WASHINGTON, DC, January 19, 2009 (ENS) – The farm of pioneer conservationist Aldo Leopold in Wisconsin has been designated as a National Historic Landmark, in one of the final actions of the outgoing Bush administration.

Eight other new National Historic Landmarks were announced Friday, located in Connecticut, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, California, Florida, Illinois, Colorado, and Arizona, but none of the others is significant to the history of American conservation.

“The historical and cultural developments reflected by these new National Historic Landmarks is tremendous,” said Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, announcing the designation Friday. “I am especially pleased to honor the place at which conservationist Aldo Leopold was inspired to write ‘A Sand County Almanac.’”

The Aldo Leopold Shack and Farm in Fairfield and Lewiston Townships is a property once owned by Aldo Leopold, who lived from January 11, 1887 to April 21, 1948. A forester, writer, professor, and conservationist, Leopold inspired natural resource conservation in America.

The Leopold Shack and Farm are now a National Historic Landmark. (Photo courtesy Aldo Leopold Foundation)

Leopold pioneered the science and profession of wildlife management and his conservation philosophies led to the establishment of national policies on forestry, game management, watershed management and soil conservation.

The influence of his concept of land health and his land ethic philosophy has endured since his death at the national and international levels.

In the early 1930s, Leopold purchased a small farm and rehabilitated a chicken coop, lovingly referred to as the Shack, in Baraboo, Wisconsin, for him and his family as a weekend retreat where they could focus on the restoration of the natural environment and observe daily and seasonal changes.

The setting of the Shack provided inspiration for Leopold’s writings on conservation, the environment, and wildlife.

After Leopold’s death in 1948, one of his most influential works, “A Sand County Almanac” was posthumously published. This was a collection of personal essays and sketches Leopold composed, working most of the time at the farm and the Shack.

“Aldo Leopold, the father of the land ethic and perhaps the most famous graduate of the school where I am dean, came to believe “that there is a basic antagonism between the philosophy of the industrial age and the philosophy of the conservationist,” wrote Gus Speth, who has served as dean of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies since 1999.

Writing in the current issue of “The Leopold Outlook,” published by the Aldo Leopold Foundation, Speth notes, “Remarkably, he wrote to a friend that he doubted anything could be done about conservation ‘without creating a new kind of people.’”

Aldo Leopold (Photo courtesy U. Wisconsin Aldo Leopold Archives)

The Aldo Leopold Foundation in Baraboo, Wisconsin has built and now operates the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center, an educational and interpretive facility near the Shack and farm, located on the land where Leopold died in 1948 fighting a brush fire.

Visitors can see the Shack when they visit the Legacy Center, which was built as the embodiment of Leopold’s philosophy. The net zero energy building meets all of its energy needs on site and features solar power, geothermal, and sustainable building materials that make it one of the greenest buildings in the world.

The Legacy Center has not only received the US Green Building Council’s LEED® platinum certification, the highest possible level, but it was more highly rated than any other building yet rated in the United States. It is also the first building ever to be certified “carbon neutral.”

Each year, thousands of visitors explore the land surrounding the Shack and farm. Public guided tours of the Shack are offered by the Legacy Center from May-October of each year, and include Leopold’s history and philosophy, a visit inside the Shack, and a walk through restored prairie and woods.

“Drawing on his life-long study of ecology, land use, history, and ethics, Aldo Leopold concluded that the highest task of civilization was to figure out how ‘to live on a piece of land without spoiling it,’” says Buddy Huffaker, executive director of the Aldo Leopold Foundation.

“It’s an ideal articulated by one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th Century, an ideal we must embrace in this one.”

Click here to see more on the National Historic Landmark program can be found on the National Park Service website.

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SAN FRANCISCO, California, December 17, 2008 (ENS) – Regulations announced by Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne last week that would exempt many federal activities, including those that generate greenhouse gases, from review under the Endangered Species Act were published in the Federal Register Tuesday.

But the regulations are being challenged in court by three conservation groups – the Center for Biological Diversity, Greenpeace and Defenders of Wildlife, who filed suit in federal court for the Northern District of California the day the regulations were announced, December 11.

Unless overturned in court, the regulations will take effect on January 11, nine days before President-elect Barack Obama is inaugurated and the presidency of George W. Bush comes to a close.

“These regulations undermine fundamental protections for the nation’s endangered species,” said Noah Greenwald with the Center for Biological Diversity. “We hope an Obama administration or Congress will act quickly to undo this 11th hour attempt to weaken our most important law for protecting wildlife.”

The lawsuit argues that the regulations violate the Endangered Species Act and did not go through the required public review process. The regulations, first proposed on August 11, were rushed by the Bush administration through an abbreviated process in which more than 300,000 comments from the public were reviewed in three weeks, and environmental impacts were analyzed in a brief environmental assessment, rather than a fuller environmental impact statement.

“This is a clear example of a lame duck administration ramming through weakened regulations that are opposed by Congress and the public,” Greenwald said. “When the survival of species hangs in the balance, public policy should not be rushed.”

Under current regulations, federal agencies must consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service if the agencies permit, fund, or otherwise carry out actions that “may affect” endangered species, or if the Service has already determined those actions adversely affect endangered species.

Under the new regulations, federal agencies will themselves determine whether their actions are likely to adversely affect endangered species. That finding would determine whether the agency must consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Announcing the final regulations, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said, “With the regulations finalized today, federal agencies must still follow all existing consultation procedures, except in specific and limited instances where an action is not anticipated to adversely impact any member of a listed species.”

Polar bear clings to a shrinking ice floe
in a warming world. (Photo credit unknown)

The policy would also prohibit any consideration of the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions from federal projects on endangered species such as the polar bear.

“When I announced the listing of the polar bear as threatened in May, I agreed with the President that the Endangered Species Act is not the right tool to set climate change policy,” Kempthorne said. “I also announced that day that we would propose common sense modifications to the existing regulations in order to provide greater certainty that the listing would not become a back door for setting climate change policy.”

