NEWS ROUNDUP

Ore. land rules thrown into doubt Oregon has been a national leader for more than 30 years in fighting urban sprawl and protecting forests and farmland from turning into houses as the population grows. And for all those years, there have been property owners who chafed at the idea that they couldn't use their land as they saw fit. That has all changed with passage Tuesday of Measure 37, which allows landowners to make claims against governments when land-use regulations reduce the value of their property. The measure also gives governments the option of waiving regulations instead of paying compensation, which would create a patchwork of development regulation around the state based on when a piece of property was acquired....
Open Space backers puzzled over ballot failure Initiative One sponsors spent over $1 million, gathered endorsements from the likes of former U.S. senator Jake Garn and ex-Brigham Young football coach LaVell Edwards and were projected to win big in several polls. Falling flat on their face wasn't part of the plan - but that is exactly what happened on election night. Despite all of the money, all the big-name backing and predictions of a double-digit victory, the open space ballot measure instead stumbled to a 10-point defeat (55-45), stunning supporters. The ballot measure, which called for a $150 million bond to purchase and preserve watersheds, wildlife habitat and ranch and farm land, was pummeled in rural Utah counties, often by more than a 2-to-1 margin. It didn't fare much better in urban Davis, Weber and Utah counties. But the real blow came in Salt Lake County, where the initiative wound up losing by nearly 1,000 votes. Only Summit and Grand counties endorsed it....
Disabled vet sues agencies over land-grab Jesse Hardy, the disabled vet who has battled government to stay on his Everglades-area land, has charged 13 officials in six state and federal agencies with multiple violations of law in a 43-page complaint filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court. Officials of the Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the South Florida Water Management District are named in the complaint. The complaint alleges "ongoing violations of federal law and the United States Constitution" during the eight years the agencies have been developing the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, or CERP, and "requests relief in the forms of declaratory judgment and injunctive relief." The complaint arises because the Florida Department of Environmental Protection has filed a petition to condemn 160 acres owned by Jesse Hardy. The DEP contends the land is necessary to complete the CERP. Hardy contends the state has failed to demonstrate how or why the land is needed, as is required by law....
Forest official resigns in wake of 2003 deaths The U.S. Forest Service firefighter in charge of battling a deadly blaze last year in the Salmon-Challis National Forest has resigned. Alan Hackett, incident commander for the fire near Cramer Creek that killed two wildland firefighters July 22, 2003, could not be reached for comment. In an interview Wednesday, Hackett's attorney, Aaron Thompson of Pocatello, confirmed that "an agreement has been reached" and that Hackett is no longer employed at the Salmon-Challis Forest. " I'm not at liberty to discuss details of the agreement at this point, but terms have been reached," Thompson said. Forest Service officials did not respond to repeated requests for comment....
Rancher sentenced to minimum in assault on federal officer Catron County rancher Kit Laney has been sentenced to the minimum of five months in federal custody after pleading guilty to assaulting or resisting a federal officer and obstruction of a court order. Kit Laney, 43, entered the pleas in September before state District Judge John Conway, who sentenced him last week. He will be given credit for time in jail awaiting trial, which means he will serve four months. Laney was arrested March 14 during a roundup of cattle belonging to him and his ex-wife, Sherry Farr, on the Gila National Forest. Authorities said Laney threatened to trample federal officers with his horse and tried to release impounded livestock....
Lawsuits target Pacific Lumber logging, 100-year plan An environmental group sued Pacific Lumber Co. in state court Thursday over several proposed timber cuts and its 100-year management plan, days after filing a federal suit also challenging the company's logging practices. The Environmental Protection Information Center said the timber harvests it wants to block include ancient redwood trees adjacent to Humboldt Redwoods State Park, along with clear-cutting of younger trees in the Van Duzen River watershed that the group contends has already been over logged. The Van Duzen flows into the Eel River, both of which are designated Wild and Scenic Rivers once known for their salmon runs....
Group blamed for Sand Dunes blaze will pay $695,000 A homeowners association faulted for a wildfire that raged through the Great Sand Dunes National Monument four years ago has agreed to pay the federal government $695,000. The National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service initially sought nearly $1 million from the Zapata Homeowners Association in a negligence lawsuit brought a year after the April 2000 fire. Investigators traced the blaze, which swept through 3,100 acres of private, state and federal land, to a burn pit operated by the Zapata subdivision, just south of the sand dunes and home to about 20 year- round residents....
