Air Date: Week of April 10, 1998

Views from our audience on declining salmon and political will, low flows and darning thread.

Transcript

CURWOOD: And now it's time to hear from you, our listeners. Our story on salmon restoration in the Pacific Northwest drew a response from Steve Erickson. He hears us on KUOW in Seattle, where he works with conservation groups on salmon issues. Mr. Erickson notes that while the biologists in King County are doing excellent work, ultimately they don't make the important decisions. "I don't know whether to laugh or cry," he writes, "at the suggestion that local county governments would voluntarily take steps necessary to save salmon from extinction. When push comes to shove, the local politicians follow the development money, or simply don't value the natural world sufficiently to protect it."

Livia Shagum, a listener to WHYY in Philadelphia, heard our stories on the perils of low-flush toilets and called to offer this water conservation tip.

SHAGUM: In Israel we have toilets with sort of a dual flush, so you can choose half a tank or a full tank. But in my house, which is older, we have faucets on the tank, and then you can just open it and use as much water as you think is necessary.

CURWOOD: Finally, another WHYY listener, Dorothy Sakaguchi, called with this advice for Ruth Page, who in a recent commentary lamented the death of darning thread, along with other vestiges of the Great Depression.

SAKAGUCHI: Ruth, cheer up! All is not lost. There still is darning thread. If you will go to a little Amish community I bet you'll find some. I can find black or white up here at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. If you need some, I could send some. Please give me a call.

CURWOOD: Please give us a call. We're always interested in what you have to say. Our listener line is 800-218-9988. That's 800-218-9988. Or you can e- mail us at LOE@NPR.ORG. That's LOE@NPR.ORG. And for this week, that's Living on Earth.