Friday, December 29, 2006

NEWS ROUNDUP

FWS biologist acknowledges wolf debate The federal wolf recovery coordinator for the lower 48 states says he understands the need to have one person speaking when it comes to federal wolf policy. Ed Bangs, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Helena, Mont., said too many people talking at once can be confusing when government officials are trying to work out policies. Bangs was responding to comments made by Rep. Pat Childers, R-Cody, who said in a meeting of state and federal officials last week that "some duct tape on Mr. Bangs' mouth" would be helpful while Wyoming negotiates with the federal government on wolf management. Childers said in an interview that Bangs has made "off-the-cuff" remarks that have hindered discussions in the Legislature. Childers didn't specify what those comments were. But he said Bangs told members of the Wyoming Stock Growers and Wyoming Wool Growers associations that he didn't expect many problems with wolves. "I'm not saying Ed's a bad man," Childers said. "I'm saying what he said, it didn't turn out that way."....
Study links fires, ocean temps Using fire scars on nearly 5,000 tree stumps dating back 450 years, scientists have found that extended periods of major wildfires in the West occurred when the North Atlantic Ocean was going through periodic warming. With the North Atlantic at the start of a recurring warming period that typically lasts 20 to 60 years, the West could be in for an extended period of multiple fires on the scale of those seen in 2002 and 2006, said Thomas W. Swetnam. He's director of the Laboratory of Tree Ring Research at the University of Arizona and a co-author of the study published in the Dec. 26 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "This study and others have demonstrated that there is an underlying climatic influence on fuels and then on the weather conditions that promote fires," said Dan Cayan, climate researcher at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, who did not take part in the study. Ron Neilson, a U.S. Forest Service scientist who has developed models that predict wildfire danger based on climate models, agreed with the study's conclusions, and noted all the oceans are affected by global warming. And that in turn could exacerbate the wildfire cycle. Scientists have long seen a relationship between weather in the United States and El Nino, a warming of water in the South Pacific. When El Nino is strong, the Northwest typically has drought and severe fire seasons, and the Southwest has rain. When the cycle reverses, known as La Nina, the South Pacific cools, the Northwest has more rain, and the Southwest has drought and fires....
Western energy corridors: comment period extended
After receiving hundreds of comments in response to the release of preliminary working maps, the interagency team analyzing potential environmental effects of designating energy corridors in 11 Western States has decided that additional time will be needed to consider these comments as the agencies conduct an environmental review of proposed corridor locations. A recent press release stated that, in order to ensure full consideration of the more than 200 comments and suggestions on the preliminary maps, project managers from the Department of Energy, the Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management, the Department of Agriculture-Forest Service, and the Department of Defense will take additional time to refine the alternatives to be presented in the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS). The BLM and the Forest Service also must ensure that proposed routes and the analysis of their impacts are consistent with the resource management plans for lands they manage. The public will have an additional opportunity to comment on the Draft PEIS after it is published....
A casualty of the 'New West' One of the last miners in Pitkin County considers himself a casualty in the transition of the Old West into the New West. Robert Congdon on last week settled a dispute with the U.S. Forest Service, which might prevent him accessing a mine in the Crystal Valley that he rediscovered 20 years ago on the lower slopes of Mount Sopris. He wants the Maree Love Mine preserved as an important piece of the area's history. Congdon said he agreed to plead guilty to two charges - damaging natural features and maintaining or constructing a structure. In return, charges of interfering with a law enforcement officer and damaging a historical structure will be dropped. The Forest Service pursued charges against Congdon in December 2005 because agency officials felt his work put natural and historic resources at risk. A colony of rare Townsend's big-eared bats took up residence in the mine and the feds felt mining activity could bring them harm. The area is also sprinkled with mining relics that date to the late 1800s....
Groups aim to halt wild horse roundup Advocacy groups are asking a federal judge to stop the Bureau of Land Management from rounding up wild horses and burros next week in the Spring Mountains west of Las Vegas. America's Wild Horse Advocates, based in Blue Diamond near Red Rock Canyon, and Wild Horses 4 Ever, of Logandale, filed a lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas seeking a temporary restraining order and an injunction indefinitely postponing the Jan. 2 roundup. No hearing was immediately scheduled. The injunction would remain in effect until a judge heard the groups' claim that the BLM plan, outlined in an environmental assessment released Friday, is flawed and that the roundup would undercut efforts to keep wild horses on the range....
Vehicle ban sought in remote Arch Canyon A coalition of environmentalists, outfitters and Navajo tribal leaders have submitted a petition to the Bureau of Land Management asking that the agency close Arch Canyon in southeast Utah to off-highway vehicle traffic in order to protect the area's cultural and natural resources. Liz Thomas, a Moab-based attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, said Wednesday that the group filed the formal petition this week after the BLM rejected what she called earlier, informal attempts to protect the area. The canyon is known for its large, though mostly unsurveyed, collection of Anasazi and Pueblo ruins and artifacts. Its year-round stream also is home to three native fish species - the flannel mouth sucker, blue head sucker and speckled dace. "We've been asking for this for a long time," Thomas said. "We understand that the BLM doesn't have the resources to do an inventory of the canyon. But until they know what's there, they need to protect those cultural resources and species until they have more information."....
Former Bush Interior Secretary Takes Job As Attorney For Shell Gale Norton is back providing oversight of energy development issues on public lands in the American West, this time as a key legal advisor for a major global oil company. Months after she resigned her cabinet post as President Bush's Interior Secretary—and then seemed to disappear from public view—the Coloradan apparently has accepted an offer to serve as counsel for Royal Dutch Shell PLC. Shell, one of the world's largest producers of oil, was also one of the companies that Norton's Interior Department routinely engaged on matters of drilling in sensitive ecological settings. According to Dow Jones Market Watch, which published her job announcement Wednesday, Norton will serve as general counsel for Shell's unconventional resources division. By "unconventional resources," a Shell spokesman said it pertained to emerging technology that targets such things as oil shale and extra heavy oil. Shell's U.S. subsidiary, Shell Oil Co., is based in Houston, but Norton will be allowed to render her legal expertise from Denver....
Editorial - A lucrative scheme to not develop land It's high time the Colorado legislature got a grip on the "conservation easement" program, which is costing the state tax revenues at an ever increasing rate. As News reporter Ann Imse noted the other day, the loss of state income taxes has risen from $2.3 million in 2000, when the program began, to $7.5 million in 2002, to $57.3 million in 2004 and to $85.1 million in 2005. That kind of exponential growth in lost revenue is not what lawmakers had in mind. Something's wrong somewhere. The predictability of revenues gained or lost is important to the state's budgeting process. The money is going out in tax credits to people who have managed to sell or donate the development rights to their land to Great Outdoors Colorado or to any of the numerous private land trusts. These groups are supposed to ensure that the owners - who in most cases continue to control the land and can restrict public access to it - never develop it. The problem is, no one seems to know exactly how much land has been preserved or where it is. The Department of Revenue has the raw information in its income tax returns but hasn't compiled it. It should, even if it takes a special appropriation to pay for the job. Only when the public can review the open space preserved can it decide whether the program is worth the cost. Even proponents admit that some people have been gaming the system. There are several ways to do it....
Editorial - Global warming's poster cubs CONSIDER THE humble polar bear: Ursus maritimus to the scientists who admire it for its intelligence. Now consider President Bush, who might be classified as Executum obstreperum by the thousands of scientists who say his administration fails to appreciate the gravity of global warming. Is it possible that the polar bear can do what the scientists cannot? What the polar bear could do, essentially, is force the administration to take steps to curb global warming. With its proposal, announced Wednesday, to list polar bears as a threatened species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the first time acknowledged that global warming is the driving force behind an animal's potential extinction. If the polar bear is listed as endangered, then the U.S. government would be bound by law to protect it — and protecting it may require regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In the polar bear, the administration may have met its match. This isn't just any animal — it is a creature at once majestic and cuddly, the star attraction at countless zoos and featured in so many TV commercials it practically qualifies for a SAG card. If that's not enough, the same type of habitat loss threatening the bears' survival also endangers the penguin, which had a better year at the box office than all but a few humans. Less popular is the administration's stance on global warming. Bush has acknowledged the phenomenon, but he's reluctant to require industry to cut greenhouse gas emissions. If the polar bear is listed as an endangered species, would the government have to crack down on the carbon emissions that are threatening its existence?...
Aligning Horse Owners with Conservationists America cannot afford to lose the horse industry; its economic alone impact is huge. According to the American Horse Council’s study, the horse industry directly produces goods and services of $25.3 billion and has a total impact of $112.1 billion on U.S. gross domestic product. This same study reveals that there are 7.1 million people involved in the horse industry, with 1.9 million of those actually owning horses. All over the country, equestrians are faced with the impending loss of their open land. Leading horse organizations have identified loss of open land as the greatest threat to their future and the need to address this problem is urgent. According to David O’Connor, president of the U.S. Equestrian Federation, “With the suburban sprawl that is going on around the country, people who ride horses are losing vital resources. Partnerships … are needed to guarantee the future of equestrian sports and all types of equestrian access.” Equestrians share a special privilege: the permission to ride over magnificent open spaces on private land. They owe a debt of gratitude to the landowners who have conserved their land for future generations. The good news is that the rate of land has tripled in the last five years. Private voluntary land conservation is an important American tradition. The future of America’s natural heritage and the horse industry may well depend on it....
Preserve aims to save traditional 'hair' sheep When you talk about sheep, most people think about the short, white animals with wool covering their bodies. Don Chavez y Gilbert would like that to change. The wind blows wickedly at times through the trees at the Terra Patre Wildlife Preserve, but Chavez y Gilbert hardly notices as he talks about the hair sheep he is breeding. Chavez y Gilbert believes the days of the wool sheep, or "woolies" as he calls them, are numbered as far as the livestock industry goes. And he's doing what he can to adapt — by breeding a hair sheep that is closer in look, habit and structure to the sheep the Spanish colonizers originally brought to New Mexico than the woolies you see being raised now. "A woolie is just an unnaturally selective bred sheep that had a recessive gene where their wool didn't fall out," he explains as he walks part of Terra Patre's 20 acres and shows off the sheep he is breeding — which are of a Mouflon variety....
Beautifully felt: Popular art form turns rough wool into soft fabric It's like watching a sow's ear transform itself into a silk purse before your very eyes. But in this case, it's wool that magically turns into felt - with a little help from Black Forest, Colo., llama rancher Marlice Van Zandt. She starts by spreading puffs of multicolored llama wool in an attractive pattern on a bamboo mat, tops it with a plastic liner, then adds another layer of wool. She sprinkles the wool with hot water, rubs it with a soapy goo and whacks the heck out of it with a meat cleaver. That done, she rolls up the mat and rocks it back and forth zillions of times. When her arms get tired, she sits down and rolls it back and forth with her feet. Eventually, she unwraps the mat, and there - in soggy splendor - is beige felt with a brown design, soon to be turned into a purse. Van Zandt is one of the many crafters breathing new life into the 8,000-year-old art of felting, turning animal fibers into vests, boots, pillows, wall hangings, masks, jewelry and more....

