NEWS ROUNDUP

United States Sues to Stop Illegal Grazing on Federal Lands The Justice Department today sued two ranchers and the estate of a third rancher for trespassing on federal lands in Nevada. The ranchers are alleged to have repeatedly grazed livestock without federal permits despite repeated trespass notices from the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service. The civil complaint filed today in U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada accuses ranchers Wayne N. Hage, Benjamin J. Colvin, and the estate of E. Wayne Hage of intentionally grazing cattle on multiple occasions on federally managed lands in Esmeralda and Nye Counties. In addition, the defendants are accused of receiving monetary compensation for unlawfully "leasing" lands owned by the United States to other ranchers for grazing purposes, despite having no property interest in these lands. On 38 different occasions since 2004, BLM and Forest Service officers observed cattle owned by Colvin and the Hages unlawfully grazing on federal property. Since then BLM and the Forest Service have sent multiple notices to the defendants notifying them of their unauthorized use of federal land. The defendants have returned each of those notices to BLM and the Forest Service and contended that the federal government has no authority to regulate federal property. In addition, the defendants have refused to pay for their unauthorized use of federal property....
Trying to Connect the Dinner Plate to Climate Change EVER since “An Inconvenient Truth,” Al Gore has been the darling of environmentalists, but that movie hardly endeared him to the animal rights folks. According to them, the most inconvenient truth of all is that raising animals for meat contributes more to global warming than all the sport utility vehicles combined. The biggest animal rights groups do not always overlap in their missions, but now they have coalesced around a message that eating meat is worse for the environment than driving. They and smaller groups have started advertising campaigns that try to equate vegetarianism with curbing greenhouse gases. Some backlash against this position is inevitable, the groups acknowledge, but they do have scientific ammunition. In late November, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization issued a report stating that the livestock business generates more greenhouse gas emissions than all forms of transportation combined. When that report came out, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and other groups expected their environmental counterparts to immediately hop on the “Go Veggie!” bandwagon, but that did not happen. “Environmentalists are still pointing their fingers at Hummers and S.U.V.’s when they should be pointing at the dinner plate,” said Matt A. Prescott, manager of vegan campaigns for PETA. So the animal rights groups are mobilizing on their own. PETA is outfitting a Hummer with a driver in a chicken suit and a vinyl banner proclaiming meat as the top cause of global warming. It will send the vehicle to the start of the climate forum the White House is sponsoring in Washington on Sept. 27, “and to headquarters of environmental groups, if they don’t start shaping up,” Mr. Prescott warned....
Property Tax Flood The second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina arrived yesterday, with the White House disclosing that U.S. taxpayers have chipped in no less than $127 billion (including $13 billion in tax relief) to rebuild the Gulf region. That's more than the GDP of most nations. But we thought we'd draw attention to a little-discussed issue in New Orleans that may well determine how many residents ever return to their homes--to wit, rising property taxes due to cleaner government, of all things. Property taxes in the city are suddenly rising by hundreds and, in some cases, thousands of dollars above what they were last year. As the Times-Picayune reported three years ago, the city's system of assessing property values through seven different tax assessment offices allowed city officials to play favorites. The homes of longtime residents were assessed below homes that were recently sold. The proof was in the tax rolls: Neighbors with similar homes often paid very different amounts in property taxes. Following the Times-Picayune's series, the state ordered New Orleans to re-assess property values throughout the city, and voters in one of the seven districts elected reformer Nancy Marshall to be their tax assessor. Ms. Marshall has since taken the lead in assessing homes at their fair market value--no more special favors. The new tax assessments started coming out in late July, and, lo, they are up an average 55% across the city. In Ms. Marshall's district they are up 68%.....
Lawsuit ties up plan for coal plant near Great Falls Construction of a coal-fired power plant near Great Falls will be delayed pending resolution of a lawsuit that challenged the project's $650 million federal loan request, the project's general manager said Wednesday. The setback for the Highwood Generating Station, a 250-megawatt facility that would be the largest coal plant built in Montana in two decades, follows action by three Montana cities to reject the power it would provide. The city of Great Falls, with a 15 percent stake in the plant, had attempted to solicit Missoula, Bozeman and Helena as future Highwood customers. But elected officials from the three cities recently rejected the offers following complaints from residents and environmental groups opposed to greenhouse gas-producing coal plants. "There was quite a bit of reaction from the public saying, 'Let's please look at other alternatives,' " said Missoula city spokeswoman Ginny Merriam. Across the country, plans to build new coal plants have encountered opposition in recent months because of their potential to exacerbate global warming. A lawsuit filed in July by three environmental groups sought to scuttle the U.S. Department of Agriculture loan program that would finance construction of Highwood and at least six other plants nationwide....
