Breeding Duck Numbers Improved, Canada Goose Population Declines

Written by the Minnesota DNR

Despite lingering winter weather that included record late ice-out in 2013, Minnesota?s breeding duck populations improved from last year, according to the results of the annual Department of Natural Resources? spring waterfowl surveys.

The state?s estimated breeding duck population was 683,000 compared with last year?s estimate of 469,000. This year?s estimate is 10 percent above the long-term average of 620,000 breeding ducks.

This year?s mallard breeding population was estimated at 293,000, 30 percent above last year?s estimate of 225,000 breeding mallards, 14 percent above the recent 10-year average and 30 percent above the long-term average.

The blue-winged teal population was 144,000 compared with 109,000 in 2012 but remained 33 percent below the long-term average of 216,000.

The combined populations of other ducks, such as wood ducks, ring-necked ducks, gadwalls, northern shovelers, canvasbacks and redheads was 246,000, This was 82 percent higher than last year and 39 percent above the long-term average.

The estimated number of wetlands (Types II-V) was 258,000, up 13 percent from last year, and 2 percent above the long-term average. ?Although wetland numbers were average, conditions changed from extremely dry before May 1 to fairly wet by the end of May in most of the state,? said Steve Cordts, DNR waterfowl specialist.

?Also, in a normal year, ducks begin arriving back to Minnesota in April or early May to begin the nesting season,? Cordts said. ?But with record late ice-out and significant snow cover present in some areas until early May, the spring migration and nesting season were delayed so we had to delay the survey about two weeks.?

The DNR?s waterfowl survey has been conducted each year since 1968 to provide an annual index of breeding duck abundance. The survey covers 40 percent of the state that includes much of the best remaining duck breeding habitat in Minnesota. A DNR waterfowl biologist and pilot count all waterfowl and wetlands along established survey routes by flying low-level aerial surveys from a fixed-wing plane. The survey is timed to begin in early May to coincide with peak nesting activity of mallards. The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service provide ground crews that also count waterfowl along some of the same survey routes. This data is then used to correct for birds not seen by the aerial crew.

This year?s Canada goose population was estimated at 250,000, which was considerably less than last year?s estimate of 416,000. The number of breeding Canada geese in the state is estimated via a helicopter survey of nesting Canada geese in April. The survey, which includes most of the state except for the Twin Cities metropolitan area, counts Canada geese on randomly selected plots located in prairie, transition and forested areas.

Although this year?s estimate was lower than recent years, much of that change could be the result of the spring weather conditions that may have impacted goose distribution and abundance in the state. Cold temperatures and April snowfall combined with a late ice-out reduced nesting success and effort, reducing the number of goslings. During the past 10 years, the Canada goose population?s average has ranged from 275,000 to 350,000.

?While that should not impact the population in the future, fewer young geese in the early fall usually makes goose hunting more difficult for hunters,? said Paul Telander, DNR wildlife section chief. ?The bottom line is our Canada goose population remains higher than we?d like it to be and we?ll continue to maximize hunting opportunities this fall.?

The Minnesota waterfowl report can be viewed online at www.mndnr.gov/waterfowl.

The DNR will announce this fall?s waterfowl hunting regulations later this summer.

Source: http://centralmn.wdio.com/news/environment/66982-breeding-duck-numbers-improved-canada-goose-population-declines

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SAP warns China's slowdown is hurting software sales

By Maria Sheahan

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German business software maker SAP AG trimmed its sales outlook for this year, warning that a slowdown in China was prompting companies across Asia to put investments on hold.

China's growth rate slowed to 7.5 percent in the second quarter, the ninth quarter in the last 10 that expansion has weakened, in a setback for companies betting on a continued boom in the world's second-biggest economy.

"The slowdown in China is now also impacting the tech industry," co-Chief Executive Jim Hagemann Snabe told journalists on Thursday.

That was having a knock-on effect to other companies in the region. Companies in Japan, Australia and New Zealand, particularly, have become more hesitant about investing, Snabe said.

SAP's biggest competitor, U.S.-based Oracle, last month blamed Asia and Latin America for its disappointing software sales and subscriptions.

The company cut its outlook for revenue growth from software and software-related services to at least 10 percent in 2013, excluding exchange-rate fluctuations, compared with a previous forecast for 11-13 percent growth.

In the second quarter, its software sales to customers in Asia-Pacific Japan dropped 10 percent at constant currencies, the second quarter in a row of double-digit declines, after rapid growth last year.

