Wildlife artist
Today’s Date: 17 December 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
This is undoubtedly the year 1960 which was the catalyst in my life. I painted my very first wildlife painting and it had a profound impact on my career and changed my life. I have never looked back from that moment. More importantly, on that first visit to Kenya, I came across a waterhole which had been poisoned by poachers, finding 255 dead zebra on the ground. I suddenly realised at that moment what Man is capable of doing to his fellow creatures; we are without a doubt the most lethal and dangerous, stupid animal on Earth. A great thrill in my life as you may possibly know that through my efforts by donating paintings to the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (www.davidshepherd.org), I can put something back to the wildlife that has brought me all the success that my wife and family have enjoyed since.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
(long before I even thought about painting or wildlife) we used to go down to the Kent coast to build sandcastles on the beach. This is probably a very boring answer because in those days that is all most of us did do but I like to hang on to the past because I think that this modern age is getting more trashy and cheap as we make so called progress into the future.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
Very easy, the elephant, the animal by which I am apparently known to some degree from my paintings of these marvelous gentle giants
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
No answer given
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
No answer given
Received via postal mail
To learn more about David Shepherd, visit http://www.davidshepherd.org/david_shepherd/ds_becoming_a_conservationist.shtml
Thanks to my sister Michelle McIlroy for designing the logo!
December 27, 2007
Dr. Gerald Schroeder
Scientist and Author (www.geraldschroeder.com)
Today’s Date: 6 December 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
My parents’ home was about 40 miles from NYC – a very rural area. We had an apple orchard. Pruning these trees each winter shows the helix, spiral nature of existence – each year comes the winter but each year existence has changed.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Our orchard
Now? The back porch that looks out on Eucalyptus trees and the sky (Israel)
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
We had cocker spaniels (3) in my youth. But my favorite animal are/is people.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
Current challenge – warming and related pollution
Changing from petroleum driven vehicles to electric
Radioactive contamination due to nuclear war
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Be modest in your demands for items & comfort. Cut back on owning stuff just because you “want” it even though no need.
Received via postal mail
Today’s Date: 6 December 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
My parents’ home was about 40 miles from NYC – a very rural area. We had an apple orchard. Pruning these trees each winter shows the helix, spiral nature of existence – each year comes the winter but each year existence has changed.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Our orchard
Now? The back porch that looks out on Eucalyptus trees and the sky (Israel)
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
We had cocker spaniels (3) in my youth. But my favorite animal are/is people.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
Current challenge – warming and related pollution
Changing from petroleum driven vehicles to electric
Radioactive contamination due to nuclear war
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Be modest in your demands for items & comfort. Cut back on owning stuff just because you “want” it even though no need.
Received via postal mail
Silvia Geser
Scientific Assistant – World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (www.waza.org)
Today’s Date: 26 November 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
10 days training course in a reserve in Switzerland during my studies
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Yes, forest
Now? Yes, the same
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
I don’t have a favorite animal, but like beetles and saurians very much.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
There are, and will be, too many people on this Earth, and the challenge is and will be to feed everyone properly without destroying or exploiting our environment.
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Learn!
Received via postal mail
Today’s Date: 26 November 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
10 days training course in a reserve in Switzerland during my studies
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Yes, forest
Now? Yes, the same
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
I don’t have a favorite animal, but like beetles and saurians very much.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
There are, and will be, too many people on this Earth, and the challenge is and will be to feed everyone properly without destroying or exploiting our environment.
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Learn!
Received via postal mail
Dr. Richard E. Leakey, FRS
Chairman - Wildlife Direct (www.wildlifedirect.org)
Today’s Date: 7 December 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Watching elephants in the wild
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
The Serengeti Plains
Now? Northern Kenya
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
Elephant – the complex behavior
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
Climate change
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Reduce your own carbon footprint.
Reduce waste – water, energy, and food.
Received via postal mail
About Dr. Leakey: Internationally reknowned paleontologist and conservationist. Formerly Director of the National Museums of Kenya and the Kenya Wildlife Service, Secretary to the Cabinet and Head of Public Service, Kenya. Kenyan, residing in Nairobi.
Taken from http://www.wildlifedirect.org/about.php
Today’s Date: 7 December 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Watching elephants in the wild
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
The Serengeti Plains
Now? Northern Kenya
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
Elephant – the complex behavior
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
Climate change
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Reduce your own carbon footprint.
Reduce waste – water, energy, and food.
Received via postal mail
About Dr. Leakey: Internationally reknowned paleontologist and conservationist. Formerly Director of the National Museums of Kenya and the Kenya Wildlife Service, Secretary to the Cabinet and Head of Public Service, Kenya. Kenyan, residing in Nairobi.
Taken from http://www.wildlifedirect.org/about.php
Peter Waterworth
Governor of Montserrat
Today’s Date: 26 November 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Seeing a humpback whale playing in the waters of the British Virgin Islands
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
The mountains of Mourne, Northern Ireland
Now? British Columbia, Canada
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
It has to be the humpback whale. Powerful, elegant, and graceful.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
Global warming, now and in the future.
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Listen to the scientists, consider the evidence and act out before it is too late.
Received via postal mail
Today’s Date: 26 November 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Seeing a humpback whale playing in the waters of the British Virgin Islands
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
The mountains of Mourne, Northern Ireland
Now? British Columbia, Canada
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
It has to be the humpback whale. Powerful, elegant, and graceful.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
Global warming, now and in the future.
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Listen to the scientists, consider the evidence and act out before it is too late.
Received via postal mail
Arjia Rinpoche
Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center (www.tmbcc.net)
Today’s Date: 12 December 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Horses. I grew up in Eastern Tibet and loved to ride horses.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
The mountains. I loved to play in the fields and look up at the mountains.
Now? I still love the mountains.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
The horse is my favorite animal because I love to ride horses. I also like other animals like pets – cats and dogs.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
Pollution is very dangerous. We have to control climate change that countries make. We have to watch our actions.
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Be careful. The Earth is our home and we should take good care of it, or else we will suffer.
Received via postal mail
Arjia Thubten Lobsang Rinpoche – A Brief Biography
In the Tibetan tradition of Buddhism, "Rinpoche" is a title given to a tulku--a reincarnated being of a previous holy person. When he was two years old, Arjia Rinpoche was recognized as the incarnation of the father of Lama Tsong Khapa, the great thirteenth-century Buddhist reformer, and, as such, became the Abbot of Kumbum Monastery located in eastern Tibet.
It may seem a bit strange to think of a two-year old child becoming a monk, but among Tibetans and Mongolians, it is a very high honor to have your child become a monk and receive a Buddhist education.
