NEWS ROUNDUP


Snowed under About 600 homes in north-central Wyoming remained without power Thursday evening as high winds and heavy snow persisted for a second day. In much of the state, the storm closed roads and schools and stranded travelers, leaving folks to dig out as the wintry weather was expected to give way to warmer, drier conditions today. The National Weather Service expected up to a foot of snow in many areas of the state before the storm let up, with up to a whopping 5 feet of the white stuff in the mountains. Especially hard hit are the eastern Wind River and Big Horn ranges....
4 Killed As Tornadoes Ravage 3 States A massive spring storm spawned dozens of tornadoes from the Rockies to the Plains, killing at least four people in three states, including a woman who was flung into a tree by a twister as wide as two football fields. Sixty-five tornadoes were reported late Wednesday in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska, the National Weather Service said. The storms continued Thursday afternoon, with a tornado injuring at least five people in Oklahoma City. In Colorado, Rosemary Rosales, 28, died after being found critically injured in the tree after the huge tornado destroyed several homes and damaged dozens of others in Holly, a town of 1,000 people about 235 miles southeast of Denver near the Kansas line. The Colorado tornado killed dozens of cattle and injured others so severely they have to be shot. "It's better than letting them suffer," said rancher Bill Lowe, who had about 800 cattle in his feedlot when the tornado hit. He lost at least 35 animals in the storm....
Website checks your climate change risk A computerized service that assesses global warming risks and other environmental threats is now available for any address in the contiguous USA. Three University of Arizona scientists won approval from the Board of Regents this month to create Climate Appraisal Services with an East Coast entrepreneur. They call it the first online, address-based tool for gauging climate-change hazards in the next 50-100 years. It also lists natural and man-made dangers, from hurricanes and earthquakes to pollution and disease. The service taps the scientists' own climate research, numerous public databases and studies, and data from about a dozen government agencies. For $30 and a few computer clicks, users of climateappraisal.com get assessments of 50 factors, including sea-level rise, temperature, drought, flood, wildfire and other risks expected to worsen with warming temperatures. Environmental risks include weather, disease, pollution and industrial factors — such as Lyme disease, West Nile virus, acid rain and county radon levels....
Market Approach Best for Overfishing Dilemma, Say Enviros “Cap-and-trade” programs are the best way to combat the nation’s depleting fish stocks, an environmental group argued on Wednesday. Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense, released a new report on the benefits of a “catch share system” (also called a Limited Access Privilege Program). The report comes two months after President Bush signed the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006. The new law establishes annual catch limits and accountability measures to end overfishing. It also supports limited access programs. The current state of America's fisheries is clearly unacceptable," the Environmental Defense report said. It cites some scientists' warning that "the seas could be extinct by 2048."....
'We're getting ripped off' Poor auditing, mismanagement and retaliation at the Minerals Management Service have grown worse in the past several years, costing taxpayers billions of dollars, critics and whistleblowers testified Wednesday. Two former employees, a watchdog group, an independent government office and a Wyoming Department of Audit official detailed concerns about MMS problems during a congressional hearing. "It does appear we're getting ripped off, plain and simple," said House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall, D-W.Va. Rahall said drilling has increased dramatically but that the agency has "stalled" at collecting payments from companies. "At best, its performance might be described as slipshod, but some argue it is something more sinister," Rahall said....
Report: Wolves hit elk calves Wolves are reducing cow-calf ratios in elk herds in parts of northwest Wyoming, according to a report by the state Game and Fish Department. The report finds wolves are affecting cow-calf ratios in four of the eight elk herds where they are present. "We have seen a downward trend (in cow-calf ratios) in many of Wyoming's elk herds over this 26-year period," Jay Lawson of the Game and Fish Department's wildlife division said in a news release. "That trend is likely due to long-term drought and other habitat-related factors. But in half of the herds occupied by wolves, we saw a significantly greater rate of decline after wolves were established compared to herds without wolves. We can't attribute that increased rate of decline to any factor other than wolves." Game and Fish biologists have set a minimum ratio of 25 calves per 100 cows in order to maintain hunting opportunities and have said there is "little opportunity for hunting" when the ratio falls below 20 calves per 100 cows. The four elk herds in Wyoming that have wolves present and are experiencing declines have dropped below 25 calves per 100 cows, and two of those herds have fewer than 20 calves per 100 cows....
Water group argues to halt Joseph Creek grazing Attorneys for the Center for Water Advocacy argued in U.S. District Court Monday in Portland in pursuit of a restraining order to halt the grazing of cows along 95,000 acres in the Joseph Creek Rangeland Analysis Area in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. U.S. Dist. Judge Anna Brown heard the case Monday and took the matter under advisement. She had not issued a ruling as of Tuesday, according to Courtroom Deputy Eric Oss. Harold Shepherd, attorney for the water advocacy group, said that he took photos of the Joseph Creek area that he believes demonstrated the need to halt grazing in the area. The photos were entered into the record in the hearing Monday: "It looked pretty bad from our perspective and we think we showed that," Shepherd said. As the cows were scheduled to be returned to the rangeland by April 1, the water group was seeking an injunction to prevent that from happening. Therefore, Shepherd expected the judge to issue a ruling before then, he said....
