• Grants Worth $70 Million Awarded for Species Conservation
  
• California Cars Climate Friendly in Five Years
  
• Lawsuit Claims Allegheny Logging Split to Sidestep Scrutiny
  
• Groups File Suit to Stop Prairie Dog Kill for Ferrets' Sake
  
• New York State Spends $4.2 Million for Clean Fuel Buses
  
• New Jersey Gains Pinelands Nature Preserve
  
• Carbon Loss Exceeds Storage by Tundra Plants
  
• Quake Generated Waves Could Rock California Ports
  

Grants Worth $70 Million Awarded for Species Conservation

Norton said the grant awards "support state efforts to build and strengthen important cost-effective conservation partnerships with local groups and private landowners to benefit wildlife."

The largest grant goes to the state of Washington for three projects. Some $10,050,700 will be used to acquire lands on 3,000 acres of fish and wildlife habitat in both eastern and western Washington state. Conservation benefits will be secured by the purchase of old growth timber occupied by northern spotted owls and marbled murrelets in the west, and the protection of rare pine forests and diverse canyon habitats in the east.

In California's Riverside County $5,180,000 will purchase habitat within the Alberhill area to support the El Sobrante Landfill Habitat Conservation Plan. The purchase conserves occupied habitat in large, interconnected blocks to benefit species two birds - the threatened coastal California gnatcatcher, and the endangered least Bell’s vireo - as well as Stephen’s kangaroo rat.

The plant communities found in the area such as Riversidean sage scrub and riparian habitat are representative of the region's original, native habitats. The Alberhill area has one of the densest populations of the coastal California gnatcatcher in the western Riverside County.

The public will be able to use this open space for such pursuits as hiking, mountain biking, birdwatching and photography.

Smaller grants will be used to acquire and protect lands and water that are crucial to the preservation of endangered and threatened species.

Scotland County, North Carolina will receive a $1.9 million grant to acquire and manage land that will aid in the recovery of the North Carolina Sandhills West population of the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker.

This acquisition is intended to allow North Carolina to increase the intensity of restoration and management of the longleaf pine habitat in the area.

One of the grants will provide $500,000 for acquisition of lands near the Machias River in Hancock and Washington counties in Maine. The acquisition of the 47 miles of lakeshore and 13 miles of stream frontage will benefit Atlantic salmon rearing and spawning habitat as well as a bald eagle nesting site.

More than $380,000 will fund Colorado's efforts in developing a Habitat Conservation Plan to conserve the southwestern willow flycatcher in the San Luis Valley in Alamosa, Conejos, Mineral, Rio Grande and Saguache counties. The plan will cover about two million acres and 150 stream miles. It will also benefit the bald eagle and the yellow-billed cuckoo.

While the Bush administration's Fish and Wildlife Service explains on every critical habitat designation it has made - all forced under court order - "the designation of critical habitat provides little additional protection to most listed species," in Thursday's announcement the Interior Department says, "Acquisition of habitat to secure long-term protection is often an essential element of a comprehensive recovery effort for a listed species."

Funded through the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund and authorized by Section 6 of the Endangered Species Act, the grants will enable states to work with private landowners, conservation groups and other agencies to initiate conservation planning efforts and acquire and protect habitat to support the conservation of threatened and endangered species.

The Cooperative Endangered Species Fund this year provides $49 million through the Habitat Conservation Plan Land Acquisition Grants Program, $8.6 million through the Habitat Conservation Planning Assistance Grants Program, and $13.5 million through the Recovery Land Acquisition Grants Program.

The three programs were established to help reduce potential conflicts between the conservation of threatened and endangered species and land development and use.

A Habitat Conservation Plan is an agreement between a landowner and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that allows the landowner to incidentally take a threatened or endangered species in the course of otherwise lawful activities when the landowner agrees to conservation measures to minimize and mitigate the impact of the taking.

A Habitat Conservation Plan may also be developed by a county or state to cover certain activities of all landowners within their jurisdiction and may address multiple species.

There are more than 357 Habitat Conservation Plans currently in effect, covering 458 separate species on approximately 39 million acres, with some 407 additional plans under development, covering approximately 100 million acres.

View all of the 2004 grant awards at: http://endangered.fws.gov/grants/section6/index.html

California Cars Climate Friendly in Five Years

ARB Chairman Dr. Alan Lloyd said, "This landmark decision sets a course for California that is likely to be copied throughout the U.S. and other countries."

