Wednesday, September 07, 2005

NEWS ROUNDUP

Estimates put wolf numbers up in Rockies The number of gray wolves in the Northern Rockies has increased to more than 900 since last year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimated Tuesday. According to the agency's mid-year estimate, 912 wolves now roam the three-state region, compared to 835 in December, said Ed Bangs, Fish and Wildlife's wolf recovery coordinator in Helena, Mont. The agency attributed the increase primarily to Idaho's growing wolf population. The number of wolves in Montana is up from 2004 but below 2003, and it is down in Wyoming due to illness and competition for food and territory in Yellowstone National Park, officials said. Gray wolves were reintroduced to the Northern Rockies a decade ago, and in 2002 met the government's recovery targets. Wyoming has not submitted a management plan deemed acceptable by the federal agency, a necessary step before gray wolves could lose federal protection....
Wolf numbers stabilizing in Montana; dropping in and around Yellowstone Wolf numbers in Montana appear to be stablizing, a new report from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says. And wolf numbers in Yellowstone National Park appear to have dropped substantially, according to the top wolf manager there. Ed Bangs, wolf recovery coordinator for FWS, last week released a late-summer count of wolves in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. He stressed that all the numbers are estimates and will change by the time official counts are compiled at the end of the year. He estimated there are 166 wolves in Montana, as of the end of August. Wolf numbers are down by about 40 animals in Wyoming, Bangs said, partly because of the drop in Yellowstone, which is mostly in that state. In Idaho, numbers continue to grow. Bangs said he estimates there are 500 to 550 wolves there, up from 422 last winter. The continued growth there "suprises several of us," he said, but central Idaho, with its vast swaths of wilderness and other federal land, and huge ungulate herds, provides the best wolf habitat....
National parks grapple with surge of illegal off-road vehicles The Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida is crisscrossed with so many illegal swamp-buggy ruts - more than 23,000 miles of them - that park officials in August began limiting off-road vehicles to 400 miles of trails in order to protect the Florida panther and the preserve. In Yosemite National Park, off-road vehicles are involved in "numerous" violations, according to a staffer's memo. And each day of a long summer weekend like Labor Day, as many as 2,200 motorized vehicles hit the beaches of Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina. "Not one of those is there legally," says Don Barger, southeastern regional director of the National Parks Conservation Association, a watchdog group. In all, unauthorized off-road vehicles are buzzing through nearly one-third of America's national parks, according to a recently released internal National Park Service (NPS) survey. In one-fifth of the parks, they have damaged natural environments that by law must be preserved for future generations....
2005 fire season marked by big range fires Wildfire experts have come across a seeming contradiction this summer: While the number of acres charred across the West is almost double the 10-year average, the blazes haven't been as big or devastating as those in past years. Experts say that's due to the unusual moisture patterns in the region earlier this year, which favored big grass fires on the open range. Timber in the mountains got more moisture than usual well into the summer, keeping forest fires small. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, over 7.8 million acres - more than 11,000 square miles - have burned in the U.S. since May. About half of that was in Alaska, where large fires often are not fought aggressively if they pose no threat to people or structures. With the 2005 wildfire season two-thirds over, the number of fires is down - about 46,000 compared to the 10-year average of 63,000 - and the number of firefighters suppressing the blazes has been lower than in recent years. Yet the total acreage burned is nearly double the 4 million acres that burned on average through late August over the past decade. Analysts say the primary reason for the higher-than-average fire acreage this year is huge range fires that burned in the Southwest and Great Basin, where a wet winter allowed fine grasses and vegetation to flourish....
Lemmings, mussels and mites among Idaho species on the decline, report says The Idaho Department of Fish and Game has drawn up a list of the dozens of creatures native to the state that are threatened with extinction due to human disturbance and vanishing habitat. But chances are most people haven't heard of the northern bog lemming, western pearlshell mussel, Pacific lamprey, cave obligate mite or the dozens of other imperiled insects, birds, fish, mollusks and wildlife species included in the new report. The "Idaho Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy" attempts to identify every native species of living thing that is struggling to survive, and goes beyond the usual suspects of grizzly bear, caribou and bull trout....
Teen to be tried as adult for killing eagle A Muskegon judge has sided with the Muskegon County Prosecutor's Office and ruled that a 17-year-old suspect in the April 2004 shooting and hatchet mutilation of two bald eagles will be tried as an adult. After a contested court hearing that stretched over three sessions on three different days, Muskegon County Circuit Judge William C. Marietti on Friday ordered Kyle Howell of 1276 Poulson to face adult prosecution for animal cruelty/killing an animal, a felony punishable by up to four years in prison, and one count of killing an endangered species animal, a 90-day misdemeanor. Marietti, who also acts as a Family Court judge, decided to "designate" Howell to be tried as an adult in juvenile court, a procedure allowed under Michigan law for certain crimes allegedly committed by juveniles. Howell was 16 at the time of the offense....
Park leader's memo fuels debate When Paul Hoffman was executive director of the Cody Chamber of Commerce, he worked closely with state tourism official Gene Bryan, now Hoffman's successor at the chamber. Bryan "watched from a distance" as Hoffman regularly butted heads with National Park Service officials over ending snowmobile use within Yellowstone National Park, reintroducing wolves into the park and whether a gold mine should operate near the nation's oldest national park. "Paul is not a rookie when it comes to controversial issues," Bryan said. Today, Hoffman is deputy assistant secretary of the Interior with authority over the National Park Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service. He's also at the heart of a firestorm of controversy over future management of the National Park Service. Hoffman drafted a 194-page rewrite of the Park Service's 2001 management policy manual this summer. His changes would downplay preservation, instead emphasizing public enjoyment and commercial exploitation of park resources....
Feds present plan for Tombstone to maintain its historic status Tombstone, the so-called "town too tough to die," is in a battle to defend its National Historic Landmark status. But as federal authorities weight whether to yank the designation, their message is clear: It's OK to cash in on Wild West myths, but don't lie about history. Last year, the National Park Service put Tombstone on notice, warning the landmark status was in jeopardy because of fake facades, anachronistic colors and bogus dates painted on newer buildings. On Sunday, after three days of public input, walking tours and design sessions, a team of consultants and government officials revealed a plan to save the landmark label. State Historic Preservation Officer James Garrison stressed that the recommendations are just a starting point and that the government isn't about to fine people whose buildings aren't historically accurate. Tombstone's threatened status will be revisited in two years, but the National Park Service won't necessarily remove the landmark label then....
Katrina renews debate over drilling off Florida's coast The stunning spike in gasoline prices prompted Senators on Tuesday to revive efforts to drill for oil and natural gas off of Florida's Gulf coast. Less than two months ago, Republican and Democratic politicians from Florida fended off drilling in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico with arguments that unsightly oil rigs and the potential for spills could hurt the state's tourist-based economy and environment. But members of the Senate Energy Committee made it clear Tuesday that gasoline price hikes in the wake of Hurricane Katrina are angering their constituents and putting the idea of drilling near Florida back on the table. A provision for drilling likely will be proposed as part of a massive federal budget bill that will come to a vote this month....
Editorial: BP and the county For all these benefits, who bears the burdens? It is the surface owner, often with a small acreage, who is forced to coexist with the heavy equipment and commotion that goes with drilling a gas well, and then with the sights and sounds from industrial components that clash with the cottonwoods, junipers, alfalfa and grasses that make the mesa tops and valleys and ridges so appealing: a well access road, visible pipeline rights of way, a pump jack and small metal buildings, perhaps large steel tanks, and the likely possibility that in the years ahead the well bore will have to be freshened. Even for surface owners who receive royalties, the imposition is great. BP's offer to increase only slightly the size of an existing well pad in order to include a second well, one bored at an angle to tap an adjacent gas reserve, to share existing pipelines for gas and waste water transmission, and pay a definite road damage fee to the county, in exchange for broad county drilling approval, is an intriguing offer. Using an existing well site and pipelines is almost always much less intrusive for surface owners, and the industry has known for some time how to drill directionally. An agreement would reduce the number of contentious issues, for both the surface owner and the county. The offer, which comes with the sure-to-be-approved request to the state Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to double the number of coal-bed methane wells from one per 160 acres to two, is a step in the right direction. But, it can go further....
River spells life for small town California grows 80 percent of the nation's eating oranges. Much of that fruit -- about 15 million 75-pound boxes -- passes through this town's nine plants. When the wind hits you right in Orange Cove, the tangy smell of fresh citrus is so strong you can almost taste it. But while the snowy peaks of the Sierra Nevada frame the sky, there's little natural water here, explains Harvey Bailey, who works 1,100 acres of oranges and lemons with his brother Lee Bailey. His fruit trees -- like Orange Cove's 9,255 residents -- are sustained by water diverted from the San Joaquin River, 50 miles to the north. ''Without it, we'd just dry up, the farms, the town, everything,'' said Bailey, whose family initially worked 200 acres of groves around a well in the early 1900s....
COLORADO RIVER ISSUES: Water chief draws line at meeting The seven Western states that share Colorado River water continue to make progress toward sweeping new rules on how the river should be operated during desperate shortages. But Nevada's top water official is not above a little saber rattling, just in case. During a conference in San Diego last week, Southern Nevada Water Authority General Manager Pat Mulroy had this message for a conference of water managers: Nevada is ready for war should talks break down and the seven basin states wind up in court. Specifically, Mulroy said she wanted other Colorado River users to know that Nevada will fight for its right to divert water from the Virgin River for use in the Las Vegas Valley. The upper river basin states of Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico have argued that Nevada should not be allowed to use water from a Colorado River tributary such as the Virgin without deducting that amount from its annual Colorado River allocation....
Farmers to offer new eco-label Shoppers attracted to organic fruits and vegetables but repelled by their bank account-busting prices may soon have an alternative. That’s the hope of environmentalists, farmers and public officials pushing to certify, label and market produce grown according to a set of agricultural standards labeled as sustainable. Certified growers must meet requirements regarding soil management, water quality, wildlife protection and labor practices, as well as pesticide use. Supporters say the produce labeled as “sustainable” will be more affordable than organic fruits and vegetables. “We’re trying to get to those consumers in the middle,” said Cheryl Brickey, executive director of Protected Harvest, a Maryland-based nonprofit that certifies produce as being grown according to the practices. Brickey said too many Americans can’t afford to pay top dollar for organic produce: “We’re trying to break that barrier.”....
It's All Trew: Dirt-moving methods improve through years Few readers under 60 years of age will understand this statement: “We installed a tin horn in our bar ditch.” A tin horn is a corrugated, galvanized metal culvert installed alongside roadways to let floodwater pass through. I know this fact, but I don’t have a clue as to why a crooked gambler appearing in many western stories is called a tinhorn. Any ideas? The slang term bar ditch supposedly comes from barrow ditch when hand labor and wheelbarrows were used to haul dirt dug from a ditch and dumped into the roadbed to raise it above the surrounding terrain. Another version states dirt borrowed from a ditch and placed on the roadbed gave birth to the term bar ditch....

