NEWS ROUNDUP
Attorneys debate Wyoming wolf plan Attorneys involved in Wyoming's lawsuit over wolf management squared off Friday over whether the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is trampling on state's rights or taking needed precautions to save a threatened species. The key question is whether wolves should be allowed to be shot with little regulation in nearly all of Wyoming except the greater Yellowstone area, where wolves were reintroduced in 1995. "The very reason wolves were pushed to the brink was because of unregulated taking," Justice Department attorney Jimmy Rodrigez, representing the federal agency, said in federal court Friday. "The service can't endorse a plan that allows for unlimited taking." But Wyoming Deputy Attorney General Jay Jerde accused the federal agency of not working with the state in good faith. "There's shocking evidence that they did not deal straight with us throughout this whole process," he said....
Wolf's Future in Wyoming, as Predator or Fragile Species, Is in Court's Hands Gray wolves have thrived in the West since their reintroduction into Yellowstone National Park 10 years ago last month. No one disputes that. There is also broad agreement among federal wildlife officials, ranchers and conservationists that the time is ripe to remove the protections of the Endangered Species Act under which the wolves made their comeback. Just one thing stands in the way, they all say: The State of Wyoming. Not that Wyoming loves wolves and wants them nurtured and protected by the government - far from it - but rather that the state and federal government have been unable to agree about what sort of wildlife management the wolves need or do not need as they become more established. The state argues that wolves are predators across much of Wyoming where they now roam and should be treated as such - residents should be allowed to shoot them at will, like other varmints. Federal wildlife officials said the state's plan is a recipe for annihilation of a still-fragile species and that until Wyoming comes up with a more wolf-friendly plan, the Endangered Species Act, which protects the wolves as experimental, nonessential species, will continue to apply....
Effect of court ruling on wolves' status unclear The head of wolf recovery efforts in the Northern Rockies said Friday it may be a week or two before federal wildlife officials know the effect a recent court ruling will have on the status of wolves in northwestern Montana. In the meantime, state and federal wildlife officials suggest treating the wolves as though they were classified as endangered, meaning they cannot be shot even if they're seen attacking livestock. Ed Bangs, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's wolf recovery coordinator in the region, said it's too early to tell whether the decision by a federal judge in Oregon earlier this week increases protection for the 60 animals in the northwestern part of the state. However, he acknowledged that reclassifying the population from threatened to endangered would be a setback in efforts to eventually get the gray wolf removed from either list of protected species....
New wolf rules take effect Monday Starting Monday, ranchers in most of Idaho and Montana who catch a wolf chasing livestock on their property can legally shoot it dead. Feb. 7 marks the first day of a new federal rule that allows ranchers, along with permitted outfitters and grazing allotment holders on public land, to protect their own livestock. However, the new rule does not mean open season on wolves, cautioned Ed Bangs, wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "The key is chasing, harassing, molesting livestock," Bangs said. You can't legally kill a wolf "if it's standing by, looking. You can't just shoot them because you don't like them."....
Groups appeal eradication process for tui chub Three conservation groups have appealed the Umpqua National Forest's decision to use the chemical Rotenone to rid Diamond Lake of a troublesome fish, the tui chub. The minnow-like fish have taken over the lake and are blamed for poor water quality that has closed the popular lake to summer swimming, wading and water-skiing in recent years. The chemical would kill all the fish in the lake, which would then be restocked....
Hopis face uncertain future Loss of revenue from the closure of Mohave Generating Station and Black Mesa Mine would force the layoff of at least 150 of the Hopi Tribe's 500 employees. In addition, 13 percent of the Navajo Nation government's non-mine labor force would lose jobs along with 300 mine workers. Hopi Tribal Chairman Wayne Taylor Jr., at the invitation of the Arizona State Senate Natural Resources Committee, traveled to Phoenix Wednesday to brief the group on potential impacts to the tribes from the impending closures. By the end of this year, environmental lawsuits likely will force the closure of Mohave, which in turn will force the closure of Black Mesa Mine, a joint Hopi-Navajo enterprise, the chairman said....
Timber companies pocket new land-use tool Oregon timber owners heavily supported Measure 37, which requires governments to waive development restrictions or compensate landowners whose property value is diminished by land-use rules. The measure passed easily on the November ballot, and applications for relief under its provisions are starting to trickle in to various government offices. But timber company representatives say they won’t be among those applicants, although they might be eligible for waivers or compensation. A waiver could allow harvesting in areas prohibited by the state’s 1971 Forest Practices Act, or allow housing on land zoned exclusively for timber under the state’s 1973 land-use plan. Where companies can show continuous ownership dating from before either law, they could be eligible for compensation for trees that could not be harvested or for housing that could not be built....
Bush reaffirms commitment to Klamath Basin President Bush continued his commitment to finding long-term solutions to water issues in the Klamath Basin by proposing an 8.4 percent increase in his 2006 budget for Interior Department programs in the basin. The $62.9 million request will help the department work with state and local interests to address the long-term water quality and water supply challenges in the basin, while enhancing fish populations, addressing the water needs of national wildlife refuges and the interests of tribes, and providing irrigation water to farmers....
Snow scarcity increases chances of long, dry summer Sunny winter days may be pleasant, but the persistent warmth and lack of snow is increasing the risk of another exceptionally dry summer that could drain irrigation reservoirs, kill fish and cut into electric generating capacity. Across the Cascade Mountains from Oregon to Washington, many basins have gathered barely one-third the snow that is normal by this time of year. Even at elevations of 5,000 feet or more, warm temperatures are bringing rain and melting what little snow has landed. "It's not a very pretty picture," said Jon Lea, snow survey hydrologist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Portland....
Invasive Species Will Now Be Watched by NASA Invasive species of plants and insects now have a new enemy - NASA satellites. Recently, NASA accepted an invitation to join the National Invasive Species Council (NISC) to assist 12 other Federal agencies combat invasive species across the country by providing information from satellites. NASA satellite data will be used by the other federal agencies to help locate various plants. The satellites will use bands of color from the spectrum to see the Sun's light reflected by different plants and the environments in which they are growing. The satellites will lock in on the combination of bands of color to determine an invasive plant's current locations and areas that may develop a future invasion. Scientists are working now with the satellite data to see different plants....
Proposals to halt use of lead ammunition, to spare condors and raptors, are voted downCalifornia's hunters dodged a nonlead bullet yesterday as the California Fish and Game Commission denied two requests from environmental groups to ban the use of lead bullets in condor country and statewide. Voting 3-1 against both requests, with Commissioner Bob Hattoy of Long Beach twice the lone dissenter, the commission denied a request from the Center for Biological Diversity and other groups to take emergency action and ban the use of lead bullets by hunters in California condor habitat. The commission also refused the request to ban lead bullets and shot in all hunting in the state to protect all raptors, which, like condors, eat remains of animals shot with lead ammunition....
They Shoot Zebras, Don't They? As the men bumped away from camp in the four-wheel-drive pickup, over rutted dirt roads and through tiny streams, the sun revealed open plains around them, dotted with scrawny oak trees. Paul Tyjewski, Paul Royce and their guide, Kal Katzer, began glimpsing exotic wildlife gathering under the trees, using the cover of daybreak to feed before predators arose. Only, in this instance, the animals' instincts had failed them, since the predators were wide-eyed, eager and getting ever closer with their 7mm Remingtons. In one area, skittish kudu, African antelopes with twisting horns rising two feet out of their skulls, hopped from tree to tree. Nearby, aoudads -- massive versions of sheep from the Barbary rocks of North Africa, with horns curving out and back from their skulls -- playfully butted heads. Katzer pointed out ibex, exotic goats with thick, scaly horns. Seeing these graceful animals in their native Africa has its own power. But the fact that the group was taking them in -- and hunting them -- near Junction, Tex., only two hours from urban San Antonio, made the moment even more remarkable....
U.S. to allow Canadian beef back in on March 7 U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns told the National Cattlemen's Beef Association Friday that the U.S. border will reopen to Canadian imports on March 7. Johanns made the comments in his first speech outside Washington since being sworn in two weeks ago. He pledged that the administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture will do everything possible to keep pushing for resumed exports to Japan, promising to "just keep the pressure on" to set a date for that to happen. Japan stopped its imports of U.S. beef on Dec. 24, 2003, after a single case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, was discovered in Washington state on Dec. 23. But talks between the United States and Japan may be further complicated after Japan confirmed Friday its first case of variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease following the death of a man who had symptoms of the fatal brain-wasting illness....
Farmers Mark Food Check-Out Day The bounty of safe, affordable food produced by America's farmer and ranchers benefits consumers, who pay less for food than citizens of any other country in the world. On average, Americans spend only about 10 percent of their disposable income on food, according to Agriculture Department statistics. This means that it takes only about 37 days for the average American to earn enough to buy their groceries for the entire year. What's even more amazing is that the percentage of disposable personal income spent for food in the United States has declined over the last 34 years, due to increased standards of living. The last time Americans used 12 percent or more of their disposable income to purchase food was in 1983. In 1984, the average dropped to just under 12 percent and it has been steadily declining since then. For the past 7 years, Americans have spent an average of just 10 percent of their disposable income on food....
Saturday, February 05, 2005
Friday, February 04, 2005
NEWS ROUNDUP
Study suggests lack of environmental oversight Two Wyoming agencies recently recognized the need for more field inspectors and stiffer fines for violations in the burgeoning natural gas fields. Now, a multistate conservation group is suggesting the problem exists throughout the Rockies. The Western Organization of Resource Councils issued its study, "Law and Order in the Oil and Gas Fields," and conducted a media telephone conference on Wednesday. "The level of staffing for enforcement and existing accountability mechanisms are inadequate and outdated for an industry that is rapidly expanding across the western landscape," said Peggy Utesch, member of the Western Colorado Congress. The study showed that 79 percent of the oil and gas activity in the five-state region -- Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, Colorado and New Mexico -- occurs within six of the region's Bureau of Land Management field offices. Yet only 26 percent of all BLM's inspectors are located in those field offices....
Dismissal motion filed in racketeering lawsuit Attorneys for an environmental activist from Fawnskin filed a motion Thursday in U.S. District Court seeking the dismissal of the federal racketeering lawsuit against her, according to a statement. Sandy Steers, a member of the activist group Friends of Fawnskin, is accused, along with three U.S. Forest Service employees, of conspiring to illegally block a 133-condomium development slated to be built in the rustic mountain hamlet. The lawsuit against Steers contends that she, San Bernardino National Forest Supervisor Gene Zimmerman and Forest Service biologists Scott and Robin Eliason are violating the federal Racketeer Influences and Corrupt Organizations Act....
Bush Seeks $867 Million Budget for Forest Thinning The Bush administration will ask Congress to increase funding to $867 million in fiscal year 2006 for a plan to help reduce the risk of wildfires in federal forests, a senior administration official said on Thursday. The U.S. Agriculture Department's Forest Service division and the Interior Department, which work together to fight forest fires, received $811 million in the current budget year for the forest management plan. Mark Rey, the U.S. Agriculture Department's undersecretary of natural resources, told reporters that about $492 million of the requested $867 million in 2006 would be used to remove hazardous underbrush from more than 4 million acres of land. The rest would be spent to improve the landscape and wildlife habitats....
Editorial: Preble's mouse like canary in coal mine The rodent is still roaring, despite the U.S. Interior Department's push to take the Preble's meadow jumping mouse off the endangered species list. The Front Range is losing streamside wildlife habitat at an alarming rate, putting many native plants and animals at risk. Regardless of whether the Preble's is truly endangered, Colorado should take steps to preserve its key foothills ecosystems. Our region's small streams harbor fish and other aquatic life, while trees, wildflowers and grasses on their banks shelter songbirds, raptors and other wildlife. These riparian ecosystems also provide people with open space, protect drinking water quality and absorb overflows that otherwise might flood towns and cities. Yet Front Range riparian areas, from Denver to the foothills, are being rapidly destroyed by human encroachment....
Cutthroat lawsuit expected Environmentalists filed a lawsuit Thursday demanding the federal government give Endangered Species Act protection to coastal cutthroat trout in the lower Columbia River in Oregon and Washington. Filed in U.S. District Court in Portland, the lawsuit argues that when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service denied protection in 2002, the agency ignored the conclusions of government scientists. They said the coastal cutthroat from the lower Columbia River basin, which spend part of their lives at sea, were in danger of extinction. "In our opinion that was essentially a political decision,'' said Noah Greenwald, a biologist for the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the groups that filed the lawsuit. "The Bush administration denied coastal cutthroat trout protection, not because the species doesn't need to be protected, but because of hostility to the Endangered Species Act.''....
Conservation Genetics Center Leads Research On Yellowstone Wolves Ten years after the federal government reintroduced gray wolves to Yellowstone National Park, the UCLA Conservation Genetics Resource Center is conducting research that will aid in understanding the dynamics that underlie successful endangered species reintroductions. Under a contract awarded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Yellowstone Park Foundation in August 2004, UCLA researchers are analyzing blood samples taken from some 450 wolves to determine mating and migration patterns and secure other key data. Results, which will help determine future wolf management policies, are expected in summer 2005. "This is the most comprehensive genetic analysis of North American carnivores ever undertaken, and involves the most notable U.S. population," said Robert K. Wayne, professor of biology and co-founder of the UCLA Conservation Genetics Resource Center. "Through DNA testing, we can learn so much about the hidden lives of these wolves, such as who is mating with whom and how they move from one place to another, and help determine the conditions necessary for successful reintroductions of other species in the future."....
Scientists take sides in battle over coho State scientists say that coastal coho have bounced back from their low point and no longer need federal protection - putting the state at odds with federal scientists. The federal government listed the salmon as threatened in 1998, but property owners and timber companies promptly filed a lawsuit and got the fish removed from the Endangered Species list. Now, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is trying to get coastal coho back on the list, after a panel of scientists said that the coho still need federal protection. That attempt runs counter to the Bush administration's desire to return this, and other endangered species listings, to state control. It also runs counter to a plan announced Wednesday by Oregon officials, who have long argued that coastal coho are better managed by the state than by the federal government. This puts the state squarely in line with the Bush administration, and directly opposed to NOAA....
Biologists Planning to Study Pelicans Pelican nesting grounds will be off-limits to the public this year at a refuge in central North Dakota while biologists plan their most extensive study ever of the big birds. Biologists still are baffled about why some 28,000 birds showed up to nest at the refuge in early April but took off in late May and early June, abandoning their chicks and eggs. The 4,385-acre Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge north of Medina had been the site of the largest nesting colony of white pelicans in North America. Biologists are counting on the pelicans to return in April, as they have for at least a century....
Otters take plunge in project to populate river Wednesday may have been Groundhog Day across the nation but Thursday was Otter Day - in Utah, anyway. An adult river otter and her 9-month-old female pup were released into the Escalante River near its confluence with Calf Creek in southern Utah's Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument shortly after noon. First mother and then daughter tentatively poked curious snouts out of their cages to sniff the desert air. The furry mammals quickly plunged into the babbling Escalante and swam out of the bright sunshine and into the shadows of the red sandstone cliffs. "It's Otter Day in Utah," said Kevin Bunnell, the mammals-program coordinator for the state Division of Wildlife Resources. "It went very well. This has been seven years in the making."....
Column: Whining Over Wind While Wyoming ranchers and hunters are facing off with gas companies eager to drill their rangelands and hunting grounds, Massachusetts lobster barons are facing their own showdown with an energy juggernaut. Has the West found an ally in Eastern blue bloods and politicians such as Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass.? Not exactly. In Wyoming's Powder River Basin, locals are trying to curb plans to drill as many as 80,000 methane gas wells over the next six years that may damage thousands of private groundwater wells and slice-and-dice the open landscape with roads, gates and waste ponds. Meanwhile, off the coast of Nantucket, citizens are opposing -- get this -- an offshore wind farm. That's right. The Cape Cod set claims the proposed line of 130 windmills 11 miles off the Atlantic coast, would ruin the ocean view, the property values and otherwise bring down the neighborhood....
