• Legislation Introduced to End Yellowstone Buffalo Kills
  
• Alaska Officials Approve Aerial Wolf Slaughter
  
• Northeast Air Group Urges EPA to Adopt Strict Mercury Standard
  
• Recreation Group Protests Headwaters Forest Plan
  
• Feds Charge 31 for Illegal Trapping, Killing of Hawks and Owls
  
• Global Warming Brings More Snow to Great Lakes
  
• Chicago Houses World's Most Alkaline Life Forms
  
• The Long Life of the Red Sea Urchin
  

Legislation Introduced to End Yellowstone Buffalo Kills

"The Yellowstone buffalo herd should have the freedom to roam our federal lands like any other wildlife," said bill cosponsor Representative Maurice Hinchey, a New York Democrat who serves on the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee which has jurisdiction over the U.S. Department of Interior and the U.S. Forest Service. "The current policy of hazing and slaughtering these majestic animals is unnecessary and shameful."

The "Yellowstone Buffalo Preservation Act" acknowledges that the American buffalo - also known as bison - has profound ecological, cultural, historical, and symbolic significance to the United States.

It mandates efforts to allow Yellowstone buffalo to use public lands, including U.S. Forest Service lands next to Yellowstone National Park, through incentives and cooperative efforts with adjacent private landowners and ensures buffalo within the park are under the sole jurisdiction of the National Park Service.

The legislation would cease the controversial Interagency Bison Management Plan, which currently governs the management of the Yellowstone buffalo herd.

Under the management plan, state and federal agency officials attempt to haze bison that leave Yellowstone back within the park's borders. Bison that cannot be moved back usually are captured and tested for brucellosis and those that test positive are slaughtered.

But if the population of bison within the park exceeds 3,000 and the animals are migrating onto cattle grazing lands outside the park, the Park Service and the Montana Department of Livestock can slaughter the bison without testing for the disease.

The latest estimate finds the bison population at some 3,800 and last year some 280 bison were slaughtered simply for leaving the boundaries of the park.

Conservationists note that in the winter and early spring months over the past decade, some 3,000 Yellowstone buffalo have been slaughtered to minimize the possibility of disease transmission to cattle.

But there is no known case of bison transferring the disease to domestic livestock and several studies done on captured and slaughtered Yellowstone bison indicate that less than 20 percent were infected.

In addition, bulls and calves can not transmit the disease - it is transferred by the consumption of afterbirth from a mothering animal that is infected.

"The alleged threat just is not scientifically credible," said Michael Scott of the Montana-based Greater Yellowstone Coalition. "This is about values; whether or not we are willing to make room for a few wild buffalo on America's public lands."

Conservationists have long criticized the management plan and are rallying behind the new legislation.

"Federal agencies have no business carrying out dirty work urged by the Montana livestock interests and nobody else - the American people will not tolerate it much longer," said Dan Brister of the Montana based Buffalo Field Campaign, which is the only group in the field working to stop the slaughter of Yellowstone's wild buffalo.

"If ever there is a litmus test for basic conservation values, the Yellowstone Buffalo Preservation Act is it."

Alaska Officials Approve Aerial Wolf Slaughter

The Board's decision came despite the fact that Alaskans have voted twice - in 1996 and 2000 - to ban the practice in statewide referenda.

"The state legislature, the governor, and now the Game Board have trampled on the voters' wishes and opened the door to the wholesale slaughter of hundreds of wolves," said Karen Deatherage, Alaska program associate for Defenders of Wildlife.

Alaska is home to the largest remaining population of gray wolves in the United States - scientists estimate some 7,000 to 9,000 wolves roam the state.

But unlike wolves in the lower 48 states, wolves in Alaska are not afforded protection under the Endangered Species Act, and wolf hunting is allowed in 95 percent of the state.

The areas approved for aerial wolf control include some 2,000 square miles in interior Alaska. Land and shoot killings will also occur in a large area just east of Anchorage where conservationists estimate that 80 percent of the wolves could die as a result of this renewed practice.

