WHO: Climate Change Threatens Millions Millions of people could face poverty, disease and hunger as a result of rising temperatures and changing rainfall expected to hit poor countries the hardest, the World Health Organization warned Monday. Malaria, diarrhea, malnutrition and floods cause an estimated 150,000 deaths annually, with Asia accounting for more than half, said regional WHO Director Shigeru Omi. Malaria-carrying mosquitoes represent the clearest sign that global warming has begun to impact human health, he said, adding they are now found in cooler climates such as South Korea and the highlands of Papua New Guinea. Warmer weather means that mosquitoes' breeding cycles are shortening, allowing them to multiply at a much faster rate, posing an even greater threat of disease, he told reporters in Manila. The exceptionally high number cases in Asia of dengue fever, which is also spread by mosquitoes, could be due to rising temperatures and rainfall, but Omi said more study is needed to establish the connection between climate change and that disease....
'Citizen scientists' record warming data Project BudBurst, a national field campaign for "citizen scientists," is designed to help record how the planet is warming by tracking the dates that 60 plant species leaf and flower this spring and summer. Climate change is about more than endangered polar bears in the Arctic or melting ice sheets in the Antarctic. The flowers and plants in your own backyard or neighborhood park also may have a role in this global drama. Students, gardeners and interested residents of the 50 states enter their observations into an online database. After a trial run in 2007 that included reports from 26 states, the project is in full swing this year with thousands of people signed up....
Morale Problems Driving Firefighters Out of Forest Service? Some US Forest Service firefighters say there are not enough of them to battle the next large wildfire, but fire officials say their staffing levels are fine. The US Forest Service was called before Congress to explain why they appear to have difficulty keeping their firefighters. Days ago, the Forest Service released findings saying there are no staffing problems. Some in the rank and file are calling that official report a "whitewash." But one firefighter's association is saying there's a problem keeping young firefighters, with the Forest Service losing as many as half of the entry-level firefighters. "We're losing folks to other agencies for better pay and better benefits. But we're also losing them because they have a sense that their employment agency, the Forest Service, with all due respect, just doesn't give a damn about them," said Casey Judd, business manager for the Federal Wildland Fire Service Association. The recent report from the US Forest Service fires right back, saying there is no problem and that they are still responding to wildfires just as fast as ever. It does admit that there is a morale problem that needs to be addressed by the agency's leadership....
Lumber Industry Takes Hit from Economic Slowdown Global economics and the housing bust are throwing a relentless string of problems at the mom-and-pop sawmills and logging companies that make up much of the nation’s hardwood lumber industry. Large furniture makers have abandoned the U.S., a growing number of raw logs are being shipped overseas for processing, and changing consumer tastes and construction downturns have slashed demand for hardwood flooring, trim and red oak, long the dominant species. The result has been rising unemployment for forestry workers and a sharp decline in hardwood production. Government statistics show production has dropped from 12.6 billion board feet in 1999 to about 10.7 billion last year. U.S. Forest Service economist Bill Luppold expects production to dip further, to perhaps 10.5 billion board feet or less this year....
Lawmakers ease off on wilderness idea A proposal to designate a vast swath of rugged terrain in western Nevada as wilderness has alarm bells ringing in several rural communities, with scores of residents opposed and some of Nevada's congressional delegation distancing themselves from the idea. Environmentalists pushing the proposal to label as wilderness nearly 700,000 acres in Lyon, Mineral and Esmeralda counties said they're just initiating discussions. But residents suspicious of them and federal representatives are mobilizing to block a proposal they said could damage their economy and cherished way of life. "This is the hot issue down here right now," said Jim Sanford, a 50-year resident of Yerington and the former publisher of the Mason Valley News. "Emotion-wise, this is as big as any we've ever had, probably." That emotion was exhibited Wednesday, when more than 700 people crowded into a meeting at Smith Valley High School -- most to oppose any new wilderness designations. "There's a fear here over what government is going to do to us and not for us," said Sanford, 60. "The feeling here is we don't trust them."....
