You forgot about northern Arizona !

It's not in the Ring of Fire, but it STILL rings my bell ..

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPYese-Hl8M[/youtube]

mrchad9 wrote:Say what you will... IMHO Lava Beds NM can't be beat!

Check out Craters of the Moon NM in Idaho sometime... not saying it's better that Lava Beds NM but it the same kind of thing and is really cool.
http://www.summitpost.org/craters-of-the-moon-national-monument/289357

ExcitableBoy wrote:Bobby Jindal, Gov of Louisiana, called for eliminating federal funding of volcano monitoring programs because "there aren't any volcanos in the US". Having survived the eruption of Mt. St. Helens, I wonder how people so ignorant of science get elected. Oh wait, he is the Gov of Louisiana. Makes sense now.

Hawaii is still a state, right?

lcarreau wrote:You forgot about northern Arizona !

It's not in the Ring of Fire, but it STILL rings my bell ..

I wondered if you'd notice my omission. Indeed, I did spend a night camping in the forest near Humphrey's followed by a suffering kind of hike (some combination of a G.I. virus that may have been accentuated by a touch of AMS). Nice views from the top though! Despite there still being some snow, it was a bit of a mountain highway compared to what I am accustomed to, but not nearly as much company and wide open trail as one would find on Lassen Peak or at Bumpass Hell.

Anyway, after Humphrey's I was off to the edges of that big canyon nearby, with some nights spent in the NF off to the east....then into the dust storms of Kayenta before heading through Taos and into the mesas and volcanic realms around the junction of NM, CO, and OK. I managed to avoid Texas as a matter of principle, but did have to experience north central OK, as well as its panhandle, on the way to the lush, welcoming Ozarks fresh with tornado damage.

I doubt I'll drive to MO/AR and back again, but if I do, can I pretend that western and central Oklahoma is lava?

mtybumpo wrote:

mrchad9 wrote:Say what you will... IMHO Lava Beds NM can't be beat!

Check out Craters of the Moon NM in Idaho sometime... not saying it's better that Lava Beds NM but it the same kind of thing and is really cool.
http://www.summitpost.org/craters-of-the-moon-national-monument/289357

Nice page!

Yes, Craters of the Moon is a well done page, worth a look!
I haven't been on a good trip north of southern Oregon in over 25 years. A close friend has been living in Boise for awhile now though, and I've been meaning to do a PNW-Glacier-Candian Rockies loop sometime.

I can understand the frustration in Washington about apparent lack of attention to volcanoes with St. Helens, & with Ranier being close to so many people, etc. Hawaii was a good mention and a good example to use when teaching/learning about hot spots and plate tectonics.

butitsadryheat wrote: Science is very broad.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p6fTDGLHGQ[/youtube]

butitsadryheat wrote:I wouldn't throw stones anyway unless I knew the exact nature of his comments.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn8xgOqFJvE[/youtube]

butitsadryheat wrote:

ExcitableBoy wrote:

butitsadryheat wrote:Well, actually, he just called for the money in the stimulus package for the program to be eliminated, not the entire funding.

The take home point was he didn't know there are volcanos in the US. So much for being well versed in science.

My take home point was that I'm sure he was taken out of context. Perhaps he meant that we don't have very many active volcanoes. Science is very broad. I'm sure he is very well versed, being a Rhodes scholar. I wouldn't throw stones anyway unless I knew the exact nature of his comments.

BTW, what happend to your post? It's gone?

Rhodes? Wasn't he the guy who was annoyed by comments in the thread about retiring and selling gear after finishing the 7 summits?

Active? If you listen to those selling tours, the most active volcano in the world is referneced above! Having said that, most active does not equate to most dangerous, nor do I equate tour advertisements with accuracy.

Jindal? He sounded out of touch the one time I watched him speak (in rebuttal to an Obama address), but I do suspect his comments were taken out of context in the case referenced in this thread. There is loyalty to a cause, loyalty to a political party, loyalty to values, loyalty to all kinds of things besides seeking factual truth. Then there is loyalty to those on a mission from God:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHV0zs0kVGg[/youtube]

Did somebody mention volcanoes?

butitsadryheat wrote:

ExcitableBoy wrote:

butitsadryheat wrote:Well, actually, he just called for the money in the stimulus package for the program to be eliminated, not the entire funding.

