Achievements of the day:

Made it through a 4-hour meeting of dubious value

Put out traps to kill bees collect pollinator specimens

Wooted a new mouse for my work computer, 'cause we have no money in the budget for such things

Continuing a 4-hour online defensive driving course (day 2)

Ha! I'm awesome!

Sad news

I had to have Mr. Bean put to sleep. He was diagnosed with "Fear-induced territorial aggression" which basically means he would attack people who entered his territory. After weeks of training and medication, it was determined that his behavior would only escalate. It would not get better. I couldn't let him live in constant fear, and his behavior had a detrimental effect on my friends and co-workers. If you had the unfortunate luck to see him in his bad phase, I am extremely sorry. He really was a kind dog. He suffered trauma before I adopted him and unfortunately moving him from owner to owner probably made his condition worse. I've had to put two friends to sleep this summer, and it's been the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I'm going off to cry somewhere for a while, so bear with me.

Time Lapse of Pine Creek Fire

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-835513

Monday

(This is not taking into account the 4 other medicals in northern Yellowstone, and the fact we are down 2 ambulances...) Monday Incidents Keep Yellowstone First Responders Busy Yellowstone National Park rangers spent the day Monday responding to numerous incidents, including several involving significant injuries to visitors. Carl Dullmaier, 56, of Gernsheim, Germany, sustained a head injury when he was thrown from a horse near Tower Junction. He later died from his injuries after being lifeflighted to a Billings, Montana, hospital. A 37-year-old man from Provo, Utah, suffered thermal burns on the Solitary Geyser Trail in the Upper Geyser Basin. He was transported by ambulance to West Yellowstone, Montana, and from there by fixed-wing aircraft to the Salt Lake City, Utah, Burn Center. A 65-year-old male British national from Bangkok, Thailand, suffered injuries when he was thrown into the air by a bull bison at Mammoth Hot Springs. He was transported to Memorial Hospital in Livingston, Montana. Visitors are reminded to stay on boardwalks and designated trails while viewing all thermal features in the park. Scalding water underlies thin, breakable crusts; many geyser eruptions are unpredictable, and thermal features are near or above boiling temperatures. Park visitors are also reminded that intentionally approaching or disturbing animals is dangerous and a violation of park regulations. Park rules require that you stay at least 100 yards away from bears and wolves at all times, and at least 25 yards away from all other animals including elk and bison. Yellowstone officials respond to an average of 700 emergency medical calls each year.

Webcams Make Katmai Bears Accessible

Webcams Make Katmai Bears Accessible By Judy Kesler 907-644-3513 July 24, 2012 In this photo, taken on July 17th, a brown bear eats a salmon caught at Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park. Photo from Brooks Falls webcam. Katmai National Park and Preserve is one of the premier brown bear viewing areas in the world. The most recent bear survey documented over 2000 brown bears in the park and preserve. At Brooks Camp, the most visited area of the park, brown bears congregate to feed on sockeye salmon at Brooks Falls or elsewhere along the Brooks River. Katmai National Park is both difficult to reach and expensive for most visitors. The park draws just under 10,000 visitors a year, but about 2,200 bears live there. About 100 of them are in the Brooks Camp area. The park’s remoteness has added challenges to the goal of bringing the bears of Katmai to the public using technology and webcams. A previous attempt to set up live bear cams from Katmai with a museum in Homer, Alaska, failed due to multiple problems. "It takes a lot of time, a lot of effort and a lot of money, and the webcams will make it accessible to anyone with access to a computer, a smartphone, a tablet device,” Roy Wood, chief of interpretation, said in a media interview. The park recently partnered with the Pearls of the Planet initiative for explore.org, underwritten by the Annenberg Foundation to assist with making this goal a reality. After months of hard work, the webcams are up and running. There are currently two cameras running, although two more are scheduled to come live in the near future. The cameras are powered by solar and wind energy. Microwave signals are sent to the Dumpling Mountain camera, which are then sent to King Salmon, Alaska, where a T1 connection allows for the high-definition cameras to be broadcast to the Internet. In addition to the webcams coming live, the park has created a publication, Brown Bears of Brooks Camp to identify the bears and learn more about their life stories. Link to BROOKS FALLS CAMERA webpage Link to LOWER RIVER CAMERA webpage Direct link to partners page and cameras: http://explore.org/#!/live-cams/player/brown-bear-salmon-cam-brooks-falls

Travels with Mr. Bean

Mr. Bean is stuck with me. I keep telling him this, but his anxiety doesn't lessen much. He's a rescue dog and a big galloping dork most of the time. Fits in well with our disfunctional family, for sure. We headed up the Boulder River today and played.

