NEWS ROUNDUP
Experts say Forest Service needs better grasslands data A team of independent scientists that has spent two years studying a management plan for North Dakota's national grasslands says the Forest Service needs better information to guide decisions, as the agency prepares to cut grazing levels. The Forest Service and ranchers disagree over how much grazing will be cut under the agency's plan, which governs everything from wildlife habitat to mineral development on the public lands. The Forest Service projected overall grazing cuts of 9 percent and rancher groups countered with predictions as high as 69 percent. The grazing portion was put on hold while the scientific review team studied the plan. The eight scientists unveiled their recommendations Friday....
Column - Good Riddance: Clinton "Roadless Rule" Dead Finally, more than four years after its hideous birth, the Clinton “Roadless Rule” is dead. The Bush administration and the Forest Service just announced a final rule that effectively undoes Clinton’s reckless decree. Dying with the “Roadless Rule” are the following: - threats of catastrophic wildfire - threats of forest infestation and disease - lack of public access to public lands - improper resource management - unhealthy forests - top-down federal overreach. Recall that Bill Clinton, just eight days before he left office, in the dark of night, penned his infamous, unilateral, executive order that locked up over 58 million acres of public land....
Brazilians clone endangered cow Brazil's agricultural research agency says it has successfully cloned a cow belonging to a nearly extinguished breed, in an experiment that could help save other endangered species. Two calves, named Pora and Potira, were born last month in healthy condition after being cloned from a 9-year-old cow of the Junqueira breed, which is known for its prized meat and has fewer than 100 animals left in Brazil, the government agency said. "This is potentially important for programs aimed at the conservation and improvement of (endangered animals)," researcher Rodolfo Rumpf said in a statement....
Birds shot to save fish Chris Anderson is only half-joking when he offers a solution for the hungry cormorants that are eating the fish in Leech Lake — and taking money out of his pocket. "Kill them all," he says. In response, wildlife officials — prodded by resort owners and fishing guides who are convinced the cormorant is to blame — have reached a dramatic decision: Over the summer, they will kill 4,000 or more of the diving birds. Some wildlife biologists and animal-rights groups oppose the plan, saying research about the bird and its eating habits is incomplete. Though an international migratory bird treaty protects cormorants, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ruled two years ago that states could curb their numbers if they were harming natural resources....
Ford has plan to help save 2,000 wild mustangs The company that makes the Mustang sports car is investing in the wild horse of the same name. With the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary as a backdrop, officials from Ford Motor Co. said the company would provide money to help save 2,000 wild mustangs that face an uncertain future and help establish a fund to take public donations to maintain the horses. The Bureau of Land Management and the Take Pride in America group also are participating in setting up the fund....
Column: Love the Gas, Not the Drill I have a confession to make: I like natural gas. Every morning at five minutes before 6:00, I wake up to the gentle whumph of the gas stove kicking on in the family room. I then get out of bed, tap on my son's door and call, "Time to get up," and plant myself in front of the miraculous dancing flames that never consume the glowing fake logs. But my enjoyment of natural gas brings up a conundrum that many an oil company executive has eagerly pointed out: How can someone who uses natural gas be anything less than a hypocrite for opposing drilling in the West? Don't we have an obligation to produce as much energy as we can here at home? Hypocrisy is a dogged companion in this world, where the simple act of buying shoes brings up a moral dilemma of international dimensions. Anyone who maintains a strict don't-drill-in-my-backyard stance while warming their bottom, or firing up their vehicle, with the dregs of the Carboniferous period -- or, for that matter, while complaining about this country's political dealings in the Middle East-- keeps good company with hypocrisy. But to be opposed to drilling in the West's few remaining pristine landscapes does not make one a hypocrite. Nor does insisting that the industry tread as lightly on the land as possible....
National forest lands cost local counties Every year the federal government is supposed to pay the three counties in the Roaring Fork Valley hundreds of thousands of dollars each to make up for lost property taxes that cannot be collected on federal lands. But each year the feds actually dole out far less than the promised amount because Congress shortchanges the program. In 2004, for example, Eagle County was supposed to receive $1.24 million from the federal government in payment in lieu of taxes or PILT funds, as the program is known. The county received only about two-thirds of that amount, or $842,000. Pitkin County received about $582,000 when it should have received about $895,000....
Column: The Religious Left's Lies The religious left's political operatives have mounted a shrill attack on a significant portion of the Christian community. Four out of five evangelical Christians supported President Bush in 2004 -- a third of all ballots cast for him, according to the Pew Research Center. Factor in Catholics and members of other conservative religious communities and it's clear that the religious right is the largest voting bloc in today's Republican Party. The religious left took note. Political opportunists in its ranks sought a wedge issue to weaken the GOP's coalition of Jews, Catholics and evangelicals and shatter its electoral majority. They passed over obvious headliners and landed on a curious but cunning choice: the environment. Those leading the charge are effective advocates: LBJ alumnus Bill Moyers of PBS fame, members of the National Council of Churches USA and liberal theologians who claim a moral superiority to other people of faith. Their tactics are familiar. I encountered them more than 20 years ago as President Reagan's secretary of the interior, when I clashed with extreme environmental groups adept at taking out of context -- or in some cases creating -- statements that, once twisted, were attributed to me as if they were my religious views....
Owens Wants Database Of Protected Land Gov. Bill Owens asked state officials on Thursday to conduct an inventory of all protected lands in Colorado, including wildlife habitat, agricultural lands and watershed areas, after expressing concern that the state does not have enough information to best protect open spaces. Owens said the information would help Great Outdoors Colorado, which uses lottery proceeds to fund park, recreation, wildlife and open space projects across the state, to make better choices on investing $48 million approved in December for the preservation of large landscapes. He said it also will help land trusts, local governments and state agencies....
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Saturday, May 21, 2005
VESICULAR STOMATITIS
News Release
Texas Animal Health Commission
Box l2966 • Austin, Texas 78711 • (800) 550-8242 • FAX (512) 719-071
Bob Hillman, DVM • Executive Director
For info, contact Carla Everett, information officer, at 1-800-550-8242, ext. 710, or ceverett@tahc.state.tx.us
For Immediate Release---
And Now There are Three…
Texas Joins States with Vesicular Stomatitis in 2005
Texas, on Friday, May 20, joined New Mexico and Arizona as states with confirmed cases of vesicular stomatitis (VS) this spring. Two Travis County horses were hauled home May 10 from a trail ride in Arizona, where they apparently were exposed to the virus that can cause animals to develop blisters and sores in the mouth, on the tongue, muzzle, teats and hooves. The year’s first VS cases were confirmed April 27 in two horses in southwest New Mexico. Since then, infection has been detected in 17 horses on 11 premises in New Mexico, Arizona, and now, Texas.
“A number of states and countries impose strict testing, permitting and inspection requirements for livestock that originate from VS-affected areas or states. Check with the state or country of destination before hauling livestock from Texas,” said Dr. Bob Hillman, head of the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC), the state’s livestock and poultry health regulatory agency. Phone numbers for other states’ animal health regulatory agencies can be obtained from the TAHC’s Austin headquarters at 1-800-550-8242. Staff at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Austin office can be reached at 512-916-5565 for international shipping rules or restrictions.
“VS rarely causes death, but an animal can suffer several weeks, while the lesions heal,” said Dr. Bob Hillman, who also serves as Texas’ state veterinarian. “To help prevent the spread of VS, an infected animal and the other livestock on a premises are quarantined until at least 30 days after the sores heal. Prior to releasing movement restrictions, a regulatory veterinarian will examine the affected animal to ensure healing is complete. Other livestock also will be checked. If infection is detected, the quarantine will begin anew.”....
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News Release
Texas Animal Health Commission
Box l2966 • Austin, Texas 78711 • (800) 550-8242 • FAX (512) 719-071
Bob Hillman, DVM • Executive Director
For info, contact Carla Everett, information officer, at 1-800-550-8242, ext. 710, or ceverett@tahc.state.tx.us
For Immediate Release---
And Now There are Three…
Texas Joins States with Vesicular Stomatitis in 2005
Texas, on Friday, May 20, joined New Mexico and Arizona as states with confirmed cases of vesicular stomatitis (VS) this spring. Two Travis County horses were hauled home May 10 from a trail ride in Arizona, where they apparently were exposed to the virus that can cause animals to develop blisters and sores in the mouth, on the tongue, muzzle, teats and hooves. The year’s first VS cases were confirmed April 27 in two horses in southwest New Mexico. Since then, infection has been detected in 17 horses on 11 premises in New Mexico, Arizona, and now, Texas.
“A number of states and countries impose strict testing, permitting and inspection requirements for livestock that originate from VS-affected areas or states. Check with the state or country of destination before hauling livestock from Texas,” said Dr. Bob Hillman, head of the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC), the state’s livestock and poultry health regulatory agency. Phone numbers for other states’ animal health regulatory agencies can be obtained from the TAHC’s Austin headquarters at 1-800-550-8242. Staff at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Austin office can be reached at 512-916-5565 for international shipping rules or restrictions.
“VS rarely causes death, but an animal can suffer several weeks, while the lesions heal,” said Dr. Bob Hillman, who also serves as Texas’ state veterinarian. “To help prevent the spread of VS, an infected animal and the other livestock on a premises are quarantined until at least 30 days after the sores heal. Prior to releasing movement restrictions, a regulatory veterinarian will examine the affected animal to ensure healing is complete. Other livestock also will be checked. If infection is detected, the quarantine will begin anew.”....
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Friday, May 20, 2005
NEWS ROUNDUP
Idaho wilderness bill would give local governments land, money An Idaho congressman introduced legislation Thursday that would set aside more than 300,000 acres of rugged central Idaho as new wilderness while giving the state and surrounding communities millions of dollars and an estimated 3,000 acres of federally owned land as compensation. Republican Rep. Mike Simpson said his $20 million proposal would offset the economic impact of protecting the scenic Boulder and White Cloud mountains from development. Sweetening wilderness designations with land gifts and cash payments to neighboring communities is the future of wilderness legislation, he said. "In the past, it was always where the (boundary) lines would be drawn," Simpson said in a telephone briefing. "In this bill, we've expanded that debate ... We've tried to take care of the needs of the recreationists, the counties, the ranchers." Under the proposal, the state of Idaho, the counties of Custer and Blaine, and the towns of Stanley, Challis and Clayton would receive - free - a total of about 3,000 acres of U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management property. The land could be developed however local governments see fit, although 960 acres going to the state would be earmarked for an off-road-vehicle park near Boise....
BP wants to double wellheads Officials from gas giant BP told La Plata County commissioners Tuesday about a plan to double the number of wellheads on 65 square miles south of U.S. Highway 160 between Durango and Bayfield. Larson said BP wants to double the number of wellheads on slightly bigger pads because the current spacing - one pad per 160 acres - allows the company to extract less than half the coal-bed methane gas available in the section. An additional four wellheads per section would allow extraction of 75 percent of available gas, Larson said. BP proposes to use directional drilling to increase its production, Larson said. Directional drilling involves boring out and down at up to a 35-degree angle from an existing pad, to about 2,500 feet. The second bore would extend about one-quarter of a mile from the pad. The selling point is that there would be no new roads, no new pipelines and in some cases no new electrical lines....
11 States Challenge Break on Mercury for Coal Power Plants A coalition of 11 states, including New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, filed a lawsuit yesterday challenging a new federal rule that allows coal-fired power plants to buy pollution credits to avoid lowering their mercury emissions. In March, the Environmental Protection Agency unveiled rules that ordered utilities to reduce mercury emissions by 70 percent by 2018. Power plants that do not exceed a nationwide cap can sell their credits to plants that do. Federal officials have likened the system of trading pollution credits to a similar system that has reduced emissions that cause acid rain. The lawsuit, however, states that the cap-and trade system would create "hot spots" around some plants that purchase the rights to emit more mercury....
Editorial: Senate should craft a saner energy bill When the U.S. Senate solves the filibuster mess and gets back to other tasks, it should craft a saner energy bill than the one that emerged last month from the House. The House measure is an industry giveaway that threatens the West's air, water and wildlife. On Tuesday, the Senate's Energy and Natural Resources Committee began work on its version of the energy bill. Oil companies complain that environmental rules hamper energy development, so it's a sure bet they'll pressure the Senate to follow the House's lead. Democrat Ken Salazar, the only Coloradan on the Senate committee, should rally Westerners to restore balance to the legislation. At more than 1,000 pages, the 2005 energy bill is 200 pages longer than last year's and contains several environmental rollbacks. Most troubling is a vague but sweeping amendment that would end the public's say about oil and gas drilling even on public lands and national forests....
House Rebuffs Push to Soften Offshore Drilling Ban A bipartisan coalition of coastal-state lawmakers beat back an effort in the House on Thursday to weaken the decades-old ban on new oil and gas drilling offshore, but it is bracing for a potentially tougher battle ahead. The vote was 262 to 157 to defeat an effort to exempt new natural gas drilling from the federal moratorium, which covers most coastal waters except for large parts of the Gulf of Mexico. Opposition to easing the restrictions came from coastal-state delegations, including those from California, New York, Massachusetts and Florida. While environmentalists celebrated their victory, they said they were worried about other efforts in Congress to break through the federal moratorium on new offshore drilling. Bipartisan efforts are underway in the Senate, for example, to offer billions of dollars to entice financially hurting states to opt out of the moratorium. The bill's sponsors hope to include the measure in a sweeping overhaul of national energy policy now being drafted in the Senate....
Coalbed development gets support Powder River County rancher Rick Rice thinks it's time people heard from farmers and ranchers who welcome the prospect of coalbed methane development. "We want the people of the world to know that a majority of us who live here and will face the brunt of the impact are for it and want it to happen," he said. Rice, who ranches between Broadus and Ashland, said nearly 400 of Powder River County's 1,800 residents have signed petitions calling on the Northern Plains Resource Council, a regional conservation and agriculture group based in Billings, "to moderate its obstructionist inclinations." Rice said 67 people attended the first meeting he organized in Broadus. Last week, at a meeting that attracted 45 people, they adopted the name Citizens for Resource Development. The petition says the NPRC "has gone to excessive and obstructive lengths" in its "self-assumed watchdog role in the development and utilization of various natural resources in our state." It accuses Northern Plains of aligning itself with "radical environmentalists" whose goal is to wipe out agriculture with the aim of "rewilding" large areas of land....
Judge turns down tribe's bid to block Yucca nuclear dump A federal judge has denied an Indian tribe's plea to block plans for a nuclear waste dump in Nevada based on a claim that the project would violate a 19th century treaty. U.S. District Judge Philip Pro ruled Tuesday that the Western Shoshone National Council could not demonstrate ''immediate and irreparable'' harm because the Yucca Mountain repository has yet to open and a disputed rail line has yet to be built. Lawyer Robert Hager, representing the tribe, said Wednesday that no decision had been made whether to appeal. He noted that the judge's ruling left open the possibility that the tribe could seek an injunction later....
Info sought in wolf killing Federal officials are looking for anyone who may have information about the death of an endangered Mexican gray wolf whose body was found along U.S. 60 east of the eastern Arizona community of Vernon. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is particularly looking for information on any suspicious activity or any vehicles that may have been parked along the highway between about 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. on May 9, when the wolf was found dead. Authorities said the wolf had been feeding on a roadkill elk on the shoulder of the road. The cause of the wolf's death is still being confirmed. A reward of up to $10,000 is being offered for information leading to the apprehension of those responsible for the wolf's death....
House blocks wild horse law Lawmakers voted Thursday to block a six-month-old law that allows the government to sell wild horses and burros, with opponents of the law protesting that the animals were ending up in processing plants and on the tables of foreign restaurants. The 249-159 House vote would stop the Bureau of Land Management from using any money in a $26.2 billion bill funding next year’s natural resources and arts programs to sell horses that roam public lands in Western states....
Floods threaten access to Jarbidge ... Elko County declares a state of emergency Elko County commissioners declared a countywide state of emergency Wednesday because of widespread flooding that has taken out bridges in Jarbidge and washed out roads elsewhere in northern Nevada. Jarbidge is the most threatened community, with two bridges out of service and residents facing isolation if there is more flooding. Mountain City District Ranger Dan Dallas said that the north bridge at Jarbidge is "impassable. There's a 20-foot hole in the back of the bridge." And he said the south bridge over the Jarbidge River toward Charleston is totally impassable because of the flooding caused by heavy rainfall. "It's in the river," he said....
Rising rivers menace southern Utah sites Robert Newsted is keeping the visitors at his recreational vehicle park on high ground. For the past three days, he has been moving them from the rising flood waters of the Sevier River, which by Wednesday had submerged about 15 RV sites and all 18 tent sites at the Riverside Motel and RV Park just west of Bryce Canyon National Park in southern Utah's Garfield County. The river also washed out a section of bridge in the area of the town known as Old Hatch. Newsted used the bridge to access his house....
The Fruit of Your Coins Mark Dowie, a prizewinning investigative journalist, was talking about the need to revamp American environmentalism long before the Reapers declared it dead. His Pulitzer Prize-nominated 1996 book Losing Ground cast a critical eye on green activists' failing tactics, and his more recent work -- encapsulated in a film short below -- focuses on myopic environmental philanthropy and the struggles of local and regional groups to get a slice of the funding pie. The 25 largest environmental organizations in the U.S. get a whopping 70 percent of the $3.5 billion doled out to green groups each year, Dowie points out in the short film "Empowering the Grassroots," created by Randy Olson of Shifting Baselines. That leaves the 15,000 or so smaller environmental nonprofits in the country scrounging around for leftovers. Dowie takes big green funders and foundations to task for unduly favoring gigantic conservation groups, and challenges them to more effectively seed the grassroots and reinvigorate a moribund movement. To watch the seven-minute film short, pick your format and bandwidth....
Calf Born in New Mexico With 5 Legs One of Orlando Romero's calves has a leg up on the other 25 calves born within the last two weeks on his ranch east of Tucumcari. The calf was born with an extra leg, with two hooves, growing from its back. Ranchers in the area aren't quite sure what to make of the little Limousin heifer. That is, if they can catch her. "She moves like a damn deer. I had a heck of a time trying to catch her," said Jess Weaks, the ranch caretaker. "She's pretty ornery, that's for sure." The week-old calf's extra leg does not touch the ground. It is attached to the calf's back between the shoulder blades, and hangs to its right side....
From homesteaders to here and now He knows what it’s like to live on the same ranch for 85 years and he knows how to keep that same 740-acre ranch (located at an elevation of 7,640 feet) in operation. Bud knows about the special connection between a man and his horse and he has a special way of communicating with animals. He also knows what it’s like to be a county commissioner for 12 years and what it’s like to see an entire county grow from nothing into what it is today – much like the beets and carrots and potatoes do in his garden every spring and summer. Margie has her own treasure chest of knowledge. She knows how to survive as a rancher’s wife, how to keep her household running smoothly, even if she can only get into town for supplies once a month. She knows what it’s like to help a first-time mother with her colicky baby and also how to run county health programs....
American cowboys gallop across the screens of Cannes American cowboys are back in the saddle - and on the big screen - here at the 58th Cannes Film Festival, which comes to a close tomorrow night. In ``Down in the Valley,'' Edward Norton is a wannabe cowboy from the L.A. suburbs and Sam Shepard stars as a fading western star coping with a nervous breakdown in ``Don't Come Knocking.'' And then there's Hollywood rough rider Tommy Lee Jones who yesterday premiered his Tex-Mex flick, ``The Three Burials of Melguiades Estrada.'' Jones not only stars in the $25 million western, he co-wrote it with Mexico's ``21 Grams'' writer Guillermo Arriaga, and co-produced and directed the film. It's a classic Old West set-up where Jones stars as a weathered old-time Texan who kidnaps a callow Border Patrol guard played by Barry Pepper to bury his murdered friend in Mexico. Unlike many films here at the festival, ``Three Burials'' is a celebration of America while still critical of the Border Patrol....
