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Vehicles pass through the intersection at Interstate 10 and Baseline Road in Tempe on Dec. 10, 2019.(Photo: Thomas Hawthorne/The Republic)

Over the past few months, The Arizona Republic has revieweddata from numerous Valley cities to assess which intersections have had the most vehicle crashes.

From the West Valley to East Valley, The Republic pinpointedintersections with the highest number of collisions from 2016 through 2018, which for most cities was themost recent complete year of data available. Using those numbers, The Republic identified what could be considered the most dangerous intersections in those cities.

The data shows more than half of the intersection-related collisions across the Valley occurred at or within about a mile of major freeways, where traffic tends to back up.

In several cities, the same major road is tied to multiple intersections that are among the most crash prone among them McDowell and Indian School roads in Phoenix,Bell Road in Surprise, Shea Boulevard in Scottsdale and Rural Road in Tempe.

The Republic's review of Phoenix found intersections where the greatest number of accidents occurred during the period reviewed were on the west side of the city, between Camelback and McDowell roads, and 27th and 75th Avenues in areas not far from major freeways.

"Many of Phoenixs roads carry a high volume of traffic; in fact, it is not uncommon to have 60,000 to 80,000 vehicles per day travel through our major intersections. Additionally, several of our major roads have over five or up to seven lanes of traffic," said Ashley Patton, a city spokeswoman.

Overall, the city has 65,857 intersection-related crashes over the three-year period.

The Republic used the crash data to determine which intersections have been the most dangerous over the three-year period reviewed in major Valley cities. The review relied on overall crashes rather than just fatalities because in most cities, traffic deaths are spread among numerous intersections and locations, whereas numerous crashes can occur at or near a single location.

Here is what the review found, followed by some further explanation and possible solutions:

Between 2016 and 2018, these intersections in the city of Phoenix had the most collisions, according toPatton.

Among those west Phoenixintersections, 51st, 67th and 75th avenues which run in a north-south direction connect to Interstate 10.McDowell Road is less than a quarter-mile north of the freeway, while Indian School is about 2.2 miles north of I-10.In addition,27th Avenue is about a quarter mile west of Interstate 17.

Overall, there were 465 fatal intersection-related collisions in Phoenix during the period, Patton said.

The intersections at27th Avenue and Bethany Home Road, Seventh Street and McDowell Road, 43rd Avenue and Thunderbird Road, Baseline Road andJesse Owens Parkway, 43rdandMissouri avenues, 43rd Avenue andHubbell Street and 83rdandVirginia avenues had the most fatal intersection-related collisions during that time, each totaling three, said Patton.

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From 2016-18, the following intersections in Scottsdale had the most traffic collisions, according toSam Taylor, a traffic engineeringanalystfor the city:

The city had more than 9,300 intersection-related collisions between 2016 and 2018, which includes minor and local intersections, said Taylor. Heexplainedthat Scottsdale classifies all collisions within 100 feet of an intersection as intersection-related.

Among the top 5, the two on Shea Boulevard were close tothe Loop 101 freeway, along with the No. 1 intersection at Frank Lloyd Wright. The other two were in south Scottsdale.

Scottsdale had a total of 21 fatal intersection-related collisions during those three years, according to Taylor. He added thatnone of those collisions occurred at the same intersection during that time.

AAA REPORT:Arizona ranks highest in nation for deadly red-light crashes

InGilbert, Val Vista Drive, a major north-south road that extends northward into Mesa, comes up multiple times among the intersections with the most collisions from2016 to 2018, according to dataprovided to The Republic by Sgt. Mark Marino of the Gilbert Police Department:

Of the 4,870 intersection-related collisions investigated by the city, 21 were fatal collisions that occurred at various locations across the town, according to Marino.He added that Gilbert classifies all collisions within 150 feet of an intersection as intersection-related.

During that same three-year period,the followingintersections in Tempe hadthe most collisions, according to data analyzed by The Republic:

Of approximately6,540 intersection-related collisions between 2016 and 2018, 15 were fatal, the data showed. While two of the fatal collisions occurred at the same intersection ofRural Road and Southern Avenue in 2016 and 2017, the others occurred at various intersections throughout the city.

Tempe has three major freeways that touch the landlocked community: Interstate 10, Loop 101 and Loop 202.

In Mesa, there were approximately8,600intersection-related collisions between 2015 and 2017, according todata analyzed by The Republic. Crash data reports for all of 2018 was not yet available, said Jason Flamofthe Mesa Police Department.

The data showed that the following intersections had the most collisions during the two-year period for which data was available:

In thoseyears, there was a total of 36fatal intersection-related collisions, according to the data.The data provided to The Republic did not specify ifanyintersections experiencedmorefatal collisions than others but Flam said amajority of the city's fatal collisions do not occur at intersections.

In Chandler, the following intersections had the most collisions from 2016 though 2018, according to data provided to The Republic:

The city had a total of 11,329 traffic collisions from 2016 through2018, 32 of which were fatal collisions, according to Seth Tyler, a spokesman for the Chandler Police Department. It's unclear how many of those total collisions and fatalitieswere intersection-related.

According toDebbie Albert, a traffic engineer for Glendale, these intersections had the mostcollisions between 2015 and 2017:

The city had a total of8,348 intersection-related collisions during those three years,29 of which were fatal, said Albert.Two of those fatal collisions occurred at Glendale and 83rd avenues while the rest occurred at various intersections throughout the city, she added.

In Glendale, collisionswithin 300 feet of an intersection are typically classified asintersection-related, according to Albert.

Peoria had approximately 6,400intersection-related collisions,according to 2016-2018data analyzed by The Republic. The data showed the following intersections had the most collisions:

There were 19 fatal intersection-related collisions during that time, none of which occurred at the same intersection, according to the data.

The following intersections in Surprise hadthe most collisions between 2016 and 2018, according to data provided to The Republic:

The data showed that the city had approximately 2,800 traffic collisions during that time, however, it's unclear how many of those were intersection-related.

Additionally, in those three years, Surprisehad a total offour fatal traffic collisions, all of which occurred at separate intersections, according to the data.

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For some of the cities, failure to yield, speed and disregarding the traffic signal were some of the major factors inmany of theintersection-related collisions.

"Speed too fast" was the highest-ranked violation committed by drivers in allintersection-related collisions in Mesa over the past three years,according to Flam, who added that "speed too fast" does not automatically mean the driver was exceeding the speed limit.

Failure to yield and disregarding thetraffic signal were the highest-rankedviolationsin the city's fatal intersection-related collisions, he added.

The violations were among the top factors in fatal and non-fatal intersection-related collisions in Phoenix, as well, according to Patton.

To improve safety, Phoenix's Street Transportation Departmentupgraded15 traffic signals with left-turn arrows last fiscal year upgrading left-turn arrows to flashing yellow arrows and addingleft-turn arrows orflashing yellow arrows tosignals that didn't have them, according to Patton. Several other Valley cities have adopted that system as well.

Research and studiesshowthat the upgrades could help reduce collisions, with flashing yellow arrows alone reducing collisions by 25%, she said, citingCrash Modification FactorsClearinghouse study published four years ago.

Phoenix also rebuilt 14traffic signals to meet current standards and improve visibility, installed 11 new traffic signals at unsignaled intersections and added advanced detectionto six traffic signals, said Patton.

