EPA Update on Fish Advisories
In June, EPA released its annual update of fish advisories issued
primarily by states through December 1997. The advisories apply
to fish and shellfish obtained through sport, recreational, and
subsistence activities. The database includes all available information describing state,
tribal and federally issued fish consumption advisories in the
U.S. and 12 Canadian provinces and territories. 
The number of advisories in the U.S. increased by five percent over 1996, rising by 125 in 1997 to a total of 2,299 across the nation. The number of waterbodies under advisory represents 16.6 percent of the nation's total lake acres and 8.2 percent of the nation's total river miles. In addition, 100 percent of the Great Lakes and their connecting waters and a large portion of the nation's coastal waters remain under advisory.
The total number of advisories in the U.S. increased for three major contaminants (mercury, dioxin and DDT) but declined overall for PCBs, although 30 new advisories were issued for PCBs. State fish advisories warn the public to avoid or to limit eating fish due to elevated levels of pollutants. Each advisory is different: they may recommend no or limited consumption; may be targeted to men, women and/or children; and/or may apply to certain species of fish.
EPA cannot provide a hard copy written list of fish advisories. Consumers should contact their local health departments for specific local advisory information. A five-page fact sheet generally describing the program is available by faxing a request to EPA's Fish Contamination Program at 202-260-9830, or by calling Jeff Bigler at 202-260-1305.
Additional information can be found on the fish advisory Internet web site: http://www.epa.gov/ost/fish The factsheet and the listing is available from the web site, currently for downloading only. The listing also is available free of charge on 3.5-inch diskettes (EPA-823-C-98-002) from EPA's National Center for Environmental Publications and Information, 11029 Kenwood Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45242, phone: 800-490-9198 or fax: 513-489-8695.
"Stop the MAI", a new Action Kit specifically designed for Sierrans intent on opposing the Multilateral Agreement on Investment's squashing of local sovereignty and environmental protection is now available. Sierra Club's Responsible Trade Campaign is conducting a nation-wide "Don't Trade Away Our Environment" public education outreach campaign to build our activist base in response to an industry campaign to sell business-as-usual trade policies to the American public.
Marinell Strain, with the Red Earth Group in Valliant, OK liked her Action Kit so much that she didn't waste a second in mailing back the "Don't Trade Away Our Environment" Campaign Planning Form. Marinell tells us she's going to place a letter to the editor in the McCurtain Gazette and ask her state reps to write the President in opposition to the MAI. She's also going to reach out to her friends in the farming community--to the folks at Women Involved in Farm Economics and to the National Farmers' Union (good buddies of ours in the fight against Fast Track)--to explain how the MAI imperils the family farm.
Anyone who wants to help coordinate our anti-MAI efforts locally should PLEASE give us a call. To get a free Stop the MAI Action Kit of your own, just contact Dan Seligman at (202) 675-2387, <dan.seligman@sierraclub.org> OR check out our web site at <www.sierraclub.org/trade.>
The Northeast Food System Partnership offers information about community food security and sustainable food systems projects in the northeast region. We have available information on contacts, activities, services, and resources for over 150 organizations. Contact Marla Rhodes, information coordinator, with specific requests for information or to add your project to our database. The database will be accessible to the public via an interactive website, and will provide links to other relevant sites. 617-627-2246; mrhodes1@emerald.tufts.edu
The Partnership also has a listserv - NEFOOD-L where activists can read and post announcements, discussion topics, and questions about all aspects of the food system, with a focus on the northeast region. Send the message SUBSCRIBE NEFOOD-L YOUR NAME to the following address: listproc@listproc.tufts.edu Leave the subject line blank.
New Pesticide Use Decision Tool Available. 
The Pesticide Decision Tool (PDT) is designed to help farmers and their technical advisors to incorporate pesticide risk assessment in the selection and management of pesticides. The approach is to integrate environmental and non-environmental decision factors with a set of documents, including reference tables, user guide, data forms, and worksheets. Non-environmental factors can include production cost, carry over ratings, crop tolerance ratings, toxicological ratings, and information pertinent to resistance management concerns. The environmental focus is ground and surface water protection.
The central component of the PDT is the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service's Windows Pesticide Screening Tool (WinPST, "winpest"). For each soil type and pesticide active ingredient, there are three possible rating classes: "high," "intermediate," and "low." These qualitative categories are a measure of the relative likelihood that a pesticide will leave the site of application via runoff or move down through the soil below the root zone. Three modes of water contamination are considered: groundwater contamination via leaching; surface water contamination via dissolved pesticides and via pesticides adsorbed to soil particles.
A two-page project description is available at: http://www.iatp.org/enviroag/pesticidesummary.htm
The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy is seeking participants, collaborators, and sponsoring organizations for field implementation in 1999. They are concentrating on corn and soybeans, but will consider other crops if sufficient resources are available.
CONTACT: John Vickery Senior Associate Environment and Agriculture Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy #2105 First Avenue South Minneapolis, Minnesota 55404-2505
Telephone 612-870-3430 612-870-4846 fax Email: jvickery@iatp.org Website: http://www.iatp.org/iatp/
Government subsidies are drastically undermining both the environment as well as government deficit-fighting, according to a study conducted for the Earth Council by the Dutch Institute for Research on Public Expenditure.
