text:
|Forum Rules
|Firearms Safety
|Firearms Photos
|Lost Password
|Email Changes
|Today's Posts
|Mark Forums Read
|View Poll Results: Have you ever dealt with TGSCOM before?
|What was your experience?
|How long ago did you deal with them?
|Have you ever heard negative comments?
|Would you consider dealing with them?
|Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 0. You may not vote on this poll
|Thread Tools
|Search this Thread
|June 23, 2011, 06:26 PM
Senior Member
Join Date: February 1, 2009
Location: Texas
Posts: 314
TGSCOM, the TikkaPrecision.com site to be specific is one of the worst dealings I've had of any type to this day. Long story short, when I ordered, I was promised my item was in stock. A while later, I check and their website shows out of stock. I called and was told that my item was backordered for an indefinite amount of time.
I canceled my order, and was charged a restocking fee, which came out to about $95. They didn't have to "re-stock" anything as it never left them in the first place. I called and complained, it did nothing. I filed a complaint with my bank, and TGSCOM sent them someone else's order info, and my bank obviously didn't even look at the paperwork.
TGSCOM still has $95 of MY money that I will never get back. The best I can hope to do is lose them as much money as possible by letting you guys know what kind of business they run.
|February 22, 2012, 02:02 PM
Junior Member
Join Date: February 22, 2012
Location: Oklahoma City OK
Posts: 1
Fir those that havde been able to contact them and gotten through can someone share the magical phone number that works? I have gotten no response from emails or calling them just sit on hold.
|February 23, 2012, 01:24 PM
Junior Member
Join Date: February 23, 2012
Posts: 2
I placed an order for a Walther PPQ 40 back on Jan 24. It never came and started getting worried. I called a few times and got helpful customer service reps. All of a sudden whenever called I would get voice mail and this lasted for a about a week. Finally last week (saturday) I got someone on the line and she was very helpful. She explained they had upgraded their phone system and the lines were down during that process. She also informed me of the fact that they are experiencing delays in receivng product from their suppliers and have changed their return ploicy as a result of the delays. She told me I could cancel my order for a FULL REFUND, no restocking fees. I got my full refund this past Tuesday. Although I did not get what I wanted when I wanted it from them, I was very pleased with customer service. I also did in fact get my Walther from somewhere else during the process, paid more but hey, I got my gun.
|March 18, 2012, 07:02 AM
Junior Member
Join Date: March 18, 2012
Posts: 1
I would not recommend ordering anything from any of thier 300+ websites. I wish I could say more but I don't want to be sued. Just please stick with a more reputable company like Midway, Cabelas, or Cheaper than Dirt, don't let the low-ish price tag lure you.
|April 26, 2012, 04:28 PM
Junior Member
Join Date: April 26, 2012
Posts: 1
Add me to the list of those that won't do business from them again on a dare. I looked at the postings, and believed the positive ones.
I ordered several items from them that were "in stock", they confirmed my order, accepted my payment and advised they would email me when shipped.
2 weeks later, no email from them, no change in order status on their website, nothing....I attempted to call them but their automated "Customer Service" advises you to enter the 3 digit number given you by a "Customer Service" representative...if you don't have one and don't enter anything, it just hangs up on you...
I used their email send an inquiry about my order....at that time I was sent a reply that said they were experiencing a delay in getting items from their suppliers...mind you this is after 2 weeks...okay, I'll keep my fingers crossed
Now, a month later, still no merchandise, and after I made contact again, the same delay from a supplier. I have attempted to cancel my order but they simply don't respond or return money.
Avoid these people like the Plague.
|May 19, 2012, 10:52 AM
Junior Member
Join Date: May 19, 2012
Posts: 7
not happy. Will never order from them or their affiliate sites again. 2, 10/22 mags and striplula all items listed as in stock. Its been 12 business days (5/2/12) and the order is still listed as "processing". I have also ordered from Brownell's, Amazon, OpticsPlanet, and Midway since then and already have my orders. If the order status hasn't changed by the 25th, will cancel and dispute any cancellation fees with my CC. It doesn't appear I've been billed yet.
|July 7, 2012, 05:55 PM
Junior Member
Join Date: July 7, 2012
Posts: 1
re: TGS.com
New member introducing myself. My old CB handle is "HUNTER", but my name is Ralph, a 73 year old 2nd amendment patriotic, conservative/Christian, former Coast Guard, Air Force and Navy veteran.
Been a hunter/fisher/camper/canoeist/pilot/motorcycle owner-rider. Played drums in a dance band and a radio orchestra/play guitar, harmonica, piano to entertain myself.
Love guns and knives and have a very large collection of each. Nothing fancy or expensive, just what pleases me. Am a member of a local shooting range and a hunting & fishing Rotary International fellowship club member.
I have 2 grown daughters who I taught to shoot, and have 3 grand kids, 2 boys & a girl. I taught them to shoot, and took the oldest out on his first pig hunt when he became 16, and he shot the biggest pig of the weekend in a bunch of gown men hunting with us.
I got involved with this forum because I saw the anti-TGSCOM notices posted herein. I, too, have been taken advanatage of by that outfit. I paid for several items in March of 2012, that were never sent, and cannot contact them at all for a refund of my money. They have disappered and owe me the items I ordered and paid for, or at the least to refund my money they took from me.
If anyone out there knows how to contact them, please let me know. Their web site doesn't respond. Their phone numbers and fax numbers don't go through. Their snail-mail addressed letters get returned with no forwarding address. My experience with them is that they are not responsible business people, and have wronged me personally. This is not hear-say. I have been cheated by them.
Hope you all vote this November, and fight to preserve our 2nd amendment rights, and our country. God bless America.
Last edited by Brian Pfleuger; July 7, 2012 at 06:19 PM. Reason: Remove Politics
|July 8, 2012, 01:09 AM
Junior Member
Join Date: May 19, 2012
Posts: 7
Their shopping website works (www.thegunsource.com) but everything appears to be out of stock. The order verification and contact websites (tgscom.com) are down. Like you, my mail was returned as unclaimed.
Pretty sure they are closed for good.
|July 8, 2012, 09:34 AM
Senior Member
Join Date: April 23, 2012
Posts: 118
My first bad experience was trying to figure out how to vote in the OP's poll.
I have dealt with two different companies that fall under the TGS umbrella. Both were not the best experience. While I question the use of the term scam, I certainly had less than speedy service. One order took six weeks the other three. And customer service should be renamed feeble excuse central. I would not recommend them.
ETA: I almost forgot. The plus side of TGS performance is that we seem to have several new members. Welcome all.
|July 8, 2012, 05:52 PM
Join Date: September 17, 2011
Posts: 16
Also known as Midwest Hunters Outlets. Only thing I bought from them, were to HK45 magazines, and they shipped them after about 4-5 days. Then I try to buy a night sight installation tool, and the order was never fulfilled after waiting for 7 days.
|Thread Tools
|Search this Thread


