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AmeriScan August 7, 1998
MORE HURRICANES TO COME - There is an increased likelihood of above-average tropical storm and hurricane activity over the North Atlantic during August-October 1998 in response to ongoing La Nina conditions of cold ocean water. The outlook issued today by the National Weather Service, shows an increased likelihood of more hurricanes reaching major hurricane status. D. James Baker, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, briefed representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Florida business and civic leaders during a FEMA-sponsored "Hurricane Damage Prevention Roundtable" at Deerfield Beach, Florida. Vice President Al Gore, FEMA Director James Lee Witt and Florida Governor Lawton Chiles were among those at the hurricane preparedness event.
DEPTHS OFF KEY LARGO EXPLORED - Six "Aquanauts" will live on the ocean floor near Florida through Sunday where they will study the condition of reefs in the deeper waters of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Living much like space shuttle astronauts, these Aquanauts will work and live in Aquarius - the world's only underwater habitat - located five miles off Key Largo at a depth of 50 feet. The Aquanauts include: Dr. Steven Gittings, science director, NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary program; Billy Causey, superintendent, NOAA's Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary; Dr. Sylvia Earle, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence and Dr. Ellen Prager, US Geological Survey. It is well known that declines have occurred recently in shallow coral reef environments in Florida and the Caribbean, but deeper coral reefs between 60 and 120 feet remain largely unexplored. The public may follow this research mission by visiting the Aquarius World Wide Web site at www.uncwil.edu/nurc/aquarius
CAUTION FOR SWIMMERS - The death of a 10-year-old Fort Worth boy Tuesday of a rare form of meningitis after swimming in the Brazos River, prompted the Texas health officials to renew warnings about swimming in lakes, rivers and stagnant water. An amoeba that thrives in fresh water when temperatures are above 80 F. causes the disease, primary amoebic meningoencephalitis or PAM. The amoeba is found in most untreated surface water and all types of soil. During drought and high temperatures, amoebic numbers increase. In July, a 9-year-old Oklahoma child died from PAM after swimming in Lake Arrowhead near Wichita Falls. The infection occurs when water containing the organisms is forcefully inhaled, usually from diving, jumping or underwater swimming. The amoebae in the water enter the brain and spinal cord. Symptoms of infection: severe headache, high fever, stiff neck, nausea, vomiting, seizures and hallucinations. Swimming pools properly cleaned, maintained and treated with chlorine are safe as is salt water. Officials recommend that people never swim in stagnant or polluted water and hold their noses or use plugs when jumping into lakes, rivers, or ponds.
GEPHARDT BILL STRENGTHENS CONSERVATION FUND - At a Capitol Hill press conference Thursday, Defenders of Wildlife president Rodger Schlickeisen joined Congressmen Dick Gephardt of Missouri and George Miller of California in supporting Gephardt's bill to rejuvenate the Land & Water Conservation Fund and end "congressional poaching" of monies needed to protect parks and wildlife habitats. Gephardt's bill would make the annual appropriation of $900 million automatic "so that Congress cannot continue to underfund this vital program," Schlickeisen said. The bill puts the administration in the driver's seat in choosing which projects to fund. The habitats marked by government biologists for acquisition on the FY 1998 list range from wetlands in the Everglades to Yellowstone bison habitat. 24 existing wildlife refuges need additions to protect habitat. Congress has been reluctant to fund these projects.
 Alaska Congressman Don Young
FOREST SERVICE EMPLOYEES' DONATIONS INVESTIGATED - Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Tucson, Arizona based Southwest Center for Biodiversity is concerned that Cpongressman Don Young, an Alaska Republican "is trying to intimidate the Forest Service and environmentalists with congressional hearings and charges of collusion." In a July 28 letter, Young asked that the Regional Forester provide names of all Forest Service employees who are members of, or have contributed money to the Southwest Center, Forest Guardians, the Sierra Club or The Wilderness Society. "He also demanded the names of Forest Service employees who contacted the Southwest Center or Forest Guardians prior to settlement negotiations which resulted in cattle being banned from over 250 miles of rivers in Arizona and New Mexico," Suckling said.
BIOTECH CROPS PRODUCE SUPERWEEDS - Hybrid, transgenic weeds resist the herbicides that were designed to kill them. Allison Snow, associate professor of plant biology at Ohio State told colleagues in Baltimore at the 1998 Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting Thursday transgenic crops - those that are engineered with specialized traits like herbicide resistance - can pass their traits on to nearby weeds via hybridization. Snow collaborated with Risoe National Laboratory in Denmark to find out whether this was the case for oilseed rape, the plant from which canola oil is derived. The study showed that the offspring of herbicide-resistant hybrids between transgenic oilseed rape and one of its weedy relatives reproduced as prolifically as unaltered weeds.
SOLAR INDUSTRY GLOWING - Shipments of photovoltaic modules and cells by U.S. manufacturers reached a record level in 1997, up 31 percent from year-earlier figures, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced today. This marks the twelfth consecutive annual increase in shipments. The value of photovoltaic shipments increased 34 percent from 1996 levels. The growth in shipments is due to a strong export market, which accounted for 73 percent of the shipments in 1997. The EIA report covers both major forms of solar energy: photovoltaic devices, which directly convert the sun's energy to electricity, and solar thermal collectors, which use the sun's energy to heat a working fluid often water, for heating or generating electricity.
FOOD SAFETY RISK CLEARINGHOUSE - Establishing a food safety risk assessment information clearinghouse was high on the agenda at a public meeting today put on by federal food safety agencies and the Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. Food safety specialists speak on the role of risk assessment in reducing food safety risks from microbes.
The science of risk assessment characterizes the nature and magnitude of risks to human health associated with various hazards. Although risk assessment methods are fairly well established for evaluating chemical contaminants in food, risk assessment is far less developed for food-borne pathogens.
VEHICLE FUN VS ENDANGERED FERN - A draft environmental impact statement has been prepared to describe the environmental effects of the construction and operation of the Iron Range Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area (OHVRA) at Gilbert, Minnesota. The Department of Natural Resources Trails and Waterways Unit proposes to construct and operate the Iron Range OHVRA on 1,200 acres. It will be Minnesota's first dedicated off-road vehicle recreation area. The 1996 Minnesota Legislature authorized and funded the facility for use by off-highway vehicles, including motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, four-wheel drive jeeps and trucks. 10,000 to 20,000 visitors a year are estimated, who could generate in excess of $200,000 in economic activity for area businesses. The project would eliminate the St. Lawrence grapefern listed as endangered by the state. Comments welcome to September 4. Contact Thomas Balcom, DNR Office of Management and Budget Services, 500 Lafayette Road, St. Paul, MN 55155-4010.
HELLS CANYON NEEDS PROTECTION - With the deepest gorge in North America, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area (NRA) in northeastern Oregon is unique. The Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, which manages the Hells Canyon NRA, is preparing a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) open to public comment. Over three hundred people wrote to the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest (W-WNF) saying that the Forest Service erred in refusing to include the Native Ecosystem Alternative in their first draft. The Forest Service agreed, and the W-WNF will prepare a new draft EIS for January 1999 including the Native Ecosystem Alternative. The Alternative emphasizes restoration of Hells Canyon grasslands, forests and riparian areas; selection of least-harm alternatives; linkage of permitted human uses such as livestock allotment permits and snowmobiling to monitoring; retention of half of Hells Canyon as livestock-free grassland recovery areas and non-motorized recreation. Comments by September 25 to: CMP Team, P.O. Box 907, Baker City, OR 97814. Email: cmp/r6pnw_wallowawhitman@fs.fed.us
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