Newsletter No. 292 July 18, 2010

1. TENNESSEE NEWS

Shortly before adjourning this year's session, the General Assembly on June 4 passed a budget that included the full funding requested by Gov. Bredesen for land conservation. The four funds, totaling $16.5 million, are as follows:
State Parks Fund: $3.1 million
Local Parks Fund: $3.7 million
Wetlands Fund: $6.5 million
Agricultural Fund: $3.2 million
These funds include money for acquiring fragile or scenic tracts of land (often threatened by development), and they can also be used to leverage matching federal $$ that are intended for the protection of lands and waters. During the past two years, state land-acquisition funds had been diverted for the purpose of balancing Tennessee's ailing finances. In this super-tight budget year, restoration of the funds for their originally intended purpose was a near-miraculous achievement for Forever Green Tennessee, a coalition of 51 organizations ably assembled and led with energy and genius by Kathleen Williams.
After Gov. Bredesen had been persuaded to include the funds in his budget, the Republican majority in the legislature once again targeted them for meeting general budgetary needs. During the last few weeks of the session, Forever Green Tennessee, worked tirelessly and highly effectively to mobilize public support for restoring the funds to their intended purpose. Finally, the Senate Finance Committee, which had been the major hurdle, voted 9 : 2 to do this. Only Sen. Randy McNally (the chairman) and Sen. Tim Burchett were in opposition; the majority of 9 was bipartisan.
The state will now again be able, in some measure, to save woods, wetlands, wildlife, and clean water; to add to our parks and natural areas; to aid agricultural best practices. If the funds had been lost for the third year in a row, it might have been impossible to restore them in the future.

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation has proposed a draft 303(d) list for 2010. Section 303(d) of the federal Clean Water Act requires each state to list those waters within its boundaries that do not meet minimum water-quality standards for designated use classifications. States must then develop Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) for these waterbodies, i.e., determine the amount of pollutant that a waterbody can assimilate without exceeding water quality standards. The goal of the TMDL is the restoration of water quality.
The draft 303(d) list is organized by watershed. There are numerous listings in each of the watersheds in which TCWP members have a special interest. Examples in the Emory watershed includes: segments of Emory River, Crooked Fork, Clear Creek (1.4 miles oil), Obed (In Cumberland County), Crab Orchard Creek. In the BSF watershed: Pine Creek and several tributaries, Bear Creek, E. Branch Bear Creek.
You can view the entire draft list at http://www.tcwn.org/sites/default/files/2010draft303dlist.pdf

Natural-gas extraction is on the rise on the Cumberland Plateau. What problems might this present? TCWP is trying to build a body of knowledge on this subject (NL291 ¶8A).
(a) Fracking of the Marcellus Shale
Elsewhere in the country major environmental damages have been reported from the technologies of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) that are being used for extracting natural gas from the Marcellus Shale, a formation that underlies altogether 54,000 square miles in southwestern New York State, eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, and almost all of West Virginia. In some of these areas, there has been a dramatic increase in natural-gas extraction projects, and there are widespread reports that drinking-water wells in the area containing gas wells have been contaminated by the substances that are injected to increase gas yield. Different gas companies use assortments of at least 260 types of chemicals, many of them toxic (like benzene), that tend to remain in the ground even after the fracturing has been completed. There are also major surface problems associated with fracking operations, chiefly resulting from the huge water consumption. Drilling requires about 300,000 gallons of water per day per well, and fracking a well uses 2-9 million gallons of water. This is typically pumped from nearby surface waters, often depleting small, remote forest streams. The wastewater that is drawn back to the surface (“flowback water”) contains heavy brines that are found in the rock itself [Volunteer Monitor, vol. 21, No.1].
(b) Exemption from the Safe Drinking Water Act
Under, the Bush Administration, EPA decided that hydraulic fracturing was essentially harmless. Congress (in the Energy Policy Act of 2005) used this finding as the basis for removing hydraulic fracturing from any regulation under the Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program of the Safe Drinking Water Act. This lack of oversight and regulation must end (see Action Box, below).
(c) The new EPA study
In its FY2010 budget, Congress funded an EPA study on Hydraulic Fracturing for all its applications -- natural gas as well as oil recovery; from coalbeds as well as from shale. It is projected that shale gas will comprise over 20% of the total US gas supply by 2020. EPA is currently defining the scope of the study and identifying key research questions. Public meetings are being held in July and August in several states (TX, CO, PA, NY). The study design will be complete by September 2010. EPA's Office of Research and Development will then initiate the study itself in January 2011 and have the initial results available by late 2012. During the current scoping phase, EPA wants to hear our suggestions on what issues to address: Impacts on drinking water? Environmental effects of surface disturbances? Water consumption? We need to tell them by August 12 (see action box, below).
For further information, visit the website http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw000/uic/wells_hydrofrac.html. The same website will be maintained to update the public on study progress, to announce meetings, and to accept public comments on draft reports associated with the study.
(d) How about Tennessee?
According to a recent report from the state's Oil & Gas Program, no hydro-fracturing of wells is currently occurring in the state. Four materials are used to fracture the shale that lies at a depth of 3,000-4,000 feet. Each is forced into the rock formation under pressure.
• Nitrogen
• Sand mixed with some water
• Dilute hydrochloric acid
• A clay gel mixed with water
The same report also states that, to date, the State of Tennessee has no oil or gas site larger than two acres, most sites being 1/2 acre in size.
With hydraulic fracturing not regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act, and there being no requirement for drilling companies to report what they are injecting into the ground, the above report can only be taken on faith. TDEC has suggested a meeting on the subject with stake holders, and TCWP will encourage this proposal.

