By Heather Wilcox | Director of Annual Giving & Planned Giving
2019 was a busy year for Earthwatch's Restoring Fire, Wolves, and Elk in the Rockies research expedition, with 11 teams of volunteers heading up to Waterton Lakes National Park from May through September to collect data on the alpine ecosystem as it continues to recover from a massive fire. You may recall that two years ago, the Kenow wildlife burned almost 20,000 acres within the park, severely damaging roads, bridges, facilities, and hiking trails. As a result, the majority of the park remains closed to the public.
While disappointing for visitors, this natural event has given Earthwatch researchers and park scientists a very rare and special opportunity to document the full progression of ecosystem response and recovery, uninterrupted by human activity. Early findings indicate that the ecosystem is recovering very well, with the Earthwatch study sites teeming with wildlife activity in unexpected numbers. But whether this is due to the fire, the absence of human activity, or a combination of the two, remains to be better understood.
Dr. Eisenberg’s complete analyses and findings will be released early next year. In the meantime, we are looking forward to next May when the next round of Earthwatch volunteers resume data collection where this year’s teams left off, so that we may continue to expand our understanding of nature’s response to intense fire events. Each year, Earthwatch must raise almost $500,000 in donations in order to conduct research like this in Waterton Lakes and other important conservation sites around the world. This means that none of this work would be possible without the generous commitment from donors like YOU. Thank you for your steadfast commitment to protecting our last wild places.
On behalf of our scientists, staff and board, Happy New Year!
Gratefully,
Heather Wilcox
Director of Annual Giving & Planned Giving
978-450-1208
hwilcox@earthwatch.org
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