Including exchange-rate effects, sales were down 17 percent.

Snabe said he expected business in Asia-Pacific to recover, though it was hard to predict when. "We will continue to invest in Asia-Pacific," he said.

Shares in SAP were down 2 percent at 56.53 euros by 0913 GMT, in a flat market.

"It's only in the short-term that they may face difficulties, given the negative economic environment and the bottleneck in investments in the SAP client base," said Frank Niemann and Tobias Ortwein, analysts at Pierre Audoin Consultants.

"In the long term, it's a good story with more innovation likely to come."

SWITCH TO CLOUD

SAP, whose software helps companies manage supplies, human resources and customers relations, is reducing its reliance on traditional business software to become a major player in cloud computing.

The company reiterated that it expects 2013 operating profit to rise to 5.85-5.95 billion euros ($7.7-$7.8 billion) at constant currencies, from 5.21 billion in 2012 as it contains costs and banks on growing demand for cloud-based services.

SAP has launched a cloud-based version of its HANA tool, which helps companies analyze large quantities of data quickly and competes with Oracle's Exalytics product, as well as a new version of its Business Suite software running on top of HANA, which it started offering in mid-May.

It has spent billions of euros to buy Internet-based computing companies Ariba and SuccessFactors and battle IBM and Oracle as well as nimbler rivals like Salesforce.com Inc and Workday Inc for market share.

"We have about 30 million cloud users now, which gives us by far the largest subscriber base in the cloud," Snabe said, referring to the global market.

In the short term, customers' switch to cloud computing will hurt revenue growth because payments for cloud-based services are made in installments rather than up-front in full, but that effect is expected to even out in the long run.

In the three months through June, SAP's software and software-related service revenue grew 10 percent to 3.35 billion euros, the slowest growth rate in five quarters and a little below the 3.41 billion euros analysts had forecast.

Second-quarter operating profit was also up by 10 percent at constant currencies, at 1.22 billion euros, broadly in line with expectations.

($1 = 0.7637 euros)

(Corrects spelling of analyst's name in 11th paragraph)

(Additional reporting by Natalia Drozdiak; Editing by Erica Billingham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sap-warns-china-slowdown-hurting-software-sales-054900344.html

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E.J. Dionne: How GOP can solve immigration problem

WASHINGTON -- If you want to alleviate worries about the economic impact of immigration reform, increase the minimum wage.

If you want to reassure communities that bear the highest costs from large-scale immigration, revisit a proposal from 2006 by a senator named Hillary Clinton to help state and local governments cover some of the expense of providing health care and education to undocumented workers.

What do these suggestions have in common? They address legitimate concerns while issuing a challenge to Republicans who believe they can block reform and still win future elections -- as long as they expand their support among the white working class.

The catch for the GOP is that it doesn't seem eager to do anything concrete to earn the loyalty of such voters, many of whom stayed home in 2012 rather than vote for Mitt Romney.

Battling for a higher minimum wage would test the Republicans' newfound love for the salt of the earth. Are they willing to embrace an idea endorsed by seven in 10 Americans? Or do they retreat to Romney's rhetoric privileging "job creators" over workers?

Raising the minimum wage would also respond to a claim being put forward by opponents of immigration reform. "The last thing low-skilled native and immigrant workers already here should have to deal with is wage-depressing competition from newly arriving workers," wrote William Kristol and Rich Lowry in a joint editorial signaling an enhanced level of opposition on the right to the Senate immigration bill.

It's heartwarming to know that the editors of the Weekly Standard and National Review are now worried about depressed wages. In truth, granting immigrants who are here illegally basic labor rights would have a positive effect on wages for all workers. But if Kristol and Lowry are really worried about low-paid workers, let their next literary collaboration be an endorsement of a $9 or $10 hourly minimum wage.

Clinton's 2006 proposal likewise has the virtue of giving a substantive reply to questions regularly voiced by immigration foes.

The fiscal benefits of immigration reform to the federal government have been documented by the Congressional Budget Office, which estimated it would reduce the deficit by nearly $850 billion over two decades. But states and localities face additional public costs for schools and health care when they need to provide services for many immigrants who arrived illegally. The result can be higher property and sales taxes that hit working-class Americans hardest.

It makes sense for the federal government to share some of reform's fiscal bounty with governments lower down the chain. Such assistance would be a better use of the $46 billion the Senate added to the bill to further militarize our southern border.

