IAF-National Geologic Trail Program Manager Selected
The National Park Service has selected Justin Radford as the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail’s new Program Manager, the Trail’s first permanent full-time staff member. Mr. Radford follows in the footsteps of many who have worked tirelessly to bring Ice Age Flood National Geologic Trail into existence. He will be duty stationed in Coulee Dam, Washington and will also join the Management Team of Lake Roosevelt NRA. “Traveling the region is an experience of geologic power and grace. It is an honor to be selected to help ensure all our visitors have a chance to connect with the special places along Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail,” said Mr. Radford. ” I am looking forward to working with our partners to help every visitor be as excited about the Trail as I am.” “Justin brings a wealth of experience in planning and developing visitor services to Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail,” said Superintendent Dan Foster. “His depth of experience, along with a dedication to providing quality visitor opportunities, make him a great fit for this position.” Justin has a BA in Philosophy from the University of Colorado, Boulder and over 23 years of previous public service most recently as the Executive Officer for Overseas Operations at the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC). Prior to his work with ABMC he spent 17 years with the National Park Service’s Harpers Ferry Center for Media Development as a project manager, supervisor and program coordinator for the development of visitor centers and interpretive media across the United States. While with the NPS Mr. Radford helped to create several new national park sites including Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail and Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site. His expertise in visitor experience development, project management and stakeholder coordination make him uniquely suited to the future needs of Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail. Ice Age Floods Institute is thrilled to have such a talented and dynamic leader of the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail as a partner in sharing the story of the incredible Ice Age Floods.
Best Time And Place to Live in The Milky Way Is Not Here
An interesting article about the cosmic dangers to life that many may not be aware of: More and more, it seems that the existence and persistence of life on Earth is the result of sheer luck. According to a new analysis of the history of the Milky Way, the best time and place for the emergence of life isn’t here, or now, but over 6 billion years ago on the galaxy’s outskirts. That specific location in space and time would have afforded a habitable world the best protection against the gamma-ray bursts and supernovae that blasted space with deadly radiation. As of about 4 billion years ago, the central regions of the galaxy (which include the Solar System) became safer than the outskirts – safe enough for life to emerge, if not quite as safe as the outskirts had been. Read more at https://www.sciencealert.com/when-was-the-best-time-and-place-to-live-in-the-milky-way-not-where-we-are-apparently
NASA Perplexed by Strange Geological Stripes Appearing in Russia
Near the Markha River in Arctic Siberia, the earth ripples in ways that scientists don’t fully understand. Earlier this week, NASA researchers posted a series of satellite images of the peculiar wrinkled landscape to the agency’s Earth Observatory website. Taken with the Landsat 8 satellite over several years, the photos show the land on both sides of the Markha River rippling with alternating dark and light stripes. The puzzling effect is visible in all four seasons, but it is most pronounced in winter, when white snow makes the contrasting pattern even more stark. Read more at Science Alert: https://www.sciencealert.com/unusual-topographical-stripes-revealed-by-satellites-images-of-russia-have-perplexed-nasa
Looking for Ice Age Floods Video Viewing?
We’ve got you covered. Ice Age Floods Institute’s YouTube Channel includes a growing Playlist of Floods-related videos, including many presentations made at chapter meetings by renowned Floods experts and researchers. Whether you’re looking for short explanations of specific Ice Age Floods features, or for longer overviews and in-depth scientific treatments of Floods and other features, you’ll probably find something of interest in these videos. And the list continues to grow, especially as so many presentations are being made and recorded in virtual space. Be sure to Subscribe and check back regularly as the list of videos has lately been growing rapidly.
