News Articles
Obama reverses Bush regulations; Everglades update; more.

Don Hammond/Design Pics/Corbis

Fatal Attraction
Cows might seem harmless, but their breath can actually be deadly—for mosquitoes, that is. In some Florida locales swarming with mosquitoes, officials are using a concoction of carbon dioxide and the chemical octenol, which resembles bovine exhalations, to attract and trap the insects in a death chamber. In some areas, they use the traps instead of spraying insecticides over breeding grounds, like marshes or wetlands; in others, experts employ them to gauge populations and whether spraying is needed. “The traps don’t harm the environment—that’s one of the appealing factors,” says Ulrich Bernier, a USDA chemist. Mosquitoes are opportunistic, he explains, and dine on a number of hosts besides cows, including reptiles, horses, and people, so it can be difficult to trick them, but the traps work against many of the 2,900 known mosquito species.—Susan Cosier
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Bullet Proof
California hunters are packing lead-free ammunition in California condor territory to prevent inadvertently poisoning the birds, which ingest bullets in animal carcasses they scavenge (see “Dodging a Bullet,” January-February 2008). The California Department of Fish and Game reported that 99 percent of hunters follow the year-old regulation. “We’re hoping to see the impact on the condors themselves soon,” says Dan Taylor, Audubon California’s public policy director.—Katherine Tweed
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Edwin Fotheringham

Numbers Game
Beach Patrol
180
The number, in millions, of people who visit the beach each year.

7
Times a Pacific leatherback turtle comes ashore to nest in one season.

53
The number of bird species of conservation concern, of the 173 that use coastal habitats.

1,800
Estimated pairs of Atlantic piping plovers left, due to overpopulated and overdeveloped beaches.

22,500
The number of beach closings and advisories nationwide in 2007 due to pollution.

10
The amount, in millions of dollars, in EPA grants available in 2009 for states to implement beach water-quality monitoring programs.

3,661,445
Pounds of trash U.S. volunteers collected along some 9,000 miles of shoreline during the 2008 International Coastal Cleanup.

99
The number of birds they found tangled in marine debris.

825
Miles of sandy beaches in Florida.

38
Percent of sandy Florida beaches with “critical erosion.”
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Fire Alarm
A new technology will enable trees to shout “Fire!” The U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management have teamed up with a tech company called Voltree to equip trees with wildfire sensors powered by the plants themselves. Currently, solar-powered monitors placed in clearings send data via satellites to a central system. But Voltree’s sensors attach directly to trees and tap them for electricity: A small pH difference between trees and soil creates an imbalance of hydrogen ions, generating voltage. The device sends out hourly temperature and humidity readings; a wireless mesh network of sensors bounces the signal from one wired tree to another until it reaches an unmanned weather station, where it’s beamed up to a satellite, then down to the National Interagency Fire Center in Idaho. If air temperature exceeds a threshold, the sensor will immediately alert officials with a radio warning. Tree-powered sensors may better measure environmental conditions than traditional monitors. “We go underneath the forest canopy, and we’ve seen a dramatic difference in relative humidity and air temperature,” compared with readings in clearings, says Stella Karavas, Voltree’s CEO. A test run in May showed that the existing system seamlessly incorporated Voltree’s technology. The company will deliver the first batch of sensors to the Forest Service this summer.—Alisa Opar
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Call of the Wild
The American goldfinch chirp emanating from your cell phone is meant to entice. Wildlife documentary producer Deborah Rivel cofounded WildTones in 2004 to sell animal ringtones as a means of introducing more people to wildlife. Now she’s modernized the renowned Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America in a way the esteemed naturalist never imagined: 122 common birds, organized by taxonomy and searchable by zip code on an iPhone. “It’s for people new to birding,” she says. “The sounds along with the pictures make the birds come to life.” With more animal ringtones for all phone types, and more iPhone Peterson guide applications including Birds of Prey, Rivel aims to boost her contribution to the five wildlife organizations to which she sends a small percentage of her earnings. “Nothing would make me happier than writing bigger checks to these trusted charities.”—Lynn Love
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Edwin Fotheringham

Dead Volts
Taking a different spin on “spiritual energy,” Spaniards are generating electricity at burial sites. Near Barcelona, 462 solar panels stretch above mausoleums in a graveyard in Santa Coloma. The sun shines frequently on the Mediterranean region, but until recently panels adorned only roofs of schools, industrial buildings, and the library. When city officials heard that the now-75-year-old cemetery was looking to the heavens for power, they figured that the rare open space—where about 57,000 deceased take their final siesta—could also help energize the crowded city. “At the start the neighborhood freaked out,” says Esteve Serret, director of Conste-Live Energy, the company running the cemetery. “But finally they realized it’s not a big issue.” Relatives of the dead granted permission and now visit their loved ones in the shade, while panels overhead generate enough electricity for about 60 homes yearly. The low-angled, sun-sipping structures cover just a fraction of the city’s hallowed ground, but Serret expects more of Santa Coloma’s gravesites, and Spain’s graveyards, to soon head toward the light.—Melissa Mahony 
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Moose Peterson

Elk No. 6, Cow-loving Casanova, Dies
Like many celebs, he had a reputation for erratic behavior. He was sexual, violent, and even fought over females. “Number 6,” the leading elk in Yellowstone National Park’s great nature drama, was no ordinary bull. The 15-year-old, 725-pound animal suffocated in February when he tripped over a fence and trapped his antlers beneath him. But his untimely passing won’t tarnish his legacy as a cow lover with a tenacious spirit—and a knack for damaging cars. Number 6, who inhabited Yellowstone’s Mammoth Hot Springs most autumns, is survived by a harem of cows and scores of offspring. “There’s no way to know how many,” says park spokesman Al Nash. “But certainly his lineage will carry on. We’re talking a lot of animals.”—Michele Wilson
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