FLE
Supporters of Patriot Act Suffer a Stinging Defeat in Senate
Supporters of the broad anti-terrorism law known as the USA Patriot Act suffered a stinging defeat in the Senate today, falling well short of the 60 votes needed to bring the act to a final vote and leaving it in limbo for the moment. After an emotional debate about the balance between national security and personal liberties and the very character of the republic, the Senate voted, 52 to 47, to end debate and take a yes-or-no vote on the law itself. But since 60 votes are required under Senate rules to end debate, the Patriot Act was left hanging. The House of Representatives voted, 251 to 174, last week in favor of the latest version of the bill, which had been worked out in negotiations between the two chambers. The measure that was passed in the House but stalled in the Senate today would make permanent 14 of 16 provisions that are set to expire at year's end, while putting in place additional judicial oversight and safeguards against abuse. Critics of the bill, who insist it does not go far enough to protect individual freedom and privacy, have called for extending the present bill for three months to allow further refinements. But House Republican leaders have so far resisted a three-month extension, as have Mr. Frist and the White House. Only two Democrats, Senators Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Tim Johnson of South Dakota, voted to end debate - that is, in favor of the bill. Several Republican senators voted against ending debate - in other words, against the bill. They were Mr. Craig, John Sununu of New Hampshire, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska....
Friday, December 16, 2005
FLE
Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts
Months after the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States to search for evidence of terrorist activity without the court-approved warrants ordinarily required for domestic spying, according to government officials. Under a presidential order signed in 2002, the intelligence agency has monitored the international telephone calls and international e-mail messages of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people inside the United States without warrants over the past three years in an effort to track possible "dirty numbers" linked to Al Qaeda, the officials said. The agency, they said, still seeks warrants to monitor entirely domestic communications. The previously undisclosed decision to permit some eavesdropping inside the country without court approval was a major shift in American intelligence-gathering practices, particularly for the National Security Agency, whose mission is to spy on communications abroad. As a result, some officials familiar with the continuing operation have questioned whether the surveillance has stretched, if not crossed, constitutional limits on legal searches. "This is really a sea change," said a former senior official who specializes in national security law. "It's almost a mainstay of this country that the N.S.A. only does foreign searches." Nearly a dozen current and former officials, who were granted anonymity because of the classified nature of the program, discussed it with reporters for The New York Times because of their concerns about the operation's legality and oversight....
Bush Authorized Domestic Spying
President Bush signed a secret order in 2002 authorizing the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on U.S. citizens and foreign nationals in the United States, despite previous legal prohibitions against such domestic spying, sources with knowledge of the program said last night. For more than four years, the NSA tasked other military intelligence agencies to assist its broad-based surveillance effort directed at people inside the country suspected of having terrorist connections, even before Bush signed the 2002 order that authorized the NSA program, according to an informed U.S. official. The effort, which began within days after the attacks, has consisted partly of monitoring domestic telephone conversations, e-mail and even fax communications of individuals identified by the NSA as having some connection to al Qaeda events or figures, or to potential terrorism-related activities in the United States, the official said. It has also involved teams of Defense Intelligence Agency personnel stationed in major U.S. cities conducting the type of surveillance typically performed by the FBI: monitoring the movements and activities -- through high-tech equipment -- of individuals and vehicles, the official said. The involvement of military personnel in such tasks was provoked by grave anxiety among senior intelligence officials after the 2001 suicide attacks that additional terrorist cells were present within U.S. borders and could only be discovered with the military's help, said the official, who had direct knowledge of the events. Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Security Studies at George Washington University, said the secret order may amount to the president authorizing criminal activity....
Terror case tests reach of federal power
The US is playing a shell game with one of the nation's most important - and perhaps dangerous - prisoners. Through aggressive legal tactics, the government has put alleged "dirty bomb" conspirator Jose Padilla through an odyssey unprecedented in American jurisprudence. In the 3-1/2 years since his arrest at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, the government has repeatedly asserted unilateral power in a way that has undercut Mr. Padilla's ability to defend himself. In addition, Justice Department lawyers have used that same unilateral power to help insulate their actions from the scrutiny of the judiciary - including the US Supreme Court. Critics see such tactics as a troubling symptom of the Bush adminstration's expansive view of presidential power. Supporters say the tactics are designed more to help win the war on terror than to win court battles. That government strategy has left unresolved a string of legal challenges raising some of the most fundamental issues of US constitutional law. They include the president's authority to name US citizens as "enemy combatants" in the war on terror and what rights, if any, protect such citizens. Now, 18 months later, Padilla's case is back before the Supreme Court. The justices are being asked to consider the merits of Padilla's arguments and, by extension, to judge the legality of the administration's actions. Many court watchers believe at least five of the justices are prepared to rule in Padilla's favor should the high court agree to take up his case. Concerned about that possibility, the government is urging the justices not to hear the Padilla case. But the Bush administration is exerting its unilateral power in an apparent attempt to render Padilla's Supreme Court challenge moot. Two days before the government's brief was due at the Supreme Court, the administration announced in a surprise move that it was ending its indefinite detention of Padilla as an enemy combatant. Instead, he would be relocated to a Miami lockup and charged for allegedly providing material support to terror groups....
Pentagon Will Review Database on U.S. Citizens
Pentagon officials said yesterday they had ordered a review of a program aimed at countering terrorist attacks that had compiled information about U.S. citizens, after reports that the database included information on peace protesters and others whose activities posed no threat and should not have been kept on file. The move followed an NBC News report Tuesday disclosing that a sample of about 1,500 "suspicious incidents" listed in the database included four dozen anti-war meetings or protests, some aimed at military recruiting. Although officials defended the Pentagon's interest in gathering information about possible threats to military bases and troops, one senior official acknowledged that a preliminary review of the database indicated that it had not been correctly maintained. "On the surface, it looks like things in the database that were determined not to be viable threats were never deleted but should have been," the official said. "You can also make the argument that these things should never have been put in the database in the first place until they were confirmed as threats." The program, known as Talon, compiles unconfirmed reports of suspected threats to defense facilities. It is part of a broader effort by the Pentagon to gather counterterrorism intelligence within the United States, which has prompted concern from civil liberties activists and members of Congress in recent weeks....
Feingold Now Has Numbers on His Side
In Congress, where numbers are everything, the math on the Patriot Act suddenly seems to be moving in favor of Sen. Russell Feingold. He was a minority of one four years ago, when the Wisconsin Democrat cast the lone Senate vote against the USA Patriot Act in the traumatic weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks. The law, he said then, gave government too much power to investigate its citizens. Ninety-nine senators disagreed. Now add more than two dozen senators to Feingold's side, including the leaders of his party and some of the chamber's most conservative Republicans, and the balance of power shifts. The new Senate arithmetic that emerged this week is enough to place the renewal of major portions of the law in doubt. It was enough to inspire Senate Republican leaders to consider a backup plan in case Feingold's filibuster threat succeeded. Enough to prompt President Bush to dispatch Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to Capitol Hill twice in two days to lobby on the accord's behalf. No luck so far, said the chief Senate sponsor. "We've got a battle on our hands," Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., told reporters after Gonzales had departed Wednesday. Bush weighed in personally Thursday, urging opponents of the renewal to abandon the filibuster threats....
How Congress Has Assaulted Our Freedoms in the Patriot Act
The compromise version of the Patriot Act to which House and Senate conferees agreed last week and for which the House voted yesterday is an unforgivable assault on basic American values and core constitutional liberties. Unless amended in response to the courageous efforts of a few dozen senators from both parties, the new Patriot Act will continue to give federal agents the power to write their own search warrants – the statute’s newspeak terminology calls them "national security letters" – and serve them on a host of persons and entities that regularly gather and store sensitive, private information on virtually every American. Congress once respected the Fourth Amendment until it began cutting holes in it. Before Congress enacted the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in 1977, Americans and even non-citizens physically present here enjoyed the right to privacy guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment. That Amendment, which was written out of a revulsion to warrants that let British soldiers look for any tangible thing anywhere they chose, specifically requires that the government demonstrate to a judge and the judge specifically find the existence of probable cause of criminal activity on the part of the person whose property the government wishes to search. The Fourth Amendment commands that only a judge can authorize a search warrant. FISA unconstitutionally changed the probable cause of criminality requirement to probable cause of employment by a foreign government, hostile or friendly. Under FISA, if the government can demonstrate the foreign agency or employment status of the person whose things it wishes to search, the secret FISA court will issue the search warrant. But even FISA respects constitutional liberty, since it prohibits prosecutions based on evidence obtained from these warrants. Thus, if a FISA warrant reveals that the embassy janitor is really a spy who beats his wife, he would not and could not be prosecuted for either crime because the evidence of his crimes was obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment’s requirement of a judicial finding of probable cause of criminal activity. Instead of being prosecuted, he would be deported. A year later in 1978, cutting yet another hole in the Fourth Amendment, Congress revealed its distaste for fidelity to the Constitution and its ignorance of the British government’s abuse of the colonists by enacting the Orwellian–named, Right to Financial Privacy Act. This statute, for the first time in American history, let federal agents write their own search warrants, but limited the subjects of those warrants to financial institutions. Just like FISA, it recognized the unconstitutional nature of evidence obtained by a self-written search warrant, and banned the use of such evidence in criminal prosecutions....
Dead Man Tells No Tales
Two air marshals gunned down an American citizen last week in Miami, and most of the establishment media seemingly couldn't care less. Immediately after 44-year-old Rigoberto Alpizar died on December 7 in a hail of bullets from two air marshals, Dave Adams, a spokesman for the Federal Air Marshal Service told CNN that Alpizar had shouted "I have a bomb in my bag" while running up and down the aisle of an American Airlines plane as it sat on the runway. This was the version of events that the vast majority of the media repeated unquestioningly in the first days after the killing. However, online articles on December 8 by Time.com and CNN.com contained quotes from passengers debunking the feds' story. The Orlando Sentinel reported on December 9, "Seven passengers interviewed by the Orlando Sentinel—seated in both the front and rear of the main passenger cabin—said Alpizar was silent as he ran past them on his way to the exit." No passenger the Sentinel spoke to offered any account akin to what the feds claimed. It is not yet clear exactly what happened at Miami International Airport. But the primary justification the feds offered for using deadly force did not survive even two full news cycles....
Rigoberto, Requiesce in Pace
The government tried to paint Mr. Alpizar as aggressive, the sort anyone might reasonably mistake for a terrorist; his neighbors and family slashed that portrait. "Rigo Alpizar was a loving, gentle and caring husband, uncle, brother, son and friend," his sister-in-law told CNN, while a neighbor described him to Florida's Sun Sentinel: "He was a nice guy, always smiling, always talkative. Everybody is talking about a guy I know nothing about." A second neighbor echoed that: he was "very friendly and helpful to people around the neighborhood ... a very pleasant person, he and his wife both." As if this weren't enough, the couple was returning from a missionary trip to Ecuador, during which they assisted Mrs. Alpizar's uncle, a volunteer dentist. It seems that Rigo was about as far as he could get from the Al Qaeda terrorist the air marshals want us to think they perceived. The Alpizars had arrived in Miami's airport from South America, endured the rude, hostile welcome of US Customs, and were catching a connecting flight home to Orlando – a flight which tragically included two air marshals among its passengers. Rigo suffered from a bipolar disorder. He was already agitated when he boarded the plane, but in the final moments before the jet pulled away from the gate, his anxiety became so acute he bolted from his seat and ran for the door. And why not? Everything connected with American aviation anymore traumatizes those in perfect emotional health, let alone anyone struggling with bipolarism....
US no-fly list vexes travellers
Sarah Zapolsky was checking in for a flight to Italy when she discovered her 9-month-old son's name was on the United States' "no-fly" list of suspected terrorists. "We pointed down to the stroller, and he sat there and gurgled," Zapolsky said, recalling the incident at Dulles International Airport outside Washington in July. "The desk agent started laughing. ... She couldn't print us out a boarding pass because he's on the no-fly list." Zapolsky, who did not want her son's name made public, said she was initially amused by the mix-up. "But when I found out you can't actually get off the list, I started to get a bit annoyed." Zapolsky isn't alone. According to the Transportation Security Administration, more than 28,000 people have applied to the TSA redress office to get on the "cleared list", which takes note of individuals whose names are similar to those on the terrorism watch list, but does not guarantee an end to no-fly list hassles....
Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts
Months after the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States to search for evidence of terrorist activity without the court-approved warrants ordinarily required for domestic spying, according to government officials. Under a presidential order signed in 2002, the intelligence agency has monitored the international telephone calls and international e-mail messages of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people inside the United States without warrants over the past three years in an effort to track possible "dirty numbers" linked to Al Qaeda, the officials said. The agency, they said, still seeks warrants to monitor entirely domestic communications. The previously undisclosed decision to permit some eavesdropping inside the country without court approval was a major shift in American intelligence-gathering practices, particularly for the National Security Agency, whose mission is to spy on communications abroad. As a result, some officials familiar with the continuing operation have questioned whether the surveillance has stretched, if not crossed, constitutional limits on legal searches. "This is really a sea change," said a former senior official who specializes in national security law. "It's almost a mainstay of this country that the N.S.A. only does foreign searches." Nearly a dozen current and former officials, who were granted anonymity because of the classified nature of the program, discussed it with reporters for The New York Times because of their concerns about the operation's legality and oversight....
Bush Authorized Domestic Spying
President Bush signed a secret order in 2002 authorizing the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on U.S. citizens and foreign nationals in the United States, despite previous legal prohibitions against such domestic spying, sources with knowledge of the program said last night. For more than four years, the NSA tasked other military intelligence agencies to assist its broad-based surveillance effort directed at people inside the country suspected of having terrorist connections, even before Bush signed the 2002 order that authorized the NSA program, according to an informed U.S. official. The effort, which began within days after the attacks, has consisted partly of monitoring domestic telephone conversations, e-mail and even fax communications of individuals identified by the NSA as having some connection to al Qaeda events or figures, or to potential terrorism-related activities in the United States, the official said. It has also involved teams of Defense Intelligence Agency personnel stationed in major U.S. cities conducting the type of surveillance typically performed by the FBI: monitoring the movements and activities -- through high-tech equipment -- of individuals and vehicles, the official said. The involvement of military personnel in such tasks was provoked by grave anxiety among senior intelligence officials after the 2001 suicide attacks that additional terrorist cells were present within U.S. borders and could only be discovered with the military's help, said the official, who had direct knowledge of the events. Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Security Studies at George Washington University, said the secret order may amount to the president authorizing criminal activity....
Terror case tests reach of federal power
The US is playing a shell game with one of the nation's most important - and perhaps dangerous - prisoners. Through aggressive legal tactics, the government has put alleged "dirty bomb" conspirator Jose Padilla through an odyssey unprecedented in American jurisprudence. In the 3-1/2 years since his arrest at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, the government has repeatedly asserted unilateral power in a way that has undercut Mr. Padilla's ability to defend himself. In addition, Justice Department lawyers have used that same unilateral power to help insulate their actions from the scrutiny of the judiciary - including the US Supreme Court. Critics see such tactics as a troubling symptom of the Bush adminstration's expansive view of presidential power. Supporters say the tactics are designed more to help win the war on terror than to win court battles. That government strategy has left unresolved a string of legal challenges raising some of the most fundamental issues of US constitutional law. They include the president's authority to name US citizens as "enemy combatants" in the war on terror and what rights, if any, protect such citizens. Now, 18 months later, Padilla's case is back before the Supreme Court. The justices are being asked to consider the merits of Padilla's arguments and, by extension, to judge the legality of the administration's actions. Many court watchers believe at least five of the justices are prepared to rule in Padilla's favor should the high court agree to take up his case. Concerned about that possibility, the government is urging the justices not to hear the Padilla case. But the Bush administration is exerting its unilateral power in an apparent attempt to render Padilla's Supreme Court challenge moot. Two days before the government's brief was due at the Supreme Court, the administration announced in a surprise move that it was ending its indefinite detention of Padilla as an enemy combatant. Instead, he would be relocated to a Miami lockup and charged for allegedly providing material support to terror groups....
Pentagon Will Review Database on U.S. Citizens
Pentagon officials said yesterday they had ordered a review of a program aimed at countering terrorist attacks that had compiled information about U.S. citizens, after reports that the database included information on peace protesters and others whose activities posed no threat and should not have been kept on file. The move followed an NBC News report Tuesday disclosing that a sample of about 1,500 "suspicious incidents" listed in the database included four dozen anti-war meetings or protests, some aimed at military recruiting. Although officials defended the Pentagon's interest in gathering information about possible threats to military bases and troops, one senior official acknowledged that a preliminary review of the database indicated that it had not been correctly maintained. "On the surface, it looks like things in the database that were determined not to be viable threats were never deleted but should have been," the official said. "You can also make the argument that these things should never have been put in the database in the first place until they were confirmed as threats." The program, known as Talon, compiles unconfirmed reports of suspected threats to defense facilities. It is part of a broader effort by the Pentagon to gather counterterrorism intelligence within the United States, which has prompted concern from civil liberties activists and members of Congress in recent weeks....
Feingold Now Has Numbers on His Side
In Congress, where numbers are everything, the math on the Patriot Act suddenly seems to be moving in favor of Sen. Russell Feingold. He was a minority of one four years ago, when the Wisconsin Democrat cast the lone Senate vote against the USA Patriot Act in the traumatic weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks. The law, he said then, gave government too much power to investigate its citizens. Ninety-nine senators disagreed. Now add more than two dozen senators to Feingold's side, including the leaders of his party and some of the chamber's most conservative Republicans, and the balance of power shifts. The new Senate arithmetic that emerged this week is enough to place the renewal of major portions of the law in doubt. It was enough to inspire Senate Republican leaders to consider a backup plan in case Feingold's filibuster threat succeeded. Enough to prompt President Bush to dispatch Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to Capitol Hill twice in two days to lobby on the accord's behalf. No luck so far, said the chief Senate sponsor. "We've got a battle on our hands," Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., told reporters after Gonzales had departed Wednesday. Bush weighed in personally Thursday, urging opponents of the renewal to abandon the filibuster threats....
How Congress Has Assaulted Our Freedoms in the Patriot Act
The compromise version of the Patriot Act to which House and Senate conferees agreed last week and for which the House voted yesterday is an unforgivable assault on basic American values and core constitutional liberties. Unless amended in response to the courageous efforts of a few dozen senators from both parties, the new Patriot Act will continue to give federal agents the power to write their own search warrants – the statute’s newspeak terminology calls them "national security letters" – and serve them on a host of persons and entities that regularly gather and store sensitive, private information on virtually every American. Congress once respected the Fourth Amendment until it began cutting holes in it. Before Congress enacted the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in 1977, Americans and even non-citizens physically present here enjoyed the right to privacy guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment. That Amendment, which was written out of a revulsion to warrants that let British soldiers look for any tangible thing anywhere they chose, specifically requires that the government demonstrate to a judge and the judge specifically find the existence of probable cause of criminal activity on the part of the person whose property the government wishes to search. The Fourth Amendment commands that only a judge can authorize a search warrant. FISA unconstitutionally changed the probable cause of criminality requirement to probable cause of employment by a foreign government, hostile or friendly. Under FISA, if the government can demonstrate the foreign agency or employment status of the person whose things it wishes to search, the secret FISA court will issue the search warrant. But even FISA respects constitutional liberty, since it prohibits prosecutions based on evidence obtained from these warrants. Thus, if a FISA warrant reveals that the embassy janitor is really a spy who beats his wife, he would not and could not be prosecuted for either crime because the evidence of his crimes was obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment’s requirement of a judicial finding of probable cause of criminal activity. Instead of being prosecuted, he would be deported. A year later in 1978, cutting yet another hole in the Fourth Amendment, Congress revealed its distaste for fidelity to the Constitution and its ignorance of the British government’s abuse of the colonists by enacting the Orwellian–named, Right to Financial Privacy Act. This statute, for the first time in American history, let federal agents write their own search warrants, but limited the subjects of those warrants to financial institutions. Just like FISA, it recognized the unconstitutional nature of evidence obtained by a self-written search warrant, and banned the use of such evidence in criminal prosecutions....