Of the 5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash that had spilled into the Emory River at the Kingston steam plant on December 22, 2008, more than half have been removed and shipped to a landfill in Alabama. In mid-May, TVA announced that all ash remaining to be removed from the embayment will be permanently stored onsite.
According to TVA Today of 5/18/10, “TVA will place the dry ash atop an engineered foundation of sand, gravel and geo fabric enclosed by an underground perimeter wall constructed of cement mixed with subsurface soil to divert drainage and control runoff. Upon completion, the area will be capped with layers of clay and topsoil, and graded to drain in order to minimize water moving through the ash. The area then will be seeded, mulched and regularly inspected to ensure public health and safety. The area will not include a liner system; however the long-term closure plan will include extensive groundwater monitoring of existing and new wells.” An AP story calls it “a 25-foot-tall heap with no liner system beside the Emory River.”
These plans apply to the ash that spilled in December 2008. The disposition of coal ash currently being continuously generated at Kingston, at all other coal-fired power plants in the TVA Region, and in the country as a whole will hopefully be covered by upcoming EPA regulations. It is essential that we have an input into the making of that rule – see ¶3C, this NL.

2. BSFNRRA; EMORY WATERSHED; the CUMBERLANDS

About a month ago the National Park Service started on a major program of plugging abandoned oil & gas wells in the park and reclaiming the sites. Stimulus money (under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) is funding this important work on which TCWP had earlier commented (NL288 ¶1B; NL289 ¶1B).
The Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area (BSFNRRA) encompasses 326 oil & gas sites in Tennessee and Kentucky. Many of the wells inside the park have been abandoned; they lack financially-solvent owners who can plug the wells and reclaim the affected areas, as required by state law. These deteriorating wells and associated sites (sometimes containing tanks, pads, pits, and pipelines) pose significant environmental and public-safety risks. Threats include contamination of groundwater and surface water, fire, personal injury, property and/or resource damage, and continued disturbance (e.g., erosion and spread of invasive plants).
With funding now available, NPS may be able to plug more than 50 wells and reclaim the associated sites, starting on Darrow Ridge. Above-ground structures and debris will be removed. Sites and access roads will be stabilized and re-vegetated with native species, unless they are needed for future private mineral access or they coincide with roads or trails identified in the BSFNRRA Management Plan. Access for these much-needed remediation projects will require reopening some old roads and re-disturbing sites to “fix” them for the long run. Care will be taken to avoid actions that might have adverse impacts on water resources or that might introduce invasive exotic species.

As reported last time (NL291 ¶1A), TCWP heard about a landowner willing to sell an 18.6-acre tract on Clear Creek on the east side of Four Mile Creek (at Norris Ford). The tract has a 200ft-wide strip above the cliff line and borders a stream with a beautiful 70ft waterfall. With the Park financially unable to make the purchase at this time, TCWP dug into its coffers and quickly purchased the land in May to prevent its private sale and potential development. This Obed land is now assured of protection until the Park Service can acquire the funds and complete all the administrative steps needed to take title of the land from us.
In a letter enclosed with this NL, TCWP is asking for your help to replenish our funds so that we will be ready for the next opportunity to protect another parcel of this incredible resource.

Crooked Fork is a lovely little stream that flows into the Emory River north of Camp Austin (south of where the Emory joins the Obed). Some of you may be familiar with one or both of two spectacular waterfalls located on the river – Potter's Falls and LeMance Falls. Crooked Fork needs help!
On Saturday, September 18, 2010, the Emory River Watershed Association will host a tour of the Crooked Fork Creek Watershed. The watershed lies entirely within Morgan County between the communities of Wartburg, Petros, and Mossy Grove.
Listed as an impaired stream by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (¶1B, above), Crooked Fork Creek is a stream in need of TLC. Participants will explore the headwaters and stream crossings, look at success stories and current challenges, and discuss ways water quality can be improved in this important watershed. Representatives from the Morgan County Soil Conservation District will be on hand to discuss grant-funding availability for the area.
The tour will leave from the Morgan County Vocational School Complex at 9 a.m. and return to the complex for lunch (a free lunch will be provided). The event should conclude by 1 p.m. If you have any questions, or would like to reserve a seat, please contact Amy Mathis by phone (865-591-9064) or e-mail (amy_mathis@hotmail.com).

The Alliance for the Cumberlands grew out of a TCWP idea and first met in Oak Ridge at a TCWP-sponsored meeting. Over the next several years, with much of the organizational burden carried by TCWP's Executive Director Sandra Goss, the group defined its mission and goals and objectives, identified and recruited diverse leadership and members, and worked to facilitate communication and understanding among the many stakeholders of the Cumberlands.
The Alliance, now come of age, will hold its Summer Meeting Tuesday, August 3, at the Appalachian Center for Crafts. The meeting focus is the cultural arts and traditions of the Cumberland Plateau region featuring Linda Caldwell, Bobby Fulcher, Bill Landry, and traditional music and stories by Tony Thomas. RSVP deadline is July 26; see .
The Summer Meeting will also feature election of new Board members. The Nominating Committee (Sandra Goss, Robert Bell, Greg Wathen, and Daniel Carter) presents the following candidates to begin a four-year term on the Alliance Board this October:
• Bob Butters – Coordinator of the Nickajack Recreational Corridor Coalition
• Calvin Dickinson – Former professor of history at Tennessee Tech University
• Chris Roberts – Land Trust for Tennessee
• Gary Myers – Former Executive Director of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
• Mack Prichard – State Naturalist Emeritus.
Members will also vote on a new Strategic Plan for the Alliance. The plan was developed during February and March by a committee of diverse stakeholders. The final document is posted on the website (see above) for review.
Finally, recent achievements give cause for celebration. Lyndhurst Foundation has awarded the Alliance a grant for $20,000; the Tucker Foundation awarded a grant for $8000; the Alliance for the Cumberlands and Executive Director Zeb Turrentine received the 2010 Cumberland Business Journal Ovation Award for Excellence in Tourism Promotion.

