NEWS ROUNDUP
Forest service defends actions The U.S. Forest Service defended its actions Friday in a controlled burn that whipped out of control March 11 in the Pawnee National Grasslands. The Weld County Sheriff's Office opened a criminal investigation into the incident Thursday that could lead to arson charges. Weld District Attorney Ken Buck urged the office to open the investigation after receiving numerous complaints from farmers and ranchers in the Pawnee National Grassland area. Forest Service officials said that preliminary results of an administrative review indicate that officials "followed standard procedures" during the prescribed burn. The escaped fire burned approximately 900 acres, including 300 acres of private land. The fire burned 14 utility poles, worth $1,000 each, some fence and a small portion of a windbreak on private land. The fire didn't damage any buildings or cause any injuries....
Kane County ups ante in road feud with feds One month after erecting a series of signs designating off-road vehicle routes on federal land, Kane County is now posting the signs in a Wilderness Study Area. Photographs show the new county signs posted next to Bureau of Land Management signs prohibiting motorized traffic in a study area several miles northeast of Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. They signal the most recent attempt by Kane County to assert its control of local roads under the so-called RS 2477 statute. he Civil War-era law granted broad rights of way across public land until it was repealed by Congress in 1976, with existing roads being grandfathered in. Neither Kane County nor BLM officials were available for comment Friday afternoon. But word of the new sign postings drew a swift response from environmentalists....
Ranchers in line of migration say they'll let wolves set tone For the 86 years that three generations of McClarans have run livestock in the lower Imnaha Canyon, they battled drought, wildfire, coyotes and bobcats -- but never wolves. Bounty hunters and ranchers had already driven the predators out of the northeastern corner of Oregon by the time the McClarans arrived. Now, descendants of wolves reintroduced in Idaho by the federal government and managed there by the Nez Perce Tribe are well-established on the east side of Hells Canyon. Young wolves seeking unclaimed territory are expected to swim the Snake River to Oregon at any time. And in Oregon, that likely will lead them to the cows, calves and bulls the McClarans have scattered over more than 75,000 acres of private and federal ground on the Oregon side of Hells Canyon....
Watchers of wolves Lori Schmidt tips her face to the pale morning sky and starts to howl. She's quickly joined by five wolves, members of the resident pack at the International Wolf Center just outside this Boundary Waters town. Ms. Schmidt doesn't do this frequently; she doesn't want to become the woman who cried wolf. But when she does, these five wild canines respond. It makes the hair stand up on your nape to hear their wild song. As curator at the center, Ms. Schmidt raised most of these wolves – two full-grown Arctic males and three Minnesota (Great Plains) wolf pups. "I live with wolves," she says, hauling a frozen beaver carcass out of the freezer....
Column: Tale of a wolf hunt It's a gray, foggy morning in mid-April as the wolf silently pads her way over the pine-covered Montana mountainside. She weighs about a hundred pounds, a little heavier this time of year, but glides effortlessly on feet that appear too big for her body, her back undulating almost indiscernibly as she moves with a single purpose toward a place she will know immediately on sight. With all probability, she is the alpha female of a small pack, a group who, for whatever reasons, is seeking out new territory beyond the relative safety of Yellowstone National Park. In a chance encounter that belies fate, a Montana hunting guide (or an anachronistic rancher, or simply a ruddy-faced, squint-eyed defender of an aberrant, modern-day West) sees the lone female crossing a portion of his land and takes aim with a high-powered and well-scoped rifle, allowing himself to become judge and jury over the worth of the animal's life, not realizing that his knowledge of this, or any wolf, is highly subjective and may be inferior to that of a city-slicker who has actually read up on canis lupus....
Tubac Chamber Gives Resounding ‘Yes’ to Wilderness In a unanimous vote on Wednesday, the members of the Tubac Chamber of Commerce voted to support federal legislation that would permanently protect approximately 85,000 acres in the Tumacacori Highlands as wilderness. The group is the first chamber in the area to support wilderness designation for the Tumacacori Highlands in Southern Arizona. Before a vote was taken, Friends of the Tumacacori Highlands (FOTH), the local group driving the wilderness proposal, presented the Chamber with data supporting the benefits of wilderness to local economies, wildlife and hunting opportunities, and clean air and water. FOTH has been building a coalition of wilderness allies for more than two years using grassroots outreach to local communities, businesses, recreational groups, ranchers, and politicians....
Forest Service facing hard times The U.S. Forest Service may turn to private clubs or nonprofit groups to do things like maintain trails as the agency heads into a period of stagnant or declining budgets, the second in command of the agency told a group of foresters here Friday. "That will require us to find new partners and new revenue streams outside the federal government," Mark Rey, undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, told the Montana Society of American Foresters at the group's annual meeting. Rey said the agency has already partnered with trail clubs and given out millions in matching grants for trail maintenance. He said that while it is possible private corporations could work with the agency on projects, he expected the service would work with clubs or nonprofit groups more often. Rey, a former staff member of the U.S. Senate and timber industry lobbyist, gave the keynote address at the two-day event. He is on a two-state tour. He also met with Gov. Brian Schweitzer's natural resources policy director....
Ag official talks forest policy on visit Mark Rey took a whirlwind tour of Helena Friday, stopping along the way to outline the Bush administration's priorities for some of the country's 155 national forests and grasslands. In interviews after the conference, Rey said that some of the Bush Administration's priorities include trying to get Congress to pass a comprehensive energy bill as well as the president's Clear Skies Initiative. The Bush Administration also is considering urging revisions of the Endangered Species Act and trying to make restoration of public lands after catastrophic fires easier....
Nevada Senators Ask AG to Investigate Yucca Deception Nevada Senators Harry Reid, a Democrat, and John Ensign, a Republican, are jointly calling upon the U.S. Attorney General and the Director of the FBI to investigate falsely documented work at the Yucca Mountain Project (YMP). The Department of Energy (DOE) announced Thursday that for years, some employees working on the licensing of the only U.S. high-level nuclear waste repository have falsified their work and records. In a letter sent Thursday, Reid and Ensign asked Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller to protect any documents, correspondence or other information associated with the DOE’s work and to initiate an independent investigation....
UVSC professor accused of creating hazard with canoe race he U.S. Attorney's office has charged a Utah Valley State College professor over a canoe race he annually runs on the Green River. The government on Thursday accused Michael Shively of creating a hazard and failure to obtain a special recreation permit, both misdemeanors. A Bureau of Land Management report says hazardous weather during the race last April caused canoes to capsize. Some students or their companions who fell into the water suffered from hypothermia. In addition, the BLM and Emery County had to launch search-and-rescue efforts after some participants paddling along the 62-mile route of the "I'll-Do-Anything-For-A-Few-More-Points Canoe Race" became overdue. UVSC school spokesman Derek Hall said the activity was not school sanctioned and not related to course work....
Limited Water Supplies Force Balance of Interests in US Southwest The Southwestern United States has faced several years of drought, highlighting the region's reliance on limited water supplies. Record rainfall the past winter has relieved the short-term problem. Officials in California and neighboring Nevada must balance the needs of competing interests, all of whom need water. Much of the region is desert, and the scarcity of water has always caused tensions here. The American writer Mark Twain once remarked, "Whisky is for drinking. Water is for fighting over." The West has done its share of both. As cities such as Los Angeles became more heavily populated, new sources of water had to be found outside the city. Officials looked to the north and east, bringing water through aqueducts, and storing it in reservoirs....
State targets money to help clean up livestock pollution The state Board of Water and Natural Resources is shifting millions of dollars into helping South Dakota's livestock industry deal with water pollution. The board recently redesigned one of its finance programs so that local governments pay a lower rate of interest on water project loans. Then the savings can be used to subsidize better environmental practices by farmers and ranchers to safeguard local watersheds or for other watershed restoration work by the borrower. The Legislature also gave its blessing to a new $2.5 million program by the board to assist livestock auction markets in meeting federal clean-water regulations....
Sea levels likely to rise 25cm this century No matter what happens, sea levels and temperatures are going to rise over the next century, according to a pair of reports out of the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Global warming will likely cause the sea level to rise by about 25 centimeters, or close to a foot, by 2100, while average temperatures will rise by at least a half degree Celsius, according to Tom Wigley, a researcher at the agency and an author of one of the studies released today. Researcher Gerald Meehl wrote the other. Wigley added that global warming is caused by greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide pumped into the atmosphere by human activity. Even if humans stopped pouring greenhouse gases into the atmosphere today, sea levels will rise by 11 centimeters (about 4 inches) over the next century at a minimum, the studies predicted....
Shopping for Boots in Calgary People who work at the Alberta Boot Company in downtown Calgary say they don't smell the leather any more, but visitors to this emporium are enveloped by the aroma, rich and plain as roasting coffee. It summons images of stables and campfires, and cowpokes barging through saloon doors: the elements of a classic western film. Alberta Boot has shod movie stars from Kevin Costner to Jackie Chan, but the store and adjoining factory cater to a varied cast. There are 12,000 pairs in stock, assembled from ostrich, python, alligator, kangaroo, lizard, bull and cow hides. In stock cowhide boots start at $180; exotics retail for $400 to $1,400 (at 1.24 Canadian dollars to the United States dollar). The store prides itself on delivering odd sizes and individualized motifs through its custom business. In mid-February, workers were finishing an extra-tall pair with double leather over the instep and heel for a rancher in Saskatchewan. A Montana cowboy was awaiting a pair in black and blond cowhide with teal piping and ornamental teal stitching to match....
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Saturday, March 19, 2005
Friday, March 18, 2005
NEWS ROUNDUP
Mountain Areas Are Left Hanging Kim Kelley is about to go broke because mudslides have come between her and her business, not to mention her mule, nine donkeys, two horses, 11 cats and three dogs. The slides have stranded U.S. Forest Service firetrucks, five cars and tons of heavy construction equipment that were at Chantry Flat in the San Gabriel Mountains when two major mudslides took out Big Santa Anita Canyon Road, north of Arcadia. More than a month after the last slide, access remains limited to those willing to walk or ride mountain bikes over slide areas, and the best guess is that it will take a year to repair. Even with paths shoveled out, the route still is precarious, and could become more so with rain expected this weekend....
Inquiry on fire begins At the urging of the Weld district attorney, a criminal investigation was launched Thursday into a controlled burn that was whipped out of control by high winds last week. If there is sufficient evidence, U.S. Forest Service employees could be charged with arson. District Attorney Ken Buck said he received several complaints from farmers and ranchers in the Pawnee National Grassland area, where the Forest Service was burning prairie grass last Friday. The callers complained that the fire shouldn't have been set because of high winds in the area and that the spread of the fire endangered farm property....
Opal find prompts closure to protect rare plant The discovery of opal in central Wyoming has prompted the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to close 360 acres to vehicles to protect a threatened plant. The desert yellowhead, a sunflower-like plant, is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The closure was announced Thursday, about three weeks after the Wyoming Geological Survey announced the discovery of opal -- both the common and precious kinds -- in the area. The closed area does not include the opal deposits. But the closure will remain in effect until the plant is no longer at risk from vehicles, according to a BLM release....
Leaders of the pack By restoring the balance of nature in Yellowstone National Park, gray wolves may be providing a buffer against global warming as well. Through their culling of Yellowstone's weakest elk, the gray wolves reintroduced to the park 10 years ago are acting as nature's food distributors, with scavengers such as eagles, bears, coyotes and ravens thriving on the leftovers. And as northern Montana's milder winters lead to fewer elk deaths in the months when meals are hardest to find, a new study suggests, these wolf-generated banquets have made a world of difference....
Feds propose culling Leech Lake cormorant numbers by 80 percent Crews could start shooting thousands of cormorants and sterilizing their eggs on Leech Lake this summer as state and federal wildlife agencies try to mitigate the effect of the birds on the walleye population. Lee Pfannmuller, director of ecological services for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, said efforts could include rubbing vegetable oil on eggs. Adults will continue to sit on the eggs and won't try to re-nest, but the eggs never hatch. A proposal to thin the population of the lake by thousands of birds was made in January and on Wednesday the U.S. Department of Agriculture released its environmental assessment of it....
Area's growth forces sale of last working ranch The last working ranch in the Glenwood Springs area may soon be a memory. "It's like murder," said John Bershenyi, whose ranch along Four Mile Road has been in the family for most of a century. "But I'm too old to handle it." His son and daughter-in-law, Jim and McKeaver, want to continue the family's ranching tradition. But the family realizes that the Glenwood Springs area is no longer the place to do that. The Bershenyi family settled the property in 1904, and it has been in the family almost all of that time....
Ag Department appeals ruling on Canadian cattle The Agriculture Department on Thursday appealed the decision of a federal judge in Montana to maintain an almost two-year ban on importing Canadian cattle, a ban that arose from mad cow disease north of the United States. Agriculture officials had planned to lift the import ban on Canadian cows March 7, but U.S. District Judge Richard F. Cebull had granted a request from U.S. ranchers five days earlier for a preliminary injunction to continue the prohibitions. The department asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn Cebull's ruling....
Mustangs: Evolution And History When Columbus discovered America in 1492, there were no horses in the Western Hemisphere. Some people, recalling the vivid picture of American Indians mounted on horses, may suppose that great herds of mustangs, or feral horses, were native to America, and that American Indians had domesticated them and developed horsemanship on their own, but that is not the case. Only the small camelline animals of the Andes--llamas, alpacas, vicuñas and guanacos--were available to be ridden, and they can bear only very light loads. In the late 1530's and early 1540's, two Spanish explorers, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado and Hernando de Soto conducted expeditions in what is now the United States. Coronado explored New Mexico and Arizona, seeking El Dorado, a mythical city of gold, which, of course, he never found. Soto explored Florida and the Southeast generally, and is credited with the discovery of the Mississippi River, which he sailed from an inland point southwards to the bayous. Several horses escaped or were abandoned on each of these expeditions, and it was from these strays that the great herds of mustangs that ranged the West sprang....
150-year-old Ware Ranch honored A 150-year-old Cooke County ranch is scheduled to be honored in Austin Friday by the State of Texas. The Ware Ranch, founded in 1854, is one of 142 Texas farms and ranches from 89 counties being honored during the 30th annual Family Land and Heritage ceremony. The ceremony, scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Auditorium at the University of Texas, recognizes families who have kept their farms or ranches in continuous agricultural production by the same family for a hundred years or more. The Ware Ranch received a plaque for its first hundred years in September 1974. "We just have a small operation. That was one of the things I promised my late husband - that I'd keep it going," said Faye Ware, owner of the Ware Ranch....
Most Expensive Ranches In America 2005 The ranch market, like the rest of the real estate industry, is certainly hot. The prices on our list of the most expensive, for example, topped out at a startling $55 million. Still, that's practically a bargain compared with the most costly apartment on the New York City market. And while a $70 million penthouse triplex might be very nice indeed, it doesn't come with 3,000 acres, glistening trout streams, private cross-country trails, vast wildflower meadows and--lest we forget--cows. Many moguls and movie stars have seen the benefits of owning ranches and have been buying land to pass on to their children, to live out their Wild West fantasies (though perhaps wearing handmade boots and driving gleaming luxury pickups), or to take on the challenge or running a ranch for real....
Reflecting on a way of life: Rancher, 82, recalls work as a cowboy It wasn't a sport for Blaine Ramey. Riding a bucking horse was just how you survived. "Back when I started, it was more a way of life. We done it every day," Ramey said. "If you couldn't ride a bucking horse or rope, you couldn't get a job." Ramey, now 82, is a rancher in Blackfoot and will be inducted into the DNCFR Cowboy Hall of Fame during the Saturday rodeo performance along with Fort Hall cowboy Rusty Houtz....
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Mountain Areas Are Left Hanging Kim Kelley is about to go broke because mudslides have come between her and her business, not to mention her mule, nine donkeys, two horses, 11 cats and three dogs. The slides have stranded U.S. Forest Service firetrucks, five cars and tons of heavy construction equipment that were at Chantry Flat in the San Gabriel Mountains when two major mudslides took out Big Santa Anita Canyon Road, north of Arcadia. More than a month after the last slide, access remains limited to those willing to walk or ride mountain bikes over slide areas, and the best guess is that it will take a year to repair. Even with paths shoveled out, the route still is precarious, and could become more so with rain expected this weekend....