Activists' new cause: restoring their clout A decade ago, environmental groups dominated the national agenda -- reshaping forest policy, carving out new wildlife protections and winning favor with much of the American public. But today they face the stinging realization that their influence is waning. The public is tuning them out. Their longtime tactics, many admit, are no longer working so well. And they are divided over how to regain the lost ground. Last year's presidential election offered the latest evidence. Conservation groups knocked on thousands of doors in Oregon and other states to tell voters President Bush has an abysmal environmental record. But it did not prevent his re-election. They could scarcely persuade Democrat John Kerry, whom they claim as a political ally, to raise the environment in his race against the president. "They don't nearly have the credibility they did 20 or 30 years ago," said Tim Hibbitts of the Portland public research company Davis, Hibbitts & Midghall Inc. While Oregon's attitude toward environmental groups was once uniformly favorable, he said, today it's neutral to slightly negative at best....
Lawyers claim retaliation in man's firing On the day a lawsuit by a senior federal auditor against energy giant Kerr-McGee Corp. was unsealed, the U.S. Department of the Interior decided to terminate his position, the man's lawyers said Wednesday. Lawyers for Bobby L. Maxwell, who filed the lawsuit against Kerr-McGee alleging that it owed the U.S. government up to $12 million in royalties, said they believe their client's position was eliminated in retaliation for his suit against the oil and gas company. Attorneys Richard C. LaFond and Michael S. Porter said Maxwell has a proven track record as an auditor for Minerals Management Service, an arm of the Interior Department, and has been responsible for collecting a half-billion dollars in unpaid royalties....
The West's New Boomtowns Are Looking Beyond the Drought Water purchases in farm country, meanwhile, are slowing. Aurora signed an agreement last year, in the face of deep hostility from farm community leaders, that when its current round of water purchases is completed, it will buy no more farm water for at least 40 years. For cities like Aurora - part of an archipelago of new urban centers across the West that have never experienced a serious drought until this one - the sense of political limits that came with a change in the weather pattern was as much of a shock as the drought itself. Older cities like Denver and Phoenix grew up nurtured by a huge federal commitment in the 20th century to water the West through dams, reservoirs and irrigation projects. The new places found themselves largely dependent on their own resources, as federal ambitions have retreated and the environmental costs of the old ways have become clearer....
Klamath region grows more desperate California's record-setting storms bypassed the thirsty Klamath River Basin, threatening to incite another farmer rebellion over water deliveries and imperiling a vital salmon fishery and bald eagle habitat. While February and March still hold the possibility of a reprieve, the immediate outlook is grim for the region, which straddles the California-Oregon border from Tule Lake to Klamath Falls. The snowpack is slightly less than half the normal amount, an unsettling contrast to the ample snowfall that buried much of California after Christmas. More than three weeks have passed since the last significant snow fell in the basin, and that was just an inch....
A Wet Spell In Rough Country The cycle runs like clockwork," an old rancher friend had told me. "Here in the Davis Mountains, we live through 20 years of drought, then it rains a bit, then we go back to tough times." Those tough times seem to have lifted in West Texas for now, at least as far as the weather is concerned. Thanks to some steady rains, the country is now carpeted with green grass. All of the succulents are blooming, and the oak, mesquite and juniper trees are thick and heavy with leaves. Riding my old paint horse in the ranch country near Fort Davis, Texas, I've been struck by the incredible beauty of the desert mountains after they've had an opportunity to steep in some moisture. The effect of riding in these mountains during such conditions has been restorative--both for me and my horse....
Ag Department reviews ban on older Canada cows New Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said Thursday he is reviewing the continuing U.S. ban of older Canadian cattle, which are more susceptible to mad cow disease, while allowing imported meat from animals of any age. The United States plans to resume imports of Canadian cattle under 30 months old beginning March 7. Last week, meatpackers asked a federal judge for an injunction to resume imports of older cattle, saying the ban has cost their industry more than $1.7 billion in revenues. During a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing, Johanns questioned whether it makes sense to allow beef from cattle of any age while restricting live imports to cattle younger than 30 months....
Study suggests lack of environmental oversight Two Wyoming agencies recently recognized the need for more field inspectors and stiffer fines for violations in the burgeoning natural gas fields. Now, a multistate conservation group is suggesting the problem exists throughout the Rockies. The Western Organization of Resource Councils issued its study, "Law and Order in the Oil and Gas Fields," and conducted a media telephone conference on Wednesday. "The level of staffing for enforcement and existing accountability mechanisms are inadequate and outdated for an industry that is rapidly expanding across the western landscape," said Peggy Utesch, member of the Western Colorado Congress. The study showed that 79 percent of the oil and gas activity in the five-state region -- Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, Colorado and New Mexico -- occurs within six of the region's Bureau of Land Management field offices. Yet only 26 percent of all BLM's inspectors are located in those field offices....
Dismissal motion filed in racketeering lawsuit Attorneys for an environmental activist from Fawnskin filed a motion Thursday in U.S. District Court seeking the dismissal of the federal racketeering lawsuit against her, according to a statement. Sandy Steers, a member of the activist group Friends of Fawnskin, is accused, along with three U.S. Forest Service employees, of conspiring to illegally block a 133-condomium development slated to be built in the rustic mountain hamlet. The lawsuit against Steers contends that she, San Bernardino National Forest Supervisor Gene Zimmerman and Forest Service biologists Scott and Robin Eliason are violating the federal Racketeer Influences and Corrupt Organizations Act....
Bush Seeks $867 Million Budget for Forest Thinning The Bush administration will ask Congress to increase funding to $867 million in fiscal year 2006 for a plan to help reduce the risk of wildfires in federal forests, a senior administration official said on Thursday. The U.S. Agriculture Department's Forest Service division and the Interior Department, which work together to fight forest fires, received $811 million in the current budget year for the forest management plan. Mark Rey, the U.S. Agriculture Department's undersecretary of natural resources, told reporters that about $492 million of the requested $867 million in 2006 would be used to remove hazardous underbrush from more than 4 million acres of land. The rest would be spent to improve the landscape and wildlife habitats....
Editorial: Preble's mouse like canary in coal mine The rodent is still roaring, despite the U.S. Interior Department's push to take the Preble's meadow jumping mouse off the endangered species list. The Front Range is losing streamside wildlife habitat at an alarming rate, putting many native plants and animals at risk. Regardless of whether the Preble's is truly endangered, Colorado should take steps to preserve its key foothills ecosystems. Our region's small streams harbor fish and other aquatic life, while trees, wildflowers and grasses on their banks shelter songbirds, raptors and other wildlife. These riparian ecosystems also provide people with open space, protect drinking water quality and absorb overflows that otherwise might flood towns and cities. Yet Front Range riparian areas, from Denver to the foothills, are being rapidly destroyed by human encroachment....
Cutthroat lawsuit expected Environmentalists filed a lawsuit Thursday demanding the federal government give Endangered Species Act protection to coastal cutthroat trout in the lower Columbia River in Oregon and Washington. Filed in U.S. District Court in Portland, the lawsuit argues that when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service denied protection in 2002, the agency ignored the conclusions of government scientists. They said the coastal cutthroat from the lower Columbia River basin, which spend part of their lives at sea, were in danger of extinction. "In our opinion that was essentially a political decision,'' said Noah Greenwald, a biologist for the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the groups that filed the lawsuit. "The Bush administration denied coastal cutthroat trout protection, not because the species doesn't need to be protected, but because of hostility to the Endangered Species Act.''....
Conservation Genetics Center Leads Research On Yellowstone Wolves Ten years after the federal government reintroduced gray wolves to Yellowstone National Park, the UCLA Conservation Genetics Resource Center is conducting research that will aid in understanding the dynamics that underlie successful endangered species reintroductions. Under a contract awarded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Yellowstone Park Foundation in August 2004, UCLA researchers are analyzing blood samples taken from some 450 wolves to determine mating and migration patterns and secure other key data. Results, which will help determine future wolf management policies, are expected in summer 2005. "This is the most comprehensive genetic analysis of North American carnivores ever undertaken, and involves the most notable U.S. population," said Robert K. Wayne, professor of biology and co-founder of the UCLA Conservation Genetics Resource Center. "Through DNA testing, we can learn so much about the hidden lives of these wolves, such as who is mating with whom and how they move from one place to another, and help determine the conditions necessary for successful reintroductions of other species in the future."....
Scientists take sides in battle over coho State scientists say that coastal coho have bounced back from their low point and no longer need federal protection - putting the state at odds with federal scientists. The federal government listed the salmon as threatened in 1998, but property owners and timber companies promptly filed a lawsuit and got the fish removed from the Endangered Species list. Now, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is trying to get coastal coho back on the list, after a panel of scientists said that the coho still need federal protection. That attempt runs counter to the Bush administration's desire to return this, and other endangered species listings, to state control. It also runs counter to a plan announced Wednesday by Oregon officials, who have long argued that coastal coho are better managed by the state than by the federal government. This puts the state squarely in line with the Bush administration, and directly opposed to NOAA....
Biologists Planning to Study Pelicans Pelican nesting grounds will be off-limits to the public this year at a refuge in central North Dakota while biologists plan their most extensive study ever of the big birds. Biologists still are baffled about why some 28,000 birds showed up to nest at the refuge in early April but took off in late May and early June, abandoning their chicks and eggs. The 4,385-acre Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge north of Medina had been the site of the largest nesting colony of white pelicans in North America. Biologists are counting on the pelicans to return in April, as they have for at least a century....
Otters take plunge in project to populate river Wednesday may have been Groundhog Day across the nation but Thursday was Otter Day - in Utah, anyway. An adult river otter and her 9-month-old female pup were released into the Escalante River near its confluence with Calf Creek in southern Utah's Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument shortly after noon. First mother and then daughter tentatively poked curious snouts out of their cages to sniff the desert air. The furry mammals quickly plunged into the babbling Escalante and swam out of the bright sunshine and into the shadows of the red sandstone cliffs. "It's Otter Day in Utah," said Kevin Bunnell, the mammals-program coordinator for the state Division of Wildlife Resources. "It went very well. This has been seven years in the making."....
Column: Whining Over Wind While Wyoming ranchers and hunters are facing off with gas companies eager to drill their rangelands and hunting grounds, Massachusetts lobster barons are facing their own showdown with an energy juggernaut. Has the West found an ally in Eastern blue bloods and politicians such as Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass.? Not exactly. In Wyoming's Powder River Basin, locals are trying to curb plans to drill as many as 80,000 methane gas wells over the next six years that may damage thousands of private groundwater wells and slice-and-dice the open landscape with roads, gates and waste ponds. Meanwhile, off the coast of Nantucket, citizens are opposing -- get this -- an offshore wind farm. That's right. The Cape Cod set claims the proposed line of 130 windmills 11 miles off the Atlantic coast, would ruin the ocean view, the property values and otherwise bring down the neighborhood....
Activists' new cause: restoring their clout A decade ago, environmental groups dominated the national agenda -- reshaping forest policy, carving out new wildlife protections and winning favor with much of the American public. But today they face the stinging realization that their influence is waning. The public is tuning them out. Their longtime tactics, many admit, are no longer working so well. And they are divided over how to regain the lost ground. Last year's presidential election offered the latest evidence. Conservation groups knocked on thousands of doors in Oregon and other states to tell voters President Bush has an abysmal environmental record. But it did not prevent his re-election. They could scarcely persuade Democrat John Kerry, whom they claim as a political ally, to raise the environment in his race against the president. "They don't nearly have the credibility they did 20 or 30 years ago," said Tim Hibbitts of the Portland public research company Davis, Hibbitts & Midghall Inc. While Oregon's attitude toward environmental groups was once uniformly favorable, he said, today it's neutral to slightly negative at best....
Lawyers claim retaliation in man's firing On the day a lawsuit by a senior federal auditor against energy giant Kerr-McGee Corp. was unsealed, the U.S. Department of the Interior decided to terminate his position, the man's lawyers said Wednesday. Lawyers for Bobby L. Maxwell, who filed the lawsuit against Kerr-McGee alleging that it owed the U.S. government up to $12 million in royalties, said they believe their client's position was eliminated in retaliation for his suit against the oil and gas company. Attorneys Richard C. LaFond and Michael S. Porter said Maxwell has a proven track record as an auditor for Minerals Management Service, an arm of the Interior Department, and has been responsible for collecting a half-billion dollars in unpaid royalties....
The West's New Boomtowns Are Looking Beyond the Drought Water purchases in farm country, meanwhile, are slowing. Aurora signed an agreement last year, in the face of deep hostility from farm community leaders, that when its current round of water purchases is completed, it will buy no more farm water for at least 40 years. For cities like Aurora - part of an archipelago of new urban centers across the West that have never experienced a serious drought until this one - the sense of political limits that came with a change in the weather pattern was as much of a shock as the drought itself. Older cities like Denver and Phoenix grew up nurtured by a huge federal commitment in the 20th century to water the West through dams, reservoirs and irrigation projects. The new places found themselves largely dependent on their own resources, as federal ambitions have retreated and the environmental costs of the old ways have become clearer....
Klamath region grows more desperate California's record-setting storms bypassed the thirsty Klamath River Basin, threatening to incite another farmer rebellion over water deliveries and imperiling a vital salmon fishery and bald eagle habitat. While February and March still hold the possibility of a reprieve, the immediate outlook is grim for the region, which straddles the California-Oregon border from Tule Lake to Klamath Falls. The snowpack is slightly less than half the normal amount, an unsettling contrast to the ample snowfall that buried much of California after Christmas. More than three weeks have passed since the last significant snow fell in the basin, and that was just an inch....
A Wet Spell In Rough Country The cycle runs like clockwork," an old rancher friend had told me. "Here in the Davis Mountains, we live through 20 years of drought, then it rains a bit, then we go back to tough times." Those tough times seem to have lifted in West Texas for now, at least as far as the weather is concerned. Thanks to some steady rains, the country is now carpeted with green grass. All of the succulents are blooming, and the oak, mesquite and juniper trees are thick and heavy with leaves. Riding my old paint horse in the ranch country near Fort Davis, Texas, I've been struck by the incredible beauty of the desert mountains after they've had an opportunity to steep in some moisture. The effect of riding in these mountains during such conditions has been restorative--both for me and my horse....
Ag Department reviews ban on older Canada cows New Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said Thursday he is reviewing the continuing U.S. ban of older Canadian cattle, which are more susceptible to mad cow disease, while allowing imported meat from animals of any age. The United States plans to resume imports of Canadian cattle under 30 months old beginning March 7. Last week, meatpackers asked a federal judge for an injunction to resume imports of older cattle, saying the ban has cost their industry more than $1.7 billion in revenues. During a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing, Johanns questioned whether it makes sense to allow beef from cattle of any age while restricting live imports to cattle younger than 30 months....
Thursday, February 03, 2005
NEWS ROUNDUP
Details on Cedar fire emerge in court documents The lost hunter accused of setting the deadly Cedar fire told officials he fired his gun to signal for help, laid his head on a rock to sleep and later awoke to flames ---- which he tried to smother with his hat, according documents from federal prosecutors. The information from prosecutors reveals the most detailed description to date of the statements the stranded hunter allegedly made to his rescuers and others the night the fire began on Oct. 25, 2003. Martinez, 34, of West Covina, has pleaded innocent to federal charges he lit the blaze ---- the largest wildfire in state history ---- and later lied about its origins to officers. In the new documents, the U.S. Attorney's Office claims that Martinez told his rescuers that he did not start the fire, but at one point looked at the flames and said, "I'm sorry about all of this."....
Aldo, We Hardly Know Ye A group of people interested in celebrating the legacy of famed naturalist and wildlife ecologist Aldo Leopold has formed in his hometown of Burlington. Jerry Rigdon, who will serve as facilitator of the Leopold Heritage Group, said retired University of Iowa English teacher Bob Sayre approached him last fall with a desire to do something in Burlington and possibly statewide to give Leopold the recognition he deserves as a native son and to talk about how important his philosophy regarding man's interaction with nature remains today. Both Rigdon and Sayre noted that the author of "A Sand County Almanac" is revered by naturalists, environmentalists and ecologists worldwide, yet has received very little formal recognition in the town where he grew up and the state in which he was born....