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Tuesday, September 06, 2005

NEWS ROUNDUP

Brown bear mauls woman in Hoonah A Hoonah woman was mauled Friday by a large brown bear in a popular berry-picking area near her Chichagof Island community, a nephew who was the first police officer on the scene reported. Judy Oliver, a teacher and longtime Hoonah resident, was in intensive care late Saturday at Bartlett Regional Hospital, where she was flown to have surgery after the attack, officer Arlen Skaflestad said. "It was completely unprovoked," Skaflestad said. At the hospital in Juneau, Judy Oliver underwent surgery from about midnight to 9 or 10 a.m., Skaflestad said. Her injuries included a broken jaw and a broken clavicle....
Cougar suspected in death of local horse Wendy Chamberlain braked her car and stared -- staring back at her was a full grown cougar, standing in the middle of Callahan Road. "I couldn't believe my eyes," she said Friday, rubbing away the goosebumps on her arm. The sighting occurred Thursday morning, the day after a horse was killed in Parma Township, the victim of a cougar attack. As the Parma Township supervisor watched in stunned silence, the large cat lumbered slowly off the road and disappeared into the weeds. It only added to her concern. "There's a cougar and people need to know," she said. There have been five reported cougar sightings in Jackson County in recent weeks, county animal control officers said....
Group tracks animals thought to be extinct This is the kind of attitude - persistence that runs to the edge of absurdity - needed to look for one of nature's ghosts. It is a common trait among the small group of scientists and environmentalists who are still searching for the 27 creatures, including the eastern cougar, that are classified as "presumed extinct" by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. To find them, they have braved 20-inch Hawaiian rainfalls, groped along the bottoms of coffee-colored rivers and spent months vainly broadcasting bird songs through snake-filled swamps. They have faced all the tedium of normal biological research, plus the added burden of not knowing whether it is all a gigantic waste of time....
Groups halt wild horse contraception Objections from two Colorado-based wild horse groups have halted the fertility control program set to begin this month for the Pryor Mountain wild horse herd in northern Wyoming. The Cloud Foundation and the Colorado Wild Horse and Burro Coalition filed an appeal and a petition for a stay last week. The appeal will be heard before the Interior Board of Land Appeals in Arlington, Va. "It means if the board doesn't make a ruling in 45 days, we'll have to shut the program down for this fall because of weather limitations," said Linda Coates-Markle, wild horse and burro specialist for the Bureau of Land Management in Montana. "Or they could lift the stay and let us go forward," and then rule on the appeal at a later date. PZP, or porcine zona pellucida, is an immunocontraceptive the BLM has been using to control wild horse numbers in the Pryor Mountains and delay or eliminate the need for roundups. The fertility control program started in 2001. But critics of the program say PZP has proven to be unpredictable....
Animal groups trying to halt roundup of horses on forest land A trio of animal-conservation groups is trying to stop the roundup of several hundred horses in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests, claiming forest officials risk sending wild horses to slaughter. The groups on Friday asked Forest Supervisor Elaine Zieroth to consider capturing only branded horses and letting the unbranded horses continue to run in the eastern Arizona forests. At issue is how many of the horses are wild, which would entitle them to protection under federal law. Zieroth contends the horses are strays that came onto the forest land from the adjoining Fort Apache Reservation when a boundary fence was demolished in the 2002 "Rodeo-Chediski" wildfire. If they are strays, they would be rounded up and sold at auction if the Forest Service were unable to locate their owners....
Congress has the Endangered Species Act in its sights this fall As Congress returns from its August recess, environmentalists and property-rights activists are focused on Rep. Richard Pombo, a California rancher who is chairman of the House Resources Committee. Later this month, Pombo is expected to introduce legislation to overhaul the 32-year-old Endangered Species Act, with House passage expected by year's end. A draft of the bill that leaked earlier this summer "was comprehensive in trying to undo what's been done over the last 30 years" to protect endangered species, said Patti Goldman, Seattle-based lawyer for the Earthjustice law firm. In negotiations with Democratic leaders, Pombo has been able to reach agreement on a number of important points, said Brian Kennedy, a spokesman for the Resources Committee. "Take a good, close, hard look at this (bill) when it comes out," Kennedy said. "Put the partisan political hyperbole aside and really look." Pombo, he said, "does have all the best interests at heart in trying to make this program work for species and for property owners and communities alike."....
Study rooted in recovery A network of botanical institutions is launching an unprecendented study of endangered native U.S. plants to determine their potential for recovery - and in hopes of preventing their disappearance. Those plants range from the Western lily to the Tennessee coneflower, says the Center for Plant Conservation. The center, a St. Louis-based nonprofit organization comprising more than 30 botanical organizations around the country, was founded in 1984 to stop the extinction of native plants. Center officials said an analysis of this scale has never been performed at a national level. The center estimates that about 2,000 U.S. plant species, or about 10 percent of the nation's native flora, are at risk of extinction. The roughly $500,000 study aims to look at endangered or threatened plants and also those being considered for listing under the Endangered Species Act....
Habitat threatened by tree fungus, pine beetles Half of grizzlies' prehibernation diet made up of pine nuts which are being attacked by fungus. Grizzly bears in Yellowstone National Park can weigh up to 600 pounds. The whitebark pine nut weighs in at a thin fraction of an ounce. Yet the tiny seeds — embedded in neat, brown cones — can make up more than half of a grizzly's pre-hibernation diet, one Canadian Journal of Zoology study shows. But the fate of the nut is now in doubt. Whitebark pines across the West are getting clobbered by an alien fungus and native beetle. The attack on the whitebarks — by Eurasian blister rust and the mountain pine beetle — comes at the same time the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is poised to remove the park's renowned bears from the endangered species list....
Female grizzlies are trackedto study population trends It can be dicey work for those who do it, but keeping 25 female grizzly bears fitted with radio collars along the Northern Continental Divide is considered a priority for determining the status of Montana's largest grizzly population. It is also considered a prerequisite for recovering and delisting the population that ranges more than 8 million acres from the Canadian border south to the Ovando area, said Rick Mace, a research biologist with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Starting last summer, Mace got the collaring operation under way, capturing and fitting seven bears. The effort continued early this summer, with a total of 23 bears being fitted. It's been a challenging endeavor for Mace and a handful of assistants, most of them bear management specialists who cover different parts of the sprawling grizzly bear recovery area. But it has been a relatively low-profile effort compared with the huge grizzly bear population study carried out last summer....
The new old growth For decades, timberland owners have thinned forests to speed growth of the trees. While the practice adds commercial value to the trees that remain, it is increasingly being used to speed young, logged redwood stands toward what resemble old-growth forests. That could happen in our lifetimes. Indeed, to the untrained eye, treated stands only 100 years old in places like the Arcata Community Forest already have the redwood cathedral look that entrances visitors from around the world....
Column: Saddle up the camel, cowpoke When a Cornell professor proposed “re-wilding” America’s Great Plains with African wildlife in the August issue of the journal, Nature, a few collective groans rose from the conservation community. In the various e-mails that flew back and forth among wildlife conservationists after the proposal hit the mass media, one person wrote what all of us were thinking. “Just what we need. A side issue to make us look crazy and get the discussion off track from restoring the Great Plains wildlife that need restoring.” And as a former college professor and Cornell alumnae put it, the scheme “confirms his theory that college professors should not be allowed to publish in journals that non-college professors might read.” It may surprise some people that wildlife advocates aren’t thrilled with the idea of rounding up lions, cheetahs, elephants and camels and fencing them in large wildlife preserves on the Great Plains. After all, we’re the folks that cheered on the return of the wolf in the Northern Rockies, and champion restoring wild bison and prairie dogs to large swaths of the Great Plains. But in our eyes, “re-wilding” the Great Plains with fenced-in, African and Asian animals is merely a proposal to build larger, more exotic zoos in this country and wouldn’t “re-wild” anything....
Column: A Class War Runs Through It JAMES COX KENNEDY, the head of Cox Enterprises, the Atlanta media company, was just doing what lots of modern media moguls do when he bought nearly 4,000 acres in Montana's Ruby Valley: transforming remote Western ranchland into a private hunting and fishing retreat, and doing some commendable habitat conservation and restoration work in the process. Perhaps unwittingly, however, Mr. Kennedy has walked into the middle of two separate but closely related controversies, one having to do with Montana's stream-access laws - that one will be the subject of a mediation session next week - and the other relating to conservation easements. Both issues, ultimately, are about class, and point to the need for new policies (and vigilance) in policing the conservation easement system and defending access to public lands and water. Just as important, though, Mr. Kennedy's Ruby Valley imbroglio underscores the need for a deeper sense of noblesse oblige among the ultra-rich as they buy up great swaths of the American West....
Departing Utah land steward wins praise from friends, foes Sally Wisely waded into a thicket of conflicts when she became the Bureau of Land Management's Utah director six years ago. Now, as she prepares to take her leave this fall, not much has changed. The wilderness debate. Rural road claims by the state and counties. Off-highway vehicle impacts. All were frontline issues when she took the job, and still are. In some ways, the level of acrimony even increased during the course of her tenure. And yet another thorny issue - fast-track oil and gas development - muscled its way into the mix. Yet, few observers lay the continued stalemates at Wisely's feet. Friends and foes alike praise her professionalism and willingness to give all sides a fair hearing. Most recognize she had only a limited ability to solve long-standing disputes. And Wisely says she is departing Utah for the BLM directorship in Colorado feeling she got some important things done....
