NEWS ROUNDUP

Group fighting bison management alleges rights violations A group opposed to government efforts to manage bison wandering from Yellowstone National Park has accused federal, state and county officials of a concerted effort to undermine its work by repeatedly violating members' constitutional rights. In a federal lawsuit filed in Missoula, the Buffalo Field Campaign claimed authorities engaged in "an escalating and systematic pattern and practice of assaults, harassment, spying, intimidation, slander, false arrest and detentions.".... Stealth society: Mountain lions see us more than we see them Mountain lions travel lengthy distances, cross highways and come very close to homes during nocturnal searches for prey, according to a University of California at Davis study now in its fourth year. The results have surprised researchers. Mountain lions - also known as cougars or pumas - were crossing interstate highways and skirting clusters of homes without being seen. People were sometimes unaware that their goats and other livestock were silently dragged off and devoured by lions in the middle of the night. In November, Linda Anderson of Rough and Ready had a lion drag her 44-pound dog out of its 8-foot tall kennel right behind her home, devouring all but a portion of the dog's head and a foot.... Big-game tag brings wolves closer to state management in Idaho The Idaho Fish and Game Commission has officially designated the gray wolf as a big game animal in the state, but a commissioner said Monday it will be a long time before anyone actually hunts wolves for sport. The commission unanimously voted late last month to change the official status of gray wolves from "endangered species" to "big game animal," bringing any killing of the species under commission regulation. Commissioner Cameron Wheeler, whose eastern Idaho district encompasses part of the wolf recovery area in Idaho, said any wolf season in Idaho would be tightly restricted, perhaps even as a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It would likely attract trophy hunters, he said.... Protecting bull trout to cost up to $300 million over decade It will cost between $230 million and $300 million to protect bull trout under the Endangered Species Act in the Columbia and Klamath river basins, according to an analysis released Monday by the federal government. The critical habitat proposals by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service cover parts of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana.... Birthplace Is Crucial Issue for Scientists Counting Salmon Ever since the advent of hatcheries, not all salmon have been created equal, at least in the eyes of conservation biologists. But federal officials, under pressure from property rights advocates, are planning a classification change that could result in the loss of protection under the Endangered Species Act for many types of Pacific salmon.... Upheaval in the National Park Service has turned the genial ranks of America's rangers into outposts of fear and frustration Forner has been a National Park Service ranger for 29 years. He loves his work, considers it a privilege to serve both the public and the land. But he is fed up. And he's not alone. Millions of visitors a year hear friendly rangers banter about prehistory at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument in Nebraska or geology at Utah's Zion National Park. The crisp green and gray uniforms declare that all is right in this nationwide realm of 387 taxpayer-financed battlefields, cemeteries, ruins, seashores, parkways, preserves, scenic rivers, trails and parks. Out of earshot, however, many employees complain about slashed budgets and staffs, and say they fear recrimination if they don't toe the line.... Senate Committee Seeks Statue of Liberty Foundation's Records A Senate committee that oversees charities' compliance with the nation's tax laws requested records yesterday of contracts, staff salaries and other financial information from the nonprofit foundation managing the reopening of the Statue of Liberty. The Finance Committee, prompted by reports that the statue's opening had been stalled because of governmental delays and fund-raising by the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, wants the foundation to justify staff salaries that exceed $100,000 and explain any contracts that were awarded without competitive bidding.... Sale of mining patents roils Crested Butte residents For $875, the Bush administration last week sold 155 acres of federal land near Crested Butte to a multinational mining company, renewing one of the nation's longest-running legal battles over a mine proposal. The purchase, revealed late Friday, outraged local officials and environmentalists who have been fighting efforts to open a mine on Mount Emmons for more than 30 years. The federal Bureau of Land Management dismissed three formal protests and immediately turned over the patents to nine claims on U.S. Forest Service land to the Phelps Dodge Corp.... Nevada says DOE isn't telling those affected of Yucca rail plan Nevada is accusing the federal government of neglecting to inform ranchers, miners and rural Nevada residents about plans to withdraw 319 miles of federal land from public use while studying a rail corridor to a national nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain. The Bureau of Land Management has a "proactive responsibility" to ensure the Energy Department tells affected parties about its plans, the Nuclear Projects Agency Nevada said in written comments submitted last week on the proposed Caliente corridor. "In this regard, both the BLM