Water Levels in Lake Powell - This 'lake' is a reservoir

...The graph shows Lake Powell’s water level from 2000 to 2007, measured in millions of acre-feet. This measure of lake volume counts the acres of land surface covered by a foot of water. The water level from May 2006, superimposed onto the satellite image, had actually rebounded somewhat from the 2005 low. After peaking in late 2000 with more than 20 million acre-feet, the reservoir’s water level sharply declined to roughly 8 million in mid-2005....

Part of the problem with The Powell Dam is it was constructed in the worst area of the country possible. It's banks are imbedded in Navaho Sandstone. Navajo Sandstone is porous and requires water to saturate the holes in the rock before the lack level rises.

The last 12 hours over the Gulf of Mexico is provinging to be interesting.

October 16, 2007
1415z


THIS FORECAST was nine hours ago, things have changed a bit with sunrise.

National Weather ServiceTropical Weather Outlook and Summary
TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
530 AM EDT TUE OCT 16 2007
FOR THE NORTH ATLANTIC...CARIBBEAN SEA AND THE GULF OF MEXICO...
A WEAK AREA OF LOW PRESSURE OVER THE SOUTHWESTERN GULF OF MEXICO IS
ACCOMPANIED BY SOME DISORGANIZED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS.
UPPER-LEVEL WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME INCREASINGLY UNFAVORABLE
FOR DEVELOPMENT OF THIS SYSTEM OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS AS IT
MOVES NORTHWESTWARD TO NORTHWARD.
TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION IS NOT EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS.

FORECASTER PASCH





October 13, 2007


1330z


UNISYS Water Vapor Satellite north and west hemisphere







Rains pound North Texas, trigger flooding, fatal accident (click here)
Storms cause fatal accident, flooding in Dallas, Collin counties
12:00 AM CDT on Tuesday, October 16, 2007
By MICHAEL E. YOUNG / The Dallas Morning News


myoung@dallasnews.com
Strong thunderstorms Monday dumped more than 5 inches of rain on parts of North Texas, snarling morning commuter traffic, causing at least one fatal accident and triggering widespread flooding across Dallas and Collin counties.
"Plano is under water," Plano Fire Capt. Mark Vice said Monday as his crews scrambled to answer 30 high-water rescue calls from trapped motorists or those who had abandoned their cars in the flooding.
Tumbling water turned suburban streets into mountain creeks and left the creeks roaring like rivers. In Carrollton, Plano and parts of North Dallas, drivers dealt delicately with water high enough to lap at the bottom of their cars and puddles broad enough to cover six-lane roads.
The heavy clouds pushing ahead of a cold front also capped the region's unseasonably warm weather, for a day at least, holding high temperatures in the mid-70s, the lowest in five months....
...The broad band of storms that swooped across North Texas early Monday and lingered into the early afternoon was the second round of rough weather in less than 24 hours.
"We had a lot of moisture, a lot of warm air from the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday, enough to set off the storms we saw Sunday night," Ms. Dunn said. "And in the morning, a squall line developed just ahead of a cold front in Oklahoma, and it redeveloped in central and north central Texas."
Rainfall from the first batch of storms was widely scattered. But the line of storms that blew through Monday dumped heavy rains across a broad swath of North Texas, from an inch or so in some areas, to about 2 inches at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and more than 5 inches in portions of northern Dallas and southwestern Collin counties.
"The storms moved fast," Ms. Dunn said, "which was good. Otherwise, we would have had even more flooding problems."
Heavy rains pushed the Elm Fork of the Trinity River to flood stage in Carrollton, along with White Rock Creek, and forecasters expected the Trinity to reach the flood stage in downtown Dallas on Monday night.
But it was on area streets where the sudden rush of water caused widespread problems.
Mud poured from a construction site at Legacy Drive and State Highway 121 in Plano, snarling morning traffic there. High winds knocked over construction signs in Grand Prairie and downed power lines in Dallas.
About 20,000 electric customers were without power about 10 a.m. Monday, according to Oncor Electric Delivery, but that number was down to about 5,000 by mid-afternoon, scattered across the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Police said heavy rain contributed to a fatal accident Monday morning in which a Denton man lost control of his car and slid sideways into the path of an 18-wheeler.
Denton police spokesman Jim Bryan said the driver, who had not been identified late Monday, was traveling north on Fort Worth Drive when his car skidded into oncoming traffic.
"Preliminary investigation shows he was probably driving too fast for the weather conditions and did not have good tires," the spokesman said.
In Farmersville, a pickup hydroplaned on rain-soaked U.S. Highway 380 and slid into the back of a school bus carrying 20 students, police said. The crash pushed the bus into a roadside ditch and onto its side.
Farmersville school officials said the students and bus driver suffered minor injuries. The driver of the truck wasn't hurt, police said.
The storms pushed through Dallas just as Southwest Airlines introduced its new boarding system for passengers, causing a crush of weather-related delays.
"Other than the weather, the new boarding process is going as we had hoped," said Beth Harbin, a Southwest spokeswoman.
The morning thunderstorms caused airlines to cancel about 110 flights out of 950 at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. By the afternoon, airport officials said schedules were getting back to normal with delays easing from 90 minutes to about 30 minutes.
At Dallas Love Field, Southwest Airlines canceled 13 flights before 9 a.m. and was experiencing delays of up to two hours by the afternoon as it worked to get back on schedule.
Staff writers Theodore Kim and Suzanne Marta, and Donna Fielder of the Denton Record-Chronicle contributed to this report.

The weather at Scott Base, Ross Island, Antarctica (Crystal Ice Chime) is:

New Webcam at Higgins, Germany, Antarctica with a far better view. Thank you, Germany.