Grazing ruling changes landscape The Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge near Colville won't be reopened to widespread cattle grazing after a ruling last week by U.S. District Judge Edward Shea of the Tri-Cities. Local officials and ranchers have decried the decision as a blow to the region's economy and an example of federal heavy-handedness. Environmentalists, however, say the ruling is a rare victory for wildlife in the livestock-dominated West. "At some point you have to have the courage to stand up and say this is a national wildlife refuge," said Don Tryon, with Friends of Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge, one of two conservation organizations involved in the lawsuit. "Cows are harmful to native fish and plants. It doesn't matter what kind of phony science you cook up." Although the land was set aside as a national wildlife refuge nearly 70 years ago, ranchers had been grazing cattle in the region's grass-filled river valleys from the time settlers first arrived in northeast Washington. Beginning in 2000, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began phasing out grazing on the refuge in an effort to protect native species, including ground-nesting birds and trout streams....
Rancher, gas company may fight in court As the circumstances surrounding the deaths of 27 horses more than three weeks ago remain a mystery, both sides in the case appear to be digging in for a legal battle. Northwest Pipeline, the company that discovered a 1/8-inch hole in its underground pipeline on the Benjamin Bartlett ranch near Malta, has maintained the gas leak could not have been responsible for killing the horses, which died at roughly the same time. Northwest spokeswoman Michele Swaner said gas transported in the pipeline is not toxic and is only lethal in enclosed spaces because it displaces oxygen. Meanwhile, Cameron Tuckett, the owner of the horses, has retained attorney Richard Greenwood to pursue his legal options in the matter. Monday, Greenwood said he and Wallace Ward of Burley Veterinary Hospital had not thoroughly discussed the results of tests on the animals' corpses. But, he said he believed preliminary analysis was not conclusive....
Property rights become privileges Anyone who has grown up on a farm or ranch hears this maxim: "Take care of the land, and the land will take care of you." A farmer or rancher who doesn't take care of the soil will soon find that the soil won't produce enough to make ends meet. But you don't need to be a farmer or rancher to understand the importance of private property rights. What's more, property isn't simply a piece of land or a home. Property is anything you own - your clothes, your car, your business. For most, our possessions come from how we choose to utilize our own unique time, skills and labor, and are selected to meet our specific needs. Moreover, because our possessions are our own, we take care to maximize their use. Public and private lands illustrate well the stewardship incentives of genuine ownership. Theoretically, we all own parks, open space, forests and such. Yet without paid employees to keep them clean and safe, our public lands would be overgrown, littered with garbage, and overrun by "owners" who enjoy them too much. By contrast, most private property owners regularly tend to their property. Even owners who never plan to produce anything from their land often invest time and money to improve its appearance. Once you've made a piece of property your own, for someone to take it from you by force is nothing less than theft - not just theft of your property, but of the time and hard work that you exchanged to purchase it. Who would do such a thing? Too often, the answer is our government....
Comeback trail for native fish State wildlife officials have bolstered their efforts to keep native trout off the Endangered Species List by planting fish in the remote Book Cliffs roadless area of eastern Utah. More than 4,000 Colorado River cutthroat trout have been released in the headwaters of West Willow, Pioche and She Canyon Creeks on the Tavaputs Plateau. Biologists hope to release as many as 10,000 more fingerling cutthroat trout in the coming weeks. "This was an opportunity to provide anglers with a very unique opportunity and help prevent a listing at the same time," said Walt Donaldson, aquatics chief for the Division of Wildlife Resources. "To restore and help conserve a species heading in the wrong direction is always a positive." The Book Cliffs roadless area cutthroat program started in the early 1990s when biologists collected trout already in the creeks - cutthroat, rainbow and brook trout placed there illegally - to see if any were pure strain Colorado River cutthroat....
Forest won't examine impacts of feeding on elk People hoping to see a phase-out of northwest Wyoming's elk feedgrounds aren't satisfied with the scope of analysis being undertaken by Bridger-Teton National Forest officials. When conducting their environmental review of state-run elk feedgrounds on forest lands, they will consider only issues under their purview -- namely, habitat and water considerations, and structure permits. Not under their jurisdiction is the impact of feeding on elk and other ungulate populations, they say. Instead, those decisions are up to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department -- an agency that has long supported feeding programs. That rub concerned some who were hoping the U.S. Forest Service would consider a gradual reduction in the feeding program. Some asked whether the agency had already made up its mind to allow the feeding program to continue. Forest Service officials repeatedly said they had not....
