OMNI needs to go after this now. OMNI people have been trying to get such a station for several years

Local Community Radio Act passes in Congress.
Community radio advocates are celebrating a major victory after the Senate approved the Local Community Radio Act last Saturday, one day after its passage in the House. The bill will open up more of the radio dial for Low Power FM, with the FCC now mandated to license thousands of new stations.

Jim Bemis speaks at Telecom Board meeting on December 16, 2010

GOVERNMENT CHANNEL SCHEDULE published Friday, December 17, 2010, the day following Telecom Board meeting, does not include Telecom Board meeting video to be run during week of 12/17/2010 through 12/12/2010. Bemis' comments, therefore, will not be shown on Cox Cable or AT&T U-verse until long after the Fayetteville City Council meeting at which the CAT contract will be voted on Tuesday, December 21, 2010.
Please click on individual pages to ENLARGE for easy reading.

World Peace Wetland Prairie was once approved to be an apartment complex but Town Branch Neighborhood gathered friends to make it a city nature park

World Peace Wetland Prairie's Earth Day 2010 celebration video

Buy a federal duck stamp to provide habitat for waterfowl and many other species all over the continent

Please click on image to ENLARGE.

Hunting season dates in Arkansas

December meeting of Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

October 25, 2010, video clip from World Peace Wetland Prairie

Doug Tallamy comments on planting trees and avoiding mowing to fight climate change

Professor Doug Tallamy's magnificent book, Bringing Nature Home, provides thousands of reasons for planting native species and protecting the air, water, soil and food for human beings and all living things.

Please click on individual images of pages from Bringing Nature Home to ENLARGE for easy reading of samples of Doug Tallamy's work.

Please click on image to ENLARGE for reading.

Cox Cable changes of interest to viewers of Fayetteville's public channels

aubunique: Streamside protection ordinance can prevent futur...

aubunique: Streamside protection ordinance can prevent futur...: "Flickr photos of destruction of riparian zone of Tanglewood Branch while destroying historical grain elevator More Tanglewood Branch photos..."

Cox Cable pulls surprise on city of Fayetteville, Arkansas, with plan to move public-access, government channel and educational channel to EXPENSIVE digital tier of channels: So much for open government when thousands of people will not be able to afford access to the public channels

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of Cox Cable advertisement in recent issue of The Northwest Arkansas Times.

For several years I have been able to turn away phone and online salesmen wanting me to take the satellite systems and later the Uverse TV system of AT&T. But now Cox has set up a situation that will require me to drop their service and take the Uverse, which will automatically cut my cost because I have AT&T phone service already. Cox has one thing the others don't have: The local public stations at minimal cost. This is the time for the city administration to begin negotiating with COX. This is a draconian measure that will hurt COX in the long run.

Comments on riparian ordinance during October 2010 meeting of Fayetteville Planning Commission by Fran Deane Alexander and Aubrey James Shepherd

Doug Tallamy succintly describes the thesis of his 'Bringing Nature Home' about gardening with native species to sustain native wildlife

Doug Tallamy's audio-only podcast. Please click HERE to listen online.

Aubrey Shepherd quoted on UATV on October 20, 2010, on significance of demolition of old grain elevator in south Fayetteville, Arkansas

Highway Commission vote could end mowing and dredging practices that cause erosion, loss of wildlife habitat and decrease beauty of roadsides in Arkansas

Please click on image to ENLARGE. Two hours after this photo was made on October 12, 2010, this area had been brushogged into oblivion. Sure, the swamp milkweed will sprout from its roots next summer. But these plants not only held pods offering hundreds of milkweed seeds but also were feeding milkweed caterpillars that could have made chrysalises and become final 2010 generation monarchs traveling to Mexico and with a chance to return in spring and find fresh milkweed on which a new generation of monarchs could have been raised to keep the cycle of life intact for this seriously threatened species of migrating butterfly. If you want to talk to your Northwest Arkansas representative on the Highway Commission, he is Dick Trammel.

Monarch caterpillars were still eating the foliage of these swamp milkweeds and the seed pods were almost mature when the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department Mowers came down the road and crushed and cut them off near the ground. Amazing hypocrisy for a state agency that touts its wildflower program. And possibly worse hypocrisy is touting its stormwater-protection work and then mowing and dredging ditches repeatedly every year.

Please click on individual images to ENLARGE view.

To learn more about the Arkansas Highway Commission,  please see AHC  link.

