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THE Federal Government must stop counting trees and start counting koalas as the animals suffer dramatic declines, it was claimed yesterday. Scientists will meet today in Canberra to debate whether koalas should be made a threatened species under federal laws. The Australian Koala Foundation yesterday released figures which it claimed showed falls in koala numbers across NSW and Australia were so dramatic it was vital they were granted federal government protection. And the conservation group said it feared Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett would refuse to list koalas as endangered because there was supposedly enough bush for them.

A Chicago suburb could not get anyone to fork over $1 for a home, the Belleville News-Democrat reported. The village of Barrington, Illinois put three older homes up for sale for just $1 each, but was not able to get any interested buyers. The suburb hopes to sell and relocate the homes in order to make way for redevelopment in the downtown area, according to the paper. If no buyers come forward, the village will demolish the houses, which many residents say hold an historic value.

Taxes fund environmental suits - Environmental law firms reap billions in fees to fund lawsuits October 15, 2009 The federal government has paid out billions of dollars to environmental groups for attorney fees and costs, according to data assembled by a Cheyenne, Wyoming, lawyer. Karen Budd-Falen of Budd-Falen Law Offices [main@buddfalen.com or 307-632-5105] said the government between 2003 and 2007 paid more than $4.7 billion in taxpayer money to environmental law firms -- and that's just in the lawsuits she tracked. The actual figure, she said, is far greater. "I think we only found that the iceberg exists," she said....

Obama Administration task force closing in on deadline for 'health care' for nation's shorelines, waterways IRVINE, Calif. USA - October 5, 2009 - A recently published administration document outlines a structure that could result in closures of sport fishing in salt and freshwater areas across America. The White House created an Interagency Oceans Policy Task Force in June and gave them only 90 days to develop a comprehensive federal policy for all U.S. coastal, ocean and Great Lakes waters. Under the guise of 'protecting' these areas, the current second phase of the Task Force direction is to develop zoning which...

Utah's elected leaders will present a united front this week against a bill backed by environmentalists that would turn vast swaths of the state's redrock country into federal wilderness. They say the legislation, which a House committee will discuss Thursday, covers too many acres, impedes private property rights and is little more than "propaganda" pushed by outsiders, like the bill's sponsor Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y.

Who Owns the Rain? Hint: It's Not Always Homeowners Across the country, resourceful homeowners have embraced rainwater capture as a way of conserving community water supplies while maintaining healthy gardens. Unfortunately, rain barrels are sometimes at odds with the law. Facing certain water scarcity, cities and states have begun to wrestle with the conundrum of water rights versus conservation. When it all shakes out, will you own the rain that falls on your own property? =============================================================================================================== Capturing rain may be one of humanity's most ancient methods of acquiring water, but now it's coming back in vogue. Rather than press their...

New projects could tackle the genomics of species both critically endangered and already extinct. On the first weekend in April, a couple of dozen leading molecular biologists, conservationists and museum curators gathered at Pennsylvania State University in University Park to brainstorm about ways of harnessing the power of the latest molecular sequencing techniques to conservation goals."The cost of genome sequencing is falling at an extraordinary rate," says workshop co-organizer Stephan Schuster of Penn State University, who was a driving force behind the 2008 sequencing of a woolly-mammoth genome, the first complete genome of an extinct animal. "Now it is possible...

Americans may have come to the point where average consumers frown upon Hummers, but for some reason, we draw the line at toilet paper. We believe so strongly in three-ply and cottony softness that many of us equate recycled toilet paper with cardboard. Toilet paper pushers from Kimberly Clark to Georgia Pacific tout the higher quality of their soft papers and sales for the high-end brands like Charmin Ultra and Quilted Northern Ultra have increased by 40% in some markets, according to a recent NY Times article.

Angelo Alderuccio, a 94-year-old retired public works employee from New Britain, might not strike everyone as an American hero. But in a country desperately seeking economic salvation, his tales of surviving the Great Depression are anecdotes for our times. During the 1930s, Alderuccio spent what he now considers "the best years of my life" in the Cobalt section of East Hampton, at the Civilian Conservation Corps' Camp Jenkins. He worked with 250 other men building trails in the Meshomasic State Forest, weatherproofing posts and rails for state roads and building a fire tower overlooking the central Connecticut woods. Like 3.5...

Two-faced California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency Friday, urging urban water systems to cut usage by 20%. “This drought is having a devastating impact on our people, our communities, our economy and our environment, making today’s action absolutely necessary,” the so-called Republican governor said. According to Brietbart.com,....