Crafts of the cowboy To hear Bill Black tell it, he’s just a guy who makes things from dead cows. The former cow boss of the MC Ranch these days stretches, scrapes and cuts the hide of dead cows into living pieces of functional art, creating hackamores, quirts and other horse tack. Likewise he hitches horsehair for belts, hatbands, headstalls and decorations on reins and pommels. Rawhide braiding and horsehair hitching transformed from a workaday hobby to a paying lifestyle about nine years ago for Black, 50. It was a change for the former buckaroo, who for several years was the MC Ranch cow boss, working out of headquarters not too far south of his present home and workshop in the Warner Valley east of Lakeview, Ore....
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Idaho wilderness bill would give local governments land, money An Idaho congressman introduced legislation Thursday that would set aside more than 300,000 acres of rugged central Idaho as new wilderness while giving the state and surrounding communities millions of dollars and an estimated 3,000 acres of federally owned land as compensation. Republican Rep. Mike Simpson said his $20 million proposal would offset the economic impact of protecting the scenic Boulder and White Cloud mountains from development. Sweetening wilderness designations with land gifts and cash payments to neighboring communities is the future of wilderness legislation, he said. "In the past, it was always where the (boundary) lines would be drawn," Simpson said in a telephone briefing. "In this bill, we've expanded that debate ... We've tried to take care of the needs of the recreationists, the counties, the ranchers." Under the proposal, the state of Idaho, the counties of Custer and Blaine, and the towns of Stanley, Challis and Clayton would receive - free - a total of about 3,000 acres of U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management property. The land could be developed however local governments see fit, although 960 acres going to the state would be earmarked for an off-road-vehicle park near Boise....
BP wants to double wellheads Officials from gas giant BP told La Plata County commissioners Tuesday about a plan to double the number of wellheads on 65 square miles south of U.S. Highway 160 between Durango and Bayfield. Larson said BP wants to double the number of wellheads on slightly bigger pads because the current spacing - one pad per 160 acres - allows the company to extract less than half the coal-bed methane gas available in the section. An additional four wellheads per section would allow extraction of 75 percent of available gas, Larson said. BP proposes to use directional drilling to increase its production, Larson said. Directional drilling involves boring out and down at up to a 35-degree angle from an existing pad, to about 2,500 feet. The second bore would extend about one-quarter of a mile from the pad. The selling point is that there would be no new roads, no new pipelines and in some cases no new electrical lines....
11 States Challenge Break on Mercury for Coal Power Plants A coalition of 11 states, including New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, filed a lawsuit yesterday challenging a new federal rule that allows coal-fired power plants to buy pollution credits to avoid lowering their mercury emissions. In March, the Environmental Protection Agency unveiled rules that ordered utilities to reduce mercury emissions by 70 percent by 2018. Power plants that do not exceed a nationwide cap can sell their credits to plants that do. Federal officials have likened the system of trading pollution credits to a similar system that has reduced emissions that cause acid rain. The lawsuit, however, states that the cap-and trade system would create "hot spots" around some plants that purchase the rights to emit more mercury....
Editorial: Senate should craft a saner energy bill When the U.S. Senate solves the filibuster mess and gets back to other tasks, it should craft a saner energy bill than the one that emerged last month from the House. The House measure is an industry giveaway that threatens the West's air, water and wildlife. On Tuesday, the Senate's Energy and Natural Resources Committee began work on its version of the energy bill. Oil companies complain that environmental rules hamper energy development, so it's a sure bet they'll pressure the Senate to follow the House's lead. Democrat Ken Salazar, the only Coloradan on the Senate committee, should rally Westerners to restore balance to the legislation. At more than 1,000 pages, the 2005 energy bill is 200 pages longer than last year's and contains several environmental rollbacks. Most troubling is a vague but sweeping amendment that would end the public's say about oil and gas drilling even on public lands and national forests....
House Rebuffs Push to Soften Offshore Drilling Ban A bipartisan coalition of coastal-state lawmakers beat back an effort in the House on Thursday to weaken the decades-old ban on new oil and gas drilling offshore, but it is bracing for a potentially tougher battle ahead. The vote was 262 to 157 to defeat an effort to exempt new natural gas drilling from the federal moratorium, which covers most coastal waters except for large parts of the Gulf of Mexico. Opposition to easing the restrictions came from coastal-state delegations, including those from California, New York, Massachusetts and Florida. While environmentalists celebrated their victory, they said they were worried about other efforts in Congress to break through the federal moratorium on new offshore drilling. Bipartisan efforts are underway in the Senate, for example, to offer billions of dollars to entice financially hurting states to opt out of the moratorium. The bill's sponsors hope to include the measure in a sweeping overhaul of national energy policy now being drafted in the Senate....
Coalbed development gets support Powder River County rancher Rick Rice thinks it's time people heard from farmers and ranchers who welcome the prospect of coalbed methane development. "We want the people of the world to know that a majority of us who live here and will face the brunt of the impact are for it and want it to happen," he said. Rice, who ranches between Broadus and Ashland, said nearly 400 of Powder River County's 1,800 residents have signed petitions calling on the Northern Plains Resource Council, a regional conservation and agriculture group based in Billings, "to moderate its obstructionist inclinations." Rice said 67 people attended the first meeting he organized in Broadus. Last week, at a meeting that attracted 45 people, they adopted the name Citizens for Resource Development. The petition says the NPRC "has gone to excessive and obstructive lengths" in its "self-assumed watchdog role in the development and utilization of various natural resources in our state." It accuses Northern Plains of aligning itself with "radical environmentalists" whose goal is to wipe out agriculture with the aim of "rewilding" large areas of land....
Judge turns down tribe's bid to block Yucca nuclear dump A federal judge has denied an Indian tribe's plea to block plans for a nuclear waste dump in Nevada based on a claim that the project would violate a 19th century treaty. U.S. District Judge Philip Pro ruled Tuesday that the Western Shoshone National Council could not demonstrate ''immediate and irreparable'' harm because the Yucca Mountain repository has yet to open and a disputed rail line has yet to be built. Lawyer Robert Hager, representing the tribe, said Wednesday that no decision had been made whether to appeal. He noted that the judge's ruling left open the possibility that the tribe could seek an injunction later....
Info sought in wolf killing Federal officials are looking for anyone who may have information about the death of an endangered Mexican gray wolf whose body was found along U.S. 60 east of the eastern Arizona community of Vernon. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is particularly looking for information on any suspicious activity or any vehicles that may have been parked along the highway between about 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. on May 9, when the wolf was found dead. Authorities said the wolf had been feeding on a roadkill elk on the shoulder of the road. The cause of the wolf's death is still being confirmed. A reward of up to $10,000 is being offered for information leading to the apprehension of those responsible for the wolf's death....
House blocks wild horse law Lawmakers voted Thursday to block a six-month-old law that allows the government to sell wild horses and burros, with opponents of the law protesting that the animals were ending up in processing plants and on the tables of foreign restaurants. The 249-159 House vote would stop the Bureau of Land Management from using any money in a $26.2 billion bill funding next year’s natural resources and arts programs to sell horses that roam public lands in Western states....
Floods threaten access to Jarbidge ... Elko County declares a state of emergency Elko County commissioners declared a countywide state of emergency Wednesday because of widespread flooding that has taken out bridges in Jarbidge and washed out roads elsewhere in northern Nevada. Jarbidge is the most threatened community, with two bridges out of service and residents facing isolation if there is more flooding. Mountain City District Ranger Dan Dallas said that the north bridge at Jarbidge is "impassable. There's a 20-foot hole in the back of the bridge." And he said the south bridge over the Jarbidge River toward Charleston is totally impassable because of the flooding caused by heavy rainfall. "It's in the river," he said....
Rising rivers menace southern Utah sites Robert Newsted is keeping the visitors at his recreational vehicle park on high ground. For the past three days, he has been moving them from the rising flood waters of the Sevier River, which by Wednesday had submerged about 15 RV sites and all 18 tent sites at the Riverside Motel and RV Park just west of Bryce Canyon National Park in southern Utah's Garfield County. The river also washed out a section of bridge in the area of the town known as Old Hatch. Newsted used the bridge to access his house....
The Fruit of Your Coins Mark Dowie, a prizewinning investigative journalist, was talking about the need to revamp American environmentalism long before the Reapers declared it dead. His Pulitzer Prize-nominated 1996 book Losing Ground cast a critical eye on green activists' failing tactics, and his more recent work -- encapsulated in a film short below -- focuses on myopic environmental philanthropy and the struggles of local and regional groups to get a slice of the funding pie. The 25 largest environmental organizations in the U.S. get a whopping 70 percent of the $3.5 billion doled out to green groups each year, Dowie points out in the short film "Empowering the Grassroots," created by Randy Olson of Shifting Baselines. That leaves the 15,000 or so smaller environmental nonprofits in the country scrounging around for leftovers. Dowie takes big green funders and foundations to task for unduly favoring gigantic conservation groups, and challenges them to more effectively seed the grassroots and reinvigorate a moribund movement. To watch the seven-minute film short, pick your format and bandwidth....
Calf Born in New Mexico With 5 Legs One of Orlando Romero's calves has a leg up on the other 25 calves born within the last two weeks on his ranch east of Tucumcari. The calf was born with an extra leg, with two hooves, growing from its back. Ranchers in the area aren't quite sure what to make of the little Limousin heifer. That is, if they can catch her. "She moves like a damn deer. I had a heck of a time trying to catch her," said Jess Weaks, the ranch caretaker. "She's pretty ornery, that's for sure." The week-old calf's extra leg does not touch the ground. It is attached to the calf's back between the shoulder blades, and hangs to its right side....
From homesteaders to here and now He knows what it’s like to live on the same ranch for 85 years and he knows how to keep that same 740-acre ranch (located at an elevation of 7,640 feet) in operation. Bud knows about the special connection between a man and his horse and he has a special way of communicating with animals. He also knows what it’s like to be a county commissioner for 12 years and what it’s like to see an entire county grow from nothing into what it is today – much like the beets and carrots and potatoes do in his garden every spring and summer. Margie has her own treasure chest of knowledge. She knows how to survive as a rancher’s wife, how to keep her household running smoothly, even if she can only get into town for supplies once a month. She knows what it’s like to help a first-time mother with her colicky baby and also how to run county health programs....
American cowboys gallop across the screens of Cannes American cowboys are back in the saddle - and on the big screen - here at the 58th Cannes Film Festival, which comes to a close tomorrow night. In ``Down in the Valley,'' Edward Norton is a wannabe cowboy from the L.A. suburbs and Sam Shepard stars as a fading western star coping with a nervous breakdown in ``Don't Come Knocking.'' And then there's Hollywood rough rider Tommy Lee Jones who yesterday premiered his Tex-Mex flick, ``The Three Burials of Melguiades Estrada.'' Jones not only stars in the $25 million western, he co-wrote it with Mexico's ``21 Grams'' writer Guillermo Arriaga, and co-produced and directed the film. It's a classic Old West set-up where Jones stars as a weathered old-time Texan who kidnaps a callow Border Patrol guard played by Barry Pepper to bury his murdered friend in Mexico. Unlike many films here at the festival, ``Three Burials'' is a celebration of America while still critical of the Border Patrol....
Crafts of the cowboy To hear Bill Black tell it, he’s just a guy who makes things from dead cows. The former cow boss of the MC Ranch these days stretches, scrapes and cuts the hide of dead cows into living pieces of functional art, creating hackamores, quirts and other horse tack. Likewise he hitches horsehair for belts, hatbands, headstalls and decorations on reins and pommels. Rawhide braiding and horsehair hitching transformed from a workaday hobby to a paying lifestyle about nine years ago for Black, 50. It was a change for the former buckaroo, who for several years was the MC Ranch cow boss, working out of headquarters not too far south of his present home and workshop in the Warner Valley east of Lakeview, Ore....
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Thursday, May 19, 2005
ECO-TERRORISTS
FBI, ATF address domestic terrorism
Violent animal rights extremists and eco-terrorists now pose one of the most serious terrorism threats to the nation, top federal law enforcement officials said Wednesday. Senior officials from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms (ATF) and Explosives told a Senate panel of their growing concern over these groups. Of particular concern are the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and the Earth Liberation Front (ELF). John Lewis, the FBI's deputy assistant director for counterterrorism, said animal and environmental rights extremists have claimed credit for more than 1,200 criminal incidents since 1990. The FBI has 150 pending investigations associated with animal rights or eco-terrorist activities, and ATF officials say they have opened 58 investigations in the past six years related to violence attributed to the ELF and ALF. In the same period violence from groups like the Ku Klux Klan and anti-abortion extremists have declined, Lewis said. The ELF has been linked to fires set at sport utility vehicle dealerships and construction sites in various states, while the ALF has been blamed for arson and bombings against animal research labs and the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry....
Go here for the FBI testimony and here for the BATF. Click here for the other presenters....
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FBI, ATF address domestic terrorism
Violent animal rights extremists and eco-terrorists now pose one of the most serious terrorism threats to the nation, top federal law enforcement officials said Wednesday. Senior officials from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms (ATF) and Explosives told a Senate panel of their growing concern over these groups. Of particular concern are the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and the Earth Liberation Front (ELF). John Lewis, the FBI's deputy assistant director for counterterrorism, said animal and environmental rights extremists have claimed credit for more than 1,200 criminal incidents since 1990. The FBI has 150 pending investigations associated with animal rights or eco-terrorist activities, and ATF officials say they have opened 58 investigations in the past six years related to violence attributed to the ELF and ALF. In the same period violence from groups like the Ku Klux Klan and anti-abortion extremists have declined, Lewis said. The ELF has been linked to fires set at sport utility vehicle dealerships and construction sites in various states, while the ALF has been blamed for arson and bombings against animal research labs and the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry....
Go here for the FBI testimony and here for the BATF. Click here for the other presenters....
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GAO TESTIMONY
Endangered Species Act: Successes and Challenges in Agency Collaboration and the Use of Scientific Information in the Decision Making Process, by Robin M. Nazzaro, director, natural resources and environment issues, before the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, and Water, Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. GAO-05-732T, May 19. http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-05-732T
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d05732thigh.pdf
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Endangered Species Act: Successes and Challenges in Agency Collaboration and the Use of Scientific Information in the Decision Making Process, by Robin M. Nazzaro, director, natural resources and environment issues, before the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, and Water, Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. GAO-05-732T, May 19. http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-05-732T
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d05732thigh.pdf
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NEWS ROUNDUP
Ranchers tell their side of Mitchell Slough dispute to Schweitzer Yes, Huey Lewis the rock 'n' roller was there, standing along the banks of the Bitterroot River. Yes, Gov. Brian Schweitzer was there, with his four-footed diplomat, Jag the border collie. The Mitchell Slough, which begins at a 60-foot-long headgate near Tucker Crossing north of Corvallis, is currently the subject of a lawsuit that should ultimately determine whether it's a public waterway and thus open to public use. The slough provides irrigation water to a host of ranchers who farm in the mid-Bitterroot. The ranchers had plenty of questions for their fellow rancher, the governor. Who will pay for damages to private property caused by recreationists? they asked. Our deeds say our property lines run to the middle of the ditch, and we pay taxes on that property, asked Ed Hebner. If the public gets access, do we lose that part of our properties? If Mitchell Slough is a public stream, will other irrigation ditches around the state be viewed similarly? The governor steered clear of questions that required a legal interpretation, but he expressed sympathy for ranchers who've found recreationists roaming around their land....
Uinta ranchers worry about drilling threat The oil and gas business is booming in the Uinta Basin, and ranchers say they are starting to take a beating because of it. Members of the Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Interim Committee heard complaints Wednesday from a pair of eastern Utah sheep ranchers that an increasingly heavy concentrations of wells, roads and pipelines are wreaking havoc with grazing. But their biggest fear, they said, is that those grazing lands may never be returned once the energy boom ends, turning a situation of temporary losses into something permanent. "My family have been sheep ranchers for close to 80 years in eastern Utah and western Colorado, and we're seeing changes we've never seen before," said Bill Robinson. "We understand the importance of the oil and gas industry, but we are being negatively impacted . . .. They're taking 10 to 20 percent of our livelihood and are destroying it. It might not ever be reclaimed." Robinson and fellow rancher Burt Delambert asked legislators to assess impact fees or redirect severance taxes back to ranchers to help with remediation costs....
Oil boom draws fire, and so do its opponents Mathis showed photos of substantial oil and gas drilling pads and dirt roads carved through public land in the Uinta Basin. One view was of a dirt road used by the industry, a deeply rutted mass of mud because last winter was so wet. The same parcels are leased to petroleum operations and under grazing permits issued to ranchers. "There's a fair amount of (oil and gas) activity," Mathis said, showing a map of the region. It was peppered with red and black dots representing approved oil wells and places where permission to drill is pending. Bill Stringer, manager of the Bureau of Land Management's field office in Vernal, said there were about 9,000 dots on the map, more than 6,000 of them approved and the rest pending. After the meeting, at the request of the Deseret Morning News, he estimated the area involved is about 1,800 square miles, counting both state and federal land....
Groups appeal leasing on winter range Two Wyoming conservation groups have asked a federal agency to do more to protect big came winter range from oil and gas development. The Wyoming Outdoor Council and Biodiversity Conservation Alliance filed an appeal with the Interior Board of Land Appeals in Washington, D.C., over nine parcels leased for oil and gas exploration on "crucial" winter range in the Red Desert. Bruce Pendery, staff attorney and public lands director with the Outdoor Council, said this is the latest step after the Bureau of Land Management -- the agency in charge of leasing the parcels -- denied the groups' formal protest on the parcels earlier this year....
Clashing cultures in the country Ohio dairy farmer Frank Sutliff was grinding cattle feed when he saw them again: all-terrain vehicles shredding his alfalfa fields. When he shouted over the engine whine that the riders were trespassing, they smashed him over the head, he said. "I went down, and they just started in on me ... hit me, kicked me, broke my leg," said Sutliff, 46. "I crawled into the truck, drove back to the house and dialed 911." Across rural America, angry skirmishes are increasingly common between property owners and off-roaders squaring off over dwindling open space. Long accustomed to battling environmentalists for access to public lands, off-roaders now find themselves at odds with farmers, ranchers and a flood of new residents moving to the country for peace and quiet....
Feds to restrict off-road vehicles in West For decades, off-road vehicle enthusiasts have been mostly free to roam federal forests and rangelands. Those freewheeling days could be numbered, though. Two government agencies, the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, are developing plans to restrict the vehicles to designated routes as part of an effort to curb environmental damage and ease conflict among users of public lands. "The days of blazing new trails are coming to an end," said Leo Drumm, off-highway vehicle coordinator for the Nevada BLM. "There has to be some controls."....
Oregon Wolf plan hits rough patch Wolf supporters and opponents are both critical of a House bill that attempts put the state's strategy for dealing with wolves into law. A wolf plan was crafted last year by a citizens panel and approved in February by the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission. But the Legislature must change state laws for it to work. The plan approved in February calls for allowing ranchers to shoot wolves attacking livestock, but Oregon's state Endangered Species Act does not permit that. The blueprint also includes a program to compensate people who lose livestock to wolves. Lawmakers would need to establish the fund and provide money for it....
U.S. will resume selling wild horses The federal Bureau of Land Management will announce Thursday it is resuming sales of wild horses with protections to prevent the animals from being sent to slaughter, the agency's director said Wednesday. The agency suspended the sales last month after discovering that 41 animals rounded up from Western rangeland had been sold to an Illinois slaughterhouse and processed for meat. In addition, Ford Motor Co. will pay to transport up to 2,000 horses to Indian reservations and locations run by non-profit organizations. The company will also oversee a "Save the Mustangs" fundraising drive to help groups that adopt the horses pay for their care. Wild horses are "a beautiful symbol of the Wild West" and an "icon" for Ford, said Jon Harmon, a spokesman for the company whose Mustang sports car has been a flagship brand since 1964....
