• Million Americans Would Axe Bush Roadless Rule Change
  
• Water, Power, Species in Colorado River Conservation Plan
  
• Environmentalists Step Up Efforts to Oust President Bush
  
• San Francisco's Cool Climate Could Be Just a Memory
  
• Suit Seeks Habitat for Rare California Flowers, Grasses
  
• Biologists Race to Save Endangered Hawaiian Forest Bird
  
• Ag Department Splashes Out $80 Million for Rural Water
  
• New Sensor Could Boost Emissions Control
  

Million Americans Would Axe Bush Roadless Rule Change

Joined by several Democratic members of Congress, environmental groups held a convention-style event on the Ellipse in front of the White House with state 'delegates' on-hand to announce local tallies.

Similar events were also held locally in about 25 states on Tuesday.

"The American public has not wavered one bit in their support for preserving our last remaining wild forests," said Bill Meadows, president of The Wilderness Society.

"The enormous number of comments that have been received so far means that every single day since the beginning of the comment period, at least 20,000 people from across the country and from diverse constituencies, have taken the time to write in favor of protecting our last remaining roadless forests for future generations," Meadows said.

The original roadless rule, enacted in January 2001 during the last days of the Clinton administration, banned roadbuilding and logging in some 58 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.

The Forest Service received 2.5 million comments in favor of the Clinton roadless rule.

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

The Bush administration says its proposal will clear away the legal uncertainty of the rule.

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.

There are 39 states with inventoried roadless areas on national forest lands within their boundaries, some 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.

Last week the Forest Service extended the public comment period after weeks of pressure from the public, but has not scheduled any public hearings.

Comments are now being accepted until November 15th.

"The extension of the comment period is a clear indication that the roadless issue has become too big a political thorn in the Bush Administration's side," said Robert Vandermark, co-director of the Heritage Forests Campaign. "The administration knows that opening the last 30 percent of the national forests to the timber, oil and mining industries is not a popular move."

Water, Power, Species in Colorado River Conservation Plan

Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton signed a memo of agreement with representatives of Arizona, Nevada and California that will result in implementation of the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program.

The Colorado River supplies water and power resources for more than 20 million people in Arizona, California and Nevada.

Concerns have been raised about the reliability of these water and power resources following the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 1994 designation of critical habitat for four endangered fish species in the Colorado River Basin.

Norton said, "This program will protect the river's habitat and the species that depend on it, while also ensuring the river's resources can continue to be used by the citizens of Nevada, California and Arizona to support their economy and quality of life."

The multi-species conservation program will attempt to reduce the likelihood of additional species listings under the Endangered Species Act, while working toward the recovery of species already listed.

More than 100 federal or state listed, candidate and sensitive species and their associated habitats will be addressed under the program.

At the same time the program will accommodate current water diversions and power production and optimize opportunities for future water and power development.

The proposed plan would create more than 8,100 acres of riparian, marsh and backwater habitat for 31 endangered species. The Department of the Interior will provide half of the estimated $620 million cost of the program over its life span, and the three lower basin states will provide the other 50 percent.

Under the agreement, the partners committed to using their best efforts and to provide all staff and resources necessary to publish a final Environmental Impact Statement for the program by late December, and to have a Record of Decision in place to implement the program in early January. Numerous permits and documents need to be completed to allow this to occur.

Federal, state and local officials participated in Tuesday's signing event, as well as representatives of agencies and groups that make up the 35-member Steering Committee that has led the development of the program since it was launched in 1997. The partnership includes the Bureau of Reclamation, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, the three Lower Colorado Basin states, several Colorado River tribes, Trout Unlimited, water and power contractors.

Environmentalists Step Up Efforts to Oust President Bush

San Francisco's Cool Climate Could Be Just a Memory

The study finds the California city could face eight to 10 times more heat wave days per year by the 2090s. The city currently sees 10 to 15 heat wave days annually - a total that could grow to 135 by century’s end.

"It is expected that heat waves will occur more frequently and last longer during the second half of the century," said Norman Miller, a climate scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. "Even by mid-century, well within the lifetimes of our children, heat wave days in San Francisco could increase two to four times. By the end of the century, a summer day in San Francisco could feel like a summer day in Tijuana Mexico today."

