NEWS ROUNDUP

Feds say wolf killed sheep Federal officials say a wolf killed one sheep and wounded another on a ranch northwest of Jordan this week. Wildlife Services investigators said they found tracks of a single wolf at the scene. Ten sheep were also killed on a nearby ranch, but the evidence wasn't conclusive that a wolf was the culprit, state officials said. The area is not known to have any wolf packs. Earlier this year, a "domestic" wolf was caught in the area and was believed to be responsible for killing more than 120 sheep in Garfield and McCone Counties in 2006, according to state officials. After the incident near Jordan this week, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks authorized a shoot-on-sight permit for the rancher, allowing a wolf to be killed....
Judge rules Klamath toxin case against energy company can proceed A group of environmentalists, fishermen and Karuk tribe members filed suit Thursday to force the regional water board to regulate discharges of highly toxic algae in the Klamath River. The lawsuit filed in Sonoma County Superior Court alleges that the North Coast Regional Quality Control Board has failed to establish limits on discharges from California dams and reservoirs owned by Portland, Ore.-based PacifiCorp. The plaintiffs - the Klamath Riverkeeper, the Karuk tribe of California and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations - have long pushed for removal of the Iron Gate and Copco dams, which they claim harms water quality and salmon runs in the river along the California-Oregon border. Earlier this year, the groups petitioned the regional water board to regulate PacifiCorp's discharges, but the board said it lacked the authority to regulate the company - a claim the plaintiffs dispute in Thursday's lawsuit....
Montana Legislature unsure how to pay for firefighting expenses Montana's wildfire bill for this summer is already $4 million more than the all the money set aside to pay for fires and other disasters for the next two years, state figures show. As of last Friday, the state had written checks for $2.4 million to pay for the firefighting efforts that began on July 1, the beginning of the state's financial year, said Mary Sexton, director of the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, the agency that oversees firefighting. But that's only a fraction of the estimated $20 million firefighting bill the state has racked up since July 1, she said. As is the norm, the 2007 Legislature did not set aside money specifically for firefighting. Instead, the only money easily at hand to will come out of the governor's $16 million emergency account. Even if DNRC spent all the emergency money, an estimated $4 million of the firefighting bill would be unpaid. So far, $14 million of the emergency fund has been allocated for firefighting, said Clayton Schenck, legislative financial analyst....
Film explores the fate of wild horses Filmmaker James Kleinert’s newest documentary, “The American Wild Horse,” gets to the heart of a controversial issue in the West. The 30-minute film, screening at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Missouri Heights Schoolhouse outside of Carbondale, covers the controversy surrounding wild horses and their management. Former Bureau of Land Management employees, historians, wildlife managers, ranchers and land stewards offer their insights on the future of the horses. “It’s a documentary that explores both sides of the issue,” said Nancy Wilhelms, of WestGroup Marketing Communications, the local firm promoting the film. “Some people really are for the wild horses, and some are against them. They want them off their land.” The documentary — not recommended for young children because of some graphic scenes — mixes scenery and substance for an impactful statement on the issue, Wilhelms said....
Gov tells oil industry to back wildlife efforts Though the oil and gas industry in Wyoming has proven itself adept at meeting technological and environmental challenges in the field, it hasn't done as well on the political side, according to Gov. Dave Freudenthal. Freudenthal told industry officials at the Petroleum Association of Wyoming's annual convention on Wednesday that he can't understand why the industry lobbies against fully funding the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resources Trust Fund. "It is in your best interest" to use the funds that oil and gas injects into state coffers to mitigate the impacts of development, the governor said. The trust fund was created in 2005 to enhance and conserve wildlife habitat in the state. The Legislature appropriated millions of dollars to the fund, and the Nature Conservancy contributed $250,000. Other conservation groups have also anted in, but so far no energy company or energy group has contributed. Freudenthal said industry's lobby should ask legislators to fully fund the program, or the state and the Bureau of Land Management will likely "extract" funding from the companies directly when it comes time to permit oil and gas activity....
Anti-U.N. resolution passed The Otero County commission officially passed a resolution of absolute opposition to the White Sands National Monument being considered as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage Site at a special meeting on Thursday. Entered as Resolution No. 08-23-07/96-10, the issue drew no opposition whatsoever before its passing. "We have sent a letter to the National Parks Service and to our congressional delegation expressing our official desires that White Sands be removed from the list of those sites being considered as World Heritage Sites," said commission chair Doug Moore. "I think this resolution does a great job in capturing our feelings." Moore also said it has come to his attention the Trinity Site has been on the list of tentative World Heritage Sites since 1990 and that he will encourage the nominating committee to drop that location from the list....
Easement aimed at preventing future development of site A Miles City-area ranch family has put its 14,000-acre ranch into the Grasslands Reserve Program in an agreement in perpetuity with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Terry Haughian said the family loves the open space of Eastern Montana and "we want to keep it that way." "It will always be kept as open rangeland," he said of the ranch at Kinsey. The ranch was founded in 1901, he said, and his three children represent the fourth generation on the land. In the event the land is ever sold, the conservation easement goes with it and cannot be converted to another use such as for a subdivision. "This is a positive exercise of conservation," said Mark Rey, undersecretary of natural resources and environment for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He said the land value is decreased by the future encumbrance on the land, but that the property becomes easier to deal with as an estate. Rey said the agreement was a cause for celebration and that the grassland set-aside is the largest in the country....
