NEWS ROUNDUP

Air-Dropped Fish Affecting Amphibians Throughout the world, frogs are dying en masse, a phenomenon that concerns scientists because the extremely sensitive amphibians are among the first species to react to wider environmental problems. Global warming, increased solar radiation, windblown pesticides, pollution and diseases all are being explored as possible reasons why the populations are croaking. Yet Vredenburg found a simpler explanation is one major cause: They're being eaten by trout air-dropped into pristine mountain lakes across the West and in areas as remote as the Andes in South America, on every continent except Antarctica. It's another example that interfering with nature brings unforeseen consequences.... Beating the budget clock: How some agencies bring sanity to financial management A handful of agencies such as EPA and the Forest Service have already convinced Congress to appropriate much of their funding with no expiration dates attached. At the Forest Service, for instance, all but $53 million of its annual $4.8 billion budget is appropriated as no-year money. This makes it much easier for the agency to meet its mission and manage its money, said Hank Kashdan, the agency’s program and budget analysis director. “It increases our ability to carry out our programs prudently,” he said. For instance, some of the Forest Service budget is spent on research, and it is hard to predict when a particular research project will be completed. It is also hard to predict how many forest fires there will be. “During a busy year, we can have the majority of our employees working on fire suppression. There isn’t always time to get the money for everything else spent,” Kashdan said. Not all agencies are so lucky.... Editorial: Common sense wins in court case Supreme Court decision last week isn't as much a defeat for environmentalists as it is a victory for common sense. The justices unanimously ruled that the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and other environmental groups can't file lawsuits to force the BLM to better protect wilderness areas. The ruling, in essence, means that the BLM can do the job it has been charged to do without having to worry about lawsuits being filed over what should be day-to-day decisions. Managing public lands already is a difficult task. Organizations and individual citizens unhappy with decisions made by the BLM, Forest Service or other government entities readily file lawsuits and tie up processes set out in law by months, if not years.... American Indian Historic Sites Looted Mysterious petroglyphs etched in hundreds of volcanic boulders east of Reno have survived the elements for centuries. Volunteers are now hoping the artifacts will survive the ravages of modern man. The American Indian artwork -- depicting bighorn sheep and stick-people figures -- is endangered by vandals and collectors as Nevada's sprawling growth and a soaring number of off-road vehicles have taken civilization to the doorstep of once remote backcountry sites.... Activist files civil suit for alleged Eighth Amendment violations tree-sitting activist, arrested on the Bitterroot National Forest in 2002, has filed a civil suit in Missoula federal district court against Forest Service officials and area law enforcement officers for allegedly violating her constitutional rights as a detainee and protester during her arrest. Rebecca Kay Smith, an environmental activist with the organization Earth First! is claiming $250,000 in punitive damages and $100,000 in compensatory damages in the lawsuit filed by her attorney, Tom Woodbury on Monday. "Police officers have to abide by rules of conduct when dealing with detainees," said Woodbury. "The truth of the matter is convicts and prisoners get more rights then what she was given.".... Govs. Owens, Napolitano Elected as WGA's New Leadership Gov. Bill Owens of Colorado was elected Chairman of the Western Governors' Association today saying: "We have an opportunity together to tackle some of the most important issues facing the West." Gov. Janet Napolitano of Arizona was elected Vice Chair. Owens said his priorities for the year will include working with Congress as it considers reforms to the Endangered Species Act. A copy of Owens remarks and other background material, including resolutions adopted by the governors, are available on the Web at http://www.westgov.org.... Lieberman criticizes panther program Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., has sent a second blistering letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about efforts to restore the Florida panther. "The substantial federal investment in efforts to protect the Florida Panther is placed at risk by failures in scientific analysis of the habitat needs of the panther, as well as failures to implement the requirements of federal law effectively," Lieberman said.... Column: The Restoration Paradox What happens when a protected species starts eating another protected species? In the early days of species protection and environmental regulation, such a question likely didn't come up. After all, most species faced decline from habitat encroachment and toxins in the environment. Today however, we confront a restoration paradox: what do we do when the restoration, reintroduction or protection of species starts to endanger other species? Seals and sea lions protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act chomping on threatened and endangered salmon is an example that springs to mind. We also had a case on the Columbia river: federally protected Caspian Terns (Migratory Bird Act) making a significant dent in the annual migration of listed salmon stocks. Salmon advocates wanted the birds moved to another island to protect the young fish. Bird advocates wanted the Caspian Terns left alone. The first time I encountered this paradox was a number of years ago while talking to the manager of the local wildlife refuge. He mentioned that Blue Heron rookeries were being devastated by Bald Eagles.... MANAGING NATURE: Success on the prairie For a waterfowl researcher, the Nickolaisen WPA is a dream come true because it's a haven for nesting ducks. That's no coincidence. Through a