NEWS ROUNDUP

Alaska man runs into grizzly while on morning run, gets mauled Mike Mungoven had two thoughts as he stumbled into a large grizzly on his morning run Sunday. "I looked up at this huge bear standing just two feet in front of me, the sun shining off its golden-brown fur," Mungoven said. "I remember thinking, 'Wow, that's just beautiful.' And then, 'Oh boy, this is going to hurt."' Mungoven was on his regular run Sunday morning, the same path he has taken every morning for several years. "The bear got me across the shoulder first, then took a couple more swipes at me," he said. "I went down and curled up into a fetal position." It was a move that Mungoven had been taught many times, and possibly what saved his life. Mungoven said he was unsure the number of stitches he received during his 11 hours of surgery, but said he knew there were several puncture wounds that doctors had to cut open to clean out....
Homeowner shoots bear inside house A large black bear broke into an Anchorage home early this morning, rummaged around like a burglar and feasted on a box of chocolates before the homeowner shot him dead with a Glock. The bear entered the two-story Stuckagain Heights house on the Anchorage hillside around 2:30 a.m., according to police. Stan Knowlton, who lives next door to the house, said his son and daughter-in-law own the place that was ransacked. They were asleep in their bedroom with their Rottweiller, Baby, when the dog started barking wildly, he said. The bedroom door was closed. Outside, the couple could hear things being knocked over. Police spokesman Lt. Paul Honeman said the owners initially thought the bear was a burglar. They could not be reached for comment. Knowlton said his son quickly determined the real identity of the intruder....
One of grizzly pair shot, killed One of the two young grizzly bear siblings that have roamed the Farmers Loop area for the past week was shot and killed at the edge of a horse corral Sunday night near the Fairbanks Golf & Country Club golf course. Officials with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game say it was a legitimate defense of life and property shooting. They are trying to trap or shoot the other bear, which is starting to get more brazen, said state wildlife biologist Don Young. The lone remaining bear was reported getting into some empty garbage cans and a fenced dog yard in the past few days, the biologist said. "It's showing more and more tendencies that it's getting habituated to people," Young said. "The longer it's here, the more likely it is that we'll have to kill it. "Hopefully the bear will leave town but we're not optimistic," he said. Following the shooting, Young left the dead bear where it lay and set up a barrel trap baited with a "rank concoction" of blood and animal parts, as well as an old king salmon head. "It came back but it didn't go in the barrel trap," Young said....
Animals out of control in Colorado They stalk the landscape by night, tusked behemoths that devour crops and critters alike. "A real nightmare," farmer Burl Scherler calls them. Reservoirs of disease. Rural vandals on four fat, super-powered legs. A few county roads west, rancher Art Fox loves 'em. Likes to watch them sneak through the brush. Sets out grain so they don't go hungry. Hunts them. Eats them. Roasts them on holidays and serves them up to eager neighbors. Feral hogs - nasty, hyperadaptable, eating, rooting, wrecking machines - are Colorado's newest invaders. They've set up shop in southeastern Colorado's Kiowa County in recent years, numbering from a few dozen to a few hundred, depending on whose count you accept. No one knows for sure. Here, they survive on massive swaths of private land, off-limits to wildlife managers, wallowing in the muddy trickles of Big Sandy Creek by day and venturing into farm fields, quail nests and ranch land by night, wreaking their own kind of environmental havoc along the way....
Coyotes' presence growing in state South Floridians are used to living in a land full of critters and big reptiles. But some might be surprised by how coyotes have gradually established themselves here, even wandering through urban pockets to the east. The elusive and, yes, wily coyote has come all the way from the West and been spotted everywhere in Florida but the Florida Keys, according to experts. Most surprisingly to local environmental officials, one was recorded on a wildlife camera set up by the Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management at the Winding Waters Natural Area near West Palm Beach, which is in an urbanized area. That same camera also caught a bobcat in action. The coyote made its entry to Florida through the Panhandle in the late 1960s and early 1970s, eventually migrating south over the following decades and increasing in population, said Martin Main, a University of Florida professor and wildlife ecologist. There is no good estimate on the coyote's numbers because coyote research has been deemed a low priority, said Main, a coyote expert....