October 16, 2007
1830 and 02 seconds
Higgins Base, Germany, Antarctica

This view has changed as well. If one notes the 'pipe cross' in the background; it is where penguins usually gather. There may be a few at the shoreline, but, noted there is also dearly little sea ice and this is just the beginning of spring in Antarctica. Ah, oh. Click on title to entry to see new camera at the German Research Station, then look to left column and bring down menu at 'webcam' and clink on OHIG-WEB1 and 'page down' to see assembly of new Higgins Webcam. Very nice indeed.


October 16, 2007
Scott Base, New Zealand, Antarctica
1851

The view from the webcam has changed. Someone is home !


October 16, 2007
Scott Base, New Zealand, Antarctica
1952 and 39 seconds

Why is it, the diplomacy of George Walker Bush always GOES SOUTH? First Russia, now Israel ! I'm tired of this MESS all the time !

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice with the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, in Ramallah.

As Rice pushes for progress in Israeli-Palestinian talks, UN Rights Expert denounces the Quartet (click at title of entry)
Marian Houk is a journalist with long experience in the United Nations and in the Middle East, currently based in Jerusalem.
Join this author's mailing list

Your Name:E-mail Address:
Marian Houk
October 15, 2007
The UN Human Rights Council's Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, John Dugard, has said today that the UN Secretary General should pull out of the Quartet that the U.S. has put together to support President Bush’s moves for Middle East peace -- unless the Quartet begins to pay due regard to the deteriorating human rights situation in the Palestinian territory....

At lease Olmert finished negotiations with Lebanon. Lebanon is stating they have discovered a plot against the UN Peacekeepers in Southern Lebanon. What was it I said. "The Middle East has to solve it's own problems." There is no other way. The diplomatic corp of the USA has no money, no military and means to bring brevity to any negotiations.

Report: Swap gives Israel papers written by Arad (click here)
By Amos Harel, Barak Ravid and Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondents
Hezbollah gave Israel documents written in Ron Arad's handwriting on Monday, during the first swap conducted since the Second Lebanon War, the Lebanese daily Al-Akbar on Tuesday. Israel said the swap was part of a larger negotiation process on the release of two of its soldiers abducted by the guerilla group in July 2006. The paper did not specify when the documents were written, but reported that they apparently dated to when the abducted Israel Air Force navigator was held in Lebanon. Arad went missing when his fighter jet went down over Lebanon in 1986....

News / Israel, Hezbollah carry out first swap since Second Lebanon War (click here for video)

By Haaretz Staff and Channel 10
Haaretz.com/Channel 10 news roundup for October 15, 2007.
In this edition: Israel and Hezbollah carry out a first swap since the Prime Minister Olmert avoids commenting on the three probes against him.
The jailed killer of Yitzhak Rabin requests a leave to attend his unborn son's circumcision.

Hizbullah and Israel trade prisoner and bodies (click here)

Swap at naqoura raises hopes that larger deals could be forthcomingBy Rym Ghazal and Mohammed Zaatari Daily Star staff

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

BEIRUT/NAQOURA: Israel and Hizbullah exchanged the remains of an Israeli civilian
for a captive Lebanese fighter and the bodies of two of his comrades on Monday during a swap conducted under tight security at the Naqoura border crossing point. The bodies of two Hizbullah fighters, Ali Wezwaz, from Mais al-Jabal and Mohammad Dimashqiyeh from Aita al-Jabal, along with Lebanese fighter Hassan Naim Akil, were exchanged on Monday in return for the body of Israeli citizen Gabriel Dwait, an Ethiopian Jewish immigrant who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea on January 20, 2005....

This sounds like an ambitious man running for the nominee to the Democratic Party. Right? (click here)

"I strongly support universal, single-payer, government- provided or government-funded health care."-- Al Gore

Look at this mess. This is NOT an "Act of God," it's Human Induced Global Warming. Tell the insurance co. THAT !

A tarp covers the roof of Ashraf Eshra’s house on Bay Ridge Avenue, which has not been repaired since a tornado ripped through Brooklyn in August.

They live to tell about it and the insurance companies don't want to hear it. You know, even with Kartina. It was not an ACT OF GOD. Acts of God is a Bible Book (click here). So ANYONE suffering at the hand of insurance companies that insist they aren't covered, remind them, it was a CLIMATE event caused by Human Induced Global Warming, GOD - HAD - NOTHING - TO - DO - WITH - IT ! Tell Walker Bush, the traitor of the American people, the same thing, do it today and save your life !!!!

Human Induced Global Warming is VERY similar to the floods NOAH faced. He was warned ahead of time, too !

The difference between NOAH and NOW is that Noah LISTENED !!

The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) is:

October 15, 2007 (Click on title to entry and it takes you directly to the loop. My at home desktop was custom built mid-year 2006 and it does everything I need it to do. I had it built at a private firm in Wilmington, North Carolina called Island Computers on Market Street (click here). They're great. Not a day of trouble with it. The guys who built it loaded it with all the necessary software (NOT Vista, either. It was the opinion Microsoft Vista would be a nightmare for awhile and the last thing I wanted was a nightmare.) AND two additional 'in the case' fans. The case is nearly silent and it is no trouble. I use over the counter security software and it's been fine. I should have them build me a laptop actually. I don't know if they do that, though. But, the link should work and it's currently RAINING at Glacier Bay National Park, just click play and slow if one cares to. It's called Human Induced Global Warming for all those that haven't heard yet. Time - 0128 est - 10.16.07)
18:36:26 gmt

