NEWS ROUNDUP

Gallatin to explain plan for grizzly bear habitat The Gallatin National Forest will host an open house meeting in Bozeman next week to discuss how officials plan to manage grizzly bear habitat in and around Yellowstone National Park. The Gallatin and five other forests recently released plans that outline where grizzly habitat -- generally places where roads and other developments are kept to a minimum -- gets top priority. Those places -- known collectively as the "primary conservation area" -- cover 5.9 million acres in parts of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho; 3.4 million acres are in national forests and the rest are in national parks....
More Grizzlies With Cubs in Yellowstone The number of grizzly bears with cubs in the Yellowstone area appears to be rebounding, which could bolster efforts to remove the animals from the endangered species list, biologists said Friday. A preliminary tally by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team showed 48 females with cubs, up from last year's count of 38. The increase likely reflects the natural reproductive cycle, said Mark Haroldson, a biologist with the study team. Female grizzlies typically reproduce only once every three years....
Two bears killed in park Two grizzly bears have been killed in Yellowstone National Park this week. One was run over by a truck, a vehicle that smashed into the bear hard enough to bend the drive shaft of the Chevrolet Suburban. The second death came from a lethal injection administered to a young female bear that had been raiding campsites....
Raft trip rider feared dead A 48-year-old man disappeared from a Colorado River raft trip Wednesday night, prompting an extensive search-and-rescue effort, days after another man died in a fall during a rafting excursion. According to Grand Canyon National Park reports, a Washington man, whose name was not released, was counted as missing by Tour West, Inc., a commercial river company based in Orem, Utah. Someone from the trip called the Park Service via satellite phone at 12:15 a.m. Thursday morning. Other raft trip members had heard him calling for help. They searched for about two hours but without success, park service officials said....
Do eagles still need protection? By most accounts, the bald eagle has been saved from extinction. Good news, right? That's what fans of America's most noble symbol have been wondering since the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last month made noises about removing it from the Endangered Species List....
Scientists ready to have a blast near Cedarville Researchers from Stanford University will use a carefully timed set of explosions next week to study what scientists call the "extension paradox" that has been found in northern Nevada. Scientists and graduate students from the university will set off six simultaneous explosions along a line stretching from north-central Nevada to the Modoc National Forest near Cedarville....
Biscuit salvage sale fails to draw bids The Siskiyou National Forest failed to get any bids on the latest timber sale from the 2002 Biscuit Fire, where a federal appeals court has blocked logging in old growth forest reserves. The lack of bids at the Wednesday oral auction reflects the wariness of the timber industry over the prospects of more legal delays and the plummeting value of the trees, after they have been left to rot on the stump for nearly two years, said Dave Schott, executive vice president of the Southern Oregon Timber Industries Association....
Frances Destroys Sea Turtle Nests Hurricane Frances destroyed thousands of sea turtle nests as the storm tore through their most important beaches in the middle of the nesting season, biologists said. The hurricane may have destroyed 40 percent to 60 percent of the loggerhead and green sea turtle nests made in 2004, a year that had already seen a sharp decline in turtle nesting, said Robbin Trindell, biological administrator for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission....
Ruling shows complexity of land claim cases The Senecas' claim to the Niagara River islands was based on the tribe's belief that their ancestors improperly ceded the land to the state in 1815 for $1,000 and an annual payment of $500. The Senecas contended that the tribe gained title to the islands under the Treaty of Canandaigua of 1794 and that since the 1815 purchase of the land was never approved by Congress, the sale was in violation of the federal Non-Intercourse Act and is void. That, believe it or not, is the simple explanation of the legal argument in the case. As with virtually all land claim litigation, the three-judge federal panel in the Seneca case had to conduct a long and complicated analysis of dealings between the Senecas and the state of New York and the United States of America, and between the Senecas and colonial Americans before that....
The AC of Tomorrow? Tapping Deep Water for Cooling To anyone who's taken a dip in Lake Ontario, it seems like a no-brainer: Use the lake's icy waters to keep nearby cities cool. Last month Toronto did just that, announcing that its 170-million-dollar (U.S.) deep-lake water cooling system, the largest of its kind, was up and running. Also known as "lake-source cooling" or "deep-source cooling," the process uses water pumped from the frigid depths of adjacent lakes or oceans to cool municipal buildings....
Bad land stewards would forfeit lease preference in DNRC plan Farmers and ranchers renting state land would lose their automatic preference for renewing those leases if they mistreat the land, under a proposal from the Martz administration. The recommended change in state Land Board regulations, which will be submitted to board members at their next meeting Sept. 20, is in response to a court ruling that found an absolute preference for lessees is unconstitutional. The rules developed by the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation still would give leaseholders a built-in advantage over competitive bidders when their leases come up for renewal. Only in cases where a lessee has failed to abide by conditions of his rental agreement would that preference be lost....
America's best beef? Niman is the most famous of a new breed of farmer, a purveyor of what might be called boutique food. They're small-scale producers selling high-margin products. To succeed, they turn the logic of industrial farming on its head. Instead of adapting mass production to agriculture, boutique food relies on old-fashioned farming: letting animals graze in grassy pastures, or feeding them all-natural combinations of grain. But if the husbandry techniques are 19th century, the marketing is ultra-modern....
Ranchers breed horses for work Harrell, a cattle rancher, uses his horses for work. That's becoming atypical of horse owners, who increasingly use their horses for trail riding, showing and competitions. Horse breeders and industry observers say the U.S. equine business is moving away from labor and toward recreation. The days of cowboys on the range who made horses an American icon are no longer an accurate portrayal of the role horses play in today's culture....
Japan Says Resolution to U.S. Mad Cow Issue Won't Come `Soon' Japan and the U.S. are unlikely to quickly resolve differences over Japan's ban on U.S. beef imports, Japan's health minister said, amid renewed demands the U.S. apply Japanese testing standards for mad cow disease. ``I don't think any conclusions will be made so soon,'' Health Minister Chikara Sakaguchi said at a Tokyo press conference. The U.S. has rejected Japan's demand that all cattle be tested, arguing that current tests can't reliably detect the disease in animals younger than 30 months, which comprise the majority of cattle slaughtered each year....
Fräuleins, heifers: German TV ropes cowgirl show An eastern Colorado ranch is the setting for a German reality show featuring women learning how to be cowgirls. Shooting at the Colorado Cattle Co. and Guest Ranch began Tuesday as the women, ranging in age from 20 to 61, learn how to rope, feed livestock, mend fences and do other ranch duties. More than 1,000 women were interviewed for the show and the experience at the working ranch near the Pawnee Buttes. The goal is to have all the skills down within 21 days....
Ride 'em, vaquero! Hispanics are America's first vaqueros (cowboys), and a growing number of South Floridians are reclaiming this aspect of their cultural heritage. With its western theme, rodeo grounds and acres of farm land, the town of Davie just seems like the natural choice for the South Florida vaqueros. The recent influx of Argentines, Colombians, Brazilians and Venezuelans, has made the popularity of the rodeo sport surge even more, said Bonnie Stafiej, Davie's special events director. These are countries where cowboy culture is respected, and herding cattle is a way of living....
Hank the cowdog is Brought to life Erickson, a former cowboy and ranch manager, shows readers life on a ranch in the West Texas Panhandle through the eyes of Hank the Cowdog. The books which have sold almost 3 million copies were a Book-of-the Month club selection, and the winner of the 1993 Audie for Outstanding Children's Series from the Audio Publisher's Association. "I think those 'Hank' books are books I wish I had in the fourth grade," he said. "I know kids are safe when they're reading my stories."....
Fond memories of Mr. Lucky's Strutting into Lucky's, as the regulars called it, on a raucous Saturday night brought an assault on the senses. The bar, which owner and star performer J. David Sloan closed due to financial concerns and dwindling crowds, was the last big, loud, smelly, smoky, honest-to-goodness Western saloon in town. A mecca for dancing, drinking and meeting the opposite sex in its '70s and '80s heyday, Lucky's also was the place to take out-of-town visitors wanting to go to "a real cowboy bar."....
Mighty Missouri Pig Fest begins Thursday The sweet smell of barbecue will once again fill the air in Leadington with the Second Annual Mighty Missouri Pig Fest featuring the "Scism Sizzle." The annual event is scheduled to kick off on Thursday and will run through Saturday on the grounds of Sam Scism Ford. The Scism Sizzle is sanctioned by Memphis In May Inc. The Grand Champion of the event will earn an invitation to compete in the Memphis In May International Festival along with a check worth $2,500. Participants will be judged in the categories of ribs, pork shoulder and whole hog. The competition is an open contest and teams do not have to be sanctioned by Memphis In May Inc. to compete....
Having Sex Until the Cows Come Home What's a big cud-chewing Scottish cow have to do with preserving public decency? According to the mayor of a small Dutch town, allowing Highland heifers to graze in a nearby nature reserve will help deter couples who have scandalized the upright citizens of Spaarnwoude with their open-air sex antics. Mayor Ellen van Hoogdalem-Arkema said the brazen behavior of amorous outdoor enthusiasts has angered and embarrassed people walking their dogs in the reserve or taking their grandchildren for a stroll....

