NEWS ROUNDUP

Losses drag on long after fire dies Wildfires in Utah's rural counties are blackening rangeland grasses and killing cattle in what could become an agricultural disaster. Rodney Johnson of the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday that reports are still coming in, but "it's a no-brainer" that damage could be extensive for ranchers and farmers in central Utah, where the biggest wildfire in state history has charred more than 300,000 acres. Farmers and ranchers in Beaver and Millard counties in central Utah and those living in Duchesne and Uintah counties to the northeast are worried there'll be little or no rangeland where their cattle can graze, forcing them to sell off their herds or come up with cash to buy feed from hundreds of miles away. David Roberts, president of the local Utah Farm Bureau in Beaver County, said as many as 150 head of cattle may have been killed. Two days ago, firefighters allowed ranchers to go into hot spots to open gates for trapped livestock, he said, but later kept them from the rapidly shifting flames. Rancher Floyd Yardley doesn't know how many cattle he may have lost on Beaver County's Mineral Range, but he has been told that 32 burnt carcasses were found in one location. "Every one you lose is just like throwing a $1,000 bill out the window," Yardley said. "Maybe it'll do some families under."....
Perry announces bioenergy plan Texas' strategy for developing alternative fuel sources will focus on using nonfood products for energy production so that the effort is not in conflict with the state's multibillion-dollar cattle industry, Gov. Rick Perry said Monday. Biofuels, such as ethanol, are made from corn and other agricultural products. But the state's ranchers use these same food items to feed their cattle. "Feed lots, which we are the No. 1 feed cattle producing state in the nation, are not happy campers when they see corn going to fuel production. So finding the balance is what this is really all about," Perry said during a news conference detailing the state's bioenergy strategy. "We don't want to be put in the place of having to decide whether we are going to feed cattle or fuel vehicles." Perry said Texas will focus on creating biofuels through cellulosic feedstock such as switchgrass, a hardy prairie grass, and wood chips and corn stems....
Judge hears grouse debate Environmentalists urged a federal judge Monday to reverse a 2005 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ruling that kept the sage grouse off the endangered species list, arguing the agency's decision ignored science and was tainted by political meddling. For decades, populations of the chicken-sized bird that once thrived across more than 150 million acres of Western sagebrush in 13 states and Canada have been in decline. The case could have broad implications for all kinds of activities on public lands across the West. Conservationists and biologists say threats to the bird's habitat from urban growth, oil and gas drilling, ecosystem degradation caused by wildfire, road building and West Nile virus have reduced its present population to a fraction of its historic numbers, estimated by some at more than 1 million in the early 1800s. Despite those declines, Fish and Wildlife ruled against granting the highly prized game bird endangered species status, a decision that pleased energy companies and ranchers who feared federal protections would crimp oil and gas projects in states including Wyoming and Montana and restrict grazing from Washington to Colorado....
Bear activity leads to closure Two black bears with a taste for human food have led the Forest Service to close the Mussigbrod campground and trail head in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest about 15 miles northwest of here. The area will be closed for at least a week until it's clear the bears have left the area, forest officials said Sunday. Officials say one large bear and another believed to be a 2-year-old cub have raided several campsites. In one recent incident, a bear tore open a screen door on a trailer, entered and took a container of cookies while the trailer's campers slept nearby. Also recently, the bears were found in the bed of a pickup truck, eating food from a cooler. When campers tried to chase the bears away, the larger one stood its ground for a time.
Feds seeking looser rules on wolf kills The federal government is proposing new rules to make it easier to kill wolves that are affecting elk populations and have been seen attacking dogs, horses and other stock animals. "It's time to start treating them like resident game animals, like mountain lions and black bears," said Ed Bangs, wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The rules were published in the Federal Register on Friday and are open for public comment until early August. There are about 1,300 wolves in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. Earlier this year, federal officials proposed taking them off the endangered species list. One of the rules published Friday allows the public to comment again on the delisting proposal, which now includes a management plan from Wyoming that would allow wolves in much of the state to be treated as predators and killed without regulation. The other rules loosen the language that governs when wolves can be killed....
Groups decry federal wolf plan The Defenders of Wildlife, Sierra Club and other groups say the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is bowing to political pressure in proposing to make it easier for states in the northern Rocky Mountains to kill wolves to protect other wildlife and domesticated animals. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesmen and state officials, however, say the existing rule governing when states can kill wolves sets an impossibly high standard. They say politics has nothing to do with the proposed change. The Fish and Wildlife Service last week published notice in the Federal Register saying it intends to allow Wyoming, Montana and Idaho to kill wolves if they can show the animals are a major cause of elk and deer herds failing to meet state or tribal management goals....