Dead Man Tells No Tales
Two air marshals gunned down an American citizen last week in Miami, and most of the establishment media seemingly couldn't care less. Immediately after 44-year-old Rigoberto Alpizar died on December 7 in a hail of bullets from two air marshals, Dave Adams, a spokesman for the Federal Air Marshal Service told CNN that Alpizar had shouted "I have a bomb in my bag" while running up and down the aisle of an American Airlines plane as it sat on the runway. This was the version of events that the vast majority of the media repeated unquestioningly in the first days after the killing. However, online articles on December 8 by Time.com and CNN.com contained quotes from passengers debunking the feds' story. The Orlando Sentinel reported on December 9, "Seven passengers interviewed by the Orlando Sentinel—seated in both the front and rear of the main passenger cabin—said Alpizar was silent as he ran past them on his way to the exit." No passenger the Sentinel spoke to offered any account akin to what the feds claimed. It is not yet clear exactly what happened at Miami International Airport. But the primary justification the feds offered for using deadly force did not survive even two full news cycles....
Rigoberto, Requiesce in Pace
The government tried to paint Mr. Alpizar as aggressive, the sort anyone might reasonably mistake for a terrorist; his neighbors and family slashed that portrait. "Rigo Alpizar was a loving, gentle and caring husband, uncle, brother, son and friend," his sister-in-law told CNN, while a neighbor described him to Florida's Sun Sentinel: "He was a nice guy, always smiling, always talkative. Everybody is talking about a guy I know nothing about." A second neighbor echoed that: he was "very friendly and helpful to people around the neighborhood ... a very pleasant person, he and his wife both." As if this weren't enough, the couple was returning from a missionary trip to Ecuador, during which they assisted Mrs. Alpizar's uncle, a volunteer dentist. It seems that Rigo was about as far as he could get from the Al Qaeda terrorist the air marshals want us to think they perceived. The Alpizars had arrived in Miami's airport from South America, endured the rude, hostile welcome of US Customs, and were catching a connecting flight home to Orlando – a flight which tragically included two air marshals among its passengers. Rigo suffered from a bipolar disorder. He was already agitated when he boarded the plane, but in the final moments before the jet pulled away from the gate, his anxiety became so acute he bolted from his seat and ran for the door. And why not? Everything connected with American aviation anymore traumatizes those in perfect emotional health, let alone anyone struggling with bipolarism....
US no-fly list vexes travellers
Sarah Zapolsky was checking in for a flight to Italy when she discovered her 9-month-old son's name was on the United States' "no-fly" list of suspected terrorists. "We pointed down to the stroller, and he sat there and gurgled," Zapolsky said, recalling the incident at Dulles International Airport outside Washington in July. "The desk agent started laughing. ... She couldn't print us out a boarding pass because he's on the no-fly list." Zapolsky, who did not want her son's name made public, said she was initially amused by the mix-up. "But when I found out you can't actually get off the list, I started to get a bit annoyed." Zapolsky isn't alone. According to the Transportation Security Administration, more than 28,000 people have applied to the TSA redress office to get on the "cleared list", which takes note of individuals whose names are similar to those on the terrorism watch list, but does not guarantee an end to no-fly list hassles....
NEWS ROUNDUP
Copter that crashed was shooting cows A helicopter that crashed on Wednesday in eastern Kane County, injuring the six people on board, was on a mission to exterminate feral cows on the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Larry Crutchfield, a spokesman for the Bureau of Land Management, which administers the 1.9 million-acre monument, said Thursday that the French-built helicopter apparently crashed while trying to land on 50 Mile Mountain in a rugged and remote region of the park. Crutchfield said the BLM employees were shooting cattle in a herd of about 60 animals on a grazing allotment in the area. The feral cows were damaging rangeland, he said. The cows were deeded to the agency when their owner was unable to remove them from the land during a drought several years ago. The herd soon became feral. Crutchfield said it is damaging the range by grazing year-round. He said normally cattle are rotated on the allotments to avoid the stress to the landscape. Crutchfield said several attempts were made to remove the cows without shooting them. Those attempts included netting them from the air, tranquilizing them with darts and rounding them up. None of those measures worked because the animals - a hybrid between Brahma and longhorns - are too wild and aggressive....
Livestock deaths have experts at odds A two-year-old Black Angus bull. A full-grown cow. Ahtanum rancher Mark Herke could think of any number of predators that might have killed the 275-pound calf he'd found a couple of days earlier. But what, he wondered, could have killed animals as big as that bull? His only previous experience with cougars prior to these July 2005 incidents had been seeing one running through the field on the family's property, where generations of Herkes have lived since 1871. Herke was 8 years old at the time. So Herke had the animals X-rayed and autopsied and began researching cougar predatory behavior. And because of the wounds he found — the stripped muscles from the windpipe area, the deep fang puncture mark along the side of the neck, behind the jaw, the meat gone on one side of the face — he's adamant that the culprit was a cougar. Skip Caton, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife enforcement officer who responded to Herke's call, is just as convinced it wasn't....
Legal Wyo. wolf kills reach 37 Thirty-seven wolves were legally killed in Wyoming over the year that ended Sept. 30, nearly twice as many as the previous year. Thirteen wolves were killed in Park County. Most wolves killed in Park County were in the Meeteetse area, Craig Acres, district supervisor for the federal government’s Wildlife Services agency, told the Park County Predatory Animal Control Board on Monday. Meeteetse-area ranchers have a “chronic” problem with wolves, he said. “In the past two years, Park County went from one of the easiest counties to work to one of the most challenging, just because of wolves,” he said. Seven packs roam western Park County. Complaints about wolf depredation are also up, from seven in 1998 to 220 in the year that ended Sept. 30. Nearly 80 were verified cases of wolves killing livestock, according to Rod Krischke, state director of Wildlife Services....
Bison herd in the cross hairs at Yellowstone Today, bison are making a comeback. And in Yellowstone National Park, which boasts the largest free-roaming herd in North America, the population swelled this year to the park's biggest on record. Park officials estimate that more than 4,900 bison lived within park boundaries this year, an increase of more than 700 from 2004. But the bison may become the first casualty of their own success. In addition to other natural and human hazards, this year there is a hunt. The herd size is almost 2,000 more than a 2002 National Academy of Sciences report recommended that the park rangeland could support, and as winter sets in, many bison will stray outside the park's boundaries to escape deep snow to forage on public and private lands in Montana. That worries ranchers and livestock officials who are concerned that large numbers of bison will compete with domestic cattle for food....
Column: Wilderness Act Does Not Ban Mountain Biking More than a year ago an extensive analysis of the Wilderness Act of 1964 and subsequent Forest Service regulations concluded that Congress did not intend to ban mountain biking in designated Wilderness, but the report’s conclusion has apparently been lost in the wind. It has done nothing to change the current policy banning fat-tired bicycles; nor has it done anything to cool off the debate between hikers and mountain bikers. The treatise authored by Theodore J Stroll, a staff attorney at the Supreme Court of California, examines in the greatest detail every word in the Wilderness Act, congressional testimony on the Act, and a series of regulations written by the Forest Service, the federal agency charged with management and enforcement of the Act. At the end of the report, Stoll concludes: “The regulations appear to run counter to congressional intent.” In other words, Congress did not intend to ban mountain bikes from Wilderness trails. This report is not the ramblings of a hammerhead mountain biker feeling over-regulated. Instead, it’s professional, top-of-the-line legal research, which makes it sort of amazing it hasn’t gotten more traction in the debate between hikers and mountain bikers over Wilderness proposals....
The Grizzly Detective As nimbly as we can under 50-pound packs, we ease down a narrow trail toward a small creek, brushing away blueberry and mountain ash branches. I walk ahead of my two companions, listening, scenting the breeze, and studying the ground. And then, something in front of me stops me dead. I signal my friends Chuck Irestone and Larry Campbell to join me and point to a faint pattern of smooth imprints leading down the trail. My heart racing, I scan the woods and then cautiously follow the marks, stooping to examine a more distinct track. A tiny ridge separates the pad from four toe prints. The toe line is curved: the unmistakable track of a black bear. We breathe deeply, at once relieved and disappointed. We're looking for a grizzly bear. I've seen many hundreds of the humpbacked, silver-tipped animals in 35 years of studying them, and I never tire of the electric experience. But seeing one here in the Bitterroot, ground zero in the great modern-day grizzly debate, would be truly special. Finding a grizzly here would change everything about this landscape for years to come. Are they here or aren't they? That question has plagued people on both sides of the grizzly conservation wars for more than a decade. We know this much as we head into the mountains: Grizzlies were here, for thousands of years, in huge numbers....
BLM to speed wind-farm permit process The U.S. Bureau of Land Management will amend 52 land-use plans in nine western states, including eight in Utah, to streamline permits for developing wind energy, Interior Secretary Gale Norton announced Thursday. The agency has finished an overarching environmental study begun two years ago that shows wind farms on public lands could generate more than 3,200 megawatts of electricity, enough for nearly 1 million homes. The so-called Programmatic Environmental Impact Study of wind power on public lands will allow the BLM to issue wind energy permits in less than a year, instead of the two years the process has been taking. Specific sites will be evaluated further, but applicants won't have to replicate work already done for the environmental study....
Senate bill would create landowner incentives to preserve species Its introduction was a sign of growing interest in the Senate in tackling large-scale changes to the landmark 1973 law. While environmentalists credit the Endangered Species Act with saving species like the bald eagle, many farm and property rights groups contend its provisions get in the way of legitimate land uses and provoke lawsuits instead of helping plants and animals. The bill by Crapo and Lincoln includes a number of provisions designed to draw support from landowners, including the creation of committees they could sit on to help guide plans to help species. The bill also would set up "conservation banks" property owners could use to accumulate and trade credits for taking actions to help species, and would give property owners tax credits for actions to conserve or recover species....
Column: Bet on Las Vegas for Western solutions Solutions come slowly. One good one is the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act of 1998, the best arrangement any American community has ever secured to mitigate the impact of federal action. It auctioned Bureau of Management land rather than allowing its piecemeal disposal, and targeted the proceeds for regional projects. Now, there's money for capital improvements, conservation initiatives, development of parks, trails and natural areas in the county, and acquiring environmentally sensitive lands. Another is a 79-species habitat conservation plan for Clark County that compels developers to pay a $550 per-acre development fee to maintain habitat for endangered species such as the desert tortoise. This creative usage of the Endangered Species Act was born of necessity, but it has become a linchpin in the development of wilderness and recreational space in southern Nevada. It also creates a convergence between the environmental community and developers, and nowhere else in the country has such a consensus been forged. The world of water has changed and the Southern Nevada Water Authority should get much of the credit....
Park Service head won't drop mission Grappling with how much access Americans should get to 84 million acres of the nation's best scenery, National Park Service Director Fran Mainella draws flak from both sides in Congress as she finds herself in a fight to maintain her agency's main mission. "Success should not be determined exclusively by whether our resources look the way they did when the Pilgrims landed," said Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., who heads a House Resources parks subcommittee. "To allow public use and recreation means literally that parks cannot be preserved in a snapshot. ... For 40 years, the preservationists have really infiltrated the national park system." Mainella's bigger concern, though, is critics like Pearce, who questioned the purpose of the "nonimpairment standard" for managing parks. Mainella's deputy, Steve Martin, tried to assure him that the law works fine the way it is. But Mainella also sent Pearce a letter, telling him the law has "stood the test of time," protecting parks for generations....
Drafting the future of parks In 1916, Congress—recognizing the importance of preserving the country’s most unique and treasured natural lands—passed the National Park Service Organic Act. The act created the National Park Service and directed that the national parks be preserved “by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” For the better part of the past century, the National Park Service (NPS) has managed the parks and historic sites under its care with preservation of park resources as its primary guiding principal. Under current NPS management policy—adopted in 2001—conservation of park resources trumps recreational uses of the parks. But a new draft of NPS management policies crafted by officials within the U.S. Depart-ment of the Interior would, if adopted, diminish park protections and encourage commercial priorities in the nation’s parks....
New Human Footprint Map We humans use more than a third of Earth's land surface for agriculture. And as our population increases, that portion is growing. That's according to scientists from the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE) in Madison, Wisconsin. They presented their findings last week at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco. Watch a video showing how crop lands have expanded from the year 1700 to 2000. The scale of agricultural activity makes it one of the central forces of global environmental change. Navin Ramankutty, a member of the SAGE team, says, "the real question is: how can we continue to produce food from the land while preventing negative environmental consequences such as deforestation, water pollution and soil erosion?"....
Feds End Protection of Sonoma's Tiger Salamader The economic impact of protecting habitat for the endangered California tiger salamader in Sonoma County cannot be justified, federal wildlife managers said Wednesday. The decision is a reversal just since August, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed 74,223 acres as critical habitat for the yellow-and-black amphibian. Last month the service cut the proposed protected area to 21,298 acres. Now, the service says it will rely instead on a locally managed approach to protecting the Santa Rosa Plain population of the salamander. The service said it ultimately decided that 17,418 acres of the plain meet the criteria for critical habitat for the salamander, but that the most crucial area already is included in the Santa Rosa Plain Conservation Strategy completed last week by local agencies....
Scientists Sound Warning on Global Warming NASA has just announced that for the fourth year in a row, it has recorded the hottest annual global temperatures since reliable records started in the late 1800s. This year, 2005, tied for the hottest year ever with 1998 -- and 1998 was "an El Niño of the Century year -- and El Niños always make it hotter. If this had been an El Niño year, it would surely have been the hottest year of all," Dr. James Hansen, NASA earth sciences director, told ABC News. As is well-known by now, NASA reported at summer's end that, over the last 30 years, the Arctic's summer sea ice cover had melted back 30 percent. As a number of scientists have calculated, it could be completely gone long before the end of the century....
First shipment of U.S. beef reaches Japan The first shipment of U.S. beef in nearly two years arrived in Japan Friday after the easing of an import ban put in place amid concerns about mad cow disease, Japan's Health Ministry said. An agricultural organization said, meanwhile, that Japanese beef exports to the United States would also resume shortly. Japanese beef was banned four years ago over similar mad cow concerns. Japanese inspectors planned to check the shipment of about 4.6 tons of meat to see that it met government safety guidelines, quarantine official Yuji Kitayama said. They planned to confirm the age of the cows and ensure that the meat doesn't contain material from brains, spinal cords or other suspect parts. Friday's shipment to Japan was processed at Selma, Calif.-based Harris Ranch Beef Co. and imported by Marudai Food Co., which said it will not sell the meat to consumers but use it for internal testing. "We have not dealt with American beef in two years," company spokesman Tatsuo Sawai said. "We want to see what its taste is like, how tough it is, how tender. Our salesmen need to know this before they can start selling." Before the ban, Japan purchased more American beef than any other country in the world, buying $1.4 billion worth in 2003. Since then, Australia has surpassed the United States as the biggest beef exporter to Japan....
Copter that crashed was shooting cows A helicopter that crashed on Wednesday in eastern Kane County, injuring the six people on board, was on a mission to exterminate feral cows on the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Larry Crutchfield, a spokesman for the Bureau of Land Management, which administers the 1.9 million-acre monument, said Thursday that the French-built helicopter apparently crashed while trying to land on 50 Mile Mountain in a rugged and remote region of the park. Crutchfield said the BLM employees were shooting cattle in a herd of about 60 animals on a grazing allotment in the area. The feral cows were damaging rangeland, he said. The cows were deeded to the agency when their owner was unable to remove them from the land during a drought several years ago. The herd soon became feral. Crutchfield said it is damaging the range by grazing year-round. He said normally cattle are rotated on the allotments to avoid the stress to the landscape. Crutchfield said several attempts were made to remove the cows without shooting them. Those attempts included netting them from the air, tranquilizing them with darts and rounding them up. None of those measures worked because the animals - a hybrid between Brahma and longhorns - are too wild and aggressive....
Livestock deaths have experts at odds A two-year-old Black Angus bull. A full-grown cow. Ahtanum rancher Mark Herke could think of any number of predators that might have killed the 275-pound calf he'd found a couple of days earlier. But what, he wondered, could have killed animals as big as that bull? His only previous experience with cougars prior to these July 2005 incidents had been seeing one running through the field on the family's property, where generations of Herkes have lived since 1871. Herke was 8 years old at the time. So Herke had the animals X-rayed and autopsied and began researching cougar predatory behavior. And because of the wounds he found — the stripped muscles from the windpipe area, the deep fang puncture mark along the side of the neck, behind the jaw, the meat gone on one side of the face — he's adamant that the culprit was a cougar. Skip Caton, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife enforcement officer who responded to Herke's call, is just as convinced it wasn't....
Legal Wyo. wolf kills reach 37 Thirty-seven wolves were legally killed in Wyoming over the year that ended Sept. 30, nearly twice as many as the previous year. Thirteen wolves were killed in Park County. Most wolves killed in Park County were in the Meeteetse area, Craig Acres, district supervisor for the federal government’s Wildlife Services agency, told the Park County Predatory Animal Control Board on Monday. Meeteetse-area ranchers have a “chronic” problem with wolves, he said. “In the past two years, Park County went from one of the easiest counties to work to one of the most challenging, just because of wolves,” he said. Seven packs roam western Park County. Complaints about wolf depredation are also up, from seven in 1998 to 220 in the year that ended Sept. 30. Nearly 80 were verified cases of wolves killing livestock, according to Rod Krischke, state director of Wildlife Services....
Bison herd in the cross hairs at Yellowstone Today, bison are making a comeback. And in Yellowstone National Park, which boasts the largest free-roaming herd in North America, the population swelled this year to the park's biggest on record. Park officials estimate that more than 4,900 bison lived within park boundaries this year, an increase of more than 700 from 2004. But the bison may become the first casualty of their own success. In addition to other natural and human hazards, this year there is a hunt. The herd size is almost 2,000 more than a 2002 National Academy of Sciences report recommended that the park rangeland could support, and as winter sets in, many bison will stray outside the park's boundaries to escape deep snow to forage on public and private lands in Montana. That worries ranchers and livestock officials who are concerned that large numbers of bison will compete with domestic cattle for food....
Column: Wilderness Act Does Not Ban Mountain Biking More than a year ago an extensive analysis of the Wilderness Act of 1964 and subsequent Forest Service regulations concluded that Congress did not intend to ban mountain biking in designated Wilderness, but the report’s conclusion has apparently been lost in the wind. It has done nothing to change the current policy banning fat-tired bicycles; nor has it done anything to cool off the debate between hikers and mountain bikers. The treatise authored by Theodore J Stroll, a staff attorney at the Supreme Court of California, examines in the greatest detail every word in the Wilderness Act, congressional testimony on the Act, and a series of regulations written by the Forest Service, the federal agency charged with management and enforcement of the Act. At the end of the report, Stoll concludes: “The regulations appear to run counter to congressional intent.” In other words, Congress did not intend to ban mountain bikes from Wilderness trails. This report is not the ramblings of a hammerhead mountain biker feeling over-regulated. Instead, it’s professional, top-of-the-line legal research, which makes it sort of amazing it hasn’t gotten more traction in the debate between hikers and mountain bikers over Wilderness proposals....
