Others said opening up the reserve threatened to destroys #habitat for #caribou & thousands of #MigratoryBirds, & would put communities that depend on subsistence hunting at risk.
“This is very concerning to us,” said Rosemary Ahtuangaruak, fmr mayor of the mostly #Inupiaq city of #Nuiqsut.
Matt Jackson, #Alaska State snr manager at The #Wilderness Society…called the repeal of environmental protections an outrage.
The National Petroleum Reserve #Alaska is an ecologically sensitive expanse of land about 600 miles north of Anchorage, bounded by the Chukchi Sea to the west & the Beaufort Sea to the north. It is the largest single area of public land in the United States. It covers crucial #habitat for #GrizzlyBears, #PolarBears, #caribou, thousands of #MigratoryBirds & other #wildlife.
Traffic on beaches
It's the Wild West - turning beach ecology into a Woolies car park
Off-road vehicles are allowed to cause "serious ecological harm" to beaches, dunes and estuaries ecosystems. Vehicles traffic is causing "unequivocal serious and widespread damage" to coastal dune ecosystems. "All of the species had suffered negative effects caused by off-road vehicles. The four-by-fours running over them basically crush them to death."
"Professor Schlacher said the Noosa North Shore, Rainbow Beach, K'gari and Bribie Island were among the car-accessible beaches that were being "pummelled to death"". On Bribie Island "there can be 1,200 vehicles on the beach in one day, and that's ridiculous. It's just like a Woolies car park."
Ban 4WDs from beaches >>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-24/call-for-four-wheel-drive-ban-aussie-beaches/104990150
#NationalParks #beaches #dunes #traffic #cars #vehicles #SUVs #4WDs #Biodiversity #wildlife #Invertebrates #birds #shorebirds #MigratoryBirds #turtles #NSW #Queensland #Australia #regulation #climate
#Trump moves to relax rules against killing #MigratoryBirds
The #Interior Dept suspended a #legal opinion holding companies liable for accidentally killing ducks, cranes, pelicans, owls & other bird species.
#law #wildlife #conservation #birds #USpol@
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/03/10/migratory-bird-protections-suspended/
“Migratory Geese, Wetlands” Migratory geese (likely snow, Ross’s, and white-fronted) in Central California wetlands.
Our little band of photographers gathered once again on New Year’s Day to greet the new year together and photograph migratory birds and the often-foggy Central Valley landscape. This photograph holds what I think of as the main elements of this winter landscape: birds, a bit of fog, sky, trees, and grasses. (OK, cattle and crops are part of the scene, but not in this photograph.)…continues: https://gdanmitchell.com/2025/01/11/migratory-geese-wetlands/
“Wetlands, Winter Sky” — Pre-dawn light colors the sky and clouds above Central Valley wetlands on a winter morning.
Happy holidays on this Christmas morning! This is an older photograph, made on a winter morning a few years ago. I had arrived at this location well before sunrise to photograph migratory birds with a group of fellow photographers. Soon light started to come to the sky, and high, thin clouds started to pick up color in the brilliant early sky. The clouds and colors were reflected in a nearby wetlands pond as birds flew overhead…continues: https://gdanmitchell.com/2024/12/25/wetlands-winter-sky-2/
“Geese, Morning Clouds” — A flock of geese in flight against morning clouds, Central Valley, California.
Sunrise often produces remarkable light, especially when the right sorts of clouds are present. These clouds were a bit unusual for this location, where I usually either encounter thick tule fog or high clouds produced by large scale weather patterns. These morning clouds were lower than usual, but not ground fog, and having a bit of the “mackerel sky” look. I photographed them as the first light arrived and a flock of migratory geese passed overhead…continues: https://gdanmitchell.com/2024/12/24/geese-morning-clouds-2/
Magnetic Displacement Experiment Challenges Long-Held Theories On How Migratory Birds Navigate
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https://phys.org/news/2024-11-magnetic-displacement-held-theories-migratory.html <-- shared technical article
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https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2024.1363 <-- shared paper
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#GIS #spatial #mapping #migration #magnetism #geomagnetism #inclination #declination #bird #avian #navigation #biology #ecosystems #migratorybirds #breeding #wintering #reedwarblers #research #experimentation #magneticfield
“'For over a decade, Gateway Arch’s exterior lights have been turned off for two weeks each May and September to help minimize the possible disorienting effect the lights may have on birds that migrate at night. With changes in migration patterns, the park decided it would extend turning the lights off for the entire month."