Anticipating criticism of the regulations, Kempthorne said, “Importantly, the new regulations do not remove all consideration of the effects of climate change. Climate change should be considered when determining the environmental conditions under which actions are taking place.

He gave the example of a project that would pull water from a lake and it is predicted that, because of climate change, water levels in that lake will already be significantly reduced, then the expected lower lake levels should be taken into consideration, he said.

The U.S. Geological Survey has published a series of reports predicting that due to climate change loss of summer sea ice, crucial habitat for polar bears, could lead to the death of two-thirds of the world’s polar bears by mid-century, including all of Alaska’s polar bears.

The polar bear was listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act on May 14, 2008. The conservation groups’ lawsuit seeks to ensure that the polar bear receives the full protections that other species receive under the law.

The polar bear is the largest of the world’s bear species and is distributed among 19 Arctic subpopulations – two of which, the Chukchi and the Southern Beaufort Sea populations, are located within the United States.

Polar bears are threatened with extinction from global warming, which is melting the Arctic sea ice where polar bears hunt for ringed and bearded seals, their primary food source.

“This rule makes a mockery of the Endangered Species Act, our nation’s most important wildlife protection law,” said Defenders of Wildlife Executive Vice President Jamie Rappaport Clark, who headed the Fish and Wildlife Service under the Clinton administration.

“The polar bear doesn’t have time for political maneuvers. Its habitat is melting away, its food is becoming scarce and the science is clear that the cause is global warming – yet the rule this administration released today affirms that little will be done to save the species from sure extinction,” said Clark.

Listing polar bears as threatened should help protect polar bear habitat from threats such as oil and gas development, which the Bush administration is aggressively pursuing in the Chukchi Sea north of Alaska and has even proposed in the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which provides the primary land denning habitat for the species, she said.

“Instead, the administration has made it clear with its 4(d) rule that the ESA will not provide any additional protections from these and other harmful activities than those that already exist under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and will provide no protection against emissions of greenhouse gases that are causing the rise in global temperatures that directly threaten the polar bear,” said Clark.

Greenwald said, “The polar bear and numerous other species threatened by climate change need the protections of the Endangered Species Act to survive.”

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WASHINGTON, DC, December 16, 2008 (ENS) – Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne Monday cut the ribbon opening a new green roof that has been planted on the third wing of the Main Interior Building in Washington.

“What more suitable place for a green roof than the headquarters of America’s conservation department in Washington, DC?” Secretary Kempthorne asked.

“With more than half of Washington, DC covered with paved or constructed surfaces that do not allow water to infiltrate the ground, 75 percent of rainfall becomes runoff,” he said. The vegetation and soil on the green roof will absorb rainwater and curb runoff.

Washington, DC has a enormous problem from stormwater runoff and sewer overflows. Each year, at least a billion gallons of raw sewage are discharged into the Potomac River, Anacostia River and Rock Creek – all tributaries of the fragile Chesapeake Bay watershed.

The green roof on the Main Interior Building will help ease this problem by holding up to seven-tenths of an inch of rainfall to reduce stormwater runoff entering the sewage system.

The green roof also will improve water quality by neutralizing the effects of acid rain and filtering pollution from rain and snow. And it provides habitat for songbirds and pollinators.

Plants growing on the roof of the Montgomery Park
Business Center, Baltimore, Maryland (Photo
courtesy National Renewable Energy Lab)

The plants will shield the roof from the Sun’s direct rays, which extends the roof’s life span, insulates the building during the summer and saves energy as well as mitigates urban heat island effects.

Inside the building, it will reduce noise transfer from the outdoors and provide a visually attractive sight for employees and visitors.

Finally, the green roof is expected to improve the city’s air quality a little by filtering the air that moves across the plants and, through photosynthesis, convert carbon dioxide into oxygen.

The green roof project started more than seven years ago when Mike Cyr, the National Business Center’s chief of the Division of Facilities Management Services, read an article on the benefits of green roofs in Europe. Although green roofs were not commonplace at the time, Cyr decided to explore the possibility of installing a green roof on the Main Interior Building.

National Business Center personnel worked with in-house technical experts in the Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance. The group started by applying for and receiving free technical assistance from the Department of Energy’s Federal Energy Management Program via the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

The feasibility study confirmed a green roof would work on the Main Interior Building within specified limitations.

They also partnered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the General Services Administration to work through the contracting process to find a green roofing company. The roof was installed by Roofscapes, Inc. of Phildelphia, the award-winning company that installed the famous green roof on Chicago City Hall.

Deputy Secretary of the Interior Lynn Scarlett, Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance Director Willie Taylor, National Business Center Director Douglas Bourgeois and Cyr joined the secretary at the ribbon cutting ceremony on the roof terrace outside the South Penthouse.

At the ceremony, Kempthorne credited the deputy secretary for providing leadership on the green roof project.

“As the nation’s premier conservation agency, Interior is pioneering use of green roofs at our historic headquarters in Washington. We want to apply a green thumb to our rooftops to reduce stormwater runoff,” said Scarlett.

“Perhaps,” she said, “we are entering what might be called the Age of Biology – the age of borrowing from nature’s lessons as we manage lands, waters, and even our buildings.”

The green roof is part of an ongoing modernization of the Main Interior Building will be conducted in six phases. Each phase will correspond to one of the six wings of the building, with a scheduled completion date of 2011 at an estimated cost of $175 million.

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NEVADA CITY, California, November 19, 2008 (ENS) – Four dams on the Klamath River that have blocked salmon runs upstream to their spawning areas may be removed in the year 2020 under an historic agreement among federal, state and corporate parties.

Dam removal will re-open over 300 miles of habitat for the Klamath’s salmon and steelhead populations and eliminate water quality problems such as toxic algae blooms caused by the reservoirs.

