Audubon articles from December 2002

Audubon archives from December 2002

Audubon view.
December 1, 2002... DEAR AUDUBON MEMBER: I GREW UP ON A MINNESOTA FARM NEAR THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. When I visit Louisiana, I joke that I feel right at home there because so much of my native state has washed down the river and into the Gulf of Mexico....

Editor's note.
December 1, 2002... SPRING WOULD NOT BE SPRING WITHOUT BIRD SONGS, ANY more than it would be spring without buds and flowers, and I only wish that besides protecting the songsters, the birds of the grove, the orchard, the garden, and the meadow, we could also...

Vacat[ion]ing Coyotes. (letters).
December 1, 2002... YOUR ARTICLE IN THE SEPTEMBER issue "Maine's War on Coyotes" [Incite] thoroughly disgusted me! Trapping and inhumane killing of any animal is totally unacceptable. I wrote my letter to Governor King, and I'm confident he will receive other...

Look, Mom, no wings! (letters).
December 1, 2002... AFTER READING TED WILLIAMS'S delightful "Charlotte's Children" [Earth Almanac, September], I thought your readers would be interested in knowing about the letter Jonathan Edwards, the foremost Puritan theologian and philosopher in America,...

A delicious idea. (letters).
December 1, 2002... I JUST WANT TO CONGRATULATE you on your excellent article on CSAs ["The (New) Harvesters," September]! I'm so glad to see Audubon featuring stories about the kinds of alternatives being created in agriculture. The people out there building new,...

Drug smugglers go wild. (Field notes: news on nature and the environment from around the world).
December 1, 2002... In the global underworld, there are millions to be made trading guns and drugs. But a new report by the World Wildlife Fund-United Kingdom and Traffic, a group that tracks the illegal wildlife trade, points to another, less recognized revenue...

Green makes cents. (Economics).
December 1, 2002... DAN JANZEN CALLS HIMSELF A TROPICAL real estate developer, but he's not clearing land and building vacation villas. Instead, the University of Pennsylvania ecologist sells nature's services--as provided by the lush forests of Costa Rica's Area...

Final rest stops. (Field notes: news on nature and the environment from around the world).
December 1, 2002... Three years ago John Roberts, a member of Richmond (Virginia) Audubon, observed large numbers of dead cedar waxwings alongside the state's expressways. The migrating birds, it turned out, were being smashed by cars as they flew into highway...

A textbook case of censorship. (Education).
December 1, 2002... THE FIRST SALVO IN THE BIOLOGY-TEXTBOOK wars came a few years ago, when school boards in Kansas and Kentucky voted to delete all references to evolution in their high school teachings. Today the battle over educational curriculum has spread to...

Gumshoes save sturgeon's life. (Field notes: news on nature and the environment from around the world).
December 1, 2002... When police in British Columbia raided a home-based marijuana-growing operation last summer, they expected to find drugs in the refrigerator. instead, they discovered a live, 80-pound, 5 1/2-foot white sturgeon--a threatened fish worth up to...

Shelling out for habitat. (Field notes: news on nature and the environment from around the world).
December 1, 2002... Along with glass, paper, and plastic, South Carolina residents can now recycle oyster shells. And there are plenty of shells to recycle in a state where oyster roasts are a popular pastime. The shell-recycling program, launched last year by the...

Git along, little doggies. (Animal Control).
December 1, 2002... "IF THEY WERE RATS, WE WOULDN'T HAVE much of a problem," says Patrick Cooke, a specialist with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), of the 40,000 prairie dogs residing on Lubbock city property. His agency ordered the city to...

Dial B for birdcall. (Field notes: news on nature and the environment from around the world).
December 1, 2002... Is that my cell phone or yours? How about neither? According to recent anecdotal field reports, it may, in fact, be a starling or a gray catbird, both of which have learned how to mimic cell-phone rings. Bird mimicry is nothing new: A...

Who needs landfills anymore? (Garbage).
December 1, 2002... SINCE THE FIRST EARTH DAY, IN 1970, THE amount of U.S. waste being recycled has nearly doubled every 10 years. But now, even as the volume of trash continues to grow, recycling has lost momentum, hovering nationally at about 23 percent. What's...

Really clean cars. (Field notes: news on nature and the environment from around the world).
December 1, 2002... Iceland, the island nation composed largely of lava and ice, will soon add more water to the mix by switching from cars and buses that consume fossil fuels to vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Icelanders expect to be completely...

Waste not, want not. (Boondoggle).
December 1, 2002... GREEN SCISSORS IS AN ANNUAL CAMPAIGN BY PUBLIC-INTEREST AND ENVIRONMENTAL groups concerned with promoting environmental protection and curbing wasteful government spending. Each year the campaign's Choice Cuts highlight the government programs...

Greater Naples, Marco Island & The Everglades: a fortuitous blend of the wild and the civilized. (Special Advertising Section).
December 1, 2002... There is a remarkable little corner of the world, along the shores of Florida's Gulf Coast,--a region where elegance, culture, history and nature's most incredible wonders exist side by side--Greater Naples, Marco Island, and The Everglades....

