NEWS ROUNDUP

Split-estate proposals criticized Landowners - ranchers, rural homeowners and otherwise - may be shooting themselves in the foot to support "split-estate" legislation guaranteeing compensation for loss of land value due to mineral development, according to a Casper attorney who represents mineral developers. "We're doing, voluntarily, more than we have to," said Drake Hill of Brown, Drew & Massey, LLP. Any standard for compensation might actually undercut standard monetary deals currently being negotiated between mineral developers and landowners in the Powder River Basin, he said. And mineral owners fear the legislation may give surface owners the power to ask for the moon....
Westerners frustrated over lack of dialogue in campaigns President Bush and Sen. John Kerry have repeatedly missed chances to lock up votes in battleground states like Colorado and New Mexico by trotting out well-worn stump speeches that fail to mention key Western issues such as water and energy development, according to residents and regional experts. Rancher Tweeti Blancett of Aztec, N.M., a county chairwoman of the Bush-Cheney campaign four years ago, said she is undecided headed into Nov. 2. She said the Bush administration's record is "miserable" on managing the oil and gas drilling that has proliferated in her area. But she also says she expected more from Kerry and has heard nothing to convince her he will do a better job....
A Quiet Struggle for the Conservationist Vote The word "environment" was scarcely mentioned in the three presidential debates and polls show that environmental issues barely register in the litany of concerns likely to sway presidential voters. But a fierce if quiet struggle is being fought for the support of hunters, anglers and conservationists, and it is being waged from the pages of Field & Stream magazine to the strategy sessions of the Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters. President Bush granted one of his few full interviews during the campaign to Field & Stream, a clear channel to millions of hunters and fishermen, some of whom have been dismayed by the administration's policies on wetlands and energy drilling in the West....
Alaska petition underscores Bush-Kerry fight for sportsmen's vote Anyone wondering why President Bush and Sen. John Kerry have been talking up hunting and fishing in recent days need look no further than two anti-logging petitions widely circulated by a sportsmen's association in Alaska. Demonstrating their political involvement, some 721 gun clubs and shooting ranges and 328 angling clubs have signed onto the petitions, particularly those in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan - key election battleground states. The groups, representing thousands of members, say the Bush administration should reverse its decision to let industry use up to 2.6 million acres more of Alaska's 16.8 million-acre Tongass National Forest, where federal subsidies support logging....
Calif. Nixes Tiger Salamander Protections A split state wildlife commission rejected extra protections for the California tiger salamander for the second time Friday. Developers had warned that additional restrictions could hurt efforts to keep up with the state's rapid population growth in the Central Valley, Central Coast and San Francisco Bay area. The majority of commissioners agreed with opponents who said there is no evidence the black-and-yellow amphibian is likely to become extinct in the foreseeable future....
What do you think about the Black Hills? I mention it only because "time is about up". Not only do we need to wrap up this ten-year plan, but it is almost time to start on the next one. Comments on the pending "Phase II” amendments to the 1997 Forest Plan are due by December 15. No. That's not a typo. The government is still trying to finish the "1997" ten-year plan. I would not want you to miss another chance to get in on the "wonderful process" that Congress has created for managing federal lands. Here is how Congress manages land: they take a pine forest that grows on a two-hundred-year rotation; write a ten-year plan to manage it; provide for a public review, administrative appeal, and judicial review process that takes about seven-to-ten years, and then write a new ten-year plan at least once every fifteen years....
National Park Service drops concerns on illuminating Gateway Arch in pink The National Park Service is no longer voicing concerns about illuminating the 630-foot Gateway Arch in pink in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The Arch -- in St. Louis -- will be illuminated in pink on Monday night only. Normally, the national monument is bathed in white light....
Agency: Calif. Water Shift Won't Hurt Fish A federal agency ruled Friday that shifting more Northern California water to Southern California will not jeopardize five threatened or endangered species of fish. The ruling clears the way for the federal Bureau of Reclamation and state Department of Water Resources to sign long-term water contracts with rural irrigation districts and urban water districts. They also can continue with plans to pump more water through the fragile Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to thirsty Southern California....
Farmers, ranchers and tractors take their message to the streets Farmers and ranchers from across San Luis Obispo County took to the streets on Thursday to set the record straight on how they feel about the proposed ban on genetically modified crops. Nearly 100 farmers and ranchers from the area drove their tractors, trucks, and farm equipment through downtown San Luis Obispo. The group protests the claim by Measure Q proponents that local farmers support the initiative. Protesters believe 99% of county farmers oppose Measure Q, and say they're trying to defeat a bad piece of rushed legislation....