Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Wildlife is reclaiming Yosemite National Park

latimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

211–220 of 237 posts

Re: Wildlife is reclaiming Yosemite National Park

#211

Post by dba7dba »

dba7dba wrote: post #56
spking wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Me too. This is the reason I absolutely don't want to see airlines or airframe manufacturers bailed out. That industry needs to shrink. If that means fewer flights available and higher prices in the future, that's a net positive for the planet as people will have to be more selective about travel. https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/climate_law_ins...

I respectfully disagree that airframe manufacturers should not be bailed out. Airframe manufacturer definitely should be preserved and not allowed to wither away. That kind of engineering/institutional knowledge should be preserved and developed. For the sake our environment, I think COMMUTING to office work should become the norm. Transportation (including commuting) is the country's second biggest source of carbon…

Correction:

I think COMMUTING to office work should become the norm. >> I think working from home should become the norm.

Cutting down commuting will cut so much carbon foot print and also generally have a happier population.

Re: Wildlife is reclaiming Yosemite National Park

#212

Post by icebraining »

jelliclesfarm wrote: post #173
allannienhuis wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

or treat your effluent, or avoid it in the first place? Pretty sure it would cost less than shutting everything down...

We would have done it already, no? Perhaps only punitive measures work. Pollution and environmental damage cannot be quantified ...it is invisible and we assume that it is a function of time. But it isn’t..it is because of consumption and population growth(which leads to more consumption)

> We would have done it already, no?

No, lots of countries had a problem with water pollution, including the US (Tom Lehrer wrote a satire song in '65 on that issue[1]), and then they implemented measures to improve it. India can and will do the same, I'm sure.

[1] https://youtu.be/nz_-KNNl-no?t=18

Re: Wildlife is reclaiming Yosemite National Park

#213

Post by carapace »

sharkweek wrote: post #7

I sometimes wonder if the earth is trying to remove us, its own infection of sorts. If memory serves this was also the plot of some terrible M Night Shyamalan movie.

Mom loves us. (If she wanted to remove us we would be gone.)

I've come to believe that humans are meant to serve primarily as gardeners. Once we consciously understand ecology we can enhance ecosystems (Permaculture and other forms of applied ecology) and increase the rate of growth of biomass.

We may well also be destined to bring life to a lifeless Universe. (E.g.: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Millennial_Project )

Re: Wildlife is reclaiming Yosemite National Park

#214

Post by simonebrunozzi »

salimmadjd wrote: post #147

OT - One of my most personal profound moments was chasing this winter photo [0] and sharing it with a coyote. I wanted to take a night shot of the Cathedral Rock (that I had seen a few years earlier but didn't take a good photo of it) under the full moon and fresh snow. It took me several years of driving up to Yosemite when there was snow storm and one night I got lucky. It was around 11 PM when the storm stopped an…

Man, what a gorgeous photo! And the coyote story is really nice.

Re: Wildlife is reclaiming Yosemite National Park

#215

Post by netsharc »

nkrisc wrote: post #205
flycaliguy wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like a spirit. I had a similar visit from an owl during my wife’s pregnancy.

Sounds like an animal encountering a larger animal and deciding to not engage.

As a reductionist I'd have to agree, but I like the idea that the coyote was wanting to share that moment while thinking (and not being able to articulate) "Nice view, huh?"

Re: Wildlife is reclaiming Yosemite National Park

#216

Post by jelliclesfarm »

eyegor wrote: post #179
hentrep wrote: post #5

As noted in the article, the headline is misleading. The population obviously hasn't quadrupled since Yosemite closed to visitors on March 20th. It is remarkable though to see how quickly wildlife is willing to re-enter areas that have historically been overrun with humans!

In Yosemite specifically, the bears and bobcats have been trying to push into the built up areas of the park forever. Of course this used to be because the human area was guaranteed food but now it's probably just curiosity. In Yosemite, the rangers are very good about not killing/injuring the wildlife and only driving them away. The typical ranger response is either paintball guns or pepper spray so the animals don'…

I live in the Bay Area. Since SIP, I have had bobcats, wild turkeys, deer, fox, coyotes all come by curious and interested. We have always had seasonal jack rabbits, possums and raccoons...plus the resident raptors and snakes. The other wild life is not rare either but the sightings are increased.

