First ski of the year (and season)

Well, snow is here. Finally! After soooo much snow last year, it’s been pretty sparse so far. We went away over the break, and thought we would miss all sorts of opportunities to go skiing. But, we didn’t really miss anything at all. I’m going to ski the Craftsbury half marathon this year, and hopefully there will be enough snow for it. It’s only two weekends away now.

I have to say the ski really helped to get me into positive thinking about winter. As long as you can go outside, it’s just great. If you’re moving around, you’re not that cold, and then it doesn’t seem like winter is that cold. Of course, I say that as it’s getting down to single digits tonight… Good thing to be inside by the cozy fire Now, if only the Broncos weren’t doing so poorly against the Patriots. At least the Patriots are my second favorite team, but it’s sad to see the Broncos lose so badly. Ouch. Football… another great thing to help get through the winter!

And, of course everything looks so beautiful with white snow covering it. So, my suggestion is to look for all of the great things about winter, because it’s gonna come, and it might be long, so you may as well revel in it!

 

I have to post about this…

I know it’s been awhile since I’ve posted, but I have to write about the removal of the Condit Dam on the White Salmon River in Washington. Just yesterday, dam removal began with an explosion, allowing the White Salmon to rush through the dam. You can see a photo blog here, or read more about it here and here. Even though I’m on the other side of the country, this is really something incredible. This river has been dammed for 100 years and in one day, the reservoir was drained, and the river is running through a hole in the base of the dam. Incredible! The complete removal will be finished sometime next summer, but it’s amazing that fish will be again be able to swim upstream of the Condit Dam. Wow.

For me, there is something awesome and majestic about rivers, and to think of a river that had been turned into a lake for 100 years to be transforming back into a river is just awe-inspiring. Obviously when these dams were built, people didn’t really understand river science or fish ecology. In fact, some of the research I’m doing right now is giving me a sense for how people viewed hydropower in the early 1900s — they felt that there was an incredible amount of potential to generate electricity from hydropower, and wanted to be sure that dams were developed to provide this power for people. But, to see us able to decide that today these dams are no longer serving a useful purpose, that they’re causing more harm than good, and to decide to remove them, is just incredible. It gives real hope for rivers in this country. Just last month, dam removal began on the Elwha River.

Of course what remains to be seen is how salmon respond to these dam removals. But, given what these incredible fish can do (swim upstream for hundreds of miles without eating in order to spawn), I think that they’re likely to respond quite positively. For now, I’m basking in river restoration glory — what river will be next?!

And, check out this blog and the video which shows the explosion — incredible how much water there is!

Oh, and you can watch this video, too!

Weekly brown bags

This year, the Environmental Law Center has organized weekly brown bags where anyone at the law school can present on just about any topic that they’re interested in and know about. (I think I just ended that sentence in a preposition — shoot!) Anyways, it’s a really nice thing because people have the chance to talk about a topic of interest them, and the law school community has the chance to go listen.

This week’s brown bag was on a recent conference in Nuuk, Greenland, which a VLS student recently attended. She went to present on whether Greenland’s laws were likely to protect the environment and communities adequately from the impacts of likely oil and gas drilling. It was an interesting topic, but also a neat forum. It was pretty informal — the presentation wasn’t entirely polished, and there was a lot of opportunity for back and forth between the presenter and the audience.

There are so many things you have to do when you’re in grad school, but it’s nice to be able to go things because you want to, and to learn things that you just wouldn’t in a class. Also, it’s a nice break from research for me! Indeed, I am scheduled to do one of these talks, so I guess I better start thinking of what I’m going to talk about. (Ooops… that one ended in a preposition, too!)

Fall is here!

Oh my goodness, it is definitely not summer any more. This morning felt and looked so much like fall. It was cool out (pulled out the down blanket last night!) and the leaves are very clearly starting to change colors. It already looks beautiful, and it’s only going to get more so over the next few weeks and months. I love Vermont at nearly all times of the year, but I LOVE the fall. It is just so darn pretty outside!

