NEWS ROUNDUP

Norton foresees sage grouse disruption Despite millions in federal spending for private landowners to set aside acreage for a rare grouse species, Interior Secretary Gale Norton sees "very significant potential" for the bird to disrupt plans to tap natural gas and oil in the West. A decision on whether to add the greater sage grouse to the endangered species list is due by the end of the year....
Man says wolves attacked hunting hounds A Grant County man said he may sue the state after his hunting hounds were attacked by a pack of wolves Sunday morning while trailing a bear near the Gila Cliff Dwellings. Billy Lee, 44, a Mimbres resident and 15-year hunting outfitter, said several of his hunting hounds were attacked by wolves in the Brushy Mountain area just south of the cliff dwellings around 10 a.m. Lee said two of the dogs were severely injured in the attack and may have died had he not been close by when the attack occurred. Colleen Buchanan, assistant Mexican wolf recovery coordinator, said the location of the Saddle Pack in the Gila Wilderness is “perfect” and the incident has not spawned any plans to move or kill the wolves. She said there should be only minimal concern to hikers and campers with dogs in that area of the Wilderness....
Panel: Farmers Should Be Allowed To Shoot Mtn. Lions Farmers and ranchers should be allowed to shoot mountain lions that are near their buildings or are killing their livestock, a special state study group recommended Tuesday. The West River Issues Working Group gave tentative approval to the proposal Tuesday. The Game, Fish and Parks Department formed the group to make recommendations aimed at improving relations between hunters and landowners in western South Dakota. The panel planned to finish its draft recommendations on a number of issues Wednesday. It will take a final vote on those recommendations Nov. 30....
Environmentalists sue over Yellowstone groomed roads Environmental groups have filed a lawsuit over the National Park Service's plan for allowing snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park for the next three winters. The groups claim the government failed to take into account the effect that roads groomed for snow machines have on wildlife, particularly bison, under the temporary plan. The complaint brought by The Fund for Animals, Bluewater Network and three individuals names as defendants Interior Secretary Gale Norton and National Park Service Director Fran Mainella. The lawsuit was filed last week in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., after the Park Service issued a "finding of no significant impact" for its winter use plans, an attorney said....
Environment Officials See a Chance to Shape Regulations Emboldened by President Bush's victory, the nation's top environmental officials are claiming a broad mandate to refashion the regulation of air and water pollution and wildlife protection in ways that will promote energy production and economic development. "The election was a validation of the philosophy and the agenda," said Mike Leavitt, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Environmental protections, he said, must be done "in a way that maintains the economic competitiveness of the country." Leavitt pointed out that four more years give administration officials an opportunity to mold the environmental agency's professional staffs to more closely reflect their priorities. Leavitt said 35% of the EPA's staff would become eligible to retire in the next four years, giving him a chance to remake from the inside out the agency that takes the lead in enforcing air and water pollution and the cleanup of toxic dumps....
Forest Service officials look to take discussion to Washington, D.C. Forest Service officials from across the region gathered in Missoula Tuesday for a two-day conference to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the agency - and to explore the next century of public lands management, as a soaring population, aging society and other demographic trends present new and growing challenges to the nation's forests. The Northern Region Centennial Forum, which runs through Wednesday, is one of nine regional forums being held across the country this month, culminating in a national Forest Service Centennial Congress, to be held in Washington, D.C., in January. The regional forums are an opportunity to focus discussion at the national conference, according to Regional Forester Gail Kimbell, whose Northern Region turf stretches across 25 million acres and spreads over five states, including Montana, Idaho, and sections of Washington and the Dakotas....
Green organizers keep fighting Alaska environmentalists say they've had to repeatedly jump through hoops to oppose federal plans for more roads in national forests. They made that point Tuesday by submitting nearly 6,000 letters -- through a hula hoop -- to U.S. Forest Service officials from Alaskans opposed to Bush administration plans for national forests. "They keep asking us the same things over and over again," said Bobbie Jo Skibo of the Alaska Center for the Environment. "We're going to keep jumping through the hoops because it matters."....
