NEWS ROUNDUP

Conservation Groups Challenge Bush Administration Old Growth Timber Sale Overlooking Grand Canyon National Park Two conservation groups today challenged a risky Bush administration proposal to log old growth forest less than three miles from the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. The groups contend that the Forest Service's proposed East Rim timber sale in remote areas of Kaibab National Forest would harm rare wildlife, create an increased risk of fire, and illegally log within designated old-growth forests as well as the Grand Canyon Game Preserve, a protected area set aside by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 for the benefit of wildlife. The lawsuit was filed by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and Sierra Club in the District of Arizona's Phoenix courthouse.... Capps Leads Protest Against Drilling Congresswoman Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara), who wrote the Los Padres National Forest Conservation Act, spoke at a press conference downtown on how oil drilling would be detrimental to the economy, environment and quality of life in the Central Coast region of California. If passed by Congress, the Conservation Act would permanently prohibit all forms of exploration and drilling for oil or gas within the boundaries of the forest. Capps and Rep. Sam Farr (D-Salinas) introduced the bill on Feb. 11.... Turkeys reclaim what fire gobbled The hills scorched by the Hayman Fire are now alive with the sound of turkeys. Officials of the Colorado Division of Wildlife and Pike-San Isabel National Forest and volunteers from the National Wild Turkey Federation released 22 hens, three big toms and three younger males west of Colorado Springs near Divide on the southern edge of the 138,000-acre burn area. Larger mammals have returned to the area, but not the turkeys.... $6,000 In Rewards Offered For Black Bear Killer Rewards totaling up to $6,000 are being offered for information leading to an arrest in the poaching of a black bear near this town in Florida's Panhandle, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced Thursday. An anonymous donor is offering $5,000 and the commission's Wildlife Alert program will pay up to $1,000, agency officials said in a news release.... Wake Up Weyerhaeuser. Protect Forests Now This morning environmental activists braved dizzying heights in downtown Seattle to unfurl a 2,400 square foot banner reading "Wake Up Weyerhaeuser: Protect Forests Now." The non-violent direct action marks the launch of an international Consumer Democracy Campaign to transform the barbaric environmental practices of Washington-based logging giant Weyerhaeuser (NYSE: WY), the number one destroyer of old-growth forests in North America. The campaign follows Rainforest Action Network's recent victory with Boise Cascade Corporation (NYSE: BCC) that resulted in the company's withdrawal from old-growth forests in the United States and adoption of a plan to exit endangered forests worldwide. Forest Action Network is the Canadian coalition partner, and in Alberta, the campaign is supported by the Sierra Club of Canada's Bighorn Country Campaign.... Opponents, backers of Prop. A almost even in fund raising There is big money on both sides of the issue, which county voters will decide in the March 2 primary election. If it passes, the measure will in essence draw an urban growth boundary line around area cities and towns, making 700,000 acres ---- one-third of San Diego County's unincorporated area ---- off-limits to suburban-style housing. Supporters say the measure will preserve the backcountry and provide for orderly, compact urban development in cities and towns, while opponents say it would further constrain the local housing supply, pushing yet more families into neighboring counties and worsening area freeways.... Another group threatens snowmobiling lawsuit Yet another lawsuit over snowmobiling in Yellowstone National Park could be standing in the wings, ready to enter the stage. This one, if it succeeds, could eliminate snowcoach travel as well, according to Bluewater Network, a San Francisco-based environmental group. It also could affect dozens of national parks around the country.... Greens Urge Defeat of the 2004 Revised Energy Bill "We strongly urge the Senate to defeat the 2004 Revised Energy Bill," said Jake Schneider, treasurer of the Green Party of the UnitedStates. "This bill is only slightly less damaging to the environment than last year's version, and does nothing for energy conservation." The bill, announced by Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM),chair of the Senate Energy Committee, reportedly would eliminate the $3 billion Energy Savings Performance Contracts program, which would conserve energy by retrofitting federal government buildings with energy efficient equipment.... Yellowstone bison shipped to slaughter Ten bison captured outside Yellowstone National Park on Tuesday were shipped to slaughter Wednesday, the first large shipment of bison to slaughter this year. Eight others, including year-old calves whose mothers were among those sent to slaughter, were