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Supreme Court Opens U.S. Roads to Mexican Trucks WASHINGTON, DC, June 8, 2004 (ENS) - In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Bush administration complied with environmental law in 2001 when it decided to open U.S. highways to trucks from Mexico. The ruling reverses a lower court decision and gives the administration the authority to allow Mexican trucks to haul cargo in this country.The administration challenged a ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that found it had violated both the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Air Act when it issued interim rules in March 2002 enacting the decision made by President George W. Bush. The environmental assessment accompanying those rules, issued by the Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), determined that the decision would not have a significant environmental impact. The agency said it did not consider the environmental impact that might be caused by the increased presence of Mexican trucks in the United States because any such impact would be an effect of the moratorium's modification, not the regulations' implementation. Public health, environmental and labor groups, led by Public Citizen, filed suit, contending that the agency was bound to conduct an environmental impact statement (EIS) - a much more detailed study than an environmental assessment. Bush administration officials argued their policy was designed to comply with the North American Free Trade Agreement, but the lower court sided with the plaintiffs. The Supreme Court ruled that the President has the authority to open the border and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has no standing to determine the environmental impact of that decision. "Once the regulations are promulgated, FMCSA would have no ability to regulate any aspect of vehicle exhaust from these Mexican trucks," Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the court. In August 2003 the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced - in response to the lower court ruling - that it will develop an environmental impact statement for the proposal. The ruling means the agency has no obligation to complete the study - nor does it have the right to use the EIS to block the opening of the border. Nineteen additional groups, including nine state attorneys general, the city of Los Angeles, Republican House members, the American Lung Association and the American Public Health Association, filed briefs urging the Supreme Court to reject the administration's appeal. Studies indicate that by 2010 trucks from Mexico will emit twice as much particulate matter and nitrogen oxides, both harmful air pollutants, as U.S. trucks.
Wildlife Service Must Consider Citizen Endangered Species Petitions WASHINGTON, DC, June 8, 2004 (ENS) – A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to stop ignoring citizen petitions to list species on the Endangered Species Act.The decision could affect listing decisions for more than 240 species currently on the agency's candidate list for Endangered Species Act protection. "The Fish and Wildlife Service created a bureaucratic black hole for endangered wildlife to avoid protecting these species," said Jay Tutchton, director of the University of Denver Environmental Law Clinic. "The court just put an end to this charade." For the past five years the agency has been using a Petition Management Guidance System that allowed it to ignore citizen petitions for species already on its candidate list. Species on the list are considered warranted for protection, but precluded because the agency has higher priorities. Conservationists contend the agency has used the candidate list to delay needed protection for imperiled species - some have been on the list for 30 years. Last week's ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia came in a case centered on the Fish and Wildlife Service's refusal to protect the Gunnison sage grouse. Conservationists petitioned for Endangered Species Act protection for the Gunnison sage grouse in 2000, citing evidence that the total population had fallen to 3,500. The Fish and Wildlife Service responded that the species was already on its candidate list and that budget constraints precluded further action. But the agency failed to convince the court that its policy meets the requirements of the Endangered Species Act, which orders the agency to act on listing petitions within 90 days. Although the lawsuit dealt specifically with the grouse, the ruling prohibits the use of the policy nationwide. "We are pleased that the court has put a stop to this illegal program," said Michael Axline of the Western Environmental Law Center. "The Service has deep sixed citizen petitions for far too long. We hope that now the Service will focus its energies where they belong - on saving these species, as required by the Endangered Species Act." The Fish and Wildlife Service declined to comment on the ruling and is reviewing its implications.
Prince William Sound Killer Whales Listed as Depleted WASHINGTON, DC, June 8, 2004 (ENS) - The National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) has designated a group of Prince William Sound killer whales as a genetically distinct population and listing the group as "depleted" under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.The decision requires the agency to consider what measures might be necessary to reverse the declining trend in the population of killer whales, also known as orcas, a move conservationists say is desperately needed. The status review that resulted in the depleted designation was prompted by a petition from the National Wildlife Federation submitted in November 2002. The transient orca population, known as the AT-1 group, has declined from at least 22 whales to nine in the past 13 years - and no new calves have been sighted since 1984. "The number of animals in this group has dramatically decreased since 1989 to the point where this particular stock of killer whales may disappear from the ocean," said Dr. James Balsiger, NOAA Fisheries' regional administrator for Alaska. "We need to see what we can do to aid their recovery." The AT-1 whales have been feeding on harbor seals and porpoises in Prince William Sound and Kenai Fjords. The territory used by the AT-1 group is also home to about 362 resident killer whales. Resident and transient killer whales have different eating habits, calls and genetics. The AT-1 group was previously considered part of a larger population of 346 transient killer whales in the eastern North Pacific. Scientists are not certain of the exact cause of the AT-1 group's decline, but there are suspicions that some of the whales may have been harmed by exposure to crude oil during the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster and chemical contaminants such as PCBs and DDT. The massive 1989 oil spill is also believed to have decreased available prey. Harbor seals, the primary prey of the AT-1 whales, have declined in the region by more than 80 percent over the past two decades. Scientists also believe that increased ocean noise - from rising ship traffic in the region - is disrupting the whales' hunting patterns.