Biologists scour Mojave in desert tortoise roundup - latimes.com

Biologists scour Mojave in desert tortoise roundup - latimes.com

Help make Fayetteville an Eco-Logical Community: Learn how on Sunday

Please click on image to ENLARGE

aubunique: Insect Festival coming up

aubunique: Insect Festival coming up: "Please use live links on site to navigate and read more detail. Bumpers College Home Entomology Home O..."

aubunique: Tree and Landscape Committee sets annual city tree...

aubunique: Tree and Landscape Committee sets annual city tree...: "12th Annual Celebration of TreesSaturday October 9, 2010 7:00 am Town Center entrance on the Fayetteville SquareEvery year the Tree and Lan..."

Natural-resource conservation short video clips by Aubrey James Shepherd

Northwest Arkansas Ducks Unlimited banquet on September 24, 2010, at Washington County Fairground

Start the celebration early for the Alabama game by attending the  Northwest Arkansas Ducks Unlimited membership banquet at the Washington  County Fairgrounds. Lots of great food, unique auction items and plenty  of prizes.
Individual, couple, Sponsor and Corporate tables for eight are  available. To purchase your tickets online please click the Buy Tickets  link below.

If you're interested in becoming a volunteer on the committee, or  would like more information on the banquet, please contact me at the  email address shown. Be sure to forward this email to friends and fellow  duck hunters who would also like to attend the banquet.
Please click on image to ENLARGE view of Illinois River waterfowl on January 6, 2010.

An illustrated guide to the latest climate science link below

The Progression of Climate Science.

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Free-T-Shirt--Ice-Cream-at--Energy-for-the-Environment--Rally--Sat--12--2-PM.html?soid=1102624119018&aid=JN8grkk4uv

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Free-T-Shirt--Ice-Cream-at--Energy-for-the-Environment--Rally--Sat--12--2-PM.html?soid=1102624119018&aid=JN8grkk4uvg&share=fblike

aubunique: OMNI needs more volunteers to man the table speaki...

aubunique: OMNI needs more volunteers to man the table speaki...: "Please click on individual images to ENLARGE and display wider view of poet John Rule talking about OMNI Center's message of peace to visito..."

Aug9 aubrey.asf

Please attend tonight's meeting of the Council of Neighborhoods: Agenda below

Please double-click on the image to ENLARGE and widen view of swallowtail on World Peace Wetland Prairie in the Town Branch neighborhood on August 25, 2010, or scroll down to read about Fayetteville's Council of Neighborhoods and Thursday night's meeting of that group in city hall. Please see agenda for the meeting at the bottom of the post.

Please check the agenda and notice that there are two significant presentations slated for Council of Neighborhoods for August 26, 2010. In addition, all people who attend may report on anything of interest to them or others in their neighborhood or on any matter of importance to residents of the city. Many important issues have first surfaced when one person showed up and shared at Council of Neighborhoods. Chances are good that you may get to meet the people who are running for half the positions on the the City Council. And other candidates for public office also may be there. People who attend are not required to speak but have the opportunity to speak on Government Channel or simply meet representatives of other neighborhoods before and after the meeting and suggest subjects for future agendas. If you have never been contacted by anyone from your neighborhood association or don't believe there is an organization in your neighborhood, you can give your address to Julie McQuade, whose contact information is at the bottom of the agenda below, and she can tell you whether one exists and who to contact or how to form one if none exists. Everyone is always welcome at Council of Neighborhoods and often multiple city employees are on hand to answer questions and offer advice on problems people may mention during the meeting. I hope to be early and help create a "quorum." If you have never attended, please give it a try. If you can't attend, watch for the broadcast on Government Channel starting Friday, Saturday or Sunday or one day next week. The Government Channel schedule for the coming week usually is online on Friday afternoon. Of course, if we don't show up, there may not be a quorum and the meeting won't be recorded and shown on City 16.

AGENDA FOR A MEETING OF THE

FAYETTEVILLE COUNCIL OF NEIGHBORHOODS

Thursday, August 26, 2010, 6:00 p.m.

Room 326, City Hall

Call to Order

1.         Introduction of neighborhood representatives

2.         No minutes from July meeting to approve.

3.         Eco-Logical Communities - Michele Halsell

4.         Certified Community Habitat

5.         Chairman’s report

6.         Treasurer’s report

7.         Neighborhood Updates & Announcements

8.         September 30, 2010 Meeting - Candidate Forum

Adjourn

Julie McQuadeCommunity Outreach Coordinator
City of Fayetteville

113 West Mountain, Suite 320

Fayetteville, AR 72701
(479) 575-8302

www.accessfayetteville.org

TDD (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf) 479-521-1316

Two such wetland plants growing together are a strong indicator of wetland

Please click on image to ENLARGE and widen view of Asclepias incarnata (swamp milkweed) and Verbena hastata (swamp vervain) growing together on south Fayetteville wetland.

