• White House Drafts 10 Year Earth Observation Plan
  
• New York Nuclear Plant Called Dangerous Terrorist Target
  
• Bush Administration Appeals Mountaintop Removal Ruling
  
• Biodiesel Boom Extends to New Colorado Terminal
  
• Endangered Mariana Islands Bird to Get Critical Habitat
  
• Roadless Rule Will Remain Until After the Election
  
• Virus Spread By Live Bait Killing Western Salamanders
  
• Fossils Show Link Between Global Warming, Genetic Diversity
  

White House Drafts 10 Year Earth Observation Plan

The release of this draft is part of the development of a Global Earth Observation System, involving 48 other countries, the European Commission and 29 international organizations.

"This draft strategic plan is a critical first step toward integrating observation technologies for tracking environmental changes in every part of the globe, enabling citizens and leaders to make more informed decisions about their lives, environment and economies," said Dr. John H. Marburger III, science advisor to the President and director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.

"To provide the science on which sound decisionmaking must be built, the aim is to ensure that 21st century technology will be as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects," Marburger said.

The plan focuses on nine goals:

• Improve weather forecasting
  
• Reduce loss of life and property from disasters
  
• Protect and monitor the ocean resource
  
• Understand, assess, predict, mitigate and adapt to climate variability and change
  
• Support sustainable agriculture and forestry, and combat land degradation
  
• Understand the effect of environmental factors on human health and well-being
  
• Develop the capacity to make ecological forecasts
  
• Protect and monitor water resources
  
• Monitor and manage energy resources

The U.S. strategic plan will be an element of an intergovernmental implementation plan that will be presented to ministers at the third global Earth bservation Summit, to be held on February 16, 2005, in Brussels.

The U.S. draft plan is now open for public and further scientific review and comment prior to being finalized by the end of the year.

Strategic Plan for the U.S. Integrated Earth Observation System http://iwgeo.ssc.nasa.gov/draftstrategicplan.asp

Global Earth Observation System http://earthobservations.org/

New York Nuclear Plant Called Dangerous Terrorist Target

The report was commissioned by Riverkeeper, a Hudson River environmental group, which is now urging the government to "move immediately to impose stringent security measures for Indian Point and begin planning for the plant's early retirement."

"The study's findings confirm what Riverkeeper and hundreds of the region's elected officials have said all along: Indian Point poses an unacceptable risk to the 20 million people - including all New York City residents - who live and work in the New York metropolitan area," said Alex Matthiessen, Riverkeeper's executive director.

Dr. Edwin Lyman, a senior staff scientist in the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, authored the report "Chernobyl-on-the-Hudson? The Health and Economic Impacts of a Terrorist Attack at the Indian Point Nuclear Plant."

Using the same computer models and methodology used by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the U.S. Energy Department to analyze the health and economic impacts of radiological accidents, Lyman forecast that up to 44,000 near-term deaths from acute radiation poisoning could occur "in the unlikely event" of a complete evacuation of the 10 mile radius zone covered by current emergency plans.

This number could be even higher for more realistic evacuation scenarios, Lyman said. These deaths could occur among people living as far as 60 miles downwind of Indian Point.

Up to 518,000 people could eventually die from cancer within 50 miles of Indian Point as a result of radiation exposures received within seven days of the attack, Lyman reports.

Millions of survivors could be permanently displaced because of extensive radiological contamination of their property, Lyman forecasts, and hundreds of billions to trillions of dollars of economic damages could befall the New York City metropolitan area.

The poorly protected spent fuel pools at Indian Point are another source of great risk to the New York area. "As alarming as the results of Dr. Lyman's study are," said Matthiessen, "they do not include the consequences of an attack that would damage the spent fuel pools as well as the reactors."

Lyman is urging the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to take immediate action to evaluate and protect the area around Indian Point. "A thorough and honest evaluation of the feasibility and effectiveness of protective actions such as sheltering, evacuation and administration of potassium iodide is badly needed for individuals living far beyond the 10 mile emergency planning zone around Indian Point," he said.