Inquiry on fire begins At the urging of the Weld district attorney, a criminal investigation was launched Thursday into a controlled burn that was whipped out of control by high winds last week. If there is sufficient evidence, U.S. Forest Service employees could be charged with arson. District Attorney Ken Buck said he received several complaints from farmers and ranchers in the Pawnee National Grassland area, where the Forest Service was burning prairie grass last Friday. The callers complained that the fire shouldn't have been set because of high winds in the area and that the spread of the fire endangered farm property....
Opal find prompts closure to protect rare plant The discovery of opal in central Wyoming has prompted the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to close 360 acres to vehicles to protect a threatened plant. The desert yellowhead, a sunflower-like plant, is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The closure was announced Thursday, about three weeks after the Wyoming Geological Survey announced the discovery of opal -- both the common and precious kinds -- in the area. The closed area does not include the opal deposits. But the closure will remain in effect until the plant is no longer at risk from vehicles, according to a BLM release....
Leaders of the pack By restoring the balance of nature in Yellowstone National Park, gray wolves may be providing a buffer against global warming as well. Through their culling of Yellowstone's weakest elk, the gray wolves reintroduced to the park 10 years ago are acting as nature's food distributors, with scavengers such as eagles, bears, coyotes and ravens thriving on the leftovers. And as northern Montana's milder winters lead to fewer elk deaths in the months when meals are hardest to find, a new study suggests, these wolf-generated banquets have made a world of difference....
Feds propose culling Leech Lake cormorant numbers by 80 percent Crews could start shooting thousands of cormorants and sterilizing their eggs on Leech Lake this summer as state and federal wildlife agencies try to mitigate the effect of the birds on the walleye population. Lee Pfannmuller, director of ecological services for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, said efforts could include rubbing vegetable oil on eggs. Adults will continue to sit on the eggs and won't try to re-nest, but the eggs never hatch. A proposal to thin the population of the lake by thousands of birds was made in January and on Wednesday the U.S. Department of Agriculture released its environmental assessment of it....
Area's growth forces sale of last working ranch The last working ranch in the Glenwood Springs area may soon be a memory. "It's like murder," said John Bershenyi, whose ranch along Four Mile Road has been in the family for most of a century. "But I'm too old to handle it." His son and daughter-in-law, Jim and McKeaver, want to continue the family's ranching tradition. But the family realizes that the Glenwood Springs area is no longer the place to do that. The Bershenyi family settled the property in 1904, and it has been in the family almost all of that time....
Ag Department appeals ruling on Canadian cattle The Agriculture Department on Thursday appealed the decision of a federal judge in Montana to maintain an almost two-year ban on importing Canadian cattle, a ban that arose from mad cow disease north of the United States. Agriculture officials had planned to lift the import ban on Canadian cows March 7, but U.S. District Judge Richard F. Cebull had granted a request from U.S. ranchers five days earlier for a preliminary injunction to continue the prohibitions. The department asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn Cebull's ruling....
Mustangs: Evolution And History When Columbus discovered America in 1492, there were no horses in the Western Hemisphere. Some people, recalling the vivid picture of American Indians mounted on horses, may suppose that great herds of mustangs, or feral horses, were native to America, and that American Indians had domesticated them and developed horsemanship on their own, but that is not the case. Only the small camelline animals of the Andes--llamas, alpacas, vicuñas and guanacos--were available to be ridden, and they can bear only very light loads. In the late 1530's and early 1540's, two Spanish explorers, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado and Hernando de Soto conducted expeditions in what is now the United States. Coronado explored New Mexico and Arizona, seeking El Dorado, a mythical city of gold, which, of course, he never found. Soto explored Florida and the Southeast generally, and is credited with the discovery of the Mississippi River, which he sailed from an inland point southwards to the bayous. Several horses escaped or were abandoned on each of these expeditions, and it was from these strays that the great herds of mustangs that ranged the West sprang....
150-year-old Ware Ranch honored A 150-year-old Cooke County ranch is scheduled to be honored in Austin Friday by the State of Texas. The Ware Ranch, founded in 1854, is one of 142 Texas farms and ranches from 89 counties being honored during the 30th annual Family Land and Heritage ceremony. The ceremony, scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Auditorium at the University of Texas, recognizes families who have kept their farms or ranches in continuous agricultural production by the same family for a hundred years or more. The Ware Ranch received a plaque for its first hundred years in September 1974. "We just have a small operation. That was one of the things I promised my late husband - that I'd keep it going," said Faye Ware, owner of the Ware Ranch....
Most Expensive Ranches In America 2005 The ranch market, like the rest of the real estate industry, is certainly hot. The prices on our list of the most expensive, for example, topped out at a startling $55 million. Still, that's practically a bargain compared with the most costly apartment on the New York City market. And while a $70 million penthouse triplex might be very nice indeed, it doesn't come with 3,000 acres, glistening trout streams, private cross-country trails, vast wildflower meadows and--lest we forget--cows. Many moguls and movie stars have seen the benefits of owning ranches and have been buying land to pass on to their children, to live out their Wild West fantasies (though perhaps wearing handmade boots and driving gleaming luxury pickups), or to take on the challenge or running a ranch for real....
Reflecting on a way of life: Rancher, 82, recalls work as a cowboy It wasn't a sport for Blaine Ramey. Riding a bucking horse was just how you survived. "Back when I started, it was more a way of life. We done it every day," Ramey said. "If you couldn't ride a bucking horse or rope, you couldn't get a job." Ramey, now 82, is a rancher in Blackfoot and will be inducted into the DNCFR Cowboy Hall of Fame during the Saturday rodeo performance along with Fort Hall cowboy Rusty Houtz....
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Thursday, March 17, 2005
NEWS ROUNDUP
Wolf views ignite cultural spat It was the rap heard 'round Oregon. Students from Portland's Sunnyside Environmental School gave their opinions on a state wolf plan at a February hearing. Some did it in unconventional ways: Two rapped along with boom-box music, three read a poem, and others made more direct statements. They talked of ranchers killing wolves and said the predators deserve to come back to Oregon. In return they got a lesson in the politics of wolves in the West. State Republican lawmakers chastised their "one-sided . . . street theater" in a letter to the school superintendent, and a pro-agriculture Web site called their education "severely deficient." If the reaction underscores the divide between Eastern and Western Oregon, both sides hope the students will learn from the episode. An Eastern Oregon county judge will speak this week at the school about cultural differences within the state....
Governor signs law creating state prairie dog management plan A state management plan that seeks to keep a sufficient population of prairie dogs while protecting landowners who don't want them has been signed into law by Gov. Mike Rounds. The state management plan sets a goal of 166,000 acres outside Indian reservations, just slightly above the long-term average in South Dakota. A combination of poisoning, incentive payments to ranchers and other techniques would be used to keep the population near the goal. The governor last week signed a separate measure to give ranchers more help in fighting the prairie dog invasion from adjoining private land. Prairie dogs could be treated as pests in some situations so county boards could poison them in a one-mile buffer zone on private land adjoining a rancher who does not want them....
Hybridized fish prompt Yellowstone's proposed fishing rule changes Non-native trout are interbreeding with increasingly rare native cutthroat trout in Yellowstone National Park, and that's why anglers would be encouraged to take up to five non-native trout daily, under some proposed new rules, a biologist says. Rainbow trout have been found in Slough Creek, a renowned Yellowstone cutthroat fishery in the park's northern reaches, said Todd Koel, the top fisheries biologist in the park. When the two species live in the same water, they usually interbreed. Also, Koel said it has recently been confirmed that what had been thought to be a pure-strain population of westslope cutthroats in the North Fork of Fan Creek has been interbreeding with rainbows....
Report: Navy Sonar Likely Made Orcas Flee Sonar pulsing from a Navy guided-missile destroyer during training exercises near the San Juan Islands two years ago was likely loud enough to send killer whales fleeing, according to a government agency report. The National Marine Fisheries Service report backed up local experts who said sonar from the USS Shoup caused a group of orcas to behave abnormally, apparently trying to avoid the sound. It contradicts the Navy's previous findings that orcas in Puget Sound's J Pod seemed unaffected by the sonar coming from the Shoup on May 5, 2003....
Why Is the National Guard Hunting Shrimp? The Associated Press reports that biologists with the Idaho National Guard have discovered a new species of fairy shrimp in a desert lake bed. Dana Quinney and Jay Weaver first found the forked-tailed shrimp nine years ago and will publish their findings in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Crustacean Biology. Why does the National Guard need biologists who study shrimp? The biologists make sure that National Guard training exercises—which may include mobile howitzers, and Hellfire missiles fired from Apache helicopters—don't cause too much damage to the environment. Three civilian biologists work full-time for the natural resources program of the Idaho National Guard; in general, they review military training plans and monitor the use of the training area (which comprises 138,000 acres). Through regular surveys, they make sure that endangered species are preserved and ecological deterioration is kept to a minimum. The fairy shrimp species Quinney and Weaver discovered could merit special consideration in the planning of future exercises....
Beagle in training to root out pythons from Everglades park Visitors to the Everglades expect or even hope to encounter some scary swamp creatures. But the 20-foot snake draped across a two-lane road? That's a postcard moment wildlife officials want to erase. The Burmese Pythons increasingly spotted by tourists do not belong in the Everglades. But the Asian reptiles are multiplying here in troubling numbers, competing with native, endangered species for food and crossing the paths of startled tourists. Now the killer snakes might have finally met their match: a beagle puppy aptly named "Python Pete," who's being trained to sniff out the creatures so they can be captured and killed....
Sea coral may be listed under Endangered Species Act For the first time, government officials have proposed protecting coral under the Endangered Species Act, and conservationists hope it's a first step toward staving off their extinction. Elkhorn and staghorn coral, the two coral proposed for listing, are related species and for the past 500,000 years have been the primary reef-builders for Florida and the Caribbean. But those coral have seen losses of 80 percent to 98 percent in the last few decades due to global warming, pollution and overfishing, though there is some disagreement among scientists about which threats are greatest. And like most sea creatures, they suffer from marine diseases that have become more numerous and virulent in recent decades. The branching coral are considered foundation species where they occur and an important defense for marine habitats against global warming....
Wild Pig Hunt Aims to Save California Island Foxes The Channel Islands off the California coast are home to 145 species of plants and animals found nowhere else in the world. On Santa Cruz island, non-native feral pigs may be pushing the island's unique and endangered foxes to the brink of extinction. Now the island's managers are pushing back. The nonprofit Nature Conservancy owns 76 percent of Santa Cruz Island. The National Park Service owns the rest. Together the agencies have crafted an island management plan that calls for an end to the pigs' tenure in paradise. A New Zealand-based company will begin hunting operations later this month. The company will aim to eradicate the island pig population over the next two to three years. Hunters will use a combination of traps, dogs, and helicopters to root the animals from the island's rugged terrain—one-third of which is inaccessible by road....
Senate Votes to Open Alaskan Oil Drilling A closely divided Senate voted Wednesday to approve oil drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge, a major victory for President Bush and a stinging defeat for environmentalists who have fought the idea for decades. By a 51-49 vote, the Senate put a refuge drilling provision in next year's budget, depriving opponents of the chance to use a filibuster to try to block it. Filibusters, which require 60 votes to overcome, have been used to defeat drilling proposals in the past....
Horse, mule riders lasso a stunning camping spot in redrock country Finding suitable backcountry camping facilities can be difficult for equine enthusiasts: Camping spots are typically too small to accommodate horse trailers, and the larger group sites are in high demand. But in the desert country of southeastern Utah, home to many of film director John Ford's best-known Westerns, horse and mule riders now have a reservation-based camp site built especially for them. Since January, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), in cooperation with the Southeastern Utah Chapter of Backcountry Horsemen and Grand County's Trail Mix group (which works on developing and maintaining all kinds of nonmotorized backcountry trails), has worked to construct the new horse camp and corral along scenic Onion Creek against the scenic backdrop of Fisher Towers....
Beetle infestation at epidemic levels on forest land Bark beetle infestations have reached epidemic proportions within Region 1 of the U.S. Forest Service, with trees on at least 1.6 million acres infected with a number of different types of these bugs. Bark beetles are a natural forest resident and provide valuable services in limited numbers. But an aging forest and dense tree stands, coupled with recent drought conditions, have led the beetles to multiply to levels that are cutting huge swaths across Idaho, Montana and part of Yellowstone National Park....
BLM puts stop to plans for heli-mushing camp Opposition from people concerned about helicopter traffic and noise stopped plans for a heli-mushing camp on the Nenana Glacier near Denali National Park and Preserve this summer. Era Aviation had already started booking trips for the new tour when the Bureau of Land Management informed the company it would not issue a permit to operate dog sled tours on the Nenana Glacier this summer. "We came to the conclusion there were too many adverse effects that would result from noise; that was the main factor," said Will Runnoe, bureau chief for visitor services with BLM in Glennallen....
Developer avoids prison in wetlands case A Midland developer whose feud over wetlands has lasted more than 15 years was sentenced Tuesday to probation he had already served - despite a higher court's ruling that he should go to prison. John A. Rapanos was convicted in 1995 of illegally filling wetlands in properties he owned in Bay, Midland and Saginaw counties. U.S. District Judge Lawrence Zatkoff of Detroit accused the government of going overboard with its insistence on prison, in part because of Rapanos' personality. "We have a very disagreeable person who insists on his Constitutional rights," Zatkoff said. "This is the kind of person the Constitution was passed to protect." The judge sentenced Rapanos to three years of probation, 200 hours of community service, and a $185,000 fine. That was identical to the original sentence, and Rapanos already has completed it....
Water forecast poor for Klamath irrigators The water forecast for the Klamath Basin continues to get worse, with a skinny snowpack that is quickly melting and little rain in sight, but federal irrigation managers hope to meet most of their obligations for farms as well as fish. Snowpack in the mountains above the Klamath Reclamation Project is 28 percent of normal, declining about 1 percent a day. The latest forecast for water running into the primary reservoir serving the federal irrigation system dropped by 20 percent the past two weeks to 210,000 acre feet, Klamath project manager Dave Sabo said Wednesday. "That is putting us down into one of the three or four driest years on record since 1961," Sabo said. The Klamath Reclamation Project serves about 1,400 farms on 180,000 acres straddling the Oregon-California border south of Klamath Falls....
Tailings must be moved, 2 states tell congressmen A giant pile of radioactive waste sitting near the banks of the Colorado River poses unacceptable risks and needs to be moved, California and Utah officials told a congressional briefing Tuesday. The 12 million tons of tailings sit several miles northwest of Moab and 750 feet from the river that provides drinking water to 25 million people, most of them in California. The tailings are residue from a uranium mill that stopped operating in 1984 and was taken over by the Department of Energy in 2000. "You can't consider our water supply safe if those are in our headwaters," said Dennis Underwood, vice president for Colorado River resources at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. "It's public health that's endangered here."....
Border battle takes on NAFTA A group of Alberta ranchers is taking their battle over the U-S border closure to a higher court. Wednesday, Canadian Cattlemen for Free Trade served a notice of arbitration under the North American Free Trade Agreement. The group, made up of 120 ranchers and feed lot operators, is suing the U-S federal government for 300-million dollars. It plans to argue that the government contravened the agreement when it closed the border to Canadian beef. "The government of the United States has to treat Canadian investors no differently than they treat their own investors," says Rick Paskal, of CCFT. "We feel we have had discriminatory treatment towards us and that is the basis for our case." The case could get a lot larger in scope....