The Grizzly Detective As nimbly as we can under 50-pound packs, we ease down a narrow trail toward a small creek, brushing away blueberry and mountain ash branches. I walk ahead of my two companions, listening, scenting the breeze, and studying the ground. And then, something in front of me stops me dead. I signal my friends Chuck Irestone and Larry Campbell to join me and point to a faint pattern of smooth imprints leading down the trail. My heart racing, I scan the woods and then cautiously follow the marks, stooping to examine a more distinct track. A tiny ridge separates the pad from four toe prints. The toe line is curved: the unmistakable track of a black bear. We breathe deeply, at once relieved and disappointed. We're looking for a grizzly bear. I've seen many hundreds of the humpbacked, silver-tipped animals in 35 years of studying them, and I never tire of the electric experience. But seeing one here in the Bitterroot, ground zero in the great modern-day grizzly debate, would be truly special. Finding a grizzly here would change everything about this landscape for years to come. Are they here or aren't they? That question has plagued people on both sides of the grizzly conservation wars for more than a decade. We know this much as we head into the mountains: Grizzlies were here, for thousands of years, in huge numbers....
BLM to speed wind-farm permit process The U.S. Bureau of Land Management will amend 52 land-use plans in nine western states, including eight in Utah, to streamline permits for developing wind energy, Interior Secretary Gale Norton announced Thursday. The agency has finished an overarching environmental study begun two years ago that shows wind farms on public lands could generate more than 3,200 megawatts of electricity, enough for nearly 1 million homes. The so-called Programmatic Environmental Impact Study of wind power on public lands will allow the BLM to issue wind energy permits in less than a year, instead of the two years the process has been taking. Specific sites will be evaluated further, but applicants won't have to replicate work already done for the environmental study....
Senate bill would create landowner incentives to preserve species Its introduction was a sign of growing interest in the Senate in tackling large-scale changes to the landmark 1973 law. While environmentalists credit the Endangered Species Act with saving species like the bald eagle, many farm and property rights groups contend its provisions get in the way of legitimate land uses and provoke lawsuits instead of helping plants and animals. The bill by Crapo and Lincoln includes a number of provisions designed to draw support from landowners, including the creation of committees they could sit on to help guide plans to help species. The bill also would set up "conservation banks" property owners could use to accumulate and trade credits for taking actions to help species, and would give property owners tax credits for actions to conserve or recover species....
Column: Bet on Las Vegas for Western solutions Solutions come slowly. One good one is the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act of 1998, the best arrangement any American community has ever secured to mitigate the impact of federal action. It auctioned Bureau of Management land rather than allowing its piecemeal disposal, and targeted the proceeds for regional projects. Now, there's money for capital improvements, conservation initiatives, development of parks, trails and natural areas in the county, and acquiring environmentally sensitive lands. Another is a 79-species habitat conservation plan for Clark County that compels developers to pay a $550 per-acre development fee to maintain habitat for endangered species such as the desert tortoise. This creative usage of the Endangered Species Act was born of necessity, but it has become a linchpin in the development of wilderness and recreational space in southern Nevada. It also creates a convergence between the environmental community and developers, and nowhere else in the country has such a consensus been forged. The world of water has changed and the Southern Nevada Water Authority should get much of the credit....
Park Service head won't drop mission Grappling with how much access Americans should get to 84 million acres of the nation's best scenery, National Park Service Director Fran Mainella draws flak from both sides in Congress as she finds herself in a fight to maintain her agency's main mission. "Success should not be determined exclusively by whether our resources look the way they did when the Pilgrims landed," said Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., who heads a House Resources parks subcommittee. "To allow public use and recreation means literally that parks cannot be preserved in a snapshot. ... For 40 years, the preservationists have really infiltrated the national park system." Mainella's bigger concern, though, is critics like Pearce, who questioned the purpose of the "nonimpairment standard" for managing parks. Mainella's deputy, Steve Martin, tried to assure him that the law works fine the way it is. But Mainella also sent Pearce a letter, telling him the law has "stood the test of time," protecting parks for generations....
Drafting the future of parks In 1916, Congress—recognizing the importance of preserving the country’s most unique and treasured natural lands—passed the National Park Service Organic Act. The act created the National Park Service and directed that the national parks be preserved “by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” For the better part of the past century, the National Park Service (NPS) has managed the parks and historic sites under its care with preservation of park resources as its primary guiding principal. Under current NPS management policy—adopted in 2001—conservation of park resources trumps recreational uses of the parks. But a new draft of NPS management policies crafted by officials within the U.S. Depart-ment of the Interior would, if adopted, diminish park protections and encourage commercial priorities in the nation’s parks....
New Human Footprint Map We humans use more than a third of Earth's land surface for agriculture. And as our population increases, that portion is growing. That's according to scientists from the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE) in Madison, Wisconsin. They presented their findings last week at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco. Watch a video showing how crop lands have expanded from the year 1700 to 2000. The scale of agricultural activity makes it one of the central forces of global environmental change. Navin Ramankutty, a member of the SAGE team, says, "the real question is: how can we continue to produce food from the land while preventing negative environmental consequences such as deforestation, water pollution and soil erosion?"....
Feds End Protection of Sonoma's Tiger Salamader The economic impact of protecting habitat for the endangered California tiger salamader in Sonoma County cannot be justified, federal wildlife managers said Wednesday. The decision is a reversal just since August, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed 74,223 acres as critical habitat for the yellow-and-black amphibian. Last month the service cut the proposed protected area to 21,298 acres. Now, the service says it will rely instead on a locally managed approach to protecting the Santa Rosa Plain population of the salamander. The service said it ultimately decided that 17,418 acres of the plain meet the criteria for critical habitat for the salamander, but that the most crucial area already is included in the Santa Rosa Plain Conservation Strategy completed last week by local agencies....
Scientists Sound Warning on Global Warming NASA has just announced that for the fourth year in a row, it has recorded the hottest annual global temperatures since reliable records started in the late 1800s. This year, 2005, tied for the hottest year ever with 1998 -- and 1998 was "an El Niño of the Century year -- and El Niños always make it hotter. If this had been an El Niño year, it would surely have been the hottest year of all," Dr. James Hansen, NASA earth sciences director, told ABC News. As is well-known by now, NASA reported at summer's end that, over the last 30 years, the Arctic's summer sea ice cover had melted back 30 percent. As a number of scientists have calculated, it could be completely gone long before the end of the century....
First shipment of U.S. beef reaches Japan The first shipment of U.S. beef in nearly two years arrived in Japan Friday after the easing of an import ban put in place amid concerns about mad cow disease, Japan's Health Ministry said. An agricultural organization said, meanwhile, that Japanese beef exports to the United States would also resume shortly. Japanese beef was banned four years ago over similar mad cow concerns. Japanese inspectors planned to check the shipment of about 4.6 tons of meat to see that it met government safety guidelines, quarantine official Yuji Kitayama said. They planned to confirm the age of the cows and ensure that the meat doesn't contain material from brains, spinal cords or other suspect parts. Friday's shipment to Japan was processed at Selma, Calif.-based Harris Ranch Beef Co. and imported by Marudai Food Co., which said it will not sell the meat to consumers but use it for internal testing. "We have not dealt with American beef in two years," company spokesman Tatsuo Sawai said. "We want to see what its taste is like, how tough it is, how tender. Our salesmen need to know this before they can start selling." Before the ban, Japan purchased more American beef than any other country in the world, buying $1.4 billion worth in 2003. Since then, Australia has surpassed the United States as the biggest beef exporter to Japan....
Thursday, December 15, 2005
NEWS ROUNDUP
Residents voice concerns during public oil board meeting Addressing industry regulation, residents voiced concerns, thoughts and opinions about surface and operator agreement timelines, surface use agreements, damages and bonding issues. Annual rentals to surface owners for use of the property during the long-term extraction of minerals was a top concern that many who voiced concerns had in common. According to the current Montana law, an excavation company may pay annual rental fees, but they aren’t required. Many of those who shared personal experiences explained the various barriers encountered when seeking fair compensation. Testimonies illustrated the deep value lost from the extensive damages. These compromise surface use of the land and result in a lower quality of life. Dennis Trudell, Northeastern Montana Land and Mineral Owners Association, said, an annual rental fee of $1,000 is merely a drop in the bucket when compared to the millions spent on a well. He explained the average compensation a surface owner gets for the disturbance is between $5,000-$6,000 for the life of the well. Trudell argued the amount, when calculated over a well’s average lifetime, is very little in comparison to the value of losing 30 years of land use along with the added inherent lifestyle disruptions....
State hears first split-estate case If negotiations broke down and got ugly at the kitchen table, it didn't get any prettier when the dispute was brought to the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. A brutal exchange between witnesses and lawyers Tuesday in Casper marked what was regarded as the first test of Wyoming's new Split Estates Act. It ended with the commission chairwoman reprimanding lawyers from both sides for straying from the matter at hand and instead trying to embarrass one another. Boomgaarden tabled the hearing and asked representatives of Kennedy Oil and Johnson County rancher Steve Adami to submit a summary of unresolved issues to the commission by Dec. 23. The case has drawn much attention from around the state because it is thought to be the first test of the Split Estates Act, which went into effect July 1. The intent of the law is to give landowners who don't own the minerals below their property assurance that oil and gas activities will be cleaned up and that they would have equal leverage in negotiating surface use agreements. Jurisdiction of the Split Estate Act is divided among several state agencies, and on Tuesday the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission heard its first case. The test on Tuesday was less about whether the Split Estates Act will resolve disputes in a fair manner and more about how the act will be implemented procedurally....
Group appeals winter drilling A Wyoming conservation group has appealed a federal decision to allow more winter drilling on the Pinedale Anticline this winter, saying the decision was made "through the back door" and is harmful to wildlife. The Wyoming Outdoor Council filed its appeal this week, asking for a halt to additional activity authorized last month. Other previously approved winter natural gas drilling could continue. Bruce Pendery, program director for WOC, said it is "well documented" that mule deer populations are suffering because of winter drilling activity. A study released earlier this fall showed mule deer numbers have plummeted on the Mesa by 46 percent, but it is unclear whether those animals have been displaced or have died. "We are going to fight these kinds of approvals for winter drilling where they exclude the public from the process and where they ignore Wyoming Game and Fish's concerns and where the project really isn't going to make any difference in terms of energy supplies in any meaningful way," Pendery said. The Bureau of Land Management authorized the additional winter drilling, saying it fell within its purview to amend earlier winter drilling allowances. The public was notified of the additional activity through a decision notice on the agency's Web site....
G.O.P. May Harness Arctic Drilling to Pentagon Budget With a budget-cutting measure stymied by stiff resistance to opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, Congressional Republicans began exploring Wednesday a new tactic to win approval of both $45 billion in cuts and the drilling plan. Lawmakers and senior aides said they were seriously considering tacking the drilling proposal onto a Pentagon spending bill that is among those that must pass before Congress heads home in the next few days. The switch, they said, could clear the way for approval of the spending cuts sought by conservatives and the Arctic drilling plan that is a priority of Republicans and the Bush administration, provided they could defeat any filibuster. "It's going to be on one bill or the other before I go home," said Senator Ted Stevens, Republican of Alaska, a leading proponent of opening the Arctic plain to oil production. As lawmakers grew more anxious about recessing for the Christmas holidays, Republican moderates in the House said they believed that the push for enacting the spending cuts by the end of the year was losing momentum and that the leadership was ready to postpone action until early next year.
Harsh critic of feds in mix for top state BLM post A southern Utah legislator who has been one of most outspoken critics of federal land management policies in recent years has emerged as a possible candidate to become the next state director for the Bureau of Land Management. Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, a former BLM employee, said Wednesday that he has not actively pursued the position, which opened up when former state BLM director Sally Wisely left in October to take a similar job in Colorado. But he is apparently in the mix for the post, and says he would consider taking the job if it is offered - though he also has his doubts. "I've had some people approach me about the position," Noel said by phone as he traveled from Salt Lake City to Kanab on Wednesday. "There are people who have asked me to consider it. But I'm not sure where it is in the process at this point."....
Mojave guzzler plan calls for continued analysis The top official at the Mojave National Preserve acknowledges that a plan to convert 12 former ranch wells in the park into wildlife watering troughs called guzzlers will demand continued scrutiny to make it successful. "We will have to study and monitor the proposal over a period of years to determine the success of these artificial water sources," said Larry Whalon, the preserve's interim superintendent. A newly released environmental assessment, prepared by the California Department of Fish and Game and the National Park Service, calls for converting the 12 wells into guzzlers. Fish and game's proposal to rehabilitate the wells into guzzlers for mule deer and various game birds could create a dependence on artificial water among these creatures, the department notes....
Nature Conservancy purchases 1,231 acres for $7 million As a project manager for the Nature Conservancy, Basilevac worked three years to help buy the land on which he stood. Yesterday, it was announced that the sale had finally gone through: $7 million for 1,231 acres known as the Davis-Eagle Ranch. The conservancy's purchase – which closed Friday – triples the size of the Ramona Grasslands project, which is an effort to conserve a diverse wild habitat of Southern California. Two hundred years ago, much of the region consisted of the level grassy landscape, which is home to vernal pools, golden eagles and the endangered arroyo toad, Stephen's kangaroo rat and San Diego fairy shrimp. Today, more than 90 percent of this habitat has disappeared. The flat land is easy to grade, making it a prime target for builders....
Wilderness Society expanding state staff The Wilderness Society will expand its Montana staff in an effort to guide the U.S. Forest Service ‘‘toward more of a conservation mission,’’ the environmental group’s regional director said Wednesday. The society, based in Washington, D.C., is seeking an economist, a specialist in ecology and a leader for a campaign on management of national forests, Northern Rockies director Bob Ekey said in a telephone interview from Bozeman. The Forest Service’s role as ‘‘a timber production outfit,’’ Ekey said, is decreasing, and The Wilderness Society wants to help guide the federal agency’s planning for management of its lands. The new staff will be part of that work, he said. The three positions will increase the Bozeman staff to 11, from eight....
Protect best, restore rest, environment prof urges A conservation activist and former chief of the U.S. Forest Service says that it's up to the nation's politicians and its citizens to preserve and protect the legacy of American land conservation, a legacy secured in part by the late politician and environmental activist Gaylord Nelson. Speaking Tuesday night at the Wisconsin Historical Society, Michael Dombeck, professor of global environmental management at UW-Stevens Point, said that political partisanship is hampering efforts to improve land and water conservation efforts. "We've got to demand that our leaders take the partisanship out of conservation," he said. "We need to focus on protecting the best and restoring the rest." "Wealth and quality of life flow from land," Dombeck said, emphasizing the importance of responsible conservation efforts in the future....
Editorial: Land Grab SUDDENLY IT'S OPEN SEASON on our national parks. Not on the animals, though the Interior Department did move last month to take the Yellowstone grizzly off the endangered species list. It's open season on the parks themselves. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon) has Santa Rosa Island in the crosshairs. He wants to strip it from Channel Islands National Park and give it to the military for special-forces training and as a recreation spot for the troops. This raises the question of how much relaxation soldiers and their families can get on an island where military types are crawling around in the brush. Environmentalists have become accustomed to fending off proposals to develop, drill on or weaken protections for public land. Some push-and-pull is inevitable in places that have always been intended for mixed use, such as the national forests or federal land run by the Bureau of Land Management. The national parks, though, have been sacrosanct. But now too many Republicans in the House, led by Rep. Richard W. Pombo (R-Tracy) and Rep. Jim Gibbons (R-Nev.), are thinking differently. And their attempts to carve away at the nation's natural treasures are progressing much further than they should....
Editorial: Spill more water for Columbia salmon A whole lot of lawyers will wedge into U.S. District Judge James Redden's courtroom this morning to haggle about spilling more water over Columbia River dams in the next year to help young salmon and steelhead reach the ocean. They will offer wildly conflicting projections of salmon returns and costs to electricity ratepayers. When all the arguments are in, Redden should be guided by this philosophy: This time, the benefit of the doubt goes to the salmon. There is no clear path here for Redden, or for Columbia salmon. The hundreds of pages of written arguments that have cascaded into court contain powerful arguments for and against spilling more water over dams, or spilling over different periods of time when young salmon are migrating to the sea. The plaintiffs that successfully sued the federal government over its salmon recovery plan, including the National Wildlife Federation, urge Redden to order more water spilled over the dams throughout spring and summer. They also ask that more upriver water be held back in the winter and used to increase summer river flows -- a more costly and uncertain request that the judge should deny....
Animal Rights Groups Engage in 'Catfight' Over Testing Two of the largest animal rights organizations in the world are involved in what one observer called a "catfight" over the use of animals in chemical testing and in such activities as hunting, trapping and whaling. On its WickedWildlifeFund.com website, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) criticize the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as "an organization founded by trophy hunters" that has been lobbying for "the largest animal-testing programs of all time." According to the site, the WWF "has been actively pressuring government agencies in the U.S., Europe and Canada to increase the amount of testing that they require for pesticides and other chemicals," and the result "has been the establishment of what threaten to be the largest animal-testing programs of all time."....
Column: Salmon Season With winter rains arriving, the region's rivers and streams are swelling. In Marin, the increased flow in streams like Lagunitas Creek allows one of the world's most magnificent natural cycles -- the return of the salmon -- to unfold as it has for millennia. Narrow streams are starting to be filled with improbably big, red fish, back in their home waters after three years at sea, fat and ready to breed. In the midst of our self-absorbed human world, wild nature can still find a way to hang on. Each year's return of these fish is a sign of hope, but also a reminder of how close we are to irreversibly damaging the world around us....
Water flow, ladder problems keep some fish from making it upstream Some fish made it, and some didn't. Last month, high water flows and a troublesome fish ladder along the Calaveras River prevented many salmon and protected steelhead from getting upstream to spawn. Now it seems a temporary solution couldn't save all the fish. Biologists counted at least 280 salmon carcasses below the Bellota weir after a 2-foot dam at the weir collapsed Thanksgiving weekend. The California Fisheries Foundation surveyed the Calaveras River after the incident and found the dead fish, biologist Trevor Kennedy said. The group plans to survey the river above the Bellota weir next to see how many fish made it upstream. Kennedy called the incident "a wasted opportunity," since the Calaveras had an unusually healthy amount of water this year....
Editoral: Budget bill's attack on Western lands But the West isn't yet out of danger, as another provision tucked into the budget bill would undo an important compromise on oil shale. In last summer's massive energy bill, Sen. Salazar got sensible language added to give states and communities a say in oil shale development. As much as 1.8 trillion barrels of oil shale may lie beneath Colorado, Wyoming and Utah, but past attempts to develop the resource mostly produced shattered dreams. Colorado communities got slammed by rapid growth, then shocked by suddenly high unemployment.
To ward off destructive boom and bust cycles, Sen. Salazar convinced Congress to impose safeguards: The agency handling oil shale leases must do a comprehensive environmental study, seek public comment and consult with state and local governments. While imperfect, the compromise reassured the West that our concerns would be heeded. Yet this fall, the same House Resources Committee that tried to ram the mining provisions into law also tucked language into the budget bill that would tear the heart out of the shale compromise. The amendment would force the Bureau of Land Management to lease about 4,000 square miles to oil shale projects in just one year, even though the technology for production is years away. It also says the BLM's environmental study would be accepted on its face even if it contained errors. It would largely cut off input from states and communities. And it would bar future environmental reviews even if new information or concerns arise....
Copter used in Yellowstone to blast snow As a helicopter buzzed over Yellowstone National Park last week, avalanche-triggering explosives were dropped out of an open door and onto snow-covered Sylvan Pass. The drops hit their targets, the packages exploded, and snow slipped off the hillside as planned, a pre-emptive strike against a potentially more dangerous avalanche that nature could dish up. Park officials expect 10 or more similar missions over Sylvan Pass this winter. What they've been doing for years - using a 105 mm howitzer to shoot 55-pound shells into the hillside - isn't safe, park officials say, especially when crews have to go through avalanche-prone areas to reach the gun. The howitzer shells are also notoriously unpredictable. Park officials estimate there may be as many as 300 unexploded shells in the hills around Sylvan Pass, which is west of the East Entrance. Four more were added to that list last winter. Using choppers for avalanche control has its limitations, too, but it doesn't pose the same kind of hazards to employees and the public....
