Court says EPA overreached with emissions rule A federal appeals court unanimously struck down a signature component of President Bush's clean air policies Friday, dealing a blow to environmental groups and probably delaying further action until the next administration. The regulation, known as the Clean Air Interstate Rule, required 28 mostly Eastern states to reduce smog-forming and soot-producing emissions that can travel long distances in the wind. The Environmental Protection Agency predicted that it would prevent about 17,000 premature deaths a year. North Carolina and some electric power producers opposed aspects of the regulation, and President Bush found himself with some unusual allies. "This is the rare case where environmental groups went to court alongside the Bush administration," said Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch, a group that has criticized other Bush administration policies. The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the EPA had overstepped its authority. It said the Clean Air Act did not give the EPA the authority to change pollution standards the way it had. Citing "more than several fatal flaws," the court scrapped the entire regulation....
White House rejects regulating greenhouse gases The Bush administration, dismissing the recommendations of its top experts, rejected regulating the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming Friday, saying it would cripple the U.S. economy. In a 588-page federal notice, the Environmental Protection Agency made no finding on whether global warming poses a threat to people's health or welfare, reversing an earlier conclusion at the insistence of the White House and officially kicking any decision on a solution to the next president and Congress. The White House on Thursday rejected the EPA's suggestion three weeks earlier that the 1970 Clean Air Act can be both workable and effective for addressing global climate change. The EPA said Friday that law is ``ill-suited'' for dealing with global warming. ``If our nation is truly serious about regulating greenhouse gases, the Clean Air Act is the wrong tool for the job,'' EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson told reporters. ``It is really at the feet of Congress.''....
EPA dropped wetlands cases after high court ruling The Bush administration didn't pursue hundreds of potential water pollution cases after a 2006 Supreme Court decision that restricted the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to regulate seasonal streams and wetlands. From July 2006 through December 2007 there were 304 instances where the EPA found what would have been violations of the Clean Water Act before the court's ruling, according to a memo by the agency's enforcement chief. Officials "chose not to pursue formal enforcement based on the uncertainty about EPA's jurisdiction," according to the memo, which was released Monday by two Democratic House committee chairmen. The EPA also chose to "lower the priority" of 147 other cases because it was unclear whether the intermittent streams, swamps and marshes flowed into navigable waterways. Chief Justice John Roberts predicted the court's decision would be confusing, saying "regulated entities will now have to feel their way on a case-by-case basis." The confusion primarily surrounds temporary streams and wetlands not large enough to be navigable, but which are among the most prevalent types of waters across the country....
Agricultural water pollution on the line The Bush Administration has been trying since 2005 to change Clean Water Act rules so that agricultural interests can dump polluted water into public lakes and streams without obtaining a permit. Each step of the way, Florida environmentalists represented by Earthjustice lawyers have filed lawsuits to block the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) from implementing the new rules. On June 9th, the Bush EPA tried once again and again environmentalists are going to court to block the proposed rules. Click here to read an article about the legal challenge. The rule change proposal is the Administration’s response to three lawsuits – one in South Florida, one in Upstate New York and one in the upper Klamath River Basin. Each lawsuit seeks court action to require those discharging agricultural waste water into a public waterbody through a “discrete conveyance” (i.e. a pipe or a pump) to obtain a pollution discharge permit. Prior to these cases it was assumed that all agricultural discharges were “non point sources” and therefore exempted from the Clean Water Act’s discharge permit requirements. The Florida case went all the way to the Supreme Court which opened the door to permit requirements if agricultural wastewater is moved from one waterbody to another through a discrete conveyance. The Bush Administration countered with the rule change. The implications of extending Clean Water Act permit requirements to agricultural discharges are huge in the West where water has been wheeled freely using subsidized power and giant pumps....
Santa Fe Forest Proposal Would Limit Use of ATVs Santa Fe National Forest officials unveiled a proposal on Thursday that would cut in half the roads available to motorized travel and practically eliminate off-road or off-trail use of motorized vehicles. And then they stepped back to brace themselves for public reaction. "I understand that every time we make a big change, people are really emot i o n a l a b o u t it," said Forest Supervisor Daniel Jiron. "We're trying to leave Santa Fe National Forest for future generations in the best shape possible." The public outcry already has been heard for at least two years, the time that has lapsed since local officials first started work to conform with motorized travel regulations issued for forests nationwide. People who use the forest -- including off-road trails that appeared through usage but never were official routes -- complained that their recreational opportunities were being closed down, while those who oppose the noisy machines, especially in areas where they live, have said not enough was being done to keep them out of the forest. Jiron said he expects to hear more of the same, even though Forest Service officials tried to develop the plans by taking into account input they've gotten so far from the public. On Glorieta Mesa, where there has been controversy over ATV use, no cross-country travel will be allowed, but there will be "minor" camping corridors and one loop trail where motorized vehicles will be allowed, Jiron said....
