NEWS ROUNDUP

Bill would give ranchers power to improve range Utah cattle and sheep ranchers are joining the quest to take more control over Utah lands, instead of leaving those decisions to federal authorities. Gov. Jon Hunstman vowed in his State of the State address to protect Utah’s pristine environment from those who would like to use the state as a hazardous-waste dumping ground. Now, the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) wants to help ranchers protect valuable rangeland whether it is public or private. Ranchers depend on the state’s 11 million acres of grazing land, much of which is controlled by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) or U.S. Forest Service. Leland Hogan, Stockton rancher and president of the Utah Farm Bureau Federation, said a bill is being introduced during this year’s legislative session that would re-create local grazing boards and a state grazing board to give cattle and sheep ranchers a voice in the process. “Before the session, members of the Wool Growers Association and Cattlemen’s Association talked about the need to provide more input into grazing issues. The Department of Agriculture and Food, which in the past has not focused much on grazing issues, is helping out. Rangeland improvements help society in several ways. It helps air quality, improves the watershed, provides for more efficient agriculture and improves society as a whole,” Hogan said. House Bill 145, introduced by Rep. Brad Johnson (R-Aurora), creates a state grazing advisory board, regional grazing boards, a Rangeland Improvement Fund, establishes fund sources and designates the Department of Agriculture and Food as the fund administrator....
Western Water: A Legend of Overallocation I stood at an overlook above Lake Mead and marveled at the white of the bathtub ring, the area once under water now exposed to light by the extended drought the Southwest has experienced. A remarkable repository of rural California’s water, the man-made Lake Mead has precipitously decreased from 1,214 feet in elevation in 1999 to 1137.5 feet in December 2005. Even last winter's powerful weather only temporarily reversed the decline. Since early in 2005, when water levels rose after unusually heavy rainfalls, the lake has again dropped to nearly unprecedented levels. The resulting landscape is ominous. New islands, once submerged when the water was deeper, break the lake’s smooth surface. "Dangerous boating down there," my seatmate on a recent flight into Las Vegas wryly informed me with the faux panache of an experienced sea captain. But he had a point. Rock formations appear like icebergs, dark in the places where never submerged, pale white where the water once covered their exposed points. They stick up, far above the water level, like the submerged mountains hiding long-buried canyons they truly are. The change in vista is stunning, its implications – of a dry and desolate future ala Mad Max, a feral world of scarcity - a terrifying prospect. Another year of light snowmelt could spell the end of this technological stunt. These days, no look at Lake Mead makes a case to sustain the existing system....
Time for balance in gas drilling debate In 1997, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that neither mineral rights owners nor surface rights owners held a property right that was dominant over the other. Balance, the court said, among owners of “split estates” — where the property rights below ground are owned by a different party from the land above — is the law of the land. Here’s the catch: The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, the state body that regulates oil and gas drilling, does not operate under this precedent set by the court. Its statute still favors the rights of mineral owners. It’s anything but balance, and the property rights of surface owners are not being protected. The COGCC receives its regulatory authority from the Colorado Legislature. So far, legislation to amend the Colorado Gas Conservation Act has not been passed to support the court’s 1997 ruling. Currently, mineral rights owners are free to drill and explore, then leave the homeowners, farmers, ranchers, businesses and local governments with the consequences of their actions — and likely decreased value of their property — without compensation....
Wyo. delegation asks Montana to go easy on CBM water regs Escalating an interstate fight that has been brewing for years, the entire Wyoming congressional delegation sent a letter to the Montana Board of Environmental Review urging it to reject a petition that would toughen standards for water flowing into Montana. Sen. Craig Thomas, Sen. Mike Enzi and Rep. Barbara Cubin, all Republicans, jointly sent the letter late Friday, arguing that the new regulations would increase natural gas costs to the nation and harm Wyoming's coal-bed methane production. The letter also claimed that the new rules would provide no significant environmental benefit. "The petition, under the guise of environmental benefit, could severely limit CBNG (Coal Bed Natural Gas) production without any significant additional protection for water quality or existing water uses in Wyoming or Montana," they wrote. "The proposed rules lack scientific basis, pose a serious threat to energy supply, have questionable legal basis, and threaten ongoing cooperative efforts." The Montana Board of Environmental Review began a rule-making process on the matter last year after Montana irrigators petitioned it to consider rules that would toughen the water-quality standards for discharges of coalbed methane wastewater along waters that flow from Wyoming to Montana....
