National Wildlife articles from October 2000

National Wildlife archives from October 2000

Thrills and Troubles In the Marine World.
October 1, 2000... Articles about extraordinary events in nature are nothing new to the pages of this magazine. But every so often, we have an opportunity to report on an especially remarkable phenomenon that seems straight out of a science fiction novel. That is...

NWF Urges Broad Expansion Of Wolf Recovery in West, Northeast.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2000... The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's new wolf rule, which proposes to reclassify Endangered Species Act protection for gray wolves in some areas, stops far short of broad recovery efforts favored by NWF. "We must expand our vision from what...

Parties Urge City To Use Buying Power To Help Save Forests.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2000... NWF and 20 other national and local groups have appealed to the New York City Council to pass a law mandating that the city purchase wood and wood products only from environmentally well-managed forests. Under the selective wood procurement...

New York Affiliate Helps Pass Pesticide And Jet Ski Laws.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2000... Many neighborhoods in New York will now be safer and quieter, thanks to new laws that NWF's state affiliate, Environmental Advocates (EA), helped push through the legislature. Three years of effort by EA finally paid off this year with...

River Project Enlists Citizens To Save Atlanta Watersheds.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2000... A citizen-action project that enlists inner-city residents to improve water quality and shoreline habitat along a polluted Atlanta creek has expanded to include communities along the entire Chattahoochee River, classified as one of the nation's...

Groups Sue Agency To Protect Arizona Wilderness Area.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2000... By allowing a rancher to rebuild abandoned jeep roads that nature has already reclaimed, and reconstruct livestock watering facilities that vanished years ago, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is threatening the wildlife-rich habitat...

NWF Presses Agency To Keep Its Word On Wilderness Status.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2000... NWF is asking its members to demand that the U.S. Forest Service stick to its earlier recommendation of wilderness status for half of Alaska's Copper River Delta, one of the most productive ecosystems in America's national forests not already...

NWF Seeks Policy On Export of Water From Great Lakes.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2000... Although the Great Lakes represent the largest source of fresh water on the face of the Earth, they are not limitless. The lakes are increasingly threatened by global warming, which could lower water levels by three to eight feet over the next...

Wildlife Habitats Boost Spirits In Retirement Homes.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2000... Gardening and bird-watching are among the pastimes that many seniors must give up when they move into retirement communities. But it doesn't have to be that way, say some retirement home directors who are creating wildlife habitats to make...

Agencies Sharply Curtail Poisoning Of Black-tailed Prairie Dogs.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2000... In a major step toward slowing the decline of black-tailed prairie dogs, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management has agreed to sharply curtail poisoning of the animals for population control on land it manages in Colorado, Montana, New Mexico and...

Keep the Wild Alive - Volunteers Plant Trees To Restore Salmon Habitat.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2000... It first glance, trees might not seem to have much impact on fish. But in fact, they stabilize stream banks, control the level of nutrients and pollutants entering the water and regulate water temperature with their shade. Debris from fallen...

Update.(Snake River)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2000... As this issue went to press, the Clinton administration announced that it would not recommend breaching the four Snake River dams, a decision that NWF President Mark Van Putten has called "the worst imaginable case of political procrastination....

DANCING TO AN ANCIENT BEAT - For four million years, albatrosses have returned to Midway Atoll every November to perform their mating rituals.
October 1, 2000... AT FIVE A.M., Midway Atoll is quiet, cold and damp with the start of the winter rainy season. The wind blows harshly across the dark lagoon, lashing mist and sea salt against the land, 1,200 miles northwest of the island of Hawaii. The...

For Some Native Americans, Bison Herds May Hold the Keys to a Brighter Future.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2000... Working as a nutrition assistant at the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, Maretta Champagne has learned all about the dietary deficiencies of her fellow Oglala Sioux tribe members. "We didn't have so many health problems generations ago...

SPECTACULAR CONCEPTION - Deep within the Gulf of Mexico, an annual nighttime spectacle is providing scientists with new clues to coral conservation.
October 1, 2000... SIXTY FEET beneath the Gulf of Mexico's surface, a team of marine biologists holds a nighttime vigil. All around the wet-suited scientists, the water shimmers with bioluminescence. Below, visible in the piercing beams of the scientists'...

