Super Volcanoes Could Spell our End?

New research out of Vanderbilt University suggests that super volcanoes, rather than asteroids are responsible for more mass extinctions.  What's worse, these researchers believe that the time between the magma chamber's filling and an eruption is mere centuries.  In other words, the world's civilization may have little time to prepare for a massive eruption.

Thankfully, super volcanoes appear to have long period between eruptions.  For example, scientists believe the eruption cycle for Yellowstone is 600,000 years.  Unfortunately, Yellowstone's last eruption was about that long ago.

The central focus of my new novel, Unleashing Colter's Hell, is about a terrorist attack on Yellowstone.  An attempt to ignite one of the world's largest super volcanoes and destroy the United States in the process.

Park Designation Cheapens Places?

A recent op-ed in the Oregonian claims that raising Mount St. Helens to a national park would cheapen the memories of those killed during the 1980 eruption.  According to the op-ed Mount St. Helens is a place of "tremendous sorrow and astounding rebirth."  Making the volcano a national park would cheapen the area by possibly "loving it death."
By this logic any tomb or place of mass death would be barred from ever becoming part of the national park system.  Unfortunately, this would mean national parks such as Grant's tomb, the flight 93 memorial, or the USS Arizona would never have been established.  The national park service for nearly 100 years has preserved and appropriately memorialized sites such as these, all while welcoming millions of visitors.

The National Park Service would bring the same level of professionalism to Mount St. Helens.

What are your thoughts on whether designating Mount St. Helens a national park would cheapen the place.

Nuclear Park?

Congress is considering making the Hanford B reactor, as well as sites in Los Alamos, NM and Oak Ridge, TN as part of a Manhattan Project National Park.  Recently, concerned citizens, elected officials, government officials, and business owners met in Richland to discuss the park including how the Park Service might interpret this controversial subject. 



America's ushering in of the atomic age and the dropping of the Fat Man and Little Boy bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is a story that produces strong emotions.  Many are opposed to the sites being added to the park system and rather than being commemorated believe the sites should be destroyed and forgotten.  But one of the United States' strongest qualities is our willingness to confront controversial subjects.  Some of our darkest chapters in history are told and preserved in the national park system.  For example, the Park Service protects sites where Japanese Americans were interned during World War II, or the site of American Indian massacres or civil rights riots. 



America grows stronger when it confronts controversial subjects and invites all sides to share their views.  The Manhattan Project National Historical Park will be another in a long line of thought provoking parks



What are your thoughts?



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Check out my new novel, Unleashing Colter's Hell.   Look for it on Amazon soon!

Border Smorder?

The United States Congress is considering legislation that would exempt the US Border Patrol from complying with environmental laws while conducting law enforcement operations within 100 miles of the Canadian and Mexican border. Proponents of the law state it is needed because environmental law such as the wilderness act prevent the Border Patrol from conducting operations along the borders. Opponents of the law, including the Border Patrol have stated its unnecessary as agreements with agencies such as the National Park Service on operations have been worked out.

Others argue, the law is unnecessary and may be little more than an attempt to gut American authority to manage federal lands for purposes other than extractive uses. A curious exemption would prevent the Border Patrol from exercising its new powers on lands used for mining, timber harvest, and grazing. If Congress' motivation for the legislation is their concern that current law and land use stands in the way of the Border Patrol's getting the "bad guys" why the exemption for lands used for extractive uses? Moreover, Constitutional protections such as the fifth amendment also stand in the way of the Border Patrol. House republicans might better serve their supposed cause by offering an amendment to repeal select bill of rights protections.

Your thoughts?

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Look for my new novel, Unleashing Colter's Hell to be out on Amazon soon.

Wilderness: An idea that needs no defense, only defenders.

The United States is coming up on the golden anniversary of one of its best ideas. In 2014, the Wilderness Act will turn 50 years old. Today some take the idea of setting aside lands so that natural forces could take the course for granted. But in 1964 setting aside land to remain untrammeled where humans were merely visitors was a radical idea.

The wilderness system has grown from roughly 9 million acres in 1964, to nearly 110 million acres today. While that number seems impressive its only about 5 percent of the entire United States landmass. Further, the system includes large acres of snow and ice wilderness and is lacking in low elevation forests and grasslands.

Some bemoan the idea of wilderness, arguing that the land is "locked up" for no benefit. This is not the case. Protecting ecosystems and their natural processes provide numerous benefits including environmental, economic, social health, and scientific discoveries.

The national park service recently released a beautiful video on the wilderness act and the ideal it protects. Check it out here.

The wilderness act was a far sighted promise to future generation that some areas would be protected. Some areas would be left untrammeled so that future citizens could enjoy the benefits of clean air and water, solitude, natural soundscapes, healthily lifestyles, robust wildlife populations, sound economies, and scientific discoveries.

What are your thoughts on wilderness? Was it a good idea to set aside some lands for permanent protection?

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Look for my new novel, Unleashing Colter's Hell to be out soon.