NEWS ROUNDUP

BP's drilling plans anger landowners A day after La Plata County announced a deal with BP on a plan to increase well density, opponents confronted a county staffer at a meeting Wednesday, at times drowning out her presentation in a chorus of criticism. At a forum sponsored by gas industry watchdog San Juan Citizens Alliance, the county's community development director, Nancy Lauro, explained key elements of the deal. But, at several points, she was cut short by angry landowners and anti-drilling advocates. "You've negotiated with this corporation for months with no public meetings, no input from the community and now you recommend in a work session that our commissioners give up the right to protest this application," Pat Cummins said. "It's really outrageous that our local government would operate in this manner." Lauro countered that the county is handcuffed since the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission is the body that will decide on BP's proposal to increase the number of wells from one per 160 acres to one per 80 acres....
Drilling turns quiet route into roaring road Piceance Creek meanders more than 40 miles through hayfields and past cattle raised on ranches that have survived many changes over decades, even centuries. Now, hundreds of huge trucks rumble alongside the creek on Rio Blanco County Road 5 each day to reach isolated areas above the steep canyon cliffs where plentiful natural-gas beckons. The nation’s insatiable appetite for energy — and high gas prices — has started to turn this quiet, scenic valley into the latest area of western Colorado to try to deal with the affects of gas drilling, pipelines, compressor stations and the like. Traffic on County Road 5 has increased more than 1,100 percent this year, said county Road and Bridge Coordinator Ron Leeper. In one week in March 2004, 294 vehicles passed a single point on County Road 5, he said. This March, traffic surged to 3,741 vehicles. About 54 percent of those vehicles were large trucks driven by workers for gas operators like ExxonMobil, EnCana Oil and Gas and their subcontractors. The rest were smaller vehicles. Those numbers will increase even more this fall, when about 500 gas pipeline workers arrive....
Road to Chinese rig raises questions A road leading to the drilling site where a Chinese drill rig is at work has created almost as much controversy as the rig itself. The land where Presco Inc. is drilling atop a mountain near Parachute is difficult to reach, and a road had to be constructed for the rig and workers to travel to and from the site. “The land where Presco is located is classified as agricultural land so they were able to build a road without a permit from the county,” said Doug Dennison, oil and gas liaison for Garfield County. “It’s kind of a legal loophole, so some people are looking to see if they had some fill and stuff in the creeks that shouldn’t have happened without a permit from the (U.S. Army) Corps.” The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has received calls alleging the company filled in portions of Dry Creek and Battlement Creek to construct the road to the drill site....
Varied crowd rallies to protect Valle Vidal In the next year, Oscar Simpson — hunter, horseman and president of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation — hopes it will be political suicide for anyone to support oil-and-gas drilling in the lush Valle Vidal of Northern New Mexico. “We’re only halfway there,” Simpson said as he stirred hash browns over a camp stove at McCrystal Creek Campground in Valle Vidal. Nearby stood Gary Fonay, a petroleum engineer and former president of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, and Fred Galley, a rancher and retired Forest Service planner who helped broker the deal in 1982, when Penzoil donated the 100,000-acre Valle Vidal to the Carson National Forest. Both men are Republicans, like Simpson. Both support oiland-gas drilling, except when it comes to Valle Vidal. “I think there’s a few special places that should be protected,” Fonay said. “If Valle Vidal doesn’t qualify as special, I don’t know what does.”....
Suicide Casts a Shadow on Conservation Battle First she killed her dogs, shot them in the head with a .38-caliber revolver and covered the two bodies with a quilt. Then Marlene Braun leveled the blue steel muzzle three inches above her right ear and pulled the trigger. "I can't face what appears to be required to continue to live in my world," the meticulous 46-year-old wrote in May in a suicide note. Braun had come to the Carrizo Plain three years earlier, after the U.S. Bureau of Land Management placed her in charge of the new national monument — 250,000 acres of native grasses and Native American sacred sites, embraced by low mountains, traversed by the San Andreas Fault and home to more threatened and endangered animals than any other spot in California. What began as a policy dispute — to graze or not to graze livestock on the fragile Carrizo grasslands — became a morass of environmental politics and office feuding that Braun was convinced threatened both her future and the landscape she loved. A 13-year veteran of the BLM, Braun was torn between the demands of a new boss who she felt favored the region's ranchers, and conservation policies adopted nearly a decade ago to protecting the austere swath of prairie she shared with pronghorn antelope and peregrine falcons, the California condor and the California jewelflower.
