National Wildlife articles from October 2002

National Wildlife archives from October 2002

NWF Says Global Warming Plan Is Full of Hot Air.(National Wildlife Federation: Bush administration plan)
October 1, 2002... Last February, the Bush administration announced a global warming plan that would "set America on a path to slow the growth of greenhouse gas emissions." Now, a new NWF report reveals that the president's plan would actually allow more global...

PROGRAM PROFILE - California's Latest Water War.(Imperial Valley of California: water transfer plan)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Water. The citizens of San Diego want it. California's agricultural Imperial Valley has plenty of it. But if a proposed Imperial Valley water transfer goes forward as planned, wildlife and wild lands could disappear forever. To help...

AFFILIATE SPOTLIGHT - Arizona Fights for Pronghorn.(Arizona Wildlife Federation sues the US Forest Service)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... The Arizona Wildlife Federation (AWF) recently filed suit against the U.S. Forest Service to save a vanishing herd of pronghorn that live on the Anderson Mesa in northern Arizona's Coconino National Forest. Thousands of pronghorn once...

GAO Study Stomps Delaware Dredging Project.(General Accounting Office criticizes the Army Corps of Engineers)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... A recently released report from the General Accounting Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress, should be another nail in the coffin of the misguided U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Delaware River dredging project that NWF and its...

Build a Birdhouse and Win Prizes.
October 1, 2002... Calling all woodworkers! Build a birdhouse or bird feeder and submit it by February 1, 2003, to Better Homes and Gardens' WOOD[umlaut] magazine and you could win as much as $5,000 in prizes. Contest categories include Best Overall...

NWF Supports Sounds Science On White River.(National Wildlife Federation)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Leaders from several state, federal and nongovernmental agencies recently gathered on the banks of the White River in Clarendon, Arkansas, to formally kick off an unprecedented $8.6 million study of the entire White River Basin. "This...

Mardy Murie Receives NWF's Highest Honor.(National Wildlife Federation award)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Margaret Thomas (Mardy) Murie, the centenarian pioneer in the study and protection of Alaska's rugged wilderness and a legendary figure in the conservation movement, has been named NWF's 2002 J.N. "Ding" Darling Conservationist of the Year. The...

CONSERVATION HEROES - Texan Paddles to Protect River.(Richard Donovan hopes to protect the Neches River)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Until recently, Richard Donovan could have counted the number of times he had climbed into a canoe on one hand. But that didn't stop the 65- year-old retired realtor from Lufkin, Texas, from launching a 400-mile canoeing crusade to protect...

PUBLIC OPINION - Water Plan Out of Sync With Texans' Beliefs.(National Wildlife Federation poll of Texas voters)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... According to a recent NWF poll, Texans prefer a different approach to water conservation than their state's new plan proposes. Among the poll's findings: * Ninety-three percent of voters say it is important to protect rivers, bays and...

On the Wildlife Front - Grants Awarded to Local Conservation Groups.(National Wildlife Federation grants)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... NWF's Keep the Wild AliveTM Program recently awarded ten Species Recovery Fund grants to local conservation groups working to improve on-the-ground conditions for endangered species. Selected from 120 applications, the ten projects reflect the...

Educating the Public About Gray Wolves.(hopes of restoring wolves to the southern Rocky Mountain area)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... After decades of silence, the howls of gray wolves can be heard once again echoing throughout the Great Lakes and Rockies. NWF is collaborating with its affiliate, the Colorado Wildlife Federation (CWF), on a number of wolf restoration issues....

Protecting Prairie Dogs on Public Lands.(National Wildlife Federation asks for prairie dog protection)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... NWF recently petitioned the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to protect black-tailed prairie dogs on all BLM-managed lands, especially in Wyoming, Montana and New Mexico. "Saving the black-tailed prairie dog on these public lands is...

Leave the Wetlands to Beaver - As beavers reclaim their rightful places in our environment, experts help us adjust to our industrious new neighbors.
October 1, 2002... SOME PEOPLE are born certain of their purpose in life. For Sherrie Tippie, it took a special event to illuminate her calling. One evening in 1985, Tippie sat watching the local news on television when she saw a report about a beaver that was...

The Cactus Connection - For many plants and animals on the Galapagos Islands, survival makes for some prickly partnerships.
October 1, 2002... IMAGINE a newly emerged volcanic island lost in the Pacific Ocean many millions of years ago, lifeless except for a few passing seabirds. As the lava cools and weathers, a few seeds and hardy animals settle down to make a new home on this...

