NEWS ROUNDUP

Ending logging acrimony aim of ex-official's center Former Gov. John Kitzhaber is creating a natural-resources policy institute with the goal of finding peace in the timber wars still raging 10 years after the Northwest Forest Plan was supposed to put them to rest. Central to finding a way past continuing acrimony over logging in the Northwest will be developing a means of evaluating conflicting research in forest management, Kitzhaber said. "I'm trying to focus on developing a new set of governance management tools for natural resources in the West," Kitzhaber said yesterday. "I am convinced the conflict paradigm we are engaged in doesn't deliver for any of the stakeholders. "The Biscuit [fire recover plan] is a classic example. The model has resulted in little salvage [logging], which is not good really for the [timber] industry or the environmental side."....
Area hunters expected to feel heat of fire restrictions As hunting season approaches, so does fire season, and once again Southern California hunters likely will lose access to prime hunting spots because of forest closures.
Thus far, the U.S. Forest Service has put fire restrictions on the San Bernardino National Forest by closing substantial sections, and word is the Service will take similar action in the Angeles, Cleveland and Los Padres national forests....
Roadless rule puzzles governor Confused about what the proposed roadless rule means for Wyoming and its national forests? Join the governor. Gov. Dave Freudenthal said Thursday the Bush administration's proposed rule to eliminate Clinton-era protections on forests' roadless areas "may not be as evil as some people see it, nor as good as others see it." Further, the governor doesn't know how the plan is "a step forward" and allows states meaningful participation....
Feds bring $38 million for Tahoe protection Interior Secretary Gale Norton brought the federal checkbook to Lake Tahoe and Las Vegas on Thursday, designating $37 million from government land sales in Southern Nevada for projects aimed at protecting the lake's azure waters. Included in the money, which is the first installment of a $300 million commitment by the federal government, is $3 million earmarked to reduce fire risks in the Tahoe basin, Norton said. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also announced a $1.1 million grant to be used for new technology to control pollution in the basin....
Wilderness On Hold The Wilderness Act is turning 40 and Montana hasn’t put it to use in the past two decades. Is it still relevant today? Forty years ago, the United States did something that no nation had ever done before. With the passage of the Wilderness Act on Sept. 3, 1964, the U.S. made the decision to preserve some of the country’s wild places in perpetuity, to create areas in which development would not be allowed, so that future generations would be able to enjoy the same beautiful and valuable natural settings that hikers, hunters, fishermen and even passing drivers seeking windshield scenery enjoyed in 1964. The bill was first introduced in 1956 and finally enacted after eight years of heavy wrangling over its language....
Forest Service workers win sourcing work Officials in the Agriculture Department's Forest Service have announced their intent to award a five-year, $295 million competitive sourcing contract to the service's information technology services group. Under the rules of competitive sourcing, agency officials said they could offer no further information about the winning proposal until a waiting period ends. If the losing vendor does not protest or file an appeal, details about the Forest Service's bid could be made public by Aug. 16, said Joan Golden, the agency's acting director for information resources management....
Environmentalists demand more on Biscuit salvage plan Environmentalists who won a preliminary injunction blocking salvage logging in old growth forest reserves burned by the 2002 Biscuit fire said Thursday they will try to expand the order to include lands designated for logging under the Northwest Forest Plan. Meanwhile, it remained unclear whether the Siskiyou National Forest would simply mark the dead trees to be left standing for wildlife, or seek another way of complying with a federal court order barring them from leaving that work to the timber buyers....
Mining company plans to develop Cabinet Mountains mine A Spokane mining company says it plans to develop a silver and copper mine in the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness Area on the Idaho-Montana border. Mines Management Inc. said Wednesday it will seek permits to open the proposed $236 million Montanore Mine near the disputed Rock Creek Mine. Although the projects would share an ore body, Mines Management President Glenn Dobbs said he thinks his proposed mine will generate less criticism than the Rock Creek Mine....