Wolf changes insufficient, Wyo official says Proposed federal rule changes don't go far enough in giving the state the ability to kill wolves preying on other wildlife, Wyoming Attorney General Pat Crank said Monday. In particular, Crank noted that the proposed rule would require that proposals from state game managers wanting to kill wolves would have to be peer-reviewed by outside scientists. He said it would be more efficient to allow states to start killing wolves when the number of calves in an elk herd in areas populated by wolves fall below critical levels. "When you have a huge overpopulation of a very efficient predator like that, it's going to have an effect on your other wildlife populations," Crank said. Terry Cleveland, director of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, said last week that elk populations in three areas of the state are experiencing significant impacts due to wolf predation. The proposed rules would remain in effect only until the federal government turns over wolf management to the states by ending wolf protection under the Endangered Species Act. Federal officials say that could happen as soon as next year and are holding public hearings on their proposal to end federal oversight. However, conservation groups have threatened to sue over the proposal to end federal wolf protection in the states. If they do, having the new rule in effect could allow the states to kill wolves while litigation over ending federal protection drags on, as many predict it will....
Feds try new fire strategies With an intense fire season under way, the U.S. Forest Service has been employing some new tools and strategies to fight wildfires in the West, said Marc Rounsaville, the agency's deputy director for fire and aviation management. In a wide-ranging interview Monday, Rounsaville said indications show the fire season is running two to three weeks ahead of schedule in some parts of the West. Across the country both the number of fires and acres burned are rapidly outpacing the 10-year averages of those measures, he said. "We had over 1,000 fires the last four days, burned several hundred thousand acres, a number of structures damaged or lost and several incidents including the one civilian fatality up in South Dakota," he said. Lately Forest Service officials have talked about implementing a policy of "appropriate management response," or AMR, to give them more flexibility in firefighting decisions....
BLM aims to fix boundary problem A long-standing boundary line error between the Bureau of Land Management and a Sublette County sheep grower looks to be close to resolution. At issue was whether much of the John and Joy Erramouspe ranch buildings were built on federal or private property. As it turned out, improved surveys said half of the old farmhouse and other larger structures were built on BLM land. “This is BLM’s attempt to resolve a long-standing boundary issue,” said Steven Hall, public affairs director for the Wyoming BLM in Cheyenne. As detailed in the Federal Register Monday, the BLM wants to sell 40 acres to the Erramouspes at $160 an acre or $6,400 total, “for the appraised fair market value - to resolve an unintentional unauthorized use of public lands.” Hall said the original farmhouse was constructed by previous owners in the late 1800s, under the Homestead Act and before federal lands were clearly defined. According to the Federal Register notice, the unauthorized occupancy involves an access road, two residences, and various ranch-related structures including a garage, grain silos and fence on the public land....
Mountain biking going downhill A decade ago last weekend, Gary DeFrange started his job as general manager of the Winter Park ski area with the cooing melodies of the short-lived Lillith Fair. Ten years later, he was eyeing an army of gladiators on downhill mountain bikes, front-flipping and tail-whipping over 35-foot step-downs and double jumps. "We've come so far," DeFrange said as the first Crankworx downhill mountain biking contest in the Lower 48 got underway at his Grand County hill. "It amazes me to think of all those (ski) mountains that took downhill off their trails. I really think this is the future of mountain bike racing." While some ski resorts were banning the speeding aerialists from their trails, Crankworx put British Columbia's Whistler ski area on the North American map for the downhill tribe, a growing niche in the knobby-tired world that blends motocross and BMX in a high-speed, higher-flying, crowd-pleasing twist on traditional singletrack riding. Intrawest Corp., which owns Whistler and operates Winter Park, brought its Crankworx team to Colorado last month to begin sculpting a course for the best in the growing realm of gravity-fueled mountain biking. Knowing that downhill has fueled a summertime frenzy at Whistler, Winter Park is working with the Forest Service to design 20 downhill trails in the next five years with features for trickster free- riding and mach-speed racing to augment its already vibrant singletrack scene....
BLM Gets OK for New North Slope Drilling The Bureau of Land Management could go ahead with plans to allow drilling in a sensitive area near Teshekpuk Lake on the North Slope, an agency spokeswoman said. The BLM added to its environmental impact assessment of drilling in the area and that information is now being reviewed, said spokeswoman Sharon Wilson. The results of the review should be completed soon, she said. The review is the latest development in the fight between federal land managers in favor of oil and gas drilling and environmental and Native groups wanting to keep the area closed because of its importance to migratory birds and caribou. The land in question covers roughly 400,000 acres and lies to the north and east of Teshekpuk Lake. It sits within the 4.6-million acre northeast planning area of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska....