A new television documentary on Indian Point airs tonight on HBO. Directed and narrated by Rory Kennedy, the documentary "Indian Point: Imagining the Unimaginable" examines the potential for a nuclear disaster at the generating station.

The documentary features interviews with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., chief prosecuting attorney for Riverkeeper, and Rory's brother.

The plant's owner, New Orleans based Entergy Corporation, maintains that Indian Point is "safe, secure and vital." Michael Kansler, president of Entergy Nuclear Northeast declined to be interviewed for the Kennedy documentary, which he says is "an irresponsible film that misleads, alarms, and shamelessly plays on people’s fears."

Kansler says, "Indian Point 2 and 3 have been consistently receiving 'green' ratings from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This means the Indian Point units are now among the safest and most secure nuclear power plants in the country."

Indian Point Unit 2 is licensed to September 2013 and Unit 3's license does not expire until December 2015.

Bush Administration Appeals Mountaintop Removal Ruling

Biodiesel Boom Extends to New Colorado Terminal

Located in Alamosa, the blending facility will serve fuel distributors with Blue Sun B20, made of 20 percent renewable fuel produced from virgin vegetable oil biodiesel, and 80 percent petroleum diesel together with proprietary fuel additives.

The B20 blend offers advantages over petroleum diesel by increasing cetane, horsepower, and fuel mileage, while reducing emissions of particulates, greenhouse gases, carcinogens, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons.

B20 has superior lubricating properties, reduces engine wear and maintenance costs, and can be used in existing diesel engines without modification.

Several biodiesel terminals have opened across the United States this year in Council Bluffs, Iowa, McFarland, Wisconsin and Peru, Indiana, and the largest, an 18 million gallon per year plant in Lakeland, Florida.

Biodiesel is a cleaner burning alternative to petroleum-based diesel, made from renewable resources like soybeans, grown in the United States. It can be used in its pure form (B100), or blended with petroleum diesel at any level, most commonly 20 percent (B20).

Blue Sun President and CEO Jeff Probst said, “This infrastructure development is essential to achieving our near-term objectives. We want to provide high quality and cost competitive fuel to our customers and consumers across the region that would otherwise be excluded or required to pay higher costs due to their geographic location.”

Probst estimates the regional B20 biodiesel market will grow to 150 million gallons of B20 annually by 2015.

Blue Sun Biodiesel is an agriculture energy company in Colorado, founded in 2001 to develop the market for America’s clean renewable fuel. The company is engaged in all phases of biodiesel production, from agricultural research and development, to fuel processing, distribution, and value-added customer service.

According to Dan Mortensen, President of Alta Fuels, “The growing market for Blue Sun B20 will have a positive effect on our regional and local economy, our health, and the environment. It will also reduce our dependence on foreign oil.”

The National Biodiesel Board says that more than 400 major fleets use biodiesel commercially nationwide. About 300 retail filling stations make biodiesel available to the public, and more than 1,000 petroleum distributors carry it nationwide.

The U.S. Energy Department says biodiesel is the fastest growing alternative fuel in the country. Biodiesel is experiencing even greater growth in Europe and is starting to emerge as an important alternative fuel source everywhere around the world where oilseed crops are plentiful.

Endangered Mariana Islands Bird to Get Critical Habitat

The Rota bridled white-eye, a forest dwelling bird found only on the western Pacific island of Rota in the Northern Mariana Islands was placed on the U.S. Endangered Species List in January 2004, but no critical habitat for the bird was set aside, a violation of the Endangered Species Act.

In the final listing rule, the Service identified habitat loss and degradation as primary causes of the species’ decline.

In a settlement reached Wednesday with the Center for Biological Diversity, represented by Earthjustice, the Service agreed to issue a proposed critical habitat designation by September 7, 2005, and a final designation decision by September 7, 2006.

Conservation groups petitioned the Interior Department of Interior to put the white-eye on the endangered list in 1980. The department agreed that the species was declining and, in 1982, with 10,763 birds left in the wild, identified the white-eye as a candidate for listing.