Other areas throughout Alaska are also being considered for similar permits which will could be approved at the winter Board of Game meeting this March.

The aerial killing plan is in part a response to concerns about declining moose populations, but conservationists say that due to weather conditions, biologists have been unable to accurately survey moose populations in the control area around McGrath since 2001. That survey found more than twice as many moose as were thought to exist then in previous years.

"These plans are based on bad data or no data at all," said Deatherage. "Are the moose declining, or are we simply dealing with dissatisfied hunters? The science suggests the latter."

Northeast Air Group Urges EPA to Adopt Strict Mercury Standard

"The technology exists to achieve dramatic mercury reductions without undue economic burden," said Ken Colburn, executive director of NESCAUM. "By proposing a stringent mercury control rule now, the EPA can provide the certainty business needs and spur market forces to protect public health."

Coal fired power plants currently emit some 48 tons of mercury each year and are the nation's largest source of mercury emissions, contributing some 33 percent of the U.S. total emissions from industrial sources.

NESCAUM, a nonprofit association of air quality agencies of the Northeast states, says this figure could be reduced to 7 tons through a combination of benefits from existing air pollution controls and utilization of commercially available mercury reduction technologies

Under terms of a court approved settlement agreement with environmental groups, the EPA is required to issue proposed regulations limiting mercury emissions from power plants by December 15, 2003 and issue final rules by December 15, 2004.

These rules must comply with the Clean Air Act, meaning they must use "maximum achievable control technology" (MACT). The EPA has said the MACT standard could reduce mercury emissions 90 percent by 2007, but many environmentalists and public health advocates fear the Bush administration will relax compliance for the industry.

Industry groups have cast doubt on the feasibility and expense of a 90 percent emissions reduction and have warned of harmful economic effects from the regulation.

NESCAUM says several states are moving forward with their own regulations and have concluded that this level of emissions reductions from all boilers and coal types are achievable in an effective, timely and economical way.

"Failure by the EPA to establish an effective standard could lead to a plethora of differing regulations on the state and local level," added David Foertner, executive director of the Institute of Clean Air Companies. "The Clean Air Act was meant to create a level playing field that provides public health protection through consistent national regulation and creates certainty for private sector planning and investment purposes."

There is increasing concern about the health effects of mercury - the primary health risk emerges when airborne mercury falls into surface waters where it can accumulate in streams and oceans. Bacteria in the water transform mercury into methylmercury, which fish absorb when they eat aquatic organisms and humans absorb when they eat fish.

Scientists have shown that methylmercury can cause brain and nerve damage and studies indicate children and women of childbearing age are at a disproportionate risk.

In 2002, some 30 percent of U.S. lakes and 13 percent of rivers were under active mercury advisories, which urge people to avoid or limit consumption of fish due to high levels of mercury.

Recreation Group Protests Headwaters Forest Plan

In a formal protest sent Tuesday to the BLM, the BlueRibbon Coalition is alleging the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the plan is an unjustified "closure" of the forest to recreational interests.

The organization says the BLM ignored comments submitted by recreation and access groups requesting access to the Headwaters Forest during the public process.

"I think the BLM's proposal to enact a management plan that is more restrictive than federally designated wilderness is in conflict with Congressional and agency directives for the Headwaters Forest," said Don Amador, the western representative for the BlueRibbon Coalition.

Located in California's Humboldt County, the Headwaters Forest is the end product of a controversial deal to protect some of the world's last remaining ancient redwoods. The $480 million agreement forged in 1999 between the federal government and Pacific Lumber set aside the 7,500 acres of the Headwaters Forest for permanent protection.

It contains stands of thousand year old redwoods and provides habitat for threatened species including the northern spotted owl, the marbled murrelet, Chinook and Coho salmon and steelhead trout.

