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A Wonders of Water Festival at WNC Nature Center
The Nature Center will celebrate our most precious resource, water, while teaching what all of us can do to protect it. Numerous local nonprofits and government agencies (specifically, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Project WET, Buncombe County Soil and Water Conservation District, Riverlink, and Haywood Waterways) will be here to promote water conservation, recreation, and awareness. The Center will be giving away water conservation kits free to the first 30 families entering that day. Other water conservation items will be available at cost or as prizes during the day. Vegetarian food will be served exclusively to highlight the fact that vegetarian diets use far less water than meat based diets. Other fun activities include collecting aquatic insects from the Swannanoa River, participating in enrichment activities with the Center’s aquatic animals (the River Otter and the Northern Water Snake), and otherwise getting all wet at a big community water party! Run on down for gallons of fun in the sun! That same day will be the grand opening of “Native Waters”, a national traveling exhibit from Bozeman, MT focused on Native American perceptions of water and its conservation. This exhibit juxtaposes themes of water cycle science with Native American regard for water. It will provide a powerful and multidimensional perspective of water as something spiritually significant as well as precious in a very practical sense. Visitors will do things such as pump “rain” over a model landscape with urban and rural sections and see first hand the relative absorption capacities of each type of landscape. Children will race marbles through a landscape trying to avoid nonpoint source pollution on their way to the river. Certain panels have audio components with Native American elders speaking of their regard for water and its meaning. The exhibit will be hosted by the WNC Nature Center until the end of October and is made possible by a generous grant from the Pigeon River Fund of the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina. "We are very excited and proud to be able to share the "Native Waters" traveling exhibit with Nature Center visitors. This wonderful exhibit will help us educate and fascinate visitors about the intricacies of all life forms dependent on water as well as the strong connection and reverence that Native Americans have for this precious resource. We will be able to also highlight the need for good stewardship of water and present many practical methods for responsible water resource management. We are grateful for the generosity of the Pigeon River Fund of the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina that made this special exhibit possible," said Bob Fay, Nature Center Operations Manager. For more information on either the Wonders of Water Festival or the "Native Waters" exhibit, please contact Dan Clere, Nature Center Education Specialist, at (828) 298-5600 ext. 403. |
Drop into the Wonders of Waters Festival and the grand opening of the special traveling exhibit, “Native Waters”, Saturday, August 9th from 10:00am to 4:00pm, at the WNC Nature Center, 75 Gashes Creek Road, in East Asheville.
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Irresponsible Board of Management
Maybe , just maybe The Toronto Zoo Board Is In The Middle Of A Financial Crisis And There Is No Place To Go But To City Council like a wayward son go to Mom and Dad for more money...
Although it was made clear by Shelley Carroll (the City's Budget Chief) that the Toronto Zoo has to behave more financially responsible, perhaps the problem is that there is no place else to go. The $250 Million fund-raising plans are a pipe dream (especially after firing the Zoo Foundation), it is not possible to raise admission prices any longer (or face a significant drop in attendance) and the "junkets" (especially to China for the Giant Pandas) by members of the Zoo Board can not be cut significantly for any reason. In other words, there is no place to go but City Council. What a crock! The Toronto Zoo Board needs a reality check, as it has become clear that they do not understand the problems they are facing. Perhaps the thousands of free Zoo passes given to Councillors on the Zoo Board could be cut to zero, perhaps the Zoo Foundation could be re-instated, and perhaps a citizen's advisory committee could be formed to provide much-needed guidance to the existing members of the Board.
This is Proof positive
that citizens should have more direct say in the budget process. Line item veto by a citizen's budget committee might get the desired cuts we must attain. The citizens of Toronto should stand with one voice that we just won't allow a property tax increase this year.
By Latinoboy in TORONTO
Ethyl Mercaptan
I would be quite interested in any reference you might have to the presence of ethyl mercaptan in carrion. Most literature indicates that dimethyl sulfide and methyl mercaptan are the sulfur containing entities involved. I had also thought that vultures, like many carrion eating and inhabiting species (flies, etc) were attracted to the rather bad smell of the nitrogenous materials (cadaverine, putresceine, etc) produced during decomposition.
Ant farms
Very nice ant exhibit! I wrote a small ant farm post with a reference to your article.
Train Business Directory Available for Visitors
A "Train Business Directory" shows over 850 locations near all of the Portland MAX light rail at PortlandLightRail.net.
Happy Birthday, Boomer!
You are a great ambassador for your cousins in the wild, Boomer!
Orangutans are critically endangered because of rapid deforestation and the expansion of palm oil plantations.
If nothing is done to protect orangutans, they could be extinct in just a few years!
Your fans can visit the Orangutan Outreach website to make a difference!
Orangutan Outreach
http://redapes.org
Reach out and save the orangutans!
Facebook Cause: http://causes.com/redapes
Venemous snakes?
What is it with people that want to exterminate venemous snakes? If they weren't an integral part of the food chain and ecosystem, they wouldn't be here! Evolution and natural selection has chosen them as survivors! The fact that they are "harmful" to humans is only a result of humans encroaching on their territories and habitats. Be mindful of your surroundings and situation and you can safely live with the so called "harmful" species that we share this planet with!
Local wildlife day
Good luck with the event. We have some fabulous wildlife in Devon that's really worth celebrating. We recently had a botanical survey of our small Devon nature reserve, which recorded more than 180 species in about 3.5 acres. And even more amazing was the depth of local knowledge the visiting naturalists had to share - on everything from obscure moths to lichens.
Local wildlife day
Good luck with the event. We have some fabulous wildlife in Devon that's really worth celebrating. We recently had a botanical survey of our small Devon nature reserve, which recorded more than 180 species in about 3.5 acres. And even more amazing was the depth of local knowledge the visiting naturalists had to share - on everything from obscure moths to lichens.
Sadly, a lack of common sense is the trend
What is sad to me is the lack of common sense regarding venomous snakes that seems to becoming more commonplace.
It has become trendy for government agencies to defend venomous snakes, saying they kill rodents, etc., but non-venomous snakes also kill rodents. I have not heard one logical argument as to what a venomous snake contributes to an ecosystem that a non-venomous snake doesn't.
Any non-biased biologist can affirm species extinction has always happened naturally. It's common sense to kill a venomous snake, rather than let it continue breeding and increase the potential for harm.
The unfortunate consequence of naturalists defending venomous snakes is they make them appear so necessary and harmless that both people and agencies--hospitals, for example--do not expect or prepare for snake encounters.
It's doubtful that many hospitals near the snakes stock the expensive antivenin. Governments should help fund snakebite treatment rather than fund snake protection.
Skype Usage
Very cool and novel way to use Skype. Glad to see that people are thinking outside the box with its collaborative application. If it's not too late, you may want to submit this to Skype as a good use of their software for the Skype in business contest they're running.
Shawn
OnState Communications
Word Oceans Day - June 8
And don't forget to "Wear Blue and Tell Two"
Another great way to celebrate World Oceans Day is to wear blue in honor of the ocean and tell people two things they likely don't know about the ocean and two ways they can take action. For more Information check out this website:
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