• Forest Service to Triple Logging in Sierra Nevada
  
• Judge Guards Northwest Salmon Against 38 Pesticides
  
• Rare North Pacific Forest Bird Listed as Endangered
  
• California State Water Board Extends Farm Runoff Waiver
  
• Last Florida Panther Habitat Ruined Using Disputed Science
  
• EPA Sued to Cut Toxic Vehicle Air Emissions
  
• Enviros Plan California Lawsuit Over Safety of Farmed Salmon
  
• Petition Filed to Protect Cherry Point Herring
  

Forest Service to Triple Logging in Sierra Nevada

Forest Service officials say the new plan will protect old growth forests, wildlife and communities against catastrophic wildfire.

"We must make our forests fire safe," said Pacific Southwest Regional Forester Jack Blackwell. "The size and intensity of wildfires are increasing dramatically. They are making the work of our firefighters more dangerous."

"I cannot let that continue on my watch," Blackwell said. "It will take years of concerted effort to significantly reduce the intensity of these fires, but the important thing is to get started now."

The new initiative will reduce the acres burned by severe wildfires by more than 30 percent within the next 50 years, according to the Forest Service. The federal agency says its actions are projected to double the acres of large old growth trees over the next 50 years.

Blackwell stressed that the emphasis of the $50 million plan will be on "unnaturally dense stands of smaller trees and brush."

"Large, old trees will not be cut," Blackwell said. "They are not the problem."

But conservationists and state officials are wary of the plan, which allows the logging of larger trees and directs less of federal efforts to lands near mountain communities. Conservation groups are considering legal action to block the plan, which they contend does not protect endangered species nor targets the areas most in need of clearing.

The Clinton plan set a maximum diameter for trees allowed to be cut at 20 inches - the new plan increases that to 30 inches for all 11.5 million acres of the Sierra Nevada's national forests.

Blackwell said that the recent fires in southern California played a role in his decision for the Sierra Nevada.

"I personally witnessed the human suffering and catastrophic damage caused by those fires," he said. "I see many similarities between the overly crowded trees and brush there, and the unnaturally dense conditions in the Sierra Nevada."

Congressman Richard Pombo, a Californian Republican and chair of the House Resources Committee, said the plan moves forest management in the right direction, but does not go far enough.

Pombo criticized the revisions because they call for the removal of 115,000 acres per year, or 3.5 million board feet, treating only one fifths of the net growth each year.

"The plan recognizes fire is the single greatest threat to communities, endangered species like the California spotted owl and the overall health of the forests," Pombo said. "In large part however, these forests will continue to grow at an unsustainable rate, adding more and more fuel to the fires that will certainly come."

Pombo says his committee will hold a field hearing on the plan to address concerns it does not allow for enough logging.

"Without these and further revisions, the Sierra Nevada could see firsthand the devastation of wildfire witnessed in Southern California last fall," he said.

Judge Guards Northwest Salmon Against 38 Pesticides

The ruling was issued Thursday in a case brought by fishing and conservation groups against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to protect salmon from harmful pesticides.

In 2002, U.S. District Court Judge John Coughenour agreed with the salmon advocates that the EPA was out of compliance with the Endangered Species Act and ordered the federal agency to consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) and establish permanent restrictions needed to protect salmon from 54 pesticides, over a 30 month timeline.

After the 2002 ruling, environmental and fishing groups filed for an injunction to reduce contamination of salmon streams while EPA and NOAA Fisheries develop permanent restrictions.

Coughenour's latest ruling puts in place no-spray buffers of 100 yards for aerial applications and 20 yards for ground applications, with exceptions for certain uses that are unlikely to pollute water.

The buffer zones will become effective in early 2004 and will apply to salmon streams that support threatened and endangered salmon throughout Washington, Oregon, and California.

"This is a landmark decision that finally gives salmon relief from pesticides after a decade of agency inaction," said Patti Goldman, the Earthjustice attorney who represented the groups. "The court has blocked the use of the most harmful pesticides along salmon streams until the government has ensured that salmon will be protected."

The court order also requires a warning for products containing seven pesticides that have polluted urban salmon streams.

These warnings must be provided to purchasers in urban home and garden stores throughout Washington, Oregon, and California.

"Now consumers buying lawn and garden products can easily make informed choices that are better for salmon," said Aimee Code of the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides.

Rare North Pacific Forest Bird Listed as Endangered

The Commonwealth is in political union with the United States.

