Council backs zoo expansion using parkland Polk County supervisors and conservation officials will consider the matter at meetings Wednesday. By JASON CLAYWORTH REGISTER STAFF WRITER Des Moines City Council members Monday gave zoo and Polk County conservation officials their approval to move forward with the latest $50 million zoo expansion plan. The plan allows the zoo to use about half of the roughly 120-acre Fort Des Moines Park, including a popular public fishing pond. http://dmregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070313/NEWS05/703130393/-1/archive ------------------------------- Senate approves money for energy office A piece of Gov. Chet Culver's plan for a $100 million Iowa Power Fund to spur the development of the state's renewable energy industry was approved Monday by the Senate. A supplemental spending bill including $250,000 for the creation of an Office of Renewable Energy was passed without opposition and sent to the House for more debate. The $250,000 would pay for Culver's hiring of an executive director and two support staff members. Senate File 403 also spends an extra $105,000 from this year's state budget on expenses for maintaining Terrace Hill, the governor's mansion, and an additional $70,000 for "transition" costs related to Culver's takeover of the governor's office after winning the election in November. ------------------------- Make farm bill protect, conserve, groups say Environmentalists' influence depends on unity, official says By JERRY PERKINS REGISTER FARM EDITOR Promoting soil and water conservation and protecting wildlife habitat must be important parts of the 2007 farm bill, conservation groups said Monday at a forum on the legislation. Hunting and environmental groups should speak with a unified voice if they want to influence the farm bill debate, said Brad Redlin, director of agricultural programs for the Izaak Walton League of America in St. Paul, Minn. http://dmregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070313/BUSINESS01/703130374/1029/archive --------------------- LTEs Cougars are not just pretty kitties The Iowa Department of Natural Resources wants cougars protected in Iowa. First it denied cougars were here. Now it's trying to convince Iowans, through displays at publicly funded nature centers, that cougars are beautiful, shy, harmless creatures. What the DNR doesn't teach schoolchildren with its colorful presentations is that according to a National Geographic program, two-thirds of cougar attacks are on children. Cougars can weigh up to 200 pounds, grow to 7 or 8 feet long, live up to 18 years, travel as far as 50 miles in search of food and kill animals much larger than themselves. Calves, lambs and piglets will be easy prey. Pheasant, turkey and deer populations will suffer. Even the family's pet cat is a target. The DNR would have cougars protected in parks where people camp and hike. - Denise Leubka, Williamsburg. Fluorescent bulbs' small drawbacks are manageable Your March 7 editorial, "Switch to More Efficient Light Bulbs, But Beware," is a bit misleading. Yes, one of the easiest and cheapest ways for everyone to help reduce global warming is the use of compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). And, yes, CFLs contain small amounts of toxic mercury that we should dispose of carefully. However, according to the Iowa Waste Reduction Center, "using [CFLs] ironically decreases the amount of mercury released to the environment. A coal-burning power plant, the most popular type in the Midwest, will emit four times more mercury to produce the electricity for an incandescent bulb than for a CFL." So, let's not let people think using CFLs is a step in the wrong direction when, even if carelessly disposed of, their use is still significantly better stewardship of God's creation than our current use of incandescent bulbs. - Tim Kautza, Iowa Interfaith Climate and Energy Campaign, Iowa Interfaith Power and Light, Ankeny. - Of course no one who was thinking would believe that residents (other than possibly residents of Bondurant itself) would drive their burnt-out light bulbs to Bondurant for safe disposal. But all needn't be lost. The waste authority could print red hazardous-waste tags similar to the "Compost It" tags and market them through the same sites it uses now. Eco-conscious citizens could then put their used compact-fluorescent bulbs in transparent bags, attach a hazardous waste sticker and put them out with their recycling bin for collection and ultimate transport to Bondurant by the solid-waste authority. The sticker fees might even offset the added cost or at least a significant part of it. No laws need to be changed and only a very minor accommodation to processes already in place would be needed. What do you want to bet they're not serious enough about the toxic wastes getting into the water table to effect such a simple solution? - Phil Stevens, Des Moines. Neila Seaman, MPA Director Sierra Club, Iowa Chapter 3839 Merle Hay Road, Suite 280 Des Moines, IA 50310 [log in to unmask] 515-277-8868 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask] Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp