The Moral Call of the Wild

A study suggests that spending time in nature changes our values-

The Moral Call of the Wild. By P. Wesley Schultz. Scientific American.

Being outside almost always improves my mood, and a lot of my best ideas have come in the wide open spaces, not sitting at a desk or computer.  The outdoors seems more real and time passes more slowly because events are not so repetitive that one days blurs into the next. I can tell what I did each day during my February and March trip to Arizona, Nevada, and California. I can’t remember what I did last Wednesday here at home.

Too many people don’t have a real life. They watch reality TV hoping that someone does 😦

Salt Lake Tribune doesn’t like coal strip mine between two UT national parks

Proposal is for a six square mile strip mine between Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks-

Initial plans are for 635 acre mine (one square mile) and would expand to over 6 square miles. The notion of a mine here has been floating around for years. Now it is serious.

Coal mine. Trucks could hurt Kane tourism. Salt Lake Tribune Editorial

Three-state wolf death tally passes 500 for year

Majority have been killed for livestock losses-

Despite controversy over the wolf hunt, about 60% of those killed were because the wolves killed livestock, usually just one or two animals. The large majority of the livestock retribution killing was done by Wildlife Services, not by the owners of the livestock.  I would like to see how many of these depredation incidents were on public lands where livestock are grazed almost for free under the theory that their owners suffer loses from predators and bother from recreationists.

Wolf death tally passes 500. By Matthew Brown and John Miller.  Associated Press writers.

At the end of 2008, the official wolf count in the 3 states was 1650.

The writers data on the Basin Butte Pack is wrong if you believe Lynne Stone. It is good that they acknowledge this.