NEWS ROUNDUP

Ranchers take aim at wolf reintroduction plan Eastern Oregon ranchers complained Friday that a rule to manage the reintroduction of wolves into Oregon places too many restrictions on when ranchers can kill wolves that harm livestock. "You really need to say that we have the right to protect our livestock anytime, anyplace," said Mack Birkmaier, a rancher from the Joseph area. Ranchers, however, said the plan is overly restrictive because it requires that ranchers actually observe a wolf attacking livestock before it could be killed. La Grande-area rancher Bob Beck said it is unrealistic to require that wolves "have to be attacking my stock right before my eyes before I can kill them." "Clearly, your plan seeks to control my behavior in the face of an invasion of large predators into my grazing lands," he said. "I hope you will see that this plan does not give me tools or options to deal with wolves that you insist are coming."....
Animal rights group wants to overturn law that would allow mustang auctioning A coalition of animal rights groups wants to overturn a law signed Wednesday by President Bush that seems to pave the way for the slaughter of thousands of wild horses. Filmmaker Ginger Kathrens of Colorado Springs, co-founder of the Wild Horse and Burro Freedom Alliance, said the coalition in January will urge lawmakers to find a way to overturn an provision in the 2005 budget bill that requires the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to auction off unadoptable or older mustangs. Kathrens said the wild horse alliance, which she said represents 8 million animal lovers, is looking at two strategies: pushing for a long-discussed law that outlaws the slaughter of any horse for commercial purposes, or finding a way to pass follow-up legislation that negates the Burns provision....
Split-estate bill's backers seek broad support Two new amendments to a split-estates bill would reduce the notice requirement for mining activity and change the way the bill addresses how mining might affect land use. The Joint Interim Judiciary Committee unanimously adopted the two amendments Thursday, saying the changes were necessary to ensure the broadest base of support for the bill. Lawmakers have struggled to find a balance on split estates between landowners and those who own the rights to mineral resources underneath the land....
Editorial: Old West icon Wild horses running free on the vast open lands of the West symbolize to many Americans their own independent, self-reliant spirit. Who doesn't love the image of sleek, healthy horses, undomesticated and unfettered? But the practical reality of wild-horse herds is that there are more of them than the public land they live on - and American taxpayers - can support. The Bureau of Land Management's wild-horse adoption program has not been as successful as the agency and animal-rights groups had hoped, due to neglect by the agency and a lack of interest among potential buyers. Ranchers whose cattle must compete for forage with the non-native equines see them more as a pest than a romantic icon. As a result, 14,000 horses are living in poor conditions in BLM corrals, 700 of them in Utah, instead of roaming - and reproducing - with their 37,000 or so luckier cousins that are still free in 10 Western states. That is not protection; it is abuse....
Colorado's snowpack up, easing drought fears Every river basin in Colorado has risen above the 30-year average when it comes to snowpack and experts say the state appears to be bouncing back from a five-year drought. "I think it is too early to say the drought is over. But now I would bet against it becoming a 10- or 20-year drought," federal climatologist Klaus Wolter said today after a snowstorm pounded northern Colorado....
Rey: Bush administration wants increased thinning in national forests The Bush administration plans to double efforts to thin fire-prone Western forests and will emphasize the cutting of trees that can be sold to help pay for the work, Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey said. Along with increased thinning, the administration wants to reform the Endangered Species Act, streamline national forest management and give states more power in managing roadless areas, said Rey, who directs the nation's forest policy. But Rey, speaking at the annual meeting of the Intermountain Forest Association, did not offer any details on exactly what type of Endangered Species Act reforms the president would support....
"No surprises" endangered-species plan revived The Bush administration yesterday said it will allow developers to complete construction and other projects even after belated discoveries that the work could endanger protected species. The new rules from the Interior Department's Fish and Wildlife Service restore a Clinton-era initiative known as "no surprises." It will allow agencies to give blanket assurances to home builders, timber and mining companies and other developers that they won't have unforeseen requirements to protect rare species once a project has begun. A federal judge had blocked the rules in June, telling the government it needed to hear more ideas from the public....

Blame ESPN for this shortened version. They didn't show the 8th round of the NFR until midnight...