NEWS ROUNDUP

Some fear Hearst deal sets precedent The 68-year-old cattleman hopes to preserve it all by selling the development rights on his 12,000-acre ranch to the California Rangeland Trust in Sacramento. But he says he'll withdraw his offer if environmentalists win more public access or government oversight of the Hearst Ranch conservation deal the California Coastal Conservancy is set to approve Wednesday. "You would lose our contract and probably 90 percent of the people in line for conservation easements," he said. "It just sets a very bad precedent." For ranchers and environmentalists alike, the landmark Hearst conservation deal has become a litmus test for the future of easements designed to restrict development forever....
Coalition writes Bush in support of roadless rule So on Tuesday, the Montana Tech professor joined a coalition of Montana hunters, anglers, business owners and conservationists in calling on President Bush to protect the state's remaining 6 million acres of unprotected roadless land. In its sted, Bush would allow governors to petition the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to establish or adjust the management of roadless areas on national forests in their own state. Owners of the 117 Montana companies that wrote the president Tuesday beg to differ....
One Million Americans: Stop the Bush Administration's National Forests Giveaway Members of Congress and conservationists today announced that more than one million Americans had written the Bush Administration in the past 60 days to admonish their plan to open 58.5 million acres of pristine National Forests to logging. The groups held a convention-style event on the Ellipse in front of the White House with state 'delegates' on-hand to announce local tallies. With the Administration's comment period reaching the halfway mark today, coalition members said they expect comments against the Bush plan to continue to pour in. Similar events were also held locally in about 25 states today....
Parties reach accord on bighorns Ranchers and wildlife advocates have found some common ground in a draft document that aims to retain bighorn sheep populations on public lands without adverse economic impacts to the state's sheep producers. The Wyoming Bighorn/Domestic Sheep Working Group labored for two years to develop unique, Wyoming "solutions" for addressing anticipated problems between domestic sheep and bighorn sheep, group members said....
Act represents public's place in land management discussions A discussion about wilderness might begin most appropriately with facts and figures: how many acres, how many states, and how many mountain ranges. It might also begin with a discussion of values: clean water, clean air and clean ecosystems. It could focus initially on the philosophical virtues of open space, silence and remoteness. Still, no matter how it begins, the discussion is made relevant largely because of what happened 40 years ago....
Lawmaker tried to ax fire probe, agents say On a windy day last March, U.S. Rep. Henry Brown (R-S.C.) set a fire in a controlled burn on his timberland adjacent to the Francis Marion National Forest in coastal South Carolina. But the fire spread to the national forest, charring about 20 acres of loblolly pines. Allowing a fire that was purposely set on private land to spread to a national forest is a federal crimine. The U.S. Forest Service proposed fining Brown $250 and billing him at least $4,000 for the government's firefighting costs....
Smith offers plan to speed Biscuit salvage logging Sen. Gordon Smith proposed legislation Tuesday that would end legal challenges to logging of old growth forest reserves burned in the 2002 Biscuit fire in southern Oregon. Using unusually blunt language, Smith warned "radical environmentalists" and others that he will do everything in his power to move the logging plan forward. If necessary, he will offer the plan as a rider to a "must-pass" spending bill slated for approval by Congress this fall, Smith said....
State Gives Utah Loggers Preference Gov. Olene Walker has signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Forest Service that gives local loggers priority for some timber sale contracts in southern Utah. "This will allow for contracting and other methods that encourage local industry and local jobs in our communities," Walker said at the signing Friday. The memorandum calls for creation of a Forest Restoration Partnership Working Group made up of state, local and forest officials. They will meet in about 45 days to form a plan for securing local rights to some logging contracts, particularly restoration and thinning work....
Winning wilderness Almost 50 years after joining the movement in Congress to pass the nation's first wilderness bill, Stewart Brandborg can look to the west from his home up Tin Cup and feel proud that his efforts have borne fruit. But at 79, the gritty, lifelong conservationist said he sees the nation's 106 million acres of wilderness - 97 million of which were added after the country's first wilderness areas were designated in September 1964 - as a glass half full, a good start to forever protecting America's remaining premier wild areas. Brandborg is the only person alive who was involved from start to finish in the eight-year process to gain passage of the Wilderness Act....
Rehberg calls for eradication of troublesome wolf pack Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., is calling for the eradication of a Park County wolf pack that has attacked a sheep herd twice in the past week. Three of Bob Weber's ewes were killed Friday night or Saturday morning less than 100 yards from his home in Paradise Valley. Weber lost four sheep to wolves the week before, and said his herd has been attacked three times in the past year. Weber has since corralled his sheep to within 100 yards of his house....