Answers sought after inert land mine found in forest A land mine found by hikers in the Roosevelt National Forest on Jan. 22 posed no danger, but officials want to know if others like it are out there. The mine - an M606 Fuze Mine - is used for training and was never designed to explode, said National Forest spokeswoman Reghan McDaniel. But there is plenty of mystery surrounding it, and it is hoped that someone can provide some answers. "We don't know how old it was, how long it's been there or who put it there," said McDaniel. "This is definitely not a typical occurrence in the forest."....
Clear cutting to boost flow of water studied A U.S. Forest Service study in Wyoming and Colorado says the amount of water flowing out of a forest would increase appreciably only if 25 percent of the forest were clear-cut and kept clear of significant vegetation. Regional Forester Rick Cables said Monday that he did not advocate the idea in discussing it with the Legislature's Joint Agriculture, Public Lands and Water Resources Committee last week. He said there are many problems and unknowns surrounding the concept. "The committee asked me about the idea last year," he said. Increased logging is seen by some as a way for Western states to get more water from national forests. Borrowing an analogy he once heard from a hydrologist, Cables said that if the water in the North Platte River basin were a pitcher of water, then the water coming out of national forests within the basin would measure about a cup....
Senate passes bill repealing open-fields doctrine South Dakota's game wardens should no longer be able to enter private land without permission to check for hunting violations, the state Senate decided Wednesday. Senators voted 19-15 for a measure that would get rid of the open-fields doctrine, which is based on court decisions and laws that give game wardens authority to enter private land to check hunters without getting permission from landowners. When officers have no probable cause to suspect the law has been broken, entering private land without the owner's permission is a violation of property rights, said Sen. Jay Duenwald, R-Hoven, the bill's main sponsor....
Column: The big cat quandary The tracks trailing across a fresh layer of March snow stop inexplicably as if suddenly swept clean by some odd wind. Upon further review, they resume fully 15 feet away, eliminating any doubt what these large, telltale pugs represent. One could only guess whether the cat had been startled by a sudden sound or some other animal or merely made this leap simply because it could. That a mountain lion had come this way in the wee hours of morning was undeniable. The fact that the other end of its path passed within hissing distance of my front door made the discovery considerably more interesting....
Column: A commitment to ensure survival of Columbia Basin salmon The Columbia River salmon is a treasured symbol of our quality of life here in the Pacific Northwest. Yet, today, 12 runs of salmon in the Columbia and Snake River basins are listed as threatened or endangered by human activity. So it's no surprise that the recently revised program to address the effects of dam operations on salmon should come under intense scrutiny. We are the officials responsible for managing the federal Columbia River dams for the benefit of everyone in the region. We are committed to taking steps that ensure no salmon species goes extinct as a result of the operation of these dams. We are also determined to act as a positive force for salmon recovery throughout the Columbia Basin. We believe our actions support these words....
The saga of the Yellowstone cutthroat Catching all four of Wyoming's cutthroat trout subspecies has been a satisfying achievement for hundreds of anglers since the program began in 1996. But if you've been putting off chasing the Cutt-Slam yourself, you better get it while you can. Two of the four sub-species may one day be off limits to anglers. U.S. District Judge Philip Figa ruled in December that a 1998 petition by several conservation groups to list the Yellowstone cutthroat as an endangered species was illegally rejected by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service....
Environmental groups want gopher protected Environmental groups seeking endangered species protection for a gopher found only in counties southeast of Denver filed a lawsuit Wednesday asking a judge to force federal officials to act. The lawsuit filed by the Center for Native Ecosystems and Forest Guardians against Interior Department Secretary Gale Norton, said Norton was required to make a decision on the Douglas County Pocket Gopher by March 2004. The groups said they filed their petition in 2003 asking to have the rodent listed as threatened or endangered. The groups say the gopher is found only in Douglas, Arapahoe and Elbert counties near Denver, an area undergoing rapid growth and urban sprawl....
Man pleads guilty to poisoning bald eagles A Casa Grande man pleaded guilty to poisoning bald eagles using a pesticide applied to sheep carcasses. Jose Antonio Manterola II, 60, put down the pesticide in the Garland Prairie area of northern Arizona in 2002. Around the same time, a dozen bald eagles were discovered, apparently after having eaten the pesticide-laced carcasses, said the Fish and Wildlife Service. Dave McKenna of Fish and Wildlife's law enforcement branch said investigators believe Manterola put the pesticide down to kill predators, not necessarily eagles. Still, the application was illegal. He pleaded guilty to violating the Eagle Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act....
Lawsuits filed over status of prairie dogs White-tailed prairie dogs, a species native to Utah County, will soon be the subject of a federal lawsuit. The Colorado-based Center for Native Ecosystems will likely issue a notice of intent to sue by the end of the month, said Erin Robertson, biologist for the organization. Any organization that intends to sue over an alleged violation of the Endangered Species Act must file a notice two months before suing, according to federal law. The lawsuit comes after a November U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision to deny a 2002 petition to give the white-tailed prairie dog protective status under the Endangered Species Act....
Rare plant species nearly wiped out by culvert work crew One of California's rarest plants was nearly wiped out of existence when Marin County workers used a backhoe to clear a plugged roadside drain in the species' sole habitat. The Baker's larkspur, a purplish plant that blooms April through May and grows up to 2 feet tall, is found in only one place in the world: near a a drain along the Marshall-Petaluma Road in western Marin County. Last October, heavy rain pushed debris down a hillside into the culvert, backing it up and flooding the road. When county crews came out to clear the roadside drain with the backhoe, they cut into the hillside at the exact spot where most of the Baker's larkspur were growing. Within minutes, the population of 100 plants was reduced to five....
OK Senator Introduces New Conservation Initiative Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the Committee on Environment and Public Works, introduced today the "Partners for Fish and Wildlife Act of 2005." The Partners Program has been a successful voluntary partnership program that helps private landowners restore fish and wildlife habitat on their own lands. The Inhofe bill would codify this program into law by providing additional funding and added stability....
Geese deaths baffle experts State wildlife officials are investigating the unexplained deaths of geese in rural Marion County. About 150 Canada geese were found dead Friday at a private pond owned by Morse Bros. rock products. Three months ago, about 30 dead birds were discovered near Staats Lake, a private lake in Keizer. Officials suspect the birds may have died from something they ate, because it doesn't appear that anything in the pond or lake killed them. Only cackling Canada geese, a small subspecies of the larger Canada goose, were affected, High said. Other varieties of birds, including ducks, gulls and three other species of geese were alive and well in both bodies of water....
State tightens historic site policy The State Historic Preservation Office has changed, without any direct public input, guidelines that affect how all development on federal lands -- from road construction to oil exploration -- can navigate the remains of Wyoming's rich cultural history. The new policy, outlined in an unpublished one-page e-mail to archaeologists dated Jan. 3, makes it more difficult for an area to qualify as an "archaeological site." Designation of an archaeological site can slow the pace of development considerably, and sometimes, although rarely, stop it altogether. The change follows a shakeup of the historic preservation office last year that was intended to streamline the review process before the state received a crush of applications for coal-bed methane exploration....
Budgets chop away at park funds Not so long ago, protecting visitors to Yosemite National Park from marauding bears might have been seen as an essential duty of the National Park Service. Not in these days of tight federal budgets. When it came to putting 2,000 new bear-proof food lockers at the popular California park's campgrounds and trailheads, the job fell to the Yosemite Fund, a private, non-profit group that provides millions every year to supplement government funding. With the cash-strapped park service struggling to keep up with basic needs, parks from the Sierra Nevada to the coast of Maine are increasingly relying on private donations from park "friends" groups such as the Yosemite Fund. Park-support groups used to provide the icing, but now it's the cake, too, says Bill Wade, former superintendent of Shenandoah National Park....
CLARK COUNTY FEDERAL LAND SALES: Proposal would cost Nevada President Bush will propose in his budget next week to divert millions of dollars from Clark County federal land sales to offset mounting deficits, according to budget documents and congressional officials. The 2006 budget the president will unveil Monday asks Congress to change federal law to direct into the treasury 70 percent of profits from land sales, which are set aside for land acquisitions, environmental restoration, parks and recreation projects in Nevada. The Bush administration plans to argue that federal land sales in booming Las Vegas are raising more money than ever imagined when Congress passed a 1998 law that established the sales and ordered the profits distributed within Nevada....
Editorial: Artificial scarcity in the land of plenty Ever find yourself staring in disbelief at the utility bill, wonder why it's so high? The thumbnail explanation most often given is that natural gas prices are soaring as demand outpaces supply. But exactly what's curtailing supply is harder to get a handle on — at least until now. An exhaustively comprehensive look at the supply end of the equation is offered in a new report issued by the University of Chicago's Argonne National Laboratory, an objective and credible source with no dog in the fight. At 115 densely packed pages, it's the kind of wonkish read that might put most people to sleep. For others, however, it will be an eye opener, as the lab attempts to catalog the maddening thicket of environmental regulations that combine to create a natural gas crunch (some call it a "crisis") in a country in which it is plentiful, and have led to a growing dependence on gas imports. Among the laws, regulations or land management practices that prohibit, delay, discourage or add costs to domestic natural gas development are the Endangered Species Act, various Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management policies, Clinton-era national monument designations and drilling moratoria off the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts, in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the Great Lakes and in parts of the Rocky Mountains. The Clinton "roadless rule" also is cited as a factor, as is the practice of managing millions of acres of public land as de-facto wilderness areas, even though the areas have never officially been designated as such....
Trust fund to restore oceans not likely, House chairman says A $4 billion trust fund to protect and improve the nation's oceans is probably not going to happen, a key House committee chairman said Wednesday, casting doubt on a top recommendation of the president's ocean commission. "There may be some money that we can shake loose to fund some of the recommendations the ocean commission has, but is it $4 billion? I don't see where we get that," House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Calif., said in an interview with The Associated Press. "In today's budget environment I'm not sure we can do that." Pombo's committee has jurisdiction over ocean-related issues and would write legislation to implement the recommendations delivered last spring by the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. Key among them was the proposed trust fund that would draw on royalty and other payments that now go to the Treasury from offshore oil and gas drilling....
Report: Mike Horse Dam could fail again Heavy runoff from a spring storm in 1975 tore through the tailings pond dam at the Mike Horse Mine on the headwaters of the Blackfoot River 15 miles northeast of Lincoln. Mine tailings contaminated with heavy metals, including high concentrations of zinc and iron, were flushed into the upper Blackfoot. The result, says Ron Pierce, a fisheries biologist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, "was an acute toxic event," which caused a major fish kill in the upper Blackfoot. Native westslope cutthroat trout were particularly hard hit, he says. After the Mike Horse Mine tailings dam failed in 1975, a new earthen dam was constructed to contain the remaining tailings. But a draft report released in January by U.S. Forest Service engineers indicates that the Mike Horse dam is slowly deteriorating and again could pose a threat to the Blackfoot River. The Forest Service report recommends that the dam should "eventually be taken out of service."....
Ecoartists: Engaging Communities in a New Metaphor Ecological art, or ecoart, is a blend of environmental activism, art, and community organizing. Patricia Watts founded the nonprofit ecoartspace in 1997 to "use art as a tool." Watts envisions the ecoartist as equal parts educator, visionary, and environmental consultant. To make her point, she describes a number of intriguing participatory art projects. Artist Gregg Schlanger, for example, working on a commission from the Providence Office of Cultural Affairs, paid local teens minimum wage to help him cast 200 concrete sculptures of animals on Rhode Island's list of endangered species, which includes a range of animals from the bobcat to the Atlantic salmon. In a much quieter project, artist Erica Fielder created large hats that double as birdfeeders....
Cowboys on the clock It used to be being a cowboy was a full-time job. It not always is so now. Being a migrant cowboy, also known as an H-2A worker, is a nine-months-a-year job. H-2A is a government classification for nonimmigrant agriculture workers. Livestock workers receive nine-month visas through the program. Sheepherders can receive three-year visas. The restriction on the time foreign livestock workers can stay in the United States is creating a hardship on some ranchers. At a meeting in January, members of the Colorado Cattlemen's Association began discussing whether the time frame for hiring livestock workers needs to be extended. The association formed a subcommittee to begin looking into the issue....
State of Washington begins registering farms, ranches as part of program to track livestock State agriculture officials have begun the process of assigning identification numbers to farms and ranches - a precursor to a broader animal identification system aimed at making it easier to track livestock in the future. In Washington state, farmers and ranchers will receive a unique identification number for farms and other property, such as grazing sites, where livestock are kept. The program initially is limited to beef and dairy cattle, sheep, swine and poultry farms, but it eventually will be expanded to include all food animals, Dr. Leonard Eldridge, state veterinarian, said in a news release Wednesday....
Canada Study Finds No Feed Ban Infractions: CFIA A microscopic study of Canadian livestock feed ingredients found animal materials in vegetable-based feed but did not find any deliberate infractions of rules to prevent mad cow disease, a report said on Wednesday. Inspectors found most of the feed mills in the study followed strict procedures for upholding a 1997 ban on feeding protein made from cattle and other ruminant livestock back to cattle, a senior official from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said. "We did not find anything that causes us to reconsider how we understand the (feed) ban to be functioning or what it's achieving," Billy Hewett told Reuters....
Details on Cedar fire emerge in court documents The lost hunter accused of setting the deadly Cedar fire told officials he fired his gun to signal for help, laid his head on a rock to sleep and later awoke to flames ---- which he tried to smother with his hat, according documents from federal prosecutors. The information from prosecutors reveals the most detailed description to date of the statements the stranded hunter allegedly made to his rescuers and others the night the fire began on Oct. 25, 2003. Martinez, 34, of West Covina, has pleaded innocent to federal charges he lit the blaze ---- the largest wildfire in state history ---- and later lied about its origins to officers. In the new documents, the U.S. Attorney's Office claims that Martinez told his rescuers that he did not start the fire, but at one point looked at the flames and said, "I'm sorry about all of this."....
Aldo, We Hardly Know Ye A group of people interested in celebrating the legacy of famed naturalist and wildlife ecologist Aldo Leopold has formed in his hometown of Burlington. Jerry Rigdon, who will serve as facilitator of the Leopold Heritage Group, said retired University of Iowa English teacher Bob Sayre approached him last fall with a desire to do something in Burlington and possibly statewide to give Leopold the recognition he deserves as a native son and to talk about how important his philosophy regarding man's interaction with nature remains today. Both Rigdon and Sayre noted that the author of "A Sand County Almanac" is revered by naturalists, environmentalists and ecologists worldwide, yet has received very little formal recognition in the town where he grew up and the state in which he was born....
Answers sought after inert land mine found in forest A land mine found by hikers in the Roosevelt National Forest on Jan. 22 posed no danger, but officials want to know if others like it are out there. The mine - an M606 Fuze Mine - is used for training and was never designed to explode, said National Forest spokeswoman Reghan McDaniel. But there is plenty of mystery surrounding it, and it is hoped that someone can provide some answers. "We don't know how old it was, how long it's been there or who put it there," said McDaniel. "This is definitely not a typical occurrence in the forest."....
Clear cutting to boost flow of water studied A U.S. Forest Service study in Wyoming and Colorado says the amount of water flowing out of a forest would increase appreciably only if 25 percent of the forest were clear-cut and kept clear of significant vegetation. Regional Forester Rick Cables said Monday that he did not advocate the idea in discussing it with the Legislature's Joint Agriculture, Public Lands and Water Resources Committee last week. He said there are many problems and unknowns surrounding the concept. "The committee asked me about the idea last year," he said. Increased logging is seen by some as a way for Western states to get more water from national forests. Borrowing an analogy he once heard from a hydrologist, Cables said that if the water in the North Platte River basin were a pitcher of water, then the water coming out of national forests within the basin would measure about a cup....
Senate passes bill repealing open-fields doctrine South Dakota's game wardens should no longer be able to enter private land without permission to check for hunting violations, the state Senate decided Wednesday. Senators voted 19-15 for a measure that would get rid of the open-fields doctrine, which is based on court decisions and laws that give game wardens authority to enter private land to check hunters without getting permission from landowners. When officers have no probable cause to suspect the law has been broken, entering private land without the owner's permission is a violation of property rights, said Sen. Jay Duenwald, R-Hoven, the bill's main sponsor....
