Complete list of press releases

Environmental Defense sharply criticized a statement made late yesterday by President Bush reversing his earlier commitment, made during the presidential campaign, to curb emissions of all key pollutants from electric power plants, including carbon dioxide, which is a major contributor to global warming. The statement was contained in a letter from the President to Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Neb). The letter also reiterated the administration’s opposition to the Kyoto Protocol, which was also stated during the campaign.

“Not only has the administration reneged on a campaign commitment, but in opposing the Kyoto Protocol and power plant pollution controls, it has effectively blocked the only two proposed vehicles for fighting global warming, the key environmental threat of this century, while offering no alternative path to protect the planet,” said Fred Krupp, executive director of Environmental Defense.

“By raising the specter of scientific uncertainty, this position effectively rejects the judgment of the world’s leading climate scientists, confirmed just weeks ago in the assessment released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. That report warned that the threat from global warming has grown and that Earth’s climate, its species, and many of its countries are already feeling its effects,” said Dr. Michael Oppenheimer, chief scientist of Environmental Defense.

“We urge the administration to reconsider its position and work with the bipartisan Congressional coalition developing legislation to control carbon dioxide from power plants, while playing an active role in negotiations, due to resume in July, aimed at improving and finalizing the Kyoto Protocol,” said Joe Goffman, senior attorney at Environmental Defense. “As the world’s last remaining superpower, and the world’s largest producer of greenhouse gases, the United States has a special obligation to lead on this issue. The international community and forward thinking elements of the business community are already taking this problem on, it’s time for the new administration to face its responsibilities on global warming as well.”

Governor Davis’s plan to pay customers for reducing their electricity use this summer is “the quickest, cleanest way to turn dollars into blackout protection,” according to Environmental Defense.

“Nearly all of the blackout risk comes this summer,” said Daniel Kirshner, a senior economist for Environmental Defense, “so a program targeted 100% at this summer is a savvy move.” Kirshner noted that an Environmental Defense analysis shows that the energy supply shortfall should almost disappear in 2002, and should certainly disappear after summer 2002 — making any emergency efforts with a longer time frame “not only misguided, but actively wasteful.”

The Davis order announced today is a simple dollars-for-savings plan — customers get rebates if they cut back their summer electricity use, no matter how they do it. “They can install better appliances; they can close the windows when the air conditioner is on; they can raise the air conditioner temperature a degree or two,” Kirshner said. “All of it will help.”

“Given the situation we face, this is the quickest, cleanest way to turn dollars into blackout protection,” Kirshner said. “And the money goes straight to customers’ pockets, instead of any in-betweens.”

A coalition of environmental, public health and citizen groups today released a landmark plan for cleaning up North Carolina’s dirty air and called on Governor Mike Easley and state legislators to make clean air a top priority for North Carolina.

The North Carolina Clean Smokestacks Plan, developed by the N.C. Clean Air Coalition, recommends reductions in nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and mercury needed to protect public health by improving air quality. These pollutants are mostly produced by 14 coal-fired power plants in the state that fail to meet federal pollution control standards established in 1977. Power plants emit 45% of airborne emissions of NO , 82% of SO2,and 65% of mercury in the state.

“Polluted air is estimated to cost the state more than $3.5 billion annually in health care costs, loss of life, agriculture losses and decreased tourism,” said Michael Shore, Southeast air quality manager for North Carolina Environmental Defense. “There is no reason to wait to improve air quality. Now is the time for a plan that protects people, not outdated power plants.”

“We know the problems caused by dirty air and its sources, but we also know the technology to clean up the smokestacks is available and affordable,” said Dr. Sue McKenna, spokesperson for the N.C. Sierra Club’s conservation committee. “Governor Easley’s leadership is needed urgently in fighting dirty air, and the General Assembly must work diligently to pass a clean air bill this session.”

Shore said the benefits of reducing the three pollutants far outweigh the costs, which are estimated to raise an average household’s power bill by $4.09 a month if utility companies pass on all costs to consumers.

The Clean Smokestacks Plan calls for specific reductions:

• A cap on summertime NO emissions at 23,000 tons, an 80% reduction compared to 1998 levels.

• A cap on year-round NO emissions at 50,000 tons, an 80% reduction compared to 1998 levels.

