Pryor Asks Jesse Jackson to Help Tuli Elephants Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit [Ah... but elephants don't vote, or send campaign contributions] ENS -- Environment News Service - June 10, 1999 PRYOR ASKS JACKSON TO INTERVENE FOR TULI ELEPHANTS Comedian and animal rights activist Richard Pryor has asked civil rights leader Jesse Jackson to put his negotiating skills to work on an unusual prisoner case. On behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Pryor wrote to Jackson asking for his help in liberating the remaining 14 Tuli elephants. Thirty young elephants captured last year in the drought-stricken Tuli area of Botswana were purchased by wildlife exporter Riccardo Ghiazza and confined near Brits, South Africa. Seven of the Tuli elephants were sent to European zoos last winter, sparking international protests. The rest were sold to zoos and theme parks with less media attention. "Like the rest of the nation, I watched with pride and gratitude as you secured the freedom of the U.S. servicemen held captive in Yugoslavia," Pryor wrote. "It is my heartfelt wish that you will now use your unmatched compassion and diplomacy to gain the release of 23 [sic] equally deserving prisoners of war who are currently being held against their will in South Africa." Ghiazza awaits trial on animal cruelty charges for beating and injuring the elephants to break them and depriving them of food, water and sleep. "Please lend your voice to these majestic animals and ask President Mandela to release the elephants so that they, like our brave soldiers, may be reunited with their families," Pryor writes. "P.S. Jesse, this is our heritage. Please help." * * * DISASTER AREA DECLARED IN SOUTH DAKOTA President Bill Clinton has declared a major disaster in South Dakota in the wake of severe and continuing storms, tornadoes, and flooding on that began June 4. Federal funding will be made available to families and communities in Shannon County and on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation for disaster housing, grants, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will coordinate recovery efforts. Damage surveys are continuing in other areas, and additional counties may be added later. Federal funding will be provided for the state and affected local governments to pay 75 percent of eligible costs for debris removal, emergency services related to the disaster, and repairing or replacing damaged public facilities, says FEMA director James Lee Witt. The declaration also makes cost-shared funding available to the state for approved projects that reduce future disaster risks. * * * ENGINE MANUFACTURERS WANT LESS SULFUR IN FUELS The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should focus more on reducing the sulfur content of gasoline and diesel fuel, and less on reducing tailpipe emissions, the Engine Manufacturers Association (EMA) said today. The EMA, a non-profit trade association of domestic and international manufacturers of internal combustion engines, was testifying at the first day of EPA hearings on proposed new Tier II - year 2004 - rules governing tailpipe emissions from sport utility vehicles, minivans and pick-up trucks. The rules would hold these light-duty vehicles to the same emission standards now in place for passenger cars. The EMA legal counsel Jed Mandel said, "EPA should adopt rules that do not automatically preclude diesel engine technology as a means to address fuel economy needs, growing concerns about CO2 emissions and even air quality needs. Diesel fueled engine technology can remain a viable option without adverse emission impacts." Todays hearings are being held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Day two of the hearings will be held tomorrow in Atlanta, Georgia. * * * PEOPLE'S HEARING CONSIDERS RISKS FROM NEW JERSEY REACTORS Salem The environmental effects of the two Salem nuclear plants in New Jersey were discussed at a Peoples Hearing held today by the Stop the Salem Fish Slaughter Campaign, a coalition of conservation and citizens groups. Four speakers addressed the plants impacts on the Delaware Estuary. Maya von Rossum, Delaware Riverkeeper from the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, spoke on issues concerning the Clean Water Act and the upcoming New Jersey Department of Environmental Protections (DEP) permit renewal process. Tony Totah, marine biologist for Clean Ocean Action, described massive fishkills resulting from reactor operations. Jane Nogaki, toxics coordinator for the New Jersey Environmental Federation, the largest environmental group in New Jersey, discussed the toxic threats of herbicide use by reactor owners Public Service Electric & Gas. Joe Mangano, associate director of the Radiation Public Health Project, spoke about the threats radiation poses to citizens living near the Salem Nukes. Hearing organizers will make an official record of the "Peoples Hearing" to present to the DEP, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and New Jersey lawmakers. New Jersey has four nuclear plants, the Salem Units 1 & 2, Hope Creek and Oyster Creek. * * * UTAH FOREST LEGACY GIFTED WITH FIRST LAND TO PROTECT Utahs Forest Legacy Program has acquired its first two conservation easements this week, the largest gift of land value ever to the Forest Legacy program. The gift protects 10,680 acres of forested land in fast-growing Summit and Morgan counties from future subdivision or development. The Trust for Public Land, a national land conservation group, transferred the two easements to Utahs Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands through its Forest Legacy Program. The program was established in 1997 to help private landowners conserve their forested land by entering into legal agreements that maintain traditional forest uses and block conversion of the land for other uses. The first easement covers a 8,890-acre working ranch owned by Haynes Land and Livestock Company near the Wyoming border which includes thick stands of trees and a creek watershed. "This donation represents the largest gift of land value ever donated to the state of Utah, and in fact, to the entire Forest Legacy program nationally," says Utah Senator Robert Bennett, a Republican. The second parcel, also on a working ranch, begins a larger effort to protect portions of the East Canyon watershed. Because all Legacy appropriations require a 25 percent