She explained that advanced detection is atraffic signal technology that waits for a gap in traffic before turning yellow to minimize the number of timesa driver decides between drivingthrough a yellow light or stopping.

In the next three years, the department plans to upgrade more than 100 traffic signals, according to Patton, who also cited a more fundamental solution to reducing crashes.

"The city also encourages the public to obey traffic laws at all times and to stay alert on our roadways," said Patton, adding that the city'ssafety campaign, Heads Up, offers a list of safety tips for drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians.

Marino said many of the collisions in Gilbert weredue to "some sort of documented inattention."

"Traffic concentration around a high school, as an example of the intersection of Germann Road and Val Vista Drive, coupled with newer drivers, cellphone usage while driving and other distractions are recipes for collisions on all streets in the Valley," he said.

According to Marino, the townis examining data to determine if any crash trends existnearLoop 202and South Val Vista Drive, which he said is the town's worst intersection, averaging one collision every two weeks or26 collisions per year.

In the meantime, the Gilbert police areoperating an unmarked aggressive driving vehicle throughouttown that aims to enforce traffic laws and correct driving behaviors that have the tendency to cause collisions, said Marino.

An ArizonaGovernor's Office of Highway Safetygrant covered the vehicle's more than $47,000 price tag, according to a Sept. 23 Facebook post from the Gilbert Police Department.

"Drivers tend to drive differently when a fully marked police car or motorcycle is traveling with them in traffic.The (aggressive driving) car is built to blend in with traffic and is targeting drivers that are dangerous to the community and are driving with no regard to your safety," explained Marino.

Similar to Phoenix,the town utilizes "smart intersections" that evaluate traffic volume and lane occupancy and cycles the intersection accordingly to ensure efficiency and safety, according to Marino.

The town has also implemented asafe-driving campaign, "Speed Down. Eyes Up. Drive Safely,"that emphasizes safe driving.

Among the intersections in Glendale with the highest number of collisions over the past three years, 1/3 were rear-end collisions and another 1/3 were left-turn collisions while the remainder were other crash types, Albert said.

In addition to education and enforcementbyGlendale's traffic education team and police, Albert said the city is"working aggressively" to install flashing yellow arrows at all majorintersections because national studies have shown that they are better understood intelling drivers they need to yield.

The flashing yellow arrows will be installed at a total of 45 intersections, with a focus on major intersections such as59th and Glendale avenuesand 51stand Peoria avenues, she added.

She added that median islands are also being installed to limit turning movements at driveways closeto signalized intersections.

"The transportation team will continue to identify locations that need additional improvements and secure funding to implement the enhancements," said Albert. "We also encourage drivers, cyclists and pedestrians to be vigilant around traffic. Please put down your phone and obey the traffic signals, signs and pavement markings."

Reach the reporter at chelsea.curtis@arizonarepublic.comor follow her on Twitter@curtis_chels.

Read or Share this story: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix-traffic/2019/12/17/most-dangerous-intersections-phoenix-area-over-past-3-years/3857239002/

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Which intersections are the most dangerous in Valley cities? Here's what we found - AZCentral

The Japanese have a wordkuchisabishiithat describes the 2020 Toyota Land Cruiser Heritage Edition well. It's best understood as the term for when you eat something not because youre hungry but because your mouth is bored. The Heritage Edition doesnt need to exist, same as Toyota doesnt really need to sell Land Cruisers in America anymore given our paltry share of the international sales pie. Yet it does, and its damn tasty either way.

Thats not to directly compare one of the worlds legendary SUVs with empty calories. As equipped in the American market, the 200 Series Land Cruiser is a fairly brilliant truck, melding its rugged heritage and superlative capability with a sensible approach to modern comfort. Even if an $86,710 sticker price might shock when you step back and see a gussied-up UN vehicle, consider that Mercedes-Benz has been pulling the same thing at twice the price with the G-Wagen and making out like a bandit for decades. Toyotas low-volume Cruiser business here in the States still generates around $279 million in revenue annually, and that's without counting the Lexus LX. If you do count the LX, the revenue total for Toyota was $710 million in 2018. Not exactly peanuts.

Toyota

But given its formulaic, three-squares approach since the 200 Series launched in 2007one trim, one option, no marketingit's easy to see why Toyota whipped up the 2020 Land Cruiser Heritage Edition. It's nominally a minimalist adventurer appearance package accented by bronze BBS wheels and a Yakima MegaWarrior roof basket. More than a decade into the current series (Land Cruiser generations move on geologic time scales), it's also the closest the world's largest automaker has come to a bored-mouth snack involving its most iconic vehicle.

Again, this isn't a bad thing at all. The opposite, in fact. The Heritage Edition looks great, drives great, and is great. It just doesn't feel like it's meeting a vital need the way the regular Land Cruiser does, nor does it scan as a gluttonous blowout truly celebrating its six decades of production ahead of an uncertain future. Kuchisabishii.

Toyota

The Toyota Land Cruiser has changed as much as anyone would over sixty-odd years, and the four-door, roofed 200 Series stands worlds apart from the pokey 1958 FJ25 that Toyota shipped over back then as the first Land Cruiser sold on these shores. (By the way, that two-door convertible model survives in unrestored condition at the excellent Land Cruiser Heritage Museum in Salt Lake City, Utah.) The "base" 2020 truck will look familiar to everyoneits design has gone unchanged since a 2015 facelift, and its profile has been with us since 2007. Good thing it's a handsome, blocky fella, with a drawn-out grille to accentuate its 78-inch width and a noticeably upright greenhouse.

An untrained observer could mistake it for a Toyota Sequoia, that other three-row, V-8, body-on-frame SUV in the American lineup, except the Sequoia is more than ten inches longer, bigger in every dimension, and also it's not a Land Cruiser and never will be. We digress. As mentioned up top, the $2,330 upcharge for the Heritage Edition nets the following exterior tweaks: 18-inch bronze BBS wheels, darkened chrome trim on the grille, deleted running boards, a Yakima roof basket, a sweet retro badge, and a paint choice of Midnight Black Metallic or Blizzard Pearl.

Toyota

Adding the roof rack, removing the running boards, and swapping in smaller wheels make the biggest visual impacts. It's a conservative upfit, no doubt. But the simplicity is still compelling. $87,000 compelling? Different discussion.

Fitting for a truck that's more common in war zones than American driveways, the interior is laid out with dutiful practicality, all straight lines and big buttons and analog gauges. Cabin comfort is one place where we're glad to leave the old Land Cruisers behind, and Toyota relies on materials like wood and semi-aniline leather to soften the UN Peacekeeper experience for domestic buyers, plus extras like heated and ventilated seats and a center console refrigeratorsorry, "cool box."

Toyota

The Heritage Edition comes with black leather, bronze contrast stitching, all-weather floor mats, no third row, and no cool box for maximum storage. (Toyota reasons that you'll bring a real cooler along anyway, what with the 53.5 cubic feet of space back there without the far back seats.) Don't look for Apple CarPlay or Android Auto in that nine-inch touchscreen, however.

Toyota

There are typically two complaints lobbed at the Toyota Land Cruiser interior: it's boring, and it's too fancy for what the truck actually is. To the first camp, we'll just point out that the Land Cruiser was not built to impress you. It doesn't have an art degree because its utilitarian buyers around the world still don't care. And to the second critique, the truck as it exists in America 2019 isn't marketed to you. Toyota knows you and a few other ragamuffins want a downmarket Land Cruiser. But that's not what it's trying to do here.

