KAHILTNA DREAMING

As most of you know, my other job, which funds the Chena Ridge Research Centre, allowing the A.P.R. to continue bringing you the most up to date, incisive socio-political and environmental news and commentary, has travel occasionally involved.


It was my privelege to be allowed to travel last week with one of my colleagues to the climbing Base Camp of Denali, the highest peak in North America, at 20,320 feet, in Denali National Park. Our purpose, as meteorologists for the federal government, was to interact with the climbers present, and the National Park Service rangers, to see if their forecasting needs were being met. To see if there were any significant problems with our forecasting (the NWS prepares a climbing forecast twice-daily for Denali in the late April-mid July peak climbing season), obtain suggestions for improvement, and conduct a site survey, examining and calibrating their weather instruments. All these goals were met, and informative and valuable interactions occurred, making the trip a success on those counts. But that is incidental to this story.
I want to just describe this amazing place, which is unique in the World, and which is still gripping my daily reality. A place I will never forget, and to which I will be returning, several times, since a Denali summit is planned year after next.


The only way in to the Kahiltna glacier, in summer, which the Base Camp sits on the southeast spur of, at 7200 feet, is by ski-plane, from the climbing base town of Talkeetna, 50 miles southeast of Denali National Park. This is the 1961 De Havilland Beaver, which took us over from Talkeetna. One could ski in, in winter, on a several day traverse, when the rivers and swamps are frozen, which would be a tempting option next March or April, when days are longer, and temperatures a little warmer than in January or February. Something we would like to do, since Mattie would be able to accompany me, and whoever else was able to go.


For now though, our short plane ride only took 35 minutes over the wide Susitna River, the swampy taiga beyond, then the foothills, and finally over the 6000-10000 foot spurs of the Denali massif, separated by glaciers in the valleys. We landed in camp at noon, under a bright sunny sky, with a nearly unprecedented 42 degree F temperature.


Base Camp is a collection of four rigid-frame shelters occupied by the National Park Service climbing rangers, and employees of the aviation services in Talkeetna, who coordinate the drop-offs and pick-ups of the dozens of climbers daily, from Talkeetna. Most climbers usually spend a night there before beginning their ascent process (which involves hauling supplies successively higher, to different camps, before the actual ascent), and there are sometimes mountaineering classes present as well (I will be in one of those there next year). So, there can be dozens of people camped there at any given time. To keep the area clean, CMC's (clean mountain cans) are used. You have to sit on these for your solid wastes, it is a plastic bucket with a lid and bag inside. These biodegradable bags are disposed of in deep crevasses.


Here a 12 day mountaineering course (the one my friend Erik Hursh and I will be taking next year) sets out on the most popular and least strenuous West Buttress climbing route (in green, on map, above), for different tasks and lessons.

This is Chris Erikson, one of the NPS climbing rangers. He was nothing but helpful and professional, as he went about his busy day answering questions from climbers, interacting with us, and collaborating in two incidents (more on these later). They have our greatest admiration in their duties of assisting climbers, sometimes in extremely adverse conditions, when problems arise.

Chris began his mountaineering growing up in Oregon and summiting all the Cascade volcanoes, and worked his way up from there. These are highly sought-after jobs, and only extremely skilled, courageous mountaineers are selected, and receive extensive training in trauma and high altitude emergency medicine. He and a volunteer assistant remain in Base Camp on 21 day assignments, while another ranger works at the 14,200 foot camp, on the West Buttress trail. There are others also standing by at the ranger station in Talkeetna, with a helicopter, in case a complicated rescue situtation occurs. They can only provide assistance though that does not pose undue hazards to themselves, which is why summitting Denali, especially on more difficult routes, is not something to be taken lightly, without extensive planning and preparation.

So what makes this area so unique? Well, for starters, the terrain. The vertical relief of Denali, from the 7200 feet Base Camp, to it's summit at 20,320 feet, is 1000 feet greater than Everest's, from it's climbing base to it's summit. This is 17,450 ft. Mt. Foraker, looming 10,000 + feet over the Kahiltna glacier, just a few miles west from camp.

