Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: longnshort who wrote (330079)	3/23/2007 11:02:54 AM
From: Road Walker	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1575740

re: I bought another SUV and signed the papers. does that count ? Yeah and I donate 10% of my salary to Greenpeace.

To: longnshort who wrote (330079)	3/23/2007 11:06:54 AM
From: Road Walker	Respond to of 1575740

Nev. dunes restricted to help butterfly By SCOTT SONNER, Associated Press Writer Fri Mar 23, 3:29 AM ET Federal land managers trying to keep a rare butterfly off the list of endangered species have closed dozens of off-road vehicle trails at one of the largest sand dunes in the West. The closure affects about six square miles at Sand Mountain Recreation Area in western Nevada. The dunes' shrubs are the Sand Mountain blue butterfly's only known home. The Bureau of Land Management controls activities at the dunes, which are 600 feet tall and stretch for two miles. Their 200 miles of trails attract an estimated 50,000 off-roaders annually on motorcycles, dune buggies and all-terrain vehicles. Bureau officials said they could not say how many miles of trails were closed but noted that the main dune at Sand Mountain where most motorized use occurs will remain open. The BLM and the Fish and Wildlife Service have been seeking a compromise with off-road groups to restrict vehicles since conservationists started petitioning for federal protection of the butterfly in 2004. The BLM published the emergency closure order in the Federal Register last week, two years after imposing a voluntary measure. It will post signs where travel is prohibited, spokesman Mark Struble said. "It's called an emergency restriction so when everybody hears the 'E' word they think we are shutting the whole mountain down. That is not the case," Struble said. "We're going from a wide-open, cross-country, go-over-any-of-the-bushes-if-they-get-in-your-way kind of situation, to trying to conserve as much of the vegetative resources that is out there as possible," he said. "If the old way continues, habitat will continue to degrade and the species will be closer and closer to getting listed." Conservationists filed a lawsuit in federal court in Sacramento, Calif., in January 2006 to try to force the Fish and Wildlife Service to declare the butterfly an endangered species. Agency officials are reviewing the butterfly's habitat and could rule as soon as next month on the proposed listing. "The closure is a good first step toward protecting the Sand Mountain blue butterfly, which exists nowhere else in the world," said Lisa Belenky, staff attorney for Arizona's Center for Biological Diversity, which sued along with the Nevada Outdoor Recreation Association and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. Off-roaders were less enthusiastic. Richard Hilton, president of Friends of Sand Mountain, said the closure was "kind of pushed on us" but probably the best deal his group could hope for. "It was one of those things where we felt like any time an environmental group sues, off-road users usually lose," he said. Some conservationists said that even with 80 percent of the dunes closed, there still will be too much intrusion and that more protection is warranted. "The real test of the bureau's commitment to protecting butterfly habitat will be enforcement," said Karen Schambach of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. Though violators will be subject to up to one year in prison, Struble said the initial emphasis will be on distributing maps and educating visitors. "We are trying to work it to have the habitat, protect the species out there and have recreation out there, too," he said. "We need people's help and we weren't getting it under the volunteer system we had the first two years." Ed Waldheim, president of the California Off-Road Vehicle Association, said off-roaders would be wise to follow the rules. "Otherwise the next step is closing," Waldheim said. "This is something that we have learned the hard way in other areas."