NEWS ROUNDUP

Colo. Senate supports rancher-backed bill on Pinon Canyon Republican and Democratic senators on Tuesday united behind a bill backed by opponents of the proposed expansion of the Army's Pinon Canyon maneuver site. As ranchers and students watched from seats that rim the chamber, senators gave initial backing to the measure (House Bill 1069). It tells the Army that it can't use eminent domain to acquire another 418,000 acres - or 653 square miles - to nearly triple the size of Pinon Canyon. It must undergo another vote, as early as Wednesday, before it could be sent to Gov. Bill Ritter. Sen. Ken Kester, R-Las Animas, said many of the families who live in the proposed expansion area have lived there for generations and have survived everything from the Dust Bowl to a blizzard that caused 10 foot drifts this winter. "We want the nation to know we support our military and we will continue to support our military with food," he said. Sen. John Morse, D-Colorado Springs, unsuccessfully tried to delay implementation of the bill for five years, saying the Army needed more time to complete environmental studies to decide whether to acquire more land. Ultimately, he said the area's ranchers might have to give up their land to provide the training that will give soldiers a "fighting chance" in battle....
Judge bars public funds to promote private grazing suits A judge has ordered two southern Utah counties to stop using public funds to help private ranchers fight grazing restrictions. Sixth District Judge David Mower's decision specifically addresses disputes over grazing permits on the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Mower granted an injunction last week requested by the Grand Canyon Trust to prevent Kane and Garfield counties from continuing to drain money from a state defense fund to cover the legal expenses of area ranchers. These ranchers sued in U.S. District Court for Utah to be awarded permits, alleging that the grazing program by Grand Canyon Trust hurt the counties economically and culturally. The county has been using public funds to pay legal expenses in the federal lawsuit. The counties later were dropped from the suit, a move upheld by a federal appeals court. Now, with Mower's injunction in state court, the ranchers will have to pay their own way to continue their federal suit....
Missouri rancher shoots escaped wolf from Branson-area park The Missouri Department of Conservation says an Ozarks cattle rancher shot and killed the male wolf of a breeding pair that escaped from a Branson-area exotic animal park two months ago. The Missouri resident told a conservation agent that he saw the wolf chasing his cattle and shot it last Thursday. The department says it won't file charges and it also won't identify the man because the agency says he has done nothing wrong and promptly notified officials. The male wolf and a pregnant female escaped from Predator World in February, shortly after arriving at the park. There have been no reported sightings of the female.
Car kills protected wolf near Fort Shaw What authorities believe was an adult wolf has been hit and killed by a car on Highway 200 about a mile west of Fort Shaw. The accident on Friday came as federal officials were trying to determine whether Montana currently has enough wolves to take them off the Endangered Species List. "There was an adult female wolf that by outward appearances was a wild gray wolf that was hit by a car," said Carolyn Sime, the statewide wolf coordinator for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. "The protocol is that all wolves that die in Montana must go to a lab until a necropsy determines the cause of death," Sime said. "At this point, we believe it was a vehicle striking it, but we won't know until then." Bruce Auchly, information officer for Fish, Wildlife & Parks in Great Falls, said game warden Dave Holland of Fort Shaw found the animal on routine patrol and picked up the carcass, which weighed about 80 pounds....
Mountain lion sighted in subdivision south of Butte State wildlife officials are asking parents to pick up and deliver their children from a bus stop on Janney Road after a mountain lion followed a 10-year-old boy from the stop on Friday. “We don’t know if it was following him on purpose or if he was just doing what a mountain lion does,” said Coy Kline, warden sergeant for the Butte area with the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Janney Road is south of Highway 2 in the area of Terra Verde Heights, in south Butte. Kline said the lion followed the boy after he got off the bus around 3:45 p.m. The boy thought the lion was a dog and was unconcerned, but a woman driving by saw the cat and insisted the boy get into her car. She drove the boy home, Kline said, but officials have been unable to talk with her to gather more details. The lion did not attack the boy. Kline said that parents should be aware of the cat sighting in that area....
