Thursday, April 10, 2008
Lake Tahoe resident could face prison over tree removal Environmental cops at Lake Tahoe say Patricia Vincent deserves a prison sentence and a huge fine. Her alleged crime: chopping down three trees on federal land that improved her backyard view of the lake. Vincent says it was an honest mistake, but now she's believed to be the first target of criminal charges of illegally cutting Tahoe trees. It's the clearest signal yet of how serious coniferous crime has become as regulators fight to preserve the Sierra Nevada jewel Mark Twain once deemed "the finest view the world affords." Since 2002 the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency has fined violators a combined $1 million for such violations. "People up here have an emotional, gut reaction to the cutting of trees. It offends people," TRPA spokesman Dennis Oliver said on a recent afternoon, driving his Toyota Prius through a neighborhood of illegally pruned pines. Critics of government management of Tahoe's prized forest lands have long said regulators go too far in telling property owners what they can do in their own backyards. The issue for Vincent, however, is what she cut in the backyard of her neighbor, the U.S. Forest Service. Vincent, who has pleaded not guilty, is charged with theft and damaging government property. She's scheduled for trial April 29 in U.S. District Court in Reno. She declined requests for interviews, but her attorney, Scott Freeman of Reno, said the government is out to make an example of the 58-year-old retired technology worker. He said Vincent is an otherwise law-abiding citizen who made a mistake and is "completely and utterly freaked out by this." "We're not talking about 250 trees, we're talking about 2 1/2 trees," said Freeman, noting that two of the ponderosa pines in question sprouted from the same stump....Coniferous crime? We need McGruff the coniferous crime dog on this. Uh oh, what if McGruff lifts his leg on one of those trees? Will Smokey Bear get pissed off and arrest McGruff? I guess we need a "Tree Strikes And Your Out" law.
Public land agencies could join services A study was launched by the Government Accountability Office in Washington D.C. last month to determine whether moving the U.S. Forest Service under the umbrella of the Department of the Interior is feasible. “While I have not had the opportunity to fully consider the implications, when I look at the unequal treatment of the Forest Service compared to the Department of the Interior when it comes to budget, it makes me wonder whether such a move might be worth some serious thought,” Allard said in a prepared statement. Allard is the ranking Republican leader of the Senate Interior Appropriations Committee. Stephanie Valencia, a D.C.-based spokeswoman for U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colorado, noted that the GAO study is something the senator has his eye on. Bureaucratic brethren of the Forest Service include the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which manage 84 million acres, 96 million acres and 258 million acres of public lands. The latter three are within the Interior Department. The four agencies have overlapping missions that include fire prevention and suppression, natural resource conservation, fostering recreational uses, and regulating commercial activities such as logging, drilling, mining and livestock grazing....
New rules for forest planning adopted The U.S. Forest Service on Wednesday adopted a new version of the basic planning rules that made it possible for conservation groups in the 1990s to win court orders drastically cutting back logging to protect the northern spotted owl and salmon. Associate Chief Sally Collins said from Washington, D.C., that she hopes the rule will lead to less conflict and better planning to meet the challenges of global warming and wildfire while providing resources such as clean water and timber on the 192 million acres of national forest. "We have the most transparent, inclusive (forest planning) process anywhere in the planet," Collins said. Conservation groups said they will be back in federal court to again challenge the rule, which was tossed out by a federal judge last year on procedural grounds. They argue that the Forest Service refuses to analyze the potential for causing harm to the environment after taking out a long-standing system of protections for fish and wildlife habitat. "This is the same clown in different shoes," said Pete Frost, an attorney for the Western Environmental Law Center in Eugene, which represents some of the plaintiffs in the case....
Vandals Damage Property On Colorado Grasslands U.S. Forest Service officials are looking for vandals who have reportedly caused tens of thousands of dollars in damage each year on the Pawnee National Grassland in northern Weld County. Investigators said a small fraction of shooters are responsible for the damage. The Forest Service said every year it costs at least $7,000 to replace signs that have been shot up. An electronic company spent $42,000 recently after shooters blasted transformers. And there is a problem with windmills. "They've shot holes in the casing on the head there and when that happens the oil leaks out and its pretty tough to repair those," Tom Baur, vice president of Crow Valley Grazing Association. Baur said the shooting vandalism is costing the association $20,000 a year. The windmills pump water for cattle that graze on the grassland. "It's gotten worse over the last few years I think," said Baur. "The repairs on just one windmill alone are going to cost us $7,000 and we have two of them, so were gong to investigate this as a felony," said Terry Baxter of the Forest Service....
More money sought for national parks A conservation group warns that unless the White House and Congress provide more money to buy private land within national park boundaries, there could be logging at Washington state's Mt. Rainier, commercial development in Valley Forge, and similar problems at national parks from Golden Gate to Gettysburg. A National Parks Conservation Association report Tuesday said money to buy so-called in-holdings within the parks has declined sharply over the past decade, from a high of nearly $148 million annually to $44 million now. "Of the 391 units in the national park system, a significant and growing number face some threat to wildlife habitat or the preservation of cultural treasures because of development on privately owned land within national park boundaries," the report said. Though some of the private landowners have been willing to sell to the National Park Service or to conservation groups, the report said the Park Service has "lacked funding to close the deals, and even the most public-spirited owners cannot be expected to forgo their own financial needs indefinitely."....
Grant County eyes solutions for rabies State and federal representatives have told Grant County officials that initially, there will be a fairly large number of rabies cases from a strain new to New Mexico, but that the number should taper off. Officials from the state Department of Game and Fish, state Health Department, U.S. Wildlife Services, the U.S. Forest Service and others met Tuesday in Grant County to look at the spread of rabies in the southwestern New Mexico county, particularly among foxes. A Silver City woman was bitten by a fox last Thursday outside her home. The animal was captured and tested positive for rabies. A woman bitten by a fox March 18 on the Catwalk National Scenic Trail near Glenwood received rabies treatment as a precaution after the animal couldn't be found. A fox bit a Silver City man March 4 outside his home. Rabies generally comes in cycles, with high years followed by years in which the virus seems to disappear, Ettestad said. "The real issue is getting people to vaccinate their pets," he said. A Silver City veterinarian, John Wenzel, said many people refuse to vaccinate pets and livestock, but he urged ranchers and horse owners to vaccinate their animals....Do wolves get rabies?
Wilds bill may please many A Washington County lands bill that has been revised to include more wilderness areas may garner support from environmental groups. The once controversial bill has been revived, with the changes, by Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, and Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah. The Washington County Growth & Conservation Act of 2008, as it is called, would allow a little more than 9,000 acres of non-environmentally sensitive public land to be sold under local guidelines developed through a smart growth initiative called Vision Dixie, Bennett said. This is a decrease from the 24,300 acres proposed in the 2006 version of the bill, but "that number was always a cap and not a goal," Bennett said. That bill received committee hearings but never was voted on in either the House or Senate. The highlights of the bill include: • 264,394 acres of land would be added to the National Wilderness Preservation System, increasing the amount of wilderness acreage in the county from 3.5 percent to 20.5 percent. • The creation of two National Conservation Areas to provide 140,000 acres for the protected desert tortoise, as well as recreational uses. • 123,000 more acres of permanently protected land than was included in the previous bill. • 9,000 acres of public land would be sold to private developers, with all of the money either going to the county or being used locally by the Bureau of Land Management....
Say your prayers, cane toads Though Australian scientists are working to engineer a virus to control the invasive pests, an Aussie politician has suggested a less subtle solution: kill 'em all. Shane Knuth, a legislator in the northeastern state of Queensland (where cane toads thrive), has proposed and official day for residents to hunt down and kill the exotic invaders. Cane toads have plagued the land down under for decades, and their increasing numbers and toxic skin threaten the survival of native Australian animal species. For a feature in this month's issue of The Scientist, Brendan Borrell traveled to Australia and met some of the researchers aiming to modify a Ranavirus that could decimate toad populations. He also visited with "Toadbusters" seeking to exterminate the pest using brute force. Knuth's proposal for a day of amphibian massacre, which he dubbed "Toad Day Out," calls for an even wider effort. The plan has gained the approval of Australia's Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which told the Associated Press that the hunt was acceptable as long as the toads were killed humanely....
Stem cell rx wins another horse race Earlier this year, we reported on a company called Vet-Stem which has devised a treatment for horses using the animal's own stem cells to heal tendon and ligament injuries. In some cases it's been an unqualified success. One of those successes was part of our story - a big gray gelding named Greg's Gold. When we posted the story online, Greg's Gold had just won a race on opening day at Santa Anita racetrack, pushing his earnings close to the million dollar mark. The past weekend Greg's Gold ran again, for the ninth time since his treatment. He won easily, beating two other Grade I winners handily (Grade I winners are the top in racehorse land) and pushing his earnings to $1, 067,923. This achievement appears to answer one of the questions skeptics have about the treatment - namely, how long will the previously injured leg hold up? Trainer David Hofmans says, "Yes, the old boy showed up again, he came out of the race great, cleaned out his feed tub, looked around for more." Plans are to run twice more to tune up for the Breeders Cup Sprint and a championship, all on that Vet-Stem repaired leg.
New rules for forest planning adopted The U.S. Forest Service on Wednesday adopted a new version of the basic planning rules that made it possible for conservation groups in the 1990s to win court orders drastically cutting back logging to protect the northern spotted owl and salmon. Associate Chief Sally Collins said from Washington, D.C., that she hopes the rule will lead to less conflict and better planning to meet the challenges of global warming and wildfire while providing resources such as clean water and timber on the 192 million acres of national forest. "We have the most transparent, inclusive (forest planning) process anywhere in the planet," Collins said. Conservation groups said they will be back in federal court to again challenge the rule, which was tossed out by a federal judge last year on procedural grounds. They argue that the Forest Service refuses to analyze the potential for causing harm to the environment after taking out a long-standing system of protections for fish and wildlife habitat. "This is the same clown in different shoes," said Pete Frost, an attorney for the Western Environmental Law Center in Eugene, which represents some of the plaintiffs in the case....
Vandals Damage Property On Colorado Grasslands U.S. Forest Service officials are looking for vandals who have reportedly caused tens of thousands of dollars in damage each year on the Pawnee National Grassland in northern Weld County. Investigators said a small fraction of shooters are responsible for the damage. The Forest Service said every year it costs at least $7,000 to replace signs that have been shot up. An electronic company spent $42,000 recently after shooters blasted transformers. And there is a problem with windmills. "They've shot holes in the casing on the head there and when that happens the oil leaks out and its pretty tough to repair those," Tom Baur, vice president of Crow Valley Grazing Association. Baur said the shooting vandalism is costing the association $20,000 a year. The windmills pump water for cattle that graze on the grassland. "It's gotten worse over the last few years I think," said Baur. "The repairs on just one windmill alone are going to cost us $7,000 and we have two of them, so were gong to investigate this as a felony," said Terry Baxter of the Forest Service....
More money sought for national parks A conservation group warns that unless the White House and Congress provide more money to buy private land within national park boundaries, there could be logging at Washington state's Mt. Rainier, commercial development in Valley Forge, and similar problems at national parks from Golden Gate to Gettysburg. A National Parks Conservation Association report Tuesday said money to buy so-called in-holdings within the parks has declined sharply over the past decade, from a high of nearly $148 million annually to $44 million now. "Of the 391 units in the national park system, a significant and growing number face some threat to wildlife habitat or the preservation of cultural treasures because of development on privately owned land within national park boundaries," the report said. Though some of the private landowners have been willing to sell to the National Park Service or to conservation groups, the report said the Park Service has "lacked funding to close the deals, and even the most public-spirited owners cannot be expected to forgo their own financial needs indefinitely."....
