So as luck would have it, the Juniata Valley Audubon Society‘s first lawsuit is happening under my watch as president — this despite the fact that in my personal life I avoid confrontation like the plague. Fortunately I’m not the point-man here, and today I was happy to use my presidential authority merely to insist upon shooting a video of the real heroes of this fight (as well as to record some audio, which I hope to share eventually as a Woodrat Podcast episode).
The video wasn’t very eptly shot, but what the heck. It’s JVAS’s first official video, and I figure we have to start somewhere. It features Mollie Matteson, Conservation Advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity, and Stan Kotala, JVAS Conservation Chair, member of the Pennsylvania Biological Survey’s Herpetological Technical Committee, and general bad-ass.
Not only very worthy, but also very interesting.
I wish the area…. luck. A lot of it.
Thanks, Paul. Pennsylvania wildlands need all the luck they can get these days.
Wow. You have a unique species. Good luck with the case.
Yep, Typhlogastrura helleri — described here [PDF], if you’re curious. (The paper incorrectly describes the location of the caves as being in the adjacent Huntingdon County, but it’s the same location. We’ve communicated with the scientist, Kenneth Christiansen.)
Dave, I attended a film screening last night (Urban Roots, on urban farming in Detroit) with the Peace Center folks. During the discussion that followed, someone mentioned that DEP stands for Don’t Expect Protection.
Ha! The PA conservationist and outdooor writer Alan Gregory used to say it stood for Department of Economic Promotion.