Happy 2015 from Robert Glenn Ketchum!

I want to wish everyone Health, Happiness, and Prosperity for the New Year.  2015 is the Chinese year of The Sheep!   My Xmas / New Year's present came early and in a big package - PRESIDENT OBAMA PROTECTED BRISTOL BAY FROM ALL OIL AND GAS LEASING. I hope to ultimately see Bristol Bay have status as a protected commercial fishing reserve, yet this is a GREAT first step! GRAND AS THIS IS, HOWEVER, IT DOES NOT END THE PLANNED DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUGE OPEN PIT MINE IN THE BRISTOL BAY HEADWATERS, SO PLEASE CONTINUE TO BE VOCAL AND SAY "NO" TO THE PEBBLE MINE.

Wildfires Feed Thunderstorms

Photo Credit: AP Photo/John Leyba,The Denver Post

As I write this, huge fires with burn areas that measure in square miles are raging out-of-control in CO and AZ; there are currently over 100 fires burning in 11 western states and one in CO is now larger than the state of Rhode Island. In case you forgot, last year New Mexico and Texas had epic firestorms, and the tundra forest around Moscow erupted with more than 100 fires whose smoke trail could be clearly seen from space. The current CO fire is now also visible from space and its smoke plume covers parts of CO, NB, KS, OK, and TX where the haze has merged with the NM fire. Besides destroying homes and lives, these fires will affect air quality and water quality for millions of people. In CO it is also threatening the $10 BILLION-a-year recreation industry. (LATIMES 6/15/12, WILDFIRE THREATENS TO CAST SHADOW ON COLORADO SUMMER by Jenny Deam, John Glionna)

An Homage to R.E.M.

Photograph © 2011 Anton Corbijn. For Display Use Only, No Permission to Reproduce in Any Form.

In 1993, I had an exhibition at the Georgia Museum of Art in Athens, hometown of the band R.E.M. Apparently several members of the band, including Michael Stipe, their iconic lead singer/songwriter, attended the exhibit during the course of its run appreciating both my work AND the fact that I created it on behalf of conservation advocacy.

Photograph © 2011 Anton Corbijn. For Display Use Only, No Permission to Reproduce in Any Form.

Surprisingly, they went further by contacting me directly to express their support of what I was doing with my art, and they forwarded me some uniquely packaged CDs of their albums with handwritten notes. I had always loved R.E.M.'s music, but was amazed that such a hugely popular group found the time to reach out in this fashion. Over the years, I also received newer releases from them as they became available.

Photograph © 2011 Anton Corbijn. For Display Use Only, No Permission to Reproduce in Any Form.

I am sorry to learn that they have chosen to quit the business, but it is great to know they do it remaining friends with each other and by mutual decision. Not all rockers want to tour forever, being "on-the-road" is a grueling exercise. I would like to wish them the best with the rest of their lives and to thank them for being a GREAT band that not only delivered ROCK, but did so with intelligent, sophisticated lyrics.

Photograph © 2011 Anton Corbijn. For Display Use Only, No Permission to Reproduce in Any Form.

Oh yes, what are my favorite songs? It is impossible not to like their "classics": "Everybody Hurts", "Losing My Religion", "Man On The Moon", "It's The End Of The World", and "Fall On Me" to highlight a few. However, the songs that resonated in me for other reasons are "Stand" because of its content/intent and "Crush With Eyeliner" just because IT IS ROCK; ­ wicked guitar!

Photograph © 2011 Anton Corbijn. For Display Use Only, No Permission to Reproduce in Any Form.

This is What Climate Change Looks Like, Unfortunately

Photograph © 2011 Robert Glenn Ketchum.
For Display Use Only, No Permission to Reproduce in Any Form.

This is What Climate Change Looks Like, Unfortunately:  Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Volcanos, by Robert Glenn Ketchum

We are still in one of the snowiest, wettest winters ever, which was proceeded by the hottest summer for much of the Earth.  NASA reports that the Earth's surface temperature has  increased steadily since the 1880's, and the last decade has recorded temperatures rising to "the highest levels ever recorded".  For insureres worldwide, it's been the most expensive worldwide, all weather-related.