3. COAL-POWERED ENERGY: PROBLEMS OF COAL MINING AND COAL BURNING

The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) has taken the initial step toward a new rule, the Stream Protection Rule, intended “to prevent downstream impacts without eliminating surface coal mining.” The Federal Register of April 30 published a Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS to evaluate alternatives for revising surface-mining rules for better protection of streams. A proposed rule will be published in early 2011, and the rule should be finalized in mid-2012.
Progress toward the new rule follows the course of action outlined in June 2009 in a Memorandum of Understanding with EPA and the Corps of Engineers to minimize the adverse consequences of Appalachian surface coal mining (NL286 ¶7B; NL288 ¶5C). Some of the draft concepts that the proposed rule might cover include:
• Requiring coal-mining companies to gather more extensive and more specific baseline data on a proposed mine site's hydrology, geology, and aquatic biology
• Establishing a definition of the term “material damage” to watersheds outside of areas permitted for mining
• Adding monitoring requirements for surface water, groundwater, and wildlife during mining and reclamation
• Limiting variances and exceptions to “approximate original contour.”
Although the Rule would apply nationwide, its most important impact would be on mountaintop-removal mining in Appalachia.

Following preliminary movements In that direction (NL286 ¶7B; NL288 ¶5C). the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), has now suspended the use of Nationwide Permit 21 (NWP 21) in the Appalachian region of Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia, where surface mining increasingly takes the form of mountain-top removal. This decision, announced in the June 18, 2010 issue of the Federal Register, immediately affects new operations. Coal companies will no longer be able to use the expedited process to obtain permits that for a decade or so have resulted in streams being buried under rubble pushed down from mountain sides and mountain tops. Instead, proposed mines will now need individual Clean Water Act permits, which involve greater scrutiny and public input.
The public notice is available for viewing on the Nashville District Web Site: http://www.lrn.usace.army.mil/cof/proposed_activities.htm (Notice number 10-23).
EPA, likewise, has responsibilities under Sections 402 and 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA), to ensure that future mining will not cause significant environmental, water-quality, and human-health impacts. The agency's actions in that area were reported in NL291 ¶5A.

The good news is that EPA is finally proposing to regulate Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR), or “coal ash.” The bad news is that one of the options under consideration is essentially worthless (NL291 ¶5C). It will require all of our voices to make sure the latter option is not the one chosen.
The pre-publication of the proposed rule was signed 5/4/10; the official version was published in the Federal Register on June 21. We have 90 days for comment. According to an AP story of 6/7/10, the original EPA draft contained only the stronger of the two options; the weak alternative was added only after TVA, which has a conflict of interest, got a sneak preview, before the draft was made available to the public
For decades, CCR have not been subject to federal regulation; they are considered “exempt wastes” under an amendment to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The Kingston Steam Plant disaster brought on the realization that there are hundreds of similar CCR storages at coal-fired power plants across the country.
The two options now under consideration by EPA are covered by RCRA subtitles C (special wastes, in hazardous section) and D (non-hazardous wastes), respectively.
• Subtitle C: Enforcement is State and federal; permits are required; corrective action is monitored by authorized States and EPA. Surface impoundments would be phased out.
• Subtitle D: Enforcement is through citizen suits (States can act as citizens); no permits are required; corrective action is self-implementing. Coal ash would be treated like household garbage. EPA would merely set advisory guidelines that industry could chose to ignore and states could chose not to enforce.
There are several additional differences, with Subtitle D being very much weaker in all respects
Because coal ash contains numerous toxic substances (arsenic, cadmium, mercury, selenium, and others), it clearly deserves to be classified as hazardous waste (Subtitle C). This would entail federally enforceable safeguards that guarantee that coal ash will not pollute our drinking water, our streams, our wildlife and our communities. For Subtitle D, on the other hand, enforcement is solely through citizen suits. Not only is this a much weaker route, but it puts an unfair burden on already impacted communities.

(a) Tennessee state budget: no benefit
Studies commissioned by the Sierra Club, SOCM, and other groups, and published mid-June in a report entitled “The Impact of Coal on the Tennessee State Budget” (www.Downstreamstrategies.com/documents/reports_publication/DownstreamStrategies-coalTN.pdf) indicate that the benefits of coal mining in the state are negligible, if not negative. In 2009, coal mining directly employed only about 600 people. (According to the TN Mining Assoc., an industry group, each mining job typically generates 3.5 other jobs. This number may be inflated.) ? Coal production has fallen since 1985, and less than 3% of the coal burned in Tennessee comes from the state. In 2009, Tennessee collected $1.1 million from severance taxes on the coal industry, representing less than 1% of the state's total tax revenues. State expenditures related to the coal industry (revenue administration, environmental protection, maintenance and repair of roadways, etc.), however, exceeded this amount, resulting in a net cost to the state.
(b) Post-MTR: no economic development
Coal companies have justified the strategy of blowing up the oldest mountains on the continent by arguing that “the Appalachians need more land for economic development” and explaining that mountain-top removal (MTR) mining provides "reclaimed" flat land for such development.
Two new studies by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Appalachian Voices now reveal that 1.2 million acres, including 500 mountains, have been demolished by coal companies in Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, and Tennessee. Over 89% of the sites are not currently being used for economic development. A map using Google Earth is featured on the study website at http://www.ilovemountains.org/reclamation-fail/.
In the meantime, coal-industry folks are mocking Ashley Judd, the actress and outspoken critic of MTR mining (which she calls “the rape of Appalachia”). They recently produced a poster showing Judd covering her breasts with her hands, and this message: “Ashley Judd makes a living removing her top, why can't coal miners?” [AP story]

