NEWS ROUNDUP

Slough going The battle over the Bitterroot Valley’s Mitchell Slough, and its implications for the state’s Stream Access law, is heading into the next arena. On July 12, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks and the Bitterroot River Protection Association announced they were appealing District Judge Ted Mizner’s May ruling that the slough is not a natural body of water, and thus not open to the public. In his decision, Mizner stated that 130 years ago Mitchell Slough might have been considered a natural body of water under the Montana Stream Access Law, but today “…the channel itself is so changed that it can no longer be considered a natural channel even though some portions of the channel are still in identifiable historic locations.” Bob Lane, lead attorney for FWP, says that’s the point at the heart of the state’s appeal. Russ McElyea, a Bozeman attorney for the Montana Farm Bureau, says farmers, ranchers and landowners are investing a lot of money to improve their land. He says as real estate prices go up, landowners are more inclined to spend money on improving wildlife habitat. “They’re spending money on things like taking a ditch and turning it into a trout fishery that didn’t previously exist as a trout fishery,” he says. “They want to protect their investment. They’re not making the investment for public benefit, they’re making it for their benefit.”....
In Northwest water clash, a push to talk A variation on that tune might be the anthem of the Klamath River Basin in Oregon and California, as farmers and fishermen work out their relationship in an era of troubled community economics and limited natural resources in parts of the American West. Except in this case, they really do have growing concern for each other's livelihood as the region sorts through its longstanding problem of allocating contested water supplies. Farmers who rely on irrigation at the headwaters of the Klamath, and downstream commercial fishermen who gather their catch in the area where the river empties into the Pacific, are being urged to change their work and way of life to benefit endangered fisheries. Some of this involves the work of the Nature Conservancy and other means of purchasing development rights - irrigation allotments in the case of farmers, fishing permits and even boats in the case of fishermen. But it's a complicated business also involving sovereign Indian tribes with treaty rights including water: those who traditionally harvest what have become greatly diminished suckerfish populations in Klamath Lake in Oregon, and Pacific Coast tribes in California that fish for dwindling salmon stocks. Now, the US departments of Interior, Commerce, and Agriculture, plus the White House Council on Environmental Quality, are being asked to hold a regional "summit" out here to address longstanding water issues in the Klamath Basin. Rep. Greg Walden (R) of Oregon - through whose sprawling, mostly rural district the Klamath flows - is organizing the effort....
Agency providing more aid for livestock water supplies North Dakota is offering more aid to help parched ranchers provide water for their livestock, though officials say its usefulness is limited unless more water well drillers begin working in the drought-ravaged southwest. The state Water Commission voted Thursday to double the amount of aid in a drought disaster livestock watering program from $200,000 to $400,000. Individual ranchers may qualify for up to $10,500 in aid, up from $3,500. Dale Frink, the commission's chief engineer, said the initial $200,000 allocation is already spoken for, and dozens of calls are coming in daily with inquiries. The commission also decided Thursday to allow program grants to be spent on electric pumps and hookups, abolish a requirement for a written estimate of the cost of a water supply project, and allow 180 days, instead of 60, to complete it....
3 PLEAD GUILTY TO ECOTERRORISM FIREBOMBINGS Three people pleaded guilty Thursday to charges they were part of an ecoterrorism cell calling itself ''The Family'' that firebombed a ranger station, lumber mills, wild horse corrals and two meat packing plants. As part of the plea agreement, the three agreed to cooperate in the continuing investigation of 10 others who are scheduled to go on trial Oct. 31 in U.S. District Court in Eugene, Ore., for a series of firebombings around the Northwest from 1996 to 2001, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. ''This is a substantial step in resolution of this case and successful prosecution of the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front in these crimes,'' said Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Peifer from Eugene. The two shadowy groups claimed responsibility for the attacks at the time. In pleading guilty, the three admitted they tried to intimidate and coerce federal agencies, private businesses and the public through sabotage and mass destruction, the Justice Department said in a statement....