Grant County eyes solutions for rabies State and federal representatives have told Grant County officials that initially, there will be a fairly large number of rabies cases from a strain new to New Mexico, but that the number should taper off. Officials from the state Department of Game and Fish, state Health Department, U.S. Wildlife Services, the U.S. Forest Service and others met Tuesday in Grant County to look at the spread of rabies in the southwestern New Mexico county, particularly among foxes. A Silver City woman was bitten by a fox last Thursday outside her home. The animal was captured and tested positive for rabies. A woman bitten by a fox March 18 on the Catwalk National Scenic Trail near Glenwood received rabies treatment as a precaution after the animal couldn't be found. A fox bit a Silver City man March 4 outside his home. Rabies generally comes in cycles, with high years followed by years in which the virus seems to disappear, Ettestad said. "The real issue is getting people to vaccinate their pets," he said. A Silver City veterinarian, John Wenzel, said many people refuse to vaccinate pets and livestock, but he urged ranchers and horse owners to vaccinate their animals....Do wolves get rabies?
Wilds bill may please many A Washington County lands bill that has been revised to include more wilderness areas may garner support from environmental groups. The once controversial bill has been revived, with the changes, by Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, and Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah. The Washington County Growth & Conservation Act of 2008, as it is called, would allow a little more than 9,000 acres of non-environmentally sensitive public land to be sold under local guidelines developed through a smart growth initiative called Vision Dixie, Bennett said. This is a decrease from the 24,300 acres proposed in the 2006 version of the bill, but "that number was always a cap and not a goal," Bennett said. That bill received committee hearings but never was voted on in either the House or Senate. The highlights of the bill include: • 264,394 acres of land would be added to the National Wilderness Preservation System, increasing the amount of wilderness acreage in the county from 3.5 percent to 20.5 percent. • The creation of two National Conservation Areas to provide 140,000 acres for the protected desert tortoise, as well as recreational uses. • 123,000 more acres of permanently protected land than was included in the previous bill. • 9,000 acres of public land would be sold to private developers, with all of the money either going to the county or being used locally by the Bureau of Land Management....
Say your prayers, cane toads Though Australian scientists are working to engineer a virus to control the invasive pests, an Aussie politician has suggested a less subtle solution: kill 'em all. Shane Knuth, a legislator in the northeastern state of Queensland (where cane toads thrive), has proposed and official day for residents to hunt down and kill the exotic invaders. Cane toads have plagued the land down under for decades, and their increasing numbers and toxic skin threaten the survival of native Australian animal species. For a feature in this month's issue of The Scientist, Brendan Borrell traveled to Australia and met some of the researchers aiming to modify a Ranavirus that could decimate toad populations. He also visited with "Toadbusters" seeking to exterminate the pest using brute force. Knuth's proposal for a day of amphibian massacre, which he dubbed "Toad Day Out," calls for an even wider effort. The plan has gained the approval of Australia's Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which told the Associated Press that the hunt was acceptable as long as the toads were killed humanely....
Stem cell rx wins another horse race Earlier this year, we reported on a company called Vet-Stem which has devised a treatment for horses using the animal's own stem cells to heal tendon and ligament injuries. In some cases it's been an unqualified success. One of those successes was part of our story - a big gray gelding named Greg's Gold. When we posted the story online, Greg's Gold had just won a race on opening day at Santa Anita racetrack, pushing his earnings close to the million dollar mark. The past weekend Greg's Gold ran again, for the ninth time since his treatment. He won easily, beating two other Grade I winners handily (Grade I winners are the top in racehorse land) and pushing his earnings to $1, 067,923. This achievement appears to answer one of the questions skeptics have about the treatment - namely, how long will the previously injured leg hold up? Trainer David Hofmans says, "Yes, the old boy showed up again, he came out of the race great, cleaned out his feed tub, looked around for more." Plans are to run twice more to tune up for the Breeders Cup Sprint and a championship, all on that Vet-Stem repaired leg.
Climate Change Brings Health Risks A top government health official said Wednesday that climate change is expected to have a significant impact on health in the next few decades, with certain regions of the country — and the elderly and children — most vulnerable to increased health problems. Howard Frumkin, a senior official of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gave a detailed summary on the likely health impacts of global warming at a congressional hearing. But he refrained from giving an opinion on whether carbon dioxide, a leading greenhouse gas, should be regulated as a danger to public health. Frumkin, director of CDC's National Center for Environmental Health, outlined the range of "major anticipated health" issues as a result of climate change. Among them, the prospects of more heat waves that are of special danger to the elderly and the poor; more incidents of extreme weather posing a danger of drought in some areas and flooding in others; increase of food-borne and waterborne infectious diseases; more air pollution because of higher temperatures; and the migration into new areas of vector-borne and zoonotic diseases such as Lyme disease, West Nile virus, malaria or dengue fever as seasonal patterns change....
Will Global Warming Harm Human Health? “We are skeptical that the warming predicted by activists will ever appear, but even if it does, the available evidence suggests that slightly warmer temperatures would be a boon for human health and well being,” said CEI Senior Fellow Marlo Lewis. “The threats from extreme cold dramatically outweigh those from extreme heat, and whatever possible influence future warming may have on extreme weather, the record of the 20th century—allegedly a period of ‘unprecedented’ global warming—is clear: Both mortality rates and aggregate mortality related to extreme weather have declined dramatically since the 1920s.” In addition to fewer cold-related deaths, a slight warming caused, in part, by increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, would increase agricultural productivity, reduce heating costs and improve transportation safety. Despite dramatic rhetoric that a warmer world would represent a categorical disaster for mankind, most people would likely experience an increase in overall well being. “Not only do global warming alarmists ignore the advantages of a warmer world, but, even more troublingly, they advocate policies that we know would make the world poorer and less resilient to changes of any kind,” said Lewis. “The central policy they advocate – limiting access to affordable energy – would have a far worse impact on poor and vulnerable populations around the world than any expected rise in average global temperatures.”....
How the Olympics Change the Diplomacy of Global Warming Now, China is important enough to host the Olympics, which means that it is rich enough to be criticized. Today, it’s the “Sinefication” of Tibet. But tomorrow, it will be global warming. After all, China is the world’s leading emitter of greenhouse gases. Before, Chinese officials were spared the obloquy heaped upon the world’s #2 emitter, the United States, because they were “developing.” After the Olympics, that argument won’t work anymore. This revolution in public relations has profound consequences for the diplomacy of climate change. To date, no country has been willing to “do something” about global warming because no rational leader would put his or her no country at a disadvantage by adopting costly emissions controls alone while all other states go on emitting. In practice, this has meant that Europe won’t act without the U. S., which won’t act without China. So far, the U. S. has been the odd man out. The EU could point the finger at America, and China could point a finger to its “right to development.” The U. S., however, had no excuse. The Olympics changes all that, because “developing nation” and “Olympic host” are incompatible modifiers for China. You can’t have your cake, and eat it, too. As a result of the Beijing Olympics, China, which overtook the U. S. as the world’s #1 emitter only last year, will also overtake the U. S. as the global climate scapegoat....
The War on Animal Research "Excuse me," I said, cutting to the front of the line of passengers at the airport departure gate counter. "I have an emergency and need you to call the police right now!" Two airline agents stopped checking seating charts and looked at me. "I am a medical researcher and some people are protesting my visit to Tampa. They're not passengers," I explained. (This was in 2001, shortly before 9/11, when security measures allowed nonpassengers into boarding areas.) One desk agent examined my boarding pass, and then looked at my pursuers. I knew what she saw: five people with T-shirts that read: "KEEP PRIMATE TESTER Dr. P.M. CONN OUT OF U.S.F." She let me through. Ten minutes later, when the pilot boarded and asked if I was okay, and I heard the outer doors close, my blood pressure and heart rate slowly began to sink into normal ranges. I was en route from Tampa where I had been selected as a final candidate for the position of vice president for research at the University of South Florida (USF). The people following me were animal rights activists, who had learned of my visit on an animal rights listserv. I currently don't use animals in my research, but I am associated with people who do. Hat tip OpenMarket.Org
Will Global Warming Harm Human Health? “We are skeptical that the warming predicted by activists will ever appear, but even if it does, the available evidence suggests that slightly warmer temperatures would be a boon for human health and well being,” said CEI Senior Fellow Marlo Lewis. “The threats from extreme cold dramatically outweigh those from extreme heat, and whatever possible influence future warming may have on extreme weather, the record of the 20th century—allegedly a period of ‘unprecedented’ global warming—is clear: Both mortality rates and aggregate mortality related to extreme weather have declined dramatically since the 1920s.” In addition to fewer cold-related deaths, a slight warming caused, in part, by increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, would increase agricultural productivity, reduce heating costs and improve transportation safety. Despite dramatic rhetoric that a warmer world would represent a categorical disaster for mankind, most people would likely experience an increase in overall well being. “Not only do global warming alarmists ignore the advantages of a warmer world, but, even more troublingly, they advocate policies that we know would make the world poorer and less resilient to changes of any kind,” said Lewis. “The central policy they advocate – limiting access to affordable energy – would have a far worse impact on poor and vulnerable populations around the world than any expected rise in average global temperatures.”....
How the Olympics Change the Diplomacy of Global Warming Now, China is important enough to host the Olympics, which means that it is rich enough to be criticized. Today, it’s the “Sinefication” of Tibet. But tomorrow, it will be global warming. After all, China is the world’s leading emitter of greenhouse gases. Before, Chinese officials were spared the obloquy heaped upon the world’s #2 emitter, the United States, because they were “developing.” After the Olympics, that argument won’t work anymore. This revolution in public relations has profound consequences for the diplomacy of climate change. To date, no country has been willing to “do something” about global warming because no rational leader would put his or her no country at a disadvantage by adopting costly emissions controls alone while all other states go on emitting. In practice, this has meant that Europe won’t act without the U. S., which won’t act without China. So far, the U. S. has been the odd man out. The EU could point the finger at America, and China could point a finger to its “right to development.” The U. S., however, had no excuse. The Olympics changes all that, because “developing nation” and “Olympic host” are incompatible modifiers for China. You can’t have your cake, and eat it, too. As a result of the Beijing Olympics, China, which overtook the U. S. as the world’s #1 emitter only last year, will also overtake the U. S. as the global climate scapegoat....
The War on Animal Research "Excuse me," I said, cutting to the front of the line of passengers at the airport departure gate counter. "I have an emergency and need you to call the police right now!" Two airline agents stopped checking seating charts and looked at me. "I am a medical researcher and some people are protesting my visit to Tampa. They're not passengers," I explained. (This was in 2001, shortly before 9/11, when security measures allowed nonpassengers into boarding areas.) One desk agent examined my boarding pass, and then looked at my pursuers. I knew what she saw: five people with T-shirts that read: "KEEP PRIMATE TESTER Dr. P.M. CONN OUT OF U.S.F." She let me through. Ten minutes later, when the pilot boarded and asked if I was okay, and I heard the outer doors close, my blood pressure and heart rate slowly began to sink into normal ranges. I was en route from Tampa where I had been selected as a final candidate for the position of vice president for research at the University of South Florida (USF). The people following me were animal rights activists, who had learned of my visit on an animal rights listserv. I currently don't use animals in my research, but I am associated with people who do. Hat tip OpenMarket.Org
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Imbalance Of Powers Imagine a group of lawyers at work on guidelines for instituting an imperial presidency. There would be an uproar, and rightly so. But what if the goal is to blunt global warming? Well, then, in that case it's OK to bypass the checks and balances between the branches of the federal government, right? We can't think of a single proposal on the right side of the political spectrum in which academics could construct a manual to help the president unilaterally fast-track policy because the legislative and judicial gears of government move too slow. The media and law professors would storm the White House if President Bush decided the executive branch alone would cut taxes or privatize Social Security, bypassing Congress. But global warming? Now that, they believe, is a threat the president should be able to deal with without the constraints of limited power. With that in mind, a team of researchers at the University of Colorado Law School spent six months assembling a 213-page handbook that will provide the next president, should he choose to use it, a blueprint for rapidly addressing climate change issues through executive authority. Part of the law school's Presidential Climate Action Project, the report suggests that "there exists significant authority, without further action by Congress, for the president to take action by executive order to implement various aspects of climate change policy." President Bush has been accused of running an imperial presidency by fighting an "illegal" war in Iraq and asking for more authority in the struggle against terrorism. But nothing in America's post-revolution experience could be more imperial than a White House going beyond its constitutional limits to repel a nonexistent threat....
