NEWS ROUNDUP

Live polar bear mascot kills one in bloody mauling Excitement turned to disaster this weekend at a UAF Nanook hockey game when a live polar bear was substituted for the bear-suited mascots. At least five people were killed and dozens more injured, both by the bear and a stampede that followed the attacks. About five minutes before the game was scheduled to start, after the players of both teams had just come back out to the ice, Grumpy, a 1200 pound polar bear loaned from the Anchorage Zoo, broke out of his enclosure near the Zamboni. Grumpy was apparently attracted to the smells coming from one of the concession stands, as he ambled up through the stands to the second level of the Carlson Center....
Send in the clones - A secret project for America's elite makes Idaho a hunter's paradise But the real star of this year's summit is far from Sun Valley, or even sunlight. He lives in a tiny 10-foot by 10-foot fenced pen, deep inside a windowless brick compound in remote Central Idaho. Rather than caviar or Cristal, he dines on a precisely calculated blend of native Idaho grasses and potent nutritional powders. And as for his name, it's anything but instantly recognizable. Among the scientists who tend to him, the first-ever successfully cloned Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, he is known fondly as "Horny." Horny doesn't look much like other members of his highly endangered species. He's bigger, first of all, clocking in at a hefty 436 lbs-almost 23 percent larger than the average male bighorn. His name, partially a joke by a community of lonely lab technicians, also refers to his super-sized full-curl horns, just one of several controversial "adaptations" to help Horny's descendants survive in the unforgiving wilderness. Other changes, carefully crafted using several decades' worth of gene-isolation research, include increased resistance to disease and to intense heat and cold. To top it all off, Horny matures almost twice as fast as wild bighorns, and requires a fraction of the food. He is, in almost every way, the first ever super-strain of bighorn sheep. But these "improvements" come at a price....
Official: Landowner legally kills wolf A landowner near Yellowstone National Park legally shot and killed a wolf caught chasing his mules, a state wildlife official said Thursday. It was the second wolf shooting in the state under new federal rules meant to give landowners more flexibility protecting their livestock from wolves, said Carolyn Sime, wolf management coordinator for the state Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. An earlier incident, near Dillon, remains under investigation, she said. The more recent shooting occurred Wednesday, near Jardine in southern Montana. The landowner reported it to federal law enforcement authorities, who investigated and determined the wolf was legally killed, Sime said. She did not identify the landowner....
Protect rare plant, judge says A U.S. District Court judge has ruled that a tiny white flower that now grows on only two sites, including Newhall Ranch, should be recognized as a federally threatened or endangered species. Ruling in favor of the five environmental organizations that filed a lawsuit against the Interior Department in 2003, Judge James Robertson said the federal Fish and Wildlife Service failed to provide a good-enough reason for excluding the San Fernando Valley spineflower, once believed extinct, from being listed for full protection under the Endangered Species Act. The flower is found at Ahmanson Ranch in Ventura County and at the Newhall Ranch site where almost 21,000 homes are proposed in northern Los Angeles County....
Editorial: Wyoming needs to join the pack God bless state's rights, but the great state of Wyoming has been rudely elbowing its neighbors for the last few years when it comes to wolf management. And it looks like Montana and Idaho will have to endure more elbowing for some time to come. Wyoming officials announced this week that they intend to appeal a recent court order that dismissed the state's claims that the federal government had wrongfully rejected Wyoming's wolf management plan. An appeal, of course, is Wyoming's right. The problem here is that Wyoming, Idaho and Montana are joined at the hip when it comes to the formal process of delisting wolves....
Biologists Planning Long Look at Pelicans Federal biologists trying to solve the mystery of why 28,000 pelicans left Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge last year have bought electronic tracking devices for the birds. But for the plan to work, the pelicans will have to return to the refuge near Medina. Wildlife officials are confident they will come back -- and earlier than normal. The big birds returned last April to nest, as they have for at least a century. But they took off in late May and early June, abandoning their chicks and eggs. The 4,385-acre Chase Lake refuge had been the site of the largest nesting colony of white pelicans in North America. Biologists checked air, water and soil quality at the site. They also have checked for diseases, food supply, predators and other possible factors to solve the mystery of why the pelicans abandoned their young. Biologists are still baffled. "We may never know," Torkelson said....
