NEWS ROUNDUP

Idaho ranchers learn to live with wolves John Faulkner was still finding sheep in October that had been scattered by marauding wolves near Fairfield. Wolves attacked Cascade cattle rancher Phil Davis' herd six times this summer, killing five calves. And Hailey sheep rancher Mike Stevens had to scramble to find another place for his sheep when wolves built a den in the middle of his grazing allotment. When the federal government was planning to move wolves into Idaho, no group opposed that more than Northern Rockies ranchers. They used their political clout to delay the release of wolves into Idaho and Yellowstone National Park for more than a decade. They went to court in 1995 in a last-ditch effort to keep out the controversial predators their grandfathers had eliminated at the turn of the century. Finally, when wolves were rapidly expanding beyond Idaho's backcountry, ranchers helped persuade the Idaho Legislature in 2002 to pass a plan to manage them, including additional authority for ranchers to kill wolves that attack livestock. Now, federal officials may soon remove wolves from the protection of the Endangered Species Act, which would give Idaho and other states control over the animals. Faulkner, Davis and Stevens have different views of the wolves that came into the state and their lives over the past decade. Each has learned to live with the wolves, but all say it's not easy. "This summer we had five different packs working our sheep," said Faulkner, a Gooding sheep rancher. "These wolves are becoming a hell of a problem."....
Wyoming commission approves gray wolf management plan Over the objections of environmental groups, the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission unanimously approved a plan Friday under which the state would manage gray wolves once the animals are no longer under federal protection. ''This state has a reputation for being able to manage wildlife and manage them well,'' commission president Bill Williams said. ''I think we have to ask everyone to take a bit of a leap of faith here.'' Wyoming's plan will be submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which rejected the state's first proposal for not adequately protecting wolves. The federal agency must approve the state plan in order for it to move forward with removing special protections for wolves under the Endangered Species Act. The agency has already approved state management plans in Montana and Idaho, where the wolves are also located. Wyoming's latest management plan has been criticized by environmentalists who say it falls short of providing wolves with protections and adequate habitat....
Lawsuit challenges federal decision on status of fish Groups demanding federal protection for a species of fish in southwestern Montana have filed a lawsuit seeking to reverse the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's refusal to declare the fluvial arctic grayling endangered. The suit by the Center for Biological Diversity, the Federation of Fly Fishers and the Western Watersheds Project says it was not scientific findings but a manipulative administrator that led the service to deny the fish protection under the Endangered Species Act early this year. An assistant regional director at the service's Denver office said he was able to state "point blank" Thursday that the claim is unfounded. Mike Stempel at the Fish and Wildlife Service office in Denver said in a telephone interview Thursday that MacDonald "had zero influence on this (grayling) decision." He said the Fish and Wildlife Service identified several months ago issues in which MacDonald "intervened in a way that she probably shouldn't have." Creatures at the center of those issues included lynx and prairie dogs, but not grayling, Stempel said. He said three people at the Denver office, including him, decided that listing grayling under the Endangered Species Act was inappropriate. That decision was scientifically based, said Stempel, Fish and Wildlife's assistant regional director for fisheries and ecological services....
Dispersed campsite access rule draws fire The distance campers and hunters can travel off-road to get to a dispersed campsite is sharply reduced in the new travel plans for Lewis and Clark National Forest, but the impact of the change is in dispute. "I don't think we're being terribly restrictive with this," said Dick Schwecke, the forest's travel plan program leader. Existing campsites and roads leading to them will not be shut down, he said. The intent of the change, rather, is to prevent new, illegal roads from being forged in the forest by those seeking dispersed campsites — those not united in a formal campground. Sportsmen don't see it that way. They say John Q. Camper's use of the forest for dispersed camping — a prized activity for hundreds of campers and hunters — will be restricted. They're planning to appeal the change....
Rocky Mountain Power puts end to plant in American Fork Canyon Rocky Mountain Power, which owned and operated a hydroelectric project in American Fork Canyon, gave the title and water rights to two federal agencies Friday, finishing a decommissioning of the project. The company decommissioned the plant, which was built in the early 20th century, due to relicensing issues with the federal government. Realizing the the new licenses were not economical, Rocky Mountain Power decided to remove the facility, said Bob Atwood, the project manager. The plant stopped producing electricity in 2004 after a landslide knocked out a main flow line, Atwood said. Since it was near to the decommissioning time, they decided not to spend the money to fix the lines. Decisions to get rid of renewable sources of energy, such as a hydro-electric project, aren't taken lightly or made quickly, said Dave Eskelsen, manager and communications director for Rocky Mountain Power. Hydroelectric plants hold many advantages since the energy is renewable and water doesn't release carbon byproducts or other harmful materials into the air....
