Monday, July 31, 2006

NEWS ROUNDUP

Court Decision Lifts Endangered Species Act Threat to Rights of Way Across Federal Lands A decision by a federal appellate court lifts a cloud of uncertainty for Idahoans who hold rights of way across federal lands, Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that six rights of way used to move water across federal lands are not subject to general regulation by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The court based its ruling upon the fact that the rights of way had been recognized by Congress under an 1866 statute. The case involved six rights of way across land managed by the BLM in the Upper Salmon River Basin. Thousands of similar rights of way exist elsewhere in Idaho and throughout the West. Two environmental groups brought the case, Western Watersheds Project v. Matejko, against BLM in 2001. The groups contended that, under the Endangered Species Act, the BLM was required to “consult” on the ongoing use of the rights of way. The State of Idaho entered the case because consultation could have resulted in a significant change in established law that would have disrupted state water rights and could have resulted in costly modifications as a condition for continued use of the rights of way on public lands. In the latest ruling, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously reversed a March 2004 decision in which the Federal District Court held that consultation was required. The appeals court found no duty on BLM's part to engage in Endangered Species Act consultation because the federal agency had taken no action to fund, permit or use the rights of way and had no general ongoing regulatory responsibility with respect to their use....go here to read the decision.
In the New West, Do They Want Buffalo to Roam? What are the Northern Plains good for? The soil is bad, the weather worse and the landscape achingly dull. Collapsing barns punctuate a scraggly sea of brown grass and bleached boulders. The population peaked a century ago, and remaining ranchers cannot stop their children from running off to a less lonesome life. But a grand new vision is taking shape for this depopulated patch of the prairie. It includes wild herds of buffalo and boomtowns of prairie dogs, as well as restaurants and hotels for high-end tourists who would descend on small towns such as Malta. If all goes according to plan, land south of here would be resurrected as the Serengeti of North America, joining Yellowstone and Glacier national parks as must-see destinations in the West. As local acceptance allowed, wolves and grizzly bears would join buffalo, elk, moose, mule deer and bighorn sheep on a restored grassland ecosystem, similar to what 19th century explorer Meriwether Lewis described as a scene of "visionary inchantment." The American Prairie Foundation, which is closely allied with the World Wildlife Fund, expects to have about 60,000 acres of ranchland under its control by fall. Over the next several decades, it intends to buy hundreds of thousands more acres and link them up with federal land -- much of which is now grazed by cattle -- to create a reserve of about 3.5 million acres. Buffalo would run free on much of this land, while fences, cows and cattle ranches would go away....
Rancher, foresters spar over access A Two Dot-area rancher's attempt to gain access across Forest Service land to his private holdings has made its way to the U.S. Senate. Mac White wants to build a road to a section and three-quarters of land he owns along the northeastern front of the Crazy Mountains, south of Big Elk Canyon. The Forest Service, which has property between his private holdings, is willing to grant White access. But in return it wants the nearby road up Big Elk Canyon opened to public use, which would give access to about 10,000 acres of Lewis and Clark National Forest land in the Crazies. "That's not an agreeable thing to do for me," White said Thursday. "The (forest) terrain we're looking at is about 1,000 square feet per corner crossing. That isn't very much. And they want two miles of unrestricted access through me." White did, however, offer to allow the Forest Service administrative use of the Big Elk Canyon Road. White first approached the Forest Service in 2001, he said. Talks dragged on as forest specialists, such as a wildlife biologist and archaeologist, looked over the land. Two years later, talks came to a standstill over the reciprocity issue and public access. White then took his complaint to Montana's congressional delegation. The result was a rider written into the Department of Interior's 2007 appropriations bill that would "direct the Chief (of the Forest Service) to seek an easement for administrative access to Big Elk Canyon across private land and upon securing such an easement to reciprocate by offering a road easement across corners of (Lewis and Clark National Forest) for access to private inholdings." Sen. Conrad Burns is chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee on Interior....
Senator Apologizes For Criticizing Firefighters U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., on Thursday apologized for criticizing a firefighter team for their work on a blaze in southern Montana. In a statement issued Thursday night, Burns said he should have "chosen my words more carefully." Burns gathered state wide criticisms Thursday after a state official's report said he approached a Virginia firefighting team at the Billings airport and told them they had done a "poor job" in putting off the fire. According to Paula Rosenthal, a state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation employee, the crew members of "hotshot" wildfire were awaiting a flight home, Sunday, when they confronted Burns. "In retrospect, I wish I had chosen my words more carefully," Burns said in a statement issued Thursday night. "My criticism of the way in which the fire was handled should not have been directed at those who were working hard to put it out." Burns said his frustration came from a "meeting with landowners who were critical of the way the fire was handled."....
The browning of green Colorado Irrigated farmland is disappearing at an astonishing rate in Colorado, reaching its lowest point in 32 years, state and federal data show. About 1 million acres of irrigated farmland have dried up since hitting a high point in the 1970s, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, with the majority of the loss occurring since 1997. The prolonged drought is partly to blame. But so are new laws reducing the use of irrigation wells and the sale of farm water to thirsty, fast-growing cities. The drying of these lands raises major lifestyle questions for the state, from preserving the lush farms that ensure fresh produce at farmers' markets to keeping green open space along urban corridors. The alarming dry-up also puts critical water-sharing agreements now on the table between cities and rural regions at risk....
More Than 60 Percent of U.S. in Drought More than 60 percent of the United States now has abnormally dry or drought conditions, stretching from Georgia to Arizona and across the north through the Dakotas, Minnesota, Montana and Wisconsin, said Mark Svoboda, a climatologist for the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. An area stretching from south central North Dakota to central South Dakota is the most drought-stricken region in the nation, Svoboda said. "It's the epicenter," he said. "It's just like a wasteland in north central South Dakota." Conditions aren't much better a little farther north. Paul Smokov and his wife, Betty, raise several hundred cattle on their 1,750-acre ranch north of Steele, a town of about 760 people. Fields of wheat, durum and barley in the Dakotas this dry summer will never end up as pasta, bread or beer. What is left of the stifled crops has been salvaged to feed livestock struggling on pastures where hot winds blow clouds of dirt from dried-out ponds. Some ranchers have been forced to sell their entire herds, and others are either moving their cattle to greener pastures or buying more already-costly feed. Hundreds of acres of grasslands have been blackened by fires sparked by lightning or farm equipment....
Critic sees grazing problems A grazing watchdog is calling on the U.S. Forest Service to halt any grazing permits issued through a swift program authorized by Congress last year, saying grazing is operating unchecked and hurting the landscape. Jonathan Ratner with the Western Watersheds Project visited the Greys River cattle allotment near Alpine in western Wyoming and took photos of trammeled stream banks and flattened, dried-out forage. "This is an extremely gross example that they should know about," Ratner said of Bridger-Teton National Forest officials. "When something like this got to this point, that to me is a massive red flag that says, 'Whoa, we need to slow down here and take a way better look.'" Last year, Congress authorized Forest Service officials to reissue grazing permits through "categorical exclusions," meaning without an exhaustive environmental review. Ratner said those exemptions have increased in recent months, indicating a directive from Washington, D.C., for forest officials to "get going" and authorize the permits....
Some in Santa Fe Pine For Lost Symbol, But Others Move On(subscription) The piñon tree has long been an established part of the Southwest, where the aromatic pine has graced views from the backyard to the back country of public forests. It is the state tree of New Mexico, where towns have lovingly named hospitals, restaurants and streets after the gnarled, dwarfish pines. The trouble now is that a lot of them are dead. As many as 80 million piñons died in New Mexico and Arizona between 2001 and 2005 during one of the worst droughts in decades, the U.S. Forest Service estimates. Their skeletons remain along a band about 500 miles long from east to west and 100 miles wide. In many places, more than 90% of the piñons have died. Ground zero of the destruction is Santa Fe, where an estimated four million of the trees have died. Many residents reacted with alarm as the piñons started dying before their eyes a few years ago, says Shelley Nolde, an urban-wildland specialist for the city....
Celebrating wildflowers A new "Botany: Celebrating Wildflowers" Web site is up and running thanks to the U.S. Forest Service. Every region, forest, grassland and prairie contributed to the content. Detailers from across the nation assisted in the development of content — pollinators, beauty of it all, native gardening, Just for Kids and teacher resources to name a few. The new site is a gateway to an enormous amount of botanical information. Station Cove and Falls in the Sumter National Forest is one of two sites featured in South Carolina. Site visitors can elect a Forest Service Region on the map display to see local "Celebrating Wildflower" events, wildflower viewing areas and wildflower photographs. Alternative text links to regional Web pages are also provided. A number of other modules such as rare plants, native plant materials, ethnobotany, lichens, ferns and other botany-subject areas are currently under development and will be posted to the site as they become finalized....
Task force debates new roadless rules Coloradans have been down this road before. The 13 people charged with crafting a statewide rule on roadless areas in national forests are set to meet by telephone Thursday - possibly their last meeting before opening up their plan to public comments and sending it to Gov. Bill Owens. Over the last year, the group has reached consensus in many areas, but some of the remaining disagreements come down to philosophies rooted as deeply as century-old spruce trees. One side believes forest rangers should have the flexibility to manage the forest, including through measures such as logging. The other side opposes new roads, which timber companies would need for logging projects. Opponents of new roads point out that the large majority of public comments given to the task force favor protecting roadfewer areas. "The whole thing will have been a waste of time if we vote to do something opposite of what the majority of the public has told us," said Dave Petersen of Durango, a task force member and roadless expert from Trout Unlimited. But task force member Joe Duda, a state forester, said the complicated issue is often misunderstood. "What do you mean by protect? Don't do anything?" Duda asked. Foresters sometimes need to build roads to deal with new conditions in the forest, he said. For example, the bark-beetle crisis was not a problem 10 years ago. But a prohibition on road-building will make it much harder to deal with beetles or wildfire risks, Duda said....
Editorial - Inaction rooted in logging angst The 2003 law enacted to help hasten restoration of the national forests and reduce the dangers of wildfire to homeowners and communities hasn't worked, the head of a Missoula-based environmental group told U.S. senators at a recent hearing in Washington, D.C. “The purpose of this hearing is to review implementation of the Healthy Forest Restoration Act,” Matthew Koehler of the WildWest Institute reminded the Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests July 19. “Š This is a somewhat difficult task for the simple reason that since the HFRA was signed into law in December 2003, so little work has been accomplished under the HFRA by the U.S. Forest Service.” The rich irony, of course, is that Koehler heads the Missoula group that has gone to court seeking to prevent the Forest Service from moving forward with a healthy-forest project up the East Fork of the Bitterroot. The environmental groups that recently merged to form WildWest failed to halt the project, the first and largest attempted by the Forest Service in Montana under the new law, but they without doubt it slowed things down. The Healthy Forest Restoration Act was spawned by growing concerns over the condition of our national forests. Topping the list of concerns is fire danger. Many forests that evolved with periodic fires have changed over the near-century that people have been fighting forest fires. Fire suppression has resulted in denser forests, insect and disease epidemics that kill trees on a massive scale, and other ecological changes that leave forests more likely to fuel large, intense fire when lightning, campfire or some other spark inevitably kindles a blaze. It's a manageable situation - or could be....
Group soldiers on in name of harmony Pausing as he pushed a jogging stroller piled with supplies up a dusty hill, Art Goodtimes proudly called himself a holdover from the Summer of Love days in the 1960s. With a bushy, gray beard and a bare, bulging belly, Goodtimes believes in the ideal offered by the Rainbow Family, the loose-knit band of hippies that preaches love, peace and harmony and is best known for its huge gatherings every July. Yet the 60-year-old Goodtimes has seen enough of the world to know that enjoying a weeklong commune with thousands of others doesn't make it real. "It's an experiment to see if we can live like this for at least a week, to see if we can get along," said Goodtimes, who happens to be a three-term commissioner from Colorado's San Miguel County. And for a week, they do. Most of the time. The Rainbow Family is a living relic of the 1960s, claiming to be the largest unorganized organization in the country. In fact, members revel in the disorganization. There are smaller gatherings all year, but the big event comes in the first week of July when thousands gather in a national forest -- to the dismay of the U.S. Forest Service -- to exchange hugs, beat drums and just "be."....
Bear grabs man asleep in his tent Wakened from sleep in a tent at the Russian River Campground early Saturday, Chicago tourist Daniel Kuczero didn't consider the possibility that a grizzly bear tugging at the nylon woke him. He figured it had to be a dog he heard outside in the 4:30 a.m. stillness, witnesses say. Then the animal collapsed the tent on him. That, according to Russian River campground manager Butch Bishop and others, was the first indication Kuczero had that the animal probably wasn't a dog. Kuczero apparently decided the best thing to do was play dead. He changed his mind when the bear grabbed his body -- still wrapped up in a sleeping bag inside the tent -- by the shoulder, in-law Rich Dunn said by telephone from Cooper Landing on the Kenai Peninsula on Saturday afternoon. That was enough to start Kuczero screaming. "When it bit him in the shoulder,'' Dunn said, "he yelled.''....
