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Puerto Rico in the Great Backyard Bird Count 2013

Puerto Rico in the Great Backyard Bird Count 2013
Date: February 21, 2013

This year, and for the first time ever, the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico promoted the Great Backyard Bird Count, an annual event led by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society.

Now in its 16th year, the program included participants from more than a hundred countries. Joining in to report bird observations during the weekend of February the 15th through the 18th, Puerto Rico came in ninth place with more submissions to the bird count than Spain and Belize.

This is a great achievement considering the size of Puerto Rico! The Trust would like to thank all our collaborators that participated in this weekend’s count and invite them to continue observing and recording bird information on www.ebird.org/pr.

Anuncios de posiciones vacantes

VOF forms partnership with Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico
Date: 22 de febrero, 2013

El Fideicomiso de Conservación de Puerto Rico quiere compartir contigo información valiosa sobre tres (4) oportunidades de empleo. A continuación el detalle de las posiciones vacantes.

 

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VOF forms partnership with Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico

VOF forms partnership with Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico
Date: February 15, 2013

The Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico (CTPR) is similar to the Virginia Outdoors Foundation in many ways. Both were established more than 40 years ago, and both serve citizens who revere their natural and cultural heritage and are concerned about development pressure.

A big difference between the two organizations is the way in which they have protected land. Most of CTPR’s 23,000 acres have been protected through fee-simple acquisitions, while most of VOF’s 675,000 acres have been protected through voluntary conservation easements.

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Partnering for Quality conservation

Partnering for Quality conservation
Date: February 4, 2013

Two land trusts 1,500 miles apart have formed a partnership that is enabling them to learn about each other’s best practices, and is forging great friendships in the process. Fernando Lloveras San Miguel, executive director of the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico, and Bob Lee, executive director of Virginia Outdoors Foundation, explain how this partnership is evolving, and how it is benefitting both groups.

sl: How did the partnership between the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico (the Trust) and Virginia Outdoors Foundation (VOF) come about?

Fernando: In February, I contacted VOF to coordinate a potential visit to Virginia to get a better insight on VOF’s easement program. They responded immediately and both organizations started coordinating a working meeting.

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Grupo Basura Cero Puerto Rico convoca a voluntarios para la Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián 2013

Voluntarios para la Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián 2013
Fecha: 17 de enero, 2013

El grupo en pro del reciclaje, el ambiente y el desarrollo económico sustentable, Basura Cero Puerto Rico, convoca a voluntarios interesados a participar del proyecto piloto Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián, zona Basura Cero. Este se llevará a cabo entre el jueves 17 y el domingo 20 de enero, con la meta de “desviar la mayor cantidad de material producido durante esta gran celebración, en vez de enviarse a un vertedero, fomentar el reciclaje”. El grupo ha organizado más de veinte estaciones de reciclaje, pero necesita de personas comprometidas con el ambiente que interesen dedicar un momento de su día para atender, custodiar y educar al público en cada una de ellas. ¡Regístrate y participa!

Escribe a basuraceropr@gmail.com, o visita y únete a la página en Facebook. Para revisar los horarios e inscribirte de inmediato, llena el formulario en línea.

5to Certamen de Fotografía de Aves: inscripción extendida hasta el 31 de enero de 2013

La Sociedad Ornitológica Puertorriqueña Inc.
Fecha: 17 de enero, 2013

La Sociedad Ornitológica Puertorriqueña Inc. (SOPI) anuncia la extensión del periodo de inscripción para el 5to Certamen de Fotografía de Aves hasta el 31 de enero de 2013. Quedan invitados a participar a todos los amantes de las aves con habilidad para la fotografía interesados en “compartir su talento con otros que también [...] son amantes de nuestras aves y sus hábitats”, indicó el comunicado de la SOPI. El certamen está abierto a toda persona residente en Puerto Rico, sin límite de edad. Somete un máximo de seis (6) fotos en total y un máximo de tres (3) por categoría. El costo de inscripción es de $15 dólares por participante y se puede realizar en línea.

¡Participa!

Para leer las reglas del certamen, presiona aquí.

Para llenar el formulario de inscripción y realizar tu pago en línea, presiona aquí.

