Tuesday 30 October 2012

EcoSask News, October 30, 2012


A Kenyan Adventure, Nov. 14
Greg Paterson will discuss his motivation to choose a socially responsible alternative to traditional travel and the impact Kenya had on his life at 7 pm, November 14, at the Cliff Wright Library. (sponsored by the SK Environmental Society and Saskatoon Public Library)

Redberry Lake AGM, Nov. 28 
Redberry Lake Biosphere Reserve will be holding its annual general meeting at 7:30 pm, November 28 in the Ukrainian National Hall in Hafford. The AGM is being held in conjunction with the Biosphere Reserve’s Regional Planning Meeting.

Saskatoon Nature Society
The Saskatoon Nature Society’s website provides additional information about the following events:
November 10 – Blackstrap Waterfowl Rarities
November 18 – Pike Lake Birding
November 25 – Pre-Grey Cup Celebration in President Murray Park
December 1 – Gardiner Dam Birding

John Giesy
John Giesy, Canada Research Chair in Environmental Toxicology at the University of Saskatchewan, has been awarded the 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Paris-based Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) and China’s Zhongyu Environmental Technologies Corporation. Professor Giesy studies the accumulation and effects of toxic substances in the field of ecological risk assessment.

Intentional Oil Spill
According to an article in The Western Producer, a Manitoba farmer detected an intentional oil spill beside the road last winter. The spill was never cleaned up and was washed into a neighbouring creek. The farmer believes that, “the spill and the lack of government action represents a larger issue in southwestern Manitoba’s oil patch. Provincial officials are reluctant to crack down on oil companies because the government needs the investment, jobs and tax revenue. . . . As well, landowners in the region are reluctant to complain because they don’t want to lose a tidy income from surface and property rights.”

The Nature of Cities
The Nature of Cities is a collective blog about cities as ecological spaces. Recent articles have discussed everything from a new species of frogs in NYC to wildlife in Anchorage, Alaska (230 species of birds, 48 different mammals).

Old Man on His Back Ranch
The Old Man on His Back Ranch and Heritage Conservation Area continues to develop. 170 acres near the Visitor’s Centre have been reseeded to native grass, providing important habitat for grassland birds. The bison herd had 41 healthy calves, and a burrowing owl has been sighted on the property, the first in several years.

Free Transit - It Pays
Traffic jams and oil dependency are the price we pay in our carcentric world, but public transit isn’t popular. Some cities are experimenting with free public transit in order to increase usage. Aubagne, a metro area of 100,000 spread around 12 towns west of Marseille, France, has had a free transit system since 2009. Ridership has increased 170%. A transport tax on large businesses funds the system.

The Free Public Transport website provides a list of all the cities that provide free public transit, including Calgary that has a fare-free zone downtown.

EcoSask News is a weekly round-up of local news and events. Email us if you have items you would like us to include. Additional upcoming events can be found on our Calendar.

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