Latest Articles
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Mmm … Salmon, What a Treat-y
Ending a long-running salmon war, Canada and the U.S. shook hands yesterday on a fishing treaty aimed at protecting dwindling Pacific salmon stocks. The agreement includes harvest limits for both nations that will fluctuate depending on the abundance of fish stocks, and it calls for the U.S. to put $140 million into a salmon restoration […]
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Owl's Fair in Love and War
The federal government yesterday decided to protect 731,000 acres near Tucson, Ariz., as critical habitat for the endangered pygmy owl, a major shift that will limit future development in the area. The feds were forced into the move by a lawsuit filed by the Southwest Center for Biological Diversity. Last week, Arizona Gov. Jane Hull […]
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Fees Take a Hike
A new system of higher fees in national parks is starting to pay off for visitors and park administrators alike. The system allows parks to keep 80 percent of the fees they collect, and parks are using the funds to build trails, control erosion, fix water and sewer lines, restore historic buildings, extend handicap access, […]
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Escargot Cargo Embargo
In an effort to curb the environmental degradation caused by exotic species, the U.S. government today will begin regulating the water that cargo ships dump when they enter U.S. ports. Ships will be asked to empty out their ballast water at least 200 miles off the U.S. coast to prevent invasive animals, microorganisms, and bacteria […]
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New Mexican gives new definition to ranch home
Ask any rancher — these days, desperation is a lot more plentiful than grass on the western range. Beset by a lousy beef market and increasing costs, it is virtually impossible to make a cattle ranch pay. Jim Winder in ranch dressing. Jim Winder knows this very well. So this fourth-generation New Mexico rancher has […]
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See Everett Oops
Junk science. Two of the sharpest words in the arsenal of the public policy wars. Is your adversary touting a study that shows a product is safe (or harmful)? Vilify the study as bogus, cooked-up junk paid for and concocted by this industry or that special interest group. Sometimes the charge fits; other times it […]
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Torpedo the Dams — Full Speed Ahead!
The Edwards Dam in Augusta, Maine, will be breached on Thursday in an effort to restore fish populations in the Kennebec River, as debates rage across the U.S. over proposals to knock down dams for the sake of fish. About 75,000 large dams block American rivers, and small dams block thousands more. Proposals to breach […]
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Snap, Crackle over Population
A U.N. population conference of 180 nations is running into problems as a small group of conservative Catholic and Muslim developing countries is splitting from the majority on family planning, abortion, and sex education in schools. The conference, a follow-up to the 1994 Cairo population meeting, today is supposed to present an updated action plan […]
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Keep on Pushing My Dove over the Borderline
The Mexican and U.S. governments are combining forces for the first time to try to save a watershed, the Upper San Pedro River Basin in northern Mexico and southwestern Arizona. The area, the last aviary migration zone in the southwestern U.S., is a stopping point each year for 4 million migratory birds, representing 400 bird […]
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Wind Picking up Speed
Wind power is undergoing an explosive growth spurt, with wind-energy capacity growing an average of 26 percent annually during the 1990s and 35 percent last year. Most of the growth has taken place in Europe, where governments have encouraged wind-power development with research investments and other incentives. In the U.S., a federal tax credit for […]
