NEWS ROUNDUP

Anchorage residents learn to live with large numbers of urban moose Folks in the Lower 48 may complain about deer, but mulies and whitetails are small fry compared to the urban moose roaming the streets of Anchorage. An estimated 700 to 1,000 moose wander through the greater metropolitan area, which is about the size of Delaware, this time of year. “There’s moose on playgrounds and moose crossing the road every day,” Alaska Fish and Game biologist Rick Sinnott said. “Amid the skyscrapers, there’s usually a few moose. They’re all around.” A 1996 Colorado State University study of residents’ attitudes toward moose showed a majority of Anchorage citizens would support shooting the animals, but almost 70 percent thought too few or “about the right amount” of the large herbivores traipse through the city. Public meetings over the years have shown about the same level of acceptance, Sinnott said. “There’s an awful lot of tolerance to having moose in the city,” he said. “They’re kind of more iconic in the north country. It makes people in Anchorage feel like they’re living in Alaska.” Aside from the occasional aggressive animal, city and state agencies don’t kill moose here. Insurance claims adjuster David Rosenkotter, a recent transplant from Nebraska, said the lumbering beasts are “one of those things you’ve got to get used to.”....
Contract to cut fire risk disputed A contract for tree thinning and other work the U.S. Forest Service sought as a way to reduce wildfire fuels has been awarded, even though a lawsuit to block the project remains pending. Ranger Bill Avey of the Gallatin National Forest said he is confident the Forest Service will prevail in the court case. If the agency loses, it could end up paying damages to the logging company that received the contract for work in the Boulder River Canyon south of Big Timber. Last summer, just-in-time rain fell on a fire that almost reached the canyon. It is a busy seasonal recreation area with 250 homes and cabins, six church camps and up to 3,000 visitors on some summer days. Gallatin officials have been working on the fuel reduction project for more than four years. Besides reducing the fire risk, they say, the project is intended to improve escape routes. Canyon access is via just one narrow road....
Appeals Court: Live trees must be protected pending ruling Big trees that survived a wildfire on the Umatilla National Forest in Eastern Washington must be left standing pending the outcome of a lawsuit challenging the decision to cut them for timber, a federal appeals court ruled Monday. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that U.S. District Judge Lonny R. Suko in Spokane, Wash., erred when he failed to grant a preliminary injunction halting logging on 9,423 acres of salvage timber sales in an area burned by the 2005 School fire. The appeals court agreed with conservation groups that a prohibition against logging "live trees" larger than 21 inches in diameter, known as the Eastside Screens, applies to all trees that are not dead yet, even if the U.S. Forest Service has decided they will be dead soon. Neither the National Forest Management Act, nor the local forest plan defines the term "live trees," so the common meaning that they are all trees that have not yet died applies, wrote Judge Susan Graber. "The Forest Service is free, of course, to amend the Eastside Screens to allow logging of old-growth dying trees," the judge wrote. "Unless and until it does so, there is no basis to adopt its proposed definition."....
Conservation easement donated The Wyoming Stock Growers Agricultural Land Trust has announced the donation of a 2,000-acre conservation easement near Dayton. The easement, the second donated to the trust by the Padlock Ranch Company, will limit development on approximately 2,000 acres located north of U.S. 14 and State Highway 343. A substantial portion of land along Columbus Creek and Smith Creek is included in this parcel. Homer Scott started the Padlock Ranch with 3,000 acres and 300 cows in 1943. The ranch headquarters are located at the foot of the Bighorn Mountains in north-central Wyoming. Today, the Scott family along with 45 employees raise and market more than 9,000 calves a year with half of those through Country Natural Beef. "We are very appreciative of the Homer Scott family for their generous contribution toward conserving ranchlands," said Glenn Pauley, executive director of the trust. "The Padlock Ranch Company has been a good steward of that property and we look forward to working with them in the future."....
Smith falls short in timber filibuster An attempted filibuster by Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith fell short Monday as procedural wrangling foiled his bid to extend payments to rural counties hurt by cutbacks in federal logging. The filibuster ended after less than an hour, when Senate leaders invoked rules preventing him from taking over the Senate as he had threatened. "I'm just getting to the good part," complained Smith, a Republican who had initiated the filibuster effort to protest Congress's failure to renew the so-called county payments program. Smith had been prepared to read local Oregon phone books, histories of the state and a status report on the northern spotted owl for what he called his version of the movie "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." Instead he was told to surrender the floor after just 20 minutes to comply with Senate rules. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., also held the floor for 20 minutes, and the pair were later given another hour-plus of debate as they told their colleagues about the program's importance to Oregon....
