AR-NEWS Digest 626

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) Up to 100 dolphins die on Venezuelan beach
     by Andrew Gach 
  2) [NZ]Spotlight counts to determine RCD hit
     by bunny 
  3) [Fwd: Fwd: hacker-warning]
     by dmcgowan@ra.org (Danny McGowan)
  4) 
     by paulbog@jefnet.com (Rick Bogle)
  5) Fish turn tables on trawler
     by leah wacksman 
  6) Newswire: Scientists call for ocean protection
     by LCartLng@gvn.net (Lawrence Carter-Long)
  7) [US] [Fwd: Catholics Fight Factory Farms! (fwd)]
     by Steve Barney 
  8) Follow Up on Ted Nugent court date???
     by Karen Purves 
  9) [US] EDITORIAL [Fwd: "Regulating factory farms"]
     by Steve Barney 
 10) Coulston Calls AIDS "Silly"
     by Suzanne Roy 
 11) Newswire: Tiger mauls circus trainer (US-FL)
     by LCartLng@gvn.net (Lawrence Carter-Long)
 12) (FR) Forbidden Food 
     by Mesia Quartano 
 13) Fwd: OS/2_Warp_FM_Delivery:=> VOLUME 3    OS/2 WARP FM   January 1998
     by "Paul Wiener" 
 14) (US) Wall Street Journal article on BSE 
     by Vegetarian Resource Center 
 15) Endangered Species Recovery Act
     by jeanlee 
Date: Tue, 06 Jan 1998 21:13:53 -0800
From: Andrew Gach 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Up to 100 dolphins die on Venezuelan beach
Message-ID: <34B30F11.48CB@worldnet.att.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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Up to 100 dolphins die on Venezuelan beach

The Associated Press 
CARACAS, Venezuela (January 6, 1998 6:30 p.m. EST)

 Up to 100 dolphins died inexplicably this week after swimming ashore on
an island off Venezuela -- a mass beaching that experts called one of
the biggest ever.

By the time Coast Guard agents arrived at Turtle Island, 70 dolphins lay
dead Monday on a hot, white sand beach 100 miles northeast of Caracas,
the Venezuelan capital. Another 20 corpses were found floating after
waves washed them back to sea.

The beached animals were Atlantic spotted dolphins, noted for their dark
gray skin covered in white spots and an ability to swim fast and make
spectacular leaps. Like all dolphins, they are social animals and are
not shy around humans.

Fishermen and foreign tourists tried to rescue some of the dolphins,
dragging them one by one into the water. But some insistently swam back
to shore to die.

"These beachings occur continually in various parts of the world.
Scientifically, the 'why' of these phenomena is unknown. What is certain
is that these dolphins, in a suicidal attitude, head for the coast to
die," the Environment Ministry said Tuesday, giving the estimate of 90
to 100 dead.

Eighty percent of the dead dolphins were female, the El Universal
newspaper reported.

The dolphins may have been following a disoriented leader or trying to
aid a stranded group member when the tide shifted, Environment Minister
Rafael Martinez told a news conference.

The private Foundation for the Defense of Nature, meanwhile, said
parasites or diseases may have impaired the dolphins' ability to
navigate.

"When they're exposed to the sun, their skin starts to burn, and they
die from overheating," spokesman Juan Ignacio Cortinas said, adding that
Monday's beaching was the largest ever reported in Venezuela and among
the largest anywhere.

Officials said there was no evidence of contaminated waters in the area,
despite the presence of a petrochemical plant 60 miles away.

Nearly half of all dolphin species can be found in Venezuelan waters.

By STEVEN GUTKIN, Associated Press Writer
Date: Wed, 7 Jan 1998 16:28:18 +0800
From: bunny 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [NZ]Spotlight counts to determine RCD hit
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19980107162114.2a671aa2@wantree.com.au>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

EVENING STANDARD 7/1/98

Spotlight counts to determine RCD hit

Dunedin - Spotlight counts are being carried out on two
Central Otago properties to determine how rabbit numbers
have been affected by the rabbit calicivirus disease since
its introduction in August.
Landcare Research Alexander wildlife ecologist Grant Norbury
said spotlight counts were carried out last night and another was
planned for tonight. the aim was to find out whether RCD was 
making a second sweep of the area, this time unaided.
In Australia, RCD broke out in spring and again in autumn.
The period between outbreaks could be shorter here because
it was not as hot. The virus could be "ticking along slowly" with
low level persistence and then another epidemic could occur.
Information based on rabbit blood samples from two Central Otago
properties showed on an average 83 percent of rabbits encountered
RCD - 68 percent died, 14 percent overcame the disease and became
immune and 18 percent did not become infected.
NZPA


========================================================
Rabbit Information Service,
P.O.Box 30,
Riverton,
Western Australia 6148

email>  rabbit@wantree.com.au

http://www.wantree.com.au/~rabbit/rabbit.htm
(Rabbit Information Service website updated frequently)

     /`\   /`\
    (/\ \-/ /\)
       )6 6(
     >{= Y =}<
      /'-^-'\
     (_)   (_)
      |  .  |
      |     |}
 jgs  \_/^\_/