The Biggest Green Mistake Are rising food prices the result of the economic dynamism of China and India, in which newly prosperous consumers are demanding more food—especially more meat? Perennial doomsters such as the Earth Policy Institute's Lester Brown predicted more than a decade ago that China's growing food demand would destabilize global markets and signal a permanent increase in grain prices. But that thesis has so far not been borne out by the facts. China is a net grain exporter. India is also largely self-sufficient in grains. At some time in the future, these countries may become net grain importers, but they are not now and so cannot be blamed to for today's higher food prices. If surging demand is not the problem, what is? In three words: stupid energy policies. Although they are not perfect substitutes, oil and natural gas prices tend to move in tandem. So as oil prices rose above $100 per barrel, the price of gas also went up. Natural gas is the main feedstock for nitrogen fertilizer. As gas prices soared, so did fertilizer prices which rose by 200 percent. As a report from the International Center for Soil Fertility and Agricultural Development (ICSFAD) notes, applying the fertilizer derived from 1000 cubic feet of natural gas yields around 480 pounds of grain. That amount of grain would supply enough calories to feed a person for one year. Rising oil prices also contribute to higher food prices because farmers need transport fuel to run their tractors and to get food to urban markets. Even worse is the bioethanol craze. Politicians in both the United States and the European Union are mandating that vast quantities of food be turned into fuel as they chase the chimera of "energy independence." For example, Congress passed and President George W. Bush signed misbegotten legislation requiring fuel producers to use at least 36 billion gallons of biofuels by 2022-which equals about 27 percent of the gasoline Americans currently use each year and is about five times the amount being produced now. And the European Union set a goal that 10 percent of transport fuels come from biofuels by 2020. The result of these mandates is that about 100 million tons of grain will be transformed this year into fuel, drawing down global grain stocks to their lowest levels in decades. Keep in mind that 100 million tons of grain is enough to feed nearly 450 million people for a year....
The Biggest Green Mistake Are rising food prices the result of the economic dynamism of China and India, in which newly prosperous consumers are demanding more food—especially more meat? Perennial doomsters such as the Earth Policy Institute's Lester Brown predicted more than a decade ago that China's growing food demand would destabilize global markets and signal a permanent increase in grain prices. But that thesis has so far not been borne out by the facts. China is a net grain exporter. India is also largely self-sufficient in grains. At some time in the future, these countries may become net grain importers, but they are not now and so cannot be blamed to for today's higher food prices. If surging demand is not the problem, what is? In three words: stupid energy policies. Although they are not perfect substitutes, oil and natural gas prices tend to move in tandem. So as oil prices rose above $100 per barrel, the price of gas also went up. Natural gas is the main feedstock for nitrogen fertilizer. As gas prices soared, so did fertilizer prices which rose by 200 percent. As a report from the International Center for Soil Fertility and Agricultural Development (ICSFAD) notes, applying the fertilizer derived from 1000 cubic feet of natural gas yields around 480 pounds of grain. That amount of grain would supply enough calories to feed a person for one year. Rising oil prices also contribute to higher food prices because farmers need transport fuel to run their tractors and to get food to urban markets. Even worse is the bioethanol craze. Politicians in both the United States and the European Union are mandating that vast quantities of food be turned into fuel as they chase the chimera of "energy independence." For example, Congress passed and President George W. Bush signed misbegotten legislation requiring fuel producers to use at least 36 billion gallons of biofuels by 2022-which equals about 27 percent of the gasoline Americans currently use each year and is about five times the amount being produced now. And the European Union set a goal that 10 percent of transport fuels come from biofuels by 2020. The result of these mandates is that about 100 million tons of grain will be transformed this year into fuel, drawing down global grain stocks to their lowest levels in decades. Keep in mind that 100 million tons of grain is enough to feed nearly 450 million people for a year....
Wildlife group targets N.M. Senate race A national group dedicated to protecting wildlife today begins airing a television commercial blasting both Republican U.S. Senate candidates in an effort to help Democrat Tom Udall win the seat being vacated by Republican Pete Domenici. The Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, which lists the New Mexico Senate seat as one of its top priorities, calls the ad "Two Bad for New Mexico" and says it will "shed light on the anti-conservation congressional records" of U.S. Reps. Steve Pearce of Hobbs and Heather Wilson of Albuquerque. The group also has created a Web site, scheduled to go online today, www.2Bad4NM.org, that promises to point out "the links between big oil campaign contributions to both the candidates and their anti-conservation voting records." The organization's Web site has a Feb. 21 news release that says electing Udall will be one of its "main areas of focus during the 2008 elections." Quoting the group's president, Rodger Schlickeisen, the statement says Udall "has a stellar conservation record and we know he'd be a true champion for New Mexico in the Senate. Conversely, Representatives Steve Pearce and Heather Wilson both have atrocious conservation records....
Global warming mascot left out in cold Temperatures are rising over the delay in deciding whether to list the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act. "The polar bear cannot wait much longer," said Kassie Siegel, climate program director for the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the three litigants. "As our greenhouse emissions increase and the Arctic sea ice melts, the window of opportunity to save the polar [bear] is closing rapidly." The problem, say Bush administration officials, is that the polar bear is no longer just a shaggy, white mammal with a taste for seal. The species has become a proxy for the debate on global warming, and the implications of a listing decision stretch far beyond its U.S. habitat in northern Alaska. "The world is watching," Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman Valerie Fellows said. "It"s been fascinating. In the eyes of the public, the polar bear has really become the face of global climate change."....
Holding the Earth hostage As Christopher Booker and Richard North detail in "Scared to Death: From BSE to Global Warming: Why Scares Are Costing Us the Earth," recent decades have witnessed a flurry of scares that have gripped the public. These scares exact high costs: Wrong-headed policies are put in place that make us more vulnerable instead of less; costly measures are taken that disrupt economies and the public needlessly worries and changes their lives to response to the latest media bogeyman. Mr. Booker and Mr. North identify a dynamic through which a marginal public concern mushrooms into a full-blown scare — from salmonella and mad cow disease to DDT and asbestos, and focus on what may be the greatest, most costly scare of all: Global warming. Competing factions drive a scare's progress. There are pushers "whose interest is to promote the scare and to talk it up, such as scientists for whom it provides the promising of winning public attention or further funding," and blockers whose interest is to downplay it. The lay reader is unlikely to be surprised at the role that the media and politicians play in sensationalizing a threat. More jarring is the role that the scientific community plays. As the authors write: "At the heart of every scare we have looked at has been a group of scientists or technical experts making a wrong or exaggerated guess on the basis of what eventually turns out to be inadequate data."....
Water for smelt equals water supply for over 1 million homes Cannon Michael, the water watchdog for the family-owned Bowles Farming Company, Los Banos, Calif., kindly pointed out in an e-mail that I missed the mark by a mile. It is more like 300,000 acre feet that have been precluded from moving through the Delta and into the state and federal water projects delivering water to Central and Southern California since last Dec. 12. This is because of a federal district court judge’s ruling last fall protecting the Delta smelt. The revised estimate came from Steve Chedester of the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority in Los Banos who said the inflow into the San Luis Reservoir is now at a trickle. The outflow is rapidly drawing down the reservoir three months before the peak irrigation season begins. That ups the ante to representing 300,000 California households. If you figure a household is four people who use an acre foot of water (326,000 gallons) per year, then schools of minnows have basically taken the water supply equal to what is used by the cities of Anaheim, Santa Ana and Riverside for one year. Of course radical environmentalists do not want to put it in those terms. They’d rather put it in terms of water used by farmers. It always amazes me when farmers are criticized for using water. What do people think farmers are using water for; brushing their teeth or washing pickups? It is used in their business to produce food. Let’s put 300,000 acre feet of water in true “farming” perspective — the production of food people like to eat. The 300,000 acre feet represent the water supply to irrigate 100,000 acres (assuming 3 acre feet of water per crop season). That is high for some crops listed below and low for others. However, allow me to use it for the following points. Let’s translate 100,000 acres of food for the people of Anaheim, Santa Ana and Riverside and the judge and the people who love minnows. If that lost water was used to produce 10,000 acres of romaine lettuce, we’re talking roughly 168 million heads of lettuce; 10,000 acres of wheat would produce at least 60 million loaves of bread; and 10,000 acres of processing tomatoes would produce roughly 350,000 tons of tomatoes. I have no idea how many bottles of ketchup that represents....
Environmental hysterics Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley recently warned that failure to take action on global warming could mean the extinction of the human race. Over the last few years, we've been repeatedly warned we are in the midst of a climate crisis that threatens our survival. Al Gore calls it a "planetary emergency." We might take this concern more seriously if the doom-mongering wing of the environmental movement weren't burdened by a long history of false prophecies. In the mid- to late-1960s, the leading environmental concern was overpopulation. The 1967 book "Famine 1975!" warned "by 1975 a disaster of unprecedented magnitude will face the world ... famines will ravage the undeveloped nations ... this is the greatest problem facing mankind." A sober review of the book in the scholarly journal Science characterized the prediction of mass starvation as "self-evident," argued that technological solutions were "unrealistic," and concluded that catastrophe was unavoidable. The reviewer concluded "all responsible investigators agree that the tragedy will occur." More widely read was Paul Ehrlich's shrill screed, "The Population Bomb" (1968). Mr. Ehrlich began with the infamous words "the battle to feed all of humanity is over," and claimed that "in the 1970s ... hundreds of millions of people are going to starve to death." "We must have population control," Mr. Ehrlich argued, because it is the "only answer." Mr. Ehrlich followed "The Population Bomb" in 1969 with publication of the essay, "Eco-Catastrophe," in which he predicted the Green Revolution would fail and that the "ignorance" of the Cornucopian economists would be exposed. By 1980, environmental degradation would wipe out all "important animal life" in the world's oceans, people would choke to death from air pollution by the hundreds of thousands, and life expectancy in the United States would fall to 42 years. "Western society," Mr. Ehrlich proclaimed, "is in the process of completing the rape and murder of the planet for economic gain." In 1975, the news media informed us that a new Ice Age was imminent. An article in the Chicago Tribune titled "B-r-r-r-r: New Ice Age on way soon?" noted "It's getting colder." The Tribune interpreted a number of ordinary weather events "as evidence that a significant shift in climate is taking place — a shift that could be the forerunner of an Ice Age." The New York Times chimed in, warning their readers that "a major cooling may be ahead." Famed science reporter Walter Sullivan announced "the world's climate is changing ... a new ice age is on the way." Within 10 years, the imminent calamity of global cooling was replaced by global warming. And the mass famines predicted by Paul Ehrlich and others never happened....
Gail Norton defends her record As secretary of the interior, Gale Norton was criticized by environmentalists for allowing the energy development that is booming in the Rockies. In front of an audience of mostly Colorado College students Monday night, Norton defended her environmental record and that of the Bush administration, and said the successes of her "cooperative conservation" policy were not widely reported because of a lack of conflict. "It was intensely frustrating when we did things that I was very proud of and got no coverage," she said. "There's no conflict. It's only when people criticize that you get conflict." Norton was the keynote speaker for the 2008 State of the Rockies conference, an annual report and conference led by students that focuses on social, economic and environmental issues affecting the region. Two-term attorney general for Colorado before she became secretary of the interior in 2000, Norton oversaw decisions that gave greater access on federal lands to many of the factors identified as threats in the State of the Rockies - mining, oil and gas drilling and offroad vehicles....