It's hard to imagine Valentine's Day without chocolate, but some scientists say that it's possible that chocolate could one day be in short supply.

It's been 62 years since conservationist Virgil McCroskey gave the Boy Scouts 400 acres of timberland near this village in Idaho's panhandle, with big ideas for a big new camp. But don't expect any pup tents or even the faintest whiff of smoke from Camp McCroskey these days. Rarely used for camping, the land instead has become a moneymaker for the Inland Northwest Council of Boy Scouts. Over the past 35 years, the council has repeatedly logged the property, collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars. Some of the money helped pay the mortgage on council headquarters in far-off Spokane, a...

Hundreds of birds that dropped dead on Somerset County cars, porches and snow-covered lawns, alarming residents over the weekend, were all of a rather foul breed of fowl -- the notorious European starling, which the United States Department of Agriculture killed on purpose…. Yesterday, the USDA acknowledged a few mistakes of its own in spreading the word in the area around a Princeton Township farm, where it applied a pesticide Friday to kill 3,000 to 5,000 starlings plaguing a livestock farmer. "It was raining dead birds," said Franklin Township Mayor Brian Levine….

Only two sperm whales out of a pod of 50 are believed to be alive after a mass stranding off Tasmania's north-west tip. The whales grounded at Perkins Island, near the mouth of the Duck River at Smithton on Thursday night. Police were notified about 8.30pm (ADST) but were unable to get close to the whales due to the location and the tide. The area is only accessible by boat. Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Services spokeswoman Liz Wren said a helicopter flew over the island on Friday morning to assess the situation. "It's going to be difficult to get to...

Fishermen and hunters are outraged about a plan tucked in the governor's proposed California budget to shift $30 million out of wildlife programs. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to borrow money from the Fish and Game Preservation Fund, which comes from hunting and fishing license fees, and use it to prop up other state programs.

The Senate on Thursday approved a sweeping conservation measure as it tries to reverse years of rollbacks in environmental protection by the administration of outgoing President George W. Bush. On a vote of 73-21, it passed a package of nearly 170 land and water bills and sent it to the House of Representatives, which was expected to give it final approval. Barack Obama is set to sign it into law after he is sworn in as president on Tuesday, one of the first moves in what is likely to be a more aggressive approach toward the environment. Democratic Sen. Jeff...

The Air Car, made by French company MDI, could be launched by Tata Motors in India by 2010-11. Replying to an email query, the French company said, "We will release in France the first cars for the Air France company before June 2009. The cars will be available for the public at the end of 2009." Mumbai-based Tata Motors, India's third biggest car manufacturer had signed a licensing agreement with MDI for manufacturing the car in India. The agreement between the two envisages development and refinement of the technology. The Air Car doesn't require traditional fuel options like petrol, diesel,...

Your Help Needed to Save Dedicated Conservation Funding in Illinois! Over $25 million for conservation hangs in the balance Springfield, Illinois- Pheasants Forever (PF) and Quail Forever (QF) are urging all Illinois members to contact their state legislators and ask them to support legislation restoring funding to dedicated conservation accounts. The Illinois General Assembly must act this month to restore $9.25 million in restricted funds diverted to pay state bills, or the state risks losing $16 million in federal dollars for fish and wildlife management. Pheasants Forever and other conservation organizations are working with legislators to ensure legislation is introduced...

An unexpected drop in U.S. electricity consumption has utility companies worried that the trend isn't a byproduct of the economic downturn, and could reflect a permanent shift in consumption that will require sweeping change in their industry. Numbers are trickling in from several large utilities that show shrinking power use by households and businesses in pockets across the country. Utilities have long counted on sales growth of 1% to 2% annually in the U.S., and they created complex operating and expansion plans to meet the needs of a growing population. "We're in a period where growth is going to be...

By Jerd Smith Nonprofit land trusts charged with overseeing thousands of acres of scenic lands will have to be state certified next year in order to continue accepting lands, under a new review process. Beginning Jan. 1, 2009, the Colorado Conservation Easement Oversight Commission will begin reviewing dozens of nonprofit trusts to ensure they are qualified to monitor lands and have the financial resources to defend the easements against development or misuse.

Imagine Africa feeding itself comfortably, instead of being overwhelmed by its own expanding population. Imagine millions of tropical consumers being fed without clearing more forests, thus protecting the wildlife in the very regions where most of the species of the world live and are critically threatened by population pressure. Suddenly, high-yield conservation for the tropics may not be a pipedream. Half of the world's tropic croplands suffer from aluminum toxicity that forces crop plants to shut down their growth. Grains and oilseeds produce meager yields-and scientists haven't even known why. The resulting low yields and food scarcity have stifled the...

