Letter from W[illia]m M. Chauvenet to John Muir, 1909 Dec 28.

REGIS CHAUTENET. W. M. CHAUVENET.REGIS CHAUVENET & BROTHER.MINING ENGINEERSANALYTICAL CHEMISTS AND ASSAYERS.937 EQUITABLE BUILDING,DENVER.LABORATORIES:620 CHESTNUT STREET.St. Louis, Dec. 28-1909,John Muir,President of Society for the preservation of National Parks. 302 Mills Building, San Francisco. Dear Professor Muir,The information conveyed in your Statement of the Hetch-Hetchy case to date shocks me so deeply that I feel equal, could I get the chance, to eloquence enough and rage enough to stay any congress or to sway any convention.Your work, on mountain and on glacier I have delighted in from my college days, and my work in the mining school. With you and your dog Stickeen, I, too, have followed to the fountains of the Fairweather mountains- such a dog and such a man are worth following to the death- and so in many other adventures when the earth was shaking and the loose stones rolling from their ledges, have I run in with you to [dep ?] gorges, to see them rock and fall. In brief, my dear Sir, you have often made me glad in spirit and more brave in courage by your beautiful descriptions of things I love the best and to any cause,that is your cause, I would bring what help I can.The writing of letters to, officials in Washington has proved quite useless in the past, and yet again have I set some of my friends on the trail of this outrage which is sought by certain unnatural men in the West and whatever influence our Missouri Senators may exercise, I think I can command in some measure.The purpose of the men who would destroy the Hetch-Hetchy valley being the enrichment of themselves I do not think you need fear that the people will stand behind, any legislation which will allow such a crime. I send you Five dollars, only asking that you personally indorse the check and that you will command me in the service of this work when ever I may help here in Missouri. Would that it were more, and that I might in person talk with you about the matter in which I am so deeply interested.With great respect,[Illegible]0466

Optimal allocation of conservation effort among subpopulations of a threatened species: How important is patch quality?

Money is often a limiting factor in conservation, and attempting to conserve endangered species can be costly. Consequently, a framework for optimizing fiscally constrained conservation decisions for a single species is needed. In this paper we find the optimal budget allocation among isolated subpopulations of a threatened species to minimize local extinction probability. We solve the problem using stochastic dynamic programming, derive a useful and simple alternative guideline for allocating funds, and test its performance using forward simulation. The model considers subpopulations that persist in habitat patches of differing quality, which in our model is reflected in different relationships between money invested and extinction risk. We discover that, in most eases, subpopulations that are less efficient to manage should receive more money than those that are more efficient to manage, due to higher investment needed to reduce extinction risk. Our simple investment guideline performs almost as well as the exact optimal strategy. We illustrate our approach with a case study of the management of the Sumatran tiger, Panthera tigris sumatrae, in Kerinei Seblat National Park (KSNP), Indonesia. We find that different budgets should be allocated to the separate tiger subpopulations in KSNP. The subpopulation that is not at risk of extinction does not require any management investment. Based on the combination of risks of extinction and habitat quality, the optimal allocation for these particular tiger subpopulations is an unusual case: subpopulations that occur in higher-quality habitat (more efficient to manage) should receive more funds than the remaining subpopulation that is in lower-quality habitat. Because the yearly budget allocated to the KSNP for tiger conservation is small, to guarantee the persistence of all the subpopulations that are currently under threat we need to prioritize those that are easier to save. When allocating resources among subpopulations of a threatened species, the combined effects of differences in habitat quality, cost of action, and current subpopulation probability of extinction need to be integrated. We provide a useful guideline for allocating resources among isolated subpopulations of any threatened species

WIC Recipients in the Retail Environment: A Qualitative Study Assessing Customer Experience and Satisfaction

Background: The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program is an important intervention for prevention and treatment of obesity and food insecurity, but participation has dropped among eligible populations from 2009 to 2015. Program satisfaction is integral to participant retention, and the retail experience is a vital component of program satisfaction. Objective: This article applies behavioral economics principles to explore the retail experience of WIC participants and ways in which it may be improved. Design: The authors designed and conducted semistructured interviews and focus groups with WIC participants. Participants/setting: A convenience sample of WIC participants aged 18 years and older were recruited through WIC clinics in Texas, North Carolina, Oregon, and Illinois (n=55, 27 participants from four focus groups and 28 individual interviews). Statistical analysis conducted: Responses were analyzed qualitatively using principles of content analysis. Results: Challenges in identifying WIC-allowable items throughout the store as well as perceived stigmatization during the checkout process were the chief complaints. Study participants described a learning curve in successful use of WIC in retail environments over time. Study participants also reported acceptance of restrictions, such as a requirement to purchase the least expensive brand. Conclusions: Dissatisfaction with the retail experience may lead to the underutilization of WIC benefits or program exit. Behavioral economics strategies that facilitate a better shopping experience, such as creating a section for WIC items in the store or improving in-store education, may improve the retail experience for WIC customers. Further research is needed to ensure such strategies are effective and do not contribute to stigma

Equitable representation of ecoregions is slowly improving despite strategic planning shortfalls