"The Rota bridled white-eye is found nowhere else in the world and represents part of Rota's natural heritage," said David Allen, regional director of the Fish and Wildlife Service's Pacific Region. "We welcome the opportunity to work closely with the people of Rota to ensure the bird's survival."

The estimated population of the Rota bridled white-eye has declined dramatically since the early 1980s, when there were nearly 11,000 birds.

Today, fewer than 1,100 birds are thought to remain on Rota - a 90 percent decline.

Current Rota bridled white-eye populations are concentrated in four areas of the island on limestone formations containing mature wet forest above 650 feet in elevation.

The yellowish forest bird has a distinctive ring of white feathers around its eyes and is about 4 inches in size. It weighs about one third of an ounce, feeds primarily on insects and often is found in small flocks of five to seven birds.

Exact causes for the sharp decline in Rota bridled white-eye populations are unknown, but the agency said possible factors contributing to the decline include degradation or loss of habitat due to development, agricultural activities and the use of pesticides.

The agency also cited naturally occurring events such as typhoons, in addition to predation by rats and black drongos - an introduced bird species from Taiwan.

The Rota bridled white-eye was proposed for listing under the Endangered Species Act in October 2001 but budget shortfalls delayed a final listing decision, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.

The decision to list the species Thursday fulfilled legal settlement between the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Center for Biological Diversity.

The Bush administration is the first in the history of the law not to have listed any species or designated any critical habitat except under court order.

By the listing the species under the ESA, the Fish and Wildlife Service is committed to designate critical habitat for the species and develop recovery plans.

"We will work cooperatively with all interested parties and nurture strong partnerships with private landowners to ensure that future generations can enjoy the incredible beauty of the Rota bridled white-eye and its habitat," Allen said.

California State Water Board Extends Farm Runoff Waiver

Critics say the decision continues to allow pesticide discharges from more than seven million acres of farmland to contaminate the drinking water of millions of Californians and hundreds of miles of waterways in the state.

"The State Board's decision is a pat on the back for farmers and a slap in face for all Californians who are expected to control their pollution," said DeltaKeeper Bill Jennings. "Behind the waiver façade, there's not a single requirement to reduce pollution, implement control measures or meet water quality standards."

Deltakeeper and several other environmental groups had appealed a July 2003 decision by the Central Valley Regional Water Board to exempt growers from complying with the state's water quality laws.

Thursday's 5 to 0 vote by the State Water Board rejected that request and extended the waiver for three years.

The board also told the Central Valley Board and farmers to develop a 10 year plan to meet the water quality standards and a plan to monitor how the agricultural pollution is impacting water quality.

Environmentalists say state regulators failed to respond to volumes of scientific documents and expert testimonies in evidence, which show that the monitoring program will fail to protect water quality.

"We were expecting the State Board to step up to the task of regulating this major source of water pollution," said Sejal Choksi, pesticide program attorney for San Francisco Baykeeper and Deltakeeper. "Instead, all of the nine Regional Boards in California now have the State Board's blessing to turn a blind eye towards agricultural runoff."

More than 200 public heath, environmental, fishing, and other organizations representing millions of Californians had asked state regulators for stronger regulation of farm runoff, which pollutes hundreds of miles of California waterways every year.

The impaired Central Valley waters are the primary source of drinking water for more 20 million Californians across the state. State and federal environmental officials have declared that many of these waters are unsafe for uses such as drinking, swimming, and/or fishing.

Last Florida Panther Habitat Ruined Using Disputed Science

Only 50 to 80 adult Florida panthers are believed to remain in the wild. The species was listed as endangered under federal law in 1967.

The report, entitled "Discrediting a Decade of Panther Science: Implications of the Scientific Review Team Report," was written by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), the Florida Panther Society and the Florida Wildlife Federation.

Among its findings, the report details that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have permitted development throughout thousands of acres of Florida panther habitat in southwest Florida, much of which the former agency has deemed "essential" to the panther's survival in its own scientific documents.

The conservationists say the federal agencies typically require minimal efforts by developers to offset the harm with habitat acquisition or restoration.

The report finds the Fish and Wildlife Service has rationalized its approvals of this extensive habitat loss by using a body of scientific work that has been disputed by all of the panther scientists on the agency's own recovery team except the author of that work.

It notes that an agency commissioned independent review of this scientific controversy issued a report in December 2003 further questioning the agency's decisions to allow destruction of panther habitat.

