NEWS ROUNDUP


Mammoth task of reversing history The impact of extinct large mammals can still be seen in the design of living creatures. Take the pronghorn Antilocapra americana, an antelope-like animal found throughout the south-western US, as an example. Various traits were honed long ago on the North American grasslands so, by today's standards, it is "overbuilt," according to Donlan. Four million years of hunting by the now-extinct American cheetah (Micracinonyx trumani ) was probably why the pronghorn is still able to run at 60mph. Returning free-ranging African cheetah to the south-west would restore the ecological interactions with the pronghorn and, as a bonus, provide endangered cheetah with a new habitat. Owners of private land in the central and western US are already testing rewilding with a rather more ponderous creature. The Bolson tortoise (Gopherus flavomarginatus, known locally as Tortuga Grande), which can weigh up to 100 pounds, once thrived in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Mexico. Today, it survives only in a small area of northern Mexico. A pilot study to reintroduce the tortoise has already started on Armendaris Ranch in eastern Sierra County, New Mexico, owned by former media tycoon Ted Turner, now an environmentalist....
Lead poisoning eyed as threat to California condor One of the great feel-good environmental stories of the past 30 years is the recovery of the majestic California condor, North America's largest bird, a scavenger-turned-billboard for the campaign to save endangered species. On the brink of extinction, saved by a captive-breeding program, the condor population has grown from just 22 birds in 1982 to 289 today; 135 are in the wild and more are released every year. Even so, condors have failed to gain a secure foothold in the hills and deserts of California and Arizona because of lead poisoning, the most often diagnosed cause of death, environmentalists say. Environmental groups say the most likely source is condors' eating of game that was shot by hunters using lead bullets. Frustrated that most hunters have not switched to substitutes, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and other groups notified California officials in July that they will sue under the Endangered Species Act to force a ban. At a meeting of state fish and game staff this month to discuss potential hunting-rule changes to recommend, the groups again asked for a ban on lead ammunition. A decision is likely early next year. Lead shot used in shotguns to hunt waterfowl has been prohibited since the 1980s....
Manatee spotted in Memphis river An adventurous manatee strayed far from its usual coastal habitat to make an appearance on a Mississippi River tributary near downtown Memphis on Monday. The distance on the curvy river from near its delta in Louisiana to Memphis is more than 725 miles, according to Army Corps of Engineers charts. "I got a call about 3 p.m. about either a hippo or a manatee in the water," said Andy Tweed, an officer with the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency. Officers from the agency and zoologists from the Memphis Zoo confirmed the sighting and observed the animal from boats. The endangered species generally prefers warm coastal waters ranging from Alabama to South Carolina, although there were sightings this August along the East Coast up to Rhode Island. "If he did swim from Florida, he's doing really well," Tweed said, estimating its size between eight and 10 feet, and its weight up to 1,000 pounds....
Channel Speaks Up for Wildlife Animal Planet has joined forces with animal and environmental activist organizations to form R.O.A.R. (Reach Out, Act, Respond), a nonprofit national campaign to protect animals. Participants include the American Humane Association, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the American Veterinary Medical Association, Earthwatch Institute, EcoZone, the Humane Society of the United States, the National Wildlife Federation, the Jane Goodall Institute's Roots & Shoots program, Wildlife Warriors and the World Wildlife Fund. The campaign kicked off Oct. 18 with a fund-raising party in Los Angeles, hosted by Hal Sparks ( Celebrity Duets , Showtime's Queer as Folk ). The following day, Animal Planet began running R.O.A.R. campaign spots featuring Animal Planet personality Jeff Corwin, Dr. Jane Goodall, Animal Precinct 's Annemarie Lucas and Emergency Vets doctors Holly Knor and Kevin Fitzgerald....
Groups see hope for eco-issues on Nov. 7 A recent mailer to voters in a House district south of San Francisco Bay accused the incumbent Republican, Rep. Richard Pombo, of failing to act on "documented charges of child prostitution, forced abortion and sweatshop labor." The mailer ties Pombo, chairman of the House Resources Committee, to corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who represented business interests in the North Marianas Islands, a U.S. territory where abuses have been alleged. The only mention of the environment was in the disclosure: Paid for by Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund. Pombo's defeat would cheer environmentalists across the country -- and affect the debate on drilling for oil and gas off the Florida coast. Though still appearing to lead his Democratic rival, a wind energy engineer named Jerry McNerney, Pombo is the No. 1 target of environmental groups determined to oust him on a wave of voter revulsion at Republican ethical problems. As chairman of the House Resources Committee, Pombo earned the enmity of environmentalists since he took the post two years ago and led efforts to rewrite the Endangered Species Act and expand offshore oil and gas drilling....