NASA, U.S. Forest Service Test Technology to Fight Wildfires NASA is testing new technologies that have strong possibilities to evolve as a tool for improving wildlife imaging and mapping capabilities. NASA is working on this project in collaboration with U.S. Forest Service. Currently tests are under way in the area covered by West Coast of United States that has suffered extremely high temperature and drought conditions during this summer. NASA is conducting flights of a remotely piloted unmanned aircraft system for these tests. NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center is operating the whole project with newly developed imaging and real-time communications equipment. During the first flight of these testing operations on August 16, 2007, NASA captured images of California wildfire and Zaca fire in Santa Barbara County .This first test flight collected important data during its 1,200 miles traverse that lasted for ten long hours. The images captured from this test flight opens up a new hope for fighting the wildfires." This technology captured images through the smoke and provided real time information on what the fire was doing," said Zaca Incident Commander Mike Dietrich. NASA is using "Ikhana" aircraft for these test flights. Ikhana's sensor payload collects detailed and minute data through thermal infrared imagery of wildfires. Unmanned aircraft system is proving itself a substantial alternative to collect data stretched over a long period of 12 to 24 hours continuously. Ikhana will fly for its second round of tests over Idaho on August 23 for about 20 hours....Before you know it, these things will be flying over your ranch, counting livestock and wildlife, measuring ground cover, etc. Get ready.
President orders hunting focus A new presidential executive order has directed federal agencies to promote expansion and enhancement of hunting opportunities on federal lands and the management of game species and their habitat. But exactly what that may mean for hunters and wildlife in Wyoming is uncertain. President Bush's order directs the interior and agriculture secretaries to work with the Sporting Conservation Council to develop “a comprehensive recreational hunting and wildlife conservation plan" along with a 10-year agenda for fulfilling the executive order. The council focuses on wildlife conservation issues such as hunting access, education, healthy landscapes and energy development. The Sporting Conservation Council was created by then-Interior Secretary Gale Norton, just before she resigned last year. Members include representatives of the National Wild Turkey Federation, National Rifle Association, Safari Club, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, Boone and Crockett Club, North American Grouse Partnership, Ruffled Grouse Society, International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and the Congressional Sportsmen Foundation....Go here to read the Executive Order.
Insurance company sends in private fire crew to protect expensive homes A private fire crew dispatched by a national insurance company that caters to wealthy clients is guarding 22 high-end homes threatened by the Castle Rock Fire, a blaze that has forced the evacuation of hundreds of million-dollar homes west of Ketchum. The crew will protect only homes insured by AIG Private Client Group, an insurance company that offers "loss-prevention services" to its wealthiest customers. A truck and two-man crew sent by AIG from Montana arrived in Ketchum about 2 p.m. Wednesday to start dousing properties with Phos-Chek, the same fire retardant dropped from U.S. Forest Service aircraft. "We're not going out there to fight the fire," said Dorothy Sarna, vice president and national director of risk-management services and loss prevention for the New York-based company. "We're out there to protect our clients." Veteran fire managers now working the Castle Rock fire say they've never heard of a private fire crew protecting individual homes in the midst of a wildfire, said Dave Olson, a spokesman for the Forest Service. The private crew has been granted access to areas closed to residents, but not all officials with public fire agencies were thrilled by the sight of the truck scooting through a smoky web of government fire crews. "That sounds ridiculous to me," said Kim Rogers, a Ketchum Police Department spokesman, "especially since we haven't lost any structures. I mean, this is a Forest Service fire, not a private fire."....That last statement is the most ignorant comment I've read in a long time. I guess "la policia" just can't stand competition from the private sector.
Two groups file lawsuit against Helena Forest Two environmental groups filed a lawsuit this week in federal court in Helena to stop a fuel reduction project in Elliston. The decision by the Helena National Forest to do the so-called “Elliston Face” project was “arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, and/or otherwise not in compliance with the law,” according to the complaint filed by the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and the Native Ecosystems Council. Michael Garrity, executive director for the Alliance for the Wild Rockies, said this isn’t the first time they’ve challenged the Helena National Forest on this project. “The main issue is that the first time we appealed, they had a 2005 document by their biologist saying the project area is in an elk winter range, and we won that appeal,” Garrity said on Wednesday. “The second time they put this project forward, that document had disappeared. We supplied it to them, but they ignored it.” Since the project sits within the winter range for about 100 elk, and calls for winter logging, Garrity said it’s inconsistent with the Helena National Forest’s overall management plan. In addition, he claims the final result of the project wouldn’t provide adequate thermal cover for the elk....The elk will have plenty of "thermal cover" when the whole damn countryside burns up.