Personally I view the National Academy of Science (NAS) as very cautious and relatively conservative about their public statements, so I was especially alarmed to read the article I posted May 20th from the LATimes regarding the NAS’s most recent warnings regarding the acceleration of effects from climate change.

Here is some other recent science of note: NASA announced that satellite monitoring indicates Antarctica is rising very slowly now that the weight of glacial ice is melting off of it. This is a geological phenomenon known as 'isostatic rebound' and it is common to small islands in the Arctic, it is just no human has ever experienced it at the scale of the entire south pole... the largest continent on the planet.

In fact, just this week NASA released findings from a NASA-funded satellite study, 'NASA Finds Polar Ice Adding More To Rising Seas', where they concluded that sea level is likely to be "significantly higher" than levels projected by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007

So, first question being asked: 1) How much ocean will be displaced, as that will affect inundation levels elsewhere in the world. Scientists have begun to research this. 2) The question not yet asked is, if the largest continent on the planet is moving around, and it is connected to all of the plates, don’t you think the plates would move as well. Correspondingly, if that were true, it would seem there would be a lot more big earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions occurring because of Antarctica’s “movement”.

If you were to 'Google' all earthquakes above 5.5, and all volcano eruptions in the last two decades, you will see a considerable upswing in both that begins to occur during the last 20-years, about the same time the ice began to unweight the continent.  I've been tracking the more significant ones here.

I am no scientist, I am just sayin’… this is interesting, and I think it is much bigger than we know….

Read the LATimes article, 'National Academy of Sciences Urges Strong Action to Cut Greenhouse Gasses'

RGK Food Reviews of West Palm Beach!

Greetings from gorgeous Palm Beach! As you already know, I'm visiting Florida from my home in Los Angeles since I'm being honored by FOTOfusion® 2011 at the Palm Beach Photographic Centre. Thanks Fatima!

This year The Centre has a fabulous new location, and I'm quite pleased with how all my works look in it's fantastic space.

Since it is a new location, many of we regular attendees of FOTOfusion® are exploring the area for new favorite food & beverage spots. That being said, I'm posting some of my recommended finds here through my Social Media network. Cheers & bon appetit!

Tonight I had dinner at 'Pistache'. It's a fantastic French Bistro restaurant, and while it's certainly more expensive than average faire, it is without-a-doubt some of the best food on Clematis Street! Michael Siegel, the general manager, was a very gracious host, and my dinner was great. I definitely recommend having dinner here while in West Palm.


And 'Sky309' is a fun plein air rooftop deck above Roxy's Pub, The Saloon and ROME Nightclub.




They have reasonable bar-type food, great drinks, a live band, and GREAT outdoor views.

This is a shot of the interior of, GREASE, the WPB hamburger joint. What a great way to quench your appetite after an authentic cattle drive!

Here's another shot of the interior of, GREASE, the WPB hamburger joint.

Here's another GOOD restaurant, LUNA, near the end of Clematis - you gotta luv turkish dining under a Mayan calendar with a beautiful bartender from the Ukraine - talk about international cuisine. Excellent, and authentic food - good hummus, oh yeah and try the feta rolls and South African Cabernet. Thank you Osman & staff for a lovely evening.

We had a great evening at Luna, a Turkish bar with very good mid-eastern food, that's reasonably priced.

This wild lighted design is about 14' across & is really cool. The design is the Mayan calendar, despite this being a Turkish bar.

If you go to Luna, give my regards to Osman, the owner.