Wildlife officials kill 2 wolves State wildlife officials killed two wolves belonging to separate packs in different parts of Western Montana on Friday, after two calves and a 600-pound heifer were found dead on private property. "It's kind of the aligning of random events," said Mike Thompson, wildlife manager for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. The USDA Wildlife Services confirmed Monday and Friday that several wolves from the Brooks Creek pack were responsible for the death of two calves on private land near Florence in the Bitterroot Valley. The wolves also chased seven yearling cattle through a fence on the property, but they were unharmed, according to a press release issued by FWP. The Brooks Creek pack has a den near where the Bitterroot landowner is calving, Thompson said. Wildlife Services killed one of the wolves they believe is responsible on private land near the area of the attacks. The pack now has five wolves. North of there, another wolf attack took place. On Thursday, the USDA Wildlife Services confirmed that a wolf from the Superior pack killed a heifer on private land west of Superior....
Booz, Allen & Hamilton, the Army's accomplice in Southeast Colorado Booz, Allen & Hamilton (hereafter Booz Allen), a privately held corporation owned by about 300 senior executives, is the Army's accomplice in their attempted private property seizure in southeast Colorado. Their expertise, they declare, is strategy and public sector mission effectiveness. Booz Allen contracted with the Army for $500,000 to maneuver the ranchers out of their property rights. Skillful facilitators (provocateurs), despite their friendly demeanor, very likely use an advanced version of the deceptive Delphi Method, mind-games developed by the U.S. Air Force's RAND Project, financed by the Ford Foundation. Booz Allen knows the financial/credit history, computer key-strokes, personality traits, political affiliations, friends, associates, medical issues, weaknesses and strengths of every single southeast Colorado rancher and will use that information for the army's objective — the seizure of private land. Their surveys, meetings, polls are a façade — citizen's input is irrelevant. For additional pressure, the Army claims they have a "willing seller" with 100,000 acres, perhaps a newly-arrived non-rancher strategically-placed in order to influence and alter the balance of opinions....
Tribe works to regain lost land During the past 30 years, the Spirit Lake Tribe has repurchased about 50,000 acres of reservation land. Tribal Chairman Myra Pearson knows when acquisition efforts will cease. “When we own it all,” she said. Because about two-thirds of reservation land still is owned by non-Indians, complete ownership won’t happen soon. But the tribe’s rate of buyouts still is brisk enough to alarm local nonreservation taxing authorities. That’s because tribe-purchased land goes into a federal trust, which isn’t subject to property taxes. So, the county, townships and school districts lose those tax dollars. In Benson County, where most of the reacquired acres exist, the annual losses to those taxing entities total about $240,000. The county government’s share of that figure is $89,000....$240,000??
Feds have duty to help pay for wolf kills The U.S. Department of Interior's negative reaction to a livestock compensation bill for animals killed by wolves isn't surprising, but it is disappointing. Keep in mind that the federal government reintroduced gray wolves to the Yellowstone ecosystem in 1995. About 1,500 of the predators now roam Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. The feds administered the recovery program until earlier this year, when wolves were removed from federal protection under the Endangered Species Act. Now the three states each have their own management plans for the animals. The states are now responsible for compensating ranchers for cattle and sheep killed by wolves. A conservation group, Defenders of Wildlife, had been paying for documented kills before wolves were delisted. Now, Sens. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., and Jon Tester, D-Mont., have sponsored a bill that would require the federal government to pay a portion of those costs. Barrasso is probably overstating the problem when he says it's time for the feds to pay "to fix Washington's mistake." While wolf reintroduction has always been opposed by the livestock industry, conservation groups have supported it and don't view restoring the wolf to the environment as a mistake. But the senator is correct when he says the federal government should be responsible to contribute matching funds to the state's compensation trust funds. Critics contend that the compensation program amounts to welfare for ranchers. But losses due to the predator's presence are considerable. The National Agricultural Statistics Service estimates that wolves killed 100 adult cattle and 600 calves in Wyoming in 2007. Sheep losses for the year were estimated at 100 ewes and 400 lambs. Ranchers' estimates are considerably higher....
Meat Recalls to Name Retailers The Department of Agriculture will change its policy and begin to identify retailers who have received recalled meat, but only in cases that pose the most serious health threat. The information will be provided only in Class I recalls, those of "most serious concern to public health," Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said. The rule will take effect in August, 30 days after it is published in the Federal Register. "People want to know if they need to be on the lookout for recalled meat and poultry from their local stores," Schafer said. Listing the outlets "will improve public health protection by better informing consumers." The USDA came under criticism earlier this year for refusing to name retail outlets and schools that received ground beef recalled by Westland/Hallmark Meat, citing privacy concerns. That recall, involving 143 million pounds, was the biggest in U.S. history....
Settlers up to no good at Portales Springs Doak Good had settled in comfortably in his rock and adobe house at Portales Springs, but his peaceful existence did not last long. In 1882 Jim Newman began bringing his cattle from Texas to Salt Lake and established the DZ Ranch near Arch, 11 miles east of Good’s place. Newman’s cattle would drift over to the plentiful water at Portales Springs. Bad feelings developed and violence was bound to follow. After the fight with Gabe Henson, which he blamed on Newman, Good was afraid to stay by himself and he picked up a transient boy about 14 years old to work for him. Old-time cowboy Col. Jack Potter had this to say about the new cowhand, “He was a hard-looking kid; had an old Stetson hat with the crown out, thrown away by some cowpuncher. He had long hair and it stuck out through the crown of the hat. He was dubbed by the cowboys as ‘Portales Bill,’ though I learned later his real name was McElmore.” Good gave him a few dogies or mavericks for his work, and it was commonly believed that he added to his herd by rustling other people’s cattle....