I am not sure, but I remember hearing once that a wetter summer makes for more vibrant fall foliage. I’m not sure if that’s true or not, but if it is, then we should be in store for a very vibrant fall! We’ve certainly had our fair share of rain late this summer, and even earlier in the summer. Things are definitely wet! Of course, the combination of factors that determine whether the leaves will be especially bright or not are probably far more complex than how much rain we’ve received recently…

Anyways, I would try to describe how wonderful the fall is here in greater detail, but really, you should just come and experience it. There’s nothing like it anywhere!

Elwha dam removal!

I have to post about the Elwha dam removals that starts Saturday, September 17th in Washington state. The Glines Canyon Dam, which is 210 feet tall, will be the tallest dam ever removed. The Elwha is a river that used to host a substantial salmon population, and the possibility that the salmon could return in considerable numbers to the Elwha after these two dams are removed is pretty high. I don’t know about you, but for me, that’s pretty exciting.

Here is a video about the dam removal and you can get updates from American Rivers Facebook page and website. Incredibly, this year we will remove the 1000th dam in this country (yes, that’s right – one thousand dams will have been removed from rivers in this country by the end of this year!). Whoa!

Sometimes it’s easy to not pay attention to the good things that are happening out there in the real world while I am sitting here doing research. But, my research is about rivers and water and so it’s really cool to read about real (good) things that are happening to rivers. Now, if only I could find a way to go out and see it happening…. I guess I have a few years to do that, though, since this dam removal will take 2 or 3 years, I think. I remember awhile back there was a lot of discussion over what the best way to remove a large dam would be. I think they’ve probably decided that slower is better than faster, so that there isn’t one big huge rush of sediment and water. Probably a good idea… I’m sure there are a lot of geomorphologists and dam removal people who are trembling with excitement to get data from the removal of these dams!

When class and current events overlap

I’ve recently noticed a spattering of article on wilderness. It’s possible that there are normally this many articles on wilderness, but it seems to me like there are more than usual. Probably because there are discussions going on about whether to designate more wilderness, and more broadly, about the role of government. After just finishing the class in Montana where we talked an awful lot about wilderness, I appreciate knowing that this is a topic of current interest.

These writers say it more eloquently than I could, so I am just going to give you links to the pieces. But, they’re all relatively short, and all make pretty good points. Enjoy!

A Well-Regulated Wilderness

We’re Rich! (In Nature.)

A Wilderness Ranger, Age 21

Study says monuments pay off for locals

Picking up from my last Irene blog

I was just looking back at my last blog on the day Irene came through Vermont, and realized I had never put a post up about what happened. The place we’re renting is up pretty high, and so we really ended up being quite lucky and not having much damage at all. The roads near us were closed for a bit, but incredibly the UPS truck made a delivery to our house the very next day. And, thankfully, we were able to have our wedding the next weekend pretty much as planned.

Much of Vermont was not nearly so fortunate. As you’ve probably all heard, VLS was closed for two days. The parking lot took the brunt of the flooding, which was good (and also why it is in the floodplain instead of buildings). Many homes were flooded, and roads across the state were really damaged. Some are still not open. It’s really very sad, but the positive side is that so many people are pitching in to do what they can to help others. Students are volunteering with cleanup efforts all over the area, and the law school is providing a place for people to come and to register with FEMA for assistance. I’m sure there are many other things happening to help people recover, and it’s really heartening to see the communities come together to try and heal from the storm.

I was also glad to finally have a chance this week to do a little volunteering myself since we were so busy with wedding stuff last week. Although I felt somewhat guilty about having a big party while people were really suffering, many locals said how nice it was to come to such a happy event to help them remember that life goes on, and that we’ll all make it through. It will take time, but Vermont is recovering, and I know we will all make it through. And, perhaps the communities will be stronger for it…

All done!

