Klamath Settlement Group Releases Proposed Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement Representatives of diverse communities in the Klamath Basin, working with federal, state, and county governments, have developed a Proposed Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement to rebuild fisheries, sustain agricultural communities, and resolve other longstanding disputes related to the allocation of water resources. The non-Federal parties released the Proposed Agreement today to inform the public and to provide public review and comment before taking final action. This is an important first step in a collaborative effort to seek solutions with the key stakeholders in the Klamath Basin on an environmental restoration strategy. The Klamath Settlement Group is presently negotiating with PacifiCorp in an effort to reach agreement on the removal of the utility’s four lower dams in the Klamath Basin, referenced as the "Hydropower Agreement." Dam removal is a necessary part of the overall restoration effort, and the Hydropower Agreement along with the Proposed Agreement released today has the potential to provide a comprehensive solution for the Basin. The group is working to finalize both agreements in February....
Judge says road ownership must be settled before further action A judge has ruled that the ownership of a road at the center of a dispute between a ranching family and two northern Utah counties must be resolved before the ranchers' accusations are addressed. Fred and Laura Selman and their son, Bret Selman, all of Tremonton, sued Box Elder and Cache counties separately last spring, challenging the counties' declarations that the Rocky Dugway road through their 7,000-acre ranch southeast of Mantua is a Class B road. The lawsuits were the culmination of years of argument between the Selmans and the counties. The Selmans claim the dirt path is a private "livestock driveway" and want to block motorized vehicles that they say disrupt wildlife, their cattle and sheep. The counties contend the road is public. They want it open for recreationists to reach the Wasatch-Cache National Forest. The path is also an important link in the James Hansen Shoshone National ATV trail system proposed for northern Utah....
Farmers Told to Prepare for Climate Policies According to the director of the Agriculture Department’s Global Change Program Office, farmers and ranchers must recognize that “at the policy level the question is not whether climate change is occurring. The debate is over what to do about it.” During a session at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 89th annual convention, Bill Hohenstein said in the future all sectors of U.S. economic life, including agriculture, will be affected by policies intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Current federal policy does not impose a mandatory cap on such emissions. But Hohenstein noted that at least nine separate proposals that address the issue are now before Congress, some of which contain caps. National lawmakers give every indication they are moving toward adopting a policy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. He explained that U.S. farmers and ranchers will surely be called on to reduce emissions on their properties. In response to policy discussions, USDA staff members have developed a method for voluntary calculation of a given farm’s “footprint for greenhouse gas emissions.” Once refined for use by the individual citizen, the system will facilitate a calculation. In a second step, the user may submit the information to the USDA or another federal agency. “Having consistent rules is quite important,” Hohenstein said. “The same rules must apply in Iowa and in any other state.” Voluntary pursuit of reductions is the goal. “USDA will encourage practices that will either reduce greenhouse gas emissions or implement carbon sequestration,” he added....
Diverse Groups Protest Federal 'Water Grab' Bill A diverse group of grassroots organizations and business and civic groups has come together to oppose the proposed Federal Clean Water Restoration Act, which many call the Federal Water Grab Bill. The bill would strip state oversight of minor waterways and for the first time give federal bureaucrats control over millions of acres of drainage ditches, seasonal ponds, and small waterways that have no significant impact on larger bodies of water. Opposition to the federal proposal was expressed on December 5 when members of Congress, state legislators, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, Property Rights Alliance, Partnership for America, and Americans for American Energy joined the National Farm Bureau Federation, American Property Coalition, and Western Business Roundtable on the steps of the Longworth House Office Building in Washington, DC. "[B]y eliminating one word--navigable--and replacing it with the term 'waters of the United States,' the legislation would give the federal government authority over anything that is wet, as well as any activity on land that could affect water," explained the North Carolina Coalition for Clean Water....
Colo. Supreme Court could mean early release for Hayman fire starter A woman who admitted starting the worst wildfire in Colorado’s recorded history could be released within a year after the Colorado Supreme Court ruled prosecutors cannot withdraw their plea agreement. The ruling Monday raises the possiblity that Terry Lynn Barton could be released after serving a 6-year federal prison term for setting the June 2002 Hayman fire, though 4th Judicial District Attorney John Newsome plans to argue Barton should face some state prison time. A judge handed down a 12-year sentence, which is double the maximum 6 year sentence, citing aggravating factors. Barton’s attorneys appealed, arguing the judge shouldn’t have handed down the sentence because he lived near the fire and had to voluntarily evacuate his house. The Colorado Court of Appeals ruled that only a jury could find aggravating factors and voided the sentence in 2004. Prosecutors then argued that Barton’s appeal of her sentence violated the terms of the plea agreement, which allowed them to withdraw it. The ruling Monday rejected that argument....