Green Scare Target Zach Jenson Pleads Guilty, Snitches on Friend In January, three people in their twenties were arrested in California for allegedly planning to sabotage a power station, cell-phone tower, and a US Forest Service facility. A press release from U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott states Zachary Jenson, 20, of Monroe, WA, pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of conspiracy and agreed to testify against his friend and alleged co-conspirator, Eric McDavid, age 28. Jenson will be sentenced October 3rd, and may be freed on bail Friday. Lauren Weiner, 23, made the same deal in May. She is now free pending her sentencing hearing August 8. The FBI accused the three of planning the sabotage in the name of the Earth Liberation Front, an underground network that targets developers, logging companies, and government agencies that destroy wilderness and wildlife habitat. enson and Weiner have named McDavid as the supposed ringleader. McDavid remains in custody at the Sacramento County jail, where he has resorted to hunger strikes in order to receive vegan meals. His supporters say he has been held in a Total Separation Unit, meaning that he spends almost all his time alone in a solitary cell. Earth Liberation Prisoners Support Network, an advocacy group “supporting all who do not compromise in defense of Mother Earth,” lists both McDavid and Jenson on its website, but its policy states “we DO NOT support people that provide information to law enforcement or snitch on allies or co-defendants.” Prisoners who testify against others are dropped from the support list. A paid FBI infiltrator known as “Anna” is responsible for the bulk of the evidence against Jenson, Weiner and McDavid. She provided the funds to rent a house for the group near Auburn, California, which was wired to record the conversations inside....
Lightning hits house, leaves hole in ceiling Lois Barber was house-sitting at her son's Antelope Valley residence on Edelweiss Lane this week when a most unwelcome intruder barged in. A bolt of lightning apparently traveled down the pipe of a wood-burning stove, startling the 75-year-old woman and the Topaz Lake Volunteer Fire Department crew outside on structure protection in the Jackass Flat fire. "I just got done talking to my son," Barber said. "I hadn't even put the phone down when I heard a sound so loud, I thought the house had exploded. "The first thing I saw was all this spackle stuff was everywhere. Then I noticed the hole in the ceiling. I didn't know exactly what was going on, but I was afraid maybe the house was going to catch fire."....
Thriving cheatgrass poses high wildfire danger to region Cheatgrass is flourishing in some areas scorched two years ago by the Waterfall Fire and presents a high fire danger this summer, a U.S. Forest Service official warned recently. Grasses planted at higher elevations within a year after the Waterfall Fire have taken root and cheatgrass is not flourishing there, Pemberton said, but that could change. The watershed seems to be recovering from the Waterfall Fire as water used for drinking in Carson City needs less treatment, city officials said. And the battle against noxious weeds continues as 100 goats were brought in from Fallon to eat Russian knapweed in Kings Canyon Meadow. The Linehan Complex fire was largely cheatgrass-driven and a situation exists for a similar fire in the lower areas west of Carson City, Pemberton said....
Vibrating trucks to help locate gas Seismic testing in the Clark area next month will include the use of two 17-ton "thumper trucks" in up to 200 spots where explosive charges cannot be placed. Bruce Fulker, vice president of permit services for Quantum Geophysical, told about 15 members of the Clark Resource Council this week of plans to use the vehicles. Also known as vibroseis trucks, the vehicles are equipped with pads that send energy into the ground, allowing the mapping of underground features to a depth of about 2,000 feet. Quantum Geophysical is conducting the study for Oklahoma-based Windsor Energy to locate gas deposits across a 47-square-mile area including U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and private lands. Project guidelines require a buffer of at least a quarter-mile between small, buried explosive charges and any "hazard spots," including structures, wells, springs or pipelines. Fulker said a hazard survey showed several areas where no charges could be set....
