| Summary: | Bexar Tracks began with Vol. 4, no. 1 (January 1986). It continues Newsletter (Bexar Audubon Society). Inside Tracks Beneath the Gavel . 2,3 Local News . 4,5 Environmental Issues . 6-9 Bird Tales . 10,11 Calendar . 12 January Outing Here are the details on our date wHh John J. Audubon in Houston, the weekend of January 21 and 22. Saturday, ]attuary 21 1:00/2:30 Houston Zoo, to learn about the Attwater Prairie Chicken captive breeding program. 3:00/5:00 JohnJ Audubon watercolor exhibit at the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. 7:00/9:00 BBQ at Houston Audubon Edith Moore Sanctuary. Su11day, ]attuary 22 7:00am Edith Moore Sanctuary for continental breakfast, walk trails. 8:00am Guided tour of Katy Prairie, home to thousands of wintering geese and ducks. Noonish Head home or Houston activities on your own Package price $30 for Audubon members, $35 non. Includes a $12 donation to the 501(c)3Audubon Foundation of Texas. Call Bill Sain at 408-7731 to sign up, for information on hotels (the hotel reservations and bill are your responsibility), and for car-pool and/or bus information. BEXAR AUDUBON SOCIETY CHAPTER OF THE NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY 21 0-8220:4503 The Chapter's primary goals are to promote spedes and habitat conservation, and environmental education in the community. Volume XIII, No. 1 January 1995 Balancing the Equation In light of the dangers posed by the incoming Congress and the Texas Legislature to the gains in environmental protection over the last two decades, the first few months of this year are crucial if we are to mitigate the damage. It is becoming increasingly apparent that the ability to mediate polarized communities is a role Bexar Audubon Society can effectively fill. BAS has the means to find solutions to these problems that affect all of us regardless of our environment: city, suburban, farms and ranches, or city, state and national parks. Over the next several meetings we will try to establish an understanding that the law of conservation of matter and energy is a very broad sweeping Ia w of nature which cannot be violated. What we displace or change on one side of an equation begets a consequence on the other side. It behooves us to understand the consequences of any actions- societal, physical and biological. These three areas are so tied together that it is almost impossible to change one and not change the others. With these ideas in mind, the programs starting January '95 will focus awareness on our actions as stewards of this planet, in solving the problems we face in balancing tl1e environmental equation. ]a11uary 19 Meetittg: Dr. Woody Saunders, Trinity University Urban Studit:s Department, wUl present a program that looks at the environmental and cultural forces influencing infrastructure development. This is especially relevant with the apparent (at this writing) breakdown of the pact to protect the aquifer. · 1995 Electio11: Also at this meeting, we will elect our officers and at-large board members for 1995. The slate proposed by the nomination committee, along with biographical infonnation and a mail-in ballot, can be found on page 5. Meetittg Specifics: Monthly meeting of Bexar Audubon Society, Thursday, January 19, 1995. Refreshments will be available at 7:00pm. Come early to socialize. Free and open to the public. Call822-4503 for more information. Locatio11: Ruble Center, 419 E.1st Magnolia Street, San Antonio. Nearest freeway exit is North St. Mary's, off Highway 281. Public Tra11sportatiott: VIA Route 5 (St. Mary's-McCullough-North Star Mall) to Magnolia Street. February 17 Meetittg: Peggy Prather of Holistic Resource Management of Texas, Inc. will lead us through an understanding of the social, cultural, biological and phyRical forces involved to bring together the producers (owners) of the land with the equations of the environment. It's 1995! New year, new challenges, new frustrations, new friends and colleagues, renewed alliances, new successes to celebrate, new commitments to the future. One again the topic for this letter has been chosen with difficulty. As I enjoyed the South Texas luxury of sitting on my back porch watching birds at the feeder and soaking up some wintersun thedayafterChristmas,Imulled over the changes in government and the challenges facing us next year, both here in Texas and in Washington. Some say we risk losing the ground won in twenty years of concentrated effort to put environmental regulations and protections in place to conserve the elements of our natural world for future generations and ourselves to appreciate and enjoy. Think Locally Stop with me for a moment. Look around you. • Listen to the birds; think about those here as migrants for the win-ter or en route elsewhere. · • Look at the city skyline. Is there a brown smudge on the horizon? • Turn on your tap and appreciate the clear, clean water we still enjoy. • Think about the amount of pesticides on your food today, and what it could be. And ifthere had been no reform, how a silent spring could have become a death knell for us all. Follow the Threads Spend an hour thinking about everything you have, everything you do, and everything you enjoy and appreciate that you have-or have access to-in its present quality or quantity, directly because somebody cared enough to sound the alarm and do something to keep someone else from destroying or degrading it. Ask yourself how much conservation or protection would have occurred were people simply encouraged to "do the right thing." Am I cynical? Perhaps. But sometimes the average citizen or the average businessperson has no idea (as hard as this may be to imagine) of the impact of January 1995 BENEATH THE GAVEL his or her behavior on the environment or upon the rights of other citizens until somebody points it out. Then the choice to observe others' rights is weighed against personal benefit. Do you have faith that most people will consistently and reliably choose their neighbor's health and safety over their own profit or convenience? Examine other countries and other cultures. What have been the results of their choices on environmental issues- good and bad? Evaluate the Arguments There are people in positions of power today who have the potential to make significant changes that affect our lives. If we care about our future, however, and the integrity of our ecosystems, we can, we must, and we will challenge them. Do you believe, as Congressman Henry Bonilla says he does, that the Endangered Species Act endangers human beings? Do you believe that human beings are in danger of extinction? If they are, is it because of habitat destruction resulting from other species' successes? Or is it because we humans are racing headlong toward an uncertain future, all the while fouling our own nests? Is the danger to the pocket books of the few, or the long-term health and welfare of the many? Quick Action Anticipated According to Liz Raisbeck, VP in the NAS DC office, via an e-mail on 12/27, the word is that tl1ere will be quick action in Washington on a number of items: A budget rescission (read: repeal) bill. This could have devastating impact on programs we care about. It could contain a provision for no funds for unauthorized programs, such as the ESA, SuperFund, Clean Water Act, etc. Unfunded mandates bill. This is a top priority in both houses. The goal is to have it done by the