Editorial: Stop the slaughter Thirty-four years ago, Congress declared that wild horses and burros were "living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West." With that, the practice of slaughtering them for dog food ended. Late last year, a measure dubbed the "Horsemeat Bill" permitted the commercial trade of some of these animals to resume. Wild horses, whose ancestors escaped the Spanish conquistadors, and wild burros, whose ancestors carried gear for hopeful prospectors, are part of the West's natural history. But to ranchers whose cows chew on public land leased at bargain-basement rates, they have long been perceived as competition for forage. That's why they were herded off for slaughter...."cows chew on public land"??? Is this a New Jersey paper? Nope, afraid not. It just shows you how knowledgeable the Arizona Republic is on this issue. Didn't keep them from editorializing though, did it....
Reps. Maurice Hinchey and Charles Bass Call for End to YellowstoneBuffalo Slaughter The nonpartisan National Parks Conservation Association today praised Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Charles Bass (R-N.H.) for their leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives to protect America's last wild and genetically pure buffalo. The Yellowstone Buffalo Preservation Act of 2005 is an admirable effort to treat bison as wildlife and to produce a sensible change to the absurd policy of hazing, capturing, and killing buffalo in and around Yellowstone National Park. "The Yellowstone buffalo herd should have the freedom to roam our federal lands like any other wildlife," said Congressman Hinchey, who serves on the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over the U.S. Department of Interior and the U.S. Forest Service. "The current policy of hazing and slaughtering these majestic animals is unnecessary and shameful. My legislation will put an end to these misguided management practices and ensure that our federal agencies act as proper stewards of this wildlife icon." In the 108th Congress, the Hinchey-Bass bill had 104 cosponsors....
Wisconsin wolf population up 14 percent A new estimate shows Wisconsin's gray wolf population may have grown to as many as 455 animals, far exceeding the goal set by state game managers and raising concerns about more conflicts between the predators and humans. The latest estimate indicates the wolf population grew 14 percent in a year and is nearly 100 over the DNR's management goal for the species. The DNR said that in 2004, wolves killed livestock on 22 farms, compared with 14 farms in 2003 and eight in 2002. Last year, 24 problem wolves were legally killed, compared with 17 in 2003. The agency has permits to kill up to 34 this year...
Norton Signs Conservation Agreement with Mexico and Canada, Announces $3.9 Million in Grants for Migratory Bird Conservation Interior Secretary Gale Norton today commemorated the 12th International Migratory Bird Day by signing a declaration of intent with Canada and Mexico to strengthen cooperation on bird conservation. She also announced $3.9 million in grants to conserve birds throughout the Americas and the Caribbean. Norton signed the North American Bird Conservation Initiative Declaration of Intent to "conserve North American birds throughout their ranges and habitats, and ultimately to collaborate with all participant nations regarding bird cooperation.” More than 340 species of birds breed in the United States and Canada, and winter in Latin America. Examples of these birds include species of plovers, terns, hawks, cranes, warblers and sparrows. The declaration will formalize the process for undertaking the initiative, which is designed to address the sharp decline of many migratory bird species in recent decades....
Measure Advances to Designate Eastern Oysters as Endangered A proposal to designate the eastern oyster -- harvested in the Chesapeake Bay and in waters from New England to Texas -- as "threatened" or "endangered" is advancing in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the agency said Wednesday. Either designation would likely halt or limit harvesting of the bivalves, fisheries experts say. A petition calling on the federal government to recognize Crassostrea virginica as threatened or endangered was filed in January by Dieter Busch, a consultant who formerly headed an arm of the 15-state Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, a regulatory authority. The agency has reviewed the petition and determined that it warrants a review by a panel of private, federal and state fisheries experts (up to about a dozen members) that will take up to nine months to review the request further. The process allows for public hearings and public comment....
Reinjection of mine water proposed Anadarko Petroleum has announced a $50 million project to reinject coalbed methane water back into the ground. It's one way to deal with water released by drilling companies to ease the pressure holding methane in coal seams. Some conservationists and ranchers contend the water can be salty or of poor quality and can harm crops. Concerns have also been raised about potential drawdown of aquifers and water wells due to development. Anadarko officials say plans include transporting water discharged from mines in their County Line Field in Campbell and Johnson counties through a 48-mile pipeline to injection wells near Midwest....
Cowboy hall worth the wait The settling of the West didn't happen overnight. And neither has the Cowboy Hall of Fame. After years of hard work, the hall will hold a sneak preview later this month and officially open on June 15. The Medora center will honor North Dakota legends, American Indians, early ranchers, livestock and more. Planning for the hall started in the early 1990s. It's a dream that's taken longer to come true than many expected. But it's been worth the time and effort. The dream to build the center has been driven by those who know the subject: ranchers, rodeo contestants, tribal members and fans of the West -- folks who want to save a part of what they love for the future....
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Ranchers tell their side of Mitchell Slough dispute to Schweitzer Yes, Huey Lewis the rock 'n' roller was there, standing along the banks of the Bitterroot River. Yes, Gov. Brian Schweitzer was there, with his four-footed diplomat, Jag the border collie. The Mitchell Slough, which begins at a 60-foot-long headgate near Tucker Crossing north of Corvallis, is currently the subject of a lawsuit that should ultimately determine whether it's a public waterway and thus open to public use. The slough provides irrigation water to a host of ranchers who farm in the mid-Bitterroot. The ranchers had plenty of questions for their fellow rancher, the governor. Who will pay for damages to private property caused by recreationists? they asked. Our deeds say our property lines run to the middle of the ditch, and we pay taxes on that property, asked Ed Hebner. If the public gets access, do we lose that part of our properties? If Mitchell Slough is a public stream, will other irrigation ditches around the state be viewed similarly? The governor steered clear of questions that required a legal interpretation, but he expressed sympathy for ranchers who've found recreationists roaming around their land....
Uinta ranchers worry about drilling threat The oil and gas business is booming in the Uinta Basin, and ranchers say they are starting to take a beating because of it. Members of the Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Interim Committee heard complaints Wednesday from a pair of eastern Utah sheep ranchers that an increasingly heavy concentrations of wells, roads and pipelines are wreaking havoc with grazing. But their biggest fear, they said, is that those grazing lands may never be returned once the energy boom ends, turning a situation of temporary losses into something permanent. "My family have been sheep ranchers for close to 80 years in eastern Utah and western Colorado, and we're seeing changes we've never seen before," said Bill Robinson. "We understand the importance of the oil and gas industry, but we are being negatively impacted . . .. They're taking 10 to 20 percent of our livelihood and are destroying it. It might not ever be reclaimed." Robinson and fellow rancher Burt Delambert asked legislators to assess impact fees or redirect severance taxes back to ranchers to help with remediation costs....
Oil boom draws fire, and so do its opponents Mathis showed photos of substantial oil and gas drilling pads and dirt roads carved through public land in the Uinta Basin. One view was of a dirt road used by the industry, a deeply rutted mass of mud because last winter was so wet. The same parcels are leased to petroleum operations and under grazing permits issued to ranchers. "There's a fair amount of (oil and gas) activity," Mathis said, showing a map of the region. It was peppered with red and black dots representing approved oil wells and places where permission to drill is pending. Bill Stringer, manager of the Bureau of Land Management's field office in Vernal, said there were about 9,000 dots on the map, more than 6,000 of them approved and the rest pending. After the meeting, at the request of the Deseret Morning News, he estimated the area involved is about 1,800 square miles, counting both state and federal land....
Groups appeal leasing on winter range Two Wyoming conservation groups have asked a federal agency to do more to protect big came winter range from oil and gas development. The Wyoming Outdoor Council and Biodiversity Conservation Alliance filed an appeal with the Interior Board of Land Appeals in Washington, D.C., over nine parcels leased for oil and gas exploration on "crucial" winter range in the Red Desert. Bruce Pendery, staff attorney and public lands director with the Outdoor Council, said this is the latest step after the Bureau of Land Management -- the agency in charge of leasing the parcels -- denied the groups' formal protest on the parcels earlier this year....
Clashing cultures in the country Ohio dairy farmer Frank Sutliff was grinding cattle feed when he saw them again: all-terrain vehicles shredding his alfalfa fields. When he shouted over the engine whine that the riders were trespassing, they smashed him over the head, he said. "I went down, and they just started in on me ... hit me, kicked me, broke my leg," said Sutliff, 46. "I crawled into the truck, drove back to the house and dialed 911." Across rural America, angry skirmishes are increasingly common between property owners and off-roaders squaring off over dwindling open space. Long accustomed to battling environmentalists for access to public lands, off-roaders now find themselves at odds with farmers, ranchers and a flood of new residents moving to the country for peace and quiet....
Feds to restrict off-road vehicles in West For decades, off-road vehicle enthusiasts have been mostly free to roam federal forests and rangelands. Those freewheeling days could be numbered, though. Two government agencies, the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, are developing plans to restrict the vehicles to designated routes as part of an effort to curb environmental damage and ease conflict among users of public lands. "The days of blazing new trails are coming to an end," said Leo Drumm, off-highway vehicle coordinator for the Nevada BLM. "There has to be some controls."....
Oregon Wolf plan hits rough patch Wolf supporters and opponents are both critical of a House bill that attempts put the state's strategy for dealing with wolves into law. A wolf plan was crafted last year by a citizens panel and approved in February by the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission. But the Legislature must change state laws for it to work. The plan approved in February calls for allowing ranchers to shoot wolves attacking livestock, but Oregon's state Endangered Species Act does not permit that. The blueprint also includes a program to compensate people who lose livestock to wolves. Lawmakers would need to establish the fund and provide money for it....
U.S. will resume selling wild horses The federal Bureau of Land Management will announce Thursday it is resuming sales of wild horses with protections to prevent the animals from being sent to slaughter, the agency's director said Wednesday. The agency suspended the sales last month after discovering that 41 animals rounded up from Western rangeland had been sold to an Illinois slaughterhouse and processed for meat. In addition, Ford Motor Co. will pay to transport up to 2,000 horses to Indian reservations and locations run by non-profit organizations. The company will also oversee a "Save the Mustangs" fundraising drive to help groups that adopt the horses pay for their care. Wild horses are "a beautiful symbol of the Wild West" and an "icon" for Ford, said Jon Harmon, a spokesman for the company whose Mustang sports car has been a flagship brand since 1964....
Editorial: Stop the slaughter Thirty-four years ago, Congress declared that wild horses and burros were "living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West." With that, the practice of slaughtering them for dog food ended. Late last year, a measure dubbed the "Horsemeat Bill" permitted the commercial trade of some of these animals to resume. Wild horses, whose ancestors escaped the Spanish conquistadors, and wild burros, whose ancestors carried gear for hopeful prospectors, are part of the West's natural history. But to ranchers whose cows chew on public land leased at bargain-basement rates, they have long been perceived as competition for forage. That's why they were herded off for slaughter...."cows chew on public land"??? Is this a New Jersey paper? Nope, afraid not. It just shows you how knowledgeable the Arizona Republic is on this issue. Didn't keep them from editorializing though, did it....
Reps. Maurice Hinchey and Charles Bass Call for End to YellowstoneBuffalo Slaughter The nonpartisan National Parks Conservation Association today praised Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Charles Bass (R-N.H.) for their leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives to protect America's last wild and genetically pure buffalo. The Yellowstone Buffalo Preservation Act of 2005 is an admirable effort to treat bison as wildlife and to produce a sensible change to the absurd policy of hazing, capturing, and killing buffalo in and around Yellowstone National Park. "The Yellowstone buffalo herd should have the freedom to roam our federal lands like any other wildlife," said Congressman Hinchey, who serves on the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over the U.S. Department of Interior and the U.S. Forest Service. "The current policy of hazing and slaughtering these majestic animals is unnecessary and shameful. My legislation will put an end to these misguided management practices and ensure that our federal agencies act as proper stewards of this wildlife icon." In the 108th Congress, the Hinchey-Bass bill had 104 cosponsors....
Wisconsin wolf population up 14 percent A new estimate shows Wisconsin's gray wolf population may have grown to as many as 455 animals, far exceeding the goal set by state game managers and raising concerns about more conflicts between the predators and humans. The latest estimate indicates the wolf population grew 14 percent in a year and is nearly 100 over the DNR's management goal for the species. The DNR said that in 2004, wolves killed livestock on 22 farms, compared with 14 farms in 2003 and eight in 2002. Last year, 24 problem wolves were legally killed, compared with 17 in 2003. The agency has permits to kill up to 34 this year...
Norton Signs Conservation Agreement with Mexico and Canada, Announces $3.9 Million in Grants for Migratory Bird Conservation Interior Secretary Gale Norton today commemorated the 12th International Migratory Bird Day by signing a declaration of intent with Canada and Mexico to strengthen cooperation on bird conservation. She also announced $3.9 million in grants to conserve birds throughout the Americas and the Caribbean. Norton signed the North American Bird Conservation Initiative Declaration of Intent to "conserve North American birds throughout their ranges and habitats, and ultimately to collaborate with all participant nations regarding bird cooperation.” More than 340 species of birds breed in the United States and Canada, and winter in Latin America. Examples of these birds include species of plovers, terns, hawks, cranes, warblers and sparrows. The declaration will formalize the process for undertaking the initiative, which is designed to address the sharp decline of many migratory bird species in recent decades....
Measure Advances to Designate Eastern Oysters as Endangered A proposal to designate the eastern oyster -- harvested in the Chesapeake Bay and in waters from New England to Texas -- as "threatened" or "endangered" is advancing in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the agency said Wednesday. Either designation would likely halt or limit harvesting of the bivalves, fisheries experts say. A petition calling on the federal government to recognize Crassostrea virginica as threatened or endangered was filed in January by Dieter Busch, a consultant who formerly headed an arm of the 15-state Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, a regulatory authority. The agency has reviewed the petition and determined that it warrants a review by a panel of private, federal and state fisheries experts (up to about a dozen members) that will take up to nine months to review the request further. The process allows for public hearings and public comment....
Reinjection of mine water proposed Anadarko Petroleum has announced a $50 million project to reinject coalbed methane water back into the ground. It's one way to deal with water released by drilling companies to ease the pressure holding methane in coal seams. Some conservationists and ranchers contend the water can be salty or of poor quality and can harm crops. Concerns have also been raised about potential drawdown of aquifers and water wells due to development. Anadarko officials say plans include transporting water discharged from mines in their County Line Field in Campbell and Johnson counties through a 48-mile pipeline to injection wells near Midwest....
Cowboy hall worth the wait The settling of the West didn't happen overnight. And neither has the Cowboy Hall of Fame. After years of hard work, the hall will hold a sneak preview later this month and officially open on June 15. The Medora center will honor North Dakota legends, American Indians, early ranchers, livestock and more. Planning for the hall started in the early 1990s. It's a dream that's taken longer to come true than many expected. But it's been worth the time and effort. The dream to build the center has been driven by those who know the subject: ranchers, rodeo contestants, tribal members and fans of the West -- folks who want to save a part of what they love for the future....
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Wednesday, May 18, 2005
NEWS ROUNDUP
Coyote bounty passed by House County boards may set coyote bounties under a bill passed by the House on Friday (May 13). Livestock ranchers testified at the Capitol that coyotes were killing their livestock. A Chippewa County sheep rancher told the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Game and Fish that he lost 116 lambs to coyote predation. Each lamb represented a $168 loss, explained Bob Padula, Minnesota Lamb and Wool Producers Association President. Animal bounties were generally discarded nationwide during the 1960s, according to a Department of Natural Resources (DNR) official....
GRP easement aims at protecting prairie, working ranch Some 216 acres of prairie are now being held in perpetuity as native grassland, the result of an easement granted by the landowner to the federal government. It is the first such easement in Washington state. The acreage, a small part of the original homestead Ignatius Colvin first settled in 1865, will remain part of the family’s working cattle ranch. Present owner Fred Colvin, the great grandson of the founder, joined with his mother, Doris, in signing the easement. Gus Hughbanks, NRCS state conservationist for Washington, represented the federal government. According to Hughbanks, the Grassland Reserve Program is a voluntary effort offering landowners the opportunity to protect, restore and enhance various forms of grassland, rangeland, pastures and shrub lands....
Senate panel moves ahead on bill to revise Measure 37 A bill that is intended to square the Measure 37 property rights law with Oregon's 30-year history of structured land-use planning was passed by a Senate panel on Tuesday. The bill sets out what type of land is eligible under Measure 37, establishes a compensation fund and develops a claims process. Local governments have been dealing with the claims on their own since they started rolling in last December. The Senate Environment and Land Use Committee passed the bill 3-2 and it will head to the full Senate for a vote as early as Monday. Supporters say it provides clarity for Measure 37 — and will give flexibility to the state's land-use planning system. Passed by 61 percent of the voters in November, Measure 37 requires governments to either pay property owners compensation or waive land-use laws for those whose property has been devalued by laws enacted after they purchased the land....
Montana prepares to sell off land under pilot program The sprawling Eastern Montana ranch holdings of Coffee Cattle Co. have long been dotted with thousands of acres of state land, but now the family-owned business has a chance to own those pieces of pasture. The Miles City-area ranch is among about a dozen lessees of state grazing land taking advantage of a new program that allows government to sell select parcels to stockpile money for buying replacement land offering more public access to state property. The land-banking program, a product of the 2003 Legislature and still in its infancy, already has about 115,000 acres suggested for sale. Bill Coffee, vice president of Coffee Cattle, said his family wants to buy the 3,200 acres of leased state land scattered among the ranch property to end the uncertainty that occurs every 10 years when the leases come up for renewal....
Cattle, critters thrive on parkland Grazing on national seashore is not just for picnickers and daydreaming but an everyday existence for cattle that call Point Reyes National Seashore home. A tour, sponsored by California Grazing Lands Coalition, was offered to grassland ecologists, rangeland management specialists, open space managers, ranchers, policy makers and wildlife experts. The tour was an opportunity to learn first-hand how grazing is used on public lands to achieve both livestock and biodiversity goals and how introduced grazing is enhancing “listed” species. It also showcased how the public and land managers are working together to maintain Bay area grasslands for multiple uses, and to see how conservation practices work....
Colorado County lifts deed restrictions on rural land The two new Mesa County commissioners took steps to make good on a campaign promise Monday, eliminating a damper on landowners’ development rights. Commissioners Craig Meis and Janet Rowland, along with commission Chairman Tillie Bishop, rolled back 10-year development-halting deed restrictions that were placed by the county on rural lands after approval of major subdivisions with density bonuses. Meis and Rowland campaigned for their posts last year saying that they wanted the county to resolve disputes on how to treat development proposals on certain rural lands zoned as agricultural, forested or in transition....
Parties discuss wolf payments When wolves kill livestock in Montana, the owners should be reimbursed. That's the general agreement of a group of about 30 government workers, ranchers, environmentalists and others who met four times in Helena this spring. The question now is how to make it work. "None of us have really been here before, so we're all learning together," said Carolyn Sime, wolf program coordinator for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Aside from the need for reimbursement for livestock losses, the group is also pushing nonlethal preventive measures to decrease conflicts between wolves and livestock. The work is part of Montana's effort to write the next chapter in the return of the wolf to the northern Rocky Mountains....
New salamander identified under canopy of Siskiyous A new species of salamander has been identified in the Siskiyou Mountains of Southern Oregon and Northern California, demonstrating the biological richness of the region, researchers say. The Scott Bar salamander, classified as Plethodon asupak, had been considered to be a member of the Siskiyou Mountains salamander species, or Plethodon stormi, until genetic analysis showed a distinct evolutionary line, said Joseph Vaile of the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center in Ashland, Ore. "Everyone talks about how biologically rich the tropics are, but we are still discovering species right here in the Klamath-Siskiyou," Vaile said. The word "asupak" is the Shasta Indian name for Scott Bar, an area near the confluence of the Scott and Klamath rivers....