Column: The big cat quandary The tracks trailing across a fresh layer of March snow stop inexplicably as if suddenly swept clean by some odd wind. Upon further review, they resume fully 15 feet away, eliminating any doubt what these large, telltale pugs represent. One could only guess whether the cat had been startled by a sudden sound or some other animal or merely made this leap simply because it could. That a mountain lion had come this way in the wee hours of morning was undeniable. The fact that the other end of its path passed within hissing distance of my front door made the discovery considerably more interesting....
Column: A commitment to ensure survival of Columbia Basin salmon The Columbia River salmon is a treasured symbol of our quality of life here in the Pacific Northwest. Yet, today, 12 runs of salmon in the Columbia and Snake River basins are listed as threatened or endangered by human activity. So it's no surprise that the recently revised program to address the effects of dam operations on salmon should come under intense scrutiny. We are the officials responsible for managing the federal Columbia River dams for the benefit of everyone in the region. We are committed to taking steps that ensure no salmon species goes extinct as a result of the operation of these dams. We are also determined to act as a positive force for salmon recovery throughout the Columbia Basin. We believe our actions support these words....
The saga of the Yellowstone cutthroat Catching all four of Wyoming's cutthroat trout subspecies has been a satisfying achievement for hundreds of anglers since the program began in 1996. But if you've been putting off chasing the Cutt-Slam yourself, you better get it while you can. Two of the four sub-species may one day be off limits to anglers. U.S. District Judge Philip Figa ruled in December that a 1998 petition by several conservation groups to list the Yellowstone cutthroat as an endangered species was illegally rejected by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service....
Environmental groups want gopher protected Environmental groups seeking endangered species protection for a gopher found only in counties southeast of Denver filed a lawsuit Wednesday asking a judge to force federal officials to act. The lawsuit filed by the Center for Native Ecosystems and Forest Guardians against Interior Department Secretary Gale Norton, said Norton was required to make a decision on the Douglas County Pocket Gopher by March 2004. The groups said they filed their petition in 2003 asking to have the rodent listed as threatened or endangered. The groups say the gopher is found only in Douglas, Arapahoe and Elbert counties near Denver, an area undergoing rapid growth and urban sprawl....
Man pleads guilty to poisoning bald eagles A Casa Grande man pleaded guilty to poisoning bald eagles using a pesticide applied to sheep carcasses. Jose Antonio Manterola II, 60, put down the pesticide in the Garland Prairie area of northern Arizona in 2002. Around the same time, a dozen bald eagles were discovered, apparently after having eaten the pesticide-laced carcasses, said the Fish and Wildlife Service. Dave McKenna of Fish and Wildlife's law enforcement branch said investigators believe Manterola put the pesticide down to kill predators, not necessarily eagles. Still, the application was illegal. He pleaded guilty to violating the Eagle Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act....
Lawsuits filed over status of prairie dogs White-tailed prairie dogs, a species native to Utah County, will soon be the subject of a federal lawsuit. The Colorado-based Center for Native Ecosystems will likely issue a notice of intent to sue by the end of the month, said Erin Robertson, biologist for the organization. Any organization that intends to sue over an alleged violation of the Endangered Species Act must file a notice two months before suing, according to federal law. The lawsuit comes after a November U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision to deny a 2002 petition to give the white-tailed prairie dog protective status under the Endangered Species Act....
Rare plant species nearly wiped out by culvert work crew One of California's rarest plants was nearly wiped out of existence when Marin County workers used a backhoe to clear a plugged roadside drain in the species' sole habitat. The Baker's larkspur, a purplish plant that blooms April through May and grows up to 2 feet tall, is found in only one place in the world: near a a drain along the Marshall-Petaluma Road in western Marin County. Last October, heavy rain pushed debris down a hillside into the culvert, backing it up and flooding the road. When county crews came out to clear the roadside drain with the backhoe, they cut into the hillside at the exact spot where most of the Baker's larkspur were growing. Within minutes, the population of 100 plants was reduced to five....
OK Senator Introduces New Conservation Initiative Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the Committee on Environment and Public Works, introduced today the "Partners for Fish and Wildlife Act of 2005." The Partners Program has been a successful voluntary partnership program that helps private landowners restore fish and wildlife habitat on their own lands. The Inhofe bill would codify this program into law by providing additional funding and added stability....
Geese deaths baffle experts State wildlife officials are investigating the unexplained deaths of geese in rural Marion County. About 150 Canada geese were found dead Friday at a private pond owned by Morse Bros. rock products. Three months ago, about 30 dead birds were discovered near Staats Lake, a private lake in Keizer. Officials suspect the birds may have died from something they ate, because it doesn't appear that anything in the pond or lake killed them. Only cackling Canada geese, a small subspecies of the larger Canada goose, were affected, High said. Other varieties of birds, including ducks, gulls and three other species of geese were alive and well in both bodies of water....
State tightens historic site policy The State Historic Preservation Office has changed, without any direct public input, guidelines that affect how all development on federal lands -- from road construction to oil exploration -- can navigate the remains of Wyoming's rich cultural history. The new policy, outlined in an unpublished one-page e-mail to archaeologists dated Jan. 3, makes it more difficult for an area to qualify as an "archaeological site." Designation of an archaeological site can slow the pace of development considerably, and sometimes, although rarely, stop it altogether. The change follows a shakeup of the historic preservation office last year that was intended to streamline the review process before the state received a crush of applications for coal-bed methane exploration....
Budgets chop away at park funds Not so long ago, protecting visitors to Yosemite National Park from marauding bears might have been seen as an essential duty of the National Park Service. Not in these days of tight federal budgets. When it came to putting 2,000 new bear-proof food lockers at the popular California park's campgrounds and trailheads, the job fell to the Yosemite Fund, a private, non-profit group that provides millions every year to supplement government funding. With the cash-strapped park service struggling to keep up with basic needs, parks from the Sierra Nevada to the coast of Maine are increasingly relying on private donations from park "friends" groups such as the Yosemite Fund. Park-support groups used to provide the icing, but now it's the cake, too, says Bill Wade, former superintendent of Shenandoah National Park....
CLARK COUNTY FEDERAL LAND SALES: Proposal would cost Nevada President Bush will propose in his budget next week to divert millions of dollars from Clark County federal land sales to offset mounting deficits, according to budget documents and congressional officials. The 2006 budget the president will unveil Monday asks Congress to change federal law to direct into the treasury 70 percent of profits from land sales, which are set aside for land acquisitions, environmental restoration, parks and recreation projects in Nevada. The Bush administration plans to argue that federal land sales in booming Las Vegas are raising more money than ever imagined when Congress passed a 1998 law that established the sales and ordered the profits distributed within Nevada....
Editorial: Artificial scarcity in the land of plenty Ever find yourself staring in disbelief at the utility bill, wonder why it's so high? The thumbnail explanation most often given is that natural gas prices are soaring as demand outpaces supply. But exactly what's curtailing supply is harder to get a handle on — at least until now. An exhaustively comprehensive look at the supply end of the equation is offered in a new report issued by the University of Chicago's Argonne National Laboratory, an objective and credible source with no dog in the fight. At 115 densely packed pages, it's the kind of wonkish read that might put most people to sleep. For others, however, it will be an eye opener, as the lab attempts to catalog the maddening thicket of environmental regulations that combine to create a natural gas crunch (some call it a "crisis") in a country in which it is plentiful, and have led to a growing dependence on gas imports. Among the laws, regulations or land management practices that prohibit, delay, discourage or add costs to domestic natural gas development are the Endangered Species Act, various Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management policies, Clinton-era national monument designations and drilling moratoria off the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts, in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the Great Lakes and in parts of the Rocky Mountains. The Clinton "roadless rule" also is cited as a factor, as is the practice of managing millions of acres of public land as de-facto wilderness areas, even though the areas have never officially been designated as such....
Trust fund to restore oceans not likely, House chairman says A $4 billion trust fund to protect and improve the nation's oceans is probably not going to happen, a key House committee chairman said Wednesday, casting doubt on a top recommendation of the president's ocean commission. "There may be some money that we can shake loose to fund some of the recommendations the ocean commission has, but is it $4 billion? I don't see where we get that," House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Calif., said in an interview with The Associated Press. "In today's budget environment I'm not sure we can do that." Pombo's committee has jurisdiction over ocean-related issues and would write legislation to implement the recommendations delivered last spring by the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. Key among them was the proposed trust fund that would draw on royalty and other payments that now go to the Treasury from offshore oil and gas drilling....
Report: Mike Horse Dam could fail again Heavy runoff from a spring storm in 1975 tore through the tailings pond dam at the Mike Horse Mine on the headwaters of the Blackfoot River 15 miles northeast of Lincoln. Mine tailings contaminated with heavy metals, including high concentrations of zinc and iron, were flushed into the upper Blackfoot. The result, says Ron Pierce, a fisheries biologist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, "was an acute toxic event," which caused a major fish kill in the upper Blackfoot. Native westslope cutthroat trout were particularly hard hit, he says. After the Mike Horse Mine tailings dam failed in 1975, a new earthen dam was constructed to contain the remaining tailings. But a draft report released in January by U.S. Forest Service engineers indicates that the Mike Horse dam is slowly deteriorating and again could pose a threat to the Blackfoot River. The Forest Service report recommends that the dam should "eventually be taken out of service."....
Ecoartists: Engaging Communities in a New Metaphor Ecological art, or ecoart, is a blend of environmental activism, art, and community organizing. Patricia Watts founded the nonprofit ecoartspace in 1997 to "use art as a tool." Watts envisions the ecoartist as equal parts educator, visionary, and environmental consultant. To make her point, she describes a number of intriguing participatory art projects. Artist Gregg Schlanger, for example, working on a commission from the Providence Office of Cultural Affairs, paid local teens minimum wage to help him cast 200 concrete sculptures of animals on Rhode Island's list of endangered species, which includes a range of animals from the bobcat to the Atlantic salmon. In a much quieter project, artist Erica Fielder created large hats that double as birdfeeders....
Cowboys on the clock It used to be being a cowboy was a full-time job. It not always is so now. Being a migrant cowboy, also known as an H-2A worker, is a nine-months-a-year job. H-2A is a government classification for nonimmigrant agriculture workers. Livestock workers receive nine-month visas through the program. Sheepherders can receive three-year visas. The restriction on the time foreign livestock workers can stay in the United States is creating a hardship on some ranchers. At a meeting in January, members of the Colorado Cattlemen's Association began discussing whether the time frame for hiring livestock workers needs to be extended. The association formed a subcommittee to begin looking into the issue....
State of Washington begins registering farms, ranches as part of program to track livestock State agriculture officials have begun the process of assigning identification numbers to farms and ranches - a precursor to a broader animal identification system aimed at making it easier to track livestock in the future. In Washington state, farmers and ranchers will receive a unique identification number for farms and other property, such as grazing sites, where livestock are kept. The program initially is limited to beef and dairy cattle, sheep, swine and poultry farms, but it eventually will be expanded to include all food animals, Dr. Leonard Eldridge, state veterinarian, said in a news release Wednesday....
Canada Study Finds No Feed Ban Infractions: CFIA A microscopic study of Canadian livestock feed ingredients found animal materials in vegetable-based feed but did not find any deliberate infractions of rules to prevent mad cow disease, a report said on Wednesday. Inspectors found most of the feed mills in the study followed strict procedures for upholding a 1997 ban on feeding protein made from cattle and other ruminant livestock back to cattle, a senior official from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said. "We did not find anything that causes us to reconsider how we understand the (feed) ban to be functioning or what it's achieving," Billy Hewett told Reuters....
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
NEWS ROUNDUP
Oregon wolf plan won't be able to allow ranchers to kill wolves Oregon will not be able to allow ranchers to shoot gray wolves that attack livestock under a federal court ruling that changed the federal Endangered Species Act status for wolves migrating into the state. The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission will be looking for other ways to control wolves that attack livestock when it votes Feb. 11 on a management plan for wolves moving into the state from Idaho, commission spokeswoman Ann Pressentin Young said Tuesday. If non-lethal means do not work, that will likely mean calling on federal wildlife agents to shoot or trap wolves that kill livestock, Young said. A federal judge in Portland threw out a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rule imposed in April 2003 that reduced Endangered Species Act protection from endangered to threatened for wolves migrating into neighboring states from thriving experimental populations in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho....
Dispute continues between private landowners and game wardens Venture uninvited onto private ranchland, and you'll likely get a cool reception. That's exactly what game wardens have been doing for years. Now, lawmakers are working to make asking permission not just proper manners, but a matter of law. In legislation, almost identical to the open fields doctrine that failed just last year, this afternoon, Senate Bill 122 passed out of the Agriculture and Natural Resource Committee by a vote of seven to two. For Harding County rancher Linda Gilbert, the on–going dispute between private landowners and conservation officers isn't that complicated. “The whole thing comes down to Game, Fish and Parks working together with landowners.” Something Gilbert says hasn't been happening for well over a year now, causing almost two million acres in western South Dakota to be closed off to hunters....
Unlimited land easements approved(South Dakota) State law should make it clear that conservation easements can be for any length of time, the House Agriculture Committee decided unanimously Tuesday. The panel sent the full House a bill that says those easements can be determined by agreement of both parties. Rep. Roger Hunt, R-Brandon, said he offered HB1098 because some people believe that conservation easements tie up land forever. "If you want to do a short-term, medium-term, forever kind of easements, you have that flexibility," he said. "The parties can establish the terms of the conservation easements."....
Column: Federal government selling land it promised to 'protect' Prospects don't look good for Prospect Island. The island, located in the Sacramento- San Joaquin Delta, used to be thriving farmland, offering homes for the tricolored blackbird, giant garter snake, great blue heron and other wildlife while producing high-quality California rice. Today, a 1,300-acre portion of the island symbolizes a government farmland-conversion program that has gone terribly wrong--one that has cost taxpayers millions of dollars on a project supposedly designed to "protect" the land forever. Now, part of Prospect Island is for sale. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is asking permission from Congress to sell the land it owns on Prospect Island--a place it claimed would be "protected" in order to provide habitat for numerous fish and wildlife species listed under the federal Endangered Species Act. There were big, and costly, dreams for it....
Column: The mud puddle preservation plan When I was a boy growing up in California we called them "mud puddles." If they grew large enough, grown ups called it "flooding." But now the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), which enforces the Endangered Species Act, has adopted the bogus poetry of the environmentalist left, calling them "vernal pools." The question for the immediate future is whether a federal government controlled by Republicans will allow either bureaucrats or un-elected judges to use these "vernal pools" to shutdown development on vast stretches of private property and thus help push the American dream beyond the grasp of some aspiring homeowners in our nation's most populous state. What we are talking about is the stagnant water that often collects in small ditches or low patches of land in California after winter rains. By summer, these puddles and flooded areas revert to clumps of yellowed grass....
California, Others Sue Over Sierra Plan California's attorney general joined environmental groups Tuesday in suing the federal government to block its plan to manage 11.5 million acres of Sierra National Forest, which calls for increased logging. The lawsuits argue there is no scientific justification for the Forest Service to change a plan for managing the forest that was approved in the final days of the Clinton administration. "Their plan will increase harvesting between 470 percent (in the first decade of the plan) and 640 percent (in the second decade). I think that's their goal," Attorney General Bill Lockyer alleged....
Judge upholds climbing ban at Tahoe's Cave Rock A federal judge in Reno has upheld a climbing ban at Cave Rock on Lake Tahoe's east shore. The Jan. 28 ruling by U.S. District Judge Howard McKibben upholds a management plan adopted by the U.S. Forest Service in 2003 to prohibit rock climbing on the landmark that is held sacred by the Washoe Tribe. McKibben rejected a lawsuit filed last year by The Access Fund, a Colorado-based advocacy group for climbers....
Endangered listing sought for tiger beetle More than two years after saying the Salt Creek tiger beetle needed emergency federal protection, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday announced its intention to list the insect as an endangered species. In a 17-page proposed rule published in the Federal Register, the service said the known populations of tiger beetles north of Lincoln are highly threatened by possible habitat destruction. Beetle advocates greeted the news with satisfaction that the protection process is moving forward. But they also sounded exasperated that the agency could take so long to protect what may be the rarest insect in North America....
