Archive for July, 2009

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Catch and Release Warm Weather Advisory

Friday, July 31st, 2009

This week has been a hot one in the Pacific Northwest! And with extremely warm summer temperatures, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) is asking anglers to take special care when catching and releasing fish.

“Fish mortality can increase drastically when water temperatures reach 74 degrees,” explained ODFW officials. “Since warm water does not hold as much oxygen as cooler water, fish are getting less oxygen while they are being caught, and take longer to recover once they are released.”

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Fairview is First with LEDs

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

Fairview is the first town in Texas to build a street exclusively lit by LED lighting, according to a press release from Cree, Inc. Additionally, Fairview joined the LED City initiative, an international program that promotes the deployment of energy-efficient LED lighting. The city’s newly constructed, four-lane Fairview Parkway, features 82 LED street lights.

“Fairview is proud to join the LED City initiative with the opening of the first new street in Texas lit entirely by LED street lights,” said Mayor Sim Israeloff. “The quality of light is superior even to what we anticipated and is far better than what could have been provided by traditional lighting. In addition to better light quality, the town can reduce maintenance costs, improve safety, practically eliminate light pollution, and dramatically reduce energy consumption.”

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All Adventurers: Be safe this hunting season

Monday, July 27th, 2009

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) wants to remind outdoor enthusiasts to be safe this coming hunting season. With black bear season opening August 1 throughout most of the state, it’s important for hunters to remember they’re not the only ones taking advantage of everything nature has to offer in Washington — hikers, campers, and anglers are out there, too.

WDFW offers the following safety tips to adventurers this hunting season: (more…)

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Spontaneous Camping

Friday, July 24th, 2009

A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I made a last-minute decision to go camping over the weekend — spontaneous camping, as we like to call it. We had a wonderful time, but it could have been terrible if we hadn’t, in essence, planned our spontaneity.

Since camping can be time-consuming (and somewhat troublesome) to prepare for, we developed a system that enables us to leave last-minute without fear of leaving anything imperative behind. Instead of storing all our camping gear scattered about the attic or garage, we leave all our essential items in a Rubbermaid bin, so all we have to do is grab it and go. Our camp chairs and a small tent stay in the trunk of our car the whole season.

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LEDs bring AT&T and GE together

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

AT&T drew attention last week to its re-branding efforts — with the help of LEDs, of course. As a part of its re-branding initiative, AT&T developed a new logo — which meant the company needed to replace its more than 7,000 signs displayed on its offices and retail locations across the nation — and their new medium of choice was the LED.

Partnering with GE and using one of its LED light designs, AT&T used approximately 2.6 million LEDs to replace both the high-voltage, high-maintenance neon that is often used in small-building signs and less-efficient linear fluorescent lighting, which performs less favorably than LEDs in cold climates. AT&T is expected to save more than 5.8 million killowatt hours worth of electricity, which AT&T reports is roughly the equivalent of planting 950 acres of trees.

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Wal-Mart Goes Green

Saturday, July 18th, 2009

Last Wednesday, July 15, the Wal-Mart in Leavenworth, Kansas reopened its doors, becoming the first member of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Retailer Energy Alliance (REA) to implement a parking lot supported by LED lighting, according to LEDs Magazine.

The LED lighting for the parking lot is based on specifications developed by the REA. The Wal-Mart Superstore is the one of 43 retailers engaged in a DOE program called the Net-Zero Commercial Building Initiative (CBI). According to the CBI web site: (more…)

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Lessons from our First Camping Trip

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

My wife and I recently endeavored on our first camping trip of the summer. After that first night back in a tent and remembering the smell of a campfire, I was hooked. When we were there, it felt like forever since we had last camped, and I guess it showed too. The trip was an impromptu decision, and turned out to be a good one, with the exception of a few minor setbacks.

Here are a few things we learned that will hopefully help make your first experience slightly more successful than ours… (more…)

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Camping Tips for Beginners

Sunday, July 12th, 2009

If you’re looking to venture into the Great Outdoors for the first time this summer (and you should), I read an article recently that offered a number of suggestions for ensuring your first experience camping is a positive one. Because, well, what part of sleeping outside on the ground far away from civilization doesn’t sound appealing?

Here’s the advice that outdoor expert Georges Seguin has to offer:

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