NEWS ROUNDUP


Kempthorne defends firefighting efforts Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne is defending wildland firefighters against accusations from Idaho's governor and its two U.S. senators that the giant Murphy Complex of fires in southern Idaho and northern Nevada could have been handled better. "My heart goes out to the citizens who have been hard hit, but it's not for lack of effort on the part of our firefighters," Kempthorne told the Idaho Statesman. He said a combination of events led to the ferocity of the fire, which has burned more than 1,000 square miles but on Thursday was nearly contained. Kempthorne said the hottest July since 1870, spring rains in 2005 and 2006 that led to large areas of dead grass, a smaller snowpack, some 1,600 lightning strikes on the day the fire started on July 16, and strong winds contributed to the blaze. "It was explosive," said Kempthorne, Idaho's governor before becoming interior secretary last year. Earlier this week, Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter, a rancher, and the state's senators, Larry Craig and Mike Crapo, joined ranchers in blaming federal safety rules for crippling early efforts to douse the fire near the town of Murphy Hot Springs. They also said that when the July 16 lightning storm rolled through Idaho and Nevada's remote border country, locals with bulldozers stood ready to help build fire lines but were told by Bureau of Land Management officials to stay put. The three Republicans blame a 2005 federal court ruling in a lawsuit brought by the Idaho-based environmental group Western Watersheds Project for reducing cattle grazing and allowing fuel buildup, conditions they contend fed the flames that burned an area the size of Rhode Island and cost $9 million to fight....
Western Governors Hold Fire Summit in Idaho Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons says he's meeting Monday in Boise with the governors of Idaho and Utah to talk about joint firefighting and fire prevention efforts. Gibbons said Friday that he'll meet with Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter and Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal will participate by telephone. Gibbons, noting Friday that Nevada already has lost over 900,000 acres this fire season, said the role of the federal government in firefighting also will be discussed. Earlier in the week, Otter and U.S. Sens. Larry Craig and Mike Crapo of Idaho took up the cause of ranchers on the Idaho-Nevada border who blame federal grazing restrictions for allowing grass to grow tall on public land, a development they say exacerbated the huge Murphy Complex wildfires. Gibbons last week joined with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in announcing a 23-member commission that will examine whether bureaucratic delays and government mistakes contributed to a devastating South Lake Tahoe wildfire in June....
Florida senator chides administration for Everglades decision The Bush administration’s hand in removing the Everglades from a United Nations list of endangered sites was denounced Friday by a Florida senator. Democrat Bill Nelson characterized it as improper meddling by Deputy Assistant Interior Secretary Todd Willens at a U.N. meeting in June in New Zealand. The decision could slow progress on Everglades restoration by detracting from the sense of urgency. Congress approved the 40-year project in 2000, saying it would split the costs 50-50 with Florida. But the state has paid most of $7 billion tab so far on a project expected to cost up to $20 billion. Nelson said he will call a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee he chairs to investigate the matter once Congress returns from its August vacation. “The U.N. should have been presented with the position of our agency experts,” Nelson wrote Thursday to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne. “This action is unacceptable and, I believe, warrants Willens’ removal.”....
Ranchers hope for Salazar's support on Pinon Canyon Like Daniel in the Old Testament, Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar is going into the lion's den next week. The first-term Democrat is scheduled to meet with county commissioners from Las Animas, Huerfano, Otero and Baca counties next Tuesday in Trinidad in his quest to find a "win-win" solution between the Army's plan to expand the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site and the strong opposition from area ranchers. Ranchers opposed to the expansion also expect to meet with him during the day. "This is going to be an opportunity for Sen. Salazar to listen to the local officials and see if there is any way to find a win-win solution," a Salazar spokesman said Friday. Call Salazar an optimist because, thus far, those same county commissioners as well as a coalition of landowners around the 238,000-acre Pinon Canyon training site northeast of Trinidad have taken a "not for sale" position on the Army's planned expansion....