Court upholds ruling, backs heli-skiing company A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a lower court's decision that allowed a helicopter skiing company to continue operations in the mountains of the Wasatch-Cache and Uinta national forests. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart's 2006 ruling that said the Forest Service had complied with all federal environmental protection laws when it renewed a permit issued to Wasatch Powderbirds in 2005 to fly skiers into the backcountry. Two citizen groups, Save Our Canyons and Utah Environmental Congress, had argued that the heli-ski outfit's activities harmed non-motorized recreation in the high country. The plaintiffs argued the Forest Service had acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner in renewing the Powderbirds permit, which the company has held and renewed since 1973. Stewart rejected virtually all the claims against the government....
Ruling allows roadless area trails to stay open A federal government decision that will allow back-country trails for Jeeps and other off-highway vehicles to remain open in a national forest in northern California is being seen as a precedent that could have implications for other such disputes now developing, a trail advocate says. The recent decision came from Smith River National Recreation Area Road Management and Route Designation Project on the Six Rivers National Forest, according to Don Amador, the western representative for the Blue Ribbon Coalition. The BRC had joined with Del Norte County in an appeal of the decision that would have closed more than 14 miles of historic off-highway vehicle motorized trails in the Six Rivers National Forest. The appeal deciding officer now has reversed the proposed closure, Amador said. "This decision clearly supports BRC's continuing legal viewpoint that the 2001 Clinton Roadless Rule allows for motorized trails to be designated in roadless areas," he said. "As the route designation process continues on other forests it will be important for local user groups to highlight important OHV routes that already exist in roadless areas so they may be included as meaningful options in the travel management plan."....
Beetles May Wipe Out Colo. Lodgepoles Strands of distressed, red pine trees across northern Colorado and the Front Range are a visible testament to the bark beetle infestation that officials said will kill most of the state's lodgepole pine trees within 5 years. The infestation that was first detected in 1996 grew by half-million acres last year, bringing the total number of acres attacked by bark beetles to 1.5 million, state and federal forestry officials said Monday. "This is an unprecedented event," said Rick Cables, Rocky Mountain regional forester for the U.S. Forest Service. The fire potential will increase as trees retain their needles for a couple of years after beetles attack, said Bob Kane, regional entomologist with the Rocky Mountain Region of the U.S. Forest Service. When the needles fall, the danger will decrease, and spike again when the trees fall in about 10 years, Kane said. Officials said the infestation has been concentrated in five northern Colorado counties straddling the Continental Divide and has since spread to the Front Range and southern Wyoming....
Scientists Address a Burning Question Climate change is affecting the natural processes on the Earth. It is possible to observe these changes when glaciers shrink in size, trees bloom earlier, growing seasons extend, ice on rivers and lakes freeze later and thaw earlier and permafrost disappears. Researchers, supported by USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) have added one more item to this list, suggesting that increased wildfire activity in the northern Rocky Mountains may be a result of climate change. The western United States has been plagued by wildfires for more than 30 years. In the northern Rocky Mountain region alone, the incidence of wildfires increased by as much as 60 percent. In recent years, expenditures to combat wildfires by governmental agencies have skyrocketed to $1.7 billion. Paul Knapp and Peter Soulé at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Appalachian State University wondered whether shifts in the timing and frequency of major midlatitude storms during the summer influenced the recent fire trends. The scientists studied weather data collected since 1900 from eight climate stations in the northern Rockies. They compared these data with wildfire records from 1940 through 2004. The data revealed that the first major midlatitude storm occurred progressively later each year, and the frequency of the storms diminished over the past century. In addition, the storm frequency exhibited a pronounced decrease beginning in the mid-1980s. This trend of later and fewer midlatitude storms correlated to the increase in wildfires throughout the northern Rockies....This is amazing research folks. I mean, who would have thought that when you have lower humidity and less precipitation the fire risk would actually increase? Thank goodness we have this Federally funded research to tell us what happens when it gets...dry.
