NEWS ROUNDUP

Column - Going left isn’t the best way to go green The midterm elections are approaching fast, and as usual the environment is considered a Democratic issue. I had no problem with that when I was fighting strip mines in Ohio in 1973; environmentalism was synonymous with leftist politics. In the early ’80s, when a friend told me someone named Dave Foreman was forming an environmental group named EarthFirst, I was among the first to become involved. Now that I’m older, I've come to believe that an automatic identification between the left and the environmental movement is neither good for the environment nor for environmentalism. The main reason for this change of mind and heart is that I've become convinced that the private sector is more effective than government at producing just about anything, healthy ecosystems included. In 30 years of activism, the most impressive environmental successes I’ve encountered were achieved by individuals operating according to principles that make up the conservative playbook. In each case, individual initiative, personal accountability, the free market and rewards for results were more effective at saving endangered species, healing damaged ecosystems in the West, and even combating global warming than the government alternative of regulation. Take just one example: In Arizona, in 1946, the Forest Service created the Drake Exclosure to protect a tract of damaged rangeland from grazing and human use under the assumption that this would restore it to ecological health. Sixty years later, 90 percent of the plant species within the exclosure have disappeared, and the distance between plants can be measured in yards. But outside the exclosure, on land that has continued to be grazed under the management of a responsible rancher, the distance between plants can be measured in inches. Leftist environmentalists have lobbied to expand the preserve to include the rest of the ranch....
A Matter of Trust Teachers, environmentalists, homebuilders, ranchers, business leaders, politicians and--of course--lawyers have been wrestling for nearly a decade over how to best handle more than 9 million acres of state trust land scattered across Arizona. Now voters have a chance to settle the disputes on Nov. 7, when they'll decide the fate of Proposition 105 and Proposition 106, a pair of dueling reform measures on the ballot. The teachers, environmentalists and business leaders have embraced Proposition 106, which would set aside almost 700,000 acres of environmentally sensitive land, create a new public board to review State Land Department decisions and provide more planning resources for trust land. On the other side are homebuilders, cattle ranchers and school board officials, who are supporting Proposition 105, which would set aside about 40,000 acres (with as much as 400,000 acres down the line--if the Legislature approves of such conservation efforts), but otherwise preserve the status quo of current trust-land management....
Reservoir Hogs Keep driving past the point where dust coats your teeth and eyes, past any sign of human habitation to the very west end of the state. There, smack on the border with Nevada and seemingly rising out of nowhere, you’ll find some of the highest peaks in Utah—the Deep Creek Mountains—and the Snake Valley stretched out below. The Deep Creeks are 12,000-foot-high collectors of water, and home to seven creeks that flow year round, giving the mountains their name. Isolated since the Pony Express stopped passing through in the 1860s, the Snake Valley is thought by some to be one of few places left to search for the liquid gold needed to satisfy the thirst of the West’s growing population. It’s also here that Las Vegas is digging for water. It’s on the Nevada side of the mountains that Las Vegas is planning hundreds of wells and a 285-mile-long pipeline that will move the Deep Creeks’ water to Las Vegas. A total of 200,000 acre-feet of water—that’s 65 billion gallons—would be shipped from rural Nevada to Las Vegas each year under the plan. Nine of the wells are planned just five miles from the Utah border in a valley straddling the Utah-Nevada line. Las Vegas’ water officials have targeted the Snake Valley to produce up to 50,000 acre-feet of water per year, pumping water into Nevada that would otherwise flow into Utah’s Great Basin. Not all of those 50,000 acre-feet would have flowed into Utah. Nevertheless, those who populate one of the sparsest corners of Utah warn that such a massive transfer of water will cause irreparable environmental damage....
Inventor helps grasslands go native Montana rancher and inventor Lee Arbuckle may soon change the nation's market for native grass seed, a tricky-to-harvest crop worth hundreds of millions and vital to restoring wildlands. With the help of the Montana Manufacturing Extension Center at Montana State University, Arbuckle and his wife Maggie have spent the last five years researching and developing a native grass seed harvester. The Arbuckle Native Seedster will be manufactured in Billings, with the first one on the market in 2007. "We're going to change the economics of the native grass seed industry," Arbuckle said. "The Seedster isn't a combine or a stripper, but a new-fangled plucker. This harvester isn't a better mousetrap; it's the first one." Native grass seed is a growing market. Federal, state and local governments purchase large amounts of native seed, as do ranchers and landscapers. Such seed produces grasses that are prized for their drought and wildfire resistance, ability to stabilize eroding soil, desirability as forage and reseeding capacity. Much of the seed market is for the restoration of lands disturbed by mining, road construction and fires....