Endangered Species Act failed, report says The Endangered Species Act has failed to help most threatened and endangered species, according to a report released Tuesday by a Republican lawmaker who has made rewriting the law a top priority. Environmentalists and Democrats quickly criticized the report prepared for Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., chairman of the House Resources Committee, as politically motivated and misleading. The report by the panel's oversight and investigations staff doesn't include independent investigations, but draws on existing federal agency data to highlight the record of the landmark 1973 law. Among its findings: • Only 10 of nearly 1,300 domestic species of plants and animals listed under the act have recovered. • Of the listed species, 77 percent have met 0 percent to 25 percent of the Fish and Wildlife Service's recovery objectives for them. Only 2 percent have met 76 percent to 100 percent of recovery objectives. • The recovery status of 60 percent of listed species is classified as either "uncertain" or "declining," while 30 percent of species are stable and 6 percent are improving. Of the listed species, 3 percent — 35 in all — are classified as possibly extinct....go here(pdf) to view the report....
World-renowned scientists caution senate on endangered species protection Led by Harvard University's E.O. Wilson, ten prominent scientists in biology and other environmental fields today called on the U.S. Senate to strengthen the Endangered Species Act, rather than heed industry calls to weaken it, in order to help stem a worldwide mass extinction crisis. Today's letter stands in stark contrast to a report by House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo opposing the Act, noting instead the law's success as an "alarm system" and bulwark against the finality of extinction. Read the letter. "The Endangered Species Act represents our nation's most determined effort to take responsibility for preserving its precious biological diversity. By offering strict federal protections to the species that are included on the list, the government has drawn a line which it will not allow human pressures to cross over. That line is extinction," the letter reads. "In both its scope and its irreversibility, extinction is the most frightening, most conclusive word in our language. When a species has been declared extinct, not only have all its individuals died, but the possibility of any such individuals ever existing again has been foreclosed. The variety of life with which we share the earth is sadly in rapid decline. Life is grounded in biological diversity, and the fate of this diversity, which created and sustains us, is now in our hands."....go here(pdf) to see the letter....
U.S. fish and wildlife service fails to protect mexican garter snake The Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit today against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) over their failure to list the Mexican garter snake as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in response to a December 15, 2003 petition filed by the group. The species is an aquatic garter snake with a range-wide distribution in Arizona, southwest New Mexico, and Mexico. It is one of hundreds of native riparian species that are threatened by the destruction and degradation of rivers and streams in the Southwest. The Mexican garter snake has been extirpated from most of its U.S. range, including the Colorado, Gila, and much of the Santa Cruz and San Pedro Rivers. The decline of the Mexican garter snake is closely linked to the deteriorating quality of streamside habitats and the disappearance of native frogs and native fishes. “Widespread degradation of southwest rivers and introduction of dozens of exotic species necessitates protection of the Mexican garter snake under the ESA,” states Noah Greenwald, conservation biologist for the Center for Biological Diversity. Populations of the Mexican garter snake are severely fragmented and isolated due to loss and destruction of suitable habitat, which consists of riparian areas with permanent water, streamside vegetation for cover, and native prey species. Livestock grazing, urbanization, pollution, loss of native prey species, and exotic species have resulted in the loss of greater than 90% of the Southwest’s riparian habitat and the listing of 30 species under the ESA. “Southwest rivers have been under massive assault for over a century,” states Greenwald. “To protect southwest riparian species, livestock must be removed from all southwest rivers and streams on public lands, instream flows must be established, and further introduction of non-native species must be prohibited.”....
U.S. fish and wildlife fails to protect 286 threatened and endangered species The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) released last week a new “candidate notice of review,” designating 286 species as candidates for listing as threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. In the review, FWS acknowledges that these species warrant protection, but argues that such protection is precluded by other actions to protect species. Based on an analysis of the list and past lists, the Center for Biological Diversity has determined that most of these species have been waiting for years to receive protection and that the Bush Administration has made little progress towards providing protection to these species. Candidate designation doesn’t provide any protection to species. Of the 286 species currently recognized as candidates, 265 (93%) have been waiting for protection for five or more years, 224 (78%) have been waiting 10 or more years, 178 (62%) have been waiting 15 or more years, 117 (41%) have been waiting 20 or more years, and 73 (26%) have been waiting 25 or more years. On average, these species have been waiting for protection for over 17 years. Delays in protection have real consequences with at least 27 species having gone extinct after designation as a candidate.....go here(pdf) to see the candidate notice of review....
Feds rejected state's earlier request Gov. Dave Freudenthal's request for removal of wolves from lambing grounds marks the second occasion in recent months in which state officials have asked the federal wildlife agency take action to control wolves. In January, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department complained about wolves displacing elk off five western Wyoming elk feedgrounds and onto private property. The state agency asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to relocate or remove the Daniel wolf pack, but Fish and Wildlife declined to take action at that time, stating: "We are not prepared to routinely relocate wolves found on or near the numerous elk feeding grounds in the state..." In his recent letter, Freudenthal noted that "in the absence of state-sanctioned wolf management, the people of the state of Wyoming must recurrently turn to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for day-to-day management of the species, including conflict mitigation."....
Proposal to reclassifying Gila trout is questioned A proposal to reclassify the Gila trout as threatened instead of endangered has drawn questions from a conservation group.
The chairman of Trout Unlimited in New Mexico, Bill Schudlich, says the U-S Fish and Wildlife Service hasn't met its own recovery plan for the fish. The agency reviewed its recovery plan in 2003. The plan lists three criteria that need to be met before the species is reclassified. Schudlich says the agency admits in the document that it didn't meet two of the three criteria. The Gila trout was listed as endangered in 1967....
Horse advocates seek halt to roundups Wild horse protection advocates urged the Bureau of Land Management Tuesday to suspend all roundups of the mustangs in Nevada until Congress makes it illegal again to sell the older, excess, unwanted ones for slaughter. But BLM officials said halting plans to gather as many as 4,000 mustangs from the Nevada range in the coming year would cripple a long-term effort that's within a year of bringing horse numbers down to sustainable levels. The horse advocates are backing an effort in Congress to reinstate a provision of a 1971 law that made it illegal to sell wild horses rounded up on federal land for slaughter....
Online database allows pesticide users to identify wildlife habitat An online database announced Tuesday is replacing the cumbersome paper guides that pesticide applicators must consult to find out if they're within the habitat of protected plants or animals, officials with California's Department of Pesticide Regulation announced. The new tool lets applicators -- and anyone who's interested -- find out with a few clicks of the mouse what endangered, rare or protected species live in an area, and what special precautions they are required to take. "This will make it easier for people to do right by the environment," said DPR Director Mary-Ann Warmerdam. "It also minimizes the excuses people have for not complying."....go here to see the new search tool....
Time running out on a legend On the side of a steep mountain in the Superstition Wilderness, tucked beneath a dense canopy of trees, several men have spent eight months excavating what they hope is an old Mexican mine. These modern-day treasure seekers are not the first to look for gold or silver in the land of the Lost Dutchman Mine, but they likely are the last. And they are racing against time. A rarely granted Treasure Trove permit that allows them to dig in the wilderness east of the Valley expires at the end of this month. "If we find what we're looking for, I don't think the Forest Service would pull the permit. It'd be insanity," said Ron Feldman, who with fellow members of Historic Exploration And Treasures obtained the right to excavate. "If we don't find what we're looking for, it will end."....
Reward offered in search for 'Bart' fire culprit A $5,000 reward was offered Tuesday for information leading to the arrest of whoever started the "Bart" fire, which has swept through 11,500 acres of Sonoran Desert 10 miles northeast of Scottsdale. Roads to both Bartlett and Horseshoe lakes are expected to remain closed until the blaze is contained, possibly by Friday, fire officials said. The fire broke out at 5 p.m. Sunday north of Bartlett Dam Road, mere minutes after crews contained the 1,920-acre "St. Clair" fire to the east. Officials say the St. Clair blaze was sparked by a Jeep Cherokee and are investigating the origins of both fires....
Picuris Pueblo reclaims clay site Capping years of effort, Picuris Pueblo has regained the traditional area where its people gather clay for making pottery. The pueblo announced Monday that it has acquired the mica mine on U.S. Hill from Oglebay Norton Specialty Minerals Inc., an Ohio mining company. The Pueblo people had gathered micaceous clay at the site for centuries before mining operations began. Details of the acquisition weren’t released in a joint news release from the pueblo and the company. Oglebay Norton, which has other mineral interests around the country and operates a shipping line in the Great Lakes, filed for federal bankruptcy protection last year. In the news release, Picuris Gov. Richard Mermejo said the recovery of the clay-gathering site was of tremendous cultural significance to the pueblo and its remaining potters....
Water rights dispute settled out of court A talc mine dropped its lawsuit and restraining order Monday that aimed to force a Madison Valley rancher to quit flowing irrigation water through its pond. Luzenac America Inc., which operates the mine in the central Madison Valley, also agreed to pay the attorney's fees for Eugene Walsh, a rancher who owns land next to the mine. "The Walshes understandably feel abused by the process, but reasonably satisfied with the outcome," said Bill Hritsco, a Dillon attorney representing Walsh. "(Luzenac) agreed to leave Mr. Walsh alone." Luzenac's Montana Operations Director Pat Downey said in a telephone interview that the company was glad to settle the case and move on with improving its stormwater control system....
Plan to drain tainted farm water triggers worries A federal plan to drain mineral-laden irrigation water from farms includes a proposal similar to one that caused an environmental disaster more than two decades ago, leading to bird deformities and deaths. Environmentalists fear that leaving the tainted water to accumulate in evaporation ponds, even if it's treated to reduce most of the toxic minerals, could lead to problems similar to what happened in the Kesterson Wildlife Refuge in the 1980s, when entire colonies of birds died and many were born with missing limbs. But the federal officials who run the Central Valley Project, a massive irrigation complex that makes farming possible in the arid western half of the Central Valley, remain under court order to find a way to dispose of the tainted water. And forming new evaporation ponds is one of several options outlined in a draft environmental impact report to be released this month by the Bureau of Reclamation. Another option in the draft report is taking poorly drained land out of farming, but that would rob some farmers of their livelihoods and is strongly opposed by the agriculture industry....
Farm Bureau prevails in court ruling on waiver A Sacramento County Superior Court judge last week agreed with California Farm Bureau Federation's position that the State Water Resources Control Board and the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) abused their discretion and overstepped their bounds in adopting a waiver for farm-water discharges that violated private property and privacy rights. In addition, the court said the RWQCB must clarify the applicability of the waiver as to natural water courses, constructed drains, or waterways dominated by return flows from irrigated agriculture. The court granted Farm Bureau's petition for writ of mandate and directed the RWQCB to correct the flaws in its regulations within 120 days. The court also granted Farm Bureau the right to file a motion to recover attorneys' fees for having to bring the state to court to settle these matters. "Despite the successful outcome of this litigation, Farm Bureau still believes that self-determined, incentive-based natural resource programs are the best approach to protecting the environment," said Brenda Jahns Southwick, managing counsel for the CFBF Natural Resources and Environmental Division....
US beef industry needs Canadian cattle: USDA head The U.S. beef industry will be permanently hurt if imports of young Canadian cattle do not soon resume because Canada is restructuring its industry and expanding, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said on Tuesday. "The market is restructuring before our eyes. American producers and processors will be left out in the cold if the border is not re-opened soon," Johanns told reporters. "My concern is that as more and more processing moves to Canada, production follows."....
Trade pact roadblock: Idaho sugar beets U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns is traveling the West, stumping for President Bush's free-trade agreement with Central American and Caribbean nations. He's run into a roadblock: Idaho sugar beets. While growers and producers of other agricultural products, including potatoes, wheat, fruit and beef, back the plan, farmers of the bulbous roots are leading a charge to ditch the agreement that Bush lauds as a way of promoting democracy in Latin America and boosting U.S. security by spreading prosperity. They're demanding that the Central American Free Trade Agreement - signed by Bush last May, but still in need of congressional approval - be stripped of provisions allowing 107,000 metric tons of sugar, or about 1 percent of total domestic sugar consumption, to be imported into the U.S....
Editorial: CAFTA would be harvest for Panhandle agriculture NAFTA's aim was to open up trade corridors among the United States, Mexico and Canada. CAFTA could open up potentially huge new markets for agricultural commodities such as beef, corn, cotton and dairy - all of which are produced in abundance throughout the Panhandle. The Texas Farm Bureau has signed on big time to CAFTA, calling it "close to being a no-brainer." Farm Bureau figures show that Texas' farm cash receipts totaled $15.3 billion in 2003, with about 25 percent of all farm exports - estimated at $3.4 billion - going into foreign markets. CAFTA provisions include a 30-percent reduction in beef tariffs, providing a huge new market for the area's enormous fed beef industry....
USTR's Allgeier Defends WTO as House Moves to Vote on Withdrawal A top U.S. trade official has defended continued U.S. participation in the World Trade Organization (WTO), while members of a congressional panel have predicted that Congress would reject a bill requiring U.S. withdrawal from the WTO. At a May 17 hearing in the House of Representatives, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Peter Allgeier testified that U.S. leadership in the global trading system is critical for continuing U.S. prosperity and securing world stability. At issue was a bill submitted by WTO opponents calling for U.S. withdrawal from WTO membership. Under the 1994 law approving U.S. participation in the then just-forming trade organization, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) must report to Congress once every five years a detailed analysis of U.S. participation’s costs and benefits. The Bush administration submitted its 2005 report March 1. After submission of such a report any member of Congress is allowed to introduce a bill for WTO withdrawal and leaders of Congress must allow a vote on the bill to occur. In the first such vote in 2000, the House rejected a withdrawal resolution 363-56. Supporters of withdrawal argue that WTO membership amounts to a surrender of U.S. sovereignty to an international organization....
Farm Bureau Backs WTO Oversight of Trade U.S. membership in the World Trade Organization is vital to the economic development of agriculture, and successful WTO Doha Round agricultural negotiations are the best way to expand foreign marketing of U.S. agricultural products, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. In testimony to the trade subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee, Minnesota Farm Bureau President Al Christopherson said U.S. agriculture's best opportunity to address critical trade issues is through the multilateral process. Christopherson is an AFBF board and executive committee member and presented AFBF’s perspective to the subcommittee. “U.S. membership in the WTO provides a trading system based on rules that helps maintain stable markets for our exports,” he said. “With the production of one-third of U.S. cropland destined for foreign markets, U.S. agriculture is strongly export-dependent. The 148-member World Trade Organization operates to provide a stable environment for continued growth in markets for America’s farmers and ranchers” Christopherson said....
COOL styled as packers v. producers Bills to delete mandatory country-of-origin labeling for meat animals hit Congress last week, following up on the budgetary knock-out that delayed an October 2004 adoption of most provisions of the three-year-old law. Trade associations followed with their own spins, including several blasts characterizing the latest bill sponsored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., as tailor-made to support the packing industry. Mandatory COOL is part of the 2002 farm bill law. Quietly in early April, USDA started mandatory labeling for fresh fish and shellfish. Under the law, a grocer who mislabels country of origin is subject to up to $10,000 civil penalties. Goodlatte, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, led an effort widely supported in Congress, to strip money for implementing fresh produce and meat provisions from U.S. Department of Agriculture’s budget. There are 34 co-sponsors to H.R. 2068, which requires implementation of a voluntary COOL program in the meat industry....
Subcommittee votes to delay meat labeling again Rep. Stephanie Herseth, D-S.D., blasted a House subcommittee's approval late Monday night of a spending bill that includes another delay for mandatory country-of-origin labeling for meat and meat products. Mandatory labeling, originally intended to go into effect in 2004, was delayed last year to 2006. The new COOL provision approved by the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture would prevent the secretary of agriculture from spending any money in fiscal year 2006 to implement the food labeling rule that was originally signed into law as part of the 2002 Farm Bill. The language would delay the start of any preparation for COOL until October 2006, according to Herseth spokesman Russ Levsen. "It would certainly be many months to ramp up a system like that, in effect, delaying implementation until sometime in 2007."....
Certified beef to debut soon The certified beef program approved by the South Dakota Legislature this year is a great idea, said some beef producers selling cattle in Aberdeen on Monday. "It's the coming thing," said Jerome Schaefers of Miller. "We'd be foolish not to." But a good idea is worthless unless it becomes reality, several added. "I hope it's not just political propaganda, and that something actually happens," said cattle rancher Steve Swanson of Clark. And something is, said Mark Johnston, press secretary for Gov. Mike Rounds. An update on the program, which Rounds promoted to the Legislature, is scheduled to be released later this week, Johnston said Monday. He's cautiously optimistic that South Dakota Certified Beef will be available to consumers in a month to six weeks....
Cattle on Computers A fast-talking auctioneer in a cowboy hat closely watches his audience — mostly men in boots, jeans and coveralls — to catch subtle gestures that are bids on the cattle circling a small sale ring that separates wooden bleachers from the sale staff’s elevated desk. Buyers and sellers may break away over the noon hour to get a hamburger basket or hot beef sandwich at the sale barn cafe. But if they want to bid on a specific lot of consigned cattle or watch their cattle sell, they must be in the bleachers when the auctioneer makes his call....
Stage stop in QC preserved The once-thriving rest area and shipping center known as the Desert Wells Stage Stop just outside Queen Creek will forever be memorialized. Earlier this year, developers in the area threatened to tear down the 90-year-old adobe hut to make room for future housing subdivisions, but the San Tan Historical Society's efforts to preserve the stage stop have paid off. The town of Queen Creek recently acquired 32 acres surrounding the historical site, located near Combs and Schnepf roads, for the purpose of building a much-needed retention basin for Sonoqui Wash. Believed to have been built in the early 1900s, the one-room stage stop meant salvation for ranchers moving across the desert from Phoenix to the Florence Highway. Years of neglect have left the building covered with graffiti and littered with debris and garbage. But the stage stop qualifies as historically significant, Mr. Salge said....
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Coyote bounty passed by House County boards may set coyote bounties under a bill passed by the House on Friday (May 13). Livestock ranchers testified at the Capitol that coyotes were killing their livestock. A Chippewa County sheep rancher told the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Game and Fish that he lost 116 lambs to coyote predation. Each lamb represented a $168 loss, explained Bob Padula, Minnesota Lamb and Wool Producers Association President. Animal bounties were generally discarded nationwide during the 1960s, according to a Department of Natural Resources (DNR) official....
GRP easement aims at protecting prairie, working ranch Some 216 acres of prairie are now being held in perpetuity as native grassland, the result of an easement granted by the landowner to the federal government. It is the first such easement in Washington state. The acreage, a small part of the original homestead Ignatius Colvin first settled in 1865, will remain part of the family’s working cattle ranch. Present owner Fred Colvin, the great grandson of the founder, joined with his mother, Doris, in signing the easement. Gus Hughbanks, NRCS state conservationist for Washington, represented the federal government. According to Hughbanks, the Grassland Reserve Program is a voluntary effort offering landowners the opportunity to protect, restore and enhance various forms of grassland, rangeland, pastures and shrub lands....
Senate panel moves ahead on bill to revise Measure 37 A bill that is intended to square the Measure 37 property rights law with Oregon's 30-year history of structured land-use planning was passed by a Senate panel on Tuesday. The bill sets out what type of land is eligible under Measure 37, establishes a compensation fund and develops a claims process. Local governments have been dealing with the claims on their own since they started rolling in last December. The Senate Environment and Land Use Committee passed the bill 3-2 and it will head to the full Senate for a vote as early as Monday. Supporters say it provides clarity for Measure 37 — and will give flexibility to the state's land-use planning system. Passed by 61 percent of the voters in November, Measure 37 requires governments to either pay property owners compensation or waive land-use laws for those whose property has been devalued by laws enacted after they purchased the land....