Feinstein takes on fire prevention Sen. Dianne Feinstein unveiled a series of fire prevention and disaster relief bills in Washington on Friday that were inspired by this fall's Southern California wildfires. The package's centerpiece, the Fire Safe Community Act, calls for the creation of national guidelines to help communities in hazardous areas reduce the risk of wildfires. The bill would direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology to create a set of guidelines for suggested water supplies, proper home construction materials, defensible space, proper management of flammable brush and trees and infrastructure standards, according to a statement from Feinstein, D-Calif. Communities working to meet the guidelines would be eligible to receive money from a $25 million federal grant program under the proposed legislation. The Fire Safe Community Act would provide $15 million in grants -- on a 50-50 cost sharing basis -- to states that develop or update maps identifying communities at the greatest risk of wildfires. The federal government would reimburse up to 90 percent of the firefighting and emergency services costs to local and state fire departments that follow the new guidelines....
Pace of energy drilling expands in Western Montana One of nature's great observers, Meriwether Lewis, kept detailed journals of Montana's native wealth when he passed through more than two centuries ago. Flora and fauna, nothing escaped his notice. Except for one natural wonder lying deep beneath the landscape, one that today is producing both riches and controversy. Fossil fuels. Much of Montana's Rocky Mountain Front, a wilderness largely unchanged since Lewis and Clark's expedition, was protected from energy development last year after a high-profile push by citizens and legislators. Many of Montana's other prairies, peaks and watersheds, though, have proved to be gushers for the oil and natural gas industry as it expands its search for more domestic energy sources. Their next shot at reserving some of the state's fossil fuels comes Nov. 27, when the federal Bureau of Land Management hosts another round of bidding in a drilling expansion that's producing record amounts of revenue in the Big Sky state. But those profits may be coming at a cost....
Dems try to raise their odds "What happens here, stays here." Western Democrats hope the slogan that has boosted business on the Las Vegas Strip doesn't ring true in the race for the American presidency. Nevada's caucuses on Jan. 19 position the state as a likely third in the national lineup and relevant for the first time in presidential politics. The early slot on the primary calendar has prompted candidates - mostly Democrats - not only to show up, but finally to speak out on water shortages, growth, mining, wilderness protection and other challenges facing the Interior West. "We are on message about the things the voters of the West care about," party chairman Howard Dean said Tuesday in Denver. But, if the candidates' performances two days later were any indication, that message is hardly resounding. In the first presidential debate ever in Nevada, Democrats addressed the dangers of Chinese toys, possible war with Iran and immigration, but touched only on one specifically Western issue - a proposed nuclear waste dump here, which the pack of seven all oppose....
Gas pipeline could cross roadless area The federal government may be little more than a month away from authorizing construction of a natu­ral gas pipeline through a roadless area, something environmentalists say could have national implica­tions. The U.S. Bureau of Land Man­agement and Forest Service this week issued a final environmental impact statement for the Bull Mountain Pipeline, which would run from northwest Gunnison County to the Divide Creek area south of Silt. The study calls for the pipeline to cross about eight miles of roadless areas in the Grand Mesa, Uncom­pahgre and Gunnison national forests and the White River Nation­al Forest. It would follow the right of way of a smaller, 1980s-era pipeline. The study reaffirms the findings of a prior, draft study. Several environmental groups say the proposal would violate the 2001 roadless rule....
Out of the wild If our love affair with the fabled Kiger mustang, perhaps the most sought-after wild horse in the West, can be summed up by a single person, then listen to Betty Linnell. As owner of the Double L Kigers and Three Creeks Ranch outside Medford, she bought her first Kiger in 1993 and fell so hard for the breed that she eventually sold off all her quarter horses and replaced them with Kigers. "It was their beauty and their romantic history linking them to the historic Spanish mustangs that first caught our eye," Linnell says. "But it was after using them, after seeing their stamina to go all day chasing cows in rugged terrain, that we really got hooked on them." Now she breeds and sells them nationwide. Thirty years after a group of wild horses was moved to the isolated Kiger Gorge on Steens Mountain because of similarities to the Spanish horses brought to North America centuries ago, hundreds of people have become, like Linnell, smitten with the breed and its lore. But not all wild mustangs are so popular. The federal Bureau of Land Management oversees an estimated 31,000 wild horses in 10 Western states. Because the horse faces no predator in the wild, other than mountain lions, herds would double every five years if not culled. To keep a balance between horses and habitat, excess animals are offered for adoption through public auctions, but not all find a home. Of the roughly $38 million spent on the program, more than half goes to caring for the 22,000 older horses that haven't been adopted and live on ranches primarily in Oklahoma, where each horse costs the government about $1.27 a day....