DIAMOND BAR CATTLE COMPANY

Email From Al Schneberger

Notice....Kit Laney has a hearing on the 15th of September before Judge Conway in Albuquerque. This will be a pleading not expected to last more than 15 minutes. There will be a hearing scheduled for a later date. There's probably nothing that can be accomplished by the friends of the Laneys attending.

However, the following day Sept. 16th, there will be a hearing before Judge Kevin Swayze in Reserve at 10am in the Catron Co. Courthouse. This is the State of New Mexico v. Neddy Archueta. It involves the charge that Kit and Sherry made against the contractor that he was gathering cattle for which he had no bill-of-sale nor was he the owner of the brand. The other side has come in with a motion to dismiss at this pre-trial hearing. This could be very interesting and Kit may get a chance to present his position. It would be beneficial to have the courtroom full. Attend if you can.

--Al

Interior Is Ruled at Fault Again on Indian Files A federal judge ruled yesterday that the Interior Department continues to allow the destruction and damage of crucial records that track the amount of money the government owes Native Americans for Indian lands it has managed for more than a century. U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth said Interior employees have come forward with new and credible evidence that the agency allowed at least 350 boxes of records to be ruined by mold in an agency office in New Mexico and left an untold number of boxes to be damaged under a leaking roof. Lamberth said Interior appears to have deliberately failed to report the damage, despite being under a court order to report on the safety of court records to a special master. In this mammoth eight-year-old suit, 500,000 Indians assert that the agency, essentially the keeper of their inheritance, has failed to keep accurate records of an estimated $10 billion in gas, oil and other leases on lands the government has managed since 1871....

NEWS ROUNDUP

N.M. LAWMAKERS URGE FOREST SERVICE TO MOVE PAST LANEY CASE With a final resolution to the Kit Laney case in sight, U.S. Senator Pete Domenici and Congressman Steve Pearce today urged the U.S. Forest Service to position itself toward rebuilding a working and cooperative relationship with New Mexico livestock producers. Domenici and Pearce today said the Forest Service should advocate leniency for Laney as this case is resolved as a means of rebuilding a strong relationship with livestock producers throughout the state who have grazing permits on federal forest lands....
Blackfoot conservation deal completed Blackfoot Valley landowners working with The Nature Conservancy have completed a $32 million effort to preserve ranching, forestry, wildlife and public access on 42,927 acres. Previously owned by Plum Creek Timber Co., the upper Blackfoot Valley land will now be resold - mostly to adjoining ranches, all with conservation agreements....
Wolf who led state debate suspected of killing sheep Remember B45? The gray wolf in 1999 made Oregon confront a future with wolves when she became the first of her species spotted in the state for as long as most could remember. She was captured a month later and shipped back to Idaho but vanished as quickly as she had caught Oregon's attention. Authorities now scratch their heads. Captured and released near the Idaho-Oregon line a few weeks ago, the aging wolf is gray around the muzzle but so healthy she appeared to have given birth to a litter of pups this year....
Wolf group unable to reach consensus Ben Boswell, a county commissioner from Eastern Oregon, calls an effort to establish and manage wolves in Oregon a “fool’s errand.” Boswell was one of two people on a 14-member advisory group to reject a draft plan for managing wolves in Oregon. The group — representing interests from livestock producers to hunters to conservationists — spent 11 months creating the plan. On Thursday, the advisory group presented the plan to the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission....
'Most wanted' wildlife list released Hoping to raise the profile of certain endangered species ahead of an international conference, the World Wildlife Fund on Thursday issued an updated list of wildlife most often bought, sold, smuggled, killed or captured for the global marketplace.
The Swiss-based group urged governments to agree to restrict trade in obscure species, which have a high market value as culinary delicacies, aphrodisiacs or pets....
Detention site may be named landmark A National Park Service study recommends that the World War II Japanese-American internment camp near here be considered for National Historical Landmark designation. The Heart Mountain Relocation Center site, located west of Powell, was one of nine properties recommended for historic landmark designation out of the 37 sites nationwide that were examined. The study focused on sites associated with Japanese-American exclusion, relocation and detention and with Japanese-American service in the U.S. military during World War II....
40 and frail: Park found woefully underfunded As its 40th birthday approaches this weekend, Canyonlands National Park's health is frail — with a $2 million annual operations shortfall, a $36 million maintenance backlog, three of every five historic structures there deteriorating, an ongoing invasion by nonnative species, and threats looming from nearby development. That's according to a yearlong study released Thursday by the private National Parks Conservation Association....
Ousted Chief Denies Defiance Ousted U.S. Park Police chief Teresa C. Chambers took the witness stand yesterday in her bid to reclaim the job and testified that she would not knowingly defy a superior. During about two hours of questioning by her attorney, Mick Harrison, Chambers sought to portray herself as a forceful advocate for the needs of the Park Police, but not so driven that she would disobey direct orders....
Pepper-spraying highlights loss of public oversight over park July’s pepper-spraying of a teenaged brother and sister by two Point Reyes National Seashore rangers has resurrected public unhappiness about the loss of citizen oversight of the local Park Service. Until October 2002, a Citizens Advisory Commission to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and Point Reyes National Seashore helped establish policies in the two federal parks. Nominated by counties near the parks and confirmed by the Secretary of the Interior, the commissioners played a major role in reviewing park problems and making recommendations to the Park Service....
CBM production remains flat Despite a Bureau of Land Management mandate to permit 3,000-wells per year, the coal-bed methane gas industry here still struggles to rise again to its 2002 high-water production mark of 1 billion cubic feet of gas (bcf) per day. That worries producers because it sends a signal to investors that the play may be dwindling and not worth further investment....
Seven depart Buffalo BLM office Pressure to permit an annual minimum of 3,000 coal-bed methane gas wells before Oct. 1 is at least partly to blame for the sudden turnover of key employees at the Bureau of Land Management's Buffalo Field Office, Assistant Field Manager Richard Zander said. However, Buffalo Field Office Manager Dennis Stenger downplayed the role of administrative pressure to issue permits as a reason for the recent departures of seven specialists, including his own....
Ranch dressing It's time to shake the scorpions out of the boots, air out the chaps and dust off the Stetson: Saturday is Empire Ranch's annual open house - and we're all invited. Empire Ranch, founded in 1876 as a cattle operation, is owned these days by the citizens of the U.S. of A., taken care of by the Bureau of Land Management, which calls it Las Cienegas National Conservation Area. The 73,000-acre spread, in addition to being a national historic landmark, is a working cattle ranch....
Feds end Rinconada land dispute Junkyard owner Casey Sánchez awoke Wednesday morning with about 20 federal agents waiting for him outside. After two decades of waiting for Sánchez to remove tons of rusted cars and other refuse from about nine acres of public land along N.M. 68, Bureau of Land Management rangers and U.S. Marshals knocked on his door and led him outside at gunpoint and began removing his junk....
Land exchange protests similar The San Carlos Apache Tribe and Western Mining Action Project are claiming the land exchange between the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Phelps Dodge (PD) does not benefit the public interest and should not take place. Both parties have filed protests to the BLM's Record of Decision (ROD) to approve the land exchange with PD. The land exchange has been called crucial to the development of the Dos Pobres/ San Juan mine eight miles north of Safford....
Environmental Heroes Honored The ChevronTexaco Conservation Awards, founded by the late outdoors humorist and author Ed Zern, today celebrated its 50th anniversary by honoring six environmental heroes, including the founder of an international program to protect primates, marine scientists who helped find treatments for cancer and a biologist who unraveled the mystery of breeding endangered rhinos in captivity....
Editorial: Rescue for a River A landmark court decision promises to bring new life to one of California's major rivers, the San Joaquin, which rises in the High Sierra near Mammoth Lakes and gives its name to the farm-rich San Joaquin Valley. The ruling also could mean better water quality for Southern California residents. The decision of U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton declares that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation illegally takes so much water from the 350-mile-long San Joaquin each year that the river dries up in two major stretches, destroying what once was "one of the largest Chinook [salmon] runs anywhere on the Pacific Coast." That, it said, violates a 1937 state law requiring dam operators to allow enough downstream flow to maintain existing fisheries....
New U.S. salmon plan would keep dams intact By spending $6 billion over 10 years to help young salmon safely pass fish-killing hydroelectric dams, the government can comply with Endangered Species Act protections for the fish on the Snake and Columbia rivers, federal fisheries managers said of their new plan yesterday. The plan, produced under the order of a federal judge in Portland, seeks to dispel any further moves to punch through four dams on the Snake River to allow the river to flow more naturally....
Powell's declining levels stir new worry Operators of Navajo Generating Station near Page want to drill five 54-inch-diameter tunnels deep into the sandstone walls of Lake Powell before declining water levels at the drought-stricken reservoir force the power plant to shut down. The plant is in no immediate danger, but its loss would put a dent in the regional power supply, rob the Central Arizona Project of inexpensive electricity needed to keep water flowing to Phoenix and Tucson and cost the local economy hundreds of millions of dollars....
Column: The good earth There are two opposing strategies for recruiting environmentalists: consternation and elation. Sacred Planet takes the road less traveled, through snowy peaks beneath starry skies. Except for a brief glimpse at woodlands clearcut into wasteland and recurring images of urban commuters magnified into frenzy by time-lapse photography, Jon Long's IMAX experience is a gorgeous reminder of what is being lost. Robert Redford, a trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council, provides spare narration to accompany sequences in undeveloped areas of Malaysia, the American Southwest,....