The broad summit of the Denali massif looms 13,000 vertical feet above camp just six straight-line miles away. This is more vertical relief than Everest offers from it's base at 17,800 feet, to it's summit at 29,028. On this amazing day, winds were light, even on the summit, since there is no banner of blowing snow, which is often present with stronger winds. And, no clouds either. Not many days a year like this, though the reason the climbing season is late April through mid-July, is that this time is the driest in the area, when temperatures are warmest. Later in the summer, precipitation increases as the jet stream begins to gather strength and more low pressure systems move over, bringing heavy snow, strong winds, and white-out conditions for days at a time. We were sure lucky to be there in conditions like this!

My favorite view, which held me for hours, was this, to the south. 14,570 foot Mt. Hunter rears 7300 ft. vertically above the Kahiltna, just a half-mile across from camp. I was simply transfixed by this amazing mass of rock, snow, and ice. Avalanches were frequent, booming across the valley, day and night. Some incredibly brave and skilled climbers ascend this, but of course, rock and ice anchors are needed, and it is a slow, and dangerous process!

Around 1800 in the evening of our first day in camp, a radio message came in from some Italian climbers at 18,200 feet on Cassin ridge, which faces toward camp. They had miscalculated climbing a different route, run out of food and water, and were calling for help. They felt they could go no further.

Chris and his supervisor, who happened to be at camp that day quickly determined that a helicopter pick-up was impossible, in that precarious location. It was decided to drop a bag of food and water to them. The first bag slid down the mountain, the climbers couldn't catch it. One more chance. At 2000, a second bag was lifted up, this time the climbers snagged it. Fortunately for them, the weather was favorable for helicopter operations, otherwise, they would have been in much more dire straits. We could see them through the powerful spotting telescope in camp, setting up for the night, then, packing up the next morning, heading for the summit, so they could descend on the easier West Buttress climbing route.

The evening lighting on all the peaks was stunning. This is looking up the southeast fork of the Kahiltna glacier, that interesting altocumulus standing lenticular cloud (ACSL) was there all day, in the same position, indicative of a very stable, and persistent weather pattern.

I decided to stay up late that night, the shifting pattern of sunlight and shadows on the peaks was too amazing to let go of. Around 2300 hours, I had to put my down parka on. It was fairly warm, about +32F, but a cool 10-15 mph wind was blowing, and since I wasn't moving, just sitting in my camp chair drinking in the views, or going for short walks, bundling up was mandatory. Even though I had all my glacier travel gear (crampons, ice axe, helmet, rope, etc..) Chris warned us that he couldn't guarantee our safety if we wandered outside of camp. The recent warm weather had weakened snow bridges over the many crevasses. I was not about to doubt his word.

Mt. Hunter this evening at 2300 was particularly stunning. I must have gazed at it a total of several hours that night, thinking of climbing routes, and the dangers all that ice and rock could pose, for someone trying to ascend it.

The lower ridges north of Mt. Foraker shaded it after 2200 hours, leaving just the top in the gentle northern summer sun. It must have been nearly calm up there on it's summit, judging by the lack of any blowing snow.

Denali was just as beautiful as all the others that evening. And again, look at how smooth it looks up there, I can only hope for such conditions when I make it up to that summit the year after next.

I didn't get to bed until well after midnight, but slept well in my 4-season tent and -20F down bag. Climbers rousing early for 0400 departures woke me up, but I just listened in and occasionally dozed until about 0600. The morning views were just as amazing as the previous evening.

Ski planes (DeHavilland Beavers and Otters, and Cessna 185s) began dropping off and picking up climbers by 0800.

They look like little gnats compared to the gigantic peaks.

My colleague Ray and I packed up by noon, for our planned 1300 departure.

As accurately forecast by my co-worker Corey Bogel, in the office the previous day, clouds began increasing by then, the fore-runner of an incoming low pressure trough from the Bering Sea, which promised to bring some snow, stronger winds, and occasional white-out conditions to much of the area.