Colorado appeals court hears arguments in ski village lawsuit Attorneys for a proposed ski resort told an appeals court that a district judge overstepped when he ruled the development did not have adequate access to a highway. Leavell-McCombs Joint Venture, the Texas-based developer of the Village at Wolf Creek, wants the Colorado Court of Appeals to overturn a 2005 ruling by Mineral County District Judge John Kuenhold that voided county approval of the plan. The appeals court heard oral arguments Tuesday but did not indicate when it would rule. Leavell-McCombs’ plans call for a development at the base of the rustic Wolf Creek ski area that would eventually house up to 10,500 people and include 222,100 square feet of commercial space. Andrew Shoemaker, a lawyer for the Wolf Creek ski area — which opposes the development — told the appeals court the dirt road linking the site to a state highway is closed during snow season and is not suitable for a large development. A second legal battle over the development is under way in federal court, where environmental groups filed a lawsuit alleging the Forest Service approved the project without an adequate review.
Solution to fires: privatize Idaho's forests As forest fires now threaten the homes of the rich and the famous in the Sun Valley area, it's worth taking another look at possible solutions to what has been a catastrophic fire season in Idaho. Common sense tells us that people are inclined to take better care of property they own than property they don't, and, as even the Idaho Statesman's environmental reporter Rocky Barker reveals, perhaps the solution to devastating forest fires is to take timber management out of the hands of the federal government and put it in the hands of private enterprise through lease arrangements or sales. Barker revealed in a story that appeared in the Sunday edition of the Statesman that the number of fires burning in private forests in Idaho is "effectively zero." Private forest fires are extinguished almost immediately by the quick response of owners. One manager of private timber lands says the worst fire he's seen on private land is about 100 acres, which is a long ways from the well over 700,000 acres currently ablaze in national forests in Idaho....
La Cienega: BLM expands area rich in ruins, habitat About 178 acres of rolling hills, basalt cliffs and wetlands eight miles southwest of Santa Fe have been acquired by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. But don’t expect to go hiking or camping there. The land has become part of the 4,500-acre La Cienega Area of Critical Environmental Concern that includes pre-Columbian ruins and rock art as well as sensitive habitat for the Southwestern willow flycatcher along a half-mile of the lower Santa Fe River. The Trust for Public Land recently purchased the property from 23 heirs of the late Alonzo Rael for $2.235 million, then sold it to the BLM for the same amount. The nonprofit often arranges for donations of land for conservation purposes, with the former owners obtaining tax breaks. But in this case, the heirs preferred to be paid, said Karyn Stockdale, the trust’s acting state director. The Rael family previously had used the property, between the villages of La Cienega and La Cieneguilla, to graze cattle....
Cowboy breakfast celebrates historic ranch's salvation From the way his grandson talked of the old days at Steam Pump Ranch, George Pusch would have approved of the shindig on the lawn. “This place was a busy place,” Hank Zipf recalled Wednesday morning as more than 100 guests gathered for a cowboy breakfast to celebrate Oro Valley’s acquisition of the historic ranch. “There was an old dirt road then, and anyone passing by was invited in for a drink of water, sometimes whiskey,” said Zipf, a former Oro Valley council member now retired and living in Tubac. Zipf said the ranch, one of two his grandfather owned in Southern Arizona, attracted a variety of visitors. In addition to ranchers who watered livestock there, prospectors would come in for provisions, and on occasion, a troop from the Army’s Fort Lowell would visit. The ranch gained its fame and attraction as the first ranch in the area to draw water with a steam pump. Oro Valley officials have been working to acquire the land and save the ranch since 2004 when a developer proposed razing the structures and creating a commercial facility....
Cows Are Killed And Butchered In Pasture Authorities in Lincoln County are looking for the people who killed and butchered cattle in a pasture. A neighboring rancher discovered the four dead cattle, valued at approximately $11,000, on a road 6.5 miles south of Maxwell. Sheriff Jerome Kramer said each of the four cows had been shot twice. Three cows and one 400-pound calf were killed, Kramer said. One of the cows was partly butchered, missing a hindquarter. The calf was completely butchered. The two other cows were left untouched, Kramer said. The animals were discovered August 12. The incident could have taken place as early as August 10....
Big Sandy rancher’s novel well worth the read Arnold Hokanson’s saga of Bears Paw Mountain ranchers is a read that transcends Montana. Published by AuthorHouse, the 525-page novel , which came out just before Christmas, proves that quality fiction requires a good storyteller, not a top grammarian. The story is without blemish. And anyone who knows northcentral Montana, the intermingled plots and character development are more than believable; they’re recognizable. The saga spans about 70 years, from the birth of the protagonist, Ace Bowens in 1914, to the surprising climax in the 1980s. Those 70 years are little more than half as long as Hokanson’s family has owned its spread abutting the community of Warrick. The family settled in the Bears Paws in 1892 and has had the same brand — 3 bar reverse B brand — for nearly as long. Hokanson said he had heard a story when he was young about a confrontation between Montana cattlemen and a German spy on a train from Havre to Chicago during World War II. “Some people I got to know in later years were on that train and spoke of the story,” he said. While Hokanson embellished the tale, using it to get the story going, the largest part of the book revolves around Montana family ranch life....