Southern Arizona bird could be taken off endangered list The federal government is considering taking Arizona's cactus ferruginous pygmy owls off the endangered species list, Justice Department officials said. The owl has been in legal limbo since August 2003, when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that its 1997 listing as endangered had been arbitrary and capricious. The court said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hadn't proved that the Arizona owls, whose known population is about 30, are "significantly distinct" from a much larger population in Mexico....
Developer out $3 million in mouse costs A housing development company says it probably can't recoup the $3 million it spent on preserving habitat for a mouse once thought to be a threatened subspecies, even though federal wildlife managers are removing the protection. La Plata Investments said it set aside 155 acres in its 7,600-acre Briargate development for the Preble's meadow jumping mouse, land that couldn't be used even for trails. Concerns about the mouse also delayed the extension of a street. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said last week it has begun the process of removing the mouse from the threatened species list amid DNA evidence that it isn't a distinct subspecies as previously thought....
Proximity to park confuses power proposal Electrical power developers in northeastern Wyoming are unsure how much room they have under clean air standards to produce more power. The National Park Service appealed plans for a new 500-megawatt coal-fired plant, known as WyGen No. 2, even though the Department of Environmental Quality said the plant would be one of the cleanest-burning plants in the nation. There has been no action on the case in nearly six months. The area is subject to tougher emissions standards because of its proximity to national parks in the Black Hills region of South Dakota. Under the federal Clean Air Act, the area around the park is a Class 1 airshed, meaning it is held to the highest standards for air quality....
Christie Whitman Rides to the Defense of Her Grand Old Party hristie Whitman emerged from her first meeting with President-elect George Bush in 2000 full of optimism and convinced of his determination to build a positive environmental "legacy" - a belief reinforced moments later when Karl Rove took her aside and confided, flatteringly, that as the boss of the Environmental Protection Agency, she would be one of just three cabinet-level officers who would help determine whether the president would be re-elected in 2004. This she took to mean that "the work I would do in building a strong record on the environment would help the president build on his base by attracting moderate voters." "As it turned out," she now concedes in her just-published political memoir, "It's My Party Too," "I don't seem to have understood Karl correctly." In fact, she misunderstood him completely. Why she did so is one of the many puzzles in this interesting but often disingenuous and frustrating book. A cursory check would have revealed that Mr. Rove had no use for environmentalists and, indeed, had long believed that Mr. Bush's father lost the 1992 election partly because he was too squishy on environmental issues, offending the conservative base on which Mr. Rove pins his political strategy....
Britain: U.S. Must Help Avert Climate Catastrophe Britain, arguing that climate change is now unstoppable, urged the United States on Tuesday to sign up to life-saving cuts in greenhouse gas emissions as environmentalists warned of approaching Armageddon. Opening a three-day scientific meeting to assess the threat of global warming, environment minister Margaret Beckett said it was vital Washington become more involved. "A significant impact is already inevitable -- we need to act now to limit the scale of warming in the future and avoid even worse effects," she said. "We would like America to engage more fully with these discussions about where we might go."....
1880 Train headed to small screen A Black Hills landmark will hit the road for New Mexico Wednesday to make an appearance in a television miniseries about the Old West. The 1880 Train's Engine No. 7, one of the oldest operating steam engines in the country, will be featured in the six-part TNT series, "Into the West." The six-part series, produced by TNT in association with Steven Spielberg, portrays the American wilderness, the clash of two cultures, the rush to riches and the building of a new civilization, according to the network. The series, to air starting in June, will feature Sean Astin, Tom Berenger, Beau Bridges and Keri Russell. Crews will use the Hill City train in two episodes....
Oregon wolf plan won't be able to allow ranchers to kill wolves Oregon will not be able to allow ranchers to shoot gray wolves that attack livestock under a federal court ruling that changed the federal Endangered Species Act status for wolves migrating into the state. The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission will be looking for other ways to control wolves that attack livestock when it votes Feb. 11 on a management plan for wolves moving into the state from Idaho, commission spokeswoman Ann Pressentin Young said Tuesday. If non-lethal means do not work, that will likely mean calling on federal wildlife agents to shoot or trap wolves that kill livestock, Young said. A federal judge in Portland threw out a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rule imposed in April 2003 that reduced Endangered Species Act protection from endangered to threatened for wolves migrating into neighboring states from thriving experimental populations in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho....
Dispute continues between private landowners and game wardens Venture uninvited onto private ranchland, and you'll likely get a cool reception. That's exactly what game wardens have been doing for years. Now, lawmakers are working to make asking permission not just proper manners, but a matter of law. In legislation, almost identical to the open fields doctrine that failed just last year, this afternoon, Senate Bill 122 passed out of the Agriculture and Natural Resource Committee by a vote of seven to two. For Harding County rancher Linda Gilbert, the on–going dispute between private landowners and conservation officers isn't that complicated. “The whole thing comes down to Game, Fish and Parks working together with landowners.” Something Gilbert says hasn't been happening for well over a year now, causing almost two million acres in western South Dakota to be closed off to hunters....
Unlimited land easements approved(South Dakota) State law should make it clear that conservation easements can be for any length of time, the House Agriculture Committee decided unanimously Tuesday. The panel sent the full House a bill that says those easements can be determined by agreement of both parties. Rep. Roger Hunt, R-Brandon, said he offered HB1098 because some people believe that conservation easements tie up land forever. "If you want to do a short-term, medium-term, forever kind of easements, you have that flexibility," he said. "The parties can establish the terms of the conservation easements."....
Column: Federal government selling land it promised to 'protect' Prospects don't look good for Prospect Island. The island, located in the Sacramento- San Joaquin Delta, used to be thriving farmland, offering homes for the tricolored blackbird, giant garter snake, great blue heron and other wildlife while producing high-quality California rice. Today, a 1,300-acre portion of the island symbolizes a government farmland-conversion program that has gone terribly wrong--one that has cost taxpayers millions of dollars on a project supposedly designed to "protect" the land forever. Now, part of Prospect Island is for sale. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is asking permission from Congress to sell the land it owns on Prospect Island--a place it claimed would be "protected" in order to provide habitat for numerous fish and wildlife species listed under the federal Endangered Species Act. There were big, and costly, dreams for it....
Column: The mud puddle preservation plan When I was a boy growing up in California we called them "mud puddles." If they grew large enough, grown ups called it "flooding." But now the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), which enforces the Endangered Species Act, has adopted the bogus poetry of the environmentalist left, calling them "vernal pools." The question for the immediate future is whether a federal government controlled by Republicans will allow either bureaucrats or un-elected judges to use these "vernal pools" to shutdown development on vast stretches of private property and thus help push the American dream beyond the grasp of some aspiring homeowners in our nation's most populous state. What we are talking about is the stagnant water that often collects in small ditches or low patches of land in California after winter rains. By summer, these puddles and flooded areas revert to clumps of yellowed grass....
California, Others Sue Over Sierra Plan California's attorney general joined environmental groups Tuesday in suing the federal government to block its plan to manage 11.5 million acres of Sierra National Forest, which calls for increased logging. The lawsuits argue there is no scientific justification for the Forest Service to change a plan for managing the forest that was approved in the final days of the Clinton administration. "Their plan will increase harvesting between 470 percent (in the first decade of the plan) and 640 percent (in the second decade). I think that's their goal," Attorney General Bill Lockyer alleged....
Judge upholds climbing ban at Tahoe's Cave Rock A federal judge in Reno has upheld a climbing ban at Cave Rock on Lake Tahoe's east shore. The Jan. 28 ruling by U.S. District Judge Howard McKibben upholds a management plan adopted by the U.S. Forest Service in 2003 to prohibit rock climbing on the landmark that is held sacred by the Washoe Tribe. McKibben rejected a lawsuit filed last year by The Access Fund, a Colorado-based advocacy group for climbers....
Endangered listing sought for tiger beetle More than two years after saying the Salt Creek tiger beetle needed emergency federal protection, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday announced its intention to list the insect as an endangered species. In a 17-page proposed rule published in the Federal Register, the service said the known populations of tiger beetles north of Lincoln are highly threatened by possible habitat destruction. Beetle advocates greeted the news with satisfaction that the protection process is moving forward. But they also sounded exasperated that the agency could take so long to protect what may be the rarest insect in North America....
Southern Arizona bird could be taken off endangered list The federal government is considering taking Arizona's cactus ferruginous pygmy owls off the endangered species list, Justice Department officials said. The owl has been in legal limbo since August 2003, when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that its 1997 listing as endangered had been arbitrary and capricious. The court said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hadn't proved that the Arizona owls, whose known population is about 30, are "significantly distinct" from a much larger population in Mexico....
Developer out $3 million in mouse costs A housing development company says it probably can't recoup the $3 million it spent on preserving habitat for a mouse once thought to be a threatened subspecies, even though federal wildlife managers are removing the protection. La Plata Investments said it set aside 155 acres in its 7,600-acre Briargate development for the Preble's meadow jumping mouse, land that couldn't be used even for trails. Concerns about the mouse also delayed the extension of a street. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said last week it has begun the process of removing the mouse from the threatened species list amid DNA evidence that it isn't a distinct subspecies as previously thought....
Proximity to park confuses power proposal Electrical power developers in northeastern Wyoming are unsure how much room they have under clean air standards to produce more power. The National Park Service appealed plans for a new 500-megawatt coal-fired plant, known as WyGen No. 2, even though the Department of Environmental Quality said the plant would be one of the cleanest-burning plants in the nation. There has been no action on the case in nearly six months. The area is subject to tougher emissions standards because of its proximity to national parks in the Black Hills region of South Dakota. Under the federal Clean Air Act, the area around the park is a Class 1 airshed, meaning it is held to the highest standards for air quality....
Christie Whitman Rides to the Defense of Her Grand Old Party hristie Whitman emerged from her first meeting with President-elect George Bush in 2000 full of optimism and convinced of his determination to build a positive environmental "legacy" - a belief reinforced moments later when Karl Rove took her aside and confided, flatteringly, that as the boss of the Environmental Protection Agency, she would be one of just three cabinet-level officers who would help determine whether the president would be re-elected in 2004. This she took to mean that "the work I would do in building a strong record on the environment would help the president build on his base by attracting moderate voters." "As it turned out," she now concedes in her just-published political memoir, "It's My Party Too," "I don't seem to have understood Karl correctly." In fact, she misunderstood him completely. Why she did so is one of the many puzzles in this interesting but often disingenuous and frustrating book. A cursory check would have revealed that Mr. Rove had no use for environmentalists and, indeed, had long believed that Mr. Bush's father lost the 1992 election partly because he was too squishy on environmental issues, offending the conservative base on which Mr. Rove pins his political strategy....
Britain: U.S. Must Help Avert Climate Catastrophe Britain, arguing that climate change is now unstoppable, urged the United States on Tuesday to sign up to life-saving cuts in greenhouse gas emissions as environmentalists warned of approaching Armageddon. Opening a three-day scientific meeting to assess the threat of global warming, environment minister Margaret Beckett said it was vital Washington become more involved. "A significant impact is already inevitable -- we need to act now to limit the scale of warming in the future and avoid even worse effects," she said. "We would like America to engage more fully with these discussions about where we might go."....
1880 Train headed to small screen A Black Hills landmark will hit the road for New Mexico Wednesday to make an appearance in a television miniseries about the Old West. The 1880 Train's Engine No. 7, one of the oldest operating steam engines in the country, will be featured in the six-part TNT series, "Into the West." The six-part series, produced by TNT in association with Steven Spielberg, portrays the American wilderness, the clash of two cultures, the rush to riches and the building of a new civilization, according to the network. The series, to air starting in June, will feature Sean Astin, Tom Berenger, Beau Bridges and Keri Russell. Crews will use the Hill City train in two episodes....
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
U.S. Loses Ruling on Gray Wolves
A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the Bush administration violated the Endangered Species Act when it relaxed protections on many of the nation's gray wolves. The decision by U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones in Portland rescinds a rule change that allowed ranchers to shoot wolves on sight if they were attacking livestock, said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group. In April 2003, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service divided the wolves' range into three areas and reclassified the Eastern and Western populations as threatened instead of endangered. The Eastern segment covers the area from the Dakotas east to Maine, while the Western segment extends west from the Dakotas. The agency left wolves in the Southwest classified as endangered. But the judge ruled that the government acted improperly by combining areas where wolves were doing well, such as Montana, with places where their numbers had not recovered. The judge also found that Fish and Wildlife did not consider certain factors listed in the Endangered Species Act in evaluating the wolf's status, including threats from disease, predators or other natural or manmade dangers....
A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the Bush administration violated the Endangered Species Act when it relaxed protections on many of the nation's gray wolves. The decision by U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones in Portland rescinds a rule change that allowed ranchers to shoot wolves on sight if they were attacking livestock, said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group. In April 2003, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service divided the wolves' range into three areas and reclassified the Eastern and Western populations as threatened instead of endangered. The Eastern segment covers the area from the Dakotas east to Maine, while the Western segment extends west from the Dakotas. The agency left wolves in the Southwest classified as endangered. But the judge ruled that the government acted improperly by combining areas where wolves were doing well, such as Montana, with places where their numbers had not recovered. The judge also found that Fish and Wildlife did not consider certain factors listed in the Endangered Species Act in evaluating the wolf's status, including threats from disease, predators or other natural or manmade dangers....
NEWS ROUNDUP
Utah lawmakers recognize rancher who kept Range Creek secret Waldo Wilcox was a little-known Utah rancher for more than 50 years, the way he preferred to keep it. Now his name is known around the world from stories about hundreds of spectacular archaeological sites he left untouched on his 4,350-acre ranch in a remote eastern Utah canyon. Wilcox sold the ranch and retired, and Utah gained title to it last year. Archaeologists have spent three summers doing surveys, but news stories about the still-unfolding finds didn't surface until last June. Rep. Brad King, D-Price, on Monday showed other lawmakers some of the press Wilcox has attracted from the German publication Wissen to Discover magazine, which ranked it No. 16 on a list of the top 100 science stories of 2004. Reader's Digest and the Smithsonian and National Geographic magazines are working other stories....
Editorial: Common sense on wolf management A broad-based group of citizens and experts has offered common-sense recommendations about how to manage future wild wolf populations in Colorado, although several issues remain. Wolves are likely to show up on our doorstep, either through natural migration or by being deliberately reintroduced by humans. The wolves may decide the issue for themselves, though: Packs brought to Yellowstone National Park in the 1980s thrived and expanded their territory. Last summer, one Yellowstone wolf was found dead near Interstate 70 in Colorado. The Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) began working on a wolf management plan even before the carcass was found in Colorado. The DOW hopes to base its plan on science and real-life problems associated with human-wolf conflicts....
Weyerhaeuser harvests first timber in Mount St. Helens blast zone Weyerhaeuser Co. has begun harvesting trees that were planted 25 years ago in the ashes of the Mount St. Helens blast zone. In January, contract loggers began thinning stands of Douglas Fir from land that once looked like it might never produce another tree. In the Green River Valley, near the outer fringe of the blast zone, there are now no obvious signs of the volcano's May 18, 1980, catastrophic eruption. The forest floor is shaded under a canopy of green. Ash that once blanketed the ground has long since mixed into the soil. "It's a time of immense pride for all of us at Weyerhaeuser," spokeswoman Jackie Lang said. "By all definitions (the blast zone) was a wasteland 25 years ago. It's a complex and healthy forest today because of our active forest management."....
Bush “Healthy Forest” Plans Hemorrhage Red Ink The first national forest plans developed under the Bush Administration’s “Healthy Forest” rules are big money losers for the taxpayer, according to agency documents compiled by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Plans from just three Rocky Mountain forests would cost in excess of $1.5 billion from unprofitable timber sales and associated expenses – an amount more than four times the total U.S. commitment for tsunami relief. In each case, the Forest Service rejected the “environmentally preferred alternative” identified in the required review under the National Environmental Policy Act even though the environmentally preferred alternative was significantly less costly. Instead, the Forest Service selected the more intensive and expensive alternatives favored by the timber industry....
Canine crime-fighter Move over, Smokey Bear: There's a new animal patrolling the forests now, and his name is Urko. He's the new canine unit for the Coconino National Forest and is expected to be a proficient, new tool for law enforcement. Urko (pronounced yer-ko) is a German shepherd that has been trained to perform such duties as drug-sniffing, officer protection and search and rescue. The Forest Service decided to start its own canine unit after much success with temporary units....