Governor proclaims 'Chris LeDoux Day' on July 30 Gov. Dave Freudenthal proclaimed July 30, 2005, the last day of Cheyenne Frontier Days, as "Chris LeDoux Day" in Wyoming. LeDoux, who sold more than 6 million albums, died last Wednesday of complications from liver cancer. He was 56. "Chris LeDoux has meant a lot to Wyoming, from his earliest days of riding bareback to his later days of making music," Freudenthal said. "Cheyenne Frontier Days, when fans of both will gather, seems like an appropriate time to honor his memory."....
Brazile is still looking for first win Even world champions face stretches of adversity. Just ask team ropers Speed Williams and Rich Skelton. Last year, the duo went through the first three months of the rodeo season without winning a dime. They eventually got on track and went on to win their eighth consecutive world championship. "Even though times get tough, you just can't give up," said Williams. That's something three-time world all-around champion Trevor Brazile, considered the consummate artist with a rope, is experiencing. The Decatur, Texas, cowboy is bogged down in a winning drought, and he cannot be found anywhere in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association standings. But he's not really that concerned....
Washington Town Auctions Off Testicle Titles Organizers of the Cowboy Caviar festival in Conconully are auctioning off the titles of "King and Queen of the Ball" on eBay. The winning royal couple will receive free lodging, entertainment and food in the north central Washington town for three days. They will reign over a contest to see which of three restaurants can cook up the best bull testicles. The town of 200 hopes to attract more attention to the June 18 event, which sold 60 tickets last year. Marilyn Church of the Chamber of Commerce says some people plan their summer vacations around testicle festivals.
===
Wolf views ignite cultural spat It was the rap heard 'round Oregon. Students from Portland's Sunnyside Environmental School gave their opinions on a state wolf plan at a February hearing. Some did it in unconventional ways: Two rapped along with boom-box music, three read a poem, and others made more direct statements. They talked of ranchers killing wolves and said the predators deserve to come back to Oregon. In return they got a lesson in the politics of wolves in the West. State Republican lawmakers chastised their "one-sided . . . street theater" in a letter to the school superintendent, and a pro-agriculture Web site called their education "severely deficient." If the reaction underscores the divide between Eastern and Western Oregon, both sides hope the students will learn from the episode. An Eastern Oregon county judge will speak this week at the school about cultural differences within the state....
Governor signs law creating state prairie dog management plan A state management plan that seeks to keep a sufficient population of prairie dogs while protecting landowners who don't want them has been signed into law by Gov. Mike Rounds. The state management plan sets a goal of 166,000 acres outside Indian reservations, just slightly above the long-term average in South Dakota. A combination of poisoning, incentive payments to ranchers and other techniques would be used to keep the population near the goal. The governor last week signed a separate measure to give ranchers more help in fighting the prairie dog invasion from adjoining private land. Prairie dogs could be treated as pests in some situations so county boards could poison them in a one-mile buffer zone on private land adjoining a rancher who does not want them....
Hybridized fish prompt Yellowstone's proposed fishing rule changes Non-native trout are interbreeding with increasingly rare native cutthroat trout in Yellowstone National Park, and that's why anglers would be encouraged to take up to five non-native trout daily, under some proposed new rules, a biologist says. Rainbow trout have been found in Slough Creek, a renowned Yellowstone cutthroat fishery in the park's northern reaches, said Todd Koel, the top fisheries biologist in the park. When the two species live in the same water, they usually interbreed. Also, Koel said it has recently been confirmed that what had been thought to be a pure-strain population of westslope cutthroats in the North Fork of Fan Creek has been interbreeding with rainbows....
Report: Navy Sonar Likely Made Orcas Flee Sonar pulsing from a Navy guided-missile destroyer during training exercises near the San Juan Islands two years ago was likely loud enough to send killer whales fleeing, according to a government agency report. The National Marine Fisheries Service report backed up local experts who said sonar from the USS Shoup caused a group of orcas to behave abnormally, apparently trying to avoid the sound. It contradicts the Navy's previous findings that orcas in Puget Sound's J Pod seemed unaffected by the sonar coming from the Shoup on May 5, 2003....
Why Is the National Guard Hunting Shrimp? The Associated Press reports that biologists with the Idaho National Guard have discovered a new species of fairy shrimp in a desert lake bed. Dana Quinney and Jay Weaver first found the forked-tailed shrimp nine years ago and will publish their findings in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Crustacean Biology. Why does the National Guard need biologists who study shrimp? The biologists make sure that National Guard training exercises—which may include mobile howitzers, and Hellfire missiles fired from Apache helicopters—don't cause too much damage to the environment. Three civilian biologists work full-time for the natural resources program of the Idaho National Guard; in general, they review military training plans and monitor the use of the training area (which comprises 138,000 acres). Through regular surveys, they make sure that endangered species are preserved and ecological deterioration is kept to a minimum. The fairy shrimp species Quinney and Weaver discovered could merit special consideration in the planning of future exercises....
Beagle in training to root out pythons from Everglades park Visitors to the Everglades expect or even hope to encounter some scary swamp creatures. But the 20-foot snake draped across a two-lane road? That's a postcard moment wildlife officials want to erase. The Burmese Pythons increasingly spotted by tourists do not belong in the Everglades. But the Asian reptiles are multiplying here in troubling numbers, competing with native, endangered species for food and crossing the paths of startled tourists. Now the killer snakes might have finally met their match: a beagle puppy aptly named "Python Pete," who's being trained to sniff out the creatures so they can be captured and killed....
Sea coral may be listed under Endangered Species Act For the first time, government officials have proposed protecting coral under the Endangered Species Act, and conservationists hope it's a first step toward staving off their extinction. Elkhorn and staghorn coral, the two coral proposed for listing, are related species and for the past 500,000 years have been the primary reef-builders for Florida and the Caribbean. But those coral have seen losses of 80 percent to 98 percent in the last few decades due to global warming, pollution and overfishing, though there is some disagreement among scientists about which threats are greatest. And like most sea creatures, they suffer from marine diseases that have become more numerous and virulent in recent decades. The branching coral are considered foundation species where they occur and an important defense for marine habitats against global warming....
Wild Pig Hunt Aims to Save California Island Foxes The Channel Islands off the California coast are home to 145 species of plants and animals found nowhere else in the world. On Santa Cruz island, non-native feral pigs may be pushing the island's unique and endangered foxes to the brink of extinction. Now the island's managers are pushing back. The nonprofit Nature Conservancy owns 76 percent of Santa Cruz Island. The National Park Service owns the rest. Together the agencies have crafted an island management plan that calls for an end to the pigs' tenure in paradise. A New Zealand-based company will begin hunting operations later this month. The company will aim to eradicate the island pig population over the next two to three years. Hunters will use a combination of traps, dogs, and helicopters to root the animals from the island's rugged terrain—one-third of which is inaccessible by road....
Senate Votes to Open Alaskan Oil Drilling A closely divided Senate voted Wednesday to approve oil drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge, a major victory for President Bush and a stinging defeat for environmentalists who have fought the idea for decades. By a 51-49 vote, the Senate put a refuge drilling provision in next year's budget, depriving opponents of the chance to use a filibuster to try to block it. Filibusters, which require 60 votes to overcome, have been used to defeat drilling proposals in the past....
Horse, mule riders lasso a stunning camping spot in redrock country Finding suitable backcountry camping facilities can be difficult for equine enthusiasts: Camping spots are typically too small to accommodate horse trailers, and the larger group sites are in high demand. But in the desert country of southeastern Utah, home to many of film director John Ford's best-known Westerns, horse and mule riders now have a reservation-based camp site built especially for them. Since January, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), in cooperation with the Southeastern Utah Chapter of Backcountry Horsemen and Grand County's Trail Mix group (which works on developing and maintaining all kinds of nonmotorized backcountry trails), has worked to construct the new horse camp and corral along scenic Onion Creek against the scenic backdrop of Fisher Towers....
Beetle infestation at epidemic levels on forest land Bark beetle infestations have reached epidemic proportions within Region 1 of the U.S. Forest Service, with trees on at least 1.6 million acres infected with a number of different types of these bugs. Bark beetles are a natural forest resident and provide valuable services in limited numbers. But an aging forest and dense tree stands, coupled with recent drought conditions, have led the beetles to multiply to levels that are cutting huge swaths across Idaho, Montana and part of Yellowstone National Park....
BLM puts stop to plans for heli-mushing camp Opposition from people concerned about helicopter traffic and noise stopped plans for a heli-mushing camp on the Nenana Glacier near Denali National Park and Preserve this summer. Era Aviation had already started booking trips for the new tour when the Bureau of Land Management informed the company it would not issue a permit to operate dog sled tours on the Nenana Glacier this summer. "We came to the conclusion there were too many adverse effects that would result from noise; that was the main factor," said Will Runnoe, bureau chief for visitor services with BLM in Glennallen....
Developer avoids prison in wetlands case A Midland developer whose feud over wetlands has lasted more than 15 years was sentenced Tuesday to probation he had already served - despite a higher court's ruling that he should go to prison. John A. Rapanos was convicted in 1995 of illegally filling wetlands in properties he owned in Bay, Midland and Saginaw counties. U.S. District Judge Lawrence Zatkoff of Detroit accused the government of going overboard with its insistence on prison, in part because of Rapanos' personality. "We have a very disagreeable person who insists on his Constitutional rights," Zatkoff said. "This is the kind of person the Constitution was passed to protect." The judge sentenced Rapanos to three years of probation, 200 hours of community service, and a $185,000 fine. That was identical to the original sentence, and Rapanos already has completed it....
Water forecast poor for Klamath irrigators The water forecast for the Klamath Basin continues to get worse, with a skinny snowpack that is quickly melting and little rain in sight, but federal irrigation managers hope to meet most of their obligations for farms as well as fish. Snowpack in the mountains above the Klamath Reclamation Project is 28 percent of normal, declining about 1 percent a day. The latest forecast for water running into the primary reservoir serving the federal irrigation system dropped by 20 percent the past two weeks to 210,000 acre feet, Klamath project manager Dave Sabo said Wednesday. "That is putting us down into one of the three or four driest years on record since 1961," Sabo said. The Klamath Reclamation Project serves about 1,400 farms on 180,000 acres straddling the Oregon-California border south of Klamath Falls....
Tailings must be moved, 2 states tell congressmen A giant pile of radioactive waste sitting near the banks of the Colorado River poses unacceptable risks and needs to be moved, California and Utah officials told a congressional briefing Tuesday. The 12 million tons of tailings sit several miles northwest of Moab and 750 feet from the river that provides drinking water to 25 million people, most of them in California. The tailings are residue from a uranium mill that stopped operating in 1984 and was taken over by the Department of Energy in 2000. "You can't consider our water supply safe if those are in our headwaters," said Dennis Underwood, vice president for Colorado River resources at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. "It's public health that's endangered here."....
Border battle takes on NAFTA A group of Alberta ranchers is taking their battle over the U-S border closure to a higher court. Wednesday, Canadian Cattlemen for Free Trade served a notice of arbitration under the North American Free Trade Agreement. The group, made up of 120 ranchers and feed lot operators, is suing the U-S federal government for 300-million dollars. It plans to argue that the government contravened the agreement when it closed the border to Canadian beef. "The government of the United States has to treat Canadian investors no differently than they treat their own investors," says Rick Paskal, of CCFT. "We feel we have had discriminatory treatment towards us and that is the basis for our case." The case could get a lot larger in scope....
Governor proclaims 'Chris LeDoux Day' on July 30 Gov. Dave Freudenthal proclaimed July 30, 2005, the last day of Cheyenne Frontier Days, as "Chris LeDoux Day" in Wyoming. LeDoux, who sold more than 6 million albums, died last Wednesday of complications from liver cancer. He was 56. "Chris LeDoux has meant a lot to Wyoming, from his earliest days of riding bareback to his later days of making music," Freudenthal said. "Cheyenne Frontier Days, when fans of both will gather, seems like an appropriate time to honor his memory."....
Brazile is still looking for first win Even world champions face stretches of adversity. Just ask team ropers Speed Williams and Rich Skelton. Last year, the duo went through the first three months of the rodeo season without winning a dime. They eventually got on track and went on to win their eighth consecutive world championship. "Even though times get tough, you just can't give up," said Williams. That's something three-time world all-around champion Trevor Brazile, considered the consummate artist with a rope, is experiencing. The Decatur, Texas, cowboy is bogged down in a winning drought, and he cannot be found anywhere in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association standings. But he's not really that concerned....
Washington Town Auctions Off Testicle Titles Organizers of the Cowboy Caviar festival in Conconully are auctioning off the titles of "King and Queen of the Ball" on eBay. The winning royal couple will receive free lodging, entertainment and food in the north central Washington town for three days. They will reign over a contest to see which of three restaurants can cook up the best bull testicles. The town of 200 hopes to attract more attention to the June 18 event, which sold 60 tickets last year. Marilyn Church of the Chamber of Commerce says some people plan their summer vacations around testicle festivals.
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Wednesday, March 16, 2005
GAO TESTIMONY
Meeting Energy Demand in the 21st Century: Challenges and Key Questions Remain, by Jim Wells, Director of Natural Resources and Environment Issues, before the Subcommittee on Energy and Resources, House Committee on Government Reform. GAO-05-414T, March 16. http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-05-414T
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d05414thigh.pdf
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Meeting Energy Demand in the 21st Century: Challenges and Key Questions Remain, by Jim Wells, Director of Natural Resources and Environment Issues, before the Subcommittee on Energy and Resources, House Committee on Government Reform. GAO-05-414T, March 16. http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-05-414T
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d05414thigh.pdf
===
NEWS ROUNDUP
Wolf trapped, released after 2 calves were killed State and federal officials have released a female wolf that was trapped near Avon after two calves were killed during a 10-day period. The decision was based on a January federal court ruling that restored the classification of wolves to endangered, except for experimental populations around Yellowstone National Park and in Minnesota. But a federal wolf manager said he believes the radio-collared wolf would have been released without the ruling by the Oregon judge. Rancher Tim Quigley, who lost a calf over the weekend, said watching the wolf being released Tuesday morning was frustrating. "The wolves come in, get my calf, we catch it and they turn it loose. Watching it lope across my meadow, knowing it's going to be back among my cattle -- I'm kind of a quiet guy, but this really gets me going."....
Researchers predict lingering drought; warn of fire risk Dry conditions in the Pacific Northwest have the region primed for a severe fire season, according to researchers from the U.S. Forest Service and Oregon State University. In a forecast issued Tuesday, the scientists — who combine global climate models with vegetation databases to project wildfire risk — predict the unusually dry winter to linger into spring. "It is going to become extremely dry in many parts of the Pacific Northwest and northern Rocky Mountain states, and the fire risk is going to be significantly higher than normal," said Ronald Neilson, a bioclimatologist with the U.S. Forest Service and professor of botany at Oregon State. "There is nothing to indicate a wet spring."....
Judge denies emergency halt to Biscuit salvage logging A federal judge Tuesday denied the latest request from environmentalists to impose an emergency halt to salvage logging in an old growth forest reserve burned in the 2002 Biscuit fire. Meanwhile, loggers were able to go to work unhindered on the Fiddler timber sale on the Siskiyou National Forest after the U.S. Forest Service closed off the area to keep out protesters who have interfered with operations three times over the past nine days. Three of the 27 protesters in the Josephine County Jail on charges they interfered with the logging said they were on a hunger strike to protest the criminal charges against them and jail conditions....
Column: A Line in the Ancient Forest On Monday, March 7 industrial logging of massive trees began in "protected" old-growth forest reserves in the Siskiyou Wild Rivers Area of the Siskiyou National Forest in Southwestern Oregon. This is the first time that logging of this magnitude has occurred in old-growth forest reserves (called Late Successional Reserves) since the creation of the Northwest Forest Plan over ten years ago. This industrial logging of old-growth forests is part of the Biscuit Logging Project, the largest Forest Service timber sale in modern history. Thirty square miles of ancient forests and inventoried roadless wildlands will be destroyed as the Forest Service intends to log 370 million board feet of trees, enough to fill 74,000 log trucks lined up for over 600 miles. Nearly 50 citizens have been arrested in the past week in an attempt to delay the logging with peaceful, non-violent road blockades, and as 75 year-old Joan Norman said as she was being arrested, "We have no laws protecting our forests so we will be the law."....
