NEWS ROUNDUP

Forest Service agrees to suspend grazing rules, take public comment The U.S. Forest Service has withdrawn proposed rules on issuing grazing permits for federal grasslands, and will solicit public comment on the regulations for four months. Gov. John Hoeven and North Dakota's U.S. senators, Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan, had complained about the policies, which the senators said would prevent ranchers who lease property or livestock from getting grazing permits in the Little Missouri and Sheyenne national grasslands. The policies had taken effect July 19, when the Forest Service issued a new handbook on grazing permit rules. An agency statement on Tuesday said two chapters on grazing permit administration have been withdrawn. They will be republished on Friday, which will begin the 120-day public comment period....
Mountain lion numbers up in Texas John Young is a mammalogist for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in Austin. He has been working in wildlife biology for 16 years, and has kept up with mountain lion projects and numbers throughout the state. “Analysis of (Texas Wildlife Services’) animal control activities indicates that the mountain lion population appears to have been slowly growing since the 1930s,” said Young. He credited the increase in population to several factors. He said many poisons that were used to control nuisance predators in the 1930s and 1940s have since been outlawed, there has been an increased availability of food (such as white-tailed deer), and a regeneration of brush areas suitable for mountain lion habitat has occurred. Young also noted that predator control, due to the decreasing number of sheep and goat ranchers in Texas, has declined....
Heading toward packer permits How many Environmental Impact Statements does it take to get a mule into a Wilderness Area? Apparently, two. But burros, horses and llamas will be able to get in, too. The Inyo National Forest is preparing a Draft Environmental Impact Statement which should clear the trail for 10 existing pack stations to obtain long-term permits to operate in nearby Wilderness Areas and forest land. Also in line for outfitter/guide permits is an existing outfitting outfit that uses burros as a primary beast of burden and a guide proposing to use llamas to haul people and supplies into the high country. The DEIS for the packers' permits will actually be riding piggyback on the more in-depth and detailed EIS nearing completion that addresses Trail and Commercial Pack Stock Management in the Ansel Adams and John Muir Wildernesses, said Roger Porter, the team leader on the permit DEIS effort. That larger EIS, and a Record of Decision, is expected to be completed by yearend....
Off-road enthusiasts to pay for using Lefthand Canyon Drivers who patronize the Lefthand Canyon off-road area will have to pay an entrance fee under a plan nearing approval by the U.S. Forest Service. In the Forest Service’s “preferred alternative,” off-highway drivers would pay an as-yet-undetermined fee to use the popular area near Jamestown. The proposal also calls for closing about half of the roads in the area, including the much-loved rock-crawling route called Carnage Canyon. The Forest Service plan aims to bring some semblance of management to an area that has been inundated by users clamoring for a place to test their skills and vehicles....
Appeal denied in Missouri River flow Environmental groups lost their appeal Tuesday of a ruling allowing the Missouri River to be controlled without changes they say will save endangered fish and birds. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an earlier decision by U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson in Minnesota, who ruled in favor of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The agency has proceeded with its new plan to keep summer water levels high enough for barge shipping. Conservationists and the fishing and recreation industry in Montana and the Dakotas opposed the agency's new plan. They want a more seasonal spring rise and lower summer flows that would mimic how the river flowed naturally for centuries. Downstream farming and shipping interests argued that changing to an ebb-and-flow would end barge shipping and cause flooding....
Southern California land deal satisfies economic, environmental demands at Rancho Mission Viejo A settlement reached Tuesday will allow the construction of thousands of houses on the site of California's historic Rancho Mission Viejo while preserving vast areas of open space that are home to some of the region's most fragile creatures, participants said. The deal between environmentalists, Orange County officials and private landowners was hammered out after five environmental groups sued last year over plans to develop what remains of Rancho Mission Viejo, a 200,000-acre Mexican land grant that dates to the 1800s. The ranch, now about 23,000 acres, has been owned by the same family since 1882. The settlement allows for the construction of 14,000 homes while protecting more than 17,000 acres of land. It increases the amount of open space by 13 percent over the previous proposal and reduces development by 25 percent....
