Free Republic

FREMONT, Calif. (AP) - Interior Secretary Gale Norton announced a proposed $56.5 million increase Monday for the National Wildlife Refuge System, an 18 percent hike needed to cover maintenance and renovation of aging facilities. "It certainly looks like the refuge system needs a sustained effort to improve the resources," Norton said while touring the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. "It's important to take care of the land entrusted to us." The San Francisco refuge would receive $1.1 million under the proposed budget that starts Oct. 1. Standing outside a visitors center overlooking salt ponds and marshes, Norton ...

Washington File WASHINGTON FILE PRESS AND CULTURE SECTION U.S. EMBASSY, BUCHAREST ROMANIA Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday 01/14/2002 Text: Antarctica Shows Little Sign of Global Warming, Study Shows (Scientists' findings viewed as puzzling in light of global trend) (960) Scientists report that temperatures on the Antarctic continent have fallen steadily for more than two decades despite an average increase in air temperature experienced by the rest of the planet. According to a January 13 press release, researchers with the National Science Foundation's Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site in Antarctica's Dry Valleys adjacent to McMurdo Sound have found that the seasonally ...

CARA OVERVIEW......... o Conservation and Reinvestment Act o CARA funding is $3.1 billion per year for 15 years = $45 billion o CARA is a trust fund, not subject to yearly budget review, nor to conventional Congressional oversight o CARA is PORK - Alaska ($271.97 per capita), Louisiana ($71.65 per capita) are leading "beneficiaries". Therefore, it is no surprise that Alaska (Young & Murkowski) and Lousiana (Tauzin & Landrieu) legislators are primary sponsors - There are over 300 current co-sponsors in the House. Many of these are Conservatives who are sacrificing their principles for the PORK. This PORK legislation may ...

<p>Two left-leaning watchdog groups have emerged as the first defenders of biologists who planted false evidence of a rare cat in national forests.</p> <p>Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) and the Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics say no wrong was committed and that the employees are targets of a political "witch hunt."</p>

File #1010199 Title: Green Land Grabbers Organization(s) Featured: The Wildlands Project, The Nature Conservancy, The Conservation Fund, The Wilderness Society. Source: The Lexington Institute Author: Bonner R. Cohen Date: January 2002 "My father made him an offer he couldn't refuse," Michael Corleone tells his girlfriend Kay in perhaps the most famous line from "The Godfather." Three decades after Mario Puzo's fictional saga of a New York crime family first captured the public's imagination, the expression "to make someone an offer he can't refuse" has come to characterize those less than voluntary decisions people sometimes are forced to make. Sadly, ...

They're at it again. The 'court jesters' of the left, the Southern Poverty Law Center, has attempted to spin yet another serious political issue into left-wing propaganda. In their winter edition of the Intelligence Report, The Klamath Basin issue has become their latest target. In their ongoing demagoguery, they attempt to rise once again from the ashes, using partial information and scare tactics to further their cause, while constantly omitting information that shows their true colors. In their article "Conflict in Klamath" they begin with the usual buzzwords: "A battle over irrigation rights in Oregon becomes, for a time, the ...

Forest Service backs lynx researchers Scientists had no intent of skewing results, officials say Thursday, January 17, 2002 By GRAHAM BLACK SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER OLYMPIA -- Officials from the U.S. Forest Service and the state Fish and Wildlife Department tried to convince skeptical legislators yesterday that their researchers did not attempt to skew data in an ongoing survey of the threatened Canada lynx. They did so with mixed results. Ken Jacobsen, D-Seattle, chairman of the Senate Natural Resources Committee, said he was convinced by the officials' testimony that the scientists meant no wrong and that the committee would not ...

Some interesting stats: * Elected officials: 302 Libertarians, 131 Greens. * Election victories in 2001: 96 Libertarians, 58 Greens. * Candidates for office in 2001: 347 Libertarians, 281 Greens. * Registered voters: 224,713 Libertarians, 194,873 Greens. * Money raised in 2001: $2.1 million Libertarians, less than $0.1 million Greens. Source What is so surprising aout these figures is that despite the fact that the Greens have been around for only about ten years have almost caught up to the Libertarians, despite the fact that the Libertarians have been around for 30 years.

The one thing you learn as you follow the activities of the environmentalists devoted to the biggest hoax of the modern era, Global Warming, is that they are relentless in their devotion to pursuing the hidden agenda of "climate control." It isn't about the climate at all and never has been. It is about crippling the economy and, thereby, the hegemony of the United States.Yes, "hegemony", because we are without doubt the most powerful nation on the face of the Earth today and a lot of people really hate our devotion to capitalism, to the workings of the free ...

Hunters thought it vilified their sport, but opinions differ over outcome of the canceled spot that depicted drivers rescuing deer from hunters Hunting groups and animal-rights activists differ on who won the battle over Jeep's running, then dropping its ad depicting drivers rescuing deer from hunters. MEDFORD, Ore. — Sport-utility maker Jeep bowed to sport-hunters' complaints this week and canceled a national television ad that some outdoor groups claimed vilified hunting and glorified animal-rights activism. But hunting organizations and animal-rights activists differ on who won the battle over Jeep's running — and then dropping — its ad depicting Grand Cherokee ...

