care and feeding, and monitors their condition, all the while minimizing contact with humans.
When the falcons are ready for flight, the boxes are opened and the falcons are allowed to leave. They will continue to be fed and monitored at the hacksite as they learn to hunt for themselves. The young fledglings will often mimic their brood mates as they refine their flight and hunting skills. Generally, the falcons remain in the local area for several weeks. By late-July they begin to take extended "practice" flights of over 200 miles. By mid-August, they leave the area by wandering into other states and eventually migrating south or east as fall approaches. It is hoped that the birds will imprint on Shenandoah's prominent cliffs and return as breeding adults in 2-3 years.
The goal of this project is to boost peregrine falcon numbers in the Central Appalachians where peregrine recovery has been slow. This restoration work directly supports the conservation and long-term recovery efforts of state-threatened peregrine falcons in the park and throughout the Central Appalachians. As a result of the park’s ongoing restoration efforts, the park has supported a single nesting pair from 1994-1997, 2005-2007, and 2009-2014 (comprised of three different pairs). During this time, these pairs have seen a 62% breeding success rate. The park's current nesting peregrine pair fledged three young in late June. The pair represents one of only two reproductive peregrine pairs in the mountains of Virginia. The adult male peregrine from this pair was restored in Shenandoah in 2008 on Hawksbill Mountain. The higher peaks and cliffs of Shenandoah represent some of the best places to observe these amazing/rare birds of prey in the mountains of Virginia.
For additional information about the peregrine falcon, please click here.
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
Key Milestones in Hiking
Over the last several decades the sport of hiking has become increasingly more popular. According to the latest Outdoor Recreation Participation Report, 11.4% of all adults in the United States participated in hiking in 2013. But the burning question to a modern-day trekker such as myself, is when did people take to the trail for pleasure? Ever since our predecessors began walking on two feet humans have used bipedal mobility to hunt, explore, migrate to another territory, or trade goods with another community. At some point we as humans figured out that there doesn’t have to be a utilitarian reason for walking. We discovered that joy can be found by simply traipsing through the woods, seeing wildlife in their natural habitat, admiring the beauty of wildflower, marveling at the roar of a waterfall, or soaking-in the awe-inspiring views from a mountain top. Is this a recent phenomenon, or was this something that humans always had a natural urging for? Here are a few of the key milestones in the history of hiking that’s led to its popularity today:
~3300 BCE: In 1991 two German tourists found the mummified remains of “Otzi, the Iceman” at roughly 10,530 feet in the Ötztal Alps along the Austrian–Italian border. Although scientists aren’t sure what this 5000-year-old man was doing at that high elevation, there are some that believe that Otzi may have been one of the first hikers or mountaineers.
125: The 2nd century Roman Emperor, Hadrian, hiked to the summit of Mt. Etna on Sicily to see the sunrise.
1778: Thomas West, an English priest, published A Guide to the Lakes, a detailed account of the scenery and landscape of the Lake District in northwestern England. The guide helped to popularize the idea of walking for pleasure and “to encourage the taste of visiting the lakes by furnishing the traveler with a Guide”.
1786: The beginning of modern mountaineering is marked by the first ascent of 15,771-foot Mont Blanc, the tallest peak in the Alps.
1799: Williams College (of Massachusetts) President Ebenezer Fitch and two others climb Mt. Greylock.
1819: Abel Crawford, and his son Ethan, blaze an 8.5-mile trail to the summit of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. This path is the oldest continually used hiking trail in the United States.
1830: A crew of 100 students and professors from Williams College blaze the Hopper Trail to the summit of Mt. Greylock. Later that same year students would build a wooden tower atop the same mountain. The tower was maintained into the 1850s, and was used for sightseeing and scientific observations.
1854: The beginning of the systematic sport of modern mountaineering as we essentially know it today is marked by the ascent of the Wetterhorn in the Swiss Alps by Sir Alfred Wills. His book, Wanderings Among the High Alps, published two years later, helped make mountaineering fashionable in Britain, and ushered in the systematic exploration of the Alps by British mountaineers These events also marked the beginning of the so-called “golden age of alpinism”.
1857: The world's first mountaineering club, the Alpine Club, was founded in London.
1863: Professor Albert Hopkins of Williams College founds the Alpine Club of Williamstown, the first hiking club in America. The stated purpose of the organization was “to explore the interesting places in the vicinity, to become acquainted, to some extent at least, with the natural history of the localities, and also to improve the pedestrian powers of the members”
1867: John Muir begins a 1000-mile walk from Indiana to Florida, which he recounts in his book, A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf. The trek launched a lifetime career of hiking and wilderness advocacy. His conservation efforts, books and articles would help to establish several national parks during and after his lifetime.
1872: Yellowstone becomes the world’s first national park after legislation is signed by President U.S. Grant.
1876: The Appalachian Mountain Club, America’s oldest recreational organization, was founded to explore and protect the trails and mountains in the northeastern United States.
1876: Newtown, England entrepreneur Pryce Pryce-Jones designs the "Euklisia Rug", considered by many to be the forerunner of the modern sleeping bag. The rug included a wool blanket with a pocket at the top for a sewn-in, inflatable, rubber pillow. Once inside, the camper (or soldier) folded the blanket over and fastened it together, thus keeping themselves “snug in a rug”.
1879: One of the first hiking clubs in England, the 'Sunday Tramps', was founded by Leslie White. These early “rambling” (English for walking) clubs sprang up in the northern areas of England as part of a campaign for the legal "right to roam", a response to the fact that much of the land in England was privately owned.
1922: Lloyd F. Nelson submits his application to the U.S. Patent Office for his "Trapper Nelson's Indian Pack Board", which is acknowledged to be the first external-frame backpack. The "Trapper Nelson" featured a wooden "pack board" as its frame. On the frame was a canvas sack that contained the hiker's gear, which rested on the hiker's body by two canvas shoulder-straps. Prior to his invention hikers used a rucksack, which was essentially a loose sack with shoulder straps.
1930: The Green Mountain Club completes construction of the Long Trail, making it the first long-distance hiking trail in the United States.
1937: America's first “grand” trail, the Appalachian Trail, was completed in August of 1937. A forester by the name of Benton MacKaye conceived the idea in 1921.
1948: Earl Shaffer becomes the first person to thru-hike the entire Appalachian Trail.
1967: Climber Greg Lowe invents the internal frame backpack. The “Expedition Pack” also featured the first adjustable back system, first side compressors, first sternum strap and the first load stabilizers.
1969: Bob Gore accidentally stretches a solid polytetrafluoroethylene tape by almost 800%, which forms a microporous structure that was roughly 70% air. The discovery was introduced to the public under the trademark of "Gore-Tex", which became the first breathable, waterproof, and windproof fabric.
1992: Ray Jardine introduces the concept of ultralight backpacking with the release of his book, The Pacific Crest Trail Hiker's Handbook. During his first PCT thru-hike Jardine’s pack weighed just 25 pounds. By his third it was less than 9 pounds. “Ray’s Way” of thinking has led to several innovations that have benefitted both backpackers and hikers.
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
~3300 BCE: In 1991 two German tourists found the mummified remains of “Otzi, the Iceman” at roughly 10,530 feet in the Ötztal Alps along the Austrian–Italian border. Although scientists aren’t sure what this 5000-year-old man was doing at that high elevation, there are some that believe that Otzi may have been one of the first hikers or mountaineers.
125: The 2nd century Roman Emperor, Hadrian, hiked to the summit of Mt. Etna on Sicily to see the sunrise.
1778: Thomas West, an English priest, published A Guide to the Lakes, a detailed account of the scenery and landscape of the Lake District in northwestern England. The guide helped to popularize the idea of walking for pleasure and “to encourage the taste of visiting the lakes by furnishing the traveler with a Guide”.
1786: The beginning of modern mountaineering is marked by the first ascent of 15,771-foot Mont Blanc, the tallest peak in the Alps.
1799: Williams College (of Massachusetts) President Ebenezer Fitch and two others climb Mt. Greylock.
1819: Abel Crawford, and his son Ethan, blaze an 8.5-mile trail to the summit of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. This path is the oldest continually used hiking trail in the United States.
1830: A crew of 100 students and professors from Williams College blaze the Hopper Trail to the summit of Mt. Greylock. Later that same year students would build a wooden tower atop the same mountain. The tower was maintained into the 1850s, and was used for sightseeing and scientific observations.
1854: The beginning of the systematic sport of modern mountaineering as we essentially know it today is marked by the ascent of the Wetterhorn in the Swiss Alps by Sir Alfred Wills. His book, Wanderings Among the High Alps, published two years later, helped make mountaineering fashionable in Britain, and ushered in the systematic exploration of the Alps by British mountaineers These events also marked the beginning of the so-called “golden age of alpinism”.
1857: The world's first mountaineering club, the Alpine Club, was founded in London.
1863: Professor Albert Hopkins of Williams College founds the Alpine Club of Williamstown, the first hiking club in America. The stated purpose of the organization was “to explore the interesting places in the vicinity, to become acquainted, to some extent at least, with the natural history of the localities, and also to improve the pedestrian powers of the members”
1867: John Muir begins a 1000-mile walk from Indiana to Florida, which he recounts in his book, A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf. The trek launched a lifetime career of hiking and wilderness advocacy. His conservation efforts, books and articles would help to establish several national parks during and after his lifetime.
