NEWS ROUNDUP
Game warden access an issue again A newly elected lawmaker said she'll offer a bill in the 2007 South Dakota Legislature that would require game wardens to ask for permission before going on private land. Rep.-elect Betty Olson, R-Prairie City, said officers could still enter private property if they have a reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing or get a tip about it. But she says game wardens should not be allowed to just drive onto someone's land to look for hunters who may or may not be doing something illegal. The right of game wardens to go onto private land comes from a policy called the open-fields doctrine. Legislators have tried to repeal it twice in recent years. "I'm hoping that ... both houses will decide that Game, Fish and Parks (should) show the common courtesy of asking before they trespass," said Olson. Gov. Mike Rounds and administrators with the GF&P have weighed in heavily in opposition to limiting access to private property for law officers, which probably played a large role in the bill's past failures, according to state House Majority Leader Larry Rhoden....
Group to gov: Don't 'interfere' The Equality State Policy Center on Tuesday criticized the governor's office and Wyoming attorney general, saying they're interfering with efforts to regulate negative impacts of water discharged from coal-bed methane wells. Last week, Gov. Dave Freudenthal's administration blasted a citizen board known as the Environmental Quality Council for proceeding with rulemaking that could force state regulators to tighten controls on coal-bed methane water. The Powder River Basin Resource Council brought the request on behalf of its rancher members, whose lands are being damaged or flooded by poor quality water. To date, many ranchers have found no regulatory relief as state agencies claim the problem is another agency's responsibility, or that no agency has the authority to address it....
Spaceport inks deal with ranchers The state has entered into long-term agreements that will allow New Mexico's spaceport to co-exist with ranching operations in the area. The New Mexico Spaceport Authority has finalized agreements with two Sierra County ranching operations, giving the yet-to-be-built Spaceport America, 45 miles north of Las Cruces, access to 18,000 acres of leased land. Bar Cross Ranch and Lewis Cain Ranch will each be paid more than $600,000 as an initial payment in return for access to the land by the spaceport. The ranches are owned by Ben and Jane Cain and Phil and Judy Wallin. The ranchers currently lease 90,000 acres from both the state and federal government, said New Mexico Economic Development Secretary Rick Homans....
Off the forest -- for now A homeless man, found guilty in November of letting his horses damage forest vegetation and shed their waste near waterways, was sentenced last week to nine months' probation, ordered to keep his livestock off national forests until next fall, and pay $105 in court costs. Terrence “Terry” Amrein, 60, had faced 18 months in jail and $15,000 in fines for offenses arising from his camping with horses in the Bridger-Teton National Forest. And throughout his latest legal drama, Amrein has put the justice system on trial. Dressed in a brown three-piece suit and shiny black boots last week, Amrein accused officials, present and past, of selective prosecution, even persecution. But it was Lubing’s verdict on Amrein’s “penchant for challenging authority” at trial that inspired the defendant’s continued rhetorical examination. “It’s true,” Amrein said last week. “I do identify authority that is incorrect or corrupt. And I feel that it’s a duty of an American citizen to call that out.”....
Clean Water Act faces legal challenge CropLife America (CLA) and Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment (RISE) have filed a legal challenge seeking to broaden the scope of the recent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) final rule that clarifies when pesticides can be applied without first obtaining a Clean Water Act (CWA) permit. “The EPA rule, while a step in the right direction, only applies to aquatic uses and forest canopy applications of pesticides,” said Jay Vroom, president and CEO of CropLife America. “Our challenge to the EPA is to expand the rule to all pesticides, including production agricultural uses of beneficial crop protection products and other essential uses of pesticides.” CLA has maintained that FIFRA - the primary law governing the application of pesticides -effectively regulates pesticide applications on, over and near “waters of the U.S.” Further, CLA takes the position that FIFRA regulation is sufficient to ensure the safety of all pesticide uses, not just those subject to EPA’s new rule. Labeling requirements under FIFRA are imposed to protect human health and the environment. This position was supported by others in the agricultural community and by public health officials in the two rounds of public comments solicited by the EPA on this issue....
Railroad boom hits environmental, 'not in my backyard' snags Across the interstate from his ranch, the Union Pacific (UP) railroad wants to build a six-mile switching yard, part of an effort to improve its national freight service. And, this month, local officials rezoned some 10,000 acres from development sensitive to heavy industrial. They envision businesses springing up around the new yard. Burgeoning business is pushing railroads into the middle of sticky environmental disputes. On one side are environmental groups, ranchers, and landowners concerned about potential chemical spills and air pollution. On the other side are rail companies stretched to the limit - barely able to provide communities with goods. Their strategy - with national implications for reducing oil usage - is to carry more of the containers now moved by long haul truckers. But, to do this they need to build more rail yards in places such as Picacho. With large open spaces in shorter supply and business booming, railroads are locked into disputes over land use - even in what used to be the wide-open West....
Fire crew boss charged in deaths The former boss of a government firefighting crew was charged with involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of four U.S. Forest Service firefighters during a 2001 blaze, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. Prosecutors said Ellreese N. Daniels was grossly negligent in failing to order his firefighters out of harm's way as flames advanced on them. He was also charged with lying to investigators in the aftermath of the tragedy, which took place near Winthrop in July 2001. Daniels was not immediately arrested. He was scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 4. His attorney, Tina Hunt, did not immediately return a call for comment. The four firefighters were trapped in the Chewuch River Canyon with 10 other firefighters and two campers. The others were uninjured, but the four firefighters -- two men and two women -- died when the blaze swept over them as they set up their fire shelters on a rocky slope. A Forest Service investigation concluded that fire bosses had ignored numerous signs of danger, repeatedly underestimated the fire and allowed their only escape route from the dead-end canyon to be cut off....
Forest Service veterans worry about precedent The possibility of being held personally liable for actions during wildland fires has loomed over firefighters ever since four local firefighters died in the Thirtymile Fire. The prospect became reality Wednesday when federal manslaughter charges were filed against former crew boss Ellreese Daniels. U.S. Forest Service veterans believe it was the first time criminal charges had ever been filed in connection with wildland fire deaths, and said it could worsen a growing sense among firefighters that their homes, jobs and pensions aren't worth the seasonal thrill of knocking down flames. "I would think this is going to have a real chilling effect on the folks that are out there, the boots on the ground," said Jim Furnish, a retired headquarters official who led the Thirtymile fatality investigation for the Forest Service. Retired Forest Service fire investigator Dick Mangan is even more blunt, suggesting that federal prosecutors took their sweet time examining every one of Daniels' actions -- a luxury he didn't have in the midst of a 9,300-acre blaze. "Sometimes we have a decision space of 30 seconds, a minute, two minutes -- and you don't always get it right," said Mangan, a three-decade Forest Service veteran who has since served in active operations and safety posts....
Legislation Aims to Address Fire Fighting Within Growth Policies A home in the woods, with the peaceful chatter of pine squirrels and the occasional deer feeding on your flowers is a Western dream. However, protecting these dream homes has become a nightmare for the government agencies charged with fire management. Look to any Western state and the problems are similar – too many homes on the fringes of communities where wildfire is as natural as the sunrise. This often means firefighters have to put more energy in saving homes than fighting the fire. It's been a growing problem for decades. Come January, the Montana Legislature will be faced with legislation dealing with homes in the urban-wildland interface. As the legislative session looms less than two weeks away, a handful of bills are popping up that address growth and development in the interface and would change dramatically the way state and local governments deal with an already difficult problem. The essence of the bills is that counties would have to address the interface in their growth policies, subdivision regulations and eventually zoning. They would have until July of 2009 to get this done and if they failed to meet that deadline, they would lose access to the state's general fund for fire fighting costs....
Column - Why I Hate Christmas Christmas destroys the environment and innocent animals and birds. These have perhaps not been traditional concerns for economists. But when one takes account of all the Christmas trees, letters, packages, increased newspaper advertising, wrapping paper, and catalogs and cards, as well as all the animals slaughtered for feast and fur, this holiday is nothing less than a catastrophe for the entire ecosystem. According to the U.S. Forest Service, 33 million Christmas trees are consumed each year. Growing them imposes an artificially short rotation period on millions of acres of forest land, and the piles of needles they shed shorten the life of most household rugs and pets. All the trees and paper have to be disposed of, which places a heavy burden on landfill sites and recycling facilities, especially in the Northeast. This year, according to the Humane Society, at least 4 million foxes and minks will be butchered just to provide our Christmas furs. To stock our tables, the Department of Agriculture tells me, we'll also slaughter 22 million turkeys, 2 million pigs, and 2 million to 3 million cattle, plus a disproportionate fraction of the 6 billion chickens that the United States consumes each year....
President Bush signs firefighter fund bill President Bush today signed a House bill that will eliminate taxes on the donations given to the families of the five firefighters killed in October's Esperanza fire. Rep. Mary Bono, R-Palm Springs, praised the president in a statement. "Hopefully the signing of this bill by the President will bring some comfort this holiday season to the families and friends who lost their loved one as a result of the Esperanza Fire. Today is a proud day for Congress, who swiftly and unanimously supported this critical piece of legislation which safeguards the generous contributions made by many compassionate Americans." The bill grants tax relief to the families of the five Idyllwild firefighters for the money donated to them following the massive arson blaze....
Reforestation lags amid record wildfires As severe wildfires scorch more of the USA each year, the Forest Service is falling further behind in replacing trees lost to fire, insects and disease because of shrinking budgets and mounting costs of fighting the blazes. The Forest Service had a backlog of 1.1 million acres that needed replanting in 2005 — a combined area slightly larger than Rhode Island — according to the agency's latest reforestation report. Last year, it could replant only 153,000 acres. John Rosenow, president of the National Arbor Day Foundation, calls it "a double whammy — the high need (to replant) because of fires, and then the funds having to be diverted." The Forest Service had to borrow $200 million from other programs to cover firefighting costs this year. Most of that, $159 million, came from reforestation accounts, the agency says. Wildfires last year scorched almost 8.7 million acres, the highest total in more than a half-century — until this year's record 9.6 million acres burned. "I'll give you one word: crisis," says forest ecologist Tom Bonnicksen, an adviser to the Forest Foundation, a California-based group. "In California areas burned by wildfires in 2001, only 3.8% were reforested. That, to me, is a crisis."....
Local wilderness discussions move forward for Lolo National Forest Wilderness bills have changed since the Democrats last gained control of the U.S. Congress two decades ago. Where once statewide bills were all about locking up lands, there are now local, bipartisan bills that also include economic benefits for the local rural communities. “What we’re looking for,” said Gordy Sanders of Pyramid Mountain Lumber in Seeley Lake, “is the same level of certainty that the proponents of wilderness are looking for.” Just as wilderness proponents seek the certainty of Congressional protection, local community members are looking for guaranteed access to the timber supply, through such tools as 10-year stewardship contracts. Gordy confirmed what Rep. Denny Rehberg told the Chronicle earlier this month—that community members in the Seeley Ranger District have been quietly laying the groundwork for a community-wide discussion of a wilderness bill involving the upper Blackfoot. The overall package would also include restoration, as well as a long-term guaranteed source of timber for the local mill. “A number of conservation community folks have been involved in the discussion,” he said. ‘We’ve spent a couple of years visiting about how to make things work.”....
Bush signs bill banning oil, gas drilling on Front President George Bush signed a major trade and tax package Wednesday that includes a permanent ban on oil and natural gas drilling along the Rocky Mountain Front. "I'm really tickled," said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., who added the drilling ban to the omnibus bill. "It's a real feather in the cap for Montana." The drilling provision makes permanent a 1997 moratorium on Rocky Mountain Front exploration and makes it easier to retire existing leases. Over the past 50 years, the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management have issued 60 leases for oil and gas development along the Front, though none of those is actively producing. The drilling ban signed by the president would give oil and gas companies a tax break if they sell their Front leases to nonprofit groups. That break would be equal to 25 percent of the capital received by the seller. Two energy companies agreed earlier this year to sell and donate the Front mineral leases they hold. Supporters of the ban have said a permanent solution enacted by Congress would help finalize those deals....