4. CHEROKEE NF WILDERNESS; OTHER NATIONAL FORESTS

The important first step of what the Tennessee Wild coalition (www.tnwild.org) has been working on for two years (NL283 ¶5B) has come to pass. On June 9, Senators Alexander introduced (and Sen. Corker co-sponsored) the Tennessee Wilderness Act of 2010. The bill creates one new wilderness area (Upper Bald River) and expands the boundaries of five other wilderness areas already existing within the Cherokee National Forest. (Congress began protecting wilderness in the Cherokee NF in 1975, with additional wilderness areas being established by the Tennessee Wilderness Acts of 1984 and 1986.) All areas included in the bill are owned entirely by the U.S. Forest Service and are currently being managed as Wilderness Study Areas.
The Wilderness Act of 2010:
• Creates the 9,038 acre Upper Bald River Wilderness
• Adds 348 acres to the Big Frog Wilderness
• Adds 966 acres to the Little Frog Wilderness
• Adds 2,922 acres to the Sampson Mountain Wilderness
• Adds 4,446 acres to the Big Laurel Branch Wilderness
• Adds 1,836 acres to the Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness
The stand-alone Upper Bald River Wilderness, along with the existing Bald River Gorge Wilderness, allows for virtually the entire Bald River Watershed to be protected. The Big Laurel Branch addition means further protection for the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. The Sampson Mountain Wilderness is close to the Rocky Fork tract (NL283 ¶5A).
The bill will need to pass through the Senate agriculture committee before consideration by both the House and Senate. It would most likely become part of a larger omnibus lands bill before reaching the president's desk for signature.
One of the prime movers behind this and earlier Wilderness legislation in the Cherokee National Forest, Will Skelton, will speak at an upcoming TCWP program on January 29 (¶8C, this NL). We hope you can attend. [Information from Tim Bigelow] An organization that maintains a portion of the Appalachian Trail (AT) in NE Tennessee has submitted comments against the bill. A 3-mile stretch of the segment of the AT maintained by them is within one of the proposed Wilderness additions, and Wilderness-designation rules normally prohibit the use of chain saws and other motorized equipment for trail maintenance and construction. Supporters of the bill are working on possible solutions -- the bill is too important not to pass.

Management of our 155 national forests (which cover 193 million acres of land) by the US Forest Service is governed by policies under the National Forest Management Act. These rules are being revised, and the USFS has asked for public suggestions to aid in the development of the plan that will be formally proposed later this year. For detailed information, visit www.fs.fed.us and click “Planning Rule” (under Issues).
We need to tell the USFS that we want the strongest possible protection for water, trees and other natural vegetation, wildlife, and other natural resources. Our national forests play an essential role in protecting national and global resources; they contain the headwaters of fully one-fifth of our country's drinking-water supply, and they play a vital role in storing carbon that would otherwise contribute to global warming. Public inspection of comments received is available at http://contentanalysisgroup.com/fsr/.
After the USFS has reviewed the numerous suggestions, it will produce a proposed set of management policies later this year. The formal public comment periods will start following publication of the proposed Planning Rule and Draft EIS. During the open comment period, the USFS will provide links for submitting electronic comments and information about other options.

The Tongass National Forest in lower Alaska has special importance, not only because of its huge size, but because it is home to what is almost the last remnant of the vital temperate rain forest. Further, in a compromise, the Tongass was unfortunately exempted from the Roadless Rule.
In late May, The USFS announced that it is shifting logging in the Tongass from old-growth stands to forested areas that have been roaded and developed (second-growth stands that have already been impacted by past logging). Importantly, the new policy also has a job-creation aspect, vital for gaining local support for lasting solutions to longstanding environmental conflicts. Thus, the USFS will emphasize a “region-wide job creation platform,” including emerging and established industries in forest restoration, renewable energy, tourism and recreation, subsistence, commercial and sport fishing, and mariculture.
Unfortunately, there is now a new threat to the Tongass NF. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) recently introduced S.881 that would give ~70,000 acres of some of the oldest, most biologically rich lands in this national forest to the Sealaska Native Corporation, which has a well-documented history of clearcut logging in the Tongass. The bill would privatize dozens of the finest undeveloped coves, bays, and recreational areas in the national forest, severely impacting the region's current recreation and tourism industry.

5. SMOKIES CAPSULES
[Information from Tim Bigelow and Ray Payne]

• Approximately 15 new elk calves have been sighted in Cataloochee this summer
• Environmental Assessments have been approved for:
- Upgrade of facilities of the GSM Institute at Tremont (environmental education)
- Reconstruction of the road between the Visitor Center and Newfound Gap.
There has been significant progress on infrastructure improvement.
• Projects recently completed
- Re-pavement of the Cades Cove loop road
- Opening of Clingmans Dome Information Center in the former restroom building; new restroom facilities
- Re-pavement of the Clingmans Dome road
- US129 rockslide repair
• Work in progress
- Overlook at the Sinks on the Little River Road
- Paving and parking-area improvements in the Elkmont area (temporary closure of roads to trailheads)
- New Oconaluftee Visitor Center (completion expected by the end of the year)
- Re-paving of eastern portion of the Foothills Parkway off I-40 in Cocke County (temporarily closed)
- Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail (put on hold).

