October 8, 2002

Environmental Watch: Anchor adds San Diego office

SEATTLE -- Anchor Environmental has opened a new office in San Diego. David Keith, a specialist in sediment and water quality work, will lead Anchor's operations there. The new office is in addition to the firm's Seattle headquarters and locations in Portland, Ore., and Oakland and Irvine. Calif.

In Seattle, John Laplante has joined Anchor's waterfront geotechnical engineering practice. Laplante will provide management, engineering and construction oversight for waterway, coastal, geotechnical and sediment remediation projects.

Also at Anchor, Dannielle Cappellino has joined the firm's Irvine office. Cappellino will work on environmental planning projects, including multiple efforts for the Los Angeles District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

King County wins EPA award

SEATTLE -- King County has been honored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its recycling efforts.

This Thursday, the county will receive Partner of the Year honors from the EPA WasteWise program for waste prevention and recycling.

The county's efforts include employee recycling, paperwork reduction and "green" procurement. The Partner of the Year award is the WasteWise program's highest honor. Only one local government nationwide -- Jackson County, Mo. -- will be similarly honored.

For more information on the county's WasteWise program go to http://dnr.metrokc.gov/swd/wastewise.

New rules for live-aboards get state OK

OLYMPIA -- Changes to how public aquatic lands are used by residential vessels or floating homes have been approved by the state Board of Natural Resources.

State Commissioner of Public Lands Doug Sutherland said the new rules will provide greater certainty for live-aboards.

Changes include environmental standards for marinas and a 10 percent limit on the residential use of boats moored on state aquatic land. The rules also provide for additional local decision-making on live-aboards and moorage areas.

The state Department of Natural Resources is expected to file the new code in the middle of the month. It would become final 31 days after the filing

DNR manages 2.4 million acres for the state. To view the changes go to http://www.wa.gov/dnr/.

Oregon desert group wants land study

BEND, Ore. (AP) -- Environmentalists want federal officials to designate 363,000 acres in eight areas of southeastern Oregon as wilderness study areas.

The Oregon Natural Desert Association made the proposal last month. The acreage surveyed by ONDA and 13 volunteers include canyons, fields of sage brush, rolling hills and some drainages.

Ranchers graze cattle on the lands, but the designation would not affect their grazing rights. It would, however, close roads and ban off-road vehicle use, mining exploration and bicycling in the areas.

Environmentalists walked throughout the wildlands this summer to survey and map the proposed areas and recorded scenic views, native cultural sites and remoteness.

Tom Dyer, district manager for the Burns District BLM, said the information provided by the association will help the planning process. Any group or individual can propose the creation of a study area, but a proposal doesn't mean the area will automatically qualify, Dyer said.

ONDA's proposal will be included in a large-scale BLM land-planning process for 1.65 million acres surrounding the 175,000-acre Steens Mountain Wilderness.

Congress designated the wilderness area last year. The legislation required the BLM to develop a management plan for the area by 2004.

Klamath farmers join Florida fish fight

RENO, Nev. (AP) -- Ranchers and farmers battling the government over fish protection in Oregon and Nevada are headed for Florida, a giant shovel and bucket in tow.

The cross-country convoy by the Klamath Bucket Brigade of Klamath Falls, Ore., and the Jarbidge Shovel Brigade of Elko, Nev., is meant to rally support for the cause the groups share with Florida farmers: property rights. All three groups say the government is trampling their rights to protect endangered species.

The groups left Oregon for the 3,000-mile, 22-day drive to Homestead, Fla., towing the 13-foot silver bucket and 30-foot green-and-yellow shovel behind.

The two brigades hope to raise money for Florida farmers who oppose raising water levels that they say will flood their fields to help an endangered sparrow in the Everglades -- an effort environmentalists have worked for years to support.

Oregon's Klamath Basin farmers have been in conflict with the federal government since it cut off irrigation water to benefit salmon and other fish 14 months ago. Last summer, farmers desperate for water confronted federal marshals, pried open irrigation gates and formed a bucket brigade to dump water into irrigation ditches.

Group says threatened species list growing

GENEVA (AP) -- The nomadic Saiga antelope could soon be taking its last leap, the wild Bactrian camel its last drink and the Ethiopian water mouse its last dip. All are on the brink of extinction, conservationists said Tuesday.

The freshwater gastropod mollusk has already made its salty tearful goodbyes in the last two years, joining the long-departed Dodo bird among the ranks of vanished creatures.

There are 11,167 other plants and animals threatened with extinction, according to the World Conservation Union's 2002 Red List of Threatened Species, an increase of 121 since 2000.

The Red List, produced by a network of some 7,000 species experts working in almost every country in the world, found that 811 species have disappeared over the last 500 years, some permanently, while others exist only in artificial settings, such as zoos.

Five species have been added to the Extinct List over the last two years, said the union, known as IUCN, which is based in Gland, Switzerland.

Besides the mollusk they include two hippo species, last seen in 1500, the sea mink, unseen since 1860, and Reunion Island sheldgeese, last sighted around 1710