August 1, 2025 • 40 mins
We began the program with four interesting guests on topics we think you should know more about!
When we think of power line corridors, we don’t usually think about the habitats around them! These corridors are not just structures delivering energy across the region – they’re home to many native plants, pollinators, and hundreds of wildlife species!
Guest: Sean Redding, Director of Vegetation Management at Eversource Energy
Are you a sugar addict? You may want to drop that extra scoop of sugar in your morning coffee because it’s cutting years off your life and damaging your long-term health!
Guest: Monica Serra, Health Scientist Administrator at the National Institute on Aging
The first “wildfire-resilient” community has been built in California. It opened just months after the raging wildfires destroyed thousands of homes in the Los Angeles area. Steve Hawks will tell us how these homes work and what makes them fire-resistant.
Guest: Steve Hawks, Senior Director for Wildfire at the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety
A new study out reveals 75 percent of North America’s bird species are in decline - the latest sign of a slow-moving extinction crisis that threatens entire ecosystems.
Guest: Dr. Nicole Michel, Director of Quantitative Science for the National Audubon Society and co-author of the recent State of the Birds report
When we think of power line corridors, we don’t usually think about the habitats around them! These corridors are not just structures delivering energy across the region – they’re home to many native plants, pollinators, and hundreds of wildlife species!
Guest: Sean Redding, Director of Vegetation Management at Eversource Energy
Are you a sugar addict? You may want to drop that extra scoop of sugar in your morning coffee because it’s cutting years off your life and damaging your long-term health!
Guest: Monica Serra, Health Scientist Administrator at the National Institute on Aging
The first “wildfire-resilient” community has been built in California. It opened just months after the raging wildfires destroyed thousands of homes in the Los Angeles area. Steve Hawks will tell us how these homes work and what makes them fire-resistant.
Guest: Steve Hawks, Senior Director for Wildfire at the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety
A new study out reveals 75 percent of North America’s bird species are in decline - the latest sign of a slow-moving extinction crisis that threatens entire ecosystems.
Guest: Dr. Nicole Michel, Director of Quantitative Science for the National Audubon Society and co-author of the recent State of the Birds report
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's nice Eyes with Dan Ray. I'm going you easy
Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Oh, it is almost the weekend. My name is Dan Ray,
and I am here for you dining, dancing, listening pleasure
every Monday through Friday night from eight until midnight, alongside,
well not physically alongside, but kind of hooked up electronically
as my producer, Rob Brooks. And Rob does a great job.
(00:26):
First hour, we have four guests during the eight o'clock
hour on different topics every night. It's real pultpourri of topics,
interesting topics. And then coming up at nine o'clock tonight,
we're going to talk about an interesting article that Joan
Vnanki wrote in The Boston Globe yesterday about perhaps being
a little bit more aggressive with those who are homeless
(00:47):
and those who are in addition to being homeless, alcohol
or drug addicted and also really causing problems in various communities,
and whether they should be involuntarily committed to deal with
those drug and alcohol and our alcohol addictions. And we'll
also talk about justin Timberlake's revelation that he has lime disease,
(01:11):
that is a more serious set of circumstances than most
of us realize, and we'll be talking with talktor Alfred Miller,
who is an expert. He is a Mayo Clinic trained
roominologist and an expert on lime disease, and not only
lime disease, but the implications of lime disease. So stay
with us, and then we'll also have a twenty eighth
hour tonight. And I think what I'm going to ask
(01:32):
you was recommended to me today during our nightside pregame
at four point thirty on Facebook, our Facebook page nights
How with Dan Ray. I think I'm going to ask
people tonight. Try it. What is your favorite summertime memory
from your childhood, whatever that is. Let's I think we'll
have some interesting conversations and comments on that. So but
(01:53):
first off, we are going to talk about something that
probably I've never thought of. My guest is Sean he's
the director of vegetation Management at ever Source Energy. And
most of us have driven by power lines and you
don't give them much of a thought because they're sort
of corridors oftentimes off of roads through the woods, and
(02:17):
they need to be maintained. And I guess some of
these power line areas are quite biodiverse. So let's welcome
Sean Redding to the show. Sean, welcome, How are you tonight?
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Hi Dan, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Yeah, I mean this seriously. I was looking at this today.
I was saying, gee, I never thought of how you
have to maintain I guess it's how many thirty five
hundred miles of power line corridors throughout New England.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
That's something we have loty thousand miles how much power lines?
The majority of those are along the road, but we
do have about over three thousand miles that do cut
across country those right of ways. Most of those are
our transmission high voltage lines.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yeah, what did you? I missed? You said? How many
in total power lines? Do you have?
Speaker 3 (03:10):
About forty thousand across the three states we serve?
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Yeah, well I can understand that figure. And thirty five
hundred these power line cards. And apparently not only is
there valuable native plants that you have to worry about,
there's also pollinators. I guess that's wasps and bees and
hornets and things like that. Is that what a pollinator is?
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Yes, pollinators are those types of insects, plus butterflies, and
there are even some birds and bats that also pollinate plants.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Okay, and then hundreds of wildlife species. So how often
does someone from eversource have to clean up or mole
or whatever you do on those power lines that again
our power line cars, they've cut through roadways where there
(04:04):
is a lot of vegetation. How often do you have
to hit those? Every year?
Speaker 4 (04:11):
Every four years?
Speaker 3 (04:12):
And we use what's called an integrated vegetation management system,
so we're doing some mowing, some hand cutting, and some
other methods to control the vegetation, to keep it low
enough so it doesn't interfere with the power lines, for
safety and to keep the lights on.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
So you began your answer, and we missed the first
part of the answer.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
I have to do that about that, you know, so
about every four years?
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Every four years, so you mean the vegetation can grow
for three and a half years. I figured that you'd
have to do it more often than that.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Well, especially on the lines that cut across country, the
high voltage lines, we have to maintain greater clearances because
of that voltage and because of the critical nature of
those lines serving tens of thousands of customers and critical infrastructure,
and so we keep it very low. We keep a
shrubby grassland underneath our power lines in those right of ways.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
So but my question is, so I would assume then
you'd have to during the summer get in there every
couple of months and mow it. You're telling me you
do it every four years.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
So what we create is that low growing shrub and
grassland that reduces the amount of tall growing trees coming in.
And so through that methodology, you only have to come
back every four years to manage those tall growing trees
that are spread throughout those right of ways. It's not
like going every week and mowing your lawn, and it's
(05:48):
much less impactful, which then creates this great habitat for
all of these plants and critters.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Okay, and the critters you got everything from snakes, apping turtles, spolets,
spotted salamanders. I assume it's an unlimited variety of critters
as you as you called him, who make their home
or their habitat under and near these power lines. I
(06:17):
assume the power lines do not hurt the critters.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Correct, that's correct. The power lines do not hurt the critters.
And our power lines run across all sorts of different habitats,
you know, along up up and down the cape, across
the Berkshires, through wetlands, and so by maintaining these right
of ways in the manner that we do, it creates
these habitats suitable and beneficial for all of the turtles,
(06:43):
salamanders and snakes.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Now this is a dumb question, but I've been known
to ask dowm questions. The fact that there are power
lines through wooded areas here in New England? Does that
make Does the presence of the power lines actually make
it an attractive habitat for some of these so called critters?
Speaker 3 (07:09):
I mean absolutely it does it does?
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Okay, tell me why so?
