NEWS ROUNDUP

Fish and Wildlife Service expresses concerns over Biscuit fire salvage The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has expressed concerns that salvage logging plans for the area burned by the 2002 Biscuit fire could harm important wilderness habitats and northern spotted owls. Their comments in the draft environmental impact statement for Biscuit urged keeping timber sales out of inventoried roadless areas, undeveloped portions of the Siskiyou National Forest where the salvage plan calls for logging 12,355 acres to produce 200 million board feet out of the total 518 million board foot harvest. Fish and Wildlife characterized the roadless areas as "strongholds for populations of threatened and endangered species," adding that the fire did not destroy their potential to being designated wilderness, where logging is not allowed, and serving as important habitat.... Beauty vs. energy drilling, who will win? Will the U.S. Forest Service open the Valle Vidal for coal bed methane production? That is the fundamental question behind the more controversial, but perhaps more salient question, should the Valle Vidal be opened for such production? Coal bed methane is a natural gas found in coal seams. Production of the gas requires drilling holes into the earth, forcing water into coal seams, then pumping it out to release the gas. The coal bed methane drilling controversy extends well beyond the Valle Vidal with New Mexico joining the ranks of Wyoming, Kansas, Iowa, Alabama, Pennsylvania and Virginia as key players in this non-conventional energy source push.... Bend official urges House to force Pine Nursery sale A Bend Metro Park and Recreation District official asked a Congressional subcommittee Thursday to pass legislation that would force the federal government to sell the Bend Pine Nursery to the district for a price below what the government has requested. A day after a Senate committee approved the bill, sending it to the Senate floor, Chuck Burley of the Bend Park and Recreation District called on the House panel to approve Rep. Greg Walden's bill, which would transfer the 185-acre nursery for $3.5 million, $2.3 million less than the U.S. Forest Service's asking price. The Park District wants to use most of the land for recreational purposes, such as creating footpaths for hiking and building baseball diamonds and soccer fields.... Prairie dog poison ban lifted The U.S. Forest Service says it is lifting its ban on poisoning prairie dogs on five national grasslands in South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska and Wyoming. Deputy Chief Tom Thompson, in a letter sent Thursday to three regional foresters, rescinded an earlier letter of direction that effectively banned poisoning of prairie dogs on national forests and grasslands, according to a news release from Nebraska National Forest supervisor Don Bright in Chadron. The decision opens the way to control the spread of prairie dogs onto private land from federal grasslands, including the Buffalo Gap and Fort Pierre national grasslands in western South Dakota, Bright said.... Judge allows logging in critical owl habitat National forests in southwestern Oregon can sell timber that stands within critical habitat for the northern spotted owl if the areas also are designated for logging under the Northwest Forest Plan, a federal judge has ruled. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Owen Panner in Portland was a defeat for the Oregon Natural Resources Council and other environmental groups trying to protect old growth timber within the area designated for harvest on federal lands in Oregon, Washington and Northern California. In dismissing the lawsuit, the judge upheld the biological opinion from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that declared logging on 60,000 acres of the Rogue River and Siskiyou national forests and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's Medford District would not harm the overall population of spotted owls, which are a threatened species.... Cubin backs Wyo on wolf debate Barbara Cubin, Wyoming's sole U.S. representative, is "appalled" at how the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has treated the state over the wolf management issue, she told state lawmakers Friday. "Wyoming is right on this issue, and I'm not afraid to say that to a Republican administration," said the GOP congresswoman to state senators, sparking the one interruption by applause in her roughly 10-minute speech. She said officials of the federal agency made verbal and written assurances to both Cubin and state leaders that Wyoming's proposed wolf management law from last year would satisfy federal requirements for turning management of the creatures over to the states and for beginning to remove the gray wolf from the Endangered Species List.... Wyo aims to keep dual wolf status Wyoming's Game and Fish Commissioners are sticking to their guns and supporting a dual classification of wolves, even if it means going to court. The commission decided Friday not to support a bill, HB 155, that aims to avoid a court battle over Wyoming's gray wolf management plan by removing the predator provisions in the dual classification. Instead, the commission voted -- by a 4-3 margin that was decided by Commission President Jerry Sanders' tie-breaking vote -- to support a second House bill that keeps the dual classification in place, but changes the law to better meet federal demands for delisting. Commissioners said if nothing else, the bill could strengthen the state's hand if wolf delisting is litigated....Congress resists funding wild horse program The Bureau of Land Management is running into more problems trying to come up with additional money from Congress for wild horse controls, threatening new plans to reduce herds roaming the West. BLM officials were told by representatives from House and Senate budget-writing committees at a private