Audubon articles from March 2000

Audubon archives from March 2000

Bright Prospect.(National Audubon Society)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... ONE OF THE DRAWBACKS OF WORKING FOR AN organization based in New York City is that it can be hard to get out into the natural world. However, I've found that New York boasts some surprisingly large pockets of open space, from Central Park to...

LETTERS.(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2000... Elementary, My Dear Watson I HAVE JUST FINISHED READING your very informative article "Two Horns, Six Legs & One Voracious Appetite" [January-February]. Two summers ago, after I found about a half-dozen beetles with long antennae, I...

Of Mice and Men, and Women.(rodent deformity)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Biologists have found some very strange rodents near northern California's Kesterson Reservoir--the same area where toxic agricultural runoff poisoned thousands of birds in the early 1980s. During routine wildlife monitoring, scientists...

Wind Turbines Less Turbulent.(wind power industry and endangered birds)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Wind power is the fastest growing energy source in the country, and the United States added a record amount of capacity from 1998 to 1999, increasing the nation's use of wind power from 1,600 megawatts to 2,300--or enough power for 575,000...

Sand County Revisited.(climatic changes research)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... ALDO LEOPOLD WASN'T JUST "AN AMERICAN ISAIAH" WRITING an almost holy book in conservation circles," as Wallace Stegner wrote, referring to A Sand County Almanac. Leopold was also a practical farmer and a scientist. Now, 50 years after the...

Saving the Last of a Salmon.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Maine's wild Atlantic salmon are about as scarce as moose in a mall, so federal agencies are proposing that the fish be protected under the Endangered Species Act. In 1999 fewer than 100 spawning females returned to the eight Maine rivers...

Water Wars.(water use legislation)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... FRESH WATER IS BECOMING AN increasingly precious resource as the number of people living in water-poor areas grows. By 2025 as much as two-thirds of the world's population will face chronic shortages, according to the United Nations. "The wars...

Puaiohi Procreate. Phew!(preservation of endangered bird species)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... As the nation's endangered species capital, Hawaii is struggling to prevent new extinctions among its native birds. Exotic species and habitat loss have taken a toll, especially on the puaiohi, a small thrush found only in Kauai's Alaka`i...

What's New, Pussycat, Em-bry-o-o-o.(embryo transplantation of endangered species)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Scientists are trumpeting the birth of Jazz, a rare African wildcat, last November. The reason: Her mother is an ordinary American house cat. Jazz, who was born at the Audubon Institute's Center for Research of Endangered Species (no relation...

Scraping Bottom.(trawling fishing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... NESTLED AT THE FOOT of the Rockies, Colorado Springs doesn't have a whole lot of oceanfront property. So it's a bit surprising that Rep. Joel Hefley (R-CO) is sponsoring a bill to protect marine habitat hundreds of miles away. But last spring,...

Limiting Lobster Losses.(lobster fisheries regulations)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... "Those tasty crustaceans so prized by seafood lovers may be going the way of many other sea creatures. On January 1 new restrictions on lobstering, developed by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), went into effect. This...

Buying the Ranch.(desert fauna protection)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... GOLF AND THE GRANDKIDS define many lives in the retirement town of Green Valley, Arizona. But today some residents are turning their staid community upside down, fighting to save a local ranch's winding dry washes and cactus-spiked mesas. This...

The Southeastern States.
March 1, 2000... PERFECT FOR THE PASSIONATE TRAVELER If you have a passion for travel, a love of adventure, and a longing for a diversity of vacation experiences, head for the Southeastern United States -- any time of the year. The choices are...

Movers of the Earth.
March 1, 2000... Beavers are not just cute, bucktoothed icons. They do major ecosystem engineering--from clear-cutting forests to filtering water. WE LIVE ON A LANDSCAPE SHAPED BY BIG RODENTS/. The handiwork of beavers turns streams into lakes and dry land...

Depaving Paradise.
March 1, 2000... Jan Lundberg tore up his driveway to make way for a garden. Is California's Highway 101 next? YOU'D PROBABLY AVOID JAN LUNDBERG ON THE STREET. With a pant leg stuffed in his sock and a black bowler hat perched over his ponytail, he looks...

