NEWS ROUNDUP

Worlds apart on use of wilderness areas Sen. Bob Bennett is in the process of crafting a plan that will shape the future of recreation, growth, transportation and conservation in Washington County, but stumbling blocks may remain over thorny issues like wilderness protection and off-road trail designation. The Washington County bill is envisioned as a comprehensive land-use bill, resolving squabbles over water, roads, wilderness, hunting, grazing and off-roading, while ensuring the necessary resources for the county's exploding population. Wish lists submitted to the senator by those trying to shape the legislation reflect common goals and agreement on many issues. But they also show core disagreements, even after early efforts to reach consensus on the issues. Bennett could unveil his bill as early as next month. Rather than an end, however, the release of his proposal will mark the start of efforts to bring diverging interests together to agree on a plan....
Top court ponders environmental rights of Montana residents A mountain spring that once provided drinking water to the tiny town of Superior is contaminated with mine wastes. So, too, is the fill dirt in the high school running track. Cleaning up the track and the water will cost many millions of dollars. So the town of Superior decided to sue. Superior alleged Asarco Inc., which owns the mine site, violated the townspeople's constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment. No one had brought a lawsuit like that before, and judges around the state disagree over whether such a suit is even possible under Montana's Constitution. Around the same time, two other outfits sued companies, complaining of similar violations of their constitutional environmental rights. The public schools in Sunburst sued Texaco Inc., and ranching families near Hobson sued Canyon Resources Corp. Now all three cases are pending before the Montana Supreme Court. All ask essentially the same question: Can Montanans sue private companies or people for violating their right to a "clean and healthful environment," a unique provision twice guaranteed in the state's 1972 constitution?....
Fire In The Hole: Author reconstructs the story of 1972 Idaho mine disaster When fire broke out in northern Idaho's Sunshine Mine in 1972, there was little panic. Miners knew there wasn't much to burn a mile down in a wet mine. But deadly carbon monoxide killed 91 men. It turned out to be one of the nation's worst mining accidents. A new book, ``The Deep Dark,'' provides a gruesome moment-by-moment account of the disaster that began on May 2, 1972, when unexplained smoke began pouring out of the mine near Kellogg, in Idaho's Silver Valley....
Feds turn down request to list pygmy rabbit Federal officials have turned down a request from conservationists to put North America's smallest rabbit under federal protection. Organizations, including the Oregon Natural Desert Association, had petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to declare the pygmy rabbit a threatened or endangered species in eight western states. The agency said their petition lacked enough biological information to warrant a study, but that they would continue to monitor the rabbit. "We're clearly disappointed," said Bill Marlett, executive director of the Oregon Natural Desert Association....
Preaching the gospel of green One of Calvin DeWitt's favorite Bible verses is Revelation 11:18: "... The time has come for judging the dead... and for destroying those who destroy the Earth." DeWitt, a professor of environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin, is a leader in a growing evangelical Christian movement to protect the environment in the name of God. One such expression came yesterday, when President Bush gave the commencement address at Calvin College, a small school in the Reformed tradition in Grand Rapids, Mich. A third of the faculty of the college signed an open letter to Bush, citing "conflicts between our understanding of what Christians are called to do and many of the policies of your administration."....
Editorial: After 32 years, what's endangered? Wouldn't you think after 32 years your house might need new tiles on the roof, a fresh coat of paint inside and out, new carpeting or a remodeled bathroom? The nation's Endangered Species Act is that same age, but reactionary environmental groups go ballistic every time a politician suggests their holy grail of protectionism for plants and creatures should be updated as an efficient 21st century policy. Back in 1973, President Richard Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act after Congress had acted on the threat of the extinction of one of America 's wildlife symbols, the bald eagle. Thirty-two years later, the proud bird is back in large numbers. Don't give the Endangered Species Act all the credit; scientists believe most of it should go to the federal ban on the pesticide DDT. Between then and now, we have learned a lot about our environment — it's precious and must be preserved. But at all costs?....
