Audubon articles from November 1999

Audubon archives from November 1999

Put on a Happy Face.(documentation of Hawaii's plants and animals includes the 'happy face' spider, which has a happy-face marking on its abdomen)(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... SPIDERS WILL NEVER BE AS POPULAR AS BIRDS. BUT THESE EIGHT-LEGGED, SILK-SPINNING arachnids, numbering some 3,000 species in North America and 35,000 worldwide, have more than a few fans. Like David Liittschwager and Susan Middleton, who have...

OCEAN ROBBINS GROWS UP.(theYouth for Environmental Sanity organization provides encouragement and support for environmental activists)
November 1, 1999... In the 1960s John Robbins walked away from the family fortune to live on $500 a year and preach veganism. His son, Ocean, now leads a powerful new generation to environmental activism. WE ARE ON A LITTLE BENCH OF LAND IN THE foothills...

Resolutions for a New Millennium.(dictionary definition of 'resolution' for the coming new millennium)(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... re-o-lu-tion \re-ze-lu-shen\ n [ME fr. MF or L; MF resolution, fr. L resolution-, resolution, fr. resolvere] 1 : the act or process of reducing to simpler form: as a: the act of analyzing a complex notion into simpler ones b: the act of...

The Final Countdown.(Harvard University zoologist E.O. Wilson has done more than anyone else to publicize the value of biological diversity)
November 1, 1999... Thousands of species around the globe are becoming extinct, but E. O. Wilson, the man who made biodiversity a household word, says all is not lost--yet. IF, A CENTURY FROM NOW, EARTHLINGS GAZE upon their planet and wonder at its...

Legalize It!(hemp, which should not be confused with marijuana, is completely legal, and hemp products constitute a booming industry in the United States)
November 1, 1999... Cannabis sativa is a low-maintenance crop that can be used in paper, clothing, rope--even cars. So why, when it's grown in 32 other countries, is hemp still illegal in the United States? I CONFESS THAT I AM A USER OF HEMP. FOR EXAMPLE, I...

The Glacier Principle.(comparing environmental activists to snow, that accumulates to create a glacier)
November 1, 1999... Sometimes activism can seem fruitless. That's when it helps to consider the glacier, a pile of snowflakes that can move a mountain. I HAVE BEEN THINKING FOR the last few months, off and on, about glaciers. Burned out, I think, on how slow...

Ask AUDUBON.(questions about the sense of smell in birds, birdbaths, and the endangered status of sea turtles)(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... A few years ago I came across turtle shells for sale. I was tempted to buy one but refrained, fearing that my purchase might encourage the killing of the animals. Was I right, or do turtles ever shed their shells? Rene B. Warren, Rutland,...

Twisted Trees.
November 1, 1999... The walking tree islands of the alpine tundra provide homes for animals and stability for us. AS WE CLIMB AT 11,000 FEET ATOP NIWOT RIDGE, HIGH above Boulder, Colorado, I'm reminded of Shakespeare's Macbeth: "As I did stand my watch upon...

Bat du jour.(the increasing use of fruit bats as food has led to efforts to list it as an endangered species)(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... CONSIDER THE FRUIT BAT: CURRIED, marinated in coconut milk, or smoked and served with a side of rice. Long a dietary staple in West Africa, prized as a delicacy in the Seychelles, and valued for its medicinal properties in the Philippines,...

The Malling of America.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... MALLS ARE GOBBLING UP OPEN SPACE FASTER THAN YOU CAN SAY cineplex. Not only are the number of new ones on the rise but their size is growing, too--by double the square footage--to accommodate theme restaurants, entertainment centers, and...

Out on a Limb.(the spotted owl is one of the animals threatened by continued logging in the Northwest)(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... IN AUGUST A FEDERAL JUDGE IN SEATTLE blocked nine timber sales in the Northwest's old-growth forests and threatened to halt dozens of others, ruling that the government had not conducted surveys of the 77 endangered animal and plant species...

