Barred Owls and Wintery Mix

Bad news first: our Barred Owl cousins are getting shot by the dozens. And if a new program goes according to plan, more than 3,500 can be legally killed. It's all an effort to make room for the Spotted Owl, which is losing habitat to the bigger, more aggressive species. Fascinating story. Go read, then we'll discuss. I'll wait.

I really want to know what you think. Is previous human disruption enough justification for hunting wild creatures now? Or should biologists spend resources on other initiatives, such as restoring habitat or breeding programs?

And to cheer ya'll up, here's a playlist! Perfect for the chilling wind and spitting snow we've had in Missouri lately. There's seriously not a track I don't love.

If you aren't reading The Fox is Black, then what are you reading?

Water In the Desert

Few places in my travels have come to mean as much to me as the Great Basin. Several posts on this blog including Turning the Pages of a Mountain and My Own Finding Everett Ruess are about wonderings through some section in or around the Great Basin. Consequently, I took High Country News' post entitled "Las Vegas Bets Big On Rural Water" with a bit of heartache. Plans are made to allow the shuttling of water out of five basins of origin and into Las Vegas. What the impact could be on the people, plants and wildlife of the southeastern Great Basin is beyond my area of expertise to predict. The watersheds included in this plan are home to rural Nevada towns, Great Basin National Park and cattle pasture. The best I can do is share what the area affected by this plan looks like. It is my hope that through these images some greater understanding of what it has come to mean to me is better understood.

Great Basin National Park