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Archive for the ‘Resources’ Category

Boehlert hopes to secure $2.7 million for the Grape Genetics Research Center and Laboratory at Cornell University’s Agriculture & Food Technology Park in Geneva. The funding would help secure USDA scientists to work with Cornell scientists to establish and coordinate a national, concentrated grape research program.

A portion of the funds would be used to design and prepare a building to house the grape research center.

Walsh said the appropriations bill reflects his work to bring money to much needed areas of Wayne County. The appropriations bill includes more than $200,000 for projects at Newark-Wayne Community Hospital in Newark and $100,000 to Wayne County for a feasibility study at the former Newark Developmental Center in Newark. Read the rest of this entry »

A diverse group of organizations is putting the finishing touches on a legislative proposal to upgrade the quality of the state’s lakes and rivers, many of which are polluted. That strategy, outlining how the state should conduct and pay for the effort, carries a huge price tag: an estimated $75 million to $100 million a year.

To finance it, the group, which includes public, private, business, agricultural and environmental groups, is proposing a broad fee or tax: All homeowners would pay $36 a year and businesses $150.

“We thought a flat rate was the right way to start out,” said Craig Johnson, a lobbyist for the League of Minnesota Cities, one of about 60 groups involved. Read the rest of this entry »

The Job Creation Act of 2003 would cause irreparable damage to Wisconsin waterways and eventually cripple the state’s tourism industry, according to several regional environmental and conservation groups.

Environmentalists at a press conference in Green Bay outlined opposition to the 114-page act crafted by Republican lawmakers to stimulate economic development and help the state pull out of a financial tailspin.

Buried in the jobs document are provisions to allow landowners to alter the course of streams and the banks of lakes and rivers in a way that will threaten fisheries, the environmentalists said.

“Every selfish property owner can do what they want. There’s nothing here for the general public,’’ said Ken Murray, of the Green Bay Area Great Lakes Sport Fishermen. “If everyone had a nice, clear shoreline with a nice little beach, wouldn’t that be wonderful?” Read the rest of this entry »

Because of state grants announced, Napoleon officials look forward to replacing a junkyard with a manufacturing facility.

In Sandusky, planners expect to knock down three decrepit, 19th century factory buildings along Lake Erie and erect condominiums in their place.

And in Toledo, an industrial waste site eventually will be cleaned and used for riverfront housing.

Those are among 18 projects receiving a total of almost $40 million from the Clean Ohio Fund, which voters approved three years ago as a way to rehabilitate polluted, abandoned industrial sites. Read the rest of this entry »

People all over the world create tons of garbage and sewage every day. As the population of the planet increases, the problem of what to do with this waste increases. I am sure you have heard the foolish statement that all of the people on the planet could be put into Florida. That means standing in one place, on one yard square in Florida. One still has to have a place to lie down, a place to work, a place or two to recreate, a place to make beer, and of course, a place to put our wastes.

Wisconsin has been dealing with this waste problem for years. If you consider the dredging of the Fox River, if it wasn’t polluted with toxic chemicals like PCBs, the dredging spoils would be a rich additive to any cropland. The situation is further complicated by other pollution dumped into rivers by industry illegally and legally, and by legally I mean it has been made legal by constant prodding and piles of money from lobbyists for special interest polluters. Read the rest of this entry »

State environmental officials have worked with paper companies and utilities for several years to cut air and water emissions of toxic chemicals, said Jack Sullivan, acting administrator for the Department of Natural Resources’ Enforcement and Science Division.

“There’s a lot of emphasis on this, and we’re now seeing some of the results,” he said.

In 2001, the latest year for which figures are available, almost 35 million pounds of chemicals were released into Wisconsin’s environment, mostly air emissions. That’s down from 38.4 million pounds in 2000.

Although the decline was below the national decrease, Sullivan said it’s difficult to compare Wisconsin with the national average because the types of industries vary in each state. Read the rest of this entry »

The Nature Conservancy has purchased nearly 7,500 acres of forest and bog near the headwaters of the St. Louis River as it moves to protect and restore critical habitat in Northeastern Minnesota.

The area — between Seven Beavers Lake and Sand Lake, just east of Lake County Highway 2 — is considered ecologically important because of its unique wetlands, lowland conifer forests and still-untamed wild stretches that are home to many plant species unique to the Arrowhead Region.

Rare plants on the land include the Michaux’s sedge. And the area includes rare peatlands that serve as generators for the waters that eventually form the St. Louis River, the largest U.S. tributary to Lake Superior. Read the rest of this entry »

When forest ecologists look at a mature forest stand, they notice ecologically unusual or valuable features that many timber managers might miss: a big sugar maple covered with a lichen associated with big trees, a vernal pool, a smooth barked beech resistant to beech bark disease.

These contribute to the rich biodiversity of the Maine woods. “We’d like to see them kept or retained in order to maintain the ecological value in the landscape,” says Senior Scientist John Hagan. “If forest managers can recognize these features, they can start to retain them over large areas and incorporate them into their management thinking.” Read the rest of this entry »

According to UN experts, the world is not aware of the serious consequences that climate change poses to water. It is necessary that we strengthen our protection of water resources to avoid future conflicts.

Desertification, floods, melting glaciers, droughts, cyclones and diseases due to water pollution such as cholera, are part of the impact of climate change. According to Zafar Adeel, president of the “UN-WATER” and responsible for coordinating the work related to water carrying 26 UN agencies, “The main manifestations of rising temperatures affect water. This will impact all instances of our social life, in natural systems and the environment. “ Read the rest of this entry »

Nuclear energy is a controversial topic. Proponents call it the most viable, currently available resource for meeting the world’s growing energy needs, while protagonists say that the by-product of nuclear energy—nuclear waste—has created one of the greatest problems of the 20th century. Learn about the environmental and political issues surrounding nuclear energy and nuclear waste, and what’s being done to address them. Read the rest of this entry »