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Naturally, if you left most of the area of Massachusetts alone,
it would become woods and forest, sure. And so the
maintenance that we do keeps it in that low grow,
shrubby grassland type habitat, which is not as common. So
in some places our right of ways are like corridors
for them to travel to nests, to breed and to
(07:39):
hibernate in the winter. So it's in some places it's
the only place that they have this habitat is in
our transmission right of ways.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Really interesting, how big a portion this would be? My
last question I'm just wondering how big a portion of
ever Source's budget is dedicated to making sure that these
major power line corridors and power lines remain operational. I mean, obviously,
(08:08):
if a transformer on a side street goes out, maybe
there'll be five, six, seven, eight, ten houses that temporarily
lose power. I assume these are This is critical infrastructure,
but sounds to me like it's not a huge part
of the maintenance budget.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
It's not a huge part. The main part is our
line workers and craft workers who keep the equipment running.
And this is a small part to keep the vegetation
away from those lines, but very important because of the
environment that we're in and the size that these trees
grow around here. It's a very critical component. But we
(08:50):
manage it in a way to be as cost effective,
least impactful to the environment, and to keep the lights on.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Well, I'll tell you that's that's a great goal. Thank
you very much for keeping the lights on. Sean Reading,
the director of vegetation management at Eversource Energy, learned a
lot something that I had never thought about, but a
lot of good information. If folks want to get more information,
Is there any website that we can direct them to Sean.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
Absolutely. You can go to our eversource dot com website
and you can either look up the guides that we've
created for either tree planting or for what we call
the herptile Guide, which are these snakes, turtles, toads, and amphibians.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Thank you very much. I appreciate you taking the time
to be with us on this Friday night Sean reading
of ever Source Energy. We'll talk again. Thank you. Sean.
All right, when we get back, we are going to
talk about aging and what sugar does to the aging process.
(09:56):
I'll give you a little bit. I don't want to
spoil it, but I'll give you a little hint. It's
probably not good. We'll be back with Monica Sarah. She's
a health scientist administrator at the National Institute on Aging.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
You're on Night Side with Dan Ray on w B
Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
We're going to talk about sugar, and if you are
a sugar hollick, pay attention because this is going to
get a little scary. Monica Sarah is a health science
and scientist administrator at the National Institute on Aging. I've
read the materials tonight, Monica, and I'm scared to death.
(10:38):
How are you this evening?
Speaker 5 (10:39):
I'm you for having me good.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
I like my brownies, I like my ice cream. My
way down to control. I've done all the things that
I thought were right. But I do enjoy, you know,
sugar as part of my diet. And this is scary stuff.
Uh you do you eat any sugar?
Speaker 5 (11:05):
Everything? In moderation? That is our quota that we go by, right.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Yeah, And I think that that applies to a lot
of things. But sugar is just it's everywhere. It's everywhere,
and uh, I mean you you folks have talked about
obviously sugar can contribute to people being overweight. Uh. It's
not good for your liver. Uh, it can be. It
(11:32):
can cause diabetes, Uh it can. It can increase your
your age what what the age of your body?
Speaker 6 (11:41):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (11:41):
It can contribute to a dementia. I'm just reading this
scarce the heck. I had a lovely brownie with some
chocolate ice cream on it for dinner.
Speaker 5 (11:51):
Tonight, as you should every once in a while. Right
that it also gives us a rewarding feeling, and so
so that is one of the things that we want
people to be able to, you know, to eat when
they want to enjoy these foods as well.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
It's an important let's start positive.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Let's start talking about the good sugars. Okay, I'm a
big fruit and vegetable guy. Are they good sugars and
fruit and vegetables.
Speaker 5 (12:17):
So sugar is sugar. That's the thing that people need
to understand. And so the same sugars that we find
in our fruits are the same sugars that we find
in other foods, you know, like our condiments and candy
and our baked goods. So they are the same amount.
It's just that in whole we get other nutrients within
(12:39):
our whole foods, and the sugar content is typically less
than what it is in these other foods.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Okay, So there should be no limit, just to try
to set out a structure here, there should be no limit.
If you want to eat a couple of apples and
a couple of oranges in a banana and I'm a
big fruit guy, or whatever vegetables with salads, that's not
going to hurt you in any way, shape or form.
I'm assuming.
Speaker 5 (13:04):
Please tell well, if your total calorie intake is too
much and that leads to weight gain, that can be
a problem.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
But if you're you.
Speaker 5 (13:12):
Know, total calorie intake is what you need for your day,
then typically yes, you can eat you know, your fruits
and vegetables to the degree that you are wanting to
because they are they do provide so many other nutrients.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
So let's get let's let's get to the bad sugars.
I mean, I know that fructose is a really.
Speaker 5 (13:33):
Bad sugar, right, so I'm going to actually just step
back for one second and say it's good. The good
thing about it is that we actually have our food
labels that point out what we want to avoid, and
that is the added sugar that we find in foods.
So we have naturally producing like or naturally occurring so
(13:56):
things that are in our fruits and vegetables. But we
as food manufacturers, we often are adding more sugar because
we know people like it also as a preservative. So
on the food label, it's important to look at added
sugars and to try to keep those low.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Now, are the added sugars on fruit labels. It's one
thing to have them there that you can't read unless
you get, you know, like a magnifying glass on some labels.
But is it clear on the labels which are added
sugars or do you just have to figure that outfa yourself.
That's that's the problem, I think, Or at least yes.
Speaker 5 (14:33):
It is actually surprisingly there A lot of people are
not aware of that, but it is a line item
on the food label that is now it includes a
line that is for added sugars under the carbohydrate area,
because sugars are carbohydrates.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Okay, so let's talk. Let's talk about if you eat
too much sugar. Everybody knows it can impact your weight,
but I did not realize that it also raises your
dementia risk. I didn't realize that it can basically age
your body more quickly explain it to us.
Speaker 5 (15:12):
Okay, exactly, So, I mean it has multiple functions. Right,
Almost every cell in our body uses carbohydrates as energy sources.
But sugars combine to our proteins, to our lipids and
the body and there they form harmful compounds that are
called advanced glycation end products. And what happens is these
(15:32):
can accumulate in our tissues and lead to reduced plasticity
and flexibility. You know their function. Basically, it can also
increase inflammation and oxidative stress, and so those all have
bad effects on things like our blood vessels and arteries,
our kidneys, as well as even our skin. Right, they
can actually deplete the collagen that's in our skin and
(15:55):
add to the appearance of aging.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
So break it down for me little bit so that
I can understand that and my audience can understand it.
The damage that sugar does we know about, but I
think that one of the articles that I read it
prepping for this, is that it can accelerate dementia, and
it also can make your body. Whatever your body's ages.
(16:20):
If you're a seventy, even if you've been able to
keep your weight down, your body could physically be older
than your actual age.
Speaker 5 (16:31):
Which exactly what we call your epigenetic age, and that
basically is how your body reacts to external factors beyond
just the calendar. Right, So we have ways of basically
looking at are yourselves more biologically aged than what the
calendar is showing? And indeed we do sees that those
(16:53):
it's almost I guess for every gram of added sugar,
there are studies that suggest that it's about seven days.
Those people are about seven days older than their biologic
age for each gram that they eat each day.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
So we have to figure out. I mean, how can
people obviously, other than going cold turkey and saying I'm
not gonna eat any sugar, how can people There's no
way they can calculate that. I mean, they can step
on a scale and get their weight, they can take
up put a blood pressure cafe on and get their
blood pressure.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (17:25):
So there are recommendations, right, but they are for looking
at the food label. Is figuring that out, I will say,
just because people do have a good concept of calories
to some degree. The recommendation is that women get no
more than one hundred calories per day from added sugar,
and men limit their intake to more than a hundred,
no more than one hundred and fifty calories a day.