Carmen R. Guerrero Pérez es nombrada nueva secretaria de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales de Puerto Rico
Liberación de renacuajos sapos conchos
Fecha: 28 de diciembre, 2012

La planificadora ambiental Carmen R. Guerrero Pérez ha sido nombrada como la nueva secretaria de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales de Puerto Rico (DRNA). Guerrero se ha destacado a lo largo de los años por su labor incansable como consultora, consejera y organizadora comunitaria en asuntos relacionados a la planificación, el medioambiente, la educación y el buen manejo de nuestros recursos naturales. Su trabajo y compromiso inquebrantable con las causas ambientales le ha llevado a destacarse como colaboradora para la Agencia de Protección Ambiental de los Estados Unidos (EPA, por sus siglas en inglés), el Servicio Forestal de los Estados Unidos (USFS, por sus siglas en inglés), The Nature Conservancy, Sierra Club y el Fideicomiso de Conservación de Puerto Rico.

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Liberan Renacuajos de Sapo Concho
Liberación de renacuajos sapos conchos
Fecha: 12 de diciembre, 2012

Esfuerzo es parte de proyecto colaborativo de reintroducción del sapo concho del Fideicomiso de Conservación de Puerto Rico y el Servicio Federal de Pesca y Vida Silvestre

GUAYANILLA, PUERTO RICO—El Fideicomiso de Conservación de Puerto Rico (FCPR) y el Servicio Federal de Pesca y Vida Silvestre (USFWS por sus siglas en inglés) liberaron en el día de hoy 25,434 renacuajos de sapo concho puertorriqueño en el Área Natural Protegida Cuevas del Convento en Guayanilla, propiedad del FCPR.

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Commitment to increase support for conservation in the Caribbean
IUCN Caribbean
Date: Sept 19, 2012

Port of Spain, Trinidad (IUCN Caribbean Regional Committee) 18 September 2012 – The world’s largest conservation organization, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) has committed to increase its support for and engagement of the Caribbean in its work.

At the IUCN’s World Conservation Congress held in Jeju, Korea September 5th – 15th 2012, IUCN Caribbean members submitted motion 12, which was passed by the Members Assembly. This motion calls for IUCN to “Consolidate its presence in the insular Caribbean, through an enhanced regional implementation of the relevant components of the IUCN Programme 2013-2016, including the possibility of the establishment of a Caribbean IUCN office located in the insular Caribbean.”

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Casa Abierta, Servicio Federal de Pesca y Vida Silvestre
El Servicio Federal de Pesca y Vida Silvestre (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service en inglés) celebrará una Casa Abierta, Dale una mano a la naturaleza, en el Refugio Nacional de Vida Silvestre de Cabo Rojo, el sábado 20 de octubre de 2012 de 6:00 am a 3:00 pm. Durante ese día otros Refugios Nacionales de Vida Silvestre en los EEUU también estarán celebrando la naturaleza junto a la comunidad y agencias comprometidas a la madre tierra. Este evento ofrecerá una diversidad de actividades libre de costo para beneficio y disfrute del público en general.

Las actividades comenzaran a las 6am con una caminata de observación de aves auspiciada por la Sociedad Ornitológica de Puerto Rico. Luego, acompañados por el verdor del bosque continuaremos con yoga al aire libre a las 7:30 am. Las exhibiciones de las agencias y el área de los artesanos comenzarán a las 10am…

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The Downside of Dams: Is the Environmental Price of Hydroelectric Power Too High?
dams, rivers
Photo: iStockPhoto/ThinkStock
Author: Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss
Date: September 18, 2012

Dear EarthTalk: How is it that dams actually hurt rivers?—Missy Davenport, Boulder, Colo.

Dams are a symbol of human ingenuity and engineering prowess—controlling the flow of a wild rushing river is no small feat. But in this day and age of environmental awareness, more and more people are questioning whether generating a little hydroelectric power is worth destroying riparian ecosystems from their headwaters in the mountains to their mouths at the ocean and beyond.

According to the non-profit American Rivers, over 1,000 dams across the U.S. have been removed to date. And the biggest dam removal project in history in now well underway in Olympic National Park in Washington State where two century-old dams along the Elwha River…

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Tundra Trek
article spread
Photo: Gerrit Vyn
Author: Gerrit Vyn

Energized and excited by the activity around me, I drove on and stopped to explore an icy stream. There I watched a pair of Harlequin Ducks swim against the cold current of the thawing landscape and a pair of Wandering Tattlers probing quietly along the rocky shore. A bit higher, near the pass, several Northern Wheatears and American Pipits sang overhead in flight, and Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches, Snow Buntings, and Baird’s Sandpipers shared a recently thawed hillside with two bachelor Dall sheep chewing their cud.