The mother of all air tankers: Modified DC-10s, 747s may join CDF's fleet over north state blazes It used to haul 380 vacationers across 2,300 miles of ocean to the Hawaiian Islands, but now it is swooping down over fires in California, dropping up to a 4-mile-long line of retardant. "We expect it to be a game changer," said Rick Hatton, partner in 10 Tanker Air Carrier, the company that gave a former American Airlines DC-10 new life as an air tanker. The DC-10 is not your average tanker. Three external tanks hold 12,000 gallons of retardant -- thousands of gallons more than the next biggest tanker in the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's fleet. The plane first went into action earlier this month on fires in Southern California, and it could be soaring the skies of the north state soon....
Rey: Plan to sell USFS lands to be revived While the effort to sell U.S. Forest Service lands to raise money for schools probably is dead this year, Mark Rey, Department of Agriculture undersecretary, expects it will be resurrected in some form next year. “I think we’ve run out of time this year,” Rey said on Friday. “I think the real issue is can we find an alternative that is acceptable? Should land sales be part of the mix?” The sale of public lands is nothing new — only a few years ago, Montana’s Congressional delegation created legislation that forced the Bureau of Reclamation to sell 265 sites to cabin owners who had leased the land around Canyon Ferry Reservoir. But when President Bush’s 2007 budget proposed identifying 300,000 acres of National Forest lands that could be offered for sale to raise money for the Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act, the plan was widely criticized, even though Rey said the administration only anticipated selling about 175,000 acres to raise $800 million, and that was only a fraction of the 193 million acres managed by the Forest Service....
Editorial - Can’t see the fires for the trees? Here’s the choice: Mow down a few hundred cottonwoods that obstruct large-craft landings at Troutdale Airport, or place thousands of acres of trees throughout Oregon and Washington at greater risk of fire. The logic of clearing the flight path at an airport critical for battling Northwest forest fires would seem plain. But up until Tuesday, bureaucratic process had the upper hand over rational thought. Removal of the trees has been delayed for months — even years — because the cottonwoods are within the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area and also under the jurisdiction of the slow-moving Multnomah County land-use division. Fortunately, top county officials, working with the U.S. Forest Service and other agencies, have taken a more practical view of the situation and come up with a better determination: If there’s an emergency, the county legally can allow immediate removal of the trees — a chore that would take several days. That’s an improvement, but perhaps still too slow to keep up with fast-moving forest fires....
'Never in my backyard' A wolf sanctuary near the tourist-based town of Wolf Creek initially seemed like a good fit for the wolves and the community. But words of welcome suddenly turned to threats of violence at a recent neighborhood barbecue, say officials at Howling Acres Wolf Sanctuary. "They came unglued," said Sherrie LaBat, founder of the nonprofit operation which takes in abandoned and abused wolves raised by humans that are unable to live in the wild. "They threatened to kill us and the wolves," she said. Negotiations were going well on the bowl-shaped 100-acre property known as Golden Coyote Wetlands, said LaBat. The former mining site is currently undergoing reclamation efforts, and is surrounded by Bureau of Land Management proprerty on three sides. "The property was perfect for us," LaBat said. But neighbors on nearby Coyote Creek Road say they don't want the sanctuary moving to the area, resident Terry Mancuso said. "Who wants 29 wolves down there barking and howling?" Mancuso said. "If they care about the wolves, they won't bring them here."....
BLM vetoes oil and gas development in Arches The Bureau of Land Management has rejected parcels for oil and gas drilling that would have marred views from Arches National Park and invade nearby bighorn sheep habitat. Henri Bisson, the BLM's acting Utah director, said Friday his agency also acted to protect the Utah prairie dog, a federally listed endangered species, by turning down other drilling parcels in southern Utah. Those parcels will not be among the 334,000 acres of public land the BLM plans to auction Aug. 15 at a quarterly lease sale. Bisson mentioned the rejections Friday during a news conference-turned lengthy discourse on oil and gas development. Bisson called a news conference to defend his agency's mission to open public lands for energy development and criticized environmental groups for filing objections....
Wilderness groups challenge reversal Wilderness groups were in federal court Friday trying to reverse a decision by the Bush administration that stopped a federal agency from creating wilderness study areas or doing surveys for wilderness-quality public lands. The policy shift at the Bureau of Land Management was formalized by the settlement of a lawsuit Utah had filed against the federal government in 1996. The deal reached by former Gov. Mike Leavitt and former Interior Secretary Gale Norton in 2003 changed the way the BLM protects land across the West. Earthjustice attorney Jim Angell, representing 10 wilderness groups, said the federal government can't surrender or bargain authority he said was vested in BLM to protect wilderness-quality lands. Chief Utah federal judge Dee Benson didn't issue an immediate decision after Friday's hearing. The wilderness groups want the judge to declare the Leavitt-Norton deal violates federal environmental law and overturn it. Gary Randall, a Department of Justice attorney, argued the wilderness groups had no standing to sue because nobody has suffered harm or damage, and that the settlement wasn't a "final" agency action subject to litigation. Randall said the wilderness groups needed a "site-specific" decision by the BLM to make a case in court....
Workers end suit for $2.2 million Seven workers at the Lakewood-based National Information Resource Management Center have obtained a $2.2 million settlement in an age- discrimination lawsuit. The group filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in 2000, claiming they were asked to relocate to Washington, D.C., as a result of their ages. The center, a division of the BLM, was undergoing reorganization that included staff reductions, according to legal documents. "The younger employees received preferential transfers, and the older employees were directed to the East Coast to positions that may not even have existed," said Todd McNamara, a partner at McNamara and Martinez LLP and lead counsel for the plaintiffs. Twelve employees in their 40s, 50s and 60s were asked to relocate to Washington, without being told what their new jobs would require them to do, according to Florence Michael, the lead plaintiff....
Editorial - How the West Was Sold NOT EVERY IOTA OF FEDERALLY owned land is an environmental treasure crying out for protection. Some portions would be better sold for private development. That's especially true within the vast Western holdings of the Bureau of Land Management. The federal government owns about two-thirds of the land in Utah and more than 80% of Nevada, a product of Western states' history — they were federal territories before they were states. Some isolated communities, surrounded by these protected swaths of unused land, cannot respond to the pressures of growth because they have nowhere left to grow. Selling off chunks of fenced-off land makes sense. But new proposals to auction BLM property near these towns come with a troubling twist: The money, which could easily run into the billions, wouldn't go to the Treasury to pay down the deficit or otherwise benefit U.S. taxpayers. Instead, a hefty portion would be directed to the communities to build local projects, such as water lines, roads and schools. The rest would be used for federal programs, but only near where the land was sold. Using federal lands as a piggybank for local projects is a waste of national resources, and as a result might earmark hundreds of millions in federal funds for what won't be the most worthy or urgent public projects. Worse, it gives local communities a strong incentive to pressure the federal government to sell land that might otherwise be preserved for good reason. How about that new highway you've been wanting but haven't been able to afford? Just get the feds to sell off some nearby land and give you the proceeds....
A year after state buyout of water rights, Bell Rapids farms face uncertain future Financially, the deal made sense. It’s the logical part that still gets John O’Connor. Why dry up thousands of acres of the most productive farmland in southern Idaho? The former Bell Rapids farmer asks the question with a smile but a hint of sadness lingers in his eyes. The answer, of course, is water. “It was great soil. It was very productive,” O’Connor said. More than a year has passed since the state bought up rights to water used to irrigate the Bell Rapids project — a roughly 25,000-acre plateau above Hagerman. Two years ago, Bell Rapids abounded with green fields of sugar beets, potatoes and beans. Today, in the shadows of giant wind turbines, thousands of acres slowly return to their native state — land prime for cattle grazing. The changes also will affect area wildlife....
Early Herders’ Life, as Seen Through Art Carved in Trees For decades, anthropologists have combed the red rock landscape of the Southwest for petroglyphs, the prehistoric scrawlings of American Indians. Now researchers in the Northwest are beginning to discover a trove of arborglyphs: 19th- and 20th-century tree carvings tattooed on the bark of aspens and cedars by Basque sheepherders. Some are rousing political slogans from the Basque homeland, and others depict sexual exploits. Like modern graffiti, a great many carvings note for posterity that Joe, Jose or, most likely, Joxe “was here.” Scholars say the drawings provide a blueprint for Basque immigration patterns across the Western United States and give a look into the psyche of the solitary sheepherder. “These give us insight into a group that largely did not leave behind a written word,” said John Bieter, the executive director of the Cenarrusa Center for Basque Studies at Boise State University. Basques hail from a semiautonomous region joining the Pyrenees of northern Spain and a slice of coastal territory in southern France. Their culture and language are of mysterious origins, but Basques are believed to be some of the oldest inhabitants of Europe....
Sale of ranches pending A sale is pending for two historic ranches that cover thousands of acres of pristine, rolling hills and nine miles of ocean coastline in the Jalama Road area south of Lompoc. Sotheby's International Realty is handling a private sale for an unidentified buyer at an undisclosed price, according to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity. Realtors at Sotheby's in Los Angeles declined to answer any questions, as did representatives of Bixby Ranch Company, the owners of the property. Both referred questions to a spokeswoman who did not return calls Thursday. Although no sale price is known, Rancho El Cojo was listed at $110 million and the Jalama Ranch was listed at $45 million. An unattributed report by KCOY-TV put the sale price at $120 million. The TV report said the sale will be in escrow for several months. The secrecy surrounding the pending sale sparked concern among neighbors, who said they fear development of the property....
USDA halts work on rule on older Canada cattle The U.S. Agriculture Department has withdrawn a proposed rule that would allow imports of older Canadian cattle while Canada investigates its latest case, a USDA spokeswoman said on Friday. "It makes sense to revisit this," said Karen Eggert, a spokeswoman for the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. "Right now, we are waiting for that information (from the Canadian investigation)." Eggert said USDA would not act on its proposed rule -- to allow imports of cattle over 30 months of age -- until Canada completed its investigation. USDA withdrew the rule from White House review on Thursday. The latest Canadian case, reported this month, was a 50-month-old dairy cow in the province of Alberta, born well after 1997, when Canada banned the use of cattle parts in making cattle feed. Scientists say mad cow is spread through contaminated feed....
Canada seeks to clarify U.S. decision to keep ban on older cattle imports The Canadian Food Inspection Agency insisted Friday that any impact on Canada's cattle industry would be minimal following a U.S. decision to delay lifting a ban on imports of older cattle from Canada. "For now it's a delay only," said Francis Lord, director of animal health at the agency, in an interview Friday. "Not such a big deal. We had a new case and they just want to be sure that everything is accounted for in their risk assessment." Earlier this month, a cow in northern Alberta tested positive for BSE. The animal was born after the introduction of new feed regulations that were supposed to stop the spread of the disease. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Friday it was postponing the re-opening of the border to older Canadian cattle pending an investigation into the latest case. Lord said a joint Canada-U.S. investigation is close to completion. Federal Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl said he's hopeful the decision will be just an interruption in the progress towards opening the border....
Should dinner table be legal finish line for horses? Should Congress pass a law that would keep Mr. Ed from ending up on the menu of some fancy French restaurant? Lawmakers could decide this fall whether the slaughter of horses for human consumption should continue in a culture that exalts cowboys on pintos, cherishes childhood dreams of ponies and groans a collective "eewww" at the thought of a grilled tenderloin of stallion. Horse slaughter is "un-American," said T. Boone Pickens, a Texas oilman and rancher and a supporter of the legislative ban. "The horse has a special place in American culture and history." But a majority of the House Agriculture Committee argued last week that the proposed legislation is a threat to horse owners, taxpayers and the farm economy. "This bill is part of a larger agenda for the animal-rights activists--an agenda against all of agriculture," said Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.). The committee has recommended that the bill not pass. The proposed amendment to the Horse Protection Act would "prohibit the shipping, transporting, moving, delivering, receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling or donation of horses and other equines to be slaughtered for human consumption." Witnesses told the committee that each year 90,000 to 120,000 American horses are sent to slaughterhouses--either in the United States or to a foreign facility--to be turned into meat for the dinner table. The meat is processed under Department of Agriculture regulations. France, Japan and Belgium are among the countries that import U.S. horse meat--a total for the three of nearly 40 million pounds in 2005....
Western author Grey gets overdue attention
Zane Grey is the world's best known writer of Western romance and historical novels. From l903, when his first novel, “Betty Zane,” was published, to “Western Union” of l939, the last one during his lifetime, the times Grey was off the best-seller lists were few and far between. At one point, he was the third best-seller - after the Bible and McGuffey's Reader - in American literary history. Such novels as “Riders of the Purple Sage” thrilled generations of readers in the 20th century and now, so it appears, well into the 21st. Altogether, he penned some 40 western novels, 20 or so of them published after his death in l939, at 67. Despite his huge popularity with the reading public (many of his novels were serialized in McCall's, Nation, and Field & Stream before coming out in book form), Grey suffered at the hands of “sophisticated” critics, many of whom called his work “sub-literary.”....
On the Edge of Common Sense: Mainstream media not in touch with mainstream Sometimes I think I live in a different country than the ones I read about in the newspapers or hear on the radio and TV. For instance, I was in Sacramento, Calif., recently. It is not the same California you read about in the letters to the editor in the San Francisco Chronicle or see on Entertainment Tonight! California is a state (a small country, really) that believes in the work ethic and not in fairy tales. It is profoundly patriotic, enormously productive and regardless of their political leanings, agrees that Hollywood hype and San Francisco politics are bizarre. I lived in Colorado for many years. It is still just as beautiful and breathtaking, and still draws tourists and refugees from Texas and California as it always has....