Ranger Nick Hall

IN MEMORY: Nick Hall, a Mt. Rainier Ranger who worked as a Yellowstone avalanche forecaster out of Lake District during the 2011-2012 winter season, died tragically in the line of duty yesterday. The following news story ran today in the Seattle Times. Ranger killed during rescue of climbers on Mount Rainier A ranger with Mount Rainier National Park died Thursday afternoon while rescuing climbers, two of whom had fallen into a crevasse. By Alexa Vaughn, Seattle Times, June 22, 2012 Nick Hall, a climbing ranger at Mount Rainier National Park, fell 3,700 feet to his death Thursday afternoon, after helping rescue two climbers who had fallen into a crevasse, according to a park news release. The two women who fell into the crevasse were part of a party of four, two women and two men, from Waco, Texas. As Hall, 34, was preparing some of the climbers for helicopter evacuation at 4:59 p.m., he fell down the mountain's northeast side from the 13,700-foot level. He was not moving after his fall, and attempts to contact him were unsuccessful, the release said. Climbers reached him hours later and confirmed he had died. Hall, a native of Patten, Maine, had been with the park's climbing program for four years, the release said. News of his death was withheld for several hours Thursday night until his next of kin could be notified. The climbers who fell into the crevasse had slipped on their descent down Emmons Glacier after hiking to Mount Rainier's 14,411-foot summit around 1:45 p.m. Thursday. As the two women were dangling inside the crevasse at the 13,700-foot level, one of the other climbers was able contact rescue rangers by cell phone. The rescue team was able to reach the climbers fairly fast. The two women climbers were pulled to safety by 3:10 p.m. The four climbers, who range in age from 18 to 53, have injuries from slipping and having a few hundred pounds of force yank on their harnesses at the end of the fall, but none are life-threatening, said Kevin Bacher, a park spokesman. A rapidly lowering cloud ceiling and 40-mph winds made it tough for a Chinook helicopter from Joint Base Lewis-McChord to reach the climbers, but three were eventually lifted away at around 9 p.m., Bacher said. The fourth climber stayed on the mountain overnight with rescue rangers. If weather prevents a helicopter rescue in the morning, rangers will help her down the mountain on foot. The others are being treated at Madigan Army Medical Center. Hall's death comes during what has already proved a difficult year for park staff. On New Year's Day, Ranger Margaret Anderson was fatally shot as she tried to stop a man who drove through a tire-chain checkpoint near Longmire. The man, Benjamin Colton Barnes, 24, was suspected in a shooting in Seattle. His body was found the next day about a mile away.

...and winter again

Memorial Day weekend was a nightmare. Heavy, wet snow for three days. Tourists all over the roads - either totally ignoring the road warnings or just figuring the car they drove from California would be fine to drive through 6 inches of slush and ice... Both Friday and Saturday nights there were about 20 cars going off the road per hour. Tow trucks were having a field day. Only a couple EMS calls, though. Two car accidents out of all that mess. The tourons were lucky this weekend. Did get to see something REALLY cool on Saturday - was working in the garage with my sis and heard what I thought was thunder. "What, what was that?" Stepped outside and followed my ears to Mt. Everts - GIANT rockfall from all the snow, freeze, melt, refreeze. Screamed for Tuck and his friend to come out to see and look through the scope. Rocks continued to fall after that, but the first was the most dramatic - just awesome. Snow photos blatantly stolen from friends' facebook pages - hell of a way to usher in June!

Meet the tireless entrepreneur who squatted at AOL

http://news.cnet.com/8301-32973_3-57440513-296/meet-the-tireless-entrepreneur-who-squatted-at-aol/?tag=TOCcarouselMain.0 Meet the tireless entrepreneur who squatted at AOL For two months last fall, Eric Simons secretly took up residence inside the Internet giant's Palo Alto, Calif., campus, eating free food, enjoying gym access, and building a startup in the process.

Gentlemen, please take care of your vaginas...

http://taffyland.blogspot.com/2012/05/gentlemen-please-take-care-of-your.html Everyone should read this, seriously. You WILL laugh, so be careful.