Elevation :: 33 ft / 10 m

Temperature :: 45 °F / 7 °C

Conditions :: Overcast

Humidity :: 81%

Dew Point :: 39 °F / 4 °C

Wind :: 4 mph / 6 km/h / 1.5 m/s from the SSE

Pressure :: 29.50 in / 999 hPa (Falling)

Windchill :: 43 °F / 6 °C

Visibility :: 10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers

UV :: 0 out of 16

Clouds:
Few 4100 ft / 1249 m
Mostly Cloudy 4900 ft / 1493 m
Overcast 7500 ft / 2286 m
(Above Ground Level)

tornado en mallorca - This is not the only one. This link to a video on 10.05.07 in Mallorca, Spain

October 13, 2007

Alanya, Turkey

Photographer states :: wonderful weather (It's a water spout near this city on the Mediterranean Sea)

Talk about posturing. Lindsay Graham is in the Air Force Reserve.

Where in the world was Lindsay Graham?

Blackwater Indicted By Pilots' Last Words (click here)

Thu, 04 Oct '07
"This Is Fun."
If you had just moments to live, what would you do? What would you say?
It's the latter question that haunts both NTSB investigators probing the crash of a Blackwater USA CASA C-212 in Afghanistan, and Congressional investigators looking into accusations that the private North Carolina firm is a renegade operation in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
"I swear to God, they wouldn't pay me if they knew how much fun this was," said Noel English, pilot of the doomed CASA flight operated by Presidential Airways, a Blackwater affiliate, as he zig-zagged through canyons in November, 2004. He was quoted by CNN.
"You're an X-wing fighter Star Wars man," his equally-doomed co-pilot Loren Hammer replied, referring to the 1977 film "Star Wars."
"You're [expletive] right. This is fun," English agreed....

September 3, 2006

Air Force Reservist Sen. Lindsey Graham served in Afghanistan (click here)

...An Air Force Reserve colonel, Graham served more than six years' active duty as a military lawyer, most of it in Europe, before joining Congress in 1995. Since then, he's sat as a judge on the Air Force Court of Appeals and pulled other Reserve duty. His eight-day trip to Afghanistan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates was his first foreign assignment as a reservist....

I found it oddly interesting that Lindsay Graham would be freshly back from Baghdad while serving in the capacity as 'on active duty' reserve lawyer in the U.S. military following the indictiment of Blackwater, USA. He confirmed his status this trip to Iraq on a talk show this past weekend, where he complained about Retired General Sanchez comments:

BLITZER: You just came back from Iraq, Senator Graham. You were on active duty as a reserve lawyer in the U.S. military (click here) and you've been a big defender of this so-called surge strategy, saying the signs are positive, that it seems to be working right now, it just needs more time. He says it's not working. I wonder if you want to respond to that.

GRAHAM: I would like to by putting it in context that I was also one of the biggest critics of the old strategy that General Sanchez and others implemented. I cannot tell you how many times I directly asked General Sanchez, "Do we have enough troops to do the job here?"

Abu Ghraib happened on his watch. There were 600 people in the prison in August. By October there were 6,000. We obviously did not have enough people on the ground for years in Iraq. The security situation deteriorated....

Let's see.

The USA military, Republican House or Senate, never held anyone higher in rank than a pregnant private for the inhumane conditions at Abu Ghraib, but, NOW Lindsey Graham wants to point a finger at a Retired General which he at one timed back in every way; with bumbling the entire battlefield in Iraq. Isn't that just like a Republican?

I would like some military oversight in the matter of Senator Graham, realizing privacy always plays a roll in such things, as to his activities in Baghdad, Iraq during this visit. Did he actually do the work of representing American Service Personnel or was this to insure the Blackwater Indictment wouldn't reach the President and Vice? I want oversight to the role of Senator Graham in his capacity with the military while serving in his Reserve status.

A bill making appropriations for the Department of Defense for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2006, and for other purposes (click here).

Graham (R-SC), Yea

If Graham didn't believe in 'the mission' so staunchly, then how can he criticize Retired General Sanchez?

Now, when the USA legislature is considering the further funding for Iraq, what exactly are they funding? More genocide?

Editorials Stop funding mercenaries (click here)
October 14, 2007 Max Boot's column on mercenaries euphemistically called them "contractors" in the headline (Oct. 7) and said they don't deserve a deluge of criticism.
Well, how about the leaders who have given rise to them? An article by Richard Lardner of The Associated Press published the same day shows how in 2001, Blackwater got no U.S. government money, and in 2006, it got $593.6 million. In the course of the Iraq war, it has gotten more than $1 billion of taxpayer funds.
This is disgusting.
Why do we have a military if more than 1 billion American taxpayer dollars need to go to mercenaries?
And these mercenaries have been involved with multiple atrocities, alleged or otherwise. These mercenaries are agents of we, the people, citizens of the United States.
To my knowledge, they were never used in any significant way in the history of the United States. Why now?
Because we are fighting a dirty war for oil that is premised on lies and deceit. Americans are increasingly opposed to this war, and our young people refuse to enlist. Mr. Boot says this system of using mercenaries allows military personnel to engage in pacification efforts.
So while the uniformed soldiers try to win hearts and minds, the mercenaries go on killing rampages of civilians when they feel threatened.
This system is another of the immoralities perpetrated in our name by the Bush administration and its war-profiteering supporter, Erik Prince of Blackwater.
Congress should demand an end to American taxpayer-paid private armies, mercenaries.
This is war-profiteering of the most sordid, immoral kind.
Edward Ferreira
New Sharon

Eric likes to be thought as a saint to children as he boasts about his academy for Swat Team members responding to issues such as Columbine

Erik Prince is founder and chief executive of Blackwater Worldwide, with revenue of $594 million in 2006.

