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backyardadventuregirl · 2 years

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Happy Earth Day!

Every story of conservation started with a vision. Whether it is the vision of one individual, one community, one government, or one business, change never happens if we live in denial or just give up. It takes action.

In a time where some of the challenges to our environment and the future of sustainable communities are coming at us from so many directions, it can seem overwhelming and hopeless.

Personally, I often want to sit in a state of denial or surrender. But I’ve lived my life where sitting in denial or giving up isn’t an option. If I”m going to complain, I need to turn those complaints into action. If I want to surrender, I need to regroup and figure out another way to get something done. What I do know, from 30 years of working on conservation issues, is that for every success there are an equal amount of failures. So I have to break it down into small choices and actions.

Conservation successes, both large and small, show us that without action we would not have the legacy of our wild places today.

I recently finished up a rafting trip down the Grand Canyon. Every day was inspiring. I’d often see my friends looking up at the towering canyon walls with a look of awe on their faces. In the powerful whitewater, we challenged ourselves to meet the demands of the river’s power. As humans, we felt insignificant and powerful at the same time. It’s those wild places that help us connect with our wilder selves. The wild places inscribe in our minds, our human history as part of the earth, not separate from it.

The incredible beauty and ruggedness, of this living ecosystem, reminded me of why some places should be left to nature’s intentions, both for our own futures and that of the natural ecosystems that provide for us and everything that is a part of it.

The Grand Canyon National Park is an example of a conservation success that most people will be familiar with. What they may not be familiar with, is that it wasn’t given that it would be a National Park. Starting in the 1920s there was a proposal to build a dam downstream of the Grand Canyon that would have flooded part of the Canyon. The push for the dam continued and was defeated in the 60s with help of the Sierra Club. There were also other proposals upstream in the Marble Canyon section of the Grand Canyon. Without the vision of former president Theodore Roosevelt (also someone brought the area to his attention) and others, the Grand Canyon would not have been protected and made a National Park and most likely, the dams would not have been stopped. Think about it. One of the wonders of the world and UNESCO World Heritage Site would have been underwater.

Closer to home, in our own backyard, is the Green River Gorge. While the Gorge isn’t on the scale of the Grand Canyon, it is, in its own right, a unique river-cut gorge. Local whitewater boaters have named a massive cliff in the middle of the Green River Gorge the “Grand Canyon of the Green.” At times the walls of the Gorge tower 150-300 feet above the river. There is a shared reverence by boaters, locals, hikers, and others acknowledging that the Green River Gorge is a special place.

”Recalling the high points in one’s life becomes a growing pleasure with age. There are those that you cherish and those that others have recognized. Of those I own, the Green River Gorge experience overshadows all the others. In the long-term future, a preserved Gorge will be a legacy that my generation will, indelibly, have left behind. As a nice thought and treasure.

 The impact of the Gorge on my psyche remains undiminished. What was it about those first exploratory paddles into the hidden museum of nature? Was it its unbelievable isolation in the midst of a million people? Was it the antiquity of its ancient walls, hinting at massive faulting and erosion over millennia? Was it the sculptured images and fossilized imprints of ancient life forms from both above and below the seas? I think it was the realization that there are “Cathedrals of Nature” that inspire awe and humility far beyond any man invented religious symbols and beliefs.

 Down its cliffs and gentler draws remain untouched first growth stands of evergreens, hiding moss and fern-covered grottos, and myriads of tiny waterfalls seeping from the canyon walls. Freshness and moisture permeate the floor of the canyon in its shadowy twilight to nurture rain forest type vegetation, water-oriented birds, and man’s awed senses within its massive cathedral like halls. Placid pools like miniature chain lakes create an occasional corridor of silence into which only faint and muffled hints of rushing water may penetrate from around the bend. Disturbed but by an occasional kingfisher, merganser, water ouzel, or trout rippling the water’s impatient slack. Thus, represents an ecological entity, which owes its close-in and unique existence and character entirely to its canyon walls rising up to 300 feet above the riverbed. As such, it supports a biologic community in a living laboratory that can sustain itself indefinitely into the future without man’s help, even in the midst of any civilization encirclement behind its protected canyon rims. It can probably do this better here than in any other instance and site in the region.”

— By Wolf Bauer

On this Earth Day, April 22nd, 2022. I want to challenge each of you to look at how you can make a difference. One small action can lead to larger change and one day you may look back and realize that you made a difference.

