NEWS ROUNDUP

Triple-digit heat wave broils West An oppressive heat wave eased a bit in some parts of the West, but forecasters predicted little relief in the days ahead for a region where many cities have baked in 100-plus temperatures. The National Weather Service issued a red flag wildfire warning yesterday in eastern Utah and western Colorado, where temperatures were again expected to approach or top three digits. Extreme heat troubled much of Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Oregon and Washington state again Friday. In Montana, where cattle outnumber residents by more than 2 to 1, livestock and people sought shade, and drought-weary farmers watched for damage to grain. "We are trying to get our hay up before it disintegrates," said cattle rancher Sharon McDonald near Melville. "It just gets crispy and just falls apart."....
Heat wave killing park fish A heat wave has warmed the Firehole River to as much as 82 degrees, killing hundreds of rainbow and brown trout. Park officials noticed the kill Friday. Yellowstone spokesman Al Nash said temperatures above 73 degrees can be stressful or even fatal for trout. He said the trout died within the previous three days. Meanwhile, park officials enacted voluntary fishing closures at several areas because of the stress that warm water places on fish. "We have a strong, involved, responsive user group here," said Nash. "We know that people come here because of the world-class fishing opportunities. We know how important it is to them and we know they'll join us in protecting this resource." He said the current advisory is earlier and more widespread than in years past. "I am not aware that we've involved this many rivers and creeks before," he said....
Law widens landowners' immunity from hunting accident lawsuits Pennsylvania property owners who allow hunting on their land are now shielded from lawsuits over accidents involving victims off the property, under a bill that Gov. Ed Rendell has signed into law. Landowners who allow the free use of their property for recreational activities - such as hunting, fishing, swimming and hiking - have been protected from liability for accidents for more than four decades. The bill Rendell signed Saturday, prompted by a bizarre hunting accident in Lehigh County in 2004, extends that protection for hunting even when the victim is in a distant location. "Farmers now can be more confident that their livelihood won't be at risk when they open their land to hunters," who help control wildlife that causes crop damage, said Carl T. Shaffer, president of the 42,000-member Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. The revision to the Recreational Use of Land and Water Act, which was approved unanimously by both houses of the Legislature, was developed after a Lehigh County orchardist was successfully sued for the shooting of a pregnant woman by a man who was deer hunting on the farmland....
Railroad defends timing of condemnation lawsuits The head of the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad on Friday defended the timing of lawsuits that the railroad filed last week seeking to condemn land in northeastern Wyoming and South Dakota for a new rail line. Tad Daly, a Gillette lawyer who represents some Wyoming landowners, said it's clear that the railroad timed the lawsuits to avoid Wyoming's new eminent-domain law, which took effect July 1. The law allows landowners to use comparable values to determine the fair market value of their land. Kevin Schieffer, president of the DM&E in Sioux Falls, S.D., denied Daly's allegations. He said the company has been meeting with landowners and moving forward on the project for years. "The notion that we're doing this sort of under the wire, I take some exception to," Schieffer said. "Just from the very simple standpoint that we've been in this process for years." DM&E intends to build 278 miles of new rail line to haul coal from Wyoming's Powder River Basin....
Pack trips an endangered Sierra Nevada tradition? The smell of steaks sizzling on a campfire grill wafted through towering tamarack and Jeffrey pines as the sun set over the saw-toothed crest of Duck Pass in the Eastern Sierra about eight miles south of Mammoth Lakes. We sat on folding chairs around the crackling fire, sipping beer, while our cook prepared a dinner of surprising delicacy. Surprising, because in the heart of the John Muir Wilderness, 10,000 feet above sea level, this soft-spoken, bespectacled man had conjured a tasty, three-course meal, capped off with a freshly baked pineapple upside-down cake and kettle-brewed coffee filtered through a tube sock. In a nearby meadow, the horses and mules that carried us and our camping gear to the shores of Purple Lake grazed peacefully. It's the only way to get here — unless you hike. Equestrians and pedestrians have shared trails in the Sierra for more than 100 years, but the relationship has become strained of late as the two sides quarrel over the impact of horses and mules on the wilderness. It has become so strained that I had to wonder if I was witnessing the last days of mule packs in these mountains, but for now I didn't want to think about that. I popped open a can and listened to him recount the history of packs in the Sierra Nevada. It began, he said, in the 1800s, when ranchers drove sheep and cattle into the mountains. In those days, the mule packs transported people and supplies between Mammoth City and a place called Fresno Flats. Back then, the packs were a way of life — as automobiles are today — and the Pacific Crest and John Muir trails were the main thoroughfares. Anyone who settled in the Sierra relied on mule packs for tools, medicine and clothes — their very survival. Summers thinks he is keeping alive a part of history by bringing campers to the Sierra to experience the wilderness the way Muir saw it. But that vision was dealt a blow in 2000 when a group of Northern California hikers and environmentalists sued the U.S. Forest Service, claiming the agency had approved special-use permits for pack companies in the John Muir and Ansel Adams wildernesses without considering the damage. The charge was that horses and mules eroded the trails, overgrazed the meadows and left manure piles on the paths. A federal court agreed and imposed restrictions in 2001 on the number of guests, horses and mules and the time they spend in the backcountry. Summers shook his head. Because of the restrictions, he said, pack outfits have had to increase their rates. He thinks some outfits may go out of business....
