December 20, 2005

Environmental Watch: RFP for shoreline armoring study

SEATTLE — The Puget Sound Action Team is soliciting bids for a contract to evaluate the effectiveness of small-scale beach nourishment, bioengineering, native plant landscaping and other alternatives to shoreline armoring or bulkheads.

The total cost for the project will not exceed $25,000.

The report will be used by local government planners and permit reviewers to allow alternative projects, and by property owners, contractors and consultants considering alternative treatments.

A committee with representatives from the Action Team, Department of Ecology and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife will guide the project. Doug Myers of the Action Team is project manager.

The deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. Dec. 31. They may be mailed, faxed, e-mailed or hand-delivered to: Puget Sound Action Team, Doug Myers, Box 40900, Olympia 98504-0900. Phone: (360) 725-5451, fax: (360) 725-5456, e-mail: dmyers@psat.wa.gov .

Wetland bank eyed for Oregon site

PORTLAND — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Oregon Department of State Lands are considering a proposal to establish a wetland mitigation bank near Philomath, Ore.

The bank sponsors say the bank will meet requirements for compensatory wetland mitigation for projects permitted by the Corps and the Oregon Department of State Lands. The sponsors would sell wetland credits to parties to meet their obligations under the "no net loss of wetlands" policies of federal and state regulations.

The proposed bank will generate wetland credits by restoring cropped wetlands to wet prairie dominated by native plants and by planting trees and shrubs along an existing forest wetland corridor.

Written comments must be received by Jan. 12, 2006, and should be addressed to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ATTN: CENWP-OP-G (Corrie Veenstra), P.O. Box 2946, Portland 97208-2946.

A copy of the public notice is posted on the Corps' Internet site at https://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/op/g/docs/200500701.pdf.

UI report looks at delisting potential

MOSCOW, Idaho — A new report from the University of Idaho's College of Natural Resources examines how threatened and endangered species are added to and removed from the federal list under the Endangered Species Act.

Policy analysts Jay O' Laughlin and Philip Cook co-authored the report with wildlife ecologist Mark McClure. It is called "Delisting Endangered Species: Process Analysis and Idaho Case Studies" and looks at the potential for delisting the 22 threatened and endangered species in Idaho.

Species may be delisted because they are recovered, were listed in error or have gone extinct. Of the 22 ESA-protected species in Idaho, seven have the potential for delisting in the near future, according to the report. The bald eagle, gray wolf, northern Idaho ground squirrel and three plant species have met, or soon will, the recovery goals that can trigger the delisting process. The Idaho spring snail might be taken off the list due to misclassification.

The other 15 species listed in Idaho will continue to need the federal law's protection for the foreseeable future, O'Laughlin and Cook say. For example, although Snake River salmon have been listed for more than a decade, ESA-required recovery goals and delisting objectives have not yet been developed.

The report may be ordered from UI College of Natural Resources, Box 441134, Moscow, ID 83844-1134. The report also may be found online at http://www.cnr.uidaho.edu/pag.

USGBC on the Scientific American 50

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Green Building Council has been named by Scientific American magazine to its annual list for outstanding leadership in science and technology from the past year.

"This is a tremendous accolade. USGBC is honored to be selected as a Business Leader for its contribution to environmental design," said Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO and founding chair of the council. "This honor belongs to each and every one of USGBC's members."

The council was selected for its roll in promoting environmental design, including its LEED green building rating systems, which are expanding into core and shell developments, and neighborhoods.

Past Scientific American 50 winners include stem cell researcher Douglas A. Melton of Harvard; Nobel-prize winning neurobiologist Roderick MacKinnon; global public health leader Gro Harlem Brundtland; and Steven Jobs of Apple.