NEWS ROUNDUP

Wolf shot dead on ranch near Big Timber A ranch manager shot and killed a wolf that was reportedly chasing cattle last week southwest of Big Timber. The shooting was the seventh of its kind in Montana since the federal Department of Interior loosened rules last year intended to give landowners more flexibility in dealing with wolves that are attacking or harassing livestock. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversees federally protected wolves, is reviewing the incident. The 2-year-old female wolf was shot Dec. 30, according to the state Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, which has partial management authority over wolves in the state. The agency would not release the name of the ranch manager or identify the ranch where the wolf was shot. Jon Trapp, a state wolf management specialist based in Red Lodge, said the rancher reported wolves in the area last winter, but he hadn't heard any recent reports....
Easements conserve sensitive wildlife habitat It might seem strange to consider that roller coasters in Florida could contribute to a successful elk population in Wyoming, but that's exactly what's happening under some innovative plans to fund wildlife habitat conservation. The unlikely connection is the result of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation's Absaroka Conservation Initiative, a program aimed at raising private money to fund conservation easements for critical elk habitat. "We've just received some money from Busch Gardens in Florida," said Bill Mytton, the foundation's lands program manager for Montana and Wyoming. "They're interested in working on conservation projects throughout the greater Yellowstone region." Another program initially proposed by Gov. Dave Freudenthal will use public money to fund conservation projects throughout the state. The Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resources Trust has received initial funding of $15 million, with a goal of building a $200 million fund from state mineral taxes. The trust will announce its first projects in June.....
Enforcement flights anger CMR hunters Airplane enforcement flights over the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge during Montana's fall hunting seasons may be designed to catch off-road travelers and game violators, but they also may be harassing law-abiding hunters and game animals, some say. "You can't hear what's ahead of you, and all the animals are nervous," said Alvie Hallock of Glasgow. Hallock was hunting on private property north of Jordan on Nov. 20, near the CMR boundary, when airplane overflights raised his blood pressure to the boiling point. "They're supposed to be public servants, not public menaces," he said. "They ought to go to public relations school." Hallock, a Glasgow body shop owner, was one of several hunters on land owned by Jerry Coldwell who encountered the planes. He left without filling his tag and soured about the CMR. CMR's managers defend the 20 days per season that planes are used for enforcement as a common-sense way to patrol a huge swath of rugged country....
Can we talk? "Prairie dogs have a language. They talk, and they sometimes talk about us," says Con Slobodchikoff, a professor of biology at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. "Prairie dogs have alarm calls for different species of predators," Slobodchikoff says. "We have identified different calls for humans, domestic dogs, red-tailed hawks, coyotes, cats, badgers, weasels and eagles. "Within these calls, they can describe the physical features of the predator. They can describe the size and shape of an individual human and the color of clothes that he or she is wearing. They can describe the coat color and the size and shape of a domestic dog. . . . Our studies are showing that prairie dogs have the most sophisticated natural animal language that has been decoded to date." Slobodchikoff began studying the social behavior of prairie dogs about 20 years ago. He gradually recognized signs that the foot-long, 2-pound rodents, which live in colonies, appeared to have a shared language....
Interior secretary, Idaho governor sign wolf management plan Idaho has assumed management authority over more than 500 gray wolves that roam the state's central mountains under an agreement signed Thursday by Interior Secretary Gale Norton and Gov. Dirk Kempthorne. This means that state Department of Fish and Game agents, not the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is now responsible for issuing wolf-kill permits to ranchers whose livestock has fallen victim to wolves. Some, including ranching groups and hunters, heralded the tranfer, saying the state will be more responsive than federal managers to controlling wolves that eat cattle, sheep and elk. Advocates for the controversial predator, meanwhile, fear state control will hurt wolf recovery efforts. Norton and Kempthorne, who called the signing a historic event, hope it leads to removing Endangered Species Act protections for wolves in the region within 12 months....
Colorado Looks to Active RFID for Cervids After completing a trial of passive low-frequency and UHF RFID tags for cervid tracking, the Colorado Department of Agriculture has determined that active RFID tags may be the only way to gain the 100 percent read rate it seeks for cervid herds in the state. Cervid tracking is more rigorous in Colorado than in some other states because of a state mandate requiring ranchers to test dead elk and fallow deer for CWD, or chronic wasting disease. CWD is part of a group of ailments known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, which includes mad cow disease. If an animal decomposes before being tested, neither ranchers nor the state can determine if it died of the lethal and contagious disease. Under the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) mandate, currently being developed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), all cervid ranchers in the United States will be required to inventory their animals using RFID or some other method. No specific date for compliance has yet been determined....
Scorched forests best left alone, study finds Logging in the wake of southwest Oregon's giant 2002 Biscuit Fire destroyed more than two-thirds of seedlings sprouting from scorched ground and littered the soil with tinder that could fuel another blaze, scientists found. A research team led by Oregon State University concluded that in the first few years after a fire forests can recover as well or better on their own than if they are logged and replanted. The findings, published Thursday in online editions of the journal Science, undermine arguments behind a U.S. Forest Service program to salvage burned trees and plant seedlings across thousands of acres blackened by the Biscuit blaze. Among the goals of the work, backed by the timber industry and the Bush administration, was accelerating forest regrowth and clearing dead trees so they do not feed another inferno....