There is a powerful, natural force in the fall air, and I, for one, cannot turn my back on it. I know the origin of "conservatism" and the pragmatic, rugged individualism logic that drives it and us. As a conservationist, I believe in the wise use of our precious life-giving resources and clearly understand man's critical responsibility to the stewardship of our wild ground and our wildlife. I learned a long time ago that if I wanted to enjoy a fire at Christmas time, that I had to plant trees in the spring. Not to boast, but the Arbor Day...

This woman is soooo on her game, Biden is just toast.

This past weekend, I had the privilege of joining Republican Leader John Boehner and nine other members of the House on an “American Energy Tour.” This trip explored the available natural resources that our nation has in Colorado and Alaska to increase domestic energy supply and decrease America’s rising gas costs. Like I knew it would, the American Energy Tour unveiled the truth about the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) — what Democrats in Washington don’t want the American people to know: This is a treasure trove of energy that will yield a lot with only minimal intrusion. For far...

Even here in his home state of Georgia, Jimmy Carter does not receive universal acclaim. He is regarded by many as a weak-kneed appeaser or a naive do-gooder with a puritanical bent. Much of that reputation can be traced back to his widely noted July 1979 speech on the nation's "crisis of confidence," remembered as the "malaise" speech, though he didn't use that word. The response to that televised talk taught politicians one thing: Never ask Americans to make sacrifices. After all, it is now accepted wisdom that the speech — combined with hyperinflation, hostages and an oil spike —...

President won't ask Americans to conserve gasoline, despite rising oil costs. Photo: AP President Bush said Tuesday that he will not call on Americans to conserve gasoline despite the rising price of oil, saying consumers are "smart enough" to figure out for themselves that they should drive less. "They're smart enough to figure out whether they're going to drive less or not. I mean, you know, it's interesting what the price of gasoline has done," Bush said at a news conference in the White House press room, "is it caused people to drive less. That's why they want smaller cars:...

Landrieu among 'Dirty Dozen'Sunday, July 06, 2008 By Bruce Alpert The League of Conservation Voters last week put Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., on its "Dirty Dozen list," saying she has done more to protect "Big Oil" than "the future for the people of Louisiana" from the threat of global warming. According to the environmental advocacy group, Landrieu has a lifetime score of 43 percent on votes in which it took a position, lowest among Senate Democrats running for re-election. "For a senator from Louisiana, which faces severe consequences from global warming, to fail to protect Louisiana is disappointing," said the...

Olympia, Washington: Dee Williams wanted a simpler, greener life -- so she built her dream house, an 84-square-foot cottage on wheels, which is currently parked in a friend's backyard. Not only did she save money using salvaged materials (the front door came from a dumpster, for instance), but the entire house is small enough to fit into a standard parking spot. Says Williams, 'Right now, there's nowhere else I want to be.' Williams’ trailer cottage is surprisingly roomy inside, largely thanks to its clever use of height. For example, Williams’ bed is in a loft above her kitchen. Williams is...

By CHRIS MERRILL Star-Tribune environment reporter Tuesday, June 24, 2008 > LANDER -- Since Rainbow Family participants have chosen to stay put at Big Sandy in Wyoming's Wind River Mountains, leaders with the Boy Scouts of America have decided to alter plans for a major service project that had been scheduled to take place in the same general area. > > Leaders with the Boy Scouts' Order of the Arrow have decided to cancel a long-planned forest restoration project near Dutch Joe Guard Station in the Wind Rivers, said Mary Cernicek, spokeswoman with the Bridger-Teton National Forest. > > The...

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will formally declare today that the state has plunged into a drought, putting Californians on notice that rationing could be next if conservation efforts are not stepped up. “The governor is ringing the bell. We're heading over a cliff,” Lester Snow, director of the state Department of Water Resources, said in an exclusive interview with The San Diego Union-Tribune. Schwarzenegger will issue an accompanying executive order to launch an aggressive campaign to transfer water to parched regions, pursue federal aid, quickly funnel more state money to conservation projects and to lay the foundation for a...

Sure you want to save gas, but there's a lot of bad advice on how to do it. Some of it makes no difference, and some of it can wind up costing you. With gasoline prices hitting record levels, it seems everyone has a tip on how to save fuel. Much of the advice is well-intentioned, but in the end, much of it won't lower your gas bill. Here's a look at a few misconceptions: #1. Fill Your Tank in the Morning You may have heard that it's best to fill your gas tank in the early morning while the...

