The English translation of our latest article is:
WINTER SOLSTICE IN THE GREAT SUBARCTIC DESERT [and] MORE GOOD NEWS FROM SOUTH AMERICA
Since I plan on re-visiting America del Sur someday, I need to keep using and learning more Espanol. Please bare with us...
WINTER SOLSTICE IN THE GREAT SUBARCTIC DESERT [and] MORE GOOD NEWS FROM SOUTH AMERICA
Since I plan on re-visiting America del Sur someday, I need to keep using and learning more Espanol. Please bare with us...
Winter solstice in Interior Alaska at 65 Degrees north Latitude has great meaning for many of us who feel environmentally connected here.
The shortest day of the year, of course, when here in the Northern Hemisphere, the Earth is tilted furthest away from sun in it's progression around the axis, tilted 23.5 degrees from the vertical.
So, our sun is only 2 degrees above the horizon on this day, and up for about 3 hours 45 min. But we will slowly start re-gaining more and longer light soon, by March, six minutes a day!
We here at A.P.R. also like to view Winter Solstice in reverential terms, as our ancient ancestors did in all of Europe, before they were "Christianised" by force of arms (by the Romans after 325 a.d.), much as were the Indigenous people on the this continent, much later (and more recently, by...the U.S., England, and Spain). Which is to say, to celebrate it as the nadir of the darkening trend, and a new beginning for a year. We are not adherents to any specific religion at A.P.R., viewing all organised ones that claim to have "the truth" to the exclusion of others, as detrimental to us, and the World at large, in this age of global problems/concerns, and weapons of mass destruction.
So, we wanted to be outside all day, to savour our 3:45 daylight, and greet the New Year, which for us, has arrived.
We decided a ski from dawn till dusk would be a great way to do this. So, we arrived at the McKay Creek 
trailhead, off the Steese Highway, 90 KM NE of Fairbanks.
trailhead, off the Steese Highway, 90 KM NE of Fairbanks. The White Mountains are somewhat protected by a BLM National Recreation Area, but at a price, as you'll see.
It was just barely getting light when we began a steep at times 7 KM ascent of 430 metres, from the Steese Highway, up to the high point of this portion of the trail. After about an hour, there was enough light to see this view, looking east, at the new day rising. This entire area was right in the middle of the 243,000 hectare Boundary Fire, the largest one in the state, in our record 2004 fire season. A time of great worry and unhealthy air for the Alaska Interior.
We quickly began seeing these trap markers on the side of the trail, sometimes every 30 metres or so. Right on the trail. It was scary, because snares and leg clamps are present, but covered in snow. And Mattie kept trying to check them out, since they are baited. I had to continually yell at her to keep away. Fortunately, Homer knew better, and I never had to get after him. A snare can kill a dog, as they struggle, it tightens. If you don't have wire-cutters, you will have to watch your dog die slowly, in agony. In addition, some people bring small children on snow machines or dogsleds. As we all know, diverting our attention only a minute or two to deal with a tangled team, or broken machine, is all it takes for a small child to wander off and get into trouble...
It was just barely getting light when we began a steep at times 7 KM ascent of 430 metres, from the Steese Highway, up to the high point of this portion of the trail. After about an hour, there was enough light to see this view, looking east, at the new day rising. This entire area was right in the middle of the 243,000 hectare Boundary Fire, the largest one in the state, in our record 2004 fire season. A time of great worry and unhealthy air for the Alaska Interior.
We quickly began seeing these trap markers on the side of the trail, sometimes every 30 metres or so. Right on the trail. It was scary, because snares and leg clamps are present, but covered in snow. And Mattie kept trying to check them out, since they are baited. I had to continually yell at her to keep away. Fortunately, Homer knew better, and I never had to get after him. A snare can kill a dog, as they struggle, it tightens. If you don't have wire-cutters, you will have to watch your dog die slowly, in agony. In addition, some people bring small children on snow machines or dogsleds. As we all know, diverting our attention only a minute or two to deal with a tangled team, or broken machine, is all it takes for a small child to wander off and get into trouble...