(17:46):
So that gives you kind of an idea because most
people are a little bit familiar. But what that really
means is that you should be avoiding these more processed
foods and going with the whole unprocessed food, but particularly
making sure that you're also getting a lot of fiber
and protein because that slows the absorption of those carbohydrates
(18:09):
so you don't get those peaks and crashes in your blood. Sugars,
So things like seeds and nuts, lagoons, and whole grains,
including those sorts of things in your meal are really important.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
Last quick comment on cane sugar. I had a food
expert on who was saying that to me the other
just a couple of months ago, that pure cane sugar
that you can buy in a store is better than
some of the sweeteners, the splendors and those products that
coffee drinkers use. And then it looks to me it
(18:45):
says cane sugar is almost entirely sou gross. Is that
good or bad?
Speaker 5 (18:53):
So it's hard for me to say good or bad? Right,
we always will say we recommend more or less. And
so there are alternatives for natural sweeteners, so things like
monk fruit or honey, maple syrup, and so you know,
having those in moderation would be better options than just
(19:14):
eating candy as you're sweet and encouraging people to get
whole foods that satisfy their cravings, so making sure they're
getting fiber, vitamins and minerals with it as well. So
that's why fruit is good.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Perfect. Monica, thank you very much. Monica's a health scientist
administrated at the National Institute of Aging. Now, Monica, here's
the question, is there somewhere that my audience who might
be a little confused because it's been a lot of
information you've given us, Is there somewhere that you can
send folks who might be able to see a summary
of what we've just talked about.
Speaker 5 (19:47):
Absolutely, we have information on the National Institute on Aging's website,
and we would refer individuals there where you can find
information on fiscal activity and dietary intake and particularly and
how that's important along the aging process.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Okay, and so it is National Institute on Aging dot gov.
Give us the website it is.
Speaker 5 (20:11):
Let me tell you it is NIA dot nih dot gov.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Ni A dot nih dot gov. Monica, Sarah, thank you.
Speaker 5 (20:21):
Very much for having me.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Okay, great, I've learned a lot. Uh some of it's
pretty scary. Thank you very much. When we get back,
we're going to talk about a new community, and of
all places, California, a wildfire resilient community that has just
been opened months after those raging fires that we all
watched in horror last January. My name is Dan Ray.
(20:47):
This is Nightside. I want to remind you by the
way of a cool way for you to be a part,
to be another part of the Nightside broadcast. You can
you can utilize our talkback feature on the iHeartRadio app.
Make sure you download and have this free iHeartRadio app
with you. You listen to Nightside Live on WBZ News Radio,
you can tap the red microphone talk back button in
(21:08):
the top right corner and you can send us a
personalized audio message. And it can be critical, it could
be complementary, it can be critically constructive, and if it passes,
must remember it no bad words. We'll play it and
only about less than thirty seconds. We'll play it on Nightside.
It's that simple. Once again, try it. Hit that red
microphone button in the top right corner of the app
(21:29):
while listening to Nightside or during the day and send
us your audio message back on Nightside talking about fireproof
fire wildfire resilient communities. We need that coming back on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
It's Nightside with Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
All right, welcome back everyone. I think all of you
remember that horrific wildfire, well series of wildfires out in
the Los Angeles area last January that devastate I think
more than a thousand homes that literally were burned to
the ground. With us is Steve Hawks. He's the senior
director for Wildfire at the Insurance Institute for Business and
(22:10):
Home Safety, and we're going to talk about the first
wildfire resilient community to have been built, and it's been
built in California, just open months after those raging fires
destroyed thousands of homes in the LA area. Steve Hawks,
Welcome to Night'side. Thanks for joining us this evening. It's
so interesting, it's sort of really interesting that right after
(22:35):
the wildfires of last January, the first fire resilient community
was unveiled. How did that come to be?
Speaker 6 (22:45):
Well, we had been working on wildfire mitigation for well
over fifteen years, conducting research at our research center in
South Carolina and doing post fire analysis, and in twenty
twenty two we launched a Wildfire Prepared Home program that
looks at mitigating individual properties for wildfire risk, and after
that we turned to focusing on a community level. And
(23:08):
just coincidence that the launch of our program came almost
immediately after the wildfires in LA.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
And how long it had you've been working on this,
This had to have been something that was in the
pipeline for some period of time.
Speaker 6 (23:26):
Yeah, really, wildfire mitigation starts at the parcel level with
each individual property owner doing their part along with other
stakeholders in wildfire mitigation, in mitigating each property, and then
done at scale across the community level. So, as I mentioned,
we had been working on wildfire mitigation for well over
(23:47):
fifteen years, and we rolled out these two programs Wildfire
Prepared Home in twenty twenty two and then Wildfire Prepared
Neighborhood in twenty twenty five, because wildfire mitigation has to
happen in US at scale across entire neighborhoods to give
communities the best chance of surviving these high intensity fires.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
Now, look, we're here in the in the Northeast, and
we see these fires that seem to impact places like California.
Not just California, but California seems to be the epicenter
of some of these fires. As does it have what
does it have to do with the homes built too
close together? Did they not get rid of brush underneath?
(24:32):
Why is California having these disasters, these these these these
fire disasters.
Speaker 6 (24:41):
Yeah, these conflagration type fires. And conflagration is when you
have large structure loss associated with a wildfire, when you
have conditions of drought and very high winds, and then
a start of a fire that's nearer community, where the
the vegetation that is stressed because of the drought conditions
(25:04):
is pushed by the fires, then pushed by the wind
into the community, and where that fire then becomes an
urban fire and can burn from structure to structure. So
we look at three factors once the fire is in
a community, the structures facing the vegetative and other fuels
like fences and structures between homes that can allow the
(25:29):
fire to spread, and then the materials that the home
is made out of itself. And those three factors really
determine how easy it is for a fire to spread
within the community and become that conflagration type fire. And
when those factors exist in other communities that are maybe
not typically associated with wildfire prone areas, that conflagration can
(25:51):
unfold in those areas as well. And we saw examples
of this on a smaller scale in New York, New
Jersey last year and earlier this year in the Carolinas.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
Now, if people listening tonight and say, gee, this sounds
like a great idea, you can't have a fire resilient
home built, I guess individually, in a specific in a neighborhood.
It sounds to me is if the entire neighborhood has
to be fire resilient.
Speaker 5 (26:21):
That's right.
Speaker 6 (26:21):
Yeah, And the fire is kind of unlike other perils
where if you do great wildfire mitigation on your property
and I'm your neighbor and I don't do anything to
prepare my home, my home can succumb to the wildfire
and then threaten your home and spread the fire within
the community. So it is a community wide mitigation effort.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
So do you think that, I don't know, within fifty
years or one hundred years, we might have enough fire
wildfire resilient homes built around the country so that wildfires
like we saw in Los Angeles or as you mentioned
in New York or New Jersey go the way of
(27:07):
the hoist and buggy.
Speaker 6 (27:10):
That's the goal to me to be seen as to
how long it takes to get there. We know that
codes building to a high standard in wildfire prone areas
significantly reduces the new homes from succumbing to wildfires. And
then we have to deal with the existing homes by
(27:31):
retrofitting them using higher resilient building materials and then mitigating
the vegetation that surrounds the home, particularly the first five
feet immediately out from the walls of the home, of
reducing and having nothing combustible in that area. And when
we can build homes in the future to a high
(27:52):
standard and retrofit our existing communities, then we have done
a lot to reduce the threat of these wildfire's turning conflagration.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
And is California the place where you're going to take
make your stand, to make your mark or are you
going to start working in other states even like a
star away here as in New England in the not
too distant future.