tested and released, according to Dan Brister of the Buffalo Field Campaign.... Complaints prompt talk of ban on rifle hunting Rifle hunting could be prohibited in all or part of Minnehaha County under a request being studied by the state Department of Game, Fish and Parks. Officials say resident safety complaints are rising along with rural development, to about 50 complaints last year. The GF&P will consider restricting some areas to shotguns and muzzleloaders, which have a shorter shooting range than rifles. "With Sioux Falls expanding into the county, people are concerned with the safety issue. Their kids are out in the yards," said Kristoff DeKramer of Game, Fish and Parks.... A 'hostile' takeover bid at the Sierra Club The Sierra Club - America's premier environmental group, with 750,000 members and considerable political clout - is the target of an unfriendly takeover attempt. A combination of animal-rights and anti-immigrant activists is aiming to take control of the organization - and change its philosophy and direction - by getting their slate of candidates elected to the group's board of directors. They already control several seats, and more are up for grabs. The dispute gets to two core questions among environmental activists.... Hop farmer reaches settlement with EPA A former Grandview hop farmer has reached a $3.5 million settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency over cleanup of an herbicide from his property. Dan Alexander, owner of Yakima Chief Ranches, agreed to reimburse the federal agency $3.05 million for the cost of soil cleanup at the farm. He also will pay $500,000 for cleanup of 1,600 tons of contaminated soil left on the 4-acre site.... Agencies cooperating on water-related matters Under a settlement agreement signed Wednesday, growers in the west San Joaquin Valley no longer will try to acquire water rights in the San Joaquin River. In the eastern Valley, the Friant Water Association will ask its 22 member irrigation districts to rescind resolutions restricting water transfers or other cooperation with the Westlands Water District. The two agencies, once bitter enemies, announced they would cooperate on a variety of water-related matters.... Tax program boosts Colorado conservation But the Browns are big winners in a Colorado program that allows land-rich, cash-poor ranchers like them to sell the tax credits they get for granting conservation easements. Virginia and South Carolina are the only other states with similar programs. Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina and California have tax credit programs for conservation easements but lack the provision allowing those credits to be sold. The California program has been suspended for the past two years because of budget woes.... Drop in estrogen drug sales puts horses in trouble Animal rights groups warn that tens of thousands of horses are doomed to become what's for dinner in Europe and Asia, because women are using fewer estrogen-replacement drugs made from the urine of pregnant mares. Groups such as Fearing's have organized "rescue" or "adoption" programs for mares and their foals that they contend would be otherwise trucked to Canadian and U.S. slaughter plants. And they're using the issue to further their campaign against slaughtering horses for human consumption.... NCBA, R-CALF explore issues Two cattlemen groups will lock horns a week from now on a variety of issues. Local agricultural journalist Shae Dodson has been chosen to serve as moderator in La Junta at a forum between the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and R-CALF USA (Ranchers'-Cattlemen's Active Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America). One of the nation's oldest cattlemen's organizations, the Bent-Prowers Cattle and Horse Grower's Association, will host the three-hour meeting between Terry Stokes, CEO of NCBA, and Bill Bullard, CEO of R-CALF USA.... The real cowboys of N.D. Clara Bell Rose rolled her own cigarettes, smoked constantly, wore men's clothing, carried a six-shooter on her hip and developed noticeable facial hair that earned her the nickname "Mustache Maude." She married, divorced and ranched here, and became a well-known midwife, once claiming to have smacked half the bottoms in the area. She also was believed to be the only woman in the country convicted of cattle rustling.... Coon hunting The old man was a well digger by trade, one of the last of a dying breed who could locate groundwater by "divining" with a forked stick. His greatest talent -- and his truest love -- became evident, however, on frost, moonlit nights. That's when he would turn his Black-and-Tan hounds loose in one of the creek bottoms where raccoons were plentiful when I was youngster. When I first met Mr. Cable, it was through my father who had done some business with him. To an adolescent boy, he seemed as old as Methuselah -- wrinkled as a piece of yesterday's bacon and lean as a willow switch. Any thought that he might be a bit frail for coon hunting was erased, though, within thirty minutes after we hit the woods the first time my dad and I joined him on a night hunt....