Ocean Group Challenges Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Plan WASHINGTON, DC, June 8, 2004 (ENS) - The Ocean Conservancy has filed suit in federal court challenging federal management of surface trolling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.The management plan, known as Amendment 21, threatens populations of reef fish by opening the Madison/Swanson and Steamboat Lumps marine reserves in the eastern Gulf to surface trolling for six months of the year, according to the law suit. The Ocean Conservancy says surface trolling for coastal pelagic species such as wahoo and cobia has been shown to catch vulnerable reef fish like gag grouper. The organization adds that the reserves were created to protect these vulnerable reef fish and says Amendment 21 also makes enforcement of the reserves nearly impossible. "Allowing fishing in these critical spawning areas threatens to wipe out much of the conservation gains made by the creation of these fishery reserves in the first place," said David White of The Ocean Conservancy. "This management decision makes it all but impossible to monitor and enforce the very protections that the reserves were designed to implement," White said. "Creating ineffective fishery recovery zones that can't be monitored and enforced is like taking one step forward, and two steps backward." The marine reserves, consisting of 219 square nautical miles, were developed in 2000 to rebuild and protect spawning aggregations of reef fish, such as gag grouper, that are depleted and vulnerable to overfishing. The sites were also created to help evaluate the effectiveness of marine reserves as a management tool. White says the Gulf Council's own science and enforcement advisory panels have recommended the protected areas remain completely free from fishing pressure as originally intended to achieve their full ecological benefits. "Fishery management decisions - especially for species at risk, like gag grouper - must be based on the best scientific evidence available," White said. "The science is clear in this case, but like in so many other cases, the managers have decided to ignore it."
Corps Mississippi Plan an Economic Loser, Watchdog Says WASHINGTON, DC, June 8, 2004 (ENS) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plan to double the size of the lock system on the Upper Mississippi River and Illinois Waterway will return less than a nickel on every federal dollar invested, according to economic analysis by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).Using the Corps' own cost figures, the PEER economic analysis shows that the $2.3 billion project would lose more than $180 million per year for the national economy under current and historic market conditions. PEER also released the latest Corps lock usage data for 2004 that show both barge traffic and lock congestion continuing to decline, accelerating a 13 year long trend. The Army Corps has been considering the modernization plan since the late 1980s and is keen to build longer locks on the waterway to accommodate barge traffic. Most of the locks on the river system are 600 feet, while most tows today push multiple barges of 1,000 feet. This has caused traffic congestion on the waterway, the Corps says, but its efforts have been mired in controversy. The agency was forced to abandon its initial plan in 2000 after the Corps economist for the project, Dr. Donald Sweeney, filed a whistleblower disclosure saying top commanders had altered key numbers in an effort to "cook the books" so that the project would appear justified. Army Corps projects must be shown to have benefits that outweigh the costs in order to receive Congressional approval. But critics of the project say the continuing decreases in barge traffic undercut the sponsors' central claim that the project is needed for the economic health of the region. Missouri Senator Kit Bond, a Republican, has introduced legislation providing for modernization of the lock system that echoes the Corps' recommendations. His position is that modernized locks will provide for future economic growth. "The rationale behind this boondoggle could be likened to saying that the way to increase traffic on a deserted freeway is to add more lanes," said PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, whose organization represents Corps economists who have criticized the cost-benefit studies the Corps is offering to justify the project. "This project is the equivalent of putting $2 billion on a barge and lighting it on fire." The latest year to date river traffic figures through the middle of May of 2004 show that barge traffic is off nearly 20 percent from last year's depressed levels. This most recent decline follows on the heels of the historic 20 percent decline from the traffic levels when the study re-started four years ago. The Corps figures through May of this year also reveal that total vessel delays are down between 29 percent and 50 percent from last year, meaning that the delay per vessel has decreased from last year to this year.
