Wednesday, 06 Nov 2002

Learning a Lessingia

In the Presidio park, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working to save the San Francisco lessingia, an unfortunately shrubby native plant whose beauty is best observed on your knees in the sand. Its archenemy? The well-known Australian eucalyptus, which has many powerful allies in the city. Some eucalyptus fans are personalizing the issue, arguing that it is discriminatory to try to eradicate non-native species. One city supervisor commented, "How many of us are 'invasive species' who have taken root in San Francisco soil ... and now contribute to the wonderful mix that constitutes present-day San Francisco?" That is the wrong story to be telling, argues writer Kim Todd in Grist. The fact is, she writes, preserving native species fundamentally promotes diversity. Read more about the debate, only on the Grist Magazine website.

Leaf Me Alone

At international talks underway on protecting endangered species, the Bush administration has announced that it is "neutral" and "undecided" in the debate over whether to restrict trade in big-leaf mahogany from Latin America. The U.S. position since the time of George Bush the Elder had been to call for stricter limits on trade in the wood. The chief U.S. negotiator attending current negotiations in Santiago, Chile, at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species said the shift would better allow the country to broker a deal with countries that export mahogany. But Curtis Bohlen, who was assistant secretary of state for environmental affairs in the first Bush administration, said the current decision "would be viewed as backsliding" and would undermine any attempts to limit mahogany trade. The U.S. is the world's number one importer of mahogany.

Up a Creek

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection is quietly considering a proposal that would greatly increase the amount of cancer-causing effluent that could be dumped into streams. Randy Sovic, of the DEP's Division of Water Resources, said the proposal would give his agency more "flexibility" in writing water-pollution permits. Currently, pollution rates in West Virginia are based on the amount of water flowing in a river when it is at its lowest point; under the proposal, the state would set rates based on a river's average flow. A decade ago, a different administration proposed a similar plan, arguing that it would help bring new businesses and jobs into the state. Environmentalists and labor unions fought the measure, dubbing it the "Cancer Creek" plan.

At Sea

Fishers in the Northeast grudgingly celebrated a victory yesterday when federal regulators and environmental groups agreed to put a nine-month freeze on new regulations that will dramatically limit fishing when enacted. The National Marine Fisheries Service has been hearing it from all sides -- fishers have argued that any tougher rules will devastate their industry, while environmentalists have said that fishing limits up till now have not helped replenish depleted stocks. Fishers gained some ammunition when the NMFS admitted recently that some of its research gear had been faulty in the last two years. Last week, however, the agency said that the gear problems should not cause doubt on its conclusion that fish populations were plummeting. Enviros hope the nine-month cool-off period will give the two sides adequate time to agree on the science, but fishers had been pushing for a two-year delay in the regulations.