Powerlink report didn't consider forest official's comments Comments from forest officials criticizing possible routes for the proposed Sunrise Powerlink through large parts of the Cleveland National Forest were not considered by a state agency before it decided to keep those options open. In a report issued two weeks ago, the California Public Utilities Commission decided to keep three southern routes for the 500-kilovolt power line as possible alternatives to one preferred by San Diego Gas & Electric Co., which would build the project. The report was issued after months of review, during which comments from affected agencies and individuals were solicited. But officials for the Cleveland National Forest were late gathering their comments and asked for a three-week extension to respond. U.S. Forest Service officials mailed the comments to the commission March 16, the last day of the extension and the same day the commission issued its report. “They didn't get any input from us before reaching their conclusions,” one forest official said. “I feel there was something morally wrong. This is supposed to be a public process.” This is just too funny. The Forest Service has been ignoring public comment for years, and now, finally, someone has ignored their comments. That, of course, is "morally wrong". I'll be back as soon as I quite laughing and can type again.
Feds bar ashes on public lands Last wishes notwithstanding, federal officials and Indian tribes are opposed to a Montana woman's plan for a business that would spread the cremated remains of her clients over western Montana's publicly owned wild mountain peaks and flower-studded meadows. To Fran Coover, her new business, Ladies in White, seemed a perfect way to blend her interest in the environment and alternatives to the American way of dying. "It's much less expensive," Coover said. "And it is far more environmentally benign." But after Coover scattered the cremated remains of her first client, she applied to the federal Forest Service, one of Montana's largest owners of wild land, for a special-use permit to continue her business. Though some officials told her it was fine to scatter the ashes on public land, she says, officials from Region I of the Forest Service, which covers Montana and Idaho, said it was against national policy and denied a permit....
Civilian uses foreseen for unmanned aircraft The unmanned Global Hawk and Predator B aircraft would be used for civilian science and technology endeavors under a test program the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center has proposed. Dryden will take delivery this spring of a civilian version of the Predator B, which will be used to measure the Earth's atmosphere and possibly to map wildfires, a valuable tool for firefighters. The aircraft has been named Ikhana. The Choctaw American Indian word - pronounced "ee-KAH-nah" - means intelligent, conscious or aware, Dryden officials said. "The name perfectly matches the goals we have for the aircraft," said Brent Cobleigh, NASA Dryden's project manager for Ikhana. "They include collecting data that allow scientists to better understand and model our environmental conditions and climate, increasing the intelligence of unmanned aircraft to perform advanced missions, and demonstrating technologies that enable new manned and unmanned aircraft capabilities." Dryden and the U.S. Forest Service are working with the Federal Aviation Administration for approvals needed to operate Ikhana over the western United States to collect data on wildfires. Ikhana will be controlled by a pilot with a joystick in a ground station....
Groups renew cause to protect lynx in New Mexico Six environmental organizations have renewed a five-year fight to have the lynx protected in New Mexico. The Forest Guardians and five other conservation groups filed a request to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver on Thursday to reexamine a decision it made last month. The court ruled in February the U.S. Forest Service need not consider impacts on lynx in its forest management plan. Four lynx have died in New Mexico since the reintroduction program began, according to the Forest Guardians, which suspects even more inhabit the northern forests. "It makes perfect sense, since the forests don't end at the Colorado line," said Bird. "We want the habitat protected until the lynx rehabits naturally from Colorado." Joe Lewandowski, a spokesman for the Colorado Division of Wildlife, said lynx have crossed into New Mexico and researchers have brought them back. Similarly, at least one died, but it has not been determined whether the lynx were shot, starved to death or met their end another way. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which lists endangered species, says it conducted extensive research and found no reports of lynx in New Mexico....
Rare Salamanders Will Finally Be Considered For Endangered Species Act Protection In response to a 2004 petition and two lawsuits brought by conservation groups, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined today that the Siskiyou Mountains and Scott Bar salamanders may warrant protection as threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. The agency initiated a 12-month review of their status. “The Siskiyou Mountains and Scott Bar salamanders have two of the smallest ranges of any western salamander and are severely threatened by logging,” said Noah Greenwald, conservation biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity. “These salamanders need the effective protection of the Endangered Species Act to survive.” Both species live in mature and old-growth forests such as those that once covered much of the Northwest. Today only fragments of these forests remain, facing increasing pressure from logging and development. A recently completed study by the Forest Service, for example, concluded that “mature to late-seral-forest attributes provide optimal habitat for the Siskiyou Mountains salamander. Stands of mature and older forests evenly distributed and interconnected across the geographical range of this species would likely best insure its long-term viability.”....
