NewsNight Maryland; 924

th andreams. ... Controlling Maryland's Deer population a link between festiria and 1915, with animal or human waste plus a local brokerage firm on trial this is newsnick Marley Good evening, the Diamondback Terrapin is more than a state symbol. It's also a critical part of Maryland's environment, according to Governor Glenn Denning

today. The Governor issued an executive order establishing the Maryland Diamondback Terrapin Task Force and charged the Task Force with recommending measures to protect the species. Governor Glenn Denning then helped students tag and release Diamondback Terrapins at Horsehead Wetland Center in Graysonville, which is near Kent Island, just minutes from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The children became so mobilized and went to the legislature this year to ask for money. I've heard a letter to a legislator saying that we need the money, so keep the Terrapins alive. Right now there is no way for scientists to know definitively whether the Diamondback population is increasing or decreasing. The Task Force hopes to change that. Scientists have long suspected a link between outbreaks of fisteria and tainted runoff from poultry manure. Now new evidence confirms a connection between toxic fisteria and water polluted with animal or human waste. In the studio for tonight's planet Maryland are Don Bosch at the University of Maryland Center

for Environmental Science and Rob Magniut of the Department of Natural Resources. You can call us with a question or comment, the numbers on the screen. Sometimes now there has been this argument that there was no conclusive proof that linked the runoff with the fisteria outbreaks. Do you consider the proof conclusive now? I think it's fair to say that there are still some uncertainties, but as we go through additional tests in the laboratory and continue to monitor some of the water bodies that are affected, we continue to see a link between areas that have high levels of nutrients and areas where we find fisteria. What about that link? How strong is it now, Dr. Bosch? Well, the evidence is building in terms of the observations that have been made. One of the problems is detecting fisteria. Now we have these new molecular methods and we've been monitoring Maryland's waters and found out where fisteria occurs, mostly in a non-toxic form, and it's generally in those areas that are heavily enriched by polluted runoff, not only from farms, but also

sewage inputs and other urban sources as well. What other conditions appear to be favorable for outbreaks of fisteria? Well, now that we've got a little bit more experience in monitoring for fisteria, we're finding it principally in the summer months, July, August, and September, and in those brackish waters, those low salinity waters, the tidal waters of the bay, not out in the open ocean, we're in the middle of the main stem of the bay, and not in any freshwater areas such as lakes or streams. And whether from this past winter have an effect on what happens this summer with fisteria? I think so. It seems to be dependent upon the changing environmental conditions in ways we don't fully understand yet. But for example, in 1999, when we had very little freshwater inflowing to the bay relatively speaking, and the water in the upper bay became more saline, we did find fisteria in areas to the north of where we found it in the previous years. Now, the microorganism was found in some streams last year, but there was no toxic event

associated with that. Is that correct? That's right. We tracked fisteria in a number of rivers, mostly on the lower eastern shore, and some of them were associated with fish lesion incidences such as menhaden, but fortunately, we had no evidence that any of those areas were actually toxic due to fisteria. When you explain what sets it up so that they do become toxic, there's something along the chain that makes it apparently become toxic, is that right? Well, this organism is a very bizarre organism, and it seems to exist most of the time, at least in the Chesapeake Bay area, as a fairly innocuous, non-toxic form, which feeds on microscopic algae, and it's those microscopic algae that are in fact enriched by the nutrient runoff and nutrient pollution. And so, fisteria lives where these high concentrations of these microscopic algae exist, and then it's the exposure to density, high densities of fish, and other conditions we

don't fully understand yet, that can cause some strains of this fisteria to become toxic and attack fish. You were mentioning that the methods for monitoring have improved. But streams will you be looking at closely, starting when? Well, we're actually starting this month, and we monitor from April through October, because those are the warmer months when we typically see this organism. And we're concentrating our most intensive efforts on the lower eastern shore, where we found problems in the past, but we're also monitoring a number of water bodies around the state, just piggybacking upon our normal water quality testing and fish monitoring. So really, you have a fairly broad coverage around the state. How are the efforts going to limit runoff control the state, of course, put in some pretty strict measures, how are they working out? Well, those will take time.