Analyst: Richard Pombo In Political Fight Of Life Political eyes across the nation are focused on a handful of races that could turn the balance of power in Congress. Democrats need to win 15 seats to take control of the House of Representatives. One of the races democrats are hoping to win is District 11 here in the Bay Area. The polls show the race is tight between Rep. Richard Pombo and his democratic opponent Jerry McNerney. District 11 covers parts of the South Bay and the Tri-valley area, but the biggest portion of the district is in San Joaquin County. Pombo is a rancher from Tracy and chairman of the powerful House Resources Committee. President George W. Bush held a fundraiser for Pombo in October. While Mcnerney has always made himself available to talk to voters and reporters, Pombo has turned down requests for interviews for the past month, according to NBC11's Damian Trujillo....
19 bears reported killed as hunt opens Sitting in his tree stand yesterday morning, Danny Fyffe barely had time to raise a decent-sized goosebump when a black form ambled into view. "Should I shoot?" he asked his friend, Greg Haberkorn, huddled next to him. Before Haberkorn could answer, a larger form came into view less than a football field away. Shouldering his rifle, Fyffe fired twice. The black bear stumbled a few yards and rolled over. He fired once more. With that, the Baltimore City police detective recorded the first bear kill of the season, a 290-pound male that had been tagged as a nuisance animal by wildlife biologists last year. The landowner, George Shifflett, was pleased. "There are way too many bears up here. I've videotaped seven different ones in an hour," he said, watching state wildlife biologists weigh and measure the kill. "There's one that makes this one look like a baby - 5 1/2 [550 to] 600 pounds - that keeps tearing our apple trees down."....
New World Wildlife Fund Report Details Global Impact on Natural Resources Following this week's news that the population of the United States has now exceeded 300 million, a new report from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) details the strain on the world's natural resources and the declining numbers of the animal species that depend on them and offers solutions to reverse downward trends in both these areas. WWF's Living Planet Report 2006, which explores the overall impact of humankind on the planet, reports that the world's natural ecosystems are being degraded at a rate unprecedented in human history. The report confirms that humanity is using the planet's resources faster than they can be renewed and that populations of vertebrate species have declined by about one third since 1970. "The bottom line of this report could not be more clear -- for 20 years we've lived our lives in a way that far exceeds the carrying capacity of the Earth," said Carter S. Roberts, president and CEO of World Wildlife Fund. "The choices we make today will shape the possibilities for the generations which follow us. The fact that live we live beyond our means in our use of natural resources will surely limit opportunities for future generations that follow."....Go here to view the report.
'Taking On Goliath' - Citizens Tackle Coal Bed Methane Development In response to the Bush administration's heightened emphasis on drilling for oil and gas in the West, Orion Magazine, "America's finest environmental magazine" (Boston Globe), today issued an on-line citizens' primer on coal bed methane development, entitled "Taking On Goliath." The primer includes the full text of feature articles in the magazine's new November/December issue and a Web site (http://www.orionmagazine.org/cbm) that includes extensive maps, 27 reports and publications, contact lists for 43 citizens' groups, audio clips featuring people most affected, and extensive video and print resources for reporters, editors, and activists. "Across the West, gas development is devastating land and people," said Orion executive editor Harlan C. Clifford. "Americans' thirst for energy is driving a wave of energy industrialization that threatens communities throughout twelve Western states, including New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and Montana." Last year, a record 36,827 gas drilling permits were issued in the United States, many for coal bed methane (CBM) drilling. Many of these CBM wells are being drilled on private land, even when landowners strenuously object (many Western landowners own the surface rights to the land, but not the gas buried below). The results can be tragic for the people who make these places their home, Clifford said....
The horizon recedes again on Indians' vast royalty claims Hopes were high this summer when news reports from Washington, D.C., indicated that Congress could be on the verge of settling a long-running lawsuit against the federal government over billions of dollars claimed by Native American landowners across the West. The suit also returned to the national radar when an appeals court took the highly unusual step of removing the federal judge overseeing the matter, saying he had become too biased in favor of the Indians. But Congress adjourned for the election season without taking up the $8-billion near-deal outlined by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee. And anger and frustration returned to places like the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, home of Elouise Cobell, the lead plaintiff in the complicated case. "I'm afraid this whole problem is going to be swept under the rug again," said Cobell, a banker and rancher here....
