SoCal Farmers to Face Water Woes in 2009 Officials of Southern California's major water wholesaler say deliveries to the region's agricultural customers will be cut by nearly a third next year and residents are likely to face rate hikes in 2009 because of a statewide shortage. Utilities that serve residential customers and are supplied by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California can expect price hikes between 5 percent and 10 percent in 2009, district spokesman Bob Muir said Monday. The rate increases would be needed to pay for additional water supplies from other sellers in the state and further investment in the water grid, he said. The district provides water to nearly 18 million people in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties. The district sells water at wholesale rates to local utilities, providing Southern California with half its supply. The rest comes from underground sources and other local supplies. The district is also reducing by 30 percent deliveries to 12 agencies that buy water at discount pricing for agricultural customers, Muir said. Those cuts will take effect Jan. 1, he said. The actions follow an August court decision limiting outflow from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to protect an endangered fish species....
Stop your sobbing Rachel Carson opened "Silent Spring," her 1962 polemic against chemical pesticides in general and DDT in particular, with a terrible prophecy: "Man has lost the capacity to foresee and to forestall. He will end by destroying the earth." "Silent Spring" set the template for nearly a half century of environment writing: wrap the latest scientific research about an ecological calamity in a tragic narrative that conjures nostalgia for Nature while prophesying ever worse disasters to come unless human societies repent for their sins against Nature and work for a return to a harmonious relationship with the natural world. Eco-tragedies are premised on the notion that humankind's survival depends on understanding that ecological crises are a consequence of human intrusions on Nature, and that humans must let go of their consumer, religious, and ideological fantasies and recognize where their true self-interest lies. Grounded in a tradition of eco-tragedy begun by Carson and motivated by the lack of progress on the ecological crisis, environmental writers have produced a flood of high-profile books that take the tragic narrative of humankind's fall from Nature to new heights....
Behind the Bovine Curtain Just like the old Iron Curtain that squelched any critical discussion of Communism's failures, we in the West live behind a "Bovine Curtain." The Bovine Curtain is-like the Iron Curtain-operated by the state, using taxpayer dollars to continuously broadcast propaganda about the virtues of ranching in the West and suppressing any negative or critical information. The mantra "cows are good" is repeated so often that it has attained cult status, even among many conservation groups-who should know better. Eating meat (domestic livestock), particularly beef, has one of the biggest environmental impacts on the planet. In many ways making a change from a livestock based diet to plants (or wild game) is one of the easiest things that most of us can modify in our personal behavior to lessen our collective burden upon the planet. Producing one calorie of animal protein requires more than 10 times as much fossil fuel input-releasing more than 10 times as much carbon dioxide-than does a calorie of plant protein. In the summer 2007 report, Livestock's Long Shadow, UN researchers concluded that livestock production is one of the most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global." According to the UN, livestock contributes to "problems of land degradation, climate change and air pollution, water shortage and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity." But few environmental groups mention this report or its findings, particularly if they are located in the cowboy West behind the Bovine Curtain. They would have to admit that the findings conclusions apply equally as well to the western U.S....
Governor Ritter tours ranch land near Pinon On Wednesday, Governor Bill Ritter saddled up and went for a horseback tour of privately-owned ranch land near the Pinon Canyon Maneuver site. The ranch was located near the town of Thatcher in Las Animas County. With the governor were ranchers, many from families who have spent generations on living in that area, who strongly oppose the Army's proposed expansion. "There's no reason for us to sell it or want to sell it," said Kenny Gyurman, a local rancher. Gyurman's family and a few others were forced to give up some their land in the early 1980s to the army. "My dad was 85, my uncle was 78. It wasn't in them to go somewhere else and buy more land and start over, that was their pride and joy," said Gyurman. They fear the army could now force them to sell again. The army wants their land to expand its Pinon Canyon Maneuver site in preparation for the thousands of additional troops headed to Ft. Carson over the next two years. Specifically the army wants to take over some of the land to expand the training site from 235-thousand acres to 400-thousand acres. "If this was absolutely the only place they had and it would save a life or two of one of our soldiers, you wouldn't get much of a kick from anybody here, but we don't see it as a necessity. They have too many other alternatives," said Gyurman. It's an opinion Governor Ritter seems to agree with. "I want a well trained U.S. Army, but the question is really one of justification, and I think what the ranchers would say, I think what our legislators would say is they have not met that burden," said Gov. Ritter. Ranchers are hoping the Governor's support will be a major help in their efforts to protect their land, but they know this issue isn't over.