Artifact is tiny, but ancient find is big The pink stone point, flecked with a rainbow of colored minerals and discovered last spring just lying on the ground, appears to be older than any artifact ever found on the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Archaeologists believe the point, thought to have been crafted between 10,000 and 11,000 years ago, represents a significant find and could be representative of the ancient people referred to by the name "Clovis," an appellation given to a group of artifacts discovered in the early 1930s near Clovis, N.M. "Its manufacturing technique appears to be Clovis," said Matthew Zweifel, archaeologist for the monument that is administered by the Bureau of Land Management with headquarters in Kanab. Zweifel plans an excavation at the site - he declined to give a precise location - to see if there are other cultural artifacts identifying the prehistoric people who might have left the point in the area....
Peaceful Burning Man festival ends weeklong run in Nevada Thousands of revelers from around the world began heading home Sunday as the annual Burning Man festival drew to a close on the northern Nevada desert. The counterculture gathering known for offbeat art and games climaxed Saturday night with the traditional torching of a huge neon-and-wooden structure on the Black Rock Desert 120 miles north of Reno. A total of 29,749 revelers remained at the remote camp at noon Sunday, down from a peak crowd of 35,567. The crowd was slightly up over last year's 35,500, according to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. BLM spokeswoman Jo Simpson said the 20th annual festival ran smoothly, and no major incidents were reported. Drug arrests and citations were down considerably, according to preliminary reports....
Missouri Condemnation No Longer So Imminent When David Wright retired from his factory job in 1997, he poured just about all his savings into a handsome brick house in the Sunset Manor subdivision here. "This was our dream," said David's wife, Lorraine. "We were set here for the rest of our lives." But the dream turned sour when the city council of this St. Louis suburb decided last year to bulldoze all 254 homes in Sunset Manor and turn the land over to a shopping-mall developer. "We cried and we prayed," Lorraine Wright recalled. "And we put a lot of hope into the Supreme Court, because they were supposed to decide whether this kind of thing is legal." So the Wrights were crushed -- at first -- when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 23 that the Constitution does not stop cities from seizing homes to make way for commercial development projects. "What we didn't realize right away," David Wright said, "was that the decision would be a positive development for those of us who don't want to see people's houses taken away." Here in Missouri and all over the country, the court's decision in Kelo v. City of New London has sparked a furious reaction, with politicians of both parties proposing new legislation that would sharply limit the kind of seizure the court's decision validated....
Column: A Friendly Conservation Uncle Sam wants you ... to cooperate on conservation. Not only that, he's willing to listen. At least that's what he says. Earlier this week, St. Louis hosted the White House Conference on Cooperative Conservation. The invitation-only event was modeled after Teddy Roosevelt's 1908 Governors' Conference, which brought all the country's governors, Supreme Court justices, cabinet members, and other national leaders to the White House to make conservation a national priority. The purpose this time around was to celebrate what Interior Secretary Gale Norton called a new chapter, built on the four C's: "communication, consultation, and cooperation, in the name of conservation."....
Assessing the environmental damage When environmental officials consider the area devastated by Katrina, they envision waters fouled by oil, chemicals and sewage. They see it flowing into streams, cascading down wellheads. They suspect some barrier islands that protected the coast - however feebly - might not exist any more. With the human tragedy mounting, officials have barely begun to estimate or document the environmental damages. Hans Paerl, a marine and environmental sciences professor at the University of North Carolina who has studied the effects of hurricanes on estuarine systems, said the infusion of saltwater from the storm surge and the subsequent inundation of freshwater from the rain - plus the contaminants - creates "a complex situation" for nature. There may be algae blooms that would exacerbate the oxygen-depleted "dead zone" in the gulf just off the coast. Toxins could kill fish outright or stress them, making them susceptible to diseases....
Katrina batters refuges Sixteen federal wildlife refuges in three states, including two refuges in Alabama, have been temporarily closed until further notice due to the impact from Hurricane Katrina. Fourteen refuges are located in Louisiana and Mississippi. Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge in Gulf Shores and Choctaw NWR in Jackson were the only state refuges affected. Bon Secour is located along the beach and bay side of Alabama 180, also known as Fort Morgan Road. It was battered last autumn by Hurricane Ivan, and last weekend was again pummeled by storm surge from Katrina's Category 4 devastation Choctaw NWR is located in southwest Alabama. A group of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refuge officials are operating out of the Mississippi Sandhill Crane NWR near Gautier, Miss, north of Biloxi. The refuge is named for a species of crane that migrates specifically to the area each year. Officials released a statement Wednesday about the closings but did not give specific details about refuges. It said "all Service personnel are safe and accounted for," and are "focusing efforts on providing community support and humanitarian relief."....
Agriculture To Feel Storm Effects Long After Katrina Has Passed For the City of New Orleans, most of the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina has come after the storm passed. For agriculture, it’s the same story. Sugarcane appears to be the hardest hit row crops, as Katrina’s high winds knocked the cane to the ground in Iberville, Assumption, Lafourche and Terrebonne Parishes. The storm surge has likely wiped out the state’s citrus crop in Plaquemines Parish, where thousands of head of livestock roam free, belly deep in salt water. Across the storm’s path ag officials are surveying the damage, trying to get a handle on what may be the greatest assault on Louisiana agriculture since the great flood of 1927....
Kaycee celebrates 'wooly' heritage To the untrained eye, sheep are not easy animals to deal with. Though their soft, wooly coats and soft, gentle eyes give them a cuddly look, they are often stubborn, sometimes totally disregarding the commands of the human in charge. And they stink. On the positive side, sheep have many redeeming factors. Ewes often give birth to two lambs each spring. Sheep produce two cash crops each year (wool and meat), and their wool can be turned into the warmest of warm blankets and quality clothing. They can be taught to lead and often become the favorite pets of children as well as great 4-H projects. Sheep ranchers, sheep lovers and connoisseurs of lamb will be on hand today through Sunday for a celebration of the sheep industry and the work of sheep dogs. The three-day Sheep Industry Festival and the Kaycee Challenge Sheep Dog Trial in this small town on the Middle Fork of the Powder River will focus on every aspect of sheep ranching, including the role of women in the business and the colorful Basque people's unique way with sheep....
Ranches weather drought in guests Still struggling to regain the business they lost after Sept. 11, Colorado's dude ranches are looking in their own backyards for visitors to fill their bunkhouses. "The past three years have been tough, which is why we've been thinking outside of the box," said Karen May, co-owner of the North Fork Ranch in Shawnee, about 50 miles southwest of Denver. "Every dollar helps. You need to change with the times." It's still unclear whether the quest for in-state visitors - and other out-of-the-box revenue-boosting ideas - will solve dude ranches' problems. Three guest ranches are currently for sale, and if mountain land values continue to skyrocket, experts say, more may follow. Colorado dude ranch owners say the "real Western" experience they sell is still a valuable commodity, offering guests the chance to ride horses, fly fish and go on cattle drives. But with an average price of $1,600 per adult per week, the experience is not cheap. The Colorado Dude & Guest Ranch Association's 34 member ranches average 500 acres and have a total bed capacity of 1,600 guests. During the 13-week prime summer tourism season, the association's members gross a total of $21 million. Some are open year-round; others close or offer limited services in the offseason and winter months....
OREGON COWBOY COUNTRY: An Oral History of Rodeo Former Pendletonians Doug and Cathy Jory have found a good formula for telling the story of Oregon’s working and rodeo cowboys. The Jorys traveled the state to find former ranch hands, stock contractors, ranchers and rodeo cowboys, prodded their memories and then stood back and let them tell their tales. The authors don’t get in the way, and the result is a lot of fun to read. Some of these old-timers have great stories to tell and a knack for telling them well. Bud Trowbridge, for example — the very first entry — tells the story of early rodeo great Sonny Tureman. Along the way, he includes much of his own story, the stories of a handful of other colorful characters and a tour of rodeo and ranching in the first half of the 20th century. Some names crop up over and over in the 29 stories that make up this book. Tureman is one, along with the Christensen brothers, Casey Tibbs and others. They’re stories about an earlier era in rodeo, but mostly they’re stories about people and, the storytellers being cowboys, sometimes about animals....
On the Edge of Common Sense: The key to job security is in your hands One sloganistic career suggestion was "Have the key to what they want!" I thought about that and concluded it's not "Have the Key!" but "Be the Key!" For instance, be the only one in the outfit who can or will do some difficult or unpleasant task, like fixing split rim tires. "We can't let Lem go! He's the onlyest one who can patch up a prolapse!" Or the person at the dairy who knows how to take care of scouring calves. I'll bet General Motors fires 50 marketing vice presidents before they let one maintenance man go! Feedlots have a lot more trouble finding a good mill man than they do finding a consulting nutritionist. If you have a cowboy on your outfit that you can send back after a cow or calf that got missed on the gather, he's worth his weight in gold! See, be the key. It often has universal application....