Just before 1400 hours, our plane was late, and clouds kept thickening. We hoped we'd make it out, before the weather closed in around the landing strip there at 7200 feet (most of the interior surrounding the Alaska Range is much lower, only 100 to 2500 feet above sea level, so even that elevation is very high, comparatively).

Then, right at about 1400 hours, the radio traffic began:

http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2009/06/roped-together-climbers-die-fall-mount-mckinley-denali-national-park-and-preserve

Roped-Together Climbers Die in Fall On Mount McKinley in Denali National Park and Preserve

Posted June 12th, 2009 by Kurt Repanshek
Two acclaimed climbers fell to their deaths on Mount McKinley in the vicinity of the mountain's West Rib and West Buttress routes. NPS photo.

Two acclaimed climbers who were roped together while climbing on Mount McKinley in Denali National Park and Preserve have fallen several thousand feet to their deaths.

While two medics and an emergency room were quick to reach the two, there was nothing they could do.

Killed in the accident Thursday were Dr. John Mislow, 39, of Newton, Massachusetts, and Dr. Andrew Swanson, age 36, of Minneapolis, Minnesota. While part of the fall was observed by other climbers on the mountain, park officials say many factors remain unknown about the accident, such as the location where the initial fall occurred and whether the team was ascending or descending at the time.

Although the onset of the fall was not witnessed, a team did observe them falling between the 16,500-foot elevation on the Messner Couloir and its base at 14,500 feet.

Park rangers at the 14,200-foot camp were notified via FRS radio within minutes of the event, which occurred shortly before 2:00 p.m. on Thursday. Three skiers in the vicinity were first to respond to the climbers, who were located approximately 30 minutes away from the 14,200-foot camp. A team of four volunteer NPS rangers, including an emergency room nurse and two medics, followed close behind and confirmed that the two men had died in the fall.

The bodies were recovered by the park’s A-Star B3 helicopter that same evening and flown to Talkeetna.

The two men began an ascent of the West Rib route on May 30, and their climbing registration forms did not specify a particular descent route. Situated in between the West Rib and the West Buttress routes, the Messner Couloir is a steep, hourglass-shaped snow gully that drops from near Archdeacon’s Tower at 19,000 feet down to the 14,200-foot basin. With a 40- to 50-degree snow and ice slope, the Messner Couloir is an occasional advanced ski descent route, but is rarely descended on foot or ascended.

Drs. Mislow and Swanson were both experienced mountaineers. In 2000, Denali National Park and Preserve presented the two men with the Denali Pro Award, an honor recognizing the highest standards in the sport for safety, self-sufficiency, and assisting fellow mountaineers.
During their 2000 attempt of the West Rib route they aided several different teams in distress; assisted a National Park Service patrol with multiple visitor protection projects; and

demonstrated sound risk assessment in their climbing objectives.

The rangers Chris, and his volunteer assistant Kurt swung into action, communicating with the 14,200 foot camp, and preparing supplies, in case they would need to be ferried up for a rescue operation. The tragic news came shortly though, there would be no need for one. Judging from the radio traffic we heard, death came to these poor men quickly. The conditions on Denali were still quite good, no banner clouds indicating increasing winds were visible, and it was still mostly in the clear. Which makes this tragic accident all the more mysterious, especially since they were such experienced mountaineers. May they be at peace.

The mood in camp plummeted. Our plane arrived at 1500, and we loaded in to our Talkeetna Air Taxi DeHavilland Beaver. Chris and Kurt, in spite of all this, wished us safe travels, and we said our goodbyes. Their jobs are just as, or even more, stressful, than what I can remember of my worst days in our local volunteer fire department, when we had the occasional mass casualty incident. We were all heavy of heart, thinking of what terrifying moments the two climbers must have experienced, and what those they left behind would soon be experiencing.

The flight back went a slightly different route, more directly through the Alaska range. Which would make sense, to avoid the incoming planes, ferrying in fresh teams and classes, for their adventures.

