NEWS ROUNDUP

Rancher Vows Fight With Gov't Over Elk When 100 farm-raised elk fled his private hunting reserve through a bear-dug hole under the fence, owner Rex Rammell a man with a long history of locking antlers with the state didn't realize he'd wind up in the governor's crosshairs. But a month later, about 20 of the elk are dead, shot on sight under an emergency executive order from Gov. Jim Risch. About 40 have been recaptured and the rest are roaming the alfalfa fields and forest slopes on the fringe of Yellowstone National Park, home to the nation's largest herd of wild elk. Risch, joined by wildlife officials, says Rammell's elk will pollute the native gene pool and spread disease. Rammell, a veterinarian who made a career of breeding trophy bull elk for wealthy hunters and a sideshow of fighting the government, says he sold his farm and his elk and would like to run against Risch for public office in four years on a campaign against government abuses. "When people tell my story, it'd read like a novel. It's like I've gotten on the wrong side of the mafia," Rammell said of the state and public hunters who patrol the rock-cobbled roads near his ranch, taking elk in their sights. "But America will soon know that there's a mountain man out here that's not going to let the government do it."....
Wolves attack 3 heifers A Madison Valley landowner has been given a shoot-on-sight permit to kill up to two wolves. The animals badly injured three yearling heifers, who had to be euthanized. USDA Wildlife Services investigated the attacks on Sept. 19 and Sept. 22. The rancher's name was not released. The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department authorized the killing of up to two wolves by either USDA Wildlife Services or the landowner through Oct. 15. After that, the cattle will be removed from the property for the winter. "The Wedge pack is known to live on and around the property where the depredations occurred, although we don't know right now whether the Wedge Pack is responsible for the recent depredations," said Carolyn Sime, FWP wolf program coordinator....
Feds reject Idaho plan to kill wolves Federal officials have rejected Idaho's plan to kill up to 43 wolves in north-central Idaho to boost elk numbers, saying scientific data gathered by the state do not justify the action. At a recent meeting, federal officials told Steve Nadeau, Idaho Fish and Game Department's large carnivore manager, that state studies of elk declines in the Lolo region didn't adequately demonstrate wolves are the primary cause. "We agreed the wolves are playing an important role in limiting recovery. The question comes down to whether or not there's an unacceptable impact," said Jeff Foss, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service field supervisor in Boise. "Based on the information that was provided at the meeting, the service didn't feel it had enough at that time to draw (that) conclusion." The Idaho agency said the federal decision means the plan will not be put into effect this winter, but research to gather supporting data will continue. "The department would have liked to move forward by this winter," Jim Unsworth, the department's wildlife bureau chief, told The Associated Press. "That's not likely."....
Group: Work with railroad A group of landowners along Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad’s proposed coal line into Wyoming urged their neighbors Friday to start working with — not against — the railroad on land-acquisition issues. The group, called the DM&E Landowner Advisory Board, has kept a low profile in recent years. Five of the board’s seven members held a news conference Friday in Rapid City. Their message: You’ll be better off if you work out a deal with the railroad now, rather than submit to a court-ordered settlement later on. DM&E has been working nine years on its plan to upgrade and extend its main east-west line into the coalfields of northeast Wyoming. The Sioux Falls company is currently waiting for a $2.3 billion federal loan. Board member Dave Lewis of Oelrichs said he was initially a railroad opponent. But now, he is strongly in favor of the railroad. “We talked to lawyers who said, ‘You can do all kinds of things to delay the railroad and cost them extra money, but … it’s going to get built, and it makes more sense to spend your time and effort to make sure you’re adequately compensated.’ That’s the route I chose,” he said....
Feds hold up oil, gas leases in Wyo Range A federal review board has temporarily halted energy development on 20,000 acres in the Wyoming Range, siding with conservation and sportsmen who said energy leases there were sold with insufficient review. The Interior Board of Land Appeals on Thursday granted a stay on leases the Bureau of Land Management had sold in the mountains 40 miles south of Jackson. A representative of one group said that would effectively halt energy development on the land for two to three years. A number of conservation groups and a coalition of outfitters requested the stay to postpone oil and gas drilling while the board considers their appeal of leases sold to energy companies in April. The groups have also filed protests on other leases that BLM sold in June and August covering roughly 23,000 acres in the area. Conservationists called the stay good news, but said the decision is far from a victory. “It’s a temporary halt on leasing until the board makes a decision on the merits of the appeal,” said Wyoming Outdoor Council attorney Lisa McGee. “It's an opportunity to slow down....