Montana prepares to sell off land under pilot program The sprawling Eastern Montana ranch holdings of Coffee Cattle Co. have long been dotted with thousands of acres of state land, but now the family-owned business has a chance to own those pieces of pasture. The Miles City-area ranch is among about a dozen lessees of state grazing land taking advantage of a new program that allows government to sell select parcels to stockpile money for buying replacement land offering more public access to state property. The land-banking program, a product of the 2003 Legislature and still in its infancy, already has about 115,000 acres suggested for sale. Bill Coffee, vice president of Coffee Cattle, said his family wants to buy the 3,200 acres of leased state land scattered among the ranch property to end the uncertainty that occurs every 10 years when the leases come up for renewal....
Cattle, critters thrive on parkland Grazing on national seashore is not just for picnickers and daydreaming but an everyday existence for cattle that call Point Reyes National Seashore home. A tour, sponsored by California Grazing Lands Coalition, was offered to grassland ecologists, rangeland management specialists, open space managers, ranchers, policy makers and wildlife experts. The tour was an opportunity to learn first-hand how grazing is used on public lands to achieve both livestock and biodiversity goals and how introduced grazing is enhancing “listed” species. It also showcased how the public and land managers are working together to maintain Bay area grasslands for multiple uses, and to see how conservation practices work....
Colorado County lifts deed restrictions on rural land The two new Mesa County commissioners took steps to make good on a campaign promise Monday, eliminating a damper on landowners’ development rights. Commissioners Craig Meis and Janet Rowland, along with commission Chairman Tillie Bishop, rolled back 10-year development-halting deed restrictions that were placed by the county on rural lands after approval of major subdivisions with density bonuses. Meis and Rowland campaigned for their posts last year saying that they wanted the county to resolve disputes on how to treat development proposals on certain rural lands zoned as agricultural, forested or in transition....
Parties discuss wolf payments When wolves kill livestock in Montana, the owners should be reimbursed. That's the general agreement of a group of about 30 government workers, ranchers, environmentalists and others who met four times in Helena this spring. The question now is how to make it work. "None of us have really been here before, so we're all learning together," said Carolyn Sime, wolf program coordinator for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Aside from the need for reimbursement for livestock losses, the group is also pushing nonlethal preventive measures to decrease conflicts between wolves and livestock. The work is part of Montana's effort to write the next chapter in the return of the wolf to the northern Rocky Mountains....
New salamander identified under canopy of Siskiyous A new species of salamander has been identified in the Siskiyou Mountains of Southern Oregon and Northern California, demonstrating the biological richness of the region, researchers say. The Scott Bar salamander, classified as Plethodon asupak, had been considered to be a member of the Siskiyou Mountains salamander species, or Plethodon stormi, until genetic analysis showed a distinct evolutionary line, said Joseph Vaile of the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center in Ashland, Ore. "Everyone talks about how biologically rich the tropics are, but we are still discovering species right here in the Klamath-Siskiyou," Vaile said. The word "asupak" is the Shasta Indian name for Scott Bar, an area near the confluence of the Scott and Klamath rivers....
Endangered Species Act failed, report says The Endangered Species Act has failed to help most threatened and endangered species, according to a report released Tuesday by a Republican lawmaker who has made rewriting the law a top priority. Environmentalists and Democrats quickly criticized the report prepared for Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., chairman of the House Resources Committee, as politically motivated and misleading. The report by the panel's oversight and investigations staff doesn't include independent investigations, but draws on existing federal agency data to highlight the record of the landmark 1973 law. Among its findings: • Only 10 of nearly 1,300 domestic species of plants and animals listed under the act have recovered. • Of the listed species, 77 percent have met 0 percent to 25 percent of the Fish and Wildlife Service's recovery objectives for them. Only 2 percent have met 76 percent to 100 percent of recovery objectives. • The recovery status of 60 percent of listed species is classified as either "uncertain" or "declining," while 30 percent of species are stable and 6 percent are improving. Of the listed species, 3 percent — 35 in all — are classified as possibly extinct....go here(pdf) to view the report....
World-renowned scientists caution senate on endangered species protection Led by Harvard University's E.O. Wilson, ten prominent scientists in biology and other environmental fields today called on the U.S. Senate to strengthen the Endangered Species Act, rather than heed industry calls to weaken it, in order to help stem a worldwide mass extinction crisis. Today's letter stands in stark contrast to a report by House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo opposing the Act, noting instead the law's success as an "alarm system" and bulwark against the finality of extinction. Read the letter. "The Endangered Species Act represents our nation's most determined effort to take responsibility for preserving its precious biological diversity. By offering strict federal protections to the species that are included on the list, the government has drawn a line which it will not allow human pressures to cross over. That line is extinction," the letter reads. "In both its scope and its irreversibility, extinction is the most frightening, most conclusive word in our language. When a species has been declared extinct, not only have all its individuals died, but the possibility of any such individuals ever existing again has been foreclosed. The variety of life with which we share the earth is sadly in rapid decline. Life is grounded in biological diversity, and the fate of this diversity, which created and sustains us, is now in our hands."....go here(pdf) to see the letter....
U.S. fish and wildlife service fails to protect mexican garter snake The Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit today against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) over their failure to list the Mexican garter snake as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in response to a December 15, 2003 petition filed by the group. The species is an aquatic garter snake with a range-wide distribution in Arizona, southwest New Mexico, and Mexico. It is one of hundreds of native riparian species that are threatened by the destruction and degradation of rivers and streams in the Southwest. The Mexican garter snake has been extirpated from most of its U.S. range, including the Colorado, Gila, and much of the Santa Cruz and San Pedro Rivers. The decline of the Mexican garter snake is closely linked to the deteriorating quality of streamside habitats and the disappearance of native frogs and native fishes. “Widespread degradation of southwest rivers and introduction of dozens of exotic species necessitates protection of the Mexican garter snake under the ESA,” states Noah Greenwald, conservation biologist for the Center for Biological Diversity. Populations of the Mexican garter snake are severely fragmented and isolated due to loss and destruction of suitable habitat, which consists of riparian areas with permanent water, streamside vegetation for cover, and native prey species. Livestock grazing, urbanization, pollution, loss of native prey species, and exotic species have resulted in the loss of greater than 90% of the Southwest’s riparian habitat and the listing of 30 species under the ESA. “Southwest rivers have been under massive assault for over a century,” states Greenwald. “To protect southwest riparian species, livestock must be removed from all southwest rivers and streams on public lands, instream flows must be established, and further introduction of non-native species must be prohibited.”....
U.S. fish and wildlife fails to protect 286 threatened and endangered species The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) released last week a new “candidate notice of review,” designating 286 species as candidates for listing as threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. In the review, FWS acknowledges that these species warrant protection, but argues that such protection is precluded by other actions to protect species. Based on an analysis of the list and past lists, the Center for Biological Diversity has determined that most of these species have been waiting for years to receive protection and that the Bush Administration has made little progress towards providing protection to these species. Candidate designation doesn’t provide any protection to species. Of the 286 species currently recognized as candidates, 265 (93%) have been waiting for protection for five or more years, 224 (78%) have been waiting 10 or more years, 178 (62%) have been waiting 15 or more years, 117 (41%) have been waiting 20 or more years, and 73 (26%) have been waiting 25 or more years. On average, these species have been waiting for protection for over 17 years. Delays in protection have real consequences with at least 27 species having gone extinct after designation as a candidate.....go here(pdf) to see the candidate notice of review....
Feds rejected state's earlier request Gov. Dave Freudenthal's request for removal of wolves from lambing grounds marks the second occasion in recent months in which state officials have asked the federal wildlife agency take action to control wolves. In January, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department complained about wolves displacing elk off five western Wyoming elk feedgrounds and onto private property. The state agency asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to relocate or remove the Daniel wolf pack, but Fish and Wildlife declined to take action at that time, stating: "We are not prepared to routinely relocate wolves found on or near the numerous elk feeding grounds in the state..." In his recent letter, Freudenthal noted that "in the absence of state-sanctioned wolf management, the people of the state of Wyoming must recurrently turn to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for day-to-day management of the species, including conflict mitigation."....
Proposal to reclassifying Gila trout is questioned A proposal to reclassify the Gila trout as threatened instead of endangered has drawn questions from a conservation group.
The chairman of Trout Unlimited in New Mexico, Bill Schudlich, says the U-S Fish and Wildlife Service hasn't met its own recovery plan for the fish. The agency reviewed its recovery plan in 2003. The plan lists three criteria that need to be met before the species is reclassified. Schudlich says the agency admits in the document that it didn't meet two of the three criteria. The Gila trout was listed as endangered in 1967....
Horse advocates seek halt to roundups Wild horse protection advocates urged the Bureau of Land Management Tuesday to suspend all roundups of the mustangs in Nevada until Congress makes it illegal again to sell the older, excess, unwanted ones for slaughter. But BLM officials said halting plans to gather as many as 4,000 mustangs from the Nevada range in the coming year would cripple a long-term effort that's within a year of bringing horse numbers down to sustainable levels. The horse advocates are backing an effort in Congress to reinstate a provision of a 1971 law that made it illegal to sell wild horses rounded up on federal land for slaughter....
Online database allows pesticide users to identify wildlife habitat An online database announced Tuesday is replacing the cumbersome paper guides that pesticide applicators must consult to find out if they're within the habitat of protected plants or animals, officials with California's Department of Pesticide Regulation announced. The new tool lets applicators -- and anyone who's interested -- find out with a few clicks of the mouse what endangered, rare or protected species live in an area, and what special precautions they are required to take. "This will make it easier for people to do right by the environment," said DPR Director Mary-Ann Warmerdam. "It also minimizes the excuses people have for not complying."....go here to see the new search tool....
Time running out on a legend On the side of a steep mountain in the Superstition Wilderness, tucked beneath a dense canopy of trees, several men have spent eight months excavating what they hope is an old Mexican mine. These modern-day treasure seekers are not the first to look for gold or silver in the land of the Lost Dutchman Mine, but they likely are the last. And they are racing against time. A rarely granted Treasure Trove permit that allows them to dig in the wilderness east of the Valley expires at the end of this month. "If we find what we're looking for, I don't think the Forest Service would pull the permit. It'd be insanity," said Ron Feldman, who with fellow members of Historic Exploration And Treasures obtained the right to excavate. "If we don't find what we're looking for, it will end."....
Reward offered in search for 'Bart' fire culprit A $5,000 reward was offered Tuesday for information leading to the arrest of whoever started the "Bart" fire, which has swept through 11,500 acres of Sonoran Desert 10 miles northeast of Scottsdale. Roads to both Bartlett and Horseshoe lakes are expected to remain closed until the blaze is contained, possibly by Friday, fire officials said. The fire broke out at 5 p.m. Sunday north of Bartlett Dam Road, mere minutes after crews contained the 1,920-acre "St. Clair" fire to the east. Officials say the St. Clair blaze was sparked by a Jeep Cherokee and are investigating the origins of both fires....
Picuris Pueblo reclaims clay site Capping years of effort, Picuris Pueblo has regained the traditional area where its people gather clay for making pottery. The pueblo announced Monday that it has acquired the mica mine on U.S. Hill from Oglebay Norton Specialty Minerals Inc., an Ohio mining company. The Pueblo people had gathered micaceous clay at the site for centuries before mining operations began. Details of the acquisition weren’t released in a joint news release from the pueblo and the company. Oglebay Norton, which has other mineral interests around the country and operates a shipping line in the Great Lakes, filed for federal bankruptcy protection last year. In the news release, Picuris Gov. Richard Mermejo said the recovery of the clay-gathering site was of tremendous cultural significance to the pueblo and its remaining potters....
Water rights dispute settled out of court A talc mine dropped its lawsuit and restraining order Monday that aimed to force a Madison Valley rancher to quit flowing irrigation water through its pond. Luzenac America Inc., which operates the mine in the central Madison Valley, also agreed to pay the attorney's fees for Eugene Walsh, a rancher who owns land next to the mine. "The Walshes understandably feel abused by the process, but reasonably satisfied with the outcome," said Bill Hritsco, a Dillon attorney representing Walsh. "(Luzenac) agreed to leave Mr. Walsh alone." Luzenac's Montana Operations Director Pat Downey said in a telephone interview that the company was glad to settle the case and move on with improving its stormwater control system....
Plan to drain tainted farm water triggers worries A federal plan to drain mineral-laden irrigation water from farms includes a proposal similar to one that caused an environmental disaster more than two decades ago, leading to bird deformities and deaths. Environmentalists fear that leaving the tainted water to accumulate in evaporation ponds, even if it's treated to reduce most of the toxic minerals, could lead to problems similar to what happened in the Kesterson Wildlife Refuge in the 1980s, when entire colonies of birds died and many were born with missing limbs. But the federal officials who run the Central Valley Project, a massive irrigation complex that makes farming possible in the arid western half of the Central Valley, remain under court order to find a way to dispose of the tainted water. And forming new evaporation ponds is one of several options outlined in a draft environmental impact report to be released this month by the Bureau of Reclamation. Another option in the draft report is taking poorly drained land out of farming, but that would rob some farmers of their livelihoods and is strongly opposed by the agriculture industry....
Farm Bureau prevails in court ruling on waiver A Sacramento County Superior Court judge last week agreed with California Farm Bureau Federation's position that the State Water Resources Control Board and the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) abused their discretion and overstepped their bounds in adopting a waiver for farm-water discharges that violated private property and privacy rights. In addition, the court said the RWQCB must clarify the applicability of the waiver as to natural water courses, constructed drains, or waterways dominated by return flows from irrigated agriculture. The court granted Farm Bureau's petition for writ of mandate and directed the RWQCB to correct the flaws in its regulations within 120 days. The court also granted Farm Bureau the right to file a motion to recover attorneys' fees for having to bring the state to court to settle these matters. "Despite the successful outcome of this litigation, Farm Bureau still believes that self-determined, incentive-based natural resource programs are the best approach to protecting the environment," said Brenda Jahns Southwick, managing counsel for the CFBF Natural Resources and Environmental Division....
US beef industry needs Canadian cattle: USDA head The U.S. beef industry will be permanently hurt if imports of young Canadian cattle do not soon resume because Canada is restructuring its industry and expanding, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said on Tuesday. "The market is restructuring before our eyes. American producers and processors will be left out in the cold if the border is not re-opened soon," Johanns told reporters. "My concern is that as more and more processing moves to Canada, production follows."....
Trade pact roadblock: Idaho sugar beets U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns is traveling the West, stumping for President Bush's free-trade agreement with Central American and Caribbean nations. He's run into a roadblock: Idaho sugar beets. While growers and producers of other agricultural products, including potatoes, wheat, fruit and beef, back the plan, farmers of the bulbous roots are leading a charge to ditch the agreement that Bush lauds as a way of promoting democracy in Latin America and boosting U.S. security by spreading prosperity. They're demanding that the Central American Free Trade Agreement - signed by Bush last May, but still in need of congressional approval - be stripped of provisions allowing 107,000 metric tons of sugar, or about 1 percent of total domestic sugar consumption, to be imported into the U.S....
Editorial: CAFTA would be harvest for Panhandle agriculture NAFTA's aim was to open up trade corridors among the United States, Mexico and Canada. CAFTA could open up potentially huge new markets for agricultural commodities such as beef, corn, cotton and dairy - all of which are produced in abundance throughout the Panhandle. The Texas Farm Bureau has signed on big time to CAFTA, calling it "close to being a no-brainer." Farm Bureau figures show that Texas' farm cash receipts totaled $15.3 billion in 2003, with about 25 percent of all farm exports - estimated at $3.4 billion - going into foreign markets. CAFTA provisions include a 30-percent reduction in beef tariffs, providing a huge new market for the area's enormous fed beef industry....
USTR's Allgeier Defends WTO as House Moves to Vote on Withdrawal A top U.S. trade official has defended continued U.S. participation in the World Trade Organization (WTO), while members of a congressional panel have predicted that Congress would reject a bill requiring U.S. withdrawal from the WTO. At a May 17 hearing in the House of Representatives, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Peter Allgeier testified that U.S. leadership in the global trading system is critical for continuing U.S. prosperity and securing world stability. At issue was a bill submitted by WTO opponents calling for U.S. withdrawal from WTO membership. Under the 1994 law approving U.S. participation in the then just-forming trade organization, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) must report to Congress once every five years a detailed analysis of U.S. participation’s costs and benefits. The Bush administration submitted its 2005 report March 1. After submission of such a report any member of Congress is allowed to introduce a bill for WTO withdrawal and leaders of Congress must allow a vote on the bill to occur. In the first such vote in 2000, the House rejected a withdrawal resolution 363-56. Supporters of withdrawal argue that WTO membership amounts to a surrender of U.S. sovereignty to an international organization....
Farm Bureau Backs WTO Oversight of Trade U.S. membership in the World Trade Organization is vital to the economic development of agriculture, and successful WTO Doha Round agricultural negotiations are the best way to expand foreign marketing of U.S. agricultural products, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. In testimony to the trade subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee, Minnesota Farm Bureau President Al Christopherson said U.S. agriculture's best opportunity to address critical trade issues is through the multilateral process. Christopherson is an AFBF board and executive committee member and presented AFBF’s perspective to the subcommittee. “U.S. membership in the WTO provides a trading system based on rules that helps maintain stable markets for our exports,” he said. “With the production of one-third of U.S. cropland destined for foreign markets, U.S. agriculture is strongly export-dependent. The 148-member World Trade Organization operates to provide a stable environment for continued growth in markets for America’s farmers and ranchers” Christopherson said....
COOL styled as packers v. producers Bills to delete mandatory country-of-origin labeling for meat animals hit Congress last week, following up on the budgetary knock-out that delayed an October 2004 adoption of most provisions of the three-year-old law. Trade associations followed with their own spins, including several blasts characterizing the latest bill sponsored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., as tailor-made to support the packing industry. Mandatory COOL is part of the 2002 farm bill law. Quietly in early April, USDA started mandatory labeling for fresh fish and shellfish. Under the law, a grocer who mislabels country of origin is subject to up to $10,000 civil penalties. Goodlatte, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, led an effort widely supported in Congress, to strip money for implementing fresh produce and meat provisions from U.S. Department of Agriculture’s budget. There are 34 co-sponsors to H.R. 2068, which requires implementation of a voluntary COOL program in the meat industry....
Subcommittee votes to delay meat labeling again Rep. Stephanie Herseth, D-S.D., blasted a House subcommittee's approval late Monday night of a spending bill that includes another delay for mandatory country-of-origin labeling for meat and meat products. Mandatory labeling, originally intended to go into effect in 2004, was delayed last year to 2006. The new COOL provision approved by the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture would prevent the secretary of agriculture from spending any money in fiscal year 2006 to implement the food labeling rule that was originally signed into law as part of the 2002 Farm Bill. The language would delay the start of any preparation for COOL until October 2006, according to Herseth spokesman Russ Levsen. "It would certainly be many months to ramp up a system like that, in effect, delaying implementation until sometime in 2007."....
Certified beef to debut soon The certified beef program approved by the South Dakota Legislature this year is a great idea, said some beef producers selling cattle in Aberdeen on Monday. "It's the coming thing," said Jerome Schaefers of Miller. "We'd be foolish not to." But a good idea is worthless unless it becomes reality, several added. "I hope it's not just political propaganda, and that something actually happens," said cattle rancher Steve Swanson of Clark. And something is, said Mark Johnston, press secretary for Gov. Mike Rounds. An update on the program, which Rounds promoted to the Legislature, is scheduled to be released later this week, Johnston said Monday. He's cautiously optimistic that South Dakota Certified Beef will be available to consumers in a month to six weeks....