Sunday, July 30, 2006

Resistance

by Larry Gabriel

Not all farmers and ranchers in the world are open to government programs. In news items from around the world, we can see some common traits in farmers dealing with government.

Indonesia is the world's hot bed for bird flu. The virus is spreading through much of the open-range chicken industry in that nation and has killed 43 people, but some of its farmers still don't believe it is real.

The reaction of some Indonesians was to debunk what government officials said and openly drink chicken blood in the town squares to prove that it is safe. They also continued to eat chickens that died of illness in defiance of government advice.

We might attribute such a reaction to ignorance and expect better educated farmers to be more cooperative in combating a potential worldwide health threat. That is not always so.

I recently read a news item about efforts by the State of Vermont to prepare for arrival of the bird flu by creating a database of locations (farms) with animals that might get it or spread it.

The reaction of some Vermont farmers was not totally unlike the farmers' reaction in Indonesia. They did not drink any blood in protest, but they did mistrust the government, refuse to comply, claim it was none of the government's business, and compare the effort to actions by "Nazis".

We have heard similar arguments from ranchers in discussions about livestock tracking. They don't want their location and herd size recorded in a government database, because they feel it is nobody else's business.

I don't know if we fear the government too much, but I know we do not fear bird flu enough. Half the people who get H5N1 (bird flu) die despite the best efforts of modern medicine. That is something to fear. Nearly all infected poultry die. Other mammals (such as domestic cats) can get it from birds and die too.

In three reported cases, people contracted bird flu directly from wild birds. Nobody knows for sure how it spreads. We do know the virus is in the saliva and nasal droppings of sick birds and that seed-eating birds drop a lot of food out of their mouths. It is possible other birds pick up those contaminated food droppings. It is also possible shared water sources spread the disease.

Whatever small measures we take to prepare for bird flu will be inadequate when it arrives. In any contagious animal disease situation, quarantine is an essential tool. The government can't do that effectively without information on animal locations.

The tendency of farmers to resist government intrusion is not all bad. The United States of America was created by farmers and their firm belief in individual liberty. Secretly, we admire them for that.

Besides, when the emergency is really here, American farmers and ranchers will put their narrow thinking aside and do what is best for everyone. That is one of the things that sets us apart from others around the world.

Mr. Gabriel is the South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture.


Following the paper trail

By Julie Carter

A roadmap of my life for the past four years is stored in a cardboard apple box. Inside that box I can find a story or photo that will document where I was at the time and what I was doing there. It is better than a diary.

The press industry calls them "tear sheets." These are pages torn out of the newspaper that contain a story I wrote, photos I took or both. I have haphazardly saved them all.

If I were a better organized person they would be in some sort of numerical order by date. But of course that would make it too easy to dig out a particular story in a particular issue of a given month and year.

Because I'm officially now an employee of the Ruidoso News and no longer a contract writer, I can, this year, enter the New Mexico Press Association contest. I will compete in four categories. That will involve sorting through a lot of tear sheets covering newspaper issues from July 1, 2005 until June 30, 2006.

True to the industry, I push all deadlines to the limit including this one. Entries must be post marked by July 31 - two days from now. So I took a trip through my four year history with the paper by sorting this big box of tear sheets by year (that's as organized as I got) and then began the one page at a time page selection through the appropriate months for this contest.

Each issue brought back a remembrance of people, places, and events. I took photos of school kids that are now in college, of old folks that are now in heaven and businesses that have come and gone in spite of their optimistic enthusiasm on opening day.

Year after year of tradition is documented in the lighting of the luminarias at Christmas, the annual Fourth of July events, the county fair in August, homecomings, proms, and a long list of award ceremonies for an even longer list of organizations. A blur of football, volleyball, basketball, track and rodeo photos almost become animated as I flip the pages of my journalistic life.

Politicians have come and gone. The faces of new mayors, police chiefs, school boards, superintendents, principals, and other assorted authoritarian figures dot the pages and bring the realization that nothing is forever and definitely not in government, public service, or education.

And then there are my columns. Fifty-two of them to chose from and I must select just two. As I look them over I smile at the things that made me laugh, feel sorrow at the rare serious moments I brought to your attention and stand amazed at the range of topics that can be covered in a year.

