Wednesday, January 31, 2007

NEWS ROUNDUP

10 years to save the planet A NEW worldwide movement backed by celebrities, musicians, politicians and business leaders is aiming to reverse the effects of global warming over the next decade. Global Cool launched in London and LA today and is calling on one billion people to reduce their carbon emissions by just one tonne a year, for the next 10 years. Boffins have found the climatic tipping point - when the climate becomes irreversibly damaged - can be turned back if global CO2 emissions are reduced by one billion tonnes a year. Campaigners then hope cleaner, renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, water and hydrogen would have been developed. Big names including Leonardo Di Caprio, Orlando Bloom, KT Tunstall, Pink, The Killers, Razorlight and Josh Hartnett have thrown their weight behind the worldwide effort to beat climate change....
Waxman Seeks Climate Inquiry Evidence The Democratic chairman of a House panel examining the government's response to climate change said Tuesday there is evidence that senior Bush administration officials sought repeatedly "to mislead the public by injecting doubt into the science of global warming." Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said he and the top Republican on his oversight committee, Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia, have sought documents from the administration on climate policy, but repeatedly been rebuffed. "The committee isn't trying to obtain state secrets or documents that could affect our immediate national security," said Waxman, opening the hearing. "We are simply seeking answers to whether the White House's political staff is inappropriately censoring impartial government scientists." "We know that the White House possesses documents that contain evidence of an attempt by senior administration officials to mislead the public by injecting doubt into the science of global warming and minimize the potential danger," Waxman said....
U.N. agency pressures Ban on climate crisis summit The U.N. environment agency pressured Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday to call an emergency climate summit amid dire reports about the risks from global warming. A summit, tentatively planned for September, would focus on the hunt for a successor to the Kyoto Protocol on cutting greenhouse gases widely blamed for forecasts of more heatwaves, floods, droughts and rising sea levels. U.N. environment agencies are lobbying Ban to play a leading role in helping governments battle climate change after Kyoto expires in 2012. But he stopped short on Tuesday of endorsing his officials' proposal for a summit of some 20 key leaders. On Friday, the broadest scientific study of the human effect on the climate is set to conclude there is at least a 90 percent chance that human activities, mainly burning fossil fuels, are to blame for most of the warming in the last 50 years....
Survey shows 13 pct of Americans never heard of global warming Thirteen percent of Americans have never heard of global warming even though their country is the world's top source of greenhouse gases, a 46-country survey showed on Monday. The report, by ACNielsen of more than 25,000 Internet users, showed that 57 percent of people around the world considered global warming a "very serious problem" and a further 34 percent rated it a "serious problem." "It has taken extreme and life-threatening weather patterns to finally drive the message home that global warming is happening and is here to stay unless a concerted, global effort is made to reverse it," said Patrick Dodd, the President of ACNielsen Europe. People in Latin America were most worried while U.S. citizens were least concerned with just 42 percent rating global warming "very serious." The United States emits about a quarter of all greenhouse gases, the biggest emitter ahead of China, Russia and India. Thirteen percent of U.S. citizens said they had never heard or read anything about global warming, the survey said....
Two New Books Confirm Global Warming Is Natural, Moderate Two powerful new books say today's global warming is due not to human activity but primarily to a long, moderate solar-linked cycle. "Unstoppable Global Warming Every 1500 Years," by physicist Fred Singer and economist Dennis Avery was released just before Christmas. "The Chilling Stars: A New Theory of Climate Change," by Danish physicist Henrik Svensmark and former BBC science writer Nigel Calder (Icon Books), is due out in March. Singer and Avery note that most of the earth's recent warming occurred before 1940, and thus before much human-emitted CO2. Moreover, physical evidence shows 600 moderate warmings in the earth's last million years. The evidence ranges from ancient Nile flood records, Chinese court documents and Roman wine grapes to modern spectral analysis of polar ice cores, deep seabed sediments and layered cave stalagmites. "Unstoppable Global Warming" shows the earth's temperatures following variations in solar intensity through centuries of sunspot records, and finds cycles of sun-linked isotopes in ice and tree rings. The book cites the work of Svensmark, who says cosmic rays vary the earth's temperatures by creating more or fewer of the low, wet clouds that cool the earth. It notes that global climate models can't accurately register cloud effects....
California may ban conventional lightbulbs by 2012 A California lawmaker wants to make his state the first to ban incandescent lightbulbs as part of California's groundbreaking initiatives to reduce energy use and greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. The "How Many Legislators Does it Take to Change a Lightbulb Act" would ban incandescent lightbulbs by 2012 in favor of energy-saving compact fluorescent lightbulbs. "Incandescent lightbulbs were first developed almost 125 years ago, and since that time they have undergone no major modifications," California Assemblyman Lloyd Levine said on Tuesday. "Meanwhile, they remain incredibly inefficient, converting only about 5 percent of the energy they receive into light." Levine is expected to introduce the legislation this week, his office said....
Eiffel Tower to switch off lights as scientists finish major report on global warming Even the Eiffel Tower is out to save the planet. On Thursday evening, as scientists and officials put finishing touches on a long-awaited report about global warming, the Paris landmark will switch off its 20,000 flashing light bulbs that run up and down the tower and illuminate the French capital's skyline. The Eiffel Tower's lights account for about 9 percent of the monument's total energy consumption of 7,000 megawatt-hours per year. The five-minute blackout comes at the urging of environmental activists seeking to call attention to energy waste _ and just hours before world scientists on Friday unveil a major report Friday warning that the planet will keep getting warmer and presenting new evidence of humans' role in climate change. Environmental groups are seeking to take advantage of the worldwide attention on the meetings in Paris this week of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The panel will release a report laying out policy proposals for governments based on the latest research on global warming....
The Humane Society Becomes a Political Animal Many people may consider the Humane Society of the United States a pussycat. But with 10 million donors and a $120 million budget, it is becoming a tiger among Washington's interest groups. Just ask Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) and Rep. Richard W. Pombo (R-Calif.). Actually, make that former governor and then-representative. The Humane Society targeted both in last year's elections after Ehrlich supported bear hunting and Pombo supported commercial whaling and trapping in wildlife refuges. The society also spent lavishly to help pass an initiative in Arizona, fought by agribusiness, that bans inhumane factory farming. And it bested the National Rifle Association on a measure that prohibits the shooting of mourning doves for sport in Michigan. "They are a worthy opponent," said Andrew Arulanandam of the NRA. "They certainly have a lot of backers with deep pockets." "They keep us on our toes," agreed Kelli Ludlum of the American Farm Bureau Federation. "We need all of our members to counter their growing effectiveness."....
Huntsman tables roadless forest petition Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. on Monday told a group of outdoor recreation executives that he was at least temporarily shelving the state's roadless forest petition because of legal uncertainties regarding the issue. Since last year, the governor's office has been crafting a petition that would establish new management guidelines for Utah's nearly 4 million acres of inventoried roadless forest. The petition process was created by the Bush administration in 2005 to replace the Clinton-era roadless rule, which called for the protection of the nation's 50 million acres of roadless forest. Huntsman's petition was controversial, because, unlike California or New Mexico - which requested that all of their roadless areas remain protected - his petition called for the abolition of the roadless designations in Utah and more input into forest management decisions by the state. However, with a recent federal court ruling in California that rejected the Bush administration rule for failing to follow national environmental law - restoring the Clinton rule in the process - the Utah governor has opted to sit the battle out. For now, the Clinton rule remains in effect. "If a [petition] submission is made, we look forward to engaging all appropriate stakeholders, including the outdoor industry," Huntsman said in a statement....
Army wouldn't make good neighbors, rancher says Critics of the Army's plan to expand the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site are not reassured by suggestions the Pentagon could lease land or make other cooperative agreements with ranchers rather than purchase or condemn land. "There's no way you could let the Army conduct live fire maneuvers on one area of land while you're trying to keep cattle on another section," rancher Lon Robertson said Tuesday. "It just doesn't sound feasible. It also avoids the fundamental question of why the Army thinks they need this land in the first place." Robertson, who lives near Kim and is a founder of the Pinon Canyon Expansion Opposition Coalition, said the Army's claim that it needs to expand the 238,000-acre training area by an additional 418,000 acres doesn't make sense to ranchers and rural communities around the maneuver site, which is southwest of La Junta. "What is it about the Pinon Canyon area that the Army can't find on the 2.5 million acres the Pentagon already owns?" Robertson asked....
Court rejects water rights fees after 4-year fight Family farmers who were wrongfully required to pay a state water rights fee could get some of their money back. After a four-year legal battle, the 3rd District Court of Appeal in Sacramento decided in favor of farmers and ranchers who protested imposition of a new and unconstitutional state fee that resulted in a total collection of more than $20 million. Water rights fees were levied on about 7,000 water rights holders beginning in 2004. The court agreed with the California Farm Bureau Federation that those fees were invalid and unconstitutional. Refund checks, however, aren't in the mail to those wrongfully charged, said Carl Borden, CFBF associate counsel. It's likely the state will appeal the opinion to the California Supreme Court. Legal experts are advising patience as this issue is played out in court....
S.D. House Panel Nixes Game Warden Restrictions A bill that would have restricted game wardens' ability to enter private lands to check for hunting violations was rejected Tuesday by a South Dakota House committee. The Agriculture Committee voted 7-6 to kill the bill after some lawmakers said the state Game, Fish and Parks Department has made a good effort to improve relations with landowners in the two years since a similar bill was rejected by the Legislature. The bill's main sponsor, Rep. Betty Olson, R-Prairie City, said western South Dakota ranchers want to protect their property rights. Game wardens should have to ask permission to enter private land or have a specific reason for doing so, she said. "We'd just like a little appreciation and a little protection from Game, Fish and Parks," Olson said. Olson said about 4 million acres of land in northwestern South Dakota have been closed to hunting because of the issue. Until game wardens' ability to enter private land is restricted, ranchers will not open their land to hunting, except for people who pay for the privilege, she said....