Some in GOP fighting Western energy drilling Western Republicans are starting to buck against oil and gas drilling on federal lands prized for their wildlife and recreational opportunities. Amid a Western energy boom promoted by the Bush administration, Republican officeholders from Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico and California recently have called for bans on drilling and other development on large blocs of national forest lands in their states. Critics of drilling say their objections reflect growing opposition among traditionally conservative voters. "You are seeing more and more opposition from people who are concerned about hunting, about fishing, about drinking water supplies, about a state's way of life," says Chris Wood, vice president for conservation of Trout Unlimited, a national fish conservation group. Mark Rey, the Bush administration's undersecretary of Agriculture who oversees the U.S. Forest Service, says the recent objections do not represent a Western revolt against drilling, but rather a general concern that "development is done sensitively and well."....
HD drilling upsets Bayfield board Bayfield Town Board members have expressed their dismay over a U.S. Forest Service decision to allow gas drilling in roadless areas of the HD Mountains. "Your pretty pictures, simply put, are nothing but window dressing on the fact that you're not going to honor our request," said Niel Hieb, a Town Board member. The towns of Bayfield and Ignacio, the city of Durango and counties of La Plata and Archuleta all passed resolutions asking the Forest Service to bar gas drilling in roadless areas and in a 1.5-mile buffer zone near the outcrop. The resolutions were passed during a public comment period for the Forest Service's environmental impact statement. But Forest Service officials said they have no legal rationale to refuse to honor leases that were signed with the intent of gas development. The HDs hold an estimated 2.5 trillion cubic feet of gas, with the potential to produce $15 billion in gross revenue for gas companies....
Boom Times in Wyoming, and Worrying Times as Well Wyoming knows a boom when it sees one because it has seen them before. And, to its credit, the state is trying to find a way to feed some of its revenue into programs that will help even out the shock when the boom busts — or simply tapers off. It is putting large sums into its Permanent Mineral Trust Fund, which collects a portion of the severance tax paid for Wyoming minerals, and it is adding to what it calls its Legislative Stabilization Reserve, a temporary savings account. The state has at last created a wildlife trust fund first proposed in 1982 but regularly defeated in the State Legislature, and it has endowed scholarship programs and the building of new schools. It’s hard to argue with prosperity, but a lot of people in Wyoming are worrying about its ultimate costs. Over the past few years, for instance, the rush to develop coal-bed methane, a process that involves extracting methane from water pumped out of coal seams, has done enormous harm to the landscape of the Powder River Basin in north-central Wyoming and to the reputation of the petroleum industry. In the western part of the basin, near Sheridan, many of the companies that rushed in to dig coal-bed wells have gone belly up, leaving the state, or no one, to pay the costs of mitigating the damage. But the problem is bigger than that. Since George Bush took office, the federal government has turned the American West into a gas and oil open house. In nearly every Western state, the Bureau of Land Management’s main function seems to be auctioning off petroleum leases....
USFS offers deal to miner The U.S. Forest Service has offered one of Pitkin County's last miners a plea bargain to settle a dispute that erupted in December. Under terms of the proposal, Robert Congdon would plead guilty to interfering with a law enforcement officer and damaging natural features, according to Aspen District Ranger Bill Westbrook. Charges of illegal off-road vehicle use and destruction of historic resources would be dropped, Westbrook said. He stressed that a federal judge still hasn't approved the plea bargain. The deal would hinge on Congdon's reclamation of roads he created for access to the Maree Love Mine on a lower flank of Mount Sopris. He also would have to dismantle a structure he built from an old cabin on the site and newer lumber. "It looks like a large treehouse on stilts," Westbrook said. Congdon was livid when told this week that Westbrook had discussed terms of the plea bargain during a meeting with the Pitkin County commissioners. He said he had no comment on the proposed deal....
Baucus backs removal of Mike Horse Dam Sen. Max Baucus said Thursday that he supports removing the Blackfoot River's Mike Horse Dam, which consists of waste from historic mining, and wants to hear more about ways to deal with pollution at the site. The river immortalized in the Norman McLean novel "A River Runs Through It" is "part of our recreational heritage as Montanans," Baucus wrote Gail Kimbell, the U.S. Forest Service's regional director in Missoula. "Unfortunately, the Mike Horse Dam on the Blackfoot River threatens this gem of the Treasure State." In 1975, toxic releases from the earthen dam flowed downstream and killed thousands of fish. The Montana Democrat said removing the dam, east of Lincoln in an area managed by the Forest Service, appears best for the upper Blackfoot. Baucus requested the Forest Service extend by 30 days its Aug. 16 deadline for public comment on options for dealing with the Mike Horse site. "It is important that the Forest Service work with the local community to get the cleanup right the first time," Baucus wrote....
