• Bush Administration Backs Roadless Rule
  
• Missouri Chlorine Leak Sends 53 to Hospital
  
• Almost Half of U.S. in Drought
  
• Long Lasting Malaria Vaccine On the Horizon
  
• Migratory Bird Grants Benefit Groups in 25 Countries
  
• DNA Trail Could Lead to Red Tide Forecasts
  
• Alfalfa Gathers Gold Nanoparticles
  
• Sticky Flowerpot Traps Deer Flies
  

Bush Administration Backs Roadless Rule

In a reversal of its prior stance, the Bush administration provided a legal defense of the environmental impact statement supporting the Roadless Area Conservation rule. The rule, adopted by the Forest Service in January 2000, would protect 58.5 million acres of national forest and grasslands from road building, mining and logging.

In a series of lawsuits over the past 18 months in which timber, mining and other interests have sought to overturn the rule, the Bush administration has failed to defend the merits of the rule in court. Environmental groups have intervened in the industry led lawsuits to defend the rule.

On Monday, the Bush administration reversed direction and filed a brief for the first time defending the rule on its merits in two consolidated cases in North Dakota, one filed by oil and gas interests and the other filed by the state of North Dakota.

The administration failed to mount a similar defense of the rule when it was challenged by the state of Idaho and Boise Cascade timber company in an Idaho federal court. In that case Judge Edward Lodge granted a preliminary injunction on May 10, 2001, preventing the rule from taking effect.

That injunction is now on appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals by a coalition of environmental groups represented by Earthjustice, but the administration has not defended the rule in that ongoing case.

"Where were the Forest Service and the Department of Justice when this rule was challenged in Idaho? Where were they when it was enjoined and when that injunction was appealed?" asked Todd True, an attorney with Earthjustice. "The administration has shirked its legal duty to defend and uphold the law in every case. Instead, it has apparently chosen a political strategy to use the courts selectively to undercut important environmental protections like the roadless rule."

The government's position in favor of the roadless rule's EIS in the North Dakota case is the first legal defense of the rule articulated by the Bush administration. It comes against a history of the Bush administration first administratively blocking the rule from taking effect, then failing to defend the rule in the Idaho case and appeal, and later announcing that it would amend the rule.

Administration officials also have sought to weaken other roadless area protections through a series of bureaucratic directives and have laid plans to log in roadless areas that would have enjoyed protection had the administration implemented and defended the rule.

"With this filing, the administration has finally taken a step in the right direction in enforcing the roadless rule. I hope that the Department of Justice will review its position on other ongoing roadless rule litigation and make good on Attorney General Ashcroft's promise to defend the rule," said Senator Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat and Congress' strongest advocate for the roadless rule.

"Our remaining roadless areas are a precious legacy that require enlightened stewardship," Cantwell added. "The Roadless Area Conservation Rule will usher in a new, balanced framework for national forest management."

Missouri Chlorine Leak Sends 53 to Hospital

The leaking gas sent more than 50 chemical plant workers and nearby residents to the hospital, and forced the temporary closure of two highways.

Workers from DPC Enterprises workers were unloading chlorine from a freight car tank at a DPC plant on Wednesday morning when a hose ruptured, releasing an unknown amount of chlorine gas into the air. About 80,000 pounds of chlorine was still in the 180,000 pound capacity tank when the hose broke.

DPC workers quickly closed emergency shut off valves to limit the chlorine release, and notified health and emergency officials in Jefferson County and the state. DPC Enterprises packages chlorine into smaller canisters for use in water treatment plants.

The spread of the chlorine gas cloud was limited by steady rains and light winds, but emergency officials evacuated several hundred people from two mobile home parks located near the accident site.

Local highways were reopened and residents allowed to return home late yesterday afternoon after testing by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) failed to detect chlorine gas in the air. Exposure to chlorine gas can cause irritation of the eyes, nose and throat.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Hazard Investigation Board and the DNR are looking into the cause of the accident.

Almost Half of U.S. in Drought

Above normal temperatures and drier than normal conditions occurred across large parts of the United States in July, and led to persistent or worsening drought in many states. At the end of the month, 49 percent of the contiguous United States was in moderate to extreme drought, based on the Palmer Drought Index, a common measure of drought severity.

