This Week in Review (April 20-26, 2003):

Current News Items: Additions this week: 17. Cumulative to date: 17. All but 3 of the news items focused on the announcement by the Maryland DNR on 04/21/03 that they planned to shoot 1,500 Mute Swans as part of a Statewide management plan. Older Online Documents: Additions this week: 0. Cumulative to date: 0.

Current News Items (04/26/03 to 04/20/03): (17 items found)

Mute Swans May Face New Danger (Milwaukee [WI] Journal-Sentinel - 04/26/03)
http://www.jsonline.com/news/racine/apr03/136429.asp

This Week's Poll [Results: Mute Swan Control] (Annapolis [MD] Capital - 04/25/03)
http://www.hometownannapolis.com/politics3.html

Local Man Arrested in Theft of Swan Egg (New Haven [Connecticut] Register - 04/25/03): A 42-year-old owner of a local bakery was arrested by officials from the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection and charged violating a State statute. The man reportedly planned to hatch the egg in an incubator and place the cygnet in a pond in his backyard.

DNR Takes Aim at Swans to Protect Environment (Kent County [Maryland] News - 04/24/03) [Not available online]: Staff writer Stephen Spotswood outlines the basics of Maryland's Mute Swan management plan. Includes quotes from Maryland DNR secretary C. Ronald Franks, DNR biologist John McKnight (who points out that the DNR's action should not be confused with a recreational hunt), Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge manager Marty Kaehny, and Chester River Association riverkeeper Eileen McLellan.

Maryland to Reduce Mute Swan Population (Environmental News Service - 04/24/03)
http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2003/2003-04-24-09.asp#anchor6

Plan to Shoot Invasive Swans Authorized (The Washington Post/Metro/In Brief - 04/23/03)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18420-2003Apr22.html

Swans Are Pretty . . . Bad (Ames [IA] Tribune - 04/23/03)
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=2035&dept_id=335120&newsid=7801138&PAG=461&rfi=9

Beautiful Nuisance? (The Washington Post/Kids Post/Today's News - 04/23/03) [link not available]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/kidspost

Action Needed for Maryland Mute Swans (Friends of Animals - 04/22/03): This action alert to FoA members contends that “human disturbance and land use” affect the potential recovery of submerged aquatic grasses in the Chesapeake Bay to a far greater degree than Mute Swans and that the “real purpose of this [Maryland DNR Mute Swan management] plan is to provide one more trophy bird for Maryland hunters.” Members are urged to “contact the governor and tell him that you oppose scapegoating Mute Swans in Maryland due to the Bay’s pollution.”

Muted Swan Hunt Planned (WJZ [Baltimore, Maryland) - 04/22/03): Briefly reports that the Maryland DNR "has permission from the Federal government to conduct a hunt to elimnate [sic]" about 1,500 of the 3,600 birds that reside on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

Md. DNR Plans to Shoot Mute Swans (The WGAL Channel [PA] - 04/22/03)
www.thewgalchannel.com/news/2150520/detail.html

DNR Plans to Shoot Mute Swans (The WBAL Channel - 04/22/03)
www.thewbalchannel.com/news/2149597/detail.html

Not Another Swan Song (The Indiana [Pennsylvania] Gazette - 04/22/03): Outdoors writer Bob Sleigh notes that Mute Swan numbers in Maryland increased 1,389 percent from 1986 to 1999. By contrast, the Pennsylvania population increased only 31 percent over the same period, with the Statewide population now estimated to exceed 300 birds.

Ehrlich Wants Fewer Swans (The Washington (D.C.) Times - 04/22/03): S. A. Miller reports that Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich "backs a plan to cut the State's Mute Swan population from more than 4,000 birds to about 500." The Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Ducks Unlimited have endorsed the plan, but Friends of Animals has vowed to fight it. Includes quotes from Governor Ehrlich, Maryland DNR director Paul Peditto, and FoA president Priscilla Feral.

State to Shoot 1,500 Mute Swans to Help Rid Bay of a Nuisance (SunSpot - 04/22/03)
www.sunspot.net/news/nationworld/bal-te.swans22apr22,0,1206315.story?coll=bal-news-nation

State OKs Shooting of Mute Swans (The Annapolis [Maryland] Capital - 04/22/03): This Associated Press story reports that the Maryland DNR plans to shoot some 1,500 birds, almost half of the Statewide population of 3,600 birds, and notes that the birds eat about 10 million pounds of grasses annually in the Chesapeake Bay. Includes quotes from DNR associate director Jonathan McKnight, American Bird Conservancy vice-president Gerald Winegrad, and Eastern Shore resident Patrick Hornberger, an opponent of the plan.

Governor Ehrlich Authorizes DNR to Implement Mute Swan Management Plan (Maryland DNR - 04/21/03): Saying "overwhelming evidence shows that Mute Swans contribute to the deterioration of the [Chesapeake] Bay by consuming its vital submerged aquatic vegetation," Maryland Governor Ehrlich unveils a plan to manage swan populations "at a level that minimizes impacts to native wildlife and their habitats." This press release includes quotes from Maryland DNR secretary C. Ronald Franks and director Paul A. Peditto, outlines the major strategies of the plan, and directs readers to the full text of the Maryland DNR's Statewide Management Plan for Mute Swans.