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The Property Rights Test

Despite current hype from Senate Democrats, the landmark cases of the next five years probably won't concern civil rights, abortion or other issues that have liberals so worked up. Current court vote-counts leave little room for major shifts, no matter what the judicial philosophy of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's replacement. Instead, I believe some of the biggest cases will deal with property rights. Justice John Roberts may well find waiting on his desk one property-rights case potentially as momentous as the unfortunately decided Kelo v. New London. In Kelo the court gave government the right to take property from one private citizen or company and give it to another. In this anticipated case--Stearns Co. v. U.S.--the lower courts have overturned centuries of precedent, demonstrating that, when it comes to protecting private property, in Ronald Reagan's favorite maxim, government isn't the answer; it's the problem. Stearns concerns one of the most ancient principles in property law, that ownership includes an absolute right of access (what the law calls an "easement") and lawful use. In 1937, a Kentucky family--owners of the Stearns Co.--sold a tract of land, now part of the Daniel Boone National Forest, to the federal government. They kept the right, subject to environmental restraints, to mine the coal underneath, and the easement. In the late 1970s, Congress banned any mining in national forests, with two exceptions: where property rights already existed and, if they did not exist, where the secretary of the interior said mines could operate anyway. When regulations were issued, technicalities excluded Stearns from claiming "valid existing [property] rights." The bureaucrats told the company to ask for permission. To protect its property rights, the company sued. The case took two decades going through the courts. Three years ago the U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled that the government's actions constituted a taking of private property for public purposes--and the Constitution required the property owner to be compensated. The court said that even if permission were granted, an Interior Department "sign off" was no property right. "The fact that an act of governmental grace or benefit may have returned . . . the plaintiff's right to mine does not alter the denial of [property] rights." But last year, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed the Court of Claims, a decision the full Federal Circuit Court upheld in April. In the next few weeks, the Supreme Court must decide whether or not to review that decision....