Oil and gas companies, federal and state agencies, ranchers form partnership to improve rangelands It's often said that the wheels of government turn slowly. But one federal agency in Eddy County has shown that working in partnership with private industry and state government, amazing things can be accomplished in a relatively short period of time. A pilot program started in 2005 to restore abandoned oil and gas sites, and improve rangelands on federal leases is nearing completion, and the results are already showing. Companies such as Devon, Marbob and Marathon Oil are partnering with the Bureau of Land Management, area ranchers, the Natural Resource Conservation Service and the New Mexico Association of Conservation Districts to restore rangelands, where cattle have grazed and wells have been drilled and later abandoned. Where once mesquite bushes choked out the natural grasses, and where abandoned oil and gas sites were an eyesore and a threat to the habitats of the lesser prairie chicken and sand dune lizard, the land -- through the restorative efforts -- appears to be healthy and thriving. Range conservationists, wildlife biologists, ranchers, and oil and gas industry officials are smiling a lot more these days as they see the fruits of their labor. The program, they say, has done well in chemically killing the mesquite bushes and restoring the land to its natural vegetative state while at the same time, protecting the wildlife habitat....
Column: New era for Yellowstone It's time to think differently about the future of one of our most treasured natural landmarks, Yellowstone National Park. This venerable wonder, which is often taken for granted, remains a symbol and an inspiration, a model for the creation of hundreds of national parks around the world. "As goes Yellowstone, so go the parks of the world" would be a fair statement. More so than ever before, as we confront the reality of climate change, the question is, where is Yellowstone going? This is not a rhetorical question, but a literal one: As the global climate shifts, driven largely by human activities, just about everything in Yellowstone - its elk, wolves, grizzly bears, quaking aspen groves and all - will move as well. Scientists expect species to shift ranges poleward in latitude and up in altitude, non-native species may invade new areas, and once-common species may go extinct while once-rare species may become common. Whether humans - including conservationists, business owners, policymakers and the people who live near Yellowstone - foster or inhibit that movement of species and natural communities may well signal the future of Earth's wild places....
Energy corridors across the West raise concerns Under orders from Congress to move quickly, the Department of Energy and the Bureau of Land Management will approve thousands of miles of new power line and pipeline corridors on federal lands across the West in the next 14 months. The energy corridors are likely to cross national parks, forests and military bases as well as other public land. Environmentalists and land managers worry about the risk of pipeline explosions and permanent scarring of habitat and scenery from pylons and trenches. Military officials have expressed concern that the installations could interfere with wartime training. But energy industry lobbyists and congressional policymakers said quick approvals for new corridors are vital to moving adequate power from coal beds, oil fields and wind farms in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho to the booming population centers of the Southwest. In California, ExxonMobil, Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas and Electric and others have proposed corridors across Death Valley, Joshua Tree and Lassen Volcanic national parks as well as the Mojave National Preserve, several military bases, Anza Borrego Desert State Park and seven national forests. Corridors also are proposed for Canyonlands National Park in Utah and Lake Mead National Recreation Area near Las Vegas. Routes near the Cascade Mountains and the Rocky Mountains also have been proposed, some as much as five miles wide and 2,000 miles long. Once the Western lands project is complete, Congress has ordered it to be replicated across the rest of the contiguous U.S. by 2009....
Critics on both sides say Ariz., N.M. wolf-recovery effort is failing A program designed to bring back the wild Mexican gray wolf population to Southern New Mexico and Southeastern Arizona has been shrinking, not growing as planned. In 1996, the Fish and Wildlife Service set population goals for the wolf program — 15 breeding pairs and 83 wolves in the wild by the end of 2005 and 18 breeding pairs and 102 wolves in the wild by the end of this year, the Albuquerque Journal reported Sunday in a copyright story. Program managers put the count for the end of 2005 at five breeding pairs and 35-49 wolves in the wild. The current count is 31-45 adults plus an unknown number of pups. Wolf recovery program manager John Morgart of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service calls the numbers "an absolute minimum count." He and ranchers, who don't want wolves near their cows, say there likely are twice as many wolves on the ground. But environmentalists say Morgart's numbers fall on the high end and indicate the program is failing. Ranchers and environmentalists agree on one thing: the wolf reintroduction program is not healthy. Almost an entire wolf pack died in late May and a separate lone wolf was shot by the reintroduction team last week....
