A Love That is Wild

“...The eyes of the future are looking back at us. And they are praying that we may see beyond our own time. They are kneeling with hands clasped that we may act with restraint, that we might leave room for the life that is destined to come. To protect what is wild is to protect what is gentle. Perhaps the wildness we fear is the pause between our own heartbeats, the silent space that says we live only by grace. Wildness, wilderness lives by this same grace. Wild mercy is in our hands....”

Terry Tempest Williams, at the Bioneers National Conference, October, 2014

For more information on Bioneers, please visit http://www.bioneers.org

Fall Trip into Nature

Our fall trip into nature this year – traditionally embarked upon after Canadian Thanksgiving (second weekend in October) – took on a fresh twist. David and I have become over the years paddle pals, taking time out to canoe out into the semi-wilderness of southern Ontario’s gems of provincial parks for several days and nights of deepened connection with the wild. We have soaked up scenic locations in Algonquin, Temagami, Masassauga, Kawartha Highlands (all twice) and Killarney three times, showing it to be our favourite and most mystical.

On our dozenth trip in twelve years, we chose to skip the canoe rental, those sometimes life-sapping portages, the cold at night huddled around the smoky campfire, the winds howling through our summer tent. We went a bit wussy and opted to take up the kind offer of long-time close friends Chris and Allan to use their cottage on quiet small Otter Lake near Minden, well south of Algonquin. I know this place well, having enjoyed many visits. The property is set in fifty acres of natural mixed forest abutting the lake. A long winding narrow laneway escorts us in from the road. Set in white pines on a rocky outcrop with a lovely view right down the lake, the cottage and adjoining deluxe “bunky” are the perfect spot to unwind after a busy season.  And the joy of soaking in the cedar hottub filled with 104 degree orangey-brown pine-tannined water pumped straight out of the lake is second to none, rain or shine.

On these trips we always eat and drink well. Traditionally, when camping, we have used David’s trusty (and heavy) Coleman stove. And we have taken adequate but limited supplies of drink to see us through the long hours of dark! Well, this year, we could load up the car and splurge a bit. At night, we cooked grass-fed beef liver with bacon and onions, rack of lamb, Berkshire ham steak, accompanied by Rolling Hills Organics spicy salad mix, baby arugula, sunchokes, carrots, potatoes, Cloud & Bear’s Brussels sprouts. We cranked up the Buena Vista Social Club and Orchestra Baobab as counterpoint to Emmylou Harris, Bob Dylan, early Van Morrison. The logfire was roaring. Red wine from Chile, California, Australia, Argentina was free flowing; vino tinto is a staple of conviviality.

By day, we went on a hike north of Carnarvon called  Circuit of Five Viewpoints and took in marvellous autumnal vistas over Halls Lake. We also did rent a canoe for old times’ sake and had a pleasant few hours in the warm sunshine paddling up the Oxtongue River to the frothing cascade of Ragged Falls from Oxtongue Lake north of Dwight. We returned to “civilization” and news of a fatal shooting in Ottawa…

We’re really not up to the extreme lugging involved in multiple portages to reach the ideal campsite nor the sub-zero temperatures sometimes endured for the sake of sleeping under the stars, but we did miss the spectacular feeling of being truly out there on a rocky island looking out over the vast openness of lake, forest, mountain and endless sky , miles from humanity and its grubby goings-on.

Marshland Boardwalk & Mermaids

After welcome heavy rains overnight, the fields were too wet for planting this morning. After a session of weeding and watering the basil beds in the greenhouses, Gundi and I decided to have some time off. After a pleasant lunch at Dougall’s on the Bay in Brighton, we drove to the gem of a park on Lake Ontario that is  Presqu’Ile. Our favourite walk there is a gentle one along the recently-refashioned boardwalk through the expansive marshland, with vistas opening up to the bay and open water beyond. The variety of grasses, reeds, wild flowers, sedges, lilies, frogs, birdlife is marvellous. The strong breeze from the north clearing out the last of the rain weaved patterns through the long grasses as they danced with abandon.

After the boardwalk we headed to the grassy parkland and limestone-ledge beachfront of Lake Ontario. Sheltered from the north, all was calm, the lake a  mirror in shades of grey, dark at the horizon where it met the layers of lighter grey sky.  Gundi flipped off her sandals and waded out in the shallows to a rock on which to perch, thus becoming my mermaid.
 

 As she returned after a meditative spell on the rock, she bent down to pick up a beautiful treasure – Mermaid #2. We have encountered this serendipity before, where we are spellbound by the aura of the scene, resulting in a most beautiful, almost miraculous find. (On a beach on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state many moons ago, Gundi spent the day beachcombing, amassing a huge collection of elliptical grey stones. I frivolously requested a  round stone, at which prompting she bent down to pick up a perfect heavy charcoal grey sphere). Back to Mermaid #2… We like to fantasize that she came up from afar, in the deep, landing moreorless into our arms. She is not made of plastic, nor plaster, but porcelain. She has become the second mermaid in my world.
 

