Last Day to Enter the Photo Contest

The last day to enter for a stay at Red River is today! I need your e-mailed entries by midnight tonight, and judging will start tomorrow.

Even if you don't enter, please do stop by http://www.redrivercamps.com/Photo_Contest_2011.html between tomorrow and March 1, and send me your vote for your favorite Deboullie picture.

Best of luck to everyone who's entered so far and to those of you with last-minute entries!

Solar Power, Part I

We use a 13.5 kW diesel generator for our electricity needs at Camp.  It's loud, fairly dirty, and sometimes inconvenient, but it gets the job done.  I've always wanted, however, to reduce our dependence on it (without resorting to washing the sheets against a rock in the pond or making 10 loaves of bread dough by hand).

Last summer, we applied for two grants, one from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the other from Efficiency Maine, to install a solar power and battery system. We didn't get the USDA grant ($5,000), but we did win an Efficiency Maine grant to the tune of $15,000, and we're currently designing the system that we'll install in May.

We're working with Green Earth Energy up in Fort Kent to do the design and installation.  The system will consist of 12 solar photovoltaic panels (the standard blue ones), a good-size inverter/charger, and 16 batteries that we'll keep down in the back room in the lodge.  When Camp is operating full-tilt (which means doing lots of laundry, pumping lots of water, etc), we'll still need to run the generator for an hour, maybe two, per day.  When we're not at full capacity, we expect to go a few days without needing the generator.  That's all based on calculations, some engineering judgment, and some flat-out guesses, though, so we'll see how it all ends up working. 

Once we get closer to putting in the order for the components, I'll post more about the project.  When May rolls around and we start installing everything, I'll definitely post more about the project.

Until then, here's a picture of our fancy new generator:

Jack and Lily, Part III

(Also see: Part I and Part II.)

By now, you're probably wondering why I keep calling this story "Jack and Lily."  

If you've seen the movie Legend, you know that it's a classically-cheesy Tom Cruise flick from the mid-80's; it's one of my favorite movies to watch around Halloween.  (It also has a great soundtrack.)  Legend starred Mia Sara as a sweet and innocent free-spirited princess named Lily who befriends a sweet and innocent forest-dwelling boy named Jack.  In the usual fashion, Lily and Jack fall in love; Lily inadvertently plunges the world into darkness; Jack saves the world (from Tim Curry, no less); and everyone lives happily ever after. 

Fast-forward to 2010 after the loon chick is born: every time I go near the Island, the male decides that I'm a threat and gives a series of "Hey you kids, get off my porch!" calls.  The female responds with calls that I can only imagine mean, "Who's at the door, dear?" or something similar.  At any rate, they're loon calls that I haven't heard on the pond before, but their pitch and volume are uncannily similar to Lily calling for Jack the first time she visits him in the forest in Legend.

And just like that, our loons have become Jack and Lily.

Here's Jack giving me the evil eye:

 

More still to come.

Impressive Coordination.

While Camp news is slow over the winter, I hope you haven't minded the random interesting news I've been posting.  In that vein, here's a crazy story from Alberta, Canada. It appears that two species of 5-needle pine (limber and whitebark) were added to the endangered species list after losing up to half of the members of most stands to pine beetles and blister rust.  Since they can live up to 1500 years, losing half of the local trees is a big deal.  (But no, that's not the interesting part.)

The interesting part is this: no one is yet sure how, but the trees seemed to get together last year to produce far more cones than usual, effectively helping to bring themselves back from the brink. Each tree typically produces 25 cones per year; last year, most trees produced around 75, and some produced up to 300. The extra cones served to outwit hungry squirrels and grizzlies, who just couldn't eat enough before the seeds were scavenged by birds.

The Clark's Nutcracker (or Nuthatch, depending on where you are) scrounges and hides the seeds left over by the squirrels and bears. The ones that get forgotten by the Nutcrackers then grow into new pines. Last year, there were so many seeds left over because of the overabundance of cones that more were hidden and forgotten than usual, increasing the chances for the stands to come back.

If pine trees were people, they would have never even gotten that idea off the ground without seven steering committee meetings and a few forms filled out in triplicate.  Have I mentioned before that nature is awesome?

Photo Contest Reminder

I'm not a big proponent of nagging, but I did want to mention one more time about our photo contest.  You have one more weekend to find (and e-mail me) that great photo you took on your last trip. I need your entries by next Tuesday if you want the chance to win a weekend at Camp; that's right around the corner!

See here for rules and to enter.  Best of luck!