Dust From Asteroid That Ended Dinosaur Reign Closes Case on Impact Extinction Theory
Having dominated the planet’s surface for hundreds of millions of years, dinosaur diversity came to a dramatic conclusion some 66 million years ago at the hot end of an asteroid impact with what is today Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. It’s a theory so swollen with data that it’s hard to imagine any room for doubt remains that this is indeed what happened. Were it a cold case, it’d be rubber-stamped and filed under ‘Solved’ by now. But scientists are a nitpicky bunch, and a tiny gap in the chain of evidence linking signs of a global apocalypse with the scene of the crime has been begging to be closed. An international team of researchers collaborating on a study of material from the Yucatán Peninsula’s famous Chicxulub impact crater has finally matched the chemical signature of meteoritic dust within its rock with that of the geological boundary representing the dinosaur extinction event. It appears to be a clear sign that the thin blanket of dust deposited on Earth’s crust 66 million years ago originated from an impact event at this very spot. Read more at https://www.sciencealert.com/remains-of-the-asteroid-that-ended-dinosaur-reign-closes-case-on-impact-theory
Explore PacNW Geology with Nick Zentner
Nick Zentner, an awesome geology instructor at Central Washington Univ., has kept quite busy since Covid curtailed his in-person lectures and professional video productions with a series of home-made videos exploring a broad range of geologic topics. Each of his engaging “Nick from Home” series last Spring went in-depth for an hour or more into a plethora of topics he briefly covered in his earlier “Nick On The Rocks” and other short videos. This Fall he decided to explore and learn more about the exotic terranes of the Pacific NW in another series of engaging at-home videos. These “Nick at Home” videos are not exactly elaborate productions. They are generally about an hour long and livestreamed with a cell phone to his YouTube channel where the y are recorded as videos and available for others to discover. His ‘aw shucks’ demeanor has garnered fans from around the world, many of whom get online at all hours of their day or night just to watch Nick talk and digress about geology. Do you want to know about Baja BC, how whole blocks of the earth’s crust that originally formed in Mexico found their way to underlie a large part of the Pacific NW? Nick has videos about that. How about how giant mudflows roared down a flank of Mt. Rainier and now underlie much of Tacoma, Washington. Yep, Nick has videos about that too. Or maybe something about gold in the Pacific NW. Well, you get the idea. Nick has just completed 26 videos exploring the ‘Exotic Terranes of the Pacific NW”, one for each letter of our alphabet. These livestream presentations are not rehearsed, Nick just takes his experience from 30+ years of teaching geology to not only teach about the subject, but also to get you wanting to understand and interested in what he is presenting. If you haven’t discovered Nick you’ve got a treat in store. And if you have discovered him, he is always offering something more to whet your geologic appetite. Here’s Nick’s YouTube channel gateway link so you can explore the geologic wonder-world of Nick Zentner. We hope you enjoy it.
Ice Age Floods Museum in Lacrosse, WA
Work has begun on the Ice Age Floods Museum in Lacrosse. The accompanying photo shows that the rock from the existing rock houses has been removed and new foundations have been poured. The rock will then be set back in place and the structures will be similar to the house seen in the back which is the temporary home of the museum today. We will have four of these bunk houses which will be available to travelers. Once these are done, the work will begin on the rock gas station next to these which will be the final home of the museum. “Local businessman Clint Dobson is credited with building the unique collection of structures known as the LaCrosse rock houses and station between 1934 and 1936. The project included three houses, three cabins, and a service station with all buildings prominently featuring basalt stones collected from the surrounding fields. Dobson was not a master stone mason, rather, basalt stone was the most readily available material in the area during the Great Depression. “Local farm hands, workers, and railroad crews used the houses and cabins as rental units, while the station offered a service and repair shop. Although the structures have not been in use since the 1960s, amazingly all but one of the houses remain. Those remaining buildings, however, are in critical danger of collapse if they do not receive repairs to stabilize and secure the stone and structural elements. “Hope for rehabilitation increased when a local family gifted the property to LaCrosse Community Pride, which enjoys a strong track record of successful community development projects in town. Following the closure of the town’s only grocery store, LaCrosse Community Pride embarked on an effort to re-invent that site as an ongoing enterprise and community center. Today, the building houses a new grocery store, the local library, a community meeting space, and two rentable office spaces. The group also organized efforts to return a bank to the town when the local branch closed: they purchased the bank building, secured a new tenant to run the bank, and are currently working to find another tenant for the adjacent café. “The Washington Trust was proud to support LaCrosse Community Pride in rebuilding one of the stone cabins through a Valerie Sivinski Fund grant. Now they are fundraising for the rehabilitation of the remaining buildings and just last month were recommended to receive a state Heritage Capital Grant to realize their vision of creating a heritage museum and Ice Age floods center in the service station along with places for visitors to stay in the homes and bunkhouses.” From Washington Trust for Historic Preservation