text:
Help protect Arctic wildlife
The Western Arctic Reserve may be less well-known than the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but its wildlife populations are every bit as unique, spectacular and endangered.
Please take a minute to ask the Obama Administration to grant the strongest possible protection to the Western Arctic Reserve.
Nearly a century ago, the Western Arctic Reserve was set aside as a "National Petroleum Reserve", but it remains one of our continent's last, largely untouched tracts of wilderness and wildlife habitat.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is developing a new area-wide plan for the Reserve, providing an ideal opportunity to safeguard its greatest natural treasures -- so-called "Special Areas" -- from destructive oil and gas development.
These Special Areas -- some established at the direction of Congress in the late 1970's and others proposed by conservationists -- include the Colville River, Teshekpuk Lake, Utukok Uplands, Kasegaluk Lagoon, Dease Inlet, Peard Bay, Ikpikpuk River and the DeLong Mountains and Foothills Special Areas.
The vast network of coastal lagoons, deep lakes, sedge grass meadows and streams that make up the prized Teshekpuk Lake region provide the critical calving grounds for one of the largest caribou herds in Alaska, as well as summer habitat for polar bears. A staggering variety of birds also take refuge in these wetlands, some migrating from as far south as Antarctica.
Along the northwestern coast of the Western Arctic Reserve, up to 3,500 beluga whales gather in the Kasegaluk Lagoon every year to feed and bear their young.
The vast wilderness of the Reserve supports more than just Arctic wildlife. Inupiat Eskimos have subsisted here for thousands of years by following the caribou herds.
Many of these areas have not yet been disturbed, and this may be our last best chance to preserve them for the future. Please tell the BLM that it's time to grant the Western Arctic Reserve the protection it deserves.
Thank you for taking action to protect our last Arctic wildlands and wildlife.
- Log in to post comments

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Many people know Vosges Haut Chocolat in Soho as a place to pick up chocolates (think chocolate bars in combinations like ginger and wasabi, lemon zest and peppercorns), but few know they offer an in-store cafe menu where you can get hot chocolate to stay, perhaps paired with caramel marshmallows or a topping of cardamom-infused whipped cream.
While it's still warm out, order a cup of house-made soft serve ($4). Flavors change from time to time; my most recent visit brought a velvety milk chocolate swirled with wattleseed vanilla. The seeds give the vanilla a smoky, nutty flavor that allows it to stand up to the classic chocolate. Past soft-serve flavors have included chocolate-pandan and Madagascar vanilla, so check back often.
Vosges Haut Chocolat
132 Spring Street, New York, NY 10012 (map)
212-625-2929; vosgeschocolate.com
About the author: Originally from Honolulu, Kathy YL Chan blogs at Kathy YL Chan, where she chronicles her eats and travel adventures between Hawai'i, New York and beyond. She firmly believes that there is always room for dessert.


text:
Might not be the cakewalk to the playoffs via the crossover like it was looking a month ago.
injuries will come into play but looking like both TO and MTL will be better after the recent retooling. One of them should be able to win 6 games.
Bombers need to beat Edmonton out for 3rd to be sure of being in. Sask is a wild card yet to be seen if they can put something together and contend.
Will stay hopeful that Matty Ice can get it done but not betting the whole farm on Bombers winning the cup just yet.


text:
BUILDERS who ignored planning permission for a home have left a Winchester family pleading with civic chiefs.
Captain and Mrs Kempley Buchan-Smith, who are expecting twins next month, have been fighting to keep their new loft conversion in Hyde despite the dormer window being built higher than the planning application allowed.
The planning committee, held on Thursday (June 12), heard how the couple returned from their holidays to discover their loft conversion, at Egbert Road, had caused problems for their neighbours.
Claims were made the builder has miscalculated the height of the second-floor stairway and adjusted the plans.
Captain Buchan-Smith told councillors: "We are expecting twins at the end of July and we need the extra space. Do the revised plans match what's been built? Yes. Has this been approved by someone who has visited the house? Yes. My wife and I are keen to get this situation behind us to prepare for the arrival of our children.
"The key point to be decided is whether or not this is legal. The original plans were not built and this has been highlighted. We took immediate action to comply with the planning application and we'd spent a considerable amount of money. We completely agree that it's unacceptable to flaunt the law."
But some councillors argued that allowing the build would open doors for rogue traders to ignore future planning restrictions.
Cllr Barry Lipscomb said: "They came back from leave to find this had happened. However, we are here as a planning committee. I'm concerned given this is in a conservation area what sort of message do we send out if we approve this retrospectively? That is not in our longer term best interest. I, at best, will abstain."
Cllr Frank Pearson said: "The alternative is to take it all down and I'm not sure that's what the applicant wants."
Case officer Nick Parker said: "The bottom line is it has been built. If there were no plans you could see whether this would cause any harm. It's built, it's there and it's unfortunate but you're making the decision on the building before you."
Eight city councillors voted to give retrospective permission.


text:
7 U.S. Code § 2204b–1 - Rural development
prev | next
(a) Congressional commitment
The Congress commits itself to a sound balance between rural and urban America. The Congress considers this balance so essential to the peace, prosperity, and welfare of all our citizens that the highest priority must be given to the revitalization and development of rural areas.
(b) Location of Federal facilities
Congress hereby directs the heads of all executive departments and agencies of the Government to establish and maintain departmental policies and procedures giving first priority to the location of new offices and other facilities in rural areas as defined in the private business enterprise exception in section 1926 (a)(7) [1] of this title.
[1] See References in Text note below.
Source(Pub. L. 91–524, title IX, § 901,Nov. 30, 1970, 84 Stat. 1383; Pub. L. 92–419, title VI, § 601,Aug. 30, 1972, 86 Stat. 674; Pub. L. 94–273, § 7(3),Apr. 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 378; Pub. L. 96–355, § 6,Sept. 24, 1980, 94 Stat. 1174.)
References in Text
Section 1926 (a)(7) of this title, referred to in subsec. (b), was repealed and a new section 1926 (a)(7) was added by Pub. L. 104–127, title VII, § 741(a)(2),Apr. 4, 1996, 110 Stat. 1123. As added, section 1926 (a)(7) of this title defined "rural areas" but no longer contained provisions relating to a private business enterprise exception. Subsequently, section 1926 (a)(7) was repealed by Pub. L. 107–171, title VI, § 6020(b)(1),May 13, 2002, 116 Stat. 363.
1980—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 96–355struck out provisions respecting annual report to Congress by the President covering efforts, etc., made for locating all new facilities.
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 96–355struck out subsec. (c) which related to planning assistance and annual report to Congress respecting such assistance.
Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 96–355struck out subsec. (d) which related to information and technical assistance and annual report to Congress respecting such assistance.
Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 96–355struck out subsec. (e) which related to provision of government services and annual report to Congress respecting such services.
Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 96–355struck out subsec. (f) which required report to Congress by July 1, 1971, relating to implementation of rural financial assistance requirements.
1976—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 94–273substituted "December" for "September".
Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 94–273substituted "December 1 of" for "September 1 of".
1972—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 92–419struck out "insofar as practicable," after "maintain" and substituted "policies and procedures giving first priority to the location of new offices and other facilities in rural areas as defined in the private business enterprise exception in section 1926 (a)(7) of this title", for "policies and procedures with respect to the location of new offices and other facilities in areas or communities of lower population density in preference to areas or communities of high population densities".
Effective Date of 1980 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 96–355effective Oct. 1, 1980, see section 10 ofPub. L. 96–355, set out as an Effective Date note under section 2204b of this title.
Executive Order No. 11797
Ex. Ord. No. 11797, July 31, 1974, 39 F.R. 27893, which delegated to the Secretary of Agriculture the President's authority to prepare and submit to Congress annual reports concerning the location of new Federal facilities in rural areas, was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 12553, Feb. 25, 1986, 51 F.R. 7237.
LII has no control over and does not endorse any external Internet site that contains links to or references LII.


