Paul Greenberg of The New York Times explores the global decline of the “totemic” bluefin tuna, stemming from commercial overfishing, global sushi “appetites outstripping supply,” and a patchwork of ineffectual “high seas” multinational agreements responsible for maintaining viability of the species.

“Tuna then are both a real thing and a metaphor. Literally they are one of the last big public supplies of wild fish left in the world. Metaphorically they are the terminus of an idea: that the ocean is an endless resource where new fish can always be found. In the years to come we can treat tuna as a mile marker to zoom past on our way toward annihilating the wild ocean or as a stop sign that compels us to turn back and radically reconsider.”

photo credit: Stewart Butterfield

The passing in April of the 100-year-old man whose dams plugged up the Colorado and other majestic western rivers suddenly got plenty of attention this week, from sources as different in scope as the High Country News and the Wall Street Journal.

In The New York Times, Douglas Martin quotes Marc Reisner, who in his 1986 book Cadillac Desert: The American West and its Disappearing Water said Mr. Dominy cultivated Congress “as if he were tending prize-winning orchids.”

Here’s Dominy in an interview with Outside magazine in 1999, talking about the push to build Glen Canyon Dam: “‘Of course we covered up some delightful country: country that was inaccessible, country that would never be visited by very many people, which we turned into one of the most beautiful lakes in the world.’”

But our favorite coverage of Dominy’s legacy came yesterday from NPR’s Elizabeth Arnold, whose three-minute podcast includes the surprising reminder that the Sierra Club supported Glen Canyon in return for the bureau passing up on other damming projects.

photo credit: the_tahoe_guy

Swiss environmentalists are worried that helicopter noise, “unjustified” fuel consumption, and landing sites in protected areas are just some of the problems associated with 15,000 heliskiing flights into the Alps each year.

“Switzerland’s Lauterbrunnen valley is one of the busiest regions for helicopter traffic. And, on a sunny spring morning, more than 60 skiers are already lined up, waiting for their flights to the glaciers,” reports Imogen Foulkes of the BBC News.

“But helicopter companies and mountain rescue services point out that helicopters are a fact of life in the Alps. They are used to deliver food to mountain huts, to rescue climbers and skiers, and to take construction materials up to alpine villages.”

photo credit: Alex Grechman

In his Green blog, John Collins Rudolf of The New York Times writes about the long history of expedition waste scattered about Mount Everest base camps, and recent efforts by the Nepalese to begin addressing the “the highest junkyard on the face of the earth.”

“Under new rules, solid waste at base camp must be collected by expedition teams and hauled out by porters or pack animals. Glass bottles have been banned in Sagarmatha National Park, and a ban on plastic shopping bags is being sought. Trash collection along the route to Everest has also increased dramatically.”

• Commercial fishing coastal towns in danger: San Francisco Chronicle
• Venice, LA fisherman help with clean up: New York Times
• Environmental disaster for Gulf Coast wildlife: Wall Street Journal
• Louisiana’s $2.5-billion commercial fishing industry in peril: Los Angeles Times

Ithaca, NY’s Comet Skateboards makes its decks with natural biocomposite materials, composts all manufacturing scraps, and has implemented a “closed loop” manufacturing process: “Closed loop manufacturing strategies consider what happens to a product at the end of its life and what happens to all bi-products of the manufacturing process. Comet uses materials that can safely biodegrade at the end their use.” Nadia Hosni, Tonic.

180° South: Conquerors of the Useless: “In 1968, Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins set out to surf, ski and climb their way to Patagonia. The wild places they found later motivated them to protect the environment. Inspired by this journey, Jeff Johnson and Woodshed Films set sail on a voyage to South America to climb a mythical peak called Corcovado with Chouindard and Tompkins,” as told by Fletcher Chouinard.

The journey also was chronicled in a behind the scenes book of the same name, written by Yvon Chouinard and Chris Malloy and photographed Jeff Johnson.

Produced by Woodshed Films

The Obama administration is hoping to reach out to marine recreational fishermen–a group who “pump more than $31 billion into the economy each year and who could pose significant challenges as NOAA attempts to rebuild depleted fish stocks.”

“The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the main federal agency overseeing ocean and fisheries policy, has rolled out a series of new initiatives in the past month aimed at raising the profile of recreational fishing within the agency and calming some of the hostile waters between fishermen and the administration,” reports Allison Winter of The New York Times.

“The tension among recreational fishers burst to the surface last month after an ESPN.com columnist suggested that the administration’s ocean policy could shut down sportfishing. ESPN later amended and corrected the piece but not before it ignited a game of ‘telephone’ played at the breakneck speed of the digital age.”

Tarpon - Longwood, Florida

Pete McDonald just completed a detailed interview with Dr. Aaron Adams, head of operations for BTT (Bonefish and Tarpon Trust), in which Adams brings us up to date on impacts of Florida’s “nuclear winter” on bonefish, tarpon, and permit populations. Among the good: the largest fish seem to have survived quite well. And the bad: the extent of the loss of juvenile tarpon might not be clearly understood for many years to come.

“There are two major differences between now and cold kill events in the past, with the degree of difference greater when compared to more distant events. The fish have been through this before, and have always recovered. But now there is less habitat (healthy or otherwise) and more people fishing, both of which impede the ability of the fish populations to recover.” On FishingJones.com.

photo credit: Riverbanksoutdoorstore

Dan Frosch of The New York Times weighs in on the rafting vs. private land development wars brewing this summer in Colorado’s Gunnison Valley

“Now, the dispute over the Taylor is reviving an old battle in Colorado, long a mecca for white-water rafting. At issue are the state’s water and property laws, which say that while the water in local rivers and streams is public, the beds and banks belong to whoever owns the adjacent land.”