Balancing Bus of Burnham Badlands, New Mexico

REBALANCING ACT

How reintroducing wolves saved this ecosystem

“A less wild world is a less stable world.” - Sir David Attenborough

The wolf, one of Yellowstone’s most important predators, roamed the landscape and influenced the ecosystem for thousands of years. By the late 1920s, wolves were eradicated from Yellowstone in an effort by the U.S. government to 'tame the wilderness'. Along with the removal of other carnivores like cougars and bears, this action had a profoundly negative effect on Yellowstone. In the absence of carnivores, elk numbers boomed which resulted in significant changes to the vegetation. With no predators to keep them moving, increasingly larger elk herds would graze whole areas bare, stripping even the branches of trees and shrubs. Beavers, Nature's "ecosystem engineers" responsible for initiating rehabilitation of land, became increasingly rare and food web dynamics were significantly altered. With the loss of the wolf, the park was missing a keystone species crucial to maintaining balance.

Starting with the watershed Endangered Species Act in the 1970s, and finally in 1995 with all the pieces in place, fourteen gray wolves were captured in Canada and relocated to Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley. In 1996, seventeen more Canadian wolves were brought into the park, followed by ten wolves from northwestern Montana in 1997. The wolf population grew quickly, as pack territories and breeding pairs were established…

ALL RELATED

How Wolves Change Rivers

When wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park, the most remarkable "trophic cascade" occurred. What is a trophic cascade and how exactly do wolves change rivers?

PLAYFULLY INSIGHTFUL

A Story about the Comeback that didn't Happen (yet)

The story of wolf reintroduction to Yellowstone has been largely depicted as a miracle magic bullet that restored everything to how it was before their prescribed extirpation. It is an oft repeated glossy version of reality because the truth is more complex, it requires us to think about human complicity and it simplyi does not push all the right emotional buttons.

While the full restoration process is underway, it is a process and full reversal of damages done will take time and may never be fully achieved in he ways hoped for.

Making Things with Hand presents a fun and cheeky reality check on the fuller issue at hand while shedding some light on our human tendency to expect quick and comfortable solutions while avoiding personal responsibility.

WILD LEADERSHIP

Wolf's Calling: Standing out from the Pack

As the outside world watched the unfolding of Yellowstone's Grey Wolf reintegration process, some wolves stood out among the pack. They became Park celebrities for their stories of triumph over adversity, admired for their impressive wits, feats of bravery, charming personalities or exceptional beauty. With hunting of their kind still legal just beyond a thin invisible line, many of Yellowstone's most beloved wolves ultimately became martyrs for the cause.

Inspiration can be found in the stories of two of the most famous wolves of Yellowstone: Wolf 06 and Wolf 8.

NPR Interview: 06 Female with Doug Smith and Rick McIntyre - Fearless, brilliant, and unforgettable—her story continues to inspire the world.

Rise of Wolf 8 - Rick McIntyre's portrait of another of Yellowstone's most famous wolves. It's the story of a runty underdog who made an unexpected rise to benevolent alpha male.

LOCAL ACTIVISM

Lobos of the Southwest

The Mexican gray wolf is a critically endangered, native species that once numbered in the thousands of animals throughout southeastern Arizona, southern New Mexico, western Texas and northern Mexico. Its restoration is an opportunity to bring a natural balance and fully functioning ecosystem back to the wild lands of the Southwest. Read on to learn more about the lives of Mexican gray wolves, their tragic history and near-extinction, their role as a top-of-the-food-chain carnivore and their present constricted range…

Our shared vision is a future in which healthy, viable populations of Mexican gray wolves restore the natural balance to Southwest lands, keep elk and deer herds healthy and restore the natural functioning of entire ecosystems. Mexican wolves are valued by Southwest residents and visitors as an intrinsic part of our natural heritage and as beautiful, intelligent, wild animals that contribute to our quality of life.

Find news, action toolkit, current campaigns and various ways to support on their website.

Lobos of the Southwest partnered with filmmaker Brišind to create a short film, Almost Ancestors, to illustrate the parallel paths of displacement experienced by Mexican gray wolves (lobos) and indigenous peoples. Experience the story of a young Hopi woman facing displacement in a changing landscape, threatening her connection to the land and her family. Her kinship with a lobo and her call toward community guide her on an incredible journey to a sacred place called home.