Sawdust prices soar as supply dwindles with housing slump As huge saws rip through logs at the Hancock Lumber sawmill, sawdust flies through the air and coats equipment, floors and rafters. Far from a nuisance, though, the sawdust is commanding premium prices as housing construction slumps and energy costs grow. From Maine to Oregon, the price of sawdust, along with other wood byproducts, has soared. When they can find it, sawdust buyers -- dairy farmers, particleboard makers, wood pellet manufacturers among them -- are paying up to $50 a ton or more. That's double what they paid a year ago, some say. There was once a time when sawmill operators could barely give away their sawdust. They dumped it in the woods, buried it or incinerated it just to get rid the stuff. These days, they have ready markets for sawdust, as well as bark, wood chips and board trimmings that can't be sold as lumber. "Now the only things in a sawmill that aren't salable are the whine of the saw blade and the steam from the kiln," said Peter Lammert, a forester for the Maine Department of Conservation who has tracked the industry for decades....
Judge Blocks Uranium Exploration Near Grand Canyon A federal judge Friday evening issued an injunction against the British mining firm VANE Minerals and the Kaibab National Forest, halting uranium exploration on public lands within a few miles of Grand Canyon National Park. The order came after a day-long hearing in a case brought by three conservation groups - Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, and Grand Canyon Trust - to challenge drilling taking place close to the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River with no public hearing and no environmental review. "This order stops uranium exploration on the banks of a national treasure," said Taylor McKinnon of the Center for Biological Diversity. "The Forest Service had allowed drilling to begin while the case was pending, so the order comes as a major relief. We're elated." In December, the Kaibab National Forest approved exploratory uranium drilling by VANE Minerals at up to 39 locations across seven project sites just south of the Grand Canyon. The approval was granted using a "categorical exclusion," the least rigorous public and environmental review available to the agency under the National Environmental Policy Act....
Bloated government wolf program turns ranch families into victims The wolf recovery program is failing. It is not failing because ranch families are protecting their homes, property and animals. It is failing because the reintroduction of a "top-of-the-chain" predator, with mixed canine bloodlines (the current population of wolves has a 2 percent to 3 percent mixture of coyote ancestry) has become a political pawn for those who want to vilify or remove ranching families from the area. It also is a pawn for a government program that swells budgets and provides salaries for more government employees to roam in the forest and chase wolves. Yes - chase the wolves. The recovery program is failing because these wolves are conditioned to being fed and sustained in an environment in which vehicles and people are the interactive sounds they affiliate with a meal. It is failing because they are being hounded by government programs to "study, collar, catch, move, dispatch" or otherwise follow these animals. And it is failing because this process also causes ranch families to regularly follow their animals and attempt to know where the wolves are predating to manage their animals away from the areas where these "top-of-the-chain" predators are feeding. Even ranch families understand that our animals would not do very well in an environment where we were constantly studying, collaring and chasing them - rather than letting their genetic and nature-trained foraging experiences lead them to the areas where they prosper and survive. The current recovery program causes everyone involved to act like Keystone Kops....
Skeptics don’t gnaw at Wally Wolverine were a thing of the past in the Sierra, the chance that a population of the apparently — and key word here, unofficially — endangered species exists could have far-reaching implications. Land-use decisions by the U.S. Forest Service on things like timber harvesting to recreational activities would have to factor in the effects of those activities on wolverine habitat if the animal were officially deemed endangered. Anyone who sported a bumper sticker on his or her vehicle in the early ‘90s espousing the use of spotted owls rather than toilet paper made from trees would understandably jump to the conclusion that W’s prime-time debut was a little suspect. After all, the research photo was made public in early March, a few weeks before the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was set to review whether wolverines should be placed on the endangered species list. Despite the bomb W dropped on scientists and those who love the forest for, albeit, differing reasons, a couple of photographs does not an endangered species make. W could well be someone’s furry pampered captive wolverine pup who grew up to be an obstinate 40-pound carnivore. At that point, it would have been time to let W free out in the forest near Truckee. From where W actually hails — is he a local or accidental tourist? — is a mystery scientists are trying to solve....