A Quick Laugh

I'm planning a quick trip up to Camp in February to check on Camp- the roofs can get pretty laden with snow in the winter.  I do not, however, plan to do what this Estonian gentleman did:

At least all's well that ends well.

Jack and Lily, Part II

(Jack and Lily, Part I)

It seems like we waited forever, watching for signs that the loon eggs would hatch.  Being new to baby loons ourselves, none of us knew exactly when that was supposed to happen.  The internet told us that loon chicks usually hatch in mid- to late-June, unless the pair lost their first nest or bred later for some other reason.  The latest date I could find for successful hatches (and subsequent migration in the fall) was early July.

When July came with no sign of a hatch, we started to resign ourselves to the fact that the eggs were no longer viable.  I was bummed- I know that some folks don't like loons because they compete with the fishermen (sometimes literally, but that's another story), but in my opinion, the loons just keep the trout on their toes.  I don't think any of our guests come here with the burning desire to catch fat, lazy fish; they can do that at a fish farm.  Folks come here because it's real.

Stepping off my soapbox and returning to July, though, after the first couple of weeks came and went, we were pretty sure that our hopes of having Island Pond's first loon chicks were dashed.  Lucky for us, we were wrong.

On July 14, exactly one month after I took the picture in Part I of this story, the loon pair started acting crazy and calling in a manner I hadn't heard before, and two of our guests came in off the water after basically being attacked by the male.  That was good enough for me- I grabbed my camera and a kayak, and I went to see what I could see.

Out by the island, the male was calling up a storm and generally making a nuisance of himself.  I didn't get close enough to see the eggs, but the female wasn't on the nest.  I swung back around the Island, and the guests who had been attacked earlier pointed me to where she was swimming over by the shore on the other side of the rock pile.

Thank goodness for a decent zoom lens on my camera, because this is what I didn't quite see with my own eyes:

If you look close, you can see the little black fuzzball riding on mama's back.  Call me sentimental, but it was a good day for Red River.

I'll pick this story up again in a later post.

You've GOT to be Kidding Me.

If I were looking for a place to file this bit of news, it would go under S for "Seriously??"  Let me introduce you to the - wait for it - Wildlife Taser.

From the company's website, "The Wildlife TASER electronic control device is a revolutionary new multi-shot ECD that can engage multiple targets, and deliver a calibrated Neuro Muscular Incapacitation (NMI) pulse from up to 35 feet away."

There are so many things wrong with this idea; where do I begin?  First off, I think they have a typo in their statement and meant to say that the Wildlife Taser can "enrage," rather than "engage," multiple targets.  The website also notes that the stun lasts for about 30 seconds.  What happens after that? 

Secondly, if I have a Taser calibrated for something the size of a moose (with a cartridge that will penetrate moose hide), what do you think is going to happen if I hit something smaller than a moose (goodness forbid, a human) with it?  Assuming that I'm not looking to kill everything under about half a ton, will I carry a variety of Tasers for different wildlife?  I could color-code them, perhaps: red for moose, black for bears, yellow for large cats, maybe pink for chipmunks and squirrels trying to steal food from my campsite...

My problem here isn't so much with the weapon itself; it's with the perceived safety of the weapon.  Everyone knows the danger inherent in discharging a standard firearm.  Tasers, on the other hand, are typically seen as safe: something that will stun but not kill, despite a couple of high-profile Taser deaths over the past few years.  Having that perception can really mess with a person's head when that person is in a high-stress situation; I can picture a lot of people not thinking twice about Tasering something that they wouldn't consider shooting.

These are being marketed to wildlife managers, field biologists, and zoo caretakers.  However, as one Taser representative said about the standard model Taser, "We meet one demographic, and that is of scared people.  I would say that our biggest-reached market is dads buying these for their daughters in college."  I've got to tell you: I'm skeptical of having trained field personnel carrying these things.  I'd be terrified to learn of any "scared" campers having a beefed-up bear Taser in my neck of the woods.

I'm not even going to post a link for this one.

Vote Summer!

A great political ad from the folks at Landline TV to get you geared up for fishing season! I have to admit; I'm one of winter's biggest fans, but this could sway my vote... How about you?





The original video is here.

Jack and Lily, Part I

Alright kids, gather around for story time.  I should have told this one as it was happening, but since I didn't, you get the re-telling now.

