Climate Scientist Survey Reveals Little Consensus A new survey of American members of the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggests that there is not firm scientific consensus on global warming, as proponents of swift action to curb carbon emissions have suggested. DemandDebate.com, a Web site skeptical of global warming "alarmism" that advocates more debate on the topic, released the results of its poll on Nov. 8. The group attempted to survey the 345 American scientists affiliated with the IPCC. Of the 54 scientists who completed the survey, less than half said a 1-degree Celsius increase is "flatly undesirable." Sixty-one percent of the respondents said there is no such thing as an "ideal climate." While as many as 90 percent of respondents said man-made carbon emissions "are driving or helping to drive global climate change," only 20 percent said human activity is the "principle driver of climate change." Sixty-three percent said human activity is a driver but that "natural variability is also important."....
Fighting climate change is pricey, farmers are told Utah farmers heard Thursday that cutting carbon emissions to curb global warming might cost the state as much as $5 billion and 50,000 jobs. The Utah Farm Bureau Federation, holding its annual convention this week in downtown Salt Lake City, presented findings from a report by the coal industry think tank, the Center for Energy & Economic Development (CEED). Randy Parker, the farm bureau's chief executive officer - and a member of the governor's Blue Ribbon Advisory Council on Climate Change - said studying the issue in the past year has convinced him that the benefits gained in the past 150 years in lifestyle and economic productivity outweigh the danger posed by a 1 degree increase in world average temperatures. "Was that a good investment? Yes," he said. Meanwhile, Utah farmers and ranchers are eagerly looking at ways to improve energy security, he said....
Reseeding fire-ravaged land A mile or two west of here a gravel road threads Antelope Valley, a broad stretch of burned-over grassland below Bearskin Mountain and the Mineral Range. Neither that peak nor that range slowed the Milford Flat fire when it blew up July 6. During the next four days, the fire skipped across dozens of roads and jumped Interstate 15 to burn more than 325,000 acres in Millard and Beaver counties. The fire burned for 2 1/2 months, ultimately torching more than 363,000 acres to make it the biggest blaze in Utah history. But the fire slowed in those early days when it hit the gravel track in Antelope Valley, because on either side of the road, grasses planted after a 1996 fire were hardy enough to withstand the inferno. For the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, that is proof its current $17 million project to reseed 300 square miles of federal, state and private rangeland lost to the Milford fire will be a good investment. On Thursday, teams of archaeologists walked five abreast across the range, looking for artifacts and planting flags when they found ancient broken pottery, stone tools and even a pile of trash left here some 50 years ago. They'd already finished their work in the area farther west, a necessary first step before bulldozers dragging anchor chains studded with iron teeth arrive to clear out charred tree carcasses....
Ranchers wary but hope seed plan works Ranchers in southern Utah who have promised to keep cattle off their land for two years in exchange for free seed hope the government's prescription for revegetation will work. "I'm a little worried that if you stay off for two years, you let the June grass in," Beaver County rancher Mike Yardley said Thursday during a tour of revegetation areas from this summer's 363,000-acre Milford Flat fire. The fire ravaged Yardley's 4,000 acres. He is one of about a dozen ranchers to receive free seed from the state in the past month. During the two years state and federal officials believe are necessary for the seeds to take root, the overpopulation of June grass, also called cheat grass, is a possibility. Cheat grass is described as gasoline to wildfires, quickly burning when the plant dries each midsummer. During the spring, however, cheat grass is tender and cattle will graze upon it. Thursday, Yardley wanted to know why he couldn't allow cattle in revegetation areas most vulnerable to the dreaded cheat grass....
Federal judge upholds sheep grazing ban in western Idaho A federal judge has denied a motion by a sheep rancher who sought to return domestic sheep to a grazing allotment along the Salmon River, citing concerns they might transmit deadly pneumonia to wild bighorn sheep. U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill ruled earlier this week that the risk of losing genetic diversity in native populations of bighorn herds in western Idaho outweighed the financial loss of $75,600 to the sheep rancher, Guy Carlson of the Riggins, Idaho-based, Carlson Company. The group had planned to return the domestic sheep to the grazing allotment Thursday. In his decision, Winmill noted that none of the experts on either side provided definitive proof on whether domestic sheep transmit fatal diseases to bighorns. However, he noted that reports by experts on each side, when taken together, "warn that the preponderance of evidence suggests that domestic sheep transmit a deadly respiratory disease to bighorns." He said the risk of wiping out the native herd of bighorn sheep outweighed Carlson's financial loss, which Winmill called substantial but not enough to put the company at risk....
