NEWS ROUNDUP

Wyoming methane drilling lags behind last year Difficulties in getting water discharge permits have slowed drilling for coal-bed methane in Wyoming 20 percent below last year's average of 50 rigs, the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission says. However, regulatory officials say they expect the pace of coal-bed methane drilling to pick up because seasonal restrictions were lifted June 15. "We're in the heart of the field season now, because we can do all the field work without delays for snow and muddy conditions," said Chris Hanson, field manager at the Buffalo field office of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Although coal-bed methane drilling is down this year, the BLM Buffalo field office has issued more permits this year than last. So far this year, the office has issued 1,546 permits, compared with 1,392 issued at this time last year....
Wild horse adoptions see decreased turnout Dozens of wild horses will have to try again to find new homes. The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management hosted an adoption auction this past weekend at Flickerwood Arena in Jackson, about 100 miles south of St. Louis. But of 70 horses and 11 burros available, only 16 animals were adopted. At a similar event two years ago, nearly all of the horses and burros were adopted. Organizer Randy Anderson was disappointed with the low turnout but said there are many factors in reduced demand for horses. "Normally in Missouri, we do pretty well," Anderson said. "But nationwide, the horse industry is going through some challenges. There’s a lot of animals out there, less people to adopt them, a lot of competition from other organizations, the price of fuel and economic considerations." Arena owner Mark Boardham wondered if the government did enough to promote the auction....
Prairie dogs to move as highway project looms The state wildlife agency plans to move about 150 white-tailed prairie dogs in Montana’s sensitive population, to save them from a highway construction project near Wyoming. A decision this week from the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks authorizes relocating three of Montana’s 10 active colonies of white-tailed prairie dogs, all of which are in Carbon County. The agency plans to trap the squirrel-like rodents this summer and move them to federal land, so they will be spared harm from the widening of Montana 72 southwest of Billings. White-tailed prairie dogs are classified as a ‘‘species of concern’’ in Montana. The 10 colonies inhabit about 250 acres in the state, down roughly two-thirds from their acreage in the 1970s, when there were 15 colonies. Fish, Wildlife and Parks attributes the decline to disease and the conversion of habitat for agriculture or other uses. White-tailed prairie dogs contribute to prey and habitat for eagles, hawks, black-footed ferrets and other wildlife. The prairie dogs to be moved are a significant part of Montana’s population, said Allison Puchniak, a native species biologist for the wildlife agency. Puchniak said Thursday that she did not have a figure for the state’s total population....
Grassland could again see ferrets Using a special rule under the Endangered Species Act, federal officials hope to bring the endangered black-footed ferret back to Thunder Basin National Grassland without hampering public and private land use. Commonly considered the most endangered mammal in North America, the black-footed ferret once lived on the grassland, where it hunted prairie dogs as a main food source and used the prairie dog’s tunnels for shelter from predators. Historically, ferrets occupied grasslands from Montana to Mexico. The animal was thought to be extinct until a small group of ferrets was found on a ranch near Meeteetse in 1981. Today, the only population of ferrets in the wild in Wyoming is found in the Shirley Basin south of Casper, established through a series of transplants from a federal captive breeding program. Reintroduction programs have met with spotty success at best, as the ferrets' survival depends on maintaining high numbers of prairie dogs, which are easily killed by plague. Thunder Basin is one of the few remaining grasslands with prairie dog populations adequate to support ferret reintroduction, officials say. U.S. Forest Service officials who manage the Thunder Basin grassland have planned for a ferret reintroduction for years, incorporating that into a major management plan....
Number of gray whales increases along Calif. coast While many whale species remain endangered, the gray whale calf count along the California coast rose sharply this spring, marine scientists reported Monday. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the increase probably reflects the whales' greater access to their Arctic Ocean feeding grounds. That's likely due to warmer temperatures that have reduced sea ice. "For gray whales, reduced ice provides greater access to prey, just the opposite of what we see with polar bears, where reduced ice means reduced access to prey," said Wayne Perryman, a biologist at NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, Calif. The center has been counting gray whale calves since 1991 from a point of land that pokes out into the Pacific at Piedras Blancas Light Station, midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Gray whales swim close to the shore there when migrating between Baja California and the Bering Sea. The count reached an estimated 1,018 gray whale calves this year. That's up from 945 last year and 300 to 500 in the 1999-2001 migrations....