I told you stories of rescued chickens, over-pampered pups, and how "Martha, Maxine and Me" had our similarities. We discussed duct tape, baling wire, WD-40 and camouflage. Fashion critiquing came up frequently over the bling-bling rage and the wadded-up ostrich-plumed version of today's "fashionable" cowboy hat.

I explained the importance of never underestimating the power of good story telling or dressing for success even in the cowboying business. It took a three-part series to warn you about the hazards of horse traders and sale barn horses.

And I tried to keep the male side of the ranch out of trouble with reminders of what happens "when momma ain't happy" and the importance of gift selection. I was very clear that sometimes a new wood-splitting maul or a double-bit axe isn't exactly what she had in mind.

Whichever stories make it to the top of the heap and into the contest envelope; I know I'm a winner before it ever gets postmarked. I won the day my "voice" was given place on these pages week after week.

The best reward a writer ever receives is the knowledge that someone is reading what they write and looking for more. You my gentle readers (who said that?)have given me that.

© Julie Carter
OPINION/COMMENTARY

Feds make pain at the pump worse

Washington has embraced an alternative to $3-a­­-gallon gasoline -- $4-a-gallon ethanol. That’s the cost of this federally mandated fuel additive, when you take everything into account. Ethanol, produced mostly from Midwestern corn, currently wholesales for more than $3 a gallon. And that’s the Midwest price -- ethanol costs even more on the coasts because it can’t be sent through pipelines and thus is costlier to ship than gasoline. At these prices, adding even small amounts of ethanol to gas can boost pump prices by 20 cents per gallon or more. In addition, the Department of Energy reports, “ethanol has only about two-thirds the energy content of an equivalent volume of gasoline,” so it substantially reduces fuel economy. In effect, using it is like switching to a larger vehicle. And in many big cities, ethanol cannot be added to ordinary gas without the resulting mixture violating federal air-quality regulations. It has to be added to a costly base blend that compensates for ethanol’s environmental shortcomings. When you take into account all the direct and indirect costs of using ethanol, it’s the equivalent of $4-a-gallon gasoline -- and closer to $5 if you consider its lousy fuel economy. Give the feds credit. It isn’t easy to find something worse for consumers than $3 gas, but they managed to do it....

New ANWR / Renewable Energy Bill Introduced in the House

A bipartisan coaltion, led by Rep. Devin Nunes, has introduced a bill that would open 2000 acres of ANWR to responsible oil development, and direct all associated lease and royalty revenue into a trust to fund alternative, renewable, and advanced energy incentives. The bill, the “American-Made Energy Freedom Act”, provides a comprehensive, common sense approach to lessening our nation’s dependence on foreign oil by increasing domestic oil production in the short term while funding alternatives energies for the future. In the short term, the Act opens the 1.5 million acre Coastal Plain of the nearly 20 million acre ANWR to responsible oil exploration, limits the footprint of development to just 2000 acres, sets the strictest environmental conditions ever developed for energy development on federal lands, and bans the export of this American oil. At peak production, this small parcel of land could deliver to the lower 48 states an additional 1.5 million barrels per day - an amount equal to the daily supply America lost in the Gulf of Mexico due to Hurricane Katrina, and nearly equal to the amount we import from Saudi Arabia every day. The “American-Made Energy Freedom Act” also secures long term solutions by requiring that all of the lease and royalty revenue from oil production in ANWR be used to fund renewable and alternative energy projects. ANWR’s direct revenue to the Treasury is estimated at $40 billion during its lifetime of production. All of these monies — at no cost to the taxpayer — would be placed into an investment fund to incubate the development of new technologies, including the development of cellulosic biomass, coal-to-liquid clean fuels, solar and other alternatives to foreign oil. This is THE LARGEST FUND EVER PROPOSED for alternative energies for the future....

Nuclear Power May Be Answer To Global Warming

As former Vice President Al Gore's global warming movie nears the end of its run in theaters, a new report from the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) suggests combating climate change requires creative thinking about the world's energy needs. According to the report, nuclear power holds the most promise as a clean, practical alternative to fossil fuels that could help satisfy the world economy's growing demand for energy. Sustaining economic growth in developed countries and accelerating growth in the developing world means that energy demand will increase dramatically in the coming century. The International Energy Agency projects world energy demand will grow 65 percent by 2020. According to the report, reducing the amount of CO2 humans put into the atmosphere, while still meeting the energy demands of an expected population of more than 9 billion people by 2050, requires reconsidering nuclear power - a safe, practical alternative. Despite opposition, nuclear power currently produces much of the electric power in developed countries. * Nuclear power provides about 75 percent of the electricity in France and 20 percent in the United States. * With 434 operating reactors worldwide, nuclear power meets the electrical needs of more than a billion people. * China alone is planning to build 30 nuclear reactors over the next five years. Nuclear power has advantages over fossil fuels. A single, quarter-ounce pellet of uranium generates as much energy as 3.5 barrels of oil, 17,000 cubic feet of natural gas, or 1,780 pounds of coal, with none of the CO2 emissions....

Designer Jeans From Designer Genes

As the "new biotechnology" -- gene-splicing, or "genetic modification" (GM) -- enjoys ever more varied and impressive successes, the intractable opposition from environmental and other activists has become reminiscent of the old cartoon cliché about the person who year after year inaccurately predicts the end of the world. Activists' antagonism belies the fact that gene-splicing offers enhanced efficiency for a vast array of processes, and proven benefits to both human health and the environment. For example, a single issue of a prominent monthly biotech journal contained three unrelated articles that illustrate a good part of the spectrum of benefits of the technology: agronomic improvement in an important crop plant, improved nutrition in another, and decreased animal waste deposited in the environment. The first of these involved moving two barley genes into rice, which increases more than four-fold the yield in alkaline soil (a problem in thirty per cent of arable land worldwide). The second showed that moving a single gene from the petunia into tomato markedly increases the concentration of antioxidant compounds called flavonols, the consumption of which in food appears to be correlated with a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease. The third was a proof-of-principle experiment that demonstrated that the addition of a single bacterial gene to a mammal (in this case a mouse, used as a model system) enables the animal to more efficiently metabolize phosphates from feed, thereby reducing the phosphate content of their excreta. Adapted to large animals like cows and pigs, this approach could lower the phosphate content of manure from intensively farmed livestock and reduce the phosphate runoff into waterways and aquifers....

Endangered humans

If you live in Texas, you have 81. North Dakota has only nine. Florida is home to 100 and California has a whopping 276. In fact, every state in America has at least a handful that have the potential to disrupt and even ruin lives. What is this ominous presence? Plants and/or animals that are protected under the Endangered Species Act as either threatened or endangered. Signed into law in 1973 by President Nixon, the Endangered Species Act currently has 407 animal species and 598 plant species listed as threatened or endangered. There are two more animals and one plant that are proposed to be added to the ESA. Another 138 animals and 144 plants are candidates for listing. The odds that you actually have an endangered or threatened species in your area are probably low. However, if the federal government or, heaven forbid, a radical environmental group even believes you might have transgressed the rights of an endangered or threatened species, your life could be turned upside down. Consider the plight of a Michigan man who in 2003 killed a poisonous snake he thought was a threat to a child. He was found guilty of “killing a protected reptile or amphibian without a state permit.”....

When Eminent Domain Loses


In a unanimous 7-0 decision, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in favor of Norwood property owners who were challenging the confiscation of their land through eminent domain. (Norwood is a suburb surrounded by Cincinnati.) It marked the first eminent-domain ruling by a state supreme court since Kelo, and will surely set a precedent for other states wrangling over this issue. "It gives guidance to courts for the future," says Dana Berliner, a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, which litigated the case in behalf of the appellants. The decision in Norwood v. Horney was an amalgam of several rulings, all of which laid out benchmarks for judging the legality of property seizures. First: The Ohio High Court implicitly rejected the rationale behind Kelo. "Although economic factors may be considered in determining whether private property may be appropriated," wrote Justice Maureen O'Connor, "the fact that the appropriation would provide an economic benefit to the government and community, standing alone, does not satisfy the public-use requirement of Section 19, Article I of the Ohio Constitution." In Norwood, the demolition of property was to make room for a sprawling, $125-million project known as Rookwood Exchange, which would include office space, luxury condos, and retail stores. Second: The court called for "heightened scrutiny when reviewing statutes that regulate the use of eminent-domain powers." The city of Norwood had, on the basis of a study funded by Rookwood Partners, the private developer, declared the relevant neighborhood to be "blighted" and "deteriorating." A trial court later ruled that Norwood had abused its discretion in finding the location "blighted" but was correct to deem it "deteriorating." The "deteriorating" standard was considered sufficient to trigger the city's eminent-domain power. The Ohio Supreme Court said this was rubbish. "We find that Norwood's use of 'deteriorating area' as a standard for appropriation is void for vagueness," wrote Justice O'Connor. "We further hold that the use of the term 'deteriorating area' as a standard for a taking is unconstitutional because the term inherently incorporates speculation as to the future condition of the property to be appropriated rather than the condition of the property at the time of the taking." In plain English, that means Norwood grossly abused its authority. The mere possibility--or even probability--that an area may one day be blighted can hardly pass muster as legitimate grounds for property seizures. Indeed, by the yardsticks employed in Norwood--cracked sidewalks, light pollution, proximity to the highway, weeds, dead-end streets, and "diversity of ownership"--large bits of middle-class, suburban America are "deteriorating." Third: The court rejected as unconstitutional the portion of Ohio's eminent-domain statute that--get this--barred judges from enjoining the seizure and redevelopment of property prior to appellant review. The law had essentially allowed developers to tear down homes after they provided just compensation but before the completion of the appeals process. According to the Ohio Supremes, this "violates the separation-of-powers doctrine."....

A War on Energy—Again?

With oil prices continuing to set new records this summer, President Bush is pushing his energy independence plan—sprinkling a few dollars on select energy sectors in the name of the war on terrorism. But according to a publication released today by the Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI), rising prices, not government handouts, should be the primary motivation for the US to move away from oil reliance. “Despite the generous claims of national security made on its behalf, the President’s energy program looks decidedly unserious,” reports Doug Bandow, author of “A War on Energy—Again?." “If the US faces a dire security threat from importing petroleum from an unstable region teeming with enemies of America, then Washington presumably should take a far stronger hand in redesigning the energy economy.” Currently the program mostly means handing out more money to companies already on the federal dole. For example, solar power received $148 million. Wind power received $44 million. $335 million was allocated for coal research. All this appears to yield more political than economic benefits....