For twenty years, beginning in 1958 when he was seven years old, Rinpoche was subjected, as a member of the “exploiting class,” to the humiliations forced upon all established citizens by the Chinese Communist Party. When the "Chinese Great Leap Forward" occurred, Rinpoche was only eight years old, and he had to disrobe and attend a Chinese school. During the following five years, he was indoctrinated in the Chinese Communist ways, but due to his teacher's influences, he secretly maintained his Buddhist identity.
From age twelve to seventeen when the Chinese policies slightly eased, Rinpoche studied at Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse, the monastery of the Panchen Lama.
From seventeen to twenty-eight, which was during the Cultural Revolution, the political situation got much worse again, and he had to work in the fields at hard labor with other lamas and monks.
In 1979 he was reinstated as Abbot of Kumbum Monastery and advanced in the governmental hierarchy. In 1998, he was about to become leader of the Chinese National Buddhist Association but felt the noose tightening around his own personal and spiritual freedom. In a crisis of conscience, he escaped from Beijing to Guatemala and, with the help of the Dalai Lama sought asylum in the United States.
Rinpoche settled in Mill Valley, California where he established the Tibetan Center for Compassion and Wisdom. In 2005, His Holiness the Dalai Lama asked him to become the director of the Tibetan Cultural Center in Bloomington, Indiana. He moved to Bloomington in February 2006 and has been working to renovate the center and establish Buddhist teachings and Tibetan/Mongolian cultural events.
taken from http://www.tmbcc.net/info/Main.aspx?Page=Rinpoche
Today’s Date: 12 December 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Horses. I grew up in Eastern Tibet and loved to ride horses.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
The mountains. I loved to play in the fields and look up at the mountains.
Now? I still love the mountains.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
The horse is my favorite animal because I love to ride horses. I also like other animals like pets – cats and dogs.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
Pollution is very dangerous. We have to control climate change that countries make. We have to watch our actions.
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Be careful. The Earth is our home and we should take good care of it, or else we will suffer.
Received via postal mail
Arjia Thubten Lobsang Rinpoche – A Brief Biography
In the Tibetan tradition of Buddhism, "Rinpoche" is a title given to a tulku--a reincarnated being of a previous holy person. When he was two years old, Arjia Rinpoche was recognized as the incarnation of the father of Lama Tsong Khapa, the great thirteenth-century Buddhist reformer, and, as such, became the Abbot of Kumbum Monastery located in eastern Tibet.
It may seem a bit strange to think of a two-year old child becoming a monk, but among Tibetans and Mongolians, it is a very high honor to have your child become a monk and receive a Buddhist education.
For twenty years, beginning in 1958 when he was seven years old, Rinpoche was subjected, as a member of the “exploiting class,” to the humiliations forced upon all established citizens by the Chinese Communist Party. When the "Chinese Great Leap Forward" occurred, Rinpoche was only eight years old, and he had to disrobe and attend a Chinese school. During the following five years, he was indoctrinated in the Chinese Communist ways, but due to his teacher's influences, he secretly maintained his Buddhist identity.
From age twelve to seventeen when the Chinese policies slightly eased, Rinpoche studied at Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse, the monastery of the Panchen Lama.
From seventeen to twenty-eight, which was during the Cultural Revolution, the political situation got much worse again, and he had to work in the fields at hard labor with other lamas and monks.
In 1979 he was reinstated as Abbot of Kumbum Monastery and advanced in the governmental hierarchy. In 1998, he was about to become leader of the Chinese National Buddhist Association but felt the noose tightening around his own personal and spiritual freedom. In a crisis of conscience, he escaped from Beijing to Guatemala and, with the help of the Dalai Lama sought asylum in the United States.
Rinpoche settled in Mill Valley, California where he established the Tibetan Center for Compassion and Wisdom. In 2005, His Holiness the Dalai Lama asked him to become the director of the Tibetan Cultural Center in Bloomington, Indiana. He moved to Bloomington in February 2006 and has been working to renovate the center and establish Buddhist teachings and Tibetan/Mongolian cultural events.
taken from http://www.tmbcc.net/info/Main.aspx?Page=Rinpoche
Susanne Hare
Communications – First Nations Environmental Network
Today’s Date: 1 December 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Same experience with wolves (see prior post – Steve Lawson)
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
beaches and beachcombing, woods on grandparents’ farm
Now? Florida and West Coast
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
wolf & bear – closest to humans of the mammal species never to be in a zoo (I don’t agree with zoos)
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
Greatest environmental challenge now: stop deforestation, especially all evergreen trees.
In future: survival
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Stop deforestation; live simply, conserve water, & energy sources of heat, light, power. But most importantly immediately stop the logging of old growth forests and evergreen forests. The Earth’s canopy and buffer zone is almost gone. What are we to breathe? What will make the soil? What will keep the moisture in the land? What will make the clouds and what will balance temperature? What will offer habitat and protection to the animals and birds? We need to enhance immediately the forests of the land & the seas for our survival & stop any harm that may jeopardize these. DO NOT HARM.
Received via postal mail
Today’s Date: 1 December 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Same experience with wolves (see prior post – Steve Lawson)
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
beaches and beachcombing, woods on grandparents’ farm
Now? Florida and West Coast
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
wolf & bear – closest to humans of the mammal species never to be in a zoo (I don’t agree with zoos)
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
Greatest environmental challenge now: stop deforestation, especially all evergreen trees.
In future: survival
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Stop deforestation; live simply, conserve water, & energy sources of heat, light, power. But most importantly immediately stop the logging of old growth forests and evergreen forests. The Earth’s canopy and buffer zone is almost gone. What are we to breathe? What will make the soil? What will keep the moisture in the land? What will make the clouds and what will balance temperature? What will offer habitat and protection to the animals and birds? We need to enhance immediately the forests of the land & the seas for our survival & stop any harm that may jeopardize these. DO NOT HARM.
Received via postal mail
Steve Lawson
National Coordinator – First Nations Environmental Network
Today’s Date: 1 December 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
A wolf on an island on the west coast came to me and walked with me all day and would meet me whenever I visited the island. Sometimes it would bring other wolves who would howl, one of two might join us and lay down at my feet. They were wild wolves and wanted to teach me things. They did this until they were killed by a “conservation officer” not wanting human and animal encounters.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Getting away to the mountains every spare moment I had. I would walk up with skis, overnight at an old lodge, then ski all weekend – Fri. nights and weekends and holidays and every chance I got. It wasn’t commercial like it is now and very few people would walk up like I did.
