NEWS ROUNDUP

Retired judge: This land is my land A judge has ruled in favor of another judge – now retired – in an unusual "adverse possession" land dispute in pricey Boulder, Colo., giving the retired judge a large part of his neighbor's $1 million parcel of land for a pathway to his backyard. The recent ruling came from James Klein a judge in Colorado's 20th Judicial District covering Boulder, and was in favor of Richard McLean, who retired from the judiciary in Boulder several years ago. The loser in the case was Boulder resident Don Kirlin, who is publicizing his situation on the landgrabber.org website. On the radio show Kirlin explained his shock when the land on which he's paid taxes of about $16,000 a year, plus $65 per month homeowner association dues, on which he's sprayed for weeds and repaired fences, suddenly was made unusable by Klein's decision. He passed it regularly en route to his hikes into the mountains, and never saw any "encroachments," he said. The law under which Klein gave the property to McLean requires someone to "possess" property by using it, without permission of the owner, continuously for 18 years, and most commonly comes up when a building built before mapping technologies were accurate, extends onto another parcel of land....
Brazil reports massive oil discovery Brazil has announced the discovery of a huge offshore oil field that could contain between 5 to 8 billion barrels of oil, enough to expand the country's proven reserves by 40 to 50 percent. The "ultra-deep" Tupi field was found under 7,060 feet of water, another 10,000 feet of sand and rocks and a further 6,600 feet of salt – a total of 4.48 miles below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. Sergio Gabrielli, the chief executive officer of the state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA told Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva Monday that reserves in the pre-salt area off Brazil's coast are much larger than the Tupi field, possibly containing as much as 80 billion barrels in oil reserves. By specializing in advanced ultra-deep offshore oil exploration, Brazil has moved from being a country dependent on Ethanol for its gasoline consumption to becoming a net exporter of oil within less than a decade....
N. American landscape is oversaturated in CO2 North America's ability to absorb global-warming gases created by the USA, Canada and Mexico is smaller than some experts thought and likely to shrink further, a federal climate study said Tuesday. The report by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, the Bush administration's climate research arm, estimated the continent produces three to four times more carbon dioxide than its forests, croplands, wetlands and coastal waters can soak up. The rest adds to the warming. North America emits 27% of the carbon dioxide — the most plentiful of man-made greenhouse gases and the byproduct of burning fossil fuels — released worldwide. The USA creates 85% of North America's total and is the world's largest emitter, though China is forecast to exceed that soon, according to the International Energy Agency. Canada produces 9%, and Mexico, 6%. Plants, trees, soil, water and other components absorb only about one-fourth of the continent's carbon emissions. The report said much of the continent's emissions, 42%, comes from extracting and burning fossil fuels for electricity. Exhaust from cars and other transportation accounts for 31%, it said....
Bearing the burden A record-breaking year for bear activity is finally winding down, but the number of human-bear interactions is sparking a conversation about thinning the bruin population, state Division of Wildlife officials said Wednesday. “We’re talking about, biologically, if development, human population growth, recreation use and energy use have reduced bear habitat to the point where we need to reduce the bear population in the state of Colorado,” said Wildlife Division spokesman Randy Hampton. This year might break state records. It certainly did so in Pitkin County, where 13 bears were euthanized, 24 relocated and four cubs were taken to a rehabilitation center. “It’s a record year for relocations, cubs taken to the rehabilitation center, road kill, bears that we had to put down, all of those things,” Hampton said. “It was — I say was — I’m hoping it has passed, it was a tough year.” The possibility of thinning the bear population or of increasing the number of bear hunting permits, however, has some locals and state environmental groups worried....
Annual buffalo roundup healing Antelope Island herd Instructions were simple enough: Watch the tail. If it comes up, stop, turn and slowly ride away. Otherwise, stay in the saddle and herd the buffalo to their annual physical. Roughly 150 riders gathered at the Fielding Garr Ranch on the eastern shores of Antelope Island a few weeks ago. It was the start of the annual buffalo roundup. Once a year, the island buffalo, about 750 head, are pushed from their grazing areas to the holding corrals on the northern tip of the island. The work was once done by helicopter, and horses and riders were simply there to pick up stragglers. Three years ago, the helicopters were grounded and the entire roundup was put in the hands of the wranglers. Once corralled, the buffalo rested, fed on fresh-cut hay and then patiently waited for the doctors to make their island call. It took three days to round up most of the buffalo. The larger bulls, because of their weight — upwards of 1,800 pounds — and temperament, for the most part, were left alone....