Mountain lion, cub killed outside Nevada City The killing of a pet goat by a mountain lion has left a neighborhood divided as to whether it was fair for a state trapper to kill the lion and a cub, leaving a second cub an orphan. The incident, one mile outside Nevada City, has sparked outrage among neighboring residents who say they have come to co-exist with wildlife for a number of years. Jen Lee was the owner of Madonna, the pet goat that was killed a few weeks ago. She said she had no choice but to call the trapper after the lions killed her cat and caused her dog to give chase onto the highway where it was hit by a car. She said she feared the lions would hurt a child next. "The animal had to be killed," Lee said. "We live in a populated area. The mountain lion could have killed children." She has lived on the property, adjacent to Bureau of Land Management land, for 10 years and began having trouble with the large cat six months ago....
Digging in Texas sand — for that black gold Been to the beach lately? Some people bring those big umbrellas you stick in the sand. But some Houston companies are stinking a lot more than that into the beach: They’re drilling for oil and gas. Is that what our beaches should be used for? No place but in Texas is there a stretch of beach like this: Padre Island just south of Corpus Christi. More than 100 miles of undeveloped barrier island beachfront, the longest of its kind in the world, most all of it now a National Park — a park with strict rules to protect the seagulls, turtles and wetlands. “You cannot hunt in most of the park,” park ranger Darrell Echols said. “You cannot drive off-road.” But you can drill for oil....
An American icon in the crosshairs? Few animals stir up as much emotion and heated debate as gray wolves. In many ways these majestic predators are the symbol of American wilderness, of wild places that have not yet been clear-cut or paved over. They were once common throughout Western America, including Oregon, but a misguided policy of using tax dollars to fund extermination programs drove them to the brink of extinction. Today gray wolves represent the beginning of a great American conservation success story. Because of the safety net provided by the Endangered Species Act, and the hard work of countless biologists, landowners and concerned citizens, wolves are making a strong comeback. But in February, the Bush administration announced plans to remove western gray wolves from the endangered species list and hand over management to state governments. The proposal comes as a mixed blessing. On one hand, it means wolf populations are rebounding, at least in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming — there are still no confirmed wolf packs here in Oregon. But it also means the feds will hand the keys over to states like Idaho, which could spell disaster for Idaho’s wolves and wolf recovery in Oregon....
Washington congressmen aim bill at salmon-munching sea lions Two Washington congressmen introduced a bill Thursday to allow killing of the more aggressive sea lions who prey on Columbia River salmon, which just now are heading upriver to spawn. "Unfortunately, the news this year isn't any better than last; California sea lions are already setting their sights on this year's salmon run," said Democratic Rep. Brian Baird. The sea lions, protected by the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act, gather at the base of Bonneville Dam to wait for and feed on the migrating salmon. Wildlife officials have tried harassing the sea lions with large firecrackers and rubber bullets, but with little effect. "After trying every trick in the book, this is the only option left to stop the sea lions," said Republican Rep. Doc Hastings. The districts of both Baird and Hastings border the Columbia. Democratic Rep. Norm Dicks of Washington and Republican Rep. Greg Walden of Oregon are co-sponsors. Hastings said taxpayers pay millions of dollars a year to protect salmon while the sea lions gorge themselves on the fish. The bill would create a temporary fast-track process for Oregon, Washington and the four Columbia River treaty tribes to get permits to kill a limited number of the sea lions when nonlethal harassment has failed....
Feds to relax wolf regulation The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will make it easier for states to kill wolves that harm wildlife numbers in an attempt to reach a compromise with Wyoming on the state’s wolf management plan, officials announced Thursday. Fish and Wildlife regional director Mitch King said the agency plans to alter the “10(j) rule,” which gives states the authority to kill wolves that attack livestock, herding and guarding animals, and dogs under certain circumstances. The rule applies only to states with approved management plans, namely Idaho and Montana, and applies only while the wolf is protected under the Endangered Species Act. The rule also allows states to kill wolves that cause unacceptable losses to wildlife if those wildlife populations drop below state objectives. The states must complete a stringent review process and losses to wildlife must be directly linked to wolf depredation. The new rule would loosen the requirements for when states can kill wolves when they are harming wildlife numbers. It would allow states to kill wolves based not just on state objectives but also on indicators such as cow-calf ratios and cow survivability....