end of January. Very difficult to stop, but NAS will lobby for a process bill, not a bill that actually requires "no money, no mandate." Rather it should require a cost l analysis and verification that it will not put an undue burden on state or local governments. Also, it absolutely should not apply to the private sector, as some are proposing, and it must not be a vehicle to let the states off the hook on polluting. They must be subject to the "polluter pays" principle. The Administration is rewriting its FY '96 budget to include major reductions in programs. What programs will the reductions affect? We don't know yet, but the subcommittee chair for Interior Appropriations has been told his allocation will be reduced by $1 billion. The Contract with America legislation will be split up and sent to various committees. There is still negotiation over that. Judiciary and Government Operations will probably be very important to environmental issues. Our concern is that the "Contract'' not be allowed to undo twenty years of efforts for environmental protection in the U.S. Whafs in Store? I have heard interesting reports from Washington. Bonilla is reported to be chosen by the Republican leadership to spearhead a campaign to weaken the protections of the Endangered Species Act. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison is said to co-chair an effortto reduce regulatory burdens. Other Texans-Phil Gramm, Dick Armey, Bill Archer, and Tom DeLay- none of whom are noted for their environmental stewardship, are also in key positions in tl1is Congress. Contract Violations What does NAS see as some of the elements and potential impacts of the Contract? Parts of it are a war against the environment cleverly cloaked in happy platitudes. Rather than protecting the public, these elements will create a huge financial burden wrapped in red tape. Eliminating unfunded mandates means every state and local government that pollutes would not have to comply with our federal laws unless the government paid 100 percent of the Bexar Tracks BENEATH THE GAVEL, continued cost. (And how do you measure exactly where those costs begin and end? Let your imagination wander. You'll be surprised.) Taxpayers would have to generate billions of dollars to pay both state and local go,vernments and property own, ers for obeying the law. The.administrative burden would make it prohibitive to govern. Protecting wildlife, air, water, health, and public safety could be entirely out of the question. It would reverse tl1e principle that the polluter pays. In this cynical new twist, unless the government pays polluters not to pollute, they can claim a "taking" of their private property. Winners and Losers Who benefits from the Contract? We understand that Title IX would create a massive new entitlement program for land developers and resource industries. Powerful special interests who want to eliminate the barriers of environmental regulation would benefit. Several titles require elaborate government analysis of the cost of regulation, and analysis of the effect of every regulation on property values, as well as an analysis of the cost of every regulation to a state or local government:'· . In addition it would require the government to pay anyone whose property values are diminished by 10 percent or more by a government regulation. This would include developers and resource industries, yes-but could also include the property owner next door, who is now restricted from engaging in activities on his or her property that could negatively impact your life and your own investment. Who will be hurt? Children, the elderly, and those most vulnerable to pollution- caused illnesses, as well as the nation's wildlife and the habitat it depends upon. As alluded to above, millions of homeowners will have no recourse against the dangerous activities of their neighbors when tl1e prohibition of unfunded mandates means the federal government cannot require states an'd local governments to implen1ent envi- Bexar Tracks ronmental standards, and tl1e takings provisions require governments to pay property owners for obeying tl1e law. What Must We Do? .We cannot let our elected officials believe that we do not care or that we do not understand these implications. We have looked beyond the surface of these proposals. So, what must we do? The following recommendations are based on Raisbeck's communication: • Demand that the Clinton Administration- the White House in particular~ efend the environment. • Lobby your senators and representative (yes, I know we have Gramm and Hutchison, but they must know that they have a, constituency that cares deeply about the environment) to think about what our country would 'be like today if the legislation and regulation they seek to unravel had not been in place over the past twenty years. It hasn't been perfect, but there have been results that have meant positive protection for species, for ecosystems, and for air and water, health and safety. • Look closely and intelligently at propositions of the Contract andrelated legislative initiatives. Study the financial and bureaucratic impacts of these initiatives. Dig below the surface and determine the longterm and resjdual impacts of these ·proposals. • Let local media know of your concenlS. Ask whether cutting government waste should not include cuttingsubsidies to miners in the West, grazing on public lands, water development projects that also destroy the environment, subsidies to farmers to mine the land, sugar subsidies, fuel subsidies, and tax policies that encourage the destruction of natural resources-to name a few. Act Wherever You Reasonably Can & Encourage Community It will not be easy to stem the current tide. Indeed, I believe that some of the most important work over the next 3 several years will, of necessity, be done at the grassroots level in otlr own communities. . We will be well served by spending effort here at home to demonstrate clearly that we care deeply about our environment and are willing not only to look to Washington or Austin to do something about it, but to invest our own sweat and elbow grease, our own creativity, and our own resources to improving and conserving our natural bounty. (That's one of the most wonderful things about our "Natural Initiatives" habitat project! It accomplishes exactly this result.) The Important Thing to Remember Remember why it matters. Ask what tl1e results may be if you do nothing, tl1en make that phone call, write that letter, and talk to your friends. Write to your Senators (Gramm and Hutchison) at: The Honorable -__ , U.S. Senate, Washington, DC 20510, to your Congressman at: The Honorable __ , U.S. House of Representatives~ Washington, DC 20515, or call any of them at the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202)224-3121. To write the President, address your letter to The Honorable Leon Panetta, Chief of Staff to the President, First Floor, West Wing, Executive Office of the President, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500 Have a positive, fulfilling, wholesome, and balanced 1995. Rejoice in nature. Reinforce your commitment to a future of sharing the earth, for in this is love and health and life. - Susa11 Hughes It would reverse the principle that the polluter pays. In this cynical new twist, unless the government pays polluters not to pollute, they can claim a "taking" of their private