NEWS

BLM strives to monitor Otero Mesa balancing act More than a hundred wells had been dug in Otero Mesa in the hundred years before Heyco Energy Group"s turn in 1996, but none produced gas or oil until the Roswell-based company dug 1-Y and 25-1. These two test wells detected natural gas reserves large enough to prompt four more applications for drilling permits and a request for a pipeline. The federal land agency approved the permits and the pipeline, but suspended drilling until it could revise its 1986 management plan for the ecologically sensitive mesa. A draft of the revision was released for public comment in October 2000, and a final record of decision and management plan appeared in January 2005. The new plan featured an unprecedented 5 percent use stipulation, which requires leaseholders to treat all their leases as one, and only disturb 5 percent of that total lease area at a time. The plan also stipulates that oil and gas developers must restore the disturbed areas to "a composition and density that closely approximates the surrounding vegetation as prescribed by the BLM, and is free of noxious weeds," before moving on to the next 5 percent of their leased parcel....
Ski group wants to remove roadless designation on 8,000 acres The trade association for 26 Colorado ski areas is seeking to remove 8,000 acres from the U.S. Forest Service's inventoried roadless areas. Colorado Ski Country USA supports preserving most of the 4.43 million roadless acres in the state, but it wants to remove the roadless designation from land within ski-area permit boundaries. The roadless designation does not prohibit skiing, but the use of roadless lands can pose public relations headaches, Arapahoe Basin general manager Alan Henceroth said. Aspen Skiing Co. is facing opposition from some environmentalists and backcountry skiers over a plan to add skiing terrain within its ski-area permit boundary. One of the opposition's arguments is it would harm roadless lands....
Forest Service workers report growing dangers on the job For the nation's forest rangers, the serenity of the woods increasingly is giving way to confrontations with unruly visitors. Attacks, threats and lesser altercations invo|ving Forest Service workers reached an all-time high last year, according to government documents obtained by a public employees advocacy group. Incidents ranged from gunshots to stalking and verbal abuse. The agency tally shows 477 such reports in 2005, compared with 88 logged a year earlier. The total in 2003 was 104; in 1995, it was 34. Among the more serious incidents, a Forest Service worker was run down by a man in a snowmobile in California's Lake Tahoe Basin Management area. The man pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon. Also, Forest Service workers were shot at while trying to confiscate a marijuana plantation in California's Angeles National Forest. Two loaded shotguns and more than 78 kilograms of processed marijuana were seized. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility obtained the documents through a Freedom of Information Act request and provided them to the Associated Press....
Ranchers keep leery eye on Army Life clings tenuously here to the limestone soil, dry as baby powder and so fragile that wagon tracks still trace the Santa Fe Trail more than 100 years after pioneers rolled southwest. Ranchers and soldiers are uneasy neighbors, but they agree on one thing: it takes a lot of land to do just about anything in this arid region. Cattle need 60 acres apiece to survive on the short-grass prairie, and ranches often stretch across tens of thousands of acres. The Army’s own spread, the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site, about 150 miles southeast of Fort Carson, covers 375 square miles and is facing a major increase in training demands. Maj. Gen. Robert Mixon says Fort Carson will soon be responsible for training 25,000 active-duty troops and every Reserve and National Guard soldier west of the Mississippi River — more than 230,000 of them. Mixon knows Piñon Canyon won’t take the pounding of up to 50,000 soldiers rampaging their way through mock war. Without more land, experts say, boots and 72-ton tanks will grind the area into a moonscape. Stopping by the canyon to visit troops in training, Mixon says he needs as much as 725 square miles more to get the job done....
Rainbow Family faces fines but not eviction Thousands of campers flocking to a gathering of the Rainbow Family won't face eviction from a meadow north of town but could face fines and jail time after the U.S. Forest Service denied them a permit, officials said Friday. The counterculture group originally didn't apply for the permit, required of any gathering of more than 74 people, even though the event is expected to draw 20,000 people. When some members did apply this week, officials denied it, citing fire danger, limited road access and other planned events nearby. Rangers will warn campers as they arrive, give them a chance to leave and cite them if they don't, Forest Service spokeswoman Denise Ottaviano said. They could be fined up to $5,000 and sentenced to up to six months in jail if convicted. Ottaviano said the Rainbow Family campers are putting themselves in potential danger because of high fire danger and poor access to the meadow in the Routt National Forest....