Sprawl aired as matter of our health Sprawl and health: Is suburban life beneficial or detrimental to one's health? Do the CDC's sprawl studies encourage sound science or promote an anti-suburban political agenda? You haven't smoked a cigarette in years, and you've learned to control your cravings for doughnuts and barbecue. Now, some doctors say, you have another health hazard to worry about: urban sprawl. People who live in communities where they have to drive for even simple errands are breathing foul air and getting too little exercise, some public health experts say. "It's clear that urban sprawl is one ...

Army Corps Revokes Some Clinton-Era Restrictions on Developers in Wetlands Areas By John Heilprin Associated Press Writer Published: Jan 14, 2002 WASHINGTON (AP) - Developers no longer will have to restore or create new wetlands for every acre they drain or fill under new regulations issued by the Bush administration Monday. The new Army Corps of Engineers rules, which revoke some Clinton-era requirements, also will enable developers to win speedy government approval for draining and filling permits under the Clean Air Act if the effect on streams or marshes is minimal. Instead of requiring acre-for-acre restoration on each project, the ...

http://www.fis.com/fis/worldnews/worldnews.asp?l=e&amp;country=&amp;monthyear=&amp;day=&amp;id=638&amp;ndb=1 Dr Jeffrey Koenings, director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. (Photo:WDFW) Furore over scientists' 'bio-fraud' raises eyebrows in fisheries UNITED STATES Monday, January 14, 2002, 20:20 (GMT + 9) &nbsp; The furore over how government biologists in Washington State contaminated an endangered-wildlife study with &quot;planted&quot; hair from a lynx has sent reverberations through fisheries organisations around the United States.In some quarters, the planted lynx hair has been viewed as evidence of intentional tampering with data by scientists in order to expand areas of protected habitat, where many human activities and industries could be banned. Two scientists ...

THE scientist who dared to challenge the establishment view on climate change has been subjected to a campaign of personal abuse, professional vilification and threats to his safety. Last year Bjorn Lomborg claimed in his book The Skeptical Environmentalist that many of mankind’s worst fears — such as mass extinction of species, climate change and population growth — were largely unfounded. The book has provoked scientists and environmental groups into producing articles, websites and pamphlets rubbishing its author and his work. One of the most hostile, in Nature magazine, likens him to apologists for the Nazis. He has been ...

Builder Wants to Put Homes in Valley Forge National Historic Site Matt O'Donnell, WPVI News VALLEY FORGE, PA. - January 13, 2002 — The National Park Service is negotiating a deal to purchase private land in Valley Forge National Historical Park to stop a major developer from building a subdivision of 62 luxury homes there. Toll Brothers Inc., the nation's largest builder of high-end homes, wants to build 62 houses on private property within the park about 20 miles from Philadelphia, despite an outcry from preservationists and park users who say the land is sacred. The park is the ...

<p>Klamath Falls, Ore. -- They're encouraged that President Bush says he's on their side, but Klamath Basin farmers are still hopping mad at the federal government for shutting off their irrigation water last summer.</p> <p>More than 2,000 farmers and their supporters vented their anger yesterday at a barbecue featuring coho salmon -- protected under the Endangered Species Act they blame for their plight.</p>

Some years ago, I left Florida in the midst of a rainstorm, driving north. Just across the Georgia line, I noticed that the rain seemed to be accumulating on the windshield wipers. I noticed that the fences along the road seemed to glisten. Before I knew it, the centerline disappeared and the road was white. Unfamiliar with these conditions, I touched the brake, which resulted in a spin-out and a backward slide down a 20-foot embankment. I was stuck. Like the unexpected Southern snowstorm, global governance is likely to ensnare us before we recognize what it is, or its ...

Friday, January 11, 2002 Court Asked to Rule in Las Vegas Water Case The Associated Press LAS VEGAS, N.M. — A dispute between traditional irrigation associations and the city of Las Vegas over how much water the city uses could end up before the state Supreme Court. Years of talks aimed at resolving a lawsuit over how much water the city can draw from the Rio Gallinas have failed to produce a settlement, and state Engineer Tom Turney has asked the court to rule. The city's water and gas director, Richard Trujillo, said Wednesday a ruling against the city ...

Group seeks to block drilling in Allegheny National Forest Copyright © 2002 AP Online The Associated Press TIONESTA, Pa. (January 9, 2002 6:56 p.m. EST) - Environmentalists are asking the state to prevent an oil company from drilling as many as 75 new wells in the Allegheny National Forest. The activists, members of the Allegheny Defense Project, called Pennsylvania General Energy Corp.'s proposed drilling site one of the last pristine areas in the 513,000-acre forest, home to threatened and endangered wildlife including Indiana bats, northern goshawks and bald eagles. The environmentalists also said the wells and roads leading to ...

Water spilled from Upper Klamath Lake 01/11/02 By TODD KEPPLE Klamath River flows expected to stay high enough for salmon The Bureau of Reclamation has begun spilling a limited amount of water from Upper Klamath Lake in order to ensure the lake doesn’t fill too early in the winter and run the risk of overtopping its dikes. As a result, flows in the Klamath River are likely to remain well above the minimum required to protect threatened coho salmon. Still, even with a surplus of water now, it’s too early to make any promises about how much water will ...