'Unsung species' ignored on endangered list

The global extinction crisis ignores thousands of affiliate species that are also at risk of being wiped out, making the list of endangered species much larger and more serious than originally thought, says a study produced in part at the University of Alberta.

"What we found is that you aren't just necessarily wiping out just one single species," said Dr. Heather Proctor of the U of A's Department of Biological Sciences. "We're also allowing all these unsung species to be wiped out as well."

Proctor and a research team led by Lian Pin Koh of the National University of Singapore and Robert Dunn from the University of Tennessee, calculated the expected levels of co-extinction across a diverse selection of host and associate systems. Their research is published in the current edition of the journal, Science.

The team first compiled a list of 12,200 plants and animals currently listed as threatened or endangered. They then looked at the diverse selection of insects, fungi and other organisms that are uniquely adapted to the threatened host. The researchers found that at least 200 affiliate species already have historically been lost through co-extinction and that a further 6,300 should be classified as 'co-endangered'....

Thanks to Science Blog for the link.

BLM orders Rinconada-area man off land

RINCONADA, N.M. (AP) - The US Bureau of Land Management has evicted a northern New Mexico man from land used by his family for nearly 40 years.

The BLM says it has started the process to restore the land used by Joe Sanchez’s family. The agency says the federal land is adjacent to land owned by the family.

The deadline for Sanchez’s son, Casey Sanchez, to be off the property north of Espanola was Tuesday. The property had been at the center of a legal battle for decades.

Casey Sanchez says his family was given 477 acres, including the nine he’s being evicted from, through the Embudo Land Grant. The federal government has not recognized the claim.

The U-S attorney’s office accused Sanchez last year of trespassing on federal property.