It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
 - Voltaire












Date: Wed, 07 Jan 1998 11:18:48 -0600
From: dmcgowan@ra.org (Danny McGowan)
To: "\"Olga D. Boshart\"" ,
        Jerry Farley , Joan Zacharias ,
        Justin Taylor , ADL ,
        Marianne Maeckelbergh ,
        Stephen Chenault ,
        Tulia Limarzi , Bianca Bockman ,
        Carol Mehaffey ,
        Adam Weisman , ar-news@envirolink.org,
        ar-views@envirolink.org, adl-nyc-li@envirolink.org
Subject: [Fwd: Fwd: hacker-warning]
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Thought all of you should know about this!  Pass the word.
From: Jk th Rppr 
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     jimflynn@earthlink.net, ASTROGIRL8@aol.com, Astrogrl83@aol.com,
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     Jedidog10@aol.com, CuPaJoEs@aol.com, KEVINWASH1@aol.com,
     Jago2680@aol.com, Jedistef@aol.com, ViperP911@aol.com,
     Albert8111@aol.com, DREDD4267@aol.com, HOLLYJEEN@aol.com,
     ROCCOCZ@aol.com
Subject: Fwd: hacker-warning
Date: Tue, 6 Jan 1998 22:46:26 EST
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From: Troy3622 
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     Skierelf@aol.com, Doobie6963@aol.com, HYPERTIFF@aol.com,
     Provoloni@aol.com, Ham19012@aol.com, Bonkers948@aol.com,
     SNUFFELUPA@aol.com, VENOM501@aol.com
Subject: Fwd: hacker-warning
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From: Jules 9393 
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     Sublim4092@aol.com, ZaoPD@aol.com, McFly45@aol.com, Cullen323@aol.com
Subject: Fwd: hacker-warning
Date: Tue, 30 Dec 1997 22:04:20 EST
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From: Aufschnitt 
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     Peache2776@aol.com, Ally6682@aol.com, GapGirl950@aol.com,
     Jules9393@aol.com, DUchesSS99@aol.com
Subject: Fwd: hacker-warning
Date: Tue, 30 Dec 1997 20:03:17 EST
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From: Leomyman 
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Subject: Fwd: hacker-warning
Date: Tue, 30 Dec 1997 19:55:36 EST
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From: Laxxman2 
Return-path: 
To: Rockin02@aol.com
Cc: Chris83720@aol.com, Bublegumm@aol.com, Impala620@aol.com, Supprcow@aol.com,
     Leomyman@aol.com, Luthrvivit@aol.com, Lissa4JC@aol.com,
     DarthKader@aol.com, RCS135@aol.com, Wellgo700@aol.com, LAFF11@aol.com
Subject: Fwd: hacker-warning
Date: Tue, 30 Dec 1997 19:04:33 EST
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From: ILopez9269 
Return-path: 
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     AmbeeKat@aol.com, Bilabong0@aol.com, Crazy11001@aol.com,
     RAma101917@aol.com, T00tsieRll@aol.com, TWBB5@aol.com,
     PHSBallBoy@aol.com, Jasoneunic@aol.com, Rocketzip@aol.com,
     FlwrGrl89@aol.com, LogDog32@aol.com, Caseym8@aol.com, Megachip@aol.com,
     Laxxman2@aol.com, Tinyteen1@aol.com, Magic9251@aol.com, JLMAHAW@aol.com,
     LimitedTo0@aol.com, ZoneBone@aol.com, Fudge567@aol.com
Subject: Fwd: hacker-warning
Date: Tue, 30 Dec 1997 16:39:17 EST
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In a message dated 97-12-29 21:03:53 EST, you write:

 << Subj:Fwd: hacker-warning
  Date:97-12-29 21:03:53 EST
  From:ILoveLara2
  To:CORI CYPHE, DCama4960, ElleElle5, DanaGee101
  To:ERubio9186, Lemonade02, CeriBear, Stephhhhh
  To:Gumby1314, LuvNova74, ILopez9269, Bicrst8
  To:Stanman78, Bink128, SEEWA81, PEACHE294
 
 
 -----------------
 Forwarded Message: 
  Subj:Fwd: hacker-warning
  Date:97-12-29 01:58:41 EST
  From:Truly said
  To:Localg18, TRIDDLE7, JVance1208, RCSSUV808
  To:Howdog70, RZXotik, RHKWOODS, GreenIs5, Q4e0tn15
  To:Truly said, Shamrk68, PiLaU78, ILoveLara2
  To:MerCat69, PTrost1
 
 
 -----------------
 Forwarded Message: 
  Subj:hacker-warning
  Date:97-12-28 04:33:45 EST
  From:Willer5
  To:Bebebuff, Twiggy509, Frnchygrl, ScrubAide
  To:Truly said, Chilpepy, ShyHermit, MUCHTWOSEE
 
 
 
 
 
  If someone named SandMan asks you to check out his page on the WEB
      
      DO NOT!!!
      
      It is at www.geocities.com/vienna/6318
      
      This page hacks into your C:/ drive.  DO NOT GO THERE
      
      HE WILL REQUEST A CHAT WITH YOU....don't do it.
      
      FORWARD THIS TO EVERYONE...
 >>
Date: Wed, 7 Jan 1998 13:01:36 -0600
From: paulbog@jefnet.com (Rick Bogle)
To: "AR-News Post" 
Message-ID: <19980107130259349.AAA88@paulbog.jefnet.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
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     The 150 Vilas Zoo monkeys could use a good word; their funding runs out
February 1 and their future looks rough.  Any effort would be valuable.
     These are the same monkeys the Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center
repeatedly denied using as a source for
experimental subjects until an anonymous employee turned documents over to
the Alliance for Animals detailing the use and sale of over one hundred of
them.  The center made over $200,000 in the hidden sales and now says they
have no money to support the two colonies any longer. (Now that they can no
longer use them as a source for experimental subjects or sale items.)
     One of the colonies is the oldest and largest group of stump-tailed
macaques in the world. Stumps are listed (too) conservatively as
threatened.
     Admittedly, the zoo is not the best place for them but the alternatives
being suggested by the center are much worse.

Rick

Chancellor David Ward
UW Madison
Bascom Hall, Room 161
Ph: 608-262-9946
Fax: 608-262-8333

Dr. Joseph Kemnitz/Acting Director
WRPRC (Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center)
1210 Capital Court
Madison, WI 53715
Ph: 608-263-3588
Fax: 608-263-4031

Jonathon Becker, Chair
Dane County Board
210 Martin Luther King Blvd.
Madison, WI 53703
Ph: 608-266-4360

Dave Zweifel, Editor
Capital Times Newspaper
PO Box 8060
Madison, WI 53708
Ph: 608-252-6414
Fax: 608-252-6445

Frank Denton, Editor
Wisconsin State Journal
PO Box 8058
Madison, WI 53708
Ph: 608-252-6119
Fax:608-252-6104

Kathleen Falk, Dane County Executive
210 Martin Luther King Blvd.
Madison, WI 53703
Ph: 608-266-4114
Fax: 608-266-2643
Date: Wed, 07 Jan 1998 14:20:07 -0500
From: leah wacksman 
To: "ar-news@envirolink.org" 
Subject: Fish turn tables on trawler
Message-ID: <34B3D567.D980861C@galen.med.virginia.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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The following appeared in today's (Jan 7) Daily Progress of
Charlottesville, Va:


Caught fish turn tables on trawler

OSLO, Norway - A school of herring caught in a trawler's net refused to
give up without a fight - and sank a 63-foot boat.

