|
Parks
United States
International
Index
Site Map
Conservation
Organizations
El Paso
International
US Mexico International Park
Project
Latest Update
ILoveParks
Home
About/Contact
About Us
Join Us
Presidential
Candidates on Eco Issues
FREE Downloads
Biodiversity Brochure
UNESCO Case Studies on Climate
Change
|
National News
Poppies inspire conservation
efforts to protect Texas park
Mexican poppies are a major attraction in the foothills of the
Franklin Mountains in El Paso, Texas
Yesterday thousands of people gathered at the El Paso Museum of Archeology to
celebrate the Franklin Mountain's famous Mexican poppies flower display.
The event was sponsored by the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition as part
of a continuing effort to save the Castner Range area from future developments
so that the land can eventually be added to the Franklin Mountains State Park.
Franklin Mountains State Park is the
largest urban park in the United States at 24,247 acres, covering some 37 square
miles, all within the city limits of El Paso. Urban sprawl has seen the
city of El Paso grown in size to nearly 600,000 people the park is threatened by
additional developments on all sides.
Franklin Mountains State Park and adjacent
Bureau of Land Management lands in New Mexico cover
most of the Franklin Mountains but not the entire range. On the east side of the
mountains, a particularly significant parcel belongs to the U.S. Army. It’s the
Castner Range, an old artillery range no longer in use.
West of the Patriot Freeway, Castner Range
covers some 11 square miles, extending almost to the mountain ridge line. It is
land of surpassing beauty and biological richness. Castner Range has a
combination of unique Chihuahuan Desert plant and animal habitats, complex
geology, spectacular scenery and rich cultural features unequaled anywhere else
in the Franklins.
This former artillery range remains open space today
thanks to the stewardship of the Army and the presence of unexploded ordnance.
The Army has identified Castner Range as surplus to its needs and, as funds
permit, has been searching the surface for old artillery rounds since 1995. Once
this search is complete, the land could be put to other open-space uses, such as
a park or wildlife refuge. The Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition has long
recommended that Castner Range remain wild and be added to Franklin Mountains
State Park.
Learn More on
how you can help protect the Castner Range and Franklin Mountains State Park
Scientists to Explore Life’s
Mysteries through Encyclopedic ‘Macroscope
The first 30,000 pages of a massive online
Encyclopedia of Life were
unveiled this week as scientists assemble for the prestigious Technology,
Entertainment and Design (TED) Conference in Monterey, California.
Intended as a tool for scientists and policymakers and a
fascinating resource for anyone interested in the living world, the EOL is being
developed by a unique collaboration between scientists and the general public.
By making it easy to compare and contrast information
about life on Earth, the resulting compendium has the potential to provide new
insights into many of life’s secrets. In essence, EOL will be a microscope in
reverse, or "macroscope," helping users to discern large-scale patterns. By
aggregating for analysis information on Earth’s estimated 1.8 million known
species, scientists say the EOL could, for example, help map vectors of human
disease, reveal mysteries behind longevity, suggest substitute plant pollinators
for a swelling list of places where honeybees no longer provide that service,
and foster strategies to slow the spread of invasive species.
Most importantly, the EOL will be a foundational resource
for helping to conserve the species already known and to identify millions of
additional species that haven’t yet been described or named.
At its core is the knowledge about the world’s species that has been discovered
by scientists over the last 250 years. By putting this information all together
in one place, EOL hopes to accelerate our understanding of the world’s remaining
biodiversity.
EOL will illuminate patterns in biodiversity, promising
knowledge comparable in impact to that gained after the microscope’s invention
in the 1600s. The EOL "macroscope" will have a catalytic effect on comparative
biology, ecology and related fields. It will also be the ultimate online field
guide, complete with links to DNA barcoding and other information of interest
and use to everyone from professional scientists to birdwatchers and gardeners.
Among many potential applications of the EOL:
• Tracing the relation between changes in animal and plant
populations and climate;
• Mapping the distribution of human disease vectors, such
as crows, mosquitoes and the West Nile virus;
• Comparison of the life spans of related species – a
prelude to lab research into reasons for human aging;
• Port inspections of ballast water for invasive species,
assisted by links to molecular DNA barcode reference information;
• Assist in field research and dramatically shorten the
time required to authenticate or describe new mammals, birds, bugs, plants,
bacteria and other species discovered by scientists anywhere in the world;
• Revolutionize teaching and learning of the life sciences
for all ages;
• Contribute to timely and informed environmental
management decisions by professionals and citizen environmental managers alike.