Abandoned horses pose dilemna for ranchers Ranchers in the old West saw their herds of horses depleted by rustlers. Today, it's different. Increasingly, people are abandoning unwanted domestic horses on ranches and public lands. High hay prices and the closure this fall of the nation's last domestic horsemeat processing facility in Illinois may be partly to blame. Malheur County Undersheriff Brian Wolfe tries to identify owners of the abandoned hoses and charge them with animal abandonment or animal abuse but 90% of the horses are not branded. But even trucking horses to Mexico and Canada for slaughter may end. Congress is considering legislation to prohibit killing and processing horses for human consumption or transporting them across international boundaries for that purpose.
Schweitzer says he's dropping brucellosis plan Gov. Brian Schweitzer says he's abandoning his "split state" idea for control of the veterinary disease brucellosis, in Montana. During the Montana-Montana State Football game in Bozeman yesterday, Schweitzer told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle that the cattle industry lacked the consensus needed for his idea to succeed. For the past two years, Schweitzer has sought to establish a special buffer zone around Yellowstone National Park. Some of its bison carry brucellosis, and there are Montana ranchers who worry bison leaving Yellowstone will transmit the disease to cattle. Under the split-state plan, if a cattle herd was found infected with brucellosis, only ranchers within the greater Yellowstone area would be forced to put their animals through costly tests before export. The rest of the state would keep the brucellosis-free status held by Montana since 1985....
Mexican rancher to clone prize fighting bull A Mexican cattle rancher aims to clone a fighting bull so brave its life was spared in the world's biggest bull ring. Texan livestock cloning company ViaGen has taken samples from the ears and feet of 17-year-old Zalamero to reproduce its genetics in Canadian laboratories, owner Jose Manuel Fernandez said on Friday. Zalamero, or Fawner, has fathered around 100 offspring. "We believe this animal deserves to keep reproducing himself," Fernandez said. "We are going to do four copies because two cattle ranchers have asked me for them and I am going to keep two," he told Reuters. Zalamero fought in the world's biggest bull ring in Mexico City in 1994 and became an "indultado," one of the few bulls allowed to live because of its bravery....
Deciding the legacy of Sitting Bull When Sitting Bull’s name passes the lips of Ernie LaPointe, the words great-grandfather follow. For many people, Sitting Bull is a famed Indian spiritual leader. His name is said in the same breath as George Custer and the Battle of Little Big Horn. But, the man depicted in movies and books is different from the man LaPointe’s mother told him about as a child. “I kept quiet about this,” he said. “It was my mother’s wish not to brag about it.” His mother is Angeline LaPointe, who is the daughter of Sitting Bull’s youngest daughter, Standing Holy. But, Sitting Bull’s family tree has many branches. He had four wives and adopted his sister’s son. The family of his fourth wife and his adopted son make equal claim to Sitting Bull’s heritage....
At 83, former Gov. Bruce King keeps faith with his first realm: the ranch Tawny fields, dotted with black Angus and white Charolais cattle, unfold into the distance on either side of the gravel road as the Chevy Silverado rumbles into a mostly sunny New Mexico morning. Bruce King — former New Mexico governor, state political icon, life-long rancher — is riding shotgun. He's the first to see the white momma cow standing at the cattle guard just beyond the crossroads ahead. "That's one the cowboys missed," he says. "She went back looking for her calf." This is the King Brothers Ranch, 80,000 acres spread out around the small community of Stanley, just north of Moriarty and 40 miles south of Santa Fe. Bruce King, 83, owns the ranch with his brothers Sam, 85, and Don, 77. Bruce King, a Democrat, served 12 years as governor, a record, and he was, in his day, the state's most recognized public figure. He rubbed elbows and slapped backs with the likes of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton and thousands of others who were less famous....
Molly Gloss’s “The Hearts of Horses” The Hearts of Horses, the moving and evocative new novel by Oregon writer Molly Gloss, begins with the classic “a stranger comes to town” set up: A tall, lone rider gallops into the fictional Elwha County in Eastern Oregon and begins “looking for horses that need breaking out.” But the year is 1917, and most young ranch hands have gone to fight in World War I, so the rider seeking work is a woman, 19-year-old Martha Lessen. The narrator informs us that it wasn’t uncommon for young women to train horses in that era. “Those girls could break horses as well as any man,” Gloss writes, “but they had their own ways of doing it, not such a bucking Wild West show. They went about it so quiet and deliberate, children would get tired of watching and go off to do something else.” George Bliss is the first rancher to hire Martha to gentle a pair of horses. Although he at first seems to be a bit skeptical of Martha, who wears the “old fashioned cowboy trappings” of “fringed batwing chaps” and a “showy big platter of a hat,” he is soon convinced enough by the skills she displays to advertise her services to his neighbors. He proposes she set up a “circle ride,” training a number of horses dispersed throughout the county in a circuit, riding a horse from one barn to the next, providing Martha with a “winter’s worth of work” that would result in all the neighbors’ horses becoming conditioned for the saddle by spring....