#rgk
#lbp

Camp Denali - My Fav Places

"Denali From the Road Within 5-Miles of Camp Denali". Photograph © 2010 Robert Glenn Ketchum
For Display Use Only, No Permission to Reproduce in Any Form

Most of you know that since the mid-1980's I have spent some part of every year in Alaska, ­sometimes as much as half the year. I love Alaska, and in my life it is the greatest wilderness experience I have ever had. It is bigger and wilder than most of us can imagine. That is the beauty of it, but also the factor that intimidates many potential visitors. If you do not book some lame cruise or excursion packed with clients that want complete luxury and protection, how do you experience the best Alaska has to offer, mixing the wild with the civil?

There are two choices for me, the incomparable CAMP DENALI in Denali National Park and The Boat Company in the Tongass rainforest. I address The Boat Company/Tongass in another post on this blog, so for now I hope to turn your attention to CAMP DENALI.

It hard to imagine the scale of Denali National Park and the experience it provides. At more than 6,000,000 acres! and containing North America's highest summit, Denali park is unparalleled in our National Park system ­ it is the crown among the jewels. It is also VERY big and VERY wild!

Photograph ©2010 Michael DeYoung
For Display Use Only, No Permission to Reproduce in Any Form

If you come to Denali as part of tour group, you will discover (to the surprise of many) that you will stay in lodges outside the park, you will NOT see the summit on a daily basis, and to really see anything, you will have to take an all-day bus ride from your lodge EVERY day. That bus ride likely won't take you much more than 1/2 way into the park! You will see animals, but you will have little time to enjoy the experience because you are on a schedule.

Photograph Courtesy of Camp Denali
For Display Use Only, No Permission to Reproduce in Any Form

There is ONLY ONE WAY to truly "get" this amazing wild place ­CAMP DENALI!

Photograph Courtesy of Camp Denali
For Display Use Only, No Permission to Reproduce in Any Form

CAMP DENALI is a "rustic" camp located in the center of the park, and it has been constructed on ridgeline FACING the summit so that all cabins have windows with a view of the peak --­ this is important as the summit is only visible an average of 40 days out of the year. (Inside the park there are a few other small lodges, however they have no view of Denali.)

CAMP DENALI was homesteaded and founded in 1951 by two Alaskan Pioneer women Celia Hunter and Ginny Wood, and they knew what they were doing! Constructed and added to over many years, CAMP DENALI features cozy, hand-built log cabins warmed by classic wood stoves and lit by propane lamps. Each cabin is separate from the others by some distance, and each has a spring fed water source plumbed to a spigot immediately outside with a discreet privy quite close by. The cabins have been designed for the view, so they feature huge glass windows facing Mt. McKinley and on a cold night under a full moon, should the summit emerge from it's cloud cap, you can enjoy the sight from your snuggly, quilt-covered bed.

Photograph ©2010 Michael DeYoung
For Display Use Only, No Permission to Reproduce in Any Form

There are several "commons" facilities that include very comfortable men's and women's showers, a natural history room with a piano, a "library" and gathering room where evening programs are held, and a spectacular new dining room. The dining room windows also face the summit and look over a nearby pond into which a moose and calf wander on the 1st breakfast of my most recent visit. My two children went crazy, as did the many others kids that were there (adults included in this category). The moose/calf were un-threatening, enjoying their breakfast from the lake greens, and VERY close for all to see. Needless to say, the photographers among us were quite happy as well. Meals in the dining room feature organic gourmet cooking, often with regional items and there is always a vegetarian plate.

My two children consulting with one of the Camp Denali naturalists about "stuff" they found.
Photograph © 2010 Robert Glenn Ketchum
For Display Use Only, No Permission to Reproduce in Any Form