Beautiful video produced by Cornell Lab of Ornithology - made because of a proposed new road that would pass through an Alaskan Wilderness area. Currently an undisturbed refuge for many, many different species, the highway would bisect the protected area, changing the environment forever, and putting all the wildlife at greater risk.
"Izembek"
https://youtu.be/RkBbA7iJN8g
Why #LightPollution is a solvable #environmental crisis
Excessive #OutdoorLighting is deadly to #animals and takes a toll on #HumanHealth and wellbeing, too. But when it comes to large-scale environmental problems, this one may be a relatively easy fix.
By Alissa Greenberg
Friday, April 1, 2022
"In recent decades, lightbulbs made with #LEDs arrived, a revolution in energy efficiency with seemingly little downside. After all, an #LED bulb converts some 90% of the electricity it uses into light, whereas a conventional incandescent bulb only converts about 10%. And LED bulbs are touted as lasting up to 25 times longer.
"But the physics of LEDs make them fundamentally different from incandescents. While those traditional bulbs put out warm white light made of all colors mixed together, LEDs filter blue-rich light through a specialized phosphor material, producing light that appears white to the human eye but is still more blue-intense than incandescents’ light.
"But #BlueLight is also the most disruptive to our #nighttime environment because it mimics daylight, disrupting the hormone production and sleep cycles of both animals and humans.
"#Melatonin, one of those hormones, helps the immune system destroy renegade cells dividing out of control. That can lead to other health issues, including heightened rates of #cancer. And, 'we’re not the only ones who produce melatonin,' says Mario Motta, a cardiologist and trustee of the American Medical Association. Even amoebae produce melatonin'—meaning even amoebae might be vulnerable to light at night.
"The impacts of light pollution are evident everywhere from human health to astronomy research, but they come into particular focus in the recent phenomenon of global species #dieoffs. Between 100 million and a billion birds die every year due to light pollution, according to Massachusetts IDA chapter president James Lowenthal. New York City recently dealt with a huge die-off, 'with flocks of #MigratoryBirds slamming into buildings,' says Sarah Bois, an ecologist at the island’s Linda Loring Nature Foundation and a member of Nantucket Lights. 'They’re attracted to light.' A 2015 study at New York’s 9/11 'Tribute in Light'' installation showed an increase from 500 birds within half a kilometer of the light beams before they were turned on to 15,700 just minutes after.
"The issue is a double whammy for birds because they rely on #insects for food—and those populations are plummeting, with light pollution contributing significantly to the so-called "#InsectApocalypse.” By some estimates, one third of insects attracted to light sources at night die before morning, either due to exhaustion or because they get eaten. And according to a study in Germany, the number of insects in that country alone that die after being attracted to lights can number 100 billion or more in a single summer.
"Some starve to death searching for food that should appear bluer at twilight but is lit up amber under streetlights, says insect conservationist Avalon Owens, a doctoral candidate at Tufts University. Some are thrown off by light just the way we are, because of their #CircadianRhythms. #Pollinators whose schedules are altered by artificial light miss the #flowers they’re evolutionarily paired with, if the flowers naturally close and open with the warmth of the sun. And insects that rely on circadian rhythms for their yearly development don’t hibernate in time for winter and freeze to death.
"On #Nantucket, these phenomena are of particular concern because the island is home to a remarkably healthy population of northern long-eared #bats, which are endangered. Like many birds, the bats rely on insects for food and are easily dazzled by light, putting them in increasing jeopardy. Jack Dubinsky, director of the Maria Mitchell Aquarium on Nantucket, says he’s concerned that adding increasingly lit-up nights to the challenges of #ClimateChange, water quality, and #ecosystem collapse could put huge pressure on some already struggling species. 'The more curveballs we throw, the less likely they’ll be able to find their way,' he says.
