More than 90 acres of the Knob conserved in the Shenandoah Valley
The Conservation Fund has announced that a 91-acre tract of land in the Shenandoah Valley has been permanently protected and preserved. In a press release, the organization announced that the newly protected property is the rock-topped end of Short Mountain, known as the Knob. The land will be managed as part of the George Washington National Forest.
Recreational opportunities at the Knob’s overlook and the George Washington National Forest attract thousands of visitors to the Shenandoah Valley every year. In addition to attracting tourists to the region, the land also provides habitat for rare species including the timber rattlesnake and peregrine falcons.
Read the full story here: https://www.conservationfund.org/news/press-releases/2160-more-than-90-acres-of-the-knob-protected-in-virginia
Facebook group in Asheville, NC starts petition asking Amazon to stop the sale of bear traps
A Facebook group in Asheville, NC called “Help Asheville Bears” has opened a petition on Change.org asking Jeff Bezons, CEO of Amazon.com, to stop the sale of steel-jaw leg hold/foot hold traps, snare traps, and attractants on Amazon. In Asheville, more than 10 bears with missing limbs have recently been spotted in the area.
“The use of leg hold/ foot hold traps for bears is illegal in the United States,” the petition says. “Bear traps are illegal to use but are not illegal to sell… selling items illegal for bears is propagating illegal acts and causes horrific impacts on bears along with all wildlife.”
Read the full story here: https://wlos.com/news/local/local-facebook-group-petitions-amazon-to-stop-selling-bear-traps
Teen hiker used cell phone alarm to keep him alert and alive while lost in Utah mountains
A California teen visiting Utah survived 30 hours in the mountains after the weather turned while he was out for a day-long hike. Nicolas Stacy-Alcantara, 17, says he took an Uber up a canyon outside of Salt Lake City so he could spend the day hiking. The teen carried six peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and 40 ounces of water and planned to return from his hike by dinnertime. In the late afternoon, the relatively mild temperatures he’d been enjoying began to drop and snow started falling. His cell phone didn’t work and he realized he’d have to stop hiking and hunker down.
Stacy-Alcantara found a spot beneath a tree and built a snow cave as protection from the wind. He set his phone timer to go off every 30 minutes to keep him awake and hit his hands to his chest to keep blood flowing. In the morning he set out again, shoeless, and eventually came upon hikers with a satellite phone. A rescue chopper was called, and the teen was taken to the hospital where he was treated for frostbite. “I’m very lucky,” he told the Salt Lake Tribune. “I shouldn’t even be alive right now.”
Read the full story here: https://www.sltrib.com/news/2020/01/09/teen-grateful-be-alive/
