NEWS ROUNDUP

Ranch's Easement Spawns Controversy With a rugged grandeur that harks to the Old West, Las Tablas Ranch embraces more than 10 square miles of oak-draped hills and rolling pastures. The cattle ranch is 20 miles west of here, near Lake Nacimiento, where vineyards and home construction have been consuming open space and oak woodlands. So neighbors and local conservationists were much relieved when the owners, the family of rancher Mike Bonnheim, signed an agreement a few years ago to forever protect most of their land from development. But soon they were startled and dismayed to hear the piercing whine of chain saws and see pallets of freshly cut and split oak trucked from the ranch, bound for firewood markets. Veesart's criticism is part of the nationwide debate over how best to structure and police conservation easements to ensure that natural resources are protected and that the public dollars that often help underwrite the easements are well spent. The easements have become an important tool for preserving land and habitat while keeping it in private hands. But abuses and weaknesses, including spotty monitoring, have emerged with the rapid expansion of easements, which cover millions of acres across the country that are supposed to be supervised by thousands of private land trusts....
100 years of grazing ends on national forest About a century of cattle grazing has ended on more than 24,000 acres south of Eagar and Springerville in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest as a result of an agreement the Arizona Elk Society negotiated with ranchers and the U.S. Forest Service. The deal opens the way for extensive environmental restoration and better hiking, hunting and fishing opportunities, said Gilbert resident John Koleszar, vice president of the Arizona Elk Society. Without cattle dominating the landscape, restoration can be done more easily, said Apache-Sitgreaves Forest Service biologist Vicente Ordoñez. It will enable officials "to address a lot of ecosystem issues," said Bob Broscheid, head of the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s habitat management program. The Arizona Elk Society paid about $315,000 to compensate the ranching family with the biggest interest in the area’s Burro Creek grazing allotment. The Forest Service gave other ranchers better grazing lands in exchange for their pastures in the area, said John MacIvor, chief ranger for the Apache-Sitgreaves forest’s Springerville District....
Column: Ranchers denied due process in courtroom Last week's ruling by Judge Lynn B. Winmill, which will force ranchers in Southeastern Idaho to remove cattle from their grazing allotments in the middle of the season, is seen as one of the most egregious examples of due process violations by property rights advocates. "This Judge ignored current studies conducted by BLM experts and denied the affected parties a fair hearing, in order to justify a ruling that promotes the environmental organization's radical goal of eliminating productive use of the federal lands," commented Fred Grant, litigation chairman of Stewards of the Range. The organization points out that Winmill's handling of the case clearly favors anti-grazing environmental groups, and illustrates how one-sided the judicial process can be on resource issues. The ranchers did try to intervene, as judicial rules allow, but were blocked from exercising their full rights by the judge. "They were allowed to intervene, but only as to the issue of whether an injunction should be issued, not with evidence as to the merits of the case which shows that sage grouse are not declining in the County. Winmill based his decision on information collected over two decades ago," Grant explained....
Forests' Recreational Value Is Scaled Back Forest Service officials have scaled back their assessment of how much recreation on national forest land contributes to the American economy, concluding that these activities generate just a tenth of what the Clinton administration estimated. Under President Clinton, the Forest Service projected that by 2000, recreation in U.S. forests would contribute nearly $111 billion to the nation's annual gross domestic product, or GDP. Bush administration officials, by contrast, have determined that in 2002 these activities generated about $11 billion. Joel Holtrop, deputy chief of the National Forest System, said the revised numbers may spur the administration to shift some of its recreation dollars within the system but will not prompt it to downgrade activities such as hunting, fishing and wildlife-watching....
Bill would raise pay for federal firefighters Federal firefighters would receive 24-hour pay when assigned to battle wildfires under proposed legislation that is being opposed by the Bush administration. "It's a very, very tough job," said Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., who led a congressional subcommittee hearing Friday to explore the issue of compensation for federal firefighters. "I want to make sure they are compensated properly." House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Calif., introduced legislation in January that would provide "portal-to-portal" compensation to pay firefighters from the time they leave the fire station for a wildfire until they return....