Trial date set for charges in deadly WA wildfire A March 26 trial date has been set for a former U.S. Forest Service crew boss charged with involuntary manslaughter and lying to federal investigators in the 2001 deaths of four firefighters. Ellreese Daniels welcomes the trial to clear his name, Tina Hunt, a federal public defender, said after not guilty pleas were entered Tuesday on behalf of her client. A federal grand jury indicted Daniels, 46, of Leavenworth, on four counts of involuntary manslaughter and seven counts of making material false statements stemming from his role as a fire crew boss in the Thirtymile Fire in Okanogan County in July 2001. Four firefighters died when flames trapped the crew and two civilians in the Chewuch River Canyon....
Four states involved in project to deal with drilling permit backlog Driven by accelerating oil and gas development on federal lands, in 2005 Congress passed the Energy Policy Act of 2005. That legislation mandated formation of interagency offices in four western states to deal with a backlog of applications for permits to drill (APD). "The bureau was ... unable to keep up with applications and demand for APDs," said Alan Kesterke, pilot project manager who oversees the seven offices from a BLM office in Cheyenne, Wyo. "Concern on all sides was that we didn't have the capability (to meet those demands)." The move to bring BLM together with the Forest Service and other federal and state agencies was unique. The Energy Policy Act, in addition to mandating the offices, also approved funding and required the agencies to sign an agreement within 90 days of passage of the act that would set the stage for the offices. "That's phenomenal" in the workings of federal bureaucracies, Kesterke said. In all, 125 new jobs were approved for the seven offices in Rawlins and Buffalo, Wyo.; Glenwood Springs; Carlsbad and Farmington, N.M.; and Miles City, Mont....
Glenwood's pilot energy office is still working out the kinks In Glenwood Springs last year, a pilot office was created to deal with the explosive growth of natural gas development in western Colorado. That office is still trying to find its feet. Opened on May 17, the Glenwood Energy Office combines specialists from the Bureau of Land Management Field Office and the White River National Forest (WRNF) that focus exclusively in permitting natural gas well drilling. Also included in the office is a specialist from the Fish and Wildlife Service. Staff from the Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency are on call to assist the office. For the Glenwood Springs office, the challenge has been to combine two agencies, BLM and Forest Service, which have their own sets of procedures and issues. "We've always had a good working relationship with BLM," said WRNF Rifle District Ranger Mike Herth. "Now we're trying to meld the specialists into an interagency team." Each agency brings its own perspective to the office. "The challenge is to work together effectively and to work across agency boundaries seamlessly," he said. "It takes time."....
Agencies' fire performance gets criticized The skyrocketing federal cost of preventing and fighting wildfires won't drop until state and local governments and the insurance industry work to stem the number of new homes built near wild lands, lawmakers and officials said Tuesday at a Senate hearing. Federal agencies responsible for fire suppression also came under criticism at the Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing for failing to make needed changes over the past seven years to improve management of wildfires. In response, the agencies outlined new cost-containment steps they will take this fire season, including putting fire crews and helicopters under more federal control. The federal government spent $1.9 billion on fire suppression in 2006, the worst wildfire year on record, officials said. Nearly 10 million acres burned. Another factor in the increasing wildfire threat is the over-accumulation of dead vegetation that can fuel fires. The increase in such hazardous fuels stems from extended drought, widespread disease and insect infestations and the past aversion to the natural use of wildland fire, Fong said. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., asked whether the Healthy Forests Initiative had worked to reduce such fuels. The number of acres needing treatment is actually growing three times faster than the acres treated, responded Robin Nazzaro of the Government Accountability Office....
Oregon senator threatens filibuster An Oregon senator is threatening to filibuster a must-pass spending bill if Congress does not extend payments to rural counties hurt by cutbacks in federal logging. "The federal government has an obligation to rural Oregon, and it's time to meet that obligation," said Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore. "We are talking about people's jobs, children's schools and general public safety in 700 timber counties in 39 states." Congress is considering a $463.5 billion spending bill that would pay for 13 Cabinet agencies this year. Democratic leaders hope to move the bill through the House as early as Wednesday, with the Senate likely taking it up after that. Smith said he would try to block the bill if it does not include funding for the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act, a seven-year-old law that has pumped more than $2 billion into Oregon and other states hurt by federal policies that restricted logging in the 1990s. The policies were aimed at protecting the spotted owl and other threatened species....
Editorial - Gear head: check-off Registration box should be more evenhanded Under House Bill 97, a check-off box on vehicle registration forms would help off-highway vehicle enthusiasts fund lawsuits for more access to public land. A good deal for OHV users, to be sure, but hardly fair to hikers and others who share the land and want to protect it. Hundreds of miles of roads and trails and millions of acres are already open to OHVs. Scofflaws now can go wherever their OHVs can take them almost with impunity. To be fair, the Legislature should provide another check-off box for the public to contribute to the costs of keeping OHV users on designated trails. The state should also collect OHV user fees to pay for enforcing rules. In establishing a fund only to expand the wide access OHV users already enjoy, the state would be weighing in far too heavily on one side of a controversial issue. HB 97 is sponsored by Republican Rep. Mike Noel of Kanab in Kane County, where the battle against OHV restrictions is particularly heated. It would create a fund to be disbursed by the state Board of Parks and Recreation. To be eligible, organizations must act to "protect access to public lands by motor vehicle and off-highway vehicle operators and educate the public about appropriate off-highway vehicle use."But who would decide what is appropriate?....
Historian to discuss the nature of wilderness Dr. Jay Turner, an environmental historian from Wellesley College in Massachusetts, will discuss his perspectives on wilderness and environmentalism at Evergreen Fire Rescue's administration building on Feb. 9 from 6 to 9 p.m. Turner will be in Evergreen to participate in the U.S. Forest Service's Wilderness Manager's Winter Meeting, which begins Feb. 6 and ends on the 9th. The managers, as well as district rangers, resource specialists, volunteers and non-profit partners, are using Evergreen Fire Rescue's facilities for their meetings and largely staying at the local Quality Suites on Highway 40. As an environmental historian, Turner studies human interactions with their non-human surroundings through time. Because economics, culture, religion and politics all weigh into those relationships, environmental history has become popular in recent years as students search for more holistic interpretations of the past and present. Turner's lecture, "Wilderness and the Myths of Environmentalism," will consider the role of wilderness in modern American environmental politics. Turner's presentation is sponsored by Friends of Mount Evans & Lost Creek Wilderness and the Mount Evans Group of the Sierra Club....I'd bet this would cause protests and national headlines if the talk was sponsored by Chevron or some national OHV group.
Opponents lose lawsuit against wild horse round-up near Las Vegas A federal judge gave after-the-fact approval Tuesday for the government to gather wild horses and burros around Las Vegas. U.S. District Judge Kent Dawson in Las Vegas rejected efforts by Nevada-based America's Wild Horse Advocates and Wild Horses 4 Ever to stop the process and have the animals returned to the range. The same judge earlier this month refused to stop the Bureau of Land Management from conducting the round-up. Advocate Billie Young says she's disappointed that the horses were already rounded up and offered for adoption before opponents had their day in court. BLM field office chief Juan Palma in Las Vegas says the round-up was the best way to balance the number of animals on the range with the food and water resources available to support them. A BLM official says wranglers left 127 horses and up to 198 burros on the range.
Fish ladders required for Klamath dams PacifiCorp must build new fish ladders and make other modifications so salmon can swim freely past four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River if it wants a new license to produce electricity, federal fisheries agencies said Tuesday. The ladders, turbine screens and fish bypasses are estimated to cost about $300 million and will be requirements of any new operating license issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, boosting pressure on the utility to remove the dams as a cheaper alternative. Removing the dams would open access to 350 miles of spawning habitat blocked for nearly a century in what was once the West Coast’s third most productive salmon river basin, but whose mounting struggles triggered a near shutdown last summer of commercial salmon fishing off Oregon and California. Bolstered by an administrative law judge’s findings that the science was sound behind a proposal last spring to require ladders and screens, fisheries agencies of the U.S. Departments of Commerce and Interior filed documents with the commission that flatly rejected PacifiCorp’s cheaper proposal to truck fish around the dams. The final mandates make minor changes to last year’s proposal....
Seoul Leaves Open FTA Package Deal South Korea on Wednesday hinted at a package deal to complete a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States currently under extended talks. During a radio interview, Lee Hye-min, the No. 2 in the Korean negotiating team said, ``The two sides should make a give-and-take deal after the seventh and final round is completed.’’ The seventh round of talks is scheduled for Washington, D.C. from Feb. 11-14. Lee quickly added that the upcoming talks will be focused on narrowing their differences in individual sectors. The package deal Lee talked about is likely to address the issue of U.S. beef. Korea has refused to allow in U.S. beef shipments because they were found to have bone fragments. Chief U.S. FTA negotiator Wendy Cutler and U.S. lawmakers demanded Korea soften its import standards, saying that there would be no FTA with Korea, unless the beef issue is resolved to the satisfaction of U.S. ranchers and meat processors....
U.S. Congress eyes trade agreement U.S. lawmakers say they want a new global trade agreement, but it's unlikely they will support any deal they believe sells farmers short, especially as a new U.S. farm bill hangs in the balance, trade analysts said on Monday. Free-trade advocates this weekend hailed a decision by trade ministers to press ahead with the Doha round of trade talks, which ground to an acrimonious halt in July. Pascal Lamy, director-general of the World Trade Organization, has yet to formally relaunch the round, but Europe's top negotiator, Peter Mandelson, said he's "more confident" that a stubborn impasse over agricultural subsidies and tariffs may soon be broken. Dave Salmonsen, who follows trade for the American Farm Bureau Federation lobbying group, said a Doha deal would be judged on whether it provided U.S. farmers with meaningful access to new markets. "We know there's going to be lower spending limits on the domestic support programs ... but we need to have the balance as far as looking for how producers will be affected," he said. Other farm groups were less confident a deal could help their members. "The free trade agenda has not been beneficial to U.S. farmers and ranchers," said Tom Buis, president of the National Farmers Union....
Students revive century-old Cowboy tradition The Old Central bell is ringing again — 113 years after its first installation. “I think the Oklahoma A&M students would really be happy,” said Linda Smith, director of the Oklahoma Museum of Higher Education/Historic Old Central. “I think they’d be really proud that OSU students are bringing back the bell tradition and the heritage of Old Central.” A tradition that lay dormant for decades has returned in full force, thanks to efforts from the athletic department, the alumni association, alumni and one dedicated student. It really started in 1894 when the College Building at Oklahoma A&M College first opened, Smith said. Students would ring the bell after every football victory — home and away — to let farmers and ranchers around Stillwater know the team had won....