A grizzly tale The Falls Creek bear terrorized livestock along the Rocky Mountain Front. For years, he escaped bear managers who tried to catch him. And, albeit begrudgingly, he earned the respect of some ranchers for his smarts and strength. Now, postmortem, the 22-year-old male, put down in 2001, has inspired a book: "The Falls Creek Grizzly: Stories and Histories Along Montana's Rocky Mountain Front." The author is Mark Ratledge of Missoula. The book isn't just about the notorious Falls Creek bear. It will explore the relationship between grizzly bears and people who live near Augusta, Choteau, Dupuyer. The bear became known as the "Falls Creek bear" because its first livestock kill, in the late 1980s, came near the creek by the same name, which is located near Augusta. In 2001, the 650-pound male was finally captured southwest of Augusta and later killed by lethal injection. In between, the bear was suspected of killing dozens of cattle worth some $200,000 and became renowned up and down the Front. "Once he was eliminated, it seemed like our losses dropped considerably," recalled Bill Mosher, an Augusta-area rancher who had dealings with Falls Creek bear....
Ranching Ban Proposal Discussed in Pocatello Sixty-seven percent of Idaho's territory is public land - something that Jon Marvel with the Western Watersheds Project says he wants to preserve and protect. Marvel presented his view to a packed crowd at a meeting Thursday night on ISU's Pocatello campus. He believes doing away with ranching plays a big role in accomplishing his group's goal of improving fishing, hunting and recreation in the West. Marvel, along with representatives from five other states are trying to get federal legislation passed to offer a buy-out option for ranchers to compensate their losses....
Reaction to "Four Good Reasons For Ending Public Lands Ranching" A presentation tonight at the Idaho Museum of Natural History is causing quite a heated debate before it even starts. The topic is 'Four Good Reasons For Ending Public Land Ranching', but most cattle and sheep ranchers in Idaho depend on public land for grazing. John Thompson, Idaho Farm Bureau Director of Information: "Public lands are for public use." ...And it has been that way since settlers moved West, depending on that land to establish a successful economy. John Thompson, Idaho Farm Bureau Director of Information: "We don't think it's fair now to have an architect from Hailey come over and say he doesn't want cattle on public lands anymore. That's part of what the state's, the foundation of this state's, economy was built on." Thompson is referring to Jon Marvel, the executive director of Western Watersheds Project, a nonprofit conservation group....
EPA Seeks Nominations to New Agricultural Advisory Committee Continuing efforts to strengthen relations with the agriculture community, EPA announced in today's Federal Register a request for member nominations to the first-ever Farm, Ranch and Rural Communities Federal Advisory Committee. The committee is being formed under the guidelines of EPA's National Strategy for Agriculture, and it will advise the EPA Administrator on environmental policy issues impacting farms, ranches and rural communities. It will operate under the rules of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). The committee will meet approximately twice yearly and is intended to consist of approximately 25 members representing: (1) large and small farmers, ranchers and rural communities; (2) rural suppliers, marketers and processors; (3) academics and researchers who study environmental issues impacting agriculture; (4) tribal agricultural groups; and (5) environmental and conservation groups. The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture and other federal agencies will also be invited to nominate members. EPA expects to make a decision on membership by early January....
Safety of Predator Control Criticized Wildlife advocates are accusing federal officials of doing little to improve the safety of a program designed to protect livestock from coyotes and other predators. Their criticism follows an announcement earlier this month by the Wildlife Services branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that it has launched a safety review of its methods of killing livestock predators. The agency began the review following the deaths of two people killed in June when their small plane crashed in Utah as they shot coyotes from the air. Their deaths marked the ninth and 10th fatalities related to Wildlife Services operations since 1979. The review is expected to be completed next June, agency spokeswoman Carol Bannerman said Wednesday. The agency hasn't conducted a safety review in 10 years, she said. But critics say past reviews have been incomplete and brought about few changes....
