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October 15, 2002

Wildlines is a publication for state policy makers, environmental educators, and environmental activists. It strives to bring you the most important news on state environmental issues from across the country.

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In this Edition: 
Issue Spotlight: Stopping SLAPP Suits 
Headliner: Bush Admin. Attacks California’s Auto Emission Rules
Watchdog: Builders Backpedal on Open Space Laws
News from the States:
*US Establishes New Organic Standards
*Florida Governor Everglades Efforts Slammed 
*Researchers Urge Long-Term Forest Strategy 
*Florida Reconsiders Endangered Status of Manatees 
*Snakehead Success Prompts Request to Wipe Out Other Invasive Species
*Maine Debates Coyote Snaring 
*Bush Admin. Could Shift Water from Parks
*North Carolina Zoo Observes Wolf Awareness Week
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Issue Spotlight: Stopping SLAPP Suits 
SLAPPs -- Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation -- are civil legal complaints brought by corporations, real estate developers, or other entities who are opposing public interest issues. They are usually civil complaints or counterclaims against an individual who exercised free speech.  Typically, SLAPPs are based on ordinary state court civil claims such as defamation, conspiracy, and interference with prospective economic advantage. SLAPPs involve issues of state law such as tort claims, so federal legislation cannot solve this legal problem. To learn how to stop SLAPP suits in your state, click here. 
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Headliner: Bush Admin. Attacks California’s Auto Emission Rules 
(San Francisco Chronicle 10/10)
In an unprecedented federal attack on a California auto pollution program, the Bush administration backed carmakers Wednesday in a legal challenge to the state's requirements for increased sales of electric and low- polluting vehicles.  The U.S. Justice Department joined General Motors and DaimlerChrysler in an ongoing effort to use the court system to prevent California’s Air Resources Board from instituting a policy requiring auto manufactures to sell a certain percentage of fuel-efficient vehicles.  Citing a 1975 establishing federal regulation of fuel economy, the Bush administration’s lawsuit could severely compromise California’s ability to control air pollution in the state. 
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Watchdog: Builders Backpedal on Open Space Laws (Philadelphia Inquirer 9/25)
The Pennsylvania Builders Association, once a partner in developing laws to protect open space, has reversed its position. The PBA board of directors approved two policies at its July meeting which call for an end to public funding for farm preservation and a time limit on conservation easements, among other things. The lobbying group, which has in the past collaborated on anti-sprawl initiatives, would now like to weaken the already moderate policies put in place in 2000. Legislators and municipal officials reacted with surprise and renewed commitment to the land preservation laws. Click here for more information on smart growth legislation. Click here for other watchdogs.  

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News from the States:

US Establishes New Organic Standards (Washington Post 10/9)
On October 21, “organic” will be a certified, voluntary label across the country for farmers who earn more than $5000 in organic sales. The certification means the farmer obeyed restrictions on pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, irradiation, bio-engineering, conservation of soil and water, and humane animal treatment. The four label categories include: 100 percent organic, organic (at least 95 percent), made with organic ingredients (at least 70 percent), and contains organic ingredients. Organic industry analysts expect the new standard to boost sales from last year’s $9 billion to $20 billion by 2005. According to the Organic Consumers Association, a 400,000-member nonprofit group, the standards are “Grade B organic,” closing some loopholes but meeting minimum aspirations of the organic community. Many, like General Mills, Coca-Cola, and Heinz who have bought organic companies to sell products in big supermarkets, believe the federal label will help mainstream organics.

Florida Governor Everglades Efforts Slammed (St. Petersburg Times 10/11)
In Florida, the Everglades Commission (43 environmental groups) is criticizing Gov. Jeb Bush for supporting special interests and corporations instead of the $7.8 billion restoration plan he once touted. The state’s refusal to tighten rules means city and agricultural water demands may receive priority over natural systems, like the everglades. Congress has been reluctant to release project money, already cutting appropriations by $10 million. Gov. Bush has until December to act, but conservationists feel like they are receiving a deaf ear despite an earlier agreement with the President calling natural systems a top priority. However, with half the Everglades already gone, lax rules have many worried. 

Researchers Urge Long-Term Forest Strategy (Arizona Daily Star 10/09)
Government and university researchers at the Sierra Nevada Science Symposium in Lake Tahoe, CA called for a long-term forest strategy instead of crisis-induced planning. They agreed that removing fuel loads and slash from forests and preserving big trees reduces wildfires and are awaiting a U.S. Forest Service 5-year, $1 million study investigating the impacts of prescribed fire versus mechanical thinning. Researchers called for more money to study fire activity and its effects on habitat and ecosystems because fire is an inevitable, natural part of most ecosystems, not an enemy. For example, Sequoias in the southern Sierra have survived as many as 60 fires in their lifetime. For more on forest management policy, click here. 

Florida Reconsiders Endangered Status of Manatees (Miami Herald 10/10)
Despite projecting a population decline of at least 50 percent over the next 45 years, a state report claims that the manatee should be removed from Florida’s endangered species list. In 1999 Florida adopted a stricter definition of ‘endangered’ that requires an 80 percent projected decline in the population over 45 years and a 50 percent chance of extinction of the species in 50 years. Critics of the standard emphasize that, under such standards, not even the Florida panther could be considered endangered. Manatees remain designated endangered species under the federal Endangered Species Act. To protect your states endangered species, click here. 

Snakehead Success Prompts Request to Wipe Out Other Invasive Species (AP10/10)
The prompt eradication of the invasive northern snakeheads from Maryland is being hailed as a success, showing the necessity of emergency action in the fight against invasive species in the nations’ wildlife refuges. The National Wildlife Refuge Association released a report urging Congress to spend $30 million a year over five years to train volunteers for 50 rapid response strike teams. The strike teams would not only respond to emergency infestations, but monitor the ground to identify potential infestations. Eight million of the 94 million acres in the refuge system are infested with nonnative species.

Maine Debates Coyote Snaring (Portland Press Herald 10/8)
The practice of snaring coyotes in order to help Maine’s deer populations is being questioned. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife proposed stricter guidelines for coyote snaring following a report that snared coyotes suffered long, painful deaths. Data showed that, of 94 snared coyotes, 63 percent did not die within five minutes from suffocation from the snare, but were bludgeoned, shot or died of hemorrhaging. Opponents of snaring emphasize that snaring does nothing to control the coyote population. During the winter of 2000-2001, trappers snared 342 coyotes out of the estimated 15,000 coyotes in Maine.

Bush Admin. Could Shift Water from Parks (NY Times 10/12)
The Bush administration has opened the way for Western states to gain control over enormous volumes of water previously claimed by the federal government. That would shift the balance in a long battle over control of a scarce resource. The policies cede to Western states important water rights that the Clinton administration had claimed. Bush administration officials describe the new approach as an antidote to past federal excess. Environmentalists said the policies would give the states more latitude to transfer water to their cities and away from national parks, forests, wildlife refuges and other federal lands. At least five Western states have begun broad efforts to sort out competing water claims. In general, the law gives the states rather than D.C. the authority to allocate water rights. But when the federal government sets aside land for a particular purpose like a national monument or an Indian reservation, the law has been interpreted as giving the government the implicit right to reserve enough water for it.

North Carolina Zoo Observes Wolf Awareness Week (Greensboro News & Record 10/13)
A variety of activities to entertain and educate visitors will highlight the celebration of national Wolf Awareness Week today through Oct. 20 at the N.C. Zoological Park. The zoo exhibits red wolves and is participating in a breeding program to reintroduce them into a five-county area near NC’s Outer Banks. This year, 22 states have proclaimed the third week of October as Wolf Awareness Week. The N.C. Zoo will again team with Defenders of Wildlife, who has also launched a website at www.defenders.org/waw. Visitors can learn more about ways to get involved with wolf conservation and receive a schedule of events for the various Wolf Awareness Week activities.

New York Bill Promotes ‘Green’ Lawns
Environmental Advocates of New York is supporting A. 7201, a bill that would restrict the disposal of yard waste through burial in a landfill or by incinerator. Since yard waste comprises about 8 to 18 percent of the waste stream, prohibiting its disposal will enable localities to conserve rapidly diminishing landfill capacity while preserving valuable compost and mulch used in agriculture. In addition, the ban would reduce incinerator emissions of harmful nitrogen oxides that produce smog and acid rain. For more information about what you can do to promote ‘greener’ lawn care click here. __________________________________________________________________________