IAFI Board Sets New Strategic Plan
Since June the IAFI Board of Directors have been working to revise and update the IAFI Strategic Business Plan that was created in 2006. A lot of that plan has been achieved since then, while some parts are still actively being addressed and other parts are no longer relevant. The newly revised plan that was officially adopted in our October 10 board meeting lays out goals, strategies and action plans for the next two years that address Membership Services, Trail Advocacy, Education and Outreach, Organization Leadership, Administration and Finance. Five committee teams (Education and Outreach, Technical Committee, Membership Services, Trail Advocacy, Administration and Finance) were charged with identifying specific goals, strategies and action plans, and “champions” were assigned to push the action plans forward and to report progress at our regular board meetings. The full 28-page 2020 Ice Age Floods Institute Strategic Plan is available online and we anticipate reporting regularly on our progress as we work to continue the IAFI Vision to be “the foremost provider of Ice Age floods scientific advice and marketing communications through member, partner and direct public collaborations“, and Mission to be “dedicated to promoting public awareness and education relating to the significance of the Ice Age floods“
Chapters Go Virtual for Meetings and Presentations
Covid-19 has sure put a stop to in-person meetings and presentations, but that’s no reason why chapter meetings and presentations can’t still reach out and be available to IAFI members. In fact, several IAFI chapters have been able to increase their outreach and attendance through the use of online ‘virtual’ meetings and presentations. And as an added bonus, the presentations can be easily recorded and made available online to those who weren’t able to attend the live online event. The Lower Columbia chapter has led the way with 4 monthly meeting presentations that have been recorded and later made available on their local GigaFlood website. These include Antarctic Glaciers by Dr. Scott Burns, The Lake Missoula Floods in NW Oregon and SW Washington by Rick Thompson, Global MegaFlood Science by Dr. Victor Baker, and 10 Ways the Lake Missoula Floods Still Affect Us Today by Rick Thompson. Of course Nick Zentner of the Ellensburg Chapter has long been producing and posting videos of his public lectures and his 2-Minute Geology and Nick on the Rocks series, as well as a large library of Covid-era explorations of local geology. The Cheney-Palouse Chapter and the Lake Lewis Chapter have also held their own online virtual meetings and presentations including a recent presentation of Ice Age Floodscapes of the Pacific NW by Bruce Bjornstad for the Lake Lewis Chapter. We hope that other chapters can soon follow suit and that recordings of these and other future events can be made available to our larger IAFI membership.
LaCrosse Heritage Museum and Ice Age Visitor Center Moving Forward!
With strong community support, in-kind pledges from local volunteers and businesses, recently awarded grants from the Port of Whitman and Whitman County, and a major state grant request in the hopper, the historic rock houses of LaCrosse are soon to get a major face-lift. Three years ago, LaCrosse Community Pride leaders and local businesses renovated one of the crumbling old rock bunkhouses, built during the Great Depression of boulders left behind by glacial floodwaters. That project showed the historic rock buildings could be saved and provided temporary quarters for displays of the Ice Age Floods Institute and the Whitman County Library, partners in the project. Next up? The old rock service station will be transformed into a Heritage Museum and Ice Age Visitor Center. The bunkhouses, two more of which will be renovated, will provide more room for exhibits, a business incubator and overnight lodging. Lloyd Stoess and the Palouse Falls chapter will share our remarkable geologic history. The National Park Service and its National Natural Landscape program leaders have been interested in helping, too. We’re planning to break ground on the project this fall. The LaCrosse Community Pride team thanks Lloyd Stoess and all of you, for steadfast support of this ambitious endeavor. This is a two-year project that will require many hands to complete. If you are interested in learning more or seeing how you can help, please contact Peggy Bryan (pegandpetebryan@yahoo.com) or Alex McGregor (alex@mcgregor.com). Submitted by Leslie Druffel UPDATE: On the state Heritage Capital projects, Alex McGregor reports that we ranked 12th out of 40 applicants and received all positive comments from the judges and that no other project prompted this kind of excitement and curiosity.