Ways that you can make a meaningful contribution:

Donate to your local conservation nonprofit

Volunteer at local events in the Green-Duwamish Watershed

Introduce your friends and family to the beauty and uniqueness of the Gorge.

Write emails and letters in support of local conservation efforts.

Support Washington State Parks.

Buy a Washington State Park Pass.

#green river gorge #conservation #earth day #grand canyon of the green river gorge #environment #environmental stewardship #Green-Duwamish River #green-duwamish #green river natural area #Green River Gorge Greenway #river #washington state #washington state parks #black diamond washington #Franklin Washington #Black Diamond History #make a difference #2022 #april 22nd 2022

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pickleweed2 · 5 months

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Intricate cascading roots on a Western Hemlock, Tsuga heterophylla.

Olympic National Park| 11-30-2023

#Western Hemlock #Tsuga #dendrophilia #forest #trees #forest floor #olympic peninsula #olympic national park #washington state #pnw #pacific northwest #nikon #pnw photography #original photographers

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pnw-forest-side · 10 months

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Trail on the south side of the Skokomish River - Olympic National Park

#forests #forest aesthetic #olympic national park #skokomish river valley #washington state #pnw

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bgm-photo · 1 year

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2019. Kitsap Peninsula. UW Marshland. Somewhere around Yakima.

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aestum · 3 months

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(by courtneylwilson)

#vertical #landscape #x #a #watsf #curators on tumblr #mountain #trees #courtneylwilson #washington #mt rainier #national park #united states

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haylanmakesstuff · 2 years

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Day 33

We left for the Olympic peninsula today, with some stops along the way. First was Deception Pass State Park. This beautiful park has so many different sections and all of them are gorgeous.

We hiked the Lighthouse Point Loop and enjoyed the sights. I am feeling much better and this hike was short enough to leave me feeling good instead of like a GI Joe toy where the rubber bands in the hips are loose and jangling.

Another ferry boat was out of commission, so the lines were backed up to two hours to get over to the peninsula, so we decided to drive further and try for another. No line and super friendly staff, we hopped on the ferry and away we went.

We arrived on the Olympic Peninsula and drove to the Olympic Railway Inn. Usually, we have one lodging we splurge on per big trip. Our last big trip was just pre-pandemic, to Wales and England, where we stayed a night in a castle. This trip, we stayed in a converted railway car, themed in…wine? Well, to be fair, it’s beautiful, and I thought it was just grape themed when I booked it. Wine wasn’t really on my mind since I don’t drink alcohol, but it was so pretty, who cares? I always wanted to stay in a train car, and this one was even on a track.

Because they are cool, here are some photos of some slugs hanging out in a tree stump. It really is a good reminder that dead wood is such an important part of the forest! A dead tree is home, food, and fuel for many forest animals and the future of the forest itself. A dead tree will generally take as long as it was alive to biodegrade back into the forest. For instance, if a tree lived 100 years, it will take about 100 years after it falls down and dies to disappear!

We went out for a nice dinner at the harbor, walking around to look for wildlife while we waited for our seat. There may have been a few seals in the harbor, but we didn’t get to see but one head bobbing away. There was a woman sitting on the dock trying to feed them from her take out box – luckily the seals weren’t having any of it at this moment. Please, I urge you, don’t feed wildlife. After you do, what happens when you walk away is devastating. From something that can hurt you, like a bear or seal, to something that is tiny and cute, like a bird or chipmunk, every piece you give them is destroying their lives. They get used to people, are easy prey, spread disease and sickness, lose natural habits like cleaning and foraging/hunting. I see what happens when you walk away: Those cute ground squirrels become cannibalistic on the baby boom they had while living fat off of Cheetos. The fish belly up and die because the population is too high and there’s not enough food anymore. Please, don’t feed wildlife anything at all.

Dinner was great and all, but afterwards, as we left and everything was closing up, I spotted a mama seal and her baby that had beached themselves on the boat dock. We stood at a safe distance, as not to disturb them, and watched as the mother got cozy and the baby tried. It really tried. In fact, it spent the entire 20 minutes we watched them struggling to get *mostly* out of the water and then off of its side. The complaining was REAL. Mom just kicked back and ignored it. We didn’t get any photos, since it was dark out and the streetlights only lit them so much. And really, sometimes, it’s right to just enjoy a moment and sight without worrying about the photo. Instead, here is a picture of me being very social on the beach.