NEWS ROUNDUP

Re-examining effects of salvage logging Ironically, even if the forestservice had fulfilled its obligation to collect extensive population data on management indicator species, it would have been in the context of a densely-vegetated forested environment. Because the environment was dramatically changed by the fire, forest biologists would have still been constrained to drawing conclusions on effects to species largely based on new and wholly altered site conditions. The wildfire was the event significantly affecting wildlife, not the proposed small-scale salvage harvest. The dire consequences that Berman predicted would occur on federal lands as a result of timber salvage operations were not experienced where fire-killed trees were harvested and removed from private property burned in the fire. It is important to question the validity of claims warning of substantial damage that would result from forest management treatments. An important aspect of resource management is to reduce potential resource damage to acceptable levels. A position of zero tolerance for any resource damage would result in nothing ever being done, which of course is the objective of radical preservationists....
Rangers round up Badlands buffalo Although it gets less attention than the Custer State Park bison roundup, the National Park Service conducted a bison roundup of its own at Badlands National Park earlier this month. Rangers and volunteers rounded up 480 bison in the newly completed bison corrals at the park south of Wall during the week of Oct. 10. Animals were tagged, tested for diseases and given an overall physical exam by veterinarians....
Bishop to propose legislation for open space in Deer Valley Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, plans to introduce legislation in the next session of Congress to direct the Bureau of Land Management to sell Park City Municipal Corp. 108 acres of prime Deer Valley real estate to protect as open space. Park City has been negotiating with the federal government for more than 30 years to get title to the Gambel Oak and White Acre parcels, which have remained undeveloped under a public land lease the city struck with the BLM in the early 1970s. But speculation over the potential value of the land for building houses or condominiums, plus the difficulty of settling several unpatented mining claims on the property have thwarted any progress....
Political travel alleged Norton is not alone among Interior Department appointees. Other top federal land managers have focused travel to the nation's political battlegrounds to distribute grant money, hand out awards and spotlight the president's achievements. They have been frequent visitors to the swing states of Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Wisconsin, according to a review of travel schedules, department news releases, speeches, and media reports. Norton is not alone among Interior Department appointees. Other top federal land managers have focused travel to the nation's political battlegrounds to distribute grant money, hand out awards and spotlight the president's achievements. They have been frequent visitors to the swing states of Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Wisconsin, according to a review of travel schedules, department news releases, speeches, and media reports....
Line clear dividing sides on cloud seeding project Officials and proponents of cloud seeding are hoping to increase precipitation, primarily the snowpack, in Big Bear Valley. Clouds would be seeded with silver iodide between December and March. Atmospherics, Inc., the company hired to do the seeding, claims precipitation can increase 5 to 10 percent above the amount that would be normally received. Cloud seeding opponents are not against cloud seeding in general, but contest the use of silver iodide. They claim silver iodide is water soluble in large quantities of water, primarily Big Bear Lake, and will create free ion silver, which is highly toxic....
Utah Farm Leaders Decry Open-Space Ballot Initiative Leaders of Utah's five largest farming organizations are opposing an open-space initiative on the Nov. 2 ballot. Utah Farm Bureau CEO Randy Parker said the Utah Farm Bureau, Utah Wool Growers Association, Utah Cattlemen's Association, Utah Dairymen's Association and Utah Farmers Union believe Initiative 1 bypasses the state Legislature -- the reason Republican legislative leaders came out against it last week. Initiative 1 would preserve open space, clean water and air, build parks and construct government buildings with a $150 million bond financed by an increase in the sales tax of one-twentieth of a cent....
Parade kicks off weekend dedicated to the cowboy life The cowboys hooted and hollered while the ladies in their gingham bonnets waved as 20 chuck wagons rattled up Main Street at lunchtime Friday, en route to the Stockyards and a weekend of events better known as the Red Steagall Cowboy Gathering & Western Swing Festival. Except for the occasional wristwatch or cellphone, it could have been a scene from the 1870s because everyone was decked out in period attire. The gathering is a portrayal of a cowboy's life on the trail....
Legendary Western star had strong links to N.D The man called by many film historians “the most popular Western movie actor of all time” was married in North Dakota. This actor also had a number of good friends in Medora and often spent time in the region as a cowpuncher. It is difficult to separate fact from fiction regarding the early life of Tom Mix. Most historians agree on the following: He was born Thomas Hezikiah Mix on Jan. 6, 1880, in a small community near Dubois, Pa....
The romance of a cattle drive, without the cattle As the music plays, dozens of retirees, teachers, farmers and students hoist themselves from beds and sleeping bags to prepare for another day of riding horses and driving wagons on a cattleless cattle drive. Some joined the ride looking to get away, to spend time with friends and family. And some wanted to reconnect with history. They found the old Western Trail, a path that sent 6 million cattle from southern Texas to Kansas starting in the 1870s. The 655-mile trip from Bandera to Dodge City takes about 10 hours by car. By horse, the trip takes 48 days....
On The Edge Of Common Sense: Women are the unsung workforce of the cowboy It was a cold, starry night somewhere in West River, Dakotaland. Calving had been under way a couple weeks. Ed and Wanda were already into the heifer-checking routine. On this particular night, Wanda had taken the middle-of-the-night duty. Ed had stayed up late trying to fix a water leak in the barn. Water pipes are buried deep up north. Ed had dug a hole big enough to bury a small mule. Grunt work - frozen ground, mud under the permafrost. He located the break, shut off the main line and called it quits for the night....