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Bureau of Land Management Head Resigns

Kathleen Clarke, the first woman to head the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management, resigned Thursday to return to her home state of Utah. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said Clarke had created more recreational opportunities for Americans and sped up "environmentally sensitive" oil and natural gas production on federal lands since taking over the agency in January 2002. BLM manages 258 million acres, about one-eighth of the land in the United States. Most of that land _ grasslands, forests, high mountains, arctic tundra and deserts _ is in the West. It also oversees about 700 million acres of minerals below the land's surface. "Our public lands, our forests and our landscapes are better off" because of Clarke's service, Kempthorne said Thursday. Before taking over BLM, Clarke had worked as executive director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources and as a top aide to former Rep. James Hansen, a Utah Republican who once headed the House Resources Committee. She also had co-owned a construction and real estate business in Kaysville, Utah and had been on the staff of Sen. Wallace F. Bennett, who is now deceased. BLM was headed during the Clinton administration by another Utah resident, Patrick Shea, who had been a lawyer, educator and businessman before taking over the agency.
I'm hearing rumors Kathleen Clarke will announce her resignation as Director of BLM today.
NEWS ROUNDUP

37 Endangered Tortoises Move to N.M. Deep in burrows in southern New Mexico, the only genetically pure bolson tortoises in the United States are waiting out the winter. Thirty-seven of the endangered creatures, the largest tortoises found in North America at up to 18 inches long, came to New Mexico this year from a ranch in Arizona. Most are at Ted Turner's Armendaris Ranch near Truth or Consequences. "We work to recover endangered species on all our properties in the United States," ranch manager Tom Waddell said. "It's just another one on the list, but it is exciting and fun." Turner's ranches in New Mexico also are home to endangered Mexican gray wolves, black-footed ferrets and aplomado falcons. The bolson tortoises are believed to have been in the Southwest for thousands of years but were discovered by scientists only in the late 1950s in Mexico. "They're kind of prehistoric," Waddell said. "It's kind of like finding a dinosaur." There are 26 adult tortoises in a pair of 8-acre pens at the Armendaris and four tortoises at the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens State Park in Carlsbad. And additional seven young tortoises that hatched this summer are at Turner's Ladder Ranch, also near T or C. Bolson tortoises once were found in New Mexico, Arizona, Texas and Oklahoma, as well as in Mexico. The only ones left in the wild now are a small population in the Chihuahuan Desert in Mexico....
Column - Losing to the Greens "I've never seen industry so deathly afraid of the current politics surrounding climate change policy," a Bush administration environmental official told me. With good reason. As Democrats take control of Congress, once-firm opposition to the green lobby's campaign of imposing carbon emission controls is weak. Panicky captains of industry have themselves largely to blame for failing to respond to the environmentalists' well-financed propaganda operation. One government official says "industry appears utterly helpless and utterly clueless as to how to respond." But the Bush administration itself is a house divided, with support for greens and severe carbon regulation inside the Department of Energy rampant, reaching up to the secretary himself. None of this necessarily means climate change will become law during the next two years, with President Bush wielding his veto pen if any bill escapes the Senate's gridlock. Rep. John Dingell of Detroit, reassuming chairmanship of the Energy and Commerce Committee after a dozen years' absence, will try to protect the automotive industry from Draconian regulation. But over the long term, industry is losing to the greens....
After Long Struggle, Whooping Crane Population Hits Milestone One of the most beloved groups of winter Texans is back, in the largest number in a century and with a record 45 youngsters in tow, including an even rarer seven pairs of twins. They flew 2,400 miles from Canada's Northwest Territories and can be seen munching on blue crabs and bright red-orange wolfberries among the marshes of the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. The whooping crane, the tallest bird in North America, whose numbers dwindled to fewer than 20 in 1941, is not only back from the brink of extinction but also thriving -- a comeback story, federal wildlife officials say, that illustrates how a coordinated conservation effort can save a species....
Schwarzenegger Remakes Himself as Environmentalist Arnold Schwarzenegger is not the type of guy you would necessarily associate with tree hugging. When he bought a Hummer in the early 1990s, it kicked off a nationwide craze for the gas-guzzling behemoths. His lighter-fluid-dowsed action flicks and protein-packed chest bespoke more of American excess than environmentalism, more violence than vegan. But as governor of California, Schwarzenegger has engaged in a savvy makeover, befitting a Hollywood star. He retooled one of his four Hummers to run on alternative fuels and is quickly fashioning himself into one of the most aggressively pro-environment governors in a state known for leading the nation on that issue. This year he signed the nation's first environmental law of its kind, committing the state to lowering its greenhouse gas production to 1990 levels by 2020 and setting up an international program that provides manufacturers with incentives to lower carbon emissions, which is supposed to begin by 2012. He has vowed to fight any attempt to drill for oil off California's coast. And now Schwarzenegger, a Republican, wants to use his star power to turn global warming into an issue in the 2008 presidential election. "There is a whole new movement because of the change of people sent to Washington," Schwarzenegger said in an interview this week, referring to the Democratic Party's impending takeover of Congress. "We want to put the spotlight on this issue in America. It has to become a debate in the presidential election. It has to become an issue."....
Disappearing world: Global warming claims tropical island Rising seas, caused by global warming, have for the first time washed an inhabited island off the face of the Earth. The obliteration of Lohachara island, in India's part of the Sundarbans where the Ganges and the Brahmaputra rivers empty into the Bay of Bengal, marks the moment when one of the most apocalyptic predictions of environmentalists and climate scientists has started coming true. As the seas continue to swell, they will swallow whole island nations, from the Maldives to the Marshall Islands, inundate vast areas of countries from Bangladesh to Egypt, and submerge parts of scores of coastal cities. Eight years ago, as exclusively reported in The Independent on Sunday, the first uninhabited islands - in the Pacific atoll nation of Kiribati - vanished beneath the waves. The people of low-lying islands in Vanuatu, also in the Pacific, have been evacuated as a precaution, but the land still juts above the sea. The disappearance of Lohachara, once home to 10,000 people, is unprecedented....
Polar Bears Proposed for U.S. Endangered Species List The U.S. government today proposed listing polar bears as threatened with extinction under the Endangered Species Act because the animals' sea ice habitat is melting. "Polar bears are one of nature's ultimate survivors," Department of the Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne told reporters today at a press conference. "They are able to live and thrive in one of the world's harshest environments. But there's concern that their habitat may literally be melting." The Endangered Species Act requires federal agencies to ensure that all activities the government approves will not harm listed species or their habitats. Environmental groups quickly connected the announcement with scientific evidence that climate change is melting the iconic bear's Arctic habitat, causing the animals to go hungry and give birth less often....
Tour shows participants why environmentalists value Red Desert Gay, like many in the group, fears the peace of Wyoming's isolated ecosystems if the Red Desert is opened to natural gas development, a move currently being mulled over by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The proposed action would result in at least 255 gas wells in the scenic Jack Morrow Hills within the Red Desert in south central Wyoming, according to the watchdog group Friends of the Red Desert, which co-sponsored the Nov. 11 tour. Hundreds more wells could go in throughout the 8-million-acre Red Desert, group officials said. The Red Desert is home to petroglyphs and other American Indian artifacts, outlaw trails (the area was once used as a hideout for Butch Cassidy), and herds of wild horses, elk and antelope. Friends of the Red Desert currently is pushing for a National Conservation Area-status for the northern portion of the desert, which includes the Jack Morrow Hills. In all, about 650,000 acres would be set aside. The group said such designation would protect the area from mineral development, ensuring its wildlife and culturally and geographically significant sites would remain intact....
Editorial - It's the Forest Service, not fire department An audit completed late last month by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General hammers the Forest Service for burning money in the way it fights forest fires. Although auditors conclude the agency wastes money through poor cost containment and by fighting fires that might actually do more good than harm by thinning overgrown forests, much of the high cost of firefighting comes from protecting private property, not the national forests. Indeed, depending on the degree of development, between 50 percent and 95 percent of the cost of firefighting may be attributable to protecting homes and other structures on private property, the auditors found. That's not altogether surprising to anyone here in Montana or elsewhere in the West, where every summer we see the Forest Service pulling out all the stops to protect lives and structures - small armies of men and women on the ground, helicopters and bombers aloft, huge fleets of vehicles and a massive organization providing logistical support. When smoke's rising, virtually no one questions expenditures aimed at protecting private property - unless it's to complain they're insufficient. Obviously, people and their property need protection from fire. The question is whether that should be the Forest Service's job. Moreover, we should also consider whether all of us might do more to protect ourselves from forest fires, most of all by making better decisions about where and how we develop property. People who are smart enough not to build in flood plains and avalanche chutes and steep, slide-prone hillsides are all too willing to build their houses in densely forested settings where wildfire is more dependably predictable than floods, avalanches and mudslides....
