VOLUME 32, NUMBER 3 NOVEMBER 2000

WARIOTO AT A GLANCE
POTLUCK DINNER: Thursday, Nov. 2, 6:00 p.m., Clarksville Academy Cafeteria, 710 N 2^nd St
PROGRAM: "Art & Life of John J. Audubon" by Don Boarman, Curator, John J. Audubon Museum, Henderson, KY

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE by Sally Schiller

In November a domestic cow will give birth to the first ever cloned and embryo transferred endangered species, a male gaur. A gaur is an ox-like animal from India, Indochina, and southeast Asia. It has become endangered due mainly to habitat loss. This is how they (scientists at Advanced Cell Technology, Worcester, MA) did it: Eggs are obtained from the ovaries of a domestic cow. The nucleus, the structure where the chromosomes are located, is removed from the cow egg. It is possible to do this using a microscope and a very tiny, glass needle. Next a body cell, in this case a skin cell from a male gaur, (which would contain gaur chromosomes) was injected into the outermost covering of the egg. Then an electrical pulse induces the gaur skin cell and the cow egg to fuse. Within a short time the fused cell will start to divide to give rise to an embryo. Once the embryo reaches a certain size in the petri dish (about 100 cells) it is transferred into the host cow. The success rate of this procedure is notoriously low. In this particular case, of 692 enucleated cow eggs only 81 grew to become embryos that could be transferred. Of these 81, 42 were used in an embryo transfer procedure to 32 cows. (I suspect the others were frozen and stored for later experiments.) Only eight of these transfers "took". Two of the fetuses were removed for scientific study. Of the remaining six pregnancies only one has reached near term and is expected to result in a healthy gaur male calf in November. He has already been named Noah.

It is a fascinating procedure and the success rates will likely improve as more is learned about basic cell and reproductive biology of various species. There are currently plans now to clone and embryo transfer the African bongo antelope, the Sumatran tiger and the giant panda. It would probably be easier to do same species embryo transfers of these clones but it would be risky to place zoo specimens of rare or endangered species under the stress of assisted reproduction and surrogate motherhood. So far, then, these assisted reproduction techniques have to be confined to species in which 1) something is known about their reproductive biology and 2) a surrogate mother of a common, yet similar, species is available. What do we know about interspecies embryo transfer? Besides the gaur case mentioned above, interspecies embryo transfer (only; not cloning then transfer) has been successful for an African wildcat embryo (into a domestic cat; this was done at the Audubon Institute Center for Research of Endangered Species in New Orleans, LA), an Indian desert cat (also into a domestic cat), a bongo antelope (into an eland), a mouflon sheep (into a domestic sheep), and a rare red deer (into a white-tailed deer).

How does all of this fit in with more traditional methods for protecting endangered species? And what about the possibility of cloning already extinct species? More about these questions next month.

PROGRAM NOTES by Sally Schiller

October’s program was Rise Up on the Wings of Eagles by Bob Hatcher from Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. Bob’s presentation gave the group a look at the Bald Eagle reintroduction program in Tennessee which began nearly two decades ago. During this time Tennessee has released more Bald Eagles into the wild than any other state except New York. Since 1980 a total of 280 young Bald Eagles have been released in Tennessee by a process called hacking. Eaglets are placed in artificial nests at 8 weeks of age and allowed to fly from the nests at 12-14 weeks of age. Since mature eagles tend to return to the area from which they fledged, successful (i.e. those producing fledglings) nests in Tennessee have increased from 1 in 1983 to 28 in 1999. The Bald Eagle was down-listed from endangered to threatened in Tennessee in 1994.

On November 2^nd at 6:00 P.M., we will meet at the Clarksville Academy’s cafeteria (see map) for our annual potluck banquet. The program will be provided by Don Boarman, curator of The John J. Audubon Museum. The title of his presentation will be The Art and Life of John J. Audubon. We will also hold a silent auction at the banquet which I understand has been a fun and successful fund raiser for the chapter in the past. So, mark your calendars now and make plans to attend. Bring a friend, some food to share and something to donate to the auction (anything old or new, store bought or homemade!).

