NEWS ROUNDUP

Column: Fire on the Mountain The Imperial Japanese Navy tried to burn down Oregon. It failed. Sixty years later, radical environmentalists almost succeeded. The Los Angeles Times' banner headline read "REPORT OREGON BOMBING. Jap Aircraft Carrier Believed Sunk." It was September 15, 1942. A seaplane had been spotted near Mt. Emily, Oregon, nine miles north of Brookings. A forest fire had been started near the mountain. Harold Gardner, a forest service lookout, rushed to the area and quickly extinguished the flames. Then a forest service patrol found a foot-deep crater. Nearby were forty pounds of spongy pellets and metal fragments, some of which were stamped with Japanese ideograms. A metal nosecone was also found. That same day a Japanese submarine was sited in the Pacific thirty miles off the Oregon coast due west of Mt. Emily. An Army patrol plane bombed the sub, but results of the bombing were unknown. Fast forward sixty years to July 13, 2002. An Oregon Department of Forestry pilot spotted a rising column of black smoke near Chetco Peak, not far from where the Japanese bomb had landed. The pilot immediately reported it to the dispatcher at Grants Pass. This fire would be named Biscuit 1. It burned for the next five and a half months, destroying half a million acres of forest--60 miles north-to-south at its longest, and 35 miles east-to-west--causing $150 million in damage. The fire was not extinguished until New Year's Eve. A hundred years ago, each acre of a ponderosa pine forest contained about 25 mature trees. A horse-drawn wagon could be driven through the forest without the aid of a road. Ponderosa pine is intolerant of shade, and the trees grow aggressively toward the sun, throwing shadows that discourage growth below. Today that same forest might have 1,000 trees per acre. Usually these are Douglas firs, which prosper in shade, and which grow in thick stands, often so dense that a hiker cannot pass between the trunks. As a result of this fuel load (Forest Service terminology), forest fires today are entirely unlike those of a century ago. They are hotter, faster, and more destructive. Today, 190 million acres of public forests are at an elevated risk of fires, and twenty-four million acres are at the highest risk of catastrophic fire....
Senate panel seeks end to hunting on Santa Rosa Island A Senate committee passed a resolution Wednesday to support ending big-game trophy hunts on Southern California's Santa Rosa Island. The resolution effectively opposes legislation by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, that aims to maintain nonnative deer and elk on the public island so members of the military can hunt them. That legislation passed the House earlier this month as part of a larger defense bill. The Senate resolution, authored by California Democrats Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, passed the Senate Energy Committee on a voice vote. The National Park Service bought the 53,000-acre Santa Rosa Island, part of Channel Islands National Park, for $30 million in 1986. Under a court-ordered settlement, the ranch family that owned the island must end private trophy hunts it operates there — and remove all the game — by 2011. Hunter's legislation would mandate that the game remain on the island. Hunter contends he wants to create a special place for disabled veterans to go to hunt, but critics say the hunts block public access and the game interferes with native endangered species....
Sale of oil leases worries Utahans The tiny town of Bluff, Utah, is an out-of-the-way place, rich in ancient Native American history and surrounded by the region's distinctive red rock and desert canyons. Though just a speck on the map, Bluff — population 320 — is also a magnet for rafters who enjoy excursions on the San Juan River with side trips to view Anasazi ruins and rock art. That explains why Taylor McKinnon was not happy to learn that the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) was selling leasing rights to oil and natural gas adjacent to the San Juan River. The company McKinnon co-owns, Wild Rivers Expeditions, takes thousands of tourists a year down the San Juan and has been in business since 1957. Bluff "depends heavily on river recreation, both commercial and private," McKinnon says. In a letter of protest to the BLM, he worried that oil and gas development could pollute the river, blight the scenery and hurt Bluff's tourist-based economy and his business that employs 12 people. That kind of main-street worry about the energy boom occurring across the West is becoming more common as the Bush administration accelerates the sale of oil and gas leases on the region's vast network of federally-owned land and private property where the government owns mineral rights. Most energy development in the Rocky Mountain region is now natural gas....
