NEWS ROUNDUP

Judge kills general dam-building Coal-bed methane producers may no longer construct "in-channel" water reservoirs under a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers general permit. U.S. District Judge William Downes signed a decision Friday overturning the general permit, which has allowed producers to proceed with some methane projects without seeking individual permits. The industry constructs hundreds of in-channel reservoirs in northeast Wyoming to control water that is pumped from coal seams in the production of coal-bed methane. And many of those reservoirs come under the authority of the corps. "Ranching is our lifestyle. And it (in-channel dam construction) was compromising our lifestyle completely. We have personally experienced the impacts," said Campbell County rancher Bernadette Barlow, who had testified in the case....
Lawsuit targets grazing U.S. Bureau of Land Management is in the initial stages of a court-ordered study of grazing impacts on sensitive bird species on 11 allotments in Elko County, but Western Watersheds Project now says it's not enough. Ranchers, on the other hand, are worried about grazing losses because of the Western Watersheds Project lawsuit that led to the study. The Idaho-based group recently filed a new request in federal court in Reno asking Judge Howard McKibben for an injunction to stop grazing on the 11 allotments....
Sage Grouse Doesn't Merit Protected Lists, U.S. Finds The Fish and Wildlife Service announced Friday that the sage grouse, a ground-dwelling bird of the arid West, will not be placed on the lists of species requiring special protection. The grouse's numbers have declined, sporadically, for the last century. A listing for special protection often requires businesses whose activities could harm the habitat of a plant or animal to take sometimes costly measures to minimize their impact. The wide range of the sage grouse, which can be found in 11 Western states, meant that listing it could have cost ranchers and oil and natural gas companies hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost time or minimized access to land. The decision, which followed the recommendation of an internal group of scientists and managers, rested in part on the idea that private-public conservation efforts, like those recently expanded by the Bureau of Land Management, would help restore and maintain existing grouse populations. But conservation groups said voluntary efforts could not be depended on to protect the bird....
Western Governors Pledge to Continue Sage Grouse Conservation Efforts Western Governors pledged today to continue their efforts to promote conservation of the Greater Sage Grouse with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's expected announcement that the bird does not warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act. "This is the right decision for the sage grouse, for conservation and for the West," said Gov. Bill Owens, chairman of the Western Governors' Association (WGA) and a co-lead for ESA related issues. "This decision ensures that the most effective efforts to conserve the sage grouse will continue, and it demonstrates that the states are ready and willing partners in the protection of the country's endangered species."....
Governor praises grouse decision Gov. Dave Freudenthal praised the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to leave the sage grouse off the endangered species list. "From the beginning, we have advanced the notion that the states, in conjunction with our federal partners, provide the best opportunity to conserve the sage grouse," Freudenthal said Friday. "Now we get a chance to prove that theory."....
Man's 14- year forest stay comes to end Bear Thomas-Hunter is packing up his van, his horse and his three pet wolves, and hitting the road. Forest Service officials wish he had done his packing weeks ago. Thomas-Hunter is a volunteer campground host who has lived for 14 years in a small trailer at Gould Mesa campground, tucked away at the bottom of the Arroyo Seco. Forest Service officials recently informed him by certified letter that they want him out. Howard Okamoto, recreation officer for the Los Angeles River Ranger District, said the campground doesn't need a full-time monitor between Dec. 1 and April 1....
New orders guiding federal land exchanges Interior Department Secretary Gale Norton has issued new orders guiding federal land exchanges that would prevent a repeat of Utah's errant San Rafael land swap and could affect another Utah exchange being negotiated. The guidelines will keep Interior Department negotiators from unilaterally stretching the national appraisal rules to try to take into account scenic value, endangered species habitat or public policy objectives. When those hard-to-measure values need to be addressed, negotiators can depart from the appraisal rules, but they must notify Congress and the Interior Department's inspector general and clearly explain the valuation method, Norton wrote....
Effort Under Way to Weaken U.S. Endangered Species Law For the first time in three decades, critics of the Endangered Species Act are building momentum to rewrite the law implemented to save America's threatened flora and fauna, from the star cactus to the grizzly bear. Weakening the law has been a priority for Republican Western governors, and a second Bush term provides critics of the act a prime opportunity to push the U.S. Congress for changes that would help open up vast stretches of wilderness for development. Rep. Richard Pombo of California, chairman of the House of Representatives natural resources committee, is expected to introduce legislation this session to revamp the law. Activists on both sides of the issue say there is little chance of truly gutting the act given its mission of saving plants and animals, but environmentalists fear it could become significantly watered down....
Oil, gas drilling going to court The clash over expanding oil and gas drilling in the West will play out in federal court next week when environmentalists challenge a deal between Utah and the Interior Department on proposed wilderness areas that critics argue sacrifices the region's pristine areas for unbridled development. The case before the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver stems from a 2003 agreement that settled a lawsuit by the state of Utah. That state opposed protecting federal land proposed by the public for wilderness designation. The deal, though, reaches far beyond Utah; it applies to millions of acres throughout the West previously shielded from development while advocates lobbied for permanent protection. "This affects millions of acres of our most pristine, remote wild lands in very fundamental ways for years to come," said Jim Angell, a lawyer with the Denver office of Earthjustice, which will represent several environmental groups in a hearing Wednesday in the federal appeals court....
Navajo pass water rights settlement The Navajo Nation Council passed a New Mexico water rights settlement and agreed to give up 44 percent of its water rights claims to the San Juan River Basin. LaVern Wagner, Resources Committee vice chairperson and delegate from Pueblo Pintado/Torreon/Whitehorse, N.M. praised passage of the water rights settlement. ''I'm proud of the prestigious 20th Navajo Nation Council delegates for taking action and voting in favor of the San Juan River Basin in New Mexico Navajo Nation Water Rights Settlement Agreement. ''This settlement agreement has been in negotiating discussions for over a decade. It is important that the settlement agreement is finally moving forward to make the terms of the water rights settlement agreement a reality to improve the social economic wellbeing and living standards of many Navajo people in New Mexico....
Students to follow leg of Gold Rush trail A group of students, including youngsters from Crane, McCamey and Rankin, will retrace the route of gold rush adventurer William P. Huff this month. Huff’s trip, recounted in a 300,000-word diary, tells of his trip from near Houston to Fresno, Calif. In this case, the four-leg trip started at Socorro Mission in El Paso on Jan. 4 and ends near Houston Jan. 29. Each morning, students will read from Huff’s diary, then travel his route that day. They will discuss diary segments in terms of content and vocabulary, but the readings are also meant to prepare students to closely compare what they will see to what Huff wrote more than 150 years ago, a news release said. Students will help harness mules, hook the wagons, learn to drive the mules, help pitch camp every night and generally experience as much of 1800s pioneer life as possible. Youngsters will also take notes along the day then find a quiet spot to record their thoughts into a tape recorder....
Cowgirl legend Kramer dies at 91 One month after her 91st birthday, National Cowgirl Hall of Fame celebrity Bobby Brooks Kramer died Wednesday evening. She was surrounded by a lifetime of trophies and awards from horse shows and cutting contests at her Billings home. Known throughout Montana and the West as an excellent horsewoman and a savvy rancher, Kramer was one of the first women to begin riding rodeo broncs for prize money. With the shortage of men after World War II and trucks and tractors replacing work horses, many horses were out of a job and got kicked out on the open range. After marrying Bud Kramer, Mrs. Kramer and her husband ranched near Cohagen in Garfield County. Part of their ranch income involved capturing these open range ponies, breaking them and selling them as riding or draft horses. For years they would ship up to 10,000 horses annually by railroad out of Ingomar....