REFRAMING

The Bigger Picture

An example of how a particular framing of a situation can make the "good guy" appear as the "bad guy" and visa versa.

MEDITATIVE PRACTICE

The Art of Balancing Stones

The very first time I tried balancing stones was back in 2010. I saw some stone sculptures in a park, when an old, wise man told me that it was a symbol for the balance of nature. I liked that idea, and after that I started making easy stone sculptures. After a while, I started experimenting with balance and I tried to make stone sculptures that had such small balance points so that it almost would look impossible. I really loved that.

Both because it felt like a challenge, but also because it forced me to get really still and quiet, and focus on one thing only; to find the tiny, tiny balance point. It more and more turned into some kind of meditation.

I hope this video will inspire you to try it out yourself! :)

DIVERSITY PRESERVATION

Save the microbes? The world’s smallest species may soon get protections.

Pictured above: Cryptobiotic soil crust in Canyonlands National Park, Utah, requires microorganisms living in these crusts to help hold the soil together, preventing dust storms and worsening desertification.

On September 12 of last year, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) announced that they’ve put together a “Microbial Conservation Specialist Group,” a task force of scientists, conservationists, and volunteers whose mission is to safeguard our planet’s microbial biodiversity.

Microbes are so essential to maintaining life on earth, the commission’s members say, that trying to protect individual species or habitats without considering the microbes they rely on is a futile effort. “Without microbes, there can be no conservation,” says Raquel Peixoto, a microbiologist at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology and member of the new commission… Read more here.

This article touches on the pivotal role microbes play in the healthy balance of all our fractal ecologies—including our various animal bodies, earth, sky and sea terrain.

CINEMATIC REFLECTION

Quatsi Trilogy

Koyaanisqatsi - From a Hopi word meaning “Life out of Balance", Koyaanisqatsi is an experimental film which contains only a juxtaposition of images and music composed by Philip Glass. Director Godfrey Reggio and cinematographer Ron Fricke spent six years filming as they traveled the United States during the 70s.

Powaqqatsi - "Life in Transformation", Powaqqatsi is an exploration of technologically developing nations and the effect the transition to Western-style modernization has had on them.

Naqoyquatsi - "Life as War", Naqoyqatsi takes us from a world controlled by the beauty of nature to a world dominated by technology and digital manipulation.

The Qatsi Trilogy: Celebration and Warning - In the trilogy, Reggio’s reliance on such unusual techniques as slow-motion aerial photography and stop-motion shooting creates a contemplative experience that is quite distinct from conventional cinema. In some considerable measure, this approach seems a result of the unusual road that led to Reggio’s career as a filmmaker. From the time he was fourteen until he was twenty-eight, Reggio lived an ascetic life as part of the Christian Brothers, a strict Roman Catholic community. His adolescence and early adulthood were spent in silence, fasting, and prayer—though over the years, Reggio gradually became disaffected.

Reggio’s concern led him to cofound a facility that provided medical care to disenfranchised communities in Santa Fe, NM; an organization to aid juveniles in Santa Fe street gangs; and the Institute for Regional Education, a media collective that produced a series of nonverbal public-interest television spots. He worked with the American Civil Liberties Union to combat governmental invasions of privacy and the use of technology to control behavior. And in time, he came to see filmmaking as a potential means for transforming consciousness about the inequities in his community and around the world…

FAUNA / HUMOR

Owlets

Gasp! This looks like a bad scene. 😬

Actually… baby owls (owlets) lack the muscle to support their big bobble heads while they sleep. Snoozing face-plant-style allows them to rest comfortably until their necks grow stronger, at which point they will adopt the upright, perching posture typical of adult owls. Hoooo knew?!

Northern New Mexico is home to several owl species including the Great Horned Owl, Mexican Spotted Owl, Northern Pygmy-Owl, and Burrowing Owl. You can also find Northern Saw-whet Owls in forests and possibly the small summer-only Elf Owl in desert canyons. 

POO TO THE RESCUE

Radiolab | Antibiotic Apocalypse

There’s a war happening right now. And we're losing.

We go inside the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and how infections that used to be treatable have suddenly become deadly.

