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march 2007
Mrs. Laura Bush and Mrs. Margarita Zavala, wife of Mexico President Felipe Calderon, applaud a performer of the Cultural Center for Yucatecan Children Tuesday, March 13, 2007, at Hacienda Ochil near Temozon in Mexico.
Mrs. Laura Bush and Mrs. Margarita Zavala, wife of Mexico President Felipe Calderon, applaud a performer of the Cultural Center for Yucatecan Children Tuesday, March 13, 2007, at Hacienda Ochil near Temozon in Mexico.
Mrs. Laura Bush visits Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge during a tour of Sand Island and Eastern Island, part of the Hawaiian archipelago Thursday, March 1, 2007. President Bush designated the Northwest Hawaiian Islands National Monument June 15, 2006. It is the single largest conservation area in the U.S. history and the largest protected marine area in the world. Mrs. Laura Bush views albatross birds and remnants of World War II with wildlife biologist John Klavitter during a tour of Eastern Island on Midway Atoll, part of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands National Monument, Thursday, March 1, 2007. Midway Atoll was the site of the Battle of Midway June 4, 1942. The U.S. Navy defeated a Japanese attack against Midway Islands, marking a turning point in the war in the pacific theater.
Mrs. Laura Bush talks with wildlife biologist, John Klavitter, left, Interior Secretary Interior Dirk Kempthorne and Chairman Jim Connaughton of the Council on Environmental Quality at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge Thursday, March 1, 2007. The island is home to a great number of endangered species such as Laysan Ducks, Short-tailed Albatross, Hawaiian Monk Seals and Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles. Mrs. Laura Bush tours Eastern Island Monument Seep wetlands Thursday, March 1, 2007, where several endangered Laysan ducks were brought it in 2004. A freshwater pond was dug and native grasses were restored to create breeding grounds for the ducks.
A Laysan albatross on Eastern Island stands over her chick. Midway Atoll, and its member Eastern Island, is home to nearly two million birds each year including the world?s largest colony of Laysan albatrosses. Almost 300,000 nesting pairs inhabit the island, but a great number of albatross chicks die each year due to ingesting flaking lead paint flaking from abandoned buildings and plastic pollution washing up on the beaches. Mrs. Laura Bush tags an albatross chick during a visit to Midway Atoll Thursday, March 1, 2007. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne is pictured with Mrs. Bush. President Bush designated the Northwest Hawaiian Islands National Monument on June 15, 2006, and is the single largest conservation area in U.S. history and the largest protected marine area in the world.
Mrs. Laura Bush toured Midway Atoll and viewed many albatross birds on the Northwest Hawaiian Islands National Monument, Thursday March 1, 2007. The short-tailed albatross facing the camera is a long-time resident of the island and standing with two decoy birds. "He's been here about five years," said Mrs. Bush of the lonely bird. "He's 20 years old. They know because he was banded in Japan on the island where he was. Of course, they are hoping to attract some young short-tailed albatross. That's why the decoys are here also, so there will be a mating pair here." Mrs. Laura Bush works with wildlife biologist John Klavitter to restore native bunchgrass during a tour of Eastern Island on Midway Atoll Thursday, March 1, 2007. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne is pictured in a red jacket.
Midway Atoll biologists work to restore native plants like this tribulus puncture vine that create healthy habitats for native endangered species. A Black Footed albatross stands on Eastern Island where Mrs. Laura Bush toured Thursday March 1, 2007, as part of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands National Monument. The Black Footed albatross is an endangered seabird that nests almost exclusively in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
Artifacts like a golf ball, lighter, and random pieces of plastic poke through the skeletal remains of an albatross on Midway Atoll. These artifacts of global pollution are eaten by the albatross, which ultimately kills them. In 2006, the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) picked up 21 tons marine debris in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. A Wildlife Biologist holds up a hook that was found in the stomach of a bird on Eastern Island. Human debris poses a significant danger to the many endangered species that live in the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge.
To keep the birds from eating flaking paint, netting surrounds an abandoned buildings on Sand Island. These Cable buildings were built at the turn of the 20th Century and were used for some of the first telegram messages sent. Mrs. Laura Bush visits the Battle of Midway Memorial on the parade grounds of Midway Island Thursday, March 1, 2007. Midway Atoll was the site of the World War II battle June 4, 1942. The U.S. Navy defeated a Japanese attack against Midway Islands, marking a turning point in the war in the pacific theater. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne is pictured wearing a blue shirt and is standing next to Mrs. Bush.
