Help Support America’s Parks!

ScienceDaily (July 23, 2010) — "Many people," says Dr. Eeva Karjalainen, of the Finnish Forest Research Institute, Metla, "feel relaxed and good when they are out in nature. But not many of us know that there is also scientific evidence about the healing effects of nature."

Forests — and other natural, green settings — can reduce stress, improve moods, reduce anger and aggressiveness and increase overall happiness. Forest visits may also strengthen our immune system by increasing the activity and number of natural killer cells that destroy cancer cells.

Many studies show that after stressful or concentration-demanding situations, people recover faster and better in natural environments than in urban settings. Blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension and the level of "stress hormones" all decrease faster in natural settings. Depression, anger and aggressiveness are reduced in green environments and ADHD symptoms in children reduce when they play in green settings.

The healing effects of forests

According to the Equine Protection Fund, calls to statewide animal cruelty hotlines reflect a dramatic increase in equines suffering neglect and cruelty, cases often difficult to remedy given the lack of humane options for these animals in our state. That’s why the Fund has launched a statewide volunteer network intended to supplement and build upon the programs administered by the Fund.

“Equine Protection Fund programs will be enormously magnified with the assistance of New Mexicans who care about the state of horses in their community,” said Phil Carter, Equine Protection Fund Coordinator, in a statement released by the Fund. “In the effort to redress equine suffering, money may be finite but we believe that compassion is not.”

How You Can Help
An online survey for potential volunteers can be found here. The survey lists a variety of ways to offer assistance, including donations of land, shelter, supplies, and skills. “The opportunities to help a needy equine are nearly endless,” said Carter. “Anyone with the will can help.” After applying online, the volunteer will be contacted by an Equine Protection Fund representative who will help coordinate the equine assistance being offered and evaluate advocacy opportunities in the volunteer’s area.

The Equine Protection Fund, a partnership between Animal Protection of New Mexico and the New Mexico Community Foundation, was created in 2009 in response to a dramatic increase in reports of cruelty and neglect involving equines. The Equine Protection Fund currently offers an Emergency Feed Assistance program, which temporarily subsidizes feed to needy horse owners, and will soon be launching gelding subsidies and other equine assistance programs.

One New Mexican with several equines was assisted by the Equine Protection Fund in conjunction with friends and neighbors. She shared her experience with Equine Protection Fund: “Doors opened that I wouldn’t have seen before. My neighbors (the best on the planet) worked for days and days and days, literally, from dawn ‘til night, helping me to pack, and helping me transport the horses. I have been moved by the generosity and greatness of humanity, and will ever remain humbled by it.”

“Equines — horses, mules, and burros — have been and continue to be an integral component of New Mexican heritage,” said Carter. “It’s time for communities to give back to our equines.”

For more information on the Equine Protection Fund, visit

http://EquineProtectionFund.org/. If you can’t volunteer or provide other assistance, you can still make a donation online. Every dollar counts. Please pass along this information to your friends, neighbors and family members who might be interested in getting involved or donating.

 

Democracy for New Mexico: Get Involved: NM Equine Protection Fund Launches Statewide Volunteer Network

July 22, 2010 by teofilo

Yurt and Modular Office Unit in Chaco Visitor Center Parking Lot

Lots of visitors, seeing the boarded-up and fenced-off visitor center, have been asking what’s going on.  When I tell them, they often respond with a knowing chuckle.  People seem to understand that these things happen.  Some are a bit disappointed that we no longer have a museum to show any artifacts or an auditorium to show the park video, but even they are pretty understanding of the situation.  I’ve heard considerably more positive comments about the yurt than negative comments about the closed visitor center, in fact.  This is a marked contrast to the amount of outrage people showed when the campground was closed.  Luckily it’s now open, so at least that nightmare is over.  Just goes to show what the priorities of visitors to Chaco are, I guess.

Differential Outrage « Gambler’s House

I’m sure Teofilo isn’t as surprised as he sounds. It is much worse to drive a hundred miles to camp at Chaco and find there is no campground, than no visitors center. Moreover, the CG was closed due to a problem related to bathrooms. Those bathrooms should never have been built with running water and porta-potties should have been brought in immediately. (They were, eventually.) Not one site in that too-small CG should have been closed more than one night. Moreover, the lovely yurt befits a world-class destination in a way that orange traffic cones in the CG surely did not.