It starts with a vacation gone wrong. When Tom gets sick in Egypt, doctors can’t figure out why antibiotics aren’t working. Within weeks, he’s in a coma, and his wife, epidemiologist Dr. Steffanie Strathdee, is racing to save his life. Tom and Steffanie are experiencing a life-threatening trend Avir has seen first-hand in the ER: the drugs have stopped working. Bacteria can share resistance, evolve fast, and can outsmart modern medicine.

But the antibiotic battlefield may not be in hospitals at all. In the United States, the majority of antibiotics aren’t used on people. They’re used on animals. Specifically in the farming industry, responsible for the poultry and livestock most Americans eat. Avir infiltrates the world of “big chicken,” bringing Bruce Stewart-Brown, Chief Science Officer at Perdue Farms, to the stage. Bruce defied the norm in taking on a seemingly impossible challenge: raising animals without relying on antibiotics at all. And finally, will the answer to microbial resistance come not from antibiotics, but something else entirely?

Dr. Steffanie Strathdee (author of The Perfect Predator: https://zpr.io/bj3ALujEXBPr ) joins the stage as an expert on phage therapy, a new offensive tactic in the war against bacteria.

STRENGTH IN DIVERSITY

Beyond Prejudice: How Zootopia and Elemental Depict the Path to Diversity

Both films demonstrate that prejudice is not merely an individual problem but a barrier to the progress of society as a whole, and they show how communities can change once prejudice is overcome.

In Zootopia, solving the missing animals case removes the “savage” stigma placed on predators, and Nick, once limited by stereotypes, becomes a police officer. The police force shifts from relying on large, physically strong species to valuing diverse abilities, enabling more effective investigations. As mutual understanding grows, citizens begin to see one another as equals, bringing the city closer to a true “Zootopia.”

In Elemental, Ember discovers her talent for glassmaking when visiting Wade’s family, using her flames to create works of art. The prevalence of glass architecture in Element City symbolically highlights how the contributions of fire elements, when not excluded, can advance the city itself. Thus, while set in different contexts, both films deliver the same message: societies that exclude diversity remain trapped in conflict and distrust, but those that acknowledge differences and foster cooperation enable the entire community to flourish.

This lesson also applies to reality. Scott E. Page, a University of Michigan professor studying complexity and social science, argues through the “Diversity Bonus Theory” that groups with diverse members outperform homogeneous ones because cognitive and experiential diversity enhances problem-solving and predictive accuracy, improving overall social efficiency. Similarly, 20th-century economist Joseph Schumpeter’s “Theory of Recombinant Innovation” suggests that innovation emerges from new combinations of existing elements, showing that integrating diverse backgrounds and experiences can drive transformative changes not only in technology but also in social and cultural development.

Full post can be found at 출처 : The Argus

Watch the Elemental clips & trailer here.

and Zootopia clips & trailer here.

APPROPRIATION AND VINDICATION

A Tale of Two Zootopias

Before there was Disney's Zootopia, there was Gary's Zootopia. Gary is a Hollywood screenwriter who pitched his idea for an animation about a mixed species "utopia" to Disney executives on two occasions. Based on the response he received when he asked about pursuing the project further, Gary surmised Disney was ultimately not interested in the story. As Gary would later discover, however, the film idea he'd presented to Disney had been not only pursued further but actually made and released without his input or name attached…

Malcom Gladwell investigates: Zootopia Exposed! (Part One)

But the story doesn't end there. After years of failed attempts to set the record straight, the twisted tale of Zootopia takes an unexpected turn with the release of Zootopia 2 in which a snake named Gary (?!) embarks on a harrowing quest to set the record straight about the true origin story of Zootopia in order to clear his family's name and return them to their rightful home. As the real story goes… aspiring to bring diverse species together to co-exist in harmony, Agnes De' Snake (Gary‘s great-grandmother) designed the weather walls that made Zootopia's complex ecosystem possible. Agnes wrote a book detailing the mechanics of the wall that came to be considered an important piece of the city's history, though Agnes is not credited for her work. And why? Agnes was falsely accused and incarcerated for a crime she was framed for by the one she attempted to collaborate with to make her vision possible: the power-hungry Ebenezer Lynxley, who would become Zootopia's celebrated mayor having claimed credit for the designs he stole from Agnes that made the vision for Zootopia possible. Shamed and wrongly accused, the true designer of Zootopia's infrastructure was ultimately driven out of the very community she endeavored to benefit with her creation. While Agnes and other 'predators' were utlimately condemned as a danger to Zootopia, the Lynxley family profited both financially and in social esteem as their great ancestor Ebenezer was lauded for the stolen designs that made Zootopia a success… that is, until some friends in high places discovered and sought to reveal the actual truth!

