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November 03, 2006
"The Cranes! They're migrating!"
The Shiny Blue Marble From Space
Photo Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Image by Reto Stöckli
Sprawl, Pollution, Habitat Loss, Global Warming, Invasive Species. The signs are everywhere. The natural world is under assault from all angles. At times, the news can become overwhelming for those who see the clues in the mountains and hollers of the Southern Appalachians - and elsewhere on this shiny blue marble we call home.
Then this week I read two articles about one of America's favorite trails - the Appalachian Trail, and the threats facing the trail and it's corridor. The first article appeared in the Roanoke Times and is entitled "The AT: An uncertain path". The second article is entitled "Kittatinny Ridge under pressure from developments" and it appeared in the Pocono Record in Pennsylvania.
After reading these articles, I became despondent. The enormity of the threat can be intimidating, but just as I was feeling down - I received a call from a colleague - Sonja. She said, "Jeffrey - the Cranes! They're migrating!" Sonja lives in northern Virginia, and early yesterday morning she was awoken at 4 AM to the sound of thousands of migrating Sandhill Cranes flying over her home in the darkness. Sonja threw open the window and listened to the birds until 6 AM. What a miracle, and a hopeful one at that! Her enthusiam and joy lifted my spirits.
In that vein, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy is taking a proactive approach to the threats to the trail, and they are convening a gathering of scientists next week to talk about using the trail as an outdoor lab to monitor the health of the environment along the East Coast. The ATC and its federal partners hope to enlist thousands of volunteers to establish baseline data, and then monitor trends in future years. I'll post information here about how you can get involved - as it becomes available. I hope some of you will become part of the solution!
Please take a moment to visit the Roanoke Times website and view the multimedia content about the Appalachian Trail. Afterwards, put on your day pack and take a young person for a hike. You just might encounter some cranes. Wouldn't that be nice?
Conservation | By Jeffrey Hunter | 08:43 AM