Tulare Co officials vote against new protections for park Tulare County Supervisors voted against placing a temporary moratorium on development around Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park, saying further protections for the park weren't needed. The board struck down Supervisor Connie Conway's proposal to place a 45-day moratorium on special-use permits in a 2.5-mile zone bordering the park, which pays tribute to a black community founded by a freed slave. The use of land around the park became controversial late last year, when a Visalia rancher proposed building two mega-dairies near the park. Many local residents objected, saying the stench and pollution created by 12,000 cows would mar a spot historians and black leaders consider sacred ground. Established in 1908, Allensworth became the only California town founded and operated by blacks. After months of legal wrangling, the state and the farmer reached a compromise in September: The Department of Parks and Recreation will pay Sam Etchegaray $3.5 million to guarantee that he won't build dairies near the park, but Etchegaray will still own the land and can continue farming it....
Ranchers' livelihood threatened by wolves It’s been nearly 80 years since a wolf killed a calf on a Washington State ranch, but it happened last month. The McIrvin’s lose up to 75 calves a year on their 5000 acre Diamond M Ranch, due to cougar, bear and coyote kills. At $600 a head, that’s a substantial loss the ranchers have to bear. The calf carcass Bill McIrvin found in a pasture wasn’t anything like kills he’d seen before, though. It hadn’t been pulled into the brush, so it wasn’t a cougar. It hadn’t been mauled and all the bones crushed, so it wasn’t a bear. The calf was too large for a coyote to attack. There seemed to be no explanation, until the next morning when wolf tracks were found all over the area. Two days later, a second carcass was found within 100 feet of an occupied cabin on the ranch. The McIrvin’s called state Fish & Wildlife officials, who contacted Federal Animal Damage Control officers. They came out o the ranch just south of the Canadian border near Laurier and skinned the remains of the calf. Fang marks were visible in the animal’s flesh once the hide was removed. Canine-like tracks that were 5 ½ inches long by 4 inches wide were seen around the carcass. Photos were taken and sent to experts. The evidence was conclusive – a wolf had killed the calf. Len McIrvin asked a Federal official, “If I see a wolf killing a calf, can I shoot it?” The answer came back, “Absolutely not, unless you want to go to prison and pay a big fine.” Since wolves remain on the Federal endangered species list, none can be killed at any time or for any reason. Federal agents remained on the McIrvin’s ranch for a week, trying to trap the wolf and move it elsewhere. After they left, the family heard wolves howling in the area, but they have yet to find another wolf kill among their calves. They expect to find some as they complete their fall roundup by the end of this month....
Texas criticized for removing biofuel incentives As Congress embraces alternative fuels, some in Texas are complaining the oil and gas state has gone in the opposite direction. Texas lawmakers, who authorized hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years to subsidize defense contractors, dairy businesses and oil companies, eliminated funding over the summer for a program that encouraged the production of biofuels. The decision, part of a last-minute budget-balancing act, drew the ire of biodiesel producers, lobbyists and state officials who argue that Texas was being shortsighted about the nation's energy future. The U.S. Senate's pending energy bill would raise the national mandate for biofuel use by tens of billions of gallons, presenting an opportunity for states beyond the Midwest to get into the alternative-fuel gold rush. But without a state policy to encourage production, some producers said, Texas is missing its chance....
Wildlife department working overtime to deal with bears Nevada Department of Wildlife game wardens and biologists are working overtime to deal with an unprecedented number of bear calls in Yerington and surrounding areas. People who encounter bears or see bears in their neighborhood are urged to contact the department for guidance and support. "The fact is that people are not accustomed to seeing bears in these areas and they are concerned, and rightfully so," said Steve Tomac, a game warden stationed in Yerington. "We take every call seriously, and many department employees are working extra hours to respond to these calls." Tomac said urban interface bear sightings and encounters are higher than the department has seen before because of several factors, including drought, fires and a diminished natural food source for bears....
