Hello There
Here we are. This is it: the new, improved SOS Forests.
How do you like it? Roomy, isn’t it? Before we were rowing a dinghy; now we paddle our mighty canoe in a flotilla. Not quite an armada, but definitely a flotilla.
Take look around. If you get lost, click “SOS Forests” in the left menu. That will bring you back here. Go ahead. We’ll wait.
Hum, hum, hum. See, we are still here.
We did multiply, however. Now there are eight Colloquia subsites, two Commentary subsites, one news subsite, a library, and a forum. Stunning as this might be, yet even more expansions are planned or already in the works.
col·lo·qui·um (k-lkw-m)
n. pl. col·lo·qui·ums or col·lo·qui·a (-kw-)
1. An informal meeting for the exchange of views.
2. An academic seminar on a broad field of study, usually led by a different lecturer at each meeting.
[Latin, conversation, from colloqu, to talk together: com-, com- + loqu, to speak; see tolkw- in Indo-European roots.] From the Free Dictionary [here]
A colloquium is like a symposium, except that symposia are generally short duration, one to five days, whereas colloquia last longer, usually for a semester or two. In our case, our Colloquia will last indefinitely, as long as the Internet exists and maybe even longer.
Each Colloquium contains reviews of books and papers pertaining to Topics within. We shall endeavor to post only the best, most advanced, paradigm shifting, environmental science, and provide reviews that explain, interpret, and make the science accessible to lay readers.
We are still in the formative stages. In this first month or two, most titles will be drawn from the old SOS Forests archives. This will be a useful review to long-time readers, and a fast-paced introduction for new readers. Gradually more and more new titles will enter the mix, and eventually dominate as the old archive becomes fully looted. New Topics and new Colloquia will appear when they are needed.
All the titles from the Colloquia will be listed in the Library with links to the reviews (and/or to the full text of the science articles, when we can provide them).
In addition, we have two Commentary subsites, this one and Wildlife and People. Our intention is to split our incisive invective into two general spheres, animal and vegetable. We’ll see how that goes. It could be we need more than just two to handle the load.
And we now have a news clipping subsite, a grab bag of other mass media reports that pertain in one way or another to our interests. There are too many of these for our personal comments on each, but readers are invited to inject their own comments, especially on the Forest, Fire, and Wildlife News subsite.
And your comments are desired here, too. SOS Forests has been blessed with the best comments of any blog we know about. No media outlet can match the quality, intelligence, insight, and artfulness of the forest aficionados who have contributed to the old SOSF, and who are most certainly expected to contribute to this one, too.
And we are starting something brand new, the W.I.S.E. Forum. The Forum is a key piece of the overall strategy. We’ll discuss that in the next new SOS Forests post, right here, which is where we are going to be doing it for the next while.
Hope you enjoy the show, watching W.I.S.E. develop, and maybe even becoming a part of this grand experiment. In any case, we are, as always, grateful for your visits.
by Wayne Kraft
Thank you, Wayne. You are indeed numero uno, as are the Beavs (for a year, anyway). — Mike
by Gordie
Congrats on the new site!
Thank you very much, sir. Just getting underway, lots to do, but my expectations are very optimistic.
Gordie, aka the Rogue Pundit, is my blogging mentor, unofficially.
http://roguepundit.typepad.com/roguepundit/
The winds whippeth. A “hurricane” is blowing in from the North Pacific. Dollars to donuts the power goes out for an extended period. But no worries; it will be hooked back up eventually; civilization will weather this storm.
And W.I.S.E. will march forward despite the hiccups of early development.
by Bob Zybach
Nice step, Mike! Power still on here in Foster. Go Beavs! — Bob
by pril
Site(s) look AWESOME!
Just wind down this [Klamath] way, no floods. We got ripped off.
by bear bait
Monday morning, this is becoming a nutrient travel day, with the nutrients headed for the vast Pacific. It is also a headwall renewal day. And that would also make it a stream aggregate and bedload reapportionment day. I would imagine some dog salmon are trying to cross the road somewhere, which is a good-for-tv news event…
I have to wonder how many millions of dollars of “coarse woody debris reintroduction” material and effort is headed for the Pacific gyre. And how much accidental reintroduction is happening.
The one thing we can all celebrate is that the single most important driving force in fall chinook reproductive success is the amount of rain we get in November. They will have done well, and will do even better after the detritus of the last year is scoured from the river bottom.
I also have to worry about how many of the blue tarps are left on the roofs of the humble shacks along the Santiam above Cascadia. This is blue tarp replacement weather. On the other hand, maybe with the hurricane force winds, we will get used FEMA trailers for all who apply. I bet they make good hunting camps.
This is a great improvement, Mike, and it appears it will work well to further blasting some sanity into the forest health atmosphere. I hope you put together a tutorial to help us compuker challenged folks navigate… congrats on your forging ahead… atta boy from me…
by admin
Blue tarp, cheap roll roofing, and my hat! last seen headed towards Sisters on a mighty updraft. Life here rapidly becoming al fresco and au natural.
by Forrest Grump
What the heck happened to my SNOW!
As for the fifty bucks, I need to check my budget. I’ll scrounge it somehow. Mmmmph.
by Tallac
Looking good and forward to spreading the word about your new site.
Also glad to hear the PNW is finally getting some weather. It certainly is needed. Not so in the Sierra today. (58F 9%RH 30MPH+ Gusts)
Some forecasters called yours correct weeks ago, and ours may finally happen the 19th-24th. We’ll just have to see if they got that right too. Green tarps and hat still holding, waiting for a Blast of Winter around here.
Will there be a “Weather/Climate” Thread in the new Forum to discuss prognostications, eyewitness accounts, and/or links to local/regional conditions besides Red Flag Warnings? Could be informative, and also entertaining.
Thank you for the opportunity to participate and hopefully contribute to the Colloquium.
Tallac — yes, we will discuss the weather/climate, with some of the top weatherpersons/climatologists in the country participating.
And we plan to present the best, most-advanced, most up-to-date findings in paleoclimatology and paleobotany in the Colloquium of that name.
In climatology, as in so many of the environmental sciences, knowledge of history aids understanding of the present and predictions of the future.
by RP
The new site’s a major undertaking… the work, learning, on and on. I love the effort to make some of the research more accessible, generate some needed conversations, etc.
This looks great, Mike. It will be a fine place to move this discussion forward. If this is the first comment, it comes from a humbled Duck fan.