Simpson still pushing for Idaho wilderness bill U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson says he will take a picture of every acre of public land that his Boulder-White Clouds wilderness bill would transfer to Custer County to convince Democrats in Congress that the federal government is not giving away pristine national forest. "This is sagebrush desert," Simpson, R-Idaho, told the Idaho Falls Post-Register. Simpson said some House Democrats, including the incoming chairman of the influential House Resources Committee, Nick Rahall of West Virginia, have been persuaded by "all the bull that's going on" to oppose the wilderness bill. Last year, opponents of Simpson's Central Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Act bought advertisements depicting the 3,600 acres to be transferred as pristine wilderness rather than harsh desert terrain. With Democrats taking control of the House and Senate, Simpson will have to sway a new set of congressional leaders. Some Democrats, including Rahall, have pledged to defeat the bill because of provisions that would give public land to Custer County and other localities in exchange for 312,000 acres of new wilderness in the surrounding Boulder-White Cloud Mountains. If the land exchange were eliminated, the entire bill likely would fail, said Rick Johnson, executive director of the Idaho Conservation League....
Ag chief accepts Idaho roadless plan Idaho's proposed management plan for 9.3 million acres of federal roadless areas within national forests was accepted by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns on Friday and now will move forward in the process of becoming a federal rule. The procedural action came a day after the Roadless Area Conservation National Advisory Committee recommended Johanns accept the petition submitted by Idaho Gov. Jim Risch. The plan Risch put forward last month limits development of 3.1 million acres — even more than protections in a 2001 Clinton administration rule. The plan would allow temporary road-building on another 5.5 million acres, only to the extent that it had already been allowed by Clinton officials to boost forest health. Another 500,000 acres would be opened to logging and road building....
Ranchers point to coyote predation Sportsmen blame a lack of harvestable deer in southeastern North Dakota on coyotes at the same time area ranchers report seeing coyotes close to their homes and blame them for herd predation. One area rancher even switched livestock varieties after losing about 10 percent of his lambs to coyotes. While wildlife experts say coyote numbers are not necessarily increasing in this area, ranchers aren't too sure about this revelation. Tam Griepentrog had a cow calving early a few years ago. He knew the calf wouldn’t make it and watched the cow struggle to birth her calf. The cow was in a bad spot in the pasture so he chose to move her closer to the yard. By the time he got to his cow, coyotes had eaten the dead calf’s ear and tongue, while the calf was still in the cow. It is a common occurrence to see coyotes in the middle of his pasture looking for an opportunity at a newborn calf. The laboring cow is too busy pushing a calf to worry about coyotes, but the rest of the cows chase the predators off, usually, Griepentrog said....
FDA Set to OK Food From Cloned Animals The government has decided that food from cloned animals is safe to eat and does not require special labeling. The Food and Drug Administration planned to brief industry groups in advance of an announcement Thursday morning. The FDA indicated it would approve cloned livestock in a scientific journal article published online earlier this month. Consumer groups say labels are a must, because surveys have shown people to be uncomfortable with the idea of cloned livestock. However, FDA concluded that cloned animals are "virtually indistinguishable" from conventional livestock and that no identification is needed to judge their safety for the food supply....
Rancher's 15 minutes of fame, a decade later If Oakdale rancher Bill Fogarty wonders what he looked like 10 years ago, he needs only to drop by the local RadioShack store. When you enter the store, there's a display for Cingular, a cellular phone company. The photo in the display is of a 40-something cowboy standing in front of a horse and holding the reins. That cowboy is Fogarty. What makes this interesting is that the 40-something cowboy is now a 50-something cowboy. The photo was taken a decade ago, yet is now on Cingular displays throughout the state. Fogarty stands out clearly. The horse is mostly blocked by other elements of the display. Here's the back story: About 10 years ago, a photography crew came to Oakdale looking for someone to help them do a photo shoot with a Western theme. They somehow met Lynn Ferreira, who is Fogarty's cousin, who put them in contact with Fogarty. He is a rancher whose great-grandfather homesteaded the family ranch east of Oakdale in 1873, according to Fogarty's sister, Janet Medina....
Capitol's last cowboys ride on Politics is a lot like ranching. It's just the art of herding people instead of cattle. Throughout its 94-year history, Arizona has had so many rancher politicians (more than 120 in all) that, at one point, critics took to calling the state's government the "Cowboy Legislature." But like so much of the state's rural roots, that era is coming to an end. Sen. Jake Flake and his lifelong friend Rep. Jack Brown, with a combined 22 years in elected office, are the last active ranchers in the Arizona Legislature. Just as Arizona has drifted away from the "Five C's" emblazoned on the state seal (cattle, cotton, copper, citrus and climate) to more of a service, manufacturing and knowledge economy, political power long ago shifted to the urban areas surrounding Phoenix and Tucson. "These guys are a symbol of the Old West that many of us want to hold on to," Arizona historian Jack August said. "They represent a way of life that all of us want to keep in our hopes and dreams. A part of our intellectual warehouse as Arizonans includes a guy on a horse rounding up cattle in the fall." As ranchers leave the Legislature, Arizona loses ties to its rural roots Much of Arizona's political zeitgeist, from a barebones state government and local control of schools to fierce protection of private property, water and gun rights, is rooted in its cowboy past....
Saddle Saga Someone has said, "the institution is the shadow of the man." The Visalia Stock Saddle Company is the progressive living shadow of three men of three generations: Dave E. Walker, its founder, Edmund Walker Weeks, his nephew and successor, and Leland B. Bergen, the latter's stepson and present owner and manager. In this series of "Saddle Saga," we would seek to bring to you tales of events and men of the three periods of the cattle business which coincide with the seventy-year era already served by the Visalia Stock Saddle Company. From 1519, when Cortez brought with him to Mexico the Spanish saddles-not so very different from those used by the knights in medieval Europe-not a single improvement of note was made to add to the comfort or practicability of saddles until in 1868 when there came into an obscure harness and saddlery shop in Hornitos, near Visalia, California, one of these crude saddles for repair. These old Mexican-type saddles were cumbersome atrocities in most cases, and could be almost depended upon to cause sores on the horses' backs. The tree itself was really little more than a wooden frame, rawhide covered, while over all was thrown the loose-fitting leather cover called the mochilla. The stirrup leathers had no fenders or rasderos, so of necessity the rider wore leather leggings to protect himself. For 350 years then the knights of the American cattle range, from Mexico north, endured this discomfort until the day Ricardo Mattley determined to improve upon the Mexican saddle brought to his humble shop for repair....
It's All Trew: 'Old-time sayings' pique readers' interests On a regular basis I receive responses about my columns and questions about old-time sayings and terms. Some are familiar and others I have never heard before. Here are a few samples that I found interesting. The term "give them the whole nine yards" was explained recently. It seems in WWI, the old water-cooled machine guns fired bullets attached to a belt unfolding from an ammo box holding 27 feet of loaded belting. Since twenty-seven feet is nine yards, when the enemy attacked they said, "Give them the whole nine-yards." My article about "kissing-kin" being distant kin on which you could legally practice your kissing skills generated several responses. Some believe you can be kissing kin and not be blood related. Others said a "kissing cousin" was far enough removed from being kin that marriage to them was permitted. For example, a seventh cousin might be fair prey....
It’s The Pitts: In Truck Years You can’t talk for ten minutes with a rancher without him comparing the cost of calves and cars. “I can remember when it only took twenty calves to buy a new pickup. Now it takes a hundred,” or so they’ll say. My response is that fellow ought to either buy a cheaper truck or a better bull. We haven’t made near the improvement in our calves as Detroit has with trucks. They are highly polished, tough, slick, bold and formidable. And that’s just the salesman... you should see the trucks. Three doors or four, short bed or long, bucket seats and back seats. And enough toys to please the most discriminating grown-up child. If we had made as much improvement with our cattle the last twenty years as they have with pickups our calves would dress and deliver themselves. In a moment of weakness I actually considered buying a new truck. My cowboy carriage was made in 1985 but in dog years that’s 147 years old! (It’s a well known fact that dogs and ranch trucks age seven years for every human year.) My old truck burns more oil than it does gas and when I asked the wrecker if the truck was worth anything to haul away he wanted to know how much gas was in the tank. I guess at three bucks a gallon it makes a big difference in the blue book price for a truck as old as mine....