After crossing Atigun Pass, the road descends through a long glacial valley to the North Slope. The gently rolling landscape is carpeted in dry tussock tundra, interspersed with small lakes, streams, and wide braided rivers. Smith’s Longspurs run among the…

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How Dangerous Is Pesticide Drift?
peticide drift
Photo: iStock/Thinkstock
Authors: Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss
Date: September 17, 2012

Dear EarthTalk: What is “pesticide drift,” and should I be worried about it?—Nicole Kehoe, Burlington, Vt.

If you live near a big farm or an otherwise frequently manicured landscape, “pesticide drift”—drifting spray and dust from pesticide applications—could be an issue for you and yours. Indeed, pesticide drift is an insidious threat to human health as well as to wildlife and ecosystems in and around agricultural and even residential areas where harsh chemicals are used to ward off pests. The biggest risk from pesticide drift is to those living, working or attending school near larger farms which employ elevated spraying equipment or crop duster planes to apply chemicals to crops…

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Discovering the Ozone Hole: Q&A With Pawan Bhartia
Pawan Bhartia in front of Earth on a Sphere exhibit
Photo: NASA
Author: Kathryn Hansen
Date: September 17, 2012

On Sept. 16, 1987, representatives from nations around the world drafted a landmark treaty known as the Montreal Protocol. This step marked the beginning of the international agreement to phase out substances that deplete Earth’s protective ozone layer. Now, 25 years later, NASA satellites continue to provide clear snapshots of a generally stabilized Antarctic ozone hole as it cycles toward its annual maximum depth by late September or early October.

The protocol is hailed as an international policy success story. That success, however, rests on the ingenuity of numerous scientists involved with the initial discovery and analysis of the then-mysterious atmospheric phenomenon.

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MetOp-B Launches with NASA Goddard-Developed Instruments
MetOp-B conceptual image
Image: ESA/Eumetstat
Author: Cynthia O’Carroll
Date: September 17, 2012

A new European meteorological satellite soared into space today, Sept. 17, with five environmental instruments aboard that were developed by the Polar Operational Environmental Satellites (POES) Project at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. These instruments were developed under a reimbursable agreement with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

“This launch is exciting not only because of the engineering accomplishment of building and launching complex instruments and satellites, but equally rewarding for the multinational cooperation and teamwork that got us there,” remarked Karen Halterman, POES Project manager at Goddard.

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Bird Seed Poisons Wild Birds
Photo: Ali Taylor
Author: David Biello
Date: September 16, 2012

Birds face many man-made mortal threats: windows, cats, habitat destruction, even climate change. And now, there’s poison—in their bird seed.

You see the Scotts Miracle-Gro Company had been in the habit of applying banned pesticides to its wild bird food products. In particular, the company applied a chemical known as Storcide II to its bird food despite a warning label for that product that reads “Storcide II is extremely toxic to fish and toxic to birds and other wildlife.”

Why add a compound toxic to birds to food meant to be eaten by birds? Because Scott didn’t want bugs infesting its bird food during storage.

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The Dark Side of LED Lightbulbs
LED lightbulbs,
Image: iStock/Thinkstock
Authors: Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss
Date: September 15, 2012

Dear EarthTalk: Are there health or environmental concerns with LED lightbulbs, which may soon replace compact fluorescents as the green-friendly light bulb of choice?—Mari-Louise, via e-mail

Indeed, LED (light emitting diode) lighting does seem to be the wave of the future right now, given the mercury content and light quality issues with the current king-of-the-hill of green bulbs, the compact fluorescent (CFL). LEDs use significantly less energy than even CFLs, and do not contain mercury. And they are becoming economically competitive with CFLs at the point of purchase while yielding superior quality lighting and energy bill savings down the line.

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The Gravity of Water
Two ranchers walk across the plains of drought-stricken West Texas in July 2011.
Author: Holli Riebeek
Date: September 12, 2012

After a year without much rain, it was no surprise that the drought lingered below the land’s surface. “Groundwater takes a long time to be depleted, but it takes a long time to be recharged as well,” says Wardlow, a remote sensing specialist at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. From experience, he expected regional groundwater supplies to be diminished. But this time he could see it in greater detail than traditional well measurements had ever provided.

