NEWS ROUNDUP

Mystery Cat Prowling Hills of Simi Sheriff's deputies have been going door to door in eastern Ventura County, trying to drive home one point. The feline paw prints found earlier this week near the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library don't belong to an ordinary cat. Not even an ordinary mountain lion. They may belong to a lion 400 to 600 pounds strong and more than four times the heft of its cousin species that roams local mountains. Residents in an unincorporated county area between Moorpark and Simi Valley were warned to keep children and pets indoors, and guard their livestock. Three state Department of Fish and Game officers and a professional tracker from the California Department of Agriculture on Friday found large paw prints that appeared to be three to four days old, said Mike Wintemute, a Fish and Game spokesman....
Debate roils over wolves' effect on elk, ecosystem Hunters and outfitters blamed wolves when they began seeing fewer elk in areas near the park in the decade after gray wolves returned. But some researchers say drought and even years of great hunting played an important role, too, and the wolves themselves seem to be paying a price. "To a degree, people are crying wolf way too soon," said Yellowstone wolf biologist Doug Smith. Smith and others concede that wolves have contributed to declining elk numbers near Yellowstone, particularly in the northern range herd that migrates into Montana in winter. But there is intense debate over how great their role has been -- and whether it has been necessarily bad....
Column: Common sense needed in endangered species act The current Endangered Species Act as written in 1973 is about to significantly impact many Yavapai County residents. On Oct. 12, 2004, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a proposal in the Federal Register to designate areas along the Verde River from Clarkdale to Horseshoe Reservoir as Critical Habitat for the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher. Within this proposed critical habitat area, there are approximately 1,500 acres of irrigated land, 1,460 parcels comprising approximately 4,500 acres of mostly private land, 839 buildings and residences, and 480 wells. Municipalities, well owners, private landowners, homeowners, and irrigators will be impacted by this designation. This nation needs an Endangered Species Act that holds people in the same high regard it does plants and animals....
Predators kill fewer sheep in '04 Predators killed fewer sheep in the state last year, but an industry official noted Friday that overall sheep numbers also are down. "If we had no sheep in Montana, there'd be no losses," said Bob Gilbert, a spokesman for the Montana Wool Growers Association. The group requested and helped pay for the study, which was conducted by the Montana Agricultural Statistics Service and released Friday. The report found that 44,000 sheep and lambs died in 2004 because of disease, predators, weather and other causes, representing a total value of $3.8 million. This compared to 58,000 sheep and lambs that died from such causes in 2003, the statistics service said. There were 310,000 total sheep in Montana in 2003, and 300,000 in 2004, the agency said....
New Mexico proposal would do away with cougar protections When snow finally fell recently on the 292,000-acre Bell Ranch in northeastern New Mexico, Bert Ancell went looking for a cougar. He found the big cat's tracks, let the dogs out, then followed them perhaps five miles until they lost the scent up a canyon. "They thought they had him treed ... but they could never find him," recalled Ancell, the cattle ranch's assistant manager. "Cougars are one of the most elusive predators and the hardest-to-hunt predators on the planet." If Ancell has his way, cougars -- also known as mountain lions -- could be shot on sight by New Mexicans who happen to encounter them. A proposal pending in the state Legislature would do away with the cougar's 34-year-old protection as a big-game animal whose hunting is regulated. Supporters say that would help boost the flagging number of mule deer -- a staple of the lions' diet -- as well as aid livestock growers who lose cattle, sheep and horses to the cats' urge to snack. And they contend the difficulty of finding cougars ensures that they wouldn't die out even if hunting were unlimited....
Investigative arm of Congress says wildfire strategy needs focus The U.S. Forest Service and Department of the Interior need to develop a long-term wildfire strategy that gives Congress a better idea how much money is really needed to thin forests and where the work is needed most, the Government Accountability Office said. "While the agencies have adopted various strategy documents to address the nation's wildland fire problems, none of these documents constitutes a cohesive strategy that explicitly identifies the long-term options and related funding needed to reduce fuels in national forests and rangelands and to respond to wildland fire threats," said a GAO report made public Friday....