Representing all ecosystem types in protected areas (PAs) is central to international conservation agreements (i.e., Aichi Target 11) and ensuring the persistence of biodiversity. In response to these agreements, we have seen rapid growth of PA networks, but we do not know how this affects ecosystem representation. We explored this question by investigating drivers and trends of representation during periods of rapid land acquisition using the protection equality metric. We found that 90.9% of the studied countries have improved protection equality through time. Periods of rapid area expansion resulted in greater increases in protection equality, particularly through multiple, smaller PAs as opposed to fewer, larger PAs. However, observed increases may not be due to strategic planning, as protection equality from random PA allocation was statistically similar to observed values within six country-level simulations. Future international agreements should hold countries accountable to meeting multiple objectives and prioritize conservation outcomes over individual targets

To Achieve Big Wins for Terrestrial Conservation, Prioritize Protection of Ecoregions Closest to Meeting Targets

Most of the terrestrial world is experiencing high rates of land conversion despite growth of the global protected area (PA) network. There is a need to assess whether the current global protection targets are achievable across all major ecosystem types and to identify those that need urgent protection. Using recent rates of habitat conversion and protection and the latest terrestrial ecoregion map, we show that if the same approach to PA establishment that has been undertaken over the past three decades continues, 558 of 748 ecoregions (ca. 75%) will not meet an aspirational 30% area protection target by 2030. A simple yet strategic acquisition plan that considers realistic futures around habitat loss and PA expansion could more than double the number of ecoregions adequately protected by 2030 given current funding constraints. These results highlight the importance of including explicit ecoregional representation targets within any new post-2020 global PA target

Metrics of progress in the understanding and management of threats to Australian birds

Although evidence‐based approaches have become commonplace for determining the success of conservation measures for the management of threatened taxa, there are no standard metrics for assessing progress in research or management. We developed 5 metrics to meet this need for threatened taxa and to quantify the need for further action and effective alleviation of threats. These metrics (research need, research achievement, management need, management achievement, and percent threat reduction) can be aggregated to examine trends for an individual taxon or for threats across multiple taxa. We tested the utility of these metrics by applying them to Australian threatened birds, which appears to be the first time that progress in research and management of threats has been assessed for all threatened taxa in a faunal group at a continental scale. Some research has been conducted on nearly three‐quarters of known threats to taxa, and there is a clear understanding of how to alleviate nearly half of the threats with the highest impact. Some management has been attempted on nearly half the threats. Management outcomes ranged from successful trials to complete mitigation of the threat, including for one‐third of high‐impact threats. Progress in both research and management tended to be greater for taxa that were monitored or occurred on oceanic islands. Predation by cats had the highest potential threat score. However, there has been some success reducing the impact of cat predation, so climate change (particularly drought), now poses the greatest threat to Australian threatened birds. Our results demonstrate the potential for the proposed metrics to encapsulate the major trends in research and management of both threats and threatened taxa and provide a basis for international comparisons of evidence‐based conservation science

How selection and weighting of astrometric observations influence the impact probability. Asteroid (99942) Apophis case

The aim is to show that in case of low probability of asteroid collision with Earth, the appropriate selection and weighing of the data are crucial for the impact investigation, and to analyze the impact possibilities using extensive numerical simulations. By means of the Monte Carlo special method a large number of ``clone'' orbits have been generated. A full range of orbital elements in the 6-dimensional parameter space, e.g. in the entire confidence region allowed by the observational material has been examined. On the basis of 1000 astrometric observations of (99942) Apophis, the best solution for the geocentric encounter distance of 6.065\pm 0.081 R_{Earth} were derived for the close encounter with the Earth on April 13, 2029. The present uncertainties allow for the special configurations (``keyholes'') during these encounter which may lead to the very close encounters in the future approaches of Apophis. Two groups of keyholes are connected with the close encounter with the Earth in 2036 (within the minimal distance of 5.7736-5.7763 R_{Earth} on April 13, 2029) and 2037 (within the minimal distance of 6.3359-6.3488 R_{Earth}). The nominal orbits for our most accurate models run almost exactly in the middle between these two impact keyhole groups. A very small keyhole for the impact in 2076 has been found between these groups at the minimal distance of 5.97347 R_{Earth} (close to the nominal orbit)

A threatened species index for Australian birds

Quantifying species population trends is crucial for monitoring progress towards global conservation targets, justifying investments, planning targeted responses and raising awareness about threatened species. Many global indicators are slow in response and report on common species, not on those at greatest risk of extinction. Here we develop a Threatened Species Index as a dynamic tool for tracking annual changes in Australia's imperiled birds. Based on the Living Planet Index method and containing more than 17,000 time series for 65 bird taxa surveyed systematically, the index at its second iteration shows an average reduction of 59% between 1985 and 2016, and 44% between 2000 and 2016. Decreases seem most severe for shorebirds and terrestrial birds and least severe for seabirds. The index provides a potential means for measuring performance against the Convention on Biological Diversity's Aichi Target 12, enabling governments, agencies and the public to observe changes in threatened species