The federal government, the state of California, the state of Oregon and the PacifiCorp electric utility Thursday announced an Agreement in Principle to remove the four dams as part of a broader effort to restore the river and revive its ailing salmon and steelhead runs and aid fishing, tribal and farming communities.

The agreement is intended to guide the development of a final settlement agreement scheduled to be signed in June 2009.

PacifiCorp’s Iron Gate dam on the Klamath
River in California. Green color of the
reservoir indicates the presence of
toxic algae. (Photo by Jim McCarthy)

“This is a historic announcement and the culmination of years of hard work from the numerous negotiators from the federal government and the states of California and Oregon, and PacifiCorp representatives who have worked toward a common goal of how best to protect the uniqueness of this region,” said Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne.

“We have agreed to a path forward that will protect fish, PacifiCorp customers and the local cultures and communities in the two-state Klamath River basin,” Kempthorne said.

The United States will make a final determination by March 31, 2012, whether the benefits of dam removal will justify the costs, informed by scientific and engineering studies conducted in the interim, and in consultation with state, local, and tribal governments and other stakeholders.

At that point, the United States shall designate a non-federal dam removal entity to remove the dams or decline to remove the dams.

Rebecca Wodder, president of the nonprofit American Rivers who for years has urged removal of the dams, said, “We have not popped the champagne cork yet, but we have put a bottle on ice. The initial agreement is a huge step toward a healthy Klamath River Basin. American Rivers looks forward to working out remaining details in the final negotiations.”

“This will be the world’s biggest dam removal project. But ultimately, this isn’t about tearing down dams. It is about restoring one of the most important rivers on the west coast, boosting local economies, and revitalizing fishing, tribal and farming communities.”

The Klamath River was once the third most productive salmon river system in the United States. Today, due to the dams, poor water quality and too little water left in the river, the Klamath salmon runs have are less than 10 percent of their historic size. Some species, such as coho salmon, are now in such low numbers in the Klamath River that they are listed under the federal Endangered Species Act.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called the agreement “the largest dam removal project ever in history that California, Oregon and our federal and private partners are undertaking to improve water quality, water supply and fish populations in the Klamath region.”

“The health of the Klamath River is critical to the livelihood of numerous Northern California communities, and with this groundbreaking agreement we have established a framework for restoring an important natural resource for future generations,” he said.

Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski said, “While many months of work lay ahead, this historic agreement provides a path forward to achieve the largest river and salmon restoration effort ever undertaken in a way that’s good for fish, PacifiCorp customers, and local communities and our sovereign tribes.”

Tribal demonstration against the Klamath
Dams August 20, 2006. (Photo by Patrick
McCully)

The Klamath Tribes, along with the Karuk and Yurok tribes of California have for years sought removal of the dams.

“With Oregon’s best interests in mind, it is with great pride that I will be taking the first step in implementing this agreement by offering legislation to support the dam decommissioning and removal process,” Kulongoski said.

Assuming a final agreement is reached next year and pending congressional approval, PacifiCorp will set aside millions of dollars for immediate environmental improvements. The funds would be used to implement numerous measures that will enhance habitat, improve water quality, increase fish populations, and benefit fisheries management in the basin.

“This careful effort to balance the complex needs of numerous interests within the community is exactly the type of approach PacifiCorp takes every time we sit down to the settlement table,” said Greg Abel, PacifiCorp chairman and chief executive.

“This flexible framework ensures that our customers will be protected at every step along the way, while remaining consistent with our strong commitment to respecting the environment. We will continue to work diligently with everyone at the table, including the irrigators, environmentalists, the tribes and all local elected officials with the goal of reaching a final dam removal agreement that is in the economic interests of PacifiCorp customers.”

Wodder says PacifiCorp’s four dams produce only a nominal amount of power, which can be replaced using renewables and efficiency measures, without contributing to global warming.

A study by the California Energy Commission and the Department of the Interior found that removing the dams and replacing their power would save PacifiCorp customers up to $285 million over 30 years.

PacifiCorp agrees to contribute as much as $200 million to cover the cost of removing its four dams and restoring the river. Dam removal funds would be obtained from ratepayers in Oregon and California before removal begins. The impact to customer bills will be less than one percent.

If the costs of dam removal exceed PacifiCorp’s contribution, California and Oregon together would contribute up to $250 million. Current estimates of dam removal costs range between $75 million and $200 million.

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WASHINGTON, DC, November 7, 2008 (ENS) – Part of the $700 billion bailout of the U.S. financial system rushed into law in October will go to local governments to compensate for taxes that could not be levied on federal lands in their jurisdictions.

The local governments provide services such as transportation, firefighting and emergency response that support federal lands, but have not received full compensation from the federal government for these services.

More than $1.5 billion will be distributed through 2012 to local governments that qualify for the Payments in Lieu of Taxes, PILT, program, says Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne.

“I am extremely pleased that these communities, which provide important assistance in supporting federal lands, will be receiving their full compensation,” Kempthorne said. “We appreciate their help and recognize that these local governments provide essential services to communities across the country.

Eligibility for PILT payments is reserved for local governments, usually counties, that contain national forests, national parks, Bureau of Land Management public lands, and lands dedicated to water resource development projects.

Kempthorne is scheduled to announce and distribute each state’s supplemental 2008 PILT funding by the third week in November.

Many rural counties encompass federal lands. Fifty-seven of Colorado’s 64 counties are entitled to PILT payments from the federal government for public lands within their local jurisdictions that cannot be taxed. For them the new PILT authorization is a godsend in uncertain financial times.

U.S. Senator from Colorado Ken Salazar, a Democrat, says, “This new law is a breakthrough for Colorado counties that, year after year, have been shortchanged by the federal government on funds that support basic services in rural areas.”

Larry Naake, executive director of the National Association of Counties, called the PILT provision in the bailout a “huge success” for the counties.