The 2020 Toyota Land Cruiser Heritage Edition is less about going further off-road than looking better in the process. That's not a problem when the base truck is as otherworldly durable as a 200 Series. When you write a check for $87 grand, what you're paying for is the million-mile engineering needed to take the Land Cruiser safely to the globe's toughest and roughest edges. We're not exaggerating; much of the vehicle is designed for a 25-year service life. Everything from suspension components to window glass is thicker and stronger and utterly overbuilt compared to flimsy modern crossovers or even the full-size pickups we hold dear as Americans.

Toyota

Sheer toughness and a solid rear axle will only get you so farpretty damn far, but there are limitsso the Land Cruiser also has a low-range transfer case with a center differential lock, multi-terrain AWD settings, off-road cruise control, and a system that brakes the inner wheels for an off-road pivot-turn. It runs in a permanent 4HI mode with a 40/60 front-to-back torque split that can vary as needed. Lastly, Toyota's Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System automatically adjusts the sway bars to provide excellent wheel articulation without ruining on-road handling. You can feel the KDSS loosening things up as you bounce off the pavement, shift into low range, and start climbing your first rocky hill.

Toyota

With 8.9 inches of ground clearance and off road angles of 32 approach/21 breakover/24 departure, the 2020 Toyota Land Cruiser isn't the most out-and-out capable crawler in the lineup. That honor belongs to the 2020 4Runner TRD Pro, as does woeful technology and a dated five-speed transmission. True to its name, what the Land Cruiser represents is the cushiest, safest way to conquer mountains. It made quick work of both the demonstration off-road course Toyota set up in the hills outside Eagle Mountain, Utah and an extracurricular detour over a challenging rock pile.

Toyota

As the most expensive vehicle Toyota sells in America, though, it had better drive well on the road. The trucky Land Cruiser does what it can. Its 5.7-liter, 381-horsepower V-8 (shared with the Tundra pickup) pulls strong with a decent grumble, though peak torque doesn't hit until 3,600 RPM and you'll notice the delay in higher gears. It doesn't help that the eight-speed transmission sometimes feels like it's taking a wild guess when you put your foot down, dropping too far for having over 400 lb-ft of torque on tap or pausing before slamming into the correct gear with an audible thud.

So, not all roses. But apart from that the 2020 Land Cruiser rides like any other large SUVheavy, tall, and reassuringly softdespite its antediluvian construction. KDSS also works on pavement as a hydraulic stabilizer system to limit body roll, so it's composed in turns and a peaceful long-distance rig overall. The only thing to really warn about for daily driving is the abysmal fuel economy: 14 miles per gallon combined. Even a 24.6 gallon tank feels small.

Even in cases like this, where the historic connection is clear and unbroken, automakers often try to keep a least a little daylight between present-day models and their older counterparts. It makes sense: Old cars are cool, and generally new cars are not. Put them in the lineup, and what should be a proud evolutionary timeline often ends up looking like a March of Progress parody ending in a fat man.

Toyota

That's why it was a surprise when Toyota arranged to borrow five historic Land Cruisers from the Salt Lake City museum collection for us to drive alongside the 2020 Heritage Edition. Sprung for the day was a 1977 FJ40, a 1977 FJ55, a 1984 FJ60, a 1991 FJ80, and a 2004 UJZ100. All stand as key stages in the Land Cruiser's growth from a military runabout to a globe-stomping status symbol.

Toyota

1977 FJ40 Land Cruiser (Production: 1960 - 1983)

Toyota

1977 FJ55 Land Cruiser (Production: 1968 - 1979)

That humble FJ40, even with its unlined interior, barn doors, and scepter of a four-speed shifter, has leather bucket seats and soft springs to deliver a surprisingly comfortable ride. (If you can get past the racket from the 4.2-liter straight six engine at speed, that is.) The "Iron Pig" FJ55 debuted as one of the few four-door family SUVs in 1967, and even if it shared its platform and powertrain with the FJ40, it was still designed to advance the Land Cruiser's mission. Its successor, the FJ60, brought the first fully-insulated and modernized interior, though the SUV market was starting to simmer in the 1980s. So Toyota took a radical leap forward with the 1991 FJ80, adding more luxurious appointments, coil springs, a full-time 4WD system, airbags and ABS, and the streamlined design that signaled the end of sharp corners for the Land Cruiser. Still had a straight-six engine, though.

Toyota

1984 FJ60 Land Cruiser (Production: 1980 - 1990)

Toyota

1991 FJ80 Land Cruiser (Production: 1990 - 1997)

Apart from varying levels of comfort and sound deadening, they also all drove remarkably similar on and off the pavement. Extremely slowof the four, only the FJ80 could muscle past 35 mph on an uphill grade at 7,000 feet in the mountainsand very noisy, but endearingly blunt like only an old truck on solid axles can be. We weren't pushing any limits in these museum pieces, but the simple fact that all they needed to drive was a fresh battery and a fluid check speaks to the insane longevity of Land Cruisers.

Toyota

2004 UJZ100 Land Cruiser (Production: 1998 - 2007)

The one truck we haven't touched upon is the 1998-2007 UJZ100, representing the largest leap forward yet. It was the first Land Cruiser with a V-8 engine and independent front suspension, two key departures that make the 100 much closer in feel to the 200 Series than to any of its predecessors. It just drives like a contemporary Toyota, even if the lack of KDSS means body roll can be excessive.

And what did the 200 Series Land Cruiser contribute to its kind? Incremental improvements in power, frame strength, and comfort, all undeniable. But whenever Toyota decides to sunset the current generation, we have a feeling it will be remembered for the off-road tech it introduced to the name. (Unless the rumors of it leaving the North American market in 2022 are true, in which case, yeah, that will be its epitaph.) KDSS is probably the biggest highlight, the way it's produced the most comfortable Land Cruiser while giving up little in capability. Even if we're eons past the FJ40's agricultural-tool approach, the 200 Series is still building on the same reputation, one advancement (or two) at a time.

Toyota

What it won't be remembered for is the 2020 Toyota Land Cruiser Heritage Edition. Not because it's a silly idea, but because the normal truck is its own heritage edition. Adding a roof rack or a smaller wheel doesn't make it any more connected to its past or give it a sense of vitality. There was room to go all out here in a celebration of spirit, with a lift and a rear locker and real off-road tires, but absent that we're more than happy to enjoy the sustenance of the regular Land Cruiser.

See the rest here:
2020 Toyota Land Cruiser Heritage Edition Review: This Aging Star Still Matters - The Drive

A north wind, skeins of greenheads riding it south, breaking from on high at the cut of your call, and falling into the decoys. Buddies jump up with shotguns pointed at fluttering mallardsthose are mornings every duck hunter lives forMigration Day.

Now reverse that. Mallards headed north on a south wind, racing back to the breeding grounds (so they think), but first they have to make stops along the way to feed, water, and rest. They are incredibly susceptible to being killed during this small window. Hungry and anxious to get home, tough late-season mallards turn into fresh birds.