According to ARB staff, the average reduction of greenhouse gases from new California cars and light trucks will be about 22 percent in 2012 and about 30 percent in 2016, compared to today's vehicles.

The regulation is also expected to cut smog forming pollution by about five tons per day by 2020.

Costs for the added technology needed to meet the rule are expected to average about $325 per vehicle in 2012 and about $1050 per vehicle to comply in 2016.

The new rule will result in savings for vehicle buyers by lowering operating expenses that will more than offset the added costs of the new vehicles and provide an overall cost savings to consumers, an ARB staff analysis concludes.

The ARB staff proposal will be costly to Californians.

An independent analysis conducted by Sierra Research found that when all costs are considered, not just the ones selected by ARB staff, the proposed regulations would add at least $3,000 more to the cost of new cars in California.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers appeared before the ARB Friday to argue that the regulation will increase the cost of automobiles for Californians with no resulting air quality improvement. "We’re disappointed that California regulators have chosen to single out California drivers to pay a $3,000 surcharge with no apparent health or environmental benefit to its citizens," said Fred Webber, president & CEO of the Alliance.

The Alliance points to many fuel-efficient technologies already available to Californians.

The American Lung Association of California applauded the ARB for taking action to protect public health by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

"California already experiences the worst air quality in the country and global warming will only make our pollution problems worse. Elevated smog levels that are expected to result from global warming may cause or exacerbate serious health problems, including damage to lung tissue, reduced lung function, asthma, emphysema, bronchitis and increased hospitalizations for people with cardiac and respiratory illnesses," the Lung Association said.

The Lung Association called on all car companies "to embrace California's landmark clean car regulation, listen to their customers who continue to request cleaner cars, and step up their production of hybrid-electric, natural gas and other cleaner vehicles."

A poll sponsored by the American Lung Association of California found that 87 percent of California adults say that it is very or somewhat important for California to take a leading role in enforcing laws to reduce car emissions that lead to global warming pollution.

ARB Chairman Dr. Lloyd said, "Because of its forward-thinking approach, the ARB has established itself as the world leader in setting motor vehicle pollution control standards. Those standards have led to automotive technologies that dominate the way cars are built today and have significantly cut air pollution's public health risk. This regulation will have the same impact."

Lawsuit Claims Allegheny Logging Split to Sidestep Scrutiny

Groups File Suit to Stop Prairie Dog Kill for Ferrets' Sake

Despite its status as the only successful black-footed ferret recovery site in North America, U.S. Forest Service lands in Conata Basin will be opened within the next 10 days to prairie dog poisoning and shooting.

Black-footed ferrets, an endangered species, require large numbers of prairie dogs for food and shelter. Conata Basin is the only public land area in the entire Great Plains with enough prairie dog colonies to sustain a viable ferret population.

Some 260 ferrets now live in the basin after they were re-introduced during the 1990s. The basin is also is home to more than 250 breeding pairs of burrowing owls, a species closely monitored by wildlife officials that also depends on prairie dogs.

Plaintiffs claim that the planned extermination violates several federal laws including the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Forest Management Act.

The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks (GFP) Commission adopted an emergency rule during a teleconference meeting September 2 that lifted state restrictions on shooting prairie dogs in the Conata Basin.

The GFP Commission imposed the restrictions in 2001 "as part of state efforts to keep the prairie dogs from being federally listed and managed as a threatened species," the state agency said.

The commission does not meet in September, so decided to act through the emergency rules process to remove the state shooting restrictions in the Conata Basin. Federal restrictions are still in place, but when they are lifted, shooting can begin.

"Drought conditions, the moratorium on poisoning and the shooting restrictions helped contribute to an abundant population of prairie dogs in the Conata Basin," said George Vandel, an assistant director with the South Dakota Division of Wildlife.

"The increasing prairie dog population has moved onto neighboring private lands causing a hardship for agriculture producers who border the public land. The commission made the rule change to allow sport shooting in an area where prairie dog populations are going to be controlled," Vandel said.

Plaintiffs noted that more than 50 percent of the prairie dog colonies on Buffalo Gap National Grassland are within a mile of private land and will be subject to poisoning and shooting.

