NEWS ROUNDUP

Conservation groups seek protection for sage grouse Twenty conservation organizations submitted a petition to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Monday to list the greater sage grouse as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The species has suffered declines of 45 percent to 80 percent over the past 20 years due to habitat loss, the groups said. "The sage grouse is clearly in trouble," said Erik Molvar, wildlife biologist for Laramie-based Biodiversity Conservation Alliance. "And yet the deterioration in land stewardship on federal public lands is driving this bird even faster towards extinction...Forest funding declines A federal reduction of about $150,000 in one year's funding for updating the Shoshone Forest Plan could slow the project. Forest planner Bryan Armel said cuts in revising forest plans are being experienced throughout the Forest Service's Rocky Mountain Region, and likely across the nation. That's because the agency at the national level has shifted emphasis - and funding - away from planning toward action, namely thinning stands of timber adjacent to developed property...Roads, vehicles points to ponder Although many environmental groups support the goals of the Klamath Tribes' forest management plan, some are leery of how the Tribes would go about reaching them. Many who live next to the national forestland in northern Klamath County say they haven't yet been able to read to plan. But before the plan's public release the Tribes met with a number of environmental group leaders in Eugene on Dec. 4, where the co-authors of the plan outlined what the Tribes would do if 690,000 acres of national forest land became a re-established reservation. The meeting hosts were the Wilderness Society and Ecotrust. It was the first time many of the environmental groups got to see the nuts and bolts of the plan that has gotten divided response from conservation groups on the question of who should control the land...State loses mountain-biking status Colorado has fallen from first to fifth in an annual report card for mountain biking, with the authors complaining of restrictive policies around the state. The International Mountain Biking Association, a Boulder-based advocacy group, stripped Colorado of its most-favored status and gave it to Arizona because of restrictive Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management policies...Bike-clinic leader faults BLM for permit problem Gene Hamilton had hoped to lead mountain-biking clinics this past summer and fall in the Grand Valley, but he ran into the federal government. Now, he said, his business plans are a year behind, and the delay has cost him at least $400, not counting lost business. He said the federal Bureau of Land Management, which administers most of the public lands around Grand Junction where mountain biking is popular, failed to tell him that getting a permit would take so long he would miss all of his 2003 business opportunities. The BLM said it could have done a better job of communicating time requirements to Hamilton, but said it was ultimately Hamilton's responsibility to ask the agency pertinent questions and to make sure he had a permit before starting operations on public lands...Endangered Species Listings May Backfire New research confirms that Endangered Species Act listings do not necessarily help--and may even harm--rare species on private lands. "Private landowners' responses suggested that the current regulatory approach to rare species conservation is insufficient to protect the Preble's mouse," write Amara Brook, Michaela Zint, and Raymond De Young of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in the December issue of Conservation Biology. More than 90 percent of federally listed species live at least partly on lands not owned by the federal government, and as many as half live entirely on nonfederal land, much of which is private. Anecdotal evidence suggests listing endangered species may not help protect them on private property because landowners may destroy species habitat to avoid land-use restrictions. Brook and her colleagues set out to test how widespread that practice might be...Condors take wing finally What a bunch of chickens. Friday's release of endangered California condors at Pinnacles National Monument was delayed a day because the birds stayed put. Going in, biologists knew that was a possibility. "It's nerve-racking because of the unknown," said Joe Burnett, a condor specialist for the Ventana Wilderness Society, before the scheduled release. Finally, two of the condors flew out Saturday afternoon - but without a spectacle and hundreds of bird watchers who waited 2 1/2 hours Friday before handlers closed the double-door trap. The two soared through the canyon Saturday and Sunday but stayed near the pen, according to ranger Brant Porter...Column: Wyoming's wolf plan needs fixing Before the ink even dried on Wyoming's wolf management plan, it was greeted by a chorus of howls. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service voiced strong concerns that the plan would not provide adequate assurances to prevent wolves from becoming threatened again. Neighboring political leaders, such as Montana Gov. Judy Martz, admonished Wyoming to create a more balanced plan so as not to delay the transition of wolf management to all three Northern Rocky states. Conservationists also believed that the Wyoming plan was too aggressive by allowing the immediate shooting of wolves. And this past week, in a process called "peer review" (a step in the wolf delisting process), a group of federal, state, and academic wolf experts from all over the country added themselves to the chorus of concern about Wyoming's wolf management plan...Researchers say wolves could help curb wasting disease Researchers are looking to wolves to help control the spread of chronic wasting disease in deer and elk, a fatal brain malady some biologists fear will invade Yellowstone National Park in the next few years. Wolves' uncanny ability to spot vulnerable animals may make them the best natural control for the disease, since wolves could kill off sick animals, researchers say. Wasting disease makes its victims distracted and unwary as it eats tiny holes in their brains, the Denver Post reported...Wolf kill trust pays ranchers $68K Defenders of Wildlife, a Washington, D.C.