Monday, December 25, 2006

Bald Eagle to Be Taken Off Endangered List

Seven years after the U.S. government moved to take the bald eagle off the endangered species list, the Bush administration intends to complete the step by February, prodded by a frustrated libertarian property owner in Minnesota. The delisting, supported by mainstream environmental groups, would represent a formal declaration that the eagle population has sufficiently rebounded, increasing more than 15-fold since its 1963 nadir to more than 7,000 nesting pairs. The next challenge is to ensure the national symbol's continued protection. "By February 16th, the bald eagle will be delisted," said Marshall Jones, deputy director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "We'll be clear so people won't think, 'It's open season on bald eagles.' No way." Although the majestic raptor will no longer be covered by the Endangered Species Act, two earlier laws and a few carefully written phrases are expected to balance respect for the eagle with an appreciation for property rights...It was a bald eagle's nest that undid Edmund Contoski. And it was Edmund Contoski who filed a federal lawsuit that prompted U.S. District Judge John Tunheim to set the February deadline for the government to act or explain why not. Contoski's problem, as he saw it, was the nest high in a pine on his property alongside Sullivan Lake, about 100 miles northwest of the Twin Cities. When the nest was reported to state environmental authorities, he was a few weeks away from carving out a road and several lots, hoping to make good on a family investment. No eagles were using the nest that year -- they returned later -- but the discovery meant that no one could build within 330 feet. The land was suddenly useless for development, and Contoski was steamed. "I can't even cut firewood," he said. "I can't trim a tree. I can't do anything." He tracked down the Pacific Legal Foundation, which has a record of challenging endangered-species rules. Better yet, Pacific attorney Damien Schiff was willing to file suit for free. For attorney and client, the case was more about principle than principal...A former city planner, published author and founder three decades ago of Minnesota's Libertarian Party, Contoski is not enthusiastic about government rules...When he studies his Constitution, he sees a guarantee of inalienable rights. "It doesn't say, 'unless eagles need a home.' It's unfair that we pay taxes all these years and now we can't recoup that. If it's public benefit, let the federal government or the state pay us for it."....
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Happy holly trails to you - fa la la la la

By Julie Carter

It's here. Christmas has arrived and the fun should begin anytime now.

Very soon people will start anticipating that magic day, Jan. 1.

You know the one - where you suddenly are going to get richer, thinner and better looking because you resolved you would.

But before we get to that, let me give you some advice that was passed to me about how to enjoy a party, of which by now, you have attended more than you wanted to with more to come.

Why not give yourself a genuine reason for those soon-to-be-made resolutions.

· Avoid the carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the holiday spirit. In fact, if you see carrot sticks, leave immediately and go next door where they are serving rum balls.

· Drink as much eggnog as you can and quickly. It's not addicting, its seasonal, and you won't see it again for a year. Pay no mind to the 10,000 calories-a-sip.

· If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy is not a stand-alone dish.

· If mashed potatoes are served, ask if they are made with skim or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

· Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free.

· Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when there is nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you will need after circling the buffet table with a 10-pound plate of food and drinking that vat of eggnog.

· Fruitcake? Okay, it has the mandatory celebratory calories but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

· " 'Twas the night before Christmas and all around my hips, were holiday candies sneaking past my lips." This happens all year so don't make it an issue just because it's Christmas.

· If you leave a party or get up from the table and you don't feel terrible, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read the tips and commit them to memory.

Now that you are all done shopping (You are, aren't you?) and this year's gifts are bought with next year's money, you can congratulate yourself for observing this deeply religious holiday in your own way, usually by going to the mall of your choice.

You mailed everything plenty early so the post office had time to lose it in time for Christmas.

Tradition has become so dependable.

And somewhere there are those that still take the time and generation-honored skills to give only homemade gifts.

When I was in that I-made-it-myself mode, I tried to give my children away but they were returned to me immediately.

Erma Bombeck once said, "There is nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child."

But I think it would be sadder yet, to not wake up at all.

We are all children in some way and Christmas can be the very day we get to act like it. Try not to waste it.

One more Fa-la-la-la and you are out-of-here, making tracks into 2007.

Happy holly-laden trails to you and yours.

© Julie Carter 2006


New Hope

by Larry Gabriel

It is almost a new year. The new year will bring many new ideas, dreams, projects and change to South Dakota. They always do.

We have all heard the expression, "some things never change", but I have never seen a thing that did not change.

Technology changes so fast it is difficult to keep up at times. The weather, the road conditions, soil moisture, crop conditions, crop outlooks, what crops we plant, what kind of cattle we raise, the state of the economy, and a host of things that impact our lives change all the time.

Even people change. Have you noticed a more positive attitude in many of our rural communities? I have. Many communities which once accepted gradual population decline as an unchangeable trend are turning that around.

More of our rural communities will do so during this new year. Unimagined progress and improvement will be made in many aspects of rural life. New business will begin. New ideas will be explored. New people will arrive.

Not everyone believes that. There are always some doubters and naysayers in every crowd. But they are few. I don't enjoy listening to them. I listen politely with my ears, but I try not to take to heart what they say. I take to heart the voices of progress, improvement and optimism.

I believe things will improve, because optimism (like all attitudes) is contagious. Many have it. Many more will get it.

Also, I believe the leaders of our state and your community will succeed where others have failed, when they have a passion for what they are doing. When the people of a community care deeply about its future and spread their optimism, anything is possible.

There is a third reason to be optimistic about the new year. We are surrounded in South Dakota by a great natural abundance of fertile land, clean air and pure water. When you add the strong belief and work ethics of our people to those natural resources, only the imagination limits what we can achieve.

I am always positive about the start of a new year, just as I am about the start of a new day. The quiet of early morning is my favorite time to contemplate the blessings I have and the opportunities that will come with the new day.

I view the arrival of a new year in much the same way. My hope for you is that you will too.

Together we can meet any challenge, overcome any obstacle, pass any test, build any dream and best of all enjoy every minute of it, because we care about what we are doing.

May your new year be filled with hope and faith that better things are just around the corner.

Happy New Year to all!

Mr. Gabriel is the South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture


Happy Birthday to Jenna Rose DuBois who is 6 years old today!