We had a law implemented in 1998, regulations were developed, and farmers are starting to implement those regulations. But we don't expect to see results overnight. Those are the kind of measures that take years, maybe even a decade, to show results in our water bodies. How effective are we at being able to determine quickly whether or not this theory is turning toxic? Still not very effective. We have become better at determining fairly quickly whether the organism is present there or not. We still lack the technology to understand if it's in a toxic form. That's a more laborious process that involves some lab experiments in order to determine that. And is that toxicity always associated with fish lesions or can that toxicity occur and maybe no sign of Manhattan or whatever with fish lesions on it? Well, that's not understood well at this point. Fish lesions can occur for a variety of other reasons other than posterior.

So just the mere presence of fish lesions doesn't necessarily mean that there's feistery toxicity active. On the other hand, evidence from North Carolina, for example, where this problem, the exterior problem seems to be a more regular part of their environment, indicates that if the conditions are right, toxic conditions can develop quite quickly and actually cause some fish kills before their extensive lesions occur in these fish populations. Which is the worst offender, if you will, in terms of pouring nutrients into the waters? Is it agricultural runoff or is it human sewage that somehow gets into it? It really depends on where you are. If you're in an industrialized, heavily populated area, it's going to be the human sewage even runoff from streets. And if you're in an agricultural area, like the eastern shore, it's going to be predominated by agricultural sources. But even there, you get inputs from cities and runoff from towns in that area as well. Has there been any evidence detected outside of the eastern shore in Maryland of the

exterior? Evidence of feistery, yes, we've found it in a number of smaller water bodies. It's not in the open bay, it's not where you would look for it, but in some of the tributary estuaries in the more isolated waters, it has been found in a number of the tidal tributaries around the bay and the upper part of the bay as well as the lower part of the chest bay. But never any toxic event that you're aware of in those streams? That's correct. Robs in the DNR have been monitoring this, but the areas where we've really found fish kills and other evidence of actively affected fish and so on have been essentially on the lower eastern shore. And the monitoring, as you say, begins this month, is that correct? Gentlemen, thank you both very much for joining us this evening. Next Wednesday on planet Maryland, the green print, Maryland officials have mapped a 2 million acre plan to save the best remaining land in the state from sprawl. We'll explore the green infrastructure.

The Maryland Senate has given tentative approval to a bill that would expand collective bargaining to almost 10,000 employees of the university system of Maryland. A final Senate vote is expected tomorrow morning, also tomorrow. The Senate will take up one of the session's most hard fought issues, capital punishment. Newsnight Maryland senior correspondent John Abishan joins us from the stay house with more on that. John? Well, good evening, Mindy. The Senate will receive a bill that barely made it out of the Senate judicial proceedings committee on a 6-5 vote late yesterday. Now, committee chairman Walter Baker had threatened to keep that bill bottled up in committee to let it die without a vote. But before passing it to the floor, the committee tacked on an amendment, reducing from two years to one year, the proposed moratorium on the death penalty in Maryland. So that will be the first big fight when it gets to the floor tomorrow. Packers of the measure tell Newsnight Maryland this afternoon that they do have the votes to strip that amendment from the bill, and then they also say they have the votes to pass

the measure. John, do you think it's likely that they may try the opponents of the bill, may try a filibuster to make sure that this kind of legislation just doesn't pass in Maryland? Well, Senator Walter Baker, the committee chairman, says that he has never filibustered taken part in a filibuster against a bill coming out of his committee. But he's an avowed opponent of this measure, and he's told the Washington Post that on this one, he might well try. On the other hand, Democratic leaders and the Democratic majority, I think would be unlikely to allow a procedural parliamentary maneuver to block a vote on this measure that's important to a large block of the Democratic Party's constituency, Mandy. All right, thank you, John Abishon, Newsnight Maryland, Senior Correspondent. We'll be keeping an eye on that. Still ahead on Newsnight, Maryland, why Baltimore officials are placing 200 statues of fish around the city, and what to do about Maryland's overcrowded deer population.

