NEWS ROUNDUP

Plan protects both wild, domestic sheep The recent decision on bighorn sheep in the Medicine Bow Forest Plan shows that participatory democracy is not for sissies. Nor for fools. Laramie’s Biodiversity Associates was vocal regarding the outcome of a decision on bighorn sheep habitat, but its opinion expressed more heat than light. If this small group had prevailed in its appeal of the Forest Plan, the result would have been less habitat for Wyoming’s wildlife, a decrease in the likelihood that Wyoming citizens would lend their time and expertise to collaborative problem-solving, and the loss of an important economic and management component provided by several long-time ranching families and their communities. As it is, the group further alienated the folks who should be its allies in trying to preserve the state’s healthy ecosystems, habitat and trademark vistas in the face of massive energy development. The issue is the management of domestic sheep herds, and their potential conflict with wild bighorn sheep. The two subspecies do not compete for habitat, but some studies have shown disease transmission from domestic sheep to bighorns. A natural separation is the best way to keep the animals apart. For three and a half years, the Wyoming Statewide Bighorn/Domestic Sheep Interaction Working Group met and labored in order to craft a sensible and operable plan to manage for a healthy future for Wyoming’s bighorn sheep population, while maintaining the viability of domestic sheep ranches. The members, who were wildlife biologists, environmentalists, ranchers and government officials, produced a thoughtful and practical set of recommendations....
Living on the fence – Catholic rancher copes daily with illegal immigration Spread out on 42,000 acres of beautiful mountains and high desert valleys in southern Cochise County, the Krentz family ranch sits just miles from the International Border. A rancher all her life and having grown up in the area, Susan Krentz knows every square inch of the property like the back of her hand. The ranch has been in the family for generations dating back before Arizona became a state. Standing about five and a half feet tall, Susan’s dusty boots and jeans tells the story of hard work on a ranch. Taking on the responsibility of working such as large ranch is shared by her husband, and daughter. In the forest above her home where she hiked as a child, signs posted by the United States government warn people that illegal immigration and human smuggling may be encountered in the area. For the last decade, she has seen a major increase in the number of immigrants on her property. In the first week of May, Krentz said Border Patrol removed more people from her ranch than the number of cattle that graze the land. “In eight days, we had 500 people removed from our ranch. That is a tremendous amount of people to find. Border Patrol tells us for every person that they find an estimated five to 10 slip into the desert,” she said....
Ranchers say border boundaries not always clear s it possible to accidentally end up in Mexico? Some cattle ranchers in Southern Arizona say, "Yes." They say there are no clear borders on their land and it's hard to tell when you've stepped into another country. "If I fix it, they'll just cut it again," says cattle rancher Bob Heilig who owns 13,000 acres. That's about nineteen square miles of land that borders Mexico; land that, he says, is hard to contain. "Snip, snip, snip and they just go right on through," Heilig says of illegal immigrants who travel his ranch daily, carrying wire cutters. Helig took News 4 on a tour, showing how easy it is to get lost because there are no clear markings dividing the border. Heilig says the most frustrating part for ranchers when fences are cut is that it's up to them to either fix the wire or lose their cattle....
Air Force: Range fire caused by air training munitions There is no vegetation to hold the dusty land in place after a fire burned about 27,000 acres of rangeland in southeastern New Mexico. A heavy coat of dirt sticks to the windows and covers the floors of Jeff Essary’s home. Reminders of the fire that devoured more than 700 acres of his land are nearly constant, he said. Essary, his newborn son, his daughter and his wife were among 100 families evacuated from their Floyd homes Nov. 30 after a fire spread from the Melrose Bombing Range. The wind-driven fire was caused by training munitions, according to an Air Force press release issued Tuesday. A B-1B bomber from Texas on a training flight over the Melrose Bombing Range released a bomb dummy, and its spotting charge — roughly equivalent to the charge of a shotgun shell — sparked the blaze in the arid grassland....