Speaker 6 (28:19):
Right We started in California and we have since launched
both programs in Oregon, and we are looking to expand
to other Western states that are more wildfire prone in
the near future, and as the wildfire threat grows across
the country, then we'll expand the program accordingly.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
Well, I'll tell you it sounds pretty futuristic, but it's
something we need right away. And how can folks, if
they're interested and may be interested even to relocate to
one of your wildfire resilient communities in southern California, where
can we send them for more information?
Speaker 6 (28:56):
Yeah, they can go to wildfire prepared dot org and
look at the resources we have available on that website
that really directs them as to the steps that they
can take to mitigate the risk at their property. This
is something that's achievable, it's backed in science, and we
know that it works.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
And I also would just like to say that you
guys make it very clear there's no such thing as
a fireproof community, but you do have what you call
a wildfire resilient community. So people have to be be
careful even in a wildfire resilient community, if you're cooking
(29:36):
indoors or you're being you know, not being careful with candles.
Fires can start from inside homes as well.
Speaker 6 (29:45):
Yeah, and then then they spread to the outside under
high wind conditions, you can have a fire start within
the community that way as well. So and again it
just really underscores the importance of community level mitigation.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
Couldn't agree with you more, Steve Hawks. It sounds interesting
and it's a fascinating topic. I really appreciate you taking
the time to talk with us tonight.
Speaker 3 (30:07):
Absolutely, thanks for having me on tonight.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
You're welcome when we get back. When I talk with
doctor Nicole Michael, the director. She is the director of
Quantitative Science for the National Autobon Society and co author
of the recent State of the Birds Report. The study
reveals that seventy five percent of North American birds species
are in decline. That's troubling. We'll talk with doctor Nicole
(30:32):
Michael right after this.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
Break Night Side with Dan Ray. I'MBZ Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
Well, this is a troubling study with us as doctor
Nicole Michael. She's the director of Quantitative Science for the
National Autobon Society and co author of a recent State
of the Birds report. Doctor Michael, how often does the
Audubon Society produce a State of the Birds report? Or
is this the first effort?
Speaker 7 (31:05):
No, so, State of the Birds reports have been produced
for many years now, and you know, Audubon Society, we
are one of the authors of this report. We collaborate
with many other organizations and universities across the bird conservation community.
And yeah, this, you know, the twenty twenty five State
of the Birds Report shows, you know, both a real
(31:25):
dire situation for birds. There was a very you know,
a large study that came out six years ago showing
that we've lost nearly three billion birds since twenty nineteen,
nearly a third of birds in North America. And with
the State of the Birds Report, we followed up and
showed that birds are continuing to decline five years later.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
Okay, so the question has to be what's going on
that we're losing that many birds. I mean, there must
be something that is that's causing this. This is not
this is not birds flying into windmills. What's going on?
Speaker 7 (32:04):
Yeah, I mean, you know, that's the million dollar question
that we're all working on figuring out. And what we've learned,
you know, what birds are telling us is that there
are a lot of different factors that are causing the climbs.
So the groups that we're seeing the most declines in
are birds that migrate, particularly those that are migrating very
(32:25):
long distances, you know, breeding in North America and wintering
in Central and South America, and particularly grassland birds. We've
seen the greatest losses. You know, over forty three percent
of grassland birds have been lost since nineteen seventy and
this is due primarily to you know, anthropagen epigenic impact,
(32:48):
including you know, loss of native grasslands to agricultural conversion,
and I mean windmills and building collisions are are part
of it as well, but habitat loss is really one
of the biggest drivers.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
But these are stunning statistics. I assume that they sound
to me. I've never studied this before. Has there been
any other bird drop in population as dramatic as this
that we know of? Is there is there something cyclical
that's going on. I'm trying to figure it out. I mean,
(33:25):
a bird flies into a building. Now the bird gets
his back windmill, I get it. But the numbers are
much greater than that. Is avian flu. We keep hearing
about avian flu. This avian flu. That is that a problem?
Speaker 7 (33:38):
Oh? Absolutely, you know, And I don't think we have
a good sense of just how many wild birds have
been killed by avian flu yet, you know, as you know,
especially this this new variant in the last lie or two,
is you know, acting so rapidly. We just don't have
the data yet to serve that. But we can go
back and look at, for example, when West Nile virus hit,
(33:59):
and you can look at long term data sets like
Audubon's Christmas Bird Count or the USGS Breeding Bird Survey,
and you can see the dip in those birds like crows,
and you know the jays you see in your backyard.
You know, the populations really dipped after those viral outbreaks.
So yeah, that's part of the story too.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Now, the headline was three quarters of this species have
lost population. That that would mean a substantial dip in
the bird population overall, or is it the I don't know.
For example, I believe that the snowy how population is
(34:43):
not a huge number, and I might be wrong there,
but that's that's what I'm led to believe. So are
these says seventy five percent of North America's bird species
are in decline? Is that a fairly represent dentative sample?
Are the species that are in decline a fairly representative
(35:04):
sample of bird population overall?
Speaker 4 (35:09):
To a point?
Speaker 7 (35:10):
I mean, you know, the majority of species you know
shown by that are declining. But you know the way
that we're getting at these largest numbers is that we
are finding out again and again two more two very
recent studies showed that it is the most common species,
the most abundant species, ones that you know, your listeners
are probably most familiar with seeing in their backyards or
(35:32):
in their neighborhoods that are declining the most. So a
paper that just came out earlier this week showed that,
you know, species that were once abundant and that you know,
we're widespread have declined the most. In some regions, just
two to ten species accounted for eighty percent of the
(35:53):
numbers of birds that have been lost since nineteen seventy.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
Okay, what can my listeners do if anything? You know,
this this sounds like a just a huge problem. What
can my listeners do other than becoming more informed? Can
they do anything in terms of their backyard, keep more
more bird food and bird feeders out. What's what's the
(36:21):
possibility that any of us can help out? Oh?
Speaker 7 (36:24):
Absolutely, yeah, there's there's so much that that individuals can
do to help you know another you know, other findings
of the State of the Bird's report were that conservation works,
conservation efforts that you know, organizations like Audubon and our
partners manement you know there in your region UH have
(36:44):
have worked to turn around the clients in species like
American leaster catchers or you know, grassland birds and Americans
love birds, you know, the the amount of money not
of people. Over half of Americans participate in bird watching
or feeding and you know, birding generates you know, from
(37:05):
nearly two hundred and eighty billion dollars annually.
Speaker 4 (37:07):
So a lot of people care about it. And if
you if all those people who care about birds took actions,
you know, these actions can include, you know, making your
yards safer, planting native plants, using less pesticides, you know,
making your windows safer so that birds don't collide into them,
keeping cats indoors, you know, buying bird family products like coffee,
(37:32):
eared or beef. As you said, learn more, you know,
learn more about birds in your community, and advocate for birds,
whether it's you know, with your friends and your community
or you know at the at the state House.
Speaker 2 (37:47):
Well, you certainly have identified the problem. How can folks
get more information on the Audubonne Society and know that
there are probably a lot of people in my audience
who are members of the Audubonne Society nationally are here
in Massachusetts. But for those who aren't, what's the best
way that they can get in touch with the Autumn
Society and maybe learn more about this problem?
Speaker 7 (38:10):
Yeah, so you can just go to our website and
you're there you can learn more about you know, the
efforts that Autubonne is taking and our members are taking.
You can connect with your local chapter.
Speaker 4 (38:20):
And I want to.