Developer sentenced for destroying eagle nest A Fort Myers development supervisor who admitted to destroying an eagle nest was sentenced today to a year of probation, a $2,000 fine and 50 hours of community service with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida's Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. William Martin Murphy, 62, pleaded guilty in March to plowing down a tree where a pair of nesting eagles had decided to take up residence. The tree, growing on a lot between Colonial Boulevard and Winkler Avenue, just north of Heritage Palms in Fort Myers, stood in the way of an imminent development. When he pleaded out in court Murphy, an employee of the Levitt & Sons development firm, admitted to destroying the tree because he thought it would cause permitting problems. Today, attorneys for Murphy argued for a lenient sentence because Murphy had no criminal record....
Baby pelicans starving along California coast Miles from the shoreline, 10 baby brown pelicans lounge by a pool in a roomy cage, large buckets of fish there for the taking. Just days ago, these birds could not feed themselves at all. Scores of starving baby pelicans — emaciated, cold and too weak to fly — are washing up on California beaches in disturbing numbers this spring. The underfed California brown pelicans have stirred concerns over the endangered species, which in recent years has shown strong signs of recovery. Biologists say the recovery could actually be the source of the problem: There are more pelicans competing for food. The International Bird Rescue Research Center in Cordelia, in the grassy hills about 50 miles northeast of San Francisco, has taken in almost two dozen pelicans this month, most of them near Santa Cruz and Monterey, all of them 2 to 4 months old....
Grass variety hazardous to wildlife, domestic animals The grass variety once considered a solution for ranchers looking to build Missouri's cattle industry is now being described much differently - as a nuisance. Tall fescue - the hardy, dense and easily grown grass that is common in parks, lawns and in many grazing fields in Missouri and Kansas - is earning a reputation as an environmental terror and livestock health hazard. Its strands prevent game birds from moving through it, and its tendency to crowd out native grasses and wildflowers depletes food and shelter. Some varieties also create a fungus that can be hazardous to grazing animals, including cattle and horses. "In the eastern United States, fescue is the Number 1 threat to wildlife," said Steve Clubine, grasslands biologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation. "Inch by inch, foot by foot, we keep losing habitat." The number of prairie chickens, an endangered species in Missouri, has rapidly declined, and quail and songbirds such as the meadowlark are dying out. Grassland bird populations in eastern Kansas have also dropped. "I don't think there's any doubt, in eastern Kansas where fescue has been dominant, our quail population went in the tank," said Jim Pittman of the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks....
A call to revitalize once-lush estuary There were once so many mallards, they seemed like thick, dark clouds against the sky. So loud, they reminded Germán Muñoz of an entire stadium, wild with applause, when their webbed feet struck the water's surface. But the migratory ducks stopped coming years ago when the wetlands dried up and salt cedar shrubs took over. Muñoz longs for their return, and at 59, the hunting guide is working to bring them back, cutting away the salt cedar, watching water levels and planting fragrant mesquite trees that once graced this land. Here and elsewhere on the Colorado River Delta, once-lush landscapes now survive largely on runoff, leaks and surpluses. Today, even those flows are threatened as users upstream vie for every drop. As it crosses nine states in two countries, the 1,450-mile river is a lifeline that provides drinking water to 25 million people and irrigation for 3.5 million acres of agricultural land; but few remember the stands of cottonwoods and willow, the cattail marshes filled with wildlife that still persist at the river's ravaged and resilient mouth....
