NEWS ROUNDUP

First kills made in renewal of bison hunt For the first time in 15 years, bison fell to hunters' bullets near here Tuesday, after wandering out of the protection of nearby Yellowstone National Park. Montana's contentious bison hunt got under way at sunrise, with a light layer of snow on the ground and the temperature hovering at 4 degrees. Within the first 90 minutes, 17-year-old George Clement of Belgrade, who won one of the coveted licenses in a drawing this fall after applying on a whim, shot a bison in a draw near Gardiner, just north of Yellowstone. State officials later confirmed a second bison had been killed on private property near the park's western boundary. Clement, who took the day off from school for the hunt, said he shot the bison from about 30 yards away - and less than an hour after he and family members arrived and began surveying the rolling, shadowy landscape for bison. Clement said he was surprised at the sheer size of the beast: It took four people to roll the animal on its back, and hours to peel back the hide and gut the animal - work that stained the snow red and sent steam rising in the frosty air....
Landowner group takes on eminent domain Eminent domain. Condemnation. Them's fightin' words in a state that prides itself on property rights and individualism. But some landowners say the words are now part of the common vernacular in the Powder River Basin where coal-bed methane gas developers are trenching hundreds of miles of pipe and power line to connect thousands of new wells each year. "They've raised the level of need to convenience, and convenience should not be how we lose our property rights in Wyoming," said Johnson County landowner Steve Adami. Adami is challenging an attempt by Gillette-based Kennedy Oil to take a 4-mile easement across his ranch via eminent domain for an underground power line. Adami said he's already granted the company an "energy corridor" easement elsewhere on his property, and the additional easement is a matter of convenience because of poor planning by Kennedy Oil. John Kennedy, owner of Kennedy Oil, contends that he's only asking for what is economically practical and allowed for under Wyoming law. Furthermore, he and other coal-bed methane developers in the area are burying power lines rather constructing cheaper overhead power lines to avoid negative wildlife impacts and marring the ranchers' vistas. But Adami said he's no rabble rouser. Energy companies seem to wield the threat of condemnation too loosely, he said. And too often landowners give in to avoid the expensive legal fight that seems to almost never favor the property owner....
Feds deny protection for snail A small land snail found in the Uinta mountains of northeast Utah may be uncommon, but it's not unique enough to qualify for protection under the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Tuesday. At least one conservation group in the region is promising to challenge the ruling, insisting the Uinta mountain snail is a separate subspecies that needs protection from logging, grazing, off-road vehicles and prescribed fires. "I see no reason why we wouldn't challenge this, because the scientific evidence clearly demonstrates that it is a unique subspecies," said Kevin Mueller, of the Utah Environmental Congress, based in Salt Lake City....
Huge Ariz. land swap OK'd A bill that could bring widespread changes to north-central Arizona is on its way to President Bush to sign into law after the U.S. House on Tuesday approved a huge federal and private land swap. Under the deal, the largest U.S. Forest Service land exchange in Arizona in 50 years, Yavapai Ranch owner Fred Ruskin would turn over about 35,000 acres southeast of Seligman to Prescott National Forest in return for federal land scattered throughout the Coconino and Prescott national forests, mostly near or in cities. The more than 15,000 acres Ruskin will get includes about 2,200 acres bordering Interstate 17 and Arizona 260, half of which is within the Camp Verde limits. Ruskin plans to build a shopping center and homes, sell right-of-way for an anticipated highway bypass between Camp Verde and Cottonwood, and donate about 500 acres to Camp Verde as open space....
Bush due to issue new dam relicensing rules President Bush is set to issue new rules governing the relicensing of the nation's hydroelectric dams, a move the energy industry hopes will cut bureaucratic hurdles but that some argue could weaken environmental protections. The new Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rules, due out as early as Thursday, are part of the 2005 energy bill Bush signed Aug. 8. They're detailed in 109 pages of Interior Department documents obtained by The Associated Press. According to the changes, utilities now will be able to challenge requirements written into dam licenses by federal agencies, including the National Marine Fisheries Service, the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Such conditions can set river flows to boost recreation - or even force utilities to build fish ladders to bolster endangered salmon and steelhead runs. In addition, the new rules will allow utilities to propose their own alternatives to such conditions....
Wyoming plans grizzly hunt if ban lifted Wyoming game officials say they will institute the state's first grizzly bear hunting season in more than 30 years if the bear is removed from federal protection, but Idaho and Montana say it is too early to make such a decision. The comments came after the Interior Department announced Tuesday that it will propose that bears around Yellowstone National Park be removed from federal protection under the endangered species law. Officials said that grizzly population in the area has grown to an estimated 600 since the bears were put on the threatened species list in 1975. The three states bordering Yellowstone have management plans, approved by the federal government, that include provisions for hunting the bears if their populations rise above certain levels....
Feds make dramatic move to save orcas Puget Sound's orcas are in such danger of extinction that the federal government on Tuesday ended years of legal squabbling and agreed to protect them using its strongest and most controversial tool under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The National Marine Fisheries Service surprised orca advocates by listing the charismatic 4- to 6-ton "southern resident" killer whales as "endangered" — the ESA's most serious designation. It immediately turned what could have been a largely symbolic gesture into a move that could affect boating, pollution discharges, major construction projects and a host of other activities. "Oh my goodness, that's beautiful," said Fred Felleman, regional director for the environmental group Ocean Advocates....