Growing pains Army’s proposed expansion of Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site may imperil historical and prehistoric treasures in Southeast Colorado. The Army’s decision to transfer 8,000 additional troops to Fort Carson and also make the Mountain Camp the training headquarters for reserve soldiers and National Guard troops west of the Mississippi River is having a ripple effect across Southern Colorado. The plans coincide with the Army’s proposed expansion of its Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site, a 240,000-acre training ground for troops, by 418,000 acres. The Army contends it needs more land to accommodate its broader mission and that private landowners who are willing to sell their land for the expansion are silent supporters of the proposal, which is currently undergoing review by Army brass. Farmers, ranchers and local governments across Southern Colorado are fighting the proposal. Opponents fear dire economic consequences will accompany the loss of their land in a region already buffeted by the lingering effects of drought and agricultural and ranching challenges. Another aspect of the debate is the potential loss of archaeological and fossil finds in the proposed expansion area....
Prairie legacy The Purgatoire River snakes through the dusty vistas and rolling hills in the middle of endless cattle-ranching country in Southeastern Colorado. Hidden across large rock formations and sandstone bluffs on each side of this slow-flowing river are ancient Native American petroglyphs, ceremonial circles and even dinosaur footprints. On its journey to the east, the river runs through a large portion of the Davidson Ranch. Ranchers Bob and John Davidson, brothers who run their cattle operation on 44,000 acres of land about 14 miles southeast of this small farm town, say the ancient treasures that adorn their land are in trouble if the Army expands its Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site. Las Animas County is the state’s eighth cattle-producing county in the state, according to the Colorado Department of Agriculture. The county is second in terms of cow-calf operations with about 35,000 cows second only to Yuma County with 52,000. "We are not willing to sell - this land is our lives and we would be flat out retired if they took it. We couldn't start over because John is 65 and I am 62," Bob said as he drove across the hard land he loves. "My dad worked out here until he was 85. He did exactly what he wanted and he worked almost to the day he died. We want to finish our lives out here and our kids want the operation when we are done with it. We just don't want to get rid of it at any cost," he added....
Fate of historic dig hangs in the balance The fate of an 1880s homestead along the Purgatoire River is in limbo pending the Army’s decision on expanding its Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site. Minette Church, an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, has led some of the archaeological teams working at the Lopez Family Plaza some 15 miles south of La Junta. “The Lopez Family Plaza was built circa 1880 by Domacio and Loretta (de Arce) Lopez,” Church said. “They lived there until roughly 1903.” The Lopezes patented a homestead of 160 acres but their holdings gradually increased to include a school house, small cemetery and a little church, she said. “The church is of interest. They are looking to stabilize the walls because the adobe is in such bad shape,” Church said. Archaeological work began in 2003 and occurs every other summer, Church said. “The site is within a national historic district.”....
Editorial - States deserve role in roadless verdicts Coloradans know better than bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., how the state's roadless Forest Service land should be managed. That's why we were pleased when President Bush replaced President Clinton's 2001 one-size-fits-all "roadless rule" with a process that gave state officials and local stakeholders a role in devising policy. The land in question involves 58.5 million acres in 38 states and Puerto Rico, including 4.1 million in Colorado. A bipartisan task force, after months of work, submitted its recommendations to Gov. Bill Owens just last week. It recommended keeping nearly all of Colorado's designated areas roadless, with very limited exceptions. Owens, in turn, was to have submitted the state's petition to the federal government by November. Was it all for nothing? On Wednesday, a U.S. magistrate judge in San Francisco ruled that the Bush policy was invalid because the Forest Service had not completed the proper environmental analyses. "We simply should not have a federal magistrate in San Francisco unilaterally dictating natural resource policy for the entire country," Owens said, and he's right. The Forest Service is part of the Department of Agriculture, which is considering whether to appeal the ruling by Judge Elizabeth Laporte. It should. The argument that the environmental impact of state policies has to be studied before the states have decided what policies they prefer is rather odd, especially since Laporte conceded that the Forest Service did have authority to adopt a localized approach to forest protection, rather than a single nationwide policy, "provided that it follows the proper procedures."....