Local Author has Critics Howling Question: How do you make a ballroom filled with 300 nicely attired adults, including the mayor of Denver, bay at the moon? Answer: You demand it of them, especially if you’re one of the editors of Comeback Wolves; Western Writers Welcome the Wolf Home and you just won the Colorado Book Award in the Anthology/Collection category. “I had the whole crowd howling to call back wolves to their home habitat in Colorado,” says Gary Wockner, a Fort Collins writer, conservationist and one of three editors for Comeback Wolves. “So every one ripped one out full-throated. “That was fun.” Comeback Wolves features the work of 51 contributors, including Wockner, each of whom have written poems, essays and short stories celebrating the reintroduction of one of the most iconic animals of the American West: the gray wolf. Wockner says he conceived the idea for the book after he was appointed to the Colorado Wolf Working Group by the Division of Wildlife. When he made the call for entries, he says he was stunned by the response....
Man Arrested Again For Unlawful S. UT Jeep Tours A man once convicted of failing to get a license to lead Jeep tours in the canyons of southern Utah was arrested for doing it again, the U.S. Forest Service said. Agents for the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management and Kanab police arrested Kenneth Paul Church, 57, Tuesday for operating "Blindfold Tours" out of Kanab, guiding trips to slot canyons and other scenic vistas on public lands. Church is appealing a conviction of operating without a permit in 2004, a statement from the Forest Service said....
Search begins in N.M. for uranium in hopes of reviving industry A Nevada company is looking to drill in a uranium-rich area in western New Mexico in hopes of reviving the industry there. Urex Energy Corp. of Reno plans to drill 21 exploratory holes on 2,700 acres of La Jara Mesa at the base of Mount Taylor. Urex is one of seven companies that have mining claims in the Mount Taylor area near Grants. Canada-based Laramide Ltd. already has approval for exploratory drilling on the mesa, and Cibola National Forest officials expect more companies will apply for permits on forest land by the spring. "There's a lot of interest, so there are new companies, for the most part, (that) went and bought old existing claims," said Rod Byers, minerals project manager for the forest. "They already know from the previous stuff that there is uranium out there. They just need to confirm it." In 1978, New Mexico had 55 bustling uranium mines _ the most in the nation. But low prices forced the companies out of business. The state's last major operation, Chevron Resources Co.'s Mount Taylor Mine, closed in 1990....
$236 Million Lawsuit Filed By Cedar Fire Victims A group of residents whose properties were damaged or destroyed by the 2003 Cedar fire accidentally set three years ago Wednesday is suing the federal government for more than $236 million, arguing that officials should have stopped the blaze in its early stages. The suit, which plaintiffs' lawyers hope will be certified as a class action, also says federal officials should not have allowed hunting or other recreational uses in the Cleveland National Forest because an extreme fire hazard existed, the North County Times reported. Sergio Martinez, of West Covina, admitted setting the fire on Oct. 25, 2003, to signal for help after he became lost while hunting in the Kesslar Flats area. The suit filed Friday asserts that the federal government had a legal obligation to "eliminate known dangerous conditions" on federal land, the Times reported. The government failed to fulfill its obligations by allowing hunting at a time of known fire danger and by failing to suppress the fire when it had just begun, the lawsuit alleges, according to the North County Times....
Weight Gain Means Lower Gas Mileage Want to spend less at the pump? Lose some weight. That's the implication of a new study that says Americans are burning nearly 1 billion more gallons of gasoline each year than they did in 1960 because of their expanding waistlines. Simply put, more weight in the car means lower gas mileage. Using recent gas prices of $2.20 a gallon, that translates to about $2.2 billion more spent on gas each year. "The bottom line is that our hunger for food and our hunger for oil are not independent. There is a relationship between the two," said University of Illinois researcher Sheldon Jacobson, a study co-author. "If a person reduces the weight in their car, either by removing excess baggage, carrying around less weight in their trunk, or yes, even losing weight, they will indeed see a drop in their fuel consumption." The same effect has been seen in airplanes. Research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that heavy fliers have contributed to higher fuel costs for airlines....
