• Wilderness Bill Targets Washington's Lowlands
  
• Glacial Retreat Seen Worldwide
  
• New EPA Facility Supports Environmental Research
  
• Virginia University to Aid Developing Nations
  
• Heavy Rains Reduce Eastern Drought
  
• Critical Habitat Proposed for Hawaiian Plants
  
• Rio Grande's Artificial Surge Prompts Spawning
  
• Habitat Restoration Headed for Dakota Battlefield
  

Wilderness Bill Targets Washington's Lowlands

Senator Patty Murray and Representative Rick Larsen, both Washington Democrats, introduced the Wild Sky Wilderness Act of 2002 (S.2565), a bill that would designate new federal wilderness in Washington's Skykomish River valley. Senator Maria Cantwell, Washington's other Senator and a fellow Democrat, cosponsored the Senate version of the bill.

"This proposal reflects the values of our state and respects the economic and recreational interests of the people of Snohomish County," said Murray. "Our bill will protect an important area and keep it accessible for recreation and enjoyment for generations to come."

Murray said she has been considering introducing new wilderness legislation for the past four years as growth in the region threatened many natural areas with development. Washington state has not added any new U.S. Forest Service wilderness areas since 1984, Murray noted.

The Wild Sky Wilderness Act would protect about 106,000 acres of existing federal land within the Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, and authorize the acquisition of hundreds of additional acres that would fall within the proposed wilderness boundaries.

"One of the reasons I picked the Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest as a starting point is because it is so accessible to so many residents," Murray said. "More than 2.4 million people live in Snohomish, King and Skagit counties and have easy access to this beautiful area."

The proposed wilderness would protect lowland forests and streams, ecosystems which are not well represented in Washington state's existing wilderness. The region's rivers and streams support threatened salmon, steelhead and trout populations, and the forests shelter spotted owls, pine martin, pileated woodpeckers, black bears and mountain goats.

The Wild Washington Campaign, a statewide alliance of conservation groups and volunteers, has been inventorying the remaining potential wilderness in the state, and helped map out the wilderness proposed in the Wild Sky bill. Much of the new wilderness created by the bill would be adjacent to the existing Henry M. Jackson Wilderness Area, which protects mostly higher elevations.

More information is available at: http://murray.senate.gov/wilderness.html

Glacial Retreat Seen Worldwide

Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) detailed the early results of a joint project designed to provide a global assessment of glaciers at the American Geophysical Union spring meeting in Washington DC on Wednesday.

Accelerating climate change over the next century will impact the rate that glaciers retreat, said Jeff Kargel of the USGS. The team's research also shows that a small minority of glaciers are advancing.

The research is part of an international effort to map and assess glaciers throughout the world. Current glacier satellite images are being compared with topographical maps and other records of glaciers from the 20th century.

The project, called the Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS), includes more than 100 collaborators in 23 countries.

"Glaciers in most areas of the world are known to be receding," said Kargel, who is also the international coordinator for GLIMS. "But glaciers in the Himalaya are wasting at alarming and accelerating rates, as indicated by comparisons of satellite and historic data, and as shown by the widespread, rapid growth of lakes on the glacier surfaces."

While ice reflects the sun's rays, lake water absorbs and transmits heat to the underlying ice, kicking off a feedback that creates further melting. Scientists estimate that surface temperatures could rise by 1.4 degrees Celsius to 5.8 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.

Glacier changes in the next 100 years could affect agriculture, water supplies, hydroelectric power, transportation, mining, coastlines and ecological habitats, Kargel warned. Melting ice may cause both serious problems and, for the short term in some regions, helpful increases in water availability, but all these impacts will change with time, he added.

"It's not all doom and gloom," Kargel said. "Glaciers are wastelands, but as they recede the land underneath may become available for use."

But Kargel suspects the overall impacts of glacial melting will be negative.

For example, more than one percent of water in the Ganges and Indus Basins in southern Asia now comes from runoff from the melting of permanent glacial ice. This contribution is expected to increase as melting rates accelerate, but the added runoff will disappear as glaciers decline many decades from now.

Water use in these basins is already approaching capacity as populations continue to grow. In drier parts of Asia, like in arid Western China, wasting glaciers now account for more than 10 percent of fresh water supplies.

For more information visit: http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/20020530glaciers.html

New EPA Facility Supports Environmental Research

As she dedicated the new facility Wednesday, EPA Administrator Christie Whitman pointed out the complex's environmentally friendly design.

"When planning for this facility began in the early 1990s, our goal was clear - build state of the art laboratories and offices that embody the Agency's environmental mission and save the taxpayers money," said Whitman. "Through our partnerships with four federal agencies, three building companies, two architectural firms, and countless others, we have built one of the largest 'green' buildings in the world - a model for others like it around the globe."

The new $273 million, 1.2 million square foot campus will be a showcase for demonstrating how site and building design, construction practices and routine operations can reduce energy consumption, minimize impact to the environment and provide a high quality indoor environment for employees.