1872: Yellowstone becomes the world’s first national park after legislation is signed by President U.S. Grant.
1876: The Appalachian Mountain Club, America’s oldest recreational organization, was founded to explore and protect the trails and mountains in the northeastern United States.
1876: Newtown, England entrepreneur Pryce Pryce-Jones designs the "Euklisia Rug", considered by many to be the forerunner of the modern sleeping bag. The rug included a wool blanket with a pocket at the top for a sewn-in, inflatable, rubber pillow. Once inside, the camper (or soldier) folded the blanket over and fastened it together, thus keeping themselves “snug in a rug”.
1879: One of the first hiking clubs in England, the 'Sunday Tramps', was founded by Leslie White. These early “rambling” (English for walking) clubs sprang up in the northern areas of England as part of a campaign for the legal "right to roam", a response to the fact that much of the land in England was privately owned.
1922: Lloyd F. Nelson submits his application to the U.S. Patent Office for his "Trapper Nelson's Indian Pack Board", which is acknowledged to be the first external-frame backpack. The "Trapper Nelson" featured a wooden "pack board" as its frame. On the frame was a canvas sack that contained the hiker's gear, which rested on the hiker's body by two canvas shoulder-straps. Prior to his invention hikers used a rucksack, which was essentially a loose sack with shoulder straps.
1930: The Green Mountain Club completes construction of the Long Trail, making it the first long-distance hiking trail in the United States.
1937: America's first “grand” trail, the Appalachian Trail, was completed in August of 1937. A forester by the name of Benton MacKaye conceived the idea in 1921.
1948: Earl Shaffer becomes the first person to thru-hike the entire Appalachian Trail.
1967: Climber Greg Lowe invents the internal frame backpack. The “Expedition Pack” also featured the first adjustable back system, first side compressors, first sternum strap and the first load stabilizers.
1969: Bob Gore accidentally stretches a solid polytetrafluoroethylene tape by almost 800%, which forms a microporous structure that was roughly 70% air. The discovery was introduced to the public under the trademark of "Gore-Tex", which became the first breathable, waterproof, and windproof fabric.
1992: Ray Jardine introduces the concept of ultralight backpacking with the release of his book, The Pacific Crest Trail Hiker's Handbook. During his first PCT thru-hike Jardine’s pack weighed just 25 pounds. By his third it was less than 9 pounds. “Ray’s Way” of thinking has led to several innovations that have benefitted both backpackers and hikers.
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
Outdoor Recreation Participation Report: Camping and Backpacking Continues to Decline
The Outdoor Foundation is reporting that a record number of Americans participated in at least one outdoor activity in 2013, with nearly 50% of all Americans ages six and older taking part in at least one of the 43 outdoor activities, according to the latest Outdoor Recreation Participation Report. That percentage equates to 142.6 million American outdoor participants. Although the number of participants rose, the percentage of participants fell slightly from 49.4% in 2012 to 49.2% in 2013, due to population increase.
Compared to 2012, participation in outdoor activities increased or remained flat among youth and young adults - signaling a positive trend in America's inactivity crisis. The participation rate among children ages six to 12 rose one percentage point to 64%. Participation among young adults ages 18 to 24 also rose one point to 58%, while hard-to-reach adolescents, ages 13 to 17, remained flat at 60%.
Below are a few stats of interest:
* Participation in day hiking remained relatively flat again for the second year in a row. However, the latest figures don't reflect the strong growth in the outdoor pursuit in recent years. Compared to 2006 (the first year of the study), hiking is up 15.1%. Compared to 2010, participation in hiking has increased by 5.8%.
* Though backpacking has seen an increase in the number of participants over each of the last 2 years, the average number of outings per backpacker has dropped off sharply. As a result, backpacking has dropped out of the top 5 favorite outdoor activities for adults (ages 25+), based on the frequency of activity.
* Camping (within a 1/4 mile of a vehicle or home) continues to decline: down 11% when compared to 2011, and down almost 18% since 2006.
* Participation in adventure racing and triathlons saw the largest increases over the past three years. Adventure racing increased by 28%, while off-road triathlons increased by 25% and road triathlons increased by 10%.
In 2013, the top 5 most popular outdoor activities for adults (ages 25+), based on participation rates were:
1. Running, Jogging and Trail Running - 16.2% of adults
2. Fishing - 14.8% of adults
3. Bicycling (Road, Mountain and BMX) - 13.1% of adults
4. Hiking - 11.4% of adults
5. Camping (Car, Backyard and RV) - 10.6% of adults
The top 5 favorite outdoor activities for adults (ages 25+), based on frequency of activity were:
1. Running, Jogging and Trail Running - 81.4 average outings per runner
2. Bicycling (Road, Mountain and BMX) - 51.7 average outings per cyclist
3. Birdwatching - 37.7 average outings per birdwatcher
4. Wildlife Viewing - 25.2 average outings per viewer
5. Hunting - 24.2 average outings per hunter
The report is based on online and household surveys of more than 19,000 Americans ages six and older, and covers 43 different outdoor activities, making it the largest survey of its kind. To download a complete copy of the 2014 Outdoor Recreation Topline Participation Report, visit The Outdoor Foundation website .
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
Compared to 2012, participation in outdoor activities increased or remained flat among youth and young adults - signaling a positive trend in America's inactivity crisis. The participation rate among children ages six to 12 rose one percentage point to 64%. Participation among young adults ages 18 to 24 also rose one point to 58%, while hard-to-reach adolescents, ages 13 to 17, remained flat at 60%.
Below are a few stats of interest:
* Participation in day hiking remained relatively flat again for the second year in a row. However, the latest figures don't reflect the strong growth in the outdoor pursuit in recent years. Compared to 2006 (the first year of the study), hiking is up 15.1%. Compared to 2010, participation in hiking has increased by 5.8%.
* Though backpacking has seen an increase in the number of participants over each of the last 2 years, the average number of outings per backpacker has dropped off sharply. As a result, backpacking has dropped out of the top 5 favorite outdoor activities for adults (ages 25+), based on the frequency of activity.
* Camping (within a 1/4 mile of a vehicle or home) continues to decline: down 11% when compared to 2011, and down almost 18% since 2006.
* Participation in adventure racing and triathlons saw the largest increases over the past three years. Adventure racing increased by 28%, while off-road triathlons increased by 25% and road triathlons increased by 10%.
In 2013, the top 5 most popular outdoor activities for adults (ages 25+), based on participation rates were:
1. Running, Jogging and Trail Running - 16.2% of adults
2. Fishing - 14.8% of adults
3. Bicycling (Road, Mountain and BMX) - 13.1% of adults
4. Hiking - 11.4% of adults
5. Camping (Car, Backyard and RV) - 10.6% of adults
The top 5 favorite outdoor activities for adults (ages 25+), based on frequency of activity were:
1. Running, Jogging and Trail Running - 81.4 average outings per runner
2. Bicycling (Road, Mountain and BMX) - 51.7 average outings per cyclist
3. Birdwatching - 37.7 average outings per birdwatcher
4. Wildlife Viewing - 25.2 average outings per viewer
5. Hunting - 24.2 average outings per hunter
The report is based on online and household surveys of more than 19,000 Americans ages six and older, and covers 43 different outdoor activities, making it the largest survey of its kind. To download a complete copy of the 2014 Outdoor Recreation Topline Participation Report, visit The Outdoor Foundation website .
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
The Great Dividing Ranges and Stonehenge
Granites occur throughout much of the north coast and New England region. I use the term granite here loosely, in reality the rocks I’m referring to have a range of compositions and ages. The things they have in common are their relatively high quartz content and they are igneous intrusive (plutonic) rocks. They have cooled slowly and therefore have allowed large crystals to form – giving them that typical granite appearance. I’ve covered a few granites in previous blog posts but in this post I’ll cover one New England “granite” called the Wards Mistake Monzogranite. I’ll continue to cover others in future posts.
Stratigraphically the Wards Mistake Monzogranite is part of the Wards Mistake Suite which in turn is part of the Uralla Supersuite. The Wards Mistake Monzogranite outcrops in a relatively extensive area between Glen Innes and Guyra. In places it straddles the Great Dividing Range but mainly occurs just on the eastern side within the upper reaches of many Clarence River tributaries. The unit was formed around 250million years ago, during the Lower Triassic to Lopingian (early Permian period).
The Wards Mistake Monzogranite consists of monzonite (a rock containing moderate quartz with equal parts potassium and sodium-calcium feldspar) with some granodiorite (abundant quartz and calcium-sodium feldspar). It has a typical equigranular black and white speckled appearance which is common of the Uralla Supersuite. It is like the other Uralla Supersuite granites as it is derived from the melting of other igneous rocks - I-Type Granites (Bryant et al 2003). However, it does contain some xenoliths (inclusions of other rock) which are sedimentary. It is possible that when the Wards Mistake Monzogranite was emplaced into the crust it incorporated bits of the surrounding sedimentary rock. This may have affected the chemistry of the magma and may be one of the reasons why there is both monzonite and granodiorite in the unit.