Editorial - Off the block: BLM ignores its mission in rush to sell leases The black-footed ferret, a smallish black, brown and gray mammal with a long tail and upright ears, has, by its mere presence, accomplished what hard-working environmental lawyers have tried with limited success. It has stopped the drilling in one energy-rich area of the Uinta Basin. Those concerned about the federal pillaging of the West's open spaces can thank these endangered creatures and an Interior Department review board that determined the BLM had illegally failed to consider the ferrets' fate when it sold oil and gas leases on the Utah/Colorado border. The board rightly suspended 15 leases covering 29,000 acres, some of the last of the endangered ferret's habitat. This is not the first time the Bureau of Land Management's seemingly headlong rush to put public land on the auction block for energy development has been curbed. But it is unusual that its parent agency would do the reining in. That fact only underscores the BLM's indefensible willingness to cater to energy companies at the expense even of its own department's rules for protecting the environment. U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball ruled in August that the BLM ignored federal environmental laws and its own findings when it sold 16 leases on land the agency itself had designated Wilderness Inventory Areas. A lawsuit was necessary to bring the BLM to heel in that case....
Swift Hiring Less Hispanics After ICE Raids, Unions Say Union leaders at Swift & Co.’s Grand Island, Neb., and Greeley, Colo., plants are reporting that the processor has been hiring fewer Hispanic immigrants to replace those caught in raids by the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau last week. In Greeley, for example, union president Ernie Duran told the Associated Press on Wednesday that of 75 new workers hired, 30 were Caucasians, 15 were Somali immigrants, seven were Hispanic immigrants and the rest were U.S.-born Hispanics. However, Hispanic immigrants have continued to seek employment at the plant, Duran said. Almost 90 percent of the Greeley plant workforce was made up of Hispanics prior to the raids, Duran added, though he didn’t know how many were immigrants and how many were U.S.-born....
It’s The Pitts: Not A Friend In The World I was sitting in an airport terminal waiting for someone who was three hours late so I had time to read portions of the newspaper I usually never get around to. Like the front page. And the big news of the day? It seems that Americans don’t have near as many friends as they used to. We are turning into a nation of total strangers. The General Social Survey found that between 1985 and 2004 the average American went from three good friends down to two. Probably as a result of death, divorce or not returning a borrowed tool. One of every four Americans have absolutely no one to talk to. Not a shrink, spouse or relative. Some people have all the luck! It seems this country is turning into a nation of lonely hearts of bachelors, widows and old maids with no one to confide in. According to the study, people are meeting their new “friends” on the Internet and while that may be true I think I know the real reason that your average American can lose friends even faster than I can. Simply put, this nation of isolationists is going to the dogs. And cats, and birds, and horses. People are substituting their pets for the more traditional friends. Speaking as someone who has a lot of experience in this area, I must say that I see nothing wrong with this trend. In fact, I think it’s healthy....
Friday, December 22, 2006
Thursday, December 21, 2006
SENATOR INHOFE ANNOUNCES PUBLIC RELEASE OF “SKEPTIC’S GUIDE TO DEBUNKING GLOBAL WARMING”
Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.), the outgoing Chairman of Environment & Public Works Committee, is pleased to announce the public release of the Senate Committee published booklet entitled “A Skeptic’s Guide to Debunking Global Warming Alarmism. Hot & Cold Media Spin Cycle: A Challenge To Journalists who Cover Global Warming.” Click here to download the "Skeptic's Guide" (http://epw.senate.gov/repwhitepapers/6345050%20Hot%20&%20Cold%20Media.pdf)
The color glossy 68 page booklet -- previously was only available in hardcopy to the media and policy makers -- includes speeches, graphs, press releases and scientific articles refuting catastrophe climate fears presented by the media, the United Nations, Hollywood and former Vice President turned-foreign-lobbyist Al Gore. The “Skeptic’s Guide” includes a copy of Senator Inhofe’s 50 minute Senate floor speech http://epw.senate.gov/speechitem.cfm?party=rep&id=263759 delivered on September 25, 2006 challenging the media to improve its reporting. The ‘Skeptic’s Guide’, which has received recognition by the LA Times and Congressional Quarterly, is now available free for international distribution on the Senate Environmental & Public Works Web site (http://epw.senate.gov/w_papers.cfm?party=rep)] The book, which features web links to all supporting documentation, also serves as a handbook to identify the major players in media bias when it comes to poor climate science reporting. The guide presents a reporter’s virtual who’s-who’s of embarrassing and one-sided media coverage, with a focus on such reporters as CBS News “60 Minutes” Scott Pelley, ABC News reporter Bill Blakemore, CNN’s Miles O’Brien, and former NBC Newsman Tom Brokaw....
Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.), the outgoing Chairman of Environment & Public Works Committee, is pleased to announce the public release of the Senate Committee published booklet entitled “A Skeptic’s Guide to Debunking Global Warming Alarmism. Hot & Cold Media Spin Cycle: A Challenge To Journalists who Cover Global Warming.” Click here to download the "Skeptic's Guide" (http://epw.senate.gov/repwhitepapers/6345050%20Hot%20&%20Cold%20Media.pdf)
The color glossy 68 page booklet -- previously was only available in hardcopy to the media and policy makers -- includes speeches, graphs, press releases and scientific articles refuting catastrophe climate fears presented by the media, the United Nations, Hollywood and former Vice President turned-foreign-lobbyist Al Gore. The “Skeptic’s Guide” includes a copy of Senator Inhofe’s 50 minute Senate floor speech http://epw.senate.gov/speechitem.cfm?party=rep&id=263759 delivered on September 25, 2006 challenging the media to improve its reporting. The ‘Skeptic’s Guide’, which has received recognition by the LA Times and Congressional Quarterly, is now available free for international distribution on the Senate Environmental & Public Works Web site (http://epw.senate.gov/w_papers.cfm?party=rep)] The book, which features web links to all supporting documentation, also serves as a handbook to identify the major players in media bias when it comes to poor climate science reporting. The guide presents a reporter’s virtual who’s-who’s of embarrassing and one-sided media coverage, with a focus on such reporters as CBS News “60 Minutes” Scott Pelley, ABC News reporter Bill Blakemore, CNN’s Miles O’Brien, and former NBC Newsman Tom Brokaw....
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
NEWS ROUNDUP
Feds to Start Removing Wolf Protections The head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Tuesday his agency will start removing federal protections from gray wolves in Montana and Idaho by January, regardless of whether Wyoming has submitted an acceptable plan to manage its own wolves by then. Wyoming's plan is tied up in lawsuits, and Fish and Wildlife Director Dale Hall said his agency is moving ahead with Idaho and Montana, where management plans are already in place. Defenders of Wildlife, which advocates on behalf of wolves, vowed to fight the move, saying delisting by state is illegal. Under the federal plan, states could have complete oversight of their wolves within 12 months, Risch said. Idaho is estimated to have 650 wolves in about 60 packs, while Montana has 270 and Wyoming 309. After delisting, Idaho's federally approved wolf-management plan requires maintaining a minimum of 15 packs, while Montana has a benchmark of 15 breeding pairs....
Pro hunters shoot turkeys on Santa Cruz Island Professional hunters killed about 250 of 300 wild turkeys on Santa Cruz Island to protect rare foxes. Biologists said the turkeys were threatening the fox recovery program. Thousands of pigs were killed on the island during the past 18 months for the same reason. The turkey kill has been taking place on The Nature Conservancy’s portion of the island, which is part of Channel Islands National Park, because the flock spends most of its time on that portion of the island. Scientists said the kills are necessary because turkeys and pigs provide prey for golden eagles. The eagles are attracted to the island, where they also kill the endangered foxes. The island pigs had kept turkey populations in check by eating their eggs and competing with them for food. With nearly all the pigs gone, the turkey population had boomed....
Law cited for river access Wanting to ensure his cattle have access to water from the Green River, rancher T. Wright Dickinson cited a law that predates the civil war to make his case to take down sections of fence on the Browns Park National Wildlife Refuge's borders. Dickinson, a former county commissioner, presented his case Tuesday to Moffat County commissioners requesting water gaps -- areas without fence -- on the refuge's land that borders his leased land. The cited law, R.S. 2477, goes back more than 100 years, and it has recently been used for public access to what has historically been considered a road, with the idea of "if it was a road back then, it should be a road now." Dickinson made the case that it should apply to rivers as well, asking that 11 water gaps that have historically allowed access to the Green River in Browns Park be added to the commissioner's map of access....
Study says plan to pump Yampa River water to Front Range is feasible A $3.2 billion proposal to pump water from the Yampa River 200 miles to the Front Range could work, according to a new study. The Yampa, one of the state's last rivers with unclaimed water, could provide more than 97 billion gallons per year to the fast-growing population center across the Continental Divide, according to the feasibility study by the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District. The district likely would not take the lead on such a project, but leaders said they would provide information to interested Front Range cities. They could face tough opposition from ranchers, rafters, kayakers and northern Colorado municipalities who want to keep the water in the Yampa River basin. The river is considered one of the West's last wild rivers because it has only a few small dams and diversions....
Forest Service scales back logging The Medicine Bow National Forest has reduced the amount of clear-cutting it has planned for the southwestern area of the forest. The Forest Service had originally proposed clear-cutting 552 acres in the Devil's Gate area but has reduced the proposed amount to 283 acres. The agency also has decided not to allow cutting in important elk and deer winter range in response to comments from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and from a local conservation group. Clint Kyhl, Laramie district ranger, said the agency is concerned that thousands of acres of trees killed by beetles have increased the risk of catastrophic fires in the area. Rather than clear-cutting on 165 acres, he ordered that only trees larger than 8 inches in diameter be removed because they're likely to be killed by beetles in the next few years....
Fire raises burning questions There was little room for political correctness in the Stillwater Pavilion on Tuesday as a packed crowd grilled agency representatives about the handling of August's Derby Mountain fire. Why was a private helicopter "called off" the fire on the afternoon it was first discovered? Why was one home protected when another was not? Why were there so few preparations when severe red-flag warnings were predicted? And why were resources sitting idle elsewhere? County, state and federal representatives answered some of those questions and provided insight into others. Some issues, however, remain unresolved. The meeting was organized by Keith Martin of Nye, who contacted Rep. Denny Rehberg's office on behalf of the Absarokee Rural Fire District Board. Martin questioned the use of a private helicopter that had been working in the area for a mine exploration company. The pilot told Martin that he had been dropping 100 gallons of water on the fire every four minutes when the Forest Service called him off. "That's pretty hard for me to swallow when you see so much ground burned up," Martin said....
St. Helens Plume Seen in Portland Like a giant smokestack, percolating Mount St. Helens let loose a billowing steam plume easily seen Tuesday in downtown Portland, Ore., about 50 miles away. Cold weather combined with the volcano's ongoing release of water vapor to make the display particularly impressive, scientists said. Mount St. Helens has been undergoing a low-key eruption since September 2004. The white plume emitting from the snowy peak could be seen clearly against a blue sky. The vapor temperature was near the boiling point of water _ 212 degrees _ while temperatures at the mountain were around or below freezing, Scott said....
Little loggers are big concern The munching march of pine beetles through Colorado's ski country could lower the timberline by a few thousand feet in the coming decades and change the nature of skiing in the nation's skiingest state. The Front Bowls of Vail? Colorado, the moonscaped Andes of the Rockies? Ski The Baldest State? The devastating infestation of bark beetles in Colorado's central Rockies is promising sweeping mutations in Colorado's ski landscape. Initially, the race to gird threatened stands of conifer against the ravaging rice-sized insects will improve the skiing, with thinning and deadfall removal opening once impenetrable glades. But when the full impact of the predicted 70 percent to 90 percent or higher mortality rate is realized in the next two decades, skiers could be grinding through nothing but wind-scoured, sun-baked snow, avoiding massive swaths of closed terrain where new trees are growing while keeping a keen eye peeled for tumbling timber succumbing to the slightest of breezes....
New promise for trout streams The clear water splashing through rocky pools and over gravel bars in this remote Amador County stream might signal hope for other trout streams throughout the Sierra Nevada. Three years ago, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. paid crews to remove a dam on West Panther Creek that had been part of the company's hydroelectric generation system but also had blocked trout migration for more than seven decades. That removal was one of the first under the guidelines of modern environmental law as part of a deal that allowed the relicensing of PG&E's Mokelumne River Project. Now, volunteer conservationists and government biologists are visiting Panther Creek several times a year to measure its progress. They've found that the stream easily tossed downstream hundreds of tons of gravel that had plugged the area behind the dam. They say Panther Creek's ability to resume its life as a trout stream means such restoration likely will work elsewhere as well....