It was a sunny day last June, right around the 12th if I remember correctly, that one of our guests came in to tell us that they'd spotted two loon eggs on the back side of Matt's Island.  (Matt's Island, named after my brother when we were both kids, is the little island right behind the big one.)  I thought it was a pretty momentous occasion; we'd never had loons nest or raise young on Island Pond before.

Unfortunately for our loons, though, we'd had a group of youngsters at Camp the weekend before the eggs were spotted.  The kids were a great group, but the best part about being in the woods is that you can make all sorts of noise and commotion without getting into trouble.

We didn't know if the nesting loons were new and inexperienced parents, or if they were old hands.  (By all accounts, loons are easily spooked from their nests- they prefer to nest on lakes with little human activity, which is probably why they've steered away from Island Pond.)  We had no idea if they'd stayed with the eggs through the unexpected ruckus.  If they'd been abandoned, the temperature could have easily dropped low enough for the eggs to lose vitality. 

I paddled around Matt's Island one or twice and saw the eggs but never saw the parents.  I didn't have high hopes for their success, but the only thing to do was watch and wait.

Which is exactly what you'll have to do now, because today's part of Jack and Lily's story is only the introduction.  More to come in future posts.

Lawmaker Moves to Abolish LURC

For the second time in as many years, a bill is before committee to abolish Maine's Land Use Regulation Committee (LURC), which oversees development in the state's Unorganized Territories.  Last year, the bill to abolish LURC didn't make it out of committee; this year, Representative Paul Davis (R- Sangerville) proposes a 5-year plan to transfer responsibility from the 40-year old commission to the Counties.

Davis' main objection to LURC seems to be the recent Plum Creek rezoning, which took approximately 5 years and cost Plum Creek $25 million.  Notwithstanding the fact that those statistics are actually pretty good for a national real estate developer and a big rezoning, I fail to see how transferring LURC's oversight responsibilities to the affected counties will remedy the situation.  (I highly doubt that Piscataquis County has the staff or the resources to review Plum Creek's proposal for 975 house lots, two resorts, a golf course, a marina, three RV parks, over 100 rental cabins, and associated conveniences.  Piscataquis county has not yet taken a stance on the legislation.)

Aroostook County, which has approximately 2.5 million acres in Unorganized Territory, has also not taken a stance on the legislation. Aroostook's 2010-2011 budget for those 2.5 million acres is $1.3 million: not a large resource for the kind of work LURC does.

A little more light reading on the subject if you're interested:
From the Bangor Daily News.
From the Lewiston Sun Journal.

Treehugger? Think again.

Thought you’d enjoy a little quiet time at Red River this summer?  Get away from conflict for a few days, out where everything is peaceful?  Maybe not, according to researchers.

Plant ecologists Ray Dybzinski and David Tilman have produced a new paper theorizing that trees not only use their roots to collect water and nutrients, but also to fight nearby trees for a little elbow room.  Apparently, the 11-year study showed that trees produce more roots than they need to maintain life, “probably not to help them grow more successfully, but rather to cause other trees to grow less successfully.”

According to the New York Times, Dr. Dybzinski and his colleagues report that the overabundant roots act as weapons of sorts to prevent other trees from growing.  Similar to the way trees will grow tall to reach sunlight, shading out less successful trees, the extra roots help to keep other trees at bay and ensure their own success.  

If there was no competition, trees wouldn't need to grow so tall or send out so many roots. "If they could somehow agree to cooperate and not compete, they could all stay closer to the ground and do something else with that energy, like create seeds," Dybzinksi told the New York Times.  Sage advice for trees and for people.

So when you're out in the woods this summer enjoying a respite from your own battles, keep in mind that it's a jungle out here, too.  ;-)

Keeping Maine's Forests, Part III

The Keeping Maine's Forests initiative has currently published two proposals.  (I covered the first of the two the other day in Part II of this series of posts.)  The second proposal is "Keeping Maine's Forest-Based Economy: A National Demonstration Project." The 14-page proposal outlines seven themes-

1. Diversify Markets by funding a Forest Products Advisor.
2. Increase Energy Efficiency by restructuring the Rural Energy for America (REAP) grant program to better assist forest-based businesses. (On a side note, Red River applied for a REAP grant for our solar energy project but didn't make the cut.)
3. Enhanced Training and Assistance by increasing funding for the USDA Rural Business Enterprise Grant and Rural Business Opportunity Grant programs.
4. Expand Rural Broadband Access.
5. Improve Landowner Relations with recreational users of conservation lands.
6. Reduce Landowner Costs for trail construction and maintenance on conserved parcels.
7. Enhance Wood Supplies by restoring the WoodsWISE program, which stopped accepting applications in 2009 due to decreased USDA funding.