A stain on the land The route up to Mount of the Holy Cross through its namesake wilderness area is lined with a rainbow of blue columbine, magenta fireweed and golden aster - and now, thanks to a spray-can-wielding itinerant, white paint. Officials at the U.S. Forest Service recently learned that an unknown vandal has marked dozens of rocks and even a tree trunk with 2-foot-long painted arrows to mark a little-used descent route on one of the most revered and beloved of Colorado's fourteeners, the 54 peaks that are 14,000 feet or higher. "For over 100 years, people thought of this place as pristine, so the damage cuts to the core of the basic concept of wilderness," said Beth Boyst, wilderness specialist for the White River National Forest....
Appeals court puts stop to Elkhorn logging plan A federal appeals court has halted a logging and burning project on 655 acres in the Elkhorn Mountains southwest of here, citing Helena National Forest miscalculations in hiding cover for elk that broke federal laws. This week's decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturns a lower federal court ruling giving a green light to the proposal last year. Forest officials were dismayed by the decision, but the head of one of two environmental groups that sued to stop the work said she was thrilled. "We look forward to working with the Helena National Forest in coming up with management options that truly reflect wildlife and recreational values in the Elkhorns," said Sara Johnson, of the Native Ecosystems Council in Three Forks. Johnson's group argued the logging would destroy big-game cover and harm songbirds....
Rules streamline ski-area planning Most of Colorado's large ski areas are revising their master plans for future development under a new Forest Service policy that eliminates intensive environmental reviews during the early stages of planning. All four Aspen ski areas, as well as all resorts in Summit and Eagle counties, are working on their plans, said Ed Ryberg, the Forest Service's regional winter sports administrator. Steamboat just completed an update, while Crested Butte and Durango Mountain Resort also are laying out changes, Ryberg said. The aim is to cut through regulatory gridlock, Ryberg said, describing a process that can end up being a "massive waste of time and money." But cutting upfront environmental studies could be controversial, as watchdog groups have criticized resort expansions for chipping away at important wildlife habitat....
Hunt is on for rare, wild huckleberry The Cambodian and Laotian pickers from California arrived in mid-July. Then came the caravans of migrant workers from Eastern Washington. Soon, women and children from the Yakama Nation showed up. The annual huckleberry hunt is on in these forests and fields south and west of Mount Adams, where some of the region's sweetest and juiciest berries are found. The surging demand is creating conflicts among Native Americans, commercial pickers and families who visit their favorite fields each year to collect enough of the sweet-tart fruit for pies and jams. The Forest Service is scrambling to figure out how to manage the limited berry supply, which also is a favorite food for the black bears that prowl these woods....
Column: Oil and gas exploration: Short-term gains, long-term loss In the age of $2.50 for a gallon of gas, the fever for wholesale drilling for oil and gas on public lands has reached new levels. Nowhere is this more evident than the environs around Strawberry Reservoir. At this time, leases on Uinta National Forest lands in the Strawberry basin and the Diamond Fork drainage are slated for sale by the Bureau of Land Management. Many of these leases are for exploration and development of gas and oil reserves in roadless areas, in regions important for big game herds, along spawning tributaries for Strawberry cutthroat trout, and in the Diamond Fork watershed which is inhabited by Bonneville cutthroats, a trout listed as "sensitive" by the state. In addition to the Forest Service land leases, an exploration agreement is being negotiated without the public's knowledge or participation for the land immediately surrounding (and conceivably under) the reservoir itself....
Company looks at 'mat' drilling Conservationists and oil and gas industry officials are optimistic about a proposal to experiment with "mat" drilling in the Jonah natural gas field near Pinedale. The technique refers to overlaying mats on the ground instead of building roads and well pads directly into the soil. While the practice compacts soil and vegetation, it does not dig vegetation up or remove topsoil, as is the common practice. Jeff Johnson, production team leader for the Jonah Field for EnCana Oil and Gas Inc., said a pilot project testing the system may lead to widespread use on the field....
2 leave BLM group Two members have left a federal group that advises the Bureau of Land Management on natural gas development in southwest Wyoming. Kirby Hedrick was the latest member of the Pinedale Anticline Working Group to leave. He resigned last week, saying the BLM was not listening to the group's advice. The BLM set up the 9-member group to help oversee drilling activity in the gas-rich Pinedale Anticline area and how it affects water, air, wildlife and the economy. "I think (all this) has taken a toll on the group's morale, and I fear we still may lose more members," Linda Baker, who chairs the group, said. "I feel as if we've been disenfranchised."....
