NEWS ROUNDUP

Family's oat crop in jeopardy; ranch might be next Today would have been the day that Richard Becker turned on the two wells at his Weld County cattle ranch to irrigate the 13 acres of oats he just finished planting. Instead, the wells are shut down and the nearly $10,000 that Becker invested in seeds, fertilizer and labor may dry up in the time it will take him to find an alternate source of water. "I've lost my oats," Becker said, sitting at his kitchen table. He has no crop insurance, but he said the loss wouldn't have been covered anyway because this wasn't an act of nature. Becker, 48, a second-generation rancher who was born on this 640- acre spread about 45 miles north of Denver, is one of dozens of South Platte Valley farmers who are caught up in a dispute over strict new regulations aimed at ensuring the health of the river. His two wells are among more than 400 that State Engineer Hal Simpson ordered shut down until more is done to replenish the water in the South Platte. Saving the river may cost him the ranch, Becker said Tuesday....
Judge Sides With Landowners in Landmark Stream Access Case After nearly 20 years of controversy involving trespassing fisherman, protesting politicians, a newspaper publisher, two governors, a famous musician, governmental agencies, a couple of fourth-generation ranchers and an investment mogul, a judge has ruled that the Mitchell Slough in Montana's Bitterroot Valley is not a natural stream and therefore is not open to public access. The case has been closely watched across the West as a crucial test of the reach of Montana's stream access law, which is among the strongest in the country. The Montana statute, long a bete noire of property-rights advocates but resilient through numerous court challenges, provides that any river or stream in the state is open to public access up to the high-water mark. While landowners are not required to provide right of way across their property, fisherman, floaters and others can freely use the waterways as long as they stay within the banks. In the Mitchell Slough case, many emphatically believe the 12-mile waterway is a natural channel, manipulated for more than 150 years by irrigators and now owned by wealthy landowners - including rocker Huey Lewis and investment mogul Charles Schwab - who believe it's always been a private fishery. They and others believe it is simply a big ditch, used to convey water to farmland and carry run-off from those fields back to the river. This side maintains the slough has been private and public access was only granted with permission, though many trespassed. Wednesday's decision by District Judge Ted Mizner, which came after nine months of deliberation, supports the landowners' claim that the Mitchell is simply a ditch. Had it gone the other way, numerous waterways in the state which are, in effect, some combination of natural stream and man-made ditch and but have long been treated as private property, could have been subject to stream access requirements....
State: We'll form elk-damage plan State wildlife officials Tuesday pledged to form an action plan by July to reduce property and crop damage caused by elk descending into the east side of the Kittitas Valley from their higher-elevation habitat. State Department of Fish & Wildlife Director Jeff Koenings, talking to valley ranchers and farmers concerned about elk damage, said such a plan will require the commitment of the department and landowners. He said they must work to put detailed agreements in place that spell out actions each will take in a coordinated effort to push a “satellite” herd of elk off private lands. It is believed the problem herd of elk on the east side of the valley is an offshoot of the established Colockum herd....
Colo. Court to Decide on Lynx Protections A federal appeals court heard arguments Wednesday over whether a lynx that has federal protection in Colorado is still protected if it wanders across the state's southern border into New Mexico. Federal wildlife officials consider the lynx endangered in Colorado, where more than 200 of the elusive, long-haired cats have been reintroduced since 1999. Some have had kittens. Some have drifted into New Mexico, and environmental groups argue they should be protected there as well. The groups are asking the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to revive their lawsuit to force the U.S. Forest Service in New Mexico to include the lynx in their management plans. Forest Service officials in New Mexico say lynx are not listed as threatened or endangered in New Mexico, so they don't have to be considered. A three-judge panel of the 10th Circuit did not indicate when it might rule.
Nonprofit agency seeks A.V. land for preservation A 9-month-old nonprofit organization is working with local government officials to acquire undeveloped Antelope Valley desert for preservation. As more and more homes and businesses go up on what had been old farmland or untouched desert, Antelope Valley Conservancy leaders hope to use fees paid by developers and money from other sources to acquire land for preservation in its natural state. "Habitat preservation is the basis for species preservation. The Antelope Valley has a long history of preserving natural lands," said Wendy Reed, the conservancy's executive director. The conservancy fills the local need for an agency that can take care of land acquired through "mitigation" fees - $770 per acre in Lancaster, or more depending on the condition of the land - paid by developers for building on what had been wildlife habitat, officials said....
