“Difficult to gauge wolf control impact” is John Schandelmeier’s insightful column on wildlife conditions in Alaska’s Game Management Unit 13 (Anchorage Daily News, April 30, 2012 ). For a lone observer he does an excellent job of assessing the situation. It is actually the job of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the Board of Game to “gauge wolf control impact”---but Mr. Schandelmeier is doing their work for them! Oh, some Alaska wildlife officials may suspect what rampant wolf-killing has done to the ecosystem, but I doubt they know much more than Mr. Schandelmeier.

The reason for this Spring-ski craziness is being able to go across the landscape like a bat out of hell; to travel into areas where one would normally never go in Winter because of the deep snow and tangled brush; and the sensation of being completely and entirely alone except for the birds and animals.

April 23 - For the next few mornings it will be possible to walk or ski on the snow crust in the Talkeetna Mountains until early afternoon---assuming it gets cold enough at night and one gets up before dawn. R.W.

Additional notes: Moose and trails---all shot!

Since Alaska’s Board of Game already exemplifies the exact opposite of constitutionally-mandated “diversity,” what would explain the following leaked Email from Rod Arno (apparently representing the Alaska Outdoor Council) in which he threatens state legislators with an ultimatum if they don’t confirm yet one more hunter/trapper/game guide? And not just any hunter/trapper/game guide but a hunter/trapper/game guide who absolutely clings to the idea that killing wild predators is God’s answer to every imaginable wildlife management situation.

A few weeks ago a neighbor, on his way to work up the road, saw me and stopped his truck to let me know that Jeremiah Small had been shot to death by a student while working as a gym teacher in a Christian school in the Kurdish region of Iraq. Although most of the students were Muslim, news reports on the Internet could ascribe no clear motive to the killing.

Alaskans are keen to spot the slightest hint of government subsidies, entitlements and the faintest forms of “welfare”---if someone else is getting it. But when they themselves are the beneficiaries it becomes a sacred “right.”

[Note: Current, very excellent snow travel conditions are dependent upon continued cold, which keeps the deep snow from collapsing. Warmer weather could change things quickly. Also note that Spring snow crust travel referred to below is a specialized situation which may come later on if temperature conditions are just right.]

For ex-governor Frank “The Bank” Murkowski killing wolves was all about business and politics. But for Sarah “Float Plane” Palin and Sean “Polar Bear“ Parnell there also has to be some of that ol‘ “dominion“ over the beasts thing going on. This ecclesiastical confusion has allowed the Corey Rossi types to take over---game managers who love killing animals way too much and can’t seem to control themselves.

The lady musher from Germany---in Alaska to run the Iditarod---was asking for directions and saying she didn‘t have a headlamp. I had some half-ass directions for her---if I could have understood what she was saying. And I would have given her my headlamp. But the lady and her dogs were beyond directions and beyond wandering back to Willow in the impending darkness---they were exhausted and badly in need of a rescue.

"I dreamt of a slogan for contraceptives: The unborn will bless you." - an aphorism by Polish poet and satirist Stanislaw Jerzy Lec (1909 -1966). In post World War Two Poland he was neither communist nor catholic.

The version I first heard was: “Abortion, the unborn will bless you“---which would make a dandy pro-choice bumper sticker. In any case, being born into a bleak existence under communist rule in Eastern Europe could not have been a desirable birth.

From a webcast hosted by the conservative Family Research Council:

[see end: A little snowshoe trek*]

GREAT SNOWSHOEING CONDITIONS…FOR NOW ANYWAY -

Wildlife should managed by science because, without the uniform discipline of science to verify and organize information, no one will ever know if policies such as killing wolves and bears should be implemented or if they actually achieved the “success“ claimed. In Alaska the fundamentals of accurate animal population counts are not being observed---never mind the fundamentals of scientific methods.

Recently-resigned Division of Wildlife Conservation director in Alaska, Corey Rossi, admitted to sleazy wildlife violations when he was an assistant big game guide in 2008. Regarding these rather casual and imprudent transgressions by her underling, Fish and Game commissioner Cora Campbell felt compelled to say, "I think there are some people who would like to make this about the department's programs but it isn't…this is about an individual; it's not about our programs."

THE LIGHT OF DARKNESS -

The Kogi Indians of South America once kept exceptional children in a cave (at least during the daytime) for the first nine years of their lives. There they were carefully nurtured, attended and trained to become ceremonial-tribal leaders, medicine-healers and shamans. Sounds cruel but here’s the kicker:

“This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.”
- from TS Eliot’s great poem: “The Hollow Men”

[Warning: This is a long piece…it was a long war. If you don’t want to read it, don’t! Books (with worlds like “fiasco” in the title) have been written about this war and many more are to come. The Iraq War helped to speed up the current decline of America and symbolizes its self-inflicted fate. - R.W.]

THE LONGEST WAR -

[Note: I’ll get back to the “WARM” series in a while---it’s time for a little change of pace. - R.W.]

THE WILLFUL UNIVERSE -

A year ago, on December 12, 2010, in a “Parade” article (Anchorage Daily News Sunday magazine) entitled “Personalities of the year,” actress Sandra Bullock had this quote featured: “Everything works out the way the universe wants it to work out.”

After a year of personal triumphs, topped off by winning an Oscar, Ms. Bullock had decisively divorced her straying, and very embarrassing husband---Jesse James of "American Chopper" fame.

[Additional Notes: I am always glad to get helpful comments on the subject of outdoors adaptation and survival. While this series emphasizes survival in extreme cold, a friend from New England with experience in the White Mountains of New Hampshire just sent this response to remind us all that freezing to death is a relative term and that any cold and/or wet conditions can make you dead. She related incidents of rapidly changing conditions on Mt. Washington and Mt. Lafayette---such as sudden snow squalls---for which mountains are notorious (and why I love them).

NOT LOOKING FOR TROUBLE -

We’ve all heard the stories of cold weather “survival”---like the oft-told tale of having to kill a sled dog in order to plunge ones’ frozen hands into the entrails in order to keep them from freezing off and dooming the poor soul who fell through the ice or whatever. You won’t get that from me and I hope you never will.

Staying Warm For Fun And Survival (part one)

IT’S AN INVIGORATING CHALLENGE!

The best way to prepare for extreme cold weather survival is to go outdoors into the weather for long periods of time and come back. Even better is to enjoy it! I derive an extreme satisfaction, fulfillment, sense of excitement, adventure, self-confidence and tremendous personal pleasure from being reasonably comfortable outdoors in the coldest, worst weather and returning to vehicle or cabin unharmed. Not to mention the useful knowledge and practical experience gained.

HAVE FUN WITH THIS! EINSTEIN DID!

It is inevitable that the scientific knowledge gained from busting apart the fundamental particles of matter will have useful functions down the road. But for the moment there are few practical applications involved in revving up subatomic particles and smashing them into each other at ever greater energies using gigantic machines just to see what parts come flying off---but it’s great fun to smash stuff! Same goes for shooting neutrinos at high speeds just to see how they behave and what they are made of.