Many New England granites contain mineral deposits. Being an I-Type granite usually means a good chance of mineral deposit formation. However, the Wards Mistake Monzonite contains very sparse mineralisation with only a few small areas where there is some alteration zones that have more concentrated ore minerals. These include wolframite (tungsten), molybdenite (molybdenum) and cassiterite (tin) (Brown 1997). Other surrounding granites such as the Kingsgate Granite and Red Range Leucogranite have abundant mineralisation that was historically mined and is still under active mineral exploration permits.
A lovely feature of most New England granites is the interaction with the climate. This produces wonderful looking granite tors. This is a result of onion skin weathering (frost wedging) where water penetrates into the rock and freezes during the cold winters. This repeated action causes large flakes of rock to peel off. Some of these Tors are given their own names. In the Stonehenge area on the New England Highway you can stop and walk among these Tors and see the Balancing Rock which looks like it will topple over at any moment.
The landscape around Stonehenge between Guyra and Glen Innes is my favourite landscape in Australia. The high country agriculture, the cold weather and the geological conditions that form the rolling hills and special tors make it a special place. The picture above is of a portion of the Wards Mistake Monzogranite and partly shows the landscape I’m talking about. The accessibility of the granite is certainly worth a quick stop if you are travelling on the New England highway.
References/bibliography:
*Barnes, R.G , Willis, I.L. 1989. Preliminary geological plan of the 1:250 000 Grafton-Maclean sheet area - SH 56-6, SH 56-7. New South Wales Geological Survey Report
*Brown, R.E. 1997. Mineral deposits of the Glen Innes 1:100 000 map sheet area. Geological Survey of New South Wales. Quarterly Notes 103 p1-19
*Bryant, C.J. , Chappell, B.W. , Blevin, P.L. 2003. Granites of the southern New England orogeny. In Blevin, P. et al (eds) Magmas to Mineralisation: the Ishihara Symposium Geoscience Australia. Record 14 - extended abstracts.
Stratigraphically the Wards Mistake Monzogranite is part of the Wards Mistake Suite which in turn is part of the Uralla Supersuite. The Wards Mistake Monzogranite outcrops in a relatively extensive area between Glen Innes and Guyra. In places it straddles the Great Dividing Range but mainly occurs just on the eastern side within the upper reaches of many Clarence River tributaries. The unit was formed around 250million years ago, during the Lower Triassic to Lopingian (early Permian period).
The Wards Mistake Monzogranite consists of monzonite (a rock containing moderate quartz with equal parts potassium and sodium-calcium feldspar) with some granodiorite (abundant quartz and calcium-sodium feldspar). It has a typical equigranular black and white speckled appearance which is common of the Uralla Supersuite. It is like the other Uralla Supersuite granites as it is derived from the melting of other igneous rocks - I-Type Granites (Bryant et al 2003). However, it does contain some xenoliths (inclusions of other rock) which are sedimentary. It is possible that when the Wards Mistake Monzogranite was emplaced into the crust it incorporated bits of the surrounding sedimentary rock. This may have affected the chemistry of the magma and may be one of the reasons why there is both monzonite and granodiorite in the unit.
| Typical tor outcrops of the Wards Mistake Monzogranite near Glen Innes |
Many New England granites contain mineral deposits. Being an I-Type granite usually means a good chance of mineral deposit formation. However, the Wards Mistake Monzonite contains very sparse mineralisation with only a few small areas where there is some alteration zones that have more concentrated ore minerals. These include wolframite (tungsten), molybdenite (molybdenum) and cassiterite (tin) (Brown 1997). Other surrounding granites such as the Kingsgate Granite and Red Range Leucogranite have abundant mineralisation that was historically mined and is still under active mineral exploration permits.
A lovely feature of most New England granites is the interaction with the climate. This produces wonderful looking granite tors. This is a result of onion skin weathering (frost wedging) where water penetrates into the rock and freezes during the cold winters. This repeated action causes large flakes of rock to peel off. Some of these Tors are given their own names. In the Stonehenge area on the New England Highway you can stop and walk among these Tors and see the Balancing Rock which looks like it will topple over at any moment.
The landscape around Stonehenge between Guyra and Glen Innes is my favourite landscape in Australia. The high country agriculture, the cold weather and the geological conditions that form the rolling hills and special tors make it a special place. The picture above is of a portion of the Wards Mistake Monzogranite and partly shows the landscape I’m talking about. The accessibility of the granite is certainly worth a quick stop if you are travelling on the New England highway.
References/bibliography:
*Barnes, R.G , Willis, I.L. 1989. Preliminary geological plan of the 1:250 000 Grafton-Maclean sheet area - SH 56-6, SH 56-7. New South Wales Geological Survey Report
*Brown, R.E. 1997. Mineral deposits of the Glen Innes 1:100 000 map sheet area. Geological Survey of New South Wales. Quarterly Notes 103 p1-19
*Bryant, C.J. , Chappell, B.W. , Blevin, P.L. 2003. Granites of the southern New England orogeny. In Blevin, P. et al (eds) Magmas to Mineralisation: the Ishihara Symposium Geoscience Australia. Record 14 - extended abstracts.
Tourism to Blue Ridge Parkway creates $782 Million in Economic Benefit
A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 12,877,369 visitors to the Blue Ridge Parkway in 2013 spent $782,926,000 in communities near the park. That spending supported 11,283 jobs in adjacent communities.
"Over the years, the Blue Ridge Parkway has experienced fluctuations in visitation. Regardless of these fluctuations, Parkway staff remain committed to the mission of the National Park Service and work every day with the same goal in mind – to protect and preserve the rich natural and cultural resources along the Parkway, and provide meaningful visitor experiences," said superintendent Mark Woods. "We also recognize the Parkway's presence in the region provides many opportunities for surrounding communities as well, and we are happy to have so many communities in our region reporting strong tourism spending over all."
Tourism officials across the Parkway region in North Carolina and Virginia explain that the rise in popularity of outdoor recreation activities helps keep their tourism numbers robust. "Watauga County in western North Carolina's High Country saw a rise in occupancy tax revenue over last year," said Wright Tilley, Executive Director of Boone & Watauga County Tourism Development Authorities. "We know our visitors are looking for hiking experiences while in our area and the Parkway is the most popular starting point for hiking in our area."
Virginia tourism officials share similar feedback. "Outdoor recreation experiences on and off the Parkway are the mainstay of tourism in the Roanoke Valley, offered . "The Parkway provides a perfect backdrop to a variety of experiences, including several new special events in our area that celebrate the outdoors and provide new and creative economic opportunities for our community." Parkway visitation to date for 2014 shows a five percent rise in visitation, and looking ahead to the fall tourism season, Parkway and local tourism officials are confident that the cooperative nature of the relationship between the park and adjacent communities will serve the region well.
The National Park Service's peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis was conducted by U.S. Geological Survey economists Catherine Cullinane Thomas and Christopher Huber and Lynne Koontz for the National Park Service. The report shows $14.6 billion of direct spending by 273.6 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park. This spending supported more than 237,000 jobs nationally, with more than 197,000 jobs found in these gateway communities, and had a cumulative benefit to the U.S. economy of $26.5 billion.
According to the 2013 economic analysis, most visitor spending was for lodging (30.3%) followed by food and beverages (27.3%), gas and oil (12.1%), admissions and fees (10.3%) and souvenirs and other expenses (10%). The largest jobs categories supported by visitor spending were restaurants and bars (50,000 jobs) and lodging (38,000 jobs).
To download the report, please click here . The report includes information for visitor spending at individual parks and by state.
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
"Over the years, the Blue Ridge Parkway has experienced fluctuations in visitation. Regardless of these fluctuations, Parkway staff remain committed to the mission of the National Park Service and work every day with the same goal in mind – to protect and preserve the rich natural and cultural resources along the Parkway, and provide meaningful visitor experiences," said superintendent Mark Woods. "We also recognize the Parkway's presence in the region provides many opportunities for surrounding communities as well, and we are happy to have so many communities in our region reporting strong tourism spending over all."
Tourism officials across the Parkway region in North Carolina and Virginia explain that the rise in popularity of outdoor recreation activities helps keep their tourism numbers robust. "Watauga County in western North Carolina's High Country saw a rise in occupancy tax revenue over last year," said Wright Tilley, Executive Director of Boone & Watauga County Tourism Development Authorities. "We know our visitors are looking for hiking experiences while in our area and the Parkway is the most popular starting point for hiking in our area."
Virginia tourism officials share similar feedback. "Outdoor recreation experiences on and off the Parkway are the mainstay of tourism in the Roanoke Valley, offered . "The Parkway provides a perfect backdrop to a variety of experiences, including several new special events in our area that celebrate the outdoors and provide new and creative economic opportunities for our community." Parkway visitation to date for 2014 shows a five percent rise in visitation, and looking ahead to the fall tourism season, Parkway and local tourism officials are confident that the cooperative nature of the relationship between the park and adjacent communities will serve the region well.
The National Park Service's peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis was conducted by U.S. Geological Survey economists Catherine Cullinane Thomas and Christopher Huber and Lynne Koontz for the National Park Service. The report shows $14.6 billion of direct spending by 273.6 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park. This spending supported more than 237,000 jobs nationally, with more than 197,000 jobs found in these gateway communities, and had a cumulative benefit to the U.S. economy of $26.5 billion.
According to the 2013 economic analysis, most visitor spending was for lodging (30.3%) followed by food and beverages (27.3%), gas and oil (12.1%), admissions and fees (10.3%) and souvenirs and other expenses (10%). The largest jobs categories supported by visitor spending were restaurants and bars (50,000 jobs) and lodging (38,000 jobs).
