NEWS ROUNDUP

Fee demo headed for showdown The Recreation Fee Demonstration Program, or “fee demo,” has raised a ruckus in the West since its 1996 debut, when the public started “paying to play” on federal lands. Recreation fees - charged for access to hiking trails, visitor centers and other spots - have been authorized for 400 sites managed by the Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management and Fish and Wildlife Service.... Local ranchers air concerns to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Arizona ranchers expressed frustrations about ever-increasing Forest Service grazing regulations during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman last week. The ranchers repeatedly expressed concerns about grazing regulations that continue to multiply, related Cottonwood rancher Andy Groseta. “The ranching community needs more flexibility regarding grazing decisions on their forest allotments,” Groseta said this week. He chairs the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association federal lands commit-tee. “We’d like to see ranchers manage their own ranches, instead of having the bureaucrats do it,” agreed Rink Goswick, whose family has ranched in this area for generations. “They say there’s cooperation, but they tell you what to do.” The Forest Service needs to work on major grazing reforms such as the U.S. Bureau of Land Management is doing, Groseta said. Endangered species issues have forced his cattle and others off riparian areas such as the Verde River, Groseta said. “We’re gradually being regulated out of business,” Groseta said. “It gets to the point where it’s not economically feasible” to ranch anymore.... Bison capture facility goes up near Yellowstone Montana officials on Wednesday began raising a temporary holding facility for bison on a peninsula that juts into Hebgen Lake just west of Yellowstone National Park. The Horse Butte buffalo trap, located on the Gallatin National Forest, is part of Montana's efforts to prevent brucellosis from spreading from wild bison from the park to livestock on nearby private lands. It is used to hold bison that stray outside of the park boundaries.... Policy change would let ski areas keep water rights U.S. Forest Service officials say they are close to resolving a long- standing dispute over water rights that has implications for several of Colorado's major ski resorts. Under the proposed change, the agency would eliminate a requirement that ski resorts transfer their water rights to the federal government. That requirement is one of the key issues in a still- pending appeal of the revised White River National Forest plan filed by several ski resorts. The ski industry has raised the issue of unlawful takings, said Ken Karkula, Washington, D.C.- based winter-sports program manager for the Forest Service.... USFS bookkeeping woes not new While the Forest Service's recent accounting problems may have grabbed Montana's attention, difficulties with balancing their checkbook is nothing new for the federal agency. In fact, other than in the past two years, the Forest Service hasn't had a clean audit in the past decade. A report released last year by the General Accounting Office notes that historically, the Forest Service hasn't been able to provide Congress or the public "with a clear understanding of what the Forest Service's 30,000 employees accomplish with the approximately $5 billion the agency receives every year." And although the federal agency says it is taking significant steps toward resolving accountability problems, the GAO's office said the Forest Service has made "little real progress" and remains years away from implementing a credible accounting system.... What the GAO audits say While the U.S. Forest Service has made "significant progress" toward actually being able to say where it spends $5 billion each year, three reports issued by the federal General Accounting Office in 2003 strongly scold the Forest Service for shoddy bookkeeping. Audits from 1991 through 2001 included major inaccuracies, and the bookkeeping was so poor that in 1996, the Forest Service didn't even put together an audit "due to the severity of the accounting and reporting deficiencies," according to the GAO. It's only been in the past two years, after what one official termed a "Herculean effort," that the agency had two clean financial audits, and the GAO notes that even those had some significant issues.... High Climbing Protester Surrenders After Chain Saw Appears Police and fire units were called to the State Capitol grounds Thursday afternoon after a protester climbed a tree to call attention to a proposed bill that would ban cutting of old-growth forests. The activist, who calls himself "Bear," climbed 150 feet into the tree to support Senate Bill 754. Dubbed the Heritage Tree Act, the proposed legislation would ban cutting of California's remaining old-growth forests. News10's Jennifer Smith