Pilot project collapses old coal mines A pilot project seeks to erase the risk that old, abandoned coal mines will collapse and has the potential to open several prime tracts for housing here. Several city lots have been undeveloped because they're above mines. But a booming energy economy is pushing up demand for housing - and for putting the empty tracts to use. The $2.4 million pilot project overseen by the state Abandoned Mines Division involves hoisting 25-ton weights with cranes and dropping the weights to collapse the old mines. State officials say the technique promises to be faster and more economical than the traditional approach of filling the mines with a type of grout. "This is new to the subsidence mitigation world in Wyoming," state Abandoned Mine Lands Administrator Evan Green said. He said the state Department of Transportation has used the technique to compact unstable areas for road building....
State grazing project draws threat of lawsuit A trial grazing project near the Blue Mountains of Eastern Washington has some conservationists accusing Gov. Chris Gregoire of putting political priorities before environmental protection. It's also opening the state up for a lawsuit. Gregoire arranged an agreement between the state and the Washington Cattlemen's Association shortly after her disputed 2004 election in hopes of improving her relationship with Eastern Washington conservatives. The environmentalists say that deal and the program that followed are destroying fragile wildlife lands and harming endangered salmon and steelhead spawning beds. The agreement allowed two ranchers free grazing rights for several hundred head of cattle on state lands that had been purchased and set aside for publicly accessible wildlife habitat. Gregoire administration officials said the project, which is overseen by Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists, has the potential to help ranchers and improve the quality of wildlife lands....
Grassroots in the grassland As a child, Susie Downs remembers her mother’s overriding worry that the family ranch wouldn’t be around for her children and grandchildren. It wasn’t that ranching was so tough. Instead, her family faced what Downs calls a “doom and gloom scenario” every time a land- or animal-based decision was handed down by federal managers. The family wondered what was next, how it would hurt them. Most ranchers in Thunder Basin lease federal land to supplement their privately held grazing areas. That’s what makes the lifestyle work in such a tenuous piece of the world. But, any decision from above would have on-the-ground impacts. Never was that so clear than around 1999, when a U.S. Forest Service management plan for several grasslands called for large areas dedicated to supporting huge numbers of prairie dogs -- which, in turn, would set the stage for a reintroduction of the endangered black-footed ferret. At the same time, some environmental groups petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to offer Endangered Species Act protection to the prairie dog. Ranchers were befuddled. Protect the prairie dog? The animals were in full invasion mode, digging holes for shelter from predators, holes that young calves and lambs could fall into and break limbs. As colonies grew, dogs would eat away the vegetation. The loss of plant life led to erosion, and ranchers watched whole swaths of land essentially blow away in the Wyoming winds. Worried, again, about how big decisions would affect their lifestyles and livelihood, some basin ranchers decided it was time to make sure their voices were heard to protect themselves. “The threat of the prairie dog listing was the main thing,” Downs said. “That really threatened all of our private lands.” “That was the red flag,” Joann Neumiller added. Both are board members of the Thunder Basin Prairie Ecosystem Association, formed in 1999 as a coalition of landowners who realized they were more powerful together than individually....