Column - Proposed mine could have dreadful impact As the eagle flies, it's approximately 2,500 miles from Colorado to the abundant fishing rivers of Alaska's Bristol Bay, a long cast by any stretch of the imagination. Yet what is being proposed in this faraway place by Northern Dynasty Mines Inc., with the apparent complicity of the Bureau of Land Management, touches the heartstrings - and fishing lines - of the millions of anglers who have been there, or who hope to someday. At issue is the planned Pebble Mine, a combined gold, copper and molybdenum excavation touted as the largest open-pit mine on the continent. The location, just north of Lake Iliamna, sets off alarm bells for a significant portion of a drainage that nourishes North America's most prolific salmon populations, along with Alaska's largest rainbow trout. For anglers, hunters and conservationists, the area represents another battleground in what seems to be serial struggles to balance the resources of our wildest and richest state....
Feds want more wells even as deer decline The Bureau of Land Management has proposed a substantial increase in the number of wells on the Pinedale Anticline along with winter drilling in crucial big game habitat, even as the mule deer population has fallen 46 percent in the area. In an document released this month, the BLM proposed 4,399 new wells on 12,278 acres. According to the supplemental environmental impact statement, “drilling and completions within big game crucial winter habitats would occur in each of three Concentrated Development Areas within a core area centered on the Anticline Crest.” The wells could eventually access a predicted 40 trillion cubic feet of natural gas under the anticline. Drilling is proposed about 60 miles southeast of Jackson in areas previously off limits in winter to all human presence. The BLM request comes in tandem with a new mule deer study, focusing on the northern half of the Pinedale Anticline, that shows a 46 percent decline in the mule deer population since drilling began in the area. This year, the herd’s population numbers held steady after four years of decline....
Feds withdraw rare wildflower proposal The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday withdrew its proposal to list as threatened a wildflower that grows only in areas of Utah and Colorado where oil shale and tar sand exploration are being done. The decision prompted environmental groups who have fought for the listing of the Graham‘s penstemon to accuse the FWS and Bureau of Land Management of choosing energy development leases over a threatened species. The flower is a member of the snapdragon family and blooms in lavender flowers. Larry England a botanist with the FWS in Salt Lake City said the proposal was withdrawn Tuesday because the service couldn‘t show that the threats to the species and its population range were imminent. Frates said after Tuesday‘s announcement additional legal action is "extremely likely."....
Federal fight for rural communities continues Washington, D.C.: Working to reinstate vital funding for the nation’s rural schools, roads and services, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith are filing amendments to authorize and fully fund a one-year extension of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act of 2000, commonly known as the county payments law. Despite the Bush Adminis-tration’s commitment to enact a one-year fully-funded extension of the county payments safety-net, the law was allowed to expire in September. A one-year extension of the program, including a portion to be paid out of timber receipts, would provide up to $500 million nationally for 700 rural counties in more than 40 states. The senators’ proposal would fully fund the extension — without a new tax or raising existing taxes — by closing a tax loophole that currently allows government contractors to avoid their tax obligations. The senators’ proposal would provide a revenue stream for county payments by withholding Federal taxes from payments the Federal government makes to government contractors providing goods and services. The Federal government does not currently withhold taxes on payments made to government contractors and a recent study by the Government Accountability Office revealed that a surprisingly large number of those contractors have never paid their federal taxes....
Motorcycle riders group seeks 730-acre purchase A motorcycle riders group wants to buy 730 acres next to John's Peak to add to 506 acres it owns in a controversial area favored by off-road-vehicle enthusiasts for decades. The acreage is owned by LaMinora Properties Inc., a subsidiary of Forest Capital Partners, and is located just to the west of John's Peak, north of Jacksonville. David Lexow, president of the Motorcycle Riders Association, said his non-profit organization wants the land, offered at $1.82 million, so it can better manage the area and rehabilitate trails that have been damaged by years of uncontrolled off-road-vehicle use. The MRA is considering applying for a state grant funded by gasoline taxes paid for by off-road-vehicle users and from registration fees to help buy the land. Lexow said the MRA already has agreements to use up to 35,000 acres in the area, including tracts owned by timber companies and the Bureau of Land Management....
BLM suspends leases due to ferrets The possibility of losing potential habitat for the endangered black-footed ferret has led the Bureau of Land Management to suspend oil and gas drilling leases on about 29,000 acres of public land in the Uinta Basin. The suspension comes after an Interior Department review board said the BLM failed to follow environmental policies before the leases were issued. The Center for Native Ecosystems, an environmental advocacy group in Denver, challenged the leases, contending the BLM didn't comply with the National Environmental Policy Act. Much of the land in question is in the Snake John and Shiner parts of eastern Utah's Uinta Basin, near Coyote Basin. It is land that's home to white-tailed prairie dog colonies, which provide potential habitat for the black-footed ferret. The ferrets use the prairie dogs' burrows for shelter. White-tailed prairie dogs also contribute to habitat and are prey for eagles, hawks and other wildlife. The BLM's Interior Board of Land Appeals agreed with the Center for Native Ecosystems that the BLM needs to follow the National Environmental Policy Act before issuing leases....
Lawsuit seeks to sheild Alaska sea otter A conservation group, alarmed at a decrease in the number of sea otters in southwest Alaska, filed a lawsuit in federal court on Tuesday to try to compel the government to designate critical habitat to help the endangered species recover. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service generally is required to designate critical habitat when a species is listed as endangered or within a year if it can‘t be done immediately. The sea otter was put on the list in August 2005. Douglas Burn, a wildlife biologist with U.S. Fish and Wildlife in Anchorage, said while he can‘t comment on the lawsuit the agency is not ignoring the issue. He said a team of experts is helping develop a recovery plan for the sea otter and has discussed the role of critical habitat....
Fish and Wildlife Service Won't Consider Mono Basin Area Sage-Grouse The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced two petitions to add the Mono Basin area sage-grouse to the federal list of threatened and endangered species did not have substantial scientific or commercial information to demonstrate that Endangered Species Act (ESA) protection is warranted. The sage-grouse is a large bird that can grow up to 30 inches long and 2 feet tall found in areas where the elevation is above 4,000 feet. The Service responded to a petition they received on November 15th 2005, from Stanford Law School Environmental Law Clinic. Under the ESA the service is required to review petitions to decide whether they have enough scientific evidence. The service is concerned about the long term decline of the sage-grouse and is working with Western state wildlife agencies and federal agencies to conserve and manage the sagebrush habitat.
Center for Biological Diversity Offers Free Endangered Wildlife Ringtones Calling all cell phone users: Now you can personalize your ringtones with the mesmerizing calls of the Blue-throated Macaw, Beluga Whale, Boreal Owl, Mountain Yellow-legged Frog, Yosemite Toad or any one of 40 other endangered wildlife species, absolutely free. "People really respond to the wildlife ringtones -- the animal calls are fascinating, they personalize your phone, and they sound cool when it rings," said Peter Galvin, the Center's Conservation Director. "The best part is that they inspire people to understand and work to protect endangered wildlife." The ringtones allow cell phones to come alive with the haunting hoots of over two dozen rare owls from around the world, the sensational songs of tropical birds, the crazy croaks of more than a dozen imperiled amphibians, or the underwater orchestras of Orcas and Beluga Whales. The free Web site allows users to listen to ringtones, send them directly to their phones with one easy click, and download photos and fact sheets for each of the featured wildlife species. Users can also take action to save endangered species worldwide....
Mystery gift may be valuable vomit A mysterious gift given to a Montauk, N.Y., woman from her sister might be a valuable piece of petrified whale vomit, experts said. Dorothy Ferreira said the four-pound item, which might be worth as much as $18,000, was given to her by her sister, The New York Times reported Monday. "I called my sister and asked her, 'What the heck did you send me?'" Ferreira said. "She said: 'I don't know, but I found it on the beach in Montauk 50 years ago and just kept it around. You're the one who lives by the ocean. Ask someone out there what it is.'" Walter Galcik, an expert on such matters, examined the unattractive lump and concluded it might very well be ambergris, a valuable perfume ingredient created in the intestines of sperm whales and vomited into the ocean. "He told me, 'Don't let this out of your sight,'" she said. However, selling the item could prove troublesome for Ferreira. Endangered species legislation passed in the 1970s complicates the process of trading in ambergris. An Australian couple who found $300,000 worth of the substance on a beach has faced multiple legal challenges in their attempts to sell it.
County builds case against park plan Park County commissioners are getting some help to build their case against closing Yellowstone National Park's East Entrance during winter. The commissioners have received a $50,000 grant from the governor’s office to study the costs and options of keeping the entrance open. That money will help fund a feasibility study to be completed by Ecosystems Research Group of Missoula, Mont. A National Park Service proposal for winter use in Yellowstone calls for the closure of Sylvan Pass and the East Entrance due to safety and financial concerns. The Park Service has estimated that it spends $200,000 annually controlling avalanches on Sylvan Pass, Commissioner Tim French said. Commissioners say the Park Service must also weigh heavily the financial impact of closing the entrance on the winter economic tourism season in Park County....
Looking Back at Alston Chase's Playing God in Yellowstone Philosopher Alston Chase wrote Playing God in Yellowstone: The Destruction of America's First National Park, a book whose central thesis is that the National Park Service, aided and abetted by the budding environmental movement, is to blame for destroying Yellowstone National Park. This thesis is probably shocking to many since the Park Service has been held up as one of the most revered American institutions, and Yellowstone has often been cited as one of the great success stories under its management. Playing God in Yellowstone was first published in 1986, years before I ever set foot in the park that Chase argues had already been destroyed. I first came to Yellowstone in June 1993 and have only now read this famous work. Even with the time lag, I have found it especially provocative and even relevant for today, at least in a big picture sense. Nevertheless, Playing God in Yellowstone is ultimately disappointing, though not because it is out of date. In this essay, I will argue that while Chase's criticisms of both the National Park Service and the environmental movement have a lot of merit, his voice from nowhere approach cloaks his own ideological--perhaps, religious--presumptions. As a result, Playing God in Yellowstone is not really of much help in shedding light on why Yellowstone is so valuable and therefore what if anything has gone wrong. If we are to have a Yellowstone ethic, we need greater clarity on what is so valuable about this Yellowstone that so many of us love. Chase is not happy about the state of things in Yellowstone, and he is painstaking in showing us the story of how Yellowstone came to be destroyed from what it once was. For one thing, there are fewer beaver, and it turns out that the story as to why there are so few beaver is critical to understanding so much else. Fewer beaver existed because of depleted vegetation. The vegetation was depleted because there were too many elk. There were too many elk because there were not enough wolves or mountain lions. There were not enough wolves and mountain lions because the Park Service had killed them along with as many coyotes as they could wipe out as well. There are also no more Indians in Yellowstone, who had hunted elk and had also through their direct influence affected the vegetation and land. In fact, Chase argues that the numbers of elk and bison are historically way out of proportion, far outnumbering the numbers that probably ever existed in Yellowstone at any point in the history of Earth....
British Lord Stings Senators Rockefeller and Snowe: 'Uphold Free Speech or Resign' Lord Monckton, Viscount of Brenchley, has sent an open letter to Senators Rockefeller (D-WV) and Snowe (R-Maine) in response to their recent open letter telling the CEO of ExxonMobil to cease funding climate-skeptic scientists. (http://ff.org/centers/csspp/pdf/20061212_monckton.pdf). Lord Monckton, former policy adviser to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, writes: "You defy every tenet of democracy when you invite ExxonMobil to deny itself the right to provide information to 'senior elected and appointed government officials' who disagree with your opinion." In what The Charleston (WV) Daily Mail has called "an intemperate attempt to squelch debate with a hint of political consequences," Senators Rockefeller and Snowe released an open letter dated October 30 to ExxonMobil CEO, Rex Tillerson, insisting he end Exxon's funding of a "climate change denial campaign." The Senators labeled scientists with whom they disagree as "deniers," a term usually directed at "Holocaust deniers." Some voices on the political left have called for the arrest and prosecution of skeptical scientists. The British Foreign Secretary has said skeptics should be treated like advocates of Islamic terror and must be denied access to the media. Responds Lord Monckton, "Sceptics and those who have the courage to support them are actually helpful in getting the science right. They do not, as you improperly suggest, 'obfuscate' the issue: they assist in clarifying it by challenging weaknesses in the 'consensus' argument and they compel necessary corrections ... "....