text:
Time tested benefits! Lavender to balance, calm and relax, Shea Butter to protect and nourish. Put them together and you get an aromatic and hydrating sensation that helps promote elasticity and smooth rough skin.
Absorb this!
Your skin absorbs what you put on it, so treat it right! Our unique, balanced formulas are bursting with botanicals and essential oils to soothe and hydrate your hands, face and body. After bath or anytime, let our sensational scents and extracts nourish your skin, senses and soul.
Since our humble beginnings in the early 80's (yes, way back in the 1900's) Kiss My Face has been a cruelty-free company, never testing on animals. We continue to evolve as new information and ingredients become available. Today, all of our products are paraben-free, phthalate-free and SLS free. In addition, our products are free from dyes and synthetic colors such as F, D & C. Kiss My Face products are pH balanced and are formulated without carmine, lanolin, mineral oils, petroleum or nanoparticles. It's only natural to love our products!
Formulated With:
Water, Stearic Acid, Isopropyl Palmitate, Vegetable Glycerin, Cetyl Alcohol, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Nut Butter, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Flower Oil, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil, Squalane, Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Leaf Juice, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Oil, Panthenol (Vitamin B5), Calendula Officinalis (Marigold) Flower Extract, Chamomillia Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Flower Extract, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Flower Extract, Cetyl Esters, Sodium Borate, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Phytate, Polysorbate 80, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Sorbic Acid
View All Kiss My FaceView All Beauty & Personal Care > Skin Care > MoisturizersTop 10 Natural Skin Care


text:
Going into other countries is a great move, but TNA needs to move Impact to a channel with a strong line up. WWE has RAW on USA, which has a lot of great shows around/after it, and other days. USA is a very popular network, because they have a great line up of shows. Burn Notice, Suits, Graceland, Covert Affairs, Necessary Roughness, Psych, etc., etc. WWE has a lot to work with.
TNA has Spike... and Spike doesn't have a strong line up for TNA to build off. I can only name about four-five shows: Tattoo Nightmares, Bar Rescue(My favorite show on Spike), TNA, Bellator, and 1000 ways to die. They should move to AMC(Unlikely) or somewhere that is equally as big, and work with them. Then maybe have a second show on Spike(Similar to WWE having SD on Syfy, another channel with not a big line up)


text:
This game was classified by the community with the following category scores - Violence=3/3, Sex=3/3, Mature Content=3/3. In EvilQuest, take on the role of Galvis -- a dark knight obsessed with ultimate power. Set out on a quest of revenge, destruction and conquest in this exciting retro Action RPG title. Along the way you'll unlock ancient mysteries, discover legendary weapons, relics and magic...and of course kill thousands of those foolish enough to stand in your way!
Buy Xbox content on Xbox.com. Your Xbox 360 console will automatically download the content next time you turn it on and connect to Xbox Live.Learn More


text:
SURPRISE, Ariz.—Things are different here.
The aura of superiority that once permeated this spring training clubhouse is gone. Back-to-back World Series appearances, consecutive division titles and a reign over the American League are yesterday's news to most, even if people in Texas Rangers camp refuse to acknowledge it.
"We're still here," second baseman Ian Kinsler said.
"No reason to think we can't do it again," David Murphy said.
Maybe. But the bubble of invincibility the encapsulated the Rangers when they won the AL pennant in 2010 and 2011 has popped, and it started bursting last Oct. 1 in Oakland. The Rangers needed just one win in their final three games of the season to clinch the AL West, and they couldn't find it. Hits were scarce, runs were even more elusive and a dropped fly ball by Josh Hamilton was the final pulled thread that completed the unraveling. The Rangers were swept by the A's and lost the division.
By the time they returned home to host the Baltimore Orioles in the Wild Card Game, they were the walking dead.
The winter came, and with the stench of the end of the season still reeking, changes followed. Mike Napoli, a man who gave his body up for a chance to win a World Series in 2011 and who would have been that series' MVP if the Rangers had pulled it off, was cast aside, too aged and injured to commit millions of dollars to.
Hamilton followed. One of the game's best power hitters had enough of the Dallas-Fort Worth area and bolted for Disneyland. When the Los Angeles Angels surprised the baseball world with $125 million for Hamilton, they told him to take it now, or leave it. He accepted, and it meant he never gave the Rangers a chance to match the offer as he promised he would whenever a suitor came calling.
And as they left Texas, Hamilton and his wife gave a couple of jabs as they landed in California.
"It's not a true baseball town," Hamilton told the Dallas-Fort Worth CBS television affiliate Sunday in regards to the greater Dallas area. "(The fans) are supportive, but they also got a little spoiled at the same time pretty quickly."
Hamilton's wife, Katie, fired shots even before that.
"(The Rangers) let us go out and date other people and kind of give our hearts away," she said in December during Hamilton's introductory press conference with the Angels. "I'm so glad they didn't (push hard to re-sign Hamilton). We feel so strongly this is where God has moved us and planted us."
But whatever. Those parting shots don't really matter. What matters is Hamilton has not been replaced, and neither has Napoli. That is 122 home runs over the last two seasons combined, and the Rangers could not sign or trade for anyone to match that production.
On top of that, Michael Young, one of team's leaders and a longtime fan favorite, was traded to Philadelphia for pretty much nothing. Young is too much of a class act to dog out the organization after the trade, but there is no way he could have felt good about how his 12-year career with the Rangers ended.
"Changes happen every year, we just had a few happen all in the same offseason," manager Ron Washington said. "This is part of the business. Are we still a good ballclub? Yes."
That is yet to be determined. The Rangers whiffed on every free agent they went after during the winter, and they could not land Justin Upton from the Arizona Diamondbacks because they demanded top prospects from the Rangers – the Diamondbacks ended up giving him to the Atlanta Braves in a three-team trade for far less than they wanted from the Rangers.
To say this Rangers club is better than the one that walked off the field on Oct. 5 after that loss to the Orioles would be erroneous. The starting pitching has a slight chance to be better than it was last year, but the offense is weaker and might take another hit if Major League Baseball finds it necessary to suspend Nelson Cruz for his performance-enhancing drug link to the Biogenesis scandal that is still under investigation.
Making things worse is the rest of the division getting better. The Angels are better with Hamilton in their lineup and a full season with Mike Trout. The A's can still pitch and are coming off a division title. The Mariners might not be a threat to the throne yet, but they are at least a bit better and still have the best pitcher, Felix Hernandez, in the division.
Gone are the days of the Rangers dominating the AL West and clearly being the best team in the league. Now, they will struggle to earn a playoff berth with a depleted roster and a less potent offense than the one Washington threw onto the field the previous two seasons.
Familiar faces are gone from this clubhouse, and that just might lead to the unfamiliar position of sitting at home when the postseason begins this year.