Misnamed “Cancer Project” Promotes Animal-Rights Propaganda

This weekend the "Cancer Project," a dietary program of the Washington-based Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), is hosting its first symposium on cancer and nutrition. And the nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom is re-launching www.PhysicianScam.com to alert Americans that "The Cancer Project" is an animal-rights initiative in disguise. The website chronicles PCRM's anti-meat and anti-dairy campaigns, its active boycott of leading legitimate cancer research charities, and its ties to the animal rights movement’s violent underbelly. Throughout the course of Saturday's event, a mobile billboard provided by CCF will circle the Hyatt Regency Bethesda to inform attendees and the general public that PCRM’s "Cancer Project" is really an "Animal Rights Project." The mobile billboard will also advertise www.PhysicianScam.com. "The Cancer Project" advocates a strict vegan (read: PETA-approved) diet as a means of minimizing cancer risks and improving cancer survival. And it suggests that biomedical research using animals -- which holds the best hope to cure the disease -- is ineffective and unnecessary. These sentiments demonstrate "The Cancer Project’s" broad aim of placing the needs of animals above those of cancer patients. They have also been rejected repeatedly by leading physicians and researchers....

Thursday, July 27, 2006

NEWS ROUNDUP


Groups press drilling bill
Business groups have stepped up their lobbying efforts in support of a bill that could lead to more offshore oil and gas development. The bill, which faces a cloture vote today in the Senate, is more limited than a House measure already passed. It would only expand offshore drilling to an area in the eastern Gulf of Mexico known as Lease 181. The House version, by contrast, gives states more authority to determine whether to allow drilling off their coasts. Drilling moratoriums are now in place for most offshore areas. Drilling critics worry that conferees will use the opportunity presented in conference to broaden the Senate measure as well. But business groups such as the National Association of Manufacturers and the American Chemistry Council, which represent companies stung by high prices for natural gas, have been out in force on Capitol Hill urging yes votes....
Senate Passage of Energy Bill Appears Assured The Senate moved closer on Wednesday to passing a bill that would expand energy production in the Gulf of Mexico. A procedural vote of 86 to 12 allowing the debate to begin signaled wide support for opening up large new tracts for drilling. Thirty-one Democrats and one independent joined all but one Republican, Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, in the early test vote, usually a strong indicator of a bill’s potential to pass with bipartisan support. But the consensus may be fragile, and the bill, if approved in a final vote that is expected next week, would still have to be reconciled with a very different drilling bill approved by the House. The bill identifies 8.3 million acres for new energy development in the gulf, four times the area sought by the Bush administration through its lease program for 2007-12. It would also create protections for Florida’s western coastline and establish a program that gives other gulf states — Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama — 37.5 percent of royalties from energy production that now accrue to the federal government, potentially a shift of billions of dollars in revenues....
Column: New Land Rules Serve Ranchers, Hamper Conservationists In the latest showdown between contrasting visions of the American West, the federal Bureau of Land Management has rolled out new regulations for livestock grazing on public lands. Environmentalists are taking the agency to court, warning that the rules would trample environmental protections, further endanger wildlife, and close avenues for public oversight. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) claims its new rules, announced earlier this month, will promote "flexibility" for ranchers who have access to hundreds of millions of acres of public rangelands. But conservation groups say the Bureau is seeking to enhance its "working relationship" with ranchers by suppressing public stakeholders. John Carter, Utah director of the Western Watersheds Project, a group that opposes cattle-grazing on federal lands, called the rules "another step in the effort by public-lands ranchers to divest the American people of ownership of these lands." Arguing that cattle roaming the Western states form one of the most destructive uses of the country's natural resources, groups complain that the new rules would make it nearly impossible to fully address livestock damage to local wildlife. They say that additional bureaucratic hurdles would paralyze the enforcement of Clinton-era guidelines intended to balance grazing with other public-land uses like camping and fishing....
Water rights activists question Nevada-Utah deal Water rights activists in Nevada and Utah raised questions Wednesday about a plan to split up water rights in Snake Valley, on the border between the two states, and in the process help get more water to booming Las Vegas. The Great Basin Water Network sent a letter to U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., urging him to seek a delay in a pending compact between the two states that would apportion the water rights in the valley, near Great Basin National Park. Susan Lynn, executive director of the network, said more than 80 ranchers, Indians, environmentalists and others signed the letter, which calls the agreement premature. The letter adds the compact would "ease the way" for the Southern Nevada Water Authority to start drawing on eastern Nevada water via a planned $2 billion pipeline to Las Vegas. The SNWA's current vice-chairman is Clark County Commission Chairman Rory Reid, Sen. Reid's son. The letter also states that the public was "largely excluded" from discussions about the agreement until word of its existence was leaked inadvertently on a government Web site....
Wyoming wildlife officials unveil elk brucellosis plan Ranchers would be encouraged to change their cattle operations under a new state plan for managing brucellosis in feedground elk in western Wyoming. Incentives, financial or otherwise, would be sought to help sway producers to make changes that may lessen the risk of elk and cattle coming into contact - or of elk spreading brucellosis to cattle. The source of any such funds isn't specified in the plan, released Wednesday by the state Game and Fish Department. But Jared Rogerson, a brucellosis feedground habitat biologist with the agency, said the state likely would pursue federal dollars. Agency officials say the plan is aimed at lowering the risk of brucellosis spread, either from elk to cattle or among elk that gather on feedgrounds in the fall and winter. But it stops short of calling for the immediate elimination of any of the three feedgrounds in the Upper Green River Elk Herd Unit, north of Pinedale....
Unfragmented Landscape Working Wilderness: The Malpai Borderlands Group and the Future of the Western Range, by Nathan Sayre. Rio Nuevo Publishers, $22.95. That acknowledged, Working Wilderness is an enjoyable read about something taking place in our own backyard that epitomizes the "think globally, act locally" admonition. "It's a volatile mixture of people and land, history and ecology, passion and politics," author Nathan Sayre promises--and then delivers...And that's only logical when the book itself zeros in on the nonprofit Malpai Borderlands Group, a diverse panoply of ranchers, scientists, public agencies and private conservationists--all with preconceived notions, many with conflicting aims. Not only are the players local and readily identifiable; their 800,000 acres of borderland, a 1,250-square-mile triangle where Arizona and New Mexico meet Sonora and Chihuahua, is familiar turf to those who live in this neck of the woods...In a chapter subhead titled "Origins of Mutual Distrust," Sayre, a geography professor at the University of California at Berkeley, admits to readers that while the historical Western range may be broken, "the polarized politics of rangeland conflict, pitting ranchers against environmentalists in a kind of holy war, made wholesale reform unattainable." Instead, it took innovative approaches emerging from the grassroots level, poking up through layers of indifference, habit and bureaucracy, to get differing agendas on the same page. "Imagine the Western range as an enormous puzzle whose pieces have not only come apart but changed their shapes as well. They cannot be put back together according to the old picture. The Malpai Group has chosen to look at all the pieces in this 1,250-square-mile puzzle and insist they can be one whole again. The Group remains many years away from completing this new picture, but they are further along than anyone else."....
No subsidy provided for killed livestock in wolf program The US Fish and Wildlife Service says it will continue to reintroduce the endangered Mexican gray wolf in eastern Arizona and western New Mexico, but not everyone is pleased with the news. Many area ranchers have been vocal opponents of the reintroduction effort because of livestock depredation. Neither the current program nor recommendations accepted this week provide for any government subsidy or reimbursement for wolf-killed livestock. The recommendations would authorize states and tribes to issue permits to use non-lethal means to harass wolves engaging in “nuisance behavior or livestock depredation” and lethal means if they attacked domestic dogs....See how these Federales "think". A rancher can only holler or throw rocks at a wolf if he is killing a calf, but if that wolf attacks his dog then by golly he can blow the hell out of him. You can't protect your livelihood but you can protect your pets. That's Federale "thinking" in full display.
Forest Service blasts Idaho logjam Teams of explosives technicians from the U.S. Forest Service blasted a logjam on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River on Wednesday. Rafters -- stranded since Monday by the pileup of 30-foot-long logs, as well as boulders and debris -- will be able to float through by Thursday, Forest Service officials told the Idaho Statesman newspaper. The logjam temporarily blocked about 200 rafters from passing through a remote stretch of wilderness, outfitters said. The Middle Fork, a 100-mile stretch of water in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness, is considered one of the most thrilling whitewater floats in the country. After the blast, crews continued working with ropes and hand tools, moving several remaining logs. As many as 60 logs had plugged the river at the Pistol Creek Rapids. The Forest Service planned to scout the river first to make sure the path was clear before sending the rafters through....I didn't know you could blow up stuff in a wilderness area. Do you reckon they would blow up something to help a rancher? Nope...except maybe to protect his dog.
Oft-criticized Parks chief resigns post
The director of the National Park Service announced her resignation Wednesday from an agency often at odds with environmentalists and Westerners for shifting its focus from conservation to recreation. Fran Mainella headed the agency for six years and most recently oversaw a controversial rewriting of management policies for the parks under its care. Mainella is leaving her position to devote more time to her family, according to a Park Service release. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne told Mainella that perhaps her most important contribution was her "effort to foster a culture of partnership within the National Park Service," according to a letter released by the Interior Department. Mainella and the Park Service were sharply criticized by some members of Congress after the agency released a management proposal that would have placed more emphasis on recreation and expanded the use of snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles on federal land....When I worked at Interior, the Parkies would cut your throat if you messed with their turf. Looks like they're still at it. It will be interesting to see who Kempthorne appoints as Director of NPS, and also as Assistant Sec. of Fish, Wildlife & Parks. Should give us a feel for where he will take the dept.
Burns criticizes firefighters, says they didn't heed ranchers Republican Sen. Conrad Burns chastised a group of firefighters over the weekend for doing a "poor job" dousing a 92,000-acre blaze near Billings, a state report shows. Burns and the firefighters - members of the Augusta Hot Shots from the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest in Virginia -were at Billings Logan International Airport awaiting flights, according to Burns and Forest Service representatives. Burns approached the firefighters and told them they had "done a poor job" and "should have listened to the ranchers," according to a report prepared by Paula Rosenthal, a state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation employee who was sent to the airport to speak with the senator. Burns also said he had heard from one rancher that fire crews on the Bundy Railroad fire put a strip of fire retardant on the edge of Bureau of Land Management federal land, implying the fire crews were more interested in protecting public land than private....
Smokey Bear's New Anti-Fire Messages These past few days in the East County show once again how a small campfire can turn into mass destruction. To help reinforce the importance of fire prevention, the U.S. Forest Service is turning to an old friend. The message is not new, but as man-made wildfires devour more and more California land, it's a point that bears repeating. "As Americans are watching these terrible wildfires, we want to use this moment to remind them all through the Bambi and Smokey Bear PSAs to be extra vigilant in the wilderness," said Peggy Conlon of the Ad Council. The Ad Council, along with the forest service, is using Bambi and her wilderness friends to further drive home Smokey Bear's point. The public service announcements will run throughout the season....Do the Federales really think the illegal immigrants who started the fire will be watching Smokey & Bambi on TV?
