Naturally Earth Friendly

Checking my e-mail this morning I came across an e-mail from the National Wildlife Federationtalking about Daniel Glick, a Colorado journalist, and his open letter to the next president.

Putting th “PUBLIC” Back in Public Lands.
By Daniel Glick

Dear 44th President:

As the 2008 presidential campaign reaches its final stages, the tasks awaiting the victor loom like an endless to-do list. Out here in the West we hope to rank high on that list, because we face serious conservation and environmental issues that will affect the nation at large. During the past eight years, White House plans and policies have done a lot of damage to our part of the country, affecting wildlife and wildlife habitat as well as the quality of human life. We need your help to get things back on track.

You’re about to become Landlord-in-Chief of a rich American legacy—the nation’s vast holding of public lands that nurture wildlife and industry, clear skies and clean water, healthy ecosystems and healthy people. The federal government administers about a third of the nation’s lands in trust for the American people, including national parks, national forests, wildlife refuges, national monuments and national historic sites. Between 25 and 80 percent of the land in most western states now falls directly under your supervision—hundreds of millions of acres we as a nation have kept judiciously in the public domain. All told, there’s enough federal public land to create 18 states the size of Arizona and 17 the size of Illinois.

Over the years, Congress has passed some impressive laws intended to help strike a balance in our management of these lands, where we might want to mine coal and preserve blue ribbon trout streams, tap gas reserves and set aside elk preserves, use forests for timber and protect forests for timber wolves. Finding a balance between exploitation and protection has been a long struggle, resulting in the multiple-use ideal in which federal lands become bases for camping, hunting, fishing, hiking and wildlife habitat as well as mining, logging, livestock grazing and fossil-fuel extraction.

During the past eight years, the nation has seen something of a revolution in how the federal government administers public lands, and in the process even the pretense of balance has disappeared. Large tracts of public land all around the Rocky Mountain West have been bulldozed in the name of rapid, almost uncontrolled oil and gas production, turning critical wildlife habitat into industrial zones. The western United States has seen a no-holds-barred assault on its open spaces, from Alaska’s coastal plain, where the oil industry wants to drill one of the last pristine stretches of seashore left in the nation, to New Mexico’s Otero Mesa, where ranchers, hunters and conservationists have been fighting the oil and gas industry over a 1.2 million-acre grassland that harbors more than 1,000 native wildlife species, including black-tailed prairie dogs, desert mule deer, mountain lions, golden and bald eagles, and more than 250 songbird species.

To keep reading, check out the full article at the National Wildlife Foundation.

My personal favorite paragraph was:

“Someday, the oil and gas will be gone. Here in the West, we’re beginning to wonder if our wildlands and wildlife will go with them. Steve Torbit, a former state wildlife biologist who works for NWF in Colorado, says, “I’m concerned that the West that I was born into, and that I’ve lived in and explored and loved all my life, in fact isn’t going to be there for the next generation if we don’t do a better job of managing development.”

Daniel Glick did a wonderful job setting the scene and the need for something to be done before it’s too late. I hope you enjoy reading this article as much as I and please feel free to learn more about what you can personally do to help, click here.

Cars mean responsibility. Sometimes maintenance is a full-time job, as some of you might know. Motor oil, transmission fluids, brake fluids, proper tire inflation, coolant, etc. And anyone who’s every run out of gas knows how valuable it is to make sure you have enough. But what about the responsibility we have to our planet? 

Now, don’t mistake me, I know most of us have cars to get to work, visit friends and just go out to have fun. I’m not talking about selling it to buy a bicycle when you have a 14 mile commute, that’s entirely up to you. I’m talking about recycling what we are done with. For example, can you recycle used motor oil? Yes, it actually can be re-refined into base stock for lubricating oil. Personally I knew it could be recycled, but never new what it became in it’s next life.

Did you know that for every gallon of used motor oil you dispose of inproperly, you are contaminating one million gallons of drinking water? I bet you didn’t think about that, I certainly didn’t. Granted I’m not a do it yourself in this arena, but my husband is. And thankfully Branndon’s always given the used motor oil to the different gas stations who’ll collect it. 

If you recycle just two gallons of used oil it can generate enough electricity to run the average household for almost 24 hours. By dropping off your used motor oil today you help prevent pollution and conserve energy for a safer and healthier tomorrow.

 

- RecycleOil.org

The Ocean Conservancy International Coastal Cleanup is scheduled for September 20, 2008. That means you only have a few weeks left to register, so I suggest you click here today.

They always say that one person can make a difference. Its great motivation and I completely believe it to be true. Usually it’s a difference in someone’s life, but every now and then it’s something big.

Did you know that the Ocean Conservancy International Coastal Cleanup started with one woman? It’s true. A Texas woman started the annual Coastal Cleanup back in 1986. She was horrified by the amount of trash she saw while walking along the beach of South Padre Island. She didn’t just go home, she did something about it. She organized her very own beach cleanup. As a result, two hours, 2,800 Texans and 124 tons of trash later was just the beginning of a year-round effort to keep our oceans free from trash, thus making it safer for people and animals.

The Ocean Conservancy International Coastal Cleanup is the world’s largest volunteer event of its kind. In 2007, my husband, Branndon, and I joined 378,000 volunteers from 76 countries and 45 states to clear six million pounds of trash from oceans and waterways. I believe we collected over 150 pounds ourselves that included a big rig tire and a 45 pound pipe! It took forever to dig out that tire.

I saw a tire buried in the dirt. It was quite a surprise to realize it was a Big Rig tire!!!

Not to mention, volunteers found 237 ocean animals entangled in fishing line, plastic bags, six-pack holders and rope. These items should never reach the ocean; we have the ability to stop it at home. Are you doing your part?

You can help out this year by clicking here to register for this year’s Cleanup. If you’re in Newport Beach, California I look forward to seeing you out there.