PETA URGES USFWS TO BLOCK PLAN TO SEND TIGER INTO WAR ZONE After learning of a request by a Colorado veterinarian, previously posted at the Baghdad Zoo with the U.S. military, to send a tiger from the U.S. to the zoo in war-torn Baghdad, PETA is calling on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to refuse to issue a permit to ship the tiger. The animal is intended to replace a tiger who was shot and killed at the zoo in 2003 by a U.S. soldier, but conditions at the zoo are reported to be deplorable and dangerous, and the animals remain threatened by continued fighting and unrest in the city. Complicating the matter, the Baghdad Zoo is believed unlikely to have a consistent source of funding to care for the animals. Since the war began, hundreds of animals at the zoo have been injured, killed, stolen, eaten, or let loose by looters....
Coast project faces delays because of threatened Gulf sturgeon Construction of a new fishing pier in the Pass Christian harbor has been halted due to concerns that it would affect the habitat of the Gulf Sturgeon, a fish considered a threatened species. The decision came less than a month after Hancock County was asked to delay a $500,000, five-mile beach renourishment project. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has delayed permits on similar projects in other coastal cities because of the Gulf sturgeon, an ancient species of fish that can grow up to 9 feet long and weigh more than 300 pounds. In 2003, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries designated coastal areas from Louisiana to Florida as critical habitats for the threatened fish....
Deal for horse sanctuary falls through A private company's proposal to help create a wild horse sanctuary on the Crow Reservation fell through with the passing of its deadline Wednesday. "Our deal with the Crow is dead," Merle Edsall said Thursday. Edsall and his company, ETH Inc., had signed a letter of intent with the Crow tribe in February to pay the tribe more than $1 million per year to look after 4,000 wild horses. The company planned on buying the horses from the Bureau of Land Management, which has been directed by a new law to sell wild horses and burros that are more than 10 years old and have been unsuccessfully offered for adoption at least three times....
Opponents of Rocky Mountain Front drilling heighten efforts Attempting to strengthen its gains against petroleum development along Montana's Rocky Mountain Front, a coalition of activists distributed a brochure in newspapers this week extolling the region's assets. The color brochure from the Coalition for the Rocky Mountain Front includes a history of efforts to restrict petroleum development on the Front -- where the mountains meet the -- and explains how to join ongoing work. Distribution of the brochure in the Front communities of Choteau, Valier, Cut Bank, Browning and Shelby coincides with the coalition's launch of a new Web site featuring information about the area, including its wildlife and opportunities for recreation. "I hope the brochure and Web page help Montanans keep pace with events and allow us to work toward protecting the Front," said Chuck Blixrud, a Choteau guest-ranch operator profiled in the brochure....
Editorial - Federal lands fees: Investment in future, Montana Much has been said and written about the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act that was enacted as part of the Omnibus Appropriations Bill that President Bush signed into law last December. It's the provision that allows five federal agencies to continue charging modest fees at some campgrounds, boat launches, picnic areas, visitor centers and other amenity-laden recreation sites, or areas that require special attention. The ink was hardly dry on the authorization before the rumors gained traction, and BLM and its sister agencies were fending off misstatements fueled by misunderstanding. While much was said and written about FLREA, unfortunately, most of it had little to do with the truth. The federal agencies, it was stated, will charge you whenever you crossed public land. You'll be assessed a fee merely for pulling over to the side of the road and taking in a scenic view. Ranchers will pay for moving livestock across federal land. The money collected from the fees will be sent to Washington, D.C., never to be seen in Montana again. And so went those rumors, plus many more....