Passing of an era? Its adobe walls have withstood the desert climate and visits from weary travelers and prospectors for more than 80 years. But Rancho Dos Palmas may not survive the Bureau of Land Management's plans to demolish it if supporting organizations cannot prove the building is structurally sound - or come up with the money to make it so. The Friends of Dos Palmas, with the support of Desert Alliance for Community Empowerment and Coachella Valley Community Trails Alliance, are working to preserve what they call "a link to the desert's rich past." "It would be absolutely terrible to lose one of the last remaining adobes in the area," said Jennie Kelly, chair of the North Shore Community Council and a Friend of Dos Palmas. Connected to the Dos Palmas Oasis in North Shore, the ranch house once served as a stopover for stagecoaches and, in subsequent decades, Hollywood stars. It now stands unoccupied on lands designated by the Bureau of Land Management as a wildlife refuge....
Critics say species list is endangered The bald eagle may be soaring back from near-extinction, but hundreds of other imperiled species are foundering, as the federal agency charged with protecting them has sunk into legal, bureaucratic and political turmoil. In the last six years, the Bush administration has added fewer species to the endangered list than any other since the law was enacted in 1973. The slowdown has resulted in a waiting list of 279 candidates that are near extinction, according to government scientists, from California's Yosemite toad to Puerto Rico's elfin-woods warbler. Beyond the reluctance to list new species, a bottleneck is weakening efforts to save those already listed. Some 200 of the 1,326 officially endangered species are close to expiring, according to environmental groups, in part because funds have been cut for their recovery. "It's wonderful the bald eagle is recovering — one of the most charismatic and best funded species ever," said Jamie Rappaport Clark, a former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who now works for Defenders of Wildlife, an advocacy group. "But what's happening with the other species? This administration has starved the endangered species' budget. It has dismantled and demoralized its staff." Bryan Arroyo, acting assistant director of endangered species for the Fish and Wildlife Service, acknowledges a 30% vacancy rate in the program's staff, and the fact that the agency's top position has been left unfilled for more than a year....
Pupfish make big ripple to survive It's 110 degrees, hardly a heat wave for Death Valley. And in a small, bathtub-warm pool below a steep, rocky incline, small fish appear to be at play, darting and chasing each other through patches of algae. These are Devils Hole pupfish and, aside from the strangeness of finding fish in the middle of North America's harshest desert, they're about as remarkable to the naked eye as a fat tadpole. But this particular fish species is revered for helping galvanize public opinion and government efforts to save endangered species. The fish was the focus of a 1976 Supreme Court ruling that became a cornerstone of Western water policy. Today, the Devils Hole pupfish population has dwindled to 38, confirmed by government divers in their spring count, and the fish has become the object of intense study by federal agencies and private groups to stave off extinction. It also figures in broader research to map a vast aquifer under Nevada and parts of Idaho and Utah and to determine how that groundwater is to be allocated in a fast-growing region that includes Las Vegas....
Democrats’ climate clash heads to floor The intensifying battle between Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and a powerful committee chairman may lead to a global-warming showdown on the House floor later this month. The outcome of an anticipated vote on energy legislation before the August recess could determine whether Pelosi will control the debate over a more comprehensive and controversial climate change bill this fall. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.) and Pelosi have been publicly at odds on climate change since the beginning of the Congress. And there have been clear indications recently that the tension between the two high-profile lawmakers is escalating. As Dingell lobbed fresh insults in an interview late last week at the global warming panel that Pelosi created, Democratic leaders were discussing how to structure the time and format of the energy bill debate, according to Democratic aides and lobbyists familiar with the discussions....
Move to cut methane emissions by changing cows' diet Burping cows and sheep are being targeted by UK scientists to help bring down Britain's soaring levels of greenhouse gas pollution. Experts at the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research in Aberystwyth say the diet of farmed animals can be changed to make them produce less methane, a more potent global warming gas than carbon dioxide. Farmed ruminant animals are thought to be responsible for up to a quarter of "man-made" methane emissions worldwide though, contrary to common belief, most gas emerges from their front, not rear, ends. Mike Abberton, a scientist at the institute, said farmers could help tackle climate change by growing grass varieties bred to have high sugar levels, white clover and birdsfoot trefoil, a leafy legume, for their animals to eat. The altered diet changes the way that bacteria in the stomachs of the animals break down plant material into waste gas, he said....