Observing the water buried beneath layers of soil and rock was no small thing. When the twin satellites known as the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, or GRACE, were launched in March 2002, few hydrologists believed they could see—no less measure—changes in groundwater. But at least two scientists did:

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NASA’s ‘Earth Now’ App Now Available for Android
NASA's Earth Now ad for the Android
Author: Alan Buis
Date: September 10, 2012

PASADENA, Calif. — One of the top iPhone education apps in the iTunes store is now available for Android. The free NASA “Earth Now” Android app immerses cyber explorers in dazzling visualizations of near-real-time global climate data from NASA’s fleet of Earth science satellites, bringing a world of ever-changing climate data to users’ fingertips.

Available at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/apps , Earth Now displays data on many of the key vital signs of our planet that NASA satellites track. The data, displayed on your smart phone in 3-D, include current surface temperature, carbon dioxide levels and global sea level.

The regularly updated data are displayed as color maps projected over a 3-D Earth model that can be rotated…

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Taxonomic update — August 2012
Taxonomic update -- August 2012
Photo: Brian Sullivan
Date: August 20, 2012

The eBird taxonomyis available for  download. This update brings eBird up to date with Clements 6.7 (which will be released later this month), the most recent North American Classification Committee supplement (53rd supplement released in July 2012), and with South American Classification Committee decisions through June 2012.

These taxonomic updates involve three major elements. First, we must change the common name, scientific name, family, order, sort order, and several other elements everywhere that the name is used in our database. Second, we must add in a number of entirely new taxa, including newly described species, new hybrids that eBirders would like to report, or new groups that may someday become species.

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Are you a photographer? Share your images to advance bird ID research!
Are you a photographer? Share your images to advance bird ID research!
Photo: Jessie Barry of the Merlin Team
Author: Team eBird
Date: August 18, 2012

Why try this?

Any experienced birder has answered hundreds of ID queries from friends, family and curious colleagues. But what about all those people who don’t have a birder as a friend? They are increasingly turning to the internet for their answers, struggling to get a meaningful result by typing a description of a bird into a search engine.  Now, a new project at the Cornell Lab is trying to change this scenario and offer a simple question-and-answer session to provide answers to everyday bird ID queries.  Merlin, an upcoming bird ID tool, uses a combination of eBird data, crowdsourced bird attributes and machine learning algorithms to help people get an answer and grow their interest in birds.  What if you have a photo too?

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Congratulations! Liron Gertsman (age 12!) submits 100 millionth eBird record
Congratulations! Liron Gertsman (age 12!) submits 100 millionth eBird record
Photo: Liron Gertsman and Andre Chan
Author: Team eBird
Date: August 13, 2012

Just before 6:00pm Pacific time on 8 August 2012, Liron Gertsman of Vancouver, British Columbia, submitted the 100 millionth observation to eBird. It was of an American Robin; one of 24 species that Liron saw at the Maplewood Conservation Area that day. The director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, John Fitzpatrick said, “This is a true milestone in the history of field ornithology and citizen science. The power of so much data is only just beginning to be recognized around the world. I look forward to the time when even 100,000,000 observations seems like a quaint number! With eBird taking off so spectacularly now, that day is not so far off, and we are starting to discover some amazing new patterns about the natural world thanks to all these thousands of volunteer observers.”

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Fill in the gaps–bird the road less traveled (August 2012)
Fill in the gaps--bird the road less traveled (August 2012)
Image: Tom Auer
Author: Team eBird
Date: August 1, 2012

In an ideal world eBird would have very densely-spaced data points being sampled repeatedly across the landscape. But we know birders aren’t evenly distributed out there, and getting off the beaten path can be a challenge. We hope these maps help show you where eBird needs more data, and where your birding effort can make a bigger impact on our ability to model birds in your county.

Bird distribution changes with the seasons, and at eBird we like to have data distributed throughout the year to track the ebb and flow of bird populations. With this in mind, we plan to update these maps each month so that eBirders will have a better idea about how the data volume changes in each state and county. Check back to see the maps for August around the 1st of the month.