House Panel to Vote on Alaska Refuge Drilling A House committee is expected to vote next week to revive a broad energy bill that would allow oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), a key part of the Bush administration's national energy plan that faces opposition in the Senate. In addition to opening ANWR, the House Resources Committee also is expected to vote to speed up government approval of drilling permits for U.S. areas already open to energy exploration, cut federal royalties on low-volume oil and natural gas wells, and promote development of geothermal energy on public lands, the panel's spokesman said on Monday. The committee will meet on Feb. 9 to consider the portions of a broad energy bill similar to one passed last year....
Editorial: The ANWR debate: Time to drill With a stronger Republican majority in Congress and an energy secretary nominee who doesn't mince words, the nation is closer than ever to hitting black gold in ANWR. ANWR is the acronym for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It's also the battle cry of environmentalists and energy foes who have blocked oil and gas exploration in a small portion of the region. Energy Secretary-designate Samuel W. Bodman, who knows his way around Washington, is a plain-talking advocate of ANWR drilling. Contrary to the claims of opponents, Mr. Bodman says drilling offers great rewards with minimal ecological risks. Of course, energy independence means developing alternate fuels and new technologies. All of which are worthwhile but still several decades away. In the interim, the United States needs oil. It remains dependent on foreign and, in some cases, unfriendly sources....
Column: Neocons for Conservation? President Bush has a simple policy about energy: produce more of it. The former oilman has packed his administration with veterans of the oil and coal industries. And for most of the first Bush term, his energy policy and his foreign policy were joined at the hip. Since the Bush administration believed that controlling the flow of oil from the Persian Gulf was critically important to the American economy, the invasion of Iraq seemed to serve both the president's energy goals and his foreign policy ones. But a curious transformation is occurring in Washington, D.C., a split of foreign policy and energy policy: Many of the leading neoconservatives who pushed hard for the Iraq war are going green....
Climate: Low-carbing the atmosphere Carbon sequestration has become the leading weapon in the U.S. government's arsenal against climate change. There is a hoary saying in the business world that is easier to save a dollar than to make a dollar, but this advice seems to be cheerfully ignored in the U.S. climate policy arena. There, a technology-investment fix is being promoted over a regulatory approach that restricts carbon emissions -- that is, not emitting the greenhouse gas in the first place....
Huntsman continues to court outdoor environmental lobby Despite Utah's involvement in a lawsuit challenging the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Gov. Jon Huntsman assured a powerful environmental lobby the state had no intention of shrinking the monument's borders. Huntsman told members of the Outdoor Industry Association on Saturday that "Your association wants the same thing I want: to protect Utah's lands." The twice-yearly trade show put on by the association means an estimated $32 in direct spending in Utah -- and the group used that clout to influence Utah's environmental policy by threatening to pull out if the state missteps on wilderness and recreation. Huntsman began his speech to retailers by reminding them he is the first governor to address their twice-yearly Outdoor Retailer show, which landed in Utah in 1996....
Column: Too Many Boats in the Canyon Each year, nearly 5 million people visit the Grand Canyon, most traveling to the South Rim where they spend as much time looking for a parking place as they do looking at the canyon. Only a few venture below the rim on a trail. Another 22,000 people a year see the canyon from the bottom up, enjoying a week or more of spectacular scenery while running rapids, hiking to waterfalls hidden in side canyons and sleeping on sand next to the river under a sky studded with stars. It's not for everyone. But for some, the experience beats most pleasures known to man. And there's the rub: Interest in whitewater boating has grown steadily over the years, and there's not enough room in the canyon for everybody to be there at once....
CRMWA to close deal for ranch's water rights The Canadian River Municipal Water Authority is expected to close a deal today that marks the beginning of a new stage in water rights acquisition. The Duncan Ranch in Roberts County has agreed to sell 8,777 acres of water rights to the authority for $2.3 million. The deal is CRMWA's second groundwater purchase ever and its first acquisition since it bought the acreage for its Roberts County well field in 1996....
Editorial: Cooperation would end water wars The battle among Tucson, Marana and the Flowing Wells Irrigation District is a clear illustration of why southern Arizona water providers should craft a means to approach water issues through regional cooperation. This battle is not over the Flowing Wells district itself. It is over 1,500 acre-feet of water from the Central Arizona Project - water that Flowing Wells had planned to sell to Marana until Tucson intervened. Which provider should get the water? Whichever one needs it most. If Tucson, Marana, Flowing Wells, Oro Valley and the private Metro Water District - and maybe even Green Valley and Sahuarita - would come together in a regional authority, they all would have far more clout and available water, regardless of the source, would be better used....
Water bank applications flood Bureau A late surge of applications from irrigators who want to take part in the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's water bank has left the Bureau "cautiously optimistic" that it will meet its goal. The Bureau wants to idle enough land in the Klamath Reclamation Project to set aside 50,000 acre-feet to benefit coho salmon in the lower Klamath River. After seeing a meager initial response to a request for applications, Bureau officials became concerned they might not be able to set aside enough water. But business picked up last week, officials said....
Canada Plans to Allow More Imports of U.S. Beef Canada plans to allow imports of U.S. cattle born in 1998 or later and meat from cattle of any age that have had brains, spines and other mad cow risk materials removed, officials said on Monday. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said it would accept comments on the new rule for the next 30 days. Canada temporarily banned some imports of U.S. cattle and beef after a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, was found in Washington state in December 2003. The ban kept out meat from cattle over 30 months of age, but allowed young live animals destined for slaughter....
Course on mules kicks off at Pierce College "Mule professor" Steve Edwards swung his spurs over his saddle, hit the Pierce College corral and let out a piercing cowboy holler. "Yahhh, yahhh, yahhh!" The mule didn't flinch -- testament to the Arizona rancher's renown at handling horse-and-ass hybrids. And for mule skinners at the world's only college program for riding, training and packing mules, it was a sheer urban-agricultural joy. "The program is great -- it brings back the Old West," said Christy Johnson, 37, of Acton, the youngest of seven women to enroll in the five-day program last week....
"Cowboys - Wild Mustangs" to Premiere on Tuesday Dayton O. Hyde, President and Founder of the Institute of Range and the American Mustang and the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary will be the featured guest star on the upcoming Outdoor Channel cable network's new series titled, "Cowboys - Wild Mustangs" to premiere Tuesday, February 1, 12 am ET (10 pm MT), Thursday, February 3, 6:30 pm ET (4:30 pm MT) and Sunday, February 6, 12:30 pm ET (10:30 am MT), 2005. "Cowboys" will bring the Old West and the New West to the Outdoor Channel. The show is produced by the award winning team of Robin Berg and Michael Bane, and features Richard "Tequila" Young, a five- time cowboy action shooting world champion. "Cowboys" will cover every facet of the American cowboy from stories of the old west to modern stories including cowboy action shooting, wild mustang round-ups, today's cowboys who still live on the range, and rodeo heroes. The show will reintroduce the Western culture and educate future generations on the philosophy of the old west. Twelve episodes have been filmed and additional episodes are planned with 26 productions being shown on TV in 2005....
It's All Trew: Evolving farms grew to look like small towns Many early-day farms and ranches appeared to be small towns because of all the out-buildings on the premises. The small additions were added as families grew and when prosperity allowed the expenditure. An original homestead usually consisted of a dugout, half-dugout or small frame dwelling. This often evolved into basements or root-cellars as homes were enlarged or remodeled. A much-needed addition sometimes came as porches and verandas were added for hot weather relief and shade, a scarce item on the treeless prairie....
Utah lawmakers recognize rancher who kept Range Creek secret Waldo Wilcox was a little-known Utah rancher for more than 50 years, the way he preferred to keep it. Now his name is known around the world from stories about hundreds of spectacular archaeological sites he left untouched on his 4,350-acre ranch in a remote eastern Utah canyon. Wilcox sold the ranch and retired, and Utah gained title to it last year. Archaeologists have spent three summers doing surveys, but news stories about the still-unfolding finds didn't surface until last June. Rep. Brad King, D-Price, on Monday showed other lawmakers some of the press Wilcox has attracted from the German publication Wissen to Discover magazine, which ranked it No. 16 on a list of the top 100 science stories of 2004. Reader's Digest and the Smithsonian and National Geographic magazines are working other stories....
Editorial: Common sense on wolf management A broad-based group of citizens and experts has offered common-sense recommendations about how to manage future wild wolf populations in Colorado, although several issues remain. Wolves are likely to show up on our doorstep, either through natural migration or by being deliberately reintroduced by humans. The wolves may decide the issue for themselves, though: Packs brought to Yellowstone National Park in the 1980s thrived and expanded their territory. Last summer, one Yellowstone wolf was found dead near Interstate 70 in Colorado. The Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) began working on a wolf management plan even before the carcass was found in Colorado. The DOW hopes to base its plan on science and real-life problems associated with human-wolf conflicts....
Weyerhaeuser harvests first timber in Mount St. Helens blast zone Weyerhaeuser Co. has begun harvesting trees that were planted 25 years ago in the ashes of the Mount St. Helens blast zone. In January, contract loggers began thinning stands of Douglas Fir from land that once looked like it might never produce another tree. In the Green River Valley, near the outer fringe of the blast zone, there are now no obvious signs of the volcano's May 18, 1980, catastrophic eruption. The forest floor is shaded under a canopy of green. Ash that once blanketed the ground has long since mixed into the soil. "It's a time of immense pride for all of us at Weyerhaeuser," spokeswoman Jackie Lang said. "By all definitions (the blast zone) was a wasteland 25 years ago. It's a complex and healthy forest today because of our active forest management."....
Bush “Healthy Forest” Plans Hemorrhage Red Ink The first national forest plans developed under the Bush Administration’s “Healthy Forest” rules are big money losers for the taxpayer, according to agency documents compiled by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Plans from just three Rocky Mountain forests would cost in excess of $1.5 billion from unprofitable timber sales and associated expenses – an amount more than four times the total U.S. commitment for tsunami relief. In each case, the Forest Service rejected the “environmentally preferred alternative” identified in the required review under the National Environmental Policy Act even though the environmentally preferred alternative was significantly less costly. Instead, the Forest Service selected the more intensive and expensive alternatives favored by the timber industry....
Canine crime-fighter Move over, Smokey Bear: There's a new animal patrolling the forests now, and his name is Urko. He's the new canine unit for the Coconino National Forest and is expected to be a proficient, new tool for law enforcement. Urko (pronounced yer-ko) is a German shepherd that has been trained to perform such duties as drug-sniffing, officer protection and search and rescue. The Forest Service decided to start its own canine unit after much success with temporary units....
House Panel to Vote on Alaska Refuge Drilling A House committee is expected to vote next week to revive a broad energy bill that would allow oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), a key part of the Bush administration's national energy plan that faces opposition in the Senate. In addition to opening ANWR, the House Resources Committee also is expected to vote to speed up government approval of drilling permits for U.S. areas already open to energy exploration, cut federal royalties on low-volume oil and natural gas wells, and promote development of geothermal energy on public lands, the panel's spokesman said on Monday. The committee will meet on Feb. 9 to consider the portions of a broad energy bill similar to one passed last year....
Editorial: The ANWR debate: Time to drill With a stronger Republican majority in Congress and an energy secretary nominee who doesn't mince words, the nation is closer than ever to hitting black gold in ANWR. ANWR is the acronym for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It's also the battle cry of environmentalists and energy foes who have blocked oil and gas exploration in a small portion of the region. Energy Secretary-designate Samuel W. Bodman, who knows his way around Washington, is a plain-talking advocate of ANWR drilling. Contrary to the claims of opponents, Mr. Bodman says drilling offers great rewards with minimal ecological risks. Of course, energy independence means developing alternate fuels and new technologies. All of which are worthwhile but still several decades away. In the interim, the United States needs oil. It remains dependent on foreign and, in some cases, unfriendly sources....
Column: Neocons for Conservation? President Bush has a simple policy about energy: produce more of it. The former oilman has packed his administration with veterans of the oil and coal industries. And for most of the first Bush term, his energy policy and his foreign policy were joined at the hip. Since the Bush administration believed that controlling the flow of oil from the Persian Gulf was critically important to the American economy, the invasion of Iraq seemed to serve both the president's energy goals and his foreign policy ones. But a curious transformation is occurring in Washington, D.C., a split of foreign policy and energy policy: Many of the leading neoconservatives who pushed hard for the Iraq war are going green....
Climate: Low-carbing the atmosphere Carbon sequestration has become the leading weapon in the U.S. government's arsenal against climate change. There is a hoary saying in the business world that is easier to save a dollar than to make a dollar, but this advice seems to be cheerfully ignored in the U.S. climate policy arena. There, a technology-investment fix is being promoted over a regulatory approach that restricts carbon emissions -- that is, not emitting the greenhouse gas in the first place....
Huntsman continues to court outdoor environmental lobby Despite Utah's involvement in a lawsuit challenging the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Gov. Jon Huntsman assured a powerful environmental lobby the state had no intention of shrinking the monument's borders. Huntsman told members of the Outdoor Industry Association on Saturday that "Your association wants the same thing I want: to protect Utah's lands." The twice-yearly trade show put on by the association means an estimated $32 in direct spending in Utah -- and the group used that clout to influence Utah's environmental policy by threatening to pull out if the state missteps on wilderness and recreation. Huntsman began his speech to retailers by reminding them he is the first governor to address their twice-yearly Outdoor Retailer show, which landed in Utah in 1996....
Column: Too Many Boats in the Canyon Each year, nearly 5 million people visit the Grand Canyon, most traveling to the South Rim where they spend as much time looking for a parking place as they do looking at the canyon. Only a few venture below the rim on a trail. Another 22,000 people a year see the canyon from the bottom up, enjoying a week or more of spectacular scenery while running rapids, hiking to waterfalls hidden in side canyons and sleeping on sand next to the river under a sky studded with stars. It's not for everyone. But for some, the experience beats most pleasures known to man. And there's the rub: Interest in whitewater boating has grown steadily over the years, and there's not enough room in the canyon for everybody to be there at once....
CRMWA to close deal for ranch's water rights The Canadian River Municipal Water Authority is expected to close a deal today that marks the beginning of a new stage in water rights acquisition. The Duncan Ranch in Roberts County has agreed to sell 8,777 acres of water rights to the authority for $2.3 million. The deal is CRMWA's second groundwater purchase ever and its first acquisition since it bought the acreage for its Roberts County well field in 1996....
Editorial: Cooperation would end water wars The battle among Tucson, Marana and the Flowing Wells Irrigation District is a clear illustration of why southern Arizona water providers should craft a means to approach water issues through regional cooperation. This battle is not over the Flowing Wells district itself. It is over 1,500 acre-feet of water from the Central Arizona Project - water that Flowing Wells had planned to sell to Marana until Tucson intervened. Which provider should get the water? Whichever one needs it most. If Tucson, Marana, Flowing Wells, Oro Valley and the private Metro Water District - and maybe even Green Valley and Sahuarita - would come together in a regional authority, they all would have far more clout and available water, regardless of the source, would be better used....
Water bank applications flood Bureau A late surge of applications from irrigators who want to take part in the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's water bank has left the Bureau "cautiously optimistic" that it will meet its goal. The Bureau wants to idle enough land in the Klamath Reclamation Project to set aside 50,000 acre-feet to benefit coho salmon in the lower Klamath River. After seeing a meager initial response to a request for applications, Bureau officials became concerned they might not be able to set aside enough water. But business picked up last week, officials said....
Canada Plans to Allow More Imports of U.S. Beef Canada plans to allow imports of U.S. cattle born in 1998 or later and meat from cattle of any age that have had brains, spines and other mad cow risk materials removed, officials said on Monday. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said it would accept comments on the new rule for the next 30 days. Canada temporarily banned some imports of U.S. cattle and beef after a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, was found in Washington state in December 2003. The ban kept out meat from cattle over 30 months of age, but allowed young live animals destined for slaughter....