As we flew over the main part of the Kahiltna glacier, I saw these large areas of meltwater ponds on it. A very stunning shade of blue. We were told by the air service people working in camp that it was highly unusual to see so many of these so early. And it had been unprecedentedly warm there over the past few weeks. Not only that, but there had been no snow in Base Camp, since it was set up on 27 April, only a little rain the week before. Again without precedent in anyone's experience working there.

Although I only spent about 30 hours in that amazing place, it's an experience I'll never forget. I've always been drawn to snow-capped peaks, whether they were in Southern California in winter, the Cascade volcanoes, shimmering in the distance above the gentle lowlands of the Willamette Valley of Oregon in summer, or the high Andes of Bolivia and Peru, floating above the Altiplano. They radiate some sort of essential purity, and to be among them, is truly a spiritual experience. I look forward to my return trips to the Andes and Alaska Range, and perhaps others, as well.

OPEN VEINS OF LATIN AMERICA - The Latest Chapter

The title of today's article is the title of this book that Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez gave to President Obama in April, at the Organization of American States (OAS). I hope Pres. Obama took time to read at least some of it.

http://www.amazon.com/Open-Veins-Latin-America-Centuries/dp/0853459916/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244500842&sr=8-1

As soon as word got out about this interesting meeting, the first time Mr. Chavez and an American president were cordial together, and the book exchange, this book shot up to 2nd on Amazon.com's order list. Naturally, we here at A.P.R. had to get a copy, to see what the fuss was about.

It was truly eye-opening. The author, Eduardo Galeano, was a Uruguayan journalist when he wrote it in 1973, and it documents the centuries of exploitation of South America, first by the European imperial powers, and then the U.S. and multi-national corporations. It was last updated in 1997, before the rise to power of the many more left-leaning/progressive politicians in some of the Latin American countries. We learned many interesting things from this book. One little-known fact, the country of Paraguay in the 1850s-1860s actually developed, for it's time, a fairly progressive political structure, without the strong European-based oligarchy of all the other South American countries. Most workers in the cities were payed well, and farmers and ranchers received fair prices for their commodities. A coalition of countries, Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, upset about this, afraid that this kind of government could serve as an example to the peasantry in their countries, invaded Paraguay in 1865, and thoroughly destroyed it. Only 250,000 of the two million people in that country survived! Brazil at this time was led by brutal oligarchs and still had slavery in place, which was not abolished until 1888! The last major country in the World to do so.

The common thread through the book, Open Veins..., is that first European countries, and then the U.S. and multi-national corporations, conspire with the European-descended oligarchical power structures in the Latin American countries to keep them in power, prevent them through economic policies from developing their own strong industrial bases, and keep prices low of the raw materials these countries export, coffee, bananas, timber, minerals, etc..

The latest chapter in this tragic history is unfolding as you read this.

http://www.truthout.org/060709G
SUNDAY 7 JUNE 2009

Nine More Police Killed in Amazon Protests in Peru

Thousands of native people blocked the highway in the Amazon jungle in northern Peru. (Photo: Reuters)
Lima, Peru - President Alan Garcia labored Saturday to contain Peru's worst political violence in years, as nine more police officers were killed in a bloody standoff with Amazon Indians fighting his efforts to exploit oil and gas on their native lands.

The new deaths brought to 22 the number of police killed - seven with spears - since security forces moved early Friday to break up a roadblock manned by 5,000 protesters.
Protest leaders said at least 30 Indians, including three children, died in the clashes. Authorities said they could confirm only nine civilian deaths, but cabinet chief Yehude Simon told reporters that 155 people had been injured, about a third of them with bullet wounds.

He announced a 3 p.m.-6 a.m. curfew in the affected region and said authorities had made 72 arrests.

"The government was required to take these measures, not only for the president of the republic but for all 28 million Peruvians," Simon said of breaking up the protests, which blocked the flow of oil and gas out of the Amazon and prevented food and supplies from coming in. "We've all been affected one way or another by the protest ... when they take over highways and strategic points that can affect the national economy."

The political violence is the Andean country's worst since the Shining Path insurgency was quelled more than a decade ago, and it bodes ill for Garcia's ambitious plans to boost Peru's oil and gas output.