Free spirits evoke fear Never has a rainbow struck so much fear. Near Steamboat Springs this week, area law enforcement officers tried to calm residents concerned about the annual gathering of the Rainbow Family of Living Light. The counterculture event 30 miles north of Steamboat Springs is expected to draw 20,000 people. Officers from the U.S. Forest Service, Steamboat Springs police and fire departments, Routt County Department of Environmental Health, North Routt Fire Protection District and Routt County Sheriff's Office held a community meeting Friday to answer questions and explain to the general public how to best handle the July 1 to 7 gathering, which is being held at Big Red Park north of Columbine. Police Capt. Joel Rae told residents that everyone should be more aware of locking cars and homes and safeguarding personal possessions and belongings....
Voters to decide in November whether to accept Santa Clara County initiative The fate of a land-use initiative that seeks to save half of the undeveloped lands and hillsides in Santa Clara County has been placed in the hands of voters come Nov. 7. But the battle already being waged by opposing sides of the issue is sure to give San Benito residents an unpleasant sense of deja vu. Like San Benito's unsuccessful slow-growth Measure G of 2004, the Santa Clara County Land Conservation Initiative would increase new parcel sizes on hillsides, large scale agricultural operations and ranchlands, ultimately decreasing the amount of new homes being built in these areas from some 40 homes to 20 a year. Of the county's 836,000 acres of privately owned rural properties, the initiative would affect 400,000 acres - mostly the sprawling hills and ranches to the south of San Jose, throughout the Mount Hamilton area and outside Morgan Hill and Gilroy city limits, up to the San Benito County line. And as resulted in San Benito's slow growth battle, both sides anticipate a buildup to a war of words between now and Election Day. The issue is expected to pit ranch and rural property owners and developers on one side against environmentalists and county residents advocating slow growth. The former will call it a "land-grab," the latter will dub it a last chance to rein in sprawl....
New Land Coalition to Protect Working Ranchlands Even with several land trusts, operating in Ridgway, Telluride and Montrose, dedicated to preserving agricultural land and open space, Ouray County has fallen behind in terms of land conservation. According to a 2004 assessment by the Colorado Conservation Trust, the Northern San Juan region – and Ouray County, especially – is facing rapidly increasing development of working ranchlands to subdivisions. It also found inadequate public funding in San Miguel County – and a complete lack of any public funding in Ouray County for the purchase of conservation easements or development rights to preserve open space in the region. Residential development in Ouray County and along the San Juan Skyway through San Miguel County is leading to the fragmentation of wildlife habitat, degradation of view corridors and negative impacts on water resources. Increasing land values threaten the existence of a stable rural economy in general, not to mention ranch families ability to preserve their land, from generation to generation. In March of last year, leaders of the Black Canyon Land Trust formed a coalition with the Colorado Conservation Trust, the Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Land Restoration. Called the Northern San Juan Initiative, it focuses on protecting private land through an aggressive education program for willing private landowners, offering step-by-step assistance in creating conservation easements (and understanding their economic benefit)....
U.S. study cautious about west desert aquifer pumping A new report issued by the U.S. Geological Survey indicates that numerous areas in and around Great Basin National Park could be affected by a groundwater pumping project that has been proposed by Las Vegas water officials. Opponents of the project who live in eastern Nevada and western Utah say the study confirms their worst suspicions about the Southern Nevada Water Authority's plan to tap groundwater in the Snake and Spring valleys near the park and send it to Las Vegas via a 200-mile pipeline. A Utah water official, though, says it is too early to draw conclusions. The USGS study, released last week, identified five locations in Great Basin and another five outside the park that are "likely susceptible" to groundwater withdrawals, though it did not attempt to quantify how big a withdrawal would be necessary to trigger problems. The Southern Nevada Water Authority has proposed taking 25,000 acre-feet per year out of the giant aquifer that straddles the Utah-Nevada state line - which officials say would leave plenty for the region's ecosystem and scattered cattle ranchers who reside and earn their living there....
