NEWS ROUNDUP

Column: Hunting Access and Conservation Consensus So just how is it that private landowners came to open up 9 million acres of their ranches and farms each autumn to the public? And more importantly, what does it all mean to the conservation of wildlife, fisheries, and landscape integrity in the rapidly changing West of the 21st century? I cannot say for sure. But I can explain, as a hunter, how I came to understand that the Block Management Program was not, and is not, about me and my kind. It is about keeping ranching and farming economically viable and protecting valuable landscapes through activities that help the private landowner – nominal compensation for allowing people on their land, hunter management services, and keeping elk herds from building to the point that they wreak havoc on fences and haystacks all winter. Likewise, public hunting access remains an absolute requirement of Habitat Montana. But therein lies a likely source of conservative political support for a program that secures perpetual conservation easements and fee-title acquisitions right alongside The Nature Conservancy and a host of land trusts. Granted, Habitat Montana may be more focused on elk winter range than on rare plant communities but the reality is that the program is connecting the dots of ecosystem linkages with lands that will be managed in the public trust forever. In places such as the Blackfoot Valley, that is every bit as significant as anything generated by the environmental movement, past or present....
Column: Nature works better with us Along the Gila River in New Mexico, a rancher has re-watered some old dirt irrigation ditches and restored a riparian forest to such a state of health that it supports the largest known population of an endangered bird, the southwestern willow flycatcher. An adjacent preserve, where the land is protected, supports none. That same ranch also hosts the largest known population of a threatened fish, the 3-inch spikedace. It prefers streams that get stirred up now and then and thrives where cattle regularly shuffle through the water. The Verde River in Arizona used to support healthy populations of spikedace until the riverbanks were declared off limits to livestock in 1997. No spikedace have been seen in the Verde since. In North Dakota, ecologists found that, where a family began herding their cattle across their ranch the way bison once moved across it to evade Indian hunting parties, this "pulsed" grazing is literally pumping carbon from the atmosphere back into the soil and combating global warming in the process. They found it is also restoring the carbon-rich, black soils that made the Great Plains one of the most fertile areas on Earth. Nearby lands protected from the pulse of animal movement show no such effect....
Threat to lynx won't stop resort The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Wednesday that the possible loss of up to 40 Canada lynx over the next 30 years isn't sufficient reason to block construction of the Village at Wolf Creek resort in Southern Colorado. A draft lynx habitat assessment sent to the U.S. Forest Service gave a green light to building two roads for the 287-acre resort next to the Wolf Creek Ski Area in the Rio Grande National Forest. The $1 billion resort, proposed by Texas billionaire Billy Joe "Red" McCombs, would be in the same area where the Colorado Division of Wildlife released more than 200 Canada lynx since 1999 in an effort to restore the cats to the state. The Canada lynx, a medium-sized wildcat that primarily preys on snowshoe hares, was added to the endangered species list as a "threatened" species in 2000....
Environmental groups aim to sue the U.S. government over polar bears Representatives of three environmental groups on Wednesday charged that the U.S. government is failing to curb the global warming that is slowly destroying the bears' habitat, possibly leading to their extinction. The environmental groups made their announcement at a news conference in the Central Park Zoo. "The Bush administration has refused to act," said Kert Davies, the Washington-based research director for Greenpeace. The groups filed a petition last February to have the polar bear formally declared a threatened species _ a step they said would require the government to try and cut down the toxic industrial byproducts that are causing global warming, and the polar meltdown....
A Study Shows Cattle Grazing May Help Endangered Species An article published in the latest issue of Conservation Biology states cattle grazing plays an important role in maintaining wetland habitat necessary for some endangered species. Removing cattle from grazing lands in the Central Valley of California could, inadvertently, degrade the vernal pool habitat of fairy shrimp and tiger salamanders. Cattle grazing affects the rate of evaporation, which works together with the climate to determine the depth and duration of wetland flooding. Cattle have been feeding on the land for over 150 years and have found a way to be a naturalized part of the ecosystem. Author Christopher R. Pyke states, "In practical terms, this means that grazing may help sustain the kinds of aquatic environments endangered fairy shrimps need to survive."....
