NEWS ROUNDUP

Future of rural areas in doubt with decline in population When a delegation of dignitaries from Washington, D.C. rolled into this remote corner of north-central Oregon recently to deliver a big check for economic development, the people of Gilliam County pulled out all the stops. A tent was erected against a backdrop of wheat fields along a rural stretch of highway, an array of bread made from homegrown wheat was available for the eating, and the county's movers and shakers came out in force for the photo op, including Gilliam County Judge Laura Pryor, who leaned her forearms on the makeshift podium, and told the visitors just what was what. "You are in a frontier county of about 1,900 people," Pryor began....
Swanky's in, crunchy out at green fund-raiser Political fund-raisers sponsored by Oregon environmentalists are typically beer and Birkenstock affairs. But on Monday evening, the state's conservation community will throw a $200-a-head party in Portland's Pearl District. The goal is to raise money to defeat President Bush. The celebrity guest list includes Democrat Howard Dean, singer Emmylou Harris and members of the band Pink Martini....
Battle renews on use of national forests Deep in the Bridger-Teton National Forest, a few cows meandered past the odd natural gas well, pausing at times in a meadow to take in the whirring of the drill pump and its chemical-smelling odors. About 60 miles to the west, in Idaho, a cattle herd grazed in a green valley where cutthroat trout swim in a clear creek--in the shadow of a bald hillside mined for phosphate in Caribou-Targhee National Forest. "Something sure doesn't fit in this picture," said Monte Clemon, a ranch manager surveying the clash of man and nature from a ridgeline across from the phosphate mine....
Editorial: Laws hamper mine cleanups The Blackfoot River in Montana set the scene for Norman Maclean's ode to fly-fishing, "A River Runs Through It." But the iconic Western river became so fouled by a century's worth of toxic mine wastes that in recent decades, fish couldn't live in it - Robert Redford had to use a different stream to film his 1992 movie of Maclean's book. The Blackfoot's fate symbolizes how heavy metals and killer chemicals from abandoned 19th-century mines still harm Western streams: A half-million abandoned hard rock mines pollute some 16,000 miles, or 40 percent, of the West's waters. Colorado alone has 22,000 such sites oozing toxics into what should be pristine high-country creeks and rivers. The engineering know-how to clean up the mine waste certainly exists, but laws designed to make polluters pay for fixing their messes have, ironically, discouraged anyone from solving the problem....
Column, Riding roughshod: Off-road vehicles in national forests In July, the U.S. Forest Service proposed new rules concerning use of all-terrain vehicles, dirt bikes and other off-road vehicles on America's National Forests and Grasslands. Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth has identified unmanaged off-road vehicle use as one of the greatest threats to national forests and issued an urgent call to action. While a welcome first step, the draft rules fall far short of what is needed to respond to this growing crisis and fail to reflect the urgency highlighted by Chief Bosworth. My beliefs are based on a 34-year career at all levels of the Forest Service, most recently as deputy chief. I have seen pervasive and conflicted off-road vehicle issues in all parts of the country. Though now retired, I welcome Chief Bosworth's initiative, but half-measures will not suffice....
Prairie chickens given safe haven New Mexico’s rare lesser prairie chickens just got 12,000 acres safer. The New Mexico Nature Conservancy recently acquired the Pearce and Creamer ranches in southeast New Mexico in the hopes of preserving the natural habitat of the nearly endangered species. The Creamer Ranch has one of the densest populations of lesser prairie chickens in the world, according to Bob Findling, director of conservation projects for the New Mexico chapter of the Nature Conservancy....
Association pushes to complete final 107 miles 107 miles. That's all that's left to complete the Arizona Trail. What will it take to get those last sections of the map filled in? "Money and manpower. Awareness and understanding of what the trail is," said Larry Snead, executive director of the Arizona Trail Association. "Our goal is to have the trail completely built in five years."....
Shocking setback: Red wolf's death deals blow to repopulation plan The mother wolf’s eyes widened with fear as she struggled to free herself from the people who had pinned her to the ground. Moving quickly, the scientists stuck a medicine-filled needle into the wolf’s flank and attached a radio-tracking collar to her neck. It was a routine, typically harmless procedure to prepare endangered red wolves for reintroduction to the wild. But hours after her capture, the wolf died, leaving two 4-month-old pups without a mom.....
Lights, shells keep wolves from attacking cattle Bright lights and firecracker-like blasts are deterring wolves from attacking cattle in Grand Teton National Park, officials said. Ranchers have not reported any depredations since wolves from the Teton Pack killed a 400-pound calf Aug. 10 in the park, said Mike Jimenez, the federal wolf recovery project leader for Wyoming. The attack was the first recorded in the park since the wolf pack took up residence at Grand Teton in 1999....