Column: Small Potatoes, Fresh Water, and the Facts about Otero Mesa Otero Mesa is the classic example of public lands in New Mexico. It embodies the true uniqueness of the Land of Enchantment—yet, this wild landscape and its fresh-water aquifer has been proposed for full-scale oil and gas drilling. The largest, untapped fresh water aquifer remaining in New Mexico lies directly beneath Otero Mesa. This aquifer, referred to as the Salt Basin, has been the focus of several water studies conducted by private firms and Sandia National Labs. According to Sandia National Laboratories hydrologist, David Chace, their study shows "there is unequivocally lots of water" [Alb. Journal: April 23, 2005, New Study Shows Salt Basin Aquifer Is Larger Than Estimated]. Additionally, Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) has requested that the United States Geological Survey (USGS) conduct a thorough water study of the area to determine how much and where all of this water lies. Some estimates suggest that there is enough fresh-water in the Salt Basin to supply a city of 1 million people for 100 years! Common sense tells us that in an arid state such as ours, there is no more precious resource than water. Common sense also tells us we should have a thorough understanding of the Salt Basin aquifer before any oil and gas drilling is allowed. In 2001, the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD) found that out of 734 cases of soil and groundwater contamination, oil and gas operations were responsible for 444, almost 60 percent. Early this year, the Oil Conservation Division (OCD) published a report, which shows a staggering 1400 additional cases of groundwater contamination due to oil and gas operations. In 2004, John Shomaker & Associates Inc., presented the findings of a study showing that the BLM drilling plan for Otero Mesa would jeopardize the Salt Basin aquifer. That conclusion reflected the fact that the BLM plan "makes no special provisions for protection of ground-water resources" including existing and proposed public water wells....
Bill would transfer cemetery A cemetery near the tiny town of Elkhorn, mistakenly designated as national forest land long ago, would be transferred to Jefferson County at no charge under a bill approved Wednesday by a Senate committee despite objections by the Forest Service. Local residents have continued burying their loved ones on the federal land, which is technically illegal, so all sides agree that it should be made private. But the federal government wants to be paid for the property. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee unanimously approved the bill that would transfer the Elkhorn Cemetery from the Beaverhead-Deerlodge Forest to the ownership of Jefferson County free of charge. The Montana Cemetery Act of 2005, sponsored by Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., would require the conveyance of the land no later than 180 days after the bill becomes law....
Forest Service official gets surprising send-off Often at odds with Elko County over public land management over the years, the U.S. Forest Service's top official in Nevada got a bit of a surprise last week from the county commission. Commissioners presented Bob Vaught with a plaque and told him they hate to see him leave for a new job in the agency's regional office in Denver. "We've had some hellish arguments, but we've always walked away friends in the end," Commissioner John Ellison told Vaught. "I hate to see you go. You'll be hard to replace," he said. Vaught, supervisor of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest over the past six years, recently accepted an appointment as the Forest Service's director of renewable resources for 17 national forests in the Rocky Mountain Region. As the head of the largest U.S. national forest outside of Alaska, he oversaw numerous controversies in Nevada and California, ranging from livestock grazing disputes to threatened fish protection and jurisdiction of Jarbidge's South Canyon Road. He became supervisor of the Humboldt-Toiyabe in February 2000 after the previous supervisor, Gloria Flora, resigned in protest of what she described as "fed bashing" of the Forest Service by residents and politicians in northeastern Nevada....
Investigation launched into Wolf Creek plan The U.S. Agriculture Department's watchdog office says it has begun evaluating allegations that political influence was used to gain U.S. Forest Service approval for the proposed $1 billion Wolf Creek ski-village development in southwest Colorado. Phyllis Fong, inspector general for the department, which includes the Forest Service, wrote to U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar in response to the Colorado Democrat's request last week for an investigation. The letter, released Wednesday, said Fong's office had received four other inquiries about the situation, including one from Salazar's brother, U.S. Rep. John Salazar, a Manassa Democrat. "Once we have have completed our evaluation of the facts and applicable statutes, regulations and FS policies, we will make a determination whether further inquiry by (Fong's office) or FS is warranted," the letter said. Salazar has said he requested the probe out of concern over the allegations of retired Forest Service manager Ed Ryberg that political influence helped developer B.J. "Red" McCombs get Forest Service approval for the Village at Wolf Creek, a massive project proposed for a mountain site on U.S. 160 between Durango and Alamosa....
