Fwd: MNN Daily Briefing: Back (Yard) to Nature

Good morning! And welcome to the Daily Briefing for the weekend of April 24. To stay on top of Earth-friendly news all day, visit us at Mother Nature Network. BACK (YARD) TO NATURE: As spring continues springing, homeowners across the United States are enjoying watching a variety of wildlife bustle around their back yards again, from robins and rabbits to hummingbirds and herons. But for a select 128,000 U.S. back yards, the local wildlife isn't just nervously stopping in for a few bites of birdseed or leaves - it actually lives there, too. These homes are part of a program by the National Wildlife Federation that turns back yards into "Certified Wildlife Habitats," which must meet five basic needs of native wildlife to be certified: providing food, water, cover, a place to raise their young, and freedom from chemical treatments such as pesticides. While the program has been around for 37 years, its popularity has been surging in recent years, with enrollment growing by 400 percent since 2003. Doug Inkley, a senior NWF scientist, says backyard habitats are more important than ever due to encroaching development and shrinking natural habitats. "Many [species] have been in decline," he tells USA Today. "Providing a place for them is extremely educational, it provides good habitat, and it can be a safe endeavor." It's not necessarily always safe, however - if the habitat is inviting enough, a small gathering for local fauna could escalate into a neighborhood block party. "You should understand that you're not only going to attract songbirds and squirrels," says Clemson University wildlife ecologist Greg Yarrow, "but some wildlife that you may not be interested in, like a bear or raccoon or skunk." (Sources: USA Today, National Wildlife Federation)   OIL ON TROUBLED WATERS: As hopes fade for finding 11 offshore workers who disappeared in an oil-rig explosion Tuesday night, oil giant BP is scrambling to avert an environmental disaster after the damaged rig sank into the Gulf of Mexico Thursday. A one-by-five-mile oil slick quickly covered the area, and BP's vice president for Gulf of Mexico exploration said in a news conference that it "certainly has the potential to be a major spill." While 115 of the rig's workers survived Tuesday's explosion, 11 remain unaccounted for, spurring a search-and-rescue effort by the U.S. Coast Guard that entered its third day Friday morning. Coast Guard helicopters, planes and patrol boats have been scouring the rig's vicinity to no avail, and while the search continues, many survivors have said the 11 missing may have been near the site of the explosion when it occurred. "Based upon reports from crew members we met as they came in last night, at the time of the incident, they believe [the missing workers] may have been aboard the rig and not able to evacuate," says an official with Transocean Ltd., which leased the rig from BP. In addition to the missing workers and the surface oil slick, the sea-floor oil well itself is also a big concern, since there's no way to know yet whether oil is still spilling out of it. Plus, the sunken rig also contains 700,000 gallons of diesel fuel, and while there's no sign any of that has begun leaking out, Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry points out that "we don't know what's going on below the surface of the water." (Sources: Houston Chronicle, New York Times, Associated Press)   WHALE WARS: The International Whaling Commission proposed a controversial compromise on Thursday, offering to legalize commercial whaling after a 25-year ban in exchange for a cutback in the number of whales killed each year. Whaling was outlawed worldwide in 1986 by an international treaty, but three countries - Japan, Norway and Iceland - took that more as a suggestion than a rule. The whale-hungry trio has been killing about 1,700 whales annually in recent years, and since they're flaunting the law anyway, the United States and other anti-whaling nations have been trying to strike a deal to allow some commercial whaling in hopes of bringing down the overall death count. Under the new proposal, gradually shrinking limits would be attached to certain whale species - 400 Antarctic minke whales could initially be killed each year, for example, while that number would drop to 200 over the next decade. "Some whaling will be the price to pay for the reduction in the number of whales killed," IWC Chairman Cristian Maquieira tells the Washington Post. "I don't think anybody will be happy with the numbers, but what I'm trying to achieve is a situation where everybody is willing to sit down at the table because they see something there that otherwise they would be unable to obtain." Critics argue the proposal amounts to a police force ceding defeat to criminals: "Saying you are opposed to commercial whaling, but supporting quotas to kill whales is disingenuous and merely political posturing towards Japan," says Greenpeace oceans campaigner Phil Kline. " It is also a less than auspicious way to mark the 40th anniversary of Earth Day." (Sources: Washington Post, BBC News, AP) Check out all of the news for the weekend. Quick Links: > Our 12 favorite photos from Earth Day -- from a canal clean-up in Haiti to a polar bear in Tokyo. > Mobs of people are descending on small, sustainable farms and helping out. Read about this nation-wide craze. Looking forward to your visit, The team at Mother Nature Network