The minimum wage and fiscal relief link to a larger imperative: With so many Republicans deciding that obstructing immigration reform is worth the political risks with Latino voters, this can no longer be seen as a normal legislative fight. Indeed, given the inclinations of House Republicans, there are no "normal" legislative fights anymore. Kristol and Lowry gave the game away: "In any case, House Republicans should make sure not to allow a conference with the Senate bill." In other words, down with the traditional ways of reaching compromise. Just say no, and no, and no again.

President Barack Obama should see nattering negative nabobism as an invitation: Immigration reform now has to be dealt with as part of a concerted effort to create an economy that grows because it's more just -- and is more just because it's growing.

Low- and middle-income workers took the biggest hit in the recession, as a report released recently by the National Employment Law Project showed. Real median hourly wages fell overall by 2.8 percent between 2009 and 2012, but by 5 percent or more in half of the top 10 low-wage occupations.

Immigration reform is easier to kill if it is disconnected from the concerns of such wage earners. It's easier to pass if it is seen as a necessary step toward an inclusive economy where the rights of native-born workers are strengthened because the rights of immigrants are protected -- and where the real wages of average workers are rising again.

As for Republicans who want to stake their future on the working class, by all means let's welcome a healthy competition. Let these voters ask the GOP: What will you do to raise our pay? And, by the way, new tax cuts for the rich are not an answer to the question.

E.J. DIONNE is a Washington Post columnist (ejdionne@washpost.com).

Source: http://www.goerie.com/article/20130716/OPINION09/307169994/EJ-Dionne%3A-How-GOP-can-solve-immigration-problem

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Palm oil body, Greenpeace spar over Indonesia fire blame

Rhett A. Butler, mongabay.com
July 16, 2013
Greenpeace and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a body that sets criteria for greener palm oil production, are caught up in a row over the origin of fires that cast a pall over Sumatra, Singapore, and Malaysia last month.

The dispute started when media outlets, based on independent analysis of satellite data, identified several members of the RSPO as possible culprits in the fires in Riau Province. Greenpeace said the findings indicated that the RSPO is failing to hold its members accountable for burning. The activist group also criticized the RSPO for not expressly prohibiting deforestation and conversion of peatlands.

The RSPO responded by demanding that five member companies named in media reports submit maps of their concessions to prove that they were not involved in burning. Four of those five companies ? Sime Darby, Kuala Lumpur Kepong (KLK), Golden Agri Resources (GAR), and Tabung Haji Plantations ? complied with the demand. The fifth, PT Jatim Jaya Perkasa, missed the deadline, but filed the coordinates of its concessions on July 10.

The RSPO then handed the shape files showing the coordinates of the companies' oil palm concessions over to the World Resources Institute (WRI) and Khali Aziz Hamzah, a GIS expert at the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM), for analysis. The analysis, published July 11, revealed only a handful of hotspots in the plantation areas for Sime Darby, GAR, and Sime Darby. Jatim Jaya Perkasa had 74 hotspots, according to a statement issued by the RSPO on July 15.

WRI analysis showing fire hotspot alerts by land use in Sumatra, June 2013.

Greenpeace however wasn't satisfied with those results, issuing a statement that those companies weren't the ones with the most fire hotspots and that RSPO's analysis glossed over the underlying issue: decades of forest clearance and peatlands drainage that set the stage for the most recent fires.

?The RSPO decided to focus its own investigations on just five of its members, but Greenpeace?s evidence points to a far wider problem for the sector, which neither the RSPO nor the companies implicated are owning up to,? said Bustar Maitar, head of the Indonesia Forest Campaign at Greenpeace International, in a statement issued July 11. ?Rather than claiming the innocence of members who?ve been reported in the media, the RSPO needs to address the real problem - years of peatland drainage and destruction which is labeled ?sustainable? under RSPO rules and has laid the foundation for these disastrous fires.?

?The RSPO was established nearly a decade ago in the wake of the 1997 forest fires, yet to date, it has failed to tackle its members? role in creating the conditions that lead to such disaster, nor has it held companies accountable for the impact of their operations. It's time for individual palm oil companies to step up and set the bar higher than the RSPO.?

An excavator creates a canal in Riau Province, Indonesia, despite the heavy smoke caused by the forest fires. ? Ulet Ifansasti / Greenpeace

But the RSPO didn't take that response lightly, issuing a statement that directly confronted Greenpeace on an issue that some Indonesian NGOs have been whispering about for weeks: Greenpeace's apparent lack of interest in focusing on hotspots detected within concessions belonging to Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) and its affiliates. APP is currently working to implement a "zero-deforestation" policy across the forest products giant's entire supply chain.