Groups Sue To Get Rare Cactus Listed As Endangered Environmental groups have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to protect a rare cactus in two northeastern Utah counties near the Colorado border, which are slated for increased oil and gas drilling. In the lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court, the groups asked a judge for an emergency order granting endangered or threatened species protection for the Pariette cactus to prevent the Bureau of Land Management from approving drilling in the plant's only habitat. The Denver-based Center for Native Ecosystems and the Utah Native Plant Society claim the cactus can only be found in a small 30-square-mile area in the Uinta and Duchesne counties, where the BLM is considering a project that would double the number of wells in the area....
New Report Unveils List of America's Most Endangered Forests Today(10/12/05), the National Forest Protection Alliance released its third bi-annual report listing twelve of the country's most endangered national forests. The report, America's Endangered National Forests: Lumber, Landfill or Living Legacy?, also provides a groundbreaking economic analysis demonstrating that the Bush Administration's push for more industrial logging in our nation's public forests defies the market realities for wood products. This year's report is unique in that it offers the most up-to-date analysis of the marketplace for wood products from national forests. The major conclusion drawn from this research is that the market share of national forest wood products will likely remain near its current level - 2% of the U.S.'s total consumption - despite the federal government's efforts to increase industrial logging through higher subsidies and policies like the Healthy Forests Initiative. America's Most Endangered Forests: Malheur National Forest (OR), Siskiyou National Forest (OR), Oregon BLM Forests; Allegheny National Forest (PA); Bighorn National Forest (WY); Daniel Boone National Forest (KY); Los Padres National Forest (CA); George Washington & Jefferson National Forest (VA); Rio Grande National Forest (CO); Tongass National Forest (AK); National Forests in Mississippi; Bitterroot National Forest (MT). Special Mention: Black Hills National Forest (SD) and Nantahala National Forest (NC). Threatened: Carson National Forest (NM); Wayne National Forest (OH); Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area (KY); Flathead National Forest (MT); Kaibab National Forest (AZ); Michigan National Forests: (Huron-Manistee, Hiawatha and Ottawa); Klamath National Forest (CA); Nez Perce National Forest (ID); Umpqua National Forest (OR)....
EPA: Jonah Field pollution too high The Environmental Protection Agency wants slower gas development in western Wyoming's Jonah Field unless companies cut air pollution from wells by 80 percent. The EPA says the cut is necessary to protect wilderness areas and Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks from being blanketed by haze, according to remarks the agency has sent to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The BLM is weighing several approaches for allowing drilling in the area. In a letter to the BLM, EPA Regional Administrator Robert Roberts said drilling companies should use new, cleaner diesel-engine technology to reduce emissions. "If emissions are reduced, the operator would be allowed to drill more natural gas wells," he wrote. The BLM is to rule by January on an EnCana Corp. proposal to drill as many as 3,100 wells in the Jonah Field, which holds one of the region's most concentrated natural-gas deposits....
Forests suddenly off-limits to pickers An abrupt change in U.S. Forest Service policy will leave thousands of Oregon mushroom harvesters without a means of picking up spare cash - beginning now, on the very cusp of chanterelle season. But that's not all. The lawsuit-driven policy shift also may severely restrict the availability of Christmas trees on Forest Service land, disappointing as many as 65,000 wild-tree-hunting families during the coming holidays. Forest Service officials say they have no choice. The restrictions come from a California court ruling that says the agency has to give the public appeal rights - now - with regard to nearly every project or activity the forest allows or under- takes....
New Mexico, Utah Govs. Want the West To Be a 2008 Force New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and Utah Governor John Huntsman want the rest of the country to recognize what we already know: The West is becoming a strong political force. The two, Richardson, a Democrat (and a 2008 contender) and Huntsman, a Republican, want Western states to hold primaries and caucuses on the same date, Feb. 5. The Western Governors Association, of which Richardson is past chair, supports the idea. Right now, three states, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona, are considering holding their primaries on Feb. 5. Huntsman and Richardson hope to influence the rest of the states to join them. Richardson and Huntsman say the West's issues are increasingly the country's most pressing: Natural resource development, land use, weapons and defense development among others....