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Sunday, September 04, 2005

SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE WESTERNER

I see by your outfit

By Julie Carter

There is a phrase made popular in song that says “Don’t call him a cowboy until you’ve seen him ride.” It goes right along with the wisdom of “clothes don’t make the cowboy.”

With the growing popularity of “cowboy” symposiums, cowboy poetry gatherings and other such galas made popular by permission of the urban cowboy craze of the 70’s the world has seen some amazing variations in what a cowboy is supposed to look like.

Let me first say, most of what the “world” sees on their side of the cattleguard “ain’t it.”

My story is part of a series describing the melting pot of cowboys formed by the migration to the cowboy work available in the Texas panhandle.

When the ranch-raised seasoned cowboy arrives in the panhandle, his clothing and tack show a regional influence of where he calls home.

The south Texas cowboys, accustomed to dodging through thickets where everything has dangerous sized stickers usually have tapaderos on their saddles, long leggings, lots of rawhide tack and a hat that will pull down real tight.

Their heavy-made stout horses will be startled by open country, gentle fat cattle and they will spook at their own shadow when coming out in the daylight. These brush poppers will be surprised how exposed to the elements they seem to be after working in country covered solid in thorn trees and cactus. And of course the Texas panhandle is infamous for its “elements.”

The south Texas cowboy will have a saddle with a high cantle complete with scratches for a signature of its life in the brush. Often they will have custom tack and silver on bits and spurs reflecting the pride attached to cowboying in that rough country. Every one of these brush hounds will be wearing a brush jacket whether it is a snowing blizzard or 112 degrees in the shade.

Nevada buckaroos will express an initial opinion that people in Texas or almost anywhere except Nevada do entirely too much work on foot. Buckaroos are generally too important to ever get off their horses and just don’t see the sense in doing anything that can’t be done horseback. They mellow out after awhile but in reality are surprisingly good at doing some unusual activities from a horse.

Their style with tack, saddles and clothing will reflect vanity as well as functionality. Buckaroo saddles may be the A fork style, often with bucking rolls or a Wade tree style (sits low and stays put no matter what) with flat bottom stirrups with a strip of leather sewn in the back tread of the foot to help from losing a stirrup.

Their California mission style bits will often be Garcia or Sliester made with slobber chains. Some will be wearing suspenders and most will have wild rags (large silk neck scarves) and low crown hats with flat brims. Most will be wearing 16 inch top boots with an under slung heel. Their britches from the knee down will be several shades darker never having seen the outside of their boot tops.

The vaqueros from the blue mountains of Mexico will come in without saddles or a horse, well worn clothing and not much else. They will be good with spurs, riatas and senoritas. Feedlot managers are often hesitant to hire these men but when a good one comes along, he will be one of the best with horses.

Many times though these hard working people are relegated to cleanup and processing crews. They have a history of having a grandmother in failing health who requires a visit about every three months and a return date is never more than a “maybeso.” Just as often, entire families will return faithfully year after year to a good manager. They are as important to the industry as the very best college educated managers.

Next week I will outline the defining rigs, garb and attitudes of a few more of the “boys in boots” from around the country that end up picking up their mail in the panhandle of Texas.

Julie can be reached for comment at jcarter@tularosa.net

© Julie Carter 2005

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OPINION/COMMENTARY

Redesigning Trucks

Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta proposed imaginative fuel efficiency standards for new SUVs, vans and pickups. This scheme would divide light trucks into a half-dozen categories based on size, not weight. By 2011, the smallest so-called "truck" (a PT Cruiser) would have to attain 28.4 mpg, while the largest could get by with 21.3. Add a few inches, and the standards drop. Fatten up to 8,500 pounds, and there are no rules. A New York Times editorial, "Foolishness on Fuel," began with vital facts, but promptly switched to foolishness, as promised: "Cars and light trucks -- SUVs, vans and pickups -- account for roughly 40 percent of all United States oil consumption, which now amounts to about 20 million barrels a day The same vehicles also account for more than one-fifth of the country's emissions of carbon dioxide." Since 58 percent of the oil we use is imported, while only 40 percent goes into cars, SUVs, vans and pickups, it follows we would still import millions of barrels a day even if there were no passenger cars or trucks. Yet when it came to that other 60 percent of U.S. oil consumption, not to mention the other four-fifths of carbon dioxide, the New York Times had little to say. There was just the ritualistic hand-wringing over "minivans and SUVs, which are held to more lenient fuel economy standards." When it came to Mr. Mineta's new regulations, the editorial rightly noted these "are unlikely to make any serious dent in consumption." They couldn't possibly make a dent because SUVs, pickups and vans only account for half of the vehicles subject to such regulations. And half of 40 percent is just 20 percent of total oil consumption. Mr. Mineta said, "The plan will save gas and result in less pain at the pump for motorists." But the surest prediction in economics is that if the price of anything goes down, demand for it will rise. If Smith's fuel frugality could actually cut the cost of gasoline for Jones, then Jones would drive more. And "Jones" may live in China. Fuel efficiency rules for new vehicles cannot provide any "short-term answer" because 93 percent of the fleet is not new. In the short term, better fuel economy for new SUVs, vans and pickups could affect only 7 percent of the 20 percent of oil used by such vehicles, or 1.4 percent of total U.S. oil use....

In Land We Trust

Nature's Keepers The Remarkable Story of How the Nature Conservancy Became the Largest Environmental Organization in the World by Bill Birchard Jossey-Bass, 252 pp., $24.95 ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE WOULD NOT be surprised. It took a bit of time to happen, but happen it did. Today, Americans support more than 1,300 land trusts, nonprofit organizations that conserve land--open space, habitat, scenic vistas--primarily through purchase and gift of land and conservation easements. These nongovernmental, voluntary associations of like-minded citizens have protected more than 6.2 million acres, an area twice the size of Connecticut, according to the Land Trust Alliance, which tracks these things. This is a 226 percent increase over the 1.9 million acres protected in 1990. The first land trust was established in 1891 in Massachusetts, by landscape architect Charles Eliot, to preserve 20 acres of woodland. By 1950 there were still only 53 land trusts operating in 26 states. Today, similar grass-roots organizations protect land in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service reports that, between 1997 and 2001, 2.2 million acres were developed. Yet the Land Trust Alliance's most recent census of land trusts reports that, from 1990 to 2000, local and regional trusts conserved open space at a rate of about 500,000 acres per year. Conservationists have extended the trust concept to water in the drought-prone West, where maintaining minimum stream flows for fish, wildlife, and plants is a daunting task. In 1993, the Oregon Water Trust began buying and transferring valuable rights to water for the purpose of maintaining streamflows. Donors such as the Orvis Company support its work. Other states have emulated this example as a cooperative, voluntary means of reconciling traditional Western water law ("First in time, first in right") with conservation objectives. The Nature Conservancy, incorporated in 1951 as a nonprofit entity and successor to the Ecologists Union, is the Ohio-class boomer of land trusts and conservancies. Starting out as a shoestring outfit on a corner along K Street in Washington, with modest offices over a prosthetics shop, it has become a gigantic organization with a commanding presence in worldwide conservation. It is now the largest environmental group in the world, bringing in over $800 million each year. It employs 3,450 people operating from 400 offices in 50 states and 28 countries. It protects more than a million acres of land a year, for a total of 120 million acres to date. And it has 1,500 trustees of boards in each of the states, and one million members and supporters....