The cost of saving birds and their range Setting aside 17,000 acres of West Coast beaches as critical habitat for the western snowy plover, a threatened species, will cost coastal economies between $273 million and $645 million over the next 20 years, primarily from lost recreation, according to a draft study released Tuesday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Economic impacts could be so great to small businesses in some beach communities from Monterey, Calif., south to San Diego that Fish and Wildlife said it is considering excluding them from the critical habitat designation. Two beaches on Monterey Bay and one each at Pismo Beach, Morro Bay and Coronado's Silver Strand account for three-quarters of the total impacts, according to the study....
Turtles stall Freetown development Plans to develop an East Freetown subdivision have been slowed to a crawl by the presence of endangered turtles. Identified by its distinctive black shell and small yellow spots, the spotted turtle, also known by its scientific name, Clemmys guttata, measures 3½-5 inches. But the likelihood that the intersection of Bullock and Quanapoag roads is called home by the little reptiles has created big problems for Partners Reality Trust, the Rehoboth-based developers who have been trying for several years to split the parcel into house lots. The state's Division of Fisheries and Wildlife has determined the proposed subdivision is part of a "Priority Habitat of Rare Species." That means the spotted turtle -- a creature listed as a "special concern" by the state -- must be protected....
CONSERVATION GROUPS CALL ON BUSH ADMINISTRATION TO PROVIDE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT PROTECTIONS FOR 286 SPECIES ON WAITING LIST A coalition of conservation groups released a report today demonstrating the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is failing to make “expeditious progress” protecting known imperiled species as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act, leading to a backlog of 286 plants and animals on the candidate waiting list. Based on the Administration’s lack of progress, the coalition today filed a formal 60-day notice of intent to sue. The report and notice call for an agreement and comprehensive plan to list all 286 species over the next five years. “The Bush Administration is failing to protect the Nation’s wildlife,” states Noah Greenwald, Conservation Biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity. “The Endangered Species Act is an effective tool for saving wildlife from the abyss of extinction, and the Administration isn’t using it.” The Bush Administration has refused to list a single species under the Endangered Species Act—America’s safety net for plants, wildlife, and fish on the brink of extinction—except under court order or threat of lawsuit. Instead, the Administration has referred many imperiled plants and animals to the candidate waiting list, which confers no legal protections. Candidate status signifies that FWS has determined that the species is in need of listing as threatened or endangered, but the listing is deferred due to other priorities. There are currently 286 unprotected candidate species that have on average been waiting for protection for 17 years....go here(pdf) to view the report....
Fees to protect endangered mouse Land developers and new residents, both blamed for threatening to squeeze the Perdido Key beach mouse out of existence, may instead help save the endangered rodent through impact fees proposed by state and federal wildlife officials. They released a revised plan Monday to Escambia County commissioners, who are likely to vote on it Sept. 1. Developers had objected to an earlier proposal calling for a one-time $198,000 per acre fee and annual $100 per unit assessment. The new proposal by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission would give developers two options: A one-time fee of $157,000 per acre plus $100 per unit annually or a one-time fee of $100,000 per acre with $201 per unit annually....
Group: Oil, gas bonding isn't enough Taxpayers are shouldering an unjust burden when it comes to cleaning up after oil and gas companies on public and private lands, according to a Montana-based group. The Western Organization of Resource Councils said Tuesday oil and gas companies are not paying enough in bonding to ensure areas are properly reclaimed after natural resources are extracted. The cleanup responsibility then can become a problem for public land agencies or private landowners. "The overall industrywide liability is estimated in the billions of dollars, and just a few bad-actor companies could saddle taxpayers and landowners with millions of dollars of cleanup liability," said Jim Kuipers, an engineer with Kuipers and Associates of Butte, Mont....go here to download the report....
Successful Lateral Well Using the latest drilling technology, Ward Williston has announced that it has successfully drilled a lateral well at its North Westhope field in Bottineau County. The Mallard H-1 is the first lateral well in the field, located in Bottineau County, North Dakota. Commenting on the success of the well, the company's CEO Thomas Cunnington, stated, "We are very pleased with the preliminary results of the well." He added that the well went on production the beginning of August 2005. Ward Williston has developed a drilling program that will allow drilling beneath the Upper Souris National Wildlife Refuge and under the Souris River into a virgin reservoir. Ward Williston is working in cooperation with the Game and Fish Department and the Bureau of Land Management on the project. "Drilling isn't what it used to be," said Cunnington. "Technology has begun to play a major role in the drilling process," she said....