Fifth of Farm Animal Breeds May Face Extinction - FAO About 20 percent of farm animal breeds have been brought to the brink of extinction as world agriculture narrows its focus to just the most productive livestock, the United Nation food body said. One breed is being lost each month, and the globalisation of livestock markets is the biggest single factor hitting farm animal diversity, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said in a statement on Friday. Of more than 7,600 breeds in the FAO's global database of farm animal genetic resources, 190 have become extinct in the past 15 years and a further 1,500 are considered at risk of extinction, it said. "This process leads to a narrowing genetic base ... within the commercially successful breeds ... as other breeds, and indeed species, are discarded in response to market forces," Irene Hoffmann, chief of the FAO's animal production service said in the statement....So, "shoot, shovel and shutup" may soon apply to farm animals? What a great law we have.
California farmers harvest bumper crop of money When you grow cotton, the plants aren’t the only green things lining up in nice, orderly rows. So are the payments from the federal government to help the farmer cope with the all the adversity of growing the plants. Central Valley farmers and ranchers were paid more than $2.1 billion in federal crop subsidies in the ten years ending in 2005, according to a report from the Environmental Working Group. The EWG says total farm subsidy payments to all California agriculture added up to $5.94 billion for the ten year period, putting California – the nation’s Number One agriculture state – a paltry Number Ten in the handout line. Midwestern states reaped far more in federal payments, the report says. Many of the Central Valley’s top crops like tree fruits and nuts, receive little, if any, federal crop payments. The EWG report says 91 percent of all farmers and ranchers do not collect government subsidy payments in California, citing figures from the USDA. In Iowa, however, 70 percent of all farmers get a government check....
Huge gold chunk in La Grande loaded with lore, rich in tall tales When dealer Rick Gately recently bought a 2-pound gold nugget from a miner, he discovered the buyer must always beware -- even when what glitters really is gold. The huge nugget turned out to have a long and shady past. Gately first saw the chunk of ore when a middle-aged miner recently walked into his La Grande Gold and Silver store claiming to have just found it. It weighed a staggering 33.3 ounces and measured 7-by-6 inches, a massive nugget by modern standards. To compare: Among the largest chunks of gold hereabouts is the 7-pound "Armstrong nugget," allegedly found near the ghost town of Susanville in 1913 by miner George Armstrong. It's on display at a U.S. Bank branch in downtown Baker City. About 5.5 million ounces of gold have been extracted from Oregon's mountains and streams since the frontier era, according to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Half to two-thirds came out of Eastern Oregon....
It's All Trew: Will Rogers was never changed by his fame Thanks to Dixie Jo Crockett of Alanreed for the loan of a 1935 scrapbook created by her late uncle W.M. Burroughs. He always wanted to be a pilot but was too tall, so he became an aircraft mechanic. His interest in flying is probably the reason for creating the scrapbook. The book contains many newspaper articles about the death of Will Rogers and Wily Post. The pair were flying from Fairbanks to Point Barrow, Alaska, when fog forced them to land on a small stream only 15 miles from their destination. Later, when the fog lifted, they took off and continued their journey. At exactly 8:18 p.m., on Aug. 15, 1935, (shown by a stopped watch), the plane crashed, killing the two men aboard. Will Rogers was 55 years old and lived in Claremore, Okla. Wiley Post was 36 and a well known pilot. Rogers was born an Indian in 1879 on a ranch in the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma. Although he dropped out of school in the 10th grade, he became a nationally recognized entertainer. Fame never changed him. He often stated, "I never met a man I didn't like." A freed slave working on the ranch taught young Will how to use and twirl a rope....
Feds to Start Removing Wolf Protections The head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Tuesday his agency will start removing federal protections from gray wolves in Montana and Idaho by January, regardless of whether Wyoming has submitted an acceptable plan to manage its own wolves by then. Wyoming's plan is tied up in lawsuits, and Fish and Wildlife Director Dale Hall said his agency is moving ahead with Idaho and Montana, where management plans are already in place. Defenders of Wildlife, which advocates on behalf of wolves, vowed to fight the move, saying delisting by state is illegal. Under the federal plan, states could have complete oversight of their wolves within 12 months, Risch said. Idaho is estimated to have 650 wolves in about 60 packs, while Montana has 270 and Wyoming 309. After delisting, Idaho's federally approved wolf-management plan requires maintaining a minimum of 15 packs, while Montana has a benchmark of 15 breeding pairs....
Pro hunters shoot turkeys on Santa Cruz Island Professional hunters killed about 250 of 300 wild turkeys on Santa Cruz Island to protect rare foxes. Biologists said the turkeys were threatening the fox recovery program. Thousands of pigs were killed on the island during the past 18 months for the same reason. The turkey kill has been taking place on The Nature Conservancy’s portion of the island, which is part of Channel Islands National Park, because the flock spends most of its time on that portion of the island. Scientists said the kills are necessary because turkeys and pigs provide prey for golden eagles. The eagles are attracted to the island, where they also kill the endangered foxes. The island pigs had kept turkey populations in check by eating their eggs and competing with them for food. With nearly all the pigs gone, the turkey population had boomed....
Law cited for river access Wanting to ensure his cattle have access to water from the Green River, rancher T. Wright Dickinson cited a law that predates the civil war to make his case to take down sections of fence on the Browns Park National Wildlife Refuge's borders. Dickinson, a former county commissioner, presented his case Tuesday to Moffat County commissioners requesting water gaps -- areas without fence -- on the refuge's land that borders his leased land. The cited law, R.S. 2477, goes back more than 100 years, and it has recently been used for public access to what has historically been considered a road, with the idea of "if it was a road back then, it should be a road now." Dickinson made the case that it should apply to rivers as well, asking that 11 water gaps that have historically allowed access to the Green River in Browns Park be added to the commissioner's map of access....
Study says plan to pump Yampa River water to Front Range is feasible A $3.2 billion proposal to pump water from the Yampa River 200 miles to the Front Range could work, according to a new study. The Yampa, one of the state's last rivers with unclaimed water, could provide more than 97 billion gallons per year to the fast-growing population center across the Continental Divide, according to the feasibility study by the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District. The district likely would not take the lead on such a project, but leaders said they would provide information to interested Front Range cities. They could face tough opposition from ranchers, rafters, kayakers and northern Colorado municipalities who want to keep the water in the Yampa River basin. The river is considered one of the West's last wild rivers because it has only a few small dams and diversions....
Forest Service scales back logging The Medicine Bow National Forest has reduced the amount of clear-cutting it has planned for the southwestern area of the forest. The Forest Service had originally proposed clear-cutting 552 acres in the Devil's Gate area but has reduced the proposed amount to 283 acres. The agency also has decided not to allow cutting in important elk and deer winter range in response to comments from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and from a local conservation group. Clint Kyhl, Laramie district ranger, said the agency is concerned that thousands of acres of trees killed by beetles have increased the risk of catastrophic fires in the area. Rather than clear-cutting on 165 acres, he ordered that only trees larger than 8 inches in diameter be removed because they're likely to be killed by beetles in the next few years....
Fire raises burning questions There was little room for political correctness in the Stillwater Pavilion on Tuesday as a packed crowd grilled agency representatives about the handling of August's Derby Mountain fire. Why was a private helicopter "called off" the fire on the afternoon it was first discovered? Why was one home protected when another was not? Why were there so few preparations when severe red-flag warnings were predicted? And why were resources sitting idle elsewhere? County, state and federal representatives answered some of those questions and provided insight into others. Some issues, however, remain unresolved. The meeting was organized by Keith Martin of Nye, who contacted Rep. Denny Rehberg's office on behalf of the Absarokee Rural Fire District Board. Martin questioned the use of a private helicopter that had been working in the area for a mine exploration company. The pilot told Martin that he had been dropping 100 gallons of water on the fire every four minutes when the Forest Service called him off. "That's pretty hard for me to swallow when you see so much ground burned up," Martin said....
St. Helens Plume Seen in Portland Like a giant smokestack, percolating Mount St. Helens let loose a billowing steam plume easily seen Tuesday in downtown Portland, Ore., about 50 miles away. Cold weather combined with the volcano's ongoing release of water vapor to make the display particularly impressive, scientists said. Mount St. Helens has been undergoing a low-key eruption since September 2004. The white plume emitting from the snowy peak could be seen clearly against a blue sky. The vapor temperature was near the boiling point of water _ 212 degrees _ while temperatures at the mountain were around or below freezing, Scott said....
Little loggers are big concern The munching march of pine beetles through Colorado's ski country could lower the timberline by a few thousand feet in the coming decades and change the nature of skiing in the nation's skiingest state. The Front Bowls of Vail? Colorado, the moonscaped Andes of the Rockies? Ski The Baldest State? The devastating infestation of bark beetles in Colorado's central Rockies is promising sweeping mutations in Colorado's ski landscape. Initially, the race to gird threatened stands of conifer against the ravaging rice-sized insects will improve the skiing, with thinning and deadfall removal opening once impenetrable glades. But when the full impact of the predicted 70 percent to 90 percent or higher mortality rate is realized in the next two decades, skiers could be grinding through nothing but wind-scoured, sun-baked snow, avoiding massive swaths of closed terrain where new trees are growing while keeping a keen eye peeled for tumbling timber succumbing to the slightest of breezes....
New promise for trout streams The clear water splashing through rocky pools and over gravel bars in this remote Amador County stream might signal hope for other trout streams throughout the Sierra Nevada. Three years ago, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. paid crews to remove a dam on West Panther Creek that had been part of the company's hydroelectric generation system but also had blocked trout migration for more than seven decades. That removal was one of the first under the guidelines of modern environmental law as part of a deal that allowed the relicensing of PG&E's Mokelumne River Project. Now, volunteer conservationists and government biologists are visiting Panther Creek several times a year to measure its progress. They've found that the stream easily tossed downstream hundreds of tons of gravel that had plugged the area behind the dam. They say Panther Creek's ability to resume its life as a trout stream means such restoration likely will work elsewhere as well....
Column - Proposed mine could have dreadful impact As the eagle flies, it's approximately 2,500 miles from Colorado to the abundant fishing rivers of Alaska's Bristol Bay, a long cast by any stretch of the imagination. Yet what is being proposed in this faraway place by Northern Dynasty Mines Inc., with the apparent complicity of the Bureau of Land Management, touches the heartstrings - and fishing lines - of the millions of anglers who have been there, or who hope to someday. At issue is the planned Pebble Mine, a combined gold, copper and molybdenum excavation touted as the largest open-pit mine on the continent. The location, just north of Lake Iliamna, sets off alarm bells for a significant portion of a drainage that nourishes North America's most prolific salmon populations, along with Alaska's largest rainbow trout. For anglers, hunters and conservationists, the area represents another battleground in what seems to be serial struggles to balance the resources of our wildest and richest state....
Feds want more wells even as deer decline The Bureau of Land Management has proposed a substantial increase in the number of wells on the Pinedale Anticline along with winter drilling in crucial big game habitat, even as the mule deer population has fallen 46 percent in the area. In an document released this month, the BLM proposed 4,399 new wells on 12,278 acres. According to the supplemental environmental impact statement, “drilling and completions within big game crucial winter habitats would occur in each of three Concentrated Development Areas within a core area centered on the Anticline Crest.” The wells could eventually access a predicted 40 trillion cubic feet of natural gas under the anticline. Drilling is proposed about 60 miles southeast of Jackson in areas previously off limits in winter to all human presence. The BLM request comes in tandem with a new mule deer study, focusing on the northern half of the Pinedale Anticline, that shows a 46 percent decline in the mule deer population since drilling began in the area. This year, the herd’s population numbers held steady after four years of decline....