New Fairy Shrimp Species Found in Idaho Biologists with the Idaho National Guard have discovered a new species of fairy shrimp living in the oft-dry lake beds of Idaho's desert. Though they look delicate enough to match their name, they are strong enough to survive, unhatched, for years in the baking heat of summer and the frozen tundra of winter until enough rain falls and the pools return. Once they awaken they live a few frenzied weeks, mating and leaving behind tiny cyst-like offspring, and die. "This is a large, predatory fairy shrimp. This guy is about three inches long. That is huge for a fairy shrimp," biologist Dana Quinney said Tuesday during a press conference announcing the discovery. There are already about 300 species of fairy shrimp worldwide, Quinney said, but only three other species boast the size of the newly discovered ones....
Rep. Cardoza's Critical Habitat Enhancement Measure Receives Strong Builder Support The nation’s home builders today expressed strong support for a bipartisan bill introduced by Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Calif.) that is designed to ensure species’ protection and accommodate the needs of the communities and states where endangered species reside. “We believe that the ‘Critical Habitat Enhancement Act of 2005,’ offers a real legislative solution to the current crisis regarding critical habitat,” said NAHB President David Wilson, a custom home builder from Ketchum, Idaho. “The Endangered Species Act (ESA) has fallen far short of its goals, recovering only 1 percent of the 1,300 protected species. It needs to be updated in order to protect, conserve and recover America’s species, while balancing the needs of the communities in which we live and work.” Noting that House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo (R-Calif.) has been a long-time proponent of ESA reform, Wilson added that NAHB looks forward to working with Reps. Pombo, Cardoza and other members of the House panel to move this legislation forward....
National Park Service urges restraint on new heritage sites A proposed national heritage area in eastern Kansas would highlight violent events that led to the Civil War, a supporter told members of Congress Tuesday. A National Park Service official, however, urged lawmakers to defer legislation authorizing any additional national heritage sites until Congress establishes a uniform system of guidelines for deciding what areas are nationally significant. Sens. Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts, both Kansas Republicans, introduced legislation earlier this year to designate the Bleeding Kansas and Enduring Struggle for Freedom National Heritage Area, which would include 24 counties in eastern Kansas....
Rift widens in pines When Tom Tilford bought the historic Molly Butler Lodge, he imagined peace and quiet and many lazy days of watching the Little Colorado River meander among the meadows here in one of the state's most scenic mountain communities. The furthest thing from his mind, Tilford said, was a scenario like what happened one recent day: His wife walked into the local post office and heard four people talking loudly about how Tilford is a "pillager and rapist of the land" because he sells real estate on the side. That's just one of many examples of the ongoing battle threatening to tear apart this Rocky Mountain-like village, which has a year-round population of 150, because of development fears in one of Arizona's most pristine summer playlands....
Though land is poisoned, Calif water districts lock in supplies But now they have to leave. The land is useless for farming, poisoned by years of irrigation with salty water pumped in from the San Joaquin-Sacramento river delta, more than 100 miles away. "It's the water here. It's bad, salty," said Sixto Rodriguez, who like Gonzalez, has until August to uproot his family and find a new job. Reyes Rodriguez, Sixto's nephew, also is being forced out. On the west side of California's wide and thirsty Central Valley, salt damage is inexorably taking tens of thousands of acres out of production. Some see this as an opportunity to free up the water for other uses. Instead, irrigation districts are quietly renegotiating contracts with the federal government that lock in - for at least 25 more years - control over the same amount of subsidized water they've received for 40 years. What it amounts to, critics say, is a government giveaway, guaranteeing the districts a stream of profits for decades to come - perhaps even after the land involved is no longer farmed....
Las Vegas water officials get an earful about pipeline plan A nearly $2 billion plan to pump groundwater from rural Nevada and pipe it to Las Vegas is logically and morally wrong, according to one member of a Southern Nevada Water Authority advisory panel. "When an area loses its water, it loses its future," said Dean Baker, a longtime eastern Nevada rancher and member of the Integrated Water Planning Advisory Committee. Water authority officials were expected to hear similar concerns during a public open house Tuesday in the White Pine County seat of Ely....
Private fields could open To address diminishing hunting acreage and sporting opportunities for Americans, U.S. Sens. Kent Conrad, North Dakota Democrat, and Pat Roberts, Kansas Republican, have introduced a new version of what is known as the "Open Fields" bill. If successful, the legislation will open millions of acres of private land and water to hunters and anglers while offering farmers, ranchers and foresters a chance to bring new income into their operations. A companion bill was introduced in the House by Reps. Tom Osborne, Nebraska Republican, and Earl Pomeroy, North Dakota Democrat. The bill, officially known as the "Voluntary Public Access and Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program Act of 2005," would fund grants to state and tribal access programs and encourage expansion and improvement of fish and wildlife habitat....
An ag ambassador "How can you raise animals and then sell them, knowing they will be killed?" "Do you have electricity?" "Are there schools where you live?" "I was wondering, how long does it (take) to harvest your crops and send them to the store?" Those were just a few of the questions asked of Jason Williams, 32-year-old Kaycee-area rancher, during a visit to Edgewood Middle School in West Covina, Calif., in January. "It's unbelievable how sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders in urban schools have absolutely no concept of Wyoming or anything about ranch life," Williams said. That's something that he and other members of a new organization called Provider Pals want to change....
Japanese Officials Tell R-CALF Actions Will Delay Re-opening Border R-CALF placed a half-page lobby-type ad in today's Washington Post, thanking the U.S. Senate for passing a resolution (52-46) that would, if it passed the House and was signed into law by President Bush (both unlikely events) do what a district court judge in Billings, Montana (Judge Richard Cebull) has already helped R-CALF accomplish: maintain the closure of the U.S.-Canadian border to live cattle under 30 months of age. The ad urges the House of Representatives to support the resolution of disapproval "against USDA's weakening of U.S. import standards." The ad was paid for by the Ranchers Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America (www.r-calfusa.com).It includes R-CALF friendly quotes. What the ad does not say is what some Japanese officials reportedly told R-CALF in a recent meeting with them -- that R-CALF's actions have helped delay the time that it will take Japan to resume imports of American beef. Japanese sources told me that, "R-CALF officials were perplexed when we told them they are part of the problem."....
82 Organizations Support House Resolution to Protect U.S. Beef Supply In a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives today, 82 farm and consumer groups urged support of House Joint Resolution 23, which rejects the Agriculture Department's plan to reestablish live cattle and beef trade with countries that have documented cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). "National Farmers Union and others applaud the efforts of Representatives Herseth and Cubin for introducing this legislation on behalf of U.S. beef producers and consumers," said NFU President Dave Frederickson. "Immediate passage of this resolution should be the House of Representative's highest priority." The full text of the letter and groups follows:....
Rancher Dissatisfied with Chupacabra DNA Results Remember the Elmendorf Beast? That mystery animal a rancher shot dead on his property in South Bexar County? The man who found it is hoping to get new DNA results. Devin MacAnally says he has received the results of a DNA test, but he won't reveal them. He says he’s not happy with the results. Representatives from Texas Parks and Wildlife speculate that it’s a coyote with mange. The hairless beast with sharp teeth sparked speculation that the animal was a Chupacabra of South Texas folklore. MacAnally says he plans to look for someone else to do a new DNA test. He hopes to make those arrangements in the next couple of weeks....
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Wolf trapped, released after 2 calves were killed State and federal officials have released a female wolf that was trapped near Avon after two calves were killed during a 10-day period. The decision was based on a January federal court ruling that restored the classification of wolves to endangered, except for experimental populations around Yellowstone National Park and in Minnesota. But a federal wolf manager said he believes the radio-collared wolf would have been released without the ruling by the Oregon judge. Rancher Tim Quigley, who lost a calf over the weekend, said watching the wolf being released Tuesday morning was frustrating. "The wolves come in, get my calf, we catch it and they turn it loose. Watching it lope across my meadow, knowing it's going to be back among my cattle -- I'm kind of a quiet guy, but this really gets me going."....
Researchers predict lingering drought; warn of fire risk Dry conditions in the Pacific Northwest have the region primed for a severe fire season, according to researchers from the U.S. Forest Service and Oregon State University. In a forecast issued Tuesday, the scientists — who combine global climate models with vegetation databases to project wildfire risk — predict the unusually dry winter to linger into spring. "It is going to become extremely dry in many parts of the Pacific Northwest and northern Rocky Mountain states, and the fire risk is going to be significantly higher than normal," said Ronald Neilson, a bioclimatologist with the U.S. Forest Service and professor of botany at Oregon State. "There is nothing to indicate a wet spring."....
Judge denies emergency halt to Biscuit salvage logging A federal judge Tuesday denied the latest request from environmentalists to impose an emergency halt to salvage logging in an old growth forest reserve burned in the 2002 Biscuit fire. Meanwhile, loggers were able to go to work unhindered on the Fiddler timber sale on the Siskiyou National Forest after the U.S. Forest Service closed off the area to keep out protesters who have interfered with operations three times over the past nine days. Three of the 27 protesters in the Josephine County Jail on charges they interfered with the logging said they were on a hunger strike to protest the criminal charges against them and jail conditions....
Column: A Line in the Ancient Forest On Monday, March 7 industrial logging of massive trees began in "protected" old-growth forest reserves in the Siskiyou Wild Rivers Area of the Siskiyou National Forest in Southwestern Oregon. This is the first time that logging of this magnitude has occurred in old-growth forest reserves (called Late Successional Reserves) since the creation of the Northwest Forest Plan over ten years ago. This industrial logging of old-growth forests is part of the Biscuit Logging Project, the largest Forest Service timber sale in modern history. Thirty square miles of ancient forests and inventoried roadless wildlands will be destroyed as the Forest Service intends to log 370 million board feet of trees, enough to fill 74,000 log trucks lined up for over 600 miles. Nearly 50 citizens have been arrested in the past week in an attempt to delay the logging with peaceful, non-violent road blockades, and as 75 year-old Joan Norman said as she was being arrested, "We have no laws protecting our forests so we will be the law."....
New Fairy Shrimp Species Found in Idaho Biologists with the Idaho National Guard have discovered a new species of fairy shrimp living in the oft-dry lake beds of Idaho's desert. Though they look delicate enough to match their name, they are strong enough to survive, unhatched, for years in the baking heat of summer and the frozen tundra of winter until enough rain falls and the pools return. Once they awaken they live a few frenzied weeks, mating and leaving behind tiny cyst-like offspring, and die. "This is a large, predatory fairy shrimp. This guy is about three inches long. That is huge for a fairy shrimp," biologist Dana Quinney said Tuesday during a press conference announcing the discovery. There are already about 300 species of fairy shrimp worldwide, Quinney said, but only three other species boast the size of the newly discovered ones....
Rep. Cardoza's Critical Habitat Enhancement Measure Receives Strong Builder Support The nation’s home builders today expressed strong support for a bipartisan bill introduced by Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Calif.) that is designed to ensure species’ protection and accommodate the needs of the communities and states where endangered species reside. “We believe that the ‘Critical Habitat Enhancement Act of 2005,’ offers a real legislative solution to the current crisis regarding critical habitat,” said NAHB President David Wilson, a custom home builder from Ketchum, Idaho. “The Endangered Species Act (ESA) has fallen far short of its goals, recovering only 1 percent of the 1,300 protected species. It needs to be updated in order to protect, conserve and recover America’s species, while balancing the needs of the communities in which we live and work.” Noting that House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo (R-Calif.) has been a long-time proponent of ESA reform, Wilson added that NAHB looks forward to working with Reps. Pombo, Cardoza and other members of the House panel to move this legislation forward....
National Park Service urges restraint on new heritage sites A proposed national heritage area in eastern Kansas would highlight violent events that led to the Civil War, a supporter told members of Congress Tuesday. A National Park Service official, however, urged lawmakers to defer legislation authorizing any additional national heritage sites until Congress establishes a uniform system of guidelines for deciding what areas are nationally significant. Sens. Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts, both Kansas Republicans, introduced legislation earlier this year to designate the Bleeding Kansas and Enduring Struggle for Freedom National Heritage Area, which would include 24 counties in eastern Kansas....
Rift widens in pines When Tom Tilford bought the historic Molly Butler Lodge, he imagined peace and quiet and many lazy days of watching the Little Colorado River meander among the meadows here in one of the state's most scenic mountain communities. The furthest thing from his mind, Tilford said, was a scenario like what happened one recent day: His wife walked into the local post office and heard four people talking loudly about how Tilford is a "pillager and rapist of the land" because he sells real estate on the side. That's just one of many examples of the ongoing battle threatening to tear apart this Rocky Mountain-like village, which has a year-round population of 150, because of development fears in one of Arizona's most pristine summer playlands....
Though land is poisoned, Calif water districts lock in supplies But now they have to leave. The land is useless for farming, poisoned by years of irrigation with salty water pumped in from the San Joaquin-Sacramento river delta, more than 100 miles away. "It's the water here. It's bad, salty," said Sixto Rodriguez, who like Gonzalez, has until August to uproot his family and find a new job. Reyes Rodriguez, Sixto's nephew, also is being forced out. On the west side of California's wide and thirsty Central Valley, salt damage is inexorably taking tens of thousands of acres out of production. Some see this as an opportunity to free up the water for other uses. Instead, irrigation districts are quietly renegotiating contracts with the federal government that lock in - for at least 25 more years - control over the same amount of subsidized water they've received for 40 years. What it amounts to, critics say, is a government giveaway, guaranteeing the districts a stream of profits for decades to come - perhaps even after the land involved is no longer farmed....
Las Vegas water officials get an earful about pipeline plan A nearly $2 billion plan to pump groundwater from rural Nevada and pipe it to Las Vegas is logically and morally wrong, according to one member of a Southern Nevada Water Authority advisory panel. "When an area loses its water, it loses its future," said Dean Baker, a longtime eastern Nevada rancher and member of the Integrated Water Planning Advisory Committee. Water authority officials were expected to hear similar concerns during a public open house Tuesday in the White Pine County seat of Ely....
Private fields could open To address diminishing hunting acreage and sporting opportunities for Americans, U.S. Sens. Kent Conrad, North Dakota Democrat, and Pat Roberts, Kansas Republican, have introduced a new version of what is known as the "Open Fields" bill. If successful, the legislation will open millions of acres of private land and water to hunters and anglers while offering farmers, ranchers and foresters a chance to bring new income into their operations. A companion bill was introduced in the House by Reps. Tom Osborne, Nebraska Republican, and Earl Pomeroy, North Dakota Democrat. The bill, officially known as the "Voluntary Public Access and Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program Act of 2005," would fund grants to state and tribal access programs and encourage expansion and improvement of fish and wildlife habitat....
An ag ambassador "How can you raise animals and then sell them, knowing they will be killed?" "Do you have electricity?" "Are there schools where you live?" "I was wondering, how long does it (take) to harvest your crops and send them to the store?" Those were just a few of the questions asked of Jason Williams, 32-year-old Kaycee-area rancher, during a visit to Edgewood Middle School in West Covina, Calif., in January. "It's unbelievable how sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders in urban schools have absolutely no concept of Wyoming or anything about ranch life," Williams said. That's something that he and other members of a new organization called Provider Pals want to change....
Japanese Officials Tell R-CALF Actions Will Delay Re-opening Border R-CALF placed a half-page lobby-type ad in today's Washington Post, thanking the U.S. Senate for passing a resolution (52-46) that would, if it passed the House and was signed into law by President Bush (both unlikely events) do what a district court judge in Billings, Montana (Judge Richard Cebull) has already helped R-CALF accomplish: maintain the closure of the U.S.-Canadian border to live cattle under 30 months of age. The ad urges the House of Representatives to support the resolution of disapproval "against USDA's weakening of U.S. import standards." The ad was paid for by the Ranchers Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America (www.r-calfusa.com).It includes R-CALF friendly quotes. What the ad does not say is what some Japanese officials reportedly told R-CALF in a recent meeting with them -- that R-CALF's actions have helped delay the time that it will take Japan to resume imports of American beef. Japanese sources told me that, "R-CALF officials were perplexed when we told them they are part of the problem."....