The species continued to decline unprotected for over 20 years until Earthjustice and the Center for Biological Diversity secured a series of court orders forcing the Bush administration finally to list it as an endangered species in January.

By this time, the wild population had been reduced to 1,092 birds.

“It’s a shame that the Service refused to do anything to protect the white-eye’s essential recovery habitat for over 20 years, while the bird’s numbers declined by 90 percent,” said Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity.

“We hope that it’s not too late to save the white-eye and that, with the Service’s admission today that it violated the law, other imperiled species will not suffer the same fate.”

Critical habitat consists of those areas that must be managed to ensure the species recovers. Federal agencies may not carry out, fund, or approve any actions that destroy or adversely modify critical habitat.

Since the restrictions are directed solely at federal agencies, designation generally has little direct effect on private landowners.

“This case vividly illustrates Congress’s wisdom when it empowered citizens to sue the Service for failing to comply with the Endangered Species Act,” said Earthjustice attorney David Henkin, who represented the Center. “Even though the Service knew that its refusal to protect the white-eye’s essential recovery habitat was illegal, it would have gotten away with it, had concerned citizens not stepped forward to uphold the law.”

Roadless Rule Will Remain Until After the Election

The original comment period was slated to end September 14. Comments must now be received in writing by November 15. That means the roadless rule will remain in effect until after the presidential election on November 2.

On July 16, the Forest Service published a proposed rule to revise regulations concerning the Roadless Area Conservation Rule published on January 12, 2001, which was struck down in July 2003 by the District Court for the District of Wyoming.

The proposed rule would require governors to petition the Secretary of Agriculture to establish or adjust management direction that exists in forest plans for inventoried roadless areas within their state.

Under the proposal, state governors must petition for protection of roadless areas within national forests in their states within 18 months of the release of the final rule.

The proposed rule is available at: www.roadless.fs.fed.us.

The original roadless rule, enacted in January 2001 during the last days of the Clinton administration, banned roadbuilding and logging in some 58.5 million acres of remote and unspoiled public land within the national forests.

Supporters say the rule provides vital protection for some of the nation's last remaining wild places and contend it is one of the most popular and important conservation initiatives in the nation's history.

But at least nine lawsuits involving seven states have been filed challenging the rule, with several Western governors eager to see the rule lifted.

Eight governors across the country, all Democrats, have spoken in favor of retaining the original rule, most recently Governor Mark Warner of Virginia, who chairs the National Governors Association.

There are 39 states with inventoried roadless areas on national forest lands within their boundaries. Roughly 97 percent of these areas lie within a dozen Western states - Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

Written comments on the proposed rule may be mailed to: Content Analysis Team, ATTN: Roadless State Petitions, USDA Forest Service, P.O. Box 221090, Salt Lake City, UT 84122; faxed to 801-517-1014; or e-mailed to statepetitionroadless@fs.fed.us.

Comments also may be submitted from: http://www.regulations.gov.

To send comments in batched e-mails from the same server, call 801-517-1020 to facilitate the transfer of the comments. The Forest Service says it will issue a final rule after it evaluates public comments.

An interim directive remains in effect to conserve inventoried roadless areas until the new rule is issued.

Virus Spread By Live Bait Killing Western Salamanders

A research article by a team headed by Arizona State University ecologist James Collins forthcoming in the "Journal of Molecular Ecology" demonstrates that the wild incidences of an iridovirus in Arizona and Colorado are all genetically similar, indicating a recently emerged or introduced strain.

The strain matches viruses isolated from imported salamanders found in bait shops, indicating a possible source for the virus.

"Amphibians are clearly vulnerable to environmental change, but the fact that they are being so broadly effected by emerging diseases is telling us that emerging diseases are having a major effect on the biosphere," said Collins.

The finding has come out of a $3 million National Science Foundation funded project to study emerging wildlife diseases that are threats to amphibian biodiversity.

Under the grant, Collins and his team have been focusing on defining the role of pathogens in the decline of amphibian populations worldwide.

Early in the project, the team began to focus on two pathogens – a chytrid fungus and an iridovirus – both unfamiliar organisms, though geographically widespread.