property. January 1995 Wildscape Gasses Texas Parlci & Wildlife Department wants to offer opportunities to the public to learn more about wildscaping. Through their Urban Fish & Wildlife Program they are offering classes, through local school districts, on wildscaping and the critters it attracts. Some of the courses will be free, while others may have $2.00 fee to cover lSD costs associated with them. Almost all of the classes require registration by the end ofJanuary, so don't delay. Call the schools for registration information. Here's a list: Northside ISD 522-8100 2/08 Wildscaping: The Basics 2/14 Bird Watching: Beginners 2/18 A Focus on Native Plants 3/08 Wildscaping: The Basics 3/18 Nestbox Design & Placement 4/05 Wildscaping: The Basics 4/13 Hummingbirds & Butterflies 5/03 Wildscaping: The Basics 5/09 Water & Pond Building South Sa11 A11to11io ISD 927-1160 2/21 Nestbox Design & Placement 3/14 A Focus on Native Plants 4/18 Wildscaping: The Basics 4/27 Water & Pond Building 5/16 Wildscaping: The Basics South West ISD 622-9908 3/28 Wildscaping: The Basics Questions? Call Judit Gowen, TPWD Urban Biologist, 349-2174. Earth Day Calendar The San Antonio Earth Day Committee has announced that attractive 1995 Earth Day Calendars can be purchased at · the Witte Museum, the McNay Art Museum, Books top, · Body Shop, Kathleen Sommers, Booksmiths, The Twig, and Whole Foods Market. The cost is $12.95. A portion of tl~e proceeds will benefit both Earth Day USA and the local Earth Day Celebration (of which Bexar Audubon Society is a primary sponsor). January 1995 LOCAL NEWS Bike Trail Meeting Twenty years from now, what will our community be like for bicycling? Why isn't San Antonio more bikefriendly today? How can the Bicycle Mobility Plan make our town a great place for cyclists? The last public meeting for comments on the San Antonio/Bexar County Bicycle Mobility Plan will be held by the Metropolitan Planning Organization on Tuesday, January 10, 1995, at 7pm, in the River Room, Valero Energy Building, 530 McCullough. CPB/NPR on Hit list High on the cut list of the 104th Congress are public TV and radio. Not content to target funding in future budgets, Newt's hatchetmen have promised to cut funding already approved for this year. Considering the minimal amount of money involved, one has to suspect a vendetta. If you like KSTX and KP AC, your public radio stations, or KLRN, your public television station, call or write your Senators and Representatives (see Susan Hughes' article on page 3 for addresses and phone numbers). BAS Video Library BAS maintains a library of video tapes (VHS) for loan to members, teachers, and community groups. We've added 20 or more titles this year, including National Geographic and World of Audubon programs. For a list of videos, or to arrange to borrow one, contact Betty Minyard, Education chair, at 344-6128. (PS: If you have borrowed one of our video tapes and failed to return it, what better time than now?) 4 I 04th Congress Directories of the 104th Congress, complete with photos (wow!), addresses and phone numbers, names of key aides, committee assignments, etc., will be available to us for $10 each early in 1995. It will be a valuable aid in our letterwriting efforts throughout the year. If you'd like one, call Susan Hughes (532-2332) by January 20. Thanks Special thanks this month to Bill Sain, Walter Barfield, Anita Reeves, Claire Drenowatz, Tatjana Terauds, and Susan Hughes for their labeling and collating efforts in getting the December newsletter mailed. Bexar Tracks is mailed to more than 1,400 members each month, and this group of volunteers transfonned a task of several hours into two delightful hours of conversation and laughter and got the newsletter ready for mailing in the process. If you are interested in joining a convivial group for conversation, laughter, plus an introduction to the mysteries of bulk mailing, call Harriet Wiygul. New faces are always welcome. Thanks also to Dan Davis, whom we don't mention nearly often enough, for managing a large mailing list (sometimes with the additional complication of confusing infom1ation from NAS' s contract data service) and getting the labels to us in time; and to Kristy Davis, who makes sure they get from New Braunfels to San Antonio. And finally, thanks to those who contributed to the success of the holiday slide show and eating extravaganza. The slides were a special treat, ranging from Trh1idad' s exotic birds to native plants to spectacular shots of cranes in flight to astonishing views of autum-nal Alaskan skies. · The food was delicious and rich, just what you would expect from a bw1ch of decadent Americans. Thanks to all who contributed tasty treats. -Harriet Wiygul Bexarlracb Cranefest •gs Recognized naturalist John Karges will be a featured guest during Big Spring's Third Annual Cranefest, scheduled for February 3 and 4. A presentation by West Texas birding experts will be provided at the bahquet on Friday night. Saturday you can take guided birdwatching tours of Big Spring State Park, Comanche Trail Park, and surrounding areas. There will be a program by Last Chance Forever, the Birds of Prey Conservancy of San Antonio. They specialize in rehabilitating sick or injured birds of prey and returning them to the wild. They will bring hawks, owls, falcons, eagles, and vultures (a couple species of each) and allow them to fly. For more information, contact the Big Spring Chamber of Commerce at 915-263-7641 or Pat Simmons, Event Coordinator, at 915-263-4607. CON CAUSA On December 10, the United States signed a joint agreement witl~ seven Central American counties (Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Belize), which establishes a framework to address environmental issues. Called CONCA USA, the agreement calls for cooperative actions aimed within Central America to conserve and use sustainably Central America's biodiversity. CONCAUSA's progress will be monitored annually. - E11virommmtal Policy Update (Compiled from the Daily Et~virottnumt Report, Bureau of Natiot1al Affairs, Washittgtott, DC) Bexar Tracks LOCAL NEWS A Note from a Friend Well, we had an air inversion last week. Not a cloud in the sky, but you couldn't see the mountains. And what was the topic on the local radio talk show? "The nasty EPA wants us to spend our good money on tests we don't need because there is nothing wrong with our air. Those idiots in Washington don't know anything." Meanwhile, we have one of the highest incidents of cancer in the country. And asthma is extremely common. Ask anyone in Blair County, Pa., if he or she had a sinus infection or bronchitis last winter. Most will answer yes. But that's normal. Never mind that a $25 test of car emissions is cheaper than one visit to the doctor. -Paula Ford 12/26/94 Adde11da from ye ed: Chicago also had a serious air inversion, carbon monoxide detectors were going off all over town, thousands of them, and people were calling the fire department, which, of course, was going nuts. So the officialdom issued a plea not to call the fire department about carbon monoxide. And they castigated the makers of the most popular CO detector because, "they were too sensitive." That's right, blame the canary. Bexar Audubon Election lime Below is the slate of officers presented by the BAS Nominating Committee. The election will occur at the BAS General Meeting, Thursday, January 19, at 7:30 pm. Please