text:
if anybody from gamedev remembers me, I was working on a 2D graphics library, dubbed hxRender, built on OpenGL. Latest version is done, and it goes straight back to regular C code. I wasn't comfortable enough with C++ when i started writing version 2.0.
http://mavdisk.mnsu.edu/longaj/hxrender/ homepage if anybody is interested
*shrug* somebody might find it usefull.
I remember you. Good to see you are still working on this. I'll check it out when I get some time this weekend. :yes:
http://joel.longanecker.googlepages.com/hxrender is the new web address.


text:
Michele Payn-Knoper, a leading U.S. farm and food advocate, is passionate about social media and helping farmers learn how to use it to connect with consumers. Now, she's written a book, called "No More Food Fights!"
Payn-Knoper says the book is an effort to help break stereotypes. It describes modern-day farmers who use technology and modern practices to preserve the environment and dairy producers who put cow comfort as a high priority. Flip the book over and you get another perspective. This alternative view reminds farmers that they represent a very small percentage of the overall population. As such, it's important for them to tell their stories though social media and other means to educate consumers and correct erroneous information.
Readers will find personal stories from farmers, food scientists, dieticians and ranchers. According to Payn-Knoper, the purpose is to "'reach across the plate' to explore food concerns and the critical connection from farm gate to food plate."
The first print edition will be released on Valentine's Day, February 14, through Payn-Knoper's website Cause Matters, as well as on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble and other fine bookstores. Digital version will be available for iPad, Kindle and Nook in March.


text:
Dental Caries Management by Risk Assessment: Identification and Treatment of Risk Factors Among (IDF) Personnel (CAMBRA)
The recruitment status of this study is unknown. The completion date has passed and the status has not been verified in more than two years.
Verified June 2011 by Medical Corps, Israel Defense Force.
Recruitment status was: Recruiting
Recruitment status was: Recruiting
Medical Corps, Israel Defense Force
Information provided by:
Medical Corps, Israel Defense Force
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
First received: June 10, 2010
Last updated: June 28, 2011
Last verified: June 2011
- Full Text View
- Tabular View
- No Study Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
Detailed Description:
Our study is designed as an interventional prospective longitudinal study which examines the Israeli defense force personnel. The population of our study is composed out of the IDF personnel which will be randomly be subdivided into 2 different groups - one will be noted as the intervention group and the other will function as a control group. Each participant will be monitored for a period of 18 months.
|Dental Caries
|Behavioral: behavioral intervention
|Phase 4
|Study Type:
|Study Design:
|Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary Purpose: Treatment
|Official Title:
|Dental Caries Management by Risk Assessment: Identification and Treatment of Risk Factors Among Israeli Defence Force (IDF) Personnel
Resource links provided by NLM:
MedlinePlus related topics: Tooth DecayU.S. FDA Resources
Further study details as provided by Medical Corps, Israel Defense Force:
Primary Outcome Measures:
- Improvement in one of the risk factors (such as eating habits, saliva, plaque control, fluorides). [ Time Frame: 6 months ]
Secondary Outcome Measures:
- Progression of the disease in 30% of patients in the control group in comparison to only 15% in the intervention group. [ Time Frame: 18 months ]
|Estimated Enrollment:
|Study Start Date:
|June 2010
|Estimated Study Completion Date:
|March 2012
|Estimated Primary Completion Date:
|February 2012 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
|Assigned Interventions
|Experimental: behavioral intervention
Behavioral: behavioral intervention
|No Intervention: convention dental treatment
Behavioral: behavioral intervention
Detailed Description:
On the intervention group, which includes a couple of hundreds participants, a thorough caries management by risk assessment plan will be conducted. The risk assessment will include the following criteria:
- Saliva check
- Plaque control
- Plaque acidity
- Diet - Frequency of carbohydrate intake
- Previous caries experience and present carious activity
- Others (prosthetic/orthodontic appliances, systemic diseases etc.)
After obtaining the data the patients will be categorized into 1 of 3 distinct risk level - low, medium, high. Each category will be treated according to a tailored treatment protocol:
- Dietary instructions
- Oral hygiene instructions
- Antibacterial therapy
- Fluorides
- Restoration
- Follow ups The control group will be treated according to standard protocol of treatment in the IDF dental clinics, which is based on removal the cavitated lesions, and lacks any reference to caries as a multifactorial infectious disease.
We assume that personalized treatment of the disease, based on identifying risk factors will lower the number of patients with active disease.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|20 Years to 40 Years (Adult)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Inclusion Criteria:
- Informed consent
Exclusion Criteria:
- Pregnancy
- Available for 18 month follow-up
Contacts and Locations
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the Contacts provided below. For general information, see Learn About Clinical Studies.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01142440
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01142440
|Contact: Einav Hirschhorn, DMD
|Israeli Defence Force
|Tel Hashomer, Israel
|Principal Investigator: Einav Hirschhorn, DMD
Sponsors and Collaborators
Medical Corps, Israel Defense Force
|Study Chair:
|erwin weiss, professor
|Head, Department of Prosthodontics Hebrew University - Hadassah, Jerusalem
More Information
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on September 21, 2017
|Responsible Party:
|Einav Hirschhorn, DMD, Medical Corps, Israel Defense Force
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|NCT01142440 History of Changes
|Other Study ID Numbers:
|Study First Received:
|June 10, 2010
|Last Updated:
|June 28, 2011
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Dental Caries
Tooth Demineralization
Tooth Diseases
Stomatognathic Diseases
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on September 21, 2017