Ag Department gives $20 million in powdered milk for catfish feed The Agriculture Department was faulted Wednesday for donating $20 million in powdered milk to a Mississippi feed mill that sold it as catfish food. The department's inspector general said there was no legal authority for the department to donate the milk and urged Agriculture officials to try to recover the value of the milk and the $579,000 cost of shipping it. At issue is a stockpile of powdered milk stored in manmade caves near Kansas City, Mo., and in warehouses across the country. The government buys the milk to prop up prices paid to dairy farmers, and it has spent more than $20 million annually to store it. The department was looking for ways to get rid of the powdered milk when a Mississippi State University professor asked for some so he could study its use as a protein substitute in catfish food. In their eagerness to unload the milk, agriculture officials "did not follow prudent business practices in donating" the milk powder, the audit said. Officials offered the professor much more milk powder than he requested and also offered to pay for shipments....
Meat Labels Hope to Lure the Sensitive Carnivore Many cows, pigs and chickens will soon be living cushier lives. But in the end, they will still be headed for the dinner plate. Whole Foods Market is preparing to roll out a line of meat that will carry labels saying “animal compassionate,” indicating the animals were raised in a humane manner until they were slaughtered. The grocery chain’s decision to use the new labels comes as a growing number of retailers are making similar animal-welfare claims on meat and egg packaging, including “free farmed,” “certified humane,” “cage free” and “free range.” While the animal-welfare labels are proliferating, it remains unclear whether they appeal to anyone other than a niche market of animal lovers, particularly since the meat and eggs are as much as twice as expensive as products that do not carry the labels....
Wealthy Weekend 'Amenity' Ranchers Taking Over the West A new study suggests that in many parts of the American West, the grizzled, leathery rancher riding the range to take care of his cattle and make a buck is being replaced by wealthy "amenity" owners who fly in on weekends, fish in their private trout ponds, and often prefer roaming elk to Herefords. They don't much care whether or not the ranch turns a profit. And many of them think that wolves are neat. In a 10-year survey of ranchland ownership change on private lands around Yellowstone National Park, scientists found only 26 percent of the large ranches that changed hands went to traditional ranchers, while "amenity buyers" snapped up 39 percent of the properties, and another 26 percent went to investors, developers or part-time ranchers. The study was done by researchers from Oregon State University, the University of Colorado and the University of Otago in New Zealand, and published in Society and Natural Resources, a professional journal. It was funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and Yellowstone Heritage. This phenomenon, scientists say, is a reflection of forces affecting many parts of the American West, in which ranchlands become getaway retreats for the rich, or vehicles to fulfill a childhood fantasy. Livestock production often takes a back seat to scenic enjoyment, fishing and solitude. In a number of cases, wealthy owners are experimenting with restoration of native ecosystems, large scale conservation projects, and innovative approaches to blend conventional ranching with non-lethal predator control. Traditional ranchers are finding themselves priced out of business, while a whole new cottage industry is emerging of managers who jokingly call themselves "ranch butler," "ranch ambassador," or simply "mouse trapper." They are well-trained professionals responsible for the complex operations of a modern ranch, but also are required to keep it looking nice for when the owner comes to visit....
Five inductees honored at Cowgirl Hall of Fame Two ranchers, a pair of rodeo stars and a women's rights advocate will be inducted Thursday into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame. The inductees are Texas resident Minnie Lou Bradley and Hawaii cowgirl Rose Cambra Freitas; rodeo stars Sharon Camarillo and the late Bonnie McCarroll; and suffrage leader Esther Hobart Morris. Ed Bass, chairman of the Fort Worth Stock Show Rodeo, will receive the Fern Sawyer Award, which is given periodically to a notable contributor to the hall of fame. Minnie Lou Bradley was the first woman to receive a degree in animal husbandry from Oklahoma State University. In 1952, she was the first woman to win the collegiate livestock judging title at the International Livestock Show in Chicago. She has worked with the Ranch Management Program at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth for the past half century, helping students learn about the industry. Born in 1897, Bonnie McCarroll made history in 1922 by winning the cowgirl bronc riding championship at the two most prestigious rodeos in the nation. She performed in front of kings, queens, dignitaries and an American president. After she died in a bronc riding accident in the 1929 Pendleton Round-Up in Pendleton, Ore., the key organizers of the day all but banned women's roughstock riding at rodeo performances....