Inside Tracks
Annual Report ................................. 2
Bird Tales .. , ...................................... 3
Local News ..................................... .4
Environmental Issues ..................... 6
Calendar ........................................... 8
March Outing
On Sunday, March 26, journey
south with us to the thorn scrubland
habitat of the Chaparral Wildlife Mail­agement
Area near Artesia Wells (about
two hours drive).
This preserve and research facility
is owned by the Texas Parks & Wildlife
Department. Research here is centered
around game and nongame animals, as
well as grazing hiipact. Nongame wild­life
pres~ntly studied include the Texas
horned lizard, Texas tortoise, mountah1
lion, javelina, and more. ·
We will walk some trails, look for
birds, identify some brush species
(many of which will be h1 bloom), and
learn about wildlife and grazing man­agement.
Wildflowers should be
blooming.
A Texas Conservation Passport
is required-$25. We will carpool
from the Ruble
formation, call
Patty Leslie
Pasztor at 824-1235.
.Jra
CHAPTER OF THE
NATIONAL AUDUBON
SOCIETY
21 0-822-4503
The Chapter's primary goals are to promote
species and habitat conservation, and
environmental education in the community.
Volume XIII, No. 3 March 1995
Making a Difference--One Yard at a 11me
In the last two meetings, our guest speakers have looked at environmental
issues specific to the city or the country. This month, we'll move a little closer to
home-in fact, right into our own yards.
Natural Initiatives, a community-based public-awareness program for the San
Antonio area, urges every h1dividual to take the initiative!
• Help reduce the amount of water wasted on lawns-switch to a water-saver
landscape.
• Attract songbirds, hummingbirds, and butterflies-create a backyard habitat
h1 your yard.
• Make San Antonio an even prettier city-plant colorful heat-tolerant flowers
and shrubs native to our area.
• Respect and support nature in our urban environment-if you do, others will
follow your example.
Responsible stew<~.rdship of the earth begins right h1 our own back yards. Each
of us can hnprove the health of our habitat just by takh1g the initiative-the natural
initiative.
Barb DeLuca will tell of her experience h1 taking the initiative, and show us how
she transformed her typical urban front yard into Certified Texas Wildscape
#178-a water-saving landscape that also provides habitat for urban wildlife such
as birds and butterflies.
We can't control what others do, but we can make sure our own personal
impact on the environment is as positive as possible. Barb
(
says, "taking the initiative has changed my life; rrtaybe
t~. . attending this meeting will change yours."
Who should attend? Anyone who is interested h1
I gardening, birds and butterflies, wildlife habitat pres­.
I Jervation. Students are especially encouraged to at­\,/
tend.
Meeti11g Specifics: Monthly meeting of Bexar
Audubon Society, Thursday, March 16, 1995, 7:30 pm. Re­freshments
will be available at 7:00 pm. Come early to
socialize. Free and open to the public. Call822-4503 for more
h1formation.
Conservatiott Committee: Come to the Ruble Center at
6:00pm, March 16, for a joint meeting of the Bexar
Audubon Society and Sierra Club.
Locatiott: Ruble Center, 419 East Magnolia Street, San
Antonio. Nearest freeway exit is North St. Mary's, off Highway 281.
Public Trmzsportatiotz: VIA Route 5 (St. Mary's-McCullough-North Star
Mall) to Magnolia Street.
April20 Meeti11g: Fire ant control using bugs. Really.
PRESIDENT'S ANNUAL REPORT TO MEMBERS
It's again time to recount to you the with NAS regionally-elected director Sain continued to participate actively
efforts and accomplishments of Bexar Ted Eubanks, I spoke at a meeting of the in national population issues.
Audubon Society during the past year. Kerr County Republicans' Club along BAS participated in community
Your board hopes you are pleased with with two "property rights" supporters, events including Viva! Botanica, the
what this report reflects and that you and we were very active in the Golden- Leon Valley Earth Wise Living Day,
will choose to redouble your personal cheeked Warbler issue that consumed and Earth Day. We fielded a team to
commibnent to the preservation and much of the summer and fall, with in- "bowl for rhinos" in association with
enjoyment of nature during the coming terviews on radio and TV and with the the SA Chapter ~f the American Asso-year-
the challenges certah1ly abound. local press. dation of Zookeepers. . . J
Thelma Nungesser once again pro- In San Antonio, water was the prin- BAS members participated h1 the
vided informative and entertaining cipal topic-from Applewhite to tax Rangeland Environmental Issues Fo-programming.
Topics were the Ed- phase-ins to protection of the recharge rum, addressing cooperative efforts to wards Aquifer: water quality and quan- zone, and more. BAS officers and mem- address rangeland, habitat preserva- t
tity issues; Australian wildlife; Big Bend hers participated in workh1g groups tion, and endangered species issues. I Ranch State Natural Area; endangered with other non-governmental organi- Bill Sain represents BAS on the Kelly
plants; hornbills; an open member fo- zations h1 the AGUA coalition and the AFB Restoration Advisory Board.
rum (when a scheduled speaker failed San Antonio Environmental Network, BAS members are well represented
to appear); Applewhite; predator man- spearheaded by Susan Rust. Bexar among the leaders of the Mitchell Lake
agement; Paraguayan forests and forest Audubon continued to sponsor the Wetlands Society which is moving
dwellers; reversh1g the decline of mi- SAEN and, indeed, pledged to provide along well to protect this wonderful
gratory songbirds; and the annual holi- support for it h1 the coming year, since treasure for wildlife.