A Quick Lesson in Conservation Economics The Forest Service last week announced its plans to spend $54 million on 35 "working forests" across the country. Its Forest Legacy Program is the only federal grant program aimed at protecting private forests. Well over half the forests in the United States are privately owned, and as the land passes from one generation to the next, its chances of being carved up, sold off and developed increase. "Private forest landowners account for almost 60 percent of America’s forests, and many of them are now selling their lands to developers," Associate Forest Service Chief Sally Collins said in a speech in June 2007. "If current trends continue, we will lose about 23 million acres from 1997 to 2050, an area the size of Maine." Communities, often, only recognize the value of preserving open space after it comes under threat of development. By that time, the value of the land has skyrocketed, given that any value in an acre of timber has been outweighed by the value of a home or four, on that acre. Case in point: The Forest Service will spend $3.46 million to preserve the 3,500-acre Paulding County Land area about an hour out of sprawling Atlanta, Ga. Move up the Appalachian Trail to its other terminus, in Maine, and the Forest Service is spending almost as much – $3.27 – to preserve the 42,241-acre Lower Penobscot Forest. Spend 5.5% less to get 12 times more....
ATV enforcement irks county sheriff A state bill permitting county and state law-enforcement officers to issue citations to all-terrain vehicle riders on federal lands has the Montezuma County sheriff scratching his head. Sheriff Gerald Wallace said his office does not have the time, resources or manpower to respond to calls in order to specifically ticket ATV owners who ride illegally on U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management property. "Sometimes expectations are for local law enforcement to be everything to everybody," Wallace said. "We're happy to help out the Forest Service and BLM from time to time. But now, if someone reports ATV use where it's prohibited, it creates an expectation level that's tough to meet." Wallace said it's common for the sheriff's office to respond to ATV accidents on federal lands resulting in injury. House Bill 1069 creates a misdemeanor for riding illegally on federal land, with a $100 fine and a 10-point hit on hunting or fishing licenses if the violator was hunting or fishing at the time. In wilderness areas, the penalties go up to $200 and 15 points....The good Sheriff should enter into a contract with the BLM so his office can be compensated. Section 303 of FLPMA authorizes such contracts. In fact, FLPMA requires the BLM to achieve "maximum feasible reliance upon local law enforcement officials" for enforcement. BLM has been ignoring this language and has chosen instead to create their own cadre of Rangers.
Navajo appeals order accepting Western Refining tariffs The Navajo Nation on Monday appealed the federal government's acceptance of rates set by Western Refining Pipeline Co. to ship crude oil on the company's pipeline, saying the rates are discriminatory and would disadvantage producers in the Four Corners area. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last month accepted the tariffs, which range from $6-$7.50 a barrel. Western's 424-mile pipeline stretches from West Texas to northern New Mexico and briefly crosses the Navajo Nation. The commission ruled that the Navajo Nation did not show it had an economic interest in the matter and that it lacked standing to protest because the tribe does not ship on Western's pipeline, did not intend to and had not made a request to do so. The tribe countered Monday by saying it's a potential shipper and since Western's tariffs are for initial service, "by definition, there can be no existing shippers." Tribal officials are asking the commission to recognize the Navajo Nation's right to protest the rates, grant a rehearing, require that Western justify its costs and also remove discriminatory terms in setting the tariffs....