Complexity 'humbles' environmental chiefs Top federal officials in Portland Wednesday said science is playing an increasingly key role in decisions about the management of about forests, oceans, watersheds and other vital ecosystems -- but that science alone can not provide foolproof solutions to complex environmental problems. The leaders of the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in appearing at the annual meeting of the 8,000-member Ecological Society of America, said the public needs a better understanding of science and what it can offer, as well as better communication between researchers and managers. Together, the three oversee nearly 60,000 employees and roughly $8 billion in public spending....
Wolves kill bear-hunting dogs in Wisconsin Gray wolves from an Ashland County pack killed three bear-hunting dogs earlier this week. The incident occurred Wednesday in the Town of Shanagolden, west of Glidden, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The wolves have lived in the area for years; and this is the first reported killing there, according to the DNR. It also is the first reported killing of dogs by wolves in the state this year....
Ranchers gain habitat exemptions The Bush administration is giving Central Valley ranchers freer rein as officials seek to protect the threatened California tiger salamander. The obligations imposed by the Endangered Species Act will apply across the tiger salamander's potential range that stretches between Colusa County in the north and Kern County in the south. Soon, the Fish and Wildlife Service will follow up by proposing that 382,666 acres in 20 California counties be designated as critical habitat. Ranchers, though, secured wide-ranging exemptions from this normal rule. The ranching exemptions granted Wednesday, moreover, go further than the Bush administration had originally proposed. This means ranchers can fix fences, maintain stock ponds, build roads and corrals, spray for weeds and undertake other actions without worrying about whether it harms the tiger salamander....
Column: Here Come the Wolves Wolves are once again loping through Colorado and Utah, and I suppose I should be glad. More rapidly than it took to wipe out grizzlies, lynx and other competitor species, wolves are returning to the ark of the Southern Rockies ecosystem. But yet I pause, and an absorbing four-minute film I saw recently gets at the core of my ambivalence. The film was made at Yellowstone National Park, where wolves were reintroduced in 1995, and it shows two wolves chasing a herd of elk almost playfully before getting down to the serious business of killing. Narrowing their attention to one cow, the pair of wolves follow at a respectful distance for a minute, then quicken the pace before leaping at the throat of the tiring cow....
State Report Criticizes Hearst Ranch Deal As state officials near a key decision on the $95-million deal to preserve Hearst Ranch, the terms of the transaction are coming under increasing criticism that the deal is too generous to the Hearst Corp. The latest critique, from the legislative analyst's office, a nonpartisan fiscal watchdog, contends that the deal may be based on a faulty appraisal and lacks specific, enforceable provisions to protect wildlife and rare plants. It recommends that the state withhold endorsement until a closer analysis can be made....
Water board OKs habitat plan that will cost millions Arizona's largest water provider agreed Thursday to spend millions of dollars to help preserve a habitat for endangered species along the lower Colorado River, endorsing a plan that ultimately will be paid for by Arizona water users. Prodded by a top federal water official, the Central Arizona Water Conservation Board voted to join California and Nevada in support of a broad habitat-conservation plan, one the states hope will block lawsuits that would limit river access. Over 50 years, the plan could cost Arizona $100 million or more, but state officials say it's worth it to help protect the state's share of the Colorado River as well as the river itself....
Feds consider protecting herring near Bellingham Federal fisheries officials in Seattle agreed yesterday to consider giving Endangered Species Act (ESA) protection to Cherry Point herring, a once-abundant species that spawns near Bellingham but has declined to critical levels. The announcement doesn't mean the fish, which are considered vital in the food chain for everything from salmon to orcas, will be listed or protected yet....
Sage grouse protection plan approved The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission approved a plan Thursday designed to keep the sage grouse from an endangered species listing in Montana, in part by protecting its habitat. The three-pronged conservation plan includes purchasing 30-year habitat protection agreements on approximately 183,000 acres of private land where sage grouse typically mate and winter. The agreements will protect sagebrush....
Endangered birds interfere with highway project A small seabird stands in the way of one of the state's largest and most urgent highway repair jobs. The threatened marbled murrelet lives in the waters surrounding the crumbling Hood Canal bridge and now Washington state is going to great lengths to keep these birds and the bridge project from crossing paths. The state hired Hamer and his team to spot and chase off marbled murrelets that get too close to the Hood Canal bridge during the loud and dangerous underwater pile driving process....