day slide-show extravaganza. Our an- participants urged its conthmation. Congratulations are due to Friends
nual plarming meeth1g was again held An exciting new program, Natural of Friedrich for acq1,1isition of the addi- at HEB headquarters in August. Initiatives, was launched with BAS tional seven acre parcel of land at the i
Outings organized by Marge member Barb DeLuca coordinating. park. BAS conthmes with its Second t
Lumpe included trips to Cave Without This community-based public-aware- Saturday program at Friedrich, under ~
a Name, Mitchell Lake, Kickapoo Cav- ness program for the greater San Anto- the leadership of Bill Woller. erns, San Antonio Botanical Garden for nio area promotes backyard (or front In Birdathon news, the chapter t
a behh1d-the-scenes look at their endan- yard) habitat creation and represents was the largest fund-raiser among
gered plants program, Bracken Cave, the cooperative efforts of many local chapters of 1,000 or more members h1 Garden-Ville agricultural products, groups. Demonstration gardens areal- the Southwest Region. l
Christmas Bird Counts, and a very spe- ready under development at a local ele- Our excellent newsletter, Bexar
cial pelagic outing h1 October. mentary school and with one neighbor- Tracks, was the second-place winner in l
The Audubon Adventures curricu- hood association. Watch for great the large-chapter division of the NAS 1 lum reached more than fifty classrooms things from this program in 1995 and chapter newsletter contest. Thanks and i
this school year, the numbers h1creased h1to the future. congratulations to our editor, Claire ~
·by special celebratory gifts and memo- Members of the chapter attended Drenowatz, who does such a great job rials. Our Education Chair, Betty Min- meeth1gs with Peter Berle regarding the on this noteworthy publication. 1
yard, provided speakers for school and association's problems the past year, BAS members participated actively j
community groups, loaned video tapes, and three members attended the bien- in Audubon Council of Texas, holdh1g
and responded to requests for educa- nial NAS convention in Florida where offices of Treasurer (Marge Lumpe),
tionalmaterials. No Audubon Ecology the strategic planning process was Conservation Chair (Dick Pipes), and
Camp scholarship was awarded in 1994. launched. We continue to be hwolved board members at large (Pipes and
Thelma also managed the BAS tele- in this effort to shape the future of the Hughes). Ourofficialchapterdelegates
phone, answering or routing calls abo1:1t Society and to emphasize the impor- to ACT were Marge Lumpe and Doris ~
birds and wildlife, programs, and other tance of the grassroots and the chapter French.
events. structure. A long-range pla1ming conimittee
Conservation, under the direction The chapter hosted the southwest was appointed and asked to report
of Dick Pipes, focused on national, state, regional town meeting in association back in July, prior to our annual plan-and
local issues. The Texas Legislature with the U.S. Network for Cairo, pre- ning meeth1g. Once agah1, we have an ~
was not in session, but BAS commented paring for the UN Conference on Popu- excellent board and dedicated commit-on
issues such as recreational hunting in lation and Development. Other organi- tee chairs and other volunteers but
state parks, the Endangered Species zations within the community agreed to more are needed to help us hnplement
Act, property rights and takings, and lend their names as co-sponsors of this programs and projects that remain on
the 1080 pesticide permit request. Alo~g important event. Dick Pipes and Bill our "wish list'' for now. '/;
March 1995 1 Bexar Tracks
REPORT, Cont'd
Our membership at the dose of De­cember
was 1,254, with five life mem­bers.
Many of you attended meetings
this year, enjoyed outings, and volun­teerea
for committee jobs or to help at
community events. In addition, I know
that many of you faithfully read Bexar
Tracks and take action on numerous
ite111s where .citizen support is needed.
We appreciate each ·and every one pf
you and urge you to continue to support
the chapter at whatever level you
can-with your membership, your ad­ditional
contributions, your time, your
energy, and your commitment to the
natural world we all treasure.
One final note: as you journey
through this year of difficult legislative
actions on both state and national levels,
where more and more often we· see a
trend that profits are private and costs
are public, please remember this guid­ing
principle and use it to help evaluate
your own cl)oices regarding programs
and actions-both individual and col­lective.
We call it environmelital equity:
Citizens should share equaUy in envi­ronmental
costs, risks, and access to
benefits.
- Susa11 K Hughes, March 3, 1995
1
BIRD TALES
An Unusual Bird Story
This January, it hadn't rained for two days, but the beach was still littered with
major debris from both the Santa Clara and Ventura rivers. I walked along the edge
of the brown, murky surf. Down the beach, just abpve the surf line, was a yearling
Brandt's cormorant. A beachgoer ran up to it, and it flapped into the water.lt dived
into the surf, but kept moving back up to the beach, obviously not in good health.
I got about thirty feet from the bird and sat down on a washed-up log to
observe it. A couple strolled up to.it and stood about two feet away, looking it over
to see if it had any obvious injuries. We talked about it for a few minutes, and I
strolled on down the beach toward the Santa Clara River's mouth.
When I returned, the connorant was about twenty feet up the beach. I
approached to within about four feet from him, and he waddled h1to my shadow.
I sat down on the sand and he came two feet closer to me. Now you'll think I really
flipped out, but I started talking to him, and humming Good King Wenceslaus and
Silent Night (I know, Christmas was eleven months away.)
The sound of my voice seemed to stimulate him, and he moved closer. I then
stretched out my legs in front of me. About five minutes later, he flapped up and
stood on my lap (he did not think it was a redwood log!), stayed for a couple of
mhmtes, and hopped off.
I found a six-inch diameter log among the debris, and rolled it down t~ within
four feet of him. He appeared unconcerned about the movement.
About five minutes later, he flapped up on the log, stayed for several mh1utes,
hopped off, and was last seen waddling to the ridge of sand and debris.
Possible coriclusions:
• The cormoratl.t was ill and mistook my legs for a log.
• The bird was extremely intelligent h1 choosh1g me and knew that I had worked
for Audubon for 31 years.
• Brandt's cormorant is a very stupid bird and has a brain the size of a Newt's.
· -fohn Bomema11, Retired Regional Represe11tative (Wester11 Regio11)
Who Needs a louse around the House? Kite Tales
If you think cleaning out bird­houses
is unnecessary, consider this: a
single nest box may harbor hundreds of
lice, fleas, ticks, mites, chiggers, and
bedbugs, all of which view the resident
birds as restaurants with wings.
