NEWS ROUNDUP

Anti-logging protests mark Bush administration visit Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey canceled an impromptu meeting with environmentalists to discuss salvage logging on the Biscuit fire Friday after he was confronted by angry protesters. The roughly 50 shouting protesters who assembled outside Rey's speech to the Oregon and Washington chapters of the Society of American Foresters foreshadowed future confrontations in the woods if the Siskiyou National Forest goes ahead with plans to log 518 million board feet from the area burned in the Biscuit fire, environmentalists said.... Grassland appeal denial under review A U.S. Forest Service decision earlier this year rejecting several administrative appeals of the Northern Great Plains Management Plans Revision won't be the last word on the matter. David Tenny, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's deputy undersecretary for Natural Resources and Environment, is conducting a "discretionary review" of the Forest Service's rejection. Tenny is expected to issue his decision "very soon," according to officials. The Forest Service revised its Resource Management Plan for the Thunder Basin National Grassland in Wyoming and several other grasslands located in North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska. After the plans were completed, various groups filed a total of 16 appeals.... Forest users ask judge to forbid all road and trail closures Montanans for Multiple Use has asked a federal court in Washington, D.C., to ban the U.S. Forest Service from implementing road and trail closures. The group said its requested preliminary injunction is necessary because of an approaching fire season which will expose the public to a substantial health and safety risk. It also said the Forest Service continues to implement a "continuous stream" of forest plan amendments across the country aimed at closing forest roads and trails.... I-80 reopens near Reno after closed 4 hours due to Sierra wildfire More than 130 firefighters battled a fast-moving wildfire that forced the closure of U.S. Interstate 80 in the Sierra for four hours Friday near the California-Nevada state line. The Nevada and California highway patrols shut down a 30-mile stretch of the interstate in both directions just west of Reno about 3 p.m. and reopened it shortly after 7 p.m. Firefighting efforts were hampered intially by winds gusting to 20 mph as the fire burned sage brush and timber on steep, rocky hillsides on both sides of the interstate along about a 2-mile stretch near Farad, Calif., about 10 miles southwest of Verdi, Nev.... Letter: Forest Service made a fiasco out of the Kit Laney situation Cows were injured. Why? Were there any representatives of the Laneys there at all times to see to the welfare of the cattle and make sure that the cattle that were confiscated were actually on forest land? Why were gates left open so the horses could get out if these men that were rounding up the cattle knew what they were doing? Did they have any knowledge of rounding up cattle? Why ship them to an undisclosed place if the Laneys had the option to buy the cattle back before auction? And, why is the price of the cattle more than the value? Is this typical government price gouging?.... Trout Canyon possible home for desert tortoises The desert tortoise sanctuary near Jean is getting more crowded, leading the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to begin looking for alternative sites, including Trout Canyon near Pahrump. Forest Service biologist Michael Burroughs said since the Jean location was established in 1996, over 4,000 endangered desert tortoises have been transported to that 34 square-mile site. All of them were collected under the Clark County habitat conservation plan, he said. Burroughs confirmed Trout Canyon was being eyed up as a possible site for desert tortoises, as well as northern El Dorado Valley near Boulder City, the Desert National Wildlife Refuge north of Las Vegas and U.S. Highway 95 near Mercury.... Poacher Sentenced for Illegal Bear Trapping Clifton Lee McCarter of Tellico Plains, TN was sentenced in United States Federal Court on May 3, 2004, for his involvement in an illegal bear trap site in the Cherokee National Forest in Monroe County. McCarter was sentenced to: Thirty days incarceration in Federal prison, and two years supervised probation. During the two years of probation McCarter is prohibited from possessing firearms, prohibited from hunting by any means anywhere, and prohibited from entering any National Park or National Forest.... Bear attacks rafter in Desolation Canyon on Green River A black bear attacked and injured a recreational rafter on the Green River in eastern Utah's Desolation Canyon -- the second bear attack there in 10 months. Details were lacking Thursday, but the victim, whose age wasn't known, received a puncture wound on the calf of one leg and superficial scratches on his abdomen. The attack happened around 10:45 p.m. Wednesday, when two bears entered the camp set up by a commercial rafting company after being chased out of another campsite nearby.... Michigan wolf population firmly established, authorities say The surging gray wolf population in Michigan's Upper Peninsula has exceeded 200 for the fifth consecutive year, a milestone that likely will bump the animal from the endangered species list. Once virtually extinct in Michigan, the wolf is continuing a remarkable comeback that began in 1989 when three of the animals established a territory in the western Upper Peninsula, the Department of Natural Resources said Thursday. The estimated population rose during the last year from 321 to more than 360, the agency said. Department biologists produce a yearly census using techniques such as tracking, aerial observations and monitoring wolves fitted with radio collars.... Plan would cement public land user fees The Bush administration wants to make permanent a fee charged for access to public lands, arguing Thursday that it would help build and maintain