Western Wild

Dave Showalter's Conservation Photography Weblog

The Archives

February 2011

Energy, Politics, Sagebrush Sea, Wyoming
Wyoming Range Comments
February 25, 2011 | Permalink | Post a Comment

Mule Deer Does at Sunset, Sublette County, Wyoming

The deadline for comments on the proposed PXP drilling of Noble Basin in the Wyoming Range is March 11. This plan to drill in the Greater Yellowstone, right in the migration path of mule deer and pronghorn, is protested by every user group that is familiar with this special place. Commenting is really easy and it’s so important that our voices be heard. Just go to the Citizens For The Wyoming Range site, watch the video and click on the link to submit a comment. The number of comments on this plan are approaching a record!

If you’re wondering why it matters to comment on a place you may never know, may never see, consider that we’re talking about the Greater Yellowstone. Sure the National Parks are protected, but wildlife and people need wild places in the buffer lands around the parks. Roadless wilderness in the West, places where generations of people hunt and fish, hike, bird watch, and just be in nature are becoming increasingly rare. This isn’t some extremist position against energy development; it’s regular folks standing against the destruction of a special place. If you care about Yellowstone, if you care about the West, please tell the US Forest service that this place is too special to drill.
Energy, Kinda Funny
Noble Basin Cartoon
February 22, 2011 | Permalink | Post a Comment

From Jackson Hole News and Guide.
Colorado, Energy, Sagebrush Sea, Videos, Wyoming
Sage Spirit Conservation Project
February 18, 2011 | Permalink | Post a Comment

I just launched my first You Tube “video” to share imagery and information about my conservation project in the American West. This multimedia piece came together over a few months and I’m grateful to the Emmitt-Nershi Band for allowing me to use their song “Surfing The Red Sea”. Thanks for adding rhythm to make my image presentation flow! Thanks to Jenny Nichols at ILCP for sharing your multi-media genius. The aerial images were made with support from LightHawk on a mission with conservation pilot Chris Boyer. Support from LightHawk and others is a crucial piece in the conservation project puzzle; and Sage Spirit needs financial support to continue and work as a tool to fully integrate the great conservation work across the West. Please contact me if you’re interested in supporting the Sage Spirit project in a tax deductible way. (more…)
Conservation Heroes, Photography
Conservation Flyer Chris Boyer
February 15, 2011 | Permalink | 5 Comments

Chris Boyer hard at work in the red plane.

Award-winning conservation photopgrapher, owner of Kestrel Aerial Services, and LightHawk volunteer pilot Chris Boyer is based in Bozeman, Montana. I flew my first LightHawk mission (with the door off) with Chris last August and have been interested in his unique story ever since. I’m sure you’ll enjoy Chris’ perspective and will want to spend some time viewing his web galleries.

Could you please tell us a little bit about yourself, Kestrel Aerial and what you do?

I was raised a conservationist, and always knew that my life and career would be intimately bound up in rural and wild landscapes. I just never knew how. Still don’t. I moved west to work as a farmer, ranch hand, and outfitter and did that for many years until I decided to participate in a “real” economy to see what that was like. This led to working in landscape restoration, going to graduate school in hydrology and geomorphology, and then starting my own ecosystem restoration racket. Learning to fly was practically free at Oregon State University, and an incredible synergy quickly developed between my access to the aerial view, and my study of complex landscape dynamics. I knew that being a weekend pilot would not be enough for me so I worked very hard to find a similar synergy between money and airplanes, and began mapping restoration projects for my company, and then expanding to other natural resource professionals. Although constantly using the aerial view to inform my techniques of ecosystem restoration, I became aware that from the air, I was witnessing much more of the landscape coming unraveled, than being patched together. This led me to devote my cameras and airplane towards more of an advocacy role. (more…)
Colorado, Prairie, Rocky Mountain Arsenal NWR
“Check The Holes”
February 11, 2011 | Permalink | 2 Comments

“Raccoon In Hollow Cottonwood, Rocky Mountain Arsenal NWR, CO”

A photographer once told me to “always check the holes” when traveling though a cottonwood gallery. And I always do. Usually, it’s just a black hole and I stop and check them out anyway – there’s a whole world of wildlife using hollow trees for shelter and nesting. So, last night I was checking holes when a face appeared in a hollow tree that I’ve investigated a hundred times before. I spent some time and viewed noses, hair, an eyeball, a tail, and sometimes a face of a raccoon family in an old cottonwood tree along the Farmer’s Highline Canal. Oh, I know that raccoons can be a nuisance and some people don’t care for them; but they clean up a lot stinky, rotting stuff, a very important job.

This guy seemed on the small size, probably a sub-adult that will get kicked out in spring when a new litter arrives. Check the holes – you never know what may look back at you!
Procyon lotor
Photography
Deep Freeze Photography part III
February 8, 2011 | Permalink | Post a Comment

“Rainier Climbers” A climbing team led by RMI Guides rises above the cloudbank and ascends Disappointment Clever in Mount Rainier NP, Washington.

Winter Photography Part 3 of 3 ~ What we learned on Rainier

Thirty climbers crammed in Muir Camp, a high altitude dormitory lined with bunk beds, with gear piled everywhere and wreaking of long underwear dangling from every hook in the place. We were ready to go when the wakeup call came at midnight; others had been sawing logs like it was a Hilton down in Seattle. We had half an hour to eat, pack and be outside strapping on crampons for summit day on Mount Rainier. Everything we would need for a twelve hour day was on our backs. As if still dreaming, I clipped onto the rope behind Marla, at the back end of our group, and started crunching across a glacier in the dark. Lines of glowing headlamps stretched across the glacier below a star-filled sky. I was carrying a DSLR with zoom lens and a small carbon fiber tripod, hoping for grand images from Rainier’s summit. (more…)
Colorado, Photography
Deep Freeze Photography part II
February 3, 2011 | Permalink | 3 Comments

“Winter Ponderosa Pine, White Ranch Park, Jefferson County, CO” I chose to work in the shade along the north facing forest edge because the pines were encrusted – they hadn’t been exposed to any snow or wind since the last storm.

Part 2 of 3 discussing winter photography strategy:

The car thermometer read -5 when Abby the labby and I emerged from the car an hour and a half before sunset. I knew it would drop to -10 or so, but it didn’t feel so bad without the dreaded wind. That’s really the only time to photograph winter landscapes anyway; wind just knocks all the snow off the trees and increases misery. There are three types of winter photography and lots of gradients in between: Working stationary from a vehicle or blind and wearing the kitchen sink, stop and go active photography, and athletic winter photography. Last night was stop and go. (more…)
Photography, Rocky Mountain Arsenal NWR, Wyoming
Deep Freeze Photography
February 1, 2011 | Permalink | 8 Comments

Bison Grazing In Winter, Rocky Mountain Arsenal NWR, CO ~ Bison are perfectly suited for the extremes of harsh climates and just go about their business, the business of eating grass.

Self-Portrait While Photographing Bison – The ambient temperature was -10F and the wind chill -31F.

Cold snap! Arctic Express Makes It Too Dangerous To Go Outside! The talking heads really like to get us worked up whenever the weather is something other than “average”. I guess it gets people to tune in for longer than usual. But, don’t wild animals have to be outside all the time? Some of the most powerful images I’ve ever seen have been made by a skilled photographer experienced in, and prepared for, extreme conditions. We get our share of boring 50 degree days along Colorado’s Front Range; so I always try to head out when snow flies and the thermometer plunges to “dangerous levels.” Here’s a few tips to make your next winter outing reasonably comfortable and enjoyable. (more…)