NEWS ROUNDUP

Theft of Petroglyphs Nets Prison Terms Two men convicted of stealing ancient American Indian rock etchings from a national forest were sentenced Wednesday to short prison terms. Defense lawyers said they will appeal because the men did not know -- and federal prosecutors failed to prove -- the petroglyphs were valuable archaeological artifacts....
Forest dams lead to lawsuit A group led by a man who once managed the Emigrant Wilderness is now suing the Forest Service over a decision to maintain rock-and-mortar check dams within the protected borders of the area. High Sierra Hikers Association and Wilderness Watch, environmental groups concerned with the protection of federal wilderness, have filed suit against the U.S. Forest Service, Regional Forester Jack Blackwell and Stanislaus National Forest Supervisor Tom Quinn in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, which is in San Francisco....
Forest Guardians appeal decision The Forest Guardians say a “numbers game” with cattle is running out the clock for endangered species in the Lincoln National Forest and in the Sacramento Mountains of Otero County. “It’s time to stop playing a numbers game and allow this degraded landscape to heal by stopping cattle grazing entirely,” said Billy Stern, the organization’s grazing program coordinator. The Forest Guardians on Tuesday appealed a U.S. Forest Service decision to allow continued grazing on the Lincoln’s Sacramento and Dry Canyon allotments....
Roadless-rule public comment period extended The Forest Service Wednesday extended its public comment period 60 additional days for a proposed rule on protecting roadless values in national forests and grasslands based on several requests from the public. The original comment period was slated to end Sept. 14; comments must now be received in writing by Nov. 15....
County sides with enviros in roadless debate Pitkin County commissioners decided yesterday to wade into the fight over roadless areas in national forests by opposing changes proposed by the Bush administration. Commissioners Dorothea Farris, Shellie Roy and Jack Hatfield directed their staff to send a letter to the U.S. Forest Service expressing support for former President Bill Clinton's Roadless Rule, which would prohibit most road construction and timber harvesting on 58.5 million acres nationwide....
Man Pleads No Contest to Starting Wildfire A man has pleaded no contest to a federal misdemeanor for starting a fire in the Mendocino National Forest a year ago that burned 6,058 acres and cost $33 million to suppress. Jason Hoskey, 25, entered the plea Tuesday to a charge of leaving a fire unattended and unextinguished....
Draft management plan would allow ranchers to kill wolves A task force creating a plan to manage gray wolves that stray into Oregon is recommending that the predators be allowed to establish in the state, but that ranchers be allowed to shoot them on sight if they attack livestock on private land. After more than a year of sometimes contentious meetings, the panel is to present its first draft to the state Fish and Wildlife Commission at a special meeting Thursday in Salem....
Column: Gale Norton Cries Wolf Again It just goes to show how divisive the issue of reintroduction has been that the elk foundation, a self-proclaimed conservation group, could not give up the conventional wisdom that hunters and wolves are natural enemies. In my experience, most hunters express a begrudging respect, if not awe, for wolves, not to mention mountain lions, coyotes, bears and other competitors. Predators make deer, elk and antelope smarter, goes their logic, and that increases the reward of a successful hunt. Still, most would agree that while lost hunting opportunities are one thing, lost property in the form of livestock is more serious. I celebrate efforts by the nonprofit Defenders of Wildlife and other environmentalists to reimburse ranchers who lose livestock to wolves. When such alternatives are available, it's tough to see a pack slaughtered, but the government's ability to kill "problem" wolves was the bargaining chip for their experimental return....
West Nile hits already troubled sage grouse The West Nile virus is emerging as a formidable threat to the sage grouse, an increasingly rare native bird that inhabits parts of western South Dakota and is fast disappearing across the entire American West. Field observations and laboratory tests in Wyoming and Montana have confirmed that sage grouse are especially susceptible to West Nile, showing limited, if any, resistance to the disease so far....
State set to reel in several fishing sites Saltwater anglers might be feeling like an endangered species with the announcement that the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) is restarting the process of implementing a statewide system of marine protected areas (MPAs). The MPAs, which would protect marine habitat and biological diversity in the state's ocean waters threatened by coastal development, water pollution, and other human activities, were mandated by the state legislature in the Marine Life Protection Act of 1999. But implementation of the act was shelved earlier this year because of the state's budget woes....
Groups file lawsuit notice over Bonneville cutthroat Four environmental groups said Wednesday they will file suit over a decision not to list the Bonneville cutthroat trout under the Endangered Species Act. The Biodiversity Legal Foundation filed in 1998 a request to list the subspecies as threatened. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced its decision not to list in October 2001....
Bison Range costs debated Officials at the first of two informational meetings in western Montana on a federal-tribal funding agreement for the National Bison Range couldn't answer the first question that popped up Tuesday night. How much more will it cost taxpayers if tribal government takes over about half the jobs at the federal facility in Moiese? The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it believes it will cost taxpayers more, perhaps substantially more, to run the Flathead Reservation portion of the refuge system by sharing control with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. Tribal officials, however, said they were unaware of any increased costs due to shared management....
Ex-Chief Didn't Heed Superiors, Witness Says A federal official behind the firing of U.S. Park Police Chief Teresa C. Chambers testified yesterday that the chief's troubles began months before she went public with concerns about staffing and money. Donald Murphy, deputy director of the National Park Service, told an administrative law judge that Chambers had flouted agency protocols and failed to follow orders from superiors before the comments that led to her suspension in December. Chambers never was permitted to return to work and was fired in July....
Owners end negotiations to sell Hacienda to NPS The owners of the Hacienda -- the first hotel-casino U.S. 93 travelers from Arizona see after they cross Hoover Dam -- have ended negotiations to sell the property to the National Park Service. The Hacienda's owners, all executives of the Mandalay Resort Group, began formal talks with representatives of Lake Mead National Recreation Area last month after Secretary of Interior Gale Norton green-lighted spending $20 million for the purchase and restoration of the property south of Boulder City....
Yellowstone snowmobile rule offered Up to 720 snowmobiles will be allowed into Yellowstone National Park every day this winter under a Bush administration proposal that attempts to settle a fractious debate over winter recreation in the landmark area. Park Service officials said the plan, announced Tuesday, would permit roughly the historic average of snowmobiles to enter the park for two or three winters until a permanent plan can be developed. The new rules specify that snowmobilers must ride only new, cleaner machines on guided tours....
2 Utahn men indicted in slayings of horses Two Utah men were indicted Wednesday for allegedly killing wild horses on federal land in 2002. Fred Eugene Woods, 47, and Russell Weston Jones, 29, both of Enterprise, were indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly shooting and killing the free-roaming horses on Bureau of Land Management property in Iron County. The indictment includes one count of injuring property of the United States that exceeds a value of $1,000, a felony, and nine counts of causing the death of a wild free-roaming horse, a misdemeanor....
Nevada files suit over nuke railroad State officials filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Energy Department over its plan to ship radioactive waste across the state to a planned nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain. The case, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, claims the government did not complete required environmental studies before picking a 319-mile rail route dubbed the “Caliente Corridor.”....
On the range, gas trumps wildlife Wednesday, in the biggest sale of its kind in Utah history, the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) offered at auction oil- and gas-exploration leases on more than 360,000 acres of rugged back country - including UT-201, a 120-acre chunk of Green River flood plain that abuts Sand Wash, and another 16,000 acres a few miles away. Not long ago such remote regions seemed on track to one day become officially protected wilderness areas. Now they're part of a huge debate over the proper use of public lands in the United States. At issue: When does energy security trump wilderness protection?....
Wildlife thirst aid challenged As he gazes into a stagnant cistern notched into the Orocopia Mountains east of Indio, Leon Lesicka, a hunter and water sources coordinator for Desert Wildlife Unlimited, points out quail bobbing nearby and bighorn sheep droppings. He sees the guzzler, an artificial watering hole that his group installed, as reparation for concrete-lined canals and freeways. Next to Lesicka stands Elden Hughes, chairman of the Sierra Club's desert committee, who says guzzlers upset an already traumatized ecosystem. He says they should be used only in places where animals might otherwise wander into irrigation channels and across highways in search of water. "Most of the guzzlers are there to increase herds for hunting," he says. "It is game farming."....
Activists Warn Of Plan To Build Offshore Gas Terminal Greenpeace warned Tuesday that plans to build liquified natural gas terminals along Mexico's northern Pacific coast threatened rare birds, plants and gray whales. The environmental group sent a 164-foot vessel around Mexico's Coronado Islands to protest ChevronTexaco Corp.'s plans to build a $650 million offshore terminal. Several Mexican activists set foot on island shores to call on the Mexican government to give the area special status to protect it from plants like ChevronTexaco's....
Udall: Navajo water settlement too expensive U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., crossed partisan lines by agreeing with U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., that a $1.2 billion federal price tag for the proposed Navajo Nation water rights settlement on the San Juan Basin was too high to be passed by Congress. “I’m hoping the finalized settlement — which we don’t have yet — comes in at a lower figure,” Udall said during a quick sweep through northern New Mexico last week before Congress resumed. “I agree with Sen. Domenici about the difficulty of passage. ... $1.2 billion is much more expensive than any (water) bill we’ve seen on the House side.”....
Legislators back Valley irrigators A Texas Senate committee Wednesday threw its support behind Rio Grande Valley irrigators and farmers pressing a $500 million claim against Mexico for previous failures to release water to the United States in accordance with a 1944 treaty. The Senate Select Committee on Water Policy told a panel of Valley claimants they would lobby officials in Washington to make a settlement with Mexico a priority....
State water-needs study criticized as inaccurate Utility managers and environmentalists on Wednesday pummeled the credibility of preliminary findings in a $2.7 million statewide study of Colorado's water needs. The taxpayer-funded Statewide Water Supply Initiative indicates that utilities can provide 90 percent of the water for the state's growth through 2030. That finding, however, drew heavy criticism....
Experiments may reduce possibility of future water wars A method that uses roughly only one-hundredth the fresh water customarily needed to grow forage for livestock may leave much more water available for human consumption, as well as for residential and industrial uses. As a byproduct, it also may add formerly untapped solar energy to the electrical grid. The method for lessening water use is being tested by 42 wireless sensors being installed in a forage-growing hydroponic greenhouse built barely a stone’s throw from the Mexico border....
City Council votes to spend $15M on water rights The Flagstaff City Council voted Tuesday to move forward with purchasing the Red Gap Ranch about 40 miles east of Flagstaff -- along with the water sitting below the ranch's approximate 20,000 acres. The purchase agreement approved at Tuesday's council meeting doesn't seal the deal, however. It simply allows the city until the end of the year to conduct its own hydrology tests to decide for sure if it wants to go ahead with the deal, said Utilities Director Ron Doba. If approved, the purchase would spend all of the $15 million voters approved last May for purchasing additional water rights....
This Time, Man Defeated Nature The most remarkable feature of Hurricane Frances was not its gargantuan size, which helped it drench almost all of Florida, or its glacial speed, which helped it dump as much as 13 inches of rain during its leisurely jaunt across the state. The most remarkable feature of Frances was its flooding -- or, more precisely, its lack of flooding. Millions of people in South and central Florida live in low-lying flood plains that were wetlands in their natural state, and officials had worried that a big slow storm such as Frances would cause enormous water damage. But thanks to the world's most extensive and expensive water-control system, featuring thousands of miles of canals and levees as well as hundreds of powerful pumps, most of those flood plains did not flood....
Brazil Wins Trade Battles Against U.S., EU Latin America's agricultural giant scored two trade victories Wednesday against rich countries' farm subsidies after the World Trade Organization agreed with Brazil that its farmers have been hurt by government assistance for U.S. cotton farmers and European Union sugar beet growers. Brazilian officials and the development charity Oxfam International hailed the rulings by the 147-nation WTO as evidence that farm subsidies considered lavish by poor countries violate global trade rules and must be eliminated. American officials vowed to appeal parts of the cotton decision within two months, and a spokesman for the European Union said it would decide soon whether to appeal....
A Native Spirit, Inside the Beltway MORE than the corn, the willows and the sunflowers stirring in the late summer wind, Donna House cultivates memory. When Ms. House, a Navajo ethnobotanist, steps gingerly through the barbed wire fence into her backyard — a former alfalfa field along the Rio Grande now brimming with native plants framed by a distant mesa — there is a sense of homecoming, of reunion, of land returning to its origins....
Rodeo Notes With four world titles and 15 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo saddle bronc qualifications, it would seem there are no new frontiers for Billy Etbauer. However, Etbauer had never garnered a coveted gold-and-silver trophy belt buckle at the Ellensburg Rodeo, a traditional Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association show that's conducted in Washington state each Labor Day weekend. But on Monday, Etbauer, of Edmond, Okla., snared his first Ellensburg title after winning the final round and the aggregate title. He earned $7,972....
Earhart clues sought in Alaska wreckage Researchers trying to solve the mystery of Amelia Earhart's disappearance searched for clues in the wreckage of a plane that crashed 61 years ago in Misty Fiords National Monument. Gillam and Earhart had been flying the same type of plane - the Lockheed Electra. The researchers wanted to know if parts from the Alaska wreckage matched those they earlier found on a South Pacific island....