Builders, rescuers join to relocate owls Arizona burrowing owls and developers have one thing in common. They both like flat, treeless plains. Predictably, conflicts arise as each lays claim to its property. On the developers' side is market demand for housing and commercial development. On the birds' is the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which provides fines up to $10,000 and up to six months in jail for anyone who kills the owls. Such immutable forces can add up to high drama, as demonstrated in the recent Hollywood movie Hoot, where a kid faces off against greedy developers to save the owl. However, in Arizona, where the pace of development and owl population both outstrip Florida's, the story lacks a plotline. The owl, which lives in other animals' burrows, is losing ground in Arizona but has found help among builders and developers in the form of labor and cash. "Builders have been amazingly good, but we try to make it painless for them," said Sam Fox, who with her husband, Bob, operates Wild at Heart, a Cave Creek sanctuary for birds of prey that is the main rescuer of burrowing owls in the state, according the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department, which issues the $100 permit required to trap the birds. The Foxes remove owls from construction areas and introduce them to artificial habitats. Land owners pay Bob a fee to remove the birds and $300 per bird to temporarily shelter them in the sanctuary until artificial burrows are built in a different area....
Mustangs join Marine Corps Color Guard Three wild Nevada mustangs gentled and tamed by prison inmates were handed over to the U.S. Marine Corps Mounted Color Guard on Saturday. The ceremony at the Warm Springs Correctional Facility in Carson City was followed by a public auction of 15 other horses and a burro. All of the horses were found on public lands, got necessary veterinary care and were taken to the prison for a four-month training program. Inmates working with horses must have a good record while incarcerated. This was the first time the Marines have adopted horses trained at a prison, Gunnery Sgt. Ivan Collazo Sanchez said. The federal Bureau of Land Management suggested it to the Marines. "They're behaving great, excellent," said Sanchez, who is based out of Barstow, Calif., as he rode one of the horses. "We're very impressed."....
Hopes run dry in Northern Colorado Glen Kobobel stands in a 420-acre field of corn, knowing that in a few weeks the light-green stalks will turn brown. Kobobel's crops will soon die because emergency well water that he and about 200 other northern Colorado farmers were counting on isn't available and may never be available again. "It's depressing," Kobobel said. "There's a doom- and-gloom atmosphere." The farmers' last hope for an emergency supply of water was dashed Friday when three cities and about 375 farmers who use the river for irrigation rejected an emergency plan to bring water from the Western Slope. "It's just a disaster situation for these farmers," said Greg Hertzke, water acquisitions manager for the Central Colorado Water Conservancy District, which represents the well users. "We're kind of out of options at this point." Hertzke said the district might seek federal disaster relief. The towns of Boulder, Highlands Ranch and Sterling said in a letter that the emergency plan offered no assurance the farmers whose wells pump water from an aquifer and draw down the South Platte River would replace enough of that water....
Fairfax Case Draws Line on Easements With no fanfare, an Alexandria real estate company in 1999 gave Fairfax County what the company would later describe as a tax-deductible $3.1 million donation: a promise not to overdevelop scenic land once owned by George Washington. The wooded tract, down the road from the first president's home at Mount Vernon, was the largest undeveloped plot in the southern part of the county. But developers then clear-cut acres of trees on the property and erected 29 sprawling homes that preservationists today deride as "McMansions." The towering houses, though not in violation of the terms of the easement, border Washington Grist Mill state park and are visible from the Woodlawn Plantation historic site. The U.S. Tax Court ruled last month that the company's donation had no value as a tax deduction because it "did not protect open space or a historically important land area." Chief Judge Joel Gerber rejected $342,000 in initial deductions claimed by company manager and local lawyer James D. Turner and his wife. The judge also assessed the couple $56,000 in penalties. Tax specialists said it appeared to be the first time a court had thrown out such a write-off, known as a conservation easement deduction. The action has broad national implications for both the conservation movement and for wealthy investors, who are increasingly pursuing such deductions....
Cattle enter state illegally The illegal importation of about 920 head of cattle from central Utah into Sublette County last week has put local cattle producers on edge, with demands that the action have severe repercussions. Acting on a tip to authorities, Wyoming Livestock Board law enforcement investigator Kim Clark said in an interview, Daniel brand inspector Bob Beard confirmed that 16 loads of central Utah cattle with paperwork calling for a Woodruff, Utah, destination had actually been delivered to two Sublette County ranches instead. Having the Woodruff destination on the Utah brand inspection allowed the animals to get through the Evanston port of entry without health inspections required for delivery into Wyoming. When a Utah brand inspector asked why the animals were going to Woodruff, Clark said, the inspector was told it was none of his business. Because the 15-month-old cattle were not confirmed to have been vaccinated as calves for brucellosis and had not been spayed, Wyoming animal health officials would not have allowed the animals to be imported under state rules. Brucellosis is a bacterial-based disease that can cause abortion outbreaks in cattle. It affects the reproductive tract, so there are tight animal health requirements on sexually mature cattle in the state as Wyoming attempts to have its brucellosis-free status restored by federal animal health officials. Clark said his investigation revealed that two Sublette County ranches had been leased by parties not implicated in the case. These parties had contacted a cattle broker from Woodruff, who arranged to have cattle delivered for summer grazing. The cattle are actually owned by two individuals in Utah who are also not implicated in the case....