When you want in-depth analysis of the latest regional news and how it affects the lives of you and your family, you know you can turn to Newsnight, Maryland. And now, our perspective expands beyond television to the World Wide Web. Visit the Newsnight Maryland website at www.mpt.org. You'll find the latest local news updates, previews of upcoming shows, and special highlights of our nightly features. Newsnight Maryland and MPT, bringing you the in-depth regional news coverage you need for the 21st century. The deer population in Maryland has been increasing now for several years, and while most Marylanders agree something needs to be done about that, there is little agreement on how to go about that. Some counties have experimented with contraceptives and other non-lethal technologies, but experts say once deer get stung with a needle, they learn to stay away from people trying to shoot them with a dart gun.

Most experts say the surest way to manage a deer herd is through hunting. In fact, hunters legally killed more than 85,000 deer in Maryland last year. Officials say every other option has drawbacks, despite several decades of research on methods that can either prevent conception or kill a fetus. All rights groups maintain that more non-lethal research is needed, and that the deer population should be controlled without killing the animals. A Maryland Department of Natural Resources Task Force has been gathering information to settle the conflict between humans and wildlife, and will make recommendations to next year's General Assembly. In the studio for tonight's Maryland Pulse now are Steve Huttner of the Maryland Sportsman's Association and Norm Phelps of the Fund for Animals, and you can call us with a question or comment or vote in our poll at www.mpt.org. Tonight's question is, should non-lethal methods be used to control Maryland's deer population? Both of your organizations, I take it, are represented on this task force that is formed

to look at non-lethal methods. Is that right? That's correct. That is correct. That is correct. From press accounts, you get the impression that there's this sort of palpable tension between sportsmen and animal rights folks. Is that true? Actually, the sportsmen, though, in view of that way, the sportsmen are only one vote on that non-lethal task force that is predominantly made up of citizens who are looking at alternative methods. So to say that one person on a task force is causing all this tension is, I think, a lie. There is one person who is a person who doesn't believe in hunting that sits on the Wildlife Advisory Commission in Annapolis and work gets done there with them on it. What about that? Do you think there is this tension going on in the task force? Well, I think there is certainly some philosophical tension between the points of view of the animal protection community and the points of view of the hunters. But I think that both groups have been demonstrating that we can, in fact, work together

to make some progress on. What non-lethal methods of contraception or other methods of deer population control are being studied? Well, there are several, and they're proving to be quite effective. One is, which you just mentioned, is immunocontroception, which is still in the developmental stage. Right now, it requires two injections, plus a yearly booster. But there has already been developed an immunocontroception system for horses that only requires one injection, and we're confident that that will soon be coming for deer, and we'll prove very effective. Other methods would include ways to not necessarily reduce the deer population, because the problem isn't the population per se, it is deer human interaction. And there are ways to reduce deer human interaction, which have proven to be very effective, such as reflector light systems placed at so-called deer hotspots along highways, which

have proven to be between 75 and 90% effective to scare them off the pavement when there's a car approaching. And they've proven to be between 75 and 90% effective when they've been used at deer hotspots, educating the public about planting shrubs that deer do not like. And there are lots of beautiful ornamentals that are just not tasty to deer. Can also help a lot, deer repellents can work. There are lots of things that can be done short of the extremely cruel act of killing the deer. Let me ask Steve Huttoner about that. There are a lot of deer hunters in Maryland, there are a lot of deer in Maryland. First of all, do sportsmen regard hunting deer as a cruelty? No, not at all, I mean, hunters are just assuming their natural role in the life cycle. We're comfortable with our role of predation.

We realize it that due to man's encroachment into the deer's area, we've created tons and tons and tons of acres of browse. Deer now at younger ages are having more and more deer. We're seeing those as young as eight and nine months old, having sets of twins. Deer's view that view themselves is being willing and able to not only step in there and deal with this problem, but we pay for it ourselves. We don't ask for any money. We pay for the enforcement of ourselves, we police ourselves. And we also take the surplus deer that are harvested in the state in the last four years, Maryland hunters have donated 140 tons of venison to a program called Farmers and Hunters feeding the hungry, that's provided 1.2 million meals to soup kitchens at food banks throughout the state of Maryland. Gentlemen, let's take a call from a viewer. A net is on the line from Prince George's County. Hello, a net. Hello, yes. I'm wondering, are there any sort of contracts out on the deer because I know it's some children in Maryland?

