NEWS ROUNDUP

Court Rules for Coastal Landowner in Development Dispute Someday, Dennis Schneider might be able to enjoy a drop-dead view from his yet-to-be-built dream home on a Central Coast cliff-top perched above the ocean. At the same time, kayakers, surfers and all the ships at sea will have a drop-dead view of Schneider's 10,000-square-foot mansion — whether they want it or not. Less-than-pleasing views for passing sailors are no grounds for the California Coastal Commission this week to restrict seaside development, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday. "We believe that it is unreasonable to assume that the Legislature has ever sought to protect the occasional boater's views of the coastline at the expense of a coastal landowner," the 2nd District Court of Appeal wrote in a unanimous opinion. The ruling could affect stretches of California shoreline that are still relatively undeveloped, particularly along the Central Coast and in Northern California. An attorney for Schneider, a San Luis Obispo engineer, cast the decision Thursday as a victory for property owners seeking to exercise their rights and a defeat for Coastal Commission officials trying to arbitrarily clamp down on development. "The commission was attempting an outrageous power grab that would have put projects up and down the coast in jeopardy based on nothing more than the arbitrary aesthetic whims of commission staffers and members," said J. David Breemer, an attorney with the property-rights oriented Pacific Legal Foundation....
Editorial: Coastal craziness In a 1997 speech at a conference in Monterey, a radical environmentalist named Peter Douglas called for the U.S. Constitution to be amended to make courts the “arbiters” in what he called the “debate” over property owners' rights. It was just another day at the green pulpit for Douglas, who thinks government powers should be used to coerce individuals to “care with mind and heart for Gaia and all life she sustains.” Unfortunately, Douglas is in a position to use coercive powers in pursuit of his extremism. He is the longtime executive director of the California Coastal Commission, an institution whose hostility toward property rights makes the typical eminent domain-abusing redevelopment agency seem like pikers. Consider the case of San Luis Obispo engineer Dennis Schneider, who hoped to build his dream home on a cliff above the ocean in a remote area north of Cayucos. Incredibly by normal cognitive standards, typically by Coastal Commission standards, the agency blocked his plans on the grounds that the home would be such an aesthetic affront to passing kayakers, boaters and surfers that it would violate their rights. We are not making this up. Thankfully, on June 28, the 2nd District Court of Appeal said this was nonsense in a brisk 12-page decision that seemed perplexed at where the Coastal Commission comes up with stuff like this. The answer, of course: from the untethered imagination of its executive director....
U.S.: No critical habitat in Southwest for jaguar The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Wednesday that it will not designate critical habitat for the endangered jaguar in the Southwest. U.S. habitat for the animal makes up less than 1 percent of the species' range and is not critical to conserve it, the agency said. Thus, it doesn't meet the requirements of the Endangered Species Act for designating critical habitat. Jaguars are occasionally seen in southwestern New Mexico and Southeastern Arizona, but Fish and Wildlife officials believe those jaguars come from a population 130 miles south of the border in Mexico. "The service has determined there are no physical and biological features in the United States that meet the definition of critical habitat," said Benjamin Tuggle, acting director of the agency's Southwest region. The recovery of the species depends almost entirely on efforts in Mexico and Central and South America, the agency said. The jaguars were listed as endangered in the United States in 1997, but Fish and Wildlife determined that a critical-habitat designation was not prudent at the time. In 2003, the Center for Biological Diversity and Defenders of Wildlife filed a complaint contending that finding violated the Endangered Species Act. The federal agency agreed to look at the issue again, which led to Wednesday's determination....
Development in South Dakota Prompts Unlikely Coalition: Christians, Indians, Ranchers(Subscription Required) Jay Allen expects to spend $3 million on his new development near this town of 6,400. The three-story, 22,500-square-foot barn will house six bars, a restaurant, stores and a stage. But his ambitions now rest on a hotly disputed beer license for which he paid just $250. Mr. Allen hopes his development, the Sturgis County Line, will attract many of the half-million bikers who come here each August for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. For now, though, it has attracted the opposition of an unlikely coalition: American Indians, white ranchers and Christian activists. The main problem, as they see it, is that the Sturgis County Line and another complex are being built about two miles from Bear Butte, which rises about 1,100 feet from the prairie surrounding it. For thousands of years, Bear Butte -- or Mato Paha in the language of the Lakota American Indian tribe -- is considered sacred ground by dozens of tribes who pray there and view it as "the womb of mother Earth." When Anne White Hat read about Mr. Allen's plans in a local newspaper, she was speechless. "We just couldn't believe someone would actually be so naïve to think they could do this, with total lack of respect and knowledge about native people," says Ms. White Hat, a Lakota. Christians see an opportunity to limit the spread of rowdy biker bars and strip clubs. Ranchers complain their cattle have contracted pneumonia after breathing copper-colored dust stirred up by bikers thundering across gravel roads....