The study, now available in electronic format, was prepared for the 1997 Rio+5 Forum and found that subsidies from the public purse in just four sectors - water, agriculture, energy and road transportation - are now costing the world upwards of $700 billion, or as much as the arms race. It concludes that many current subsidies no longer serve their original purpose and actually harm long-term economic prospects. A central finding is that far too many subsidies encourage development that is unsustainable in both environmental and economic terms.
Maurice Strong, Chairman of the Earth Council, writes in the Foreword that this report "demonstrates dramatically how, in so many cases, the subsidies provide disincentives to sustainable development while denying to the poor the benefits which better deployment of these resources could produce."
Subsidizing Unsustainable Development also concludes that policymakers and others are effectively "addicted" to these damaging subsidies and face entrenched opposition to any change from strong, vested interests. It calls for a coordinated international plan of eliminating many subsidies and reforming those remaining.
Other reports available from the Earth Council's Van Lennep Programme on Economics and Sustainable Development include:
* Perverse Incentives
* Key Issues and Reform Strategies
* Key Issues in Subsidy Policies and Strategies for Reform
* Implementing Environmentally Friendly Economic Instruments
* Project Outline and Background Information
For more information on the Earth Council or the Van Lennep Programme on Economics and Sustainable Development, contact us at tel: +506-256-1611; fax: +506-255-2197; e-mail: eci@terra.ecouncil.ac.cr Related Wedsites include":
The Earth Council Secretariat - http://www.ecouncil.ac.cr
The Earth Charter Consultation--http://www.earthcharter.org
The NCSD Network--http://www.ncsdnetwork.org
The SD Gateway--http://sdgateway.net.
New Maryland Listserv on Water Available
Sign up for updates, alerts, policy discussions on the new Sierra Club listserve, MD-WATER! This is a discussion list on Maryland water issues. It is open to all Sierra Club members who want to protect Maryland's aquatic ecosystems and water supply.
To send a message to the list, use this address: MD-WATER@lists.sierraclub.org
To send a message to the listowner, use this address: MD-WATER-request@lists.sierraclub.org
If you are not familiar with LISTSERV lists, please obtain the document, LISTSERV4.CLUB-ACTIVISTS, by sending the following message: To: LISTSERV@LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG Subject: [this line is ignored and may be left blank] Message: GET LISTSERV4.CLUB-ACTIVISTS
This document provides basic "how to" instructions for participating on a LISTSERV list.
Guidelines for Bird-friendly Land Management
by Dan Boone
An excellent resource to help Sierra Club members protect and improve songbird habitat is now available in Maryland. "Habitat Management Guidelines for the Benefit of Land Birds in Maryland" is a manual of land use recommendations designed to help Maryland stem the recent population declines in migratory land birds.
The 85 page, looseleaf booklet was prepared by the Management Committee of Maryland Partners in Flight, a volunteer working group that includes representatives from many government agencies and conservation groups, including the Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club.
The habitat planning and management practices outlined in the Guidelines are aimed primarily at land planner and managers of large tracts, both public and private. However, the manual also describes practices that can benefit birds on smaller land parcels, including residential backyards.
The manual includes sections on five major habitat types including:
FOREST--This section suggests ways to minimize forest fragmentation and its detrimental effects on birds. The need to restore and protect older, mature forests is stressed. This section also points out bird-friendly practices than can be applied by those whose management objectives include game production or timber harvest.
SCRUB--Management of scrub habitat is discussed largely in terms of utility rights-of-way. The techniques described, however, are applicable to other areas.
GRASSLAND--Managing grassland in Maryland is particularly important because
of recent, precipitous declines in 
populations of grassland birds. This section describes optimal
sizes for grassland tracts. It stresses the need to avoid fragmenting
these areas and to design mowing schedules that minimize harm
to nesting songbirds. This section also outlines ways to manage
for "warm-season" grasses. These grasses benefit grassland birds
more than do the widely used "cool-season" grass mixtures introduced
from Europe.
EMERGENT WETLANDS--Management of emergent wetland habitat in which plants "emerge" above the water surface, is reviewed including a focus on "restored" wetlands and created wetland sites.
URBAN/SUBURBAN--This section discusses the needs of songbirds in city and residential settings and emphasizes the benefits of diversity in wildlife plantings.
Copies of the guidelines may be obtained, free of charge, by contacting:
Claudia Jones Chesapeake Bay Critical Areas Commission #45 Calvert Street (2nd Floor) Annapolis, Maryland 21401 Telephone 410-974-2426.
In addition, an Adobe Acrobat version of the text can be downloaded from the following web site: www2.ari.net/saunderf/mos/mos/land.html
Join the Partners in Flight Management Committee
As a representative for the Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club, I participated for several years in bimonthly meetings of the Management Committee and helped develop this publication. Now that it is published, we need volunteers to assist the Committee with their continuing efforts to update and implement these Guidelines. Please call me at (301) 497-5719 if you are interested in helping.