Wild-horse activists seek to halt roundup Mustang advocates and Gov. Bill Richardson want the Carson National Forest to stop a scheduled summer roundup of wild horses from the Jicarilla Ranger District, and instead use chemical contraception to control herd size. One concern is the possible sale to slaughterhouses of older animals that go unadopted, said Patience O’Dowd , founder of the Wild Horse Observers Association in Placitas. Also, darting the horses with a chemical contraceptive saves on the cost of transporting and feeding the animals until adoption time, she said. “It makes sense on a taxpayer level, and it makes sense on a humane level,” O’Dowd said. Kendall Clark, acting forest supervisor for the Carson National Forest, said the agency is willing to consider using contraception , but that the plan to gather 75 horses this summer from the Jicarilla district — between the Jicarilla Apache tribal lands and Bernalillo — will go forward....
Walden-backed forest bill approved U.S. Rep. Greg Walden's controversial bill to speed the ability of federal forestland managers to make timber salvage decisions is now on its way to the Senate. The Forest Emergency Recovery and Research Act HR 4200, co-authored by U.S. Reps. Brian Baird, D-Wash., and Stephanie Herseth, D-S.D., passed the House by a vote of 243 to 182. "Thousands upon thousands of foresters, scientists, firefighters, local government officials, and private landowners agree: Federal forestland managers need the authorities provided by the Forest Emergency Recovery and Research Act for the future of America's national forests," Walden, a Republican from Hood River and chairman of the Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health, said in a prepared statement. The bill gives natural resource managers 30 days after a wildfire or other natural catastrophe affecting more than 1,000 acres of public lands to come up with a plan, followed by a 90-day public comment period, Walden said. Administrative or judicial appeals still would be allowed following the comment period, he said....
Definition of ‘road’ travels gray area But amid the discussions over the future of Colorado's roadless areas, there's confusion over what exactly a road is and what kind of motorized vehicles will be allowed in roadless areas if they're protected. Some roads in the national forest may not be considered a road at all and could still legally carry motor vehicle traffic through a roadless area. Many off-road vehicles are welcome in roadless areas because they use trails, not roads. So, what kind of road comes to mind when people talk about roadless areas? "The general public thinks about it the way you'd look it up in Webster's," said Vera Smith, conservation director for the Colorado Mountain Club. "A paved road or a dirt road you can take a regular vehicle on." The definition of a road depends on which Forest Service regulation you're reading. The 2001 Clinton-era Roadless Rule, which under its 2005 rewrite still protects 58 million acres of national forestland nationwide until states make recommendations to the Forest Service for roadless areas' fate, defines a road according to a definition under Title 36 in the Federal Register: A road must be a motor vehicle travelway over 50 inches wide unless designated or managed as a trail. The Roadless Area Task Force also uses the definition for a road found in Title 36. The WRNF 2002 forest plan says that roadless areas have no motor vehicle paths greater than 50 inches wide. There is "nothing that prohibits a motorized trail (in a roadless area) that is for vehicles under 50 inches," said WRNF forest planner Rich Doak....
USDA FOREST SERVICE LAUNCHES NATIONAL EFFORT TO DEVELOP CONSERVATION LEADERS OF TOMORROW U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service today launched its new and improved Junior Forest Ranger (JFR) program by enrolling nearly 100 fifth-grade students from Denver’s Ellis Elementary School into the conservation education program. "The future of our natural resources and their management will one day be in the hands of today’s youth," said Kent Connaughton, Forest Service associate deputy chief for state and private forestry, at an event here at Recreation Equipment Inc.'s flagship store. "The new JFR program can help prepare our young people for this important responsibility by connecting them to the land and fostering their interest in effective land stewardship." First introduced in 1954 as part of a public service campaign for the Smokey Bear fire prevention program, the JFR program was designed to encourage a fire prevention ethic in children. Within three years, one million children were recruited, which led to Smokey being assigned his own zip code. The updated program includes more components to enrich children’s (ages 7 to 13) understanding of the spectrum of land management activities, covering topics such as fire ecology and ecosystem management. Upon enrolling in the program, children will receive an Adventure Guide designed to stimulate their enthusiasm for outdoor activities and their understanding of the environment. The guide will also provide kids with information on Forest Service programs and volunteer opportunities and youth programs in their area. Participants will also receive an embroidered badge, an agency pin, an individual oath pledge card and a program card to permit access to the web-based JFR Clubhouse....