It began early Friday when security forces moved to break up a roadblock protesters mounted in early April. About 1,000 protesters seized police during the melee, taking more than three dozen hostage, officials said.
Twenty-two officers were rescued in Saturday's storming of Station No. 6 at state-owned Petroperu in Imacita, in the jungle state of Amazonas, Defense Minister Antero Florez told the Radioprogramas radio network. He said seven officers were missing.
Simon said the nine killed were taken more than a mile from the station and slain while an army general was negotiating protesters' retreat from the facility.
Among at least 45 casualties being treated at the main hospital in the Amazonas town of Bagua was local Indian leader Santiago Manuin, who received eight bullet wounds on Friday, said a nurse who identified herself only as "Sandra" for security reasons. She said no doctors could come to the phone because they were attending to the wounded.

Also Saturday, a judge ordered the arrest of protest group leader Alberto Pizango on sedition charges for allegedly inciting the violence, said the president of Peru's supreme court, Javier Villa Stein.
Neither Pizango nor other senior members of his organization, the Peruvian Jungle Interethnic Development Association, could immediately be reached by telephone.
Interior Minister Mercedes Cabanillos said Pizango had fled, likely to neighboring Bolivia where the government is dominated by the country's indigenous majority.
On Friday, Pizango accused the government of "genocide" for attacking what he called a peaceful protest. Indians have been blocking roads, waterways and a state oil pipeline intermittently since April 9, demanding that Peru's government repeal laws they say help foreign companies exploit their lands.
The laws, decreed by Garcia as he implemented a Peru-U.S. free trade pact, open communal jungle lands and water resources to oil drilling, logging, mining and large-scale farming, Indian leaders and environmental groups say.
In addition to violating Peru's constitution, indigenous groups add, Garcia is breaking international law by failing to obtain their consent for the projects.

Garcia defends the laws as necessary to help develop Peru. The government owns all subsoil rights across the country and Garcia has vigorously sought to exploit its mineral resources.

Contract blocks for oil and gas exploration cover approximately 72 percent of Peru's rain forest, according to a study published last year by Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.
And though Peru's growth rate has led Latin America in recent years, Garcia's critics say little wealth has trickled down in a country where roughly half the population is indigenous and the poverty rate tops 40 percent.

Indians say Garcia's government does not consult them in good faith before signing contracts that could affect at least 30,000 Amazon Indians across six provinces.

Last month, Roman Catholic bishops in the region issued a statement calling the complaints legitimate.

Protests prompted Garcia to declare a state of emergency on May 9, suspending some constitutional rights in four jungle provinces including Amazonas.

Because of the protests, Petroperu stopped pumping oil through its northern Peru pipeline from the jungle on April 26. Company spokesman Fernando Daffos said Friday that the interruption had cost it $448,000.

Also affected is the Argentine company Pluspetrol, which halted oil production in two jungle blocks in the Loreto region of northeastern Peru.
-------
Associated Press Writers Tamy Higa in Lima and Frank Bajak in Bogota contributed to this report.




Now, contrast the above article, from the U.S. Associated Press, with this one:
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/06/08-3

Peru Police Accused of Disposing of Dead Indigenous to Cover Up Death Toll (6/08/09)

Indigenous Leaders and Allies Call for an End to Violence on All Sides

BAGUA, Peru - June 8 - In the aftermath of Friday’s bloody raid on a peaceful indigenous road blockade near Bagua in the Peruvian Amazon, numerous eyewitnesses are reporting that the Special Forces of the Peruvian Police have been disposing of the bodies of indigenous protesters who were killed. “Today I spoke to many eyewitnesses in Bagua reporting that they saw police throw the bodies of the dead into the Marañon River from a helicopter in an apparent attempt by the Government to underreport the number of indigenous people killed by police,” said Gregor MacLennan, spokesperson for Amazon Watch speaking. “Hospital workers in Bagua Chica and Bagua Grande corroborated that the police took bodies of the dead from their premises to an undisclosed location. I spoke to several people who reported that there are bodies lying at the bottom of a deep crevasse up in the hills, about 2 kilometers from the incident site. When the Church and local leaders went to investigate, the police stopped them from approaching the area,” reported MacLennan.Police and government officials have been consistently underreporting the number of indigenous people killed by police gunfire.

