NEWS ROUNDUP

Martinez cattle case moves to federal court A case involving the impoundment of cattle by the U.S. Forest Service is headed to federal court. That, and not the county superior court, is where Forest Service officials and the Greenlee County Attorney say the matter belongs. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Albuquerque moved the case to the federal district court in Phoenix on Nov. 29. The move was made after the cattle's owner filed an injunction locally to prevent sale of the cattle, most of which have already been shipped to Texas for sale. The cattle, belonging to the Martinez family, were impounded by the Forest Service in October and November. The Forest Service said the cattle were illegally grazing on two allotments on Forest Service land near the Martinez Ranch northeast of Clifton. The USFS said the Martinez family's grazing permit for the Pleasant Valley was canceled in 2004 and the Martinezes never had a permit for the Hickey allotment. Dan Martinez, who is the spokesman for the ranch he owns with his two brothers, adamantly disagrees with the Forest Service and said removal of the cattle is a criminal act on the part of the federal agency. Waiver of a grazing permit is at the center of the dispute between the USFS and the Martinezes....
Rancher sacrifices land for a conservation easement Jay Platt and his brothers were prepared to carve their ranch south of Datil into 10- and 20-acre chunks and sell the pieces off. Then Platt learned about the federal government's Forest Legacy Program, which soon will pay $2.5 million to buy the development rights on 8,000 to 10,000 acres of the ranch's piñon-juniper and Ponderosa pine-studded hills to prevent subdivision and protect a prime wildlife corridor. "This ranch would have done very well as a subdivision, but the more time I spent out there, I didn't want to chop it up," Platt said. "I like ranching." The conservation easement deal for Platt's ranch was featured in a recent Parade magazine article about federal pork projects. The Horse Springs Ranch easement bans subdivision, the building of permanent structures, mining and conversion of forest land to pasture. In addition, Platt must adopt a forest stewardship plan that will guide any future tree cutting and cannot sell water rights off the land. The easement restrictions are permanent and remain on the land even when it is sold or inherited. Cattle ranching and hunting still will be allowed, however...
Park snowmobile changes have little effect on surrounding forests With all the confusion about snowmobiling in Wyoming's national parks, you'd think there would be more sled traffic in the national forests. You'd be wrong. According to U.S. Forest Service officials, changes in snowmobiling in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks have not resulted in an increase in traffic in neighboring national forests. Any increase is a result of good snow conditions, and visitors seeking out the good snow. Mary Cernicek, spokeswoman for the Bridger-Teton, said the clientele that comes to snowmobile in the parks is not interested in the national forests. "It's the destination, and they're terrified to be out on open snow that's not groomed," she said. "They want to be in line, behind the guide, and see Old Faithful."....
Decision on road may stand The assistant supervisor of Pike National Forest doesn’t expect the agency to change its mind about reopening a section of Gold Camp Road to vehicles despite Tuesday’s withdrawal of the decision to correct a technical omission. The agency announced late in the day that it had withdrawn its July decision to allow the reopening of an 8.8-mile section of the scenic mountain road. The agency, Brian Ferebee said, recently discovered it violated internal rules when it failed to have the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service review a biological assessment that was used to make the decision. Ferebee said Wednesday that it could be a couple of months before that review comes back. He speculated that the controversial decision to reopen the historic road would not be changed, although how to do it could be modified....
Hungry Horse land sells for $2.38 million An auction to sell off about 90 acres of Forest Service land in Hungry Horse has closed, with the high bidder purchasing the entire property for $2.381 million. That includes several parcels of land as well as the old Hungry Horse Ranger Station. The high bidder was Stephan Byrd. Linda Perry, of the General Services Administration, which handled the online auction, declined to release Byrd's address and other information, noting an official press release on the sale had not been prepared and the sale itself had not been closed. The Forest Service auction started off slowly, but then ramped up substantially in the past couple of months, gaining almost $1 million in value over the past few weeks....
