Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Monday 20 august 2018

Judge told to consider protections for Montana grayling fish

By MATT VOLZ water temperatures in almost fish did not warrant listing as
Associated Press all of Montana’s rivers.” threatened or endangered
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — An The plaintiffs say in their law- because additional popula-
appeals court on Friday told suit that climate change will tions had been found and
a judge to take another look only make conditions worse nearly all were stable or im-
at whether a Montana fish without federal protections proving.
should be protected, saying in place. Those protections The 2014 decision also fac-
that U.S. wildlife officials did would restrict land and water tored in a state program
not consider all environmen- use in and around the gray- that worked with landown-
tal factors when they decided ling’s habitat. ers to improve water flows
against designating the Arctic Fish and wildlife service and fish habitat along the
grayling as a threatened or spokeswoman Jennifer Strick- Big Hole River, where irriga-
endangered species. land said her agency is re- tion had threatened one of
The three-judge panel of the viewing the ruling and has no the grayling’s last refuges in
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Ap- comment. the state. Gov. Steve Bullock,
peals reversed U.S. District Arctic grayling, a relative of a Democrat, then touted the
Judge Sam Haddon’s 2016 In this June 27, 2005, file photo, an Arctic grayling is shown in trout known for their sail-like program and keeping the
ruling that the U.S. Fish and Emerald Lake in Bozeman, Mont. A federal appeals court says dorsal fin, are also found in grayling off the endangered
Wildlife Service’s decision U.S. wildlife officials did not consider all environmental factors Alaska and Canada, but the species list as a success story.
not to list the Arctic grayling when it decided against designating a Montana fish as a court case only affects the Montana Fish, Wildlife and
as threatened or endangered threatened or endangered species. Associated Press fish’s Montana population. Parks spokesman Greg Lem-
was based on the best avail- In Montana, grayling now oc- on said the ruling won’t
able science. high stream temperatures, eral protections for the fish. cupy just 10 percent of the change the program working
Wildlife officials’ conclusion low stream flows and climate “The service had blown off 1,250 miles (2,011 kilome- with landowners, or prevent
that the grayling population change to the grayling popu- the threat to grayling from ters) of streams in the upper the state looking for other
was increasing was wrong, lation, the judges ruled. warmer water temperatures, Missouri River basin that they ways to enhance the grayling
because they did not take into Those factors put grayling but the court found they historically inhabited. population in the Big Hole
account data that showed the in Montana in danger of ex- had no legitimate reason to In 2010, the fish and wildlife and Ruby rivers.
fish’s population in the Big tinction, said Jenny Harbine, do so,” Harbine said. “Arctic service determined that that “You get on the Big Hole River
Hole River was declining, the an attorney representing the grayling are a cold water fish Arctic grayling in Montana now, it’s not uncommon for a
judges said in their decision. Center for Biological Diver- but as we know increasing warranted federal protection, fisherman to catch a grayling
The federal agency also acted sity, the Western Watersheds summer temperatures, ear- but other species took prece- or two, and that’s a pretty
arbitrarily and capriciously Project and two Montana res- lier spring runoff and reduced dence. rare experience in the Lower
in dismissing the threats of idents who sued to force fed- snow pack have impacted the Four years later, they said the 48,” he said.q

Synthetic pot seen as a public health danger

By MIKE STOBBE to legalize traditional mari- marijuana including relax-
AP Medical Writer juana, synthetic marijua- ation, elevated mood and
A decade after first appear- na has become a public altered perception.
ing in the United States, syn- health threat. Synthetic WHAT’S IN IT?
thetic marijuana is seen as pot is a mind-altering drug Authorities have detected
a growing health danger. made by taking plant ma- scores of chemicals in syn-
Some marijuana smokers terial and spraying it with thetic marijuana, and say
turned to it because it is chemicals that can mimic chemical composition can
relatively cheap and not the high from marijuana. It vary not only from product
detected in routine drug is sold under names like K2, to product but from batch
testing. Dozens of people in AK47, Spice, Kush, Kronic, to batch. Some ingredients
New Haven, Connecticut, and Scooby Snax. The are banned by federal or
went to the hospital this chemicals also can also state law. Drug dealers
week after overdosing on a be mixed into a liquid and peddle synthetic marijua- In this Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018 file photo, paramedics and EMT
batch of synthetic pot. vaped, and even mixed na, and police say people members respond to one of three simultaneous drug overdose
A look at the issue: into tea or food. The sub- have been able to buy it victims on the New Haven Green, a city park in New Haven,
WHAT IS IT? stances can produce some online or in convenience Conn.
While states have moved similar effects to traditional stores and gas stations. Associated Press

Synthetic pot products
are not tested for safety
and people who use them
don’t know exactly what
chemicals they’re putting
into their bodies. Earlier this
year, more than 160 peo-
ple in Illinois were sickened
and at least four died after
using synthetic marijuana
tainted with rat poison.q