Conservation Flying- the Aerial Perspective on Landscape Impacts

Anyone who’s ever been in a plane staring out the window on the landscape below knows that feeling of gaining a new perspective of the land, a city or place. Whether it makes you feel smaller in our large world, more connected to the place, or simply inspired by the beauty – it can’t be denied that flying changes your perspectives.

On this episode of Building a Greener Idaho I speak with Bruce Gordon and Jane Pargiter from EcoFlight who have been doing “conservation flying” missions across the United States and the world to help educate and bring new perspective to a diverse audience about a wide range of conservation issues. I snagged them for a short conversation while they were passing through Boise flying missions with the Idaho Conservation League. Whether it’s flying journalists, politicians or representatives of community groups, their job is to get people up in the air in small aircraft for an intimate experience and a new perspective of the landscape and the issues that affect our land, air, water and communities.

Join us Tuesdays at 3pm on Radio Boise at 89.9 FM or 93.5 FM in the Treasure Valley. Or stream us online at http://www.radioboise.org.  Got an idea for a show? We’d love to hear about it! Contact us at buildingagreeneridaho@gmail.com

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Idaho Climate Summit Recap: Economic Opportunity

In November a diverse coalition of industry leaders, environmental groups and universities hosted the Idaho Climate Summit: Safeguarding Idaho’s Economy in a Changing Climate. While conversations about climate change in Idaho have been happening within various sectors and constituencies for quite some time, the summit was the first successful attempt to bring together a wide array of business, academic, public and environmental representatives with a focus on economic opportunities in addition to the very real impacts to our environment and way of life.

I had the chance to talk with a few of the speakers from the conference about their perspectives on why climate change is an important reality to make business decisions around and what opportunities exist for innovation that will help grow the Gem State’s economic vibrancy due to the climate reality.

We hope you enjoy this conversation with Julia Kertz Grant from Micron Technology, David Eichberg from HP Inc, Kate Gordon from the Risky Business Project and the Paulson Institute, and Aimee Christensen from the Sun Valley Institute for Resilience.

Got an idea for a show? We’d love to hear about it! Contact us at buildingagreeneridaho@gmail.com

 

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Boise-A River Runs Through It

Our theme of From Snow to Flow continues this week with a conversation about the Boise River with Idaho Fish and Game Regional Fisheries Manager Joe Kozfkay and Freshwater Trust Idaho Program Manager Christy Meyer. Our beloved Boise River brings life to the high desert and flows through the heart of the city on it’s way to meet the Snake. The Boise River is an incredible asset that has been taken for granted in the past. These days many individuals and groups are working hard to protect and improve its health and vitality.

We’ll talk with Joe about the Boise River fishery, how the river ran dry one day, and his favorite fish to catch. Christy will share the great work the Boise River Enhancement Network (BREN) is doing to continually improve its health and protect it from threats like the encroachment of development. BREN recently helped complete an in-stream aquatic habitat enhancement project that might just be helping little brown trout babies find shelter from these recent high flows.

Got an idea for a show? We’d love to hear about it! Join the conversation on our Facebook page.

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The New Normal-Climate Change, Wildfire, & the Risk of Debris Flows

Our two month series on Fire & Ice continues with a look at more extreme fires in our region due to human caused climate change and the associated risks for debris flows after the fires which can damage infrastructure, personal property, and fish habitat. Today I speak with Associate Professor of Geosciences Jen Pierce from Boise State University. I will talk with her about the ways in which our landscape is changing due to high intensity fires, how to prevent human caused fires and how all of this relates in the context of climate change.
Join us for the continuation of our series on Fire & Ice today at 3pm on Radio Boise at 89.9 FM or 93.5 FM in the Treasure Valley. Or stream us online at http://www.radioboise.org

A podcast of our interview will be available here after the show airs.

Got an idea for a show? We’d love to hear about it! Contact us at buildingagreeneridaho@gmail.com

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