I Love Parks
endorses
Barack Obama for President
New campaign office opens in El Paso.
The Barack Obama Campaign for President is looking for Precinct Captains in
El Paso. If you would like to lead your neighborhood to victory for Barack call
Ian Bassin at 913 602 4678 or stop by the new office at 5750 Trowbridge Drive,
on the corner of Trowbridge and Gateway just north of the freeway.
A study of history reveals America’s
ongoing struggle to find the best leader to bring us all together. The
last time we had a leader who had the ability to both inspire and unite us was
when President John F. Kennedy inspired our country to put the first man on the
moon and made all the right calls in preventing what could have been our
destruction, a nuclear war with the Soviet Union. Since the Kennedy years
and the years of Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and the first
George Bush, we have fought the good fight while surviving the disgrace of
Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush.
Since
December 19,
1998 when the House
of Representatives voted to impeach President Bill Clinton we have had a very rough time.
Fortunately, in spite of the Iraq War and the past seven years with President
George W. Bush, we have survived 911 and the War on Terrorism. Every day we can
thank God for having avoided what could be our darkest hour, when as the experts
say, we will have to endure a weapons of mass destruction attack. When and if
that day comes, and if there is going to be hope for a way to prevent it, we
will need a leader who can bring us all together and help repair the damage to
our international relations around the world. It will be essential for the
survival of our country.
We hope for a leader who can help us turn the page in American history, away
from the dynasties of the Clintons and the Bushes, when we can experience a new
beginning and a greater hope for a more peaceful and hopeful future. Now is the
time for a new generation to step to the plate and become a part of the change.
A dynamic and passionate leader is standing in the wings and ready to be our
next President. He represents hope for a brighter tomorrow like no other
candidate. His name is Barack Obama.
When it comes to environmental issues the League of Conservation Voters gives
him a rating of 95, 12 points higher than Hillary Clinton’s rating over the same
two year period and a huge margin of 69 points higher than GOP candidate John
McCain. The other GOP frontrunners Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee were unrated
for either not having an environmental record or for not responding to the
League’s survey.
ILoveParks.com endorses Barack Obama because he has shown that he can inspire
us. Ever since he spoke at the Democratic Convention in 2004 we have seen him
come to the American stage with a message of hope unlike any other major
candidate for President.
We join others across the country that are
hungry for change and echo the words of late President Kennedy's daughter
Caroline where in an New York Times op-ed last month she endorsed Barack Obama
and said "I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me
that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found
the man who could be that president - not just for me, but for a new generation
of Americans."
Read the
LA Times Endorsement of Barack Obama
Plan for
a Clean Energy Future
“Well, I
don't believe that climate change is just an issue
that's convenient to bring up during a campaign. I
believe it's one of the greatest moral challenges of our
generation. That's why I've fought successfully in the
Senate to increase our investment in renewable fuels.
That's why I reached across the aisle to come up with a
plan to raise our fuel standards… And I didn't just give
a speech about it in front of some environmental
audience in California. I went to Detroit, I stood in
front of a group of automakers, and I told them that
when I am president, there will be no more excuses — we
will help them retool their factories, but they will
have to make cars that use less oil.”
—
Barack Obama, Speech in Des Moines, IA, October 14, 2007
More on energy and other environmental issues
Millions of Americans from all walks of life are now a part of Team Obama. You
can become a part of that team too.
Sign up to help elect Barack Obama to be the President of the United States.
I am Kenya and I am Kansas
Hello TEXAS!