Former Chief Teresa Chambers Files $2.2 Million Claim Against National Park Service Citing attempts by the National Park Service to destroy documents that would exonerate her, Teresa Chambers is seeking monetary damages for wrongful acts by top officials, according to filings released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Two years ago, in December 2003, Chambers was stripped of her badge and law enforcement credentials and suspended from duties as Chief of the U.S. Park Police, following an interview she gave to The Washington Post concerning a shortage of officers to patrol parks and parkways. "I want and fully expect to be restored as Chief of the United States Park Police," stated Chambers. "As the second anniversary of these events loomed, I was forced to file a compensation claim or waive that option forever."....
Nut Grower Wins Ruling on Financing Industry Ads The state's largest pistachio grower has won the first round of a legal battle that could revive a debate over whether growers can be forced to pay for government-sponsored campaigns promoting agricultural products. U.S. District Judge Margaret Morrow in Los Angeles on Monday granted Paramount Farms' request for a preliminary injunction allowing it to opt out of paying most of a California Pistachio Commission assessment used to fund marketing and lobbying programs. Paramount, owned by Stewart Resnick of Beverly Hills, still will have to pay the standard rate of 3.25 cents a pound on its pistachio production, but 75% of the money will go into an escrow account while a final determination in the case is made. In a lawsuit filed against the state-authorized commission in October, Lost Hills-based Paramount claimed it was forced to help pay for ad campaigns and other programs that it opposed. The farm company plans to take the money it would pay the commission and create "our own marketing programs that touch consumers directly. That's much more effective than the generic programs the commission has done over the years," said Chris Tuffli, Paramount's spokesman....
Residents voice concerns during public oil board meeting Addressing industry regulation, residents voiced concerns, thoughts and opinions about surface and operator agreement timelines, surface use agreements, damages and bonding issues. Annual rentals to surface owners for use of the property during the long-term extraction of minerals was a top concern that many who voiced concerns had in common. According to the current Montana law, an excavation company may pay annual rental fees, but they aren’t required. Many of those who shared personal experiences explained the various barriers encountered when seeking fair compensation. Testimonies illustrated the deep value lost from the extensive damages. These compromise surface use of the land and result in a lower quality of life. Dennis Trudell, Northeastern Montana Land and Mineral Owners Association, said, an annual rental fee of $1,000 is merely a drop in the bucket when compared to the millions spent on a well. He explained the average compensation a surface owner gets for the disturbance is between $5,000-$6,000 for the life of the well. Trudell argued the amount, when calculated over a well’s average lifetime, is very little in comparison to the value of losing 30 years of land use along with the added inherent lifestyle disruptions....
State hears first split-estate case If negotiations broke down and got ugly at the kitchen table, it didn't get any prettier when the dispute was brought to the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. A brutal exchange between witnesses and lawyers Tuesday in Casper marked what was regarded as the first test of Wyoming's new Split Estates Act. It ended with the commission chairwoman reprimanding lawyers from both sides for straying from the matter at hand and instead trying to embarrass one another. Boomgaarden tabled the hearing and asked representatives of Kennedy Oil and Johnson County rancher Steve Adami to submit a summary of unresolved issues to the commission by Dec. 23. The case has drawn much attention from around the state because it is thought to be the first test of the Split Estates Act, which went into effect July 1. The intent of the law is to give landowners who don't own the minerals below their property assurance that oil and gas activities will be cleaned up and that they would have equal leverage in negotiating surface use agreements. Jurisdiction of the Split Estate Act is divided among several state agencies, and on Tuesday the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission heard its first case. The test on Tuesday was less about whether the Split Estates Act will resolve disputes in a fair manner and more about how the act will be implemented procedurally....
Group appeals winter drilling A Wyoming conservation group has appealed a federal decision to allow more winter drilling on the Pinedale Anticline this winter, saying the decision was made "through the back door" and is harmful to wildlife. The Wyoming Outdoor Council filed its appeal this week, asking for a halt to additional activity authorized last month. Other previously approved winter natural gas drilling could continue. Bruce Pendery, program director for WOC, said it is "well documented" that mule deer populations are suffering because of winter drilling activity. A study released earlier this fall showed mule deer numbers have plummeted on the Mesa by 46 percent, but it is unclear whether those animals have been displaced or have died. "We are going to fight these kinds of approvals for winter drilling where they exclude the public from the process and where they ignore Wyoming Game and Fish's concerns and where the project really isn't going to make any difference in terms of energy supplies in any meaningful way," Pendery said. The Bureau of Land Management authorized the additional winter drilling, saying it fell within its purview to amend earlier winter drilling allowances. The public was notified of the additional activity through a decision notice on the agency's Web site....
G.O.P. May Harness Arctic Drilling to Pentagon Budget With a budget-cutting measure stymied by stiff resistance to opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, Congressional Republicans began exploring Wednesday a new tactic to win approval of both $45 billion in cuts and the drilling plan. Lawmakers and senior aides said they were seriously considering tacking the drilling proposal onto a Pentagon spending bill that is among those that must pass before Congress heads home in the next few days. The switch, they said, could clear the way for approval of the spending cuts sought by conservatives and the Arctic drilling plan that is a priority of Republicans and the Bush administration, provided they could defeat any filibuster. "It's going to be on one bill or the other before I go home," said Senator Ted Stevens, Republican of Alaska, a leading proponent of opening the Arctic plain to oil production. As lawmakers grew more anxious about recessing for the Christmas holidays, Republican moderates in the House said they believed that the push for enacting the spending cuts by the end of the year was losing momentum and that the leadership was ready to postpone action until early next year.
Harsh critic of feds in mix for top state BLM post A southern Utah legislator who has been one of most outspoken critics of federal land management policies in recent years has emerged as a possible candidate to become the next state director for the Bureau of Land Management. Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, a former BLM employee, said Wednesday that he has not actively pursued the position, which opened up when former state BLM director Sally Wisely left in October to take a similar job in Colorado. But he is apparently in the mix for the post, and says he would consider taking the job if it is offered - though he also has his doubts. "I've had some people approach me about the position," Noel said by phone as he traveled from Salt Lake City to Kanab on Wednesday. "There are people who have asked me to consider it. But I'm not sure where it is in the process at this point."....
Mojave guzzler plan calls for continued analysis The top official at the Mojave National Preserve acknowledges that a plan to convert 12 former ranch wells in the park into wildlife watering troughs called guzzlers will demand continued scrutiny to make it successful. "We will have to study and monitor the proposal over a period of years to determine the success of these artificial water sources," said Larry Whalon, the preserve's interim superintendent. A newly released environmental assessment, prepared by the California Department of Fish and Game and the National Park Service, calls for converting the 12 wells into guzzlers. Fish and game's proposal to rehabilitate the wells into guzzlers for mule deer and various game birds could create a dependence on artificial water among these creatures, the department notes....
Nature Conservancy purchases 1,231 acres for $7 million As a project manager for the Nature Conservancy, Basilevac worked three years to help buy the land on which he stood. Yesterday, it was announced that the sale had finally gone through: $7 million for 1,231 acres known as the Davis-Eagle Ranch. The conservancy's purchase – which closed Friday – triples the size of the Ramona Grasslands project, which is an effort to conserve a diverse wild habitat of Southern California. Two hundred years ago, much of the region consisted of the level grassy landscape, which is home to vernal pools, golden eagles and the endangered arroyo toad, Stephen's kangaroo rat and San Diego fairy shrimp. Today, more than 90 percent of this habitat has disappeared. The flat land is easy to grade, making it a prime target for builders....
Wilderness Society expanding state staff The Wilderness Society will expand its Montana staff in an effort to guide the U.S. Forest Service ‘‘toward more of a conservation mission,’’ the environmental group’s regional director said Wednesday. The society, based in Washington, D.C., is seeking an economist, a specialist in ecology and a leader for a campaign on management of national forests, Northern Rockies director Bob Ekey said in a telephone interview from Bozeman. The Forest Service’s role as ‘‘a timber production outfit,’’ Ekey said, is decreasing, and The Wilderness Society wants to help guide the federal agency’s planning for management of its lands. The new staff will be part of that work, he said. The three positions will increase the Bozeman staff to 11, from eight....
Protect best, restore rest, environment prof urges A conservation activist and former chief of the U.S. Forest Service says that it's up to the nation's politicians and its citizens to preserve and protect the legacy of American land conservation, a legacy secured in part by the late politician and environmental activist Gaylord Nelson. Speaking Tuesday night at the Wisconsin Historical Society, Michael Dombeck, professor of global environmental management at UW-Stevens Point, said that political partisanship is hampering efforts to improve land and water conservation efforts. "We've got to demand that our leaders take the partisanship out of conservation," he said. "We need to focus on protecting the best and restoring the rest." "Wealth and quality of life flow from land," Dombeck said, emphasizing the importance of responsible conservation efforts in the future....
Editorial: Land Grab SUDDENLY IT'S OPEN SEASON on our national parks. Not on the animals, though the Interior Department did move last month to take the Yellowstone grizzly off the endangered species list. It's open season on the parks themselves. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon) has Santa Rosa Island in the crosshairs. He wants to strip it from Channel Islands National Park and give it to the military for special-forces training and as a recreation spot for the troops. This raises the question of how much relaxation soldiers and their families can get on an island where military types are crawling around in the brush. Environmentalists have become accustomed to fending off proposals to develop, drill on or weaken protections for public land. Some push-and-pull is inevitable in places that have always been intended for mixed use, such as the national forests or federal land run by the Bureau of Land Management. The national parks, though, have been sacrosanct. But now too many Republicans in the House, led by Rep. Richard W. Pombo (R-Tracy) and Rep. Jim Gibbons (R-Nev.), are thinking differently. And their attempts to carve away at the nation's natural treasures are progressing much further than they should....
Editorial: Spill more water for Columbia salmon A whole lot of lawyers will wedge into U.S. District Judge James Redden's courtroom this morning to haggle about spilling more water over Columbia River dams in the next year to help young salmon and steelhead reach the ocean. They will offer wildly conflicting projections of salmon returns and costs to electricity ratepayers. When all the arguments are in, Redden should be guided by this philosophy: This time, the benefit of the doubt goes to the salmon. There is no clear path here for Redden, or for Columbia salmon. The hundreds of pages of written arguments that have cascaded into court contain powerful arguments for and against spilling more water over dams, or spilling over different periods of time when young salmon are migrating to the sea. The plaintiffs that successfully sued the federal government over its salmon recovery plan, including the National Wildlife Federation, urge Redden to order more water spilled over the dams throughout spring and summer. They also ask that more upriver water be held back in the winter and used to increase summer river flows -- a more costly and uncertain request that the judge should deny....
Animal Rights Groups Engage in 'Catfight' Over Testing Two of the largest animal rights organizations in the world are involved in what one observer called a "catfight" over the use of animals in chemical testing and in such activities as hunting, trapping and whaling. On its WickedWildlifeFund.com website, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) criticize the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as "an organization founded by trophy hunters" that has been lobbying for "the largest animal-testing programs of all time." According to the site, the WWF "has been actively pressuring government agencies in the U.S., Europe and Canada to increase the amount of testing that they require for pesticides and other chemicals," and the result "has been the establishment of what threaten to be the largest animal-testing programs of all time."....
Column: Salmon Season With winter rains arriving, the region's rivers and streams are swelling. In Marin, the increased flow in streams like Lagunitas Creek allows one of the world's most magnificent natural cycles -- the return of the salmon -- to unfold as it has for millennia. Narrow streams are starting to be filled with improbably big, red fish, back in their home waters after three years at sea, fat and ready to breed. In the midst of our self-absorbed human world, wild nature can still find a way to hang on. Each year's return of these fish is a sign of hope, but also a reminder of how close we are to irreversibly damaging the world around us....
Water flow, ladder problems keep some fish from making it upstream Some fish made it, and some didn't. Last month, high water flows and a troublesome fish ladder along the Calaveras River prevented many salmon and protected steelhead from getting upstream to spawn. Now it seems a temporary solution couldn't save all the fish. Biologists counted at least 280 salmon carcasses below the Bellota weir after a 2-foot dam at the weir collapsed Thanksgiving weekend. The California Fisheries Foundation surveyed the Calaveras River after the incident and found the dead fish, biologist Trevor Kennedy said. The group plans to survey the river above the Bellota weir next to see how many fish made it upstream. Kennedy called the incident "a wasted opportunity," since the Calaveras had an unusually healthy amount of water this year....
Editoral: Budget bill's attack on Western lands But the West isn't yet out of danger, as another provision tucked into the budget bill would undo an important compromise on oil shale. In last summer's massive energy bill, Sen. Salazar got sensible language added to give states and communities a say in oil shale development. As much as 1.8 trillion barrels of oil shale may lie beneath Colorado, Wyoming and Utah, but past attempts to develop the resource mostly produced shattered dreams. Colorado communities got slammed by rapid growth, then shocked by suddenly high unemployment.
To ward off destructive boom and bust cycles, Sen. Salazar convinced Congress to impose safeguards: The agency handling oil shale leases must do a comprehensive environmental study, seek public comment and consult with state and local governments. While imperfect, the compromise reassured the West that our concerns would be heeded. Yet this fall, the same House Resources Committee that tried to ram the mining provisions into law also tucked language into the budget bill that would tear the heart out of the shale compromise. The amendment would force the Bureau of Land Management to lease about 4,000 square miles to oil shale projects in just one year, even though the technology for production is years away. It also says the BLM's environmental study would be accepted on its face even if it contained errors. It would largely cut off input from states and communities. And it would bar future environmental reviews even if new information or concerns arise....
Copter used in Yellowstone to blast snow As a helicopter buzzed over Yellowstone National Park last week, avalanche-triggering explosives were dropped out of an open door and onto snow-covered Sylvan Pass. The drops hit their targets, the packages exploded, and snow slipped off the hillside as planned, a pre-emptive strike against a potentially more dangerous avalanche that nature could dish up. Park officials expect 10 or more similar missions over Sylvan Pass this winter. What they've been doing for years - using a 105 mm howitzer to shoot 55-pound shells into the hillside - isn't safe, park officials say, especially when crews have to go through avalanche-prone areas to reach the gun. The howitzer shells are also notoriously unpredictable. Park officials estimate there may be as many as 300 unexploded shells in the hills around Sylvan Pass, which is west of the East Entrance. Four more were added to that list last winter. Using choppers for avalanche control has its limitations, too, but it doesn't pose the same kind of hazards to employees and the public....
Former Chief Teresa Chambers Files $2.2 Million Claim Against National Park Service Citing attempts by the National Park Service to destroy documents that would exonerate her, Teresa Chambers is seeking monetary damages for wrongful acts by top officials, according to filings released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Two years ago, in December 2003, Chambers was stripped of her badge and law enforcement credentials and suspended from duties as Chief of the U.S. Park Police, following an interview she gave to The Washington Post concerning a shortage of officers to patrol parks and parkways. "I want and fully expect to be restored as Chief of the United States Park Police," stated Chambers. "As the second anniversary of these events loomed, I was forced to file a compensation claim or waive that option forever."....
Nut Grower Wins Ruling on Financing Industry Ads The state's largest pistachio grower has won the first round of a legal battle that could revive a debate over whether growers can be forced to pay for government-sponsored campaigns promoting agricultural products. U.S. District Judge Margaret Morrow in Los Angeles on Monday granted Paramount Farms' request for a preliminary injunction allowing it to opt out of paying most of a California Pistachio Commission assessment used to fund marketing and lobbying programs. Paramount, owned by Stewart Resnick of Beverly Hills, still will have to pay the standard rate of 3.25 cents a pound on its pistachio production, but 75% of the money will go into an escrow account while a final determination in the case is made. In a lawsuit filed against the state-authorized commission in October, Lost Hills-based Paramount claimed it was forced to help pay for ad campaigns and other programs that it opposed. The farm company plans to take the money it would pay the commission and create "our own marketing programs that touch consumers directly. That's much more effective than the generic programs the commission has done over the years," said Chris Tuffli, Paramount's spokesman....
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
DANIEL MARTINEZ---USFS
BILLY W. BOONE
Attorney at Law
104 Pine Street, Suite 705
Abilene, Texas 79601
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 2797
Abilene, Texas 79604
December 12, 2005
Mr. Matt Wing
Cattleman’s Livestock Commission Co.
P.O. Box 58
Dalhart, Texas 79022
RE: Dan Matrinez’s Arizona cattle bearing 07
Brand and Triangle A Brand
Dear Mr. Wing:
I represent Dan Martinez, formerly of Abilene, Texas, concerning certain cattle illegally seized by the U.S. Forest Service in Greenlee County, Arizona.
Some background information will probably assist you in understanding Mr. Martinez’s claim. Mr. Martinez and his family own a split estate in certain land located in Greenlee County, Arizona. By virtue of deeds and grants back to 1872, the Martinez and their predecessors in title claim rights to graze and water their cattle on this property. In the act of 1879, the Forest Service was established for the purpose of supplying a sustainable yield of timber and to increase water flows. Consequently, there are split estates similar to Texas in that often times the mineral estate is separate from the surface estate. The same theory applies, the Martinez, by prior title, have the right to graze, water and collect their cattle from the property since 1872. The U.S Forest Service has the obligation concerning the timber.
In over 133 years, each party has acknowledged the other’s rights with the Martinez family grazing the property and making improvements since purchasing this interest in 1948, over 56 years ago.
Rather than avail itself of the legal channels in Arizona courts to challenge these rights which pre-date the forest service, the U.S. Forest Service simply stole the cattle without judicial process nor seeking authority of the Courts in Arizona. If you will note, the U.S. Forest Service immediately secreted the cattle to New Mexico to avoid Arizona law. They apparently tried to file suit in New Mexico, again to circumvent the Arizona laws, but when it came apparent the U.S. Forest Service case was coming back to Arizona, the U.S. Forest Service again moved the cattle to Dalhart, Texas. Constantly moving the cattle from jurisdiction to jurisdiction when there are auctions in Arizona should make one sit back and wonder why? It certainly does not pass the smell test.
As you are aware, by letter from Dan Martinez, that he is the owner and there is a lien on those cattle for $600,000.00 that pre-dates the U.S. Forest Service’s wrongful seizure of the cattle. DEMAND IS HEREBY MADE for the return of Mr. Matrinez’s cattle. If the cattle are either sold or not immediately returned to Mr. Matrinez, you along with the auctioneer company will join the individuals from the U.S. Forest Service as defendants in state Court in Arizona.
Please be advised that Mr. Martinez has reported the theft of these cattle to the appropriate authorities in Arizona.
Please feel free to contact Mr. Martinez personally regarding the return of his cattle to him, or if you desire, return them to the proper authorities in Greenlee County, Arizona. Mr. Martinez’s number is.....
Very truly yours,
BILLY W. BOONE
BWB:pmd
cc: Dan Martinez
BILLY W. BOONE
Attorney at Law
104 Pine Street, Suite 705
Abilene, Texas 79601
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 2797
Abilene, Texas 79604
December 12, 2005
Mr. Matt Wing
Cattleman’s Livestock Commission Co.
P.O. Box 58
Dalhart, Texas 79022
RE: Dan Matrinez’s Arizona cattle bearing 07
Brand and Triangle A Brand
Dear Mr. Wing:
I represent Dan Martinez, formerly of Abilene, Texas, concerning certain cattle illegally seized by the U.S. Forest Service in Greenlee County, Arizona.
