1) Ten Commandments For a Good Transportation System
2) Alabama River Traffic Slows To a Trickle
3) Black Bear Protection Bill Passes Alabama House
4) Plan For Mobile Bay Watershed To Be Revealed
5) Cars and Asthma Attacks "Linked" According to CDC Report
6) BEN Notes: The Southern Environmental Center's 2nd Annual Livable Cities Conference, Alabama Rivers Alliance To Hold ACT Water Meeting, "River Song"
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A New Book Released By the University Of Alabama Press, American Lung Association of Alabama's Breath of Life Walk, BEN Correction

1. Ten Commandments For a Good Transportation System - Brent Blackwelder, President of Friends of the Earth, recently released a draft copy of the "Ten Commandments For A Good Transportation System." Alabama environmental
advocates for smart growth and public transportation should enjoy reading this list.

Ten Commandments For a Good Transportation System (Draft)

1. Thou shalt not discriminate against the old, the young and the poor in thy transportation system.

2. Thy transportation system shalt keep death and injury to a minimum. Note: Every decade our system kills the same number of Americans we lost in World War II.

3. Thy transportation system shalt not enable the personal attributes (sobriety, mental health, recklessness, etc..) to be a dominant factor in the safety and workability of the system.

4. Thy transportation system shalt keep air pollution to a minimum. Note: Autos are the number one reason why dozens of cities do not now meet national air quality standards.

5. Thy transportation system shalt preserve the integrity of neighborhoods and shalt not destroy the downtown and main streets of cities and towns.

6. Thy transportation system shalt not create sprawl and eliminate open space.

7. Thy transportation system shalt minimize harm and death to wildlife.

8. Thy transportation system shalt prevent congestion and keep people moving.

9. Thy transportation system shalt keep the use of land and materials to a minimum.

10. Thy transportation system shalt not discriminate against pedestrians and bicyclists.

2. Alabama River Traffic Slows To a Trickle - According to a March 25th, Mobile Register article, written by Environment Editor Bill Finch, barge traffic on the Alabama River has dropped from a high of 4 million tons of cargo in 1986 to 64,000 tons of cargo in 2000 - a decrease of 98 percent in 15 years.

Tonnage shipped through Claiborne Lock and Dam, the gateway to the upper Alabama has dropped 95% in the past decade. The decline in commercial vessels working the river is striking. In 1991, the lock-keeper at Claiborne Lock and Dam locked through 992 loaded barges, an average of three a day. Last year, the Claiborne lockmaster only saw 26 loaded barges go through the locks, according to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers data.

The decline of shipping on the Alabama River was attributed to dwindling agriculture in the area, the demise of chip mill operations, and environmental protections against sand and gravel river bed mining in the Alabama River. To read the entire Mobile Register article visit - http://www.al.com/news/mobile/?Mar2001/25-a400147a.html

3. Black Bear Protection Bill Passes Alabama House - In an effort to save Alabama's dwindling black bear population, the Alabama House of Representatives passed a bill to increase the penalty for killing and trapping this locally endangered species.

The current maximum penalty for killing or trapping a black bear is a $500 fine and six months in prison. The House measure would raise the penalty to a fine between $2000 and $5000 or up to one year in prison. Additional offenses would incur fines of $3500 to $5000, or six months to one year in jail, or both. Offenders would also lose hunting and fishing privileges for three years.

Last year, poachers killed two bears in Mobile County. There are only an estimated 20-100 black bears remaining in southwest Alabama.

The House bill, which is sponsored by Rep. Jimmy Warren, D-Castleberry passed 89-0 last week. The Senate bill which is sponsored by Sen. Ted Little of Auburn has passed out of committee and currently awaits action before the full body.

For more information about black bears in Alabama, visit the Alabama Wildlife Federation website at http://www.alawild.org

4. Plan For Mobile Bay Watershed To Be Revealed - After more than two years of citizen participation, public hearings, hard work and negotiations, the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program (NEP) has produced a draft "Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan" that attempts to highlight the Bay area's assets and liabilities. Within the management document are "action plans" that address the following five areas - Water Quality, Living Resources, Habitat, Hydrologic Modification and Human Uses.