S. Dakota wildfire kills one, injures 2 A wildfire burning in southwest South Dakota has killed one person, injured two firefighters and forced the evacuation of at least 50 homes, according to state officials. Smoke and ash from the Alabaugh Canyon Fire is falling 5 miles to the northeast on Hot Springs, so people with respiratory problems are being urged to stay indoors or use caution when going out. The person killed was identified only as a civilian, such as a homeowner or visitor. Hot Springs is a popular Black Hills tourist destination....
Big Government, Big Fire The Angora Fire, which burned nearly 200 homes in South Lake Tahoe, can teach important lessons about wildland fire. If the Forest Service has its way, however, they will be the wrong lessons. The official Forest Service response to the fire followed a predictable pattern. Forest officials claim that a century of mismanagement (by their own agency) allowed fuels to build up to unnatural levels, making the forests ripe for catastrophic fire. "There is an ungodly amount of fuel" in the Tahoe area, says a Forest Service ecologist. The excess fuels story has done wonders for the Forest Service budget. Ever since a fire burned several hundred homes in Los Alamos in 2000, Congress has dumped money on wildfires. The Forest Service's total fire budget has more than tripled, and the biggest percentage increase has been for hazardous fuel treatments. Now, after spending $11 billion on fire and hazardous fuel treatments since 2000, we have another fire destroying hundreds of homes. It is increasingly clear that the Forest Service strategy of treating fuels and aggressively suppressing almost all wildfires is the wrong approach. First, there are too many acres to treat. The Forest Service estimates that 70 million federal acres need immediate treatment and 140 million more will need it soon. Despite its huge budget increases, the Forest Service currently treats less than 3 million acres a year. Second, treating fuels won't stop fires. The Angora Fire started in a treated area and about half the acres burned were recently treated. When it is hot and dry enough, forests will burn no matter how much fuels have been treated. Third, the best way to protect homes is to treat the private land directly around the homes, not remote public lands. Forest Service fire researcher Jack Cohen has found that homes catch fire if they have flammable roofs or they are exposed to the radiant heat of trees and shrubs burning near the home....
Brucellosis talks drag on The future of Montana’s cattle industry, some say, is in the hands of the federal government and a Bridger ranching couple. Ranchers and livestock groups from the state and around the country are anxiously watching negotiations between Jim and Sandy Morgan and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service over the couple’s quarantined cattle herd. Seven cows from their ranch tested positive for brucellosis in May, and Montana could lose its coveted brucellosis-free status if the Morgans’ herd isn’t slaughtered within 60 days of that discovery — or by July 17. Concerns are mounting that a deal won’t be reached in time. What’s holding up the Bridger cattle herd deal is a price for the animals. The Morgans did not agree with the government’s initial herd appraisal, and commissioned their own estimation, which they received this week. The couple faxed an offer to APHIS on Thursday but had not heard back from the agency, said Sandy Morgan and her father, Bruce Malcolm, a rancher and state lawmaker from Emigrant....
U.S. agriculture groups tell Congress to approve FTA with S. Korea U.S. food and agriculture groups were getting actively involved in supporting a free trade agreement (FTA) with South Korea, telling their Congress that not approving the deal would be "devastating" to American farmers and ranchers. In a joint letter dated July 2, the 34 groups expressed the need to the legislature for the bilateral trade pact, commonly referred to as KORUS FTA. The deal gives the United States a chance to eliminate restrictions in one of the most highly protected agricultural markets in the world, the letter said. "We cannot afford to fumble it away," it said. "This is a significant achievement -- one which will provide large dividends to America's farmers, ranchers and agribusiness for decades to come." South Korea and the U.S. signed the FTA on June 30, starting what many predict will be a long process to have it ratified by their respective legislatures. Proponents are believed to outnumber opponents in South Korea, but large-scale protests still continue. In the U.S., Democratic leaders who control the Congress issued a statement just a day before the FTA signing that said they cannot accept the deal as negotiated....
Cattle losses extensive for ranchers After losing this year's wheat and pecan harvest to an early freeze over Easter weekend, cattle owner and grain farmer Jeff Jackson, Chetopa, said he was counting on cattle, corn and soybean sales to get him through the year. Flood damage has taken away those income sources and left Jackson wondering where to go from here. "We'll make it. It's just gonna be one of those years we'll remember for a lifetime," Jackson said. "It's going to be a strain on the whole community." Jackson said he had about 120 cattle swept away by flood water, some turning up later downstream. Some of his cattle floated as far as Miami, Okla. Jackson took a boat out Wednesday to locate stranded cattle that had made it to high ground so he can retrieve them as the water recedes. He said he is troubled by his inability to help cattle he has raised since calves and knows by number. "It's quite the sight to see," said Jackson. "It's an emotional strain when you see a cow out there swimming and drowning and there's nothing you can do to save her." The calves have fared the worst. Jackson said only a fraction survived....