Fragments of change. (seeking refuge).
December 1, 2002... IF NOT FOR THE BREEZE BLOWING OFF THE WATER, IT WOULD BE HOT this April morning in Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, on Maryland's Eastern Shore. I'm standing on Wildlife Drive, the refuge's main road, looking out over marsh and open water,...

Make way for mushrooms: they do everything from protecting plants against parasites and disease to alleviating droughts. Now scientists are using mushrooms to fight global warming and clean up contaminated sites. (true nature).
December 1, 2002... RED SQUIRRELS ARE ALWAYS FUSSING ABOUT SOMETHING. Just now one was directly overhead, its strident, staccato chatter bidding me a hasty adieu. But I'd tuned it out--my eyes were on the ground. It had rained for three days running. Now the sky...

The nature of fungi.
December 1, 2002... Between plant roots and fungi, natural selection has favored an ingenious, intimate association, shown in this photograph, in which the roots of pine seedlings are being colonized by the mycorrhizal mycelium of the fungus Suillus bovinus....

Putting birds on the map: from dawn to dusk, armies of volunteers are fanning out across America, pinpointing the places most critical to birds' survival. (Citizen Science).
December 1, 2002... AT 6:05 A.M. IN A REMOTE CORNER OF A STATE FOREST IN central Pennsylvania, it takes Deuane Hoffman just three minutes to learn what's awake in these woods besides him and John Zwierzyna, his survey partner, who is standing a few paces to the...

Build a brighter future for birds.
December 1, 2002... YOU CAN MAKE A REAL DIFFERENCE TO THE FUTURE OF BIRDS AND THE HABITATS that support them. In fact, much of the work that has been done so far has been based on fieldwork contributed by committed bird conservationists. "To identify sites, we...

Powder keg: the gas industry has been busy in Wyoming's prairies and grasslands, building thousands of miles of roads and sinking more than 10,000 wells in the past three years. But in the Powder River basin, ranchers are joining environmentalists to try to still the drills. (Dispatch).
December 1, 2002... ED SWARTZ DOES NOT SEEM LIKE THE KIND OF guy you would threaten with bodily harm. He has spent almost all of his 62 years in a windswept corner of northeastern Wyoming, herding cattle, baling hay, and building waterlines to keep his ranch from...

Blue jewels of the Pantanal: deep in the heart of the world's largest tropical wetlands, a Brazilian biologist is climbing trees, braving killer bees, and courting wary ranchers to save the world's biggest parrots. (Bird Conservation).
December 1, 2002... IT'S EARLY IN THE RAINY SEASON IN WEST-CENTRAL BRAZIL, and the grand, green alluvial plain that was once an inland sea is slowly filling. Rivers rise, slipping over their banks. Seasonal ponds called baias expand and merge. Rain turns the...

Project gutpile: lead shot in animal carcasses has a deadly impact on condors and other wildlife. Now a promising campaign is seeking to enlighten hunters about the problem. But is it enough to save the condors? (Endangered Species).
December 1, 2002... ON A GOOD DAY, ANTHONY PRIETO CAN BAG FIVE WILD PIGS. CROUCHED ON A HILLSIDE OF DRIED BROME, IN FADING AMBER LIGHT, HE SENDS A CHORUS OF SNORTS ACROSS A PATCH OF SCENTED SAGE. WHEN A STARTLED PIG STREAKS OUT OF THE COVER, IT MAKES AN EASY...

The Great Florida Birding Trail: extends westward. (Special Advertising Section).
December 1, 2002... On November 2, 2002, the West Florida Birding Trail officially opened at Paynes Prairie State Park in Gainesville. Festivities, including exhibits, field trips, events for children, food and entertainment helped attract the general public and...

Locking up your land: with a conservation easement, you can preserve your piece of the larger landscape forever. (backyard).
December 1, 2002... PETER AND SHEILA HERMAN'S PLACE MAY LOOK FAMILIAR. Their 60 acres help provide the backdrop of field and forest that makes Topsham Village, in central Vermont, one of New England's most photographed views. Along with looking lovely, their land...

St. Vincent & the Grenadines: naturally spectacular. (Special Advertising Section).
December 1, 2002... St Vincent and the Grenadines, a collection of 32 islands and cays dotting the eastern Caribbean, offer a unique blend of natural wonders. Volcanic peaks tower over endless stretches of coral sand beaches. Mist-shrouded valleys, and rainforests...

Arkansas. (State Of The States).
December 1, 2002... In July 2002 Audubon Arkansas and partners launched the Fourche Creek Restoration Project, a multiyear endeavor to safeguard the health of this 108,000-acre watershed, which is also under consideration for Important Bird Area (IBA) status....

Connecticut. (State Of The States).
December 1, 2002... Seven new IBAs were designated in Connecticut this past August, bringing the statewide tally to 15--a critical step for a state with more than 400 recorded bird species. "Our location within the north Atlantic Flyway, and the surprising amount...

A lasting legacy. (Tribute: Marie Aull (1897-2002)).
December 1, 2002... THE DEATH OF MARIE AULL AT 105 LAST August 30 gives those of us who knew her another chance to celebrate her unique gifts to environmental education. Her contribution was, first of all, deeply personal. And so at her passing I relived the many...