Pressured by the gun lobby and 51 US senators, the Interior Department proposes enhancing everyone's national park experience by letting people pack heat with a picnic. That's just what the nation's millions of park visitors don't need.

With all the kerfuffle over high gasoline and diesel prices, I've heard it said and seen it written that if only we Americans would use less oil, prices would drop like a stone, and we could return to the good old days of two-dollar gas. Unfortunately, that's not true, and it's not that simple. We need to reduce our consumption, yes, but we also need to increase domestic production and refining. Unfortunately, we've been going in the other direction for way too long a period of time. From 1990 to 2007, US production decreased by 31% at the same time...

An ambitious electronics recycling drive is scheduled for two days this month in the Twin Cities, with dropoff sites that should be very familiar to Minnesotans. At no charge, people can bring their unwanted electronics to the following locations on April 11 and 12 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.: • Canterbury Park, 1100 Canterbury Rd. S., Shakopee • State Fairgrounds, 1265 N. Snelling Av., Falcon Heights • National Sports Center, 1700 105th Av. NE., Blaine • Grace Church, 9301 Eden Prairie Rd., Eden Prairie • Ecolab Schuman campus (April 12 only) Eagan Building F, 655 Lone Oak Dr., Eagan...

BETHESDA, Md. — April is National Car Care Month, the time of year to focus on taking better care of your second largest investment. Especially now, with record high gas prices, regular vehicle maintenance is even more important as it can increase gas mileage by as much as 10 percent, according to the Car Care Council. "Consumers cannot control the price of gas at the pumps, but they can control the amount of gas they use," said Rich White, executive director of the Car Care Council. "The condition of tires, air filters and spark plugs can impact fuel economy and...

Authorities often learn about it from landowners who hear shooting at night and find deer carcasses in their fields the next day. One case came to light when a bloody deer heart was discovered in a girl's high school locker. And some incidents are solved when conservation wardens catch the criminals red-handed - shooting from roads with the help of spotlights and headlights, then leaving the wounded and dying animals behind. Conservation wardens call it "thrill killing" of animals, and it appears to be a growing problem throughout Wisconsin, said Chief Warden Randy Stark. Several dozen cases have been confirmed...

Good Neighbor Forum is proud to announce Mr. Lyle Laverty, US Department of the Interior's Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, will speak at the: 2nd Annual Good Neighbor Forum Topic: Food in the 21st Century How policies including conservation easements, ESA, Water, Roadless, EU, precautionary principles and trade will impact your food supply. March 15, 2008 9:00 am - 4:00 pm For more information contact: Roni 970-284-6874 Featured Speakers include Mr. Lawrence Kogan, Esq. - N.J. Will address Precautionary Principle, European Union and more. Dr. Corey Ciochhetti - CO Will address Ethics and Essence of being a...

The high cost of using less waterMunicipalities discover inconvenient truth: Lower consumption means less revenue Jan 26, 2008 04:30 AM Phinjo Gombu Staff Reporter Bud Harris, 78, and grandson David Moreira, 27, obeyed the message to conserve but it will soon mean higher water rates at their Mississauga home. ANDREW WALLACE/TORONTO STAR For years the message drummed into Bud Harris, 78, and his grandson David Moreira, 27, was conserve, conserve. And conserve they did, along with thousands of others across the GTA, watering their lawn less, replacing old toilets and installing water-efficient showerheads. "We are trying to be economical and...

Local citizens stand in line at the Iraqi Conservation Corps Force sign-up Dec. 27 in Al Huda, Iraq. Photo by Sgt. Natalie Rostek. FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER — Soldiers and leaders of Company C, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, held an Iraqi Conservation Corps (ICC) sign-up Dec. 27 for citizens of Al Huda. According to Capt. John Horning, from Houston, Texas, commander of Company C, the members of the ICC conduct one of three services in their communities within the Nahia. These services are sanitation, construction, and security.“A program like this takes the Concerned Local Citizens Program to the next...

Mostly hunters do: The...media spin is so deceitful that even in these environmentally conscious times most Americans don’t know that by paying special surtaxes on guns, ammunition and other gear, hunters sent $294,691,282 to state conservation programs in 2005 - or that hikers, mountain bikers and environmentalists don’t pay those conservation taxes. Most people aren’t even aware that hunters’ money buys critical wetland habitat and funds wildlife research in every state. Most people don’t know that hunting reduces the risk of predators preying on us. From The Politically Incorrect Guide to Hunting, p. 5.

