We’ve moved

The Lech Naumovich Photography blog has permanently migrated over to www.lechphoto.wordpress.com

Really, it’s no big deal  I promise we haven’t sold out to a mega-corporation or off-shore oil-drilling interests.

Please continue to visit us there and at www.lechphoto.com

Much Love,

Lech

Nature Closed for Business

There you have it.  California has officially closed nature.  The Governor, Jerry Brown, has signed AB95 into law which asks that $11 million (2011/12) and $22 million (2012/13) dollars be excised from the State Parks budget in order to meet our greater state need to balance its weighty books.  The parks in the Bay Area that will close include Henry Coe (pictured above), Castle Rock, and China Camp.  These parks will be closed to the public for at least two years – and I say “at least” because it may be much longer.  Here’s a State Parks Foundation map of all statewide closures.

Here are 3 reasons why this is utterly stupid. (and yes, I did say stupid)

1. State Parks is actually a fiscally solvent arm of government.  Unlike the Post Office, State Parks charges money and returns a budget surplus.  By reducing our park usage and turning people off of this phenomenal resources, those numbers may very well change.  In fact, as we can all imagine, money “earned” by State Parks is returned to the General Fund and may be used to pay for things like the Governor’s car, and air travel, and free breakfast at the State Capitol.

2. This is a time of recession.  These next few years are a likely time when people will find the greatest benefit from nature.  When money is tight, people tend to find activities that utilize less of it – like hiking and picnicking.  Guess where that happens.  As we reduce access to this nature outlet, we reduce interest in conserving our resources and mental health.  But let’s also not forget – physical health.  Many great “health movements and sports fixations” have arisen in times of economic depression. (see Born to Run).  We’re removing an opportunity for us to get out and play and be healthy (which in turn increases health care costs among other things).

3. This closure is a violation of the trust of many millions of people who have helped donate time and money to create this world-class park system.  The State Parks mission statement reads as follows: To provide for the health, inspiration and education of the people of California by helping to preserve the state’s extraordinary biological diversity, protecting its most valued natural and cultural resources, and creating opportunities for high-quality outdoor recreation.  Let me be (not the) first to say that you’re not meeting this mission with the closure of a solvent resource agency to then transmit money to another State need. State Parks wasn’t created to be a cash cow.  It was created to be self-sufficient.  Jerry Brown, your leadership isn’t making it any easier for future generations to believe the State Government will maintain its promises.  Why should I donate to an agency or trust that won’t even maintain open parks?

4 – The fiscal bonus round – So guess what happens when you close something and put it in the attic or garage.  It gets dusty.  It gets rusty.  It gets forgotten. So, when you re-find that gem you’ve been caching, it needs a little buffing.  In the case of machinery, infrastructure, electronics – usually there is a high cost to getting it back up and running.  There’s an additional cost there not in any budget conversation.  Additionally, and most importantly, you lose the institutional knowledge of employees.  Yes, people will be pink-slipped.  Their commitment and knowledge of place (and how to keep that place running) will be cast away, lost.  If these parks are to ever re-open, we need to retrain personnel and reconstruct a workforce.  These are all additional costs that again aren’t considered.  I call it a lose – lose.

In closing, Mr. Brown and California legislature, you’ve lost my confidence.   You’re potentially ruining a great thing by this “minor” cutback.  You’re casting institutional knowledge and dedication aside.  Sure these “other parks” slated for closure only have ~ 10% of the total visitation for the system, but it’s an important 10% being served by many of these out-of-the-way parks.  I believe that you’ve acted too quickly and naively under a veil of incomplete economic analysis.  It’s politico-economics if you ask me, a form based on bipartisan bickering and misplaced media pressure.

But I’m willing to forgive you and let you win my confidence back if you rethink this proposition soon.  Thanks.

Sincerely,

Lech

Has the river run dry? -Henry Coe SP

Slideshow for Bay Area Open Space Council

Grassland Research in the Hamilton Range

I was honored to be asked by the Bay Area Open Space Council to do a slideshow for their annual conference in the Presidio, SF, CA.  The theme of the conference was healthy land and healthy people and frankly, that’s something I care about dearly.

Kaya swims with the turtles, and other nature revelations

It's like I'm growing up at the zoo

So it’s been a little over one month since my life really took off.  Nope, not my photography career, or my latest book peaking on the NYT bestseller list, but rather the birth of lil’ Kaya Evelyn.  It’s been an amazing ride and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.  Truly a miracle – truly its impossible to put into words.

Wisconsin Ho!

So it’s been a few years since I’ve called Wisconsin home.  I enjoyed by undergraduate work there enormously.  The University was a buzz with great things from outstanding programs in the Sciences and Liberal Arts, to social demonstrations, to wonderful art and great community.  In case you’re wondering, University of Wisconsin Madison is the number one place to do your undergraduate degree AND get an education.

Chasing Ladies on Coyote Ridge

Christal sexing the butterfly

As you know, I chase butterflies. Mostly its been larva (these little black caterpillars that have the slightest of orange spots and are very difficult to spot) at Coyote Ridge, Santa Clara county.  Sometimes you can spend a whole day looking for the little guys and well, that’s your day.  In good years, like this year, we’ve found many “mini-cats” on the cool slopes of Coyote Ridge.

Peak bloom for Coyote Ridge - I dare you try to point out a non-native in this photo?!

Introducing Kaya Evelyn

Fear, Restoration, and the Release of the Art of Photography

Top of the world at Yosemite NP

I was fortunate to share my dining room with Rich Walkling on Monday this past week.  Rich is an accomplished restoration ecologist, currently working at Restoration Design Group in Berkeley.  He and I have continued to bump into each other over the years, sharing similar interests and motivations in life.

Meandering Back to the Place We Were Before

Restored creek channel with a fish ladder for local trout

 

Cordonices Creek straddles the border between Berkeley and Albany.  Flowing downward from the Berkeley Hills into the Bay, the creek is a prominent fixture of the “flatlands” landscape of the East Bay.  You can see it’s meanders and curves which were once confined to a concrete lined linear flood control channel.  Now, Cordonices is a creek again.

Ohlone interpretive sign

Portrait of a Pincushion as a Young Forb

A reprise of a recent Flickr post.

Here’s the text I posted with the original photo:

Chaenactis, or pincushion, litters the desert floor. Its dainty top-heavy heads are known to wave in the wind. It’s an inconspicuous little aster. But all so important for the desert tortoise. Studies indicate that pincushion is the number one food for desert tortoises in the Mojave. I can just imagine how many hundreds of these a grown 50-year old desert tortoise has consumed…

Texture by Nasos3.  Files combined and layered in Photoshop Elements 8. Amazingly these two photos came together beautifully with little additional manipulation.  The combination setting was ”overlay” for combining the photos.  100% for both photos – flower on top of texture.  Simple is great.