News Sifting

Down on the Sacramento, Chinook have disappeared.

The Chinook salmon that swim upstream to spawn in the fall, the most robust run in the Sacramento River, have disappeared. The almost complete collapse of the richest and most dependable source of Chinook salmon south of Alaska left gloomy fisheries experts struggling for reliable explanations — and coming up dry.

signs of warming (not the seasonal kind) are popping up in Yellowstone (and presumably, its neighbor, Jellystone) Park.

But while walking across the Lamar [valley] last fall, Robert L. Crabtree, chief scientist with the Yellowstone Ecological Research Center in Bozeman, Mont., pointed out a cascade of ecological changes under way. The number of grizzly bears and gophers in the valley has increased, Dr. Crabtree said, an increase supported by the spread of an invasive plant from the Mediterranean that a warming climate benefits.

“It’s the early stages of a new ecosystem,” he said, “one that hasn’t been seen here before.”

Ominously, the plant, Canada thistle is a plant not unknown in the Hylebos, underscoring how vital our volunteer-aided efforts to control this and other invasives. Fighting vegetative invaders will be a growing business in a warming world...

Switching to the other end of the temperature range, I was intrigued by this account of the first polar submarine expedition. It would make a great Harrison Ford movie...if he wasn't 80 years old. Hmm, how about Viggo Mortensen. Yeah, that's the ticket. Viggo could capture the range needed for this role. In the meantime, I'm going to read the book mentioned in the article.