NEWS ROUNDUP

Army seeks more Pinon Canyon acreage The Army has no "long term" plans to expand the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site beyond the 418,000 additional acres the Defense Department is seeking currently, officials told a Senate subcommittee Thursday. Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., questioned Keith Eastin, assistant Army secretary, about the need to expand the Pinon Canyon training site during a hearing before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs. While asking Eastin to justify why the Army wants to add more acreage to the 238,000-acre training site, Allard also pressed whether the Pentagon has plans for an even larger expansion in the future. At a town meeting in Pueblo on Tuesday, Fort Carson officials acknowledged their initial planning looked at expanding Pinon Canyon by 1.4 million acres. On Feb. 14, the Defense Department authorized the Army to pursue an expansion of 418,000 acres. "In the very long term, we have no plans to expand past the 418,000 acres we need," Eastin told Allard. Lon Robertson, president of the Pinon Canyon Expansion Opposition Coalition, said ranchers appreciate Allard asking the Army to justify the expansion, but said landowners in the region have no confidence in the Pentagon's promises not to alter their future plans. "They've already broken their pledge from the 1980s, when Pinon Canyon was first established, that they wouldn't seek additional land," Robertson said. "Historically, the Army's promises aren't anything you can hang your hat on."....
Cody hearing on delisting draws passionate views As the federal government wraps up plans to remove most of the region's wolves from the endangered-species list, the final public hearing on the proposal featured passionate opinions on all sides of the issue. Approximately 600 people attended the hearing at the Cody Auditorium, with about 250 on hand earlier for a presentation and question-and-answer session by Ed Bangs, the wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. While previous discussions about delisting wolves in Wyoming have focused largely on conflicts with ranchers, many of those from Cody who spoke were sportsmen who said elk populations were suffering from excessive wolf predation. Others, including many representing conservation groups, said elk are at or above target numbers for most areas in the state, and that wolves serve a vital role in moving elk herds out of sensitive habitat areas like river bottoms. Hearing officer Lesley Travers, a consultant from Casper hired to manage the event, struggled at times to control the crowd. Many applauded comments favoring Wyoming's wolf management plan, and jeered those who said wolves had little effect on elk herds....
EPA questions OK'ing use of coalbed water Federal regulators have warned the Schweitzer administration of possible Clean Water Act violations in a legislative measure to allow the storage of coalbed methane water in hundreds of small reservoirs used by livestock and wildlife. The bill would give companies a way to dispose of some of the billions of gallons of poor-quality water produced during coalbed methane production. Southeast Montana ranchers desperate for water after years of drought would be able to use the reservoirs to water their cattle or to benefit wildlife. But that water - pumped from underground aquifers by companies trying to access the methane, or natural gas, found in coal seams - contains high amounts of sodium and other salts that can kill crops and damage soil if it is used to irrigate land. The water is considered generally acceptable for animals, which have a higher salt tolerance. Montana law restricts the pumping of coalbed methane water into streams, rivers and the channels that drain into them. Senate Bill 407, sponsored by Keith Bales, R-Otter, would strip some of those restrictions from farm and ranch "impoundments" - small reservoirs often used as stock ponds. Because water from impoundments can seep into other water bodies or overflow after heavy rain or snow, officials from the Environmental Protection Agency say the measure could lead to violations of the federal Clean Water Act. The EPA can override Bales' proposal if it does not meet provisions of the act....
West's forest-health funds cut While snow has been an ally against wildfires this year, the federal government is not so kind, Gov. Bill Ritter said Thursday. Forest officials want to cut $4.3 million from the $230 million spent last year on forest health in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas and South Dakota. "Losing that ($4.3 million) erodes our ability to add land for management," the governor told reporters after he was briefed on fire conditions by state and federal officials. Colorado's congressional delegation sent a letter to U.S. Forest Service Chief Gail Kimbell asking to restore the money. The Forest Service "shouldn't balance its books by putting Colorado at risk," Sen. Ken Salazar said in a statement. Last year Colorado saw 3,294 fires that burned 202,000 acres - 1,200 more fires and three times the acreage of 2005....