Burnt Mountain plan hits hurdle The Aspen Skiing Co.'s plan to expand backcountry skiing on Burnt Mountain has been derailed, at least temporarily. The U.S. Forest Service's regional office in Denver ruled in favor of a Wyoming-based environmental group's claim that a portion of the Skico's plan would adversely affect an inventoried roadless area. The Ark Initiative filed an appeal in April over White River National Forest Supervisor Maribeth Gustafson's approval of the Skico project. The Skico wants to thin trees and expand what it dubs a "semi-backcountry experience" on Burnt Mountain. Currently only the Long Shot run is developed on Burnt Mountain. It's more of a general route through the trees than a distinctive trail. The Skico wants to create more such runs to the east of Long Shot. The Ark Initiative filed a 217-page appeal that raised numerous objections about the Skico's plan and the local Forest Service's approval of the application. Greg Griffith, a deputy regional forester, rejected all the points in the appeal except the roadless concerns. Griffith handed down the decision Monday and Ark Initiative Executive Director Donald Duerr received it Wednesday....
Foresters call for limits on ATV use on public land A group of professional foresters wants all-terrain vehicles banned from public lands except for specific trails that are posted as open to ATV traffic. Members of the Society of American Foresters Minnesota chapter said ATVs cause erosion and damage vegetation on public lands. The group also noted soaring numbers of registered ATVs and more use on county, state and federal forests. "A single ATV on its own is relatively benign with a single pass. However, the cumulative effect of repeated passes does represent a major impact to vegetation and the land," the group's new position statement says. The society represents about 400 professional foresters in Minnesota who work for the Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Forest Service, private landowners, timber companies and other agencies....
Forest plan could be bad news for mills Bernard Gnam enjoys the wilderness. He likes to camp and hunt and fish in it. He also works at F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber here in Columbia Falls and he's worried about the new Forest Service plan. He's worried it might put him out of a job. It's not the wilderness aspect that troubles him. It's the timber aspect and the yield that land managers are projecting for the forest in the next 10 years. This plan, as it's written now, calls for roughly 26 million board feet of timber a year from land deemed “suitable timber base,” and other lands where timber could be cut. “If they're only offering 26 million ... that doesn't even supply our mill,” he noted. “It basically puts us out of business.” Factor in competition from the likes of Plum Creek, Pyramid Lumber and other mills and the picture becomes more bleak. “My concern is the waste of the resource,” Gnam said....
U.S. House passes 'right-to-ride' bill Congress has moved closer to ensuring happy trails for Illinois horsemen and the Southern Illinois economy. More than a year after its introduction, the House last week unanimously approved the Right-to-Ride Livestock on Federal Lands Act, which seeks to “preserve the use and access of pack and saddle stock animals on public lands.” The bill, co-sponsored by Rep. John Shimkus, a Collinsville Republican, affirms “riders’ rights” on national park and national forest lands, including the Shawnee National Forest. The House measure, now headed to the Senate, states that “all trails, routes, and areas used by pack and saddle stock shall remain open and accessible for such use.” Illinois Farm Bureau equine specialist Brenda Matherly said Shawnee-area trail riding is “a huge economic force,” providing “a lot of tourism dollars for Southern Illinois.” According to the U.S. Forest Service, some 40,000 riders annually use Shawnee trails. A Southern Illinois University study estimates the equine industry annually generates more than $16 million in economic activity in the state’s southernmost seven counties. Jenkins said trail riding should pose no environmental threat, but environmental groups have hindered Forest Service efforts to properly maintain Shawnee trails. Trails on Forest Service property thus have deteriorated, though volunteer groups have kept up trails on private land and helped the Forest Service “whenever they allow us to,” he said....
Michigan's cougars? At least eight mountain lions have been documented in Michigan through DNA analysis, a paper in a scientific journal says. Brad Swanson, a geneticist and assistant professor of biology at Central Michigan, and Pat Rusz of the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy published their findings in the American Midland Naturalist, which is produced at Notre Dame. The two PhDs said it was the first peer-reviewed evidence of multiple cougars east of the Mississippi and outside of Florida. Cindy Evans of Battle Creek doesn't need scientific papers to convince her that the big cats roam the state. Earlier this month, a mother cougar and two nearly grown kittens were behind her home every night for a week, trying to get at the tiny muntjac deer she raises in backyard pens, she said. When she called the state Department of Natural Resources for help, "they told me I couldn't have seen cougars because they don't exist," Evans said....