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

GAO

Wildland Fire Management: Lack of a Cohesive Strategy Hinders Agencies' Cost-Containment Efforts, by Robin M. Nazzaro, director, natural resources and environment, before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. GAO-07-427T, January 30. http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-427T

Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d07427thigh.pdf
NEWS ROUNDUP


Gray wolves to lose some protection
Federal protection for about 4,000 gray wolves in three western Great Lakes states — northern parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan — will end in about a month, the Fish and Wildlife Service announced. Plans to do the same in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming probably will take the rest of this year, service director H. Dale Hall said. A formal proposal, with public hearings and a two-month comment period, will be published this week. Two wildlife advocacy groups — the Defenders of Wildlife and Sinapu, a Colorado-based wolf advocacy group — warned they might sue to prevent taking wolves in the Rockies off the endangered list. Another group, the Center for Biological Diversity, claims the proposal will "end in the mass killing of wolves." Ed Bangs, the Fish and Wildlife recovery coordinator in the Rockies, says Wyoming wants all its wolves outside of Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks classified as "predators" that can be shot on sight without restriction. He hopes that talks with the state will produce an acceptable plan. If not, Fish and Wildlife will keep federal restrictions in Wyoming, Hall said. Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal said Monday that the agency's threat "raises the interesting question of whether any (wolf) packs outside Yellowstone in Wyoming are even necessary."....
Wyo wolves could stay under federal control Whether Wyoming's gray wolf population will be part of the animal's broader removal from federal protection in the Rocky Mountains is yet to be seen, but federal officials said a proposal for delisting will move forward with or without Wyoming. Lynn Scarlett, deputy secretary of the Interior, told reporters in a news conference Monday that if Wyoming does not move forward with a federally approved management plan, a "significant portion of the range would remain protected under the Endangered Species Act." Population levels necessary to meet federal requirements in those areas outside the national parks would continue to be overseen by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, she said. That means management would be largely unchanged. Idaho and Montana would be able to move forward with their state plans, which call for maintaining a minimum number of wolves in each state, and would not shoulder any additional burden because of Wyoming, she said....
Criminal charges dropped against rancher who closed road Box Elder County's new attorney dropped criminal charges against a Box Elder County rancher who kept a gate over a disputed mountain road. Stephen Hadfield, who replaced former County Attorney Amy Hugie, told rancher Bret Selman that he didn't see the case as a criminal matter, Selman said. Hugie, frustrated with the county's inability to resolve a dispute over the road, had charged Selman last winter with five class B misdemeanors. The county - backed by recreationists who want access to public lands and a loop road for motorcyclists and ATV riders - claims the road belongs to the public. Selman and his parents, Fred and Laura Selman of Tremonton, claim the stretch of dirt road through their ranch southeast of Mantua belongs to them. Motorcyclists, ATV riders and snowmobilers are damaging their land and threatening wildlife, the Selmans say....
Environmental concerns hit ski plans Beneath a steely sky and icy snow flurries, cross-country skiers glide over a 130-acre alpine meadow that Kirkwood Mountain Resort has preserved for wildlife and recreation. In nearby restaurants, diners use plates and utensils that are reusable or made with recycled materials. And employees receive financial rewards for carpooling to work. Kirkwood, a 35-year-old vacation community nestled in a box canyon south of Lake Tahoe, is a proud signer of a national environmental charter for ski areas. Yet Kirkwood is the only California resort to receive an F in the current report card by an environmental coalition that rates Western ski areas for development practices, water and energy consumption and natural resource protection. And Kirkwood Mountain Resort and Development Co.'s plans for hundreds of dwellings and a ridgeline restaurant visible from wilderness trails have provoked the ire of community activists....
State sues to delist mouse It has been almost two years since the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began reviewing a proposal to remove the Preble's meadow jumping mouse from the list of threatened and endangered species. But the agency still has not issued a final decision, and now the state of Wyoming wants a federal judge to compel the agency make up its mind. A lawsuit filed last week asks U.S. District Court to force a final action within one month. It also asks the court to direct the Fish and Wildlife Service to strip the 3-inch mouse of its federal protection. “We've asked the court to put them on a deadline,” state Attorney General Pat Crank said. The Fish and Wildlife Service acknowledged Monday that the agency response is late. After missing a 12-month deadline in February 2006, it announced a six-month extension, which it also failed to honor....
Bill would authorize suing feds Several powerful Wyoming legislators are sponsoring a bill that would ask the state attorney general to watch for opportunities to sue the federal government over any failure to follow the federal Endangered Species Act or the National Environmental Policy Act. The bill comes as Gov. Dave Freudenthal's administration continues to negotiate with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over the federal agency's proposed wolf-management plan for the state. Rep. Pat Childers, R-Cody, chairman of the Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee, is a main sponsor of the legislation. It would give the Wyoming attorney general's office as much as $250,000 to hire three more lawyers to take legal action in Wyoming, but possibly also to intervene in litigation anywhere in the country....
Hayman fire arsonist re-sentencing in question A judge Monday agreed to reconsider his decision that a former Forest Service employee invalidated her guilty plea by filing an appeal in the worst wildfire in Colorado history. Judge Thomas Kennedy's decision could mean the difference between a re-sentencing hearing for Terry Barton or a new trial that could include additional charges from up to four counties ravaged by the Hayman fire in 2002. Barton, who admitted setting the fire by burning a letter in a drought-stricken area, is serving a 6-year federal sentence, but her 12-year state sentence was thrown out by the state Appeals Court. She pleaded guilty to a state felony arson charge. Prosecutors argue that Barton broke her word when she appealed. With Barton listening by telephone Monday, her lawyer Mark Walta told Kennedy that prosecutors should have raised that issue when Barton filed her appeal in 2003 and it's too late to do so now....
In the Rockies, Pines Die and Bears Feel It Jesse Logan retired in July as head of the beetle research unit for the United States Forest Service at the Rocky Mountain Laboratory in Utah. He is an authority on the effects of temperature on insect life cycles. That expertise has landed him smack in the middle of a debate over protecting grizzly bears. You just never know where the study of beetles will take you. Dr. Logan seems, in fact, to be on a collision course with the federal government, in the debate over whether to lift Endangered Species Act protections from the grizzly bears in and around Yellowstone National Park. The grizzly population in the greater Yellowstone area is estimated to be at least 600. The population is centered in the park proper, federal scientists say, where it has reached its likely natural maximum and has leveled off. But in adjoining stretches of national forest, the number of grizzlies is continuing to go up by 4 percent to 7 percent a year. Their resurgence in the past 50 years is why the federal government announced in 2005 the start of proceedings to take them off the endangered or threatened species list. Dr. Logan enters the fray on the question of what grizzly bears eat, how much of it will be available in the future, and where. All that, he says, hinges on the mountain pine beetle and the whitebark pine....
Following the Tracks of a Killer Mountain Beetle In early September, Jesse Logan, a 62-year-old insect specialist with a knack for mathematics and a deep love for the Western landscape, gazed across a rolling meadow 10,400 feet high in the rugged Wind River Range in Wyoming. Moving carefully with the aid of two trekking poles, Dr. Logan favored a left knee injured three years ago by a Colorado avalanche that killed a close friend. He had not been sure he would ever get into back country like this again. Yet here he was, nearing the end of an arduous expedition, organized and led by Louisa Willcox, director of the wild bears project for the National Resources Defense Council, carrying a 40-pound pack over 12,000-foot passes in a roadless wilderness. Dr. Logan is an authority on the effects of temperature on insect life cycles. Across the way he could see likely signs of a particularly aggressive organism he was seeking but hoping not to find here, the mountain pine beetle. The beetle is the most destructive timber pest in the Western United States. The rising warmth across the Rockies is expanding its range north and, equally important, uphill. Dr. Logan had hoped to find no incipient, major outbreaks here. But many of the pine trees across the way were an unhealthy red. This did not look good....
Senate Panel Examining Firefighting Costs The U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hear testimony tomorrow, January 30 on questions related to cost-sharing among local, state, and federal jurisdictions and comparisons of firefighting and prevention methods. There is a growing debate in Washington about the increased federal costs of firefighting and the best fire prevention methods. Since 2000, the federal government has carried more than $1 billion of the costs of suppressing the fires according to the Government Accounting Office (GAO). Several studies have suggested the Forest Service is carrying too much of the burden. It its most recent report, the GAO said some federal officials are concerned the current framework insulates states and local governments from having to carry the financial burden of protecting the wildland-urban interface (WUI). The GAO said that might reduce incentives for nonfederal entities to help mitigate fire risks, “such as requiring homeowners to use fire-resistant materials and landscaping.” The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Inspector General (IG) issued a report entitled “Forest Service Large Fire Suppression Costs.” This report bluntly said states and local governments should pick up more of the tab....
New Forest Plan Could Impact Ice Climbing Access The newly proposed Gallatin National Forest Travel Plan has caused quite a stir in the ice climbing community. Ice climbers comprise one of the largest user groups during the winter in Hyalite Canyon, one of the many areas of focus, and a proposed plan to change winter accessibility has taken the group by storm. The Travel Plan has had a varied history. In 2002, the Gallatin National Forest originally began working on a new travel plan to manage multiple uses of the public lands. Climbers were ecstatic about a possible victory for winter access in October 2004 when Forest Service officials released a “preferred alternative” that called for plowing to the Chisholm Campground and ungated access beyond that point. Ice climbers banded together to advance this original alternative to the travel plan. Recently, however, Forest Service officials, in an effort believed to be beneficial to family-oriented cross-country skiing activities, have decided to plow the road to the Blackmore Campground and then gate access past the Hyalite Reservoir on January 1, beginning in the 2007-2008 season. This will effectively shorten the season for those ice climbers who do not own or have access to snowmobiles, since access to Hyalite is generally limited later in the season by vehicle clearance due to snow-packed roads....
Colorado's Storm Peak Lab: Science in the snow Up the mountain from the Steamboat Springs Ski Resort, atmospheric scientists have studied everything from snow crystals and pollution to the impact of ultraviolet radiation on vegetation. Scientists at the Storm Peak Laboratory have conducted research here since 1981. Currently, climate change tops their priorities. The findings made at Storm Peak could be important to how the ski industry adjusts to warming temperatures. "With a warmer climate, you will have a shorter ski season," said lab director Dr. Gannet Hallar. "You'll have an earlier melt and a later onset of snow. This makes a lot of difference for the skiing community,"she said. But less snow has an impact far beyond vacationing skiers and snowboarders, Hallar and the other researchers stressed. "Water is a major issue in Colorado," said Hallar. "Our water serves Las Vegas and Los Angeles. So less snow in Colorado influences water across the nation." The lab has determined that an increase in sulfate pollution from power plants reduces snowfall by about 15 percent....
Trouble in paradise In a federal courtroom, Greg Adair looks like someone who might be more comfortable dangling from a 3,000-foot granite wall than sitting at the plaintiff's table. The long hair, the rock-climber physique and the suit and tie just don't seem to mix. He is an uneasy legal warrior for a place where people from around the globe stop to gawk — Yosemite Valley. Adair is the blue-collar activist who has led two local groups in a legal battle for Yosemite's ecological soul. They have won impressive court decisions over the last six years, stopping vast construction projects in the glacial valley. The man behind these court victories is a 45-year-old Bay-Area resident with eclectic pursuits — construction worker, rock climber, philosopher and ardent friend of nature....
National Parks Case May Affect Access The plunging waterfalls and soaring crags chiseled by the Merced River draw millions of visitors each year, but the crowds are precisely what threatens the waterway and the park. Efforts to safeguard the Merced have spawned a court battle over the future of development in Yosemite National Park's most popular stretch. The case may come down to the challenge facing all of America's parks: Should they remain open to everyone, or should access be limited in the interest of protecting them? In November, a federal judge barred crews from finishing $60 million in construction projects in Yosemite Valley, siding with a small group of environmentalists who sued the federal government, saying further commercial development would bring greater numbers of visitors, thus threatening the Merced's fragile ecosystem. "The park's plans for commercialization could damage Yosemite for future generations," said Bridget Kerr, a member of Friends of Yosemite Valley, one of two local environmental groups that filed the suit....
5 dozen killer whales believed to be hunting salmon off S.F. coast A large group of endangered killer whales has been spotted off the coast of San Francisco, a long way from their usual feeding grounds along the Washington coast. The magnificent black and white predators were first seen off Half Moon Bay, where they were apparently searching for salmon, which are declining in numbers in the Pacific Northwest. Photos were taken Jan. 24 of from nine to 15 orcas swimming in the open water between the Farallon Islands and San Francisco. Although killer whales have been seen off the coast before, researchers believe some five dozen or more individuals are now regularly leaving their historic habitat in the Puget Sound area for the abundant waters near the Golden Gate....
Calif. Town's Economy 'Hostage' to Fly This city lives in the shadow of a 1-inch fly that that slurps nectar and zooms around like a hummingbird. The Delhi Sands flower-loving fly is the only fly on the federal endangered species list. Recent counts have yielded no more than two dozen of the flies at any time, and their best hope of survival is pinned on prime breeding habitat in Colton, about 60 miles east of Los Angeles. But that prime habitat is considered prime real estate by Colton officials. They say restrictions on building on the habitat have limited commercial growth and cost tens of millions of dollars in economic development. So city leaders have fought to get the fly off the endangered list since it was placed there in 1993. "It's absurd that an economy and a community should be held hostage by a fly," said Daryl Parrish, the city manager....
Cruise line agrees to $750,000 fine in collision with whale Princess Cruise Lines will pay $750,000 to settle federal charges that a cruise ship hit and killed a humpback whale near Glacier Bay in 2001, according to an agreement approved in U.S. District Court Monday. As part of the agreement, the cruise line said the ship Dawn Princess had a "close encounter" with two humpback whales in July 200l, but did not admit that the ship actually collided with a whale. The cruise line said it was guilty of failing to operate its vessel in at a "slow, safe speed" while near the humpback, but had implemented new safety procedures. The company will pay a $200,000 fine to the government and $550,000 to the National Park Service Foundation. The Park Service money will go to an account for Glacier Bay National Park, to be used for whale research and conservation efforts. Tomie Lee, superintendent of Glacier Bay National Park, said in a statement she was satisfied with the agreement....I see the Bush Justice Dept. is continuing to divert court fines to private non-profits. In this case 70 percent or so of the court fine is diverted. Who picks the non-profits and how, and where is the hue and cry over public input into this decision? Where is the Congressional oversight? If all citizens must obey these laws, then all citizens should benefit from noncompliance. The fines should go to the general treasury.
NAFTA Environmental Commission Rules Against Liquefied Natural Gas Facility On U.S.- Mexico Border The Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, a tri-national commission set up under the North American Free Trade Agreement, announced January 25th that it was rejecting a request by Mexico to suspend an investigation into whether the country violated its own laws in approving a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility next to a biodiversity hotspot on the U.S. border. In 2005, U.S. and Mexican conservation organizations filed a formal petition with the NAFTA Commission to challenge the Mexican government's granting of permits to Chevron to build the LNG terminal just 600 yards from the Coronado Islands. The islands, located 11 miles south of the U.S. border, provide critical nesting habitat for six threatened or endangered seabird species and 10 other species of plants and animals found nowhere else in the world. The Commission was expressly created to prevent "maquiladora"-style projects, as it was feared by many that the lifting of trade barriers under NAFTA would result in the increased flight of polluting industries and dangerous projects to areas where environmental and health and safety laws were not enforced. Accordingly, the environmental side agreement to NAFTA provides a process for citizens of any NAFTA country to challenge the nation's failure to enforce its environmental laws....