Tradition or trap? Out there, on a bottom flat bordered by the Little Missouri River, she uses canes to get around. Her back is bent into a gentle s-curve. Her broken hip still bothers her. Her children check in on her frequently, but otherwise she's alone with her flower garden and her five cats. She can go months without leaving. McCutchan doesn't want to leave for good until she's dead. Then, she wants her children to have the land and buildings. She lives on the money she gets from leasing her place to Jamey Adams, who lives across and down the river. Adams runs 90 head, plus calves, on McCutchan's 2,100 acres, along with another three sections of pasture that belong to the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Little Missouri National Grasslands. The grasslands are leased for grazing to owners of base property, like McCutchan's privately owned ranch acres. The Forest Service planned to end those lease transfers starting July 19 under what it called a "new direction" in its grasslands handbook. Now, because political ears got bent, the agency will decide whether to suspend lease transfers after taking public comments until October....
Unmanned planes aid firefighters on ground Firefighters across the West are getting a high-tech ally in their battle against wildland flames: a remote-controlled spy plane that doesn't mind smoke, can see in the dark and never sleeps. Scientists have been testing whether flocks of the planes - similar to the spy drones the U.S. military flies over Iraq and Afghanistan - can help track the direction and behavior of fast-moving flames. After the experimental flight of three unmanned aerial vehicles this summer, the U.S. Forest Service will launch the first real-life deployment next spring. The plan calls for planes to traverse a dozen Western states, mapping real forest fires 24 hours a day....
Danger lurks in overgrowth Scenic, wooded Lake Tahoe, one of America's natural gems, could easily go up in smoke, speakers at an annual lakeside summit warned Sunday. Much of the attention - and millions of dollars - have gone in recent years to protecting the high alpine lake's fabled clear blue waters, where visibility once penetrated to more than 100 feet and has recently been improving. But it is the forested Sierra Nevada mountains reflected in the lake that could destroy the basin that is home to multimillion-dollar homes, casinos, ski resorts, lodges, restaurants and parks that draw thousands of tourists. Moreover, a fast-moving wildfire on a crowded summer weekend could pose deadly danger to panicked people fleeing over the Tahoe basin's few winding roads....
Corps orders dam's removal A new dam on Tarryall Creek has become the latest flash point between private property rights and public access to Colorado streams and rivers. The earthen dam went up in June, diverting waters off the Pike National Forest and damaging fish habitat along the creek. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ordered that the barrier be torn down by Sept. 1. The dam cut off a 300-foot meander that provided some of the only public fishing access for miles. The rerouted creek now flows through the private Topaz Mountain Ranch. "I've never experienced a landowner diverting water off the national forest land to this extent," said Sara Mayben, the Forest Service's South Park district ranger....
Column: Recreation use drives the national forest economy This past week Bush administration and Forest Service officials were assailed when they dramatically reduced the government's assessment of how much money recreation on national forest land contributes to the American economy. Their new conclusion is that these activities generate just a 10th of what earlier administrations estimated. But that is not the real story behind the numbers. Instead, headlines across America should have read "Bush administration reaffirms recreation as largest economic driver associated with national forests," for even these new, unrealistically low numbers confirm what the outdoor industry has argued for over 10 years: Recreation deserves significantly more attention and resources in an agency that was originally built around extractive uses. Over the past 50 years and as both Democrat and Republican administration numbers prove, recreation has clearly emerged as the undisputed greatest use of Forest Service lands and the primary driver of the national forest economy....