Speaker 7 (38:21):
Highlight a tool that you know is really fantastic for
learning more and understanding how birds connect us. It's called
the Bird Migration Explore and in there you can go
in and you can pick your favorite species or you
can you know, pick your location, and you can see
all the places that are connected to where you live.
(38:43):
You know where birds have been seen in your area,
and also as far flong as you know Believes or
the Yukon. It's really amazing.
Speaker 2 (38:52):
Well, thank you very much. I do appreciate the information.
Birds are amazing creatures and we need to take care
of them as best we can. Doctor Nicole Michael, director
of Quantitative Science for the National Autuble Society and co
author of the recent State of the Birds Report. Let's
get the State of the birds better next time we talk.
Speaker 7 (39:13):
Thank you so much, Thank you very welcome.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
When we get back right after the nine o'clock news,
we are going to change topics and talk about a
very interesting column yesterday in the Boston Globe by Joan Faraki,
and she talks about what's called Section thirty five. It's
a part of the law which allows people to be
policed in institutions against their will, and I know that
(39:41):
my libertarian friends are going to be very much opposed
to this, but I think we have to balance interests
on the individual rights of people to live the lives
they want and how the community in which they live
are impacted. We'll be back and talking about it and
also opening up phone lines right after the nine a
clock block news here on Nightside
It's nice Eyes with Dan Ray. I'm going you easy
Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Oh, it is almost the weekend. My name is Dan Ray,
and I am here for you dining, dancing, listening pleasure
every Monday through Friday night from eight until midnight, alongside,
well not physically alongside, but kind of hooked up electronically
as my producer, Rob Brooks. And Rob does a great job.
(00:26):
First hour, we have four guests during the eight o'clock
hour on different topics every night. It's real pultpourri of topics,
interesting topics. And then coming up at nine o'clock tonight,
we're going to talk about an interesting article that Joan
Vnanki wrote in The Boston Globe yesterday about perhaps being
a little bit more aggressive with those who are homeless
(00:47):
and those who are in addition to being homeless, alcohol
or drug addicted and also really causing problems in various communities,
and whether they should be involuntarily committed to deal with
those drug and alcohol and our alcohol addictions. And we'll
also talk about justin Timberlake's revelation that he has lime disease,
(01:11):
that is a more serious set of circumstances than most
of us realize, and we'll be talking with talktor Alfred Miller,
who is an expert. He is a Mayo Clinic trained
roominologist and an expert on lime disease, and not only
lime disease, but the implications of lime disease. So stay
with us, and then we'll also have a twenty eighth
hour tonight. And I think what I'm going to ask
(01:32):
you was recommended to me today during our nightside pregame
at four point thirty on Facebook, our Facebook page nights
How with Dan Ray. I think I'm going to ask
people tonight. Try it. What is your favorite summertime memory
from your childhood, whatever that is. Let's I think we'll
have some interesting conversations and comments on that. So but
(01:53):
first off, we are going to talk about something that
probably I've never thought of. My guest is Sean he's
the director of vegetation Management at ever Source Energy. And
most of us have driven by power lines and you
don't give them much of a thought because they're sort
of corridors oftentimes off of roads through the woods, and
(02:17):
they need to be maintained. And I guess some of
these power line areas are quite biodiverse. So let's welcome
Sean Redding to the show. Sean, welcome, How are you tonight?
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Hi Dan, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Yeah, I mean this seriously. I was looking at this today.
I was saying, gee, I never thought of how you
have to maintain I guess it's how many thirty five
hundred miles of power line corridors throughout New England.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
That's something we have loty thousand miles how much power lines?
The majority of those are along the road, but we
do have about over three thousand miles that do cut
across country those right of ways. Most of those are
our transmission high voltage lines.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yeah, what did you? I missed? You said? How many
in total power lines? Do you have?
Speaker 3 (03:10):
About forty thousand across the three states we serve?
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Yeah, well I can understand that figure. And thirty five
hundred these power line cards. And apparently not only is
there valuable native plants that you have to worry about,
there's also pollinators. I guess that's wasps and bees and
hornets and things like that. Is that what a pollinator is?
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Yes, pollinators are those types of insects, plus butterflies, and
there are even some birds and bats that also pollinate plants.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Okay, and then hundreds of wildlife species. So how often
does someone from eversource have to clean up or mole
or whatever you do on those power lines that again
our power line cars, they've cut through roadways where there
(04:04):
is a lot of vegetation. How often do you have
to hit those? Every year?
Speaker 4 (04:11):
Every four years?
Speaker 3 (04:12):
And we use what's called an integrated vegetation management system,
so we're doing some mowing, some hand cutting, and some
other methods to control the vegetation, to keep it low
enough so it doesn't interfere with the power lines, for
safety and to keep the lights on.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
So you began your answer, and we missed the first
part of the answer.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
I have to do that about that, you know, so
about every four years?
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Every four years, so you mean the vegetation can grow
for three and a half years. I figured that you'd
have to do it more often than that.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Well, especially on the lines that cut across country, the
high voltage lines, we have to maintain greater clearances because
of that voltage and because of the critical nature of
those lines serving tens of thousands of customers and critical infrastructure,
and so we keep it very low. We keep a
shrubby grassland underneath our power lines in those right of ways.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
So but my question is, so I would assume then
you'd have to during the summer get in there every
couple of months and mow it. You're telling me you
do it every four years.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
So what we create is that low growing shrub and
grassland that reduces the amount of tall growing trees coming in.
And so through that methodology, you only have to come
back every four years to manage those tall growing trees
that are spread throughout those right of ways. It's not
like going every week and mowing your lawn, and it's
(05:48):
much less impactful, which then creates this great habitat for
all of these plants and critters.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Okay, and the critters you got everything from snakes, apping turtles, spolets,
spotted salamanders. I assume it's an unlimited variety of critters
as you as you called him, who make their home
or their habitat under and near these power lines. I
(06:17):
assume the power lines do not hurt the critters.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Correct, that's correct. The power lines do not hurt the critters.
And our power lines run across all sorts of different habitats,
you know, along up up and down the cape, across
the Berkshires, through wetlands, and so by maintaining these right
of ways in the manner that we do, it creates
these habitats suitable and beneficial for all of the turtles,
(06:43):
salamanders and snakes.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Now this is a dumb question, but I've been known
to ask dowm questions. The fact that there are power
lines through wooded areas here in New England? Does that
make Does the presence of the power lines actually make
it an attractive habitat for some of these so called critters?
Speaker 3 (07:09):
I mean absolutely it does it does?
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Okay, tell me why so?
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Naturally, if you left most of the area of Massachusetts alone,
it would become woods and forest, sure. And so the
maintenance that we do keeps it in that low grow,
shrubby grassland type habitat, which is not as common. So
in some places our right of ways are like corridors
for them to travel to nests, to breed and to
(07:39):
hibernate in the winter. So it's in some places it's
the only place that they have this habitat is in
our transmission right of ways.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Really interesting, how big a portion this would be? My
last question I'm just wondering how big a portion of
ever Source's budget is dedicated to making sure that these
major power line corridors and power lines remain operational. I mean, obviously,
(08:08):
if a transformer on a side street goes out, maybe
there'll be five, six, seven, eight, ten houses that temporarily
lose power. I assume these are This is critical infrastructure,
but sounds to me like it's not a huge part
of the maintenance budget.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
It's not a huge part. The main part is our
line workers and craft workers who keep the equipment running.