The Keeping Maine's Forests steering committee believes that, together, these seven themes will help strengthen Maine's forest economy, both from a products and a recreation/tourism perspective.  I can't say I disagree with them; although I'm far from an economist.  (In fact, I'm SO FAR from being an economist that I'm not going to even try to expand on the themes above; I'll just let you read the proposal for yourself.  It's fairly short and sweet.)

Photo Contest

I alluded to our 2011 Photo Contest in an earlier post, but I think it deserves one of its own.

For those of you who, for whatever reason, didn't get our Christmas card this year and aren't a Facebook fan, this will be news.  For the rest of you, hopefully it's a reminder!

2011 marks Red River's 125th year, which is a pretty big deal!  (It's been in the Brophy family for 31 of those; it still amazes me that we've had it for almost a quarter of its existence.)  To celebrate a century and a quarter, we're starting the year off with a photo contest.  I want to see some of the great memories you guys have of the Deboullie township.  Contest rules are available on the Red River website, but here's a quick synopsis:

As long as it's a picture of the Deboullie Township, and you have the copyright, you can enter it. Other than that, anything goes. (I received an picture of a painting yesterday, which I hadn't even thought of, but it meets the criteria.) We'll have all of you judge them starting in February, and in March, one person will win two days at Camp for two. It's that simple!

So please, keep the entries coming; I haven't gotten as many as I'd like yet, and there are only three weeks left until the February 1st deadline.  I know a lot of you have great photos; I've seen some of them!  Don't be shy; we're all friends here.

Comments

I'm usually pretty savvy when it comes to technology.  I didn't, however, notice that I had only enabled this blog to accept comments from registered users.  Sorry about that- I guess I know why this blog has only had one comment so far!  (At least, I hope that's the reason...)

I've updated the settings to allow non-registered and anonymous users.  I can't imagine we'll get a lot of traffic from spammers or trolls, but we'll deal with that if and when we come to it.  Until then, feel free to let the comments fly!

A hat tip to Larry for dropping me a note about that and bringing it to my attention.

Guide License, Part I

For the past two years, I've been trying to check "Get Maine Guide License" off my list.  It's one of those things that's just slipped under the rug for one reason or another, but I finally took the first steps, and the process is in motion.  I dropped the application and testing fee in the mail this morning.

Now the fun begins.  I'll have six months to a year to prepare for the oral and written exams.  The oral test, from what I understand, includes Map and Compass, the Lost Person scenario, and questions on client care and general outdoors stuff.  The written test goes into rules and regulations, wildlife identification, and topics specialized to your license class.  I may take a specialized Guide License course closer to the test date, but I'll start with just studying on my own.

I hope to do pretty well on the map and compass portion of the oral exam since I've taken courses on orienteering, underwater navigation, and coastal/ocean navigation over the past several years.  I did pick up a couple of map and compass books as a refresher; they'll make good additions to the RRC library.

The lost person scenario does worry me, just because it's not something I've ever formally studied.  I downloaded the State's "You Alone in the Maine Woods" lost hunter guide and found it to be fairly common-sense.  I also purchased the NASAR Fundamentals of Search and Rescue coursebook, but after reading it, I don't know how much help it was.  (The book had some good information, but I swear they told me to eat properly and get enough sleep at least once per chapter.)  I'm considering taking a SAR fundamentals course between now and the test, but I'll have to see how much time I have.

I also picked up the AMC Guide to Outdoor Leadership, which I really enjoyed, and I've registered for a Wilderness First Responder course in March.  Regardless of my being a registered guide or not, I think WFR is a good idea.  More on that in later posts.

So anyway, wish me luck on studying!  I'll let you know how it goes.

Keeping Maine's Forests, Part II

It's been quite a while since I looked at the Keeping Maine's Forests initiative.  While it started life as almost a "secret society" due to the tensions between the negotiating parties, and finding information on it was like finding a needle among the many haystacks on the internet, it looks like it's now gone mainstream.  They even have a website.  The site doesn't have a lot of information yet, but they do have .pdf copies of their current proposals.

Among other things, the main proposal outlines two of the initiative's pilot projects. The Downeast Pilot Project appears to include purchasing a working forest conservation easement on several hundred thousand acres from a willing landowner.  (Or purchasing 12,000 acres on a larger parcel; it was a little ambiguous.)  Agreeing to a working forest easement means that the land will remain under timber production and/or recreational uses and will therefore also remain economically viable.  (Detractors from the initiative worry that large conservation easements will drive down land values; conspiracy theorists then surmise that lower land values are all part of a plan to create a National Park as landowners sell their land to the only willing buyer: the Federal government.)