Group seeks outside help A federal group advising the Bureau of Land Management on energy development in the gas-rich Pinedale Anticline will bring in a facilitator for the next meeting, officials said. "We decided because nobody was really opposed to it that we would go ahead and try it, but we're not committing to it," Pinedale Anticline Working Group Chairwoman Linda Baker said. She said the nine-member group -- now short two members -- will employ the services of facilitator Dick Gross of the North Dakota-based Consensus Council at its Oct. 25 meeting in Pinedale. BLM Pinedale Field Manager Prill Mecham suggested the group consider using a facilitator as a way to keep focused on the goal of studying monitoring and mitigation in the anticline and making recommendations to the agency on possible changes....
Oil Leases Endanger Brant, Coalition Says An 11-state organization that helps manage migratory birds is urging federal land managers to back off a plan to expand oil and gas leasing on the tundra north of Teshekpuk Lake in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The land is vital to black brant, a goose whose population is in steep decline and now stands at a record low, according to a letter from the Pacific Flyway Council to Interior Secretary Gale Norton. The worry is that drilling, roads and other industry activity could disturb the geese at a critical time when they're trying to feed and grow new feathers, worsening their decline, the letter says. Already, regulators are imposing drastic cutbacks on sport and subsistence hunting in Alaska, down the West Coast and into Mexico to protect the brant, the letter adds....
Roaring Back A close encounter with a grizzly bear in a bad mood is a terrifying thing. The monstrous beasts can weigh in at nearly 900 lbs. and stand more than 9 ft. tall when they rear up on their hind legs, brandishing their 5-in. claws. And unlike many wild animals, grizzlies are not more afraid of you than you are of them. Unless you're carrying a powerful gun when you meet one, there's a reasonable chance you will end up as lunch--as anyone seeing Werner Herzog's new documentary, Grizzly Man, will learn in particularly gruesome fashion. But while it's no contest when a bear meets an unarmed human, the same goes in reverse when humans move en masse into bear habitat. That's why the grizzly, which roamed the American West by the tens of thousands before white settlers arrived--and which still has a population of several thousand in Alaska and Canada--eventually saw its numbers dwindle to just a few isolated populations of a few hundred bears apiece in the contiguous 48 states of the U.S. It's also why the bear was formally put under the protection of the federal Endangered Species Act in 1975....
Dog owners wary of wolves As Wisconsin’s timber wolf population expands, attacks on hunting dogs have become more frequent, particularly in the northern half of the state where the bulk of wolf habitat lies. “Since 1986, when the first claim was filed, we’ve had 82 dogs killed by wolves and 27 injured that we know of,” said Adrian Wydeven, Department of Natural Resources wolf expert. “We paid for most of those claims, but there were a few cases when people did not request payment. “As of the end of June, we had paid $144,200 for the 82 dogs killed and about $10,000 for veterinarian bills, most of it for dogs but for other animals as well.” Hunting dog fatalities were infrequent until the mid-1990s....
Gov't cuts back Pacific salmon habitat The federal government has cut back the critical habitat for 19 species of threatened and endangered Pacific salmon, arguing that an earlier designation demanded by environmentalists was poorly executed and that voluntary habitat improvements will work better. The move announced Friday reduces the miles of protected river in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California by 80 percent - from 167,700 miles to 33,300. In those areas, activities such as logging, construction and livestock grazing is restricted to avoid disturbing the stream beds where the salmon migrate and spawn. NOAA Fisheries, the federal agency responsible for bringing more than two dozen salmon and steelhead species in the Northwest and California back from the danger of extinction, agreed to revise the habitats after being sued by the National Association of Home Builders for failing to include an economic impact analysis when they were set. The new designation includes only rivers salmon currently occupy, and it identifies whether a portion of a river is used for spawning or just migration, which will help in determining whether a nearby project could harm the fish....
Access to the water The 1980s lapel buttons had been stored for years in Tom Bugni's home, leftovers from the successful campaign for a Montana law guaranteeing public access to streams for fishing and floating. But this summer, Bugni retrieved the Montana Coalition for Stream Access buttons, handing them out to some of the dozens of people who descended on the Ruby River in southwestern Montana last month to reassert the public's right to be on the water. They rafted about 10 miles, passing through private land where access to the Ruby is under dispute -- some fishing lodges advertise the Ruby as a "private river" -- even as the stream access law marks its 20th anniversary. Reduced to its simplest, the statute says that even where they flow through private land, Montana's rivers and streams are open to all if reached from public property; the land between the normal high-water marks belongs to the public. The law has been challenged in court with little success and continues to provide fodder for politicians....