When to Expect the Reverse Migration

How can you get on a hunt like this? Reverse migrations of mallards and geese can occur just about anywhere you get a hard freeze followed by a quick warm up. If you live in a state where that kind of weather occurs regularly during the season, then you are likely going to see greenheads and geese funnel back from the south. Ive seen it happen from October in South Dakota to January in Kansas. Hell, one of the best Canada goose flights Ive ever witnessed took place during a sunny morning on Long Island, New York, two days after the temperature dipped below freezing and a foot of snow fell.

How to Prepare Your Hunt

The biggest factor in taking advantage of reverse migration days is being ready. Birds are going to be looking for the first open water they see with a pile of ducks sitting on it. Federal and state refuges and cooling ponds (discharge lakes used by power companies) are some places that will be holding birds, but you likely cant hunt, so make sure your set up is south of those areas or the birds will short stop you.

Our biggest reverse migration almost always happens in January, says Kansas hunter Brad Harris. It will get bitter cold and freeze everything up, so most of our birds will go south. Then it thaws and they come back on a south wind and sunshine.

Mallards, lesser Canada geese, snow geese, and specklebellies (well get to the geese later) are the four most common waterfowl species that reverse migrate while fall and winter seasons are still open. Big honkers will too, just not with as much regularity because in most cases it takes more than a quick weather front to get them to move south en masse. And white geese are huntable during the spring conservation season as they chase the snow line back to the tundra, of course. Other species do reverse migrate before the spring rush back north, its just these five seem to do it with more regularity, making them increasingly vulnerable.

Just this last week (in early December), we saw thousands of specks and snows coming out of the south, flying over Champaign, said Illinois biologist and photographer, Ryan Askren, who still had more than six weeks of season left. All waterfowl have an innate drive to want to be as close to the breeding grounds as possible. Specks, in particular, are an early-migrating bird.

Set Big Decoy Spreads for Greenheads

Sometime in early- to mid-January, it will get cold enough to freeze a majority of the open water in central and southeast Kansas. Theres some deeper sand pits and rivers that wont completely lock up, but it forces a majority of the greenheads to move south. It only lasts a few days and when the mallards return, Harris is waiting with open water, dozens of decoys and aggressive calling.

Two days before the thaw, Ill get my ice eaters in and we will open up water, so that when birds are coming back from the south, its the first thing they see, he said.

You can hunt in flooded ag or in dry fields, but Harris best results have come on oxbows and smaller pondstheres more open water thus better visibility for birds returning. He has had some stellar hunts in flooded corn during these times, but on average bigger water is better because it allows for a larger decoy footprint. And when it comes to decoys, you will need to go big. Set goose sleeper shells and mallard and goose full-body field decoys on the ice with mallard floaters on the water.

The key is making the rig look like the refuge, where every duck coming from the south wants to be. And have plenty of good callers wailing away at sky-high migrators. You need to get their attention first, but also, an acre full of fake ducks needs to sound like an acre full of live ones.

We run about 10- to 20-dozen floaters on the water and anywhere from two to four (spinning-wing decoys) as long as the sun is out, which it usually is on a warm up, Harris said. You have about a two- to four-day window to really get after them before its over.

Where to Hunt the Reverse Migration

This phenomenon is not specific to Kansas. Its also common in Oklahoma too, but fair warning, that state is overrun with hunters and wannabee guides posing as legit outfitters. Thats not to say you cant find a good guide in January, just be cautious. I wouldnt advise freelancing down there either. There is some public land, but most of the good duck holes are private and door-knocking is only going to leave you sorely disappointed.

Fact is, the reverse migration will happen just about anywhere there are drastic swings in weather patterns. Here in central Illinois, we see it happening more frequently, mostly in November and early December. You can just about bank on mallards, specks and/or snows showing up after a short cold snap followed by a warm up. Its a tough place to hunt because we dont get the bird numbers we once did, so on the first and second days of the warm up, its game on.

Its hard to get access to private lakes and ponds, and the public ground is very restricted here in terms of when you can go, so leases and handshakes with a landowner are paramount. A lot of the water is deep; old rock quarries that filled over the years. Since it can be tough to throw out a huge spread with decoy lines that might have to be as long as 100 feet, we sometimes set goose and duck decoy rigswith remote spinning-wing decoys (so they can be turned off when geese are around)on a high point in a field close to the quarries. So, if you cant hunt water, get as close to it as possible. Your hope is the birds see the decoys and come in for a look.

If you live in a state where the weather swings arent as wild, reverse migrations are likely not going to happen as often, or at all. For example, if you live in Minnesota or the Dakotas, or Canada, and winter has set in for good, mallards arent likely to funnel back if there is a freak snow melt. They are probably too far south already.

But in states that have more fluctuation in weather patterns, the reverse migration can happen, and it doesnt take much change in tactics from when birds are coming off the refuge as they would on a typical morning.

Id say recently our biggest cold fronts have been in November and then December turns pretty mild, said Tony Vandemore, who co-owns Habitat Flats in north-central Missouri, and has seen an uptick in reverse migration days in recent years. Location wise, we get south of the refuge, and were not going to leave a decoy at home. The birds are up there in the stratosphere and they just drop out of the ozone.

Target Lessers, Snows, and Specks

The Central Flyway is where you will find these three species most commonly bouncing north to south and back again, from north Texas into Oklahoma and Kansas (I highly suggest taking a week to 10 days and completing a three-state goose swing in late January and into February). Just like the mallards, they will go on lockdown, sitting on ice, or bugging out for warmer weather during a deep freeze.

When it warms back up, the birds go insane that first afternoon, flying in every direction imaginable. There is no way to tell what field they will hit, and its also tough to scout them for the next day because they will act completely different in the morning following a calm night on the roost. Your best bet is to just get under them in a traffic field with a high point so they can see the spread.

They can be unpredictable, said Drew Palmer of Mile North Outdoors, who has guided and filmed extensively throughout North America. But then they will go back into a pattern, and thats when you can have a damn good day.

Massive spreads of full-bodies, silhouettes and socks (we are talking a spring snow-goose size rig) with multiple callersthe more the betterlaying in the decoys are key. If its sunny and the wind is blowing 15 miles per hour, it can be downright filthy with massive wads of lessers and specks (sometimes with white geese mixed in) literally landing at your feet.

And when February hits, forget spring snows unless you have a slam-dunk juvie shoot lined up in Arkansas, because thats when you REALLY want to be targeting dark geese. They are in a hurry to get back north, feeding hard and flying hard, and it makes them way more susceptible to being shot.

Some guys only want to come here to kill five greenheads, but if I can get them on one of these goose shoots, theyre hooked, Palmer said.

Chase Big Honkers If You Dare

Even big late-season Canada geese, which are notoriously difficult to hunt throughout the Midwest and East, can fall victim to calls and decoys, particularly over water and half-frozen ponds in early February. One of the most ideal setups is to fill the icy edge with honker sleeper shells and set floaters on open water.

Winter wheat, sod farms or just plain grass (I know a hunter who has permission and targets reverse migrators in the outfield of a baseball diamond just past city limits) are also ideal spots to shoot big geese.

Calling is subjective. Big geese in different locales like to be called at differently. Its also weather dependent. Calm days, typically mean ease off the call. Windy days, go ahead and get aggressive. Good callers have a better handle on how to control honkers and give them notes they want to hear to get and keep their attention. Theres no universal way to land big geese. Youre going to have to tryand failto see what works best. One tip Scott Threinen, a Minnesota honker killer and owner of Molt Gear, has always championed is to get loud when geese are cupped and on approach. He says a lot of hunters will go silent and reach for the guns, which is a mistake. Honkers on the ground or water will get very vocal when other birds are coming in. Its basically to tell them to stay the hell away, that this is my area and you are not welcome.

