#natureislife — Public Fediverse posts

Public lands are #StolenLands! #LandBack! No cities for #TechBros!

"One proposed Freedom City site lies within the National #Conservation Area on the Utah–Colorado border, just west of Grand Junction, but local officials note that the area lacks adequate #water. Another target is the #Presidio, part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area, in the heart of San Francisco, a rare urban parkland that offers green space, a trail system, historic buildings and museums, and beach access. The proposal would take this public #GreenSpace and convert it into a commercial and #RealEstate #SacrificeZone, robbing the city’s residents of a priceless natural amenity.

"Then there’s Rocky Mountain Arsenal, which despite its name, is no longer a military site but a a #NationalWildlifeRefuge — one of the largest to showcase High Plains grassland ecosystems. Ten miles from downtown Denver, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service bills the area as 'a sanctuary away from the hustle and bustle of busy urban life where time moves at nature’s pace.' Other areas identified for potential conversion include public lands near Boise, Idaho and Bend, Oregon.

"These groups are calling for congressional legislation, because without it, the core principles of the concept would probably be illegal. Waiving the #NationalEnvironmentalPolicyAct, granting tax incentives, waiving #CivilRights regulations, and fast-tracking #NuclearPlants are on the menu, a tempting prize for the pro-development #corporatists. To address this problem, legislation has already been proposed by Tom Bell, a libertarian legal consultant and tech entrepreneur, to create a Freedom Cities Board that would be empowered to waive state and federal laws within the bounds of lands carved out to become Freedom Cities. Senator #MikeLee’s (R-UT) recently-introduced HOUSES Act, which would authorize the sale of federal public lands for housing development, has also been trumpeted by Freedom Cities promoters as a possible avenue to advance their agenda.

"It should come as no surprise that the Freedom Cities initiative has its roots in communist China, where the government created #SpecialEconomicZones (#SEZ) to attract foreign investment through deregulation and tax incentives. The most prominent of these is Shenzhen, created by Deng Xiaoping as the ultimate experiment of unregulated capitalism, a place with special tax breaks and incentives, fewer labor protections, and greater freedom from regulation than was prevalent in mainland China. "

https://westernwatersheds.substack.com/p/freedom-cities-a-tech-bro-fantasy

#TechBrosSuck #NoNukes #WaterIsLife #NatureIsLife #CorporateColonialism

Concern as #LightPollution encourages #birds to sing for longer, study finds

22 August 2025

"Birds around the world are singing for nearly an hour longer each day due to light pollution, a new study has shown.

"The research, to be published in the journal Science, used millions of recordings of #birdsong, including from #NewZealand's #NorthIsland.

"President of Birds New Zealand Dr Natalie Forsdick told RNZ more light meant more time for singing, building nests and feeding.

"But she said those things consumed energy and it could be reducing their overall health.

" 'It's just like with humans, if you go to bed a little bit too late, you wake up the next day feeling a little bit the worse for wear. I imagine that birds could feel that same way too, and we certainly see that it disrupts their natural cycles.'

"She said previous studies in New Zealand had shown a range of outcomes, from no effect to increased night-time predation by black-backed gulls on threatened species like banded dotterels.

"But one of the biggest concerns about light pollution in New Zealand was its effect on seabirds.

"Among juveniles, urban light pollution may be mistaken for moonlight, attracting and disorientating species like Cook's #petrel or Hutton's #shearwaters.

"This could cause birds to crash land or collide with buildings, and they may become injured or grounded in cities.

"She said people could help by turning off outside lights when they were not needed, and asking their local councils to consider more directional or dimmer lighting in public places. [I would recommended warmer lighting as well. Too much blue is unnatural!]

"Associate Professor Kristal Cain from the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Auckland said more research was needed to find out how light pollution affected survival and reproduction.

"This paper used bird song data collected by thousands of volunteers globally, and measured when birds started singing in the morning and when they stopped for the night.

"It found that in brighter areas birds started singing early and continued later into the night than in dark areas.

" 'Most of the bird song was collected in #NorthAmerica and #Europe,' Cain said. 'We still need to do similar work in the rest of the world to see how widespread these patterns really are. The manu of #Aotearoa are quite unique in many ways."

" 'Importantly, all this #ArtificialLight is not good for us either.'

"People could do things like closing curtains and planting trees in urban areas to contain some of the light."

Source:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/570702/concern-as-light-pollution-encourages-birds-to-sing-for-longer-study-finds

#DarkSkies #Nature #Stargazing #NatureIsLife