NEWS ROUNDUP

Auto Industry Would Benefit if Congress Mandated Fuel Efficiency Requirements, Group Says An environmental and science policy think tank released a study Wednesday, saying that Detroit and the big three American automakers have "misread" consumer demands and could be helped by a congressional mandate for more fuel-efficient cars. "America is literally stuck in reverse when it comes to fuel-efficient vehicles, and U.S. consumers want Congress to take action to correct the situation," Pam Solo, president of the Civil Society Institute, said during a conference call briefing. Greg Martin, General Motor's Washington spokesman, called the assessment "simplistic, patronizing and wrong." Solo said that the study "looked at the fuel-efficient car gap, and ... found that the United States is even farther behind the rest of the world today than it was in 2005." "Eighty-eight percent of Americans think U.S. consumers should have access to the dozens of more fuel-efficient cars available from U.S. and foreign automakers overseas, but not available in this country."....
White Dress, 'Green' Wedding The World Wildlife Fund is urging engaged couples to make their wedding day "environmentally friendly." The group has unveiled a "green weddings" website where couples can "choose to enhance their wedding by contributing to conservation and reducing the impact their activities have on the planet." The website includes a gift registry where wedding guests may donate to WWF's worldwide conservation programs instead of giving traditional wedding gifts. And instead of buying party favors, couples can choose to make a donation to WWF in honor of their wedding guests. Table cards announcing the couple's donation may be downloaded from the site for display on reception tables. In addition to the wedding gift registry, the site offers "helpful tips" on planning a green wedding -- details such as selecting an "eco-friendly" reception venue (natural light for daytime weddings; candlelight for evening events); photography (go digital) and food caterers (go organic). And don't forget the "eco-honeymoon" (think carbon emission offsets).....
Passaic erred in seizing property, court says He's an average Joe who fought the law and won. When the city attempted to take away his property through eminent domain, Charles Shennett fought back. Now, the state's appellate court has sided with him. The court said the city's taking of Shennett's property at 254 Summer St. was void, because Shennett did not receive notice of a May 2004 condemnation hearing. The city claimed that its attempt to serve Shennett with notification of the hearing was returned by the post office with no forwarding address. But the court determined the city could have easily looked at its tax rolls to get it. The city's technical blunders in trying to notify Shennett led the court to rule that Shennett did not receive due process of law. "The circumstances here are so egregious that no remedy will suffice but to void the judgment," the court wrote in an opinion published last Friday. Shennett has long maintained that the city never notified him that it was going to condemn his property, adding that he only found out about it when he didn't receive a tax bill for 2005. According to court documents, after condemning Shennett's land in May 2004, the city sold the property for $60,000 to Wayne Asset Management,LLC, of Kinnelon, a company owned by Wayne Alston, a former Passaic councilman. Alston put a two-story house on the vacant lot and sold it for $425,000 in October 2005 to Cerda Orlando , according to property records....
Bill to protect owners of land being drilled for gas, oil production advances in NM House A bill that supporters says would protect landowners when oil and gas companies drill on their property was heard Thursday in New Mexico's House of Representative Health and Government Affairs Committee. It now heads to the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The legislation was introduced in 2006 but failed to pass. Crafters of the bill have made some revisions and continue to negotiate with the oil and gas industry on language and issues in the bill, said Alisa Ogden, a Carlsbad farmer and rancher who serves as president of the New Mexico Cattle Growers Association. The bill has received strong endorsement from her organization, the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, New Mexico Oil and Gas Network — Oil and Gas Accountability Project and the New Mexico Chapter of the San Juan Citizens Alliance. Supporters of House Bill 827, the Surface Owners' Protection Act, sponsored by Rep. Andy Nunez, D-Hatch, say that currently oil and gas companies are not required to have a written agreement with a homeowner of landowner before they drill a well, nor are they required to pay for the use of the land surface. They maintain that increasingly ranchers, landowners and residents are running into conflict with drilling companies....
Catron Commission Wants To Protect People From Wolves Playing to a packed house, the Catron County Commission set the stage for a showdown with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over the Mexican Grey Wolf reintroduction program at its February 7 meeting. More than 120 people, including a TV crew from Albuquerque, filled the courtroom as the commission listened to public comments about its proposed “Wolf-Human Incident Emergency Protective Measures” ordinance. The ordinance will allow county personnel to immediately remove “habituated wolves that have caused or have a high probability of causing physical and/or psychological damage to children or other defenseless persons.” The ordinance also dictates procedures for killing “habituated wolves, whether or not they have threatened persons.” The ordinance will allow county personnel to immediately remove “habituated wolves that have caused or have a high probability of causing physical and/or psychological damage to children or other defenseless persons.” The ordinance also dictates procedures for killing “habituated wolves, whether or not they have threatened persons.” “The county ordinance doesn’t follow federal law,” according to Elizabeth Slown, a public information officer with the regional office of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Albuquerque. “The ordinance does not follow the process we already have to deal with nuisance wolves.” Commissioner Hugh B. McKeen, a Glenwood area rancher, said, “The ordinance is a step over the line. They’ll come after us,” he said in reference to the Fish and Wildlife Service....