A Killing at Dawn.
March 1, 2000... Wolves will slay a few unlucky elk calves in Yellowstone every spring, despite the mothers' desperate attempts to save their young. IN THE VERY FIRST LIGHT, NO MORE THAN A PALE WASH OF SKY, the four wolves move over the sage-covered...

AMELIA ISLAND Naturally Beautiful Rich in History.(Florida)
March 1, 2000... Every now and again a "travel gateway" turns out to be a spectacular travel destination in itself -- a place to stay and revel in nature's beauty. So it is with Amelia Island, the jewel that sits atop the northeast coast of Florida....

THERE GOES the NEIGHBORHOOD!
March 1, 2000... ATLANTA IS THE HOTTEST CITY in the New South, with its population doubling IN THE PAST 30 YEARS. But to make room for new suburbs, 50 ACRES OF FOREST are felled every day. Can anything stop the sprawls? Nestled in the hills of north Georgia...

the RACE TO SAVE OPEN SPACE.
March 1, 2000... Christine Todd Whitman, New Jersey's governor, has heard all the jokes. WELCOME TO THE GARDEN STATE, goes one bumper sticker. "How long can you hold your breath?" With 8 million people on 5 million acres, the country's most densely populated...

The PLIGHT of the FLIGHTLESS GREBES.
March 1, 2000... AS FRANCISCO TUEROS STEERS the motorboat this morning, his eyes scan the dark surface of the lake. He sits up in his seat, squints, and extends his arm to point out a pair of Junin grebes in the distance. When he maneuvers the boat in closer,...

WILDLIFE ON PARADE.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... FOR THREE YEARS MICHAEL SEWELL PLACED A REMOTE CAMERA ON Mount Tamalpais, west of San Francisco Bay, and reloaded it every month or so in hopes of capturing a mountain lion on film. Instead, he got the images shown here. Sewell, a...

ON THE TRAIL OF THE 'SANG POACHERS.(ginseng)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Wild "'sang"--better known as THE HERBAL CURE-ALL American ginseng-commands as much as $500 a pound on the black market, 25 times more than the cultivated variety. No wonder ginseng and other popular herbs are being STOLEN FROM OUR NATIONAL...

HEALING HERBS AT RISK.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... The United Plant Savers, a nonprofit group that advocates the conservation of medicinal herbs, has identified 20 native species it considers "at risk" from overcollection and habitat loss, and an additional 24 species that warrant monitoring....

THE DARK SIDE OF LIGHT.
March 1, 2000... Light pollution is not only dimming the stars anti wasting considerable energy, it's proving fatal to birds and other wildlife. LAS VEGAS IT'S NOT. But the small city I live in, Kalamazoo, Michigan, still puts on quite a light show. As...

Kingdom of Beasts.(Outer Banks, North Carolina)
March 1, 2000... North Carolina's Outer Banks--a narrow string of barrier islands jutting off the mainland into the Atlantic--is America's wildlife highway. THIS IS THE SPOT: A RIBBON OF SANDY BEACH FACING THE ocean, somewhere along the 17-mile length of...

The Great North American Outdoors.
March 1, 2000... Those who are touched by the stunning breadth of great plains, the raw power of oceans, the scenic splendors of mountain vistas or the awe-inspiring solitude of wilderness areas quickly fall in love with the Great North American Outdoors. From...

The Geese That Came in From the Wild.(Canada Geese)
March 1, 2000... Canada geese used to be wild and far away; now they're tame and underfoot. Why don't they leave when they should? IT'S LATE JUNE IN ROCKLAND COUNTY, AND THE CANADA geese are molting. I've come to this bustling and heavily paved area...

Soil's Dirty Little Secrets.(testing soil)
March 1, 2000... Worried about what might be lurking beneath your feet? A soil test is a good way to find out. ONE NAGGING FEAR DAMPENED MY FRIEND DAN'S excitement about his new home. Thirty-five years earlier, before the land was developed, the site had...

Ask AUDUBON.
March 1, 2000... How can I get rid of the messy pigeons roosting on my house? Brian Dover, Kearny, New Jersey AT THE RISK OF OFFENDING FANS of Columba livia, take heart in knowing that you're not alone in wanting to evict your winged housemates. Their...