meeting last week not to expect an increase for wild horse control, according to a spokesman for the House Appropriations Committee. The action represents another setback to a struggling Wild Horse and Burro program that is routinely criticized for failing to meet goals to manage 38,000 free-roaming horses and burros.... Column: Environmental regulation and private property rights Three years ago, Judge John Paul Wiese of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled that the government owed the 275 farmers for their water losses. And this past New Year's Eve, he set the amount of damages at $14 million plus interest (a momentous judgment that received little notice until a few weeks ago). Indeed, no longer can government regulators take private property – be it water or, presumably, land – to protect this snail darter or that spotted owl with no consideration whatsoever for the economic loss that may be suffered by private property owners. If the government feels that a species is so endangered that it needs to take a farmer's water, that it needs to deprive a landowner of full economic use of his or her land, then the government ought to pay the farmer, the landowner for the loss.... NYT Editorial: Snowmobiles Unbound Friends of Yellowstone National Park were thrilled when a federal district judge in Washington ruled last December in favor of a Clinton administration plan that would have gradually eliminated snowmobiles from the park and against a Bush proposal that would have kept them there. Now another federal judge, in a separate case in Wyoming, has muddied the judicial waters by declaring the Clinton plan illegal and, in effect, ordering the National Park Service managers in Yellowstone to end the phaseout. The number of machines entering the park, which had been declining, promptly jumped to more than 700 a day from 490. It is hard to say which is more disheartening, the irrational ruling by the judge in Wyoming, Clarence Brimmer, or the administration's disingenuous response.... Park gas-mask probe rejected Republican candidate for governor Ken Miller has asked Attorney General Mike McGrath to investigate a 2-year-old photograph that showed National Park Service employees wearing gas masks to highlight air pollution caused by snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park. McGrath declined, saying his office can perform criminal investigations only at the request of law-enforcement officials not the public, spokeswoman Lynn Solomon said. In a letter, Miller said the attorney general had received "hundreds of signatures on petitions and hundreds of letters requesting your office investigate the infamous 'rangers with gas mask' photo that Park Service personnel allegedly staged." Miller said he believes there is sufficient evidence of "malicious wrongdoing to justify an investigation." Many people watched the staging of a photo opportunity that resulted in a photograph that ran in newspapers throughout the country on Feb. 19, 2002, he said.... Ojito Wilderness The plan to create the Ojito Wilderness Area, crafted after years of negotiations in New Mexico between environmentalists, Zia Pueblo and lawmakers, has run into a snag with the Bush administration. New Mexico senators were surprised Thursday to learn the Department of Interior wants to use the Ojito bill to set a precedent in limiting its responsibility for managing Indian Trust lands.... Hunters complain of off-road vehicles Some elk hunters say hunters who use noisy - and speedy - all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles are spoiling their chances. One complained to the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission on Thursday. "All day long they're cowboying it up," Stephen Eckert said. "These pseudo-hunters ... are a cancer that needs to be in remission.".... EPA Relaxes Estimations of Park Pollution In a decision that raises the possibility of increased pollution in national parks around the country, the Bush administration will allow North Dakota to change the way it estimates air pollution over Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The change, announced Friday in Bismarck, N.D., means that a consortium of power companies will be able to go ahead with a coal-fired power plant in North Dakota, and other power plants could open in the future, state officials said. Compliance with the Clean Air Act's requirements on national parks is determined by a system for estimating pollution levels. The new system, which is expected to produce lower estimates, could allow new coal-fired plants to be built near the North Dakota park without violating the law. "That sets the stage for new investments in our energy industry and real progress in our rural communities," Gov. John Hoeven said in announcing the agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency.... State’s Refusal to Share Public Documents Draws Challenge from Conservation Groups Earthjustice today appealed the Utah Attorney General’s refusal to provide public documents relating to highways claimed by the state under a federal statute known as R.S. 2477. The requests, filed in January under Utah’s Government Records Access and Management Act, seek basic information about the construction and location of the claimed highways, and the standards under which highway claims would be evaluated. Joro Walker, an attorney for the groups, explained that state and various county officials have misconstrued the law to claim that thousands of faint, previously unmapped trails qualify as “constructed highways” under R.S. 2477. The result is that once they have laid claim to these trails, they could move in with bulldozers and convert them to permanent roads, subjecting some of the most scenic national parks and refuges to increased traffic and development.... Column: Bush still isn't listening For three years, public servants and career scientists have been browbeaten into silence on many