Mountain lion suspected in livestock death A mountain lion is being blamed for the killing of more than a dozen calves on a ranch near Patagonia. Brad Gatlin, who runs the Gatlin Ranch, located on Blue Haven Road, said that he has lost nine calves this year. The rancher also said that last year he was missing five calves. While Gatlin said he suspected that a mountain lion might be the culprit, he was unable to prove anything because of the difficulty of finding recognizable carcasses in such rough terrain. "A mountain lion was always a possibility, but we didn't know for sure until we found a fresh kill right near the house," said Gatlin, who described finding a half-buried calf near the entrance to his drive on June 13. Gatlin said he filed a report with the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AGFD). "Our depredation law says that if he knows that something is killing his cows he can go after it and kill it," said AGFD Wildlife Manager Mark Frieberg. "He just has to notify us, and we'll come and collect the animal."....
Tumacacori wilderness sought The debate over a proposed Tumacacori Highlands wilderness area swings into high gear now that U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva has introduced a bill to protect 83,400 acres of national forest from Tubac south to the Mexican border. Although they face opponents who cite border-enforcement concerns, Grijalva and environmentalists have lined up a broad coalition of supporters in four years of planning. Backers include four hunting groups, two religious groups, four neighborhood associations and dozens of businesses from Tubac to Nogales. They're joined by 80 University of Arizona scientists who say the Tumacacori Highlands need protection from increasing urbanization in the Upper Santa Cruz River Valley and the Tucson area to the north. n particular, the area must be protected to keep a growing number of off-road vehicles from scarring a lush and fragile landscape, wilderness supporters say. The area plays host to an immense variety of state and federally protected species — 74 in all — and some of the Southwest's most rugged and biologically diverse wildlands....
Group seeks protection for jaguar The endangered jaguar has languished far too long without protection, and the federal government should do something about it, a nonprofit group said in a lawsuit filed Thursday in Tucson. The Center for Biological Diversity sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to force the agency that oversees endangered species in the U.S. to declare habitat for the cats and to draw up a recovery plan to bring the species, of which about 100 exist in the wild, back to strength, the lawsuit said. The Fish and Wildlife Service declined comment. Because no habitat has been designated and no protection plan exists, the species is vulnerable, said Michael Robinson of the Center. "It's getting no protection on the ground," Robinson said. The jaguar was recognized as endangered as early as 1972, but it was not included when the Endangered Species Act passed the following year. The species was put on the U.S. list in 1997, the lawsuit said....
Top Las Vegas water official blasts Utah request for study A top Southern Nevada water official is blasting a push by Utah lawmakers for a federal study of her agency's plan to draw groundwater from eastern Nevada, calling it a move aimed at fostering development in southern Utah. Southern Nevada Water Authority chief Pat Mulroy on Wednesday also accused Utah officials of tampering with Nevada's ''sovereign right'' to develop groundwater resources within its boundaries. ''This isn't about protecting farmers or the environment,'' Mulroy said. ''The truth is they [Utah officials] need water to develop the I-15 corridor.'' On Thursday, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, countered Mulroy's attack, defending Utah's water rights, saying he was "fairly unsympathetic" to Nevada's position. Mulroy would not consent Friday to a request from The Salt Lake Tribune for a 20-minute interview. Scott Huntley, spokesman for the Southern Nevada Water Authority, said Mulroy could not spare the time. Mulroy's angry response, first published in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, came on the heels of The Tribune's report that Utah's Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Committee had sent a letter to Utah's congressional delegation seeking support for a $6 million study of an aquifer beneath the Snake Valley in eastern Nevada and western Utah....
It's starve or sell for cattle ranches The next disaster for Utah ranchers whose lands have been ravaged by drought and massive wildfires: having to sell off their cattle because they cannot afford feed. Hay has doubled in price over the past year, and while state and federal officials have promised help from a variety of programs, there's little immediate aid. "There's no quick fix for this," said Jim Ekker, president of the Utah Cattlemen's Association. "The only place ranchers can go right now is to their bankers." Although the fire season is only half over, the number of cattle already taken off summer ranges has topped 44 percent of the state's livestock inventory - compared with 17 percent at the same time last year, according to a National Agricultural Statistics Service report released this week. The five-year average for livestock taken off ranges by July 29 is 12 percent....