DIAMOND BAR CATTLE COMPANY

N.M. LAWMAKERS URGE FOREST SERVICE TO MOVE PAST LANEY CASE, REBUILD COOPERATIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH RANCHERS

WASHINGTON – With a final resolution to the Kit Laney case in sight, U.S. Senator Pete Domenici and Congressman Steve Pearce today urged the U.S. Forest Service to position itself toward rebuilding a working and cooperative relationship with New Mexico livestock producers.

The two New Mexico lawmakers Wednesday issued statements related to the case of Kit Laney, the southwest New Mexico rancher who has butted heads for years with the Forest Service over cattle allotments permitted within portions of the Gila National Wilderness. Legal advisers earlier this month indicated that Laney will admit guilt to misdemeanor charges related to a March incident with Forest Service officials.

Domenici and Pearce today said the Forest Service should advocate leniency for Laney as this case is resolved as a means of rebuilding a strong relationship with livestock producers throughout the state who have grazing permits on federal forest lands.

“The end of the Laney case gives the Forest Service a window of opportunity to begin improving its relationship with permitees. The acrimonious atmosphere generated by the Laney situation is not helpful to the Forest Service or livestock producers. All parties are under a lot of stress. The Forest Service is under pressure to manage the forests better and catch up with its permit renewal process. Ranching has never been easy, and the drought has only made it harder,” Domenici said.

“It should not have come to this point, but now let’s put this sad ordeal behind us and move on. I’m certain there are more important cases for the U.S. Attorney’s office to be working on that are affecting our community,” Pearce said.

On March 31, Pearce requested an investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture into the handling of this matter by the U.S. Forest Service. The Forest Service is expected to conduct an internal investigation into the handling of the Laney grazing case.

Under existing law through 2008—based on language originally authored by Domenici—the Secretaries of Interior and Agriculture are required to renew expiring grazing permits under existing terms and conditions until the processing of a permit or lease is complete. The pending Senate version of the FY2005 Interior Appropriations Bill provides an additional $6.6 million to the Forest Service for a total of $50 million for grazing management activities.

