Articles for the Enviroment
Topics: Invasive Species, Habitat Loss , Environmental Health The Fresh Water Jellyfish, Craspedacusta sowerbyi If you caught my reference to the Genie from Disney’s Alladin, then you rock. In more serious terms, we are actually talking about something important to our ecosystems today, and that is that a little creature, sometimes no […]
Removing the concentrate from gold sluice. Photo by John Louis. Ever since the California Gold Rush began in 1848, American opportunists have been passionately pursuing shiny metal in rivers and streams across the country. Idaho’s Salmon River remains a particularly active area. Some miners treat the pursuit as a hobby, using light equipment to scrape […]
The recently completed Santa Ana Watershed Basin Study highlights the need for more protective action focused on watersheds. Officials concluded that better management practices are essential to ensure a sustainable water future. Climate change and local population growth pose increased challenges to meeting demand projections for the next 50 years. Santa Ana River; photo by […]
Picking up from where we left off. . . Although an assortment of people tools allow a watershed coordinator to really make a difference in local environmental health, even the best people tools can only do so much to sustain a healthy watershed into the future. Connections with officials, business leaders, science leaders, and community […]
Although watersheds’ needs vary with the watersheds themselves, the most important tools of watershed management are nearly universal. A watershed coordinator in Oregon can use them as easily as a watershed coordinator in Arizona, even though the two coordinators are dealing with vastly different environmental and political climates. One might think that these tools include […]
The field of watershed management has evolved to serve the needs of some of our most vital ecosystems. Whether a watershed primarily faces the challenge of industrial pollution, habitat destruction, or excessive diversion, a watershed coordinator can develop and lead efforts to keep the local watershed and its ecosystems healthy for years to come. Illustration […]
The Endangered Species Act protects species which are in danger of extinction in the US. Once a species is listed, (declared to be endangered), it is illegal to kill specimens or modify the species’ habitat–at least, without filling out a lot of paperwork beforehand. Of course, we all know that species don’t start out fine […]
For centuries, the East Coast has been a vital seafood resource. Grand seafaring stories of adventure and a bountiful catch have beaten on the shores of Massachusetts, Maine, and New Jersey since they were simply small British colonies. As a result, the oceans have been exhausted: now is the time when we must give back. […]