The state plan will also apply to private landowners, who could be forced to poison wildlife on their property against their will.

"This is an outrageous plan, what right do they have to make me poison wildlife on my land?" asked Ray Keale, a ranch owner who lives near Buffalo Gap. "I might as well be turning over the keys to my property."

"This backroom deal to destroy critical black-footed ferret habitat is a breach of the public trust," said Jonathan Proctor, Northern Plains program director for Predator Conservation Alliance. "Our lawsuit is a last ditch effort to bring some sanity and justice to this situation."

The new plan set forth in July by the Bush administration and South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds, a Republican, excludes public participation, requires the Forest Service to violate its own management plan, and includes no analysis of impacts to ferrets and other wildlife, plaintiffs say.

Public opposition to the illegal destruction of ferret habitat has come from South Dakota landowners and Tribal members, conservationists, and the American Zoological Association.

"By poisoning prairie dogs, we are killing black-footed ferrets, eagles, swift fox, and many other native wildlife," said Rosalie Little Thunder of the Lakota Tribe in South Dakota.

In early August, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed the prairie dog from the list of candidate species under the Endangered Species Act.

Governor Rounds, who has taken a personal interest in prairie dog eradication, was pleased. "We have been working on the prairie dog issue from the first day I took office," he said. "I am very pleased that President [George W.] Bush and Secretary [Gale] Norton have responded to my letter and taken the first step to address this critical issue which is threatening the way of life for ranchers in western South Dakota."

"By removing the prairie dog from the candidate list, this will allow us to take a much more proactive approach in controlling the infestation of prairie dogs from federal lands onto private lands," said Rounds.

The groups bringing the suit are: Biodiversity Conservation Alliance of Wyoming, the Center for Biological Diversity of Colorado, the Center for Native Ecosystems of Colorado, Forest Guardians of New Mexico, Great Plains Restoration Council of South Dakota, The Humane Society of the United States, Prairie Hills Audubon Society of South Dakota, and the Predator Conservation Alliance of Montana.

New York State Spends $4.2 Million for Clean Fuel Buses

The New York City Department of Transportation will receive up to $1.4 million to purchase 20 hybrid-electric buses. Broome County Transit will get $1.15 million to purchase five hybrid-electric buses.

Up to $800,000 will go to the Westchester County Department of Transportation to purchase five-hybrid electric buses, and up to $750,000 will go to the City of Syracuse for the purchase of five hybrid-electric buses.

The Town of Hempstead, Nassau County, on Long Island will receive $115,000 to convert seven existing diesel buses to compressed natural gas.

The regional and county transportation agencies participate in a consortium formed by the state to help reduce the cost of hybrid buses and to bring smaller bus fleets into the hybrid bus market.

Governor George Pataki said Friday the grants will be supplied through the state's Clean Fueled Bus Program, which to date has provided more than $28 million to municipalities and local transit agencies to assist with the purchase of 563 hybrid electric and natural gas buses. "New York State is leading the nation in efforts to provide cleaner air for our children and to promote renewable energy technologies," Pataki said.

The Clean Fuel Bus Program is funded through the 1996 Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act and administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). This is the seventh round of funding under the Program.

"Through innovative initiatives such as our Clean Fueled Bus Program, we've replaced hundreds of transit and school buses across the state with cleaner burning, alternative fueled buses," the governor said.

New Jersey Gains Pinelands Nature Preserve

At a ceremony Friday, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Bradley Campbell said, "This significant open space acquisition marks the final chapter in a story that began with a serious threat to wetlands protection and now ends with preservation and restoration of environmentally sensitive wetlands."

The preserved site includes several hundred acres of reservoirs and wetlands, including 600 acres of Atlantic white cedar swamp. It is critical habitat for several threatened and endangered species including the bald eagle and the Pine Barrens tree frog.

Campbell was joined at the dedication by former Governor James Florio, Congressman Rush Holt, Senator Martha Bark, and members of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation (NJCF).

The property's former owner, A.R. DeMarco Enterprises, sold the 14 square mile property to the New Jersey Conservation Foundation for $12 million.

This year, the DEP finalized a penalty settlement with A.R. DeMarco Enterprises concluding a long standing issue over DeMarco's conversion of 22 acres of wetlands into cranberry bogs in 1998.

Under the settlement agreement, the company agreed to a $400,000 fine and agreed to restore the impacted wetlands.

