NEWS ROUNDUP

Congress Looks at Solutions to Yellowstone Bison Debate Congressman, Denny Rehberg raised his voice Tuesday at a Congressional oversight hearing about the bison in Yellowstone National Park, the feared transmission of calf-aborting brucellosis from bison to Montana’s cattle, and the resulting years of killing and hazing thousands of bison that wandered out of the park in search of food. “I have an answer,” Rehberg thundered in his leadoff statement to the House Natural Resources Committee panel that oversees national parks. “Why don’t you fix your herd?” Fixing the herd—by stamping out brucellosis entirely—was central in the discussions toward solving the Yellowstone bison standoff. The hearing of the National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands Subcommittee, now chaired by Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, was the first ever to address the issue. Also new for the new Congress was testimony from the Buffalo Field Campaign, which advocates giving buffalo full access to all suitable habitat in Montana within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, and managing cattle grazing in the area to keep them brucellosis-free....
Editorial - Park bison dispute migrates to Congress Migration of Yellowstone bison and federal rules on bovine health were the focus of a U.S. House subcommittee hearing Tuesday in Washington, D.C. The hearing plowed the same ground the bison debate has occupied for too many years. On Aug. 31, 1999, U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbit, Montana Gov. Marc Racicot, U.S. Sen. Max Baucus and representatives of the Church Universal and Triumphant were among 250 people attending a ceremony at Corwin Springs to herald the preservation of thousands of acres of land just outside Yellowstone's northern boundary. U.S. taxpayers purchased about 8,000 acres from the church for $13 million. "This valley is to be available for bison," Babbitt said that day. "We need to reach an agreement about a common management plan." The bison management plan remains in "step 1" because cattle from the church's Royal Teton Ranch still graze near the park's north boundary in winter, Robin Nazzaro, of the General Accountability Office said. When the money was spent, the participating federal and state agencies expected to obtain grazing rights by the winter of 2002-03. "The value of this acquisition for the bison herd is minimal" without the winter grazing rights, Nazzaro testified....
Democrats in Congress want to stop bison slaughter Montana officials clashed with members of the House Natural Resources Committee Tuesday as the panel’s chairman said he is adamantly opposed to the “murder” of Yellowstone National Park bison. West Virginia Rep. Nick Rahall, the Democrat who took charge of the committee in January, has long opposed slaughtering bison that wander outside the park and has in the past tried to stop it. He hinted at a House subcommittee hearing on the issue that he may try again. “Slaughter is not management,” Rahall said. “It is an approach from a bygone era and has no place in time of rapid and scientific and economic progress. We are capable of more ingenuity and more compassion if we are willing to try.” Rahall noted that he offered an amendment in 2003 that would have stopped the slaughter of all Yellowstone bison. The amendment was defeated, 220-199. “That vote was a harbinger of what will come, that the status quo is no longer sufficient.” Rahall said.....
DU fights for land reserves Did you know that the U.S. government pays American farmers and ranchers to set aside land, let it rest and not use it to grow crops? The program is known as the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), which to the uninitiated appears to be a waste of taxpayer money, but that isn't necessarily so. The CRPs all across this nation, according to the Ducks Unlimited conservation organization, have proved valuable for waterfowl and wildlife production, particularly in the Prairie Pothole Region, which is believed to be the best waterfowl breeding area in the world. With that in mind, a number of DU representatives last week met with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, Deputy Secretary Chuck Conner and officials of the White House's Council on Environmental Quality to discuss what DU believes are problems facing the land conservation programs. The fear is that during the current energy crisis, farmers will be urged to grow crops to be converted into biofuels, at the same time driving up land prices and forcing farmers to weigh the dollar amount offered for a CRP vs. the money that could be made if they jumped into the biofuel pool....
Congress Braces For Global Warming Onslaught A one-two punch in favor of global warming legislation will land on Capitol Hill this week, as former Vice President Al Gore testifies before House and Senate committees following an "action day" involving thousands of environmental activists. Gore is scheduled to testify before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce early Wednesday. The hearing entitled "Perspectives on Climate Change" will also feature Gore critic, Dr. Bjorn Lomborg, adjunct professor at the Copenhagen Consensus Center in Denmark and author of the controversial book "The Skeptical Environmentalist." Later in the day, the former vice president will testify again, this time before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. No additional witnesses have yet been scheduled to testify....
Al Gore Continues to Demand Special Treatment Former Vice President Al Gore, despite being given major preferential treatment, has violated the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee’s (EPW) hearing rules. Gore first demanded to be granted an unprecedented 30 minute opening statement to the Senate EPW Committee for Wednesday’s (March 21) global warming hearing scheduled for 2:30 pm ET. The GOP minority on the EPW committee agreed to the 30 minute opening statement. But then Gore demanded a waiver of the EPW committee’s 48 hour rule that requires all witnesses before EPW to submit their testimony in advance. The GOP minority on the EPW committee then agreed to waive the 48 hour rule in favor of allowing Gore to submit his testimony 24 hours before the hearing. But in a breaking news development on Capitol Hill -- the former Vice President has violated the new 24 hour deadline extension by failing to submit his testimony – even with the new time extension granted to Gore....