match, the state of Utah will be able to use the value of the easement donations as credit toward future Legacy appropriations to its Forest Legacy program. * * * PIE THROWERS FINED; PROCTER & GAMBLE MAKES CONCESSIONS Two pastry packing animal rights activists from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have had their day in court for the February 17 pieing of Proctor & Gamble CEO John Pepper. PETA members Alison Green and Dawn Carr threw two tofu cream pies at Pepper during a presentation at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois. They were protesting of the companys policy of using animals to test products. Monday, the court fined Green and Carr each $75 and placed them on probation. The incident was the second time Pepper has been pied by PETA. "We thought a pie in the face might be a good way to up the pressure and draw some attention to the companys testing policy," says Green. Pepper later called PETA president Ingrid Newkirk, his first direct contact with the animal rights group. Green says they spoke at length about alternatives to animal testing. The company has pledged to seriously reconsider its animal testing policy. After a personal appeal from Pepper, PETA has promised to put down its pies. * * * COMMERCIAL SCALLOPERS BACK ON GEORGES BANK On June 15, commercial sea scallopers will be allowed to fish a portion of the Georges Bank off the northeastern U.S. coast for the first time since 1994. The area was closed to protect dwindling stocks of cod, haddock and yellowtail flounder. Some marine scientists fear that resumed fishing will again deplete these species. The new sea scallop fishery will open under rules designed to guard against overharvest of sea scallops and to minimize bycatch of the recovering groundfish. Scallopers will be allowed to make three trips a year to the area, and keep up to 10,000 pounds of scallop meat on each trip. If a bycatch limit of 850,000 pounds of yellowtail flounder is reached, the fishery will close again. On some trips, the boats will carry a trained observer to estimate bycatch and discard of species other than scallops. A pre-season survey to establish a baseline for measuring changes in bottom habitat due to dredging in the area ends Friday. The dredging concerned many who commented on proposals to allow the opening. Commerce Secretary William Daley said, "We have struck an effective balance between the needs of the resource, and the needs of the fishing community." * * * HORSESHOE CRAB CENSUS CHECKS STATUS OF ANCIENT SPECIES On Friday, biologists and volunteers will begin counting horseshoe crabsas they emerge onto the shores of Delaware Bay to lay and fertilize eggs. The annual mass migration of the ancient creatures draws millions of migrating shorebirds and thousands of human spectators to beaches from Delaware to New Jersey. The U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be conducting the count to determine the size and status of the Delaware Bay horseshoe crab population, the world's largest population of the species. Concerns over the possible decline of this environmentally, medically and economically important species have prompted a closer look this year. Horseshoe crabs are harvested for bait by fishermen who bypass strict limits in other states by landing their catch in Virginia. The blue blood of the crabs is used by the medical and pharmaceutical industry to test the purity of drug products. Most of the medical supply is collected by catching, bleeding and releasing the animals. Many shorebird species time their annual migrations to feed on the bountiful supply of nutrient-rich crab eggs, including those of the endangered red knot. As the sandy beach habitat required by the crabs vanishes, scientists are becoming concerned that a drop in horseshoe crab numbers could be disastrous for birds and sea turtles. * * * BUTTERFLIES BENEFIT FROM WILDLIFE CORRIDORS Wildlife corridors linking distant areas can benefit species that rely on patches of fragmented habitat, two new studies show. The studies may help scientists and land managers design more effective corridors. Research at the Department of Energys Savannah River Site in South Carolina found that butterflies are more likely to move between habitat patches that are close together or linked by corridors than between widely scattered patches. The butterflies studied need open habitat and vegetation, and were unlikely to travel across wooded areas to reach distant open spaces. More open habitat butterflies were present in patches linked by corridors than in similar but isolated patches. "Corridors are often designed with the thought that they benefit all species living in a given habitat," says researcher Nick Haddad. "Because habitat restricted species are most often threatened by fragmentation, corridors should be effective tools in conservation." The studies are in the current issue of the journal "Ecological Applications," published by the Ecological Society of America. * * * SURF THE VIRTUAL SEAS ON NEW OCEAN WEBSITES Two new websites will allow students, teachers, parents and children to surf the virtual seas to study marine life. The sites cover Sustainable Seas Expeditions conducted by the National Geographic Society and a program exploring ocean resources at the 12 national marine sanctuaries conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This year, Sustainable Seas Expeditions' trained aquanauts will pilot DeepWorker 2000, a one-person submersible capable of going to depths of 2,000 feet to photodocument the natural history of each sanctuary's plants and animals. The aquanauts' findings will be posted on the Sustainable Seas Expeditions Web site at: [20]http://www.sustainableseas.noaa.gov. Web surfers can find a calendar of scheduled Web chats, facts about the research investigations and the scientists who carry them out, a closer look at the innovative technology used, detailed maps and a photo gallery of the habitats and the inhabitants unique to each site. A greater depth of information about marine sanctuaries is on the National Marine Sanctuaries Web site at: [21]http://www.sanctuaries.nos.noaa.gov. Tom Lapointe, NOAA's project director for the new websites, says both sites will "provide the American public with pages of rich and varied content about the exploration and conservation of the ocean." ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytaf-06.13.99-01:42:22-23668