NEWS ROUNDUP

Pinon Canyon ranchers rally to stop Army expansion In the old Kim Activity Center, under a big banner that declared "Stop Pinon Canyon Expansion," rancher R.C. Patterson pointed to a carefully colored map of all the land around the Army's 240,000-acre Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site. "See, the Army kept saying it was going to buy land from all these 'willing sellers,' so we decided to ask the ranchers ourselves," Patterson explained, his finger tracing all the red squares of land where owners have said they will not sell to the Army. The acreage around the Pinon Canyon training area was almost entirely, solidly red. "The black squares are for owners who said they are willing to sell," Patterson added with a grin because there were no black squares. "So, what the Army was telling people from the beginning was (expletive)." Saturday was rally day in Kim and many of the ranch families who came to town - if Kim is even big enough to call a town - wanted to hear what Colorado lawmakers and hope-to-be lawmakers are going to do to protect the ranches that spread over the juniper-covered mesas and canyons around here. In case there is any doubt, all the legislators, candidates and staffers who spoke under the red-and-white tent - Republican or Democrat - backed the ranchers in fighting the Army's use of condemnation to take their land....
Lands bill: For preservation or profit? Proposed legislation that would allow Washington County to sell up to 25,000 acres of public lands and distribute the proceeds to other projects within the county doesn't sit well with La Verkin resident Nina Fitzgerald. "I'm one of many residents with concerns about the wording of this bill," said Fitzgerald, who is a member of a newly formed group, Citizens for Dixie's Future. "The vagueness of it and the lack of specifics is really concerning. There seems to be a lack of transparency with the bill." Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, and Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, introduced the Washington County Growth and Conservation Act of 2006 in Congress this past week. They first unveiled the measure on March 22 at a news conference in St. George. Community leaders, elected officials and other public employees heralded the draft legislation as a positive step forward in land-use planning. "This is an exciting time. We've had 20 different stakeholders at the table, at the meetings and on the ground, all working together on this for two years," said Washington County Commissioner Alan Gardner. "Other Utah counties are anxious to see what happens." But soon after the draft was released to the public, opposition mounted and has become national, with environmentalists calling the measure a massive sell-off of federal public lands....
Ranchers thirsting for water The life Ed Studebaker has known since he became an adult — one that has evolved from having ample water to run his sprawling ranch to facing the prospect of having none — is divided by a winding country road in the shadows of Grand Mesa. On the south side are dozens of acres of tan alfalfa stalks, a crop Studebaker relies upon to feed his cattle and keep viable one of the largest ranches in the Kannah Creek area. On the north is a field choked with thigh-high Russian knapweed, a white-tipped menace that thrives without liquid sustenance, sickens livestock and can wipe out a rancher’s livelihood in a matter of a few growing seasons. It’s here on Purdy Mesa, a verdant, panoramic plateau southeast of Grand Junction flush with an assortment of wildlife, where an escalating struggle for extra water leased by the city of Grand Junction is playing out between historic ranchers and farmers and an influx of newcomers who have snapped up subdivided parcels. For Studebaker and fellow rancher Neil Riddle, the issue hit a critical juncture this year when, for the first time since the city began offering a supplemental irrigation water program more than 30 years ago, the men came away without a drop of water. They were outbid either by other ranchers or owners of comparatively small pieces of property who could afford to pay more for the water. The implications of that could be far-reaching, with ranchers saying the shortage nullifies the crops they’re growing this year, makes it difficult to plan for next year’s harvest and could eventually force them to sell their land....
Black Canyon water case largest in state’s history In 1933, President Herbert Hoover created the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument “for the preservation of the spectacular gorges and additional features of scenic, scientific and educational interest.” Under federal law, when land is set aside for preservation, the federal government is given a federal reserve water right, often called the Winters Doctrine. While no quantified amount of water is set aside in a federal reserve water right, the government claims “water then unappropriated to the extent needed to accomplish the purpose of the reservation.” The era of compromises ended in 2001. As the Clinton presidency came to a close, the Department of the Interior directed the Department of Justice to file a quantified federal reserve water right claim in the Black Canyon. On Jan. 18, 2001, Department of Justice attorney David Gehlert filed the claim in Montrose. Trying to mimic the natural cycles of the river, the filing wants water in the canyon to increase in the spring and decrease in the fall. This is how the river operated before Blue Mesa and other dams were constructed on the Gunnison River. But many feel the 2001 filing was politically motivated and potentially harmful to water users in the basin. Ranchers in the Upper Gunnison Basin have reason to be concerned about a reserve water right in the Black Canyon. The park was created in 1933, giving the reserve water right that priority date. A majority of the water rights on ranches in the Upper Gunnison Basin have a 1941 priority date, which is junior to the federal reserve water right. “It would impact the entire economy of the basin,” McClow said. McClow said most ranchers in the basin have two priority dates. A water judge first adjudicated the basin in 1906, but the quantity of water was calculated based on Front Range soils. Soils in the Upper Gunnison are gravely and drain faster than on the Front Range. To compensate for the difference, Gunnison ranchers were given a second decree that was three times the original decree in 1941....