They're putting out contracts. I missed that in Adam. Sorry, contracts out on deer. Did she say, it turns out it was a crank call. Never mind. Okay. Okay. Okay. How big has the state heard now? The last time, the last numbers I looked at from the Department of Natural Resources were between 200,000 to 250,000 deer. Last year, Maryland hunters roughly took about 84,000. In the last three years, we've also increased the analyst's take 35 percent as in the department of liberalized bag lemons. Are there any realistic hope that this population, this large population in Maryland, could be managed non-lethally exclusively? Certainly there is. Because the reason the population is so large right now is that over the past half-century, the DNR has deliberately managed the population upward by things like skewing the sex ratio of deer that are hunted, things like creating browse in areas where, deliberately creating

browse in areas where, in public lands that are hunted, for the sole purpose of increasing the deer that are available to be hunted and thereby selling hunting licenses. The high deer population has in very large part been created by the Department of Natural Resources, by its wildlife management practices, specifically for the purpose of selling hunting licenses on which they're budget depends. I've got to cut us off in a second here, but I just wanted to ask you both, when is your report due? When do you have to get some recommendations together? December is my recollection of 2001. Yes. Right, correct. Gentlemen, thank you both. Thank you very much. Thank you, appreciate it. Again, you can vote in our poll at www.mpt.org tonight's question is should non-lethal methods be used to control Maryland's deer population? Prepare to see a lot of fish in Baltimore City, not the kind you eat or smell.

These fish will be something that you can look at. It's part of the Fish Out of Water Project, Newsnight Maryland's Camilla Car reports on the Fishy Arrival in tonight's State of the Arts. Cameras were waiting when the fish arrived. Again, there wasn't much to see. Yet these 200 fiberglass fish are on their way to stardom. Did you ever think this day was going to arrive? No, I didn't. And there have been lots of nights and days when there have been so many details to work out. I really never thought we would get to this place, but here we are and here are the fish and so we're ready to go. Over the next several weeks, the plain 60-pound silver gray statue. We'll become rainbow-colored artworks courtesy of various local artists. Michael Anthony is designing the first fish to be unveiled.

How do I picture it? So I picture it as being a unique design, creative, and being able to show up Baltimore. Some of the color schemes are going to be directly at Baltimore with the oil colors and things like that. After the fish are painted, they will be mounted on cement pedestals and scattered around town. Look for Michael's fish at Harbor Place, April 26. The goal is to have all the fish up and painted by July 4. For Newsnight, Maryland, I'm Camilla Carr. Joining us in the studio now are Dan Lincoln of the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association and Kim Krasisky of the Mayor's Advisory Committee on Arts and Culture. Tell us how much of a difference the fish out of water can make to tourism and in Baltimore City. What's the anticipation here? Well, it can really be a big thing. If you look at what's happened in a lot of other cities, of course, Chicago had the cows. Cincinnati had the big pig gig.

Well, let's not assume anyone knows about the cows and the pigs and the horses and other cities. Give us a little background about what started this. And I understand it started not in Chicago, but... Actually started in Switzerland, certainly that it was possible to end with the cows. With cows in Switzerland. What did they do? Well, the cows then were moved to Chicago and Chicago was the first US city to host such a program. But what's the appeal of this? In Chicago, I read that they raised $200 million in tourist dollars. What's the draw for people? Well, I think quite honestly, Mindy, especially in Chicago, the fact that it was new something that had never been done before in the United States. And if you went to Chicago, you'd see hundreds of these life-size ceramic cows that are in all kinds of different shapes, decorated by all kinds of different artists, by different companies. Somewhere on top of the building, somewhere in the lobby, somewhere out on the street. And everywhere you went in Chicago, you saw these cows.

