NEWS ROUNDUP

Bush's Ranch House 'Far More Eco-Friendly' Than Gore's George Bush may be a nemesis of the global green movement and Al Gore its hero, but the president's home is arguably far more environmentally-friendly than the home of the man he defeated in the 2000 election. Bush's "Western White House" in Crawford, Texas, has been praised as "an eco-friendly haven" while the former vice-president's home in Nashville, Tennessee was criticized this week for heavy power consumption. "In politics, people don't always practice what they preach," Marlo Lewis, Jr., a senior fellow at the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), told Cybercast News Service on Wednesday. "It's interesting that Bush seems to actually practice conservation, while Gore seems to want to buy his way out of his obligations," said Lewis, referring to the purchase of offsets for carbon emissions attributed to the high power use in Gore's 20-room mansion. An April 2001 article in USA Today described the president's 4,000-square-foot single-story limestone house in Crawford as an "eco-friendly haven." "Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into purifying tanks underground -- one tank for water from showers and bathroom sinks, which is so-called 'gray water,' and one tank for 'black water' from the kitchen sink and toilets," it said. "The purified water is funneled to the cistern with the rainwater." In addition, "the Bushes installed a geothermal heating and cooling system, which uses about 25 percent of the electricity that traditional heating and air-conditioning systems consume."....
Williams, Rehberg spar over Western economy Whether the drilling, mining and timber industries are losing importance as the West's economy shifts to include more high-tech, tourism and outdoors business sparked a largely partisan debate Wednesday at a congressional hearing where three Montana officials testified. Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer and former Rep. Pat Williams were scheduled as the first witness panel at the House Natural Resources Committee hearing on the “Evolving West.” But at the last minute, the committee added a witness panel made up of four Republican congressmen, including Montana Rep. Denny Rehberg. The four Republicans said federal government policies have overregulated and unreasonably restricted the extractive industries such as oil, gas, timber and mining. They also lamented litigation that delays natural resources decisions. Rehberg took issue with the stated purpose of the hearing: to focus on local efforts to combine sound resource conservation with robust economic development, and “to highlight the positive impact of these ongoing trends on the region.” He said the chasm between the old economy and the new economy has brought difficulties that must be addressed....
Defenders Of Wildlife Applauds Senators Crapo, Lincoln, Baucus, and Grassley Defenders of Wildlife hailed the introduction of The Endangered Species Recovery Act of 2007 as a significant step forward in protecting threatened and endangered species that reside on private land. The bill, sponsored by Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), as well as other Senators including Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), Chairman of the Finance Committee, and Senator Charles Grassley (R- IA), Ranking Member of the Finance Committee, aims to make private landowners partners in conservation by providing $400 million a year in new tax credits, plus additional deductions and exclusions, for citizens who take steps to help endangered or threatened species on the properties they own. The bill has four major tax incentive components: habitat protection easement credits, habitat restoration tax credits, deductions and market mechanisms. Specifically the bill provides tax credits to landowners who place an easement on their property to further the recovery of threatened or endangered species. The size of the tax credit increases with the duration of the easement, with a permanent easement providing a credit equal to 100 percent of the difference between the value of the property before and after the establishment of the easement....
Drug charges dismissed against former fire boss Ellreese Daniels Charges of possessing marijuana and drug paraphernalia have been dismissed against a former U.S. Forest Service fire crew boss who was cited while on his way home from a federal arraignment on manslaughter charges. Ellreese Daniels, 46, of Lake Wenatchee, is charged in U.S. District Court in Spokane with involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of four firefighters in the 2001 Thirtymile Fire. He is also charged with seven counts of making false statements. The unrelated marijuana and paraphernalia charges stemmed from a Jan. 4 incident when a Washington State Patrol trooper stopped the vehicle he was riding in on Interstate 90 and cited him for having an open container of beer, and for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia....
Conservation groups propose solution for expiring safety net Drafted mainly by Western Oregon conservation groups, including Roseburg-based Umpqua Watersheds, the Western Oregon Old-Growth Protection and Rural Investment Fund would draw $98 million annually for counties made up of Oregon & California timber lands until the fund is depleted. The proposal calls for transferring management of Bureau of Land Management lands in Western Oregon to the U.S. Forest Service and the creation of a one-time endowment for the support of education, public safety and other county programs. Conservation groups say the transfer will save approximately $50 million a year in federal funding by reducing land managerial duties in BLM offices. In the proposal they point to a 1985 Reagan administration study that found such a transfer would save $45 million to $64 million. The proposal goes on to say it “would be possible to achieve approximately 56 percent of the historic O&C counties’ funding level of $98 million annually, merely by the administrative savings that result (from) transferring Western Oregon BLM lands to the Forest Service.” The endowment will be created by the cost savings from the transfer and a one-time contribution of $300 million from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund....