And this is a small part to keep the vegetation
away from those lines, but very important because of the
environment that we're in and the size that these trees
grow around here. It's a very critical component. But we
(08:50):
manage it in a way to be as cost effective,
least impactful to the environment, and to keep the lights on.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Well, I'll tell you that's that's a great goal. Thank
you very much for keeping the lights on. Sean Reading,
the director of vegetation management at Eversource Energy, learned a
lot something that I had never thought about, but a
lot of good information. If folks want to get more information,
Is there any website that we can direct them to Sean.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
Absolutely. You can go to our eversource dot com website
and you can either look up the guides that we've
created for either tree planting or for what we call
the herptile Guide, which are these snakes, turtles, toads, and amphibians.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Thank you very much. I appreciate you taking the time
to be with us on this Friday night Sean reading
of ever Source Energy. We'll talk again. Thank you. Sean.
All right, when we get back, we are going to
talk about aging and what sugar does to the aging process.
(09:56):
I'll give you a little bit. I don't want to
spoil it, but I'll give you a little hint. It's
probably not good. We'll be back with Monica Sarah. She's
a health scientist administrator at the National Institute on Aging.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
You're on Night Side with Dan Ray on w B
Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
We're going to talk about sugar, and if you are
a sugar hollick, pay attention because this is going to
get a little scary. Monica Sarah is a health science
and scientist administrator at the National Institute on Aging. I've
read the materials tonight, Monica, and I'm scared to death.
(10:38):
How are you this evening?
Speaker 5 (10:39):
I'm you for having me good.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
I like my brownies, I like my ice cream. My
way down to control. I've done all the things that
I thought were right. But I do enjoy, you know,
sugar as part of my diet. And this is scary stuff.
Uh you do you eat any sugar?
Speaker 5 (11:05):
Everything? In moderation? That is our quota that we go by, right.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Yeah, And I think that that applies to a lot
of things. But sugar is just it's everywhere. It's everywhere,
and uh, I mean you you folks have talked about
obviously sugar can contribute to people being overweight. Uh. It's
not good for your liver. Uh, it can be. It
(11:32):
can cause diabetes, Uh it can. It can increase your
your age what what the age of your body?
Speaker 6 (11:41):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (11:41):
It can contribute to a dementia. I'm just reading this
scarce the heck. I had a lovely brownie with some
chocolate ice cream on it for dinner.
Speaker 5 (11:51):
Tonight, as you should every once in a while. Right
that it also gives us a rewarding feeling, and so
so that is one of the things that we want
people to be able to, you know, to eat when
they want to enjoy these foods as well.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
It's an important let's start positive.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Let's start talking about the good sugars. Okay, I'm a
big fruit and vegetable guy. Are they good sugars and
fruit and vegetables.
Speaker 5 (12:17):
So sugar is sugar. That's the thing that people need
to understand. And so the same sugars that we find
in our fruits are the same sugars that we find
in other foods, you know, like our condiments and candy
and our baked goods. So they are the same amount.
It's just that in whole we get other nutrients within
(12:39):
our whole foods, and the sugar content is typically less
than what it is in these other foods.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Okay, So there should be no limit, just to try
to set out a structure here, there should be no limit.
If you want to eat a couple of apples and
a couple of oranges in a banana and I'm a
big fruit guy, or whatever vegetables with salads, that's not
going to hurt you in any way, shape or form.
I'm assuming.
Speaker 5 (13:04):
Please tell well, if your total calorie intake is too
much and that leads to weight gain, that can be
a problem.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
But if you're you.
Speaker 5 (13:12):
Know, total calorie intake is what you need for your day,
then typically yes, you can eat you know, your fruits
and vegetables to the degree that you are wanting to
because they are they do provide so many other nutrients.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
So let's get let's let's get to the bad sugars.
I mean, I know that fructose is a really.
Speaker 5 (13:33):
Bad sugar, right, so I'm going to actually just step
back for one second and say it's good. The good
thing about it is that we actually have our food
labels that point out what we want to avoid, and
that is the added sugar that we find in foods.
So we have naturally producing like or naturally occurring so
(13:56):
things that are in our fruits and vegetables. But we
as food manufacturers, we often are adding more sugar because
we know people like it also as a preservative. So
on the food label, it's important to look at added
sugars and to try to keep those low.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Now, are the added sugars on fruit labels. It's one
thing to have them there that you can't read unless
you get, you know, like a magnifying glass on some labels.
But is it clear on the labels which are added
sugars or do you just have to figure that outfa yourself.
That's that's the problem, I think, Or at least yes.
Speaker 5 (14:33):
It is actually surprisingly there A lot of people are
not aware of that, but it is a line item
on the food label that is now it includes a
line that is for added sugars under the carbohydrate area,
because sugars are carbohydrates.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Okay, so let's talk. Let's talk about if you eat
too much sugar. Everybody knows it can impact your weight,
but I did not realize that it also raises your
dementia risk. I didn't realize that it can basically age
your body more quickly explain it to us.
Speaker 5 (15:12):
Okay, exactly, So, I mean it has multiple functions. Right,
Almost every cell in our body uses carbohydrates as energy sources.
But sugars combine to our proteins, to our lipids and
the body and there they form harmful compounds that are
called advanced glycation end products. And what happens is these
(15:32):
can accumulate in our tissues and lead to reduced plasticity
and flexibility. You know their function. Basically, it can also
increase inflammation and oxidative stress, and so those all have
bad effects on things like our blood vessels and arteries,
our kidneys, as well as even our skin. Right, they
can actually deplete the collagen that's in our skin and
(15:55):
add to the appearance of aging.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
So break it down for me little bit so that
I can understand that and my audience can understand it.
The damage that sugar does we know about, but I
think that one of the articles that I read it
prepping for this, is that it can accelerate dementia, and
it also can make your body. Whatever your body's ages.
(16:20):
If you're a seventy, even if you've been able to
keep your weight down, your body could physically be older
than your actual age.
Speaker 5 (16:31):
Which exactly what we call your epigenetic age, and that
basically is how your body reacts to external factors beyond
just the calendar. Right, So we have ways of basically
looking at are yourselves more biologically aged than what the
calendar is showing? And indeed we do sees that those
(16:53):
it's almost I guess for every gram of added sugar,
there are studies that suggest that it's about seven days.
Those people are about seven days older than their biologic
age for each gram that they eat each day.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
So we have to figure out. I mean, how can
people obviously, other than going cold turkey and saying I'm
not gonna eat any sugar, how can people There's no
way they can calculate that. I mean, they can step
on a scale and get their weight, they can take
up put a blood pressure cafe on and get their
blood pressure.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (17:25):
So there are recommendations, right, but they are for looking
at the food label. Is figuring that out, I will say,
just because people do have a good concept of calories
to some degree. The recommendation is that women get no
more than one hundred calories per day from added sugar,
and men limit their intake to more than a hundred,
no more than one hundred and fifty calories a day.
(17:46):
So that gives you kind of an idea because most
people are a little bit familiar. But what that really
means is that you should be avoiding these more processed
foods and going with the whole unprocessed food, but particularly
making sure that you're also getting a lot of fiber
and protein because that slows the absorption of those carbohydrates
(18:09):
so you don't get those peaks and crashes in your blood. Sugars,
So things like seeds and nuts, lagoons, and whole grains,
including those sorts of things in your meal are really important.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
Last quick comment on cane sugar. I had a food
expert on who was saying that to me the other
just a couple of months ago, that pure cane sugar
that you can buy in a store is better than
some of the sweeteners, the splendors and those products that
coffee drinkers use. And then it looks to me it
(18:45):
says cane sugar is almost entirely sou gross. Is that
good or bad?
