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SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 2005
Due to the fact it was a bazillion degrees on Saturday (only a slight exaggeration), we met at Grand Monadnock to hear a presentation about Mountain Management, then drove to Mount Watatic, part of the Wapack Trail, in Ashburnham, MA. Elevation - 1832 feet. The stone monument sits atop Mt. Watatic: "This stone marks the site of a mountain that lived, a mountain that lives on because of people who cared..." |
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 Slideshow of Disturbance - by beavers.  Question of the Day: Is it white pine or spruce? |
 Can you say Erosion?  There were three Cairns atop Watatic. Cairns are used as markers, usually atop mountains. NOTE: the butterfly photo was taken at Grand Monadnock. |
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Encounters with the Archdruid
by John McPhee ISBN: 0374148228 McPhee's book reminds me of the old adage: If you think you know the answer, you don't understand the question. While Brower comes across as the true sage of the book, Park, Fraser, and Dominy were clearly men who believed their actions would better human existence. I found myself able to see both sides of every argument, which I believe was McPhee's intention. Each of these men represents the extreme--the passionate fighters for their individual causes--who sometimes sound like a bunch of nutcases. I found there wasn't a definite, easy answer or solution to the situations presented. Yes, there is a need for copper, water power, places to live - but at what cost? But what is clear is that every action, taken for whatever reason, has far-reaching repercussions, the extent of which most of us cannot comprehend or predict. McPhee does a nice job of presenting Brower, Park, Fraser, and Dominy complete with their philosophies and human, and sometimes amusing, flaws. Charles Park, mineral engineer, declares: "When you create a mine, there are two things you can't avoid: a hole in the ground and a dump for waste rock. These are two things you can't avoid." Brower countered with: "Except by not doing it at all." Charles Fraser, developer, refers to modern-day conservationists as "druids." He said: "Ancient druids used to sacrifice human beings under oak trees. Modern druids worship trees and sacrifice human beings to those trees." This past weekend, I happened to catch a show about National Parks, a segment of which focused on Cumberland Island and featured the Greyfield Inn. If you check out the Inn's online gift shop, you can see for sale, among other items, McPhee's book. "'The summit is the anticlimax,' [Brower] says. 'The way up is the thing. There is a moment when you know you have the mountain by the tail.'" "The raft nudged the riverbank. Dominy said, 'Dave, why didn't you ride through the rapid?'" "Brower said, 'Because I'm chicken.'" I "googled" each of the gentleman mentioned in the book: David Brower died in 2000 at the age of 88. Charles Fraser died in a boating accident in 2002. It appears Floyd Dominy is still alive. If that's true, he is about 96. The Glen Canyon Institute states on its website: "Years of drought have exposed parts of the canyon for the first time in 40 years... We are a non-profit organization dedicated to restoring a healthy Colorado River through Glen Canyon by reversing America's most regretted environmental tragedy." David Brower was a co-founder of the Institute. Speaking of dams, environmentalists have serious concerns over the construction of the Three Gorges Dam in China that spans the Yangtze River. According to a CNN online article, female journalist Dai Qing was imprisoned for 10 months in 1989-90 for her criticism of the Three Gorges project. Someone as vocal as David Brower would have been shot. Interestingly, on July 22 of this year, the documentary titled, "Monumental: David Brower's Fight for Wild America" will be released. The film was directed by Kelly Duane and stars David Brower, Stewart Udall, and Floyd Dominy (dam-man himself) among others. The reviews I read were quite favorable. It's fascinating to read McPhee's book 34 years after its publication and to see the changes, such as the beginning of the restoration of Glen Canyon. I was intrigued when the Sierra Club directors voted Brower out of his position as executive director. While most recognized no one had done more for the conservation movement in the United States than Brower, his leadership was not what the Sierra Club needed at that time (1969). Brower went on to found Friends of the Earth and was re-elected to the Sierra Club's Board of Directors in the 1980s. And I bet he made a helluva waffle, too. |
 David standing on ramp leading into cistern Flat Rock Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary, Fitchburg, MA.  Can you find the toad? It's a Fowler's toad, I believe, which looks similar to the American toad. Flat Rock.  Checking out quartz on Watatic.  You've seen one blowdown, you've seen them all. Watatic.  Six-spotted Green Tiger Beetle Flat Rock. |
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