AmeriScan: March 24, 2003

Environment News Service (ENS)

AmeriScan: March 24, 2003

Feds Predict Strong 2003 for Northwest Salmon
Solano Grass Warrants Protection
California Signs Natural Gas Supply Settlement
Carbon Storage In Northern Forests Linked to Fire
Conservationists Return Sacred Land to Shoshone Tribe
Alcohol Biofuel Cells Show Promise
Methanol Could Fuel Computers, Cell Phones
Goodall to Make Primate Programs for Animal Planet
* * *

Feds Predict Strong 2003 for Northwest Salmon
WASHINGTON, DC, March 24, 2003 (ENS) - Early estimates from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) find a significant increase in adult coho and Chinook salmon now in the ocean preparing to return to their native streams in the Pacific Northwest compared to previous years.
The salmon are turning up in historical numbers, according to NOAA scientists, with Oregon coastal and Columbia River coho up 185 percent over the recent 10 year average of actual returns.
The predictions released last week by NOAA for 2003 indicate that the number of adult coho salmon may reach more than 984,000.
"This high forecast of coho about to return to Northwest rivers is great news," said Bob Lohn, regional administrator of the NOAA Fisheries Northwest Regional Office in Seattle. "It is way above last year's estimate of 434,100 adults and could represent the fourth consecutive year of potential coho returns near or above a million fish."
The estimates from NOAA will be used to set annual harvest levels for salmon fishing on the West Coast. The Pacific Fishery Management Council will set release their recommended harvest numbers in April for approval by NOAA.
The Council is one of eight regional fishery management councils established by the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 for the purpose of managing fisheries three to 200 miles offshore of the United States of America coastline. It is responsible for fisheries off the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington.
According to NOAA, the majority of the returning salmon for which the council sets harvest limits, such as Oregon coastal and Columbia River coho, are from hatcheries and are generally not listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The harvests are designed to minimize impacts on salmon listed under ESA.
NOAA reported preliminary forecasts for Washington coast and Puget Sound coho returns that are also above recent actual returns. Predictions call for more than 215,500 naturally spawned coho to return to Washington coast rivers in 2003, a 138 percent increase over 2001 actual returns.
Puget Sound naturally spawned coho are predicted to be nearly double that of 2001's actual returns of 280,000.
And the preliminary numbers show high forecasts for many Northwest chinook runs, with the potential for Columbia Basin upriver summer chinook continue to return at levels not seen since the 1950s.
"This is yet the latest in a continuing positive trend that we're seeing for Pacific Northwest salmon runs," said Lohn. "These estimates are good news for fishermen and are evidence that our efforts to recover salmon runs are having effect."
NOAA scientists credit favorable ocean conditions as a leading contributor to the strong returns, but say conservation efforts also contributed.
The positive news does not undermine the need for "continued diligence" to ensure that ESA listed salmon runs continue show improved returns, Lohn said.
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Solano Grass Warrants Protection
SACRAMENTO, California, March 24, 2003 (ENS) - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has decided to keep Solano grass listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The National Wilderness Institute had filed a petition asking the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to remove the native Northern California grass from the ESA.
Solano grass has been endangered under ESA since 1978.
"While we can find no basis for removing Solano grass from Endangered Species Act protection, the Fish and Wildlife Service remains committed to evaluating new information on listed species as it becomes available," said Steve Thompson, manager of the Service's California-Nevada Operations Office.
"The Service is also committed to recovery and eventual delisting of this California native plant."
The petition was submitted in February 1997 by the National Wilderness Institute, a national conservation group based in Virginia that refers to itself as the nation's "leading conservative environmental think tank."
The organization believed the plant should not have been originally placed on the list, but FWS found no data suggesting that the Solano grass was listed in error.
FWS also found no information to show that Solano grass has recovered enough to be listed as threatened rather than endangered, or to be delisted.
Also known as Crampton's tuctoria or Crampton's Orcutt grass, Solano grass is a small, grayish green annual grass, blooming from April to July. It produces stems and leaves covered with droplets of a sticky, aromatic, bitter-tasting secretion. Less than five inches long, the stems lie on the ground, turning up only at the tips.
Solano grass occurs in vernal pool complexes and fewer than 10 percent of these rare ecosystems remain today in California. Destruction of vernal pools continues to pose a significant threat to the plants and animals whose survival depends upon them.
* * *

