NEWS ROUNDUP

Indicted commander wants statement tossed The attorney for the former commander of an elite wildfire team accused of setting two forest fires asked a federal judge Thursday to toss his client's confession made to federal investigators. Attorney Grant Woods argued investigators coerced his client into admitting he intentionally started two fires in 2004 at the Coconino National Forest that together burned nearly 22 acres. Investigators questioned Van Bateman in October about the wildfires. Agents say they told Bateman, who did not have an attorney at the interview, that he could leave at any time and could refuse to answer questions. "In my mind, I had no option but to answer the questions put before me," Bateman told U.S. District Judge Paul Rosenblatt in court Thursday. "I felt that if I didn't answer, they would hold it against me." Bateman said he feared he would be fired from his job as fire management officer at the forest's Mogollon Ranger District and would lose the retirement benefits he had accrued in 34 years with the Forest Service....
Column: Border fence an ecological nightmare And thus, by any measure of the Leopoldian Oath, I have to deem the border fence an ecological nightmare. It is fitting that this fence is all about immigration. Immigration, of course, is not just a human activity, but something that every critter on this planet does to one extent or another. The fence will stop human immigration, and will stop most wildlife migration too. The border fence that already exists in parts of Southern California has wreaked ecological havoc; the new triple-decker fence will make matters worse. In San Diego, for example, the U.S. government may have to suspend or completely ignore most of its environmental laws - the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act - to build and accommodate the border fence that will separate San Diego and Tijuana. Over the last few decades, the city of San Diego, the state and federal governments and the Mexican government have spent nearly $600 million to protect the sensitive ecology of the Tijuana River Estuary, where the last portions of the fence would be built. The estuary will be ecologically harmed by the new triple-decker fence. The conflict in Tijuana is a mere ecological fragment of what could happen all along a potentially fenced U.S./Mexican border, which contains a biologically rich swath of parks, forests, wilderness areas, and bi-national wildlife habitat....
Nevada lawmakers urged to rein in water authority Nevada lawmakers have been urged to make sure that this state doesn't duplicate what happened in the Owens Valley in eastern California - whose water was taken to supply the booming Los Angeles area. White Pine County, Nev., rancher Dean Baker and California water attorney Greg James, testifying before the Legislature's interim committee on water resources, both cited the Owens Valley case as one that shouldn't repeat itself in Nevada. The presentations Wednesday came as part of the committee's review of the Southern Nevada Water Authority's plan to tap groundwater in rural Clark, Lincoln and White Pine counties. Over the next decade, the water authority intends to build a $2 billion pipeline network to carry groundwater to Las Vegas from dozens of wells scattered across eastern Nevada. The project is expected to supply the Las Vegas Valley with enough water for as many as 425,000 homes. James and Baker urged the panel of lawmakers to introduce legislation next year that would shape how such large-scale water transfers are done....
Column: Power rangers activated There hasn’t been much reason for joy at the path the Forest Service has taken over the last several years under the direction of the resource-ravaging Bush administration. But this week’s news that the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest intends to put six Forest Rangers on the trail of ATV scofflaws is a move all Montanans should be celebrating. In case you missed it, Forest Service spokesman Jack de Golia announced Monday that his agency would be applying to Montana’s Off-Highway Vehicle and Recreational Trails Program for funding to put the additional rangers in the woods on the 3-million-acre national forest. Currently, only three enforcement officers patrol the forest—“That’s a million acres apiece,” de Golia explained. Given the destruction currently occurring on national forests caused by rampant and often-illegal ATV use, it is well past time for the federal agency that’s supposed to be “stewarding” our forest resources to get on the stick. “Enforcement is a problem,” de Golia admitted. “We just don’t have enough people to cover all the roads and all the ways to get in.” Sure enough, the numbers bear out de Golia’s assessment in grim detail. Of the 291 incident reports of illegal ATV use filed on the forest in the last five years, only 21 tickets were issued for violation of off-road rules. That means nine out of every 10 rogue ATV riders slipped freely away, leaving only eroding ruts and noxious weeds behind to mark their passage....