Environmentalists seek to limit logging in beetle-infested areas The stately green lodgepole pines that once provided million-dollar views high in the Rockies are turning red and then brown in waves as tiny bark beetles eat their way across the Continental Divide. But environmentalists say that's no reason to chop them down. "There's a lot of heartache about what's going on. What can we do? Precious little. We can't cut our way ahead of the beetle," said Tom Fry, national fire program coordinator for the Wilderness Society. That doesn't mollify Starlyn First of Silverthorne, an area resident who said the dead trees are not only an eyesore, they're a fire hazard. First remembers the Storm King fire that roared up a mountain in 1994 in Glenwood Springs, another resort town, killing 14 firefighters and threatening homes that were built too close to flammable timber. "They need to be cut down. What if lightning hits?" she asked as she walked along a scenic trail around Lake Dillon through large stands of brown trees, bumping into reporters and camera crews taken on a tour by a coalition of environmentalists who are concerned that "alarmist" reports of fire dangers will scare the state and federal government into overreacting and allow logging to clear the forests of dead trees....
First ever basin-wide forest fuel plan meets federal mandate A first-ever, 10-year forest thinning plan for the entire Tahoe Basin is moving toward approval, outlining a near tripling of efforts to reduce the threat of a catastrophic wildfire near Tahoe's shores. The plan will be used to net federal funding for the prescribed burns, tree removal and brush clearing in 208,000 acres of forest around the lake. On Wednesday night North Tahoe locals got their last glimpse of the draft plan, which will ultimately be sent to Congress and the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior for approval. The Forest Service held its last public meeting on the plan in South Lake Tahoe on Thursday night. The Forest Service collaborated with 17 Lake Tahoe agencies to look at fuel reduction in the entire basin as a whole, fulfilling the a federal mandate delivered through the White Pine County Conservation, Recreation and Development Act of 2006. "This plan, basically, was created because Congress told you to," said Chris French, an Environmental Coordinator for the plan. "There's a lot of communities that don't have that national recognition, (but) this place is a (national) treasure." Experts say the plan will direct funding to dangerously overgrown forests that threaten homes and lives in Tahoe. According to Steve Holl, one of the plan's consultants, 60 percent of Tahoe's forests would likely support crown fires and 70 percent of Tahoe homes have inadequate defensible space....
Report: many houses in Lake Tahoe Fire ignited by other houses A federal report has concluded that many of the 254 homes lost in the Lake Tahoe fire were ignited by other homes and not flaming trees. Released Friday, the analysis of the 3,072-acre Angora blaze found no single factor responsible for the fire's spread into residential neighborhoods. Instead, the review suggested that a number of elements, including unusually dry wind gusts, houses that had been built with flammable materials and long-ago commercial logging projects that had left dead treetops and limbs on the ground. Still, the U.S. Forest Service report examined the effect of thinning projects conducted within and adjacent to the burn area to reduce fire risk and concluded that they had worked. Efforts to reduce fuels were "very effective in most cases," said Kathy Murphy, regional fuels operations manager for the Forest Service and one of the report's authors. "They're not designed to stop a fire. They're designed to lower the intensity of a fire."....
Judge reduces arson sentence More than any legal argument, the human element motivated a federal judge on Friday to cut five months off of the prison term of Kendall Tankersley, one of 10 defendants convicted in Eugene for conspiring to use arson to promote their environmental views. Tankersley, 30, was sentenced in late May to three years and 10 months in prison for conspiracy, arson and attempted arson for a fire that destroyed the U.S. Forest Industries office in Medford in late 1998. She asked for reconsideration, claiming the judge improperly increased her sentence and treated her more harshly than others with similar involvement. However, U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken rejected the legal arguments. Instead, in reducing the sentence, Aiken cited Tankersley's extraordinary effort to turn away from criminal activism after she left the conspiracy after a relatively short involvement. The decision nearly wraps up the largest ever investigation of arson and sabotage by environmental extremists, an investigation dubbed Operation Backfire by the local, state and federal agencies who conducted it over a nine-year period....
