NEWS ROUNDUP

Column: What Rules Are Needed to Keep the Wilderness Wild? The Wilderness Society, a strong critic of the unregulated use of off-road vehicles, says that the United States has at least 11 million of them and that 93 percent of the 262 million acres of Western land under the Bureau of Land Management is open to some form of off-road use. In Utah alone, the society says, 94 percent of the 22 million acres under the federal bureau's jurisdiction is open to vehicles ranging from dirt bikes to Jeeps. The International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association says the United States has 130,000 miles of signed and maintained snowmobile trails. In places like the Florida Keys, where fragile reefs and fertile wetlands abound, water scooters are under increasing scrutiny for the damage they — or the access they provide — can cause. "Motorized recreation has outstripped the ability of agencies to manage it," said Rollin Sparrowe, president of the Wildlife Management Institute, whose members are professionals in the field. "And there's a whole new generation of people using the forest who have never used any other means of access but a machine."....Water sought to help Klamath River salmon Federal irrigation authorities are looking outside the Klamath Reclamation Project for farms and ranches willing to sell water to build up a water bank devoted to threatened salmon in the Klamath River. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in Klamath Falls is sending 300 applications to people interested in bidding on contracts to provide a total of 75,000 acre-feet of water, through wells or forgoing irrigation, said Gary Baker, special-projects officer for the bureau in Klamath Falls. The bureau is expanding the program it began last year to produce an extra 100,000 acre-feet of water for threatened coho in the Klamath River, as set by federal scientists under the Endangered Species Act. Most of the water will go to increasing springtime flows, when young salmon migrate to the ocean, said bureau spokesman Jeff McCracken....Critics Say the Park Service Is Letting Religion and Politics Affect Its Policies To halt the removal of a cross placed in the Mojave National Preserve almost 70 years ago to commemorate World War I veterans, a Republican lawmaker from California has proposed swapping the land it sits on with a private group. The National Park Service recently ordered the return of plaques bearing biblical verses that had hung in Grand Canyon National Park for more than 30 years before they were taken down last summer. The Park Service also approved selling a book at the Grand Canyon that suggests the canyon was created in six days several thousand years ago. And here at the Lincoln Memorial, an eight-minute film that shows historical events at the memorial, including demonstrations for civil rights, abortion rights and gay rights, is being revised by the Park Service to add four minutes of more politically neutral events....Wyo seeks injunction on snowmobile phaseout The state has said it will appeal to the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Columbia from a decision Dec. 16 by U.S. District Judge Emmett Sullivan of Washington rejecting a Bush administration plan to allow 1,350 snowmobiles a day in the parks and replacing it with the Clinton phaseout plan. "Next year, if we don't get anything done, we are facing a ban on snowmobiles," Jerde said. He said that in its appeal of the Sullivan decision, the state will ask for a change of venue to the 10th U.S. Circuit in Denver, which has jurisdiction over a snowmobile suit filed by the state in federal court in Wyoming. This suit, challenging the Clinton administration rules, was settled, but has been reopened by Brimmer at the state's request. "Our lawsuit was the first, and it's basically the same lawsuit," the assistant attorney general said. Besides, he said in response to questions of committee members, "We are more likely to get a ruling that we like out of the 10th Circuit than the D.C. circuit.".... Heliport plan concerns BLM Southwest Henderson residents aren't the only ones concerned about a plan to move sightseeing helicopters from McCarran International Airport to a new facility near Sloan. The federal Bureau of Land Management isn't crazy about the idea either, especially if it means low-altitude flights over the federally protected Sloan Canyon wilderness and its large collection of American Indian rock art....Editorial: Snowmobile firms can survive Snowmobile rental companies in West Yellowstone, Mont., say they're suffering economically, but their ire should be aimed at Bush administration officials who led them down the primrose path. The Bush team spent $2.4 million trying to ignore clear scientific evidence that recreational snowmobiles didn't belong in Yellowstone National Park. If the federal or Wyoming and Montana governments had spent a fraction of that sum promoting the many kinds of winter recreation available at towns surrounding the national park, the local economies would be thriving. Numerous studies have shown that snowmobiling harms