NEWS ROUNDUP

Judge halts Calif. Sequioa logging project A federal judge stopped a logging project in Giant Sequoia National Monument on Monday, keeping intact more than 1,000 acres in a preserve that houses two-thirds of the world's largest trees. Judge Charles R. Breyer issued a preliminary injunction blocking a timber sale, saying the U.S. Forest Service had ignored extensive research on how commercial logging would affect wildlife in the region. "We hope they're finally getting the message," said Deborah Reames, an attorney with Earthjustice, one of several environmental groups that brought the lawsuit. Reames said the project would have hurt wildlife, some of which is at the point of extinction....
Volunteers are upset by safety rules in forest Advocacy groups who help maintain trails in the Chattahoochee National Forest are concerned that strict regulations will put a damper on volunteerism. Representatives from various user groups attended a meeting Nov. 3 at the forest's Chattooga district office in Clarkesville, where they were told that anyone working on forest service trails must comply with extensive safety guidelines. Among the requirements, all volunteers are supposed to wear hardhats, 8-inch-high boots and long-sleeved shirts. Those who work with power equipment also must wear goggles, face masks, hearing protection and chaps, heavy coverings on the front of their pants. "They've interpreted the regulations to mean volunteers should be considered the same as employees while they are working," said Keith McFadden, who coordinates trail maintenance for the Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association, or SORBA. "They have gone overboard with the regulations," said Joan Grant, chairwoman of the Georgia Horse Council trails committee. "It almost feels like they're trying to run us out. We're trying to help (the forest service), because their funds are being cut. But I'm afraid this is going to dishearten a lot of loyal trail people."....
Grizzlies set to be removed from U.S. endangered list Grizzly bear populations have recovered to the extent that the species will be taken off the list of endangered and threatened species, Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton is expected to announce today. The Bush administration has been under mounting pressure from Western lawmakers, who say that when a species is recovered, it should be delisted to relieve property and, in some cases, hunting restrictions imposed by the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee set criteria for recovery in the Yellowstone ecosystem. Those targets have been met, but the bear remains on the list. Sen. Craig Thomas, Wyoming Republican and a champion of ESA reform, met with Mrs. Norton last month to discuss the delisting. "I told her that Interior's credibility hangs on this action -- this is what's wrong with ESA. This plan is a good one, has a scientific basis and needs action," Mr. Thomas said after the meeting. Cameron Hardy, a spokesman for Mr. Thomas, said the move is a "positive step," but he voiced skepticism about the time it might take to complete the delisting process. "It took 10 years for the bear to recover, it should not take 10 years to get the delisting in place," Mr. Hardy said....
Yellowstone Grizzly Bear Recovered, Challenges to Delisting Remain Defenders of Wildlife today hailed the grizzly bear's dramatic comeback in the Yellowstone region, but noted that rollbacks in national forest protection by the Bush administration pose a threat to sustaining the bear's recovery. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) will announce tomorrow that it will move to declare the grizzly bear recovered in and around Yellowstone. "The Endangered Species Act has been a roaring success for the grizzly bear in Yellowstone. We can celebrate the fact that the bear has met and exceeded recovery goals," said Jamie Rappaport Clark, executive vice president for Defenders of Wildlife and former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "The Endangered Species Act has done its job, and the wildlife professionals have done their jobs. Unfortunately, the Bush administration has not done its job of ensuring the long-term protection of the bears. By weakening national forest management and eliminating roadless area protections, the White House has created doubt about the lasting recovery of Yellowstone's grizzlies." In the Yellowstone ecosystem, numbers of grizzly bears have grown steadily since they were first listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act in 1975. At a low of around 200 animals when listed, the grizzly may now number more than 600 in and around Yellowstone National Park, and the population is increasing between four and seven percent each year. With proper management of habitat and key food sources, scientists estimate a 96 percent likelihood of having a healthy grizzly bear population in the Yellowstone ecosystem for the next 500 years....