Montana. (State Of The States).
December 1, 2002... Last May Audubon Montana published "Learning to Go With the Flow," an eight-page guide to the jetties, ripraps, and other river-altering structures that often cause harmful changes in a river's flow and ecology. Concerned citizens can use the...

New York. (State Of The States).
December 1, 2002... Audubon New York won an important victory in June when New York became the first state to ban the use of lead sinkers of one-half ounce or less. Birds mistake these fishing weights for pebbles, which they eat and store in their gizzards to aid...

South Carolina. (State Of The States).
December 1, 2002... Last August spotted turtles in South Carolina received special attention from 10 Girl Scouts, who were chosen to help scientist Jacqueline Litzgus track the endangered reptiles through Audubon's Francis Beidler Forest. The program was part of a...

Latin America. (Programs).
December 1, 2002... Science, art, and education all figure in a recent first for National Audubon. Its Latin America and Caribbean program joined the Omora Ethnobotanical Park on Navarino Island--off Tierra del Fuego, at the tip of South America--to promote bird...

She even washes dishes. (Movers & Shakers).
December 1, 2002... BIRDERS OFTEN SPEAK OF THE EXALTED FEELINGS THEY HAVE IN A MOUNTAIN FOREST OR seabird colony linked in their minds with the birds they love. This mysterious alchemy, acting on Margery Nicolson of Pacific Palisades, California, draws her...

One World: the Ethics of Globalization.
December 1, 2002... By Peter Singer Yale University Press, 235 pages, $21.95 THE CHOICES WE MAKE IN OUR daily lives can profoundly affect people on the other side of the globe. When we switch to vehicles that use more fuel than the ones we previously drove, we...

The Eye of the Albatross.
December 1, 2002... By Carl Safina Henry Holt and Company, 377 pages, $27.50 SINCE ALBATROSSES LIVE AT sea for most of their lives, coming ashore only to breed on remote islands, the average person is unlikely to meet one. Carl Safina makes a long journey into...

Remarkable Trees of the World.
December 1, 2002... In Remarkable Trees of the World (W.W. Norton Co., 192 pages, $49.95), historian and photographer Thomas Pakenham honors the life histories of 60 trees. All aptly reflect his title: the world's oldest trees, in California's Methuselah's Walk...

Searching for Steinbeck's Sea of Cortez.
December 1, 2002... By Andromeda Romano-Lax Sasquatch Books, 254 pages, $16.95 THIS IS ANDROMEDA ROMANO-LAX'S rather personal account of her attempt to retrace John Steinbeck's steps through Baja California, which the famous writer describes in his Log From...

The Future of Life.
December 1, 2002... By Edward O. Wilson Alfred A. Knopf, 229 pages, $22 E.O. WILSON BRINGS A LIFETIME of biological study to bear on humanity's most pressing question: How do you raise the poor to a decent standard of living worldwide while preserving as much...

Project Puffin.
December 1, 2002... By Stephen W. Kress, as told to Pete Salmansohn Tilbury House, 40 pages, $7.95, ages 7 to 11 PUFFINS ARE ADORABLE!" EXCLAIM the authors of this delightful book. "With those large, colorful beaks, their upright posture, and their dark...

Saving Birds: Heroes Around the World.
December 1, 2002... By Pete Salmansohn and Stephen W. Kress Tilbury House, 40 pages, $16.95, all ages IF THERE'S ONE THING CHILDREN need, it's hope and heroes. Salmansohn and Kress give both in this stirring tribute to six herculean efforts around the world...

The Bird of Imagining. (For Families).
December 1, 2002... After writing a poem about imagination through bird flight, Richard Lewis--the founder and director of the Touchstone Center, which promotes art for youths--asked schoolchildren in New York City public schools to put their crayons to paper. The...

Pumpkin Circle.
December 1, 2002... By George Levenson; photography by Schmuel Thaler Tricycle Press, 40 pages, $14.95, ages 4 to adult MAKE EVERY DAY HALLOWEEN WITH this ode to the pumpkin. The author traces the pumpkin's life cycle--from seed to fruit and back to...

Song for the Whooping Crane.
December 1, 2002... By Eileen Spinelli; illustrated by Elsa Warnick Eerdmans Books, 32 pages, $16, all ages SOME CRANES SPIRAL FROM THE clouds, and some cranes skim, and one crane--look!--reckless with delight, dives downward on a whim." Spinelli's heartfelt...

Cave.
December 1, 2002... By Diane Siebert; illustrations by Wayne McLoughlin HarperCollins, 32 pages, $16.95, all ages SOUNDING SORT OF LIKE AN UNDERGROUND Robert Frost, Siebert leads a magical journey: "I am the cave, so cool and dark/Where time, unending, leaves...

One picture.
December 1, 2002... Photographer: Galen Rowell Where: Split Rock and Cloud, Eastern Sierras, California, 1976 Camera: Nikkormat FTN with 200mm Lens Film: Kodachrome 25 with polarizing filter AS MANY TIMES AS GALEN ROWELL STUCK HIS HEAD IN THE...