Let's not make areas too restricted Sportsmen and others who appreciate wildlife and wild lands should oppose creating yet another wilderness in the Tumacácori Highlands. Only careless thinking or lack of familiarity with existing Forest Service policies could allow anyone to believe a wilderness designation is really about preventing urban sprawl, all-terrain vehicle abuse, power lines, development of National Forest lands or proliferation of forest roads. These issues can be better addressed through other means that would yield fewer unintended consequences. The principal effect of a wilderness designation will be obstruction of activities designed to restore and maintain wildlife populations and forest health. Whether a specific area will benefit from wilderness status depends on the threats facing that area. The principal threat to the Tumacácori Highlands is the flood of smugglers and illegal immigrants. Literally tons of discarded clothing, backpacks, drinking containers and other refuse have left much of this formerly pristine area looking like a public dump. The best protection in the short term would be a reduction in illegal border traffic and a massive cleanup of the mess. In the longer term, land and wildlife agencies will need to fight fires, carry out controlled burns and conduct research and wildlife-management activities. But restrictions designed to guarantee wilderness connoisseurs that their visits are free of all human sights and sounds make restoration activities more difficult and costly to perform....
Canadian Cattlemen buoyed by decision RANCHERS are anticipating that the U.S. border could reopen fully to Canadian cattle as early as the fall after their arch-rivals were dealt a bitter blow by a U.S. appeals court this week. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Tuesday gave the go-ahead to continued Canadian beef and cattle imports, tossing aside a demand from a Montana-based producer group that had sought to impose a ban because of concerns about mad cow disease. The news cheered Canadian cattle producers, who have lost billions of dollars because of slumping prices and reduced marketing options since the BSE crisis hit in 2003. "We're pretty happy about the announcement... It's definitely a really positive thing for the Canadian cattle industry," said Martin Unrau, president of the Manitoba Cattle Producers Association. Now, the industry is turning its attention to a White House group that is said to be putting the finishing touches on a new regulation that would open the border to Canadian cattle over 30 months of age for the first time in more than four years. "We know what all the steps in the process are, and we're very near the end of the process," said John Masswohl, director of government and international relations with the Canadian Cattlemen's Association. The White House group has had the final draft of the new rule -- referred to in the industry as Rule 2 -- since Aug. 2, Masswohl said in an interview from Ottawa Wednesday. "If past practice is any indicator, we think we're pretty close (to the rule being published by the United States Department of Agriculture)," he said, noting that a few years ago, when the border was partially reopened to Canadian cattle, it took the same White House group five weeks to give that regulation its stamp of approval. The new rule would take effect 60 days after it was published. "We might be within a three-month window (of the border being fully open to older cattle and breeding stock) right now," Masswohl said....
Peruvian man herding sheep near Madison River Toninho Monago Toribio shaded his eyes from the afternoon sun as he looked over at least a thousand head of sheep sleeping along the bank of the Madison River. "If they don't move by 2 or 2:30 p.m., I'm going to push them back a little bit to advance back to camp," the 28-year-old Peruvian said, wiping sweat from his tanned face on another 95-degree day. When the sheep emerged from their slumber mid-afternoon, Toninho slowly walked up behind the herd. He waved and clapped at his two border collies, Bull and Misty, instructing them to push the sheep back toward camp, about a half-mile away. "All I do is move my sheep, check my sheep and watch my sheep," he said. "Pretty much, we go to work early and come home at dark." Toninho lives among a herd of about 1,300 sheep all summer, moving them along a 14-mile stretch of Bureau of Land Management land on the rims above the Madison River, in the foothills of the mountains. His job is to protect the sheep from predators such as coyotes or wolves, make sure they're grazing in the appropriate areas and occasionally give them a vaccine if they're sick. The around-the-clock job doesn't allow him to date women, go to movies, restaurants or bars like other young men his age. He never sees anyone other than his boss, Riley Wilson of Wooley Weed Eaters, although his two sheepherding border collies, Misty and Bull, follow him everywhere. Wilson brings him food, water and magazines every few days. He then tows Toninho's trailer further down the river so the herder can keep up with the sheep as they move in pursuit of fresh grass and knapweed....
Sweethearts of the rodeo Cooking supper every night for the crew, hauling horses, bulls, chutes, gates, hay and grain, juggling saddles, stirrups and bridles -- you collect a lot of living in 30-plus years. And when you've been married nearly twice that long, you live a lot of collecting, too. Those two milestones will converge this weekend at the Ellensburg Rodeo when Frank and Charlot Beard celebrate 34 years in the rodeo business and 60 years of marriage. This is the year that the Beards, whose Beard Rodeo Co. has supplied stock -- bucking horses and bulls -- for rodeos since 1973, are retiring from the business. Year after year, the Beards consistently brought stock to what they call the Big 4 rodeos, in Ellensburg, Pendleton, Lewiston and Walla Walla. As well as a sentimental favorite, Toppenish, where Frank was raised. In fact, Frank's bloodline of horse people harks back to his grandfather, John Beard, who twice drove 100 head of horses from Toppenish to Arkansas during World War I. Frank started riding in rodeos when he was 16. It was a proverbial school of hard knocks for what would become his future business....