States disagree on uranium mining Uranium mining was a hot topic at an economic development conference in Kanab, as differing interests between Utah and Arizona came into conflict. The keynote panel of the Canyon Region Economic Development Association on Saturday in Kanab brought together politicians and a public-lands official to discuss the resumption of mining for uranium on the Arizona Strip, located just south of the Utah state line. The counties that make up the association formed to promote economic development include Mohave and Coconino in Arizona and Kane in southern Utah. Kane County, however, recently pulled out of the association in response to Coconino County, Ariz., passing a resolution in February opposing a proposed uranium mine near the South Rim entrance to Grand Canyon National Park. The resolution started legislation in motion for Congress to ban mining around the national park on the North and South rims. Coconino County Supervisor Gary Taylor told those attending Saturday's conference that while he does not wish to hinder mining operations in other areas, he fears the presence of a uranium mine near the South Entrance of the park could impact tourism that is responsible for bringing nearly $700 million annually into the economy of his county. Kane County Commissioner Daniel Hulet responded that the resolution precipitated the introduction of the anti-mining legislation in Congress, compelling Kane County to pull its support in the association. Hulet said that Kane County supports the return to uranium mining on the Strip because of the economic benefits it would bring....
Study tests elk herd's tolerance of coalbed gas development The Fortification Creek elk herd roams the isolated sage brush country and steep rocky breaks of the Powder River Basin. The herd is prized by hunters for its trophy class bulls. The herd also lives in a region ripe for coalbed natural gas development. Given the confluence of pressures, government wildlife officials have joined with the University of Wyoming and energy companies for a $500,000 study aimed at figuring out how much energy development the elk can tolerate. Biologists recently collared 39 of the animals to monitor their behavior over the next four years. The herd lives on about 100,000 acres near the junction of Campbell, Sheridan and Johnson counties. Tom Bills of the Bureau of Land Management says the region includes BLM, private and state lands. Bills says the elk study is related to the BLM's new resource management plan for the Fortification Creek area. The study will examine how the components of energy development -- including roads, noise and water usage -- affect elk habitat....
Seeking balance on drilling rules The Ritter administration, which successfully midwived a compromise between environmental protection and natural gas development in the Roan Plateau, seems headed for a similar middle ground for energy development on private lands throughout Colorado. It remains to be seen, of course, whether Ritter's labors will bear fruit on the Roan. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management rejected most of the state's comments and plans to proceed with its original leasing plan for the federally owned land that comprises about half the environmentally sensitive plateau. Members of the state's congressional delegation are now trying to write the enhanced protections proposed by Ritter into federal law. In contrast, Ritter is playing a much stronger hand with his efforts to strike a new balance between environmental concerns and the surging demand for energy on private lands throughout the state. That's because the 2007 Colorado legislature already blessed his efforts to replace the old seven-member Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC), long dominated by five industry appointees, with a new regulatory body with only three industry slots among its nine members. The law also gave the expanded commission authority to protect the public health, safety, welfare, wildlife and the environment. The first effort to translate those new objectives into detailed regulations — known as a "pre-draft" outline — sent shock waves through the industry, which claimed the regs would put interminable and costly delays on oil and gas drilling....
Kennecott's ore-exploration plan threatens county open-space jewel Salt Lake County spent millions to preserve a rugged Oquirrh Mountain region of high-mountain forests and sagebrush-speckled slopes, trumpeting the sale as an open-space prize for generations to come. But the county failed to mention one detail: Kennecott Utah Copper wants to snoop beneath the surface for minerals. The copper giant filed 70 mining claims with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to explore mineral deposits beneath the county-owned Rose Canyon Ranch in the hills west of Herriman. It's a potentially troublesome move for the county, which bought 1,700 surface acres of Oquirrh Mountain wilderness five months ago for hiking, horseback riding and backcountry bicycling. Even so, county leaders acknowledge they knew of Kennecott's leanings before they closed the $8.7 million deal. "If it is not invasive to the property, I don't have a concern," Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon said. "But I don't want to see anything done that would deteriorate the property for its intended purpose. "We purchased that property for open space for the citizens. That is the way we want to keep it." But Kennecott's plans may burrow beyond the county's comfort level....