NEWS ROUNDUP

Court halts logging in burned Ore. forest A federal appeals court on Tuesday blocked logging of old-growth forest scorched in one of the nation's largest wildfires until a lawsuit brought by environmentalists is decided, making it unlikely the dead trees can be harvested before rotting. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted an emergency injunction sought by environmentalists in the two-year battle over one of the biggest federal logging projects in history. The blaze burned 500,000 acres in southwestern Oregon in 2002 and was the biggest wildfire in the nation that year....
Beetles advance in national forest Hikers, mountain bikers and other forest visitors better get used to the brown color of dead trees. They might see a lot of it over the next decade. The White River National Forest is facing a spruce beetle epidemic that threatens to wipe out thousands of Englemann spruce and subalpine fir trees over hundreds of thousands of acres in the next 10 years, according to experts with the U.S. Forest Service....
Lawyers duke it out over forest drilling The forest's lawyer disagrees with the town's lawyer, but the town may get to drill exploratory wells under the Diamond Rim yet. The proposal by the town of Payson -- to drill up to 15 exploratory wells and 13 secondary test wells to determine the presence or absence of a significant aquifer system -- was put on hold in June while the Tonto National Forest's lawyer issued an opinion regarding an opinion by the town's lawyer. At issue is whether the U.S. Forest Service has the legal right to consider the impact the project might have on the wells of nearby residents....
BlueRibbon Coalition's Urgent Action Alert The Forest Service is accepting comments on a Proposed Rule regarding OHV use on National Forests. Please do not underestimate the importance of this rulemaking. Given its potential effects to the OHV community, this could be the single most important Forest Service planning initiative in decades. As I write this message, the anti-access crowd is in Washington D.C. preparing to distribute glossy 4-color press kits to an eager media....
U.S. Faces Growing Feral Cat Problem Some feline experts now estimate 70 million feral cats live in the United States, the consequence of little effort to control the population and of the cat's ability to reproduce quickly. The number concerns wildlife and ornithology organizations that believe these stealthy predators decimate bird populations and threaten public health. The organizations want the cats removed from the environment and taken to animal shelters, where they are often killed....
Column: Time to Retire, Smokey Smokey Bear celebrated his 60th birthday this summer, and the ageless advertising icon wandered out of the woods for an elaborate birthday bash. He was feted by a crowd that included Dale Bosworth, chief of the U.S. Forest Service, and children of firefighters who sang happy birthday to him. Smokey, who never speaks, was also presented with what a press release described as "a personalized gift-wrapped shovel." Too bad it wasn't a retirement party....
Glacier officials develop new plan to keep nonnative fish out Glacier National Park officials have come up with a new plan to help turn away invaders from Canada that threaten what is considered the park's last drainage free of non-native fish. The proposal calls for building a special barrier that would prevent non-native lake trout from entering Quartz Creek, home to native bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout. Fishery surveys in and around the park have shown non-native fish have crowded out native species, and interbreeding eventually pollutes the native gene pool....
SAS Helps WildTrack Save Endangered Species Newly launched wildlife conservation organization WildTrack, together with SAS, the leader in business intelligence, is using a unique, non-invasive monitoring technique to save endangered species in the wild. WildTrack's unique footprint identification technique analyzes the data collected from wild animals' footprints using advanced statistical algorithms on geometric profiles derived from digital images of footprints....
Trying to save last unspoiled piece of Florida Avid turkey hunter Carl Veaux was tracking a bigger target when he buttonholed Gov. Jeb Bush early this summer. "I told him we need to buy Babcock Ranch," Veaux said. "And Jeb quipped: `Have you got a check for $950 million?'" Veaux is working on that. The retired teacher and his statewide coalition are raising funds for what could be the most expensive public land purchase in Florida history. They have until late October to make a bid for a conservationist's dream: the 91,361-acre Babcock Ranch, which straddles Charlotte and Lee counties east of Punta Gorda....
Aerial predator control may take up to 500 wolves Private pilots could kill more than 400 wolves this winter -- twice to three times as many as last winter -- as the state undertakes its second year of aerial predator control in a wide swath of the Interior. While it's still illegal for sport hunters or commercial trappers to shoot wolves from the air or after landing nearby, dozens of pilots will be authorized to kill the animals through a state-sanctioned predator-control program. State game managers say removing most of the wolves for five years in six popular hunting areas will allow moose and caribou herds to rebuild....
Climber dies in Tetons fall A man attempting to climb the park's 11,618-foot Disappointment Peak with two friends died when his rappel anchor failed and he fell 50 feet, officials said Tuesday. Frank Olding, 40, of Seattle, died Monday of traumatic injuries, the National Park Service said....
Column: Government clearcutting park rangers National park rangers, champions of conservation, history and tradition, are on the brink of extinction. Now, because of insufficient funding, few people are doing the multi-faceted and essential job of a park ranger, and that is a disservice to all Americans....
National Park Service Recommends Including Chesapeake Bay A two-year federal study is recommending that the Chesapeake Bay become part of the National Park Service. The move wouldn't convert the bay into a park, but could establish visitor centers and strengthen an existing network of tourist sites....
Nitrogen Pollution from Denver Area Threatens Rocky Mountain National Park The National Park Service believes that pollution from Denver and its suburbs is taking a toll on the fragile ecosystems of nearby Rocky Mountain National Park. If left unchecked, ecologists worry that effects similar to those of acid rain will wreak havoc on the park's alpine environments. After two decades of research, Park Service officials believe that nitrogen compounds from regional automobile, power plant and agricultural emissions are acidifying waters and soils at higher elevations....
Reid Backs Kerry & Mining Law Reform Now one of mining's most prominent voices, Nevada's senior senator feels the Bush Administration hasn't done mining any favors, and that environmentalist and fellow Democratic Senator John Kerry might even be an improvement. Most importantly, Reid favors revisiting the 1872 Mining Law, the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) and Superfund laws in order to achieve long-term stability and peace of mind for the mining industry....
Amnesty program recoups 40 boxes of tribal artifacts An artifact amnesty program in Colorado reaped about 40 boxes of bone fragments, pots, pottery shards and two skulls - a fraction of what has been looted during the years. "Most of the good stuff was put on the black market, got sold and may not even be in this country," said Linda Farnsworth of the San Juan Public Lands Office in Durango....
Survey Spotlights Pheasant Hunting Trends Residents spent an average of just over 8 1/2 days hunting pheasants last year, brought home 14 birds and did most of their hunting on no-fee private land. Nonresidents were more inclined to pay to hunt and killed fewer birds on average, yet they expressed more satisfaction with the hunt than did South Dakotans, according to a survey by the state Department of Game, Fish and Parks....
Maryland Bear Hunting Permits Offered The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced today that hunters wishing to participate in the first black bear hunt in 51 years this fall can now apply for the permit lottery. The hunt will take place Oct. 25-30 and Dec. 6-11 in Garrett County and those areas west of Evitts Creek in Allegany County....
Dairy wary activists make Sacramento Valley next battleground With the arrival of a 3,000-cow farm outside city limits two years ago, Dixon now finds itself joining its neighbors in saying no to so-called megadairies that are blamed for pollution and a stench powerful enough to knock a buzzard off a manure wagon. With only two big dairies in the Sacramento Valley, environmentalists are using tactics that stalled dairy construction in the San Joaquin Valley to halt the northward migration of cows. Government is getting in on the act, considering stiffer regulations and even a moratorium on large dairies....
United States doing better than Canada in curbing greenhouse emissions Even though the United States has been vilified by environmentalists for withdrawing from the Kyoto accord, it's doing a better job of cutting greenhouse emissions than Canada, figures show. Heat-trapping U.S. emissions have risen 14 per cent since 1990, the base year for the climate treaty, while Canadian emissions have grown 20 per cent, according to figures from both governments....
Book Review: Blueprint for the Earth How much would you be willing to pay to stand on the stern of the last oil tanker to leave the Middle East, waving good-bye as you go?" Physicist James Trefil asks this question almost as an aside, more than halfway through his provocative new book, Human Nature. Cut back to Trefil's first chapter. Humans, like all the rest of nature's creations, once "lived out their lives in a world completely governed by the laws of natural selection." With the rise of agriculture things began to change--humanity began to separate itself from the "natural" scheme. We've been separating further ever since, and very rapidly indeed in recent decades. In the industrialized world, at least, our choices and our future are now governed not by natural selection but by science and technology. So, too, is the future of the biosphere....
Column: The Green Haze In a now-infamous memo, Republican pollster and environmental strategist Frank Luntz told GOP office seekers that it’s the buzzwords that matter. “The three words Americans are looking for,” he wrote, “are ‘safer,’ ‘cleaner’ and ‘healthier.’” He advised candidates to tell audiences that they are “committed to ‘preserving and protecting’ the environment, but that it ‘can be done more wisely and effectively.’” George W. Bush listens to Luntz....
Water watchdogs running low on staff Colorado's water pollution watchdogs are staffed 40 percent below the national average, a state report says, and funding cuts have left the personnel-starved agency at risk of takeover by the federal government. The state's 115-person Water Quality Control Division, charged with keeping streams clean and drinking water safe, falls 80 staffers short from what a program of its size and responsibilities typically employs, according to the report written by division officials....
Booming cities put Utah County to test The rooftops tell you all you need to know about what is happening on the west side of Utah Lake. There are thousands of them, they are multiplying like blood cells and there is no end in sight. The real kicker about Eagle Mountain and Saratoga Springs? Neither city existed a decade ago. Their climb to the top of the state's population growth chart was as unforeseen as it is prolific. And it has put planners, city officials and educators to the test....
Rural Western Counties Fading Away If Gilliam County loses much more population, its wide open spaces and collection of three tiny towns — with no stoplights and 1.6 square miles for every person — could soon become a veritable nowhere. Percentage-wise, it regularly tops the census list of Oregon counties that are losing population, a steady stream of about 80 or 100 people every year. And Gilliam County is far from the only place in the rural West that's in danger of becoming a ghost county. In places like Clearwater County, Idaho; Niobrara County, Wyo.; and Treasure County, Mont., the loss of 100 or so people regularly translates to population declines of 5 or 7 percent, year after year....

Access or excess

Spend a few days in the woods and you’ll see, hear, or smell traces of a species that is quickly rising to the top of the food chain in National Forests.

Whether you hike, bike, hunt or ride horses in the forests, plains or deserts of the Rocky Mountain West, you’re likely to discover recent evidence of vehicles.

Off-road vehicles – including all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), dirt bikes, jeeps, dune buggies and snowmobiles -- are built and marketed to get deep into the backcountry. As a result, a form of recreation enjoyed by a minority of visitors to national forests has demanded an increasing share of the natural and financial resources of our public lands and become one of the most contentious management topics of the day....