The Western Mountains and Lakes Pilot Project would place over 50,000 acres under conservation easements, but the proposal doesn't say whether these would be working forest easements or not.

The proposal also outlines four "Demonstration Landscapes," which, in short, equate to what the initiative strives for in terms of outcome.  The Demonstration Landscapes are the Allagash and St. John Rivers, Moosehead to Katahdin, the Western Mountains and Lakes, and the Downeast region.

The proposal is an interesting read.  (You can access the .pdf directly here.)  I haven't yet read the "Keeping Maine's Forest-Based Economy" proposal, but I'll try to do that in the next day or two.  Now that the initiative has entered the public eye, there's quite a bit of information (and opinions on both sides) available through a simple Google search.

MSCommNet, Part III

I saw this in the Bangor Daily the other day... It looks like the town of Veazie has recently adopted rules that will make it difficult for the MSCommNet program to install their proposed tower on Buck Hill (where, the article notes, "some of the town's most scenic views and priciest real estate are located"). Tower opponents would rather see it moved to an alternate site in Orono, but local public safety officials say that the proposed site will better help address radio dead spots in the area, and the state Chief Information Officer says that the new rule will "have a serious adverse impact" on local agencies including police, fire, and rescue services.

I don't know how I feel about this. On one hand, the proposed Buck Hill tower will be 180' tall; that's a big tower. On the other hand, though, I've been through more public meetings than I care to count where residents took a "my way or the highway" approach based on emotion rather than understanding or knowledge. That makes negotiation and collaboration virtually impossible, and no one wins in the long run.

I don't know what this means for the Deboullie site, or if it even means anything at all. The last news I heard about the northern tower was that the State was looking for alternative sites; I don't have any details for you, though. I think I am allowed to tell you at this point that if the Deboullie tower goes forward, we've discussed the option of creating a fire-tower look-alike that will house the communications equipment. The equipment would be in the tower's cab, so people wouldn't be allowed in there, but the tower would also have a viewing platform so that people could get up and enjoy the views. That's the kind of collaboration that dies when residents are unwilling to negotiate. Would the tower be exactly the same as it is now? No, of course not. Is the tower that's there now exactly the same as the original tree tower from 1919? Same answer. My thanks to Bill Cobb of the Forest Fire Lookout Association for letting me illustrate this with pictures. The first is 1919, and the second is around 1921:

I'll be very happy if the northern tower is moved to another site, but if it's not, I welcome collaboration.

Amazing Photography

A lot of you know that I enjoy photography; I love seeing the world in a slower manner than the breakneck speed we usually travel through it. I love the hunt for angles and light that people might miss, and I love remembering.
(And at this point, I'll pull a shameless plug: our Photo contest is accepting entries until February 1, 2011.)

All that aside, however, there are some amazing photographers out there, and the folks at Catch Magazine are among them. If you want to see fly fishing like you have literally never seen it before, I highly recommend taking a look. The magazine is completely online, and subscriptions are free, so there's nothing to lose there.

Hopefully they don't mind that I stole this screenshot from their March 2010 issue to post here. It's just the thing to get us all through the rest of the winter to fishing season!

New Year's Resolution

Wow... I've really let this blog slide. My apologies! I think I get so wrapped up in trying to come up with great things to say that I let good things fall by the wayside and never end up saying anything. So with that in mind, I'll work on trying to update more consistently, even if the posts are shorter.

For instance, the Department of Conservation just released their new "Your Maine Lands" Map and Guide to Public Reserved Lands (which, of course, includes the Deboullie Township). You can download a free .pdf copy, or you can request one directly from the Department.

As the Bangor Daily News notes, "Compared with state parks, Maine’s public reserved lands are remote, unstaffed lands managed for variety of resource values, including recreation, wildlife and timber harvesting. BPL owns more than 500,000 acres of public lands, organized into 29 units ranging in size from 500 to more than 43,000 acres and many other smaller scattered lots. These lands are available for recreation and offer unique, backcountry experiences." Most of you have enjoyed the Deboullie unit at least once; take a look at the new map and see some of the other great places the state has to offer. (And then, of course, come back to Deboullie!)

So there we are. A nice short and sweet post to start 2011 off right. I'll try to keep them coming.

Happy New Year!
Jen