NEWS ROUNDUP

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Animas-La Plata District: The tape is silent A tape of a closed-door meeting to discuss cost overruns on the Animas-La Plata Project may never become public. Blame the equipment. The Durango Herald and an environmental group, Taxpayers for the Animas River, have separately demanded that the Animas-La Plata Water Conservancy District release a tape recording of the closed Aug. 14 meeting at which A-LP supporters discussed what to do about the overruns. The A-LP District has refused both requests. But even if the district had said yes, the tape wouldn't have revealed anything, said Mike Griswold, president of the conservancy district board. That's because a tape recorder used during the closed session apparently did not work properly, he said...Suspect preached peace: FBI links man to possible sabotage of power lines Michael Devlyn Poulin preached nonviolence and took part in anti-war rallies earlier this year. That made it all the more shocking to his friends Thursday that Poulin, 62, was the target of an FBI investigation into two acts of sabotage at transmission line towers in Anderson and in southern Oregon. A federal warrant has been issued for the arrest of Poulin, whom authorities suspect unscrewed at least 18 bolts securing the base of a tower along Interstate 5 near Riverside Avenue on Monday. Police have equated the alleged act with domestic terrorism, since a toppled tower might have injured someone, started a fire or caused a massive blackout...Land Trust Alliance Rewriting Its Ethics Standards The nation's largest coalition of land preservationists is rewriting its ethical standards in response to recent reports of conflicts of interest and questionable land deals cut in the name of the environment. At its annual conference last weekend in Sacramento, the Washington-based Land Trust Alliance announced plans to add ethics training to its professional workshops, begin an ethics column in its quarterly magazine and develop regulations governing land-preservation techniques. An alliance "strategic plan" distributed at the conference said: "The U.S. Senate has launched an investigation of land trust practices, and land trusts are receiving increased critical scrutiny from the national media. Sooner or later, the government will demand stricter standards and credentialing for land trusts. . . . The best solution is a single, national set of standards and a credentialing process that is designed and managed by the land trust community."...Wyoming lawmakers, ranchers oppose grazing permit buyouts Federal efforts to encourage conservation groups to buy grazing rights from willing sellers are getting a cold reception from some ranchers and Wyoming's congressional delegation. Rep. Barbara Cubin, R-Wyo., calls the Shays bill ''a shot aimed at the heart of Wyoming,'' her press secretary, Joe Milczewski, said. Cubin will fight the bill in the House Resources Committee, he said...Bears find grapes tasty With the exceptionally late grape harvest this year, it's no wonder there have been reports of bears feasting on some of the lingering crop here in the Ukiah hills. Some east hills residents have noted there has been more bear activity in their locale than they have seen in decades, and pillaged vinerows have had certain bear-specific calling cards left behind on the ground...Trail Responsibility and Accountability for the Improvement of Lands (TRAIL) Act Just three weeks after the bill was introduced in Congress, the House Resources Forests and Forest Health Subcommittee held a hearing on a proposal to crack down on people who willfully damage public land, reports the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA). "Congress is moving quickly because it recognizes that this is a problem that needs to be addressed," noted AMA Washington Representative Patrick Holtz. The bill, HR 3247, is called the Trail Responsibility and Accountability for the Improvement of lands (TRAIL) Act. It would create consistent standards for law enforcement on federal land. Also, the proposal substantially increases the penalties on recreational users of the land who willfully cause damage to public land. The fines would be used for rehabilitation, education, and awareness. At the hearing, Mark Rey, U.S. Agriculture Department undersecretary for natural resources and the environment, and Larry Parkinson, U.S. Interior Department deputy secretary for law enforcement and security, offered support for the goals of the bill and offered to work with the subcommittee on the final language of the bill...Environmentalists, Off-Road Drivers Battle for Sand A turf war is being waged between environmentalists and off-road drivers on