NEWS ROUNDUP

‘Environmentally sound’ drilling? The view from the edge of the Roan Plateau, more than 1,500 feet above the Colorado River, is a bit dull on this particular day, western Colorado’s normally crystalline air partly obscured by a haze emanating from distant wildfires raging elsewhere across the torrid Southwest. But the haze isn’t so bad as to hide what’s below: The miles of roads and seemingly countless well pads carved out of the sagebrush flats, evidence of our nation’s hunger for fossil fuels. Those same road-laced flats once were key winter range for one of Colorado’s biggest herds of mule deer. Today, it seems unlikely that mule deer, genetically disposed to stick close to their home range, could scrape even a meager living from that land swirled with a maze of roads, the heavy truck traffic throwing up clouds of dust and adding to the brown mantle across the sky. Keith Goddard, owner of Magnum Outfitters of Rifle, looked down the Roan Plateau’s steep sides and slowly counted the drill rigs working below. “Let’s see. I count at least five new ones, and there might be one behind that hill where we can’t see it,” said Goddard, who at 42 already has more than 20 years of guiding experience behind him. He turned to the handful of people around him. “If that’s any indication of what’s going to happen up here, you can kiss this area goodbye,” he said, his National Finals Rodeo buckle glinting in the sun....
Oregon battle sweeps West Oregon's property-rights movement is being exported across the western United States, letting voters from California to Montana decide how vigorously governments control the landscape. November ballot measures in a block of seven states this side of the Rocky Mountains would limit public officials' ability to buy and regulate property. But opposition is sweeping the West, too, with well-organized critics predicting scattered subdivisions and contaminated water if the measures pass. An initiative in Washington -- the one most like Oregon's Measure 37 -- offers a window into the clashing values that will fuel campaigns. Property-rights activists seized on their 2004 win in Oregon, where governments now waive land-use rules or pay owners for lost value. The U.S. Supreme Court inflamed the movement with its Kelo v. New London ruling, allowing government to forcibly buy land and turn it over to another private owner as an economic development tool. Both issues crop up in the latest batch of initiatives, including an Oregon proposal restricting governments' ability to condemn land. Allowing citizens to challenge regulations, as Measure 37 did, is more controversial. In Washington, Initiative 933 would require governments to excuse landowners from rules approved after 1995 or compensate them. New regulations could be created only as a last resort. State Farm Bureau leaders, who wrote the measure, say rural residents shouldn't shoulder the cost of discouraging country development, protecting habitat and shepherding people into cities....
Backers, critics debate scope of proposed law Fast-growing Southwest Washington makes the perfect case study for Initiative 933, as adversaries speculate about the measure's effect on city neighborhoods and rural landscapes. Dubbed the "Property Fairness Initiative," it has been modeled after Oregon's Measure 37. If the measure becomes law, governments would compensate landowners for restrictive planning rules or let them opt out. And in the future, public officials would have to study effects on property value before adopting regulations. Bill Zimmerman, president of the Clark-Cowlitz Farm Bureau, is convinced the time has come for a sweeping land-rights law in Washington. "What we're saying is, if you're going to do something that reduces the value of our property, then pay us for it," he said. Val Alexander, who owns 65 acres near La Center, sees consistent land-use regulations as her only hope to keep sprawl at bay. She operates a U-pick berry farm called Coyote Ridge Ranch. "It would make it very, very difficult for people to continue farming," Alexander said. "We'd see a lot more development in rural areas."....
