Blog repaired and back online…
We had our blog hacked by someone with a web address in Russia a couple weeks ago. We had to rebuild it and are still working to get the photos and video links reestablished. Hopefully we will get everything back to the way it was.
In the meantime 2009 has gone and 2010 arrived. And it is shaping up to be a great year for conservation projects. We have a number of great work opportunities ahead of MVF this year. Midway Atoll, Rio Parana, Tierra Del Fuego, Bahamas, Mexico and our home waters in Wyoming and Idaho are all opportunities to continue our aerial photo documentatry work. Our aerial database is up and available for use by conservation organizations, city planners, land trusts and neighborhood as a tool to make land use decisions. You can click on this link and see photos from the Russian River in Northern California, the Henrys Fork in Idaho and the Chesapeake Bay. More photos will be added, key worded and available each month.
There was a tremendous amount of negativity about 2009 but many good things happened in river and marine conservation. While the process-oriented events like Copenhagen always struggle with economic agendas being placed above what is best for the planet, the real place-based conservation projects moved forward with great results. The biggest factor in 2009 was the economic conditions stopping all development. We saw major developments stop dead, declare bankruptcy and die as a result of the lack of credit. One $3.5B development in the Bahamas is not stopped. Luckily there were no real buildings built thus sparing the ecosystem from certain destruction. There are plenty of examples like this.
The other major “win” in 2009 was the impact of the down economy on individual behaviors. People bought less, drove less, traveled less and thus impacted the planet less. Our goal at MVF is to educate and show that conservation whether measured in land set in trust, rivers restored or reefs protected is good business and the right path for all of us. So join in with us and let’s do some great work this year. TM