Suddenly...summer

Uncomfortably warm in the office...afternoon thunderstorms...too many visitors...elk everywhere... Is it August already? If so, I didn't get the memo. grrr

Open! ...mostly...

Normally heralded as the first chance to get into Old Faithful and Canyon, just after opening this year we find out the road south of Canyon has washed out. Again. Does it happen every year? Pretty much. Is it the same area of road? Pretty much. {Sigh} ---------------------------------------------------- YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK NEWS RELEASE ---------------------------------------------------- Washout Prompts Temporary Closure Of Road South Of Canyon Junction Just hours after opening for auto travel for the summer season, a section of road in Yellowstone National Park has been temporarily closed because the roadbed has given way. A basketball-sized hole was discovered Friday afternoon in a section of Yellowstone’s Grand Loop road south of Canyon Junction. Upon further inspection, park staff members discovered a large section of the roadbed beneath the pavement has washed out. Visitors can take in views of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone by traveling on the North Rim Drive. However, viewing locations along the South Rim Drive such as Artist Point won’t be accessible until road repairs are completed. There is no estimate on the scope of the necessary repairs of the length of the temporary closure of this section of road. After being closed to automobiles all winter, Friday morning some interior park roads opened to motorists for the start of the busy tourist season. Visitors may enter Yellowstone through the park’s North Entrance at Gardiner, Montana, and West Entrance at West Yellowstone, Montana, to Norris, Madison, Canyon and Old Faithful. The road from Gardiner, Montana, through Mammoth Hot Springs and Tower Junction to Cooke City, Montana, is open all year. The road south of the Canyon area to Fishing Bridge and the East Entrance is not scheduled to open for the season until May 4. The park’s South Entrance to West Thumb, Old Faithful, and Lake Village is scheduled to open on May 11. Information on park road conditions is available 24 hours a day by calling the park’s road information hotline at 307-344-2117. - www.nps.gov/yell -

http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/roadclosures.htm

encounter at farpoint

One good thingthe only good thing about being stuck in bed for another fun-filled day of enjoying the flu? Star Trek TNG marathon. Yep. I am a super dork.

BLM Wild Horse "gather" to happen this summer

http://www.lovellchronicle.com/2012/04/blm-wild-horse-gather-expected-this-summer/

We stopped calling them "round-ups" apparently. Got to be PC about this...


BLM wild horse gather expected this summer
BY CHRONICLE2 · APRIL 12, 2012 · NO COMMENTS
NEWS · TAGGED: GOVERNMENT, THE FUTURE, TOWN
The Bureau of Land Management has released its final Environmental Assessment (EA) for a 2012 non-helicopter gather of wild horses within the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range. The report analyzes the effects of a non-helicopter gather to remove excess wild horses within the wild horse range. The BLM field office received about 1,000 individual comment letters and 63 unique comments on the preliminary EA, and considered those in making the final decision to remove the excess number of horses from the herd.


One of the wild horses from the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range grazing near the entrance to the range last winter. Wild horse advocates have named this young stallion Jesse James. He is the little brother of Kapitan, one of the stallions who was killed tragically on the highway last summer. Patti Carpenter photo
Methods used to remove the horses will include bait trapping, water trapping, herding or a combination of these techniques. Only horses under 3 years old will be targeted for removal. Consideration will be given to genetic factors that could impact the overall well being of the herd. None of the horses gathered will be intentionally harmed or sold to slaughter. The gather is expected to begin sometime after June and will take place over a period of time in a variety of locations within the wild horse range.

“Obviously, there are a lot of feelings that emerge about such an action. Gathers are always difficult. This especially holds true here, in the Pryors, when we get to know individual horses as well as friends,” wrote wild horse advocate Matt Dillon on his blog the day the report was released.

Dillon is the former director of the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center in Lovell. The group monitors the humane treatment of the horses and maintains a meticulous record of their gene pool. Some evidence indicates that this particular herd maintains a fairly pure bloodline that dates back to the horses of early Spanish conquistadors. Dillon and other wild horse aficionados support the preservation of this bloodline.

According to a recent Bureau of Land Management census, 150 adult horses and 17 of their foals currently live on the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range. Based on previous research conducted by the BLM, this is at least 30 horses more than ideal number or AML (Appropriate Management Level) to support both a healthy range and a healthy herd, which according to BLM studies is 90-120 adult horses, excluding the foals. According to information released by the BLM up to 50 horses may be removed in the upcoming gather in an effort to maintain an optimal herd size.