Logging of Burnt Trees Spurs Clash in Oregon Stan Chronister and the young man calling himself Purusha were probably never going to see eye to eye anyway. But they were certainly not doing so the other day, what with Purusha crouched 70 feet up in a Douglas fir tree, and Chronister pacing around on the ground below with a chain saw, cutting other trees here in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. Chronister is a 44-year-old logger with a dirt-caked face, a 25-year veteran of the woods, salvaging burned old-growth trees from the 2002 half-million-acre Biscuit fire, one of the largest fires in U.S. Forest Service history. Purusha, who says he is in his 20s, is a wool-cap-wearing "tree sitter," one of several hundred environmental protesters who have gathered here in opposition to the operation, which they describe as an ecological travesty in old-growth forests that should be left alone....
Report: Water bank meets goals; will cost $65 million The government will have to spend about $65 million to continue its program designed to reduce the demand for water in the Klamath Reclamation Project over the next six years, a new federal study shows. The study released Wednesday found the government shelled out $12 million from 2002 to 2004 for the water bank program, in which Project irrigators are paid to let fields go fallow, to switch to well water or to pour well water into Project canals. The study by the General Accountability Office also found that while the water bank program has met its goals, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation needs to improve its communication with stakeholders. Responding to a request from Congress, GAO investigators scoured through water bank documents, reviewed laws and regulations pertinent to the bank, and interviewed federal officials and stakeholders in the Klamath water issue....
EPA loses suit on ballast water Environmental groups won a major victory this week in their quest to keep invasive organisms out of U.S. waters -- including San Francisco Bay -- in a decision that will force ships to comply with the Clean Water Act when they dump ballast water. A federal judge in San Francisco ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency can't exempt ship operators when they release ballast water -- a move that could have nationwide implications. Under the Bush administration, the agency had declined to intervene, saying the Coast Guard was a more appropriate enforcement arm. The agency will decide within a month or two whether to appeal. ``This will hopefully be a landmark decision that will dramatically reduce the introduction of invasive species into U.S. waters,'' said Warner Chabot, the San Francisco-based vice president of the Ocean Conservancy, one of the plaintiffs in the case....
Hoping to Reverse History and Pollution On March 11, the community filed a federal lawsuit claiming ownership of a 3,100-square-mile swath of New York State, stretching from Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence Seaway to the Pennsylvania border. The Onondagas contend that the State of New York illegally acquired the land in a series of treaties in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and have asked the Federal District Court in Syracuse to declare that they still hold title to the land. The lawsuit is the largest Indian land claim ever filed in New York. The Onondaga Nation has about 1,500 members, and its federally recognized territory is an 11-square-mile parcel in a valley south of Syracuse and about eight miles from the southern end of Onondaga Lake. The community maintains its own customs, language and laws and is governed by a Council of Chiefs, which meets in a traditional longhouse, a large, open room that serves as the spiritual and political center of the community....
Ford to Study How Steps to Curb Global Warming Might Affect It Ford Motor Co., in the latest move by a big U.S. company to talk up the issue of global warming, is expected to announce today that it will produce a report on how the environmental issue could affect its global business. Ford's move is a concession to shareholder activists who have been pressuring the auto maker for several years to do more to address global warming. Automobiles are a big source of carbon dioxide, a chief suspected global-warming gas. The main way to reduce automotive carbon-dioxide emissions is to improve the fuel economy of cars and trucks. Ford is just the latest big American company to give in to activists' pressure to state publicly how it plans to address global warming amid potential emissions limits. In recent weeks, ChevronTexaco Corp. and several smaller U.S. oil companies agreed to shareholders' demands for public statements of global-warming concern; in return, the activists dropped resolutions they had planned to put before the companies' shareholders this spring. On Tuesday, Cinergy Corp. -- a big coal-fired electricity producer that agreed last year to produce such a report -- released its glossy annual report, with global warming as the focus. These corporate concessions on global warming, at least so far, are more about political signals than about tangible corporate emissions cuts....