Speaker 5 (18:53):
So it's hard for me to say good or bad? Right,
we always will say we recommend more or less. And
so there are alternatives for natural sweeteners, so things like
monk fruit or honey, maple syrup, and so you know,
having those in moderation would be better options than just
(19:14):
eating candy as you're sweet and encouraging people to get
whole foods that satisfy their cravings, so making sure they're
getting fiber, vitamins and minerals with it as well. So
that's why fruit is good.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Perfect. Monica, thank you very much. Monica's a health scientist
administrated at the National Institute of Aging. Now, Monica, here's
the question, is there somewhere that my audience who might
be a little confused because it's been a lot of
information you've given us, Is there somewhere that you can
send folks who might be able to see a summary
of what we've just talked about.
Speaker 5 (19:47):
Absolutely, we have information on the National Institute on Aging's website,
and we would refer individuals there where you can find
information on fiscal activity and dietary intake and particularly and
how that's important along the aging process.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Okay, and so it is National Institute on Aging dot gov.
Give us the website it is.
Speaker 5 (20:11):
Let me tell you it is NIA dot nih dot gov.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Ni A dot nih dot gov. Monica, Sarah, thank you.
Speaker 5 (20:21):
Very much for having me.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Okay, great, I've learned a lot. Uh some of it's
pretty scary. Thank you very much. When we get back,
we're going to talk about a new community, and of
all places, California, a wildfire resilient community that has just
been opened months after those raging fires that we all
watched in horror last January. My name is Dan Ray.
(20:47):
This is Nightside. I want to remind you by the
way of a cool way for you to be a part,
to be another part of the Nightside broadcast. You can
you can utilize our talkback feature on the iHeartRadio app.
Make sure you download and have this free iHeartRadio app
with you. You listen to Nightside Live on WBZ News Radio,
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(21:08):
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while listening to Nightside or during the day and send
us your audio message back on Nightside talking about fireproof
fire wildfire resilient communities. We need that coming back on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
It's Nightside with Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
All right, welcome back everyone. I think all of you
remember that horrific wildfire, well series of wildfires out in
the Los Angeles area last January that devastate I think
more than a thousand homes that literally were burned to
the ground. With us is Steve Hawks. He's the senior
director for Wildfire at the Insurance Institute for Business and
(22:10):
Home Safety, and we're going to talk about the first
wildfire resilient community to have been built, and it's been
built in California, just open months after those raging fires
destroyed thousands of homes in the LA area. Steve Hawks,
Welcome to Night'side. Thanks for joining us this evening. It's
so interesting, it's sort of really interesting that right after
(22:35):
the wildfires of last January, the first fire resilient community
was unveiled. How did that come to be?
Speaker 6 (22:45):
Well, we had been working on wildfire mitigation for well
over fifteen years, conducting research at our research center in
South Carolina and doing post fire analysis, and in twenty
twenty two we launched a Wildfire Prepared Home program that
looks at mitigating individual properties for wildfire risk, and after
that we turned to focusing on a community level. And
(23:08):
just coincidence that the launch of our program came almost
immediately after the wildfires in LA.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
And how long it had you've been working on this,
This had to have been something that was in the
pipeline for some period of time.
Speaker 6 (23:26):
Yeah, really, wildfire mitigation starts at the parcel level with
each individual property owner doing their part along with other
stakeholders in wildfire mitigation, in mitigating each property, and then
done at scale across the community level. So, as I mentioned,
we had been working on wildfire mitigation for well over
(23:47):
fifteen years, and we rolled out these two programs Wildfire
Prepared Home in twenty twenty two and then Wildfire Prepared
Neighborhood in twenty twenty five, because wildfire mitigation has to
happen in US at scale across entire neighborhoods to give
communities the best chance of surviving these high intensity fires.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
Now, look, we're here in the in the Northeast, and
we see these fires that seem to impact places like California.
Not just California, but California seems to be the epicenter
of some of these fires. As does it have what
does it have to do with the homes built too
close together? Did they not get rid of brush underneath?
(24:32):
Why is California having these disasters, these these these these
fire disasters.
Speaker 6 (24:41):
Yeah, these conflagration type fires. And conflagration is when you
have large structure loss associated with a wildfire, when you
have conditions of drought and very high winds, and then
a start of a fire that's nearer community, where the
the vegetation that is stressed because of the drought conditions
(25:04):
is pushed by the fires, then pushed by the wind
into the community, and where that fire then becomes an
urban fire and can burn from structure to structure. So
we look at three factors once the fire is in
a community, the structures facing the vegetative and other fuels
like fences and structures between homes that can allow the
(25:29):
fire to spread, and then the materials that the home
is made out of itself. And those three factors really
determine how easy it is for a fire to spread
within the community and become that conflagration type fire. And
when those factors exist in other communities that are maybe
not typically associated with wildfire prone areas, that conflagration can
(25:51):
unfold in those areas as well. And we saw examples
of this on a smaller scale in New York, New
Jersey last year and earlier this year in the Carolinas.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
Now, if people listening tonight and say, gee, this sounds
like a great idea, you can't have a fire resilient
home built, I guess individually, in a specific in a neighborhood.
It sounds to me is if the entire neighborhood has
to be fire resilient.
Speaker 5 (26:21):
That's right.
Speaker 6 (26:21):
Yeah, And the fire is kind of unlike other perils
where if you do great wildfire mitigation on your property
and I'm your neighbor and I don't do anything to
prepare my home, my home can succumb to the wildfire
and then threaten your home and spread the fire within
the community. So it is a community wide mitigation effort.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
So do you think that, I don't know, within fifty
years or one hundred years, we might have enough fire
wildfire resilient homes built around the country so that wildfires
like we saw in Los Angeles or as you mentioned
in New York or New Jersey go the way of
(27:07):
the hoist and buggy.
Speaker 6 (27:10):
That's the goal to me to be seen as to
how long it takes to get there. We know that
codes building to a high standard in wildfire prone areas
significantly reduces the new homes from succumbing to wildfires. And
then we have to deal with the existing homes by
(27:31):
retrofitting them using higher resilient building materials and then mitigating
the vegetation that surrounds the home, particularly the first five
feet immediately out from the walls of the home, of
reducing and having nothing combustible in that area. And when
we can build homes in the future to a high
(27:52):
standard and retrofit our existing communities, then we have done
a lot to reduce the threat of these wildfire's turning conflagration.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
And is California the place where you're going to take
make your stand, to make your mark or are you
going to start working in other states even like a
star away here as in New England in the not
too distant future.
Speaker 6 (28:19):
Right We started in California and we have since launched
both programs in Oregon, and we are looking to expand
to other Western states that are more wildfire prone in
the near future, and as the wildfire threat grows across
the country, then we'll expand the program accordingly.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
Well, I'll tell you it sounds pretty futuristic, but it's
something we need right away. And how can folks, if
they're interested and may be interested even to relocate to
one of your wildfire resilient communities in southern California, where
can we send them for more information?
Speaker 6 (28:56):
Yeah, they can go to wildfire prepared dot org and
look at the resources we have available on that website
that really directs them as to the steps that they
can take to mitigate the risk at their property. This
is something that's achievable, it's backed in science, and we
know that it works.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
And I also would just like to say that you
guys make it very clear there's no such thing as
a fireproof community, but you do have what you call
a wildfire resilient community. So people have to be be
careful even in a wildfire resilient community, if you're cooking
(29:36):
indoors or you're being you know, not being careful with candles.
Fires can start from inside homes as well.
Speaker 6 (29:45):
Yeah, and then then they spread to the outside under
high wind conditions, you can have a fire start within
the community that way as well. So and again it
just really underscores the importance of community level mitigation.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
Couldn't agree with you more, Steve Hawks. It sounds interesting
and it's a fascinating topic. I really appreciate you taking
the time to talk with us tonight.