Loggers start removing burned trees northwest of Helena Nearly 2 1/2 years after a wildfire burned some 38,000 acres northwest of here, loggers are removing burned trees on part of the land, work that was scaled back following challenges by environmental groups. Loggers began removing dead and dying trees Wednesday on land burned by the Snow-Talon fire of 2003 and are likely to work for about eight weeks, said Ranger Amber Kamps of the Forest Service's Lincoln Ranger District. Sun Mountain Lumber Co. of Townsend bid $168,229 for the 4 million board feet of timber, mostly lodgepole pine and Douglas fir. An initial Forest Service analysis identified 27 million board feet for removal. Environmental groups challenged that amount as excessive and said the plan jeopardized bull trout, grizzly bears and lynx. The Alliance for the Wild Rockies and others filed a formal notice of intent to sue....
Scientist draws heat for controversial climate theory Canada’s forests may actually worsen global warming rather than cool the planet, says a controversial study by a Stanford University physicist and environmental scientist. This doesn’t mean we should bulldoze forests to fight global warming, says Ken Caldeira. Forests are still valuable ecological features in many ways. But he says it’s "premature at least," and maybe even dead wrong, to plant new forests and maintain existing ones in the belief that this will cool the Earth. If we want to stop global warming, he says, we’d better begin by burning less fossil fuel. This is, he admits, an unpopular view with many. Since he presented his paper at the conference of the American Geophysical Union last month, he’s been getting an earful....
Official: Snowmobilers were in wilderness Two snowmobilers killed in a New Year's Day avalanche were in a wilderness area where motorized vehicles are prohibited, and others in their party may face charges, a U.S. Forest Service official said. Jacob Kroeger, 25, of Stockton, Iowa, and Gabriel Medina, 32, of Wilton, Iowa, died of suffocation after they were buried in an avalanche in the Neota Wilderness Area about 70 miles northwest of Denver, authorities said. Forest Service spokeswoman Reghan Cloudman said Kroeger, Medina and 10 other snowmobilers were in an area where all motor vehicles are barred. She said forestry officers will interview some members of the party, and they could be charged with using motorized vehicles in a protected wilderness area. A conviction carries a fine of up to $5,000 and a prison sentences of up to six months, she said....
Cemex a winner in ruling A federal judge once again has rejected the city's claims that federal agencies failed to perform a sufficient environmental analysis before approving a plan to mine 56.1 million tons of sand and gravel in Soledad Canyon. On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Dickran Tevrizian sided with the federal Bureau of Land Management and the Interior Board of Land Appeals in a 69-page final ruling favoring Mexico-based Cemex mining company. In its lawsuit, Santa Clarita had raised 15 claims under the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act and several federal mining laws in hopes of defeating the project. The city lost a related lawsuit in November....
Lawsuit filed over Sand Mt. blue butterfly A group of environmental organizations claims the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Nevada is dragging its feet over protecting habitat for the Sand Mountain blue butterfly and is taking agency to court. The Center for Biological Diversity, in a joint effort with Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and the Nevada Outdoor Recreation Association, announced Thursday that it has filed a lawsuit against the USFWS and U.S. Secretary of Interior Gale Norton for violating the Endangered Species Act. The lawsuit stems from the fact that the Nevada division of the USFWS has taken longer than the required 90 days to answer a petition requesting that the Sand Mountain blue butterfly be named as an endangered species. The petition was originally filed in April 2004....
Earthjustice Calls for Independent Review of Federal Grizzly Bear Science In an effort to ensure an independent scientific review, a conservation law firm has asked the federal government to provide the scientific data on which it relies to justify delisting the Yellowstone grizzly bear population and potential grizzly bear hunting. Earthjustice asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to release scientific data about the Yellowstone grizzly bears, which the federal government has previously refused to release. “Science depends on other scientists reviewing data and attempting to repeat the work of published authors. The federal government has refused to release key grizzly bear data even after the publication of scientific papers,” said Earthjustice attorney Doug Honnold. “Their game plan is to delist the grizzly bear before independent scientists can review the basic data. Bears would be dodging bullets before independent scientists could assess whether the federal government has missed the boat.”....
BLM plans roundup of Red Rock Canyon wild horses near Las Vegas The Bureau of Land Management plans to round up and remove most of a herd of wild horses that roam Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area in southern Nevada. The agency said Wednesday it would remove 19 of 35 horses from the area this year and add four mares to the herd next year from the BLM's Wheeler Pass Herd Management Area. It called the roundup necessary to help remaining animals find food in an area near Goodsprings damaged by wildfire last summer. "Reducing the herd size would not only ensure forage for the remaining herd, but protect reseeding efforts in the burned area," a BLM statement said....