Yellowstone's environment, so the Clinton administration planned to phase out the machines. The Bush administration nixed that plan on the pretext it needed more information. But the Bush administration's own studies confirmed what the Clinton-era research had found....Muddy Ridge lands ceded to feds century ago The Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes are requesting that about 56,000 acres of excess federal lands within their Wind River Reservation be transferred back to the tribes as required by the federal excess property laws. In 1975, Congress enacted a law that states that excess federal land within a reservation shall be transferred in trust for the tribe. The act is not discretionary and was enacted to enhance economic benefits to the tribes. In 1976, as part of the new Federal Land Policy Management ACT (FLPMA) requirements, the BuRec began a review of withdrawn lands, including the acreage within Muddy Ridge, to determine the land's use and status. In 1990, the BuRec completed the review of the withdrawn lands in the Riverton Unit and identified approximately 56,296 acres of land surplus to the agency's needs within the unit....Artificial water holes awash in controversy Environmentalists are blocking a plan to improve artificial water holes that hunters and some biologists say are keeping bighorn sheep and other animals alive in the drought. In a fight being watched across the nation, sporting and green groups are locking horns in an age-old dispute: One side thinks big-game species need help from humans; the other describes water holes, often financed by hunters, as feel-good measures that are apt to do more harm than good....Judge dismisses fire suit Federal Judge Edward Shea on Friday dismissed a lawsuit asking for $108 million in damages caused when the 2000 Hanford wildfire swept off federal land. More than 100 parties sued the federal government, saying its fire prevention and firefighting efforts were lacking. But Shea found that the federal government had contracted out those services and could not be held legally responsible. Plaintiffs' attorneys had yet to meet with their clients Friday to discuss whether to appeal....Columbia oil spill stretches for 23 miles Oil containing a cancer-causing compound spilled from the transformer of a major dam into the Columbia River, killing fish and leaving a rainbow-hued streak 23 miles long. Officials were still uncertain Saturday how much oil had leaked from a frost-damaged transformer, but had set up a command center at The Dalles dam staffed by 50 local and state officials. Environmentalists are calling for an investigation, claiming the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did too little after the spill was first noticed on Thursday, while understating the amount of oil that leaked....Elks' winter ports in a storm Pushed down from the high mountains by the cold and blizzards, hundreds of Rocky Mountain elk are gathering daily at feeding sites along the base of the craggy Elkhorn Mountains in Northeast Oregon. About 1,500 elk and 500 deer are munching alfalfa hay at 10 Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife sites. That's more than double the number of elk the agency fed last year. The remote feeding sites are scattered along a 45-mile line in the 1,200-acre Elkhorn Wildlife Management Area, Migez said. Fish and Wildlife began developing winter feeding sites in the early 1970s after nearly three decades of conflict with ranchers weary of elk raids on their haystacks. The 10 feeding sites have been in operation since 1984 or 1985, he said....Editorial: Yucca goes to court Making their case before a judicial panel convened at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Wednesday, attorneys for Nevada argued the state had been unfairly singled out for the Yucca Mountain nuclear repository -- a plea which received a chilly reception, given that no one challenged Judge David Tatel's contention that the land is, in fact, "federal property." "This concerns the use of federal property in the state," said Judge Tatel. "When you are talking about federal property, it is not intuitive to consult the states." Nevada Attorney General Brian Sandoval had early on vowed an objection to that premise would be one of the tactics the state employed. So why did that premise apparently go unchallenged? An appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court is expected, regardless of Wednesday's result. But the opportunity to introduce a stronger case for Nevada's sovereignty over her own lands may just have gone a-glimmering....Column: Methane industry should listen to farmers Caskey and other out-of-state methane executives seem to think safeguards for our clean irrigation water and valuable aquifers are obstacles to development. They consider filling out the right paperwork a “hoop” and “hurdle,” but they only do that after they’ve been sued. For farmers, ranchers and others who rely on that same water for irrigation, stock and our homes, those safeguards are the key to making sure we can pass on our operations to our kids and grandkids. Legal opinion