be there to make your interest~ and concerns known, and to take an active role in the future of BAS. If you cannot attend the meeting, but wish to vote by mail ballot, please mark and cut out the ballot and mail it in time to be received by January 18. You are encouraged to write in your own candidates for any position. Writein candidates must be current I)lembers of BAS. Ballots with write-ins must be accompanied by a statement signed by the candidate indicating willingness to serve if elected. Your name and address as it appears on your newsletter label must be clearly marked on the outside of your mailing envelope in order to validate your vote. However, to protect your privacy, it does not have to appear on the ballot itself. If you wish, you may enclose your ballot in another envelope inside your mailing envelope. (Editor's note: My apologies to the candidates I hounded for their bios, and who turned them in. Since I did not receive all of them, I felt it best not to print any.) Mail Ballot to: BAS Teller, PO Box 6084, San Antonio, TX 78209 President Vice President Secretary Treasurer Board Member Board Member Board Member Board Member 5 Circle proposed candidates or write in your own: Susan Hughes (write in) _______________ _ Harriet Wiygul (write in) _______________ _ Anita Reeves (write in) --- Bill Sain (write in) --- Patty L. Pasztor (write in) --- Richard L. Pipes (write in) --- Bill Woller (write in) --- Claire Drenowatz (write in) January 1995 "Contract with America" Takings Provision Threatens Taxpayers, Homeowners, and Public Safety and Health In September, Republican representatives and candidates led by Newt Gingrich (R-GA) issued the Contract with America, a 10-point program outlining their goals for the 104th Congress. One element of this program, the deceptively-titled "Job Creation and Wage Enhancement Act," includes a proposal-Title IX. Private Property Rights Protections and Compensation- which would radically redefine traditional American property rights. Leaders of the 104th Congress have vowed to have a vote on this and other elements of the Contract within 100 days of the opening day ·of the new Congress on January 4th. Title IX is a budget buster which would add tens-if not hundreds--of billions of dollars in expenses to the federal budget. Title IX would create a massive new entitlement program for the benefit of big business interests, at the expense of the average Americans, including tl1e 65 million homeowners whose property values would go down, and whose taxes would go up, if it were adopted. Title IX would destroy well-established, widely-supported public health, safety, and environmental protections that benefit all Americans, and would cause serious new health and environmental problems for millions of citizens. The Proposed Bill Title IX would grant some property owners the right to public payments" for . this type of legislation would "write into law the dubious principle that the government must pay polluters not to pollute, pay property owners not to harm their neighbors or the public, and pt:Jy companies not to dam-age the health, safety, or welfare of others." January 1995 ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES any reduction in the value of property" arising from a limitation on an otherwise lawful use of property which is "measurable but not negligible." The bill defines any "reduction" in value of 10 percent or more as "not negligible." Stated differently, the bill would require taxpayers to pay whenever a public health or safety law meant that a company's profits would be 10 percent less than tl1ey would be if the company could simply ignore the law. The proposed bill would allow a property owner to file an administrative claim for payment from tl1e federal government. lf a property owner rejected a federal agency's offer of payment, he could demand binding arbitration. In addition, upon receipt of a request for payment, an agency would be required to suspend its regulatory action. In other words, for the cost of 29- cent stamp, any company or individual that objected to a regulation could block its enforcement by filing a claim under the Act. Analysis Title IX represents a radical depar- · ture from the compensation standard . for actual i'takings" of private property under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. The Fifth Amendment guarantees that private property shall not be "taken" for public use without "just compensation." The courts have ruled that a "taking'' claim must be decided based on a careful evaluation of a regulation's economic impact on the property owner, the character of the regulation, the owner's reasonable expectations at time of purchase, and whether tl1e regulation helps protect neigl1boring property owners and the community as a whole. Under these standards, even some regulations witl1 modest economic effects can result in a constitutional taking; on the other hand, very stringent restrictions will not result in a taking if the regulation protects other important private or public values. In contrast to the careful, balanced analysis required under tl1e Constitution, Title IX would focus solely on the 6 regulation's economic impact and require the public to pay in a great many circumstances when no "just compen- . sation" is due under the Constitution. On its face, Title IX would impose an enormous new burden on the federal taxpayer. Businesses subject to public regulation would receive a massive windfall at the expense of every other American. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that a "property rights" bill defeated in tl1e last Congress-which would have redefined property interests regulated under the Clean Water Act-would have cost upwards of $10 billion. Conservatively, it is fair to conclude that the Contract bill would impose 11undreds of billions of new costs on Federal taxpayers. Title IX is based on the extreme philosophy that citizens and their elected representatives have no role in regulating private property to protect neighboring property owners, the. community, the natural environment, or future generations. As a group of State Attorneys General recently wrote in a letter to Congress, this type of legislation would "write into law the dubious principle that the government must pay polluters not to pollute, pay property owners not to harm their neighbors or the public, and pay companies not to damage the health, safety, or welfare of others." Contrary to the label attached to it, tl1is bill would actually undermine the property rights of most Americans. Zoning laws, environmental regulations, and restrictions on the siting of new industry protect the property values of the 65 million American homeowners. The value of a family's home is largely dependent on the health and attractiveness of the surrounding community. If the enforcementofbasiclaws that homeowners rely on to protect their property values were saddled with enormous new costs, homeowners would see property values go down. By contrast, tl1e handful of wealthy corporations and individuals who own - colt ti11ued 11ext page Bexar Tracks the bill would require taxpayers to pay whenever a public health or safety law meant that a company's profits would be 10 percent less than they would be if the company could simply ig-nore the law. - CWA, co11ti11ued the lion's share of undeveloped land in this country would benefit handsomely from the Act. The Practical Implications Title IX would destroy or impair a wide variety of protections which Americans now enjoy. For example: • A developer could claim a right to payment if he were required to avoid developing 15 acres of wetlands out of a parcel of 100 acres, even when the wetland filling would contribute to flooding of downstream properties. • An agribusiness operator could demand payment if it were banned from using a dangerous pesticide and its crop yield declined. • A timber company would have i:o be paid not to destroy critical habitat for an endangered species, regardless of whether it could still earn a reasonable return from timbering other portions of the land. It is imperative that you let your congressional representatives know that you find this bill unacceptable.