Feds withdraw rare wildflower proposal The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday withdrew its proposal to list as threatened a wildflower that grows only in areas of Utah and Colorado where oil shale and tar sand exploration are being done. The decision prompted environmental groups who have fought for the listing of the Graham‘s penstemon to accuse the FWS and Bureau of Land Management of choosing energy development leases over a threatened species. The flower is a member of the snapdragon family and blooms in lavender flowers. Larry England a botanist with the FWS in Salt Lake City said the proposal was withdrawn Tuesday because the service couldn‘t show that the threats to the species and its population range were imminent. Frates said after Tuesday‘s announcement additional legal action is "extremely likely."....
Federal fight for rural communities continues Washington, D.C.: Working to reinstate vital funding for the nation’s rural schools, roads and services, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith are filing amendments to authorize and fully fund a one-year extension of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act of 2000, commonly known as the county payments law. Despite the Bush Adminis-tration’s commitment to enact a one-year fully-funded extension of the county payments safety-net, the law was allowed to expire in September. A one-year extension of the program, including a portion to be paid out of timber receipts, would provide up to $500 million nationally for 700 rural counties in more than 40 states. The senators’ proposal would fully fund the extension — without a new tax or raising existing taxes — by closing a tax loophole that currently allows government contractors to avoid their tax obligations. The senators’ proposal would provide a revenue stream for county payments by withholding Federal taxes from payments the Federal government makes to government contractors providing goods and services. The Federal government does not currently withhold taxes on payments made to government contractors and a recent study by the Government Accountability Office revealed that a surprisingly large number of those contractors have never paid their federal taxes....
Motorcycle riders group seeks 730-acre purchase A motorcycle riders group wants to buy 730 acres next to John's Peak to add to 506 acres it owns in a controversial area favored by off-road-vehicle enthusiasts for decades. The acreage is owned by LaMinora Properties Inc., a subsidiary of Forest Capital Partners, and is located just to the west of John's Peak, north of Jacksonville. David Lexow, president of the Motorcycle Riders Association, said his non-profit organization wants the land, offered at $1.82 million, so it can better manage the area and rehabilitate trails that have been damaged by years of uncontrolled off-road-vehicle use. The MRA is considering applying for a state grant funded by gasoline taxes paid for by off-road-vehicle users and from registration fees to help buy the land. Lexow said the MRA already has agreements to use up to 35,000 acres in the area, including tracts owned by timber companies and the Bureau of Land Management....
BLM suspends leases due to ferrets The possibility of losing potential habitat for the endangered black-footed ferret has led the Bureau of Land Management to suspend oil and gas drilling leases on about 29,000 acres of public land in the Uinta Basin. The suspension comes after an Interior Department review board said the BLM failed to follow environmental policies before the leases were issued. The Center for Native Ecosystems, an environmental advocacy group in Denver, challenged the leases, contending the BLM didn't comply with the National Environmental Policy Act. Much of the land in question is in the Snake John and Shiner parts of eastern Utah's Uinta Basin, near Coyote Basin. It is land that's home to white-tailed prairie dog colonies, which provide potential habitat for the black-footed ferret. The ferrets use the prairie dogs' burrows for shelter. White-tailed prairie dogs also contribute to habitat and are prey for eagles, hawks and other wildlife. The BLM's Interior Board of Land Appeals agreed with the Center for Native Ecosystems that the BLM needs to follow the National Environmental Policy Act before issuing leases....
Lawsuit seeks to sheild Alaska sea otter A conservation group, alarmed at a decrease in the number of sea otters in southwest Alaska, filed a lawsuit in federal court on Tuesday to try to compel the government to designate critical habitat to help the endangered species recover. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service generally is required to designate critical habitat when a species is listed as endangered or within a year if it can‘t be done immediately. The sea otter was put on the list in August 2005. Douglas Burn, a wildlife biologist with U.S. Fish and Wildlife in Anchorage, said while he can‘t comment on the lawsuit the agency is not ignoring the issue. He said a team of experts is helping develop a recovery plan for the sea otter and has discussed the role of critical habitat....
Fish and Wildlife Service Won't Consider Mono Basin Area Sage-Grouse The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced two petitions to add the Mono Basin area sage-grouse to the federal list of threatened and endangered species did not have substantial scientific or commercial information to demonstrate that Endangered Species Act (ESA) protection is warranted. The sage-grouse is a large bird that can grow up to 30 inches long and 2 feet tall found in areas where the elevation is above 4,000 feet. The Service responded to a petition they received on November 15th 2005, from Stanford Law School Environmental Law Clinic. Under the ESA the service is required to review petitions to decide whether they have enough scientific evidence. The service is concerned about the long term decline of the sage-grouse and is working with Western state wildlife agencies and federal agencies to conserve and manage the sagebrush habitat.
Center for Biological Diversity Offers Free Endangered Wildlife Ringtones Calling all cell phone users: Now you can personalize your ringtones with the mesmerizing calls of the Blue-throated Macaw, Beluga Whale, Boreal Owl, Mountain Yellow-legged Frog, Yosemite Toad or any one of 40 other endangered wildlife species, absolutely free. "People really respond to the wildlife ringtones -- the animal calls are fascinating, they personalize your phone, and they sound cool when it rings," said Peter Galvin, the Center's Conservation Director. "The best part is that they inspire people to understand and work to protect endangered wildlife." The ringtones allow cell phones to come alive with the haunting hoots of over two dozen rare owls from around the world, the sensational songs of tropical birds, the crazy croaks of more than a dozen imperiled amphibians, or the underwater orchestras of Orcas and Beluga Whales. The free Web site allows users to listen to ringtones, send them directly to their phones with one easy click, and download photos and fact sheets for each of the featured wildlife species. Users can also take action to save endangered species worldwide....
Mystery gift may be valuable vomit A mysterious gift given to a Montauk, N.Y., woman from her sister might be a valuable piece of petrified whale vomit, experts said. Dorothy Ferreira said the four-pound item, which might be worth as much as $18,000, was given to her by her sister, The New York Times reported Monday. "I called my sister and asked her, 'What the heck did you send me?'" Ferreira said. "She said: 'I don't know, but I found it on the beach in Montauk 50 years ago and just kept it around. You're the one who lives by the ocean. Ask someone out there what it is.'" Walter Galcik, an expert on such matters, examined the unattractive lump and concluded it might very well be ambergris, a valuable perfume ingredient created in the intestines of sperm whales and vomited into the ocean. "He told me, 'Don't let this out of your sight,'" she said. However, selling the item could prove troublesome for Ferreira. Endangered species legislation passed in the 1970s complicates the process of trading in ambergris. An Australian couple who found $300,000 worth of the substance on a beach has faced multiple legal challenges in their attempts to sell it.
County builds case against park plan Park County commissioners are getting some help to build their case against closing Yellowstone National Park's East Entrance during winter. The commissioners have received a $50,000 grant from the governor’s office to study the costs and options of keeping the entrance open. That money will help fund a feasibility study to be completed by Ecosystems Research Group of Missoula, Mont. A National Park Service proposal for winter use in Yellowstone calls for the closure of Sylvan Pass and the East Entrance due to safety and financial concerns. The Park Service has estimated that it spends $200,000 annually controlling avalanches on Sylvan Pass, Commissioner Tim French said. Commissioners say the Park Service must also weigh heavily the financial impact of closing the entrance on the winter economic tourism season in Park County....
Looking Back at Alston Chase's Playing God in Yellowstone Philosopher Alston Chase wrote Playing God in Yellowstone: The Destruction of America's First National Park, a book whose central thesis is that the National Park Service, aided and abetted by the budding environmental movement, is to blame for destroying Yellowstone National Park. This thesis is probably shocking to many since the Park Service has been held up as one of the most revered American institutions, and Yellowstone has often been cited as one of the great success stories under its management. Playing God in Yellowstone was first published in 1986, years before I ever set foot in the park that Chase argues had already been destroyed. I first came to Yellowstone in June 1993 and have only now read this famous work. Even with the time lag, I have found it especially provocative and even relevant for today, at least in a big picture sense. Nevertheless, Playing God in Yellowstone is ultimately disappointing, though not because it is out of date. In this essay, I will argue that while Chase's criticisms of both the National Park Service and the environmental movement have a lot of merit, his voice from nowhere approach cloaks his own ideological--perhaps, religious--presumptions. As a result, Playing God in Yellowstone is not really of much help in shedding light on why Yellowstone is so valuable and therefore what if anything has gone wrong. If we are to have a Yellowstone ethic, we need greater clarity on what is so valuable about this Yellowstone that so many of us love. Chase is not happy about the state of things in Yellowstone, and he is painstaking in showing us the story of how Yellowstone came to be destroyed from what it once was. For one thing, there are fewer beaver, and it turns out that the story as to why there are so few beaver is critical to understanding so much else. Fewer beaver existed because of depleted vegetation. The vegetation was depleted because there were too many elk. There were too many elk because there were not enough wolves or mountain lions. There were not enough wolves and mountain lions because the Park Service had killed them along with as many coyotes as they could wipe out as well. There are also no more Indians in Yellowstone, who had hunted elk and had also through their direct influence affected the vegetation and land. In fact, Chase argues that the numbers of elk and bison are historically way out of proportion, far outnumbering the numbers that probably ever existed in Yellowstone at any point in the history of Earth....
British Lord Stings Senators Rockefeller and Snowe: 'Uphold Free Speech or Resign' Lord Monckton, Viscount of Brenchley, has sent an open letter to Senators Rockefeller (D-WV) and Snowe (R-Maine) in response to their recent open letter telling the CEO of ExxonMobil to cease funding climate-skeptic scientists. (http://ff.org/centers/csspp/pdf/20061212_monckton.pdf). Lord Monckton, former policy adviser to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, writes: "You defy every tenet of democracy when you invite ExxonMobil to deny itself the right to provide information to 'senior elected and appointed government officials' who disagree with your opinion." In what The Charleston (WV) Daily Mail has called "an intemperate attempt to squelch debate with a hint of political consequences," Senators Rockefeller and Snowe released an open letter dated October 30 to ExxonMobil CEO, Rex Tillerson, insisting he end Exxon's funding of a "climate change denial campaign." The Senators labeled scientists with whom they disagree as "deniers," a term usually directed at "Holocaust deniers." Some voices on the political left have called for the arrest and prosecution of skeptical scientists. The British Foreign Secretary has said skeptics should be treated like advocates of Islamic terror and must be denied access to the media. Responds Lord Monckton, "Sceptics and those who have the courage to support them are actually helpful in getting the science right. They do not, as you improperly suggest, 'obfuscate' the issue: they assist in clarifying it by challenging weaknesses in the 'consensus' argument and they compel necessary corrections ... "....
Fifth of Farm Animal Breeds May Face Extinction - FAO About 20 percent of farm animal breeds have been brought to the brink of extinction as world agriculture narrows its focus to just the most productive livestock, the United Nation food body said. One breed is being lost each month, and the globalisation of livestock markets is the biggest single factor hitting farm animal diversity, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said in a statement on Friday. Of more than 7,600 breeds in the FAO's global database of farm animal genetic resources, 190 have become extinct in the past 15 years and a further 1,500 are considered at risk of extinction, it said. "This process leads to a narrowing genetic base ... within the commercially successful breeds ... as other breeds, and indeed species, are discarded in response to market forces," Irene Hoffmann, chief of the FAO's animal production service said in the statement....So, "shoot, shovel and shutup" may soon apply to farm animals? What a great law we have.
California farmers harvest bumper crop of money When you grow cotton, the plants aren’t the only green things lining up in nice, orderly rows. So are the payments from the federal government to help the farmer cope with the all the adversity of growing the plants. Central Valley farmers and ranchers were paid more than $2.1 billion in federal crop subsidies in the ten years ending in 2005, according to a report from the Environmental Working Group. The EWG says total farm subsidy payments to all California agriculture added up to $5.94 billion for the ten year period, putting California – the nation’s Number One agriculture state – a paltry Number Ten in the handout line. Midwestern states reaped far more in federal payments, the report says. Many of the Central Valley’s top crops like tree fruits and nuts, receive little, if any, federal crop payments. The EWG report says 91 percent of all farmers and ranchers do not collect government subsidy payments in California, citing figures from the USDA. In Iowa, however, 70 percent of all farmers get a government check....