Now? Anywhere along the wild open coast of North America. Anyplace that isn’t spoiled by logging, mining, or pulp mills. Islands, inlets, river valleys with bears, wolves, eagles, cougar, elk, and all the wildlife – especially wild salmon rivers – i.e. in Clayoquot Sound & on Van. Island’s west coast.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
It’s hard to pick a favorite animal. The killer whale is one of the most beautiful, intelligent creatures I have come across – also I pick them because they are greatly in harm and danger by pollution & loss of food and natural habitat that is clean and pure.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
Now: altering the human mindset away from fear and greed to simply caring for life in all its forms.
Future: If we dealt with the challenge above, I think our future would be fine. If humans would not base their ethics on fear and greed, perhaps they would see the greatest value of all – diversity and beauty of life around us.
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Make decisions as though we lived on the most beautiful and diverse planet in the known universe.
Received via postal mail
Today’s Date: 1 December 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
A wolf on an island on the west coast came to me and walked with me all day and would meet me whenever I visited the island. Sometimes it would bring other wolves who would howl, one of two might join us and lay down at my feet. They were wild wolves and wanted to teach me things. They did this until they were killed by a “conservation officer” not wanting human and animal encounters.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Getting away to the mountains every spare moment I had. I would walk up with skis, overnight at an old lodge, then ski all weekend – Fri. nights and weekends and holidays and every chance I got. It wasn’t commercial like it is now and very few people would walk up like I did.
Now? Anywhere along the wild open coast of North America. Anyplace that isn’t spoiled by logging, mining, or pulp mills. Islands, inlets, river valleys with bears, wolves, eagles, cougar, elk, and all the wildlife – especially wild salmon rivers – i.e. in Clayoquot Sound & on Van. Island’s west coast.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
It’s hard to pick a favorite animal. The killer whale is one of the most beautiful, intelligent creatures I have come across – also I pick them because they are greatly in harm and danger by pollution & loss of food and natural habitat that is clean and pure.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
Now: altering the human mindset away from fear and greed to simply caring for life in all its forms.
Future: If we dealt with the challenge above, I think our future would be fine. If humans would not base their ethics on fear and greed, perhaps they would see the greatest value of all – diversity and beauty of life around us.
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Make decisions as though we lived on the most beautiful and diverse planet in the known universe.
Received via postal mail
Philip Carr-Gomm
Chief of the Order – The Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids (www.druidry.org)
Today’s Date: 2 December 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
After 18 years living in a city (London) I lived in the countryside in Ireland at age 18 years which opened me to the magic of the land.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
The trees in our local park
Now? Many favourites, but locally the landscape around the Long Man of Wilmington in Sussex
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
an ibex, for its elegant and extraordinary horns
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
Overpopulation & global warming - now and in the future.
Greatest challenge in the future – food production & coping with results of climate change
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
That we all have to aim not for reduction of carbon emissions but zero emissions. This is possible – Google “zero carbon.”
Received via postal mail
Today’s Date: 2 December 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
After 18 years living in a city (London) I lived in the countryside in Ireland at age 18 years which opened me to the magic of the land.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
The trees in our local park
Now? Many favourites, but locally the landscape around the Long Man of Wilmington in Sussex
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
an ibex, for its elegant and extraordinary horns
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
Overpopulation & global warming - now and in the future.
Greatest challenge in the future – food production & coping with results of climate change
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
That we all have to aim not for reduction of carbon emissions but zero emissions. This is possible – Google “zero carbon.”
Received via postal mail
Emilie Della Corte
Caritas Internationalis (Vatican City)
(www.caritas.org)
Today’s Date: 12 December 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
I never had any pets but I have a bad memory of being attacked by a swan as a child
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
I liked being up in the mountains (is summer as well as on my skis in winter) where I felt free but at the same time small in front of the immensity of the mountains.
Now? I still like the mountains best
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
My favorite animal is the giraffe. I enjoy watching and admiring the elegance of this animal.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
For our humanitarian work at Caritas, we consider climate change the greatest environmental challenge facing us now and in the future. Just in the last 6 months, we have noticed a very notable increase in number of natural (weather-related) emergencies requiring Caritas’ response.
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
An obvious advice would be to recycle whatever can be recycled; & to push for the expansion of biofuel production to replace petrol & diesel in any way you can.
Received via postal mail
(www.caritas.org)
Today’s Date: 12 December 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
I never had any pets but I have a bad memory of being attacked by a swan as a child
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
I liked being up in the mountains (is summer as well as on my skis in winter) where I felt free but at the same time small in front of the immensity of the mountains.
Now? I still like the mountains best
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
My favorite animal is the giraffe. I enjoy watching and admiring the elegance of this animal.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
For our humanitarian work at Caritas, we consider climate change the greatest environmental challenge facing us now and in the future. Just in the last 6 months, we have noticed a very notable increase in number of natural (weather-related) emergencies requiring Caritas’ response.
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
An obvious advice would be to recycle whatever can be recycled; & to push for the expansion of biofuel production to replace petrol & diesel in any way you can.
Received via postal mail
Norma Bustos
Wildlife Program Specialist – Hawaii Division of Forestry & Wildlife
Today’s Date: 13 December 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
I grew up on the windward side of the island of Oahu next to the ocean and would say that the ocean has had the biggest impact on my life. Living in an island state, I have much appreciation for the ocean and what it provides our islands in terms of stable weather, food resources and recreational opportunities. As a paddler, surfer, diver, snorkeler, and swimmer I have respect for the power of the ocean and the beauty of it. As a zoologist, I admire its creatures and enjoy the diversity of life found within its realm.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
My favorite place outdoors during my childhood was Kailua Beach. I can vividly remember the many afternoons spent with family and friends playing on the sand, in the water and lying under the coconut trees watching the clouds go by.
Now? My favorite place is still the ocean. I love going for a paddle past the Mokulua Islands and surfing out at my favorite spot on the west side of the island of Kauai.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
My favorite animals are the Hawaiian Honeycreepers. A subfamily of forest birds found only here in our islands. From a single finch ancestor dozens of species evolved to fill the different ecological niches. Unfortunately, these birds are one of the most extreme examples of extinction resulting from human activities. Introduced rats, cats, disease and loss of habitat have contributed to their decline.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
Living in an island State that faces an extinction crisis due in large part to introduced species I would say that invasive/introduced species are the greatest environmental challenge facing us now. From zebra mussels to exotic grasses to the brown tree snake, introduced and invasive species are causing billions of dollars in damage to both natural and man-made resources nation-wide.
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
If I had to give one piece of advice to everyone regarding the environment and our natural resources I would advise that people get involved locally. I love that saying “think global, act local.” If we all acted locally, the global problems might just work themselves out.