Given this lodge's historic status and long relationship with the National Park Service, it can provide for the public like no other facility in the park and that is what makes the experience so rich. NO other lodge, in or out of the park is licensed to offer daily guide service in the designated Wilderness region of the park, the most scenic, wild, pristine and mountainous areas. At CAMP DENALI there are excursions EVERYDAY, led by highly experienced guide/naturalists. These trips are offered at differing levels of exertion so that everyone can participate. Often guests will ride out in a bus to spot animals, do a hike, have lunch along the route, watch more animals, and return late. Did I say, "watch animals!?!" You had better believe it! In my many years of staying at CAMP DENALI I have seen countless Dall's sheep, and caribou; my children and I watched two bull moose battle it out until one backed the other into a nearby pond and nearly drowned it; also with my kids, a moose and calf strolled through camp at twilight to the delight of numerous guests -- in their pajamas -- that followed them around at a safe distance; my photography class came upon a lone white wolf, sunning itself within 50-yards; a black, yellowed-eyed wolf digging for squirrels within 50FEET of the bus (one student using a telephoto got a full-frame shot of JUST the eye); a grizzly bear with two cubs that emerged from the bush onto the road, SO close that those with big lenses could NOT get the shot; and, a truly unique experience at some distance, a pack of wolves attacked a grizzly bear and drove it off, defending their territory. You will NEVER have experiences like this from such a safe position anywhere else in the world, period!

Photograph © 2010 Robert Glenn Ketchum
For Display Use Only, No Permission to Reproduce in Any Form

All of this happens because the guide staff is so good. They are great 'people-people', always interacting well with the guests and placing the guests first. Most are naturalists and park historians who always have interesting information to relate, and they connect with both adults and children. In the shot above, my group had taken a lunch break after the morning hike, and to aid digestion we are now "tundra-rolling" -- ­ going head-over-heals down a spongy tundra slope. The silliness of this became so infectious, that with the guides cajoling, even the adults participated ­-- THAT was funny!

Along the Trail at Wonder Lake. Photograph © 2010 Robert Glenn Ketchum
For Display Use Only, No Permission to Reproduce in Any Form.

As a photographer, don't even get me going about the astounding -- albeit very brief -- fall color. The tundra may not be the same as the trees of New England, but the show is easily as good.

Photograph Courtesy of Camp Denali
For Display Use Only, No Permission to Reproduce in Any Form

CAMP DENALI has canoes for paddling about on nearby Wonder Lake in full view of the summit and its supportive range, and there are mountain bikes as well. One great trip is to depart on the bus to the National Park's Eielson Visitor Center, offload at the visitor's center, and bicycle back to CAMP DENALI. There is also flight seeing offered from nearby Kantishna Air Taxi (link: www.katiar.com), whose van will pick you up at CAMP DENALI and deliver you back. Owner Greg LaHaie and his crew are knowledgeable pilots who have flown this area SAFELY most of their careers, so even for the flight-timid, this is a "must" recommendation. If you are a photographer, these pilots are also photo-savvy, so this will be an experience unlike anything else you have ever done, and they will help you get THE shot.

The Twin Summits of 'The Great One', Taken From Greg's Plane. Photograph © 2010 Robert Glenn Ketchum
For Display Use Only, No Permission to Reproduce in Any Form.

Lastly, but not least, are the evening programs that are held in the common library. I have spoken there many times during my numerous visits, but there are always multiple presentations during any one stay, and they are all memorable. Most of the presentations are given by staff naturalists, however Camp Denali's 'Special Emphasis Series' also brings in visiting speakers.

Trapline Twins © 2005 Vanessapress, Fairbanks.

My last visit included a presentation from the twin sisters Miki and Julie Collins who live at the remote edge of the park and are known for their authentic subsistence lifestyle. The pictures and presentation were Alaskan humor at its best, and the photograph of them in their relatively small, hand-built cabin, sleeping with their ENTIRE dog team of 15+ huskies would be viral if posted on the net. These evenings are not to be missed.

Photograph Courtesy of Camp Denali
For Display Use Only, No Permission to Reproduce in Any Form

For my money and time, CAMP DENALI is one of THE best Alaskans experiences you could ever hope for. Follow the links to learn more, see price packages, and lengths of stay. There are other ways to encounter this park, but CAMP DENALI provides a combination of elements ­ comfort, guidance, learning programs, a point of view, camp camaraderie, and a hot shower/great meal at the end of the day ­ that the others cannot touch. If you only get to Alaska once in your life, and you are willing to "rough-it" just a little (very little) this is the trip!