These parasites will come through
the winter quite nicely in old nesth1g
material and be ready to chow down on
the spring crop of baby birds.
A heavy infestation of bloodsuck­ing
insects will kilf nestlings and cause
serious debilitation h1 adults.
Even for su..Vivors, life inside a pest­ridden
nest will be a miserably itchy
proposition.
People cleaning out nest boxes
shouldn't worry about being bitten, .
since few bird parasites would bother to
give a human a nibble. Most are host­specific,
preferrh1g not just birds but
particular avian species or families.
Bexar Tracks
Cleaning birdhouses at the end of
each season is the best insurance against
a dangerous buildup of pests. Any ma­terial
left h1 boxes last fall should be
'removed now.
Pesticides shouldn't be used h1 nest
boxes because the residue, hnp~ssible to
remove completely, will harm baby
birds. ! ·.,
Scrubbh1g interior surfaces ~ith a
stiff brush will get rid of attached eggs
·and h1sects.
If you want to wash the boxes, use
a mild, biodegradable detergent, rinse
well, and let the boxes dry thoroughly
before you rehang them.
Then stand back and enjoy the sight
of your birds starting their healthy new
families.
- Sandra Parshall
From The Potomac Flier
Newsletter of the Fairfax AS
~ Almost a year after completing a
three-year survey for American swal­low-
tailed kites, a TPWD biologist h1
Jasper has verified the first active nest in
Texas 'since 1914. A threatened species,
swallow-tailed kites have been seen oc­casionally
h1 east Texas, but no active
nests have been documented in more
than eighty years.
The nesting pair was located on
Temple Inland Forest Products Corpo­ration
property h1 Tyler County by Ray
Brown and Howard Williamson of the
U.S. Forest Service's Southern Experi­ment
Station. The kites later were pho­tographed
by Cliff Shackelford, also
with the station.
Isolated nesting activity in East
Texas has been suspected for the past
four years, but this was the first time an
active nest has been located.
- From a 1PWD 11ewsletter
March 1995
LOCAL NEWS
Aransas National Wildlife Refuge Outing
When we last left our intrepid Bexar Audubon travelers they had just returned
from having a jolly good time in and around the Katy Prairie. In this month's
episode they head south to find Whooping Cranes at Aransas National Wildlife
Refuge. Will Bill and Susan be successful in their attempts to find new members
(they failed at the Houston Zoo's ape/monkey exhibit in the last episode) or will
they be eaten by apigators? For these answers and more, stay tuned to this column.
0715 (this IS a military town)-the leader of the expedition (Patty Pastzor) herds
the sleepy band of travelers into the van and heads south. At her side are her trusty
sidekicks Bill "A.J. Foyt" Woller, and Steve "The Birdmeister'' Hawkins. At the back
of the bus Susan Hughes and I try to keep each other awake. It doesn't take long
before the birds start keeping us awake. "Red-tally" hawks everywhere you look,
and don't forget all those vultures, bluebirds, and woodpeckers. Lisa keeps bor­rowing
my pen so I don't get to keep my own list.
Wait ... look in that pasture! Could it be? Yes it is! A flock of sandhill cranes.
Let's see 19,20,21, wait there are more over there. Must be at least thirty. Now we
don't have to get up at 0400 (4:00am) when we are in Nebraska next month, to stand
for four hours h1 an unheated blilld, to see sandhills on the Platte River.
In Refugio Patty decided to shows us what was the largest anaqua tree h1 the
U.S. (Plaza San Antonio now has the record holder). It is on the Catholic church
grounds and we arrive just h1 thne to catch some graverobbers. No wait, those guys
have trowels and screens. They look almost scholarly. Oh! It's an archaeolgist (Jim
Warren of George West) and a group of Bee County College students excavath1g
the last Spanish mission built in Texas (1795). Also the site of a battle between Texian
sympathizers and the Mexican Army. Birding and a lesson on Texas history, a good
deal at twice the price.
We survived our brush with the sandhills and Texas history and made it to
Aransas. Our first stop was the observation tower where we saw those four tiny
white dots in the distance and added the whoopers to our lists. We also saw a
raccoon along the bank and shared our spotting scopes with a Boy Scout troop.
Next stop ... the all important lunch break. All the tables are full so let's just
pull over here and sit on that tree. Those people at that nearby table won't mh1d.
We were right, as fate would have it the couple were Auduboners too. He is on the
board and she is Publicity Chair for the Topeka AS. It is a small world.
1330 (1:30pm) already? We better get to the visitor center for the program and
slide show. We even visited the alligator pit (Bill and Susan survived). Then it was
off the the Heron Flats trail where Patty told us all about the trees and other plants
we saw along the way. Boy, do those Mexican Buckeyes get big down there. ·
A bit of Dairy Queen ice cream to finish the
- .._ ' ' - day and we're off, another successful day
./:: -
1
1 ~ -_of ... what'sthat?Moresandhills?Don't
( ;.,. - 1 l r - those fellows know that lots of peo-
' - 1 I I pie are headh1g to Nebraska in a ,'' , u) ' few weeks to see them? They
'/ 'J · -. better get a move on it if they
' .,. ' want to be in next month's epi-
' ' sode of Bill and Susan's great r, , 'J adventures (still no new members). C That's all for this month, but don't forget to tune h1 next
~) ~ ) month, same thne, same station when you'll hear Claire say
to Susan "Wake Harriet up, it's her turn to drive across
/).
If Kansas." Till then keep your bh1oculars clean and your field \J..J guides at the ready. And don't forget March's BAS outing to
Chapparal NWR.
-Bill Sai11
March 1995 4
Mitchell lake
The Mitchell Lake Wetlands Society
(MLWS) is celebrath1gthe completion of
the San Antonio Wetlands ·project, a
five-year effort by the volunteers of the
Junior League of San Antonio to in­crease
awareness of the Mitchell Lake
Wetlands Wildlife Refuge.
