NEWS ROUNDUP

Hybrid Owl Species Complicates Bird Future It hoots kind of like a northern spotted owl, and looks kind of like a northern spotted owl. And like a spotted owl, it swoops in to take a mouse offered on a stick by U.S. Forest Service scientist Eric Forsman in a rainy stand of old-growth Douglas fir on the Willamette National Forest. However, this is a hybrid -- a cross between a northern spotted owl and a barred owl -- and it is one of the wrinkles in the future of the bird that triggered sharp logging cutbacks in the Northwest in 1994. The invasion of the barred owl into spotted owl territory over the past 30 years and creation of the hybrids has become the top issue in the review of Endangered Species Act protection for the northern spotted owl, granted in 1990 largely due to loss of its old growth forest habitat to logging. A panel of experts will report Tuesday in Portland on new information gathered for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which must make a decision by Nov. 15 on whether to maintain threatened species listing for the spotted owl.... Bosworth: Tankers will return to use The chief of the U.S. Forest Service says he believes some heavy air tankers will return to firefighting duty this summer after it is determined they're airworthy, but he said a new generation of tankers should be developed. "I hope and believe there is a future for air tankers," Dale Bosworth said Saturday. "We are not trying to end the air tanker program. It's a good tool." Bosworth was here for the 50th anniversary rededication of the Forest Service's Aerial Fire Depot.... Editorial: Votes for Forests IT'S JUST ONE VOTE, on one amendment, to one House of Representatives appropriations bill. It will probably disappear from the final version of the bill, which the Senate has not yet debated. But last week's surprisingly decisive, bipartisan House show of approval for a measure that would block further taxpayer subsidies for road-building in the Tongass National Forest should send an important signal to the Senate and its powerful appropriations chairman, Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). Apart from the environmental issues -- the Tongass is the largest national forest remaining, and by some measures the most pristine -- the subsidy is indefensible on fiscal grounds, because it effectively props up the unprofitable logging industry.... Humans vs. wildlife: living together Encounters between humans and wildlife will no doubt increase as development shrinks the buffer between city and wildland. How well we handle such encounters will be a reflection of how responsibly we grow, how well we educate ourselves and how engaged we become on wildlife policies, according to a panel of experts who met at the Arizona Daily Star this month. While incidents with individual animals make news and evoke emotional responses, the big picture demands a much wider lens, said naturalist and writer Jonathan Hanson. Biologically speaking, it's the health of the entire species that matters, not any single animal, he said.... Editorial: Keep the fees on public lands When it comes to tax-supported facilities, users should generally pay more than non-users. That's why public universities charge tuition, the Regional Transportation District collects fares and publicly owned museums charge admission. And that's also why the 1996 Recreation Fee Demonstration Program on public lands should be reauthorized and made permanent by Congress before it expires in December 2005. Two bills concerning the fee demo program are awaiting action in the House Resources Committee. One, sponsored by Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., was recently passed by the Senate. It would continue the program for the National Park Service, but end it for the Forest Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management. The second bill, sponsored by Rep. Ralph Regula, R-Ohio, would make the program permanent for all four agencies. That's the version we favor.... AMA Urges Action On Federal Legislation To Protect Public Land The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) urges motorcyclists to contact their lawmakers to support a measure to crack down on individuals who knowingly damage public land, which cleared the U.S. House Resources Committee on May 5. The TRAIL Act, introduced by U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colorado), provides for consistent enforcement of land use, protection and management regulations by the federal Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Forest Service. Currently, those agencies impose different penalties on recreational users who damage public land. Also, the measure substantially increases the penalties on individuals who willfully cause damage to designated trails. Any fines collected would be used for rehabilitation and trail awareness programs at that trail.... The business of wilderness Conservationists are not the only ones fighting the Bush administration about protections for the nation’s wild lands. A group of mostly small-business owners is increasingly joining the fray. The Outdoor Industry Association argues that preserving wild lands is good not only for people who like to hike, bike and raft there but also for the businesses that sell or rent them gear. The association represents 4,000 companies that make or provide outdoor gear and guide city folks on backcountry trips. These businesses employ 500,000 people and generate $18 billion per year in sales.... Editorial: Congress should allow lease swapping, selling Mining, logging, drilling, road building -- Montana is loaded with examples of resource development clashing with environmental protectionism. Few of the run-ins, however, can match that at Hall Creek for sheer longevity. Two decades and counting: That's how long Louisiana developer Sidney Longwell has been trying to drill an exploratory natural gas well on a patch of ground just south of Glacier National Park. Decisions, appeals, protests, reviews, lawsuits, public meetings, studies -- this one well has generated piles of paperwork and a huge bill to taxpayers in the past 22 years.... Ranch's water may be used to preserve scenic river Each spring as the snow melts off the Gore Range, Jeanette Moser watches for her star to appear just below one of the mountain peaks west of her ranch. The