NEWS ROUNDUP

Pebble Beach Golf Project Hits the Rough A high-profile golf project backed by Hollywood star Clint Eastwood has hit a hazard. The California Coastal Commission on Wednesday voted 8-4 against the plan, which would have allowed the construction of an 18-hole golf course, a driving range and rental cottages on California's Central Coast. The proposed development would affect more than 100 acres of undeveloped land in the Del Monte Forest. Environmentalists said it would devastate the five remaining stands of old-growth Monterey pines left in the world. The 1976 Coastal Act prioritized public recreation over private development, created protection for nesting birds and other animals, and gave the commission authority to enforce the law. Anthony Lombardo, an attorney representing the Pebble Beach Co., which spearheaded the plan, said the project's fate is not clear.The company, whose co-owners include Eastwood, golf legend Arnold Palmer and former Major League Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth, already owns four golf courses at Pebble Beach, including the Pebble Beach Golf Links, which hosted the 2000 U.S. Open Championships. The existing coastal plan in Monterey County allows for a golf course on the land, but Lombardo said he was not sure Eastwood and his partners would come back to the commission with a revised plan. "The company is disappointed that the commission didn't see the benefits of developing 100 acres and offering 1,000 acres in open space for the public," said Lombardo. Opponents also said the development would threaten California red-legged frog and the endangered Yadon's piperia, an orchid....
Ruling limits eminent domain The New Jersey Supreme Court handed opponents of eminent domain a victory Wednesday, ruling in a case involving Paulsboro that government may not seize land solely on the basis of its not being "fully productive." The case went to the heart of the fear held by some about eminent domain: That government can seize property simply because it envisions a better use for it. "The New Jersey Constitution does not permit government redevelopment of private property solely because the property is not used in an optimal manner," Chief Justice James Zazzali wrote for a unanimous court. Overturning lower-court decisions in the matter of Gallenthin Realty Development Inc. vs. the borough of Paulsboro, the court concluded that the state constitution overrides the borough's expansive interpretation of its power to redevelop. "Because the New Jersey Constitution authorizes government redevelopment of only "blighted areas' we conclude that the Legislature did not intend (a section of the law) to apply in circumstances where the sole basis for redevelopment is that the property is "not fully productive,' " Zazzali wrote. "Blight," the court said, "presumes deterioration or stagnation that negatively affects surrounding areas." At issue in the Paulsboro case was a 63-acre tract of land, mostly wetlands, that the borough wants to include in a broader waterfront redevelopment plan....
Property Owners Win One Opponents of eminent domain finally have something to celebrate. After a public campaign, Target Corp. has decided not to build a store on condemned property in Arlington Heights, Ill. Five years ago, the Village trustees declared the International Plaza shopping center and other properties blighted, setting the stage for condemnation under eminent domain. The business owners who were to lose their stores fought the "blight" designation in court but failed. Yet they didn't give up. They and their supporters held protests at trustee meetings. They were aided by the Sam Adams Alliance and Foundation, which launched a letter, telephone and flyer campaign that threatened to boycott Target if the company went through with its plan to occupy property seized by the government. In late May, the Alliance triumphantly announced, "Target backed out of their contract with the Village. International Plaza tenants have saved the property from eminent domain abuse, at least for the time being". The Village attorney said pending lawsuits by tenants of the shopping center were one reason for Target's decision. It's only a reprieve. The trustees smell big bucks, so they may try to find another major chain to be the principal retailer in the 35-acre development area. In the past, several retailers have been more than willing to build on stolen property. So the residents of Arlington Heights and the Sam Adams Alliance may need to launch another campaign....
Piñon expansion has a new enemy Another opponent to the Army’s plans to expand Fort Carson’s Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site surfaced Thursday. The Washington, D.C.-based National Trust for Historic Preservation listed Piñon Canyon as one of the nation’s 11 most endangered historic sites in an announcement Thursday. The group, which has 270,000 members, says Army plans to add more than 400,000 acres to its training lands in southeast Colorado would “close off a scenic and culturally rich landscape from public access, damage valuable historic sites and harm the regional agricultural and tourism economy.” Jim Lindberg, a Denverbased spokesman for the group, said the timing of the National Trust announcement wasn’t intended to coincide with a planned U.S. House vote on the expansion proposal. They understand the politics, though. “We’re not afraid of controversy when we think something important is at stake,” Lindberg said. The group’s opposition could become moot when the House votes on a measure that would block the Defense Department from spending money on anything related to expanding its 235,000-acre site, which is 150 miles southeast of Colorado Springs. The House was scheduled to take up the issue Thursday, but put it off until at least today....
Kilimanjaro not a victim of climate change, UW scientist says The shrinking snowcap atop Mount Kilimanjaro has become an icon of global warming. Pictures of the African peak, which has lost 90 percent of its ice cover, were featured in Al Gore's documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth." Greenpeace activists once held a satellite news conference on the summit to sway participants in an international climate conference. But most scientists who study Kilimanjaro's glaciers have long been uneasy with the volcano's poster-child status. Yes, ice cover has shrunk by 90 percent, they say. But no, the buildup of greenhouse gases from cars, power plants and factories is not to blame. "Kilimanjaro is a grossly overused mis-example of the effects of climate change," said University of Washington climate scientist Philip Mote, co-author of an article in the July/August issue of American Scientist magazine....
