Smokey Bear, the U.S. Forest Service's symbol of fire prevention, turns 75 on Friday. Smokey is the longest-running public service ad campaign, first appearing on a poster on Aug. 9, 1944. While his look has changed quite a bit, his message has shifted only slightly.
They have a lot of Smokey Bear stuff at the Pennsylvania State Forests. But then again, in Pennsylvania people are always burning stuff, because fire is just a way of life, whether on the farm or at the rural homestead.
According to a recent poll by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Bogema is one of about 2.5 million rural residents (about 7% of the total rural population) who say they have no friends or family nearby to rely on. An additional 14 million (about 39%) say they only have a few people. Like Bogema, many feel isolated.
McGregor, Minn., is one of 18 communities in north-eastern part of the state that is participating in a program that addresses loneliness and social isolation by connecting the young with the old.
People in rural areas report "feeling lonely or left out," says Carrie Henning-Smith, the deputy director of the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center and one of the authors of a recent study on rural isolation, despite the fact that rural communities often have stronger social networks than urban ones. She notes that many communities have become more socially isolated in recent years as rural economies have declined and young people moved away.
For me, I doubt living in a small town would be socially isolating -- I think there are a lot of interesting folk who live in small towns -- but it's just finding work that pays decently, lets me live the live-style I desire. While I don't need a lot of fancy toys, a lot of things that you need for a good rural life are pretty expensive.
SENECA FALLS — Anyone who has ever picked up large rocks by hand knows how menial — and physically demanding — that task can be, especially on a hot and muggy day like Tuesday.
People who want to make that job easier, or eliminate it completely, got a look at the machinery that makes it possible at Empire Farm Days.
Stone-crushing demonstrations by Bugnot, a French company, drew dozens of people who saw rocks the size of flat footballs reduced to stones that would easily fit in the palm of your hand. Smaller stones were pulverized, turned to powder that went into the churned-up soil.
Notable: I was looking at the latest Siena Poll and the Farm Workers Bill of Rights polls quite well in Upstate, 71-21 percent approve and even Republicans support it 54-32 percent. I am sure some in agriculture community feel differently, but it shows how popular a policy can be non-related parties.
Recent studies have found an increased presence of a tapeworm infecting coyotes, foxes, and rodents across the Canadian province of Alberta. The research was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Led by the University of Calgary's faculty of veterinary medicine, the findings state that a parasitic tapeworm called Echinococcus multilocularis is now prevalent in Western Canada, including in urban off-leash dog parks in Calgary.
The tapeworm was first recorded in the area in 2012, and has long since been common in Europe. The tapeworms have also been present in wildlife found in Ontario, with the latest research suggesting the parasite has been present in the region for decades - now well established.
Echinococcus multilocularis is spread through the feces of coyotes and foxes that have eaten infected rodents such as mice and rats. Tapeworm eggs can be passed through their feces, which poses a risk to other animals that come into contact with it - including humans. Domestic pets such as dogs and cats can contract the parasite through contact with coyote feces or by also eating infected rodents. The worm can then be passed on to people via fruit, the handling of contaminated soil or through an infected pet’s fur.