Hurricanes' toll: 320 million trees New satellite imaging has revealed that hurricanes Katrina and Rita produced the largest single forestry disaster on record in America — an essentially unreported ecological catastrophe that killed or severely damaged about 320 million trees in Mississippi and Louisiana. The die-off, caused initially by wind and later by weeks-long pooling of stagnant water, was so massive that researchers say it will add significantly to the global greenhouse-gas buildup — ultimately putting as much carbon from dying vegetation into the air as the rest of the nation's forests take out in a year of photosynthesis. In addition, the downing of so many trees has opened vast and sometimes fragile tracts to several aggressive and fast-growing exotic species that are already squeezing out far more environmentally productive native species....
Forest Service makes green push Energy saving “miser” vending machines, more car-pooling and increased use of alternative fuels are just a few of the ways the U.S. Forest Service will try integrate sustainability into its day-to-day operations. The federal land management agency is launching its national sustainability push at a three-day conference in Denver this week, but the real impetus came from the ranks, said White River National Forest spokesman Bill Kight. “Conservation is our mission. It’s only natural that we ... conserve fuel, energy and water, reduce waste ... seek out renewable energy options and much more,” said Rocky Mountain Regional Forester Rick Cables. The five-state region, including Colorado, has led the way in nurturing a green ethic in the agency, and is now passing the torch to the national level, according to a Forest Service press release....
'Energy corridors' in West assailed The Bush administration has proposed "energy corridors" that could mar the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Arches National Park, Flaming Gorge and about 20 other protected areas in Utah, according to an analysis released Thursday by the Wilderness Society. The administration has proposed 6,000 miles of 3,500-foot-wide energy corridors in 11 Western states — including 640 miles in Utah — that could be used for future oil, gas and hydrogen pipelines, as well as electric transmission and distribution facilities. "That's where a significant amount of our industrial and consumer growth is going to happen in the United States — in the West and Southwest," Department of Energy spokesman Jonathan Shradar said. "Demand for electricity will increase, and on the federal lands, these corridors will be sufficient to meet that demand." In the 2005 Energy Bill, Congress asked several federal agencies to identify potential corridors on federal lands to help keep up with the nation's growing energy needs. The Departments of Interior, Energy, Agriculture, Commerce and Defense issued the West-Wide Energy Corridor Draft Programmatic environmental impact statement on Nov. 8, and a notice is scheduled to appear in the Federal Register today....
GM unveils hybrid version of popular pick-up General Motors unveiled a hybrid version of its Silverado pick-up on Wednesday, highlighting the automaker's desire to offer environmentally conscious vehicles without compromising on size. The 2009 Chevrolet Silverado -- based on the model beloved with ranchers or vacationers towing boats -- was one of the highlights of the LA Auto Show, which got underway here Wednesday. "We get asked often about why we're making hybrid versions of big trucks and SUVs," Ed Peper, general manager of Chevrolet said on the company's blog. "There are two answers, and they're both simple: because Americans still need, buy, and love trucks; and because we want to do what we can to lessen the environmental impact when we drive them."....
'Mesozoic Cow' Rises from the Sahara Desert The sands of the Sahara Desert have delivered up a new and very strange dinosaur: an elephant-sized beast whose skull and jaw are unlike anything scientists have ever seen. They are calling it the "Mesozoic Cow." Paleontologist Paul Sereno, who discovered the bones, has a reputation for finding new kinds of dinosaurs in out-of-the-way places. This find was unearthed in Niger, where it had been buried under the sand since the Mesozoic era, 110 million years ago. Sereno spent years piecing together the creature's bones. When he got the head and jaw together, he was shocked. "Well the first thing that comes to my mind is that this is the weirdest dinosaur I've ever seen," he says. "It's some kind of Darth Vader dinosaur when you look at the skull. You put the skin on it and … most people think it looks like a vacuum."....