NEWS ROUNDUP

Biz leaders move to block 'roadless rule' return In a "friend of the court" brief filed last week by the Western Business Roundtable and the Colorado, Wyoming and Utah Mining Associations, Western business leaders urged the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold Brimmer's decision. The business leaders say that Brimmer's decision striking down the Clinton Roadless Rule was correct because the original rule would have created 58.5 million acres of 'de facto' wilderness, in violation of the federal Wilderness Act, which reserves approval of such designations specifically with Congress. The Clinton Rule also violated the National Environmental Protection Act by failing to adequately consider the environmental and social consequences of the Rule, the coalition argues....
Drought may give rise to coal-seam fires Imagine a fire that starts in a coal seam near the surface, then follows the seam underground, burning for decades beyond the reach of any efforts to put it out, undermining the integrity of roads or buildings that happen to be above it, all while releasing tremendous amounts of carbon dioxide into the air. That's a coal-seam fire. They burn in spots throughout the world, including La Plata County. A coal-seam fire that started on Southern Ute Indian Tribe land near the New Mexico border in the Cinder Butte area in 1998 is still burning today, in spite of concerted efforts by the tribe to stop it by injecting extinguishing agents into the ground....
Bicyclist fights off grizzly bear A mountain biker on Togwotee Pass fought off a grizzly bear that repeatedly charged him until a companion drove the animal off with pepper spray. Kirk Speckhals escaped his encounter without a scratch; he had only four dirt marks from the bear's claws on his forearm, a punctured bicycle tire and a bent rim. He said he hopes others learn from the mistakes he made during his ride around Pinnacle Buttes - including not making enough noise to warn bears, not riding together and not carrying pepper spray....
Cougar management debated as mountain lions advance into Napa's rural neighborhoods Animal rights advocates, state wildlife officials, scientists and local ranchers may agree on just one thing when it comes to cougars: As new homes are built in Napa County's prime cougar territory each year, human encounters with the solitary, cunning cats will increase. But on virtually every other aspect of cougar management, there are unanswered questions, disagreements or confusion....
Talks slated on grizzly plans Six national forests in the greater Yellowstone area -- including three in Wyoming -- will hold open houses next week to discuss plans for managing grizzly bear habitat on forest lands. The Wyoming meetings are scheduled for Cody on Wednesday and Alpine on Thursday. Federal biologists believe grizzly bear numbers have reached sufficient levels to allow for the removal of the animal's federal protections under the Endangered Species Act, perhaps as early as late 2005....
Yosemite underfunded, park advocates claim Funding shortfalls at Yosemite National Park have triggered cuts to staff, trail maintenance and educational activities that are affecting the quality of tourists' visits, advocates said Monday. Yosemite needs an extra $18.5 million per year to maintain infrastructure and meet the needs of visitors, according to the National Parks Conservation Association, a park advocacy organization with 300,000 members....
German cowgirls arrive for TV show filming Wide-eyed and a bit weary, five German women bought cowboy boots and hats Saturday morning in downtown Cheyenne. The group attracted more attention than most customers as they were surrounded by a Tangram Film camera crew. The five women were selected from 1,000 who applied to be in a five-part documentary series called "Cowgirls." The show will air on a French-German cultural channel. For the next three weeks, the women, ages 22 to 61, will learn to be cowgirls at the Colorado Cattle Company in New Raymer, Colo., about 100 miles southeast of Cheyenne....
Want a horse? Go see Ralph In Spain there's a famous horse fair conducted by gypsies that has been held on the outskirts of Seville since the days of the Roman Empire. Horse trading in the Americas probably began in 1519 as a gleam in Aztec ruler Montezuma's eye when Hernan Cortez pranced by aboard a Spanish stallion -- Montezuma dropped to his knees in awe -- he thought it was a single creature, half-man and half-beast. A centaur....
Riding on Ropes and Dreams Ramiro Gurrola of Hawaiian Gardens is one of the best riders, or charros, in Mexican rodeo. But when the chute opened one blistering Sunday this summer, the bull he was riding inexplicably collapsed, like a boxer taking a dive. Midway through the regional Mexican rodeo championships in Sacramento, Gurrola was in fourth place, fighting a bad streak of charro luck. The belief in charro luck rules the world of Mexican rodeo, known as charreria. In a distinctly Mexican view of life, talent takes a back seat to destiny. A lazy bull, a slow horse or a rainstorm can defeat even the best-trained cowboy....
It's All Trew: Man oh man, how our kin could can! My grandmother, mother and wife, Ruth, have canned a lot of home-grown produce in their lives. Each of them enjoyed great satisfaction from hearing the "ping" sound of a freshly-prepared container sealing properly after being removed from the pressure cooker. This meant their work and efforts had provided one more tasty, well-preserved ingredient for a family meal....
On The Edge Of Common Sense: More women than men are horse people I've always thought that one is either a horse person or one is not. It is evident even in little children. You hold them up to a horse's head, some children immediately reach out to pet it, and others draw away. It is a level of comfort and trust that is noticed by the horse as well. More girls than boys, to my observation, naturally relate to the mind inside the horse's head. I often have to explain to boys that there is no mechanical linkage, no steering column, set of cogs, hydraulic brake lines or transmission gears that connect their rein hand to the horse's feet....

OPINION/COMMENTARY

It's Time To End Laney Grazing Case

Kit Laney's decision to plead guilty to charges stemming from the court-ordered removal of his cattle from a wilderness grazing allotment should be the final chapter in this sad saga.

Nine years of legal wrangling made the facts clear: Laney and his ex-wife and ranching partner Sherry Farr balked at U.S. Forest Service directives to reduce the herd on their allotment in the Gila National Wilderness. The Forest Service ordered the reduction in part because of overgrazing.

The pair also refused to remove their cattle after their grazing permit expired in January 1996. Then, in March 2003, Laney was accused of trying to trample Forest Service officers with his horse and attempting to tear down a corral where they'd penned his cattle. The officers were trying to carry out a court order to remove his cattle from the public land.

The 43-year-old rancher, who was facing up to 63 years in prison for charges stemming from the incident, now says he'll plead guilty to assault on a federal officer and obstruction of a court order.

Though Laney still faces up to 32 months in jail on the remaining charges, locking him up would be overkill.

Laney has lost his cattle, most if not all of the land on which to graze them and, according to his legal adviser, he's broke. Laney spent some time in jail after the March incident, and still owes the federal government an estimated $230,000 -- all of which should be taken into account at sentencing.

The case has been a wedge issue between ranchers and the Forest Service, especially in a period when drought conditions force reduction of herds.

Steve Libby, range staff officer for the Gila National Forest, said, "We're trying very hard to reassure our grazing permitees that this (case) in no way reflects an attitude on the part of the Forest Service that is anti-grazing on Forest Service lands. We are trying to restore the relationship with the grazing industry."

Closing the last chapter of the sad Laney saga by resolving this case can only help improve those relations.