The Grass-Fed Revolution Until he saw the light, Jon Taggart--6 ft. 5 in., jeans, white cowboy hat, Texas twang--was a rancher like any other in the southern Great Plains. He crowded his cattle onto pasture sprayed with weed killers and fertilizers. When they were half grown, he shipped them in diesel-fueled trucks to huge feedlots. There they were stuffed with corn and soy--pesticide treated, of course--and implanted with synthetic hormones to make them grow faster. To prevent disease, they were given antibiotics. They were trucked again to slaughterhouses, butchered and shrink-wrapped for far-flung supermarkets. "It was the chemical solution to everything," Taggart recalls. Today his 500 steers stay home on the range. And they're in the forefront of a back-to-the-future movement: 100% grass-fed beef. In the seven years since Taggart began to "pay attention to Mother Nature," as he puts it, he has restored his 1,350 acres in Grandview, Texas, to native tallgrass prairie, thus eliminating the need for irrigation and chemicals. He rotates his cattle every few days among different fields to allow the grass to reach its nutritional peak. And when the steers have gained enough weight, he has them slaughtered just down the road. Finally, he and his wife Wendy dry-age and butcher the meat in their store, Burgundy Boucherie. Twice weekly, they deliver it to customers in Fort Worth and Dallas happy to pay a premium for what the Taggarts call "beef with integrity--straight from pasture to dinner plate." Ranchers like the Taggarts are part of a growing revolt against industrial agriculture. With more consumers questioning how their food is grown and organic fruits and vegetables exploding into a multibillion-dollar market, grass-finished meat and dairy look like the next food frontier....
Eatons' Ranch A cloud of dust rises from the sagebrush-covered prairie as Jeff Way and five other seasoned riders lead 140 horses across northern Wyoming toward Eatons' Ranch, the nation's original dude ranch. "They move fast the first day, after being fenced in a pasture all winter,” says Way, 38, of the spirited horses. "Cattle you drive from behind, but horses are followers, so I put all my riders except one up front.” Over three days in May, the horses and riders travel 100 miles before arriving at the foot of the Bighorn Mountains, where five generations of the Eaton family have introduced thousands of people to the Western ranching lifestyle over the past century. "The ranch is our family livelihood, but it's also a way of life that we're preserving,” says Way, general manager of Eatons' Ranch near Wolf, Wyo. "If I ever forget that, there are plenty of dudes who will remind me.” The first Eatons to host guests were Way's great-great-grandfather Alden, and Alden's brothers Howard and Willis. Originally from Pittsburgh, the brothers traveled west individually beginning in 1868. They reunited in Dakota Territory, started a ranch near present-day Medora, N.D., and in 1882 accepted payment from their first dude, Bert Rumsey of Buffalo, N.Y. Other visitors followed and, when the three brothers relocated to Wyoming's Bighorn Mountains in 1904, their dudes weren't far behind....
Johnson Ranch cowboys find relief in rodeo For one ranch competing in the 19th annual Coors Ranch Rodeo, the two-day event came as a little more than a relief from the daily grind of operating a cattle ranch. Cowboys from the Johnson Ranch, which has won the Ranch Rodeo three times, have spent much of the last three months recovering from the wildfires that burned 907,000 acres in the Panhandle. The ranch, a cow-calf operation that ran about 3,500 cattle, was one of the ranches most affected by the March wildfires. "We lost about 20,000 acres in the fire," Graham Johnson, a fifth-generation rancher, said. "We're headquartered out of Amarillo, basically, but we're up by Borger, Alanreed and Dumas. We lost about 5,000 acres by Dumas and probably about 16,000 by Alanreed.'' The loss affected far more than the grazing land. "We haven't finished with a direct head count," Johnson said. "But we lost seven horses and we're still figuring out how many cattle we lost." During the fire, cowboys from the ranch were pitching in wherever possible, Johnson said, assisting fire crews however they could, and having to deal with livestock that weren't going to survive the blaze....