The Endangered Species Act Should Be Revoked Bush administration officials said Tuesday that they were reviewing proposed changes to the way the 34-year-old Endangered Species Act is enforced. Environmentalists have already protested the suggested changes on the grounds that they would reduce protection for "endangered" species and their habitats. But according to Dr. Yaron Brook, executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute, "this immoral law should be revoked. "For decades the Endangered Species Act has been used to victimize property owners, to take away their land, their assets and their livelihoods. In the name of preserving animal life, the Endangered Species Act has enabled the violation of individual rights in every corner of the country, rights that our government was instituted to protect, not trample upon....
ESA: Too Broke to Fix? The Endangered Species Act was written in 1973 with the idea of protecting plants and animals that seemed to be in danger of totally disappearing. It sounded good, but like many things government, it was way too broad in scope and way too loose in controls and limits. It was obviously something written by lawyers to allow other lawyers to make their own interpretation. The following are what I see as the ESA’s core problems: Problem 1: No real guidelines for listing or delisting Problem 2: No way of tracking costs, needs transparency Problem 3: No way to mitigate negative impact to other species Problem 4: Inadequate planning and follow up Problem 5: Costs of restorations being imposed on individuals and states targeted for listing a species....
Another World War II-era plane found in Nevada lake For the second time in less than five years, the wreckage of a World War II military aircraft has been found at the bottom of Lake Mead southeast of Las Vegas. I inadvertently learned of the startling discovery from Gary Warshefski, deputy superintendent of the National Park Service's Lake Mead National Recreation Area, while speaking with him on an unrelated matter (the continued lowering of the lake's water level due to the lack of significant rainfall). Warshefski and Roxanne Dey, the recreation area's spokesperson, told me the recently-discovered plane is a Navy PBY-SA Catalina flying boat that crashed into the lake on Oct. 24, 1949. Four of the five on board were killed on impact. The PBY accident occurred 15 months following the crash into the lake of an Air Force B-29 Superfortress bomber. The B-29's crew of four and a civilian scientist aboard that flight escaped with minor injuries and were rescued by nearby fishermen. The B-29, which was conducting classified atmospheric research over Lake Mead, crashed into the water during a low-level pass over the lake. The pilot apparently underestimated the plane's height. The plane is standing upright and is reportedly in excellent condition. According to Dey, the B-29, which rests in about 170 feet of water, is in one piece. The PBY flying boat lies at a depth of 190 feet and is in two large pieces....
Groups splinter over strategy A group founded to give disgruntled cattlemen a voice and an alternative to the century-old National Cattlemen's Beef Association has now further splintered. A third grassroots entity has emerged, while some of the members of the original alternative organization say maintaining "a unified voice" would have been a better solution. Seven years ago, several energetic, concerned leaders formed the Ranchers-Cattlemen's Action Legal Fund, known as R-CALF, to tackle rising beef and cattle imports into the U.S. Adding United Stockgrowers of America to its name, the group evolved into a compelling alternative association and a relative powerhouse with nearly 20,000 active members, a satellite office in Washington D.C. and a clearly articulated position on a number of key issues, including international trade policy and Country-of-Origin labeling. A year ago last January, the founders stepped aside and the association changed its top leadership for the first time....
Proposed Animal ID Program Alarms Livestock Owners Livestock and horse owners are confused and concerned about the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) voluntary participation program, the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). Karla Welsh owns Turtle Mound Farm, a once prosperous goat dairy farm near Sparks. Welsh has sold her goats due to economics and the threat of NAIS. “I have been passing out flyers and notifying everyone I can think of about this (NAIS) program. It's ridiculous to expect livestock owners to comply, especially the smaller, independent farmers and ranchers. How can we be expected to report even the smallest of movements of our livestock? A chicken goes onto someone's property and we have to contact the government? We don't have the time or the money,” Welsh said. “People need to stand up and scream ‘no' to their representatives before ‘voluntary' becomes mandatory.” Welsh believes NAIS muddies the line between religion and state, too. “I can't imagine the impact of something like this would have on the Amish. Their independence from government is their religious belief,” Welsh said....
Down Sonora Way The rain from the night before has cooled the temperature and brought out all the scents of the Sonoran grasslands. "This rain is quite unusual for the season," Ricardo Platt says as we saddle our horses in front of la Chimenea. "It rarely rains in October." The 450-acre rancho, which raises registered Quarter Horses and Paints, straddles the Rio Sonora and lies halfway between Ures, a quaint colonial town, and Hermosillo, Sonora's state capital. Two other ranches owned by Platt's family are home to trophy big game and Charbray cattle operations, but la Chimenea is the center of the horse breeding operation and home to the majority of the broodmares. "My real passion is ranching and horses," says Platt, a civil engineer whose consulting company provides personalized cross-border assistance to American investors in the state of Sonora, Mexico. Platt shares an affinity for ranching with his grandfather, a retired rancher and civil engineer who designed and installed thousands of miles of PVC, as well as earthen dams, concrete storage tanks and troughs on many Sonoran ranches during the 1980s and 1990s....