Cache County Cow Births Rare Triplet Calves A cow and the farmer who owns her are both a lot busier this week. The heifer gave birth to rare triplets on Tuesday. The cow's owner, Lyle Bradfield of Mount Sterling, says the cow's responding well to the calves but he has supplement their diets with bottle feeding. Cows generally have one calf at a time. A local veterinarian says the likelihood of triplets is about one in 100,000. Sometimes cows can reject some of the calves in a multiple birth, but Bradfield says his cow has taken to them all. The two black calves and one gray one are smaller than average calves and will require extra attention for a while.
'Hot' times in Magdalena In 1856, soldiers established a saw mill in the Magdalena Mountains and harvested the much-needed lumber for building nearby Fort Craig. The sawmill and camp was located in a heavily timbered canyon southwest of Magdalena, now known as Mill Canyon. Some of these soldiers were the first to explore and prospect in the Magdalena Mountains. After the Civil War, prospecting for valuable ores became a more serious endeavor. Col. John Hutchason is credited for the first viable strike in the region, having discovered lead along the western face of the Magdalenas in 1866. By the 1870s, three distinct mining camps had been formed — North Camp, Middle Camp and South Camp — and they discovered everything from zinc to silver. Mines with names like the Juanita, Kelly and Waldo were already burrowing deep into the Magdalena Mountains. At this same time, another small settlement was formed on the trail leading to the Plains of San Agustin near Pueblo Springs. By 1884, the ores in the region was justification for the railroad to consider building a spur line from Socorro to the camps. This required the citizens in the region to name the towns. Records in the Socorro County Courthouse show the mining camp was named Kelly and the town at the springs named Magdalena in 1884....
Hunting with ‘Sonny’ captures feel of West Even in this age of the hand-held GPS, beam-projecting rifle scopes, Gore-Tex clothing, stainless-steel rifle barrels and synthetic stocks, there are characters roaming the Great American West whose presence keeps alive the folklore of days when the legends were made that often supersede the facts. In many ways, it can truly be said that these reminders of this bygone era have been “born out of time.” If there are such things as a pre-life and reincarnation, it is not difficult to imagine that their souls may have once inhabited the body of a prospector in the Black Hills, a drover along the banks of the Red River or a perceived lawman walking the streets of Tombstone. Today, many of these characters can be found filling the roles of guides and packers for Western hunting guides and outfitters. Knowing they are the real deal is as easy as differentiating between the musical genius of Jimmy Dale Gilmore over that of a want-a-be “cowboy” singer on “American Idol.” In every way, these are men of “true grit,” who seemingly — like the finest table wine — improve with age, but certainly don’t mellow. And while having them as a guide doesn’t guarantee filling a tag, it certainly will make for a more memorable experience and an unforgettable hunt. Ivan “Sonny” Mills is one of these men....
Project changed photographer’s perspective of ranches, cowboys Jim Keen was knocked on his derriere by a 450-pound steer, lost his glasses in prairie grass, reluctantly worked on horseback and watched Morgan horses haul hay as soft snowflakes filled the air. A ranch is really no place for a city boy, but this Colorado Springs photographer is on a mission. For the past five years, Keen has toted his cameras to 30 of the finest ranches of the American West, hoping to use his art to help save them from extinction. His coffee-table book “Great Ranches of the West” is being released this week, just in time to coincide with the local rodeo season. Besides learning the difference between a cow and a steer, Keen fell in love with the honesty, wisdom and work ethic of working cowboys. His affection is present in the 600 pictures he created, and the stories he tells about the historical, familyowned ranches flung over 17 states — including two in Colorado: the Bledsoe Ranch near Hugo, and the Nottingham-Albertson Ranch, about an hour north of Vail. “My book is an art book,” Keen said, “but I want people to understand more about ranchers and what great people they are. There’s a real dangerous trend in our country of these ranches going out of business.”....