Volunteers guard threatened bird's eggs After months of watching and waiting, on June 18 a group of California State Parks staff and volunteers celebrated an eagerly anticipated addition to their brood of protected wildlife: three tiny, speckled snowy plover eggs. Within an hour of their discovery on Francis Beach, volunteers erected a netted enclosure to protect the plover family from predators. Finding Western snowy plover eggs is so rare, and the chance of their survival so small, that human intervention at this stage has been crucial since the bird was listed as an endangered species in 1993. It's ironic that the small, puffy birds have chosen to lay their eggs on one of the busiest beaches in town. Their predators are everywhere — careless humans, hungry hawks and great horned owls, foxes, skunks, and raccoons. But year after year, the skittish birds continue to hatch their eggs on a strip of beach no more than 50 yards from the ocean. Even their nests, no more than shallow bowls of sand dug by the male plover, seem to invite an attack. Consequently, more than 60 State Parks volunteers have signed up to maintain daylong vigils over the plovers who nest along coastal beaches and waterways. Since 1993, they have spent 300 days a year monitoring known habitat areas, such as the one cordoned off on Francis Beach, for signs of snowy plovers and their nests....
The Spotted Owl Canard and Environmentalists A funny thing happened here in our Northwestern forest; a giant canard has been shot out of the sky. One of the most fought over endangered species in the history of the West, the Spotted Owl, contrary to popular belief appears to be the victim of an invasive species from the eastern forest; the culprit, the Barred Owl. The Spotted Owl is losing territory because the larger, tougher, Barred Owl, desires it also. Barred Owls are a more adaptable species, being more flexible, they spread out effectively, and occupy diverse habitats. Sometimes they interbreed with Spotted Owls creating Spotted-Barred Owl hybrids. Is the Barred Owl invasion natural? Kent Livezey, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has said: “The Barred Owl's migration was likely caused by people but not necessarily from fragmentation of forests from logging or development, rather, an increase in tree cover in the center of North America helped along by fire suppression and tree planting prompted the owl's move west. But, they made it here under their own steam.” Native Americans also stopped burning the Great Plains in the 1880’s: an increase of tree density is the result. This accelerated the tree bridge from the eastern forests into the Spotted Owl territory of the Northwest. This paradoxical development begs the question: what is to be done about the Barred Owl invasion?....
Red tape may strangle cottontail rabbits As champion for all things small, furry, and few, David Wade isn't shy about going to bat for bunnies. Which is why he filed a lawsuit last week to have the New England cottontail declared an endangered species. Rabbits, which typically proliferate like, well, themselves, aren't too often on this end of the stick. But the New England cottontail is being decimated as fast-growing suburbs cut into its scrubby habitat and other more aggressive, invasive rabbit species combine to crowd them out. Scientists have known that the New England cottontail - the only cottontail native to the region - was in sad shape since the early 1990s. Several groups, including Mr. Wade, petitioned for the rabbit's protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in August 2000. But after nearly six years of waiting for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to make a decision, the cottontail just can't wait any longer, several experts say....
Cannibalism cited among polar bears Polar bears in the southern Beaufort Sea may be turning to cannibalism because longer seasons without ice keep them from getting to their natural food, a new study by American and Canadian scientists has found. The study reviewed several examples of polar bears preying on each other from January to April 2004 north of Alaska and in northwestern Canada, including the first-ever reported killing of a female in a den shortly after it gave birth. Polar bears feed primarily on ringed seals and use sea ice for feeding, mating and giving birth. Polar bears kill each other for population regulation, dominance and reproductive advantage, the study said. Killing for food is less common, said the study's principal author, Steven Amstrup of the U.S. Geological Survey Alaska Science Center....
Editorial: Look at big picture to save salmon When they suggested pulling the plug on a lifeline for Idaho's sockeye salmon, scientists swam straight into a political turbine. But the scientists didn't get it entirely wrong. They pointed out — correctly — that myriad factors keep the sockeye teetering on the edge of extinction. The sooner the Northwest faces the big picture, the better the chances of survival for all of the region's imperiled wild salmon. Including, but most profoundly, Idaho's sockeye, now hanging on in a genetic emergency room. The sockeye salmon — the ocean-running red fish that gave the Stanley Basin's Redfish Lake its name — have been on the federal government's endangered species list since 1991. Fourteen summers later, only six adult sockeye returned to the Sawtooths, completing a mind-boggling 900-mile, 6,500-foot climb from the Pacific. The sockeye are hanging on not in their pristine spawning waters, but under man-made conditions at the Idaho Department of Fish and Game Eagle Fish Hatchery in Eagle....
