BOSTON - Beef. It's what's NOT for dinner at a growing number of restaurants in Massachusetts and around the country, as more establishments work to offer vegetarian options to consumers. A countrywide campaign called "Meatless Mondays" encourages diners to explore plant-based menu options once a week, with the goal of having people reduce their meat consumption by 15 percent.

Even a rapidly-growing franchise called UBurger, which got its start on the Boston University campus, offers meatless menu options, although co-owner Spiro Kouvlis says he's not quite ready to formally endorse Meatless Mondays.

"For health reasons I think it's a great idea. Business-wise? I don't think it'll be our best business day, but it is definitely good for, you know, for health and for the animals."

Started in 2003, the Meatless Monday movement is making inroads. The program's director says a recent research poll they commissioned showed 50 percent of the American public were aware of Meatless Monday and of those, 27 percent said it had influenced their decision to cut back on meat.

Spiro Kouvlis says when the first UBurger opened in Kenmore Square in 2006, the plan was to sell only hamburgers. He says they soon wised up.

"You know, a lot of students here either for religious reasons can't eat beef or just are vegetarians. They can always have that option of getting that veggie patty instead of any meat patties."

Chris Elam, program director of Meatless Mondays, says restaurants, chains and celebrity chefs are embracing the idea, or at the very least adding veggie options.

"We want to be very simple for a restaurant. We encourage restaurants not to take meat off the proverbial table, but just to add veggie options, or even highlight them on Monday to encourage people to think about this idea of cutting back just one day a week."

Erica Meier is executive director of the Washington-based group, Compassion Over Killing, which works to shed light on what it considers cruelty to animals raised for food, while promoting healthy eating.

"It's exposing people to these options, letting them know they're available. They want to make the right choice when they realize that vegetarian foods are better for their health, it's better for animals, and it's better for the environment."

Meier and her group regularly work with restaurant chains to help them build more vegetarian options into their menus. Currently, they're lobbying the Subway chain to offer a meatless deli slice.




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EL PASO, Texas -- The Biden administration has promised to conduct a damage assessment after announcing that billions diverted for construction of former President Donald Trump's border wall would be returned to the Department of Defense.

The administration also wants Congress to approve funds to address "urgent life, safety, and environmental issues" created by the construction.

Bryan Bird, southwest program director for Defenders of Wildlife, said in some areas of Arizona, explosives were used to destroy entire mountains on public lands. In addition to looking at that destruction, he argued the administration should assess damage to Native American spiritual and burial sites.

"I would ask him to look at places where streams and rivers and springs occur along the border, and to immediately consider removing any border wall in those places," Bird urged.

As money was pulled back last week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott vowed his state would build a border wall with Mexico to deter immigrants, but provided few specifics about construction or funding. Trump declared a national emergency in 2019 to divert $3.6 billion from military construction projects to build the border wall.

Bird also hopes the administration will review migration corridors that were affected, preventing North American wildlife from using traditional border routes to seek out food, mates and new habitat.

"This is probably the first time in history that migration of wildlife has been stopped on a continental scale," Bird contended. "So this border wall that Trump was building affected that historic, monumental migration pattern."

In addition to Arizona, where roads were built through wilderness areas and waterways sealed off to endangered fish species, Bird pointed out California and parts of New Mexico also sustained damage from border-wall construction.

If part of the money is returned to the Defense Department, it is scheduled to go toward 66 projects in 11 states, 3 territories and 16 countries. It could also be used for enhanced technology along the border.

MADISON, Wis. - This week, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources began gathering public input on a new gray wolf management plan following the controversy over February's court-ordered wolf hunt.

An advocacy group for the animal urges the public to speak up on multiple fronts amid concerns about quotas.

The recent wolf hunt, the result of a lawsuit after the animal was taken off the federal endangered species list, drew criticism when hunters far exceeded the established quota. In addition to a long-term plan, the agency wants input for this fall's hunt.

Melissa Smith, executive director of Friends of the Wisconsin Wolf & Wildlife, said anyone concerned also should connect with the agency's Natural Resources Board.

"It is ultimately the Natural Resource[s] Board that implements policy for the DNR," said Smith. "So, the DNR, like we saw in the February hunt, can bring a modest quota number to the NRB Board; they changed it. "

Her group is among advocates critical of the Board with hunts back in play. Smith suggests the panel is trying to limit opposition voices at its meetings.

The Board's chairman said that's not the case and it isn't violating any laws. He said they'll gather public input as well before the next hunt, and will pay attention to science when deciding on a quota.

Smith said residents should write to this panel, even before a separate comment period would begin.

As for the broader management plan, which won't be considered until next year, Smith said she hopes it ultimately focuses on taking advantage of the animal's contributions to the state's natural landscapes.

"To have as many wolves as we can on the landscape to fulfill their ecological role," said Smith. "To combat CWD, to bring back some of the more rare plant species."

Smith said she's not opposed to hunting in general or instances of lethal action where wolves are repeatedly attacking livestock, so long as it's handled in humane fashion.

Supporters of hunting gray wolves say they pose a major threat to farm animals. Meanwhile, the DNR'S comment period runs through May 15, with submissions accepted on its website.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Jaguars once roamed much of the Southwest, and wildlife scientists say they've identified plenty of land where they could thrive if boundaries identified in a plan by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are reconsidered.

The agency's 2018 Jaguar Recovery Plan said the most viable area for jaguars near the U.S. and Mexico border could only support two to four females, not enough to sustain a population.

Bryan Bird, Southwest program director for Defenders of Wildlife, said independent research found 20 million acres of suitable habitat in the central mountains of Arizona and New Mexico that would support the big cats.

"Some of us believe that because jaguar are part of the native fauna of the United States, that we should be doing more to recover them here," Bird asserted.

The federal recovery plan primarily recommends helping Mexico preserve its native jaguar population.

Bird pointed out the new area identified by the study for jaguar reintroduction is 27 times larger than the current designated habitat and could help bring the big cat back to the U.S.

The multidisciplinary group of scientists compared 12 habitat models for jaguars in Arizona and New Mexico not considered in the recovery plan prepared by the Wildlife Service.

But Bird noted the federal agency left open the possibility of revising boundaries if new information became available.

He said jaguars once ranged from Louisiana to California in the southern U.S. and as far north as the Grand Canyon.

"It's been so long since some of these more spectacular, charismatic animals have been permanent residents of the United States we've sort of lost that history," Bird explained.

Over the last two decades, a number of male jaguars have been photographed in the mountains south of Interstate 10 in Arizona and New Mexico.

At the same time, Bird acknowledged jaguar restoration to the Southwest has been made more difficult by construction of the wall between the U.S. and Mexico.