Peak 8 to get more powder? Several early season “wind events” at Breckenridge last winter have led resort officials to propose the installation of about 1,200 feet of wind fence along the top of Peak 8, to protect and enhance the snow cover in the terrain served by the new Imperial Express chair, said Breckenridge spokeswoman Niki DeFord. The final placement and length of the new fence hasn’t been determined yet, but the White River National Forest recently listed the project in its quarterly update of public-land projects slated for environmental review. The idea is to optimize the skiing experience on the Peak 8 terrain, Forest Service officials said. “We’re doing some internal scoping,” said Joe Foreman, winter sports expert for the Dillon District, explaining that the evaluation for the controversial Peak 8 lift did not include a look at snow fencing. If everything “looks benign,” he said, the Forest Service would follow an approval process that doesn’t include public comment or extensive environmental review. In other projects, when snow fencing is proposed above treeline, the Forest Service has looked at a variety of issues, including how the added accumulation of snow might affect the high-alpine tundra and the hydrology of the area. A fence might also provide a perch for raptors in an area where there was none before, with potential impacts to small mammal populations....
Salazar, others accuse feds of flailing on fires Sen. Ken Salazar complained Wednesday that lack of money has stymied most of the projects to treat bark beetle-damaged forests in Colorado to reduce wildfire risk. Salazar's criticism came as senators from Western states scolded Bush administration officials for what they said was the slow pace of efforts to decrease the risk of catastrophic fires. "You've got big chunks of the West that are on fire," Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said at the hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. "We cannot afford foot dragging." Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., warned Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management officials that "there will be hell to pay" if any New Mexico towns burn because federal agencies lagged in preparing for forest fires....
Fire prevention efforts too slow, senators say With wildfires raging in the West, senators of both parties slammed the Interior Department and Forest Service on Wednesday for carrying out wildfire prevention work on less than half of 1 percent of land set for treatment under the Healthy Forest Restoration Act of 2003. With only about 77,000 acres treated out of the 20 million acres identified by the legislation, senators said it would take the administration more than 200 years to carry out the law at the current rate. No acreage in Montana and Wyoming has been treated under the act, witnesses said. "The implementation of this is light years away from the U.S. Senate vision of what was to be done," said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. "I just consider that unacceptable. We have big chunks of the West on fire. We just cannot afford foot-dragging." Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., said at the Senate Energy Committee hearing that there haven't been any projects in Wyoming to this point despite the potential for wildfires in the forests there. Thomas later called the Forest Service's inaction unacceptable and said it "could compromise people's safety and make firefighting efforts that much harder."....
Parker refutes Forest Service position Roy Parker said Wednesday that Ski Apache officials were told they needed no permit for wells drilled at the elevation selected for two designed to supplement four existing wells on U.S. Forest Service land. The former manager of the ski resort owned by the Mescalero Apache Tribe was reacting to a Lincoln County Commission session Tuesday about an application filed by Forest Service officials for a supplemental wells permit from the State Engineer's Office. Buck Sanchez, who heads the Smokey Bear Ranger District of the Lincoln National Forest, said the agency was not aware of the two new wells until they were discovered by Juan Hernandez with the Roswell SEO field office. The resort is situated on tribal and Forest Service land under a special use permit. "The Forest Service knew and we were told at that altitude, no permits were necessary. That's just the way it was. I don't care what the county commissioners say," Parker said. "We had a licensed well driller do it and we checked along the way. Now after the fact, they are saying that a permit was necessary."....