The celebration will be held at
Mitchell Lake on Earth Day (April22) in
conjunction with the Earth Day Fair at
San Pedro Park (which is an all day
event);
Birdh1g with Ernest Roney starts at
8 am, tours of tl1e refuge begh1 at 10 am.
An 11 am program will include a history
of the area, a discussion of future plans
and dedication of a plaque and map of
the wetlands (funds donated by the
Junior League).
The gate to Mitchell Lake Wetlands
is located on Pleasanton Road, one half .
mile south of Loop 410 South.
Bexar Audubon congratulates
MLWS and the }w1ior League on their
success so far and has begun a fw1d to
help supportthis group. If you are h1ter­ested
in donating to the ML WS fund,
send a check or money order made out
to Bexar Audubon Society and mail it to
P.O. Box 6084, San Antonio TX 78209.
We would like to raise at least $100
to assist them h1 their endeavors. As
always, donations to Bexar Audubon
Society are tax deductible to the fullest
extent of the law. Be sure to note on
your check or money order that this
donation is for MLWS.
-Bill Sai11
Good News
Thanks to those who voiced oppo­sition
to the expansion of the golf course
at Bastrop State Park, the National Park
Service is denying TPWD's $500,000
grant request.
Now it would help to express your
thanks. Some powerful people will be
powerfully peeved, and may try to force
NPS to reverse their decision.
Send thank-you letters to Edwh1 L.
Shellenberger, Ass't Regional Director­External
Programs, NPS Southwest Re­gion,
P.O. Box 728, Santa Fe, NM 87504
Bexar Tracks
Kelly AFB Oeanup
Crews have begun drilling wells
along Kelly AFB' s northem boundary to
stop the spread of contamination into
the shallow underground water in the
Growden Drive area.
Six recovery wells will be connected
to a treatment system that removes con­tamination
from the shallow under­ground
water. Water will be stored in a
tank near the treatment unit and tanker
trucks will transport it to .Kelly's Envi­ronmental
Process Control Facility for
disposal.
The new wells will catch contami­nated
shallow underground water at
the base boundary as it moves aw~y
from a former temporary storage area.
Known as Site S-1, the area was im­pacted
by leaks and spills of waste pe­troleum
and solvents from the early
1960s until J973, when the area was
taken out of service.
As contaminated water is with­drawn,
the wells will reduce the under­ground
water table along the fenceline.
This will isolate the neighborhood ~e­yond
the base boundary from the on­base
source area.
-,
Photo Workshops
Two o'f Texas' best-known outdoor
photographers will lead spring' photog­raphy
workshops at Big Bend State
Natural Area.
Jim Carr and Leroy Wllli11mson, a
former photographer for Texas Parks &
Wildlife magazine, will lead workshops
March 23-26 and March 30-April 2. -
Participants will be able to photo­graph
Chihuahuan Desert mountain
wildflowers, sunrises and sunsets, ai)-i­mals,
and birds.
They will receive practical instruc­tion
during the day, and evening activi­ties
will include critiques and lectures
with a focus on how to sell photographs.
Transparency fihu will be · devel­oped
on site, which will make it possible
to look at problems on a real-time basis.
For more information, call Big Bend
SNA at915-229-3416, Williamson at 817-
527-4632, or Carr at 713-486-8070.
Bexar Tracks
lOCAl NEWS
Stand Up for Texas
There will be a Property Value & Neighborhood Protection Rally Saturday,
AprilS, on the State Capitol grounds in Austin, followed by a Grassroots Legislative
workshop, Sunday, April, 9th, and a Citizen Day at the Capitol, Monday, April to.
The purpose is to bring together consumer, environmental, health and human
services and neighborhood organizations to show the Legislators our numbers and
to deliver a message of what "property values" meal)- to us.
We value: Clean air, clean water, strong healfh and safety regulations and
public participation in govemment.
Right now the LegiSlators are voting on laws that co1,1ld cripple environmental,
health and safety laws and will discourage good iaws from being introduced in the
future. The laws will also pass on the tremendous cost of analyzing and over
compensating for environmental, health and safety regulations to the Texas tax­payers.
The speakers at the Rally will include land owners fighting environmental
disasters in their communities, religious leaders aJld State Legislators. We must join
forces now and well into the future!
For info on the Rally (or to be a.supporter) contact: Nh1a Yager at Texas Citizen
Action (512) 444-8588.
For info on the workshop and/or citizen day call James at Public Citizen (512) ·
477-1155 or Sparky at Clean H20 Action (512) 474-0605.
Botanical Gardens Gasses
The San Antonio Botanical Gardens
are presenth1g ~ diverse schedule of
seminars and workshops from February
23 through J w1,e 3. .
Classes include taxonomy, ele­ments
of design in your own landscape,
wildflow~rs of South Central Texas,
herb selection and use, what every gar­dener
should know about insects,
healthy cooking, and dried flower
wreaths and arrangements
For more info call Elizabeth Hughes
at 821-5143.
Thanks
Thanks to:
Aransas Outmg: Patty Pasztor, out-'
ing leader and driver; Steve Hawkins,
birding expert, ai.1d Bill Woller, driver.
Leon Valley Earthwise Livh1g Day:
Thelma Nungesser, Barb DeLuca, Betty
Minyard, Deborah Robinson, Bill Sain.
2nd Annual March for Environ­mental
Justice: Susan Hughes, Harriet
Wiygul1 Bill Sain.
Special thanks to Deborah Robin­son
who designed, beaded, and do­nated
a number of "Bexar Audubon"
bracelets for the chapter to use as a fund
raiser. Get yours at the next meeting.
5
Changes?
In the January 1995 issue of Scientific
American, in the "50 and 100 Years Ago"
feature, iS this 'reprhlt of something that
appeared h1 1895:
"A small company of forward-look­hlg
people, h1 the face of ahuost univer­sal
apathy, have been for years urging
the necessity of some rational system of
management for the forests on our na­tional
domain. We have no systematic
forest policy yet, but at least now men
h1 places of high authority consider the
n1atter worth talkh1g about."
