Here’s something that arrived in my home e-mail account that I thought might be of interest. Omega Institute in Rhinebeck is inviting the public to a “Being Fearless” conference in NYC April 13-15 and there are a couple of environmental names that could be a strong draw – Al Gore and Jane Goodall, the primatologist whose story inspired the movie “Gorillas in the Mist.” The invitation says “Fearlessness is not the absence of fear. Rather, it is seeing crisis as opportunity, and using the challenges in our personal lives for our own growth and for the greater good.” Register by February 23 to take advantage of the early registration discount. If you have additional questions, contact Omega Institute at 800-944-1001 or visit www.eomega.org.

Ever wonder where fish go when ponds and lakes freeze? Well, for the most part, they hunker down and wait out the winter.

Most likely this guy to the right was already dead when his pond froze. Not to get too CSI-ish, but there’s another fish’s tail sticking out of his mouth (you can’t see it in the photo), leading one to think he might have choked and croaked during dinner. Now, he’s a must-see sight for skaters.

(He’s actually a Connecticut fish, too, stuck in a pond behind my parents’ house. I just thought it was, um, cool enough to share.)

The facts and myths of coyotes will be part of a presentation Sunday (2/11) when Dan Decker of The
Suburban Coyote Study Group discusses his work studying coyote ecology and behavior.

The event is free and is sponsored by The Putnam County Land Trust and the Friends of the Great Swamp. It starts at 2 p.m. in the Lawlor Building at the intersection of Route 311 and Route 164 in Patterson. It will probably even get the attention of the yawning coyote pictured here.

The Westchester County Parks Department is putting out a call for all want-to-be nature educators. The department is offering a four-session class at the Marshlands Conservancy in Rye. The free course will provide information on the habitats at the conservancy, the park’s history and its salt marsh.

In return, participants are asked to volunteer one Sunday afternoon a month for a year at the park as a volunteer educator. The course will take place March 4, 11, 25 and April 1, all at 1 p.m. For more information, call the Marshlands Conservancy at 914-835-4466.

I thought folks on this blog might be interested in this story, written by Brett Arends on TheStreet.com.

Vice President Dick Cheney’s investment manager wrote a four-page attack on the nation’s energy policy and sent it to all his clients – including Cheney. (Remember that commercial – “When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen?”). We’ll see if Cheney listens to Jeremy Grantham, who also had some choice things to say about one of the high-profile naysayers, Richard Lindzen, an M.I.T. atmospheric scientist who recently spoke to high school students in Bronxville. (They found him a little combative, btw.)

Link to Arends’ story.

I included the attached photo by Associated Press photographer John McConnico showing a section of the ice sheet covering much of Greenland as seen in August of 2005. Scientists say the ice is thinning and blame global warming. It’s more breath-taking than a picture of Lindzen.

Take a look at this harp seal.

If you’re down around the docks in this frigid weather, you may see one like it. We’re in the middle of seal season, when the water in Long Island Sound gets cold enough for the pinnipeds to venture in, even harp seals, which are arctic creatures.

The one you see here hopped up on a dock at the New Rochelle city marina last February. It’s cute, right?

Well, that may be, but remember: It’s fine to look but don’t touch. Don’t feed. Don’t get to close. And definitely don’t try to capture one. I’m asked to remind people of this every time I write about seals. It’s not just good advice, it’s federal law.
Seals are wild animals, after all.

So here are two bits of information:
If you see a seal in New York state waters, the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation wants to know. The foundation is designated as the state’s official seal rescuers. If the animal looks hurt, injured or stranded, call the 24-hour stranding hotline, 631-369-9829.

Even if you see a bunch of harbor seals passing their time on a cluster of rocks and looking content, the foundation is interested. But then you can call the less-urgent main line, 631-369-9840.

If you want to see seals, you can try one of the seal cruises run by the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk in Connecticut. They run the 2.5-hour excursions on select weekends through the beginning of April. If you go, dress warmly and bring binoculars. The boat captain won’t get close enough to disturb the seals. For information or reservations, call the aquarium at 203-852-0700×2206.

Well, in Connecticut they will. At least certain moose, according to this story. Wildlife officials next door in the Nutmeg State plan to outfit a few moose with $4,000 GPS collars, which will collect information on where the animals wander.

Some LoHud residents, you may recall, have been familiar with moose as of late. A female moose wandered around Putnam, Westchester and Dutchess counties for about a year, showing up in yards and on roadsides. She’s in the photo, courtesy of TJN photographer Stuart Bayer. State wildlife officials blamed a brainworm for its unusual behavior, which was discovered after officials in December deemed the creature to be sick and shot it.

Also in December, some bones, hair and other remains of a male moose were discovered in the Great Swamp in Patterson. State conservation police said someone illegally shot that animal.

There’s a lot going on in the world of global warming with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Summary for Policy Makers released in Paris today. I wrote an Earth Watch column on it today and I can’t remember when the subject has generated so many e-mailed statements from various sides as well as so much press coverage.

Just yesterday, a new coalition of “It’s not really that bad” organizations announced their emergence and opinion; it’s mainly composed of conservative think-tank types that are pushing public policy wherever they get the opportunity.

Then today, I get an e-mail from The George C. Marshall Institute (without an explanation of just who they are) and a page-long argument urging “great caution” in reading too much into the summary report because it was drafted by “government appointees.” That’s been a complaint from the beginning about how these summaries are put together.

But the one that really got me was a citation that came from an old buddy on the JN copy desk, Andy Chabra. Check out this story from the British newspaper, The Guardian. If you need some cash and have a curriculum vitae that includes science, you might find some work.

I have to confess to a personal bias against groundhogs. Yeah, it’s great the weather-predicting Punxsutawney Phil didn’t see his shadow this morning, meaning an early spring.

For the woodchuck(s) that have set up home in and around my yard, though, that just means more time for me to get the vegetable garden ready so they can enjoy their usual summer smorgasbord. After several years of struggling with the creatures, I was happy to see these tips last year from the Humane Society of the United States on groundhog proofing your garden.
I printed them out and saved them for the spring. Last May, you would have found me erecting a loose fence around the garden (supposed to discourage climbing) and bending the bottom part out in an “L” to prevent digging. Alas, neither seemed to work as the lettuce, green beans and zucchini disappeared.

This year, I’m going for the electric fence.

Mark Behan, the spokesman for General Electric on the PCB issue, read Scenic Hudson’s comments in “The Nature of Things� and responded.

Some of his comments are included below:

“Here is what has happened on this project since 2002:

– GE and EPA signed a comprehensive agreement to implement the dredging project. The agreement was approved by a federal judge in November 2006. – This followed two prior GE-EPA agreements under which GE agreed to design the dredging project and conduct the massive sediment sampling program necessary to design the dredging project. – Last week GE announced it had awarded the first two major contracts for the project—for the development of the infrastructure on the Fort Edward site where the treatment and transportation facilities will be built and for construction of the rail transportation and wharf facilities. GE’s goal is to begin construction this spring. GE is negotiating with property owners for access to their property. – GE has developed the community health and safety plan in conjunction with EPA and local community leaders; mapped the river habitat and identified cultural resources in the areas designated for dredging.

All of this work has been submitted to EPA, reported on in public meetings and covered closely by the Journal News and other news organizations.”

Says Behan, “If Scenic Hudson can’t see progress on this project, it’s not because it’s not there — it’s because they choose to ignore it.â€?