Study leaps to defense of Colorado jumping mouse Echoing a study released in January, a newly published research paper concludes that the Colorado- dwelling Preble's meadow jumping mouse is a distinct subspecies that deserves federal wildlife protections. The new paper, published May 10 in the online edition of the journal Animal Conservation, concludes that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service erred in February 2005 when it proposed rescinding Endangered Species Act protections for the mouse, which is currently classified as "threatened." The agency's decision to delist the Preble's mouse - potentially removing a costly barrier to Front Range development projects - was based on the findings of a genetic study by biologist Rob Roy Ramey, who was working at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science at the time. Ramey announced in 2003 that Preble's is genetically indistinguishable from another mouse common to the region. But in January of this year, a team led by Tim King of the U.S. Geological Survey concluded that Ramey was wrong and that the mouse is genetically distinct. In response to King's findings, the Fish and Wildlife Service delayed its planned Feb. 2 delisting decision until Aug. 2. The federal agency also reopened the public comment period on the Preble's issue. The comment deadline is today....
They're Not Just Passing Through The ospreys have landed. Finally. A pair of the birds, which apparently migrated to Upper Newport Bay during the winter, are among the first of the raptors to nest in Southern California in recent decades, environmentalists say. And officials who watch over the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve in Newport Beach said they couldn't be more enthused. "I never thought that it would happen," said Russ Kerr, a volunteer naturalist at the reserve who built the nest in 1993 in hopes ospreys would settle in. "They always migrate here in the winter, but they would always fly back to wherever they came from." Kerr's nest sits on a 4-foot-wide platform atop a telephone pole on Shellmaker Island, a small, brushy outcropping in Upper Newport Bay. But the man-made nest sat vacant for the most part. A single osprey once settled in but left a few days later. Last year, a pair were spotted eyeing the nest but were driven away by possessive gulls. This year, a pair were able to secure the nest for themselves, and three osprey chicks hatched this month....
Last male purebred Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit dies The last male purebred Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit has died, leaving just two females in a captive breeding program created to try to save the endangered species from extinction. The tiny rabbits are found only in Douglas County in north-central Washington. None is believed to exist in the wild, which means that the two females -- Lolo and Bryn -- are the only known purebred pygmy rabbits left in existence. "This is a population that has existed since before the last ice age in Eastern Washington. The loss is something we can never calculate," said Jon Marvel, executive director of the Idaho-based Western Watersheds Project, which works to protect pygmy rabbit populations across the West. "Any time we lose a species, it diminishes us all." Biologists captured 16 rabbits in a remote area of Douglas County in 2001 to start the captive breeding program. The last of those rabbits, Ely, died March 30 at the Oregon Zoo in Portland, said Dave Hays, an endangered-species biologist who oversees the program for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife....
Foundation files lawsuit to remove federal protection of fish A conservative foundation filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging Endangered Species Act protection for Central California tiger salamanders, two years after the federal government declared the animals were threatened. The Sacramento-based Pacific Legal Foundation filed its lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on the grounds that government's designation was invalid and illegal. The foundation filed the complaint on behalf of the Home Builders Association of Northern California, the California Building Industry Association and the Building Industry Legal Defense Foundation. "The Central California tiger salamander has not been shown to be in danger," said foundation attorney Reed Hopper. "To the contrary, it has more breeding sites in Central California than the government claims." The foundation said the listing violated federal law because the agency failed to use the best scientific data available, did not estimate the current population of adult salamanders, and ignored existing regulatory programs for protecting the fish....