Jury awards ranchers $3.3m A jury on Wednesday said the federal government should pay more than $3.3 million to compensate three ranchers for a high-tension power line that bisects their lands along the San Joaquin Valley's western fringes. It was a mixed decision handed down by the U.S. District Court jury -- well above the $85,000 offered by the government, but far below the nearly $12 million sought by the three landowners. "I felt the government's offer was insulting and am glad we refused it and went to court to secure a compensation the taking that was closer to fair," said John Harris, CEO and chairman of Harris Farms, which holds an interest in one of the properties. "While the verdict was clearly lower than what we feel the damages are, we must now move on." Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Enos, one of the attorneys who argued the case on behalf of the government, said he was "more pleased about some aspects of the verdicts than others." He did not elaborate....
Army given go-ahead on Pinon Canyon Ranchers around the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site officially received news Wednesday that the Defense Department has approved the Army's request to start the process of adding 418,000 acres to the training area southwest of La Junta. Lon Robertson, a Kim-area rancher and president of the Pinon Canyon Expansion Opposition Coalition, acknowledged that rural families around the maneuver site have been dreading the news for more than a year, since Army officials first hinted they wanted to significantly expand the 238,000-acre training area that straddles the Purgatoire River. "But we're not going to take this lying down," Robertson said. "This would be a total misuse of taxpayers' dollars to take our land, our heritage, from families who have lived here for a long time." Keith Eastin, assistant defense secretary for installations, told some Colorado lawmakers about the Pentagon decision Tuesday, but most people were given word by Fort Carson officials Wednesday....
Model rancher: 'It's sad' Cattle rancher Abel Benevidez knew something was going down involving the Army’s proposed expansion of its Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site when he heard a nearby landowner had been approached recently to sell his property. The official announcement came on St. Valentine's Day that the Pentagon had given Army officials permission to begin negotiations to purchase land from private owners in the Pinon Canyon Maneuvers Site. The decision opens the door for the Army to potentially acquire up to 418,577 acres of land. "It’s sad," Benevidez said Wednesday. Benevidez runs a 800-acre cow-calf operation that may be within the expansion area. He was voted Stockman of the Year 2006 by the Southern Colorado Livestock Association....
Column - Taking on the Army Want to bend your mind around the magnitude of 418,000 acres - the amount of land the Army plans to "acquire" to expand a training facility in southern Colorado? Think of roughly 650 square miles - or more than four times the size of the city of Denver. Or think of the entire developed metro area - except that even it doesn't encompass as much land as the Army now has its eye on. What the Army covets is a monster territory that it would add to the 238,000 acres that already comprise the giant Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site. Giving our troops what they need should be everybody's goal. But what if the military insists the troops need a ranch that's been in someone's family for generations?....
Idaho Senate OKs elk licensing An industry-backed plan to regulate Idaho elk ranches trumped stricter proposals Thursday during Senate debate that included talk of "grain-fed monsters" and "French-kissing" elk spreading disease through fences. The Senate Agriculture Affairs Committee voted 7-1 for a licensing program for Idaho's nearly 80 elk ranches, 17 of which offer "shooter-bull" fenced hunts. The ranches have come under scrutiny since up to 160 animals bolted from an eastern Idaho preserve last year. If it becomes law, the plan passed Thursday calls for a $5 licensing fee for the state's nearly 6,000 farm-raised elk, a $200 fee for state Department of Agriculture inspections, and the authority to shut down operations not abiding by the rules. Ag officials could also order double fences where needed, according to the bill now headed to the full Senate....
Sportsmen in D.C. lobby for Wyoming Range restrictions Three members of the Sportsmen for the Wyoming Range traveled to Washington this week to lobby federal officials for legislation that would set aside the area from oil and gas drilling. Tom Reed of Trout Unlimited was joined on the trip by Terry Pollard, an outfitter from Pinedale, and Bill Perkins of Rock Springs. In two days of meetings, they sat down with Wyoming's members of Congress and Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey to pitch their proposal. "What our group would like the delegation to consider is similar to what happened to the Rocky Mountain Front in Montana where there was a buy-back option for lease holders on leased lands, gas and oil companies," Reed said. "To actually have them, if they wanted, to sell their lease so it could be retired. And also not to have any new leasing." Sportsmen for the Wyoming Range is a coalition of 13 sporting and outdoors groups advocating for protection of about 400,000 acres on the western edge of the state, running south from Hoback Junction....
Freudenthal outlines plan for wolf bill In new language for a wolf bill, the state would seek assurances from the federal government it can manage for a limited number of wolves before control of the animal is formally transferred to the state. The new language, submitted by Gov. Dave Freudenthal, would require the federal government to amend its rule guiding management of wolves in the interim period between proposed and formal delisting in the next year. The changes to the so-called 10(j) rule would say the state can kill wolves impacting big game herds as long as there are 17 breeding pairs in the recovery area of Wyoming, including national parks. This new language would be tacked on to an existing working bill in the Legislature, in which trophy game area would be designated and the state agrees to maintain 15 breeding pairs. Last week legislators said the wolf bill appeared dead because the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would not give the state permission to kill wolves impacting big game herds before delisting....