I appreciate every sighting. Not complaining. If they are going to venture in an urban setting like my Bay Area city, I can only imagine how it must be to test the boundaries unabused at Yosemite.

Re: Wildlife is reclaiming Yosemite National Park

#217

Post by wh1t3n01s3 »

icebraining wrote: post #212
jelliclesfarm wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We would have done it already, no? Perhaps only punitive measures work. Pollution and environmental damage cannot be quantified ...it is invisible and we assume that it is a function of time. But it isn’t..it is because of consumption and population growth(which leads to more consumption)

> We would have done it already, no? No, lots of countries had a problem with water pollution, including the US (Tom Lehrer wrote a satire song in '65 on that issue[1]), and then they implemented measures to improve it. India can and will do the same, I'm sure. [1] https://youtu.be/nz_-KNNl-no?t=18

Come on, are you serious? This is capitalist BS. Side note: ‘improving pollution’ means more pollution, not less.

Re: Wildlife is reclaiming Yosemite National Park

#218

Post by cardamomo »

I think it's amazing that wildlife is flourishing in Yosemite right now. I feel conservation is important in the preservation of biodiversity.

But I want to point out an incorrect historical assumption on the author's part. This paragraph caught my attention:

> Tourists aren’t allowed in California’s most popular national park, but if they could visit, they might feel as if they had been transported to another time. Either to a previous era, before millions of people started motoring into the valley every year, or to a possible future one, where the artifacts of civilization remain, with fewer humans in the mix.

In fact, Yosemite, like much of North America, was inhabited by Native Americans for thousands of years. The Miwok people and others lived in Yosemite before it became a national park.

It's a shame the L.A. Times author didn't include this, especially considering there are plenty of articles to be found about the indigenous history of Yosemite merely by Googling it.

Here's what I found:

> When the Yosemite Valley was first preserved for public use by President Lincoln in 1864 (giving the property to the state of California), much of the local indigenous community had already been devastated by a state militia group, the Mariposa Battalion, as a part of what is today known as the Mariposa War. [0]

[0] https://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/erasing-native-ame...

Re: Wildlife is reclaiming Yosemite National Park

#219

Post by wh1t3n01s3 »

icebraining wrote: post #212
jelliclesfarm wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We would have done it already, no? Perhaps only punitive measures work. Pollution and environmental damage cannot be quantified ...it is invisible and we assume that it is a function of time. But it isn’t..it is because of consumption and population growth(which leads to more consumption)

> We would have done it already, no? No, lots of countries had a problem with water pollution, including the US (Tom Lehrer wrote a satire song in '65 on that issue[1]), and then they implemented measures to improve it. India can and will do the same, I'm sure. [1] https://youtu.be/nz_-KNNl-no?t=18

Edit, I was wrong on the improving pollution side note, sorry. Anyway the capitalist consumism will pollute more than it can be improved...

Re: Wildlife is reclaiming Yosemite National Park

#220

Post by 205guy »

cardamomo wrote: post #218

I think it's amazing that wildlife is flourishing in Yosemite right now. I feel conservation is important in the preservation of biodiversity. But I want to point out an incorrect historical assumption on the author's part. This paragraph caught my attention: > Tourists aren’t allowed in California’s most popular national park, but if they could visit, they might feel as if they had been transported to another time.…

Thank you for pointing this out, I had wanted to say the same thing. You can tell the wording is dancing around the fact ("before millions ... motoring"), but to make people think it was only inhabited by animals and leave out the idea that Native Americans lived there is a serious omission.

Unfortunately, the native inhabitants are no longer around to "reclaim" their domain. Imagine if that started to happen, and I don't mean the homeless camping more openly in parks these days.

Post reply on HN