NEWS ROUNDUP

Interior Design: An interview with Interior's Lynn Scarlett, one of the architects of Bush's "new environmentalism" The people who make policy don't always make headlines. The Bush administration boasts more than a few strong-minded, behind-the-scenes strategists with almost as much influence as cabinet members. Lynn Scarlett is one of them. As assistant secretary of the Department of Interior's Office of Policy, Management, and Budget, Scarlett helps determine the budgets for all eight DOI bureaus -- from Fish and Wildlife to the Minerals Management Service. Her office performs background analysis on every revised rule and new program that passes through the agency. That makes her the only person in Interior, aside from Secretary Gale Norton and Deputy Secretary Steven Griles, whose responsibilities are cross-departmental. In other words, Scarlett knows a thing or two about the ins and outs of the Bush administration's environmental policy....Column: President aiming at New Mexico's forests Two days before Christmas, President George W. Bush was busy playing Grinch with America's greatest wild forest. He announced that he was eliminating roadless protections for 9.6 million pristine acres in the Tongass National Forest, which is the world's largest intact temperate rain forest and America's largest national forest. While this grand forest is thousands of miles away in Alaska, the White House also has set its sights on roadless areas throughout the West, including here in New Mexico. And perhaps the most outrageous thing about Bush's decision is that it means that American taxpayers, including we here in New Mexico, will be footing the bill for destruction of our country's last pristine forests....202-well grasslands CBM project advances The Biodiversity Conservation Alliance sharply criticized the U.S. Forest Service recently for its initial approval of a 202-well coalbed methane gas project covering portions of the Thunder Basin National Grassland. Erik Molvar of the BCA said Bill Barrett Corp's Big Porcupine Coalbed Methane Gas Project would contribute to ongoing development in the area that threatens to "industrialize" the grassland. Molvar said his group is worried that wildlife and recreation on Wyoming's only protected grassland might be sacrificed to the development....More eagles soar over nearby lakes More bald eagles are soaring over four lakes in San Bernardino and Riverside counties. The U.S. Forest Service has coordinated counts of the federally-protected species since 1978. The data contributes to the nationwide mid-winter bald eagle census to track the recovery of the birds. Eighteen bald eagles were counted at the four lakes on Saturday, up from last month's count of 10, U.S. Forest Service biologist Marc Stamer said. Officials said bald eagle numbers in the Big Bear Basin have fluctuated over the past 21 years from a low of about 10 to a high of about 40....Forest: No free ride for ATVs Under a policy change recently announced by officials at the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest, riders of all-terrain vehicles no longer are eligible for a discount fee program offered to other forest users. The forest sells $25 annual passes that allow unlimited visits to certain day-use areas, such as developed picnic sites, popular hiking trails, shooting ranges and boat launches. Without the annual pass, visitors pay fees of $2 to $5 per car, depending on the site. Off-road vehicle users still can buy a pass and use it for activities such as hiking, but if they want to ride in one of the forest's seven ATV areas, they must pay the $5 per day fee....Funding will allow for more rangers in Tahoe Meadows Increased funding has allowed the U.S. Forest Service to double the time rangers spend patroling the popular Tahoe Meadows, where conflicts with cross-country skiers and others prompted a ban on snowmobiles from most of the area in 2001. The rangers’ presence has been welcomed by snowmobile critics and some who ride the machines, representatives of both sides said....Fast fire action sought from military aircraft Some members of Congress believe military air tankers should be dispatched as soon as possible to keep raging wildfires from becoming disasters. And they hope to make that happen before more deadly wildfires occur like those in October that burned 750,000 acres over five counties, killing 22 people and destroying more than 5,500 homes. At least three congressmen from regions devastated by wildfires are pushing to override a provision in a Depression-Era act that precludes using military aircraft in aerial firefighting until all civilian air tankers have been committed....Organ Pipe 'under siege' due to crime Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, plagued by rampant smuggling of people and marijuana, has been named one of America's 10 most endangered national parks. The National Parks and Conservation Association says progress has been made since park ranger Kris Eggle was murdered along the border in 2002. But the group says Organ Pipe still needs more money to repair ecological damage and strengthen law enforcement. "This park is under siege and must get immediate attention," said Ron Tipton, vice president of the 300,000-member group. Organ Pipe borders Mexico for 30 miles, with that nation's busy Highway 2 often visible from the flimsy border fence....USFWS rejects Wyo wolf plan; Move derails gray