As Prices Rise, Farmers Spurn Conservation Out on the farm, the ducks and pheasants are losing ground. Thousands of farmers are taking their fields out of the government’s biggest conservation program, which pays them not to cultivate. They are spurning guaranteed annual payments for a chance to cash in on the boom in wheat, soybeans, corn and other crops. Last fall, they took back as many acres as are in Rhode Island and Delaware combined. Environmental and hunting groups are warning that years of progress could soon be lost, particularly with the native prairie in the Upper Midwest. But a broad coalition of baking, poultry, snack food, ethanol and livestock groups say bigger harvests are a more important priority than habitats for waterfowl and other wildlife. They want the government to ease restrictions on the preserved land, which would encourage many more farmers to think beyond conservation. Now, because of a growing global middle class as well as federal mandates to turn large amounts of corn into ethanol-based fuel, food prices are beginning to jump. Cropland is suddenly in heavy demand, a situation that is fraying old alliances, inspiring new ones and putting pressure on the Agriculture Department, which is being lobbied directly by all sides without managing to satisfy any of them. Born nearly 25 years ago in an era of abundance, the Conservation Reserve Program is having a rough transition to the age of scarcity. Its 35 million acres — about 8 percent of the cropland in the country — are the big prize in this brawl....
Open space district awards grazing lease for San Mateo property Reversing a no-cow trend, the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District is awarding a five-year grazing lease for its Tunitas Creek property to San Mateo Coastside rancher Doug Edwards. This is the second grazing lease awarded by the district in the past year. Last December, a five-year grazing lease was awarded to rancher Vince Fontana for the former Big Dipper Ranch at Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve. The old paradigm was to kick cattle off property when acquired by conservation groups. Overgrazed, eroded and trampled pastures had alarmed the region's environmentalists. But further research brought a turnaround in thinking. Removing cattle from San Jose's Silver Creek Hills in the 1990s, for instance, led to depletion of wildflowers that are food for the endangered bay checkerspot butterfly. Inspired by successful grazing on San Jose's Coyote Ridge, district managers seek to reduce wildfire risk in an area that is too big to mow and too dangerous to burn - and fend off the encroachment of forest. The district's adoption of "conservation grazing" - the use of livestock to boost the diversity of native plants and animals, control the spread of invasive non-native plants and prevent fire - may eventually reintroduce cattle to 5,000 grassy acres in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. Both Edwards and Fontana are longtime ranchers in the region....
Wilderness advocates 'overplayed their hand' Rep. Dean Heller said a proposal by the Nevada Wilderness Project will make it difficult to do a lands bill of any sort for Lyon and Mineral counties. "This has played out very poorly," Heller, R-Nev., told The Record-Courier on Monday. "The special interest groups have made this process very difficult. They've overplayed their hand is the bottom line." The wilderness project is proposing that 195,638 acres in Lyon County and 497,251 acres in Mineral County be set aside as wilderness. Heller said the proposal was supposed to be worked out between the project and others who use the land, such as ranchers and those using it for recreation. "The Nevada Wilderness Project was supposed to be negotiated between local cattlemen, county commissioners and the people involved," he said. "It was supposed to be done in good faith and it wasn't." Heller said he met with Lyon County commissioners and held a town hall meeting in Hawthorne to hear what residents had to say about the proposal. "I've traveled around quite a bit over this issue," he said. "People are very vocal and for good reason. They are very concerned about a bill that doesn't have community buy-in. I believe they have every reason to be upset."....
County joins opposition to Pinon Canyon expansion The Pueblo County Board of Commissioners made official its opposition to the U.S. Army's plans to expand the Pinon Canyon Maneuver site Tuesday. In a resolution passed unanimously by the three-member board, the county joined ranchers and other opponents of a plan to expand the Army's training grounds by 414,000 acres. Commissioner Jeff Chostner, a retired Air Force colonel, expanded on his comments from a March 27 meeting in which the commissioners indicated they would stand with the ranchers and other county officials against the Army's plans. "I took the opportunity to drive (Colorado 10) and it gave me further resolve to support this resolution," Chostner said. "This is an absolutely gorgeous part of Southern Colorado and I'm afraid it will be completely cut off from the public." Chostner mentioned states like Nevada and New Mexico, where the federal government and military operations have gobbled up scores of acres over the years. "I don't want to see that happen in Southeastern Colorado," he said. Chostner added that he believed that allowing the site to expand was an economic gamble, trading the predictable economic benefits of longtime ranching operations with what he termed "nebulous" benefits of soldiers coming to the area from Fort Carson and other points in El Paso County. Finally, Chostner noted that he believed the Army doesn't need the extra acreage because the soldiers currently deployed in the Middle East and other areas are already adequately trained for their jobs.
Easement proposal fails A failed attempt to amend a conservation-easement bill in the legislature would have required the state Division of Real Estate to review applications for easement holders within 180 days of receiving them. Lobbyist Erik Groves of Integrated Legislative Solutions LLC was pushing the amendment on behalf of Family Farmers and Ranchers to Protect Open Space, a group of Eastern Plains farmers formed Feb. 27. Groves formed the lobbying firm last July while working as a law clerk at the Denver firm Zak hem Atherton LLC. In 2007, Groves was a registered lobbyist for Zakhem Atherton, according to records from the Colorado secretary of state's office. A partner in the firm, Rodney Atherton, helped engineer a conservation-easement deal being investigated by the Division of Real Estate. He couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon. "I find it interesting that an entity that we are investigating would attempt to push legislation that attempts to restrict our efforts to protect the conservation-easement program," said Erin Toll, executive director of the Division of Real Estate. "That smells really bad to me. I also think legislators will be able to see through that ploy."....
Merger may be bad news for ranchers Sen. Jeff Bingaman is warning that the acquisition of two beef processors by the world's largest beef producer could have a significant impact on cattle ranchers in Otero County. The Brazilian-owned JBS Corporation announced last month that it has arranged to purchase Smithfield Beef Group and National Beef Packing Company, which will make JBS the largest beef producer in the United States. "JBS' proposal to acquire these two U.S. beef processors would give a single company control of about one-third of the domestic market and a monopoly in many areas of the county," Bingaman said in an interview Tuesday. "I am concerned about the possible antitrust implications of the acquisition, as well as its impact on competitive market access for the many small and independent cattle growers (including) those in Otero County, who are vulnerable to unfair market pricing." Bingaman, D-N.M., said that with no competition, JBS could offer ranchers less for cattle, knowing they have nowhere else to go. There were a total of 622 cattle ranchers in the county according to 2006 government figures....
USDA Finds Violations in Slaughterhouses A federal audit of 18 beef slaughterhouses following the nation's largest beef recall found humane handling violations in four of them, including one serious enough for the plant to be temporarily suspended. The audit by the Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service concluded that a plant was insufficiently stunning animals, failing to make them insensible to pain on the first attempt. That plant has taken corrective actions and its suspension has been lifted, said Agriculture Secretary Edward Schafer. None of the plants was identified. The audit, which covered slaughterhouses that supply beef to the National School Lunch Program and other federal food assistance programs, was requested by Sen. Herb Kohl, a Wisconsin Democrat who chairs the Senate Appropriations agriculture subcommittee. Schafer provided the results to Kohl in a letter for a hearing on the beef recall Tuesday. The USDA's audit didn't uncover problems with downer cattle, but it did issue "noncompliance" records to plants for excessive use of electronic stunning prods; overcrowding of animals in the pens; and bunching up of cattle going into the stunning area. Those three were in addition to the plant that was suspended for insufficient stunning. In addition, one plant received a "letter of concern" for using a high-powered hose to wash cattle before slaughter. While not a violation, FSIS informed the plant that care should be taken to avoid undue stress or excitement to the animals....
Corn prices eating away cattle profits High prices for corn have farmers smiling, but those same prices are wiping out profits for feedlot operators who have to buy corn to feed cattle, ag specialists say. Many feedlot operators have lost money over the past year because they’ve had to buy ever more expensive corn, according to Ken Olson, beef specialist at South Dakota State University’s West River Ag Center in Rapid City. Next on the hit list will be ranchers who raise the calves to sell to those feedlots, Olson said. “The folks in the feedlot business are losing a lot of money right now because the cost of corn is so high,” Olson said. “They’re not going to be able to pay the kind of prices that they have for calves in the past.” Most of the feedlots in South Dakota are in central and eastern South Dakota. But most West River ranchers focus on raising calves for the feedlots. Wall area rancher Myron Williams is in both parts of the cattle business, raising his own calves, and feeding grain and hay to them and calves he buys. Williams said he hasn’t bought much corn of late because he uses dried distillers grain, a byproduct of the ethanol process. Dried distillers grain has been a cheaper option than corn in recent years, but it now is in short supply, driving prices up, Olson said. “It used to be less than $100 a ton delivered, but now it’s well in excess of $200 a ton delivered to the ranch,” he said....
Cattle Brands: The Long Rail CHISUM, JOHN SIMPSON (1824-1884). John Simpson Chisum, pioneer cattleman, son of Claiborne C. and Lucinda (Chisum) Chisum, was born in Hardeman County, Tennessee, on August 16, 1824. Claiborne Chisum, probably the earliest settler in Paris, Texas, was public-spirited and wealthy. John Chisum worked as a store clerk in Paris, served briefly as a road overseer in Hopkins County, accumulated land, operated several small grocery stores, was a member of the I.O.O.F. Lodge, and held the office of Lamar county clerk from 1852 to 1854. With Stephen K. Fowler, a New Orleans investor, he filed on land in northwestern Denton County, purchased a partnership herd, and entered the cattle business with the Half Circle P brand. Chisum also managed herds for neighboring families and various partners and shared in the calves. He became an active cattle dealer in search of markets and drove a small herd to a packing house in Jefferson. Chisum and his partners soon had 18,000 head grazing along the Colorado. In the fall of 1866 he joined Charles Goodnight and others driving cattle to feed the 8,000 Navajos on the Bosque Redondo Reservation near Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Chisum wintered 600 steers near Bosque Grande, below Fort Sumner, and in the spring sold his herd and contracted to furnish additional cattle. Chisum arranged to supply Goodnight, now ranching in Colorado, with Texas cattle for markets there and in Wyoming. For three years he delivered 10,000 head annually to Goodnight crews at Bosque Grande, for one dollar a head over Texas prices. During this period he the Long Rail brand which was a horizontal line across the entire side of the cow and the Jinglebob earmark for his herds. In 1872 Chisum abandoned his base in Texas and established his headquarters at Bosque Grande; he claimed a range extending more than 100 miles down the Pecos. In November of 1875 he transferred his livestock holdings, estimated at over 60,000 head of cattle, to Hunter, Evans, and Company, a St. Louis beef-commission house, which assumed his indebtedness, mostly for Texas cattle, of over $200,000. Chisum settled at South Spring River, near Roswell, New Mexico. As he helped Hunter and Evans gather cattle for markets, horse thieves and renegade Indians struck branding crews and horse herds. Lincoln County authorities and the army at Fort Stanton offered little help. Simultaneously, Chisum was drawn into the Lincoln County range war of 1878 by festering difficulties generated by his attorney, Alexander A. McSween, and rancher John H. Tunstall, who defied Judge Lawrence G. Murphy's economic stranglehold on the county. In the summer of 1878, with both Tunstall and McSween dead and the county in chaos, Chisum and Hunter and Evans cleared their cattle from the Pecos....
Holding the Earth hostage As Christopher Booker and Richard North detail in "Scared to Death: From BSE to Global Warming: Why Scares Are Costing Us the Earth," recent decades have witnessed a flurry of scares that have gripped the public. These scares exact high costs: Wrong-headed policies are put in place that make us more vulnerable instead of less; costly measures are taken that disrupt economies and the public needlessly worries and changes their lives to response to the latest media bogeyman. Mr. Booker and Mr. North identify a dynamic through which a marginal public concern mushrooms into a full-blown scare — from salmonella and mad cow disease to DDT and asbestos, and focus on what may be the greatest, most costly scare of all: Global warming. Competing factions drive a scare's progress. There are pushers "whose interest is to promote the scare and to talk it up, such as scientists for whom it provides the promising of winning public attention or further funding," and blockers whose interest is to downplay it. The lay reader is unlikely to be surprised at the role that the media and politicians play in sensationalizing a threat. More jarring is the role that the scientific community plays. As the authors write: "At the heart of every scare we have looked at has been a group of scientists or technical experts making a wrong or exaggerated guess on the basis of what eventually turns out to be inadequate data."....