Wrap artists to discuss Colorado river installation Christo and Jeanne-Claude, the artists who have wrapped everything from the Reichstag in Berlin to the Pont Neuf in Paris, will speak about their latest controversial project Tuesday at Severance Hall in Cleveland. The 7 p.m. lecture and discussion, organized by the Womens Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art, will focus in part on "Over the River," a long-delayed and as-yet unapproved project to suspend seven miles of transparent fabric over sections of the Arkansas River in Colorado. The project is tentatively scheduled for a two-week period in the summer of 2009. But first, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, who go by first names only, need approvals from the federal Bureau of Land Management and other government agencies. The proposal has aroused controversy over whether it would deface the canyon flanking one of the most rafted rivers in the West and whether it would turn rural Fremont County into a massive traffic jam....
LDS church, BLM, ACLU settle Martin's Cove case An agreement has been reached on the management of Martin's Cove, a stretch of federal land where many Mormon handcart pioneers died in a blizzard 150 years ago. The Bureau of Land Management announced the agreement between the agency, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the American Civil Liberties Union on Wednesday afternoon. The settlement calls for the BLM and the church to use separate and distinct signs to clearly identify public land and public access. Last year, four Wyoming residents filed a lawsuit arguing that the BLM should not have entered a 25-year lease with the LDS church to manage the site, which is west of Casper. The lawsuit claimed that LDS tour guides at Martin's Cove proselytized to visitors. Attorneys for the BLM and the church have denied those charges. Megan Hayes, the Laramie attorney who filed the federal lawsuit, said the agreement ensures that people can have access to public lands without having to go through the church visitor center area that is nearby....
Energy working group faces uncertainty What was once hailed as a model in cooperation is now mired in chaos and confusion as a community advisory board in Pinedale is being revamped again by a federal agency, and members are wondering about their role. The Pinedale Anticline Working Group, or PAWG, was developed six years ago as energy development began booming in the area. The group, developed by the Bureau of Land Management, was designed to bring community members and others together to monitor the development and make recommendations. But this month, many of the members' terms expire, and rather than renew their terms -- as BLM has done in the past -- the agency has allowed the terms to expire and is seeking new nominations. The PAWG's federal charter expires in August but is expected to be renewed, but now there is a gap between all but two members' terms and when the charter runs. Bob Barrett, a PAWG member representing the public at large, said the group has become "window dressing."....
Shoulda been a cowboy Some cooks today have rediscovered chuckwagon cooking in their interest in the history of the American West and out of a nostalgia for the most primal of cooking. Tom Perini is at the forefront of that movement. Born into a family of true cowboys, Texas rancher Perini realized that he preferred cooking to working cattle, and in 1983 turned his family's ranch into a destination restaurant. Perini's fascination with chuckwagon cooking is an important part of the Buffalo Gap, Texas, steakhouse. "The type of food we serve is very much like what you might have eaten from the chuckwagons," Perini said. Perini will give lectures on what life was like on the cattle drives, and will give cooking demonstrations during
the Chuck Wagon Gathering and Children's Cowboy Festival in Oklahoma City on Memorial Day weekend. Through his association with Pace Foods, Perini travels the country with chuck wagon in tow, giving lectures and demonstrations on cowboy cooking life....
Rodeo association bucks $17 million offer to relocate The ProRodeo Hall of Fame and Museum of the American Cowboy will not be relocating to Albuquerque after all. New Mexico had offered a $17 million deal in February to have both the headquarters for the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association and the museum move from Colorado Springs. But Monday, the board of trustees for the ProRodeo Hall of Fame voted unanimously to stay in Colorado Springs, prompting the association board to vote Tuesday to suspend its decision to relocate. "The state is withdrawing the offer, and the deal is now off the table," said Jon Goldstein, spokesman for Bill Richardson, New Mexico's governor. The news was greeted with relief at the ProRodeo Hall of Fame. "Everyone is pretty happy about it," said Larry McCormack, executive director for the museum. "I wanted it to stay here all along. We'll just keep doing what we're doing." In February, Richardson announced that the PRCA's headquarters and the ProRodeo Hall of Fame, both of which had been in Colorado Springs since 1979, would be relocating to Albuquerque. The move would bring 85 full-time jobs, a $3.35 million payroll and about 50,000 annual visitors to New Mexico. However, the decision to relocate came as a surprise to the trustees for the museum....