The trawler Steinholm was fishing off Norway's northern coast when it
made a hugh catch of the fish.  When the crew tried to haul in the net,
the entire school of herring swam for the bottom and capsized the ship,
the Oslo newspaper Dagbladet reported Tuesday.

"I have been fishing since I was 14 and I have never seen anything like
it," skipper Geir Nikolaisen, 49, was quoted as saying.

Crew members tried to cut loose the net but were forced to abandon the
capsized ship, which sank in 10 minutes.
Date: Wed, 7 Jan 1998 11:38:43 -0800
From: LCartLng@gvn.net (Lawrence Carter-Long)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Newswire: Scientists call for ocean protection
Message-ID: <199801071938.OAA13775@envirolink.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Scientists call for ocean protection
Wednesday, January 7, 1998 

  At a kick-off conference for the United Nation's
  International Year of the Ocean Tuesday in
  Washington, D.C., more than 1,600 marine
  scientists and conservationists from 65
  countries warned the world's governments and
  citizens that the oceans are in trouble and
  called for immediate action to prevent further
  damage. 

  "The sea is in real trouble, much more trouble
  than we previously thought," said Elliot Norse, a
  marine ecologist who founded the Marine
  Conservation Biology Institute in Redmond,
  Wash. "We must act now, not 20 years from
  now or 10 years from now if we are to prevent
  further degradation of the marine environment,"
  he told the conference at the Capitol. 

  The warning released at the conference,
  Troubled Waters: A Call for Action, summarizes
  the threats to marine species and ecosystems 
  which include overexploitation of species, physical 
  alteration of   ecosystems, pollution, alien species
  from distant waters disrupting local food webs and 
 global atmospheric change. 

  Overfishing has decimated commercial fish populations 
  and caused the collapse of many  fisheries worldwide,
  including cod fisheries in New England. Fishing methods 
  such as bottom trawling have crushed and buried
  bottom-dwelling species by scouring a vast area of 
  seabed. Coastal development has consumed mangrove
  forests and salt marshes. Coral reefs and marine mammals 
  are falling victim to new diseases, perhaps caused
  by pollution. And global warming has reduced the sea's 
  productivity off Southern California and contributed to
  the steep decline of salmon in the North Pacific. 

 "A recent New York Times poll found that only 1 percent of
Americans consider the environment the most important
problem facing our country," said Norse. "Because few of
us spend much time below the surface, it is easy to
overlook signs that things are going wrong in the sea. But
the signs are increasingly obvious to the experts." 

"The scientists who study the Earth's living systems are
far more worried than the public and our political leaders.
That's a wake up call that nobody can afford to ignore,"
said Norse 

Dr. JoAnn Burkholder of North Carolina State University,
who discovered the linkage between coastal pollution
and outbreaks of fish-eating Pfiesteria piscicida, said
"It's hard to imagine that farming on land and building in
cities could harm the marine environment and fishermen, 
but it does. The tons of sewage produced by millions
of people don't just go away when we flush... a lot of it 
winds up in our coastal waters. And construction,
agriculture and logging send clouds of choking 
sediments and excess nutrients into marine waters, 
smothering sensitive habitats. What we do on land 
profoundly affects life in the sea." 

  "If it's business as usual," said Dr. M. Patricia
  Morse, a marine biologist from Northeastern
  University, "we'll see more declines in corals,
  fishes, marine mammals and seabirds. That
  spells disaster for industries like fishing and
  tourism that depend on healthy marine life, and
  for every human on Earth, because we all use
  goods and services provided by the sea every
  day. Oceans regulate our climate, provide a
  breathable atmosphere and break down
  wastes. Coastal wetlands protect our shores
  from flooding and storm damage, improve water
  quality and provide crucial habitat for fishes
  and other marine life. When we destroy these
  ecosystems, we lose both their products and
  services." 

The call for action includes the elimination of
government subsidies that encourage overfishing, 
pollution reduction, the establishment of new marine
protected areas, and a White House Conference 
on the marine environment. 

"A White House Conference on the Marine 
Environment would help to highlight what's 
known about marine environmental problems 
and to address the most pressing ones. The 
International Year of the Ocean provides
the ideal opportunity to move forward in protecting, 
restoring and sustainably using life in the sea,"
said Norse.

For more information, contact Dr. Elliott A. Norse, 
MCBI, (703)276-1434 

Copyright 1998, Environmental News Network

==================


Lawrence Carter-Long
Science and Research Issues, Animal Protection Institute
email: LCartLng@gvn.net, phone: 800-348-7387 x. 215
world wide web: http://www.api4animals.org/

"I will permit no man to narrow and degrade my 
soul by making me hate him." - Booker T. Washington

"...the above also applies to women.  However, I haven't 
quite made up my mind just yet about politicians or talk 
show hosts." - Lawrence Carter-Long








Date: Wed, 07 Jan 1998 14:00:29 -0600
From: Steve Barney 
To: AR-News 
Subject: [US] [Fwd: Catholics Fight Factory Farms! (fwd)]
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-- 
Steve Barney, Representative
Animal Liberation Action Group
Campus Connection, Reeve Memorial Union
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
748 Algoma Blvd.
Oshkosh, WI 54901-3512
UNITED STATES
 Phone:920-424-0265 (office)
     920-235-4887 (home)
Fax: 920-424-7317 (address to: Animal Liberation Action Group, Campus
Connection, Reeve Union) 
E-mail: AnimalLib@uwosh.edu
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Date: Tue, 06 Jan 1998 18:08:25 -0600
From: jepeck@students.wisc.edu (John E. Peck)
Subject: Catholics Fight Factory Farms! (fwd)
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Subject: Factory Farm Moratorium Call from NCRLC 

Please distribute!
******************

A Statement from the Board of Directors of the National Catholic Rural
Life Conference

December 18, 1997

An Immediate Moratorium on Large-scale Livestock and Poultry Animal
Confinement Facilities

Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) have become a national
issue. A new hog plant in Utah will produce more animal waste than the
animal and human waste created by the city of Los Angeles; 1,600
dairies in the Central Valley of California produce more waste than a
city of 21 million people. The annual production of 600 million
chickens on the Delmarva Peninsula near Washington, D.C. generates as
much nitrogen as a city of almost 500,000 people.