Feds to fund study of prairie dogs Although people may see families of prairie dogs living on the side of the roads everyday, some environmentalists fear that there is a danger they may become extinct. "The Gunnison's prairie dog has been listed on a petition as a possible endangered species," said Jeff Cole, wildlife manager with the Navajo Fish and Wildlife Program. Because this poses as a possible threat for the ecosystem, the Navajo Nation Fish and Wildlife Department applied for a grant through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and received $150,000 to conduct a study that will determine whether Gunnison's prairie gods really are in danger of becoming extinct. But before anyone buys a "Save the Prairie Dogs" bumper sticker, remember that putting prarie dogs on the extinction list is only being proposed. "We see them everywhere," said Cole. "They're not going extinct." To make that statement official, the program has to complete the study....
Poll: Majority supports oil drilling Floridians support lifting a ban on oil drilling 100 miles or more from the state's Gulf Coast beaches by a 51 to 42 percent majority, and many say rising gasoline prices have influenced their approval, a poll released Thursday showed. Such support stunned environmentalists, who have counted on opposition from Florida and other coastal states to deflect growing sentiment for offshore drilling among inland and oil state politicians. The U.S. House just last week rejected proposals to open more offshore areas to drilling, but those efforts are expected to continue. Most Floridians, however, still oppose drilling closer to shore. They disapprove of a congressional proposal to allow natural gas drilling as close as nine miles from shore by a 55 to 36 percent margin. The poll by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute was taken May 15-22 among 1,086 registered voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent....
Helicopter mapping project moves to Ketchikan coastline Two helicopters will be flying low over the coastline near Ketchikan in the next few weeks, collecting information for detailed maps. The coastal mapping project is being done by Coastal and Ocean Resources Inc., which already has mapped coastlines of Washington state and British Columbia, as well as Cook Inlet, Kodiak Island and Katmai in Alaska. The digital video imagery from the Alaska surveys is available online, where viewers can "Fly the Alaska Coastline." Also collected during the surveys is scientific data such as shoreline type and the location of kelp, eelgrass and shellfish beds. "We've really worked hard at getting the information up and accessible on the Web," said CORI President John Harper....
OMB, Congress spar on competitive sourcing again Congress again is using the appropriations process to undermine the Bush administration's policies for competitive sourcing. Under H.R. 5384, the Fiscal 2007 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, the Agriculture Department can spend no money to study, or enter into a contract with a private party to carry out a study relating to rural development or farm loan programs by using competitive sourcing, unless Congress gives its approval. Like last year, when similar language was included in the fiscal 2006 version of the bill, the Office of Management and Budget opposes such restrictions. “The administration urges the House to eliminate this provision,” OMB said in its policy statement. Competitive sourcing, which is governed by the OMB’s Circular A-76, typically pits a private-sector vendor against a team of federal employees to determine what is referred to as the most efficient organization. OMB has pushed public-private competitions for contracts to get the best deal....
EPA workers blast agency's rulings By pandering to farmers and chemical manufacturers, the Environmental Protection Agency risks gutting a 10-year-old law designed to safeguard children from dangerous pesticides, workers within the agency charge. In a letter sent this week to agency Administrator Stephen L. Johnson, nine representatives of unions representing about 9,000 EPA scientists, risk managers and other workers said the agency "has lost sight of its regulatory responsibilities in trying to reach consensus with those that it regulates, and the result is that the integrity of the science upon which Agency decisions are based has been compromised."
Since 1996, the Food Quality Protection Act has been under attack from both sides -- pesticide makers and farmers asserting that the law is being applied too stringently, and environmentalists and consumer advocates charging that it is being undermined. The law was intended to protect children from hazardous effects of pesticides in foods and in the environment....
