[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
NFC: Fw: RiverCurrents: April 26, 2002
Brought to you by www.AmericanRivers.org:
The online community for river activists and river friends
AOL KEYWORD: American Rivers
---------------------------------------------------------
NATIONAL NEWS
* Bush administration proposes to allow mine dumping
REGIONAL NEWS
* Mid-Atlantic: Army Corps suspends Delaware project
* Rockies: Interior, EPA clash over Powder River plan
* Northwest: Groups file for "wild only" protections
* Great Lakes: Dam removal could help Cuyahoga River
RIVER LIFE
* Whooping cranes
TOOLS & LINKS
* New report on our country's biodiversity
PERSPECTIVE
"Reducing Southern Sedimentality"
-- by Sharon Guynup
HOME CONSERVATION TIPS
* We share your ideas here
RIVER TUNES
* Get down with the Loup River Nightcrawlers!
TAKE ACTION
* Protect the natural heritage of the Tennessee River
---------------------------------------------------------
NATIONAL NEWS
Bush administration proposes to allow mine dumping
The Charleston Gazette reports today that "Bush administration
officials have broadened the changes to an important stream-filling
rule in response to complaints from the mining industry...Among
other things, the Bush changes would allow the dumping of junk
cars and refrigerators under U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permits."
Click here for the full story:
http://wvgazette.com/news/News/2002042547/
---------------------------------------------------------
REGIONAL NEWS
1) MID-ATLANTIC
Army Corps suspends Delaware deepening project following GAO Report
The Army Corps of Engineers suspended a $311 million project to
deepen the Delaware River in the wake of a report by the General
Accounting Office (GAO) challenging the project's economic
justification.
The Washington Post (4-23-02) reports that its sources say GAO
investigators "believe the Corps dramatically overstated the
project's potential economic benefits to the ports of Philadelphia
and Camden."
This is the latest in a series of Army Corps projects to be held
up by questions about the Corps' economic analysis.
As reports the Post, "The agency suspended studies of massive lock
expansions on the Mississippi River and a deepening of the Chesapeake
and Delaware Canal after Washington Post articles in 2000 questioned
their economics. The Corps recently suspended its Columbia River
deepening in response to an analysis by The Oregonian. And President
Bush's Office of Management and Budget has challenged the economic
justification for a Corps flood-control project in Dallas."
There are numerous environmental concerns with the project. And many
New Jersey and Delaware politicians have criticized the project
because about 33 million cubic yards of dredge spoil would be dumped
in their communities. The groups Taxpayers for Common Sense and the
National Wildlife Federation recently released a report, rating it
the second-worst Corps project in the nation.
It is not clear whether the project will ever be re-started. Steve
Ellis with Taxpayers for Common Sense told the Post that the
suspension of the Delaware project is like putting sour milk back in
a refrigerator; when it comes out again, he said, it's still going to
be sour.
American Rivers cited the Army Corps of Engineers as a leading
threat to our nation's rivers in our 2002 report on the
Nation's Most Endangered Rivers:
http://www.amrivers.org/mostendangered/armycorps.htm
2) ROCKIES
Interior official challenges EPA on drilling in Powder River Basin
A senior Interior Department official is challenging the EPA's
criticism of an Environmental Impact Statement for the proposal
to drill for gas in the Powder River Basin.
Earlier this month, EPA acting regional administrator Jack McGraw
gave the worst possible rating to the EIS.
American Rivers named the Powder among the Most Endangered Rivers
of 2002, based on the threats from drilling on 8 million acres of
Wyoming ranch land.
As reports the Washington Post (4-25-02), "In a draft letter, McGraw
said the statement offered no means of coping with increased salinity
in ground water, which drilling would produce at levels that violate
federal law; failed to use the same standards of analysis applied to
a parallel project in neighboring Montana; and ignored air pollution
that would result from drilling."
But now, an Interior Department official is challenging the EPA's
highly critical report.