A quest for cooler heads in Indian suit against US The lawsuit's name is innocuous enough. But Cobell v. Kempthorne carries 119 years of historical baggage, and its outcome could affect hundreds of thousands of people at a cost of billions of dollars. It's also thorny as a prickly pear, so contentious that a panel of federal jurists this week ruled that the case needs a different judge to oversee it. The dispute involves royalties due native Americans dating back to 1887. That's when Uncle Sam took control of some 11 million acres of tribal lands in the West as part of the federal policy of forced assimilation. The US was supposed to be paying into Indian trust accounts what now amounts to billions of dollars in revenues from oil, gas, timber, minerals, and grazing on those acres, then disbursing payments to native account holders. But the whole thing has been mismanaged, federal courts have declared several times since the case began in 1996, and the last three Interior secretaries have failed to fix it. Idahoan Dirk Kempthorne, who recently became Interior secretary, follows both Bruce Babbitt and Gale Norton as lead defendant. On the other side is Elouise Cobell of Browning, Mont., a member of the Blackfeet Indian Tribe, a rancher and banker, and a recipient of a MacArthur "genius" grant for her work in economic development. She's the lead plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit that bears her name. "The government has abused trust beneficiaries and has failed to fulfill the most basic trust responsibilities owed to us," she said this week....
Oil company notified of violation in salt water spill State officials say they have notified an oil company of possible fines for a ruptured pipeline that spilled nearly 1 million gallons of saltwater into Charbonneau Creek in northwestern North Dakota. The state Health Department and the Industrial Commission have given notices to Zenergy, Inc., of Tulsa, Okla. The company has until July 23 to reply, officials said. The salt water spill, discovered in early January, killed fish in the McKenzie County creek near Alexander, and forced ranchers to move their cattle. The director of the state Industrial Commission, Karlene Fine, said Zenergy faces up to $90,000 in fines. The commission regulates oil and gas production. The state Health Department's environmental chief, David Glatt, said the company also faces penalties for violating environmental laws. He said Zenergy and the department will negotiate fines and a settlement to ensure the state recovers its costs in the cleanup.The state costs total around $35,000 so far, Glatt said. Salt water is an oil production waste product that can kill plants and hurt animals. Oil companies pipe it underground to dispose of it....
Ranch sells for $47 million A 949-acre ranch south of Carbondale has sold for $47 million, one of the largest and most expensive land deals in Pitkin County history. The deal took roughly eight years to complete and includes hundreds of acres of open space, according to local real estate agent Joshua Saslove, who represented the sellers, Richard and Debbie Jelinek. The Crystal Island Ranch is bordered by the Crystal River, Prince Creek and Thomas Creek, Saslove said, and sits near the base of Mount Sopris. The U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management administer much of the land nearby. "The property abuts very large tracts of BLM land, and the only modern development on the property is a house and barn, a guest house and caretaker's quarters," said Saslove, a regional affiliate for Christie's auction house. "One of the messages we want people to hear is that the former owners are really thankful to everyone who participated in this unique land-use plan." The complex deal involved the Pitkin County Open Space and Trails program, the Conservation Fund, the Jelineks and the Aspen Valley Land Trust. The ranch once encompassed roughly 1,700 acres, but the land has been divided several ways, with some pieces sold to conservation organizations and others preserved with conservation easements. Overall, some 1,400 contiguous acres have been protected. The name of the buyer was not available Thursday afternoon, and Saslove would not reveal any names, saying the buyer wished to remain anonymous....
Easement will protect trout habitat A conservation easement may be placed along the Madison River on the Sun Ranch as part of an agreement that will protect 16 square miles of prime native trout habitat. On Thursday, the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks commission authorized the department to start working on the project, and set aside $4.5 million from the state’s Habitat Montana program to help pay for the proposed easement purchase. Funded with hunter license fees, the Habitat Montana program seeks to preserve and restore important habitat for fish and wildlife and to make prime fishing and hunting areas accessible to the sporting public. FWP’s Wildlife Division Administrator Don Childress was excited by the news. He thanked both the non-profit conservation group Trust for Public Land and Sun Ranch owner Roger Lang of Bozeman for working on the deal....