"We now have damning evidence that the Fish and Wildlife Service has been using discredited science to allow irreversible harm to the Florida panther," said John Kostyack, NWF senior counsel and coauthor of the report. "As a result, the panther - already one of the most endangered mammals in North America - is being placed at even greater risk of extinction due to habitat loss."

EPA Sued to Cut Toxic Vehicle Air Emissions

The U.S. Public Interest Research Group and Sierra Club, represented by Earthjustice, filed suit today against the Environmental Protection Agency

Motor vehicle emissions are the largest source of hazardous air pollutants nationwide and these pollutants substantially increase the risks of cancer and other serious adverse health effects for millions of Americans.

In a 2001 rulemaking, EPA asserted that it lacked the information necessary to require reductions in mobile source air toxics, but committed to implementing a plan to obtain the missing information and issue a proposed rule by July 1, 2003. That rulemaking has yet to materialize.

"EPA has engaged in an old-fashioned fraud," said Jim Pew, an Earthjustice attorney. "There is no evidence that EPA had any real intent of making good on that promise. The new standards are nowhere in sight, and there is no evidence that EPA is gathering the information the agency claimed to need."

According to EPA data, motor vehicles emit 169,000 tons of benzene, 83,400 tons of formaldehyde, 23,600 tons of 1,3-butadiene, and 28,800 tons of acetaldehyde each year, accounting for between 25 percent and 50 percent of the total emissions of each pollutant.

Environmentalists say major reductions in vehicle produced air toxics could be achieved through a wide application of existing technology, such as cleaner burning gasoline, better emission controls on cars and more effective national inspection and maintenance program to ensure that new cars continue to meet emission standards.

Enviros Plan California Lawsuit Over PCBs in Farmed Salmon

Banned in the United States in the 1977, PCBs are highly persistent and have been linked to cancer and impaired fetal brain development.

A study published earlier this month in "Science" warned of health risks to people who consume salmon produced on fish farms more frequently than once a week.

"The salmon farming industry can - and must - produce a heart healthy food, without the PCB risks that farmed salmon currently pose, said Jane Houlihan, vice president for research at the Environmental Working Group. "The federal Food and Drug Administration has shown no intention of taking action on this issue, so we are pursuing our case under California's toxics right-to-know law."

PCBs in farmed salmon are high because fish farms typically raise salmon on feed high in fatty fish and fish oils. Because PCBs in the environment accumulate in the fatty tissues of animals, this diet results in fish with high concentrations of the carcinogenic chemical.

Some farmed salmon manufacturers regulate their feed and use other practices to minimize the PCB content in their products, but many do not.

"The salmon farming industry must stop needlessly exposing consumers to a cancer risk in every bite," said Michael Green, executive director of the Center for Environmental Health, which filed the notice along with the Environmental Working Group. "We are challenging the entire industry to make farmed salmon safer for everyone."

The 50 defendants named in the filings include farmed salmon producers based in Canada and Europe, such as Marine Harvest, Panfish, Stolt Sea Farm, Heritage and Mainstream, as well as large U.S.-based retailers such as Safeway, Kroger, Albertson's and Costco.

Petition Filed to Protect Cherry Point Herring

Cherry Point herring are a distinct population of Pacific herring that spawn along the open shoreline north of Bellingham. The coalition says the population has fallen by 90 percent in the past three decades and shows no signs of recovering.

"If we lose them, much of Puget Sound's wildlife that rely on them for sustenance - from chinook salmon to sea lions, porpoise and orcas - will face even greater hardship," said Dave Werntz, science director with Northwest Ecosystem Alliance.

The coalition says that despite numerous state and federal policies intended to protect marine resources, Cherry Point herring are on a trajectory toward extinction.

The groups filing the petition include Northwest Ecosystem Alliance, Center for Biological Diversity, Ocean Advocates, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, People For Puget Sound, Friends of the San Juans, and Sam Wright.

Werntz said Cherry Point herring face numerous threats from industrial development along their spawning grounds.

Two major oil refineries and an aluminum smelter near Cherry Point have directly impacted herring spawning grounds through dock construction and operation, outfall discharge, vessel traffic, and disease and foreign species introduced from ship ballast water.

Accidental spills of oil and other poisons also pose a considerable threat to the Cherry Point herring.

"More than 70 spills have dumped tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil and poisoned water over the herring's spawning grounds since the Cherry Point refineries were built in 1973," said Fred Felleman, Northwest director for Ocean Advocates. "One big oil spill during spawning season would be a disaster and could completely wipe out the remaining herring in this area."