The building was designed to be 40 percent more energy efficient than comparable, standard design buildings. Parking areas at the complex were reduced by 25 percent after the EPA provided incentives for reducing commutes by single occupant vehicles.

Eighty percent of construction wastes created at the site were recycled. All the stormwater runoff from the sites buildings and parking lots will be harvested and filtered using native grass, wildflowers, woods and wetlands.

The new facility consolidates operations, replacing seven leased facilities in the Research Triangle area and providing state of the art research laboratories and modern office space for 2,000 employees and contractors. To date, about 1,600 individuals have been relocated to the new campus.

Research Triangle Park is the center of the EPA's national air research programs and air quality office responsible for issuing regulations and policies to reduce air pollution across the country. The research has improved understanding of exposures to air pollutants and their health effects and provided new technologies for use in pollution prevention and mitigation.

Other research conducted at the facility includes safe drinking water, risks to children from environmental contaminants, and human health risk assessments of pesticides.

Virginia University to Aid Developing Nations

The agreement will strengthen existing links between UVA and WWF's U.S. office, including in land and ocean ecosystem monitoring, assessment and policy development. The university and WWF will raise awareness of environmental management issues, raise the profile of research findings, and support research, collaborations and monitoring programs for natural resource conservation.

The agreement was signed during a three day workshop at UVA involving officials from four African universities, UVA, the U.S. State Department, the United Nations, the National Academy of Sciences, the National Research Council, the World Wildlife Fund and other international conservation organizations.

UVA and the African universities held the workshop to discuss conservation issues and to form a consortium with implications for education, research, health care and public policy. UVA's relationship with the WWF will help further these initiatives.

"The World Wildlife Fund promotes environmental research and sound land use policy and is a natural ally for UVA's research and education initiatives in southern Africa and other developing regions," said Jeffrey Plank, UVA's assistant vice president for research and public service. "UVA has conducted environmental research in Africa for 25 years, and we have developed strong relationships with researchers and educators there. The World Wildlife Fund shares our devotion to the study and stewardship of the environment in southern Africa and elsewhere."

The agreement between UVA and WWF allows the organizations to share resources to promote biodiversity and environmental management and, where possible, to cooperate and develop research projects.

Representatives from UVA's Center for Regional Environmental Studies and WWF's Endangered Spaces Program will hold regular meetings to coordinate their activities. The organizations also may seek joint funding for some projects.

While the understanding strengthens links between UVA and WWF, it does not create a joint venture or partnership between the two organizations.

"By combining forces with a world class research institution such as the University of Virginia, WWF can enhance its efforts to save the world's most outstanding marine, freshwater and terrestrial habitats," said William Eichbaum, WWF vice president for endangered spaces. "Africa is a natural starting point for this agreement, as it contains some of the world's most diverse, endangered and charismatic species, and both institutions have a long history there."

Heavy Rains Reduce Eastern Drought

Between 12 and 20 inches of rain fell on most of the Appalachians and northeastern states from March through late May, which lessened - but did not eliminate - the impacts of the drought, said Rich Tinker, meteorologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center.

As of May 27, state declared droughts were in place for much of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, though they have been relaxed around the Appalachians and in parts of eastern Pennsylvania.

But the relief has not been as strong in southern states. Hot and dry weather from April to mid-May allowed drought conditions to intensify along the Gulf Coast and in central and south Texas.

Near normal rainfall has brought some improvement to many areas from northern Maryland to Georgia, Tinker said.

A broad swath of the central states encompassing the lower Ohio, western Tennessee, and adjacent Mississippi Valleys has received almost three feet of rain since November. Most of Missouri, southeast Kansas, the southern halves of Illinois and Indiana, and northern Mississippi were soaked by more than eight inches of rain during the first 26 days of May.

However, rainfall was between four and eight inches below normal on southern sections of Alabama and Mississippi, and parts of Louisiana and adjacent Texas over the past three months.

The latest U.S. Drought Outlook calls for continued slow improvement for the Georgia to Maryland region, although scattered water shortages are expected to persist through August, Tinker said.

Dry conditions continued in central and southern sections of the West, while cool and wet weather brought limited relief to parts of the northern and central Rockies. Colorado experienced its driest November to April span, and Arizona its second driest, in the past 107 years of records.

Forecasters see little hope for relief before July, when thunderstorm activity in the region is expected to increase. Tinker said some degree of drought is expected to continue in this region through the summer, with central and southern Texas expecting continued water supply problems.

Critical Habitat Proposed for Hawaiian Plants

This week, the agency proposed 28 critical habitat units for 47 threatened and endangered species on the island of Hawaii, covering 437,285 acres of private, state and federal lands. The USFWS also proposed 25 critical habitat units for 99 plant species on Oahu, encompassing 111,364 acres.