Feds help some in Az avoid arrests If you have not paid that littering citation you received on last month's camping trip, May 1 is your lucky day. On and before May 1, the federal government will allow those with outstanding federal misdemeanor warrants to come forward and settle their fines through a new program, Safe Surrender Day. It includes those with warrants for arrests for misdemeanor violations, said U.S. Attorney Daniel Knauss at a news conference Thursday. Safe Surrender Day "helps people come clean and avoid arrests," Knauss said. Federal misdemeanor offenses include crimes such as vandalism, littering, underage consumption of alcohol and disorderly conduct, the U.S. Forest Service said. After May 1, officials from the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service will track down those with unsettled citations and warrants and arrest them, said David Gonzales, U.S. marshal for Arizona. "Those who don't settle their fines and warrants can expect the U.S. marshal's task force to come knocking on their door," Gonzales said. "This service is for those individuals who are tired of looking over their backs when they see a policeman or a badge."....
Hiker to start 3,100-mile walk next Thursday National treasures take many forms, but a rewarding way to experience is hiking the Continental Divide Trail. Offering rugged terrains, variable weather conditions, threat of wildfires and water scarcity, the 3,100 mile trail has been referred to as "uncharted, wild and incomplete." The newest hiker to grab the challenge is Mat Matson, a former district governor of Rotary International. Matson, who has established a four-day base camp at Pancho Villa State Park, will begin the border-to-border hike from the bootheel area on April 26. "I will be hiking from Mexico to Canada on the Continental Divide Trail with a select team of youth and fellow Rotarians," Matson said. "We want to raise awareness of the significance of the trail and the importance of instilling conservation values in the next generation of stewards of our public lands." In addition to publicizing trail completion and protection, Mat and his team will be soliciting donations along the way to fund Youth Corp. members, who spend 10 weeks each summer working on the CDT. And last month, the New Mexico Legislature passed a House Memorial supporting completion of the CDT, making New Mexico the first of the five CDT states to formally support the trail. "The Continental Divide Trail will help promote tourism and support rural economies throughout New Mexico," said Gov. Bill Richardson....
Column - National forest budgets battered How to get attention to the problem? A worthy suggestion is to erect stocks outside the Darrington Ranger Station, into which would be placed Undersecretary of Agriculture Mark Rey, the former timber lobbyist who oversees the Forest Service. Arriving to pay for their permits, recreationists could pelt Mr. Rey with cabbages. On the way home, they could ply him with pictures of the washed-out White Chuck River road. The total staffing of the U.S. Forest Service has been halved in the last decade. The Bush administration proposes to cut "Smokey Bear's" budget by $64.3 million in the next fiscal year, and cut an additional 2,100 jobs. Other agencies, which manage far more land, are getting the shaft. A total of 225 jobs at national wildlife refuges were cut between 2004 and 2006. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will eliminate 248 more jobs in the next two years, under administration budget proposals....
Lawsuit challenges protection for salmon across West Property rights advocates, farm groups and development interests asked a federal judge Wednesday to lift Endangered Species Act protections from all threatened and endangered salmon across the West, arguing that the government failed to count fish spawned in hatcheries. The federal government and conservation groups countered that the Endangered Species Act requires consideration of the best available science, which clearly indicates that depending on fish raised in hatcheries to boost salmon numbers will, over the long run, harm fish that spawn naturally in rivers. U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan gave no indication when he might rule on the case, or how he might rule. Pacific Legal Foundation, a property rights public interest law firm based in Sacramento, Calif., brought the lawsuit on behalf of the Building Industry Association of Washington, the Coalition for Idaho Water, farm bureaus in Idaho and Washington, the California State Grange and others. The lawsuit builds on Hogan's 2001 ruling that NOAA Fisheries, the federal agency in charge of restoring dwindling salmon populations, violated the Endangered Species Act when it put wild and hatchery fish in the same group, known as an evolutionarily significant unit, or ESU, but then protected only the wild fish. The ruling led to lifting threatened species status for the Oregon coastal coho. The plaintiffs want the court to lift threatened and endangered species listings for all 16 protected populations of salmon in Washington, Idaho, Oregon and California....