The study builds upon a comprehensive study published last month in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences" (PNAS).

It provides a more detailed analysis of health impacts of rising temperatures on five California metropolitan areas - San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Fresno, and San Bernardino/Riverside.

While the greatest increase in the number of extreme heat days and in temperature is projected for inland locations that are already hot, impacts on human health will be most profound in places like San Francisco where people are not used to extreme heat and are less able to adapt.

Hardest hit will be the most vulnerable members of the community - children, the elderly, the poor and the sick.

Using the state-of-the-art climate models described in the PNAS journal article, this study looks at the same emissions scenarios used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The higher emissions scenario assumes a continued dependence on fossil fuel-based energy. The lower emissions scenario assumes a rapid transition to clean energy technologies.

"There is a dramatic difference in excess heat mortality between the two scenarios," said Larry Kalkstein, an expert on heat and mortality at the University of Delaware's Center for Climatic Research.

"It is clear that a change in climate like the one visualized by the high emissions pathway could put tremendous pressure on our health services and hospitals, especially in urban areas, even as people struggle to acclimatize to the extreme conditions," he said.

The UCS says the study is further evidence of the need for California, the nation and the rest of the world to move away from the use of fossil fuels, which are the source of the greenhouse gases associated with global warming.

"This study brings home to San Francisco the real benefits of reducing our emissions," said Peter Frumhoff, senior scientist at UCS's Global Environment Program. "The most severe consequences can be avoided if California leads the nation and the world by demanding cleaner vehicles, increasing energy efficiency and switching to renewable energy sources such as wind and solar."

Suit Seeks Habitat for Rare California Flowers, Grasses

Three of the threatened wildflowers - southern mountain wild buckwheat, Big Bear Valley sandwort, and ash-gray Indian paintbrush - live only on pebble plains habitat between 6,000 and 7,500 feet elevation in the San Bernardino Mountains.

The San Bernardino bluegrass and California dandelion live in meadow areas of the San Bernardino Mountains, with the dandelion also found in seven meadow areas in San Diego County.

Hidden Lake bluecurls live only near a single vernal pool in the San Jacinto Mountains.

All six plants are listed as threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act. They are found in the San Bernardino, San Jacinto, Laguna, and Palomar mountains of San Bernardino, Riverside and San Diego counties.

The plants are threatened with habitat loss and destruction from off-road vehicles, livestock grazing, urban sprawl, mining, non-native invasive weeds, and other factors.

The Endangered Species Act requires the federal government to designate critical habitat when it lists a species and then develop a recovery plan.

But federal agencies have more often than not failed to carry out this mandate. Of the more than 1,300 species listed under the Endangered Species Act, about one-third have designated critical habitat and only 25 percent have recovery plans.

"Congress put critical habitat in the ESA specifically to promote recovery of species so that they would no longer need to be listed," said Ileene Anderson, a botanist with the California Native Plant Society, which filed the suit along with the Center for Biological Diversity. "We share this goal and wish that litigation was not needed for the law to be followed as written."

The groups say the Forest Service’s draft plan for the revised management of the forests where these rare plants are found proposes increases in off-road vehicles and other activities that would harm the plants.

The legal challenge is one of many centered on the designation of critical habitat, which is defined under the Endangered Species Act as areas essential for survival and recovery of a species.

The Bush administration contends that designating critical habitat does little to help endangered and threatened species, a position refuted by environmentalists.

Biologists Race to Save Endangered Hawaiian Forest Bird

The captured bird is one of three individuals - the last vestiges of a species first discovered only 31 years ago. Scientists hope a captive management program will be able to save the species.

Six members of the Maui Forest Bird Recovery team captured the bird Thursday in the Hanawi Natural Area Reserve, after months of battling adverse weather conditions in some of Hawaii's densest rainforests.

"She was incredibly calm and eating within minutes of being placed in a holding cage," said Kirsty Swinnerton, project coordinator. The bird was transported to the Maui Forest Bird Conservation Center by helicopter.

