NEWS ROUNDUP

Wolf poison raises alarms about its terrorism potential An odorless, colorless and tasteless poison used to kill coyotes and wolves in Western states is under review by the Department of Homeland Security for its potential as a terrorist weapon. The department's action is in response to a request by Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., a member of Congress' Select Committee on Homeland Security. He urged Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge in an October letter to act immediately to halt manufacture and use of the poison, known as Compound 1080. The poison, sodium fluoroacetate, has no antidote and is described by the Environmental Protection Agency as "super toxic." One teaspoon could kill as many as 100 adults, DeFazio told Ridge....
West's Wildfires Linked to Global Warming The raging Western wildfires of recent years have often been blamed on management practices that promoted dense, overpacked forests. But a new study indicates global warming may be the main culprit. Challenging the conventional wisdom that today's severe wildfires are unnatural and unprecedented, researchers have found that parts of the West experienced destructive blazes during a warm, drought-plagued period in the Middle Ages. The linkage suggests that as the climate warms, damaging wildfires will continue to strike the West. "If we are just at the beginning of dramatic warming … we can simply expect larger, more severe fires," said Grant A. Meyer, a co-author of the study, published in today's journal Nature....
Voters refuse to relax mining restriction Reaffirming a decision they made six years ago, Montana voters Tuesday refused to relax an environmental restriction on mining as they decided one of the hottest measures on the state ballot. Voters upheld a ban on use of cyanide technology in new gold and silver mining, a ban the industry said symbolized hostility toward mining at a time when Montana needs its well-paying jobs. Supporters of the ban, passed by voters in 1998, said it's a shield against catastrophic water pollution from cyanide. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, voters rejected Initiative 147 by 58 percent to 42 percent....
Montana voters approve methane ordinance Voters in Rosebud County in southeast Montana have overwhelmingly approved a measure that would give the Rosebud Conservation District a say in regulating wastewater produced in tapping coalbed methane. Conservationists hailed its passage in Tuesday's election as important to helping protect agriculture in the region. The county election administrator said 2,104 voters favored the land-use ordinance and 521 opposed it, with all precincts reporting....
U.S. Wants No Warming Proposal The Bush administration has been working for months to keep an upcoming eight-nation report from endorsing broad policies aimed at curbing global warming, according to domestic and foreign participants, despite the group's conclusion that Arctic latitudes are facing historic increases in temperature, glacial melting and abrupt weather changes. State Department representatives have argued that the group, which has spent four years examining Arctic climate fluctuations, lacks the evidence to prepare detailed policy proposals. But several participants in the negotiations, all of whom requested anonymity for fear of derailing the Nov. 24 report, said officials from the eight nations and six indigenous tribes involved in the effort had ample science on which to draft policy....
Bison co-op files for Chapter 11 The financially-troubled North American Bison Cooperative of New Rockford, N.D., and its marketing subsidiary, the North American Provisioner of Denver filed for Chapter 11 reorganization under bankruptcy laws Monday. The co-op lists $8.5 million in assets and $24.5 million in liabilities, including $19.8 million in unsecured claims. The co-op, started in 1994, today has about 330 rancher members and employs about 26 people, down from a high of 70....
Column: Of mad cows and junk science MAD-COW DISEASE is way down on my worry list, and for two reasons. One is the number of Americans made sick by eating meat from a mad cow: zero. Two is the number of American cows ever found to have the disease: one, and it came from Canada. But then I pick up the November issue of Vanity Fair and there's this fiery article about U.S. beef safety. Mad-cow disease, Eric Schlosser writes, "confronts the United States with perhaps its most serious and complex food-safety threat."....
The Jewish rancher in Big Bend who loved trail drives There was a Jewish rancher, however, who left his mark on the Big Bend. His name was Mayer Halff, and, while he was a merchant, he was also a cowboy, a trail driver, a ranch owner and a devout member of Congregation Beth El in San Antonio. At one time his San Antonio firm, M. Halff and Brother, owned more than a million acres of Texas land, including the Circle Dot ranch near Marathon, the Quien Sabe south of Midland, the JM along the Pecos River and the Crouch in Frio County. His heirs still operate the Crouch as a hunting ranch....
What's your dog's name? It is an impressive thing to watch a real cow dog work, to see how the dog "eyes" the stock and plans his move and gets those cattle where he wants them. It is not just in moving cattle that a dog helps out. Many were the times that old Bear would keep an upset cow at bay or led off while we tended to the newborn calf. I have a lot of memories of Bear as one of the best hands on the place and as a friend. It's enjoyable to talk about your best dog, just as we like to remember our favorite car, and quietly wish we had it back....