NEWS ROUNDUP

Ag undersecretary to review Sierra national forest decision Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey will review the U.S. Forest Service's management plan for 11.5 million acres of Sierra Nevada national forest, officials said Wednesday, as the debate continues over preventing catastrophic wildfires. The plan for 11 national forests is being challenged by both the logging industry and environmental groups, but Rey offered no indication of his concerns with the wide-ranging blueprint approved with minor revisions last month by Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth. Rey could uphold Blackwell's decision, uphold it while offering guidance, or remand the decision for changes, said Dan Jiron, a national Forest Service spokesman who talked with Rey and was acting as his spokesman. Rey's decision was formally made Tuesday, giving him until Jan. 28 to make any changes....
U.S. to Defend Foresters Sued by Developer After weighing the issue for several weeks, the government has decided to provide lawyers for three Forest Service employees sued by a San Diego developer who accuses them of conspiring to block a proposed luxury condominium project on Big Bear Lake. The case has been closely watched by government employee organizations and environmental activists because the developer, Irving Okovita, sued the three under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Okovita alleges that the government workers used a local environmental group that opposes the project as a "racketeering enterprise" to block the development. The workers and their advocates accuse Okovita of using the racketeering law to retaliate against them after a judge temporarily blocked the project....
Environmental groups appeal heli-skiing decision Environmentalists are appealing plans to allow helicopters to continue ferrying skiers high into the mountains of Bridger-Teton National Forest. The plans should do more to protect crucial big-game habitat and wolverine denning habitat and should not allow a net gain of flights into a wilderness study area, the groups say. Although the groups say the plans should be re-evaluated, they do not say that helicopter skiing should be ended altogether. The plans call for boosting helicopter skiing to historic levels....
Trespassing cows: Lonely cowboy UN victim Like the rangy sheriff from High Noon, Luther Wallace "Wally" Klump was on his own with the odds stacked cornstalk high against him. Klump, sent to the slammer April 21, 2003 celebrated his 70th birthday there. There was no sweet chorus of Happy Birthday sung by his grandchildren but only the convicts, some of whom took refuge in the Good Book when Klump found himself in their midst. The injustice of it was never lost on the convicts who presented the cattle rancher with a birthday card declaring, the "BLM sucks!" BLM is the acronym for Klump’s nemesis, the Bureau of Land Management....
Outdoor Channel a hit with hunters, fishermen While the titans of the media industry gathered last year at their annual soiree in Sun Valley, Idaho, Perry Massie, founder of cable television's Outdoor Channel, was panning for gold in Nome, Alaska. Massie and his channel, which targets hunting and fishing enthusiasts, are an anomaly in the TV industry. Although the number of cable channels has exploded during the past decade, nearly all are owned by a handful of media giants. Of the more than 60 commercial cable networks that reach more than 20 million homes, his is the only one not owned by a big media company or a wealthy entrepreneur. The channel offers no-frills programming — Massie himself hosts shows — but as of 2003 its subscriber base had rocketed to 23 million from 10 million over two years....
Coal may fuel nation's energy debate Some of the debate focuses on coal, which supplies 52 percent of U.S. electricity and is the country's most plentiful fuel source. Coal-fired power plants are bitterly opposed by environmentalists who say they contribute to global warming. But utilities are proposing to build 100 additional plants in the next few years. A new report by the National Commission of Energy Policy spells out a vision for the nation's energy future in which coal would play a role for years to come. Written by 16 business people, union officials, conservationists and academics, the report is being noticed by congressional lawmakers and could become the template that Congress uses to write energy bills after January....
Ford can't escape the crosshairs of green groups General Motors Corp. sells as many big, heavy Hummers as it can, and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group is adding gas-hungry Hemi V-8 engines to an ever-increasing number of vehicles. Honda Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Co.p. are adding bigger SUVs and pickup trucks with thirsty engines to their U.S. lineups. But it's Ford Motor Co., especially chief executive officer Bill Ford Jr., which remains singularly in the crosshairs of some environmental groups because of its lagging fuel economy....
Hank Williams fans to celebrate life of a legend Most look toward the future on New Year's Day. But on Saturday, hundreds of people will be in Montgomery, some who have traveled here from all over the world, to reflect on the Jan. 1, 1953, death of Hank Williams. Beginning tonight and continuing through the weekend, fans will use the anniversary of his death to celebrate the life of Williams, usually considered the greatest country musician of all time....
Cowboy recalls days of old When Charlie Henderson arrived in Payson in February 1948, he'd ride at least two hours on horseback from L.D. Anderson's ranch in Little Green Valley where he worked as a cowboy, to take his wife, Ruth, dancing at the Ox Bow Saloon. And he wasn't the only cattleman galloping miles through the Rim country to do the two-step. For Henderson, the old cowboy era is over. He misses the days when he went to town and every face was familiar. Henderson said he first came to Arizona in 1939 for the money. He started ranching in the early 1930s in Texas and New Mexico, but the Great Depression caused foreclosures and the money dried up. Seeking better wages, Henderson migrated West, and settled in Seligman, Ariz., where he herded 30,000 cattle and 1,200 horses. Henderson's way of life was chronicled in Mildred Walker Perner's book, "Life with Old-Time Cowboys." In the book, Henderson is pictured driving a wagon pulled by four Sorrell mules. On the journey, he was the cook at a time when cooks earned more than the cowboys, and nothing sent cowboys away faster than bad cooking....
First couple of rodeo to enter Hall of Fame Bud and Jimmie Munroe could be called the first couple of Texas rodeo. They first met as college competitors and later got married while on the pro rodeo tour. After competing for nearly two decades, they are still tirelessly working to improve the sport. For that accomplishment, the two residents of Valley Mills have been named as new members of the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame. Jimmie's roots go back to the beginning. Her maternal grandfather, Colonel Zack Miller, was one of the three Miller brothers who founded the famous 101 Wild West Show, a forerunner of rodeo as we know it today.....