Cattle on Computers A fast-talking auctioneer in a cowboy hat closely watches his audience — mostly men in boots, jeans and coveralls — to catch subtle gestures that are bids on the cattle circling a small sale ring that separates wooden bleachers from the sale staff’s elevated desk. Buyers and sellers may break away over the noon hour to get a hamburger basket or hot beef sandwich at the sale barn cafe. But if they want to bid on a specific lot of consigned cattle or watch their cattle sell, they must be in the bleachers when the auctioneer makes his call....
Stage stop in QC preserved The once-thriving rest area and shipping center known as the Desert Wells Stage Stop just outside Queen Creek will forever be memorialized. Earlier this year, developers in the area threatened to tear down the 90-year-old adobe hut to make room for future housing subdivisions, but the San Tan Historical Society's efforts to preserve the stage stop have paid off. The town of Queen Creek recently acquired 32 acres surrounding the historical site, located near Combs and Schnepf roads, for the purpose of building a much-needed retention basin for Sonoqui Wash. Believed to have been built in the early 1900s, the one-room stage stop meant salvation for ranchers moving across the desert from Phoenix to the Florence Highway. Years of neglect have left the building covered with graffiti and littered with debris and garbage. But the stage stop qualifies as historically significant, Mr. Salge said....
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Tuesday, May 17, 2005
NEWS ROUNDUP
Old, New West clash on range It's no surprise then, that the county's latest hero is Kit Laney, a rebel rancher who has spent more than a decade fighting federal managers over his right to graze cattle on national forest land. The fact that Laney violated a federal court order, was found guilty of assaulting a Forest Service employee and served five months in federal prison has, if anything, only burnished his reputation. In this part of New Mexico, where the villains' hats are green, not black, Laney's case is a morality tale about how a New West is encroaching upon an old one. "Not all of us agree with everything he did, but we all admire him," said Laura Schneberger, a New Mexico rancher and one of Laney's neighbors. "So many of us who have been in his position have just walked away. He sent a message and got people to pay attention," she said. Laney's case has made few headlines outside the small towns in southern New Mexico, but for ranchers across the West, it has struck a chord. Michael Martin Murphey, the country-western star, has written a song about Laney that will be featured on his next recording, "Storm Over the Rangelands," meant to portray an industry in trouble because of overregulation....
Cow Mutilation Investigator Says Truth Is Out There Human researchers, not Martians, likely mysteriously mutilated cattle in the Southwest during the 1970s and 1980s. That's what a retired police officer tells Action 7 News. He would like to say more, but he says the topic is too "sensitive." "It's solved. I know who did it," said Gabe Valdez, a retired New Mexico State Police officer. "I don't want to go on too much, because it's so sensitive – the research that we're doing." "It's humans," he said, "not UFOs or Satanic groups or people from Mars – it was humans," Valdez said. "It's taken me 30 years to figure it out," Valdez said. "It has been solved as far as I'm concerned." Valdez said he believes researchers carried out the acts – using helicopters. He won't offer any clues as to who specifically killed the cattle....
Desert blooms This spring, it's a dislocating experience to climb one of the big rises of Interstate 70 overlooking the vast desert badlands of western Colorado and eastern Utah. They aren't there. A brilliant green sheen covers what's usually an endless expanse of perpetually parched tan and gray earth. "I've been looking for a spring like this for 75 years," said Waldo Wilcox, a Book Cliffs rancher who just retired to Green River. "It's never been this green. It's the prettiest I've ever seen."....
Using Cattle for Noxious Weed Control For many years sheep and goats have been used to control noxious weeds in various parts of the West; but is it possible to train cattle to eat noxious weeds without starving them to do so? Dr. Frederick D. Provenza, P.I., at Utah State University (USU) has been researching this possibility for the past 20 years in a livestock behavior modification program. Now, a field test at Grant Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site in Deer Lodge, Mont., has piqued the curiosity of a number of ranchers in the Deer Lodge Valley. USU project coordinator, Kathy Voth, says research and successful demonstrations in other areas indicate that behavior of livestock can be effectively modified and managed as an economical alternative to chemicals to enhance and maintain biodiversity in rangelands, restore pastures dominated by invasive plants, and improve wildlife habitat....
Charting vegetation with satellite-based system will help firefighters determine area's risk That computer will show with pinpoint accuracy what vegetation and fuel loads the Hotshots and hand crews will find at the fire. And if it's right, the chief can thank a bunch of volunteers who were out here last week filling in some gaps for the satellite-based system. It's called LANDFIRE — a $40 million effort by six federal agencies to figure out the fire risk for every inch of the country and map it. California and the West should be mapped by 2006, the rest of the country by 2009. Under the program, aerial maps covering most of the country will be divided into pixels, or dots, and coded. Each pixel represents a different land type, Jeske said: oak woodland, chaparral, grassland, old-growth forest and so on. And that's where the volunteer crew comes in. They are spending the summer verifying the conditions in individual pixels across the West. The information gets fed into a computer, and the program assigns the same information to similar pixels across the United States. "We're filling in the gaps," said Ron Hassel, LANDFIRE crew director for the Student Conservation Association, which was walking grass-covered hills of Mount Diablo State Park last week. A New Hampshire-based group that focuses on career and youth development through conservation, the SCA has teams working throughout the West to "ground truth" the federal program....
U.N. mulls the protection of Earth's forests The final meeting of the United Nations Forum on Forests, now under way, could result in firm commitments to protect the world's forests or, some environmentalists worry, merely an agreement to continue negotiations. One member of the U.S. delegation to the U.N. forum is international environmental policy expert Matthew Auer, who remains guardedly optimistic that the two-week negotiation will conclude with one or more concrete outcomes, such as a fund to help international organizations and countries protect the world's forests. The forum is scheduled to meet May 16 to 27 at U.N. Headquarters in Manhattan. The U.N. Forum on Forests was created by the U.N. Economic and Social Council in 2000. For this key, current meeting, members of the forum were asked to collect information on the state of the world's forests, to review the effectiveness of the current legally non-binding arrangement and, ultimately, to bolster international commitments to sustainable forest management....
Airtanker pilots sound rare warning about fleet From the father of aerial firefighting to pilots who recently flew through tornadoes of fiery debris in Southern California, aviators are saying the U.S. firefighting fleet is undergoing fundamental, long-term changes that may cost extra lives and homes especially in this populous state. The federal agencies' shift from troubled, aging big airtankers toward more helicopters and small, single-engine planes rather than finding new large airtankers is based on faulty fiscal conclusions and flawed accident statistics, according to several pilots breaking a 50-year-old code of silence in the wake of news reports. The Aerial Firefighting Industry Association, which represents 15 firms that supply planes, maintenance and pilots to government agencies, also is touting a decade-old National Air Tanker Study that showed an overwhelming benefit-to-cost ratio for big airtankers and envisioned a fleet of more than 40 modern aircraft by now....
Arctic oil search moves to new turf, new controversies One is a long-protected portion of Arctic Alaska where a vast freshwater lake is edged by marshes that draw migrating birds from as far as Mexico and Russia. The other is a national wildlife refuge straddling the Arctic Circle, a watery haven for moose, furry mammals, and waterfowl. But underneath both lie what may be some of the largest untapped pools of onshore oil and natural gas in the US. As a result, the two sites represent one of the next crucial frontiers in the nation's expanding energy wars. In many respects, the fight quietly emerging over the two areas - Teshekpuk Lake and the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge - parallels the protracted battle over the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). It is energy versus the environment, with elements of caribou and molting birds and native American culture mixed in....
Feedground phaseout proposal takes shape A proposal to phase out some of the state's elk feedgrounds is gaining strength through more details and more answers. But state officials still say there are too many unanswered questions, and critics say the pilot project is too much of a gamble for the state's wildlife. At issue is a proposal to phase out the three feedgrounds in the Gros Ventre River drainage east of Jackson Hole. These feedgrounds, said Lloyd Dorsey of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition and other supporters, are the most logical because there is winter range in the area for elk and more can be done to enhance that and additional habitat. What's more, a phaseout of these feedgrounds will serve the state, as it examines another management tool to eradicate brucellosis in wildlife and livestock, supporters say. They say the phaseout would work in concert with a pilot project calling for the capture and testing of elk at the Muddy Creek feedground near Pinedale. Elk testing positive for brucellosis will be killed. The combination of the two projects would allow the state to examine two different approaches and determine their effectiveness, they say....
Federal agency will try to shield plants in path of St. George growth The Fish and Wildlife Service has agreed to propose protecting critical habitat for two endangered plants that grow in southern Utah - including habitat in the path of a proposed freeway junction - as part of a legal settlement with a pair of environmental groups. The Center for Biological Diversity and Utah Native Plant Society sued the federal agency in September, demanding it designate critical habitat to protect the Holmgren milkvetch and Shivwits milkvetch, which grow almost exclusively near St. George. Tony Frates, a rare-plant coordinator with the Utah Native Plant Society, said both wildflowers are severely threatened by increasing development....
Arizona's roads being redesigned to protect wildlife Transportation officials are considering redesigning some of Arizona's roads to make them more wildlife-friendly. The changes are being aimed not just at preventing roadkills but at preserving connections for wild animals crossing roads from one large block of desert to another. Four major state highways in southern Arizona could be in line for new, wildlife-friendly designs in the next few years because of a grant just obtained by a Flagstaff researcher. That study will focus on how to make those and other roads in the state more hospitable to birds and mammals. Meanwhile, as much as $10 million could be spent over the next 20 years on making roads safer for wildlife under a plan that appears to be headed to the May 2006 ballot....
Kane sign deadline comes, goes The deadline set by the Bureau of Land Management for Kane County to remove its road signs from BLM-administered lands came and went on Monday. In response, BLM State Director Sally Wisely sent a letter to the Interior Department's regional solicitor requesting that it take legal action to compel Kane County to remove the signs and put back any BLM signs that it has taken out. Kane County began posting signs in February designating off-highway-vehicle (OHV) routes across BLM-administered land, and in March designated a new route through an area northeast of Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park that is being studied for potential wilderness designation. Most recently, the county posted an estimated 60 to 80 signs inside the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument along the Hole in the Rock Road and its vicinity, directing OHV users into areas the BLM had previously closed to off-road use....
Experimental releases scheduled to aid fish Flaming Gorge Dam will be releasing high flows of water into the Green River in the next few weeks to scour sediment below the dam and improve habitat for trout and endangered native fish species. The federal Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program has been working to save native fish in the region. Fish like the Colorado pike-minnow, razorback sucker, humpback chub and bonytail chub are under stress from dams, diversions and barriers, the project said. Also contributing to their decline are the introduction of nonnative competitors, plus fishing, parasites and pollutants, it said. Scientists hope the releases will flood some spots to increase fish habitat....
Rebuffing Bush, 132 Mayors Embrace Kyoto Rules Unsettled by a series of dry winters in this normally wet city, Mayor Greg Nickels has begun a nationwide effort to do something the Bush administration will not: carry out the Kyoto Protocol on global warming. Mr. Nickels, a Democrat, says 131 other likeminded mayors have joined a bipartisan coalition to fight global warming on the local level, in an implicit rejection of the administration's policy. The mayors, from cities as liberal as Los Angeles and as conservative as Hurst, Tex., represent nearly 29 million citizens in 35 states, according to Mayor Nickels's office. They are pledging to have their cities meet what would have been a binding requirement for the nation had the Bush administration not rejected the Kyoto Protocol: a reduction in heat-trapping gas emissions to levels 7 percent below those of 1990, by 2012....
Atmosphere May Cleanse Itself Better than Previously Thought A research team from Purdue University and the University of California, San Diego has found that the Earth's atmosphere may be more effective at cleansing itself of smog and other damaging hydrocarbons than was once thought. Scientists, including Joseph S. Francisco, have learned that some naturally occurring atmospheric chemicals react with sunlight more effectively than previously thought to produce substances that "scrub" the air of smog. This group of chemicals, after absorbing energy from sunlight, is able to break down smog and other pollutants into far less harmful components. While many such chemicals have long been known to behave in this way - producing natural air cleaners called OH radicals - the chemicals the team studied have for the first time been observed to produce air-scrubbing OH radicals at low ultraviolet wavelengths. This observation has eluded science primarily because photochemistry at these wavelengths has been difficult to study....
It's All Trew: Right lubrication greases squeakiest of wheels Many classic Old West tales are similar in plot but different in location. The following tale has been told many times with the same plot but featuring different ranches, different characters and different tunes. The original story is probably true, but where it happened is anybody's guess. Our version here supposedly happened on the famed XIT Ranch. Among the varied backgrounds of early-day frontier settlers were many gifted musicians. Their talents were much appreciated by entertainment-starved neighbors. Another level of talent, prominent among cowboys and scattered settlers, featured those who ordered both musical instruments and directions of how to play from a catalog or pulp magazine advertisement....
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Old, New West clash on range It's no surprise then, that the county's latest hero is Kit Laney, a rebel rancher who has spent more than a decade fighting federal managers over his right to graze cattle on national forest land. The fact that Laney violated a federal court order, was found guilty of assaulting a Forest Service employee and served five months in federal prison has, if anything, only burnished his reputation. In this part of New Mexico, where the villains' hats are green, not black, Laney's case is a morality tale about how a New West is encroaching upon an old one. "Not all of us agree with everything he did, but we all admire him," said Laura Schneberger, a New Mexico rancher and one of Laney's neighbors. "So many of us who have been in his position have just walked away. He sent a message and got people to pay attention," she said. Laney's case has made few headlines outside the small towns in southern New Mexico, but for ranchers across the West, it has struck a chord. Michael Martin Murphey, the country-western star, has written a song about Laney that will be featured on his next recording, "Storm Over the Rangelands," meant to portray an industry in trouble because of overregulation....
Cow Mutilation Investigator Says Truth Is Out There Human researchers, not Martians, likely mysteriously mutilated cattle in the Southwest during the 1970s and 1980s. That's what a retired police officer tells Action 7 News. He would like to say more, but he says the topic is too "sensitive." "It's solved. I know who did it," said Gabe Valdez, a retired New Mexico State Police officer. "I don't want to go on too much, because it's so sensitive – the research that we're doing." "It's humans," he said, "not UFOs or Satanic groups or people from Mars – it was humans," Valdez said. "It's taken me 30 years to figure it out," Valdez said. "It has been solved as far as I'm concerned." Valdez said he believes researchers carried out the acts – using helicopters. He won't offer any clues as to who specifically killed the cattle....
Desert blooms This spring, it's a dislocating experience to climb one of the big rises of Interstate 70 overlooking the vast desert badlands of western Colorado and eastern Utah. They aren't there. A brilliant green sheen covers what's usually an endless expanse of perpetually parched tan and gray earth. "I've been looking for a spring like this for 75 years," said Waldo Wilcox, a Book Cliffs rancher who just retired to Green River. "It's never been this green. It's the prettiest I've ever seen."....
Using Cattle for Noxious Weed Control For many years sheep and goats have been used to control noxious weeds in various parts of the West; but is it possible to train cattle to eat noxious weeds without starving them to do so? Dr. Frederick D. Provenza, P.I., at Utah State University (USU) has been researching this possibility for the past 20 years in a livestock behavior modification program. Now, a field test at Grant Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site in Deer Lodge, Mont., has piqued the curiosity of a number of ranchers in the Deer Lodge Valley. USU project coordinator, Kathy Voth, says research and successful demonstrations in other areas indicate that behavior of livestock can be effectively modified and managed as an economical alternative to chemicals to enhance and maintain biodiversity in rangelands, restore pastures dominated by invasive plants, and improve wildlife habitat....
Charting vegetation with satellite-based system will help firefighters determine area's risk That computer will show with pinpoint accuracy what vegetation and fuel loads the Hotshots and hand crews will find at the fire. And if it's right, the chief can thank a bunch of volunteers who were out here last week filling in some gaps for the satellite-based system. It's called LANDFIRE — a $40 million effort by six federal agencies to figure out the fire risk for every inch of the country and map it. California and the West should be mapped by 2006, the rest of the country by 2009. Under the program, aerial maps covering most of the country will be divided into pixels, or dots, and coded. Each pixel represents a different land type, Jeske said: oak woodland, chaparral, grassland, old-growth forest and so on. And that's where the volunteer crew comes in. They are spending the summer verifying the conditions in individual pixels across the West. The information gets fed into a computer, and the program assigns the same information to similar pixels across the United States. "We're filling in the gaps," said Ron Hassel, LANDFIRE crew director for the Student Conservation Association, which was walking grass-covered hills of Mount Diablo State Park last week. A New Hampshire-based group that focuses on career and youth development through conservation, the SCA has teams working throughout the West to "ground truth" the federal program....
U.N. mulls the protection of Earth's forests The final meeting of the United Nations Forum on Forests, now under way, could result in firm commitments to protect the world's forests or, some environmentalists worry, merely an agreement to continue negotiations. One member of the U.S. delegation to the U.N. forum is international environmental policy expert Matthew Auer, who remains guardedly optimistic that the two-week negotiation will conclude with one or more concrete outcomes, such as a fund to help international organizations and countries protect the world's forests. The forum is scheduled to meet May 16 to 27 at U.N. Headquarters in Manhattan. The U.N. Forum on Forests was created by the U.N. Economic and Social Council in 2000. For this key, current meeting, members of the forum were asked to collect information on the state of the world's forests, to review the effectiveness of the current legally non-binding arrangement and, ultimately, to bolster international commitments to sustainable forest management....
Airtanker pilots sound rare warning about fleet From the father of aerial firefighting to pilots who recently flew through tornadoes of fiery debris in Southern California, aviators are saying the U.S. firefighting fleet is undergoing fundamental, long-term changes that may cost extra lives and homes especially in this populous state. The federal agencies' shift from troubled, aging big airtankers toward more helicopters and small, single-engine planes rather than finding new large airtankers is based on faulty fiscal conclusions and flawed accident statistics, according to several pilots breaking a 50-year-old code of silence in the wake of news reports. The Aerial Firefighting Industry Association, which represents 15 firms that supply planes, maintenance and pilots to government agencies, also is touting a decade-old National Air Tanker Study that showed an overwhelming benefit-to-cost ratio for big airtankers and envisioned a fleet of more than 40 modern aircraft by now....
Arctic oil search moves to new turf, new controversies One is a long-protected portion of Arctic Alaska where a vast freshwater lake is edged by marshes that draw migrating birds from as far as Mexico and Russia. The other is a national wildlife refuge straddling the Arctic Circle, a watery haven for moose, furry mammals, and waterfowl. But underneath both lie what may be some of the largest untapped pools of onshore oil and natural gas in the US. As a result, the two sites represent one of the next crucial frontiers in the nation's expanding energy wars. In many respects, the fight quietly emerging over the two areas - Teshekpuk Lake and the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge - parallels the protracted battle over the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). It is energy versus the environment, with elements of caribou and molting birds and native American culture mixed in....
Feedground phaseout proposal takes shape A proposal to phase out some of the state's elk feedgrounds is gaining strength through more details and more answers. But state officials still say there are too many unanswered questions, and critics say the pilot project is too much of a gamble for the state's wildlife. At issue is a proposal to phase out the three feedgrounds in the Gros Ventre River drainage east of Jackson Hole. These feedgrounds, said Lloyd Dorsey of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition and other supporters, are the most logical because there is winter range in the area for elk and more can be done to enhance that and additional habitat. What's more, a phaseout of these feedgrounds will serve the state, as it examines another management tool to eradicate brucellosis in wildlife and livestock, supporters say. They say the phaseout would work in concert with a pilot project calling for the capture and testing of elk at the Muddy Creek feedground near Pinedale. Elk testing positive for brucellosis will be killed. The combination of the two projects would allow the state to examine two different approaches and determine their effectiveness, they say....