Read more:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/light-pollution-led-nantucket-solutions/
“Flock of Cranes” — A flock of lesser sandhill cranes feeding in an agricultural field.
Unless and until I return to my old files to review them later on, this is likely this season’s last photograph of migratory birds. I photographed this group of lesser sandhill cranes in an old corn field on my final seasonal visit back in early March. By that date the departure of geese was perhaps a week away and the cranes would leave soon after that. This was nearly the last photograph of them I made this season…continues: https://gdanmitchell.com/2024/04/16/flock-of-cranes/
Winter Geese, Winter Pond” — Migratory geese (including Rosss, snow, and cackling geese) settle in a California Central Valley pond as a weather front approaches.
On the best winter days, migratory birds gather by the hundreds of thousands (millions?) up and down California’s Central Valley, especially where the winter wetland ponds form. I first became vaguely aware of this decades ago on a winter drive up the Sacramento Valley on my way to Washington, when for the first time I saw multitudes of birds in the winter sky. Later a chance comment by a friend led me to a location in the delta where birds gather by thousands. Since then, I’ve been addicted to experiencing and photographing this annual wonder...https://gdanmitchell.com/2024/02/24/winter-geese-winter-pond/
“Winter Geese, Morning Fog” — Winter geese fly above foggy wetlands in morning light.
This was not the photograph I planned to make when I stopped here. The area was blanketed with tule fog, and no birds were visible. So I got out my tripod and turned my attention to making landscape photographs. As I worked the fog began to thin, and the sky above became faintly visible though the shallow fog. I heard geese approaching, and as the first group passed I grabbed my camera off the tripod, quickly reset things for handheld photography, and framed this subject as the next large group passed overhead…continues: https://gdanmitchell.com/2024/02/18/winter-geese-morning-fog/
“Two Cranes, Reflection” — Two sandhill cranes and their reflections in a wetland pond.
Sandhill cranes have the remarkable ability to look both comically clumsy (watch them land!) and remarkably graceful. This pair managed to produce the latter impression as they crossed paths in a shallow wetland pond. It helped that they were between me and the sun, placing their reflection in the water in front of them…continues: https://gdanmitchell.com/2024/02/06/two-cranes-reflection/
“Final Approach” — A trio of snow geese lining up to land in a Central Valley pond.
Snow geese and Ross’s geese were my first interest years ago when I began paying serious attention to photographing birds. I had been tuned into California’s natural world for decades, but somehow I had missed the annual bird migrations, so “discovering” them was a thrill. Eventually the geese didn’t like the only thing worth photographing, and I no longer chase after them reflexively. But they still can be compelling — and there’s nothing quite like the sight and sound of thousands of them taking to the sky at once!…continues: https://gdanmitchell.com/2024/01/19/final-approach/
“Two Cranes in Synchronized Flight” — Two lesser sandhill cranes in synchronized flight above California’s Central Valley.
Sandhill cranes always excite me. Aside from backyard birds like robins, they are the first birds that intrigued me — years ago when I read about them in Leopold’s “A Sand County Almanac” for a college class. Although I had not ever seen the birds, Leopold’s description stuck with me, and years later I was thrilled to learn that they are abundant in parts of California. I had not realized this, and it was an accidentally “discovery” made back when I started to photograph migratory geese.…continues: https://gdanmitchell.com/2024/01/03/two-cranes-in-synchronized-flight/
An ovenbird foraging in the underbrush.
How do #migratorybirds find their way?
ERC grantees Henrik Mouritsen & Peter Hore show how 
sense the #geomagnetic field to help them navigate, contributing to a 
scientific field: #QuantumBiology.
#WMBD2023 #Magneticcompass #Biodiversity #ERCSyG
: https://n.respublicae.eu/ERC_Research/status/1657287116257382402
Greg Cocks 