82 Organizations Support House Resolution to Protect U.S. Beef Supply In a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives today, 82 farm and consumer groups urged support of House Joint Resolution 23, which rejects the Agriculture Department's plan to reestablish live cattle and beef trade with countries that have documented cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). "National Farmers Union and others applaud the efforts of Representatives Herseth and Cubin for introducing this legislation on behalf of U.S. beef producers and consumers," said NFU President Dave Frederickson. "Immediate passage of this resolution should be the House of Representative's highest priority." The full text of the letter and groups follows:....
Rancher Dissatisfied with Chupacabra DNA Results Remember the Elmendorf Beast? That mystery animal a rancher shot dead on his property in South Bexar County? The man who found it is hoping to get new DNA results. Devin MacAnally says he has received the results of a DNA test, but he won't reveal them. He says he’s not happy with the results. Representatives from Texas Parks and Wildlife speculate that it’s a coyote with mange. The hairless beast with sharp teeth sparked speculation that the animal was a Chupacabra of South Texas folklore. MacAnally says he plans to look for someone else to do a new DNA test. He hopes to make those arrangements in the next couple of weeks....
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Tuesday, March 15, 2005
GAO REPORT - FDA & MAD COW
Mad Cow Disease: FDA's Management of the Feed Ban Has Improved, but Oversight Weaknesses Continue to Limit Program Effectiveness. GAO-05-101, Feb. 25. http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-05-101
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d05101high.pdf
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Mad Cow Disease: FDA's Management of the Feed Ban Has Improved, but Oversight Weaknesses Continue to Limit Program Effectiveness. GAO-05-101, Feb. 25. http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-05-101
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d05101high.pdf
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Solution or Snake Oil? Cloud Seeding During a Drought is an interesting post over at New West. Find out what's going on in Idaho, Montana, Arizona, Washington,DC and the findings of the National Research Council.
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MAD COW DISEASE
GAO: Ban on feed linked to mad cow not enforced The Food and Drug Administration is not doing enough to enforce the ban on feed linked to the spread of mad cow disease, congressional auditors say. The Government Accountability Office, the investigative wing of Congress, said that while the FDA has made improvements in its management of the feed ban, "various program weaknesses continue to undermine the nation's firewall against BSE." The report said the FDA had no uniform approach to identify the feed manufacturers and shippers that are subject to the feed ban but have not been inspected. It added that almost 20 percent of the 14,800 firms inspected since 1997 have not been re-inspected in five years or more. The GAO added that the FDA's feed-ban inspection guidance does not include instructions to routinely sample cattle feed to test for potentially banned material....
NMA to join USDA against R-CALF The National Meat Association was granted an emergency appeal to gain intervenor status in the R-CALF v. the U.S. Department of Agriculture suit over opening the border to Canadian live cattle. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday said the NMA, which represents small independent meat packers and processors, could file a brief due Monday in its effort to establish harm to its members from the continuing border closure. NMA will argue that continued closure of the border risks plant closures, job losses and irreparable damage to its members. It is asking that the court require R-CALF to post a bond sufficient to protect NMA members from the devastating impact of the preliminary injunction as long as it remains in effect....
Alaska farmers, ranchers want border reopened to Canadian cattle Ranchers in Alaska are renewing their call to have the border reopened to live Canadian cattle. The ranchers renewed their call after a Montana judge ruled the border would remain closed to Canadian cattle exports, in spite of promises from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to lift the ban on the importation of live cattle. Ranchers in Alaska say that ruling could kill their industry. Ranchers in Alaska have always relied on Canadian cattle to replenish their herds. Last November, the Alaskan cattle industry said it was prepared to be the testing ground and start, once again, importing Canadian animals. The Alaska Farm Bureau put together a proposal to re-open the Alaska-Yukon border. The proposal was supported by Alaskan politicians and veterinarians. "We're so isolated and we have such a small ranching community that this is the perfect testing ground. If anything's going to goof up it'll happen up here on a small scale, isolated from the [other] states," said Jan Flora, who farms near Homer, Alaska....
Japan Unlikely to Give Beef Time Frame Japan is unlikely to give U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice a timetable for lifting its ban on U.S. beef imports when she visits Tokyo this week, a top government spokesman said Tuesday. Rice will come to Japan on Friday during a tour of Asia, even as Washington has been pressuring Tokyo to the ban, imposed in December 2003 after the discovery of the United States' first case of mad cow disease. However, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said chances are slim that the government will be able to tell Rice when U.S. beef will be allowed back into Japan. Japan's Food Safety Commission is now considering the issue....
Editorial: Where's the Beef? Not in Japan, at least if it came from the U.S. For over 14 months, Tokyo has closed its beef market, once worth about $1.5 billion to American producers, after the U.S. discovered one case of mad cow disease in December 2003. The U.S. is understandably losing patience with Japanese foot-dragging. U.S. President George W. Bush last week appealed directly to Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to speed up the resumption of imports, and in a March 1 trade report to the U.S. Congress, the Bush administration said that it would take all appropriate steps to ensure that Japan quickly lift the ban. The issue is also likely to arise when U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visits Japan later this month. The beef issue is shaping up to be a painful, and unnecessary, bone of contention in mostly friendly Japan-U.S. relations. The fact that science and health experts have exposed the safety concerns as overblown gives cause for concern that this is little more than old-fashioned protectionism at best, and at worst has some relation to Japanese suspicion that some foreign products are unsuitable to Japan's "uniqueness." It wouldn't be the first time. Lest we all forget, a Japanese agricultural minister back in 1987 said that beef imports should be banned because foreign meat would be indigestible in Japan-based on the bizarre claim that Japanese intestines are "longer" than Western ones....
US beef fix can't cut our Tokyo stake JAPANESE food safety officials have bowed to US pressure and removed a critical obstacle to the resumption of US beef imports and for now eased the risk of a trade war. However, the return of US beef producers to a market dominated by Australia is still months away and the Americans will regain only part of what they lost when Japan banned them after bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or mad-cow disease) was detected in the US herd in December 2003. Australian exporters, who have 91 per cent of the Japanese export market, expect to sell a record 430,000 tonnes there this year. Over time, they expect pressure from American competition will reduce their annual sales to between 350,000 tonnes and 400,000 tonnes....
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GAO: Ban on feed linked to mad cow not enforced The Food and Drug Administration is not doing enough to enforce the ban on feed linked to the spread of mad cow disease, congressional auditors say. The Government Accountability Office, the investigative wing of Congress, said that while the FDA has made improvements in its management of the feed ban, "various program weaknesses continue to undermine the nation's firewall against BSE." The report said the FDA had no uniform approach to identify the feed manufacturers and shippers that are subject to the feed ban but have not been inspected. It added that almost 20 percent of the 14,800 firms inspected since 1997 have not been re-inspected in five years or more. The GAO added that the FDA's feed-ban inspection guidance does not include instructions to routinely sample cattle feed to test for potentially banned material....
NMA to join USDA against R-CALF The National Meat Association was granted an emergency appeal to gain intervenor status in the R-CALF v. the U.S. Department of Agriculture suit over opening the border to Canadian live cattle. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday said the NMA, which represents small independent meat packers and processors, could file a brief due Monday in its effort to establish harm to its members from the continuing border closure. NMA will argue that continued closure of the border risks plant closures, job losses and irreparable damage to its members. It is asking that the court require R-CALF to post a bond sufficient to protect NMA members from the devastating impact of the preliminary injunction as long as it remains in effect....
Alaska farmers, ranchers want border reopened to Canadian cattle Ranchers in Alaska are renewing their call to have the border reopened to live Canadian cattle. The ranchers renewed their call after a Montana judge ruled the border would remain closed to Canadian cattle exports, in spite of promises from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to lift the ban on the importation of live cattle. Ranchers in Alaska say that ruling could kill their industry. Ranchers in Alaska have always relied on Canadian cattle to replenish their herds. Last November, the Alaskan cattle industry said it was prepared to be the testing ground and start, once again, importing Canadian animals. The Alaska Farm Bureau put together a proposal to re-open the Alaska-Yukon border. The proposal was supported by Alaskan politicians and veterinarians. "We're so isolated and we have such a small ranching community that this is the perfect testing ground. If anything's going to goof up it'll happen up here on a small scale, isolated from the [other] states," said Jan Flora, who farms near Homer, Alaska....
Japan Unlikely to Give Beef Time Frame Japan is unlikely to give U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice a timetable for lifting its ban on U.S. beef imports when she visits Tokyo this week, a top government spokesman said Tuesday. Rice will come to Japan on Friday during a tour of Asia, even as Washington has been pressuring Tokyo to the ban, imposed in December 2003 after the discovery of the United States' first case of mad cow disease. However, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said chances are slim that the government will be able to tell Rice when U.S. beef will be allowed back into Japan. Japan's Food Safety Commission is now considering the issue....
Editorial: Where's the Beef? Not in Japan, at least if it came from the U.S. For over 14 months, Tokyo has closed its beef market, once worth about $1.5 billion to American producers, after the U.S. discovered one case of mad cow disease in December 2003. The U.S. is understandably losing patience with Japanese foot-dragging. U.S. President George W. Bush last week appealed directly to Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to speed up the resumption of imports, and in a March 1 trade report to the U.S. Congress, the Bush administration said that it would take all appropriate steps to ensure that Japan quickly lift the ban. The issue is also likely to arise when U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visits Japan later this month. The beef issue is shaping up to be a painful, and unnecessary, bone of contention in mostly friendly Japan-U.S. relations. The fact that science and health experts have exposed the safety concerns as overblown gives cause for concern that this is little more than old-fashioned protectionism at best, and at worst has some relation to Japanese suspicion that some foreign products are unsuitable to Japan's "uniqueness." It wouldn't be the first time. Lest we all forget, a Japanese agricultural minister back in 1987 said that beef imports should be banned because foreign meat would be indigestible in Japan-based on the bizarre claim that Japanese intestines are "longer" than Western ones....
US beef fix can't cut our Tokyo stake JAPANESE food safety officials have bowed to US pressure and removed a critical obstacle to the resumption of US beef imports and for now eased the risk of a trade war. However, the return of US beef producers to a market dominated by Australia is still months away and the Americans will regain only part of what they lost when Japan banned them after bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or mad-cow disease) was detected in the US herd in December 2003. Australian exporters, who have 91 per cent of the Japanese export market, expect to sell a record 430,000 tonnes there this year. Over time, they expect pressure from American competition will reduce their annual sales to between 350,000 tonnes and 400,000 tonnes....
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NEWS ROUNDUP
$1 billion price tag of saving rare toad Protecting the endangered arroyo toad in California could cost $1 billion over the next 10 years, the federal government says. The price tag includes purchasing land for toad habitat, delays in getting development projects through environmental regulations, and altering construction projects to minimize harm to toads, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service analysis says. About $937 million of the cost would fall on the real estate industry....
Williams resigns from Fish & Wildlife Secretary of the Interior Gale A. Norton today announced the resignation of Steve Williams as director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Williams will become president of the Wildlife Management Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to scientific wildlife management, effective March 20. In a letter to Williams, Secretary Norton thanked him for his service and noted his many accomplishments in conserving wildlife habitats, expanding opportunities for fishing and hunting, and advancing cooperative conservation partnerships. "As I have traveled the country, I heard over and over how you were rekindling the spirit of cooperation among state and federal agencies and private partners," she said. "Countless refuge managers, biologists, sportsmen, and landowners complimented your leadership, management style, effectiveness and great humor."....
Column: Wolves' status depends on where they stand Wolves have not been removed from the endangered species list as far as I know, but the rules for wolf management outside Yellowstone have definitely changed. Ranchers who can persuade wildlife managers that they have lost cattle or sheep to wolves are now able to get hunting permits. Bet the hair stood up on the back of your neck the moment you read that line. I live in two worlds. Inside Yellowstone, I'm in wildlife country, and wolves are a major part of the show. It's hard to find a cross word against wolves here. Outside the park in the town of Gardiner, well let's just say that's cattle- and elk-hunting country, and opinions run a little hot when it comes to wolves. In the grocery store, the town's social center, you can say anything you want about religion or politics and nobody reacts, but mention wolves, and you're liable to be bushwhacked in the frozen-food aisle....
Where the wild geese go At first glance, it doesn't look like a wildlife area. With farmhouses dotting the flat land, it appears more cultivated than untamed. But beyond the stacked hay bales and grazing cows, cattails conceal wetlands that provide an ideal world for waterfowl. Within the Klamath Wildlife Area in south-central Oregon, a protected peninsula combines wildlife with agriculture to create an important aquatic area for migratory birds. Miller Island — one of four units in the Klamath Basin managed by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife — is one of the last spring rest stops for waterfowl winging their way north to summer nesting grounds. Though ducks do drop in for a refuge respite, it's the larger members of the web-footed family that flock by the thousands to Miller Island. This is the place where wild geese go....
A home for horses Ron Hawkins has been ranching in the Centennial Valley for 15 years, running cows, calves and yearlings on the 91 Ranch south of Wyoming Highway 130. Although he intends to continue running cattle on a portion of the 3,500-acre ranch he leases, Hawkins has now turned to a different type of operation: wild horses. He sees it as an opportunity to ranch and save a symbol of the American West....
Female owl goes on 150-mile trek for mate A female ferruginous pygmy owl took a 150-mile crisscross trek across the Sonoran Desert to search for a mate, a journey about seven times longer than any previously recorded by state researchers monitoring the endangered birds. Biologists familiar with the bird's journey said it shows both downsides and upsides for the fist-sized birds. The female owl's inability to find a mate underscores the plight of Arizona pygmy owls, biologists say. The state has just 18 recorded adult pygmy owls. The good news is that if this bird can fly so far, so can others, researchers said....
Editorial - Double Standard: Eco groups silent on federal fish kill Where is the investigation? Where are the arrests? Where is the outrage? An endangered species, the humpback chub, has been pushed to the brink of extinction, yet we’ve seen none of the usual responses. Why? Because the slaughter stems from the questionable actions of federal bureaucrats, at the behest of environmental groups. Wiping out protected species evidently only becomes a crime when some industry or private citizen is involved; good intentions give regulators and greens a pass. The kill-off came after the Bureau of Reclamation agreed to release a torrent of water and silt from behind Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona and southern Utah to try to replicate the spring floods that occurred before Lake Powell was established. It was the second such experiment, after the first flopped. It’s the government’s unofficial motto, after all: If at first you don’t succeed … turn failure into a routine....
Accountability. It’s tough to find in the U.S. Forest A forester hurriedly pushes through 20 illegal timber sales in California in order to try and skirt the application of certain environmental laws. The sales are then found to be illegal, the timber sale contracts are cancelled and millions of dollars in damages are paid to the timber companies by taxpayers. The forester is then promoted to be the national head of timber sale contracting. A forest supervisor steals firewood from the national forest he manages and is caught by Forest Service law enforcement. He is then promoted to the regional office and put in charge of overseeing the most important wildlife conservation plan in U.S. history. These two examples, bad as they are, pale in comparison to this startling statistic: The Forest Service has never disciplined any of its managers for violating an environmental law. Purposely defy the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act—who cares? Not the Forest Service, that’s for sure....
Expansion of cattle grazing stopped A cattle grazing increase on the Big Sur coast has been halted at least temporarily after environmental groups argued that the practice is harming endangered species and habitats. Prompted by an appeal by groups including the Ventana chapter of the Sierra Club, the U.S. Forest Service withdrew an earlier decision to expand cattle operations in the Los Padres National Forest. The Forest Service agreed to conduct additional review before allowing ranchers to run their herds on additional forest land....