BLM auction chafes environmentalists The federal auction today of 192,334 acres of mineral-rich Colorado public land for oil and gas drilling is once again pitting environmental activists against the Bush administration as it pushes for more energy development in the Rocky Mountain region. Faced with skyrocketing energy prices and the call for more domestic production of oil and gas, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management has stepped up the leasing of federal lands for drilling in past years. From fiscal years 2001 through 2005, the agency has leased more than 2 million acres of public land in Colorado, 13 percent more than the almost 1.8 million acres auctioned during the previous five years. "Our leasing is fairly well correlated with oil and gas prices," said Duane Spencer, BLM's branch chief of fluid minerals. "Given the price increases, we expect more nominations and more leasing in this fiscal year." The BLM says the Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act of 1987 requires it to offer public lands for lease every quarter. If an oil and gas company nominates a parcel of land for leasing, the agency is required to conduct a thorough review and environmental analysis before deciding on the merit of the proposed parcel....
Senate panel backs Kempthorne for Interior A Senate committee Wednesday sent Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne's nomination as interior secretary to the full Senate, although procedural delays by lawmakers may stall his final confirmation to the Cabinet. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved Kempthorne's nomination on a voice vote. No senator opposed Kempthorne, although Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., voted "present" to protest the Bush administration's refusal to share a portion of offshore oil and gas royalties with Gulf Coast states. The federal government does not share offshore energy royalties with states, but it does split royalties 50-50 with states for oil and gas development in the Rocky Mountain West. Landrieu's vote drew a rebuke from the committee's chairman, Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., who noted that Kempthorne is a former senator, widely supported by lawmakers from both parties. "I think your cause is not well-served by doing what you're doing today," Domenici said. "What you're doing essentially is saying no to the nominee. I wish you wouldn't be doing that to him." Landrieu replied that she was not voting no, and called Kempthorne an "outstanding" nominee. Landrieu and Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., have said they intend to place a hold on Kempthorne's nomination once it is reported out of the committee. Holds are a privilege any senator can invoke to block a measure from coming to a floor vote....
If confirmed, interior choice plans to overhaul species law Dirk Kempthorne is on his way to becoming secretary of the interior after Wednesday's Senate committee vote in his favor, and when he gets there he plans to start work on an overhaul of the Endangered Species Act. Kempthorne, Idaho's governor, tried to revamp the landmark environmental law 11 years ago when he was a senator. And in written responses to the senators weighing his nomination, he made the need for "improvements" in the law one of his clearest goals. That is likely to please developers who find the law's protection of species such as the Preble's meadow jumping mouse one of their biggest obstacles. But it alarms some environmentalists who see Kemp thorne's call for "streamlining" as code for gutting protections for plants and animals threatened with extinction. "If confirmed as secretary of the interior, I commit to working with the Senate and House to update and improve the Endangered Species Act," Kempthorne wrote to senators. "The sad truth is that the ESA too often leads to conflict when instead it should lead to cooperation, conservation and ultimately recovery of the species."....
Crowd gathers to watch wolf eat elk A wolf that killed a young elk near Stanley in central Idaho and settled down to try to eat its meal drew a crowd of human spectators - including a longtime wolf advocate and a longtime wolf foe. Jane Somerville of Stanley saw the chase and kill last Thursday by the Salmon River near the junction of Highways 75 and 21. "He pretty much went right for the neck and got it down on the ground," Somerville told the Idaho Mountain Express. "It was over very quickly." Alerted by cell phones, people began arriving along the river bank to watch the wolf eat the yearling elk. Among them was Lynn Stone, leader of the pro-wilderness Boulder-White Clouds Council and a wolf advocate. She said Ron Gillette, president of the Idaho Anti-Wolf Coalition, arrived after her, carrying a .22-caliber rifle. Stone said she took photographs of Gillette as he walked toward the wolf on three occasions during the day, carrying the rifle. The wolf ran off each time. The area is open grassland near the river but turns into forest on the sides of the valley....
Column: Big Mammals, Yes! Bugs and Things, No! She was “a strong advocate for the wise use and protection of our nation’s natural resources” said George Bush of Gale Norton the day after she resigned from her post as Secretary of the Interior. It was a statement written in code, aimed at those who understand that “Wise Use” means plundering public lands for maximum private profit. And it was a hidden homage to one man in particular: The progenitor of the “Wise Use” brand and tradition, author and marketing guru Ron Arnold. In his down-home, affable way, Arnold has, over 30 years of assiduous efforts, managed to seed the notion in the American mind that environmentalism has gone over the edge, that animal-rights activists take their cues from Satan worshippers and that saboteurs of sawmills and poorly sited housing developments pose a great threat to domestic security. With a hypographic zeal bordering on mania, he has struggled in books published by his own Merrill Press to link Al Gore to Ted Kaczynski, and Earth First! to the Manson family. He has dismissed “the pesticide bugaboo” raised by Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and the specter of “oil-soaked birds” from the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill as “alarmism.” He has strained to link the words “environmentalist” and “terrorist” for decades. That effort has recently paid off: In March, six members of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty were convicted of “animal enterprise terrorism” for maintaining a Web site chronicling the actions of animal-rights activists; one month later, the Pennsylvania Legislature passed a law classifying environmentally motivated vandalism as terrorism. Judging by these and other quiet victories, Arnold has been incalculably successful....