“Year after year, NACo has worked to increase the annual appropriations. While our work was rewarded with significant increases along the way, full funding always seemed just out of our reach,” said Naake. “Achieving full funding for the PILT program this year is a tremendous victory for NACo and the dedicated grassroots efforts of our members.”

Traffic management and emergency services during
the 2007 Cascade Complex fire on Boise
National Forest were provided by Valley
County, Idaho. (Photo courtesy USFS)

Under the new authorization for the PILT program, $138.7 million in supplemental payments for fiscal year 2008 will be distributed to about 1,850 county and other local governments.

In June, $228.5 million in PILT payments was distributed to these jurisdictions. The combined payments will provide these governments their first full PILT entitlement payments since 1994.

The additional 2008 payments are authorized by the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which President George W. Bush signed on October 3, 2008.

The law also authorized full PILT payments through fiscal year 2012. Under this new authorization, payments are expected to increase annually as the entitlement levels are adjusted for inflation.

In total, the 2008 payments to local jurisdictions, by state, will be as much as $36 million. Ten western states will receive more than $20 million each; and another 23 states will receive from $10 million to $1 million each.

Kempthorne says that since 1994, payments have not matched the full entitlement level because funding levels were subject to Congressional appropriation.

From 1995 through 2008, payments to local jurisdictions funded from 41 to 77 percent of the entitlement levels.

The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 makes the PILT program mandatory, so through 2012, payments will equal the full entitlement levels for each county and other local jurisdiction that receives PILT payments.

The Department of the Interior collects about $4 billion a year in revenue from commercial activities on federal lands, such as livestock grazing, timber harvesting, and oil and natural gas leasing.

Some of these revenues are shared with states and counties in the form of revenue sharing payments. The balance is deposited in the U.S. Treasury, which in turn pays for a broad array of federal activities, including PILT funding to counties.

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WASHINGTON, DC, October 29, 2008 (ENS) – In the waning days of the Bush administration, Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne Tuesday announced a plan to conserve bison, also called buffalo, with a second interagency group.

He said the department will work with state, tribal and agricultural interests to promote cooperative conservation in bison management.

One federal-state interagency group already implements the Interagency Bison Management Plan that keeps the Yellowstone herd within the park and within a pre-set population number through hazing and culling.

Once American bison were the most numerous single species of large wild mammal on Earth. But they were hunted almost to extinction for their skins and were reduced to a few hundred by the mid-1880s.

There are now more than 500,000 plains bison in North America, most privately owned, in herds of less than 1,000 that are fenced within relatively small areas.

“While the days of millions of free-roaming bison are gone,” Kempthorne said, “our initiative acknowledges the important role of bison on the landscape, in tribal culture and in our national heritage. We willl work in partnerships to sustain a strong and well-coordinated conservation effort throughout this country, throughout this century.”

The Department of the Interior now manages almost 7,000 bison in seven national wildlife refuges and five national parks.

Kempthorne says he will establish a federal-state interagency working group to coordinate management and science activities related to Interior’s bison herds and to carry out cooperative efforts with other parties. The group will include the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of Defense, the secretary said.

The working group is expected to retain and maximize the genetic integrity of Interior’s bison herds. The group will convene a bison disease workshop in fiscal year 2009 to develop guidelines and protocols for addressing diseases affecting bison and bison conservation efforts.

National Park Service employees march Yellowstone
bison to their deaths in the Stephens Creek
Capture Facility. (Photo courtesy National
Park Service)

Kempthorne says the working group will be “involving tribal bison experts in the department’s activities, and assisting with tribal bison initiatives.”

The group is expected to increase environmental education efforts on bison by seeking partners to showcase Interior lands with small bison herds, and seek to work with zoos to accomplish these objectives in areas where there are no Interior bison herds.

“One of the classic symbols of the American frontier is the image of vast herds of bison grazing on the western plains,” Kempthorne said. “Americans today still find inspiration in bison ranging freely on the landscape, as Yellowstone National Park demonstrates.”

Bison conservationists who have fought a long-standing battle with state and federal agencies to protect Yellowstone’s herd are not impressed with Kempthorne’s new plan.

Darrell Geist, habitat coordinator with the advocacy group Buffalo Field Campaign told ENS, “While Secretary Kempthorne’s announcement recognizing conservation threats to America’s wild bison is welcome news, it glosses over Department of Interior’s role in threatening the last wild herd of bison in America.”

“Last winter Yellowstone National Park participated in a record removal of over 1,700 wild bison to slaughter or quarantine,” he said.

Geist said Yellowstone National Park operates a trap inside the park interior to capture wild bison as they migrate to winter range on Gallatin National Forest lands and private lands adjacent to the park’s boundaries. Wild bison are forcibly rounded up for capture, slaughter and quarantine, or tested for antibodies to the abortive disease brucellosis, tagged and released back into the park, as over 300 bison were last winter.

The bison slaughter is conducted under the Interagency Bison Management Plan initiated in 2000. It is funded at over $3 million dollars annually by the U.S. Congress to prevent bison migration beyond Yellowstone National Park boundaries where some domestic cattle graze on private and public lands adjacent to the park.

Fear that brucellosis might spread from bison to domestic cattle and threaten the Montana cattle industry’s brucellosis-free status has been the driving factor behind the Interagency Bison Management Plan, although no such spread has ever been documented.

In the past two decades, about 3,700 wild Yellowstone buffalo have been killed by state and federal agencies to keep them from accessing public land in Montana adjacent to Yellowstone National Park.

“If Kempthorne is serious about conserving America’s legacy of wild bison on the landscape, the Department of the Interior needs to first take care of wild bison in Yellowstone,” said Geist. “Protecting migration corridors to bison winter range and spring calving grounds on public and private lands would be a good first step in protecting the integrity of America’s last wild bison herd.”