To download the report, please click here . The report includes information for visitor spending at individual parks and by state.
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
Man convicted of operating illegal hiking guide service in Grand Canyon
Brazen? Or just brazenly stupid?
The NPS Morning Report is reporting that on October 19, 2013, rangers in the backcountry of Grand Canyon National Park became suspicious of the large number of hikers attempting to hike from the North Rim to the South Rim in a single day (known as a “Rim to Rim ” hike). The hikers claimed to be hiking only with a small number of friends and not as part of a large group, but many appeared to be avoiding contact with rangers and they all described similar travel arrangements.
Subsequent investigations revealed that Scott Beck of Phoenix, Arizona, had chartered five buses to transport nearly 300 people to Grand Canyon National Park to hike across the canyon. Beck advertised the hike as the “23rd Annual” trip of a similar nature and charged each participant a set fee. Investigations also revealed that he had specifically instructed each hiker, both verbally and in a written itinerary, to tell rangers that they were “not with a group of 300,” that they were with a small group and had been transported by car or van.
The large number of hikers in the canyon that day caused impacts to vegetation and created long lines at the Phantom Ranch canteen and restroom facilities. The Phantom wastewater treatment operator reported that the sewage treatment plant was operating at capacity. Rangers took complaints from hikers who complained about congestion on the trails. Several minor medicals and search and rescue operations were also attributed to Beck’s group.
During interviews, Beck claimed that his trip was “organized” but not commercial, and that he had not profited. In January 2013, rangers served a search warrant on an online event registration website that Beck had used to solicit trip participants and collect fees. The evidence gathered from the search warrant was used to develop probable cause to charge Beck with engaging in an illegal business operation (36 CFR 5.3) and making false statements (18 USC 1001(a)(2)). Rangers estimated that Beck’s gross income for this event was over $47,000, and he profited by approximately $9,500.
On June 10th, Beck was convicted on one count of engaging in business operations without obtaining a permit in violation of 36 CFR 5.3. Pursuant to a plea agreement, he was sentenced to a year of probation, during which time he is banned from Grand Canyon National Park and from conducting or advertising for any tours or guided trips on national park or national forest lands. He was also fined $500 and ordered to serve 50 hours of community service.
Beck has since formally notified all trip participants that he will no longer be conducting his annual trip, and has pledged to donate $2,000 to Grand Canyon National Park.
The investigation was led by rangers and conducted with the assistance of Investigative Services Branch special agents.
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
The NPS Morning Report is reporting that on October 19, 2013, rangers in the backcountry of Grand Canyon National Park became suspicious of the large number of hikers attempting to hike from the North Rim to the South Rim in a single day (known as a “Rim to Rim ” hike). The hikers claimed to be hiking only with a small number of friends and not as part of a large group, but many appeared to be avoiding contact with rangers and they all described similar travel arrangements.
Subsequent investigations revealed that Scott Beck of Phoenix, Arizona, had chartered five buses to transport nearly 300 people to Grand Canyon National Park to hike across the canyon. Beck advertised the hike as the “23rd Annual” trip of a similar nature and charged each participant a set fee. Investigations also revealed that he had specifically instructed each hiker, both verbally and in a written itinerary, to tell rangers that they were “not with a group of 300,” that they were with a small group and had been transported by car or van.
The large number of hikers in the canyon that day caused impacts to vegetation and created long lines at the Phantom Ranch canteen and restroom facilities. The Phantom wastewater treatment operator reported that the sewage treatment plant was operating at capacity. Rangers took complaints from hikers who complained about congestion on the trails. Several minor medicals and search and rescue operations were also attributed to Beck’s group.
During interviews, Beck claimed that his trip was “organized” but not commercial, and that he had not profited. In January 2013, rangers served a search warrant on an online event registration website that Beck had used to solicit trip participants and collect fees. The evidence gathered from the search warrant was used to develop probable cause to charge Beck with engaging in an illegal business operation (36 CFR 5.3) and making false statements (18 USC 1001(a)(2)). Rangers estimated that Beck’s gross income for this event was over $47,000, and he profited by approximately $9,500.
On June 10th, Beck was convicted on one count of engaging in business operations without obtaining a permit in violation of 36 CFR 5.3. Pursuant to a plea agreement, he was sentenced to a year of probation, during which time he is banned from Grand Canyon National Park and from conducting or advertising for any tours or guided trips on national park or national forest lands. He was also fined $500 and ordered to serve 50 hours of community service.
Beck has since formally notified all trip participants that he will no longer be conducting his annual trip, and has pledged to donate $2,000 to Grand Canyon National Park.
The investigation was led by rangers and conducted with the assistance of Investigative Services Branch special agents.
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
Gregory Bald, 2014
In case you weren't able to make it up to Gregory Bald last month to see the world-famous azaleas, the Great Smoky Mountains Association has published a short video highlighting some of the scenes from this year's spectacular show:
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
Rangers Save Three From Drowning in Chattahoochee River
According to Friday's NPS Morning Report, on the evening of July 6th, Rangers Paul Forward and Chris Calkins and Supervisory Ranger Sean Perchalski were patrolling Diving Rock, one of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area’s busiest areas, when Forward spotted a man in the middle of the river who appeared to be in distress.
The man went under several times as two other visitors struggled to keep him afloat. He then began to pull both of them underwater.
Forward threw them a lifeguard rescue tube and a throw bag, but the people in the water couldn’t reach them. Perchalski then threw a life vest and a second throw bag, which they were able to grab and use to stay afloat. The rangers then pulled all three to shore.
The 22-year-old man who’d originally gotten into trouble was checked out by EMS, but declined further treatment at a medical facility. The other two were extremely fatigued but otherwise okay.
This area has been the scene of several drownings in the past few years by people who’ve tried unsuccessfully to swim across the river. The most recent was on June 9th, when a 24-year-old man drowned while swimming across the river at the same exact location. The river is approximately 175 feet across at this point.
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
The man went under several times as two other visitors struggled to keep him afloat. He then began to pull both of them underwater.
Forward threw them a lifeguard rescue tube and a throw bag, but the people in the water couldn’t reach them. Perchalski then threw a life vest and a second throw bag, which they were able to grab and use to stay afloat. The rangers then pulled all three to shore.
The 22-year-old man who’d originally gotten into trouble was checked out by EMS, but declined further treatment at a medical facility. The other two were extremely fatigued but otherwise okay.
This area has been the scene of several drownings in the past few years by people who’ve tried unsuccessfully to swim across the river. The most recent was on June 9th, when a 24-year-old man drowned while swimming across the river at the same exact location. The river is approximately 175 feet across at this point.
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
All My Flycatchers, Season 10: Fly or Die!
| Cordilleran flycatcher (Cornell Ornithology Lab). |
Previous episode: "The 'Plop Plop' of Falling Birds"
As I mentioned in the previous episode, there was a built-in design problem. Four fledglings, but only comfortable nest space for three.
One, probably the last-hatched by several days, always seemed to be the runt, the usual story.
Were its siblings shoving it out of the nest by the first week of July? Despite our efforts — putting a metal sheet between the nest and the top of the porch light where it was built in order to add a sort of safety zone before the drop — I came out a few days later and found the runt outside the nest, stiff in death.
The others kept growing and were suddenly starting to look like fuzzy adults. On the 13th I checked them — and one was gone, while another, startled, instead of cowering just flew away, a whole ten feet down to a railing.
Later in the day, #3 disappeared. And that was that. No practice flights, just go now!
And birds never come back to their old bedroom after venturing into the larger world.
It was over. They all dispersed. We hear an occasional flycatcher-ish peep! in the trees behind the house. At some point, it will be time to winter in Mexico.
M. and I felt a little diminished, that's the funny thing, even though it is nice to not have to duck our heads when going in and out the front door.
Tourism to Great Smoky Mountains National Park creates $734 Million in Economic Benefit
A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 9,354,695 visitors to Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2013 spent $734,086,600 in communities near the park. That spending supported 10,734 jobs in the local area.
“Great Smoky Mountains National Park remains the most visited national park in the nation and we are pleased to be the stewards of this national park that welcomes so many visitors from across the country and around the world,” said Acting Superintendent Cindy MacLeod. “The Smokies truly are ‘great’ in so many ways and we are thrilled that the park offers unique experiences that bring visitors back year after year.”
The 2013 economic benefit figures are slightly lower than the 2012 results which reported that visitors spent $741 million in local communities. The 16-day government shutdown in October 2013 accounted for most of the decline in park visitation and spending. The authors also cited inflation adjustments for differences between visitation and visitor spending, jobs supported, and overall effect on the U.S. economy.
The peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis was conducted by U.S. Geological Survey economists Catherine Cullinane Thomas and Christopher Huber and Lynne Koontz for the National Park Service. The report shows $14.6 billion of direct spending by 273.6 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park. This spending supported more than 237,000 jobs nationally, with more than 197,000 jobs found in these gateway communities, and had a cumulative benefit to the U.S. economy of $26.5 billion.
According to the 2013 economic analysis, nationally most visitor spending was for lodging (30.3%) followed by food and beverages (27.3%), gas and oil (12.1%), admissions and fees (10.3%) and souvenirs and other expenses (10%). The largest jobs categories supported by visitor spending were restaurants and bars (50,000 jobs) and lodging (38,000 jobs).
