Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 23, 1990 TAG: 9006230219
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By KEVIN KITTREDGE SHENANDOAH BUREAU
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The 70-plus top scientists meeting at Washington and Lee University also called for more openness about environmental issues at all levels of society, and for the establishment of natural corridors linking protected natural areas.
The recommendations may be considered by environmental policy-makers in both countries, said a U.S. Interior Department news release.
At a news conference Friday morning at W&L, Aleksei Yablokov, head of the Soviet delegation, said the most effective cooperation on environmental issues is between scientists and citizens - not governments.
Citing as an example the freeing of two gray whales trapped in arctic ice in 1988, Yablokov said to laughter, "Because of one phone call, a Soviet icebreaker came to the help of the whales. On the government level, it took three days to make a decision."
Yablokov and Richard Smith, deputy director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, both met with reporters Friday at the end of the weeklong conference.
Smith, in closing comments to the scientists Friday morning, urged them to "take your new relationships away with you and nurture them. Remember what you learned here."
Yablokov said the groups, which often spoke to each other through interpreters, worked easily together.
"We had more disputes between the Soviet scientists than between the Soviet and American scientists," the Soviet leader said.
Yablokov said there is a growing consciousness of environmental issues in the Soviet Union.
The conference, part of a series of visits by Soviet scientists to the U.S. under a special U.S-U.S.S.R. environmental agreement, began Sunday and ended Friday.
Its purpose, according to a news release, was to prepare a list of recommendations for future cooperation in conservation research and management.
Recommendations made by the scientists included improving education, making information available to scientists in both countries, conducting wildlife inventories in both healthy and disturbed ecosystems and establishing common "information banks." The conference also asked that environmental scientists be consulted on developing controls for "potentially dangerous" technologies.
The scientists who attended were "world-class experts" in their fields, said Michael Smith, spokesman for the Fish and Wildlife Service.
W&L was chosen as the conference site in part because of its proximity to Washington D.C., Smith said.
During off-hours, the Soviet delegation spent time in Lexington and was "enchanted by the small-town atmosphere," said Robert Fure, W&L's director of summer programs.
Fure said the Soviets held a party for the American scientists Thursday night that included several varieties of vodka.
But their favorite pastime, Fure said, was visiting the discount department stores just outside Lexington to buy large quantities of soap, sugar, coffee and other basic goods. He said the Soviets also were punctual for all meals - where they marveled at the fresh produce - and were "overwhelmed by the abundance of grocery stores." The Lexington area has three.
by CNB