A Record-breaking Gift for Conservation
| A Record-breaking Gift for Conservation Norfolk Southern Corporation recently donated a 12,488-acre conservation easement to South Carolina’s Lowcountry Open Land Trust. The rail company’s gift was a record-breaker—the largest corporate conservation easement in the state’s history and one of the largest ever known in the Southeast.The easement ensures that Brosnan Forest, an ecologically valuable longleaf pine property located 35 miles northwest of Charleston, will be permanently protected from development. Longleaf once dominated the Southeastern coastal plain, extending from Virginia and the Carolinas down into Florida and across to eastern Texas. Today less than 3% remains, much of it degraded.Will Haynie, LOLT executive director, praised Norfolk Southern’s gift as “the best thing that could have happened to boost our collective efforts.” The land trust, which is based in Charleston, focuses on preserving rural lands on the state’s coastal plain. A few weeks following Norfolk Southern’s announcement, LOLT said that Brosnan Forest is serving as a catalyst: an additional 10 properties totaling 2,500 acres will also be conserved under conservation easements, and the trust is working to establish more area easements.Norfolk Southern established Brosnan Forest as a conference center and site for employee recreation, primarily hunting—a use compatible with longleaf conservation. The rail company has long managed the property to benefit the rare longleaf ecosystem, including endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers (Picoides borealis) and other wildlife.In 1998 Norfolk Southern enrolled Brosnan Forest in a Safe Harbor program to benefit RCWs. At the time the property supported 67 colonies; that number is now up to 79, the largest known population on private property. It’s also the most intensively researched: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s red-cockaded woodpecker recovery coordinator Ralph Costa and graduate students have studied the Brosnan woodpeckers since 1998. Some of the other Safe Harbor properties to enroll in a conservation easement include Texas ranches owned by Kerry Russell and Bob Long and Jim Crosswhite’s EC Bar Ranch in Arizona. Although Safe Harbor has been criticized for offering fixed-term, rather than permanent, protection, for some landowners the program has been a stepping stone on the way to a permanent conservation easement.Certainly conservation in perpetuity is the aim of Norfolk Southern. “We believe it is our responsibility to support and encourage sustainability practices that will protect and conserve natural resources for generations to come,” said Norfolk Southern CEO Wick Moorman. “Our partnership with LOLT will help preserve Brosnan Forest’s natural and historic value for the future.”View the Brosnan Forest photo gallery and read the Norfolk Southern press release.Margaret McMillan Endangered Species Specialist Center for Conservation Incentives |
| Asbestos Use Today: information from a reader Asbestos is still imported and used in the U.S. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. imported and used an estimated 1,820 tons of asbestos in 2007; see this PDF file from the USGS, please click only if you want to download the PDF. Also, the U.S. House of Representatives is considering a [.] |
| Water Guzzlers Removed from City Hall Last Friday, Mayor Hickenlooper announced that new water-saving toilets and urinals are being installed in the City and County Building. Over the next couple of weeks, 133 water-guzzling toilets (averaging 3.5-5.0 gallons per flush) and 28 urinals (averaging 1-5 gallons per flush) will be replaced with 1.6-gallon toilets and half-gallon urinals. In 2006, occupants used [.] |
| Malaria cases to rise, warns UN. Kenyans should prepare for an increase in malaria cases as the effects of global warming begin to be felt, a UN agency has warned. |
| Press Release: Statement of EDF President Fred Krupp on New House Climate Legislation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
( “We appreciate that Chairmen Dingell and Boucher are moving forward with their bill in this critical economic time for “The unbending science demands that we reduce global warming pollution far enough – and fast enough – to protect us from the worst consequences of climate change. The near-term targets and timetables in the current draft of the proposal fall far short of that goal. EDF will continue to push for strong emissions reduction targets in the early years of the program as discussions move forward. Importantly, their proposal appears to manage costs without provisions that would bust the emissions cap. “We look forward to working with the chairmen, along with leadership and the new president, to pass a bill that protects the climate and delivers the economic stimulusAmerica needs now more than ever.” ### About Environmental Defense Fund A leading national nonprofit organization, Environmental Defense Fund represents more than 500,000 members. Since 1967, Environmental Defense Fund has linked science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems. For more information, visit www.edf.org |
| Future of green is not so black, say some The deepening economic crisis may appear to be the perfect storm for environmentalism, but many in and around the green movement contend the opposite, seeing in it a time of opportunity.The conventional view is this: willingness to protect the environment is wedded to prosperity. |
| New Energy Economy Emerging in the United States EUR |