July, 2001

LEAF-let Earns Web Recognition
In covering a wide variety of environmental issues including water use, ecological restoration, natural pest control, and much more, the LEAF-let, http://www.albrightseed.com, received Lightspan's Study Web® Academic Excellence Award after it was selected as a featured site. Lightspan, Inc. provides curriculum-based, educational software and Internet products and services used in schools and at home. Albright Seed's inclusion in Study Web® means that it is among the finest sites available in its newest category, Arts:Architecture:Landscaping:Online Magazines/Publications. The Lightspan Academic Excellence Award joins Albright Seed's previous honor as a recipient of the Learning Fountain award for the LEAF-lets many fascinating articles. These in-depth stories range in subject from endangered flora to flaws in government regulations to profiles of early landscapers. Titles include: Politics of Plants: Hits and Misses for Rare and Endangered Plants, Why Best Management Practice Doesnt Always Work,and Controlling Weeds: Chemical and Nonchemical Options. Articles are easily accessible by visiting The Best of the LEAF-let, Albright Seed's convenient index at
http://www.albrightseed.com/toc.htm.

Goats Butt Heads With Cowboys
In the latest effort to return Santa Catalina Island to its native state, the last 10 goats living on the island were rounded up, according to the Catalina Island Conservancy. It took cowboys and herding dogs five hours to corral the goats, which are responsible for major erosion problems on the island. The goats will be relocated to the mainland, where a family has promised to take them in.

Well, Duh!
According to a report issued by the California Public Interest Research Group, better safeguards are needed to protect the public from the ecological and health risks of genetic experiments with crops (see LEAF-let May/June, Star-Link Corn and Its Global Impact.) The CPIR says all field testing should stop until independent sources can prove there is no health effect on humans. Proponents of genetic engineering, such as the Biotechnology Industry Organization, have denounced the report.

Whats Next... Slaying of the Firstborn?
A plague of locusts has destroyed crops in 10 Chinese provinces and parts of Southern Russia, with up to 10,000 locusts counted per square yard. Coincidentally, more than a million acres of crops in Utah have been consumed in the state's worst cricket infestation since the 1940s. In addition, swarms of grasshoppers are surging from California hillsides in a quest to eat plants located in the Central Valley. Sounds as if its headed toward a problem of biblical proportions.