Environmentalists Hail Global Warming Lawsuit Bluewater Network applauds legal action by California Attorney General Lockyer to address the threats of global warming. Lockyer and officials from seven other states and the City of New York filed a federal nuisance suit against five electric utilities responsible for the largest emissions of carbon dioxide in the country. "Despite nearly total denial from the Bush Administration, the science demonstrates a clear and present threat from global warming," said Elisa Lynch, Global Warming Campaign Director for Bluewater Network....
Part of Alaska Park Closed; Hiker Met Bear Officials closed a backcountry area of Denali National Park after a hiker told rangers he had driven off an attacking grizzly bear by burying his ice ax in the animal's back. Park Service spokeswoman Kris Fister said Roberto Cataldo, 29, of Modena, Italy, reported the encounter Monday. A roughly 50-square-mile tract that encompasses the area where Cataldo said he had hiked was closed indefinitely....
Park probing claim of ranger brutality The National Park Service this week launched an internal investigation after two of its rangers-pepper sprayed an Inverness Park brother and sister in the face. Witnesses said the rangers repeatedly sprayed the 17-year-old girl in the eyes although she was restrained and on the ground. Neither Chris Miller, 18, nor his sister Jessica, 17, were charged with any wrongdoing in the incident, which occurred off park property near the Green Bridge in Point Reyes Station. The two were detained and pepper-sprayed by rangers Roger Mayor and Angeline Gregorio in front of the former Point Reyes Villa restaurant last Wednesday evening. The incident has outraged eyewitnesses who say the rangers were brutal in needlessly pepper-spraying the teens, especially after Jessica was already handcuffed and under the rangers’ control....
Park zeros in on elk herds A group working on reducing the elk population in Rocky Mountain National Park has whittled down suggestions from the public to six alternatives. The goal is a 20-year plan to restore vegetation in the park, especially varieties killed by elk....
Coal-to-diesel plant proposed A Texas company is proposing a $2.75 billion plant to process coal into diesel, electricity and other products. Houston-based DKRW Energy is hoping to open a coal gasification and liquefaction facility on the Medicine Bow River Ranch by 2008. The plant would use technology not yet in commercial use in the United States to create "ultra-clean" diesel fuel, other petroleum products and low-cost electricity to send over a new transmission line to Western markets, DKRW partner Bob Kelly told the Carbon County Commission....
Robbins grazing lawsuit stays in D.C. The national spotlight will be shining on a lawsuit involving a Wyoming rancher, two conservation groups and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The lawsuit in the case of Thermopolis-area rancher Harvey Frank Robbins Jr. -- who has been embroiled with the BLM after a decade of disputed grazing violations -- will be heard in Washington, D.C., and not in Wyoming, a federal judge has decided. The judge rejected arguments by Robbins' attorney that the lawsuit -- filed by two conservation groups against the BLM -- is a local controversy that should be decided in a federal court in Wyoming. Robbins is an intervener in the suit....
Editorial: BLM land sales A Bush administration proposal would let the Bureau of Land Management keep a portion of the money it generates from land sales. The idea has, of course, caused distress among the green crowd. This is a good idea because it would encourage the BLM to be more aggressive with its land sales. The U.S. government simply doesn't need to control so much real estate. Anything that could lead to more private ownership of federally managed land should be encouraged -- after all, much of what is now under the jurisdiction of Washington hardly resembles Yellowstone National Park....
Column: Greenies should say it like it is on lake name The environmentalists advocating dropping the "lake" from Lake Powell and calling it a reservoir do not fall into the category of straight-talkers, however. They are strategic incrementalists, people who will deny their ultimate goal - draining Lake Powell - right up to and possibly including the day it happens. If they had the decency to acknowledge their plan for what it is - an incremental baby step toward draining a vitally important source of Western water - then I could at least respect their sense of determination. As it is, they are playing childish mind games at a time - the worst period of Western drought on record - that Powell's importance is increasing exponentially....