Indigenous organizations place the number of protesters killed at least at 40, while Government officials claiming that only a handful of indigenous people were killed. Also the Garcia Government claims that 22 police officers were killed and several still missing.“Witnesses say that it was the police who opened fire last Friday on the protesters from helicopters,” MacLennan said. “Now the government appears to be destroying the bodies of slain protesters and giving very low estimates of the casualty. Given that the demonstrators were unarmed or carrying only wooden spears and the police were firing automatic weapons, the actual number of indigenous people killed is likely to be much higher.” “Another eyewitness reported seeing the bodies of five indigenous people that had been burned beyond identification at the morgue. I have listened to testimony of people in tears talking about witnessing the police burning bodies,” continued MacLennan.At least 150 people from the demonstration on Friday are still being detained.

Eye-witness reports also confirm that police forcibly removed some of the wounded indigenous protesters from hospitals, taking them to unknown destinations. Their families expressed concern for their well being while in detention. There are many people still reported missing and access to medical attention in the region is horribly inadequate. The Organizing Committee for the Indigenous Peoples of Alto Amazonas Province issued this statement: “It is appalling that political powers have acted in such a cruel and inhuman manner against Amazonian Peoples, failing to recognize the fundamental rights and protections guaranteed to us by the Constitution. We express deep grief over the death of our indigenous brothers, of civilians and the officers of the National Police.”

The government expanded the State of Emergency and established a curfew on all traffic in the region from 3 pm to 6 am. Indigenous and international human rights organizations are worried about plans of another National Police raid on a blockade in Yurimaguas close to the town of Tarapoto where thousands are blocking a road.President Alan Garcia is being widely criticized for fomenting a climate of fear mongering against indigenous peoples by drawing parallels to the brutal Shinning Path guerrilla movement of the 1980s and early 1990s, and by vaguely referring to external and anti-democratic threats to the country.

The Amazonian indigenous peoples’ mobilizations have been peaceful, locally coordinated, and extremely well organized for nearly two months. Yet Garcia insists on calling them terrorist acts and anti-democratic. Garcia has even gone so far as to describe the indigenous mobilizations as “savage and barbaric.” Garcia has made his discrimination explicit, saying directly that the Amazonian indigenous people are not first-class citizens.“These people don't have crowns," Garcia said about the protesters. “These people aren't first-class citizens who can say -- 400,000 natives to 28 million Peruvians -- 'You don't have the right to be here.' No way. That is a huge error.”

Ironically, Peru was the country that introduced the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on the floor of the General Assembly when it was adopted in September 2007. A coalition of indigenous and human rights organizations will protest in front of the Peruvian Embassy in Washington D.C. on Monday, June 8 at 12:30 pm. Indigenous peoples have vowed to continue protests until the Peruvian Congress revokes the “free trade” decrees issued by President Garcia under special powers granted by Congress in the context of the Free Trade Agreement with the United States. Among the outpouring of statements condemning the violence in Peru were those from Peru’s Ombudsman’s office, the chair of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, a coalition of 45 international human rights organizations, Indigenous organizations from throughout the Americas, and the Conference of Bishops of Peru. Also famous personalities including Q’orianka Kilcher, Benjamin Bratt, Peter Bratt, and Daryl Hannah and Bianca Jagger called on the Peruvian Government to cease the violence and seek peaceful resolution to the conflict. AIDESEP, the national indigenous organization of Peru has called for a nationwide general strike starting June 11th. Amazon Watch is continually updating photographs, audio testimony, and video footage from Bagua on www.amazonwatch.org.Newly released b-roll at http://amazonwatch.org/peru-protests-highres-photos.php
###