The chytrid fungus appears to be responsible for major population declines and even waves of mass extinction occurring in Central America, throughout the Rocky Mountain region in North America, and in Australia.

Collins's lab was focused on the iridovirus, which was responsible for mass die-offs of tiger salamanders in isolated stock ponds in southern Arizona. The team investigated how the virus was being introduced to the ponds, which can be isolated from each other by miles.

"We were really interested in the ways in which it could be moving around, and whether or not it can jump between species," Collins said.

"The basic story, based on the molecular analysis, is that the virus has a very recent history in the west and it is a history that suggests in its patterns that the viruses have been moved around in less than traditional ways – probably in anthropogenic ways," said Collins. "Bait is one of the ways it is probably getting around."

Collins and his team found evidence for the iridovirus in salamanders in bait stores in Phoenix and also in larval salamanders from Indiana University that are shipped all over the world for biomedical research.

Whether the virus strain is lethal in its original Midwestern host populations is still not known, but it is lethal to wild tiger salamanders in the west.

"Bait stores collect their animals in the Midwest, for the most part – Nebraska, West Texas, eastern New Mexico," Collins said. "We find virus that is molecularly indistinguishable from the bait stores in the wild in Colorado."

"Presumably it was shipped in from somewhere, perhaps Nebraska, into Colorado as bait. And imported bait is a big, multi-million dollar industry," he said.

Though the effect of the virus on tiger salamanders is only a small part of the overall issue of global amphibian decline, Collins thinks the team's current findings have a larger significance and may provide a method for putting together other pieces of the puzzle.

"This tiger salamander system is really a model for looking at the emergence of these diseases," he said.

Fossils Show Link Between Global Warming, Genetic Diversity

"We think we know a lot about how animals might respond to global warming, but we really have very little idea about their actual genetic response to environmental change," said Hadly, an assistant professor of biological sciences at Stanford.

Hadly and her colleagues conducted a genetic analysis of two species of rodents found in Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park - the montane vole, Microtus montanus, and the northern pocket gopher, Thomomys talpoides.

Funded by the National Science Foundation, the researchers collected DNA from living animals and from the teeth of fossilized specimens whose remains were buried in Lamar Cave, a remote site near the northeast entrance to the park.

"The deposit in the cave is about nine yards deep and it took me seven years to excavate and identify the fossils," Hadly said. "It contains hundreds of thousands of bones and represents a continuous fossil record dating back 3,000 years."

The researchers compared DNA from voles and pocket gophers living near Lamar Cave with ancient DNA from fossilized rodents that inhabited the area at different times since 1000 B.C.

The researchers were particularly interested in animals that were alive during two events – the Medieval Warm Period (850-1350 A.D.), when the Northern Hemisphere experienced a warming trend; and the Little Ice Age (1350-1950), when the hemisphere cooled.

Analysis of fossils in Lamar Cave showed a 40 percent drop in the vole population during the warmer period, and a 50 percent decline in the number of pocket gophers. Fossil abundance for both species rose during the Little Ice Age as precipitation increased.

These findings established a direct correlation between climate change and population size.

"When you decrease population size, you have the potential of eliminating much genetic diversity," Hadly explained. "That's what happened to pocket gophers during the Medieval Warm Period. We found that they underwent a population size reduction and a decline in genetic diversity, which is what you would predict."

But voles had a different response. "They didn't show any reduction in genetic diversity, even though they did show a reduction in population size," Hadly said.

Voles look for mates in other colonies, maintaining an influx of new genes, while gophers stay in isolated underground burrows without a flow of new genes, so their biodiversity declined, the researchers concluded.

The study has implications for wildlife managers in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem who are trying to maintain genetically diverse populations of elk, bison and other mammals.

"The landscape of Yellowstone - arguably one of the largest relatively intact temperate zone ecosystems in the world - is really chopped up and isolated, and there are fewer connections between populations," Hadly said. "They really might not have anyplace to go because of development or habitat loss, and this has the potential to be exacerbated during global warming."