< Yeah. The guys in high places now
wish to reverse whatever gains have
been made h1 the intervenh1g century.
In the same issue, also from 1895:
"The quick transmission of news
has become one of the most hupe'rious
needs of our age. A new printing tele­graph
permits of reproducing at a dis­tance
the matter printed by a type­writer.
The manuscript to be transmit­ted
is reproduced at the same time in
receiving stations at the houses of vari­ous
subscribers."
Plus- ~a change, plus c'est la meme
chose? One hopes that the second item,
updated by a century, will help in the
fight against those who would reverse
the first.
March 1995
Broccoli? Ugh!
CSHB 7'22 by Rep. Bob Turner was
voted out of the House Agriculture and
Livestock Committee on February 21: I
note the committee was polite enough
to let me finish testifying before they
voted it out.
The bill would create a suit against
anyone making a false statement about
perishable agicultural or aquacultural
products. The problem with the bill is
that it redefines the word "false" as not
supported by reasonable scientific fact,
data, or inquiry. Although this sounds
relatively innocuous, it is not.
Pesticide and other chemical and
biotech companies produce the publish­ed
scientific data, so the first person who
disputes what they say could be subject
to liability.
The real h1tent of this legislation is
to get public interest groups to shut up
about food safety concerns relating to
toxic substances. For example, Mon­santo-
which produces Bovh1e Growth
Hormone-sued the Pure Milk Com­pany
of Waco for labeling its dairy prod­ucts
"BGH FREE."
In all this fervor over tort reform
and frivolous lawsuits, it's hard to see
how this bill could be filed with a
straight face.
HISTORICAL NOTE: Last session a
similar bill-HB 2494 passed the House
and was defeated on the Senate Floor by
Sen. Carl Parker, who threatened to add
about a gazillion amendments to pro­vide
defenses against prosecution. For
example:
• No liability for Vice Presisents and
Presidents (Remember Bush saying
broccolli was bad)
• No liability for little kids-they are
always bad-mouthing vegetables
• No liability for disparaging vegeta­bles
that really are disgusting, like
brussel sprouts, lima beans etc ...
• No liability if you are a French clu:f,
or a chef that can do a passable
French accent.
Parker was awarded a Texas
Mo11thly honorable mention for best
amendment of the session.
- Susa11 Hughes
March 1995
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Caddo lake Update
In November, we asked that you
joh1 efforts to prevent the Longhorn
Army Ammunition Plant, which bor­ders
Caddo Lake h1 East Texas, from
burning Sparrow and High Velocity
Aerial rockets.
The 8500-acre Longhorn Plant is a
highly-contaminated Superfund site in
need of massive cleanup, listed number
eleven on the National Priority list.
Now comes a fish consumption ad­visory
from the Texas Deparhuent of
Health. Recreational fishermen and oth­ers-
especially children and pregnant
women-are advised to reduce con­sumption
of largemouth bass and fresh­water
drum from Caddo because of con­cerns
about mercury contamination.
Tests are still continuh1g, but health
deparhii.ent officials, in their January 30
advisory, said "the source of the mer­cury
appears to be ahuospheric deposi­tion
or natural runoff ... "
I find that fascinating. What on
earth could be natural about mercury
runoff. But I suppose government types
can't afford to thh1k any other way.
They might lose their jobs, under the
current admh1istration.
- Claire Dre11owatz
Newt •n• San Diego
According to Peter ]emzi11gs' ]our-
11al, Newt Gingrich, addressh1g the Na­tional
Governors Association, chal­lenged.
the governors to "bring us items
so dumb that you wouldn't want to tell
your mom you were busy doing it," and
the House will start undoh1g, h1 his
words, the "dutnb" or "destructive"
things government somethues does.
Beginnh1g in March, the House of
Representatives is planning to set aside
one day each week-to get it right.
Every Tuesday, they'll go over existing
rules and right the wrongs of regulatory
agencies and previous Congresses.
One example, says Mr. Gingrich, is
a water treatment plant, which the EPA
wants San Diego to build.lt would stop
raw sewage from being dumped h1 the
Pacific. That would make sense, he says,
if San Diego were on, say, Lake Erie
rather than the enormous expanse of
the Pacific Ocean. Even oceanogra­phers,
says Mr. Gingrich, believe this
requirement is nonsense.
If you haven't been writing letters
yet, because you don't understand
what all the fuss is about, are you begin­niilg
to get a glimmer?
- Claire Dretzowatz
Breach of Faith
Breach of Faith: How the Co11tract's
Fi11e Pri11t Ut1dermi11es America's E11vi­rot1met1tal
Success, a report from the
Natural Resources Defense Council
(NRDC), documents the threat to envi­ronmental
laws posed by legislation
now beh1g hurried through Congress
w1der the guise of the Contract with
America.
NRDC released this report on Feb­ruary
21st, along with Senators Ed­mund
Muskie and Robert Stafford, who
moved Congress to enact its landmark
environmental laws in the 1970s and
1980s, and Russell Train, fonuer head of
the Environmental Protection Agency
under Presidents Nixon and Ford.
"The proposals before Congress to­day
... would halt 25 years of accom­plishment
and turn the clock back to the
days when the special interests made
6
the rules and the people absorbed the
risks," warned Sen. Muskie, chairman of
the Senate Environment Committee in
the 1970s and lead author of the origh1al
clean air and water acts.
The abstract taken from the Execu­tive
Summary of the 12l:page prh1ted
publication details the effects of H.R.9
on each environmental statute. It was
produced by more than 40 environ­mental
experts at NRDC, a 170,000-
member organization workh1g to pro­tect
the world's natural resources and
ensure a safe and healthy human envi­ronment.