• A cap on emissions at 85,000 tons annually, an 82% reduction compared to 1998 levels.

• A 90% reduction in mercury emissions compared to 1998 levels.

• A reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels.

Thousands of farmers seeking federal financial and technical help to reduce polluted runoff, restore wildlife habitat, and combat sprawl are being rejected due to inadequate funding of federal conservation programs, according to a report released today by Environmental Defense. The report, Losing Ground, is based on US Department of Agriculture (USDA) data and is available at www.environmentaldefense.org.

“Thousands of farmers and ranchers want to be better stewards of the land, but the federal government is turning them away when they seek technical or financial assistance,” said Scott Faber, water resources specialist for Environmental Defense.

Key findings of Losing Ground include:

• Half of the farmers and ranchers seeking technical assistance to improve tillage practices or install streamside buffers are rejected due to inadequate funding;

• Three-out-of-four farmers seeking federal financial assistance to restore lost wetlands and woodlands, use less water, or manage manure better are also rejected due to inadequate funding;

• More than 2,700 farmers hoping to restore more than 560,000 acres of wetlands are currently being turned away due to inadequate funding;

• Thousands of farmers in the path of sprawl offered to sell their development rights to USDA but were turned away due to inadequate funding.

“Farmland and ranchland cover 55% of the American landscape, dramatically impacting water quality, food safety, wildlife habitat, and the pace of sprawl, ” said Faber. Federal spending for USDA conservation programs must be increased to meet demand from farmers and ranchers for financial and technical assistance, and to address many of these pressing environmental challenges.”

Environmental Defense today called on Governor Davis to acquire more than 120,000 acres of watershed lands owned by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) in California as part of the state’s financial response to the energy shortage.

“If the state fails to acquire these ecological jewels, they could be lost to development threats, including logging, resort building, and commercial uses as the utilities seek to maximize revenues and cut their debt,” said Nancy Ryan, an Environmental Defense economist. “Since 1997 PG&E has sold off several large, pristine properties to timber and resort-development companies, and has increased logging and other extractive activities on many of its lands. California’s natural heritage cannot afford any more of these losses.”

PG&E’s lands are prime watershed properties in the basins of nearly every major river draining the Sierra Nevada and the southern Cascades. These properties, acquired decades ago by PG&E, include scenic open space near rapidly growing urban areas, old growth forests, wetlands, wildlife habitat, salmon and steelhead fisheries, culturally significant sites, river and lake shores, and drinking water sources. Millions of Californians use these areas annually for hiking, fishing and boating.

The lands include old-growth forestlands in the Eel and Russian watersheds, providing critical habitat for endangered species such as the spotted owl, and at risk species ranging from the wolverine to the bank swallow and willow flycatcher.

“Last week the Governor reached agreement with Southern California Edison to establish 99-year conservation easements on its 20,000 acres of utility lands. As the Governor negotiates with PG&E to purchase the utility’s transmission system, he must reach agreement to protect its lands for all Californians,” said Ryan.

Today US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Christine Todd Whitman announced that EPA will implement a ground-breaking program to slash dangerous air pollution from large diesel trucks and buses in communities across the country. The program was announced on December 21, 2000 by Carol Browner, the EPA Administrator under former President Bill Clinton, and was the product of an extensive public regulatory process pre-dating the Bush Administration. A January 20, 2001 Memorandum from President Bush’s Chief of Staff, Andrew Card, to Cabinet Members raised questions about the new administration’s implementation of the new standards.

“This program will clean up one of the most noxious sources of air pollution in our communities,” said Environmental Defense senior attorney Vickie Patton. “Leading national and international public health agencies have consistently found that diesel exhaust is hazardous; this clean air program will help protect the millions of Americans that are exposed to unacceptable levels of the dirty exhaust from large diesel trucks and buses every day.”

The new emission standards at issue have two core components: (1) dramatically tightening particulate and nitrogen oxides emission standards for large diesel trucks and buses beginning in model year 2007, and (2) requiring cleaner low sulfur diesel fuel to power the clean air technologies that are needed to meet the new emission standards and protect public health, to be phased in beginning in 2006.