Red-letter day for Animas-La Plata Thirty-seven years ago Congress approved construction of the Animas-La Plata Project, a settlement of American Indian water-right claims. On Friday, a ceremony marked the raising of the dam at Ridges Basin where 120,000 acre-feet of water eventually will be stored for three tribes and other water users. The dam is slated for completion in 2008. Two hundred people gathered at the dam site southwest of Durango to watch workers spread three loads of impervious clay on the excavated floor of the reservoir as a symbol of the task ahead. A number of those in attendance have been involved in A-LP since the beginning. Members from the tribes gathered at the site earlier for a private blessing ceremony....
Midwest Drought Threatens Crops and Shuts River As the worst drought since 1988 has deepened across parts of the Midwest, low-water levels are doing more than just inconveniencing gamblers. They are turning parts of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers into virtual sandbars, causing towboats and barges to run aground and delaying shipments of petroleum products, coal, chemicals, agricultural goods and road-paving materials. The delays are threatening construction projects throughout the region, and the higher transportation costs could ultimately make this year's harvest of corn and other crops too expensive for some international markets, commodity analysts and barge-shipping officials said. "There is high anxiety that we are close to shutting down the river," said Lynn Muench, vice president for the mid-continent region of the American Waterways Operators, a trade group representing tugboat, towboat and barge operators. "This is looking as bad or worse than 1988." Her fear was realized on Friday, when the Coast Guard ordered a seven-mile stretch of the Ohio River closed, north of its intersection with the Mississippi River. The drought, which has mostly affected parts of Illinois, Missouri and Wisconsin, has also dried up wells, caused insect infestations and wreaked havoc on corn and soybean fields. A government report on Friday confirmed that corn in Illinois, the second-biggest producer after Iowa, had suffered irreversible harm, with production down 12 percent from last year's record harvest....
Environmentalists Uncertain on Roberts (subscription) The environmental community looks at Judge John G. Roberts Jr. as something of a chameleon. As a result, it is having a hard time deciding how green he is and whether to join other liberal groups in opposing his nomination to the Supreme Court. As a private lawyer, he won a big case for environmentalists that slowed development in Lake Tahoe. As a judge, he later issued an opinion on the Endangered Species Act considered troubling to supporters of that measure. Doug Kendall of Community Rights Council, an environmental-law organization that helps to rate judicial nominees' green credentials, worked on the Lake Tahoe case that blocked development for years while a preservation plan was completed. He says Judge Roberts "wrote the best brief I've ever read." Yet he's "pretty skeptical" about whether Judge Roberts would be an ally on the court....
Roberts no stranger to environmental issues Supreme Court nominee John Roberts once offered the National Mining Association some unpaid advice on how to intervene in other people's court cases. Two years later he was hired by the group to argue against a citizens group trying to stop coal companies from shearing off the tops of West Virginia's mountains. That relationship is among a number of situations where Roberts - as a government lawyer, private attorney and federal appeals judge - has become involved in environmental issues. His critics say he tended generally to side with the views of industry. "He defers to economic interests over the public health, to executive agencies over the Congress, and to secrecy over the public's right-to-know," complains Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club, a major environmental protection group. "He's always tweaking the facts to the benefit of insiders."....
Mexico, the epic narrative Luis Alberto Urrea's new novel, "The Hummingbird's Daughter," is a masterpiece of storytelling. It is the sort of sweeping historical epic that looms before you like the deepest, darkest ocean, begging you to dive in and explore the vast and wild world below its surface. I eagerly took the plunge, and 500-plus pages later, I still haven't managed to come up for air. Frankly, I'm not sure I want to. In a body of work that already has garnered Urrea a Pulitzer Prize nomination, an American Book Award, a Lannan Literary Award and induction into the Latino Literary Hall of Fame, "The Hummingbird's Daughter" stands out as a profound and transcendent achievement....
