NEWS ROUNDUP

Alliance could prove key as Pombo takes on Species Act After more than a decade of failed attempts, U.S. Rep. Richard Pombo thinks he's finally found a workable way to revise the federal Endangered Species Act. The key could be Pombo's ally and neighbor Dennis Cardoza, a Democrat who also represents part of San Joaquin County. The two introduced House Resolution 3824 on Monday at a Sacramento news conference. Pombo, a Tracy rancher, first entered politics because of his strong feelings against the way the Endangered Species Act was implemented -- several species live on land either he or his family owns. He has tried to rework the act ever since he was elected in 1992. Now, he's joined with Cardoza, who said possibly 40 other Democrats could co-sponsor the measure that is expected to be heard in Pombo's House Resources Committee on Wednesday....
Column: The ESA is a soaring success The Endangered Species Act -- which is being reviewed by Congress this week -- is a soaring success. Just look up. Look skyward for a while and you might spy an American bald eagle. Hundreds of them live in my home state of Montana. Across the United States, the bald eagle is a living, flying example of what works about the Endangered Species Act. Conflicts over endangered species make headlines. Success happens in quiet obscurity. But over time, the successes are dramatic indeed. Gray wolves are another Endangered Species Act success story in the Northern Rockies. Wiped out by over-zealous predator control a century ago, wolves began trickling back into Montana in the 1980s. Now, there are hundreds of wolves in western Montana, and more in neighboring Idaho and Wyoming. Because Montana stepped up to the plate and agreed to manage these animals for the future, the federal U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently handed wolf management over to the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. This is evidence of the flexibility built into the law....
Editorial: Rationalizing ESA Sen. Allard notes that the top-down model of federal intervention often places undue burdens on private property owners, since more than a third of all critical habitat nationwide occupies private land. He says those property owners should be justly compensated for any efforts they are required to undertake in the name of species protection. In order to come up with a more rational approach toward species protection, Sen. Allard has joined fellow senators as a charter member of a new bipartisan working group dedicated to creating meaningful improvements to the Endangered Species Act. Among the proposals being readied by the group are those which would provide incentives to landowners for their commitment to conservation, enhance involvement of states in recovery efforts, and require that sound science be the basis for making decisions about the protection of flora and fauna. Too often the Endangered Species Act - the ESA - has been hijacked and used for political and ideological ends. It’s time to rationalize the entire process, and we applaud Sen. Allard for his efforts toward that end....
Judge orders study of pesticides on frog A federal judge here is ordering federal authorities to study whether 66 pesticides commonly used in agribusiness are jeopardizing the California red-legged frog, the frog believed to have inspired Mark Twain's fabled short story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White ruled Monday that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must "consult" with biologists to determine whether, as environmentalists allege, the pesticides are harming the frog, which has lost about 70 percent of its numbers and was listed as a threatened species in 1996. The California red-legged frog is the largest frog native to the western United States. Females are larger than males, about 5.5 inches versus 4.5 inches. The adults usually have red legs. The EPA said in a statement it disagreed with the decision and was reviewing its options. White ordered the government and the Center for Biological Diversity, which brought the suit, to agree to a time when the studies should be complete....
Mass Extinction of Insects May Be Occurring Undetected The term "endangered species" typically conjures up images of charismatic animals—tigers, pandas, orangutans, whales, condors. But a new study says that the vast majority of species on the verge of extinction is in fact humble insects. The study estimates that up to 44,000 bugs of all varieties could have been wiped off the face of the Earth during the last 600 years. And hundreds of thousands more insect species could be lost over the next 50 years. Only about 70 insect extinctions have been documented since the 15th century, possibly because many insects have been poorly studied. "Most extinctions estimated to have occurred in the historical past, or predicted to occur in the future, are of insects," argues entomologist Robert R. Dunn of North Carolina State University in Raleigh. The finding is significant, because insects play vital roles in plant pollination, decomposition, and soil processing. They also form essential links in ecological chains as plant-eaters, predators, and parasites....