text:
After just five seasons of existence, Spanish Fort High School is the new AHSAA 5A state champion.
The Toros wrapped up a shutout over the Briarwood Christian Lions 14-0 in Jordan-Hare Stadium Thursday night.
Auburn commit Reese Dismukes manned center, the position he is slated to play as early as next season as a Tiger, throughout the game.
The Toros running game accounted for 223 yards of the team's total 293 yards of offense.
The ground attack was led by senior quarterback Ameriol Finley, who put up 174 yards off 37 carries. Senior Davares Ambrose chipped in 41 yards off 14 carries.
When asked what it's like running behind a lineman like Dismukes, Finley had a short and simply answer.
"Like riding a bike," Finley said, adding that his performance wouldn't have happened without Dismukes.
"There's nothing like running behind him on a Friday night," Finley said of his experience this season.
Spanish Fort head coach Bryant Vincent guessed that about 75 percent of the plays followed Dismukes up front.
"We dominate up front and that's just what we like to do," Dismukes said. "Run the ball. And we're a spread team, so we just like to smash it."
Briarwood finished the night with five turnovers with two coming in the form of defensive back Jonathan Cook interceptions. Vincent said because his team knew Briarwood was a good football team, forcing turnovers were going to be critical during the game.
"They were going to be hard to stop," Vincent said. "Defensively we preached all week that we had to get takeaways. We had to get takeaways and we had to secure the football. We couldn't turn it over or give up the big play in the kicking game or on defense. And our defense came up with a couple big takeaways and offensively we did turn it over a time on a fumble, but our defense, they did what we asked them to do."
Spanish Fort held Briarwood to 200 yards of offense, 103 yards of which were passed.
Dismukes said being able to win the state title game in his future stadium was special.
"I couldn't ask to play anywhere else," Dismukes said. "Our last game with our guys. Just, we're a special group of people, we all love each other and it was just a regular game, but it was special to me to be able to come out and play with all my boys. There's nothing like high school football and playing in this stadium, last game, with all my guys. It was great."
Dismukes, who is anticipated to join Auburn in the spring, said coaches are wanting him to report to Auburn in time for Bowl practice.
"But I'm not sure," Dismukes said. "I'm probably going to come in and watch a few meetings and stuff like that. I'm not sure about practice with everything else that they've got going on."
Two of Dismukes future teammates, Leeds' Jonathan Rose and Sweetwater's Chris Landrum, are also state champions tonight. Dismukes said he texted "his boy" Rose today and said the two will probably room together next year. Although he said he hasn't talked to Landrum much, he knows he did well because he heard his name over the stadium loudspeakers.
"I'm sure he did good," Dismukes said.


text:
NEW YORK — Plans to move Hunts Point Terminal Market operations to updated facilities remain stalled.
Talks between the market's board of directors and the city may not resume until next year after a new mayor enters office, said Matthew D'Arrigo, market co-chairman and vice president of D'Arrigo Bros. Co. of New York Inc.
In a January meeting, the market board rejected a city offer to amend the existing lease. The offer would have tweaked the agreement.
D'Arrigo said discussions of a market move "are on the back burner."
Little progress in discussions
He said there's been no progress over the past year and that the market hasn't been successful in convincing the city's mayoral administration that its concerns are valid.
"We feel we haven't had the most crucial issue to us addressed properly by the city, the future role the Business Integrity Commission will take in regulating our market," D'Arrigo said.
"They believe they have the potential to regulate our hours and tell us anything and everything about how to run the day-to-day operations of this market. We think it's meddlesome to our business and off the target of what their original mandate was."
Business Integrity Commission commissioner and chair Shari Hyman defended the agency's role.
"BIC's mission in the city's wholesale markets is well established, keeping them competitive and free of corruption," Hyman said in a statement. "Our recent investigations not only show how we keep the markets fair, but also create opportunities for the majority of honest businesses to thrive."
Looking across state lines
The refusal to agree to the lease modification means the market is no longer in an exclusive arrangement with the city and can entertain discussions with other states, D'Arrigo said.
New Jersey in the past encouraged the market to relocate across the Hudson River.
"We were negotiating with New Jersey first," said Alfie Badalamenti, vice president of Coosemans New York Inc. "We kind of stopped it because we thought the city would do something. Now it's going in the opposite direction."
Badalamenti and Ray Hernandez, Coosemans' head buyer, said they want to remain in the city.
"We need to get things worked out and work with the city to do what we need to do, to renovate the market and make it more modern," Hernandez said. "You see Philadelphia has a new market, Chicago has a new market. Why not the city of New York?"
Hunts Point wholesalers have been discussing construction of new facilities since 2006, said Mike Cochran, sales manager and vice president of Robert T. Cochran & Co. Inc.
"We would sure like to see a new market," he said. "My dad was down to the Philadelphia market and said it's very nice. They have nice sales rooms, clean operations and plenty of parking, but I guess the costs are killing some of the guys down there."
D'Arrigo said about 60% of the produce sold in the New York metropolitan area passes through the market and that the market's wholesalers supply up to 90% of the city's independent retailers and restaurants.


text:
When a mom objects to the noise coming from her daughter's bedroom, she tells the birthday revelers to "take it down a notch."
There in the midst of it all is a bovine party animal which turns to the birthday girl and says, "Thanks for hanging me out to dry there, Madison."
Madison is shown holding an ice cream cone.
The 30-second commercial will air during next Sunday's Super Bowl. (See video above.)
The commercial is part of the "Make Us Part of Your Family" national advertising campaign by the California Milk Advisory Board.
The idea is to show that California dairy products are a part of family life — from meals to special occasions and celebrations, CMAB spokesperson Jennifer Giambroni told Dairy Herd Network.
"Ninety-nine percent of California dairy farms are family-owned, and California dairy products are a trusted, important part of family meals," says Michael Freeman, vice president of advertising for the California Milk Advisory Board. "This campaign gives us a chance to highlight both in an entertaining way."


text:
Inspections, Compliance, Enforcement, and Criminal Investigations
Eagle Health Supplies Inc - Close Out Letter 11/06/2012
Department of Health and Human Services
|Public Health Service
Food and Drug Administration
|Los Angeles District
19701 Fairchild
Irvine, California 92612-2506
Telephone (949) 608-2900
Fax (949) 608-4415
November 6, 2012
Mr. Andy Chao
Eagle Health Supplies, Inc.
535 W. Walnut Avenue
Orange, CA 92868-2232
Dear Mr. Chao:
The Food and Drug Administration has completed an evaluation of your firm's corrective actions in response to our Warning Letter [WL 14-11, dated November 24, 2010]. Based on our evaluation, it appears that you have addressed the violation(s) contained in this Wanting Letter. Future FDA inspections and regulatory activities will further assess the adequacy and sustainability of these corrections.
This letter does not relieve you or your firm from the responsibility of taking all necessary steps to assure sustained compliance with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and its implementing regulations or with other relevant legal authority. The Agency expects you and your firm to maintain compliance and will continue to monitor your state of compliance. This letter will not preclude any future regulatory action should violations be observed during a subsequent inspection or through other means.
Alonza E. Cruse
Distnct Director
Los Angeles District


