NEWS ROUNDUP

Thriving bison? Experts get to meat of matter The best way to save the bison, reckons Tom Olson, may be to eat more of them. Olson, a Canadian bison rancher, explained that the way to get more people invested in the plight of the bison - a species that was almost extinct at the turn of the century - may be to sell the virtues of their meat. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know we're in rough shape," Olson said. "But bison is a very healthy meat; that's not lost on the general public." Olson was among the speakers at a national bison conference being held this week at the Brown Palace Hotel. Sponsored by the Wildlife Conservation Society, the conference has attracted more than 160 people with interests in bison, including private ranchers, zookeepers, wildlife officials and American Indian groups. They are all people who know the difference between a bison and a buffalo. (While the two animals are in the same family, true buffalo are native only to Africa and Asia.) Conference attendees are discussing the ecological restoration of bison - a time when large herds can once again roam across their historic ranges....
Washington landowners agree to help tiny rabbits Now all they need is the rabbits. On a sprawling central Washington wheat farm, state and federal officials signed a landmark agreement Tuesday to create a "safe harbor" for reintroduction of the tiny Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit, which was listed as an endangered species in 2001 and whose impending return has raised concerns among area farmers that the bunnies could bust their business. Pygmy rabbits are the smallest rabbits in North America, weighing about 1 pound, and one of only two rabbit species that dig burrows in deep soil. They are found in shrub-steppe habitat with plenty of sagebrush. The Columbia Basin rabbit, however, has been an isolated population for thousands of years and differs genetically from other pygmy rabbits. None are believed to exist in the wild, and only three purebred rabbits remain in captivity - one male and two females who haven't always been in the mood to mate. Their fate has rested in a captive breeding program begun in 2001 with the related Idaho pygmy rabbit. There are now 115 interbred rabbits, and wildlife biologists plan to introduce between 20-40 rabbits with genetic markers that are no less than 75 percent Columbia Basin rabbit to a nearby wildlife area in early February....
Nev. developer's bid for Az water sparks opposition The tiny community of Littlefield, sandwiched in the northwestern corner of the state on Interstate 15 between Nevada and Utah, has never been much more than a pit stop for those racing to Nevada's casinos. There is a bar, a school, a convenience store and cottonwood-lined Beaver Dam Wash that slinks through the community of about 1,500 residents. But the groundwater beneath the wash is the subject of intense concern among the locals in what one state official called an unprecedented attempt by corporate interests in Nevada to take water from Arizona. Wind River Resources, a Nevada corporation, has filed an application with the Arizona Department of Water Resources to pump as much as 14,000 acre-feet annually from the Muddy Creek aquifer to quench the thirst of rapidly growing Mesquite, Nev....
BLM Announces Plans for Wild Horse Roundup in Northern Nevada The US Bureau of Land Management has announced plans to conduct an emergency roundup of about 100 wild horses around the Clan Alpine Mountains of northern Nevada. BLM officials say the roundup expected to start this week is necessary because of a 6,200 acre wildfire this summer that destroyed forage for the animals. Agency spokesman Mark Struble says the burn area will be closed to grazing to all animals, including livestock, for up to two years to allow re-establishment of native vegetation. About 550 wild horses currently roam the Clan Alpine Herd Management Area east of Fallon, with about 100 of them in the burn area....
Slade pleads guilty to bribing BLM officer While prominent Farmington businessman Norman Geoff McMahon prepared to have his fate decided by a jury as his trial began Monday, his former business partner pleaded guilty to bribing a federal officer. Curtis Slade pleaded guilty to one count of bribing Ralph Mason, a former Bureau of Land Management (BLM) geologist. According to federal court documents filed on Oct. 20, Slade admitted to giving Mason $4,000 between Jan 1, 2002, and Sept. 30, 2002. In exchange, the officer aided Slade in acquiring permits to mine sand and gravel on BLM land in the Crouch Mesa area. Slade has yet to be sentenced. However, he faces up to two years in federal prison, a fine up to $250,000, one year on supervised probation and a $100 mandatory fine. By accepting a plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to drop an additional bribing charge....