-based environmental group, paid out more than $68,000 to 46 ranchers who lost sheep and cattle to wolves in 2003, with much of the money going to Montana and Idaho ranchers. ''There were 294 animals (lost),'' said Nina Fascione, vice president of species conservation for Defenders of Wildlife. Those figures represent wolf kills from October 2002 until October 2003. A total of $68,484 was paid to ranchers in that time. Since 1987, the group has paid out more than $335,000 to ranchers who lost sheep or cattle to wolves as part of an effort to ''put our money where our mouth is,'' Fascione said. The group supports wolf reintroduction and expansion of existing wolf range...Texas A&M Says It Has Cloned First Deer Scientists at Texas A&M University have produced what they believe is the first cloned deer, the school said on Monday. Tests have confirmed that a fawn named Dewey born to a surrogate mother in May was a genetic duplicate of a male white-tailed deer from southern Texas whose skin samples were used in the cloning process, the school said. Even though white-tailed deer are abundant in the wild, Westhusin said in a statement the creation of Dewey could prove helpful in preserving endangered species such as the Key West deer of Florida...Gays Banned From National Parks Civil Service Group Says All images of gay gatherings at national sites, including the Millennium March on the Washington Mall have been ordered removed from videotapes that have been shown at the Lincoln Memorial since 1995 according to a civil service group. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) says that the directive came from National Parks Service Deputy Director Donald Murphy. Murphy is said to have been concerned about pictures in the video that showed same-sex couples kissing and holding hands after conservative groups complained. Also ordered cut from the tape were scenes of abortion rights demonstrations at the memorial, and anti-Vietnam War demonstrations "because it implies that Lincoln would have supported homosexual and abortion rights as well as feminism."...Editorial: Yellowstone fight goes another round The decision, handed down as vacationers to the park were arriving and the tourism industry that caters to them had swung into full operation for the season, requires the Park Service to reinstate a phased ban on snowmobiles. The judge ruled that the ban, instituted by the Clinton administration, had been improperly rescinded by the Bush administration. You can expect this back-and-forth business to continue for some time to come. The issue is entirely political in nature, and it isn't going to be settled until one side or the other -- people who favor snowmobiles in the park or those who oppose them -- gain overwhelming advantage over the other. That isn't likely to happen anytime soon. There is no clear right or wrong involved here. The issue hangs entirely on personal preference. Snowmobiles are endlessly amusing to those who ride (or sell and rent) them. They're annoying to people in proximity who don't ride them -- especially people seeking a quiet moment in the winter wonderland. The vast majority of Americans, however, live out their lives without once thinking about snowmobiles, one way or the other. Relatively few people can afford to own or rent the expensive toys, and even fewer consider speeding along, exposed, in subzero temperatures an attractive avocation. Meanwhile, many of the people who oppose snowmobiles in Yellowstone have never and will never see one there. It's the idea they don't like...Snowmobile appeal could take 11 months The state of Wyoming has appealed a federal judge's ruling that snowmobiles be gradually phased out of Yellowstone National Park, but state officials don't expect a decision for nearly a year. The ruling by Judge Emmet Sullivan last week has frustrated snowmobilers, guides and businesses surrounding Yellowstone that rely on winter tourism. "It's my understanding to have pursued an appeal and gotten a decision out of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in a 10-to-11-months period would be about average," Wyoming Attorney General Pat Crank said. "If it takes that long to proceed through the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, we're left in a quandary next winter as well."...Column: Pray to Play, Bush's Faith-Based National Parks The view from the south rim of the Grand Canyon, smogged up as it is these days, still retains the power to prompt even the most secular of visitors into transcendentalist reveries as they cast theirs eyes toward Shiva's Temple and Wotan's Throne. Now tourists at the federal park in northern Arizona will be greeted with scriptural passages affixed to park signs to help interpret the religious experience of gazing into God's mighty chasm. This autumn Donald Murphy, deputy director of the National Park Service, ordered three bronze plaques featuring quotes from Psalms 68:4, 66:4 and 104:24 placed on viewing platforms on the south rim of the Canyon. The plaques were made and donated by the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary in Phoenix, who live in a convent called Cannan in the Desert. The convent was founded in 1963 by Mother Basilea, who visited the Sinai where said said she conversed with the Supreme Diety about the moral decline of the western world... Dispute freezes ban on fishing in Tortugas A year and a half ago, the state and federal governments set aside the largest underwater refuge in America, an emerald expanse 70 miles west of Key West. The historic designation banned fishing in two vast