Forest Service arrests 22 in Ore. protest Twenty-two women were arrested Monday trying to block loggers from cutting down dead trees burned in a 2002 fire, and the U.S. Forest Service closed the area to the public to prevent further disturbances. The arrests marked the third time since a federal injunction was lifted March 7 that protesters have tried and failed to prevent loggers from reaching an old growth forest reserve managed primarily for fish and wildlife habitat in the Siskiyou National Forest. Forest Supervisor Scott Conroy ordered the 700-acre Fiddler timber sale, and Forest Service roads leading to it, closed to the public in the name of safety until July 1, by which time the logging is expected to be completed....
House approves Forest Service land sale in Nevada The House of Representatives approved a bill Monday authorizing the sale of small parcels of Forest Service land in northern Nevada for private development, Rep. Jim Gibbons said. The six parcels in Douglas County and Carson City are in otherwise residential and commercial areas or near highways. All are under 100 acres and would be sold at public auction. Proceeds from the Nevada National Forest Disposal Act would go toward wildfire prevention, trail maintenance and education....
First Calif. ski resort in 25 years raises hopes, concerns For most of the last century, axes and saws carved a healthy living from the forest around this old lumber town. Now, years after logging declined and the mill closed, a developer envisions ski trails snaking their way through the remaining trees on Dyer Mountain. If Dyer Mountain Associates achieves its dream, it will be the first new ski resort in California in more than a quarter century, complete with golf courses and homes for some 8,000 people in this one-time company town where the Sierra Nevada bows to the Cascades. The vision is a grand one, intended as a more affordable alternative to Lake Tahoe, the state's premier ski destination 90 miles to the south....
Acid Rain Likely Stunts U.S. Tree Growth A new study of soil collected before industry created acid rain suggests trees in the United States and elsewhere are likely stunted by the polluted ground. Researches compared tree growth across decades in Russia to changes in soil conditions. "By providing the only preserved soil in the world collected before the acid rain era, the Russians helped our international team track tree growth for the first time with changes in soil from acid rain," said Greg Lawrence, a U.S. Geological Survey scientist who headed the effort....
New fences aim to keep Jeep Safari trail-bound Each year, thousands of off-road enthusiasts converge on this southeastern Utah community for the ever-popular Easter Jeep Safari. They head to the backcountry surrounding Moab to take in the scenic vistas and take on the bone-rattling challenge of navigating tough four-wheel drive trails. The passion to discover new obstacles that put man and vehicle to the test draws many drivers to one of the most popular and difficult routes - Hell's Revenge, a 12-mile trail that winds along the eastern slickrock rim above Moab, with access to challenging side routes including The Escalator, a series of deep potholes worn into a sandstone crevice, and Hell's Gate, a narrow V-shaped sandstone crack that requires nerves of steel and cautious tire placement to ascend....
Editorial: It is the BLM's job to make gas drilling clean, not easy There is a huge difference between knowing how business thinks and thinking like a business. We want a government that does the former but not the latter. That's why recent remarks by the head of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management struck us as more than a little off-key. It is important, as BLM Director Kathleen Clarke said Thursday, that government agencies understand the needs and wants of the businesses they interact with, especially a business as crucial as energy production. But that's not the same thing as having a government that thinks it is a business, and therefore is far too likely to forget that it is supposed to have a more public-spirited, and longer-term, view of how things should be done and whose interests it serves....
Sacred sites on federal land are mammoth issues The definition of ''sacred site'' is open for discussion, and it all depends on which side of the cultural divide a person stands on. The Lakota have no word that means ''sacred'': the word ''waken'' is the closest substitute. So who defines the word ''sacred''? With that question hanging over the heads of federal agencies and tribal cultural officials, it could become difficult to define a sacred site and agree on its meaning. The topic of sacred sites and their protection commanded a large portion of a recent meeting between the National Forest Service and tribal officials in Crazy Horse. A 1996 executive order mandated the National Forest Service to develop a policy on how to deal with sacred sites: protect physical integrity, protect access to and use of sacred sites and protect locations' confidentiality....
Navajo leader equates snowmaking decision to 'genocide' The U.S. Forest Service decision last week to allow the use of treated wastewater to make snow at Arizona Snowbowl amounts to a form of "genocide," the angry president of the Navajo Nation says, vowing to fight the decision. Joe Shirley Jr. will consult other tribal leaders opposing the decision before they issue a formal tribal response to the ruling, which they have 45 days to appeal. But Shirley said Friday he is willing to examine how Snowbowl could be stopped from operating altogether. "That's our cathedral, that's our church, that's who we are," Shirley said of the San Francisco Peaks, which the Navajo consider sacred. The U.S. government stepped on Native Americans' dignity with the ruling, he said, suggesting it was another form of government efforts in the 1800s to exterminate tribes and cultures....
Column: Green in Gridlock While President Bush and many of today's Republican leaders seem to be out of step with the American public and much of their own party when it comes to environmental conservation, the tactics of some environmentalists also play a significant role in creating the political polarization and stalemate that have caused gridlock for more than a decade on environmental policy. There are a variety of theories on the causes of the gridlock on such a popular issue: corporate shortsightedness, the influence of money on the legislative process, the alleged interest of Democrats in having the environment as a perennial campaign issue and the perceived antipathy of Republican leaders. But while all play a role, the polarizing tactics and strategies of some environmentalists are part of the problem as well....
Ginseng-Hungry Deer Eating Appalachian Tradition Since the 18th century, industrious folk in Appalachia have energized their bank accounts through the harvest and sale of wild American ginseng. Today, the increasing number of local white-tailed deer is putting future American ginseng harvests in doubt. Wild American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) is one of the most widely harvested medicinal plants in the United States. When consumed by humans, it is thought to boost energy and increase concentration. It is especially popular in Asia, where a pound (half a kilogram) can fetch as much as U.S. $500. But deer may soon kill the ginseng buzz....
Scientist tracks mass cricket migration Armed with a glue gun and radio transmitters the size of a penny, a University of North Carolina scientist is trying to stop mass insect migrations that devastate ranches in the mountain West. Mormon crickets, also known as flightless katydids, travel in massive packs, devouring all surrounding terrain as they move. Packs of the bugs can cover more than a mile a day and devastate crops. Scientists are trying to identify patterns the crickets follow so they can kill them or divert their paths with small distributions of pesticide, rather than the blanket applications now used against the pests....
Colorado ruling firms up rights of recreational water users The Colorado Supreme Court ruled Monday that state officials exceeded their authority when they recommended less water for a kayak course than the backers requested, marking a victory for the surging water recreation industry. The ruling said the Colorado Water Conservation Board ignored state law and its own rules in its recommendation for a whitewater course on the Gunnison River. The court ordered a Water Court judge to send the case back to the board for proper analysis. The ruling is expected to help clarify a 2001 state law allowing manufactured whitewater courses to have enough water for a "reasonable recreation experience" without jeopardizing the rights of upstream users....
Hydrologists: 2005 water year among "worst" on record Sunny, warmer-than-average weather and dry conditions in February have made hydrologists even more pessimistic about water conditions throughout most of Idaho. "The 2005 water year could be one of the worst on record," according to the Idaho Department of Water Resources. Snow measurements above the Clearwater and St. Joe rivers in northern Idaho are the lowest ever recorded, hydrologists said. The same holds for Boise, where the first three months of the year are expected to be the driest ever....
Chupacabra? Another Mysterious Beast Spotted Just what is it? Another sighting of the mysterious beast many call the “Chupacbra.” This time the creature was spotted in East Texas – alive! Someone in the Tyler area was able to snap a picture of the strange blue-grayish animal with long fangs. It looks much like the one a San Antonio area rancher shot and killed last year. You may remember the so-called "Elmendorf Beast" that rancher Devin McAnally discovered in July....
Freeman wants Black Gold's story told Freeman is the grandson of the late Rosa Hoots, who owned the famous horse Black Gold. It was 1924 when Black Gold won a quartet of derbies, including the Louisiana Derby and the Kentucky Derby. More than 80 years later, the family is on a multipurpose quest -- to spread awareness of the historic horse and raise money to fund a book and screenplay, all to make sure that Black Gold's story is chiseled in history. And so, hours before the same race Black Gold won generations ago, Hoots' family was in the gift shop, selling Black Gold T-shirts and shot glasses as the gregarious Freeman shook hands, signed autographs and shared stories to inquisitive passerbys....
Hats off to hats! As a boy in the 1840s, John Stetson worked in his family's hatmaking shop in New Jersey. They made felt hats in many styles. As a young man, Stetson decided to travel west to look for gold in Colorado. The derbies and other small-brimmed hats worn by men in the gold fields didn't really protect them from sun, wind, and rain. So Stetson designed a new hat with a wide brim and tall crown. Someone who saw his hat offered to buy it from him. He realized that he might make more money selling hats than looking for gold. In 1865 Stetson moved to Philadelphia and began making his new-style "cowboy" hat, which he named the Boss of the Plains. It soon became the most popular hat west of the Mississippi River....
Charros keep history alive They were vaqueros, the rustic workers of Mexico's early cattle ranches who filtered across the border and brought with them their culture of rancheros, charros and charreadas. That rich legacy, which early Texans adopted and made their own, today still is being celebrated by Latinos such as Katy brothers Jaime Jimenez, 21, and Omar Jimenez, 20, who learned their skills from their Mexican-born father and who frequently compete professionally. "My dad was a charro professional for more than 30 years when he was a vaquero in Mexico, and he's been teaching me since I was 6 years old and could ride a horse," says Jaime Jimenez....
It's All Trew: Feud between Texas, Oklahoma nothing new The history of the Panhandle is still young by most standards and can be exciting or maybe a bit weird at times. Take for instance the problems incurred in establishing the state line between Oklahoma and Texas. Known as "the strip" to historians, it moved so many times the local residents lost count. The Shattuck, Okla., history books recall the story. The entire area was exclusively the home to Indians until the 1500s when Francisco Coronado, a Spanish Conquistador, crossed twice in his exploration journey. Juan de Oate and Captain Alonzo Baca followed in 1601 and 1634, respectively. After that, England, France and Spain all claimed the land at various times until 1819 when the Louisiana Purchase made it property of the United States....
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$1 billion price tag of saving rare toad Protecting the endangered arroyo toad in California could cost $1 billion over the next 10 years, the federal government says. The price tag includes purchasing land for toad habitat, delays in getting development projects through environmental regulations, and altering construction projects to minimize harm to toads, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service analysis says. About $937 million of the cost would fall on the real estate industry....
Williams resigns from Fish & Wildlife Secretary of the Interior Gale A. Norton today announced the resignation of Steve Williams as director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Williams will become president of the Wildlife Management Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to scientific wildlife management, effective March 20. In a letter to Williams, Secretary Norton thanked him for his service and noted his many accomplishments in conserving wildlife habitats, expanding opportunities for fishing and hunting, and advancing cooperative conservation partnerships. "As I have traveled the country, I heard over and over how you were rekindling the spirit of cooperation among state and federal agencies and private partners," she said. "Countless refuge managers, biologists, sportsmen, and landowners complimented your leadership, management style, effectiveness and great humor."....
Column: Wolves' status depends on where they stand Wolves have not been removed from the endangered species list as far as I know, but the rules for wolf management outside Yellowstone have definitely changed. Ranchers who can persuade wildlife managers that they have lost cattle or sheep to wolves are now able to get hunting permits. Bet the hair stood up on the back of your neck the moment you read that line. I live in two worlds. Inside Yellowstone, I'm in wildlife country, and wolves are a major part of the show. It's hard to find a cross word against wolves here. Outside the park in the town of Gardiner, well let's just say that's cattle- and elk-hunting country, and opinions run a little hot when it comes to wolves. In the grocery store, the town's social center, you can say anything you want about religion or politics and nobody reacts, but mention wolves, and you're liable to be bushwhacked in the frozen-food aisle....
Where the wild geese go At first glance, it doesn't look like a wildlife area. With farmhouses dotting the flat land, it appears more cultivated than untamed. But beyond the stacked hay bales and grazing cows, cattails conceal wetlands that provide an ideal world for waterfowl. Within the Klamath Wildlife Area in south-central Oregon, a protected peninsula combines wildlife with agriculture to create an important aquatic area for migratory birds. Miller Island — one of four units in the Klamath Basin managed by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife — is one of the last spring rest stops for waterfowl winging their way north to summer nesting grounds. Though ducks do drop in for a refuge respite, it's the larger members of the web-footed family that flock by the thousands to Miller Island. This is the place where wild geese go....
A home for horses Ron Hawkins has been ranching in the Centennial Valley for 15 years, running cows, calves and yearlings on the 91 Ranch south of Wyoming Highway 130. Although he intends to continue running cattle on a portion of the 3,500-acre ranch he leases, Hawkins has now turned to a different type of operation: wild horses. He sees it as an opportunity to ranch and save a symbol of the American West....
Female owl goes on 150-mile trek for mate A female ferruginous pygmy owl took a 150-mile crisscross trek across the Sonoran Desert to search for a mate, a journey about seven times longer than any previously recorded by state researchers monitoring the endangered birds. Biologists familiar with the bird's journey said it shows both downsides and upsides for the fist-sized birds. The female owl's inability to find a mate underscores the plight of Arizona pygmy owls, biologists say. The state has just 18 recorded adult pygmy owls. The good news is that if this bird can fly so far, so can others, researchers said....
Editorial - Double Standard: Eco groups silent on federal fish kill Where is the investigation? Where are the arrests? Where is the outrage? An endangered species, the humpback chub, has been pushed to the brink of extinction, yet we’ve seen none of the usual responses. Why? Because the slaughter stems from the questionable actions of federal bureaucrats, at the behest of environmental groups. Wiping out protected species evidently only becomes a crime when some industry or private citizen is involved; good intentions give regulators and greens a pass. The kill-off came after the Bureau of Reclamation agreed to release a torrent of water and silt from behind Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona and southern Utah to try to replicate the spring floods that occurred before Lake Powell was established. It was the second such experiment, after the first flopped. It’s the government’s unofficial motto, after all: If at first you don’t succeed … turn failure into a routine....
Accountability. It’s tough to find in the U.S. Forest A forester hurriedly pushes through 20 illegal timber sales in California in order to try and skirt the application of certain environmental laws. The sales are then found to be illegal, the timber sale contracts are cancelled and millions of dollars in damages are paid to the timber companies by taxpayers. The forester is then promoted to be the national head of timber sale contracting. A forest supervisor steals firewood from the national forest he manages and is caught by Forest Service law enforcement. He is then promoted to the regional office and put in charge of overseeing the most important wildlife conservation plan in U.S. history. These two examples, bad as they are, pale in comparison to this startling statistic: The Forest Service has never disciplined any of its managers for violating an environmental law. Purposely defy the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act—who cares? Not the Forest Service, that’s for sure....
Expansion of cattle grazing stopped A cattle grazing increase on the Big Sur coast has been halted at least temporarily after environmental groups argued that the practice is harming endangered species and habitats. Prompted by an appeal by groups including the Ventana chapter of the Sierra Club, the U.S. Forest Service withdrew an earlier decision to expand cattle operations in the Los Padres National Forest. The Forest Service agreed to conduct additional review before allowing ranchers to run their herds on additional forest land....
Forest Service arrests 22 in Ore. protest Twenty-two women were arrested Monday trying to block loggers from cutting down dead trees burned in a 2002 fire, and the U.S. Forest Service closed the area to the public to prevent further disturbances. The arrests marked the third time since a federal injunction was lifted March 7 that protesters have tried and failed to prevent loggers from reaching an old growth forest reserve managed primarily for fish and wildlife habitat in the Siskiyou National Forest. Forest Supervisor Scott Conroy ordered the 700-acre Fiddler timber sale, and Forest Service roads leading to it, closed to the public in the name of safety until July 1, by which time the logging is expected to be completed....
House approves Forest Service land sale in Nevada The House of Representatives approved a bill Monday authorizing the sale of small parcels of Forest Service land in northern Nevada for private development, Rep. Jim Gibbons said. The six parcels in Douglas County and Carson City are in otherwise residential and commercial areas or near highways. All are under 100 acres and would be sold at public auction. Proceeds from the Nevada National Forest Disposal Act would go toward wildfire prevention, trail maintenance and education....