6. NATIONAL ISSUES

We have been struggling for years, if not decades, to complete acquisition of lands within the authorized boundaries of the Obed Wild & Scenic River and the BSFNRRA. These are just two examples of where essential funds haven't been there. But, wait a moment: they really would have been there if only a 46-year-old law had been properly implemented.
Congress enacted the Land & Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) in 1964 to save areas with high natural value, and each year the fund draws $900 million from offshore oil & gas drilling lease proceeds. But money to be spent from the Fund needs to be appropriated annually, and the unappropriated balance has gone to the general Treasury where it is used for other purposes. Even though the need has grown increasingly dire (development alone takes 3 million new acres every year in the USA), the appropriated amounts have been very low (e.g., $113 million in 2007) and unpredictable over he past many years. The full $900 million funding originally promised by Congress has been reached only once since 1965. Congress has diverted as much as $17 billion (85%) of the Fund's dedicated revenue for projects quite unrelated to conservation – an unkept promise! This has crippled not only federal protection initiatives but also state and local ones since some of the LWCF appropriations can go to states and localities as 50-50 matching funds to facilitate projects with natural and recreational benefits.
Presently, there are several routes for supporting a solution.
(a) A bill now before the U.S. Senate would guarantee full and permanent funding for the LWCF. Senators Jeff Bingman (D-NM) and Max Baucus (D-MT) have introduced S.2747, which would provide the intended $900 million each year without having to go through the appropriations process. It is most important that we urge our senators to co-sponsor S.2747.
(b) Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO) has introduced an amendment to oil spill legislation that would fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The LWCF balances the loss of one natural resource — offshore oil and gas — by using a small portion of the drilling fees for the permanent protection of important lands and waters elsewhere. In the face of what could be the greatest environmental disaster of our time -- the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico – this makes more sense than ever. The oil-spill legislation is before the Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee, of which Tennessee's Sen. Corker is a member.
(c) America's Great Outdoors Initiative web site is soliciting ideas (¶6B, below). Full and permanent funding for the LWCF may be the most important idea to enter.

Under the President's new America's Great Outdoors Initiative (NL291 ¶7C), listening sessions are being held across the country all summer for the federal government to learn how to build upon state, local, private, and tribal conservation initiatives targeted at conservation of both public and private land. Federal agencies involved are the Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Interior (USDI), EPA, and the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ).
Although the session closest to us (Asheville, NC) will have passed (July 15) you can submit your comments and stories via the America's Great Outdoors website, where you can vote to “promote” ideas you like, as well as post you own ideas (see Action Box, below, for instructions).
An important subject to stress is that we badly need full and permanent funding for the LWCF (for more on this, see ¶6A, above). You may also note that we must not only complete our national parks but protect areas surrounding them and add new protected natural areas. Don't forget rivers as well as the lands through which they flow.

Fish & Wildlife Service: Refuge Plans
The US Fish & Wildlife Service is drafting a Comprehensive Conservation Plan for each national wildlife refuge in the country. One of the most prominent is the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). All of ANWR except the Coastal Plain – the Refuge's “biological heart” – is in the National Wilderness Preservation System. In developing the new Plan, the FWS will consider whether to recommend wilderness designation for the Costal Plain as well. It well deserves such designation!
BLM: Oil & gas leasing program
[Information from Wilderness Soc., 6/11/10]
Under the Bush Administration, the oil & gas industry held unbridled control over public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management. Two months ago, the new Director, Robert V. Abbey, issued a Memorandum (No. 2010-117) that requires future oil and gas leasing decisions on public lands to undergo greater management and environmental scrutiny. The Memorandum also directs the BLM to consider places that should not be leased, or should only be leased with stringent protections, even where initial decisions were made during the Bush Administration to make these lands available for leasing without sufficient safeguards (and without any environmental reviews).

It seems like a dilemma: hydropower is a clean source of energy, but we don't want any more dams to be built. Here are two possible strategies that do not require new reservoirs.
• Retrofit existing dams.
Of the nearly 80,000 U.S. dams, only 3% generate power, supplying ~6% of the nation's electricity. Turbines on many of these could be upgraded. More importantly, many existing non-hydro dams could be retrofitted to generate power. For example, 5 such projects currently being developed on the Ohio River will supply energy for 250,000 homes.
• Run-of-the-river hydropower projects divert water from a stream through a short canal into a penstock, essentially a steep downhill pipe in which the water gathers enough speed to spin turbines before being channeled back into a more downstream portion of the stream from which it was taken

7. CLIMATE CHANGE

“… we can either move forward with clean energy solutions that create jobs and stop global warming, or we can risk the unimaginable suffering and damage that will inevitably occur if we do nothing” (League of Women Voters).
Carbon-fuel emissions have for very long been dumped free of charge into the atmosphere; nobody is paying for the tremendous damage being inflicted. Attaching a real cost to GHGs is the surest way to persuade American industry to develop cleaner fuels. Yet several bills currently being discussed in the Senate are energy-only bills.
Last year, the House of Representatives passed a creditable, even though not wholly perfect, climate bill that included an economy-wide cap on carbon pollution (NL286 ¶8A). In the Senate, the Kerry/Lieberman American Power Act, introduced two months ago, though guilty of several shortcomings (NL291 ¶7A), does contain the essential feature of limiting GHG emissions. This is done via a cap-and-trade system with declining caps: 17% below 2005 levels by 2020, 42% by 2030, and 83% by 2050. This could put in place a structure that is likely to move private capital to clean energy investments. The bill also includes tougher standards for stationary sources of carbon emissions, and it would enact "Carbon Tariffs" to protect us against imports from countries with weak or no limits on GHG pollution.
Opposing senators have characterized cap-and-trade as an energy tax, and have accused any carbon-limiting features of being “job killing,” and prohibitively expensive. (In fact, the EPA has calculated that the Kerry-Lieberman bill would cost American households at most an additional $150 a year.) Everyone is becoming timid about the chance that a true climate-control bill (as opposed to measures addressing only energy) could pass the Senate at this time. The only Republican proposal currently being considered, one by Sen. Lugar, addresses energy-saving measures, but lacks a cap on carbon emissions.
At present (according to the Environmental Defense Action Fund) the outlook is as follows. Next week, Majority Leader Harry Reid intends to introduce a wide-ranging bill that would cover four issues:
• A response to the Gulf oil disaster,
• A clean-energy and job-creation title,
• A tax package targeted to promote efficiency and renewable energy and,
• (very important) A section that would address carbon pollution from the electric utility industry.
Debate on the Senate floor might begin the week of July 26. With the August recess looming, this is officially crunch time.
While the details of Sen. Reid's bill are still unknown, one thing that seems clear is that the Senate is most unlikely to support an economy-wide cap on carbon pollution like the one contained in the House bill. It is essential for the White House to be actively engaged in shaping the bill and delivering the votes, including crucially-needed Republican votes (it being clear that several Democratic votes will be unobtainable – see the list in ¶7C, below). The President must know that you stand with him (see Action Box, below).
If we continue loading the atmosphere with GHGs, the resulting climate change will dwarf the Deepwater Oil Disaster in scope and devastation. There is no time left to lose. We must pass comprehensive climate and clean energy legislation. It'll require ALL of our voices to counteract the millions of dollars being spent by Big Oil to maintain the status quo.