Land above proposed resort must be protected, groups say Bob Clark of the Sierra Club doesn't mince words when it comes to the Bitterroot Resort's proposal to put ski runs on Lolo Peak and the side of Carlton Ridge. “Why should the public feel pressured to give up 12,000 acres of land so a handful of people can essentially benefit from elevated real estate prices?” he asked. Ever since Lolo rancher Tom Maclay announced his intention to build a world-class resort on his property at the base of the Bitterroot Mountains, people haven't hesitated to speak out against his idea of incorporating public lands. Maclay asked the U.S. Forest Service to consider designating thousands of acres of public lands open for development above his ranch as part of the agency's most recent planning process. Both the Bitterroot and Lolo national forests are currently updating the land-use plans that will establish their management direction for the next decade or so. Their final decisions are due this spring. Clark and others hope the agency will stick to its guns and retain the semi-primitive nature of Lolo Peak and Carlton Ridge....
Forest Service OKs logging The U.S. Forest Service has dismissed an objection from an environmental group that sought to delay the salvage logging of thousands of trees uprooted by a rare tornado in central Idaho. Bidding on timber sales has already begun. This Friday, the Forest Service will award contracts for an estimated 18.5 million board feet of downed and buckled timber in the Payette National Forest near the Oregon border, said spokesman Boyd Hartwig. After the Forest Service released an environmental assessment in August, the WildWest Institute, an environmental group based in Missoula, Mont., filed an objection. Regional Forester Jack Troyer, in Ogden, Utah, denied the objection last week....
Legislators urged to ban drilling on Rocky Mountain Front Representatives from more than 30 sportsmen's and outdoors groups have signed a letter to members of Congress asking them to support legislation intended to prevent future gas, oil and mineral exploration in Montana's Rocky Mountain Front. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., inserted the legislation into the Interior Appropriations bill. It would withdraw federal lands along the Rocky Mountain Front from future natural gas and oil leasing and mineral exploration. In their letter, the groups said that recent actions by two energy companies to sell or donate their leases along the Front, combined with Burns' legislation, will help permanently protect the Front from speculative natural gas exploration. "This nonpartisan, homegrown solution continues a 100-year tradition of conservation on the Front, protects public access and ranching traditions, enjoys the support of a solid majority of Montanans and helps maintain this stunning landscape for future generations to enjoy," the letter states....
Man shot by U.S. Forest official clearing pot field A man was shot by a law enforcement officer for the U.S. Forest Service after a marijuana grove was discovered Sunday on public land near Sunflower in northeastern Maricopa County, authorities said Monday.
The shooting occurred while officers were attempting to destroy about 3,100 plants that were spread over about a 4-acre area, said Paige Rockett, a spokeswoman for the Tonto National Forest. They encountered four armed suspects, one of whom aimed a rifle at them, Rockett said. An officer fired three times and wounded the man, she said. The 20-year-old suspect, whose name has not been released, was taken to a hospital with wounds that were not considered life-threatening, Rockett said....
USA's trees under relentless attack from bugs, blight Some of the USA's most treasured tree species, from ash and aspen to white pine and Hawaii's native wiliwili, are under attack by insects and diseases in a growing assault coast to coast. Some of the killers are foreign pests brought here in cargo or by travelers. Others are homegrown insects at epidemic levels because of drought and unusual warmth. This year has been the warmest on record. The Agriculture Department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service finished adopting new rules this summer barring cargo from abroad unless crates and pallets are treated with chemicals or heat to kill any bugs in the wood. "We're at one of those points in time where it's all happening at once," says Wayne Shepperd of the U.S. Forest Service. The mountain pine beetle, a native, has ravaged millions of acres of Western forests. Trees were weakened by drought or subjected to worse infestations because warmer temperatures allowed the bugs to multiply faster. The emerald ash borer from Asia is killing species that have no natural defenses....