Please copy and paste this
inspirational Obama poem to all your e-mail contacts or send it as an invitation
to your friends, family members, co-workers and fellow supporters. Add a note
telling your contacts why you are supporting Obama. We need your help Texas to
win this nomination. "YES WE CAN" is not a political slogan. It is a rally to
all Americans to join this movement to change our nation and our future. Send it
today! Do not wait. Our thanks and God Speed,
Sara Cullen
I am Kenya and I am Kansas
I am a father and I am a son
I am an American
I am a leader and I am a listener
I can reach and I can holdfast
I can shout or I can whisper
And I can find the good
That we all seek
And when I am defined in this contest
Or when my opponents attempt to outline me
And color me in
Remember
I am proud of who I am
For I am just a man
A father, a son, a husband, an American
And to be those things
I must earn the respect of
My wife, my children
And the people of my nation
I am an American for which all things are possible
In this vast nation of possibilities
And
I AM AN AMERICAN WHOSE TIME HAS COME
Back to home page
|
More
Headlines
Scientists to Explore Life’s
Mysteries through Encyclopedic ‘Macroscope
Coal Plant Threatens Shenandoah National Park
Parks Suffering from Airborne Pesticides and
Chemicals
I Love Parks
endorses
Barack Obama for President
Big Bend National Park
reinstates temporary closures for peregrine falcons
Giant Sequoia Monument threatened by
logging
In 1999, President Clinton stood in the shade of a
giant sequoia grove and signed a proclamation creating Giant Sequoia National
Monument, carving it out of Sequoia National Forest.
With the
current administration, things have been quite different.
In the past few years there have been numerous attempts by
the Bush administration to open the Giant Sequoia National Monument to logging.
It's time this area was truly protected so these attacks will stop for good.
The Sierra Club has listed the Giant Sequoia National Monument as one of the 52
most important places to protect in the next 10 years. These magnificent forests
provide essential habitat for the California spotted owl, Pacific fisher, and
myriad other plants and animals.
But the Forest Service has periodically called for extensive logging of this
natural cathedral, under the guise of fire protection.
Please sign the
petition
today to bring real protection to the Giant Sequoia
National Monument.
Coal Plant Threatens Shenandoah National Park
Feb. 27, 2008. Washington, D.C.--Wellington
Development cannot build a controversial waste coal-fired power plant in
southwestern Pennsylvania because its construction permit has expired and does
not meet current legal standards designed to ensure the lowest possible
emissions of toxic mercury, according to multiple legal challenges filed
Wednesday by Public Justice on behalf of the Sierra Club, National Parks
Conservation Association, Group Against Smog and Pollution, and Chesapeake Bay
Foundation. The waste coal-fired power plant would emit harmful levels of toxic
mercury, and according to the National Park Service, would damage air quality at
Shenandoah National Park. The coalition seeks to force the plant to update its
expired construction permit and meet emissions standards that are protective of
public health and the national park.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection issued a Plan Approval permit in June 2005, authorizing Wellington to
construct a 525-megawatt waste coal-fired power plant in Nemacolin (Greene
County), Pennsylvania. The plan required Wellington to begin construction within
18 months of the date of approval, meaning late December, 2006.
Numerous aerial photographs over the last year
show that Wellington has not “commenced construction” of the power plant as
defined by the law, prompting Wednesday’s federal court action, alleging that
Wellington’s permit is no longer valid.
Meanwhile, a federal court decided earlier this
month that EPA’s rules exempting power plants from stricter controls on
hazardous air pollutants, including mercury, were invalid. Pennsylvania DEP did
not require Wellington to meet these standards, but instead applied a weaker
state standard. The coalition therefore alleges in a petition to the
Pennsylvania DEP that it must revoke Wellington’s Plan Approval and establish
new stricter limits on hazardous air pollutants.
“Wellington couldn’t get its act together to
build the plant, and now it needs stricter permit limits before any construction
can occur,” said Jim Hecker, environmental enforcement director at Washington
DC-based public interest law firm Public Justice. Hecker and Pittsburgh-based
attorney Robert Jennings are co-counsel for the coalition.
“The pollution controls for this plant were
selected in 2004 making them significantly outdated,” said Michael Parker, legal
director at Group Against Smog and Pollution. “Cleaner technology is available
so it is time to send Wellington and the Pennsylvania DEP back to the drawing
board to write a new permit that adequately protects our lungs and our waters
from toxic mercury and other harmful contaminants.”
The Wellington plant would burn waste coal, which
creates enormous amounts of waste ash containing dangerous concentrations of
mercury and other toxic pollutants. While proponents of the plant see it as a
way to clean up waste coal piles, the truth is that for every 100 tons of waste
coal that is burned, 85 tons remain as toxic waste ash.