Lawmakers call for probe of alleged logging of protected pines Three Congressmen, including Rep. John Olver of Massachusetts, called for a federal probe Wednesday into whether forest managers illegally cut down more than 200 protected trees in the Giant Sequoia National Monument and sold some of the wood for timber. The legislators asked U.S. Department of Agriculture Inspector General Phyllis K. Fong to investigate the alleged illegal logging of 300-year-old sugar pines and other trees in the monument. The 328,000-acre preserve is part of the Sequoia National Forest in central California, and is home to two-thirds of the world's largest trees. No sequoias or redwoods are believed to have been illegally logged. Conservation groups say the U.S. Forest Service cut the trees between 2004 and 2005, when the protected area was cordoned off from public view. The Forest Service claimed it would only log 138 trees that were at risk of toppling, but conservation groups allege more than 200 trees were chopped down during that time....
Man suspected of shooting wildlife from plane A federal shooting investigation is underway in Bannock County. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agents have taken custody of an ultralight plane after reports the pilot was shooting at livestock and wild animals. The small lightweight aircraft was spotted by dozens of people flying north of McCammon. The suspect was pulled over later in the day. Inside a trailer, federal agents found the ultralight and a rifle that could be mounted on the aircraft with brackets already installed. "U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service, and Fish and Game are up on the mountain right now looking for any evidence or indication that domestic livestock or wildlife were shot," said Fish and Game officer Chris Bocek....
Forest Service Chief Visits Harlem The head of the U.S. Forest Service visited a Harlem elementary school to talk about trees and to promote a program that will give $1.5 million to 24 schools nationwide to send kids into nature. Forest Service Chief Abigail Kimbell later joined Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Bette Midler and Big Bird at a tree planting Tuesday in the Bronx. At the Harlem Link Charter School, third-graders asked Kimbell questions such as "Do they rake the leaves in the forest?" and "Does a bell ring when there's a forest fire?" Kimbell said the Forest Service learns about fires from radio calls from lookout towers, not from bells. And leaves aren't usually raked in the wild. "When you're out in the forest, move some of those leaves aside and look real closely at what's crawling around underneath," she said. "You'll find out there are lots of bugs and worms and really cool things." Kimbell, a 30-year veteran of the Forest Service who took over as its chief in February, visited the school to kick off the "More Kids in the Woods" program, which will pay for field trips at Harlem Link and 23 other schools....
Logging company backs out of sale A Southern Oregon logging company that was the high bidder on a controversial U.S. Bureau of Land Management timber sale is throwing in the towel on the project. The Glendale-based Swanson Group Inc. has chosen to withdraw from the Scattered Apples sale near Williams that it purchased in a BLM auction in 2002. Federal court-ordered mediation by the agency and plaintiffs resulted in changes that made it no longer economically viable, said Steve Swanson, president of the family-owned firm. "As a result of this, the counties lose valuable timber receipts, the acres that were part of the forest health project remain unhealthy and we don't have wood to run our mills," a frustrated Swanson concluded. "And what you end up with is a small group of people running our forests," he added of the plaintiffs....
No '8-second cowboys' allowed Dayworkers, cowboys, ranch hands welcome -- "8-second cowboys" need not apply. The Arcadia Rodeo Association has rounded up cowboys from across Florida for the inaugural "Best of the Ranches Invitational Rodeo." Action starts at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Arcadia Rodeo Arena, off U.S. 17 in South Arcadia; where teams of real working cowboys from Florida's biggest cattle ranches will go head-to-head for the title of "Best Ranch" -- and all the bragging rights that go along with it. Ranch rodeos, like Florida cowboys, are a breed apart. "They're holding their own right now, but the Florida cowboy is definitely a dying breed," said Windy Walker, cattle manager at Bluehead Ranch -- a 66,000-acre working ranch in Highlands county boasting 6,000 head of cattle, sod, groves, turf, timber and hunting. "There is so much development and growth going on that the cowboy way of life is dwindling out -- I don't know what it will be 25 years from now," Walker said. Florida cowboy heritage is also the focus of the feature-length film "Cracker," by award-winning filmmaker Victor Milt. His first film, "The Cowboys of Florida," won national critical acclaim for its haunting portrayal of the trademark determination of Florida Cowboys....