Six-toed Hemingway cats can stay, city says City officials have sided with Ernest Hemingway's former home and its celebrated six-toed felines in its cat fight with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Patches, a descendant of Ernest Hemingway's six-toed cats, is on the prowl in Key West, Florida. The Key West City Commission exempted the home from a city law prohibiting more than four domestic animals per household. About 50 cats live there. The house has been locked in a dispute with the USDA, which claims the museum is an "exhibitor" of cats and needs a special license, a claim the home disputes. The new ordinance reads in part, "The cats reside on the property just as the cats did in the time of Hemingway himself. They are not on exhibition in the manner of circus animals. ... The City Commission finds that family of polydactyl Hemingway cats are indeed animals of historic, social and tourism significance." It also states that the cats are "an integral part of the history and ambiance of the Hemingway House." A USDA spokesman did not return messages left late Sunday. The cats are descendants of a six-toed cat given as a gift to the writer in 1935. All carry the gene for six toes, though not all display the trait.
Jury still pondering fight over fortune Jurors wrapped up their fourth day of deliberations Monday in the trial over the estate of King Ranch heir B.K. Johnson without reaching a verdict. They've got a lot to do after three months of testimony and more than 800 exhibits. Known as B, Johnson died of cancer at 71 in 2001. His children and grandchildren are suing his widow, Laura McAllister Johnson, over his last will. B left his estimated $60 million estate in trust to Johnson; he left his daughters and his son's widow his collection of vintage firearms, valued at about $75,000. The children sued in 2003, contending Johnson and B's advisers took advantage of a rich, emotionally needy, alcohol-enfeebled man 20 years Johnson's senior. Plaintiffs are daughters Sarah Johnson Pitt and Cecilia Johnson McMurrey, daughter-in-law Cecilia Johnson Hager, and the eight children among them. Beneath the years of distrust and resentment between the parties is the question of whether the rancher was competent when he made out his last will. Both sides presented plenty of arguments that he was or was not, sometimes using the same documents as evidence....
Five Questions: Lifelong rancher receives Roundup award The Shelton family has been ranching in the Panhandle for more than a century, and Jack Shelton has done his share to keep the family business running. Cowboy Roundup USA recently named Shelton rancher of the year. According to the nomination letter from cattleman Monty Johnson, Shelton has made the Bravo Ranch, once part of the historic XIT Ranch, "one of the largest and best operated ranches in the Panhandle." On Shelton's office wall is a flyer from the late 1800s that touted the Bravo as a place Midwesterners should consider moving to. "The Best of the Best of the Great Panhandle Country of Texas," is its headline. The ranch is about 45 miles southwest of Dalhart, close to New Mexico on the Oldham-Hartley county line - "a long way from anywhere," Shelton said. Q: What kind of operation is it? A: It's kind of a mix, depending on somebody's idea of the market. Usually, we have a mix of feeders, stockers and cows, and we have interests in feedlots near Dumas. Malcom, my oldest son, is the manager now....
It's All Trew: Carbon helped Panhandle live No, it was not really a mountain range, just smoke from the carbon black plants down at Borger. At that time, the oil business was a total mystery as there was not a single oil or gas well in sight. Carbon black looks like soot from a lamp chimney. It's produced by controlled combustion of both natural gas and some grades of crude oil. The product is used mostly in auto tire manufacture, but it is also contained in pigments, inks and some paints. The first Texas Panhandle carbon black plant was built in 1926 in Hutchinson County near Borger. Another came to Pampa in 1928. By 1937, there were 33 plants in the Panhandle, producing 82 percent of the nation's output....
It’s The Pitts: Ranch Dressing According to trendsetters I’m back in fashion. Or at least my jeans are. I have been fashionable now twice in my life. The first time was during the hippy era when everyone looked like they’d just survived a nuclear blast in their tattered clothing. And it appears that I’m “IN” once again as leading fashionistas have declared that jeans are now sensible and stylish for work, play and dressy occasions. Whatever those are. Because I am a blue jeans expert and a man of exquisite taste I’ve agreed to answer your clothes questions so that you too can be cool and fashionable like me. Dear Clotheshorse, What do you think of the low-riding, baggy jeans that are so popular with today’s teens? Not much. Today’s youth lower their cars and their jeans to dangerous levels. The exposed-underwear-look is not one I’d recommend for obese males or anyone who blushes easily. The knee length jeans that teenagers are wearing are reminiscent of the “pedal pushers” worn by women that were last popular in 1944. Dear Clotheshorse, Italian designer jeans are popular but I have an unusual body type. Instead of an hourglass I’m shaped more like a pair. The Italian jeans I looked at were tight fitting and were selling for an absurd figure. Should I splurge on a pair? Please don’t. Skintight Italian jeans shouldn’t be worn by anyone with an absurd figure. Just spill some spaghetti on your Wranglers and tell everyone they’re Italian....