Saddled up in the High Sierras As the violet twilight settled over the Marie Lakes and the Ritter Range, a bunch of us would-be cowboys relaxed after a day in the saddle by lounging around a campfire . . . sipping Sierra Vista white. We'd spent the day on horses that knew to follow the John Muir Trail through the High Sierra wilderness. Now we were swapping tales and basking in luxury. We could hear the 12 horses and nine pack mules cropping nearby clumps of grass. Their steady chomping made a comforting sound. Our host/guide, Dave Dohnel, looked on with satisfaction. Life was good, indeed. What once was rough adventure pursued by men - and pretty much only men - of Muir's intrepid bent, now is a pleasurable experience geared to city folk. In fact, until our five-day horseback ride through California's highest mountain range, those at the campfire - a banker, a civil engineer, a Realtor, a teacher, a nurse, a police officer, a store manager and two journalists - were mostly tenderfoots, unskilled in the ways of the horse....
Seminoles become temporary cowboys By 10 a.m. it's so hot that calves may start dropping dead. Herd dogs are exhausted, which is too bad because rows of sweaty horses under sweaty riders could use the help. A 6-year-old boy swings a lasso and watches from horseback, ignored by dusty men still needing to catch, sort and ship 500 head by nightfall. Work is long, the pay lousy, but more people join in as the caravan heads to the next pasture. In a few hours, Seminole Indian women and children will prepare lunch for the ranchers, as they have for generations. The tribe no longer needs the cattle business to survive, but $300 million in casino profits hasn't erased centuries of tradition. For a few weeks each summer, Indians become cowboys, past becomes present and 60,000 acres become the place Seminoles celebrate their history, even as they brand cattle with computer chips and prepare for a high-tech future....
Humbling beauty There's an agelessness to Garfield County, in the slickrock, the forested mountains and the grand sweep of the Escalante Canyons. So it is with Veda's face, her hands. She's like the land, weathered, strong and beautiful. If chance takes you to Veda's garden, you can see: She's 90 years old, shelling peas on her front porch after tending to squash that sits hard by the gladioluses, the corn she's "venturing" on this year in hopes the deer won't get at it. Veda Behunin. Born on Boulder Mountain, instructed by a ranching family of 14 that worked like hell every day. The kids rode horses five miles to school at a time when the world consisted of log cabins, cattle, hunting and fishing, raising children and stopping from time to time to dance....
Open range suits this ranch regular just fine In this quiet little ranching town east of Abilene, actor Robert Duvall once caused a stir at Dairy Queen. Prior to filming the movie Open Range with Kevin Costner, Duvall was interviewing a real cowboy about cattle drives and chuck wagons. Johnnie Hudman set up the interview. Hudman has been mistaken for a real cowboy, himself. He has a deep voice, a quick wit and a repertoire of classic yarns. His skin is cured by exposure to the relentless West Texas sun so it resembles the leather of a well-used saddle. You'd never suspect Hudman has a list of acquaintances that stretches to the White House. Hudman knows Duvall, President George W. Bush and most of his family, Gov. Rick Perry and a list of movers and shakers that goes beyond American shores. Hudman is the wildlife manager for Stasney's Cook Ranch, a 25,000-acre working ranch in Shackelford County....
Bolts mark rancher's life, love Carl Wendt will never forgive lightning for shocking him into letting go of his new bride's hand. And even half a century later, as he and Barbara near their golden anniversary, Baker County's summer storms still seem to hold a high-voltage grudge against their family. On the last day of July, a bolt blasted the ground between Carl Wendt, 78, and his son, Clint, 44, while they rode home after herding a neighbor's cattle off their ranch between Haines and North Powder. "To me, it looked like I was going to get hit right square between the eyes," said Carl Wendt, who was riding a four-wheeler about 100 yards from Clint, who was on horseback. "But neither one of us got even a tickle out of it." Once, though, lightning gave Carl quite a bit more than a tickle....
Baxter Black: Being mule-headed loftier than being stubborn Johnny was a mule man. That is a statement of fact and also the name of a poem I once wrote. To me, there are two sides to mule people: the brainy side and the stubborn side. They are deep thinkers mostly because they always feel the need to explain why they ride mules. This creates a natural stubbornness because mules are smarter than horses and mule people are indignant that everyone doesn't know that! Johnny liked mules because he wasn't comfortable with horses. He liked to look at them, but I think they were too frivolous, too "fragile" for him. He didn't have time for nuance - with animals or employees. I suspect, though he's long dead, he would lump the modern gentle horse training techniques in with "time outs" for undisciplined children, and investing in miniature cattle....

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