First Calif. ski resort in 25 years raises hopes, concerns For most of the last century, axes and saws carved a healthy living from the forest around this old lumber town. Now, years after logging declined and the mill closed, a developer envisions ski trails snaking their way through the remaining trees on Dyer Mountain. If Dyer Mountain Associates achieves its dream, it will be the first new ski resort in California in more than a quarter century, complete with golf courses and homes for some 8,000 people in this one-time company town where the Sierra Nevada bows to the Cascades. The vision is a grand one, intended as a more affordable alternative to Lake Tahoe, the state's premier ski destination 90 miles to the south....
Acid Rain Likely Stunts U.S. Tree Growth A new study of soil collected before industry created acid rain suggests trees in the United States and elsewhere are likely stunted by the polluted ground. Researches compared tree growth across decades in Russia to changes in soil conditions. "By providing the only preserved soil in the world collected before the acid rain era, the Russians helped our international team track tree growth for the first time with changes in soil from acid rain," said Greg Lawrence, a U.S. Geological Survey scientist who headed the effort....
New fences aim to keep Jeep Safari trail-bound Each year, thousands of off-road enthusiasts converge on this southeastern Utah community for the ever-popular Easter Jeep Safari. They head to the backcountry surrounding Moab to take in the scenic vistas and take on the bone-rattling challenge of navigating tough four-wheel drive trails. The passion to discover new obstacles that put man and vehicle to the test draws many drivers to one of the most popular and difficult routes - Hell's Revenge, a 12-mile trail that winds along the eastern slickrock rim above Moab, with access to challenging side routes including The Escalator, a series of deep potholes worn into a sandstone crevice, and Hell's Gate, a narrow V-shaped sandstone crack that requires nerves of steel and cautious tire placement to ascend....
Editorial: It is the BLM's job to make gas drilling clean, not easy There is a huge difference between knowing how business thinks and thinking like a business. We want a government that does the former but not the latter. That's why recent remarks by the head of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management struck us as more than a little off-key. It is important, as BLM Director Kathleen Clarke said Thursday, that government agencies understand the needs and wants of the businesses they interact with, especially a business as crucial as energy production. But that's not the same thing as having a government that thinks it is a business, and therefore is far too likely to forget that it is supposed to have a more public-spirited, and longer-term, view of how things should be done and whose interests it serves....
Sacred sites on federal land are mammoth issues The definition of ''sacred site'' is open for discussion, and it all depends on which side of the cultural divide a person stands on. The Lakota have no word that means ''sacred'': the word ''waken'' is the closest substitute. So who defines the word ''sacred''? With that question hanging over the heads of federal agencies and tribal cultural officials, it could become difficult to define a sacred site and agree on its meaning. The topic of sacred sites and their protection commanded a large portion of a recent meeting between the National Forest Service and tribal officials in Crazy Horse. A 1996 executive order mandated the National Forest Service to develop a policy on how to deal with sacred sites: protect physical integrity, protect access to and use of sacred sites and protect locations' confidentiality....
Navajo leader equates snowmaking decision to 'genocide' The U.S. Forest Service decision last week to allow the use of treated wastewater to make snow at Arizona Snowbowl amounts to a form of "genocide," the angry president of the Navajo Nation says, vowing to fight the decision. Joe Shirley Jr. will consult other tribal leaders opposing the decision before they issue a formal tribal response to the ruling, which they have 45 days to appeal. But Shirley said Friday he is willing to examine how Snowbowl could be stopped from operating altogether. "That's our cathedral, that's our church, that's who we are," Shirley said of the San Francisco Peaks, which the Navajo consider sacred. The U.S. government stepped on Native Americans' dignity with the ruling, he said, suggesting it was another form of government efforts in the 1800s to exterminate tribes and cultures....
Column: Green in Gridlock While President Bush and many of today's Republican leaders seem to be out of step with the American public and much of their own party when it comes to environmental conservation, the tactics of some environmentalists also play a significant role in creating the political polarization and stalemate that have caused gridlock for more than a decade on environmental policy. There are a variety of theories on the causes of the gridlock on such a popular issue: corporate shortsightedness, the influence of money on the legislative process, the alleged interest of Democrats in having the environment as a perennial campaign issue and the perceived antipathy of Republican leaders. But while all play a role, the polarizing tactics and strategies of some environmentalists are part of the problem as well....
Ginseng-Hungry Deer Eating Appalachian Tradition Since the 18th century, industrious folk in Appalachia have energized their bank accounts through the harvest and sale of wild American ginseng. Today, the increasing number of local white-tailed deer is putting future American ginseng harvests in doubt. Wild American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) is one of the most widely harvested medicinal plants in the United States. When consumed by humans, it is thought to boost energy and increase concentration. It is especially popular in Asia, where a pound (half a kilogram) can fetch as much as U.S. $500. But deer may soon kill the ginseng buzz....
Scientist tracks mass cricket migration Armed with a glue gun and radio transmitters the size of a penny, a University of North Carolina scientist is trying to stop mass insect migrations that devastate ranches in the mountain West. Mormon crickets, also known as flightless katydids, travel in massive packs, devouring all surrounding terrain as they move. Packs of the bugs can cover more than a mile a day and devastate crops. Scientists are trying to identify patterns the crickets follow so they can kill them or divert their paths with small distributions of pesticide, rather than the blanket applications now used against the pests....
Colorado ruling firms up rights of recreational water users The Colorado Supreme Court ruled Monday that state officials exceeded their authority when they recommended less water for a kayak course than the backers requested, marking a victory for the surging water recreation industry. The ruling said the Colorado Water Conservation Board ignored state law and its own rules in its recommendation for a whitewater course on the Gunnison River. The court ordered a Water Court judge to send the case back to the board for proper analysis. The ruling is expected to help clarify a 2001 state law allowing manufactured whitewater courses to have enough water for a "reasonable recreation experience" without jeopardizing the rights of upstream users....
Hydrologists: 2005 water year among "worst" on record Sunny, warmer-than-average weather and dry conditions in February have made hydrologists even more pessimistic about water conditions throughout most of Idaho. "The 2005 water year could be one of the worst on record," according to the Idaho Department of Water Resources. Snow measurements above the Clearwater and St. Joe rivers in northern Idaho are the lowest ever recorded, hydrologists said. The same holds for Boise, where the first three months of the year are expected to be the driest ever....
Chupacabra? Another Mysterious Beast Spotted Just what is it? Another sighting of the mysterious beast many call the “Chupacbra.” This time the creature was spotted in East Texas – alive! Someone in the Tyler area was able to snap a picture of the strange blue-grayish animal with long fangs. It looks much like the one a San Antonio area rancher shot and killed last year. You may remember the so-called "Elmendorf Beast" that rancher Devin McAnally discovered in July....
Freeman wants Black Gold's story told Freeman is the grandson of the late Rosa Hoots, who owned the famous horse Black Gold. It was 1924 when Black Gold won a quartet of derbies, including the Louisiana Derby and the Kentucky Derby. More than 80 years later, the family is on a multipurpose quest -- to spread awareness of the historic horse and raise money to fund a book and screenplay, all to make sure that Black Gold's story is chiseled in history. And so, hours before the same race Black Gold won generations ago, Hoots' family was in the gift shop, selling Black Gold T-shirts and shot glasses as the gregarious Freeman shook hands, signed autographs and shared stories to inquisitive passerbys....
Hats off to hats! As a boy in the 1840s, John Stetson worked in his family's hatmaking shop in New Jersey. They made felt hats in many styles. As a young man, Stetson decided to travel west to look for gold in Colorado. The derbies and other small-brimmed hats worn by men in the gold fields didn't really protect them from sun, wind, and rain. So Stetson designed a new hat with a wide brim and tall crown. Someone who saw his hat offered to buy it from him. He realized that he might make more money selling hats than looking for gold. In 1865 Stetson moved to Philadelphia and began making his new-style "cowboy" hat, which he named the Boss of the Plains. It soon became the most popular hat west of the Mississippi River....
Charros keep history alive They were vaqueros, the rustic workers of Mexico's early cattle ranches who filtered across the border and brought with them their culture of rancheros, charros and charreadas. That rich legacy, which early Texans adopted and made their own, today still is being celebrated by Latinos such as Katy brothers Jaime Jimenez, 21, and Omar Jimenez, 20, who learned their skills from their Mexican-born father and who frequently compete professionally. "My dad was a charro professional for more than 30 years when he was a vaquero in Mexico, and he's been teaching me since I was 6 years old and could ride a horse," says Jaime Jimenez....
It's All Trew: Feud between Texas, Oklahoma nothing new The history of the Panhandle is still young by most standards and can be exciting or maybe a bit weird at times. Take for instance the problems incurred in establishing the state line between Oklahoma and Texas. Known as "the strip" to historians, it moved so many times the local residents lost count. The Shattuck, Okla., history books recall the story. The entire area was exclusively the home to Indians until the 1500s when Francisco Coronado, a Spanish Conquistador, crossed twice in his exploration journey. Juan de Oate and Captain Alonzo Baca followed in 1601 and 1634, respectively. After that, England, France and Spain all claimed the land at various times until 1819 when the Louisiana Purchase made it property of the United States....
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Monday, March 14, 2005
TIMED EVENT CHAMPIONSHIP
Results
Aggregate Title
1. Kyle Lockett, Ivanhoe, Calif., 305.2 seconds after 25 head, $50,000; 2. Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas, 335.3, $25,000; 3. Chance Kelton, Mayer, Ariz., 352.2, $15,000; 4. Luke Branquinho, Los Alamos, Calif., $10,000; 5. Cash Myers, Athens, Texas, 417.1, $7,500; 6. Casey Branquinho, Los Alamos, Calif., 425.0, $5,000; 7. K.C. Jones, Hawk Springs, Wyo., 427.3, $4,500; 8. Paul Tierney, Oral, S.D., 443.3, $3,000.
Fastest rounds
1. Brazile, 44.6 seconds, $10,000; 2. Jim Locke, Miami, Texas, 48.5, $6,000; 3. Lockett, 52.6, $5,000; 4. Steve Duhon, Sonora, Texas, 54.2, $4,000; 5. Brazile, 54.3, $3,000; 6. Duhon, 54.7, $2,000.
Total money
1. Lockett, $55,000; 2. Brazile, $41,000; 3. Kelton, $15,000; 4. Luke Branquinho, $10,000; 5. Myers, $7,500; 6. Duhon, $6,000.
Lockett wraps up title is from the Daily Oklahoman.
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Results
Aggregate Title
1. Kyle Lockett, Ivanhoe, Calif., 305.2 seconds after 25 head, $50,000; 2. Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas, 335.3, $25,000; 3. Chance Kelton, Mayer, Ariz., 352.2, $15,000; 4. Luke Branquinho, Los Alamos, Calif., $10,000; 5. Cash Myers, Athens, Texas, 417.1, $7,500; 6. Casey Branquinho, Los Alamos, Calif., 425.0, $5,000; 7. K.C. Jones, Hawk Springs, Wyo., 427.3, $4,500; 8. Paul Tierney, Oral, S.D., 443.3, $3,000.
Fastest rounds
1. Brazile, 44.6 seconds, $10,000; 2. Jim Locke, Miami, Texas, 48.5, $6,000; 3. Lockett, 52.6, $5,000; 4. Steve Duhon, Sonora, Texas, 54.2, $4,000; 5. Brazile, 54.3, $3,000; 6. Duhon, 54.7, $2,000.
Total money
1. Lockett, $55,000; 2. Brazile, $41,000; 3. Kelton, $15,000; 4. Luke Branquinho, $10,000; 5. Myers, $7,500; 6. Duhon, $6,000.
Lockett wraps up title is from the Daily Oklahoman.
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GAO REPORT
Storm Water Pollution: Information Needed on the Implications of Permitting Oil and Gas Construction Activities. GAO-05-240, February 9. http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-05-240Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d05240high.pdf
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Storm Water Pollution: Information Needed on the Implications of Permitting Oil and Gas Construction Activities. GAO-05-240, February 9. http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-05-240Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d05240high.pdf
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TIMED EVENT CHAMPIONSHIP
What a final round.
Guy Allen did not have a good weekend, but on his final run he tripped his steer in 9.5 seconds which tied his own arena record.
After 24 runs, there was only one-tenth of a second difference between Trevor Brazile and Kyle Locket. Trevor's total was 288.5 and Kyle's was 288.6. It came down to the final event and the final two runs to see who won the $50,000 and was crowned champion. The final event is steer roping, and Kyle Lockett tripped his steer in 16.6 seconds. If Trevor was 16.6 or better, he would be champion again, and he had drawn a good steer. He roped and tripped his steer to make that time, but after he dismounted and started toward the steer...the steer got up. That was it, Kyle Lockett is the champion.
The top four and their times were 1) Kyle Lockett, 305.2 2) Trevor Brazile, 335.3 3) Chance Kelton, 352.2 and 4) Luke Branquinho, 375.4.
Glad to be home and the regular version of The Westerner will appear tomorrow. I'll find out Tuesday if GB got all his paperwork done.
*
What a final round.
Guy Allen did not have a good weekend, but on his final run he tripped his steer in 9.5 seconds which tied his own arena record.
After 24 runs, there was only one-tenth of a second difference between Trevor Brazile and Kyle Locket. Trevor's total was 288.5 and Kyle's was 288.6. It came down to the final event and the final two runs to see who won the $50,000 and was crowned champion. The final event is steer roping, and Kyle Lockett tripped his steer in 16.6 seconds. If Trevor was 16.6 or better, he would be champion again, and he had drawn a good steer. He roped and tripped his steer to make that time, but after he dismounted and started toward the steer...the steer got up. That was it, Kyle Lockett is the champion.
The top four and their times were 1) Kyle Lockett, 305.2 2) Trevor Brazile, 335.3 3) Chance Kelton, 352.2 and 4) Luke Branquinho, 375.4.
Glad to be home and the regular version of The Westerner will appear tomorrow. I'll find out Tuesday if GB got all his paperwork done.
*
Sunday, March 13, 2005
SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE WESTERNER
You might be a rancher's wife
By Julie Carter
Sometimes a photo is worth a thousand words and sometimes its living proof and validation of which I so often speak.
At the post office just today, I had to take such a photo. I just had to. Parked in front of me was the very thing you might envision of the rancher gone to town.
There sat a flat bed ranch pickup loaded to the gills. The back of the bed was heavy with a stack of mineral blocks. Squeezed to the front were a water jug, a cooler, an unidentifiable plastic box and two curious dogs who kept watching the post office door.
The headache rack was neatly organized with every thing a man might need while away from the house. A handyman jack locked to the frame, a couple of catch ropes not locked but tied up, chains, a come-a-long and assorted tie strings for tying gates shut, mufflers up, or a calf down.
Now this version of a ranch pickup was newer than your average rusted beat up feed pickup that comes to town. He got his wife a good job in town and can now afford an upgrade-- in pickups, not in a wife. You might be a rancher's wife if your job in town is considered a ranch subsidy.
Just a couple months ago this guy traded in his rendition of "beat up" for this new one. And as I understand it, for the first time in his life it's not a red one which is causing some mental anguish during the transitional period.
Meanwhile back at the ranch, you might be a rancher's wife if you know how to change the flat on your car but can't because the spare is on the flatbed.
It comes with the territory. You might be a rancher's wife if directions to your house include words like miles, cattle guards, gravel road and last. The word last can precede many things such as house, hill, left turn, or cedar tree by a rock.
You might be a rancher's wife if your stock tank doubles as a swimming pool, the storage shed is a barn, and you buy antiques because they match the rest of your furniture.
One thing a ranch wife's job in town works out for the ranch couple, besides subsidy, is the in-the-corral working relationship. Of which there is none. Wasn't much of one before she got the job but at least now the neighbors seven miles away can't hear the yelling and cussing. The dog finally quit hiding under the barn about a month after she went to work.
