NEWS

Endangered Species Act under fire from two directions Nobody's very happy with the federal Endangered Species Act - arguably the most powerful of all environmental protection laws. Scientists and activists say it fails to protect hundreds of "candidate" species headed for extinction because agencies haven't been able to get to them yet for lack of resources or political support. Property rights advocates say the law unfairly harms farmers, ranchers, and developers who have on their land what some deride as an inconsequential bug or weed. Western governors of both parties say they should have more influence over how the law is defined and enforced. And congressional critics say endangered species protection is really run by judges who make draconian decisions without considering their economic or social impact. Lawmakers are poised to take action....
State Trust Land State land commissioner Mark Winkleman is out to turn the state Land Department into a money machine. He seems to be succeeding. Under his direction, the agency has been selling state trust land in the path of developers for record amounts. It’s all for a good cause, he says. The money goes into a fund that largely benefits public schools. That fund now tops a billion dollars. And it’s growing rapidly. In 2004, the department sold $337 million in real estate and is on pace to shatter that record that in 2005. Mr. Winkleman attributes the big numbers, in part, to changes in the way the department does business — changes he engineered....
Trust Land Issue May Be Headed Toward Ballot Conservation and education advocates are making a new attempt to put a trust land package before Arizona voters, this time probably skipping the Legislature and instead trying to reach the ballot through an initiative campaign. Efforts this year and last to reach the voters through a legislative referendum failed as lawmakers focused on other issues considered either more pressing or easier to digest. The trust land issue was difficult for lawmakers partly because it is complex and features potentially competing interests - producing more money for education from the 9.3 million acres of trust land versus setting aside large parcels for conservation as open space....
First wolf to be released is recaptured A Mexican gray wolf that was released into the wild seven years ago has been captured for killing cattle. Brunhilda was the first wolf to step into the wild in 1998 as part of a federal government reintroduction program. She was captured in a trap in the Gila National Forest on Thursday. The alpha female of the cattle-killing Francisco Pack will spend the rest of her life in captivity. Brunhilda has been reunited with her pack at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge in Socorro County....
BLM plans August oil and gas lease sale The Bureau of Land Management said Monday that it will auction off oil and gas leases on about 84,000 acres in Colorado in August, including about 17,500 acres withdrawn from a May sale after complaints that landowners hadn't been notified. The auction will not include 653 acres near Dinosaur National Park that were pulled from the earlier sale, BLM spokeswoman Theresa Sauer said. "We are still looking at some of the information that we had received last time addressing some concerns and trying to do what we can to make sure we're preserving the characteristics of the land," she said. Some of the land pulled from the May auction was the subject of an outcry from landowners, environmentalists and U.S. Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., who said the government needs a better system to alert landowners when minerals under their property are included in a lease auction....
Judge keeps methane suits separate Challenges to the air-quality analysis in the Wyoming Bureau of Land Management's coal-bed methane study should be heard in Wyoming, while those same challenges to the Montana BLM's study should be heard in Montana, a federal judge ruled. U.S. Magistrate Richard Anderson Friday ordered air-quality challenges to the Wyoming environmental impact statement for coal-bed methane development be transferred to the federal court in Wyoming. The Montana challenges will remain before Anderson. Environmental Defense, the National Wildlife Federation, the National Parks Conservation Association and the Montana Environmental Information Center sued Interior Secretary Gale Norton in May 2004 alleging the department failed to reduce air pollution expected from coal-bed methane development in Montana and Wyoming....
New data challenges road titles The state has failed to prove its ownership of four roads in rural Utah, according to several environmental groups, which uncovered aerial photographs, maps and records disputing the state's claims. The state has asked the federal Bureau of Land Management to grant the state ownership of two roads in Daggett County, one in Beaver County and another that starts in Beaver and runs into Iron County. But the coalition of environmental groups, which previously unearthed public records prompting withdrawal of the state's claim to the Weiss Highway, say they have again found information that calls into question the validity of the state's claims. "They haven't done even a cursory review of their own records," said Kristen Brengel of The Wilderness Society. "What we dug up wasn't rocket science. It really was a very, very humble review of the county and state documents and it raises enough questions that the BLM shouldn't consider moving forward on it."....