Plant ruled not sparse enough for protection A carrot-like Mojave Desert plant is more abundant than previously believed, and therefore does not qualify for protection as an endangered species, a federal agency has ruled. The announcement by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Tuesday shot a hole in a claim that Army activity at Fort Irwin posed a threat to the desert cymopterus, a member of the carrot family with small purple flowers. If the plant had been listed as endangered, it could have thrown another hurdle toward development throughout much of the desert....
Feds reject considering white-tailed prairie dog for protection The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rejected a request Tuesday to consider federal protection for the white-tailed prairie dog, saying there wasn't enough scientific information to warrant studying whether the animal should be placed on the federal endangered species list. The white-tailed prairie dog is generally found west of the Continental Divide in the sagebrush-covered swaths of land in northwestern Colorado, northeastern Utah, central and western Wyoming and in parts of Montana. It is a different species from the black-tailed prairie dog, which is found east of the Continental Divide. Black-tailed prairie dogs were dropped in August from a list of animals being considered for endangered species status....
Plan May Keep Bird Off Endangered List An initiative by the Bureau of Land Management to conserve the habitat of the northern sage grouse is complicating efforts to earn the bird designation as an endangered species. The bird is a signature species of the West whose range overlaps with oil and gas deposits and grazing lands throughout the Rocky Mountain states. The initiative, likely to be unveiled next week by the bureau, is outlined in a series of internal documents. The effort to get the bird listed is being considered by a sister agency in the Interior Department, the Fish and Wildlife Service, which must make its decision by Dec. 29. Such a designation could lead to new restrictions on energy exploration and grazing on lands where the birds live....
Invasive marsh grass spreading fast in San Francisco Bay An exotic marsh grass is spreading throughout San Francisco Bay more rapidly than anticipated, threatening native plants and birds and prompting an urgent search for ways to eradicate it. Spartina alterniflora, also known as Atlantic cordgrass, has expanded from 470 acres in 2000 to an estimated 2,000 acres in 2003, according to the California Coastal Conservancy's San Francisco Estuary Invasive Spartina Project. Those 2,000 acres are distributed over 69,000 acres of tidal marsh and mudflats throughout the bay. If left alone, the invader could destroy thousands of acres of bird and wildlife habitat, extinguish native plant species and clog tidal creeks and flood control channels. Researchers are worried about the impact on migratory birds because San Francisco Bay is considered the West Coast's most important estuary for such birds....
Judge sides with county A federal District Court judge has struck down a designation which deemed areas of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore as critical habitat for wintering piping plovers. The opinion states that the Service must determine that "those physical or biological features essential to the conservation of the species and which may require special management considerations or protection" - PCEs - are "found" on specific areas with the area to be designated. "It appears that, incredibly, the Service admits in the final rule [posting the designation in the Federal Register] that some designated areas do not contain PCEs," wrote Lambreth. "The Service's argued-for interpretation, essentially that designation is proper merely if PCEs will likely be found in the future, is simply beyond the pale of the statute," states the opinion. A list of other shortcomings in the determination of critical habitat designations also were noted in the opinion, including the interpretation of "best available science," economic impact, and compliance with other federal laws and regulations including the National Environmental Policy Act....
Feds reopen proposal to list butterfly as endangered A proposal to add the Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly to the endangered species list could cost more than $500,000 according to an economic analysis released Monday by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The agency has drafted a proposed conservation plan to protect the 2-inch butterfly. It lives in high mountain meadows within a few miles of Cloudcroft. The economic analysis suggests conservation measures could range between $533,000 and $816,000....
Judge hears bear hunt arguments Prospects of a planned second black bear hunt in New Jersey rest with a state judge, following a Tuesday hearing in appellate court here. The U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance Foundation, and several other sportsmen's groups have sued Bradley Campbell, commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, over his refusal to issue permits for the hunt. Campbell has withheld approximately 3,000 permits for the bruin six-day season despite its approval earlier this year by the Fish and Game Council....
Wolf-recovery panel takes hands-off stance for now Pioneering wolves migrating into Colorado should be allowed to live unmolested - unless they start killing livestock, a state panel said last week. If adopted next year, that recommendation would make Colorado the first state in the interior West to voluntarily accept the return of the region's top predator. And it would come as a result of a historic compromise by the state's still-powerful ranching community, whose forebears exterminated wolves in Colorado by the mid-20th century....