Laura Bush visits Midway Atoll, part of the Hawaiian archipelago, Thursday, March 1. 2007. The Northwest Hawaiian Islands consist of 10 islands and atolls stretched over 1,400 miles, the distance from Chicago to Miami. Around the islands and atolls are more than 4,500 square miles of coral reef. The area is are home to 7,000 marine species, a quarter of which are found nowhere else in the world. The sun sets over Rusty bucket beach after Mrs. Laura Bush's tour of Sand and Eastern Islands in Midway Atoll Thursday, March 1, 2007. President Bush designated the islands as a national monument June 15, 2006. It is the single largest conservation area created in U.S. history and the largest protected marine area in the world.
In March, Mrs. Laura Bush traveled with President George W. Bush to Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico. During her trip Mrs. Bush highlighted literacy and education programs as well as visiting important cultural sites. In this photograph, members of the Patzun Dance group performs the dance, "La Danza de los Venados," Monday, March 12, 2007, during a visit to Iximche, Guatemala, by President George W. Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush and President Oscar Berger of Guatemala and his wife, Mrs. Wendy Widmann de Berger. Mrs. Laura Bush participates in a discussion at the AlfaSol literacy program Friday, March 9, 2007, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Students who complete the literacy program are eligible to enter Brazil’s Youth and Adult Education (YAE) national program, which offers skills training for specific employment opportunities.
Mrs. Laura Bush visits the AlfaSol literacy program Friday, March 9, 2007, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Mrs. Laura Bush talks with Mrs. Marisa Leticia da Silva, wife of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil at the Hilton Sao Paulo Morumbi hotel, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Friday, March 9, 2007.
Mrs. Laura Bush visits Projecto Aprendiz Friday, March 9, 2007, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Initiated by Brazilian journalist Gilberto Dimenstein, Projeto Aprendiz assists at-risk youth through educational, sports, cultural and job opportunities within their own neighborhood. Mrs. Laura Bush listens to a musical performance at Projecto Aprendiz Friday, March 9, 2007, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Developing the concept of the neighborhood as a school, the program supplements school education with a wide range of community-based activities. The work carried out by Aprendiz has been recognized by UNICEF as a best practice project to be disseminated worldwide.
Mrs. Laura Bush talks with a little boy at Projecto Aprendiz Friday, March 9, 2007, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. President George W. Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush meet President Tabare Vazquez of Uruguay and his wife, Maria Auxiliadora Delgado de Vazquez at the Main House, Estancia Anchorena, in Colonia, Uruguay, Saturday, March 10, 2007.
Mrs. Laura Bush tours Colonia del Sacramento with Maria Auxiliadora Delgado de Vazquez, wife of the President of Uruguay in Colonia, Uruguay, Saturday, March 10, 2007. Mrs. Laura Bush tours Escuela de Artes y Oficios with Mrs. Lina Moreno De Uribe, wife of President Uribe of Colombia. Bogota, Colombia, Sunday, March 11, 2007. Mrs. Bush talks to an artist during the tour.
President George W. Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush play with a young girl during a visit Monday, March 12, 2007, to the Carlos Emilio Leonardo School in Santata Cruz Balanya, Guatemala. The couple visited a medical readiness and training exercise site at the school. Mrs. Laura Bush participates in a discussion at Camino Seguro (Safe Passage) with Wendy Widmann de Berger in Guatemala City, Guatemala, Sunday, March 11, 2007. The program was founded by an American for children of families working in the Guatemala City garbage dump.
Mrs. Laura Bush talks to children at Camino Seguro (Safe Passage) in Guatemala City, Guatemala, Monday, March 12, 2007. Mrs. Laura Bush poses with performers Monday, March 12, 2007, after a demonstration of a Mayan Ritual competition in Iximche, Guatemala. President and Mrs. Bush visited three Guatemalan villages during the morning hours before departing for Mexico, the last stop of their five-country, Latin American visit.
Mrs. Laura Bush and Mrs. Margarita Zavala, wife of President Felipe Calderon of Mexico, tour Mayan ruins in Uxmal, Mexico Tuesday, March 13, 2007. Mrs. Laura Bush and Mrs. Margarita Zavala, wife of Mexico President Felipe Calderon, applaud a performer of the Cultural Center for Yucatecan Children Tuesday, March 13, 2007, at Hacienda Ochil near Temozon in Mexico.
President George W. Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush walk with Mexico's President Felipe Calderon and Mrs. Margarita Zavala upon their arrival Tuesday, March 13, 2007, to Hacienda Temozon in Temozon Sur, Mexico.

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