Clean Air Benefits. Large diesel trucks and buses emit about 2.6 million tons of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and about 140,000 tons of inhalable particulates each year. Several public health organizations including the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the World Health Organization, and the California EPA have determined that diesel exhaust or the particulates in the exhaust are a potential or probable human carcinogen. The Department of Health and Human Service’s National Toxicology Program recently issued its Report on Carcinogens (9th edition) in which it classified diesel exhaust particulates as “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.” NOx emissions also have harmful effects, contributing to unhealthy smog levels in communities across the country, acid rain in sensitive ecosystems, and pollution of premier coastal fishing and recreational waters.

Cleaner Highway Diesel Fuel a Technology Enabler. Cleaner highway diesel fuel that is low in sulfur content is a critical component of EPA’s emission standards. EPA’s program limits the sulfur levels in highway diesel fuel to 15 parts per million, by phasing in requirements in a manner designed to allow refineries considerable flexibility in producing the cleaner fuel. Previously, the allowable sulfur content for highway diesel fuel was 500 parts per million, and the actual average levels outside of California are about 340 parts per million. High sulfur levels can seriously impair the new pollution control devices needed to remove pollutants that pose a threat to public health.

Today the United States Supreme Court rejected an industry-led attack on critical new clean air standards. The clean air standards at issue were established by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1997 to limit the pollution levels of smog and fine, sooty particles. EPA estimates that the standards will protect 125 million Americans from adverse health effects of air pollution and each year will prevent:

• 15,000 premature deaths
  
• 350,000 cases of aggravated asthma
  
• 1 million cases of significantly decreased lung function in children

“The Supreme Court’s historic decision confirms what was clear three and a half years ago: that EPA’s new standards to limit the pollution levels of smog and soot were based on sound science, sound policy and a sound reading of the law,” said Vickie Patton, Environmental Defense senior attorney. “When implemented, these standards will protect 125 million Americans from the serious health effects of smog and soot, and each year will help reduce 350,000 cases of aggravated asthma and 15,000 premature deaths. Unfortunately, industry’s legal attacks have delayed by several years fundamental steps to begin implementing these standards.”

Nondelegation Doctrine Issue
Two major issues were presented to the Court. First, whether EPA’s authority to establish the new standards violated the constitutional prohibition on the delegation of legislative power. There have been only two cases in our constitutional history, both decided in 1935, in which the Supreme Court has overturned statutory authority on these grounds. Since then, the Court has repeatedly and consistently rejected nondelegation doctrine challenges to a wide variety of administrative actions. The lower court decision in the Clean Air Act case was widely perceived to be out of step with 65 years of Supreme Court jurisprudence.

Cost Issue
The second issue was whether EPA should take into account the economic impact on polluters when setting the health-based clean air standards. For the past 30 years, the Clean Air Act consistently has been interpreted by EPA, Congress and the lower courts to require that the standards be established at levels necessary to protect public health. At the same time, however, the law makes costs integral to the air pollution control strategies that states and local communities develop to achieve these standards.

Environmental Defense and the California Hydropower Reform Coalition today applauded Governor Davis’s proposal to protect scenic and recreational lands in the Sierra Nevada that are owned by Pacific Gas and Electric Company and Southern California Edison Company. The Governor’s plan calls for the utilities to establish conservation easements on prime watershed lands that surround their hydroelectric facilities in order to allow public access and to protect their natural, scenic, recreational, and watershed values.

Johanna Thomas of Environmental Defense said, “These lands are some of the most beautiful, unspoiled private lands in the Sierra. This is a big step forward towards protecting natural resources and public access on lands that are now threatened. While we believe that some of these lands should be transferred to the state, we see this as significant progress.”

Steve Wald of the California Hydropower Reform Coalition said, “The Governor’s plan is really the silver lining in what is otherwise a pretty dark situation. These lands are enormously valuable for wildlife, recreation, and open space, but they are also vulnerable. This is the right thing to do.”

“There are still a lot of details to be ironed out,” said Wald. “We believe many of these lands can best be protected by transferring ownership to the state,” he continued. “But conservation easements would be appropriate for other lands, and some could be transferred to land trusts, local governments, and others.”

Both Environmental Defense and the California Hydropower Reform Coalition committed to work with the Governor, the legislators, and local interests to flesh out the plan. “This proposal will create a lasting legacy for all Californians. We’re committing to working round the clock to make it happen,” said Johanna Thomas of Environmental Defense.