In North Carolina, 35 million gallons of animal waste were spilled in
1995, killing 10 million fish. In 1996, more than 40 manure spills
were recorded in Iowa, Minnesota and Missouri, double the number
reported in 1992. Earlier this year, microbe pfiesteria associated
with the poultry industry killed 30,000 fish in the Chesapeake Bay and
another 450,000 fish in North Carolina attributed to hog waste.
Pfiesteria grow in waters with excessive nutrients. In the Gulf of
Mexico, animal waste has helped to create a "dead zone" of up to 7,000
square miles. The Center for Disease Control has just released a
report attributing foodborne diseases to food industry consolidation
and the decrease in effective microbe resistance in humans from the
antibiotics used to industrialize animals for confinement facilities.

The National Catholic Rural Life Conference (NCRLC) has for 75 years
been a voice for participative democracy, widespread ownership of
land, the defense of nature, animal welfare, support for small and
moderate-sized independent family farms, economic justice, rural and
urban interdependence. Such values are drawn from the message of the
Gospel and the social teachings of our Church. Furthermore, we see
such values best represented in the agricultural arena by what is
called sustainable agriculture.

In the light of present concerns about the industrialization of
agriculture and environmental pollution as represented especially by
the hog industry, the NCRLC supports efforts for a national dialogue
on Confined Animal Feeding Operations and their impacts on water
quality, the environment, and local communities. Too much time has
elapsed and too much damage has been done without an adequate national
dialogue on these issues.

As a first step, the NCRLC supports a moratorium on the expansion and
building of new farm factories and calls for a serious consideration
of their replacement by sustainable agricultural systems which are
environmentally safe, economically viable, and socially just. While
the federal government, the states, and local communities reassess the
structure of agriculture, such a moratorium seems especially urgent.
Without a moratorium, the number of CAFOs will continue to
proliferate, causing a significant increase in the devastating
pollution, health, and social impacts by these confinement facilities
across the country.

Included among the states currently dealing with CAFO issues are:
Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky,
Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota,
Texas, Utah and Washington. Legislators, judges, and local citizens
groups are reviewing the legal safeguards at every level to ensure
clean water, a safe environment, food safety, and social justice. Such
efforts are beginning to pay dividends:

 In Indiana, for example, an administrative law judge has shut down a
proposed confined feeding operation.
 In Kentucky, the attorney general has ruled that large operations
are not exempt from local ordinances saying they are "not reasonable
or prudent, accepted and customary."
 After two years of difficulties, North Carolina has imposed strong
restrictions on confinement operations.
 South Dakota citizens recently secured sufficient signatures
(31,000) to hold a statewide referendum proposing an anti-corporate
farming law similar to Nebraska's.
 All but two of the 20 counties in Kansas had voted against new
corporate hog farms.
 At the federal level, a new bill has been introduced to regulate
CAFOs and a federal summit is being proposed to discuss animal-waste
management.

As the livestock industry has been restructured, a growing dependence
has developed on enormous open-air lagoon waste storage and liquid
manure application systems. These systems have been prone to breaks,
spills, and runoff into surface water and seepage into ground water.
The Clean Water Act is again to be renewed after 25 years. While
reforms of that Act are being developed, a moratorium on CAFOs is
needed to forestall potentially devastating effects.

We challenge the notion that CAFOs, particularly hog factories, are a
boon to local economies. Studies have shown that for every job created
by a hog factory, three are lost. Every year, hog factories put almost
31,000 farmers out of business, out of their homes, and out of their
communities. In 1990, there were 670,350 family hog farms; in 1995,
there were only 208,780. Between 1994 and 1996, approximately 4,439
family farmers were displaced by the expansion of the top 30 pork
producing companies, according to a recent study done by Successful
Farming. While concentration in pork production grows, independent
family farmers are being forced out. The same can be said about dairy,
beef, and poultry farming.

NCRLC invites others to join the call for a moratorium and the
replacement of factory farms by a sustainable agricultural system.
The National Catholic Rural Life Conference is a membership
organization grounded in a spiritual tradition which brings together
the Church, care for creation and care for community. The NCRLC
fosters programs of direct service and systemic change. As an educator
in the faith, the NCRLC seeks to relate religion to the rural world;
develops support services for rural pastoral ministers; serves as a
prophetic voice and as a catalyst and convener for social justice.

John E. Peck c/o UW Greens, 731 State St., MN 53703   #608-262-9036

"This cause is not altogether and exclusively a women's cause.  It is the
cause of human brotherhood, as well as human sisterhood, and both must rise
and fall together."  - Frederick Douglas on women's rights, 1848


Date: Wed, 07 Jan 1998 13:29:32 -0800
From: Karen Purves 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Follow Up on Ted Nugent court date???
Message-ID: <34B3F3BC.1509@earthlink.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

An article appeared in the Chicago Tribune which said that attorneys for Ted 
Nugent were due in court this past Monday, January 5, regarding a complaint 
that he failed to accurately report the number of deer on his game preserve 
in Michigan. Apparently he could lose his permit and spend time in jail.

Does anyone know what happened in court?

Thanks.

