NEWS ROUNDUP

U.S. to Poison Prairie Dogs in South Dakota Wildlife workers have begun a program to poison thousands of prairie dogs in the grasslands of South Dakota to stop them from moving onto private ranch land parched by drought, a federal official said on Tuesday. But in an agreement to settle a lawsuit filed by eight conservation organizations last month, the U.S. Forest Service will spread poison on fewer acres than originally planned and conduct an environmental study to figure out a long-term solution, according to Don Bright, forest supervisor for the Buffalo Gap National Grassland in southwestern South Dakota....
The Coyote Caucus Takes the West to Washington Stewart and his brother Mo (officially Morris) shepherded the region's conservation movement beginning in the 1950s. They also fathered a posse of civic-minded Udalls – 12 children between them – who have influential roles today. A liberal dynasty, the family has been called the Kennedys of the West, minus the money. Most remarkably, Stewart's son, Tom, and Mo's son, Mark, are congressmen, representing the districts surrounding Santa Fe, N.M., and Boulder, Colo., respectively. Both are very active in supporting John Kerry's bid for the White House. Both are also fighting for the preservation of public lands and a balanced, enlightened economic future in the West. In jest, they call themselves the "Udall Caucus" or the "Coyote Caucus."....
Ranchers happy with new grazing policy Central Oregon ranchers had been worried about potential changes to rules governing grazing on federal land. But a new plan for the Crooked River National Grassland only tweaks current grazing practices. The plan aims to leave more grass on the range, which means more habitat for wild animals and more feed for livestock. The Forest Service, working with ranchers, designed a three-part strategy to achieve that goal....
Editorial: Big gifts make big difference It's always fun to open a national magazine and see a story about somebody from your home town. But most Helenans who read Newsweek's article last week about Bud and Dolly McMaster's sale of their 5,600-acre ranch near the Missouri River to the Conservation Fund didn't know at the time that the McMasters were doing a lot more than preserving open space. It turns out the brother and sister also have donated millions of dollars to the St. Peter's Hospital Foundation. For the past seven years the family has anonymously donated more than $5.2 million, including a $1 million gift to the Broadwater Health Center in Townsend....
Bird deaths near site of poisoning prompt probe Federal law enforcement officials are investigating the deaths of three horned larks found near an area where a state contractor had placed prairie dog poison north of Badlands National Park. Killing the horned larks, even unintentionally, could violate the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, according to Robert Prieksat of Pierre, a law enforcement officer with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Horned larks migrate south for the winter. Art Smith of the state Game, Fish & Parks Department, who is overseeing state prairie dog poisoning on private land near the federal grassland, said state crews are following federal rules for using the prairie dog poison zinc phosphide....
Road's status raises questions - is it another Jarbridge? Jack Creek Road, an old stagecoach route nestled in the Independence Mountain range, has the potential to ignite another controversy similar to the long-running dispute over the South Canyon Road. Not much attention has been paid in the past to the 15-mile long road except by outdoor recreationists and a mining company that has since abandoned any activity. Not any more. Jack Creek Road is now the focus of a potential struggle that revisits the question of federal vs. county ownership. At the heart of the controversy is whether Elko County should accept a U.S. Forest Service easement for the road....
9th Circuit blocks Tongass road construction In a split decision, a federal appeals court on Tuesday blocked construction of new roads that were to be part of a Tongass National Forest timber sale. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals acknowledged that a mill in the area faced a risk of closure, but said environmental groups were not required to abandon their rights on the mill's account. "The road-building activities will cause an immediate and irreparable change to the part of the now-roadless old-growth forest that would be affected by the challenged timber sale," the majority wrote....
Protection Sought for Rare Columbian Bird Environmentalists asking for federal protection of the Columbian sharp-tailed grouse say the bird is in danger of becoming extinct, in part because its native habitat across the West is being lost to livestock grazing and agriculture. In a petition filed Oct. 14, a coalition of environmentalists asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the grouse under the Endangered Species Act. The groups, led by Santa Fe-based Forest Guardians, argue that what was once the most abundant gallinaceous bird in the Intermountain West has been reduced to a population of less than 60,000. Gallinaceous birds nest on the ground and include turkeys, chickens and pheasants....
Bird decline blamed on habitat losses The feathered creatures winging across North America have an obvious gift that land-bound humans lack, but their survival is threatened by earthly concerns. Almost 30 percent of bird populations on the continent are facing a "significant decline," The National Audubon Society said in its first "The State of the Birds" report Tuesday. The group studied data from 1966 to 2003 for 654 bird species that live in grasslands, shrublands, forests, waterways and urban settings....
Rifle man killed in mule wagon accident A Rifle man was killed last week in a mule wagon accident on Bureau of Land Management property northwest of Rifle Gap. LeRoy Schroeder, 54, became trapped in a homemade mule cart as he gathered wood while working as a guide for some hunters, according to reports....
Cave looter charged with paying to have judge, informant killed Former insurance agent Jack Harelson maintained he did nothing wrong when he excavated an ancient American Indian grave site in Nevada's Black Rock Desert. Now he faces charges he paid $10,000 in opals in an attempt to have the judge, chief investigator and an informant in the case murdered....
Push to rename Powell going down the drain After receiving an unprecedented amount of public opposition - a stack of petitions and letters weighing more than 13 pounds - a federal panel is expected today to soundly reject a proposal to change the name of Lake Powell to Glen Canyon Reservoir. Proponents of changing the name of the body of water behind Glen Canyon Dam along the Utah-Arizona border argued that calling it a "lake" does not accurately define its birthright and that the Lake Powell moniker duplicates the name of a small natural lake on a Colorado peak that drains into the same watershed. But staff to the U.S. Board of Geographic Names say that, in discussions before today's session in Florida, board members determined neither of those arguments was significant enough to warrant renaming the internationally recognized recreation oasis on the Colorado Plateau, christened for frontier explorer John Wesley Powell....
West gains $1.1 billion in royalties The Rocky Mountain West collected a $1.1 billion windfall this year for its share of energy and minerals production on federal lands. Wyoming, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah were the big winners in a program that distributes income from energy and mining leases on federal property. Montana also fared well. Rising energy prices and increased production of oil and natural gas contributed to the payout in the West from the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service in fiscal 2004....
Column: Can the sports and the greens find common ground? Bart Semcer—hunter, angler, gun owner, and National Rifle Association member—delivered an important message to the Outdoor Writers Association of America at its annual conference in June of this year. He told them it was time for sporting conservation groups like Trout Unlimited and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation to join hands with his employer for the betterment of fish, wildlife, and the habitat animals and humans depend on for healthy, happy lives. “We’re natural allies,” he told his audience. That simple statement was an attention-getter for one reason: Semcer is the Sierra Club’s representative for fish and wildlife policy in Washington, D.C. And his message was more than just words: It was backed up with a plan called the Natural Allies Initiative, which is designed to create partnerships between the Birkenstock set and the hook-and-bullet crowd. In fact, the 700,000-member Sierra Club was a cosponsor of a 2003 national symposium on the future of hunting, right alongside the Boone and Crockett Club and the Safari Club....
Supreme Court tackles Tenmile debate After 14 years, several court hearings and hundreds of pages of documents, the battle over the rights to Tenmile Creek's water will come to a head on Jan. 7, 2005. Seven Oregon Supreme Court justices will hear the case in Salem, putting an end to a debate that simmered between Lakeside and the Coos Bay-North Bend Water Board long before spiraling into a statewide fight. This isn't about thirsty communities or even who owns today's water. This is about the right of governments to lock up water supplies, though they have no plans, immediate need - or possible way - of taking advantage of the flows....