Photo Credit: By Preston Keres -- The Washington Post Photo

Blackwater USA sells armored vehicles and airships and does canine training. Did they train the dogs at Abu Ghraib (click here)?

Blackwater Is Firm On Expanding Its Training Center In The U.S. (click here)
October 14, 2007 2:39 p.m. EST

...Now the company wants to expand its training center and build a complex in San Diego County, California. According to reports, Erick Prince, 38, chief of Blackwater USA, owns a real army along with modern weapons, bomb-sniffing dogs, airstrip, aircraft, armored cars and more....

For not a whole lot of money, one can learn SWAT tactics, but, I don't really see anything special in Blackwater's qualification regarding 'specialty' in handling issues regarding students or schools. I don't know about you, but, this sort of training facility makes me nervous to realize he is turning the USA cities into Baghdad.


Eric may very well be facing the firing squad himself for supplying the USA with 'private death squads' that indiscriminately kill civilians as a means of securing paths for diplomats. If they didn't know what they were doing except to fire at will at anyone because they were immune to prosecution, they shouldn't have been there. The Blackwater Company created their own 'mini' war within the greater struggle for Iraqis to survive. Frequently, Eric's defense is that his company's personnel and vehicles were fired upon. Funny, I thought it would have been the diplomats that would have been fired upon, but, currently witnesses state the USA mercenaries were never fired upon and no bullets other than ones used by Blackwater and the USA military were found in the place and in the bodies of those dead Iraqis. Is Blackwater trying to imply women and children are armed and dangerous in Iraq?


Blackwater guards 'were fired on' (click here)

Erik Prince's company has been paid more than $1bn for its servicesThe chairman of the US private security firm, Blackwater, has insisted he has proof its guards were fired upon in the fatal shooting of 17 Iraqis last month.
Erik Prince said three of his company's vehicles "had pock marks in them from incident reports that I saw", in an interview with the US TV network CBS.
Mr Prince claimed this proved "our guys were not shooting at each other".
An Iraqi government investigation has concluded the Blackwater guards fired on the civilians without provocation.
Sure, you know, mistakes can be made... But bad things don't generally happen by themselves
Erik PrinceBlackwater chairman
On Tuesday, it demanded the US government end its association with Blackwater in Iraq within six months and hand over the contractors involved in the incident on 16 September in Baghdad.
It also said the North Carolina-based contractor should pay $8m (£3.93m) compensation to each of the victims' families. Another 27 Iraqis were wounded in the shooting, according to the Iraqi police.
US officials have released few details of the incident as it is subject to an investigation by the FBI.
'Jury still out'
Mr Prince told CBS that he was glad the FBI was investigating the incident, as they would be a "neutral party".
"If there's further investigation or prosecution even needed, if someone really did wrong and meant badly, I'm all supportive," he said in an interview with the 60 Minutes programme, which will be broadcast later on Sunday....

Every vehicle in Baghdad has pock marks. The firm Blackwater USA is irresponsible and was acting out of self-righteous advantage in Baghdad. They pride themselves on proving 'safe transportation' of personnel and treasure throughout Baghdad. The problem is they did it with unfair advantage of 'making their own rules.' What firms like Blackwater USA saw as a chance for a lucrative business venture in Iraq, turned into a free for all to insure Bush's war went forward. As the Iraq invasion spun out of control the increase in revenues for these private mercenary firms went up and they were given a free hand to 'handle' security for diplomats as they saw fit.

Never were they ever out from under the umbrella of the International Courts on Human Rights Violations, but, due to the permission granted by Cheney and Bush they felt they had the right to conduct themselves as they please and above the law. That was especially true after the four men were burned and hung from a bridge in Fallujah.

It's amazing to witness the change in demeanor of 'talking head generals' that appear on 'truthiness' shows of conservative news networks, as they run for cover from their armchair quaterbacking over the public airwaves where they assisted in selling the Iraq War to the American Public, as they are flat out scared of the 'idea' Blackwater USA is now under the gaze of human rights violations and the World Courts will wondering if they are going to be named next.

I congratulate all those involved in this indictment of Blackwater USA, including the Iraqis that must have felt more than intimidated realizing if they 'complained' to loudly they could be next. The responsibility for these mercenaries are obviously linked to the failed strategy of the Bush/Cheney White House which moved to invade a sovereign country without cause. The World Courts need to take the next step and continue to exam the events of the entire of Iraq and bring to justice those responsible while the citizens of Iraq breath a sigh of relief and the world looks on for the hope of justice.

American Bald Eagles and the ESA - 8000 nesting pairs? That's enough to call them safe? Really? (video)

It is my firm belief The American Bald Eagle was wrongfully declassified to make way for the continued movement of declassifying other species such as The Northern Spotted Owl. I believe firmly the American Bald Eagle is NOT out of danger and needs to be returned minimally to 'threatened' status.

It is more than right to demand facts from the Interior Department, EPA and Commerce regarding the assault on The Endangered Species Act and even more important to place a moratorium on any further declassification and/or change in the laws until all facts are revealed including any involvement by the Executive Branch of the USA.

I would be especially suspicious of any company with rising stock options that include speculation of any protected lands of the USA and the 'nonsensical' recruitment of scientists with designs on them to do their handy work while exploiting the resources of the American people.

Thank you for your kind attention. Write your legislators. If they don't respond with honest and appropriate measures to protect, elect different representatives. I just don't see it any other way. My children and their children have a right to a heritage that includes species native to this country and rescued away from any 'hint' of endangered or threatened status ! We just don't need the exploitation that bad for an economy.