Wilderness measure an exercise in compromise A locally crafted, congressionally endorsed plan to protect more than 40,000 acres north of Yosemite could be a case study in how a divided Congress handles wilderness. It's called compromise, and it can be a delicate affair. The striking new plan will let snowmobile enthusiasts roar around on more than 10,000 acres near Sonora Pass. Black bears, mountain lions and wintering bald eagles can remain secluded in the protected wilderness. Pacific Crest Trail hikers can be comforted knowing development won't impinge on their High Sierra treks. A House committee soon will review the new proposal, but pride of authorship resides beyond Capitol Hill. It's a coalition of Californians who put aside their historic antagonisms to negotiate the package, acre by acre. "It's really the way it should be done," said Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy....
More animal-human conflict feared For eight months the 4-year-old male mountain lion roamed back and forth from the Tortolitas to the Catalinas. Sometimes it journeyed 15 miles in a day; sometimes it hung out in one mountain range for a week. One September evening shortly after sunset, the lion padded through SaddleBrooke Country Club just north of Tucson. Two other times, it came to within 600 yards of a golf course in Oro Valley's Rancho Vistoso development. But mostly, the big cat stayed as far from people as it could and ventured near them only under cover of darkness. Over the past year, University of Arizona researchers have tracked the daily moves of that lion and 10 others across the mountains ringing Tucson — although three of the radio-collared lions have since died. All the lions generally avoided populated areas, researchers say — but they did roam through or near several swaths where development is planned and up to tens of thousands of new homes could be built. The research raises questions about mountain lions' future here as metro Tucson's population heads to 1 million and more. The cats — which can thrill and frighten in the same instant when glimpsed in the wild — are already thought to be in jeopardy in the Tucson Mountains on the West Side. The study also suggests that continued growth in areas where lions live could spark future conflicts of the kind that prompted a controversial lion hunt two years ago in popular Sabino Canyon on the Northeast Side....
Wetlands Rules Clearer But Still Murky A U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month involving the regulatory reach of the Clean Water Act did not provide a clear-cut line of separation between protecting landowner’s rights and government jurisdiction. Nor did the ruling reaffirm the current system that federalizes nearly every drop of water that falls on private property. While there were no lines drawn in the sand, the ruling did clarify that the government must prove there is a significant connection between water on a property owner’s land and a navigable water. Landowners have long lived with overly expansive control federal over wetlands, which seems to shift as sporadically as the wind blows. Farmers and ranchers have even been affected by big brother’s hands reaching into their cornfields and pastures. The government has extended the same Clean Water Act protections it gives to rivers and lakes to low spots and depressions in farm fields that a child could easily skip across. Because of this, U.S. agriculture has long advocated the need for a common-sense standard that the public can understand....
A million acres and growing The Big Sandy Creek wends its way across the Chauvet Ranch, providing a quenching source of water for the Black Angus herd on hot summer days. The problem is cattle are tough on fragile riparian areas along the creek's banks. The solution — strategically placed tanks that give thirsty cows another way to get water. Water tanks are just one aspect of a new grazing plan put together by the Undaunted Stewardship plan adopted by the Chauvet Ranch. The ranch is among 19 recently certified by the program, which is jointly managed by Montana State University-Bozeman, the Bureau of Land Management and the Montana Stockgrowers Association. "We put in a pipeline to move water and are using a better grazing distribution," said Shane Chauvet, who ranches with his parents, Darrell and Betty Jo Chauvet. "It's a plan to try to help us operate in ways that are more environmentally friendly." Now in its fifth year, Undaunted Stewardship was originally a reaction to the designation of the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument. Ranchers argued that their good stewardship is key to preserving Montana's landscapes and said the designation was not needed. Named for Stephen Ambrose's book "Undaunted Courage," the best known part of the program focuses on ranches dotting the Lewis and Clark trail....