What climate scientists have learned from Western wildfires Many wildland firefighters carry an instrument called a sling psychrometer. It consists of two encased thermometers, and is swung above the head on a short rope -- making the firefighters appear not unlike David readying to slay Goliath. The instrument gives a quick field reading of relative humidity, one of the most important factors in predicting what a wildfire is going to do. Quick drops in relative humidity are a sure signal that the air is getting drier and that a fire is about to turn ugly. Wildland firefighters know weather. They study weather reports and projections. They track fronts moving across the continent. Just like you, they watch The Weather Channel. But firefighters also have to understand the sky. They have to be aware of wind, and to understand wind they have to recognize how different cloud formations indicate coming changes. The last thing a firefighter wants is to be caught on the business end of an unforeseen wind change. So when wildland firefighters talk about climate change, it's good to listen. They have been paying attention. Toby Richards, a fire management officer for New Mexico's Gila National Forest, realized that something was changing in climate patterns when he had to check on a fire a few years back that had ignited in mid-winter above 9,000 feet. "We went up to a lookout and watched this fire burning in an area that was normally under six feet of snow," he remembers. "Every once in a while you will get a lightning strike up that high that burns a tree or two in the winter, but this fire grew to a hundred acres." Richards is not alone in observing changes in western wildfire patterns. Firefighters and fire scientists across the West have been noting for years that the fire season is getting longer, fires are growing larger, and many wildfires are starting to behave in ways that are considered unusual....
Greens miffed at governor's plan A federal judge last month tossed out a Bush administration policy that reopened more than 58 million acres of roadless forest closed off under President Clinton. Despite the ruling, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. plans to submit a roadless forest petition to the Department of Agriculture next month, as requested. And the petition will be notable, because it will, in all likelihood, lack any specific request to protect the state's roadless forest areas - which comprise roughly half of Utah's 8 million acres of national forest lands. A draft synopsis of Utah's petition, released by the state's Public Lands Policy Coordination Office, calls on the Forest Service to undertake "active" management of all Utah forest lands not under wilderness area protection to address wildfire, vegetation, wildlife, livestock, recreation and land-ownership issues. The state petition also requests that "all previous inventories of roadless, or unroaded lands in the national forests be obsolete, moot and of no further legal effect." And it calls on the Forest Service to establish advisory committees comprised of state and local government officials "to advise the Forest Supervisor on an ongoing basis about the management of these areas."....
California Ranch's $155 Million Tag May Top Oprah Buy The Cojo Ranch and neighboring Jalama Ranch don't have mansions or pools or tennis courts to feature in glossy ``exclusive'' real estate guides. They've got something more spectacular -- miles of undeveloped central California coastline, 1,200 head of Hereford cattle, mountain lions, and an asking price like few others: $155 million. Taken together, Cojo and Jalama are a ``kingdom property,'' a piece of real estate so vast and remote that the super-rich can disappear there and rule a private domain like William Randolph Hearst did until half a century ago at San Simeon, about 80 miles (129 kilometers) up Highway 1. In a state famed for pricey real estate, the proposed joint sale of the ranches -- covering 37 square miles (96 square kilometers) of open land a 90-minute drive north of Santa Barbara -- has impressed even the most jaded Californians....
Cows Come Home This summer`s drought was tough on ranchers, many of whom were forced to make some difficult decisions with their livestock. Earlier this summer, we introduced you to the VanderWals of southern Emmons County, who realized early on that the drought would force them to change their usual management practices. Without a crop and without enough stored feed, they decided to send a herd of heifers to Wyoming for the summer. If cows could talk, this herd would have quite the story to tell. The drought forced them 400 miles away from their home in North Dakota. "We just didn`t have the grass for them, didn`t have a place to put them, found some pastures out in Wyoming," says Carter VanderWal. Now, the VanderWals cows have come home, where they`ll stay for the winter. "With the CRP hay, looks like we`re gonna have plenty of hay to feed them, should turn out okay," Carter says. The cows didn`t gain as much weight in Wyoming as the VanderWals would have expected them to gain at home, if they had been able to feed them....
It's All Trew: Early trail drives went in a different direction When the words “trail drive” are mentioned, most conjure up images of Charles Goodnight or John Wayne, a chuck wagon and miles-long streams of longhorns grazing their way north to the Kansas railheads. Few know that trail drives were taking place regularly some 50 years before the railroad tracks drew herds to Dodge City or Abilene, Kan. The book “They Pointed Them East” by Jim Bob Jackson uses the diary of Capt. William B. Duncan, an early day southwest Texas cattleman, to tell the story of trail drives to New Orleans in the 1820s to 1860s long before the famous drives started to Kansas. In order to sell lots of beef, you needed lots of people eating the product. In the first half of the 1800s, the largest gathering of people in the south was at New Orleans so pioneer cattlemen began driving their beeves to that area. Like the early trail drives to Kansas, drives to New Orleans encountered storms, cattle thieves and a lot of hard work. Unlike the dry desert areas of the Kansas ventures, the southern drivers had the opposite. There were five major rivers to cross in Texas and four more in Louisiana before reaching a point where the livestock could be loaded on steamboats pulling barges and hauled to the abattoirs of Orleans....