Any timber industry crying they don't have enough timber to remain viable in the market place are better off out of that market place as they never managed the lands they had well enough in the first place !

I mean who is kidding who here?

Good night.

In 2004, a Kenyan woman won the Nobel Peace Prize for planting trees in an effort to reverse the deadly trend of Human Induced Global Warming.

Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize winner Professor Wangari Maathai holds a tree that she planted during a visit to an environmental project in South Africa.

The reason Professor Maathai planted trees was to act as a carbon sink and absorb carbon dioxide. The reason the people of the USA 'have to' protect their forests is for the same reason. The sooner there is a moratorium on any declassification of the species on The Endangered Species Act, the better. There has been too much of an assault on The Act already and we don't know how much damage was done by The Interior Department under Norton without a complete inquiry and investigation.

Every forest in the USA is important and every protected species within them even more so.

The Northern Spotted Owl and Old Growth Forest go together.

This raptor has an intimate relationship with the forest and there is more and more evidence the forest also is affected by the raptor. I don't know if one can call it mutualism yet, but, we need to find out.

It has a large 'range' to it's territorial needs. It has 'done better' on public lands where there is no disruption to the forest. It has 'done worse' on lands forested within it's habitat range.

This owl species is unique as it is an 'indicator species' which tells scientists attuned to the degree of health of the forest whether the forest itself is well and thriving dependant upon how well this species of owl is doing. If the forest is not doing well, this owl is not doing well. The current status of The Northern Spotted Owl is that it is seeing some growth on protected lands.

If the timber industry were allowed into those protected lands there is a good chance the entire system of Old Growth Forest would collapse as the owl would definately fail to thrive and there would be way to 'monitor' the forest's well being without it.

I don't see an option for the people of the USA except to continue to support the Endangered Species Act, especially when it comes to indicator species such as this. It is my long held belief, the lands of the USA don't belong to it's citizens, they belong to generations past and future in trust and stewardship to the current citizens of the country. After all, someone left those lands and species to us, it is our obligation to do the same and support the scientists most loyal to the patriotic nature of the laws that seek the highest of morals from the people of the USA.

Conservationists spot flaws in plan to save owl

Nature is a British Publication. No wonder the best of advocacy no longer is noted in any American publication unless it comes from Sierra Club. The assault on the environmental movement has been unbelievably undermining to even most of it's scientists. Demoralizing to say the least, although 'the best' of them are still willing to speak out and stand their ground. The Union of Concerned Scientists needs to get involved and network with the other groups of scientists feeling 'the assault' against species and lands they have studies for decades while acting to protect them for the 'public trust' of the people of the USA.


Concerned scientists and Democratic congressmen each sent their own letter to the US Department of the Interior on 2 October, protesting against the agency's draft plan to save the northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) from extinction.
The rescue plan for the conservation icon rests heavily on controlling another owl — the barred owl (Strix varia) — that out-competes its spotted cousin. But the Society for Conservation Biology and the American Ornithologists' Union, both hired as peer reviewers by the government, as well as three owl experts who were also consulted, all felt that this emphasis was strange. They say that habitat loss due to logging is the clear cause of the owl's decline.
Meanwhile, the Government Accountability Office has begun examining several decisions based on the Endangered Species Act that have been criticized by environmentalists, including that on the spotted owl.
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This is the agency known as The US Fish & Wildlife Service. Don't you care it's been turned into an agency of exploitation rather than protection?

Every person in the USA needs to write to their Senators and Congressman to demand a complete investigation to the destruction of this agency and the impact that movement has taken in realizing much MAY have gone forward to remove protections.

The site of US Fish and Wildlife where one could find a copy of "The Endangered Species Act" has already been destroyed WITHOUT any other legislation proposed to replace it.

This is destuction of the 'public trust' (click here) and the government websites are public property public of this country as well as removing all expertise to allow further incompetency in a pre-meditated methodolgy that is against all interests of 'The Rule of Law' of the USA.

This level of corruption leads directly to the former Attorney General Gonzalez and his willingness to cause irretrievable damage to the assets of Americans to benefit Bush cronies such as the timber industry.

The elections of 2006 of majority of Democrats took the Bush White House off guard and they forced the lawsuit with no legal basis to be filed by the timber industry.

The Bush 'draft' to destroy the Endangered Species Act is at this link and would cause destruction of habitat across the country.

It would systematically remove all protections across the board and lay bare the lands Americans have come to cherish and protect for generations to come as well as those enjoying them today.

Bush Administration Moves To Gut Endangered Species

A secret draft of regulations (pdf) that would fundamentally rewrite the Endangered Species Act was leaked to two environmental organizations, which provided them to the press Tuesday. An article in Salon quotes Earthjustice attorney Jan Hasselman saying, “The proposed changes fundamentally gut the intent of the Endangered Species Act.”
The changes are fiercely technical and complicated, but make future listings extremely difficult, redefine key concepts to the detriment of protected species, virtually hand over administration of the act to hostile states, and severely restrict habitat protections.
Many of the changes — lifted from unsuccessful legislative proposals from then-Senator (now Interior Secretary) Dirk Kempthorne and the recently defeated congressman Richard Pombo — are reactions to policies and practices established as a result of litigation filed by environmental organizations including Earthjustice.
“After the failure of these legislative proposals in the last Congress, the Bush administration has opted to gut the Endangered Species Act through the only avenue left open: administrative regulations,” said Hasselman. “This end-run around the will of Congress and the American people will not succeed.”...

If the newspapers of the country don't want to see protectionist laws enforced then should write editorials to that effect and we can dispense...

