posted 15 years ago
He had on a hat made out of the tinder mushroom.
He showed a slide of a slime-mold/mycelial joint venture that did a better job of designing Japanese subways than the humans. I'm not sure how lay people would know this for sure, but I love it when he shows how smart slime molds are. Mold has such bad pr, usually.
He also gave a great and subtle speech against chem-industry -cides, which was great because it gave an east-county presenter, Laura, who was doing work on slender salamanders time to highlight that these native creatures like blackberry stems, so they do all manual removal and remove no more than 1/3 at a time, if I have this right. I didn't take copious notes, but this is what I remember.
Portland Parks reps often seem cocky and defensive about their chemical use. I find that unspeakably distressing. A high official in the parks was unaware they are applying herbicides near an open reservoir.
A PSU anthropologist was unaware the Portland Water Bureau contracts with out-of-staters for advice about cultural resources, which is code for evidence of ancient people.
Contracting with outsiders probably makes it easier to just dig where they want.
They don't consult with local Ph.D.'s or with the tribes themselves, so far as I have been able to determine.
Portland officials often also seem proud of how blue they are.
The no-chemical protocol is happening in the reddest part of town.
So much for labels.
Colors get used for camouflage as often as not.