Agency accused of botching efforts to save fish Two former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees claimed Monday the agency willfully violated the Endangered Species Act by letting the Rio Grande run dry at inappropriate times — a threat to the endangered Rio Grande silvery minnow. Zach Simpson and Keith Basham also said the agency routinely suppressed scientific information regarding the number of dead fish discovered from 2002 to 2004 — keeping the number of fish killed by water operations within allowable limits. In one instance in 2003, Simpson claimed a contract employee found five dead minnows but was advised by a Fish and Wildlife supervisor to throw them into willow shrubs to conceal their deaths. Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman Elizabeth Slown said those fish were discarded because the contractor failed to follow procedures for documenting locations where they were found. She also disputed any suggestion that the fish’s numbers have dwindled and said flooding this spring has dramatically improved habitat for the minnows because it simulated the river’s natural cycle....
Hearing On Pygmy Owl Will Discuss Pros And Cons Of De-listing The Pygmy Owl's days on a protected perch are numbered as the US Fish and Wildlife Service begins the process of revoking the bird's endangered species status. Developers who've seen owl-related restrictions stall construction across the northwest welcome the move, while environmentalists threaten lawsuits. The courts say wildlife managers haven't shown why southern Arizona's owls need protection when populations elsewhere in the southwest are doing fine. A September 20th hearing at the Tucson Convention Center from 6:30pm to 9:00pm will deal with pros and cons for taking the Pygmy Owl off the endangered species list. If the owl does go off, it won't go quietly....
Colorado hunting program draw critics Critics of a program that encourages landowners to manage their land with wildlife in mind say recently approved changes don't go far enough. The Ranching for Wildlife program gives ranchers with more than 12,000 acres hunting licenses and more flexible hunting seasons if they open their land to public hunting and manage their land for the benefit of wildlife. Sportsmen and RFW neighbors say the Division of Wildlife program provides undue benefits to private landowners and hurts public hunting. The Colorado Wildlife Commission last week adopted new program rules that will take effect in 2006. Under existing rules, private landowners get 90 percent of male elk and deer licenses allocated for their land; the public gets the rest. Landowners typically sell their licenses. Under the new rules, landowners would receive 80 percent of the licenses. Landowners could still receive 90 percent of the licenses if they meet requirements like broadening public hunting access, improving habitats and helping wildlife officials reach herd objectives....
A valley transformed Linda Baker likes to say that when she settled in this isolated corner of Wyoming 23 years ago, "it was the least populated valley in the least populated state in the Lower 48." But Pinedale, the Sublette County seat, is no longer isolated and no longer as quiet as when Baker arrived. The town lies on the edge of one of the most productive natural gas reservoirs in the United States, a vast bubble of fossil energy trapped beneath the gently rolling hills just outside of town. That gas field is the focus of an energy boom that has ignited fierce debate in Wyoming over the proper balance between resource extraction and environmental protection, and has transformed the landscape, economy and culture of Sublette County by boosting its population, property values and crime rate. "I feel like I'm being robbed of my home," Baker said. "My town is full of strangers." Pinedale is not alone. The energy boom transforming Baker's home echoes across the American West, where skyrocketing gas prices and relaxed government regulations have unleashed one of the biggest natural resource bonanzas of the past century....
State wildlife federations unite to protect resources against energy development The ever-increasing impact of energy development on the West’s wildlife resources is serious enough that four state wildlife federations have banded together to seek more protection for wildlife and key landscapes. The wildlife federations of Colorado, Montana, Wyoming and New Mexico have formed a coalition urging federal and state agencies to take specific steps to ensure that energy exploration and development is done responsibly to protect Western wildlife species and landscapes. “The tens of thousands of wells and accompanying roads and pipelines over the next decade will have more impact on our public lands, water and wildlife habitat than anything we’ve seen before,” said Dennis Buechler, Issues Committee chairman for the Colorado Wildlife Federation. “It will require a strong, coordinated effort by all conservationists, including hunters and anglers, if we hope to prevent major, permanent damage to fish, game and other populations of our native species.” The passage of the 2005 Energy Act last month provided new incentives for energy companies and will spur energy development throughout the West, where much of the drilling for oil and gas is expected to occur, leaders of the groups said....
Companies seek oil-shale leases Shell, Chevron and Exxon Mobil are among the companies that have asked for 19 federal leases to research turning oil shale into oil in Colorado and neighboring states, the Bureau of Land Management said Tuesday. Of the 19 requests, 10 are for parcels on Colorado's Western Slope, eight are for Utah sites and one is for a Wyoming site. The 160-acre research tracts on federal lands could be converted to 5,100-acre production leases if companies prove they can turn rock into fuel. A BLM team will start in late October to evaluate each proposal on its potential to advance shale technology, economics and environmental effects, then make recommendations about awarding leases. Geologists say up to 1 trillion barrels of oil lie bound in the 1,000-foot-thick shale formations of western Colorado, Wyoming and Utah....
