NEWS ROUNDUP

In Farm Belt, Ethanol Plants Hit Resistance For years, the arrival of an ethanol distillery in agricultural America was greeted mainly with delight, a ticket to the future in places plagued by economic uncertainty. But in the nation’s middle, the engine of ethanol country, the glow is dimming. In Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and even Iowa, the nation’s largest corn and ethanol producer, this next-generation fuel finds itself facing the oldest of hurdles: opposition from residents who love the idea of an ethanol distillery so long as it is someplace else. “What they are trying to sell we aren’t buying,” said Deb Moore, who owns a sandwich shop and soda fountain here. The disputes have left some proposed plants waiting, mired in lawsuits; a few have given up. “There is a campaign of sorts that is seeking to slow and preferably to stop the growth of the ethanol industry,” said Matt Hartwig, a spokesman for the Renewable Fuels Association, a trade group based in Washington....
W. Slope rep calls for fair Roan study Colorado's ranking Republican on the legislature's Joint Budget Committee has joined the debate on drilling for natural gas on the Roan Plateau, warning state officials not to "play politics" with a pending study. State Rep. Al White, whose western Colorado district includes the targeted drilling area, said the state could lose billions of dollars in needed revenue if a study by the Colorado Department of Natural Resources discourages development of the area. White said he is undecided on whether the scenic plateau should be opened to large-scale energy development. But he's concerned, he said, that the DNR study, ordered by Gov. Bill Ritter, may underestimate the value of the Roan's gas and the economic benefit to Colorado. A politically motivated underestimate of the resource would "increase the perceived political risk of execution by the private sector and will actually end up reducing Colorado's future receipts," White said in a Nov. 1 letter to Harris Sherman, executive director of the DNR....
National park awaits compromise A protracted disagreement between the Bush administration and a Fort Collins company is stalling legislation that would protect much of Rocky Mountain National Park from future development, a House panel learned Tuesday. A bill designating 250,000 park acres as wilderness also would insulate the manager of the Grand River Ditch from many lawsuits, a BLM official said. "This would set a dangerous precedent for all national parks and other public lands," testified Elena Daly, director of the Natural Landscape Conservation System at the Bureau of Land Management. The testimony came during a House subcommittee hearing examining wilderness legislation from Reps. Mark Udall, an Eldorado Springs Democrat, and Marilyn Musgrave, a Fort Morgan Republican. Their bill matches one from Sens. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., and Ken Salazar, D-Colo. The ditch, a 17-mile water diversion project built before the park was created, supplies water to 40,000 acres of farmland in Weld and Larimer counties. Water Supply & Storage Co. of Fort Collins operates the diversion. Currently, Water Supply & Storage Co. has an "absolute" liability for damage, which means the company must pay even for damages caused by a third party or an "act of God."....
Protection sought for Joshua Tree wilderness About 200,000 acres of public land in and around the Coachella Valley would be designated as wilderness areas under a bill the House is considering. Such a designation provides the highest level of protection under federal law. "These areas are an impressive example of our continually changing landscape, as the San Andreas fault quite literally cuts through the region, creating unique peaks and views of the nearby Salton Sea," Rep. Mary Bono said during a hearing Tuesday in front of the House Natural Resources Committee. Bono, R-Palm Springs, the main House sponsor, is working with Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., on the legislation. The legislation would expand the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument and designate nearly 40,000 acres in Joshua Tree National Park for conservation. Another 40,000 acres in the park would be designated as potential wilderness until the National Park Service settles property claims....
Ranching as a Means of Conservation Ranch families working viable ranches that sustain ecosystem services and contribute to the social fabric and local economies are critical to a West that works, says Dr. Richard Knight. This perspective is provided in more depth in a new article from the latest issue of Rangelands. Ranching has been found to support biodiversity, because it encompasses large amounts of land with low human densities and it alters native vegetation in modest ways. Private lands, Knight says, are more important than public lands in maintenance of the region’s biodiversity. When ranches support viable populations of species that are sensitive to harmful effects of sprawl, they serve much the same role as protected areas because they act as “sources,” or areas where birth rates of species exceed death rates, of sensitive plant and animal species. Outdoor recreation is the second leading cause for the decline of federally threatened and endangered species on public lands, and residential development is the second. Exurban development and outdoor recreation are year-round activities of elevated human densities that both perforate and internally dissect land with roads, trails, house sites, and recreational facilities....