Governors Join in Creating Regional Pacts on Climate Change Frustrated with the slow progress of legislation in Washington on energy and global warming, the nation’s governors have created regional agreements to cap greenhouse gases and are engaged in a concerted lobbying effort to prod Congress to act. Beginning Monday, three Western governors will appear in a nationwide television advertising campaign sponsored by an environmental group trying to generate public and political support for climate change legislation now before the Senate. The 30-second ad features Arnold Schwarzenegger, Republican of California; Jon Huntsman Jr., Republican of Utah; and Brian Schweitzer, Democrat of Montana, standing in casual clothes in scenic spots talking about the threat posed by greenhouse gas emissions. The nation’s governors are acting, but Congress is not, they say. “Now it’s their turn,” Mr. Schwarzenegger says. Separately, in Milwaukee on Wednesday, nine Midwestern governors and the premier of Manitoba signed an agreement to reduce carbon emissions and set up a trading system to meet the reduction targets. The Midwestern accord is modeled on similar regional carbon-reduction and energy-saving arrangements among Northeastern, Southwestern and West Coast states....
War of the species The sesame seed-sized milfoil weevil has its own fan club. At Paradise Lake in northern Michigan, residents hold an annual Weevil Festival in July, dressing up in weevil costumes and holding street and boat parades to honor the critter. An Ohio company that raises and releases the weevils, including in 50 Michigan lakes, sells a popular weevil plush toy. Why the love? When planted by the thousands in lakes infested by the invasive Eurasian milfoil, the weevil larvae burrow into the plants' stems, chewing away until weakened plants collapse. Weevils, beetles, wasps and fungi are the new heroes in a David-and-Goliath battle. Scientists are unleashing them to attack invasive species that kill trees and dominate native plants, robbing wildlife of food and habitat. Because they are foreign, invasive species have no native enemies. Scientists search out their natural enemies, often in the invasives' home countries, and bring them here. The goal is to use biological control instead of expensive chemicals or machine harvesting....
Beetle kill gives industry new life On the listing steps of his cluttered office trailer, Mike Jolovich spreads his arms wide, as if to embrace the muddy yard of timber, wood chips and machinery at his Ranch Creek Ranch sawmill outside Granby. "I've staked my whole career, everything I own on what you see today. It's all a big gamble," he said, looking over a cavernous warehouse for a new computerized sawmill that will soon be used to create log homes. "What you see is three-quarters of a million dollars' worth of equipment. ... It's all gambled on people, it's all gambled on the market." And it's all gambled on the pine bark beetle. As countless bark beetles the size of this "i" ravage the state's ample stands of lodgepole, dozens of big and small dreamers are vying to eke their fortune from the state's surging tide of beetle-ravaged timber. Their efforts won't come close to using up the acres of deadwood. But it is a start. Some of these entrepreneurs are felling trees, seeking to revive the state's timber industry. Others use the wood, tinted blue from a fungus the beetles inject into the pine, for cabinets and trim....
Bear Canyon Road case still unresolved The dispute between Gallatin County and the U.S. Forest Service over the Bear Canyon Road remains unresolved, but at least both sides are talking to each other. “Over the last two months we've had several productive and encouraging meetings,” said Bob Dennee, a lands specialist with the Gallatin National Forest who has worked on many complicated issues. The dispute arose this fall when the Forest Service used heavy equipment to obliterate an old road in the canyon southeast of Bozeman, and replace it with a trail a few hundred yards away. That angered county officials, partly because the new road was harder for cattle to use and partly because the Forest Service wiped out a county road. Gallatin County Commissioner Bill Murdock said Wednesday the county will continue to work in good faith with the federal government, but the commission wants the road back. “We're sticking to our guns,” Murdock said. “We want the old road back.”....