“I think it is important for management decisions to be based on science,” said Dillon. “The current AML is based on a scientific method of determining the carrying capacity of the range, and so it is difficult to argue with it. Obviously, we’d like to see more horses out there. I think we will see an increase in AML in the future that reflects all of the work being done on the range.”

According to information released by the BLM, the proposed gather is necessary to achieve a thriving natural ecological balance and maintain multiple use relationships, including a variety of resources and uses, such as wildlife, wilderness values, recreation, cultural values, as well as wild horses on the range over the next several years. Vegetation monitoring data shows the PMWHR does not have the capacity to sustain the current wild horse population over the long term with their current use patterns on healthy rangelands.

The BLM does not sell any horses to slaughterhouses or so-called “killer buyers.” Any excess wild horses will be offered for adoption only to qualified BLM-approved adopters. Before the adoption, the horses will be examined by veterinarians, freeze-marked and vaccinated. Due to the nature of this gather, the adoptions could be carried out as several small events or one large event, depending on the gather efficacy. Adoption will be announced as the gather progresses and the public will be notified at least two to three weeks prior to the adoptions.

The BLM is charged with the task of maintaining both the range and a healthy herd under the “The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971.” Although not afforded the protections of “wildlife,” the horses are afforded certain protections under the law.

In an effort to reduce the number of gathers required in the future, the BLM has implemented a program of fertility control where certain mares are selected based on genetic factors to receive an annual birth control shot. The shot is administered by dart.

“I believe that this gather is a significant step toward a time when the removal of so many as 20 horses could be a rare event, a time when such a gather would be a rare event,” commented Dillon on his blog. “Again, though, this is a very delicate time. The lack of a gather this year would certainly lead to a larger one next year. To carry out such an action would be a serious setback to the hard work that has been done and the progress that has been made these past few years. I have great faith that this year’s gather plan reflects careful planning and that operations will be carried out safely and responsibly so that removed individuals and the herd’s future success are impacted as little as possible. Let us get through this year, and let us keep working toward a time when our goals can be realized.”

Many wild horse advocates like Dillon and the BLM hope that comprehensive fertility programs that are now in place, which administer a birth control shot periodically to carefully selected mares, will reduce the need for gathers in the future.

A 30-day appeal period to the decision is already in progress and will end on May 3, 2012. For more detailed information about the gather and a summary of public comments and a copy of the decision record go to http://blm.gov/08jd.

By Patti Carpenter

3 down, 1 to go

Our entire class passed NREMT Practical exams on Saturday. Once the authorization goes through, we can sign up for the NREMT written in Bozeman. I would like to get it over with ASAP so I can forget a lot of the things we were taught, and start learning the "right" way to do them according to our local protocols! Since I'm planning to stick with volunteering for Gardiner I'm looking forward to learning 2 sets of protocols...

"Yellowstone" Bison, the continuing saga

I'm liking the way this guy writes:
http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2012/04/view-overlook-montana-wowsers9720

Yes, these bison were from a Yellowstone herd, but they've been living for YEARS inside a fence, under the control of the State of Montana. I wouldn't consider them "Yellowstone" bison anymore - they emigrated (or were forcibly removed to a relocation camp, depending on your view...)

It was too soon to be thinking "spring"

Yes, days are getting longer. Yes, it was in the 60's a couple days ago.
But it snowed last night.
And it was snowing this morning.
It's March in Yellowstone, for chrissake, what was I expecting?

Thank you lord, for thinkin' 'bout me, I'm alive and doing fine

That pretty much says it all.
For now.

Re-taking the SAT's - why would you do this?

Why would one inflict this upon themselves? Really?

http://deadspin.com/5893189/what-happens-when-a-35+year+old-man-retakes-the-sat

On a side note, I once read standardized test essays. As a job. They were in 5th grade. And they all had to write about pirates.

Truer words...

"I attended Harvard University summer school, maintaining a B average. By then I had come face to face with the painful realities of knowledge. One who understands is freer in the head but sadder in the heart. It is sad to know that there is so much wrong in our world, and for the most part we are helpless to do anything about it."


Tepilit Ole Saitoti, in "The Worlds of a Maasai Warrior, an Autobiography"