Diana fritillary on butterfly milkweed on June 21, 2010 CATRO_Title_03_0...

Cup plant is potential new biomass/carbon storage crop

Cup plant is potential new biomass/carbon storage crop

Cup plants get 12 feet tall in wet years even in the peace-circle garden of World Peace Wetland Prairie. Please click on individual images to enlarge view of cup plants on July 18, 2010, in peace-circle garden of WPWP, some knocked down by recent powerful rainstorms.

ScienceDaily (Mar. 24, 2010) — South Dakota State University research is exploring a native perennial called cup plant as a potential new biomass crop that could also store carbon in its extensive root system and add biodiversity to biomass plantings.

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See Also:

Plants & Animals

• Endangered Plants
• Ecology Research
• Agriculture and Food

Earth & Climate

• Grassland
• Ecology
• Exotic Species

Reference

• Prairie Restoration
• Biomass
• Biomass (ecology)
• Trophic level

Researchers are exploring whether cup plant could be grown in low, moist prairies generally unfit for cropland. It would be grown and processed along with native grasses grown for biomass.

"We anticipate down the road there's going to be a need and maybe even a market for plants that can store carbon under ground and be part of a biomass production system," SDSU professor Arvid Boe said.

Boe, a plant breeder, is the lead investigator on a grant of $324,336 from the U.S. Department of Energy channeled through the SDSU-based North Central Sun Grant Center. Project goals include studying genetic variation and developing molecular markers in cup plant populations from the eastern Great Plains; developing new cultivars that can be grown in combination with other biomass crops; determining best practices such as seeding rate, row spacing, harvest timing and nutrient management so that producers will know how to grow the plant; determining life histories of insect pests; and determining biochemical composition.

Boe said cup plant, or Silphium perfoliatum, is a member of the sunflower family found in moist low ground in the eastern Great Plains, where it can grow more than 7 feet tall. It has large seeds and good seedling vigor, and it yields a lot of biomass.

"It's conspicuous in the prairie as a very productive forb in a tallgrass prairie where you have your major grasses such as big bluestem, switchgrass and prairie cordgrass," Boe said. "We haven't come up with too many things to grow with our grasses to add biodiversity to these biofuel mixtures that we're anticipating growing down the road. It's very compatible with such things as switchgrass and prairie cordgrass and big bluestem."

Boe said scientists don't envision planting entire fields of cup plant. Instead they view it as one in a mix of biomass species that would be seeded in zones best suited for them, just as in the original tallgrass prairie. Boe and his colleagues -- borrowing a term used years ago by conservationist Erling Jacobson of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Soil Conservation Service -- speak of "sculpting the landscape" with native grasses best suited to different locations in the prairie.

"We don't necessarily have a mix at any particular area, but we have various species wherever they're best adapted on the landscape. It doesn't make any sense for us to have mix switchgrass, big bluestem and prairie cordgrass together and plant it over a whole field. After five years, the species that are best adapted are going to take over anyway in their particular niche," Boe said.

"We're going to go in and we're going to plant essentially monocultures of these various species where they were in the original tallgrass prairie. There were monocultural stands in the tallgrass prairie, but they were zonal."

Cup plant is probably best suited to the same kind of terrain that switchgrass likes, Boe said, just above the prairie cordgrass zone, and possibly all the way up to the edge of the big bluestem zone.

"It fits the low prairie or moist prairie-type environment that we're shooting for and might even work out pretty well with prairie cordgrass," Boe said. "So we add diversity to that low prairie environment that is marginal land not suitable for cropland and also not a good environment for switchgrass to grow. We're not taking cropland out of production to put cup plant in there. We think it will grow in areas where crops wouldn't survive or couldn't even be planted on a regular basis."

Cup plant is likely to increase biodiversity in a plant community because it attracts a variety of insects and even birds. Goldfinches drink out of the leaves, and the stems provide perch areas for grassland birds.

SDSU professor Paul Johnson, an entomologist, adds that SDSU is also interested in a species of moth called Eucosma giganteana, first described by a scientist in 1881, that seems to have cup plant as its only host plant.

"In South Dakota, the giant eucosma has recently become more than just another interesting prairie insect because of interest in using cup plant as a biomass crop," Johnson said.

Larvae feed in the rapidly growing terminal structures, especially buds, where the damage can be extensive, often leading to complete loss of floral production. The end result can be significant loss of biomass through stunting and loss of vigor in the plants.