(See Susan Hughes' article an pages 2 and 3 far addresses and phone numbers.) For further information on this and other takings issues, contact me or Sharon Dennis at (202) 547-9009. - ]oh11 Echeverria NAS Ge11eral Cou11sel Oimate Note Earth relies on the sun for all its heat and light. As a matter of fact, if the amount of sunlight that reaches the earth was cut by 10%, the earth would become so cold its oceans would become ice and all life would die. Bexar Tracks ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES Confused by "Wise Use" Movement Rhetoric? Here•s a Handy Decoder What They Say What They Really Mea11 Wise use of our natural resources Lockup of our natural resources Decadent, over-mature forest Healthy and tluifty forest The range lands of the West are in better condition today than in my grandpa's time. The war against the West Easterners Socialists/conununists Environmental terrorism Those people who think animals are more important than people Hippies on food stamps who don't know what it means to work Playground for Easterners Environmental terrorism A working river Maybe, like the dinosaur~, it's a species that just can't adapt. Species that can adapt They're trying to take my property. 7 Any extractive use of natural products, especially if the extraction makes lots of noise, uses motors, or goes "moo" Reliance on nature's ways. Use of the natural environment without obvious human modification or degradation. An ancient forest (old-growth) with a balance of young, old and dead trees A tree farm Things are better tl1an duringthe dust bowl days. The battle within the west over reform of public land use. Anyone, anywhere, in the United States who lives in a town with more than a couple thousand people People who want to reduce government subsidies to western mining, logging and grazing Lawful appeal of a timber sale or filing a lawsuit Those who think that people who like animals other tl1an livestock should have their wishes considered too. Environmentalists Any place in the Western United States used for recreation by folks from outside the county. Lawful appeal of a timber sale, or filing of any lawsuit to enforce environmental regulations A river with its entire flow committed to irrigation, or alternatively, a stream that has been rendered fishless due to pollution - Tom Gray, Mottta11a (from I11temet) The species in question can't leap over dams, thrive on freeways, or make a living in a cow pasture. Livestock I have a scheme that will hann you/your property and I don't want any government regulations tostop me. - Addettda by Richard Luehrs, De11ver January 1995 ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES Needed: A New Messenger Many of the international and national environmental organizations shellshocked by the recent elections, which appear to deprive the environmental movement of its once-considerable political clout, must now analyze the new political landscape and chart a new and probably very different course from the past. . As a movement, it is time to look back in order to discern our right turns from our wrong turns in the last two decades,and to use the past to gain new perspective on where we go from here. The overall map of the environmental movement can be deceiving in that there are the big green outfits (Sierra Club, Audubon, Wilderness Society, National Wildlife Federation, et~.), sustained by a membership of largelyinactive white-middle-class types, and flanked by neo-liberallitigation-driven (lawyer types) organizations like the Environmental Defense Fund, Legal Defense Fund, and the Natural Resources Defense Council, with no significant popular support base. Then there are the "out-there" grass-roots and militant groups ranging from Earth Firsters to Save America's Forests inside the Beltway. The "out there" group may seem diminutive compared to the enviro nationals and internationals, but it is where the near and mid-term future of environmentalism in America will be determined. For the last three decades mainstream environmentalism has been closely allied with the Democratic Party. While this has produced a mixed bag of successes and failures, the grass-roots membership of the large green organizations has felt increasingly left out of the process of national policy planning and decision making (e.g. Audubon's recent problems at the national level). Recent capitulations by the Ointon administration on a number of environmental issues, combined with the shock of the November elections, make many environmentalists wonder if we've reached the limits of the legislative system in tef111S of protecting the environment in the near future. January 1995 If so, where do we go from here? One way is to reflect on our beginnings and to return to our roots. In those days, we believed-and subsequent successes proved-that effective campaigns can be waged and won from the hinterlands of America. Througltlocal and regional confederations of common-interests groups, we can collectively resist-by a number of legal means-the expected legislative offensive against existing environmental laws and regulations. The most crucial element of any progressive movement is a local press that passionately supports concepts such as environmental equity and justice, sustainable development, and biological diversity and is not afraid to do some radical reporting. The local press must be convinced that it is in the interests of the community for the media to name local corporate environmental sinners, call the bluff of political figures on environmental sellouts, and provide concise analysis of controversial issues for local consumption. Another strategy involves the use of litigation or the threat of litigation where health, safety, and discrimination (environmental justice) are significant elements of an issue. It may even be possible to eventually gain a legal status for such concepts as biological diversity, resource-limits analysis, ecosystem protection, and environmental equity. "Overall, the core strategy for local and regional common-interest groups is to provide a practical plan that can utilize the pent-up sense of alienation and powerless1ess that many people feel." (The Nation, December 19, 1994) This whole story can be summed up in the findings of a recent poll conducted by American Forests magazine, which showed that "timber interest scientists" are now more trusted by people _ in the Northwest than environmentalists. But 48% of the same people also support an end to all logging in the public forests. -Richard L. Pipes 8 Rush Was Wrong New satellite data provide conclu., sive