Some background information will probably assist you in understanding Mr. Martinez’s claim. Mr. Martinez and his family own a split estate in certain land located in Greenlee County, Arizona. By virtue of deeds and grants back to 1872, the Martinez and their predecessors in title claim rights to graze and water their cattle on this property. In the act of 1879, the Forest Service was established for the purpose of supplying a sustainable yield of timber and to increase water flows. Consequently, there are split estates similar to Texas in that often times the mineral estate is separate from the surface estate. The same theory applies, the Martinez, by prior title, have the right to graze, water and collect their cattle from the property since 1872. The U.S Forest Service has the obligation concerning the timber.
In over 133 years, each party has acknowledged the other’s rights with the Martinez family grazing the property and making improvements since purchasing this interest in 1948, over 56 years ago.
Rather than avail itself of the legal channels in Arizona courts to challenge these rights which pre-date the forest service, the U.S. Forest Service simply stole the cattle without judicial process nor seeking authority of the Courts in Arizona. If you will note, the U.S. Forest Service immediately secreted the cattle to New Mexico to avoid Arizona law. They apparently tried to file suit in New Mexico, again to circumvent the Arizona laws, but when it came apparent the U.S. Forest Service case was coming back to Arizona, the U.S. Forest Service again moved the cattle to Dalhart, Texas. Constantly moving the cattle from jurisdiction to jurisdiction when there are auctions in Arizona should make one sit back and wonder why? It certainly does not pass the smell test.
As you are aware, by letter from Dan Martinez, that he is the owner and there is a lien on those cattle for $600,000.00 that pre-dates the U.S. Forest Service’s wrongful seizure of the cattle. DEMAND IS HEREBY MADE for the return of Mr. Matrinez’s cattle. If the cattle are either sold or not immediately returned to Mr. Matrinez, you along with the auctioneer company will join the individuals from the U.S. Forest Service as defendants in state Court in Arizona.
Please be advised that Mr. Martinez has reported the theft of these cattle to the appropriate authorities in Arizona.
Please feel free to contact Mr. Martinez personally regarding the return of his cattle to him, or if you desire, return them to the proper authorities in Greenlee County, Arizona. Mr. Martinez’s number is.....
Very truly yours,
BILLY W. BOONE
BWB:pmd
cc: Dan Martinez
NEWS ROUNDUP
Forest Service Lifts Environmental Assessments for Oil Roads, Pipelines The U.S. Forest Service is proposing to change the environmental review process for oil and gas exploration and development projects under federal lease in national forests and grasslands. The proposal would allow local forest and grassland units to use a categorical exclusion when approving surface uses, such as road access, drill pad construction and pipeline installation, for oil and gas exploration and development under federal lease. The Service says the proposal would "reduce unnecessary red tape and delay while keeping environmental protection for national forests and grasslands." "Our forest managers have reviewed similar oil and gas projects over the last five years and have learned that projects of this scale do not carry significant environmental effects to human health or the environment," said Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth. "This proposal is a result of that review as well as the agency's commitment to energy conservation in our national forest and grasslands." Projects under this proposed regulation could not include more than up to a mile each of new and reconstructed road, three miles of pipeline and four drill sites. Currently, these types of projects require an environmental assessment (EA) or environmental impact statement (EIS), which can take six months or longer to complete....
Senate drops changes to mining law A change in federal mining law that opponents feared would open millions of acres of public land in the West to development is dead for this year. The sponsor of the change, Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., conceded defeat after senators told him his provision would violate Senate rules against passing major new legislation as part of the budget reconciliation bill, which is just supposed to make changes in spending. "I remain committed to modernizing the mining law to meet our 21st Century needs," said Gibbons. The provision, part of the House budget spending bill, would have lifted an 11-year-old ban on the "patenting" or sale of public land that is being mined and further allows the owner to develop the property for homes or other uses once the minerals are gone. Gibbons had said his intent was only to help some Nevada communities develop areas where the mines had played out. The House Resource Committee staff said it would only immediately affect 360,000 acres of Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management property where mining is underway....
Judge bars U.S. from wild-horse roundup A federal judge on Tuesday barred the U.S. Forest Service from rounding up hundreds of wild horses in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests and selling them for slaughter. U.S. District Court Judge Frederic Martone wrote that the Forest Service argument that it didn't have to comply with laws governing wild horses because the animals in question strayed onto the forest after the 2002 "Rodeo-Chediski" forest fire and were domesticated hadn't been proven. In fact, Martone wrote, the government's arguments and its lawyers' statements showed that it didn't consider whether the horses were covered by the wild-horse law before ordering them rounded up and sold. Three animal rights groups - the Animal Welfare Institute, In Defense of Animals and the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros - brought the suit, joined by two individuals....
Battle erupts over Crystal mine The government has accused one of the last miners in Pitkin County of putting historic artifacts and natural resources at risk by rooting around an old mine in the shadow of Mount Sopris. But miner Robert Congdon counters that it is the U.S. Forest Service that is being irresponsible by letting items like ore cars, rails and hand tools rot without making an effort at historic preservation. He claims he was acting within his rights and with good intentions. The dispute is over the Maree Love mine, tucked in a minor drainage in the Crystal Valley. Congdon rediscovered the abandoned mine in the early 1980s even though its three adits, or passageways, had collapsed. His research showed it was probably established as a gold mine in the late 1880s, then converted to a lead mine. Iron oxides were pulled out as late as the 1950s....
Animal rights duo guilty in Sabino case Two animal activists affiliated with Earth First were convicted Tuesday on one felony and two misdemeanor counts related to their March 2004 disruption of a mountain lion hunt in Sabino Canyon. Rodney Coronado, 39, of Tucson, and Matthew Crozier, 33, of Sedona, could be imprisoned for more than six years if maximum sentences are imposed. Coronado is a convicted arsonist and well-known spokesman for forceful action on behalf of animal rights and environmental causes.
Crozier joined Coronado in spreading false scents and pulling up a sensor and trap during a hunt for problem lions in the then-closed canyon. After the verdict, Assistant U.S. Attorney Wallace Klein- dienst said Coronado is "a danger to the community."....
Study Shows Forests Thrive With Increased Carbon Dioxide Levels Forest productivity may be significantly greater in an atmosphere enriched with carbon dioxide, according to findings released today that challenge recent reports that question the importance of carbon dioxide fertilization. The study, funded primarily the DOE's Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research and the National Science Foundation, was performed by researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and 10 other institutions in the United States and Europe. Their work revealed a strong relationship between productivity of forest plots in the current atmosphere and productivity in plots experimentally enriched with carbon dioxide. "The median response indicated a 23 percent increase in productivity in the future atmosphere," said ORNL's Rich Norby, lead author of the paper to be published Dec. 13 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "What was especially surprising to the research team was the consistency of the response across a wide range of productivity."....
Parties eye new swap plan A hotly debated proposal to trade public land in the mountains near Wheatland for private lands at Devil's Canyon in northern Wyoming will be re-evaluated and a new proposal crafted by stakeholders interested in balancing public benefits and losses. The decision was made after two days of talks between Pat Broe, who is proposing the exchange, and Bill Bookout, a neighboring rancher and spokesman for those opposing the exchange, and members of the Platte County Resource District. Broe wants to trade about 3,000 acres he controls near Devil's Canyon by Lovell to the Bureau of Land Management. In return, he wants about 5,000 acres of mostly U.S. Forest Service lands next to his Notch Peak Ranch near Wheatland. In addition, Broe would turn over about 800 acres in three separate chunks in Platte and Albany counties to federal land agencies. As Broe took his idea before the public, he garnered support in northern Wyoming and hearty opposition in southern Wyoming, where people would suffer a net loss of public lands. Bookout owns property near Notch Peak Ranch and has become an unofficial spokesman for the opposition....
Lawsuit attacks salmon listings A California property rights group has filed a federal lawsuit challenging Endangered Species Act listings for salmon in four Western states, claiming the government is playing a “shell game’’ with hatchery and naturally spawned fish by counting only the natural population to determine listings. The Pacific Legal Foundation, based in Sacramento, also claims the salmon listings damage the Western economy by driving up prices and cutting jobs in farming and agriculture, along with other industries, including construction and transportation. “This policy is an insult to the tens of thousands of people whose livelihoods are being held hostage by needless regulations to protect fish that aren’t endangered,’’ said Russell Brooks, the managing attorney for the foundation’s office in Seattle. Brian Gorman, spokesman for NOAA Fisheries in Seattle, said the agency cannot comment on a pending lawsuit. But he defended NOAA policy on wild and hatchery salmon in general, noting that the Pacific Legal Foundation won a ruling in 2001 by U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan in Eugene that required fishery managers to consider hatchery salmon numbers when determining whether to list wild stocks as threatened or endangered. “The court clearly told us we had to account for hatchery fish,’’ Gorman said. “But at no point did the court say that hatchery fish and natural spawners were a one-to-one correspondence.’’....
Two lawsuits tackle NW salmon issues Oregon came under attack Tuesday in a lawsuit seeking to undo the state's river standards as inadequate for salmon and to have the federal government do the job instead. At the same time, the U.S. government came under attack in a separate lawsuit Tuesday that contends federal officials wrongly consider many salmon species imperiled when abundant hatchery-born fish make them plentiful. Protection for salmon that do not need it unnecessarily drives prices up and costs the region jobs, the group behind the lawsuit claims. The legal actions underscore the high stakes surrounding a federal salmon recovery program with costs reaching into the hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Depending on their success, the suits could affect activities from logging to the operation of hydroelectric dams -- possibly making them easier or tougher....
Hunter reports shooting of yearling wolf The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating the apparent accidental shooting of a wolf near Cody by a local man. "I had a local resident call me and tell me he thought he killed a wolf," said Fish and Wildlife Special Agent Tim Eicher. "The individual was out coyote hunting and mistakenly shot a wolf." Eicher declined to release the name of the hunter, saying the incident was still under investigation. He said no charges have been filed, and he will forward his report to Assistant U.S. Attorney John Barksdale in Casper, who will determine what charges, if any, are appropriate. Wolves are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973....
Critical habitat for black bears rule draws fire A group with a mission to save the threatened Louisiana black bear has joined the fight against efforts to set aside legally protected land for the animal, saying the move would add needless bureaucracy that could slow the bear's recovery. The Black Bear Conservation Committee -- a coalition of landowners, government agencies and conservation groups -- has filed a friend-of-the-court brief defending the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in a lawsuit over the agency's failure to designate "critical habitat" for the black bear. The University of Denver Environmental Law Clinical Partnership filed the lawsuit in September, seeking to force the federal government to make the designation, a move that some landowner's fear would take away their rights to use property as they wish. The black bear already receives protection under the Endangered Species Act, but a critical-habitat designation would add a layer of review for projects that are carried out on federal land, need a federal permit or receive federal funding....
Environmentalists to appeal border fence ruling Environmental activists vowed on Tuesday to appeal a ruling by a San Diego federal judge allowing the United States to finish building a fence along the border with Mexico despite concerns that it would threaten a wildlife habitat. The Department of Homeland Security won the right on Monday to finish the remaining 5 miles of the border fence in southern California by invoking a little-known federal law that allows the agency to waive state and federal environmental laws in the name of security. "This isn't just about trees, plants and birds," said Cory Briggs, who represents the environmental activists. "This is about setting the Constitution on fire." Briggs sued the federal government in February 2004 on behalf of the Sierra Club, the San Diego Audubon Society, San Diego Baykeeper, the California Native Plant Society, the Southwest Wetlands Interpretive Association and the Center for Biological Diversity....
C.A. Revives Pacific Lumber Plan for Logging On North Coast The First District Court of Appeal yesterday overturned a Humboldt Superior Court ruling that had struck down Pacific Lumber Co.’s state-approved 100-year logging plan. Presiding Justice Barbara J.R. Jones, writing for Div. Five, said the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection made an adequate showing that the plan, which allows the company to harvest timber on approximately 211,000 acres in Humboldt County, would protect endangered species and watersheds. The logging plan arose from a deal between Maxxam Incorporated, which acquired Pacific Lumber in 1986, and the state and federal governments. Under the 1996 agreement, brokered by Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the company agreed to sell the Headwaters Forest, 7,500 acres of environmentally sensitive old-growth redwoods, to the government in exchange for permission to log its remaining acreage. That permission, in turn, was conditioned upon preservation of habitat for the imperiled marbled murrelet and the northern spotted owl, prevention of excessive logging and protection of streams....
Global Warming Is the 'Real Thing,' Says Ad Featuring Polar Bears "Polar bears may soon be extinct because of global warming." That's the message from Greenpeace USA, which is launching a national television advertising campaign to raise awareness of the polar bear's "plight." Greenpeace said the 30-second ad, featuring a "polar bear mother and cub cuddling on ice," is intended to remind viewers of the popular holiday ad featuring polar bears drinking Coca-Cola. Greenpeace said its ad coincides with the filing of a federal lawsuit seeking to place polar bears on the endangered species list. According to Greenpeace, the polar bear may become the first mammal to make the endangered species list because of global warming. The ad says the pack ice where polar bears live is melting because the earth's temperature is warming....
Column: Trouble with the ESA is us With House approval of his "Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act" last September, Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., got a step closer to his career goal of eradicating the Endangered Species Act. Pombo, a developer posing as a rancher posing as an advocate of the public good, proclaims that the 32-year-old law is "broken" and a "failure." Such talk infuriates Steve Moyer, Trout Unlimited's federal advocacy coordinator, who helped procure the last reauthorization of the ESA in 1988. "We don't enforce the Clean Water Act aggressively enough," he declares. "We weaken federal lands laws to cut more forests. We don't bother to update a federal mining law from the 1800s. We don't make the Magnuson Act conserve marine fish. We don't provide adequate funding for federal and state wildlife programs. On and on and on. We put a huge burden on the ESA, and then some have the nerve to blame it." Only nine -- or less than 1 percent -- of the species protected by the ESA have gone extinct; 68 percent are stable or recovering. Not a bad record, but nothing close to what it could be. The ESA has never failed; we have; and the only thing "broken" is its application....
Woman suspected in several ecoterror cases A woman charged with damaging a transmission tower also is suspected in half a dozen other ecoterror crimes, including a firebombing at a Colorado ski resort, one of the costliest such crimes in the U.S. Chelsea Gerlach was ordered held without bail after Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Engdahl made the allegations against her. Federal public defender Craig Weinerman argued that the evidence against Gerlach was meager. Gerlach, 28, was among six people arrested in five states last week on indictments alleging they set fires and damaged property between 1998 and 2001 in Oregon and Washington. The Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front took responsibility for most of the crimes. Gerlach, of Portland, is charged with helping two others topple a Bonneville Power Administration high-tension line 25 miles east of Bend in 1999. Engdahl said he will present evidence to a grand jury Wednesday seeking indictments against Gerlach in a 1999 meatpacking fire in Eugene and a 2001 firebombing at a tree farm in Clatskanie. The prosecutor also said Gerlach is suspected in the 1998 firebombing of the ski resort at Vail, Colo. Four buildings and four chairlifts at the top of the mountain were damaged or destroyed, and damages were set at $12 million....
Some Kane County residents don't like officials' road stance Call it the Kane mutiny. Some Kane County residents have posted a petition voicing their displeasure with their County Commission's efforts to claim ownership of specific rural roads, many of which cross public lands in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. "There are a lot of locals - even some who ride [all-terrain vehicles] - who are not pleased with the county's road [position]," area activist Sky Chaney said Tuesday. "They're holding their cards close to their chests because they don't want to be bullied." Chaney and a "group of concerned citizens" published a guest editorial in the Dec. 7 edition of Kanab's Southern Utah News challenging the commission's stand. A nonbinding petition also popped up at a Kanab outdoor shop. Organizers plan to present the signatures - at least 60 so far - to commissioners....
Drilling plan calls for water re-injection Companies proposing to drill 2,000 coal-bed methane wells in southern Wyoming are willing to re-inject production water into the ground, according to the Bureau of Land Management. The BLM has released a draft environmental impact statement for the project involving Anadarko Petroleum and partners in the Atlantic Rim area between Rawlins and Baggs. The companies propose to drill 166 re-injection wells to handle the water produced along with the coal-bed methane. “That’s a good step in the right direction,” said Erik Molvar of Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, a conservation group based in Laramie. Re-injection of saline waters will address most but not all water problems, he added. Muddy Creek has some rare native fish species, so best management practices will be needed on road construction and maintenance to protect water quality, he said....
Groups push directional drilling While conservationists are pleased that energy companies plan to re-inject coal-bed methane water in the Atlantic Rim area of southern Wyoming, they say they're concerned about other parts of the project. They say Anadarko Petroleum and its partners, which plan to drill 2,000 wells in the area, should consider use of directional drilling techniques. “They’re still relying on conventional, vertical drilling, which maximizes the footprint disturbances of the project,” said Erik Molvar of Biodiversity Conservation Alliance. A better solution, he said, is directional drilling, which has been successfully done by the CDX company in a nearby field. That would reduce the footprint of drill pads to one for every two square miles, he said. Dave Simon, the BLM project leader, said the stratified nature of the coal beds under the Atlantic Rim area didn’t lend itself to directional drilling. The proposed Atlantic Rim project area encompasses about 485 square miles or 270,080 acres -- 173,672 acres of which are federal surface, 14,060 acres which are state lands, and 82,348 acres that are private surface....
Earth's uneasy breathing measured on Niwot Ridge Searching for signs of global climate change in nature goes beyond studies of receding mountain glaciers, thinning Arctic sea ice, shifting tree lines or quirky animal behavior. Invisible gases trapped in glass flasks also have a story to tell. Samples of thin mountain air collected on this windswept crest west of Boulder, and gases monitored continuously with tower-mounted sensors in the forest 1,500 feet below, are revealing nature's responses to a warming world, climate scientists say. Some of the trends Colorado scientists have spotted could be bad news for the future health of the state's mountain forests, they say. Analyzing the chemical fingerprint of forest and mountaintop gases is like holding a giant stethoscope to the planet and hearing its every heartbeat and breath. And some of the planet's vital signs are wavering....
Snow sleds OK for elk, study finds Most elk, bison and trumpeter swans barely reacted last winter to the presence of snowcoaches and snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park, according to a study released Tuesday. Scientists watched more than 2,100 interactions between over-snow vehicles and wildlife last year to try to determine how they responded. Of those, 81 percent of the animals had no apparent response or they looked and then resumed what they were doing, the study said. The research is part of a larger debate over the use of snowmobiles and snowcoaches in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. Opponents of snowmobile use - along with previous Park Service studies - have raised concerns about the effects of the machines in winter when wildlife are stressed by weather and scarcer food supplies. The study, intended to help park officials draw up a long-term plan for winter activity in Yellowstone, suggested that most elk and bison can become habituated to the machines over time....
Calif. senators object to plan to give military Santa Rosa Island California's two senators objected Tuesday to a plan by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., to transfer a 53,000-acre National Park island off the coast of California to the military as a recreation retreat. Democrats Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer sent a letter to the chairman and top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee criticizing as "premature and rash" Hunter's plan to include the transfer of the island in a pending defense bill. Hunter's amendment would give the military control of Santa Rosa Island, 40 miles off the coast of California, effective Jan. 1, 2009, as a "morale, welfare and recreation operation" for members of the Armed Forces, dependents, veterans, guests and others. The island also would be available for use as a training area for special operations forces....
Tamarisk targeted to save water Water managers in the seven states that rely on the Colorado River, looking for ways to conserve water in a supply already stressed by growth and drought, believe they can create more reliable drought buffers by targeting the biggest water wasters. Eradicating invasive plant species was among the less-traditional ideas mentioned in drought response proposals submitted by the states to Interior Secretary Gale Norton earlier this year. At the top of the species list is the tamarisk, a nonnative tree that, by some estimates, robs the Colorado River of as much as 500,000 acre-feet a year, or nearly twice Nevada's annual river allocation. Tamarisk plants thrive in riverbeds with low water flows and spread quickly, creating dense thickets that make removal difficult. They also create wildfire risks when they dry out....