The proposed management plan issued last month by the BLM keeps visitors mostly to edge of the forest, limits hiking and mountain biking, and calls for 4,400 acres of the forest to be managed as "wilderness" - even though it has not been formally designated as such.

Such a designation prohibits the use of off road vehicles.

Conservationists generally approve of the BLM plan, which recommends millions of dollars be spent on watershed restoration. BLM officials say the plan is the culmination of three years of negotiations with stakeholders and consideration of all comments submitted during a public process.

Individuals and organizations unhappy with the plan have until November 10 to submit protest letters. Congress will consider the plan early next year.

Amador says his organization will not be the only one registering a complaint of a plan he calls "overly restrictive."

"The plan that provides very little recreational opportunities for the general public," he said. "We support sound conservation of our natural resources but I feel the BLM has wrongly chosen preservation over access."

Feds Charge 31 for Illegal Trapping, Killing of Hawks and Owls

The law protects more than 800 U.S. bird species.

"Our investigation in Oklahoma reveals a callous disregard of the law and the birds it protects," said Special Agent in Charge Richard McDonald, who oversees Service law enforcement efforts in the Southwest. "Legal ways exist to address depredation. Those who resort to pole trapping are destroying wild birds that are part of our natural heritage."

The individuals cited all raise gamecocks and are charged with using pole traps at their gamecock facilities to catch and kill hawks and owls thought to be a depredation threat to their domestic fowl.

Pole traps, which consist of a steel jawed leg hold trap mounted on top of a specially installed pole, take advantage of the natural perching behavior of birds of prey. When owls and hawks land on the traps, the steel jaws catch them by the feet, often seriously damaging their talons. The birds are then left to hang until they die or are removed from the traps and killed.

The Fish and Wildlife investigation documents violations that include the take of migratory birds as well as illegal possession of protected birds and their parts.

Under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the gamecock owners face a maximum penalty of a $15,000 fine and six months in prison for each violation.

The Fish and Wildlife Service issues permits on a yearly basis for the live trapping and release of depredating owls and hawks. Agency records show that three of the individuals charged held permits in the past, but all had expired by 1993. Permits only allow the use of padded, non lethal traps.

"The individuals we investigated represent only a small percentage of the fighting gamecock owners in Oklahoma," said Service Special Agent Jerry Monroe, who works out of Edmond. "But those who persist in illegally trapping hawks and owls are responsible for killing untold numbers of birds."

The Fish and Wildlife Service completed a similar investigation in Oklahoma and Texas in 1989, bringing charges against 175 individuals for killing owls and hawks.

Species vulnerable to this threat include great horned owls, barred owls, barn owls, red tailed hawks, and red shouldered hawks.

Global Warming Brings More Snow to Great Lakes

A comparative study of snowfall records in and outside of the Great Lakes region indicated a significant increase in snowfall in the Great Lakes region since the 1930s but no such increase in non Great Lakes areas.

The findings of the study 'Increasing Great Lake Effect Snowfall during the Twentieth Century: A Regional Response to Global Warming?" in the November issue of the "Journal of Climate."

"Recent increases in the water temperature of the Great Lakes are consistent with global warming," said study lead author Adam Burnett, an associate professor of geography at Colgate University. "This widens the gap between water temperature and air temperature - the ideal condition for snowfall."

Burnett and his colleagues compared snowfall records from fifteen weather stations within the Great Lakes region with ten stations at sites outside of the region. Records dating back to 1931 were available for eight of the lake-effect and six of the non lake effect areas. Records for the rest of the sample date back to 1950.

"We found a statistically significant increase in snowfall in the lake effect region since 1931, but no such increase in the non lake effect area during the same period," said Burnett. "This leads us to believe that recent increases in lake effect snowfall are not the result of changes in regional weather disturbances."

The study determines that global warming caused Syracuse, New York, - one of the snowiest cities in the United States - to experience four of its largest snowfalls on record in the 1990s, which was the warmest decade in the 20th century.

