NEWS ROUNDUP

Feds twist facts for logging, critics say The Forest Service exaggerated the effect of wildfires on California spotted owls to justify a planned increase in logging in the Sierra Nevada, according to a longtime agency expert who worked on the plan. Other wildlife biologists inside and outside the Forest Service confirm that at least seven of 18 sites listed by the agency as owl habitat destroyed by wildfires are green, flourishing and occupied by the rare birds of prey....
Elk Making a Comeback Across the West An estimated 8 million to 10 million elk roamed America before white settlers arrived, including about a half-million in California until gold-seekers nearly wiped them out. Now the elk are making a comeback across the West, expanding both their numbers and their range. That means more hunting and recreation opportunities, but also potential conflicts with landowners who may one day find themselves dealing with herds that can number in the hundreds and even thousands in wintering areas like Yellowstone National Park....
Grizzly bear habitat subject of study If the grizzly bear is taken off the threatened species list, the Forest Service has proposed options for management of grizzly habitat in the six national forests around Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. The agency has released a draft environmental statement (DEIS) that presents four options. Comments are required by Nov. 12....
Forest dwellers drive up fire costs, officials claim Paradise has a price, and Kathy Schulz knows it could be going up. Her family’s home sits in a pine forest, a 10-minute drive west of Bend, alongside Tumalo Creek. It is a beautiful place, but during fire season it is at risk. Properties such as these, state officials say, are helping drive up the costs of preventing and combating wildfires in Oregon’s privately owned forests and increasingly developed urban-rural fringes. Like other homeowners in the forest, Schulz and her family already pay an annual $38 fee to the state to help pay for fire-protection efforts in addition to traditional insurance. And she is willing to pay more....
430-plus ancient Indian items seized from residence More than 430 Indian artifacts ranging up to thousands of years old have been seized from a home in what one agent describes as the single largest recovery of his career. In a case reminiscent of a Tony Hillerman novel, hundreds of stone tools, including arrow points, cutting edges, cookware and other trade items were recovered from the home of David Major, 38, investigators said....
Officials consider killing ravens to protect desert tortoise Wildlife officials are considering plans to shoot and poison ravens to keep them from preying on threatened desert tortoises. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other government agencies are seeking ways to protect the desert tortoise as its population dwindles due to ravens that feed on its young and other dangers, officials said. Those actions could include reducing food sources that attract ravens to the species' habitat by removing dead animals from roadways and changing landfill practices. Officials may also modify potential nesting sites like utility poles....
Column: Forest Battles Escalate in Oregon Ancient public forests out West are under attack as usual this year. Thankfully, courageous activists in Oregon's Siskiyou National Forest are attempting to fend off the worst of the pillage. On July 16 the US Forest Service placed 1900 acres of public land on the auction block. And by the end of the day the bids were in; 1160 of the 1900 acres were mapped out for demolition. The venture, titled the "Biscuit Fire Recovery Project", is the largest forest service sale in modern US history. When all is said and done 30 square miles of federal land could be handed over to chainsaw happy timber barons. Not surprisingly, the Forest Service wants us to believe the sale is for "restoration" purposes only, not profit, as the area fell victim to massive natural wild fires in the summer of 2002. But if you don't already know, you shouldn't believe everything the government tells you....
Hope grows for bill to add wilderness Legislation that would turn more than 300,000 acres of federal forestlands into protected wilderness along California's North Coast received a warm reception before a Senate committee last month, suggesting that a key piece of a massive wilderness bill sponsored by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., may finally be moving. But with just a few workweeks remaining in the election-shortened congressional session and politicians maneuvering for every political advantage they can, it's uncertain how much further the legislation will go this year....
Column: Uncle Sam's reality The federal government owns nearly 33 percent of all the land in the United States. Why? Nothing in the U.S. Constitution authorizes the federal government to own any land beyond Washington D.C., and that which may be required "...for the erection of forts, arsenals, dock-yards and other needful buildings...," and then, only when purchased from the state, with the approval of the state legislature. (Article I, Section 8) Why, then, does the government own so much land? Why is the government gobbling up more and more land through dozens of programs that use tax dollars to buy land from private owners?....
Petrified forest revealed on remote Alaskan island If you want to stroll through the only forest in the Shumagin Islands, you have to wear rubber boots and wait until the tide goes out. In the Shumagins, where the wind never seems to stop, only change directions, the few live trees were planted by people. But along a stretch of beach on the northwest corner of Unga Island, there's a grove that hasn't grown for millions of years. Wind and water have worn away a 50-foot bluff to reveal a forest of petrified tree stumps that appear to be marching into the ocean....
Column: Water issues key to N. Arizona land swap All the stakeholders in the proposed exchange of private and public lands in Northern Arizona must come together in a timely manner to ensure that northern Arizonans do not turn on their faucets and find themselves without water. Since introducing legislation last year to facilitate the Northern Arizona land exchange of more than 50,000 acres, I have gained a much greater understanding of the crucial need for sound management of the region's dwindling water supplies to accompany any future development in the area....
