Black bears typically have two cubs; rarely, one or three. In 2007, in northern New Hampshire, a black bear Sow gave birth to five healthy young. There were two or three reports of sows with as many as 4 cubs, but five was, and is, very extraordinary.

I learned of them shortly after they emerged from their den and set myself a goal of photographing all five cubs with their mom – no matter how much time and effort was involved. I knew the trail they followed on a fairly regular basis, usually shortly before dark.

After spending nearly four hours a day, seven days a week, for more than six weeks, I had that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and photographed them.
I used the equivalent of a very fast film speed on my digital camera.

The print is properly focused and well exposed, with all six bears posing as if they were in a studio for a family portrait.

I stayed in touch with other people who saw the bears during the summer and into the fall hunting season. All six bears continued to thrive.

As time for hibernation approached, I found still more folks who had seen them and everything remained OK. I stayed away from the bears as I was concerned that they might become habituated to me, or to people in general, as approachable “friends”. This could be dangerous for both man and animal.

After Halloween I received no further reports and could only hope the bears survived until they hibernated. This spring, before the snow disappeared, all six bears came out of their den and wandered the same familiar territory they trekked in the spring of 2007.

I saw them before mid April and dreamed nightly of taking another “family portrait,” an improbable second “once in a lifetime” photograph.

On April 25, 2008 I achieved my dream. When I showed the result to a woman who had purchased a print of the cubs a year earlier she exclaimed, “I have never seen such an extraordinary photograph”.

When something as magical as this happens between man and animal Native Americans say: “We have walked together in the shadow of a rainbow.”

And so it is with humility and great pleasure that I share these photos with you.

Sincerely,
Tom Sears
Digital Photographics

PS. As of today, August 22, 2008, the cubs are doing well but have gone their separate ways and there will not be another “family portrait”.

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Play FreeRice and Help End World Hunger

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In the past week, more than 30,000 ONE members have signed our petition to Barack Obama and John McCain asking them to keep their poverty-fighting commitments to the world’s most vulnerable people. Together, we’re proving that, even in tough times, we stand up for our principles. And so far, it’s working. Since our campaign began, the candidates have continued to stand by the promises they made earlier in the campaign.

Now we need to keep the pressure on, and to do that we’re going global and breaking records. This Friday, October 17th, through Sunday the 19th is the “Stand Up and Take Action” weekend against poverty, when we’ll join the Global Call To Action Against Poverty and the U.N. Millennium Campaign to set a new Guinness World Record of 67 million people standing up, literally, against poverty – 1% of everyone on earth.Add your name to the petition. Show John McCain, Barack Obama and the world that Americans are serious about keeping our commitments to meet the Millennium Development Goals and halve extreme poverty and global disease by 2015. When you do, we’ll also add your name to the millions around the globe who are standing up against global poverty this weekend.

Barack Obama and John McCain have already gone On The Record in response to the call from ONE members like you, and made historic commitments to end extreme poverty and global disease. In two weeks, we’ll deliver your petitions and give them one more chance to reaffirm where they stand on our issues. Between now and then, let’s Stand Up, set a world record, and make our voices heard as Americans, and as part of a global movement against global poverty.

Thank you for making a difference,

David Lane, ONE.org

One week after a 7.9 magnitude earthquake shook southwestern China,
Save the Children plans to set up child-friendly spaces and temporary classrooms for primary schools in one of the most devastated communities
in Deyang Prefecture, part of Sichuan Province.
More than 3 million children live in the earthquake zone. For them, the disaster has meant the loss of everything that gave them a sense of security: their families, their homes, schools, and their daily routines.
Save the Children child protection adviser, Deborah Barry, arrived in China this week. Barry and other experts say child disaster victims need to quickly return to their routines. Even though they might be living in tents, families should try to get back to some normal activities like eating dinner at the same time as before the quake, and children should return to school as quickly as possible.
For children whose caregivers have survived, Save the Children, working alongside the local Red Cross, is preparing plans for five temporary child-friendly spaces to create a sense of normalcy and provide a safe place for children to play, learn and socialize. These areas also will help to support parents and caregivers.

In cases where children have no caregivers, while family tracing begins,
Save the Children will support the Women’s Federation of Sichuan Province, which is creating four temporary child-friendly centers in Mianyang, Deyang and Chengdu.

In Mianyang and Deyang Prefectures, Save the Children also is working with the local Education Bureau to help set up 12 temporary classrooms — providing desks, chairs, textbooks, and other school supplies — for primary school children, ages 6 to 12.

Read more on Save the Children’s response in China.

Did your new garden furniture, construction lumber, printer paper or book cost an orangutan its home?