Desert Bighorn Sheep Population Rising Amid Development After a population crash, the desert bighorn sheep in the San Bernardino and Angeles national forests are making a comeback, spurring hope the sure-footed animals will be scampering around the local mountains for years to come. The sheep population in the area reached about 740 in the early 1980s. But by the mid 1990s, the count dropped to about 100. Now, the population has climbed to about 300. "Things are looking pretty good for the sheep," said Jeff Villepique, a biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game. Officials say a federal, state and local partnership in 2003 brought renewed energy to understanding how the sheep live and what threats they face....
Bill calls for acquiring federal lands Coincident with a Bush administration budget proposal to sell off federal lands, a Wyoming state senator has drafted a bill designed to administer federal lands not wanted by federal agencies. The Bush administration released a 2008 budget proposal last week that would require the Forest Service to raise $800 million through land sales and use half of the proceeds for payments to states and half for land acquisition and other programs. A similar proposal last year met with strong bipartisan opposition from state and federal lawmakers as well as hunting, fishing, and other recreation and conservation groups. National forests in Wyoming have identified 15,498 acres in northeast Wyoming to be sold. Tracts range from 18 acres to 425 acres, scattered in Weston, Crook, Albany, Platte, Converse, Natrona and Campbell counties. State Sen. Kit Jennings, R-Casper, said he’d anticipated that idea would come up again, and figured Wyoming should be ready for it. His bill, Senate File 103, would “facilitate the transfer of management responsibilities for specified federal lands in Wyoming from federal land management agencies” to a new program within the State Office of Public Lands....
Wolf dispute could extend for years For a brief moment, it appeared that Wyoming and the federal government might finally reach accord on the state's disputed wolf management plan. The possibility slipped away last week when negotiations broke down over the state's inability to control wolves that prey on elk. Now, state and federal officials say they will resume separate paths toward a resolution. For Wyoming, that means a continuation of its lawsuit challenging federal rejection last summer of its management plan. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced its intention to move ahead with delisting of wolves in the Northern Rockies without Wyoming. Meanwhile, wolf numbers continue to grow. The Fish and Wildlife Service estimates a total of 310 wolves in Wyoming in 35 packs, including 22 packs outside Yellowstone National Park....
Company aims to transmit 'clean' power A proposed transmission line to carry "clean" electricity generated in the Powder River Basin and southeast Montana to markets in Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Phoenix could be operating by 2012 -- about the same time several large generation projects are expected to be up and running. TransCanada, a North American energy transportation and power services company, is about four years into planning NorthernLights, a major transmission project, representatives told the Converse County commissioners last week. The NorthernLights “Inland Project” would build two 1,000-mile transmission lines, one each starting in the Powder River Basin and in southeast Montana. Those lines would carry up to 3,000 megawatts each of electricity to Las Vegas, where supplies could help address growing power needs, and possibly on to Los Angeles and Phoenix....
Settlement would keep wilderness land wild A proposed settlement of a federal lawsuit will place some of the last remaining private lands in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness into public hands if a judge approves. T-Lazy-Seven owner Rick Deane and the U.S. Forest Service have negotiated a deal that would give the agency possession of seven mining claims totaling 67.25 acres in some of the most pristine wilderness areas around Aspen. In addition to the mining claims in wilderness, Deane would convey two other properties of nearly 20 acres to the government. Those lands, the Diamond and Ophir mining claims, are between Midnight Mine and Richmond Ridge. In return, the feds would carve 2.25 acres out of the two mining claims and convey them back to Deane. The site that Deane would own includes a small, rustic cabin. The site is outside wilderness, along an existing road and developed area, the settlement said....
Proposal: No water deal until study is done Utah lawmakers are in unanimous agreement: There should be no deal with Nevada to share groundwater resources along the state line in Snake Valley until ongoing scientific studies are complete. The question now is, can they make the nonbinding resolution stick? Lawmakers, Millard County commissioners and West Desert ranchers and business owners gathered Monday at the Capitol to celebrate final passage of HJR1. The legislation calls on Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. to refrain from signing any water-sharing agreement with Utah's next-door neighbor until studies being conducted by the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Geological Survey are finished, perhaps by 2008. Language added to the resolution in the Senate now makes those requirements specific. Millard County Commissioner John Cooper calls the resolution a strong message that he and other backers hope will resonate across the state line. The Southern Nevada Water Authority has proposed pumping groundwater in eastern Nevada as part of a massive pipeline project to provide water to Las Vegas....