The DEP contributed $3.5 million from the State Land Acquisition Fund towards the purchase and retains a 40 percent ownership in the property, which will be managed and maintained by the New Jersey Conservation Foundation

Campbell said, "The New Jersey Conservation Foundation's acquisition of this property, aided by DEP funds, will protect the unique Pinelands ecosystem." The property will be managed as a preserve to provide passive recreational opportunities such as hiking and bird watching.

Carbon Loss Exceeds Storage by Tundra Plants

Institute of Arctic Biology ecologists Syndonia Bret-Harte and Terry Chapin, lead author Michelle Mack of the University of Florida, Gainesville, and colleagues working in northern Alaska measured the amount of carbon and nitrogen in plants and soils from plots of tundra that have been continually fertilized with nitrogen since 1980.

This condition is thought to simulate the increased nutrient availability expected as a result of a warmer climate.

"The connection between fertilization and warming is that warmer temperatures should stimulate decomposition of dead plant material, releasing carbon to the atmosphere and nitrogen to plants. Nitrogen limits plant growth in most terrestrial ecosystems," said Bret-Harte.

"Instead, nitrogen seems to stimulate decomposition and promote carbon dioxide release to the atmosphere from the soils," Bret-Harte said.

"What's really surprising about this result is that we didn't expect that this big loss of carbon from the soils would be stimulated by nitrogen alone," she said. "Everyone had assumed increased decomposition would be caused by increased temperatures, and the main effect of increased nitrogen would be to stimulate plant growth and store more carbon."

The researchers found that the aboveground portion of tundra plants doubled their productivity under fertilization and, as expected, stored more carbon.

But they also found that the losses of carbon and nitrogen from the deep-soil layers more than offset the increased carbon stored in the aboveground plants and plant litter.

Because more than one-third of the world's soil carbon is stored in northern ecosystems – boreal forest and Arctic tundra – and is equivalent to two-thirds of the carbon found in the atmosphere, the loss of deep-soil carbon could mean an even greater increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations than is caused by fossil fuel burning.

The study is published in the September 23 edition of the journal "Nature."

Quake Generated Waves Could Rock California Ports

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach would be disrupted by an earthquake of 7.6 magnitude under Santa Catalina Island, which lies 25 miles off Los Angeles in San Pedro Bay, said the researchers.

Such a quake would cause the seafloor to thrust upward, causing a tsunami along the Southern California coast. Tsunami is a Japanese word for waves caused by large motions of the sea floor, either through earthquakes, landslides or undersea volcanoes. They are associated with earthquakes that occur offshore. Santa Catalina Island itself exists due to an earthquake related uplift.

Jose Borrero, assistant research professor in the USC Viterbi School, worked with co-researcher Costas Synloakis, USC professor of civil and environmental engineering, on the study.

"A magnitude 7.6 earthquake could cause seafloor uplift of six feet or more," Borrero said. "That, in turn, would disturb the sea surface by the same amount, resulting in a tsunami.

"The shallow San Pedro shelf offshore of Long Beach focuses the waves and amplifies them by one-and-a-half times, so the original six-foot wave would build to nine feet inside the harbor," he said.

The findings are important because San Pedro Bay’s south-facing shores are the site of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach which handle billions of dollars of goods every day. A large earthquake and tsunami could bring commerce to a halt, impacting the economy of California and the nation.

The researchers said nine foot waves would smash small boats at their moorings, possibly flood low-lying areas in the ports and push huge oil tankers and cargo ships against piers, which may not withstand the force.

The destruction could create oil spills and become a serious fire hazard.

Such a tsunami would be generated under Santa Catalina island because of the nature of the fault that lies beneath it. "Although most faults offshore Los Angeles and Orange counties are mostly strike-slip - faults that move side to side - bends in the fault line produce areas where the ground is pushed up during major earthquakes," said Borrero. "One of these regions lies directly below Santa Catalina Island."

"Bends in the fault trace produce regions where earthquake stresses cause the sea floor to pop up and generate a tsunami," he said.

"Our models show that depending on the source, there is anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes between the earthquake and the first significant waves in the ports," Borrero said.

"This may give shippers enough time to evacuate dock workers and stop hazardous activities, such as cargo handling or offloading oil from tanker ships," he said. "Every second would count."