We here at A.P.R. think it extremely likely that there is political pressure from the U.S., and corporate entities, to force an end to this conflict, in favor of the Peruvian government. Remember that "free-trade" pact with the U.S.? All of those seemingly innocuous sounding trade agreements, like NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement), etc.., have been disastrous for all people, and the environment, in all the countries involved, except for the very rich, and multi-national corporations. Because these agreements force the governments of the signing countries to accept economic and environmental policies that are to their detriment.

http://www.citizen.org/trade/nafta/

The Amazonian Rain Forest are the "lungs of the planet", providing a significant source of the global oxygen from CO2 in the atmosphere from photosynthesis by the incredibly diverse jungle vegetation. Continued deforestation there is only adding to the Global Warming problem, most of which is done for expansion of cattle ranching (for cheap U.S. and European beef), soybean farming (to feed the cattle for cheap U.S. and European beef), mining, and lately, expansion of oil and gas exploration/production.

Indigenous people in Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, and Colombia have been under great threat over the last several decades, from the expansion into the Amazonian Rain Forest by these governments and multi-national corporations.

This is bad news for two reasons.

The first is the pure physical environmental destruction that is occurring, hastening Global Climate Change. Once these forests are cleared, it is hard for them to be restored, as the soils in these tropical areas are very nutrient-poor, and erode quickly. During the dry season, after being eroded in the preceding wet season, they bake under the tropical sun to a brick-hard, impoverished gully-carved surface. In which it is very difficult for vegetative re-growth to occur.

This accelerates the destruction, and can lead to actual desertification of vast areas of the tropics, hastening global climate change, and removing a significant source of CO2 sequestration from the global system.

The second is that the destruction of indigenous cultures bodes ill for the future of the human race. It is our contention here at A.P.R., that all the indigenous cultures of the World's view of the planet and all creatures in it, as a unified, spiritual system, and sacredness of all it's parts must be incorporated into the prevailing "western" or "developed" culture. If we are to survive the looming threats of overpopulation/resource depletion, climate change, and environmental collapse.

For it is only by realizing that the Earth is a finite system, with limited resources, and that all countries, cultures, and beings are sacred, and equal in the overall spiritual sense, that countries and cultures can work together in trust, to solve these global problems. And that it is unsustainable and immoral that vast tracts of poor countries must produce cheap destructive products for richer countries, at the expense of their people and environment.

The next time you buy non-organic, non-free trade red meat, bananas, or coffee, try and remember these things. Because they arrive here to you at great expense and detriment to the people and countries of their origin.

This conflict in Peru now is similar to what we saw in the U.S. with the indigenous people here over the past three centuries. Did you know that if some superior culture, with the power to disable all weaponry instantaneously across the World, were to force the U.S. to honor it's treaties over the past two centuries with the indigenous people of this continent, it would cease to exist?

A small example. The Black Hills of South Dakota were ceded by the Treaty of 1868 by the U.S. Government (meaning it passed House and Senate votes, and was signed into law by President Andrew Johnson) forever to the Lakota people, which was their traditional hunting ground, and spiritual center. By 1874, the influx of miners after gold there was so great, the U.S. government forced the Lakota out, leading to the famous battles which culminated in 1876 at Little Big Horn.

This was just one example of many. The whole tragic story can be found in that seminal work which burst upon the U.S. progressive scene, in 1970, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.
http://www.amazon.com/Bury-My-Heart-Wounded-Knee/dp/0805086846/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244867595&sr=8-1

This book, written by historian Dee Brown, is a devastating account of the history of indigenous peoples in the U.S., told from their viewpoints. It should be required reading in every high school and college. These kind of events are still unfolding in Latin America, because they have more indigenous people.

And we wonder why life on Indian reservations in the Lower 48, or amongst the indigenous peoples in our villages and cities, including here in Fairbanks and Anchorage seems so dysfunctional, with high rates of alcoholism/drug abuse, physical and sexual abuse, etc... We think it safe to say, if some other culture were able to forcibly impose itself upon ours, and force complete changes in our ways of living and spirituality, that we and our descendants would be in similar positions. This is still happening, in Latin America (and Africa in the Niger River Delta, with the oil industry there, imagine that...). Will it ever end?

Cheers.