the restrooms and visitors centers that tourists demand. Barry Hill of the General Accounting Office said a pilot fee program has generated more than $1 billion since it was put in place in 1996, with another $184 million in revenue expected this year. The program is slated to expire at the end of 2005, but Rep. Ralph Regula, R-Ohio, and representatives of the Interior Department and Forest Service are backing efforts to make the fee program permanent.... Checkpoints target Rampart Range area Frustrated by perennial problems in the Rampart Range District of the Pike National Forest, uniformed law enforcement officers have set up vehicle checkpoints along routes into the popular playground southwest of Denver this weekend. Forest Service officials said the checkpoints are intended to help officials enforce off-road vehicle regulations and provide visitors with information on fireworks and firearms restrictions throughout the summer.... Groups fight drilling plan recent analysis by The Wilderness Society says oil and gas development along Montana's Rocky Mountain Front would produce less natural gas than the nation uses in a week and less oil than it uses in 20 minutes. The study was based on data collected by the U.S. Geological Survey. But in determining the "economically recoverable" amount of oil and gas, The Wilderness Society said, the USGS did not include nonmarket costs - such as the loss of local economic benefits from such activities as hunting, fishing and camping - and infrastructure costs of gas transport and environmental mitigation.... You can go here to view the study.... Nevada governor says politics won't affect sage grouse decision Gov. Kenny Guinn is confident Nevada's response to declining sage grouse numbers will be driven by science regardless of attempts by outside groups to politicize the issue, his spokesman said. Officials for the Bureau of Land Management and the Nevada Farm Bureau echoed that sentiment Friday, saying political interference is doomed in such a high-profile dispute that affects more than 100 million acres of federal land in the West.... New Orleans institute unveils pair of cloned wildcats Two cloned wildcats were born at the Audubon Nature Institute, the fourth and fifth cloned carnivores the institute has produced, officials said Friday. The kittens, both females, were born April 16. A team of LSU and Audubon Institute scientists also produced the first cloned wild carnivore, an African wildcat, last August, and two male cloned wildcats were born at the institute several months later.... Grouse closer to protection Drought, development and other threats have pushed the imperiled Gunnison sage grouse, found only in western Colorado, closer to extinction, a federal agency said. This week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced it would reconsider granting the bird protection under the Endangered Species Act....Wildfire threatens 5 homes 50-acre wildfire in Rio Blanco County threatened five homes Friday night. The Lower South Fork Fire started on private land about 25 miles east of Meeker, said Larry Helmerick, a spokesman with the Rocky Mountain Coordination Center.... Group Sues Emery County Commissioners to Reopen Roads A group has taken Emery County to court, trying to force commissioners to reopen roads closed by a federal agency. The Shared Access Alliance, an off-road vehicle advocacy group, filed a lawsuit in 7th District Court in Castle Dale over 468 miles of county and state roads closed by the Bureau of Land Management in the San Rafael Swell area of Emery County, in east-central Utah, the Deseret Morning News reported Friday. The roads, known by their original Civil War-era designation R.S. 2477, were closed by the BLM in 2003.... Ranchers digging and laying pipe to reach water Ranchers in western South Dakota are digging new wells and laying more pipe to existing water supplies as dry weather continues to grip the area. Craig Coller, owner of West River Excavation, said his crews have laid more pipe in the last four years than the previous 16 years he has been in business.... Restoration of old windmill gives a glimpse of history The windmill, Dalley said, was buried under sand and dirt on the Joe Lewis Powell-David Stone Ranch. “We broke it down and brought it here (to Portales),” Dalley said. “Some pieces were cast to put it together, because some of the pieces had been lost.” Dalley restored the old windmill’s wheel, which he said may have been created as early as the 1870s. The wheel — 14 feet in diameter — rests in Dalley’s yard among more than 80 other restored windmill wheels that are part of Dalley’s collection. Built with the blades in a slanted position, the wheel is made of oak at the cross pieces and pine for the blades. It was painted green in its original state, with red tips on the blades. So, Dalley repainted it the same colors. The wheel of the windmill will eventually be mounted on a tower,” he said. When restoring the 14-foot windmill wheel, Dalley referred to patterns of a 14-foot windmill wheel he had restored several years ago and taken to Santa Fe Springs, Calif..... What’s value of a good story? You can find clues to them in stories like the following dialog between a West River rancher and his grandson as they take a horseback ride to look over the ranch. GS: Grandpa, why does this horse keep jerking his head? GP: You are holding the reins too tight. It hurts his mouth. Just give him a free rein. He’s old and will just follow along. GS: What’s free rein mean? GP: Move up here and I’ll show you. (Grandpa leaned over and tied a knot in the reins and hooked them over the saddle horn.) There. Now the reins are hanging loose and not pulling on the bit. Just leave them there but keep your hand on them in case something unexpected happens. When you are old enough you will get a free rein too, but someone will always have their hand on the reins just in case you need a little direction. (They rode to the highest hill on the ranch and stopped to view the green landscape dotted with cattle.)....