On Thursday, February 17th, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society announced a VICTORY IN THE SOUTHERN OCEAN DAY. The Sea Shepherd ship Bob Barker has been tailing the Japanese Nisshin Maru factory ship since February 9th, making it impossible for the whalers to continue their illegal whaling operations. The Japanese whaling fleet hadn't even taken 10% of their quota. Sea Shepherd estimates that over 900 whales have been saved this year.“I have a crew of 88 very happy people from 23 different nations including Japan and they are absolutely thrilled that the whalers are heading home and the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary is now indeed a real sanctuary,” said Captain Paul Watson.
MONKEY WRENCHER: Tim DeChristopher
On February 28, Tim DeChristoper goes to trial in the state of Utah. One month prior to President Bush leaving office, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) intended to auction off thousands of acres of southern Utah wilderness to private oil and gas companies. Twenty seven year old student and environmental activist Tim DeChristoper threw a stick in the spokes, and that stick was a bidders paddle.In their mad rush to sell the land before President Obama was sworn into office, the BLM failed to properly clear each bonded bidder, something that DeChristopher quickly understood when attending the auction. DeChristoper, intending only to protest and stir things up, realized his chance amidst the haphazard operation to stall the sale by buying as much land as possible. In the end, DeChristoper had bought over 22,000 acres of land surrounding Arches National Park, land that he never intended to pay for. The truth quickly surfaced that he bid falsely to save the land from sale, but his ploy worked. The BLM, now under the Obama administration, is still sorting out the sale.Abbey'd be proud.Check out this article for more info on DeChristopher, and his upcoming trial.
International Year Of Forests 2011
On February 2nd, The U. S. Forest Service, with partner organizations, the National Association of State Foresters and the American Forest Foundation, announced the U.S. celebration of the official United Nations International Year of Forests 2011. The theme of the U.S. campaign is “Celebrate Forests. Celebrate Life.”