But its definitely one of the times during the season Canadas are most reckless. Typically, they are an anti-social bird that shortstop decoys and generally frustrate field hunters (at least in the Mississippi and Atlantic flyways). But those habits go out the window this late in the year. Thats not to say they arent still difficult, but now will be the best time to hunt them.

My favorite goose hunting is the reverse migration in late January and into February, Vandemore said. The birds do not have to move far, maybe 40 or 50 miles, and it resets them. It makes a bird that was stale a few days ago as dumb as when it first got here (earlier in the fall).

Continued here:
5 Keys to Killing Reverse Migration Mallards and Geese - Outdoor Life

Its not enough to convince producers to give cover crops a shot there needs to be a game plan.

There are plenty of reasons why. Seed can be expensive, especially if theres no livestock to help recoup that cost through their digestive systems. Many worry the fall seeding window is too narrow to give the crop time to amount to anything, but admit theyve few alternative planting dates to consider.

In some cases experts like Lee Briese, of North Dakotas Centrol Inc., say farmers gave cover crops a shot years ago, and abandoned the practice when it didnt work that year.

Lee Briese of Centrol Inc. discusses the advice he gives cover croppers in North Dakota during the Getting the Most Out of Every Acre event in Brandon in November.photo: Alexis Stockford

A more deliberate approach will shift most of those arguments, Briese says. Many of those unsuccessful cover crops may have been the wrong species mix, planted at the wrong time, or did not have an end goal firmly in mind during the planning stage.

Why it matters: Cover crops can help a farmer accomplish many things, but understanding the end goal is key to the management choices.

Species selection is critically important, he said. So thats the first question for me. If youre planting a warm-season cover crop a little too late, its not going to do well. If youre planting a cool-season cover crop in the heat of the summer, its not going to do well.

The end goal will also be central to species selection, plant timing and seeding rate, he added. A mix tailored to fight erosion will look very different from one planned to fight weeds, increase farm resiliency or improve soil health, he noted.

[AUDIO ABOVE] Joe Gardiner of Clearwater, Man., talks to Alexis Stockford about how he got started with cover crops, what keeps him coming back to the practice and how hes changing up his farm management this year.

Local experts like Yvonne Lawley of the University of Manitoba have echoed the point. Lawley has urged producers to consider the root profile of their cover crop, whether the mix leans to warm or cool season, whether those species fix or scavenge nitrogen, and how they plan to terminate the crop so they are not creating their own weed problem.

The entire process is more art than science, she said, and will be highly individual to a farmers circumstance, equipment, work flow and end goals.

Cover crops have grown incredibly complex on some farms, Briese noted, with some producers putting down something like 30 different species. Thats great for biodiversity, he said, but significantly less so to the producers pocketbook.

Briese advocates the five food groups philosophy, which he says ensures a diverse species mix while potentially balancing seed cost. A balanced cover crop mix includes cool-season grasses, warm-season grasses, both warm- and cool-season broadleafs, and legumes, he said, and the addition of both warm- and cool-season crops helps ensure that something will grow out of the mix, regardless of weather conditions.

A mix of more than five species may start to see diminishing returns on the balance sheet, he noted, particularly for producers just starting out with cover crops.

Its a good strategy, according to Michael Thiele, co-ordinator of Manitobas Ducks Unlimited grazing club and an outspoken advocate of cover crops as a tool for biodiversity.

I think thats simply practical, but think of that: five species versus what has been one for 100 years, he said.

Michael Thiele is among the local experts urging producers to take up cover crops, but also to have a distinct plan before they plant.photo: Alexis Stockford

Joe Gardiner of Clearwater is one of the producers who, self-admittedly, goes crazy, with his mixes. His cover crops run up to 15 species, which he ties to his goals of maximum biodiversity and biomass both for the sake of soil health and forage for his cattle.

At the same time, he noted, his full-season cover crops mitigate the risk of taking on more species compared to an underseeded or post-harvest mix. Farmers who arent doing that are wise to consider less complex mixes, he said.

That makes a lot of sense for a relay crop or a fall-seeded cover, because youre just not getting the return from the biomass to justify the seed cost, and I get that totally and I understand it, he said. From a full-season cover perspective, the goal is to stimulate biology. You cannot stimulate biology with a monoculture.

Joe Gardiner of Clearwater outlines his cover cropping system during an event in Brandon last month.photo: Alexis Stockford

Gardiner also sources much of his seed on his own farm, further reducing cost. His cattle also make that risk more palatable, he acknowledged. He first got into cover crops as a means to increase fall forage.

Kevin Elmy, manager of Cover Crops Canada and a cover crops consultant with Imperial Seed, has a slightly different approach.

Many producers interested in cover crops forget to add in rotation, he said, particularly when it comes to something like tillage radish.

Tillage radish is a well-known compaction buster in the cover crop world. Manitoba experts, however, have recently raised concern that the brassica might create a bridge for pests like flea beetles and disease, given the local popularity of canola.

Its one reason that Elmy has brought sugar beets into his Imperial Seed mixes. Although more expensive, the beets also fill much the same niche as tillage radish.

I have a triangle, so it is grass, legume, broadleaf, he said. If youre looking from a grass to a brassica (in the rotation), which one are you missing? Youre missing a legume, so you want to try and introduce something like subterranean clover or Persian clover.

Kevin Elmy, of Cover Crops Canada, says rotational considerations are too often forgotten.photo: Friendly Acre Seed Farms

That short legume would be underseeded as a relay crop, but remain under the canopy until the cash crop is harvested and then grow through the fall, he said.

That system depends on an early seed date, he noted, giving the legume time to bloom and set nitrogen.

The system is a harder sell for producers without livestock, he acknowledged, but argued that a cover crop that knocks back weeds, saves a fall desiccation, or over the course of years, increases water infiltration and saves a producer from having to install tile drainage, will more than pay for itself.

Once we set goals, then we can pick species, then we can have a strategy on how to get it done, he said.

Soil health advocates may have biodiversity and soil structure top of mind, but Briese says many of his customers are turning to cover crops as weed control, after nothing else has worked.

In some cases, he noted, those producers are attempting to choke out a herbicide-resistant weed a growing concern in both his home North Dakota and Manitoba he said a properly managed cover crop blend may be less expensive than a herbicide pass.

Theyre realizing that this is a potential opportunity for them. Its not incredibly expensive if done well, he said.

Once again, he noted, the goal will underscore the plan of attack. He pointed to one of his clients fighting herbicide-resistant kochia. As such, that customer actually needed his cover crop to overwinter to provide that early-season competition.

Anyone planning for weed control will want to pick species that establish quickly with good ground cover, Lawley advised.

The other thing thats really important to think about for that criteria is which weeds do you need to suppress and what is the biology of when those weeds are growing or establishing themselves, she said.

In the case of a winter annual, she noted, the producer will want a vibrant cover crop post-harvest to interrupt the weeds life cycle.

Cover crops fighting salinity, meanwhile, should get in the soil as early in the season as possible, Lawley noted.