You might be a rancher's wife if duct tape is always on your list, the weekly paper comes a week later, and the vet's number is on your phone's speed dial.
A rancher's wife will always have a shopping list that includes three sizes of filters, tires, chains, spark plugs and shotgun shells. And the best one, "get me a part that looks just like this one here," as he hands her wrapped in a shop rag, a greasy diesel smelling odd shaped thing he can't even name. "And make sure it's for the right year model."
Seeing that pickup today was like seeing it rain. It gave hope of better times ahead and a tomorrow for ranching. As long as the wife can keep a good job in town.
Julie can be reached for comment at jcarter@tularosa.net
Copyright Julie Carter 2005
*
You might be a rancher's wife
By Julie Carter
Sometimes a photo is worth a thousand words and sometimes its living proof and validation of which I so often speak.
At the post office just today, I had to take such a photo. I just had to. Parked in front of me was the very thing you might envision of the rancher gone to town.
There sat a flat bed ranch pickup loaded to the gills. The back of the bed was heavy with a stack of mineral blocks. Squeezed to the front were a water jug, a cooler, an unidentifiable plastic box and two curious dogs who kept watching the post office door.
The headache rack was neatly organized with every thing a man might need while away from the house. A handyman jack locked to the frame, a couple of catch ropes not locked but tied up, chains, a come-a-long and assorted tie strings for tying gates shut, mufflers up, or a calf down.
Now this version of a ranch pickup was newer than your average rusted beat up feed pickup that comes to town. He got his wife a good job in town and can now afford an upgrade-- in pickups, not in a wife. You might be a rancher's wife if your job in town is considered a ranch subsidy.
Just a couple months ago this guy traded in his rendition of "beat up" for this new one. And as I understand it, for the first time in his life it's not a red one which is causing some mental anguish during the transitional period.
Meanwhile back at the ranch, you might be a rancher's wife if you know how to change the flat on your car but can't because the spare is on the flatbed.
It comes with the territory. You might be a rancher's wife if directions to your house include words like miles, cattle guards, gravel road and last. The word last can precede many things such as house, hill, left turn, or cedar tree by a rock.
You might be a rancher's wife if your stock tank doubles as a swimming pool, the storage shed is a barn, and you buy antiques because they match the rest of your furniture.
One thing a ranch wife's job in town works out for the ranch couple, besides subsidy, is the in-the-corral working relationship. Of which there is none. Wasn't much of one before she got the job but at least now the neighbors seven miles away can't hear the yelling and cussing. The dog finally quit hiding under the barn about a month after she went to work.
You might be a rancher's wife if duct tape is always on your list, the weekly paper comes a week later, and the vet's number is on your phone's speed dial.
A rancher's wife will always have a shopping list that includes three sizes of filters, tires, chains, spark plugs and shotgun shells. And the best one, "get me a part that looks just like this one here," as he hands her wrapped in a shop rag, a greasy diesel smelling odd shaped thing he can't even name. "And make sure it's for the right year model."
Seeing that pickup today was like seeing it rain. It gave hope of better times ahead and a tomorrow for ranching. As long as the wife can keep a good job in town.
Julie can be reached for comment at jcarter@tularosa.net
Copyright Julie Carter 2005
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OPINION/COMMENTARY
How Green Was Their Folly?
Last month, after years of negotiations and dire warnings of impending environmental collapse, the much-awaited Kyoto Protocol became a part of the Euro-reality. With all the hype, it is easy to miss the main point: the Protocol is futile and costly - an example of well-intended political voodoo, discarded by the US for all the right reasons. The original Kyoto Protocol of 1997 called for a reduction of greenhouse emissions to 5.2 percent below 1990 levels and required ratification by the nations producing at least 55 percent of the world's emissions. With its arbitrary reduction targets and lack of scientific justification, it failed to muster the support of 40 percent and had to be renegotiated. The new Kyoto Protocol (NKP) of July 23, 2001, moderated the demands down to 1.8 percent reduction on 1990 levels. The majority of the signatories to the Protocol, including the world's fastest growing polluters, China, India and Brazil, have no reductions commitments under the NKP. At the same time, the overall world emissions levels currently run at 13-15 percent above the 1990 level. Three fundamental arguments underlie support for the NKP: (1) NKP is a necessary measure that can address the problem of global warming; (2) NKP is a moderate policy response to the failures of the orthodox laissez-faire approach to development; (3) NKP will support emergence of greener technologies and consumer alternatives. In reality, all three claims are, at best, bogus. NKP is neither necessary nor appropriate....
How Green Was Their Folly?
Last month, after years of negotiations and dire warnings of impending environmental collapse, the much-awaited Kyoto Protocol became a part of the Euro-reality. With all the hype, it is easy to miss the main point: the Protocol is futile and costly - an example of well-intended political voodoo, discarded by the US for all the right reasons. The original Kyoto Protocol of 1997 called for a reduction of greenhouse emissions to 5.2 percent below 1990 levels and required ratification by the nations producing at least 55 percent of the world's emissions. With its arbitrary reduction targets and lack of scientific justification, it failed to muster the support of 40 percent and had to be renegotiated. The new Kyoto Protocol (NKP) of July 23, 2001, moderated the demands down to 1.8 percent reduction on 1990 levels. The majority of the signatories to the Protocol, including the world's fastest growing polluters, China, India and Brazil, have no reductions commitments under the NKP. At the same time, the overall world emissions levels currently run at 13-15 percent above the 1990 level. Three fundamental arguments underlie support for the NKP: (1) NKP is a necessary measure that can address the problem of global warming; (2) NKP is a moderate policy response to the failures of the orthodox laissez-faire approach to development; (3) NKP will support emergence of greener technologies and consumer alternatives. In reality, all three claims are, at best, bogus. NKP is neither necessary nor appropriate....
OPINION/COMMENTARY
Is AgBiotech Innovative Enough? If Not, Why Not?
Washington DC has a new baseball team, but the city's favorite pastime will surely remain "gotcha," a game in which it is possible to criticize someone for making the wrong decision, no matter what. (If the outcome is bad, he made the wrong choice; if the outcome is good, he was just lucky, or the price was too high.) Many politicians and columnists deserve membership in the Gotcha Hall of Fame. We propose a new nominee: the Washington-based, ironically misnamed Center for Science in the Public Interest, for a hypocritical and disingenuous new report about the current state of agricultural biotechnology. CSPI's "analysis" concludes that the agbiotech industry "is not innovating, it is stagnating," leaving unfulfilled its promise "that genetic engineering would spawn a cornucopia of heartier crops, more-healthful oils, delayed-ripening fruits, and many more nutritious and better-tasting foods." Also, they allege, "the biotech cupboard remains pretty bare, except for the few crops that have benefitted grain, oilseed, and cotton farmers," and supposedly there now exists "a voluntary, antiquated, and inefficient hodgepodge of a regulatory system" that must be replaced "with a mandatory system that takes risk into account." These assertions are part of activists' Big Lie about the application of the new biotechnology, or gene-splicing, to agriculture and food production -- namely, that the technology is unproven, untested and unregulated....
Is AgBiotech Innovative Enough? If Not, Why Not?
Washington DC has a new baseball team, but the city's favorite pastime will surely remain "gotcha," a game in which it is possible to criticize someone for making the wrong decision, no matter what. (If the outcome is bad, he made the wrong choice; if the outcome is good, he was just lucky, or the price was too high.) Many politicians and columnists deserve membership in the Gotcha Hall of Fame. We propose a new nominee: the Washington-based, ironically misnamed Center for Science in the Public Interest, for a hypocritical and disingenuous new report about the current state of agricultural biotechnology. CSPI's "analysis" concludes that the agbiotech industry "is not innovating, it is stagnating," leaving unfulfilled its promise "that genetic engineering would spawn a cornucopia of heartier crops, more-healthful oils, delayed-ripening fruits, and many more nutritious and better-tasting foods." Also, they allege, "the biotech cupboard remains pretty bare, except for the few crops that have benefitted grain, oilseed, and cotton farmers," and supposedly there now exists "a voluntary, antiquated, and inefficient hodgepodge of a regulatory system" that must be replaced "with a mandatory system that takes risk into account." These assertions are part of activists' Big Lie about the application of the new biotechnology, or gene-splicing, to agriculture and food production -- namely, that the technology is unproven, untested and unregulated....
OPINION/COMMENTARY
Costly Hysteria on 'E-waste': Eco-activists' Gross Distortions Behind State Crusade to Recycle TVs, PCs
Haste maketh waste, and in the fast- paced world of technology, there's a lot of it. In California, home of the technology revolution, 10,000 home computers and TVs are retired daily. While that amounts to a tiny fraction of the state's total waste stream, the issue is creating heaps of hype and hysteria about what to do with the growing amount of electronic waste or "e-waste." This year, California became the first state to hold consumers responsible for their e-mess. Californians buying a TV, home computer, or laptop must now pay $6 to $10 to finance a costly program to collect and recycle all used machines throughout the state. While the fee may seem insignificant, there is little reason to believe it will remain low for long; the cost to recycle a single computer is six times that amount. Advocacy groups such as the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, who have been aggressively lobbying the state and Congress for mandatory recycling laws, already are arguing the fee does not go far enough. They would like to see the fee raised to $60 per product to cover the full costs of recycling. California's new law also requires manufacturers to rethink the way they build computers. By 2007, they must phase out lead—currently used in computers to protect users from the tube's X-rays—mercury, cadmium, and other substances crucial to the operation of PCs. The widespread panic is based on misinformation spread largely by powerful eco-activist groups who believe the growing amount of electronic waste reflects the ills of a "throwaway" society and that recycling e-waste is our moral obligation to achieve "zero waste tolerance." Among the myths bandied about are that e-waste is growing at an uncontrollable, "exponential" rate; and that heavy metals contained in computers are leaking out of the landfills, poisoning our ground soil....
Costly Hysteria on 'E-waste': Eco-activists' Gross Distortions Behind State Crusade to Recycle TVs, PCs
Haste maketh waste, and in the fast- paced world of technology, there's a lot of it. In California, home of the technology revolution, 10,000 home computers and TVs are retired daily. While that amounts to a tiny fraction of the state's total waste stream, the issue is creating heaps of hype and hysteria about what to do with the growing amount of electronic waste or "e-waste." This year, California became the first state to hold consumers responsible for their e-mess. Californians buying a TV, home computer, or laptop must now pay $6 to $10 to finance a costly program to collect and recycle all used machines throughout the state. While the fee may seem insignificant, there is little reason to believe it will remain low for long; the cost to recycle a single computer is six times that amount. Advocacy groups such as the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, who have been aggressively lobbying the state and Congress for mandatory recycling laws, already are arguing the fee does not go far enough. They would like to see the fee raised to $60 per product to cover the full costs of recycling. California's new law also requires manufacturers to rethink the way they build computers. By 2007, they must phase out lead—currently used in computers to protect users from the tube's X-rays—mercury, cadmium, and other substances crucial to the operation of PCs. The widespread panic is based on misinformation spread largely by powerful eco-activist groups who believe the growing amount of electronic waste reflects the ills of a "throwaway" society and that recycling e-waste is our moral obligation to achieve "zero waste tolerance." Among the myths bandied about are that e-waste is growing at an uncontrollable, "exponential" rate; and that heavy metals contained in computers are leaking out of the landfills, poisoning our ground soil....
OPINION/COMMENTARY
Not A G'Day For PETA Down Under
When it comes to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Warren Truss is mad as hell and he's not going to take it anymore. Truss, the Australian government's Minister of Agriculture, shares his countrymen's frustration with PETA's latest campaign -- a misguided attack on the Aussie wool industry. In a speech this week at the Victorian Rural Press Club in Melbourne, he warned reporters that PETA "is not an animal welfare group," citing the Center for Consumer Freedom's research about PETA's ties with domestic terrorist organizations. The Minister's office was kind enough to forward us a copy of his speech, a portion of which reads: According to United States-based non profit corporation The Center for Consumer Freedom, PETA's leadership has compared animal farmers to serial killer and cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer, compared chickens to Holocaust victims, and pronounced a shark attack on a little boy was "revenge" against humans....
Not A G'Day For PETA Down Under
When it comes to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Warren Truss is mad as hell and he's not going to take it anymore. Truss, the Australian government's Minister of Agriculture, shares his countrymen's frustration with PETA's latest campaign -- a misguided attack on the Aussie wool industry. In a speech this week at the Victorian Rural Press Club in Melbourne, he warned reporters that PETA "is not an animal welfare group," citing the Center for Consumer Freedom's research about PETA's ties with domestic terrorist organizations. The Minister's office was kind enough to forward us a copy of his speech, a portion of which reads: According to United States-based non profit corporation The Center for Consumer Freedom, PETA's leadership has compared animal farmers to serial killer and cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer, compared chickens to Holocaust victims, and pronounced a shark attack on a little boy was "revenge" against humans....
OPINION/COMMENTARY
FEEDING PEOPLE WHILE PRESERVING HABITATS
Global food demand is expected to more than double by 2050, and scientists are trying to find a balance between farming and species conservation, especially in developing countries, according to Science magazine.
According to Birdlife International’s World Bird database:
* Farming is the biggest threat to 37 percent of bird species listed as “threatened” and 57 percent of those listed as “near-threatened” in the developing world.
* The impact of farming to bird species in developed countries is smaller, affecting only 24 percent of “threatened” birds and 33 percent of “near-threatened” birds.
* Furthermore, while farming is becoming more efficient, (global food production outpaced population growth between 1961 and 1999), crop yields in developing countries still lag behind developed countries by about 20 years.
Scientists are examining two possible solutions: high-yield farming on less land, or wildlife-friendly farming, where more patches of habitat are retained on farmland, resulting in more species diversity but lower crop yields.
Rhys E. Green of the University of Cambridge and his coauthors found:
* In modeling each scenario, the same crop yield density could be achieved by practicing high-yield farming on 20 percent of a plot of land, or low-yield farming on the entire plot of land.
* However, the extent to which species preservation is greater on low-yield farmland is questionable.
Previous studies on Latin American countries suggest that higher yield increases have lower rates of deforestation, which assists in species preservation.
Scientists have not concluded which method would be more effective, or perhaps whether a combination of both methods would strike a balance, but the issue of farming versus species conservation is key research area as food demand increases.
Source: R.E. Green, et al., “Farming and the Fate of Wild Nature,” Science, January 28, 2005.
For abstract (registration required):
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/307/5709/550
FEEDING PEOPLE WHILE PRESERVING HABITATS
Global food demand is expected to more than double by 2050, and scientists are trying to find a balance between farming and species conservation, especially in developing countries, according to Science magazine.
According to Birdlife International’s World Bird database:
* Farming is the biggest threat to 37 percent of bird species listed as “threatened” and 57 percent of those listed as “near-threatened” in the developing world.
* The impact of farming to bird species in developed countries is smaller, affecting only 24 percent of “threatened” birds and 33 percent of “near-threatened” birds.
* Furthermore, while farming is becoming more efficient, (global food production outpaced population growth between 1961 and 1999), crop yields in developing countries still lag behind developed countries by about 20 years.
Scientists are examining two possible solutions: high-yield farming on less land, or wildlife-friendly farming, where more patches of habitat are retained on farmland, resulting in more species diversity but lower crop yields.
Rhys E. Green of the University of Cambridge and his coauthors found:
* In modeling each scenario, the same crop yield density could be achieved by practicing high-yield farming on 20 percent of a plot of land, or low-yield farming on the entire plot of land.
* However, the extent to which species preservation is greater on low-yield farmland is questionable.
Previous studies on Latin American countries suggest that higher yield increases have lower rates of deforestation, which assists in species preservation.
Scientists have not concluded which method would be more effective, or perhaps whether a combination of both methods would strike a balance, but the issue of farming versus species conservation is key research area as food demand increases.
Source: R.E. Green, et al., “Farming and the Fate of Wild Nature,” Science, January 28, 2005.
For abstract (registration required):
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/307/5709/550
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