The take home point was he didn't know there are volcanos in the US. So much for being well versed in science.

My take home point was that I'm sure he was taken out of context. Perhaps he meant that we don't have very many active volcanoes. Science is very broad. I'm sure he is very well versed, being a Rhodes scholar. I wouldn't throw stoActualnes anyway unless I knew the exact nature of his comments.

BTW, what happend to your post? It's gone?

I stand corrected. I just read the transcript from his speach. He never actually said we don't have volcanos, just that it was a waste of money to monitor them. It still strikes me as disingenous given the federal money spent on hurricane monitoring and relief in his state.

As for my post, it was accidently deleted by a moderator.

SeanReedy wrote:I suspect it was taken out of context as well, hence my lack of comment prior to eventually making light of it, and that's despite the fact that the one time I heard Jindal speak in rebuttal to Obama, he sounded like a complete candy-a** dork.

Aaaa ... was he wearing a fur coat during the rebuttal ...?

Well, Larry, I just thought this thread needed more eruptions in it! You caught me while I was in the midst of cleaning up my debris. That's the problem with volcanic debris; hard to clean up, but fun to look at later as a tourist.

Ahhh, the bear!



EB, I think my eruption has now covered yours with a new layer of material. Depsite my adoration of Jindal and his motive to serve his own area, I am leaning toward hurricanes being more deserving of being on the radar than volcanoes, given recent disasters in the U.S. That's not to say that volcanoes don't need any attention. I wonder what the current picture is as far as monitoring and funding of the monitoring.

This is the USGS volcanoes webpage http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/ for those interested in what they get up to. There are all kinds of natural hazards facing the US but an important question is what can funding realistically achieve. I'm playing devil's advocate here with various examples as I understand them.

If Yellowstone was to blow up in some catastrophic fashion could there even be a sensible contingency plan to deal with that? Might not happen for 10,000 years. How much money should be spent?

A different case focussing on policy - the Washington (state) coast has a history of massive earthquakes compounded by tsunami generation. There are various approaches with regards to mapping ruptures, precursory deformation, and other indicators but at the end of the day, if you don't improve the building structures, flood prevention systems, emergency planning structures etc. then monitoring doesn't help anything. I've seen the tsunami warning signs over there but I don't think it's local ones they're referring to, but more like ones coming across from Alaska or further where there's been some warning.

San Francisco is mostly in the same boat, there's probably be a big earthquake there in the next few decades. How much preparedness is there? What is the obligation of the federal government/state/company/individual? This applies to hurricanes too, monitoring can help with questions like what kind of event size should you prepare for and when and how frequently but the consequences will generally come down to defences and emergency planning by various parties.

Baarb, I almost specifically mentioned loyalty to science. I've always found earth sciences a fun distraction from things I've studied more in depth to make a living.

You cited several interesting examples to ponder. When average media sources share such examples, it tends to be presented in a somewhat alarmist way to attract attention, but I have seen many stories about increasing disaster preparedness and safeguarding in my area. For example, infrastructure and building improvements are ongoing, and campaigns for individual preparedness continue. With budget shortfalls, we are left with improvements that will be put off to the future.

It has almost nothing to do with worrying about earthquakes, but I've got a small home on wheels that stays well prepared, and I also keep my earthquake resistant house well stocked.

I didn't spring for the $1,500 set of this stuff that recently appeared in my costco catalog,...



...nor do I share my friend's fascination with this:



However, I do admit that I am one of those dorks who sometimes gets distracted by politics:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6uHR90Sq6k[/youtube]

IIRC, one of my favorite TV shows described Hawaii as the safest state when it comes to natural disasters and weather.

I couldn't find a video, nor recall the episode, but I did find some facts...

Twelve of the 50 U.S. states have active or potentially active volcanoes within their borders, but only four of those 12 states (Alaska, Hawaii, Washington and California) have experienced a volcanic eruption since 1900.

http://www.history.com/shows/how-the-states-got-their-shapes/articles/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-us-states

...and a game: http://www.history.com/interactives/place-the-state-game