Udall wants to slow rush for gas reserves The abundance of natural gas under federal land leased for energy production in northwest Colorado illustrates why the federal government should responsibly develop the Roan Plateau, U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., said Saturday. “We can afford to wait,” said Udall, who flew over the Roan during his visit to Grand Junction. Given the thousands of acres that the Bureau of Land Management has leased to energy companies, there should be no rush for the federal government to parcel out the federal lands atop the Roan for drilling, he said. The five-term congressman and U.S. Senate candidate said he hopes Congress will agree with him, U.S. Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., and Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., to adopt a plan to require the BLM to incrementally lease the Roan. “If we protect the Roan today, the gas is not going anywhere,” Udall said. The plan Udall wants to embed in federal law is one pro- posed late last year by Gov. Bill Ritter, who called for, among other things, expanding the areas of critical environmental concern that were listed in the BLM’s original Roan development plan. The BLM rejected Ritter’s plan in March....
Compromise is only way to solve grazing debate In the most recent Kittitas County controversy, on one side are the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Washington Cattlemen's Association, brought together by the governor's office to allow grazing on large swaths of state wildlife land. On the other are Western Watersheds Project, the Idaho-based group suing the state, and others who believe widespread grazing is either bad science or bad politics. And there are plenty of claims about both. First there's the dueling science, which proponents of grazing point to as evidence that cattle will eat cheat grass that would otherwise grow thicker and present a larger fire hazard to the open range. Opponents, meanwhile, have their own studies that claim grazing worsens forage and ground cover for native wildlife. Then there's the political issue of who makes decisions about the use of state lands: The state Fish and Wildlife Commission is made up of people appointed by the governor, in this case Democrat Chris Gregoire. Add in the always challenging economics of the cattle business -- where ranchers say they have to lease grazing land because buying feed for range cattle is just too expensive -- and the agricultural tradition of western states like Washington and the debate becomes even more heated....
Grass fire near Capitan downsized to 4,500 acres A state Forestry Division spokesman says more accurate mapping shows the wind-driven fire burning near Capitan has charred about 4,500 acres. Initial estimates had pegged the fire at 10,000 acres, but Dan Ware says officials were able to better map the fire tonight. Ware says the wind has died down tonight and firefighters are making progress against the blaze, dubbed the Cholla Fire. The blaze was reported at 11:30 a.m. today about 30 miles northeast of Capitan. It burned on private and U.S. Bureau of Land Management land. Ware says winds gusting more than 30 mph pushed the flames during the afternoon. He says fire crews have built lines around much of the blaze. No structures were threatened. Ware says the cause of the fire is not known.
Spain Reports 2 Mad Cow Deaths Two people in Spain have died of the human variant of mad cow disease, in the first such fatalities since 2005, officials said Monday. The victims were ages 40 and 51 and one died in December and the other in February, said Jose Javier Castrodeza, director of public health at the regional government. Until now Spain's only fatality from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease came in 2005 with the death of a 26-year-old woman in Madrid. Officials appealed Monday for calm and insisted it is safe to eat beef in Spain. The Castilla-Leon regional agriculture minister, Silvia Clemente, said the two new victims apparently contracted the disease prior to 2001 and health controls on livestock and meat production are much tighter now than they were then....
Biker survives collision with turkey A motorcyclist broke six ribs and a shoulder blade yesterday when a wild turkey flew into him, knocking him off his bike, according to police and the man's family. State police said the turkey flew of the woods and struck the biker, Frank Grimes, as he cruised up Route 12 in Westmoreland. Grimes, 62, of Keene, was flown by helicopter to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, where he was listed in "satisfactory" condition last night. "From what he told me, that he remembers, he was hit on the right-hand side. He didn't know by what," said his daughter, Michelle Grimes, of West Lebanon. "He had no idea until somebody told him." The turkey did not survive, according to Lu Farnsworth, who passed the bird on her way to work early yesterday afternoon. Farnsworth works at Mac's Market on Route 12 in Westmoreland. "He was big, and he was on the side of the road with his tail feathers out," Farnsworth said. "He was a good size. Probably 30 pounds."....