Houston Chronicle

11/17/04

The Sierra Club alleged in a lawsuit today that the Bush administration quietly changed a rule so oil and gas producers could more easily drill under national parks from outside their boundaries. The environmental group filed the suit in D.C. District Court asking for an immediate injunction to reverse the alleged rule change, which it said was done without public input. It also asks that the drilling be stopped."

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/2906382


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

States of the nation
http://www.lgib.gov.uk/news/story.html?newsId=1464


Informant: Anna Webb

North Sea Cod May Never Recover

by Charles Clover, Environment Editor

10/19/04

Dr Euan Dunn, a fisheries expert working for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, said: "I'm not sure that cod will recover, even with no fishing."

Your shorter link is: http://makeashorterlink.com/?G1D921099

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Amphibians In Dramatic Decline

10/15/04

Washington, DC/Gland, Switzerland (October 14, 2004) -– The world’s amphibian species are under unprecedented assault and are experiencing tens of thousands of years worth of extinctions in just a century, according to the most comprehensive study ever conducted. More than 500 scientists from over 60 nations contributed to the Global Amphibian Assessment, the key findings of which were published on-line by Science Express this afternoon, and will appear within the next few weeks in the journal Science.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/10/041015103700.htm

Amphibian Extinctions Sound Global Eco-alarm, Says Study

October 15, 2004 — By Ed Stoddard, Reuters

BANGKOK — They may thrive on land and in water, but amphibians everywhere are in serious trouble, and up to one-third of species are threatened with extinction, a troubling new study said on Friday.

Scientists say this is an ominous sign for other creatures, including humans, as amphibians are widely regarded as biological "canaries in the coal mine," since their permeable skin is highly sensitive to changes in the environment. In short, they go first, and others follow.

http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=193

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Jumbo Flying Squid Found Off Alaska Is First of the Species

Recovered from British Columbia Waters

October 19, 2004 — By Associated Press

SITKA, Alaska — A large Humboldt squid caught offshore from Sitka is among numerous sightings of a species seen for the first time in waters of the Far North and the first of the species recovered from British Columbia waters.

The 5-foot Dosidicus gigas, or jumbo flying squid, was shipped this week to California to be kept for research at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.

The squid was one of a number caught with a dip net by fisher Alan Otness and his crew on Sept. 18 as they baited longline gear at night. They brought back some of the creatures for examination by experts.

Eric Hochberg, curator of the Santa Barbara museum, said the species is usually found off Baja California and farther south.

http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=205

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Explanation unclear for bird die-off

ALEUTIANS: Hundreds of seabirds perished in July, and vets still don't know why.

by PETER PORCO

Anchorage Daily News

(Published: September 17, 2004)

Wildlife scientists still don't know what caused hundreds of seabirds to die in a short-lived episode in early July at False Pass in the eastern Aleutian Islands.

But it was not West Nile Virus, a federal veterinarian said Thursday. Nor did laboratory tests on four seabird carcasses show evidence of other viruses, said Dr. Rex Sohn, wildlife disease specialist for the U.S. Geological Survey's National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis.

He culprit responsible for the die-off of more than 250 puffins, cormorants, kittiwakes, seagulls and eiders may yet turn out to be a bacterium, parasite, marine biotoxin or unusual virus, Sohn said. Results from several other tests performed on the four carcasses are pending, he said.

http://www.adn.com/alaska/story/5563441p-5495614c.html


Peace - Anna

#113 WILD NORTHWEST, October 12, 2004
A Message from Northwest Ecosystem Alliance
=====Keeping the Northwest Wild=====

Winning Protection for Glaciers and Grizzlies
Call now to oppose the proposed Jumbo Glacier resort in British Columbia

The 13-year-long battle to protect Jumbo Glacier in B.C.’s Columbia Mountains has come to a head. Purcell Mountain grizzly bears, dazzling glaciers, wildflower meadows in summer, and untracked powder in winter, all are threatened by a $450 million ski resort. Add your voice to the nearly 24,000 letters in opposition already sent to the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office through the Jumbo Wild action center. The cornerstone of British Columbia’s growing economy is tourism, and it is wilderness that draws tourists, including American tourists. Urge the government to keep Jumbo Glacier wild. Tell them to support instead investment in existing Canadian resort towns such as Fernie, Kimberly, and Invermere -- not destruction of pristine areas.

Call BC Premier Gordon Campbell by October 18. Ask that he side with the glaciers and grizzly bears and against this Jumbo resort.

Toll-free in B.C.: 1-800-663-7867
Outside B.C.: 1-604-660-2421

Media attention on Jumbo has ramped up considerably. At the recent international Living Lakes Conference, members from 20 countries voted unanimously to urge the government to deny approval of the Jumbo Glacier resort. The world is watching closely as the B.C. government prepares a decision.

For more information visit http://www.jumbowild.com/
To learn more about NWEA's work to protect grizzly bears, go to http://www.ecosystem.org/grizcanada.html

Please reply to this message to let us know that you called. And thank you for keeping the greater Northwest wild!

Erin Moore
Communications Coordinator
Northwest Ecosystem Alliance
1208 Bay St., Ste. 201
Bellingham, WA 98225
360.671.9950 ext. 24

http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2004/sep/policy/pt_military.html


Informant: Teresa Binstock