Experts estimate that each year more than seven million Americans get sick from waterborne pathogens, and last year there were nearly 20,000 beach closings due to pollution from germs, parasites, toxic chemicals, and sewage. It is the EPA's responsibility to keep our water clean, but last year the agency needed some heavy prodding to stay on task. When it failed to set safety standards for drinking water, as required by law, NRDC and other public health advocates threatened to sue, prompting the agency to adopt new monitoring requirements. In other work, NRDC launched a media campaign to expose another EPA foul play: a nasty proposal that would have allowed inadequately treated sewage to be dumped into waterways during storms to ease the burden on overtaxed treatment facilities. Agency officials later turned to NRDC for help in drafting a plan that addresses the root of the problem by requiring wastewater facilities to upgrade and repair aging systems.
-- Kathryn McGrath

The Yellowstone grizzly has made a remarkable comeback. After dwindling to a population of 200 or so in the early 1970s, the bears were granted protection under the Endangered Species Act; this has allowed the species to more than double its numbers within three decades' time. Citing this success, the Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed that grizzly bears be removed from the Endangered Species List. This would transfer the bears' welfare over to the states, a move that could make the animals fair game for hunting. Louisa Willcox, NRDC's grizzly bear expert, believes that the animals are still too vulnerable to lose federal protection. As it is, too many females of reproductive age are killed each year for the population to remain stable. In addition, global warming threatens the bears' food supply: Warmer temperatures allow the mountain pine beetle to move to higher elevations where it infests whitebark pines, the cones of which bears rely on to fatten up for winter. NRDC has asked the agency to release all of the data it used to make its decision, and to allow independent review of its analysis. So far the agency has refused.
-- Lisa Whiteman

The rapid expansion of oil and gas drilling in Rocky Mountain states puts a heavy burden on the region's small streams. Flattening land to construct well pads and clearing hundreds of miles of dirt roads to access remote drill sites dump a lot of sediment into waterways -- an effect made worse by storm runoff. Last year, more than 4,300 oil and gas wells were drilled in Colorado alone. Yet the EPA has set no regulations to protect water quality -- not even at drill sites adjacent to streams that provide drinking water for nearby towns. An NRDC- sponsored study of stormwater runoff at drill sites found that even the smallest sites degrade the quality of nearby streams. These findings helped convince Colorado's Water Quality Commission to take action. Colorado is the first state to require permits that hold oil and gas companies accountable for the sedimentation of its waterways.
-- Erika Brekke

During the past year, as John Adams prepared to step down from his 35-year tenure as president of NRDC, every month -- sometimes every week -- seemed to bring new recognition of his contribution to the environmental movement. In San Francisco, Mayor Gavin Newsom proclaimed November 2, 2005, John Adams Day. Later that same week, the Children's Health Environmental Coalition and Arts for Healing, two children's-health advocacy groups, honored Adams with their lifetime achievement award. In February the Wilderness Society gave Adams its top honor, the Robert Marshall Award; in March NRDC's board of trustees paid tribute to Adams with its Forces for Nature Award; and in May Duke University granted him an honorary law degree. But Adams has no plans to fade away; with his implacable spirit and vision, he will continue to guide NRDC as he assumes his new role as founding director.
-- Cassie King