Where is the Lincoln headed? New Lincoln National Forest supervisor Lou Woltering hopes to implement extensive and far-reaching plans the Forest Service has for the Lincoln. A strategic plan for the forest for 2006 through 2010 envisions thinning as a fire-management tool, restrictions on certain off-road activities, and monitoring of grazing allotments. Next year, the Forest Service is also starting a forest land management plan revision process. The Forest Service will be working with the public to develop the strategic direction that will guide the Lincoln Forest into the next 10 to 15 years. "We're going to be emphasizing the implementation of the southwestern region's central priority," Woltering said, the central priority being the restoration of "fire into fire" adapted ecosystems. Fire into fire, he explained, is an attempt to reestablish the natural fire systems that existed long ago, so that there isn't excessive undergrowth that can provide fuel for wildfires. "Historically," he said, "our ecosystems burned every 40 to 50 years, over hundreds of years." Now there is an excess of fuels that in a natural fire system would not have been allowed to accumulate. "Fire into fire" seeks to protect communities and private land owners from wildfires by treating fuels adjacent to communities and private land. "We'll be using logging, thinning, and prescribed burning to help us do that, so that fire plays a more natural role in maintaining a healthy forest." He said thinning is good for the health of the forest, and it also helps prevent wildfires....
Fish and Wildlife Service Moves To Expand Predator Control Against Endangered Mexican Wolves Today the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced its approval of a controversial set of recommendations for the endangered Mexican wolf that will leave the government unrestrained to kill and trap wolves for the next few years. The move is a precursor to an eventual rule change that will result in even more wolves being subject to the federal predator control program. “This is the Bush administration’s formal announcement that it will ignore the pleas of independent scientists to reduce wolf mortality by addressing the problem of cattle and horse carcasses that habituate wolves to preying on livestock,” said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity in Pinos Altos, New Mexico. The recommendations were developed by the interagency Mexican Wolf Adaptive Management Oversight Committee in its Blue Range Wolf Reintroduction Project’s Five-Year Review. They are available via the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s website at: MW 5-Year Review AMOC Recommendations Component. The recommendations, approved three years and three months late (from the five-year anniversary of the reintroduction program’s inception in March 1998), include the following four elements that will further jeopardize the Mexican wolf's survival and ultimately prevent its recovery:....
Ranchers eyed to protect grasslands The Nature Conservancy has opened an office here to focus on grassland conservation in communities, like Cheyenne, that are seeing rapid residential and commercial development. "We would like to see the ranching community stay out there on the land because they've done a really good job of keeping those lands in good shape," said Brent Lathrop, director of southeast Wyoming programs for The Nature Conservancy. Lathrop said prairie grasslands have largely disappeared, from the eastern tall-grass prairies to the western short-grass that makes up more than one third of Wyoming's land area. He said grasslands are among the most threatened ecosystems in the world. Development is rapidly consuming the prairie along Colorado's Front Range, Lathrop said. Lathrop said his group wouldn't advocate for limiting development, but would instead seek ways to help ranchers keep their land in operation instead of selling it for development. Jim Magagna, executive vice president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, said his group had had positive relations with the state chapter of The Nature Conservancy, despite not always agreeing with The Nature Conservancy's national agenda....
Put another log on the mire A logjam on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River has temporarily blocked about 200 rafters from floating through a remote stretch of wilderness, outfitters say. The Middle Fork, a 100-mile stretch of water in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness, is considered one of the most thrilling whitewater floats in the country. The central Idaho waterway is accessible only to those with permits. U.S. Forest Service spokesmen and outfitters familiar with the Middle Fork told KTVB-TV in Boise that they have never seen a blockage this large. Heavy rain caused a Monday washout that pushed "a bunch of logs, from 50 to 60 logs" into the river, said Jackie Nefzger, of Mackay Wilderness River Trips. "It's completely blocked the Middle Fork." Her company has a group of 24 rafters in the area, as well as six guides, she said Tuesday. It could take as long as three days to clear the debris, U.S. Forest Service spokesmen said....