Forest Service firing official concerned about pesticide misuse A regional U.S. Forest Service official who has complained that some of the agency's managers ignored rules and environmental laws in spraying pesticides on forests in the Southwest will soon be without a job. The Forest Service this week informed Doug Parker, the pesticide coordinator and assistant director of forestry and forest health for the agency's Southwestern Region, that it plans to fire him within 30 days because he failed to follow instructions. Leonard Lucero, Parker's supervisor and director of forestry and forest health for the region, stated in a letter obtained by The Associated Press that the longtime employee turned in two progress reports that did not follow a specific format. Lucero wrote that he gave Parker instructions but Parker failed to follow them....
Cloned wildcats show ability to reproduce And then there were eight... In a potential breakthrough for bioengineering, three cloned African wildcats living in the United States have produced two healthy litters of kittens, demonstrating for the first time that clones of wild animals can breed. The successful experiment, unveiled by the Audubon Centre for Research of Endangered Species in New Orleans, Louisiana, over the weekend, appeared to open the way to bringing severely endangered species back from the brink of extinction, scientists said. "The science which produced these beautiful kittens is nothing short of wondrous," commented Ron Forman, president of the Audubon Nature Institute. "We are thrilled to play a part in a scientific journey holding such enormous potential for the worlds animals."....
Biologists kill predators to protect plover All Lauten and Castelein could do in the past was put a wire cage over the nests and hope for the best. Now they routinely work with federal trappers who kill the ravens, red foxes, and feral cats that prey on plover nests. In the short term, plovers have hatched more chicks. But without more habitat, the long-term prospects for the bird remain precarious, they said. Predator control on behalf of threatened and endangered species has never been greater. Last year Wildlife Services, a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture best known for shooting coyotes that prey on sheep and cattle, spent $3.5 million trapping and killing predators on behalf of 243 different species of plants and animals. That amounts to 19 percent of the 1,267 plants and animals protected by the Endangered Species Act. It is up from just 72 species and $1 million in 1996. Financed largely by cooperative agreements with states, Wildlife Services agents put out poisoned eggs for ravens that poke their beaks into the soft shells of young desert tortoises in California's Mojave Desert, poison and shoot badgers and coyotes that prey on black-footed ferrets in the South Dakota plains, and trap foxes eating the eggs of sea turtles on Florida beaches....
Judges Rebuff Government on Endangered Species Federal judges on opposite sides of the country ruled Friday that the Fish and Wildlife Service had acted arbitrarily and violated the Endangered Species Act when it reversed its own decisions and cut back on protections for two disparate species. The judges - one in San Francisco and one in Brattleboro, Vt. - overturned separate regulations involving California tiger salamanders and gray wolves in New England. In both cases, the Bush administration had combined sparser, distinct populations of a species with larger, robust populations, and then said protections could be reduced. In his ruling striking down the agency's 2003 regulation on gray wolves, Judge J. Garvan Murtha wrote that the agency, after making the scientific determination that a species was endangered, could not change its mind "because it lumps together a core population with a low to nonexistent population."....
Wild horse advocates fear loss of herds' genetic diversity Wild horse advocates are concerned that the roundup of up to 10,000 wild horses and burros across the West this year will lower their populations drastically and threaten the animals' genetic diversity. The roundup includes the removal this month of 1,000 mustangs from two herds in Wyoming's Red Desert. "You cannot preserve this gene pool with such reductions," said Karen Sussman, president of the Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros. "Each herd has a significant historical value." The Bureau of Land Management, the agency responsible for managing the herds, will hold 57 gathers this year in nine Western states. In the past three years, the agency has removed 10,000 horses each year from federal lands....