Karen E. Purves, M.A.
API--Midwest Regional Office
3540 N. Southport Ave., Suite 254
Chicago IL 60657-1436
ph: 773/975-7840
fax: 773/975-7924
email: samneph@earthlink.net

Date: Wed, 07 Jan 1998 14:50:32 -0600
From: Steve Barney 
To: AR-News 
Subject: [US] EDITORIAL [Fwd: "Regulating factory farms"]
Message-ID: <34B3EA98.68DF7316@uwosh.edu>
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-transfer-encoding: 8bit

-- Editorial from Capital Times (Madison, WI)
                                  [Image]

Editorial

Regulating factory farms

January 2, 1997

The good people of Green County have just finished a long and frequently
bitter argument about whether to allow a huge hog farm to begin operating
near Albany.

Yet no one is really satisfied with the conclusion of that argument.

The decision of the Green County Board of Adjustment to permit the hog farm
has neighbors of the facility furious, and it's hard to argue with them.
The 20-acre factory farm will produce a staggering 950,000 gallons of waste
per year.

Ask yourself: Would you really want to live next door to 1,300 breeding
sows, 450 replacement gilts, hundreds of piglets and all of the waste they
produce -- particularly if you knew that, in other parts of the country,
such facilities have been tied to environmental and economic catastrophes?

In defense of the nine farmers involved, however, they are hardly the
faceless bureaucrats of uncaring agribusiness. Rather, they say, they are
family farmers who are simply trying to stay afloat in an increasingly
difficult market -- a market dictated by foolish international trade
agreements and even more foolish rewrites of federal agricultural policies.

What is most frustrating about the whole Green County battle is that it is
not an isolated occurrence. Across Wisconsin in the past year, we have
witnessed debates over factory farming in its many incarnations -- but
particularly as it affects the pork industry.

Today, those battles play out on the county level. But that fact denies the
reality that decisions made in Green County affect not just the citizens of
that county but also the citizens of more populous neighboring counties
such as Dane and Rock.

What is called for is a statewide approach to an issue that stretches far
beyond the boundaries of individual counties.

Wisconsin should develop standards by which factory farming proposals can
be assessed. And those standards should place an emphasis on the dual
responsibilities of keeping small farmers on the land and protecting the
environment that surrounds that land.

Let us know what you think
E-mail: tctvoice@captimes.madison.com

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

            Subscribe to the print version of The Capital Times

                          ⌐ 1998 The Capital Times

  If you have any questions or comments about this site, please email us.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

-- End

Steve Barney, Representative
Animal Liberation Action Group
Campus Connection, Reeve Memorial Union
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
748 Algoma Blvd.
Oshkosh, WI 54901-3512
UNITED STATES
 Phone:920-424-0265 (office)
     920-235-4887 (home)
Fax: 920-424-7317 (address to: Animal Liberation Action Group, Campus
Connection, Reeve Union) 
E-mail: AnimalLib@uwosh.edu
Web: http://www.uwosh.edu/organizations/alag/
Date: Wed, 7 Jan 1998 16:31:35 -0600 (CST)
From: Suzanne Roy 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Coulston Calls AIDS "Silly"
Message-ID: <199801072231.QAA29467@dfw-ix10.ix.netcom.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



In Defense of Animals
131 Camino Alto, Suite E
Mill Valley, CA   94941
415/388-9641

 NEWS RELEASE
DATE:  January 7, 1998
      

          HEAD OF AIDS TESTING LAB CALLS FOR PATIENT QUARANTINE 

Recipient of $8 Million in Federal AIDS Research Funds Says AIDS Is "Silly"
Disease 

     A toxicologist whose private foundation has received more than $8 million
in federal AIDS research funds has  called for the quarantine of AIDS
patients.  In the December 30, 1997 Wall Street Journal, the toxicologist,
Frederick Coulston, called AIDS a "silly disease" and suggested that its
victims display "quarantine" signs.
     
     "It is appalling that an individual with such a derisive view of AIDS has
been entrusted with federal funds earmarked to fight this tragic disease,"
said Suzanne Roy, Program Director of In Defense of Animals (IDA), which has
been investigating Coulston's non-profit corporation, The Coulston
Foundation (TCF), for several years.  TCF has a long record of violating
federal animal welfare laws, and with over 600 chimps, is by far the largest
captive colony of chimpanzees in the world.
     
     TCF's federal AIDS support comes in the form of a multi-million dollar
subcontract with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to house and care
for HIV-infected chimpanzees.  The subcontract is currently being looked
into by the office of U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a member of the House
Government Reform and Oversight Committee, for possible price-gouging. 
     
     Coulston's comments about AIDS were made in a Journal article about the
fate of 144 chimpanzees who are about to be divested of by the Air Force.
Coulston is vying for "ownership" of the chimpanzees, as is a coalition of
animal welfare organizations, led by chimpanzee experts Drs. Jane Goodall
and Roger Fouts.
     
     In press reports, Coulston has also claimed to have discovered the
hepatitis B vaccine as well as a vaccine against malaria.   Neither claim is
substantiated by scientific evidence.  In fact, no vaccine against malaria
even exists, nor does Coulston have a single hepatitis-related scientific
publication.  In addition, Coulston, who also has no AIDS-related scientific
publications, was roundly criticized last year when he claimed on CNN that a
vaccine tested at his laboratory was "the answer" to AIDS.  Coulston has
espoused many non-scientific beliefs, such as his statements that nicotine
is not addictive and does not affect health; that lead levels in the blood
do not cause brain damage; and that DDT is one of the greatest inventions of
man and does not thin bird eggs.  

     Coulston, who controls almost one-half of the entire U.S. chimp population,
has also espoused fringe views regarding humans' closest genetic cousins,
repeatedly stating his desire to use chimpanzees as living blood and organ
banks and to test toxic chemicals.
     
     TCF has also repeatedly violated federal law.  The foundation is currently
under official investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
for negligent chimpanzee deaths in 1997, despite its 1996 pledge to cease
and desist violating the Animal Welfare Act as part of its $40,000
settlement of formal USDA charges for previous animal welfare violations.
TCF is currently being sued by several ex-employees for sexual harassment.
TCF's lawyers failed in their attempt to dismiss the lawsuit, which alleges,
among other things, that Coulston's son Craig, who is TCF's Vice-President,
touched the breasts of one plaintiff, and put another in a bear hug and
demanded that she kiss him.
     