Lush River Struggles to Survive The San Pedro has been a life-giving river for thousands of years, archeologists believe, its lush banks providing a desert refuge for travelers since Francisco Vasquez de Coronado passed by in 1540 on his quest for the seven cities of gold. Today, however, the Spanish explorer would find the San Pedro's welcome wearing thin. Renowned for its wealth of wildlife and as one of the Southwest's last free-flowing rivers, the San Pedro has begun to dry up. Last month, a measuring instrument placed at the river's high-water mark failed to register any flow for the first time in 70 years. "When the water goes at the Charleston gauge, it's the last bastion, so to speak," said Tom Maddock, head of the University of Arizona's Department of Hydrology and Water Resources in Tucson. "My feeling is that we are just watching the demise of another river system. We might be able to save it for a while, but this river is going to go." Until now, the gauge, just east of Sierra Vista, had marked the deepest, lushest section of the river....
PETA uses semi-nude woman to protest circus The group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals put on a display in downtown Des Moines today (Tuesday) to protest the upcoming visit of a circus. Katy Robertson, an actress from South Africa, posed semi-nude in front of a sign decrying cruelty to circus animals. Robertson (shown in above photo) had chains on her legs and arms and fake stripes placed on her bare back to simulate the whip marks trainers inflict on their animals. She says she "exposed a little skin to expose the cruelty to circus animals." She says, "I'm proud of doing this, and it's the most worthwhile thing I could be doing." Robertson posed in front of a sign that says "circus animals are shackled, lonely and beaten." She says she wants people to chose an "animal free circus."....
USDA proposes to ease mad cow ban on Japan beef The U.S. Agriculture Department on Tuesday proposed allowing imports of Japan's Kobe beef, easing a nearly four-year ban imposed because of mad cow disease concerns. An activist farm group criticized the proposed rule, saying the USDA was sacrificing U.S. food safety to appease the Japanese government. "We are having to compromise our health and safety standards in order to restore that market," said Bill Bullard, chief executive of ranchers group R-CALF USA. The United States banned Japanese beef imports after the Asian country discovered its first case of mad cow disease in September 2001. Japan has found more than a dozen new cases since then. Japan took similar action after the United States found its first case of the brain-wasting disease in a Washington state dairy cow in December 2003. As part of a trade pact reached last October, the USDA agreed to conduct a risk assessment on Japan's Kobe beef with a view to resume imports so both countries can reopen their borders in tandem....
Ranch dogs exhibit talent Most handlers won't take a stock dog to trials unless he has first proved his worth on the ranch. But once the dog has exhibited the finesse and obedience at home, he learns to love showing off in the arena. "On my place, they've got to be a ranch dog before a trial dog," handler and Aladdin rancher Gerald Bunney explained, one hand caressing border collie Ladd's head. "They've got to earn their keep." After four years on the ranch, Ladd has demonstrated the qualities Bunney seeks in a stock dog. The border collie is keen but obedient, strong around cattle yet anxious to heed his handler's commands....
The Legend Of The Apache Kid General George Crook had hit on the idea of using Apaches to fight Apaches. He had enlisted Apaches from San Carlos and other reservations to serve as scouts. These enlisted Apaches could read sign and could locate the trails their outlaw relatives traveled. They could also lead the army to waterholes that were known only to the Apache. More than any other factor, these Apache scouts caused the breakup of the Apache war clans that had ravaged the country for so long. General Nelson Miles had replaced General Crook by the time Geronimo agreed to surrender in Skeleton Canyon in southeastern Arizona in 1886. Miles's plan was to deliver the outlaw Apaches to the closest railhead and send them to confinement in Florida. Miles also devised the terrible plan to disarm the Apache scouts and send them to the Florida prison, too. Why Miles chose to repay the faithfulness of the scouts with this sort of treachery will never be known, but his foolish move brought about many more years of terror for the settlers and spawned the legend of the Apache Kid....

===