evidence that annual ozone holes over the South Pole are caused by chlorine from industrial chemicals, not from naturally-occurring sources, NASA scientists said on December 19. Previous measurements have convinced most scientists that the ozone destruction is caused by chain chen-tical reactions involving chlorine. But the source of the culprit, chlorine, has remained somewhat controversial. A treaty was ratified in 1987 to gradually eliminate worldwide production of chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, the chemicals believed responsible for the destruction of the ozone layer. But some scientists and political conservatives have argued that chlorine in the stratosphere might come from volcanoes. Talk-show host Rush Limbaugh has said that talk of ozone depletion by CFCs is a "hoax." But NASA scientist Mark Schoeberl and others said that the latest data collected by satellite convince them that about five-sixths of the ozone-destroying chlorine in the stratosphere comes from CFCs. The conclusive filt9-ing, they said, was the presence of fluorine, the "fluoro" part of the CFC molecule, in amounts that correspond to chlorine ill the atmosphere. "There is no natural source of fluorine," Schoeberl said. Anne Douglass, deputy project scientist of NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite program says "This nails it. There is no other possibility." Schoeberl said that the amount of CFCs in the atmosphere has stopped increasing, but that the chemical has a long lifetime. As a result, he said, the global ozone layer will continue to be affected until at least 2020, when the CFCs are expected to return to 1979 levels. The ozone problem will correct itself, said Schoeberl, "if we stick to what we plan" in the world-wide reduction of CFC use and production. -Austill America11 'Statesmtm, 12/20 Bexar Tracks ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES NAS Strategic Planning As we approach the year's end, I would like to report on both the status of NAS and the strategic planning process in which we are presently engaged. On 14 November 1994, the NAS Board of Directors met in Ft. Myers, FL. The meeting included a report on the finances of the organization, and a briefing on the strategic planning process. The membership of NAS has recovered to approximately 550,000, but I question whether the most recent campaigns ($20 and a backpack) are to be credited with this membership rise. Have we replaced long-term $35 members with $20 magazine subscribers who will be seduced away by the next glossy publication to hit the racks? Encouragingly, the projected budget deficit has diminished from $1.8 million to $500,000, mainly due to the recovery of memberships. However, we still face a shortfall next year, and further scaling back may be necessary without additional revenue increases. Chairman Donal O'Brien introduced the consultants who have been chosen to direct the strategic planning process-McKinsey & Company. Jack Dempsey of the firm presented a detailed discussion of the proposed process. McKinsey will oversee the process through completion, and have offered their services pro bono. The planning process will proceed in phases,. with NAS presently in the initial phase zero. During phase zero, members, chapters, councils and all interested parties are being asked to communicate concerns, suggestions, or issues that need to be considered to the following: In the NY office, Vicky Shaw, (NAS), or Martha Blue (McKinsey), 700 Broadway, NY, NY 10003; phone 212- 979-3094, fax 800-636-4443, Internet pIa nning@aud ubon.org). Chairman O'Brien and Cindy Dunn will co-chair the strategic planning process on behalf of the Board. . Phase zero may well be tl1e most important step in the planning process; it will enable the organization and con- Bexar Tracks sultants to summarize the major issues and problems that need to be addressed. If you wish to contribute to this critically important proceeding, then please forward your comments and recommendations as soon as possible. If you wish, please send me a copy ofyourcommentsso thatlmaydevelop a feel for how the region would like to see Audubon transformed. In addition to compiling comments and recommendations, McKinsey will be conducting interviews and focusgroup discussions throughout the country. NAS and McKinsey also conducted a strategic planning session at the convention. The following questions were considered by six break-out groups, and the recommendations were compiled and distributed by the end of the convention. I would like everyone in the region to have the opportunity to respond to these same questions, so please reply to the following and send your recommendations to me as soon as possible: 1. What is NAS's "Unique Value" proposition? What does Audubon do best? How does that differ from other national or local organizations? 2. What should be Audubon's major roles and priorities? The tluee most important roles; three least important? 3. What is the realistic development/ fund-raising outlook for Audubon and its chapters? Can we raise significantly more money? If so, from whom and how? 4. What are the four or five major activities by which Audubon should carry out its mission? How do they work today? How can they be improved? 5. What services can/should the national organization supply to tl1e chapters/ regions? What role(s) should tl1e regions play and what services should they provide to chapters? 6. How can cooperation and teamwork be improved between the chapters and the national organization (list five or six specific ideas)? 9 War Against the· Greens Death threats, dog killings, shootings, arsons, rape, bombings and assaults have become the price many environmentalists are having to pay for speaking out in defense of the earth, according to a newbook, The War Against the Greens (512 pp. Sierra. $25). In The War Against the Greens author David Helvarg, an award -winning journalist and private investigator, travels across America to document how antienvironmental violence, designed to silence or intimidate "tree-huggers" in rural and low-income communities, is one of a range of tactics being used by a small but militant cadre of anti- environmental organizers who call themselves either "Wise Use" or "Property Rights" activists. "These extremists have projected fear into the political process," the book quotes Chuck Clarke, former director of Washington State's Department of Ecology, now a regional director for EPA. "A few hundred pe9ple with a canned speech and canned concerns can have an impact." "Helvarg demolishes the fiction that anti-environmentalism is a grassroots movement by demonstrating its massive corporate underpinnings. This powerful investigative reporting should find wide readership," says Publishers Weekly. Kirkus Review agrees: "His investigation reveals that Wise Use/Property Rights activists are few in number and need to resort to intimidation and violence to be effective in local confrontations . A thought-provoking and timely expose." Before the next NAS Board meeting in March, we should have ample time and opportunity to discuss these matters. I thank each of you for your continued interest and support. - Ted Lee Euba11ks Regiotially-elected Director, Southwest Regio11 3400 Bissomzet, Suite 268 Housto11, TX 77005 713-666-2669 fax 713-666-1963 January 1995 BIRD TALES Murphy Was a Birder "Whatever can go