NEWS ROUNDUP

Eminent domain used for farm's water Can a city use eminent domain to nab a farm's water rights because it needs the water for an industrial park that will provide jobs and opportunities for its young people and therefore benefit the entire community? To add a twist to this question: What if the owners of the farm requested that their land be rezoned "light industrial" so that it could be developed - a request that was granted by a state growth management hearings board. In a situation like that, how does the definition of "public good," which is a requirement for condemnation through eminent domain, fit into the picture? Would an industrial park designed to benefit the city trump the farmers' plans to have their land developed if "public good" is the deciding factor? These are the questions before the court as it weighs a request to reconsider an earlier decision that came out in the farmers' favor in the City of Winlock's case against Mickelsen Dairy. In a May 21, 2007, letter to the city's attorneys explaining his decision in favor of the Mickelsens, Cowlitz Superior Court Judge James Stonier said that while "the declaration of public necessity by the City of Winlock is valid, Mickelsen's agricultural use is superior." The issue at hand, said the judge, was whether the state's prior appropriation water-rights policy - "first in time; first in right" - holds enough weight to withstand the city's attempt to condemn the water rights. In his opinion, it does. But he also said that the court does not find that any future proposed use by the Mickelsens, other than the current agricultural use, to be superior to the city's intended use of the water rights....
Elk feedground study starts The Bridger-Teton National Forest has started the ball rolling on whether the Wyoming Game and Fish Department should receive a long-term permit to continue elk winter feeding and related management programs on forest lands. A 45-day public comment period started Monday on the proposed special-use permit study document. Conservationists worry, however, that the planned environmental impact statement might be so narrowly drawn as to have a foregone conclusion: to approve the land-use permit without looking at what Game and Fish is actually doing on national forest lands....
Helicopter pilot dies while fighting wildfire A helicopter pilot was killed Monday when the aircraft crashed while delivering water to firefighters battling a blaze in the Klamath National Forest, authorities said. The pilot, whose name was not immediately released, was in "extremely rugged" mountain territory about 12 miles southeast of Happy Camp in Siskiyou County when the crash occurred shortly after 10 a.m. Monday, said Duane Lyon, a U.S. Forest Service spokesman. Investigators were trying to determine the cause of the crash. The pilot was under contract with the Forest Service but was not a government employee, Lyon said. The pilot was the only person on board. The helicopter was carrying a large water container to refill hand-pump backpacks for firefighters on the ground. Some firefighters saw the helicopter crash and reported it to emergency dispatchers....
Agencies draw criticism at Tahoe fire forum Officials who promised to help victims of a major Tahoe Basin fire got polite applause at a Monday forum - but the loudest cheering was for victims of the Angora fire who questioned whether bureaucratic red tape hindered advance efforts to prevent such disasters. California Assemblyman Ted Gaines, R-Roseville, joined by Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons and officials from various agencies and groups with a stake in protecting Tahoe, promised the fire victims that he'd work to curtail the bureaucracy. He said people are frustrated and "need some answers." Dozens of local residents spoke at the forum, including Chris Horton, who lost his home in the fire. Horton said he believed the fire that caused more than $140 million in property damage was fueled in part by hundreds of piles of slash left on the ground by crews clearing out the woods in the past. Lane Sykes, whose home was damaged, said the bistate Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, which oversees the area, gave him an inspection report that prevented him from removing pine needles around his property. He said those pine needles contributed to the damage to his home. The TRPA has emerged as a favorite target for those seeking to assign blame for the fire. Many Tahoe residents say the agency has overstepped its original mission by adopting strict policies that limit tree-cutting on private property....
Blaze ignites criticism Would the Murphy Complex have burned almost 900 square miles if the Bureau of Land Management, as state Rep. Bert Brackett argued, "took their gloves off" when fighting the blaze? That question led the discussion Monday night at the Castleford School. BLM state director Tom Dyer stood and smiled calmly before a crowd of about 120 ranchers and residents affected by the almost 600,000-acre wildfire. Many in the audience questioned why the agency didn't pull out all the stops when the fire was in its first stages. The fire escalated to extremes that required Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter to declare five counties - Cassia, Idaho, Nez Perce, Owyhee and Twin Falls - disaster emergency areas to allow state assistance to the counties. The Twin Falls County commissioners also passed an emergency ordinance banning open burning Monday. Chris Simonson, fire management officer for the BLM's Twin Falls district, said the agency has been bound by rest and training regulations. Rancher John Faulkner, who lives northwest of the fire, near Mountain Home Air Force Base, criticized the BLM for not wanting ranchers to help fight the fires, and enforcing year-long grazing regulations that allow grasses to become like "gasoline." No one present criticized the firefighters on the front lines....
Rainbow Gathering ends; 100 remain Rainbow Family members, for the most part, have all returned to their homes from the annual Rainbow Gathering held in Fallsville, near Clarksville, earlier this month. Some members remain in the area and are helping clean up trash and other items left in the forest. The nonorganized, nonmember, Rainbow Family of the Living Light began to gather in the Ozark National Forest last month with the culmination of the gathering July 4, during a prayer ceremony and morning of silence. The group is prominately referred to as hippies, gypsies and hobos, according to its unofficial Web site, welcomehere.org. The first gathering was in 1972, a four-day event in Colorado, where 20,000 people gathered. The group has met every year since, according to the Web site. In the past, Rainbow Gatherings have left the forest in less than ideal condition, despite their attempt to be “light on the land,” said Denise Ottaviano, information officer for the U.S. Forest Service National Incident Management Team....
Survey: Dig was on federal land A survey has determined that a private dinosaur dig in Garfield County was on federal land. Bureau of Land Management spokesperson Greg Albright said Monday the dig remains shut down while an investigation continues. No decision has been made on whether charges may be filed, he said. The BLM is working with the U.S. Attorney's Office. Illegal digging could result in charges ranging from a simple trespass to felony theft of government property if the property is valued at more than $1,000. Earlier this month, BLM asked representatives of PaleoWorld Research Foundation, a Florida-based group leading a dinosaur-digging expedition in Garfield County, to stop digging at a site so it could determine whether the work was occurring illegally on federal land. A permit is required to dig on federal lands. The group's base camp is 21 miles northwest of Jordan, on a ranch owned by Judy Lervick, the field facilities manager for PaleoWorld. Lervick said earlier the disputed quarry was one of many dig sites operated by the foundation and that work was continuing at other sites....
Group files suit to block coal plant An environmental group filed a federal lawsuit Monday seeking to block public financing of a coal-fired power plant near Great Falls because of its potential to exacerbate global warming, pollute surrounding communities and degrade a historic trail. With seven more coal plants nationwide up for similar rural development loans, an attorney for the group Earthjustice said she hoped the challenge to the Montana plant will scuttle the entire U.S. Department of Agriculture program. "The federal government should be the last source of funding for coal plants. These are projects that even Wall Street is turning its back on," said Abigail Dillen, the lead attorney in the suit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. The other plants are in Wyoming, Missouri, Iowa, Florida, Oklahoma and two in Kentucky. The USDA's Rural Utilities Service in May gave a regulatory green light to Montana's 250-megawatt Highwood Generating Station to be built near the Missouri River along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail by the Southern Montana Electric cooperative. It would deliver electricity to 120,000 residents of Montana and market surplus power to out-of-state customers....
Luthi lands position as minerals director Former Wyoming House Speaker Randall Luthi has been appointed director of the Minerals Management Service, the second Wyomingite in a row to hold the position. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne made the announcement Monday. Luthi replaces former Wyoming official Johnnie Burton, who stepped down from the position at the end of May. Burton had come under criticism for not acting when she first heard of billion-dollar errors with oil and gas drilling leases made before her tenure. Luthi, 52, currently serves as deputy director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Last month he unsuccessfully applied to fill the seat of the late Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo. Luthi will lead the agency that collects and disburses more than $8 billion per year in revenues from federal offshore and onshore mineral leases. The agency has come under scrutiny of late. Its management practices have been the subject of several congressional oversight hearings....
Scientists Say Snowy River Flowing Again A sparkling subterranean crystalline calcite formation known as Snowy River is no longer a dry riverbed. Scientists say Snowy River, discovered in 2001, is now running with between a half-foot to a foot-and-a-half of water. The formation, which is not open to the public, was discovered by a U.S. Bureau of Land Management team led by veteran speleologist John McLean of Colorado. The passage, which looks like a river of snow surrounded by walls of brown clay and black manganese dioxide deposits, stretches more than 2 miles from a passage in Fort Stanton Cave. Water originally carved a channel in the clay and gravel, then eventually filled it with brilliant white calcite. In some places, the ceiling soars up to 40 feet; in others it's down to 16 inches. Scientists believe the last time water flowed in the Snowy River formation may have been 150 years ago....