zones totaling 151 square miles just outside Dry Tortugas National Park. But inside the park, sport anglers and spearfishers can still pull grouper, snapper and lobster from reefs and seagrass beds that managers had pledged would be protected. That's because a quarter of the planned Dry Tortugas Ecological Reserve -- another 46 square miles covering almost half the national park -- has quietly remained open to all but commercial fishing boats. What's holding up the closure is an arcane legal question: Who owns the bottom under all that ocean -- Florida or the federal government? The U.S. Interior Department, which manages the National Park Service, contends it does. The state argues federal rights end at the shoreline of seven small islands that make up the dry part of the Tortugas...Nevada judge reviewing grazing dispute between ranchers, feds A judge will offer an opinion early next year on whether state officials should have tried to block the federal seizure of cattle from a Nevada rancher accused of trespassing on U.S. land. At the request of Nevada Attorney General Brian Sandoval, Washoe District Judge Janet Berry agreed Monday to help clarify state procedures related to nearly a decade of "tension between ranchers and the Bureau of Land Management." The rare judicial confirmation hearing will not result in the cattle being returned, and Berry emphasized she will not address complicated legal questions regarding water rights, some dating to the 19th century. The judge also said she won't rule on ranchers' constitutional claims that land controlled by the Bureau of Land Management in Nevada and across the West is not truly "public land" and therefore not subject to BLM's environmental regulations. Rather, the judge said she will decide whether the state Agriculture Department had the authority - as the ranchers claim - to block the confiscation by refusing to formally certify the BLM's legal possession of the cattle after it seized 62 animals from Goldfield rancher Ben Colvin in 2001...Gas treasure or green haven for wildlife? With the Roan Plateau, it's all about perspective. To energy companies and the Bush administration, it is a key plank in the drive for U.S. energy independence because it sits atop a mother lode of clean-burning natural gas. to others, the plateau is a haven for wildlife and the cornerstone of the region's $3.8-million-a-year hunting industry. They fear the plateau is being sacrificed in a mad dash to develop rather than conserve energy...Rocky Mountain drilling Oil and gas companies eager to drill in the Rocky Mountain West appear to have an ally in the Bush administration, which is approving wells at a pace well ahead of the Clinton administration and looking to get even faster. An Associated Press review of thousands of applications to drill on Bureau of Land Management land since 1998 shows a 34 percent increase in the number of wells approved under Bush when compared with the last three years of the Clinton administration. The vast majority of the permits, 94 percent since 2001, are clustered in five states: Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming - a key region in the administration's push to open more public land for energy development...Gas-drilling plans forced to pause The alliance between ranchers and environmentalists seeking stricter regulation of coal-bed methane drilling in the Powder River Basin has won a pair of decisions that put a hiccup into Bush administration plans to speed energy development in the West. Montana Bureau of Land Management director Marty Ott earlier this month halted progress on an 85-well Fidelity Exploration and Production Co. project near the Wyoming border. He demanded more information from the local BLM about how water pumped up during drilling will affect irrigation and ranching. In Wyoming, BLM officials have said they will take a similar action on a 20-well project near Gillette, said Jill Morrison of the Sheridan-based environmental group Powder River Basin Resource Council. The group challenged the Marathon Oil Co. project along with Gillette rancher Eric Barlow. A formal announcement is expected as early as Tuesday...Losing Ground It would be easy to assume this land, where trails routinely cross 85-degree slopes, is fit only for hikers and rock climbers. In fact, the Cleveland National Forest is a major battleground in the U.S. war on drugs - a battleground increasingly ceded to foreign drug cartels. Paradoxically, government attempts to enhance national security following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have fueled this trend. Tightened border security has made it harder for traffickers to move drugs from Mexico across the southwest border, spurring producers to move their operations north of the border and closer to their market. And the Defense Department, in an effort to focus more resources on overseas military operations, has decided to reduce its counternarcotics support to civilian law enforcement agencies. The reduction in Defense's assistance comes despite the fact that it has been critical in limiting domestic drug production in recent years and the suspected connections between the Mexican cartels and Middle Eastern terrorists...Bush administration eyes new fuel standards for large SUVs, pickups The Bush administration is looking at making larger SUVs, such as the Hummer H2, Ford Excursion, and GMC Suburban, and large pickup trucks comply with federal fuel economy standards for the first time. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration also said yesterday it is seeking comments on whether to change the definitions of cars and light trucks. Most sport utility vehicles are now classified as light trucks, although they are used primarily as passenger vehicles...S.D. won't restrict Wyo. cattle yet South Dakota doesn't have any immediate plans to restrict importation of Wyoming cattle despite the discovery of brucellosis in a western Wyoming herd. Colorado and California have announced restrictions on Wyoming cattle. But South Dakota state veterinarian Dr. Sam Holland said officials here would wait to see if testing shows brucellosis in more than the one herd near Pinedale, Wyo., where it was found early this month. "When there's no more than one affected herd and no spread, and the initial herd is eliminated, we would not put any further restrictions on," Holland said in an interview Monday...US beef lobby threatens free trade agreement The powerful United States beef lobby will attempt to block the proposed free trade deal with Australia, unless US cattlemen get greater access to markets, including Japan and Korea. The National Cattlemen's Beef Association says it will use considerable political support in the US Senate to stop any trade agreement with Australia which gives exporters greater access. President Eric Davis, says not all cattlemen have been able to capitalise on record US beef prices this year, and he doesn't want to see the domestic market flooded with imported beef...Horses, other animals rescued by spray paint Spray painting the family pet might be enough to place junior in an extended time-out under normal circumstances. But horse and livestock owners used spray paint to help identify and protect their animals during the recent fires in Southern California. By spray-painting their phone numbers on the flanks of the horses and other large livestock before evacuating their properties the owners provided a measure of insurance that their pets would be reunited with them after the smoke cleared. And many of them were. Even when homes, barns, corrals, fences, tack rooms, feeder stalls and pasture shelters were swept away by the flames some of the animals escaped on their own and were eventually recovered and returned to their owners...Rancher belongs on his land and thieves belong in jail The organization, which was founded in 1877, began as a way to help deal with the problem of cattle thieves that had arisen in Texas. "So many ranchers were moving around Texas and they were losing their cattle, so that is why the TSCRA was formed," Foreman explained. In 1883, the first field inspected position was created, a position that Foreman holds today. Field inspectors are hired to chase down and arrest cattle thieves. "We work on any type of criminal act against livestock. While we still carry guns and chase down the cattle thieves, our job has become a more modernized." In 1883, field inspectors chased down the thieves with horses and paperwork was done with paper and pencil. Today, Foreman stated, horses have been replaced with trucks and paperwork is now done on a computer. "But it's the same job that it has been since the beginning."...Firm Wins Suit Over Bull Castration Device Montana business did not steal a Kansas man's ideas for a bull castration device, a jury decided. The jury unanimously agreed that St. Ignatius' Wadsworth Manufacturing Inc. did not violate patents obtained by Michael Callicrate of St. Francis, Kan. The jury said, in a Wednesday ruling, that it found that some of Callicrate's patents were not valid...Team England wins snow polo world title in Aspen England dominated the four-team tournament Saturday and Sunday at Wagner Park, beating Aspen 10-4 in the finals to take the crown. Snow polo is a modified version of traditional polo, which is played on turf. Aside from the obvious difference of surface substance, the snow polo field is also dramatically smaller -- roughly the size of Wagner Park. Polo is played on a 10-acre field, about the size of three football fields, with four members per team instead of three on snow. "Traditional polo] is faster paced and a prettier game to watch," said Melissa Potamkin-Ganzi, a member of Team Argentina and the only woman in the tournament. Her husband, Marc, grew up in Aspen and played for Glenwood Springs... A good start It could be not only a good start to the new year, but a great start. I know that I was really uplifted by the recent news that ole Sad'um Insane had been captured. Yep, he was pulled out of a rat hole blabbin' in English who he was in hopes no one would shoot him. He had with him a pistol and $750,000 in American money. All of that was in $100 bills. Ole Sad'um looked a little haggard to me when he was pulled out. Actually, he looked more like Merle Haggard than he did Sad'um Insane. See how things are starting to shape up for the new year? Ole Owl Gore has admitted that he is out of the loop, Madonna has told America that money cannot buy happiness (she can't understand why most of us don't think of her as being normal) and ole Sad'um turned out to be just what a good many of us expected him to be, a whining, sniveling coward that just happens to look like Merle Haggard when he's been hiding in a hole and not shaving for 10 months...As times get better, more of past forgotten Her statement triggered memories of sleeping at Grandma Trew's house in wintertime. My brother and I slept in long handles, socks, stocking caps and often had hot bricks or sad irons at our feet while we were crushed under a pile of homemade quilts and had to hit the floor running to reach the roaring wood stove in the living room to dress. Yes, I do appreciate a warm house and carpet. I can also relate to older men whose conscience bothers them when they sleep past sunup and sit at the breakfast table reading the paper. The lifetime habit of rising early and doing farm chores before daylight left roots extending deep into their subconscious...The Year in Country Music Books If this was a banner year in many ways for country music scholarship, it also underscored the fact that the market for serious country publications is centered in the distant past. Not even the recent past. Not that country music's history is not fascinating. But, that seems to be where audience -- and publisher -- interest is centered. With that in mind, here are several country music books from 2003 that are deserving of special attention...