UA study: Dangers of drought heightened The Valley's long-term water supplies are less secure than once thought and more vulnerable to drought, according to a study released Thursday. The study found that severe droughts reduced flows both on the upper Colorado River and Arizona's Salt and Verde rivers, weakening the state's most important water sources all at once. That challenges the long-held belief that Arizona could count on the Colorado as a reliable buffer when in-state rivers run low. Researchers from the University of Arizona's Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research also found that extended droughts are common. The most recent drought in Arizona, which began in 1996, is one of the worst on record, but others of that magnitude have occurred at least eight other times since 1200. For Valley cities, the study's findings mean rethinking water resource plans to take into account a greater risk of drought. The effects of a drought will worsen as population and demand grow, exposing the region to possible shortages....
Immigration battle extends to fences For cattle rancher Joe Johnson, whose property is the southern boundary of the United States for eight miles of Luna County, the battle is to keep the border upright. Immigrants pull the barbed wires apart as they hop over the international boundary. Or they rip the fence out, unstaking steel and wood posts and hours of work by Johnson and his family. Fences on the Mexican side are often made from posts stolen from Johnson's ranch, he said. Immigrants in some areas have driven through the fence, not even bothering to stop and cut it with wire cutters like they used to. "There's absolutely no sense of accomplishment," said Johnson, who estimates that he spends 85 percent of his working hours fixing his fence so his cattle don't get out....
Border crossers receive ranch after suing owner An Arizona ranch once owned by a member of an armed group accused of terrorizing illegal immigrants has been turned over to two of the very people the owner had tried to keep out of the country. The land transfer is being done to satisfy a judgment against Casey Nethercott, who is serving a five-year prison term for firearms possession. Morris Dees Jr., chief trial counsel of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which represented the immigrants, said he hoped the ruling would send a message. "When we got into this case, ranchers all along the border were allowing these types to come on their property," Dees said. "Now, they're very leery of it, especially when they see someone losing their ranch because of it."....
Mexican cattle business linked to drug cartels The Treasury Department, trying to block an elaborate money-laundering scheme, has announced that two Mexican cattle companies are fronts for drug-trafficking cartels. The action means that cattle sold by the companies to Texas ranchers after Friday's announcement are subject to seizure by the federal government, said a high-ranking Treasury official who asked not to be named. "Cattle already purchased and owned before the companies were identified as tied to the drug cartels are not going to suddenly be blocked," the official said. The Treasury Department plans to inform cattle associations and other groups later this week of the action taken against the Mexican companies, officials said. The Treasury also will provide other information, such as the brands used by the cattle companies linked to the drug cartels. For now, buyers are expected to practice due diligence when purchasing cattle....
Montana governor: USDA 'bunch of stooges' Montana's governor, who has fought the importation of young Canadian cattle, on Saturday said U.S. states need to oversee federal inspectors of Canadian beef because the U.S. Department of Agriculture is acting in the interest of beef companies. "A few years ago, the four big meat companies, they expanded their role in this country. They bought a U.S. company called the United States Department of Agriculture," Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer said in an interview. "They are a bunch of stooges." "The USDA crawled right into bed with them (the meat companies) and they run our internal policy and our international (beef) policy," Schweitzer said. Schweitzer, a Democrat in a majority Republican state, has led a state fight against imports of Canadian cattle under 30 months of age after a federal appeals court lifted a two-year ban on Canadian cattle in July....
Women on the range Ruby Roth, 42, used to make the same assumption. It was only after she left her job as an office manager and started working part-time on a ranch that she realized different. A decade later, she now manages the Zapata Ranch, a private family retreat and cattle ranch east of Santa Margarita where she lives with her three teen-age daughters. With another woman from a neighboring ranch and an assist from her kids, Roth tends the extensive gardens, the main ranch house, five guesthouses, more than an acre of grapes and about 120 head of cattle — plus a few goats, donkeys, chickens, two dogs and several cats. Like Roth, being a woman hasn't held Jean Rotta back. The 68-year-old is well known for her purebred Angus cattle, which she raises on the Huasna Valley ranch she inherited from her parents. In fact, most of her approximately 300 cattle trace their lineage to the original herd her father established in the 1950s. Rotta has lived on the ranch full-time since 1952, except for the years she attended Cal Poly, where she was a member of the college's first coed class. She earned a degree in animal husbandry, then came home to help her father run the ranch. Rotta had no brothers and said people didn't seem to think it odd that a girl would eagerly embrace the hard work of cattle ranching....
