Dry Falls

What an amazing place!

Here is information about its creation from Wikipedia:

Dry Falls is a 3.5 mile long scalloped precipice in central Washington, on the opposite side of the Upper Grand Coulee from the Columbia River, and at the head of the Lower Grand Coulee. At five times the width of Niagara,^[1]:116 Dry Falls is thought to be the greatest known waterfall that ever existed. According to the current geological model, catastrophic flooding channeled water at 65 miles per hour through the Upper Grand Coulee and over this 400-foot (120 m) rock face at the end of the last ice age. At this time, it is estimated that the flow of the falls was ten times the current flow of all the rivers in the world combined.

Nearly twenty thousand years ago, as glaciers moved south through North America, an ice sheet dammed the Clark Fork River near Sandpoint, Idaho. Consequently, a significant portion of western Montana flooded, forming the gigantic Lake Missoula. About the same time, Glacial Lake Columbia was formed on the ice-dammed Columbia River behind the Okanogan lobe of theCordilleran Ice Sheet. Lake Columbia's overflow – the diverted Columbia River – drained first through Moses Coulee and as the ice dam grew, later through the Grand Coulee.

Another essay link

My Prairie chicken Festival essay has been published and can be found online at http://www.prairiefirenewspaper.com/2012/07/the-inaugural-nebraska-prairie-chicken-festival . In other news, a fire is burning in the Nebraska Natural Forest near Halsey. The last I heard a thousand acres have burned and the blaze is not fully contained.

Essay link

The Prairie Fire essay appears at http://www.prairiefirenewspaper.com/2012/06/tree-planting-forestation-in-nebraska-a-continuing-success

Nebraska's Forests

Since inheriting the family pine tree farm in Louisiana in 2003, my interest in trees, forests and forestry has increased dramatically.

One result of that interest was learning Nebraska has two national forests. That alone, makes Nebraska, a Great Plains state, somewhat unique. Not every state can claim a national forest. Nebraska’s national forests are also unique in where they are located (in the Sandhills) and how they came to exist.

Because I believe many Nebraskans are not aware of the uniqueness and history of their national forests and the importance early Nebraskans attached to trees, I wrote an essay on these topics that appears in the June issue of Lincoln’s Prairie Fire newspaper. I invite you to read that essay and hope you find it interesting and informative.

More on Prairie Chickens

My last post mentioned a report on Nebraska’s first Prairie Chicken Festival. That report has been written and submitted for publication. I understand the report was favorably received and may appear in print next month.

In the meantime, I urge you to visit the blog, “A Land Ethic,” alandethic.blogspot.com, for an excellent post about one of the Festival’s Friday night performances that had meaning beyond its entertainment value 

The blog’s author, Larkin Powell, Professor of Conservation Biology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Nebraska Lincoln, also made presentations at the Festival. One of them addressed habitat for Prairie Chickens in Nebraska and included reasons to be positive about Nebraska’s Prairie Chicken population and future.

Despite his optimistic comments, the May-June issue of Audubon magazine—in highlighting efforts being made in Missouri to preserve prairies noted Missouri’s Prairie Chicken population may have declined 80% from the early 1970s and may now number less than 250,000—brings home that habitat preservation should not be taken for granted but instead, be continually encouraged.

Prescription for a long life

Until I am able to post about my recent trip to the Sandhills for the Prairie Chicken Festival  I want to say I agree with retired University of Nebraska Professor Paul A. Johnsgard who believes that the hours devoted to watching birds, like those spent reading or stargazing, are not counted against one's allocated time on earth.

It's spring

Spring's signs are unmistakably present.

People are active.

Flower planting, mulching, mowing, and other landscaping tasks are now common in our neighborhood. (I don't like weeding.)

Birds are active also.

New sightings include red-winged blackbirds and wild turkeys. Grackles think the bird feeder belongs to them. This morning a mallard walked the golf course. Male goldfinches have turned a bright yellow. House finches are everywhere.

What a pretty time of year!