California outlaws kangaroo boots The Californian Supreme Court has banned the sale of football boots and all other goods made from kangaroo leather, technically outlawing the Adidas Predator boot which is being promoted by new LA Galaxy signing David Beckham. However, the statewide prohibition, which is the only one of its kind in the United States, may not last long. Legislation allowing kangaroo-derived products made by the sporting goods maker Adidas and other companies passed the state Senate earlier this year. The bill is widely expected to clear the Assembly smoothly and land on Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk as early as September....
CWA Bill Could Hinder Food Production Current Clean Water Act legislation in Congress has the potential of interfering with private land and impeding producers’ ability to produce food, fiber and fuel, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. In written testimony sent this week to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, AFBF argued that H.R. 2421 would not only expand CWA jurisdiction, but needlessly sweep many agricultural and forestry activities into the scope of CWA. According to AFBF, H.R. 2421 goes much further than simple redefinition of the CWA; it does not limit the type of waters that would be regulated in any way. “Truly navigable waterways, tributaries, streams and wetlands adjacent to such waterways are already subject to CWA regulation under current law,” said the group. “The language being proposed in H.R. 2421 could reach a backyard mosquito fogger if a breeze happens to blow into ‘waters of the United States.’” AFBF went further to say, “H.R. 2421 applies the broadest possible interpretation of the CWA, subject only to constitutional limits and removes any argument that Congress intended any limit on the regulatory reach of the act.”....
From gangs to lambs Henry, an at-risk teen, moved from Los Angeles to Hanna Boys Center two years ago to increase his chances for a successful future. "I wanted to get away from the issues at home...gangs and stuff," he said. Raising a calf and a lamb as part of the center's 4-H program is about as far away from street life as a young man can get. On Tuesday, June 17, Henry showed his Southdown market lamb, Urbina, at the 2007 Sonoma County Fair. "I did it and it has been a great experience," Henry said. George Perry, third-generation Sonoma County rancher and Boys Center agriculture director, picks five different boys each year to participate in this program and there is a waiting list of over 30. "These kids need a lot of structure and this program has that. I can set that bar as high as I want and the boys will meet it. It may take some longer than others but they all get there," said Perry. The 4-H Market Steer and Market Lamb Project teaches the boys how to care for, feed and show their animals. Henry and the others have also learned about pasture management, including how to recycle project waste onto the pasture to replenish expended soil nutrients. Henry has also cultivated, planted and harvested the organic garden....
Collies shine at stock dog show If regular dogs are man’s best friend, then stock dogs must be a rancher’s best friend. Stock dog trainers from the United States and Canada put the skills of their stock dogs on display Monday evening during the Can-Am Stock Dog Invitational at the North Dakota State Fair. Held in the All Seasons Arena, a course consisting of two gates, a barrel and a pen challenged trainers and dogs to herd three sheep through in as little time as possible. There are many different types of stock dogs, but border collies were on display during this show. While many people may think of the Westminster Kennel Club when a dog show is mentioned, the pooches featured at the Can-Am Invitational are hardly pampered. These are working-class dogs who run outside whether it’s hot or cold and help their owners keep herds of sheep and cattle in line. The training that the dogs undergo to herd livestock is intense and takes two to three years to complete. A whistle is used to direct the dogs and Halverson said the various whistles tell the dog which direction to go, to stop, to come back to the trainer, and so on....
American cowboys get their day of recognition Cowboys around the nation are saddling up to celebrate the National Day of the American Cowboy. This year’s celebration will take place on July 28. The date changes and is approved by the U.S. government each year. The first National Day of the American Cowboy was held in 2005 after U.S. Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., drafted legislation to have a day reserved for the American cowboy. The idea, Thomas said, came after being contacted by the “American Cowboy” magazine in 2004, who proposed a day to celebrate America’s cowboy. After the introduction of the idea, the National Day of the Cowboy Organization was founded to oversee the proposal and garner support for the day. This year, Thomas sponsored the legislation again (S. Res, 130) and it was approved in the Senate on March 22. Thomas said, on his website, that there is a plan to reserve the fourth Saturday in July to be reserved for the day each year....