"Turning cup plant into a commodity thus converts the giant eucosma into a pest of significant concern," Johnson said.

"It's another case of a native prairie plant becoming a crop and the conversion of a previously neglected native plant predator to a pest."

Johnson is studying the life history of the giant eucosma as part of the SDSU project.

Perennial grasses will always be the base for biomass production, but cup plant is a complementary species, scientists say. Increasing number of species in the mix reduces probability of plant disease and insect pests attacking one species and causing large losses in yield.

Besides Boe and Johnson, other investigators in the project including forage researcher Vance Owens, plant scientist Catherine Carter and biochemist Duane Matthees, all of SDSU; Alex Kahler of Brookings, S.D.-based Biogenetic Services; and professor Ken Albrecht of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an agronomist. University of Wisconsin research has already looked at cup plant as a perennial silage crop, but exploring it as a biomass crop is new.

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DSCN7073Clasping leaf milkweed SEED.AVI

NCAT announces that Arkansas among 3 states chosen to launch National Energy Corps program

Arkansas Chosen as One of 3 States to Launch National Energy Corps Program

The National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) is pleased to announce that it has been awarded funding from the Corporation for National and Community Service to launch the National Energy Corps AmeriCorps program.

By forming collaborations with local non-profit organizations, community action agencies, local governments and energy service organizations, the National Energy Corps initiative will foster community sustainability by addressing the core challenges of clean energy:

*  Hands-on Energy Assistance
*  Energy Education and Outreach
*  Community Energy Planning and Organizing
*  Green Jobs Training and Skills Development

The National Energy Corps program is an AmeriCorps initiative of the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) in cooperation with The Corporation for National and Community Service that was created to address unmet community energy needs by promoting sustainable energy consumption and
education, fostering community sustainability and helping to mitigate the effects of global climate change.

The National Energy Corps initiative builds on the success of the Montana Energy Corps pilot, a program funded by the Montana Governor’s Office of Community Service. Since October of 2009, Energy Corps members in Montana have been busy assisting with weatherization services for low-incomes areas,
developing clean energy awareness campaigns for communities and performing community building energy audits on reservations.

“We see a need for sustainable energy services across the country,” says Energy Corps Program Director Holly Hill. “The Energy Corps program has been a great success in Montana and we hope we can replicate that success on a larger scale.”

As a product of the successful Montana Energy Corps program, the National Energy Corps initiative will launch this fall in three additional states, Pennsylvania, Iowa and Arkansas. The Arkansas Energy Corps program will be managed by the NCAT Southeast Regional Office, located in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
NCAT Southeast Regional Office Director Margo Hale says, “The Southeast Regional office is thrilled to be one of three states to launch the National Energy Corps initiative. This is a great opportunity for our region and our state.”

Arkansas will have approximately 15 National Energy Corps positions available, beginning in September 2010. Energy Corps members will serve an 11 month term of service and receive the same benefits as an AmeriCorps member, which include a monthly living stipend, an education award, health insurance
and a experience of a lifetime providing direct services to their community. National Energy Corps members will be placed with host organizations in communities throughout the state of Arkansas to implement solutions for sustainable energy.

NCAT is currently accepting applications from non-profit organizations interested in hosting an Energy Corps member. Host organizations will be required to provide a detailed description of how an Energy Corps member working for their program will facilitate clean energy-related services.

Applications for host organizations must be submitted by the close of business by July 20, 2010. More detailed information regarding this partnership opportunity is available by reviewing the full application instructions attached or by contacting Holly Hill at 406-494-8652/hollyh@ncat.org or Melissa Terry at 479.575.1382/melissat@ncat.org.

###

The National Center for Appropriate Technology is a nonprofit organization founded in 1976. NCAT’s innovative and diverse projects in the fields of
sustainable energy, sustainable agriculture and rural community development are supported by foundations, government/private sector grants and contracts, as well as through individual contributions and memberships.