... with the formality of 'pretense.' At least one knows where they stand with the hypocritical Washington Post, but, for this to be realize at this time in the progress to Democratic leadership in the House and Senate is just to clear to it's desperate need.

Ah, it's so touching to see the wealthy sincerely appreciate each other at the expense of the less fortunate and those that actually believe law and species preservation actually means something.

Go, figure, huh?

From the Seattle Post Intelligencer:

Bush: Protectionism will cost U.S. jobs (click here)
By JENNIFER LOVEN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON -- Alarmed by slipping support for free trade even among Republicans, President Bush is arguing that protectionism will cut Americans out of chances for more - and better - jobs.
Bush has launched a blitz on behalf of pending free trade pacts with four nations. He continued the push Saturday in his weekly radio address.
"More exports support better and higher-paying jobs," the president said. "And to keep our economy expanding, we need to keep expanding trade."
His radio address followed a speech on trade he delivered Friday in Miami. Bush also granted interviews this week to business-oriented news organizations.
Since Democrats took control of Congress in January, it has not approved any free trade agreements that the administration has negotiated, and it has allowed Bush's authority to negotiate future deals under expedited procedures to expire....


From The San Francisco Chronicle:

The whine of voracious liberals (click here)
Does the extremism of some progressives spell danger to delicious evolution? Well, yes
By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist
Friday, October 12, 2007
I hear it nearly every week in response to nearly any column that has anything to do with me daring to say I appreciate or admire or moderately wish to commend some sort of progressive movement or corporation or product, one that appears to be creating some sort of good in the world, moving things forward or upending the status quo or infuriating the religious right and making you think/shop/screw anew.
I get the e-mails. And there is, by and large, a general outpouring of agreement, understanding, clarity. There are also lots of healthy disagreement, discussion, valid points of contention. There is the requisite tiny hunk of phlegmy, grunting hate mail from the turgid and the monosyllabic and the neoconservative. Well and good and lovely.
But then there's this other hunk, a surprisingly large and very whiny group of responders who invariably say something like this: It does not matter that Company X has made impressive strides in environmental awareness or product design or gay rights or whatever the hell you're talking about. It does not matter that maybe you're a little bit right and this is a slightly revolutionary thing you mention....

The grossly wealthy in the USA need to understand 'wealth management' no longer comes with RIGHTS to lust after public and protected lands.

The is the link that goes to the complete criticism of the US Fish and Wildlife MISMANAGEMENT plan for the Northwest Old Growth Forest

This is the map at The New York Times today (click here), generously explaining how intricately public lands, including National Parks could be scrupulously managed to allow the exploitation, OH EXCUSE, me 'survival' of the timber industry in Montana.

If you read through the document at the link to this entry, it is grossly easy to discover the vast incompetency and mismangement by Fish and Wildlife under The Bush White House. One simply has to connect the dots to realize the people at Fish and Wildlife don't have adequate resumes.


Also noted in this document would be RECENT research pointing to the incredible ability of The Northern Spotted Owl to use forest lands currently lost through wildfires. As a matter of fact further research is needed to know exactly the link between this raptor and the regrowth of forest after wildfires. It is not difficult to understand why the Bush White House threw little effort to stop the wildfires of these lands. Kill the birds, their nesting areas and then take the land for crony industries such as timber.


This is the article from the New York Times to sell the public on destroying it's National Forests (click here). Incredible, isn't it? The focus at the other papers were just as heinous and I'll have to dig them out of a file in a minute. I mean, after all, The New York Times shouldn't stand alone in it's exploitation of the American Public and it's land use.

Under the direction of former Secretary Gail Norton, the funding to Fish & Wildlife was cut to insure 'inside' assessment of The Old Growth Forest

Kindly click on link at title to this entry.

Gail Norton left The Deparment of Interior accused of mismangement of the funds budgeted to The Department of the Interior. It is time to resume that investigation and see it through as well as start a new investigation of the complete disregard of the Endangered Species Act and the proposed destruction of The Northern Spotted Owl.

October 2, 2007
Secretary Dirk Kempthorne
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20240

RE: Northern Spotted Owl Draft Recovery Plan

Dear Secretary Kempthorne:

The northern spotted owl is one of the most intensively studied endangered raptors in the
world. Decades of scientific research and the largest mark-recapture population studies
ever conducted on a threatened species have provided valuable insights into the owls’
habitat requirements, prey base, and demographic characteristics 1 . As scientists with
backgrounds in population ecology, wildlife and endangered species management,
natural resource management and forest ecosystems, we are greatly concerned that,
according to scientific peer review recently conducted by owl experts and three of the
nation’s leading scientific societies, much of this science was ignored in the published
draft recovery plan for the northern spotted owl 2 . Based on these reviews, and the
alleged political interference documented in a May 9 hearing on the Endangered Species
Act in the House Natural Resources Committee, 3 we respectfully request that you
withdraw the draft owl recovery plan and assemble a team of scientists to redraft a
recovery plan truly based on the best available science.

The spotted owl is an indicator species of the status of old-growth forests in the Pacific
Northwest, which historically included up to two-thirds of the forest age classes in the
region but now represent just under 20 percent 4 . In particular, the Northwest Forest Plan
(NWFP) is a landmark ecosystem management plan that put in place a reserve system for
the owl and hundreds of species associated with older forests throughout the region.
Recent scientific assessments have concluded that there is no reason to depart from a
conservation strategy rooted in fixed reserves and the spotted owl situation would be far
bleaker today if not for the protections afforded to it under the NWFP 5 . While there has ...