Coordinator works to improve management of the Rio Grande for all users Abeyta, the daughter of a Sandia National Laboratories chemist and granddaughter of ranchers near Mora, has spent her career studying water quality along the Rio Grande. She's a trained scientist living in the state's largest city, but her roots are firmly planted in her family's rural, agricultural heritage. Abeyta, 49, worked for the USGS for 22 years, focusing on water-quality studies. In 2000, in the midst of a legal battle over the endangered Rio Grande silvery minnow, she was asked to join the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as coordinator for the Middle Rio Grande. Her job as head of the Rio Grande Bosque Initiative is part scientist, part diplomat and part project coordinator. She works with pueblos, farmers, ranchers, city officials, environmental groups, scientists and state and federal agencies along the 180-mile stretch of the Rio Grande from Cochiti Dam to the head of Elephant Butte Reservoir to implement the 21 recommendations in a decade-old Rio Grande Bosque management plan....
'Big House' harmed by influx of animals The "Big House" at Casa Grande Ruins National Monument has withstood centuries of desert punishment, but encroachment by unnaturally high populations of animal species is causing permanent damage to the Ruins. Pigeons, round-tail ground squirrels and other rodents have overpopulated the 480 acres of pristine Sonoran Desert encompassed by the monument. The lasting effects of their waste byproducts and living habits have spurred the Ruins staff to take preventative action. Enter WildEdge Conservation Science. For more than a year, Dawson and his team have visited the Ruins with an arsenal of trained raptors, which take controlled flights intended to abate the overpopulation of pigeons and rodents. "Our mission is to address human-wildlife interaction problems," Dawson explained. "For example, pigeon problems are huge in Phoenix and outlying areas. Our approach is to find solutions that do not involve poison, but are more natural and environmentally sound." A common current-day bird abatement program involves baiting pigeons with poisoned grains. However, Dawson said, this method also puts protected birds at risk....
$155 million home planned at club For Sale: Ten bedroom, 53,000-squre-foot stone-and-wood mansion at The Yellowstone Club. Amenities include heated driveway, wine cellar, indoor/outdoor pool and a ski lift that can be boarded inside the house. Spectacular views. Price: If you have to ask, you can't afford it. But if you're curious, it's going on the market at $155 million. Billionaire developer Tim Blixseth calls the house "The Pinnacle." He said it should be complete in 12 to 14 months. Forbes Magazine said the sales price makes it the most expensive "publicized" mega-home of its kind. "You can't believe the number of people interested in this thing," Blixseth said of possible buyers. "And the guys who are calling aren't going to have to borrow any money." Locati Architects of Bozeman designed the house, which is between Pioneer Mountain and Lone Peak, a short distance from the Lee Metcalf Wilderness Area....
Climate change means hunger and thirst for billions: report Billions of people will suffer water shortages and the number of hungry will grow by hundreds of millions by 2080 as global temperatures rise, scientists warn in a new report. The report estimates that between 1.1 billion and 3.2 billion people will be suffering from water scarcity problems by 2080 and between 200 million and 600 million more people will be going hungry. The assessment is contained in a draft of a major international report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to be released later this year, Australia's The Age newspaper said. Rising sea levels could flood seven million more homes, while Australia's famed Great Barrier Reef, treasured as the world's largest living organism, could be dead within decades, the scientists warn, the newspaper said....
Climate change may crush wine industry By any measure, California wines rank among the best in the world. But a 2-degree rise in temperature could make Napa Valley chardonnay a thing of the past. Warmer grape-growing regions such as the Livermore Valley could be knocked out of the premium wine game entirely. "It's clear that there's the potential for really substantial problems, and almost certainly going to be some change," said John Williams, owner and winemaker at Frog's Leap Winery in Napa Valley. Although grapes may feel the heat first, they won't be alone. Many of the state's signature crops — avocados, oranges, almonds — will face serious declines in yield by midcentury, according to computer models that project climate changes....
The race that Barbaro could not win The eight-month survival saga of Barbaro, a story that captured the emotions and imaginations of millions around the world and raised questions about the extent and expense of his treatment, ended early Monday morning. Barbaro, the Kentucky Derby winner last May with a 6 1/2 -length victory margin that was the largest in 60 years, was euthanized at the hospital where he had been since the day he suffered multiple fractures in his right hind leg. The widespread fascination with Barbaro's ordeal was born out of the competitive nature of horse racing and an unusually long and complicated medical treatment. People who didn't care about horse racing suddenly did. "It was a difficult night," said Dean Richardson, the surgeon at the New Bolton Center of the George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals at Kennett Square, Pa. Richardson had repaired Barbaro's three broken bones, one of which broke into 20 pieces. "He didn't lie down all night, for the first time since he has been here," Richardson said at a news conference. "It was the first night that he was clearly distressed by his own condition. "We meant what we said all along. If we couldn't control his discomfort, we wouldn't go on."...
Sheriff's Department investigating Redington Pass cattle shooting The Pima County Sheriff's Department is looking for those responsible for the shooting deaths of several cattle in the Redington Pass area northeast of Tucson. A local rancher notified authorities Friday after finding six of his cattle shot to death near a watering hole, according to a press release from the Animal Cruelty Taskforce. Deputies found three freshly killed cows and three that had been killed earlier in the week, judging by the state of decomposition and evidence that scavengers had eaten parts of the carcasses, according to the release. Authorities believe the three most recent killings occurred Thursday or Friday of last week....
Too many cows for Wash cattle producers High corn prices and not enough processing plants have produced an oversupply of cows, causing feedlot headaches for Pacific Northwest cattle producers. When animals are fed corn in feedlots for even a few extra days, it can cost ranchers thousands of dollars. Then beef processors dock producers if their animals are even a few pounds too fat. Cattle can gain three to five pounds a day in a feedlot and only bring about $20 a head in total profit, so they have to be sold quickly when they are ready. "The losses are just huge," said Rod Van de Graaf, co-owner of a large feedlot in Sunnyside. "We are just trying to hold on." Van de Graaf said he feeds about 240 tons of corn a day, and he's got hundreds of cattle milling around that should already have been shipped to market. The closure of a Tyson Foods Co. processing plant near Boise, Idaho, is forcing ranchers in Idaho and Oregon to ship their cows to a Pasco plant, ranchers said. "They (Tyson) are putting you off for three to four weeks when you have cattle ready," Beus said....
2 senators take aim at meatpackers A pair of Iowa senators has revived legislation to challenge the dominance that the nation's largest meatpacking companies hold over that market, offering a bill that would ban those companies from buying livestock in an effort to eliminate what the lawmakers contend are practices that gouge small farmers and ranchers. The new "packer ban" bill resembles a similar, hard-fought initiative that was defeated as part of the 2002 farm bill. Like the old bill, the new one asks Congress to prohibit large meat producers from using their market heft to buy and raise their own livestock. It also would restrict the sort of contracts that the large companies may strike with those who raise cattle just before the cattle are shipped to packing plants for slaughter. Republican Sen. Charles Grassley and Sen. Tom Harkin, a Democrat and the new chairman of the agriculture committee, contend that the large meatpacking companies use their overwhelming buying power to obtain livestock long before they are sent to packing plants for slaughter. That practice, they say, enables those companies to keep livestock prices low and undercut farmers and ranchers who also are trying to sell cattle on the open market....
An ol’ time cowboy Even at 81 years old, I.C. “Tiny” Earp still gets out to visit the ranch once or twice a week. Earp, who had a birthday Jan. 15, turned over the last 1,000 acres to his children at the start of 2006, but it doesn’t keep him away. Earp’s ranching career began when he received a Hereford heifer when he was 4. He said the cow produced 14 calves. “I can remember the first bull calf I ever sold,” he said. “It brought $12 and weighed 500 pounds.” After spending some time working at a gasoline plant and ranching on the side, Earp took over George Cowden II’s ranch between Crane and Imperial. Along with the land he already had, Earp said that gave him nearly 20,000 acres, which he said he watched over largely by himself. On a ranch, Earp noted, three types of figures can be found: rodeo cowboys, cowboys by trade and cowmen. Because he was able to figure out the business side of the ranch, he considers himself among the latter, although he also made a go of it in rodeo....
It's All Trew: Higgins was stage station At most settlements in the Llano Estacado, buffalo hide hunters were the first Anglos to camp or pause for a spell at the site. From 1873 to 1878, hunters hunted illegally in the eastern Texas/Oklahoma panhandles, which was supposedly Indian Territory. In 1874, one of the area's first settlements was established as a resting place for hunters and travelers going south from Fort Supply. The stop was called The Commission Creek Stage Station and known locally as Polly's Hotel. After Fort Elliott was established in 1875, creating a new military road to Fort Supply, the future of the Stage Station seemed assured. Further promises for the future arrived as a mail route began passing through the settlement, which was sold and renamed The Latham House....

Monday, January 29, 2007

NEWS ROUNDUP

High-altitude hedonism in Davos Celebrity sightings may have been scarce, but the annual gathering of the world's most powerful people in Davos still managed to wrap its air of serious debate in a sheen of glamour. For all the grave talk about the dangers of climate change at the four-day meeting of corporate and political leaders, petrol-guzzling limousines and SUVs remained the transport mode of choice for the vast majority of participants. For the really "serious money," the road was left behind altogether in favour of a helicopter entry and departure to the small ski resort high in the Swiss Alps. And if pop icon and activist Bono cut a lonely figure from the entertainment world, there was safety in numbers for the corporate billionaires and heads of state and government who turned up for the networking highlight of their year. A short walk through the crowded Forum venue provided immediate confirmation of Davos's continued pulling power, with an above average chance of brushing shoulders with Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas, or former world chess champion Anatoly Karpov. And then there was the presidents' club: Former presidents like Mohammed Khatami of Iran, current presidents like Gloria Arroyo of the Philippines, almost-presidents like US Senator John Kerry and aspiring presidents like Russian Deputy Premier Dmitry Medvedev....
Treasure seller a thorn in the side The big metal gates that kept the world out of Waldo Wilcox's Range Creek Canyon cattle ranch for 50 years are now locked against him. "If they don't want me there, it's their right," the 76-year-old Wilcox says of state officials and archaeologists. "They bought it. When I owned it, I changed the locks to keep people out too." Wilcox is the celebrity curmudgeon of eastern Utah - a man who sold his remote 4,200-acre spread to the state in 2001 for $2.5 million and revealed to the world a treasure trove of hundreds of largely undisturbed ancient Indian sites. But the outspoken rancher has become something of a nuisance to the new stewards, as he freely expresses his concerns over their management, vandalism by others, artifact removal, dusty roads and dried-out fields. "They was always bragging about their educations," Wilcox says. "But I was always having to straighten them out."....
Burro ouster called an environmental necessity On the eastern edge of San Bernardino County, a piece of the Old West came to an end this week, with the help of a modern-day wrangler in the sky. A thudding helicopter emerged from the distant folds of the desert and darted around power lines. The pilot nudged wild burros at a fast clip through several miles of the creosote-dotted landscape. The burros, young and old, were driven from their longtime home around Clark Mountain, the nearly 8,000-foot chalky-brown peak that gave the Clark herd its name. Like thousands before them, the burros will be put up for adoption. Although these particular burros couldn't have known any better, they wandered into a part of the Mojave National Preserve and a neighboring valley considered by the federal government to be critical for the survival of the desert tortoise. Once there, the burros munched on the same plants needed by the lumbering reptiles, officials with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management said....
Can Wolves Survive as Federal Protection Ends? There have been several sightings of wolves in this, the gateway to northern Utah's Uinta Mountains. Wildlife experts say the animals have likely migrated south from Yellowstone National Park where they were reintroduced many years ago. It's one more sign that wolf recovery programs have paid off — so much so that the U.S. Department of Interior will announce Monday that it wants to take wolves off the endangered species list in Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin, and within the year remove them from federal protection in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. The reintroduction of the gray wolf was made possible by declaring them an endangered species and making it a federal crime to kill them. As a result, wolf packs began migrating here from Canada — and were successfully bred in Yellowstone National Park. Today, more than 4,000 roam three states in the Upper Midwest, and nearly 1,300 can be found in the northern Rocky Mountain states....
Push for bigger Army affects Pinon Canyon Five years of fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have driven home a lesson to Congress that the Army needs to be substantially larger - and that pressure is rippling down to the Army's desire to expand the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site. "(The public) isn't getting a realistic picture of our training needs right now because so many of our brigades are overseas in the fight," Maj. Gen. Robert Mixon Jr., Fort Carson's commander, said in an interview Friday. "Our obligation is to look at the space we'd need if those brigades were home and to look into the future." Mixon and Brig. Gen. James Milano, the deputy commanding general of the 4th Infantry Division, said they recognize that ranchers and communities around the 238,000-acre Pinon Canyon site are afraid the government will condemn private land in order to expand PCMS by 416,000 acres. A request to enlarge the training area southwest of La Junta is pending with the Secretary of Defense's office, but Mixon and Milano said the Army wants to talk with landowners about many options, short of buying land, if that request is approved. "We want to have that conversation with the public because, as Army officers, we don't care whether the Army owns the land we're training on or not," Mixon said. Leasing agreements, grazing agreements, paying landowners for the right to move troops over private land from one training area to another are all subjects the Army is willing to explore, he said....
Industry rallies against water rules To date, producers have tapped merely 5 percent of Wyoming's $140 billion coal-bed methane resource in the Powder River Basin. Yet the remaining resource may be lost, and hundreds of coal-bed methane workers are threatened with losing their jobs. That was the doomsday scenario that coal-bed methane companies laid out for about 200 workers Thursday evening: Their jobs are at risk if the Environmental Quality Council adopts -- and Gov. Dave Freudenthal approves -- proposed new rules regarding water produced from coal-bed methane wells. Yates Petroleum, Devon Energy and Marathon Oil rallied coal-bed methane workers, landowners and businessmen during a meeting here Thursday evening, urging them to submit comments to the EQC opposing the rule changes before the Monday 5 p.m. deadline. "I don't think this petition is about protecting the environment," Jim Barber of Yates Petroleum told the crowd. "I think it's about getting CBM activities stopped." The reality of that actually happening, however, may be in serious question. Gov. Dave Freudenthal has repeatedly indicated that he would not sign off on such a rule change, instead hinting that a statutory fix may be more amicable....
Senators try again for timber payments A group of Western senators led by Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden filed a new bill last week to continue payments to rural counties hurt by cutbacks in federal logging. Seven senators from both parties joined Wyden in co-sponsoring a bill to reauthorize the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act, which has pumped more than $2 billion into Oregon and other states. But the list may be most notable for a name not on it: Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, who worked with Wyden to co-sponsor the original law in 2000 and had been a champion of recent efforts to renew it. Wyden's chief of staff, Josh Kardon, said Wyden was disappointed that Craig declined to support the latest effort to renew the program known informally as "county payments." "My understanding is that Senator Craig wants to redo the formula so that Oregon gets less (money) and Idaho gets more, and that Senator Craig is interested in phasing out the program," Kardon said. Dan Whiting, a spokesman for Craig, said his boss still supports the program's goal but believes Oregon gets far too much money under the current formula....
Forester escapes black panther by traveling to other side of river A federal forester says he was chased into the Chattooga River by a 7-foot-long panther with "jet black" fur. Terrance Fletcher, a technician with the U.S. Forest Service, dove into the frigid water and crawled up the bank in South Carolina to escape. "The animal started running ... so I decided to run and get away and jump in the river to get across to the other side," Fletcher said this week. "It was a life-changing event for me." The incident occurred the second week in January along the mountain river separating Georgia and South Carolina. Black panthers are not native to the southeastern United States, meaning Fletcher might have seen a river otter or a bobcat, state wildlife officials in Georgia and South Carolina said. Fletcher and Forest Service District Ranger Dave Jensen said they think he saw some sort of large cat on the Georgia side of the river. "It was a little too big to be a bobcat," Fletcher said. "My first impression was a panther."....
Forest Service: closures will get scrutiny A study that could result in the closure of campgrounds and other facilities in the country's national forests will be opened to greater public scrutiny, the U.S. Forest Service vowed Friday. The agency won't make any decisions on closures for the next two months so an internal "review team" can assess how to broaden citizen involvement in the process, according to Joel Holtrop, a deputy chief of the Forest Service. The review committee will make recommendations April 2. Holtrop acknowledged the review team was organized in response to increased public and media attention to the effort. Conservation groups have warned the agency's Recreation Sites Facility Master Plan process will lead to closures of campgrounds, historic sites and other recreation amenities without public input....
Kill wolves to help elk? Everyone agrees wolves consume elk. That's about where the agreement ends. Just how big of an impact wolves are having on elk and other big game remains at the center of debate. That debate was ratcheted up last week after Gov. Dave Freudenthal said any wolf management agreement with federal officials must allow the state to kill wolves that are hurting big game populations before federal wolf protections are lifted. The governor said if state managers are not able to manage wolves to protect other wildlife, "that's kind of a death knell for some of the elk herds." Attorney General Pat Crank said the issue is timing. Once wolves are proposed for delisting -- a move expected today -- it will probably be several years of litigation before states can actually assume control. By then, there will be even more wolves having even more of an impact, and there must be a way to control and "balance" the wolf population with other wildlife in the interim, Crank said....
Wolves alter elk hunting in Wyo Wolves have made elk hunting more difficult in some parts of Wyoming, state officials and others agree. But that's not necessarily because wolves have drastically reduced the state's elk numbers. John Emmerich, deputy director of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, said wolves are having "some impact on hunter opportunity from what we've seen so far." "I know a lot of areas where people are going into traditional places where they've hunted over the years, and they're not seeing the elk in those traditional places," Emmerich said at a legislative committee meeting last week. "I think it's pretty apparent that the presence of wolves has certainly changed the behavior of elk and the distribution. They're using the countryside differently, it appears ... elk are acting differently, and hunters haven't really adjusted or figured out what the elk are doing as a result of wolves being present." Game and Fish Director Terry Cleveland said wolves are reducing big game numbers available to hunters, but it is unclear how much of an impact....
Colo. lynx likes Wyo chickens A lynx that had been released in southwest Colorado in 2004 was found hundreds of miles away in Cheyenne where it apparently had been raiding a chicken coop. The lynx was captured by Wyoming Game and Fish Department employees on Tuesday and returned the same day to the Colorado Division of Wildlife in apparently good health. South Cheyenne resident Lauriel Winters first suspected an unusual predator in the vicinity when two of her chickens were killed last Friday night. "I could tell the chickens weren't killed by a fox because there were no feathers strewn around -- just blood sprayed all over," Winters said in a Wyoming Game and Fish news release Wednesday. About 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, her dogs raced into the yard and chased the lynx up a tree. State Game Warden Jon Stephens and state Wildlife Biologist Rebecca Schilowsky went to Winters' home and captured the 40-pound cat with a 6-foot catchpole outfitted with a wire snare....
BLM investigating thefts of petrified wood in Utah Bureau of Land Management officials are investigating dozens of illegal dig sites in an ancient petrified wood forest not far from the small town of Virgin in Washington County. Wally Stout examines an exposed section of petrified log in Washington County. Huge petrified logs have been hauled away, the BLM says. "This is a very intrusive, unauthorized take of petrified wood," said Russell Schreiner, a geologist with the St. George BLM office who collected evidence at several of the dig sites with BLM Ranger Mark Harris. "Regardless of how many individuals did this or what people think about collecting petrified wood on public lands, this is not acceptable. Especially in Washington County." Individuals can legally collect up to 25 pounds of petrified wood a day and no more than 250 pounds in a year with a permit issued through the BLM. The free petrified wood must be retrieved without the use of power equipment or explosives and can only be taken for personal use. No commercial operations are allowed, and the environment must not be damaged....