environmental and public lands issues. The administration ignores scientific studies that don't support Bush's political agenda. When public opinion disagrees with his goals, the administration shuts off public comment. The people who are trying to protect our air and water and be good stewards of our public lands have been told that their loyalty is not to the public or federal law. Instead, they are told, in no uncertain terms, to be loyal to this president.... Offshore Fish Farm Proposed A San Diego firm announced Thursday that it wants to use an old oil platform off Ventura County to create a commercial fish farm, the first of its kind on the West Coast to specialize in fin fish. The nonprofit Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute wants to use Venoco Inc.'s decommissioned Grace platform, in waters about 10 miles west of Ventura, to build an experimental operation that could produce up to 300 tons of fish annually.... Water rights proposal put forward in New Mexico A water rights battle that has raged for almost 40 years may finally be settled. New Mexico state officials first filed the Aamodt lawsuit in 1966 in an effort to delineate the water rights of Indian pueblos and of non- Native Americans. The proposed settlement involves water users who are not tribal members in the Rio Pojoaque, Rio Nambé and Rio Tesuque Pueblo drainages giving up private wells and connecting to a regional water system. The idea of a regional water system has been bandied about for years, but this is the first time a concrete plan with the backing of so many imvolved has been pushed forward. State and federal officials would coordinate the water system. The project is estimated to cost $280 million, of which the federal government would pay all but $68 million. A federal judge must still approve the proposal, which has the backing of Indian and non-Indian negotiators.... Probe prompts branding takeover The state's decision to take over the brand inspection program from South Dakota Stockgrowers Association came after a criminal investigation, Gov. Mike Rounds said Friday. But Rounds said the investigation didn't find criminal intent, and there are not plans to file criminal charges. He would not say what prompted the investigation. The South Dakota Brand Board voted Wednesday night to drop the contract with the Stockgrowers Association, which has run the brand inspection program for at least 60 years.... History of SD Hangings A woman who has compiled history about murders in Dakota Territory and South Dakota's early years has her work on display at the Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre. Carol Jennings spent two years on the project that focuses on murder in the state up to 1940. She's a research assistant at the State Archives in the Cultural Heritage Center. Her work includes the noose that was used to hang Nathaniel Thompson in 1893 and other items from that part of history. She has compiled this list of people executed by hanging in a portion of Dakota Territory and later in South Dakota.... 'Picture Perfect Cowboy' He can talk about the Stock Show ’til the cows come home, then “cut,” rope and paint the cows when they get there. Buck Taylor, at 65, embodies the classic old-time cowboy, and immortalizes the western way of life—from his Gunsmoke TV days to breeding longhorn cattle on his Throckmorton Ranch and creating paintings that reflect the romance and reality of the American West. For the past nine years, the actor and western artist has created the official Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo poster, and sold his art in the Amon Carter Exhibit Hall.... Cody ranch used for Sports Illustrated swimsuit shoot Never mind those sandy beaches - readers of this year's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue will see models posing on the banks of the North Fork and in Stampede Park. For one week in early July last year, two models and a crew of photographers, makeup artists and support personnel lived at the UXU Ranch and shot on location. "I was excited to have a magazine like that choose my ranch to spend a week," UXU owner Ham Bryan said. "Let's face it, it's any guy's dream.".... Local pro rodeo cowboy, rope manufacturer dies of heart attack Johnny Dale Emmons threw ropes, made ropes and even invented ropes. A former professional rodeo cowboy, he ran his family's rope manufacturing business and patented the Original Nylon Pigging String, a light rope that reduced times and brought new excitement to calf roping. Emmons, 55, died Monday of a heart attack at Arlington Memorial Hospital.... Short visits reveal mutual friends, kinfolk I have a theory, developed over my 70-plus years in the Panhandle, that goes something like this: "If you visit with a stranger for five minutes, you will know of him or at least heard of him before. If you visit 10 minutes, you will discover you both have mutual friends and mutual interests. If you visit 15 minutes, you will find you are cousins." This theory seldom fails me, as before I married Ruth I was kin to everybody south of the Canadian River. After marriage, I became kin to everyone north of the river. Kinfolks have always meant a lot to my family, but like many other things, times have changed.... On The Edge Of Common Sense: A horse is a horse, unlesss of course it's a girl's first love He spent his last year living a horse's dream: being loved by a little girl. A $400 dental bill at age 25 extended his life. I've owned many horses. He's the only one I've ever buried on my place. His greatest trait was that he had try. "He was hard and tough and wiry, just the sort that won't say die" was how Banjo Paterson put it in "The Man From Snowy River." He made a good cowman out of my daughter, won her a buckle in the team penning. He never placed in the halter class, always a little overweight, a might short. I took a lot of hoorahin' from the well-mounted boys at the roping arena....