Doing Our Part

Wednesday was Earth Day. Many people look forward to this global celebration, which began nearly forty years ago on April 22, 1970 - a date which is widely recognized as the beginning of the modern environmental movement. It's a day when we all can pause and reflect on our role in the world, on our impact on the planet, and on the world we wish to pass on to our children. It's a day to reform bad habits and embrace new ones - a day to commit to turning off the tap while we brush our teeth, carpooling to work, replacing inefficient windows and light bulbs, switching to reusable grocery bags, recycling, and more. For some it's a day to celebrate a vision of a healthier planet; for others it's a day to bemoan the failures of mankind.

Walking through New York City's Grand Central Terminal this morning, I was reminded of these conflicting perspectives. Hundreds of hustling people - including myself - paused in the Main Concourse to gaze at a projection show displayed on the terminal's massive pillars as part of the city's week-long Earth Day NY celebration. Images of snow leopards, glaciers, and rainforests clashed with shots of polluted skies, landfills, and dirty, overfished oceans; smiles turned to sighs and shaken heads; and troubling statistic after troubling statistic played across the wall. Did you know that an area larger than New York City is deforested every day, and that the average American consumes more than 600 lbs. of paper every year? Or that we could reduce our consumption of oil by 100,000 barrels per day if we all took the time to properly inflate the tires on our cars?

Intermingled with these startling and disturbing facts were inspiring, hopeful words from some of the world's greatest minds, leaders like Dr. King and Mahatma Gandhi. Those of Edmund Burke, an 18th century Irish statesmen and philosopher, particularly struck me:

"Nobody makes a greater mistake than he who does nothing because he could do only a little."

I think he's right.

We all can do our part - however small it may seem - to be better stewards of the planet and our communities. Whether making smarter choices as consumers, practicing Leave No Trace in the outdoors, volunteering for the environment, or starting an eco-friendly business (check out TerraCycle and its exciting successes with "upcycling"), our individual efforts all add up to produce real results.

I think Wilderness Volunteers is living proof of that. Through the collective efforts of our volunteers, WV has contributed since its founding in 1997 more than 180,000 hours of volunteer labor - improving trails, revegetating wilderness, eradicating invasive species, removing fences, and more - in hundreds of wild places in need of our support.

And it all started with a few volunteers and a few trips and a few trails. There's still far more to be done and no shortage of work in sight, and we look forward to working with you to do our part - on and off the trail.

Thanks to everyone who's "given something back!"

Faced with global warming, can wilderness remain natural?

For those who think of nature as a wild, unspoiled Eden that preserves the natural flora and fauna free from human interference, global warming has a nasty surprise in store. In his new book, "Heatstroke: Nature in an Age of Global Warming" (Island Press, 2009), Anthony Barnosky says that because of climate change, wilderness left to its own will no longer look like the natural areas we see today. Our conservation strategies must be rethought, he adds, because business-as-usual will not preserve all the aspects of nature we have come to know, love and respect.

Robert Sanders has an excellent review of Barnosky's book on the Internet.

The Trail Less Traveled...

"Cross-Cutting" in the Jedidiah Smith Wilderness, ID/WY (2007)

Sunday's New York Times has a captivating article on "America's Outback: Southern Utah," which prominently features the expansive 1.9 million acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and the nearly 400 square miles of sandstone canyons, cliffs, domes, and monoliths that comprise Capitol Reef National Park. Retracing the adventurous 1872 journey of John Wesley Powell and 18-year old New Yorker Frederick Dellenbaugh into this vast, unexplored desert, the article reveals some of the Southwest's best-kept secrets, which today - as then - often go overlooked, hidden within the formidable shadows of their more popular neighbors in the Grand Canyon, Arches, and Zion.

Traveling to different parts of the country, I've found that is often the case, as I've explored some spectacular places that have never been mentioned alongside the big-name destinations like Yosemite, Yellowstone, Denali, Acadia, Glacier, and more. Unsurprisingly, it is the lesser-known and lesser-explored parks, forests, and wilderness areas - like Utah's Escalante and Capitol Reef - that need the most support from volunteers, and it is in these very places that Wilderness Volunteers does some of its most important work. Through my own adventures in New Mexico's Gila National Forest, Virginia's Mount Rogers National Recreation Area, Colorado's Maroon Bells, California's Inyo National Forest, and New Hampshire's Pemigewasset Wilderness , I have discovered that hidden gems surround us, beckoning us to explore them. All we have to do is open our eyes to them, step forward, and begin walking.

Removing Fence in the Klamath Nat'l Wildlife Refuge, CA (2004)

Wilderness Volunteers has a treasure trove of 2009 projects like these in need of volunteers willing to explore...or rather explorers willing to volunteer. Check them out, and, like Powell, Dellenbaugh, and company, see what hidden gems you can discover.

EMS Club Day - April 18th

Wilderness Volunteers will be at Eastern Mountain Sports' (EMS) Club Day in Paramus, NJ on Saturday April 18th passing out brochures, stickers, and spreading the word about the work we do across the country. Come by to learn more, say hello, or even stick around and help out if you've got some time to spare. We're always looking for new volunteers and leaders.

