ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, June 10, 1996 TAG: 9606100072
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: The Green Scene
SOURCE: CATHRYN MCCUE
Boris, a 4-year-old male snow leopard, made his debut this month at the Mill Mountain Zoo, just as the zoo announced a $20,000 anonymous donation toward a permanent snow leopard exhibit.
The donation is a challenge gift to the rest of the community to raise another $20,000. The Blue Ridge Zoological Society of Virginia had raised about $8,000 for the exhibit since last winter, but without a snow leopard, enthusiasm lagged.
Boris's arrival should turn that around. Snow leopards are an internationally endangered species that live in the high mountains of Central Asia. Despite a ban on hunting, the big cats remain a target of poachers who sell their fur. Fewer than 300 snow leopards live in the wild. About 500 live in zoos worldwide.
Mill Mountain Zoo will begin construction of a new exhibit area, and hopes to complete it once a total of $45,000 has been raised. Until then, Boris will be on display in a temporary holding area.
ECO-AWARDS FOR TWO WESTERN VIRGINIANS
Frank Taylor, a science teacher at Radford High School, was chosen to receive the 1996 Virginia Environmental Stewardship Award for his leadership in developing a water quality monitoring and mentor program. Roanoke County librarian Sharon Hammond was selected as a runner-up for her role as lecturer at Mill Mountain Zoo and education efforts concerning bats and habitat conservation.
This is the first year of the award program, sponsored by the Department of Environmental Quality and the Virginia Petroleum Council. It recognizes the efforts of young people, adults, organizations or communities to increase environmental awareness.
Taylor and Hammond both won in the adult category. Taylor's chemistry class students montior Connellys Run, a stream behind the high school, as well as help teach elementary school children about the ecology of the stream.
AND MORE ECO-AWARDS
The Sierra Club of Virginia announced the winners of its Eco-Hero, Eco-Zero and Eco-Nero awards.
Del. Ken Plum, D-Reston, received the 1996 Eco-Hero award for pushing for increased accountability from the Department of Environmental Quality.
The Eco-Zero award, given to the individual who has shown disregard for the principles of conservation, went to Secretary of Natural Resources Becky Norton Dunlop. The environmental group criticized Dunlop's censoring the terms "endangered species, pesticides and overfishing" in written material that went out to the public, and for referring to environmentalists as "fearmongers."
The Eco-Nero award, given for best example of how not to handle a problem, went to Smithfield Foods for giving at least $25,000 to Gov. George Allen's political action committee, Campaign for Honest Change. Smithfield made the contribution at a time when the state was investigating environmental violations at its hog-slaughtering plant near Richmond.
GET TO KNOW YOUR FORESTS
Regional environmental and community groups are urging citizens to get involved as the U.S. Forest Service begins revising land use plans for the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest, and many other woodlands throughout the Southern Appalachians.
"We are finding that the national forests in the Southern Appalachians are extremely important to people in this area," said Eileen McIlvane, director of the Coalition for Jobs and the Environment in Abingdon. Her group is a member of the Southern Appalachian Forest Coaltion, a watchdog group that tracks land use and policy in the southern forests, and promotes increased public participation in Forest Service decisions.
McIlvane's group plans to sponsor hikes and outings in the Jefferson and the Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee to train citizen activists in issues such as old growth and wildlife habitat. Call her at (540) 628-8996.
On July 26-28, the Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition is hosting the second annual Grassroots Conference in Valle Crucis, N.C. The event includes field trips, workshops and planning sessions. Cost is $50, which includes meals and two nights bunkhouse lodging, or $20 for people with separate accommodations. Call (704) 252-9223.
GREEN MONEY GOES TO CHRISTIANSBURG SCHOOL
Fourth-graders in Bethel School will learn about water quality and set up three monitoring stations on local streams with the help of a $3,000 grant from the Virginia Environmental Endowment. The students will publish their findings in the school newsletter, the school's on-line Ecology Home Page and the National Geographic Kid's Network.
The mini-grant was one of eight awarded earlier this year from the endowment, a non-profit organization established in 1977 that disseminates money for environmental projects.
In its latest round of grants, the endowment gave a total of $206,091 to study, among other things, how to treat poultry processing wastewater, how to identify sources of hydrocarbons in urban runoff, the water quality in the Shenandoah River, forestry practices on public lands in Southwest Virginia, and how proposals to reauthorize the federal Clean Water Act will affect the Chesapeake Bay.
CAPTURE VIRGINIA'S ENDANGERED SPECIES
A new guidebook published by the state captures in photos and text the hundreds of endangered animals and plants found in Virginia.
The guide is a condensed version of the award-winning "Virginia's Endangered Species," a 1991 coffee-table book. The guide contains information on habitats in Virginia, conservation laws, and responsibilities of the various agencies involved in preserving Virginia's biota.
Published by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the guide contains glossy color pictures and easy-to-understand text.
It costs $14.95, and royalties go to the Virginia Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Fund. Order from the McDonald & Woodward Publishing Co. at (800) 233-8787, or call the fisheries or agriculture departments.
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