Forest helps meet U.S. energy needs The White River National Forest has a relatively long history in natural gas leasing and associated exploration and development, and we are seeing an increase in activity that is unlike any level the forest has experienced before. The 1920 Mineral Leasing Act promotes development of oil and gas and other minerals on public lands. In addition, the 1970 Mining and Minerals Policy Act directs the federal government to encourage and administer orderly exploration and development of mineral and energy resources on public lands to meet the nations needs. The 2005 Energy Policy encourages, among other things, reduced dependence on foreign sources of energy and increased domestic production. The White River National Forest is committed to helping meet the energy needs of the country in an environmentally viable manner....
Yellowstone closing capture facility, for now Authorities at Yellowstone National Park have closed, for now, the corral-like capture facility near the park's northern edge where nearly 700 wandering bison had been held this month. Park spokesman Al Nash said officials could reopen the Stephen's Creek site later, pending bison movement and the success of efforts to push wandering animals further into the park. Authorities began captures Jan. 11 and closed the facility late Friday, Nash said. This winter was the first since 2003-04 that the site was operated, the park said. Nash said the number of bison sent to slaughter so far this year appears to be the highest, and certainly the most since the winter of 1996-97. Nash said officials decided to ship bison to slaughter, instead of holding them longer-term, for fear of habituating the animals to people and feed....
Court affirms Quincy Library Group timber sale Quincy Library Group Forester Frank Stewart gave the Lassen County Board of Supervisors the good news on Tuesday, Jan. 24. The board contributed to the QLG lawsuit fund. On Thursday, Jan. 22, the 9th Circuit Court affirmed a lower court decision finding environmental work on the project adequate. Short of taking the issue to the United States Supreme Court, environmental groups have exhausted their legal options in battling the group of four timber sales west of Quincy. The Meadow Valley Project is part of the Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library Group program of work. It involves logging approximately 40 million board feet of timber on 6,440 acres in a 50,400-acre area over a five-year period....
Walden to push salvage bill For Greg Walden, the 2002 Biscuit fire salvage project was the last straw. Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District representative figured it shouldn’t take the U.S. Forest Service three years to harvest trees burned by the fire in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. So last November, the Republican from Hood River and fellow U.S. Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash., introduced the Forest Emergency Recovery and Research Act (HR 4200), aimed at giving federal-land managers the ability to complete a swift evaluation of the condition of burned federal forestlands, then make a decision and act on it. Noting that Congressman Baird is a Democrat as well as a former local Sierra Club president from his district, Walden said the bill has more than 140 Democrat and Republican co-sponsors. He is still tweaking the measure, including giving agencies such as the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management more time in which to make a decision. The current bill gives the agencies 30 days following a wildfire or other disaster affecting more than 1,000 acres....
Rare Florida panther needs more habitat to thrive If the endangered Florida panther is to survive over the next century, it will need a second and even third home outside the South Florida marshes and forests where development has caged it. But the secretive cat isn't going to find new haunts on its own -- it's going to have to be trapped and then trucked there by scientists. A transplanting effort is the critical, and potentially controversial, component of a new panther recovery plan released Tuesday by federal wildlife managers in charge of the cat's long-term recovery. The plan, issued in draft form for public comment, also stresses the importance of preserving panther habitat, particularly in sprawling Southwest Florida, where most of the estimated 87 or so breeding adults live, and of reducing the numbers of cats run down by cars and trucks....
Army Corps keeps plan for spring rise on Missouri River The Army Corps of Engineers said Tuesday it won't change plans to release extra water into the Missouri River this year, despite concerns the spring rise will put Missouri farms and the barge industry at risk. The agency's final operating plan for the river calls for release of two "spring pulses" of water from upstream reservoirs in March, and again in May, to help revive an endangered fish, the pallid sturgeon. But the releases will happen only if a lingering drought leaves enough water in the reservoir system. Current forecasts show enough storage capacity for the releases to occur, said Paul Johnston, a spokesman for the corps' northwestern division office in Omaha, Neb. The two-day pulses are supposed to mimic the historic rise of the river with the melting of mountain snow before dams were built. The increased water is intended to encourage the pallid sturgeon to spawn....
Plea deal costly: Outfitter fined $60,000 in raptor case A rural Bowman outfitter was ordered to pay $60,000 in fines and restitution, the largest ever for wildlife-related crimes in North Dakota, for his role in a variety of wildlife violations. Warren W. Anderson, 61, also surrendered his hunting and outfitting privileges, forfeited five firearms and ammunition and was placed on two years probation Tuesday. He was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Hovland after he and federal prosecutors reached a plea agreement. Anderson pleaded guilty to two violations, including one felony, of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, one violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act for killing five hawks and for violating the Lacey Act by helping hunters transport an over-limit of pheasants out of state. All of the violations were committed in 2004. The felony conviction means Anderson, who operated Stage Creek Hunting and Guide Service, may not possess firearms or ammunition for the rest of his life....