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PHOENIX, Arizona, October 22, 2008 (ENS) – More than 190 million acres of federal land in 12 western states will be opened for development of geothermal energy resources, Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne announced today.

“Geothermal energy will play a key role in powering America’s energy future,” Kempthorne said, “and 90 percent of our nation’s geothermal resources are found on federal lands.”

The plan would identify about 118 million acres of public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management and 79 million acres of National Forest Service lands for future geothermal leasing.

“Facilitating their leasing and development under environmentally sound regulations is crucial to supplying the secure, clean energy American homes and businesses need,” the secretary said in Phoenix where he has been attending the annual convention of the National Congress of American Indians.

There are 29 geothermal power plants currently operating on Bureau of Land Management lands in California, Nevada and Utah, with a total generating capacity of 1,250 megawatts, enough to supply the electricity needs of 1.2 million homes.

Calpine geothermal power plant at
The Geysers near Calistoga, California.
(Photo by Lewis Stewart courtesy NREL)

The largest group of geothermal power plants in the world is located in The Geysers, a geothermal field in California. Currently, geothermal power supplies less than one percent of the world’s energy.

Under the plan announced today, known as the Final Geothermal Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, 5,540 megawatts of new electric generation capacity from geothermal resources could be in place by 2015.

One megawatt of geothermal energy powers more than 1,000 homes, so if the newly announced plan is implemented, new geothermal energy could meet the needs of 5.5 million homes.

In addition, the plan estimates an additional 6,600 megawatts by 2025 for a total of 12,100 megawatts – enough to power more than 12 million homes.

Kempthorne points to growing interest in developing these resources shown by the results of recent Bureau of Land Management geothermal lease sales in areas where current Resource Management Plans already allow geothermal development.

An August 2007 sale drew the highest ever per-acre bid for a lease in The Geysers field. And a sale of leases in Nevada brought a record-breaking $28.2 million in August 2008.

Kempthorne noted the strong interest states, local communities, industry and environmental groups took in the development of this plan.

“This process has benefited greatly from the involvement of both governmental and nongovernmental stakeholders, and from the clear direction Congress gave in the 2005 Energy Policy Act,” the secretary said.

Geothermal resources range from heat found just under the ground to hot water and rock miles below the Earth’s surface. Wells over a mile deep can be drilled into underground reservoirs to tap steam and very hot water that can be brought to the surface to generate electricity.

There are environmental concerns around geothermal energy. Dry steam and flash steam power plants emit low levels of carbon dioxide, nitric oxide, and sulphur, although at roughly five percent of the levels emitted by fossil fuel power plants.

To resolve these concerns, geothermal plants can be built with systems that can inject these substances back into the Earth, reducing carbon emissions to less than 0.1 percent of those from fossil fuel power plants.

Hot water from geothermal sources will contain trace amounts of toxics such as mercury and arsenic, which if discharged into rivers can make the water unsafe to drink.

To protect special resource values, the plan announced today identifies a comprehensive list of stipulations, conditions of approval and best management practices required for approval of future geothermal leases.

Lands closed to geothermal leasing will remain closed. Lands within a unit of the National Park System, such as Yellowstone National Park, for instance,will continue to be unavailable for leasing. The plan also excludes wilderness areas and wilderness study areas from geothermal development.

It will allow discretionary closure of Areas of Critical Environmental Concern where the BLM determines that this is appropriate. The BLM may also implement discretionary closures of units of the National Landscape Conservation System.

The Forest Service will use information in the plan to facilitate leasing analysis to determine whether or not geothermal leasing is appropriate and to evaluate its land use plans and amend them as needed through a separate environmental review process.

The plan also provides site-specific environmental analysis of 19 pending geothermal lease applications in seven locations.

These leases were filed before January 1, 2005 for specific lands in Alaska, California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington managed by the Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management. Decisions on these 19 leases could proceed as soon as the Record of Decision is signed on the Final Geothermal Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement.

The Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service will publish the final version of the plan in the Federal Register on Friday, October 24, 2008. It will be available online at http://www.blm.gov/Geothermal_EIS.

The governors of the 12 states in the plan’s project area each will have the opportunity to review the final document to ensure consistency with state plans, programs, and policies.

The Bureau of Land Management will wait until the end of the Governor’s consistency review period before signing and issuing the Record of Decision approving the land use plan amendments. Kempthorne says any inconsistencies will be resolved before a Record of Decision is issued.

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HONOLULU, Hawaii, October 5. 2008 (ENS) – Conservationists are expressing mixed reactions to the federal government’s proposal to add 48 species found only on the island of Kauai to the federal endangered species list and also to designate critical habitat for them. While advocates support the ecosystem approach proposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, some say it was used during the Clinton administration but abandoned under President Bush.

The proposal, made on Tuesday by Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne includes 45 plants, two Kauai birds – the ‘akikiki and ‘akeke’e – and one Hawaiian picture-wing fly.

Kempthorne said the proposal applies “a newly developed, ecosystem-based approach to species conservation.”

“By addressing the common threats that occur across these ecosystems, we can more effectively focus our conservation efforts on restoring the functions of these shared habitats,” said Kempthorne. “This holistic approach will benefit the recovery of the listed species and also all the species within the native ecological community.”

The akeke’e uses its offset bill to pry open
leaves and flower buds of just one tree,
the Åhi‘a. (Photo by Eric
VanderWerf courtesy American
Bird Conservancy)

The species are found in six ecosystem types from rainforest mountains to moist lowlands and dry cliffs. Twenty-two separate geographic areas covering 27,674 acres are being proposed as critical habitat.

But only 1,646 acres are proposed as new critical habitat. The Service says 26,028 acres overlap existing critical habitat set aside for other species.

The majority of the proposed critical habitat is located on State of Hawaii lands, while 5,970 acres are located on private lands owned by approximately 12 different landowners.

Some conservationists say the proposal holds promise for species protection.