The Palmer Drought Index uses numerical values derived from weather and climate data to classify moisture conditions throughout the contiguous United States and includes drought categories on a scale from mild to moderate, severe and extreme.

Precipitation was well below average in 27 states in July. New York had its second driest July on record, and it was the third driest July since 1895 in New Hampshire and Colorado.

Drier than average conditions have persisted in many areas for several seasons; in some parts of the country, for several years. The past 12 months were the driest August through July on record in four southeastern states - Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia - and two Rocky Mountain states - Colorado and Wyoming.

Three other states - Arizona, Nevada and Delaware - had their second driest August through July in the 107 year period of record.

Parts of the Southeast and western United States have been in various stages of drought since 1998. Rainfall alleviated drought in West Texas and some areas of the Gulf Coast in July. Though at the end of the month, moderate drought or worse was present in at least part of 37 states as reported by the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Based on the Palmer Drought Index, 37 percent of the contiguous U.S. was affected by severe to extreme drought in July. Areas of extreme drought stretched from the Southwest to Montana and Nebraska and from Georgia to Virginia.

The greatest historic area of drought coverage to date occurred in July 1934 when moderate to extreme drought covered 80 percent of the contiguous United States.

Wildfires continued to burn large areas in the western United States last month. More than four million acres had burned throughout the United States by the end of July, with most large wildland fires occurring in the west according to the National Interagency Fire Center. This is slightly more than twice the 1991-2000 average for the same period.

Long Lasting Malaria Vaccine On the Horizon

Researchers have developed a unique vaccine that destroys a toxin produced by the parasite that causes malaria, which kills more than two million people each year. The vaccine appears promising in animal studies, and if the drug works in humans, it could become a more effective and longer lasting anti-malarial vaccine than those now available, according to the researchers.

"This research represents an exciting new approach to controlling malaria by blocking the toxin that is responsible for so many deaths," said Dr. Peter Seeberger, associate professor of chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass. "We hope that this is the answer, but we don't know yet."

Although other vaccines have been developed and tested against malaria, none lasts for more than a few weeks. Most target proteins on the surface of the parasite, which has the ability to change its surface proteins and eventually resist the vaccine, Seeberger explained.

The new vaccine targets the toxin instead of the parasite. Although the parasite itself lives, it is rendered harmless by the destruction of its toxin.

One or two shots of the vaccine are expected to provide lasting protection against the disease. If necessary, its effectiveness could be enhanced by using it in combination with other vaccines that target the malarial parasite, Seeberger said.

Malaria is a parasitic disease transmitted by the bite of the female Anopheles mosquito, which transfers parasites to human blood in an effort to nurture her eggs. The disease can be caused by one of four different parasites. The most lethal is Plasmodium falciparum, which is also responsible for the majority of infections.

Coauthor Dr. Louis Schofield, of the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, Australia, has discovered that, as part of its life cycle inside its human host, the parasite releases an inflammatory toxin that appears to trigger the fever, convulsions and deaths associated with the disease.

Previous studies by Seeberger's colleagues demonstrated that small amounts of the toxin, called GPI, could be used to immunize mice against infection and reduce fatalities. But the human immune system does not recognize such tiny molecules as foreign and cannot make antibodies to destroy them.

Seeberger and Schofield designed a synthetic version of the toxin and attached it to a protein molecule in hopes that the new complex would be large enough for the body to recognize so that an immune response could be launched against it.

When a group of healthy, unvaccinated mice were injected with blood containing a malarial parasite, all died. But when the synthetic toxin was injected into a group of healthy mice and they were then injected with the parasite, 65 to 95 percent survived.

The immunized mice also had enhanced protection from severe inflammatory conditions associated with the disease, including swelling of the brain, the researchers found.

Seeberger and his colleagues are continuing to refine their vaccine formulations to achieve a 100 percent survival rate. They hope that similar results will be seen in people.

Tests of the new vaccine in monkeys are slated to begin soon, while tests on humans could begin within two years, said Seeberger. The study appears in today's issue of the journal "Nature." Details of the research will be presented August 21 in Boston at the 224th national meeting of the American Chemical Society.

