Field Reports
BICYCLING
REI honors Hyatt
Spokane’s tireless bicycling advocate, Eileen Hyatt, is among seven “outdoor stewards” throughout the country honored by the annual national Stewards for the Environment Awards by Recreational Equipment, Inc.
Each of the award recipients will personally receive $500 in merchandise plus $20,000 for the organization in which they volunteer.
Hyatt, a Spokane educator, has been active in bicycling education and government affairs before and after her retirement. Her volunteer work for the Bicycle Alliance of Washington (www.bicyclealliance. org) has helped teach safe riding skills to thousands of area children.
Nominators said that Hyatt personifies the Bicycle Alliance of Washington’s mission to promote cycling for everyday transportation and recreation, working on projects from bicycle routes to helmet safety with organizations including the Spokane Bicycle Club.
Other REI stewards include a San Diego woman who instructs at-risk and underprivileged youth to mountain bike while teaching them about environmental issues and trail etiquette and a Colorado man who has accumulated the equivalency of more than 410 days of volunteer service by participating in 143 trail-building projects.
Rich Landers
SNOWMOBILING
Snowmobile quotas set
The Bush administration has authorized limited use of snowmobiles and snow coaches in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks for the next three years.
The rules, published recently in the Federal Register, require daily limits on the number of snowmobiles in the parks, commercially guided access only in Yellowstone and use of the best available technology to reduce emissions and effects on the landscape.
For the coming winter, a daily maximum of 720 snowmobiles will be allowed in Yellowstone: 400 through the west entrance, 220 through the south entrance, 40 through the east entrance, 30 through the north entrance and 30 at Old Faithful.
Federal officials released the plan after a “finding of no significant impact.”
Environmental groups recently filed a lawsuit over the plan, saying the government failed to take into account how roads groomed for snow machines affect wildlife, particularly bison.
Associated Press
HUNTING DOGS
Down with water bowls
Placement of canine food and water bowls is now well-grounded.
Researchers have debunked the relatively recent theory that medium and large dog breeds can suffer ill effects from eating and drinking from bowls placed at ground level.
The theory was that pet owners could reduce the chances of a dog getting gastric torsion (twisted gut, volvulus, bloat) by elevating the dog’s food and water bowls.
However, results of a five-year study at Purdue University have come to an opposite conclusion.
Raising a dog’s bowls actually increases the chances of this life-threatening condition by 110 percent, the researchers report. Details are on the Web at www.vet.purdue.edu/epi/ update2.htm.
Rich Landers