talked with Bear by cell phone this afternoon as he was perched high in the tree. "These are endangered species, they provide our food and water, we can't afford to lose any more," he said. "Oh no, they're starting a chainsaw. Please do not cut any branches, hey don't cut any branches!".... State OKs coho plan The listing of the coho salmon as a California Endangered Species became law on Wednesday to the disappointment of Siskiyou County's grassroots Save Our Shasta and Scott Valley communities (SOSS) organization that has worked for years to prevent it from happening. In a press release issued by the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG), the California Fish and Game Commission approved the Department of Fish and Game's Coho Salmon Recovery Strategy at a special session in Sacramento on Wednesday and then proceeded with the process for listing coho salmon as an endangered species in California. Don Howell of Fort Jones, who served both on the SOSS and local recovery strategy group, said those who have worked long and hard to prevent this listing are very disappointed.... Senate Stands Up for Alaska's Land Rights Four pieces of legislation were introduced in the Senate today to further the assertion of ownership and management of the state's navigable waters and public access rights. The navigable waters issue dates back to statehood, when Alaska received title to all submerged lands under navigable water and marine waters out to three miles, with the exception of land withdrawn at statehood. The federal government, however, has been slow to concede any navigability determinations and less than 20 rivers have been determined navigable by the federal courts. Approximately 60 million acres of submerged lands are at stake. The lack of federal cooperation has resulted in thousands of acres of clouded private land titles, which is particularly critical as Congress considers a deadline for completing the land selection and conveyance processes.... BLM ranger dies after fall near Yuma A Bureau of Land Management ranger died after falling in a rugged part of the Little Picacho Wilderness Area about 20 miles north of Yuma. The employee, 52-year-old John Maynard, had only worked for BLM since September. He was a temporary park ranger who was patrolling the wilderness when he fell.... Utah seed company owner, son indicted A Utah seed company owner and his son are named in a 39-count criminal indictment charging them with selling $2 million worth of bad seed to the federal government. Boyd and Jeffrey Goble are accused of falsifying the origins of about 77 tons of seed that the Gunnison-based Goble Seed Co. sold to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Nevada between 1999 and 2001. Reached at his home in Gunnison, Boyd Goble said he and his son are innocent of any wrongdoing. The prosecution is the first of its kind involving the native seed industry, which is growing steadily as state and federal land and wildlife agencies become more active in restoring damaged ecosystems. The BLM annually spends about $20 million on seed.... Myers draws heavy fire at hearing Presidential candidate and Massachusetts Democratic Sen. John Kerry on Thursday called on President Bush to withdraw William Myers' nomination to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Kerry's request upped the ante on what had been a controversial, but parochial battle over the nomination of the former cattle industry lawyer and aide to retired Wyoming Republican Sen. Alan Simpson. The interjection of presidential politics coincided with a Thursday congressional hearing where Myers faced a barrage of questions from Kerry's fellow Democratic senators about his positions on environmental policy.... 9th Circuit Court nominee draws fire for his green record Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee lit into President Bush´s latest nominee for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday, accusing him of being a radical anti-environmentalist. William G. Myers III acknowledged that some of the legal writings and statements he made while he was a lawyer in private practice and for the National Cattlemen´s Beef Association were bombastic. Myers served as the Interior Department´s top lawyer from July 2001 until October 2003, when he returned to the Holland & Hart law firm in Boise. In those writings, Myers compared the federal government´s public lands policies to King George III´s tyrannical reign over the 13 colonies. He called the rule that protects wetlands used by migratory birds an “unwarranted and despotic intrusion by the federal government over every brook, creek, cattle tank … or damp spot in every landowner´s backyard.”