This is my first diary entry here and it is about my brother's work. Thank you for taking the time to read this.
My brother Ken Furrow is a wildlife biologist and documentary film maker based in Montana, our home state. He is working on a project I think is positive and important for the future of Montana. So many times I see problems around me but can't see any solution or even a path to a solution, so when I recognize such a path I'm thankful someone has the creative energy and knowledge to move things forward. And right now I'm thankful for my brother.
It takes money, to be blunt. If I had it to give, I would. Since I don't, I'm blogging.
His Project: http://www.indiegogo.com/...
Mountain Grassland Journal
We are producing an important feature-length documentary designed to positively influence the future of this inter-mountain region and we need your help to do it! We're asking you to pledge your support today and help us raise $12,800 to fund this timely film.
Our documentary examines regional agrarian landscapes and food resources, biological diversity, development and climate change in the Rocky Mountain inter-mountain prairie ecosystem. These areas are not only rich in cultural history and natural beauty; they are critical regions for our own food production capabilities in the face of human population growth and the precarious condition of our national economy.
The needle on our regional self-sufficiency scale has moved from preferable to essential. Because of increasingly unpredictable weather and economic changes, we can no longer depend on traditional sources (California, Florida, Oregon, etc.) for our primary food supply. Our sustainable future lies in more regional food production and holistic resource management and we have to move forward on this together now. Our film investigates if proactive strategies are being developed and implemented for managing our own resources for the balanced benefit of people, wildlife and our native environments.
Your contributions to the production of this film will make a tremendous difference in how the public views our joint responsibility and renewed opportunity to create a mutually beneficial, sustainable future for this region.??
Our Story
This educational film, Mountain Grassland Journeys, is an exploration of the inter-mountain prairies within the Rocky Mountain ranges. These rolling hills and broad valleys shaped over time by geologic forces are comprised of meandering rivers and riparian areas, grass and sage prairies and sinuous bands of shrubs winding upward through the coulees. Nestled among the forested mountains and high peaks on either side of the continental divide, these temperate and semi-arid grasslands are rich in biological diversity and agricultural opportunity. And it is where a growing number of people wish to live.
Part cultural history and part contemporary science, my goal is to bring the audience through the past into current times with imagery of the land and reflections from individuals. Insights from farmers and ranchers, Native Americans, homestead descendants, scholars and scientists will tie the past and current times into a portrait of these landscapes then and now. From this context, the film will explore issues of change that these regions face with human population growth, community expansion and urban development, reduction of food producing agrarian landscapes and loss of wild and natural habitats. Underlying these issues of change, we will discuss how we can adapt to the present and probable effects of climatic change in these areas. These grassland steppe regions are undergoing a rapidly growing and shifting human population, bringing residential and commercial development to these areas. Rural agricultural and food growing lands are disappearing along with traditional rural lifestyles. Besides important food producing landscapes, these private ranch and farmlands contain critical habitat for a multitude of unique species of plant and animal. Presently these habitats and wildlife migration corridors are being fragmented and destroyed.
Climatic change also influences annual moisture patterns and hydrological flows. These changes impact agriculture practices and local economies, and diminish critical habitat for many unique species within these valleys. What will climate change mean for these valleys? How can we adapt and better manage these lands? These questions will be explored on a local and global level, with projections on what could occur with these grassland steppe regions.
The goals of Mountain Prairie Journal is to help the viewer comprehend the complexity of history, the magnificent natural world within these valleys, and a clear sense of our need to work together to preserve and sustainability manage these dwindling resources. We will examine the consequences of the loss of important agrarian food producing landscape, the nature and results of the societal and ecological changes due to human expansion and the influences of climate change on our environment. Our viewers will be left with a clear vision of the serious consequences if a we don't develop and implement a sustainable and balanced landscape vision for this region we call our home.
9:46 AM PT: I thought I posted a link:
http://www.indiegogo.com/...