The Imus Ranch That’s music to the ears of Don and Deirdre Imus, who dedicate their entire summer to hosting eight one-week sessions at the 4,000-acre cattle ranch for children who have had cancer or blood disorders, or have lost a sibling to sudden infant death syndrome. But make no mistake: this is no frolicking summer camp or serene high-desert day spa. The Imus Ranch is an exhausting, sunrise-to-sunset boot camp for cowboys and cowgirls designed to instill the values of hard work and the Western lifestyle. “We’re straight shooters with these kids,” says Deirdre, 41. “We lay down the rules the first day here: ‘This isn’t Camp Happy Face.’” Soon after the 10 wranglers, ages 11 to 17, are outfitted in blue jeans, cowboy boots and hats compliments of Wrangler, Justin and Resistol, they’re given the rules of the cowboy way. There’s no coddling or whining, and they must clean their rooms, make up their beds, do laundry, clear their plates and say, “Yes ma’am.” And no hats on the bed—not bad manners, just bad luck. “It’s about hard work,” says Brittany Thomas, 12, of Crestview, Fla. “It’s just some place that you can have fun and meet new people and do a bit of work each day.” At least during this week, they are treated like normal, healthy children. In fact, ranch hands aren’t allowed to mention the children’s illnesses. Perhaps for the first time in years, the children are recognized for what’s right with them, instead of what’s wrong with them. It’s their strengths, not their physical weaknesses that set them apart from their peers....
Montana theatre brings Shakespeare to rural West Ranchers from miles away lounge in lawn chairs under a canopy of cottonwoods, munching on Indian tacos and homemade pie, as The Taming of the Shrew, unfolds. Babies sleep on blankets spread in the grass, while older children watch, eyes wide, or dart among the trees with friends. Many have never seen a production such as this, and appreciate the chance to see Shakespearean theatre - or any professional theatre for that matter - performed live in this north-central Montana farming town of about 1,500, surrounded by wheat fields, the chalky bluffs of the Missouri River and not much else....
PRCA terminates sanctioning of CPRA The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association has terminated a longtime sanctioning agreement with the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association, per a letter from PRCA Commissioner Troy Ellerman dated August 17. In years past, CPRA rodeos counted toward PRCA world standings and Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualification. (PRCA rodeos do not count toward Canadian Finals Rodeo qualification.) CPRA rodeos will not count toward PRCA world standings or NFR qualification in the 2006 rodeo season, unless they become PRCA-sanctioned rodeos on an individual basis and comply with all PRCA-sanctioning and approval requirements. A revised agreement between the PRCA and CPRA is a possibility, but no agreement has been reached at this time. Under the terms of the existing agreement, the PRCA was not receiving any financial compensation from CPRA events. Every PRCA rodeo held in the United States pays the PRCA five percent of each event's total prize money in return for being an officially sanctioned PRCA rodeo and all the support from PRCA headquarters that goes with that privilege. Canadian rodeos have never paid that sanctioning fee. In addition, CPRA rodeos do not comply with PRCA sponsorship mandates and policies or require their rodeo officials to attend and graduate from the PRCA Pro Officials training program, which is required of all PRCA officials in the U.S....
On the Edge of Common Sense: Differences seem subtle, but are substantial There is a difference between being tough and being strong. A 600-pound Corriente roping steer is tough. A 2,000-pound Angus bull is strong. Wrestling calves this spring at a branding, there were several young men there to help flank calves. They were all good boys and came to lend a hand. The first hour, when they were fresh, it was inspiring to watch those stout young men overpower the calves. As the morning wore on, they began wearin' down. Moving slower, stepping back, leaning on the fence, breathing heavily and lookin' for a break. That's when the tough ones took the lead. Steady, balanced, using leverage, no wasted motion, sure-handed. That's how we finished the day. We see examples around us all the time in sports, in couples we know, and in folks we work with....

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