     "It is high time that the NIH explain why it is subsidizing a private
business that cannot seem to comply with federal law and whose leader
continues to espouse anti-scientific, fringe views," said Roy. 
     
     In Defense of Animals is a national animal advocacy organization with over
70,000 members based in Mill Valley, California. 

      The Coulston Foundation can be reached at 1300 La Velle Rd., Alamogordo,
NM 88310,  505-434-1725 (ph), 505-437-9897 (FAX), coulston@zianet.com (email).
 



 

 



Date: Wed, 7 Jan 1998 16:04:02 -0800
From: LCartLng@gvn.net (Lawrence Carter-Long)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Newswire: Tiger mauls circus trainer (US-FL)
Message-ID: <199801072355.SAA17777@envirolink.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Updated 4:50 PM ET January 7, 1998

Tiger mauls circus trainer

 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (Reuters) - A trainer with the Ringling 
Bros. and Barnum &  Bailey Circus was mauled by a tiger 
Wednesday and hospitalized in serious  condition, police said.

 The trainer was identified as Richard Chipperfield, a member 
of one of Britain's oldest circus families.

 His brother and fellow trainer, Graham Chipperfield, killed
 the tiger with a shotgun  after the attack, St. Petersburg police 
spokesman Bill Doniel said.

 The "Blue" unit of the circus is performing in St. Petersburg
through Sunday in the opening stop on its 1998 tour. Doniel 
said the attack occurred in the ring at the  Bayfront Center in 
St. Petersburg.

 The trainers and about 14 tigers were posing for publicity
photos when one of the  animals bit Richard Chipperfield 
in the head.

 Other performers rescued him and he was treated by 
paramedics and taken to a hospital. Doniel said police 
were still investigating the circumstances of the attack.

 "We're investigating what appears to be an accident," he
 said.

 He said the victim's brother was "extremely upset."

 Graham Chipperfield has been with the Ringling Bros 
circus since 1993 and  Richard had just joined the show 
in December.

 In an interview with the St. Petersburg Times last week, 
Richard Chipperfield was  quoted as saying, "Tigers are 
dependable and elegant animals. I have fallen in love with
them. They are so splendid."

 But he said he knew they were still dangerous wild 
animals.

⌐ 1997 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. 

Lawrence Carter-Long
Science and Research Issues, Animal Protection Institute
email: LCartLng@gvn.net, phone: 800-348-7387 x. 215
world wide web: http://www.api4animals.org/

"I will permit no man to narrow and degrade my 
soul by making me hate him." - Booker T. Washington

"...the above also applies to women.  However, I haven't 
quite made up my mind just yet about politicians or talk 
show hosts." - Lawrence Carter-Long








Date: Wed, 07 Jan 1998 19:38:34 -0500
From: Mesia Quartano 
To: "ar-news@envirolink.org" 
Subject: (FR) Forbidden Food 
Message-ID: <34B4200A.797E4400@usa.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

>From Greenlines:

Friday's New York Times reports the theme of a $3,000 a plate dinner
held last month in Bordeaux, France, was "forbidden food." Sworn to
secrecy, many of the world's most famous chefs and restaurateurs dined
on a songbird, the ortolan, and a woodcock -- both protected species.
"You know the French," said Maguy Le Coze, owner of Le Bernardin in New
York who attended the dinner, "French people like to break the law." The
article did not say if Ms. Le Coze dined on the two protected species or
perhaps others consumed by the elite attendees.

Date: Wed, 07 Jan 98 17:00:14 -0800
From: "Paul Wiener" 
To: "AR-News (to post)" 
Subject: Fwd: OS/2_Warp_FM_Delivery:=> VOLUME 3    OS/2 WARP FM   January 1998
Message-ID: <199801080100.SAA13526@smtp04.primenet.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
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-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

==================BEGIN FORWARDED MESSAGE==================
_______________________________________________________________

       OS/2 WARP FM Transmitting 100% Pure Java Energy
_______________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________
VOLUME 3    OS/2 WARP FM   January 1998
http://www.software.ibm.com/os/warp/warpfm         
_______________________________________________________________________

What's Queued Up?

E-Business Potential in Manufacturing
Looking Eastward: Interview with IBM's Software GM for Asia Pacific
TIBCO's MarketSheet for Java: WARP FM January Application of the Month
On the Air with Donn Atkins
OS/2 In the Most Unexpected Places
Are We There Yet?
Information Briefs
WorkSpace On-Demand for the Year 2000



E-Business Potential in Manufacturing 

Early January is the target for Ralston Purina to go live with its 
newly rewritten Packview application, a Java 1.1-based program that 
will play a critical role in the packaging of dog and cat food 
products.   While implementing mission critical Java software marks a 
significant milestone for Ralston and the industry, using this 
building block is only a small step when compared to the vast 
potential created by incorporating the advanced technology and 
out-of-box thinking of e-business. 


The melding of the world's economies is triggering demand for new 
ways to gain palpable productivity improvements. This implies that 
companies go beyond their boundaries to redefine processes and 
interactions.  Jitu Desai, Managing Principal for E-Business Strategy 
in IBM's Manufacturing Consulting Industry Solution Unit (ISU), says, 
"Enterprises can experience enormous benefits through the systematic 
and aggressive application of emerging e-business strategies based on 
increasingly-available and fast-maturing network computing principles 
and technologies." He see the potential for manufacturing 
organizations to significantly lower manufacturing and distribution 
costs, dramatically reduce cycle times and increase global sales. 

Networking for Cost Reductions
Inventory management is a logical place to start when considering 
lowering costs.  Extranets, enterprise-to-enterprise connections 
based on Internet technology, provide an excellent way to link a 
company with its suppliers.  A direct link creates the opportunity to 
restructure inventory management systems through a variety of 
methods.  For example, connecting a supplier directly to the 
real-time data in the inventory monitoring systems enables  "pull" 
replenishment systems, where a supplier can replace parts as used.  
An improved connection between parts suppliers and manufacturers can 
reduce lead time requirements and subsequently inventory levels. 