"Rustle the Leaf" Environmental Comics and Whole Foods Markets Team Up for Earth Day Poster Giveaway “Rustle the Leaf,” the nationally-distributed environmental comic strip that has received widespread acclaim from environmentalists, educators and the science community, is partnering with the North Atlantic region of Whole Foods Market for a special Earth Day promotion. During the week of April 16-22, Whole Foods Market locations in New York, New Jersey and New England will give away copies of the colorful new “Rustle the Leaf’s Earth Day Pledge” poster. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to reach out with a message that’s both thought-provoking and beautiful,” said Dave Ponce, creator and co-writer of the comic strip. The poster features a poem written by Ponce, “Earth Day Pledge,” which is directed toward children ages 5 through preteen. The poster also features what Ponce calls “stunningly beautiful illustrations” of the Rustle the Leaf cast, created by the strip’s artist and co-writer Dan Wright. “Even if the poster contained no words, Dan’s illustrations of the characters in their natural settings is reason enough to pick up a copy."....
Column: All pumped up for conservation Don't look now, but conservation may be cool again. People I know who could afford gas-guzzlers are starting to brag about their new hybrids. If this keeps up, we'll soon be back to gauging status in miles per gallon rather than cup holders per seat. A recent poll found that two-thirds of Americans now think it's patriotic to buy a fuel-efficient vehicle. Even in polarized Washington, smarter energy use is reemerging as a cause both left and right can embrace. The Washington Post reports the formation of a lobbying coalition that includes both red-meat conservatives and tree-hugging environmentalists, called "Set America Free." The group plans to push for tax breaks that encourage alternative fuels in order to reduce our dependence on crude oil, particularly the imported-from-the-Middle-East kind....
Column: It's the end of the world, and I feel fine The bad news is that a new United Nations report says the world's coming to an end. But, first, some good news: America's doing great! Seriously, forests are breaking out all over America. New England has more forests since the Civil War. In 1880, New York State was only 25 percent forested. Today it is more than 66 percent. In 1850, Vermont was only 35 percent forested. Now it's 76 percent forested and rising. In the South, more land is covered by forest than at any time in the last century. In 1936 a study found that 80 percent of piedmont Georgia was without trees. Today nearly 70 percent of the state is forested. In the last decade alone, America has added more than 10 million acres of forestland. There are many reasons for America's arboreal comeback....
Horse babies: Arabian breeding program featured on satellite TV Suzy Foss's first word as a baby was "horse." And next week her Egyptian Arabian breeding program will be featured on a program called "Horse Babies" on satellite television. Foss, co-owner of Gold Creek Arabians, has had a love affair with horses almost her entire life, and in 1971 the equine enthusiast began breeding Arabians. Seventeen years ago she focused her efforts on straight Egyptian Arabians. Today, along with her sidekick, Jeannie Simpson, Foss breeds, raises and trains what she believes are some of the finest horses in the world from a working ranch bordering the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness that's been in her husband's family for generations. It was perhaps all of these factors - the horses' champion blood line, the picturesque beauty of the Bitterroot Valley and the mystique of a real Montana working ranch - that led filmmaker Steve Ellis of Vigilante Films to include Gold Creek Arabians in an eight-week mini-series about owners and operators who are living out their dreams with horses. "Horse Babies" airs on the RFD-TV network and can be seen on Dish Network channel 9409 and DirecTV channel 379 on Thursdays at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., Fridays at 2 a.m. and 8 a.m. and Sundays at 3:30 p.m....
Hitch Up The Team; Lawmakers Designate Office Vehicle Of Texas The Senate on Wednesday approved a resolution designating the chuck wagon as the official vehicle of Texas. "There is one vehicle that was actually invented in the state of Texas and that's the chuck wagon," said bill sponsor Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo. "It has long been the symbol, one of the symbols, of the American West and part of Texas culture and tradition." Seliger said the chuck wagon was developed around 1866 as rancher and Civil War veteran Charles Goodnight was trying to drive cattle and had to find a way to feed the cowboys that were driving the cattle. Gooodnight used an Army surplus Studebaker wagon and added a chuck box to it and was able to provide sustenance to the cowboys....
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