Off-road access to be mulled The Bureau of Land Management will hold two meetings the day after the November election on back country access along the Colorado River. The BLM is developing a travel management plan to determine if back country trail and routes, mostly for all-terrain vehicles, should be designated open, limited or closed, BLM spokeswoman Diane Williams said. The public can view maps of the plan and offer input on whether a trail should be designated open or closed. The plan is expected to be completed by the end of next year. The plan area includes BLM land north of Interstate 40 on both sides of the Colorado River and to the Black Mountains to the east, Williams said....
Hunter becomes hunted near Fernan Lake An endangered species could be trying to stage a comeback not far from Coeur d' Alene where a Post Falls man says he was approached then stalked by a wolf just east of Fernan Lake. If he's right this would be the first wolf sighting in Kootenai County in decades. Tyrel Shaw, a former Idaho National Guardsman who recently started working at Buck Knives in Post Falls, now has quite a story to tell his new colleagues. On US Forest Service land east of Fernan Lake at the base of Canfield Butte Shaw says he saw one of nature's most elusive animals....
Noise still a problem with park sled use Reacting to a study released by the National Park Service, a conservation group claims that snowmobiles still emit too much noise in Yellowstone despite restrictions on numbers and engine types. The study, which monitored decibel levels of snowmobile activity in Yellowstone National Park from December 2005 to March 2006, showed that snowmobile noise was audible at Old Faithful between 60 and 80 percent of the time during daylight hours for the entire period. Further, the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees said snowmobiles have exceed Yellowstone’s noise standards for three years in a row and noise from the machines passed a “major adverse effect threshold” on 75 percent of the days that the Park Service monitored. Snowmobile advocates said the sport is well-suited to the park and called into question the Coalition’s interpretation of the study....
Cougar Predation Important in Wildland Ecosystems The general disappearance of cougars from a portion of Zion National Park in the past 70 years has allowed deer populations to dramatically increase, leading to severe ecological damage, loss of cottonwood trees, eroding streambanks, and declining biodiversity. This "trophic cascade" of environmental degradation, all linked to the decline of a major predator, has been shown in a new study to affect a broad range of terrestrial and aquatic species, according to scientists from Oregon State University. The research was just published in the journal Biological Conservation - and, like recent studies outlining similar ecological ripple effects following the disappearance of wolves in the American West - may cause land managers to reconsider the importance of predatory species in how ecosystems function. The findings are consistent, researchers say, with predictions made more than half a century ago by the famed naturalist Aldo Leopold, often considered the father of wildlife ecology....
Base jumping pioneer falls to his death Brian Schubert, a legend of base jumping who inspired the sport in 1966, has died during his first attempt at the sport in 40 years in Fayetteville, W.Va. Schubert, who was 66, jumped Saturday off a 876-foot bridge into the New River Gorge in front of 145,000 spectators, including his daughter and his jumping partner Mike Pelkey, who made the first jump alongside Schubert at Yosemite's El Capitan in 1966, The Los Angeles Times reported Monday. Schubert hit the water at the bottom of the gorge with his chute only partially opened and died. The National Park Service and the Fayette County (W.Va.) Sheriff's Department said they were investigating the incident....
National parties upping the ante as Pombo battles to keep seat Republican Rep. Richard Pombo of Tracy, once expected to cruise to re-election after easily subduing a primary challenge, now finds his House seat threatened by the Democratic wave that seems to be building across the country. Analysts say the contest for Pombo's district, which includes much of San Joaquin County and parts of three Bay Area counties, has tightened and national Democrats announced Tuesday that they have purchased television time for their first ads opposing the seven-term Republican lawmaker, who is chairman of the House Resources Committee. "It's become clear that this race is close (and) that it's about more than just the district. It has become nationalized,'' said Robert Benedetti, a political science professor at University of the Pacific in Stockton. One of the best indicators of that, he said, is the money pouring into the contest. When the campaign ends, the race between Pombo and Democrat Jerry McNerney, 55, a Pleasanton wind energy consultant, is expected to have cost upwards of $10 million, making it one of the priciest congressional battles ever in California, say campaign strategists....
