good news

CANADA MOVES FORWARD ON SAVING RAIN FOREST.

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Last February, the Province of British Columbia, Canada, acted to preserve what remains of the Great Bear Rainforest on their Pacific Coast. Now, the Canadian government itself has decided to pitch in.

according to the BBC:
"Canada has pledged to spend millions of dollars to help protect the world's largest temperate rainforest.

The government will allocate CAN$30m (US$26m, £13m) to maintain the area of British Columbia known as the Great Bear Rainforest.

The area is home to indigenous people, ancient trees and rare wildlife.

The 64,000 sq km (25,000 sq mile) forest is about twice the size of Belgium and spans the Pacific Coast from Vancouver Island north to Alaska
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Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said voters do not believe his Conservative government has focused enough on environmental issues since coming to power.

The federal cash will be matched by money from the government of British Columbia."
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This wilderness is the primary habitat of the Kermode Bear. The Kermode bear is a subspecies of black bears. Many of the bears are born with white fur. These are known as "spirit bears" and were believed by native peoples to be a reminder to humans of the misery of the ice age.

IN ANOTHER WORLD

One of the interesting sites I sometimes visit is "Rodney's Home Photos" a blog hosted by a Native American who lives on an island off the coast of Alaska. He was born there. For the last couple of years, he has been posting pictures of nature and scenery and life among the people of the island.

Look in on him sometime:

CLICK here: RODNEY LEKANOV

HAPPY 100th YEAR!

Edgar Wayburn
b. Sept. 17, 1906
Intrepid American conservationist
Creator of Redwood National Park,
Five terms: Sierra Club president
Presidential Metal of Freedom


SOURCE: SIERRA CLUB;LINK
"Wayburn is a doctor by training but an ardent conservationist by heart. He may be the least-known yet most successful defender of America's natural heritage. He played a central role in the establishment of Redwoods National Park and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and in the passage of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. For his visionary achievements, he was honored with the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism in 1995.

"Wayburn was the recipient of the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1999. Upon presenting the award, President Clinton said, 'Edgar Wayburn has worked to preserve the most breath-taking examples of the American landscape. In fact, over the course of more than a half-century, both as President of the Sierra Club and as a private citizen, he has saved more of our wilderness than any person alive.' "