Private Water Saves Lives

Worldwide, 1.1 billion people, mainly in poor countries, do not have access to clean, safe water. The shortage of water helps to perpetuate poverty, disease and early death. However, there is no shortage of water, at least not globally. We use a mere 8 per cent of the water available for human consumption. Instead, bad policies are the main problem. Even Cherrapunji, India, the wettest place on earth, suffers from recurrent water shortages. Ninety-seven per cent of all water distribution in poor countries is managed by the public sector, which is largely responsible for more than a billion people being without water. Some governments of impoverished nations have turned to business for help, usually with good results. In poor countries with private investments in the water sector, more people have access to water than in those without such investments. Moreover, there are many examples of local businesses improving water distribution. Superior competence, better incentives and better access to capital for investment have allowed private distributors to enhance both the quality of the water and the scope of its distribution. Millions of people who lacked water mains within reach are now getting clean and safe water delivered within a convenient distance. The privatization of water distribution has stirred up strong feelings and met with resistance. There have been violent protests and demonstrations against water privatization all over the world. Western anti-business non-governmental organizations and public employee unions, sometimes together with local protesters, have formed anti-privatization coalitions. However, the movement's criticisms are off base....

Endangered Species and Military Bases: A Call for Eco-Sanity

Peyton Knight, who joined The National Center's staff Monday as our new director of the John P. McGovern MD Center for Environmental and Regulatory Affairs, is making a plea for eco-sanity on our military bases. Our brave men and women in harm's way have enough burdens to shoulder these days-without being hamstrung by environmental ideologues. According to the Associated Press: Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld warned Monday that procedures designed to protect the environment can sometimes jeopardize U.S. troops and should be balanced against military needs. Yet over the weekend, the White House was busy "playing environmental matchmaker, encouraging odd couples such as the Nature Conservancy and the Pentagon as they team to save wild birds and military ranges," according to the AP. The fact is, environmental organizations have been wreaking havoc on U.S. military preparedness, using the Endangered Species Act, for years. For instance, due to its unique terrain and coastline, Camp Pendleton in Southern California is regarded as one of the best places to train U.S. Marines. Unfortunately for the military, it is also home to the California gnatcatcher, the San Diego fairy shrimp, the tidewater goby, and more than a dozen other species listed as "endangered" or "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act. To comply with endangered species regulations, our men and women in uniform, when training at Camp Pendleton, must make pain to avoid treading in certain areas. If they don't, they could find themselves subject to penalties and fines. Considering that about 25 percent of all species listed under the ESA are found on military bases, the conflict between the ESA and military prepardness may only grow deeper....

Gasoline Prices -- Thank the Environmentalists

In 1950, a gallon of regular gasoline sold for about 30 cents; today, it's $2.50. Are today's gasoline prices high compared to 1950? Before answering that question, we have to take into account inflation that has occurred since 1950. Using my trusty inflation calculator (www.westegg.com/inflation), what cost 30 cents in 1950 costs $2.33 in 2005. In real terms, that means gasoline prices today are only slightly higher, about 8 percent, than they were in 1950. Up until the recent spike, gasoline prices have been considerably lower than 1950 prices. Some Americans are demanding that the government do something about gasoline prices. Let's think back to 1979 when the government did do something. The Carter administration instituted price controls. What did we see? We saw long gasoline lines, and that's if the gas station hadn't run out of gas. It's estimated that Americans used about 150,000 barrels of oil per day idling their cars while waiting in line. In an effort to deal with long lines, the Carter administration introduced the harebrained scheme of odd and even days, whereby a motorist whose license tag started with an odd number could fill up on odd-numbered days, and those with an even number on even-numbered days. With the recent spike in gas prices, the government has chosen not to pursue stupid policies of the past. As a result, we haven't seen shortages. We haven't seen long lines. We haven't seen gasoline station fights and riots. Why? Because price has been allowed to perform its valuable function -- that of equating demand with supply. Our true supply problem is of our own doing. Large quantities of oil lie below the 20 million acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The amount of land proposed for oil drilling is less than 2,000 acres, less than one-half of one percent of ANWR. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates there are about 10 billion barrels of recoverable oil in ANWR. But environmentalists' hold on Congress has prevented us from drilling for it. They've also had success in restricting drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and off the shore of California. Another part of our energy problem has to do with refining capacity. Again, because of environmentalists' successful efforts, it's been 30 years since we've built a new oil refinery. Few people realize that the U.S. is also a major oil-producing country. After Saudi Arabia, producing 10.4 million barrels a day, then Russia with 9.4 million barrels, the U.S. with 8.7 million barrels a day is the third-largest producer of oil. But we could produce more. Why aren't we?....

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MAD COW DISEASE

New theory suggests that BSE may have originated from a human form of the disease

Animal feed contaminated with human remains may have caused the first cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), suggests a hypothesis. Alan Colchester and Nancy Colchester propose a new theory consisting of three hypotheses: that human TSE-contaminated material was the cause of BSE; that this was transmitted orally via animal feed; and that the infective material originated from the Indian subcontinent. They present circumstantial evidence showing that human material was imported into the UK from India with other animal remains for the production of animal feed over a long period. They also propose that human TSE and BSE strain characteristics have sufficient similarities to be consistent with their hypothesis. (Subscription required to read entire article)

