Pavement is forever.

In the wake of economic gloom over recent months, there is good news. The breakneck exurban development has slowed dramatically. In some cases building has stopped altogether. This in and of itself is good news to many people.

Yes, there is the loss of employment these projects generate, but we have begun to realize that losing these type of destructive jobs is akin to the loss of work for lumberjacks charged with clear-cutting old growth forest.

From the SF Chronicle Monday:

It seems like a rare opportunity, but all over California, tough economic times are forcing investors and developers to abandon housing projects and real estate deals that would have made them a fortune just a few years ago. Conservation organizations and trusts are moving in to buy the land, often at bargain basement prices.

(snip)
The trend is a positive development that conservationists are calling the “green lining” (instead of the silver lining) on the sour economy.

(snip)
The trust, in collaboration with the California Department of Fish & Game, intends instead to turn the land over to the University of California Sierra Field Research Station for salmon studies and restoration work before eventually opening it to the public.

A conservation easement is planned on 150 acres known as the Black Swan Diggins, a series of ponds where a wide variety of turtles, frogs, egrets, herons, woodpeckers and other birds congregate.

(snip)
In almost every case, planned developments fell through and the land was available for a relative song.

Until very recently, it was believed

urban development is expected to continue, an estimated 93,000 km² (23 million acres) of forest land is projected be lost by 2050.

But perhaps there is yet still a chance to prevent the loss of these forests.

As we reap what we have sown with our decades of sprawl into McMansions, we now are finding a few slivers of hope at the end of it all. It may no longer be profitable to raze wild areas and pave them for nouveau riche to get their own perverted version of the American Dream^(TM).

Instead, we are seeing visionary groups like The Nature Conservancy and others buy these volatile lands to keep them unchanged for future generations. One rich man’s bust is a young child’s boon?

Wilderness or wildland is a natural environment on Earth that has not been significantly modified by human activity. It may also be defined as: “The most intact, undisturbed wild natural areas left on our planet—those last truly wild places that humans do not control and have not developed with roads, pipelines or other industrial infrastructure.”

It is not only countries with tropical rainforest that are depleting their reserves of CO²-filtering natural resources. After already clearing all but a tiny fraction of its virgin forests (mind-boggling graphic), our nation still has not adequately begun to repaired the deforestation that commenced when white man “discovered” America.

Groups that take action to protect these wild lands from future development are doing what they can to save what is left from our rapacious appetite for a precious finite resource: Land.

I, for one, applaud those visionaries who have taken the leadership role to preserve what is left of the last remaining natural places we have.
We have encroached on all but the most remote pockets of this tiny planet of ours. Perhaps we can leave just a few stones unturned.

Let’s have less of this:

And more of this:

October 15th is a big day around the world. It, by definition, entails taking action. Specifically, action on the Internet and beyond regarding climate change.

Over 7400 blogs have pledged to bring more attention to this pressing problem today in hopes that we as a species will take decisive action in Copenhagen this December before it is too late. Other new blogs have been launched just as this event is dawning.

A legendary blogger I admire suggested

a Travel blog might write about the places you want to see now before climate change makes them difficult to access or, well, under the sea.

To everyone who supports the idea of sustainable travel and seeing the world’s last, best places before they change or disappear altogether, I challenge you.

Let us live as if time is not infinite. The world is changing faster than ever. Also, you are not getting any younger. (Sorry to remind you of this fact.) Get out there and see that place you have always dreamed of visiting. Don’t pretend that you will go “a year from now” or “when you can afford it.” Those days never come.

Before the holidays start distracting us, let us all make a firm commitment, if not an actual reservation, to go somewhere within the next 6 months. No excuses! I promise, you will not regret it.

So as to avoid being branded a hypocrite, I too will pledge here to you all to get my sorry ass abroad again. And to prove it’s not that hard, I’ll cut 2 months off the goal I suggested. That’s right. Within 4 months (by Valentine’s Day 2010), I will find myself on another voyage to one of the corners of the world I’ve yet to scour.

I’ve already had a 10-year visa for India in my passport for around 2 years without breaking it in yet. Will I finally return to that colorful country for the 1st time in 5 years? Or will it be somewhere totally new, like the many places in Latin America that have always eluded my footprint? I hear Machu Picchu is nice. Better late than never!

Just remember to travel lightly. It truly can be done!

Wild jungle. Deserted beaches with great snorkeling or surfing. Mountain lakes. Volcanoes. Orangutans. Oh, and did I mention it’s one of the cheapest places on Earth for backpacking? Really, what more could one ask for in a destination?!?

The sad news this week from Sumatra, one of the most seismically volatile regions in the world, has left me wanting to do more to bring attention to this beautiful island and its people. Alas, what follows is but a brief introduction, but I hope that the critical importance of what happens on this, the world’s 6th-largest island, can be better understood as a result.

Take it from the folks at Lonely Planet:

Sumatra is an adventure, the kind of demanding ride that requires a dusty knapsack and tough travelling skin.

Please follow below for a tour of the north of Sumatra, what just may be my favorite place on Earth.

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