.... Column: Pact by ranchers, conservationists a good deal A long-standing conflict between Arizona ranchers and conservationists is nearing a resolution, but the final step - gaining congressional approval - will be a formidable one. More than 180 Arizona ranchers, headed by the John Whitney family of Sunflower, and 10 conservation, hunting and other interest groups, headed by the Center for Biological Diversity, have negotiated an innovative plan. The plan would permanently retire some federal land from grazing and return it to recreational and natural uses. In exchange, the plan would compensate participating ranchers for the retirement of their livestock permits at an above fair market value rate.... Compensation project reports grizzly bears widening range Defenders of Wildlife paid ranchers $17,219 during 2003 for livestock killed by grizzly bears in the northern Rocky Mountains. Over the years, the conservation group also has paid more than $130,046 for cost-share projects intended to reduce conflicts between humans and grizzlies. "The good news is that grizzly bears are expanding their ranges and numbers outside of protected areas like national parks and national forests," said Minette Johnson, northern Rockies field representative for Defenders.... Daschle wants beef out of AU trade US Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle urged President George W Bush today to exclude beef from a free trade agreement with Australia in a move that could complicate last-minute negotiations. The South Dakota Democrat told Bush in a letter that the proposed trade pact would expose US beef and cattle ranchers to increased import competition without providing new opportunities for US beef exports. "We respectfully request that you work to exclude beef and cattle from any further negotiations of the Australia FTA," Daschle said in a letter that came as the two allies were trying to reach a deal by this weekend.... Elk near infected ranch test positive for brucellosis Four elk tested positive for brucellosis at the Muddy Creek elk feedground near Boulder in western Wyoming, State Veterinarian Jim Logan announced Wednesday. Conservationists are pointing to the test as an indication that the state's system of elk feedgrounds needs to be dismantled. The testing was done at Logan's request to see if brucellosis found in two cattle herds in the state could be linked to infected elk.... Bill would restrict limits on land uses After fervent arguments from farmers and ranchers on both sides of the issue, the House Agriculture Committee voted 9-4 Thursday for a bill that would slap a limit on future conservation easements. Conservation easements place certain restrictions on the use of land, typically to preserve it as open space and preclude business and residential development. Landowners who agree to easements, which are offered by the state and federal governments as well as conservation groups, may either sell or donate some rights to use the land.... Inspiring through words Students do it, teachers do it, even a school district superintendent does it, but, the cowboys did it first. Did what? Write poetry, of course. Cowboy poetry. This art form is a direct descendent of the rhyming writings of cowboys more than a century ago. Then, cowboys on cattle drives often entertained themselves by telling stories and writing poems about the trials and triumphs of the trail. Today, young buckaroos learn about writing styles and Southern Arizona's cultural history as they pen their own cowboy poems in school.... Rodeos now riding high Last year's event at the newly minted SBC Center drew 278,000 fans for 20 rodeo performances, part of a record attendance of more than 23 million for the roughly 700 PRCA-sanctioned competitions in the United States and Canada. According to Sports Business Daily, that placed rodeo seventh in overall crowd numbers — ahead of golf and tennis and just behind hockey and horse racing. And moving up quickly. Industry analysis shows only NASCAR is growing at a faster pace than pro rodeo, with women representing almost half the sport's fan base.... Wild West Tech A Belen historian will soon be helping History Channel viewers understand the technological accomplishments of the Wild West. Don Chavez has dedicated a great deal of time to researching the early origins of the cowboy way of life, starting with the Spanish vaqueros. Chavez said most people don't think of the lasso or the saddle as a technological triumph.... On The Edge Of Common Sense: 'Mad cow' spinoffs might benefit clever cowmen With our new awareness of "mad cow" disease and the procedures installed to prevent its spread, I expect things to get back to normal eventually. But the changes have left us with some new opportunities. The biggest of which is that we will now have an abundance of cow brains and spinal cords. Corn growers had this same dilemma when Delsey concocted toilet paper, Abacus when calculators were invented, and lobbyists when they outlawed bribery. But in true entrepreneurial spirit, I expect we will see some clever cowman, in his constant quest to diversify, come up with alternative uses for this valuable byproduct....