Federal agency removes falcon from endangered list When the first breeding pair of endangered northern aplomado falcons in half a century were spotted near Deming in 2002, biologists and the showy raptor's fans were ecstatic. Now, environmental groups are vowing to fight in federal court against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to remove the bird from the endangered species list at the same time the agency starts reintroducing captive-bred northern aplomado falcons in Southern New Mexico. They say the decision is premature, violates the Endangered Species Act and decreases protections for the raptor's habitat. The federal agency announced its final decision Wednesday to downlist the northern aplomado falcon to a "nonessential experimental species," and reintroduce the birds in Southern New Mexico, saying it is the quickest way to re-establish the bird of prey that once roamed the state's skies. The agency is working with the nonprofit Peregrine Fund, based in Idaho, which plans to release up to 150 northern aplomado falcons a year over the next decade in Southern New Mexico, possibly beginning as early as mid-August. "I think we share the same goals as the environmental groups that want to recover the bird," agency spokeswoman Elizabeth Slown said. "We just disagree on how. We think bringing in birds will help recover the birds more quickly."....
Appeals judges approve drilling for oil in NPR-A A federal appeals court Wednesday affirmed a decision that clears the way for oil drilling in part of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. A three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals backed a ruling by Judge James K. Singleton Jr. of Anchorage in January 2005 that rejected efforts by a coalition of environmental groups to increase wildlife protections in the northwest section of the 23.5-million-acre NPR-A. "We're certainly disappointed in the decision," said Stan Senner, executive director of Alaska Audubon. "We think BLM failed to consider a range of alternatives in the northwest NPR-A." The decision affects 8.8 million acres south and west of Barrow, Senner said. Singleton in January 2005 found that the environmental groups failed to make their case that the government, which is leasing land for oil and gas drilling in the reserve, violated environmental and other laws....
Warming warning targets parks Global warming threatens to damage 12 of the nation's most prominent parks, including Rocky Mountain and Mesa Verde national parks, according to a new report. The study, released Tuesday by the Colorado-based Rocky Mountain Climate Organization, says global warming will hit harder in the West, citing research that indicates temperatures will rise 3 to 7 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century. Among the global-warming changes forecast for the parks are the loss of glaciers at Glacier National Park by 2030, the eradication of Joshua trees at Joshua Tree National Park and reduced rafting opportunities at the Lake Mead and Glen Canyon natural areas. "A climate disrupted by heat-trapping pollution is the gravest threat our national parks have ever faced," said Stephen Saunders, an author of the report and a former deputy assistant secretary of the interior overseeing the National Park Service. In Colorado, big changes are forecast at Mesa Verde and Rocky Mountain national parks. Rocky Mountain is ranked among the top three parks vulnerable to ecosystem changes....
In Texas, Conditions Lead to a Rabble of Butterflies For a moment, Carol Cullar thought she was seeing fall leaves gusting down the highway south of Quemado, Tex., on the Mexican border. But it is blistering midsummer, Ms. Cullar, director of the Rio Bravo Nature Center in Eagle Pass, realized. And leaves would not all be flying north at two or three feet off the ground — car radiator height. These were butterflies. At least 200,000 of them, she guessed, perhaps a half-million. It was an invasion, she said, “like nothing I’ve ever seen.” South Texas is under siege from swarms of airborne migrants: tens of millions of Libytheana bachmanii larvata — snout butterflies to y’all — along with Kricogonia lysides, or yellow sulfurs, that have taken advantage of an unusual drought-and-deluge cycle to breed in spectacular if not record profusion. The smallish, dull-colored snouts take their name from an appendage they attach to branches to disguise themselves as leaves. Blinded drivers who have to pick the critters off their grilles to avoid dangerous engine overheating are less than enthralled, as are the mottephobes, who fear butterflies and moths. But lepidopterists are thrilled with the spectacle, which they predict may be only the beginning of a population explosion of snouts....
Ohio Supreme Court Rejects Taking of Homes for Project The Ohio Supreme Court ruled unanimously yesterday that a Cincinnati suburb cannot take private property by eminent domain for a $125 million redevelopment project. The property rights case was the first of its kind to reach a state’s highest court since the United States Supreme Court ruled last year that municipalities could seize property for private development that public officials argue would benefit the community. The Ohio decision rejected that view, and is part of a broader backlash. Since the ruling last year, 28 state legislatures have passed new protections against the use of eminent domain. “This is the final word in Ohio, and it says something that I think all Americans feel,” said Dana Berliner, a lawyer with the Institute for Justice, a public-interest law firm in Arlington, Va., who argued on behalf of the homeowners before the Ohio court. “Ownership of a home is a basic right, regardless of what the U.S. Supreme Court may have decided.” Since the Ohio case was argued based on the state’s Constitution, yesterday’s decision cannot be appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which decides matters involving federal law. The United States Supreme Court decision last year made it clear that state constitutions could set different standards for property rights. “The Ohio decision takes the loophole that was left by the U.S. Supreme Court decision and drives a Mack truck right through it,” said Richard A. Epstein, a law professor at the University of Chicago. Mr. Epstein said the decision was especially surprising coming from the Ohio Supreme Court, which he said had rarely reached unanimous decisions and had often sided with developers. “But this decision indicates that the justices were entirely distrustful of planning officials and developers working under nebulous criteria.”....Go here to read the decision.
Water and the West The West hasn't run out of water, but there's no longer enough for everyone who needs it. Urban growth and drought have boosted demand for water and crimped supply. Something has to give, and it's looking like the giver will be agriculture, as thirsty cities and suburbs increasingly buy up water rights to ranches, hay farms and other ag enterprises. Water that once supplied cattle and hay fields is now being shifted to fast-growth areas such as greater Denver, Las Vegas and southern California. The implications of this shift are profound. Beef producers with expansion hopes may find themselves with fewer options because land without water is of limited use. In addition, the infrastructure of rural communities will suffer as ag shrinks, leaving fewer customers for farm supply and equipment dealers. These issues create friction between rural communities and the cities that are buying up water. They also spur tension between producers who willingly sell their water rights and leave, and those who stay behind to continue in agriculture....
Cattle deaths labeled a crisis by ag commissioner With an estimated 120 dairy cows a day succumbing to the ongoing heat wave, San Joaquin County officials declared an emergency Tuesday to help farmers dispose of the carcasses. "We have a significant problem, a crisis problem," county Agricultural Commissioner Scott Hudson said after winning the unanimous emergency proclamation from the Board of Supervisors. With that proclamation, officials hope to set procedures, perhaps as early as today, to allow farmers and ranchers to dispose of large animals at landfills, compost or bury them on the farm, or simply hold them for rendering at some later date - all practices usually prohibited. Part of the problem is that there are only four or so rendering plants in the Central Valley to handle dead livestock properly since last year's closure of a Modesto facility, officials noted....
Knight backs simpler voluntary national animal ID system The Senate Ag Committee held a hearing Wednesday on the nomination of several top agriculture officials. Among them is, Bruce Knight, the current Chief of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, who has been nominated for the post of USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs. If confirmed, Knight will oversee key USDA agencies, including the Grain Inspection and Packers and Stockyards Administration, the Agricultural Marketing Service, and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. In that role, Knight will also be the administration’s point man on national animal ID. Missouri GOP Senator Jim Talent told Knight he doesn’t support a mandatory national animal ID program. “I also think that it’s the kind of program that either makes its value known to producers, or it doesn’t,” Talent said. “And if it doesn’t, then, obviously, a compulsory program’s not going to be a good idea. And if it does, then you’re going to get a lot of sign-ups without that.” Talent invited Knight to share his views, and Knight agreed with Talent that national animal ID should be a voluntary program. Knight also said national animal ID would be among his top priorities, and should be simplified to increase its adoption by livestock producers. “There is room for improvement making this touchable, tangible and understandable for farmers and ranchers,” Knight said. “We need a voluntary program that’s very easy to understand, and a program that is very apparent to producers why it’s important to both themselves as an individual and to the industry good as a whole,” he added....
Japan says lifts ban on US beef imports from Thursday Japan said it had formally decided to allow U.S. beef imports, suspended for the past six months, to restart from Thursday from all but one of 35 U.S. beef processing plants authorized by the U.S. government as suppliers to Japan. Japan's decision will take effect later in the day after it notifies the United States, a government official said. The decision came after the government concluded, based on a report from Japanese inspectors, that most of the authorized U.S. beef plants had no problems complying with Japan's safety requirements. Japan requires U.S. suppliers not to export beef from animals older than 20 months, and to eliminate specified risk materials suspected of spreading mad cow disease, such as spinal cords, before shipment....
Short term, heat wave may lower prices for beef Prolonged drought had already taken a toll on the pastures and fields of the Great Plains before this month's heat wave. Last week's triple-digit heat and the prospect of hitting 100 degrees again this weekend has made the situation even more critical. "We're seeing cattle moving into the feedlots 30 to 60 days early in the northern Plains," said John Harrington, an analyst with DTN. "All across Montana and the Dakotas, pasture is significantly below normal." An increase in cattle being sent to market early could, in the short term, lower beef prices for consumers. In the long term, though, it could mean an increase in prices....
Team Liberty plans to join the Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race Shawn Davis of Tucumcari and eight other horsemen from Quay County are setting their sights on The Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race of September 2007. Entered as Team Liberty, they will be one of the inaugural teams riding in the first race. The 13-day event from Sept. 3 through Sept. 13, 2007 will be from Santa Fe to Independence, Mo. The race will be 550 miles over 11 days. Davis, who is an inspector with the New Mexico Life Stock board, is Team Liberty’s captain. Other members are Pete Walden, Donnie Bidegain, Ryan Hamilton, Dustin Nials, Dereck Owen, Kacee Bradley, Paul Leonard and Dawson Higgins. “It’s a challenge because of the length of the race and it’s never been done before,” said Davis, organizer of the local team. Preparation is also about getting riders in shape. Beginning in November, not only will the horses be stretching out for five to eight miles, three times a week, “the guys will be running, too,” Davis said. Often, because of the terrain or to meet daily goals, the rider will dismount and run along with his horse, said Davis, who runs about a mile and a half four times a week....
Cowboys Celebrated in South Dakota Ten-gallon hats, boots and jeans were the preferred dress on Saturday as "cowpokes" across the country celebrated the National Day of the American Cowboy. Designated by presidential proclamation in 2005 as the fourth Saturday of each July, this annual event honors the history, culture and traditions of those who live a good portion of their lives in the saddle. Cowboys from across the northern plains gathered at the High Plains Western Heritage Center in Spearfish, South Dakota, to raise their hats to the men - and women - who lived the life that has become the image of the Old West. As familiar cowboy songs played in the background, they traded stories about their own cattle days, and shared some cowboy poetry. The Heritage Center was established in 1989 to house cowboy memorabilia and help preserve the history of this region. George Blair's father was one of the founders. At 84, Blair says he considers himself a cow "man," not a cow "boy."....