Water for smelt equals water supply for over 1 million homes Cannon Michael, the water watchdog for the family-owned Bowles Farming Company, Los Banos, Calif., kindly pointed out in an e-mail that I missed the mark by a mile. It is more like 300,000 acre feet that have been precluded from moving through the Delta and into the state and federal water projects delivering water to Central and Southern California since last Dec. 12. This is because of a federal district court judge’s ruling last fall protecting the Delta smelt. The revised estimate came from Steve Chedester of the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority in Los Banos who said the inflow into the San Luis Reservoir is now at a trickle. The outflow is rapidly drawing down the reservoir three months before the peak irrigation season begins. That ups the ante to representing 300,000 California households. If you figure a household is four people who use an acre foot of water (326,000 gallons) per year, then schools of minnows have basically taken the water supply equal to what is used by the cities of Anaheim, Santa Ana and Riverside for one year. Of course radical environmentalists do not want to put it in those terms. They’d rather put it in terms of water used by farmers. It always amazes me when farmers are criticized for using water. What do people think farmers are using water for; brushing their teeth or washing pickups? It is used in their business to produce food. Let’s put 300,000 acre feet of water in true “farming” perspective — the production of food people like to eat. The 300,000 acre feet represent the water supply to irrigate 100,000 acres (assuming 3 acre feet of water per crop season). That is high for some crops listed below and low for others. However, allow me to use it for the following points. Let’s translate 100,000 acres of food for the people of Anaheim, Santa Ana and Riverside and the judge and the people who love minnows. If that lost water was used to produce 10,000 acres of romaine lettuce, we’re talking roughly 168 million heads of lettuce; 10,000 acres of wheat would produce at least 60 million loaves of bread; and 10,000 acres of processing tomatoes would produce roughly 350,000 tons of tomatoes. I have no idea how many bottles of ketchup that represents....
Environmental hysterics Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley recently warned that failure to take action on global warming could mean the extinction of the human race. Over the last few years, we've been repeatedly warned we are in the midst of a climate crisis that threatens our survival. Al Gore calls it a "planetary emergency." We might take this concern more seriously if the doom-mongering wing of the environmental movement weren't burdened by a long history of false prophecies. In the mid- to late-1960s, the leading environmental concern was overpopulation. The 1967 book "Famine 1975!" warned "by 1975 a disaster of unprecedented magnitude will face the world ... famines will ravage the undeveloped nations ... this is the greatest problem facing mankind." A sober review of the book in the scholarly journal Science characterized the prediction of mass starvation as "self-evident," argued that technological solutions were "unrealistic," and concluded that catastrophe was unavoidable. The reviewer concluded "all responsible investigators agree that the tragedy will occur." More widely read was Paul Ehrlich's shrill screed, "The Population Bomb" (1968). Mr. Ehrlich began with the infamous words "the battle to feed all of humanity is over," and claimed that "in the 1970s ... hundreds of millions of people are going to starve to death." "We must have population control," Mr. Ehrlich argued, because it is the "only answer." Mr. Ehrlich followed "The Population Bomb" in 1969 with publication of the essay, "Eco-Catastrophe," in which he predicted the Green Revolution would fail and that the "ignorance" of the Cornucopian economists would be exposed. By 1980, environmental degradation would wipe out all "important animal life" in the world's oceans, people would choke to death from air pollution by the hundreds of thousands, and life expectancy in the United States would fall to 42 years. "Western society," Mr. Ehrlich proclaimed, "is in the process of completing the rape and murder of the planet for economic gain." In 1975, the news media informed us that a new Ice Age was imminent. An article in the Chicago Tribune titled "B-r-r-r-r: New Ice Age on way soon?" noted "It's getting colder." The Tribune interpreted a number of ordinary weather events "as evidence that a significant shift in climate is taking place — a shift that could be the forerunner of an Ice Age." The New York Times chimed in, warning their readers that "a major cooling may be ahead." Famed science reporter Walter Sullivan announced "the world's climate is changing ... a new ice age is on the way." Within 10 years, the imminent calamity of global cooling was replaced by global warming. And the mass famines predicted by Paul Ehrlich and others never happened....
Gail Norton defends her record As secretary of the interior, Gale Norton was criticized by environmentalists for allowing the energy development that is booming in the Rockies. In front of an audience of mostly Colorado College students Monday night, Norton defended her environmental record and that of the Bush administration, and said the successes of her "cooperative conservation" policy were not widely reported because of a lack of conflict. "It was intensely frustrating when we did things that I was very proud of and got no coverage," she said. "There's no conflict. It's only when people criticize that you get conflict." Norton was the keynote speaker for the 2008 State of the Rockies conference, an annual report and conference led by students that focuses on social, economic and environmental issues affecting the region. Two-term attorney general for Colorado before she became secretary of the interior in 2000, Norton oversaw decisions that gave greater access on federal lands to many of the factors identified as threats in the State of the Rockies - mining, oil and gas drilling and offroad vehicles....
As Prices Rise, Farmers Spurn Conservation Out on the farm, the ducks and pheasants are losing ground. Thousands of farmers are taking their fields out of the government’s biggest conservation program, which pays them not to cultivate. They are spurning guaranteed annual payments for a chance to cash in on the boom in wheat, soybeans, corn and other crops. Last fall, they took back as many acres as are in Rhode Island and Delaware combined. Environmental and hunting groups are warning that years of progress could soon be lost, particularly with the native prairie in the Upper Midwest. But a broad coalition of baking, poultry, snack food, ethanol and livestock groups say bigger harvests are a more important priority than habitats for waterfowl and other wildlife. They want the government to ease restrictions on the preserved land, which would encourage many more farmers to think beyond conservation. Now, because of a growing global middle class as well as federal mandates to turn large amounts of corn into ethanol-based fuel, food prices are beginning to jump. Cropland is suddenly in heavy demand, a situation that is fraying old alliances, inspiring new ones and putting pressure on the Agriculture Department, which is being lobbied directly by all sides without managing to satisfy any of them. Born nearly 25 years ago in an era of abundance, the Conservation Reserve Program is having a rough transition to the age of scarcity. Its 35 million acres — about 8 percent of the cropland in the country — are the big prize in this brawl....
Open space district awards grazing lease for San Mateo property Reversing a no-cow trend, the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District is awarding a five-year grazing lease for its Tunitas Creek property to San Mateo Coastside rancher Doug Edwards. This is the second grazing lease awarded by the district in the past year. Last December, a five-year grazing lease was awarded to rancher Vince Fontana for the former Big Dipper Ranch at Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve. The old paradigm was to kick cattle off property when acquired by conservation groups. Overgrazed, eroded and trampled pastures had alarmed the region's environmentalists. But further research brought a turnaround in thinking. Removing cattle from San Jose's Silver Creek Hills in the 1990s, for instance, led to depletion of wildflowers that are food for the endangered bay checkerspot butterfly. Inspired by successful grazing on San Jose's Coyote Ridge, district managers seek to reduce wildfire risk in an area that is too big to mow and too dangerous to burn - and fend off the encroachment of forest. The district's adoption of "conservation grazing" - the use of livestock to boost the diversity of native plants and animals, control the spread of invasive non-native plants and prevent fire - may eventually reintroduce cattle to 5,000 grassy acres in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. Both Edwards and Fontana are longtime ranchers in the region....
Wilderness advocates 'overplayed their hand' Rep. Dean Heller said a proposal by the Nevada Wilderness Project will make it difficult to do a lands bill of any sort for Lyon and Mineral counties. "This has played out very poorly," Heller, R-Nev., told The Record-Courier on Monday. "The special interest groups have made this process very difficult. They've overplayed their hand is the bottom line." The wilderness project is proposing that 195,638 acres in Lyon County and 497,251 acres in Mineral County be set aside as wilderness. Heller said the proposal was supposed to be worked out between the project and others who use the land, such as ranchers and those using it for recreation. "The Nevada Wilderness Project was supposed to be negotiated between local cattlemen, county commissioners and the people involved," he said. "It was supposed to be done in good faith and it wasn't." Heller said he met with Lyon County commissioners and held a town hall meeting in Hawthorne to hear what residents had to say about the proposal. "I've traveled around quite a bit over this issue," he said. "People are very vocal and for good reason. They are very concerned about a bill that doesn't have community buy-in. I believe they have every reason to be upset."....
County joins opposition to Pinon Canyon expansion The Pueblo County Board of Commissioners made official its opposition to the U.S. Army's plans to expand the Pinon Canyon Maneuver site Tuesday. In a resolution passed unanimously by the three-member board, the county joined ranchers and other opponents of a plan to expand the Army's training grounds by 414,000 acres. Commissioner Jeff Chostner, a retired Air Force colonel, expanded on his comments from a March 27 meeting in which the commissioners indicated they would stand with the ranchers and other county officials against the Army's plans. "I took the opportunity to drive (Colorado 10) and it gave me further resolve to support this resolution," Chostner said. "This is an absolutely gorgeous part of Southern Colorado and I'm afraid it will be completely cut off from the public." Chostner mentioned states like Nevada and New Mexico, where the federal government and military operations have gobbled up scores of acres over the years. "I don't want to see that happen in Southeastern Colorado," he said. Chostner added that he believed that allowing the site to expand was an economic gamble, trading the predictable economic benefits of longtime ranching operations with what he termed "nebulous" benefits of soldiers coming to the area from Fort Carson and other points in El Paso County. Finally, Chostner noted that he believed the Army doesn't need the extra acreage because the soldiers currently deployed in the Middle East and other areas are already adequately trained for their jobs.
Easement proposal fails A failed attempt to amend a conservation-easement bill in the legislature would have required the state Division of Real Estate to review applications for easement holders within 180 days of receiving them. Lobbyist Erik Groves of Integrated Legislative Solutions LLC was pushing the amendment on behalf of Family Farmers and Ranchers to Protect Open Space, a group of Eastern Plains farmers formed Feb. 27. Groves formed the lobbying firm last July while working as a law clerk at the Denver firm Zak hem Atherton LLC. In 2007, Groves was a registered lobbyist for Zakhem Atherton, according to records from the Colorado secretary of state's office. A partner in the firm, Rodney Atherton, helped engineer a conservation-easement deal being investigated by the Division of Real Estate. He couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon. "I find it interesting that an entity that we are investigating would attempt to push legislation that attempts to restrict our efforts to protect the conservation-easement program," said Erin Toll, executive director of the Division of Real Estate. "That smells really bad to me. I also think legislators will be able to see through that ploy."....
Merger may be bad news for ranchers Sen. Jeff Bingaman is warning that the acquisition of two beef processors by the world's largest beef producer could have a significant impact on cattle ranchers in Otero County. The Brazilian-owned JBS Corporation announced last month that it has arranged to purchase Smithfield Beef Group and National Beef Packing Company, which will make JBS the largest beef producer in the United States. "JBS' proposal to acquire these two U.S. beef processors would give a single company control of about one-third of the domestic market and a monopoly in many areas of the county," Bingaman said in an interview Tuesday. "I am concerned about the possible antitrust implications of the acquisition, as well as its impact on competitive market access for the many small and independent cattle growers (including) those in Otero County, who are vulnerable to unfair market pricing." Bingaman, D-N.M., said that with no competition, JBS could offer ranchers less for cattle, knowing they have nowhere else to go. There were a total of 622 cattle ranchers in the county according to 2006 government figures....