Navy Buoyed by Appeals Court Ruling Navy officials said they are optimistic that a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals today ordered a lower court to rewrite restrictions on the Navy’s use of sonar in certain Southern California exercises. That ruling was part of a lawsuit challenging the Navy’s ability to train sailors before they deploy to potential hotspots. The Navy had asked the appeals court to overturn a preliminary injunction that was granted by a U.S. district judge on Aug. 6, 2007, that bars the Navy from using active sonar in certain multi-ship exercises off Southern California through January 2009. That injunction was granted in a lawsuit filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council and other environmental and animal protection groups. In over 40 years of sonar training in the Southern California Operating Area, no stranding or injury of a marine mammal has been associated with the Navy’s use of sonar. “We are encouraged that the appeals court found the original injunction was too broad and ordered the district court to tailor mitigation conditions under which the Navy may conduct its training,” said Navy spokesman Capt. Scott Gureck....
Don't let Canadian cows back in, foes tell USDA Nearly four years after a Canadian-born cow turned up in the Yakima Valley with mad-cow disease, the federal government plans to loosen restrictions on imports of beef across the Canadian border. The Department of Agriculture maintains that the risk of importing another infected cow into the United States is extremely small. But the plan is continuing to meet loud protest from Washington state ranchers and national consumer advocates. Both are suing to block the move and have asked a judge to halt the Nov. 19 reopening, saying the government still has not kept its promises to ensure that the disease is kept out of the U.S. meat supply. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) says that beginning Monday, it will once again allow live cattle 30 months of age and older — considered to have the highest risk of infection with mad cow disease — to be imported from Canada. It would be the first time since December 2003, when the slaughtered cow from Mabton, Yakima County, was found to have the brain-wasting disease....
Bluetongue claims 300 Wyoming sheep Sheep producers in the Big Horn Basin and surrounding areas are urged to closely monitor their flocks for bluetongue, an infectious disease due to a potentially fatal virus. An outbreak of bluetongue this fall has killed more than 300 sheep in the Worland, Otto, Basin and Greybull areas of the Big Horn Basin and led to sickness in hundreds of other sheep. The virus also killed pronghorn antelope, white-tailed deer and mule deer in the Big Horn Basin as well as antelope and mule deer in the Cody, Wyo., Sinclair, Wyo., and Douglas, Wyo., areas. The disease is also present in southern Montana. Sheep owners are urged to contact their veterinarian if they notice symptoms of bluetongue in their flocks, says Don Montgomery, director of the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory (WSVL), which is managed by the University of Wyoming’s College of Agriculture....
SPJ Signs Letter Opposing Senate Agriculture Committee's Attempt to Keep Livestock Information Secret The Society of Professional Journalists and 28 journalism-advocacy organizations signed onto a Nov. 7 letter to members of the U.S. Senate that opposes non-disclosure provisions in the 2007 Farm Bill approved by the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee on Oct. 25. The language was drafted by Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. The bill in question stems from the outbreak of mad cow disease that tainted the U.S. beef supply in 2003-04. Federal officials tracked shipments of suspected meat to individual supermarkets, but failed to tell citizens which supermarkets received contaminated meat. Consequently, the public was forced to take a risk with their health when eating red meat. As a result, the Agriculture Department and the Food and Drug Administration developed a tracking system to follow the lifecycle of a food animal. Despite the government's efforts to prevent further outbreaks, farmers and food industry groups contested, amid concerns the system could hurt business. "It's essential that citizens be made aware of dangers in their own communities, including livestock that can cause serious illness and death," said SPJ Freedom of Information Committee Chairman David Cuillier....