Local governments say no on drilling Roan Plateau Natural-gas development on top of the Roan Plateau was opposed by most of the local governments Monday in comments to the Bureau of Land Management on the uses of 73,602 acres of public lands from Rifle to Parachute. But since drilling may occur anyway, the cities of Glenwood Springs and Rifle, Town of Parachute and Rio Blanco County supported a plan by the Colorado Department of Natural Resources that may lessen the impacts on the top. Garfield County commissioners planned to meet this morning to finalize their comments, but Commissioner Larry McCown said they would also likely support the DNR plan that calls on the BLM to issue mineral leases to different producers as they normally do, but only allow one operator to be responsible for the roads, well pads and other aspects of production. Glenwood Springs City Council was the most forceful against drilling on top. “The (plateau) is a special area for those of us in Colorado and on the Western Slope,” the council wrote. “It should be protected for future generations.”....
Counties rally for $100M in impact money A group of Wyoming county and city leaders wants the state to set aside $100 million to help communities cope with the impacts of natural gas development over the next two years. Drilling and operational activities are putting a direct strain on roads, law enforcement and social services across the board in at least eight Wyoming counties, according to the Local Government Coordinating Council. And council members say it's time the state spends a significant portion of its new-found natural gas wealth to enable those communities to keep functioning properly. "I think the impacted counties can justify the infrastructure projects that they haven't been able to do for the past five years," Gillette Mayor Duane Evenson said. Evenson outlined the tentative proposal before several county representatives during a "Local Government Workshop" here on Monday, which was sponsored by the CoalBed Methane Coordination Coalition....
Mine above Crested Butte listed as Superfund site The remains of the Standard Mine, high above Crested Butte, are now listed among priority sites to be cleaned up under the federal Superfund program. The mine, which sits along a main tributary to the watershed for the town of Crested Butte, operated from 1874 to 1966. Metals such as cadmium, copper, lead and zinc are leaching from the mine’s shafts and wastewater pond into Elk Creek, which feeds into Coal Creek, which supplies water to the town four miles downstream. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is seeking an individual or company to hold responsible for the cleanup. If a responsible party can’t be found, the U.S. Forest Service will likely pick up some of the bill. The Standard Mine is in the Gunnison National Forest....
Thinning project shows dramatic success The sharp line in the aerial photograph is obvious, abrupt and dramatic: black forest on one side, green canopy on the other. "It tells the whole story right there," said Ron Hvizdak. "When you look at that, there's no question that it works. People see it, and they know." Hvizdak has known for years: A healthy forest can sometimes stop a crown fire. As fire management officer on the Kootenai National Forest, he's been using fire to fight fire for decades, but never has he had such stark proof that his effort works. Four years ago, he and others on the forest logged and thinned a bit more than 600 acres near Eureka. They took out some trees, cut back the Douglas fir, removed the "ladder fuels" that allow wildfires to climb up off the ground and into the crown. The plan, he said, was to return this patch of forest to its historic composition of fire-resistant ponderosa pine and larch. Then, two years later, they returned to carefully burn out the ground beneath the big trees, torching out the fine debris and young fir seedlings....
Smokey Bear thieves take diversion deal Two pranksters facing felony charges for stealing Smokey Bear from the Naches Ranger District have avoided trial by entering diversion deals with the Yakima County prosecutor's office. James P. Kendrick, 25, and Kale Heily, 23, were scheduled for trial this week for stealing the 7-foot, 600-pound chain saw-carved bear from its perch outside the ranger district in April, then dumping the badly damaged carving in an orchard. Court records show Kendrick and Heily last month entered into diversion deals to charges of malicious mischief and theft, charges that will be dropped a year from now if the two men stay out of trouble....
Marked trees anger environmentalists The Bitterroot National Forest has spent more than $160,000 marking trees for a timber cut designed to reduce hazardous fuels, even though a final decision on the logging project hasn't been reached. The figure of $161,940 was obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request sought by the Native Forest Network, which opposes the forest's preferred alternative for the Middle East Fork hazardous fuels reduction project in the southern end of the Bitterroot Valley. "We find it incredibly disingenuous that during the public comment period, a period where they said they would take the public's comment and incorporate it into their plan, they were just moving ahead with the plan that they apparently already have chosen," said Matthew Koehler, director of the Native Forest Network....