The Mobile Bay NEP is seeking public comment on the plan. Starting on April 23rd in Bayou La Batre, the NEP will be holding their first of eleven public meetings. For more information on this very important document and public process contact the Mobile Bay NEP at 334-431-6409 or visit their website at http://www.mobilebaynep.com

5. Cars and Asthma Attacks "Linked" According to CDC Report - When Atlanta put strict driving rules in effect for the 1996 summer Olympics, air pollution dropped. But something else went down too: the number of children seeking treatment for acute asthma.

Doctors have long believed that ground-level ozone pollution created by polluting automobiles contribute to the worsening of childhood asthma. In a study released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Medicaid claims for asthma-related emergency care visits and hospitalization decreased about 40%
during the 1996 Olympics. Among H.M.O. patients, visits dropped by 44 percent. Two large pediatric emergency departments reported a decrease of about 11 percent.

"Our findings suggest that by decreasing automobile emissions through citywide changes in transportation and commuting practices, a substantial number of asthma exacerbations requiring medical attention can be prevented." the authors wrote.

During the 1996 Olympics, the city of Atlanta took extraordinary steps to ease congestion such as closing off downtown and private traffic, creating a 24 hour mass transit system and encouraging businesses to stagger hours and allow telecommuting.

6. BEN Notes: The Southern Environmental Center's 2nd Annual Livable Cities Conference, Alabama Rivers Alliance To Hold ACT Water Meeting, "River Song"
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A New Book Released By the University Of Alabama Press, American Lung Association of Alabama's Breath of Life Walk, BEN Correction

The Southern Environmental Center's 2nd Annual Livable Cities Conference - "Parking Lot Nation: The Coming Collapse of Suburbia"... "Reshaping Urban Cores"... These are just a few of the subjects that will be discussed at the Southern Environmental Center's 2nd Annual Livable Cities Conference on April 11th, 8:00 to 12:00 at Birmingham Southern College. Noted Rolling Stone writer Jim Kuntsler (author of "The Geography of Nowhere and Home from Nowhere") will be the keynote speaker. To make reservations call Michelle Hampton at 205-226-7740.

Alabama Rivers Alliance To Hold ACT Water Meeting - The Alabama Rivers Alliance (ARA) will be holding a public information meeting and press event regarding the Interstate Water Negotiations in the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa River Basin. The meeting/event will be held on April 12th, 10:00, at the Guest House Inn Hotel and Suites in Montgomery, Alabama. For more information about this event, please call ARA at 205-322-6397.

"River Song" - A New Book Released By the University Of Alabama Press - Check out a new book by the University of Alabama Press, "River Song - A Journey Down the Chattahoochee and Apalachicola River. "Written by Joe and Monica Cook, this beautiful 224 page hardbound book contains 150 color photos and was published in cooperation with the Historic Chattahoochee Commission. For more info call 773-568-1550 or visit http://www.uapress.ua.edu

American Lung Association of Alabama's Breath of Life Walk - Help the organization that is fighting asthma and lung disease. The American Lung Association of Alabama (ALAA) is holding their First Annual "Breath of Life Walk" April 7th at Hoover High School. Registration begins at 8:00 a.m., with the first lap (a Celebration lap for survivors of lung disease) beginning at 10:00. Funds raised will go toward asthma education and research, anti-tobacco smoking initiatives and indoor/outdoor clean air advocacy. At 11:00 a.m., a special part of the "Breath of Life Walk" will be a memorial tribute honoring and remembering friends and family who have suffered from lung disease. A memorial wall will be erected. To participate (walk) or contribute (for the wall) to this fundraiser, contact the ALAA at 205-933-8821.

BEN Correction - A correction from the March 21st edition of BEN. State Senator Jimmy Holley is from Elba not Troy.

Please share BEN with friends and fellow conservationists. If you have any questions or comments about this publication, contact Pat Byington, the author and publisher of BEN at 205-226-7739 or pkbyington@aol.com To receive back issues of BEN, please go to our website at: http://www.BamaNews.com