For a prh1ted copy of the full report,
please send $7.50 plus $1.45 shipping to
NRDC Publications Department, 40
West 20 Street, New York, NY 10011.
Please make checks payable to NRDC in
U.S. dollars only.
Bexar Tracks
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
The days of perpetual smells and
brown haze in the air; creeks and rivers
thick and odorous with poorly-treated
sewage and industrial effluent-those
days are thankfully gone.
RIGHT? WRONG. THINK AGAIN.
This last week1 the U. S. H,ouse of
Representatives approved the so-called
Risk Assessment and "Property Rights"
(takings) bills, the ones we've been try­ing
to explain for the last two months.
While it's hardly likely that Bexar
Audubon's members, most of whom
live on the_ well-zoned and protected
northwest side, would find a smoky fac­tory
in their back yards, what about pro­tection
for the aquifer?
·It would be virtually impossible to
stop a waste-disposal company from
building a new landfill in an on the
aquifer. We could object, but under
H.R.925, we would have to pay the op­erator
to keep our drinking water safe!
What about the folks who live on
San Antonio's south and east sides, who
are already fighth1g environmental ra­cism
in the form of landfills, tank fanns,
and toxic waste dumps iu their ~teigh­borhoods!
Do you think they would
have the resources to fight f:lllyone?
An editorial h1 the N.Y. Times enti­.
tied "The Next Environmental Threat,"
provided a warnh1g about the risk-as­sessment
bill which passed the house
on March 1.
"[the Act] would require agencies to
endure a cumbersome 23-step review
consisting of layers of 'experf panels,
some of which could include individu­als
or companies with a stake in the
outcome. Even if an agency survived
that process and issued a rule, private ·
parties could challenge [it] in court.
"Bad regulations and laws can be
revised on a case-by-case basis. But to
strangle all rule-making ... is to subvert
the democratic processes that have dra­matically
improved America's environ- ·
ment in the last few decades."(Z-12-95)
The Sa11 Fraucisco Chro11icle wrote:
"Regulatory reform is a worthy enter­prise.
But the measures. under consid­eration
have little to do with reform or
fairness. They aim ... to roll back health,
Bexar Tracks
·Stealth legislation Passes
safety and environmental safeguards .
and perni.anently tie the regulatory
aget)cles in binding procedural and le­gal
knots." (2-10-95)
From an editorial entitled "What's a
Life Worth?" in the Atla11ta Constitu­tion:
"Congressional Republicans ... are
trying to use the inevitable · horror sto­ries
of regulatory abuse to justify wiping
out a whole range of rules and regula­tions
that business interests have found '
cumbersome-from environmental
laws to work-place safety rules.
"Justice is not a commodity. to be
parcelled out on a risk- benefit basis ...
As a civilized society founded on re­spect
for the individual, we do not let
suspected killers-human or chemi­cal-
roam free to prey on h1nocent, un­suspecting
people. And because, most
of all, we are supposed to have values
that cannot be quantified in the stark,
mathematical terms of a risk-benefit
analysis." (2-16-95)
Busittess Week magazine has
termed HR9 a "stealth environmental
policy'' that amounts to a "guerilla war
on green laws."
The "takings" bill is opposed by the
National Governors Association, the
National League of Cities, the National
Conference of State Legislatures, the
Western States Land Commjssioners
Association, more than thirty st(\te at­torneys
g~neral, legal scholars, a'nd ~
broad coalition of consumer, public
health, religious, and environmental or­ganizations.
It is supported by develop­ers,
the libertarian Cato Institute, and
the property rights/wise use movement.
These bills can be stopped in the
Senate, or as a last resort, by Presidential
veto. But it won't happen unless Sena­tors
and President Clinton know that
the people of America don't want this
type of legislation.
They need to hear from as many
people as possible. Get every falnily
member (pets excluded), every friend,
every neighbor, every relative to call
, TODAY to register opposition.
The Western Union hotline number
. listed below is the best way to do that.
Tell Congress that you oppose ANY
7
Senate bill that incorporates anti-envi­ronmental
and anti-health·provisions.
One year ago, this extremist
agenda was endorsed only by tl1e giant
polluters and the "Wise Use Move­ment,"
at~ extensive front of largely
good-willed property owners used po­tently
by the oil, gas, mining, timber,
and ot~1er special interest' groups to ad­vance
their own agendas.
Today, it is the official position of
the House ,of Representatives and has
many powerful proponents and sym­pathizers
h1 the Senate, Tomorrow, it
may well be the law of the land.
Make no mistake: the sponsors of
these Acts know that Americans would
not a?ld did not vote agah1st the environ­ment
on Election Day. In fact, the Con­tract
with America that was so widely '
advertised before the elections never
even mentioned the word "environ­ment."
It was only after the elections that
Newt Gii1grich and his allies released
their true anti-green agenda.
Make yourself heard in Congress!
1. Call the Western Union "Con­tnict
Hotlirie" at 1-800-651-1424. The call
costs $8 and can be billed to your tele­phone,
Visa, or Mastercard. You can call
24 hours a day;· 7 days a week. Your
message will be presented along with
millions of others who want the Federal
environmental protection to conth1ue.
2. Call the Capitol Switchboard at
202-224-3121. Ask to be cotmected to the
· office of your Senator.
Make yourself heard at the White House.
You can send a message to Presi­dent
Clinton by writing to Leon
Panetta, Chief of Sta# to the President,
First Floor, West Wing, Office of the
President, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
NW., Washh1gton, DC 20500.
Or you can e~mail President Clin­ton
at Internet: President@white­house.
gov; and Vice President Gore at
Internet: Vice .President@whitehouse.
gov.
- Compiled usittg ittformatiott from
The Ettviroli11k Network,
National Resources Defettse Council,
The Wildentess Society, a11d the
National Audubo11 Society
March 1995
SPRING PLANNING CALENDAR
l Bexar Audubon Event
§ More Information Inside
TCP Texas Conservation Passport or fee
MARCH
9l BAS Board Meeting, 7 pm
10/13 Audubon Council of Texas Meeting,
Austin Fri/Sat; lobby training Sun­day;
lobby day Monday
I I l Second Saturday. Friedrich Park.