Court rejects haze control in national parks A federal appeals court yesterday rejected a government-approved program used by five Western states to improve their air quality and visibility in national parks and wilderness areas. Siding with an industry coalition, the court said the states' program was based on Environmental Protection Agency methods that the court, ruling in a case three years ago, had found to be "inconsistent with the Clean Air Act." Yesterday's decision deals with efforts by Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming to cut sulfur-dioxide pollution that contributes to regional haze, particularly at the Grand Canyon. Judge Stephen Williams, writing for a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, said the similarity between methods rejected by the court and adopted for the haze program "fatally taints EPA's rule."....
Breached well fuels feud with gas firm Laura Amos was no environmental crusader until the metal top blew off her rural water well in May 2001, making it look like a geyser. A gas company had been drilling on a property about 100 yards from her home south of Silt when Amos' water well blew. Soon after that, her water turned bubbly and gray and had a nasty smell. Since then, Amos' fight to have her water cleaned up has evolved into a battle for her health and a brawl with the natural-gas industry in a county that has had 862 new drilling permits issued since the beginning of 2004 and has had several other documented instances of gas-industry operations contaminating wells and spring water....
Mojave standoff suspect released on $20,000 bail A Mojave Desert man was released on $20,000 bail Friday, one day after he was charged in federal court following a standoff with a National Park Service ranger last week in the Mojave National Preserve. Leo H. Spatziani, 62, who lives near Newberry Springs, east of Barstow, was charged with assaulting a federal officer, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles. If convicted, Spatziani faces up to 20 years in federal prison. On Saturday, rangers had stopped in the Cut Springs area and ordered Robert Parker to stop using a trencher, according to the court documents. Parker, who is locked in a boundary-line dispute with park officials, insisted the rangers were trespassing. When one ranger began taking photos, Parker's friend, Spatziani, pulled a .30-caliber carbine from a vehicle, loaded it and pointed it at the ranger, ordering him to leave, according to court documents....
Western storms help raise Lake Mead water level This winter's wet storms helped raise Lake Mead water levels almost 7.5 feet in January, and the water could rise another 2.5 feet by the end of February, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation says. But with Friday's water level at 1,140 feet above sea level, the Colorado River reservoir behind Hoover Dam remains well below normal, at about 58% capacity. "The water's up, but it's not high yet," Bob Walsh, Bureau of Reclamation spokesman, said Friday. "We're still in a drought. That's key." Water officials expect the lake will drop 12.5 feet by the end of the year as the region's drought continues into its sixth year and as water is pumped out to Las Vegas and other areas that use the lake's water....
Group says power prices may rise There's not enough snow in the hills to supply hydropower to the region, and making up the difference with gas-fired power plants could mean higher electricity prices. That's the word from the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, a four-state agency charged by Congress with long-term energy planning for the region. According to an analysis released Thursday, snowpack and runoff forecasts for the Columbia Basin are "far below normal for this time of year," with snowpack in some areas nearing record lows. The good news in the report is that there's enough electricity from other power providers - namely natural gas-fired plants - to avoid shortages. The bad news is that gas power comes at a price....
Two from area honored by Cowboys' Association A cowboy and cowgirl received top awards from the Montana Cowboys' Association, which held its 67th annual convention recently in Great Falls. Lou Udall, a trick roper who lives east of Great Falls, was named Cowboy of the Year by the group, which was founded in 1938 in a small log cabin near the fairgrounds. The cabin later became the Cowboys Bar. Pearl Beauchman Lapke of Simms was chosen Cowgirl of the Year. Lapke, a Wolf Point native, was born Oct. 29, 1929, on a day known as "Black Tuesday." After a day of panicky trading on Wall Street, the country's stock market collapsed, ushering in the Great Depression. "My dad always said I caused the Depression," Lapke said jokingly....