Power Switch From light bulbs to clothes washers, the energy law passed by Congress and signed by President Bush in December will change many of the appliances in the average American home. The incandescent light bulb, invented two centuries ago and perfected and popularized by Thomas Edison in the late 1800s, will become a thing of the past by the middle of the next decade. The look of the future? The curvaceous compact fluorescent bulbs that recently have become popular and other bulbs featuring light-emitting diodes or other advanced technologies. The energy law will also bring about important but less noticeable changes in the way clothes washers, dishwashers, boilers and dehumidifiers use energy and water. The goal is to reduce U.S. electricity use, a major source of greenhouse gases that scientists say contribute to global climate change....
Court case a threat to farmers, ranchers Conservation. In Colorado, no word holds more power. We hear and obey appeals to conserve our water, our natural resources, our Western heritage. And yet, in Telluride, conservation now means that agricultural land can be taken without regard for the owner's rights. The land of the farmer and rancher members of the Colorado Farm Bureau has long served as natural open space throughout Colorado. Should the Colorado Supreme Court issue an unfavorable ruling in 2008, agricultural land is at significant risk of being publicly expropriated. The San Miguel Valley Corp. has owned land near Telluride for decades. To date, the current owner has only used the land for agriculture. The property is known as the Valley Floor and sits at the entrance to Telluride. It is beautiful and revered by the citizens of Telluride. But it is not in Telluride, nor does Telluride own any part of it. Yet the wealthy residents of Telluride believe the property should be theirs - and that it should be taken from its current owner to be used as Telluride wishes. Should landowners be forced to give up property under Colorado's eminent domain law for open-space purposes, regardless of their desire to sell? The Colorado legislature has already said no. In 2004, the General Assembly, concerned about abuses of eminent domain power in Colorado, passed a statute restricting the ability of home-rule towns to condemn property outside their boundaries for parks, recreation or open space. The law makes Telluride's taking of the Valley Floor illegal. But a San Miguel County judge declared the statute unconstitutional and the condemnation was allowed to proceed....
Cougar Plan Challenged In Court A group of ranchers and wildlife advocates are suing the state over its plan to kill cougars. A lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon to stop the federal government from killing up to two thousand cougars across the state. One local rancher says that not all angles have been examined and that the cougars are a self-limiting population. Michael Moss is a goat dairy farmer in the Rogue Valley and says that he is behind the lawsuit. "The fact of the matter is, these goats spend everyday from six thirty in the morning until the sun goes down, out roaming the farm right on the edge of BLM land and we've never lost a goat to cougar predation." Moss says landowners can change small things in their behavior so cougars and not encouraged. He suggests bringing in pets at night, not leaving food out on the porch and locking up farm animals...Yes sir, it's real simple. All you sheep and goat ranchers just gather all your livestock each night and make sure they are "locked up". Bring in that stock dog and make sure it's "locked up". Bring in all the mutton, lamb and high priced dog food you've been leaving on the porch and make sure it's "locked up". According to Mr. Moss, the night belongs to the cougars. You only control your property half the time. 'Course, another option would be to "lock up" dumb ass goat farmers.
Texas: Still Number One, Baby For the third consecutive year, Texas was the nation's leader in the amount of wind capacity added to the electric grid. Nearly $3 Billion worth of wind-powered electric generators were installed in Texas during 2007, growing the state's total wind capacity by 59%. Texas' 1,618 megawatts (MW) of new wind power installations were more than twice as much as were added in any other state during this record-shattering year for the U.S. wind industry. The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) reports that 4,356 MW of the nation's 16,818 MW is currently operating in Texas. The state's cumulative wind generating capacity – representing 26% of all wind power installed in the nation – will produce as much electricity as is used by 1 million Texas homes. According to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), there were 3,064 MW of signed commitments made during 2007 to build new wind power plants – a level that is greater than for any other type of new power plant. ERCOT is currently developing plans and cost estimates for new transmission lines that could support much higher levels of wind power in the future as part of the Competitive Renewable Energy Zone (CREZ) process, which is expected to be finalized during 2008. Previous studies by ERCOT suggest that the wind on the drawing board combined with that now operating in Texas could reduce wholesale power costs by more than $1 billion per year while reducing statewide power plant emissions by as much as 5%....
Sayonara cyanide: Poison land mines should be banned They're hollow, spring-loaded land mines, 6-inch-long aluminum cylinders with a lethal dose of sodium cyanide inside. Partially buried, topped with a trigger, covered by cotton impregnated with liquid bait, you'll find them around ranches and farms, on public and private lands, in at least 15 states. When a coyote or fox or pet dog tugs at the device, it unleashes a lethal dose of poison into their mouths, which mixes with saliva to form a gas that causes convulsions, then paralysis, and finally death. The government calls them M-44s. They're part of the arsenal employed by the federal Wildlife Services agency in a long-running, futile attempt to control coyotes and other predators that prey on livestock and poultry. But the devices are indiscriminate killers. The government spends about $10 million a year, and jeopardizes the health and welfare of the public, in order to protect livestock and poultry from predators. A better use of the money would be to compensate ranchers for losses, and teach them to reduce predation by using guard dogs, night penning, fencing and other proven techniques....Yes sir, it's real simple....