Column - Letting more buffalo roam As communities recover from the recent series of winter storms that battered the Western High Plains, the full costs and losses become more apparent. Especially hard-hit were ranching communities and the region's large cattle population. Authorities cite a figure of 3,500 cattle deaths from southeastern Colorado alone, with estimates for the entire region ranging much higher. The stress from continued exposure and cold is certain to drive the final mortality figure higher, and estimates from western Kansas indicate potential losses of $150 million to $200 million from lost weight on feedlots alone. Still, thanks to helicopter hay deliveries by the National Guard and other emergency interventions, the ultimate toll should not approach the 30,000 deaths from the October blizzard of 1997. Without minimizing concerns for cattle ranchers and their herds, the cost in cattle lost and taxpayer dollars nevertheless raises interesting questions about ranching cattle versus bison. Though bison are far less numerous than cattle across the affected region, there are no reports of significant mortality from the recent storms. This is largely a function of the bison's natural adaptations to not only Western grasslands, but to Western rangeland weather. These include a massive head and the strength to use it as a snow-sweeper to expose buried grasses, a lower metabolism that reduces demand for food and fat reserves, and an ability to derive liquid needs from eating snow. In each of these respects, the bison is much better adapted for survival when winter storms sweep the plains. In fact, a five-year study found no significant winter mortality of a South Dakota herd of 500 free-ranging bison. This past October, more than 170 bison experts from agencies, academia, industry, tribes, and conservation organizations gathered in Denver to discuss the potential for greater ecological recovery of bison....
Big Game Means Big Business: Scientific breeding yields big bucks at Dead Man's Pass “Let’s face it. In Texas, it’s really the horns. It’s all about the horns,” asserted Ross DeVries, ranch manager at Dead Man’s Pass Ranch, Sunday (Dec. 31, 2006). But for DeVries and his boss, proprietor Michael McGee, the 2,300-acre spread north of Comstock is an entrepreneurial blend of science, wildlife management and personal dedication. The focus of DeVries’ days, often starting before dawn and extending long into the night, is continuous improvement of herds of trophy white-tailed deer and American elk. And that means habitat improvement: Enriching the quality and diversity of natural food sources, providing water where it’s scarce, enhancing cover and protection against unrelenting sun and predators. Dead Man’s Pass Ranch has been in McGee’s ownership, with his wife Jeanne, since September, 2000, and he and DeVries have transformed both the appearance and the natural character of the place. Once owned by ranchers Fred and Frankie Lee Harlow, Dead Man’s Pass was dotted with herds of sheep and goats with vastly different habitat requirements from trophy deer....
Experts: Latest Climate Report Too Rosy Later this week in Paris, climate scientists will issue a dire forecast for the planet that warns of slowly rising sea levels and higher temperatures. But that may be the sugarcoated version. Early and changeable drafts of their upcoming authoritative report on climate change foresee smaller sea level rises than were projected in 2001 in the last report. Many top U.S. scientists reject these rosier numbers. Those calculations don't include the recent, and dramatic, melt-off of big ice sheets in two crucial locations: They "don't take into account the gorillas _ Greenland and Antarctica," said Ohio State University earth sciences professor Lonnie Thompson, a polar ice specialist. "I think there are unpleasant surprises as we move into the 21st century." Michael MacCracken, who until 2001 coordinated the official U.S. government reviews of the international climate report on global warming, has fired off a letter of protest over the omission. The melting ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica are a fairly recent development that has taken scientists by surprise. They don't know how to predict its effects in their computer models. But many fear it will mean the world's coastlines are swamped much earlier than most predict. Others believe the ice melt is temporary and won't play such a dramatic role....
PETA workers' cruelty trial to enter second week The prosecution is expected to wrap up its case in the trial of two PETA workers accused of animal cruelty on Monday. The trial for Adria Hinkle of Norfolk and Andrew Cook of Virginia Beach is likely to take an additional week, Superior Court Judge Cy Grant said earlier this week. After two days of jury selection, Grant set a trial schedule beginning each weekday at 9:30 a.m. and ending by 5 p.m. The defendants are being tried in Hertford County Superior Court on 21 counts of animal cruelty, seven counts of littering, and three counts of obtaining property by false pretenses. District Attorney Valerie Asbell, in her opening statement, said she would prove that the defendants killed the animals and acted intentionally and with malice. She alleged that they falsely represented their motives when picking up a cat and her kittens at the Ahoskie Animal Hospital and later euthanizing them instead of taking them to Virginia to be put up for adoption. Defense attorneys said the only thing the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals workers did wrong was illegally dump the animals in a shopping center's garbage bin and that police should have tried to save the animals if that was their primary concern....
USDA: 'Not now brown cow' In a remarkable turnaround, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has decided to provide an ''opt out'' procedure for people whose premises have been registered in the National Animal Identification System. Complaints have arisen in several states from people who say that their premises were registered without their knowledge. Until now, these people have been told the USDA has no provision for removing a premises once it has been registered. A spokesman for USDA told the Liberty Ark Coalition late last week that since the NAIS was now an ''opt in'' voluntary program, the department had decided to also provide an ''opt out'' procedure. Although the protocol has not yet been fully defined, the spokesman said the procedure would require participants to write to the state NAIS coordinator and make a formal request to be removed from the NAIS. The state coordinator will confirm the validity of the request and advance the request to the USDA. The USDA will then, presumably, remove the name from the registry, according to the spokesman. State NAIS coordinators can be located here.
Feed lots get E-P-A warning The federal Environmental Protection Agency has issued a warning to four of the fifty feedlots it surveyed last year in western Iowa, saying it's likely they violated the Clean Water Act. EPA Region 7 Administrator John Askew says after a five-year moratorium ended, they began inspections, along with Iowa's Department of Natural Resources. Askew says Iowa cattle producers overall have been working toward getting into compliance with the Clean Water Act over the last five years. Despite the efforts of the majority, he says a few have been dragging their feet. Four of the fifty inspected last year were sent administrative compliance orders. There are monetary penalties included in those orders, determined by the degree of violation found at those farms. The farmers still have an opportunity, Askew says, to come in and work with the EPA regulators to negotiate the issue. Rather than tramping through every feedlot, attorney Dan Breedlove says inspectors used a model to determine if the operators were doing what's needed to keep their livestock waste from polluting waterways in their areas. Put together by the Department of Agriculture, this model's used by engineers to calculate the runoff that would need to be contained from a livestock facility, and determine the size of manure lagoons they need to build. It takes into account rainfall, the soil types, and the slope of the land to figure how much water would run off a given feedlot in a 24-hour rainfall in a "25-year storm." It's the model used by USDA to calculate how much water runs off. That model showed four farmers without adequate design in place to prevent their expected runoff from polluting waterways....
Though cows survived, calves won't Across thousands of square miles of the Great Plains that slice through southeastern Colorado, the merciless and unimaginable snow has finally stopped. Now, the calves will die. Rancher Eddie Ming knew it the night the monstrous Caterpillar D6 bulldozer he'd rented punched a path across 4 miles of his Baca County spread. At the bottom of this canyon, in a land where Colorado loosens its grip and the vast and rugged prairie becomes the property of Oklahoma, Kansas and New Mexico, were 40 of Ming's cows. They'd been trapped and pounded by a pair of savage storms. They hadn't eaten in 10 days. Calving season begins in a few weeks. It will not be pretty. Starvation and stress have caused many cows to abort. They'll soon start dropping dead calves. Other cows will give birth to underdeveloped calves weighing perhaps 30 pounds instead of 60. Wet and malnourished, the calves will be dropped into the endless snow of the prairie. They will thrash for a while, unable to get to their feet. They will call out. And then they will die. Ming, 63, does the simple math. "Last year we got $600 per calf," he said. "If we lose just 50 calves because of this snow, that's about $30,000. And that's way more than this ranch profits in a year."....
Bolivia Restricts Beef Exports Bolivia has restricted its beef exports to Peru, Ecuador and Colombia because of an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, local media report Sunday. The disease was detected in four head of cattle in the western part of the state, where the country's cattle industry in concentrated. Ernesto Salas, director of the government's National Service for Animal Health and Food Safety, said the industry had to react "in the quickest way possible so that the negative effects are minimized," Santa Cruz newspaper El Mundo reported. Last year, Bolivia exported about US$10 million (euro8 million) of beef. It was not immediately clear what the financial effect of the restrictions would be. Santa Cruz Ranchers' Federation President George Prestel told reporters the losses would be significant. He said the government should declare a state of emergency, freeing up resources to fight the disease....
2 charged with cattle rustling Two Montrose men face cattle-rustling charges after a San Miguel County rancher reported some cattle missing when his herd came down from high-country pastures in November. Dustin Gleason, 22, and Jarrod Edwards, 21, are both due in court in February, charged with felony theft of agricultural animals and felony wrongful branding. The theft charge is punishable by up to six years in prison and a fine up to $500,000, and the wrongful branding charge is punishable by up to two years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000. San Miguel County authorities began investigating after rancher Jim Kornberg noticed some animals missing from his Dallas Divide Ranch. Among the missing animals were nine pregnant black Angus and an unweaned calf, along with 11 other calves. Five of the animals were traced to Kansas, and five others were found in a Montrose County pasture....
Hordes line up in cold for heaping helpings of free grub at Cowboy Breakfast By 5 a.m. Friday, thousands of San Antonio residents had lurched out of bed, ventured out into frigid weather and queued up in the parking lot of Crossroads of San Antonio mall for free biscuits, gravy and breakfast tacos at the 29th annual Cowboy Breakfast, a tradition that kicks off the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo. Originally a small party for trail riders, the event has mushroomed into the world's largest breakfast and feeds an annual crowd of 30,000 to 40,000. In addition to the main event — food — there are live music, dancing and a competition to see who can toss a smelly cow chip into a golden toilet. A couple of people even used it as an excuse to start drinking first thing in the morning....
New Mexico weather full of sunshine, tempests When New Mexico received a record snowfall recently, the news must have surprised many Easterners. Among people in the Atlantic coastal states, one encounters the common belief that our state is only hot and dry and supports palm trees. Until such outlanders have traveled here in winter, they are not likely to be convinced that snow actually falls on the banks of the Rio Grande. In fact, major snowfalls do occur, although rather infrequently. One of the worst was an Arctic blast that roared down from Canada in March 1887. All across the Great Plains, livestock turned tail and drifted south before the wind. When finally stopped by cross fences, they piled up and froze. Ranchers from New Mexico to Montana suffered staggering losses of cattle and horses. Many never recovered, and those plains folk who did had the catastrophic blizzard etched in their memories. Of course, drought and heat are far more typical of our New Mexico climate....
News of 1937 Two “Dude” cowboys from Brooklyn, N.Y., 22 and 27, attempted to rob the Southern Pacific‘s “Apache” passenger train near Las Cruces on Thanksgiving Day in 1937. An El Paso railroad employee was killed and the robbers severely beaten by enraged passengers and trainmen. “We didn’t mean to kill anyone,” said one of the Dudes. “We agreed before the holdup that we wouldn’t shoot, even if they captured us and it meant 20 years in jail.” They were sentenced to 50 to 75 years in prison on Feb. 21, 1938. Late in the year, an Albuquerque paper reported about an old rancher here in New Mexico called to testify what he saw when two trains crashed head-on. He was the only witness and the railroad lawyer asked him to testify as to what he saw. “Well,” the rancher said, “I was on my horse near the railroad out in the middle of nowhere and I heard a train coming from the west. Then I heard a train coming from the east. They were on the same track and coming lickety-split toward each other. That was the most gosh-awful crash I ever saw!” “What were your thoughts when you saw the crash?” the lawyer asked him. “Well, I thought to myself that that was a hell of a way to run a railroad!” At the end of 1937 the federal postal department reported on postmasters in New Mexico. “In New Mexico there are 3,000 postmasters who can neither read nor write....
On the Edge of Common Sense: Scientific panel to review feedlot impact The Pew Charitable Trust has given a $2.6 million grant to the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to study how concentrated animal feeding operations (dairies, feedlots, hog confinements and chicken houses) may impact public health, sociology and the environment. Any guesses what they will conclude? Here's my guess: It's bad. In fairness, there is at least one person on the committee list who appears to have spent some time in a feedlot. That should balance the academics, gentiles, politicians and "Daryl Hannah, actress and advocate for biofuels and environmentally sustainable lifestyle." What is blatantly missing in the list of distinguished panel members is even one hungry person. Most Americans are so far removed from how their hamburger or tofu or salmon get to their plate they are sitting ducks for the ANTIs....