text:
Loud Objects "Noise Toy" x2 from Pete Shambler on Vimeo.
Loud Objects is a group born of Columbia students, composers, programmers and an architect. You can get their noise making kits from Make Magazine and they played live in the US, Europe and Japan.
My boss recently gave me a Loud Objects "Noise Toy" kit as a gift. When paired with the one we've already got at our place, they make a glorious sound. – theshamblers.blogspot.com
For more info: www.loudobjects.com myspace.com/loudobjects


text:
Total proctocolectomy and ileal-anal pouch surgery is the removal of the large intestine and most of the rectum. The surgery is done in one or two stages.
Restorative proctocolectomy; Ileal-anal resection; Ileal-anal pouch; J-pouch; S-pouch; Pelvic pouch; Ileal-anal pouch; Ileal pouch-anal anastomosis; IPAA; Ileal-anal reservoir surgery
You will receive general anesthesia right before your surgery. This will make you sleep and unable to feel pain.
You may have the procedure in one or two stages:
If you have an ileostomy, your surgeon will close it during the last stage of the surgery.
This procedure may be done for:
Risks for any surgery are:
Risks for this surgery include:
Always tell your doctor or nurse what drugs you are taking, even drugs, supplements, or herbs you bought without a prescription.
Before you have surgery, talk with your doctor or nurse about the following things:
During the 2 weeks before your surgery:
The day before your surgery:
On the day of your surgery:
You will be in the hospital for 3 to 7 days. By the second day, you will most likely be able to drink clear liquids. Your doctor or nurse will slowly add thicker fluids and then soft foods as your bowel begins to work again.
While you are in the hospital for the first stage of your surgery, your nurse and doctor will teach you how to care for your ileostomy.
You will probably have 4 to 8 bowel movements a day after this surgery. You will need to adjust your lifestyle for this.
Most people recover fully. They are able to do most activities they were doing before their surgery. This includes most sports, travel, gardening, hiking, and other outdoor activities, and most types of work.
Cima RR, Pemberton JH. Ileostomy, colostomy, and pouches. In: Feldman M, Friedman LS, Sleisenger MH, eds. Sleisenger & Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease. 9th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2010:chap 113.
Fry RD, Mahmoud N, Maron DJ, Ross HM, Rombeau J. Colon and rectum. In: Townsend CM, Beauchamp RD, Evers BM, Mattox KL, eds. Sabiston Textbook of Surgery. 19th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007:chap 52.
Cunningham D, Atkin W, Lenz HJ, Lynch HT, Minsky B, Nordlinger B, et al. Colorectal cancer. Lancet. 2010;375:1030-1047.
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org). URAC's accreditation program is an independent audit to verify that A.D.A.M. follows rigorous standards of quality and accountability. A.D.A.M. is among the first to achieve this important distinction for online health information and services. Learn more about A.D.A.M.'s editorial policy, editorial process and privacy policy. A.D.A.M. is also a founding member of Hi-Ethics and subscribes to the principles of the Health on the Net Foundation (www.hon.ch)
The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed medical professional should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Call 911 for all medical emergencies. Links to other sites are provided for information only -- they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites. © 1997- 2013 A.D.A.M., Inc. Any duplication or distribution of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited.


text:
I am a big fantasy basketball nut. a little more hardcore about this than I am about fantasy baseball(football is meh, mostly luck/draft, no day-to-day movement).
anyways I wanted to see if there was enough interested to start a DGR league. Shoot me a PM or respond here. Hopefully the same guys that signed up for baseball and football will get down on a NBA league. Aiming for 10-12 teams, probably won't do this with only 8. Basketball, like baseball, can get some stacked teams when you get down under 10.


text:
The annual Mike Brown Memorial Motocross event at Marshfield track, near Chippenham, on Good Friday raised more than £16,000 for The Forever Friends Appeal's RUH Cancer Care Campaign.
The appeal is raising money for a pioneering new cancer centre for the Royal United Hospital in Bath.
Event organisers chose to support the appeal, due to the fundraising efforts of former motocross rider, Mark Hucklebridge.
Diagnosed with inoperable cancer, Mark, 35, has dedicated himself to raising awareness and funds for The Forever Friends Appeal's RUH Cancer Care Campaign. He recently taking part in the Bath Half Marathon despite undergoing a course of chemotherapy.
MJ Church and Motoxtreme Kawasaki, are both long established local firms that have supported the highly successful motocross rider for much of his career, and were part of the Motocross Events fundraising efforts.
Paula Church, of M J Church, said: "Motocross is a huge part of the church families' lives; we have been involved in the sport since the '60s, and have spent many weekends travelling around the world supporting our son Tom and nephew Mark and we have made some great friends over the years, including the Brown family.
"The motocross community really is fantastic and the way people have supported Mark's fundraising efforts is truly amazing."
This was the 25th anniversary of the Mike Brown Memorial Race held at Marshfield Motocross Club. The event featured an 'Old Friends' Race' where Mike's friends, relatives and former competitors came together to race in his memory and for the first time, teamed up with their sons/daughters, nephews/nieces or protégés for a two rider relay race.
Alan Price, Marshfield Motocross Club treasurer, said: "There have been many people involved with the Mike Brown Memorial over the years that deserve thanks, as without the foundations they built, there could not have been a 25th anniversary to use as a fundraising platform.
"We hope to continue our association with the appeal as it really motivates people and leads to a great atmosphere. The new race format and extra effort put in by the committee this year really paid off and thoughts of 2015 are already creeping in."
Funds were raised through the raffle, a share of the entrance takings, the auction of current world class rider gear and a Kawasaki KX85 off-road motorcycle. This motorcycle was donated by Kawasaki Motors UK, and alone raised £3,000.
Jo Hones, of The Forever Friends Appeal, said: "Mark is a truly inspiring individual. He has an extremely supportive network of friends, family and colleagues who are determined to help him with his fundraising efforts for the new Cancer Centre.
"Raising over £16,000 in just one day is absolutely incredible and we are just so pleased to have accepted such a large cheque towards the new Cancer Centre building. Thank you to everyone who organised, and supported the Marshfield Motocross day – it really was a day to remember!"
To find out more about The Forever Friends Appeal visit www.foreverfriendsappeal.co.uk while the club's facebook page can be found by searching for firstname.lastname@example.com
To continue with their support for Mark's fundraising efforts, Kawasaki Motors are organising a Kawasaki Golf Classic in Reading on July 16 with more information at www.kawasakigolfclassic.org


text:
McLean County (Illinois, USA)
Peter Maurer, the first Mennonite settler in Illinois, located in McLean County in 1829, near Rock Creek, five miles north of Danvers. The major migration to the area came in 1832-1850. However, the first two congregations, organized in 1833 and 1836, were both located across the border in Woodford County. The first congregation organizing in McLean County was the Rock Creek or Yoder Mennonite Church, organized in 1851 (meetinghouse 1853). From this church, later called North Danvers, three other congregations developed—South Danvers (1859), East White Oak (1892), and Carlock (1914). The Meadows Mennonite Church (1892) and the Anchor Mennonite Church (1894, dissolved 1953) on the far north and far east borders of the county had other origins. A mission congregation and also a bookstore were established in Bloomington in 1956 by the Mennonite Church (MC).
Weaver, W. B. History of the Central Conference Mennonite Church. Danvers, IL, 1926.
|Raymond L Hartzler
|Date Published
Cite This Article
MLA style
Hartzler, Raymond L. "McLean County (Illinois, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1957. Web. 26 Sep 2017. http://gameo.org/index.php?title=McLean_County_(Illinois,_USA)&oldid=113508.
APA style
Hartzler, Raymond L. (1957). McLean County (Illinois, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 26 September 2017, from http://gameo.org/index.php?title=McLean_County_(Illinois,_USA)&oldid=113508.
©1996-2017 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.