Requiem for emptied-out western Kansas So here comes one-time governor and all-out sportsman Mike Hayden talking as if hunters, not farmers, will save western Kansas. He's saying farm irrigation has used up nearly all the water that's cheap enough to pump. Anyone in range of his voice — a twang perpetually stuck on full volume — hears about the moneymaking promise of wildlife and the poor prospects of Great Plains agriculture. Most jarring, he suggests government take back land bit by dusty bit, letting the weeds grow and buffalo roam....
Official says part of Ponderosa Ranch could become public A portion of the Ponderosa Ranch — 570-acres of prime land in Incline Village that was sold earlier this month to a private party — still stands a chance of becoming public lands, a spokesman for the new owner said Friday. “Nothing is off the table at this time,” said Tom Clark, a spokesman for David Duffield, the Incline Village philanthropist and billionaire who is buying the tourist attraction for an undisclosed amount....
USFS defends Bridger-Teton leasing While conservation groups criticize the opening of more than 100,000 acres in Bridger-Teton National Forest for gas leasing, forest officials say any drilling proposal would be saddled with stringent environmental regulations. Bridger-Teton Deputy Supervisor Brent Larson also pointed out that issuing a lease does not necessarily result in drilling. "Our experience has shown here it's not going to mean that every acre is going to have disturbance on it," he said. Forest managers have been trying to catch up on a backlog of oil and gas lease nominations from the late 1990s....
Editorial: Seeing the forest for the degrees A forest owned by the state of Oregon and harvested sustainably to help pay for college might look like any other forest. But every tree would symbolize one more person in Oregon who could get a college education without signing up for a lifetime of debt. Gov. Ted Kulongoski should pursue this idea of buying forestland as a long-term public investment. It'll be tricky to pull off, but the state needs to find multiple ways to save for college, just as families do. The governor's staff has floated the idea of the state purchasing forestland for higher education, as The Oregonian's Michael Milstein and Shelby Oppel reported last week. Ideally, the plan would support logging communities, protect Oregon's forests and send more people to college....
Barbed wire: Delayed decisions cost money - and heartburn Delay is expensive. It costs millions of dollars. That aphorism was driven home recently concerning the most fundamental elements of life in Montana: water and land. Water rights and grazing rights are more than esoteric legalisms. In a state where timely arrival of moisture determines the gain or loss of millions of dollars of income for farmers and ranchers, there are no other subjects that spark more anxiety than the prospect of losing either or both of those rights....
Solutions aren't easy at Antelope Basin Antelope Basin comprises 48,000 acres -- 75 square miles -- managed by the Beaverhead Deerlodge National Forest. It looks healthy and most people agree it's in better shape than it was a few decades ago. When a rancher like Bob Sitz looks at this place, he sees generations of work to improve the range: 111 miles of fence to keep cattle from overgrazing any one area; 44 miles of pipes, through which water is pumped from creeks to stock tanks on high ground so cattle don't trample riparian areas. But wildlife advocates look across the meadows and see what's missing on the landscape: free-ranging bison, bighorn sheep and sage grouse....
Horses, kids learn lessons in good behavior Joseph Hardin said he used to get into trouble before he met "Buffalo Bud" Lovelady and Champagne the wild mustang. Now the 11-year-old Valley Center boy wins behavior awards at school, said his mother, Bernita Hardin. It all makes sense to Joseph. "The horses train me how to be good because I teach them," he said. "When I train them and tell them what to do, that's what a mom is supposed to do and you're supposed to listen."....
Cooper takes Frontier roping title Clint Cooper no longer is trying to prove he can rope as good as his father, Hall of Famer Roy Cooper. The younger Cooper, 22, of Decatur, Texas, is learning to relax and just be himself - and it's paying off. On Sunday he chalked up one of the biggest wins of his fledgling career, the tie-down roping title at the 108th Cheyenne Frontier Days, one of the most prestigious and richest stops on the tour....
Lonesome Dove Revisited: Southwest Writers Collection extends and expands popular exhibit Responding to an overwhelming number of visitors to the "Lonesome Dove Revisited" exhibit, Southwestern Writers Collection (SWWC) curator Connie Todd recently announced that the show would be extended until the end of August. As an added bonus, Lonesome Dove fans can now view even more costumes and props from the classic CBS miniseries, on both the first and seventh floors of Texas State's Alkek Library where the Southwestern Writers Collection makes its home....
On The Edge Of Common Sense: Local weekly is heartbeat of community Small-town papers often thrive because CNN or the New York Times are not going to scoop them for coverage of the "VFW Fish Fry," "Bridge Construction Delay," or local boys and girls playing baseball, receiving scholarships, graduating, getting married or going off to war. I think of local papers as the last refuge of unfiltered America: a running documentary of the warts and triumphs of real people unfettered by the spin, the bias and the opaque polish of today's homogenized journalism. It is the difference between homemade bread and Pop Tarts....