Editorial: It's a win-win approach to conservation An awful lot of people throughout Montana and beyond have called for protection of Montana's Rocky Mountain Front. Small wonder: The area between Montana Highway 200 and U.S. Highway 2, where the Rocky Mountains spill out onto the prairie, is a spectacularly scenic expanse, rich in wildlife. Many people would like to see it stay that way. It's one thing for the public to demand protection of the public lands along the Front. All of us own a piece of that public land, and we're all entitled to have a say in its management. But private holdings contribute greatly to the quality of the area's wildlife habitat and open space. The public shouldn't simply demand that private landowners dedicate their property to the public good. That's the wrong approach. What the agency proposes to do is to acquire development rights to 170,000 acres of private land within a 918,000 area stretching from the South Fork of the Dearborn north to Birch Creek. The land would remain in private ownership, but the agency would acquire on behalf of the public conservation easements. Landowners would continue to enjoy the traditional, productive uses of their lands. They'd continue paying taxes on the land. There would be no limitations on livestock grazing, for example. Landowners would continue their war against weeds - a good example of something private landowners do far better than the public. Landowners would still control access to the lands they own....
Court battle over sheepherders' plight highlights fading vocation Three years have passed since Fernandez's legal fight began, but time hasn't blunted his obsession. To the 64-year-old sheep rancher from Chile, this is an epic battle — one that threatens age-old traditions, the rules of fair play, and perhaps most important, his reputation. Fernandez pays his sheepherders $650 a month plus room and board. It's the legal prevailing wage for a job that requires herders, most of them South Americans working under federal H-2A visas, to be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Labor advocates want to change that. Columbia Legal Services is suing Fernandez and The Western Range Association, a California-based labor broker and co-employer, on behalf of two sheepherders who fled Fernandez's ranch in 2000, claiming they were underpaid....
Two-headed calf draws attention News of a two-headed calf born here this spring has sparked the attention of local people. The black Angus calf, delivered by Cesarean section March 16 at the clinic of veterinarian Dwayne Christensen, was euthanized about an hour after it was born, bleating from two sets of lungs. "I thought it was the most humane thing to do," Christensen said. Unable to stand, the calf -- twins conjoined behind the ears -- could not have thrived, he said. "There were multiple other problems," Christensen said....
Tough turn on road to NFL From the time they were old enough to take to a horse for a full day (about 5 years old, their mother estimates), Logan and Morgan Mankins tagged along with their father as he baled hay, repaired fences, rounded up cattle, and performed other assorted jobs on his and other nearby ranches. Catheys Valley is home to fewer than 1,000 people. When Jill Mankins says, ''Meet me at the gas station at 12:30," she assumes you'll know what she means. If not, you'll likely figure it out when you arrive in town and there's the Oasis, which according to its sign offers a market, feed store, propane, breakfast, lunch, and dinner on one side of the highway, and a ''76" gas station on the other....
A man with a message For 90 days and nights, as the 2004 presidential race intensified, David Barton crisscrossed the nation like a 21st-century apostle. He moved from fellowship hall to hotel ballroom, from one swing state to another -- Florida, Ohio, Michigan -- rallying the faithful to the polls. Barton looks like a rancher cleaned up for church -- polyester slacks, long-sleeve snap-up shirt and boots. He scoots around the office in leather moccasins and keeps handy a cowboy hat, which looks oversized on his 145-pound frame. He is a cowboy at heart, never far from the boy who showed steers and lambs in the Aledo chapter of the Future Farmers of America. Barton rode a horse to his office at WallBuilders until a few years ago, when the streets of Aledo grew too unwelcoming for a man and his horse....
Bush returns from Michigan with new saddle Michigan is hardly the Old West, but after President Bush gave a commencement speech here Saturday an aide was spotted carrying a fancy brown leather saddle up the rear stairs of Air Force One. Bush went to Grand Rapids to give a graduation speech and came home with a saddle emblazoned with the presidential seal and decorated with floral patterns and the president's initials, G.W.B. The White House said it was a gift from two artisans but didn't disclose their names. "It has big Texas skirts, a Montana tapadero - the hood over the stirrups - a California stretch seat, a Nebraska horn, made in Boise, Idaho; and the tree, or base, is made in Texas," Rice told the newspaper....
On The Edge Of Common Sense: Attention grads: Science, liberal arts differ We, particularly in agriculture, have the obligation to our customers (people who eat) to understand what we are doing, to make decisions based on factual knowledge and to act responsibly. The urban consumer is beset everyday by a blizzard of half-cocked, brightly wrapped, well-advertised, slick, disingenuous, sometimes well-meaning cow pucky. Many of these consumers do not have the background to separate the veterinarian from the pet psychic, the magic mineral peddler from the nutritionist, or the physician from the celebrity who plays one on TV. These consumers, our customers, are as susceptible to the snake oil "health food" salesman as I would be to the con man selling original Rembrandts for $20....

===