To download the report, please click here . The report includes information for visitor spending at individual parks and by state.
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
“Great Smoky Mountains National Park remains the most visited national park in the nation and we are pleased to be the stewards of this national park that welcomes so many visitors from across the country and around the world,” said Acting Superintendent Cindy MacLeod. “The Smokies truly are ‘great’ in so many ways and we are thrilled that the park offers unique experiences that bring visitors back year after year.”
The 2013 economic benefit figures are slightly lower than the 2012 results which reported that visitors spent $741 million in local communities. The 16-day government shutdown in October 2013 accounted for most of the decline in park visitation and spending. The authors also cited inflation adjustments for differences between visitation and visitor spending, jobs supported, and overall effect on the U.S. economy.
The peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis was conducted by U.S. Geological Survey economists Catherine Cullinane Thomas and Christopher Huber and Lynne Koontz for the National Park Service. The report shows $14.6 billion of direct spending by 273.6 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park. This spending supported more than 237,000 jobs nationally, with more than 197,000 jobs found in these gateway communities, and had a cumulative benefit to the U.S. economy of $26.5 billion.
According to the 2013 economic analysis, nationally most visitor spending was for lodging (30.3%) followed by food and beverages (27.3%), gas and oil (12.1%), admissions and fees (10.3%) and souvenirs and other expenses (10%). The largest jobs categories supported by visitor spending were restaurants and bars (50,000 jobs) and lodging (38,000 jobs).
To download the report, please click here . The report includes information for visitor spending at individual parks and by state.
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
Altocumulus Lenticularus
A couple of weeks ago Kathy and I took a trip out to Rocky Mountain National Park. During our visit we did a hike up to Deer Mountain . As we got near the top I noticed an odd and fairly uncommon cloud in the sky. We stayed at the summit for roughly an hour, and all the while the cloud basically remained in the same general location, while seemingly holding the same general shape throughout much of that time period:
Since Kathy used to work for a local TV station, she sent a couple of photos to a friend of hers who used to be the Chief Meteorologist at the station, and asked him what we were seeing that day. Since Tom has recently started his own local weather blog , he published his reply to Kathy's questions on a recent post:
Here's one more photo that I took right before we headed back down the mountain:
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
Since Kathy used to work for a local TV station, she sent a couple of photos to a friend of hers who used to be the Chief Meteorologist at the station, and asked him what we were seeing that day. Since Tom has recently started his own local weather blog , he published his reply to Kathy's questions on a recent post:
These are some of my favorites from when I was in grad school in Colorado. You only see them in mountainous areas. These are officially called altocumulus lenticularus. (higher altitude versions are called cirrocumulus lenticularus) More common names are “lens clouds” or “cap clouds.” Another common description is “standing wave clouds.” The “lens” or “cap” feature is very clear on these photos. The best example is the left side of the lower picture. Three good ones are on the top picture…one just to the left of the tall center tree…on the left edge of the photo and a small one of the right edge. The cause of these clouds is the barrier of the mountains. On days when the upper level winds are generally from the west AND there is just a little moisture on the air west of the Rockies (a pretty common experience, the air approaching the mountains between roughly 10,000 and 15,000 feet is forced to rise to get over the top of the mountain range which in Colorado is about 13,000 to 15,000 feet. This forced rising/cooling of the air condenses moisture only at the very top of the ridges, then fades away quickly as the air descends east of the mountain crest. This little bit of cloud formation gives the “lens” and/or “cap” nature of the clouds. The standing wave cloud gets its name from the observation that the clouds do not move. You can watch them for hours and they still look the same. In reality, the cloud is changing rapidly – constant supply of the rising and keeps building the cloud from the west while the sinking motions to the east evaporate parts of cloud trying to move off the mountain tops. So, the clouds “appear” to stand still.
On days when the conditions are almost perfect, in addition to the clouds standing on the mountain peaks, you may see as many 1-4 additional lines of “cap” clouds standing east of the hills out on to the plains. That’s even more spectacular!
Here's one more photo that I took right before we headed back down the mountain:
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
The Cycles of Sand
I wlll look at the sandstone boulders behind the house in a new way after reading this:
From a fascinating review article, "The Magic of Sand."
Most of us are used to the idea that sand is created from rock by weathering, but less familiar is the idea that it can be turned back into rock again. "Sand grains originally born from granite long ago", Welland explains, “may accumulate, be buried, and become naturally glued together, lithified (from the Greek for stone or rock) into . . . a sandstone. When this, in its turn, is exposed at the surface, it is attacked by weathering and the sand grains are liberated again. The whole process is cyclic, over and over again." He estimates that half of all quartz sand grains have completed that circuit—been turned to stone and then reborn—six times.
From a fascinating review article, "The Magic of Sand."
The Vanished Corn Farmers and a Cooler, Drier Future?
There is a lot of Apocalypse Porn going around, like in the closing of this article on the flooded shopping mall in Bangkok. Coastal inhabitants will be living in shacks on the roofs of flooded office buildings, etc. etc.
We have been telling the story of the Great Flood for at least 4,000 years, after all.
On the other hand, some researchers of solar-output cycles still see a better chance of a coming period that is cooler — and drier. Let's start with the story of some corn-growing prehistoric villages in what is now Iowa:
In other words, the subsequent Little Ice Age made maize farming more and more difficult except in favored locations, and no one was doing it (except maybe at El Cuartelejo) much west of present-day Wichita.
The phrase "lower solar activity, and thus a posited colder climate" produced a lot of heat in the comments section, at least.
We have been telling the story of the Great Flood for at least 4,000 years, after all.
On the other hand, some researchers of solar-output cycles still see a better chance of a coming period that is cooler — and drier. Let's start with the story of some corn-growing prehistoric villages in what is now Iowa:
There were possibly over one thousand Indian villages on the Great Plains from Iowa to Colorado during the Medieval Warm Period. In the early 19th century when the explorers who spearheaded the European invasion of the American heartland crossed the plains, they found no corn-farming villages. They left behind the last of the agricultural tribes as they moved out onto the grasslands – the Akira and Mandan on the Missouri and the Pawnee in eastern Kansas – not to find corn fields again until reaching the Pueblos in the southern Rockies. Remnants of the villages were uncovered in the early 20th century as layers of debris covered by wind-blown soil.
In other words, the subsequent Little Ice Age made maize farming more and more difficult except in favored locations, and no one was doing it (except maybe at El Cuartelejo) much west of present-day Wichita.
The phrase "lower solar activity, and thus a posited colder climate" produced a lot of heat in the comments section, at least.
Freedom Inc.
| Phoneto by Zonk'em |
Outside of Buck's Spice Shop and Darby's, two businesses I gladly choose to support, there is an interstice of green in the sidewalk. Grey, gray,...grass! There's a little (but still larger than the li'l lawn) brass plaque identifying this space as a park. Now and then, there's the sign you see here, miniscule but effective.
"Keep off the grass*" resinates this week, what with the opening of the first legal pot stores outside of Colorado. As my family waited on Sunday morning for a table at Darby's, we saw the sign and the roach** thoughtfully tucked into the park to stack on another entendre***.
We laughed, and took a few photos, inspiring other people to do the same. My kids didn't start doing drugs, I managed to hold onto my job, and breakfast--although served to Led Zeppelin live--was delicious, and in no way a freakshow. Legal pot in 2014 Washington is,...so what?
It was interesting to hear reports on NPR that actually spoke of today's opening of pot stores here in terms of "civil rights," maybe not on par with gay marriage (local reaction: we're totally used to it,...so what?), but a great day for freedom, in the words of a guy who'd been in line since 4AM (sorry, guy who showed up at 4:20) to be the first to buy legal weed,**** only to say he'd light up to "Dark Side of the Moon,"***** sorta like he has for 33% of the 1,287 bags of reefer****** he's bougth before, illegally.
Equality for people who don't fit in the archaic man-woman identities and roles is a civil rights issue, but what happened today is a consumer issue. In Americo, though, consumer freedom has increasingly stood in for and even pushed aside the more basic freedoms in the Constitution.
Today gets reported by those who worry as the Beginning of the End, gateway drug to utter debauchery and decay. Meanwhile, others spout some crap about Freedom when what they're being offered is a chance to pay premium prices plus 25% tax (that's right, Washington State imposes a 25% tax on this freedom) for something that's actually pretty easy to get outside of the official stores. The saying "Freedom isn't Free" needs to be amended, "And it's Heavily Taxed".
So, light up and celebrate if you must, but don't let the ability to go to a store and light up legally make you think you're more free, don't let THC be the opiate of the masses, and don't develop memory loss about more fundamental freedoms at stake in this changing AmeriCo. For real freedom, don't feed the stores that will compete and merge and take-over and consolidate into the same corporate creature that stalks every revenue flow; go chip a park out of the concrete.
* an archaic term for psychoactive cannabis
** an archaic term for the remains of a partially smocked grass cigarette, or "joint"
*** a French term. I only explain archaic terms, so you're on your own for this one
**** archaic term for grass*
***** archaic stoner music
****** archaic term for a joint** or maybe weed****
Changes in the Neighborhood, 1887 to Now
 | |||
| A. C. (or A. Q.) Monroe's Cash Store, 1887 (Denver Public Library) |
I found this photo while researching the Squirrel Creek Lodge series. It was taken not far from where I live. My first thought was that that is more people than live on that road now.