On May 19, the National Research Council issued three reports emphasizing why the U.S should act now to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The National Research Council is the operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. The three reports are part of a congressionally requested suite of five studies known as America's Climate Choices.
The first report concludes: “Climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activity (chiefly the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation), and poses significant risks for – and in many cases is already affecting – a broad range of human and natural systems.”
The second report urges the US to set a greenhouse gas emissions “budget” that restricts overall emissions and provides a measurable goal for policy makers and for industry. A carbon-pricing system (a predictable and rising price on GHGs) is the most effective way to reduce emissions – either cap-and-trade, a system of taxing emissions, or a combination of the two. In addition to carbon pricing, complementary policies are necessary in such areas as increasing energy efficiency, accelerating the development of renewable energy sources, retrofitting or replacing existing emission-intensive energy infrastructure, etc. The longer we wait to begin reducing emissions, the academy adds, the harder and more costly it will be to reach the target.
The third report, Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change strongly emphasizes that adaptation to climate change should not be seen as an alternative to attempts to limit it. At severe rates of climate change, adapting to disturbances by may not be possible.
Copies of the report are available at http://www.nap.edu or by calling 1-800-624-6242.

In 2007, the Supreme Court found that, contrary to assertions by the Bush Administration, EPA had the authority to regulate CO2 and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) under the provisions of the Clean Air Act (NL273 ¶8B). EPA subsequently issued the required “endangerment finding,” a well-documented statement to the effect that “greenhouse gases threaten the public health and welfare of the American people” (NL285 ¶11C). In addition, EPA proposed a rule that focuses action on the biggest sources of global-warming pollution -- namely the ones that produce more than 25,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually. In the absence of federal legislation limiting GHG emissions, administrative regulation is our best hope for slowing global warming,
Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has been devising a variety of strategies for throwing a monkey wrench into the regulation of GHG emissions (NL290 ¶7B). In January, she introduced S.J. Res 26, a "resolution of disapproval” that needed only 51 votes for passage. TCWP was one of numerous organization that mobilized opposition, and on June 10 the Senate voted 53-47 to reject S.J. Res 26. Sadly, both Senators Alexander and Corker voted in favor of the Murkowski amendment, as did every single other Republican senator. In addition, the following 6 Democrats voted for S.J. Res 26: Bayh (IN), Landrieu (LA), Lincoln (AR), Pryor (AR), Ben Nelson (NE), Rockefeller (WV). According to some sources, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, who represents a state whose economy is based on coal, has been promised the chance to introduce a bill that would effectively have the same result as the Murkowski resolution, though under the guise of delaying EPA action for years, rather than definitively blocking it.
One of our letters to the two Tennessee Senators elicited this response from Sen. Corker: “I do not believe it is appropriate for the EPA to mandate large-scale carbon emissions reductions through administrative regulations, and I am a cosponsor of this resolution (italics added) which would reverse EPA's 'endangerment finding' for greenhouse gases.”
S.J. Res 26 was blatantly anti-science. It “disapproved” (denied) the finding (by EPA) that greenhouse gases threaten the public health and welfare of the American people – a finding that has overwhelming scientific support, as most recently affirmed by the National Academy of Sciences (¶7B, above).
The day after the defeat of S.J. Res 26, former VP Al Gore wrote: “Senator Murkowski's resolution never should have even reached the Senate floor. The fact that we had to work to defeat this legislation is a testament to the continued strength of the fossil fuel lobby. But the fact that we did defeat it gives us fresh momentum for the months ahead, as our nation confronts the costs of our dependence on fossil fuels more directly than ever.”

Climate-change skeptics and deniers will capitalize on anything, however meaningless or untrue. A recent example is the case of “Climategate,” based on hacked-into e-mail exchanges involving scientists at East Anglia University (England). The climate-change deniers trumpeted that, as proved by the e-mails, these scientists were manufacturing evidence to show that global warming is occurring and that human beings are primarily responsible.
The e-mail exchanges have now been reviewed for the fifth time by prestigious and impartial panels convened by bodies such as Britain's Royal Society and the House of Commons. Though some of the e-mails, were mean-spirited, dismissive of contrarian views, or reluctant to share data, none of the panels found any conspiracy or distortion of scientific evidence. They found no reason to dispute the scientists' “rigor and honesty.” Similarly, alleged flaws in IPCC reports have been disproved, or shown to be meaningless.
But that kind of exoneration fails to be covered by a major segment of the media. According to the Alliance for Climate Protection, the Wall Street Journal has published more than 30 editorials and op-eds on climate change since November of 2009, all of which took the stance that climate science was unreliable, dishonest, questionable, or unimportant. Undoubtedly the climate-change deniers will find some way to ignore, or cast doubt on, the recent National Academy reports (¶7B, above).
Unfortunately, there are numerous people (including many in the media) who equate less-than-complete certainty (e.g., in the number of degrees of temperature rise, or the number of feet of sea level rise) with not knowing anything. They are not used to the fact that scientists almost always state their findings in terms of statistical probabilities or confidence limits.
There is no uncertainty about the finding that the burning of fossil fuels and the clearing of forests release carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, or that CO2 and other GHGs in the atmosphere trap heat through the greenhouse effect. Earth is warming because these gases are being released faster than they can be absorbed by natural processes (the chief of which we are actually destroying -- by deforestation). There is a greater than 90% probability that human activities are the main reason for the world's marked temperature increase in the past 50 years. Scientists know with very high confidence that sea levels are rising, glaciers and permafrost are shrinking fast, oceans are becoming more acidic, ranges of plants and animals are shifting. Surely, a prediction of extreme catastrophe should not need 100% certainty before we take actions to avert it.