cooperative effort between the Bismarck-based Delta Waterfowl Foundation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a 36-square-mile block that includes Nickolaisen and adjacent private lands is being intensively managed for predators in an effort to boost nesting success. Known as the "Cando block," the 23,000-acre site is one of 10 across North Dakota being trapped to remove predators. The results are striking. Since predator trapping became an annual event in 1999, nesting success on the Cando block has flirted with 80 percent -- far above the 20 percent figure biologists often cite as necessary to maintain a duck population. Nesting success in other North Dakota trap blocks has ranged from 38 percent to 61 percent. According to Roger Hollevoet of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Devils Lake, removing predators at Kellys Slough National Wildlife Refuge northwest of Grand Forks has helped nesting success reach nearly 60 percent. By comparison, nesting success on untrapped control sites last year dipped as low as 11 percent.... Panel says spotted owl protection more important than ever A panel of scientists says protecting old growth forest habitat for the northern spotted owl is more important than ever because the bird faces new threats from its cousin the barred owl, West Nile virus, and sudden oak death. The ten scientists have spent the past six months assembling the latest scientific information on the northern spotted owl for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.... Phoenix fighting odor from algae Phoenix has spent $370,000 in extra water treatment because of algae blooms that have killed thousands of fish in the Salt River water system. The treatment, powder activated carbon, is mostly to control odor and is in addition to the usual filtration and chlorination. Officials assure residents that the water is safe to drink, said Annie DeChance, public information specialist for the Phoenix Water Services Department.... Dugout canoe not as old as hoped A dugout canoe found by scuba divers at the bottom of Lake Pend Oreille is too young for scientists to discover its age through carbon dating. Wood samples taken from the boat reveal it is less than 380 years old but probably more than 100 years old, said Mary Anne Davis, associate state arcahelologist with the Idaho State Historical Society. It may have been used by fur traders, American Indians, explorers or early settlers, historians believe. "Radiocarbon dating is not very accurate for fairly recent deposits or objects," she said.... Plans for Revolutionary War Museum Delayed The National Park Service on Monday postponed plans to accept $10 million from the Oneida Indian Nation toward a planned Revolutionary War museum, citing a directive from Congress to reevaluate spending. The decision angered Oneida leaders, who had planned to offer what would be the largest private donation yet toward the $100 million American Revolution Center at Valley Forge to honor their ancestors' role in helping the colonists break away from England. "If you don't want the money, fine, don't take it," Ray Halbritter, an Oneida representative, said in a statement. "But don't deny us the opportunity to honor the memory of both countries' patriots, whose blood hallowed this place.".... Project tries to get cattle to eat weeds Sheep and goats have been used for years to control noxious weeds in parts of the West, but can cattle be trained to do the same without starving? That's the question researchers are studying in a field test at the Grant Kohrs Ranch National Historical Site at Deer Lodge. Frederick Provenza at Utah State University has been researching this possibility for the past 20 years in a livestock behavior modification program. Now, the area field test has piqued the interest of ranchers in the Deer Lodge Valley.... State offered own leases in same area it protested At the same time that Gov. Dave Freudenthal was protesting the sale of some federal mineral leases in the Pinedale region, the state was offering its own mineral leases in the same area for sale. "It wasn't an intent on his part to protest the federal leases and not the state leases. It was just a circumstance where he didn't realize we had a lease sale," said State Land Director Lynne Boomgaarden. The State Lands Office typically schedules its state mineral lease auctions within days of the federal lease auction, but the governor's office is not notified of the leases for sale.... Wyoming rancher sentenced in prairie dog killings A Wyoming rancher who admitted illegally poisoning thousands of prairie dogs on federal land in Montana apologized in court Tuesday as he was fined and sentenced to probation. "I acknowledge this mistake,'' said Stanford M. Clinton Jr., 73, of Recluse, Wyo. Clinton owns the Three Bar Ranch in Wyoming and Montana. "This was not a malicious act. I'm genuinely sorry it happened.'' U.S. Magistrate Richard Anderson ordered Clinton to spend one year on supervised probation, fined him $1,500, ordered restitution of $3,500 and directed him to perform 200 hours of community service work in Montana.... Activists aren't budging from BLM land A Greenpeace encampment in Curry County remained in an old-growth section of forest outside of Glendale today, even though a U.S. Bureau of Land Management-imposed deadline to leave the tent village came and went by Saturday morning. Members of the international environmental organization went about the weekend normally, though they acknowledged the overriding possibility of BLM enforcement officers carrying out the eviction. The 48-hour deadline to leave the solar-powered geodesic dome camp was announced Thursday.... US House passes spending with DOE oil and gas research funding The US House June 17 passed on a 334-86 vote a spending bill that largely keeps federal oil and natural gas research funding intact for the upcoming fiscal year slated to start Oct. 1. Overall, the 2005 Interior Appropriations bill carries a $19.5 billion price tag. It funds the budget of the US Department of the Interior, including several federal agencies of critical importance to companies that drill on federal land and in federal waters. Annual agency