"The RSPO is of the opinion that Greenpeace has misplaced its objectivity in its analysis of the fires in Sumatra, Indonesia. It has been reported that the palm oil sector has contributed to 20% of the recent fires in Sumatra. Out of the many companies implicated, less than a handful of these companies are RSPO members ? which the RSPO views as serious and is fully committed to investigating and taking appropriate action if verified," said the RSPO in a statement posted July 15.

"However, at its peak there were 9000 hotspots identified and that 80% of the fires are occurring outside of palm oil plantations. The pulp and paper plantations have been identified as having significantly more fires than the oil palm plantations. This is a sector that Greenpeace has been actively involved in and we hope that Greenpeace would regain some perspective and start to apply the same rigor of watchfulness in this sector that the RSPO has in undertaking its own investigations."

The RSPO also criticized Greenpeace for using the media, rather than the body's complaint process, for alleging violations of standards.

"The RSPO has systems in place for stakeholders to seek recourse for any alleged violation against its code of conduct. On the other hand - Greenpeace has considerable resources, on the ground, which can provide credible evidence to make it easier for stakeholders to seek such recourse. It therefore would be highly constructive if Greenpeace and the RSPO can collaborate to address the issue at hand rather than using media sensationalism to address such a critical environmental dilemma."

Greenpeace subsequently responded saying the RSPO needs to be held accountable the role its member companies have played in creating conditions for fires.

"The RSPO cannot wash its hands of any responsibility for helping create the conditions in which the terrible fires last month took hold," Maitar told mongabay.com.

"The widespread drainage and clearance of peatland by plantation companies lays the conditions for the fires to turn into the disaster we all witnessed last month. Despite the RSPO?s public status as a champion of sustainability it still has not banned its members from deforesting or developing on peatland. Until it does, it implicitly gives a green stamp to dirty palm oil operations that set the stage for future fires."

WRI analysis showing fire hotspot alerts by land cover in Sumatra, June 2013.

The dispute between Greenpeace and RSPO risks shifting the focus away from other actors and issues associated with the haze. For example, while subsistence slash-and-burn farmers and industrial plantation developers have been mostly blamed for the recent fires, a new study by the World Agroforestry Centre suggests that a third category of land users ? 'mid-level entrepreneurs' ? may be in part responsible for the haze.

"These people acquire land under informal rules at village level, effectively sidestepping the Government land-use system," explained a statement from the World Agroforestry Centre. "They bring in their own labour to clear the land for oil palm, regardless of the land's formal government status and in the absence of any permits to do so."

Discrepancies between boundary maps for a concession held by the Sime Darby palm oil company made available to WRI. Sime Darby?s self-reported boundaries represent the Business Use Rights License (known in Indonesia as a Hak Guna Usaha or ?HGU? license), but there is great discrepancy between the national government concession boundaries (even between 2010 and 2013) and the license information provided by the company. Courtesy of WRI.

On a more formal level, the response to the haze reveals that the Indonesian government has also failed to maintain, and make available, accurate data on concession ownership, complicating efforts to control fires and take action against those who started fires. And burning outside concession areas has effectively set the stage for the next round of concession expansion. It's unclear whether the government has the monitoring and enforcement systems in place to ensure that those who set the fires areas won't benefit from their illegal activities.

Finally while various parties are trying to assign blame for the haze, the fire risk in Riau has not diminished appreciably. WRI, which has been tracking fires closely, says "it is highly likely that severe burning seasons like the one we have seen over the past several weeks will be repeated."

"Forest fires in Indonesia are part of a long-standing, endemic problem?one that needs a coordinated and comprehensive solution if fire and haze risks are to be reduced."

Related articles

Source: http://news.mongabay.com/2013/0716-rspo-vs-greenpeace-haze-fires.html

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Japan Beats U.S. To Take Gold At Softball World Cup

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)?? Japan?s team experience again proved too much for a United States squad that just came together days before the eighth World Cup of Softball.

Yuki Hayashi went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and Japan beat the U.S. 6-3 on Sunday night to win the gold medal in the World Cup, ending the long reign of the Americans in the international event.

Yuka Ichiguchi tripled and had two RBIs for Japan, which beat the U.S. for the second time in as many days and extended its winning streak over the Americans to three games.

Japan also beat the U.S. in the gold-medal game of last year?s World Championships.