GOP to try again to drill for oil in Alaska refuge Republican gains in the Senate could give President Bush his best chance yet to achieve his No. 1 energy priority: opening an oil-rich but environmentally sensitive Alaska wildlife refuge to drilling. If he is successful, it would be a stinging defeat for environmentalists and an energy triumph that eluded Bush during his first four years in the White House. A broader agenda that includes reviving nuclear power, preventing blackouts and expanding oil and gas drilling in the Rockies would be more difficult to enact. Republicans in the House and Senate said this week they plan to push for Alaska refuge drilling legislation early next year, and they predict success, given the 55-44 GOP Senate majority in the next Congress....
Park Service hopes new plan balances use of Colorado River The National Park Service last updated its Colorado River management plan for Grand Canyon National Park 15 years ago. Since then, the outdoor recreation and tourism industry has exploded, creating an unprecedented demand on the river. Nudged along by a lawsuit settlement, the National Park Service has now produced a new management proposal for the river, one that Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent Joe Alston hopes will balance the needs of commercial and private users, as well as at least muffle the long-running argument over the use of motorized boats in the canyon....
Bureau plans 90-hour flood to add silt to Grand Canyon A new controlled flood at the Grand Canyon could occur later this month. The Bureau of Reclamation wants to release extra water from Glen Canyon Dam beginning Nov. 21. If approved, the extra flow would run for 90 hours, stirring up an estimated 800,000 metric tons of sediment. Officials first flooded the canyon in 1996 with an 18-day water release, designed to return some of the natural sediment along the Colorado River within the canyon. Because of Glen Canyon Dam, the silt that normally occurs in the ecosystem is not deposited, affecting the natural environment, scientists say....
Anti-biotech measures defeated by voters With family farmers leading the way, two county initiatives aimed at banning the use of agricultural biotechnology were soundly defeated on Election Day. A third measure in Humboldt County was deemed so ill-worded it was abandoned even by its authors before voters went to the polls, and also failed. Voters in Butte County rejected the anti-biotech measure put before them by a margin of 61 percent to 39 percent. In San Luis Obispo County, the anti-biotech initiative failed to pass by a margin of 59 percent to 41 percent. Experts said that the overall results of last week's vote on proposed biotech bans sends a strong signal across the nation that voters in high-production farm counties aren't willing to reject the technology....
Cattle Investigation Cattle rustling is one of the oldest crimes in California -- its roots go back to the Wild West. Yet, cattle rustling cases have nearly tripled in the last few years, according to detectives, mostly because the price of beef has gone up. The days of the Wild West may be long gone but cattle rustling in the central valley is still a serious crime. Rancher Chris Lang described the crime for NBC4's Ana Garcia, "They only take the valuable part. They take the valuable part of the cow, and are in and out in just a matter of minutes. They butcher it right in the field." Tulare County Sheriff Bill Whitman told NBC4, "When someone steals their cattle I take it personal...We'll hunt you down."....
Sad tale of New West: Good guys lose It's another last roundup story. Buffalo herds disappear, boomtowns go bust and Roy Rogers' Trigger and Bullet are stuffed and on display. Now, Cross Western Store is closing its doors after 126 years of making saddles, outfitting ranchers and dressing rodeo queens. "It's the end of an era," lifelong customer Val Byram of South Weber said Monday. "We've been in the sheep business for three generations. My grandfather, my father and his brothers and then my generation shopped at Cross. We bought tack, long johns, boots, clothes and stoves for our sheep camps there." Cross Western is the victim of changes in Western lifestyle, fickle fashion trends and the decline of Ogden's downtown shopping district....
Free for the asking I looked down the sights of my little varmint gun and pondered if I should even be entertaining the thought of tryin’ to shoot this prairie dog standing atop his mound some 60 or so yards away. In the last few weeks, I have killed about 50 or so of the little vermin, and yes, I know that some of you are disgusted with me for doing so. You know why you are so disgusted with me — it’s because it’s not your place that they are destroying, and they are so cute, right? Tell ya what. Rent yerself one of those vacuum trucks and come out here and suck up all the little cuties yer little heart desires. Yep, they are free for the asking, you don’t owe me anything. Actually, I will give you a dollar for every one you take home with you. How’s that for a deal?....