Federal agency will try to shield plants in path of St. George growth The Fish and Wildlife Service has agreed to propose protecting critical habitat for two endangered plants that grow in southern Utah - including habitat in the path of a proposed freeway junction - as part of a legal settlement with a pair of environmental groups. The Center for Biological Diversity and Utah Native Plant Society sued the federal agency in September, demanding it designate critical habitat to protect the Holmgren milkvetch and Shivwits milkvetch, which grow almost exclusively near St. George. Tony Frates, a rare-plant coordinator with the Utah Native Plant Society, said both wildflowers are severely threatened by increasing development....
Arizona's roads being redesigned to protect wildlife Transportation officials are considering redesigning some of Arizona's roads to make them more wildlife-friendly. The changes are being aimed not just at preventing roadkills but at preserving connections for wild animals crossing roads from one large block of desert to another. Four major state highways in southern Arizona could be in line for new, wildlife-friendly designs in the next few years because of a grant just obtained by a Flagstaff researcher. That study will focus on how to make those and other roads in the state more hospitable to birds and mammals. Meanwhile, as much as $10 million could be spent over the next 20 years on making roads safer for wildlife under a plan that appears to be headed to the May 2006 ballot....
Kane sign deadline comes, goes The deadline set by the Bureau of Land Management for Kane County to remove its road signs from BLM-administered lands came and went on Monday. In response, BLM State Director Sally Wisely sent a letter to the Interior Department's regional solicitor requesting that it take legal action to compel Kane County to remove the signs and put back any BLM signs that it has taken out. Kane County began posting signs in February designating off-highway-vehicle (OHV) routes across BLM-administered land, and in March designated a new route through an area northeast of Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park that is being studied for potential wilderness designation. Most recently, the county posted an estimated 60 to 80 signs inside the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument along the Hole in the Rock Road and its vicinity, directing OHV users into areas the BLM had previously closed to off-road use....
Experimental releases scheduled to aid fish Flaming Gorge Dam will be releasing high flows of water into the Green River in the next few weeks to scour sediment below the dam and improve habitat for trout and endangered native fish species. The federal Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program has been working to save native fish in the region. Fish like the Colorado pike-minnow, razorback sucker, humpback chub and bonytail chub are under stress from dams, diversions and barriers, the project said. Also contributing to their decline are the introduction of nonnative competitors, plus fishing, parasites and pollutants, it said. Scientists hope the releases will flood some spots to increase fish habitat....
Rebuffing Bush, 132 Mayors Embrace Kyoto Rules Unsettled by a series of dry winters in this normally wet city, Mayor Greg Nickels has begun a nationwide effort to do something the Bush administration will not: carry out the Kyoto Protocol on global warming. Mr. Nickels, a Democrat, says 131 other likeminded mayors have joined a bipartisan coalition to fight global warming on the local level, in an implicit rejection of the administration's policy. The mayors, from cities as liberal as Los Angeles and as conservative as Hurst, Tex., represent nearly 29 million citizens in 35 states, according to Mayor Nickels's office. They are pledging to have their cities meet what would have been a binding requirement for the nation had the Bush administration not rejected the Kyoto Protocol: a reduction in heat-trapping gas emissions to levels 7 percent below those of 1990, by 2012....
Atmosphere May Cleanse Itself Better than Previously Thought A research team from Purdue University and the University of California, San Diego has found that the Earth's atmosphere may be more effective at cleansing itself of smog and other damaging hydrocarbons than was once thought. Scientists, including Joseph S. Francisco, have learned that some naturally occurring atmospheric chemicals react with sunlight more effectively than previously thought to produce substances that "scrub" the air of smog. This group of chemicals, after absorbing energy from sunlight, is able to break down smog and other pollutants into far less harmful components. While many such chemicals have long been known to behave in this way - producing natural air cleaners called OH radicals - the chemicals the team studied have for the first time been observed to produce air-scrubbing OH radicals at low ultraviolet wavelengths. This observation has eluded science primarily because photochemistry at these wavelengths has been difficult to study....
It's All Trew: Right lubrication greases squeakiest of wheels Many classic Old West tales are similar in plot but different in location. The following tale has been told many times with the same plot but featuring different ranches, different characters and different tunes. The original story is probably true, but where it happened is anybody's guess. Our version here supposedly happened on the famed XIT Ranch. Among the varied backgrounds of early-day frontier settlers were many gifted musicians. Their talents were much appreciated by entertainment-starved neighbors. Another level of talent, prominent among cowboys and scattered settlers, featured those who ordered both musical instruments and directions of how to play from a catalog or pulp magazine advertisement....
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Monday, May 16, 2005
NEWS RELEASE
MAY 16, 2005
Contacts:
Laurie Rule: 208-342-7024 ext. #8
Jon Marvel: 208-788-2290
Dr. Randy Hermann: 208-726-9781
WESTERN WATERSHEDS PROJECT AND DR. RANDALL HERMANN SUE THE SAWTOOTH NATIONAL FOREST OVER NEW GRAZING MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR 150,000 ACRES ON FOUR SHEEP ALLOTMENTS NEAR KETCHUM, IDAHO
On Friday, May 13, 2005, conservation group Western Watersheds Project and Dr. Randall Hermann filed suit against the U.S. Forest Service, alleging that the agency’s new grazing management plan covering over 150,000 acres of the Sawtooth National Forest violates federal law. The Plaintiffs claim that the Forest Service did not adequately assess the environmental impacts of sheep grazing within the Sawtooth National Recreation Area and surrounding forest lands, and is allowing excessive grazing that will continue to harm fish and wildlife and conflict with recreation use within this renowned area.
The four grazing allotments at issue occur in or adjacent to the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, which is highly valued for its natural resources and recreation opportunities. These allotments contain habitat for bull trout, steelhead, and salmon, which are listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act, as well as for sage grouse, wolves, and bighorn sheep. In addition, several of the streams in the allotments are eligible for designation as Wild and Scenic Rivers. Due to the natural scenery and diverse ecology of the area, the trails and campsites found throughout the allotments are popular with hikers, mountain bikers, horseback riders, and hunters.
The Forest Service acknowledges that sheep grazing in the area has damaged the streams and riparian areas, as well as the upland sagebrush habitat, and has caused conflicts with recreation users. Yet, according to Western Watershed Project’s lawsuit, the new grazing plan fails to adjust levels of grazing across most of these allotments to address this harm. And the plan continues to allow sheep to graze areas that the agency has determined should not be grazed, without even conducting an analysis of the environmental consequences. “The Forest Service is allowing the status quo to continue in order to satisfy the interests of a few livestock owners, while fish and wildlife and the public suffer the consequences,” stated Jon Marvel, executive director of Western Watersheds Project.
The lawsuit also alleges that the agency did not take a hard look at all of the environmental impacts from continued grazing in this renowned area. For instance, the agency denied any impacts would occur to bighorn sheep, despite the fact that the near-by population of bighorn has been decimated over the last fifteen years due to disease passed to them from domestic sheep. The Forest Service also quickly dismissed any impacts to human health arising from diseases carried by domestic sheep. Randy Hermann, a physician from Ketchum, Idaho who frequently recreates in the area, joined the lawsuit due to his concern about the risk to himself and others of contracting disease from sheep. “The Forest Service did not seriously consider the scientific and medical information that shows that sheep carry and can transmit dangerous diseases to humans,” said Dr. Hermann.
According to Laurie Rule, attorney for Advocates for the West, who represents Western Watersheds Project and Dr. Hermann in this case, “To comply with federal law, the Forest Service must make changes in their grazing plan that will ensure protection of fish, wildlife, vegetation, and recreation resources. At the very least, it must thoroughly assess the environmental impacts of its decision. Because it has not done so, we are asking the Court to set aside the new grazing plan for these four allotments.”
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MAY 16, 2005
Contacts:
Laurie Rule: 208-342-7024 ext. #8
Jon Marvel: 208-788-2290
Dr. Randy Hermann: 208-726-9781
WESTERN WATERSHEDS PROJECT AND DR. RANDALL HERMANN SUE THE SAWTOOTH NATIONAL FOREST OVER NEW GRAZING MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR 150,000 ACRES ON FOUR SHEEP ALLOTMENTS NEAR KETCHUM, IDAHO
On Friday, May 13, 2005, conservation group Western Watersheds Project and Dr. Randall Hermann filed suit against the U.S. Forest Service, alleging that the agency’s new grazing management plan covering over 150,000 acres of the Sawtooth National Forest violates federal law. The Plaintiffs claim that the Forest Service did not adequately assess the environmental impacts of sheep grazing within the Sawtooth National Recreation Area and surrounding forest lands, and is allowing excessive grazing that will continue to harm fish and wildlife and conflict with recreation use within this renowned area.
The four grazing allotments at issue occur in or adjacent to the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, which is highly valued for its natural resources and recreation opportunities. These allotments contain habitat for bull trout, steelhead, and salmon, which are listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act, as well as for sage grouse, wolves, and bighorn sheep. In addition, several of the streams in the allotments are eligible for designation as Wild and Scenic Rivers. Due to the natural scenery and diverse ecology of the area, the trails and campsites found throughout the allotments are popular with hikers, mountain bikers, horseback riders, and hunters.
The Forest Service acknowledges that sheep grazing in the area has damaged the streams and riparian areas, as well as the upland sagebrush habitat, and has caused conflicts with recreation users. Yet, according to Western Watershed Project’s lawsuit, the new grazing plan fails to adjust levels of grazing across most of these allotments to address this harm. And the plan continues to allow sheep to graze areas that the agency has determined should not be grazed, without even conducting an analysis of the environmental consequences. “The Forest Service is allowing the status quo to continue in order to satisfy the interests of a few livestock owners, while fish and wildlife and the public suffer the consequences,” stated Jon Marvel, executive director of Western Watersheds Project.
The lawsuit also alleges that the agency did not take a hard look at all of the environmental impacts from continued grazing in this renowned area. For instance, the agency denied any impacts would occur to bighorn sheep, despite the fact that the near-by population of bighorn has been decimated over the last fifteen years due to disease passed to them from domestic sheep. The Forest Service also quickly dismissed any impacts to human health arising from diseases carried by domestic sheep. Randy Hermann, a physician from Ketchum, Idaho who frequently recreates in the area, joined the lawsuit due to his concern about the risk to himself and others of contracting disease from sheep. “The Forest Service did not seriously consider the scientific and medical information that shows that sheep carry and can transmit dangerous diseases to humans,” said Dr. Hermann.
According to Laurie Rule, attorney for Advocates for the West, who represents Western Watersheds Project and Dr. Hermann in this case, “To comply with federal law, the Forest Service must make changes in their grazing plan that will ensure protection of fish, wildlife, vegetation, and recreation resources. At the very least, it must thoroughly assess the environmental impacts of its decision. Because it has not done so, we are asking the Court to set aside the new grazing plan for these four allotments.”
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NEWS ROUNDUP
Protecting the Front for the future Ron and Linda Ingersoll don't want things to change on their ranch, where the prairie gives way to jagged peaks and the guests range from sandhill cranes to grizzly bears. They want to make sure the ranch west of Bowman's Corner off Highway 200 remains a rugged place for wildlife and Western lifestyles — and never ends up subdivided for expensive vacation homes. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agrees. The agency wants to link private property, such as that owned by the Ingersolls, with other land along the eastern edge of the Continental Divide to form the Rocky Mountain Front Conservation Area. It would create a permanent safe haven for the bounty of wildlife within a 918,000-acre perimeter — an area just slightly smaller than Glacier National Park. Officials stress the proposal — which is already drawing fire from some landowners — does not create more wilderness or a monument, take land off the tax rolls, or prohibit oil and gas development on private land....Also see What is an easement and how does it work? and Who are the easement players?....
Scientists prepare to unveil grasslands report For two years, eight experts have been poring over complex data in search of the best way to manage grazing on North Dakota's national grasslands. Their conclusion, after hundreds of hours of study and discussion, is set to be unveiled this week, and the ramifications likely will extend beyond the state's borders. Ranchers and environmentalists have argued over grazing rules for decades, with the U.S. Forest Service trying to find the proper balance among the many uses of the federal land. "There's a lot of emotions and a lot of issues beyond science," said Rod Backman, a consultant and former North Dakota budget director who serves as administrator for the eight-member scientific grasslands review team. The team's focus is on science, he said. Forest Service officials say the process, if successful, might be used in other parts of the country where there are conflicts over land management plans....
Thinking big about bison When it comes to Yellowstone National Park bison, nothing's ever easy. Now, things are getting even more complicated. State and federal officials want to build a 400-acre brucellosis quarantine facility just south of this Paradise Valley lake popular with both people and wildlife, on state land that was purchased for elk winter range. If it works, the quarantine project could, in about three years, produce certified disease-free animals that could be used to establish wild and free-ranging bison herds in various locations around the West. Across most of their native range, bison are "ecologically extinct."....
Wolf group seeks to find balance on hostile issue Utah's wolf management plan is going on the road this week, and the task force responsible for its creation is more than a little curious about how it will be received. Apprehensive, too. After a year and a half of work, the 13-member wolf working group - a collection of wolf advocates, sportsmen and ranchers - has produced the draft of a plan that sought to strike a balance between competing interests. In other words, how to manage and protect the wolves as they migrate into Utah while preventing livestock depredation and compensating ranchers whose animals fall prey to wolves. The wolf working group began meeting in 2003, after the Legislature passed a joint resolution authorizing the creation of a state wolf management plan as a prelude to the expected removal of wolves from the federal government's endangered species list - a move that would shift wolf oversight to the states....
Rare Mexican Gray Wolf Caught in N.M. Trap An endangered Mexican gray wolf that was part of a cattle-killing pack has been captured in the Gila National Forest. Six wild-born puppies, possibly wolf-dog hybrids, were euthanized. The healthy year-old male from the Francisco pack was captured in a trap Thursday and taken to the Sevilleta Wildlife Refuge north of Socorro, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said. The Fish and Wildlife Service ordered the killing of the pack because it had been preying on livestock in the Gila National Forest. It has killed four animals in the past several weeks. The wolf's parents are still being targeted, said service spokeswoman Elizabeth Slown....
Prosecutors drop case against man accused of stealing $25,000 antlers Prosecutors this week reluctantly dismissed felony charges against a Grand Junction man who was accused of stealing a set of giant antlers. Leland Jason Cox, 34, of 609 Starlight Drive, was arrested in late January after police allegedly found enormous elk antlers belonging to a New Zealand man in his home along with evidence he was trying to sell them on the Internet. The antlers, which were about 5 feet tall and weighed about 75 pounds each, were reportedly worth more than $25,000. Cox said he unknowingly traded a large set of typical elk antlers to a California man, who purported that he owned the allegedly stolen nontypical antlers....
New Braunfels buzzards targeted The city is done playing around with the flocks of vultures that roost in Landa Park. Officials expect to start a program of trapping and killing the unwanted residents next week, according to Park Ranger Superintendent Roger Dolle. The black vultures are protected by the federal Migratory Bird Act. However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services has a permit granted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to kill a certain number of buzzards every year, said Wildlife Services biologist Vivian Prothro. "We are getting involved with vultures more and more as we speak," she said. "They tend to take up residence. When there are so many concentrated in one area, it can become a health and safety threat." The vultures' droppings could cause a lung infection called histoplasmosis or other diseases and could easily be washed into the Comal River, which runs through the park and is used by thousands of swimmers and tubers every day during the summer....
Rey urges support of Bush roadless plan at Nevada conference Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey urged tourism officials to support the Bush administration's new plan for national forest "roadless areas," saying it would protect most of the acreage. "It's my prediction they'll protect most of the areas" specified under Clinton's 2001 order, said Rey, who directs the nation's forest policy. "We hope to bring the issue to closure once and for all." Rey's remarks came Sunday at the opening of a three-day conference being held by the Western States Tourism Policy Council, which represents 11 states on tourism issues. Rey said past attempts to resolve the fate of roadless areas with a nationwide rule have failed, and that's why the Bush administration is taking a new approach....
Timber towns get federal lift Depressed timber towns in the Northwest will see at least $50 million of new investment in restoring cutover forests through a federal program usually focused on reviving blighted urban neighborhoods. The federal government Wednesday gave $50 million in tax credits to Portland-based Ecotrust, a nonprofit that is changing the conventions of conservation. Ecotrust has begun buying forests to restore their wildlife and other values through careful logging that maintains older and larger trees. Its goal is to cut trees at a sustainable rate that supports low-income, rural communities but also retains the natural role of forests vital to the region, said Bettina von Hagen, vice president of Ecotrust's natural capital fund and forestry program....
Land-grant movement After decades of inaction, fight is gaining traction Momentum is building to transfer federal lands in New Mexico to the heirs of Spanish and Mexican land grants. Descendants of families who received government grants of land before New Mexico was annexed to the United States say that's the only way to correct injustices caused when their ancestors lost control of some of their properties. While the prospect of fencing off forests and streams now open to the public riles many who aren't land-grant heirs, Gov. Bill Richardson and the New Mexico Legislature are urging Congress to transfer lands from the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management to land-grant heirs....
A River Rises to Reclaim Its Past A series of short siren blasts signaled a climactic moment in a decades-long battle over the Trinity River, which, like so many rivers in California, has lost much of its water, its fish and its freedom. As a gate lifted on the small concrete Lewiston Dam, about an hour's winding drive west of Redding, water spilled down an apron into the Trinity. Federal dam managers, who have spent the last 40 years sucking water from the river and sending most of its flow to the farm fields of the Central Valley, were letting the Trinity go. The river ran frothy and aqua-green, knocking down willow trees along its banks, muscling over its sandy shoulders and roaring under bridges. It was fast. It was rambunctious. For four days, it was its old self. The water release, which tapered over the weekend, is key to one of the most ambitious river restoration efforts in the West, intended to revive the Trinity's long-suffering salmon and steelhead runs....
Old Foes Soften to New Reactors Several of the nation's most prominent environmentalists have gone public with the message that nuclear power, long taboo among environmental advocates, should be reconsidered as a remedy for global warming. Their numbers are still small, but they represent growing cracks in what had been a virtually solid wall of opposition to nuclear power among most mainstream environmental groups. In the past few months, articles in publications like Technology Review, published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Wired magazine have openly espoused nuclear power, angering other environmental advocates. Stewart Brand, a founder of the Whole Earth Catalog and the author of "Environmental Heresies," an article in the May issue of Technology Review, explained the shift as a direct consequence of the growing anxiety about global warming and its links to the use of fossil fuel....
Column: Big Banks Green Goof CORPORATE concern about the environment is a fine thing. But there's a growing, and dangerous, trend among corporations to jump into bed with radical environmentalists — people who are intent on destroying the very free-enterprise system that their new-found bedmate represents. The latest industry group guilty of "sleeping with the enemy" is the nation's big banks. Specifically, Citigroup, Bank of America, and, most recently, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., have all adopted new environmental policies, at the behest of the ardently anti-capitalist Rainforest Action Network (RAN). RAN claims to promote "peaceable solutions," but its tactics include ugly protests at CEO's homes. And it was reportedly was among the prime organizers of the 1999 Seattle World Trade Organization protests and the resulting riots....
Column: Battlelines drawn with animal rights groups A new allaiance has been formed to try to take away your hunting heritage. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the Fund for Animals have joined together with a $ 96 million 2005 budget. Make no mistake about it, the alliance of these two groups is a huge threat to California hunters. They plan to specifically target archery hunting, as well as other types of hunting, while also focusing on state and federal laws and ballot initiatives that protect animals. Hunters must be aware of the devastating impact the HSUS and Fund for Animals missions could have on California sportsmen and women....