All current members/volunteers of WV - or any outdoor club - receive 20% off their entire purchase. Not yet a member? Donate $10 to WV in the store and receive a coupon for 20% off. Can't make it to New Jersey? Head to your local EMS; we won't be there, but you can still save on your new gear.

Club Day weekend runs from April 17th-18th.

Here's a map:

Eastern Mountain Sports
820 Route 17 North
Paramus, NJ

Hope to see you there!

2 Million Acres & More...

Yesterday, the US House and Senate approved a conservation plan protecting over 2 million acres of wilderness throughout the country. The Omnibus Public Lands Management Act now heads to the President's desk for his signature. Read more here.

Lions, and Tigers, and Bears! Oh My!

I think Dorothy was wrong about the bears. Apparently, they've got better hobbies than terrorizing young girls from Kansas, or even hikers like us:

Keep your Eyes Peeled!

When I was growing up in northern New Jersey, my parents always told me to do just that. Whether hiking, canoeing, or driving down the highway, "keeping your eyes peeled" was a must in the Leonard family, and we were quite good at it. After all, New Jersey - despite its fair share of loading docks, oil refineries, bagel shops, pizza places, turnpikes, and jughandles- is full of wildlife: white-tailed deer, turkeys, black bears, hawks, woodchucks (yes, woodchucks!), raccoons, skunks, opossums, and more. Though I never understood where this expression came from, I did, thanks to years of disciplined training, develop a keen eye for spotting nature's critters throughout the Garden State's forests, wetlands, and roadways.

Still, I couldn't help but feel that the East was missing something, that it was inferior, and paled in comparison to the grand, rugged wilderness of the West. Besides, how many deer and raccoons can you see before you've seen them all? Out there, the mountains were taller, the rivers deeper, the trees bigger, and there were canyons and cliffs, peaks and prairies, and deserts and glaciers. Not to mention the animals: elk and antelope, mountain goats and bighorn sheep, grizzly bears and buffalo, and mountain lions and wolves! To a ten-year old from New Jersey, it didn't seem fair; the West was better! That was where the "wild things" were. But who could blame them: why would any animal vying for a cover photo in National Geographic choose to live out here in the suburbs when it could make its home in the pristine, picturesque wilderness of the American West? It was simple: impressive wildlife demanded impressive wilderness - end of story.

As a ten-year old, however, I had it wrong. Animals don't simply choose a home, as people might, by sizing up an area's aesthetic appeal, though, generally speaking it is true that many of the most beautiful places in the world provide superb habitat for a great diversity of wildlife. What matters, especially for raptors, is not the beauty of the place, but rather what's on the menu - and how much there is to go around. Yet we often fail to recognize this, dismissing the possibility of seeing anything extraordinary in comfortable, predictable suburbia.

I recently was reminded of this as I focused my gaze on a snow-dusted field, momentarily ignoring a hulking Giants Stadium in the distance, and the rumbling trucks bouncing along the New Jersey Turnpike just a stone's throw away. The Empire State Building, just seven miles to the east, pierced an overcast sky, and the tall reeds which have revegetated the dozens of still visible landfills in the area swayed gracefully in the wind. And there in the field, atop a heap of scrap metal and concrete, was a rare snowy owl. Her mate was just across the road.


A snowy owl in New Jersey? They don't belong here, especially not in an old industrial park adjacent to one of the nation's most despised roadways. Not here in "the armpit of America," only a few hundred yards from the purported tomb of Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa. They belong in the Arctic, in the Tundra, beyond the sight or reach of people, in the uncorrupted wilderness, insisted the ten-year old boy in me. Don't they?

I guess it's not so simple after all.

These two owls, along with many more, had left their traditional Arctic hunting grounds due to rising population pressure and competition for food. Somehow they ended up in the urban jungle of New Jersey's Meadowlands. I never expected to see one in my lifetime, let alone against the backdrop of the New York City skyline and New Jersey traffic. But alas, there she was, and she certainly didn't come for the scenery. Unsightly as they may be, those revegetated landfills support a healthy population of critters for the owls - not to mention an impressive legion of bald eagles, ospreys, peregrine falcons, and northern harrier hawks - to dine on. Not a bad group. Still, to most people, the Meadowlands is just another exit off the New Jersey Turnpike: nothing to see there!

If only they knew.

And just a few days ago while walking through New York City's crowded Central Park, a red-tailed hawk narrowly missed having a squirrel for lunch. Here, too, in the most populated city in the country - "the city that never sleeps" - hawks and owls have made their homes, capitalizing on the easy prey that has emerged side-by-side with people. As he perched on a tree, just six feet off the ground and inches from the sidewalk, dozens of people walked by oblivious to his presence, just as dozens of cars had driven past the snowy owls, unaware of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see them in the wild.

Who knows what other surprises surround us, in places we haven't looked before? Not only hawks and owls, I think. Rumor has it that mountain lions have been seen in eastern Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey.

I'll have to keep my eyes peeled.
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For a neat site about the wildlife in New Jersey's Meadowlands, including the snowy owls, check out The Meadowlands Blog.

For some surprising pics of Central Park's other inhabitants, see Urban Hawks.

And for a wildlife drama about them, check out Marie Winn's Red-Tails in Love.