California Signs Natural Gas Supply Settlement
SACRAMENTO, California, March 24, 2003 (ENS) - California officials announced a $1.7 billion settlement last week with El Paso Corporation that resolves claims that the company withheld pipeline capacity to artificially inflate gas prices during California's energy crisis.
This is the largest settlement of the five struck so far by the Attorney General's ongoing investigation into the California power crisis of 2000 and 2001. The combined value of the five settlements is $2.14 billion.
"This is more evidence that the energy crisis was not a California created problem, but rather market manipulation by the energy pirates that [federal government regulators were] ready to sweep under the rug," said California Governor Gray Davis. "The settlement puts in place rules of the road with real teeth. El Paso will never be able to rip off Californians again."
The agreement will become final after the parties execute a final comprehensive settlement, and obtain all required approvals from state and federal regulators and courts. Out of the total settlement, $505.6 million will be allocated to utilities' residential and business ratepayers, pursuant to a formula California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the California Department of Water Resources (CDWR),
The deal calls on El Paso to deliver to California $900 million worth of natural gas over the next 20 years allocated among the settling parties.
Some of it will be used to generate electricity under CDWR's agreements and some will be monetized. The CPUC will drop its claim pending before FERC that alleges El Paso, by withholding pipeline capacity, cost California consumers billions of dollars in artificially inflated gas and electricity prices.
"El Paso played a key role in the multi-billion dollar rip off of California committed by energy companies," said Lockyer. "This settlement holds the company accountable for its misconduct. It also protects ratepayers, businesses and taxpayers from future price-gouging by helping prevent manipulation of the state's natural gas market."
The agreement brings to an end the Attorney General's Office will end its investigation of El Paso for violations of antitrust laws.
* * *

Carbon Storage In Northern Forests Linked to Fire
AUSTIN, Texas, March 24, 2003 (ENS) - Researchers studying Canada's northern forests found that the ability of tree stands to store carbon changes as they regenerate from fire.
The scientists have been studying trees that range from saplings to 130 years old and have discovered that the period since a fire last swept through an area determines how much carbon the forest can store.
They found that twenty to forty year old stands absorb more carbon than those 70 years old and older, despite being smaller and having less biomass or plant material.
The U.S. government funded study appeared in the "Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres."
The Boreal or northern forests like the one in this study account for some 25 percent of the total carbon stored in the vegetation and soils in the Earth's biosphere.
Wildfires burn down individual areas every 40 to 250 years and are an important part of this ecosystem, explained the study's lead author and University of Texas at Austin plant ecologist Marcy Litvak.
Whether or not these forests are likely to lower or raise levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere depends on how these carbon reserves respond to, and recover from, both climate change and disturbances such as wildfires.
Carbon is transferred from the atmosphere to the forest through photosynthesis and is returned to the atmosphere as soil microorganisms decompose dead organic matter and as trees and mosses metabolize the products of photosynthesis, Litvak explained.
The balance between these two processes, taking in carbon during photosynthesis and "exhaling" carbon through respiration, determines how much carbon is stored in the forest, Litvak said.
Forests will store more or less carbon depending on the dominant tree species, the amount of moss cover, and changes in forest structure due to fire.
Those factors, Litvak said, determine how much total carbon is exchanged with the atmosphere.
From 1999 to 2000, Litvak and her colleagues monitored carbon emissions over five black spruce stands in Manitoba, Canada. These stands ranged in age from 11 to 130 years old.
Results indicate that the ability to store carbon is almost zero in the 11 year old stand, increases to a maximum in the 36 year-old stand, then gradually falls back down to zero in the 130-year old stand.
The scientists concluded that most of the net carbon absorption appears to take place from 20 to 50 years after a fire.
* * *

Conservationists Return Sacred Land to Shoshone Tribe
PRESTON, Idaho, March 24, 2003 (ENS) - Conservationists turned over 26 acres of sacred ground within the Bear River Valley to the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation. An estimated 350 or more members of the tribe were massacred on the site on January 29, 1863 by U.S. soldiers.
"This is sacred land to us," said Bruce Parry, executive director of the tribe. "It is the burial ground of our ancestors and it is deeply satisfying to have it protected."
The 439 member Northwestern Shoshone tribe is based in Brigham City, Utah, about 70 miles north of Salt Lake City.
The site is comprised of two parcels, one of 19 acres and the other seven acres, which were purchased privately by the Trust for Public Land (TPL), a national conservation organization with the support of the American West Heritage Center, a Wellsville, Utah based heritage preservation and education project.
"This is a deeply moving example of the kind of local and national teamwork required to protect lands which are important for tribes and communities around the nation," said Alina Bokde, the TPL project manager who put the transaction together.
The Northwestern Shoshone once lived in the region between the Bear Lake Valley and the eastern shore of the Great Salt Lake. The 26 acres are part of the 1,691 acre Bear River Valley, which was a gathering site for the entire Shoshone nation.
"The massacre site is a sacred and holy spot because the bodies of the Shoshone were never buried, but were left to the wolves and the coyotes to devour," said historian Brigham Madsen, who has written a book about the massacre. "Therefore, it is good that it is finally being recognized and preserved."
The Bear River Valley provides vital habitat for some 250 migratory bird species and the Bear River provides 60 percent of the surface water entering the Great Salt Lake. The river has been listed as one of the nation's 10 most endangered rivers because of growing demands on its water supply.
* * *