Migratory Bird Grants Benefit Groups in 25 Countries

There are 341 species of nearctic-neotropical migrants: birds that breed north of the Tropic of Cancer and winter south of that line. Examples of these birds include pelicans, vultures, falcons, cranes, owls, hummingbirds, bluebirds and orioles.

"The conservation of neotropical migratory birds extends beyond our borders and depends on partnerships with other nations as well as states, conservation organizations and many others here at home," said Interior Secretary Gale Norton. "Through these grants, the Interior Department is contributing to on the ground conservation projects from North America to Cape Horn."

The Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act of 2000 establishes a matching grants program to fund projects that promote the conservation of neotropical migratory birds in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean. The money can be used to protect, research, monitor and manage these bird's populations and habitats as well as in areas of law enforcement and community outreach and education

"Neotropical migratory birds are important for our ecosystems," said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Director Steve Williams. "They work as nature's pest controllers, pollinators and provide many hours of enjoyment for birdwatchers and outdoor enthusiasts."

"In this first year of the program, we had almost 300 excellent proposals from 33 countries and 31 U.S. states," added Tom Melius, assistant USFWS director of migratory birds and state programs. "Applicants requested more than $25 million in grant funds and offered more than $95 million in matching funds."

Among the projects funded this year are a University of Montana program to develop landscape models for grassland bird habitat conservation. The Massachusetts Audubon Society received a grant to study the distribution and reproductive success of birds nesting in powerline rights of way.

The Missouri Department of Conservation will use its grant to secure tallgrass prairie habitat and work with private landowners to conserve bird habitat. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, in partnership with the Reserva de la Biosfera Sian Ka'an in Mexico will work to restore grassland habitat for neotropical migrants such as the blue-winged warbler and bobolink.

The Nature Conservancy plans to secure and manage habitats for grassland birds in the U.S. and Mexico. The Island Conservation and Ecology Group at the University of California, Santa Cruz will work to manage introduced rodents that are harmful to the 70 species of neotropical migratory birds nesting on islands in Alaska, California and Mexico.

More information and a full list of the grant recipients are available at: http://birdhabitat.fws.gov

DNA Trail Could Lead to Red Tide Forecasts

Texas A&M University oceanographer Lisa Campbell is trying to find out where the red tides invading Texas coastal waters originate. She is attempting to use DNA markers known as microsatellites to identify the genetic diversity with blooms of Karenia brevis, the species of phytoplankton causing red tides.

Red tides occur unpredictably in the Gulf of Mexico and result in fish kills and, sometimes, human illnesses.

"We are now focusing on developing tools to examine diversity within bloom populations and to fingerprint populations, which should enable us to trace them to their sources," Campbell said.

Campbell and co-investigator John Gold of the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Science in the College of Agriculture are the recipients of a three year grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop hypervariable DNA microsatellite markers for the algae. In the course of the project, part of the national ECOHAB program, the researchers will use the DNA markers to compare algae isolated from throughout the Gulf of Mexico.

"Previous studies have revealed that blooms of diatoms consist of a number of different strains, or clones, that are highly diverse with regard to growth rates," Campbell said. "We're asking: Is such high diversity within a bloom also true for dinoflagellates?"

"We know that Karenia brevis cells can exist under a wide range of conditions. We also know that some strains can grow faster than others and some are more toxic than others," added Campbell. "So it is important to know under what conditions the more toxic strains may bloom."

Campbell and Gold will be examining specimens isolated from water samples collected by Texas Parks and Wildlife scientists at seven locations along the Texas coast.

Campbell will pick out individual cells under a microscope to establish cultures in the lab. Each culture will be examined for differences in physiological and genetic properties. Samples collected and analyzed over the course of a bloom will allow the researchers to estimate the genetic variation within a bloom.

Campbell and Gold speculate that a high level of genetic diversity may allow populations to bloom in response to appropriate environmental conditions.

"Dr. Gold and I hope that by identifying diversity within populations of toxic algae we can help to predict when and where red tides may occur along the Texas coast," Campbell said.

Alfalfa Gathers Gold Nanoparticles

An international research team from the University of Texas-El Paso (UTEP) and Mexico are performing the work at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL). The researchers are using, as tiny factories, the alfalfa's natural, physiological need to extract metals from the medium in which they are growing.