What will the Legacy Project’s legacy be? It's a water-dependent spread of summer green: a rolling expanse of alfalfa, malt barley and other crops tucked near the meandering sensibilities of Silver Creek. The 1,500-acre spread is owned by Bellevue Triangle farmer Robert Gardner, a wiry Wood River Valley native who was among Blaine County farmers initially concerned by the Wood River Legacy Project, a law signed by Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter in March. The law will enable Wood River water rights holders to leave water in-stream rather than be required to use them, but it is questionable whether there's enough water to go around to begin with. For Gardner, however, the evolution of the bill from its original form to what was eventually signed into law was also an evolution of his support—or lack thereof. The original version, he said, appeared to favor conservation interests at the expense of farmers and ranchers in the Triangle....
Ex-BLM official raps oil, gas focus A former Bureau of Land Management state director testified Tuesday that energy development has become the predominant use of public lands wherever oil and gas resources exist and that BLM policies facilitate development to the near exclusion of other priorities. But a Republican congressman derided her testimony as inaccurate during a House Natural Resources Committee hearing on the implementation of the on-shore gas and oil drilling provisions of the 2005 Energy Policy Act. Ann Morgan, who served as a BLM state director between 1994 and 2002, including five years in Colorado, said the BLM has moved to an "extreme pace" of development over the past six or seven years. She is now vice president of public lands for The Wilderness Society. Morgan said the BLM routinely waives permit conditions that protect wildlife and habitat, inadequately funds inspection and enforcement, cannot meet commitments to monitor wildlife and air-quality impacts and opens more sensitive lands to leasing. She said the agency estimates that over 1 million acres will be disturbed by currently planned new oil and gas development. But Rep. Stevan Pearce, R-N.M., said much of Morgan's testimony was exaggerated. He said her assertion that oil and gas has become the predominant use on public lands is "just plain wrong." He said the BLM manages 700 million acres of subsurface mineral estate, of which 6 percent are currently under lease for oil and gas development. He said 1.8 percent of the lands have active oil and gas production, calling that a "little bitty sliver" of the total. He also disagreed with her statement that the administration has a "rush to lease policy." Pearce said the number of new leases issued under the current administration is substantially lower than under the Clinton administration....
EPA, DEQ rap Anticline plan Two agencies charged with protecting the environment are asking the Bureau of Land Management to do more for the Pinedale Anticline to ensure natural resources are protected in light of growing natural gas development. The Environmental Protection Agency and Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality both asked the BLM to tighten the reins on development in their official comments on the Pinedale Anticline supplemental draft environmental impact statement. That document calls for a significant increase in energy activity in the area. EPA told the BLM it had not gone far enough to identify a "range of alternatives," while the DEQ called for more requirements that gas operators protect air quality as development progresses. Robert Roberts, EPA regional administrator, said in a 19-page letter to BLM Wyoming State Director Bob Bennett that EPA has three "primary areas" of concern: that an insufficient range of alternatives was analyzed, and harm to air quality and wildlife....
Study projects effects of forest management in Oregon's Coast Range One of the challenges of managing forests is deciding among management practices, particularly when the landscape effects these practices will have are not fully known. Since 1995, Pacific Northwest (PNW) Research Station scientists and their colleagues from Oregon State University and the Oregon Department of Forestry have been conducting research that provides managers with a better idea of the effects—both intended and unintended—that forest management practices can have on landscapes. Findings from this research were published recently in a series of six invited papers in Ecological Applications, a peer-reviewed journal of the Ecological Society of America. "This research is one of the first and most integrated studies of the ‘big picture’ of forest management across ownerships anywhere in the world," said Gordon Reeves, a coauthor on several of the invited papers and one of the Station’s lead investigators with the research project, known as the Coastal Landscape Analysis and Modeling Study (CLAMS)....
