First, the guerrilla music video I made with D-Squared of their song Little Iraq has been accepted on Neil Young‘s Living with War web site. At one point it ranked number 17 but has since fallen to 25. Every time someone clicks to view it the popularity ranking goes up, and we could use your support. If you have five minutes, visit http://www.neilyoung.com/lwwtoday/lwwvideospage.html and click the Little Iraq link to vote for us. We’re really excited to support and be a small part of Neil Young’s vision!

Next, Ryan Kost wrote about Recapturing the Agua Fria River’s oasis in the Arizona Republic recently, the exact area that inspired the song, and where the video was shot. It looks like Maricopa County Parks and Recreation Department has stopped allowing motor vehicles into the area. Hurray! A first step. And there is a public hearing coming up to discuss this conservation area and appropriate uses for it. If you live in Maricopa County I strongly urge you to attend and make your concerns known. Here is the info:

Sept. 17, 2007, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Albins Civic Center
19005 E. K-Mine Road Center in Black Canyon City
Details: (623) 374-5234

This little spot is important for a lot of reasons. It’s one of the very few natural lakes in this area. It’s a water resource that’s hugely important to the native wildlife, yet it’s being contaminated horribly by all the things people are leaving out there. Think about it: lead from bullets, chemicals from paint and motor oil and gasoline and God knows what else people are taking out there and either shooting up or dumping or just leaving sitting out. All of it leeching into our water supply.

There are amazing animals out there that I’ve never seen anywhere else, including the most incredible little frogs you’d never expect to see in the desert. And the abuse of this area is killing them.

There are also extraordinary petroglyphs out there, left by the ancestors of local First Nations peoples. Their precious cultural record, a huge part of the history of this area – not to mention incredibly beautiful enduring art – is being casually blown to bits by the ignorant.

I documented some of this in Table Mesa Road, which screened at Pixelodeon this summer. If you can go to the meeting and speak out, it’s a chance to make a difference. I’d love it if I could never get a bunch of production equipment out there again due to vehicle restrictions. Remember, take only photographs and leave only footprints – lightly treaded ones. The frogs and I thank you.