Climate scientist sees cover-up A NASA scientist who said the Bush administration muzzled him because of his belief in global warming yesterday acknowledged to Congress that he'd done more than 1,400 on-the-job interviews in recent years. James Hansen, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, who argues global warming could be catastrophic, said NASA staffers denied his request to do a National Public Radio interview because they didn't want his message to get out. But Republicans told him the hundreds of other interviews he did belie his broad claim he was being silenced. "We have over 1,400 opportunities that you've availed yourself to, and yet you call it, you know, being stifled," said Rep. Darrell Issa, California Republican. Mr. Hansen responded: "For the sake of the taxpayers, they should be availed of my expertise. I shouldn't be required to parrot some company line."....
Bill introduced to conserve America's open spaces and farmland California U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (D) and Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI) have introduced a bill to help landowners conserve our country's precious agricultural land and open spaces. The bill would permanently extend an important tax incentive for farmers and ranchers who donate their land's development rights to local land trusts, creating a conservation easement. The currently available tax deduction for conservation easements, which expires at the end of the year, has been extremely successful at encouraging landowners to preserve their land's agricultural purpose rather than sell it to developers. The conservation easement tax provision encourages landowners to protect their land from development by giving them a tax deduction equal to the land's development value. Once placed under a conservation easement, the land cannot be developed at any time in the future, even if the land is sold. However, the landowner and all future owners can continue to farm the land. Specifically, the provision provides a tax deduction equal to the land's development value up to 50 percent of the land donor's income for all individuals except ranchers and farmers, who are capped at 100 percent of the donor's income. The deduction can be carried forward for 15 years....
Senators Say Timber Payments Extended Payments to rural counties hurt by cutbacks in federal logging would continue for five more years under a deal announced Tuesday by Senate Democrats. The deal, said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and other Western senators, would authorize about $2.8 billion to extend the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act through 2011. Another $1.9 billion would be directed to rural states through a proposal to fully fund the Payments in Lieu of Taxes program, which reimburses state and local governments for federally owned property. Details were still being finalized, but lawmakers said the plan would allocate $526 million in emergency spending to extend the law for one year. The so-called county payments program helps pay for schools, roads and public safety in 700 rural counties in 39 states, with most of the money going to the West....
Manhattan Beach Makes Amends The California town of Manhattan Beach is hoping to make amends for using its powers of eminent domain to take land from black families more than 80 years ago. The city council voted to rename the two block neighborhood it turned into a public park after the African-American couple that bought the land overlooking the Pacific Ocean in 1912, The Los Angeles Times reported. Charles and Willa Bruce had created one of the few places in Southern California where black families could swim. In 1924, city leaders decided the land should be turned into a public park and they condemned a two-block area that was home to several minority families in addition to the Bruce's resort. Three decades went by before a park was built on the land....
Navajo seek official's ouster Utah's Navajo tribal leaders are ratcheting up the pressure on the state's top public lands official. After a former Navajo tribal councilman went public in January with complaints about Lynn Stevens - who heads Utah's Public Lands Policy Coordination Office - members of the Navajo Utah Commission asked Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. to remove Stevens from his state post and his seat on the board of trustees for the Utah Navajo Trust Fund, which administers oil and gas royalties from energy development on tribal lands. In a pair of Feb. 26 letters to Huntsman, Navajo Utah Commission Chair Lena Manheimer says that Stevens has failed to follow proper procedures in the allocation of trust fund monies, and has a conflict of interest because he also serves as a member of the San Juan County Commission. Manheimer also says Stevens has failed to heed tribal concerns over the road in Arch Canyon, currently the scene of a battle over off-highway vehicle use. The county commission claims the road as a county right-of-way; tribal leaders want the road closed to OHV traffic because of American Indian artifacts in the canyon....
Mystery Foam Discovered Floating Down Green River What's causing foul-smelling foam on the Green River in Utah? Government agencies want to solve the mystery. Is it illegal pollution or just one of nature's tricks? There's a good chance the foam, which ran more than 50 miles down the Green River, is a natural phenomenon triggered by our unusual weather; but there are puzzling, unusual aspects. Most agencies started scrambling yesterday and today, even though the foam was reported more than a week ago. Chopper Five caught up with the mystery foam late in the game. It was nearly gone, a 50-foot span of foam disintegrating in the rapids of Desolation Canyon. Trailing behind was a sheen of unknown origin....
