Mammoth unmasked
Mammoth from the Inside: The Honest Guide to Mammoth & the Eastern Sierra, by Colleen Dunn Bates, Prospect Park Publishing, http://insidemammoth.com, $15.95
Nature the destroyer needs our protection
The year began with news dominated by reports of death and destruction following the massive Indonesian earthquake. At first the death toll was counted in the thousands, then the tens of thousands, then over a hundred thousand. By some reports the dead and missing now number over a quarter million. So many lives gone so quickly, and not due to an act of humanity, but the raw force of nature. The reports tell that many of the victims were initially drawn to the shore, standing in wonderment as the water receded, then were swept away as the waves flooded in.
News in brief
Logging plan challenged
Six conservation organizations have filed suit in federal court challenging the U.S. Forest Service plan to increase logging in Giant Sequoia National Monument in the southern Sierra.
The national monument east of Porterville contains more than half of the world's sequoia trees. Their huge size, beauty and long life led to a drive to protect them, and President Clinton in 2000 gave them permanent protection by designating 328,000 acres, about one-third of Sequoia National Forest, a national monument under the Antiquities Act.
Passages
Frank L. Goodykoontz, 1926-2005
Multiply awarded outings leader Frank Goodykoontz passed away on New Year's Day. He finished the Hundred Peaks Section list first in 1977 on Heart Bar Peak and for the ninth time in 1995. He led the HPS list four times. He received the following HPS awards: the John Backus Leadership Award in 1986, the R. S. Fink Award in 1990, and the Preeminent All-Time Leader Award in 1999. He also received the Angeles Chapter Chester Versteeg Award in 1994.
CAFTA: "Investor rights" trump public health, environment
Chair, Sierra Club's Responsible Trade/Human Rights Campaign
ICO leaders bring urban youth to nature
For Laura McCutcheon, the most recent Inner City Outings 'moment' came a month or two back. The group of third graders she was leading had just read a story about a deer that wandered from the woods to eat from backyard gardens, stirring a neighborhood debate whether to kill the animal or let it live.
'A week later, we hiked and saw deer in the Santa Monica Mountains,' McCutcheon said. 'You couldn't measure my kids' excitement.'
Mt. Rainier...eventually
You can tug all you want. I'm not gonna move any faster, you son of a --! My friend R.J. Secor was on the other end of the rope, trying to motivate me. That is your friend up there, I reminded myself. Nothing like rope travel to bring out the worst in me.
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The author's summit-mate, R.J. Secor, at 12,000 feet on the Emmons-Withrop Glacier, Mount Rainier. |
Green paint...in every color
Did you know that painting releases over 50 tons of smog-forming pollution each year in Southern California, five times as much as all our area's oil refineries? Paint is classified as toxic waste, and for good reason-the solvent in both oil- and water-based paint can trigger headaches and asthma attacks, weaken the immune system, damage the liver and kidneys, and poison groundwater.
But paint doesn't have to be bad for the environment. Today's green paints come in a huge range of colors, finishes, and materials. They're easy and fun to use and can accommodate most budgets.
Thanksgiving with the crocodiles
Looking for an exotic trip without leaving the country? Join the third Angeles Chapter-sponsored Natural and Wild Florida trip. Participants will snorkel in a coral reef, swim with manatees, and tour the Everglades, among other adventures.
This year's trip of 10 days and 10 nights, November 18-28, has been extended from previous trips to allow for more activities.