wolf delisting efforts Plans to remove gray wolves from the endangered species list were derailed Tuesday when federal officials rejected Wyoming's controversial dual-classification plan for wolf management. "Delisting cannot be proposed at this time due to some significant concerns about portions of Wyoming's state law and wolf management plan," U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Steve Williams wrote to Wyoming Game and Fish director Terry Cleveland. Wyoming's plan proposed classifying wolves outside of Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks and adjoining wilderness areas as predators. The wolf management plans crafted by Montana and Idaho officials were deemed "adequate," but wolves cannot be delisted in the West until all three states have Fish and Wildlife Service-approved plans. The decision pleased environmentalists and upset Wyoming politicians and ranchers....Wolf delisting stuck while feds wait for acceptable Wyoming plan The process toward delisting the wolf screeched to a halt Tuesday, when federal officials declared that Wyoming's wolf recovery plan simply isn't up to snuff. Both federal and state officials had said the complicated process of removing wolves from the endangered species list could begin this year. That isn't likely to happen now, unless Wyoming's state government undergoes a large and rapid transformation of its attitude toward wolves....Gray wolf delisting delayed: FWS cites Wyoming's predator designation Williams restated concerns about Wyoming's "dual classification" proposal that would consider some wolves to be predators, where they could be killed any time and in any way, and others as trophy game, subject to hunting and other regulations. The potential for unregulated killing and an inadequate monitoring plan "do not provide sufficient management controls to assure the service that the wolf population will remain above recovery levels," Williams wrote....LAWSUIT SEEKS REDRESS FOR MASSIVE ILLEGAL BIRD KILLS AT ALTAMONT PASS, CA, WIND FARMS The Center for Biological Diversity ("CBD") filed a lawsuit today against Florida energy producer FPL Group, Inc. (NYSE symbol: FPL) and Danish wind power company NEG Micon A/S for their part in the illegal ongoing killing of tens of thousands of protected birds by wind turbines at the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area ("APWRA") in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. Through their subsidiaries and associated entities, FPL Group and NEG Micon own or operate roughly half of the approximately 5,400 wind turbines at the APWRA. Each year, wind turbines at the APWRA kill up to 60 or more golden eagles and hundreds of other hawks, owls, and other protected raptors. These bird kills have continued for 20 years in flagrant violation of the Bald Eagle and Golden Eagle Protection Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and several California Fish and Game Code provisions. The lawsuit alleges that these violations and bird kills are unlawful and unfair business practices under the California Business and Professions Code....Wolf population still doing well despite two deaths Arizona Game and Fish Department and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials said the Mexican Gray Wolf population is still doing well despite the discovery of a dead wolf that was found in Apache Sitgreaves National Forest on Dec. 21. In December, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Field Coordinator John Oakleaf told the Courier that about 50 to 60 of the endangered species are alive in the wild. Arizona Game and Fish Nongame Biologist Dan Groebner verified this number on Thursday and said that pups who have survived until now have a high probability of surviving the winter....Study: Noise Machine Keeps Predators Off Property Conservation scientists may have hit upon the 21st century's answer to the good old-fashioned scarecrow. A motion-activated device which blasts out a cacophonous chorus of gunshots, helicopters, and other sounds, together with blinding flashes of strobe lighting, may be a highly effective tool in repelling wolves, bears, and other large carnivores. The fright device could be a valuable new tool in fighting the escalating problem of human-carnivore conflict, suggest conservationists behind a new study confirming its effectiveness. Currently when coyotes, mountain lions, and other predators threaten livestock, U.S. federal wildlife managers are forced to kill them.... Column: Return of the Wolf, Will the alpha predator change your hunting? By the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s last count in 2003, the Northern Rockies contained 747 wolves, including 46 breeding pairs. The population was growing at a 12 percent clip, a decrease from previous rates. Ed Bangs, the USFWS northwestern wolf recovery coordinator, believes that all the most suitable wolf habitat—free from conflicts with humans—has wolves. Yellowstone has the “highest density of wolves in the world,” reports the New York Times. Bangs estimates that their numbers will top out at 1,000; but that does not mean there will be 1,000 wolves in Yellowstone and none anywhere else....Interior Secretary: New Approach to Land Management Interior Secretary Gale Norton told participants at the American Farm Bureau Federation's annual meeting and convention the goal of the Bush administration’s management of the nation’s natural