the sand dunes of California. In the last 30 years, the amount of protected wilderness in the Golden State jumped from 2 million to 14 million acres, while off-roading, an activity in which drivers take their vehicles into areas where they can drive more adventurously, has become wildly popular there, leaving the remaining open space contested. California's Imperial Sand Dunes, the largest mass of sand dunes in the state, are designated as a recreation area, but environmentalists consider the land a unique and fragile ecosystem that needs protection...Gas-royalty ruling a victory BP America Production Co. has improperly deducted costs from payments to 4,000 gas-royalty owners in La Plata and Archuleta counties since 1991, according to a recent court ruling. But it could be years before damages are determined and awarded in the case. Tens of millions of dollars in royalties and interest on unpaid royalties are at stake, said the plaintiffs' attorney, Bob Miller. The figure could rise to more than $100 million. Sheep ranchers Linda and Richard Parry filed the lawsuit in 1994 after Amoco Production Co., now part of BP, nearly halved their royalty payments...Another Bush court nominee draws fire Another of President Bush's federal court nominees could be in for a rough ride, this time at the hands of environmentalists. William G. Myers III, nominated in May to sit on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which serves Montana, is drawing fire for his relationship with the ranching and mining industries he once represented as a lawyer and lobbyist...On The Edge Of Common Sense: Neighbor roped into doin' things the hard way Dave is one of those good men that neighbors feel comfortable asking for a little help now and then. Homer is a trader of livestock, canned goods, used lumber, small appliance parts and railroad salvage. He's known for bein' tight with a dollar and for his primitive thinking. Homer caught Dave at the coffee shop and asked if he'd be able to help him castrate some bull calves he'd recently bought from a rancher south of St. Francis, Kan. "Anything I need to bring?" asked Dave. "Yup," said Homer, "a good horse."...Saving Seabiscuit's ranch Beneath the trademark diamond H insignia of millionaire Charles Howard's Ridgewood Ranch, state Sen. Wes Chesbro stood with representatives of the Department of Conservation, the Mendocino Land Trust and the Church of the Golden Rule Thursday morning to kick off the cause of converting the historic ranch to a conservation easement. Home of the celebrated Depression-era equine hero, Seabiscuit, the Ridgewood Ranch's prospects of being preserved forever in its present state are strong with the signing at Thursday's press conference of a letter of intent to provide up to $1 million through the California Farmland Conservancy Program toward the preservation of the ranch's prime farmland, which includes irrigated pasture, orchards and an organic farm, old-growth redwoods, five miles of fish-bearing creeks, vernal pools, oak woodlands, habitat for diverse species of plants and wildlife, and scenic vistas that border both sides of Highway 101 for three miles...A sure shot returns to a Wild West town Ol' Dead Eye returned home the other day to bury a relative almost 30 years younger than she. At 91, Louise Carpenter has seen it all in Paradox, a town so named because things just ain't natural here. The Dolores River crosscuts Paradox Valley - not running parallel with the canyon walls, as it naturally should. Carpenter is among the last in this town of 250 who can connect its 19th century frontier roots with its 21st century present - "from outhouse to modern plumbing," as she put it. She earned the nickname Dead Eye around 1931, when as a young woman she entered a turkey shoot in Grand Junction, about 100 miles away. Women participated separately. When Carpenter took her one practice shot, borrowing a friendly stranger's firearm, all the women backed out: Carpenter scored a bull's-eye. So she entered the men's competition, and using the same man's gun, she won - beating even the friendly gun owner. Her reputation as a sure shot was secured later when she shot a deer right through the eye...Town passes diapers for horses law LUCEDALE, Miss. - If a horse wants to gallop into this town, it's going to have to diaper up, and not horse around. Unbeknownst to horse lovers, the city of Lucedale approved a new ordinance earlier this month that requires horses to wear diapers when in town. The ordinance requires all livestock - horses, cattle, sheep, mules and others - to be diapered. Some horse riders now may boycott the city's annual Christmas parade. Last year, the parade drew 250 riders. The law will take effect Nov. 7...