--
AR Energy Corps Coordinator
National Center for Appropriate Technology
SE Field Office
207 W. Center
Fayetteville, AR  72701
www.ncat.org
479.575.1385

EPA confirms new cap-and-trade bill inadequate

EPA Analysis Confirms Inadequacy of New Cap and Trade Bill

When reporting EPA’s economic analysis of  Sens. Kerry and Lieberman’s “American Power Act” legislation last week, most outlets focused on its questionable projections of relatively low costs to US households. Yet, the most newsworthy aspect of the agency’s report was buried in the middle of the analysis on pages 25 and 31.
Federal analysts found the Senate cap and trade bill will not only fail to cut petroleum use in the next 20 years, but will actually increase our reliance up to 2030. Then, surprisingly, after 2030 the analysis expects that America will not be able to decrease emissions enough to stay under the proposed cap. This deficiency will result in higher costs for emissions permits and higher energy prices for American households – a fact upon which the bill’s proponents have been noticeably silent despite its potentially huge implications for the overall analysis of the cost of the program – not to mention its efficiency.
Volatility inherent in commodity markets is just one of the fundamental flaws in the kind of cap and trade systemalready in place in Europe. By failing to put a steady price on carbon, an emissions trading scheme lacks the ability to give businesses the needed incentives to switch to clean energy. A failure to make the transition to a clean economy represents a serious problem for both the climate and Washington’s clean energy agenda.
With its Emissions Trading System (ETS) in place since 2005,, Europe has experienced firsthand its inability tosignificantly reduce emissions, send a steady market signal, and avoid distorting market influences. Manipulation, cheating, and outright fraud run rampant in the European system as market specialist use insiders’ knowledge and regulators’ ignorance to their advantage to skim profits, thereby increasing national energy prices. Risky derivatives markets have also arisen in the EU program, fueling risk taking on a scale larger than the US housing market, which recently ignited a global recession when its bubble burst. A recent study by Harvard professor Richard Cooper analyzes the various phases of implementing the ETS, highlighting the layers of unintended consequences such systems place on national economies.
Hopefully, Americans can heed the warnings of the European system while grasping EPA’s findings, which indicate a similar future here at home. From the lessons learned, we must select a more suitable climate policy. This policy would need to include a steady price on carbon to send the right market signals, while having minimal costs to energy consumers in order to remain politically viable. Such a policy option exists, and it is about time we start discussing it in order to responsibly address America’s energy future.

John Rule to read from his own poetry today at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 22, 2010, at Nightbird Books on Dickson Street in Fayetteville, Arkansas. TONIGHT!

Please click on image to enlarge to read introductory page and half of book's first poem.

John Rule served on the Carbon Caps Task Force for several years.

This buckeye butterfly was on nonnative butterfly bush in the peace-circle portion of the World Peace Wetland Prairie on June 11, 2010. You may be able to see it and many other pollinators Saturday June 12, 2010, at some of the 8 private gardens on the OMNI Tour of Peace Gardens

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of Buddleia with Precis coenea nectaring on it on June 11, 2010, at World Peace Wetland Prairie in Fayetteville, Arkansas. For interactive map and information about 2010 OMNI Peace Garden Tour, please see OMNI Peace Gardens blog.

Clean Air Act intact for the moment!

  

SPECIAL UPDATE — DIRTY AIR ACT IS DEFEATED!

Dear Aubrey,

Thanks to your efforts, the Clean Air Act still stands as one of our most important environmental laws, protecting public health and the environment.

Today the the Senate defeated Senator Murkowski's Resolution to cripple the Clean Air Act, and let oil and other corporate polluters off the hook.

By a narrow margin, the Senate voted 53-47 to uphold EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gas pollution and put science ahead of politics when it comes to public health and putting our country on a clean energy path.

Thank you for sending emails to your Senators — more than once! It took a strong and concerted outcry from many Americans to defeat this resolution. Our work is not finished until we have comprehensive energy and climate legislation but we will continue to work toward that goal and we know we can count on your help.

Thank you!

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Help us to spread the word:
 Tell-a-friend!

 

Contact your senators to protect clean air NOW

Hi Friend, This Thursday June 10, the U.S. Senate will vote on Senator Lisa Murkowski's (R-AK) "Dirty Air Act" resolution. The vote is, sadly, too close to call -- and we need your help! The "Dirty Air Act" resolution would gut the Clean Air Act's ability to crack down on the dirtiest climate polluters like Big Oil and Dirty Coal. I've recorded a video about the importance of this vote, and why we all need to step up and tell our senators to reject this move to gut the Clean Air Act. Watch the video, then send your senators a message: tell them to vote 'NO' on Murkowski's "Dirty Air Act" (S.J.   Res 26): The Gulf Coast oil disaster and the recent coal mine tragedy in West Virginia show us what happens when we let dirty polluters run amok. Now Senator Murkowski wants to take away our best tool to keep these companies from further wrecking our lives and the planet with their climate pollution. Please take action right away! Tell your senators to stand up to dirty polluters like BP and Massey energy by voting 'NO' on the Murkowski resolution. In unity, Gillian Caldwell Campaign Director, 1Sky

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