House Approves Drilling Ban On Roan Energy companies would be barred from tapping natural gas on federal land atop the scenic Roan Plateau under the energy bill passed by the House Saturday. The provision was inserted by Colorado Reps. Mark Udall and John Salazar, and was one of two victories for state Democrats on the bill. Udall and Rep. Diana DeGette also helped lead a successful fight to add a renewable energy requirement. It would require utilities to get 15 percent of their electricity from wind, solar or other renewable energy sources by 2020. The bill also includes a measure by Udall extending the amount of time the Bureau of Land Management has to prepare regulations for oil shale leases. It gives the state 120 days to review them before they are adopted....
Feds back down on Roan plan The federal government has agreed to a further delay on the proposed leasing of oil and gas properties on the Roan Plateau near Rifle following a political showdown with Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo. Salazar's office said late Friday the senator was notified that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management had agreed to a 120-day extension to implementation of its approved drilling plan for the Road in order to give the administration of Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter time to review and comment on the plan. Salazar, under U.S. Senate rules, had put a "hold" on the nomination of BLM director nominee James Caswell. The BLM has said the Roan plan is the most restrictive operations permit ever issued by the agency. The previously approved drilling plan for the Roan Plateau carries unprecedented restrictions on the size of area that can be disturbed by operations and strict reclamation requirements. Some in the oil industry have said the restrictions may not be worth it....
Kempthorne: federal managers must adapt to climate change Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne says federal managers of land, water and wildlife must adapt to climate change. He says the warming climate is making wildlife habitat restoration more difficult. He says fires burning around the West, droughts and growing water shortages around the nation are putting new demands on agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service. To deal with those concerns he says he has organized a task force to look into ways that the 73,000 employees in the Interior Department can help deal with climate change.
Nevada's Most Infamous Brothel, Mustang Ranch, Back In Business It made Nevada the only state where prostitution is legal. In its checkered history, it was burned down, rebuilt, shut down by the IRS and sold on eBay for the price of a modest home. In its 40 years, the self-proclaimed World Famous Mustang Ranch has seen the murder of a heavyweight boxing contender and an owner who skipped the country to dodge the feds. It has heard countless stories that never will be told and knows names that never will be uttered. Like the phoenix rising out of the ashes, the gaudy pink stucco buildings housing the cribs of its prostitutes are in a new location, under new management and looking better than ever....
Wily coyotes invade Florida A band of sneaky, savage, bloodthirsty hunters has migrated from the western United States to the woods, farms and prairies of Florida. They've been observed prowling residential yards in the Panhandle, killing cattle in Central Florida and staring ominously at passersby in Everglades National Park. The marauders are coyotes, and so far, there's no stopping them. "There is little that can be done about it," said Eddie White, veteran naturalist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "You can't eradicate them. Out West, they've been trying to eradicate them for 100 years now. They've used poisons, shot `em from helicopters and trapped them, and I don't think they made a dent in them." No one knows how many of the wild canines have made it to Florida. Some came on their own; others were brought in by hunt clubs as prey for dogs, escaped and began multiplying. Averaging a litter of six pups a year, they also have been bred with domestic dogs....
End It, Don't Mend It Congress is fundamentally a gathering of horse-traders, and the body always seems to find a way to put pork into its already-lavish spending bills. When recent reports revealed that the supplemental spending bills for Iraq contained funding for peanut storage and spinach growers, Congress finally caved — apparently that was a bridge too far. But that won't be the last we hear from farm commodity groups this year. The current farm bill, a multi-year spending program for commodity and rural programs, is due for renewal in September, and Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns is causing a stir by becoming the first ag head in recent memory to submit a draft proposal of his own. But a confluence of events this year — a Doha round of free trade agreements in need of a kick-start, budget pressures and renewed commitment to fiscal responsibility from the Democrats in Congress, and growing public awareness of the failures of farm programs — all point to the need for reform. The question is: with what do we replace the current expensive and outdated programs? How about nothing? A commitment to phase out farm subsidies, "rural development" programs, and ad-hoc disaster payments is the best action Congress could take in September. They should couple this with repealing the permanent legislation that would allow agriculture programs to be reinstated in future. If Congress had to start from scratch every time the farm lobby wanted more taxpayer-funded largesse, they would have a harder time passing it....