text:
Mladen Obradovic, the fanatical Serbian bigot who leads the the "ultranationalist" group Obraz, will face charges of inciting violence during Belgrade's Oct. 10 gay pride parade, where more than 150 people — mostly police, but also revelers and spectators — were injured. Obradovic and two other Obraz members, who led an estimated 6,000 anti-gay protesters, were indicted just before Christmas and face 12-year prison sentences. Last year Obradovic successfully got Belgrade's pride parade canceled by intimidating organizers so much police said they could not guarantee The Gays' safety.
Permalink | Post a comment | Add to del.icio.us
Tagged: Belgrade, Gay Pride, Mladen Obradovic, Pride parades, Serbia, Violence


text:
IT'S A RARE THING to encounter a live Florida panther in the wild, even for workers in the country's only official refuge for the endangered cat. But on a morning not long ago, Larry Richardson found himself face-to-face with four of them: a mother and three kittens, sprawled lazily across a dirt trail as he rounded a corner in his pickup.
"The kittens were sleeping, all stacked together like cordwood, until they saw my truck," recalls Richardson, a biologist with the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge near Naples, Florida. "The mother and two kittens ran, but a third kitten just stood there, watching me. We both got a good look at each other."
The moment is seared into Richardson's brain because of what happened next: Over the following months, the mother and two of the kittens were found dead, struck by cars or killed in turf fights with other panthers. Finally, the litter's only surviving kitten also died, hit by a vehicle as it crossed a busy two-lane blacktop near the sanctuary.
As it has so many times in the panther's recent history, hope for a new life for the animals had collided with stark reality in Southwest Florida, where the last remaining population of the cats exists in a kind of limbo between survival and extinction. More of the federally protected felines live in the region today than at any time since the 1950s, thanks to aggressive intervention that has led to record numbers of births and a tripling of the overall population. But lately, many more cats are dying, too, suggesting to some that the recovery may have already peaked. "We see high numbers of births and deaths in the same year," says Richardson, a 17-year employee of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The roadside deaths are only a symptom of a much larger problem: the steady loss of wild lands where North America's most endangered cat lives. Even as its numbers grow, the panther is losing territory to new housing projects spilling eastward from Southwest Florida's booming Paradise Coast and other types of development throughout the region. Wildlife experts say a population of at least 240 panthers is needed to ensure survivability over the long haul. But even at the current level of 100 cats, South Florida appears to be running out of room.
"The panther is being squeezed," says NWF Senior Counsel John Kostyack, who has successfully filed lawsuits to stop the loss of some of the cats' habitat. "And authorities have resisted calls to consider the cumulative impacts of the dozens of projects already approved and those in the pipeline."
Even lands that have been identified by scientists as "essential panther habitat" are disappearing at a rate of 1 percent a year. Federal and state agencies in charge of the panther's recovery have tried to slow the decline, but they have been unable or unwilling to stop it.
Conservation groups and some independent scientists say the agencies haven't done nearly enough. They accuse the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service--the agency chiefly responsible for enforcing the U.S. Endangered Species Act--of caving in to developers by approving new construction in areas vital to the panther's recovery. They also accuse the agency of using flawed science in determining which lands to protect, and how to compensate for habitat that is destroyed.
Agency officials last year acknowledged errors in the scientific underpinnings of several key panther policies. But Paul Souza, field supervisor for the service's Vero Beach, Florida, office, says the problems have been fixed. He says the agency today is focused on seeking practical solutions that protect the panther while acknowledging that urban sprawl can never be completely halted. "Rather than being defeatists, we're making a positive, serious attempt to save panther habitat," Souza says.
But will it be enough? "At some point the rising population trend will meet the declining carrying capacity," says Jane Comiskey, a University of Tennessee researcher who served on a federal science advisory team that evaluated conservation strategies for the panther. "While the biological prospects for recovery are encouraging, it's harder to see the cup as half full when the size of the cup keeps shrinking."
Epitome of Stealth On the eastern edge of the panther sanctuary, an 11-foot-high chain link fence forms a barrier between the panthers and human passersby on Florida's Route 29. The fence isn't meant to protect people from the carnivores inside. It is meant to keep panthers from getting squashed by trucks. Inside the refuge, a staff of 18 federal scientists and workers busy themselves with projects also intended to keep live cats from becoming dead ones. Together with state wildlife officers, they track and capture panthers to check their health and use machetes to hack away cabbage palms to make it easier for the cats to find prey.
This is the panther's world, and it's an existence on life support. After coming within a whisker of extinction two decades ago, the cats today are aggressively managed in an effort to maximize their chances for survival. Roughly a third of them are fitted with radio collars so they can be monitored from the air. If a panther stops moving, wildlife officers on foot will check to see if it is dead or injured.
It wasn't always this way. The Florida panther, a subspecies of the cougar, thrived for thousands of years within a range that stretched from Texas to the Carolinas. But with the arrival of Europeans, the panther began a long retreat. By 1900, the only remaining cats lived in isolation in South Florida, where, by the 1950s, most of them were wiped out by bounty hunters.
The panther officially gained federally protected status in 1973, yet its fortunes continued to slide. In the late 1980s, as few as 30 cats survived, and these were weakened by years of inbreeding.
The turnaround, when it happened, was dramatic. The most important single factor was a controversial decision to artificially enhance the panther's gene pool. Federal wildlife officials in 1995 imported eight breeding females from a different subspecies of cougar, a close relative from West Texas that interbred with the panther centuries ago when their territories overlapped. The arrival of these cougars set off a population mini-boom that tripled the number of cats in little more than a decade.
The panther also benefited from the creation of the refuge itself: 26,400 acres of federally owned palmetto and slash pine largely off-limits to humans. The sanctuary is the heart of a far bigger swath of protected space that includes parts of the Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park.
Inside the refuge, the tawny felines--which can weigh as much as 150 pounds and grow to as long as 7 feet from nose to tail--feast on deer, wild hogs and an occasional armadillo, with little fear of disturbance. Yet, even there they remain as invisible as ghosts. On a steamy morning in late summer, Richardson, the wildlife biologist, led a visitor on a trek through the sanctuary by canoe and swamp buggy, a tour that came with a guarantee that no actual panthers would be seen.
"They're reclusive, sneaky, the epitome of stealth," he says. "Sometimes the telemetry reading will show a panther less than 100 yards away, but you'll never see him. By the time you get there, he's gone."
If the sanctuary were big enough, the panther might simply recover on its own within the refuge's protective confines. The problem is, the territorial requirements of the cat far exceed the amount of government-owned land available to it. A single adult male panther will stake out a territory covering 200 square miles or more, and he will fight with any rival male that enters his domain.
