NEWS ROUNDUP

Grizzly mauls man in Yellowstone A Montana man was attacked by a grizzly bear Wednesday in Yellowstone National Park. The man, whose name and hometown were not released, suffered severe facial injuries and was being treated at an Idaho hospital Wednesday evening. The man, in his 50s, was alone and taking photos of bears along Trout Creek in Hayden Valley, park officials said. He told rangers he was attacked by a female bear with a cub. He hiked 2 to 3 miles east to the Grand Loop Road, where visitors found him around 1 p.m., the park said. He was taken by ambulance to West Yellowstone, then transferred to an Air Idaho helicopter and taken to Eastern Idaho Medical Center in Idaho Falls. Information on his condition was not available Wednesday evening. "He was conscious, breathing and talking to rangers" before he was taken to the hospital, said Al Nash, a Yellowstone spokesman. Further details of the attack weren't immediately available....
Earth Liberation Front arsonist sentenced to 13 years Declaring fires set at a police station, an SUV dealership and a tree farm acts of terrorism, a federal judge Wednesday sentenced the first of 10 members of a radical environmental group to 13 years in prison. U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken commended Stanislas Meyerhoff for having the courage to "do the right thing" by informing on his fellow arsonists after his arrest. But he declared his efforts to save the earth by setting fires were misguided and cowardly, and contributed to an unfair characterization of others working legally to protect the environment as radicals. "It was your intent to scare and frighten other people through a very dangerous and psychological act — arson," Aiken told Meyerhoff. "Your actions included elements of terrorism to achieve your goal. Meyerhoff, 29, has admitted to being a member of a Eugene cell of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) known as The Family, which was responsible for more than 20 arsons from 1996 through 2001 in five Western states that did $40 million in damage....
'Direct Action' Attacks: Terrorism by Another Name? The people involved with ALF/ELF can be roughly divided into four groups. The first group, one of the smallest, is made up of those who surreptitiously engage in illegal direct action activities, such as arson, assault, etc. The groups' wealthy, anonymous donors also make up a small second group. The third, larger group is made up of activists who publicly engage in legal actions, attend rallies and collect and disseminate the personal information of potential targets. In the fourth and largest group are the mainly passive sympathizers who identify with environmental or animal rights issues. Because neither ELF nor ALF has a formal membership list, the numbers are in no way fixed -- meaning anyone can read about them, identify with their cause and then engage in an illegal activity that propels them directly into the first group. The structures of ALF and ELF are amorphous and nonhierarchical, and the individual activists who act on behalf of the organizations control their own activities. Small groups of activists, however, have been known to band together to form autonomous cells -- sometimes referred to as affinity groups -- that have a little more structure and leadership. Overall, however, there is no centralized leadership to tie the anonymous activists or cells together....
Copter assists hazing of bison Montana officials near West Yellowstone used a helicopter Wednesday to steer 285 bison back into Yellowstone National Park. The work, the most aggressive hazing operation this year, pushed the bison about seven miles into the park, where there's more food and access to water. In recent days, many bison hazed back into the park by state agents have simply turned around and left Yellowstone for private and public land northwest of West Yellowstone. Bison were supposed to be inside the park early last week in preparation for the arrival of cattle in the area. The bison are moved as part of a state and federal plan to reduce the risk of transmitting brucellosis, a contagious disease that can cause abortions, from bison to cows....
Administration fights bill that would alter energy policy Saying the bill could drive up the cost of fuel, administration officials objected Wednesday to new legislation that would change how the government approves some oil and gas drilling projects on public lands and would alter other federal energy policies. House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., introduced the legislation last week and held a hearing Wednesday for administration officials to raise their objections to it. The bill addresses numerous topics on which the panel and its subcommittees have held hearings, including energy corridors, Minerals Management Service audits and carbon capture. The bill would amend the 2005 Energy Policy Act to eliminate the use of exemptions from some environmental analysis for certain oil and gas drilling projects. The act allows "categorical exclusions" to exempt certain projects requiring an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement. The new bill would eliminate categorical exclusions now used for projects in areas with land-use plans approved within the previous five years, or with surface disturbance limited to 5 acres and a previous project with a National Environmental Policy Act decision. Supporters of the provision say it would return balance to administration policy that has favored drilling over other public land uses....