Asia's Elephant Wars - Nearly a fifth of the world's human population lives within the range of the Asian elephant; how long can the two species coexist?(Asia: increasing human population, decreasing elephant population)
October 1, 2002... NEAR MIDNIGHT, as the village slumbers, Goonda slips out of the forest like a one-man commando unit. He smashes through the rock-hard rear wall of Lilo Das's house and snatches a sack bulging with milled rice. Women and children flee,...

Creating a Haven for Hummingbirds.(hummingbird-friendly gardens)
October 1, 2002... ON A HUMID MORNING IN OCTOBER, a bird bander named Rusty Trump reaches into a pull-string trap and lifts out a calliope hummingbird. This species, which summers in western mountain meadows and forests, normally migrates to Mexico in the fall....

THE LONG REACH OF TINY BIRDS - Hummingbirds are inspiring new cross- border conservation efforts between Mexico and the United States.(aiding hummingbird migration)
October 1, 2002... SUNLIGHT escapes the thicket, pausing on a furious flash of red and green that careens through the damp morning air. "Oh, there's that rufous again," Marion Paton whispers to visitors, with a conspiratorial grin. The rufous hummingbird...

Letters.
October 1, 2002... Global Warming Debate With the constant debate in the press over whether or not global warming is really a serious problem, I was interested to read that such a large number of reputable fisheries biologists are finding evidence that it...

Strokes of Genius - The inspired canvases of Sweden's Bruno Liljefors set a standard for wildlife painting.
October 1, 2002... BRUNO LILJEFORS' MODEST REMARK may go down in the annals of wildlife art as the understatement of all time: "I paint animal portraits," he said in 1902. Liljefors, a Swedish artist who lived from 1860 to 1939, did indeed paint animal...

In Nebraska, the Wildlife Check is in the Mail.(rural mail carriers help in state wildlife survey)
October 1, 2002... Robert Short loves to tell critter stories. After nearly 20 years as a rural mail carrier in southeastern Nebraska, Short has a lot of stories to tell. Ask him about the great horned owl he rescued from a barbed wire fence, and he'll tell you...

GATORS LOCATORS.(alligators: skin nodules)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... They may look as tough as rawhide, but alligators have a sensitive side. Thousands of small nodules--sprinkled across the creatures' faces like stubbly beards--are highly responsive pressure detectors, according to a recent study. ...

A FATAL JAVA JOLT.(using caffeine as a snail and slug repellent)
October 1, 2002... Rearching for a safe way to keep slugs and snails from munching your flowers and vegetables? A little java may do the trick. Researchers with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Hawaii report that caffeine not only repels slow-moving...

WHAT IS THIS?
October 1, 2002... Is it a strange fungus? An unusual paw print? Or something surprisingly ordinary? To find out, see www.nwf.org/nationalwildlife.

UNREQUITED LOVE SONGS?(sonars,ships, etc. may interfere with the mating calls of fin whales)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... They are among the loudest and most ubiquitous sounds of the deep, but until recently the purpose of "songs" from fin whales was a mystery. Now, a group of scientists working in Mexico has found that only males sing, indicating that the...

Mesmerized by a River in Maine.(Machias River)
October 1, 2002... FLYING OVER EASTERN MAINE, you can easily miss the singular beauty of Washington County. The inland mountains look long, low and uninviting. But this seemingly unexceptional stretch of country contains one of the longest and finest free-flowing...

When Wildlife Crosses Borders.
October 1, 2002... If you notice a similarity in the theme of two features in this issue, that's because the species discussed in both articles move freely across the artificial boundaries that separate the nations of North America. Though the habitat the animals...

WALKING THE LINE - When endangered species cross into Canada, U.S. wildlife protections don't follow them across the border.(no equivalent of the Endangered Species Act in Canada)
October 1, 2002... THE GRIZZLY moved steadily north, periodically resting and feeding in the Montana forest. Eventually, the bear reached the international boundary, for a moment standing with its head in Canada and its rear in the United States. It didn't know...

Another Threat to the Wild.(Bush administration energy policy affecting the environment)
October 1, 2002... President Bush's energy policy is starting to take hold of public lands in the West, resulting in a process of energy extraction that, if left unchecked, will change the face of wild landscapes in the Rocky Mountain states for decades to come....

Dry Times at Walker Lake - A vital wildlife oasis in the sagebrush desert of western Nevada is fast disappearing.(water being diverted for agriculture)
October 1, 2002... SOMETHING is wrong with Walker Lake, and the signs are everywhere. Literally. They are posted along the highway above the western shore of this 13-mile-long lake in western Nevada, and down a road to a waterside park: "LAKE LEVEL 1927." "LAKE...