Eco groups sue to stop grazing in Medicine Bow National Forest Two environmental groups are trying to stop cattle grazing in part of Wyoming's Medicine Bow National Forest, claiming the practice is harming fishing and destroying vegetation that the endangered Preble's meadow jumping mouse relies on. The Center for Native Ecosystems and the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance sued the U.S. Forest Service in federal court Friday and asked a judge to stop grazing on the rolling hills of Pole Mountain until the quality of streams in the area improves. The groups also claim that the Forest Service has not cut back grazing even though the on-going drought has left less vegetation to sustain both cattle and wildlife....
California will sue to block Sierra national forest plan California Attorney General Bill Lockyer said he will sue to block the federal government from proceeding with a far-reaching plan to manage 11.5 million acres of Sierra Nevada national forests. The head of the U.S. Forest Service approved the plan Thursday. U.S. Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey has 15 days to decide whether to review the decision before it becomes final. Should Rey not act, Lockyer said Friday he will sue in federal court contending the plan violates federal environmental protection laws, and will increase logging, endanger wildlife habitat, harm water quality and weaken grazing restrictions. Environmental groups said they plan to sue as well, raising similar objections....
Forest Service must reach out locally, new chief says A changing culture and changing values, coupled with different land conditions and uses have all conspired to alter the mission of the U.S. Forest Service, the agency's chief said Friday. But how well the Forest Service adapts to this evolution will be dependent on how willing it is to include the public in its decision-making process, Dale Bosworth told the annual Conference on Fire and Forest Health at Boise State University. "We are now in an era of eco-restoration. This is what people want today from their public lands," Bosworth said. "We have to manage for long-term eco-health while involving the public in the decision making. What we leave on the land will be much more important than what we take."....
Kempthorne backs Bush roadless plan Governor Dirk Kempthorne has given President Bush his support for the administration's new roadless rule. The governor submitted the state's comments ahead of this week's deadline. He says the plan will foster strong cooperation between the state and federal governments on land management....
Grizzly habitat plan has varying degrees of protection Habitat managed for Wyoming's grizzly bears would be divided into three areas, with the one closest to Yellowstone National Park affording the most protection, state wildlife officials said. In the primary conservation area around Yellowstone, management decisions will be made in favor of the bears, he said. In the next area, which includes most of northwest Wyoming, much of the Wind River Range and the Salt Range, grizzly concerns and human concerns would be weighed equally. Game and Fish has set an outer limit where managers would like to see grizzly bears roaming. Grizzlies in that area would be controlled through hunting seasons and removal of nuisance bears that harass livestock or get into garbage....
BLM plan delays Roan drilling With the striking shale cliffs of the Roan Plateau as a backdrop, public land managers Friday released their long-awaited draft plan for the plateau, stirring up instant controversy from those who have pushed to protect the top of the biologically diverse Roan from the heavy gas drilling that surrounds it. The Bureau of Land Management's preferred alternative for divvying up uses of the oil-rich plateau would delay any drilling on the nearly 35,000 acres of public lands on the top of the plateau for about 16 years - until 80 percent of the projected wells below the Roan's cliffs are drilled....
Bishop says Reid killed nuke-waste strategy Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., was openly displeased when Utah's two Republican senators sided with the White House's plan to ship the nation's stockpile of high-level nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain northwest of Las Vegas — especially after Nevada had supported Utah's opposition to identical wastes. But would Reid, in retribution, torpedo a Utah plan to block the same wastes from going to Goshute tribal lands in Tooele County? "Not technically, but yeah, Harry Reid killed it," said Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, the sponsor of the legislation he said is needed to ensure the viability of the Utah Test and Training Range and Hill Air Force Base. "He just got somebody else to do it."....
Student Convicted of Torching SUVs A graduate student was convicted Friday of setting fire to dozens of sport utility vehicles in an attack by radical environmentalists that caused $2.3 million in damage. William Jensen Cottrell, 24, was found guilty of conspiracy and arson. The jury acquitted him of a more serious charge of attempting to use a destructive device - Molotov cocktails. That charge carried at least 30 years in prison. He could get at least five years behind bars at sentencing March 12....
John McCain's 'Global Warming' Hearings Blasted by Climatologist Recent U.S. Senate hearings into alleged global warming, chaired by Arizona Republican John McCain, were among the "most biased" that a noted climatologist has ever seen - "much less balanced than anything I saw in the Clinton administration," he said. Patrick J. Michaels is the author of a new book "Meltdown: The Predictable Distortion of Global Warming by Scientists, Politicians, and the Media." He is an environmental sciences professor at the University of Virginia who believes that claims of human-caused "global warming" are scientifically unfounded. "John McCain, a Republican, has probably held the most biased hearing of all," Michaels said. McCain is a big proponent of limiting greenhouse gas emissions, which he believes are causing "global warming." The Arizona senator also "is trying to define himself as an environmental Republican, which he is going to use to differentiate himself from his rivals for the (presidential) nomination in 2008," according to Michaels....
Brazile gives chase to champ Allen in NFR steer roping The event is highlighted by roping king Guy Allen and reigning two-time Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association all-around world champion Trevor Brazile. Both cowboys enter this weekend in essentially a duel for the NFR championship. Allen, who has won a phenomenal 17 steer roping world championships, sits in first place with $60,061 in prize money. Allen, who has dominated the event for nearly two decades, leads Brazile in the world standings by $2,867. Brazile, a former West Texas A&M rodeo cowboy, has $57,194 in prize money....
Injury to keep Mortensen out of NFR Knowing there are more bucking horses in his future, an injured Dan Mortensen decided not to enter this year's National Finals Rodeo. Competitors had to notify PRCA officials Wednesday whether or not they were entering the NFR, scheduled Dec. 3-12 in Las Vegas. Mortensen is leading the world standings with $154,427 won. Second-place Glen O'Neill, of Didsbury, Alberta, Canada, has earned $149054. The two have won have won the last two world saddle bronc titles, but injuries have left them on the sideline. Mortensen, a six-time world champion, broke his right ankle Sunday afternoon during the semifinal round of the Pace Picante Classic in Dallas, Texas....
Clanton Days billed as spin-free account of OK Corral gunfight More than 100 years after the OK Corral, the Clanton family is still getting hate mail. "They run me through the coals," Terry Ike Clanton says. "Most of them say, ‘Your family was a bunch of (expletives).’ " Clanton’s ancestors were on the other side of the OK Corral during the infamous gunbattle that put Tombstone on the map. On Oct. 26, 1881, Ike Clanton and brothers Frank and Tom McLaury met Wyatt Earp, his brothers Virgil and Morgan, and Doc Holliday in the OK Corral. When the gunsmoke cleared, the Earps and Doc Holliday emerged victorious....
Shootin' up the ol' western myth PITY THE poor cowboy. He was once a unifying myth of American and world culture. But after years of riding the range on his leathery lonesome, crooning, rounding up steers and occasionally shooting a critter or varmint, the cowpoke is suddenly at the centre of an ugly political brawl over what, exactly, a cowboy should stand for. George Bush proudly depicts himself as a cowboy. His enemies are equally happy to denounce him as a cowboy. Meanwhile, the original cowboy myth is disappearing into the hazy sunset....