I bet that few of us know the origin of the forest products we purchase. And even fewer know whether these forests were sustainably managed and legally harvested before the timber made its way into the finished products that we have in our homes and offices.

But knowing matters. And choosing responsibly — asking for and buying wood and paper products certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) — is good for people, good for forests and good for the planet.

How Bad Forestry Devastates People and Nature

There are tragic hidden costs to the wood and paper products that we can buy so cheaply and without knowing their source.

More than 25 percent of the hardwood lumber and plywood traded internationally today has been managed unsustainably and harvested illegally — and the consequences for people, wildlife and natural systems can be devastating.

I saw firsthand the effects of illegal logging, deforestation and poor forest management during my eight years in Southeast Asia.

Governments there typically grant forest-harvesting rights to powerful businesses, which swoop in to remote areas and take high-value trees beyond the permitted levels and outside of permitted areas.

Once profits are taken, the remnants of the forest get converted into agricultural lands or used for other economic ventures. Local communities often have no say in the matter.

Over time, the livelihoods of these communities and their sources of food, shelter, water and traditional medicines are lost or degraded. And their cultures — which are often based on a deep connection to the forest and its wildlife — are destroyed.

But people are not the only losers:

* Forest-dwelling orangutans, elephants, tigers, jaguars, and ancient tree species take another step toward extinction.

* And illegal logging plays an important role in causing climate change — because deforestation contributes almost one-quarter of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

FSC is Your Guarantee of Responsible Forest Management

You can reverse this destructive trend by buying wood and paper products that have been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

Forest certification — the premier market-based, non-regulatory forest conservation tool — is designed to recognize and promote transparency in forest products trade.

And FSC is the only global certification system in which forest management practices are evaluated by an independent third-party according to strong social, environmental and economic standards.

In essence, FSC certification is the “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval” that forest ecosystems have been protected even as wood is harvested.

The FSC label gives corporations and consumers the assurance that the wood and wood-based products they purchase were sourced responsibly. FSC conserves forests, respects the rights of workers and communities, and is good for business.

More than 225 million acres of forest in more than 70 countries have been certified to FSC’s standards, and those figures are rising by approximately 12 percent per year.

You can find the FSC checkmark on products at Home Depot, Lowe’s, Office Depot, Staples, Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel and other local retail stores. In addition, ask merchants to stock FSC-certified products. And tell your friends and family to ask for FSC.

Promoting FSC demand among consumers and businesses in the United States is a top conservation strategy for the Conservancy — one that you can help us accomplish, every day. Courtesy of The Nature Conservancy.

Are you a conscientious consumer? Take the Consumer Awerness Survey

Namaste

When Freedom came in she could not stand. Both wings were broken, her left wing in 4 places. She was emaciated and covered in lice. We made the decision to give her a chance at life, so I took her to the vet’s office. From then on, I was always around her. We had her in a huge dog carrier with the top off, and it was loaded up with shredded newspaper for her to lay in. I used to sit and talk to her, urging her to live, to fight; and she would lay there looking at me with those big brown eyes. We also had to tube feed her for weeks.
This went on for 4-6 weeks, and by then she still couldn’t stand. It got to the point where the decision was made to euthanize her if she couldn’t stand in a week. You know you don’t want to cross that line between torture and rehab, and it looked like death was winning. She was going to be put down that Friday, and I was supposed to come in on that Thursday afternoon. I didn’t want to go to the center that Thursday, because I couldn’t bear the thought of her being euthanized; but I went anyway, and when I walked in everyone was grinning from ear to ear. I went immediately back to her dowl cage; and there she was, standing on her own, a big beautiful eagle. She was ready to live. I was just about in tears by then. That was a very good day.
We knew she could never fly, so the director asked me to glove train her. I got her used to the glove, and then to jesses, and we started doing education programs for schools in western Washington. We wound up in the newspapers, radio (believe it or not) and some TV. Miracle Pets even did a show about us.

In the spring of 2000, I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. I had stage 3, which is not good (one major organ plus everywhere), so I wound up doing 8 months of chemo. Lost the hair -the whole bit. I missed a lot of work. When I felt good enough, I would go to Sarvey and take Freedom out for walks. Freedom would also come to me in my dreams and help me fight the cancer. This happened time and time again.

Fast forward to November 2000, the day after Thanksgiving, I went in for my last checkup. I was told that if the cancer was not all gone after 8 rounds of chemo, then my last option was a stem cell transplant. Anyway, they did the tests; and I had to come back Monday for the results. I went in Monday, and I was told that all the cancer was gone. Yahoo!

