NEWS ROUNDUP

Tiffany's, small town clash over mine It's a long way from Tiffany & Co.'s store in Manhattan to the northwest Montana community of Libby, a humble timber and mining town where houses sell for less than some of the glamorous jeweler's engagement rings. Yet Tiffany's and Libby are oddly linked. They're opponents across a geographic and cultural divide in a dispute over a proposed copper and silver mine in Montana's remote Cabinet Mountains. Despite its reliance on metals and minerals, Tiffany's has sided with people opposing the mine.... Weed 25 million acres, anyone? Botanists attempt to replant range Imagine weeding 25 million acres of open range. That's a garden plot of about 39,000 square miles, nearly the size of Kentucky. Out of about 75 million acres of public rangeland in five Western states including Idaho, about 25 million acres are infested with cheatgrass, said Mike Pellant, coordinator of the Bureau of Land Management's efforts to restore native range habitat in the Great Basin. "The way I look at it, the job security is good," he said. But the good news, Pellant said, has been that people are pulling together to meet the challenge. Cheatgrass, also called June grass, is a non-native, invasive weed imported to the West more than a century ago that has taken over and altered the range's natural fire cycle.... Animal-rights issue is not keeping tourists away Facing a new Alaska program to hunt wolves from airplanes, the animal-rights group Friends of Animals is trying to revive its successful pressure tactic of a decade ago and persuade vacationers to boycott the state this summer. But tourism officials say this time the plea seems to be falling mostly on deaf ears. "It seems for once Outsiders don't care how we do it in Alaska," said Eric Downey, vice president of marketing for Denali Lodges. While tourism officials with the state's largest trade groups say they've received hundreds of e-mails and letters from people who say they're canceling plans for Alaska vacations, they say there is little evidence of the protest in summer bookings.... 'Safe harbors' cut Gordian knot of species conflict But private property is vital for more than half the 1,265 U.S. species listed under the Endangered Species Act, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service. To untie that knot and promote conservation on nonfederal land, the government created "safe-harbor agreements" in the mid-1990s. Former Interior Secretary and Arizona Gov. Bruce Babbitt promoted them heavily. They've also been favored by the Bush administration. Safe harbors inject some flexibility into the strict Endangered Species Act, which makes it a federal crime to kill, hurt, harass or even pursue a listed creature.... Did frog cost refuge chief his job? The Chiricahua leopard frog may have cost Wayne Shifflett his job as manager of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, south of Three Points. Shifflett's lawyer, Skip Donau, said Friday that Shifflett was put on administrative leave in January by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service because of allegations he illegally moved leopard frogs. Donau said Shifflett moved the frogs to save them because the tank they were living in threatened to dry up. Donau would reveal little else about the case, but said Shifflett has still not been charged with any crime. "What he did was in the highest tradition of wildlife management," Donau said.... Ranchers helping leopard frog - a species on the spot In one celebrated case of voluntary conservation, the Magoffin ranching family hauled 1,000 gallons of water per week - in a truck without brakes - to save frogs in a tank of theirs that was drying up in the mid-1990s. But other ranchers here in the southeast corner of Arizona say they were afraid to follow suit because of a paradox of endangered-species policy: If you improve habitat for a listed species, your livelihood may be the one threatened if the area is recolonized or the critters die. Seeking to promote conservation on private lands, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is about to offer a deal to ranchers on 1 million acres in Arizona and New Mexico. Under the so-called safe-harbor agreement, ranchers who accept or attract frogs will be immune from added regulations if frogs arrive or subsequently die off.... Farming family grapples with conservation's impact On a wedge of fertile valley floor just a stone's throw from Interstate 5, the Phillips family farm rolls out the red carpet for wildlife. Owl nesting platforms and raptor perches dot the Phillips vineyards. Wood-duck boxes offer fowl a safe haven near the river. The family grows fruits, flowers and vegetables organically, relying on nature rather than pesticides. But brothers Michael and David Phillips still fret about their county's fledgling habitat conservation plan, which seeks to permanently preserve thousands of acres for rare animals and plants.... Ex-professor's wildlife trial begins Tucked away on a winding country road, the LSU Idlewood Experimental Station is distinguished by its lush rolling hills, thick pine forests and a stillness broken only occasionally by the sounds of rushing wind or lowing cattle. Beginning today, however, the facility is expected to become one of many key subjects in an unusual federal criminal trial in Baton Rouge that will be anything but serene. Mark Johnson, a former tenured wildlife professor and nationally known researcher at Idlewood, stands accused of violating the Lacey Act, one of the oldest and most comprehensive wildlife laws on the books -- as well as wire fraud and tampering with witnesses.... Grizzlies in southwest Alberta awake to roadkill feast Hungry after months of winter slumber, grizzlies in southwestern Alberta are waking up to find a feast of deer and elk roadkill. For the sixth year in a row, staff from Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, Parks Canada and Volker Stevin Ltd., have teamed up to drop the carcasses of animals killed during the winter on highways near Waterton Lakes National Park into the backcountry where they can be found by grizzlies as they emerge from their dens.... Weapons Moving Out, Wildlife Moving In Ernie Maurer was 20 in the summer of 1942 when the United States Army took his family's farm, along with dozens of others, to create the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, a 27-square-mile chemical weapons complex that became notorious for the deep scars of pollution that were left on the land. On Saturday Mr. Maurer was back, watching as an Army official signed over title on nearly 5,000 acres of arsenal land to the federal Fish and Wildlife Service to create America's newest national wildlife refuge. Mr. Maurer, now 82, pointed to where he picnicked as a child, and where the bomb factories once stood. "It's quite amazing the way things developed," he said.... Column: A land grab unmatched in U.S. history Who owns our national public lands? The nearby