Residents Flee Utah Town As Fire Menaces Suddenly shifting winds pushed a menacing wildfire toward this small town in southwestern Utah on Monday, forcing more than 1,000 people to evacuate their homes. Don and Emily Jones said they saw a wall of fire heading toward the subdivision where they have lived since 1993. They managed to rescue their three dogs but could not find their two cats. "When we looked out the back, we thought if our home is still there, it will be a miracle," Emily Jones said. It's not just property, "it's your dreams," she said. By late Monday, the winds had diminished and it was believed no homes were any longer in immediate danger, said Bureau of Land Management information officer David Boyd....
Secretary Norton Says State and Local Governments to Get More under Federal PILT Program Secretary of the Interior Gale A. Norton today announced that more than $226.4 million is being distributed in 2005 to approximately 1,850 local governments whose jurisdictions contain tax- exempt federal lands. The funds, which are channeled to localities under the federal Payments-in-Lieu-of-Taxes (PILT) Program, add up to $2.1 million more than the $224.3 million paid in 2004. In 2005, the Interior Department will collect revenues of approximately $12.9 billion from commercial and recreational activities on federal lands. Commercial activities include, for example, oil and gas leasing, livestock grazing and timber harvesting. A significant portion of these revenues is shared with States and local governments. The balance is deposited in the general fund of the U.S. Treasury, which in turn pays for a broad array of federal activities, including payments to counties. The 2005 PILT payments will be disbursed by the Interior Department on or about June 24, 2005....
Forests sell buildings for cash Several national forests in Wyoming are part of a national trend, as individual U.S. Forest Service offices are selling buildings to help make up for budget cuts. Under a Bush administration plan, ranger stations, warehouses, residences and remote work centers could be sold under the program, which must be approved by Congress. Forest Service officials say that nationwide the sales will help them chip away at a $1.2 billion building maintenance backlog by disposing of run-down property and generating cash for new projects. They want to get rid of facilities that are surplus, in bad shape or in the wrong place. But, they stress, forest land itself is not going on the market....
'Freedom Eagle' is grounded A sculptor who is carving a massive eagle underneath a flank of Mount Sopris says the project's wings have been clipped by the U.S. Forest Service. Jeremy Russell has been told that he cannot work on the memorial to U.S. military veterans or give guided tours to the site. He has been working on the eagle for three years in an alabaster mine up Avalanche Creek, about five miles north of Redstone. He's carving the bird onto the side of Robert Congdon's mine about 100 feet in from where the shaft burrows into the earth. Russell and his supporters have started a petition drive to collect signatures to try to convince the Forest Service to let him go back to work on the "Cost of Freedom Eagle."....
Court again halts timber sale The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has temporarily halted a timber sale in the Gallatin National Forest that environmentalists claim would damage wildlife habitat near Yellowstone National Park. The injunction, issued last week, is the third time a court order has put the Darroch-Eagle sale on hold. It prevents the Gallatin National Forest from allowing any on-the-ground activities, including logging and road building, related to the sale while a lawsuit over the project is pending before the court. A similar order by the federal appeals court last October was lifted briefly after a federal judge in April rejected the claims made by three environmental groups challenging the sale....
Editorial: Logging LimitsAS EARLY AS today, the Senate will have the opportunity to rectify a mistake made by the House this spring, and to pass an amendment limiting taxpayer subsidies for logging in Alaska's Tongass National Forest. Although a similar amendment passed the House last year, it was dropped from the final version of the annual Interior Department spending legislation. This year, opponents managed to use procedural tricks to prevent a vote from taking place in the House at all. Now the Senate is to vote on a similar amendment, co-sponsored by Sens. John E. Sununu (R-N.H.) and Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.). It is no accident that this amendment enjoys bipartisan support, because it makes sense on both environmental and economic grounds. Logging is not only destructive in the Tongass, an extraordinarily pristine temperate rain forest, but it is highly unprofitable. Last year, the U.S. Forest Service spent $49 million on subsidizing logging in the Tongass, and received about $800,000 in profit. This is a business that exists only because of the political clout of Alaskan members of Congress, and it provides little benefit to anyone other than some 300 Alaskans who live off the government's largess....