Column: Species' survival depends on the public's voice In 1989, as government lawyers tried to assess the environmental damage caused by the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the American public was asked: How much was an Alaskan sea otter worth? The presumption was that the existence of wild animals, even in such a remote corner of the USA, was the right of every citizen, and that the public deserved compensation should these animals be harmed. Eventually, a price tag of $89,000 per oiled sea otter was used to calculate part of the $1 billion settlement against Exxon (now the ExxonMobil Corp.). The public is again being asked how much wild animals are worth. Based on proposed changes to the Endangered Species Act approved by the House of Representatives in September, the answer is, not much. At least not to the average American. Rather than businesses being charged for harming wildlife, the proposal would compensate developers and farmers on whose lands endangered species had the misfortune to reside....
New direction for natural gas: Northwest The energy future of the Pacific Northwest is headed straight for Frans and Mieke Eykel's backyard. The Eykels have lived on this low-slung, bucolic strip of land in the Columbia River for 11 years. Frans, a retired aviation maintenance engineer and former Seattleite, says they can identify the different vessels that ply the river — grain barges, cruise ships, oil tankers — by sound alone. But the prospect of new ships — transports carrying millions of gallons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to a proposed terminal across the Columbia — has the Eykels fuming....
Resigned to uranium You get comfortable having boundless blue sky and wide-open range for neighbors when you live here. So the Asays, whose kin homesteaded the area four generations ago, naturally were surprised last spring when they heard they might get a new neighbor. Then they were downright shocked when they learned that a monster pile of radioÂactive waste was moving in. The U.S. Department of Energy had decided to move uranium tailings and toxic chemicals - as much as 18 million tons of them - from the banks of the Colorado River in Moab to just beyond the family land where the Asays live in a modest, ranch-style home, built by Rod and a friend two decades ago. Most people would expect people like the Asays to resist. And, while they did at first, they have come to accept the Energy Department's decision, thanks to some time, distance and a measure of trust....
Rig shortage causes driller to look to Mexico A shortage of coalbed methane drilling rigs in the United States forced one Gillette drilling company to the international market to find a rig. Ed Livingston, a Cody-based rig broker who buys and sells worldwide, found a rig in Mexico for Exploration Inc., which decided to expand its operations because of the coalbed methane boom. Exploration went with the 1978 Gardner-Denver 2500 rig from Mexico because the company could get it sooner than ordering a new rig and it cost much less than a new rig. "The downside to a new rig - it has a year or longer delay date if you ordered it today," Exploration co-owner Paul Walker said. A new rig would also cost about $1 million. But the rig from Mexico was priced at about $300,000. Even when all the necessary repair is added to the cost of other components like a doghouse and dozer, it's a better value for the company, Walker said....
Drilling divides town Drilling for oil and natural gas near Dinosaur National Monument is a hot topic at the Miner's Café on Brontosaurus Boulevard. Owners Raymond and Ester Miner and their daughter Sandi Garcia say the town needs jobs. Drilling will bring those jobs. "The town needs something, or it's dead," Raymond Miner said. The Miners say energy development is Dinosaur's best chance to bring some people and their money into this town of about 320 people on the Utah border. But not everyone in Dinosaur thinks drilling near the monument, known for its fossils and canyon land, would benefit the town. At the other end of the boulevard, Leona Hemmerich and Bill Mitchem, owners of the Bedrock Depot, say drilling would hurt the town's tourism economy and possibly the water supply....
A voice for silence There are only seven or eight quiet places remaining in the United States. Fewer than 10. In the entire nation. Barely more than half a dozen in all the parks, wilderness, refuges and "wild" spaces that we treasure. Fewer all the time. Quiet is going extinct. These thoughts turn over in the mind as you explore one of these few quiet places left in North America, perhaps the quietest of them all. Your guide is a man who has given his career to listening and recording the pure sounds of nature — and searching for meaning in what they convey. He has become one of the few Americans to raise his voice on behalf of the vanishing quiet....