Environmental Defense today called upon the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to withhold approval of all air pollution control programs that rely on a flawed emissions trading scheme known as “open market trading.” Several such programs have been planned in various states, and most recently EPA has proposed to give approval to a New Jersey program that would allow open market trading for nitrogen oxides — a pollutant which contributes to smog and acid rain.

At issue is a system of emissions trading that risks an increase in air pollution. Unlike rigorous “cap and trade” programs that place fixed limits on emissions, open market trading allows regulated sources to increase their emissions with the use of “credits” purchased from other sources that do not have a cap.

“Open market trading threatens to undermine public health and the environment,” said Joe Goffman, Environmental Defense senior attorney. “If Administrator Whitman wants to advance the use of market mechanisms for environmental problem solving, the effort must match the Bush approach on education. It should set strong goals, but achieve them with flexibility, producing lasting, real-world solutions. The focus of environmentally beneficial emissions trading should be on proven cap and trade programs. The open market trading approach must be halted.”

“In order to verify that emissions reductions are valid and not just paper credits, regulatory agencies in so-called open market trading systems are forced into time-consuming case work that makes enforcement very difficult. Allowing credits to be exchanged for fixed emissions allowances is a loophole through which sources can emit more pollution. The end result is that the air, and the people breathing it, would face more pollution,” said Andrew Aulisi, Environmental Defense, business liaison.

Environmental Defense today called upon the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to withhold approval of all air pollution control programs that rely on a flawed emissions trading scheme known as “open market trading.” Several such programs have been planned in various states, and most recently EPA has proposed to give approval to a New Jersey program that would allow open market trading for nitrogen oxides — a pollutant which contributes to smog and acid rain.

At issue is a system of emissions trading that risks an increase in air pollution. Unlike rigorous “cap and trade” programs that place fixed limits on emissions, open market trading allows regulated sources to increase their emissions with the use of “credits” purchased from other sources that do not have a cap.

“Open market trading threatens to undermine public health and the environment,” said Joe Goffman, Environmental Defense senior attorney. “If Administrator Whitman wants to advance the use of market mechanisms for environmental problem solving, the effort must match the Bush approach on education. It should set strong goals, but achieve them with flexibility, producing lasting, real-world solutions. The focus of environmentally beneficial emissions trading should be on proven cap and trade programs. The open market trading approach must be halted.”

“In order to verify that emissions reductions are valid and not just paper credits, regulatory agencies in so-called open market trading systems are forced into time-consuming case work that makes enforcement very difficult. Allowing credits to be exchanged for fixed emissions allowances is a loophole through which sources can emit more pollution. The end result is that the air, and the people breathing it, would face more pollution,” said Andrew Aulisi, Environmental Defense, business liaison.

FedEx Express and the Alliance for Environmental Innovation have invited manufacturers to submit proposals for design and development of a delivery truck that will increase fuel efficiency by 50% and reduce emissions by 90%.

FedEx Express, the world’s largest express transportation company, and the Alliance for Environmental Innovation, one of the first environmental advocacy groups to work cooperatively with business, have worked together since Spring 2000 on a project to get cleaner, economical, fuel-efficient delivery trucks on the road.

With new vehicle technology in development and impending regulations affecting diesel trucks, the FedEx-Alliance partnership signals a new demand for transportation options that meet business needs and minimize impacts on the environment. These options are needed to minimize emissions of air pollutants including soot, smog-causing emissions, and greenhouse gases linked to global climate change.

The request for proposal issued jointly by FedEx Express and the Alliance calls for design and development of a commercial delivery vehicle that will eventually replace the present FedEx Express truck. The proposed truck would work as well and cost about the same over the vehicle’s lifetime.

“Seeking out the FedEx Express truck of the future today will keep us efficient, future-focused and environmentally progressive,” said Mitch Jackson, FedEx Director of Environmental Management.

“FedEx’s purchasing power shows a strong demand for trucks that raise the standard for fuel-efficiency and low emissions,” said Elizabeth Sturcken, project manager for the Alliance.

This project seeks to

• deliver significant and measurable reductions in pollution, fuel consumption and resource use;
• prove that environmental improvements to FedEx’s current delivery vehicles are economically and functionally viable; and
• accelerate the time to market of full production-scale environmentally preferable vehicles substantially sooner than regulations require.