Endangered listing proposed for Alaska belugas The National Marine Fisheries Service proposed on Thursday listing beluga whales that swim in Alaska's Cook Inlet as endangered due to a sharp decline in their population. The federal agency proposed the endangered listing -- a status granted to populations considered in imminent threat of extinction -- for beluga whales. The population of the small white whales is down to an estimated 302 from about 1,300 in the 1970s, according to the Fisheries Service. An agency study estimated that the population has a 26 percent chance of extinction within 100 years. The agency will have a year to make its final decision about listing the belugas as endangered, said Fisheries spokeswoman Sheela McLean. Environmentalists who have been seeking Endangered Species Act protections hailed the proposal for listing the Cook Inlet belugas, whose swimming patterns off the Anchorage coastline make them a favorite among tourists and local residents....
An Inconvenient Tooth: Food Is Major Contributor to Climate Change April 17, 2007 – Global warming activists have a new ally in their fight to save the planet—lunch. It turns out that food (and all the energy it takes to make it) is one of the largest human activities contributing to global warming. The average American creates 2.8 tons of CO2 emissions each year by eating—even more than the 2.2 tons each person generates by driving, according to recent research (Echel and Martin, 2006). Beginning on Earth Day, 2007, Bon Appétit Management Company—the nation's pioneer in "greening" food service, is launching a national campaign to reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions and help their guests do the same. With 400 cafés in corporations, universities and specialty venues nationwide—including Yahoo!, Oberlin College and the Seattle Art Museum—Bon Appétit will encourage chefs and diners to think about how their food choices could help ease the climate crisis....
Texans crowd list of largest landowners It comes as no surprise — given Texans' penchant for bragging — that 12 of the nation's 100 largest private landowners hail from South or Central Texas. Forty of the 100 big ranch families highlighted in a new Dallas-based magazine, the Land Report, have most or all their lands in the Lone Star State. The common denominator among Texas' great spreads is beef, said Kaare Remme, manager of the 45th-ranked McCoy Remme Ranches of West Texas. Remme's partner is brother-in-law Brian McCoy, CEO of the San Marcos-based McCoy Building Supply lumber and hardware stores. "A third of the beef in the nation comes out of Texas," Remme said. "Livestock production is a big deal." The fabled King Ranch heirs rank first in the state and fifth in the nation with 851,642 acres. Briscoe Ranch Inc., owned by two-time Texas Gov. Dolph Briscoe Jr. of Uvalde, ranks 12th in the nation for its size, but like the King Ranch is among the top 10 range cattle operations. The heirs of Alice Kleberg East rank 17th with lands she kept after splitting her wealth from the rest of the King Ranch dynasty. Still, the top dog in a new poll isn't a Texan. CNN founder and former Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner leads the rest with 2 million acres that are mostly dedicated to bison....
Almost 40 years later, Earth Day resonates anew At the age of 37, Earth Day has reached a certain level of maturity within the environmental movement — a movement now picking up major steam as citizens are beginning to take global warming seriously. Earth Day was first celebrated April 22, 1970, and founded by Democratic Sen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin and Republican Congressman Paul Norton “Pete” McCloskey Jr., now a resident of Woodside. The event was established in a turbulent era, swirling with anger over the Vietnam War and galvanized by Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring,” revealing the effects of pesticides on the environment. Letters were sent to college student-body presidents, encouraging students to celebrate the new environmental holiday. “In 1970, the word ‘environmentalist’ was attributed to little old ladies and kooks,” McCloskey said. “The idea was to get kids involved to bring pressure on their parents and others.” McCloskey and Nelson’s plan worked. Not only was the first Earth Day a hit, but those same students rallied against 12 senators they called “the dirty dozen,” and within weeks seven of those senators — most of them anti-environment — had been voted out of Congress. Suddenly, fellow members of Congress began coming to McCloskey, asking him how they could pay more attention to the environment. By 1973, Congress established or amended three major pieces of environmental legislation: the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act....