wrong, will." Murphy's Law. As profound as Einstein's equations, as fundamental a shaper of our personal lives as the laws of the physics are of the universe. Immutable, unshakeable, undeniable, incontrovertible. Ask anyone who has ever tried to plan a vacation, remodel a house, fix plumbing, grow a garden, raise a child, find a life bird . "Find a life bird?" Murphy's law appies to birding? Of course it does, as surely as gravity keeps your boots on the ground. And, like gravity, you take it for granted, rarely think about it. But Murphy's is always there affecting your actions, confounding your plans, a per-petual monkey on your back. . In our combined experience of over 60 years of birding, the authors have deduced some of the many implications and corollaries of Murphy's Law as they apply to those who pursue the feathered folk with binocular and camera. What follows cannot purport to be a complete enumeration of all the glitches and nuances inherent in such a powerful principle, but it is a start. . Like all such universal truths, Murphy's Laws of Birding are things you knew already, but just did not think about-or tried not to think about. We are sure all birders, whether novices or hardened veterans, can add their own insights to these natural and exasperating phenomena. Herewith, then are Murphy's Laws of Birding and Bird Photography. They are as binding on the participants in the sport as the laws of relativity are binding on space, time, matter, energy---Or standing knee-deep in a swamp, for that matter. January 1995 Murphy's First Law of Optics Birds always disappear in that split second when you take your eyes off them to raise your binoculars. Corollary #1 (The Diver Dilemma). Loons, grebes, and alcids always dive when it's your turn at the scope. They surface beyond the scope's range. Murphy's Law of Motio11 A moving bird tends to remain in motion in a straight and predictable line-until you try to focus your binoculars on it. Murphy's Law of Attractiou When you squeak or pish to bring in an unknown bird, all other birds in the neighborhood come to the call-but the object of your attention splits. Corollary #1: (Like Begets Like). When the life owl you need finally responds to your tape, it's another birder with the same tape. Murphy's Law of Lis~i11g That "staked" bird that everyone says you can't miss-you will. Pri11ciple of Photographic Frustratio11 A bird will wait patiently for you to set up your camera and tripod, attach the lens, and get. focused-then leave just as you take the picture. Murphy's Law of Prepared11ess Birds are the most cooperative when you have left your camera and long lens in the car. Addendum #1: The degree of the bird's cooperation increases in direct proportion to the distance you are from the car. Priuciple of Delayed Cooperatio11 A bird will strike its best pose just after you have run out of film. Murphy's Law of Lighti11g The sun always goes behind a douds just when you are ready to trip the shutter. Murphy's Law of Daylight . The most photogenic birds assemble in front of your camera just as the light level falls below the ASA rating of your film. -Eric V. ]oht~soll, Laurie vo11 Hmdy, Martha ]a11e Arnold, a11d Gary Guliasi, from WildBird, March 1989 10 Flamingo Watch In an unprecedented World of Audubon special, millions of flamingos will soar through the African skies and across your television screen live, when National Audubon Society Productions, TBS Superstation and the BBC Natural History Unit join forces to bring you a unique, real-time broadcast of the world's most beautiful, fascinating and graceful airborne wildlife spectacle. Using satellite technology, Audubon, TBS and the BBC will transmit one of the world's most resplendent African wildlife spectacles to classrooms and homes throughout the US and Great Britain. As three million flamingos converge at their feeding grounds, World of Audubon will be tl1ere. Nineteen cameras will cover the fifty miles of Kenya's Great Rift Valley to photograph the three feeding grounds of the flamingos, Lake Bogoria, Lake Nakuru, and Lake Elementeita. FlamittgoWatch, airing Sunday, February 5 at lOpm (ET) on TBS Superstation, will enable millions of viewers to witness this phenomenal natural event live, as it's happening. Before the premiere of FlamillgoWatch, from February 1-3, Turner Educational Services, Inc., in conjunction with Audubon Adventures, offers a live, interactive three-day electronic field trip for schoolchildren as part of the Turner Adventure Learning series. As live flamingo images are transmitted into classrooms across the country, students will be able to conduct an Internet dialogue with a team of wildlife experts assembled by the National Audubon Society. This Internet exchange will provide students with an opportunity to learn about birds and wildlife in the region, as well as about the history and culture of Kenya, the unique geological features of the East African Rift Valley and conservation efforts h1 the National Park. Schools interested in the FlamillgoWatch electronic field trip and Internet dialogue are encouraged to call 800-344-6219 to involve tl1eir schools in this unique wildlife event. Bexar T rac:b BIRD TALES A Fable for the Gull-ible Haiku I had the opportunity to buy into a Western Japanese market downtown along the Gull£. Profits were Lesser, they were no longer in the Black, debts were Backed up, and they were anGray Headed for bankrupcy. I felt Greater sales --'-.;.;.::~'"'' could put it Backed in the Black and keep it from going Bellied up. I had been Sabine up and finally had al- ~---~ most enough Silver. My • .-!I Hartlaub-ered at the thought of becoming a moGull in business, and I was all a Glau-cous of the possibility, although I had a lump in my Gull-et. I was sure this was a Domain-l-ean succeed at and I had to RingBill to ask for his Kelp. Although he can be Gullible, was I-vory concerned that he cRoss's each bridge as he comes to it? You bet. He's a Relict and a Little deaf so I had to Yellow ver and over that I Footed the bill for the call, and loud enough to make the Kittiwake and Mew. When he answered I had to Thay"er you hard of Herring? Can't you Heer- Falcon Update Effective October 5, 1994, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has removed the Arctic peregrine falcon from the endangered species list. The species has shown evidence of recovery, due to a decrease in levels of certain pesticides in the environment. The population will continue to be ·monitored for at least five years following the delisti.ng, to ensure that species populations remah1 stable. Bexar Tracks man? Franklin, why don't you stop Laughing and Kum-lien the couch, drink a Scoursby's (Common in my refrigerator), and we'll shoot the Buller something? I had to Cal-if-ornia to get your opinion, but I don't want to haGull. Ande-an Simeon are both interested, but Ol'Rog couldn't clear his Slat-y backed out feeling ,.,_~A. Guilty, and I would ,~ Lava have you. You -~ ~don't want Tenunincking on the dotted line without you." I could picture Hempriching up his ears. In my iMagell!lnation it sounded like he Gullped and was about to Belcher something. Then I was interrupted by my Dusky Gray cat, all Sooty and Blackheaded from playh1g in Aden, tearing my dog's Bonaparte with its pAu douin the damage, and my dog running in circles trying to Swallow his Tail. My drink spilled with lceland-ing on the floor