NEWS ROUNDUP

Poison plan irks rancher American Indian rancher Scott Cuny is upset that a federal-state project to poison prairie dogs on Buffalo Gap National Grassland is not happening in buffer zones across from Shannon County on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. State Game, Fish & Parks Department workers, under an agreement with the federal government, are poisoning prairie dogs in buffer zones on the national grassland next to private rangeland in Fall River, Custer, Pennington and Jackson counties....
Klamath chinook returns disappointing, disease and climate outlook not good This fall the returns of chinook salmon to Bogus Creek, and the Shasta, Scott and Salmon rivers — tributaries to the Klamath River in Northern California — have been disappointing. Estimates based on fish and carcass counts are showing less than a quarter of last year's returns, and less than 10 percent of the strong returns of 2000. The reasons are difficult to nail down, but the more researchers look, the more disease they are finding in young chinook migrating down the Klamath River. The fish that survive to reach the ocean are finding less food than they did a few years ago....
Ranchers, vintners agree to conserve California tiger salamander A family of ranchers and the Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates agreed to help the federal government to conserve the California tiger salamander, officials said. The agreement reached Friday by Darwin and Jeanette Sainz and Kendall-Jackson to implement measures on their vast properties in Los Alamos and Los Robles came one day after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalized habitat protections for the imperiled amphibian. Pete Downs, vice president of government affairs for Kendall-Jackson, said the agreement allows for "private landowner's need for an economic return from his or her land, and the conservation needs of the California tiger salamander."....
Western Icons Making Dens in the Eastern U.S. Coyotes, the subject of folklore and the scourge of ranchers, have finally made their way into the nation's capital. The coyote population has been expanding eastward since the middle of the last century. Native to California and most points in the West, the creatures made a two-pronged advance over the years — into New England through Canada and the Great Lakes region, and up through the South from Texas. They typically weigh between 30 and 35 pounds, although recent evidence points to the species growing larger as it has moved east. In Connecticut, researchers have caught males weighing close to 50 pounds. The difference in size from their Western cousins has caused some scientists to question whether coyotes are forming a new subspecies in the East. Cold weather might have driven natural selection to favor bigger, better-insulated animals. Genetic evidence suggests that, as they migrated, they have bred with dogs and wolves, which could explain the extra pounds....
Congress secures Mineral King cabins Congress secured 66 historic cabins in the Mineral King Valley as part of the $388 billion spending bill passed Saturday. "I think this is a victory not only for the cabin owners, but also for the public," said John Crowe of Visalia. The hotly-contested issue of allowing owners to keep the cabins came after a deal signed in 1978 allowed them to stay in the vacation cabins -- temporarily -- after Mineral King was incorporated into the national park....
BLM and Garco team up to delay gas leasing atop the Roan Plateau The Bureau of Land Management is crediting Garfield County with coming up with a plan to defer gas leasing on the top of the Roan Plateau until a specified amount of energy development occurs in surrounding lowlands. The federal agency is making that idea the cornerstone of its preferred draft alternative for managing the plateau top and base during the next 20 years. Jamie Connell, manager of the Glenwood Springs office of the BLM, said the county suggested deferring drilling while working with the BLM as a cooperating agency on the draft plan....
Editorial: Innovation needed for oil, gas drilling on Roan Every town in Garfield County asked the feds to not allow oil and gas drill rigs on the 3,500-foot plateau, which dominates the skyline north of the Colorado River near Rifle. Local residents fear rigs, and roads needed to service them, would mar vistas and harm wildlife. The worries are legitimate, given recent experiences in other parts of the West. Nationwide, the BLM is under tremendous pressure from the White House to permit oil and gas development even in fragile habitat and potential wilderness areas. Some 80 percent of land near the plateau is already available for energy production. Much of the Roan itself is already open to drilling, too....
Bush's Plan, Four New Senators Aid Exxon's, BP's Alaska Hopes Exxon Mobil Corp., BP Plc and ConocoPhillips are among companies poised to realize a decades- old dream of drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, thanks to Republican gains in this month's U.S. Senate elections. Four new Republican senators who favor drilling in the refuge will replace Democrats who opposed President George W. Bush's proposal when it was rejected by a four-vote margin in 2003. Senate Republicans said they plan to renew their bid to allow exploration of the refuge's coastal tundra next year....
If there someday is a will, a way to reclaim the Hetch Hetchy Valley has been devised When the valley was inundated in 1923 to provide water to San Francisco, it was assumed it would remain submerged forever. But two months after a Bay Area environmental organization announced a study supporting the restoration of long-drowned Hetch Hetchy Valley, the idea has gained a degree of momentum. A recent study by the group Environmental Defense indicates the valley could be resurrected, with water needs met by transferring water to Don Pedro Reservoir and building additional infrastructure. The study, which estimated it would cost between $500 million to $1.6 billion to expand water storage facilities below Hetch Hetchy, augments earlier analyses by UC Davis and the U. S. Department of Interior, both concluding that restoration was possible without threatening state water supplies. Earlier this month, the Schwarzenegger administration announced it was authorizing a state study to evaluate restoration scenarios....
Go with the flow How rare and wonderful. A helicopter airlift brought native fish to Fossil Creek last month. Soon, the creek will be undammed, carrying a full flow of water for the first time in almost a century. What's really rare and wonderful is the cooperation that led to restoring the creek. It starts with Arizona Public Service, which is voluntarily shutting down its two hydroelectric plants at Fossil Creek next spring. The utility will open the gate at its dam there, releasing the water that's now diverted to the plants....
Power Flush: A sedimental journey A great "flush" of the Colorado River began Sunday morning when four bypass tubes at the base of Glen Canyon Dam were slowly opened, shooting huge jets of water about 150 feet out into the river. The bypass tubes will remain open until 4 p.m. Wednesday and at its peak at 4 p.m. today, the flow will rush 41,000 cubic feet of water per second into the river. The goal is to help native fish species, such as the humpback chub, regain a toehold in the river that has been lost over time to non-native species, such as trout, and to restore beaches that have been washed away....
Column: Cities, farms can share Water shortages over the past three summers have reminded Coloradans that we live in the Great American Desert. In response, the state legislature has devoted much of its time to addressing Colorado's water needs. Unfortunately, it has approached the task of finding a solution as a zero-sum game, a fight between agricultural interests and the rapidly growing (and ever thirstier) cities and suburbs of the Front Range. Since agricultural use accounts for some 90 percent of Colorado's water, most solutions propose to take agricultural lands out of production, temporarily or permanently, and divert water resources to municipal use....
On The Edge Of Common Sense: Never underestimate the power of surprise Although Lee was generally well accepted by the Indian nation, he did run up against the medicine man on occasion. The medicine man, hereinafter called, "He Who Teaches Lesson to Cocky Paleface," was particularly amused the first time he saw Lee castrate a horse. Lee's feelings were hurt. He felt insulted. He had envisioned himself as a gifted medical missionary bringing progress to the primitive community. "He Who ... " challenged Lee to a contest to determine who could castrate a horse more quickly. Lee accepted. Two unbroken 3-year-old stallions were roped from the wild bunch. One was led to "He Who ... " and one to Dr. Lee....