It's Arbor Day! Plant a Tree!

Today (Friday, April 27) is Arbor Day, a holiday with its origins in the pioneer days on the Nebraska plains in the 1870s. Back then, farmers needed to plant trees as wind breaks to keep the plowed soil from blowing away. While I have mixed feelings about most of the Great Plains falling under the plow, which necessitated the planting of trees (that would never have naturally occurred there), I do believe that planting native trees in places where they belong is a good thing. You can read the history of Arbor Day here and learn about the Arbor Day Foundation here.

The Nature Conservancy is using the celebration of Arbor Day to focus attention on their Plant a Billion Trees project. The project focuses on restoration in the Atlantic Forest region of southeastern Brazil. I spent a week birding in this amazing part of the world back in 2008 (you can read a few of my blog posts here.) I witnessed vast tracts of forest, filled with birds and animals. And I also saw thousands of acres where the trees had been removed—often by slash-and-burn—and the land turned over to agricultural use. Some areas were so overgrazed and eroded that they were just bare, rocky earth.

The goal of this restoration project is to plant a billion trees in Brazil's Atlantic Forest by 2015. To help make this happen, TNC is asking for donation of a dollar per tree. More details can be found on the project's fancy, informative website: plantabillion.org.

Or, if you're wanting to make an impact closer to home, plant a native tree in your own backyard. Then stand back and take a deep breath of fresh air, because (don't forget) without trees, we would have a lot less oxygen to breathe.

Myself, I plan to find a really nice old tree on Arbor Day, put my arms around it and give it a long hug.

Way Offline

Dear BOTB Readers:

Apologies for the break in the posting here. I was out in the Great Plains at a birding festival and then totally disconnected from the world for a week in the western mountains—which felt really wonderful. The first week was devoted to birds and native prairie. The second week was more devoted to mega-fauna mammals and mountains.

I'll post some of the images and stories from the trip soon. But first I have to get back online (like this western kingbird) and catch up with e-mail and all the other distractions of this thoroughly modern world we inhabit.

As a side note, being disconnected from the news cycle meant we enjoyed a week free from the crushingly sad updates about the BP/gulf oil disaster. I was very much hoping to come back to the "connected" world to find that the gusher had been fixed and all resources were being focused on the clean-up and restoration efforts. No such luck.

Here are two ways you can help birds and wildlife of the gulf coast region by supporting efforts to restore habitat and monitor bird populations.

The National Wildlife Federation text message donation campaign. This is as easy as sending a text message via your phone to 20222. You will be charged $10 on your phone bill. Here is how these donated funds will be used.

American Birding Association's Gulf Coast Bird Monitoring Fund. The ABA is working with local organizations to monitor local bird populations.

I've learned from reliable sources that very few birds that are severely oiled recover, much less survive. The physical trauma of being oiled, combined with the stress of being captured, restrained, and cleaned has got to be terrifying. It's no wonder there are so few happy stories of recovery for badly oiled birds.

What's going to be more important (after getting the gushing of oil stopped) is getting the habitat restored, so that future generations of pelicans and terns and shorebirds can live in and migrate through the gulf region.

Then we as a nation need to figure out a way to be less reliant on oil and other non-renewable sources of energy. That's going to be a hard one.

Some people choose to scream for a boycott of BP. I'm OK with that. But I'd prefer to figure out a way to reduce our oil consumption overall.

I don't like to preach to others about what they should and should not do. So instead I'll offer this suggestion—which perhaps comes to me in the clarity following a week of being way offline—do the little things that you can do to conserve and preserve. Every little thing each of us can do will help because every thing in this world is connected. Grow a garden. Recycle what you can. Share a ride. Think about your impact on the planet.

And see if you can't disconnect for a while from the devices and technology and "connections" that eat up so much of our time and energy. You might be surprised at how quickly your brain and body adjust to rhythm of the actual world—and how wonderful (and natural) that feels.

Don't worry—we'll still be here when (if?) you come back!

BOTB

Liam and the Gorilla

Last Friday, as part of his 10th birthday celebration extravaganza, we took Liam and his sister Phoebe, and two of their Columbus pals, to the Columbus Zoo. Liam really wanted to see the gorillas, though he assured me that the bison was still his favorite animal.

So, after checking out several of the other animal exhibits (broken up into continental themes: Asia, Africa, North America, etc) we headed over to the Gorilla House to visit the relatives. The gorillas at the Columbus zoo are western lowland gorillas.

What happened next was pretty cool.

We were looking through the thick glass enclosure at a humongous male silver-backed gorilla. It was eating some tiny seeds it was picking up off the floor. Liam was fascinated to be so close to such a huge animal. Adult male western lowland gorillas can weigh almost 500 pounds and stand 6-feet tall. They are called "silver-backeds" because the hair on their backs goes silver as they age—at about 12 years old. Males younger than 12 years have all black hair.

I couldn't resist taking some pictures of Liam watching the male eating.
And then the male turned to look at Liam...

And the two shared a moment of quiet, mutual contemplation....

I was so proud of Liam for staying in the moment and for realizing how special it was to be looked at by a mature male gorilla.

The only thing Liam said was "Man, this gorilla really likes looking at me!"

Liam even canted his head to the side, aping the great ape's head position.


We humans have something like 98% similarity in our DNA to that of western lowland gorillas. And yet, gorillas are endangered wherever they occur due to deforestation, bush-meat hunting, and persecution. While it's not as special to see gorillas in a zoo as it would be to see them in the wild, places like the Columbus Zoo help to educate (and fascinate) the public about these incredible animals. And the Columbus Zoo generously funds a variety of gorilla research and conservation programs in countries where these wondrous animals are struggling to sustain their populations.

If you have not yet been to the see the gorillas at the Columbus Zoo, I'd highly recommend a visit. Take the kids. Take the neighbors. Take your friends. But definitely take yourself. By the way, 2009 is the Year of the Gorilla at the zoo.

As we were leaving the gorillas, Liam waved goodbye to his new pal. And then he said "Waal, I think that giant man gorilla knew it was my birthday and that's why we had a special connection!"

Who was I to argue with that?