Sunday, January 28, 2007

LETTER TO NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC FROM KENTON CARNEGIE'S FATHER

In the spring of 2006 I heard that a film crew from National Geographic (NG) had been up at Points North Sask. so I emailed several departments asking for more information. Frustrated by much of the misinformation out there I had wanted the opportunity to at least speak to someone involved in the production. They responded but indicating they did know about any coverage being done regarding Kenton’s death.

This summer an hour long Documentary / Story was produced by NG and titled “Shadow Stalkers” as part of their Hunter Hunted series. They have broadcast this story via USA satellite on numerous occasions. The Story is loosely based on Kenton’s tragic death and mixes some fact with fiction. This show includes enactments of their interpretation of the circumstances and events. It appears they have obtained some actual evidence related to the case and then blended in their own footage and fabrication to create a story. The credits at the end of this production list Dr. Paul Paquet and SERM (Sask Environment Resource Management). Several people I have talked to are surprised/suspicious that NG would produce and rush to air such an incident prior to all the facts being presented and verified.

Below is a letter, which I wrote to National Geographic in November asking them to STOP airing this Story, thus far they have not responded to me.


Press Room National Geographic
November 23, 2006

Regarding the Hunter Hunted series documentary “Shadow Stalkers”. I have reviewed this production carefully and objectively. I believe your documentary has numerous errors, assumptions, exaggerations, and has fabricated evidence. It appears possible that this movie has been created with the intention of misleading the public.

I have been personally very involved in the actual death this story is based on. I have also interviewed most of the key witnesses and examined the exact area. I have spent the last year reading all available material on possible predators and spoke to many experts at great length.

The loss of a child is one of the most difficult challenges a parent ever faces. Our grieving process has been compounded by the poorly researched media coverage of his death. Kenton Carnegie was an honest, caring and sensitive young man. Distorting his cause of death the way this movie has done is beyond reprehensible. Sensationalizing the death of my son the way you have is contemptuous.

Shadow Stalkers demonstrates the danger of bad biology and is the epitome of a bias Biologist. I believe the upcoming inquest will clearly prove our son was attacked and killed by wolves.

Shadow Stalkers is a poorly researched and prematurely released production. I am requesting that you STOP airing this movie until the inquest is finished and all the true facts are available.

Sincerely
Kim Carnegie (Kenton's father)
Always bet on the cowgirl

Julie Carter


Donna and JoAnn were suffering with a little cash flow problem. It was suppertime and no cash meant no meal so when a challenge was offered, the challenge was accepted. The gleam in the girls' eyes came free of charge.

The cowgirls had been hauling pretty steady this particular year. Getting to every breakaway roping at every punkin' rollin' rodeo close enough to get to and both were picking up regular checks, but not always first place.

They tuned on their horses with a string of calves at the feedlot where Donna worked and spent their evenings practicing their roping. With a long schedule of rodeos ahead of them, they made some dedicated plans to do some serious winning.

Both gals knew that meant paying their dues in the practice pen. And they knew the skills that needed honed were getting out of the roping box quicker and cleaner and throwing the loop sooner.

A long rainy spell hit the Texas panhandle and was wreaking havoc on their practice sessions. Undaunted, they headed to the only covered arena in the area. It belonged to a guy in town that let the local feedlot and wheat cattle punchers practice on off nights if they brought their own cattle. Donna and JoAnn loaded their calves and their horses in the trailer and set off to take advantage of this deal.

This gathering spot for the area punchers drew in mostly the young guns that had come to practice their team roping. With only a little disdain showing , they would periodically agree to "rest a spell" and let the "little cowgirls" practice for a little bit. Their real intent was to get their kicks making fun of them.

These two cowgirls look like any ordinary person who might like to ride a little on the weekend but, in fact, they were both ranch raised, feedlot hardened and competitive down to their Victoria Secrets. Their seasoned skills didn't show that much and they weren't the type to flaunt it.

They loaded their calves in the chute, pulled their cinches, shook out their ropes and proceeded with their practice session. The cowpuncher audience stood by ready to cheer or jeer.

Their plan, no matter who was watching, was to concentrate on their timing with the barrier and getting rid of their loop at least one swing sooner. With all their attention on "the plan," their accuracy wasn't up to par, but they were getting accomplished what they'd come to do. Catching wasn't their problem when it counted.

The young guns that were lined up to watch didn't know this pair could catch a shadow in the dark if that was what needed done. So in their ignorance and arrogance, the offers for a bet or two began.

Big spenders that they were, on puncher's wages, they gave the girls a hard time and suggested that the winners of a match roping would buy the hamburgers. With stomachs growling and pockets empty, the girls agreed. The bet was on.

It wasn't a pretty sight but after a five-head average with each of the women catching all and the guys coming up a little short, the cowboys, appearing as slow learners, offered a double or nothing bet.

As the sun set on West Texas, the girls were downing burgers, fries, and Godzilla-size cokes, compliments of the jeering section.

Not that anyone would notice, the punchers got a good lesson.

If somebody looks like a cowgirl, smells like a cowgirl and acts like a cowgirl - don't bet against her. It'll cost you money.

© Julie Carter 2007