So bring it home. What are we going to see here in Baltimore? Are we going to see them flying on buildings and all over the place? Well, most likely, yes, there's going to be over 200 of the cows. They're all about six feet. Fish. Fish. We're having fish for dinner. We're having fish. Yes. We're having fish. Two hundred fish, all over the streets of Baltimore. The first one I'll show up at the Waterfront Festival in April down in the Inner Harbor. And they'll run through or swim through October. And the tab is picked up by corporate foundation sponsors. Fish is sponsored by about $3,700, the sponsor of fish, at the end of which you're actually leasing the fish. The artist paints it, decorates it. At the end, on November 17th, the Walters will be a giant auction where companies or individuals can actually purchase the fish. So you can have them in your front yard if you want. You're in front yard. Put them on your front porch. I've heard people in other cities actually put them in their living room. Go figure.

Go fish. Go fish. Yeah. But so the money will go to the education of children in the arts in Baltimore City. This is kicking off a season of arts, though, in Baltimore. What are the things that are coming up that we have to be excited about about? Well, Mayor's Advisory Committee on Art and Culture is proud to put on the Billie Holiday vocal competition. Actually, Mayor's Billie Holiday, vocal competition. It's going to be at center stage this Saturday, April 7th from noon until 4. And anyone can come? Anyone can come. It's a free event. It's a really fun event. Everybody's friends and families. There's 13 semi-finalists from around the state, from Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Montgomery, and Arrondale counties. This is the first time it's gone statewide. And there's just a real feeling of excitement there. All the friends and families come. And the Mayor will be there on hand to present the first, second, and third prizes. And the first place winner will have the opportunity to perform at Artscape, which is our 20th annual this year, July 13th through the 15th.

A nice segue to that event. I want to just, and it's a wonderful, wonderful tribute to a hometown girl, Billie Holiday. A living trip. And we have it to encourage emerging talent, emerging vocal talent in the city and in the region. And in the region. What do we know? Can local artists also, other than the winner of this competition, participate in Artscape? Oh, of course. It's local, regional, national artists, they're welcome to contact us at askatmacac.org or www.artscape.org and check in with us. At this point, we're getting close to finalizing all of our plans, but they're always welcome to contact us and we love to hear from people. And big name artists, of course, of course major headliners and what people need to remember is we not only have headliners in the evening, but we also have amazing acts throughout the day. And it's a big tourist draw also, Artscape. Major, approximately a million people, over the weekend, it's one of the largest events in Baltimore and a great way to show off not only Baltimore, but one of the important neighborhoods.

So a very big event for us. And for people who want to know more about fish out of water, they can get maps of where these fish will be. They're going to all be out by July 4th, right? Right. Baltimorefish.org. Give you everything you need to know about the fish. All right. Thank you both very much for joining us today. And checking our state of the arts calendar, artifacts recovered from Titanic's rec site and stories from her passengers will be featured at the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore's Inner Harbor, April 7th through September 3rd. Don't miss an exceptional exhibition of beautifully designed hooked rugs now on display at the Prince George's Arts Council through April 27th. For more information about these and other events near you, log on to MPT's event calendar at MPT.org. And next Wednesday on state of the arts, Maryland's oldest historic preservation organization holds its annual meeting and will preview Preservation Maryland. The failure of a local brokerage firm will lead to a criminal trial this summer.

Jeff Salkin has more in the Maryland Biz. Jessica Coleman will go on trial August 30th in Baltimore City Circuit Court, just a few blocks from what was the headquarters of her brokerage firm. Coleman Creighton renovated an old Baltimore bank building in 1998 for office space and an investment club. By May of 1999, the firm was placed in receivership as clients began accusing Coleman of embezzling money they had invested. The indictment alleges theft and securities fraud. As Coleman's attorney says, clients knew they were investing in the company not insecurities. And the beginning of April means the end of oysters season in the Chesapeake Bay and it was another disappointing year. Waterman Harvest did an estimated 300 to 330,000 bushels of oysters. That's down from 380,000 last year and 400,000 in 1999. Millions of bushels used to be harvested annually, but state officials say disease and

overfishing have taken their toll. This year's results are still four times higher than the state's worst recorded catch, which was in 1992. That's today's Maryland Biz. Coming up next on the nightly business report, tentative buying and short covering boost blue chips today, but the NASDAQ falls again. That's 1,800, 586, 1,4, 6,1.