Random horse slaughters stir protest in Canada They are the iconic symbol of North America’s wide-open spaces - wild horses galloping across the western plains and mountain foothills. But in Canada and the United States, the fight is on between wild horse advocacy groups and the governments tasked to manage the animals. In Canada, the issue has taken a sinister turn. In the province of Alberta, an anonymous shooter is killing horses, a total of 20 since 2004, leaving their carcasses left to rot or be scavenged by wild animals. The killings have alarmed conservationists, who worry about the threat to an already sparse population - an estimated 200 wild horses living on public lands in the region. According to the Wild Horse Society of Alberta (WHOAS), the horses have been killed as they grazed, shot several at a time outside the town of Sundre, 120 kilometres north-west of Calgary in the foothills of the Rockie Mountains....
Alternatives to gas drilling possible for Roan Plateau Reps. John Salazar and Mark Udall, D-Colo., are exploring possibilities for legislation for the future of the Roan Plateau and are looking for alternatives to the Bureau of Land Management’s plan for energy development there, Salazar spokesman Rich Baca said Monday. Legislation and other possibilities for the Roan are “things he’s going to be exploring,” Baca said. Salazar and Udall will meet Feb. 22 with six groups who previously made formal proposals for the management of the Roan, possibly including Garfield County Commissioner Tresi Haupt, and representatives of the city of Rifle, Wilderness Society, Colorado Environmental Coalition, Colorado Division of Wildlife and the Colorado Mule Deer Association. Salazar and Udall aren’t inviting many spectators, however, and that includes the BLM....
Crude Awakening: Interior Faces Congress This week looks to be a busy one for the Department of the Interior (DOI). Three Congressional committees have scheduled hearings, and between new twists in the Abramoff scandal and royalties mismanagement, Interior officials will have plenty of explaining to do. On Tuesday, the Interior and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee will meet to examine Interior’s management of offshore oil and gas royalties. Discussion is sure to turn quickly to the botched 1998-99 offshore leases that could result in the loss of several billion dollars in royalty revenues. Also prepare for some possible awkwardness on the part of Interior officials. Just last week, Minerals Management Service (MMS) Director “Johnnie” Burton announced the promotion of Chris Oynes, the person who was entrusted with overseeing the ’98-’99 leases in the Gulf of Mexico. Mr. Oynes will now be in charge of MMS’ entire offshore program. This is some tough news to chew on considering that the agency has already created a new five-year plan to lease out previously-prohibited offshore areas. Meanwhile, Burton has yet to appear publicly before Congress to explain why she failed to act on the ’98-’99 leases. Next in line, Wednesday’s hearing will mark the opening salvo of what promises to be a series of oversight hearings in the House Committee on Natural Resources....
Fight over blood line, deer kill is on docket A 4-year-old court case that involves jurisdiction over 2 million acres of hunting and fishing land in the Uintah Basin will be heard by the Utah Supreme Court later this month. The high court will hear oral arguments on Feb. 28 in Utah v. Ricky L. Reber to determine whether the Utah Court of Appeals erred when it dismissed a hunting violation against Reber, a 54-year-old former Uintah County man who claimed his Native American heritage as a "non-terminated" Uinta band member allowed him to hunt without a state license. Reber was found guilty in 2002 by an 8th District Court jury in Vernal of helping his 13-year-old son take a trophy buck without a state hunting permit. However, in September 2005, the Court of Appeals ruled on a matter of jurisdiction, determining that the trophy buck that Reber assisted his son in taking was on tribal "trust" lands, which meant the Ute Indian Tribe, not the state, was the victim. The decision vacated Reber's conviction in 8th District Court and was a surprising upset to state prosecutors, who maintained that the case was not about jurisdiction but about whether Reber, who claimed just 4 percent Native American blood lines, was considered a Native American when it came to hunting privileges. The land in question is administered by the Bureau of Land Management, with the exception of hunting and fishing, which is overseen by the state Division of Wildlife Resources. Since the appellate court ruling, the state's conservation officers, who are cross-deputized to act as federal law-enforcement officers, have continued to provide law enforcement for the area....