Rancher struggles to corral roaming buffalo in western MN With wranglers on snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles, a group of western Minnesotans worked Tuesday to corral a loose herd of about 75 buffalo. But by evening, the herd was still on the loose. "They are trying to get them corralled back to their place, but they are having no luck," Clay County Sheriff Bill Bergquist said early Tuesday afternoon. "They got them going pretty good, but then they just stopped. Every now and then they charge you because they don't want to be chased." Bergquist said his deputies kept an eye on things and controlled traffic when the herd moved over roads, but the buffalo's owner and his friends staffed the drive. Officials hoped to keep the bison from Interstate 94. Bergquist was skeptical the effort would work until the unruly buffalo decided to cooperate. "Hopefully, once they get so hungry and thirsty they will go back to where they get their food," he said....
A Virus Stalks the Henhouse Andrew Carlson cupped a day-old chick in his palm as a sea of 25,000 yellow fluff balls peeped and pecked around him. Placing the chick on the ground, he checked automated food and temperature controls in the cavernous henhouse west of Modesto, then returned to his truck and unzipped his full-body biosecurity suit. Instinctively, Carlson reached for a bottle in the door pocket, squirted a dollop of clear gel into his calloused hand and rubbed it in. "Farmers using hand sanitizers," he said. "Crazy, huh?" In the age of bird flu, the ideal poultry or egg farm would be more controlled than a prison, more sanitary than a hospital and more remote than a desert island. Reality is not far off. The new tools of the trade are locked gates, visitor logs and antiviral truck washes. Failure to wear biosecurity gear is a firing offense....
Forest Service Lifts Environmental Assessments for Oil Roads, Pipelines The U.S. Forest Service is proposing to change the environmental review process for oil and gas exploration and development projects under federal lease in national forests and grasslands. The proposal would allow local forest and grassland units to use a categorical exclusion when approving surface uses, such as road access, drill pad construction and pipeline installation, for oil and gas exploration and development under federal lease. The Service says the proposal would "reduce unnecessary red tape and delay while keeping environmental protection for national forests and grasslands." "Our forest managers have reviewed similar oil and gas projects over the last five years and have learned that projects of this scale do not carry significant environmental effects to human health or the environment," said Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth. "This proposal is a result of that review as well as the agency's commitment to energy conservation in our national forest and grasslands." Projects under this proposed regulation could not include more than up to a mile each of new and reconstructed road, three miles of pipeline and four drill sites. Currently, these types of projects require an environmental assessment (EA) or environmental impact statement (EIS), which can take six months or longer to complete....
Senate drops changes to mining law A change in federal mining law that opponents feared would open millions of acres of public land in the West to development is dead for this year. The sponsor of the change, Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., conceded defeat after senators told him his provision would violate Senate rules against passing major new legislation as part of the budget reconciliation bill, which is just supposed to make changes in spending. "I remain committed to modernizing the mining law to meet our 21st Century needs," said Gibbons. The provision, part of the House budget spending bill, would have lifted an 11-year-old ban on the "patenting" or sale of public land that is being mined and further allows the owner to develop the property for homes or other uses once the minerals are gone. Gibbons had said his intent was only to help some Nevada communities develop areas where the mines had played out. The House Resource Committee staff said it would only immediately affect 360,000 acres of Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management property where mining is underway....
Judge bars U.S. from wild-horse roundup A federal judge on Tuesday barred the U.S. Forest Service from rounding up hundreds of wild horses in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests and selling them for slaughter. U.S. District Court Judge Frederic Martone wrote that the Forest Service argument that it didn't have to comply with laws governing wild horses because the animals in question strayed onto the forest after the 2002 "Rodeo-Chediski" forest fire and were domesticated hadn't been proven. In fact, Martone wrote, the government's arguments and its lawyers' statements showed that it didn't consider whether the horses were covered by the wild-horse law before ordering them rounded up and sold. Three animal rights groups - the Animal Welfare Institute, In Defense of Animals and the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros - brought the suit, joined by two individuals....
Battle erupts over Crystal mine The government has accused one of the last miners in Pitkin County of putting historic artifacts and natural resources at risk by rooting around an old mine in the shadow of Mount Sopris. But miner Robert Congdon counters that it is the U.S. Forest Service that is being irresponsible by letting items like ore cars, rails and hand tools rot without making an effort at historic preservation. He claims he was acting within his rights and with good intentions. The dispute is over the Maree Love mine, tucked in a minor drainage in the Crystal Valley. Congdon rediscovered the abandoned mine in the early 1980s even though its three adits, or passageways, had collapsed. His research showed it was probably established as a gold mine in the late 1880s, then converted to a lead mine. Iron oxides were pulled out as late as the 1950s....
Animal rights duo guilty in Sabino case Two animal activists affiliated with Earth First were convicted Tuesday on one felony and two misdemeanor counts related to their March 2004 disruption of a mountain lion hunt in Sabino Canyon. Rodney Coronado, 39, of Tucson, and Matthew Crozier, 33, of Sedona, could be imprisoned for more than six years if maximum sentences are imposed. Coronado is a convicted arsonist and well-known spokesman for forceful action on behalf of animal rights and environmental causes.
Crozier joined Coronado in spreading false scents and pulling up a sensor and trap during a hunt for problem lions in the then-closed canyon. After the verdict, Assistant U.S. Attorney Wallace Klein- dienst said Coronado is "a danger to the community."....
Study Shows Forests Thrive With Increased Carbon Dioxide Levels Forest productivity may be significantly greater in an atmosphere enriched with carbon dioxide, according to findings released today that challenge recent reports that question the importance of carbon dioxide fertilization. The study, funded primarily the DOE's Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research and the National Science Foundation, was performed by researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and 10 other institutions in the United States and Europe. Their work revealed a strong relationship between productivity of forest plots in the current atmosphere and productivity in plots experimentally enriched with carbon dioxide. "The median response indicated a 23 percent increase in productivity in the future atmosphere," said ORNL's Rich Norby, lead author of the paper to be published Dec. 13 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "What was especially surprising to the research team was the consistency of the response across a wide range of productivity."....
Parties eye new swap plan A hotly debated proposal to trade public land in the mountains near Wheatland for private lands at Devil's Canyon in northern Wyoming will be re-evaluated and a new proposal crafted by stakeholders interested in balancing public benefits and losses. The decision was made after two days of talks between Pat Broe, who is proposing the exchange, and Bill Bookout, a neighboring rancher and spokesman for those opposing the exchange, and members of the Platte County Resource District. Broe wants to trade about 3,000 acres he controls near Devil's Canyon by Lovell to the Bureau of Land Management. In return, he wants about 5,000 acres of mostly U.S. Forest Service lands next to his Notch Peak Ranch near Wheatland. In addition, Broe would turn over about 800 acres in three separate chunks in Platte and Albany counties to federal land agencies. As Broe took his idea before the public, he garnered support in northern Wyoming and hearty opposition in southern Wyoming, where people would suffer a net loss of public lands. Bookout owns property near Notch Peak Ranch and has become an unofficial spokesman for the opposition....
Lawsuit attacks salmon listings A California property rights group has filed a federal lawsuit challenging Endangered Species Act listings for salmon in four Western states, claiming the government is playing a “shell game’’ with hatchery and naturally spawned fish by counting only the natural population to determine listings. The Pacific Legal Foundation, based in Sacramento, also claims the salmon listings damage the Western economy by driving up prices and cutting jobs in farming and agriculture, along with other industries, including construction and transportation. “This policy is an insult to the tens of thousands of people whose livelihoods are being held hostage by needless regulations to protect fish that aren’t endangered,’’ said Russell Brooks, the managing attorney for the foundation’s office in Seattle. Brian Gorman, spokesman for NOAA Fisheries in Seattle, said the agency cannot comment on a pending lawsuit. But he defended NOAA policy on wild and hatchery salmon in general, noting that the Pacific Legal Foundation won a ruling in 2001 by U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan in Eugene that required fishery managers to consider hatchery salmon numbers when determining whether to list wild stocks as threatened or endangered. “The court clearly told us we had to account for hatchery fish,’’ Gorman said. “But at no point did the court say that hatchery fish and natural spawners were a one-to-one correspondence.’’....
Two lawsuits tackle NW salmon issues Oregon came under attack Tuesday in a lawsuit seeking to undo the state's river standards as inadequate for salmon and to have the federal government do the job instead. At the same time, the U.S. government came under attack in a separate lawsuit Tuesday that contends federal officials wrongly consider many salmon species imperiled when abundant hatchery-born fish make them plentiful. Protection for salmon that do not need it unnecessarily drives prices up and costs the region jobs, the group behind the lawsuit claims. The legal actions underscore the high stakes surrounding a federal salmon recovery program with costs reaching into the hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Depending on their success, the suits could affect activities from logging to the operation of hydroelectric dams -- possibly making them easier or tougher....
Hunter reports shooting of yearling wolf The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating the apparent accidental shooting of a wolf near Cody by a local man. "I had a local resident call me and tell me he thought he killed a wolf," said Fish and Wildlife Special Agent Tim Eicher. "The individual was out coyote hunting and mistakenly shot a wolf." Eicher declined to release the name of the hunter, saying the incident was still under investigation. He said no charges have been filed, and he will forward his report to Assistant U.S. Attorney John Barksdale in Casper, who will determine what charges, if any, are appropriate. Wolves are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973....
Critical habitat for black bears rule draws fire A group with a mission to save the threatened Louisiana black bear has joined the fight against efforts to set aside legally protected land for the animal, saying the move would add needless bureaucracy that could slow the bear's recovery. The Black Bear Conservation Committee -- a coalition of landowners, government agencies and conservation groups -- has filed a friend-of-the-court brief defending the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in a lawsuit over the agency's failure to designate "critical habitat" for the black bear. The University of Denver Environmental Law Clinical Partnership filed the lawsuit in September, seeking to force the federal government to make the designation, a move that some landowner's fear would take away their rights to use property as they wish. The black bear already receives protection under the Endangered Species Act, but a critical-habitat designation would add a layer of review for projects that are carried out on federal land, need a federal permit or receive federal funding....
Environmentalists to appeal border fence ruling Environmental activists vowed on Tuesday to appeal a ruling by a San Diego federal judge allowing the United States to finish building a fence along the border with Mexico despite concerns that it would threaten a wildlife habitat. The Department of Homeland Security won the right on Monday to finish the remaining 5 miles of the border fence in southern California by invoking a little-known federal law that allows the agency to waive state and federal environmental laws in the name of security. "This isn't just about trees, plants and birds," said Cory Briggs, who represents the environmental activists. "This is about setting the Constitution on fire." Briggs sued the federal government in February 2004 on behalf of the Sierra Club, the San Diego Audubon Society, San Diego Baykeeper, the California Native Plant Society, the Southwest Wetlands Interpretive Association and the Center for Biological Diversity....
C.A. Revives Pacific Lumber Plan for Logging On North Coast The First District Court of Appeal yesterday overturned a Humboldt Superior Court ruling that had struck down Pacific Lumber Co.’s state-approved 100-year logging plan. Presiding Justice Barbara J.R. Jones, writing for Div. Five, said the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection made an adequate showing that the plan, which allows the company to harvest timber on approximately 211,000 acres in Humboldt County, would protect endangered species and watersheds. The logging plan arose from a deal between Maxxam Incorporated, which acquired Pacific Lumber in 1986, and the state and federal governments. Under the 1996 agreement, brokered by Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the company agreed to sell the Headwaters Forest, 7,500 acres of environmentally sensitive old-growth redwoods, to the government in exchange for permission to log its remaining acreage. That permission, in turn, was conditioned upon preservation of habitat for the imperiled marbled murrelet and the northern spotted owl, prevention of excessive logging and protection of streams....
Global Warming Is the 'Real Thing,' Says Ad Featuring Polar Bears "Polar bears may soon be extinct because of global warming." That's the message from Greenpeace USA, which is launching a national television advertising campaign to raise awareness of the polar bear's "plight." Greenpeace said the 30-second ad, featuring a "polar bear mother and cub cuddling on ice," is intended to remind viewers of the popular holiday ad featuring polar bears drinking Coca-Cola. Greenpeace said its ad coincides with the filing of a federal lawsuit seeking to place polar bears on the endangered species list. According to Greenpeace, the polar bear may become the first mammal to make the endangered species list because of global warming. The ad says the pack ice where polar bears live is melting because the earth's temperature is warming....
Column: Trouble with the ESA is us With House approval of his "Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act" last September, Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., got a step closer to his career goal of eradicating the Endangered Species Act. Pombo, a developer posing as a rancher posing as an advocate of the public good, proclaims that the 32-year-old law is "broken" and a "failure." Such talk infuriates Steve Moyer, Trout Unlimited's federal advocacy coordinator, who helped procure the last reauthorization of the ESA in 1988. "We don't enforce the Clean Water Act aggressively enough," he declares. "We weaken federal lands laws to cut more forests. We don't bother to update a federal mining law from the 1800s. We don't make the Magnuson Act conserve marine fish. We don't provide adequate funding for federal and state wildlife programs. On and on and on. We put a huge burden on the ESA, and then some have the nerve to blame it." Only nine -- or less than 1 percent -- of the species protected by the ESA have gone extinct; 68 percent are stable or recovering. Not a bad record, but nothing close to what it could be. The ESA has never failed; we have; and the only thing "broken" is its application....
Woman suspected in several ecoterror cases A woman charged with damaging a transmission tower also is suspected in half a dozen other ecoterror crimes, including a firebombing at a Colorado ski resort, one of the costliest such crimes in the U.S. Chelsea Gerlach was ordered held without bail after Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Engdahl made the allegations against her. Federal public defender Craig Weinerman argued that the evidence against Gerlach was meager. Gerlach, 28, was among six people arrested in five states last week on indictments alleging they set fires and damaged property between 1998 and 2001 in Oregon and Washington. The Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front took responsibility for most of the crimes. Gerlach, of Portland, is charged with helping two others topple a Bonneville Power Administration high-tension line 25 miles east of Bend in 1999. Engdahl said he will present evidence to a grand jury Wednesday seeking indictments against Gerlach in a 1999 meatpacking fire in Eugene and a 2001 firebombing at a tree farm in Clatskanie. The prosecutor also said Gerlach is suspected in the 1998 firebombing of the ski resort at Vail, Colo. Four buildings and four chairlifts at the top of the mountain were damaged or destroyed, and damages were set at $12 million....
Some Kane County residents don't like officials' road stance Call it the Kane mutiny. Some Kane County residents have posted a petition voicing their displeasure with their County Commission's efforts to claim ownership of specific rural roads, many of which cross public lands in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. "There are a lot of locals - even some who ride [all-terrain vehicles] - who are not pleased with the county's road [position]," area activist Sky Chaney said Tuesday. "They're holding their cards close to their chests because they don't want to be bullied." Chaney and a "group of concerned citizens" published a guest editorial in the Dec. 7 edition of Kanab's Southern Utah News challenging the commission's stand. A nonbinding petition also popped up at a Kanab outdoor shop. Organizers plan to present the signatures - at least 60 so far - to commissioners....
Drilling plan calls for water re-injection Companies proposing to drill 2,000 coal-bed methane wells in southern Wyoming are willing to re-inject production water into the ground, according to the Bureau of Land Management. The BLM has released a draft environmental impact statement for the project involving Anadarko Petroleum and partners in the Atlantic Rim area between Rawlins and Baggs. The companies propose to drill 166 re-injection wells to handle the water produced along with the coal-bed methane. “That’s a good step in the right direction,” said Erik Molvar of Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, a conservation group based in Laramie. Re-injection of saline waters will address most but not all water problems, he added. Muddy Creek has some rare native fish species, so best management practices will be needed on road construction and maintenance to protect water quality, he said....
Groups push directional drilling While conservationists are pleased that energy companies plan to re-inject coal-bed methane water in the Atlantic Rim area of southern Wyoming, they say they're concerned about other parts of the project. They say Anadarko Petroleum and its partners, which plan to drill 2,000 wells in the area, should consider use of directional drilling techniques. “They’re still relying on conventional, vertical drilling, which maximizes the footprint disturbances of the project,” said Erik Molvar of Biodiversity Conservation Alliance. A better solution, he said, is directional drilling, which has been successfully done by the CDX company in a nearby field. That would reduce the footprint of drill pads to one for every two square miles, he said. Dave Simon, the BLM project leader, said the stratified nature of the coal beds under the Atlantic Rim area didn’t lend itself to directional drilling. The proposed Atlantic Rim project area encompasses about 485 square miles or 270,080 acres -- 173,672 acres of which are federal surface, 14,060 acres which are state lands, and 82,348 acres that are private surface....
Earth's uneasy breathing measured on Niwot Ridge Searching for signs of global climate change in nature goes beyond studies of receding mountain glaciers, thinning Arctic sea ice, shifting tree lines or quirky animal behavior. Invisible gases trapped in glass flasks also have a story to tell. Samples of thin mountain air collected on this windswept crest west of Boulder, and gases monitored continuously with tower-mounted sensors in the forest 1,500 feet below, are revealing nature's responses to a warming world, climate scientists say. Some of the trends Colorado scientists have spotted could be bad news for the future health of the state's mountain forests, they say. Analyzing the chemical fingerprint of forest and mountaintop gases is like holding a giant stethoscope to the planet and hearing its every heartbeat and breath. And some of the planet's vital signs are wavering....
Snow sleds OK for elk, study finds Most elk, bison and trumpeter swans barely reacted last winter to the presence of snowcoaches and snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park, according to a study released Tuesday. Scientists watched more than 2,100 interactions between over-snow vehicles and wildlife last year to try to determine how they responded. Of those, 81 percent of the animals had no apparent response or they looked and then resumed what they were doing, the study said. The research is part of a larger debate over the use of snowmobiles and snowcoaches in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. Opponents of snowmobile use - along with previous Park Service studies - have raised concerns about the effects of the machines in winter when wildlife are stressed by weather and scarcer food supplies. The study, intended to help park officials draw up a long-term plan for winter activity in Yellowstone, suggested that most elk and bison can become habituated to the machines over time....
Calif. senators object to plan to give military Santa Rosa Island California's two senators objected Tuesday to a plan by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., to transfer a 53,000-acre National Park island off the coast of California to the military as a recreation retreat. Democrats Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer sent a letter to the chairman and top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee criticizing as "premature and rash" Hunter's plan to include the transfer of the island in a pending defense bill. Hunter's amendment would give the military control of Santa Rosa Island, 40 miles off the coast of California, effective Jan. 1, 2009, as a "morale, welfare and recreation operation" for members of the Armed Forces, dependents, veterans, guests and others. The island also would be available for use as a training area for special operations forces....
Tamarisk targeted to save water Water managers in the seven states that rely on the Colorado River, looking for ways to conserve water in a supply already stressed by growth and drought, believe they can create more reliable drought buffers by targeting the biggest water wasters. Eradicating invasive plant species was among the less-traditional ideas mentioned in drought response proposals submitted by the states to Interior Secretary Gale Norton earlier this year. At the top of the species list is the tamarisk, a nonnative tree that, by some estimates, robs the Colorado River of as much as 500,000 acre-feet a year, or nearly twice Nevada's annual river allocation. Tamarisk plants thrive in riverbeds with low water flows and spread quickly, creating dense thickets that make removal difficult. They also create wildfire risks when they dry out....