The alfalfa extracts gold from the medium and stores it in the form of nanoparticles - specks of gold less than a billionth of a meter across.

The semiconductor industry values the oxidation resistance and the thermal and electrical conductivity of gold. The trend toward smaller wires, connectors and semiconductor devices makes those properties even more important.

Some processes for making high concentrations of solid nanoparticles use chemistry. However, many of the chemical methods used are cumbersome and may create poisonous wastes. Using plants to produce gold nanoparticles could eliminate the need for harsh chemicals or chemical reducing agents.

All plants use their roots to extract nutrients, including minerals and metals, from the soil in which they grow. Alfalfa was chosen as a model plant system for studying the ability of plants to extract gold from various growth media.

The team at SSRL has shown that alfalfa does extract gold and deposit gold nanoparticles in its roots and along the entire shoot of the alfalfa plants. SSRL imaging equipment has demonstrated that the particles have physical properties that are similar to gold nanoparticles formed using chemical techniques.

Now the researchers are working on the best way to extract the nanoparticles from the plants - perhaps by centrifuge.

"The work has demonstrated that using alfalfa is a cost effective and environmentally friendly method of producing gold nanoparticles. Future work will involve the full physical characterization of the nanoparticles and the development of methods to extract them from the plants,'' said UTEP professor Jorge Gardea-Torresdey.

The team's findings are published in the April issue of "Nano Letters," a publication of the American Chemical Society.

Sticky Flowerpot Traps Deer Flies

The deer fly control device invented by a University of Florida (UF) scientist includes a bright blue plastic flowerpot covered with sticky material and suspended upside down on a pole.

Russell Mizell, a professor of entomology at UF's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, based at UF's North Florida Research and Education Center in Quincy, said he first launched the research several years ago as a high school science project with his son, but "it got so interesting, I just kept doing it."

Deer flies are ambush predators: they wait for prey to walk by rather than searching for it, so they are attracted to movement.

With this in mind, Mizell and his son decided the best way to snare deer flies likely was to troll for them from a slow moving vehicle. Working in the spring and summer when deer flies are most prominent, they "did all kinds of crazy things" to try to discover what kind of trap worked best, he said.

The Mizells built a test platform on their truck hood that could dangle seven different shapes at once, all painted with Tanglefoot, a commercial sticky spray for insects. They drove through deer fly infested countryside for set periods of one to five minutes, testing different shapes and colors, then counting immobilized prey.

After numerous experiments, the trap that wooed the most deer flies proved to be a six inch flower pot painted bright blue - capturing as many as 30 deer flies in a one minute test. It worked best when suspended three to six feet above the ground and trolled no faster than 10 feet per second.

The capture rate was 35 percent to 50 percent higher than for other shapes, Mizell said.

"Many times after running the traps through an area, we found there were no deer flies left," he said. "You trap them out for a short period until they repopulate the area."

Mizell said he is not sure what it is about this combination that makes it so irresistible to the hapless deer flies. It could be that the blue contrasts with the predominant background of green foliage, making it easy for the deer flies to zero in on. The optimum size and height are close to the head of a person or large animal.

The traps do not have to be suspended from a vehicle - they also work when attached to a baseball cap and trolled by the hat's wearer.

After hearing Mizell give a presentation on his project, Wendy Meyer, a staffer at the UF Tropical Research and Education Center in Homestead, decided to try out such a rig to combat the deer flies that attacked her during her field research. Wanting to avoid wearing a flowerpot, she used a blue soda cup painted with Tanglefoot.

"It worked wonderfully," she recalled. "I'd come back in, and I'd have 10 or 12 flies on my cap and none that had annoyed me."

Despite its effectiveness, it is doubtful the trap ever will gain widespread appeal for personal protection. As Meyer noted, its aesthetic appeal leaves something to be desired.

"The thing is, it looked really silly, so everyone laughed at me when I wore it, but then they complained about getting bitten by deer flies," she said. "It's a hard sell to get people to try it, but it really did work."

Mizell's article about the trap appeared in the June issue of the journal "Florida Entomologist."