My second thought was, "Maybe not, but the population skewed a lot younger in 1887. The school bus does not even come halfway up the road today."
Here is another photo dated 1887, with the store in the center. Click for a bigger image, and you will see a man sitting in a wagon.
| Denver Public Library collection. |
Not one of those buildings remains today. In the Teens and Twenties, some new cabins were built there—I think there was a little resort catering to the new automobile tourists, but I do not know its name or anything about it. Some friends have one of the cabins (no heating, no plumbing) on their property and use it as a summertime guest bedroom.
I wonder about the photo dating, though, because in the larger photo, the false front of Monroe's store is not missing a corner.
I was in the area today (a cloudy day) and tried to replicate the photograph, lining up the two little rocky ridges on the hillside behind.
| Actually, this is the biggest house on the road, so not typical of the area. |
I think the store stood just to the left of the large house, which was built in 1989. There is a cement foundation there too, but I suspect that it is early twentieth-century. Those 1880 buildings were lucky to have a row of rocks in a shallow trench for a foundation.
And what were all those people doing? Ranching (the public land was open and un-managed) and small-scale sawmilling (ditto)? This was not a mining district. There were coal mines and even oil wells in the next county north, about 10–15 miles away, but back then miners usually lived within a mile of the mine and walked to work. There may have been some small dairy operations.
| Denver Public Library collection. |
One thing has not changed. A lot of backyard target shooting goes on. That is Mr. Monroe (of the store?) fourth from left. I don't recognize any of the surnames, although one of them, Holbert, is the name of a drainage about twenty miles north, as the Mexican spotted owl flies — M. and I found a nesting pair there twenty-two years ago when we were paid by the BLM to census owls.
I am tempted to check these names against the oldest graveyard hereabouts.
And the forest looks a little different too. Put that down to a century-plus of fire suppression and and cessation of local logging. It's mostly private land, with a little BLM at the far left of the ridge.
The burnt tree in the foreground of today's photograph is a relic of the 2,500-acre fire in 2012 that cleared away most of the houses on that side of the road.
Now there is a row of concrete foundations there for visitors of the future to wander among and wonder about.
Tennessee State Parks Announce Opening of 56th State Park
Tennessee State Parks announced last week the newest addition to the parks system, Seven Islands State Birding Park. State and local officials attended the official opening of the 56th state park last Tuesday in Knoxville.
Seven Islands State Birding Park offers activities including observation, hiking and a small boat launch for canoes and kayaks. The property is adjacent to the French Broad River and aquatic and riparian habitats support an impressive diversity of wildlife species. Over 160 species of birds have been identified.
“I am excited to welcome Seven Islands State Birding Park to our Tennessee State Parks system,” Tennessee State Parks Deputy Commissioner Brock Hill said. “This park is a great addition and will offer wonderful viewing opportunities for birding enthusiasts and families alike.
Prior to becoming a state park, Seven Islands was a wildlife refuge that was managed by the Seven Islands Foundation and Knox County Parks and Recreation. The county transferred the 360-acre property to the state and Tennessee State Parks began management of the site on July 1, 2014.
For more information about Seven Islands State Birding Park, please click here .
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
Seven Islands State Birding Park offers activities including observation, hiking and a small boat launch for canoes and kayaks. The property is adjacent to the French Broad River and aquatic and riparian habitats support an impressive diversity of wildlife species. Over 160 species of birds have been identified.
“I am excited to welcome Seven Islands State Birding Park to our Tennessee State Parks system,” Tennessee State Parks Deputy Commissioner Brock Hill said. “This park is a great addition and will offer wonderful viewing opportunities for birding enthusiasts and families alike.
Prior to becoming a state park, Seven Islands was a wildlife refuge that was managed by the Seven Islands Foundation and Knox County Parks and Recreation. The county transferred the 360-acre property to the state and Tennessee State Parks began management of the site on July 1, 2014.
For more information about Seven Islands State Birding Park, please click here .
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
All My Flycatchers, Season 10: The "Plop Plop" of Falling Birds
| This year's brood of flycatchers, on top of the front porch light. |
Is four fledglings too many?
Right now, there is a large pillow — actually an L. L. Bean dog bed — laid under the porch light on the veranda.
Baby Cordilleran flycatchers keep falling out of the nest on top of the porch light, which they built in late May while we were away in Taos, ignoring my purpose-built special flycatcher nesting ledge on the back of the house.
This is an ongoing drama every year: will Lucinda (all females are named Lucinda) successfully incubate her eggs and raise some babies? Some times things go very wrong.
Often four eggs are laid, but only three hatch. Or four chicks are hatched, but one is found dead and dessicated in the nest.
This year, we still have four starting to grow adult feathers. But the nest, built according to whatever evolutionary pattern — and better sized for three — is not big enough. They are starting to fall out.
I was working at my desk Sunday afternoon when I heard M. scream at Fisher, the Chesapeake Bay retriever. "Bad dog!" etc.
But here he is, the product of umpteen generations of bird-dog breeding, catching the breeze just inside the front door, when a bird falls from the sky in front of him. Of course he went for it.
The chick seemed OK, I thought, just a little damp from saliva. So I put it back in the nest. M. put a baby gate in the doorway and moved one of Fisher's outdoor dog beds under the nest.
Thirty minutes later I looked out and there was a chick lying on the dog bed. Back into the nest with it.
Then we ate supper on the veranda, as usual, noting Lucinda's constant trips to the nest to feed the kids with whatever insects she was catching. (Her mate helps too.)
I started to carry the plates inside and, Whoa! "Grab Fisher!" I said. Luckily, he was still sniffing under the dining table for crumbs.
There were two fledglings on the dog bed. Back into the nest they went.
How long is this going to keep up? Do we have to keep Fisher off the veranda, where he is accustomed to lounging during the day between walks and meals?
They can't grow up fast enough for me. Or for Lucinda.
Smokies Receives Grant to Restore Wetland Vegetation
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of 23 national parks selected to receive a 2014 Impact Grant from the National Park Foundation, the official charity of America’s national parks. The $25,000 grant supports the restoration of wetland vegetation in a 3-acre wetland in the Ravensford floodplain near Cherokee Central Schools in NC.
Now in its seventh year, the Impact Grants program provides national parks with the critical financial support they need to transform innovative, yet underfunded, ideas into successful in-park programs and initiatives.
“Through our Impact Grants, we will help make a profound difference in our national parks by providing much-needed funding for projects that support habitat restoration, wildlife protection, and conservation research,” said Neil Mulholland, President and CEO of the National Park Foundation.
Wetland habitats are uncommon in the park and provide critical habitat for diverse native plants and animals, some found nowhere else in the park. The unique Ravensford wetland has been severely impaired by invasive exotic plants reducing habitat for native species. Through this project, park staff along with youth volunteers, will remove invasive plants and collect native seed from remnant wetland vegetation that will be used to propagate native species for plantings. Restored wetland vegetation will help create a buffer along the edge of the wetland to better filter sediments and potential contaminants from nearby roads. The restored site will not only improve natural habitat and wetland function, but also provide educational opportunities for park visitors and students.
“We are grateful to the National Park Foundation for providing us the opportunity to both restore this wetland community and provide a unique hands-on learning opportunity,” said Acting Superintendent Cindy MacLeod. “We’ve already had youth assist us from the Cherokee Central School summer culture camp along with the Oconaluftee Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center and look forward to developing more educational and service opportunities as the restoration continues.”
The 2014 Impact Grants were made possible, in large part, through the support of Disney and Subaru of America. A listing of these parks and their Impact Grants project descriptions can be found on the National Park Foundation website.
For more information on how Smokies biologists identify and map wetlands, please click here . For more information on the National Park Foundation and how to support and protect America’s national parks, please click here .
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
Now in its seventh year, the Impact Grants program provides national parks with the critical financial support they need to transform innovative, yet underfunded, ideas into successful in-park programs and initiatives.
“Through our Impact Grants, we will help make a profound difference in our national parks by providing much-needed funding for projects that support habitat restoration, wildlife protection, and conservation research,” said Neil Mulholland, President and CEO of the National Park Foundation.
Wetland habitats are uncommon in the park and provide critical habitat for diverse native plants and animals, some found nowhere else in the park. The unique Ravensford wetland has been severely impaired by invasive exotic plants reducing habitat for native species. Through this project, park staff along with youth volunteers, will remove invasive plants and collect native seed from remnant wetland vegetation that will be used to propagate native species for plantings. Restored wetland vegetation will help create a buffer along the edge of the wetland to better filter sediments and potential contaminants from nearby roads. The restored site will not only improve natural habitat and wetland function, but also provide educational opportunities for park visitors and students.
“We are grateful to the National Park Foundation for providing us the opportunity to both restore this wetland community and provide a unique hands-on learning opportunity,” said Acting Superintendent Cindy MacLeod. “We’ve already had youth assist us from the Cherokee Central School summer culture camp along with the Oconaluftee Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center and look forward to developing more educational and service opportunities as the restoration continues.”
The 2014 Impact Grants were made possible, in large part, through the support of Disney and Subaru of America. A listing of these parks and their Impact Grants project descriptions can be found on the National Park Foundation website.