?My message to the team was that they?re better right now,? U.S. coach Ken Eriksen said of Japan. ?Right now, they are better. You saw the benefits of being able to train together for months and months and months. You saw the deficiencies of Team USA, with the inability to train for months and months and have five days to get together.

The six runs surrendered by the U.S. matched the second-most it had ever allowed in a major international tournament. Japan beat the U.S. 7-4 on Saturday to set that record.

The U.S. had won the last six World Cups since Japan took the inaugural event in 2005. That also was the last time the U.S. lost twice in the World Cup. The U.S. now is 42-6 all-time in the event.

Misato Kawano singled leading off in the first and scored on an infield single by Yukiyo Mine.

Michelle Moultrie walked and Lauren Gibson reached on an error in the bottom of the first and were in scoring position with one out, but Okamura struck out Amanda Chidester and coaxed a popup from Valerie Arioto to end the threat.

Japan blew the game open in the second against U.S. starter Jessica Moore (1-1). Natsuka Ono singled with one out and Nozomi Shimasaki followed with a bunt single. One out later, Moore intentionally walked Kawano to load the bases. Ichiguchi followed with a popup to short left field that hit the glove of the hard-charging Chidester but fell to the ground, allowing two runs to score.

Hayashi followed with a sharp single to right field and two more runs scored, making it 5-0.

?We made a bad play that let a bunch of runs in,? Eriksen said. ?That?s an easy play. We made the right pitch, we had the right kid at the plate, did the right things by walking who we did, then we drop an easy popup. If you don?t drop an easy popup, we may give up two (runs).?

Through an interpreter, Japan coach Reika Utsagi said her team was young and didn?t feel much pressure to win.

?Even though we knew they would be another pitcher today, our strategy was the same,? Utsagi said. ?It was to put the bat on the ball and make something happen, both yesterday and today. That?s what I think we did very well.?

Kourtney Salvarola singled and scored on a single by Moultrie in the bottom of the second and Gibson smacked a solo home run to right-center field in the third off Japan reliever Kana Nakano (2-0) to pull the U.S. within 5-2.

But Japan answered in the fifth. Ichiguchi?s shot to right field off reliever Sara Nevins eluded the diving Taylor Hoagland, resulting in a stand-up triple. Ichiguchi scored on a single by Hayashi.

?It felt like when we got a run or two, they?d come back and get a few runs,? Gibson said. ?They put the ball in play and execute when they have to.?

With two on and two out in the bottom of the fifth, Japan left fielder Sonoka Kuniyoshi misplayed a long fly ball by Arioto but recovered to make a basket catch at the wall. Arioto?s two-out double to right field in the seventh scored Chidester, who had singled, but Hoagland popped up to Nakano to end the game.

The U.S. left nine runners on base, including two each in the first, second, fifth and sixth innings.

?We had more opportunities that we didn?t drive in runners tonight in crucial situations,? Eriksen said.

The U.S. advanced to the gold-medal game with a 10-3, five-inning win over Puerto Rico. Amber Freeman hit a pair of two-run home runs, in the third to left-center field and in the fifth to right-center field.

On her second homer, she made an awkward turn at first base and injured her right ankle. She slowed and began walking slowly before being assisted around the bases the rest of the way by Puerto Rico shortstop Galis Lozada and third baseman Dayanira Diaz, resulting in a standing ovation from the crowd at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium.

With teammate Aleimalee Lopez translating, Lozada said after the game that she and Diaz assisted Freeman because it was the right thing to do.

?We only wanted to help her, because it was a home run and she deserved it,? Lozada said. ?I hope that if something like that happened to us, that they would have done the same thing in return.

?It?s a sport. You just have to respect every athlete.?

Freeman said she appreciated the help.

?That was very sweet of them,? she said. ?I?m very thankful, because I didn?t know if I could make it around the bases. My ankle hurt that bad. As soon as we got to home plate, I thanked them multiple times. It shows people the sportsmanship we have in this sport.?

Eriksen called the scene one of the highlights of his coaching career.

?I was fighting back tears over here, to tell you the truth,? he said. ?That?s just an incredible aspect of why these games need to be back in (the Olympics in) 2020. That?s sportsmanship that?s we?ve always had. . You have great representatives of every country.

?Watching something like that go on ? Wow!?

In the bronze-medal game, Australia beat Canada 4-3 in eight innings.

(? Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Source: http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/07/14/japan-beats-u-s-to-take-gold-at-softball-world-cup/

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Watch: Eric Holder Comments on George Zimmerman Verdict (ABC News)

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