Bounty offered to catch prime salmon predator On his first cast of the season, Jim Walker pitched a lure resembling a baby salmon into the dark green waters of the Columbia River and — BAM! — hooked a 24-inch fish with a $4 bounty on its head. But alas, "we didn't hook another one all day," the 73-year-old retiree said. It may not always be easy, but fishermen who can fill their coolers can also fill their pockets — some getting nearly $40,000 — for helping to control the most voracious predator of baby salmon in the Columbia Basin, the northern pikeminnow. To help make up for the harm done to salmon by the government's hydroelectric dams in Washington, Oregon and Idaho, the Bonneville Power Administration is paying a bounty of $4 to $8 for each northern pikeminnow caught, as long as it is at least nine inches long. There are also more than 1,000 specially tagged bonus fish worth $500 each scattered through the 450 miles of the lower Columbia and Snake rivers to attract more fishermen and help biologists gauge the effect of the bounties....
EPA plan would ease mop-up of old mines The Bush administration Wednesday proposed new legislation to remove pollution liability for "good Samaritans" willing to clean up the nation's half- million abandoned hard-rock mines. Sponsored by two Republican legislators - Rep. John Duncan of Tennessee and Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma - the Good Samaritan Clean Watershed Act is designed to clear the legal roadblocks for volunteers willing to restore watersheds tainted by acid mine drainage. There are an estimated 17,000 abandoned mines in Colorado, many of which have polluted nearby waterways. "Environmental responsibility is everyone's responsibility, and President Bush and EPA are equipping America's eager army of citizen conservationists with the essential tools," said Environmental Protection Agency administrator Stephen Johnson....
Coastal drilling bill advances A bid to open most of the longprotected U.S. coastline to drilling for natural gas cleared a key House committee Wednesday, prompting a bipartisan group of Florida lawmakers to vow to block it. The 37-25 vote in the House Appropriations Committee came amid concerns about rising gas prices and pressure to open areas that traditionally have been off-limits to energy exploration. Florida's congressional delegation remains largely united in efforts to block offshore drilling along the state's shoreline, and opponents warned the move Wednesday could bring rigs as close as three miles from the coast. And it represents a significant victory for the oil and gas industry and its sponsor, Rep. John Peterson, R-Pa., who has sought to open the nation's coastal waters to energy development. Peterson suggested the vote was a ''seismic shift'' in the debate over energy production and the ''first step'' toward fixing the country's energy woes. Environmentalists opposed to drilling agreed with at least part of Peterson's assessment -- that the vote was important -- but called committee approval of offshore exploration ''the most serious threat'' in 22 years to efforts to block drilling. Previous attempts in the House to lift the congressional moratorium along the Outer Continental Shelf have failed....
Efforts to help ewes fail Officials with several public agencies were reminded of what they already knew Wednesday: Sheep are stubborn, hard-headed creatures. More than six men from fire, wildlife and law enforcement departments shot non-lethal ammo, explosives and water hoses Wednesday at a pair of sheep stranded with no water on a steep ledge off Highway 166 east of Santa Maria in an attempt to motivate the animals to move to safety. They let loose dogs, threw rocks, blared sirens and hollered to scare the animals into scaling a steep trail that leads off the precipice. The sheep were not impressed....
Equine Miscarriages Linked to Common Caterpillar In March one case of Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome in Florida was confirmed by University of Florida researchers. Two others are strongly suspected. Now Texas' veterinarians and the state's equine industry are keeping a close eye on the problem. That's because MRLS, as it is commonly called, is believed to be caused when horses ingest the eastern tent caterpillar, a native Texas insect that is found throughout the eastern half of the state. All three Florida cases occurred this spring in Alachua County. Two involved septic foals, or foals with internal infections, which had to be euthanized. The third case was a late-term abortion. The diagnosis was confirmed by University of Florida pathologist Dr. John Roberts, who worked at the University of Kentucky Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center during an outbreak of MRLS in the Bluegrass State in 2001-2002. That outbreak had a negative economic impact of $336 to $500 million and caused the loss of 30 percent of Kentucky's estimated foal crop for 2002. "Because the caterpillars are prevalent in parts of Texas, it's a threat horse owners need to be aware of," said Bruce Webb, an entomologist with the University of Kentucky. Texas has an equine industry that includes more than 1 million horses and generates $11.1 billion annually....