Environmentalist Fights U.S. Extradition A radical environmentalist who is one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives told an extradition hearing Monday he was being unfairly targeted by the U.S. government and should be allowed to remain in Canada. Tre Arrow, born Michael Scarpitti, is accused of taking part in the 2001 firebombings of logging and cement trucks in Oregon. The FBI also claims he is associated with the Earth Liberation Front, a group that has claimed responsibility for dozens of acts of destruction over the past few years. "I am being targeted by the U.S. government and the FBI, not because I am guilty but because I have chosen to challenge the status quo," Arrow, and a Green Party candidate for Congress in 2000, said at his extradition hearing. In order for an extradition to be ordered, the judge must find there is sufficient evidence to convict the accused on the same charges in Canada....
Column: Forest Reforms in the Crossfire President Bush’s 2002 Healthy Forests Initiative (search), a blueprint for protecting national forests from catastrophic fire, and the 2003 Healthy Forests Restoration Act (search) were supposed to close a chapter on devastating fires. The new reforms promised to change the old, outdated laws that have restricted logging (search), causing a build up of dense fuel loads over the years and creating lethal fire conditions. They were to limit activist groups’ endless appeals and frivolous lawsuits that have halted critical, time-sensitive thinning projects. They also were to fast-track treatment of forests by eliminating the time-consuming environmental review process for those thinning projects that do not threaten the environment. But by all accounts, we’re not out of the woods yet. Attempts at reform to shift priority to fire prevention are being challenged by a small yet fanatical group of eco-activist groups who argue thinning projects kill habitat and species. Today, more acres of forests blanket this nation than in past decades (we grow more than we cut), supporting vast amounts of wildlife habitat and species once threatened by extinction. But the steady increase in forestland over the years also places them at enormous risk for fire. Over the past five years, wildfires have become more severe and widespread, harming human life, homes, air and water quality, and of course, wildlife....
Closing the gates: Stockyard shuts down The stockyards are quiet now at Bozeman Livestock and Sales Co. Most Mondays for nearly 70 years the auction yards have been crammed with cattle and horses, sheep and hogs; the machine-gun rhythm of an auctioneer calling out bids, and the cheers from the audience when a good animal goes to a good owner. The auction is moving to Three Forks now, a better facility all-around, but old timers say leaving the "barn" is the end of an era. "For Bozeman it definitely is," said Hup Davis, 89. Davis has been a fixture at the auction for more than 30 years as a brand inspector, someone who checks all the animals before they are taken away by buyers. "Everyone in Gallatin County is going to miss it, it's a gathering place." Ranchers and farmers have been coming to the yards for decades to buy livestock, talk shop, or just visit. The barn is as much a gathering spot as it is a place to do business. "I'll miss this old place," said Marvin Donahue, 79. "It's kind of sad."....
Life And Death Along “THE BREAKS” But dispersed throughout these features are the breaks. The breaks are erosional features that break up the more monotonous flat plains geomorphology. These might be described in other locals as wide gullies or ditches. But on the plains of the Texas Panhandle they are simply, the breaks. They do differ from these other geomorphologic features in that they are normally wider, in some places more than a mile, and have a relatively flat floor with a small streambed meandering through. The breaks are both a boon and a liability on the plains. They are sometimes life-saving features that attract wildlife and sustain livestock and provide shelter to both. At other times they are death traps for the same critters – as well as people. Dad told many stories about the breaks. It was an integral part of ranch life on the Texas Panhandle plains where he was foreman to several very large ranches over a period of more than 20 years. These ranches were located near Hereford and Dalhart, Texas. He often spoke of the peril of crossing a portion of a break on horseback or, even worse, on foot, especially during the spring and summer....
It's All Trew: Different go-devils needed for different jobs Early-day California oil field history says when drillers reached the approximate depth of an oil or gas formation, they cleared the hole of tools and cables. Next, they lowered a package of nitroglycerin to the bottom on a twine. Last, they dropped a heavy object down the hole and ran for cover. This impact set off the explosives, hopefully fracturing the formation and allowing the product to seep into the hole for recovery. The heavy object was called a go-devil. In Texas oil field history, the same heavy object was called a torpedo. The only other go-devils I have seen are home made crop cultivators resembling a sled with heavy wooden runners. I found one manufactured go-devil made by P&O Plow Company called a No. 18 Lister Cultivator. Old-time farmers tell me local blacksmiths often made the complex parts and the builder furnished the rest, building the device himself....

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