Wolf kills reach at least 10 At least 10 gray wolves have now been killed in Wyoming since the animals were removed from the federal endangered species list. All of the canines have been killed in the state's new wolf predator management area, where it is now legal to shoot the animals on sight. All 10 have been taken in Sublette County. Four wolves were destroyed by USDA Wildlife Services agents Monday on a ranch near the border of the state's new trophy game zone for the animals, a spokesman for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department confirmed Tuesday. The wolves reportedly killed four or five calves inside a rancher's cow pen over the weekend, starting Friday morning, said Cat Urbigkit, a Sublette County predator management board member. The cows and calves were being kept in a barbed-wire-lined pen, Urbigkit said, and two of the calves were almost completely consumed. "The depredations actually started there Friday morning, and the wolves were returning nightly," Urbigkit said....
Probe finds uranium mine violations What has been considered Wyoming's "model" in-situ uranium mine, and the only operational uranium facility in the state in recent years, is under scrutiny by state regulators for what they describe as an alarming volume of environmental violations. Following an investigation last fall, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality has issued a notice of violation to Power Resources Inc., which operates the Smith-Highland Ranch in-situ leach uranium mine north of Douglas. The six-page investigation report details several "long-standing" environmental concerns at the mine. Among them are delayed restoration of groundwater, "routine" spills, and a seriously inadequate bond to cover restoration. "Given that PRI's operation has for many years been the major uranium producer in Wyoming, there is an expectation that the operation might serve as a model for excellence in (in-situ leach) mining. Unfortunately, this is not the case," DEQ land quality District 2 supervisor Mark Moxley wrote in a Nov. 21, 2007, report....
Dam breaching or not, fish recovery will be pricey The $900 million deal federal agencies have made with tribal foes may not end a long-running court battle over endangered salmon and the big federal dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers. But it does represent progress, because it does two things: It implicitly recognizes that four controversial dams on the Snake River are not going away anytime soon, and it spends ratepayer money on action instead of lawyers. Under the agreement announced Monday, four Northwest tribes would abandon their legal opposition to federal fish management policies in exchange for $900 million earmarked for habitat improvement and other salmon recovery efforts. The tribes and the Bonneville Power Administration, which markets power from the dams, hailed the settlement as a landmark agreement that could help move beyond litigation to collaboration. If they’re right, it would be a boon for a region that has spent money and time fighting over endangered and threatened fish runs that could have been better invested in actually restoring them. As truces go, this one is incomplete. Tribes that are party to the settlement could not sue for 10 years, in the hopes that will allow enough time for demonstrable progress toward recovery of vulnerable salmon runs. But plenty of others stand ready and willing to continue the pursuit of a goal that’s just not going to happen: partial removal of four dams on the lower Snake River....
Congressmen challenge DHS' waiver authority Three years after Congress granted the federal government unprecedented authority to waive laws, 14 congressmen are challenging how that authority is being used to construct a fence on the U.S.-Mexico border. On Monday, U.S. Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, D-Miss., led a group of his colleagues, including South Texas U.S. Reps. Solomon Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi and , to file a brief in Supreme Court which questions the constitutionality of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's waivers. Last week's waivers filed by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff would suspend more than 30 laws, which Chertoff said could interfere with "the expeditious construction of barriers." It was the fourth set of federal waivers aimed at accommodating DHS' plan to finish 700 miles of fencing before 2009. Chertoff suggests that his waiver authority is vested in the Real ID Act of 2005, which Congress passed in 2005 - more than a year before the border fence was signed into law. But Thompson and his congressional colleagues - along with environmental groups like the Sierra Club and Defenders of Wildlife - maintain that DHS' authority is unconstitutional. The Real ID Act deals mainly with improving the security of state driver's license to prevent counterfeiting. But one section grants nearly unlimited power to the executive branch to hasten fence construction....
Wild salmon at $40 a pound? Will this be the year we see fishmongers charging $40 a pound for salmon? Some fear that the answer is yes, given the ominous signs: Federal officials are meeting near Seattle this week to slash or even halt salmon fishing off California and Oregon. Washington's salmon catch also looks iffy, prompting Gov. Chris Gregoire this week to contemplate calling for emergency federal aid. And Alaska's bountiful wild salmon catch is expected to be trimmed by one-third from last year's bumper harvest. Overall, expect a boost in prices for the famously cyclical catch of wild salmon, say government officials and fishing-industry observers. That's particularly true for the highly sought-after chinook -- or king -- salmon, whose numbers in California collapsed this year. But once Alaska's commercial salmon fisheries kick into high gear next month, there will be salmon available. More than 90 percent of North America's wild salmon harvest comes from Alaska. While the salmon catch there is being slashed by about 35 percent from last year, 2007 marked Alaska's fourth-biggest salmon catch ever....
Scientists Share Findings After Glen Canyon Water Release One month after a massive release of water into the Grand Canyon, scientists are out with some of their preliminary findings. The goal of the experiment was to see if new sandbars and eddies could be created to help protect endangered fish species. But -- did it work? It was officially called a high flow experiment. A massive release of water from the Glen Canyon Dam, which feeds both the Grand Canyon and Lake Mead. One month after the experiment, scientists are seeing mixed results. The goal was to mimic natural floods which occurred before the dam was completed in the 1960's -- to redistribute sediment to help with habitats for endangered species like the Humpback Chub. The U.S. Geological Survey has just released dramatic time lapse images spanning the month following the 60-hour experiment which began on March 5. At river mile 45, the high flow experiment clearly appears to be a success. Where there once was no sand bar at all -- one was created. But the opposite appears to be the case up river, closer to the dam. In the images from river mile 3, scientists say it appears the rush of water actually eroded an existing sandbar....