Attack of the Atomic Tumbleweeds.(coping with radioactive tumbleweeds on the site of the former Hanford Nuclear Reservarion in Washington State)(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... ON THE GROUNDS OF THE DEFUNCT Hanford Nuclear Reservation, named for Hanford Reach, a 51-mile stretch of the Columbia River in south-central Washington, there is a type of tumbleweed, Salsola kali, that does what tumbleweed always does: rolls...

FIELD NOTES.(News Briefs)
November 1, 1999... Y2K: No Vacancy The potential meltdown from Y2K is turning out to be a boon for self-sufficient lodges and communities during the yearend holiday season. Eco-resorts in the United States, New Zealand, Canada, the Caribbean, and Central...

Back From the Dead.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... WHEN STUDENTS AT HASTINGS BOYS HIGH SCHOOL IN New Zealand studied cloning last March, they chose the extinct huia bird, their school emblem, as a class project. A tiny ground-dwelling forest bird that was prized for its long white-tipped and...

LETTERS.(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 1999... Enough on Safaris! I FOUND THE SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER issue of Audubon very puzzling. First you talk about "The New Safari," with its concerns for local people, wildlife, and habitats. Then you follow with a spread on Ernest Hemingway ["The...

Where there's freedom, there is expression.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... THE FLORIDA KEYS & KEY WEST Come as you are[R]. There is an unmistakable sense of freedom as you breeze down that incredible stretch of highway and arching bridges from south Florida, through the island groupings of the Florida Keys, all...

Corrections.(Correction Notice)
November 1, 1999... In "The Island at the End of the Earth" [September-October], Ernest Shackleton's ship, the Endurance, was beset by pack ice in January 1915, not 1914; on the voyage he took five, not four, men with him; his Elephant Island landing occurred in...

Taking on the Flat Earth Society.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... LAST AUGUST, 74 YEARS AFTER THE SCOPES MONKEY TRIAL, the Kansas Board of Education took a giant step backward by taking evolution out of the state curriculum, arguing that the pseudo-science of creationism is as plausible as evolution. We...

Hawaii's Vanishing Act.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... On a map of Maui, the entire range of the endangered akohekohe is defined by a narrow slash across the northeastern slope of Haleakala Volcano, a band of rain-soaked ohia lehua forest between 5,000 and 7,500 feet. Although the akohekohe...

Requiem for a Carnivore.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... An African wild dog, the starkly mottled hunter of savannah woodlands south of the Sahara, cools off after a long, hot chase. The setting is a pool on the edge of Botswana's Okavango Delta, where photographer Frans Lanting followed a pack of...

Poached for Its Pelt.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... During six arduous days of looking for giant pandas in a reserve in southwestern China's Qinling Mountains, photographer Art Wolfe was rewarded with three sightings. Wolfe was there last January to work on a book, The Living Wild, featuring the...

Gorilla Warfare.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... We've grown so accustomed to seeing exotic animals on TV and in zoos that it's easy to forget they also roam the wild. You can still come face-to-face with a mountain gorilla, stalk a giant panda, or find a flamboyant akohekohe in their natural...

THE BAKED APPLE.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... Extremely hot days and unusually warm nights lie ahead, which could be a deadly combination for residents of New York. CALL IT THE BAKED APPLE INSTEAD OF THE BIG APPLE. THAT'S THE SUM AND SUBSTANCE OF "HOT NIGHTS IN THE CITY," A REPORT ON...

GOING, GOING ... GONE.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... In the past century, the United States has saved more wild areas than any other country on earth. But some of the nation's last best places remain unprotected--threatened by everything from oil drilling and mining to logging and farming. ...

You're Getting Warmer ...
November 1, 1999... You're Getting Warmer... and so is the earth. James Hansen warns that in the next 100 years our planet could get as hot as it was 65 million years ago, when the dinosaurs disappeared. BUSLOADS OF EXCITED TOURISTS DISEMBARK every day...