NEWS ROUNDUP

The fight for Alaska's forest Stretching as far as the eye can see, the Tongass is the world's largest temperate rainforest - home to eagles, wolves and bears. It is made up of a lush archipelago of 1,000 forested islands and fjords across the panhandle of south-east Alaska. It's called a rainforest because it rains here up to five metres a year....
Foreign weeds growing into a major threat in Colorado With roots in your own backyard, foreign weeds are a growing environmental catastrophe that threatens to permanently change the landscape of the West within a few decades. Think of them as The Killer Bees for a new generation. Fed by wildfires, drought and apathy, the bitter and often poisonous weeds are driving out native plants....
Big Snowy plan under challenge The Forest Service's plan for managing vehicle use in the Big Snowy Mountains south of Lewistown is challenged in a lawsuit by the Central Montana Wildlands Association. The group claims that the proposed travel plan fails to protect the Big Snowies Wilderness Study Area, a 1977 classification that takes in most of the range. "The law is very clear and instructs them to protect the wilderness character," said Tom Woodbury, a lawyer for Forest Defense, which represents the Wildlands Association....
Prairie dog policy revision criticized Lewis and Clark saw their first prairie dogs 200 years ago this Tuesday, and wildlife conservation groups are using the occasion to blast state and federal moves to kill prairie dogs on federal land in South Dakota. On Sept. 7, 1804, the Corps of Discovery, led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, came across its first black-tailed prairie dogs in present-day South Dakota, about 25 miles above the Niobrara River. Clark called the animals "barking squirrels" as the expedition continued to see them across the West....
GF&P Commission moves to allow prairie dog shooting An emergency rule adopted by the state Game, Fish & Parks Commission could lead to the shooting of prairie dogs on part of the Buffalo Gap National Grassland in Conata Basin south of Wall. Federal shooting restrictions remain in place for now. The commission's action in a teleconference meeting on Thursday is intended to allow shooting to begin when the federal restriction is lifted. The U.S. Forest Service, which manages Buffalo Gap National Grassland, plans to allow hunting within a one-mile buffer zone on the federal grassland where it lies next to private land....
Editorial: Ski "green" policies genuine? In an age when skiers and other outdoors enthusiasts are keenly aware of the environment, it's good business for ski areas to adopt "green" practices. In fact, Summit County recently nixed a plan to nearly double the size of Copper Mountain's village because of public opposition. But a report by two public-policy scholars, Jorge Rivera of George Washington University and Peter de Leon of the University of Colorado at Denver, raises the possibility that for some facilities, the industry's Sustainable Slopes Program is not much more than a marketing ploy....
Lack of Wildfires Helps Boost West Tourism Tourism officials from Oregon to Arizona's Grand Canyon National Park say this has been one of the best summer seasons in years thanks to a lack of devastating fires, a recovering economy that encouraged more travel and even rain. While pockets of the West still struggling with drought have reported a drop in visitors, most areas have seen steady to higher numbers despite gas prices topping $2 a gallon, the lingering worries about a terrorist attack and the ongoing war with Iraq....
Power company says it needs wilderness site Too far from Southeast Alaska's existing hydroelectric power plants for an affordable link, a Gustavus power company says it needs a slice of federally protected wilderness to build its own. Some question the precedent of taking 1,050 of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve's 2.8 million acres of designated wilderness. It would be like trading Yellowstone National Park's geysers for geothermal-powered cities, they said....
Editorial: Digging a big hole Badly needed repairs and construction at Grand Canyon National Park were supposed to be finished by now. Campgrounds fixed up. Roads restriped. A new entrance station built at Desert View. A waste-water treatment plant constructed on the South Rim. But the work has stopped in midstream. Instead, we've got a management and financial mess. It jeopardizes dozens of subcontractors in Arizona and Utah. It sets back critical maintenance at the crown jewel of Arizona tourism. The story started when the Grand Canyon contracted with Pacific General Inc., a California company, to do millions of dollars of work. But the company abruptly shut down in March, leaving $2.5 million in unpaid bills to almost 50 subcontractors....
'Ritual and party all in one' at Burning Man A terrasphere made of four facing satellite dishes seems to beam and communicate with itself, stories about the universe flash on the ceiling of a dome, a Milky Way installation seems to float and rotate (the wrong way, mind you) in mid air. The northeastern Nevada desert was dotted with lighted art installations, most in keeping with this year's theme for the Burning Man arts festival, the "Vault of Heaven." Then there's the 40-foot man being torched amid much hoopla on Saturday night....
A Rocky Path for Pilgrims The column of young Mormon pilgrims stretched for nearly a mile as the sun set over the glacial peaks of Wyoming's Wind River mountain range. Teenagers clad in 19th-century pioneer outfits strained mightily to pull unwieldy wooden handcarts over rocky terrain while keeping an eye out for rattlesnakes. Nervous broods of sage grouse scattered as the first trekkers approached. Poised on nearby ridgelines, pronghorn antelope kept a wary vigil....
Millions of Tax Payers Dollars are Being Wasted on Wild Horse Eradication, Due to Pressure from Special Interest Groups A team of wild horse experts — under the coalition banner of The American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign (AWHPC) — is alerting the public to the fact that that America’s wild horses are being eradicated from public lands in violation of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horse & Burro Act, which protects wild horses as “living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West.” Special interests have been successful in pressuring the government to systematically remove wild horses from public lands — specifically the cattle industry, which wants the horses replaced with cattle for subsidized grazing. While the aggressive removal policy currently being implemented is costing over thirty million taxpayer dollars annually, in-the-wild management -- as mandated by federal law -- would save millions of taxpayers’ dollars....
Across more of South Dakota, the deer hunt is off "No hunting" signs are sprouting throughout South Dakota, an organized "lock-out" aimed at forcing game officials to honor property rights and share revenue with landowners who help to sustain the wildlife. More than 1.8 million acres have been closed so far by about 1,000 owners, said Betty Olson, a Harding County rancher and lockout organizer. Beard said that landowners should be compensated directly for providing habitat, perhaps by sharing in license revenue collected by the state, or state law should be changed to allow landowners to obtain big-game licenses they could then sell to hunters....
Hikers in East Bay Parks Have a Beef With Cows Danville electrical engineer Greg Schneider has made cow attacks one of the main issues in a personal campaign against cattle grazing on public lands. Schneider, 55, says that while walking his two dogs in the publicly owned Sycamore Valley Open Space near his home, "I was chased by six different cows at different times over about a 20-minute period." With 96,000 acres spread over 65 sites in the seasonally dry valleys and hills east of Oakland, the East Bay Regional Park District is the largest urban park system in the country. But with 8,000 to 10,000 cattle grazing the land, it is also a major working ranch that local cattlemen lease to fatten their herds. Especially during late-summer calving season, the cows and park visitors occasionally collide, adding to concerns about the use of public parklands for cattle operations. Park officials estimate there are four or five serious cow attacks — resulting in injury — each year. Schneider says that the problem is more serious and that dozens more cases involving minor injuries or no injury go unreported....
Beef ranching today a world apart from past practices Cattle ranching may be one of the East Bay's oldest industries, but keeping history alive is not always easy for the families that have run grazing operations for more than 140 years. As cities have paved over huge chunks of open land, an increasing number of ranchers have moved their operations to less expensive land in other regions of Northern California. For instance, operators of the Nielsen Ranch in Dublin have acquired two ranches outside the area, totalling 16,000 acres, one near Chico and the other near the Oregon border....
Reservoir worries spill over The federal government should slash water releases from Lake Powell if the ongoing drought extends through the winter, officials from Colorado and neighboring states said last week. The states' request for the Bureau of Reclamation to make a midyear correction to Lake Powell's operation is an unprecedented reaction to dwindling water supplies, officials with the Upper Colorado River Commission said. In a letter sent Thursday, regional officials also asked that the bureau reduce flows during the winter and spring as a precaution....
Column: It's our water, right? Right as rain But something else is sitting downhill of all that money. Working clockwise from the top, they are the states of Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, a sliver of Oklahoma, New Mexico, the tiniest corner of Arizona, and Utah. You probably already know that the people in these states think Colorado water is pretty neat stuff. Even beyond these states, millions of others benefit from water that makes its start in the world here. Not surprisingly, Colorado has tried to keep as much of what we consider our water as possible. Hey, if it falls on our mountains and runs into our rivers, and puddles in our reservoirs, it's our water, right? Right as rain....
Secret dam talks see light Minutes were made available last week from a secret meeting held in August 2003 over who was responsible for $162 million in cost overruns for the Animas-La Plata Project. The minutes, which a judge recently determined are public record, offer few details of the discussion except that participants, which included Four Corners tribes, water districts and lawyers, were angered and frustrated by the Bureau of Reclamation's attempts to blame all of the overruns on the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe....
Reflections on Lewis & Clark: Nez Perce offer alternate look at history As a boy growing up here 60 years ago in the Clearwater River basin, an area the Nez Perce call the "land of the butterflies," Allen Pinkham fished for trout by day and listened at night by lantern light to his aging father's tales of Lewis and Clark. Now a Nez Perce elder himself and a national leader of the Lewis and Clark exploration commemoration, Pinkham, 66, is bringing this unwritten Nez Perce history out of the shadows. He wants tribal children and the world to know the Nez Perce heritage. A descendant of the Nez Perce chiefs Timothy, Lookingglass, Joseph and Red Bear, Pinkham is working to broaden the story of the Corps of Discovery's epic voyage from St. Louis to the mouth of the Columbia River in 1804-1806....