“Waste coal dumps are a big problem for
Pennsylvania,” said Tom Wolper of the Pennsylvania Sierra Club. “But burning
waste coal simply expands the problem from the land into our air and our lungs,
and adds to the global warming crisis. We need better environmental controls
that keep toxic coal emissions out of the air and toxic coal ash out of our
groundwater.”
Because waste coal is very inefficient, the
Wellington plant would need to burn huge amounts to generate electricity—leading
to increased soot, smog, mercury and global warming pollution.
“Pennsylvania's rivers and streams are suffering from nitrogen and mercury
pollution. Even though it would burn waste coal, this plant would significantly
add to the problems,” said Chesapeake Bay Foundation Director of Litigation Jon
Mueller. “It must employ the best emission controls available, and this action
will ensure that those controls are installed prior to operation.”
“Wellington’s coal plant would send a plume of
dirty air into sensitive wilderness areas and Shenandoah National Park,” said
Mark Wenzler, clean air and climate program director at National Parks
Conservation Association. “Pennsylvania DEP now has the opportunity to do the
right thing and protect these treasured places where millions of Americans seek
refuge and renewal.”
The legal documents filed today are available
on-line at www.publicjustice.net.
Parks Suffering from Airborne Pesticides and
Chemicals
Statement by Mark Wenzler, NPCA
Director of Clean Air and Climate Programs - Feb. 27, 2008
The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA)
is deeply troubled, but not surprised, by the findings of pollution from
airborne contaminants in our national parks.
Unfortunately, our national parks are not
isolated islands of protection. They too, are suffering from the effects of
global warming, air pollution, and chemical use outside of park boundaries. The
same dirty air that travels across our schoolyards, backyards, and farmyards is
toxic to the national parks and the wildlife, plants, and cultural and historic
treasures the parks were established to protect.
Air pollution and airborne contaminants harm what
Americans value most about their national parks: it destroys habitat for park
animals and plants, risks the health of park visitors and staff, damages the
historic symbols of our heritage, and clouds the majestic views found in our
national parks.
The United States must lead by example and ensure
that the chemicals and pesticides used here are safe for humans, wildlife, and
our national parks. We must strive to eliminate mercury emissions from our own
coal-fired power plants, which are a major source of this toxic contaminant in
our national parks. The national parks were set aside for this and future
generations and deserve our utmost protection.
Yellowstone sends wild
buffalo to slaughter
Feb. 14, 2008. As of this writing,
Yellowstone National Park has captured 169 of
America's last wild buffalo from the Park's northern boundary up near
Gardiner. So far, Yellowstone park officials have sent 127 buffalo
to slaughter. 44 buffalo were sent to slaughter facilities this morning,
including the 17 calves that were going to be sent to the Corwin Springs
quarantine research facility, also known as buffalo
domestication prison. The agents failed to renew their permit to use the
Phase I facility. So, rather than going to domestication prison,
they go to slaughter. Live free or die.
Ten more buffalo have been killed in the so-called hunt this week, bringing
that kill total to 112. In less than a week, Yellowstone National Park has
killed more buffalo than the three month-long hunt has.
In West Yellowstone, on top of everything else, buffalo have been having a
very difficult time with the snow pack. The snow is really
deep, and we've been seeing some buffalo eating food they do not normally
eat such as pine needles, sage and rabbit brush. These are basically
starvation foods holding little, if any, nutritional value,
but may help the buffalo's bellies feel full. The snow banks along the side
of the highways are very difficult for the buffalo to get over, yet they are
the only places where the buffalo are finding
exposed grass to eat. The buffalo have been getting stuck on the highways
and unable to get off the road. But, thanks to your help in
getting the traffic warning equipment, we have been able to safely alert
motorists to the buffalo's presence on the roads. It's been really sad to
see them try to find a way off the road, but every
possible exit gets blocked by snowmobiles or tourists in cars who pull over
to take pictures, probably exacerbating the buffalo's
trouble this winter.
Not a few times we've seen buffalo so exhausted that they are just bedding
down in the middle of the road. We've been trying to break
trails for them through the snowbanks, but they don't seem to want to use
them because they don't have the scent of buffalo. We have been running
night roves nearly every night, warning traffic.