When you book a trip at CAMP DENALI, be sure to let them know you read about it here on my blog!

~ Robert Glenn Ketchum

#rgk
#lbp

Isostatic Rebound: Earthquake & Volcano Activity

Merapi Volcano Eruption.  Photograph Courtesy AFP.

For some time now I have tracked earthquake and volcano activity in this Climate Change portion of my blog. I do this because NASA data suggests that both Greenland and Antarctica are "moving" (known as isostatic rebound) as the ice weight melts off of them, and if it is true that one of the largest islands in the world, and THE largest continent start to flex, they will shift tectonic plates worldwide setting off earthquakes and increasing volcanic activity. Clearly, this has just been personal speculation on my part, and part of the beauty of being able to blog.

Now it seems the science community may be taking more notice of this possibility. I await their conclusions, but I am buying earthquake preparedness kits for my whole family now and not expecting the empirical evidence any time soon.

This summer when I was teaching in Jackson Hole, WY, we were rocked by a large swarm of quakes of small quakes (40 or more/4.0 magnitude) at a time when no local I spoke with can ever remember experiencing a quake. On September 26, Nebraska was rattled by a small 3.0+ in an area earthquake activity is considered extremely rare.

Unfortunately, these may just be "awakening" signs. In the winter of 1811-1812, The New Madrid fault zone in SE Missouri produced three of the strongest earthquakes to ever strike the continental U.S. And, more ominously, scientists have discussed for years the danger of the Yellowstone Basin "waking up" because Yellowstone IS an ancient volcano, and a prehistoric Yellowstone produced the largest and most cataclysmic volcanic eruption in the evolution of North America.

If a changing climate triggers these kinds of activities and events, I would like us all to consider the concept of keeping the climate as stable as possible, as soon as possible, please! I don't give a damn about whose fault these changes are, we need to address these changes.

The philosopher, Thomas Huxley, said, "Human existence is a race between intelligence and extinction".

Darwin's theory has also been misstated. He actually said that it is not the smartest, nor the fittest, but those that will adapt the most quickly that will survive.

The race is on. I hope those in the human population that don't think it is, wake up and start running. We need everybody thinking about this, and for human creativity to rise to the occasion and address these changes in our environment or humanity will no longer be a relevant species.

~ Robert Glenn Ketchum

#rgk

#lbp

Midway Geyser Basin and the Grand Prismatic Spring, a hot spring located in Yellowstone National Park. Photo credit: Mila Zinkova

Think before you vote.

"John Hopkins Inlet, Glacier Bay", From the book: "The Tongass: Alaska's Vanishing Rain Forest". Photograph © 2010 Robert Glenn Ketchum. For Display Use Only, No Permission to Reproduce in Any Form.

Before you vote, you might consider what my Chinese friends think of this election. As most of you know, I have been creating textiles in China since the early 1980's. This long working relationship with these Suzhou guild artists has also become an unusual friendship that is remarkably frank and honest considering the difference in our cultures. It may be worth noting what they perceive about this forthcoming election.

Basically there are two points: the lesser point is that the Chinese are amazed that so many people that know nothing about how the government is run have succeeded in getting on the ballot. This amazes them, but in its own weird way, it is proof to them of how democracy works. As they see it, our democracy has succeeded and failed simultaneously. Because it has succeeded, our country is now perfectly divided down the middle (a perfect democracy/the promise of the dao) and now nothing will ever be accomplished because of that division.

Point two is that the rise of the Tea Party is seen as a GREAT boon to the Chinese who predict that once the Tea Party candidates and similarly sympathetic Republicans are elected, they will throw our government systems into complete chaos, choking off any hope we may have for an economic recovery and retarding our industrial output, ALL TO THEIR ADVANTAGE. As one of my friends pointed out, after the election the "new" politicians will try to stifle global warming investments, so this leaves China with NO manufacturing competition in this market and lets them take TOTAL control of much of the future market technology directed at climate change. As our political body continues to deny climate change, events related to climate change will continue to get worse. When we finally wake up, it will be to late to invent anything, so we will just buy it from the Chinese.