USDA Finds Violations in Slaughterhouses A federal audit of 18 beef slaughterhouses following the nation's largest beef recall found humane handling violations in four of them, including one serious enough for the plant to be temporarily suspended. The audit by the Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service concluded that a plant was insufficiently stunning animals, failing to make them insensible to pain on the first attempt. That plant has taken corrective actions and its suspension has been lifted, said Agriculture Secretary Edward Schafer. None of the plants was identified. The audit, which covered slaughterhouses that supply beef to the National School Lunch Program and other federal food assistance programs, was requested by Sen. Herb Kohl, a Wisconsin Democrat who chairs the Senate Appropriations agriculture subcommittee. Schafer provided the results to Kohl in a letter for a hearing on the beef recall Tuesday. The USDA's audit didn't uncover problems with downer cattle, but it did issue "noncompliance" records to plants for excessive use of electronic stunning prods; overcrowding of animals in the pens; and bunching up of cattle going into the stunning area. Those three were in addition to the plant that was suspended for insufficient stunning. In addition, one plant received a "letter of concern" for using a high-powered hose to wash cattle before slaughter. While not a violation, FSIS informed the plant that care should be taken to avoid undue stress or excitement to the animals....
Corn prices eating away cattle profits High prices for corn have farmers smiling, but those same prices are wiping out profits for feedlot operators who have to buy corn to feed cattle, ag specialists say. Many feedlot operators have lost money over the past year because they’ve had to buy ever more expensive corn, according to Ken Olson, beef specialist at South Dakota State University’s West River Ag Center in Rapid City. Next on the hit list will be ranchers who raise the calves to sell to those feedlots, Olson said. “The folks in the feedlot business are losing a lot of money right now because the cost of corn is so high,” Olson said. “They’re not going to be able to pay the kind of prices that they have for calves in the past.” Most of the feedlots in South Dakota are in central and eastern South Dakota. But most West River ranchers focus on raising calves for the feedlots. Wall area rancher Myron Williams is in both parts of the cattle business, raising his own calves, and feeding grain and hay to them and calves he buys. Williams said he hasn’t bought much corn of late because he uses dried distillers grain, a byproduct of the ethanol process. Dried distillers grain has been a cheaper option than corn in recent years, but it now is in short supply, driving prices up, Olson said. “It used to be less than $100 a ton delivered, but now it’s well in excess of $200 a ton delivered to the ranch,” he said....
Cattle Brands: The Long Rail CHISUM, JOHN SIMPSON (1824-1884). John Simpson Chisum, pioneer cattleman, son of Claiborne C. and Lucinda (Chisum) Chisum, was born in Hardeman County, Tennessee, on August 16, 1824. Claiborne Chisum, probably the earliest settler in Paris, Texas, was public-spirited and wealthy. John Chisum worked as a store clerk in Paris, served briefly as a road overseer in Hopkins County, accumulated land, operated several small grocery stores, was a member of the I.O.O.F. Lodge, and held the office of Lamar county clerk from 1852 to 1854. With Stephen K. Fowler, a New Orleans investor, he filed on land in northwestern Denton County, purchased a partnership herd, and entered the cattle business with the Half Circle P brand. Chisum also managed herds for neighboring families and various partners and shared in the calves. He became an active cattle dealer in search of markets and drove a small herd to a packing house in Jefferson. Chisum and his partners soon had 18,000 head grazing along the Colorado. In the fall of 1866 he joined Charles Goodnight and others driving cattle to feed the 8,000 Navajos on the Bosque Redondo Reservation near Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Chisum wintered 600 steers near Bosque Grande, below Fort Sumner, and in the spring sold his herd and contracted to furnish additional cattle. Chisum arranged to supply Goodnight, now ranching in Colorado, with Texas cattle for markets there and in Wyoming. For three years he delivered 10,000 head annually to Goodnight crews at Bosque Grande, for one dollar a head over Texas prices. During this period he the Long Rail brand which was a horizontal line across the entire side of the cow and the Jinglebob earmark for his herds. In 1872 Chisum abandoned his base in Texas and established his headquarters at Bosque Grande; he claimed a range extending more than 100 miles down the Pecos. In November of 1875 he transferred his livestock holdings, estimated at over 60,000 head of cattle, to Hunter, Evans, and Company, a St. Louis beef-commission house, which assumed his indebtedness, mostly for Texas cattle, of over $200,000. Chisum settled at South Spring River, near Roswell, New Mexico. As he helped Hunter and Evans gather cattle for markets, horse thieves and renegade Indians struck branding crews and horse herds. Lincoln County authorities and the army at Fort Stanton offered little help. Simultaneously, Chisum was drawn into the Lincoln County range war of 1878 by festering difficulties generated by his attorney, Alexander A. McSween, and rancher John H. Tunstall, who defied Judge Lawrence G. Murphy's economic stranglehold on the county. In the summer of 1878, with both Tunstall and McSween dead and the county in chaos, Chisum and Hunter and Evans cleared their cattle from the Pecos....
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....
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....
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
MEXICAN WOLF
From: Laura
Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 2008 9:28 AM
Subject: FW: Another Calf Confirmed killed by wolves
The Middle fork pack has never to my knowledge, killed livestock until the past two to three weeks. Why did they start? They had a territory staked out, the alpha's were both wild born, they were firmly mated and had produced at least 4 litters of pups. They were never fed never coddled and didn't need it.
What changed to get them into ranch country? In December agency personnel removed the Middle fork pack Alpha female. She had a fully healed but flopping leg, likely broken by an elk. They amputated the leg and kept her in captivity for 6 weeks. During that time, her pack made wider and wider circles apparently searching for her. They ended up on a ranch in a calving pasture. When the female was placed back with the pack, they kept making those wider and wider circles. Now they are permanently located on the ranch and eating cattle and have been for the past two to three weeks. This is their first confirmed depredation, there have been many others but eaten up too soon to retain evidence for confirmation. Soon they will be killing adult cows and the kills will be easier to find.
Manipulation of this wolf pack by emotional agency decisions has caused them to shift territory and move to ranch country. This will likely lead to eventual permanent removal of the pack as it should be according to the rule. There are 6-7 members in the pack. Two adults, two 2 year old pups (even though in 06 they were not deemed a breeding pair during the count) and 2-3 young of 07. Witnesses say they are somewhat smaller than the captive raised wolves probably due to a normal wolf diet. We know the three collared wolves were vaccinated for rabies probably the others were not.
The wolf team cannot seem to take their personal agenda's out of the program long enough to do what is best for it. Feeling sorry for a single animal has led to the ruining of an entire pack of wolves that were formerly the only pack that was behaving naturally. The agency personnel should have left them alone and let the female's fate take it's course, there were plenty of wolves to replace her naturally if she died. As it was she was showing no signs of faltering due to her condition, this is hardly professional management.
Laura
Laura's weblog is Wolf Crossing.
From: Laura
Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 2008 9:28 AM
Subject: FW: Another Calf Confirmed killed by wolves
The Middle fork pack has never to my knowledge, killed livestock until the past two to three weeks. Why did they start? They had a territory staked out, the alpha's were both wild born, they were firmly mated and had produced at least 4 litters of pups. They were never fed never coddled and didn't need it.
What changed to get them into ranch country? In December agency personnel removed the Middle fork pack Alpha female. She had a fully healed but flopping leg, likely broken by an elk. They amputated the leg and kept her in captivity for 6 weeks. During that time, her pack made wider and wider circles apparently searching for her. They ended up on a ranch in a calving pasture. When the female was placed back with the pack, they kept making those wider and wider circles. Now they are permanently located on the ranch and eating cattle and have been for the past two to three weeks. This is their first confirmed depredation, there have been many others but eaten up too soon to retain evidence for confirmation. Soon they will be killing adult cows and the kills will be easier to find.
Manipulation of this wolf pack by emotional agency decisions has caused them to shift territory and move to ranch country. This will likely lead to eventual permanent removal of the pack as it should be according to the rule. There are 6-7 members in the pack. Two adults, two 2 year old pups (even though in 06 they were not deemed a breeding pair during the count) and 2-3 young of 07. Witnesses say they are somewhat smaller than the captive raised wolves probably due to a normal wolf diet. We know the three collared wolves were vaccinated for rabies probably the others were not.
The wolf team cannot seem to take their personal agenda's out of the program long enough to do what is best for it. Feeling sorry for a single animal has led to the ruining of an entire pack of wolves that were formerly the only pack that was behaving naturally. The agency personnel should have left them alone and let the female's fate take it's course, there were plenty of wolves to replace her naturally if she died. As it was she was showing no signs of faltering due to her condition, this is hardly professional management.
Laura
Laura's weblog is Wolf Crossing.
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."....
'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."....
MEXICAN WOLF
From: Jess Carey
Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 2008 12:33 AM
Subject: Another Calf Confirmed killed by wolves
Hi all,
Today, 04-07-08 there was another calf killed by wolves (confirmed). I attached three photographs of the calf remains so you could see what was left after wolves killed and fed on it.
This two week old calf had numerous bite sites on the neck, head, right and left shoulders and front legs. As you can see the calf is missing from just behind the shoulder area. When found the calf had been dead approximately 10 hours or less. Also when found, it was reported that six wolves were feeding on the calf carcass. The male of the pack did not want to leave and scared one of the people present. If this calf had not been found when it was, it would have been a "Missing Calf" within a twenty four hour period. A missing calf is a total loss for the rancher. Why? Because there is no evidence to meet the standard of confirmation by AMOC. Are there any protective measures to protect the rancher from missing calves...NO. Small calves can be consumed by wolves in a very short time with no remains left.
There were numerous bite sites with corresponding hemorrhage on the calf. Canine spreads ranged; 47.02mm, 44.16mm, 40.54mm, 39.31mm, and 38.05mm. These canine spreads indicate there were several wolves in on the killing of the calf. With this evidence of multiple wolves, will a strike be assessed to all the wolves involve? I find the evidence indicates at least three wolves committed the depredation.
IFT members Ground Telemetry confirmed the "Middle Fork" wolf pack, AM871 and AF861. I used my ground telemetry receiver and the wolf collar channels for AM871 and AF 861 that I had received prior to the ban on releasing channels by the NMDGF. I could not receive either wolf signal. I did receive one strong signal, but that channel was not assigned to any wolf I have knowledge of. Later, I was told that one of the collars of Middle Fork wolf pack had been changed.
What has the rancher provided to the Mexican Wolf Recovery Program? The answer is simple, hundreds of cows and calves with no compensation due to totally missing cows and calves, canine spreads with corresponding hemorrhage destroyed by feeding wolves, and advanced decomposition where the evidence is lost to confirm a wolf depredation. There were three categories of wolf-animal depredations; Confirmed, Probable, and Possible. Now there is only confirmed and Probable. Possible was removed by AMOC. I feel this was based on having toO many wolf-animal related incidences. Lower the wolf related incident numbers by removing one of categories. This will change the statistics, but will not change the depredations on the ground.
From: Jess Carey
Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 2008 12:33 AM
Subject: Another Calf Confirmed killed by wolves
Hi all,
Today, 04-07-08 there was another calf killed by wolves (confirmed). I attached three photographs of the calf remains so you could see what was left after wolves killed and fed on it.
This two week old calf had numerous bite sites on the neck, head, right and left shoulders and front legs. As you can see the calf is missing from just behind the shoulder area. When found the calf had been dead approximately 10 hours or less. Also when found, it was reported that six wolves were feeding on the calf carcass. The male of the pack did not want to leave and scared one of the people present. If this calf had not been found when it was, it would have been a "Missing Calf" within a twenty four hour period. A missing calf is a total loss for the rancher. Why? Because there is no evidence to meet the standard of confirmation by AMOC. Are there any protective measures to protect the rancher from missing calves...NO. Small calves can be consumed by wolves in a very short time with no remains left.
There were numerous bite sites with corresponding hemorrhage on the calf. Canine spreads ranged; 47.02mm, 44.16mm, 40.54mm, 39.31mm, and 38.05mm. These canine spreads indicate there were several wolves in on the killing of the calf. With this evidence of multiple wolves, will a strike be assessed to all the wolves involve? I find the evidence indicates at least three wolves committed the depredation.