As reports the Post, "Interior Department Deputy Secretary J. Steven
Griles, told of McGraw's comments, wrote EPA Deputy Administrator
Linda Fisher on April 12 to say that McGraw's letter =91will create,
at best, misimpressions and possibly impede the ability to move
forward in a constructive manner.'"
According to the Post, Griles once ran a consulting firm whose
clients include oil and gas companies that are drilling in the
Powder River Basin.
If the proposal is approved it would be the nation's largest domestic
energy exploration project.
The Bush Administration backs the drilling of more than 39,000 wells
in the Powder River Basin, especially since the Senate defeated oil
and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Click here for American Rivers' Most Endangered Rivers report
on the Powder River:
http://www.amrivers.org/mostendangered/powder2002.htm
3) NORTHWEST
Conservation groups file to exclude hatchery fish from 15 ESA listings
With Endangered Species Act protections of hatchery and wild
fish called into question by a controversial court opinion
last fall, groups this week filed for wild-only listings for
15 salmon and steelhead stocks.
A group of 17 national, regional and local conservation groups filed
petitions with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
for Endangered Species Act protection of only the wild fish among 15
West Coast salmon and steelhead stocks.
The move serves as the latest salvo in the widening national debate
over ESA protection of hatchery-born and naturally reproducing fish.
Click here for the full story:
<http://www.amrivers.org/pressrelease/fish042502.htm>
4) GREAT LAKES
This story was brought to our attention by RiverCurrents reader D.
Shall, who writes, "Although I now live in Los Angeles, I grew up
in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio and have many fond memories of exploring
the Cuyahoga River Gorge. It is an absolutely spectacular spot on
the River, and the dam removal being proposed by the Ohio EPA would
reestablish one of the most stunning urban gorges in the Eastern US."
Dam removal could help the Cuyahoga
Ninety years ago, Big Falls disappeared. These waterfalls on the
Cuyahoga River were drowned when Gorge Dam was built in 1912 to
generate electricity for the Akron, Ohio area.
But now, as reports the Plain Dealer (4-23-02), "there's hope that
Big Falls will reappear - and that Gorge Dam will disappear."
As reports the Plain Dealer, the Ohio Environmental Protection
Agency wants to remove a handful of dams to improve water quality.
Removing the dams that no longer make sense will get the stagnated
water flowing freely again and will open up migration corridors for
fish.
Paddlers are also excited about the recreation opportunities the
dam removals will bring. According to the Plain Dealer, some of the
river's best rapids are above and below Gorge Dam.
"If that dam were to be removed, it would open up a beautiful rapid
for kayakers," Matt Muir, who often kayaks the gorge part of the
river, told the newspaper.
But there are still concerns to be addressed. For example, removing
the dam could allow invasive species, such as zebra mussels, from
Lake Eerie to spread into areas where they do not currently exist.
Still, Muir, a member of the Keelhaulers Canoe Club, a paddling
organization in Northeast Ohio, told the newspaper, "I would
consider it a tremendous benefit [if the dams were removed]."
Learn more about removing dams that don't make sense:
http://www.amrivers.org/damremoval/default.htm
---------------------------------------------------------
PERSPECTIVE
"Reducing Southern Sedimentality"
-- by Sharon Guynup
Sharon Guynup, a freelance science and environmental writer whose
work has appeared in Wildlife Conservation, Audubon, Popular Science
and Sierra, traces the path of Southern sediment pollution from its
causes to its effects, explaining along the way how citizens can
better protect their freshwater ecosystems.
<http://www.amrivers.org/feature/guynup.htm>
---------------------------------------------------------
RIVER LIFE
Feature wildlife: the whooping crane
It was their first solo migratory journey, and they made it back
home just fine. Researchers say five endangered whooping cranes
recently found their way from Florida back to central Wisconsin.