Although Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) has been used for 
inter-enterprise communication for a while, Internet technology now 
standardizes how companies connect to one another.  Integrating a new 
supplier into the extranet is a much simpler undertaking with a 
standardized technology rather than a proprietary set-up unique to a 
specific manufacturer. 

E-business methods can also lead to inventory reductions when applied 
to forecasting.  Rather than basing order quantities for long lead 
time items on weakly supported data, the Internet can serve as a 
means to gather actual requirements from customers.  Properly 
applying this type of information -- that is data solicited directly 
from the people who sell or actually use the products -- can 
significantly improve forecast accuracy.  Not only do better 
forecasts mean less waste, they also mean fewer lost orders caused by 
low stock levels. 

Saving Time with Flexible Communication Capabilities
Cycle time pertains to nearly every aspect of a manufacturer's 
business including new product development, production and response 
to customer requests.  Consequently, converting any of these areas 
into an e-business can yield significant savings and/or op
portunities.   

For example, end-to-end new car development time can take anywhere 
from 36 to 60 months.  Restructuring communications between key 
groups using network computing technology can be one of the 
mechanisms for compressing development time to 24 months.  An int
ernational company headquartered in the Far East created a common car 
platform for global use on a number of models.  The implementation of 
e-business principles and technologies facilitated the re-engineering 
that lead to the cycle time reductions.  Creating process 
improvements by leveraging an intranet or products like Lotus Notes 
eliminates extraneous steps, enables spontaneous responses to 
inquiries and permits parallel rather than serial processing.

Network technology also can reduce the time it takes for a 
manufacturer to respond to customers.  Orders that come directly from 
the consumer are inherently faster and more efficient than using an 
intermediary -- as long as the mechanism for direct orders ensures 
that all the required information is gathered and submitted correctly 
and securely at the right time.  Since the necessary ingredients to 
ensure this are available, the Internet has the potential for 
eliminating the middleman in a number of transactions between buyers 
and manufacturers -- which  also reduces costs for both the customer 
and the vendor.  The savings are so significant that a well-known 
computer hardware vendor currently using the web for 10-15% of its 
total sales intends to increase the percentage to 30% in 1998. 

Innovative Paths to Market Growth
And finally, e-business can spur growth in a number of directions.  
By using the Internet as an alternate sales channel manufacturers can 
extend beyond their traditional sales regions.  The Internet also 
creates new ways to advertise.  Recently, the John Hancock insurance 
company realized a five percent "click-through" rate to its home page 
by using a series of interactive Java applications as part of its web 
advertising campaign.  Prior to this, the insurance and financial 
services company had experienced only a three percent rate.  And in 
both cases, the  rate is significantly higher than the typical direct 
mail response.

The latest network technologies are not only creating new advertising 
techniques and marketing channels but they also are changing the 
entire concept of products.  For instance, as the automobile industry 
begins to enhance cars with software and networking capabilities for 
downloading audio and video information, a car can become an 
entertainment center as well as a transportation vehicle.  This 
metamorphosis from one form to another is true of many consumer items 
like televisions.  What used to be a one-way medium for entertainment 
and news is steadily moving towards being a two-way communication 
device for selectively gathering information and for buying goods and 
services.  As the nature of products change and become more diverse, 
the market for those products also diversifies and therefore grows.

Although the role of technology has always been to expand 
===================END FORWARDED MESSAGE===================


___________
Paul Wiener

got_the_T-shirt@been-there.com
paulish@cyberjunkie.com
paulish@thepentagon.com
paulish@usa.net
tinea-pedis@bigfoot.com
KJ6AV@callsign.net
- --------------------------------------------------------
http://www.netforward.com/cyberjunkie/?paulish

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Date: Wed, 07 Jan 1998 22:07:05 -0500
From: Vegetarian Resource Center 
To: AR-News@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Wall Street Journal article on BSE 
Message-ID: <199801080308.WAA15032@mailnfs0.tiac.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition -- January 7, 1998
Mad Cows, Scared Bunnies
By PAUL LEVY, London

The 12 days of Christmas are still a reality here. The
feasting that started on Christmas Eve continued 
through the New Year celebrations, and eased off 
only after Twelfth Night.

But the British food chain is in a twist. The good news,
as every traveler knows, is that the restaurants of the 
capital city are hot. The standard of eating out is 
so high that the French now come here to dine 
as well as to see the sights.

And the nature of restaurant food is changing. There are
even reports, such as the one that appeared in this 
newspaper late last year, proclaiming a new interest 
in organ meats in "between 25% and 30% of London's 
600 biggest and fanciest restaurants." This statistic is 
the more remarkable because most offal has to be imported: 
Bovine brains, sweetbreads and livers of British origin 
have been forbidden since March 1992. Rabbit is the 
chicken of the '90s, and its presence on every self-respecting 
London eatery's menu is a sure sign that the place considers
itself home to New British Nosh. Odder still, we're eating Thumper 
at home:á The Tesco supermarket chain's sales of rabbit have doubled 
in the past 12 months. 

The same supermarket says we're eating Bambi too, and told 
the (British) Times that it is thinking of "asking farmers to consider
stocking herds of deer to supply the rapidly growing market." 
The Safeway chain has stocked wild Scottish venison for three years, 
and "Sainsbury's has recently increased its intake of venison from 
English deer parks." 

But the real action is feathered, especially partridge and pheasant. 
Both these birds are hand-reared by gamekeepers but released 
into the wild before being shot. The economics of the great sporting
estates means that the birds are cheap once they reach the 
game merchant's. Last week I paid about $6 a bird for partridge 
(and the three pellets of shot I chomped on proved they were not farmed) 
and under $5 for each pheasant that will feed two people, and is 
therefore as cheap as chicken. They will get even less expensive 
as the game season continues.