SILENT AUCTION, Steve Hamilton

The silent auction in an important fund raising event this year. We need to raise money to support the Audubon Adventures that we are sponsoring at three local elementary schools.

I am hoping to have one or two large format Audubon prints for the bidding if my connection comes through in time. While not extremely valuable, these are high quality prints worthy of framing.

FIELD TRIP REPORT by Rebecca Houtman

What can we say about our field trip to Cheekwood Botanical Gardens and Museum except WOW!! What a turn out. What a great time. I have to say it was the best field trip so far this year. Thanks goes out to Sally Schiller for the great idea. Participants included Leonard and Bonnie Kruck, Marty and Anna Ragland, Jack and Suva Bastin, Barbara Wilbur, Dave Irvine, and Alan, Kathy, Megan and Erin Bottomlee, Joe and Sally Schiller, Scott and Hunter Sutton, Steve Hamilton and my son and me.

We had a great time enjoying the beautiful house and the artwork within. Our tour guide led us on a journey through the history of the Cheek-Wood family’s life, which bumped into a little history of Clarksville as well. Since our journey we have found out about Mabel Wood's home. Her home was on Union St. where the Moose Club is currently located. Her father had several businesses, probably the primary one was insurance. He and his brother apparently were quite successful in a variety of ventures. Barbara Wilbur, who supplied me with this information may be able to get pictures of exterior of house. She is also looking for additional information on Mabel's family, i.e., siblings, etc. We all are looking forward to learning more. Thanks Barbara. Our tour ended at the Learning Center where we were able to view beautiful prints of John J. Audubon’s artwork. From there everyone ventured out into the whimsical gardens of their choice. Thanks to everyone who turned out. I had a great time. I can hardly wait for November’s guest speaker to tell us more about the "Life and Times of John J. Audubon."

There will not be a field trip for November. I have to apologize, but my schedule for the month won’t allow it. Let’s not forget the December Christmas bird count on the 16th though. Mark your calendars! Taking the break in November will allow us to rest up and be ready to go with binoculars in hand! Of course, for some of us, there will be a bird identification book in the other. I’m looking forward to seeing you all there.

CONSERVATION REPORT by Joe Schiller

The U.S. Congress had to extend its session by at least one more week. Here is a quick summary of legislative accomplishments and prospects.

President Clinton signed into law legislation that represents the largest commitment our country has made to conservation in decades. The measure will incrementally increase funding up to $12 billion over the next six years for local, state and national conservation efforts including: land acquisition to protect precious lands from development threats, pollution control programs, state fish and wildlife conservation programs, urban and historic preservation programs, and much more. Although not as sweeping as the Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA), this new law is the largest commitment to conservation in decades. Additionally, the U.S. House and Senate agreed on Appropriations bills that include funding for habitat areas for birds and wildlife in 12 national wildlife refuges and four national forests in 13 states, 100,000 additional acres in the Wetland Reserve Program (WRP), and a pilot program to protect prairie potholes in six states. Our thanks and congratulations to you for helping to secure these victories for birds and other wildlife habitat!

At the time of this writing the Everglades restoration legislation is now stalled in the US House. Two weeks ago, the U.S. Senate passed a bill that approves programs and projects aimed at returning the natural quantity, quality, timing and distribution of freshwater to the Everglades. Hopefully, by the time you read this the Everglades restoration legislation will have passed the House. President Clinton is eager to sign such a bill.