Improving and Restoring Working Landscapes Between pristine nature and the urban cityscape lies the working landscape, an area of increasing importance, because of the host of ecosystem services it provides. A special issue devoted to the working landscape and its conservation can be found in the latest Rangelands. On rangelands, ranching is the key to conserving working landscapes. Ranchers like to produce livestock products, but the ecological benefits are valuable as well. How can this value be harnessed to support and motivate the worker and thereby support working landscapes? Conservation easements are one method, and two of the articles in the issue cover the many options that easements offer the rancher and how the relationship with the easement holder can be a long-term, collaborative process. Other highlights from the issue include an update on the Rowe Mesa Grassbank, a creative effort to conserve New Mexican working landscapes. There is also an article that illustrates the rich history of rancher interactions with the land and describes the motives and outside influences that have affected those interactions in the Altar Valley of Arizona. Looking back to America’s beginnings is a discussion of Native American working landscapes in California and the importance of traditional knowledge....
Food Before Fuel Feel like you're getting squeezed by prices at the gas pump? Get ready to experience that same feeling at the grocery store. As ABC News reported recently, average food retail prices of across the United States have risen by 4 percent during the past year alone. Beleaguered American consumers must now pay record gas prices to get to the grocery store, where they again meet sticker shock. And who is to blame? Not grocery stores or food producers, but Congress. Food prices today are rising steeply because Congress decided to link the price of food with the price of oil. As a result, now whenever the price of oil increases, food prices follow. Worse still, Congress is currently contemplating further tightening this link. Let us explain. This mess started in 2005, when Congress passed that year's Energy Policy Act, which mandated the incorporation of 7 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol into the American fuel supply in an effort to reduce gasoline consumption. Ethanol production, suddenly buttressed by a federally guaranteed demand for its product, overnight became an extraordinarily profitable venture. Invariably, a market disruption of this magnitude is at once unpredictable and consequential. Congress likely did not then foresee that the artificial demand for ethanol created by this mandate would cause a sharp increase in the price of groceries. Such, however, is the nature of meddling in the market. Before the 2005 Act, the American farmer sold corn that was for the most part eaten, either by people here and abroad or by livestock. But the new ethanol mandate suddenly gave American corn growers a vast new customer base -- everyone who owns a car. Of course, a precipitous increase in demand will have an effect on price; accordingly, a bushel of corn that cost $2.00 two years ago, costs close to $4.00 today. The effects of this price increase have been profound. As it turns out, corn is integral to a huge array of groceries. Corn syrup is widely used as a sweetener, because sugar is too expensive and there are health fears about artificial substitutes. And, of course, corn goes into lots of baked goods. Of particular significance, corn is the primary feed for livestock; there are no substitutes with a comparable nutritional value. Consequently, as the price of corn increases, it costs more to feed cows, pigs and chickens. These costs are then passed along to the consumer, who pays more for dairy, meat, eggs, and all the derivatives thereof. Unfortunately, the collateral damage wrought by ethanol mandates does not end there. With corn hovering at record prices, farmers have found it more profitable to grow corn, thus leaving less land available for the production of other grains, reducing their supply. The prices of grains and grain byproducts, like bread or pasta, increase accordingly....
Federal Study on Piping Water to Clark County Released The federal government is out with the latest scientific look at the plan to pipe water from central Nevada to Clark County. And as you might expect -- both sides in this ongoing debate are claiming the report supports their side. This report is known as "BARCASS." It's a three-year study by the U.S. Geological Survey that takes the closest look yet at both water supply and flow patterns in central Nevada. And it will be at the center of the debate as Southern Nevada seeks approval to draw even more water. Water... it is the lifeblood of the west. The Southern Nevada Water Authority has already won approval to pump water from what's called the Spring Valley in rural White Pine County. But now the battle is moving east to the Snake Valley, which sits on the border between Nevada and Utah. Snake Valley rancher Dean Baker told the I-Team in an earlier interview residents there don't see themselves as the solution to growth in Southern Nevada. "We would rather have our lifestyle," said Baker....
The legend of Bear Trap Cave: Claw marks inside reveal struggle by grizzly to escape Some stories are based in truth. Some legends are real. Some near mythic locations exist. Bear Trap Cave is one of those places. The cave is located near Custer and west of Bear Mountain Lookout in what is now the Jasper Fire burn. It's a popular spot for Black Hills cavers, or people who enjoy crawling underground and exploring dark caverns. But most people have never heard of it, or only know of the legend. Carl Clements, 85, remembers learning about the cave. Clements remembers a cave in Gillette Canyon that he visited in the 1950s that was apparently the final resting place of a large bear, perhaps a grizzly. He said he was working for the Forest Service a half-century ago when an old man who scratched out a living by cutting wood for posts high in the hills offered to show him a cave. The cave had been the final resting place of a bear, Clements said the old man told him....