Friday, December 22, 2006

NEWS ROUNDUP

Game warden access an issue again A newly elected lawmaker said she'll offer a bill in the 2007 South Dakota Legislature that would require game wardens to ask for permission before going on private land. Rep.-elect Betty Olson, R-Prairie City, said officers could still enter private property if they have a reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing or get a tip about it. But she says game wardens should not be allowed to just drive onto someone's land to look for hunters who may or may not be doing something illegal. The right of game wardens to go onto private land comes from a policy called the open-fields doctrine. Legislators have tried to repeal it twice in recent years. "I'm hoping that ... both houses will decide that Game, Fish and Parks (should) show the common courtesy of asking before they trespass," said Olson. Gov. Mike Rounds and administrators with the GF&P have weighed in heavily in opposition to limiting access to private property for law officers, which probably played a large role in the bill's past failures, according to state House Majority Leader Larry Rhoden....
Group to gov: Don't 'interfere' The Equality State Policy Center on Tuesday criticized the governor's office and Wyoming attorney general, saying they're interfering with efforts to regulate negative impacts of water discharged from coal-bed methane wells. Last week, Gov. Dave Freudenthal's administration blasted a citizen board known as the Environmental Quality Council for proceeding with rulemaking that could force state regulators to tighten controls on coal-bed methane water. The Powder River Basin Resource Council brought the request on behalf of its rancher members, whose lands are being damaged or flooded by poor quality water. To date, many ranchers have found no regulatory relief as state agencies claim the problem is another agency's responsibility, or that no agency has the authority to address it....
Spaceport inks deal with ranchers The state has entered into long-term agreements that will allow New Mexico's spaceport to co-exist with ranching operations in the area. The New Mexico Spaceport Authority has finalized agreements with two Sierra County ranching operations, giving the yet-to-be-built Spaceport America, 45 miles north of Las Cruces, access to 18,000 acres of leased land. Bar Cross Ranch and Lewis Cain Ranch will each be paid more than $600,000 as an initial payment in return for access to the land by the spaceport. The ranches are owned by Ben and Jane Cain and Phil and Judy Wallin. The ranchers currently lease 90,000 acres from both the state and federal government, said New Mexico Economic Development Secretary Rick Homans....
Off the forest -- for now A homeless man, found guilty in November of letting his horses damage forest vegetation and shed their waste near waterways, was sentenced last week to nine months' probation, ordered to keep his livestock off national forests until next fall, and pay $105 in court costs. Terrence “Terry” Amrein, 60, had faced 18 months in jail and $15,000 in fines for offenses arising from his camping with horses in the Bridger-Teton National Forest. And throughout his latest legal drama, Amrein has put the justice system on trial. Dressed in a brown three-piece suit and shiny black boots last week, Amrein accused officials, present and past, of selective prosecution, even persecution. But it was Lubing’s verdict on Amrein’s “penchant for challenging authority” at trial that inspired the defendant’s continued rhetorical examination. “It’s true,” Amrein said last week. “I do identify authority that is incorrect or corrupt. And I feel that it’s a duty of an American citizen to call that out.”....
Clean Water Act faces legal challenge CropLife America (CLA) and Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment (RISE) have filed a legal challenge seeking to broaden the scope of the recent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) final rule that clarifies when pesticides can be applied without first obtaining a Clean Water Act (CWA) permit. “The EPA rule, while a step in the right direction, only applies to aquatic uses and forest canopy applications of pesticides,” said Jay Vroom, president and CEO of CropLife America. “Our challenge to the EPA is to expand the rule to all pesticides, including production agricultural uses of beneficial crop protection products and other essential uses of pesticides.” CLA has maintained that FIFRA - the primary law governing the application of pesticides -effectively regulates pesticide applications on, over and near “waters of the U.S.” Further, CLA takes the position that FIFRA regulation is sufficient to ensure the safety of all pesticide uses, not just those subject to EPA’s new rule. Labeling requirements under FIFRA are imposed to protect human health and the environment. This position was supported by others in the agricultural community and by public health officials in the two rounds of public comments solicited by the EPA on this issue....
Railroad boom hits environmental, 'not in my backyard' snags Across the interstate from his ranch, the Union Pacific (UP) railroad wants to build a six-mile switching yard, part of an effort to improve its national freight service. And, this month, local officials rezoned some 10,000 acres from development sensitive to heavy industrial. They envision businesses springing up around the new yard. Burgeoning business is pushing railroads into the middle of sticky environmental disputes. On one side are environmental groups, ranchers, and landowners concerned about potential chemical spills and air pollution. On the other side are rail companies stretched to the limit - barely able to provide communities with goods. Their strategy - with national implications for reducing oil usage - is to carry more of the containers now moved by long haul truckers. But, to do this they need to build more rail yards in places such as Picacho. With large open spaces in shorter supply and business booming, railroads are locked into disputes over land use - even in what used to be the wide-open West....
Fire crew boss charged in deaths The former boss of a government firefighting crew was charged with involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of four U.S. Forest Service firefighters during a 2001 blaze, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. Prosecutors said Ellreese N. Daniels was grossly negligent in failing to order his firefighters out of harm's way as flames advanced on them. He was also charged with lying to investigators in the aftermath of the tragedy, which took place near Winthrop in July 2001. Daniels was not immediately arrested. He was scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 4. His attorney, Tina Hunt, did not immediately return a call for comment. The four firefighters were trapped in the Chewuch River Canyon with 10 other firefighters and two campers. The others were uninjured, but the four firefighters -- two men and two women -- died when the blaze swept over them as they set up their fire shelters on a rocky slope. A Forest Service investigation concluded that fire bosses had ignored numerous signs of danger, repeatedly underestimated the fire and allowed their only escape route from the dead-end canyon to be cut off....
Forest Service veterans worry about precedent The possibility of being held personally liable for actions during wildland fires has loomed over firefighters ever since four local firefighters died in the Thirtymile Fire. The prospect became reality Wednesday when federal manslaughter charges were filed against former crew boss Ellreese Daniels. U.S. Forest Service veterans believe it was the first time criminal charges had ever been filed in connection with wildland fire deaths, and said it could worsen a growing sense among firefighters that their homes, jobs and pensions aren't worth the seasonal thrill of knocking down flames. "I would think this is going to have a real chilling effect on the folks that are out there, the boots on the ground," said Jim Furnish, a retired headquarters official who led the Thirtymile fatality investigation for the Forest Service. Retired Forest Service fire investigator Dick Mangan is even more blunt, suggesting that federal prosecutors took their sweet time examining every one of Daniels' actions -- a luxury he didn't have in the midst of a 9,300-acre blaze. "Sometimes we have a decision space of 30 seconds, a minute, two minutes -- and you don't always get it right," said Mangan, a three-decade Forest Service veteran who has since served in active operations and safety posts....
Legislation Aims to Address Fire Fighting Within Growth Policies A home in the woods, with the peaceful chatter of pine squirrels and the occasional deer feeding on your flowers is a Western dream. However, protecting these dream homes has become a nightmare for the government agencies charged with fire management. Look to any Western state and the problems are similar – too many homes on the fringes of communities where wildfire is as natural as the sunrise. This often means firefighters have to put more energy in saving homes than fighting the fire. It's been a growing problem for decades. Come January, the Montana Legislature will be faced with legislation dealing with homes in the urban-wildland interface. As the legislative session looms less than two weeks away, a handful of bills are popping up that address growth and development in the interface and would change dramatically the way state and local governments deal with an already difficult problem. The essence of the bills is that counties would have to address the interface in their growth policies, subdivision regulations and eventually zoning. They would have until July of 2009 to get this done and if they failed to meet that deadline, they would lose access to the state's general fund for fire fighting costs....
Column - Why I Hate Christmas Christmas destroys the environment and innocent animals and birds. These have perhaps not been traditional concerns for economists. But when one takes account of all the Christmas trees, letters, packages, increased newspaper advertising, wrapping paper, and catalogs and cards, as well as all the animals slaughtered for feast and fur, this holiday is nothing less than a catastrophe for the entire ecosystem. According to the U.S. Forest Service, 33 million Christmas trees are consumed each year. Growing them imposes an artificially short rotation period on millions of acres of forest land, and the piles of needles they shed shorten the life of most household rugs and pets. All the trees and paper have to be disposed of, which places a heavy burden on landfill sites and recycling facilities, especially in the Northeast. This year, according to the Humane Society, at least 4 million foxes and minks will be butchered just to provide our Christmas furs. To stock our tables, the Department of Agriculture tells me, we'll also slaughter 22 million turkeys, 2 million pigs, and 2 million to 3 million cattle, plus a disproportionate fraction of the 6 billion chickens that the United States consumes each year....
President Bush signs firefighter fund bill President Bush today signed a House bill that will eliminate taxes on the donations given to the families of the five firefighters killed in October's Esperanza fire. Rep. Mary Bono, R-Palm Springs, praised the president in a statement. "Hopefully the signing of this bill by the President will bring some comfort this holiday season to the families and friends who lost their loved one as a result of the Esperanza Fire. Today is a proud day for Congress, who swiftly and unanimously supported this critical piece of legislation which safeguards the generous contributions made by many compassionate Americans." The bill grants tax relief to the families of the five Idyllwild firefighters for the money donated to them following the massive arson blaze....
Reforestation lags amid record wildfires As severe wildfires scorch more of the USA each year, the Forest Service is falling further behind in replacing trees lost to fire, insects and disease because of shrinking budgets and mounting costs of fighting the blazes. The Forest Service had a backlog of 1.1 million acres that needed replanting in 2005 — a combined area slightly larger than Rhode Island — according to the agency's latest reforestation report. Last year, it could replant only 153,000 acres. John Rosenow, president of the National Arbor Day Foundation, calls it "a double whammy — the high need (to replant) because of fires, and then the funds having to be diverted." The Forest Service had to borrow $200 million from other programs to cover firefighting costs this year. Most of that, $159 million, came from reforestation accounts, the agency says. Wildfires last year scorched almost 8.7 million acres, the highest total in more than a half-century — until this year's record 9.6 million acres burned. "I'll give you one word: crisis," says forest ecologist Tom Bonnicksen, an adviser to the Forest Foundation, a California-based group. "In California areas burned by wildfires in 2001, only 3.8% were reforested. That, to me, is a crisis."....
Local wilderness discussions move forward for Lolo National Forest Wilderness bills have changed since the Democrats last gained control of the U.S. Congress two decades ago. Where once statewide bills were all about locking up lands, there are now local, bipartisan bills that also include economic benefits for the local rural communities. “What we’re looking for,” said Gordy Sanders of Pyramid Mountain Lumber in Seeley Lake, “is the same level of certainty that the proponents of wilderness are looking for.” Just as wilderness proponents seek the certainty of Congressional protection, local community members are looking for guaranteed access to the timber supply, through such tools as 10-year stewardship contracts. Gordy confirmed what Rep. Denny Rehberg told the Chronicle earlier this month—that community members in the Seeley Ranger District have been quietly laying the groundwork for a community-wide discussion of a wilderness bill involving the upper Blackfoot. The overall package would also include restoration, as well as a long-term guaranteed source of timber for the local mill. “A number of conservation community folks have been involved in the discussion,” he said. ‘We’ve spent a couple of years visiting about how to make things work.”....
Bush signs bill banning oil, gas drilling on Front President George Bush signed a major trade and tax package Wednesday that includes a permanent ban on oil and natural gas drilling along the Rocky Mountain Front. "I'm really tickled," said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., who added the drilling ban to the omnibus bill. "It's a real feather in the cap for Montana." The drilling provision makes permanent a 1997 moratorium on Rocky Mountain Front exploration and makes it easier to retire existing leases. Over the past 50 years, the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management have issued 60 leases for oil and gas development along the Front, though none of those is actively producing. The drilling ban signed by the president would give oil and gas companies a tax break if they sell their Front leases to nonprofit groups. That break would be equal to 25 percent of the capital received by the seller. Two energy companies agreed earlier this year to sell and donate the Front mineral leases they hold. Supporters of the ban have said a permanent solution enacted by Congress would help finalize those deals....
Editorial - Off the block: BLM ignores its mission in rush to sell leases The black-footed ferret, a smallish black, brown and gray mammal with a long tail and upright ears, has, by its mere presence, accomplished what hard-working environmental lawyers have tried with limited success. It has stopped the drilling in one energy-rich area of the Uinta Basin. Those concerned about the federal pillaging of the West's open spaces can thank these endangered creatures and an Interior Department review board that determined the BLM had illegally failed to consider the ferrets' fate when it sold oil and gas leases on the Utah/Colorado border. The board rightly suspended 15 leases covering 29,000 acres, some of the last of the endangered ferret's habitat. This is not the first time the Bureau of Land Management's seemingly headlong rush to put public land on the auction block for energy development has been curbed. But it is unusual that its parent agency would do the reining in. That fact only underscores the BLM's indefensible willingness to cater to energy companies at the expense even of its own department's rules for protecting the environment. U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball ruled in August that the BLM ignored federal environmental laws and its own findings when it sold 16 leases on land the agency itself had designated Wilderness Inventory Areas. A lawsuit was necessary to bring the BLM to heel in that case....
Swift Hiring Less Hispanics After ICE Raids, Unions Say Union leaders at Swift & Co.’s Grand Island, Neb., and Greeley, Colo., plants are reporting that the processor has been hiring fewer Hispanic immigrants to replace those caught in raids by the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau last week. In Greeley, for example, union president Ernie Duran told the Associated Press on Wednesday that of 75 new workers hired, 30 were Caucasians, 15 were Somali immigrants, seven were Hispanic immigrants and the rest were U.S.-born Hispanics. However, Hispanic immigrants have continued to seek employment at the plant, Duran said. Almost 90 percent of the Greeley plant workforce was made up of Hispanics prior to the raids, Duran added, though he didn’t know how many were immigrants and how many were U.S.-born....
It’s The Pitts: Not A Friend In The World I was sitting in an airport terminal waiting for someone who was three hours late so I had time to read portions of the newspaper I usually never get around to. Like the front page. And the big news of the day? It seems that Americans don’t have near as many friends as they used to. We are turning into a nation of total strangers. The General Social Survey found that between 1985 and 2004 the average American went from three good friends down to two. Probably as a result of death, divorce or not returning a borrowed tool. One of every four Americans have absolutely no one to talk to. Not a shrink, spouse or relative. Some people have all the luck! It seems this country is turning into a nation of lonely hearts of bachelors, widows and old maids with no one to confide in. According to the study, people are meeting their new “friends” on the Internet and while that may be true I think I know the real reason that your average American can lose friends even faster than I can. Simply put, this nation of isolationists is going to the dogs. And cats, and birds, and horses. People are substituting their pets for the more traditional friends. Speaking as someone who has a lot of experience in this area, I must say that I see nothing wrong with this trend. In fact, I think it’s healthy....