"As the largest and perhaps most undeveloped island within the main Hawaiian islands, the amount of acreage proposed as critical habitat on the Big Island is larger than for other islands," said Anne Badgley, director of the USFWS Pacific region. "We have worked closely with federal, state, and private landowners to coordinate this proposal and make it as accurate as possible."

Critical habitat refers to areas that are considered essential for the conservation of a threatened or endangered species, either because the species now inhabit the areas or because the areas are needed for the future expansion of the species as it recovers.

"The long term recovery of these species depends not only on protecting existing populations, but also on establishing new populations where these plants were once found," Badgley said. "Many of these species have only one or two populations remaining, which makes them very vulnerable. A wildfire or a hurricane could destroy an entire species."

The 47 plants on Hawaii and the 99 plants on Oahu were listed under the Endangered Species Act between 1991 and 1996. A 1998 court order required the USFWS to review the need for critical habitat designations for 245 listed plant species in Hawaii; this week's proposals mark the last of the court ordered reviews.

The plants have been brought to the brink of extinction by development, competition from introduced plant species, habitat destruction by feral and domestic animals, and predation by cattle, insects and rats.

Almost all of the lands within the proposed critical habitat are unsuitable for development or other land uses due to their remote location, lack of access and rugged terrain. On Oahu, the USFWS proposal includes several military installations that provide the best remaining habitat for the rare plants.

"We will continue to work with military officials to ensure they can achieve their training mission and protect Hawaii's native species as well," Badgley said.

The agency will accept public comments on the proposed designations until July 29. Comments may be sent to the Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-Pacific Islands, Box 50088, Honolulu, Hawaii 96850.

Rio Grande's Artificial Surge Prompts Spawning

Water managers decided to stimulate spring runoff conditions by releasing extra water to mimic a natural surge flow and encourage the minnow to spawn. Spring runoff flows are the natural catalysts for minnow spawning, but this year's drought conditions resulted in a non-noticeable spring runoff.

The extra flow prompted many minnows to spawn, and on May 18 and 19, 15 biologists and volunteers from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (UFSWS), Bureau of Reclamation, New Mexico Game and Fish, University of New Mexico and New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission collected eggs in the Rio Grande from Albuquerque to Elephant Butte Reservoir.

Minnow eggs are semi-buoyant and float downstream on the current. The team collected the eggs with a low-tech device resembling a window screen set at an angle in a deep wooden box.

The volunteers stood in waist deep water clearing debris off the screen. Every few minutes, the current washed transparent, bubble like eggs into the contraption where the mesh screen stops their journey. The tiny, pea sized eggs were scooped up with plastic spoons and placed in plastic bags full of river water.

"We have helped in the rescue and propagation of more silvery minnows than we can even count," said Jim Wilber, special projects officer at the Bureau of Reclamation.

The collected eggs were transported to Albuquerque BioPark, where they hatched. Many of the resulting larvae have been sent to Dexter National Fish Hatchery and Technology Center, New Mexico State University Propagation Unit and New Mexico Game and Fish Rock Lake Hatchery at Santa Rosa to be raised.

"Our propagation facilities are full now," said Dr. Joy Nicholopoulos, New Mexico field supervisor for the USFWS.

Later, these minnows will be reintroduced into the Rio Grande at locations determined by the USFWS.

Habitat Restoration Headed for Dakota Battlefield

This month, the USFWS will begin work on an upland portion of a long drained marsh known as "Slaughter Slough", a place where 11 settlers and a number of Dakota Indians were killed in August 1862.

Today, most of the site is drained wetlands and agricultural land. But in the summer of 1862, it was a mix of native prairie and marshy wetland, filled with reeds, cattails and other aquatic grasses.

On August 20, 1862, members of nine families took refuge in the marsh from an armed band of Dakota Indians, who with others from their tribe, had begun attacking settlers along the Minnesota River Valley three days before. Many of the settlers and Dakota leader Grizzly Lean Bear were killed in what came to be called the "Battle of Slaughter Slough."

Slaughter Slough marsh, like so many rural wetlands, was drained in 1912 to provide more land for crops. The UFSWS worked with local landowners to acquire about 640 acres of the site and will soon begin planting a mix of plants harvested from native tallgrass prairie on about 110 acres of uplands overlooking the former marsh.

The USFWS hopes to restore the site to what it looked like in 1862.

"It's not much to look at now, just a soybean field and a dry, partially drained wetland," said Steve Kallin, manager of the UFSWS Windom Wetland Management District. "We have a long way to go, but when we're finished, the site will look a lot like it must have looked during 1862."

Kallin's goal is to return about 800 acres of the site to its historic state of tallgrass prairie and wetlands.

"We're working with owners of adjacent lands in hopes of expanding the project," Kallin said. "Our aim is to restore natural water levels to Slaughter Slough."

The restoration project has drawn interest and support from conservation groups, county and local governments, citizens, Native Americans and even descendants of victims of the Slaughter Slough battle.

"Of all the projects I've been involved with in the Service, this one is special, it contains the most diverse group of partners and people interested in all aspects of this project," Kallin said.