Salmon River Condit Dam Breach

Just north of Hood River, Oregon, stands the 125 foot tall Condit Dam.  The dam has stood for nearly a century and blocks the White Salmon River only three miles above where it confluences with the Columbia River.  Since the construction of the dam, salmon have been restricted from spawning in the upper reaches of the river and sediment has been collecting and filling the reservoir.

For over a decade there have been negotiations between more than 20 parties, including conservation groups adn the dam's owner Pacificorp to decide what to do with this structure.  Pacificorp has agreed to remove the dam and let the river run free as the structure has outlived it's usefulness.

There is an excellent blog:
http://whitesalmontimelapse.wordpress.com/


And tomorrow at noon (Pacific Time), so 9am GMVS time, there will be a live feed of the demolition of the dam:
http://www.whitesalmonriver.org/live_feed.php
Pacificorp site:
http://www.pacificorp.com/index.html

Jedi Training.

Watch cool movie.

Some food for thought.  What can you make your body do? What can you visualize.

Local Food News

Dear friends of the Mad River Valley Localvore Project,

Since 2006 the MRV Localvore Project has been as collaborative effort to educate people in the Mad River Valley and Vermont about the importance of eating food that has been grown and produced locally.  We have celebrated many successes over the past five years, including hosting the Eat Local Challenge, dozens of workshops and socials, the SouperBowl, Farmer Appreciation Night, the Bid for the Barn benefit, and other homestead tours, movie screenings, forums and events too numerous to mention.  All of this has been accomplished by a small group of unpaid volunteers with generous community support.

As the MRV Localvore Project matures, the role of our organization is changing to act as more of a network than a stand-alone group.  We will maintain a simplified version of our website, www.vermontlocalvore.org, as a nexus for information about local foods in the Mad River Valley, but will not be publishing monthly newsletters or hosting major events. As we transition, we invite you to engage with the network of Mad River Valley Localvores in a variety of ways:


We will continue to post events of interest in the MRV to our Facebook page, along with updates from area farms, and if you are interested in connecting with other Localvores, we encourage you to use this forum.   Click here to "like" our page.

We also encourage you to subscribe to the Valley Futures Agriculture listserv, which is an email list which anyone can join and easily receive information via email about events, news, etc related to agriculture in the Mad River Valley. Email agriculture-request@valleyfutures.net to subscribe.

There are a variety of other organizations here in Vermont which do great work around local foods that we encourage you to connect with as well: 
Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT)
Slow Food Vermont
Rural Vermont 

European McDonalds Getting it Done

"Austria Brings it with Biodiesel"

What's happening to the Rivers?

There is a lot of activity in the rivers of Vermont right now.

Here is an interesting article that sums up some of the ripple effects of the 100 year flood event that took place last month in Vermont.

Mad River Evacuation Plan

wet grass -- deep moss,
water soaking into sneaks--
and pants -- creeping up.

the air is more serious,
getting the attention of your bones--
and lungs open and cool

ascended a rocky bed,
terrain too steep for dog.

on top, mist thick enough
to drip on coloring leaves.
ferns surround the field -- of trail,
neatly rowed by sickle mower

evacuation written in the top shack:
in contrast my plan requires no dismount.
ridges dive in and out of the clouds,
my version of rescue ended,
with slowed breath and burn forgotten.

come on winter --
freeze the ground
    it's time
       
          to
           
             get DOWN.

Course delay.

Been really busy and missed this weeks ski. Craftsbury Marathon tomorrow.

Here is a picture of me running from a cat.