Received via postal mail
Today’s Date: 13 December 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
I grew up on the windward side of the island of Oahu next to the ocean and would say that the ocean has had the biggest impact on my life. Living in an island state, I have much appreciation for the ocean and what it provides our islands in terms of stable weather, food resources and recreational opportunities. As a paddler, surfer, diver, snorkeler, and swimmer I have respect for the power of the ocean and the beauty of it. As a zoologist, I admire its creatures and enjoy the diversity of life found within its realm.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
My favorite place outdoors during my childhood was Kailua Beach. I can vividly remember the many afternoons spent with family and friends playing on the sand, in the water and lying under the coconut trees watching the clouds go by.
Now? My favorite place is still the ocean. I love going for a paddle past the Mokulua Islands and surfing out at my favorite spot on the west side of the island of Kauai.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
My favorite animals are the Hawaiian Honeycreepers. A subfamily of forest birds found only here in our islands. From a single finch ancestor dozens of species evolved to fill the different ecological niches. Unfortunately, these birds are one of the most extreme examples of extinction resulting from human activities. Introduced rats, cats, disease and loss of habitat have contributed to their decline.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
Living in an island State that faces an extinction crisis due in large part to introduced species I would say that invasive/introduced species are the greatest environmental challenge facing us now. From zebra mussels to exotic grasses to the brown tree snake, introduced and invasive species are causing billions of dollars in damage to both natural and man-made resources nation-wide.
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
If I had to give one piece of advice to everyone regarding the environment and our natural resources I would advise that people get involved locally. I love that saying “think global, act local.” If we all acted locally, the global problems might just work themselves out.
Received via postal mail
Patriarch Mesrob II
Patriarch, Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul and All Turkey
Today’s Date: 7 December 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
My dog Kuchig. Also since my childhood I have been visiting a village called Kiyikoy in Thrace where the nature is great.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
The Bosphorus
Now? The Bosphorus
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
My dog Kuchig, who is always with me.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
Global warming and global warming.
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
To limit the emission of gas from our cars.
Received via postal mail
Today’s Date: 7 December 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
My dog Kuchig. Also since my childhood I have been visiting a village called Kiyikoy in Thrace where the nature is great.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
The Bosphorus
Now? The Bosphorus
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
My dog Kuchig, who is always with me.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
Global warming and global warming.
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
To limit the emission of gas from our cars.
Received via postal mail
Dr. Helen Phillips
Chief Executive – Natural England
Today’s Date: 10 December 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Barnacles and limpets
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Seaside
Now? Seaside
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
Hares in their white coats. Shows how well animals adapt to their surroundings.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
Climate change, now and in the future
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Teach your children to enjoy and respect the natural environment
Received via postal mail
Today’s Date: 10 December 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Barnacles and limpets
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Seaside
Now? Seaside
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
Hares in their white coats. Shows how well animals adapt to their surroundings.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
Climate change, now and in the future
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Teach your children to enjoy and respect the natural environment
Received via postal mail
Ariel E. Lugo
Director – USDA Forest Service International Institute of Tropical Forestry (Puerto Rico)
Today’s Date: 10 December 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
I have fond memories of pet dogs I have had, but these are not the type that one would list as a big impact. However, a summer job in the rain forest in Puerto Rico, just after I graduated from my bachelor’s degree, did have a big impact in my life. It contributed to me becoming an ecologist rather than an MD.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
No, but I cherished visiting my grandfather’s farm
Now? I love all tropical forests and wetlands.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
My favorite animals are those construed to be ecosystem engineers or keystone species. For example, earthworms, leaf cutter ants, freshwater shrimp, etc.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
The greatest present environmental challenge is the same one we will face in the future. That is, coping with environmental change. Environmental conditions are rapidly changing as human effects on the planet become increasingly global and ubiquitous. Nature reacts to these changes by self-organizing into new ecosystems that we need to recognize and conserve, even if they don’t have the same species composition as familiar ecosystems.
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
To become as familiar as possible with natural environments and ecosystems, learn to value the services we derived from these ecosystems, and contribute to their conservation.
Received via postal mail
Today’s Date: 10 December 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
I have fond memories of pet dogs I have had, but these are not the type that one would list as a big impact. However, a summer job in the rain forest in Puerto Rico, just after I graduated from my bachelor’s degree, did have a big impact in my life. It contributed to me becoming an ecologist rather than an MD.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
No, but I cherished visiting my grandfather’s farm
Now? I love all tropical forests and wetlands.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
My favorite animals are those construed to be ecosystem engineers or keystone species. For example, earthworms, leaf cutter ants, freshwater shrimp, etc.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
The greatest present environmental challenge is the same one we will face in the future. That is, coping with environmental change. Environmental conditions are rapidly changing as human effects on the planet become increasingly global and ubiquitous. Nature reacts to these changes by self-organizing into new ecosystems that we need to recognize and conserve, even if they don’t have the same species composition as familiar ecosystems.
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
To become as familiar as possible with natural environments and ecosystems, learn to value the services we derived from these ecosystems, and contribute to their conservation.
Received via postal mail
Nunavut Premier Paul Okalik
Government of Nunavut
Today’s Date: 3 December 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Respect and survival
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Hunting & Fishing on our traditional lands
Now? Same
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
Whales, because it is my favorite food
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
Climate change will likely be our biggest challenge
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and show proper respect for our environment, it is our home and should be treated like one.
Received via postal mail
Today’s Date: 3 December 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Respect and survival
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Hunting & Fishing on our traditional lands
Now? Same
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
Whales, because it is my favorite food
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
Climate change will likely be our biggest challenge
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and show proper respect for our environment, it is our home and should be treated like one.
Received via postal mail
Venerable Dhammananda
Abbot – Buddhasavika Foundation (Thailand)
Today’s Date: 29 November 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
I travel often, when I return to the Temple, my dog greeted me. She would be jumping around & really happy that I return. This is the biggest impact, I never had this pure joy to welcome me home from any other human beings.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
I love the sea. Every summer I would take my sons(?) to the beach.
Now? As an ordained person, I do not go to the beach any longer. Instead we do the chanting outdoors on the full moon night.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
My favorite animals are dogs. They are clever, they express their love sincerely, openly. They never turn away from you even the times when they get punishment, instead they are very submissive and needy for punishment.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
Consumerism. We are urged in all ways to consume even when there is no need for it. The greatest challenge is when we have to look at ourselves, self-examination to see ourselves in a larger context to realize that when we consume carelessly many people starve on our carelessness.
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
We are nature. Destroy nature is destroy one’s self, one’s nation, future generations.
Received via postal mail
Today’s Date: 29 November 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
I travel often, when I return to the Temple, my dog greeted me. She would be jumping around & really happy that I return. This is the biggest impact, I never had this pure joy to welcome me home from any other human beings.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
I love the sea. Every summer I would take my sons(?) to the beach.