For more information on how Smokies biologists identify and map wetlands, please click here . For more information on the National Park Foundation and how to support and protect America’s national parks, please click here .
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
How the South Canyon Fire Changed Firefighting
| In a photo taken shortly after the 1994, shirts mark spots where smokejumpers successfully deployed fire shelters on "Lunch Stop Ridge" during the South Canyon Fire near Glenwood Springs, Colo. . (US Forest Service photo) |
| The same spot, right after the smokejumpers left their shelters. |
John Maclean, whose book Fire on the Mountain was the first of a series he has written analyzing wildland fires that killed firefighters, revisits the South Canyon Fire of 1994 and compares it with last summer's even deadlier Yarnell Hill Fire.
There is a good two-part video on YouTube about South Canyon, with interviews of people who were there (one of them is a neighbor of mine). The animations in the video are helpful in visualizing what happened.
Maclean (and others) credits South Canyon with changing firefighting culture a little bit, making crews more concerned about their own safety and less likely to tell the boss that everything is OK.
A key lesson from the video: Firefighters in charge "should listen to everyone on the crew," [smokejumper Eric] Hipke said. "That's not the way it used to be."
And fire crews, Hipke said, should be more aggressive in voicing their concerns about dangerous situations. During the South Canyon Fire, he said, he and other firefighters failed to tell [lead smokejumper Don] Mackey that they were worried about venturing so far into dense brush without a sure way out.
"As workers we want to work, so we shut up," Hipke said.
The Orara Formation and the reviewed Kangaroo Creek Sandstone
There has been an increase in our understanding of the Clarence-Moreton Basin in recent years. The central upper portions of the basin have had several cored and un-cored boreholes drilled during exploration for natural gas, especially Coal Seam Gas. In this post, I will cover the implications of this exploration on our understanding of the Kangaroo Creek Sandstone and the recognition of another previously unknown unit.
In a previous post I described the Kangaroo Creek Sandstone. This unit was identified as a formation directly overlying the Walloon Coal Measures (and the MacLean Sandstone Member of the Walloon Coal Measures) (McElroy 1963). However, a recent paper (Doig & Stanmore 2012) attempts to resolve newly identified characteristics which have resulted in the authors proposing the creation of a new Formation called the Orara Formation. It is proposed by Doig & Stanmore (2012) that the Orara formation is comprised of two member units, another new unit called the Bungawalbin Member and the now demoted Kangaroo Creek Sandstone Member.
Doig & Stanmore (2012) found that the proposed Bungawalbin Member differed substantially from the Kangaroo Creek Sandstone and overlying Grafton Formation. They describe the Bungawalbin as between 45m-115m thick and dominated by mudstone and carbonaceous mudstone that is thinly bedded with fine grained sandstone with increasing amounts of massive, medium-grained quartzose sandstone beds near the base of the member. The unit is interpreted as a persistent low energy riverine floodplain environment.
The contact with the underlying Kangaroo Creek Sandstone Member is transitional. With the medium-grained quartz rich sandstone becoming dominant in the Kangaroo Creek Sandstone. The composition and formation history of the Kangaroo Creek Sandstone has not been questioned but the clearly significant fine grained component of the Bungawalbin Member necessitates the distinction between these two members. Additionally, Doig & Stanmore (2012) clearly demonstrated that the geophysical response of the Bungawalbin Member was substantially different from the Kangaroo Creek Sandstone.
So, we are learning more about the land on which we live. The geology is slowly becoming better understood. It is interesting to observe that there has been no detailed work on the upper most formations of the Clarence-Moreton since the 1960’s. The drilling that has occurred has unlocked more hidden characteristics of the basin and helped our understanding of basin history as well as the original intention of finding gas resources.
There is more to cover in future posts including the further understanding of the basins youngest formation, the Grafton Formation, but that will come soon.
References/bibliography:
*Doig, A. & Stanmore, P. 2012. The Clarence-Moreton Basin in New South Wales: geology, stratigraphy and coal seam gas characteristics. Paper presented at the Eastern Australasian Basin Symposium IV. Brisbane.
*McElroy, C.T., 1963. The Geology of the Clarence-Moreton Basin. Memoirs of the Geological Survey of New South Wales, Geology. 9.
In a previous post I described the Kangaroo Creek Sandstone. This unit was identified as a formation directly overlying the Walloon Coal Measures (and the MacLean Sandstone Member of the Walloon Coal Measures) (McElroy 1963). However, a recent paper (Doig & Stanmore 2012) attempts to resolve newly identified characteristics which have resulted in the authors proposing the creation of a new Formation called the Orara Formation. It is proposed by Doig & Stanmore (2012) that the Orara formation is comprised of two member units, another new unit called the Bungawalbin Member and the now demoted Kangaroo Creek Sandstone Member.
Doig & Stanmore (2012) found that the proposed Bungawalbin Member differed substantially from the Kangaroo Creek Sandstone and overlying Grafton Formation. They describe the Bungawalbin as between 45m-115m thick and dominated by mudstone and carbonaceous mudstone that is thinly bedded with fine grained sandstone with increasing amounts of massive, medium-grained quartzose sandstone beds near the base of the member. The unit is interpreted as a persistent low energy riverine floodplain environment.
The contact with the underlying Kangaroo Creek Sandstone Member is transitional. With the medium-grained quartz rich sandstone becoming dominant in the Kangaroo Creek Sandstone. The composition and formation history of the Kangaroo Creek Sandstone has not been questioned but the clearly significant fine grained component of the Bungawalbin Member necessitates the distinction between these two members. Additionally, Doig & Stanmore (2012) clearly demonstrated that the geophysical response of the Bungawalbin Member was substantially different from the Kangaroo Creek Sandstone.
So, we are learning more about the land on which we live. The geology is slowly becoming better understood. It is interesting to observe that there has been no detailed work on the upper most formations of the Clarence-Moreton since the 1960’s. The drilling that has occurred has unlocked more hidden characteristics of the basin and helped our understanding of basin history as well as the original intention of finding gas resources.
There is more to cover in future posts including the further understanding of the basins youngest formation, the Grafton Formation, but that will come soon.
References/bibliography:
*Doig, A. & Stanmore, P. 2012. The Clarence-Moreton Basin in New South Wales: geology, stratigraphy and coal seam gas characteristics. Paper presented at the Eastern Australasian Basin Symposium IV. Brisbane.
*McElroy, C.T., 1963. The Geology of the Clarence-Moreton Basin. Memoirs of the Geological Survey of New South Wales, Geology. 9.
Western Drought Conditions as of July 1, 2014
| Click for larger image |
Find more information, maps, and statistics at the United States Drought Monitor site.
Bear incident forces closure of Twin Creeks Trail and Noah Bud Ogle Cabin
Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials have closed Twin Creeks Trail, Noah Bud Ogle Cabin, and the Noah Bud Ogle Nature Trail due to bear activity until further notice. Cherokee Orchard Road was closed earlier today, but is expected to open tomorrow morning.
Two women encountered a bear near the Noah Bud Ogle Cabin at approximately 10:20 a.m. this morning while hiking on the nature trail. The women attempted to allow the bear space to pass by backing down the trail, but the bear persistently approached and followed one of the women for up to 0.5 mile. Loud noises and attempts from the woman to scare the bear using rocks and sticks did not deter the bear's advance. The bear followed the woman all the way to Cherokee Orchard Road where she found safety in a vehicle.
"This is a very significant bear incident and we are closing the trail areas to ensure that we can assess trail safety before reopening the area," said Acting Superintendent Cindy MacLeod. "We advise all hikers in the park to be extremely cautious of bears, especially during this time of year when natural foods are scarce."
According to Park Wildlife Biologist, Bill Stiver, bears throughout the park are underweight and stressed this year following a very harsh winter and a low acorn supply last autumn. Park officials urge everyone to exercise caution while hiking, camping, and picnicking to ensure their personal safety and protect bears. Black bears in the park are wild and unpredictable. Though rare, attacks on humans do occur, causing injuries or death. Hikers are encouraged to hike in groups of three or more, closely control children, and keep their hiking groups together.
Bears should never be fed and all food waste should be properly disposed to discourage bears from approaching people. Feeding, touching, disturbing, and willfully approaching wildlife within 50 yards (150 feet), or any distance that disturbs or displaces wildlife, are illegal in the park. If approached by a bear, visitors should slowly back away to put distance between the animal and themselves creating space for the animal to pass. If followed by a bear, rangers recommend that you stand your ground and not run. Hikers should make themselves look large and throw rocks or sticks at the bear.If attacked by a black bear, rangers strongly recommend fighting back with any object available and remember that the bear may view you as prey.
These closures follow yesterday's closing of Gregory Bald due to bear activity.
For more information on what to do if you encounter a bear while hiking, please visit the park website . To report a bear incident, please call 865-436-1230.
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
Two women encountered a bear near the Noah Bud Ogle Cabin at approximately 10:20 a.m. this morning while hiking on the nature trail. The women attempted to allow the bear space to pass by backing down the trail, but the bear persistently approached and followed one of the women for up to 0.5 mile. Loud noises and attempts from the woman to scare the bear using rocks and sticks did not deter the bear's advance. The bear followed the woman all the way to Cherokee Orchard Road where she found safety in a vehicle.
