Happy Earth Day

There's been some hand wringing over whether or not to celebrate Earth Day over at Worldchanging and elsewhere. But my family couldn't resist celebrating our favorite planet yesterday at a local nature center, the Howard County Conservancy.

It was especially festive at the Conservancy because we were also celebrating Rachel Carson's upcoming Centennial birthday. Volunteers, including my daughter, Sarah, read from Carson's work (The Sense of Wonder and The Lost Woods). We also saw a film produced by high school student Kristen Cronon, Taking a Stand in History: Rachel Carson's Silent Spring which was part of the 2006 American Conservation Film Festival.

Then we went outdoors for our own Sense of Wonder walk. One of our number looked up and noticed, among a gathering of soaring vultures, a bald eagle. Its brilliant white head and tail were unmistakeable against the blue sky, making it an easy first eagle for several in our group, and a cosmic coincidence to spot while celebrating Carson's role in protecting birds of prey from DDT. Just as poeticallly, the kids celebrated along the way by shucking off shoes and splashing in the Conservancy's cool streams.

Back home again, I couldn't resist one final Earth Day celebration, heading into the woods to read just a bit of my favorite Almanac. Happy Earth Day, everyone!

Birthday on the Bayou

It was my son's birthday today, and he requested a trip to the Virginia version of the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. Eli has an 8-year-old boy's insatiable appetite for peering into biplanes, jets, space shuttles, etc., and his dad contentedly tagged along. But the rest of us needed a break after awhile and ducked into the IMAX presentation du jour: Hurricane on the Bayou. It's the wide-screen story of how the loss of wetlands, through mistaken efforts to control flooding and to facilitate oil production has eroded Louisiana wetlands and tragically contributed to Hurricane Katrina's toll. To me, it was a cut above many Imax presentations, which tend to be long on visuals but short on facts or ideas. Besides exceptional imagery of alligators & other wildlife dependent on a healthy bayou, "Hurricane" featured New Orleans-brand music, notably from Cajun blues master and wetlands activist, Tab Benoit. A local 14-year-old fiddle player, Amanda Shaw, also added her musical stylings and passion for 'gators to the emotional mix (& appeal to kids like mine). The movie's web page amplifies the message of wetlands conservation, with a guide for educators, a podcast on wetlands, and NOAA hurricane information. But it's the music that sticks with me, alternately jaunty and driving or yearning and grieving, as an unforgettable call to restore coastal wetlands to protect unique wildlife and human culture.

I'm not familiar with any good books about Louisiana's wildlife or ecosystems, but I know there are some out there. Any suggestions?

Lord God Bird Books (and movies)

We were having a busy, over-worked weekend, and no one in my family had time to go to a movie. But it was the premier of a work-in-progress about the re-discovery of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, part of the DC Environmental Film Festival. All six of us threw caution to the wind (one had to be bribed with Afgan takeout food), and headed for the theater.

Much to our surprise, the place was brimming with other Lord God Bird fans. We stood next to a bearded man in a tweed sports jacket and chatted, as people smushed together waiting and waiting sometimes do. My gastronomically-motivated son joked that he'd only come because he thought there'd be cajun food (thinking the bird was found in Louisiana, I guess). Our unknown neighbor replied that one always eats Dinty Moore out in the swamp. "You've been out there?" asked I. "Many many times. I just got back from Florida." "You've looked for the woodpecker?" With a wry smile, "I was one of the three discoverers."

For comparison, I think my husband would have been as thrilled as I was if he'd found himself in line with Bob Dylan. My kids were pretty thrilled too, even more so when our line companion appeared as a prominent character in the movie--Bobby Harrison. He's written a children's book, "To Find an Ivory-Billed Woodpecker," which I'm planning to get and read to my youngest. But mainly, he's a bird photographer and founder of The Ivory Billed Woodpecker Foundation . As well as, of course, an adventurer with a passion for the holy grail of many conservationists, the ivory billed.

I've read one award-winning book about the bird--The Race to Save the Lord God Bird, by Phillip Hoose--and have heard good things about another--The Grail Bird, by Tim Gallagher (another of the re-discoverers in the movie). I plan to read the latter and other things that come my way about this beautiful bird and the inspiring efforts of Harrison and others who seek to find and protect it. But the moral of my family's movie-line experience is that we need to put down the books sometimes. Even if we can't get out in the bayou, we can get out in the world (even when we're too busy) and meet others, like minded or not, who will inspire us toward action. And, yes, toward more reading.

Being Caribou, and Whales, and Coyotes

My daughter and I just got home from a two night conservation film festival at our local nature center. The films gave us so much to think and talk about that they'll probably pop up as blog topics several times. Titles included Flight of the Merganser, Chasing Coyotes, Life List, Arctic Dreams, Life Among Whales, and Store Wars. All of them are well worth viewing and discussing, though the whale movie could have been rated R for graphic violence and my 12 year old was pretty overwhelmed by the sadness after seeing so many dismembered animals. I'm glad I didn't take my younger son; depressing and frightening kids isn't the best way to recruit young environmentalists. But that's another entry. . . .

For now, though, I want to emphasize my favorite film, Being Caribou. It tells the amazing story of two Canadians who follow the porcupine caribou herd from their winter territory to their calving grounds in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It's successful as an adventure, documenting the hardships of following caribou trails on foot through snow, over mountains, and across rivers while carrying 80 pound packs. They used so much energy in their daily treks that they felt hungry day and night. It works as satire, too, since the couple brought along a plastic George Bush doll to witness their trek. George remains stoic throughout their trek, even weathering a four-day blizzard with the same frozen grin. But does the film work as a form of activism? Did the audience feel inspired to fight for the Arctic Refuge and wilderness afterward? I would love to know. I certainly felt more determined than ever to go to the upcoming Climate Crisis Day in D.C. Next, I'm going to check out the film's website Being Caribou and learn more about how the companion book and related efforts to protect the refuge.

Are films as effective--or more effective--than books at inspiring environmental action? Do we have evidence, anecdotes, or just opinions to guide us in answering that question? I'd love to hear what others think. . . .