Thursday, December 21, 2006

SENATOR INHOFE ANNOUNCES PUBLIC RELEASE OF “SKEPTIC’S GUIDE TO DEBUNKING GLOBAL WARMING”

Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.), the outgoing Chairman of Environment & Public Works Committee, is pleased to announce the public release of the Senate Committee published booklet entitled “A Skeptic’s Guide to Debunking Global Warming Alarmism. Hot & Cold Media Spin Cycle: A Challenge To Journalists who Cover Global Warming.” Click here to download the "Skeptic's Guide" (http://epw.senate.gov/repwhitepapers/6345050%20Hot%20&%20Cold%20Media.pdf)
The color glossy 68 page booklet -- previously was only available in hardcopy to the media and policy makers -- includes speeches, graphs, press releases and scientific articles refuting catastrophe climate fears presented by the media, the United Nations, Hollywood and former Vice President turned-foreign-lobbyist Al Gore. The “Skeptic’s Guide” includes a copy of Senator Inhofe’s 50 minute Senate floor speech http://epw.senate.gov/speechitem.cfm?party=rep&id=263759 delivered on September 25, 2006 challenging the media to improve its reporting. The ‘Skeptic’s Guide’, which has received recognition by the LA Times and Congressional Quarterly, is now available free for international distribution on the Senate Environmental & Public Works Web site (http://epw.senate.gov/w_papers.cfm?party=rep)] The book, which features web links to all supporting documentation, also serves as a handbook to identify the major players in media bias when it comes to poor climate science reporting. The guide presents a reporter’s virtual who’s-who’s of embarrassing and one-sided media coverage, with a focus on such reporters as CBS News “60 Minutes” Scott Pelley, ABC News reporter Bill Blakemore, CNN’s Miles O’Brien, and former NBC Newsman Tom Brokaw....