I I Second Saturday Beginners Bird
Walk, SA Audubon, Judson Nature
Trails, next to Al~mo Heights pool.
Free, open to all. 8-11. Georgina
Schwartz, 34.2-.207 3 for more info ..
I 6l BAS General Meeting, Backyard
Habitat, 7:3 0 pm, Ruble Center.
I 7 Cibolo Wilderness Area, Boerne.
Grass Workshop with Hilmar
Bergman. learn to identify native
and introduced grasses of the Hill
Country. Free, I 0 to I I am . .210-
.249-46 I 6 for info.
I 7 /.20§'1AS Spring River Conference &
Crane Symposium, Kearney, NE.
17/19 Sierra Club trip: Assist TPWD with
trail building & maintenance at Devils
River SNA. Sierra Club leaders Eliza­beth
Gibson 696-45.24 & Gayle
Marechal 735-1859.
IS I st Annual Basura Bash! San Anto­nio
River Cleanup, Mission County
Park. Richard Reyes, .210-704-7374.
I 8 Honey Creek SNA, Prehistoric Cul­tures
of Central Texas, archaeologist
Herb Uecker . .210-935-4012.
.2 5 Cibolo Wilderness Area, Native Plant
Hike with Patty leslie Pasztor. Focus
on plants for food, fiber, medicine,
dyes, animals, and landscaping. Re­discover
familiar plants and recog­nize
new ones. I 0 to noon . .2 I 0-
.249-4616.
.25
.26
APRIL
Honey Creek SNA, nature walk with
naturalist Allen Perry, to identify na­tive
plants, discuss area folklor, and
predator-prey relationships. 9-1 I :30.
.210-935-401.2.
BAS March outing. Chaparral WMA.
TCP required. Patty leslie Pasztor
8.24-1.235 for more info.
Sierra Club Enchanted Rock hike .
Cheryl Mclennan 8.2.2-1.208, Dave
Klar 614-5093.
I Mostly Native Plant Sale at Cibolo
Wilderness Area. live musuc, food,
kids' activities, walks, plants. 9 to 3.
.2 I 0-.249-4616 for info.
8 Second Saturday Beginners Bird
Walk, SA Audubon, Judson Nature
Trails, neXt to Alamo Heights pool.
Free, open to all. 8-1 I . Georgina
Schwartz, 34.2-.2073 for more info.
8-9 Viva Botanical San Antonio Botanical
Gardens
8& 15 Honey Creek SNA, Ethnobotany
Walk, 9-11:30. Hike along Honey
Creek Canyon with emphasis on na­tive
plant identification and cultural
uses for food, medicine, and fiber.
.2 I 0-935-401.2.
; 14-15 Sierra Club trip to Caddo
lake-camping, canoeing (BYO).
Jim & Eloise Stoker 8.28-0919.
lOl BAS General Meeting. M.A.
Maedgen, Jr., fire Ant Control Using
Bugs, Ruble Center, 7:30pm.
lll Earth Day. Celebrations all 'round
town, especially at San Pedro Park.
BAS will be there. Join us.
.2.2-.27 Sierra Club canoe trip (BYO) through
Boquillas Canyon (Big Bend). Dead­line
April I 0. Mike Fox 695-.20.29.
.2.2-.28 Birding by Ear, weeklong learning ex­perience
in the Texas Hill Country. In-
OFFICERS AND BOARD
Susan K. Hughes President 532-:2332; fax 53:2-:20:23
Harriet Wiygul Vice President 5 34-7505
Bill Sain Treasurer 408-77 3 I
Anita L. Ree11es Secretary 308-9:2 54
Patty leslie Pasztor Board Member 8:2 4-1 :2 3 5
Richard Pipes Board Member :281-:245:2
Bill Woller Board Member 696-3186
Jim Garriott Board Member 695-95:20
Katie Nava-Ragazzi Board Member 804-1:2:26
Backyard Habitat
Conservation
Earth Day liaison
Education
Hospitality
Membership
Outings
Programs
Publicity
COMMITTEE CHAIRS
Barb Deluca
Richard Pipes
Harriet Wiygul
Betty Minyard
Harriet Wiygul
Dan S Kris ty Davis
Patty leslie Pasztor
Chris Dullnig
Susan K. Hughes
Bill Sain
49:2-4:291
:281-245:2
534-7505
344-61:28
647-5356
609-5678
8:24-1:235
8:28-4017
53:2-233:2
Ways & Means 408-7731
Bexar T racb Editor Claire Drenowatz 599-4168 fax599-3545
We welcome contributions. Submiuions may be edited. 111111
We bdieve info heron is acrurate at Mardl 4. = Deadline is the Saturday after the general meeting. J
Printed on acid-free, 50% post-consumer waste paper.
Bexar Audubon Society
P. 0. Box 6084
San Antonio, TX 7 8209
Address Correction Requested
stitute for Field Ornithology, Univer­sity
of Maine at Machias . .207-.255-
3313 x .289 for more info.
.24-.25 Water Conseruation ConferetJce '95,
George R. Brown Convention Center,
Houston. More info, Carole Baker.
713-486-1 I 05, fax 713-488-6510.
.2 8-30 Sierra Club trip to Seminole Canyon.
Petroglyphs, birds, rough terrain.
Cheryl Mclennan 8.2.2-1.208, Sara
Schwartz .2.29-1 656.
.29-30 Bonsai Show and Sale, San Antonio
Botanical Gardens
MAY
5-7 Managing for Wildlife Diuersity in
Texas, sponsored by TPWD, at
SWTSU, in San Marcos. Call 800-
79.2-1 I 1.2 or write Nongame and Ur­ban
Wildlife Program, TPWD, 4.200
Smith School Road, Austin, TX
78744.
