National forests are 10 times more valuable if used for recreation and to protect wildlife and water quality than they are if used for logging, mining, and grazing, according to a new report commissioned by the Sierra Club. Measured by these new standards, the forests are worth $234 billion and generate 2.9 million sustainable jobs, found the report, which was prepared by ECONorthwest, an economic consulting firm. In contrast, logging, mining, and grazing on national forest land are worth just $23 billion and provide 407,000 jobs. "Leaving trees standing in most cases can contribute far more to local, state, and …

Phthalates, a family of chemicals used in everything from plastics to beauty products, have been detected in humans at levels that some scientists believe are worrisome. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tested urine samples from people around the U.S. and were surprised to find phthalates at much higher levels than other pollutants routinely detected in people, such as PCBs. Phthalates, which may cause birth defects and disrupt hormonal systems, have been banned from use in baby toys in Europe, and some American manufacturers have voluntarily removed them from baby items. But this latest research, which is …

One good thing about the melting ice and open water found at the North Pole earlier this month -- they spurred both the New York Times and Washington Post to run editorials today talking up environmental protection. The Times reminds us that the White House plays a "decisive" role in all matters environmental, and gives Vice President Al Gore the nod over Texas Gov. George W. Bush on this issue in the presidential race. The Post puts its stamp of approval on new research that suggests that action to slow global warming should not focus solely on reducing carbon-dioxide emissions, …

During a weekend campaign swing through the Northwest, Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader outlined his views on a number of environmental issues. He called for a total ban on logging in national forests, for an end to federal land swaps, which he says usually benefit private interests rather than the public, and for the breaching of four dams on the lower Snake River in Washington state to help restore salmon populations. He also said that he agreed with his running mate, Winona LaDuke, that the Makah tribe in northwest Washington should be allowed to continue its controversial whale hunt …

About 25 million people in Bangladesh, nearly 20 percent of the country's population, are at risk of injury or death from arsenic in their drinking water, according to the United Nations Children's Fund. UNICEF is working to raise awareness of the problem and encourage water filtering and collection of rainwater for drinking. In the past, the group has defended itself against claims that its policy of encouraging well-drilling exacerbated the poisoning problem. Arsenic occurs naturally in rocks and sediments in the country.

Steve Yanoviak is a postdoctoral research associate at the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., and he currently resides in Costa Rica nine months of the year, researching rain forest canopy insect diversity in the Monteverde cloud forest. He has been studying the ecology of tropical insects for over seven years. Sunday, 27 Aug 2000 MONTEVERDE, Costa Rica I have a habit of not working in the forest on Sundays, so I will take this time to tell you a little about my surroundings and what I am doing here in northwest Costa Rica. I live in the "town" of …

They may be swimming against the current, but sea turtle advocates say they want Gov. George W. Bush (R) to show a little of his fabled compassion for the endangered reptiles that frequent the Gulf of Mexico along the Texas coast. The New York Times ad. Image: STRP. As the GOP presidential hopeful prepared to accept his party's nomination earlier this month, the San Francisco-based Sea Turtle Restoration Project (STRP) ran a full-page ad in the New York Times implicating Bush in the deaths of thousands of turtles that have washed up on Texas beaches since he took office in …

Over the next 25 years, the number of people facing chronic or severe water shortages could increase from 505 million to more than 3 billion, according to a report released this week by Population Action International. The report said water shortages would be worst in the Middle East and much of Africa. But -- you'd never guess this -- the group said its finding were good news in some sense. "These figures are an improvement over what we thought would happen a decade ago," said PAI President Amy Coen. She attributed the improvement to more family planning and the reduced …

Republican vice-presidential nominee Dick Cheney said yesterday that President Clinton had used his executive authority "willy-nilly all over the West" to create too many national monuments, and that some of Clinton's designations would likely be rescinded under a GOP administration. Clinton has created or added to 10 national monuments, setting aside almost 4 million acres in the West from development. A national monument designation has never been rescinded in the years since the law granting the president the power of designation was passed in 1906. Cheney, who just retired from his position as CEO of Halliburton Co., a giant oil …

America's fourth largest lumber retailer, 84 Lumber, pledged yesterday that by 2003 it will phase out all wood from forests considered endangered and sell only wood independently certified as coming from sustainably managed forests. With this move, 84 Lumber, which has more than 400 stores in 30 states, follows the lead of the top two home-improvement giants, Home Depot and Lowe's. The announcement came two days before protests were to have been staged at 84 Lumber stores by the Rainforest Action Network.