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

NEWS ROUNDUP


Feds to Start Removing Wolf Protections
The head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Tuesday his agency will start removing federal protections from gray wolves in Montana and Idaho by January, regardless of whether Wyoming has submitted an acceptable plan to manage its own wolves by then. Wyoming's plan is tied up in lawsuits, and Fish and Wildlife Director Dale Hall said his agency is moving ahead with Idaho and Montana, where management plans are already in place. Defenders of Wildlife, which advocates on behalf of wolves, vowed to fight the move, saying delisting by state is illegal. Under the federal plan, states could have complete oversight of their wolves within 12 months, Risch said. Idaho is estimated to have 650 wolves in about 60 packs, while Montana has 270 and Wyoming 309. After delisting, Idaho's federally approved wolf-management plan requires maintaining a minimum of 15 packs, while Montana has a benchmark of 15 breeding pairs....
Pro hunters shoot turkeys on Santa Cruz Island Professional hunters killed about 250 of 300 wild turkeys on Santa Cruz Island to protect rare foxes. Biologists said the turkeys were threatening the fox recovery program. Thousands of pigs were killed on the island during the past 18 months for the same reason. The turkey kill has been taking place on The Nature Conservancy’s portion of the island, which is part of Channel Islands National Park, because the flock spends most of its time on that portion of the island. Scientists said the kills are necessary because turkeys and pigs provide prey for golden eagles. The eagles are attracted to the island, where they also kill the endangered foxes. The island pigs had kept turkey populations in check by eating their eggs and competing with them for food. With nearly all the pigs gone, the turkey population had boomed....
Law cited for river access Wanting to ensure his cattle have access to water from the Green River, rancher T. Wright Dickinson cited a law that predates the civil war to make his case to take down sections of fence on the Browns Park National Wildlife Refuge's borders. Dickinson, a former county commissioner, presented his case Tuesday to Moffat County commissioners requesting water gaps -- areas without fence -- on the refuge's land that borders his leased land. The cited law, R.S. 2477, goes back more than 100 years, and it has recently been used for public access to what has historically been considered a road, with the idea of "if it was a road back then, it should be a road now." Dickinson made the case that it should apply to rivers as well, asking that 11 water gaps that have historically allowed access to the Green River in Browns Park be added to the commissioner's map of access....
Study says plan to pump Yampa River water to Front Range is feasible A $3.2 billion proposal to pump water from the Yampa River 200 miles to the Front Range could work, according to a new study. The Yampa, one of the state's last rivers with unclaimed water, could provide more than 97 billion gallons per year to the fast-growing population center across the Continental Divide, according to the feasibility study by the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District. The district likely would not take the lead on such a project, but leaders said they would provide information to interested Front Range cities. They could face tough opposition from ranchers, rafters, kayakers and northern Colorado municipalities who want to keep the water in the Yampa River basin. The river is considered one of the West's last wild rivers because it has only a few small dams and diversions....
Forest Service scales back logging The Medicine Bow National Forest has reduced the amount of clear-cutting it has planned for the southwestern area of the forest. The Forest Service had originally proposed clear-cutting 552 acres in the Devil's Gate area but has reduced the proposed amount to 283 acres. The agency also has decided not to allow cutting in important elk and deer winter range in response to comments from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and from a local conservation group. Clint Kyhl, Laramie district ranger, said the agency is concerned that thousands of acres of trees killed by beetles have increased the risk of catastrophic fires in the area. Rather than clear-cutting on 165 acres, he ordered that only trees larger than 8 inches in diameter be removed because they're likely to be killed by beetles in the next few years....
Fire raises burning questions There was little room for political correctness in the Stillwater Pavilion on Tuesday as a packed crowd grilled agency representatives about the handling of August's Derby Mountain fire. Why was a private helicopter "called off" the fire on the afternoon it was first discovered? Why was one home protected when another was not? Why were there so few preparations when severe red-flag warnings were predicted? And why were resources sitting idle elsewhere? County, state and federal representatives answered some of those questions and provided insight into others. Some issues, however, remain unresolved. The meeting was organized by Keith Martin of Nye, who contacted Rep. Denny Rehberg's office on behalf of the Absarokee Rural Fire District Board. Martin questioned the use of a private helicopter that had been working in the area for a mine exploration company. The pilot told Martin that he had been dropping 100 gallons of water on the fire every four minutes when the Forest Service called him off. "That's pretty hard for me to swallow when you see so much ground burned up," Martin said....
St. Helens Plume Seen in Portland Like a giant smokestack, percolating Mount St. Helens let loose a billowing steam plume easily seen Tuesday in downtown Portland, Ore., about 50 miles away. Cold weather combined with the volcano's ongoing release of water vapor to make the display particularly impressive, scientists said. Mount St. Helens has been undergoing a low-key eruption since September 2004. The white plume emitting from the snowy peak could be seen clearly against a blue sky. The vapor temperature was near the boiling point of water _ 212 degrees _ while temperatures at the mountain were around or below freezing, Scott said....
Little loggers are big concern The munching march of pine beetles through Colorado's ski country could lower the timberline by a few thousand feet in the coming decades and change the nature of skiing in the nation's skiingest state. The Front Bowls of Vail? Colorado, the moonscaped Andes of the Rockies? Ski The Baldest State? The devastating infestation of bark beetles in Colorado's central Rockies is promising sweeping mutations in Colorado's ski landscape. Initially, the race to gird threatened stands of conifer against the ravaging rice-sized insects will improve the skiing, with thinning and deadfall removal opening once impenetrable glades. But when the full impact of the predicted 70 percent to 90 percent or higher mortality rate is realized in the next two decades, skiers could be grinding through nothing but wind-scoured, sun-baked snow, avoiding massive swaths of closed terrain where new trees are growing while keeping a keen eye peeled for tumbling timber succumbing to the slightest of breezes....
New promise for trout streams The clear water splashing through rocky pools and over gravel bars in this remote Amador County stream might signal hope for other trout streams throughout the Sierra Nevada. Three years ago, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. paid crews to remove a dam on West Panther Creek that had been part of the company's hydroelectric generation system but also had blocked trout migration for more than seven decades. That removal was one of the first under the guidelines of modern environmental law as part of a deal that allowed the relicensing of PG&E's Mokelumne River Project. Now, volunteer conservationists and government biologists are visiting Panther Creek several times a year to measure its progress. They've found that the stream easily tossed downstream hundreds of tons of gravel that had plugged the area behind the dam. They say Panther Creek's ability to resume its life as a trout stream means such restoration likely will work elsewhere as well....
Column - Proposed mine could have dreadful impact As the eagle flies, it's approximately 2,500 miles from Colorado to the abundant fishing rivers of Alaska's Bristol Bay, a long cast by any stretch of the imagination. Yet what is being proposed in this faraway place by Northern Dynasty Mines Inc., with the apparent complicity of the Bureau of Land Management, touches the heartstrings - and fishing lines - of the millions of anglers who have been there, or who hope to someday. At issue is the planned Pebble Mine, a combined gold, copper and molybdenum excavation touted as the largest open-pit mine on the continent. The location, just north of Lake Iliamna, sets off alarm bells for a significant portion of a drainage that nourishes North America's most prolific salmon populations, along with Alaska's largest rainbow trout. For anglers, hunters and conservationists, the area represents another battleground in what seems to be serial struggles to balance the resources of our wildest and richest state....
Feds want more wells even as deer decline The Bureau of Land Management has proposed a substantial increase in the number of wells on the Pinedale Anticline along with winter drilling in crucial big game habitat, even as the mule deer population has fallen 46 percent in the area. In an document released this month, the BLM proposed 4,399 new wells on 12,278 acres. According to the supplemental environmental impact statement, “drilling and completions within big game crucial winter habitats would occur in each of three Concentrated Development Areas within a core area centered on the Anticline Crest.” The wells could eventually access a predicted 40 trillion cubic feet of natural gas under the anticline. Drilling is proposed about 60 miles southeast of Jackson in areas previously off limits in winter to all human presence. The BLM request comes in tandem with a new mule deer study, focusing on the northern half of the Pinedale Anticline, that shows a 46 percent decline in the mule deer population since drilling began in the area. This year, the herd’s population numbers held steady after four years of decline....
Feds withdraw rare wildflower proposal The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday withdrew its proposal to list as threatened a wildflower that grows only in areas of Utah and Colorado where oil shale and tar sand exploration are being done. The decision prompted environmental groups who have fought for the listing of the Graham‘s penstemon to accuse the FWS and Bureau of Land Management of choosing energy development leases over a threatened species. The flower is a member of the snapdragon family and blooms in lavender flowers. Larry England a botanist with the FWS in Salt Lake City said the proposal was withdrawn Tuesday because the service couldn‘t show that the threats to the species and its population range were imminent. Frates said after Tuesday‘s announcement additional legal action is "extremely likely."....
Federal fight for rural communities continues Washington, D.C.: Working to reinstate vital funding for the nation’s rural schools, roads and services, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith are filing amendments to authorize and fully fund a one-year extension of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act of 2000, commonly known as the county payments law. Despite the Bush Adminis-tration’s commitment to enact a one-year fully-funded extension of the county payments safety-net, the law was allowed to expire in September. A one-year extension of the program, including a portion to be paid out of timber receipts, would provide up to $500 million nationally for 700 rural counties in more than 40 states. The senators’ proposal would fully fund the extension — without a new tax or raising existing taxes — by closing a tax loophole that currently allows government contractors to avoid their tax obligations. The senators’ proposal would provide a revenue stream for county payments by withholding Federal taxes from payments the Federal government makes to government contractors providing goods and services. The Federal government does not currently withhold taxes on payments made to government contractors and a recent study by the Government Accountability Office revealed that a surprisingly large number of those contractors have never paid their federal taxes....
Motorcycle riders group seeks 730-acre purchase A motorcycle riders group wants to buy 730 acres next to John's Peak to add to 506 acres it owns in a controversial area favored by off-road-vehicle enthusiasts for decades. The acreage is owned by LaMinora Properties Inc., a subsidiary of Forest Capital Partners, and is located just to the west of John's Peak, north of Jacksonville. David Lexow, president of the Motorcycle Riders Association, said his non-profit organization wants the land, offered at $1.82 million, so it can better manage the area and rehabilitate trails that have been damaged by years of uncontrolled off-road-vehicle use. The MRA is considering applying for a state grant funded by gasoline taxes paid for by off-road-vehicle users and from registration fees to help buy the land. Lexow said the MRA already has agreements to use up to 35,000 acres in the area, including tracts owned by timber companies and the Bureau of Land Management....