Huge gold chunk in La Grande loaded with lore, rich in tall tales When dealer Rick Gately recently bought a 2-pound gold nugget from a miner, he discovered the buyer must always beware -- even when what glitters really is gold. The huge nugget turned out to have a long and shady past. Gately first saw the chunk of ore when a middle-aged miner recently walked into his La Grande Gold and Silver store claiming to have just found it. It weighed a staggering 33.3 ounces and measured 7-by-6 inches, a massive nugget by modern standards. To compare: Among the largest chunks of gold hereabouts is the 7-pound "Armstrong nugget," allegedly found near the ghost town of Susanville in 1913 by miner George Armstrong. It's on display at a U.S. Bank branch in downtown Baker City. About 5.5 million ounces of gold have been extracted from Oregon's mountains and streams since the frontier era, according to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Half to two-thirds came out of Eastern Oregon....
It's All Trew: Will Rogers was never changed by his fame Thanks to Dixie Jo Crockett of Alanreed for the loan of a 1935 scrapbook created by her late uncle W.M. Burroughs. He always wanted to be a pilot but was too tall, so he became an aircraft mechanic. His interest in flying is probably the reason for creating the scrapbook. The book contains many newspaper articles about the death of Will Rogers and Wily Post. The pair were flying from Fairbanks to Point Barrow, Alaska, when fog forced them to land on a small stream only 15 miles from their destination. Later, when the fog lifted, they took off and continued their journey. At exactly 8:18 p.m., on Aug. 15, 1935, (shown by a stopped watch), the plane crashed, killing the two men aboard. Will Rogers was 55 years old and lived in Claremore, Okla. Wiley Post was 36 and a well known pilot. Rogers was born an Indian in 1879 on a ranch in the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma. Although he dropped out of school in the 10th grade, he became a nationally recognized entertainer. Fame never changed him. He often stated, "I never met a man I didn't like." A freed slave working on the ranch taught young Will how to use and twirl a rope....
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Monday, December 18, 2006
Fed up with paying to play The Forest Service, no mystic, charges hikers like Wallace $5 a day. Mount Lemmon in Coronado National Forest is one of more than 4,000 sites on the West’s national forests where daily fees are collected, with the money going toward upkeep and maintenance. But Wallace and others in the growing no-fee movement say they have already paid to use public lands — in the form of income taxes. They argue that trailhead fees amount to double taxation. So, in 2002, Wallace stopped paying to park near her favorite trailheads. The Forest Service first warned her, then cited her. Finally, it took her to court. In September, however, Judge Charles Pyle tossed out the criminal charges against Wallace, ruling that the government can’t charge people to park at trailheads. If the federal magistrate’s ruling stands, the Forest Service may have to stop charging fees altogether, or limit them to developed sites such as picnic areas, says Coronado District Ranger Larry Raley. And that, he says, could deal a near-fatal blow to the program that requires people to “pay to play” on public lands....
Showdown Looms Over CBM Water Wyoming state officials -- notably the Attorney General and Governor Dave Freudenthal's counsel -- have blasted the Environmental Quality Council over its attempt to establish new rules for the management of coal-bed methane waters. Attorney General Pat Crank has warned that the proposed rules might be "arbitrary and capricious," while the governor's counsel C.A. "Kip" Crofts, has told the EQC that to go forward now, when potential problems seem so apparant, "is irresponsible." EQC's decision to develop new rules was based on an impassioned presentation last February, by the Powder River Basin Resource Council, represented by attorney Kate Fox. The key point made then by Fox and PRBRC is that water quantity can be just as big a problem for surface land owners as water quality -- that both must be considered and regulated. The key problem is that DEQ makes the blanket assumption that the mere presence of coal-bed methane water, and access to the water by livestock and wildlife, is automatically a beneficial use. In contrast, the state engineer's office is tasked by law to make a determination of beneficial use in regulating water use. “We have a regulatory void, not a conflict” between those two agencies, Fox said....
Farm Bureau Seeks Revisions in Air Quality Standards The American Farm Bureau Federation filed a petition in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit seeking review of the Environmental Protection Agency’s air quality standards. AFBF along with the National Pork Producers Council does not believe science warrants the regulation of agricultural dust. Specifically, EPA issued a rule revising the Clean Air Act National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter on Oct. 17, 2006. In adjusting the annual and daily air quality standards for particulate matter, EPA also rejected an earlier proposal to exclude agricultural dust from regulation. AFBF President Bob Stallman said that EPA’s rule is not based on sound science and the decision to regulate agricultural dust will negatively impact U.S. farmers and ranchers....
Skiers Take on Snowmobilers Over a Utah Canyon Access to the snow that has blanketed the mountains and filled in the crags of the vast Wasatch-Cache National Forest is reigniting a years-old dispute between snowmobile riders and cross-country skiers over who should be allowed to play on certain public lands here. The federal Forest Service is expected to decide by the end of December among four plans for a tiny, though highly coveted part of Logan Canyon in the 1.2-million-acre forest. Both sides agree that at its core the feud is a policy clash about recreation on public lands and the compatibility of motorized and nonmotorized outdoor sports. Skiers and snowmobilers have been drawn to the canyon for decades. But in the 1990s, engine advances enabled snowmobiles to climb steep slopes and traverse deep snow. Ever since, tensions between the groups have intensified here and across the West....
Unhappy trails: splitting Turnagain Pass On the busy days at Turnagain Pass, the Chugach Mountains rumble with the roar of snowmachines. Skier Ray Koleser can remember when it wasn't so, when the Seward Highway divided snowmobile and ski terrain at the popular recreation area 60 miles southeast of Anchorage, buffering the two sometimes conflicting uses. No more. Today, when snow cover is adequate, snowmachining has grown to the point where on busy days the parking lot along the highway overflows and the terrain can no longer muffle the volume of people having fun. And no one denies that the snowmachiners who flock to the pass to play in the snow have fun....
Tense trail mix in the Selkirks The whine of snowmobile engines again echoes through the national forest here. The sound infuriates those seeking to protect the lower 48 states' last herd of caribou, but thrills local business owners and riders from across the region, who claim their sport has little to do with the plight of the endangered animal. The forests on the west side of Priest Lake were largely silent last season after U.S. District Judge Robert Whaley banned grooming in response to a lawsuit from environmental groups. The federal judge then went one step further and banned all snowmobiling on about 300,000 acres. Shortly before the first snow fell this season, however, Whaley surprised both snowmobilers and environmentalists by reopening most of the national forest to motorized sports and trail grooming....
Winter trail conflicts bubble up again No sooner is the ground covered with snow than the annual and seemingly endless wrangling over motorized and non-motorized access to local trails begins. This winter, the U.S. Forest Service has already logged reports of unauthorized snowmobile use in closed areas, including the Mohawk Lake Trail, the Peaks Trail, the Burro Trail and even in the vicinity of the Old Dillon Reservoir Trail, just off Dillon Dam Road. Longtime local snowmobile enthusiast Joe Casselberry traces the history of the user conflicts back more than 20 years, to 1984, when the White River National Forest issued its first management plan. The plan itself was not the problem. Rather, it was the lag time between release of the plan and its subsequent implementation. According to Casselberry, it took six years before the federal agency produced the documentation — maps and a travel management plan — needed to clarify the rules....
Firefighting costs ablaze, audit finds When the Deep fire broke out in the Sequoia National Forest on Aug. 12, 2004, Forest Service fire managers projected the cost of fighting it would be modest -- about $200 an acre. But costs raced faster than the flames. "The fire brought a significant amount of political pressure" to protect a nearby state park, giant sequoia trees and small mountain towns, a new federal audit says. As a result, firefighters threw "everything but the kitchen sink" at the fire, the audit adds. Five days later, the Deep fire was out, but containing it had cost a small fortune: $3,000 an acre, or 15 times more than expected. In all, fire managers spent $9 million on the fire -- an average of $1.8 million a day. The runaway expenses are cited in the recent U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General audit, which sharply criticizes Forest Service fire managers for spending excessively, failing to learn from the past and fighting fires that should have been allowed to burn naturally. Though jolted by the findings, Forest Service officials said they intend to act on them....
Agreement aims to improve elk habitat New agreements between the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and two federal agencies clear the way for habitat improvement projects spanning 10 years and nearly 260,000 acres in Montana and Wyoming. Agreements the foundation, the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management signed Friday for 85,000 acres in western Montana and 174,000 acres west of Pinedale, Wyo., draw on a mechanism called "stewardship contracting," authorized by Congress a few years ago. The foundation will serve as a contractor arranging habitat work with forest restoration and timber companies as subcontractors, and with groups such as conservation organizations. Funding will come from the federal sale of wood products. Absent the stewardship program, that money would enter a general treasury and performing the habitat work would require obtaining appropriations. "There are so many competing interests for those dollars that often this work wouldn't get funded," said Peter J. Dart, president and chief executive of the elk foundation based in Missoula....
Governor seeking $20 million to keep 28,000 acres open to public Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. is asking state lawmakers for $20 million to buy 28,000 acres on Tabby Mountain. The move to secure the land now owned by the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA), is just what Duchesne County commissioners and many others, including Tabiona residents, had hoped for. The purchase would mean that the property may no longer be eyed by wealthy developers who could purchase it and close it to public access. The money will "begin the discussion for the purchase of Tabby Mountain," said Huntsman, who has visited the area with his family. He made the request during his budget speech earlier this week. "It's a lovely, idyllic setting." The $20 million, a line item in Huntsman's budget proposal for State Parks and Recreation budget, is creating a lot of buzz. Discussion over the prime hunting and fishing property has been on and off, sometimes in heated debate, for about two years now. The proposed deal must still pass scrutiny of the Legislature early next year. The $20 million won't cover what the property is worth. More money will have to be donated, but many believe the plan to be ideal....
Off-roaders, environmentalists vie for canyon Whoever named Surprise Canyon got it right. Mere miles from bone-dry Death Valley, the canyon cradles two unexpected jewels: a gushing mountain stream and what's left of a once-bustling silver mining town. These treasures have attracted visitors for decades - and now they're at the heart of a legal battle between off-road drivers and environmentalists. Five years ago environmentalists successfully sued to get the narrow canyon and its spring-fed waterfalls closed to vehicles, arguing that the federal Bureau of Land Management was not carrying out its duty to protect the land. In response, more than 80 off-roaders purchased tiny pockets of private land at the top of the canyon, and now they're suing the federal government for access to their property, arguing that the canyon is a public right of way. It is one of several recent cases that could unlock thousands of miles of roads in federally protected parks around the West....
Emery officials join OHV worriers Emery County has an off-highway vehicle problem. Federal agencies have said so. Environmental groups have, too. Now, the county itself has joined the chorus. In what might mark a first in rural Utah, a group of Emery County officials - collectively the county's public lands council - has issued a statement expressing alarm at how growing OHV activity, both legal and illegal, is negatively "impacting the county's resources and other users." The statement, which appeared Dec. 5 in the Emery County Progress, also says the county's patience is wearing thin, citing impacts ranging from trampled grazing fences to deeply rutted dirt roads and the creation of new, illegal trails. It calls for stiffer fines and penalties for violators, and increased funding from state and federal agencies to help beef up enforcement. "It's not a new problem, but we're getting increased use all the time, especially from folks outside the area," says Ray Peterson, the county's public lands director and council chair. "With the increased moisture we got this fall during the hunting season, and the heavier and heavier use we're seeing in the summer, especially on the big holiday weekends, it has become real apparent there is a problem."....
BLM study examines Pinedale Anticline The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has released a study of an energy industry proposal to waive seasonal restrictions on gas drilling on the Pinedale Anticline in the upper Green River Basin. The proposal would increase development from the 1,139 wells currently authorized to 4,399 wells. The plan also would increase the amount of initial surface disturbance from 4,484 acres now authorized to 12,278 acres. The new wells would be in intensely developed areas, while other areas would be left more open. Current plans run through 2011; the industry plan looks ahead to 2023. Industry officials have said their proposal is an innovative approach to balancing energy development with preservation of the area's natural resources. The BLM study also looked at not diverging from a plan released in 2000. A third alternative would be to modify the industry plan by specifying which areas - mainly big-game winter range - would be off-limits to year-round drilling. The companies behind the proposal are Questar, Ultra Resources Inc., Shell Exploration and Production, Wexpro Co., BP America, Stone Energy and Yates Petroleum....