Skunk laid to rest

On return home from a warm market day in the city yesterday, Gundi said she had a touching story. The day before, an elderly skunk was wobbling around beside the house, weaving in and out of the lawn and bushes. He or she seemed too weary to spray and oblivious to human presence as I clapped my hands and shouted . This afternoon our visiting skunk had chosen to come back to us to lay down and fade away, curled up in the long grass.  As the sun was going down, he was already stiff. I carried him cradled on a pitchfork up the hill and laid him to rest in a hollow in the wild grasses by the field of wheat up the hill. The sun’s sinking rays bathed him in light. We figure that coyotes or wolves will come to pick him clean in the coming days.

As I left his resting place, a raven came to carry him over to the other side, cawing and then wheeling off from the tall elm tree into the blue sky, just as he did with our dear black cat Negra when she left us last September.  The sinking sun cast a warm golden glow over the  wheat field. Another life passes.

Doug Tompkins – The Next Economy

This YouTube video is, to me, one of the most inspiring, moving, exciting examples on conservation and deep ecology in action. The boldness, beauty and brilliance of these projects in southern Chile and Argentina is breathtaking.

 (From Wikipedia)

Douglas Tompkins (born 1943 in Ohio) is an American environmentalist, prominent landowner, conservationist and a former businessman.

Tompkins co-founded and ran two clothing companies: the outdoor clothing company The North Face; and with his then-wife Susie, the ESPRIT clothing company. Since leaving the business world in 1989, Tompkins has dedicated himself to environmental activism and land conservation. Along with his wife, Kristine Tompkins, he has conserved over 2 million acres (8,100 km²) of wilderness in Chile and Argentina, more than any other private individual. Together, the two have focused Tompkins Conservation on Park Creation, Restoration, Ecological Agriculture and Activism, with the overarching goal of saving biodiversity while leading others to do the same…

The Tompkins' conservation efforts focus on preserving wild landscapes and biodiversity. After purchasing large blocks of wilderness, they work to create national parks, believing that this governmental designation serves as the best mode of guaranteeing long-term conservation…

In addition to preserving pristine wilderness, Tompkins has worked to restore damaged landscapes and protect threatened species. Ecological restoration has been a critical element of most of Tompkins' conservation projects, especially in the degraded grassland regions of Chile…

Envisioning "conservation as a consequence of production," Tompkins has developed models of sustainable organic agriculture, which maintain soil health and ecological integrity at the same time that they provide for families and support the local economy…

Unlike many land conservationists, Tompkins has always been both a conservationist and environmental activist. Through his Foundation for Deep Ecology, he has published a series of large-format, photo activist books on various environmental issues… In addition, Tompkins has been involved in several large environmental campaigns in Chile and Argentina, such as the Chilean Patagonia Sin Represas campaign, which is opposing the construction of five dams on two of Patagonia's largest and wildest rivers…

Eco Barons Edward Humes's 2009 account of the "dreamers, schemers, and millionaires who are saving our planet," uses Tompkins as the first example of this new group of philanthropists.

It is now legal to drill oil and build pipelines in B.C.'s provincial parks

Image: Garth Lenz, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society [6] 

Published on rabble.ca (http://rabble.ca)

By Carol Linnitt  March 28, 2014

A little-known bill, the Park Amendment Act [7], that will drastically alter the management of B.C. parks  [8] became law Monday, creating controversy among the province's most prominent environmental and conservation organizations. The passage of Bill 4 [7] will make way for industrial incursions into provincial parklands including energy extraction, construction of pipelines and industry-led research.
The bill, quietly introduced in mid-February, has already met significant resistance in B.C. where the Minister of Environment received "thousands of letters" of opposition, according to Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society's Peter Wood. "There has been absolutely zero public consultation, and the pace at which this was pushed through suggests this was never a consideration," he said in a press release.
"This Bill undermines the very definition of what a 'park' is," Gwen Barlee from the Wilderness Committee said in the same statement, "given that our protected areas will now be open to industrial activity."
"This is a black day for B.C. Parks - the provincial government is ensuring that none of our parks are now safe from industrial development," she said.
According to staff lawyer Andrew Gage with the West Coast Environmental Law the bill is "difficult to square" with the sentiments underlying the B.C. Parks Service, which claims provincial parks and conservancies are a "public trust" for the "protection of natural environments for the inspiration, use and enjoyment of the public."
In an overview piece [9], Gage wrote "Bill 4 allows for industry (and others) to carry out 'research' in provincial parks related to pipelines, transmission lines, roads and other industrial activities that might require park land. It also reduces legal protection for smaller parks."
He noted that preliminary "research" carried out by mining company Taseko in preparation for an environmental assessment of the controversial Prosperity Mine included the drilling of 59 test pits, eight drill holes 50 to 75 metres in depth, and ten holes roughly 250 metres in depth to collect metallurgical samples. The tests also required the creation of 23.5 kilometres of exploratory trails.
Bill 4 claims permits for "research" will only be considered after a "thorough review of protected area values,” "yet, Gage writes, "this requirement is nowhere to be found in Bill 4."
This amounts to a “'trust, us, we’re government' approach," writes Gage.
Previously park use permits were only granted to those able to demonstrate the proposed activity was "necessary for the preservation or maintenance of the recreational values of the park involved." Bill 4 rids the Park Act of this safeguard.
"The government has sent a clear signal that it is open to having pipelines cut through our globally renowned protected areas," said Al Martin of the B.C. Wildlife Federation. "The Act will now allow industrial expansion in some of B.C.'s most beloved parks, placing them at risk."
Critics are also concerned the changes will open pristine landscapes to environmentally destructive oil and gas extraction processes.
"This legislation opens the door to pipelines, oil and gas drilling and industrial activities that are counter to the values that created our parks system," said Darryl Walker from the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU). "If Bill 4 passes, 2014 will be the year that B.C. Parks changed forever," he said.
Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society [10] and a group of other environmental NGOs have already collected nearly 10,000 signatures and letters in an effort to stop [10] the implementation of the bill.
These groups are claiming the total lack of public consultation left local communities, park users and conservation groups out of the decision making process. 