Fee Flurry According to Wallace's backers, folks using undeveloped areas on the mountain are exempt from fees, as intended by Congress under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act. Passed in 2004, the law allows the Forest Service only to charge for using areas with improvements, such as trash cans, picnic tables, restrooms or information kiosks. But a strict interpretation says fees can't be charged just for parking beside the road, as Wallace did. To get around those restrictions, the Coronado National Forest deemed the final 28 miles of roadway to Mount Lemmon--and a half-mile on each side--as a "High-Impact Recreation Area," or HIRA, and pronounced it a fee area. Critics charge that Congress created the federal Recreation Act specifically to bar the Forest Service from such fee-gathering tactics. But Wallace's case is even more specific: Assuming that HIRAs are here to stay, where within them can the Forest Service appropriately charge fees? So far, two legal decisions in this case are polar opposites. In September, U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles Pyle dismissed charges against Wallace, noting that the federal Recreation Act specifically prohibits fees for "road or trailside picnicking, camping at undeveloped sites, for using a trail or for trailside parking." But the Forest Service appealed, and Pyle's decision was reviewed by U.S. District Judge John Roll. Unlike Pyle, Roll deferred heavily to the Forest Service approach of morphing unimproved areas into HIRAs. Roll wrote that charging fees solely for areas with kiosks, potties and designated parking "would create tremendous enforcement problems for the Forest Service."....
Both sides claim victory in battle over caribou area Both snowmobilers and conservationists are claiming victories in the battle over snowmobiling in the caribou recovery zone in the Priest Lake area. A Feb. 26 final ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Robert H. Whaley gives snowmobilers access to most of the popular Trapper Burn area, yet protects a 4-kilometer-wide travel corridor for the endangered animals along the Priest River and Kootenai River watershed divide. Snowmobilers can travel from one drainage to another, over the divide, on Idaho Department of Lands property, where snowmobiling is allowed. The area will remain open until the end of this season, and likely through the next, until the U.S. Forest Service finishes evaluating winter access and interaction with endangered species and issues its Winter Travel Plan, said John Finney, a member of the Sandpoint Winter Riders. "We're relieved, because it could have been a much more onerous closure and we look forward to working with the Forest Service on the Winter Travel Plan, which is the long term solution to this situation," he said....
Old Spanish trail in the path of Spaceport's FAA licence The proximity of an historic Spanish Empire trading route to New Mexico's Spaceport America is set to delay major construction work, potentially putting back the 2010 start of the $1 million a year lease to be agreed with anchor tenant Virgin Galactic. The impact of spaceport operations on the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, which is a federally managed trail for public use, is an issue for the environmental assessment that New Mexico's Spaceport Authority has to complete with the Federal Aviation Administration to obtain its spaceport licence. Space tourism start-up Virgin Galactic has been planning to fly from Spaceport America from 2010. It would pay $1 million a year until 2015 under its spaceport lease. But construction work, which should have started this year, could be delayed to 2008 because the state's Spaceport Authority does not expect its licence from the FAA until the latter half of this year....
Federal official holds out hope for accord The regional director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Wednesday he was delighted that the Wyoming House adopted a bill that could lead to a new wolf management plan for the state. Mitch King said the bill would allow the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to negotiate an acceptable wolf management plan with his agency. He said his agency intends to have a final decision on its proposal to remove wolves form protection under the Endangered Species Act by next January, but said he couldn't predict whether legal challenges could delay that. Wyoming's lack of a wolf management plan acceptable to the federal government has prevented wolves from being removed from federal Endangered Species Act protection in Wyoming as well as in Montana and Idaho....
Water shortage possible Colorado River users will remain vulnerable to water shortages under any of the drought plans under review by the federal government, according to documents released Wednesday. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has begun evaluating four proposals to better manage drought on the Colorado, including one plan developed by the seven states with shares of the river and another proposed by environmental groups. Shortages are possible as early as 2010, the bureau's environmental-impact statement says. By 2026, the probability that the river won't meet demands increases to 35 percent. Arizona would be hit hardest by a shortage under rules that govern the river. The bureau will hear public comment on the proposals and choose one in December....
Ritter administration eyes oil and gas commission overhaul Gov. Bill Ritter's administration wants to add landowners, environmentalists and public health officials to the state's oil and gas regulatory commission, part of a sweeping overhaul that has the energy industry and other interest groups on edge. The plan, which Colorado Department of Natural Resources executive director Harris Sherman said he expects to propose to the legislature by the end of the week, calls for changes to both the mission and makeup of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which is currently dominated by industry representatives. The concept of expanding the commission to include the voices of other affected groups like landowners and environmentalists is generally favored by most non-energy interests and incorporates parts of the new Democratic governor's "Colorado Promise." But the broad nature of the plan is expected to ignite and highlight a number of contentious issues dealing with oil and gas regulation - from taxes to local control to the health impacts of drilling and private land owners rights....
Off-road proposal advances in Nev. Churchill County commissioners have thrown their support behind a nearly $1 million project in conjunction with state and federal agencies to build an off-road vehicle trail system at the Sand Mountain recreational area. The 600-foot tall, two-mile long sand dune on federal land east of Fallon along U.S. Highway 50 is home to a rare butterfly that conservationists say is threatened by increasing off- road traffic. The trail system is the main element of a conservation plan and agreement aimed at allowing off-road travel to continue while still protecting the Sand Mountain Blue Butterfly....