8. TCWP NEWS

Dear TCWP folk,
We've had two glorious victories in the past several weeks and it took each of us to “get 'er done.”
Thanks to innumerable calls, e-mails, conversations, and letters, our State Legislature kept the Property Transfer Fund for Conservation in the budget (see ¶1A, this NL). This yields approximately $17 million annually to help state parks, farms, and wetlands, and to protect natural lands, but had been diverted to the general fund in the past two budgets.
Shortly after this triumph, Sen. Alexander introduced the Tennessee Wilderness Act of 2010 that will protect nearly 20,000 acres of special places in the Cherokee National Forest (see ¶4A, this NL). This major achievement moves us much closer to the first wilderness designation in the Cherokee since the 1980s.
It's morale boosting to reflect on these positive developments and it took every one of us writing, calling, and getting letters signed to realize these goals. Every voice is critical to our efforts.
We start our numerous comment letters with the phrase “on behalf of the 500 members of Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning, a state-wide environmental advocacy organization.” We need to increase the 500 number to 600 by year-end
Please, renew your dues; and recruit a new member. A pleasant side benefit of membership is the satisfaction that you help send sensible, science-based comments on such complicated issues as water quality, land protection, air quality, mining practices, and a host of others. Help us have a louder, clearer voice for the upcoming legislative sessions.
Mark your calendars for these interesting upcoming events: the Thursday, July 29, presentation by well-known Wilderness Advocate Will Skelton; the Saturday, September 11, Big South Fork hike that is cosponsored by the Tennessee Native Plant Society. Our speaker will be featuring great hikes in the areas that are proposed for Wilderness designation; activities with Tennessee Native Plant Society provide an increased emphasis on various plants in the wild and are unfailingly educational and enjoyable.
We can also use volunteers. Our needs include TCWP Ambassadors (to help with our outreach efforts), a TCWP representative to help with Community Shares obligations, and people with water-quality expertise to help analyze various proposed rules and Draft Environmental Impact Statements. Drop me an e-mail or call me to discuss how you can (further) help our struggling natural world (Sandra@sandrakgoss.com or 865-522-3809).
Thanks so much for all you do,
Sandra

The Political Guide for 2010 (NL290 ¶9A), which was included with our March NL, can also be accessed by visiting the TCWP website, www.tcwp.org.
You can also use our web site to sign up for TCWP e-mail alerts (http://tcwp.org/emailalert.shtml); or e-mail Sandra at Sandra@sandrakgoss.com to be added to the alert list.

Will Skelton, “Hiking in the Cherokee National Forest” – Thursday, July 29
(Postponed from June 24) Knoxville conservationist Will Skelton, who served as chairman of the Knoxville Greenways Commission from 1992-2008 and as general coordinator of the Cherokee National Forest Wilderness Coalition during the 1980s wilderness campaigns, is also editor of the Cherokee National Forest Hiking Guide, the second edition of which was released in 2005 by the University of Tennessee Press. On Thursday, July 29, he will discuss some of his favorite Cherokee National Forest hiking trails and how they came to be protected in an information program on "Hiking in the Cherokee National Forest." The program will be held at 7 p.m. in the Social Room at the Oak Ridge Civic Center (Oak Ridge Turnpike, west of the Tulane Ave. corner).
Leatherwood Ford field trip with TN Native Plant Society - Saturday, September 11
Again this year, TCWP will cosponsor a field trip with the Tennessee Native Plant Society, this time at Leatherwood Ford in the Big South Fork. We will walk upstream to a cobble bar on a rough informal trail. There are many rare plants on the cobble bar and surrounding area, including Cumberland rosemary, large-flowered Barbara's buttons, mountain witch-alder, and swamp sunflower. As time and interest allow, we may visit a rock house to see some species limited to that habitat. (If the river is running high, we will spend our day in rock houses and other upland habitats.)
We'll meet for carpooling at 8:15 a.m. in the Books-A-Million shopping center in Oak Ridge (at the front end of the parking lot, along South Illinois Avenue and between Waffle House and Hollywood Video); or, participants can meet the group at the Leatherwood Ford parking lot at 10 a.m. Eastern. [Directions: From I-40, take Exit 317 and follow U.S. 127 north to Jamestown. From Jamestown, turn right on Rt. 154, then right on Rt. 297 (Leatherwood Ford Rd.). Cross the Big South Fork River, and take the first left turn into the parking lot.] This walk is rated Moderate (it's less than a mile each way, but partly off-trail). Bring water, lunch, and bug spray.
National Public Lands Day cleanup -- Saturday, September 25
Once again this year we will observe National Public Lands Day by spending a morning removing invasive exotic plants at the TVA Ecological Study Area at Worthington Cemetery near the east end of Oak Ridge. Our annual efforts in this area are helping to eradicate wisteria from the cemetery, and privet and other invasive exotics from the ESA. A pizza lunch will follow our work session. Additional details will be provided in the September newsletter.
TCWP Annual Meeting – Saturday, October 9
Save the date! Ed Carter, who became executive director of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency in March 2009, will be our guest speaker. Watch for details to come in the September newsletter.
Additional information on all TCWP activities may be obtained from TCWP Executive Director Sandra K. Goss at Sandra@sandrakgoss.com or at 865-522-3809.