The Curious Case of The One-Eyed Sheep Idaho sheep ranchers couldn't figure out why, in the decade after World War II, a random batch of their lambs were being born with strange birth defects. The creatures had underdeveloped brains and a single eye planted, cyclopslike, in the middle of their foreheads. In 1957 they called in scientists from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to investigate. The scientists worked for 11 years to solve the mystery. One of them, Lynn James, lived with the sheep for three summers before discovering the culprit:corn lilies. When the animals moved to higher ground during droughts, they snacked on the flowers. The lilies, it turned out, contained a poison, later dubbed cyclopamine, that stunted developing lamb embryos. The mothers remained unharmed. The case of the cyclopamine and the one-eyed Idaho lambs remained a freakish chemistry footnote for the next 25 years; researchers never could uncover why cyclopamine caused birth defects. But now cancer researchers have improbably seized on the obscure plant chemical as the blueprint for a half-dozen promising tumor-fighters....
Rhinestones and Cowboy Hats as the Opry Turns 80 "Boy, Carnegie Hall can be very quiet," Alison Krauss observed between songs on Monday night. For the first time since 1961, the Grand Ole Opry, a Nashville institution founded 80 years ago, brought an all-star revue to Carnegie Hall. The occasion was the night before the Country Music Awards at Madison Square Garden. Everyone - musicians and audience - was on good behavior, not always a good thing for country. It was a night for ballads, not hoedowns. The Opry has always been a live radio show, and on Monday night the lineup of musicians playing a few songs each included current country hitmakers like Martina McBride, Trisha Yearwood, Alan Jackson and Brad Paisley, along with longtime Opry members like Charley Pride, Little Jimmy Dickens and the songwriter Bill Anderson. A jovial Vince Gill, who sang his own set and sat in with others, and the earnest Opry announcer Eddie Stubbs were the hosts. The program was broadcast live on the Nashville AM radio station WSM, as well as on Sirius satellite radio and the Opry's website, www.opry.com. It was also videotaped for a cable telecast next spring on the GAC channel. In its modest way, the concert was a country manifesto promising unity, tradition, sincerity and glimmers of diversity. Collaborations presented country as one big family; Mr. Gill and Ms. Krauss reappeared through the show....
Stacy Westfall First Woman Competitor at Road to the Horse You've been waiting so long! After six months of secrecy, event producer Tootie Bland announces reining champion Stacy Westfall as the fourth clinician and the first woman to compete at the 2006 Road to the Horse Colt Starting Challenge. Westfall will make history as she meets well-known cowboys Craig Cameron, Van Hargis, and Martin Black to start, ride, and compete on previously untouched horses in Murfreesboro, Tenn. February 25-26, 2006. Westfall, from Mt. Gilead, Ohio, is no stranger to the competition arena-or to being the mysterious challenger. She's known for her "mystery-rider" routine at horse shows across the U.S. Dressed in a dark trench coat, hat and bandana to cover her face, Westfall asked her horse to perform sliding stops and fast spins without reins and with musical accompaniment. In 2003, National Reining Horse Association Futurity fans leapt to their feet after her bridleless ride rated tops with the judges. She won without so much as a neck rope to control her horse....
Champion Cowboy - Champion Horse Glen Goddard of Maple Creek recently returned home with the World Steer Wrestling Championship from Winnemucca, Nevada. The NSPRA (National Senior Pro Rodeo Association) World Championship was held October 31 - November 5th. After more than 20 years of competing as a member of the Canadian Cowboy’s Association, Goddard joined the NSPRA four years ago. NSPRA rodeos are smaller rodeos with both professional and amateur competitors. Goddard competes in the 40 - 50 age bracket. There are competitors in the 50 - 60, and over 70 age categories, he said. His fastest time for the season was 4.2 seconds. Goddard’s horse ‘Spook’ was awarded Steer Wrestling Horse of the Year. All the steer wrestlers in the NSPRA circuit vote on the winning horse. Spook is a 17 year old quarter horse. It was a good year for him also,” Goddard added....
'Being a cowboy' nets McBride PBR-record take As J.W. Hart pulled McBride's bull rope for the final ride of the 2005 season, Hart offered some advice to his good friend. "He told me, 'Don't let go,' " McBride recalled. At stake were the Professional Bull Riders world title and the accompanying $1 million bonus. McBride needed a ride of any kind to win his first-ever PBR gold buckle. And a ride of any kind he got. McBride was sideways with three seconds remaining, but hung on for a 75-point ride aboard Camo, for the PBR world championship earlier this month. "It pays off to listen,'' McBride joked with a nationwide audience. "That was the ugliest, worst ride I ever made since I was a calf rider. But, on the other hand, it was the best ride I ever made. "Bull riding went out the window when I nodded my head because that ride was pretty much about being a cowboy.'' Including the million-dollar bonus, McBride earned a PBR record $1,479,231. He finished second in the aggregate to Guilherme Marchi of Brazil....
Film captures essence of California cowboys But in the new documentary "Tapadero," the stories and traditions of the California vaqueros, or cowboys, are presented in earnest by framing the "Californios" as humble, hardworking ranch owners and hands who have carried on the traditions of Spanish settlers in 1800s California for generations in an almost sacred exchange. Co-writers Susan Jensen and Paul Singer, a Santa Barbara-based couple, produced and directed the documentary. The film was born out of the pair's fondness for riding, which led to their discovery of the vaqueros, a distinct brand of cowboy when compared to those in other Western and Southwest states, such as Texas and Utah. In the documentary, the sight of mostly white cowboys using methods and tools designed by Mexican and Spanish ranch hands gives the viewer an understanding of the appreciation modern California cowboys have for their brown-skinned forbearers. Nearly 150 years after the first vaqueros settled along the coast, the traditions have remained and, according to the film, are experiencing somewhat of a resurgence due to a new generation of college-educated cowboys....