Interstate wildfire compact Wildfires, especially big wildfires, can act like the proverbial black hole when it comes to personnel and equipment n sucking a state’s resources and then some. That’s why a bill in the Wyoming Legislature will be of help in future wildfire seasons n allowing the Cowboy State to join an interstate wildfire-fighting compact. “There are seven interstate compacts in the United States,” said Wyoming State Forester Bill Crapser. “We’ll be joining the eighth interstate compact n the Great Plains compact.” House Bill 67 has enjoyed unanimous support in the House and passed on second reading in the Senate on Wednesday n seemingly well on its way to final passage and the governor’s signature. Sen. Pat Aullman, R-Thayne, one of the bill’s co-sponsors, said interstate cooperation in fighting wildfires is a critical issue in Star Valley, on the Wyoming/Idaho border. “We’ve seen forest fires from one state into the other and back again,” she said, so sharing wildfire-fighting resources is of benefit to Wyoming and all its neighboring states....
Montana Senate Votes Against Coalbed-Methane Reclamation Bill With Republicans arguing that effective standards already exist, the Senate on Thursday rejected a bill 33-17 that would have established reclamation requirements for coalbed-methane development. “Record profits from oil and gas companies have led to increased exploration,” said the bill’s sponsor, Carol Kaufmann, D-Helena. “The current reclamation requirements are simply not adequate to accommodate the anticipated demand for coalbed-methane.” Senate Bill 341 would require a reclamation plan accompany any new application to drill. When possible, drillers would need to begin reclamation while drilling projects were still ongoing, or have the reclamation underway two years after the abandonment of a project, at the latest. Those reclamation plans would have to include provisions to restore soil, vegetation and manage the wastewater and saline seep that are the byproducts of coalbed-methane development. “Can you really look Montana farmers and ranchers in the eye and say, ‘Property rights are paramount, just not yours’?” Kaufmann asked in her conclusion....
Activists say lawmaker too cozy with lawsuit A Southern Utah legislator is drawing fire from environmental groups that complain he is steering state money to two rural counties in a way that could, at least indirectly, benefit a member of his family. But Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, insists that there is no conflict of interest, and calls that charge simply the latest in a series of "personal attacks" on him by environmentalists. Noel earlier in the legislative session sought a state appropriation of $326,000 to help Kane and Garfield counties defray the legal costs of lawsuits they have filed, and have been filed against them, in ongoing disputes over road claims and grazing permits in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. But the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and Grand Canyon Trust charge that the portion of the money set aside for the grazing suit will benefit Trevor D. Stewart, one of the area ranchers who is part of the suit - and is Noel's son-in-law....
Water rights proving to be tense issue in Montana The landowner's actions represented the prevailing belief in Montana that groundwater and surface water are two separate entities, and that taking water from one has no effect on the other. But last April, Montana's Supreme Court issued a landmark opinion that not only rejects that belief but raises the stakes in an already tense competition among farmers, ranchers, developers and recreationists for the state's most precious resource. The court ruled that, in much of Montana, rivers and streams depend on groundwater for part of their flows. New wells in such areas could effectively siphon water from those streamflows - and from those who own the rights to such surface water. In recognizing the “connectivity” between surface water and groundwater, the court's so-called “Smith River” opinion prevents the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation from issuing any permits for ground or surface water in the Upper Missouri basin - a so-called “closed” drainage because all available water rights have been claimed. The Upper Clark Fork and Upper Bitterroot river basins are also closed. Legislators and lobbyists this session are scrambling to deal with the ruling's implications through changes in Montana water law....
Sheriff's department reports killing of livestock he Eddy County Sheriff's Department reported that they received a report of suspect(s) killing livestock west of Carlsbad Feb. 10, according to a press release. Deputy Ken McAnally received a report from ranchers that five head of cattle had been shot on the Hugh Kincaid Ranch west of Carlsbad. The report indicates that the cattle were killed between Feb. 3 and Feb. 9. McAnally, while examining the livestock, observed that the cattle had been shot "and just left lying" in that they had not been butchered. The black Brangus cattle were pregnant with calves at the time of the killing, increasing the value of the cattle. The reported loss is estimated at $4,100 for the five head....
‘American West’ shows us ourselves Stanford is the final venue for the 20th-anniversary tour of this exhibition of Avedon’s oversized images of working-class Westerners. It’s almost as if you become the viewed and they become the viewers. Richard Avedon, originally famous for helping to raise fashion photography to a fine art, was commissioned in 1979 to take portraits of those living in the American West. Thirteen states, 189 towns, 17,000 sheets of 8” by 10” film and five-and-a-half years later, Avedon exhibited the original “In the American West” exhibit in 1985 at the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. Now two decades later, and two years after Avedon’s death, Stanford is showing 63 of the original 124 pieces, including all of the most famous and notable portraits. For the subject of his portraits, Avedon focused on the working class, both those living close to the land and on the margins of society. He photographed farmers, coal miners, rodeo contestants, housewives, construction workers, ranchers, truckers, waitresses, carneys and oil field workers....