Is organic food the real deal? More and more shoppers are forking out extra money for organic foods to avoid chemicals, eat healthy and support the environment. But the USDA Organic label, stamped on foods as diverse as cookies, milk and mangos, may not be a mark the public can always trust. Organic food is supposed to be free of most chemical pest killers, fertilizers, antibiotics, hormones and genetic engineering. Organic farmers and ranchers must enrich the soil and be kind to animals; chickens should strut outside and cows should regularly graze. But a Dallas Morning News analysis has found that the United States Department of Agriculture does not know how often organic rules are broken and has not consistently taken action when potential violations were pointed out. "The USDA has failed to enforce the regulations," said Jim Riddle, former chairman of the National Organics Standards Board and an appointed adviser to the USDA when the organic standards were enacted in 2002....
Five Minutes With Alisa Ogden Ok, this is a busy woman. The interview was delayed for 15 minutes while she wrestled with some state officials and a representative of an oil and gas company over fair compensation for an oil spill on her ranch. Considering “surface” land owner rights in a state that grants carte blanch to mining interests is one of her pet projects, she came out of the discussion in an amazingly good mood. It was only after she hopped into her truck and headed back home that she had five relatively quiet moments to answer my questions. I didn’t have to ask about the mooing in the background, though. She does run a successful cattle business. So it wasn’t mooing I heard, it was music. And she also does some cotton farming, hay baling, political lobbying in Santa Fe, social work – the short list leaves me breathless. Paraphrasing the intro to the old Star Trek TV series, Alisa is a woman who just expects to go where no woman has gone before. She was possibly the first trainer to cross the gender barrier in college athletics, maybe the first girl to preside over the New Mexico Junior Cattle Growers Association and definitely the first woman elected president of the New Mexico Cattle Growers Association. She comes from a long line of strong women so her attitudes and personal expectations come naturally....
The art of a country girl Horses have been her passion for as long as she can remember, and Gene Brinlee has spent a lifetime learning how to draw and paint them. Brinlee said she was raised by artistic parents. Her mother painted and her father was a sketch artist. She can’t remember the first time she tried it. She said she’s just always been doing artwork of one type or another. Today, Brinlee is a talented fine artist, specializing in horses, and balances a commercial art business at the same time. She paints backdrops for professional photographers. She’s done several national magazine covers for “The American Quarter Horse Journal” and “Western Horseman” to name just two. She has also done greeting cards. Born and raised in the Plano area, Brinlee cut her teeth on country life with cattle and horses being very much a part of it. Now she lives on a ranch in the Ravenna area. She’s been married to her retired-rancher husband, Doug Brinlee, for 51 years and they have two grown sons, two daughters-in-law, four grandchildren and 15 registered quarter horses....
Stories about the storyteller The daughter of a well-bred, well-educated family of the Old South who grew up with First Lady Bess Truman fell madly in love with Casper Mountain and a man a decade her junior. In return, Neal Forsling gave 90 acres of her 640-acre homestead on Casper Mountain to the people of Natrona County forever as long as they would tell the tales of nature spirits -- otherwise known as witches -- forever at the annual Crimson Dawn Midsummer's Eve celebration. Forsling died in 1977 after a lifetime of looking after neighboring ranchers, grieving from the untimely death of her husband, painting and writing poetry, raising two daughters from a previous marriage, and inventing for the children stories of the spirits that entertain hundreds if not thousands of visitors at the event on the first evening of summer. "What was imagination for the children became mountain legend," Rebecca Hunt -- now lead storyteller for Midsummer's Eve -- said Sunday....
Home-grown outlaws ruled the roost in New Mexico Gov. Miguel A. Otero, speaking of New Mexico in the 1880s and 1890s, declared it had become “a catch-basin for human refuse,” pouring in from surrounding states and territories. He was referring to the innumerable desperadoes chased out of their home range, who sought refuge in the New Mexican backcountry. His statement, while true as far as it went, neglected to say New Mexico also had an abundance of home-grown outlaws. A number of them ranked high on lawmen’s “wanted” lists. New Mexico’s worst badman, by any standard of measurement, had to be Vicente Silva of Las Vegas. He made some of the godfathers of a later era look like Sunday-school teachers by comparison....