Noticing iii - Wild & Scenic Film Festival

Every year a conservation group I belong to, the Ventana Wilder-ness Alliance (and which I volunteer with as a wilderness ranger), puts on a film festival and raffle as a fundraiser. Tonight was the night, and this evening I staffed a table, talking to people about the work we do, handing out VWA bumper stickers and copies of our quarterly newsletter (the most recent issue is here: I have a story on page 4—as I made sure to tell anyone who took that particu-lar issue), inviting people to join our mailing list. It was pleasant con-necting with people.

The films were varied, ranging from a fellow in Los Angeles traveling around and setting up his telescope, offering people a view of the moon, to much amazement and awe, to copulating newts (I kid you not: they do it underwater in great balls of twisting bodies—it is quite a sight)—the first and the last films of the evening. In between were short films about Native American individuals running or swimming to save their lands or their salmon; about a national grassroots organization, Great Old Broads for Wilderness (which I should join: I certainly qualify); about a turn-of-the-twentieth-century woman glaciologist, Mary Vaux.

I had three favorites. One was about a nature photographer, Clay Bolt—in this film, his work documenting native bees. Here are a few of his photos (and for more, as well as some description of his project, go here):

Long-horned bee (Svastra aegis)

Black-tailed bumblebee (Bomba melanopygus)

Pure green bee (Augochlora pura)

The other two you can watch right here in their entirety. The first is about the crusty grizzly lover Doug Peacock, whom I first "met" through his 1990 book Grizzly Years: In Search of the American Wilderness (which I am now thinking I should reread . . .). Hayduke Lives!

The second is an excellent documentary about the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire in the Columbia Gorge of Oregon. It explores culpability, com-munity, and recovery. The filmmakers were at our event tonight and spoke a few words, which only added to the meaningfulness—especially given that our area, too, experienced a devastating fire just the year before that of Eagle Creek.

All in all, an excellent evening. And the house was full, so I hope the VWA got a good purse from it all.