Coyote Crossing

4 comments on "It’s kind of a dull whooshing sound."

Because the new year looms a mere 95 days or so away, and because the world needs one more desert landscape photography calendar to help you navigate the new year, this blog proudly offers the somewhat grandiosely named Sentinels of The Mojave 2010 Calendar. It costs just $20.10. See what I did there?

All proceeds from sales of this calendar go to buying me coffee while I grind out chapters of the Joshua tree book. So buying one, or a dozen, is really an act of charity when you get right down to it. Charity toward the trees, I mean. Not me. It’s all about the trees.

0 comments on "Joshua tree calendar for 2010"

3 comments on "Yesterday at Moss Landing"

I was using a piece of this photo in something else and thought “hey, that’s not bad for a zoo animal shot. I should put it up on the blog.” So here you go.

2 comments on "Large-horned sheep"

[Reading this at the writer’s group tonight. This won’t be here forever, but thought I’d share it. Devoted readers of my work may find a passage or two to be somewhat familiar. The first chapter draft — or intro, or whatever — is here.]

Removed so that I can edit and sell it. Thanks for your incisive comments.

13 comments on "Draft Chapter Two: Incensed"

From a conversation between US President Richard M. Nixon and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger, September 16, 1973.

Nixon: Nothing new of any importance or is there?
Kissinger: Nothing of very great consequence. The Chilean thing is getting consolidated and of course the newspapers are bleeding because a pro-Communist government has been overthrown.
Nixon: Isn’t that something. Isn’t that something.
Kissinger: I mean instead of celebrating – in the Eisenhower period we would be heroes.
Nixon: Well we didn’t – as you know – our hand doesn’t show on this one though.
Kissinger: We didn’t do it. I mean we helped them. [garbled] created the conditions as great as possible.
Nixon: That is right. And that is the way it is going to be played.

1 comment on "Remembering September 11"

Amargosa toad, FWS photo.

[From a press release sent along by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), Center for Biological Diversity]

Amargosa Toad Takes Long-overdue Hop Toward Endangered Species Protections

LAS VEGAS— In response to a February 2008 scientific petition submitted by the Center for Biological Diversity and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, or PEER, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that it is launching a full status review to determine whether the Amargosa toad warrants protections under the Endangered Species Act. Among the many threats to the toad are loss of habitat from development, harm from off-road vehicle use, groundwater depletions caused by mining, possible poorly sited solar-energy development, and harm from nonnative species such as crayfish and bullfrogs.

“The Amargosa toad has been known to warrant protection as an endangered species since 1977,” said Rob Mrowka, an ecologist and conservation advocate with the Center.  “We are very pleased that the toad is one step closer to the protection it needs to survive.”
 
The Amargosa toad is only found in a short segment of the Amargosa River in the Mojave Desert near Beatty, Nevada, where springs create marsh and riparian habitat required by the toad. It is isolated from other toad species by at least 35 miles, making it a unique endemic species. “Since these toads were first recognized as needing protection, threats to them have only increased,” said Mrowka. “A growing human population, increased demand for water, and climate change place the toad in immediate danger of extinction.” Groundwater developments pose a significant threat to the continued existence of the Amargosa toad. The Nevada state engineer, in Ruling 4669, has found that there is a high degree of interconnectivity between groundwater and surface water in the Oasis Valley basin. State law currently allows residents to pump up to 1,800 gallons per day from the groundwater aquifer without a permit, leading to unmeasured burdens on the aquifer. The Reward Mine and proposed solar-energy projects further add to the groundwater demands, all in a basin the state engineer has previously found to be over-appropriated. 

Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Energy filed groundwater applications in the Oasis Valley for the Yucca Mountain project. The Center protested these applications on behalf of the toad.  “The good news is the Amargosa toad will get a fresh look for stronger protection, but the bad news is the toad and its Amargosa River habitat are not doing well after 32 years of delaying full conservation,” said Daniel Patterson, Southwest director of PEER, who formerly worked with the Bureau of Land Management in the Mojave Desert. “Endangered Species Act listing for the toad should be welcomed, not feared, as it will finally bring long-overdue focus and resources to protect and recover the toad, and the rich scenic landscape it inhabits, for future generations and a stronger desert web of life.”

1 comment on "Good news for the Amargosa toad"