It was pointed out to me that this will be a HUGE change in the world market. My friends feel the US has always led the world with its inventions. China may have manufactured for us, but the US invented most of the necessary products. Now they see themselves as inventing AND manufacturing the products, cutting us entirely out of the production market and reducing us to being dependent on technology they bring to us.

Think before you vote. The outcome may change life as we know it in the US.

~Robert Glenn Ketchum

* * * * * * *

I find it curious sometimes how some things dove-tail. A new ad was just brought to my attention that depicts a less-than-subtle approach to America's growing debt obligation to China.

The ad is produced by the conservative group, 'Citizens Against Government Waste', and it has attracted much attention already. In fact, Wang Baodong, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said that it's "unreasonable" to blame America's economic woes on China and "despicable" to incite anti-China sentiment.

Watch the video here:

And just in case the video is pulled from online, for whatever reasons, here is the synopsis:

The ad called "Chinese Professor," is set in "Beijing, China 2030 AD." It shows a lecture hall with a professor speaking in Chinese. The students carry futuristic tablets that make the iPad look clunky. The ad contains subtitles and starts with the professor asking, in Chinese, "Why do great nations fail? The Ancient Greeks...the Roman Empire...the British Empire...and the United States of America." Students gaze up at a holographic screen that shows images of the four superpowers. "They all make the same mistakes, turning their back on the principles that made them great," continues the professor. He goes on to say that America tried to "tax and spend" its way out of a recession, including a health-care overhaul -- all of which led to massive debt. "Of course, we owned most of their debt," he says with a laugh, "so now they work for us." Cue audience laughter.

THINK BEFORE YOU VOTE!

#rgk

Climate Change

My ADHD mind operates in funny ways. I am a peripatetic collector of information related to subjects of interest. Before the “gathering” capacity of the internet, I clipped from newspapers and magazines and kept the clippings in manila folders sorted by subject. Those files tracked the complex politics and media battle of the Tongass rainforest. Other files like them served as the text base of my book, "OVERLOOKED IN AMERICA: THE SUCCESS AND FAILURE OF FEDERAL LAND MANAGEMENT" (Aperture, New York, NY, 1991). The information contained in it spanned 20-years of clipping collecting.

Callison, Charles and Robert Glenn Ketchum, "Overlooked in America: The Success and Failure of Federal Land Management", Aperture, New York, NY, 1991.

Currently two issues I follow closely are the struggle to protect the salmon fishery and wild parklands of southwest Alaska and Bristol Bay, and the growing effects of climate change around the world. The net offers me many more sources of information and many new ways to collect “clippings”.

Over the past 12-years I have published 2-books (Rivers of Life: Southwest Alaska, The Last Great Salmon Fishery, Aperture, NY, 2001 and Wood-Tikchik: Alaska¹s Largest State Park, Aperture, NY, 2003) and have put together a national traveling exhibit to protecting the parklands and wildlands of Southwest Alaska and offshore fishery of Bristol Bay from the industrial invasion of oil and gas leasing and a huge open pit mine.

I track things in the press that have meaning for me when I see their "collective” effect. Many times stories I believe are truly important are buried in short bytes on page 18 of some newspaper, or more often stories come from widely disparate world news sources so never all readable in one place. Blogging lets me present some of these collections to you in real-time as they occur so I am dedicating specific blogs to specific subjects if you would like to follow what I am tracking.

With regard to climate change, as most of you know, myself and many of my affiliates at the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP) have worked on related stories for more than two decades. My own tracking interests follow earthquake and volcano activity which I believe are being fueled by the ice melting off great land masses like Greenland and Antarctica, allowing those land masses to “move around” and disrupt all the other tectonic plates.

Photo Credit:  Les Scott.  Volleyball-sized hail from Vivian, SD, July 23, 2010. 