“We are pleased about the ecosystem approach – it makes sense. It looks like for the first time they’re combining plants and animals, and taking an ecosystem approach toward recovery,” said Marjorie Ziegler, who heads the 58 year-old Honolulu-based Conservation Council for Hawaii.

“Kauai is really hammered,” Ziegler said. “We’re really glad they’re listing the two birds. They are being pushed up to the upper elevations of the Alakai Swamp and if they don’t get protection from pigs, we’re going to lose them very quickly.”

But Mike Senatore, senior counsel with the Center for Biological Diversity, takes issue with Kempthorne’s assertion that the ecosystem approach is new.

“It was the Clinton administration that developed and implemented an ecosystem-based approach to species conservation – an approach that the Bush administration all but disregarded,” he said.

“Most, if not all of these species, have been the subject of listing petitions and ongoing litigation by the Center for Biological Diversity to force the administration to protect hundreds of species that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service previously had determined warranted protection under the Endangered Species Act,” said Senatore.

Other conservation organizations also have been requesting protection for the rare birds.

The American Bird Conservancy and Hawaiian bird expert Eric VanderWerf had petitioned the agency requesting protection for them. There are estimated to be fewer than 1,400 ‘akikiki and fewer than 3,500 ‘akeke’e in 2007. The populations of both birds dropped drastically since 2000, the group says.

George Fenwick, president of the bird conservation group, called the listing proposal “an important victory for the ‘akikiki and ‘akeke’e, which need every bit of help that they can get.”

The akikiki lives only on the high, wet
slopes of Kauai’s highest mountain.
(Photo by Eric VanderWerf courtesy
American Bird Conservancy)

“Recent population surveys indicate that these species are on the brink of extinction,” he said.

The ‘akikiki is categorized as Critically Endangered by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species due to its extremely small and declining population and geographic range.

The ‘akeke’e is categorized as Endangered by the IUCN due to its small and declining geographic range and declines in habitat quality.

Patrick Leonard, field supervisor with the Pacific Islands office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says that over the next few years, the Service plans to use the ecosystem approach to propose listing and designating critical habitat for all of the endemic candidate species from the Hawaiian Islands.

There will be one rule each for Oahu and the Big Island of Hawaii and a single rule for the three islands of Maui, Molokai and Lanai.

The Service will also propose a single rule for Hawaiian species that are found on multiple islands. Each rule will propose endangered or threatened status for each species and will also propose critical habitat for species “when prudent,” said Leonard.

“Kauai, the oldest island of the main Hawaiian Islands, has been called a ‘treasure trove of biodiversity’ and is believed to house the greatest diversity of plants in the state,” said “Therefore, it is appropriate that we begin this new approach to listing species and designating critical habitat in Kauai.”

All of the Kauai species are threatened by ongoing destruction or modification of habitat due to feral ungulates such as pigs and goats, nonnative plants and hurricanes.

Several Kauai species are threatened by destruction or modification of habitat due to fire, landslides and flooding.

In addition to the threats to their habitat, one or more of the 48 species are threatened by limited numbers, predation, competition from nonnative plants, lack of reproduction, avian diseases, vandalism and over collection.

Senatore says the proposal to protect the 48 species falls short of the Interior Department’s announcement earlier this year that it would propose adding 71 species to the list of endangered and threatened species.

“While we welcome this action to protect these incredibly rare and imperiled species, in no way does it make up for the administration’s abysmal track-record of listing and protecting endangered and threatened species,” said Senatore. “This action also does nothing for the hundreds of additional species that have languished for years awaiting protection under the Endangered Species Act.”

Hawaii leads the nation in the total number of endangered and threatened species with 329, and in extinctions – with over 1,000 plants and animals having disappeared since human colonization.

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WASHINGTON, DC, September 15, 2008 (ENS) – The Bush administration’s authorization of increased snowmobile use in Yellowstone National Park violates the fundamental legal responsibility of the National Park Service to protect the clean air, wildlife, and natural quiet of national parks for the benefit of all visitors, a federal court ruled today.

The administration authorized increased snowmobile use despite scientific conclusions by the National Park Service that the decision would multiply noise and unhealthy exhaust, which disrupt the experiences of visitors, and traffic that harms Yellowstone’s wildlife, including bison.

Judge Emmett Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia today invalidated the Bush decision in a case brought by six conservation groups that together represent more than two million members.

A snowmobile tour at Yellowstone National Park
(Photo courtesy National Park Service)

The groups sued the Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, National Park Service Director Mary Bomar and Mike Snyder, director of the Intermountain Region of the National Park Service over their new Winter Use Plan that allows 540 recreational snowmobiles and 83 snowcoaches to enter Yellowstone every day.

The plaintiff groups claimed the Bush adminstration’s decision violated numerous laws, including the National Park Service Organic Act.

In his ruling, Judge Sullivan wrote, “The Organic Act clearly states…that the fundamental purpose of the national park system is to conserve park resources and values.”

“NPS fails to explain how increasing snowmobile usage over current conditions, where adaptive management thresholds are already being exceeded, complies with the conservation mandate of the Organic Act,” the judge wrote, adding that, “NPS also fails to provide a rational explanation for the source of the 540 snowmobile limit.”

According to the National Park Service’s own data, the Winter Use Plan “will increase air pollution, exceed the use levels recommended by NPS biologists to protect wildlife, and cause major adverse impacts to the natural soundscapes in Yellowstone. Despite this, NPS found that the plan’s impacts are wholly ‘acceptable,’ and utterly fails to explain this incongruous conclusion,” Judge Sullivan concluded.

The judge directed that the National Park Service must substitute a plan that ensures all visitors can safely experience the park, and uphold laws that require stronger protection of Yellowstone’s air quality, wildlife, and natural sounds.