Neighbors: Farmer's devices block rain Farmer John Smith's spinach is dense, green and unblemished, just as it should be. His iceberg lettuce is still tiny, but healthy, with leaves sprouting whole and unmarred. They'll hopefully stay that way, Smith says, thanks to the eight hail cannons stationed across his 3,800-acre Southern Colorado Farms, aimed at the sky and poised to fire off sound waves that supposedly stop the nasty ice pellets that can ravage his crop. Smith believes in his cannons. So do many of his neighbors in the San Luis Valley. That's the problem. Although Smith maintains that his cannons, $40,000 apiece, can stave off the damage from summer storms, others are convinced they're doing more than that -- stopping the rain as well, drying up an already parched land and killing their livelihood. "We need all the water we can get, and they're stopping it from raining," said Don Evans, one of the ranchers upset with Smith. He's become their scapegoat, said Smith, a former district attorney in Alamosa. "Nobody likes the drought," he said. "It has to be someone's fault." If some ranchers blame Smith, they're also reserving some of their wrath for the Colorado Water Conservation Board, which recently renewed Smith's weather modification permit for the next year. The board concluded that the cannons' effectiveness was questionable, but that there was no evidence they were causing harm....
New CAFO Rule Complies with Court Ruling The American Farm Bureau Federation today commended the Environmental Protection Agency for its proposed Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations rule, released yesterday, saying it would make it easier for farmers and ranchers to operate without onerous federal regulation. AFBF said that the proposed rule appeared to comply with a 2005 court ruling that only those livestock operations that actually discharge or propose to discharge pollution are required to apply for discharge permits. “AFBF will continue to analyze the fine points of the proposed rule, and will submit extensive comments to EPA,” said AFBF President Bob Stallman. “But, at first glance, it looks like the agency did what it needed to do in order to bring federal CAFO regulations into line with the court’s interpretation of the Clean Water Act. We applaud EPA for following the Second Circuit’s ruling....
National Wool Judging Winners Honored Val Verde County's senior wool judges were named top judging team in the nation during the 46th annual National 4-H Wool Judging Contest in Sonora. The contest was held in conjunction with the 69th annual Sonora Wool and Mohair Show and the sixth annual FFA Wool Judging Contest this month. The team's score of 1,784 was only 10 points higher than the second place Sutton County team's. The Val Verde County team members are Laura Allen, Houston Dobbins and Alex Scharton. Laura's father, John Allen, Texas Cooperative Extension agent for Val Verde County, and Bill Zuberbueler, Val Verde County rancher, coached the winning team. Laura's score of 639 points earned her top individual honors....
Bucking the myth about mules For mule shower Bobbi Richmond, it's all about the challenge - the challenge of training mules and proving they're not stubborn and lazy. They're just as capable as horses. The Willamina rancher should know. She returned in late May from the Green Western Pleasure event in Mule Days in Bishop, Calif., as the world champion of mule showing and riding. Going against 45 of the best mule showers in the country, as well as Brazil, Canada and Mexico, Richmond and her 5-year-old mule, Roulette, came out on top. Richmond said, "It was an honor, being able to show with them. I worked hard to get there. For Richmond, the challenge not only lies in training mules, but also breaking the mule stereotype of being lazy and stubborn. "Mules can do anything a horse can do and sometimes even better," she said laughing. "They're the best of both worlds, I tell you what." Richmond described her mules as sure-footed, like donkeys, and athletic and good-minded like horses....
Western goods command premiums Charlie Sands of Jackson was visiting Thursday to do a little furniture shopping, but he knew he was in trouble when he saw an end table sell for nearly $11,000. In town for the Cody Old West Auction, Sands wanted to pick up an original Thomas Molesworth end table. But he dropped out of the bidding at around $6,000. "I really didn't want to go over $5,000, so I'm not sad I lost," Sands said. "I heard there were some heavy hitters here, so obviously some fat cat spent $10,000 on it the way you or I would spend $1." On a day when an oil painting fetched around $50,000 and a saddle sold for close to $90,000, everyone had his own idea of what a "heavy hitter" was. But it's safe to say folks spent plenty of money on chaps, spurs, art, furniture, guns and other Western artifacts during the popular auction, now in its 17th year and started by Brian Lebel, formerly of Cody. Bob Nelson, owner of Manitou Galleries in Cheyenne and Santa Fe, N.M., was keeping an eye on the auction Thursday, and will show pieces today at the Riley Arena as part of a companion show to the auction. Prices for Western collectibles have been climbing for years, said Nelson, and are booming lately thanks to what he said was an infusion of Texas oil money into an already hot market....