Well, I’m sure you’re probably wondering why I’m just finishing my MELP degree now. It’s because I went on the 5th summer term Public Lands class in Missoula, MT, and the final was due about 2.5 hours ago! I fortunately turned it in with a few hours to spare, but I certainly have been working on it quite a bit since the class ended 3 weeks ago (although I took a good long break in order to get married!)

It definitely feels a little bit strange to be finishing a final for a summer class when fall classes have started and everyone is just getting into class mode. Finals are a long way from most people’s minds at this moment…

Although I was happy to finish with the final, I also felt a little bit nostalgic for classes and learning. I’m sure I’ll keep learning, but it is so wonderful to be in school. Of course, right now I’m looking forward to having a normal job and going home and being done with work! In fact, to celebrate, I am watching TV tonight! What a luxury But, I know I will miss being in school — it’s really a pretty wonderful thing and a real privilege.

Well, this will be my last blog as a student at VLS. The next time you hear from me, I will be employed at VLS, working for the new Water and Justice center. I’m pretty excited for it all, and can’t really believe that I start on  Monday. I essentially have one weekend between being a student and being an employee! I’m just going to take the weekend easy (volunteer a little bit at school for people who need help with FEMA-related stuff from the recent flooding) and get psyched about having a job! Who knows, maybe you too will end up being employed by VLS at the end of your degree…

Posted a minute too soon…

Just after I posted my last blog, we lost power up here in our house. A tree must have gone down somewhere because of the wind and the rain. We decided several hours later that we would head over to my aunt and uncle’s house in Norwich since they still had power and we didn’t. We headed out of our driveway, and went to go down the hill only to find a big ‘Road Closed’ sign. So, we decided to go the other way. We made it a ways down before we came to a place where the creek was washing out into the road. We probably could have made it across, but we decided it was better not to try since we didn’t know what we would find up ahead. Some people drove down in a truck to see the river, and we chatted with them about losing the power and all the roads closing.

It’s just an incredible amount of water. I can’t believe how much is going down the streams — it would be awesome to check out the White River right now, but we’ll have to wait until we can get down there again. Unfortunately, it sounds like a number of places have flooded, including Simon Pearce and downtown Quechee, and some places in Woodstock as well. I haven’t heard anything about South Royalton, but hopefully they’re OK. I imagine the lower parking lots could have been flooded, but hopefully not. It does seem like the school email is down, however…

Anyways, I guess hurricanes can be serious, even up in Vermont! Hopefully the rain will stop soon so that water levels will go back down and people can get around again. And, hopefully everyone else got their power back, like we did. Wahoo! Now we can make bread

School closed!

Well, this is strange. School (actually, just the library, since it’s Sunday) is closed today for Hurricane Irene.  I don’t think I’ve ever had school canceled or closed for anything other than snow. But, today it’s closed for the hurricane, which isn’t actually a hurricane anymore. It is raining and windy out, but not too bad. There are flood warnings, but I don’t live near the river, so can’t say what the White River looks like at the moment.

It is strange to have weather like this at the start of fall classes when it’s technically still summer. It’s not really cold outside, but it doesn’t feel like summer. I actually am making some tea, and when the tea pot started to whistle, I thought at first that it was the wind really picking up. Hee hee. Just the tea pot!

I wonder whether they would have canceled class if Irene had come through tomorrow. Even if they hadn’t canceled school, if you feel unsafe traveling to campus, the school encourages you to make your own decision so that you feel safe. I definitely like that policy and didn’t go to the first day of classes last winter because of snow even though school was open.

Anyways, Hurricane Irene is a funny way to start the school year, but I’m sure everyone will enjoy the great weather that’s coming later this week even more because of it! Hopefully the plants in the garden don’t get too slammed with rain, and hopefully the dirt roads don’t either! And, here’s to lots of sunny days this fall…