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Friday, September 02, 2005

NEWS ROUNDUP

Perry signs property rights bill In a move designed to strengthen private property rights, Gov. Rick Perry signed into law Wednesday a bill that limits state and local governments from seizing land for economic development. "Today we are protecting Texans' dreams and upholding the strong tradition of private property rights," Perry said before a small gathering of reporters and employees at Columbia Industries in San Antonio. Texas is one of at least 31 states to review eminent domain laws this summer since a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that backed governments' power to take private land for economic development as a way to increase tax revenue. It's the second state to enact a law seeking to limit government power of eminent domain, according to the Institute for Justice in Washington, D.C....
Man takes his love of bears bit too far A raid by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks wardens on a home off Rogers Pass Tuesday resulted in the arrest of a Lincoln man and the destruction of five black bears. Wayne August Maclean, 48, pleaded guilty in Justice Court Wednesday to misdemeanor charges of feeding the bears at his Elk Meadows home, and in so doing, creating a public nuisance. "Apparently he just viewed them as pets," said Mike Martin, game warden captain for Region 4. According to court documents, wardens began their investigation of Maclean in July after receiving information from area residents that he was feeding wild bears on his property....
Feds to study Yellowstone cutthroat The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Thursday said it will take a sweeping look at the Yellowstone cutthroat trout to decide whether the species needs federal protection. The agency is undertaking the effort at the order of a federal judge who said last year that the fish may need to those protections in order to survive. Environmental groups for years have been pushing to have the Yellowstone cutthroat protected under the Endangered Species Act. Named for the reddish slash on its lower jaw, the Yellowstone cutthroat is food for at least 42 other animals including grizzly bears and eagles, and helps support a multimillion-dollar fishing industry in the Northern Rocky Mountains. The Fish and Wildlife Service in 2001 rejected a petition to designate the fish as threatened, saying the agency didn't have enough information and that some of the information was outdated....
RAND study says oil shale promise might come true Oil shale’s time seems fast approaching, according to a RAND Corp. report commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy. The report suggests caution by the federal government in committing resources to developing the oil shale of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, but it also says federal agencies need to look more creatively at leasing public lands overlaying the shale. Technical advancements in extracting oil from shale, including work at Shell’s Mahogany Research Project in northwest Colorado, have shown that oil shale could play a significant role, but not an immediate one, Bartis said. The Shell process, which involves no mining and minimal disturbance, “might be the kind of breakthrough that oil shale deserves and needs to get,” he said. Recommendations include development of a federal oil shale leasing strategy for the Green River Formation, which contains as much as 1.3 trillion barrels of oil, making it the most energy-intensive resource in the world. Some parts of the formation contain concentrations equal to 2.5 million barrels of oil underneath a single acre of surface land, he said....
The US must find extra oil refining capacity . . . fast America is in a frantic search for supplies of gasoline (petrol) after the great storm. One million extra barrels must be imported every day to keep the economic wheels spinning and the cost will be borne, not just by Americans, but Europeans and ultimately by the fuel poor of Africa and Asia. In several states there is panic buying, a human reaction to rumours of shortages. In Rotterdam, the cost of unleaded gasoline is scaling new peaks as Europe is sucked into America’s energy distress. There is no escape from this vast web of oil, a complex chain of command that links oil well to petrol pump and that is under enormous strain. The United States is short of gasoline. In a normal year it imports about 400,000 barrels per day, about half of it from Europe, a trade that reflects America’s preference for gasoline over diesel....
Missing hiker found alive in Rocky Mountain National Park A hiker missing since Sunday in the rugged Mummy Range was found alive Wednesday, but his condition wasn't immediately known. Rocky Mountain National Park spokeswoman Kyle Patterson said Hillel Ben-Avi of Austin, Texas, was getting medical care at a helicopter landing area. She said Ben-Avi was tired and hungry, but had no other details. Ben-Avi, 45, a radiologist, was last seen near the summit of 13,502-foot Fairchild Mountain about 60 miles northwest of Denver in the northern part of the park. He was hiking ahead of his brother, who last saw him near the summit. When his brother reached the top, Ben-Avi was not there, Patterson said....
Column: Rear-view policy They say the Pentagon’s generals always fight current wars using the strategies and tactics from the war prior—and there are certainly plenty of examples to back up the truism. But the “living in the past” syndrome doesn’t apply just to the military. In many ways, on both the state and federal level, bureaucracies and the political appointees who manage them are woefully behind the times. Take the recent shocking news released by the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees (CNPSR) concerning the Bush administration’s secret rewrite for national park management. Given that the rewrite was conducted under the direction of a Bush political appointee—a former head of the Cody, Wyo., Chamber of Commerce—it should come as no surprise that national parks and seashores are envisioned as marketable motorized playgrounds, where pollution and noise are welcome and environmental damages are expected. Like so much in the Bush administration, the nefarious document was created in secrecy, without a single Congressional hearing or input from park superintendents or the public. For a full explanation of what such a radical redrawing of park management might mean to future generations of Americans, feel free to access the document at www.npsretirees.org....
Local male mountain lion kills female mate Malibu's mountain lions are downsizing in the Santa Monica Mountains. The National Park Service reported that a local male mountain lion, called P1 by rangers, fatally wounded his female mountain lion partner, P2, on Aug. 12. Park Service rangers say that apparently the female lion was with deer kill and her four young offspring when P1 came into the area. "In part because carnivores are very defensive of their prey and, in part, because P2 was still with the four yearling lions, she may have acted quite aggressively toward P1's advances," said Ray Sauvajot, chief of planning, science and resource management for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. "Consequently, a fight broke out and P1, the larger of the two lions, was able to subdue and subsequently kill P2."....
Since 1939, Park has recorded 101 bear bite incidents Glacier National Park officials have not determined whether they will try to take any action against the grizzly sow that mauled two people on the Grinnell Glacier Trail last week. For one, it was a surprise encounter and it was a sow with two cubs. It was not a predatory situation, park officials note. Secondly, the Park could have a hard time determining what bear family actually caused the attack, said Park spokeswoman Amy Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt noted the Park has yet to interview either one of the victims, which could play a role in the Park's management actions. In general, however, the Park doesn't kill grizzly sows with cubs if its determined to be a defensive action. Sows with cubs can be very aggressive if they feel threatened by humans or other predators. In total, the Park has recorded 101 bear bite incidents since 1939, Vanderbilt said. That includes people illegally feeding them, she noted....
The Sierra Club at a Crossroads The Sierra Club is not just another green group -- it's the green group. Its 750,000 members are the faces of mainstream environmentalism: In every part of the country, they personify the movement to their communities. But American society today is very different from the days when the club started out. And as the Baby Boomer generation of activists grows older, the club is having a hard time developing the leaders it will need in the future. This month, the Sierra Club will hold its first-ever Sierra Summit in San Francisco, a gathering of members from around the country to chart its future course and address this issue -- one that seriously threatens the flagship of American environmentalism. "It's going to be the largest gathering of our members, activists and leaders ever," says Greg Casini, the club's vice president for organizational effectiveness and a member of its national board of directors....
California Senate rejects Schwarzenegger's air board chair The California Senate on Thursday rejected Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's choice to head the state Air Resources Board, saying her close ties to the energy industry made her a bad fit for an agency that has wielded wide influence on the nation's clean-air laws. The party-line 24-14 vote in the Democrat-dominated Senate means Cindy Tuck must step down as chairwoman of the board within 60 days. The Republican governor named her to the post six weeks ago over opposition from environmental groups. "Regrettably, the Senate today has denied California the service of a valuable public servant," Schwarzenegger said in a statement. "With more than 20 years dedicated to developing our state's air and water quality laws and regulations, Cindy Tuck was the right person to lead California's efforts to improve our air quality."....
Debate linking global warming and hurricane intensity resumes Hurricane Katrina's fury has reignited the scientific debate about whether global warming might be making hurricanes more ferocious. At least one prominent study suggests that hurricanes have become significantly stronger in the past few decades during the same period that global average temperatures have increased. Katrina blew up in the Gulf of Mexico to a Category 5 hurricane with winds of 175 mph before slackening a bit Monday when it hit, swamping New Orleans and the Mississippi coast. Other leading scientists agree the Atlantic Basin and Gulf Coast regions are being battered by a severe hurricane phase that could persist for another 20 years or more. But they think that a natural environmental cycle is responsible rather than any human-induced change, and they point to what they consider to be large gaps in the global warming analysis conducted by a climatologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology....
West not so wild in Phoenix People on the front lines of the tourism industry - guides, airport greeters and tour operators - say they still encounter first-time visitors who expect to see an Old West town. "Occasionally, you run across people who thought we still had dirt roads and covered wagons," said Kyle Adams, a Copper Square Ambassador who bikes around downtown Phoenix offering people directions and information. "They seem taken aback that it doesn't look like Tombstone." Matt Obele, a Scottsdale mortgage broker who moonlights as a driver for Wild West Jeep Tours, has encountered some even wilder misconceptions. "I've had passengers ask if we have to worry about Indian attacks," he said. One guy who obviously hadn't checked into his hotel yet had another outrageous question for Obele: "Do you have running water in Arizona?"....
Cowgirl 101: Saddle up, learn ropes Yes, ma'am. In these parts, there are plenty of people -- and you know who you are -- who wear boots and a cowboy hat every weekend but wouldn't be able to ride a horse if somebody put them in a saddle and gave 'em a push. Time to fix that. The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame can help. Later this month, the museum will offer Cowgirl 101, a full-day crash course in horse-riding, hat-shaping, trail riding and other aspects of ranch life. It's the first of what the museum folks hope will be a series of programs to help us all learn more about the cowgirl -- and cowboy -- way. Cowgirl 101 is open to women and men. Out at Riley Ranches in Aledo, the day will start with basic horse care -- grooming, that sort of thing -- and end with glasses of sangria and a game of washer-pitching. In between, you'll learn how to rope, how to ride and how to saddle your own horse....
Doing time takes on new meaning in prison rodeo in Oklahoma James Barcus has been in and out of prison for years, but the hardest time he'll ever do is expected to come this weekend, atop a wild bucking bronco in a rodeo show held behind prison walls. "I ain't never rode anything in my life," said the minimum security inmate who lives next door to the maximum security Oklahoma State Penitentiary, where the public has paid to watch criminals test their toughness against angry bulls and horses for 64 years. The Outlaw Rodeo, billed as the "World's Largest Behind the Walls," is a big draw in these eastern Oklahoma hills, with 12,000 people expected Friday and Saturday nights. Professionals also compete in the sanctioned event, but boosters say it's the thrill of being inside a prison arena with convicted felons that brings the crowd. Inmate teams made up of 10 or so members come from 10 state prisons....