USDA's Meat Inspection Act Turn 100 Years Old USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service is celebrating 100 years of protecting the food supply under the Federal Meat Inspection Act. FSIS is the premier public health regulatory agency that ensures the safety and security of the U.S. meat, poultry, and egg products supply. When President Abraham Lincoln signed the legislation creating USDA in 1862, the department's primary focus was to stimulate food production by providing seed and agricultural information to farmers and help them receive a fair price for their crops. After the U.S. Civil War, westward expansion and development of refrigerated railroad cars spurred the growth of not only the livestock industry, but also meat packing and international trade. In response to the growing pressure from veterinarians, ranchers, and meat packers for a unified effort to eradicate livestock diseases in the United States, President Chester Arthur signed the Bureau of Animal Industry Act, which created USDA's Bureau of Animal Industry in 1884, effectively the true forerunner of FSIS....
Family honored for 130 years on farm On the outskirts of Dallas County, tucked safely aside from the loud semis on Interstate 45, is 130 years of family history spread across farmland dotted with native pecan trees. BuckBranch Farm is a place where five generations have shaped a legacy in agriculture. None has gotten rich through farming. BuckBranch is run out of a passion for the land and its heritage, not the income it produces. Linda Slagle, 58, owns and operates the 94-acre ranch and equestrian center in the blink-of-an-eye town of Wilmer, just 14 miles southeast of downtown Dallas. "If I never had to go out of that gate again, I would be the happiest woman in the world," she said. "But you just can't make your living in agriculture these days." So every Monday through Friday at 7:15 a.m., she does pass through the gate – to go to her job as an office manager for a Dallas electrical systems company. BuckBranch Farm was recently honored by the Texas Department of Agriculture's Family Land Heritage Program for maintaining property in continuous agricultural production within the same family for 100 years. In the program's 32-year history, only five other Dallas County farms or ranches have achieved the honor....
Las Damas gathers for 58th annual ride More than 130 women saddled up, mounted their horses, and took to the trail as Las Damas headed out on another fantastic five-day ride. For the 58th year, club members and guests gathered at the camp May 1 through 5, for fun, friends, food, and trail riding. United by a love of trail riding and bonds of friendship, Las Damas was formed 58 years ago by a group of local Wickenburg women. Over the years the Las Damas tradition has grown ever stronger and evolved to be one of Arizona's top riding groups. The L-Bell Ranch near Skull Valley hosted the five-day ride and is one of Las Damas' favorite places to ride.
Medora tuning up for cowboy gathering The 20th annual Dakota Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Medora Memorial Day weekend will feature Patty Clayton, the Western Music Association’s Female Vocalist of the Year, and Juni Fisher, the 2005 Academy of Western Artists’ Female Vocalist of the Year. The singers will headline sessions at 7:30 p.m. May 27 and May 28 at the Medora Community Center, which also will include performances by cowboy poet Bill Lowman, Sentinel Butte, and Jess Howard, of Marmarth. Besides music and poetry, the Community Center will be the scene for Western art, big hats and quilts. Artisans and craftsmen expected include Scott Nelson, of Solen, who will do pen and ink sketches, and Slim McNaught, New Underwood, S.D., with leatherwork items. The Big Hat Society will be on hand to encourage everyone to have a 10-gallon hat day....
Mosey up the mountain Sun Peaks Resort has found a way to keep grazing cattle off their property - while making some money at the same time. A local tour operator, along with Sun Peaks management, has organized a cattle drive to move the animals away from the resort's golf course and into proper grazing grounds. "Every year, we spend a lot time and effort chasing cows," said Rob MacLean, outside operations director at Sun Peaks. "They create quite a bit of damage on greens and fairways." He added the drive will give people who are not familiar with the rancher lifestyle the opportunity to live like a cowboy for a few days. MacLean says the inaugural event will be on a much smaller scale than the former Kamloops Cattle Drive. Ranchers in the area have the right to open their cattle gates and let the cows wander to the grazing grounds on their own. MacLean said with the cattle drive, the animals will get to the right places much quicker. For $500 each, 12 riders will have the opportunity to work with experienced cattle wranglers and help herd the cows up the mountain. Meals and lodging for three nights are included; horses will be supplied by Sun Peaks Trail Rides. The Sun Peaks cattle drive will herd the cows along the same route cowboys have been using for the last 60 years....