A Troubled Outlook for Parasites You'd think that if anything could capitalize on global warming, a parasite would be it. After all, parasites are nature's ultimate opportunists. But no, at least not the ones that affect caterpillars - mainly tiny wasps that lay eggs inside them, leading to their deaths. According to a study by Lee A. Dyer of Tulane University in New Orleans and colleagues, global warming - specifically, the kinds of extreme weather like droughts and storms that are spawned by higher average temperatures - will lead to decreased parasitism in caterpillars. That may be good news for the caterpillars, but in other ways it is bad news, Dr. Dyer said. Without parasites, populations of some caterpillars - those that like to eat crops, say - could soar. "We should see more of these damaging outbreaks of herbivores," Dr. Dyer said....
Parcel within park for sale The only parcel of private property within the Theodore Roosevelt National Park's south unit is for sale. Norbert Sickler, of Dickinson, has owned the land since 1981. The 176 acres borders the park on three sides, between the Painted Canyon and Medora exits on Interstate 94. The land is listed at $352,000 through a real estate agent. National Park Service spokesman Barney Olson said the land is "very high priority" for the agency. The Park Service has made an offer that mirrors good grazing pasture, about $325 an acre, Olson said. He said negotiations are open. Sickler wants about $2,000 an acre for the land. The land also is being eyed as a location for a motel by a Minnesota developer, said Lowell Nester, the realty agent for the sale....
Column: Why we must restore Hetch Hetchy In 1988, while serving President Ronald Reagan as secretary of the Interior Department, I proposed that we should investigate the possibility of draining Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and restoring the valley to its original state; a smaller but no less glorious sister of the stunning Yosemite Valley. I requested a preliminary study by the Bureau of Reclamation to explore "win-win" restoration options, and the bureau advised me that it appeared that San Francisco's water supply could be protected and perhaps, even, enhanced by various possible options. My modest study proposal was met by an unexpected firestorm of opposition from some people who normally favored environmental responsibility and conservation, most notably then-mayor of San Francisco, Dianne Feinstein. Confronted with an opportunity to review the matter, she made every effort to quash both investigation and discussion, vociferously insisting that Hetch Hetchy was a "birthright" of the people of San Francisco....
Yellowstone bison numbers at all-time recorded high On a quiet day in Yellowstone National Park, the bison may outnumber the visitors. At the latest count, there were 4,900 bison in the park, an all-time high since records have been kept. Park biologists say the swollen population is the result of several factors, including a string of mild winters and plenty of grasses and sedges to eat. There's no sign that the landscape is having a hard time keeping up, according to park officials. “We've got 220,000 acres of bison habitat in Yellowstone National Park. That's a lot of space for 5,000 animals,” said Rick Wallen, a park wildlife biologist. Recent research indicates that the landscape can handle between 2,200 and 7,500 bison, according to Glenn Plumb, supervisory wildlife biologist at Yellowstone. But as the population grows, the likelihood increases that bison will push beyond Yellowstone's borders, and that's where problems arise....
Washington Farm Bureau announces property-rights initiative campaign The Washington Farm Bureau on Monday announced a campaign for a property-rights initiative similar to one in Oregon that was widely passed by voters but struck down by the courts. The initiative would require landowners to be compensated by governments if an action damages either the use or value of private property, or would require governments to waive regulations on that land. Dan Wood, the group's director of government relations, said the initiative would not change current planning and agricultural zoning ordinances or the state Growth Management Act....
It's All Trew: Texas weather always unpredictable Mother Nature can be cranky and unpredictable all through the year, but the spring season seems to be the most unsure time of all. Time and again, down through the years, residents have removed their wood or coal heating stoves then suffered through a late spring blizzard. Modern-day residents, like the Trews, often turn off and have to relight the pilot lights on heating units as one last cold snap arrives. Old-timers know never to remove their extra coat and gloves from their pickups until after its time to start using the air conditioner. Experience learned the hard way is never forgotten. One bit of wisdom handed down from generation to generation in the Trew family is, "Spring is not here until the mesquite trees start making leaves." My father watched all his life and remembered only one time that mesquite leaves suffered from a late freeze....