Valle Vidal protection may be model for Roan area The sweeping high alpine meadows of northern New Mexico’s Valle Vidal in the Carson National Forest and the verdant woodlands surrounding them harbor ancient bristlecone pines more than 70 feet tall. Some call the Valle Vidal the “Yellowstone of New Mexico.” Buffalo still roam there, Boy Scouts from nearby Philmont Scout Ranch spend their summers there, and its elk hunting is considered some of the best in the state. Since President George W. Bush signed a law Dec. 12 preventing oil and gas leasing there, Colorado conservationists are looking to the Valle Vidal’s protection as a precedent that shows, despite the West’s natural gas boom, Congress may be willing to single out energy-rich land such as the Roan Plateau for protection. The Bureau of Land Management issued in September a resource management plan amendment calling for opening more than 35,000 acres on the Roan Plateau to natural gas drilling over 20 years....
BLM grants oil shale leases The Bureau of Land Management on Friday issued leases for five oil shale research and development projects in the Piceance Basin. The leases will allow the first oil shale projects on public lands in northwest Colorado in more than three decades. The BLM issued three of the leases to Shell Frontier, and one each to Chevron and EGL Resources. The three companies plan to conduct research projects on in-situ oil shale extraction processes on 160-acre parcels on BLM land in Rio Blanco County. The initial term of the leases is 10 years, and the companies have the option of extending the leases another five years if they prove they are diligently pursuing “commercial production levels,” according to the BLM. The leases contain a right to convert the research and development leases and nearly 5,000 acres of surrounding land on each parcel into 20-year commercial leases if oil shale production there proves to be commercially viable....
Drought makes ranching tough The tawny flats of Warbonnet Ranch shivered as a stiff wind rummaged through grass coaxed from the ground by summer rain. The grass and the rain, scant though they were, bought Larry Todd another season, maybe two. And on the parched ranges of Southeastern Arizona in the middle of a drought, a rancher and his cattle can't ask for much more. Unless it's just more. "This is good country if you get the rain," said Todd, who bought the Warbonnet in 1980 after fleeing the cooped-up Montana winters. "We had a pretty good summer, but it's getting pretty daggone dry again. If we don't get something this winter and spring … it's gonna be tough." Todd knows tough. Drought forced him to sell nearly all of his cattle five years ago and take a job in town to keep groceries in the pantry. But he refused to sell the ranch and has rebuilt the herd to about 250 head, still only about half of what he had owned. His story rings true to most Arizona ranchers, battle-weary veterans of an 11-year-old drought that has bruised their billion-dollar industry, pushing another of the vaunted "5 C's" of the state's traditional economy (cattle, citrus, climate, copper and cotton) closer to extinction. But more have weathered the drought than have surrendered, and despite mounting losses, many insist they won't quit....
Mustang Ranch sign goes up on I-80 The infamous Mustang Ranch brothel "rides on" says the Reno-area businessman awarded exclusive ownership of its trademark. "It's euphoria to have the most famous brothel name in the world," Lance Gilman said Saturday. "That name is so well-known worldwide. The Mustang Ranch rides on." A federal judge ruled Friday in favor of Gilman, who bought the gaudy pink stucco buildings that once housed the bordello in 2003 and moved them a short distance next to his Wild Horse Adult Resort & Spa near Sparks. In his ruling, Reed said Gilman assumed ownership of the trademark to the state's first legal brothel when he bought the buildings on eBay from the government for $145,000 in 2003. The judge said the U.S. Bureau of Land Management had owned the trademark because it received all Mustang Ranch assets through criminal forfeiture proceedings against Joe Conforte and later owners. The government seized the Mustang Ranch in 1999 after guilty verdicts against its parent companies and manager in a federal fraud and racketeering trial....
Cattle can be trained to eat thistles, spurge, knapweed Left to themselves, animals select a varied diet to meet their nutritional needs. They can be taught to eat things you wouldn't expect, she said. For instance, goats are typically used to browse on certain weeds in efforts to control invasive species on grazing lands, she said. "Ranchers don't want goats. They're difficult to manage, and of low value. At the same time, producers want to control noxious weeds, but chemicals are expensive. That led me to ask: Why not teach cattle to eat weeds?" she said. During this past year, Voth taught cattle to eat Distaff and Italian thistle in Marin County, Calif. Both are extremely prickly weeds generally presumed to be unpalatable. She has also taught cattle to eat Canadian thistle, leafy spurge and spotted knapweed, and she's trained lambs to eat Russian olive tree cuttings, spines and all. Livestock can be taught to eat a new weed in seven hours over a five-day period, following a seven-step program, Voth told a workshop at the third annual National Conference on Grazing Lands in St. Louis Dec. 11....
An original cowboy Deep in the pastureland of southern Comanche County, off a dirt road and down a rutted trail that leads almost to the Oklahoma line and the Cimarron River, Danny Huck, 52, has carved out the life of a cow-puncher, a real cowboy. The term comes from cowboys prodding cattle during herding. Starting in the spring and running through summer grazing season, Huck rides pastures for nearby ranchers - searches out cattle that need doctoring, checks windmills and looks after miles of fences. There aren't many of his breed left, he says. These days, cattlemen check their herds from behind the steering wheel of a pickup truck or bounce over the hills on a four-wheel ATV. "I hope I'm not the last," he says....
The cowboy way Bill Bishop sums his life in one sentence -- "I'm the luckiest man in the world. For the biggest part of my life I have got to do what I love." Bishop, 85, is a 50-year-plus Napa resident, owner of Bishop Cattle Company and one diehard cowboy. Bishop was recognized by his peers and colleagues in September, receiving the coveted 2006 Vaquero Award from the National Reined Cow Horse Association. Only eight people have received the prestigious award, which is given to someone the association believes merits it and has made contributions to the association. For the most part of his career, Bishop has been buying and selling steers. He still herds cattle when it comes time to ship them to the buyers. "I run about 1,000 cattle a year all over the county," Bishop said....
Area man pulls rare double Dick Wasson bagged a BOGO. In the case of the store ads, the expression means "buy one, get one," a two-for-one sale. In the case of the hunter from Salem who retired to Siletz, BOGO means bag one, get one. Wasson pulled off an almost unheard-of feat of bagging two antelope with a single shot. And thanks to some foresight and a little luck, Wasson's BOGO was perfectly legal. Here's how it happened....
Cowpokes Push a Herd to Honor Cowhunters of Florida's Past Symbolism abounded at the end of the cattle drive as two men rode in tandem directly behind the herd, leading the parade of wagons and riders. Mike Wilder, a cattleman, represented the remnant of working cowboys in Florida, while Andrew Bowers, a member of the Seminole Tribal Council, reflected the agricultural heritage of Florida's native people. The drive culminated in the Florida Cow Culture Celebration, and banners hung at Kenansville's rodeo pavilion incongruously featured a stylized version of "Kissimmee," with the two M's forming peaks suggestive of Walt Disney World's Space Mountain roller coaster ride. Kissimmee, 50 years ago literally a cow town, now has a main strip lined with neon-lit shops peddling souvenirs to tourists. Robert Burney, one of the cowhunters on the cattle drive, worried that the shadow of the Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland might eclipse the proud past of Florida's cowboys. "This is our heritage; that's what Florida was built on," Burney said. "There's still so much more to Florida than Mickey Mouse. Half the world doesn't even know Florida is a cattle state. It's real important to educate people on the cattle industry and what we're all about."....
Showdown Looms Over CBM Water Wyoming state officials -- notably the Attorney General and Governor Dave Freudenthal's counsel -- have blasted the Environmental Quality Council over its attempt to establish new rules for the management of coal-bed methane waters. Attorney General Pat Crank has warned that the proposed rules might be "arbitrary and capricious," while the governor's counsel C.A. "Kip" Crofts, has told the EQC that to go forward now, when potential problems seem so apparant, "is irresponsible." EQC's decision to develop new rules was based on an impassioned presentation last February, by the Powder River Basin Resource Council, represented by attorney Kate Fox. The key point made then by Fox and PRBRC is that water quantity can be just as big a problem for surface land owners as water quality -- that both must be considered and regulated. The key problem is that DEQ makes the blanket assumption that the mere presence of coal-bed methane water, and access to the water by livestock and wildlife, is automatically a beneficial use. In contrast, the state engineer's office is tasked by law to make a determination of beneficial use in regulating water use. “We have a regulatory void, not a conflict” between those two agencies, Fox said....
Farm Bureau Seeks Revisions in Air Quality Standards The American Farm Bureau Federation filed a petition in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit seeking review of the Environmental Protection Agency’s air quality standards. AFBF along with the National Pork Producers Council does not believe science warrants the regulation of agricultural dust. Specifically, EPA issued a rule revising the Clean Air Act National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter on Oct. 17, 2006. In adjusting the annual and daily air quality standards for particulate matter, EPA also rejected an earlier proposal to exclude agricultural dust from regulation. AFBF President Bob Stallman said that EPA’s rule is not based on sound science and the decision to regulate agricultural dust will negatively impact U.S. farmers and ranchers....
Skiers Take on Snowmobilers Over a Utah Canyon Access to the snow that has blanketed the mountains and filled in the crags of the vast Wasatch-Cache National Forest is reigniting a years-old dispute between snowmobile riders and cross-country skiers over who should be allowed to play on certain public lands here. The federal Forest Service is expected to decide by the end of December among four plans for a tiny, though highly coveted part of Logan Canyon in the 1.2-million-acre forest. Both sides agree that at its core the feud is a policy clash about recreation on public lands and the compatibility of motorized and nonmotorized outdoor sports. Skiers and snowmobilers have been drawn to the canyon for decades. But in the 1990s, engine advances enabled snowmobiles to climb steep slopes and traverse deep snow. Ever since, tensions between the groups have intensified here and across the West....
Unhappy trails: splitting Turnagain Pass On the busy days at Turnagain Pass, the Chugach Mountains rumble with the roar of snowmachines. Skier Ray Koleser can remember when it wasn't so, when the Seward Highway divided snowmobile and ski terrain at the popular recreation area 60 miles southeast of Anchorage, buffering the two sometimes conflicting uses. No more. Today, when snow cover is adequate, snowmachining has grown to the point where on busy days the parking lot along the highway overflows and the terrain can no longer muffle the volume of people having fun. And no one denies that the snowmachiners who flock to the pass to play in the snow have fun....
Tense trail mix in the Selkirks The whine of snowmobile engines again echoes through the national forest here. The sound infuriates those seeking to protect the lower 48 states' last herd of caribou, but thrills local business owners and riders from across the region, who claim their sport has little to do with the plight of the endangered animal. The forests on the west side of Priest Lake were largely silent last season after U.S. District Judge Robert Whaley banned grooming in response to a lawsuit from environmental groups. The federal judge then went one step further and banned all snowmobiling on about 300,000 acres. Shortly before the first snow fell this season, however, Whaley surprised both snowmobilers and environmentalists by reopening most of the national forest to motorized sports and trail grooming....
Winter trail conflicts bubble up again No sooner is the ground covered with snow than the annual and seemingly endless wrangling over motorized and non-motorized access to local trails begins. This winter, the U.S. Forest Service has already logged reports of unauthorized snowmobile use in closed areas, including the Mohawk Lake Trail, the Peaks Trail, the Burro Trail and even in the vicinity of the Old Dillon Reservoir Trail, just off Dillon Dam Road. Longtime local snowmobile enthusiast Joe Casselberry traces the history of the user conflicts back more than 20 years, to 1984, when the White River National Forest issued its first management plan. The plan itself was not the problem. Rather, it was the lag time between release of the plan and its subsequent implementation. According to Casselberry, it took six years before the federal agency produced the documentation — maps and a travel management plan — needed to clarify the rules....