Unfortunately, a few nights ago, three buffalo calves were killed by one
vehicle. The driver never even stopped. These calves were part
of a family group of about 11 buffalo. After the calves were killed, seven
of the buffalo ran up the highway towards the airport, and one, beautiful
two-year-old bull was separated, and frantically running up and down the
highway looking for his family. His terror is something we cannot even
imagine, and something that will stay in my mind forever. It was heart
wrenching to watch him go through this
nightmare in the dark, with flashing lights and impatient motorists, and him
running and running just looking for his family not knowing
where to go or how to get away from all the vehicles and noise. In the end,
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks game warden, Jim Smolzinsky arrived to help
escort the bull to the airport road to re-join his family.
Patrols in West Yellowstone have also been seeing Montana Department
of Livestock (DOL) agents plowing the Duck Creek bison trap, and we know
that the agents intend to set up the trap on the Horse Butte
Peninsula this year. The Horse Butte trap has not been used since the
2003-2004 season, after it was occupied and shut down for a week by buffalo
activist Akiva Silver. The Interagency Bison Mismanagement Plan is supposed
to be an adaptive plan, and since
Horse Butte is now 100% cattle-free year-round, there is no excuse for the
DOL to bother the buffalo on this landscape. But these
agencies are not interested in adaptations that benefit the buffalo; so far
the changes they have made include hunting, quarantining and vaccinating.
DOL agents were seen today reconning the area on snowmobiles, looking for
buffalo and getting ready for their season of harassment and death. The
state's hunt ends at sunset on Friday, and as soon as Saturday, hazing,
capture and slaughter could begin here along the Park's western boundary.
All of this is pointing to a very long and difficult season for our friends
the buffalo. They need your voice now more than ever. Please take every
possible action and tell everyone you know what is
happening to America's last wild buffalo and what they can do to help.
Remember, we were able to stop the slaughter of 300 buffalo
last spring, and we can make a difference for them now. Thank you!
Roam Free,
~Stephany
Volunteers defend the buffalo
and their native habitat and advocate for their lasting protection. Buffalo
Field Campaign has proposed real alternatives to the current mismanagement of
American bison that can be viewed at
http://www.buffalofield
campaign.org
For more information, video clips and photos visit:
http://www.buffalofield
campaign.org.
Learn all about
efforts to establish a
US-Mexico International Park in the
Big Bend National
Park
area of Texas and Mexico
Big Bend National Park
reinstates temporary closures for peregrine falcons
In August 1999, the Peregrine falcon was removed from
the federal endangered species list, a move prompted by
the falcon’s comeback from the brink of extinction.
However, throughout Texas there are less than a dozen
known nesting pairs and the falcon remains on the
state’s endangered species list.
Federal
Endangered Species policy requires that Peregrine
populations continue to be monitored. National Park
Service policies require the protection and preservation
of all state-listed species and all species of concern,
regardless of federal or state classification. In
keeping with this mandate, and to provide the nesting
falcons with areas free of human disturbance, Big Bend
National Park will again temporarily close or place
restrictions on the use of certain park lands.
Peregrine Falcon on a
canyon wall overlooking the Rio Grande, NPS Photo.
The areas closed to
public entry from February 1 through May 31 are:
-
The Southeast Rim
Trail and a portion of the Northeast Rim Trail from
the Boot Canyon/Southeast Rim junction to a point
just north of Campsite NE-4.
-
All Southeast Rim
campsites as well as Northeast (NE) campsites 4 and
5 are closed during this period.
Technical rock climbing
on rock faces within ¼ mile of known peregrine eyries,
as posted, will not be allowed between February 1 and
July 15.
The park does not plan to
close any other areas but restrictions may be modified
if Peregrine behavior or nesting sites do not follow
traditional trends.
Through the efforts of
federal, state and private agencies, the Peregrine has
staged a remarkable comeback since it was placed on the
federal list in 1970. Superintendent Bill Wellman
remarked, “The small population found in Big Bend
National Park and the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River
represents most of the peregrines found in Texas. We
appreciate the public support and cooperation that we
continue to have for protecting these remarkable birds."
Orangutans need our help BIG TIME.
Take a eco-tour to
Indonesia -
Tanjung Puting
National Park and support
the
Orangutan Foundation
|