Montana Forest Proposition May Close Singletrack Access A proposed Montana forest plan revision could set a dangerous national precedent by closing hundreds of miles of singletrack to bicycles. Montana's Bitterroot, Flathead and Lolo National Forests are recommending a new policy that will ban bicycles from trails in many roadless areas where access is currently allowed. More than 400 miles of trail in seven roadless areas near Missoula are at risk, including many epic routes cherished by local cyclists. Some of the best trails include Heart Lake, Monture Creek, Bluejoint Creek and Blodgett Canyon. The Great Burn area alone contains 139 miles of singletrack that will be made off-limits to bicycles. Unless cyclists take action, the Forest Service will zone these lands as "Recommended Wilderness," and will ban bicycles. Although most national forests around the country allow existing uses such as mountain biking to continue in Recommended Wilderness, the Bitterroot, Flathead and Lolo will not, thus setting a dangerous precedent....
Feathers bring more charges for activist Animal-rights activist Rodney Coronado, who is awaiting sentencing on convictions related to disruption of the March 2004 mountain-lion hunt in Sabino Canyon, has been additionally charged with possessing the feathers of a golden eagle and other protected birds. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service cited Coronado Friday on two misdemeanor counts of possessing golden eagle feathers and migratory bird feathers, said Frank Solis, special agent for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He said the feathers were found at Coronado's Tucson home in February when the FBI arrested him on unrelated charges. In addition to the eagle feathers, Solis said, agents found feathers of a great horned owl, barn owl, great blue heron, redtail hawk, Cooper's hawk and Harris hawk. The citations, which are misdemeanor charges, seek a combined fine of $1,350, Solis said. Coronado could legally possess the feathers if he were a registered member of an American Indian tribe, but he is not, said Solis. Coronado's Tucson attorney Antonio Felix said Coronado is a member of the Yaqui Tribe but Felix said he was still researching the issue of tribal registration and could not comment on the new charge....
House bans Valle Vidal drilling Backers of a bill in Congress to protect one of the most popular hunting, fishing and hiking areas in northern New Mexico - the Valle Vidal - from oil and gas drilling say its fate is up to Sen. Pete Domenici. Without objection, the House passed a measure Monday that puts the 101,000-acre portion of Carson National Forest northeast of Red River off-limits to mineral exploration. The area is home to the state's largest elk herd and is used annually by thousands of Boy Scouts from nearby Philmont Scout Ranch. Thousands of people have voiced support for the drilling ban. "The people's voice has been heard, but the job isn't over yet," said Jeremy Vesbach, director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation. "It will not pass without Sen. Domenici's support." The Albuquerque Republican remained noncommittal Monday, praising Udall for his "good purpose" but saying he still preferred to let the U.S. Forest Service decide the fate of the area as part of an ongoing study....
Ruling backs mining Saying the public's right to hold federal agencies accountable is threatened, activists and local officials are pondering their next step after a federal appeals court shot down their challenge of selling public land for a mine atop a western Colorado mountain. A ruling issued by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday upheld a lower court's finding that third parties can't legally challenge mining patents - essentially deeds - on public lands. Town and county officials and residents have been fighting for nearly 30 years to stop a molybdenum mine on the summit of Mount Emmons, which towers over the ski community of Crested Butte. The ruling could affect similar claims throughout the West and silence the public's voice on an important public-lands issue, said Jeff Parsons, senior attorney with the Western Mining Action Project, which is helping represent Crested Butte, Gunnison County and the High Country Citizens Alliance. A three-judge panel of the appeals court sided with an earlier ruling that said only people with a competing claim to ownership of the land can sue....
Researchers find a new genus of cricket Researchers say they have discovered a new type of cricket in the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, located in a remote strip of land on the Utah-Arizona border. The cricket was discovered in samples taken from the area last spring by Kyle Voyles, a state of Arizona cave coordinator and a physical science technician with the Bureau of Land Management, and J. Judson Wynne, a Northern Arizona University doctoral candidate. Voyles and Wynne spent time surveying 24 caves and taking samples from 15. "Finding a new species is one thing, but finding a new genus is beyond my wildest dream," Kyle Voyles, a state of Arizona cave coordinator said. A genus is a broader category in the classification of animals; it can encompass many related species. In addition to the possible new genus of cricket, four new species of crickets have been identified from the spring samples. A barklouse also was found in the caves. Though common in South America, this was the first one discovered in North America, Voyles said....
