"Any fool can destroy trees. They cannot run away; and if they could, they would still be destroyed, chased and hunted down as long as fun or a dollar could be got out of their bark hides. God has cared for these trees, but he cannot save them from fools...only Uncle Sam can do that."   -   John Muir

"Shortsighted men...in their greed and selfishness will, if permitted, rob our country of half its charm by their reckless extermination of all useful and beautiful wild things."   -   President Theodore Roosevelt

This Sunday Treehuggers International welcomes Scott Kardel from Palomar Observatory.  Tune in and learn all about the history and 21st Century trajectory of this amazing eye to the unvierse, unlocking the cosmos' best-kept secrets and making some of the most stunning astronomical discoveries of the past 60 years, located right here in San Diego County's mile-high Palomar Mountains.  Sunday morning at 5:30 on FM 94/9.

Tommy Hough is honored and humbled to be named a 2008 Clean Water Award recipient from the San Diego Chapter of the Surfider Foundation.  Bill Hickman and Elizabeth Willes from Surfirder stopped by the FM 94/9 studios to present the award May 6th, ahead of Surfrider San Diego's Eighth Annual Art Gala May 8th.  Many thanks!

Cindy Collins of Lakeside's River Park Conservancy reminds everyone the conservancy's Run for the San Diego River 5K trail run/walk is Saturday May 17th at 8:00 am, 12108 Industry Rd. in Lakeside. Click HERE for a registration.

RENEWED WOLF HUNTS  5/6/08: While this doesn't pertain to the Golden State, Rocky Mountain Gray Wolves recently came off the federal Endangered Species list.  Good news, right?  Well, the problem is, they're no longer protected and are currently being hunted in Montana and Idaho like it's 1900 all over again, after 35 years of wise, managed protection.  The reason?  Wolves kill livestock and big game like deer and elk.  Or do they?  Wolves, like other predatory animals, hunt in packs and single out the weakest in a herd, thereby increasing the vitality of animal populations over time.  Big game is also only just one component of the diet of a wolf, but with the end of federal protection, a near-slaughter is underway in the Rockies.  "To kill simply because you can...is immoral in the extreme."

Treehuggers International's lively conversation with Meg Grossglass, head of media relations and land use issues for the Off-Road Business Association, is now available in the Show Archive.  Tune in to hear about a variety of concerns of the Southern California OHV community, ranging from differing public land management strategies to shrinking areas for off-road pursuits.

Treehuggers International's recent conversation with Robert Fisher, research biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey's San Diego Field Office, is now available in the Show Archive.  Listen as Robert talks about the difficulties faced by area ecosystems due to repeated burnings, especially the catastrophic destruction of natural habitat in the 2003 and 2007 wildfires.

SUNRISE POWERLINK  4/28/08: Governor Schwarzenegger has thrown his support behind the construction of the Sunrise Powerlink, despite repeated, consistent objections from citizens around the region.  To hear Treehuggers International's recent conversation with Micah Mitrosky of the Sierra Club's Smart Energy Solutions campaign and learn more about the proposed Sunrise Powerlink, scroll down to the Show Archive.

TRESTLES UPDATE  4/11/08: A piece in the San Diego Union-Tribune details a letter written by the area's top Army Corps of Engineers official to the Secretary of Commerce and NOAA, which claims proponents of the Foothill-South 241 toll road made "inaccurate statements" which "misrepresent" the Army Corps of Engineers' research regarding the validity of the proposed toll road and plan for reducing traffic congestion. The letter from the Corps goes on to say the Transportation Corridor Agency even referred to the Corps' neutral conclusions as  "unanimous recommendations." Ouch. Read the entire Union-Tribune piece HERE.

Save our State Parks!

Governor Schwarzenegger's new budget proposal seeks to close 48 California State Parks and reduce lifeguard staffing at every single California State Beach along the San Diego and Orange County coastlines. To see the entire list of parks set to be closed, and take action with help from the California State Parks Foundation, click HERE.