Forest Service, state agree on water compact After 15 years of long, sometimes contentious negotiations, the U.S. Forest Service and the state of Montana have signed an agreement to address federal reserved water rights on national forest lands. Gov. Brian Schweitzer, U.S. Undersecretary of Agriculture Mark Rey and U.S. Assistant Attorney General Ryan Nelson signed the negotiated federal reserved water rights compact Tuesday afternoon on a table parked within earshot of Rattlesnake Creek. All three agreed the compact marked a win for both Montana and the country. Federal reserved water rights are created when federal lands are set aside for a specific purpose, such as national forests, national parks, or fish and wildlife refuges. While it was intended that enough water be reserved to meet the purposes for which the federal lands were designated, those rights still have to be negotiated with the state. “We can all agree that there's nothing more important in the Rocky Mountains than water,” Schweitzer told the group of about 30 who gathered for the signing ceremony. “It's also difficult to know who actually owns that water.” This agreement proves that the federal government and states can put together an agreement without litigation, Schweitzer said....
Creation of Wild Sky Wilderness Area finally wins approval in U.S. House The House unanimously approved the Wild Sky Wilderness Area on Tuesday, moving the popular 106,577- acre project to the brink of reality after five years of frustrating detours. By clearing the House, the first new wilderness area in Washington state in 23 years is virtually assured of final passage, lawmakers and supporters said. The Senate, which will consider the bill in the coming months, has passed the bill three times, only to see it fail each time in the House. "The journey has been long, but I've been patient," said Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., who sponsored the bill and whose district includes most of the property. "I think this is a good example of how things actually happen in Congress. I'm very pleased, to say the least." With work finished in the House, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said she would press to bring the bill to the Senate floor. Murray introduced a bill identical to Larsen's in the Senate....
Gallatin Forest sued over travel plan The Gallatin National Forest is being hit with a pair of conflicting federal lawsuits over a recently-approved travel plan that restricts where snowmobiles, bicycles and ATVs can operate within the 1.8 million acre forest. On Tuesday, the public access group Citizens for Balanced Use announced it was filing a lawsuit asserting forest administrators unfairly restricted motorized and mechanized recreation on more than 320,000 acres and along hundreds of miles of trails. A second lawsuit, filed March 28 in U.S. District Court in Missoula by two preservation groups _ the Montana Wilderness Association and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition _ charges the new restrictions did not go far enough. That suit contends the Forest Service should have adhered to a proposal to deny snowmobile access to 18,000 acres within the Hyalite/Porcupine/Buffalo Horn Wilderness Study Area....
Ranch tour part of Earth Day celebration The first Earth Day celebration with Nebraska Cattlemen and the Sand County Foundation will be Sunday and includes a tour of the Wilson Ranch north of Lakeside. The Wilson Ranch was named the 2006 Leopold Conservation Award recipient for its conservation practices and economic viability. The Wilson Ranch, owned by brothers Blaine and Bryan Wilson, and their wives Charlie and Debbie, is a fifth-generation ranch consisting of more than 15,000 acres and 1,100 head of cattle. The Wilsons began crossbreeding their cattle in the late 1970s, leading to the development of a genetic program based on quality. The Wilsons’ conservation efforts include development of a wildlife pasture with windbreaks and drip systems used solely for habitat protection. They developed a wetland area that has seen the return of several bird species. The family also stocks fish and works to keep the deer population controlled....