AFT Says: It's a Critical Time to Match Agriculture's Commitment to Conservation "The farm bill's voluntary, incentive-based conservation programs are the largest environmental programs in the federal budget. They are critical to cleaner water, improved air quality, expanded wildlife habitat and protected land for future generations," said Ralph Grossi, American Farmland Trust (AFT) president in testimony before the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy and Research. Grossi had four messages for the committee: -- Increase funding for conservation programs to match producers willingness to implement conservation practices; -- Leverage taxpayer resources by offering a new cooperative conservation loan guarantee program to stimulate dramatically more stewardship; -- Increase the effectiveness of programs by encouraging cooperative approaches to address resource concerns; and -- Improve farm and ranch land protection programs to reduce the loss of this irreplaceable, strategic resource. Working farm and ranch land comprises half the land in America. "Farmers are ready and willing to do more to protect the environment. Yet when they apply for federal cost-share programs, there is only enough money available to fund one-out-of-four applications....
Cattle poisoning leads to dispute between families In a rare indictment in this deep-rooted ranching community, Karnes County authorities recently charged one of the area's most prominent farmers with poisoning the cattle of a neighboring rancher. Michael Janysek, 46, is accused of spreading poison-laced planting corn in a cattle pasture along County Road 355 two years ago, killing at least four head of cattle and numerous other wild animals that inadvertently ate the kernels, according to court documents. The Texas Rangers investigated the deaths and obtained a grand jury indictment against Janysek earlier this month for criminal mischief, a state jail felony. Janysek, who pleaded not guilty last week, is free on a personal recognizance bond. The Texas Rangers investigated the cattle deaths after a local veterinarian found traces of the highly toxic pesticide "temik" in corn recovered from the site where the dead cattle were found March 10, 2005. "It's our assumption that he was trying to kill wild hogs," said Texas Ranger Marrie Aldridge....
Cowboy poetry has positive affect on students April is National Poetry Month and April 15-21 marks the sixth annual Cowboy Poetry Week. This recognition was implemented through a unanimous resolution passed in the United States Senate in April 2003, and is reaffirmed each year through gubernatorial proclamations and special activities across the West and beyond. This year, at the urging of Montana cowboy poets represented by D. W. Groethe of Bainville, Mont., Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer joined governors of many other states in officially saluting Cowboy Poetry Week, noting the importance of “public awareness to this form of art and its value to the people of Montana.” “I am pleased to recognize Cowboy Poetry Week in the state of Montana,” Schweitzer said. “Cowboy poetry has a rich history in Montana and has been an active part of schools and communities in Montana.” In Casey’s opinion, introducing students to cowboy poetry is seriously important. “I believe in our roots and heritage,” he said. “We all need to stand up and protect the traditions and legacies we've inherited, and I've got a story to tell. I want to be an image for kids to look up to, and hopefully instill in them this same love of country and customs I know and respect. Without our heritage, our children lose focus. Without our children's focus, we lose our world.”....
'Getting away with murder' Like all lawyers, Bill Neal knows some good stories. Now that he's retired, he's telling them. "Getting Away with Murder on the Texas Frontier: Notorious Killings and Celebrated Trials" (Texas Tech University Press) is the title of his book. A "cavalier attitude toward violence" marked Texas in earlier days, Neal said, listing a string of wars and their effects - the Texas Revolution to the Indian Wars and Reconstruction - as contributing influences on society. That's not to mention the influx of post-Civil War outlaws. "Killings, they just weren't that big a deal," he said. "Convictions were more the exception than the rule." Horse thieves fell into a different category. "If you stole a horse, you were mighty lucky if you got past the first cottonwood tree - much less made it to the courthouse," Neal said. Not that the courthouse was necessarily a place of justice. Some miscarriages thereof are topics for chapters in the book - like the time the flamboyant Temple Houston (son of Sam Houston) managed to achieve a mistrial by firing his pistol into the jury, effectively causing the sequestered jurors to mix and mingle with the spectators as they cleared the courthouse and ran for their lives. The pistol was loaded with blanks, but "the judge wasn't amused," Neal said. The judge scolded Houston but had to grant the request for a mistrial. Houston got a jury more to his liking for the next trial. His cowboy client, who allegedly had shot and killed a prominent rancher, got an acquittal....