Still Sold for Soup.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... A green turtle naps in a coral-encrusted crevice at Sipadan Island, off the northeast coast of Borneo. The small island--"You can walk around it in 45 minutes," says undersea photographer Norbert Wu--is one of the safest places on earth for...

Sins in the Swamp.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... ON THE MORNING OF MAY 26, Ed Carlson, manager of Audubon's Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, walked through the trees and into destruction. Vandals had slipped into the sanctuary and cut a quarter-mile-long trail through the virgin cypress forest....

IN BRIEF.(News Briefs)(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... Desert Sanctuary In a dusty desert, California Audubon has just purchased a 156-acre oasis. Fremont cottonwood, red willow, and stands of Joshua trees cover the new sanctuary, along Kelso Creek, near Weldon. The habitat provides a haven...

Inviting Children Into Nature.
November 1, 1999... At 80, Jean Craighead George has two new books out, and she continues to show the way to new generations. CHANCES ARE YOU KNOW JEAN CRAIGHEAD GEORGE. IF, over the past 40 years or so, you were a child, or raised a child, or loved a...

EARTH ANGELS.
November 1, 1999... These inner-city kids are saving their neighborhood and habitat around the world. As one child puts it: "Every time something goes extinct, we get closer to being extinct." IT'S NEAR THE END OF June, and heat sits on the city of St. Louis...

A Wonderful World of Color.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... There is little time to waste in the Florida Keys. The impact of the island chain's 85,000 year-round residents, 45,000 winter residents, and 3 million annual tourists continues to fray the ecological fabric of the only coral reefs in the...

An Audubon Wish List.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... WHILE GRASSROOTS ORGANIZING HAS LONG BEEN THE STANDARD of the conservation movement, some problems require the experience of professionals. The National Audubon Society's campaign staff takes on those problems across the country. We asked them...

Travels on the Ark.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... AS THE SUN SETS ON THE UPPER Mississippi River, a 48-foot houseboat sits moored to a sandbar near Lansing, Iowa. A campfire flickers, and beside it, Dan McGuiness sits on a log, pumping his accordion and entertaining the boat's visitors. ...

Tomorrow's Audubon.
November 1, 1999... THE SAYING GOES THAT THE FUTURE RESTS IN THE HANDS of children. If so, let's hope that they're all like these young Audubon members, who are putting their extra energy into some highly effective ways to save the world. Marty McGuire lives...

Taking the Pulse of the Planet.(Interview)
November 1, 1999... As the world's population hits 6 billion, Lester Brown keeps watch-and worries about what will happen if all G billion of us start eating steak and eggs. IMAGINE YOURSELF THE CEO OF THE PLANET. Like any good CEO, you need a few numbers you...

Millennial Forests.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... A grueling trail leads to the Headwaters Grove, the famous tract of ancient redwoods near Eureka, California, that the federal and state governments bought and set aside earlier this year. Here, the trees soar more than 200 feet in the air and...

Little Habitats on the Prairie.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... From the air on a sunny spring day, the prairie pothole country of North America looks like a sort of earthbound galaxy, a myriad of oval blue stars on a sky of green--millions of little wetlands glistening crystalline in the sun. Some are many...

The Zoo Man.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... On December 5 the National Audubon Society will honor the man who helped change zoos from living museums to conservation centers: William G. Conway. Currently the general director and president of the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York,...

Earth ALMANAC.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... Winter-Loving Deer Follow those cloven, horseshoe-size tracks in the new snow and you may catch up to the continent's largest deer--the moose. For moose inhabiting the southern part of their range (the American Rockies, the northern-tier...

The $90 Million Wetland.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... Two sandhill cranes glide through a clear dawn sky, their haunting calls echoing across a vast prairie wetland. The wetland is sprinkled with white and yellow water lilies and dotted with scrubwood islands. All of it shines silver in the sun's...