BLM suspends leases due to ferrets The possibility of losing potential habitat for the endangered black-footed ferret has led the Bureau of Land Management to suspend oil and gas drilling leases on about 29,000 acres of public land in the Uinta Basin. The suspension comes after an Interior Department review board said the BLM failed to follow environmental policies before the leases were issued. The Center for Native Ecosystems, an environmental advocacy group in Denver, challenged the leases, contending the BLM didn't comply with the National Environmental Policy Act. Much of the land in question is in the Snake John and Shiner parts of eastern Utah's Uinta Basin, near Coyote Basin. It is land that's home to white-tailed prairie dog colonies, which provide potential habitat for the black-footed ferret. The ferrets use the prairie dogs' burrows for shelter. White-tailed prairie dogs also contribute to habitat and are prey for eagles, hawks and other wildlife. The BLM's Interior Board of Land Appeals agreed with the Center for Native Ecosystems that the BLM needs to follow the National Environmental Policy Act before issuing leases....
Lawsuit seeks to sheild Alaska sea otter A conservation group, alarmed at a decrease in the number of sea otters in southwest Alaska, filed a lawsuit in federal court on Tuesday to try to compel the government to designate critical habitat to help the endangered species recover. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service generally is required to designate critical habitat when a species is listed as endangered or within a year if it can‘t be done immediately. The sea otter was put on the list in August 2005. Douglas Burn, a wildlife biologist with U.S. Fish and Wildlife in Anchorage, said while he can‘t comment on the lawsuit the agency is not ignoring the issue. He said a team of experts is helping develop a recovery plan for the sea otter and has discussed the role of critical habitat....
Fish and Wildlife Service Won't Consider Mono Basin Area Sage-Grouse The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced two petitions to add the Mono Basin area sage-grouse to the federal list of threatened and endangered species did not have substantial scientific or commercial information to demonstrate that Endangered Species Act (ESA) protection is warranted. The sage-grouse is a large bird that can grow up to 30 inches long and 2 feet tall found in areas where the elevation is above 4,000 feet. The Service responded to a petition they received on November 15th 2005, from Stanford Law School Environmental Law Clinic. Under the ESA the service is required to review petitions to decide whether they have enough scientific evidence. The service is concerned about the long term decline of the sage-grouse and is working with Western state wildlife agencies and federal agencies to conserve and manage the sagebrush habitat.
Center for Biological Diversity Offers Free Endangered Wildlife Ringtones Calling all cell phone users: Now you can personalize your ringtones with the mesmerizing calls of the Blue-throated Macaw, Beluga Whale, Boreal Owl, Mountain Yellow-legged Frog, Yosemite Toad or any one of 40 other endangered wildlife species, absolutely free. "People really respond to the wildlife ringtones -- the animal calls are fascinating, they personalize your phone, and they sound cool when it rings," said Peter Galvin, the Center's Conservation Director. "The best part is that they inspire people to understand and work to protect endangered wildlife." The ringtones allow cell phones to come alive with the haunting hoots of over two dozen rare owls from around the world, the sensational songs of tropical birds, the crazy croaks of more than a dozen imperiled amphibians, or the underwater orchestras of Orcas and Beluga Whales. The free Web site allows users to listen to ringtones, send them directly to their phones with one easy click, and download photos and fact sheets for each of the featured wildlife species. Users can also take action to save endangered species worldwide....
Mystery gift may be valuable vomit A mysterious gift given to a Montauk, N.Y., woman from her sister might be a valuable piece of petrified whale vomit, experts said. Dorothy Ferreira said the four-pound item, which might be worth as much as $18,000, was given to her by her sister, The New York Times reported Monday. "I called my sister and asked her, 'What the heck did you send me?'" Ferreira said. "She said: 'I don't know, but I found it on the beach in Montauk 50 years ago and just kept it around. You're the one who lives by the ocean. Ask someone out there what it is.'" Walter Galcik, an expert on such matters, examined the unattractive lump and concluded it might very well be ambergris, a valuable perfume ingredient created in the intestines of sperm whales and vomited into the ocean. "He told me, 'Don't let this out of your sight,'" she said. However, selling the item could prove troublesome for Ferreira. Endangered species legislation passed in the 1970s complicates the process of trading in ambergris. An Australian couple who found $300,000 worth of the substance on a beach has faced multiple legal challenges in their attempts to sell it.
County builds case against park plan Park County commissioners are getting some help to build their case against closing Yellowstone National Park's East Entrance during winter. The commissioners have received a $50,000 grant from the governor’s office to study the costs and options of keeping the entrance open. That money will help fund a feasibility study to be completed by Ecosystems Research Group of Missoula, Mont. A National Park Service proposal for winter use in Yellowstone calls for the closure of Sylvan Pass and the East Entrance due to safety and financial concerns. The Park Service has estimated that it spends $200,000 annually controlling avalanches on Sylvan Pass, Commissioner Tim French said. Commissioners say the Park Service must also weigh heavily the financial impact of closing the entrance on the winter economic tourism season in Park County....
Looking Back at Alston Chase's Playing God in Yellowstone Philosopher Alston Chase wrote Playing God in Yellowstone: The Destruction of America's First National Park, a book whose central thesis is that the National Park Service, aided and abetted by the budding environmental movement, is to blame for destroying Yellowstone National Park. This thesis is probably shocking to many since the Park Service has been held up as one of the most revered American institutions, and Yellowstone has often been cited as one of the great success stories under its management. Playing God in Yellowstone was first published in 1986, years before I ever set foot in the park that Chase argues had already been destroyed. I first came to Yellowstone in June 1993 and have only now read this famous work. Even with the time lag, I have found it especially provocative and even relevant for today, at least in a big picture sense. Nevertheless, Playing God in Yellowstone is ultimately disappointing, though not because it is out of date. In this essay, I will argue that while Chase's criticisms of both the National Park Service and the environmental movement have a lot of merit, his voice from nowhere approach cloaks his own ideological--perhaps, religious--presumptions. As a result, Playing God in Yellowstone is not really of much help in shedding light on why Yellowstone is so valuable and therefore what if anything has gone wrong. If we are to have a Yellowstone ethic, we need greater clarity on what is so valuable about this Yellowstone that so many of us love. Chase is not happy about the state of things in Yellowstone, and he is painstaking in showing us the story of how Yellowstone came to be destroyed from what it once was. For one thing, there are fewer beaver, and it turns out that the story as to why there are so few beaver is critical to understanding so much else. Fewer beaver existed because of depleted vegetation. The vegetation was depleted because there were too many elk. There were too many elk because there were not enough wolves or mountain lions. There were not enough wolves and mountain lions because the Park Service had killed them along with as many coyotes as they could wipe out as well. There are also no more Indians in Yellowstone, who had hunted elk and had also through their direct influence affected the vegetation and land. In fact, Chase argues that the numbers of elk and bison are historically way out of proportion, far outnumbering the numbers that probably ever existed in Yellowstone at any point in the history of Earth....
British Lord Stings Senators Rockefeller and Snowe: 'Uphold Free Speech or Resign' Lord Monckton, Viscount of Brenchley, has sent an open letter to Senators Rockefeller (D-WV) and Snowe (R-Maine) in response to their recent open letter telling the CEO of ExxonMobil to cease funding climate-skeptic scientists. (http://ff.org/centers/csspp/pdf/20061212_monckton.pdf). Lord Monckton, former policy adviser to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, writes: "You defy every tenet of democracy when you invite ExxonMobil to deny itself the right to provide information to 'senior elected and appointed government officials' who disagree with your opinion." In what The Charleston (WV) Daily Mail has called "an intemperate attempt to squelch debate with a hint of political consequences," Senators Rockefeller and Snowe released an open letter dated October 30 to ExxonMobil CEO, Rex Tillerson, insisting he end Exxon's funding of a "climate change denial campaign." The Senators labeled scientists with whom they disagree as "deniers," a term usually directed at "Holocaust deniers." Some voices on the political left have called for the arrest and prosecution of skeptical scientists. The British Foreign Secretary has said skeptics should be treated like advocates of Islamic terror and must be denied access to the media. Responds Lord Monckton, "Sceptics and those who have the courage to support them are actually helpful in getting the science right. They do not, as you improperly suggest, 'obfuscate' the issue: they assist in clarifying it by challenging weaknesses in the 'consensus' argument and they compel necessary corrections ... "....
Fifth of Farm Animal Breeds May Face Extinction - FAO About 20 percent of farm animal breeds have been brought to the brink of extinction as world agriculture narrows its focus to just the most productive livestock, the United Nation food body said. One breed is being lost each month, and the globalisation of livestock markets is the biggest single factor hitting farm animal diversity, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said in a statement on Friday. Of more than 7,600 breeds in the FAO's global database of farm animal genetic resources, 190 have become extinct in the past 15 years and a further 1,500 are considered at risk of extinction, it said. "This process leads to a narrowing genetic base ... within the commercially successful breeds ... as other breeds, and indeed species, are discarded in response to market forces," Irene Hoffmann, chief of the FAO's animal production service said in the statement....So, "shoot, shovel and shutup" may soon apply to farm animals? What a great law we have.
California farmers harvest bumper crop of money
When you grow cotton, the plants aren’t the only green things lining up in nice, orderly rows. So are the payments from the federal government to help the farmer cope with the all the adversity of growing the plants. Central Valley farmers and ranchers were paid more than $2.1 billion in federal crop subsidies in the ten years ending in 2005, according to a report from the Environmental Working Group. The EWG says total farm subsidy payments to all California agriculture added up to $5.94 billion for the ten year period, putting California – the nation’s Number One agriculture state – a paltry Number Ten in the handout line. Midwestern states reaped far more in federal payments, the report says. Many of the Central Valley’s top crops like tree fruits and nuts, receive little, if any, federal crop payments. The EWG report says 91 percent of all farmers and ranchers do not collect government subsidy payments in California, citing figures from the USDA. In Iowa, however, 70 percent of all farmers get a government check....
Huge gold chunk in La Grande loaded with lore, rich in tall tales When dealer Rick Gately recently bought a 2-pound gold nugget from a miner, he discovered the buyer must always beware -- even when what glitters really is gold. The huge nugget turned out to have a long and shady past. Gately first saw the chunk of ore when a middle-aged miner recently walked into his La Grande Gold and Silver store claiming to have just found it. It weighed a staggering 33.3 ounces and measured 7-by-6 inches, a massive nugget by modern standards. To compare: Among the largest chunks of gold hereabouts is the 7-pound "Armstrong nugget," allegedly found near the ghost town of Susanville in 1913 by miner George Armstrong. It's on display at a U.S. Bank branch in downtown Baker City. About 5.5 million ounces of gold have been extracted from Oregon's mountains and streams since the frontier era, according to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Half to two-thirds came out of Eastern Oregon....
It's All Trew: Will Rogers was never changed by his fame Thanks to Dixie Jo Crockett of Alanreed for the loan of a 1935 scrapbook created by her late uncle W.M. Burroughs. He always wanted to be a pilot but was too tall, so he became an aircraft mechanic. His interest in flying is probably the reason for creating the scrapbook. The book contains many newspaper articles about the death of Will Rogers and Wily Post. The pair were flying from Fairbanks to Point Barrow, Alaska, when fog forced them to land on a small stream only 15 miles from their destination. Later, when the fog lifted, they took off and continued their journey. At exactly 8:18 p.m., on Aug. 15, 1935, (shown by a stopped watch), the plane crashed, killing the two men aboard. Will Rogers was 55 years old and lived in Claremore, Okla. Wiley Post was 36 and a well known pilot. Rogers was born an Indian in 1879 on a ranch in the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma. Although he dropped out of school in the 10th grade, he became a nationally recognized entertainer. Fame never changed him. He often stated, "I never met a man I didn't like." A freed slave working on the ranch taught young Will how to use and twirl a rope....