Former owners sold monument to BLM after 38 years An unscripted encounter of some historical significance took place Monday at Pompeys Pillar National Monument. Peyton "Bud" Clark, great-great-great-grandson of Capt. William Clark, and other members of his family met Stella Foote, the woman mostly responsible for preserving the sandstone monument where Capt. Clark carved his name 200 years ago today. Foote and her late husband, Don Foote, already ardent collectors of Western books and artifacts, purchased Pompeys Pillar in 1955 and operated the historical landmark for 38 years, until selling it to the Bureau of Land Management in 1991. Bud Clark met Stella Foote Monday afternoon, after delivering a presentation on Capt. Clark during the Lewis and Clark Signature Event at Pompeys Pillar. He said he had talked to Stella Foote by phone before, but had not met her. He was impressed.
"Had it not been for their family's diligence, we might not be standing here," he said....
Tug of War Is On in Montana Over Public Access to Waterway Mitchell Slough is a slice of Montana heaven, a meandering 13-mile-long waterway that purls gently past houses and ranches, with the black backs of large, darting trout visible beneath the crystal-clear surface. There are some two dozen landowners along the waterway, including the rock musician Huey Lewis and a Las Vegas contractor who built a dazzling home with a glass floor over a branch of the slough. Now lawyers for Mr. Lewis and the other landowners are before the Montana Supreme Court arguing that the waterway is no more than a man-made ditch. The case turns on a state law that mandates public access to natural waterways, something Mr. Lewis and the others insist should not apply to Mitchell Slough. For the property owners, the story of the slough would not be titled “A River Runs Through It,” but “An Irrigation Ditch Runs Through It.” “Definitely it is a ditch, because it’s diverted water for irrigation,” Mr. Lewis said by phone from New York, where he was on tour. “If you watch the water levels go up and down, you know it’s a ditch.” A state district judge agreed in May that while Mitchell Slough was once part of the nearby Bitterroot River, it had been transformed by the hand of man, by changes including numerous head gates that control flows, and so was exempt from the Montana stream access law....
Cuba oil probe spurs calls for U.S. drilling Congressional proponents of oil and gas drilling are pointing to Cuba's exploration off the coast of Florida -- with help from China -- as a prime reason to open up U.S. drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. But Florida legislators continue to resist, and some of them are trying to stop Cuba's activities by pushing to rescind a 1977 treaty dividing the Straits of Florida halfway between the two countries. The Bush administration, with an eye toward the pivotal role Florida has played in presidential politics and out of solidarity with President Bush's brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, has largely sided with Florida in the dispute. It supports only very limited drilling off the coast of Florida, as would be permitted under a bill pending in the Senate. "American politics today -- it is the no-drill zone," said Sen. Larry E. Craig, Idaho Republican. "We sit here watching China exploit a valuable resource within eyesight of the U.S. coast," he said, noting that one 2005 U.S. Geological Survey estimated the North Cuba Basin may contain as much oil as the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve in Alaska....
Bears Seeking Food Near People in Denver Triathlete Sabrina Oei was speeding downhill at nearly 40 mph, cycling through the Colorado foothills during a race, when something brought her to a sudden, painful, stop: a bear. Oei, 31, slammed broadside into a black bear when it wandered onto the race course Sunday. She went airborne, then slid on her back across the pavement. She wasn't seriously injured and even finished the triathlon. The bear didn't seem to be hurt, either, scampering back into the woods. But the unusual high-speed encounter is a dramatic example of what experts are seeing across the West as drought forces bears to forage farther for food while urban development pushes into formerly wild areas. Oei's encounter is the latest anecdotal evidence coming in from around the West this year: In Nevada, near Lake Tahoe, a bear climbed into a vintage convertible July 2 and snacked on pizza and beer as a crowd gathered. In Alaska, a bear charged a jogger in an Anchorage city park this month. In Colorado Springs, a woman last week came home to find a bear rummaging through her refrigerator....