Clint Eastwood To Receive National Conservation Award The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (Foundation) announced today that it will honor film icon Clint Eastwood for his efforts in conservation at a special fundraising dinner next week. Eastwood will receive the Foundation’s "Chairman’s Award" - the highest accolade bestowed by one of the nation’s leading conservation organizations. The Foundation will hand out the award at a private fundraising event on New York City’s Randall’s Island Sept. 22, 2004, and Eastwood will attend the event if his production schedule allows. The award recognizes outstanding leadership in the conservation of America’s natural resources. Past recipients of the Chairman’s Award have included former presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan....
Editorial: Junking Science he Bush administration has from time to time found it convenient to distort science to serve political ends. The result is a purposeful confusion of scientific protocols in which "sound science" becomes whatever the administration says it is. In the short run, this is a tactic to override basic environmental protections in favor of industry. In the long run, it undermines the authority of science itself. The latest example concerns the marbled murrelet, a small seabird listed as a threatened species that lives along the coast from Northern California up to the Aleutian Islands....
Mixed signals? At least 30 national parks sprout cellphone towers and antennas, a new government survey shows, and some environmentalists fear a forest of steel and concrete will spring up unless the National Park Service cracks down....
Burns acts to boost water level at Fort Peck Montana Republican Sen. Conrad Burns and North Dakota Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan joined forces Tuesday to increase water levels in Montana's Fort Peck, North Dakota's Lake Sakakawea and South Dakota's Lake Oahe. Inclusion of the provision in the bill sets up a future fight between lawmakers from upriver states, such as Montana and the Dakotas, and downriver states, such as Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska. The provision would require the Army Corps of Engineers to stop navigation in downriver states if the total water storage in Fort Peck and the two other reservoirs falls below 40 million acre-feet. Under the current regulations, navigation would not stop until water storage reached 31 million acre-feet. The current storage is about 36 million acre-feet, and Fort Peck, Sakakawea and Oahe are all at all-time lows....
Plan to Protect Colorado River Habitat Interior Secretary Gale Norton has signed an agreement with representatives of Arizona, Nevada and California to protect wildlife habitat on the Colorado River and aid native species. The Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program will create 8,100 acres of riparian, marsh and backwater habitat for about 27 species, six of which are endangered. The program is designed to protect habitat between Lake Mead and the U.S.-Mexico border while ensuring enough water is available and power operations using Colorado River water can continue. The river supplies water and power to 20 million people in Arizona, Nevada and California....
Tribe dances to protest Shasta Dam expansion As darkness fell across the crescent-shape Shasta Dam, eight barefoot Winnemem Wintu Indians armed with bows began the tribe's first war dance since 1887. Members of the tiny tribe began the four-day protest Sunday night to stop a potential expansion of the Shasta Dam, which would destroy sacred sites that had survived its original construction....
Conservation deal will boost water quantity in Blue River Summit County will see its prized Blue River rise, thanks to a fledgling effort designed to permanently dedicate more water in streams for fish and the environment. Under a deal approved Tuesday by the state, nearly 800 acre-feet of water will be donated to the Blue River by the nonprofit Colorado Water Trust. An acre-foot equals 326,000 gallons, enough to serve up to two households for a year....
N.M. stream panel supports Gila River deal The New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission has signed off on a deal with Arizona that would allow New Mexico to tap the Gila River. The commission decided yesterday to endorse the agreement, which also would give New Mexico $66 million federal dollars for water projects. And it calls for the state to receive up to $128 million if it decides to build a diversion project -- likely a series of wells near the river....
Farm drought aid clears Senate vote Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., pushed an amendment through the Senate Tuesday night that would provide $2.9 billion in relief for farmers and ranchers - some struck by hurricanes and others by drought. Under Baucus' proposal, farmers and ranchers in counties that have been declared a disaster area would be eligible to receive assistance. To receive assistance they would have to prove that they had suffered a 35 percent loss. Farmers who could prove a 35 percent loss and had crop insurance would be covered for 65 percent of their loss. Farmers without crop insurance would be covered for 60 percent of their loss. A similar formula would apply to ranchers based on the amount of forage that they lost....
Town seeking grant for Zane Grey cabin The Zane Grey Cabin Foundation fund-raising effort could get a major boost if the organization receives a $50,000 grant from the Gila River Indian Community. Total estimated cost to rebuild the famous western novelist's cabin adjacent to the Rim Country Museum at Green Valley Park is $184,920. The original cabin, where Grey penned many of his novels longhand, burned down in the Dude Fire in 1990....
Country stores at risk From his spot behind the cash register, David Pinder lets his eyes sweep across his country store: to the wines, barbecue supplies, bread, milk, soft drinks, sandwiches, and freshly brewed coffee. A table and two chairs occupy center stage for the regulars who enjoy going a few rounds on any hot topic: property taxes, development, the gubernatorial election....