Course on mules kicks off at Pierce College "Mule professor" Steve Edwards swung his spurs over his saddle, hit the Pierce College corral and let out a piercing cowboy holler. "Yahhh, yahhh, yahhh!" The mule didn't flinch -- testament to the Arizona rancher's renown at handling horse-and-ass hybrids. And for mule skinners at the world's only college program for riding, training and packing mules, it was a sheer urban-agricultural joy. "The program is great -- it brings back the Old West," said Christy Johnson, 37, of Acton, the youngest of seven women to enroll in the five-day program last week....
"Cowboys - Wild Mustangs" to Premiere on Tuesday Dayton O. Hyde, President and Founder of the Institute of Range and the American Mustang and the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary will be the featured guest star on the upcoming Outdoor Channel cable network's new series titled, "Cowboys - Wild Mustangs" to premiere Tuesday, February 1, 12 am ET (10 pm MT), Thursday, February 3, 6:30 pm ET (4:30 pm MT) and Sunday, February 6, 12:30 pm ET (10:30 am MT), 2005. "Cowboys" will bring the Old West and the New West to the Outdoor Channel. The show is produced by the award winning team of Robin Berg and Michael Bane, and features Richard "Tequila" Young, a five- time cowboy action shooting world champion. "Cowboys" will cover every facet of the American cowboy from stories of the old west to modern stories including cowboy action shooting, wild mustang round-ups, today's cowboys who still live on the range, and rodeo heroes. The show will reintroduce the Western culture and educate future generations on the philosophy of the old west. Twelve episodes have been filmed and additional episodes are planned with 26 productions being shown on TV in 2005....
It's All Trew: Evolving farms grew to look like small towns Many early-day farms and ranches appeared to be small towns because of all the out-buildings on the premises. The small additions were added as families grew and when prosperity allowed the expenditure. An original homestead usually consisted of a dugout, half-dugout or small frame dwelling. This often evolved into basements or root-cellars as homes were enlarged or remodeled. A much-needed addition sometimes came as porches and verandas were added for hot weather relief and shade, a scarce item on the treeless prairie....
Monday, January 31, 2005
RODEO
Professional Bull Riders donate $50,000 to the ProRodeo Hall of Fame
The Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR) is proud to announce that it has made a donation in the amount of $50,000 toward efforts to reopen the ProRodeo Hall of Fame and Museum of the American Cowboy, which is located adjacent to PRCA, the national headquarters of the ProRodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Hall of Fame, which has suffered financial losses over the past few years, was temporarily closed earlier this year by the PRCA. The PRCA plans to reopen the Hall of Fame once it has analyzed reasons for its financial situation and created a plan that will enable the Hall to run more efficiently and to achieve a greater presence in the area's tourism industry. PBR President and 2000 PRCA Hall of Fame inductee, Ty Murray of Stephenville, Texas, is passionate about the Hall's historical significance. States Murray, "The Hall of Fame was intended to immortalize the sport of rodeo and its legendary athletes. The PBR is honored to be in a position to provide resources that will enable the Hall to open its doors once again and preserve the legacy of rodeo and its notables." Added Murray, "the PBR felt compelled to help ensure that the history of professional rodeo be immortalized and made available to the public as soon as possible." Murray is a nine-time PRCA world champion and the only seven-time PRCA world champion all-around cowboy in professional rodeo history....
PRCA Commissioner: State of the PRCA
On January 26th, Commissioner Troy Ellerman issued this memo to the PRCA Membership. In it, he provides an overview of the PRCA for the coming fiscal year, by addressing change, image, sponsor relations, finance and committees. If your interested in the future of the PRCA, you better check this out.
Professional Bull Riders donate $50,000 to the ProRodeo Hall of Fame
The Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR) is proud to announce that it has made a donation in the amount of $50,000 toward efforts to reopen the ProRodeo Hall of Fame and Museum of the American Cowboy, which is located adjacent to PRCA, the national headquarters of the ProRodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Hall of Fame, which has suffered financial losses over the past few years, was temporarily closed earlier this year by the PRCA. The PRCA plans to reopen the Hall of Fame once it has analyzed reasons for its financial situation and created a plan that will enable the Hall to run more efficiently and to achieve a greater presence in the area's tourism industry. PBR President and 2000 PRCA Hall of Fame inductee, Ty Murray of Stephenville, Texas, is passionate about the Hall's historical significance. States Murray, "The Hall of Fame was intended to immortalize the sport of rodeo and its legendary athletes. The PBR is honored to be in a position to provide resources that will enable the Hall to open its doors once again and preserve the legacy of rodeo and its notables." Added Murray, "the PBR felt compelled to help ensure that the history of professional rodeo be immortalized and made available to the public as soon as possible." Murray is a nine-time PRCA world champion and the only seven-time PRCA world champion all-around cowboy in professional rodeo history....
PRCA Commissioner: State of the PRCA
On January 26th, Commissioner Troy Ellerman issued this memo to the PRCA Membership. In it, he provides an overview of the PRCA for the coming fiscal year, by addressing change, image, sponsor relations, finance and committees. If your interested in the future of the PRCA, you better check this out.
NEWS ROUNDUP
Panel Advises Ending Tax Breaks for Easements An influential joint congressional committee recommended yesterday that lawmakers do away with income tax breaks available to homeowners who give charitable organizations easements that restrict changes to personal residences or surrounding land. Over the next decade, the reforms would save the U.S. Treasury $1 billion, according to a staff report released by the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation. The proposal goes well beyond previously announced plans for the reform of what are known as "historic facade easements" and "conservation easements." The recommendations are aimed at ending tax breaks originally designed to preserve historic buildings and the environment....Go here to download the report and thanks to Jon Christensen for the links...
Encounters with cougars on the rise in Oregon When Laurie Gurney turned back toward her house last October with an armload of firewood, a cougar stood between her and the front door. As Russell Trump drove near Yoncalla last year, a cougar stood in the middle of the road. Rancher Ernie Wheeler had a 3-day-old calf killed on his ranch last October. He's pretty sure the predator was a cougar. In most every corner of Douglas County, cougar sightings continue to be made and many are reported to wildlife officials. In most cases, the cats are just minding their own business and passing through. But, it seems, according to calls to officials, more cougars are being seen closer to rural residential areas, and they don't seem as fearful of humans....
Not in my playground! W e all know NIMBYs, those folks who say "Not in My Back Yard!" to every development proposal that comes anywhere near them. Researchers have even identified a subspecies called BANANAs -- "Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anybody" -- who oppose any and all development, whether it's close to them or not. In recent years, a distinct new breed seems to have emerged. I've dubbed them the NIMPs, for "Not in My Playground." NIMPs are ardent conservationists, staunch champions of wilderness and natural areas, protectors of endangered species -- as long as these noble goals don't interfere with their own preferred forms of recreation or favorite vacation spots. Current case in point: wolves....
Gas industry rebuts NPRC report A report recently released by the coalbed methane industry counters findings of a study on wastewater management by a conservation group, an industry spokesperson said. Karen Brown, coordinator of the Coalbed Natural Gas Alliance (CNGA), called the report commissioned last fall by the Northern Plains Resource Council "misleading and inaccurate.'' Brown said the NPRC report "leads the public to believe that injection and water treatment are the only logical and technically sound water management tools'' for coalbed methane development in the Powder River Basin of Montana and Wyoming. But an NPRC spokesman said the industry's report still shows that injection and treatment are affordable options for managing coalbed methane water....
Agency in transition The story goes that in the early days of the U.S. Forest Service, a would-be ranger taking the qualifying exam was asked who created the national forests. "God created the forests but Teddy Roosevelt greatly expanded upon them," the acute applicant said. President Roosevelt began his major expansion 100 years ago this month when he convened an American Forest Congress. His 1905 gathering led to the creation of the U.S. Forest Service and more forest reserves, including the Siskiyou in southwestern Oregon....
Loggers Going Into Ore. Old Growth Reserve A timber company plans to start logging next week in a burned area that had been reserved as old growth forest, setting up a confrontation with environmentalists who believe leaving the dead trees standing is better for fish, wildlife and the forest. John West, president of Silver Creek Timber Co., said Friday he was just waiting for formal imposition of an appeals court order issued earlier this month that had cleared the way for logging some old growth reserve burned in the 500,000-acre Biscuit fire, which threatened 17,000 people in Oregon's Illinois Valley in 2002. Under pressure from the timber industry, the Forest Service expanded its original plans to harvest only in areas designated for logging under the Northwest Forest Plan, which settled lawsuits over the northern spotted owl by dividing federal forest land into areas for logging, and fish and wildlife habitat. The ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted an injunction that had barred logging on two timber sales in an old growth reserve until a lawsuit brought by environmentalists is resolved....
Raids net thousands of artifacts in Oregon Federal agents executing 22 search warrants this week across Central and Southeast Oregon seized thousands of archaeological artifacts thought to have been stolen from public lands in what they said is the largest case of its kind in the region. The seizures cap a two-year federal investigation into the suspected theft and sale of artifacts looted from sites that may date back thousands of years. Robbery of the native treasures is increasingly fueled by a wealthy, worldwide collectors market willing to pay top dollar for rare remnants of the past, experts said....
Regional forester: Clear cutting forests would help with drought Clear-cutting 25 percent of forest land would help alleviate the ongoing drought, a U.S. Forest Service official told Wyoming lawmakers. Testifying before the Legislature's Joint Agriculture, Public Lands and Water Resources Interim Committee on Thursday, Rocky Mountain Regional Forester Rick Cables said his agency was looking at ways to make more water available from public forest lands. "Water is going to be the defining environmental issue in this country and in the West, and there's a lot of interest in increasing water yields" on forest lands," Cables said. Cables said studies had shown that it took a 25 percent clear cut to get an appreciable gain in water, and that areas must remain open permanently to maintain the water gain....
Good Grazing: Preserving Cattle Country A coalition of ranchers and conservationists are finding new ways to make cattle ranching compatible with environmental preservation. As NPR's John Burnett reports, the plan pits preservation and financial incentives against development and unrestrained land-use. Cattle ranchers in the Malpai Borderlands Group receive cash and tax breaks in exchange for keeping their lands out of the hands of developers. They also agree to manage their cattle in ways less likely to damage fragile desert landscapes. The Malpai Group, which began in 1993, protects 800,000 acres while also sustaining working cattle ranches. And an increasing number of experts think the Malpai model is an idea that could work elsewhere....
Agency plans sage grouse hunt Wyoming Game and Fish Department officials are recommending another conservative sage grouse hunting season for 2005. Agency data show estimated harvest rates were well below 5 percent of the statewide fall population in 2002 and 2003. Emmerich said the same most likely will be true for 2004. He said the state's sage grouse numbers are high enough to support another conservative hunt, similar to the 2002-04 seasons. In 2002, the department shortened the sage grouse season to basically two weekends in the fall, with a last-Saturday-in-September opening date. Fall counts by biologists estimate a population of about 100,000 sage grouse in Wyoming over the past three years....
After the Divorce: Improving Science at Federal Wildlife Agencies Michael Runge and his colleagues from the US Geological Survey (USGS) and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) got out of their car, hiked the short distance to Chaska Lake near the Minnesota River, and looked around carefully. Here, at the nearly 14,000-acre Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge in the southern suburbs of Minneapolis, a floodplain forest of cotton-wood, green ash, and silver maple trees stretches from the riverbanks to the bulrushes and cattails growing in the marshlands along the lake's shallows. Runge, a USGS research ecologist based at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Maryland, was in Minnesota on a cool and drizzly fall day last year to check out Chaska Lake and other sites for possible inclusion in a scientific study. The study will examine about 20 wildlife refuges in the upper Midwest and Northeast. It seeks to help refuge managers determine whether and to what extent adjusting water levels behind impounded wetlands would attract migrating shorebirds, wading birds, waterfowl, and other wildlife. The study's importance goes beyond helping FWS better manage its 545 wildlife refuges and shedding new light on bird habitats. It represents a new era of scientific research and cooperation between FWS and USGS. It also represents a renewed effort by FWS to rebuild its scientific credibility and to foster research related to the federal wildlife agency's program and management responsibilities....
Effort to Reinforce Border Creates Divide On the southwestern-most tip of the country, just across the border from Tijuana, rugged canyons drop down to a rich Pacific estuary, where millions have been spent restoring fresh and saltwater marshes that sustain the California brown pelican and other rare birds and plants. But this landscape also represents a gaping hole in the nation's defenses against terrorists, drug traffickers and other criminals, federal officials say. At some points, a worn-out border fence teeters atop cliffs. In at least one spot along the sloping side of a canyon, erosion has buried so much of the fence that migrants and other travelers can step over it. Near the wind-swept shoreline of Border Field State Park, the 10-foot-tall steel panels that make up the fence are pocked with holes. The Bush administration proposes closing off this final 3.5-mile stretch of border between the United States and Mexico by moving massive amounts of dirt from nearby mesas into canyons to create a long earthen berm. On the berm, parallel to the existing border fence, a second fence and a patrol road would be constructed....
Column: Greener fields in the forecast Heading into his second term, President Bush has earned tremendous political capital he can spend on big goals at home and abroad. The environment is often overlooked in discussions of Mr. Bush's domestic agenda. The president has a chance to advance a bold vision for environmental progress under his top policy ideal: the ownership society. Let's hope he does so. One bold move that could garner support of conservatives and environmentalists alike would be ending all energy subsidies. This would please conservatives, who decry tax breaks for wasteful spending on costly renewable energy boondoggles, and environmentalists, who claim the fossil fuel industry gets unnecessary and unmerited public support. The government would save money and consumers would decide what fuels will meet their energy needs....
A New Range War Corraled in a federal holding pen at Palomino Valley, Nev., a buckskin mare with the number 9598 cold-branded in code on its neck suddenly faces an uncertain future. When the 12-year-old was rounded up in November as part of a federal program to humanely control the mustang population in the West, it looked as if it would be relocated to a grassy farm in Oklahoma or Kansas. But that all changed weeks later. Thanks to a controversial revision of the 1971 law protecting wild horses and burros, the mare could be sold, killed and butchered. Icons of independence and a living reminder of the old West, mustangs have always excited fierce passions. But the passion turned to anger after Republican Sen. Conrad Burns of Montana quietly inserted a rider in the federal budget that lifted the ban on selling wild horses for slaughter....
This Time, Developer May Not Get His Water Of all the obstacles standing between Ben Ewell and his dream of building a new town in the foothills above Fresno, water would seem the least of them. The ambitious project sits along the shores of Millerton Lake, which holds the flow of the San Joaquin River. With a single pipeline acting as a straw, Ewell draws federal water from the lake to his golf course and high-priced houses nestled in the oak-and-granite hills. Now, the real estate developer wants to use this same plumbing to siphon water to an even bigger planned community of 1,000 houses, a hotel, shopping centers, conference halls and a second golf course. But the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, on the eve of a Fresno County vote to approve the first phase of new houses, says it made a serious mistake when it allowed Ewell to pump water from the lake. The whole scheme amounts to an illegal diversion of federal water that bureau officials say they have known about for a decade but chose not to stop....
Colorado considering statewide water compact When manager Tom Backhus looks out across the 4 Eagle Ranch, he sees cattle, horses and snow sparkling like diamonds as far as the eye can see, a range dotted by log cabins visited every year by people who want to learn about the West. Water attorney Glenn Porzak has a different vision. He sees a reservoir filled to the brim with water to help feed Colorado's growing thirst, along with boats, fishermen and others enjoying a big mountain lake. The days appear to be numbered for the guest ranch 20 miles west of Vail: The 1,400-acre spread is owned by the Denver Water Board and if all goes as planned, the ranch will be submerged in a decade. This is not just another water project for Colorado. State officials want it to serve as a blueprint for the rest of the state, which is struggling through one of the worst droughts in history and is a key watershed for much of the West....