Boom in Ethanol Reshapes Economy of Heartland Dozens of factories that turn corn into the gasoline substitute ethanol are sprouting up across the nation, from Tennessee to Kansas, and California, often in places hundreds of miles away from where corn is grown. Once considered the green dream of the environmentally sensitive, ethanol has become the province of agricultural giants that have long pressed for its use as fuel, as well as newcomers seeking to cash in on a bonanza. The modern-day gold rush is driven by a number of factors: generous government subsidies, surging demand for ethanol as a gasoline supplement, a potent blend of farm-state politics and the prospect of generating more than a 100 percent profit in less than two years. The rush is taking place despite concerns that large-scale diversion of agricultural resources to fuel could result in price increases for food for people and livestock, as well as the transformation of vast preserved areas into farmland. Even in the small town of Hereford, in the middle of the Texas Panhandle's cattle country and hundreds of miles from the agricultural heartland, two companies are rushing to build plants to turn corn into fuel....
Coal Calls Dan Fessler spent five years looking for a site to launch his vision of a new industry that could produce clean fuel from coal — and, last year, he chose Wyoming. “The mines are there; they’re massive and they’re well-financed,’’ he says. “The rail infrastructure is there. For me to do (this project) in Montana would require me to develop a coal reserve and a transportation infrastructure, which is very expensive. “I’m having enough trouble finding financial backing (just) for the coal-to-liquids plant. That’s why you find people like me being at the mouth of the Powder River Basin (in Wyoming) rather than going up and talking to your governor.’’ Fessler and his company, Clear Energy Solutions, illustrate a simple fact: While Gov. Brian Schweitzer has been relentlessly promoting development of coal-to-liquids plants and “clean coal’’ projects in Montana, potential projects are on the drawing board in Wyoming. DKRW Energy of Houston is working on a coal-to-liquids project near Medicine Bow, Wyo., and MidAmerican Energy, the holding company controlled by billionaire investor Warren Buffet, recently bought coal properties south of Sheridan, Wyo., with an eye toward developing a cleaner-burning, coal-fired power plant or possibly coal-to-liquids projects....
Conservation group appeals pipeline decision The proposed natural gas pipeline from Coos Bay to Malin, approximately 225 miles long and running through Douglas County, is facing a legal challenge. Roseburg-based conservation group Umpqua Watersheds is appealing “casual use” activities for the proposed route of the Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline on Bureau of Land Management lands, saying the activities disregard the National Environmental Policy Act. A right-of-way application granted by BLM to the three companies proposing to jointly develop the pipeline includes casual use. The right-of-way allows the companies to proceed with the route’s development and conduct civil, environmental, cultural resources and geotechnical surveys on the ground. Umpqua Watersheds says the establishment of a route on about 40 miles of BLM lands is “illegal and unnecessary” because it doesn’t allow the public to weigh in on a scoping process....
Unlikely Duo Tackles Drilling(Subscription) The House is set to vote this week on a bill to overturn a 25-year ban on oil and gas exploration along much of the nation's coastlines -- the result, in large part, of efforts by a political odd couple. Republican Rep. John Peterson, a former grocer, is a conservative from Pennsylvania, and Democratic Rep. Neil Abercrombie, a former college professor, is a liberal from Hawaii. Together, they have forged an industry-labor coalition around the argument that natural-gas prices are driving companies out of the U.S. and costing workers their jobs. "Either we fix this problem, or we become a second-rate nation," says Mr. Peterson, noting that natural-gas prices have doubled for industrial users and small businesses in the past five years. Drilling is prohibited in most U.S. waters within 200 miles of the coastline. (The exception is the western part of the Gulf of Mexico.) The bill pushed by Messrs. Peterson and Abercrombie would allow drilling beyond 50 miles from the shore and give states financial incentives to allow drilling even closer. Over the past three years, the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service has made a series of estimates about the amount of natural gas that might be available there, ranging from 85 trillion to 333 trillion cubic feet. The U.S. uses about 22 trillion cubic feet of natural gas a year. Officials caution that the estimates are based on surveys from the '70s and may be outdated. Both supporters and opponents say the House vote, scheduled for Thursday, will be close. The legislation, which is opposed by environmentalists, has picked up support in recent weeks, reflecting lawmakers' need to be seen addressing energy prices in an election year. The bill faces an uncertain fate in the Senate, where Florida's senators have threatened a filibuster....
