Preserving California's Wilderness
The powerful effect of landscape and environment on the spirit is
nowhere better demonstrated than in California. But the very same
wilderness landscapes that evoke passion, adrenaline and poetry from
wild Californians are facing danger themselves. What will happen to
the wild lifestyles of California if the wild places disappear? It
was this disconcerting thought which inspired the creation of ADVENTURES IN WILD CALIFORNIA.
"ADVENTURES IN WILD CALIFORNIA is not just an ode to California's
obviously spectacular natural wonders," comments director Greg
MacGillivray. "It also gives a really strong reason to save
those wonders because they are a major influence on this unique,
forward-thinking culture. To look at the Sierra Nevada, or the Big
Sur coast, or the forests of Yosemite and Sequoia, you can't help
but feel the limitlessness of possibility, and these have inspired a
state that has been at the edge of technological innovation and
human exploration from it beginnings."
Adds writer/producer Mark Krenzien: "You don't need to go to
the ends of the earth to touch the wild - it's right here in
California and we want to keep it that way. The more we shot of this
film, the more clear it became what is at stake right now in
California."
California's coast, sky, mountains and forests are all under heavy
pressure from increased human impact through pollution, resource
use, toxic waste and habitat destruction. As the human population of
California rapidly explodes, the number of wild species declines.
There remain virtually untouched and unexplored spaces in
California, but they are quickly disappearing.
It is no longer enough to just exalt California's wilderness - those
who want to keep it must work to save it, as exemplified by the
environmental scientists whose moving stories are featured in ADVENTURES IN WILD CALIFORNIA.
Some facts about
California's unique biodiversity and fragility:
- California harbors
more unique plants and animals than any other state in the U.S.
- California also
has the greatest diversity of climates and landscapes
- California is the
only home to 30,000 unique insect species, 63 freshwater fishes,
46 amphibians, 96 reptiles, 563 birds, 190 mammals and about
8,000 plants
- Over 20 percent of
California's amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals are
classified as endangered, threatened or "of special
concern" by the state and/or federal government
- Less than 4
percent remains of the two million acres of redwoods that
stretched across California and Oregon just 150 years ago
- One of
California's most fragile areas is its 600-mile long coastline,
where a confluence of bays, estuaries, wetlands, beaches and
dunes is endangered by on-shore pollution sources and off-shore
drilling and fishing industries
- California has lost more than ninety percent of its valuable wetlands, which
are the only breeding grounds for numerous waterfowl and game fish, including
halibut.
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