(13 February, 2001 — Washington) The financial collapse of Indonesia’s pulp and paper sector was in large part made possible by the publicly held Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) of Europe, Japan, and the United States, Environmental Defense and other non-government groups charged today. During the 1990’s, ECAs competed with each other to push more and more pulp and paper manufacturing into what is now an industrial sector characterized by excess capacity, massive deforestation, human rights violations, extreme debt and consequent financial collapse.

According to a recent study by Environmental Defense and the Indonesian organization Bioforum, ECAs played a crucial role in the debt-driven expansion and overcapacity of the Indonesian pulp and paper sector, which has harmed Indonesian forests and the local communities that depend on them. The report is available at www.environmentaldefense.org/programs/International/ECA/indonesia.html.

The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) recently found that the ECA-backed Asia Pulp and Paper deforested an area the size of Luxembourg. The CIFOR report can be found at

“This is financial and environmental folly,” said Environmental Defense attorney Bruce Rich. “For five years the major ECAs have been under pressure to adopt strong environmental standards. Last week they met and failed again to reach an agreement before the heads of state of the eight leading industrialized nations meet in Italy this July. ECAs must begin to correct their shameful record of environmental and social negligence.”

The rapid expansion of Indonesia’s paper and pulp production was complicated by a lack of sufficient pulpwood plantations, which led to the clearcutting of hundreds of thousands of hectares of the nation’s remaining forests — the traditional home of indigenous and other forest farming peoples. “ECAs failed to maintain even minimal environmental and social standards,” said Environmental Defense scientist Stephanie Fried. “As a result, massive public protests occurred against the forced seizures and clearcutting of community forests, against air pollution, and against the pollution of major waterways by paper and pulp mills and factories.”

“ECAs should have known that the words ‘economy’ and ‘ecology’ come from the same root. In the case of Indonesia’s pulp and paper sector, they have contributed to the ruination of both,” said Doug Norlen of Pacific Environment.

Environmental Defense, a leading national nonprofit organization based in New York, represents more than 300,000 members. Since 1967 we have linked science, economics, and law to create innovative, equitable, and cost-effective solutions to the most urgent environmental problems.

Two free Environmental Defense web sites now provide a clearinghouse for the latest environmental information about autos. The car ratings on ForMyWorld.com, recently updated to include the 2001 model year, provide a “Green Score” for all cars and trucks from the past two model years. The free Tailpipe Tally on www.environmentaldefense.org allows consumers to quickly make head-to-head environmental comparisons of up to four vehicles at once from model years 1978 to 2001.

“Environmental Defense provides the most user-friendly and comprehensive environmental information about autos out there, and it’s free,” said Environmental Defense clean car advocate Kevin Mills. “Now consumers who want to help protect the planet have the tools they need to purchase the cleanest cars available. Many sources provide consumer information on auto performance and other attributes, but never before has this breadth of environmental information about cars been available for free.”

ForMyWorld.com’s car ratings assign every car, van, pickup and SUV from 2000 and 2001 a Green Score based on tailpipe emissions, fuel economy and other aspects of a vehicle’s overall environmental impact. The Green Score uses a scale of zero to 100; a higher score means a greener car, or one with less environmental impact. The Green Score enables users to compare the overall environmental impacts of new vehicles in the same class and across classes. The information comes from ACEEE’s Green Book: The Environmental Guide to Cars & Trucks, published by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

The Tailpipe Tally calculates fuel consumption; fuel cost; carbon dioxide emissions, which contribute to global warming; and emissions of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons, all of which contribute to urban air pollution, including smog. The Tally also tells consumers how much money they’ll save on fuel with a more efficient car.

“The car ratings provide consumers with a single score to help them determine the cleanest new car to buy,” said Mills. “The Tailpipe Tally allows consumers to compare specific aspects of environmental performance among both new and older model cars. Together, this data will help consumers choose a vehicle that meets their needs while also going easier on the Earth.”

On Earth Day 1999, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a ground-breaking program to restore clean air to some of the country’s most revered national parks including the Grand Canyon, Great Smoky Mountains, Glacier, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Acadia, Shenandoah, Mount Rainier, Bryce, Zion, Canyonlands, and Big Bend. The program was the culmination of more than 20 years of legislative activity, scientific research, state/EPA consultation, and public debate. In a February 5th written request to EPA Administrator Whitman, an industry coalition urged the new administration to derail the clean air program.