The notification, below, appeared about 9 KM in.
I don't know about you, but we think this is wrong, that these dangerous traps, are right on the trail. Since these are federally managed lands, we plan on writing to the district administrator of this area, in Fairbanks, stating our request that these should be at least 30 metres from the trail. That would keep most dogs (and errant children!) out of harm's way. Bob_Schneider@blm.gov
We don't want to shut trapping down, but feel dog-oriented people should be allowed some say in the management of the area, for their safety. Perhaps having these snares and traps further away from the trail, and more continuous presence of people, would entice more 
animals to them. What do you think? If you support us, and like dogs, join us, and write in!
animals to them. What do you think? If you support us, and like dogs, join us, and write in!Homer, with his striking blue eyes on his black face, shows his wisdom quite overtly. At his age of 13 he's seen it all. Mattie, being two, and growing up as a babe in Kodiak, hasn't. It was a struggle keeping her away from the traps, and my voice was hoarse, by day's end.
The interior is really akin to a Great Desert in winter. Receiving only about a centimeter each winter month of liquid-equivalent, in the form of snow. And, cold as it is, the air is very dry. Looking out from 800 metres, across the valley of Nome Creek, toward the 1400 metre "peaks" of the White Mountains, almost gives that impression. The scraggly black spruce are almost-cactus like. These are the predominant tree in this elevated plateau area. Because it is so cold here, permafrost underlies most of it, and it is very swampy, with poor drainage. Bug hell in summer, and often cold and windswept in winter. Though the coldest temperatures of -40 to -55C occur in the valleys, after a cold airmass settles in, and skies clear and winds drop off, when an upper-level low moves south and east through the region.
Today though, under southerly chinook flow (our fourth episode already this winter, imagine that!), it was only -5 to -10C! Or, about 15C above average.
It feels great, but we know it's coming at a price. Since it's been occurring so much lately.
Unfortunately, a poor little Marten got snagged, not long after we passed a trap toward our low point near Nome Creek. After turning back, at out 1300 hours turn-around time, and heading back up, it was in it's death throes. No more than a metre or so off the trail.
Death is a part of nature, of course, but this slow way of death just seems very cruel. About an hour later, we came to the trail junction, for our lunch spot. It was getting windy here, so we just ate quickly, while I put a dry hat and down jacket on to stay warm. I put the jacket back in my pack, and quickly warmed back up, once we got moving again.
By 1430 hours, our weak, feeble sun was starting so set. But with our long twilights here, good usable light lasts until almost 1600! Homer was enjoying the orange glow, as we began heading down the 7 KM steep section back to the trailhead. That was sure fun, like a green alpine run, not too fast, and mostly wide enough to snowplow the steepest sections. It only took 30 minutes going down, but 75 minutes, going up! Our 40 KM trail day ended at 1530 hours, so we had a nice six hour Solstice outing. Once again, we were happy to see 13 year old Homer running strong and happy the whole time, he must have done 50-60KM, and Mattie, 80 or more, with all her side-trips.
MAS BUENAS NOTICIAS De AMERICA Del SUR
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/12/22-1
Yasuni Park Trust Fund Will Keep Ecuador's Oil Underground
COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Ecuador's initiative to protect the climate and the rainforest of Yasuni National Park by leaving its largest oil reserve in the ground will be supported by a new multi-donor trust fund to offset lost oil revenue, Ecuadorian and United Nations officials announced last week in Copenhagen.
Pristine rainforest in Yasuni National Park (Photo courtesy Ecuador-Travel.net)Ecuador's Foreign Minister Fander Falconi and Minister of Natural and Cultural Heritage Marie Ferdinand Espinosa, launched the new trust fund together with Helen Clark, the former New Zealand prime minister, who now serves as administrator of the UN Development Programme.
"Yasuni National Park is a fantastic project and a big contribution to save our climate," said Clark at a news conference in Copenhagen announcing the UNDP cooperation with the Government of Ecuador.