Culberson County residents like spaceport plans Residents and officials from a sparsely populated West Texas county who showed up this evening at a federal hearing are thrilled Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos has chosen their remote area for a commercial space venture. "We are very excited about Blue Origin," Ron Helm, 50, an area rancher, said at a Federal Aviation Administration hearing on the spaceport being developed by the Internet billionaire's company. "As far as we can tell, this is a great opportunity." "This has a lot of possibilities," added Mayor Okey D. Lukas, 70, who described the secretive venture under construction about 25 miles north of his town of about 3,000 people as the biggest thing to hit Culberson County in his 23 years in office. The FAA hearing was to take public comment on a 229-page draft report of an environmental assessment of the project on some 165,000 acres of property Bezos has purchased in the county about 120 miles east of El Paso. The hearing drew about three dozen area residents, and none expressed any misgivings....
Spaceport America! I recently visited the Southwest Region Spaceport near this former railroad siding and cattle holding area, Upham, New Mexico. I was on what tourism marketers call a “show me tour” and in the company of Spaceport information officer Katie Roberts, William Gutman, Ph.D., deputy director of Emerging Technologies Lab at New Mexico State University, and French journalist Philippe Boulet-Gercourt of the Observateur. We visited one of the ranches, the Bar Cross, owned by Ben and Jane Cain, who were named New Mexico Ranchers of the Year by the New Mexico Cattlemen’s Association a few years ago. The Bar Cross once covered 10 square miles, mostly leased BLM land, but they’ve been passing it along to their kids. The Cains got it in 1955 after the military urged them off a spread to the east that was to become military property. Now they’ll be moving again to make room for the spaceport, and are taking it in stride. “Things happen,” said Jane. “That’s progress, I guess.”....
Dairy cows dying Blistering heat has killed thousands of dairy cows in the Central Valley, depressed milk production and put crops such as walnuts and peaches at risk, state agriculture officials said Tuesday. "Humans take a while to acclimate to the heat, and animals are impacted as well," said Ann Schmidt-Fogarty, a spokeswoman for the California Farm Bureau. "We are doing all we can to protect them. But farmers are scrambling -- I don't think anyone anticipated this number of days when it was this hot." The large number of dairy cow deaths have overwhelmed the rendering plants that normally dispose of the carcases. "If you don't bury them, you have to deal with the stench and flies," said John Ferreira of the Cotta & Ferreira Dairy in Stockton. The state Department of Food and Agriculture has issued a waiver in eight counties allowing animal carcases to be disposed of in landfills. Steve Lyle, a spokesman for the department said his agency believes thousands of head of livestock have died, but he could not provide a specific number....
A Trans-Texas Horror There is an issue in Texas quietly building steam in what could be a major campaign theme in this fall's elections for governor and the state agricultural commissioner. It's an issue that has folks in rural Texas feeling the pain of Native Americans centuries prior. It's an issue that has farmers and ranchers readying their pitchforks. And it's an issue that has some of the most conservative counties in the state upset with Republicans they used to consider defenders of free men on the range. The issue is the Trans-Texas Corridor, a 4,000-mile, $183-billion plan proposed by Republicans and promoted by Gov. Rick Perry as the 50-year solution to Texas' traffic needs. The routes span the state, snaking across central and eastern Texas, connecting Laredo to Oklahoma and Arkansas. Future routes could bring in an East-West line from El Paso or others up through the Panhandle. Each corridor could contain up to four trucker lanes, six vehicle lanes, six rail lines and a 200-foot utility path. At its maximum size, each TTC could be 1,200 feet wide, consuming up to 9,000 square miles of land, more than exists in all of New Jersey....