“Industry is pressing an administration that is less than 20 days old to derail a major clean air program that was more than 20 years in the making,” said Environmental Defense senior attorney Vickie Patton. “EPA’s program to curb air pollution in the national parks gives states and industry more than 60 years to restore the park’s clean air, but some in industry claim it’s too aggressive. Most Americans are dismayed that it will take so long to make clean air progress.”

The EPA program, which is designed to abate haze air pollution in premier national parks and wilderness areas, was developed over the course of more than 20 years:

• The program is required under a statutory program originally adopted in the 1977 Clean Air Act.

• The program incorporates the recommendations of western states and tribes that have been meeting for nearly a decade to formulate policies designed to curb the haze in western national parks.

• In 1993, the National Academy of Science’s National Research Council issued a report on the state of visibility science that is the foundation for EPA’s regional haze program. Protecting Visibility in National Parks and Wilderness Areas, National Academy Press (1993).

• In 1997, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) found that EPA’s program reflected an unusual degree of flexibility for the states. Regional Haze: EPA’s Proposal to Improve Visibility in National Parks and Wilderness Areas (Library of Congress 97-1010 ENR, Nov. 17, 1997).

• The program would provide for the clean up of large industrial facilities “grandfathered” from clean air requirements while allowing states broad flexibility to rely on market-based mechanisms to achieve the emission reduction requirements.

• The program would reduce airborne contaminants that not only pollute national parks and wilderness areas across the country but also contribute to deleterious fine particle concentrations in communities nationwide and acid deposition in sensitive ecosystems.

(8 Feb., 2001 — Lincoln, NE) In a letter to the US Army Corps of Engineers, 24 environmental groups today said the Army Corps’ decision to delay certain Missouri River dam operation reforms until 2003 ignores the needs of the river’s recreational users and brings three species closer to extinction.

The coalition of national and local conservation groups urged the Corps to reduce summer water flow releases from Gavins Point Dam in South Dakota to aid three federally endangered species: the interior least tern, piping plover, and pallid sturgeon. The groups also urged the Corps to increase spring dam releases if drought conditions improve.

The Corps has failed to meet reproductive goals for terns and plovers in eight of the last 10 years. “Unless dam operations are reformed, these species will inch closer to extinction and more species will require protection,” said Environmental Defense water resources specialist Scott Faber.

Missouri River dam operations are leading to the extinction of these species by eliminating rising spring flows and low summer flows to aid a handful of barges. Rising spring flows create sandbars needed by nesting terns and plovers, and trigger spawning by sturgeon; low summer flows ensure that sandbars remain exposed until chicks fly away and provide shallow places for young sturgeon. “The Corps should recognize that the Missouri River is more than a little-used barge highway,” said Chad Smith, Director of American Rivers’ Missouri River Field Office.

Recreation from boating and fishing generates about $87 million in annual economic benefits while barge traffic generates only about $7 million, according to Corps studies. Even so, the Corps ignores recreation needs to support barges between Sioux City and St. Louis.

Dam reforms would not impact traditional river users, studies show. Increasing spring releases would not increase flooding of homes and farms behind levees or impact low-lying farmland, according to federal studies. Barge navigation would continue during the spring and fall, when more than 80% of farm-related cargo is shipped on the Missouri. Dam reforms would also benefit Mississippi River barges by providing more water to the Mississippi when barge shipments are heaviest.

The letter to the Corps and a list of groups signing it are available at: http://www.environmentaldefense.org/programs/Ecosystems/ArmyCorps/MissouriRiver.html and http://www.americanrivers.org. The Corps’ plan and the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Biological Opinion is at http://www.nwd-mr.usace.army.mil/mmanual/opinion.htm on the net.

Environmental Defense, a leading national nonprofit organization based in New York, represents more than 300,000 members. Since 1967 we have linked science, economics, and law to create innovative, equitable, and cost-effective solutions to the most urgent environmental problems.

American Rivers is a national river conservation organization with field offices in Montana and Nebraska. Since 1973, American Rivers has led efforts to restore rivers and foster a river stewardship ethic.