The Yasuni Trust Fund will be managed by the UN Development Programme. It will focus on reducing carbon dioxide emissions by permanently foregoing extraction of fossil fuels from the park; developing alternative energy; protecting indigenous groups; and reducing poverty and inequality through sustainable social development.
In exchange for keeping the crude oil in the ground in the Ishpingo, Tampococha, Tiputini (ITT) region, the Ecuadorian government has asked for compensation of $350 million a year for 10 years.
The Yasuni-ITT initiative was proposed in 2007 and has been met with widespread international interest, inspiring the government to extend the deadline for the initial $350 million down payment until December.
The initiative aims to prevent the extraction of an estimated 850 million barrels of crude oil in the ground beneath the park. This would prevent the release of 407 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide and would also protect the indigenous peoples and unique plants and animals that inhabit the park.
The park is designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and is home to indigenous peoples who live in voluntary isolation to protect their way of life.
Matt Finer of Save America's Forests has lived and worked as an ecologist in Yasuni National Park. "The establishment of the trust fund is a critical, and long-awaited, step towards making the Yasuni-ITT Initiative a success," he said.
"For the first time in the initiative's 2.5 year life span, donors will actually be able to make financial contributions. So we will soon see what countries are serious about backing this revolutionary initiative," said Finer.
"Moreover," he said, "the UNDP's involvement adds a lot of credibility for any interested, yet previously skeptical, donor."A bird in Yasuni National Park (Photo by Josh Bousel)
Ecuador's selection of the UN Development Programme to administer the fund is based on UNDP's record of efficient, transparent and accountable administration of over 30 multi-donor trust funds in over 70 countries, the UN agency said.
Covering nearly 2.5 million acres of primary tropical rainforest at the intersection of the Andes, the Amazon and the equator, Yasuni National Park was created in 1979. It is the ancestral territory of the Woarani people, and two other indigenous tribes living in voluntary isolation, the Tagaeri and the Taramenane.
Described by scientists such as Dr. Jane Goodall and Dr. E.O. Wilson as one of the world's most biologically important tropical rainforests, Yasuni is critical habitat to 23 globally threatened mammal species, including the giant otter, the Amazonian manatee, the pink river the giant anteater, and the Amazonian tapir. Ten primate species live in the Yasuni, including the threatened white-bellied spider monkey, together with a wealth of unique birds.
As a result of its unique location, Yasuni contains what are thought to be the greatest variety of tree and insect species anywhere on the planet. In just 2.5 acres, there are as many tree species as in all of the United States and Canada combined.
The government has launched a countrywide campaign to raise small donations from civil society. The fund will also accept private and public sector donations, debt swaps, carbon bonds issued in the voluntary carbon market for avoided CO2 emissions, and direct investment in specific government development projects, which would have been financed by ITT oil revenues.
The Ecuadorian government has received many international offers of support. On June 26, the German parliament unanimously approved a resolution backing the initiative and committing the government and Chancellor Angela Merkel to financially and politically support of the initiative, as well as promoting it among EU countries and the Club of Paris.
It was at the request of the German Parliament that Ecaudorian President Rafael Correa extended the deadline to secure funds until December.
Additional support has come from the Spanish government, which contributed an initial $4 million dollars towards Yasuni conservation.
President Correa announced at the UN General Assembly in September that Ecuador would permanently maintain its crude oil, estimated at one billion barrels of heavy crude reserves, underground putting social and environmental values first, thereby preventing the emission of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.
"This is a great step in both the battle to save Yasuni and to move Ecuador towards a new post-petroleum development model," said Esperanza Martinez of Accion Ecologica, which has been leading the civil society campaign in support of the initiative. "While we believe that all of Yasuni National Park should be off limits to oil drilling and that the proposal should consider financial options other than emissions trading, we welcome this development and hope it leads to the permanent protection of what is really the lifeblood of the Amazon."
© 2009 Environment News Service
What an inspiration for the rest of the World. As we said a few weeks ago, great things are happening en America del Sur, and we often look to it for inspiration! About the only good thing, to have come out of the global climate change initiative meetings in Copenhagen, the last few weeks. A.P.R. will have more to say about that later. Cheers, and Happy Solstice!