Ants could hold key to keeping Tahoe Blue A group of scientists at the University of Nevada, Reno have announced new research that suggests ants could play an important role in improving water clarity at Lake Tahoe. They found that ants give them important clues about how Tahoe's ecosystem reacts to human interference. Monte Sanfor, a Ph.D. student and Dennis Murphy, a professor in the Biology Department are working with a team of scientists from the U.S. Forest Service and the University of California at Davis. Their research focused on a species of ants that make extensive tunnel networks in the ground. These ants are called aerator ants, and their tunnels can help water infiltrate the forests in the Tahoe Basin and can help the clarity of Tahoe's water. The research team says human interference has both helped and hurt this population of ants....
BLM report shows border trash is major issue for So. Arizona land It's a long-standing concern of border-security proponents: Illegal immigration and smuggling cause significant environmental damage, says a report recently released by the Bureau of Land Management. More than 225,000 pounds of trash related to smuggling were collected, according to a press release on the report. Another 900,000 pounds of litter that resulted from both smuggling and illegal dumping were removed. About 24 million pounds of trash cover thousands of acres of public and tribal lands. The most visible items are drinking bottles, clothing and food refuse. Illegal roads and trails cause damages to resources on the landscape. There are also damages to infrastructure, such as gates, ranges, fences and water tanks....Go here to get this report and several previous years' reports.
Rock climbing is taking a toll on peaks Evidence of rock climbing's excesses are visible everywhere around the base of a popular summer ascent here. Dead pines lie decomposing on the eroded rock, their roots exposed by thousands of boot soles. The approach is marred by 40 separate trails braiding around the granite face. Then, there's the garbage. In September, volunteers packed out 900 pounds of abandoned rope, snack wrappers and toilet paper strewn around some of Yosemite National Park's most cherished crags. Millions of Americans have developed a taste for rock climbing, a fad fueled by a proliferation of urban climbing gyms and glamorized by programs like America's Next Top Model, which recently showed its models hanging from climbing ropes. But as neophyte rock jocks head to national parks to test their skills in the great outdoors, some are unwittingly breaking the wilderness ethic governing the sport. Others are violating federal wilderness regulations by drilling into the bare rock face with power tools....
Ex-park service agent pleads guilty to theft A Bar Harbor woman who served as the national special agent in charge for the National Park Service faces up to six months in prison after pleading guilty in federal court recently to theft of public money. Patricia Buccello, 55, entered a guilty plea to one count of theft of public money at a hearing on Oct. 31 in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., before Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson, according to U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor and Inspector General Earl E. Devaney of the Department of the Interior. In a press release, they announced that, during the plea hearing, Buccello admitted to fraudulently billing the government for all or a portion of the airfare associated with personal trips she took between Maine and Washington, D.C., from April 2005 through March 2007. As part of her plea, Buccello agreed to pay back the government a total of $10,864,95. Buccello has worked for the National Park Service since 1978, first as a park ranger and then as a criminal investigator. She served as acting national special agent in charge, or SAC, for 16 months before being named to the post in February 2005....
Farm bill may not be done this year Chances are fading that the Senate can finish its $286 billion farm bill before December. The Senate formally took up the bill Nov. 5, but on Tuesday Democratic and Republican leaders were still trying to agree on which amendments would be allowed for consideration. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said that senators were "highly unlikely" to finish work on this bill this week. The Senate is due to start a two-week recess this weekend. It will return to business Dec. 3. The chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Iowa Democrat Tom Harkin, accused Republicans of holding up the bill. "At this rate we may not have a farm bill," he said. Among the issues involved in the dispute was a plan by Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., to increase the amount of biofuels that refiners must use. The mandate is part of an energy bill that has been stalled in Congress for several months. Because of the dispute over the farm bill, the Senate chamber was quiet for long stretches of time Tuesday afternoon. The Senate delay increases the odds that the Democrat-controlled Congress won't get a final version of the bill to President Bush until 2008. The farm bill increases spending for a range of programs, including crop subsidies, land conservation, food stamps and bioenergy. The House passed its version of the bill in July....