supports GF&P's private access policy A legal opinion from the state attorney general supports current practice of state conservation officers to enter private land without permission to check hunters and enforce wildlife laws. In an official opinion released Thursday, Attorney General Larry Long said conservation officers are not guilty of trespassing, nor do they violate constitutional provisions against "unreasonable searches and seizures," even though they enter the land without permission, a warrant or reasonable suspicion of a crime. The dispute over property rights surfaced in Harding County last fall when a rancher signed a trespass complaint against a GF&P officer. Long's office still hasn't determined whether to charge the conservation officer. Long's opinion likely strengthens the resolve of legislators and landowners who will push the Legislature to restrict GF&P authority....Rustlers may ride again on the Colorado plains Since the 1860s, when Colorado cattle baron John Iliff discovered it was more profitable selling beef to gold miners than panning for flakes himself, stockmen have been converting golden prairie grass into cash. Along with that movement came unscrupulous cowboys who sought shortcuts to riches and stole cattle grazing on the vast eastern range. Cattle theft can be more lucrative than burglary, and few thieves are ever caught. A house thief can get only a fraction of the value of a stolen television set at a pawn shop, but a cattle thief can get top market value for a calf, a mother cow or a bull at an auction barn, Gray said....Ranch horses compete on first day of Fort Worth livestock event Traditional horse events at the stock show feature animals specifically bred for show. Not the case for the ranching-horse competition, which premiered two years ago. "This type of event is very much geared toward ranching horses," said Bruce McCarty, horse show manager for the stock show. "These horses, they're not pampered very much. They work every day." Mr. McCarty said the Fort Worth stock show was one of the first in the nation to present such an event, and it has quickly become one of its most well-attended competitions. It's also one of the most difficult to enter. The event, which lasted more than six hours, requires too much time to allow more than 15 contestants. James Gholson of Guthrie, Okla., won the competition riding Pay One, who will be sold at the stock show today.... Life as a young cowgirl By age 12 Rosalee Barnhart Shirley was a real cowgirl. She could saddle her own horse, and for two fall seasons in the 1930s, a Dexter family paid her to herd cattle on their ranch. The year was 1935 when Shirley wrangled her first herd. Paying jobs were slim for a young girl. Shirley, now 81, jumped at the opportunity. In the 1930s ranchers hauled their livestock to market on boxcars, and the Missouri Pacific Railroad ran through the center of Dexter. Another year Shirley helped lead the cattle from the ranch to the railroad’s loading docks, just past Dexter’s old depot.... They rub horses the right way Equine massage therapists Jeanell Evans and Rebecca Wyatt rub away the aches and pains of their hoofed clients, but the treatments also benefit horse owners. Evans, 50, and Wyatt, 32, long-time family friends and Northwest Side residents, are certified equine message therapists, though both have other full-time jobs. Evans is a physical therapy technician and Wyatt is a veterinary technician. When treating a horse, Evans runs her hands over the animal looking for indentations, swelling, knots, tightness or tender spots that indicate problem areas. She applies between 3 and 8 pounds of pressure to the point to relieve the muscle stress. "We just use a light amount of pressure," Evans said. "It's not how much pressure you can put, it's where you put it. You don't use strength. You use knowledge." As part of treatment, the women stretch the animals' legs, and massage their gums too....Hollywood to break last taboo with gay cowboys Heath Ledger, star of A Knight's Tale, and Jake Gyllenhaal, best known from the arthouse hit Donnie Darko, are lined up to play star-crossed lovers in director Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain, a frank portrayal of physical and emotional bonds between men. It is a story of two cowboys who spend a summer on the range in 1963. Under the open skies of Wyoming, the pair fall into a tempestuous love affair and forge a relationship that lasts the rest of their lives. Though major Hollywood stars such as Tom Hanks and Antonio Banderas have played gay roles in the past, none has done so with such frank intimacy....Permissive society can have bite to it One of my favorite places to hunt squirrels for years was owned by an elderly gentleman who lived alone. I wouldn't say he talked a lot but he definitely didn't believe in letting silence hang in the air too long. His sentences were not limited by the normal laws of grammar but by the movement of the sun and moon. He wouldn't have known a period if it hit him in the face. His run-on sentences began at dawn and ended some time after he went to sleep....