resources is cooperation rather than conflict. In an address to convention, Norton said the current administration has brought “a new approach” to managing federal lands, water resources and endangered species. “Too often in the past the relationship between Interior and farmers and ranchers has been one of antagonism over things like water rights, endangered species and cattle grazing on public lands,” Norton said. She said the administration has provided a "subtle but major shift in the direction of environmental policy.” She told the audience that there is “no reason” the Interior Department and agricultural producers should be at odds. “Each one of you is dedicated to taking care of the land and its wildlife. You are true conservationists,” she said....Feds, Idaho Power near agreement on snails Idaho Power Co. and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are close to reaching an agreement that would allow five Snake River hydropower plants to get relicensed and continue operating without harming endangered aquatic snails. The agreement will spell out a variety of operational changes, conservation measures and studies that Idaho Power will do in the coming years in the hopes of protecting the tiny snails from further harm, according to the federal agency and the company....Court backs phase-out of snowmobiles in Yellowstone Park A federal appeals court Tuesday dealt a blow to snowmobile enthusiasts when it rejected efforts to suspend a phase-out of snowmobiles in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks this winter. Lawyers for Wyoming and the snowmobile industry had asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for an emergency suspension of a lower court's decision to impose a phase-out of snowmobiles in the park. They had asked for the emergency suspension to prevent irreparable harm to the snowmobile industry while the court considered an appeal of the lower court's decision to impose the phase-out. The court is not expected to rule on the actual appeal for at least several months....E-mails on creation flap 'swamp' Park Service Thousands of Americans on both sides of a heated debate over a book offered in a Grand Canyon gift shop have e-mailed their opinions to the National Park Service in the last several days. "I'm swamped," David Barna, chief of public affairs for the agency, told WorldNetDaily. Barna estimated the number of e-mails and phone calls to be "probably 2,000 easily." Causing the flow of e-mail is the controversy over a book for sale at the Grand Canyon that claims the famous area was formed by the Old Testament flood Noah survived and can be no older than a few thousand years. That contention has some scientists calling for the book to be pulled from store shelves.... Security lapses spurred firing U.S. Park Police Chief Teresa C. Chambers was removed from office after an Interior Department investigation revealed security lapses at the Statue of Liberty and at the Washington Monument four months ago on the anniversary of September 11. Top Interior Department officials confirmed the reasons for the firing. One of the officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the security lapses "led to her demise." "The [inspector general] did several reports that pointed to security lapses, and the Park Service in response was putting demands on her to stop lowering her priorities and to start protecting the monuments," the official said. "The additional demands caused her to react negatively."....Escalante scientist on leave over relics charges The lead range scientist for the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument has been placed on administrative leave with pay pending a final review of allegations of misconduct, which include the theft of American Indian relics. Monument Manager Dave Hunsaker confirmed Monday that Gregg Christensen was relieved of his duties Thursday. Meanwhile, the U.S. Attorney's Office has declined to file charges against Christensen, noting the expired statute of limitations on the alleged crimes. The final decision on whether Christensen will retain his job is in the hands of the director of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's state headquarters in Salt Lake City. In past similar cases, however, being placed on administrative leave with pay was a prelude to a termination....Wells, profits go through roof: Gas producers hit new highs in 2003 in rigs, production By all accounts, 2003 was a blockbuster year for Colorado's natural gas producers. A record 2.5 billion cubic feet of gas per day was produced, up 6 percent from the previous year, according to early estimates by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. A cubic foot is a standard measure of gas, and 6,000 cubic feet of gas is the equivalent of one barrel of oil. This jump was the result of unprecedented drilling, which resulted in a record 25,042 active wells from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2003. That's up 6 percent from the previous year. More drilling has boosted the bottom lines of Colorado and other gas companies to the tune of millions of dollars. Given the ballooning production and profits, some economists are questioning the Bush administration's policy to give billion of dollars in tax incentives to gas producers in the proposed energy bill....Lawsuit over pesticides blames EPA Attorneys representing farm workers in Washington and other