Sports-museum tug of war The ProRodeo Hall of Fame and Museum of the American Cowboy attracts 30,000 visitors annually and is the 15th most popular tourist attraction here. In February, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson declared that his state had lassoed the cowboy shrine and its more than 300 exhibits. Richardson dangled $17 million in taxpayer incentives to lure the museum and the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, a trade group based in Colorado Springs, to Albuquerque. "This move will have a major positive impact, not just on rodeo in New Mexico, but on New Mexico's economy as well," Richardson said at the time. But Colorado Springs put up a fight, offering an incentive package of its own. For now, the attraction is staying in Colorado Springs, but the chairman of the PRCA board says all options are being reviewed. Bidding for sports museums is happening elsewhere, driven by a hunt for "heritage" tourists, a willingness to spend millions in public money and the perceived prestige of hosting a hall of fame. Colorado Springs has already lost the headquarters of a sports organization. In September, Pueblo roped the Professional Bull Riders headquarters from Colorado Springs with a $7 million incentive package....
Who was that masked man? Clarence L. "Gunplay" Maxwell and a partner robbed the Springville Bank late in May 1898. Townsmen peddled word of the startling crime through the quiet Utah Valley town via bicycle, and soon a sizeable posse mounted horses and cut to the chase. Less than two hours after Gunplay scooped up the last of the bank's hard money and stuffed the final roll of its bills into his pocket, the Springville avengers had cornered and captured the two criminals near the mouth of Hobble Creek Canyon. Ironically, George Packard and several of his colleagues took Gunplay prisoner without firing a shot, but Maxwell's partner went down shooting. Joseph Allan stopped him with a well-aimed shot to the chest after the crook, with a blast from his Colt .45, had pruned Allan's left limb out from under him. After a preliminary hearing in Springville, Sheriff George A. Storrs transferred Maxwell to the Utah County Jail in Provo. Lawmen and local officials soon found Gunplay to be a witty and affable person. One of Maxwell's friends later claimed the outlaw possessed the energy and good qualities that, if channeled in the right direction, could have made him a valuable member of society. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, when Maxwell was sober, he "was almost charming." That newspaper also described him physically: "He was lithe and limber and quick as a flash in his every movement." Gunplay Maxwell's criminal tendencies did not likely result from a deprived upbringing. Who was this enigmatic masked man, and how did he become an outlaw? Utah State Prison records show Maxwell's true name was James Otis Bliss, although during his life he became a man of several aliases -- Johnson, Dick Carr, John Carter, Catamount, William H. Seaman, Thomas Bliss and, of course, Clarence L. Maxwell....
Abiquiú tale one of murder, greed In its 400 years of history, New Mexico has accumulated an extraordinary number of folk tales. In an earlier day, such tales were kept alive by storytellers who spun their enchanting yarns around a blazing corner fireplace during long, cold winters. Some of the tales were pure fantasy. Others, however, were grounded in truth, that is, they were based upon actual events that had occurred in the distant past, but were dressed up a bit to please listeners. One example of this type dates from the late colonial period and deals with a wealthy man named Señor Fulano. He resided on a spacious ranch in the Chama Valley above Abiquiú with his eldest son and his manager, Ramón. This remained a highly dangerous area for some 150 years. Navajos living on mesa-top strongholds in the vicinity of the San Juan River regularly raided down the Chama, looting and burning. They stole vast numbers of sheep and seized women and children as captives....
Horse Power Horse: How the Horse Has Shaped Civilizations. J. Edward Chamberlin. BlueBridge. $24.95. 288 pp. Dogs and cats grace our houses, our yards and our cultures. But J. Edward Chamberlin makes a strong case that horses, too, have been an intimate part of our collective life. "Horses have had more influence on the rise and fall of civilizations than any other factor," he states in this absorbing study. It's a big claim, but he gallops to prove it -- through ancient Egypt and India, Greece and Rome, Europe and the Middle East. As a literature professor at the University of Toronto, he brings a sweeping historical and cultural viewpoint. As the grandson of a rancher, he has been around horses much of his life. The result is a book both scholarly and personal. Horses have always embodied contrasts, Chamberlin says. We first hunted them, then used them to hunt other animals. Horses helped us plow fields and gather in towns. Yet they've also aided the human urge to wander, explore and wage war....