Alcohol Biofuel Cells Show Promise
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, March 24, 2003 (ENS) - Scientists from Saint Louis University are showcasing a new type of biofuel cell that runs off of alcohol and enzymes at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society. The convention is being held from March 21 to 27 in New Orleans.
The promise of biofuel cells has been tempting scientists for many years, but technological hurdles have kept them from practical use. The Saint Louis University scientists believe their new cells may bring that promise much closer to reality.
"These results show the applicability of biofuel cell technology and help move the research from a purely academic endeavor to a more practical technology," said Shelley Minteer, an assistant professor of chemistry at Saint Louis University who presented the research.
The only items consumed in a biofuel cell are the fuel and oxygen from the air, Minteer explained.
"Given the proper environment, an enzyme should last for long periods of time," Minteer said. "It is creating this environment in a fuel cell that researchers have struggled with for years."
Enzymes are extremely sensitive to changes in pH and temperature, Minteer explained, and even slight departures from ideal conditions can lead to inactivation of the enzymes, which produces a short supply of power.
The scientists coated the electrodes with a polymer that has specially tailored pores, giving the enzyme "everything it needs to function for a very long period of time instead of denaturing like it normally would," Minteer said.
Unlike other biofuel cells that have used methanol as a fuel, the scientists opted for ethanol because the corn-based fuel supports more enzyme activity, is abundant and inexpensive to manufacture.
Minteer said that with "proper optimization" the biofuel cells could last up to a month without recharging.
The researchers are focusing on small scale applications, with the initial fuel cells being no bigger than the size of a postage stamp.
The group tested some 30 to 50 of the ethanol cells and have successfully run them with vodka, gin, white wine and flat beer.
* * *

Methanol Could Fuel Computers, Cell Phones
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, March 24, 2003 (ENS) - Methanol, as a liquid, is the same consistency as windshield cleaning fluid and almost the same concentration will provide energy for computers and cell phones, says a chemistry researcher from Virginia Tech.
Speaking at the 225th national meeting of the American Chemical Society that opened Sunday in New Orleans, Yu Seung Kim, a former research scientist at Virginia Tech, reported the results of studies at Virginia Tech to determine the optimum materials for use as a proton exchange membrane in a methanol based fuel cell.
Because methanol, as a liquid, would be easier to dispense using current infrastructure, it will likely be one of the first fuels for fuel cells.
Methanol is the simplest alcohol, explains Virginia Tech chemistry professor James McGrath. When used as fuel, it is diluted with water.
In the fuel cell, the methanol-water molecule is stripped of an electron - the energy source - then the water and proton cross the proton exchange membrane to the fuel cell's second chamber, where carbon dioxide and water are created as byproducts.
"A container something like an ink jet cartridge would power a cell phone for a few days instead of a few hours," says McGrath.
McGrath believes that methanol based fuel cells could be developed before hydrogen based fuel cells. "A liquid is easier to dispense using current infrastructure than gas," he says.
* * *

Goodall to Make Primate Programs for Animal Planet
SILVER SPRING, Maryland, March 24, 2003 (ENS) - Discovery Communications Inc. has signed an exclusive multi-year deal with the Jane Goodall Institute to develop special programs for the company's channel Animal Planet channel. The partnership includes participation in the channel's traveling exhibit, Animal Planet Expo, in addition to involvement with the Discovery Channel Global Education Fund.
Jane Goodall remains one of the world's most famous wildlife biologists for her pioneering work with African chimpanzees.
The Jane Goodall Institute was founded in 1977 to continue her research into chimpanzee behavior and has evolved into a global leader in the effort to protect chimpanzees and other wildlife in their African habitats. It now has grassroots wildlife conservation, economic development and education programs in more than 70 countries.
The organization will work with Animal Planet to develop television programs that provide a deeper understanding of her work and of the critical issues facing wildlife around the world.
The agreement involves the organization working with The Discovery Channel Global Education Fund, a nonprofit, public charitable organization that is dedicated to extend the power of technology to under resourced communities around the world. The agreement calls for Goodall to integrate her "Roots & Shoots" program, which works with young people to foster respect and compassion for all living things, into the fund's programs.
"Discovery and Animal Planet are honored and privileged to partner with Jane in this exciting endeavor," said Billy Campbell, president of Discovery Networks U.S. "Her signature combination of credibility, integrity and passion are world-renowned. We are proud to call her our partner."
The deal to work with Goodall is a coup for Discovery, who lured the famous biologist from their rivals National Geographic.
"Dr. Goodall is a true legend. We are very excited to welcome Jane and her vision to Animal Planet," said Michael Cascio, executive vice president and general manager, Animal Planet. "Our organizations share many of the same educational and conservation values, and a mission to help people better understand animals and the world within which we all live."





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