NEWS ROUNDUP

Tortoises, Army cash ranches out The U.S. Army has bought three sprawling cattle ranches and former railroad lands in the San Bernardino County desert to compensate for its long-sought but controversial expansion of a tank-training center into endangered-species habitat. The purchases will eventually eliminate cattle from 250,000 acres in the western Mojave Desert, free-ranging animals that can stomp and out-compete desert tortoises for food. It also paves the way for the Army to train battalion-size brigades in a valley considered crucial to the threatened reptile's survival. In a complicated deal, the Army bought private lands belonging to the two ranchers, about 160 acres in all, that were tied to three grazing allotments on public lands, Rekas said....
Wolves killed after multiple cattle deaths U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials have killed all but one of the wolves in the Owl Creek wolf pack after a string of livestock killings in the Meeteetse area left six cattle and one horse dead. "It's not a good deal when people lose livestock," said U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist Mike Jimenez. The Meeteetse livestock killings began last January after wolves formed a pack in the area, Jimenez told the Northern Wyoming Daily News....
$2.4M Plan to Disperse Salmon-Eating Birds The federal government has approved plans to spend more than $2.4 million to squeeze the world's largest colony of salmon-eating Caspian terns off a Columbia River island so they will establish new nesting areas as far away as San Francisco Bay. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plan calls for developing bare stretches of sand in Washington, Oregon and California where the terns can nest, then letting vegetation gradually grow back on East Sand Island near the mouth of the Columbia River. "Studies show that a two-thirds reduction in the tern concentration on East Sand Island could result in a 1 percent or greater increase in the growth rates of four populations of Columbia River Basin steelhead," said Dave Allen, director of the Pacific Region of Fish and Wildlife....
Decisions made this winter could cost you money and change Idaho's rural landscape and economy The waters of the Snake River and the huge underground Snake Plain Aquifer have made Idaho's desert bloom, nurtured a cherished agricultural way of life and generated some of the least expensive electricity in the nation. But the supply of water once thought to be virtually infinite has been depleted in recent years by drought, increased pumping of groundwater for crops and more efficient irrigation that puts less water back into the aquifer. The need for water for domestic use, recreation, industry and endangered species like salmon has focused attention on the growing demands on this crucial resource. Now, the Idaho Legislature faces major decisions about two conflicts over water....
Nez Perce negotiate to give up their claim to the Snake to benefit their land and fish The Idaho Legislature must decide by March 31 whether to join Congress and President Bush and support an agreement that settles the claims of Idaho's Nez Perce Tribe to all the water in the Snake River. The $193 million deal would provide benefits for endangered salmon; legal cover for Idaho water users and loggers; and cash, water and land for the tribe. It would settle the claims the tribe makes to all of the water in the Snake River and its tributaries based on its 1855 treaty with the United States. That treaty guaranteed the tribe the right to take salmon and other fish. They base their water claims on those rights....
Our Analysis of the aquifer issue What is the problem? There isn't enough water to meet all the needs of water users in southern Idaho. Farmers and others have been able to deal with droughts in the past. But today, a dispute between people who pump their water from wells and those who use springs that flow out of the aquifer has triggered a legal crisis. Historically, groundwater users never had to shut off their pumps even though Idaho's "first come, first served" water rights system gives priority to users who began using water first. Idaho law now requires that groundwater users have to either lease an alternative supply of water or pay water users with higher-priority water rights....
Plant owner says EPA nearly ruined his business A metal stamping plant owner says he plans to sue EPA criminal investigators for at least $10 million over a fruitless investigation that nearly ruined his business. Steve McNabb, whose wife, Jan, owns American Carolina Stamping, this week said he is gathering information to sue members of the Environmental Protection Agency's Criminal Investigation Division for discrimination and retaliation during a more than four-year investigation of the Transylvania County company....
From Silicon to Steers A few years back, Roger and Cynthia Lang found themselves with a lot of money and even more free time. Roger's software company, Infinity Financial Technology, went public in 1996, and just two years later was acquired by SunGard Data Systems (SDS ) for a reported $313 million, leaving them millionaires many times over. Like stereotypical Californians, the Langs love the outdoors and are passionate about conservation. So, with all that cash, they decided to put their principles into practice. That same year, they bought ponytailed actor Steven Segal's ranch in Cameron, Mont., and set out to prove that raising cattle could go hand-in-hand with environmental ideals....
Legal fight continues over Mustang Ranch A brothel owner has been barred by a judge from using the name of Nevada’s most storied bordello until a lawsuit over ownership of the trademark is settled. Lance Gilman bought the pink stucco building that once housed the Mustang Ranch in 2003 for $145,100 and moved it a short distance next to his Wild Horse Adult Resort & Spa off Interstate 80 east of Reno. He had planned to reopen the second brothel under the Mustang Ranch name later this month....
It's All Trew: Train engineers, cattle could be deadly mix Most old-time cowboys have a tale to tell of trying to pen a herd of cattle at railroad corrals with a steam engine and cattle cars sitting nearby on the track. For some unknown reason, whether stupidity, impatience or plain cussedness, the engineer sometimes released a cloud of white steam at exactly the wrong moment causing the herd to turn back and stampede. As a young boy, I personally witnessed two such wrecks. Both were dangerous, nearly causing serious injury to both cowboys and livestock. The first incident caused the engineer to be pulled from the train and thoroughly thrashed by a mad cowboy. The second incident featured the engineer protecting himself in the engine cab with a heavy wrench....