budgets of interest to producers include the Bureau of Land Management, the Minerals Management Service, and the US Geological Service. The bill also funds fossil fuel research under the Department of Energy. The White House this year, like during the past 3 years, wants Congress to cut back federal oil and gas research, but legislators always restore funding back to historical levels.... Central Gulf of Mexico Sale 190 nets $364 million in high bids The US Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) accepted high bids totaling more than $364 million on 542 Gulf of Mexico tracts in its oil and gas lease Sale 190 Mar. 17. This sale indicates the continued strong interest of major and independent oil and gas companies in the Gulf and a continuing interest in shallow-water areas, with 61% of the tracts receiving bids for tracts in less than 200 m of water.... Column: Get serious about habitat and species protection But this column is not about the economics of forest management. Like most Oregonians, I assumed the real agenda of these "environmental" groups was truly to protect wildlife and their habitat. This has turned out to be anything but the case. As Oregon and other Western states have watched huge areas of federal forests burn in recent years, we've also started to see the true colors of these groups -- and it's not green. The Biscuit Fire burned more than 500,000 acres of forests, much of which was wilderness area set aside specifically as a haven for species such as the northern spotted owl. This area is a moonscape now -- blackened and charred by the fires of 2002. Oregon State University scientists predict a recovery of close to 200 years if no active management is implemented in this area.... Column: EPA chief Mike Leavitt hits the swing states Have a look at U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Mike Leavitt's calendar over the last several months and you'll notice that it appears to be in lockstep with the Karl Rove playbook. "I'd hardly call it coincidence," said Beth Viola, a leading environmental strategist for the Kerry campaign, "that after the EPA spends nearly four years pandering to industry, all of a sudden Leavitt is waltzing around battleground states in a green mantle -- doling out grant money, announcing new initiatives, threatening industry with enforcement actions, making amends to swing voters like hunters and anglers [who are] disgruntled about rollbacks. It's quite a show." Leavitt's recent wave of swing-state politicking has won his agency the moniker "Election Protection Agency" in Beltway circles, according to Aimee Christensen, director of Environment2004, an organization committed to motivating voters on environmental issues.... An interview with Hollywood eco-crusader Laurie David Those who are quick to snub Hollywood environmental activists as dabblers in eco-chic or peddlers of a pet cause would likely have a change of heart after shooting the breeze with Laurie David. David began her career booking comedians for David Letterman and met her husband Larry David -- co-creator of Seinfeld and creator and star of Curb Your Enthusiasm -- when he was a no-name angling for a five-minute spot in her lineup. She went on to produce comedy specials for HBO and MTV and develop sitcoms for 20th Century Television. More than a decade into her Hollywood career, David turned her Tinseltown savvy toward a very different kind of client -- the environmental movement. After signing on as a member of the board of trustees of the Natural Resources Defense Council in 1999, David began holding influential eco-salons in her home to educate the leading lights of Hollywood, persuading them to open both their minds and their pocketbooks.... Editoriall: No aid for roads in Tongass forest These days, when Washington appears ready to slash any program not directly related to national security, an excellent candidate for excision is the wasteful, destructive subsidy to loggers for cutting roads in national forests. The House of Representatives has taken the first step toward sanity by narrowly approving an amendment to the Interior appropriations bill that would keep the U.S. Forest Service from subsidizing logging roads in the Tongass National Forest in Alaska in fiscal 2005 - an amendment applauded by both environmentalists and fiscal watchdogs.... Species plan wins state, federal OKs State and federal wildlife agencies on Tuesday approved Riverside County's landmark plan to protect endangered species while allowing development to occur amid the population boom in its fast-growing western half. The plan calls for creating a 500,000-acre reserve system that would protect 146 species, from majestic bald eagles to delicate butterflies and tiny kangaroo rats. The county already has purchased about 370,000 acres and will need to buy the remaining land from willing sellers, leaving about 130,000 acres yet to be acquired. The plan's total cost over 75 years is estimated at $2 billion and relies heavily on future state and federal funding. The county will pay about $1 billion, more than half of which will come developer fees, Lashbrook said.... Environmentalists to Sue Feds Over Turtles Environmental groups said Tuesday they plan to sue the National Marine Fisheries Service for allegedly failing to protect certain sea turtles from entangling fishing lines. Longline fishing -- a practice where fishermen set many hooks on lines that sometimes are miles long -- leads to "needless injury and deaths of hundreds of threatened and endangered leatherback and loggerhead sea turtles" in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic, the groups claim.... Settlement reached in Lolo forest logging suit Proclaiming it "a winning formula," environmentalists joined Lolo National Forest Supervisor Debbie Austin Tuesday in announcing a settlement in a lawsuit challenging the forest's plans for logging land burned during the summer of 2000. The solution: dropping all plans to log trees burned in parts of the forest where there are no roads. Instead, the Lolo will spend its post-fire funds on the rehabilitation or obliteration of more than 500 miles of existing forest roads in the Superior, Alberton and Ninemile areas....