Rancher struggles to corral roaming buffalo in western MN With wranglers on snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles, a group of western Minnesotans worked Tuesday to corral a loose herd of about 75 buffalo. But by evening, the herd was still on the loose. "They are trying to get them corralled back to their place, but they are having no luck," Clay County Sheriff Bill Bergquist said early Tuesday afternoon. "They got them going pretty good, but then they just stopped. Every now and then they charge you because they don't want to be chased." Bergquist said his deputies kept an eye on things and controlled traffic when the herd moved over roads, but the buffalo's owner and his friends staffed the drive. Officials hoped to keep the bison from Interstate 94. Bergquist was skeptical the effort would work until the unruly buffalo decided to cooperate. "Hopefully, once they get so hungry and thirsty they will go back to where they get their food," he said....
A Virus Stalks the Henhouse Andrew Carlson cupped a day-old chick in his palm as a sea of 25,000 yellow fluff balls peeped and pecked around him. Placing the chick on the ground, he checked automated food and temperature controls in the cavernous henhouse west of Modesto, then returned to his truck and unzipped his full-body biosecurity suit. Instinctively, Carlson reached for a bottle in the door pocket, squirted a dollop of clear gel into his calloused hand and rubbed it in. "Farmers using hand sanitizers," he said. "Crazy, huh?" In the age of bird flu, the ideal poultry or egg farm would be more controlled than a prison, more sanitary than a hospital and more remote than a desert island. Reality is not far off. The new tools of the trade are locked gates, visitor logs and antiviral truck washes. Failure to wear biosecurity gear is a firing offense....
FLE
DHS report admits air marshals 'overreacted' in airport shooting
Although the department claims otherwise publicly, a confidential internal report within the Department of Homeland Security admits air marshals “overreacted” when they gunned down a Florida man at Miami International Airport last week. The report, which may never be released publicly, confirms that preliminary interviews with witnesses conflict the statements of air marshals who claim Rigoberto Alpizar shouted he had a bomb as he stormed off a plane and up a jetway at the airport. “Although witness statements contain conflicting information, none of those interrogated following the incident collaborate any utterance by the suspect that he either possessed, or intended to detonate, an explosive device,” the report says. Publicly, DHS and the Air Marshal Service claim the two agents who brought down Alpizar in a hail of bullets from their 357 Sig Sauer handguns acted “within guidelines” for handling potential terrorist activities. But Alpizar, a 44-year-old naturalized American citizen from Costa Rica, suffered from bipolar disorder and had not taken his prescription medication to control the condition. The Home Depot employee who lived in Maitland, Florida, did not have a bomb and witnesses on the scene dispute the marshals’ claim that he shouted he did. “I can tell you, he never said a thing in that airplane; he never called out he had a bomb,” says fellow passenger Jorge Borelli, an Orlando architect. “He just wanted to get off the plane,” says passenger John McAlhany, He adds that Alpizar was “clearly agitated” but said nothing about a bomb. “I never heard the word 'bomb' until the FBI asked me: 'Did you hear the word bomb?'” McAlhany says other federal officers stormed onto plane, pointing guns at passangers and demanding they put their hands in front of them....
Air Marshal Service Under Scrutiny After Shooting
The Federal Air Marshal Service sends thousands of armed undercover agents into the skies each day. But now the service is facing more scrutiny than ever after marshals shot a Maitland, Fla., man to death Wednesday at Miami International Airport. Miami-Dade police are investigating the shooting, the first by marshals since before the terror attacks of 2001. But it's not the first time the program has come under scrutiny. Federal reports released since the program's rapid expansion after the Sept. 11 attacks found that background checks of agents were often too lenient, discipline problems existed among marshals and firearms testing was often inconsistent. A report by the Government Accountability Office released in November found that there were few opportunities for career expansion for marshals and that the program was failing to track and follow up on incidents that compromised marshals' anonymity. The latter problem was addressed, but it is unclear how TSA will keep qualified marshals on the job. An August 2004 report by the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general found the program experienced several problems. In 2002, flight marshals were cited for instances of improper flight conduct, lost or stolen equipment including weapons, failed training and sleeping on duty, according to the report....
Are Air Marshals Prepared to Handle Mentally Ill Passengers?
The death of a bipolar airline passenger at the hands of federal air marshals has raised questions about whether the people charged with preventing violence in the skies are adequately trained to handle mentally ill passengers. Several experts on mental illness and police training said they did not fault air marshals for fatally shooting Rigoberto Alpizar at Miami International Airport. But they suggested the Federal Air Marshal Service should re-examine how it trains marshals to deal with people who act erratically or irrationally due to mental illness or other brain disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease. "This guy was mentally disturbed; he wasn't a terrorist, and he didn't have a bomb and the air marshals took him down, which is what they are trained to do," said Andrew Thomas, an aviation analyst at the University of Akron in Ohio....
Marshals To Patrol Land, Sea Transport
Teams of undercover air marshals and uniformed law enforcement officers will fan out to bus and train stations, ferries, and mass transit facilities across the country this week in a new test program to conduct surveillance and "counter potential criminal terrorist activity in all modes of transportation," according to internal federal documents. According to internal Transportation Security Administration documents, the program calls for newly created "Visible Intermodal Protection and Response" teams -- called "Viper" teams -- to take positions in public areas along Amtrak's Northeast Corridor and Los Angeles rail lines; ferries in Washington state; and mass transit systems in Atlanta, Philadelphia and Baltimore. Viper teams will also patrol the Washington Metro system. A Viper team will consist of two air marshals, one TSA bomb-sniffing-canine team, one or two transportation security inspectors, one local law enforcement officer, and one other TSA employee. Some members of the team will be obvious to the traveling public and wear jackets bearing the TSA name on the back. Others will be plainclothes air marshals scanning the crowds for suspicious people. It is unclear how many Viper teams will be on patrol through the New Year holiday, but air marshal officials confirm that they will be at seven locations across the country....
Is the Pentagon spying on Americans?
A year ago, at a Quaker Meeting House in Lake Worth, Fla., a small group of activists met to plan a protest of military recruiting at local high schools. What they didn't know was that their meeting had come to the attention of the U.S. military. A secret 400-page Defense Department document obtained by NBC News lists the Lake Worth meeting as a “threat” and one of more than 1,500 “suspicious incidents” across the country over a recent 10-month period. “This peaceful, educationally oriented group being a threat is incredible,” says Evy Grachow, a member of the Florida group called The Truth Project. “This is incredible,” adds group member Rich Hersh. “It's an example of paranoia by our government,” he says. “We're not doing anything illegal.” The Defense Department document is the first inside look at how the U.S. military has stepped up intelligence collection inside this country since 9/11, which now includes the monitoring of peaceful anti-war and counter-military recruitment groups. “I think Americans should be concerned that the military, in fact, has reached too far,” says NBC News military analyst Bill Arkin. The Department of Defense declined repeated requests by NBC News for an interview. The DOD database obtained by NBC News includes nearly four dozen anti-war meetings or protests, including some that have taken place far from any military installation, post or recruitment center....
An 11th-hour drive to amend Patriot Act
An unusual coalition of lawmakers and activists opposed to parts of the USA Patriot Act is mounting a last push to persuade Congress to take more time before voting to extend some of the law's most controversial provisions. At issue is whether Congress has been rigorous enough in assessing how the Patriot Act - which the White House calls vital to its war on terror - has been implemented. Many lawmakers were stunned by recent press reports, denied but not corrected by the Justice Department, that the FBI has issued as many as 30,000 "national security letters" since the law was passed nearly unanimously in 2001. The letters order private and public entities to turn over records and other private data about Americans - and remain silent about it. In the run-up to a vote later this week on extending controversial provisions of the act, civil liberties and privacy groups released their own research, based largely on documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, that they say signals numerous reporting violations and lax oversight. "Congress should not reauthorize the Patriot Act until these questions are resolved," says Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, which released FBI documents it had obtained, at a press briefing Tuesday. On paper, the coalition urging a delay is the strongest to lobby Congress on any issue. Its backers range from conservative and libertarian groups - including the American Conservative Union, Americans for Tax Reform, and gun groups - to the American Civil Liberties Union. Within the Senate, a bipartisan group of lawmakers looking to tighten privacy protections wants to put off the vote for three months. (Parts of the Patriot Act are set to expire this month.) If these concerns aren't met, some, including Sens. Russell Feingold (D) of Wisconsin and Larry Craig (R) of Idaho, threaten to filibuster the bill....
Senate bill seeks time to tighten Patriot Act
A bipartisan coalition of senators yesterday introduced a bill to extend by three months controversial provisions of the USA Patriot Act to allow for efforts in the Senate and House to draft new legislation -- potentially trumping plans to vote this week on a four-year extension. The bill, authored by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, is co-sponsored by Democratic Sens. Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia, Carl Levin of Michigan and Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, along with Republican Sens. John E. Sununu of New Hampshire, Larry E. Craig of Idaho and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. The senators told Sen. Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania Republican and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, that the House waited six months to appoint members to the conference committee that made the Patriot Act recommendations and that "rushed negotiations won't be able to achieve a satisfactory resolution in the few days remaining in the session."....
New law will create domestic intelligence chief
The law renewing the USA PATRIOT Act will create a new official in the Justice Department responsible for domestic intelligence-gathering. Section 506 of the law, which is currently before Congress, establishes a National Security Division within the Department of Justice, to be headed by an Assistant Attorney General for National Security. The section implements a recommendation by the president's commission on intelligence that the Justice Department's "primary national security elements -- the Office of Intelligence Policy and Review, and the Counterterrorism and Counterespionage sections" be rolled into a single office, under the command of a new assistant attorney general. The new assistant attorney general will be nominated by the president after consultation with the director of national intelligence. The post-holder will be subject to confirmation by the judiciary committee and will report to the attorney general....
DHS report admits air marshals 'overreacted' in airport shooting
Although the department claims otherwise publicly, a confidential internal report within the Department of Homeland Security admits air marshals “overreacted” when they gunned down a Florida man at Miami International Airport last week. The report, which may never be released publicly, confirms that preliminary interviews with witnesses conflict the statements of air marshals who claim Rigoberto Alpizar shouted he had a bomb as he stormed off a plane and up a jetway at the airport. “Although witness statements contain conflicting information, none of those interrogated following the incident collaborate any utterance by the suspect that he either possessed, or intended to detonate, an explosive device,” the report says. Publicly, DHS and the Air Marshal Service claim the two agents who brought down Alpizar in a hail of bullets from their 357 Sig Sauer handguns acted “within guidelines” for handling potential terrorist activities. But Alpizar, a 44-year-old naturalized American citizen from Costa Rica, suffered from bipolar disorder and had not taken his prescription medication to control the condition. The Home Depot employee who lived in Maitland, Florida, did not have a bomb and witnesses on the scene dispute the marshals’ claim that he shouted he did. “I can tell you, he never said a thing in that airplane; he never called out he had a bomb,” says fellow passenger Jorge Borelli, an Orlando architect. “He just wanted to get off the plane,” says passenger John McAlhany, He adds that Alpizar was “clearly agitated” but said nothing about a bomb. “I never heard the word 'bomb' until the FBI asked me: 'Did you hear the word bomb?'” McAlhany says other federal officers stormed onto plane, pointing guns at passangers and demanding they put their hands in front of them....
Air Marshal Service Under Scrutiny After Shooting
The Federal Air Marshal Service sends thousands of armed undercover agents into the skies each day. But now the service is facing more scrutiny than ever after marshals shot a Maitland, Fla., man to death Wednesday at Miami International Airport. Miami-Dade police are investigating the shooting, the first by marshals since before the terror attacks of 2001. But it's not the first time the program has come under scrutiny. Federal reports released since the program's rapid expansion after the Sept. 11 attacks found that background checks of agents were often too lenient, discipline problems existed among marshals and firearms testing was often inconsistent. A report by the Government Accountability Office released in November found that there were few opportunities for career expansion for marshals and that the program was failing to track and follow up on incidents that compromised marshals' anonymity. The latter problem was addressed, but it is unclear how TSA will keep qualified marshals on the job. An August 2004 report by the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general found the program experienced several problems. In 2002, flight marshals were cited for instances of improper flight conduct, lost or stolen equipment including weapons, failed training and sleeping on duty, according to the report....
Are Air Marshals Prepared to Handle Mentally Ill Passengers?
The death of a bipolar airline passenger at the hands of federal air marshals has raised questions about whether the people charged with preventing violence in the skies are adequately trained to handle mentally ill passengers. Several experts on mental illness and police training said they did not fault air marshals for fatally shooting Rigoberto Alpizar at Miami International Airport. But they suggested the Federal Air Marshal Service should re-examine how it trains marshals to deal with people who act erratically or irrationally due to mental illness or other brain disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease. "This guy was mentally disturbed; he wasn't a terrorist, and he didn't have a bomb and the air marshals took him down, which is what they are trained to do," said Andrew Thomas, an aviation analyst at the University of Akron in Ohio....
Marshals To Patrol Land, Sea Transport
Teams of undercover air marshals and uniformed law enforcement officers will fan out to bus and train stations, ferries, and mass transit facilities across the country this week in a new test program to conduct surveillance and "counter potential criminal terrorist activity in all modes of transportation," according to internal federal documents. According to internal Transportation Security Administration documents, the program calls for newly created "Visible Intermodal Protection and Response" teams -- called "Viper" teams -- to take positions in public areas along Amtrak's Northeast Corridor and Los Angeles rail lines; ferries in Washington state; and mass transit systems in Atlanta, Philadelphia and Baltimore. Viper teams will also patrol the Washington Metro system. A Viper team will consist of two air marshals, one TSA bomb-sniffing-canine team, one or two transportation security inspectors, one local law enforcement officer, and one other TSA employee. Some members of the team will be obvious to the traveling public and wear jackets bearing the TSA name on the back. Others will be plainclothes air marshals scanning the crowds for suspicious people. It is unclear how many Viper teams will be on patrol through the New Year holiday, but air marshal officials confirm that they will be at seven locations across the country....
Is the Pentagon spying on Americans?
A year ago, at a Quaker Meeting House in Lake Worth, Fla., a small group of activists met to plan a protest of military recruiting at local high schools. What they didn't know was that their meeting had come to the attention of the U.S. military. A secret 400-page Defense Department document obtained by NBC News lists the Lake Worth meeting as a “threat” and one of more than 1,500 “suspicious incidents” across the country over a recent 10-month period. “This peaceful, educationally oriented group being a threat is incredible,” says Evy Grachow, a member of the Florida group called The Truth Project. “This is incredible,” adds group member Rich Hersh. “It's an example of paranoia by our government,” he says. “We're not doing anything illegal.” The Defense Department document is the first inside look at how the U.S. military has stepped up intelligence collection inside this country since 9/11, which now includes the monitoring of peaceful anti-war and counter-military recruitment groups. “I think Americans should be concerned that the military, in fact, has reached too far,” says NBC News military analyst Bill Arkin. The Department of Defense declined repeated requests by NBC News for an interview. The DOD database obtained by NBC News includes nearly four dozen anti-war meetings or protests, including some that have taken place far from any military installation, post or recruitment center....
An 11th-hour drive to amend Patriot Act
An unusual coalition of lawmakers and activists opposed to parts of the USA Patriot Act is mounting a last push to persuade Congress to take more time before voting to extend some of the law's most controversial provisions. At issue is whether Congress has been rigorous enough in assessing how the Patriot Act - which the White House calls vital to its war on terror - has been implemented. Many lawmakers were stunned by recent press reports, denied but not corrected by the Justice Department, that the FBI has issued as many as 30,000 "national security letters" since the law was passed nearly unanimously in 2001. The letters order private and public entities to turn over records and other private data about Americans - and remain silent about it. In the run-up to a vote later this week on extending controversial provisions of the act, civil liberties and privacy groups released their own research, based largely on documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, that they say signals numerous reporting violations and lax oversight. "Congress should not reauthorize the Patriot Act until these questions are resolved," says Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, which released FBI documents it had obtained, at a press briefing Tuesday. On paper, the coalition urging a delay is the strongest to lobby Congress on any issue. Its backers range from conservative and libertarian groups - including the American Conservative Union, Americans for Tax Reform, and gun groups - to the American Civil Liberties Union. Within the Senate, a bipartisan group of lawmakers looking to tighten privacy protections wants to put off the vote for three months. (Parts of the Patriot Act are set to expire this month.) If these concerns aren't met, some, including Sens. Russell Feingold (D) of Wisconsin and Larry Craig (R) of Idaho, threaten to filibuster the bill....
Senate bill seeks time to tighten Patriot Act
A bipartisan coalition of senators yesterday introduced a bill to extend by three months controversial provisions of the USA Patriot Act to allow for efforts in the Senate and House to draft new legislation -- potentially trumping plans to vote this week on a four-year extension. The bill, authored by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, is co-sponsored by Democratic Sens. Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia, Carl Levin of Michigan and Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, along with Republican Sens. John E. Sununu of New Hampshire, Larry E. Craig of Idaho and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. The senators told Sen. Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania Republican and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, that the House waited six months to appoint members to the conference committee that made the Patriot Act recommendations and that "rushed negotiations won't be able to achieve a satisfactory resolution in the few days remaining in the session."....
New law will create domestic intelligence chief
The law renewing the USA PATRIOT Act will create a new official in the Justice Department responsible for domestic intelligence-gathering. Section 506 of the law, which is currently before Congress, establishes a National Security Division within the Department of Justice, to be headed by an Assistant Attorney General for National Security. The section implements a recommendation by the president's commission on intelligence that the Justice Department's "primary national security elements -- the Office of Intelligence Policy and Review, and the Counterterrorism and Counterespionage sections" be rolled into a single office, under the command of a new assistant attorney general. The new assistant attorney general will be nominated by the president after consultation with the director of national intelligence. The post-holder will be subject to confirmation by the judiciary committee and will report to the attorney general....
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
FLE
Woman handcuffed over swing set tiff
A Georgia woman was handcuffed and detained at her home by National Park Rangers after an argument over her family's swing set. Rangers said the swing set is on Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area property, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Kevin Cheri, superintendent for the park, said two of his officers were making routine inspections around the park when they noticed a homeowner's swing set on park property. The officers went to speak with Schelly Gettings to explain that the swing set had to be removed or put on her property, Cheri said. Cheri said Gettings became abusive toward the officers. "She was out of control," he said. "They were asking her to please calm down. She shoved one of the officers. He put handcuffs on her to protect himself and her....It's crossing the line when you touch an officer of the law."....
Airport ID checks legally enforced?
A federal appeals court wrestled Thursday with what seems to be a straightforward question: Can Americans be required to show ID on a commercial airline flight? John Gilmore, an early employee of Sun Microsystems and co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, says the answer should be "no." The libertarian millionaire sued the Bush administration, which claims that the ID requirement is necessary for security but has refused to identify any actual regulation requiring it. A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals seemed skeptical of the Bush administration's defense of secret laws and regulations but stopped short of suggesting that such a rule would be necessarily unconstitutional. "How do we know there's an order?" Judge Thomas Nelson asked. "Because you said there was?" Replied Joshua Waldman, a staff attorney for the Department of Justice: "We couldn't confirm or deny the existence of an order." Even though government regulations required his silence, Waldman said, the situation did seem a "bit peculiar." "This is America," said James Harrison, a lawyer representing Gilmore. "We do not have secret laws. Period." Harrison stressed that Gilmore was happy to go through a metal detector....
MINIATURE GOLF COURSE MADE HOMELAND SECURITY WATCH LIST
Mini-golfers, calm down and tee up -- Emerald Hills Golfland is off the feds' terrorist-target list. Or is it? Some time back, officials added the humble South San Jose theme park -- ``three acres, two mini golf courses, very challenging,'' says Golfland's VP Bob Kenney -- to their National Asset Database. Local officials, figuring plenty of other Silicon Valley sites were richer targets, burst out laughing when they saw it. ``The moment we realized it was on the list, it was taken off,'' said San Jose police officer Rubens Dalaison, who handles ``critical infrastructure assessment'' for the department. ``I myself took it off.'' Then again, the list remains top secret. So who really knows? The terrorist-watchers at Homeland Security did not return several phone calls. And no one locally seems to know how Golfland got on the list to begin with....