Report on avalanche death faults southern Nevada ski resort A U.S Forest Service investigation faulted a southern Nevada ski area for inadequate avalanche prevention and rescue training before a cascade of snow swept a teenage snowboarder off a chair lift to his death early this year. The report of the January death of Brett Hutchison, obtained Tuesday by the Las Vegas Review-Journal under a freedom of information request, called heavy snowfall before the fatal avalanche extraordinary in the 40-year history of the Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort. It determined the Mount Charleston resort had not complied with an avalanche control plan, did not have rescue equipment in position and had not adequately prepared employees for search and rescue....
Firefighting helicopters heading to Iraq in 2006 Most of the Colorado National Guard's 12 firefighting helicopters will be in Iraq during next summer's forest fire season. "Next fire season will be a challenge for us," Maj. Gen. Mason Whitney, adjutant general of Colorado's Guard, told the legislature's Joint Budget Committee on Tuesday. He said it is possible that the helicopters' 18-month deployment will keep them out of the state for the 2007 fire season as well. Rich Homann, fire supervisor for the Colorado State Forest Service, said the state has other aircraft available for firefighting and can manage without the Guard's helicopters. But at least two National Guard helicopters were among nine used to scoop water from cattle ponds to help prevent the approaching Mason Gulch Fire from burning the town of Beulah last summer. That fire forced the evacuation of 5,000 people and burned 11,300 acres....
Lizard gets second chance at life Responding to a court order, U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials said Wednesday they will again consider adding an Inland reptile to the federal endangered species list. The sand-dwelling flat-tailed horned lizard once lived across the Coachella Valley, southwestern Arizona and northwestern Mexico, but now resides in small areas. A federal judge ordered the agency to consider the shrinking habitat of the flat-tailed horned lizard when making a decision. The wildlife agency, the judge said in recent rulings, violated federal law in 2003 when it withdrew a proposal to declare the lizard a threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act without taking into account loss of habitat. U.S. District Judge Neil Wake in Phoenix ordered the agency to make a new decision by April 30. The small, sand-dwelling reptile has two rows of fringed scales on each side of its body. It was widespread across the Coachella Valley, southwestern Arizona and northwestern Mexico, but now only lives in pockets. They feed on harvester ants, consuming up to 200 each day....
American Rivers opposes more Columbia water for irrigation Taking more water from the Columbia River system to expand irrigated farming would actually hurt farmers in the state by producing a glut of produce, an environmental group contended Wednesday. A proposal to devote an additional 1 million acre-feet of water to farming would cost farmers about $70 million a year for 20 years, according to a study for American Rivers conducted by scientists at Texas A&M University. "This study shows that too much irrigation is bad not only for fish, but for farmers too," said Rob Masonis, Northwest regional director for American Rivers. It was commissioned in response to renewed efforts by the state of Washington to expand the water supply for farmers in the arid Columbia River Basin, which runs from Grand Coulee Dam to the Tri-Cities....
Threats to Yellowstone cutthroat could lead to federal protection The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has long said the population of Yellowstone cutthroat trout in Yellowstone Lake was abundant enough to keep the fish off of the federal endangered species list, but a new federal study casts serious doubts on the agency's ability to further rely on the lake's bounty. The population of Yellowstone cutthroat trout in Yellowstone Lake, the fish's historic epicenter and stronghold, has decreased by 60 percent and their recovery "appears to be in peril," states a report released last month by National Park Service biologists. "The cutthroat trout population size of this system was once considered to be in the millions," the report states. "However, current abundance indices suggest that only a fraction of that population exists today."....
Fine-spotted cutthroat seen as separate subspecies As U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials determine whether the Yellowstone cutthroat is deserving of federal protection under the Endangered Species Act, a debate rages over whether a certain population of the fish are actually a separate subspecies. Complicating matters are visible and potentially genetic differences between some Yellowstone cutthroat, which is one of 14 subspecies of native Western cutthroat. The Snake River, which forms in western Wyoming before flowing into eastern Idaho, is home to a native population of Yellowstone cutthroat. But there may actually be two different subspecies....