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Following the Birds that Follow the Ants
Photo: Dan Lebbin
Author: Pat Leonard

DNA analysis sheds light on evolution of this unique behavior

When thousands of army ants go on the march, Central and South American rainforests erupt with hordes of other insects and small creatures scurrying to get out of the way. Many species of birds have learned that following the marauding ants means a feast, and over millions of years of evolution some species have lost their ability to find food any other way.

Using modern genetic techniques, a new study traces the evolution of army-ant-following behavior in the typical antbirds and finds it has been around for up to six million years. The behavior has become more and …

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The Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico admitted to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
IUCN
Date: June 26, 2012

Follwing a rigorous evaluation process, the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico recently became a member of theh Internation Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This places the non-profit organization as the only member on the Island which belongs to this prestigious global entity.

Founded in 1948, IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organization which gathers sovereign states, government and non-government entities, into a unique alliance composed of over 1,100 member organizations from approximately 160 countries.

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View from Sapsucker Woods
article spread
Author: John Fitzpatrick

There are places on our planet that can be appreciated, revered, and fully protected only in the context of earth time. The Grand Canyon is an obvious example, because it displays time so explicitly and majestically. Vishnu Schist underlying the inner gorge is 2 billion years old, the Kaibab Limestone on the rim is “only” 230 million years old, and the Colorado River took a mere 2 to 3 million years to cut through this gigantic time column.

Alaska is a less obvious example. Reverence for Alaska requires not just an appreciation of the gargantuan forces of glaciation and mountain building, but also a willingness to understand and to accept humanity’s place in earth time.

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Over 4 Tons of Trash Removed by Volunteers in El Yunque During Clean Up Day
Author: Carolyn Krupp/Lucy Cruz
Date: April 24, 2012

Approximately 500 volunteers helped remove over 4 tons of trash from El Yunque National Forest and surrounding areas this past weekend during the Forest’s annual Clean Up Day event. With the theme of “El Yunque Clean Up Day, Volunteering Is the Way” the US Forest Service, along with key partner American Airlines, hosted the event. Over 350 volunteers participated in Saturday’s Clean Up Day in the Forest while Scuba Dogs helped to clean up areas along the Mameyes River outside the Forest boundaries. Approximately 130 volunteers assisted in cleaning the Rio Sabana Recreation Area and surroundings in Naguabo during an activity on Friday April 20.

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En defensa del agua y de los árboles nativos
Autor: Daniel Rivera Vargas
Fecha: 16 de abril, 2012

Niños pescando peces de juguete, damas y caballeros cargando árboles de lado a lado y pantallas con diversas imágenes de la naturaleza eran parte del entorno ayer en un abarrotado Pabellón de la Paz en el Parque Luis Muñoz Rivera, donde se efectuó la Feria de Conservación y Reforestación del Fideicomiso de Conservación de Puerto Rico.

“¿Dónde usted encontró la uva de playa?”, preguntó María de Lourdes Tirado, de 49 años. “Ahí, míralo allí”, le respondió Vilma Vale, de 55 años y residente en Trujillo Alto.

“La actividad está fabulosa porque te da la oportunidad de conocer visualmente los árboles nativos y mucho más”, dijo Vale…

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Más de 5,000 personas se conectan con la naturaleza durante la Feria de Conservación y Reforestación

Más de 5,000 personas acudieron ayer domingo, 15 de abril, al Pabellón de la Paz del Parque Luis Muñoz Rivera en San Juan para la XXIII Feria de Conservación y Reforestación del Fideicomiso de Conservación de Puerto Rico, donde grandes y chicos obtuvieron sus árboles nativos gratis, con el compromiso de sembrarlos y cuidarlos.

Durante el evento se realizaron actividades para todo tipo de público, incluyendo caminatas por la costa del Escambrón, recorridos de avistamiento de aves, talleres de siembra y composta, un mercado agrícola y artesanal, entre otros ofrecimientos que fomentan una conexión entre el individuo y su entorno natural. Los niños pudieron explorar su creatividad a través de…

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Fernando Lloveras: “La Preservación no tiene bandos”
Foto: Ramón “Tonito” Zayas para El Nuevo Día
Autor: Brunymarie Velázquez
Fecha: 15 de abril, 2012

“Solo cuando el último árbol esté muerto, el último río envenenado y el último pez atrapado, te darás cuenta que no puedes comer dinero”.