Now? As an ordained person, I do not go to the beach any longer. Instead we do the chanting outdoors on the full moon night.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
My favorite animals are dogs. They are clever, they express their love sincerely, openly. They never turn away from you even the times when they get punishment, instead they are very submissive and needy for punishment.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
Consumerism. We are urged in all ways to consume even when there is no need for it. The greatest challenge is when we have to look at ourselves, self-examination to see ourselves in a larger context to realize that when we consume carelessly many people starve on our carelessness.
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
We are nature. Destroy nature is destroy one’s self, one’s nation, future generations.
Received via postal mail
Rt. Hon. Rhodri Morgan AM
First Minister for Wales
Today’s Date: 30 November 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Swimming with or anyway near wild bottle-nosed dolphins in Mwnt, Cardigan Bay, West Coast of Wales
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Beaches and rocks in Cardigan Bay, especially during seal pupping season of Atlantic grey seals
Now? Brecon Beacons National Park, including the famous Walk in the Dry behind the waterfall of Sgwd-yr-Eira
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
Bottle-nosed dolphins. They consume an awful lot of mackerel and other fish but always seem instinctively friendly to us human beings
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
Global warming and global warming
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Try to enjoy your own local environment and holiday locally if you can
Received via postal mail
Today’s Date: 30 November 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Swimming with or anyway near wild bottle-nosed dolphins in Mwnt, Cardigan Bay, West Coast of Wales
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Beaches and rocks in Cardigan Bay, especially during seal pupping season of Atlantic grey seals
Now? Brecon Beacons National Park, including the famous Walk in the Dry behind the waterfall of Sgwd-yr-Eira
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
Bottle-nosed dolphins. They consume an awful lot of mackerel and other fish but always seem instinctively friendly to us human beings
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
Global warming and global warming
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Try to enjoy your own local environment and holiday locally if you can
Received via postal mail
His Eminence Garchen Rinpoche
Garchen Buddhist Institute
Today’s Date: 28 November 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
The biggest impact with an animal was the realization of the Buddha’s teachings on Karma, the law of cause and effect. I have understood that the mind of an animal and the mind of a human are one and the same. There merely is a difference in intelligence and outer appearance. The Buddha has said that through the accumulation of myriad karma there exist a myriad of different sentient beings with a myriad of different bodies. Having realized these words to be the truth I was amazed and strong conviction arose in my mind. We all have the same mind in terms of wishing to be happy, not wanting to surer and our mental afflictions such as ignorance, anger, desire, pride, and jealousy are one and the same. Engaging in certain non-virtuous deeds will lead to rebirth in the realm of the animals. I have seen this clearly. Wisdom and intelligence can block the rebirth as an animal. Lacking wisdom and intelligence one is ignorant and fails to recognize the fault in it. But possessing wisdom one understands the fault in non-virtuous deeds and thus engages in wholesome deeds which will lead to rebirth in more fortunate existences such as the human realm.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
My favorite places were the grassy fields, the forests, lakes, and mountains. I especially enjoyed the animals in the lake.
Now? Now the best places seem to be places of independence. Countries where human rights are observed and where people are free are good places.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
There are different types of animals, some are gentle and some are vicious. Those who are gentle do not cause harm for others and sometimes also have a beautiful appearance and voice. Those are better. There are also vicious animals that are very aggressive and are harming others, those are not so good.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
The biggest challenge is that our mental afflictions are increasing and love and compassion are diminishing. Because the inner mind and the outer elements have a strong connection, the harm of the elements in the form of natural disasters will increase. The only way to dispel this is to cultivate love for all sentient beings and to have a good understanding of the workings of Karma, cause and effect. If everyone would love each other the inner mind of beings would be at peace and in a state of equanimity. Then also the outer elements would come to a balance, a state of equanimity, since there is this strong connection between mind and elements. Then e.g. fire element causing the globe to heat up would be balanced and cause no harm.
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Of course we have to use natural resources but we must be careful with overusing them. If we use them in moderation we will be benefited, if we overuse them we will be harmed. We have to protect the resources and the animals, being very skilful. If we focus on cultivating love then this will benefit our environment since we have a strong connection to the environment. The best thing we can do is to improve our mind and cultivate love. If we harm others it will come back to oneself in the future. But people do not know that and therefore harm others as much as they can for their own benefit. But all suffering comes from this attitude. If we cultivate love towards others we will experience happiness. It is just that most beings don’t know this.
Received via postal mail
His Eminence Garchen Rinpoche: A Brief Biography
His Eminence Garchen Rinpoche is a Drikung Kagyu lama who was known in the thirteenth century as the Siddha Gar Chodingpa, a heart disciple of Kyobpa Jigten Sumgon, founder of the Drikung Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. In ancient India, he had incarnated as Mahasiddha Aryadeva, the lotus-born disciple of the great Nagarjuna. In the seventh century, he was known as Lonpo Gar, the minister of the Tibetan Dharma King Songsten Gampo.
Garchen Rinpoche was recognized and enthroned in eastern Tibet by the former Drikung Kyabgon Zhiwe Lodro. When he was seven, he was brought to Lho Miyal Monastery, which he administered from the age of eleven. Studying and practicing under the direction of the Siddha Chime Dorje, Garchen Rinpoche received vast and profound instructions on the preliminary practices (ngondro), the fivefold practice of Mahamudra and the six yogas of Naropa.
Then, at the age of 22, after completing a two and a half year retreat, he was imprisoned for 20 years during the political turmoil of China's Cultural Revolution. While in the labor camp, he received meditation instruction from his root lama, the Nyingma master Khenpo Munsel. Enduring hardship and practicing secretly, Garchen Rinpoche attained realization of the lama's wisdom mind. Since his release from prison in 1979, Garchen Rinpoche has made great effort to rebuild the Drikung Kagyu monasteries, reestablish the Buddhist teachings, and build two boarding schools for local children in eastern Tibet. Rinpoche is the founder and spiritual director of the Garchen Buddhist Institute in Chino Valley, Arizona.