Interior: Swans likely 1st to get bird flu A deadly bird flu virus will likely slip into the United States through a pretty package: either majestic swans flying across the Bering Strait into Alaska or from smuggled exotic wildlife at one of the nation‘s ports. "From my perspective, I would say swans are the starting point because we found the disease already, or Europe has found them, in swans," said H. Dale Hall, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The first 1,300 tissue samples taken in Alaska from migratory birds that could carry the H5N1 virus are due to arrive later this week at the U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Geological Survey laboratory in Madison, Wis. They come from a subsistence hunt by native Alaskans. "Birds coming up that would fly in that flyway are the ones that would probably most likely mingle with the Australasian birds that have come up and may be carrying" H5N1, Hall said. "We‘re working as if it could show up this year."....
Bill would cancel Cemex lease Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon said Wednesday he will introduce a bill in Congress today to cancel Cemex's lease to mine 56.1 million tons of sand and gravel in Soledad Canyon - a project the city has spent $6 million battling - and limiting any future mining at the site to historic levels of 300,000 tons a year. But McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, acknowledged in a phone interview the measure's chances of passage are slim. Still, it was time to take action, he said. "We held off introducing the bill, trying to work out a solution between the city (of Santa Clarita) and Cemex," McKeon said. "When it appeared Cemex was probably not going to support the legislation, we had to move ahead." McKeon advised Cemex's President Gilberto Perez of the move in the past couple of weeks, but the news failed to yield a compromise from the company, which earlier this month said plans are under way to start mining in the next two years. The Mexico-based Cemex's U.S. holdings include 12 cement plants, 270 ready-mix operations and 40 terminals. U.S. sales of $1.04 billion in 2005 surpassed those in Mexico for the first time, said company spokeswoman Susana Duarte earlier. "It's a gold mine - in aggregate - but it's a gold mine," McKeon said. If the bill is passed, mining leases signed between Cemex and the Bureau of Land Management in 1990 would be canceled and the company would be reimbursed for its "expenses and their troubles," McKeon said....
School trust lands exchange impresses A proposed exchange between the federal government and Utah school trust lands was heralded by officials and environmentalists before a Senate subcommittee on Wednesday. The proposal would trade about 40,000 acres of school trust lands along the Colorado River corridor for the same amount of acreage held by the Bureau of Land Management. Exchanging the land will allow school trust land administrators to sell agricultural parcels around Green River and expand the Moab airport to include a lodge, outfitter and other businesses. Sen. Bob Bennett told a Senate subcommittee on Energy and Natural Resources that the legislation he and Sen. Orrin Hatch are co-sponsoring represents a compromise. That environmental groups are on board is, Bennett added, "saying something.” If approved, the proposal would be the first large-scale land exchange since another swap in 2002 fell apart amid allegations that taxpayers were being shortchanged by $117 million. This proposal includes a provision guaranteeing whoever owns the former federal land would pay the government 50 percent of any profits from mineral or oil resources later found....
BLM designates 1.5 million acres in southeastern Wyoming for burn program If conditions are right, fires that naturally break out this summer on about 1.5 million acres of land, mainly in southeastern Wyoming, will not be put out right away, the Bureau of Land Management announced Wednesday. The burns will only be allowed to continue if certain conditions are met, such as high moisture levels for vegetation and cooperative weather patterns, and will be "actively managed" by the bureau, BLM spokesman Steven Hall said. Only lands that could benefit from the burn for ecological purposes have been designated to use the option, called Wildland Fire Use, Hall said. The program has been used by the BLM in Wyoming before, but usually for much smaller areas. This is the first time the BLM has determined such a large area could use the option, Hall said. The decision to allow Wildland Fire Use for the lands came about because of a "natural evolution" of fire management techniques in the West over the past 10-20 years, Hall said....
Farmers seek to influence debate over immigration reform Growers facing a dwindling supply of farmworkers are pressing lawmakers in hopes of influencing the outcome of immigration reform measures before Congress to ensure they have a work force in the future. Among the leaders growers are pressing is Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Bakersfield, whose district includes the inland areas of San Luis Obispo County. Their efforts come as the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a report last week that showed there are 4 percent fewer workers on American farms now than at this time last year. And last year's farm work force in the spring was already 10 percent smaller than the year before. "We're for cracking down on the hiring of illegal immigrants and for homeland security," said Austin Perez, policy director for the American Farm Bureau Federation, the largest U.S. farm group. "But if it doesn't have a guest worker program, and doesn’t allow farmers to maintain a work force ... we'd be looking at a huge production loss."....