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

NEWS ROUNDUP

‘Environmentally sound’ drilling? The view from the edge of the Roan Plateau, more than 1,500 feet above the Colorado River, is a bit dull on this particular day, western Colorado’s normally crystalline air partly obscured by a haze emanating from distant wildfires raging elsewhere across the torrid Southwest. But the haze isn’t so bad as to hide what’s below: The miles of roads and seemingly countless well pads carved out of the sagebrush flats, evidence of our nation’s hunger for fossil fuels. Those same road-laced flats once were key winter range for one of Colorado’s biggest herds of mule deer. Today, it seems unlikely that mule deer, genetically disposed to stick close to their home range, could scrape even a meager living from that land swirled with a maze of roads, the heavy truck traffic throwing up clouds of dust and adding to the brown mantle across the sky. Keith Goddard, owner of Magnum Outfitters of Rifle, looked down the Roan Plateau’s steep sides and slowly counted the drill rigs working below. “Let’s see. I count at least five new ones, and there might be one behind that hill where we can’t see it,” said Goddard, who at 42 already has more than 20 years of guiding experience behind him. He turned to the handful of people around him. “If that’s any indication of what’s going to happen up here, you can kiss this area goodbye,” he said, his National Finals Rodeo buckle glinting in the sun....
Oregon battle sweeps West Oregon's property-rights movement is being exported across the western United States, letting voters from California to Montana decide how vigorously governments control the landscape. November ballot measures in a block of seven states this side of the Rocky Mountains would limit public officials' ability to buy and regulate property. But opposition is sweeping the West, too, with well-organized critics predicting scattered subdivisions and contaminated water if the measures pass. An initiative in Washington -- the one most like Oregon's Measure 37 -- offers a window into the clashing values that will fuel campaigns. Property-rights activists seized on their 2004 win in Oregon, where governments now waive land-use rules or pay owners for lost value. The U.S. Supreme Court inflamed the movement with its Kelo v. New London ruling, allowing government to forcibly buy land and turn it over to another private owner as an economic development tool. Both issues crop up in the latest batch of initiatives, including an Oregon proposal restricting governments' ability to condemn land. Allowing citizens to challenge regulations, as Measure 37 did, is more controversial. In Washington, Initiative 933 would require governments to excuse landowners from rules approved after 1995 or compensate them. New regulations could be created only as a last resort. State Farm Bureau leaders, who wrote the measure, say rural residents shouldn't shoulder the cost of discouraging country development, protecting habitat and shepherding people into cities....
Backers, critics debate scope of proposed law Fast-growing Southwest Washington makes the perfect case study for Initiative 933, as adversaries speculate about the measure's effect on city neighborhoods and rural landscapes. Dubbed the "Property Fairness Initiative," it has been modeled after Oregon's Measure 37. If the measure becomes law, governments would compensate landowners for restrictive planning rules or let them opt out. And in the future, public officials would have to study effects on property value before adopting regulations. Bill Zimmerman, president of the Clark-Cowlitz Farm Bureau, is convinced the time has come for a sweeping land-rights law in Washington. "What we're saying is, if you're going to do something that reduces the value of our property, then pay us for it," he said. Val Alexander, who owns 65 acres near La Center, sees consistent land-use regulations as her only hope to keep sprawl at bay. She operates a U-pick berry farm called Coyote Ridge Ranch. "It would make it very, very difficult for people to continue farming," Alexander said. "We'd see a lot more development in rural areas."....
Where is the Lincoln headed? New Lincoln National Forest supervisor Lou Woltering hopes to implement extensive and far-reaching plans the Forest Service has for the Lincoln. A strategic plan for the forest for 2006 through 2010 envisions thinning as a fire-management tool, restrictions on certain off-road activities, and monitoring of grazing allotments. Next year, the Forest Service is also starting a forest land management plan revision process. The Forest Service will be working with the public to develop the strategic direction that will guide the Lincoln Forest into the next 10 to 15 years. "We're going to be emphasizing the implementation of the southwestern region's central priority," Woltering said, the central priority being the restoration of "fire into fire" adapted ecosystems. Fire into fire, he explained, is an attempt to reestablish the natural fire systems that existed long ago, so that there isn't excessive undergrowth that can provide fuel for wildfires. "Historically," he said, "our ecosystems burned every 40 to 50 years, over hundreds of years." Now there is an excess of fuels that in a natural fire system would not have been allowed to accumulate. "Fire into fire" seeks to protect communities and private land owners from wildfires by treating fuels adjacent to communities and private land. "We'll be using logging, thinning, and prescribed burning to help us do that, so that fire plays a more natural role in maintaining a healthy forest." He said thinning is good for the health of the forest, and it also helps prevent wildfires....
Fish and Wildlife Service Moves To Expand Predator Control Against Endangered Mexican Wolves Today the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced its approval of a controversial set of recommendations for the endangered Mexican wolf that will leave the government unrestrained to kill and trap wolves for the next few years. The move is a precursor to an eventual rule change that will result in even more wolves being subject to the federal predator control program. “This is the Bush administration’s formal announcement that it will ignore the pleas of independent scientists to reduce wolf mortality by addressing the problem of cattle and horse carcasses that habituate wolves to preying on livestock,” said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity in Pinos Altos, New Mexico. The recommendations were developed by the interagency Mexican Wolf Adaptive Management Oversight Committee in its Blue Range Wolf Reintroduction Project’s Five-Year Review. They are available via the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s website at: MW 5-Year Review AMOC Recommendations Component. The recommendations, approved three years and three months late (from the five-year anniversary of the reintroduction program’s inception in March 1998), include the following four elements that will further jeopardize the Mexican wolf's survival and ultimately prevent its recovery:....
Ranchers eyed to protect grasslands The Nature Conservancy has opened an office here to focus on grassland conservation in communities, like Cheyenne, that are seeing rapid residential and commercial development. "We would like to see the ranching community stay out there on the land because they've done a really good job of keeping those lands in good shape," said Brent Lathrop, director of southeast Wyoming programs for The Nature Conservancy. Lathrop said prairie grasslands have largely disappeared, from the eastern tall-grass prairies to the western short-grass that makes up more than one third of Wyoming's land area. He said grasslands are among the most threatened ecosystems in the world. Development is rapidly consuming the prairie along Colorado's Front Range, Lathrop said. Lathrop said his group wouldn't advocate for limiting development, but would instead seek ways to help ranchers keep their land in operation instead of selling it for development. Jim Magagna, executive vice president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, said his group had had positive relations with the state chapter of The Nature Conservancy, despite not always agreeing with The Nature Conservancy's national agenda....
Put another log on the mire A logjam on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River has temporarily blocked about 200 rafters from floating through a remote stretch of wilderness, outfitters say. The Middle Fork, a 100-mile stretch of water in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness, is considered one of the most thrilling whitewater floats in the country. The central Idaho waterway is accessible only to those with permits. U.S. Forest Service spokesmen and outfitters familiar with the Middle Fork told KTVB-TV in Boise that they have never seen a blockage this large. Heavy rain caused a Monday washout that pushed "a bunch of logs, from 50 to 60 logs" into the river, said Jackie Nefzger, of Mackay Wilderness River Trips. "It's completely blocked the Middle Fork." Her company has a group of 24 rafters in the area, as well as six guides, she said Tuesday. It could take as long as three days to clear the debris, U.S. Forest Service spokesmen said....
Montana Forest Proposition May Close Singletrack Access A proposed Montana forest plan revision could set a dangerous national precedent by closing hundreds of miles of singletrack to bicycles. Montana's Bitterroot, Flathead and Lolo National Forests are recommending a new policy that will ban bicycles from trails in many roadless areas where access is currently allowed. More than 400 miles of trail in seven roadless areas near Missoula are at risk, including many epic routes cherished by local cyclists. Some of the best trails include Heart Lake, Monture Creek, Bluejoint Creek and Blodgett Canyon. The Great Burn area alone contains 139 miles of singletrack that will be made off-limits to bicycles. Unless cyclists take action, the Forest Service will zone these lands as "Recommended Wilderness," and will ban bicycles. Although most national forests around the country allow existing uses such as mountain biking to continue in Recommended Wilderness, the Bitterroot, Flathead and Lolo will not, thus setting a dangerous precedent....
Feathers bring more charges for activist Animal-rights activist Rodney Coronado, who is awaiting sentencing on convictions related to disruption of the March 2004 mountain-lion hunt in Sabino Canyon, has been additionally charged with possessing the feathers of a golden eagle and other protected birds. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service cited Coronado Friday on two misdemeanor counts of possessing golden eagle feathers and migratory bird feathers, said Frank Solis, special agent for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He said the feathers were found at Coronado's Tucson home in February when the FBI arrested him on unrelated charges. In addition to the eagle feathers, Solis said, agents found feathers of a great horned owl, barn owl, great blue heron, redtail hawk, Cooper's hawk and Harris hawk. The citations, which are misdemeanor charges, seek a combined fine of $1,350, Solis said. Coronado could legally possess the feathers if he were a registered member of an American Indian tribe, but he is not, said Solis. Coronado's Tucson attorney Antonio Felix said Coronado is a member of the Yaqui Tribe but Felix said he was still researching the issue of tribal registration and could not comment on the new charge....