Garchen Rinpoche is known for his vast realization, as well as for his great kindness.
biography taken from http://www.garchen.net/teachers.html
Today’s Date: 28 November 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
The biggest impact with an animal was the realization of the Buddha’s teachings on Karma, the law of cause and effect. I have understood that the mind of an animal and the mind of a human are one and the same. There merely is a difference in intelligence and outer appearance. The Buddha has said that through the accumulation of myriad karma there exist a myriad of different sentient beings with a myriad of different bodies. Having realized these words to be the truth I was amazed and strong conviction arose in my mind. We all have the same mind in terms of wishing to be happy, not wanting to surer and our mental afflictions such as ignorance, anger, desire, pride, and jealousy are one and the same. Engaging in certain non-virtuous deeds will lead to rebirth in the realm of the animals. I have seen this clearly. Wisdom and intelligence can block the rebirth as an animal. Lacking wisdom and intelligence one is ignorant and fails to recognize the fault in it. But possessing wisdom one understands the fault in non-virtuous deeds and thus engages in wholesome deeds which will lead to rebirth in more fortunate existences such as the human realm.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
My favorite places were the grassy fields, the forests, lakes, and mountains. I especially enjoyed the animals in the lake.
Now? Now the best places seem to be places of independence. Countries where human rights are observed and where people are free are good places.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
There are different types of animals, some are gentle and some are vicious. Those who are gentle do not cause harm for others and sometimes also have a beautiful appearance and voice. Those are better. There are also vicious animals that are very aggressive and are harming others, those are not so good.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
The biggest challenge is that our mental afflictions are increasing and love and compassion are diminishing. Because the inner mind and the outer elements have a strong connection, the harm of the elements in the form of natural disasters will increase. The only way to dispel this is to cultivate love for all sentient beings and to have a good understanding of the workings of Karma, cause and effect. If everyone would love each other the inner mind of beings would be at peace and in a state of equanimity. Then also the outer elements would come to a balance, a state of equanimity, since there is this strong connection between mind and elements. Then e.g. fire element causing the globe to heat up would be balanced and cause no harm.
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Of course we have to use natural resources but we must be careful with overusing them. If we use them in moderation we will be benefited, if we overuse them we will be harmed. We have to protect the resources and the animals, being very skilful. If we focus on cultivating love then this will benefit our environment since we have a strong connection to the environment. The best thing we can do is to improve our mind and cultivate love. If we harm others it will come back to oneself in the future. But people do not know that and therefore harm others as much as they can for their own benefit. But all suffering comes from this attitude. If we cultivate love towards others we will experience happiness. It is just that most beings don’t know this.
Received via postal mail
His Eminence Garchen Rinpoche: A Brief Biography
His Eminence Garchen Rinpoche is a Drikung Kagyu lama who was known in the thirteenth century as the Siddha Gar Chodingpa, a heart disciple of Kyobpa Jigten Sumgon, founder of the Drikung Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. In ancient India, he had incarnated as Mahasiddha Aryadeva, the lotus-born disciple of the great Nagarjuna. In the seventh century, he was known as Lonpo Gar, the minister of the Tibetan Dharma King Songsten Gampo.
Garchen Rinpoche was recognized and enthroned in eastern Tibet by the former Drikung Kyabgon Zhiwe Lodro. When he was seven, he was brought to Lho Miyal Monastery, which he administered from the age of eleven. Studying and practicing under the direction of the Siddha Chime Dorje, Garchen Rinpoche received vast and profound instructions on the preliminary practices (ngondro), the fivefold practice of Mahamudra and the six yogas of Naropa.
Then, at the age of 22, after completing a two and a half year retreat, he was imprisoned for 20 years during the political turmoil of China's Cultural Revolution. While in the labor camp, he received meditation instruction from his root lama, the Nyingma master Khenpo Munsel. Enduring hardship and practicing secretly, Garchen Rinpoche attained realization of the lama's wisdom mind. Since his release from prison in 1979, Garchen Rinpoche has made great effort to rebuild the Drikung Kagyu monasteries, reestablish the Buddhist teachings, and build two boarding schools for local children in eastern Tibet. Rinpoche is the founder and spiritual director of the Garchen Buddhist Institute in Chino Valley, Arizona.
Garchen Rinpoche is known for his vast realization, as well as for his great kindness.
biography taken from http://www.garchen.net/teachers.html
Robert S. Saulters
Grand Master – Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland
Today’s Date: 5 December 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
When I was a boy into my teens, my father had a small holding as a past-time, more of a menagerie. We had hens, geese, ducks, turkeys, goats, cows, pigs, and a pony, and of course cats and always a dog or two. I enjoyed looking after them, I enjoyed seeing the eggs hatch or the young being born – I just loved animals.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Yes, the hayfield in the summertime and the bringing the hay in to the farmyard
Now? I just love to visit farms and to see the modern day milking parlours and the modern day equipment with the tractor the main work horse.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
Very hard to day, I adored all the animals. I suppose in the latter years it would be the German shepherd dogs or Alsatian as sometimes known by. Followed by the horse and after that the pig. If it is a wild animal you mean, I would say the bear family.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
The melting of the ice fields
To save the polar bear
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
No more atom or hydrogen bomb testing and less destruction of fish stocks by governments ordering a quota of certain fish and where it is impossible to catch fish without the fish we are suppose to be trying to preserve. And they are dumped back into the sea for bird fodder. Fish in my estimation is a stop to whale hunting by all countries.
Received via postal mail
Today’s Date: 5 December 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
When I was a boy into my teens, my father had a small holding as a past-time, more of a menagerie. We had hens, geese, ducks, turkeys, goats, cows, pigs, and a pony, and of course cats and always a dog or two. I enjoyed looking after them, I enjoyed seeing the eggs hatch or the young being born – I just loved animals.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Yes, the hayfield in the summertime and the bringing the hay in to the farmyard
Now? I just love to visit farms and to see the modern day milking parlours and the modern day equipment with the tractor the main work horse.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
Very hard to day, I adored all the animals. I suppose in the latter years it would be the German shepherd dogs or Alsatian as sometimes known by. Followed by the horse and after that the pig. If it is a wild animal you mean, I would say the bear family.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
The melting of the ice fields
To save the polar bear
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
No more atom or hydrogen bomb testing and less destruction of fish stocks by governments ordering a quota of certain fish and where it is impossible to catch fish without the fish we are suppose to be trying to preserve. And they are dumped back into the sea for bird fodder. Fish in my estimation is a stop to whale hunting by all countries.
Received via postal mail
Marty Stouffer
President, Marty Stouffer Productions Ltd (www.wildamerica.com)
(see also www.Wild-Mart.com and www.WildTent.com)
Today’s Date: 23 December 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
It is very hard for me to narrow down the single interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on me. It would certainly begin with a childhood in rural Arkansas and with very understanding parents, who allowed us to keep, raise, and rehabilitate various wild animals - deer, fox, owl, beaver, etc. They also provided for us domestic animals as pets and also for husbandry. We had sheep, goats, horses, donkey, turkeys, chickens and hamsters by the thousand. At one point, we bred and raised hamsters for the pet trade as a family project. Also, as a family, we annually raised and slaughtered, cleaned and froze by the dozens, the turkeys and chickens we were to eat that year, etc. etc. We hunted and fished and ate all of that, as well. So, I began my life with a very hands on approach to wildlife and to all animals. I did not mention the dogs, cats, parakeets, monkeys, turtles, frogs, snakes, fish and etc. etc. that we also kept as "pets", since those were something that virtually everyone has and are nothing special... except the monkeys, but we even had a couple of friends with those as well (in the old days when the laws were more lax).