E. coli found in San Juan River Rancher Lawrence Stock never quite meant to join the San Juan Watershed Group. An unlikely member, he may one day find his cattle accused by the group of polluting the San Juan River and nearby arroyos with the bacteria Escherichia coli, or E. coli. The bacteria, in higher concentrations, can cause severe poisoning. The San Juan Watershed Group recently wrote a report alleging livestock manure is the main source of E. coli on the Stevens Arroyo, a mostly dry creek stretched from the Colorado state line south to the river. The bacteria, commonly found in the intestines of mammals, suggests more harmful bacteria could be present in the water. The environment department tested around 30 sites where water flowed into the San Juan River — virtually every inflow on that stretch, said Tomko — and measured above and below them to see how much bacteria they contributed. From Blanco south, the E. coli levels rose and never dropped....
U.K. lab suspected in foot-and-mouth outbreak British officials said late Saturday that they suspect the strain of food-and-mouth disease recently discovered in cattle in southern England may have escaped from a nearby government laboratory studying the disease. According to the Associated Press, U.K. agriculture officials told reporters that the strain, which had not been seen for some time in living animals, is identical to one being studied at the government's Institute for Animal Health laboratory. The strain was discovered in cattle on a farm outside of Wanborough, London, about four miles from the facility. Wanborough is approximately 30 miles southwest of London. U.K. officials said that because no livestock had been moved from the farm since July 10, they believe the outbreak can be contained.
British authorities said on Saturday that they were banning the export of livestock and livestock products until the source of the outbreak was found. The ban is immediate and far-reaching, covering live animals, carcasses, meat and milk. As a result of the outbreak, the U.S. and Japan moved immediately to ban British pork products. Japan and the U.S. have not allowed beef imports from Britain since a mad-cow disease outbreak in the 1990s....
Dairies dump milk on radiation threat Two dairy farms have dumped milk after the discovery of a naturally occurring radioactive isotope in 25 nearby drinking water wells. Officials from Sorensen's Dairy and Oasis Dairy said they will stop selling milk until it is tested for the isotope, polonium-210, by the Food and Drug Administration. Officials said there's no known health risk at this time. A study released Friday by the U.S. Geological Survey found the radioactive isotope in 24 private wells and one public well around Fallon, about 60 miles east of Reno. Polonium-210 is known to cause cancer in humans. All dairies around Fallon sell their milk to the Dairy Farmers of America cooperative, which in turn markets the milk to a dairy in Reno and plants in northern California....
Leachman ranch dispute heads to appeal A federal judge's decision ordering the sale of two ranches owned by Leachman Cattle Co. LLC to pay back nearly $2 million in loans to the federal government is headed for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. On Dec. 27, 2006, U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull ruled against Leachman Cattle Co. and its owners, Jim Leachman of Billings and his former wife, Corinne Leachman. The judge ordered the federal Farm Service Agency, a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to first foreclose on the Hair Pin Ranch east of Lockwood and then on the Leachman Cattle Co. LLC's Home Place Ranch to recover emergency loans made 28 years ago. Jim Leachman spent three decades developing beef cattle genetics at his Montana ranches into a worldwide asset. For years, ranchers from around the world flew to Billings for the Leachman spring bull sale, and they still do. The cattleman still raises horses under the Hair Pin brand and still conducts spring bull sales and fall horse sales. However, heavy debt and lawsuits have dragged the Leachman Cattle Co. and its founder into ongoing troubles....
Author investigates Roswell Tom Carey has dedicated the last 16 years of his life to uncovering what exactly happened on July 4, 1947, outside Roswell, N.M. Now, along with coauthor Don Schmitt, the Huntingdon Valley resident has published Witness to Roswell: Unmasking the 60-year Cover-Up, documenting his findings concerning the alleged extraterrestrial event. A brief synopsis: During a lightning storm, something crashed outside of Corona, N.M., about 75 miles northwest of Roswell. The next day, a sheep rancher found the strange debris and traveled to Roswell to alert authorities and the media. Also found at the site: several "alien" bodies, described by one eyewitness as "not from this earth." A press release issued by the U.S. Army Air Forces - as the Air Force was then known - proclaimed that the 509th Bomb Group at the Roswell Army Air Field, the first officials at the scene, had "captured" a flying saucer. That release was refuted within hours, however, by the Eighth Air Force Headquarters, which stated that the saucer was actually just a downed weather balloon. The bodies were later explained as full-sized mannequins used in high-altitude parachute drops....