Este pensamiento atribuido a la sabiduría indoamericana puede describir casi al dedillo la forma de pensar de Fernando Lloveras San Miguel.

Lloveras, director ejecutivo del Fideicomiso de Conservación de Puerto Rico, es uno de esos “héroes anónimos” que caminan al trabajo y recorren la isla teniendo pequeñas victorias diarias. Victorias ambientales.

Desde 2003 abandonó el sector privado para convertirse en el líder del Fideicomiso de Conservación…

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Arboles campeones de Puerto Rico
Autór: Luisa García Pelatti
Fecha: 15 de abril, 2012
El Fideicomiso de Conservación y el Instituto Internacional de Dasonomía Tropical (U.S. Forest Service) anuncian la Competencia Arboles Campeones de Puerto Rico. La finalidad de ésta iniciativa conjunta del Instituto Internacional de Dasonomía Tropical y el Fideicomiso de Conservación de Puerto Rico es localizar, conocer y sobretodo proteger los árboles de gran tamaño que forman este singular grupo. Las fuerzas naturales como lo son: huracanes, plagas y fuegos así como las acciones del hombre son los principales retos que han enfrentado estos campeones a traves de décadas y en algunos casos siglos. Conservar y resaltar los servicios ecológicos que éstos gigantes vivientes y los bosques nos brindan es la gran contribución del proyecto Árboles Campeones a las generaciones futuras.

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Exitosa Feria de Conservación y Reforestación
Foto: Ricardo Arduengo
Fecha: 15 de abril, 2012

Más de 5,000 personas acudieron este domingo, 15 de abril al Pabellón de la Paz del Parque Luis Muñoz Rivera en San Juan para la XXIII Feria de Conservación y Reforestación del Fideicomiso de Conservación de Puerto Rico, donde obtuvieron árboles nativos gratis, con el compromiso de sembrarlos y cuidarlos.

Durante el evento, que comenzó a partir de las 9:00AM, se realizaron actividades para todo tipo de público, incluyendo caminatas por la costa del Escambrón, recorridos de avistamiento de aves, talleres de siembra y composta, un mercado agrícola y artesanal, entre otros ofrecimientos que fomentan una conexión entre el individuo y su entorno natural. Los niños pudieron explorar su creatividad a través de talleres de arte…

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Hacienda Buena Vista nos lleva Del Cacao al Chocolate
Fecha: 25 de marzo, 2012

El Fideicomiso de Conservación de Puerto Rico recibió a cientos de visitantes el domingo, 25 de marzo durante su Casa Abierta en la Hacienda Buena Vista en Ponce, un evento libre de costo que marcó el cierre de la actividad “Del Cacao al Chocolate”, la cual se celebra anualmente con el fin de dar a conocer las bondades de este fruto y las prácticas sustentables de su cultivo.

El evento forma parte de las iniciativas de participación ciudadana que el Fideicomiso de Conservación impulsa, con el propósito de fomentar un vínculo directo entre la gente y la naturaleza. En esta ocasión los participantes conocieron más sobre el fruto del cacao, cuya siembra promueve la biodiversidad del bosque, enriquece los suelos, entre otras bondades …

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The Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico is awarded the accreditation seal of the Land Trust Accreditation Commission
Date: March 2, 2012

The Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico was just awarded the accreditation seal of Land Trust Accreditation Commission, one of the most important recognitions in land conservation in the United States acknowledging that the organization meets the highest standards of ethics, transparency and excellence in all its operations.

The Land Trust Accreditation Commission is an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance, which serves as national coordinator, strategist, and representative of more than 1,700 land trusts in the United States since 1982, of which only 158 have obtained this important accreditation.

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How Did the Chicken Cross the Sea?
article spread
Photo: Tim Gallagher
Author: Irby Lovette

We can all predict what would happen if a chicken attempted to fly across the Pacific Ocean: it would not get far before becoming shark bait. How, then, did domestic chickens, which are native to Southeast Asia, find their way to South America?

The remains of a 600-year-old chicken dinner excavated from an ancient rubbish dump have solved the mystery of whether chickens were originally transported to South America by the first Spanish explorers or by trans-Pacific human voyagers long before the arrival of the earliest Europeans in the New World.

The Spanish explorer hypothesis has long been popular, but historians have long known of a perplexing wrinkle to that idea:

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