A fishy way to track climate change In a modern update of "fish and chips," researchers are planning a worldwide effort to track the movement of sea creatures tagged with tiny electronic devices. After pilot testing in the north Pacific, the Ocean Tracking Network will expand to the Atlantic, Arctic, Mediterranean and Gulf of Mexico. Sea life ranging from salmon to whales, turtles to sharks, will be tagged so they can be tracked as they swim past arrays of sensors placed at critical locations in the oceans. The network "will foster the development of new Canadian technology, a deeper understanding of the effects of climate change and help shape fisheries and endangered species management worldwide," Peter MacKay, Canada's minister of foreign affairs and minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, said in a statement. Initial research for the effort was done as a joint U.S.- Canada project in the north Pacific....
Levees quickly fixed -- at environmental cost? Bill Shelton has lived in Walnut Grove since 1926. In that time, he's seen a lot of things in the Sacramento River. But the retired pear farmer said he has never seen anything like this: the town's waterfront transformed into a bleak and forbidding corridor of rock. "This is ridiculously offensive," said Shelton, 85, who supervised several local levee districts over the decades. "Some amount of rock might have been reasonable, but to put in a pile like that and destroy everything in sight, it's almost unbelievable." When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a levee emergency last year, state and federal agencies agreed to accelerate environmental reviews that had routinely delayed necessary levee upgrades. It was one of the trade-offs California made in its rush to hold together an ailing levee system for a few more winters....
Wild pigs bring pseudorabies to Platte County Wild pigs have brought a swine disease that can devastate pork operations to Platte County in central Nebraska, the state Department of Agriculture said. The sow and nine piglets, likely hybrids of domestic hogs and Eurasian wild boars, were killed by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. Tests of the pigs revealed pseudorabies, a contagious viral disease that mostly affects swine, although cattle, sheep, dogs and cats also can be infected. The disease isn't considered a threat to humans. Agriculture officials will contact farmers and ranchers in the area to tell them to watch for symptoms of pseudorabies: respiratory illness, trembling, sudden death of piglets and pregnant female aborting....
Denial of blizzard aid blasted Gov. Bill Ritter on Monday criticized the U.S. Department of Agriculture's decision to deny disaster relief to 10 southeastern Colorado counties walloped by back-to-back blizzards that killed about 10,000 cattle. The USDA, in a letter dated Feb. 5, said farmers and ranchers didn't qualify for low-interest operating loans. Countywide, the losses did not equal 30 percent or more of production, which would include cattle, calves and winter wheat. The USDA has approved low-cost loans on a case-by-case basis for physical losses. Ritter had asked the USDA to help people in Baca, Bent, Cheyenne, Crowley, Huerfano, Kiowa, Las Animas, Lincoln, Otero and Prowers counties where livestock was trapped in 15-foot drifts and unable to reach food or water for days after the late-December blizzards. The USDA requires production losses - not economic losses - of 30 percent before declaring a disaster. The Colorado Department of Agriculture estimates 10,000 cattle died after the second blizzard, about 3 percent of the 345,000 cattle in southeastern Colorado. Calving season is underway, and it's expected there will be more losses....
Long-lost bar from historic Anaconda hotel returns Ethel Christopher's fondest memories play against the backdrop of the grand Montana Hotel. "When I got married, I had my wedding reception there," she said. As a little girl in the 1920s, she accompanied her mother to work as cloakroom watchwoman for elite parties. "That (hotel) was one of the best things that Anaconda ever had," she said. She was among mourning masses when the hotel - an architectural masterpiece and copper king Marcus Daly's thumbprint on the city he founded - was stripped bare in the 1970s, its contents sold. "It was a shame that people didn't try harder to save it," she said. But Friday, hope for restoration came in boxes and crates - the back bar and accessories from the original Tammany Lounge. Owner Jill Robison was seeking volunteers to move the bar and to help assemble and restore it....
It's All Trew: Coal workers suffered The next time you travel north toward Denver, take a break at the Ludlow Exit just north of Trinidad, Colo. A good paved road leads west about two miles to the huge and educational Ludlow Massacre Monument. I promise an interesting visit. On this spot on April 20, 1914, 20 people, including two women and 13 children, died during violence associated with a coal mine strike. All were shot or consumed by fire when the strikers' tent community came under fire by a mining company and Colorado Militia machine guns. Earlier, on Sept. 23, 1913, 9,000 miners walked out of the company-owned camp. They settled in tent cities located on private land. They were protesting poor mine safety conditions, low wages of $1.68 per 10-hour day, being forced to use company-owned stores with inflated prices, company controlled schools and churches. The song "Sixteen Tons" by Tennessee Ernie Ford described the conditions protested....