NEWS ROUNDUP

Officials try out new timber rules A small logging sale six miles south of Sula is going forward under a new timber harvest authority adopted by the U.S. Forest Service last summer. The West Fork Camp Creek Project calls for limited timber harvest on 106 acres of dead or dying trees infested with Douglas-fir bark beetles. Sula District Ranger Tracy Hollingshead approved the work, which could start this spring. It was developed using a "categorical exclusion" authorized in August, the ranger said. The agency last summer developed three different categorical exclusions, saying they'll allow faster implementation of relatively small timber projects. For eligible projects, managers aren't required to develop environmental assessments or impact statements, since similar projects were studied and found to have no significant environmental effects, officials say....Hardy Pathogen Cutting Down Pacific Oaks: Scientists' Hopes for Pesticide Are Tempered by New Strain of Disease For eight years, a mysterious pathogen called sudden oak death has eluded researchers as it has killed off thousands of oak trees along the California coastline. The highly contagious disease, which causes trees to develop blood-colored oozing cankers before they dry up entirely, has spread through state parks and private ranches alike, and it now covers one-fifth of the California landscape. Last fall, when scientists released a pesticide that can inoculate the trees against the infection, authorities hailed it as an important victory for western forests. But the discovery of a second strain of the disease on a potted plant in a Portland, Ore., nursery has sparked fears that the blight may prove to be resistant to the treatment, posing an even greater scientific challenge....Hunter can't elude suspicion, ire Fame never seemed to be the destiny of Sergio Martinez, the man suspected of igniting the biggest wildfire this state has ever seen. He has much bigger problems these days – problems that have made his name well known in San Diego County and beyond. He is now infamous as the lost hunter suspected of triggering the Cedar fire, which killed 15 people, destroyed more than 2,200 homes and burned a 40-mile swath from the mountains of Julian to the city of San Diego. In the past three months, Martinez has been trailed by the news media, vilified by fire victims, ridiculed by other hunters and grilled by federal investigators. He has received crank calls and death threats, his lawyer says....Nevada drought takes toll on trees For thousands of years, American Indians carefully tended stands of pinon pines in Nevada. The Washoe people would gather nuts in the Pine Nut Mountains and use them throughout the year to toast and make powder, stews and salves. Surviving climate changes, stands of the odd-looking trees with twisting branches and stiff needles spread through the West. But a recent phenomenon has scientists concerned. A few years ago, researchers in several Western states started noticing shorter needles on the pines and black powdery substances around them. Then the trees started dying....Editorial: Breaking down species protection For the leader of Republican efforts to dilute the Endangered Species Act, nearly a decade of failure has taught him something. He now plans smaller measures. The goal, though, remains the same. And as long as major changes in the act are going to be relentlessly pursued by one party, the climate for discussions in D.C. will be stormy. California Rep. Richard Pombo and his allies in the House leadership still want to ease development at the expense of the environment. But after trying since 1995 to change the entire law at once, Pombo says, "I think it's just easier and a lot more practical to break it down."....Economists out to save the West In an effort to update and improve such decisions, 100 economists from 11 Western states and 15 from 12 other states presented their concerns about federal and state actions that harm the West's natural environment, and therefore the economic outlook for the region's workers, families, firms and communities. The letter went to President Bush and governors of the 22 Western states, urging them to identify and correct those actions that harm the economy by degrading the environment. The natural environment is the West's greatest long-run economic strength, the letter said. It's what makes people want to live in the West, and to visit here. But that natural environment faces serious challenges from air and water pollution, urban sprawl, the extension of roads and other development into roadless public lands, and fragmentation of habitat for native fish and wildlife. To protect the region's economy, it is essential that decisions are made to protect the environment, wrote the economists, many of them university and college professors....Lands plan stirs grazing lease dispute A proposal to allow noncompetitive grazing leases on up to 8 million acres of state land is a key point of dispute in a plan to protect a smaller amount of state land from development. The proposal would overturn both a 2001 Arizona Supreme Court ruling requiring the State Land Department to accept grazing lease bids from environmental groups and a long-held tradition of rancher vs. rancher competition for leases. It would allow noncompetitive bidding for ranchers the department believes are protecting the land....Fire managers fear drought's effect Federal wildfire managers say the Southwest is so dry this winter that fire season could start sooner and be as bad or worse than in 2002, when millions of acres burned. In a preliminary outlook for 2004, the Southwest Area Coordination Center in Albuquerque says persistent drought and millions of trees dead or dying from dryness and insect infestations have made much of New Mexico and Arizona a tinderbox. Forecasters predict that less-than-normal snow and rain for the rest of winter will compound the threat. In some places, the water content of the snowfall this winter has been less than one-fifth of normal.... Farmers, ranchers looking to renewable energy for cash Some Colorado farmers and ranchers are turning to revenue from wind and the sun to help them endure an era of low commodity prices and meager profits. Officials of the Golden-based National Renewable Energy Laboratory said power from the wind, sun and water can minimize operating costs and sometimes generate cash. Wind turbines, in particular, are creating income for the owners of property on which the machines are placed. ''Utility-scale wind projects are becoming a cash crop for farmers and ranchers,'' said Jim Green, a wind-energy specialist at NREL. Landowners can collect $2,500 to $4,000 a year in lease payments for each wind turbine, Green said. The machines soar up to 262 feet in the air, yet have a surface footprint small enough that they barely disrupt farming or livestock grazing....Fort Worth parades its heritage on downtown streets The courthouse clock struck 11 a.m. Saturday, transporting Fort Worth to the late 1800s. More than 100,000 people gathered to watch cowboys, horses, steers and covered wagons reclaim the city's streets in the world's longest and largest all-western parade. The parade, which featured almost 4,000 people and more than 1,000 head of livestock, kicked off the 108th Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show and Rodeo....20 years of cowboy poetry Twenty years in the making, the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering has grown in ways never envisioned by its founders. "When the first one was held, it was never intended as an annual event. It was seen as a one-time thing," said Charlie Seemann, executive director for the Western Folklife Center, which will host the event again this year from Jan. 24-31. From its nascent beginnings, the Gathering has become, if not an outright cultural phenomenon, at least a phenomenon of the culture that inspired it. As many as 8,000 people now attend the event that takes place the last week of January every year, pumping an estimated $7 million or more into local economy, according to Western Folklife Center estimates....RANCH ROUNDUP For Tom Moorhouse, a ranch rodeo is one sporting event that requires very little practice. That's because he heads the 60,000-acre Moorhouse Ranch in the West Texas town of Benjamin, and the ranch rodeo events reflect his everyday working experiences. With events such as calf branding, stock sorting and wild-cow milking, Moorhouse is in his element. After the last herd of cattle was punched, the Tongue River of Dumont won the team title. An awards ceremony is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. today and the ranch horse show and sale begins at 1 p.m. Both events are in the same venue as the ranch rodeo....