NEWS ROUNDUP

Firefighter Pleads Guilty in Az. Wildfire A part-time firefighter accused of trying to make work for himself by starting what became the biggest wildfire in Arizona history pleaded guilty Monday. The fire Leonard Gregg started last year combined with another to form the Rodeo-Chediski wildfire, which destroyed hundreds of homes and forced 30,000 people to evacuate as it burned 469,000 acres of private, Forest Service and Fort Apache Reservation land. Gregg, who also was charged with starting a smaller fire, pleaded guilty to two federal counts of intentionally setting a fire. He could get up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced in January...Senators stall forest thinning bill Democrats on Monday stalled a vote on landmark forest thinning legislation, calling for a new hearing on compromise language negotiated by a handful of senators last week. "We're not putting a hold on it forever. We're not trying to be obstructionists," said Bill Wicker, a spokesman for Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, ranking Democrat on the Energy committee. "The truth of the matter is we're having a hard time making heads or tails out of this text." In particular, Bingaman is concerned about provisions of the bill that would eliminate administrative appeals to controversial forest thinning decisions and wants to hear testimony on the issue from legal experts and academics, Wicker said...Klamath Tribes host tour to show their plan for managing the forests The Klamath Tribes on Friday gave irrigators and others an idea of how they would manage the expansive stands of pine that cover the former reservations lands they hope to gain control of someday. A forest management plan is a key element in negotiations the Klamath Tribes are having with the federal government about the possible return of about 690,000 acres to the Chiloquin-based tribes, said Allen Foreman, chairman of the Klamath Tribes...Critics pan plan for land-use fee A proposal by seven Eastern congressmen to charge fees of $85 or more annually to visit public lands has Western states land activists up in arms. "What this means is you'd be a criminal every time you left the city limits," Kitty Benzar, co-founder of the Western Slope No-Fee Coalition, said Friday. "We're told it would be at least $85, and these congressmen are from states with very little federal land so there's little impact on their constituents." The proposal, introduced earlier this month as a resolution by Rep. Ralph Regula, R-Ohio, would make permanent the recreation fee demonstration program, which for several years has been collecting money for public access to selected areas, including some in Colorado. Republican congressmen from Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Wisconsin make up the plan's other six co-sponsors...Click here to view the legislation (H.R. 3283)...Wolf Awareness Week Oct. 19-25; North American Gray Wolves Have Made Gains But Much Work is Yet to be Done The drive to bring gray wolves back from the brink of extinction in the lower 48 states has led to some gains in wolf populations, but many challenges remain that could easily reverse the progress made and further decimate the species, Defenders of Wildlife noted today at the start of Wolf Awareness Week. "Put simply, this species will not recover further without federal help," said Nina Fascione, vice president of species conservation at Defenders of Wildlife. "We have made significant gains and brought wolves back from the brink of extinction, but they still inhabit less than 5 percent of their original range. And, with continued illegal hunting and hostile state management plans, that 5 percent could shrink dramatically."...Kids Encouraged to Share Wild Ideas to Help Endangered Animals Mutual of Omaha is tapping into the natural creativity of today's youngsters to prove that kids can make a difference in helping to preserve our natural world. Held for the third consecutive year, Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom Kids' Summit 2004 essay contest encourages kids to unleash their creativity by brainstorming ways to save North America's endangered species. The Kids' Summit gathers young delegates from across the nation to discuss and learn about wildlife conservation. Kids ages 9 to 12 are encouraged to write a one-page essay explaining their idea for saving a threatened or endangered species. Mutual of Omaha will collect the essays, and one aspiring conservationist from each state will be selected to attend the Kids' Summit in San Diego on May 5-7, 2004...Near-threats, raw emotions mark clash But increasingly living cheek by jowl with grizzlies without more legal means of protecting themselves and their livestock is another issue. There are people here who are scared and angry. And, a few of them are uttering threats about the state and federal managers of an expanding bear population in the Northern Rockies that more than 20 years after being protected under by the Endangered Species Act shows little sign of actually being delisted. "Our kids can't even be kids," says Jonel Hodgskiss of Choteau. Her two sons love to fish, she says, but she won't let them wander the brushy Spring Creek bottom to fish at the edge of this small town. They may run into a grizzly. At the Miller Colony, cattle manager Jacob Hofer says he's had grizzlies charge his pickup truck more than once. The worst part, he says, is that the cattle know when bears are around and it stresses them so much they lose weight, costing the colony money that isn't covered by the Defenders of Wildlife depredation compensation program. That program pays for confirmed bear kills. Fixing fence in brushy areas is dicey, Kleinsasser says. His men work in pairs and make noise, he says. They can't carry guns because it's against Hutterite doctrine as conscientious objectors, he says. Stress from bears hurts his sheep operation, he says. The ewes had just been bred last year when the grizzly "terrorized" the band, including running some over a cliff. That spring, the ewes had markedly few twin lambs, he says...
Government, Tribe Reject Water Offer The federal government and a northern California Indian tribe have rejected a deal that would have ended a three-year legal fight over restoring water to the Trinity River. A regional water agency presented the settlement offer Oct. 14 in Sacramento to representatives of the government, the Hoopa Valley Indian tribe, and the Yurok Indians, whose reservation lies along the banks of the Klamath River...Officials say California behind Nevada in tortoise protection Environmental officials are calling southern Nevada a model for protecting the endangered desert tortoise, but say efforts in California are moving as slowly as the creatures themselves. Michael Connor, executive director of the nonprofit Desert Tortoise Preserve Committee, a 1,300-member group based in Riverside, Calif., said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is dragging its bureaucratic feet in putting into action a 9-year-old recovery plan...Emergency meeting of the shovel brigade Mike Lattin of the Shovel Brigade said in a notice that the meeting is in response to the U.S. Forest Service's policy of citing drivers on the road for allegedly damaging natural resources. An Idaho man, John Eickhof, received such a ticket and has pleaded not guilty. Lattin's notice states that the Shovel Brigade is planning a defense fund against those who receive such tickets in the future. Assemblyman John Carpenter, R-Elko, said Friday he understands Eickhoff was cited because about a quarter of a mile from the trailhead drivers need to "go down a bank and cross the river" to reach the end of the road. "I think people are upset. If this sticks, someone who is out hunting and gets off the road and runs over a bush could be cited," he said...Conservation group seeks reversal of coal-bed methane ruling A conservation group has asked the state director of the Bureau of Land Management to reverse a decision approving more coal-bed methane wells in southerneastern Montana. The Northern Plains Resource Council said it did not get a chance to comment on an environmental assessment for an expansion project planned near Decker by Fidelity Exploration & Production Co. The group said it filed a protest with state director Marty Ott, asking that the decision be reversed and project development be put on hold pending a ''more thorough'' environmental review. ''The BLM has a solemn moral and legal responsibility to involve landowners and the public when it approves methane projects,'' said Mark Fix, a rancher and Northern Plains member...'Mother Wilderness' dies at Wyoming ranch at 101 Conservationist Margaret ''Mardy'' Murie, considered by many the mother of the modern conservation movement, has died. She was 101. Murie, who was instrumental in enacting the Wilderness Act and creating the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, died Sunday at her ranch in Grand Teton National Park. She was to be laid to rest during a private family ceremony, with a public memorial planned at The Murie Center on her ranch later this year. No dates were immediately announced...County seeks increased sled limits in Yellowstone Park County has called for 23 percent more snowmobiles in Yellowstone this winter than the Park Service plans to allow. The county is asking for an initial increase to 1,400 snowmobiles per day. The NPS has set a limit of 1,140 per day. Commission Chairman Tim Morrison believes the Park Service "chose an arbitrary number" for daily winter use in Yellowstone, adding, "I don't know how much weight they (NPS) gave to historic use" at each entrance...Diverse groups decry riders on religious-charity bill Religious, taxpayer-advocacy and property rights groups are opposing the Senate bill on religious charity because of an environmental tax break they say hurts them and has nothing to do with helping church groups. But the Senate bill has a few provisions that do not directly relate to religious groups, including one that would give a tax break to people who sell land for conservation purposes. At least 34 groups, including Americans for Tax Reform, the American Conservative Union and the American Association of Christian Schools said this provision wrongly favors conservation groups over church-based social services. "It is our belief that the Charitable Giving Act is intended to encourage and benefit faith-based institutions," reads a letter dated yesterday and signed by the groups. "And yet incredibly, this proposal would place those very faith-based institutions, such as churches, orphanages and private schools, at a comparative disadvantage in property purchases compared to land trusts and government agencies, neither of which are faith-based."... New group to counter wilderness agenda With the help of two Utah congressmen, a new grass-roots group has been formed as a counterbalance to what it views as a disproportionate influence of environmental groups like the Sierra Club. Partnership for the West, a Denver-based group backed by industry, hopes to be a strong lobbying force in Congress by pushing an agenda of increased access to public lands for recreation and oil and gas development...Diverse species thrive in harsh environment The King Ranch is an idyllic environment for cowboys, cattle and cotton, but few may know it's also a biological treasure larger than Big Bend and home to a huge stand of live oak trees, 350 species of birds and miles of coastline and wetlands. Despite 150 years of use and some god-awful droughts, including one just two years ago, the King Ranch may be in better shape than ever. Spared from development, the harsh yet fertile landscape has more species of plants and animals today than it did hundreds of years ago, because much of it has been managed in ways that benefit native habitat and wildlife...Cattle ban not likely to be lifted: officials Top agriculture officials on both sides of the border are dismissing a news report that live Canadian cattle could be moving into the United States by December, saying that timeline is too optimistic. "I would be very, very surprised," said Gilles Lavoie, director general of Agriculture Canada's marketing services branch. CBC Newsworld reported Monday that the American border was poised to accept cattle under the age of 30 months, citing the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. That would end a ban on live animals imposed after mad cow disease was detected in an Alberta cow last May...Last lumber truck leaves Wetsel-Oviatt Though this was the 72-year-old man's last day, it wasn't because he was retiring. It was his last day because the company he has given almost half a century of service to was closing after producing lumber for 64 years. About 120 other people lost their jobs, too. "I never dreamed I'd be here to see the day the mill closed," Glavich said. Though many employees didn't expect to see the mill close, owner Cecil Wetsel said he knew he had to make the decision to close the company. He said the business environment in California made the decision for him. Over the past couple years, Wetsel's Workers' Compensation costs rose from $770,000 to $1.6 million per year, and the state has imposed electricity surcharges that cost the company about $20,000 a year. In addition, global competition has forced lumber prices to drop lower than they have been in 20 years in some cases. Wetsel said this combination forced the closure of the company and the end of a lot of good memories...Big Horn reinstates Kane grazing permit A bureaucratic mistake by the Big Horn National Forest has led to the restoration of one of two grazing permits previously taken away from a Sheridan-area rancher. In a Friday press release, District Ranger Craig Yancey said the Kane Land & Livestock will be allowed to graze livestock on the larger of two allotments he historically has leased, the Freezeout allotment. Still standing is Yancey's decision to cancel Kane's lease of a smaller allotment -- the Lower Tongue. The reversal comes after the grazing permit cancellations were initially reviewed and approved at the regional level. A review of the rules found that two allotments governed by one grazing permit must be treated separately for administrative purposes -- something that wasn't done when both of Kane's leases were cancelled...Thomason-Morton-York Ranch: the culmination of a dream The Thomason-Morton Ranch reached a milestone on Oct. 11 of this year, with 150 years of recorded ownership by primarily three families: the Thomasons, Mortons and Yorks. John W. Thomason left Putnam County, Ill., in the spring of 1852 by ox team and wagon and headed overland to California with his wife Druzilla Blanchard Thomason, their two children, and five other children of Mrs. Thomason's, whose last names were Blanchard and Neff. Of the seven children, five ranged in age from one year to 11 years old. He arrived in Yreka in September of 1852...The Expert Gentle readers, I have in the past (as I bet you have) always considered anyone who was considered an expert, to be just that ... AN EXPERT. I have since changed my mind. Let me explain. Recently, a so-called, self-appointed bear expert got himself and his girlfriend killed and eaten by an Alaskan Brown bear that some folks call grizzlies. It appears that this young feller, who by the way was from Malibu, Calif., spent the last several summers living in bear country in Alaska. He would film the bears coming right in his camp and getting within a few feet of him and his camera. He made the comment that the bears were just timid, fun loving party animals! T'weren't so! They did exactly what most folks with any common sense would expect them to do when challenged in their habitat. They killed the one who appointed himself an expert and chose to live in a tent amongst them...Motorized present lassoed by equine past Just about a week ago, with the afternoon sun slanting through the mesquite trees along Pantano Wash and great cactuses standing solemnly at attention, a Tucson cowboy flung a lariat at modern technology, snaring a motorcyclist and risking prosecution on charges of assault with the apparent intent to rein in progress. The same is not true of a motorcyclist. Police say they've heard differing versions of the encounter, and are in the process of sorting them out. They were told by two men on horseback that they confronted three dirt bikers on a trail near the stables. There was some kind of testy exchange that appears to have ended with the cyclists riding off and the horsemen in pursuit. One of the motorcyclists was lassoed and pulled from his bike. He was knocked unconscious and spent the night in a Tucson hospital. Later, on TV, he showed off the rope burns on his neck...