8-1 3 Guadalupe River SNA Spring Science
Camp for Kids. See February Bexar
Tracks, or call .210-935-401.2.
ONGOING ACTIVITIES
Bexar Audubon Society general meetings are
held on 3rd Thursdays at 7:30pm, at the Ruble
Center, 419 East Magnolia. BAS board meet­ings
are generally held on .2nd Thursdays at
7:00. Outings are usually the Saturday follow­ing
general meetings,
Introductory memberships to NAS, including
Audubon Magazine, cost only $.20. Great gift.
Send check to BAS (payable to NAS) at P. 0.
below. Note chapter code W 19, and name
address, and phone number of new member .
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department offers
many nature activities for annual Texas Con­servation
Passport Holders($ .25 per year). Call
for event listings: 800-937-9393.
Non-profit
Organization
U. S. Postage Paid
San Antonio, TX
Permit #590
.•
PROPERTY RIGHTS & TAKINGS:
AN URBAN PERSPECTIVE
Saturday, Rprill, 1995 • 8:30am - 4:30pm
"open discussion Ei. resource assistance" • 4:30- 6:00pm
Barbara Jordan Community Center
2803 E. Commerce St. • San Antonio, Texas
Co-sponsored by Bexar Audubon Society fi League of Women Voters of the San Antonio Area
For more Information. call (210)532-2332 or 804-1226. • Registration form on reverse.
"LMt week I'd IWVeY ~ ftettrd oj(t~>'-bu:t OI'V MarcJv 3) I~ I jOt (took./!"
Don't know a taking from a giving? Most of us don't. But we should all learn. New takings laws can have
serious effects on each and every one of us in ways you may never have imagined. And you don't have to be
a rural property owner for it to matter. The effects of takings law are just as important for people who live
in cities-either as home-owners or renters-ordinary folks like you and me.
What do gou need to know to be an informed citizen? Attend our "nuts and bolts" forum on Aprill. Start
with "takings" basics in down-to-earth language. What are our individual rights and responsibilities? Find
out about current legislative action. Decide what it means and what each of us can do.
What do we mean bg this word "takings"? The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides that
the government must pay a citizen when it needs to acquire-or "take"-private land to build a public road
or a school, for example. On rare occasions the Supreme Court has ruled that a regulation can also result in
a "taking." Then citizens can sue the government and seek "just compensation." Other restrictions, such as
zoning laws, may deny us some use of our property, but have not been considered "takings" by the courts.
We accept these restrictions without expecting to be paid-and we also benefit from our neighbors' compliance.
Should profits be private and costs public? New bills in Congress seek to drastically change the way we
define "takings"-putting our public rights at risk. The trend seems to be toward private profits and public
costs. Can there be equity: where citizens share equally in costs, risks, and access to benefits?
On March 3, 1995, the House of Representatives passed a bill
requiring the government to compensate landowners if restric­tions
to protect wetlands and endangered species reduced the
value of a property by 20 percent or more. Included are govern­ment
actions under the Endangered Species Act, the Clean
Water Act wetlands permitting program, and farm conservation
and federal irrigation programs, according to a report in the San
Antonio Express-News. Originally, the bill had much farther
reaching provisions and was not restricted to these specific
areas. This could be just the "first round," though,
and we expect more efforts in the federal legislature.
"Takings" legislation in various forms has been introduced in
many states, including Texas. While some states have already
defeated "takings" bills, others have passed them. What will the
long-term impacts be? What will be the costs? Who will pay?
The bill passed by the House of Representatives March 3-and
sent to the Senate-still holds many unknowns, such as:
• how will the value of a property be determined? based on
purchase price? current market value? based on current
use? could one be compensated for presumed intended
uses? what proof of intent would be required?
• will property owners have to be paid not to do something
environmentally damaging to their neighbors? For exam­ple,
if filling in a wetland is required to build a shopping
mall, but that filling-in will cause flooding for downstream
neighbors, can the landowner be made to take responsi­bility-
and pay-for any landowner losses downstream?
would downstream neighbors have to pay the landowner
not to fill the wetland? how much? would they have to
wait to be flooded in order to sue?
Keynote speakers are Jerome Ringo, a citizen advocate & takings specialist from Lake Charles, LA, and
John Echeverria, takings expert & General Counsel for the National Audubon Society in Washington, D.C.
Featured participants include Sue Barham, League of Women Voters of Texas; Ted Lee Eubanks, Fermata
Inc.; Harvey Hilderbran, Texas House of Representatives (invited); Russell Hger, National Wildlife
Federation, South Central Region; Mary Kelly, Texas Center for Policy Studies (invited); Hegwood Sanders,
Trinity Univ., Dept. of Urban Administration; & Gary E. Varner, Texas A&M Univ., Dept. of Philosophy.
From:
Property Rights & Takings: An Urban Perspective
c/o Bexar Audubon Society
P.O. Box 6084
San Antonio, TX 78209
32 cent
stamp
here
REGISTRATION FORM-Enclose your check or money order ti mail right away.
0 Enclosed is my advance registration fee of $5.00 (postmarked by 3/24/95).
0 Enclosed is my late registration fee of $10.00 (postmarked after 3/24/95 or at-the-door).
0 Please waive my registration fees.
0 Please provide me a lunch for $5.00. (You may bring a sack lunch, if you prefer.)
0 I'd like to help pay the costs of this forum. Enclosed is my tax-deductible contribution of$ _ _
[Bexar Audubon Society is a 501 (c)(3) organization.]
0 I can't attend, but I'm interested. Here's $10.00. Send me an infonnation packet.
Total submitted: $ . Make checks or money orders payable to "Bexar Audubon Society."
Name:----------------- Name for your name tag? _________ _
MailingAddress: ------------------------------
Telephone: _________ __,Fax: _________ E-mail: _________ _
Are you affiliated with an organization concerned with these issues? If so, which one(s)? _____ -'-------