Damage by hogs to crops estimated at $52M in Texas It’s been estimated feral hogs roam at least 90 percent of Texas’ 254 counties, and each year those wild porkers cause $52 million damage to Texas agriculture. That’s only agriculture; it doesn’t include other damage, including the social costs. “We don’t measure the cost in terms of vehicle and hog crashes and the human injuries,” said Dr. Billy Higginbotham, professor of wildlife and fisheries at Texas A&M University’s extension campus in Overton, Texas. “We’ve had a number of deaths attributed to vehicle-hog crashes. But just to agriculture the damage is estimated at $52 million a year, and landowners are spending about $7 million a year correcting the damage caused or on (feral hog) control efforts.” However, not everyone wants to get rid of feral hogs. “Many people make income from leasing feral hog (hunting) rights,” Higginbotham said. Perhaps the best-known is Maurice Chambers of Sabinal, Texas, a town that calls itself the “Wild Boar Capitol of the World.” For those so inclined, Sabinal also home to the “World Championship Wild Hog-Catching” contest, where participants catch feral hogs by hand. Chambers offers archery hunts for wild hogs, which on his Web site (www.chambershunts.org) is called the “Poor Man’s Grizzly.” There also is a small commercial market for wild hogs, Higginbotham said. “There are three processors in this state that purchase feral hogs that have been captured alive and they process that hog and the cuts of meat show up in high-end restaurants on the east and west coasts as European wild boar,” Higginbotham said....
Cattlemen Urge Congress To Retain Choices In Cattle Marketing America’s cattle producers say the government should help grow the U.S. beef industry and not limit or remove choices in the marketing of cattle. This message was at the heart of testimony given today by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA). The House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry held a hearing today on Market Structure of the Livestock Industry. NCBA President and North Carolina cattle producer John Queen told the subcommittee, “When it comes to market structure and competition issues, NCBA’s position is simple – we ask that the government not tell us how we can or cannot market our cattle.” Queen pointed to the recently released Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) Livestock and Meat Marketing study which concluded that alternative marketing arrangements (AMAs) such as forward contracts, production contracts, packer ownership or custom feeding have provided benefits to some producers without harming the competitiveness of the marketplace. “The report states that the leading reasons ranchers participate in AMAs are the ability to buy or sell higher quality cattle, improve supply chain management, and obtain better prices,” says Queen. “The study concludes that restrictions on AMAs would cause a decrease in the supply of cattle, quality of beef, and feeder cattle prices.” Queen described how producers can better control their profit margin with forward contracting. “If the price doesn’t fit their needs, they can walk away and find another buyer,” says Queen. “Being a ‘price maker’ rather than a ‘price taker’ puts ranchers in control of their business.”....
FB: Livestock Market Oversight Must Change Competitive livestock markets and a transparent agricultural marketplace are vital to sustaining the livelihoods of U.S. farmers and ranchers, the American Farm Bureau Federation told Congress today. “Consolidation and concentration within the agricultural sector could have adverse economic impacts on U.S. farmers and ranchers,” said AFBF President Bob Stallman in testimony presented to a subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee. “It is important that markets be accessible to all producers and that they offer competitive prices.” The landscape has changed tremendously for crop and livestock producers in recent decades, both in terms of input costs and in how they market their finished livestock, grain and fiber, according to AFBF. Stallman cited trends that illustrate this, including the share of steer and heifer slaughter for the four largest beef packers increasing from 36 percent to 80 percent from 1980 to 2004 and the share of hog slaughter for the four largest packers increasing from 32 percent to 64 percent from 1985 to 2004. He also noted that four companies currently control 50 percent of the market for broilers, while the three largest soybean processors control more than 70 percent of that market....