and my baGull ending on my lap. -Rich Armstro11g, Austill Via I11ternet Ghost geese calling out, Unseen in white and blurred blue; Sound without substance. -Richard Luehrs Denver Auduboner Wanted Contributors of stories about birding trips, or the birds in your yard, or poetry, or . I'm sure we have many chapter members who have had experiences others would enjoy reading about. It's easy to get a story to us. Mail it to the BAS post office box, or fax it to me at 599-3545, or email it to me via CompuServe 73232,506. A Place to Start Beginners Bird Walk by San Antonio Audubon Society at the Judson Nature Trails area next to Alamo Heights swimming pool, on the second Saturday of every month, at 8 am, is the place to get started in birding. It is useful to have a little skill at using binoculars, but many local birds can be identified without them. Georgina Schwartz (342-2073) and others from SAAS offer this outing to anyone interested. You don't have to be a member. The different habitats represented h1 the nearby Olmos Basin area offer an opportunity to find up to thirty species in an atmosphere of relaxed learning and instant verification, which makes it fun. It usually takes around three hours to cover the territory, if we fu1d enough birds, but you can leave whenever you wish. Come and get ready for next year's Christmas Bird Count. Other outings are open, too. Call the SAAS tape at 733-8306 for more information. - Georgina Schwartz, SAAS (Editor's note: Yes, there is another Audubon group in San Antonio. SAAS is the elder, but is not a chapter ofNationalAudubon-it's an associate, which would take too much space to explain here. Suffice to say we're glad to have their invitation! My thanks to Georgina for letting us know we'd let this opportunity slip off the calendar.) (Second editor's note: There was a nice write-up of SAAS's Christmas Bird Count in The Northeast Sun, one of the San Antonio Express-News' area newspapers, on December 28. If you haven't given your paper to the recyclers yet, you might want to look it up.) II January 1995 WINTER PLANNING CALENDAR * Bexar Audubon Event § More Information Inside TCP Texas Conservation Passport or fee JANUARY 7 First Saturday, 9-11. General guided ' history hike in Friedrich Wilderness Park, free. 698-105 7 for reservations. 7 I 2 8 Every Saturday, Lower Edwards Plc:tteau Ecosystem Tour, 9-1 I , Honey Creek SNA (TCP). Leisurely 2-mile walk: interpretation of cultural and environmental history of the ·hill country, and a little geology and botany. I 0§ Last public meeting for comments on the San Antonio/Bexar County Bicycle Mobility Plan, Metropolitan Planning Organization, 7:00pm, River . Room, Valero Energy Building, 530 - McCullough. Avenue 12l BAS Board Meeting; 7pm. 14* Second Saturday, 9-1 I. Walk with urban for~ster Mark Peterson of Texas Forest Service and explore Friedrich Park in its winter splendor.Jree. 698-1 05 7 for reservations. I 4 Guadalupe River SP~ Flintknapping workshop for interested beginners, l- 4pm, at Amphitheater, weather permitting. Call 2 I 0-9 3 5-40 12, enter. I 5 on voicemail to find out. Instructor Allan Bettis. I 4§ Second Saturday Beginners Bird Walk, San Antonio Audubon Society, Judson Nature Trails, next to Alamo Heights swimming pool. Free, open to anyone. 8-1 I. Georgina Schwartz, 342-2073 for more info. 19l BAS General Meeting. Dr. Woody Saunders, Trinity University Urban Studies Department. 2 I §l Audubon Weekend, Houston 2 4 Native Plant Society ofT exas; speaker Elizabeth Hughes, Education Coordinator, SA Botanical Gardens. Choosing, growing, and propagating ferns in South Texas. Lions Fie.ld Clubhouse, 2 8 09 Broadway. 2 I 0-64 1- 6 54 3 for info. 26/27 Water for Texas: Research .Leads the Way, a conference focusing on the contributions research plays in solving complex water problems facing Texas. Driskill Hotel, Austin. For more information, call Texas Water Resources Institute, 409-84 5-1 8~ I, fax 409-845-8554; . 28/29 Texas Endangered Species Symposium, Glen Rose. 817-897-2960 for more information. · FEBRUARY 3/4§ Third Annual Cranefest, Big Spring . Chamber of Commerce, 915-263- 7641, or Pat Simmons, 915-263- 4607 for more info. 4 First Saturday, 9-11. Guided general natural history hike at Friedrich Park. Free, 698-1 05 7 for reservations. 4/25 Every Saturday, Lower Edwards Plateau Ecosystem Tour, 9-1 I , Honey Creek SNA (TCP). 2-mile walk with interpretation of the cultural and environmental history ofthe hill country, and a little geology and botany. 9:j: BAS Board Meeting, 7pm I I :j: · Second Saturday, 9-1 I . Hike with geologist Dr. Robert Garza of SAC; examine the geology of Friedrich Park. Free, 698-1 05 7 for reservations.- 1 ·1 Second Saturday Beginners Bird Walk, San Antonio Audubon Society, Judson Nature Trails, next to Alamo Heights swimming pool. Free, open to anyone. 8-1 I. Georgina Schwartz, 342-2073 f()r more info. OFFICERS AND BOARD Susan K. Hughes President 532-2332; fax 532-2023 Marge Lumpe Vice President 657-1665 Betty Minyard Treasurer 344-612 8 Anita L. Reeves Secretary 308-92 54 Patty Leslie Pasztor Board Member 82 4-12 3 5 Richard Pipes Board Member 281-2452 Bill Woller Board Member 696-3186 Jim Garriott Board Member 695-9520 Bill Sain Board Member 408-7731 Backyard Habitat Conservation Earth Day Liaison Education Hospitality Membership Outings Programs Publicity COMMITTEE CHAIRS Barb Deluca Richard Pipes Harriet Wiygul Betty Minyard Harriet Wiygul Dan & Kristy Davis Patty Leslie Pasztor Chris Dullnig Susan K. Hughes Bill Sain 492-4291 281-2452 . 647-5356 . 344-6128 647-5356 609-5678 . 824-1235 828-4017 532-2332 Ways S Means 408-7731 Bexar Tracks Editor Claire Drenowatz 599-4168 fax599-3545 We bdil'lle info herein is accurate at January 2. We wdcome contributions. Submissions may be edited. Deadline is the Saturdll)' after the general meeti~g. Printed on acid-free, 50% post-consumer wMte paper. ~ ~ Bexar Audubon•Society P. 0. Box 6084 San Antonio, TX 7 8209 Address Correction Requ.ested 16:j: BAS General Meeting, Peggy Prather, Holistic Resource· Manage, ment of Texas 25 Honey Creek SNA, 9-11:30. Predator- Prey Relationships and the Food Chain, 2-mile hike. Walt Schumann will guide, and afterwards introduce a couple of reptile friends at the Rust House. 25 New Braunfels Old Town Cemetery, 2:30pm. Necrogeography: regionality of burial practices. Join Penny Solis to spend a few hours looking back at the culture and history of our forefathers. 210-935-4012 for more information. ONGOING ACTIVITIES Bexar Audubon Society general meetings are held on 3rd Thursdays at 7:30pm, at the Ruble Center, 419 East Magnolia. BAS board meetings are generally held on .2nd Thursdays at 7:00. Outings are usually the Saturday following general meetings. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department offers many nature activities for annual Texas Conservation Passport Holders ($25 per year). Call for event listings: 800-937-9393. San Antonio City Council Meetings, I :00 Thursdays. National Audubon Society's Actionline. Dial 202-54 7-9009, ask for Action line. After hours, press 4 on a touch-tone phone. Other conserVation organizations: please add Bexar Audubon to your mailing list if we're not already on it, and we'll be glad to include your events in our calendar each month. Non-profit Organization U.S. Postage Paid San Antonio, TX Permit #590
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