Modern-day rustler foiled by the old branding iron Roddy Dean Pippin is a cattle rustler -- a strange modern-day living that comes with plenty of old occupational hazards, short of the rope. Many Americans might think that the brazen theft of cattle died out with frontier justice and 19th-century range wars. But Pippin, a 6-foot-1-inch West Texan, is around to disabuse anyone of that notion. Pippin, 21, was arrested early Aug. 8 while trying to haul four cows and four calves to a sale barn in Decatur. He changed his story about buying them in Oklahoma when he was told that the Open Top J brand on the cattle was identical to the mark burned into the hides of livestock reported stolen from a ranch near Quanah. He confessed. Then, to the amazement of his interrogators, he confessed some more. As with many rustling cases dating back generations, it was the hot-iron brand on a steer's hip that helped put a thief behind bars. The association and others are concerned that a major change in the ranching industry -- the introduction of high-tech identification ear tags expected this decade -- might make it easier for the next Roddy Dean Pippin....
Visionary painter rides into spirit world The Amazon-like, buxom woman with two long black braids stooped to walk through the doorway. Her eyes were locked on a wheelchair-bound man who watched her enter the room. She was his Venus, his goddess of love and beauty. The painting, titled "Welcome,'' like much of Ernie Pepion's work, reveals something perhaps a little beyond the nationally exhibited artist's reach, yet accurately reflects the crippled man's pains, needs and desires. When he died Jan. 13, the painter from the Blackfeet Nation left all that behind....
His photos document the lives of the cowboys Bob Moorhouse looks every inch the cowboy. Six feet tall. Marlboro man mustache and serious cowboy hat. Blue jeans and boots. Only this cowboy packs a Canon digital camera instead of a six-shooter. Mr. Moorhouse has become something of a legend himself. He is nationally recognized for his photos of real cowboys hard at work on a real ranch. "I'm a cowboy first," he says, "but a camera usually goes with me."....
On The Edge of Common Sense: No cudding! Cow's digestion incredible I am a student of the cow. I have come to conclude that cows lead a fairly boring life. When I am giving cows their sporadic weekly check, I think it's probably the high point of their day. They graze their life away, and if they are not grazing, they are chewing their cud. This cud is part of a magnificent ruminant digestive process that allows them to digest foods that are virtually inedible to simple-stomached animals like people. For instance, cows derive nutritional benefit from lettuce! Who'd'a thunk it?....
Panel Advises Ending Tax Breaks for Easements An influential joint congressional committee recommended yesterday that lawmakers do away with income tax breaks available to homeowners who give charitable organizations easements that restrict changes to personal residences or surrounding land. Over the next decade, the reforms would save the U.S. Treasury $1 billion, according to a staff report released by the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation. The proposal goes well beyond previously announced plans for the reform of what are known as "historic facade easements" and "conservation easements." The recommendations are aimed at ending tax breaks originally designed to preserve historic buildings and the environment....Go here to download the report and thanks to Jon Christensen for the links...
Encounters with cougars on the rise in Oregon When Laurie Gurney turned back toward her house last October with an armload of firewood, a cougar stood between her and the front door. As Russell Trump drove near Yoncalla last year, a cougar stood in the middle of the road. Rancher Ernie Wheeler had a 3-day-old calf killed on his ranch last October. He's pretty sure the predator was a cougar. In most every corner of Douglas County, cougar sightings continue to be made and many are reported to wildlife officials. In most cases, the cats are just minding their own business and passing through. But, it seems, according to calls to officials, more cougars are being seen closer to rural residential areas, and they don't seem as fearful of humans....
Not in my playground! W e all know NIMBYs, those folks who say "Not in My Back Yard!" to every development proposal that comes anywhere near them. Researchers have even identified a subspecies called BANANAs -- "Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anybody" -- who oppose any and all development, whether it's close to them or not. In recent years, a distinct new breed seems to have emerged. I've dubbed them the NIMPs, for "Not in My Playground." NIMPs are ardent conservationists, staunch champions of wilderness and natural areas, protectors of endangered species -- as long as these noble goals don't interfere with their own preferred forms of recreation or favorite vacation spots. Current case in point: wolves....
Gas industry rebuts NPRC report A report recently released by the coalbed methane industry counters findings of a study on wastewater management by a conservation group, an industry spokesperson said. Karen Brown, coordinator of the Coalbed Natural Gas Alliance (CNGA), called the report commissioned last fall by the Northern Plains Resource Council "misleading and inaccurate.'' Brown said the NPRC report "leads the public to believe that injection and water treatment are the only logical and technically sound water management tools'' for coalbed methane development in the Powder River Basin of Montana and Wyoming. But an NPRC spokesman said the industry's report still shows that injection and treatment are affordable options for managing coalbed methane water....
Agency in transition The story goes that in the early days of the U.S. Forest Service, a would-be ranger taking the qualifying exam was asked who created the national forests. "God created the forests but Teddy Roosevelt greatly expanded upon them," the acute applicant said. President Roosevelt began his major expansion 100 years ago this month when he convened an American Forest Congress. His 1905 gathering led to the creation of the U.S. Forest Service and more forest reserves, including the Siskiyou in southwestern Oregon....
Loggers Going Into Ore. Old Growth Reserve A timber company plans to start logging next week in a burned area that had been reserved as old growth forest, setting up a confrontation with environmentalists who believe leaving the dead trees standing is better for fish, wildlife and the forest. John West, president of Silver Creek Timber Co., said Friday he was just waiting for formal imposition of an appeals court order issued earlier this month that had cleared the way for logging some old growth reserve burned in the 500,000-acre Biscuit fire, which threatened 17,000 people in Oregon's Illinois Valley in 2002. Under pressure from the timber industry, the Forest Service expanded its original plans to harvest only in areas designated for logging under the Northwest Forest Plan, which settled lawsuits over the northern spotted owl by dividing federal forest land into areas for logging, and fish and wildlife habitat. The ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted an injunction that had barred logging on two timber sales in an old growth reserve until a lawsuit brought by environmentalists is resolved....
Raids net thousands of artifacts in Oregon Federal agents executing 22 search warrants this week across Central and Southeast Oregon seized thousands of archaeological artifacts thought to have been stolen from public lands in what they said is the largest case of its kind in the region. The seizures cap a two-year federal investigation into the suspected theft and sale of artifacts looted from sites that may date back thousands of years. Robbery of the native treasures is increasingly fueled by a wealthy, worldwide collectors market willing to pay top dollar for rare remnants of the past, experts said....
Regional forester: Clear cutting forests would help with drought Clear-cutting 25 percent of forest land would help alleviate the ongoing drought, a U.S. Forest Service official told Wyoming lawmakers. Testifying before the Legislature's Joint Agriculture, Public Lands and Water Resources Interim Committee on Thursday, Rocky Mountain Regional Forester Rick Cables said his agency was looking at ways to make more water available from public forest lands. "Water is going to be the defining environmental issue in this country and in the West, and there's a lot of interest in increasing water yields" on forest lands," Cables said. Cables said studies had shown that it took a 25 percent clear cut to get an appreciable gain in water, and that areas must remain open permanently to maintain the water gain....
Good Grazing: Preserving Cattle Country A coalition of ranchers and conservationists are finding new ways to make cattle ranching compatible with environmental preservation. As NPR's John Burnett reports, the plan pits preservation and financial incentives against development and unrestrained land-use. Cattle ranchers in the Malpai Borderlands Group receive cash and tax breaks in exchange for keeping their lands out of the hands of developers. They also agree to manage their cattle in ways less likely to damage fragile desert landscapes. The Malpai Group, which began in 1993, protects 800,000 acres while also sustaining working cattle ranches. And an increasing number of experts think the Malpai model is an idea that could work elsewhere....
Agency plans sage grouse hunt Wyoming Game and Fish Department officials are recommending another conservative sage grouse hunting season for 2005. Agency data show estimated harvest rates were well below 5 percent of the statewide fall population in 2002 and 2003. Emmerich said the same most likely will be true for 2004. He said the state's sage grouse numbers are high enough to support another conservative hunt, similar to the 2002-04 seasons. In 2002, the department shortened the sage grouse season to basically two weekends in the fall, with a last-Saturday-in-September opening date. Fall counts by biologists estimate a population of about 100,000 sage grouse in Wyoming over the past three years....
After the Divorce: Improving Science at Federal Wildlife Agencies Michael Runge and his colleagues from the US Geological Survey (USGS) and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) got out of their car, hiked the short distance to Chaska Lake near the Minnesota River, and looked around carefully. Here, at the nearly 14,000-acre Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge in the southern suburbs of Minneapolis, a floodplain forest of cotton-wood, green ash, and silver maple trees stretches from the riverbanks to the bulrushes and cattails growing in the marshlands along the lake's shallows. Runge, a USGS research ecologist based at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Maryland, was in Minnesota on a cool and drizzly fall day last year to check out Chaska Lake and other sites for possible inclusion in a scientific study. The study will examine about 20 wildlife refuges in the upper Midwest and Northeast. It seeks to help refuge managers determine whether and to what extent adjusting water levels behind impounded wetlands would attract migrating shorebirds, wading birds, waterfowl, and other wildlife. The study's importance goes beyond helping FWS better manage its 545 wildlife refuges and shedding new light on bird habitats. It represents a new era of scientific research and cooperation between FWS and USGS. It also represents a renewed effort by FWS to rebuild its scientific credibility and to foster research related to the federal wildlife agency's program and management responsibilities....
Effort to Reinforce Border Creates Divide On the southwestern-most tip of the country, just across the border from Tijuana, rugged canyons drop down to a rich Pacific estuary, where millions have been spent restoring fresh and saltwater marshes that sustain the California brown pelican and other rare birds and plants. But this landscape also represents a gaping hole in the nation's defenses against terrorists, drug traffickers and other criminals, federal officials say. At some points, a worn-out border fence teeters atop cliffs. In at least one spot along the sloping side of a canyon, erosion has buried so much of the fence that migrants and other travelers can step over it. Near the wind-swept shoreline of Border Field State Park, the 10-foot-tall steel panels that make up the fence are pocked with holes. The Bush administration proposes closing off this final 3.5-mile stretch of border between the United States and Mexico by moving massive amounts of dirt from nearby mesas into canyons to create a long earthen berm. On the berm, parallel to the existing border fence, a second fence and a patrol road would be constructed....
Column: Greener fields in the forecast Heading into his second term, President Bush has earned tremendous political capital he can spend on big goals at home and abroad. The environment is often overlooked in discussions of Mr. Bush's domestic agenda. The president has a chance to advance a bold vision for environmental progress under his top policy ideal: the ownership society. Let's hope he does so. One bold move that could garner support of conservatives and environmentalists alike would be ending all energy subsidies. This would please conservatives, who decry tax breaks for wasteful spending on costly renewable energy boondoggles, and environmentalists, who claim the fossil fuel industry gets unnecessary and unmerited public support. The government would save money and consumers would decide what fuels will meet their energy needs....
A New Range War Corraled in a federal holding pen at Palomino Valley, Nev., a buckskin mare with the number 9598 cold-branded in code on its neck suddenly faces an uncertain future. When the 12-year-old was rounded up in November as part of a federal program to humanely control the mustang population in the West, it looked as if it would be relocated to a grassy farm in Oklahoma or Kansas. But that all changed weeks later. Thanks to a controversial revision of the 1971 law protecting wild horses and burros, the mare could be sold, killed and butchered. Icons of independence and a living reminder of the old West, mustangs have always excited fierce passions. But the passion turned to anger after Republican Sen. Conrad Burns of Montana quietly inserted a rider in the federal budget that lifted the ban on selling wild horses for slaughter....
This Time, Developer May Not Get His Water Of all the obstacles standing between Ben Ewell and his dream of building a new town in the foothills above Fresno, water would seem the least of them. The ambitious project sits along the shores of Millerton Lake, which holds the flow of the San Joaquin River. With a single pipeline acting as a straw, Ewell draws federal water from the lake to his golf course and high-priced houses nestled in the oak-and-granite hills. Now, the real estate developer wants to use this same plumbing to siphon water to an even bigger planned community of 1,000 houses, a hotel, shopping centers, conference halls and a second golf course. But the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, on the eve of a Fresno County vote to approve the first phase of new houses, says it made a serious mistake when it allowed Ewell to pump water from the lake. The whole scheme amounts to an illegal diversion of federal water that bureau officials say they have known about for a decade but chose not to stop....
Colorado considering statewide water compact When manager Tom Backhus looks out across the 4 Eagle Ranch, he sees cattle, horses and snow sparkling like diamonds as far as the eye can see, a range dotted by log cabins visited every year by people who want to learn about the West. Water attorney Glenn Porzak has a different vision. He sees a reservoir filled to the brim with water to help feed Colorado's growing thirst, along with boats, fishermen and others enjoying a big mountain lake. The days appear to be numbered for the guest ranch 20 miles west of Vail: The 1,400-acre spread is owned by the Denver Water Board and if all goes as planned, the ranch will be submerged in a decade. This is not just another water project for Colorado. State officials want it to serve as a blueprint for the rest of the state, which is struggling through one of the worst droughts in history and is a key watershed for much of the West....
Modern-day rustler foiled by the old branding iron Roddy Dean Pippin is a cattle rustler -- a strange modern-day living that comes with plenty of old occupational hazards, short of the rope. Many Americans might think that the brazen theft of cattle died out with frontier justice and 19th-century range wars. But Pippin, a 6-foot-1-inch West Texan, is around to disabuse anyone of that notion. Pippin, 21, was arrested early Aug. 8 while trying to haul four cows and four calves to a sale barn in Decatur. He changed his story about buying them in Oklahoma when he was told that the Open Top J brand on the cattle was identical to the mark burned into the hides of livestock reported stolen from a ranch near Quanah. He confessed. Then, to the amazement of his interrogators, he confessed some more. As with many rustling cases dating back generations, it was the hot-iron brand on a steer's hip that helped put a thief behind bars. The association and others are concerned that a major change in the ranching industry -- the introduction of high-tech identification ear tags expected this decade -- might make it easier for the next Roddy Dean Pippin....
Visionary painter rides into spirit world The Amazon-like, buxom woman with two long black braids stooped to walk through the doorway. Her eyes were locked on a wheelchair-bound man who watched her enter the room. She was his Venus, his goddess of love and beauty. The painting, titled "Welcome,'' like much of Ernie Pepion's work, reveals something perhaps a little beyond the nationally exhibited artist's reach, yet accurately reflects the crippled man's pains, needs and desires. When he died Jan. 13, the painter from the Blackfeet Nation left all that behind....
His photos document the lives of the cowboys Bob Moorhouse looks every inch the cowboy. Six feet tall. Marlboro man mustache and serious cowboy hat. Blue jeans and boots. Only this cowboy packs a Canon digital camera instead of a six-shooter. Mr. Moorhouse has become something of a legend himself. He is nationally recognized for his photos of real cowboys hard at work on a real ranch. "I'm a cowboy first," he says, "but a camera usually goes with me."....
On The Edge of Common Sense: No cudding! Cow's digestion incredible I am a student of the cow. I have come to conclude that cows lead a fairly boring life. When I am giving cows their sporadic weekly check, I think it's probably the high point of their day. They graze their life away, and if they are not grazing, they are chewing their cud. This cud is part of a magnificent ruminant digestive process that allows them to digest foods that are virtually inedible to simple-stomached animals like people. For instance, cows derive nutritional benefit from lettuce! Who'd'a thunk it?....
Sunday, January 30, 2005
MAD COW DISEASE
Lip implant tissue link with mad cow disease
FEARS that cosmetic implants used in lips and cheeks could trigger vCJD, the human form of “mad cow” disease, have prompted the Government to launch an investigation. Sir Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer, said that experts were examining the possibility that tissue implants such as collagen could transmit blood-borne diseases such as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease if contaminated. Although no evidence of such transmission has been discovered, the committee on microbiological safety of blood and tissues believes there might be a risk. The expert group’s study of a range of aesthetic fillers, which are often made from human or bovine tissue, had already found samples containing material from dead bodies and birds, Sir Liam added....
Lip implant tissue link with mad cow disease
FEARS that cosmetic implants used in lips and cheeks could trigger vCJD, the human form of “mad cow” disease, have prompted the Government to launch an investigation. Sir Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer, said that experts were examining the possibility that tissue implants such as collagen could transmit blood-borne diseases such as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease if contaminated. Although no evidence of such transmission has been discovered, the committee on microbiological safety of blood and tissues believes there might be a risk. The expert group’s study of a range of aesthetic fillers, which are often made from human or bovine tissue, had already found samples containing material from dead bodies and birds, Sir Liam added....
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