Engineers study ways to cut wildlife traffic deaths Idaho Transportation Department officials want to protect motorists and wildlife from each other on a 2.1-mile stretch of U.S. 95 in northern Idaho near McArthur Lake. The Selkirk and Cabinet mountain ranges come to their closest meeting in the McArthur Lake area, about 18 miles north of Sandpoint, forming a wildlife corridor. At that point the highway curves as it descends into a creek valley, which can act as a frost pocket with black ice on the pavement. In one study 10 years ago, researchers counted about 40 moose, 40 elk and at least 300 deer killed annually near McArthur Lake in collisions with motorists or trains that travel on tracks next to the highway. Currently, more than 4,500 vehicles travel the two-lane stretch per day, along with 42 trains on the nearby tracks. One possible plan calls for the highway to be widened, straightened and elevated above a creek flowing from McArthur Lake, making it possible for wildlife to pass under the highway. Construction could begin in 2008, depending on decisions made after a series of public meetings. Similar projects to decrease motorist-wildlife collisions are planned in Washington’s Cascade Range along Interstate 90. A highway in Montana’s Flathead Valley is scheduled to have 50 wildlife passageways added....
Alito Confirmation Puts Clean Water, Air Laws at Risk Sierra Club's opposition to Judge Alito's confirmation rested on his Constitutional philosophy, which threatens both the ability of Congress to pass laws to protect the environment, and the ability of citizens to enforce those laws. Judge Alito ruled (in Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) v. Magnesium Elektron) that the Constitution barred citizens from enforcing the Clean Water Act even against a company that admitted it had been violating the law for years. The Magnesium Elektron decision threatened to put a stop to most Clean Water Act enforcement. Fortunately, the Supreme Court effectively reversed this decision three years later in another case. In U.S. v. Rybar, Judge Alito dissented from a decision upholding Congress' power under the Commerce Clause to regulate the possession of machine guns Coming after six other federal appeals courts had upheld the same law, Judge Alito's reasoning is extremely troubling because it could translate into limits on Congress' authority to protect our water and air. These seemingly abstract Constitutional issues will have significant consequences in the short term. Now that he has been confirmed, Judge Alito will be ruling on two Clean Water Act cases now pending before the Supreme Court and deciding whether this same Constitutional provision, the Commerce Clause, gives Congress the authority to protect any of America's streams and wetlands (US v. Rapanos and US v. Carabell)....
Suit Aims to Ease Confinement of Egg-Laying Hens In an ongoing campaign to unfetter the caged hen, the Humane Society of the United States plans to file a lawsuit in California today challenging a partial sales tax break for agricultural producers who purchase cages that animal welfare activists consider cruel and torturous. Humane Society officials contend in their suit, a draft of which was obtained by The Times, that the use of so-called "battery" cages to confine egg-laying hens to a floor area smaller than a sheet of 8 1/2 by 11-inch paper violates California's laws against animal cruelty. "It's time for the state to stop subsidizing it," said Humane Society attorney Jonathan Lovvorn, who was scheduled to file the suit in Superior Court in San Francisco. Caged hens are the latest in a line of factory farm animals to benefit from the growing movement to extend humane care to agricultural animals raised to be exploited or slaughtered....
Ridin' and slidin' What's most scary? Spending eight seconds on a bucking bronc? Or sliding down a bobsled track head-first? It's a family debate. Billy Richards you may remember from appearances in Canadian Finals Rodeos, riding rough stock in saddle bronc - especially the one two years ago where he set the second-highest points total in history (87.5) despite riding on a broken leg. His wife, Mellisa Hollingsworth-Richards, has made it to the Turin Olympics, going the head-first-down-a-bobsled-run in the event known as skeleton. It was enough of a debate in the family that Billy made a wager with his wife, who is one of the best stories in Canadian sports having just won the World Cup championship and finishing on the podium in all seven events this year. "The bet was that I'd have to ride a bucking bronc if he did a skeleton run. He did it in Calgary this summer. So now, I have to ride a bronc. I don't think I'll pay that bet off until after Vancouver 2010, though.''....
Something for everyone at Cowboy Poetry gathering in Elko With tales of glass eyes, "Quakie Braille," roosters, homegrown tomatoes and buckaroos, the 22nd National Cowboy Poetry Gathering is under way in northeast Nevada. Locals and out-of-towners packed the Western Folklife Center for the Bards of the Great Basin show that began over the weekend and continues through Feb. 4. Cowboy poet Waddie Mitchell opened with a string of verses about being proud to be a cowboy and wondering how urban commuters "don't go mad" fighting morning traffic. Cowboys also commute to work, he said, but "we commune while we're commuting and, folks, what a difference that makes." Mitchell told several humorous stories, including one about a man who bet a bartender he could bite his left eye....