Speaker 3 (30:07):
Absolutely, thanks for having me on tonight.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
You're welcome when we get back. When I talk with
doctor Nicole Michael, the director. She is the director of
Quantitative Science for the National Autobon Society and co author
of the recent State of the Birds Report. The study
reveals that seventy five percent of North American birds species
are in decline. That's troubling. We'll talk with doctor Nicole
(30:32):
Michael right after this.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
Break Night Side with Dan Ray. I'MBZ Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
Well, this is a troubling study with us as doctor
Nicole Michael. She's the director of Quantitative Science for the
National Autobon Society and co author of a recent State
of the Birds report. Doctor Michael, how often does the
Audubon Society produce a State of the Birds report? Or
is this the first effort?
Speaker 7 (31:05):
No, so, State of the Birds reports have been produced
for many years now, and you know, Audubon Society, we
are one of the authors of this report. We collaborate
with many other organizations and universities across the bird conservation community.
And yeah, this, you know, the twenty twenty five State
of the Birds Report shows, you know, both a real
(31:25):
dire situation for birds. There was a very you know,
a large study that came out six years ago showing
that we've lost nearly three billion birds since twenty nineteen,
nearly a third of birds in North America. And with
the State of the Birds Report, we followed up and
showed that birds are continuing to decline five years later.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
Okay, so the question has to be what's going on
that we're losing that many birds. I mean, there must
be something that is that's causing this. This is not
this is not birds flying into windmills. What's going on?
Speaker 7 (32:04):
Yeah, I mean, you know, that's the million dollar question
that we're all working on figuring out. And what we've learned,
you know, what birds are telling us is that there
are a lot of different factors that are causing the climbs.
So the groups that we're seeing the most declines in
are birds that migrate, particularly those that are migrating very
(32:25):
long distances, you know, breeding in North America and wintering
in Central and South America, and particularly grassland birds. We've
seen the greatest losses. You know, over forty three percent
of grassland birds have been lost since nineteen seventy and
this is due primarily to you know, anthropagen epigenic impact,
(32:48):
including you know, loss of native grasslands to agricultural conversion,
and I mean windmills and building collisions are are part
of it as well, but habitat loss is really one
of the biggest drivers.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
But these are stunning statistics. I assume that they sound
to me. I've never studied this before. Has there been
any other bird drop in population as dramatic as this
that we know of? Is there is there something cyclical
that's going on. I'm trying to figure it out. I mean,
(33:25):
a bird flies into a building. Now the bird gets
his back windmill, I get it. But the numbers are
much greater than that. Is avian flu. We keep hearing
about avian flu. This avian flu. That is that a problem?
Speaker 7 (33:38):
Oh? Absolutely, you know, And I don't think we have
a good sense of just how many wild birds have
been killed by avian flu yet, you know, as you know,
especially this this new variant in the last lie or two,
is you know, acting so rapidly. We just don't have
the data yet to serve that. But we can go
back and look at, for example, when West Nile virus hit,
(33:59):
and you can look at long term data sets like
Audubon's Christmas Bird Count or the USGS Breeding Bird Survey,
and you can see the dip in those birds like crows,
and you know the jays you see in your backyard.
You know, the populations really dipped after those viral outbreaks.
So yeah, that's part of the story too.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Now, the headline was three quarters of this species have
lost population. That that would mean a substantial dip in
the bird population overall, or is it the I don't know.
For example, I believe that the snowy how population is
(34:43):
not a huge number, and I might be wrong there,
but that's that's what I'm led to believe. So are
these says seventy five percent of North America's bird species
are in decline? Is that a fairly represent dentative sample?
Are the species that are in decline a fairly representative
(35:04):
sample of bird population overall?
Speaker 4 (35:09):
To a point?
Speaker 7 (35:10):
I mean, you know, the majority of species you know
shown by that are declining. But you know the way
that we're getting at these largest numbers is that we
are finding out again and again two more two very
recent studies showed that it is the most common species,
the most abundant species, ones that you know, your listeners
are probably most familiar with seeing in their backyards or
(35:32):
in their neighborhoods that are declining the most. So a
paper that just came out earlier this week showed that,
you know, species that were once abundant and that you know,
we're widespread have declined the most. In some regions, just
two to ten species accounted for eighty percent of the
(35:53):
numbers of birds that have been lost since nineteen seventy.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
Okay, what can my listeners do if anything? You know,
this this sounds like a just a huge problem. What
can my listeners do other than becoming more informed? Can
they do anything in terms of their backyard, keep more
more bird food and bird feeders out. What's what's the
(36:21):
possibility that any of us can help out? Oh?
Speaker 7 (36:24):
Absolutely, yeah, there's there's so much that that individuals can
do to help you know another you know, other findings
of the State of the Bird's report were that conservation works,
conservation efforts that you know, organizations like Audubon and our
partners manement you know there in your region UH have
(36:44):
have worked to turn around the clients in species like
American leaster catchers or you know, grassland birds and Americans
love birds, you know, the the amount of money not
of people. Over half of Americans participate in bird watching
or feeding and you know, birding generates you know, from
(37:05):
nearly two hundred and eighty billion dollars annually.
Speaker 4 (37:07):
So a lot of people care about it. And if
you if all those people who care about birds took actions,
you know, these actions can include, you know, making your
yards safer, planting native plants, using less pesticides, you know,
making your windows safer so that birds don't collide into them,
keeping cats indoors, you know, buying bird family products like coffee,
(37:32):
eared or beef. As you said, learn more, you know,
learn more about birds in your community, and advocate for birds,
whether it's you know, with your friends and your community
or you know at the at the state House.
Speaker 2 (37:47):
Well, you certainly have identified the problem. How can folks
get more information on the Audubonne Society and know that
there are probably a lot of people in my audience
who are members of the Audubonne Society nationally are here
in Massachusetts. But for those who aren't, what's the best
way that they can get in touch with the Autumn
Society and maybe learn more about this problem?
Speaker 7 (38:10):
Yeah, so you can just go to our website and
you're there you can learn more about you know, the
efforts that Autubonne is taking and our members are taking.
You can connect with your local chapter.
Speaker 4 (38:20):
And I want to.
Speaker 7 (38:21):
Highlight a tool that you know is really fantastic for
learning more and understanding how birds connect us. It's called
the Bird Migration Explore and in there you can go
in and you can pick your favorite species or you
can you know, pick your location, and you can see
all the places that are connected to where you live.
(38:43):
You know where birds have been seen in your area,
and also as far flong as you know Believes or
the Yukon. It's really amazing.
Speaker 2 (38:52):
Well, thank you very much. I do appreciate the information.
Birds are amazing creatures and we need to take care
of them as best we can. Doctor Nicole Michael, director
of Quantitative Science for the National Autuble Society and co
author of the recent State of the Birds Report. Let's
get the State of the birds better next time we talk.
Speaker 7 (39:13):
Thank you so much, Thank you very welcome.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
When we get back right after the nine o'clock news,
we are going to change topics and talk about a
very interesting column yesterday in the Boston Globe by Joan Faraki,
and she talks about what's called Section thirty five. It's
a part of the law which allows people to be
policed in institutions against their will, and I know that
(39:41):
my libertarian friends are going to be very much opposed
to this, but I think we have to balance interests
on the individual rights of people to live the lives
they want and how the community in which they live
are impacted. We'll be back and talking about it and
also opening up phone lines right after the nine a
clock block news here on Nightside
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