The late twilight of the evening sky finds the beginnings of a planetary “traffic jam” in the southwest.  Venus will be the most obvious planet as the light of early evening fades, and she is steadily closing in on ruddy Mars and gold-hued Saturn.  I happened to view Venus shortly before she set last weekend from down on the Northern Neck of Virginia.  Thanks to a flat horizon, thin clouds, and haze, the normally dazzling white planet was glowing like a single orange-red coal in a dying campfire.  She spends the week in restless pursuit of Mars and Saturn, which are gearing up for their own conjunction next week. 

The late night sky now welcomes the bright glow of Jupiter, who is doggedly rising about four minutes earlier each night.  Old Jove reaches the first stationary point in the current apparition on the night of the 23rd, pausing for a few days in his eastward motion before seeming to back up toward the west over the course of the next four months.  Late night skywatchers are now enjoying the view of the giant planet in their telescopes.  Soon he’ll be delighting even those of us with early bedtimes.

The Sky This Week, 2010 July 20 – 27 — Naval Oceanography Portal

Updated: 7.13.2010 by Rachel

On July 1, the US Fish and Wildlife Service reported the shooting death of the alpha male from the Hawks’ Nest Pack in eastern Arizona.

Last week, the alpha male of the San Mateo Pack in New Mexico was found dead under suspicious circumstances. Both killings are under investigation by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Environmental groups are offering up to an additional $40,000 to the Fish and Wildlife Service’s $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of those involved with the deplorable killing of these wolves.

CLICK HERE to download the reward poster– and repost in your neighborhood or place of work.

This latest blow to the Mexican wolf reintroduction effort brings home the importance of supporting wolf conservation and public education efforts. NMWA is contributing to the cause with the launch of our Mexican Wolf Stamp program, which will raise awareness and raise funds for groups working in Mexican gray wolf conservation. Please click here to learn more about the 2011 Wolf Stamp.

In addition, the organization Lobos of the Southwest has started a letter-writing campaign in response to these latest crimes against  wild wolves. CLICK HERE TO VISIT THEIR WEBSITE and get involved.

» Two Wolves Killed in Past Month – Act Now to Save the Lobo — New Mexico Wilderness Alliance »

Exceptionally long heat waves and other hot events could become commonplace in the United States in the next 30 years, according to a new study by Stanford University climate scientists.

Heat waves could be commonplace in the US by 2039

Monday, July 05, 2010
Traps, Snares Threaten N.M. Wolf Population
By Mary Katherine Ray
Wildlife Chair, Rio Grande Chapter Sierra Club
          Highly endangered Mexican wolves are being harmed by legally set leg-hold traps. These devices are illegal on public land on the Arizona side of the wolf reintroduction area but not in New Mexico.
        Since the reintroduction began, 12 wolves on our side have been trapped by accident or mistake. Several of those have sustained injuries to their paws or legs including lost toes as a result. Two have had to have their legs amputated.
        One of the still-living, three-legged lobos is the alpha male of the Middle Fork pack. His mate is also three-legged from an unknown cause.
        The case of the other amputee, M1039, is special to me.
        We live near the wolf recovery area in New Mexico and were delighted to learn that a lone collared male wolf was exploring the nearby forest. It was winter, though, the time when fur trappers lay their hidden menaces.
        Not long after, we noticed a helicopter flying low up and down the canyons. It did this for hours as if looking for something. It turned out that M1039 had indeed stepped into a trap set for something else and had managed to detach it from its anchor chain.
        He was now free to escape the place where the trap had been hidden, but he could not escape the trap.
        He had to be found, which required the helicopter, so he could be captured for medical care. But the trap had been clenched on him for too long and the leg had to go.
        M1039 was released back to the wild but went missing within a year and is now presumed dead. He had no pack mates to help him hunt. Having only three legs could have been so compromising he just couldn’t survive alone.
        The lobo population in New Mexico is down to only 15 animals; a reduction by nearly half from the prior year. No one knows why it fell so much, but with leg-hold traps and snares legally allowed where wolves can be, the threat is just one more of the human-caused reasons that keep our wolf population from thriving.
        Wolves in the Southwest were exterminated decades ago by people thinking they were making our wild lands safe for livestock. At last, we realize how important wolves are for the balance of nature and a functioning ecosystem and are restoring them to the Gila region where they belong.
        With so few wolves, it is imperative that no threat be overlooked or deemed inconsequential. Traps and snares are a threat to them and I fervently hope the Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will respond favorably to petitions filed by WildEarth Guardians, the Sierra Club, the Southwest Environmental Center and others to prohibit these cruel devices where wolves should be roaming freely.

ABQJOURNAL OPINION/GUEST_COLUMNS: Traps, Snares Threaten N.M. Wolf Population