Expert Blames Dog Disease for Wolf Decline Most of the gray wolf pups born in Yellowstone National Park last year have died, a federal wolf expert says, and he believes a dog disease _ parvo virus _ may be behind the dramatic loss. Just 22 of the 69 pups born last year are still alive, said Doug Smith, the park's wolf project leader. That's the biggest drop in pup numbers since wolves were reintroduced to the park 11 years ago, with the greatest toll seen on the park's northern range. There, he said just eight of the 49 pups born last spring survived. "It's cause for concern, a great deal of concern," he said. Over the next few weeks, Smith said, officials plan to catch Yellowstone wolf pups and take blood samples to see if the suspicions about parvo virus are true. The disease can cause extreme diarrhea and dehydration and kill more vulnerable animals, like young pups....
Battle over property rights goes on, despite ruling The moment of truth is yet to arrive in the now-famous Fort Trumbull neighborhood in New London, Conn. Six months after the US Supreme Court ruled that the city could seize and demolish private homes to make way for a commercial development project, determined residents are still living in their homes in the targeted neighborhood. There have been no bulldozers. No wrecking balls. No police officers dragging homeowners away. At least, not yet. Instead, the state of Connecticut has hired a mediator to try to find a more peaceful solution to the seven-year battle that has touched off a heated debate over the government's use of eminent domain to foster economic development. To property rights activists across the nation, Fort Trumbull has become ground zero in that battle ever since the high court's 5-4 ruling. These activists are using outrage over the case to spearhead a reform movement aimed at passing laws to make it increasingly difficult for local and state governments to raze homes and turn the land over to private developers....
Critics of rural Nevada water-pumping plan urge go-slow approach Opponents of a $2 billion plan to pump rural Nevada groundwater to booming Las Vegas said Thursday the state should move slowly in reviewing the plan despite pressure from advocates for quick action. Simeon Herskovits of the Western Environmental Law Center said the state's water engineer, Hugh Ricci, should wait until a federal study on water is completed in 2007 before deciding on the water-pumping request from the southern Nevada Water Authority. Rancher Dean Baker of Snake Valley, a potential pumping area on the Nevada-Utah border, said Ricci should complete work on existing water right issues before granting any new water permits. Jerald Anderson, also from the Snake Valley, added that moving ahead too quickly would be "a rush to judgment, and we need more time to protect agricultural interests."....
Lack of Arizona snowpack expected to have negative impact Arizona's lack of winter snow will translate into problems statewide later this year for communities dependent upon surface water flows and worsen the wildfire season, experts say. Water supply specialist Larry Martinez, snow survey program manager for the Natural Resources Conservation Service, says snowpack is virtually nonexistent this winter all across the ponderosa pine belt from Williams to Alpine. "All indications are that based on the snowpack that we have now, which is zero, that the flows are going to be affected in a negative way as we roll into spring and early summer," Martinez said. "Most affected will be the folks in the rural communities - including Flagstaff - because they depend on surface water for their water," he said. What's more, the nonexistent snowpack portends an active wildfire season, said Chuck Maxwell, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service meteorologist and predictive services group leader for the Southwest Coordination Center in Albuquerque, N.M....
Arrest made in Silver City slaying A tip has led authorities to the arrest a 35-year-old man in the slaying of Silver City rancher John Timothy Edwards. James Michael Snider was arrested at 8:30 a.m. today without incident, Grant County Sheriff Raul "Bully" Holguin said. He was being held at the Grant County Detention Center on a $500,000 cash bond on an open count of murder and tampering with evidence, Holguin said. Edwards, 62, was found near his truck on Forest Road 172 on Dec. 30. Sheriff's officials have not released the cause of death. A photograph of Snider was circulated to area law enforcement late Wednesday night and another tip led detectives to an undisclosed residence on Cottage San Road where Snider was arrested....
Mysterious Horse Deaths Raise Theories About UFOs It's been a long time since Colorado ranchers sat on their porches at night with shotguns, scanning the sky, but there's a new mystery on the eastern plains involving the deaths of six horses and a burro in Calhan. The case has caught the attention of UFO investigators. The truth, they say, is out there. "Is this a mystery? It's a huge mystery," said Linda Moulton Howe of Albuquerque, N.M., author of "An Alien Harvest," a book about cattle mutilations. "What it all means I don't know. But do I think humans did that? Absolutely not." The facts are sparse: On Oct. 11, six horses and a burro -- all healthy -- were found dead in a field near Calhan. Dr. John Heikkila, the veterinarian who examined the animals, ruled out a winter storm, disease, toxic plants and lightning. Officials remain puzzled by the quarter-inch puncture holes in the animals' hides, originally thought to be gunshot wounds, but no bullets were found. Toxicology tests for common poisons were negative, and expensive testing for "unusual possibilities" was not done because of cost, Heikkila wrote in his Nov. 20 autopsy report. He concluded that an unusual toxin, delivered through a dart or pellet, caused the deaths....