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This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English. I'm BobDoughty.

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And I'm Sarah Long. Coming up thisweek: gray wolves in the eastern United States may come off theendangered list.

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Another proposal in Washington would give states more power todecide about road building in national forests.

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And, a report on underwater "dead zones."

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Government scientists in the United States say populations of theeastern gray wolf have returned to healthy levels in several states.As a result, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service says thetime has come to remove this animal from the list of endangeredspecies.

Congress passed the Endangered Species Act innineteen-seventy-three. At that time, the population of eastern graywolves was down to a few hundred in Minnesota and Michigan.Historically, the eastern gray wolf populated a large number ofstates, including the New England area of the Northeast.

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Interior Secretary Gale Norton announced the proposal to removethe eastern gray wolf from the endangered list. Placement on thelist provides special protections for animals and plants at risk ofgoing out of existence.

A count in Minnesota in nineteen-ninety-eight reported more thantwo-thousand-four-hundred gray wolves. The government says Michiganand Wisconsin together have almost seven-hundred.

Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin are in the Great Lakes area.Federal officials say all three states have plans in place tosupport the long-term survival of their gray wolf populations. Theseanimals are also known as timber wolves because they live mainly inforests.

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The Fish and Wildlife Service will accept public comments untilNovember on its proposed action.

Criticism surfaced immediately. The Wolf Conservation Center inNew York says the recovery is just beginning. That group says whathas been gained in the numbers of eastern gray wolves could quicklybe lost.

An expert on wolf recovery from the National Wildlife Federationalso denounced the proposal. Peggy Struhsacker says the plan wouldthreaten efforts to return wolf populations in the northeasternstates. She says wolves are needed there to help keep populations ofthe animals they hunt, like deer and moose, in balance.

The action under the Endangered Species Act would only affectgray wolves in the eastern United States. Special protections wouldcontinue for populations of western and southwestern gray wolves.

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You are listening to SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English.

In January of two-thousand-one, President Bill Clinton signed apolicy called the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. He signed itshortly before he left office. The rule made it illegal to buildroads in about twenty-four million hectares of national forests. Thegoal was to restrain the cutting of trees by the wood productsindustry. The rule covered almost one-third of the national forestsystem.

The government has faced legal action ever since the rule tookeffect. Timber companies argue that the rule is unfair and hurtsbusiness. A number of states also have gone to court. They say theyshould have more power to make decisions about forests within theirstates.

Now the Clinton administration rule may be coming to the end ofits road.

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This month, the Bush administration moved to replace the RoadlessArea Conservation Rule. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman proposed anew rule. She made the announcement in Idaho, one of the states thathave most strongly protested the current rule. Mizz Veneman saidendless lawsuits do not represent progress for communities. She saidthe new rule she proposed would lead to more cooperation betweenstate and federal officials.

Most roadless areas in national forests are in the West. Twelvestates contain ninety-seven percent of all the roadless areas in thenational forests.

The Agriculture Department says the proposed rule establishes aprocess for governors to work with the Forest Service. It says thepurpose is to develop locally supported rules for conservingroadless areas. State governors could ask for areas to be keptroadless. They could also request permission to develop areas ofnational forests.

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Timber companies and leaders in several states praised the newproposal. Governor Dick Kempthorne of Idaho appeared with MizzVeneman as she made the announcement. He said the proposal creates aprocess that honors the independence of states.

Environmental defense groups have their own opinion of theproposed new rule. Tim Preso is a lawyer with Earthjustice. Thatorganization is defending the Clinton administration rule in anumber of cases. Mister Preso says national forests belong to allAmericans. He says state governors should not be able to go againstthe people's interest in protecting those forests.

Americans have until September to comment on the proposed rulebefore a final version is published.

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"Dead zones" are areas of water starved of oxygen. These areasare produced by pollution or natural causes. The United NationsEnvironment Program says there are almost one-hundred-fifty deadzones in oceans and seas around the world.

Dead zones return year after year. They often develop in deepwater close to shore. Usually they are found in water that differsin temperature or salt content from surface to bottom.

Normal numbers of fish may live near the surface of a dead zone.But deep down, the fish lack enough oxygen. They leave the dead zoneif they can. Shellfish that cannot escape the zone fast enough candie. So may other creatures that live on the bottom of the sea.

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Experts say these dead zones are a threat to fish supplies and tothe people who depend on them.

Earlier this year the U.N. Environment Program released its first"Global Environment Outlook Year Book." It says oxygen-starved areasin coastal waters have been expanding since the nineteen-sixties. Itsays there are two times as many as there were in nineteen-ninety.

The U.N. Environment Program says the causes of dead zones candiffer from place to place around the world. The causes can includeagricultural and human wastes and air pollution from the burning offuel.

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One of the largest dead zones is in the Gulf of Mexico, off thecoast of Louisiana in the southern United States. Oxygen loss in theGulf of Mexico can begin as early as February. And it can last untilthe middle of fall.

Scientists say nitrogen carried into the Gulf of Mexico fromagricultural lands is mainly responsible. One report says an area ofabout twenty thousand square kilometers in the Gulf is affected now.

The Mississippi River carries freshwater into the Gulf of Mexico.The Mississippi is the largest river in the United States. It passesby many agricultural areas.

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Nitrogen increases the growth of algae in water. Algae is asingle-celled organism, a rootless green plant. But a lot of algaecan make an ocean or lake look like a forest.

When algae die, they fall to the ocean floor. Bacteria then eatthe remains. These bacteria take most of the oxygen from the deepestlevels.

Federal environmental officials say pollution from drilling foroil and natural gas in the Gulf of Mexico might worsen the deadzone. Gannett News Service reported this month that some permits fornew drilling have been delayed because of these concerns. Athree-year study of the issue is planned.

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SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Caty Weaver and JerilynWatson. Cynthia Kirk was our producer. This is Bob Doughty.

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And this is Sarah Long.. Join us again next week for more newsabout science, in Special English, on the Voice of America.