Wildlife DNA work hopes to document use of overpasses
BANFF, Alberta -- In the effort to make sure that populations of wildlife don't bear the full brunt of our highways, Banff surely is the leader in North America, and probably the world.
Banff National Park now has 24 structures intended to make the four-lane Trans-Canada Highway more permeable to wildlife. Two of them are broad overhead structures, similar to what is being proposed across Colorado's Interstate 70, near Vail Pass, while the other 22 are underpasses made up of open-space bridges and large culverts.
But how well do they work? Since 1997, the structures have been used 400 times. What isn't clear is whether it's 400 different grizzlies that are crossing, or one bear that is crossing 400 times.
Researchers have documented a dramatic increase in grizzly bear use of the structures in the last decade, with more and more crossings recorded every year. But now, using barbed wire that snags grizzly hairs, they are doing genetic studies to document who is using the structures and how. For example, is crossing the structures a learned behavior and is it being passed along from mother to offspring, explains Mike Sawaya, a wildlife researcher in the midst of a three-year cutting-edge DNA project.
"Obviously, these structures are expensive, what we really need is more scientific data to show what the benefits are, and at least objectively evaluate the merit of these mitigation efforts," said Sawaya.
In Colorado, wildlife activists are monitoring the work in Banff to see if it will provide evidence for their efforts to get overpasses across I-70 near Vail and elsewhere between Denver and Grand Junction. Monique DiGiorgio, executive director of the Southern Rockies Ecosystem Project, said the DNA research is "dealing with a complex issue at its core."
Biologists call I-70 the "Berlin Wall to wildlife." Proving their point is the road-kill deaths of three imported lynx and also the first documented wolf in Colorado in about 60 years. Congress last year allocated $420,000 to study the feasibility of a highway overpass.
Aspen Skiing expanding advertising green theme
ASPEN, Colo. -- In its winter marketing program, the Aspen Skiing Co. is tooting the horn even more loudly this year about the dangers of global warming. Advertisements warning of the dangers were placed last winter in two magazines, Ski and Outside. This year, similar "save snow" ads are planned in six ski and outdoor magazines, plus newspapers. In addition, the company is sending compact fluorescent bulbs to 40,000 of its most loyal customers.
The Aspen Times said that while the ski company may have the zeal of a reformist on this issue, it also makes good business sense. An annual survey of the company's customers two winters ago showed that 36 percent were more likely to return because of the company's environmental practices, and last winter that number rose to 39 percent.
The implication is simple, says The Times: If the company is recognized for its green stance, it could lure prospective customers as well as satisfy many of the existing ones.
In Vail, there was a bit of skepticism about Aspen Skiing's marketing initiative. The resort experience is nothing if not carbon intensive, noted the Vail Daily in an editorial, so if Aspen's advertisements succeed in drawing more customers, they will be counter-productive to the stated mission of saving snow.
Olympics are front and center now in Whistler
WHISTLER, B.C. -- All eyes in Whistler seem to be on 2010, when approximately 6 billion eyeballs will be focused on Vancouver, Whistler, and the Winter Olympics.
"As our two-week Olympic party quickly approaches, like a tsunami on an unsuspecting fisherman, most Whistlerites are finally coming to realize just how much of a workload hosting such a global media orgy entails," writes Michel Beaudry, a columnist for Pique.
"From construction workers to municipal administrators, from Whistler-Blackcomb staff to the teachers in the local schools, everyone in town seems to be functioning at full-tilt boogie these days."
The municipality is preparing to spend $14 million to get an area called Celebration Plaza ready to become center stage for the world, and plans another $18.5 million for the entertainment extravaganza. Much of the money will come from the Canadian government, although a significant portion of the local hotel tax, some $6 million, will be diverted to the cause.