Minnesota Where Stories Take Wing.
March 1, 2000... If the height of all travel joy is in the experience itself -- in the seeing, hearing, and plain wonder of being there -- the rest is in the story, and in the sharing of the experience with friends ... and what stories you'll tell after a...

Rethinking Rivers.(flood protection)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... IN 1997 MINNESOTA'S RED River flooded, causing $2 billion in damage. Shortly thereafter, federal, state, and local authorities and environmental groups, which for years had been deadlocked over water-control projects, entered into formal...

Brown Pelican Returns.(pelicans in Texas)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... EVERYTHING IS BIG IN TEXAS, INCLUDING THE number of birds that live there--618 species at last count. But 30 years ago Texas nearly lost the brown pelican from its list. Today, thanks to the banning of DDT in 1972, the listing of the species as...

IN BRIEF.(National Audubon Society accomplishments)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... All Wired Audubon's Francis Beidler Forest Sanctuary in South Carolina is working with Giant Cement Holding Inc. and the state's Native Plant Society to rescue wire grass from the planned site of a sand mine. "This is a volunteer labor of...

Audubon on Air.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... IN COLORADO'S WESTERN SLOPE REGION, WHERE THE population is scattered across hundreds of miles of mesas and mountain ranges, communication within the Black Canyon Audubon Society has never been easy. Members often have to trek more than 100...

New Jersey Blues.(bluebirds)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... BEFORE THIS PROJECT STARTED I SAW one bluebird in a decade. Now every time I go out ! see a few," says Michael R. O'Brien, bluebird project coordinator for the Atlantic Audubon Society, which encompasses four counties in southern New Jersey....

Hazel Wolf's Century 1898-2000.(Brief Article)(Obituary)
March 1, 2000... AUDUBON AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT LOST ONE OF THEIR FINEST AMBASSADORS when Hazel Wolf died peaceably on January 19, 2000, two months shy of her 102nd birthday and moments after telling her granddaughter, "Don't weep over me." With her...

Birds Beyond Borders.(educational program)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... SCHOOLCHILDREN IN MONTANA ARE LEARNING SPANISH WORDS AND SONGS, TASTING Mexican foods, painting pictures of their favorite migratory birds, and writing letters to their pen pals in Mexico. Similarly, children in Mexico are learning about life...

The Lying Stones of Marrakech: Penultimate Reflections in Natural History.(Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... The Lying Stones of Marrakech: Penultimate Reflections in Natural History By Stephen Jay Gould. Harmony/ Random House, 358 pages, $25. IN THIS EXTRAORDINARY COLLECTION of essays from his monthly column in Natural History, Stephen Jay Gould...

Salmon Without Rivers: A History of the Pacific Salmon Crisis.(Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Salmon Without Rivers: A History of the Pacific Salmon Crisis By Jim Lichatowich. Island Press, 317 pages, $27.50. JIM LICHATOWICH REPORTS that two centuries after the Euro-American settlement of the Pacific Northwest "salmon are now...

Chasing Monarchs: Migrating With the Butterflies of Passage.(Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Chasing Monarchs: Migrating With the Butterflies of Passage By Robert Michael Pyle. Houghton Mifflin, 307 pages, $24. IN THE GENIAL SPIRIT OF EDWIN Way Teale, Robert Michael Pyle indulges himself in an old-fashioned naturalist's quest....

The Suburban Wild.(Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... The Suburban Wild By Peter Friederici. The University of Georgia Press, 125 pages, $22.95. A RARE BIRD CAN FLY INTO YOUR backyard on the most ordinary of days," Peter Friederici notes in this thoughtful, well-written homage to the...

Mammals of North America: Temperate and Arctic Regions.(Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Mammals of North America: Temperate and Arctic Regions By Adrian Forsyth. Firefly Books, 350 pages, $40. ADRIAN FORSYTH HAS CREATED a nicely illustrated, technically excellent, and reader-friendly reference that would make a fine addition...

Cheetahs Sometimes Prosper.(Mark Ross' wildlife photography)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... THERE'S CONSIDERABLY MORE TO MARK ROSS'S DRAMATIC SHOT OF TWO CHEETAHS bringing down a wildebeest than meets the eye. Ross is a wildlife biologist who grew up in the United States and first went to Kenya in 1977. He returned to East Africa and...