House bans Valle Vidal drilling Backers of a bill in Congress to protect one of the most popular hunting, fishing and hiking areas in northern New Mexico - the Valle Vidal - from oil and gas drilling say its fate is up to Sen. Pete Domenici. Without objection, the House passed a measure Monday that puts the 101,000-acre portion of Carson National Forest northeast of Red River off-limits to mineral exploration. The area is home to the state's largest elk herd and is used annually by thousands of Boy Scouts from nearby Philmont Scout Ranch. Thousands of people have voiced support for the drilling ban. "The people's voice has been heard, but the job isn't over yet," said Jeremy Vesbach, director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation. "It will not pass without Sen. Domenici's support." The Albuquerque Republican remained noncommittal Monday, praising Udall for his "good purpose" but saying he still preferred to let the U.S. Forest Service decide the fate of the area as part of an ongoing study....
Ruling backs mining Saying the public's right to hold federal agencies accountable is threatened, activists and local officials are pondering their next step after a federal appeals court shot down their challenge of selling public land for a mine atop a western Colorado mountain. A ruling issued by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday upheld a lower court's finding that third parties can't legally challenge mining patents - essentially deeds - on public lands. Town and county officials and residents have been fighting for nearly 30 years to stop a molybdenum mine on the summit of Mount Emmons, which towers over the ski community of Crested Butte. The ruling could affect similar claims throughout the West and silence the public's voice on an important public-lands issue, said Jeff Parsons, senior attorney with the Western Mining Action Project, which is helping represent Crested Butte, Gunnison County and the High Country Citizens Alliance. A three-judge panel of the appeals court sided with an earlier ruling that said only people with a competing claim to ownership of the land can sue....
Researchers find a new genus of cricket Researchers say they have discovered a new type of cricket in the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, located in a remote strip of land on the Utah-Arizona border. The cricket was discovered in samples taken from the area last spring by Kyle Voyles, a state of Arizona cave coordinator and a physical science technician with the Bureau of Land Management, and J. Judson Wynne, a Northern Arizona University doctoral candidate. Voyles and Wynne spent time surveying 24 caves and taking samples from 15. "Finding a new species is one thing, but finding a new genus is beyond my wildest dream," Kyle Voyles, a state of Arizona cave coordinator said. A genus is a broader category in the classification of animals; it can encompass many related species. In addition to the possible new genus of cricket, four new species of crickets have been identified from the spring samples. A barklouse also was found in the caves. Though common in South America, this was the first one discovered in North America, Voyles said....
Former owners sold monument to BLM after 38 years An unscripted encounter of some historical significance took place Monday at Pompeys Pillar National Monument. Peyton "Bud" Clark, great-great-great-grandson of Capt. William Clark, and other members of his family met Stella Foote, the woman mostly responsible for preserving the sandstone monument where Capt. Clark carved his name 200 years ago today. Foote and her late husband, Don Foote, already ardent collectors of Western books and artifacts, purchased Pompeys Pillar in 1955 and operated the historical landmark for 38 years, until selling it to the Bureau of Land Management in 1991. Bud Clark met Stella Foote Monday afternoon, after delivering a presentation on Capt. Clark during the Lewis and Clark Signature Event at Pompeys Pillar. He said he had talked to Stella Foote by phone before, but had not met her. He was impressed.
"Had it not been for their family's diligence, we might not be standing here," he said....
Tug of War Is On in Montana Over Public Access to Waterway Mitchell Slough is a slice of Montana heaven, a meandering 13-mile-long waterway that purls gently past houses and ranches, with the black backs of large, darting trout visible beneath the crystal-clear surface. There are some two dozen landowners along the waterway, including the rock musician Huey Lewis and a Las Vegas contractor who built a dazzling home with a glass floor over a branch of the slough. Now lawyers for Mr. Lewis and the other landowners are before the Montana Supreme Court arguing that the waterway is no more than a man-made ditch. The case turns on a state law that mandates public access to natural waterways, something Mr. Lewis and the others insist should not apply to Mitchell Slough. For the property owners, the story of the slough would not be titled “A River Runs Through It,” but “An Irrigation Ditch Runs Through It.” “Definitely it is a ditch, because it’s diverted water for irrigation,” Mr. Lewis said by phone from New York, where he was on tour. “If you watch the water levels go up and down, you know it’s a ditch.” A state district judge agreed in May that while Mitchell Slough was once part of the nearby Bitterroot River, it had been transformed by the hand of man, by changes including numerous head gates that control flows, and so was exempt from the Montana stream access law....
Cuba oil probe spurs calls for U.S. drilling Congressional proponents of oil and gas drilling are pointing to Cuba's exploration off the coast of Florida -- with help from China -- as a prime reason to open up U.S. drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. But Florida legislators continue to resist, and some of them are trying to stop Cuba's activities by pushing to rescind a 1977 treaty dividing the Straits of Florida halfway between the two countries. The Bush administration, with an eye toward the pivotal role Florida has played in presidential politics and out of solidarity with President Bush's brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, has largely sided with Florida in the dispute. It supports only very limited drilling off the coast of Florida, as would be permitted under a bill pending in the Senate. "American politics today -- it is the no-drill zone," said Sen. Larry E. Craig, Idaho Republican. "We sit here watching China exploit a valuable resource within eyesight of the U.S. coast," he said, noting that one 2005 U.S. Geological Survey estimated the North Cuba Basin may contain as much oil as the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve in Alaska....
Bears Seeking Food Near People in Denver Triathlete Sabrina Oei was speeding downhill at nearly 40 mph, cycling through the Colorado foothills during a race, when something brought her to a sudden, painful, stop: a bear. Oei, 31, slammed broadside into a black bear when it wandered onto the race course Sunday. She went airborne, then slid on her back across the pavement. She wasn't seriously injured and even finished the triathlon. The bear didn't seem to be hurt, either, scampering back into the woods. But the unusual high-speed encounter is a dramatic example of what experts are seeing across the West as drought forces bears to forage farther for food while urban development pushes into formerly wild areas. Oei's encounter is the latest anecdotal evidence coming in from around the West this year: In Nevada, near Lake Tahoe, a bear climbed into a vintage convertible July 2 and snacked on pizza and beer as a crowd gathered. In Alaska, a bear charged a jogger in an Anchorage city park this month. In Colorado Springs, a woman last week came home to find a bear rummaging through her refrigerator....
Culberson County residents like spaceport plans Residents and officials from a sparsely populated West Texas county who showed up this evening at a federal hearing are thrilled Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos has chosen their remote area for a commercial space venture. "We are very excited about Blue Origin," Ron Helm, 50, an area rancher, said at a Federal Aviation Administration hearing on the spaceport being developed by the Internet billionaire's company. "As far as we can tell, this is a great opportunity." "This has a lot of possibilities," added Mayor Okey D. Lukas, 70, who described the secretive venture under construction about 25 miles north of his town of about 3,000 people as the biggest thing to hit Culberson County in his 23 years in office. The FAA hearing was to take public comment on a 229-page draft report of an environmental assessment of the project on some 165,000 acres of property Bezos has purchased in the county about 120 miles east of El Paso. The hearing drew about three dozen area residents, and none expressed any misgivings....
Spaceport America! I recently visited the Southwest Region Spaceport near this former railroad siding and cattle holding area, Upham, New Mexico. I was on what tourism marketers call a “show me tour” and in the company of Spaceport information officer Katie Roberts, William Gutman, Ph.D., deputy director of Emerging Technologies Lab at New Mexico State University, and French journalist Philippe Boulet-Gercourt of the Observateur. We visited one of the ranches, the Bar Cross, owned by Ben and Jane Cain, who were named New Mexico Ranchers of the Year by the New Mexico Cattlemen’s Association a few years ago. The Bar Cross once covered 10 square miles, mostly leased BLM land, but they’ve been passing it along to their kids. The Cains got it in 1955 after the military urged them off a spread to the east that was to become military property. Now they’ll be moving again to make room for the spaceport, and are taking it in stride. “Things happen,” said Jane. “That’s progress, I guess.”....
Dairy cows dying Blistering heat has killed thousands of dairy cows in the Central Valley, depressed milk production and put crops such as walnuts and peaches at risk, state agriculture officials said Tuesday. "Humans take a while to acclimate to the heat, and animals are impacted as well," said Ann Schmidt-Fogarty, a spokeswoman for the California Farm Bureau. "We are doing all we can to protect them. But farmers are scrambling -- I don't think anyone anticipated this number of days when it was this hot." The large number of dairy cow deaths have overwhelmed the rendering plants that normally dispose of the carcases. "If you don't bury them, you have to deal with the stench and flies," said John Ferreira of the Cotta & Ferreira Dairy in Stockton. The state Department of Food and Agriculture has issued a waiver in eight counties allowing animal carcases to be disposed of in landfills. Steve Lyle, a spokesman for the department said his agency believes thousands of head of livestock have died, but he could not provide a specific number....
A Trans-Texas Horror There is an issue in Texas quietly building steam in what could be a major campaign theme in this fall's elections for governor and the state agricultural commissioner. It's an issue that has folks in rural Texas feeling the pain of Native Americans centuries prior. It's an issue that has farmers and ranchers readying their pitchforks. And it's an issue that has some of the most conservative counties in the state upset with Republicans they used to consider defenders of free men on the range. The issue is the Trans-Texas Corridor, a 4,000-mile, $183-billion plan proposed by Republicans and promoted by Gov. Rick Perry as the 50-year solution to Texas' traffic needs. The routes span the state, snaking across central and eastern Texas, connecting Laredo to Oklahoma and Arkansas. Future routes could bring in an East-West line from El Paso or others up through the Panhandle. Each corridor could contain up to four trucker lanes, six vehicle lanes, six rail lines and a 200-foot utility path. At its maximum size, each TTC could be 1,200 feet wide, consuming up to 9,000 square miles of land, more than exists in all of New Jersey....