US terror watchlist 80,000 names long
A watchlist of possible terror suspects distributed by the US government to airlines for pre-flight checks is now 80,000 names long, a Swedish newspaper reported, citing European air industry sources. The classified list, which carried just 16 names before the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington had grown to 1,000 by the end of 2001, to 40,000 a year later and now stands at 80,000, Svenska Dagbladet reported. Airlines must check each passenger flying to a US destination against the list, and contact the US Department of Homeland Security for further investigation if there is a matching name. The list contains a strict "no fly" section, which requires airline staff to contact police, and a "selectee" section, which requires passengers to undergo further security checks....
30,000 fliers seek terror watch-list removal
Nearly 30,000 airline passengers in the past year asked the Homeland Security Department to remove their names from terrorist watch lists, and all but about 60 were successful, Transportation Security Administration officials said. None of the passengers listed was ever prevented from flying, but some were selected for additional screening ranging from questioning to strip searches, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials said. "That number reflects the number of passengers that TSA has been able to provide relief to, whose names were the same or similar to those who actually appear on the no-flight or selectee list," said Yolanda Clark, chief spokeswoman for the TSA, an agency within the Homeland Security Department. Marcia Hofmann, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center's open-government project, said the number of passengers asking to be delisted is "greater than anybody anticipated," and shows "the watch-list process doesn't work the way it is supposed to."....
FBI put peaceful protesters in terrorism files
The names and license plate numbers of about 30 people who protested three years ago in Colorado Springs were put into FBI domestic-terrorism files, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Colorado says. The Denver-based ACLU obtained federal documents on a 2002 Colorado Springs protest and a 2003 anti-war rally under the Freedom of Information Act. ACLU legal director Mark Silverstein said the documents show the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force wastes resources generating files on "nonviolent protest." "These documents confirm that the names and license plate numbers of several dozen peaceful protesters who committed no crime are now in a JTTF file marked 'counterterrorism,'" he said. "This kind of surveillance of First Amendment activities has serious consequences. Law-abiding Americans may be reluctant to speak out when doing so means that their names will wind up in an FBI file." FBI Special Agent Monique Kelso, the spokeswoman for the agency in Colorado, disputed the claim the task force wastes resources gathering information on protesters....
Live Tracking of Mobile Phones Prompts Court Fights on Privacy
Most Americans carry cellphones, but many may not know that government agencies can track their movements through the signals emanating from the handset. In recent years, law enforcement officials have turned to cellular technology as a tool for easily and secretly monitoring the movements of suspects as they occur. But this kind of surveillance - which investigators have been able to conduct with easily obtained court orders - has now come under tougher legal scrutiny. In the last four months, three federal judges have denied prosecutors the right to get cellphone tracking information from wireless companies without first showing "probable cause" to believe that a crime has been or is being committed. That is the same standard applied to requests for search warrants. The rulings, issued by magistrate judges in New York, Texas and Maryland, underscore the growing debate over privacy rights and government surveillance in the digital age. Not surprisingly, law enforcement agencies want to exploit this technology, too - which means more courts are bound to wrestle with what legal standard applies when government agents ask to conduct such surveillance. Cellular operators like Verizon Wireless and Cingular Wireless know, within about 300 yards, the location of their subscribers whenever a phone is turned on. Even if the phone is not in use it is communicating with cellphone tower sites, and the wireless provider keeps track of the phone's position as it travels. The operators have said that they turn over location information when presented with a court order to do so. The recent rulings by the magistrates, who are appointed by a majority of the federal district judges in a given court, do not bind other courts. But they could significantly curtail access to cell location data if other jurisdictions adopt the same reasoning. (The government's requests in the three cases, with their details, were sealed because they involve investigations still under way.)....
Defense Facilities Pass Along Reports of Suspicious Activity
Day after day, reports of suspicious activity filed from military bases and other defense installations throughout the United States flow into the Counterintelligence Field Activity, or CIFA, a three-year-old Pentagon agency whose size and budget remain classified. The Talon reports, as they are called, are based on information from civilians and military personnel who stumble across people or information they think might be part of a terrorist plot or threat against defense facilities at home or abroad. The documents can consist of "raw information reported by concerned citizens and military members regarding suspicious incidents," said a 2003 memo signed by then-Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz. The reports "may or may not be related to an actual threat, and its very nature may be fragmented and incomplete," the memo said. The Talon system is part of the Defense Department's growing effort to gather intelligence within the United States, which officials argue is imperative as they work to detect and prevent potentially catastrophic terrorist assaults. The Talon reports -- how many are generated is classified, a Pentagon spokesman said -- are collected and analyzed by CIFA, an agency at the forefront of the Pentagon's counterterrorism program....
Bush Says Congress Needs to Act Quickly to Extend Patriot Act
U.S. President George W. Bush called on Congress to quickly renew the USA Patriot Act, saying that the law's expiration at the end of this month might lead to terrorist violence. ``The terrorist threats will not expire on that schedule,'' Bush said in his weekly radio address. ``In the war on terror, we cannot afford to be without that vital law for a single moment.'' Congressional negotiators reached an agreement this week on a four-year extension of the expansion of powers by federal officials to investigate suspected terrorists, clearing the way for a vote next week. The law was passed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Critics in Congress have expressed disappointment in the law and have called for further changes before a vote is held. Opposition by a bipartisan group of six senators has left the bill's fate in some doubt, with at least one calling for a possible filibuster, just weeks before the law is to expire....
ACLU Opposes Patriot Act Provision
The American Civil Liberties Union raised objections yesterday to a little-noticed provision of the latest version of the USA Patriot Act bill, arguing that it would give the Secret Service wider latitude to charge protesters accused of disrupting major events including political conventions and the Olympics. But Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), who sponsored the provisions, and his aides said the concerns are misguided. The changes are meant to clear up legal confusion about the Secret Service's role at major events and to ensure that venues are fully secure before the president or other top officials arrive, they said. "I'm a little surprised at the concern," Specter said in an interview, adding later, "The venue needs to be subject to their jurisdiction to make sure it's okay." The measure is the latest point of contention in a GOP-approved conference bill that would make permanent most parts of the Patriot Act anti-terrorism law and would renew two other provisions for four years. A bipartisan group has vowed to fight the proposal, and several lawmakers proposed legislation yesterday that would give Congress an additional three months to negotiate. The Secret Service is authorized to charge suspects with breaching security or disruptive behavior at National Special Security Events, but only if the president or another person under the protection of the service is in attendance, according to a legislative summary. The bill adds language prohibiting people from "willfully and knowingly" entering a restricted area "where the President or other person protected by the Secret Service is or will be temporarily visiting." The measure also applies to security breaches "in conjunction with an event designated as a special event of national significance," according to the bill. Penalties for such violations would increase from six months to a year in prison....
At F.B.I., Frustration Over Limits on an Antiterror Law
Some agents at the Federal Bureau of Investigation have been frustrated by what they see as the Justice Department's reluctance to let them demand records and to use other far-ranging investigative measures in terrorism cases, newly disclosed e-mail messages and internal documents show. Publicly, the debate over the law known as the USA Patriot Act has focused on concerns from civil rights advocates that the F.B.I. has gained too much power to use expanded investigative tools to go on what could amount to fishing expeditions. But the newly disclosed e-mail messages offer a competing view, showing that, privately, some F.B.I. agents have felt hamstrung by their inability to get approval for using new powers under the Patriot Act, which was passed weeks after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. One internal F.B.I. message, sent in October 2003, criticized the Office of Intelligence Policy and Review at the Justice Department, which reviews and approves terrorist warrants, as regularly blocking requests from the F.B.I. to use a section of the antiterrorism law that gave the bureau broader authority to demand records from institutions like banks, Internet providers and libraries....
How planespotters turned into the scourge of the CIA
Paul last saw the Gulfstream V about 18 months ago. He comes down to Glasgow airport's planespotters' club most days. He had not seen the plane before so he marked the serial number down in his book. At the time, he did not think there was anything unusual about the Gulfstream being ushered to a stand away from public view, one that could not be seen from the airport terminal or the club's prime view. But that flight this week was at the centre of a transatlantic row that saw the prime minister being put on the spot on the floor of the House of Commons and the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, forced on the defensive during a visit to Europe. The Gulfstream V has been identified as having been used by the CIA for "extraordinary renditions" - abducting terror suspects and taking them to secret prisons around the world where they may be tortured. The recording of flights by spotters like Paul from places as far afield as Bournemouth and Karachi has unintentionally played a significant role in helping journalists and human rights groups expose the scale of the CIA's renditions system. But his impact on such international intrigue largely passes Paul by. "It's not the CIA bit that interests us. You don't even know who owns the plane when you take down the serial number," he said, already distracted as something comes in to land through the grey drizzle. "You keep accurate logs, for your own records."....
Woman handcuffed over swing set tiff
A Georgia woman was handcuffed and detained at her home by National Park Rangers after an argument over her family's swing set. Rangers said the swing set is on Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area property, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Kevin Cheri, superintendent for the park, said two of his officers were making routine inspections around the park when they noticed a homeowner's swing set on park property. The officers went to speak with Schelly Gettings to explain that the swing set had to be removed or put on her property, Cheri said. Cheri said Gettings became abusive toward the officers. "She was out of control," he said. "They were asking her to please calm down. She shoved one of the officers. He put handcuffs on her to protect himself and her....It's crossing the line when you touch an officer of the law."....
Airport ID checks legally enforced?
A federal appeals court wrestled Thursday with what seems to be a straightforward question: Can Americans be required to show ID on a commercial airline flight? John Gilmore, an early employee of Sun Microsystems and co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, says the answer should be "no." The libertarian millionaire sued the Bush administration, which claims that the ID requirement is necessary for security but has refused to identify any actual regulation requiring it. A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals seemed skeptical of the Bush administration's defense of secret laws and regulations but stopped short of suggesting that such a rule would be necessarily unconstitutional. "How do we know there's an order?" Judge Thomas Nelson asked. "Because you said there was?" Replied Joshua Waldman, a staff attorney for the Department of Justice: "We couldn't confirm or deny the existence of an order." Even though government regulations required his silence, Waldman said, the situation did seem a "bit peculiar." "This is America," said James Harrison, a lawyer representing Gilmore. "We do not have secret laws. Period." Harrison stressed that Gilmore was happy to go through a metal detector....
MINIATURE GOLF COURSE MADE HOMELAND SECURITY WATCH LIST
Mini-golfers, calm down and tee up -- Emerald Hills Golfland is off the feds' terrorist-target list. Or is it? Some time back, officials added the humble South San Jose theme park -- ``three acres, two mini golf courses, very challenging,'' says Golfland's VP Bob Kenney -- to their National Asset Database. Local officials, figuring plenty of other Silicon Valley sites were richer targets, burst out laughing when they saw it. ``The moment we realized it was on the list, it was taken off,'' said San Jose police officer Rubens Dalaison, who handles ``critical infrastructure assessment'' for the department. ``I myself took it off.'' Then again, the list remains top secret. So who really knows? The terrorist-watchers at Homeland Security did not return several phone calls. And no one locally seems to know how Golfland got on the list to begin with....
US terror watchlist 80,000 names long
A watchlist of possible terror suspects distributed by the US government to airlines for pre-flight checks is now 80,000 names long, a Swedish newspaper reported, citing European air industry sources. The classified list, which carried just 16 names before the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington had grown to 1,000 by the end of 2001, to 40,000 a year later and now stands at 80,000, Svenska Dagbladet reported. Airlines must check each passenger flying to a US destination against the list, and contact the US Department of Homeland Security for further investigation if there is a matching name. The list contains a strict "no fly" section, which requires airline staff to contact police, and a "selectee" section, which requires passengers to undergo further security checks....
30,000 fliers seek terror watch-list removal
Nearly 30,000 airline passengers in the past year asked the Homeland Security Department to remove their names from terrorist watch lists, and all but about 60 were successful, Transportation Security Administration officials said. None of the passengers listed was ever prevented from flying, but some were selected for additional screening ranging from questioning to strip searches, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials said. "That number reflects the number of passengers that TSA has been able to provide relief to, whose names were the same or similar to those who actually appear on the no-flight or selectee list," said Yolanda Clark, chief spokeswoman for the TSA, an agency within the Homeland Security Department. Marcia Hofmann, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center's open-government project, said the number of passengers asking to be delisted is "greater than anybody anticipated," and shows "the watch-list process doesn't work the way it is supposed to."....
FBI put peaceful protesters in terrorism files
The names and license plate numbers of about 30 people who protested three years ago in Colorado Springs were put into FBI domestic-terrorism files, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Colorado says. The Denver-based ACLU obtained federal documents on a 2002 Colorado Springs protest and a 2003 anti-war rally under the Freedom of Information Act. ACLU legal director Mark Silverstein said the documents show the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force wastes resources generating files on "nonviolent protest." "These documents confirm that the names and license plate numbers of several dozen peaceful protesters who committed no crime are now in a JTTF file marked 'counterterrorism,'" he said. "This kind of surveillance of First Amendment activities has serious consequences. Law-abiding Americans may be reluctant to speak out when doing so means that their names will wind up in an FBI file." FBI Special Agent Monique Kelso, the spokeswoman for the agency in Colorado, disputed the claim the task force wastes resources gathering information on protesters....
Live Tracking of Mobile Phones Prompts Court Fights on Privacy
Most Americans carry cellphones, but many may not know that government agencies can track their movements through the signals emanating from the handset. In recent years, law enforcement officials have turned to cellular technology as a tool for easily and secretly monitoring the movements of suspects as they occur. But this kind of surveillance - which investigators have been able to conduct with easily obtained court orders - has now come under tougher legal scrutiny. In the last four months, three federal judges have denied prosecutors the right to get cellphone tracking information from wireless companies without first showing "probable cause" to believe that a crime has been or is being committed. That is the same standard applied to requests for search warrants. The rulings, issued by magistrate judges in New York, Texas and Maryland, underscore the growing debate over privacy rights and government surveillance in the digital age. Not surprisingly, law enforcement agencies want to exploit this technology, too - which means more courts are bound to wrestle with what legal standard applies when government agents ask to conduct such surveillance. Cellular operators like Verizon Wireless and Cingular Wireless know, within about 300 yards, the location of their subscribers whenever a phone is turned on. Even if the phone is not in use it is communicating with cellphone tower sites, and the wireless provider keeps track of the phone's position as it travels. The operators have said that they turn over location information when presented with a court order to do so. The recent rulings by the magistrates, who are appointed by a majority of the federal district judges in a given court, do not bind other courts. But they could significantly curtail access to cell location data if other jurisdictions adopt the same reasoning. (The government's requests in the three cases, with their details, were sealed because they involve investigations still under way.)....
Defense Facilities Pass Along Reports of Suspicious Activity
Day after day, reports of suspicious activity filed from military bases and other defense installations throughout the United States flow into the Counterintelligence Field Activity, or CIFA, a three-year-old Pentagon agency whose size and budget remain classified. The Talon reports, as they are called, are based on information from civilians and military personnel who stumble across people or information they think might be part of a terrorist plot or threat against defense facilities at home or abroad. The documents can consist of "raw information reported by concerned citizens and military members regarding suspicious incidents," said a 2003 memo signed by then-Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz. The reports "may or may not be related to an actual threat, and its very nature may be fragmented and incomplete," the memo said. The Talon system is part of the Defense Department's growing effort to gather intelligence within the United States, which officials argue is imperative as they work to detect and prevent potentially catastrophic terrorist assaults. The Talon reports -- how many are generated is classified, a Pentagon spokesman said -- are collected and analyzed by CIFA, an agency at the forefront of the Pentagon's counterterrorism program....
Bush Says Congress Needs to Act Quickly to Extend Patriot Act
U.S. President George W. Bush called on Congress to quickly renew the USA Patriot Act, saying that the law's expiration at the end of this month might lead to terrorist violence. ``The terrorist threats will not expire on that schedule,'' Bush said in his weekly radio address. ``In the war on terror, we cannot afford to be without that vital law for a single moment.'' Congressional negotiators reached an agreement this week on a four-year extension of the expansion of powers by federal officials to investigate suspected terrorists, clearing the way for a vote next week. The law was passed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Critics in Congress have expressed disappointment in the law and have called for further changes before a vote is held. Opposition by a bipartisan group of six senators has left the bill's fate in some doubt, with at least one calling for a possible filibuster, just weeks before the law is to expire....
ACLU Opposes Patriot Act Provision
The American Civil Liberties Union raised objections yesterday to a little-noticed provision of the latest version of the USA Patriot Act bill, arguing that it would give the Secret Service wider latitude to charge protesters accused of disrupting major events including political conventions and the Olympics. But Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), who sponsored the provisions, and his aides said the concerns are misguided. The changes are meant to clear up legal confusion about the Secret Service's role at major events and to ensure that venues are fully secure before the president or other top officials arrive, they said. "I'm a little surprised at the concern," Specter said in an interview, adding later, "The venue needs to be subject to their jurisdiction to make sure it's okay." The measure is the latest point of contention in a GOP-approved conference bill that would make permanent most parts of the Patriot Act anti-terrorism law and would renew two other provisions for four years. A bipartisan group has vowed to fight the proposal, and several lawmakers proposed legislation yesterday that would give Congress an additional three months to negotiate. The Secret Service is authorized to charge suspects with breaching security or disruptive behavior at National Special Security Events, but only if the president or another person under the protection of the service is in attendance, according to a legislative summary. The bill adds language prohibiting people from "willfully and knowingly" entering a restricted area "where the President or other person protected by the Secret Service is or will be temporarily visiting." The measure also applies to security breaches "in conjunction with an event designated as a special event of national significance," according to the bill. Penalties for such violations would increase from six months to a year in prison....
At F.B.I., Frustration Over Limits on an Antiterror Law
Some agents at the Federal Bureau of Investigation have been frustrated by what they see as the Justice Department's reluctance to let them demand records and to use other far-ranging investigative measures in terrorism cases, newly disclosed e-mail messages and internal documents show. Publicly, the debate over the law known as the USA Patriot Act has focused on concerns from civil rights advocates that the F.B.I. has gained too much power to use expanded investigative tools to go on what could amount to fishing expeditions. But the newly disclosed e-mail messages offer a competing view, showing that, privately, some F.B.I. agents have felt hamstrung by their inability to get approval for using new powers under the Patriot Act, which was passed weeks after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. One internal F.B.I. message, sent in October 2003, criticized the Office of Intelligence Policy and Review at the Justice Department, which reviews and approves terrorist warrants, as regularly blocking requests from the F.B.I. to use a section of the antiterrorism law that gave the bureau broader authority to demand records from institutions like banks, Internet providers and libraries....
How planespotters turned into the scourge of the CIA
Paul last saw the Gulfstream V about 18 months ago. He comes down to Glasgow airport's planespotters' club most days. He had not seen the plane before so he marked the serial number down in his book. At the time, he did not think there was anything unusual about the Gulfstream being ushered to a stand away from public view, one that could not be seen from the airport terminal or the club's prime view. But that flight this week was at the centre of a transatlantic row that saw the prime minister being put on the spot on the floor of the House of Commons and the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, forced on the defensive during a visit to Europe. The Gulfstream V has been identified as having been used by the CIA for "extraordinary renditions" - abducting terror suspects and taking them to secret prisons around the world where they may be tortured. The recording of flights by spotters like Paul from places as far afield as Bournemouth and Karachi has unintentionally played a significant role in helping journalists and human rights groups expose the scale of the CIA's renditions system. But his impact on such international intrigue largely passes Paul by. "It's not the CIA bit that interests us. You don't even know who owns the plane when you take down the serial number," he said, already distracted as something comes in to land through the grey drizzle. "You keep accurate logs, for your own records."....
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