Sounds awfully familiar… Is this a case of art imitating life? Zootopia Exposed! (Part Two)

FINE LINE

Man on a Wire

In 1974, the audacious young Frenchman, Philippe Petit, performed one of the greatest acts the world had ever witnessed. He realized his "impossible" dream to walk in the clouds, via tightrope, between the two tallest buildings in the world: the newly constructed Twin Towers in New York City. At 1,350 ft in the air, suspended between two swaying buildings, no safety net or harness… just his talent, his skills and an indelible calling to do what he loved most. His reason for executing such an insane feat? "No reason" “was his reply. You might say that he was compelled by his gut instinct and heart's desires while the logical brain was along for the ride! (see below)

BIOLOGY IN BALANCE

Brain, Heart & Gut Connection: 3 Brains, 1 Breath, 1 Mind

This is a story of three characters that live inside of all of us. The adult (living in our brain, sharing that space with the ego storyteller), the child (living, loving and caring in our heart) and the adolescent teenager, the high school revolutionary (being brave and living in the gut). Mind, Body and Soul.

What does that really mean? What is that you imagine when you think of a Mind? Brain instantly comes into view for me and so does the voice in my head, the storyteller. Somehow, I feel there is more, I actually have a gut feeling about it. How does the physical body function and communicate, before any though comes in? How are messages being sent and in which direction?

Discover some truths about this magical ecosystem, our physical body. Brain and Central Nervous System, Gut and Enteric Nervous System, Heart and Autonomic Nervous System, Vagus nerve and Breath. How to promote the ego into a SELF observer? The only thing to compare to, self observation. How to align in order to create a message of compassion, creativity and courage?

Resources for this compilation of information come from: the Harvard Medical School Health Publishing and the Living Proof Institute, research from the Australian Spinal Research Foundation and Cleveland Clinic as well as information available to everyone provided by US Department of Health and Human Services. Additional information comes from studies, research and information provided the HeartMath Institute as well as Doctors Beyond Medicine and Medical News Today.

A concise primer on the "3 Brains" Connection ☞ Three Brains Theory to Wellbeing

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Gut-Brain Axis & Diet: Improve Mood, Stress, and Gut Health

“You are what you eat” has never been more scientifically accurate. Today we know that what happens in your gut directly influences what happens in your brain—affecting mood, memory, focus, stress resilience, digestion, immunity, and overall well-being.

This guide breaks down the science behind the gut–brain axis and offers practical, food-first steps to support both digestive and mental health…

Find more on how to best utilize cultured foods and probiotics for mental and emotional health ☞ The No BS Guide to Probiotics for Your Brain, Mood, and Gut

with a more in depth paper including probiotic supplements that have undergone clinical trials here ☞ Exploring the promise of psychobiotics: Bridging gut microbiota and mental health for a flourishing society

LOCAL CULTURE

Taos Cultural Treasures Project

Speaking of preserving wild and diverse microbiomes…, you may have seen signs around the area advertising "The Cultural Treasures Project". In case you were wondering…

The Cultural Treasures Project (CTP) is a community-led effort to identify, catalogue, and honor the places, practices, and people that matter—before they’re erased, paved over, or forgotten. This is about naming what we love so we can protect it. It’s about making sure future growth reflects and enhances who we are, rather than exploits or diminishes what makes this region unique.

In essence, the CTP is a response to the onset and effects of gentrification in the Taos area which, as we can see from many examples (primarily in neighborhoods of attractively low property values and where cultural traditions have faded with each new generation), has a homogenizing effect on the environments it takes over rendering all in its wake mostly sterile and uniform.

While many visitors and seasonal inhabitants will be happy to find all the familiar trappings of where they came from, the question is: at what ultimate cost? Some things simply cannot be reintroduced nor replaced.

Find out more about the CTP initiative here.