County talks trails The Otero County Commission work session Wednesday was filled with notable issues, which included road jurisdiction, wildlife management, the current defoliation crisis, medical claims and a fire ban. "We are currently looking at maps of the county to study all roads, especially in Lincoln National Forest," said commission Chairman Doug Moore. The review will be to determine which roads would be affected by RS2477, a revised federal statute enacted in 1866 that governs the jurisdiction of all "developed roads, trails, paths and grazing courses," Moore said. "What this means is that the Forest Service or BLM cannot legally close any of the RS2477 roads," County Attorney Dan Bryant added. "It grants a right of way across public lands for all roads." Bryant said Otero County is looking to make a declaration regarding these forest roads in as early as two to three weeks....
Forest Service ocean view homes for sale in Waldport Three homes on a 2.81 acre parcel of land with ocean view adjacent to the Central Oregon Coast Ranger District-Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area office in Waldport are for sale. These homes were used as temporary housing for Siuslaw National Forest employees, according to Forest Realty Specialist Chuck Gladney. "We project no further use for the residences and will use proceeds to help maintain other administrative buildings," he added. The property and houses are located south of Waldport and just north and adjacent to the existing Waldport office. Houses will not be sold separately, but in one package including the acreage. The properties are for sale through a competitive online auction with the General Services Administration (GSA). A Minimum Bid and Bid Deposit have been established for the property....
Moratorium on mesa? Sen. Pete Domenici joined the growing chorus of voices calling for a moratorium on natural gas drilling in Otero Mesa. Domenici, R-N.M., said in a news release issued Wednesday that he has written to the Bureau of Land Management, asking that no drilling be allowed until a U.S. Geological Survey study of the Salt Basin aquifer is completed. Domenici issued the statement after the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved a bill Wednesday he co-sponsored with Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. The bill now goes to the full Senate for consideration. It designates several areas in New Mexico, including Otero Mesa and the Tularosa Basin, that will be studied concerning the extent of groundwater resources available. "We identify the Salt Basin as a priority aquifer to study, including an investigation of the susceptibility of the water to contamination," Domenici said in the news release. "This sort of review would provide us with critical information on the possible effect of oil and gas development in the Otero Mesa on the Salt Basin aquifer." The bill authorizes an analysis of aquifers throughout New Mexico. It will look at the availability of groundwater, the salinity, the interaction between groundwater and surface water and will examine surface and bedrock geology. A study in 2006 by USGS estimated that the Salt Basin may contain as much as 57 million acre feet of water, including 15 million that is potable. An acre foot is enough water to supply a family of four for an entire year....
A plot both wide and thick ASTRIDE his horse, Benjamin Coates could gaze across 21,400 acres and see the sweep of his power reflected in nature. A riot of mesas and meadows laced with gurgling streams. Miles of chaparral and clusters of stately oaks. A mountain that Native Americans considered a deity. Herds of deer, golden eagles overhead, enough wildlife to stock a zoo. And not another soul in sight. This was Xanadu and it belonged to Coates. The Pennsylvania-born businessman collected property the way others accumulate Hummel figurines. He owned a Manhattan office building, a hunting estate in Scotland, a Swiss chalet, apartments in Paris, New York and Tokyo. But above all else, he prized Rancho Guejito, Southern California's last undivided Mexican land grant. Most people have never heard of Rancho Guejito, in northern San Diego County. Few have seen it. Shielded from view by ridgelines, with only one road leading to a locked gate and a security guard, the ranch is a time capsule from 1845, when Mexico's California governor awarded the core of it to San Diego's customs inspector. Since then, a series of wealthy men ran cattle and used Rancho Guejito (pronounced Weh-HEE-toh) as a private playground. Coates was the last. It was the jewel of a billion-dollar-plus fortune the 86-year-old aristocrat planned to pass down to generations of heirs with instructions that it never be developed....
Emigrant ranch cattle are free of brucellosis The second tests for exposure to brucellosis conducted on yearling heifers on a ranch near Emigrant are negative. Rancher and Republican State Rep. Bruce Malcolm said he got the call at 11:40 a.m. today. "It means that this place up here is free from brucellosis. No reactors. No positive ones," he said. "Every animal we have is negative." The first tests run on 75 cow/calf pairs on the Malcolm ranch came back negative on Tuesday. Brucellosis bacteria can cause fertility problems and abortions in pregnant cows, elk, bison and hogs. Seven cows that originally came from the Malcolm ranch near Emigrant but were living on another family ranch near Bridger tested positive for the disease, so that herd is quarantined and probably will be destroyed during the next six weeks. The tests mean that, unless other herds test positive in the "trace-back" investigation, Montana will retain its coveted brucellosis-free status....
