-----Forwarded by David BradfordSubject: Sad News from Yosemite
Hello CA/NV Amphibian Folks:
It is with a heavy heart and great sadness that I share this tragic newswith you. Yesterday, Sunday August 30, Jeff Maurer, 47 years old, died after falling while climbing the Third Pillar on Mount Dana. Jeff was an extraordinary person and will be remembered as one of the greatest supporters of wildlife the park has ever had. His research on wildlife in the park spans back to 1988, and includes surveys for peregrine falcons,great gray owls, and northern goshawks. In the past few years Jeff has put his heart and soul into recovery of the Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog,and has been participating in amphibian research throughout the park. Jeff received a master's in 2000 in the ecology of the northern goshawk in Yosemite from UC Davis, where he also researched lead poisoning in California condors and the use of nest boxes by American kestrels, and lectured on the interface between birds and agriculture. Jeff has also been a hawk migration counter with HawkWatch International at various locations in North America and has also conducted bird surveys for PRBO Conservation Science in the Eastern Sierra and worked for the Inyo National Forest. As an environmental educator, Jeff taught with the Sierra Institute and the Yosemite Association.
Hello CA/NV Amphibian Folks:
It is with a heavy heart and great sadness that I share this tragic newswith you. Yesterday, Sunday August 30, Jeff Maurer, 47 years old, died after falling while climbing the Third Pillar on Mount Dana. Jeff was an extraordinary person and will be remembered as one of the greatest supporters of wildlife the park has ever had. His research on wildlife in the park spans back to 1988, and includes surveys for peregrine falcons,great gray owls, and northern goshawks. In the past few years Jeff has put his heart and soul into recovery of the Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog,and has been participating in amphibian research throughout the park. Jeff received a master's in 2000 in the ecology of the northern goshawk in Yosemite from UC Davis, where he also researched lead poisoning in California condors and the use of nest boxes by American kestrels, and lectured on the interface between birds and agriculture. Jeff has also been a hawk migration counter with HawkWatch International at various locations in North America and has also conducted bird surveys for PRBO Conservation Science in the Eastern Sierra and worked for the Inyo National Forest. As an environmental educator, Jeff taught with the Sierra Institute and the Yosemite Association.
Jeff was an engaging and delightful person whose enthusiasm and passion for natural resources conservation issues was enormous. He led a full life,full of adventure and passion. He will be missed by many. Our deepest sympathies to all of you who know Jeff.
Please share this news with others who knew Jeff.
Sincerely, Sarah Stock, Heather McKenny, and Steve Thompson
Watching Peregrines
ReplyDeleteFor Jeff.
“Organisms themselves are relatively transient entities through which materials and energy flow and are eventually returned to the environment”.
The birds
Will still fly.
Still ease off the ledge
Dive
And catch a thermal
As the day warms.
They will still climb
In long, slow arcs,
Without any visible effort
And alight on a sloping ledge
The size of a postcard.
The birds
Will still fly,
And my heart will still fly with them,
As they stoop, and hunt,
And return to the aerie with a limp pigeon
For lunch.
They will still fly,
And hold their perfect arcs through gusts and updrafts,
With only a slight ruffle of primaries;
A tiny adjustment of tail.
We awkward bipeds will still sit,
And watch,
And are lucky if we can, for a moment,
Imagine such equanimity and grace.