"This is a very significant bear incident and we are closing the trail areas to ensure that we can assess trail safety before reopening the area," said Acting Superintendent Cindy MacLeod. "We advise all hikers in the park to be extremely cautious of bears, especially during this time of year when natural foods are scarce."
According to Park Wildlife Biologist, Bill Stiver, bears throughout the park are underweight and stressed this year following a very harsh winter and a low acorn supply last autumn. Park officials urge everyone to exercise caution while hiking, camping, and picnicking to ensure their personal safety and protect bears. Black bears in the park are wild and unpredictable. Though rare, attacks on humans do occur, causing injuries or death. Hikers are encouraged to hike in groups of three or more, closely control children, and keep their hiking groups together.
Bears should never be fed and all food waste should be properly disposed to discourage bears from approaching people. Feeding, touching, disturbing, and willfully approaching wildlife within 50 yards (150 feet), or any distance that disturbs or displaces wildlife, are illegal in the park. If approached by a bear, visitors should slowly back away to put distance between the animal and themselves creating space for the animal to pass. If followed by a bear, rangers recommend that you stand your ground and not run. Hikers should make themselves look large and throw rocks or sticks at the bear.If attacked by a black bear, rangers strongly recommend fighting back with any object available and remember that the bear may view you as prey.
These closures follow yesterday's closing of Gregory Bald due to bear activity.
For more information on what to do if you encounter a bear while hiking, please visit the park website . To report a bear incident, please call 865-436-1230.
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
Gregory Bald Is Temporarily Closed
Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials have temporarily closed Gregory Bald and nearby trails including Gregory Bald Trail and Wolf Ridge Trail from Parson Bald to Gregory Bald. The closure is necessary to both protect bears and hikers.
At least a dozen bears are concentrated on Gregory Bald feeding on ripe cherries. The situation has led to several close encounters between hikers and bears creating an unacceptable safety risk. Wildlife biologists will be monitoring the area and expect the bears to disperse when the food source has been depleted.
“We regret the inconvenience to park visitors who were looking forward to a hike to Gregory Bald,” said Acting Superintendent Cindy MacLeod. “However, we feel this temporary closure is necessary to ensure the bears have an opportunity to feed undisturbed on natural foods and also to protect our visitors from defensive bear behavior.”
For more information on what to do if you encounter a bear while hiking, please visit the park's Bear page .
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
At least a dozen bears are concentrated on Gregory Bald feeding on ripe cherries. The situation has led to several close encounters between hikers and bears creating an unacceptable safety risk. Wildlife biologists will be monitoring the area and expect the bears to disperse when the food source has been depleted.
“We regret the inconvenience to park visitors who were looking forward to a hike to Gregory Bald,” said Acting Superintendent Cindy MacLeod. “However, we feel this temporary closure is necessary to ensure the bears have an opportunity to feed undisturbed on natural foods and also to protect our visitors from defensive bear behavior.”
For more information on what to do if you encounter a bear while hiking, please visit the park's Bear page .
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
Smokies Proposes Firewood Changes
Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials are proposing changes that will help protect park forests by further limiting the type of firewood brought into the park. Non-native, tree-killing insects and diseases can unknowingly be introduced into the park through firewood transported from infested areas. New infestations threaten our forests with widespread tree mortality that could devastate wildlife habitat, park biodiversity, and scenic views.
The park is proposing to reduce this threat by changing park regulations to allow only heat-treated wood to be brought into the park for campground fires. If the proposal is adopted, beginning in March 2015, it would ban the importation of firewood that is not bundled and certified by the USDA or a state agency. Heat-treated wood will be available to purchase from concessioners in many of the campgrounds as well as from private businesses in the communities around the park. In addition, visitors may still collect dead and down wood in the park for campfires.
“We are asking visitors to help us protect park forests by ensuring they are using heat-treated firewood,” said Acting Superintendent Cynthia MacLeod. “The Smokies have already lost magnificent stands of chestnut, Fraser fir, and hemlock. We need to do all we can to protect the park from further threats.”
A variety of destructive pests lay eggs or stowaway in firewood. These insects from Asia and Europe have the potential to devastate over 30 species of hardwood trees native to the park. Movement of firewood has been implicated in the spread of gypsy moth, Dutch elm disease, emerald ash borer, thousand canker disease, Asian longhorned beetle, Sirex woodwasp, golden spotted oak borer, and other native and non-native insect and disease complexes.
Numerous stakeholders representing federal and state agencies, conservation organizations, and universities are joining together to develop a national strategy to mitigate the risks associated with movement of firewood, including a public education campaign. National parks throughout the Appalachian region have taken action to limit the spread of insect pests in firewood including, in many cases, the banning of imported firewood. For the past three years, the Smokies has prohibited the importation of firewood from areas quarantined by the USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). Current park regulations prohibit the importation of wood and wood products from states (or specific counties in states) quarantined for insects such as emerald ashborer or tree diseases such as thousand canker disease.
Although the new proposed regulation prohibiting the importation of non-certified wood would not take effect until 2015, the park is asking visitors to make the switch to safe firewood now. Heat-treated wood is available from an increasing number of businesses outside the park and staff are working with concessioners within the park to use low-risk wood sources until they are able to make the transition.
A final decision on adopting the new regulation is expected by the end of the year. The public may submit comments by: mail at 107 Park Headquarters Road, Gatlinburg, TN 37738; by e-mail; or comment cards available at visitor centers and campgrounds.
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
The park is proposing to reduce this threat by changing park regulations to allow only heat-treated wood to be brought into the park for campground fires. If the proposal is adopted, beginning in March 2015, it would ban the importation of firewood that is not bundled and certified by the USDA or a state agency. Heat-treated wood will be available to purchase from concessioners in many of the campgrounds as well as from private businesses in the communities around the park. In addition, visitors may still collect dead and down wood in the park for campfires.
“We are asking visitors to help us protect park forests by ensuring they are using heat-treated firewood,” said Acting Superintendent Cynthia MacLeod. “The Smokies have already lost magnificent stands of chestnut, Fraser fir, and hemlock. We need to do all we can to protect the park from further threats.”
A variety of destructive pests lay eggs or stowaway in firewood. These insects from Asia and Europe have the potential to devastate over 30 species of hardwood trees native to the park. Movement of firewood has been implicated in the spread of gypsy moth, Dutch elm disease, emerald ash borer, thousand canker disease, Asian longhorned beetle, Sirex woodwasp, golden spotted oak borer, and other native and non-native insect and disease complexes.
Numerous stakeholders representing federal and state agencies, conservation organizations, and universities are joining together to develop a national strategy to mitigate the risks associated with movement of firewood, including a public education campaign. National parks throughout the Appalachian region have taken action to limit the spread of insect pests in firewood including, in many cases, the banning of imported firewood. For the past three years, the Smokies has prohibited the importation of firewood from areas quarantined by the USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). Current park regulations prohibit the importation of wood and wood products from states (or specific counties in states) quarantined for insects such as emerald ashborer or tree diseases such as thousand canker disease.
Although the new proposed regulation prohibiting the importation of non-certified wood would not take effect until 2015, the park is asking visitors to make the switch to safe firewood now. Heat-treated wood is available from an increasing number of businesses outside the park and staff are working with concessioners within the park to use low-risk wood sources until they are able to make the transition.
A final decision on adopting the new regulation is expected by the end of the year. The public may submit comments by: mail at 107 Park Headquarters Road, Gatlinburg, TN 37738; by e-mail; or comment cards available at visitor centers and campgrounds.
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
On the Rocks
Three of the four in my family has been hit by the Flu. The only one that thankfully doesn't have it is the newborn. I hope he doesn't get it. Now, I wish I had taken that free flu-shot that my work offered me this year! I've infected most of the family! Obviously this means that original blog posts are going to be a bit light on for a little while. So, in the mean time I can recommend some interesting bits and pieces on the internet.
Today Wangiwriter presented a very interesting blog post on some of the rocks of the Newcastle area, part of the Sydney Basin. The pictures are lovely and Wangiwriter tells an interesting story. I know this is a bit out of the usual subject area but the piece is worth a good look. I've been to Catherine Hill Bay and loved the scenery. The geology was typical of a section of the Triassic aged Sydney Basin but well exposed and situated in a stunning historical landscape.
Thanks to everyone that has been supporting my blog. I've noticed an increase in my advertising revenue of late. Now I'm up to at least a cup of coffee a week! I'm amazed at the value of some advertising clicks. Some earn more than $1, others just a few cents. I got excited when I see that Google payed my almost $1.70 for one click. I wonder what that advertisement was! I'll never know because Google handles all the advertising in the background.
Today Wangiwriter presented a very interesting blog post on some of the rocks of the Newcastle area, part of the Sydney Basin. The pictures are lovely and Wangiwriter tells an interesting story. I know this is a bit out of the usual subject area but the piece is worth a good look. I've been to Catherine Hill Bay and loved the scenery. The geology was typical of a section of the Triassic aged Sydney Basin but well exposed and situated in a stunning historical landscape.
Thanks to everyone that has been supporting my blog. I've noticed an increase in my advertising revenue of late. Now I'm up to at least a cup of coffee a week! I'm amazed at the value of some advertising clicks. Some earn more than $1, others just a few cents. I got excited when I see that Google payed my almost $1.70 for one click. I wonder what that advertisement was! I'll never know because Google handles all the advertising in the background.
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