As I grew older, I spent time in both Alaska and Africa (Botswana) and those were powerful influences as is spelled out in the book "Marty Stouffer's Wild America". I will make no attempt to summarize here what is explained there in hundreds of pages. See note above re: Book is now online for free. [If you would like more insight, the entire Book I wrote... "Wild America" is posted on the Website at www.WildAmerica.com]
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Regarding my favorite place in the outdoors, growing up in Arkansas, when our initial transportation was bicycles, go-carts and motorcycles, it was "the woods"... literally outside out back door, and several miles away along the banks of the Arkansas River. When we were old enough to drive, it was the nearby Fort Chaffee Military Reservation... a huge area that was completely off-limits to all civilians... and, as a result, a fabulous "de facto" wildlife preserve and refuge. Naturally, as somewhat adventurous and not-completely rule-abiding teens, it was our "Happy Hunting Ground", we knew every inch of it and were chased by armed MPs many, many times. After that, we came to know and love, forty miles to the north in the Ozark Mountains all of the land around the Buffalo River, later to become a National Scenic River.
Now? Obviously, for the past thirty years, I now live in the western U.S. at the edge of a wilderness area a few miles outside of Aspen, Colorado - the answer to my favorite place(s) these days should be obvious - it is where I have chosen to live. Having said that, I dearly love Yellowstone Park in late spring and late autumn when the tourists are virtually gone from there. I love the Baja down South. I LOVE everything about Louisiana... the pepole, their culture, the wildlife and their game recipes. Alaska is fabulous for more reasons than I could outline short of a small book, but I would never want to live there for just as many... and while I had tremendous and dramatic experiences in Botswana, Africa, the goods and the bads just about evened out over there.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
My favorite animals are the Bighorn and the Otter and I go into great detail on that topic in the book. One is a noble animal in a beautiful environment and the other lives for fun. One could not go wrong with either approach to life.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
Too many rats in the box. China is terrifying and America is just as bad. Too many consumers making too many babies and buying them all too much junk. Sure, I love my truck, my tv and my computer, but the future in which 10 or 20 billion people will ALL want that same "stuff", plus a bottle of Coca-Cola and a Rolex watch, simply boggles the mind with its impossibility. I do not believe that Al Gore invented the Internet, Global Warming or much of anything else except some political hype and b.s. Bless his heart. I do believe its in the right place... its his Ego that has me concerned. We can wring our hands and worry about greenhouse gas, or gasoline, energy, food, water, air and all the rest, but Nature will do just fine in balancing it all out. As for humans and our natural propensity for "more, better, different..." all I can say is "Good luck". I'm really not cynical about it... I just do not think that the future will be very much like the past, in which we pretty much had whatever we wanted and whenever we wanted it. In the long run, after we burn all the fossil fuel in the earth and eat all the fish in the sea, things will not be nearly as much fun as they were in the "good ol' days".
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Here is my one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources. First a bit Rude, then a bit more Refined. Like I tell my verbose, self-righteous self-proclaimed "Environmental" friends who love to drive their internal-combustion vehicles to meetings to worry and fret about "saving the world"... if you really want to do something worthwhile... just blow your own brains out. Because You, and WE, are the problem. Without humans, there is NO problem whatsoever with "the Environment". Its not a Nature problem... its a People problem. But, thats too simple and to "Inconvenient a Truth" to even consider.
Instead, we talk about it all like Nature has something "Wrong" with it... acid rain and ozone holes and melting glaciers and dying species. Yes, of course, the U.N. and etc. etc. passes out medicine and pamphlets and condoms, but do the math. They are not getting read or used. At least, they have not limited population growth to any significant degree. Sex is still the most fun that a poor person can have. And, cruel or not to simply admit it, there are a whole lot of poor people in the world who like to have sex and who do not yet share the "first world" concerns with the environment. \
They are too busy killing things for food, or chopping things down for money or draining places to plant more food or etc. etc. Since no one actually IS going to sacrifice themselves for the Future of the Planet... (we as a species are MUCH too selfish for that grand gesture... I know for sure that I do NOT plan to do so, at least... ha ha.) and, to summarize on a more positive note, the simple answer is that we need less people on the planet...
So, to accomplish that... we would need Education/Contraception/Sterilization/Limitation ... i.e. whatever it takes to get LESS Rats in the Box. Other than that, I feel that all other efforts to even maintain the "World", much less improve it in any way... are a complete waste of time and money. But, for every family in America or even China with 1 or 2 children, there are many, many more with 5 or 10 and these days, many of them have the "first world's" donation of food and medicine to keep all of their offspring alive until they, too, are able to breed and reproduce prolifically. And on and on. Until Boom. Ouch.
Sounds a little Hitler-esque, I know to suggest ANY alternative to that, our current scenario... Human Freedom running Wild. Political correctness at its finest. And I do NOT mean it that way. Not in any sort of "Us instead of Them" cruel way. Starving and dying babies are a terrible thing. So, of course, that should be prevented at all costs. But, the answer is prevention, not perpetuation. The Catholic church still opposes contraception. That, to my mind, is beyond insane. But, I'm not Catholic.
I will stop now for fear of generating TOO MUCH additional hate mail... ha ha. Seriously, I would love for everyone to just go nuts and have sweet, sweet love with the person of their dreams, and then they could have as many kids as they wanted, and then grandchildren and great grandchildren and it would all be good. But, I am afraid that those days are over. And I am afraid that we, as the human species, have started a giant boulder rolling down a great long hill and it is now completely beyond our control. So, do I really think we will talk and plan and figure and work it out and avoid a disaster? No I do not. The last drop of gasoline will be burned by a half-drunk teenager peeling out of a parking lot in middle America. I think that the time will come when there is drastic overpopulation and human dieoffs, following on the heels of environmental destruction beyond our wildest imagination and then a hundred or a thousand years of Nature sorting it all out... and then... Life will go on. WHAT that Life will be is the question.