Even your cover crops may not establish where it turns white. You need to work on shrinking that white area by getting a cover crop established in that wet area immediately around it, she said.

In many cases, that cover crop will be broadcast rather than drilling in what is essentially patch seeding, she noted. As such, Lawley advised producers to choose a small-seeded crop or an easily germinated option like barley.

Barley may be among the most common saline-tolerant options, but Lawley argued that there are enough other options for a multi-species cover crop. Sugar beets, camelina and sorghum sudan grass to a certain extent, may also thrive, she said.

Work flow is a challenge, cover crop experts admit, although Lawley pointed out that fall seeding might be done in the morning if a farmer has to wait until the drier afternoon to combine anyway.

Fall seeding is often the easiest to work into a year, Gardiner said, but added that it is also the seeding window most likely to end in failure, since there is little growing time left in the season.

For both Thiele and Briese, the key is both a realistic starting point and commitment.

Cover cropping is a skill and we need to learn it, no different than you would learn to play an instrument, Briese said. You cant play Bach right away. You learn Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star first.

Both Thiele and Briese urge producers to choose a limited number of acres to start, band then attack that cover crop with the best plan possible.

Look, if youre really serious and youre committed, take a field and commit to that field for five years, Thiele said. Youre not going to see the world change in one or two or three years. You need to be committed to this and do it right and be focused and committed and, in five years, youll convince yourself that these systems can work.

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The learning curve of cover crops - Manitoba Co-operator

A new accessible playground and community hub has opened at Canatara Park. Pictured left to right are Todd Murray with Rotary Sarnia-Lambton After-Hours, Rob Collie with Rotary Sarnia, Rotary Sarnia-Bluewaterland's Henry Kulik and Marie Watson, City of Sarnia recreation and planning manager Ryan Chamney, Rotary-Bluewaterland member Pat Boegelin, and Mike Elliott with Rotary Sarnia. Tyler Kula/Postmedia News

An accessible playground, the first of its kind in Sarnia, has opened at Canatara Park.

More than a playground, the wheelchair-accessible play structure atop a poured-in-place rubber base, also features nearby benches with built-in games tables, a stage area for theatre beside the existing picnic pavilion, and exercise equipment.

We just wanted to create a space that, whether youre playing or a caregiver here to watch their kids play, theres something to do, said city recreation and planning manager Ryan Chamney.

The project cost roughly $335,000, and was partly funded with $80,000 and $90,000 in total from all three of Sarnias Rotary clubs.

We got a lot for what we spent, said Chamney.

The Canatara Park Rotary Clubs of Sarnia Accessible Playground and Community Hub project is step one of nine in accessibility upgrades eyed for playgrounds in various city parks, he said.

Tecumseh Park is up next. Work is planned to start there later in 2020 and likely wrap up in 2021, Chamney said.

Accessible swings, wheelchair gliders and other upgrades are being eyed as part of the projects.

Not all the upgrades will necessarily be as big as the hub project in Canatara, Chamney said, but theyll all be made accessible and inclusive spaces.

The initial timeline for the accessibility projects collectively was in 2018 estimated at three to 15 years, depending on funding availability.

Accessibility upgrades are also being worked out for the nearby Canatara bandshell.

Rotary officials with Rotary clubs of Sarnia, Sarnia-Lambton After-Hours, and Sarnia-Bluewaterland said their contribution came from Trip of the Month lottery proceeds.

The project was completed by Park N Play Design Company Ltd, and the design was vetted and endorsed by the clubs and the citys accessibility advisory committee.

That design has also been awarded Playcore national designation for meeting best practices in youth fitness, and for promoting inclusive play and recreation.

The new playground replaces one a plaque says the city and Sarnia-Bluewaterland club jointly opened in October 1994.

That accessible structure was outdated as far as Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act standards, city officials said.

A grand opening to celebrate the new structure and unveil a commemorative plaque is being eyed for the spring, Chamney said, thanking the Rotary clubs for helping make it possible.

Landscaping and grass seeding in the area is also planned for the spring.

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New accessible playground is the first of its kind for Sarnia - Sarnia and Lambton County This Week

Establishing a productive pasture requires more than just putting down seed and straw. Soil tests will help determine the proper amount of lime and fertilizer. These amendments, along with proper seeding rates, should be applied at the right time of year, usually spring or fall, for optimal growth. It can take a year or more to establish a pasture. Pasture management after establishment is also important, and includes mowing, dragging, and maintaining proper stocking rates. In general, in order to maintain a healthy sod and good groundcover you should have a minimum of two acres of pasture for each horse. Keeping more horses on less pasture requires an increased level of management of both horses and grounds in order to maintain the health of both.

More information on establishing and renovating pastures for horses, forage selection, and grazing management can be found in the Virginias Horse Pastures series, Virginia Cooperative Extension publications 418-101, 418-102, 418-103, and 418-104.

Trees in pastures are beneficial for a variety of reasons. They provide protection from sun, wind, and rain, and are a beautiful scenic addition. Orienting a row of trees from east to west will result in appropriate turf light and encourage pasture forage. However, horses and trees are not always a good mix. Turning out too many horses on small acreage results in denuded pastures or debarked trees, which is neither attractive nor environmentally friendly. Also, the presence of a large number of livestock can result in soil compaction around trees, which reduces the oxygen available to tree roots and negatively impacts tree growth. Nevertheless, some tree species deal with soil compaction better than others. The compaction tolerant tree list includes many native trees such as sycamore, red maple, hackberry, eastern red cedar, sweetgum, black gum, loblolly pine, oak, black locust, willow, bald cypress and slippery elm (Coder, 2000).

Regardless of the trees you choose for your pasture, it is best to fence around them to protect the roots and bark while allowing horses to benefit from their shelter. At a minimum, the trunk should be secured with fencing 2 to 4 feet away. Better protection requires a fence 10 to 20 feet away from the trunk, or ideally out to the drip line (picture the tree top as an umbrella, the edge of the umbrella is the drip line) of a mature tree. However, this may decrease the horses use of the tree as shelter. The Virginia Urban Street Tree Selector at http://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/treeselector/ provides a tool to determine mature crown width on certain species.

Finally, some species should be avoided in horse pastures.

For help in identifying trees, bring samples to your local extension office or try your hand at identifying the species with the help of an online tree identification tool at http://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/idit.htm.

If your objectives involve land clearing, it is important to familiarize yourself with the pros and cons. Planning and attention to detail during the land-clearing process will help protect water and soil resources while keeping costs to a minimum. This publication provides some practical considerations of costs, regulatory issues, biological and environmental factors, and covers effective methods and easily avoided pitfalls.

For more assistance and information, contact the following public agencies:

Virginia Cooperative Extension Additional printed educational resources and free subject matter newsletters, soil test kits and interpretation, forage management education, pesticide safety and education, and more at http://www.ext.vt.edu.

Soil and Water Conservation Districts Technical assistance, information, and education on the conservation of natural resources, soil, water, and related resources, http://www.vaswcd.org/.

Natural Resources Conservation Services Federal agency providing both technical and financial assistance related to conserving key natural resources such as soil, water and wildlife, http://www.nrcs.usda.gov.

Virginia Department of Forestry Offering Consulting Foresters list, timber buyers list, timber selling advice, and forest management planning, http://www.dof.virginia.gov.