The reason British eating habits are reverting to those of their
(middle-class)

ancestors is, of course, fear, and it is a wonder that vegetarianism 
hasn't become chic. The bad news is mad cow disease--the 
bovine spongiform encephalopathy )BSE) scandal. On Dec. 22, 
Jack Cunningham, the agriculture minister, said: "The scientific 
evidence we now have provides convincing evidence that the agent 
which causes BSE is the same as that which causes the new variant 
of Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease."

He announced a public inquiry into the causes of the disease and the
government's handling of the crisis it caused, to be chaired by an 
Appeal Court Judge, Lord Justice Phillips, to be concluded by the end of 1998.

That was only sensible. A few weeks earlier he had done something daft,
banning the sale of beef on the bone (only 5% of beef sales) because the
suspected agent was found in bone marrow. The government's advisory
committee had calculated the risk of getting CJD thus, said the Times of
Dec. 4: "six animals this year and three next--out of 2.2 million cattle
slaughtered--could pose a risk." Your chances of winning the lottery or
being struck by lightning are considerably higher, but it is now illegal to
buy
oxtails, T-bone steaks or marrow bones. 

The day after the ban went into force, I bought 12 pounds of oxtails, three
enormous T-bone steaks, and three ribs of beef at very reasonable prices,
and the butcher (whom I will not of course name) gave me enough marrow
bones to make gallons of stock. A near-universal black market has grown
up. By Dec. 20, the Daily Mail sent reporters to 110 shops, chosen at
random, in 11 different areas of Britain, to buy beef on the bone. They
found "plenty of traders ready to risk unlimited fines and up to two years in
jail." A common ploy was to ring the contraband up as "sausage."

Though any Englishman tucking into his traditional Sunday lunch of rib
roast of beef and Yorkshire pudding must have committed a crime to
procure it, there is very little chance of anyone being prosecuted. Steve
Butterworth, of the Institute of Trading Standards Administrators, noted
that the only way butchers could be caught was if his colleagues were to
work undercover and pose as customers: "But we have had no new
money to go with the new responsibilities, so it is unlikely councils will be
going out to make test purchases." The maddest thing of all is that the
bones do not have to be removed at the abattoir. The law is broken only
when the butcher actually sells beef on the bone, and it is not an offense to
display the banned cuts.

Maybe this laughable situation will alter the British attitude toward home
cooking. Despite the improvement in London restaurants, it is the
Englishman's stinginess and indifference about food that are responsible for
BSE. Cheap food has been the policy of every government since the war.
And while there are no reliable current statistics, it is evident even now,
despite a genuine surge of interest in organically produced food, that the
British spend a much lower proportion of their disposable income on food
than do their counterparts in most of Europe. The present theory of the
origins of BSE is that it was caused by feeding the processed remains of
ruminants to cows as a way of keeping down the cost of feed and of beef
(though in fact, so far, BSE has been found only in ancient dairy cattle
used to make the cheapest processed meat products). The Labor
government acknowledges that the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and
Food has always acted on behalf of producers, sometimes at the expense
of consumers, and has determined to split up MAFF.

Perhaps a genuine Ministry of Food can persuade Britons that 
you get what you pay for. No bull. 


Date: Wed, 07 Jan 1998 22:25:50 -0500
From: jeanlee 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Endangered Species Recovery Act
Message-ID: <34B4473E.1D54@concentric.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Hi All-

I'm reposting the following two letters since the legislators are back
and will be voting on these bills.  I've printed out the two letters I
wrote and invite you to copy (or customize) and mail them.  The first is
to your senators regarding S.1180.  This is Sen. Dirk Kempthorne's bill
and is NOT supported by plant and animal lover organizations.  It's been
described as jeopardizing the mission of the ESA to recover species in
peril.  It has 9 cosponsors.

The second letter is to your representative, H.R. 2351, and is the bill
animal rights people and most environmentalists support.  It's
described as reaffirming and strengthening the nation's commitment to
animals and plants and balances that with landowners' rights.  It now
has 88 cosponsors!


Dear Senator:

I don't think there's much disagreement that the Endangered Species Act
(ESA) needs improvements to make the law work better for people as well
as wildlife.  Unfortunately, S. 1180, The Endangered Species Recovery
Act, sponsored by Senator Dirk Kempthorne (R-ID), not only fails to
include many of these needed improvements, it erodes existing
protections that are essential to the survival of species:  

  ~S. 1180 will allow private landowners and federal agencies to lock in
long-term habitat conservation plans that exempt them from further
conservation obligations and make future land management adjustments
nearly impossible - even where the survival of the species is at stake, 
  ~Make it harder for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National
Marine Fisheries Service to hold other agencies accountable for actions
that jeopardize species and result in critical habitat destruction,
  ~Add significant new bureaucratic burdens to the listing and recovery
planning process, thus ensuring that scarce agency resources will be
stretched even thinner and that the backlog in listings and recovery
planning will increase, and
  ~Allow industry representatives to have a greater role in key ESA
decision making while excluding other citizens from this process.

These are my very serious concerns about S. 1180 - special access for
special interests, taxpayer subsidized habitat destruction, roadblocks
to recovery, and weakened protections for species on public and private
lands.  This jeopardizes the mission of the ESA to recover species in
peril.  

I urge you to oppose S. 1180 when it comes before you on the floor of
the Senate.

Sincerely yours,



Dear Congressman/Woman:

I don't think there's much disagreement that the Endangered Species Act
(ESA) needs improvements to make the law work better for people as well
as wildlife.  The ESA is one of the FEW laws that exist on the federal
books to protect animals.  

H.R. 2351, The Endangered Species Recovery Act, sponsored by Rep. George
Miller, (D-CA), would reaffirm and strengthen the nationÆs commitment to
wildlife and to protect our childrenÆs future.  This bill would conserve
declining species before they near the brink of extinction, place a
deadline on listing decisions for candidate species, and provide
economic incentives to encourage voluntary conservation.

It is estimated that we are losing approximately 100 species every day.
Rather than weaken protection for fragile plants and animals, Congress
should strengthen protection so that species do not slip through
loopholes and cracks.  

H.R. 2351 also does a good job of protecting the concerns of landowners
and business interests.  I urge you to cosponsor this crucial
legislation.

Sincerely yours,



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