Collection amassed by late, enigmatic artist could be worth $22.5M Artist and ethnographer Paul Dyck spent much of his 88 years piecing together the largest, most significant and most complete private collection of Plains Indian artifacts in the world. Early last month, the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody acquired the collection, most of it rare material from the pre-reservation Buffalo Culture. Only a few people have had access to the collection of nearly 2,000 items, which Dyck kept at his ranch home in Rimrock, Ariz. It has never been available to the general public. "It's going to stun people," said former Wyoming Sen. Alan K. Simpson, the chairman of the museum's board of directors. "It certainly stunned us." Even board members with expertise in American Indian culture were awed by the remarkable collection, which includes children's toys, ghost dance dresses, a peace medal Lewis and Clark may have given to a Mandan chief and huge buffalo-hide tepees, he said....
Artifacts reveal vivid stories of Plains Indian life On a late September morning in 1877, Robert Coburn, owner of the Circle C Ranch on Flatwillow Creek south of the Missouri River, awoke to find the Nez Perce camped on a bench a half-mile from his log home. They had fled 1,000 miles from their home in the Pacific Northwest, dogged the entire way by the U.S. Army. They were tired and hungry and only a few days away from their final, fatal confrontation with Gen. Nelson Miles at the foot of Montana's Bear Paw Mountains. Coburn rode out to meet Joseph, who spread a buffalo robe on the ground and pulled a pipe and tobacco from a beaded pouch. They settled down for a smoke and a talk. The Nez Perce meant no harm, Joseph said, speaking through an interpreter. They had fought with the Army and were on their way to sanctuary in Canada. His people needed meat, and Joseph wanted cattle. Not daring to refuse, the rancher gave permission to cut animals from his herd. Joseph told the rancher that he had no money to pay. He took off a heavy elk tooth necklace and gave it to Coburn. He also left the rancher with the pipe they had smoked and the war bonnet he was wearing....
Sweetwater horse trainer will ride in Great Santa Fe Trail endurance race Thompson Training Center, owned and operated by John and Susan Thompson, in Sweetwater is preparing for the biggest endurance horse race, The Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race. The Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race starts Sept. 3 in Santa Fe, NM and will end 800 miles later on Sept. 15 in Independence, Mo. It is broken down into 10 rides of 50-55 miles a day over 510 miles. Only 100 teams will be allowed to enter with about 500 horses dashing over the landscape. Already, 76 riders from 22 states have signed up, paying entry fees ranging from $3,500 to $4,500. Susan has ridden, trained and competed on horses almost her entire life. Her riding accomplishments include prominence in barrel racing and endurance riding. She has endurance raced since 1996 and has completed 44 of 50 races and accumulated almost 2000 competitive miles. thompson is entered in the most prestigious team type, one rider on one or more horses for the entire race and is the only entry from the state of Tennessee. She will be taking two straight Egyptian bred Arabian horses, Thee Pilgram, an 8-year-old gray gelding and Thee MaCade a 7-year-old bay gelding, both sired by Thee Desperado, alternating them each day....
Albuquerque author compiles Gene Autry filmography As a kid growing up in America's heartland in the 1940s and '50s, Boyd Magers seldom missed a Saturday afternoon with his silver-screen cowboy heroes. At the Beldorf theater in Independence, Kan., and, later, the Center theater in Ponca City, Okla., Magers would hunker down Saturdays with the likes of Lash LaRue, Rocky Lane, Tex Ritter, Roy Rogers, Jimmy Wakely, Whip Wilson, Johnny Mack Brown, Eddie Dean and Gene Autry. Autry, the box office champ of them all in the years before World War II, became known as America's Favorite Cowboy. But he wasn't Magers' favorite. "I liked Wakely, although lots of people didn't," said Magers, 67, now an Albuquerque resident, an authority on Western films and author of the new book "Gene Autry Westerns." Even though he liked other cowboy stars better, Magers enjoyed Autry's movies and says Autry's impact on the American cowboy movie is second only to Western movie icon John Wayne. Wayne and Autry were born 100 years ago this year....