Bumpy ride on the Broken Trail Alan Geoffrion, a big man with the kind of bushy mustache favored in the Old West, knows horses as well as anyone in the stable-and-saddle country of Northern Virginia. As the co-owner of Campbell House Stables he has been transporting horses to buyers across the United States for years. But he always yearned to be a writer. Before he settled into the cab of his truck, his routine had been to pack several books on tape. When he wearied of other writers' words, the English- major dropout allowed his mind to range over lines and bits of dialogue for the novels he intended to write, one of these days. Now Geoffrion's long-haul literary musings have come to happy fruition. At 59, Geoffrion has just seen the publication of his first book, Broken Trail, its release paired with a film version, a two-part mini-series that stars veteran actor Robert Duvall. It certainly helped that Duvall was his friend and fellow horseman - and wanted the project to happen. The Oscar winner not only produced Broken Trail and co-starred, but he also served as Geoffrion's writing coach and guided him through the treacherous terrain of Hollywood....
Gunplay followed path of lawlessness to the grave After leaving the Utah State Penitentiary, Clarence L. "Gunplay" Maxwell found work in Carbon County. During a mining strike, the Utah Fuel Co. hired him to help protect its property and act as a bodyguard for its lawyer, Max Braffett. Working basically as a strikebreaker, Maxwell played a prominent role in keeping miners under control in Pleasant Valley. Many coal miners detested Maxwell because he backed the mining company. Another stroke of bad luck plagued Maxwell after his release from prison. His wife left him, and she took their daughter with her. Maxwell drifted to Goldfield, Nev., after the coal strike in Carbon County ended. In Goldfield, Gunplay became a deputy sheriff, using the alias of Thomas Bliss. During a 1907 murder trial, Gunplay served as a prosecution witness favorable to a mining company. His false testimony helped convict two men named Preston and Smith of killing a man whose business was being boycotted by the mining union. A defense witness named Edward Johnson had met Maxwell in Utah soon after Gunplay's release from prison. Johnson tried to discredit Deputy Bliss' testimony by revealing that he was really Gunplay Maxwell, a former member of the Wild Bunch. Despite Johnson's damaging testimony, Maxwell remained a deputy in Goldfield for a short period of time after the trial ended. Gunplay held a grudge against Johnson for the rest of his life. The two would meet again....
Cowgirls lasso rodeo spotlight Ribbon roping might sound like a knitting technique taught at an arts and crafts fair. But there’s absolutely nothing dainty about it. Ribbon roping was one of the main events at Saturday’s Women’s Ranch Rodeo Assn.’s Qualifying Rodeo at Stinson Creek Cattle Co. near Stull. At the rodeo, 11 four-woman teams competed to earn a spot at the National Finals October 22 at Kemper Arena. Events included calf branding, sorting, trailer loading and doctoring. Ranch rodeos are different from other rodeos because the events are based on things ranchers would actually do on the job, like rounding up cattle. Because ranchers wouldn’t usually ride around on bucking bulls, bullriding isn’t a ranch rodeo event. Ten years ago, all-female ranch rodeos were scarce. But today they’re more popular than ever, said Terri Lewis, a rodeo competitor on the Division Ranch team from Strong City....
Local cowboys keep doggies rolling along Local residents Ray Herrera and Alan Richards got the opportunity to be time travelers two weeks ago as they helped drive a herd of 382 longhorn steers and assorted other bovine 72 miles to the Reno Rodeo grounds. The drive, an annual event, helps raise money for the rodeo by charging interested people a fee to participate in the five-day drive that starts in Doyle and crosses the Nevada desert on its way to the Oddie Boulevard Livestock Events Center for the nine-day rodeo. "This was something I always dreamed about doing," Herrera said. "I grew up in ranching, but I never went on a long cattle drive." Herrera and Richards won the chance to sample a bit of the Old West by registering winning bids at the rodeo's fundraiser Rhythm and Rawhide last spring. For Herrera, the experience allowed him to pay homage to his rancher father who passed away last year. "I took his hot roll (bedding) on the drive," Herrera said. "It still smelled like him. It was like having him with me."....