Vardaman Virtual Forestry Company
FRIDAY REPORT OF 10/13/06
The Most Direct, Frequent Link to Knowledge Workers in the Eastern Forest Economy
“WHOOPING CRANES, ULTRALIGHT PLANES TAKE FLIGHT IN ANNUAL MIGRATION
by Cameron Walker”
Our quotes are from the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC NEWS of 10/05/06:
“Early this morning a unique flock of 18 birds joined the millions heading south for the winter. But this group of whooping cranes had surprising-looking ‘birds’ at the helm: four ultralight aircraft.
“Pilots from Operation Migration, a Port Perry, Ontario-based nonprofit, are flying the whooping cranes from central Wisconsin to Florida with the ultimate goal of reintroducing a new migrating population of the endangered species. Seventeen cranes successfully flew the initial leg – 4 miles (6 kilometers) – of the 1,228-mile (1,976-kilometer) journey on their first try…
“The group is part of the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership, a team of government agencies and nonprofits in the United States and Canada working to establish a migratory population of whooping cranes in the eastern U.S. This year is a major milestone for the project. A pair of cranes that the group first led along the route in 2002 has hatched two chicks, the first migrating whooping cranes in eastern North America born in the wild in the last century…
“More than 10,000 whooping cranes once flew North American skies. But by the 1940s, habitat loss, hunting, and egg poaching had shrunk the population of the iconic birds to just 21…
“The sole wild population of cranes, which migrates each year between Wood Buffalo National Park in northern Alberta, Canada, and Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas, now has 214 birds. A smaller, reintroduced group lives in Florida year round…
‘We had no way of reestablishing a migratory population until Operation Migration came along,’ said Tom Stehn, coordinator of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Whooping Crane Recovery Team. ‘It’s really a breakthrough.’
If more than 125 birds can learn the route and start migrating on their own, the population could be self-sustaining, he says. The Operation Migration team started with 7 birds in 2001 and has now taught more than 60 birds the way to their wintering grounds…
“During their first six to eight weeks at Patuxent, cranes learn how to feed and exercise and are introduced to an ultralight like those they’ll follow along the migratory route.
“Then they fly – as passengers on a special plane – to Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin to begin their flight training.
“Whooping cranes aren’t the first birds to follow ultralights. In the early 1990s Operation Migration’s co-founders, Bill Lishman and Joe Duff, led a flock of Canada geese from Ontario to Virginia. The birds returned to Ontario without a guide the following spring.
“In 2000 the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership worked together to test the first full migration with sandhill cranes. A year later Operation Migration’s pilots flew with whooping cranes along the same route.
“This year’s flock consists of 18 cranes and four ultralights. A Cessna circles 1,000 feet (305 meters) above the group, staying in contact with local air traffic control.
“Along the ground a caravan of ground crew and volunteers zips along to meet the group at the next rest stop. Weather permitting, the ultralights take off at dawn and fly as far as 200 miles (322 kilometers) each day…”
To read the complete article, click on http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/10/061006-cranes-video.html
“GOOGLE’S YOUNG PARTNER”
Our quotes are from an article in The Economist Global Agenda of 10/10/06:
“Google has agreed to buy YouTube, a popular website where users provide the content, for $1.65 billion. Now the world’s leading search engine needs to work out how to make it pay.
Internet years, like dog years, act to speed up the ageing process. Google, founded in 1998, is now considered to be something of an elder statesman. Perhaps the firm hopes to enliven itself by its decision on Monday October 9th to use a whopping $1.65 billion of its own shares to buy YouTube, a website that lets its users post home-made video clips for others to share and watch. The latter has been in business for a mere 19 months…
“…Most agree that there is plenty of money to be made from YouTube, but no one is quite sure how. Putting advertising alongside video clips or other content provided by users may pose problems. YouTube has refused to insert adverts that cannot be skipped at the beginning of clips as that risks annoying or driving away users. And the content of sites like YouTube varies. Advertisers would not want their products flagged alongside anything off-colour or embarrassing. YouTube and its rivals have cast around for more sophisticated ways to present advertising for some time but without finding an answer.
“What users may like about YouTube is that it breaks the rules. Google has promised that YouTube will continue to operate as a separate business. But it may choose not to continue carrying the huge number of music and television clips that breach copyright, as wealthy Google would make a tempting target for the litigious. But if YouTube removes the illegally-copied material its appeal may drop…
“The deal may put Google in a position to satisfy a growing demand for the delivery of television, film and music over the internet rather than through traditional channels. However, YouTube’s rapid flowering is a reminder that something newer and a little different that appeals to a young audience is never far away. Barriers to entry are low: rivals can emerge with just a good idea and a little money. Google itself, born in a university dorm and funded on its founders’ credit cards a few years ago, serves as a remind of that.”
To read the complete article, click on http://www.economist.com/agenda/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8020132
“REGIONAL INVASIVE EXOTIC PLANT SPECIES LIST”
This 7½-page list of important plants is a big help to forest owners in deciding what to do about those on his land. We strongly suggest that you study a copy. Once you do, you will see why we recommend the action.
For a complete copy of the list, click on http://www.se-eppc.org/fslist.cfm
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