states yesterday sued the Environmental Protection Agency for failing to adequately protect workers and the environment from the use of toxic pesticides. The lawsuit was filed in federal district court in Seattle because one of the five plaintiffs, Sea Mar Community Health Centers, is based here, said attorneys for Earthjustice, a local legal group that focuses on environmental issues. Attorneys for the farm-worker groups, which include the United Farmworkers of America, claim that the EPA has continued to allow the use of two toxic pesticides, azinphos-methyl and phosmet, despite data showing the dangers of exposure to such chemicals.... Water Pump Case Tests Federal Law The court, which will hear arguments on Wednesday in a lawsuit brought by a small Indian tribe against Florida water authorities, will decide whether, legally speaking, the pump is adding pollutants to the Everglades or is simply transferring them between bodies of water that belong to the same large national system of waterways. If the court decides the pump adds pollutants, S-9 and similar pumping equipment could become subject to a stringent system of permits and pollution controls required under the Clean Water Act. The court is stepping in at a time when the nation's water agencies and developers are engaged in huge efforts to tap and reroute water to quench the thirst of expanding suburban communities.... River flows fatten Lees Ferry trout Efforts to improve conditions for endangered fish in the Grand Canyon are also helping trout-fishing upstream on the Colorado River, producing what one angler called "fat, feisty fish." The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation last week began a second year of experimental flows on the river from Glen Canyon Dam through the Grand Canyon. The flows are designed to slow trout spawning in the 16-mile stretch of the river between the dam and Lees Ferry, leaving fewer of the fish to swim downstream....Brucellosis may be problem for Yellowstone sheep Brucellosis may play some role in dieoffs of bighorn sheep in and around Yellowstone National Park, and it has been confirmed for the first time in other sheep deaths, a researcher said here Tuesday. An accidental exposure to brucellosis killed most of the bighorn sheep at a research facility in southeastern Wyoming, and a wild bighorn in the Jackson area has shown possible signs of exposure to the disease, said Terry Kreeger....S. Dakota to require test of cattle from Wyoming South Dakota will begin requiring all cattle coming from Wyoming for breeding purposes to be tested for brucellosis. Dr. Sam Holland, state veterinarian for the South Dakota Animal Industry Board, issued the order, which takes effect Feb. 1. The order requires all cattle from Wyoming over 18 months of age and intended for breeding purposes to be officially tested for brucellosis within 30 days of entering South Dakota, according to a news release from Holland's office....Plaintiffs claim Tyson contracts cost cattlemen billions The nation's largest packer used contracts with a "favored few" ranchers to dictate the price of cattle and cause thousands of cattlemen to lose billions of dollars, attorneys said in federal court Tuesday. But lawyers for IBP Inc., which merged with Arkansas-based Tyson Foods Inc. in 2001, countered that these contracts are based on the open-market price of cattle and do not undermine the market forces of supply and demand. Tuesday marked the first day of testimony in a nearly 8-year-old class-action lawsuit accusing Tyson of violating the federal Packers and Stockyards Act. The plaintiffs claim to represent as many as 30,000 cattlemen who sold cattle to IBP or Tyson Fresh Meats Inc. from February 1994 to October 2002, though Tyson says no one knows how big the group is....Welsh sheepdogs prove their worth in cowboy country SEVEN years ago the traditional Welsh sheepdog was threatened with extinction. But now the remarkable breed, with a passion for hard work, is making its mark across the globe. And yesterday Siân and Spot, two 10-week old puppies from mid Wales, were on their way to the United States to work and breed in Kansas cattle country. American ranchers, like farmers throughout the UK, Germany and Sweden, have fallen for the breed's amazing qualities, including its outstanding work rate....Developer plans hotel for FW Stockyards In Fort Worth, the Stockyards Historical District is about to get a new addition that many have awaited for years: a new family-friendly hotel right on Exchange Avenue. Dallas developer Thomas Kirkland said the facility, which will be part of the Amerisuites national chain, will be built in mission style, keeping with historical architecture. The Fort Worth stockyards. Longhorns and longnecks. The hotel will sit behind the Stockyards Visitor Center, next to the old horse and mule barns that still wait to be hitched to the 21st century....Ride 'em, cowboy: He's an advocate for the Old West's cowpokes of color She was 6 feet tall, smoked homemade cigars and was rumored to have broken more noses than anyone in central Montana. If you got her really mad, she might pull out the pair of six-shooters she was packin' -- or, if need be, go for her huge shotgun. And please, don't ask her to cook! Mary Fields was a cowgirl, not a housewife. She even closed down her own restaurant for serving lousy meals. She was more at home throwing down a few whiskeys the local bar....