And now, a word from your Conservation Chair regarding the upcoming election. I know many people have grown cynical about politics, and some may have even given up on voting. However, despite all the flaws, politics really does have major consequences for the environment and our lives in general. This election is the most important for the environment in a very long time. Not only will executive priorities and legislative initiatives be at stake, but 40 years of very hard won legislative victories could be lost. There are cases pending before the US Supreme Court that could dramatically reduce the ability of federal agencies such as the EPA and USFWS to regulate environmental pollution. Several similar court challenges are possible over the next few years. I have followed the presidential campaign closely, and despite the contention of many that politicians never deliver on their promises, I believe these promises at least reveal priorities and prejudices. The promises of George Bush scares me while those of Al Gore reassure me. Bush has made clear that he clings stubbornly to the old, worn out doctrine that environmental protection can only be achieved at the cost of economic prosperity. Al Gore has made clear that he does not accept this backwards paradigm. He understands that environmental protection and economic prosperity are mutually compatible. While Bush sees high energy prices as a result only of environmental protection constraining supplies; Gore rightly sees it as a problem of excessive consumption exceeding supplies which can be solved by new industries developing and marketing new innovative energy conserving products. Bush has stated flatly that energy supply should be expanded by drilling for oil in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, while Gore has stated flatly that he would replace more oil through conservation than exists in the Alaska wildlife refuge. The facts are on Gore’s side. At current U.S. oil consumption rates the Alaska Wildlife refuge holds only a 6-12 month supply of oil. Increasing the average fuel economy of cars and trucks by only three miles per gallon would save more oil than exists in the Alaska Wildlife refuge! There are now two Japanese cars on the market that get over 60 miles per gallon of gas! That is more than 40 miles per gallon over the current U.S. average car milage. Bush still insists that global warming due to greenhouse gas emissions is a controversial theory with little scientific support. The fact is, however, that virtually every credible scientist in the world agrees that global warming due to greenhouse gas emissions is real. Bush opposes the Kyoto protocol on greenhouse gas emissions, while Gore was instrumental in securing its passage. More importantly, Bush has signaled that he will appoint US Supreme Court Justices that are likely to vote to overturn legislation representing 40 years of environmental policy progress in the U.S. Gore has vowed to appoint justices that will uphold 40 years environmental progress. In many respects, Bush’s positions on the environment resemble those prevalent during the Reagan administration. Gore’s positions, in contrast, are forward looking. Let’s go forward for the environment, not back. I’m voting for Al Gore.

The Friends of Dunbar Cave will be hosting "Historical Hysteria" cave tours on October 30 and 31 (Halloween eve and Halloween night) from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.. Guided tours will leave from the Dunbar Cave visitors center every 15 minutes. The charge is $5.00 / person, the money going to support the Friends of Dunbar Cave’s efforts to keep the parks open as a state park and the continued development of this facility.

The tours are not ghoulish or terrifying. There will be no chainsaws, no detached limbs, etc., although there may be a few bats. The darkness of the walk to the cave will probably be sufficient to generate some excitement. On the tour the participants will see humorous skits portraying real and fictitious character that have been associated with the cave during its history. The skits have been written by Hannah Gillis with help from other members of the Clarksville Academy Drama Club. Hannah is directing the members of the club in their portrayals of such folks as Thomas Dunbar, Isaac Peterson, Jenny Lind, Jesse James and other less notable individuals.

This is planned as a fun event for the entire family. For safety reasons children 3 and under are not permitted on cave tours. Everyone, including children, must walk through the cave. Children can’t be carried due to low ceilings and uncertain footing, (i.e., you must be able to manage your own headroom and footing without concern of balancing a child in your arms). Pass the word among your family and friends. If you would like some fliers to poster or pass along, get hold of Debbie, Colleen or me (numbers, etc. below). Help Friends of Dunbar Cave make this a fun and successful event.

Programs

Field Trips

December 16^th: Audubon Christmas Bird Count. Bird feeder & field counters needed. Call Debbie Hamilton (645-8092) for details. Also see the following website: http://birdsource.cornell.edu/cbc/

February 3^rd: Sandhill Crane Day at Birchwood H.S and Sandhill Crane viewing at Hiawasee National Wildlife Refuge near Cleveland, TN

March: Learn to Bird with the Experts in the Field. Meeting time & place to be announced

April: Spring Fling at Dunbar Cave State Park; date & time to be announced.

May 12^th: Annual Spring Bird Count. Call Gloria Milliken (358-2998) for details. Bird feeder & field counters needed.

June: Frog Call Identification. Date & time to be announced.