IFT members Ground Telemetry confirmed the "Middle Fork" wolf pack, AM871 and AF861. I used my ground telemetry receiver and the wolf collar channels for AM871 and AF 861 that I had received prior to the ban on releasing channels by the NMDGF. I could not receive either wolf signal. I did receive one strong signal, but that channel was not assigned to any wolf I have knowledge of. Later, I was told that one of the collars of Middle Fork wolf pack had been changed.
What has the rancher provided to the Mexican Wolf Recovery Program? The answer is simple, hundreds of cows and calves with no compensation due to totally missing cows and calves, canine spreads with corresponding hemorrhage destroyed by feeding wolves, and advanced decomposition where the evidence is lost to confirm a wolf depredation. There were three categories of wolf-animal depredations; Confirmed, Probable, and Possible. Now there is only confirmed and Probable. Possible was removed by AMOC. I feel this was based on having toO many wolf-animal related incidences. Lower the wolf related incident numbers by removing one of categories. This will change the statistics, but will not change the depredations on the ground.
Monday, April 07, 2008
Deal Reached Over Protection of Salmon A compromise reached Monday with four Northwest Indian tribes would commit federal agencies to spend $900 million over the next decade on improving conditions for endangered salmon while leaving intact hydroelectric dams that harm fish. The deal would end years of legal battles between the Bush administration and the four Northwest tribes. However, it would not affect a fifth tribe that is party to a lawsuit nor environmental groups that vowed to press on in their efforts to breach four dams on the Lower Snake River in eastern Washington. Federal officials called the agreement a landmark in the long-running dispute over balancing tribal and commercial fishing rights, protection for threatened salmon and power demands from the region's network of hydroelectric dams. "This deal defies the decades of salmon science that say salmon recovery in the Columbia and Snake River Basin is not possible with habitat and hatchery programs alone," said Bill Shake, a retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service official who advises a Northwest sportfishing group. Any scientifically sound plan must include increased spill at the two dozen dams and irrigation projects along the Columbia and Snake rivers as well as removal of four outdated dams on the lower Snake River in Eastern Washington, Shake said....
ETHANOL: LESS THAN MEETS THE GAS TANK
Advocates of energy independence cite Brazil as an example when calling for increased ethanol production mandates in the United States, but they often misrepresent or misunderstand the facts concerning Brazil\'s energy make-up, says D. Sean Shurtleff, a graduate student fellow with the National Center for Policy Analysis.
In August 2006, the Washington Post reported that ethanol in Brazil "has replaced about 40 percent of the country\'s gasoline consumption," a figure commonly cited by newspaper outlets. But this is misleading, as Energy Information Administration (EIA) data show:
* In 2006, ethanol made up about 48 percent of the fuel used by gasoline-powered passenger vehicles in Brazil.
* But including both gasoline-and-diesel-powered vehicles, ethanol supplied only 20 percent of the total fuel consumed by automobiles and trucks on Brazilian highways.
After the 1980s\' ethanol shortages, Brazil recognized that ethanol production alone would not lead to energy independence. Instead, it started promoting policies to boost domestic oil production. Indeed, increased production and new oil discoveries played the biggest role in liberating Brazil from dependence on foreign energy sources. According to the EIA:
* Brazil increased domestic crude oil production an average of more than 9 percent a year from 1980 to 2005, to 1.6 million barrels of oil per day.
* Most notably, in 2007, Brazil announced a huge oil discovery off its coast that could increase its 14.4 billion barrels of oil reserves by 5 billion to 8 billion barrels, or 40 percent.
By contrast, from 1980 to 2005, U.S. crude oil production fell an average of about 2 percent a year or 40 percent overall, from 8.6 million barrels of oil per day to 5.2 million.
Source: D. Sean Shurtleff, " Energy Independence in Brazil: Lessons for the United States," National Center for Policy Analysis, Brief Analysis No. 614, April 7, 2008.
For text: http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba/ba614/
Advocates of energy independence cite Brazil as an example when calling for increased ethanol production mandates in the United States, but they often misrepresent or misunderstand the facts concerning Brazil\'s energy make-up, says D. Sean Shurtleff, a graduate student fellow with the National Center for Policy Analysis.
In August 2006, the Washington Post reported that ethanol in Brazil "has replaced about 40 percent of the country\'s gasoline consumption," a figure commonly cited by newspaper outlets. But this is misleading, as Energy Information Administration (EIA) data show:
* In 2006, ethanol made up about 48 percent of the fuel used by gasoline-powered passenger vehicles in Brazil.
* But including both gasoline-and-diesel-powered vehicles, ethanol supplied only 20 percent of the total fuel consumed by automobiles and trucks on Brazilian highways.
After the 1980s\' ethanol shortages, Brazil recognized that ethanol production alone would not lead to energy independence. Instead, it started promoting policies to boost domestic oil production. Indeed, increased production and new oil discoveries played the biggest role in liberating Brazil from dependence on foreign energy sources. According to the EIA:
* Brazil increased domestic crude oil production an average of more than 9 percent a year from 1980 to 2005, to 1.6 million barrels of oil per day.
* Most notably, in 2007, Brazil announced a huge oil discovery off its coast that could increase its 14.4 billion barrels of oil reserves by 5 billion to 8 billion barrels, or 40 percent.
By contrast, from 1980 to 2005, U.S. crude oil production fell an average of about 2 percent a year or 40 percent overall, from 8.6 million barrels of oil per day to 5.2 million.
Source: D. Sean Shurtleff, " Energy Independence in Brazil: Lessons for the United States," National Center for Policy Analysis, Brief Analysis No. 614, April 7, 2008.
For text: http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba/ba614/
Oil Giant BP's Role in 'Biggest Environmental Crisis' In 1997, after British Petroleum publicly acknowledged the harmful effects of global warming, it quickly became known as the oil company with environmental virtue. While other oil corporations argued that climate change didn't exist -- most notably Exxon Mobil, which funded around 40 public policy groups that disputed the scientific grounds for global warming -- BP was investing in emission reductions, going so far as to support the Kyoto Protocol, the international agreement established to curb greenhouse gases, which took effect in 2005. In 2005, BP Alternative Energies announced it would manage an investment program in solar and wind technologies, one that could amount to $8 billion over seven years. The company also marketed itself as an environmentally friendly oil corporation dedicated to moving "beyond petroleum." But a recent change in corporate policy threatens that green-friendly image. It's a policy that Greenpeace calls "the biggest environmental crime in history." The policy involves BP breaking its long-standing, self-imposed ban on the production of crude oil from tar sands -- which are a combination of clay, sand, various minerals and bitumen -- found in the Canadian wilderness. The process of extracting and refining tar sands -- also known as Canadian crude -- involves strip-mining a 50,000-square-mile span of forest (approximately the size of Florida) located in the western Canadian province of Alberta. The region contains an estimated 175 billion barrels of recoverable oil....
Georgia Lawmakers Approve Request to Redraw Borders, Hoping to Alleviate a Drought Lawmakers in drought-parched Georgia voted Friday to ask mapmakers to redraw their state's northern boundary in hopes of tapping the Tennessee River, in a vote that potentially escalates a conflict with their neighbor. If negotiations fail, the bill would authorize Georgia's top attorney to file a lawsuit to try forcing a boundary change. The House and Senate both approved the measure on the legislative session's final day. It now goes to Gov. Sonny Perdue, who has not said whether he supports it. Congress in 1796 designated that Tennessee's southern borders stretch along the 35th parallel, but surveyors in 1818 were a bit off the mark. They now know that the border was placed about 1.1 miles south of where it should be. The resolution asserts that the flawed survey mistakenly placed Georgia's northern line just short of the Tennessee River, which has about 15 times greater flow than the one burgeoning Atlanta depends on for water. Tennessee hasn't taken kindly to Georgia's drought-inspired bid; lawmakers there have reacted with a mix of scorn and humor....
Ranching for sage grouse The Scott family has been ranching for more than 50 years on the Eagle Ridge Ranch near the North Platte River at Bessemer Bend and since the early 1970s on the Two-Bar Ranch at Bate's Hole. The Two-Bar is one of the greatest strongholds of the West for the sage grouse, a bird that's in peril throughout much of its historic range. The birds and their strutting areas, called leks, are plentiful on the ranch's open spaces. Year after year they mate, nest and raise their young undisturbed on the Two-Bar. Scott is an avid birdwatcher. Birding is in his blood. His father, Dr. Oliver Scott, founded the first Wyoming Audubon Society chapter in the 1950s. Like his father and brothers, Stacey Scott is a sage grouse enthusiast. "They are just fascinating birds. They really should be the state emblem, not the bucking cowboy," he says. "They're so unique. What other bird gains weight during winter just eating sagebrush? They're just fascinating. I like all birds, but the sage grouse is just very special to me. To some extent they're a symbol of the health of the range." As a rancher and bird expert he knows as well as anyone how the fates of the ranching industry and the sage grouse are linked. The failure of one could spell doom for the other....
Wolf hunters urged to use restraint If Wyoming wolf hunters don't throttle back their fervor, wolf advocates might succeed in convincing a federal judge to issue an injunction against removing the animals from the endangered-species list, say a rancher and an outfitter inside the state's wolf trophy game zone. An injunction would effectively put wolves back on the endangered-species list and could kick off a long legal struggle. At least six wolves have been killed in Wyoming since the animals were removed from the endangered-species list, a state Game and Fish Department spokesman said Friday. All six were shot in Sublette County in the state's new predator area for wolves, where it is legal to shoot the canines on sight. Four of the animals were killed the day they were delisted, and two in the ensuing week. But those who support Wyoming's wolf management plan say the public needs to understand that most of the wolves outside the trophy game zone have been killed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on a routine basis in recent years. And the wolves in the new predator zone - currently about 30 animals - will chronically kill livestock and are not essential to the survival of the species, they say....
Corn pops to record $6 per bushel Corn prices jumped to a record $6 a bushel yesterday, driven by an expected supply shortfall that will only add to Americans' growing grocery bills and further squeeze struggling ethanol producers. Corn prices have shot up nearly 30 percent this year amid dwindling stockpiles and surging demand for the grain used to feed livestock and make alternative fuels. Prices are poised to go even higher after the US government this week predicted American farmers - the world's biggest corn producers - will plant sharply less of the crop in 2008 compared to last year. "It's a demand-driven market and we may not be planting enough acres to supply demand, so that adds to the bullishness of corn," said Elaine Kub, a grains analyst with DTN in Omaha. Corn for the most actively traded May contract rose 4.25 cents to settle at $6 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, after earlier rising to $6.025 a bushel - a record high. Worldwide demand for corn to feed livestock and to make biofuel is putting enormous pressure on global supply. And with the United States expected to plant less corn, the supply shortage will only worsen. The Department of Agriculture projected that farmers will plant 86 million acres of corn in 2008, an 8 percent drop from last year....
Mexico opens border to all U.S. breeding stock USDA recently announced that after years of negotiation, an agreement has finally been reached to restore full access of U.S. breeding stock to Mexico. The country drew the ire of many U.S. cattle organizations after a declaration in March that it would lift the ban on live cattle imports from Canada and begin allowing beef and dairy heifers under 30 months of age. At the time, Mexico allowed only heifers under 24 months of age from the U.S., which raised questions about the fairness of the trade deal struck with Canada. In response, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples closed the state-owned livestock export facilities to those cattle from Canada which met the new requirements issued by Mexico. Staples’ decision to close those facilities to the Canadian heifers and his call for all private export facilities to follow suit gained support quickly. Other border states soon joined in the effort to place pressure on Mexico for trade based on World Organization for Animal Health guidelines....