Idaho submits its petition Gov. Jim Risch says he has a plan for roadless areas in Idaho's federal forests that will help save them from the wildfires that burned an area larger than the state of Rhode Island in 2006. Environmentalists say the governor is blowing smoke. At a news conference this week, Risch unveiled the state's request for changes to U.S. Forest Service management plans for 9.3 million acres of roadless areas here -- more pristine forest land under federal management than any other state in the lower 48. His 69-page petition would ban road-building on 3.1 million acres, even as it allows some development in the remainder, including building temporary roads to allow timber harvests to remove beetle-killed trees that boost fire danger. "Fire is the result of fuel build-up," Risch said. "I'm tired of breathing this smoke." Under Idaho's petition, 1.4 million acres of Forest Service territory would be designated "wildland" and would closely parallel existing federal wilderness areas, where no roadbuilding is allowed. That portion includes 315,000 acres currently slated to become wilderness in the Boulder and White Cloud mountains of central Idaho. Another 1.7 million acres would be dubbed "primitive," and would get similar protections. Some 5.5 million acres would labeled "backcountry," where temporary roads could be built and logging conducted for forest health. And another 500,000 acres would be reclassified as "general," where commercial timber harvests would be allowed....
The potential in Utah's tar sands not worth the trouble, experts say Excitement over the development of Utah's tar-sands reserves has relied on the example of massive mining and refining projects in Alberta, Canada, but Utah's potential doesn't compare and may never be realized. That general conclusion, reached at an academic conference at the University of Utah this past week, came from scientists, state officials, industry representatives and environmentalists. Though not unanimous, the findings mean hopeful tar-sands developers are going to have to come up with new technologies to succeed commercially. "That's why all of us are working on new processes," said Page van Löben Sels, president of the consulting firm Performance Investors Inc. and former president of the Utah affiliate of Earth Energy Resources of Calgary, Alberta. Known as oil sands in Canada, tar sands contain bitumen - residual fossil oil trapped in rock - which can be processed to make asphalt and crude oil, then refined to produce gasoline and diesel. There are an estimated 3 trillion barrels of oil in tar sands in the world. About 650 billion barrels are in North America, most in the Athabasca field in Alberta. Southeast Utah is thought to have 12 billion to 40 billion barrels of potential petroleum locked in sandstone formations, mostly around Vernal in Uintah County. Utah's tar sands comprise 274,000 acres. About 74 percent of those acres are public land, with federal lands making up about 71.6 percent, said Jim Kohler, solid minerals chief for the state Bureau of Land Management. It is unknown how much of that potential would be recoverable....
How deep can you dig? If you've never been in a 300-ton haul truck, just find a two-story home and sit at a window on the top floor with a steering wheel in your hands. It's like driving a house. After a while you forget about the huge wheels below your seat, and it feels like a low-flying aircraft in slow motion -- until you dive into the pit. You begin to feel small again. The loud whir of brakes sounds like a time machine as you descend down a wide passage carved through 60 million years of geologic layering. Soon your large home on wheels is dwarfed under earthen highwalls that stretch more than 200 feet upward to the unseen surface above. When major strip mining began here in Campbell County 30 years ago, mines chewed on the shallow edges of the coal outcrop, removing about one unit of dirt for every unit of coal. But the coal seams here dive westward to depths beyond 2,000 feet between the Powder River and Buffalo. Today, some "strip ratios" are more like 5 to 1, and soon it will be 6 to 1, according to the Wyoming Bureau of Land Management....
Governor wants lease-buyback bill Gov. Dave Freudenthal has asked the state's congressional delegation to consider sponsoring legislation to buy back some natural gas leases in southwest Wyoming's Jack Morrow Hills to protect the Red Desert area from energy development. In a letter to U.S. Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., dated Aug. 18, Freudenthal wrote that a voluntary lease-buyback program could be implemented as a "management tool" if supported by congressional action. "Your support would provide options that would allow the rich natural resources of Wyoming, including the Jack Morrow Hills area, to remain protected," the governor wrote. The letter was obtained by Friends of the Red Desert, a conservation group. But Thomas said he still believes the federal management plan for the Jack Morrow Hills that was approved this summer needs to be given time before any changes are made or special protections are adopted. Conservationists said they were heartened by the governor's endorsement of some sort of special protection for the Jack Morrow Hills area. They said the best way to achieve that was to establish a federal "national conservation area" designation for the hills....
Appeals court rules against converting farm to wetlands State plans to remake Colusa County farmland as wetlands took another blow when a state appeals court upheld a 2004 decision blocking the takeover of the Traynham Ranch east of Arbuckle. The 3rd District Court of Appeal in Sacramento rejected the appeal by the Wildlife Conservation Board and Department of Fish and Game. Both agencies sought to turn 235 acres they purchased in 2001 into wildlife habitat, but a year later the California Farm Bureau Federation and the county sued to prevent the change. Colusa County Judge John Tiernan sided with the Farm Bureau and the county in 2004. The appeals court upheld Tiernan. “This project is not a mere passive change in use, a cessation of farming on the property. This project involves the physical reshaping of the land to create wetlands and uplands for habitat,” the appeals court said in a 46-page decision posted Friday on its Web site. The state agencies “consistently took the position the loss of agricultural land was not itself an adverse environmental impact, but the state agencies do not point us to any evidence in the record showing they considered the potential environmental impacts from the management plan and the construction and maintenance of this new habitat,” the court said. The state could not convert the lands without environmental review, the appeals court ruled, saying even the restoration of farmland to a more “natural” state has long-term effects on people and nearby farms that must be studied....
