2004-7-26
VOICE ONE:
This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English. I'm Bob
Doughty.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Sarah Long. Coming up this
week: gray wolves in the eastern United States may come off the
endangered list.
VOICE ONE:
Another proposal in Washington would give states more power to
decide about road building in national forests.
VOICE TWO:
And, a report on underwater "dead zones."
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VOICE ONE:
Government scientists in the United States say populations of the
eastern gray wolf have returned to healthy levels in several states.
As a result, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service says the
time has come to remove this animal from the list of endangered
species.
Congress passed the Endangered Species Act in
nineteen-seventy-three. At that time, the population of eastern gray
wolves was down to a few hundred in Minnesota and Michigan.
Historically, the eastern gray wolf populated a large number of
states, including the New England area of the Northeast.
VOICE TWO:
Interior Secretary Gale Norton announced the proposal to remove
the eastern gray wolf from the endangered list. Placement on the
list provides special protections for animals and plants at risk of
going out of existence.
A count in Minnesota in nineteen-ninety-eight reported more than
two-thousand-four-hundred gray wolves. The government says Michigan
and Wisconsin together have almost seven-hundred.
Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin are in the Great Lakes area.
Federal officials say all three states have plans in place to
support the long-term survival of their gray wolf populations. These
animals are also known as timber wolves because they live mainly in
forests.
VOICE ONE:
The Fish and Wildlife Service will accept public comments until
November on its proposed action.
Criticism surfaced immediately. The Wolf Conservation Center in
New York says the recovery is just beginning. That group says what
has been gained in the numbers of eastern gray wolves could quickly
be lost.
An expert on wolf recovery from the National Wildlife Federation
also denounced the proposal. Peggy Struhsacker says the plan would
threaten efforts to return wolf populations in the northeastern
states. She says wolves are needed there to help keep populations of
the animals they hunt, like deer and moose, in balance.
The action under the Endangered Species Act would only affect
gray wolves in the eastern United States. Special protections would
continue for populations of western and southwestern gray wolves.
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VOICE TWO:
You are listening to SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English.
In January of two-thousand-one, President Bill Clinton signed a
policy called the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. He signed it
shortly before he left office. The rule made it illegal to build
roads in about twenty-four million hectares of national forests. The
goal was to restrain the cutting of trees by the wood products
industry. The rule covered almost one-third of the national forest
system.
The government has faced legal action ever since the rule took
effect. Timber companies argue that the rule is unfair and hurts
business. A number of states also have gone to court. They say they
should have more power to make decisions about forests within their
states.
Now the Clinton administration rule may be coming to the end of
its road.
VOICE ONE:
This month, the Bush administration moved to replace the Roadless
Area Conservation Rule. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman proposed a
new rule. She made the announcement in Idaho, one of the states that
have most strongly protested the current rule. Mizz Veneman said
endless lawsuits do not represent progress for communities. She said
the new rule she proposed would lead to more cooperation between
state and federal officials.
Most roadless areas in national forests are in the West. Twelve
states contain ninety-seven percent of all the roadless areas in the
national forests.
The Agriculture Department says the proposed rule establishes a
process for governors to work with the Forest Service. It says the
purpose is to develop locally supported rules for conserving
roadless areas. State governors could ask for areas to be kept
roadless. They could also request permission to develop areas of
national forests.
VOICE TWO:
Timber companies and leaders in several states praised the new
proposal. Governor Dick Kempthorne of Idaho appeared with Mizz
Veneman as she made the announcement. He said the proposal creates a
process that honors the independence of states.
Environmental defense groups have their own opinion of the
proposed new rule. Tim Preso is a lawyer with Earthjustice. That
organization is defending the Clinton administration rule in a
number of cases. Mister Preso says national forests belong to all
Americans. He says state governors should not be able to go against
the people's interest in protecting those forests.
Americans have until September to comment on the proposed rule
before a final version is published.
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VOICE ONE:
"Dead zones" are areas of water starved of oxygen. These areas
are produced by pollution or natural causes. The United Nations
Environment Program says there are almost one-hundred-fifty dead
zones in oceans and seas around the world.
Dead zones return year after year. They often develop in deep
water close to shore. Usually they are found in water that differs
in temperature or salt content from surface to bottom.
Normal numbers of fish may live near the surface of a dead zone.
But deep down, the fish lack enough oxygen. They leave the dead zone
if they can. Shellfish that cannot escape the zone fast enough can
die. So may other creatures that live on the bottom of the sea.
VOICE TWO:
Experts say these dead zones are a threat to fish supplies and to
the people who depend on them.
Earlier this year the U.N. Environment Program released its first
"Global Environment Outlook Year Book." It says oxygen-starved areas
in coastal waters have been expanding since the nineteen-sixties. It
says there are two times as many as there were in nineteen-ninety.
The U.N. Environment Program says the causes of dead zones can
differ from place to place around the world. The causes can include
agricultural and human wastes and air pollution from the burning of
fuel.
VOICE ONE:
One of the largest dead zones is in the Gulf of Mexico, off the
coast of Louisiana in the southern United States. Oxygen loss in the
Gulf of Mexico can begin as early as February. And it can last until
the middle of fall.
Scientists say nitrogen carried into the Gulf of Mexico from
agricultural lands is mainly responsible. One report says an area of
about twenty thousand square kilometers in the Gulf is affected now.
The Mississippi River carries freshwater into the Gulf of Mexico.
The Mississippi is the largest river in the United States. It passes
by many agricultural areas.
VOICE TWO:
Nitrogen increases the growth of algae in water. Algae is a
single-celled organism, a rootless green plant. But a lot of algae
can make an ocean or lake look like a forest.
When algae die, they fall to the ocean floor. Bacteria then eat
the remains. These bacteria take most of the oxygen from the deepest
levels.
Federal environmental officials say pollution from drilling for
oil and natural gas in the Gulf of Mexico might worsen the dead
zone. Gannett News Service reported this month that some permits for
new drilling have been delayed because of these concerns. A
three-year study of the issue is planned.
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VOICE ONE:
SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Caty Weaver and Jerilyn
Watson. Cynthia Kirk was our producer. This is Bob Doughty.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Sarah Long.. Join us again next week for more news
about science, in Special English, on the Voice of America.