Big Birds still thrive in San Bernardino Mountains- Hurray! It's a matter of daily practice and awareness not out of the normal routine these days. What might once have been controversial for some is a now matter of civic and commercial dialogue and discussion. There are new partnerships emerging to determine how to stakeholders will preserve our national treasures and not lose them through short sighted behavior, short v.s long term planning or bad group and individual habits.
Fact: Our forests need recovery time after a fire and may not recover completely. They are stressed by weather, or for example natural and unnatural disasters. Personal responsibility, 21st century thinking skills, and safety issues abound when looking at the interface between wildlife and city planning. Quagga mussels or other invasives can use up limited resources and it is better to be safe than sorry.
Our Eagles studied in Nature or as a national insignia- do not live in well in urban areas. They like pelicans have been at risk due to human development and are on the rebound.
Eagles, as well as some animals and plants, are endangered by conditions in highly developed civic and commercially zoned areas. In Big Bear, this puts quality of life and property issues at odds with values of "progress and stewardship".
In modern land management, recreation and development can impact life styles. Land management trusts and cooperation sometimes resolve such issues for everyone concerned preserving our heritage with ancient habitats and grand vistas
http://www.wildlandsconservancy.org/contact.html).
But due to the endangered species act, and caring people, our shared national big bird has proven it can thrive and now reproduce. News this Spring 2012 from San Bernardino's mountains touted the eaglets hatched and fledged….and birders everywhere were over joyed.
From the Forestry Service to the Friends of Fawnskin's "Eagle Times", students to scientists were thrilled. At great heights and under certain protected environmental conditions, this was a victory. But it is just the beginning of the conversation. In rural settings such as the San Gorgonio and San Jacinto mountains, some of the soils are 245-700 million years old. These sediments carry nutrients of limestone and dolomite from ancient coral reefs. On the hillsides and crannys, plants grow that are put in great jeopardy due to conflicting interests. Federal legistlation can pit mining and forestry sometimes against fish and wildlife or development against citizens who prefer to seek out serene settings and or live adjacent or in wildwild wood settings. These conflicting values can impede or empower growth, tourism, economic progress, or planning. Choice, the very least, over time has lead to a clash of residents and realtors about the purpose of such areas and decisions for the few and the many about what to do with such wealth, tangible and intangible and what to make or defer in water, air, and land resources decisions over commons that must be shared. There are issues of management for now or for future generations that can not wait.
With children back in school, there are other ideas to explore like "what is Nature; how does it impact us; what do we do or stop doing that impacts habitat and how do we conserve, preserve, or restore areas impacted by fire, culling, pollution, over development"? In areas that are impacted by snow and distance, infrastructure, communications, engineering, well digging, safety, and technology as well as maintainance are all part of learning how to work, recreate, settle down, and to keep businesses viable.
The Last Child in the Woods text promotes reasons for a human connection to Nature that could be more important to child development than parents and educators have previously considered. From dealing with invasive plants to foreign fauna, modern Californian biologists now teach urban families in nature retreats how they can connect to Mother Earth. By beginning to understand the mountain geography and soils along trails they instruct about the special conditions that promote growth in rare species like: bladder pod, cushenbury punturebract, parish's daisy, cushenbury buckwheat, cushenbury milkvetch that only grow in distinct areas and under unique conditions.
In order to protect and preserve animal species and at risk native plants from invasive foreign breeds or species or deal with travel impaction, planners must now mitigate between protecting recreational access to precious and irreplaceable areas and population growth/life style issues and fire/health safety.
The gift of sharing these "natural outdoor classrooms" as opportunities brings Math, Science, Water Recreation, Engineering, Exercise, Infrastructure, Hydrology, Biology, and other studies into student experience. Chambers of Commerce, ski operators, California Conservation Corps, and CREEC educators are looking at how to build and maintain natural resources, trade, commerce, school districts, and historic buildings.
By taking advantage of such activities and not taking them for granted, California cities and towns can demonstrate how in high mountain clusters of communities the 16 career clusters touch on modern life, real estate, work and family issues. The mountains and forests can enliven student studies across Southern California ….. whether a kinder or a high school student a streaming birder video of a nest or a hatching is thrilling. Visiting Idyllwild or watching a young scientist's streaming webcam might change a young person's dreams and study plans forever.
From Plant Phenology to Climate Change the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) has a new online course for educators on citizen science for the Fall for K-12 educators called the Budburst Academy. From informal science to Globe.gov, there are materials readily available to educators, students, nonprofits and curriculum designers. CalRecycle has a curriculum website offering text books to Education and Environment teachers from 1st grade to high school ready for downloading. For more information about Environmental Education Tours in Fawnskin, call Friends of Fawnskin at 909-878-3091 for upcoming events and newsletters.
Whether skiing or hiking, it's clear that there will be lots of core national standard study subjects to revitalize by field trips. Whether through online conferences, University programs on stewardship and water issues, high school or K-12 STEM programs, new products, programs, speeches, technology and/or special interest groups, discussions are developing around land management and conservation that discuss both development and housing in populated and unpopulated areas. With popular books like Dr. Seuss's LORAX or social science and education texts like Coming Home: Community, Creativity and Consciousness by Personhood Press, authors and social actionists are stirring citizens young and old to look at "the critical role" that that ethnic, economic, moral and conservationist values will play on the urban-rural landscape in upcoming local elections and on a grander scheme. From John Muir to hiking CSUSB professors, from Theodore Roosevelt to Occidental College, from watersheds to water plans, there are historic precedents that were set in California and in the U.S. that have protected species and trails and these traditions of the Wild West are worthy of both study, and consideration as well as civic pride.
Eagles:
http://banning-beaumont.patch.com/articles/bald-eagle-chick-hatched-in-san-bernardino-mountains-is-first-ever-recorded#photo-9294375 http://bigbear.us/eagles.html Fall into Phenology:
http://neoninc.org/budburst/fall/index.php Local/Community Information:
www.friendsoffawnskin.org/
http://www.bigbeargrizzly.net/news/article_1cd4504e-ce06-11e0-87a9-001cc4c03286.html Research and Science Study:
http://www.jamesreserve.edu/ http://sierratosea.ucdavis.edu/ca.html http://www.globe.gov/explore-science/student-zone/overview http://stem.colostate.edu/ https://eng.ucmerced.edu/soe/facandres/intra-campus/eng-res-cens http://oceanliteracy.wp2.coexploration.org/ www.thewaterpage.com/water-conservation-kids.htm
Stem Funding:
http://www.calstate.edu/pa/News/2010/story/stem-arra.shtml http://www.latimes.com/custompublishing/education/la-ss-education-stem,0,4970932.story
City of Fawnskin:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fawnskin,_California
Connecting Children to Nature:
The Last Child in the Woods (book)
http://eelinked.naaee.net/n/guidelines/posts/Early-Childhood-Environmental-Education-Rating-Scale Hiking and Singing:
http://www.greenbookofsongs.com/ http://www.greensongbook.com/ http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=6571202&m=6571203 Quagga Mussels:
http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/factsheet.aspx?speciesid=95