There is also amazing science and discovery related to weather, and thunderstorms in particular. Massive thunderstorms are delivering microburst rains that are setting rainfall records and flooding large parts of the world at this moment. These storms are also conjuring up ever-larger hailstones that are establishing records and wreaking awesome damage.

Photo Credit:  NASA.  554 Wildfires Rage Throughout Russia, Covering Moscow in Smoke, August 8, 2010.

Simultaneously, 2010 proved to be the hottest summer in world history causing raging wildfires worldwide. Russia burned and melted down, and how far north is Moscow? New research now has identified that mega storms and mega hail are fueled by the very specific particulate matter that is created from wildfires. So, as we get hotter and burn more, it makes the storms larger, more dangerous and capable of delivering more water. These storms are also off-the-chart electrical, and the lightening strikes just fuel more fires.

Photo credit:  Jay Fine/Caters News

 We rate hurricanes by degrees, Class 4, etc, tornadoes by force strength, F5, and earthquakes by numbers that top out at 10.0 That does not mean larger storms and earthquakes aren’t possible, we have just never seen them at such scale. Nor do I want to!

I am no scientist, I am just sayin', this is interesting, and I think it is much bigger than we know...

~ Robert Glenn Ketchum

#rgk

AMERICAN PHOTO Magazine, Mar/Apr 2010 : MASTER SERIES NO. 5: ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM "A Voice in the Wilderness", by Russell Hart

Just updated part of my blog with the actual .pdfs of my American Photo magazine Master Series No. 5 article. Thanks again Russell!

http://rbtglennketchum.blogspot.com/p/american-photo-magazine-marapr-2010.html

AMERICAN PHOTO Magazine MASTER SERIES NO. 5: ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM 'A Voice in the Wilderness,' by Russell Hart Publication Date: Mar / Apr 2010 Photograph © 2010 Robert Glenn Ketchum 

 

#rgk 

#art #lbp

 

TIES and ESTC

Downtown Portland at Nightfall, taken from my iPhone...

 Recently I returned from Portland, OR where I attended The International Ecotourism Society's  (TIES) conference, 'Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference' or 'ESTC10' for short.  Founded in 1990, TIES has been in the forefront of the development of ecotourism, providing guidelines and standards, training, technical assistance, research and publications. TIES' global network of ecotourism professionals and travelers is leading the efforts to make tourism a viable tool for conservation, protection of bio-cultural diversity, and sustainable community development.

The ESTC is North America’s largest and only conference focusing on sustainability in the tourism industry.   My longtime friend and colleague, Hunter McIntosh, of The Boat Company, got me involved in a panel discussion at this year's ESTC.  

We participated in a panel discussion consisting of Hunter McIntosh of The Boat Company, Dave Parker or Orvis Travel, myself (Robert Glenn Ketchum) and Larry Edwards from Greenpeace USA.  The topic of the panel was 'How To Build Win-Win Partnerships For Your Business and Community'.

Specifically, I was at the conference to speak about my relationship with The Boat Company which goes back nearly 25-years. They supported my work in the Tongass and the distribution of the Tongass book on Capitol Hill as well as an exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History. Our working relationship is an example of a sustainable tourism business partnering with an individual through many different ways, but purposefully to protect the geographic area in which they were running their tourism business. Our partnership had many significant effects, not the least of which was helping to pass the largest timber reform bill in American history.

Oh, and by the way, The Boat Company is a non-profit educational organization offering luxury eco-cruises through Southeast Alaska. They specialize in treating the needs and wishes of each guest effortlessly. Hikers, fishermen, sightseers, and all sorts of outdoor adventurers are in heaven with The Boat Company.  I have been on their boats many times.  They are without a doubt one of the very best  ways you might ever see the Tongass. The dining, especially fresh catch is AWESOME.  The guides know all the secret trails and coves.  And... they can deal with your kids!  At 8  and 11, my two children did their first trip.  Now they are whining to go back.

#rgk