Bill would stiffen fines for driving on prohibited lands Drive your ATV into a wilderness area or onto other restricted federal land and you could face a stiff fine not only from the federal government but also from the state if a proposed bill clears the Colorado Legislature this year. Get caught hunting while operating an unauthorized motor vehicle on state or federal public land, and your hunting license could be at risk, too, under the bill sponsored in the House by Rep. Kathleen Curry, D-Gunnison, and in the Senate by Sen. Lois Tochtrop, D-Thornton. House Bill 1069 would strictly prohibit operating any motor vehicle on state or federal public lands, trails or roads unless there are signs saying vehicles are allowed there or the agency managing the land otherwise authorizes vehicle use there. A violation would be a misdemeanor with a fine of $100. If you’re caught with a vehicle in a federal wilderness area, the state would double the fine to $200. If hunting was involved with the violation, a hunting license would be docked 10 suspension points, or 15 points in a wilderness area. Local law enforcement would have the right to enforce the proposed law, even on federal land. That’s perfectly fine by the federal Bureau of Land Management, which was consulted on the wording of the bill, BLM spokesman James Sample said. A 1976 federal law governing how public land is managed gives states the authority to impose fines on people who violate regulations on federal land, he said....
BLM reviewing comments on Otero Mesa permit The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has received more than 300 e-mails and an unknown number of letters commenting on an environmental assessment for an application for a permit to drill on Otero Mesa. That word today from BLM spokesman Hans Stuart. Today is the last day for comments on the environmental assessment on an application by Harvey E. Yates Company of Roswell to drill a natural gas well on land it leases in the area. Stuart says an environmental impact statement was done between 1998 and 2004. He says it looked at the large picture of the impacts of oil and gas development on the mesa in Otero and Sierra counties. The BLM proposes opening 1,589 acres on the 2 million-acre mesa to drilling. The environmental assessment looks at the Roswell company's specific site.
New Mexico wants study of Otero Mesa drilling State officials say an environmental assessment done by the Bureau of Land Management on an application for a permit to drill for natural gas on Otero Mesa is insufficient. Gov. Bill Richardson and Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Secretary Joanna Prukop are calling on the BLM to do a full environmental impact statement on the application of Harvey E. Yates Co. to drill a natural gas well on leased land. Prukop sent a letter Monday to the BLM, saying the state was concerned that the agency's review of Heyco's application was incomplete and based on outdated information....
Scientists Take Complaints About Interference to Hill Two dozen scientists swarmed over Capitol Hill this week mad as vespinae (hornets) at what they say is Bush administration meddling in environmental science. Organized by the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Endangered Species Coalition, the rumpled researchers won time in the offices of more than 20 lawmakers. They are protesting what Francesca Grifo, director of the Scientific Integrity Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington, calls "the systematic dismantling of the Endangered Species Act through the manipulation and suppression of science." On a dash from the House to the Senate, Grifo said the group wants hearings and better congressional oversight of the Interior Department, where Bush appointees control the fate of threatened and endangered species. The scientists say political appointees at Interior, or those who report to them, have been altering their reports recommending "critical habitat" preservation to favor industries whose interests conflict with the findings....
Inuits reject US environmentalists' bid to protect polar bear Leaders of Canada's Inuit community opposed efforts by US environmentalists to put polar bears on the endangered species list, warning that hunting restrictions would hurt their livelihood. Mary Simon, president of Inuit Tapiriit of Canada, said a petition by environmentalists to the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) seeking to protect the Arctic bears is driven more by politics than ecological imperative. "They're doing this in a very public way by using the polar bear for political reasons against the (George W.) Bush administration over greenhouse gas emissions, and as Inuit, we fundamentally disagree with such tactics," said Simon, whose group represents native Canadians living in northern Quebec and the northwest territories of Yukon, and Nunavut in northern Canada. Duane Smith, president of the Canadian branch of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, which represents about 150,000 Inuit of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Russia, said the polar bears in Canada are hunted humanely and responsibly. "Our hunters and guides benefit economically, and we are able to continue with our culture, enjoy the benefits of what we use, and ensure that this is done in a responsible and sustainable manner," he said, adding that in his view the environmentalists' petition was "meant for publicity."....
Ranchers, rodeo stars gather to honor special Texans Fort Worth is the big city that acts like a small town. It's not like Dallas or Houston--or even San Antonio. It's a place built on the bedrock of tradition, a place where yesterday is as important as tomorrow. So maybe it's no surprise that the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, which works to preserve Western heritage and honors ranching and rodeo heroes, found a home in Cowtown's historic Stockyards District. Now its annual induction ceremony opening just before the Stock Show and the ranch rodeo is becoming one of the city's traditions. Inductees were rodeo star Trevor Brazile of Decatur, who won three world titles in a single year; horse trainer and cutting horse champ Tom Lyons of Grandview; rodeo clown George Doak of Katy and bull rider turned horse trainer; author Carl Nafzger, a Plainview native who trained two Kentucky Derby winners; and cowboy balladeer, historian and author Don Edwards....