Southern Piedmont Agricultural Research and Extension Center http://www.arec.vaes.vt.edu/southern-piedmont/.

Coder, Kim. 2000. Compaction Tolerant Trees. University of Georgia.

Downing, Adam, Corey Childs, and C.A. Shea Porr. 2008. To Clear or Not To Clear That Is the Question, Virginia Cooperative Extension publication 465-340, http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/465-340/

Johnson, James E. 1997. Firewood for Home Heating, Virginia Cooperative Extension publication 420-003.

Magadlela, A.M., M.E. Dabaan, W.B. Bryan, E.C. Prigge, J.D. Skousen, G.E. DSouza, B.L. Arbogast, G. Flores. 1995. Brush clearing on hill land pasture with sheep and goats. Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science 174:1-8.

McNabb, K. 1997. Environmental Safety of Forestry Herbicides. Alabama Cooperative Extension System. Publication number ANR-846. http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-0846/, accessed March 6, 2008.

Teutsch, C.D., and R.M. Hoffman. 2005. Virginias Horse Pastures: Grazing Management, Virginia Cooperative Extension publication 418-101, http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/418-101/

Teutsch, C.D., and R.M. Hoffman. 2005.Virginias Horse Pastures: Forage Species for Horse Pastures, Virginia Cooperative Extension publication 418-102, http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/418-102/

Teutsch, C.D., and J.H. Fike. 2005. Virginias Horse Pastures: Forage Establishment, Virginia Cooperative Extension publication 418-103, http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/418-103/

Teutsch, C.D., J.H. Fike. 2005. Virginias Horse Pastures: Renovating Old Pastures, Virginia Cooperative Extension publication 418-104, http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/418-104/

The authors wish to thank the following individuals for their contributions in review of this document:

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Options for Clearing Land: Pasture Establishment for ...

As catastrophic bushfires spread across parts of Australia, misinformation about one of the regions most beloved animals, the koala, spreads, too.

Areas of Australia started to burn in September 2019, marking an early start to the regions fire season and scorching more than 5 million acres in News South Wales and parts of Queensland.

When the fires became international news, online stories like this one went viral with shocking headlines that claim koalas are now "functionally extinct" as a result of the blaze.

It is true that several hundred koalas have died in the bushfires (some estimates put the death toll in the thousands) and large swaths of the marsupials habitat have been destroyed. However, the claim that koalas are "functionally extinct" is inaccurate.

The story was flagged as part of Facebooks efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

It appears that the idea that koalas are "functionally extinct" started when the Australian Koala Foundation, a local conservation nonprofit that advocates for koala protection and preservation, released a statement in May 2019 calling on Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to enact the Koala Protection Act, which was written in 2016.

"The Australian Koala Foundation (AKF) believes Koalas may be functionally extinct in the entire landscape of Australia," the statement says. "The AKF thinks there are no more than 80,000 Koalas in Australia."

Since the fires, the organization released another statement in October 2019 standing by its use of the term.

Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the US-based Center for Biological Diversity, told PolitiFact there are two different definitions of "functionally extinct." One is that a species still occurs in the wild but cant effectively reproduce, so is all but extinct. The other, is that a species is so reduced that it can no longer play its role in the ecosystem. Neither definition, he says, applies to the koala.

The koala population is indeed declining, but AKFs estimate is much lower than other assessments.

The International Union for Conservation (IUCN), the global authority on the conservation status of all species, approximates that 300,000 mature adult koalas remain in the wild, and lists the species as vulnerable, a step above endangered and two above critically endangered.

But IUCN last assessed the koala population in 2014, and the species may very well be worse off due to food degradation, deforestation, hunting, drought and fires over the last several years. That said, another group of scholars studied the koala population in 2016 and found comparable numbers.

Nevertheless, several wildlife experts reject the notion that koalas are currently "functionally extinct."

"By either definition, it's hard to see koalas as functionally extinct," Greenwald said. "The last estimate for their numbers is roughly 300,000, and in some places they are very much playing their ecological role of munching on eucalyptus leaves."

Wildlife conservation experts also told National Geographic that its difficult to measure koala populations, even at the best of times, because the animal has a wide range across eastern Australia, are human-shy and live very high up in trees.

Christine Adams-Hosking, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Queensland in Australia, told PolitiFact that koalas "are certainly not functionally extinct" in Australia. And though they have been affected by habitat loss as a result of the fires, she said, its too early to know the impact.

"We will never know exact numbers because we dont know how many koalas exactly there were there in the first place," she said. "Time will tell. Over the next few years, the burnt areas will need to be monitored to see how many koalas recolonize the burnt areas and whether they can successfully build up their population numbers again."

PolitiFact also reached out to the World Wide Fund for Nature-Australia about the claim. The organizations senior manager for land clearing and restoration, Stuart Blanch, told us that while the bushfires are a setback for koala conservation, WWF-Australia does not agree that the species is functionally extinct.

The organization estimates that from July to November, the fires scorched more than 8% of the known koala forest in New South Wales and that, even before the fires, koala populations disappeared from large areas of eastern and southern Australia.

"While koalas will survive this bushfire crisis, the longer-term picture in New South Wales and Queensland is not good unless excessive tree clearing is halted," Blanch said. "WWF-Australia has published a report projecting that koalas will become extinct in the wild in eastern Australia by as early as 2050 and highly likely by 2100 if deforestation and other threats continue. "

The organization said that koalas require remaining eucalypt forests to be preserved, cleared forest areas to be regenerated, and isolated patches of habitat to be connected by newly planted wildlife corridors.

Our ruling

As catastrophic bushfires burn in Australia, claims that koalas are now "functionally extinct" have gone viral.

Many wildlife experts reject this designation, and several estimates suggest there are around 300,000 koalas left in the wild. However, the population is currently listed as vulnerable, and its numbers are steadily declining as fires, and other issues, threaten the animal.

This claim has some truth to it but omits crucial context that would give a different impression. We rate it Mostly False.

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No, koalas are not 'functionally extinct,' but they are in trouble - PolitiFact

In the last monthsof an especially brutal year for the Amazon, the Brazilian rainforest has experienced a last-minute spurt of destruction.

Levels of deforestation in Brazils Amazon in November 2019 flared up by almost 104 percent compared to the same month in 2018, according to official satellite data cited by AFP and Reuters. Considering that deforestation usually quietens down towards the end of the year due to the Amazon's rainy season, this rise is especially unusual.

These November figures build on statistics from Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE) released last month that showed a 29 percent increase in deforestation in 2019 compared to the previous year.Between August 2018 to July 2019, the INPE estimates 9,762 square kilometers (3,769 square miles) of rainforest was slashed, burned, or bulldozed in Brazil that's1.8 million football fields.

Much attention was given to the fires in the Amazon earlier this year. Despite claims made by the Brazilian government, a survey of the rainforest in Brazil showed the number of fires in August of this year was three times higher than in 2018 and the highest since 2010.

Deforestation in the Amazon is primarily driven by agriculture, mining, logging, infrastructure development, and most prominently cattle ranching. Some of the steepest increases in deforestation occurred here between 1991 to 2003. While rates of rainforest destruction were at their highest in 2008, the past few years have seen another resurgence of land clearing.