1 Anthony, R.G., E.D. Forsman, A.B. Franklin, D.R. Anderson, K.P. Burnham, G.C. White, C.J. Schwarz, J. Nichols, J.E. Hines, G.S. Olson, S.H. Ackers, S.L. Andrews, B.L. Biswell, P.C. Carlson, L.V. Diller, K.M. Dugger, K.E. Fehring, T.L. Fleming, R.P. Gerhardt, S.A. Gremel, R.J. Gutierrez, P.J. Happe, D.R. Herter, J.M. Higley, R.B. Horn, L.L. Irwin, P.J. Loschl, J.A. Reid, and S.G. Sovern. 2006. Status and trends in demography of northern spotted owls, 1985-2003. Wildlife Monographs No. 163:1-47.

2
www.conbio.org/Sections/NAmerica/SCBA%20Comments%20to%20FWS%20Northern%20Spotted%20
Owl.pdf; http://www.wildlife.org/policy/index.cfm;
http://www.fws.gov/pacific/ecoservices/endangered/recovery/peer.html

3
DellaSala, Dominick. Written testimony for the House Natural Resources Committee Hearing entitled
“Endangered Species Act Implementation: Science or Politics?”
http://www.nccsp.org/files/land/spottedowltestimonydds.pdf Additional information available at
http://www.nccsp.org/

4
Strittholt, J.R., D.A. DellaSala, and H. Jiang. 2006. Status of mature and old-growth forests in
the Pacific Northwest, USA. Conservation Biology 20:363-374.

5
Courtney, S.P., J.A. Blakesley, R.E. Bigley, M.L. Cody, J.P. Dumbacher, R.L. Fleischer, A.B. Franklin,
J.F., R.J. Gutierrez, J.M. Marzluff, and L. Sztukowski (eds). 2004. Scientific evaluation of the status of the

Page 2

been ground-breaking research on owl habitat relations 6 that has expanded our understanding of owl habitat use, there is no scientific basis for departing from the
reserve network of the NWFP or any reason to conclude that old-growth forests are no
longer essential to the owl’s survival. And though barred owls have emerged as a
growing threat to spotted owls, the science is far from conclusive regarding how this
biological invasion will affect the survival and recovery of the northern spotted owl.

Based on our understanding of the ecology of the spotted owl, we see no scientific basis
for either reducing habitat protections for the owl – as currently proposed under Option 1
of the recovery plan– or departing from a conservation strategy that is rooted in the fixed
reserves of the NWFP such as Option 2 7. Rather, increased threats from barred owls and
potential climate change effects justify protecting more habitat – not less – as a
precautionary principle in the conservation and recovery of listed species that is clearly
missing from the draft recovery plan.

In closing, we understand that you have recently commissioned a review of eight
Endangered Species Act decisions influenced by former Assistant Deputy Secretary Julie
MacDonald as part of reforms underway to improve the Fish & Wildlife Service’s track
record on Endangered Species Act decision making. We request that you include in these
department reviews the draft spotted owl recovery plan for three reasons: (1) the science
may have been tampered with by high ranking officials; (2) the plan is not based on
credible science as indicated by scientific peer review; and (3) the plan is a key decision
document that could determine the fate of millions of acres of old-growth forests in the
Pacific Northwest.

Fish & Wildlife Service policy requires recovery plans to be based on the best available
science in order to recover a species to the point where it no longer requires protections
afforded under the Endangered Species Act. We are concerned that because this recovery
plan would remove from protection old-growth forest habitat at a time when threats are
increasing and owl population declines are accelerating that it could lead to future up-
listing of the species to endangered status. For these reasons, we request that you
commission a team of scientists to redraft the recovery plan and place related forest
management policies on hold until a new draft is proposed.


Northern Spotted Owl. Sustainable Ecosystems Institute, Portland, OR. Lint, J. 2005. Status and trends of
Northern Spotted Owls populations and habitat. USDA PNW-GTR-648. DellaSala, D. A., and J. Williams.
2006. Northwest Forest Plan Ten Years Later – how far have we come and where are we going.
Conservation Biology 20:274-276. 6
Franklin, A.B., D.R. Anderson, R.J. Gutierrez, and K.P. Burnham. 2000. Climate, habitat quality, and fitness in Northern Spotted Owl populations in northwestern California. Ecological Monographs 70:539- 590. Dugger, K.M., F. Wagner, R.G. Anthony, and G.S. Olson. 2005. The relationship between habitat characteristics and demographic performance of Northern Spotted Owls in Southern Oregon. The Condor 107:863-878. Olson, G.S., and several others. 2004. Modeling demographic performance of Northern Spotted Owls relative to forest habitat in Oregon. J. Wildlife Management 68:1039-1063. 7 Carroll, C., and D.S. Johnson. In review. The importance of being spatial and reserved: assessing habitat relationships and conservation options for the northern spotted owl with Bayesian spatial autoregressive models.

Page 3

Sincerely,
*
Affiliation are provided for identification only
Dominick A. DellaSala, Ph.D.
Chief Scientist, Executive Director
National Center for Conservation Science & Policy, Ashland, OR
Carlos Carroll, Ph.D., Research Ecologist
Klamath Center for Conservation Research
Orleans, CA

Gordon H. Orians, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus of Biology
University of Washington, Seattle

Dave Perry, Ph.D. Forest Ecologist
Emeritus Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR

James R. Karr, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus
University of Washington, Seattle

David W. Inouye, Ph.D.
Ecologist and Conservation Biologist
University of Maryland, College Park
Dan Rosenberg, Ph.D., Wildlife Biologist
Oregon Wildlife Institute and Department of Fisheries and Wildlife
Oregon State University, Corvallis

Trina B. Bassoff, Ph.D.
Biological Anthropology
Steven Green, Ph.D.
Professor of Biology
University of Miami
Matthew I. Palmer, Ph.D.
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology
Columbia University, New York, NY

Francis G. Howarth, Ph.D. Conservation Biology
L.A. Bishop Distinguished Chair of Zoology
Bishop Museum, Honolulu

Marc Meyer, Ph.D., Research Wildlife Ecologist and Postdoctoral Fellow
University of California Merced Wawona, CA

This is about the lust for wealth by the Bush crony timber industry and the 'redirection' of scientists willing to be (please click here).