(see also www.Wild-Mart.com and www.WildTent.com)
Today’s Date: 23 December 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
It is very hard for me to narrow down the single interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on me. It would certainly begin with a childhood in rural Arkansas and with very understanding parents, who allowed us to keep, raise, and rehabilitate various wild animals - deer, fox, owl, beaver, etc. They also provided for us domestic animals as pets and also for husbandry. We had sheep, goats, horses, donkey, turkeys, chickens and hamsters by the thousand. At one point, we bred and raised hamsters for the pet trade as a family project. Also, as a family, we annually raised and slaughtered, cleaned and froze by the dozens, the turkeys and chickens we were to eat that year, etc. etc. We hunted and fished and ate all of that, as well. So, I began my life with a very hands on approach to wildlife and to all animals. I did not mention the dogs, cats, parakeets, monkeys, turtles, frogs, snakes, fish and etc. etc. that we also kept as "pets", since those were something that virtually everyone has and are nothing special... except the monkeys, but we even had a couple of friends with those as well (in the old days when the laws were more lax).
As I grew older, I spent time in both Alaska and Africa (Botswana) and those were powerful influences as is spelled out in the book "Marty Stouffer's Wild America". I will make no attempt to summarize here what is explained there in hundreds of pages. See note above re: Book is now online for free. [If you would like more insight, the entire Book I wrote... "Wild America" is posted on the Website at www.WildAmerica.com]
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Regarding my favorite place in the outdoors, growing up in Arkansas, when our initial transportation was bicycles, go-carts and motorcycles, it was "the woods"... literally outside out back door, and several miles away along the banks of the Arkansas River. When we were old enough to drive, it was the nearby Fort Chaffee Military Reservation... a huge area that was completely off-limits to all civilians... and, as a result, a fabulous "de facto" wildlife preserve and refuge. Naturally, as somewhat adventurous and not-completely rule-abiding teens, it was our "Happy Hunting Ground", we knew every inch of it and were chased by armed MPs many, many times. After that, we came to know and love, forty miles to the north in the Ozark Mountains all of the land around the Buffalo River, later to become a National Scenic River.
Now? Obviously, for the past thirty years, I now live in the western U.S. at the edge of a wilderness area a few miles outside of Aspen, Colorado - the answer to my favorite place(s) these days should be obvious - it is where I have chosen to live. Having said that, I dearly love Yellowstone Park in late spring and late autumn when the tourists are virtually gone from there. I love the Baja down South. I LOVE everything about Louisiana... the pepole, their culture, the wildlife and their game recipes. Alaska is fabulous for more reasons than I could outline short of a small book, but I would never want to live there for just as many... and while I had tremendous and dramatic experiences in Botswana, Africa, the goods and the bads just about evened out over there.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
My favorite animals are the Bighorn and the Otter and I go into great detail on that topic in the book. One is a noble animal in a beautiful environment and the other lives for fun. One could not go wrong with either approach to life.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
Too many rats in the box. China is terrifying and America is just as bad. Too many consumers making too many babies and buying them all too much junk. Sure, I love my truck, my tv and my computer, but the future in which 10 or 20 billion people will ALL want that same "stuff", plus a bottle of Coca-Cola and a Rolex watch, simply boggles the mind with its impossibility. I do not believe that Al Gore invented the Internet, Global Warming or much of anything else except some political hype and b.s. Bless his heart. I do believe its in the right place... its his Ego that has me concerned. We can wring our hands and worry about greenhouse gas, or gasoline, energy, food, water, air and all the rest, but Nature will do just fine in balancing it all out. As for humans and our natural propensity for "more, better, different..." all I can say is "Good luck". I'm really not cynical about it... I just do not think that the future will be very much like the past, in which we pretty much had whatever we wanted and whenever we wanted it. In the long run, after we burn all the fossil fuel in the earth and eat all the fish in the sea, things will not be nearly as much fun as they were in the "good ol' days".
5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Here is my one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources. First a bit Rude, then a bit more Refined. Like I tell my verbose, self-righteous self-proclaimed "Environmental" friends who love to drive their internal-combustion vehicles to meetings to worry and fret about "saving the world"... if you really want to do something worthwhile... just blow your own brains out. Because You, and WE, are the problem. Without humans, there is NO problem whatsoever with "the Environment". Its not a Nature problem... its a People problem. But, thats too simple and to "Inconvenient a Truth" to even consider.
Instead, we talk about it all like Nature has something "Wrong" with it... acid rain and ozone holes and melting glaciers and dying species. Yes, of course, the U.N. and etc. etc. passes out medicine and pamphlets and condoms, but do the math. They are not getting read or used. At least, they have not limited population growth to any significant degree. Sex is still the most fun that a poor person can have. And, cruel or not to simply admit it, there are a whole lot of poor people in the world who like to have sex and who do not yet share the "first world" concerns with the environment. \
They are too busy killing things for food, or chopping things down for money or draining places to plant more food or etc. etc. Since no one actually IS going to sacrifice themselves for the Future of the Planet... (we as a species are MUCH too selfish for that grand gesture... I know for sure that I do NOT plan to do so, at least... ha ha.) and, to summarize on a more positive note, the simple answer is that we need less people on the planet...
So, to accomplish that... we would need Education/Contraception/Sterilization/Limitation ... i.e. whatever it takes to get LESS Rats in the Box. Other than that, I feel that all other efforts to even maintain the "World", much less improve it in any way... are a complete waste of time and money. But, for every family in America or even China with 1 or 2 children, there are many, many more with 5 or 10 and these days, many of them have the "first world's" donation of food and medicine to keep all of their offspring alive until they, too, are able to breed and reproduce prolifically. And on and on. Until Boom. Ouch.
Sounds a little Hitler-esque, I know to suggest ANY alternative to that, our current scenario... Human Freedom running Wild. Political correctness at its finest. And I do NOT mean it that way. Not in any sort of "Us instead of Them" cruel way. Starving and dying babies are a terrible thing. So, of course, that should be prevented at all costs. But, the answer is prevention, not perpetuation. The Catholic church still opposes contraception. That, to my mind, is beyond insane. But, I'm not Catholic.
I will stop now for fear of generating TOO MUCH additional hate mail... ha ha. Seriously, I would love for everyone to just go nuts and have sweet, sweet love with the person of their dreams, and then they could have as many kids as they wanted, and then grandchildren and great grandchildren and it would all be good. But, I am afraid that those days are over. And I am afraid that we, as the human species, have started a giant boulder rolling down a great long hill and it is now completely beyond our control. So, do I really think we will talk and plan and figure and work it out and avoid a disaster? No I do not. The last drop of gasoline will be burned by a half-drunk teenager peeling out of a parking lot in middle America. I think that the time will come when there is drastic overpopulation and human dieoffs, following on the heels of environmental destruction beyond our wildest imagination and then a hundred or a thousand years of Nature sorting it all out... and then... Life will go on. WHAT that Life will be is the question.
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