Outsiders converge on contentious race It's crowded on the Congressional District 11 campaign trail. Nearly two dozen groups are burning shoe leather, Internet time, money or all three in the contentious contest between GOP Rep. Richard Pombo of Tracy and Democratic challenger Jerry McNerney of Pleasanton. In a clear sign that both sides believe they can win, the district's 350,000 registered voters are awash in precinct walkers, rallies, radio and TV ads, e-mail solicitations, phone calls and fundraisers. Busloads of Bay Area progressives are walking precincts for McNerney in Tracy and Lodi. The National Rifle Association is producing pro-Pombo postcards. The Defenders of Wildlife opened a campaign office in Pleasanton and hired staff members. Combined, these outside groups have spent or expect to spend in excess of $1.3 million in this race, most of it in the drive to unseat Pombo....
Nearly 70 Policy Groups Warn: Beware of 'Invasive Species' Regulations The National Center for Public Policy Research has delivered a coalition letter signed by representatives of nearly 70 policy organizations to Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-OK) urging him to protect private property rights by avoiding the creation of so-called "invasive species" regulations. Senator Inhofe's committee holds jurisdiction over such proposed initiatives. "This ill-advised brainchild of the Bill Clinton era needs to go the way of the Bill Clinton era," said Peyton Knight, director of environmental and regulatory affairs for The National Center. "Regulating the movement of plant and animal species based on whether or not the fringe of the environmental movement considers them 'native' or 'non-native' has very little to do with sound science and very much to do with controlling private property." In 1999 President Bill Clinton signed an Executive Order that created the "National Invasive Species Council" which broadly defines "alien species" as "any species...that is not native to that ecosystem." Since Clinton's Order, numerous regulatory measures have surfaced in Congress that seek to control so-called non-native species in ways that would likely harm private property rights and Americans' access to public lands. Noting that invasive species regulations are arbitrary and ignore the fact that "many non-native species are beneficial to ecosystems, the environment, human health and the economy," the letter concludes: "We have seen how endangered species and wetlands regulations can wreak havoc on Americans' constitutional right to private property. Invasive species regulations have the potential to be even more damaging to this fundamental right." A copy of the letter can be found online here....
Rooting out defiant farmers About 50 northern Colorado farmers have defied orders to turn off their groundwater pumps and now may face fines, state engineer Hal Simpson says. For the past two years, Simpson has ordered about 2,000 well shutdowns for farmers who failed to prove they could replace their withdrawals from underground aquifers linked to the South Platte River. Many farmers in Weld, Adams and Morgan Counties obeyed Simpson's order and watched as their crops withered and died. But apparently not everyone. Simpson said utility records show that several farmers turned on their groundwater pumps despite his orders. This week, the state engineer's office will begin notifying the pumping scofflaws, who will have to answer to a Greeley water court judge....
Humans living far beyond planet's means: WWF Humans are stripping nature at an unprecedented rate and will need two planets' worth of natural resources every year by 2050 on current trends, the WWF conservation group said on Tuesday. Populations of many species, from fish to mammals, had fallen by about a third from 1970 to 2003 largely because of human threats such as pollution, clearing of forests and overfishing, the group also said in a two-yearly report. "For more than 20 years we have exceeded the earth's ability to support a consumptive lifestyle that is unsustainable and we cannot afford to continue down this path," WWF Director-General James Leape said, launching the WWF's 2006 Living Planet Report. "If everyone around the world lived as those in America, we would need five planets to support us," Leape, an American, said in Beijing. People in the United Arab Emirates were placing most stress per capita on the planet ahead of those in the United States, Finland and Canada, the report said. Australia was also living well beyond its means....
Looking after the lambs: Community unites to save offspring of injured ewes It was close to their noon feeding. The three newborn lambs circled around Janet and Dewey Berry excitedly, nibbling at their clothing-and anything else they could get their mouths on. The lambs were born from three different ewes, but they are now sisters. They quickly became attached to one another after only a couple of days in the same pen. Now they play and sleep together as a family unit. They are the first of a new generation of lambs born from badly injured ewes that survived a Yolo County wildfire, which scorched more than 11,000 acres and destroyed most of the sheep caught in its path. The Slaven family, which owned some 1,200 sheep on 2,000 acres in Zamora, sustained the worst damage. Rancher Bruce Rodegerdts, who had about 300 sheep, also lost most of his herd. When Janet Berry, who has known the two families for many years, saw the devastation on her neighbors' ranches, she knew she had to do something. She is coordinating a community volunteer effort to care for any newborn lambs from the surviving ewes while the two families rebuild their ranches and get back on their feet....