Firefighting costs ablaze, audit finds When the Deep fire broke out in the Sequoia National Forest on Aug. 12, 2004, Forest Service fire managers projected the cost of fighting it would be modest -- about $200 an acre. But costs raced faster than the flames. "The fire brought a significant amount of political pressure" to protect a nearby state park, giant sequoia trees and small mountain towns, a new federal audit says. As a result, firefighters threw "everything but the kitchen sink" at the fire, the audit adds. Five days later, the Deep fire was out, but containing it had cost a small fortune: $3,000 an acre, or 15 times more than expected. In all, fire managers spent $9 million on the fire -- an average of $1.8 million a day. The runaway expenses are cited in the recent U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General audit, which sharply criticizes Forest Service fire managers for spending excessively, failing to learn from the past and fighting fires that should have been allowed to burn naturally. Though jolted by the findings, Forest Service officials said they intend to act on them....
Agreement aims to improve elk habitat New agreements between the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and two federal agencies clear the way for habitat improvement projects spanning 10 years and nearly 260,000 acres in Montana and Wyoming. Agreements the foundation, the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management signed Friday for 85,000 acres in western Montana and 174,000 acres west of Pinedale, Wyo., draw on a mechanism called "stewardship contracting," authorized by Congress a few years ago. The foundation will serve as a contractor arranging habitat work with forest restoration and timber companies as subcontractors, and with groups such as conservation organizations. Funding will come from the federal sale of wood products. Absent the stewardship program, that money would enter a general treasury and performing the habitat work would require obtaining appropriations. "There are so many competing interests for those dollars that often this work wouldn't get funded," said Peter J. Dart, president and chief executive of the elk foundation based in Missoula....
Governor seeking $20 million to keep 28,000 acres open to public Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. is asking state lawmakers for $20 million to buy 28,000 acres on Tabby Mountain. The move to secure the land now owned by the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA), is just what Duchesne County commissioners and many others, including Tabiona residents, had hoped for. The purchase would mean that the property may no longer be eyed by wealthy developers who could purchase it and close it to public access. The money will "begin the discussion for the purchase of Tabby Mountain," said Huntsman, who has visited the area with his family. He made the request during his budget speech earlier this week. "It's a lovely, idyllic setting." The $20 million, a line item in Huntsman's budget proposal for State Parks and Recreation budget, is creating a lot of buzz. Discussion over the prime hunting and fishing property has been on and off, sometimes in heated debate, for about two years now. The proposed deal must still pass scrutiny of the Legislature early next year. The $20 million won't cover what the property is worth. More money will have to be donated, but many believe the plan to be ideal....
Off-roaders, environmentalists vie for canyon Whoever named Surprise Canyon got it right. Mere miles from bone-dry Death Valley, the canyon cradles two unexpected jewels: a gushing mountain stream and what's left of a once-bustling silver mining town. These treasures have attracted visitors for decades - and now they're at the heart of a legal battle between off-road drivers and environmentalists. Five years ago environmentalists successfully sued to get the narrow canyon and its spring-fed waterfalls closed to vehicles, arguing that the federal Bureau of Land Management was not carrying out its duty to protect the land. In response, more than 80 off-roaders purchased tiny pockets of private land at the top of the canyon, and now they're suing the federal government for access to their property, arguing that the canyon is a public right of way. It is one of several recent cases that could unlock thousands of miles of roads in federally protected parks around the West....
Emery officials join OHV worriers Emery County has an off-highway vehicle problem. Federal agencies have said so. Environmental groups have, too. Now, the county itself has joined the chorus. In what might mark a first in rural Utah, a group of Emery County officials - collectively the county's public lands council - has issued a statement expressing alarm at how growing OHV activity, both legal and illegal, is negatively "impacting the county's resources and other users." The statement, which appeared Dec. 5 in the Emery County Progress, also says the county's patience is wearing thin, citing impacts ranging from trampled grazing fences to deeply rutted dirt roads and the creation of new, illegal trails. It calls for stiffer fines and penalties for violators, and increased funding from state and federal agencies to help beef up enforcement. "It's not a new problem, but we're getting increased use all the time, especially from folks outside the area," says Ray Peterson, the county's public lands director and council chair. "With the increased moisture we got this fall during the hunting season, and the heavier and heavier use we're seeing in the summer, especially on the big holiday weekends, it has become real apparent there is a problem."....
BLM study examines Pinedale Anticline The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has released a study of an energy industry proposal to waive seasonal restrictions on gas drilling on the Pinedale Anticline in the upper Green River Basin. The proposal would increase development from the 1,139 wells currently authorized to 4,399 wells. The plan also would increase the amount of initial surface disturbance from 4,484 acres now authorized to 12,278 acres. The new wells would be in intensely developed areas, while other areas would be left more open. Current plans run through 2011; the industry plan looks ahead to 2023. Industry officials have said their proposal is an innovative approach to balancing energy development with preservation of the area's natural resources. The BLM study also looked at not diverging from a plan released in 2000. A third alternative would be to modify the industry plan by specifying which areas - mainly big-game winter range - would be off-limits to year-round drilling. The companies behind the proposal are Questar, Ultra Resources Inc., Shell Exploration and Production, Wexpro Co., BP America, Stone Energy and Yates Petroleum....
Valle Vidal protection may be model for Roan area The sweeping high alpine meadows of northern New Mexico’s Valle Vidal in the Carson National Forest and the verdant woodlands surrounding them harbor ancient bristlecone pines more than 70 feet tall. Some call the Valle Vidal the “Yellowstone of New Mexico.” Buffalo still roam there, Boy Scouts from nearby Philmont Scout Ranch spend their summers there, and its elk hunting is considered some of the best in the state. Since President George W. Bush signed a law Dec. 12 preventing oil and gas leasing there, Colorado conservationists are looking to the Valle Vidal’s protection as a precedent that shows, despite the West’s natural gas boom, Congress may be willing to single out energy-rich land such as the Roan Plateau for protection. The Bureau of Land Management issued in September a resource management plan amendment calling for opening more than 35,000 acres on the Roan Plateau to natural gas drilling over 20 years....
BLM grants oil shale leases The Bureau of Land Management on Friday issued leases for five oil shale research and development projects in the Piceance Basin. The leases will allow the first oil shale projects on public lands in northwest Colorado in more than three decades. The BLM issued three of the leases to Shell Frontier, and one each to Chevron and EGL Resources. The three companies plan to conduct research projects on in-situ oil shale extraction processes on 160-acre parcels on BLM land in Rio Blanco County. The initial term of the leases is 10 years, and the companies have the option of extending the leases another five years if they prove they are diligently pursuing “commercial production levels,” according to the BLM. The leases contain a right to convert the research and development leases and nearly 5,000 acres of surrounding land on each parcel into 20-year commercial leases if oil shale production there proves to be commercially viable....
Drought makes ranching tough The tawny flats of Warbonnet Ranch shivered as a stiff wind rummaged through grass coaxed from the ground by summer rain. The grass and the rain, scant though they were, bought Larry Todd another season, maybe two. And on the parched ranges of Southeastern Arizona in the middle of a drought, a rancher and his cattle can't ask for much more. Unless it's just more. "This is good country if you get the rain," said Todd, who bought the Warbonnet in 1980 after fleeing the cooped-up Montana winters. "We had a pretty good summer, but it's getting pretty daggone dry again. If we don't get something this winter and spring … it's gonna be tough." Todd knows tough. Drought forced him to sell nearly all of his cattle five years ago and take a job in town to keep groceries in the pantry. But he refused to sell the ranch and has rebuilt the herd to about 250 head, still only about half of what he had owned. His story rings true to most Arizona ranchers, battle-weary veterans of an 11-year-old drought that has bruised their billion-dollar industry, pushing another of the vaunted "5 C's" of the state's traditional economy (cattle, citrus, climate, copper and cotton) closer to extinction. But more have weathered the drought than have surrendered, and despite mounting losses, many insist they won't quit....
Mustang Ranch sign goes up on I-80 The infamous Mustang Ranch brothel "rides on" says the Reno-area businessman awarded exclusive ownership of its trademark. "It's euphoria to have the most famous brothel name in the world," Lance Gilman said Saturday. "That name is so well-known worldwide. The Mustang Ranch rides on." A federal judge ruled Friday in favor of Gilman, who bought the gaudy pink stucco buildings that once housed the bordello in 2003 and moved them a short distance next to his Wild Horse Adult Resort & Spa near Sparks. In his ruling, Reed said Gilman assumed ownership of the trademark to the state's first legal brothel when he bought the buildings on eBay from the government for $145,000 in 2003. The judge said the U.S. Bureau of Land Management had owned the trademark because it received all Mustang Ranch assets through criminal forfeiture proceedings against Joe Conforte and later owners. The government seized the Mustang Ranch in 1999 after guilty verdicts against its parent companies and manager in a federal fraud and racketeering trial....
Cattle can be trained to eat thistles, spurge, knapweed Left to themselves, animals select a varied diet to meet their nutritional needs. They can be taught to eat things you wouldn't expect, she said. For instance, goats are typically used to browse on certain weeds in efforts to control invasive species on grazing lands, she said. "Ranchers don't want goats. They're difficult to manage, and of low value. At the same time, producers want to control noxious weeds, but chemicals are expensive. That led me to ask: Why not teach cattle to eat weeds?" she said. During this past year, Voth taught cattle to eat Distaff and Italian thistle in Marin County, Calif. Both are extremely prickly weeds generally presumed to be unpalatable. She has also taught cattle to eat Canadian thistle, leafy spurge and spotted knapweed, and she's trained lambs to eat Russian olive tree cuttings, spines and all. Livestock can be taught to eat a new weed in seven hours over a five-day period, following a seven-step program, Voth told a workshop at the third annual National Conference on Grazing Lands in St. Louis Dec. 11....
An original cowboy Deep in the pastureland of southern Comanche County, off a dirt road and down a rutted trail that leads almost to the Oklahoma line and the Cimarron River, Danny Huck, 52, has carved out the life of a cow-puncher, a real cowboy. The term comes from cowboys prodding cattle during herding. Starting in the spring and running through summer grazing season, Huck rides pastures for nearby ranchers - searches out cattle that need doctoring, checks windmills and looks after miles of fences. There aren't many of his breed left, he says. These days, cattlemen check their herds from behind the steering wheel of a pickup truck or bounce over the hills on a four-wheel ATV. "I hope I'm not the last," he says....
The cowboy way Bill Bishop sums his life in one sentence -- "I'm the luckiest man in the world. For the biggest part of my life I have got to do what I love." Bishop, 85, is a 50-year-plus Napa resident, owner of Bishop Cattle Company and one diehard cowboy. Bishop was recognized by his peers and colleagues in September, receiving the coveted 2006 Vaquero Award from the National Reined Cow Horse Association. Only eight people have received the prestigious award, which is given to someone the association believes merits it and has made contributions to the association. For the most part of his career, Bishop has been buying and selling steers. He still herds cattle when it comes time to ship them to the buyers. "I run about 1,000 cattle a year all over the county," Bishop said....
Area man pulls rare double Dick Wasson bagged a BOGO. In the case of the store ads, the expression means "buy one, get one," a two-for-one sale. In the case of the hunter from Salem who retired to Siletz, BOGO means bag one, get one. Wasson pulled off an almost unheard-of feat of bagging two antelope with a single shot. And thanks to some foresight and a little luck, Wasson's BOGO was perfectly legal. Here's how it happened....
Cowpokes Push a Herd to Honor Cowhunters of Florida's Past Symbolism abounded at the end of the cattle drive as two men rode in tandem directly behind the herd, leading the parade of wagons and riders. Mike Wilder, a cattleman, represented the remnant of working cowboys in Florida, while Andrew Bowers, a member of the Seminole Tribal Council, reflected the agricultural heritage of Florida's native people. The drive culminated in the Florida Cow Culture Celebration, and banners hung at Kenansville's rodeo pavilion incongruously featured a stylized version of "Kissimmee," with the two M's forming peaks suggestive of Walt Disney World's Space Mountain roller coaster ride. Kissimmee, 50 years ago literally a cow town, now has a main strip lined with neon-lit shops peddling souvenirs to tourists. Robert Burney, one of the cowhunters on the cattle drive, worried that the shadow of the Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland might eclipse the proud past of Florida's cowboys. "This is our heritage; that's what Florida was built on," Burney said. "There's still so much more to Florida than Mickey Mouse. Half the world doesn't even know Florida is a cattle state. It's real important to educate people on the cattle industry and what we're all about."....
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