In the Pines

An April 22, 2009 article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer describes how the Obama administration's stimilus package will speed-up a project to remove two dams on the Elwha River, located on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. The river used to be one of the Pacific-Northwest's most productive salmon rivers, but the dams now block them from all but the river's lower five miles. You can find the original article HERE . Breaching dams. . .a late modern idea that has taken way too long to put into practice. I've never met a dam I liked, and have a few in particular that I'd like to see come down. 1. Glen Canyon Dam in Arizona, USA 2. Miura Dam in Otaki, Japan 3. Makio Dam in Otaki, Japan It seems to me that humans are smarter than dam-building. If we can engineer things that are as horribly marvelous as dams, we should be able to think of a better alternative to them in the first place. Fish numbers apparently continue to drop in Otaki. . .that's the word f...

An article in Northern Woodlands Magazine entitled, A Forest for Every Town , talks about the Vermont Town Forest Program , which aims to ensure common forestlands for municipalities in Vermont. The program's idea has grown, in part, out of movements, such as the slow food movement, that strive to use local products. It sounds like the program is quite successful so far. From the article: Hinesburg’s forests exemplify town forest potential. They have recreation: world-class mountain biking trails, along with skiing, hiking, and horseback riding. They also serve as outdoor classrooms, both for local teachers and for the University of Vermont, whose students have conducted dozens of projects there. And the older forest also has active forest management: one recent harvest took out white ash, which was then milled and kiln-dried locally and installed to replace the floor of the Hinesburg Town Hall, which had been sanded so many times that the tongue of each tongue-and-groove boa...