Column: A Chief Justice Already Testing Environmental Law's Pillars The memos written by the President's nominee for Chief Justice of the United States as a young lawyer have brought John Roberts into sharper focus, both as a lawyer and as a human being. On the one hand, his conservative legal stances have alarmed civil rights and women's groups; on the other, pundits have noted his sharp wit on topics as varied as Michael Jackson, Girl Scout cookies, and patterns for presidential china. Yet after all the weighty analysis and comic relief, environmentalists have circled round to where we started: pondering Roberts's cryptic remarks about a "hapless toad." While we hope this phrase is just another witticism, we fear it may shed light not only on Roberts's views, but on some troubling judicial trends. For decades, environmental protection has been built on four pillars: national laws that establish minimum standards for addressing nationwide problems; cooperative sharing of federal power with the states; latitude for state governments to experiment and innovate; and citizen participation in enforcing decisions at both federal and state levels. These pillars have been built through bipartisan legislation, implemented by Democratic and Republican presidents, upheld by the courts, and supported by a steady majority of the public. The environmental pillars were profoundly shaken by the Rehnquist Court's "new federalism." That Court's rethinking of the roles of federal and state governments has injected constitutional issues into even routine environmental cases, and linked their fate to that of some unlikely companions. The definitive word on federal power, and thus on federal environmental law, may have come from last term's medical marijuana decision, or might emerge from the new term's case on physician-assisted suicide -- issues normally far removed from smokestack emissions or endangered species conservation....
PETA Campaign Comparing Slaves To Animals Draws Outrage One panel features a 1930s photograph of a lynching of a black man in Indiana offset by an Angus cow hanging by its feet at a slaughterhouse. Next to it, another installment drops the mouths of onlookers as their eyes move from a picture of a burning black corpse from a 1919 race riot to the corresponding image, that of a rooster set on fire. Continuing along the "Animal Liberation Project," an exhibition recently launched by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), there are pictures of black men and women being branded, bloodied and burned, contrasting with shots of various domesticated animals in similar positions. One of the most provocative images, however, is that of a chained black human's foot opposite the thick, powerful - and equally shackled - limb of a circus elephant. One month after suspending the New Haven display comparing animal cruelty to slavery, PETA has resumed its traveling show on the West Coast. The exhibit is now making stops in Washington state. The Animal Liberation Project (www.peta.org/animalliberation) - with more photographs featuring such imagery as starving cows being shepherded into a rancher's pen, next to a picture of thousands of slaves being herded off a ship - has managed to earn official condemnation from the NAACP, offended other minority communities across the country and affront its own allies in the animal-rights movement....
Rustling's new breed As fuel prices climb, farmers and ranchers are facing a foe not seen in the Old West: the diesel rustler. A generation of farmers who grew up leaving the barn door open has taken to posting field hands to watch over diesel tanks at night, and locking up gas pumps even as thieves invent new ways to siphon fuel from farm equipment. Peter Dompe, who grows beans and almonds in Crows Landing, some 90 miles southeast of San Francisco, has taken to sleeping overnight in his truck hoping to catch fuel snatchers who he says have made off with thousands of dollars worth of the diesel he uses to run his tractors. "We hide out there in the orchards and watch them come and go,'' said Dompe. "They think they're commandos.'' Farm thefts are not uncommon: ranchers still face the old-fashioned cattle rustlers, and have also come to terms with finding fertilizer stockpiles missing, tractors gone at dawn and entire orchards uprooted in the still of the night. But rural detectives compare the recent spate of thefts to a rash of larceny during the gas crisis of the 1970s....
Border ranchers losing their way of life "In the last five years, I don't know of one example of a rancher buying a ranch," said Rodolfo Elias, a stern, proud ganadero whose family has raised cattle in northern Mexico's Sonora state since the early 1800s. "It's all drug traffickers." "They build their mansions and throw their parties and within a few years, something happens to them and another one takes their place," he explained in Spanish. When land near the border goes up for sale, drug traffickers will pay twice the market rate for it, Elias said, far more than what local ranchers could afford. They keep the ranches as trophies, or use them to launder money and as staging areas for their smuggling operations into the United States. "It's frustrating," Elias said, "because you dedicated your life to this, and you love the land and you love the cattle and then you see it all go to the drug traffickers."....

===