SBSC Weekly Highlights, September 19, 2005
Submitted by Kristin Brown
Science Symposium on Colorado River in the Grand Canyon: USGS Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center is hosting the 2005 State of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon Science Symposium in Tempe, Arizona on October 25-27. The event features presentations by leading scientists on the state of cultural, natural, and recreational resources in those portions of Grand Canyon National Park and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area affected by Glen Canyon Dam operations. The symposium will also summarize the effects of various experimental dam operations designed to protect downstream resources as required by the Grand Canyon Protection Act of 1992. The 2005 symposium marks the 10-year anniversary of the completion of the Operation of Glen Canyon Dam Final Environmental Impact Statement, the document that set the stage for the Adaptive Management Program and experimental efforts to mitigate the impacts of the dam on downstream resources. (Ted Melis, Flagstaff, AZ, (928) 556-7282)
Ecological Restoration after Desertification: USGS researcher Bill Halvorson attended the World Conference on Ecological Restoration, September 12-16, 2005 in Zaragoza, SPAIN. The conference was organized by an international group, but primarily by the Society for Ecological Restoration International. Halvorson is on the Board of Directors of SER and has played a leading role in the organization of the past five international conferences. Halvorson has also organized a symposium on Revitalization after Desertification, calling on experts from the US, Mexico, Israel, India, and Australia to confer on the issues involved in restoring the ecologic and economic productivity of arid areas after degradation. This is an important topic world-wide because no country has been able to solve this problem as yet even though such degradation has lead to serious poverty in all arid regions of the world. (Bill Halvorson, Tucson, AZ, 520-621-1174)
Younger Dryas cold period revealed in Grand Canyon, Arizona: Ken Cole was interviewed today by Katie Greene, a reporter for Science News, on his article recently published in the journal Geology. The interview covered most aspects of his article Carbon isotopes from fossil packrat pellets and elevational movements of Utah agave plants reveal Younger Dryas cold period in Grand Canyon, Arizona
, and may be published in next week's magazine. (Kenneth L. Cole, Flagstaff, AZ, (928) 556-7466 x230)
USGS Birdseye Survey Brought to Light: Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center surveyor, Mark Gonzales, was contacted by Preston Burchard, the son of Roland Burchard. R. Burchard was the surveyor for Colonel Birdseye on the 1923 Birdseye expedition down the Colorado River. The Birdseye expedition conducted the first modern survey in the canyon during their reconnaissance for a dam site. Preston is seeking information on the recovery of the original control points used in the 1923 Birdseye topographic survey. The GCMRC survey department has recovered several of the Birdseye control points and P. Burchard has provided copies of detailed maps from the 1923 survey. The 1923 Birdseye survey has been the envy of surveyors working in the west. (Mark Gonzales, Flagstaff, AZ, (928) 556-7459)