“Beyond Yellowstone, the court’s ruling reaffirms that a cornerstone purpose of our national parks is to provide opportunities to enjoy nature and these opportunities must not be compromised, particularly when protective alternatives are readily available,” said Bob Rosenbaum, attorney with Arnold & Porter, a law firm that represented the plaintiffs in Washington, DC.

“I’m thrilled that this ruling will restore Yellowstone’s profound winter quiet,” said Tom Murphy of Livingston, Montana, a Yellowstone guide and photographer since 1979 and author of three books about the Park.

“Yellowstone’s values have been diminished by snowmobiles,” said Murphy. “There’s no excuse for it when visitors are increasingly choosing modern snowcoaches that are less expensive and much less disruptive of the park and other visitors’ enjoyment.”

A group of snowmobilers in Yellowstone
(Photo by DaSmart)

“This is an important victory for Yellowstone and all of America’s national parks,” said Sean Helle, an attorney in Bozeman, Montana with Earthjustice who represented the plaintiff groups. “Yellowstone is an embodiment of one of America’s great ideas – that our cherished lands must be conserved and protected. The court’s opinion reaffirms this principle.”

The plaintiff groups are: the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, the National Parks Conservation Association, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club, the Wilderness Society, and the Winter Wildlands Alliance.

They cited research conducted by the National Park Service showing that even with an average of 263 snowmobiles per day during the past five winters, snowmobile impacts have exceeded Yellowstone’s noise thresholds.

“This ruling reaffirms the idea at the heart of our National Park System – that the duty of Yellowstone’s managers is to preserve the park for the sake of all visitors, and to place the highest value on protection of Yellowstone’s unique natural treasures,” said Tim Stevens, senior Yellowstone Program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association.

Park service research showed that the 540 snowmobiles a day authorized by the administration would double the current snowmobile use and triple the area in Yellowstone where visitors would hear motorized noise for half or more of the visiting day.

More snowmobiles would degrade Yellowstone’s air quality with snowmobile exhaust, which contains carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, particulates, benzene and formaldehyde, park service researchers found.

And the park service found that more animals would be pushed out of their preferred habitat, impacting their health and increasing mortality.

Visitors travelling by snowcoach watch
wolves in Yellowstone National Park.
(Photo by Jon Catton courtesy Greater
Yellowstone Coalition)

“This ruling will ensure that visitors are not disappointed by air and noise pollution when they make the one winter trip to Yellowstone of their lives,” said Amy McNamara, National Parks Program director for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition.

“We take our hats off to the tour businesses that didn’t wait for this ruling,” she said. “Their increasing investments in modern snowcoaches are already making it possible for winter visitors to access and enjoy Yellowstone while protecting it.”

The 670 member Coalition of National Park Service Retirees today welcomed Judge Sullivan’s ruling. “This decision reaffirms the most essential value of our national parks – that these are among the most special places in our country where Americans are supposed to be able to enjoy the nation’s cleanest air, undisturbed sounds and quiet of nature, and wildlife living as free as possible from the pressures of our modern society,” said Bill Wade, executive council chair of the coalition.

He said, “The court’s ruling strongly echoes the caution submitted to this administration by every living former director of the National Park Service – that Yellowstone’s managers have a fundamental responsibility to provide stewardship on behalf of all visitors and future generations, rather than catering to special interests in a manner that damages Yellowstone’s resources and erodes the unique values and qualities of our oldest national park.”

To read Judge Sullivan’s ruling, click here [news.greateryellowstone.org].

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WASHINGTON, DC, August 21, 2008 (ENS) – Saying the Bush administration’s most recent Endangered Species Act rulemaking is “anti-democratic,” 104 conservation and scientific organizations today submitted a letter to Cabinet officials calling for increased transparency and opportunities for public participation.

The new rule published in the Federal Register last week would change the way the Endangered Species Act is administered concerning both land and marine species.

The groups say the rule would “radically weaken” the Endangered Species Act yet only 30 days have been allowed for public comment and the public comment process has been restricted in other ways as well.

Their letter to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez requests an extension of the comment period to 120 days.

The groups say a longer comment period would allow the public adequate time “to address the breadth and depth that these changes to the Endangered Species Act regulations will have on protecting our most imperiled wildlife.”

The rule would, for the first time, give federal agencies the authority to decide without expert consultation whether their activities such as logging, mining or roadbuilding could harm endangered and threatened species. It also would prohibit consideration of the impacts of global warming on wildlife.

The rule states, “These regulations would reinforce the Services’ current view that there is no requirement to consult on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions’ contribution to global warming and its associated impacts on listed species (e.g., polar bears).”

Polar bears depend on sea ice as a platform
for hunting seals, their main food source.
(Photo courtesy Wikipedia)

Earlier this year, Secretary Kempthorne added the polar bear to the federal endangered species list, classifying it as Threatened. But he qualified the listing with a requirement that it cannot be used to limit greenhouse gas emissions although it is the warming climate that is destroying the sea ice needed for polar bear survival.

Administration officials maintain the proposed rule is a minor change that would make the law easier to implement, but the conservation groups say the rule is a fundamental change in the law.

“Rather than a narrow tweaking of the regulations, the proposal represents a back-door attack on the Endangered Species Act,” said Leda Huta, director of the Endangered Species Coalition, a national network of hundreds of conservation, scientific, sporting, religious, humane, business and community groups.

“The American people deserve and expect a full public process to vet such far-reaching changes to this landmark conservation law,” Huta said.

The administration is refusing to accept e-mail comments or hold public hearings on the proposed rule.

Instead, comments will be accepted by postal mail, or through a government website that warns reviewers their personal information will be posted on the Internet for public dissemination.

“It appears as if the administration is doing whatever it can to discourage participation in the democratic process,” said John Kostyack, of the National Wildlife Federation. “I think we can expect more sneaky assaults like this on our public land and wildlife laws as this administration heads for the exits.”