Local agencies frown on federal protection for cutthroat trout Earlier this fall, a gathering of Greater Yellowstone Area biologists, scientists, state and federal Fish and Game officials, environmentalists, fishing guides and general trout enthusiasts met in Idaho Falls for a symposium on the status of the Yellowstone cutthroat. All agree that the fish is special and recovery efforts, while promising, must continue. But there is ongoing debate over whether the Yellowstone cutthroat should be listed under the Endangered Species Act. Generally speaking, Fish and Game officials in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana frown on an ESA listing while environmental groups and trout activists are split....
Air Force secretary supports efforts to block Skull Valley waste site Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne has expressed support for legislation that would block a proposed railroad spur to haul highly radioactive nuclear waste to a proposed storage site in Skull Valley. The legislation, introduced by U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, also would designate wilderness in the Cedar Mountains. Both provisions are part of legislation dealing with land-use planning on the Utah Test and Training Range imbedded in the 2006 defense authorization act. Minnesota-based Private Fuel Storage LLC has proposed a temporary storage site for up to 44,000 tons of spent fuel stored in up to 4,000 steel-lined concrete casks on 820 acres leased from the Goshute Tribe on the reservation in Skull Valley. The company's proposal includes building a railroad spur from the Union Pacific Railroad's mainline. But the spur would cross public land and would need a right of way grant from the BLM....
Governor sees problems with drilling plan Gov. Dave Freudenthal says he sees problems with a Colorado company's plans to pump saline waste water from its drilling operations into Seminoe Reservoir on the North Platte River. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is taking public comment now on its proposal to allow Dudley and Associates LLC of Denver to pump water from its planned Seminoe Road coal-bed methane development into the reservoir. The company plans to drill up to 1,240 wells over the next 10 years. "I think that somebody who's talking about putting highly saline water into a natural water course has got some problems," Freudenthal said Wednesday during his weekly news conference....
State orders permit for Otero Mesa wells The New Mexico Environment Department says it wants more information before it will allow any gas well flaring on Otero Mesa. In a release issued late Tuesday, the department said it has asked Roswell-based Harvey E. Yates Co. for more information on its proposal to flare gas wells on the mesa. The department noted that a federal permit issued to the company would likely result in carbon monoxide emissions that exceed the state's air quality threshold. The company has permission from the Bureau of Land Management to flare. But the state department indicated the company will need a state air quality permit as well. The department's news release said it was informed this month that BLM would allowing the flaring of two natural gas wells on Otero Mesa without "evaluating cumulative air quality impacts to the region, or conferring with the department to determine if an air quality permit might be required." BLM's permit allows two gas wells in the Bennett Ranch Unit to flare gas for 30 days, or 50 million cubic feet of gas, whichever occurs first. The company must notify BLM two weeks prior to flaring....
'A new day' in Yellowstone When the winter season opens in Yellowstone National Park this month, visitors may be more likely to hear the swish of cross-country skis than the buzz of snowmobiles. The business of Yellowstone in winter is undergoing a shift that seems less focused on resolving the long-standing dispute over snowmobiles and more about in adapting to a changing market. Xanterra Parks and Resorts, the largest concessions company in Yellowstone, is offering a slew of new services this winter, including more groomed trails for cross-country skiing, ice skating near Old Faithful and massage therapy at Snow Lodge. The company still offers snowmobile tours, but it's no longer the dominant force it once was in Yellowstone....
A Legendary Sage Reflects On A Current Threat: "The Whole Process is Upside Down" Despite denials from the National Park Service that there is a problem; and in spite of assurances from the agency's public affairs office in Washington D.C. that rank-and-file rangers across the country support changes to the Park Service operating manual being expedited in lone-wolf fashion by Deputy Asssistant Interior Secretary Paul Hoffman, everything I'm hearing suggests that just the opposite is true. Never before in the history of the Park Service have such a large number of retired employees banded together and risen up to challenge what they perceive to be the undoing of their much-beloved public agency. What would cause them to do that? Senior level managers, who collectively have thousands of years of professional experience overseeing our national parks on behalf of we citizens, are in an uproar over the changes that Mr. Hoffman, still, to this day, is trying to implement....