Scientists Unearth a New Mouse SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, June 8, 2004 (ENS) - A team of American and Filipino biologists has discovered a new species - or perhaps a new genus - of mouse in the Philippines.The tiny, bright orange mouse was captured on Mount Banahaw, a national park in the south-central portion of Luzon Island, some 50 miles from Manila. The mouse has a large head, heavily muscled jaws and powerful teeth that can open hard nuts. It weighs about 15 grams, and has a body length of three inches, a tail of four inches and whiskers some eight times as wide as its head. The mouse also has a second set of whiskers that arise from a patch at the back edge of each eye. The new species was found by a joint team from Chicago's Field Museum, the Philippine National Museum, the Utah Museum of Natural History, and Laksambuhay Conservation in the Philippines. The team was scouting the mountain, considered a holy site by some Filipino sects, for unusual small mammal species. According to Danilo Balete, a biologist in the Philippines and co-leader of the team, they captured the tiny mouse several yards above the forest floor on top of a tangle of large vines in an area of regenerating lowland forest. The researchers said the animal is not related to any of the other rodents known on the main Philippines island of Luzon and they are not clear yet as to what genus the mammal belongs. It may represent a new genus, the taxonomic level above species. "Finding this wonderful new species in lowland forests gives us greater hope for successful conservation of biological diversity in the Philippines, and is due to the hard work and energetic defense of the forest by the local farmers," said Eric Rickart, curator of vertebrates at the Utah Museum of Natural History at the University of Utah and one of the team leaders. "Given that second growth forest is widespread, this species may eventually prove to be pretty common." Rickart has been studying biological diversity in the Philippines for more than 15 years, and describes the Philippines as having biological diversity equal to "the Galapagos Islands times 10, with one of the highest concentrations of unique mammals of any place in the world." Only about three percent of the original mature lowland rain forest in the Philippines remains today, and it had been feared that many species had been lost even before they were discovered. The Philippines is often listed as one of the highest global priorities for conservation. The single specimen, which will become the type specimen of the new species, will be studied in Chicago, and then returned to the Philippine National Museum.
Survey Warns Plant Database Falling Behind EAST LANSING, Michigan, June 8, 2004 (ENS) - Experts say a drop in collecting plants threatens the database that is the primary source of material for gardeners, county extension agents, nature enthusiasts, artists and illustrators as well as for medical scientists, forensics experts, law enforcement agencies and other scientists.The trend, they contend, is that the collection of local or in-state plant life is in steep decline, at a time when habitat is changing dramatically. "To protect the best remaining native forests, and to determine how development can best reflect our values, we have to thoroughly understand our natural heritage," said Alan Prather, a botanist and plant curator at Michigan State University. "This information has to be kept current, because new invasive species are introduced every year and once-pristine habitats are destroyed by both natural and human forces," he said. Prather and Carolyn Ferguson of Kansas State University have outlined the trend toward doing less collecting, which holds true from the vast holdings of the Field Museum in Chicago to smaller plant museums that house only a few thousand specimens. Their articles appear in the spring 2004 issue of "Systematic Botany." The researchers surveyed small and large collections of plants or herbaria, from public and private institutions, universities, museums and botanical gardens, and from 30 states and the District of Columbia. They found fewer scientists and students are going into the field to gather plants and preserve them in collections. The result, Prather said, is not only a breakdown of resources for a myriad of professionals, but also a breakdown of knowledge of what habitats were like - and what they are becoming. He explained it is vital to understand the composition of a natural habitat and to be able to quickly recognize the invasion of exotic species. "If we cannot keep out such invading species, then our best defense is to detect them right away and eliminate them," Ferguson said. "But unless we are vigilant and collect plants locally and know when invaders appear, we cannot possibly defend against them." Ferguson and Prather advocate increasing the resources for local collecting and for assessing specimens. "We need more people to do the actual collecting. We need to train students in collecting practices," Prather said. "We need to focus on statewide plant collecting again and actively resist pressures to stop adding locally collected plant specimens to the nation's herbaria."
Environmentalists Launch Earth Legacy Campaign SAN FRANCISCO, California, June 8, 2004 (ENS) - A nonpartisan group of environmental and foreign policy luminaries have joined with U.S. nongovernmental organizations to announce the Earth Legacy Campaign.The centerpiece of the campaign is a call for Congress to reassert U.S. global environmental leadership by establishing a commission to review the state of the global environment, its effect on U.S. interests, and current efforts to protect it. The campaign's declaration states in part, "World population expected to grow from six to nine billion by mid-century, spreading industrialization, increasing urbanization, and rising consumption are creating enormous pressures on the air, water, and land of our small planet." "Without urgent action to reverse current trends," the declaration states, "the degradation of the Earth's environment will undermine our public health, national security, and economic interests." The campaign was announced Friday at a luncheon where San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and the United Nations launched plans for a major celebration of World Environment Day on June 5, 2005, coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. "We need a new consensus and foundation upon which to build a renewed U.S. commitment to protect the global environment," the campaign declared. The Earth Legacy campaign is backed by a coalition of 19 environmental and foreign affairs groups, including Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Worldwatch Institute, Defenders of Wildlife, and Citizens for Global Solution. The campaign is co-chaired by Jacob Scherr, director of the International Program at the NRDC, and Harry Blaney, president of the Coalition for American Leadership Abroad. "The dramatic decline in U.S. leadership on global environmental issues is not only an environmental issue, but it is now clearly an acute concern for the foreign policy community," said Blaney. The goal of the campaign, Scherr explained, is "to stimulate a national discussion about what sort of planet we want to leave to our kids."
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