These are what the logging industry does. It doesn't care if Old Growth Forest is to be protected due to species endangerment, they want profits and they intend to get them at the cost of generational heritage of Americans.

..."The Bush administration's draft regulations gutting the Endangered Species Act haven't even been publicly proposed yet, but the timber industry is already trying to strip the nation's wildlife of protection." said Kristen Boyles, an attorney with Earthjustice. "Once again, the Bush administration is undermining protection of our nation's endangered species to benefit their friends and campaign contributors in the timber industry."...

The lawsuit the timber industry filed was drafted by a former Bush White House official that went to work for the timber industry. The lawsuit has not basis in status. There is no law to back it up. The lawsuit was followed by the demands of a Secretary of the Interior to declassify Endangered Species to allow exploitation of Old Growth Forest in the Northwest USA including Oregon, Washington State and California.

This link (click here) will take you to a video by The New York Times which appeared today whereby 'influenced' scientists are appearing to consent to assist timber companies to stay in business when in fact the scientists are so intimadated in fear of habitat destruction and species demise they are working as hard as they can to PREVENT species from disappearing through desperate management strategies.

If lands are endangered due to exploitation of development of any kind, there is no reason to turn out backs on these lands even outside the parks to insure the protections needed are extended to those required to protect species from demise. What the scientists in the USA are facing today is a choice between two chronic evils rather than the best of all worlds. If development has to be contained it should proceed but NOT at the expense of those lands already protected within the laws of the people of the USA, but, expanded to even further measures. This is what extraordinary personal wealth has brought the citizens of the USA and it's scientists, HEARTACHE !

Page 4

Nancy E. Cowden, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Biology, Lynchburg College
Lynchburg, VA

Johannes Foufopoulos, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Conservation Biology
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Carolyn Mollie Bigger, Ph.D. Forestry
El Cajon, CA
Elizabeth Wright Smith, M.S.
Cape Coral, FL

Gretchen North
Associate Professor, Biology
Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA

Craig R. Kuchel, M.S. Wildlife Biology
Florence-Carlton School
Florence, MT

Ronnie Schenkein, DVM
Member, Audubon Society, Sapsucker Woods Ornithology Laboratory and
Pennsylvania Breeding Bird Atlas, Coudersport, PA

Jo Anna Hebberger, Ph.D. Plant Ecologist
Manheim, PA
Martin Hilovsky, M.S.
Senior Scientist / President
EnviroScience, Inc., Stow, OH

Matthew Rubino, M.S. Zoology
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC

Stephen B. Hager, Ph.D.
Co-Chair Department of Biology
Augustana College, Rock Island, IL
Kefyn M. Catley Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC

Page 5

Sheila Ward, Ph.D. Ecology
University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras
Jack Lyon, Ph.D.
Scientist Emeritus, Rocky Mountain Research Station
Ft. Collins, CO

John O. Whitaker, Jr., Ph.D.
Professor of Ecology and Organismal Biology,
Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana
Melissa Lee, M.S. Plant Ecology
University of Memphis
Memphis, TN

Ronald M. Lanner, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus of Forestry
Utah State University, Logan, UT

David M. Armstrong, Ph.D.
Professor, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of Colorado-Boulder
Rachel Shelton, M.S.
Fisheries and Wildlife Management
Michigan State University, Lansing

Maria Laura Fernandez-Medina, M.S. Agricultural and Resource Economics
University of California, Davis
Nanci J. Ross, M.S. Tropical Ecology/Ethnobotany
Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Connecticut, Storrs
Tina Rhea, M.S. Wildlife Biology
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
John Schoen, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist
Audubon Alaska, Anchorage

A. Christy Wyckoff, M.S. Wildlife Disease Biologist
Texas A&M University-Kingsville
Larry Kline, M.S. Range Management
Lakewood, CO

Page 6

Ray C. Telfair II, Ph.D.
Certified Wildlife Biologist (The Wildlife Society)
Whitehouse, TX

Edward J. Laurent, Ph.D. Wildlife Habitat Modeling
North Carolina State University, Raleigh
Stephen Zitzer, Ph.D. Ecologist
Desert Research Institute, Las Vegas, NV
Stephen B. Malcolm, Ph.D.
Professor, Dept. Biological Sciences
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI
Bob Deacy, M.S.

Department of Environmental Resources Management
Palm Beach County, FL

Dan F. Ippolito, Prof. of Biology
AuSable Institute of Environmental Studies
Grand Rapids, MI

David S. Lee, Curator of Birds
North Carolina State Museum
Raleigh, NC

Melissa Child, M.A. Conservation Biology
Columbia University, NY

Laurie J. Vitt, Ph.D.
George Lynn Cross Research Professor and
Curator of Reptiles, Norman, OK
Tim Patton, Ph.D.
Ecology and Wildlife Science
Southeastern Oklahoma State University
Durant, OK

Marcel van Tuinen, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor Department of Biology & Marine Biology
University of North Carolina at Wilmington
Stephen P. Ellner, Ph.D.
Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY