NEWS ROUNDUP

Forest Service proposed dramatic grazing cuts in Sawtooth The Forest Service wants to reduce grazing by more than a third on two allotments east of the White Cloud Mountains in the Sawtooth National Forest. The management change is for the Upper East Fork and Lower East Fork allotments along the East Fork of the Salmon River. It would ban grazing on 33,500 acres until vegetation improves. It also would require fences to keep cattle out of some areas used by people for recreation... Grand jury indicts two in theft of petroglyphs near Reno A federal grand jury indicted two men on felony charges Wednesday for allegedly damaging and stealing rocks with American Indian petroglyphs from a national forest bordering Reno... Construction Equipment Vandalized, Possibly By Radical Environmental Group Construction equipment used for a rehabilitation project in the Jemez Mountains has been vandalized. U.S. Forest Service officials say someone cut electrical wires and broke a window on a backhoe and slashed tires on a water trailer. Officials say both vehicles had the initials ELF scratched onto them...Guest opinion: Election cycle at odds with forest cycle This year, the Bush administration's so-called "Healthy Forest Initiative" (H.R.1904, known in the Senate as the "Senate Logging Bill"), was a document born of the times, one which only aggravates a credibility gap that it would seem this administration would be attempting to close. The Healthy Forest Initiative is most dangerous and untruthful on two major points: First, it focuses on increasing logging of the national forests in the remote backcountry, far from the human communities supposedly at risk. The Forest Service's own studies show that fire prevention is most effective within 200 feet of a dwelling; beyond that, proposing to stop a fire by logging a certain grove carries the same odds as finding a needle in a haystack... Forest Service struggles to battle beetles The Dillon Ranger District is desperately hoping it will receive the funds necessary to halt the explosion of the mountain pine beetle population. The pest has killed hundreds of trees in and around the Dillon Reservoir-area campgrounds, and rangers expect the problem to multiply if they don't take significant action quickly...Yellowstone wolf expert honored by Park Service The head of the park's wolf project was honored Wednesday night for his work with wolves since they were reintroduced here in 1995. Doug Smith has received awards from both the regional and national directors of the National Park Service...35 greatest threats to fishing Like those of us born in the baby boom generation, fishing has aged. We can see its vulnerabilities, even as we assess our own. But unlike us, fishing can endure. If we protect that which we profess to love so much, and if we pass that stewardship on to our children and our children's children, fishing will enrich lives for centuries to come...Migratory Bird Loses Some Protection The double-crested cormorant is losing some federal protection. The Fish and Wildlife Service issued a rule Wednesday allowing state wildlife agencies in 24 states, mostly in the Midwest and South, to control cormorant populations without first getting a federal permit, as is required now. Population control measures could include killing the birds or taking steps to prevent their eggs from hatching, said Nicholas Throckmorton, a spokesman for the federal agency...BLM's plan to open dunes delayed for another season The Bureau of Land Management's plan to open parts of the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation area to off-road vehicles has been delayed for another season, according to environmental groups fighting to keep the area closed. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco ruled this week that nothing can change at the dunes until the court has had a chance to review a new biological opinion being prepared about the potential impacts to the Pierson's milk-vetch, a rare plant found in the dunes...Column: Off-road, off-limits Off-road vehicle and SUV manufacturers understand this phenomenon, and their advertising reflects it. The typical commercial shows the vehicle-owner as conqueror. Powerful machines plow through muddy streams and race up steep hillsides to subdue the highest point in the wilderness. Advertisers are selling the ability to get to places that people with lesser vehicles can't. An implicit (but not so subtle) message is that if you buy their vehicle, then you are the one who gets to deflower the last bit of virgin landscape, away from the unwashed masses...Wranglers, researchers conduct annual Bison Range roundup "Prairie music," Bill West said. The bison snorted, grunted and groaned a few feet away, unnerved by the arrival of the wranglers. Calves crowded close to their mothers. The biggest, oldest bulls turned to face the riders. The cowboys smiled. "These are the best days of the year," said West, assistant manager of the National Bison Range and a cowboy for the range's annual roundup...Tribal control of National Bison Range unlikely The U.S. government will not turn over management of the National Bison Range to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, the government's lead negotiator said Tuesday. Rick Coleman, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's regional refuge chief, said the service has identified "functions and activities" that could be performed by the tribe "in cooperation with the refuge system." But management of the 18,799-acre refuge will remain with the Fish and Wildlife Service, Coleman said during the Bison Range's annual roundup - where he was a first-time visitor... Animal Protection Groups Question Federal Plan to Kill Millions of Canada Geese The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) joined today with the Fund for Animals on behalf of more than eight million members and constituents nationwide to question plans recently announced by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) that call for killing between 400,000 and 800,000 "resident" Canada geese and their goslings each year for the next ten years...Domenici Wants Water-Law Changes Just a few more court decisions like the one this summer that said New Mexico's imported water supply might be tapped for the silvery minnow, and Congress could scrap the Endangered Species Act as we know it, New Mexico's senior U.S. senator says. Republican Pete Domenici is spearheading legislation to block a federal appeals-court ruling this summer that said water from the federal San Juan/Chama diversion project could be taken to sustain the endangered Rio Grande silvery minnow. The project carries water from Colorado into New Mexico, and cities including Santa Fe and Albuquerque are counting on the water for present needs and future growth. "A few more rotten decisions, and the Endangered Species Act won't be fixed the way I'm fixing it," Domenici said. "It will finally get modified. It is hanging on by its teeth. It will get modified just to flat be practical, so that you don't do things like this."...BLM head says she wants Congress to designate N.M. wilderness The head of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management says Congress should act on an aging report that could decide the fate of proposed New Mexico wilderness. Kathleen Clarke says the BLM has identified nearly 10 million acres across the West that should be protected as wilderness. She says chunks of wilderness from that report have been approved, but the entire list has not been addressed. She says the land that has not been approved by Congress is being managed as wilderness pending a decision...Ag Groups Rally Congress to Prevent Buyout of Grazing Leases Members of the House of Representatives are being asked to oppose efforts to introduce legislation which would authorize a "buyout" of grazing permits on federal lands. A letter signed by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA), the Public Lands Council (PLC) and the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) was sent to every house member late yesterday urging support for "continued multiple use of public lands and opposition to federal grazing permit buy-out legislation." The buyout program would allow a federal grazing permittee to "sell" their permit back to the federal government. The associated grazing allotment would then be permanently retired from domestic livestock grazing use. Costs for the buyout program have been estimated at $3.3 billion, and the measure is reportedly being proposed by Reps. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Christopher Shays (R-Conn.)... Proposal to open 30,000 acres of public land awaits state OK Hunters could have access to 30,000 acres of public land in southeast Montana by next fall, much to the displeasure of some area ranchers. The Bureau of Land Management, in cooperation with the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, has proposed an easement across state land to allow vehicle access to BLM holdings. Currently, the only way for the public to reach the BLM land is by foot...Japan quarantines cattle after 8th mad cow disease discovery Japan has quarantined 604 cows to prevent the spread of mad cow disease after authorities confirmed that a 23-month-old bull had a new strain of the bovine illness, an official said Wednesday. The bull, which tested positive for the disease on Sept. 29, was the youngest animal to be found here with the fatal brain-wasting disease, known formally as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE. The other infected cattle, the most recent case in January, were five years old. Agriculture Minister Yoshiyuki Kamei said Tuesday that follow-up tests by the National Institute of Infectious Diseases revealed a possible new strain of the disease. Within hours, officials in northern Ibaraki prefecture, where the cow had been screened before it was to be slaughtered, incinerated the animal. The case showed heightened resistance to certain enzymes, the Health Ministry said in a statement. Officials were considering giving more vaccinations to cattle and possibly adjusting them to fight the new strain, it said... Latest BSE case no cause for panic (Japan) The experts say they found abnormal prions--the protein molecules believed to cause the disease--in the infected bull. The prions differed not only from the previous seven Japanese cases, but also from those found overseas. One difference was discovered in a test used to determine the existence of substances from the size of their molecules. Morikazu Shinagawa, head of the expert group, pointed out, "The structure of a sugar chain that makes up a part of the protein is different." Also, previously identified prions are highly resistant to splitting by enzymes. But the newly discovered abnormal prions can be readily dissolved by enzymes. The new prions also failed to conform with the results expected in the government's standard tests for BSE. A test on the cow's brain did not find spongelike holes or an accumulation of abnormal prions. The cow did not show signs of a loss of balance while walking, unlike all previous BSE cows... Tests confirm Saskatchewan cow sparked crisis A diseased cow that sparked a national mad cow crisis costing the cattle industry billions of dollars was born in Saskatchewan, a federal veterinarian has confirmed. "We went back and did further DNA extraction so we got a better quality of DNA," Dr. George Luterbach of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said today. "We were able to confirm an offspring of the positive cow and through records we cross-referenced that calf to its mother. About 2,700 animals which might have been associated with the infected cow were slaughtered in herds across Alberta and Saskatchewan last spring. Agriculture officials believed the animal was born on a farm owned by Mel and Betty Ann McCrae near Baldwinton, Sask., but could not prove it even after the tests... Mad cow leads 25 RMs to declare economic disaster About 25 Saskatchewan rural municipalities have declared an economic disaster due to the fallout from mad cow disease, grasshoppers and a summer heat wave. And some 125 other rural municipalities Canadawide have made the same announcement, deepening concern that piles of property tax notices will go unpaid and services will suffer, rural leaders said Tuesday...USDA Sends Rules for Live Canadian Cattle Imports to OMB The U.S. Department of Agriculture has finished writing up a proposal that seeks to eventually allow some Canadian live cattle into the U.S. and it is now being reviewed by the White House's Office of Management and Budget, according to U.S. government and industry sources. "I know it's out of (USDA) and its over (at OMB)," said a U.S. government official, who asked not to be named. "I know that as soon as it comes back, we'll publish it, but it's not back yet." OMB, which lists the USDA proposed regulation on its Web site as docket No. 03-080-1, says it was submitted for review on Oct. 1. An OMB official said traditionally it has 90 days to review proposed new regulations, but stressed the agency "likes to review rules as quickly as we can."... USDA Seeks Info On Japan BSE Case The USDA said on Monday that it was seeking more details about a new case of mad cow disease (BSE) in Japan that could impact plans to reopen U.S. borders to shipments of live Canadian cattle under 30 months of age. Japanese officials earlier confirmed the case of mad cow disease, the eighth in that country since the illness was first discovered there in September 2001. The twist is that this case is apparently a new strain of the disease and was found in a 23-month-old cow, raising new questions about what cattle may be considered safe... Montana Ag director urges trade changes Canada must remove trade barriers before the United States reopens its borders to live cattle exports, Montana's agriculture chief said Tuesday. Peck, who co-chairs a U.S.-Canada Working Group focusing on such issues, believes that federal officials must insist on equal treatment of U.S. producers to gain access to cattle, sheep and hog markets in Canada before the border is reopened to live cattle shipments... Royalty owners may receive millions A 6th Judicial District Court judge has ruled that BP can't deduct the cost of bringing natural gas to marketable condition from the royalties it pays some 4,000 lessors in La Plata and Archuleta counties. An attorney for the royalty owners estimated the ruling could mean hundreds of millions of dollars owed to lessors, but actual damages will be determined at a later hearing. Monday's ruling by Judge David Dickinson would affect the payments on the production of 600 gas wells since June 1, 1991... County cattle branding in the spotlight A new exhibit called "Cattle Branding: A Rancher's Signature" will open Thursday at the Merced County Courthouse Museum. The theme of the exhibit is that each brand tells its own story. When they come together, they present a pictorial history of cattle ranching in Merced County from the Miller & Lux cattle enterprise on the Westside to Crocker-Huffman's cattle operation in Eastern Merced County... Scottsdale ranch offers boot camp for cowboys Arizona Cowboy College was founded in 1989 by New Mexico native Lloyd Bridwell. He and his wife, Lori, had opened the equestrian center 20 years earlier. For almost a dozen years, the easygoing Lloyd served as head instructor, turning greenhorns into wranglers with two days instruction in town and four days on the trail... Western Drought (PBR Transcript) TED ROBBINS: For John Whitney, the current drought has been devastating. It helped force him out of the ranching business. JOHN WHITNEY: In 2000, we had to remove all because of the drought. TED ROBBINS: Whitney is in a former pasture, one of the few green areas on his 150,000-acre grazing lot. JOHN WHITNEY: The first year we took the cattle off, it was tough. But now... I still get emotional about it. TED ROBBINS: Much of the West is in the sixth consecutive year of drought. This map shows how bad it was this year. Snow pack and stream runoff in the red areas were 30-70 percent below normal. The drought has contributed to devastating forest fires, increased ground water consumption, and agricultural failure. Water levels in large storage reservoirs along the Colorado River, Lake Powell, and Lake Mead are down record levels... A two-lamb wagon With the lambs in tow, Gertrude and Mildred walked some distance away, then turned about so they were facing the barn at the end of the lane. Millie sat in the wagon, holding the lambs’ lead-ropes while Gertrude put her homemade harness on the pair. To get them going, Gertie whooped. The lambs took off hell-bent for election. Gertrude had planned to leap aboard the wagon behind Millie, but she missed, so she grabbed the tailgate and, like the stunt guy in an old Western movie, she ate dirt while being dragged...