Big thanks for Newsletter-mailing prep work by Jean Bangham, Carol Grametbauer, Frank Hensley, Charlie Klabunde, Dick Raridon, Sandra K. Goss. This is one of the most enjoyable TCWP activities, with lively conversation and exchange of information on current environmental issues. Great group, and we welcome newcomers with open arms. Even an hour is helpful. Every other month.
Olive Gaines painted a BEAUTIFUL rain barrel for Knox County's Rainy Day Brush-off Competition. Olive, a long-time friend to TCWP and former Board member, has lent her artistic talents to us many times, from our logo to our tee shirts, with stunning results.
Big thanks to everyone who wrote, called, visited, e-mailed about keeping the real-estate transfer fund for conservation in our state's very tight budget. It's a tribute to each of us that our State Legislators kept this funding in the budget for the first time in 3 years, and under the most serious revenue restraints our state has faced in a long time.
Big thanks to State Naturalist Randy Hedgepath, who led us down the Piney Falls State Natural Area path in May. The outing benefited from a heavy rain the night before, which made the flow of the falls very dramatic and inspiring.
Big thanks to David Reister and Charlie Klabunde for coordinating a tour of the Buffalo Mountain Wind Turbines.
Lots of appreciation to Jean Bangham, Carol Grametbauer, Hal Smith, Tim Bigelow, Linda LaForest, Jenny Freeman, Jimmy Groton, Jan Lyons, Frank Hensley, and Nick Jagim for their work on the Secret City Festival booth. This was hot work, ameliorated by getting to see old friends and meet new ones.
A big thanks to Charlie Klabunde for completing and submitting TCWP's “990-EZ” (an annual IRS report), as well as our State Solicitation Permit, a necessity for Community Shares members. Charlie was a big help with equipment and expertise for a recent Tennessee Wild/Cherokee Forest Wilderness Campaign presentation in Oak Ridge.
Thanks to these good folks who celebrated National Trails Day on June 5 by cleaning up a segment of the North Ridge Trail: Phil Campbell, Charlie Klabunde, Jan Lyons, Susan Donnelly, Rob Apple, Sandra Goss, Warren Devine, Jan Estelle, Cindy Kendrick, and Jimmy Groton.

Piney Falls State Natural Area hike - Saturday, May 15
A group of 14 joined Tennessee State Naturalist Randy Hedgepath for a hike at Piney Falls State Natural Area, a pristine forestland featuring creeks, deep gorges, waterfalls and old-growth forest. En route to the various waterfalls (which featured abundant water the day of our visit), the group saw many blooming wildflowers, including trailing arbutus, mountain laurel, ragwort, hawkweed, beardtongue, and a pink lady's-slipper, and identified a variety of trees, shrubs, and birds. Many thanks to Randy for leading two hikes for TCWP this spring! (The first was at Frozen Head on March 27.)
National Trails Day workday on North Ridge Trail – Saturday, June 5
On a hot June morning, 12 volunteers joined North Ridge Trail Steward Susan Donnelly to trim vegetation from the trail. The event was organized to coincide with National Trails Day, and was a continuation of the work TCWP began on National Trails Day 2009. One of our workers was Jan Estelle, a new TCWP member who has adopted a section of the trail. Welcome, Jan!
The North Ridge Trail is one of TCWP's oldest ongoing projects. Built and maintained by TCWP members for many decades, the 7+-mile trail is one of the crown jewels of the acclaimed Oak Ridge Greenway system. Additional sections of the trail are available for adoption.

9. CALENDAR; RESOURCES

• July 29, Will Skelton, “Hiking in the Cherokee National Forest,” 7 p.m., Oak Ridge Civic Center Social Room (see ¶8C, this NL).
• August 3, Alliance for the Cumberlands Annual Meeting (see ¶2D, this NL).
• September 11, Leatherwood Ford field trip with Tennessee Native Plant Society, 10 a.m. Eastern (see ¶8C, this NL).
• September 18, Tour of Crooked Fork Creek Watershed (see ¶2C, this NL).
• September 25, National Public Lands Day cleanup at Worthington Cemetery (see ¶8C, this NL).
• October 9, TCWP Annual Meeting (see ¶8C, this NL).
• October—Elk Viewing (details later)
• Nov. 6—Oak Ridge Cedar Barren Workday (details later).

• The Tennessee Clean Water Network (TCWN) is the recipient of a “Clean Streams” grant from TWRA. This grant gives money to do stream clean ups. If you've got a project on the Tellico River, Daddy's Creek or in Monroe, Green, or Washington Counties, get in touch with TCWN at 865-522-7007 x100, or renee@tcwn.org. Also, ask them about TWRA's small tree-planting grants.
• “Climate Change: Science in Action” is the topic of this year's Fall Conference organized by Southern Appalachian Man and the Biosphere (SAMAB). The conference will be held at the Glenstone Lodge in Gatlinburg, November 16-18. The deadline for abstracts is August 13. For further information visit www.SAMAB.org.
• The great biodiversity of the Great Smoky Mountains may be glimpsed in the “Discover Life in America” (DLIA) exhibition at the American Museum of Science and Energy at Oak Ridge through September 26. Drawing on the tool of the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory, DLIA's aim is to identify and understand all the species of life within an 800-square-mile ecosystem of the Park. To learn more, visit www.dlia.org.
• “Renewal” a feature-length DVD, consists of a series of segments of reactions to environmental issues of all kinds from the efforts of people of many faiths. The focus is on people of faith working to create a sustainable future. The DVD can be ordered for $19.95 at http://www.renewalproject.net/dvd, or by calling 626-388-7974.