State lacks funds to check if fish are safe to eat New Mexico's 314,000 anglers each spend an average of 11 days a year in pursuit of trout, bass, catfish and other species in lakes and rivers around the state. But are the fish they catch safe to eat? The New Mexico Environment Department cannot answer that question with any certainty for most waters in the state. However, the agency's lone fisheries biologist, Gary Schiffmiller, has been able to scrape together some grant money from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other sources over the past few years to begin testing fish from a handful of the state's waters. Schiffmiller's most recent work has been funded by a $150,000 federal grant, which was enough to collect and test about 50 composite samples of fish at $3,000 per study. As the results have come in from each study, it's been more and more bad news almost everywhere he's looked. This year, channel catfish in Abiquiú Lake, carp in Cochiti Lake and catfish and carp in stretches of the Rio Grande near Los Alamos, were found to be unsafe to eat because they are contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, a group of industrial chemicals suspected of causing cancer and other serious health problems....
Search-and-devour mission At a lake outside Yosemite, my pals Jane and Steve went to bed knowing they had protected their food with a perfect "bear hang." Yet, for hours they listened to a black bear smack its lips as it finished off a week's worth of food - and urinated on anything it didn't eat. Unless you want a very short backcountry trip, you must protect your food from critters, especially Ursus americanus. And I hate to break it to you, but Yogi has one up on us: We aren't smarter than the average bear. The Yosemite ranger guffawed two years ago when I told him that, although I had a bear canister, I was considering hanging some of my backpacking food. Indeed, national parks now cite campers who leave food unattended or in view in their car; my friend Dan got a warning for leaving a coffee cup on his picnic table in Yellowstone....
When art and farming collide (in a good way) In Goldendale, art and agriculture have cross-pollinated into an exhibit titled "Sustaining Change on the American Farm: An Artist-Farmer Exchange." The art/educational exhibition is a partnership between the Maryhill Museum of Art and the American Farmland Trust. In 2003, the two organizations began searching out 12 Northwest artists to pair with 12 farmers and ranchers in Washington, Oregon and Idaho who have proven to be good conservation stewards of the land. (Each year, the American Farmland Trust's conservation districts give awards to agriculturally based businesses and individuals for practicing environmentally sound farming methods. The artists then spent nearly a year observing, experiencing and learning about the challenges farmers face. The resulting exhibition of their work looks at what the farmers do to conserve natural resources and heritage while making allowances for the needs of a growing population....
Cowboys Get Their Day A resolution recently passed by the state legislature names Saturday as "National Day of the American Cowboy." The resolution, which was authored by District 12 state Senator Jeff Denham (R-Merced), who represents San Benito County, passed both houses of the legislature late last month. "The cowboy embodies honesty, integrity, courage, compassion, respect, patriotism, a strong work ethic and continues to play a significant role in America's culture and economy," Denham said. "The cowboy loves, lives off of and depends on the land and its creatures." Local cowboy and rancher John Hodges said he appreciated the recognition. "I think that's an excellent idea," he said. Hodges added, however, that its becoming tougher and tougher for ranchers to make it in California because of encroaching development and an ever-increasing cost of doing business. "These days, if you really want to be a cowboy you have to go to Wyoming or Nebraska," he said. There are about 800,000 ranchers in the United States, according to the resolution, and rodeo is the sixth most popular sport....
National Cowboy Day suited for Agoura Hills The steadfast lives of cowboys and cowgirls have been glorified in television, film and books for decades, but an act of Congress has transformed the rough and ready cowboy into an American icon that should be admired, celebrated and acknowledged. Agoura Hills Mayor Denis Weber read a congressional resolution at last week's city council meeting that proclaimed July 22 as the National Day of the American Cowboy. Dave Thornbury, Buck Wicall and Sharon Brumnett accepted the proclamation on behalf of all of the cowboys and cowgirls that reside in the city. The proclamation captured the many facets of the cowboy spirit. It stated that "pioneering men and women, recognized as cowboys, helped establish the American West," and the cowboy spirit exemplifies "sound family values and good common sense." The decree also noted that cowboys embody honesty, integrity, courage, compassion, respect, a strong work ethic and patriotism....