and the DOE have been derelict in their duties and responsibilities," the document said.... Column: Shoot, Shovel & Shut Up In their study of red-cockaded woodpeckers in North Carolina, "Pre-emptive Habitat Destruction Under the Endangered Species Act," economists Dean Lueck, at Montana State University, and Jeffrey A. Michael, at North Carolina University, show that landowners have "pre-emptively destroyed" the habitats of endangered species in order to avoid potential land-use regulations prescribed under the Endangered Species Act. "Under the ESA it is not only illegal to kill an endangered species, but it is also illegal to damage their habitat," explain Lueck and Michael. "By preventing the establishment of an old-growth pine stand, landowners can ensure that red-cockaded woodpeckers do not inhabit their land and avoid ESA regulations that limit or prohibit timber harvest activity.".... Backroom Deal Exposed, Illegal Wilderness Settlement Contested Conservation groups today contested a precedent-setting anti-wilderness settlement reached last year between the State of Utah and the Department of the Interior by filing a brief with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals and releasing documents that show the settlement was rife with irregularities. This comes one year after Interior Secretary Gale Norton entered into the backroom agreement with the State of Utah that prohibited the BLM from ever again looking for or protecting wild lands as Wilderness Study Areas on over 150 million acres of public lands throughout the West. The Wilderness Society, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Natural Resources Defense Council, and other conservation groups today asked the court to toss out the settlement, arguing it violates federal land management laws and is the product of organized complicity, rather than a fair, arms-length negotiation.... Editorial: Land swap deal needs more talk Sen. Gordon Smith has emerged during his seven years in Washington, D.C., as a soft-spoken, independent effective leader, so it's worth taking a second look at his proposal to give a huge swath of federal forestland away. Smith has proposed giving a tenth of the 630,000-acre Siuslaw National Forest to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to hold in trust for the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians. It would be the largest such land swap, ever. However, the tribal members who would benefit are poor, and certainly returning a huge chunk of valuable timberland to them for administration through the Bureau of Indian Affairs sounds like a good alternative to poverty — or casinos.... Sierra Club, Greater Yellowstone Coalition Back Grazing Buyout Bills Two more national conservation groups, the Sierra Club and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, have endorsed federal legislation that would compensate public lands ranchers who voluntarily relinquish their federal grazing permits. The Voluntary Grazing Permit Buyout Act (H.R. 3324, "Shays-Grijalva"), a bill introduced by Reps. Christopher Shays (R-Connecticut) and Raúl Grijalva (D-Arizona), would allow federal public lands ranchers to waive their interest in grazing permits in exchange for compensation in the amount of $175 per animal unit month (or AUM, the amount of forage to sustain one cow and calf for one month). "We are pleased to join nearly 200 ranchers [in Arizona alone] and numerous other conservation organizations in supporting this legislation," said Don Steuter, conservation chair of the Sierra Club's Grand Canyon chapter. "These bills will help restore public lands that have been impacted heavily by drought and livestock grazing.".... Why are environmentalists trying to get snowmobiles banned from national parks? According to the San Francisco, California–based Bluewater Network, which wants to ban snowmobile use in national parks, 250,000 snowmobiles are operated in America's park system each year, with some 60,000 snowmobiles zooming through Yellowstone National Park alone. Counting all snowmobile usage nationally, in and out of national parks, about 2.3 million take to the powder every year. The main issue is the vehicleís two-stroke engine, which is a major polluter. According to Bluewater, the air pollution from these dirty machines is so bad that some Yellowstone Park Rangers now wear respirators to protect themselves. Further, these engines dump 25 percent to 30 percent of their fuel unburned out the tailpipe onto vegetation and soil and into the water and air.... Column: Another side of being green Environmentalists' actions and influences with the county provided fuel for the fire. Brad Boswell, a Kiwanis Club member who took off a week from work at his insurance agency to help fire victims, still gets outraged when he tells the story of a Ramona woman who had three government and environmental representatives approach her for having cleared brush too far away from her house ---- a house that was spared from the fire, thanks to her actions. "Can you image her outrage?" said Boswell. "She saved her house and the environmental enforcement personnel wanted to penalize her. ... This is just one example of environmental enforcement personnel pushing their governmental mandate too far, against all common sense and common decency.".... U.S. plans study on environment and kids Does a pregnant woman's exposure to certain chemicals put her child at risk of learning disabilities? Do genetics and pollution interact to cause asthma? What's the real impact of TV on toddlers? The government is preparing the largest study of U.S. children ever performed - it will track 100,000 