Source URL http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/desmog-canada/2014/03/it-now-legal-to-drill-oil-and-build-pipelines-bcs-provincial-pa

Links:
[6] http://rabble.ca/sites/rabble/files/node-images/flathead_valley_flowers.credit_to_garth_lenz.jpg
[7] http://www.leg.bc.ca/40th2nd/1st_read/gov04-1.htm
[8] http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/
[9] http://wcel.org/resources/environmental-law-alert/park-amendment-bill-paves-way-industrial-exploration
[10] http://org.salsalabs.com/o/2463/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=15093

Fukushima, Three Years On: Disaster Still Lingers

20,000 people used to live here, now it's a ghost town. Welcome to Namie, Japan, now inside the nuclear Exclusion Zone created by the Fukushima disaster. Photo from www.Reddit.com.

Katherine Fuchs of Friends of the Earth writes: “Today is the third anniversary of the tragic earthquake and tsunami in Japan that caused three nuclear reactors in Fukushima to melt down. Three years later, 83,000 residents remain unable to return to their homes in the 4,500 square mile exclusion zone surrounding the wrecked reactors. With 31 reactors of the same design currently operating in the U.S., we should all be asking, “will it happen here next?”

Low levels of radiation will reach ocean waters along the United States’ West Coast next month, scientists said, as fallout from the Fukushima nuclear disaster drifts across the Pacific Ocean.

Radiation will be at levels low enough to leave humans and the environment unharmed, scientists predict, but there are calls for increased monitoring as federal agencies currently do not sample Pacific Coast seawater for radiation, reports USA Today.

As reported by Andrew Freedman at http://mashable.com/2014/03/11/three-years-after-fukushima/

“The disaster at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant in Japan on March 11, 2011, destroyed tens of thousands of lives and had ripple effects around the world as nations reliant upon or considering nuclear power rethought their plans.

The meltdown of three of the six nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, about 130 miles north of Tokyo, was the worst nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl accident in Ukraine in 1986. The result of a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and associated tsunami waves that reached heights exceeding 100 feet, the disaster demonstrated that nuclear power plant operators may not have anticipated the full range of worst-case scenarios that could beset their facilities.

The tsunami's swift and massive waves crippled the power plant by taking out its power supply and cooling system, with workers resorting to desperate measures to cool the reactors to prevent an even more significant disaster.

The damage at the plant was so severe that more than 100,000 residents of the nearby Fukushima Prefecture had to be relocated, and complex cleanup operations at the plant continue.

While the damage was confined to Japan, the waves were detected across the Pacific Ocean, moving at speeds of up to 500 mph.

In the U.S., the disaster spurred the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which is responsible for overseeing the 100 nuclear power plants operating in the country, to re-assess safety planning and issue some new requirements for plants that are of similar design as Fukushima. Exelon, which is the country’s largest nuclear-reactor operator, runs 17 of the commercial reactors. According to a New York Times report, the company expects to spend up to $500 million upgrading its plants based on lessons learned from Fukushima.

“Fukushima woke up the world nuclear industry, not just the U.S.,” the chairwoman of the NRC, Allison M. Macfarlane, told the Times. “It woke everybody up and said: ‘Hey, you didn’t even think about these different issues happening. You never thought about an earthquake that could create a tsunami that would swamp your emergency diesel generators and leave you without power for an extended period. You never planned for more than one reactor going down at a site, you have to think about that now.’ ”

Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey have updated earthquake data for the central and eastern U.S., providing nuclear operators with new information about the earthquake risks their plants face, and the safety standards they should meet. Coastal plants face other risks, such as storm surge flooding from coastal storms such as hurricanes, and the long-term challenge of sea level rise due to global warming.”