No. 1 milk company says 'no' to clones Milk from cloned cows is no longer welcome at the nation's biggest milk company. Although the government has approved meat and milk from cloned animals while it conducts further studies, Dean Foods Co. of Dallas said Thursday that its customers and consumers don't want milk from cloned animals. The $10 billion company owns Land O'Lakes and Horizon Organic, among dozens of other brands. "Numerous surveys have shown that Americans are not interested in buying dairy products that contain milk from cloned cows and Dean Foods is responding to the needs of our consumers," the company said in a statement. Federal scientists say there is virtually no difference between clones and conventional cows, pigs or goats. The Food and Drug Administration gave preliminary approval to meat and milk from cloned animals and could grant final approval by year's end. Smaller companies such as Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream and Organic Valley previously have said they oppose milk from clones....
Cattle Feeding: Researchers ‘Sniff Out’ Emissions From Feedyards Setting up an air quality trailer in the midst of cattle pens at a feedlot will help measure gaseous emissions, said a Texas Agricultural Experiment Station researcher. Dr. Ken Casey, Experiment Station air quality engineer in Amarillo, wants to measure ammonia and hydrogen sulfide emissions from feedyards. His research team is setting up two climate-controlled instrument trailers in different locations at a feedyard. The trailers will be equipped with two continuous emissions analyzers – one for ammonia, the other for hydrogen sulfide. Samples from above the trailer are drawn into a heated manifold inside the trailer, where the analyzers draw their sample, Casey said. This instrumentation allows measurement of both ammonia and hydrogen sulfide with a high degree of precision. Ammonia is an environmental pollutant associated with a number of undesirable issues that are both regional and extensive in nature, he said. Two federal acts – the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act and Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act – establish reportable levels of ammonia, hydrogen sulfide and other emissions, Casey said. In recent years, the courts have applied this legislation to swine and poultry operations, which resulted in a heightened awareness of environmental concerns within the agriculture community, he said. To date, these acts have not been applied to cattle feedyards....
Producers Ask Johanns To Extend Canadian Imports Comment Period R-CALF USA sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns to formally request that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) extend the public comment period regarding the agency’s proposal to allow imports of Canadian cattle over 30 months (OTM) of age. The current deadline for comments is March 12 for APHIS-2006-0041: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE); Minimal-Risk Regions; Importation of Live Bovines and Products Derived from Bovines. R-CALF USA requested the deadline be extended for 60 days, or for 30 days, after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) releases the final epidemiological investigation concerning the latest Canadian BSE case confirmed on Feb. 7, whichever date is later. “News reports indicate this latest [Canadian BSE] case was born in 2000, years after the implementation of the Canadian feed ban, as well as after the March 1999 date that USDA has determined to be the date when the Canadian feed ban became fully implemented and effective in preventing the spread of BSE,” R-CALF USA’s letter states. “If indeed this latest BSE case is the fourth born after March 1999, it will raise serious questions about the proposed OTM Rule that allows cattle born after March 1999 to be imported into the U.S. from Canada.”....
Modern cattle ranchers still fighting an Old West problem: rustling After seven cows disappeared from a herd near Cushing last week, Jerry Williamson assumed they had wandered away — cattle stray often. He searched for them, calling and honking his truck horn, which usually brings cattle running for dinner, but they never came scuttling back. A livestock tracker surprised Williamson with what he assumed happened to his cows: Rustlers stole them. "I've lived here all my life. I trust people," Williamson said. "I just couldn't believe this happens." Cattle rustling sounds like a crime that ended with the open range in the late 1800s. The words evoke images of no-good thieves in black cowboy hats cutting barbed wire fences in the moonlight and roping a few head of cattle. But modern thieves use trucks and trailers, backing up to a roadside pasture and quickly making away with several animals. Modern cattle rustling may be a bigger problem than it was in the old West. In 2005, the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Ranchers Association recovered 5,199 stolen cattle and investigated 1,100 cases of theft in Texas and Oklahoma, doubling the previous year's numbers. The new breed of rustlers received nationwide attention when baseball legend and rancher Nolan Ryan had 30 head of cattle stolen in the fall and recovered in December. Thieves can drive stolen cattle a few counties away and sell them at auction barns before law enforcement spreads the word....
Eat like a real cowboy — almost Samples of beef stew, sourdough biscuits and peach crisp aren't handed out until midafternoon weekdays at the Chuck Wagon, but cooks start preparing the food even before the park opens to the public at 9 a.m. When the stew begins bubbling about noon, Buck Reams sets a chunk of butter in each of a handful of round baking pans — the first ingredient for his peach cobbler. "We don't even measure anything," said Reams, one of the head cooks. "Just add some of this and some of that. When it looks right, bake it." For a Chuck Wagon cook, that means stoking a fire until it produces enough hot coals to line several Dutch ovens, or cast-iron cooking pots with flat lids. It's how they fix meals for ranchers out driving cattle. But at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, they're preparing food for many more people than usual. As many as 3,000 visitors sample the cookin' every day, drawn to the corral by the faint smell of boiling stew....