USCA Urges USDA & Interior Department To Implement Wildlife Brucellosis Control The U.S. Cattlemen’s Association (USCA), during a board of directors meeting on Monday, May 21, unanimously approved a resolution calling on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of the Interior to undertake an aggressive, long-term brucellosis control and eradication program related to bison, elk and moose in Yellowstone National Park. The U.S. Cattlemen’s Association is urging both agencies to implement an indemnification program to compensate ranchers for losses suffered as a result of infection by wildlife. Bison numbers within the park exceed forage production, causing over-grazing and migration of infected bison, elk and moose from the park’s boundaries. "Cattle producers have worked for more than half a century at enormous cost to eradicate brucellosis in cattle herds across the country," said Chuck Kiker, Texas, USCA’s Animal Health Committee chairman. "One of the greatest risks of infection for cattle today is exposure to infected ruminant wildlife. An investigation is underway in Montana by federal and state animal health officials, and it’s important to let that play out. However, evidence demonstrates that the region surrounding Yellowstone National Park is a consistent hot-bed for brucellosis outbreaks threatening an entire sector of the economy. It is incumbent upon the Department of the Interior and USDA to take an aggressive approach that will lead to total eradication of this disease."....
OIE U.S. Meat Safety Classification “The American Farm Bureau Federation is pleased with the World Organization for Animal Health’s (OIE) decision to classify the U.S. as a ‘controlled risk’ for meat safety. We expect this classification rating to jumpstart U.S. beef exports, which have been down since a 2003 incident of bovine spongiform encephalopathy found in a U.S. cow. The OIE classification validates that beef produced by U.S. farmers and ranchers is safe and that U.S. food safety mechanisms are working. “We are optimistic that this classification will encourage other countries, such as South Korea and Japan, to fully reopen their market to U.S. beef. We expect these countries, which were once a large export market for U.S. beef, to follow this new classification and change their import guidelines to accept safe U.S. beef. America’s farmers and ranchers will not rest until full beef trade resumes.”
Skeleton of bear-like creature found in Badlands The skeleton of a bear-like creature believed to be about 60 million years old has been found in the North Dakota Badlands, the state paleontologist says. The titanoides fossil was found during a survey of an oil drilling site north of Belfield, paleontologist John Hoganson said. Partial skeletons have been found before in North Dakota, but the latest discovery could be complete or close to it, he said. The landscape was much different when the titanoides roamed the area, Hoganson said. "It was subtropical, for example, and it was a forested swampland. So during the time, it was somewhat similar to southern Florida today, and this titanoides actually lived in these forested habitats," he said. Hoganson said the titanoides was about 5 feet long, weighing between 200 and 300 pounds....
Lamb and Wool Fest Friday The lamb and wool growers association of Utah, along with Utah Humanities Council and Meadow Gold again present the annual Lamb and Wool Festival, but this year it includes storytellers and a special traveling photography exhibit. Hal Cannon, founding director of the Western Folklife Center in Elko, Nev., and the Cowboy Poetry Gathering, will share songs and stories of shepherding between 7 and 8 p.m. Friday, with Tony Norris. Cannon has published a dozen books and recordings on the folk arts of the West, including his best-selling anthology, "Cowboy Poetry, A Gathering." More recently Cannon has been producing public television and radio features on the culture and folklife of the American West. Norris is a regular at storytelling festivals, cowboy poetry gatherings, schools, campfires and corporate conferences. With the accompaniment of his big Martin guitar and healthy doses of humor, he invites the adventurous to leave the everyday world behind and journey into the old West. Also on Friday from 4-5 p.m., Ryan Paul, the director of "Think Sheep!," explores the life of an Iron County sheep ranching family in a film documentary. Ryan is a board member of the Utah Museum Association, the Iron County Historical Society, the Early American Industries Association, the Utah State Historical Society, the Organization of American Historical and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. "Trailing the Year: The Human Landscape of Sheep Ranching in the American West" is a photo exhibit of ranchers and shepherds in the Sanpete Valley produced by Peter Goss. Produced as part of the Western Folklife Center's "Sheep Ranching in the American West" project, the exhibit presents work as experienced in the Intermountain and Great Basin West and is on exhibit through June 1....