Active volcano under ice Although it has not erupted for more than 2000 years, heat from the geologically active Hudson Mountains Subglacial Volcano helps explain why nearby Pine Island Glacier shrinks by more than a kilometre every year, British scientists claim. The discovery follows reports last week that Antarctica's ice cap is melting faster than previously believed. According to those findings, the greatest loss was from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and the Antarctic Peninsula. Together, they lost nearly 200billion tonnes of ice in 2006 alone. Glaciologists Hugh Corr and David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge claim the discovery of the first known subglacial volcanic eruption promises to improve predictions of future sea-level rise caused by the melting of the WAIS. "We believe this was the biggest eruption in Antarctica during the last 10,000 years," Dr Corr said. "It blew a substantial hole in the ice sheet and generated a plume of ash and gas that rose around 12km." The team identified a large layer of volcanic ash in the ice. Additional evidence for the eruption came from ice cores collected across the continent....
Little progress made in clearing Ore. slide or determining cause Railroad and government officials say it's too soon to tell what caused the landslide that buried train tracks outside of Oakridge, choking off one of Oregon's major passenger and freight routes. A broad section of hillside slumped down Saturday morning, obliterating 3,000 feet of Union Pacific-track under a snowy mound of mud and trees more than 20 feet deep. Part of the slide began in an area clear-cut in 1993 and replanted in 1995, said Willamette National Forest spokesman Judy McHugh, though most of slide occurred on Forest Service land that had not been thinned. Geologists had yet to visit the site, hampering any discussion of the slide's cause, she said. Meanwhile, railroad crews were still trying to get their hands around clearing the slide. The tracks are the main connection between Eugene and California for both Union Pacific and Amtrak. Fifteen trains, carrying 33 million gross tons of freight, use the track daily....
Enviromental group praises roadless policies The Wilderness Society celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Roadless Area Conservation policy Tuesday, hailing the rule's resiliency in spite of what it sees as the Bush administration's assaults and touting the areas as essential to Americans looking to escape encroaching development. "When people come to Idaho, it's to experience what our nation was like before it got developed and roaded," said Holly Endersby, an Idaho hunter, angler, horse packer and grandmother. "These opportunities only exist because of the protection that roadless areas provide. I hope my grandchildren will get to travel in wild country like I have." Endersby participated in a teleconference headed by Mike Dombeck, who was Forest Service chief when the rule was enacted. Dombeck said only 3 percent of the land in the United States is more than 17,000 feet from the nearest road and that open space in the nation is being gobbled up at the rate of 10,000 acres a day. Rather than to continue to fight the roadless rule, Dombeck said, "It's time to look to the future. It's time to focus our energies on other areas."....
Number of drilling rigs declines in 2007 For the first time in years, Wyoming saw a decline in drilling for oil, natural gas and coalbed methane last year. Don Likwartz, supervisor of the state Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, blamed the downturn on a lack of space in the pipelines, drillers coming up against environmental restrictions and the lack of new permits to drill on federal land. In 2007, Wyoming averaged 73 rigs a month that were actively drilling for oil and natural gas, down from an average of 99 in 2006. The 73 rigs were the fewest since 2003 when 54 were drilling on average per month. Most of the drilling activity last year was in the Jonah and Pinedale Anticline areas of southwest Wyoming, Likwartz said. Coalbed methane drilling rigs, which are counted separately from the rigs drilling for oil and deeper natural gas, declined from an average of 47 a month in 2006 to 35 in 2007 - the lowest since the state began tracking methane drilling in 1999. Some weeks in 2007 there were no rigs drilling for methane in Wyoming. Likwartz said drilling for oil and deep gas was hampered mainly by a lack of space in pipelines to ship the products....
Opposition reacts to losing forest planners A conservation group is blasting a proposal that could remove scientists and planners from National Forests, including the Bridger-Teton, in favor of consolidated “eco-based service centers” run by private corporations. The restructuring could eliminate thousands of planning and science jobs on National Forests across the country, effectively placing planning efforts governed by the National Environmental Policy Act under private control. Bridger-Teton officials have critiqued proposal, saying the plan isn’t clear and could cause a disconnect between the planning process and the implementation of initiatives on the forest. Congress has effectively choked off funding for the restructuring for this fiscal year, but it could be revived next fall. Forest Service Chief Abigail Kimbell has stated she supports the effort, but is expected to release a clarifying statement later this week. The proposal is based on a feasibility study by a private firm called Management Analysis, Inc....
Bison range talks make some progress Two sides involved in a bitter dispute over the last 2 1/2 years are ready to move forward with negotiations that could again put them working side by side at the National Bison Range. Lead negotiators for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said two days of meetings in Missoula last week went a long way toward re-establishing their trust in one another. A joint news release stressed that the Bison Range, often called the crown jewel of the national wildlife refuge system, would remain a national refuge administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under any new annual funding agreement between the two governments. Opponents of tribal involvement at the range, most notably Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, fear it could be the first step in the weakening or dismantling of the refuge system. "It is important to note that the emerging partnership between the Service and CSKT is a government-to-government relationship and is not a move toward privatization of the National Wildlife Refuge System," said the release, issued by Rob McDonald of the tribes and Matt Kales of the Fish and Wildlife Service. The release said "significant progress" was made in establishing the framework for negotiating a new funding agreement....