The proposed regulatory changes were published on August 15, while Congress was out for recess and many Americans were enjoying the summer holiday.

The groups warn that the abbreviated timeline and restrictive commenting options raise serious concerns that the Department of the Interior and the Department of Commerce is attempting to rewrite a bedrock environmental statute without allowing for adequate public involvement.

Sean Cosgrove with the Conservation Law Foundation said today, “For one of our nation’s most important and successful environmental laws, the 30 day comment period is woefully inadequate for the public to review and comment on this critical proposal.”

“The Bush administration proposal eliminates the critical checks and balances needed to protect imperiled birds and cuts species experts from the process of making decisions that need to be science-based,” said Mike Daulton, with National Audubon Society, a bird conservation organization.

“The Endangered Species Act is a safety net for our nation’s wildlife, fish and plants on the brink of extinction, said Bill Snape of the Center for Biological Diversity. “The Bush administration’s proposed regulations will cut a giant loophole in the safety net.”

Susan Holmes of Earthjustice, a nonprofit public interest law firm, said, “Animals on the brink of extinction need consideration and protection guided by the best experts in the federal government – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service biologists.”

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WASHINGTON, DC, August 12, 2008 (ENS) – The Bush administration has proposed sweeping changes to the Endangered Species Act, releasing a plan to give federal agencies the authority to decide without expert consultation whether their activities could harm endangered and threatened species. Administration officials contend the proposal will make the law easier to implement, but critics say the plan would undermine federal protection of imperiled plants and animals.

Announced Monday by the head of the U.S. Interior Department, the proposed changes would relax the current requirement that federal agencies consult with federal wildlife experts to ensure activities they undertake or approve – such as logging, mining and road construction – do not adversely affect listed species.

Endangered southern sea otters at
play in Morro Bay, California
(Photo by Carol DiNolfo)

Thousands of such consultations occur each year, but the administration argues they are not worth the hassle.

“The existing regulations create unnecessary conflicts and delays,” said U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, who told reporters the proposal aims to bring the Endangered Species Act “into the 21st century.”

Under the proposed revisions, federal agencies would be permitted to bypass the consultation process if they believe the action in question would cause little harm to listed species. If an agency chooses to skip consultation, it would be responsible for any subsequent harm caused to the species in question.

The plan also imposes new deadlines on federal wildlife agencies to respond to a request for consultation, requiring a response within 60 days. If they fail to respond within that timeframe, the project in question may proceed without their analysis.

“The proposed regulations will continue to protect species while focusing the consultation process on those federal actions where potential impacts can be linked to the action and the risks are reasonably certain to occur,” Kempthorne said. “The result should be a process that is less time-consuming and a more effective use of our resources.”

The proposal is in part driven by the administration’s concern about the potential use of the Endangered Species Act to force limits on greenhouse gas emissions.

Polar bears in the Alaskan Arctic
(Photo by Jesse Harris courtesy
USFWS)

In May, the Interior chief reluctantly listed the polar bear as threatened, citing evidence that global warming is melting Arctic sea ice and putting the ice-dependent bears at risk.

Such a listing could force federal agencies to consider the impact of greenhouse gas emissions of their activities on polar bear habitat, something the Bush administration opposes. When announcing the polar bear decision, Kempthorne suggested he would take steps to ensure that concern is eliminated – something the new proposal addresses.

“It is not possible to draw a link between greenhouse gas emissions and distant observations of impacts on species,” Kempthorne told reporters Monday, adding that concerns about global warming should be tackled by new national legislation and international agreements.

Dale Hall, director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, called the proposal a “positive step forward.”

The existing consultation requirements were developed more than 20 years ago, he said, and federal agencies now have far more expertise to determine whether their activities imperil listed species.

The proposal would “reduce ambiguity, improve consistency, and narrow interpretive differences,” Hall explained.

Environmentalists and congressional Democrats are far from convinced.

“With these changes, the Bush administration threatens to undo more than 30 years of progress,” said John Kostyack, a senior official with the National Wildlife Federation, one of the nation’s largest environmental groups.

Kostyack and other critics contend federal agencies do not have the expertise to assess the impacts of their activities on endangered species – and little interest in ensuring species are protected.

“These changes take unbiased, professional wildlife biologists out of the equation and put decisions in the hands of political appointees,” he said.

Top Democrats offered similar reactions.

The proposal “gives federal agencies an unacceptable degree of discretion to decide whether or not to comply with the Endangered Species Act,” said Representative Nick Rahall, a West Virginia Democrat and chair of the House Natural Resources Committee.

Endangered juvenile Kirtland’s
warbler in Wisconsin (Photo courtesy
USFWS)

The new plan is part of a larger effort by the Bush administration and some Republicans in Congress to overhaul the Endangered Species Act, which they contend is in dire need of reform.

But to date their attempts to revise the law have failed. A federal court struck down a 2004 Bush administration rule that sought to expedite approval of pesticides by revising the consultation process, and a Republican-led House bill reforming the law died in the Senate in 2005.

And last year the Bush administration became embroiled in controversy over alleged political meddling with Endangered Species Act decisions, forcing the resignation of top Interior Department official Julie MacDonald and the review of several endangered species decisions she made.

Critics say the administration has little interest in enforcing the law and is keen to relax endangered species protections in a bid to please homebuilders as well as mining and logging interests.

The new plan “repeats and includes all of the disdain for science and political trumping of expertise that has characterized previous Bush administration efforts to dismantle fundamental environmental laws,” said Sierra Club President Carl Pope.

Kempthorne said such opposition to the plan was hardly surprising.

“There will always be criticism any time you suggest changes to the Endangered Species Act,” he told reporters.

The public will have 30 days to comment on the proposal. The Interior Department will publish a notice of the plan in the Federal Register either late this week or early next week, says DOI spokesman Frank Quinby. Information on how to submit comments will be included in that notice.

By J.R. Pegg

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