Editorial: Agencies should prevent drilling to protect Strawberry The Strawberry Reservoir basin is a showcase for wetlands restoration and a trout fisherman's paradise. But, having survived decades of neglect and damage prior to its resurrection in the mid-'80s, the Strawberry Valley now could face an even greater threat from oil and gas drilling. Before-and-after photos of the Strawberry River Habitat Enhancement Project graphically show how an investment of $34 million in federal money and thousands of donated hours of labor have transformed the once-overgrazed basin of Strawberry River tributaries into one of the country's premier recreational fisheries. But sediment from new roads and the traffic that energy exploration would bring could contaminate the 10 streams flowing into the reservoir and seriously damage its fish population and the $20 million angling business they support. The 57,000 acres of blue-ribbon recreation land and watershed surrounding the reservoir should be protected from the wholesale exploration and drilling that federal land-management agencies seem bent on encouraging all over the West, including in roadless areas and prime hunting and fishing locations....
Sentencing Delayed In Hayman Fire Case A resentencing of a former U.S. Forest Service employee who admitted setting the largest wildfire in Colorado history has been delayed indefinitely, her public defender said Thursday. Terry Lynn Barton, 42, was sentenced on state charges to 12 years in prison in 2003, twice the typical term. But the Colorado Court of Appeals ordered a new sentencing, saying the judge in the case may have been biased because smoke from the 138,000-acre Hayman wildfire forced him to evacuate. The fire destroyed 133 homes. Fourth Judicial District Judge Thomas Kennedy ruled this year a jury could consider whether enough aggravating circumstances existed to justify the sentence. A hearing had been scheduled for Tuesday. Barton's public defender, Mark Walta said the Colorado Supreme Court agreed in May to review a similar sentencing situation from Montezuma County, and Barton's case has been put on hold pending the outcome of the Montezuma case....
Senate committee fires back in feud over Forest Service policy Certain logging projects and other smaller-scale U.S. Forest Service activities would be exempt from a long-held public comment and appeals process under a provision inserted into a spending bill and approved recently by a key Senate committee. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., added the amendment to a multi-agency budget measure that sailed through the Senate Appropriations Committee last month. No date has been set for a full vote in the Senate; spending bills before the House of Representatives do not contain the rider. The move to steer the new forest policy through Congress is the latest in a back-and-forth between environmentalists who demand public comment on timber, mining and other Forest Service projects — no matter the size — and defenders of the Bush administration's push to fast-track certain priorities, namely forest-thinning to combat wildfires. The Burns amendment would overturn a 2005 ruling by a U.S. district judge in California that thwarted Forest Service regulations written in 2003. That rule change would have repealed public comment on so-called "categorical exemptions" — smaller scale projects the Forest Service says do not require lengthy environmental analysis. For instance, the measure would allow bypassing public comment on proposed burn projects up to 4,500 acres and fuel-reduction logging projects up to 1,000 acres. The comment and appeals process lasts up to 90 days, and in some cases more. Environmentalists hailed the California ruling as a rebuke of the president's Healthy Forest Initiative, but are now grousing that Bush allies are again seeking to bypass the National Environmental Policy Act....
Scenic beachfront land to go public Eight years ago, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation led the effort to buy five miles of stunning beaches and rugged coastline along Santa Cruz County's north coast, saving it from development in the hope of establishing a new state park. Today, after years of studies and nagging budget problems that prevented California from accepting the gift, the beaches at Coast Dairies Ranch, a sprawling expanse of redwood forests, artichoke fields and rolling hills, finally transfer to public ownership. The deal ranks as the most significant addition of beaches to Northern California state parks in 31 years. The scenic ranch -- home to peregrine falcons, steelhead trout and mountain lions -- is believed to be the largest piece of private beachfront property along the California coast between Hearst Ranch at San Simeon and the Oregon border. ``It's a major milestone. It's the first step toward fulfilling the dream that Coast Dairies will be owned by the public and open to everyone,'' said Reed Holderman, executive director of the Trust for Public Land-California, a San Francisco conservation group that owns Coast Dairies....
Arizona cattlemen suing over spotted-owl habitat A California-based legal firm and Arizona cattlemen have filed a federal lawsuit challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's designation of critical habitat for the Mexican spotted owl in four Western states. The Pacific Legal Foundation, acting on behalf of the Arizona Cattle Growers Association, contends that the Fish and Wildlife Service did not follow laws governing the Endangered Species Act in setting aside more than 8 million acres for the owl in Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and Colorado. "Some of the areas that have been set aside by the regulators clearly don't have physical and biological features that are essential for the owl's conservation," said foundation attorney Damien Schiff. "Other areas are described in such vague terms that it's anyone's guess whether it's necessary to take them out of public use. "And in general, the regulators ignored their legal duty to consider and factor in the economic impact of the designation." Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman Elizabeth Slown said the agency was unable to comment on a pending lawsuit. But an attorney with the Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity questioned the need for a lawsuit. Eric Ryberg said his group's successful 2001 challenge of the critical-habitat listing forced the agency to redraw boundaries. He wonders why the legal foundation and ranchers waited so long to respond to it....