Chicago Houses World's Most Alkaline Life Forms

Illinois groundwater scientists have found microbial communities thriving in the slag dumps of the Lake Calumet region of southeast Chicago where the water can reach extraordinary alkalinity of pH 12.8 - comparable to caustic soda and floor strippers and far beyond known naturally occurring alkaline environments.

"Other alkaline communities have been found at pHs up to 11," said Illinois State Water Survey hydrogeologist George Roadcap. "That is sort of the high end of known natural communities."

Roadcap and his colleagues at the University of Illinois Champaign Urbana came upon the microbes while studying contaminated groundwater created by more than a century of industrial iron slag dumping in southern Illinois and northern Indiana. The findings were presented Tuesday at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Seattle, WA.

The closest known relatives of some of the microbes are in South Africa, Greenland and the alkaline waters of Mono Lake, California.

Alkaline groundwater in the Lake Calumet region was created when steel slag was dumped and used to fill in wetlands and lakes.

Water and air reacts with the slag to create lime - calcium hydroxide - driving up the pH.

There is an estimated 21 trillion cubic feet of contaminated industrial fill dumped in southeast Illinois and northeast Indiana, about half of which is thought to be slag, Roadcap said.

The slag dumps where the microbial communities were found resembled filled wetlands and are often devoid of surface vegetation.

Genetic analyses at one site revealed bacteria related to Clostridium and Bacillus species, which are found in highly alkaline waters of Mono Lake, tufa columns in Greenland, and cement contaminated groundwater in a deep gold mine in Africa.

At five other sites the dominant microbes belonged to the Proteobacteria class including a large number from the Comamonadacea family of the beta subclass.

Just how the unusual bacteria got to the slag dumps is currently a mystery, Roadcap said.

"I would hate to hazard a guess," Roadcap said.

One possibility is that local bacteria adapted to the extreme environment over the last century. Another possibility is that they somehow got imported.

Roadcap said the scientists have not concluded whether the unexpected microbial community has any effect on the extensive groundwater contamination problem in the slag dumps.

The Long Life of the Red Sea Urchin

The findings of the study were published in the "U.S. Fishery Bulletin" by scientists from Oregon State University and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

The researchers say the study may have important implications for management of a commercial fishery and the understanding of marine biology, as well as challenge some erroneous assumptions about the life cycle of red sea urchins.

"No animal lives forever, but these red sea urchins appear to be practically immortal," said Thomas Ebert, a marine zoologist at Oregon State University. "They can die from attacks by predators, specific diseases or being harvested by fishermen. But even then they show very few signs of age."

"The evidence suggests that a 100 year old red sea urchin is just as apt to live another year, or reproduce, as a 10 year old sea urchin," Ebert said.

The red sea urchin, which is found in shallow Pacific Ocean coastal waters from Alaska to Baja California and also elsewhere in the world's oceans, lives by grazing on marine plants and deterring most predators with its pointy spines.

Ebert and his colleagues note that many used to believe red sea urchins lived to be only seven to 15 years of age. These newest findings are based on the use of two completely different techniques of determining sea urchin ages - one biochemical and the other nuclear - that produced the same results.

The researchers report that more mature red sea urchins appear to be the most prolific producers of sperm and eggs, and are perfectly capable of breeding even when incredibly old.

Ebert notes that the red sea urchin was once considered "a real menace."

"They ate plants in kelp forests and people believed they were at least partly responsible for the decline of that marine ecosystem, so they tried to poison them, get rid of them however possible," Ebert said.

But in the 1970s a commercial fishery developed in the United States based on sea urchins, which were sold primarily to Japan where the animals are considered a delicacy. They brought high prices, and at one point in the 1990s were one of the most valuable marine resources in California.

The study suggests that the species has a fairly poor ability to survive various threats during the first year of life and reach reproductive age - otherwise there would be a great many more sea urchins.

Older sea urchins can help provide more young and therefore may play a key role in creating a sustainable fishery, so a return to harvest policies that limits harvest above a certain size might be prudent, the researchers said.