Work Every Bit as Wild as It Is Woolly It sounds like something a Zen master might ask: How does the wool come off a sheep? But when you have a squirming 100-pound yearling between your knees, a roaring set of power shears in one hand, and a completely blank mind because everything your instructor just told you about which stroke comes next has faded into a white noise of panic and muscle fatigue, getting the wool off is not an academic question. You stare down, bent over, and the universe contracts. It is only you, the sheep and the shears. Find the way, you think. Try to remember. Is the “long blow” next? Or up the brisket and under the neck? Or maybe the “top knot”? To shear a sheep is to touch a fading chord of Western culture. In the 1990s alone, 40,000 sheep ranches blinked out of existence, a 38 percent decline. And the number of people who know how to shear is falling even faster. Which brings us to a sheep-shearing class here: 10 men and 5 women — a few entrepreneurs, some back-to-the-land idealists, a psychiatrist from Butte who has made a bet with his wife, three high school buddies, a home builder looking for an economic sideline in tough times and a reporter trying to get inside the story. This is a fortunate year to become an American shearer. In a strange local backwash of global capitalism and the weak United States dollar, the Australian and New Zealand shearing companies on which Western ranchers have come to depend are staying home this spring, unable to justify the exchange-rate loss. The short-term shortage of shearers, which the sheep institute tries to address, has meant all but guaranteed work for domestic talent, notwithstanding the long-term decline in American sheep ranching, coincident with a growing foreign dominance....
Hogs wallowed in Muskogee’s meandering streets in early days One of the greatest complaints that early-day residents of Muskogee had about their town was the streets — or perhaps the lack of streets. With no city government, there was no authority and no work force to lay out streets or maintain them. Because land ownership also was questionable at the time, people built a home or business wherever they pleased with no regard for a “plan.” Consequently, what streets did exist tended to meander around with no clear direction. In a magazine article titled “An Indian Cattle Town,” published in 1884, Muskogee was described as being a roughly constructed town in a lovely, unspoiled setting. Still very much a western frontier town, Muskogee, like many others, sprang up overnight and took several years to get past its rough beginning. The Indian Journal newspaper in June 1883 ran a picture of Main Street and called it a “hogwallow.” Unpaved and poorly maintained, the street was full of potholes that filled with mud in wet weather. Wagons could easily get stuck in the mire of a wet street, and everything was sure to be splattered with mud by passing horses. The wild hogs that roamed the town, literally used the streets as wallows....
Father and son could break George Paul Memorial Bull Riding record Settling down on his final bull at the 14th George Paul Memorial Bull Riding had the rider’s full focus. No other thoughts crowded his mind as the event’s championship was within his grasp. Riding for more than 20 years, 14 as a professional, had taught him settling down on the back of an animal that could hurt, maim or kill him required his full attention. Nodding to the gateman to open the chute, Toya Bolton made the eight second ride of his life and when the dust had settled, he had become in 1991, the 14th George Paul Memorial Bull Riding Champion. The company he joined as a champion included former George Paul Memorial Bull Riding winners Denny Flynn, Lonnie Wyatt, Lane Foltyn, Bubba Monkres, Cody Lambert and world champions Charles Sampson, Cody Snyder, Lane Frost, Tuff Hedeman and Jim Sharp. His name permanently etched into the record books that hot, dusty Sunday, Toya Bolton did not envision what would or could take place seventeen years into the future, that year being 2008. Born June 1, 1987, Bonner Bolton was three years old when Toya’s memorable rides at the 1991 George Paul Memorial Bull Riding were making bull riding history. Bonner is the first to tell you his bull riding hero is his dad, Toya. He could not have picked a better mentor. The 31st George Paul Memorial Bull Riding to be held May 3-4, 2008, could produce another first in the annals of professional bull riding. If Bonner Bolton wins the event, it will be the first time in the history of the George Paul Memorial Bull Riding that a father and son have won the event....
Georgia Lawmakers Approve Request to Redraw Borders, Hoping to Alleviate a Drought Lawmakers in drought-parched Georgia voted Friday to ask mapmakers to redraw their state's northern boundary in hopes of tapping the Tennessee River, in a vote that potentially escalates a conflict with their neighbor. If negotiations fail, the bill would authorize Georgia's top attorney to file a lawsuit to try forcing a boundary change. The House and Senate both approved the measure on the legislative session's final day. It now goes to Gov. Sonny Perdue, who has not said whether he supports it. Congress in 1796 designated that Tennessee's southern borders stretch along the 35th parallel, but surveyors in 1818 were a bit off the mark. They now know that the border was placed about 1.1 miles south of where it should be. The resolution asserts that the flawed survey mistakenly placed Georgia's northern line just short of the Tennessee River, which has about 15 times greater flow than the one burgeoning Atlanta depends on for water. Tennessee hasn't taken kindly to Georgia's drought-inspired bid; lawmakers there have reacted with a mix of scorn and humor....
Ranching for sage grouse The Scott family has been ranching for more than 50 years on the Eagle Ridge Ranch near the North Platte River at Bessemer Bend and since the early 1970s on the Two-Bar Ranch at Bate's Hole. The Two-Bar is one of the greatest strongholds of the West for the sage grouse, a bird that's in peril throughout much of its historic range. The birds and their strutting areas, called leks, are plentiful on the ranch's open spaces. Year after year they mate, nest and raise their young undisturbed on the Two-Bar. Scott is an avid birdwatcher. Birding is in his blood. His father, Dr. Oliver Scott, founded the first Wyoming Audubon Society chapter in the 1950s. Like his father and brothers, Stacey Scott is a sage grouse enthusiast. "They are just fascinating birds. They really should be the state emblem, not the bucking cowboy," he says. "They're so unique. What other bird gains weight during winter just eating sagebrush? They're just fascinating. I like all birds, but the sage grouse is just very special to me. To some extent they're a symbol of the health of the range." As a rancher and bird expert he knows as well as anyone how the fates of the ranching industry and the sage grouse are linked. The failure of one could spell doom for the other....
Wolf hunters urged to use restraint If Wyoming wolf hunters don't throttle back their fervor, wolf advocates might succeed in convincing a federal judge to issue an injunction against removing the animals from the endangered-species list, say a rancher and an outfitter inside the state's wolf trophy game zone. An injunction would effectively put wolves back on the endangered-species list and could kick off a long legal struggle. At least six wolves have been killed in Wyoming since the animals were removed from the endangered-species list, a state Game and Fish Department spokesman said Friday. All six were shot in Sublette County in the state's new predator area for wolves, where it is legal to shoot the canines on sight. Four of the animals were killed the day they were delisted, and two in the ensuing week. But those who support Wyoming's wolf management plan say the public needs to understand that most of the wolves outside the trophy game zone have been killed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on a routine basis in recent years. And the wolves in the new predator zone - currently about 30 animals - will chronically kill livestock and are not essential to the survival of the species, they say....
Corn pops to record $6 per bushel Corn prices jumped to a record $6 a bushel yesterday, driven by an expected supply shortfall that will only add to Americans' growing grocery bills and further squeeze struggling ethanol producers. Corn prices have shot up nearly 30 percent this year amid dwindling stockpiles and surging demand for the grain used to feed livestock and make alternative fuels. Prices are poised to go even higher after the US government this week predicted American farmers - the world's biggest corn producers - will plant sharply less of the crop in 2008 compared to last year. "It's a demand-driven market and we may not be planting enough acres to supply demand, so that adds to the bullishness of corn," said Elaine Kub, a grains analyst with DTN in Omaha. Corn for the most actively traded May contract rose 4.25 cents to settle at $6 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, after earlier rising to $6.025 a bushel - a record high. Worldwide demand for corn to feed livestock and to make biofuel is putting enormous pressure on global supply. And with the United States expected to plant less corn, the supply shortage will only worsen. The Department of Agriculture projected that farmers will plant 86 million acres of corn in 2008, an 8 percent drop from last year....
Mexico opens border to all U.S. breeding stock USDA recently announced that after years of negotiation, an agreement has finally been reached to restore full access of U.S. breeding stock to Mexico. The country drew the ire of many U.S. cattle organizations after a declaration in March that it would lift the ban on live cattle imports from Canada and begin allowing beef and dairy heifers under 30 months of age. At the time, Mexico allowed only heifers under 24 months of age from the U.S., which raised questions about the fairness of the trade deal struck with Canada. In response, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples closed the state-owned livestock export facilities to those cattle from Canada which met the new requirements issued by Mexico. Staples’ decision to close those facilities to the Canadian heifers and his call for all private export facilities to follow suit gained support quickly. Other border states soon joined in the effort to place pressure on Mexico for trade based on World Organization for Animal Health guidelines....
Work Every Bit as Wild as It Is Woolly It sounds like something a Zen master might ask: How does the wool come off a sheep? But when you have a squirming 100-pound yearling between your knees, a roaring set of power shears in one hand, and a completely blank mind because everything your instructor just told you about which stroke comes next has faded into a white noise of panic and muscle fatigue, getting the wool off is not an academic question. You stare down, bent over, and the universe contracts. It is only you, the sheep and the shears. Find the way, you think. Try to remember. Is the “long blow” next? Or up the brisket and under the neck? Or maybe the “top knot”? To shear a sheep is to touch a fading chord of Western culture. In the 1990s alone, 40,000 sheep ranches blinked out of existence, a 38 percent decline. And the number of people who know how to shear is falling even faster. Which brings us to a sheep-shearing class here: 10 men and 5 women — a few entrepreneurs, some back-to-the-land idealists, a psychiatrist from Butte who has made a bet with his wife, three high school buddies, a home builder looking for an economic sideline in tough times and a reporter trying to get inside the story. This is a fortunate year to become an American shearer. In a strange local backwash of global capitalism and the weak United States dollar, the Australian and New Zealand shearing companies on which Western ranchers have come to depend are staying home this spring, unable to justify the exchange-rate loss. The short-term shortage of shearers, which the sheep institute tries to address, has meant all but guaranteed work for domestic talent, notwithstanding the long-term decline in American sheep ranching, coincident with a growing foreign dominance....
Hogs wallowed in Muskogee’s meandering streets in early days One of the greatest complaints that early-day residents of Muskogee had about their town was the streets — or perhaps the lack of streets. With no city government, there was no authority and no work force to lay out streets or maintain them. Because land ownership also was questionable at the time, people built a home or business wherever they pleased with no regard for a “plan.” Consequently, what streets did exist tended to meander around with no clear direction. In a magazine article titled “An Indian Cattle Town,” published in 1884, Muskogee was described as being a roughly constructed town in a lovely, unspoiled setting. Still very much a western frontier town, Muskogee, like many others, sprang up overnight and took several years to get past its rough beginning. The Indian Journal newspaper in June 1883 ran a picture of Main Street and called it a “hogwallow.” Unpaved and poorly maintained, the street was full of potholes that filled with mud in wet weather. Wagons could easily get stuck in the mire of a wet street, and everything was sure to be splattered with mud by passing horses. The wild hogs that roamed the town, literally used the streets as wallows....
Father and son could break George Paul Memorial Bull Riding record Settling down on his final bull at the 14th George Paul Memorial Bull Riding had the rider’s full focus. No other thoughts crowded his mind as the event’s championship was within his grasp. Riding for more than 20 years, 14 as a professional, had taught him settling down on the back of an animal that could hurt, maim or kill him required his full attention. Nodding to the gateman to open the chute, Toya Bolton made the eight second ride of his life and when the dust had settled, he had become in 1991, the 14th George Paul Memorial Bull Riding Champion. The company he joined as a champion included former George Paul Memorial Bull Riding winners Denny Flynn, Lonnie Wyatt, Lane Foltyn, Bubba Monkres, Cody Lambert and world champions Charles Sampson, Cody Snyder, Lane Frost, Tuff Hedeman and Jim Sharp. His name permanently etched into the record books that hot, dusty Sunday, Toya Bolton did not envision what would or could take place seventeen years into the future, that year being 2008. Born June 1, 1987, Bonner Bolton was three years old when Toya’s memorable rides at the 1991 George Paul Memorial Bull Riding were making bull riding history. Bonner is the first to tell you his bull riding hero is his dad, Toya. He could not have picked a better mentor. The 31st George Paul Memorial Bull Riding to be held May 3-4, 2008, could produce another first in the annals of professional bull riding. If Bonner Bolton wins the event, it will be the first time in the history of the George Paul Memorial Bull Riding that a father and son have won the event....
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