NEWS ROUNDUP

Governors Seek Easing of Endangered Species Act Western governors gathered here Friday to plan with the Bush administration and members of Congress how to change the Endangered Species Act, the 31-year-old law they say has imposed costly hardships on the energy industry, developers, loggers and property owners. Battle lines over the Endangered Species Act appear to be forming around two issues. One is critical habitat, the protected area thought to be key to a species' survival and recovery. The other is at what point a small, distinct population of a species warrants listing for federal protection if the larger population elsewhere appears to be healthy....
Environmentalists lose on spending bill From an Alaska land swap to tours of a Georgia barrier island, business interests bested environmentalists in battles that shaped Congress' $388 billion spending bill. The legislation wasn't totally one-sided as it boosted expenditures for operating national parks and continued bans on oil drilling in national monuments and many offshore areas. Lawmakers also omitted business-sought provisions to help a huge Oregon logging project and to ease standards for some pesticide use....
Measure 37 takes effect, offers look into future The first clues to the future of Oregon's landscape under Measure 37 arrived at government offices Thursday in the form of appraisals, maps and land-use horror stories. Cities and counties reported only a trickle of claims on opening day for the voter-approved measure, which requires governments to waive planning rules that hurt a landowner's market value or pay for the financial blow. Most applications Thursday cited common gripes, such as regulations that stop people from splitting rural land or building houses on it. But several inquiries foreshadowed more dramatic requests looming in the weeks ahead....
New Law Extends Fees for Federal Land Use Fees for activities like picnicking, hiking and canoeing in national forests and other public lands that were due to expire will remain for at least another 10 years. The provision was included in a giant spending bill approved by Congress last month, angering advocacy groups for outdoor enthusiasts and lawmakers from the West, the area most affected. The fees, typically $5, are imposed for use of marked trails in wilderness areas, parking at scenic turnouts or access to federal recreation areas. Fees also are charged to enter national parks, or such activities as boat launches and using camp sites. The fees generate about $170 million a year for the Forest Service and the Interior Department, which use the money to maintain restrooms, collect trash and provide other amenities....
Farm Bureau Files Brief to Protect Landowner Rights Working to protect the rights of America’s farm and ranch landowners, the American Farm Bureau Federation today filed a friend-of-the-court brief in a property case before the U.S. Supreme Court. The case, Kelo v. City of New London, is an appeal by a homeowner in New London, Conn., of a Connecticut Supreme Court ruling. Also joining the brief were 18 state Farm Bureaus. The Farm Bureau brief contends that the state supreme court is incorrectly allowing the city to use eminent domain authority to take private property for the purpose of turning the property over to business developers constructing businesses generating higher taxes....
Arizona may deal water to Nevada Water-starved Nevada could take as much as 1.25 million acre-feet of Arizona's Colorado River allocation under a deal endorsed Thursday by the Central Arizona Project board. Arizona would guarantee the water to Nevada in return for $330 million and a pledge of political support for efforts to restore top-priority status to the Colorado River water that flows to Phoenix and Tucson through the CAP Canal. That support is worth more than the money to Arizona, which is trying to persuade California and the other Colorado River states to rewrite an old deal that left the CAP supply vulnerable to water shortages on the river. Without those changes, the CAP could lose much of its flow before other states had to cut back....
Editorial: Idaho needs to enforce limits on domestic wells The state doesn't even know how many people use domestic water wells — much less abuse them. Cracking down on renegade water users wouldn't be easy, and it probably wouldn't be cheap. But a group of Treasure Valley lawmakers raises a fair point: In the midst of a statewide water crisis, Idaho isn't doing much to enforce limits on domestic water wells. As the 2005 Legislature looks to avert a devastating water battle in southern Idaho, lawmakers also need to get hard numbers about what it would cost to go after domestic water violations, and what the benefits would be....
Area rancher took control of horses J. E. “Big” Johnson, who stood 6-foot-4, weighed 221 pounds, was a man of great physical strength. Legends of his feats are still remembered. Many of his old cowboy friends tell how he was able to hold and throw those “mean little ponies” with only his bare hands. One of the meanest horses Johnson came across at the Horseshoe Ranch was a horse named “Man Eater.” He’d fight a man, run over him, run him out of the corral, and everyone was afraid of him but Johnson. The first cowboy on “Man Eater” was told to ride a little hell out of his system.....