from mothers' wombs to age 21 - to increase understanding of how the environment affects youngsters' health. It's called the National Children's Study, and pediatric specialists say it is coming at a crucial time. Rates of autism, asthma, certain birth defects and other disorders are on the rise, as is concern about which environmental factors play a role. And technology has finally advanced enough to allow study of multichemical and gene-environment interactions that might explain why some children seem at greater risk.... Ranchers offer plan for water With a plan they say is a better alternative than water mining proposals in the Big Bend region and Panhandle, a group of Permian Basin businessmen and ranchers wants to pipe excess rainwater that flows off the Davis, Barrilla and Glass Mountains to water-starved West Texas cities. The Texas Mountain Canyon Water Association eyes water from the Hovey Trough, a 30 mile long, 10 mile wide area along Highway 67 from Brewster County into Pecos County to within 15 miles of Fort Stockton. Depending on how much rain falls in a year and more detailed engineering, they say, the trough could supply between 44,000 and 110,000 acre feet of water annually to Odessa, Big Spring, Snyder, Midland, Abilene, San Angelo and numerous smaller cities in those areas.... Column: Japan shouldn't have a cow over safety of U.S. beef Ranchers here in western Nebraska still talk about "the cow who stole Christmas." By that they mean the Holstein in Washington State reported on Dec. 23 to have mad-cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy). Based on that single case, about 50 countries slammed the door on U.S. beef imports. And shut it largely remains, though for no good reason. By coincidence, this year is the 150th anniversary of the treaty that marked the opening of relations between Japan and the United States. Groups that nurture Japanese-U.S. ties have been seeking ways to observe this milestone. The ranchers of America have a suggestion: In the spirit of "openings," Japan should reopen its markets to U.S. beef.... Japan OKs more beef talks Japan doesn't expect to lift its 3-month-old mad-cow-related embargo on U.S. beef anytime soon but will continue discussions with Washington to find a solution, an official said Monday. Mamoru Ishihara, Japan's vice minister of agriculture, said the two sides still differ over the best way to end the ban. Tokyo says it won't allow U.S. beef back into the country until Washington starts testing every slaughtered cow - an estimated 35 million head of cattle - for the brain-wasting illness. Japan introduced blanket testing after finding its own domestic mad cow case in 2001.... Survey Shows American Consumers Trust Agriculture And Support Food Choices The general U.S. public has deep trust and confidence in American school teachers, veterinarians, physicians and farmers and ranchers, according to a national consumer opinion survey conducted by Market Directions Inc., and jointly underwritten by the Animal Agriculture Alliance and National Corn Growers Association. In contrast, the public indicates distrust for activists and well-known Hollywood actors or actresses, especially when they attack animal agriculture, the groups said in a press release about the survey results. Bruce Andrews, president of the Animal Agriculture Alliance said: "More than 40 percent of respondents over the age of 25 considered farmers and ranchers to be one of their two most favorably viewed groups. At the same time, animal rights activists show themselves to be consistently out of touch with the public at large." Eighty-six percent of respondents think consumers should have the right to choose what they eat and not be dictated to by a small minority of activists, according to the poll, which was conducted in February.... Dwindling rural towns are offering free land The frenzy surrounding this community of 600 stems from its decision to borrow an economic-development idea instituted by Abraham Lincoln: Give land away. The lots of less than an acre, next to the rodeo arena, are not big compared with the 160 acres that more than a century ago lured former slaves and waves of immigrants to settle the Great Plains. But the deal — improve the land and it's yours — remains the same. And a handful of central Kansas towns, including Marquette, have embraced modern-day homesteading as an elixir for their ills. Over the past two decades, hundreds of rural communities across the country have watched their schools and churches die out as residents, particularly the young, made a beeline for jobs and opportunity in larger cities.... Albino zebra born in Nairobi The baby zebra was first discovered when a group of Masaai cattle herders living on the edge of the game reserve reported that a little calf was on the loose in the park, senior warden Paul Gathitu said on Monday. "The Masaai thought it was a calf because of its white colour", he said. The albino zebra was born in the beginning of March but has so far been left in peace by park wardens.... It's All Trew: Everyone has a story to tell Jack Dodson, longtime resident of Ochiltree County, owned and drove a cattle truck. Jack recalled a time when traveling down a residential side street in Perryton he encountered a cardboard box in his lane of traffic. For some unknown reason, he pulled into the oncoming traffic lane to miss the box. After passing the box and returning back to his lane he glanced into his side mirror to see a small child crawl from the box and up the curb back into a nearby yard. The incident left Jack so weak he had to pull aside and rest a bit before continuing on his way....