Off-road trails closed at Nevada dunes to help rare butterfly Federal land managers working to keep a rare Nevada butterfly off the list of endangered species have closed scores of off-road vehicle trails at one of the biggest, most popular sand dunes in the West. The closure affects about six square miles of public land where an ancient lake once existed. The emergency order replaces a voluntary measure the U.S. Bureau of Land Management imposed two years ago on a portion of up to 200 miles of trails that run through shrubs and other vegetation that is home to the Sand Mountain Blue Butterfly, the BLM said. Agency officials could not say how many miles of trails were closed but said the main sand dunes at Sand Mountain where most motorized use occurs will remain open. An estimated 50,000 outdoor enthusiasts in dune buggies, motorcycles and other off-road vehicles annually traverse the 600-foot tall, two-mile long dunes about 75 miles east of Reno....
Taking another walk in space Buzz Aldrin - a retired astronaut who is used to taking historic first steps in desolate terrain - took the ceremonial walk to open Grand Canyon West's glass-bottomed Skywalk bridge Tuesday. During his famed 1969 moon walk, he was the second man to descend from a state-of-the-art lunar lander onto a dusty landscape. This time around, Aldrin stepped across desert terrain onto another feat of engineering, a $30 million structure that juts 70 feet over the Grand Canyon's edge. Aldrin, speaking on the bridge while standing next to other dignitaries, said the Skywalk offers "a future of hope" for the Hualapai people. Unlike the moon, which hasn't seen a visitor in decades, the Hualapai Nation is betting thousands will follow in Aldrin's footsteps at Grand Canyon West. John Herrington, the first American Indian astronaut to fly in space, took the ceremonial first steps from the other end of the U-shaped Skywalk....
Oxnard to give coyotes an earful Oxnard's code compliance manager has purchased 1,000 hand-held boat horns to help residents scare off coyotes and other stray animals. Dirk Voss said he bought the horns early last month after residents in the city's River Ridge neighborhood complained that coyotes likely killed several domestic pets. At least three cats disappeared from the neighborhood around November. Residents at the time reported hearing packs of coyotes yipping at night, while sightings of the animals and their droppings at the nearby River Ridge Golf Course grew more frequent.
Experts blame dry weather for a sudden uptick in urban sightings of coyotes, including parts of Los Angeles....
Climber Potter, Patagonia agree to split the synchilla Dean Potter and his wife, Steph Davis, two of the most accomplished mountaineers in the world, will no longer be rock climbing ambassadors for the Patagonia outdoors clothing company, Potter said this week in Jackson. The split between the famous couple and the well-known company comes almost a year after Potter made a controversial ascent of Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, Utah, last spring. The latest development in Potter’s high-profile career, which moved into dicey terrain following the arch ascent, will put him at arm’s length from a company that has pioneered environmentalism around the globe in a fashion never before seen. Potter, a superb alpinist, rock climber, slackline walker, BASE jumper and aerialist, is breaking such new ground in the mountain scene that Alpinist Film Festival organizer Christian Beckwith labeled him a “climbing provocateur.” In Jackson to attend that gathering last weekend, Potter said in an interview that he and Davis would end their relationship with the Ventura, Calif., firm, owned by Jackson Hole homeowners Yvon and Malinda Chouinard....
Nature Conservancy Applauds House Commitment to Preserve National Parks Yesterday, the House of Representatives voted to pass H.R. 658, the Natural Resource Protection Cooperative Agreement Act, by an overwhelming margin of 390-10. The Nature Conservancy applauds this legislation, spearheaded by Congressman Jon Porter (R-NV). The measure additionally received the strong support of Natural Resources Committee for National Parks and Forests, Public Lands Subcommittee Chairman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), and Ranking Member Robert Bishop (R-UT). If passed, this bill would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to enter into cooperative agreements to protect natural resources within the National Park System. This would allow the National Park Service to work in collaboration with a broader range of partners, both inside and outside the boundaries of park units, to protect important lands – especially from invasive species. For example, the Park service could more efficiently collaborate with partners to control or eradicate invasive species before they cause harm within a National Park....
Air, Water Powerful Partners in Northwest Like mail-order brides, thousands of long-limbed wind turbines are coming to the empty outback of Washington and Oregon, where they are being married off, via the electrical grid, to hulking old hydroelectric dams. These are arranged weddings for a warming world -- designed never to give birth to greenhouse gases. The Pacific Northwest is hardly alone as it chases the wind for clean power. Anxiety about climate change and surging demand for electricity have triggered a wind-power frenzy in much of the United States, making it the fastest growing wind-energy market in the world. Power-generating capacity from wind jumped 27 percent last year and is expected to do the same this year. But it is in the Northwest where wind power, an often capricious source of electricity, meshes most seamlessly with the existing electricity grid, which relies heavily on hydroelectric dams, power managers say. This meshing of power sources is done in a way that maximizes power reliability while minimizing the grid's need for energy from fossil fuels, which release the greenhouses gases that cause global warming....