Killing of grizzlies exceeds levels set by U.S. officials Grizzly bears continue to spill out of a core recovery area around Yellowstone National Park, pushing up the number of conflicts with people and, this year, causing more grizzlies to be killed than maximum levels set by federal managers. Although wildlife managers are concerned about the grizzly mortality, they also said it's a sign that the Yellowstone grizzly population is growing and expanding. "I think it's a symptom that the bucket's full," said John Emmerich of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department....
Discovery of rare plants could postpone land auction near Vegas The discovery of two rare plant species threatens to postpone a southern Nevada land auction in February and block plans to build thousands of homes in a swath of desert just north of Las Vegas, officials said. The Las Vegas City Council learned Wednesday that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants to conserve up to 12.5 square miles where a federal botanist reported finding Las Vegas buckwheat and Las Vegas bearpoppy during an August survey. Las Vegas bearpoppy is protected under state law as critically endangered. Las Vegas buckwheat is being proposed for protection under the federal Endangered Species Act....
Canyon Resources looks at cyanide-free gold mining The day after Montana voters rejected Canyon Resources Corp.'s effort to repeal Montana's ban on cyanide leach mining, the company's president announced that the company is looking at cyanide-free methods of opening a large gold mine near Lincoln. Dick De Voto, president of Canyon, told investors in a conference call Wednesday that while he was disappointed with the decisive loss of Initiative 147, the company needed to move on. There are other ways to extract gold and silver from ore, he said, and Canyon was going to look at them....
Forest Service Displays Historic Photos Twenty-five historic photos dating from 1906 to 1951 are currently displayed at the reception area of the Gila National Forest's Supervisor's Office. In commemoration of "The Centennial: 100 years of the Forest Service (1905-2005)," Gila employees Annette Gomez and Andrea Martinez selected 25 of the 100 Gila photos to create a collage of black and white images. "The photos are really interesting and enjoyable to see considering how long ago they were taken," said Gomez. "They not only give us an appreciation of the rich history of the Gila but the people and local communities that used the forest. Some things have changed but others, like building a fire line, use of horses and mules for riding and packing in wilderness and hunting have not."....
Is Dugway's expansion an alien concept? Alien hunters and nerve agent contamination may be prompting Dugway Proving Ground to seek to expand its size. Officials at the Army base are closed-mouthed about why they want to acquire a huge swath of adjacent land, mostly under control of the Bureau of Land Management. They have not even spelled out how much they want. But they confirmed that the gigantic military reservation filed documents seeking approval for expansion studies. The amount of land under discussion ranges from 55 square miles to 145 square miles — and if the nearby Dugway Mountains are included, that increases by 25 square miles. One motive for acquiring land may be to keep Dugway's expected anti-terrorism training secret at a time when the base is coming under telephoto scrutiny by alien hunters....
Poll: Most favor tying new construction to water Most Arizonans want rural development blocked unless there is a proven water supply, according to a new statewide poll. And few of those holding that position -- including those in the rural areas -- are swayed by the possibility that such a ban might slow growth. The survey, conducted last month, shows that 61 percent of those asked want legislation to prevent construction in areas where it has not yet been proven there is an adequate water supply to support that development. Only 32 percent were opposed, with the balance unsure....
New Mexico Mounted Police: Frontier lawmen By the turn of the century, in 1901, it had been more than a half-century since Americans had occupied Santa Fe and yet statehood for New Mexico seemed to remain out of reach. The perception in the eastern U.S. seemed to be that the territory was a lawless place, rife with crime and criminals. To some extent, that perception was accurate. To the east and south, the Texas Rangers had evolved into a functional statewide law enforcement agency and many outlaws of the day moved elsewhere. In Arizona, the Ranger force was created in 1901, and soon criminals there looked for greener pastures. Colorado, a state since 1876, was not friendly to the lawless element. Right in the middle was New Mexico, a large, sparsely populated region with a thin patchwork of law enforcement officials, a place where cattle rustling in particular was rampant....