A Bristol Bay cub shares some good polling news. Photo courtesy of Larry Burke

Now the opposition has gone nationwide.  A new nationwide poll released by the Renewable Resources Coalition (which is National Wildlife Federation’s Alaska Affiliate), Nunamta Aulukestai, and NRDC shows extremely strong opposition across the board to the proposed Pebble Mine, slated to be built in the headwaters of the Bristol Bay region of Alaska.  77% of Americans in the “lower 48″ think the mine is a bad idea, while 68% of Alaskans think the same.  Those are huge numbers, particularly in a state like Alaska where resource development is a tradition and mining projects get an immense amount of benefit of the doubt.

Our job now is to translate that national, statewide and local opposition into stopping the mine and that takes boots on the ground.  Please click here to put your money directly into NWF’s Pebble Mine work–it is a great holiday gift to the world.  Visit us here for more information about the campaign.

Flooding happens when you build in floodplains. So why does the government pay people to do it? Photo credit: Washington DOT

Building in floodplains is very bad for salmon (and lots of other wildlife).  It takes away the habitat they need to survive.  And that is bad for people.  It also puts people in harm’s way when the floods come.  And in the Pacific Northwest, more floods are coming all the time because of changing weather patterns caused by climate change.

Unfortunately, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) encourages construction in floodplains by offering artificially low-cost flood insurance.  They undercut the private insurance industry and spend our tax dollars to make it cheaper for businesses to build in places that destroy the Northwest’s ecology and fish.  It is plain and simple goofy. 

To read more or to hear NWF floodplains expert Dan Siemann discuss the issue in the state of Washington on the radio, check out this story.  Or see our webpage.  And if you are wondering whether this story applies to where you live: heck yes it does.  FEMA subsidizes construction in floodplains around the country even while the federal agencies charged with protecting the environment tell us it is a terrible idea.

ALL THE COMFORTS
When my kids were in their twenties I took them on a fall canoe trip in northern Minnesota’s amazing Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW).

One cool, damp afternoon, after paddling and portaging our way through five or six lakes, we were ready to find a good campsite for the night. The map showed several possible spots within a short distance along the left bank of a narrow bay.

Keeping your eyes, ears and other senses open increases your enjoyment of being outdoors far from crowds, calls and cars.

The first campsite we came to looked unoccupied, so I got out to survey it out for the key amenities: a good, flat, root-free spot to pitch our tent, a well-made stone fire pit, enough dead and fallen trees for firewood, a good branch for hanging our food pack beyond the reach of bears, and, of course, a decent Forest-Service-built latrine.

Following the path back into the woods, I found the wooden “throne” to be in good shape. On the way back to the landing, I realized I hadn’t had a “pit stop” all afternoon. Still out of sight of the kids, I stepped off the path, unzipped and watered a large, rotting, moss- covered stump. It’s always nice to have a target.

My kids had already decided the campsite merited only about three stars. So we hopped back into the canoe and paddled a few hundred yards down the shore to the next campsite. Unfortunately this one, with its lumpy tent site and poor landing area, rated only two stars. It was getting late and we were feeling the chill. So, instead of going on to check out a third site, we opted for the far-from-ideal, though certainly adequate, first campsite, and paddled back.

STEAMY SCENE
While the kids put up the tent and unpacked their sleeping bags, I headed into the woods to collect some firewood. In no time, I had a nice double armload and headed back toward the campsite to build the fire.

That’s odd, I thought. Just ahead, next to the trail, I thought I saw a wisp of steam.

On the way, I connected once again with the latrine path. After a few steps, my happy whistling came to an abrupt stop. That’s odd, I thought. Just ahead, next to the trail, I thought I saw a wisp of steam. I slunk a few steps closer. Could it be the breath of a small animal, I asked myself. No, it didn’t come and go like breathing would.

Wait…this looks familiar. I recognized the stump I’d just used as a urinal fifteen minutes earlier. And there on top, in the very center, was a fist-sized pile of still-warm bear scat.

What do you do when a North American black bear acknowledges you in this most personal way? You can run. You can feel insulted. You can ignore it. Or, as I did, you can look around for a big brown-and-black face peeking out from behind a tree and smiling. And then you just laugh out loud.

A brown bear cub from Bristol Bay shadowboxes in preparation for his showdown with foreign mining companies. Photo courtesy of Larry Burke.

The vote was aimed directly at a proposal by two foreign mining companies–Anglo American from the United Kingdom and Northern Dynasty Minerals from Canada–to dig the largest gold and copper mine in North America in Bristol Bay and dump its toxic mining waste into a 10 square mile lake in the headwaters of the largest sockeye salmon run in the world.  A run that supports a great range of wildlife, including the bears of Katmai National Park.

As Anglo American and Northern Dynasty (known together as “the Pebble Partnership”) have put together their proposal for the mine, Anglo American President Cynthia Carroll has repeatedly assured Alaskans that ”We will not go where communities are against us.”  But the Partnership sued to stop the borough vote even before it took place and has vowed to continue working on the mine despite the vote.  How does that square with Anglo American’s promise?  It doesn’t.

Protect Alaska’s Grizzlies from Toxic Mining >>

This weekend, Milo and I went walking in the Chugach State Park just outside of Anchorage.  We were on some well-travelled trails no more than 15 minutes from town with plenty of footprints and bike tire treads in the mud.

There was also bear scat.

Milo and the Bear Scat (Sounds like a children's book)

And bear tracks.

68-pound dog's paw next to bear track

Alaska has 98% of America’s brown bear population. There really isn’t much risk.  Bears aren’t looking for trouble.  You are more likely to get hit by a car driving to work then to get hurt by a bear.