WITCHITA, Kansas (CNN) -- On a beautiful, crisp late fall afternoon, rock icon Neil Young took his 1959 Lincoln Continental for one last spin before a team of mechanics ripped out its gas-guzzling engine to make way for an electric motor. Car buffs may think it's sacrilege to tear apart an automotive classic, but Young wants it to have a new life as a fuel-efficient hybrid. "If we're going to make a difference, truly make cars more environmentally friendly," Young said, "we have to make that emotional connection." Young said everyone has a connection with an old car like the...

The last time the three-wheeled Aptera was featured on our site, we promised to keep you abreast of any new information that we found. Thanks to a tip from a reader named Matthew, we are pleased to let you know that Aptera is now accepting orders. Aptera has a Web site here, but there is not a great deal of information or raw-data to be found there. A better source of information is at their MySpace page, which is here. According to this article, Aptera is looking at around 300 miles per gallon along with acceptable performance numbers of about...

Holding local elected officials accountable for their words and deeds can be a frustrating experience. One day they are standing up denouncing the Federal government for making the wrong investments in our future and not tackling global warming or our addiction to oil by signing the Mayor's Climate Change Agreement. The next day they announce the latest in highway funding touting new roads, less traffic, more jobs. As we consider the collision course of peak oil and global warming, we should start look around our own communities and see if our transportation plans, policies, and construction projects are anticipating higher...

SIERRA VISTA — Fort Huachuca and the Bureau of Land Management were awarded Saturday for their roles in protecting a tributary of the San Pedro River from future development. The Nature Conservancy gave the Morris K. Udall Outstanding Conservation Achievement Award in the public sector to both the agencies for their work in conserving more than 1,400 acres and 4.6 miles of river to the east of Fort Huachuca. The land is a part of the Babocomari Ranch, nearly 28,000 acres between the Mustang and Huachuca mountains, owned and operated by the Brophy family since 1935. The Babocomari River, one...

Editor's Note: Next week, we'll be celebrating National Hunting and Fishing Day across the country. To help spread the word, National Hunting & Fishing Day has had a number of notable celebrities serve as honorary chairman of NHFD. It might be that none of the prior selections have been so unabashedly about the outdoors as this year's honorary chairman, Georgia native son Jeff Foxworthy. For all his extraordinary accomplishments -- best-selling comedy recording artist of all time, Grammy nominee, popular radio show host, best-selling author, star of hit comedy tours, television series and movies, plus host of a new hit...

In another apparent effort to prepare Marylanders for looming tax increases, Gov. Martin O'Malley released a recorded statement to radio stations suggesting corporations and higher-income earners will be among those asked to pay more. "When given a choice between decline and progress, the people of Maryland always choose to make progress," O'Malley (D) says in the message, which runs more than two minutes and was sent to more than 50 radio stations, an aide said. "Together we can overcome the deficit in our path, and we can get our fiscal house in order in a way that improves our state...

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - A lake in southern Chile has mysteriously disappeared, prompting speculation the ground has simply opened up and swallowed it whole.

The major political issue on the island stems from the natives who rightfully take offense to the natural beauty of the Islands being eroded and privatized by wealthy haoles (a derogatory term for foreigners). Ironically, in order for the Hawaiian economy to grow, it has to devote more of its natural resources to the tourists.

Simple, clever, fun. That's the philosophy behind the vehicle you see pictured above, the Loremo (pronounced lo-ray-mo which is short for Low Resistance Mobile). Of course, there's nothing simple about designing and building a car, but there has certainly been a large need for cleverness to meet our current standard of "fun". Don't let the picture fool you. There's nothing really new here, aside from the impressive 50g/km CO2 figure. This car achieves its high level of fuel efficiency by taking current fuel-saving methods to a level almost beyond reason. A main part of this is weight saving. Every part...

COLLEGE STATION – When the weather turns dry, Texans may start thinking about the best ways to avoid high water bills and still maintain their landscaping. Gray water may be one option, said Dr. Bruce Lesikar, Texas Cooperative Extension agricultural engineer. Gray water is the water that has passed through showers, sinks, bathtubs or washing machines, Lesikar said. It makes up about half of the water used in the home and normally passes into onsite wastewater treatment systems or city sewer systems. "The typical resident will have about 30 gallons per person per day," he said. Gray water is a...