FOOD FOR THOUGHT - What does the future hold for Yellowstone's grizzlies?
October 1, 2000... To paraphrase an old joke: What does a 500-pound bear eat? Answer: Anything it wants. This line wouldn't get many laughs around Yellowstone National Park these days. While the park's grizzly bears currently have plenty to eat,...

CONSERVATION HALL OF FAME - From His Energy and Creativity, America's National Park System Evolved.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2000... Yellowstone's grizzlies gained a powerful ally in 1916, when President Woodrow Wilson appointed Stephen T. Mather as the first director of the National Park Service. Over the next 12 years, Mather not only improved conditions and management...

Defense Systems Under Fire - Strong evidence that certain toxic pollutants make wildlife more vulnerable to disease may also apply to people.
October 1, 2000... THE MASSIVE DIE-OFF was one of the worst marine biologists had ever seen. Over the course of seven months in 1988, almost 20,000 harbor seals in the Baltic and North Seas perished mysteriously-half the population thought to live in northern...

Letters.
October 1, 2000... Surprise Visitor I'm one of the statistics you referred to in your recent article about alligators ["Visiting the Heart of Alligator Country," June/July 2000], which said that between 12,000 and 14,000 nuisance gators are reported in...

Why New Houses Cost So Much.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2000... Don't blame the high cost of your new home on regulations related to the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act or other environmental legislation. "We find that the costs of complying with the regulations have only a negligible impact on...

How Does a Gecko Stick?(Brief Article)
October 1, 2000... The fastening power of a million gecko toe hairs, which would cover an area the size of a dime, could lift 45 pounds-roughly the weight of a preschool child. That's one of the ways a team of scientists from three schools interprets its recent,...

Organic Farms Richer In Wildlife.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2000... Five times more wild plants, 57 percent more plant species, 1.6 times as many insects eaten by birds and 25 percent more birds at the edges of fields: Those are among the measures of how much more biodiversity exists on organic farms than on...

Hatching a Dramatic Plot.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2000... A newly hatched blister beetle larva faces a mission impossible, with no choice about whether or not to accept the job. To survive, the creature must make its way from twigs, grass blades or other vegetation to the interior of a female bee's...

Counting Links in Food Chains.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2000... Here's some advice from a scientist about choosing a fish to cook for dinner: "If your neighbor comes home with two fish-a 10-pound trout from Lake Erie and the same size fish from a smaller lake-ask for the fish from the small lake," says...

Case of the Mysterious Fat Loss.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2000... Why do albatross chicks slim down before they leave their parents? For many bird species, extra energy reserves apparently help youngsters survive while they learn to forage after their parents stop feeding them. But an albatross fledgling,...

THE BIRD THAT NEVER FORGETS - The unassuming Clark's nutcracker has one of the most remarkable memories in the animal kingdom.
October 1, 2000... Autumn comes early in the mountains of western North America, heralded by crisp days, bugling elk and the trembling of golden aspen leaves. In many places it is also accompanied by a burst of activity from gray- and-black birds, somewhat...

America's Forgotten Ecosystem - Often maligned and frequently mismanaged, the country's most abundant native shrub is finally getting credit for its value to wildlife.
October 1, 2000... For a relationship that began poorly, Tim Reynolds' romance with America's sagebrush country has endured exceedingly well. The ecologist has spent the past 25 years conducting wildlife research on the 900 square miles that make up the grounds...

By Watching What Animals Eat, Experts May Find New Medicines for People.
October 1, 2000... Among some of western Tanzania's WaTongwe people, roots from the mulengelele plant are the treatment of choice for worms and other intestinal problems. The therapy was inspired by a sick porcupine that a traditional healer named Babu Kalunde...

Providing Safekeeping For Southeast Asia's Vanishing Turtles.
October 1, 2000... Maybe the patient is getting better. Two days earlier his nose had been running, indicating possible pneumonia. Now his lungs seem clear, but one eye is still crusted shut and he isn't eating. Barbara Bonner-thin, intense, six years out of...

A Common-Sense Vote.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2000... All of us who vote November 7 can make our ballots count for common- sense conservation. But beware of candidates who talk the talk of "common-sense" measures to conserve our natural environment with no intention to walk the walk. ...