star - a patch of snow with five perfect points - lingers near the top of the mountain through summer. It is a high-altitude sign to Jeanette and her husband, Scotty, that winter snows were plentiful and that, once again, there will be water on the Slate Creek (pronounced crik) Ranch. This year, if all goes well, a portion of the Mosers' ranch water will become the property of Colorado, dedicated forever to helping maintain the health of Summit County's scenic Blue River as it winds along Colorado 9 between Silverthorne and Heeney. In trying to transfer the water to the state, the Mosers are casting their fate into the hands of the fledgling Colorado Water Trust.... Thirsty Las Vegas Eyes a Refuge's Water Water is not what comes to mind in this sun-bleached landscape of crumpled mountains and creosote-coated basins. But that's what Las Vegas thinks of when it glances across its northern border at this sprawling bighorn sheep refuge, the largest federal wildlife sanctuary in the lower 48 states. The city of water-themed casinos and ever-expanding subdivisions is looking here to begin a massive pumping project that would reach deep into rural Nevada to tap an ancient aquifer running from western Utah to Death Valley National Park in eastern California. In Nevada's scrappy outback, the plans have prompted comparisons to Owens Valley, Los Angeles' infamous eastern Sierra water grab of a century ago.... Conservationists want to save prairie dogs The black-tailed prairie dog, considered a pest by some landowners but a treasure by environmentalists, is a candidate for an endangered classification on the federal Endangered Species list. A group of environmentalists, biologists and landowners - known as the Texas Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Working Group - hopes to prevent that by conserving more than 293,000 acres of grassland habitat for the animals by 2011. "I was raised to always fight the prairie dog, but I've learned they can be an asset to a ranch, either through nature tourism or limited recreational hunting," said L.H. Webb, a group member who owns and operates a 11,000-acre ranch in the eastern Panhandle.... Column: UN Law Of The Sea Treaty Amazingly, sources close to President Bush reported just days after Sen. Lugar started the drive for ratification in the President’s name that the President said he knew nothing about it. Others have reported that President Bush is actually opposed to ratification. So who in the Administration is pushing the Law of the Sea Treaty that President Ronald Reagan not only refused to sign, but actually fired the U.S. State Department staff that had negotiated it? Some have speculated that Vice President Dick Cheney is the driving force behind the sudden move to ratify a treaty that should have been dead twenty years ago. The real force behind the renewed efforts for ratification appears to be John Turner, Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. Turner comes from the world of radical environmentalism, having served as the CEO of the Conservation Fund and on the boards of the Land Trust Alliance, the National Wildlife Refuge Association, the Trumpeter Swan Society and several more “green” groups. These groups stand to gain massive power over the oceans through ratification of LOST. That’s why they have been the main forces in demanding its passage.... Lawsuit could result in banning use of retardant on West's wildfires A lawsuit by an Oregon environmental group could prompt a ban in Western states on the use of fire retardant during this year's wildfire season, a recent court order and documents say. Chemical retardant, dropped from planes and one of the most effective early tools firefighters have to contain fast-moving blazes, has been shown to kill fish. The lawsuit by Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics in Eugene hinges on the level of risk retardant poses to wildlife. In a few cases, retardant reached streams and killed fish, including 21,000 in Central Oregon's Fall River in 2002.... Frustrated hunters lead anti-wolf movement The hair stands up on the back of Warren Johns' neck when he hears a bull elk bugle. Johns and other hunters say they are hearing that haunting scream far less these days. Increasingly, they are hearing another sound cut through the morning mist — the howl of wolves. State and federal officials are hearing a growing wail from hunters that the reintroduction of wolves in Idaho in 1995 and 1996 threatens big game.... What's eating the baby elk? The tiny jawbone lay there by itself on a log still black from a fire 16 years ago, the little teeth just emerging from the bone, still a bit pink but stripped entirely clean of any type of meat. A footstep away, the crest of the elk calf's skull gleamed stark white in a dewy bed of green grass. Powerful jaws had broken it apart. A hungry mouth had sucked it clean. Two more paces away, the calf's hide lay tangled beneath another log in the snarl of toppled snags and new lodgepoles twisting up through them. There wasn't a bit of flesh on it.... Remote arch may rock roadless policy at parks Invoking an obscure 19th-century law, officials of a rural Utah county have announced their intention to establish a road to a scenic rock formation through a remote part of Canyonlands National Park. It is the first time a local government formally has laid claim to a right of way in a national park in the lower 48 states, although authorities in other Western states have indicated a similar intent. If successful, they could open up vast areas of parks and wilderness to motorized transportation. Utah's San Juan County last week filed a lawsuit against the National Park Service that claims a 10-mile stretch of streambed, leading to Angel Arch, as a "highway" belonging to the county.... Editorial: Feds must fund both firefighting, prevention Land-management agencies' low estimates in years of costly blazes leave budgets strained and homes and businesses near forests at greater risk. An ounce of prevention isn't enough. Congress, the U.S. Forest Service and other federal agencies are playing a losing game in the government's efforts to both prevent and fight wildfires. The federal agencies consistently low-ball how much money they will need each year to battle blazes, and Congress routinely short- changes programs to reduce fire danger....