Group Asks USDA About Adequacy of Bovine Tuberculosis Mitigation Measures On Monday, R-CALF USA sent a formal letter to Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns requesting an explanation from the agency on three items related to bovine tuberculosis: 1) why the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has not taken more decisive action to protect our U.S. cattle herds from a known source of Bovine TB; 2) whether USDA is following even minimal international standards established by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) for preventing the spread of Bovine TB; and, 3) whether USDA has specific plans to begin providing the U.S. cattle industry with needed protection against this disease. USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) administers USDA’s Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication Program. Bovine TB is a contagious disease that can affect most mammals, including humans. The detection of this disease in the U.S. results in significant financial losses to affected U.S. cattle herds, as well as to all cattle herds residing in an affected state, principally due to the imposition of animal-movement restrictions. Several states – including Texas, California, New Mexico, Michigan, Minnesota, South Dakota and Colorado – have detected Bovine TB within their borders in recent years. “R-CALF’s Animal Health Committee was recently informed about testimony presented to Congress by USDA’s Inspector General Phyllis Fong in March, in which Inspector General Fong indicated that APHIS is hampered by weaknesses in the oversight of the program that make it difficult for the agency to timely detect and eradicate this disease,” said R-CALF USA President/Region VI Director Max Thornsberry, a Missouri veterinarian who chairs the organization’s animal health committee....
Argentina suffers beef shortage due to price controls Argentina - a country famous for its abundant cattle - is suffering a shortage of beef, as retailers can't find suppliers willing to sell their products at the prices imposed by the government in its effort to control inflation. Local media attributed these shortages, also seen for some dairy products, partly to heavy demand and recent flooding in northern Argentina. But a trip to supermarkets in Buenos Aires tells another story. A branch of Jumbo, a super market chain owned by Chile's Cencosud SA, in Buenos Aires' Palermo neighborhood, put out placards this week apologizing to its clients for the shortage of some beef cuts, blaming a lack of supply at the prices suggested by government price controllers. Meanwhile, the meat counter at a locally owned Coto supermarket chain store in the Barrio Norte district had a similar tale and sign blaming price accords. Coto was also missing some dairy products, a clerk said....
ATVs putting horses out to pasture At dawn, John Lacey and four hired hands head out on horseback from the Fish Creek Corral to perform one of the American West's most venerable pastoral rites: corralling a herd of bellowing steers scattered across thousands of hardpan acres. Lacey, a rail-thin third-generation rancher, leads the way atop Notch, the sure-footed 10-year-old mare he prefers for such chaotic chores. Over his 68 years, he has relied on a succession of horses chosen for their good looks, athletic ability and plain old cow sense. But the modern world is closing in on Notch and the ways of the Old West. On the farthest reaches of the range, in a cloud of dust and grit, two ranch hands ride a pair of weather-beaten all-terrain vehicles. The ATVs buzz the desolate landscape like motorized mosquitoes, coaxing the farthest flung of the 2,600 head of cattle toward home. As the horsemen handle the main herd, the ATV drivers chase down strays, clutching their cowboy hats against the wind and the rough ride....
Christian Cowboys Draw Upon Their Faith so Overcome Great Odds in Movie "BULLRIDER" The movie "BULLRIDER" by Off The Pier Productions passionately documents the athleticism, camaraderie, courage and heart of the men and the bulls who challenge one another each year in the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Built Ford Tough world championship series. But the movie's crossover appeal to the Christian marketplace is gaining fast momentum because the stars of the movie, the bull riders themselves, openly discuss their faith as an integral part of their success. "BULLRIDER" is as much about living life as it is about the rough and tumble world of extreme sports, according to producer Maureen Holmes, president of Off The Pier Productions. "You don't have to be a cowboy, or a sports enthusiast to be moved and inspired by this film to grow closer to God. The movie's biggest fans are often those who knew nothing about the world of professional bull riding and found themselves so inspired by the riders." Released in selected theaters across the country in 2006, "BULLRIDER", now on DVD, is a reflection of the grit demonstrated by the PBR cowboys - it is making a strong comeback - this time, however, it's among those of faith. Throughout the movie, the professional riders unabashedly point to their strong faith in Jesus Christ that encourages them during difficult times, protects them from serious injury, and gives them love for one another in a fiercely competitive environment. These professional athletes literally face serious injury or even death each time they attempt to ride the storm for eight seconds of a bull's fury. These very same struggles, defeats and victories are found in everyday life, maybe not as intense, but certainly, as important. The riders show by example how they conquer fear and insecurity by expressing their faith openly....