Environmental ‘Father Figure’ Blames Peers For Wrecking the Environment Leading environmental scientist James Lovelock blames fellow environmentalists for damaging the environment with renewable energy solutions, while claiming to save it. Lovelock told StockInterview.com, “Their solutions are basically urban-political solutions. It’s mostly made up of urban people, who know almost nothing about the countryside and still less about the ecosystem.” Lovelock scoffed at their embrace of renewable energy sources, saying, “They are being very foolish. They are living in a dream world.” Instead, the atmospheric scientist and bestselling author actively advocates adding more nuclear energy as a solution to the energy crisis, saying, “There is no sensible alternative to nuclear power if we are to sustain civilization.” Best known for his Gaia Theory, Lovelock’s bylined articles in Reader’s Digest (March 2005) and London’s Independent newspaper strongly urged other environmentalists to follow his lead in endorsing nuclear power. His recent book, The Revenge of Gaia, which discusses the current energy crisis, has caused a stir in the British Isles. Aside from taking swipes at solar power and wind energy, Lovelock fumes when talking about another renewable energy source, “They continue to insist on wanting to run their cars on bio fuels. This is one of the maddest ideas of the lot.”....
Intl Decision On BSE Standards Seen Helping US Trade Case The U.S. will now have a much stronger case to make that there is virtually no mad-cow disease risk here thanks to a decision Wednesday by the Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health to relax country standard requirements. Previously, a country had to wait seven years after its discovery of mad-cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, before it could be considered in the "negligible risk" category -- the category for countries with the least BSE risk. That has now been changed and countries must wait until 11 years after birth date of the last native-born cow discovered with the disease. The U.S. reported finding its latest BSE case in March, but U.S. Department of Agriculture officials say the infected cow was more than 10 years old when it died. Under the previous guidelines of the World Organization for Animal Health, known commonly as OIE, the U.S. would have had to wait until 2013 before it could be recognized as a "negligible risk" country. Under the new guidelines, approved Wednesday by unanimous vote, there will be little or no waiting. "For the U.S., this is much better," said Alex Thiermann, an OIE chairman. He also called the new age-based guideline more "realistic."....
Dance returns to dwelling Almost 800 years ago a kiva within the Long House cliff dwelling on Wetherill Mesa served as a dance plaza for the ancestral Puebloan people. Tuesday afternoon, native songs and dance returned with echoes through Rock Canyon in celebration of the park's centennial. A native of the Pueblo of Zia from New Mexico offered a prayer service, and five Ute Mountain Ute tribal members sang, drummed and danced to a long-ago beat during a ceremonial service attended by about 200 people. The honored guest Tuesday was first lady Laura Bush, who spoke about Mesa Verde’s role in America’s cultural heritage. Occupied by Ancient Puebloan people from about 1145 to 1279 A.D., the Long House site features 151 canyon-rock rooms, 21 kivas, a dance floor and storage bins for ceremonial items and foot drums. The mood Tuesday was sunny, yet seemingly solemn, with soothing music from the flute of David Nighteagle. Ravens, swallows and swifts flew the perimeter of the park dwelling prior to and during the ceremony....
Along for the 'Ride' Nine years ago, Fort Worth native Jeff Fraley and Dallas' Harry Lynch made Chasing the Dream, a modest documentary about bull-riding. Most of that film's fans discovered it on video and cable TV, although it did earn some theatrical screenings. Fraley and Lynch kept the film small, in part because it was the first crack they'd ever taken at making a movie. With Ride Around the World, Fraley and Lynch have returned to cowboy culture in a big way -- literally big, as in the oversize IMAX format, but also in the sense of scope. Here, they've gotten out of rodeo arenas and gone around the world to trace the evolution of the cowboy. The cowboy life has changed so little, the filmmakers point out, that the movie doesn't need to journey into the past. From its opening scenes at West Texas' 6666 Ranch (aka "Four Sixes), it jumps to Morocco to film Berber horseman, descendants of the Moorish people who would conquer Spain, which in turn brought the vaquero to New World territories that would become Argentina and Mexico. From there, the vaqueros spread north, bringing their cowboy culture to what would become the western United States....