Tell NPS to not sell out our National Parks

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October 20, 2006 • Two Safety Whistleblowers Receive Awards • Interior Pledges Science Integrity but Practices Science Fiction • Harmful Algae Blooms on the Rise in Florida Waters • EPA Claims Immunity from Lead-Safe Housing Duty • Staff Rebel against Harassment on Bison Range Refuge • Everglades Area Left Off Federal and State Floodplain Maps • Huge New Jersey Water Infrastructure Needs Not Being Met • EPA Scientists Losing Access to Journals • New Jersey Leaves Door Open for More Schools on Toxic Sites • National Park Running a Housing Authority in Cuyahoga • Pollute Or Perish: Florida’s Lake Okeechobee Dilemma • National Park Service to Allow Commercial Bioprospecting • Chambers Wins Privacy Act Ruling • Algodones Dunes to Stay Protected from ORV Abuse Featured State Campaign: Lessons learned from earlier FL hurricanes not being applied more>> Get Involved: • Latest Press Coverage • Undercover Activist Blog • Take Action • Support Our Work • Tell-a-Friend • Membership survey CFC Season Vote for PEER on your workplace giving ballot this fall. We're in the federal CFC and many state and local campaigns.

The National Park Service (NPS) is making another move toward commercialization of the commons. NPS recently released a long-awaited environmental impact statement that could clear the way for corporations to “bioprospect” the natural resources in our public lands. This sell-out scheme commercializes instead of conserves the best of our biological resources on public lands. A comment period is now open, and this is the time for the public to have a say in what NPS does with public lands. Please send a letter in support of Alternative C, which only allows noncommercial or public interest research and development of nation park resources, and tell NPS “Don’t sell out our National Parks!” PEER is part of a Parks Not for Sale coalition working to protect the natural heritage of our National Parks and halt plans to exploit these resources for profit. Visit the website for more information. A little background history: 1997: Yellowstone National Park commemorated its 125th anniversary by announcing that it had made an agreement with Diversa Corporation to give them a non-exclusive right to "bioprospect" microorganisms in Yellowstone in exchange for a share in potential future earnings. 1998: PEER teamed up with the Edmonds Institute, the Alliance for Wild Rockies, and the International Center for Technology Assessment to file a lawsuit pointing out that the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) required an environmental assessment. 1999: The District Court ruled in our favor and suspended the agreement between the National Park Service (NPS) and Diversa Corp. Sept. 2006: NPS finally published the court-ordered Draft Environmental Impact Statement, and opened a less-than-90-day public comment period. Now’s your chance to comment on the Park Service’s actions, please write today and spread the word! Sincerely, Carrie Hibbard Membership & Outreach Coordinator LATEST PRESS RELEASES: Two Safety Whistleblowers Receive Awards Two public servants who blew the whistle on dangers in the workplace are being honored at different ends of the country. Both whistleblowers experienced and overcame retaliation from their respective federal agencies but neither believes that the underlying occupational dangers they exposed have been resolved Read more>> Interior Pledges Science Integrity but Practices Science Fiction The proposed new U.S. Interior Department “Strategic Plan” touts scientific integrity as one of its cornerstones even while its managers continue to manipulate technical data and findings for political reasons Read more>> Harmful Algae Blooms on the Rise in Florida Waters Human pollution is driving a dramatic increase in the number, size and duration of harmful algal blooms in Florida’s lakes, estuaries and coastal waters Read more>> EPA Claims Immunity from Lead-Safe Housing Duty The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is seeking to insulate itself from statutory requirements that it implement lead-safe housing rules that were due by law a decade ago Read more>> Staff Rebel against Harassment on Bison Range Refuge The staff of the National Bison Range Wildlife Refuge in Montana has filed an unusual joint grievance contending that working conditions have become intolerable due to a torrent of “safety and ethical violations, harassment, intimidation, and personal slander” Read more>> Everglades Area Left Off Federal and State Floodplain Maps The Everglades Agricultural Area, one of Florida’s lowest lying wetland areas, is not included on the floodplain maps of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Read more>> Huge New Jersey Water Infrastructure Needs Not Being Met New Jersey faces a multi-billion dollar gap in its water quality infrastructure but has no coherent plan to address its self-identified needs Read more>> EPA Scientists Losing Access to Journals The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is sharply reducing the number of technical journals and environmental publications to which its employees will have online access Read more>> New Jersey Leaves Door Open for More Schools on Toxic Sites After New Jersey spent nearly $330 million to purchase environmentally contaminated lands found to be “patently unsuitable” for schools, a reform task force commissioned by Governor Jon Corzine proposed no reforms to prevent the recurrence of similar fiascos Read more>> National Park Running a Housing Authority in Cuyahoga The Cuyahoga Valley National Park has acquired nearly 200 homes and allowed many of the residents to remain after their rights to occupancy have expired by issuing questionable special use permits Read more>> Pollute Or Perish: Florida’s Lake Okeechobee Dilemma Florida is playing ecological Russian roulette with its largest lake, gambling that it can stave off a flooding catastrophe by poisoning its coastal waters Read more>> National Park Service to Allow Commercial Bioprospecting The National Park Service (NPS) has unveiled its plans to allow commercial bioprospecting in the National Parks. Under the plan, the Park Service will allow private corporations to extract and make money from organisms taken from the national parks, including millions of acres of wilderness areas. Read more>> Chambers Wins Privacy Act Ruling The long legal ordeal of Teresa Chambers has taken another turn as a federal judge has rejected the Interior Department’s motion to dismiss her civil lawsuit for violations of the Privacy Act Read more>> Algodones Dunes to Stay Protected from ORV Abuse On Tuesday, September 26, a federal court ordered that the current off-road vehicle closures in the Algodones Dunes in southern California’s Sonoran Desert will remain in effect for the foreseeable future. Read more>>

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