U.S. Grants 1st License for Major Nuclear Plant in 30 Years The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued its first license for a major commercial nuclear facility in 30 years, allowing an international consortium to build what will be the nation's first private fuel source for commercial nuclear power plants. Construction of the $1.5 billion National Enrichment Facility, under review for the past 2 1/2 years, could begin in August, and the plant could be ready to sell enriched uranium by early 2009, said James Ferland, president of the consortium of nuclear companies, Louisiana Energy Services. The plant, licensed on Friday, will be built near the small southeastern New Mexico community of Eunice, where support for the project is strong. Critics say it will pollute the environment, guzzle scarce water and leave the town with tons of radioactive waste and nowhere to put it. Although the state was largely excluded for the licensing process, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D), a former energy secretary, said he expects that New Mexicans and their environment will be protected by an agreement state officials had reached with Louisiana Energy Services....
U.S. firefighters in Mexico as American West burns Despite raging wildfires across the American Southwest in recent weeks, the state of California sent more than four dozen firefighters 300 miles south of the U.S. border to battle blazes in Mexico. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) last week dispatched two engine strike teams with a total of ten engines and 54 personnel after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office approved a request by Baja California Gov. Eugenio Elorduy Walther. "Worse, what protection is offered to U.S. firefighters if they get hurt ... ? What protection do they have from disease while in Mexico? Who is paying for CDF to fight fire in Mexico? Certainly Mexico isn't. That's right folks – again, it's the good ol' USA taxpayer footing the bill for Mexicans in their own country. This is more loco than the human mind can comprehend. ... It's pathetic." This weekend, 23 large blazes were burning more than 275,000 acres in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Wyoming....
Landowners Learn Property Is Really National Forest Land A surveying mistake made almost 30 years ago could prove pricey for some landowners in the Crystal Lakes subdivision west of Red Feather Lakes in Larimer County. Property owners recently learned that some of their land is actually within the boundaries of the publicly owned Roosevelt National Forest. Now they might have to buy the land from the U.S. Forest Service at current market prices. A 2003 Bureau of Land Management survey found that a private survey in 1975 failed to accurately locate markers on the ground for section corners, placing the forest boundary in the wrong place. About 20 properties are affected, with forest land of up to 1.63 acres. Canyon Lakes District Ranger Ellen Hodges said the Forest Service wants to work with landowners to settle the issue. But Republican Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave said residents shouldn't have to pay for the land a second time and she's looking into legislative solutions to the problem....
Wilderness bill's fate hinges on access If Rep. Mike Thompson's 300,000-acre wilderness bill protecting some of the most scenic lands along California's North Coast passes this year, what made the difference may well have been negotiations that won the endorsement of a Del Norte County supervisor in February. With the clock ticking down on the congressional session, last-minute pressure is building on House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, to move the bill out of his committee and to the House floor for passage. First introduced in 2002, the legislation would declare as wilderness federal lands owned by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service from Napa County to the Oregon border. The most spectacular addition would be 42,585 acres in the King Range National Conservation Area, including a 26-mile stretch of beach that is the longest undeveloped coastline remaining in the continental United States....
Udall's Valle Vidal bill now prime for full House vote The Valle Vidal Protection Act of 2005 cleared another major hurdle today, passing the House Committee on Resources, and is now ready for a vote by the full House, bill sponsor U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., announced Wednesday. Udall, who has long served on the House Resources Committee, said "Protecting the Valle Vidal means preserving for New Mexico and the nation a land rich in history and culture and abundant in wildlife. America's earliest inhabitants -- Pueblo cultures, Spanish settlers and extensive populations of wildlife -- have made their homes there and I believe we have a responsibility to protect it for future generations." H.R. 3817 was introduced by Udall on September 15, 2005, and seeks to protect the 102,000-acre Valle Vidal area of the Carson National Forest from energy and mineral extraction and development. The Valle Vidal tract was donated to the Forest Service in 1982 by Pennzoil Co., which never allowed drilling in the area....Donated? Yes, for a huge tax write-off.
