Given that our government has been taken over by anti-science fanatics, we need all the help we can get. It will be up to all of us to maintain the information so critical to saving life on earth in the next 100 years. Trump and his minions will pass into history, and we will find ourselves back on track with a government that believes in science within a few years.
Hikers, climbers and skiers are helping scientists collect the expansive data sets needed to explore climate change’s thorny questions over a wide territory. Evan Bush reports. (Seattle Times)
See also: Kids learn what it takes to be scientists http://www.goskagit.com/news/kids-learn-what-it-takes-to-be-scientists/article_b44e93a3-b9c0-5d4a-90e5-a28388856523.html Kera Wanielista reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: Puget Sound |
The main adverse impact to the Olympic Park that concerns me is seldom even mentioned and that is the noise impact on the sound scape. Not only for the effects on the tourists enjoyment but mostly on the wildlife there in. A few years ago I read a book entitled “The Great Animal Orchestra” by Bernie Krause that was very enlightening. After taking numerous high quality sound recordings of pristine wilderness around the world and analyzing them after various human impacts he was able to see how the species diversity changed by their absence or dominance in the recordings.
Sounds have a very important impact on the lives and survival of species within any given healthy natural environment. Species from bugs to birds to animals, rely on sound for forging food, finding mates, or defense from predators. Bernie found that when a natural sound scape was impacted by a loud noise the sound scale shut down for as long as 15 minutes. Surely a low flying Growler jet would qualify as an intrusive noise. Repeat that noise intrusion every 15 – 20 minutes day in and day out and it is easy to visualize board adverse species impact.
Unsurprisingly this even carries over to people and this was brought home to me one day while pumping gas at a busy COSTCO Station in Sequim, WA shortly after I read the book. A low flying Growler passed by and rather than looking up I stopped, looked around, and every other person was looking up to the sky! While pumping gas no less. Think about how you react if a loud noise or car crashes near by. Your train of thought is broken. Think about a war veteran with PTSS looking to heal his mental wounds in the solitude of nature. These findings also translate to marine species and the high impact of Navy Sonar or oil exploration air guns. Ears evolved as a survival necessity.
How will potential tourists be informed that the Olympic National Park is now an approved Military Training Operations with Electromagnetic Use?
Does this not change the Park from a wilderness status under the law?
I really don’t know the answer to this Patricia. To quote Google, “The Wilderness Act, signed into law in 1964, created the National Wilderness Preservation System and recognized wilderness as “an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.” That might not preclude overflights by military planes.
Official U.S. Forest Service Announcement: “We want to let you know that a decision was made to authorize issuance of a Special Use Permit that would allow the U.S. Navy to conduct ground-to-air training using mobile electronic transmitters from eleven designated roadside locations on the Pacific Ranger District of the Olympic National Forest for a period of up to five years.
I just found the above on line. This there will be electronic transmitter trucks in the park. There are health issues with this and visitors to the park will need to stay a certain distance from them. There will need to be some alert and warning system to park visitors?