local communities? Americans who come to see and enjoy "their" lands, or those who never visit them but still cherish the concept? Businesses that would make money off their rich resources? Whatever administration is in power? You? Me? And who makes the decisions for these public lands? Professional land managers with specialized training or political appointees who may want to benefit party donors? Should decisions be made to gain energy resources, or to protect our lands as a legacy for future generations? No one is making new land, and we're certainly filling up that which we have. When it's gone, there's no replacement.... In Big Sur, war waged over land and lifestyle In Big Sur, they're calling the process "Pac-Man National Park," the bite-by-bite acquisition of private land by government agencies and land trusts. The idea of placing what is arguably the most beautiful stretch of coastline on earth into public hands might seem a good thing to the 4 million people who visit Big Sur each year. But for many Big Sur residents, it signals the destruction of a community that existed before California was a state. And, with the California Coastal Commission and Monterey County making it ever more difficult to develop private land, they say there is often no option but to feed it to the Pac-Man machine.... Seasonal driving limit stirs beach-use debate The family is among an estimated 2.5 million visitors expected to hit Ocean Shores beaches this year. Many drive to the tiny town specifically to enjoy the ocean views by cruising the beaches -- in cars, trucks and mopeds. Beach driving has become an economic boon for local businesses, city officials say. But the popular activity is controversial, and some environmentalists and vacation homeowners would like to see it banned.... GAO to scrutinize Klamath water bank The U.S. General Accounting Office is launching an inquiry into a water account created for the Klamath River in 2002 by buying millions of dollars of water from farmers to send downstream for salmon. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation water bank project reportedly bought $4 million of water in 2003 -- and has more than $4 million available to buy even more water this year -- from farmers along the central California-Oregon border. The billions of gallons of water is intended to improve conditions for threatened salmon in the lower Klamath River.... Rural neighbors growing divided over fencing North Coast -- Good fences are making for some pretty upset neighbors in the rural areas of the North Coast. Neighboring landowners have long split the costs for fences that separate their properties. At least that's been the "handshake" agreement for the past 100 years, according to Walter Fitzhugh, a Cambria native who runs cattle on the family ranch on Santa Rosa Creek Road.... Alternative energy industry a potential bonanza for West While Western governors were in Albuquerque this past week debating the energy future of the West, a few miles away you could see the future in Ft. Sumner, where electricity is generated from the wind while cows graze under the giant wind turbines scattered across the landscape. On the edge of a remote mesa east of Albuquerque, 136 wind turbines have injected new life into this small ranching community, where local residents struggled for years through drought and financial hard times, dogged by constant worry of losing their herds and maybe even their lands. But with the completion of the New Mexico Wind Energy Center last fall, the ranchers can see a way forward.... 'Hoppers expected to swarm the West So far, there's little indication those kinds of conditions will come to the region's rescue this spring. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor run by the University of Nebraska, most of the Western United States - from Southern California to western Wisconsin - is in some stage of drought. Many experts predict the drought - and, therefore, grasshoppers - will worsen through the growing season. A U.S. Department of Agriculture map predicting grasshopper infestations for 2004 shows that nearly all of western Nebraska is expected to see a plague of at least 15 grasshoppers per square yard. The map also predicts such levels from central Texas into its panhandle and parts of Nevada, Montana, Oregon and South Dakota.... Panel to weigh limits on cougar hunt In Arizona, every day is mountain lion hunting season. And in most parts of the state, all mountain lions, from cuddly kittens to gangly adults, are fair game. The Arizona Game and Fish Commission today will consider a proposal to take the baby mountain lions and their mothers out of the hunt. A conservation group, while lauding the proposed change, wants the commission to go further.... U.S. accepts more Canadian beef The United States has decided to lift remaining import restrictions on Canadian beef from younger animals, effective Monday. Industry observers say the move may signal the Americans' intention to reopen the border to live cattle. The new rules will allow processors to ship products that include ground beef and bone-in cuts. That could mean an additional $170 million in annual sales.... Senator Hutchison hopes to kill COOL Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison stopped in Amarillo on Saturday to assure her supporters she was doing her best to save cattle raisers and feeders and the state from spending a lot of money. Hutchison spent about an hour at Texas Cattle Feeders Association making her way around a room of well-wishers, chatting about some of the issues she's working on.... Females garner top honors on final day of NCHA Super Stakes It was women's night out Sunday at the conclusion of the 19-day-long National Cutting Horse Association's Super Stakes Classic at Will Rogers Coliseum. Cara Barry, a 22-year-old from Byron, Ill., and Mary Jo Milner, a grandmother from Southlake, took top honors in the male-dominated sport. Both horses they were riding were also females.... Dimmit County cowboy speaks of colorful life Pond has lived a colorful life of cattle punching, range riding and storytelling, but the most noteworthy fact about him does not appear on any resume. "I'm one-armed," he said. "People don't believe this, that a one-armed man could accomplish the things I have in my life, and I did it all by myself." During five decades of working cattle and managing ranches in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico, Pond did about everything a cowboy could do. From the very ordinary, like treating screw-worm infestations and burning prickly pear, on up a few notches to breaking his neck on a bad horse and putting a rifle to a man's throat.... On The Edge Of Common Sense: U.S. record around the world a proud one Citizens are free to protest in France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovakia, Poland, Japan, Germany, South Korea and Iraq. Those citizens owe their freedom to America's military might and the aid of our allies du jour....