Much of this can be blamed on increasing global demand for commodities like beef, soy, and palm oil, however, the rise has also been attributed to the election of President Jair Bolsonaro. Nicknamed Captain Chainsaw by environmentalists, the far-right populist president has continued to challenge the status of protected areas and weaken environmental agenciesin the hopes of forging Brazil into an economic powerhouse.

Following UN Climate Change Conference COP25 this week, Brazil's environment minister sarcastically tweeteda photograph of a vast beef steak with the caption:"to offset our emissions at COP, a veggie lunch!" PresidentBolsonaro also repeatedly threatened to take Brazil out of the Paris Climate Agreement during his election campaign, although he appears to have softened that stance duringhis first year of presidency.

The Brazilian president previously accused the INPE of forging deforestation statistics and being "in the service of NGOs." In August 2019, following a very public spat, Bolsonaro evenfired the head of the INPE, Professor Ricardo Magnus Osrio Galvo, and suggested the government would look for a private company to take over from the INPEs duties to monitor the Amazon.

Needless to say, these accusations remain unfounded as does Bolsonaros claim that this years Amazon fires were started by NGOs andpaid for by Leonardo DiCaprio.

Original post:
November Deforestation Up 104 Percent On Last Year In Brazilian Amazon - IFLScience

Banteay Srei district authority inspected land grab at Siem Reap Provice. Supplied

Siem Reap provinces Banteay Srei district authorities on Friday stopped and warned of legal action against the unauthorised clearing of forest land led by a machinery owner at the districts Hal village in Tbeng commune.

District governor Khim Finan told The Post on Sunday that he had gone to the area after receiving reports of a group of individuals clearing the villages forest and digging a canal to construct a private road in secret to grab state land in the area.

The activities will affect the ecosystem in the forest and disrupt the flow of water in the old canals. It will also affect the residents living downstream who rely on the canal for their livelihood.

I have instructed village and commune officials and residents directly to put all these illegal activities to an abrupt halt and ensure that such anarchy will not occur again.

Otherwise, the officials and residents will be held accountable before the law, Finan said, adding that grabbing of state land was illegal.

Finan said the cutting down of mangrove trees had led to the drying up of water in the area, which would seriously affect water supply in the Siem Reap River.

If the activities are not stopped on time, in the future, our Siem Reap River will lose water, he said.

Finan said what he found most concerning was the illegal land-clearing activities in the conserved forest of Banteay Srei district and the Kulen Mountain located in Phnom Kulen National Park.

These activities, he said, harmed the natural and cultural wealth of Siem Reap.

Adhoc investigator Sous Narin confirmed the illegal land-clearing activities in the areas.

Because the authorities didnt solve the problems effectively, they kept entering to clear the forest further. But after being prohibited by the authorities, their activities have discontinued, he said.

Narin observed that activities related to grabbing of state lands not only occurred in Banteay Srei but in other districts as well.

Finan said the issue of land grabbing in the Kulen Mountain forests had been happening for a long time. Over the last few years, residents had further encroached on state land by building guardian spirit houses.

By November this year, the authorities had demolished 49 of the 1,000 illegal constructions that encroached on the forested area of the Kulen Mountain.

Originally posted here:
Illegal land clearing in Banteay Srei stopped - The Phnom Penh Post

Some bignumbers from nature made news in 2019. They were enough of a shock to getpeople talking about the dwindling diversity of plants, animals and other lifeon Earth, and what to do about it.

Some of that dramatic news came from the Amazon, wheresatellites picked up signs of a very active start to the annual fire season.The risk of a record-breaking season renewed worries about one of the richestreservoirs of biodiversity on Earth.

In August alone, satellite-based imaging instruments calledMODIS logged 11,516 detections of fire in the large, northwestern Brazilianstate of Amazonas. The number isnt individual fires, but the number of pixels,each measuring at least a square kilometer, containing fire activity, explainsLouis Giglio of the University of Maryland in College Park, a specialist indetecting fires with remote instruments. (Higher numbers reported by some newsoutlets tallied detections from an instrument with smaller pixels.)

As the fire season drew to a close in late October, Giglioworked out the big picture for the year. While fire risk in most of SouthAmerica in 2019 was very average, Amazonas was where chaos ensued, he says.The fire detections for August exceeded all MODIS records for that month, whichgo back almost two decades, Giglio says. He ranks the 2019 fire season, fromlate June through October, as the second worst for Amazon burning, after the2005 season.

The damage distresses Alexandre Aleixo of the University ofHelsinki, who lived in the Amazon forest studying its birds for 16 years. Heworries that the lure of land for farming in Brazils pro-development politicalclimate is leading to land-clearing fires that easily jump into protectedareas, threatening the biodiversity there.

Headlines and summaries of the latest Science News articles, delivered to your inbox

Clearing jungles for soybeans or cattle is a good example of what a 2019 United Nations report called the main threat to nature: humans taking over wilderness for their own uses. That report made news by saying that around a million or so species of plants and animals globally about 1 in 8 face accelerated extinction unless damaged habitats are restored (SN: 6/8/19, p. 5). Dead species walking is one term used in the 1,500-plus-page draft of the report, released in an early form in May by the U.N.s Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.

The real total of Earths imperiled species is probablylarger than a million. The U.N. panel didnt assess the abundant forms offungi, which have given humans bread, wine and antibiotics, or the vastuniverse of nonfungal microbes. Even plant and animal numbers are estimates, ofcourse; humans havent come anywhere close to giving names to all of Earthscomplex life.

The number 3 billion also startled people, prompting stories of the way things used to be. Its the estimated total population drop in birds in the United States and Canada since 1970 (SN: 10/12/19 & 10/26/19, p. 7). Digging into decades of sightings of 529 species, including records from citizen scientists, researchers detected a growing bird deficit. Many rare birds known to be in peril have continued to decline, but unnervingly, even some common birds are dwindling. Pushy and adaptable starlings dropped 63 percent, for example. Today, overall, 29 percent fewer birds, the team estimates, are flying around in the United States and Canada than there were 50 years ago.

That loss is a punch in the gut, study coauthor PeterMarra of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., told Science News whenthe research was released. It means fewer beaks to handle many ecosystem jobs,such as nabbing insects out of the air, spreading the pollen of deep-throatedflowers or giving fruit seeds an intestinal ride to new homes.

Climate change is another of the U.N. reports top five threats to biodiversity, and fighting it by planting trees to trap greenhouse gases sparked conversation this year. Ethiopias office of the prime minister tweeted that the nation planted more than 353 million tree seedlings on a Monday in July, declaring the feat a world record.

Theres room left on Earth to plant enough trees to trap an enormous amount of carbon, estimated ecologist Tom Crowther of ETH Zurich and colleagues in a high-profile and controversial paper published in the July 5 Science. It claimed that Earth has around 0.9 billion hectares suitable for planting more trees, enough in theory to capture some 205 metric gigatons of carbon (SN: 8/17/19, p. 4).

The paper brought fresh attention to the science behind the idea, says Alan Grainger, a global change geographer at the University of Leeds in England. But more than 70 scientists joined forces to call those numbers an overestimation on October 18, also in Science. The debate over how much carbon could be captured goes on (SN Online: 11/17/19). Yet Crowther argues that planting trees across just 10 percent of the area the original paper identified would be a worthy goal. Even better, his critics say, is to avoid emitting all those greenhouse gases in the first place.

Original post:
A year of big numbers startled the world into talking about nature - Science News