A plan developed by four government agencies in 1993 identified more than 900,000 acres of private land as important panther habitat that should be preserved along with the federal sanctuaries. All together, the space set aside by the planners was deemed large enough to sustain 50 adult cats, the biggest population anyone at the time dared to hope for. Thirteen years later, there are more cats, but thousands fewer acres.
Using Skewed Data In recent years, several new projects have been approved on, or adjacent to, lands that were designated essential habitat for panthers. In each case, the cats' proximity slowed the permitting process and forced the developer to agree to make adjustments to mitigate the impact on panthers. But not once in a decade has a proposed development been halted due to the risk of harming the animals. Indeed, some of the most controversial projects were allowed to go forward even though the government's own biologists saw potential problems for the cats.
"Agency officials see it as a balancing act, but for years they were clearly erring on the side of developers, even though their mandate was to err on the side of the species," says a former agency biologist who participated in the reviews. The biologist, who still holds a government job, spoke on the condition he not be identified by name.
A frequent target for criticism has been the Fish and Wildlife Service's scientific methodology for deciding where and how development can occur. Until recently, the agency used what critics say was skewed data that made it easier to justify new construction projects. The data were supposed to show which kinds of terrain were most important for Florida panthers, using radio telemetry from the panther's electronic collars to chart their movement across the landscape. But there was a problem: No telemetry readings were collected during nighttime hours, when the cats do nearly all their hunting and roaming. The government's analysis also inexplicably omitted hundreds of telemetry readings that showed panthers using a variety of terrain types--not just forests, but also wetlands, prairie and even agricultural fields. The result was a badly distorted view of the panther as a creature that lived exclusively in large, heavily wooded areas, with little use for other kinds of terrain of interest to developers.
In 2005, after an agency scientist successfully challenged the policy in a whistleblower lawsuit, the wildlife service formally agreed to toss out the old data and to use a more scientifically rigorous process for making decisions about preserving land and compensating for lost territory.
Souza, the federal wildlife supervisor, says his agency has recommitted itself to using the "best available science" in its decisions. While acknowledging that habitat continues to be lost, he says the agency uses its leverage to extract important concessions that will improve the lot of the panther in the long run. More lands--and better-quality lands--will be preserved elsewhere whenever prime panther habitat is sacrificed, he says. "Our job at the end of the day is to guard against jeopardy for the panther," says Souza.
But conservationists say they're hard-pressed to see that anything has changed. Laura Hartt, an NWF environmental policy specialist who recently helped revise the government's recovery plan for the cats, says the agency still hasn't allowed outsiders to examine the new formulas it uses for making decisions about panther habitat. "We've asked to see the scientific documents behind their methodology, but we can't get them," says Hartt. "As far as we can tell, there is no scientific underpinning to the mitigation, and no proof that it is helping."
Meanwhile, Hartt and others were incensed to discover that the agency has been allowing developers to write the first drafts of key documents known as "biological opinions," scientific studies that gauge the impact of each new construction project on panthers. Souza acknowledges the practice but says the developers are only "filling out templates" to reduce the paperwork burden for government scientists. Hartt, however, says the policy gives developers another opportunity to influence the process and gain advantage. "The developers have an interest in the outcome," she says. "It's a classic case of the fox guarding the henhouse."
No one expects development to stop. But advocates worry that each loss for the cat builds on the momentum of previous losses and contributes to what NWF's Kostyack calls "baseline shift": Each step toward developing a new area opens the floodgates to still more development. For the panther, he says, it means more people, more traffic and more hazards for an endangered creature that is rebounding today but still far from safe.
"Can we make South Florida's panther population large enough to be truly healthy and sustainable?" asks Kostyack. "The answer is probably yes, but only if we stop doing what we're doing and actually start protecting endangered cats."
Journalist Joe Dupree is based in Northern Virginia.
Home to Rare Species
Located only 20 miles east of Naples in fast-developing Collier County, the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge is a haven for more than just the big cats. The 26,400-acre reserve also provides important habitat for a number of other endangered or threatened animals, such as the wood stork and eastern indigo snake, and some 40 species of rare native orchids, including the endangered yellow helmet.
A Long History of Protecting Panthers
When the National Park Service threatened to remove a female Florida panther and her kittens last year from the Big Cypress National Preserve, NWF initiated a public outreach campaign to convince authorities that the cats did not pose a threat to nearby residents. Protecting the female panther--one of only 14 to 17 reproducing females surviving in a population of about 80 cats--was "consistent with the Florida Panther Recovery Plan, which emphasizes using sound science to manage the animals," says NWF Environmental Policy Specialist Laura Hartt, who helped draft the recently revised recovery plan.
For more than two decades, NWF and its affiliate, the Florida Wildlife Federation (FWF), have been leading efforts in the Sunshine State to safeguard the habitat of the country's most endangered cat. "We have a unique partnership," says Nancy Payton, FWF's Southwest Florida field representative who coordinates the group's panther work. "Between our organizations' various field offices in Florida and Georgia and presence in Washington, D.C., we have the ability to weigh in on every issue relating to the cats at every level of government decision-making."
Since the late 1990s, when it won a legal case challenging inadequate panther management plans in Collier County, Florida, FWF has focused on implementing innovative strategies that provide economic incentives for private landowners. "We don't have the funds to purchase land, so we've looked for creative ways to reward landowners who take steps to protect cat habitat," says Payton.
Three years ago, NWF and FWF uncovered evidence that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had been ignoring scientific data about panther movements and automatically approving development applications in the animal's habitat. "The agency had been rubber-stamping projects scheduled in essential habitat for years," says NWF Senior Counsel John Kostyack.
The two groups also successfully filed lawsuits to prevent the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from issuing permits for construction plans--including a 5,200-acre open pit mine--and dredge-and-fill operations in the cats' habitat without conducting proper environmental assessments of the proposed projects.
To help reduce collisions between panthers and automobiles--a leading cause of mortality among the cats--the groups have helped secure wildlife underpasses and crossings on major highways in Southwest Florida. In addition, they are using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to help authorities identify areas essential to the survival and recovery of the cats.
For more information about efforts to protect panthers and other endangered Southeast species, visit www.nwf.org/wildlife and www.fwfonline.org.