(ENS)-Native American tribes in western Washington are changing theirfishing practices to help summer chum salmon populations recover. TheQuilcene coho fishery, one of the most popular fisheries in sport andcommercial circles, is of special concern to the tribes. "The goal ofthe tribes is to not only maximize treaty harvest opportunities, butis also to sustain salmon runs forever," said the executive directorof the Point No Point Treaty Council. The tribes have changed the waythey fish so summer chum have a better chance at recovering." Thetribes have restricted the practice of setting gill nets and insteadthey pull beach seines, which allow tribal harvesters to releasesummer chum.
AIR POLLUTION CHOKING NATIONAL PARKS
(ENS)-The air above five of America's most famous national parks isoften more polluted than that of many urban areas, finds a report bythree conservation groups. Titled "Code Red: America's Five MostPolluted National Parks." The report, produced by the National ParksConservation Association (NPCA), Appalachian Voices, and OurChildren's Earth, ranks the five most polluted national parks based onhaze, ozone and acid precipitation. The Great Smoky Mountains is "ourmost polluted national park" where ozone pollution exceeds that ofAtlanta and even rivals Los Angeles." Shenandoah National Park (VA),Mammoth Cave National Park (KY), Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks(CA) and Acadia National Park (ME) are the other top parks inpollution. The report argues that the Bush administration mustimplement and enforce existing programs of the Clean Air Act and saysnew federal laws mandating cuts in power plant emissions are needed.For the full report to: www.eparks.org/codered. For more informationon the effects of air pollution on forests and the effects of coalmining on communities and the environment, visit:www.appvoices.org.
AMAZON DEFORESTATION ACCELERATING
(ENS)-Forest destruction in the Brazilian Amazon has accelerated overthe last decade, suggests a recent study by a team of US and Brazilianscientists. The study, led by the Smithsonian Tropical ResearchInstitute, said forest destruction from 1995 to 2000 averaged almosttwo million hectares a year, equivalent to seven football fields aminute, and "it's comparable to the bad old days in the 1970s and1980s, when forest loss in the Amazon was catastrophic," said the headof the research. The Brazilian government plans to invest over $40billion in new highways, railroads, hydroelectric reservoirs, powerlines and gas lines in the Amazon over the next few years. Theresearch team says, "There's no way you can criss-cross the basin withall these giant transportation and energy projects and not have atremendous impact on the Amazon. When you build a new road in thefrontier, you almost always initiate large scale forest invasions byloggers, hunters, and slash and burn farmers." Lax enforcement of lawscombined with a growing population and expanding logging and miningindustries also threaten the forest. The findings are described in thejournal Environmental Conservation.
PEPSICO has "DISMAL RECYCLING RECORD"
(ENS)-PepsiCo's board of directors was lobbied at its recentshareholder meeting by investors and environmentalists to adoptrecycling goals. A coordinator for the GrassRoots Recycling Networksaid the company's "dismal recycling record and the growing wasteproblem" must be addressed. The shareholders' proposal calls forPepsiCo to make bottles with 25 percent recycled plastic and achievean 80 percent national recycling rate for bottles and cans by 2005.Industry data shows that some three-quarters of the used plasticbottles end up in incinerators or landfills. "More than five millionPepsi soda bottles and cans will be thrown away rather than recycledduring the course of this meeting," said a spokesperson.
CLEAN UP POWER PLANTS, GROUPS URGE
Recently introduced legislation would cut toxic emissions from powerplants in half. Physicians for Social Responsibility and other groupsat EnviroHealth Action note that air pollution can be harmful to humanhealth and that children are the most susceptible. Power plants areone of the leading sources of poor air quality. The emissions fromolder, more polluting coal-burning plants release unacceptable levelsof sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, mercury and carbon dioxide. Formore info, go to: www.ecomall.com/activism/activism.htm.
NEW YORK CITY PROTECTS COMMUNITY GARDENS
(ENS)-Settling a lawsuit filed by the state attorney general toprevent the auctioning off of community gardens to developers, NewYork City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has agreed to protect almost 500community gardens built on city-owned vacant lots in exchange for theright to develop over 3,000 units of affordable housing on 150 othercity-owned sites. The compromise enables New York to address itslow-cost housing needs and allows for the continuation of theGreenThumb Program, the nation's largest urban gardening program, thathelps neighborhood groups create and maintain community gardens. "Since the day this lawsuit was filed (in 1999), I have asserted thatNew York City residents need affordable housing and community gardens,and this settlement proves that they can indeed have both," saidAttorney General Spitzer. "I applaud Mayor Bloomberg for recognizingthat these two goals are not mutually exclusive, and for saving somany community gardens, which are a vibrant part of the city'sneighborhoods."