Speaking of California state parks, Treehuggers International's recent conversation with Michael Curtis, Volunteer Coordinator for Trail Maintenance at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, is now in the Show Archive.  To learn more about this amazing mountain park only an hour away from San Diego and current volunteer opportunities at Cuyamaca, scroll down.

Former San Diego fire chief Jeff Bowman and the California Chaparral Institute's Rick Halsey were recently in the news as the San Diego Regional Fire Safety Forum issued its list of recommendations regarding the 2007 Wildfires.

Kama Dean and Pro Peninsula scored front-page real estate in the January 19th edition of the San Diego Union-Tribune.  Read the article HERE.

We live in a beautiful corner of the United States, with a coastline admired the world over and a backcountry ripe for exploration, but environmentally, there's no denying it: we've got our hands full in San Diego.

Southern California may be one of the most densely populated urban areas in the nation, but if you look around and study the land, it's easy to see how inhospitable the region can be. While our dry Mediterranean climate has made our region justly famous with vacationers, beach lovers, and sun worshippers, it also leaves us with little annual rainfall, irregular and unpredictable hydration cycles, and an overall deficit of fresh water.

Enabled by water pumped in from dams and rivers hundreds of miles away across several faultlines and two deserts, we live in an artificially-created bowl of sustainability, as we share our dwindling fresh water supply with other thirsty southwestern cities like Phoenix, Las Vegas, Tucson, and Los Angeles. Our ability to be a thriving civilization or a threatened outpost, clinging on the dry edge of the continent, will continue to be determined by our access to fresh water. The next time we have a major earthquake, and we're due in Southern California (the last "Big One" in our end of the state was in 1857) it won't just be your cellphone that doesn't work; it'll be your toilet, your shower, and the availability of fresh water.  Save some now.

Instead of staying out of river basins and flood zones, we've enabled construction in nature's "keep out" areas by corralling and straightening our river channels into concrete culverts, which "flush" litter and other built-up material onto our beaches during rainy weather. We thoughtlessly throw cigarette butts and trash out the windows of our cars and trucks and pour toxic materials into storm drains, all of which eventually winds up on the beach when we receive our occasional rainfalls. Studies continue to show our oceans becoming more sick from pollution and overuse every year, as an area of trash twice the size of Texas floats in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Despite the toughest air pollution regulations in the country and the rise in popularity of hybrid vehicles, we continue to treat our skies like a sewer from the sheer volume of humans on the road, ships in our harbors, and aircraft in our skies. We in California even have to sue the EPA in order to receive waivers to regulate tailpipe emissions to make our air cleaner. Even in Southern California's highest mountain ranges, the effects of air pollution can be found in slowly-strangled pine trees on the highest peaks, as the odor of emissions and air pollutants rise and collect in canyons and along hillsides, smogging out the views of our mountains.

Nature has genetically designed much of Southern California's chaparral-covered landscape to burn, since our long, hot summers and brief, damp winters don't allow enough time for organic matter to decay and break down. Yet developers continue to encroach upon and build in highly fire-prone areas, and our city and county remain deficient in terms of basic fire-fighting services.

We choose to live here, yet slowly, humans are extinguishing what we love best about living in Southern California in the first place. As environmental geologist Jacques Lord describes, "we're at war with nature," and when we fight with nature, "we're gonna lose."  It doesn't have to be this way.

On Treehuggers International we look for solutions to Southern California's environmental challenges, in a laid back, conversational atmosphere with newsmakers, activists, community leaders, public officials, environmental professionals, and academics, all working to keep Southern California green and clean.

We'll get you up to speed on volunteer opportunities in your neighborhood and in California's world-class national and state parks, open spaces, and wilderness areas, we'll dispense day-to-day wisdom about little things you can do to keep our region environmentally unique and special, and we'll let you know about community events and activities with environmental organizations, as well as hiking trails and outdoor activities you may not have realized are right in your backyard.

Yes, Tommy is on My Space, click HERE to be connected.

Keep e-mailing us your photos of you hugging trees outdoors on the trail, in your yard, or anywhere. We're slowly building a photo gallery of Treehuggers International fans from around the world. Be sure to include your name, where the photo was taken, and (if possible) what kind of tree it is. Thanks.