Judge Protects Gila Chub on Agua Fria National Monument The Center for Biological Diversity applauded a decision today that protects the endangered Gila chub from the impacts of livestock grazing on the Agua Fria National Monument. The decision states that the Bureau of Land Management failed to consider the potential for harm to the Gila chub and its habitat when it issued a ten-year grazing permit, and that it also improperly proceeded with an outdated analysis from the Fish and Wildlife Service. The Agua Fria National Monument is approximately 71,000 acres and was established in 2000 by a presidential proclamation to protect the unique biological and cultural areas of this area, which is located 40 miles north of Phoenix. The diverse vegetative communities of the Monument provide habitat for numerous rare wildlife species, including the lowland leopard frog, Mexican garter snake, common black hawk, pronghorn, yellow-billed cuckoo and desert tortoise. The valuable riparian forests of the Monument were specifically highlighted in the presidential proclamation and their protection was given statutory priority. The order was issued by Administrative Law Judge James H. Heffernan, for the U.S. Department of the Interior Office of Hearings and Appeals, in Salt Lake City, Utah. The order was granted in response to the Center for Biological Diversity’s appeal of the BLM’s November 2005 decision to approve a new livestock grazing permit without properly considering impacts to the natural and cultural resources in the area....
San Pedro River Railroad Purchase Offer Withdrawn The San Pedro River will not have hazardous materials transported along its banks, as the pending purchase offer for the adjacent railroad was withdrawn today. “This is truly a victory for the San Pedro River and the citizens of the county. Instead of being turned into a toxic corridor, the river banks can move forward as a rails-to-trails project,” said Michelle Harrington, Rivers Program Director for the Center for Biological Diversity. There has been little or no service on the railroad line for several years. The current owner, San Pedro Railroad Operating Company, LLC, planned to retire the 76.2 miles of rail between the border and Benson in Cochise County. Before the retirement was finalized, Sonora-Arizona International, LLC, offered to purchase the railroad and restart the line with plans to significantly expand operations within Arizona and into Mexico to the Port of Guaymas. The railroad runs along the banks of the San Pedro River through the Riparian National Conservation Area....
Drought forces more cattle sales More than 1,800 cattle were packed into the Kist Livestock sales barn on one day this week. "Some guys were bringing cows in by semi loads," rancher Bob Gangl said Wednesday. "The grass is gone everywhere. There's nothing for them to eat. It hasn't been this bad since the late '80s, and even then it wasn't as bad as it is now." Last year at the same time, 456 cattle were brought to Kist to be sold. The state has been under drought emergency since June, with moisture in the Bismarck area running more than 4 inches below normal. Most of the animals sold Wednesday would normally be held until fall when they weigh more, said Les Fleck, who runs the online auctions for Kist. Smaller calves were selling for $1.30 to $1.45 a pound, and yearlings - both heifers and steers - up to $1.20 a pound, said Diane Givan, a bookkeeper with Kist Livestock. But selling early was like giving away a paycheck, Fleck said. Ranchers can buy hay, but prices are high. Donald Janecek, a veterinarian from Linton who attended Wednesday's auction, said he paid $1,400 for hay that would have cost him $600 last year....
Chances fade for Barbaro's survival Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro has developed a serious hoof disease, and the veterinarian treating the 3-year-old colt yesterday called his chances of survival a "long shot." "His prognosis for his life and his comfort has significantly diminished," said Dean Richardson, the chief surgeon who has been treating Barbaro. "I'd be lying if I said it was anything but poor." Doctors operated on Barbaro Wednesday at the New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, Pa., leaving him with casts on both rear legs. They said Barbaro could be euthanized if he does not respond quickly to medication. "It could happen within 24 hours," Dr. Richardson said. "It's a long shot. I'm not going to sugarcoat this. As long as the horse is not suffering, we're going to continue to try and treat him. If we can keep him comfortable, it's worth the effort." Barbaro suffered major fractures to his right hind leg in the May 20 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. His recovery went smoothly until early this week, when he developed a severe case of laminitis in his left hind leg....