White House Memo Fuels Debate on Whether Parks, Politics Mix Politicians wanting to make appearances in national parks and other federally owned and operated places could begin finding their access limited. An advisory from the White House Office of Special Counsel issued this month to federal employees warned that "the Hatch Act should be considered carefully when handling a candidate's request to visit or use a federal building. We strongly encourage all federal agencies receiving such requests to contact OSC prior to granting such a request."....
Pollutants raining down on Rockies Airborne pollutants from Front Range tailpipes, smokestacks, crop fields and feedlots are damaging the prized mountaintop ecosystems of Rocky Mountain National Park. If unchecked, the creeping accumulation of urban nitrogen compounds could acidify park waters and soils, posing a threat to fish, forests and vast expanses of rolling alpine tundra, National Park Service air-quality officials have concluded after reviewing more than 20 years of research....
Rescues costing Parks cash Wild-animal attacks and mountain-climbing accidents command the biggest headlines, but search-and-rescue teams are called out most often to help lost or injured hikers in America's national parks. The National Park Service reports spending $3.5 million last year on 3,108 search-and-rescue operations -- 1,264 of them to assist hikers....
Stop! And Be Sniffed The girl in the summer skirt who wants to see the Statue of Liberty seems not to hear the female park officer when the officer says, "Honey, do me a big favor and hold down your skirt." The girl then saunters into a security portal that looks like something out of Star Trek. A robot voice warns, "Air puffers on!" Aghast, the girl clamps her arms to her sides. The edges of her skirt poof up slightly, as jets of air buffet the girl and dislodge microscopic particles from her. The portal, a miniature chemical laboratory, sifts the particles for traces of a bomb. At last, the puffers wheeze shut. The robot voice advises, "Wait for green light!"....
Editorial: Backward policy on snowmobiles For most people, a winter trip to Yellowstone National Park is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. A highlight should be nature's sounds: the rumble of Old Faithful, the wind in the pines and wildlife calls. Instead, snowmobile noise is so common that in some locations there is no time of day when visitors don't hear the machines, said a National Park Service study released this month. The report warned that visitors may "choose to wear" hearing protection and said that toxic air pollutants remain a concern. In the face of this damning evidence against snowmobiling in Yellowstone, the Bush administration bizarrely wants to continue to let the machines roar into America's first national park....
No charges will be filed against target shooter in wildfire No charges will be filed against a target shooter who admitted starting a wildfire that destroyed six houses south of Reno last week, investigators said. Armand Otis of Washoe Valley was shooting with two friends on Wednesday when a rifle bullet ricocheted off a rock, sparking a 2,744-acre blaze....
Basque sheepherders carved mark on aspen trees However, for the Basque sheepherders, it was a way to pass time and mark territory. The Basque arrived in northern Arizona after a number of them traveled from South America to California for the San Francisco gold rush in the 1800s. The Basque men joined many others in not striking it rich, so they turned to a commerce that had a long tie to their history: shepherding. In the 1870s, the Basque migrated east when a drought crippled the West Coast. The Basque came to places such as Arizona, which were not as affected....
In rural California county, concealed guns go with the territory Patricia Cantrall, nicknamed the "Annie Oakley of Modoc County," straps her .38 backward on her left hip. "I prefer the cross draw," said the 65-year-old county supervisor and part-time cafe waitress. Cantrall and about 270 fellow residents of this sparsely populated corner of northeastern California routinely carry concealed handguns. When it comes to packing heat, at least legally, no other county in California surpasses Modoc. According to state Department of Justice statistics, about one in 29 county residents has a concealed-weapons permit. That compares with one in 800 residents for the rest of the state....
Stealing the show John Payne extends his left arm enthusiastically for a handshake. He lost the right one three decades ago. But that doesn't stop this Oklahoma cowboy from trick riding while cracking a whip and chasing three buffalo around a rodeo arena. Payne -- known as the One Arm Bandit -- earns a standing ovation almost everywhere he goes in the country by riding a Nevada mustang without holding the reins while herding the ornery buffalo up a ramp to the top of his stock trailer....
On The Edge Of Common Sense: Sometimes a bad habit can come back Early in Dr. Charlie's veterinary career he assumed the veterinary care of a dairy run by a cloistered order of nuns. It became his charity work. Because of their rules, only two of the sisters were allowed to talk to him. They wore Army fatigue combat boots and a pink habit head dressing. Sister Mary, a bright, but serious grandmotherly woman, was his liaison. One afternoon he was called to the dairy to examine a dead cow. She appeared to have bloated but Dr. Charles, as Sister Mary called him, thought a necropsy was appropriate....