Vegas growth pushes up against pig farm When Bob Combs began farming pigs here 43 years ago, his was the only house light for miles out in the desert, and he could safely shoot his rifle in any direction at the stray dogs that came to attack his livestock. Now, houses bump up against his 150 acres of farm land on all sides. The city around him, North Las Vegas, is the second fastest-growing in the United States. "They keep moving in towards me all the time," said Combs, a lanky 67-year-old with a slow drawl. Neither odor complaints nor the million-dollar offers from developers have gotten him to move. Combs says his R.C. Farms has a higher mission than just producing pork. Thousands of his pigs eat food scraps from the biggest casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip, recycling tons of material that would have gone to waste, and his mission statement claims: "Through recycling we are assisting in one aspect of God's greatest creation ... life." "I want to be recognized as a community asset and not a public nuisance," he said. But many nearby residents and the mayor of North Las Vegas portray Combs' farm as a smelly relic that is getting in the way of progress....
Tatum Cow Pasture Golf Course It’s possible to play golf among cow patties and coyotes at Tatum’s “cow pasture golf course. Located about an hour south of Roosevelt County, down Highway 206, it has unique fairways and greens. Two years ago, Tatum Schools Superintendent T.J. Parks got together with some of his board members, who were ranchers, and came up with the idea of a golf course in a cow pasture. Instead of dealing with such typical hazards as sand bunkers and lakes, visitors to this 9-hole course will be tested by such obstacles as mesquite bushes and barbed-wire fences. And the gallery observing golfers navigating the course is likely to be full of horses and cows. Parks says even those who may not be scratch golfers or are new to the sport will enjoy themselves because this golf course is the great equalizer....
Association honors rancher Joe Flores wants to keep the Old West alive. "Anything you can do on horseback is where I want to be," said the Stratford resident. His work with the Ranching Heritage Association stretches back to 1973, and the group honored him Saturday with a Founders Award. "Joe is one of those people who has a great passion for history as it pertains to the development of the Old West and Texas, in particular. He loves the old-timers who lived the life and tell the stories about it," said Marsha Pfluger, associate director of the National Ranching Heritage Center in Lubbock. "To honor him with this award is a real pleasure and a great honor." Pfluger also cited Flores' long-standing membership in the association, service on its board and knack for developing new members as more reasons for him to get the award....
Legacy left unwritten John Marsh must have figured he had nothing to fear on that crisp September afternoon in 1856 when he rode his buggy toward Martinez from his vast cattle ranch near Mount Diablo. After all, Marsh, the man whose writings launched the first wagon trains to California, was no pushover. The barrel-chested doctor and cattle baron had learned Latin and Greek at Harvard College and how to hang a horse thief on the Western frontier. He had survived Indian wars, capture by Comanches and wilderness explorations with mountain men before becoming the first U.S. citizen to settle in Contra Costa County, then a largely untamed part of Mexico. Even at 56 years old, with tinges of gray in his hair, Marsh could rope and shoot like a young cowboy. Marsh, however, wasn't prepared that day for a confrontation with three cowboys who caught up with him on a dirt road outside Martinez. Marsh carried grapes and a carpet bag in his buggy. The cowboys had knives, lariats and information that Marsh was packing gold. Earlier in the day, two of the cowboys had helped Marsh round up cattle that he sold for $4,000....
On the Edge of Common Sense: Wild Australian bullock a local legend "I've finally caught the wild bullock," Marian told Dave over the phone. "Bring a big gun!" she said. It was a bright summer morning when Dave pulled into Marian's stock farm in the northern part of New South Wales bush country. "He's real nervous," she explained. "He's with the bull. Ya need the big gun 'cause ya won't get a second shot. The bull will be maddened by the smell of blood and will charge ya!" She hid Ken and Doug behind the woodshed. Dave sat in the left-hand passenger side of the quarter-ton ute. Marian drove into the small pasture and eased to within 20 meters of the suspicious pair of bovine. The bull was large, but the 6-year-old Shorthorn bullock was XXL. At least 1000 kilograms. "Now," instructed Marian, "I can't bear to watch so as soon as you shoot, shout, 'Got 'im!' Or 'Drive like 'ell!' "....