The Maui Bird Conservation Center - like the Keauhou Bird Conservation Center on the Big Island - is operated by the Zoological Society of San Diego's Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species.

"This bird may well represent the future of this species, and we recognize the role we must play for this program to succeed," said Alan Lieberman, avian conservation coordinator for the center.

"We are awed by this responsibility and will do everything in our power and experience to keep this bird alive - hopefully until the field crew can capture a mate and we can begin the process of reproduction."

The stocky little bird with a black mask is part of the Hawaiian honeycreeper family, but is so unique it occupies its own genus.

It is the only Hawaiian forest bird to rely on native tree snails as its food.

Despite extensive searches, only three birds - a male and two females - have been found in recent years - all in separate home ranges.

The decision to bring these last three birds into a captive breeding program was made in 2003 after repeated efforts to bring them together in the wild had failed.

The Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project team has been attempting to capture a po'ouli since February 2003, but most of the field trips focused on the other two birds.

"We will take a few days off to regroup and to see how this bird adapts to captivity," Swinnerton said. "Then we will be back in the field, trying to locate and capture the other two birds."

Ag Department Splashes Out $80 Million for Rural Water

The funds will be used by rural communities to provide clean, safe drinking water and sanitary wastewater disposal.

"The Bush administration understands that for a community to improve its economic opportunity and quality of life, basic community infrastructure is essential," said Veneman. "These funds will help improve the health and safety of America's rural communities."

Veneman cited Polk County in rural Tennessee as an example of how the funds will play a role in improving the quality of life for area residents.

County officials requested funds to construct six miles of water lines in the Isabella area of eastern Polk County and in the City of Ducktown where 81 residential users have struggled with contaminated water wells.

The funds will allow those residents to connect to a safer and more reliable source of water.

Funding for the 38 projects is made up of $60.5 million in loans and $19.3 million in grants and will be contingent upon meeting the conditions of the loan and grant agreements.

Veneman said that since the beginning of the Bush administration, the Rural Development section of her department has funded $6.3 billion in loans and grants. Communities have used the funds in the construction or improvement of more than 4,000 water or wastewater systems, benefiting more than 2.7 million rural area residents.

New Sensor Could Boost Emissions Control

No larger than a matchtip, the device is under development at Ohio State University and is a prototype for even smaller sensors that could one day enable new ways of controlling combustion.

The sensor detects the total amount of nitrogen oxide (NOx) and removes the interference from carbon monoxide that can cause sensors to produce inaccurate readings, the researchers said.

NOx contributes to acid rain and ground-level ozone, or smog

There are many gas sensors on the market - and all new cars carry some form of sensor to comply with emissions standards.

But the researchers say this new sensor is an improvement because it can pick out specific gases from the complex mixtures that make up combustion exhaust, detect these chemicals in small amounts, and do so rapidly.

Ohio State Chemistry Chair Prabir Dutta and former graduate student Nicholas Szabo designed the zeolite filter with catalysts inside to remove carbon monoxide and provide a combined mixture of NOx that the sensor can easily detect.

Rather than design a new sensor from scratch, the Ohio State scientists employed what Dutta called a "chemical trick." They added an innovative filter to a typical electrochemical sensor. They made the filter out of a zeolite, one of a family of porous minerals that are used as water softeners, and to create gasoline from crude oil.

The NOx passes through the filter to an electrode that registers a signal.

The sensor can survive temperatures greater than 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit - a prerequisite for working near an engine or furnace.

In laboratory tests, the sensor accurately detected the presence of NOx in concentrations above 100 parts per million, a sensitivity level that is adequate for car and power plant exhaust.

The sensitivity of the sensor can be increased by altering the temperature difference between the filter and the sensor, and the scientists are developing electrode materials and catalysts to increase sensitivity.

The researchers’ goal is to develop a sensor that will detect concentrations below 100 parts per million, which Dutta said will be needed for more environmentally friendly engines in the future. A more sensitive detector would also be needed for turbine engines for aircraft and power applications.

Several commercial companies are trying out the sensor for various applications and other Ohio State researchers are studying the sensor packaging to make it easier to manufacture and testing its performance at monitoring car engines.