Natural Gas Diesel May Cut Smog The rat's nest of pipes and columns snaking across the desert harbors a secret process that will use cobalt to turn natural gas into a powerful, clean-burning diesel fuel. By next year, rulers of this tiny desert sheikdom hope, these gas-to-liquids (GTL) reactors under construction will bring in billions of dollars while clearing big city smog belched by trucks and buses. In all, some $20 billion has been committed to build an unprecedented array of clean diesel plants in this Gulf shore industrial park. Those chipping in include oil titans Royal Dutch/Shell Group, ChevronTexaco and Exxon Mobil, which is making a $7 billion bet on GTL, the largest investment in the corporate history of America's largest company....
Taking Liberty Finally, there is a way to learn how to "connect the dots" between the Wildlands Project, the United Nations, Heritage Areas, and Sustainable Development. Dr. Michael Coffman has developed a fantastic presentation that leads the viewer through the maze of issues that are so confusing. A brand new web site, http://takingliberty.us, presents a concise, comprehensive story, showing exactly how the proponents of land-use control have been able to develop policies at the international level, and implement those policies through federal, state, and local legislation and regulatons. The presentation begins with the master plan, and demonstrates how the government and NGOs are involved, and how the plan impacts private property rights. It discusses GAP Analysis, Greenlining, Conservation Easements, the Endangered Species Act, Roadless Areas, and, using maps, demonstrates how all these initiatives fit into the implementation of the master plan....
Future Unclear on $2 Billion-a-Year US Land Reserve A vast amount of fragile land set aside for a taxpayer-funded conservation program that pays US farmers $2 billion a year is about to lose its protected status, and environmentalists are demanding changes to bring more soil, water and wildlife benefits at a lower cost. Lawmakers have yet to discuss any major changes in the 34.9 million acre Conservation Reserve program. The US Agriculture Department may not decide until later this year how to handle the looming turn-over of land. The reserve pays farmers to retire fragile land that is vulnerable to erosion, needed to filter and improve water quality, or enhance wildlife habitat. Growers are required to plant grasses or trees as permanent ground cover. Five states in the cattle and wheat-growing Great Plains account for 45 percent of land in the reserve....
Haskell Ranch is gone but history remains Before the freeway, fast food row and master-planned communities, ranches covered the San Gorgonio Pass. They had names like Circle C, Barker and Stewart. But most spreads vanished years ago. Today, only a few vestiges survive. And they're fast disappearing. About 10 buildings remain at the former Haskell Ranch -- one of the legendary spreads in the Pass. Now, bulldozers roam the land grading for more homes at Oak Valley. Within about two weeks, demolition crews will have cleared all the buildings from the onetime ranch. But a rich history will live on....
Social activities enlivened Kimberly's earliest days One hundred years ago today the pioneers of Kimberly had a party. The occasion was the arrival of the first building in the new, un-surveyed little town. Water had just come onto the virgin land, and irrigating had begun in earnest, but, nonetheless, more than 50 farm couples from the surrounding area took part in an old-fashioned "hoe down" at the Stockgrowers' Mercantile Company's store. Never mind that the building, which had been hauled from Milner, had been set up in the center of what would become a street, and later would have to "continue its journey a little farther" to get it on the proper lot. At the party, food cooked over a sagebrush fire was served, after which the Twin Falls Land and Water Company's agricultural "superintendent," Alex McPherson, spoke to the farmer's wives about dairying and gardening. Dancing began at 10 p.m. to melodies played by the Swydenski orchestra from Twin Falls....
Jay Walley - in prison - and the Feds didn't do it! J. Zane Walley is in prison. Not a prison made with concrete and iron bars. His agile and creative mind is alive and well, captured inside a body that has malfunctioned. The degree of his recuperation from his stroke of November, 2003, has surprised the doctors, and defied the odds. But, he is still a prisoner. Physically, he works out daily, on five machines that Sarah has installed in their small adobe house. In fact, he told us that she uses a cattle prod to make him stay on those machines, and get his daily exercise! Mentally, he is alert, he understands what's going on around him. He is still driven with a passion for Liberty. But, he cannot speak about it. And, that is his prison. Jay is able to say a few words, then he gets a block, and gets very frustrated. Sarah is the very model of a supportive and loving wife, and it is an inspiration to watch her. He has a little hand-held computerized communicator, "Say it, Sam." He can touch a phrase with a stylus, and it speaks pre-written phrases for him....
Famed gun on display A piece of American history that disappeared for more than 100 years will be on public display today — for the first time since 1847 — at the Army Heritage and Education Center in Middlesex Township. The original air rifle used by Captain Meriwether Lewis of the famed Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804 has been rediscovered and it will be available for public view for the next six months in Carlisle's backyard. The rifle, considered cutting-edge technology at the time Lewis carried it on his cross-country journey, is often mentioned in journal accounts of the trip. Lewis and Clark journal entries show that the air rifle was used to impress the American Indian tribes the team encountered. The rifle fired a .40 caliber lead ball, but without using powder and without making a sound. "It's one of the most famous guns in American history," says John Giblin, chief curator for the Army Heritage Museum....
On The Edge Of Common Sense: Nobody loves you like your mama If you find yourself drivin' down a highway this spring through cow country, it's possible you'll spot a bunch of cows walking along strung out in a line. But, you'll notice none of their little calves are with them. If you are a cow person, you already know that the mamas are not abandoning their babies. They are simply working mothers who have left them in Bovine Daycare. Somewhere back in the pasture you will find 10 to 20 calves lying in their nursery watched over by a keen-eyed mama cow. It is a demonstration of "mothering ability," a trait touted by certain raisers of purebred cattle....
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Protecting the Front for the future Ron and Linda Ingersoll don't want things to change on their ranch, where the prairie gives way to jagged peaks and the guests range from sandhill cranes to grizzly bears. They want to make sure the ranch west of Bowman's Corner off Highway 200 remains a rugged place for wildlife and Western lifestyles — and never ends up subdivided for expensive vacation homes. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agrees. The agency wants to link private property, such as that owned by the Ingersolls, with other land along the eastern edge of the Continental Divide to form the Rocky Mountain Front Conservation Area. It would create a permanent safe haven for the bounty of wildlife within a 918,000-acre perimeter — an area just slightly smaller than Glacier National Park. Officials stress the proposal — which is already drawing fire from some landowners — does not create more wilderness or a monument, take land off the tax rolls, or prohibit oil and gas development on private land....Also see What is an easement and how does it work? and Who are the easement players?....
Scientists prepare to unveil grasslands report For two years, eight experts have been poring over complex data in search of the best way to manage grazing on North Dakota's national grasslands. Their conclusion, after hundreds of hours of study and discussion, is set to be unveiled this week, and the ramifications likely will extend beyond the state's borders. Ranchers and environmentalists have argued over grazing rules for decades, with the U.S. Forest Service trying to find the proper balance among the many uses of the federal land. "There's a lot of emotions and a lot of issues beyond science," said Rod Backman, a consultant and former North Dakota budget director who serves as administrator for the eight-member scientific grasslands review team. The team's focus is on science, he said. Forest Service officials say the process, if successful, might be used in other parts of the country where there are conflicts over land management plans....
Thinking big about bison When it comes to Yellowstone National Park bison, nothing's ever easy. Now, things are getting even more complicated. State and federal officials want to build a 400-acre brucellosis quarantine facility just south of this Paradise Valley lake popular with both people and wildlife, on state land that was purchased for elk winter range. If it works, the quarantine project could, in about three years, produce certified disease-free animals that could be used to establish wild and free-ranging bison herds in various locations around the West. Across most of their native range, bison are "ecologically extinct."....
Wolf group seeks to find balance on hostile issue Utah's wolf management plan is going on the road this week, and the task force responsible for its creation is more than a little curious about how it will be received. Apprehensive, too. After a year and a half of work, the 13-member wolf working group - a collection of wolf advocates, sportsmen and ranchers - has produced the draft of a plan that sought to strike a balance between competing interests. In other words, how to manage and protect the wolves as they migrate into Utah while preventing livestock depredation and compensating ranchers whose animals fall prey to wolves. The wolf working group began meeting in 2003, after the Legislature passed a joint resolution authorizing the creation of a state wolf management plan as a prelude to the expected removal of wolves from the federal government's endangered species list - a move that would shift wolf oversight to the states....
Rare Mexican Gray Wolf Caught in N.M. Trap An endangered Mexican gray wolf that was part of a cattle-killing pack has been captured in the Gila National Forest. Six wild-born puppies, possibly wolf-dog hybrids, were euthanized. The healthy year-old male from the Francisco pack was captured in a trap Thursday and taken to the Sevilleta Wildlife Refuge north of Socorro, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said. The Fish and Wildlife Service ordered the killing of the pack because it had been preying on livestock in the Gila National Forest. It has killed four animals in the past several weeks. The wolf's parents are still being targeted, said service spokeswoman Elizabeth Slown....
Prosecutors drop case against man accused of stealing $25,000 antlers Prosecutors this week reluctantly dismissed felony charges against a Grand Junction man who was accused of stealing a set of giant antlers. Leland Jason Cox, 34, of 609 Starlight Drive, was arrested in late January after police allegedly found enormous elk antlers belonging to a New Zealand man in his home along with evidence he was trying to sell them on the Internet. The antlers, which were about 5 feet tall and weighed about 75 pounds each, were reportedly worth more than $25,000. Cox said he unknowingly traded a large set of typical elk antlers to a California man, who purported that he owned the allegedly stolen nontypical antlers....
New Braunfels buzzards targeted The city is done playing around with the flocks of vultures that roost in Landa Park. Officials expect to start a program of trapping and killing the unwanted residents next week, according to Park Ranger Superintendent Roger Dolle. The black vultures are protected by the federal Migratory Bird Act. However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services has a permit granted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to kill a certain number of buzzards every year, said Wildlife Services biologist Vivian Prothro. "We are getting involved with vultures more and more as we speak," she said. "They tend to take up residence. When there are so many concentrated in one area, it can become a health and safety threat." The vultures' droppings could cause a lung infection called histoplasmosis or other diseases and could easily be washed into the Comal River, which runs through the park and is used by thousands of swimmers and tubers every day during the summer....
Rey urges support of Bush roadless plan at Nevada conference Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey urged tourism officials to support the Bush administration's new plan for national forest "roadless areas," saying it would protect most of the acreage. "It's my prediction they'll protect most of the areas" specified under Clinton's 2001 order, said Rey, who directs the nation's forest policy. "We hope to bring the issue to closure once and for all." Rey's remarks came Sunday at the opening of a three-day conference being held by the Western States Tourism Policy Council, which represents 11 states on tourism issues. Rey said past attempts to resolve the fate of roadless areas with a nationwide rule have failed, and that's why the Bush administration is taking a new approach....
Timber towns get federal lift Depressed timber towns in the Northwest will see at least $50 million of new investment in restoring cutover forests through a federal program usually focused on reviving blighted urban neighborhoods. The federal government Wednesday gave $50 million in tax credits to Portland-based Ecotrust, a nonprofit that is changing the conventions of conservation. Ecotrust has begun buying forests to restore their wildlife and other values through careful logging that maintains older and larger trees. Its goal is to cut trees at a sustainable rate that supports low-income, rural communities but also retains the natural role of forests vital to the region, said Bettina von Hagen, vice president of Ecotrust's natural capital fund and forestry program....
Land-grant movement After decades of inaction, fight is gaining traction Momentum is building to transfer federal lands in New Mexico to the heirs of Spanish and Mexican land grants. Descendants of families who received government grants of land before New Mexico was annexed to the United States say that's the only way to correct injustices caused when their ancestors lost control of some of their properties. While the prospect of fencing off forests and streams now open to the public riles many who aren't land-grant heirs, Gov. Bill Richardson and the New Mexico Legislature are urging Congress to transfer lands from the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management to land-grant heirs....
A River Rises to Reclaim Its Past A series of short siren blasts signaled a climactic moment in a decades-long battle over the Trinity River, which, like so many rivers in California, has lost much of its water, its fish and its freedom. As a gate lifted on the small concrete Lewiston Dam, about an hour's winding drive west of Redding, water spilled down an apron into the Trinity. Federal dam managers, who have spent the last 40 years sucking water from the river and sending most of its flow to the farm fields of the Central Valley, were letting the Trinity go. The river ran frothy and aqua-green, knocking down willow trees along its banks, muscling over its sandy shoulders and roaring under bridges. It was fast. It was rambunctious. For four days, it was its old self. The water release, which tapered over the weekend, is key to one of the most ambitious river restoration efforts in the West, intended to revive the Trinity's long-suffering salmon and steelhead runs....
Old Foes Soften to New Reactors Several of the nation's most prominent environmentalists have gone public with the message that nuclear power, long taboo among environmental advocates, should be reconsidered as a remedy for global warming. Their numbers are still small, but they represent growing cracks in what had been a virtually solid wall of opposition to nuclear power among most mainstream environmental groups. In the past few months, articles in publications like Technology Review, published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Wired magazine have openly espoused nuclear power, angering other environmental advocates. Stewart Brand, a founder of the Whole Earth Catalog and the author of "Environmental Heresies," an article in the May issue of Technology Review, explained the shift as a direct consequence of the growing anxiety about global warming and its links to the use of fossil fuel....
Column: Big Banks Green Goof CORPORATE concern about the environment is a fine thing. But there's a growing, and dangerous, trend among corporations to jump into bed with radical environmentalists — people who are intent on destroying the very free-enterprise system that their new-found bedmate represents. The latest industry group guilty of "sleeping with the enemy" is the nation's big banks. Specifically, Citigroup, Bank of America, and, most recently, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., have all adopted new environmental policies, at the behest of the ardently anti-capitalist Rainforest Action Network (RAN). RAN claims to promote "peaceable solutions," but its tactics include ugly protests at CEO's homes. And it was reportedly was among the prime organizers of the 1999 Seattle World Trade Organization protests and the resulting riots....
Column: Battlelines drawn with animal rights groups A new allaiance has been formed to try to take away your hunting heritage. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the Fund for Animals have joined together with a $ 96 million 2005 budget. Make no mistake about it, the alliance of these two groups is a huge threat to California hunters. They plan to specifically target archery hunting, as well as other types of hunting, while also focusing on state and federal laws and ballot initiatives that protect animals. Hunters must be aware of the devastating impact the HSUS and Fund for Animals missions could have on California sportsmen and women....
Natural Gas Diesel May Cut Smog The rat's nest of pipes and columns snaking across the desert harbors a secret process that will use cobalt to turn natural gas into a powerful, clean-burning diesel fuel. By next year, rulers of this tiny desert sheikdom hope, these gas-to-liquids (GTL) reactors under construction will bring in billions of dollars while clearing big city smog belched by trucks and buses. In all, some $20 billion has been committed to build an unprecedented array of clean diesel plants in this Gulf shore industrial park. Those chipping in include oil titans Royal Dutch/Shell Group, ChevronTexaco and Exxon Mobil, which is making a $7 billion bet on GTL, the largest investment in the corporate history of America's largest company....
Taking Liberty Finally, there is a way to learn how to "connect the dots" between the Wildlands Project, the United Nations, Heritage Areas, and Sustainable Development. Dr. Michael Coffman has developed a fantastic presentation that leads the viewer through the maze of issues that are so confusing. A brand new web site, http://takingliberty.us, presents a concise, comprehensive story, showing exactly how the proponents of land-use control have been able to develop policies at the international level, and implement those policies through federal, state, and local legislation and regulatons. The presentation begins with the master plan, and demonstrates how the government and NGOs are involved, and how the plan impacts private property rights. It discusses GAP Analysis, Greenlining, Conservation Easements, the Endangered Species Act, Roadless Areas, and, using maps, demonstrates how all these initiatives fit into the implementation of the master plan....
Future Unclear on $2 Billion-a-Year US Land Reserve A vast amount of fragile land set aside for a taxpayer-funded conservation program that pays US farmers $2 billion a year is about to lose its protected status, and environmentalists are demanding changes to bring more soil, water and wildlife benefits at a lower cost. Lawmakers have yet to discuss any major changes in the 34.9 million acre Conservation Reserve program. The US Agriculture Department may not decide until later this year how to handle the looming turn-over of land. The reserve pays farmers to retire fragile land that is vulnerable to erosion, needed to filter and improve water quality, or enhance wildlife habitat. Growers are required to plant grasses or trees as permanent ground cover. Five states in the cattle and wheat-growing Great Plains account for 45 percent of land in the reserve....
Haskell Ranch is gone but history remains Before the freeway, fast food row and master-planned communities, ranches covered the San Gorgonio Pass. They had names like Circle C, Barker and Stewart. But most spreads vanished years ago. Today, only a few vestiges survive. And they're fast disappearing. About 10 buildings remain at the former Haskell Ranch -- one of the legendary spreads in the Pass. Now, bulldozers roam the land grading for more homes at Oak Valley. Within about two weeks, demolition crews will have cleared all the buildings from the onetime ranch. But a rich history will live on....
Social activities enlivened Kimberly's earliest days One hundred years ago today the pioneers of Kimberly had a party. The occasion was the arrival of the first building in the new, un-surveyed little town. Water had just come onto the virgin land, and irrigating had begun in earnest, but, nonetheless, more than 50 farm couples from the surrounding area took part in an old-fashioned "hoe down" at the Stockgrowers' Mercantile Company's store. Never mind that the building, which had been hauled from Milner, had been set up in the center of what would become a street, and later would have to "continue its journey a little farther" to get it on the proper lot. At the party, food cooked over a sagebrush fire was served, after which the Twin Falls Land and Water Company's agricultural "superintendent," Alex McPherson, spoke to the farmer's wives about dairying and gardening. Dancing began at 10 p.m. to melodies played by the Swydenski orchestra from Twin Falls....
Jay Walley - in prison - and the Feds didn't do it! J. Zane Walley is in prison. Not a prison made with concrete and iron bars. His agile and creative mind is alive and well, captured inside a body that has malfunctioned. The degree of his recuperation from his stroke of November, 2003, has surprised the doctors, and defied the odds. But, he is still a prisoner. Physically, he works out daily, on five machines that Sarah has installed in their small adobe house. In fact, he told us that she uses a cattle prod to make him stay on those machines, and get his daily exercise! Mentally, he is alert, he understands what's going on around him. He is still driven with a passion for Liberty. But, he cannot speak about it. And, that is his prison. Jay is able to say a few words, then he gets a block, and gets very frustrated. Sarah is the very model of a supportive and loving wife, and it is an inspiration to watch her. He has a little hand-held computerized communicator, "Say it, Sam." He can touch a phrase with a stylus, and it speaks pre-written phrases for him....
Famed gun on display A piece of American history that disappeared for more than 100 years will be on public display today — for the first time since 1847 — at the Army Heritage and Education Center in Middlesex Township. The original air rifle used by Captain Meriwether Lewis of the famed Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804 has been rediscovered and it will be available for public view for the next six months in Carlisle's backyard. The rifle, considered cutting-edge technology at the time Lewis carried it on his cross-country journey, is often mentioned in journal accounts of the trip. Lewis and Clark journal entries show that the air rifle was used to impress the American Indian tribes the team encountered. The rifle fired a .40 caliber lead ball, but without using powder and without making a sound. "It's one of the most famous guns in American history," says John Giblin, chief curator for the Army Heritage Museum....
On The Edge Of Common Sense: Nobody loves you like your mama If you find yourself drivin' down a highway this spring through cow country, it's possible you'll spot a bunch of cows walking along strung out in a line. But, you'll notice none of their little calves are with them. If you are a cow person, you already know that the mamas are not abandoning their babies. They are simply working mothers who have left them in Bovine Daycare. Somewhere back in the pasture you will find 10 to 20 calves lying in their nursery watched over by a keen-eyed mama cow. It is a demonstration of "mothering ability," a trait touted by certain raisers of purebred cattle....
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