The radical right detects a conspiracy, pointing out that the date coincides with Lenin's birthday. But fervor for a clean environment builds. The Murie Audubon Society in Casper, Wyoming, makes headlines across the country when members discover a graveyard of illegally poisoned eagles. In response, Congress tightens eagle-protection legislation. Congress passes the Endangered Species Act.
Arab countries proclaim an embargo on oil, causing widespread fuel shortages.
Audubon biologist Stephen W. Kress starts an experimental project to return the Atlantic puffin, long extirpated from the area, to an island in Maine. The slaughter of the great whales continues, and the National Audubon Society announces its first boycott, singling out products from the two largest whaling nations, Japan and the Soviet Union. The magazine is especially hard hit by the three-year boycott, losing lucrative ads for Japanese binoculars and cameras. The Worldwatch Institute is founded in Washington, D.C., to identify and analyze emerging global problems for national leaders and the public. The winter roosts of blackbirds take a hit.