River plan roils tribe Deep in the bowels of the far western part of the Grand Canyon, where the mighty Colorado River turns from roiling rapids into steady stream, it's like a big lake party. Speedboat operators rev up to 50 mph before doing sharp 180-degree turns in the river's channels as joyful tourists shriek in delight. A steady stream of helicopters ferrying tourists from the Hualapai Tribe's Grand Canyon West airport sink stomachs by surging out beyond the rim into the open air above the deep gorge. But lost in all the hair-raising thrills for tourists is a bitter battle between the Hualapai Tribe and National Park Service as to who controls the river along the 108-mile northern boundary of the reservation. The decision has huge implications for the river-tour industry, which transports nearly 25,000 people annually through the Grand Canyon....
National parks do duty as nature's labs Traveling through more than 300 national parks, you can ascend glacier-topped mountains, wade through mangrove swamps and float through majestic canyons. You will be joined by 266 endangered species, according to the National Park Service. And you'll find working scientists. Last year, almost 277 million people visited the parks, an increase of 4% from 2003, the park service says. There were even more substantial gains in research: The park service approved 2,774 research permits in 2004, up 11% from 2003. Scientists say the intact ecosystems and landscapes are natural laboratories. "If the country were a museum, the national parks would be the exhibits," says forest ecologist Dan Kashian of Colorado State University-Fort Collins. "The national parks are where you go when you want to work in an environment that is relatively free of human disturbance."....
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE POLICIES BEING REVAMPED A proposal that could significantly change US National Park Service management policies is scheduled to be unveiled no later than Oct. 18, 2005, and possibly earlier (NPS: David Barna, 202-208-6843). A leaked draft of an earlier version of the proposal has raised the hackles of many critics, who are concerned the changes would seriously degrade the parks. Supporters say the changes would better balance the two primary mandates of the NPS — to protect resources and allow for visitor use — and would reduce the ability of the NPS to "lock up" lands. The 388 national park system units in 49 states and many territories are a huge draw, attracting more than 276 million recreational visitors in 2004. Management policies for the system (including 58 national parks, as well as many national monuments, recreation areas, etc.) have been revamped about half a dozen times since they were first adopted in 1916, but the Bush administration is slashing that average interval of 15 years by more than two-thirds, proposing revisions soon after the 2001 revisions approved in the last days of the Clinton administration....
West Nile kills N.M. ranch hand West Nile virus has claimed the life of a prominent member of the Tucumcari agricultural community. Alan Bugg, 50, died Friday at University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque after being disconnected from life support. He had been transferred from a hospital in Tucumcari on Sept. 24, said Catherine Bugg, his wife. Alan Bugg had a kidney-pancreas transplant at Fairview University Medical Center in Minneapolis in June, she said. "So he was severely immuno-compromised to begin with," she said. "So he was very susceptible to everything." Alan Bugg was a ranch hand who worked on several ranches and farms in the area, and with the recent wet weather, Catherine Bugg said, she had no doubt a mosquito bit him....
Hangin’ Tree Cowdogs to be demonstrated “When you can’t work harder, you have to work smarter.” That age-old advice has never been more appropriate than today’s busy life on the ranch, with time, money, fuel and man-power getting harder to come by. Many ranchers are turning to well-trained cowdogs to fill the gap, with growing interest in a composite breed known as Hangin’ Tree Cowdogs. These dogs and their ability to perform on a working cattle ranch will be featured in two free demonstrations at the NILE Stock Show, ProRodeo & Horse Extravaganza. The first demonstration will be Thursday, October 13 at noon in the Superbarn at MetraPark in Billings. The second demonstration will be Friday, October 14 at noon, also in the Superbarn. Scott Allison, a cowdog breeder and trainer from Dillon, MT will demonstrate how one lone rider can gather, hold, sort, doctor and even load cattle into a stock trailer on the open range, with only his dogs for help....

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