So the first thing I did was get up to Sarvey and take the big girl out for a walk. It was misty and cold. I went to her flight and jessed her up, and we went out front to the top of the hill. I hadn’t said a word to Freedom, but somehow she knew. She looked at me and wrapped both her wings around me to where I could feel them pressing in on my back (I was engulfed in eagle wings), and she touched my nose with her beak and stared into my eyes, and we just stood there like that for I don’t know how long. That was a magic moment. We have been soul mates ever since she came in. This is a very special bird.

On a side note: I have had people who were sick come up to us when we are out, and Freedom has some kind of hold on them. I once had a guy who was terminal come up to us and I let him hold her. His knees just about buckled and he swore he could feel her power coarse through his body. I have so many stories like that.
I never forget the honor I have of being so close to such a magnificent spirit as Freedom’s.

Hope you enjoy this.
Jeff Guidry
www.sarveywildlife.org

Visit Sarvey Wildlife Center for more wonderful stories like this one.

Legislation to Curb Illegal Logging Advances: Legislation to stop U.S. imports of illegal wood was approved by the House Natural Resources Committee and many of the bill’s provisions were added to the Farm Bill passed by the Senate. That progress is great news because illegal logging, driven in part by the U.S. market for imported wood products, threatens some of the most biologically significant forests around the world.

Take Action: U.S. activists, please act now to protect Sumatran tigers and rhinos, Siberian tigers, orangutans and many other species that depend on forest habitat around the globe, if you haven’t already done so, by urging your representative to support the Legal Timber Protection Act.

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Senate Committee Votes for Law of the Sea Treaty: The prospects that the United States will join an international ocean protection treaty greatly increased when the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the treaty last fall. Overfishing, wildlife trade, pollution, and climate change have combined to put our oceans and the plant and animal species they sustain in peril. The Law of the Sea promotes sustainable use of marine resources at the same time that it strengthens our sovereignty and security.

Take Action: Please help win full Senate approval.

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Big Increase in Biodiversity Protection Fund: The U.S. Congress approved $195 million for biodiversity conservation in developing countries for fiscal year 2008, a huge jump over last year’s $165.5 million and a far cry from President Bush’s budget request, which would have eliminated all dedicated funding for biodiversity. The funds will help conserve species and habitats around the globe. Learn More…

Senate Approves $4.8 Billion for Conservation in Farm Bill: Currently many farmers are turned away due to a lack of funding when they seek to participate in federal programs that compensate them for protecting the environment. The Senate’s Farm Bill funding levels came close to what is needed to meet this demand. Unfortunately, the House approved only $4.5 billion and the Bush administration has recommended vetoes of both versions of the bill because of the spending levels. House and Senate negotiators are working on a new proposal. Learn More…

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More Funds for International Species Conservation: Congress provided nearly $12.3 million for fiscal year 2008 for special funds to conserve rhinos, tigers, elephants, great apes, sea turtles and neotropical migratory birds. That’s the most ever allocated for these programs and a substantial increase over 2007 levels. Thanks to the support of committed activists who are willing to speak out each year for adequate funding for international conservation, we have achieved increases for the past 8 years. Learn More…

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Manatee Protections Maintained: The state of Florida was considering changing the status of the manatee from endangered to threatened on the state endangered species list, but decided instead to maintain the manatee’s current status while it conducts a review of the state’s endangered species classification system. The review could take months or years and our hope is that it will provide a much needed overhaul of the state’s system to make it compatible with the international system for classifying imperiled species. Learn More…

Message sent by:
Jason Patlis
Vice President and Managing Director
U.S. Government Relations
World Wildlife Fund

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Please join WWF’s Conservation Action Network and let’s love the planet together!
As one we can accomplish many wonders, our voices are heard louder, as one.

Namaste
The ThinkActUnity Team

How can we allow this situation to go on, our children are our future. We must nurture them, nourish them, guide them with patience, and compassion. Their growing up in a positive and supporting environment will gear them in acting and creating a positive life for themselves, and therefore for the world as well.
Spending time with our kids and sharing our love with them is never a waste of time, it is extraordinary valuable time invested in a wonderful future.

Take Action Now

The members of Think.Act.Unity are the founders of The Driven Collective
Once a month the collective gathers with teenagers to discuss topics about Life, Metaphysics, Positive Thinking, and much much more.
To know more about these gatherings please visit the Driven Teens page in Driven Collective website.

I just sent a message to my members of Congress asking them to support the GROWTH Act, which will work to give women the resources they need to provide for their families.

You too can help this important bill move forward by taking action here:
http://www.one.org/growthact

Thank you.

Rev Adriana Z
Think.Act.Unity
The Driven Collective