Water: Our country's most precious resource Water conservation is becoming an accepted practice, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), which points to the stable volume of water used since the mid-1980s. "The message is that humans are adaptable creatures," said Robert Hirsch, chief hydrologist. "To me that is a very positive message." The nation used 408 billion gallons per day in 2000, the same as in 1990 and down from 440 billion gallons per day in 1980. With today's population, that's about 1,430 gallons per person, Hirsch said, adding that most of that is for industry and agriculture. Household water use is about 100 gallons a day per person - for drinking, cooking, laundry, watering the lawn, etc....
Animas-La Plata work behind schedule The Bureau of Reclamation says the Animas-La Plata project is 14 percent complete. The completion date has been pushed back from April 2008 to July 2010. The bureau’s Barry Longwell told the San Juan Water Commission that contracts have been coming in steadily both under and over budget....
Water settlement 'win-win,' Dayish says The debate over a proposed settlement between New Mexico and the Navajo Nation on water from the San Juan River continued Monday in Farmington with a public hearing on the proposal. While a number of people - both Navajo and non-Navajo - spoke up in favor of the settlement, it was evident that there are some on both sides who would rather see the settlement go a different route. "If you look at the situation from the bigger perspective," said Vice President Frank Dayish Jr., "you will see that it is a win-win situation for all parties."....
At 70, Wendell Berry remains a champion of agrarian ideals Wendell Berry, 70 years old today, has established himself as many things in his lifetime: a veteran sage of sustainable agriculture; a progressive defender of virtue and tradition; one of our most famous farmers to renounce the tractor; and one of our most acclaimed authors to shun the computer....
Writing out of the Box There was an audible gasp in the audience as author C.J. Box finished reading an excerpt from his latest book, "Trophy Hunt," at the Natrona County Public Library on Thursday. Box, who read to a packed crowd, which included Casper's Red Hat Society, read the latest fictional adventures of Joe Pickett, a Wyoming game warden who has appeared in Box's three other books....
Old West history game entertains American troops in Kuwait "Ride the Outlaw Trail" is all the rage in Kuwait with American soldiers. Dusty Grothusen, creator of the Old West board game, is in Ardmore with the Western Arts, Crafts, & Cowboy Legends Show at Hardy Murphy Coliseum through Sunday. "Ride the Outlaw Trail' was the most sought after item at the Golden Boot Awards in Los Angeles this weekend," Grothusen. "That is all the movie actors that have made cowboy movies down through the years." "Because this board game is 100 percent history and of course, our Western history to boot, they really, really wanted this," she said....
Ranchers thwart BSE tests Ranchers suffering from the mad cow crisis may be delaying the U.S. border from opening to live Canadian cattle after shooting, shovelling and shutting up. A 119-page report by Alberta Auditor General Fred Dunn suggests ranchers are following the mock advice of Premier Ralph Klein by abandoning cattle carcasses rather than taking them in for BSE testing. And the government isn't doing enough in forcing ranchers to report diseased and dead cattle for provincial and national BSE surveillance programs, said Dunn....
STERIS Announces Research Breakthrough in Inactivating Deadly Prions STERIS Corporation (NYSE: STE - News) today announced that the Company, in cooperation with leading independent prion researchers, has participated in research that indicates the effectiveness of several of the Company's proprietary cleaning and sterilization technologies in inactivating prions. Prions are proteins that have been associated with debilitating and fatal illnesses in both animals and humans. Until now, it has not been possible to inactivate prions without damaging contaminated surfaces....
New info on mad cow in humans Scientists have found evidence suggesting the human form of mad cow disease might be infecting a wider group of people than previously believed and that some may develop a milder form of the illness. Little is known about Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, first identified in 1996. Until now, the variant form of fatal brain-wasting disease was found only in people with a certain genetic profile and who were believed to have been infected by tainted meat. Other forms of Creutzfeld- Jakob are believed to occur sporadically or are inherited and not linked to diet. Research published this week in The Lancet medical journal reported the mad cow-related infection in a person with a more common genetic makeup and with no symptoms of the illness. That means more people than previously believed could be incubating the disease, thought to come from eating processed beef products from cattle infected with mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy. It raises the possibility that some may get only a mild infection, as opposed to the fatal disease. Scientists don't know how many people are infected with the human form of mad cow disease. Projections vary wildly because so many factors that play into the disease remain a mystery and because there have been so few cases....