A path through the spruce on the way to treeline in Chugach State Park

But it stirs the blood to know that there are wild things in the woods. You tend to pay a little more attention to the world, and to feel lucky to be a part of it. If  I hadn’t seen the bear sign, I might not have been paying enough attention to see the flock of ptarmigan in the spruce next to the trail five minutes later.

Wildlife of all kinds can help us notice the world, and it is one of the many good reasons to ensure that we pass on those experiences to the next generation by getting them outdoors and by protecting the wildlife we have.

Learn more about bears and  more ways to help connect your family to nature and the world. And tell us how the presence of wildlife, from bears to birds to armadillos (to choose an animal at random), enriches your world.

Share with us on Facebook or in the comments below!

Photo by Brent McWhirter

For the past 30 years, the state of Alaska has worked to reduce bear and wolf populations in the hope it will lead to more moose and caribou to hunt.

The war on wolves has gotten the most attention, but the state has quietly taken steps to reduce grizzly bear populations too. Now, a National Wildlife Federation biologist and three other authors, all of whom are retired Alaska Department of Fish and Game bear experts, have published an article in the Wildlife Management Journal that details this hidden effort.

The article documents the extent to which state biologists have used liberalization of hunting regulations in an effort to  reduce bears.  Officially, this isn’t defined by the state as “predator control” but the effect is largely the same. As just one example, in the last 40 years, the state raised the “take” limit on grizzly bears, or how many animals an individual can kill, from one bear every four years to at least one bear a year in 76% of the state.  Similar regulation liberalizations occurred for season lengths and waivers of tag fees for resident hunters.

The state’s sneaky bear reduction policy has resulted in a lot more bear kills. The authors show that in the more than three-quarters of the state evaluated, the average take of grizzlies has increased from 387 per year in 1980 to 827 per year in 2008.

National Wildlife Federation is working to protect the  bears of Alaska. In Bristol Bay, for example, bears are threatened by a proposal to build the largest open pit mine in North America in the headwaters of the largest sockeye salmon ecosystem in the world.

Help us protect the brown bears of Bristol Bay! And if you have a good story about seeing a grizzly in Alaska, let us know.

My vote for the prettiest state fair location in the nation

The Alaska State Fair is tiny compared to the Iowa State Fair that I grew up attending.   Happily, it is plenty big enough to eat yourself sick on funnel cakes, nachos and bright yellow cheese, cream puffs, and corn dogs.

It may also be in the prettiest spot of any state fair in the nation.  And the 20 hours of sunlight during the summer in Anchorage help farmers grow some enormous vegetables.

Whether or not you are gaping at giant vegetables in Alaska, State Fair nachos may be the best nachos of all, and for that we drove 60 minutes in the driving rain for a second trip to the fair solely for those nachos . . . and also a giant pretzel . . . and corn fritters with maple syrup . . .

The National Wildlife Federation encourages outdoor time wherever you live! What was your favorite outdoor experience this summer? Share with us on Facebook or in the comments below. And find out more ways you can incorporate outdoor time into your life from our Be Out There campaign.

Milo, picking up trash

This Labor Day weekend, a friend and I (and Milo the dog, pictured above for no good reason, except he is my dog) were about 15 minutes out of town on a dirt road on the way to a quick morning hike when we saw a lynx by the side of the road.  That’s rare and very exciting.

The legendary Loch Ness Lynx, as seen through my iPhone camera

They are listed as a threatened species in the lower 48, but in Alaska, a place where we have a chance to do it right, there is a healthy population.  Despite that, I’ve only seen three lynx in my 17 years here.

But after five minutes, we began to seriously worry that it was a stuffed lynx set out as a practical joke.  Then it stirred itself and strolled across the road and into the woods.  It was tall and lean with a short black tail.

We guessed it weighed about 40 pounds (although males average 22 pounds, so the excitement may have made us over-estimate), with feet like small frisbees for running on the snow.

A Better Photo of a Lynx Taken by the US Fish and Wildlife Service

Lynx tend to avoid people so I’ve included the picture I took with my  iPhone (above left).  It clearly proves that we saw a lynx, or possibly a tree stump, an extremely large marmot, or the Loch Ness Monster.

A friend told me a story last night about the Klondike, a great overnight relay running race from Skagway, Alaska to White Horse, Canada.  A runner from an opposing team was chugging along around six in the morning when a black bear pulled out of the bushes and started trotting along right behind him.

My friend’s team pulled up alongside the runner and yelled “Bear!”  But the runner thought they were offering him a beer–it was 6 in the morning and he had 10 miles to go, but its that kind of race–and yelled back ”No thanks, I’m good!”  So they yelled “Bear!” again while pointing behind him, but he told them “no thanks” again and gave them a friendly wave goodbye.  So they let him go.

Apparently the bear stayed with him for another quarter mile before getting tired and veering off into the bushes.  Whether or not this story is entirely true, I like it.  And I love the fact that I live in a place where wildlife can wander into my life and backyard.

Big or small, backyard habitats make lives richer.

First-Year Moose Calf

I live in a condominium in mid-town in Anchorage, in a 12 block space between the biggest highway in Alaska and one of Anchorage’s main thoroughfares.  But I also back up to a greenbelt/floodplain with a creek that provides habitat for ducks, geese, salmon, and moose.  And last night a mother moose and calf came wandering by around 10:00 pm.

The condos have small decks off the second floor separated by a wall so that I can’t see my neighbor and he can’t see me.  But I could smell his cigarette smoke as we both stood silently and watched the moose munch their way along the greenbelt for 20 minutes.  I sipped a beer and felt like I was connected to the whole world.  It was in many ways the best 20 minutes of my week.  Wildlife does that for me.  It is one of the big reasons I work for National Wildlife Federation, and one of the reasons I believe so strongly in our efforts to make sure wildlife are protected in spectacular wild places like Bristol Bay, Alaska and in people’s backyards.