The young cranes left their fledgling grounds in Wisconsin's Necedah
National Wildlife Refuge last fall, following an ultralight aircraft
to winter grounds in Florida's Chassahowitzka National Wildlife
Refuge.
As reports the Associated Press (4-19-02), the birds' instincts took
over on the return trip. The 1,175-mile journey took the cranes 10-
days.
The cranes averaged about 200 miles a day.
Learn more about these extraordinary birds, get a map of their
migration route and watch a video clip:
<http://www.amrivers.org/fishwildlife/whoopingcrane.htm>
---------------------------------------------------------
TOOLS & LINKS
The new report, "States of the Union - ranking America's biodiversity"
offers new information on state patterns of biological wealth and
risk-- where our wild plants and animals are found, and how they are
faring.
For example: for fishes, Alabama has the greatest diversity but
Arizona has the most at risk.
Get the full report here:
<http://www.natureserve.org/publications/biodiversity/summary.htm>
---------------------------------------------------------
HOME CONSERVATION TIPS
Each week, we share conservation tips and ideas emailed to
us by RiverCurrents readers.
From reader E. Newsom:
I just read the article on using gray water and
thought I'd share what I've done for a while. It
seems obvious but I don't know anyone else who does
it. I keep a couple buckets in the bathroom and when
I'm waiting for the shower to warm up I run the water
into the buckets instead of the drain. With two of us
doing it, it provides about half the water our
vegetable garden needs.
Share your own ideas with the RiverCurrents community!
If you have water and/or energy conservation ideas of your own,
please email them to asouers at amrivers_org and we'll post them here.
---------------------------------------------------------
RIVER TUNES
Feature CD: "Loup River Saturday Night" by John Walker
and the Loup River Nightcrawlers
Several of the musicians and songwriters on this CD are
"avid river rats" and the inspiration for the CD came
around a campfire one night during a canoe trip on central
Nebraska's Loup River. One of the songwriters was named
the Nebraska State Poet in 1982.
For information about this and other great river tunes:
<http://www.amrivers.org/feature/rivertunes.htm>
---------------------------------------------------------
TAKE ACTION (Please act now-- Deadline is today!)
Protect the rich natural heritage of the Tennessee River
Please help protect the Tennessee River, one of the
most diverse freshwater systems in the world. Home to
colorful darters, endangered mussels, elegant paddlefish,
and huge sturgeon, the more than 600-mile-long Tennessee
River is also subject to enormous pressures from increased
human population.
Tell the Tennessee Valley Authority to protect the ecosystem's health!
<http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org/>
---------------------------------------------------------
ABOUT RIVERCURRENTS
RiverCurrents is a weekly summary of river news and information as
reported by media outlets and other sources across the country. The
inclusion of a story or point of view in RiverCurrents does not
necessarily indicate endorsement by American Rivers. Unless American
Rivers' position is clearly indicated, stories or points of view
expressed in RiverCurrents are solely those of the groups and
individuals named and not those of American Rivers.
If you have clarifications or corrections about a story in
RiverCurrents, please send them to asouers at amrivers_org.
*************************************
Thank you robertrice at juno_com for helping to protect and
restore America's rivers.
To contact American Rivers, email Rebecca Sherman at
outreach at amrivers_org or call 202-347-7550, ext. 3052.
For the latest results of your actions, visit
http://www.americanrivers.org/feature/actionupdates.htm
To update your information, please visit
http://amriversaction.ctsg.com/profileEditor
Encourage friends to become online river activists by visiting
http://www.americanrivers.org/takeaction
To become a member of American Rivers, visit
http://www.americanrivers.org/joindonate
Find free online resources, toolkits, and ways to unite with other
activists on your important issues.
Join the nation's online river community at
http://www.americanrivers.org
AOL Keyword: American Rivers
To unsubscribe from this distribution list, reply to this
email (action at action_amrivers.org) and include "remove" in the subject
line.
*************************************