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Thursday, September 01, 2005

A BLOGGER AT THE WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE

Yes, we had a blogger attend the White House Conference on Cooperative Conservation. He became so famous at the conference they named a beer after him, even though he objected to Park Service officers walking around the conference with pistols on their hips. For an interesting behind the scenes look at the gathering, check out Stanford University's Jon Christensen at The Uneasy Chair.

Here are some direct links to his observations:

http://jonchristensen.typepad.com/uneasychair/2005/08/cooperating_is_.html

http://jonchristensen.typepad.com/uneasychair/2005/08/the_walla_walla.html

http://jonchristensen.typepad.com/uneasychair/2005/08/walking_notes_t.html

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NEWS ROUNDUP

Idaho submits plan to ease wolf protection Idaho is floating a new proposal that it hopes could speed the removal of federal protection for gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains. The animals have been protected since 1975 under the Endangered Species Act after being hunted to near extinction. In early August, Gov. Dirk Kempthorne gave officials with the U.S. Interior Department a plan calling for removing the wolves from protected status in parts of Idaho, Montana, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, Washington and Oregon. Recent federal court rulings - and the failure of Wyoming to get federal approval for a plan to manage wolves within its borders - have hampered the delisting process. Idaho officials said Kempthorne's proposal could break this bottleneck and move wolves closer to the day when they'll be treated like other wildlife, such as elk or black bears....
Deal protects Elkhorns land The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and The Conservation Fund announced on Wednesday they've become owners of the highly visible property on the eastern flanks of the Elkhorn Mountains south of Helena. The two nonprofit groups plan to manage the property until it can be sold to a public agency, which probably will be the Bureau of Land Management, an adjacent landowner. The land was appraised at about $2.8 million, and the BLM hopes to have enough funding by 2007 through the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund to purchase the property from the two conservation groups. Rick Hotaling, BLM field manager in Butte, said it probably will be a staged acquisition based on available funding. "The Elkhorn Range contains some of the most important and vulnerable wildlife habitat in Montana," said Gates Watson, Montana state director for The Conservation Fund....
Column: Grizzly recovery should be held up and praised For a long while, many of the protagonists involved with America’s environmental battles seem to have adopted a firebrand attitude, which is that praising a perceived adversary is a function of weakness. Some wars have been fought for so many years that no one - especially the young - remembers how and why they started. Such is the case with greater Yellowstone grizzly bears and the region’s population of gray wolves. Where grizzlies are concerned, I have this thought: If the Sunnis and Shia in Iraq; if Israelis and Palestinians; if Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland can be expected to pull the ammo clips out of their rifles and stand down, then why can’t the disparate factions involved with grizzly recovery do the same? At least, why can’t they do it for a single reflective moment and honor an achievement that defies the prevailing trends in our modern world?....
Pombo expects approval of species act revision U.S. Rep. Richard Pombo, the Tracy Republican who chairs the House Resources Committee, said Wednesday that he expects the House to pass his far-reaching rewrite of the Endangered Species Act as soon as next month. Pombo said he and key Democrats agree on about 90 percent of the language in the bill, which will likely be sponsored by a Democrat. Pombo made the comments during a meeting Wednesday with Record editors. The bill would change how the federal government designates “critical habitat” of rare plants and animals. Under the Pombo proposal, a federal agency first would have to come up with a plan to pull the rare species back from extinction. That plan would then declare where the critical habitat is located. Currently, habitat is designated before biologists come up with a recovery plan, a system that Pombo and other critics have said doesn’t make sense. Pombo’s proposal also would reimburse private landowners for any restrictions that may be placed on their land after it is designated as critical habitat. Under the present system, landowners are usually asked to voluntarily comply with effort to protect species on their land....
Farmers Lose Klamath Water Fight A federal judge Wednesday rejected the major arguments of Klamath Basin farmers who sought $1 billion from the federal government after regulators virtually cut off irrigation water during a drought to protect endangered fish. Environmentalists and fishermen who have been battling farmers over water in the sprawling agricultural basin on the California-Oregon border called the decision by Judge Francis M. Allegra of the U.S. Court of Claims a major victory. "This is good news for the fishermen and families down river who have been largely shut out of this debate," said Todd True, an attorney for Earthjustice, an environmental law firm involved in the case. Roger Marzulla, a Washington lawyer representing the Klamath irrigators, said the decision reversed a century of Western water law by handing over state rights "to a federal bureaucracy in Washington." "It's a pretty scary prospect for all the Western states," Marzulla said, adding that "in a perverse way" the judge had done farmers a favor, offering up an opinion that "is so bad and so wrong it's a huge target for reversal on appeal."....
Regional BLM Chief Admits To Embezzlement Regional Bureau of Land Management chief Robert Beehler admitted embezzling $18,000 from the federal agency. Beehler, whose BLM office oversees 315,000 acres of federal lands from Monterey County to Alameda County, pleaded guilty last week in U.S. District Court to using his government credit card for personal expenses and doctoring invoices to obtain cash. Jan Bedrosian, deputy state director for external affairs for the BLM, said there was a two-year investigation by the Interior Department's Office of the Inspector General. Beehler was placed on administrative leave earlier this month. Beehler, 57, will retire Saturday and will be allowed to collect his pension. "He pled guilty to a felony but it does not negate his 28 years of service," Bedrosian said....
Urban sprawl meets open range The thick frame of his Volvo S80 sedan helped Rodney Chew survive the impact of colliding with a wandering horse in a quiet neighborhood near Troon Country Club. The Scottsdale resident struck and killed the horse this month in an accident that has once again called attention to the challenges of having open range meeting urban sprawl. The recent livestock accidents near the open-range area of Rio Verde Foothills have raised the ire of residents and prompted responses from Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley and state Sen. Carolyn Allen, R-Scottsdale. Open-range grazing will be illegal beginning in 2006, when a new "high-density grazing" zoning is instituted in the unincorporated, 20-square-mile foothills area....
Sheepdogs to strut their stuff Simple calls directed the sleek black-and-white-dogs to herd eight sheep into an open trailer. On command, the dogs circled and darted at the sheep, pushing them toward the trailer's door. They collected a stray and forced it with the others. Then, with all eight inside, the stock man shut the trailer door and thanked the dog handlers Wednesday afternoon. "Where were you this morning?" said Doug Livingston, who trades sheep to ranchers throughout Utah. "I had six men and I couldn't get them in." The dogs and handlers are national sheepdog champions from Wales, Scotland and England who are in town for the Soldier Hollow Classic at Wasatch Mountain State Park — four days of herding sheep that looks like hard work to a casual observer but is bliss for the dogs. The international dogs are just a few of the 120 that will compete. Sheepdog trial champions throughout the United States are expected this weekend at Soldier Hollow for hours of moving sheep around a mountainside through shrubs and trees and around gates and obstacles....

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