RMNP wilderness measure stalls in Congress Proponents of a bill to designate Rocky Mountain National Park a wilderness area say they need the support of U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard and Rep. Marilyn Musgrave. Both Republican politicians, however, have yet to sign on to the Senate and House wilderness bills, one introduced by Sen. Ken Salazar and the other by Rep. Mark Udall, both Democrats. The identical bills would ratify a Nixon-era proposal to designate Rocky Mountain National Park a wilderness area. A Musgrave spokesman said the congresswoman still needs one last assurance. “Before she supports that bill, she would like more information and a study of the economic impacts of a wilderness area on Estes Park,” spokesman Guy Short said. He said Musgrave is open to the idea of the designation for the park, but she wants all the economic facts first....
In Defense of Logging and Loggers On the third full weekend of June Encampment Wyoming hosts the annual Rocky Mountain Champion Lumberjack Completion where loggers come from all over the country to compete for the coveted title. Chips fly during this competition using chain saws, axes and hand saws, the men and women competitors cut down trees competing in events that include: Tree Felling, two-man handsaw tree felling, two-man handsaw, two-woman handsaw, power saw log bucking, one-man handsaw, man & woman handsaw team, choker setting, axe chopping, pole throw, axe throw, power saw log bucking, power saw log bucking, and the mad loggers chainsaw throw. It is refreshing to hear that this proud profession is still celebrated despite its vilification by America’s tree huggers who have turned a blind eye to their need for timber products in their crusade to reserve our forests for the Bark Beetle and fire. Scientists and forest managers continue to tell us proactive forest management is a solution for overcrowded, unhealthy and fire-prone forests. Thinning and logging reduce fuels and can make wildfires far less devastating while making mountain communities far safer. But some refuse to listen....
‘Over the River’ artists request EIS The artists proposing the “Over the River” project to drape part of the Arkansas River with fabric panels have requested a more in-depth investigation into the potential impacts the venture could have. The Bureau of Land Management’s Royal Gorge Field Office has already begun work on an Environmental Impact Statement at the request of artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The survey is expected to take at least another year. Already working on an Environmental Assessment for the project, the BLM is simply transitioning that information into the more extensive EIS. “This is being done at the request of the artists themselves,” said Roy Masinton, local BLM manager. “They realize we may have to go into an EIS ultimately anyway, and getting into this earlier rather than later would probably save them both money and time.”....
Court won't revisit petroglyph theft A U.S. appeals court panel has refused the Justice Department's request to rehear the government's case that seeks to reinstate convictions for two men who admitted they removed ancient American Indian rock art in Nevada. Federal prosecutors said they were informed by mail earlier this week that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco had denied the request for rehearing the case involving the theft of the centuries-old petroglyphs from national forest land in August 2003. The three-judge panel provided no explanation for its decision, which was entered with the court's clerk on June 15 but not previously publicized. The Forest Service believes the petroglyphs -- including etchings of an archer and a big horn sheep -- are at least 1,000 years old....
EPA Testing Waste From Old Smelting Plant in Oxnard Except for the waves crashing nearby, the slag heap at Ormond Beach in Ventura County could double as a moonscape. Ragged berms and cracked plains spread over 28 acres top a 45-foot-high mass of compacted gray ash. Nothing grows there — not even a weed. For decades, community activists have said that the waste pile and the now-shuttered foundry in Oxnard that created it are a scar on the coast and a threat to an adjacent lagoon brimming with bird and sea life. Their goal of seeing the pile removed, and the entire area restored as a wetland, gained unexpected momentum last week with the arrival of a team of inspectors from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Using sensitive monitoring equipment, geologists are testing nearby residential tracts, soil, sand, groundwater, the air and even fish from the lagoon for evidence of radiation and other pollutants....
Norton defends former aide Former Interior Secretary Gale Norton defended her one-time top deputy, J. Steven Griles, after a Senate committee reported it had unanswered questions about his contacts with embattled lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The Senate Indian Affairs Committee on Thursday released a report that said it found no evidence of any wrongdoing by Norton in its probe into Abramoff's lobbying on behalf of Indian tribes, including his attempts to influence Interior Department decisions. The report did cite lingering questions about Abramoff's claims to have cultivated a close working relationship with former Deputy Secretary Griles through the help of a woman named Italia Federici, who had known Norton since the mid-1990s in Colorado. And Norton dismissed what she called one "preposterous claim" reportedly made by Abramoff: that he had "interviewed Griles for his position at Interior and, in fact, helped him get his job there." "I worked with Steve during the Reagan administration," Norton wrote. "I had admired and respected him for over 15 years, and I did not need any outside influence to know I wanted Steve to be my deputy. Abramoff played no role, and this claim just shows how much he exaggerated his bragging."....
Pesticide exposure linked to Parkinson`s People exposed to pesticides are at a higher risk of developing Parkinson`s disease, according to the longest and largest study yet to support such a connection. Study participants who reported regular exposure to pesticides had a 70 percent higher incidence of the disease than those who were not exposed to the chemicals. 'This is the first fairly clear evidence that some chemical exposure significantly increases risk for Parkinson`s,' said lead author Dr. Alberto Ascherio, an associate professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. 'With the combined evidence of all the studies in humans ... it`s extremely unlikely there is another explanation,' he said. The study will appear in the July issue of the Annals of Neurology. People who reported exposure to pesticides were 14 times more likely to list their occupation as farmer, rancher or fisherman, the authors wrote. Even so, after analysis both farmers and non-farmers demonstrated the same increase -- 70 percent -- in Parkinson`s incidence. Ascherio suspects the non-farmers represent people using pesticides around their home and garden....
Charity trail rides fun way to give As the twin dun-colored mules with the bold lightning stripes down their legs heaved the wagon into motion, the greener horses snorted and stomped, quickly raising dust and their rider's heartbeats. Excitement spiced with a taste of danger evaporated after a few miles as the 85 horses and two wagons spread out and settled down to the trail pace through the Bull Mountains. The second annual Chase Hawks Memorial ride at the Dahl family's Runamuk Ranch attracted more than 100 people from Montana and North Dakota and as far away as Florida. Fifth-generation rancher Toby Dahl started the ride with a short speech: "I'm Toby. I know the way," he said as he rode off, spurs twirling....
Cowboys debate new rules for Calgary Stampede Fewer cowboys will be competing at this year's Calgary Stampede, prompting some grumbles at an Alberta rodeo over the weekend. The Stampede is less than two weeks away and for the first time, rodeo organizers have set up new qualifying rules. Each of the six events at this year's rodeo will have a top prize of $100,000, up from $50,000. But there will be fewer cowboys competing for that money. Only 120 cowboys and cowgirls will rope, wrestle or ride, compared to more than 330 last year. At a rodeo in High River this weekend, some cowboys worried the change would mean fewer Canadians competing in Calgary this year. Lance Mulvahill missed the cut for saddle bronco at the Stampede. He said having fewer Canadians in Canada's biggest rodeo is bad for the sport and bad for the industry that supports it....
It's All Trew: My, how record keeping has changed Today's computers, calculators, spreadsheets, instant messaging and professional accountants make good record keeping a breeze. It wasn’t like that in the old days. Larry Touchon sent information on early records kept in what his family called a "tobacco book." It was about the size of a shirt pocket, contained about 30 pages with blue lines and had a heavier cover sporting tobacco advertising, hence its name. All cotton farmers and field hands had such a book and kept meticulous records of how many pounds of cotton each person picked, how many hours worked or rows whopped. Some kept financial records of bills paid and checks written. Amazingly, the figures in the books were considered correct to the point they stood up in a court of law. The integrity of this method of record keeping was accepted as the gospel in that circle of people. My father, J.T. Trew, had a similar book with the same tobacco advertising on the cover, but he called it his "tally book." Each pasture or field was named along with the number of livestock the area contained. He also kept breeding and birth dates, and one page held the totals of livestock lost to death during the last year. Records of livestock sales were recorded in detail on the pages....