Mines are being reopened as gold fever sweeps state Gold fever is sweeping Arizona. Mining companies are scouring the earth, looking for new deposits and working to reopen venerable mines, some with histories that date to territorial days. With the yellow metal selling for just under $900 per ounce, more weekend gold diggers are heading for the hills with pans, picks and metal detectors. Prospecting outfitter Promack Treasure Hunting in Apache Junction has seen its business triple in the past year, and membership in the Superstition Mountain Treasure Hunters gold-panning club has grown to 400 from 70 in the same period. Club leaders say members can return from a weekend of prospecting with $1,000 or more in gold. Demand has pushed up the price of gold as much as 45 percent in the past 12 months and brought a dozen or so mainly Canadian mining companies into the state. While the state is known as one of the world's top copper-producing regions, it also has a gold-mining legacy....
Mining claims soar on Colo. public lands Colorado's mining rush is in full swing. But this time, it's not gold. It's rich deposits of uranium, molybdenum and other hardrock minerals that are luring miners to try their luck in the state's semi- arid public lands as world demand skyrockets. For instance, after decades on hiatus, thousands of prospectors are back on the Western Slope staking claims, eager to tap the area's uranium reserves. The price of uranium, used as raw material inside nuclear reactors, has doubled in recent years as developing nations embrace nuclear energy to power their economies. Uranium claims on Colorado's federal lands, mostly in Montrose and Mesa counties, hit a whopping 10,730 in 2007 from as few as 120 in 2003 and 2,725 in 2005, according to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Overall, new mineral claims on Colorado's public lands have jumped 239 percent since 2003....
Police seek suspect in Black Bear Diner robbery A man who robbed the Black Bear Diner in northeast Bend Friday night may have fled the area in a waiting vehicle, police said after a search by officers, a police dog, deputies, State troopers, and a U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement officer failed to turn up any sign of the suspect. Shortly before 10 p.m. on January 18, Bend Police were called to the popular restaurant at 1465 NE Third Street to the report of a robbery. A female employee told officers that a man of unknown age, possibly Hispanic, entered the diner, demanded money then fled with an undisclosed amount of cash, Sgt. Tom Pine reported. No weapons were displayed and no one was injured in the robbery....The next time you see the Forest Service claim they don't have the budget or the personnel to police Federal lands, ask them how come they are investigating diner robberies.
Pneumonia strikes bighorn sheep Two more dead Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep were found in the Elkhorn Mountains on Monday, raising the total to at least 10 that have died from pneumonia and prompting concerns about a potential die off of the herd. "In the worst-case scenario, based on similar situations throughout the West, we could see what's called an all-age die off, " Tom Carlsen, a wildlife biologist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said Tuesday. "That's because we're seeing adult sheep die as well as younger ones. It can kill almost all of the population. This wouldn't be the first die-off in Montana." Last month, eight bighorn sheep reportedly died in Colorado from pneumonia; New Mexico had an outbreak in 2006. "These are things we as professional biologists and scientists spend a lifetime looking at those, and we don't know what causes them to contract this," Carlsen said. There have been studies done "with wild and domestic sheep together, and almost without exception, when wild sheep and domestic sheep come together, the wild sheep die from pneumonia."....
Aerial hunt clash goes underground For the next week, Alaska wolves are the stars of an underground advertising campaign in the Washington, D.C., subway. The $4,500 campaign promotes federal legislation that would end aerial hunting of wolves, a practice that has been used in Alaska to help improve populations of moose and caribou. The ads are sponsored by the conservation group Defenders of Wildlife, which has used its political-action arm to run commercials in Alaska targeting Republican U.S. Rep. Don Young for his record on environmental and renewable energy issues. For its subway campaign, Defenders picked the Capitol South Metro Station, a strategic location that sees an average of 6,000 commuters each day -- and not just Capitol Hill staffers. Many tourists pass through the stop on their way to visit the Capitol and congressional offices. The ads feature some photos of cuddly wolves as well as a gruesome image of a wolf carcass hanging on the wing of an airplane. They urge support for the federal legislation, sponsored by longtime Young adversary, Rep. George Miller, D-Calif.....
Ranchers battle meat imports Ranchers from across the country are heading to Capitol Hill this week to push back on the Bush administration’s plans to import meat from Argentina despite concerns over foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) proposed a rule in early 2007 to allow into the country imports of meat, primarily mutton and lamb, from Argentina’s southern region of Patagonia. But U.S. cattlemen, citing past cases of infection, worry that the South American nation might bring in contaminated meat and spread the dreaded disease to American herds, decimating the industry. “If we don’t get an answer from USDA, we are going to get Congress to nip this thing in the bud,” said Jess Peterson, director of government affairs for the United States Cattlemen’s Association (USCA). A highly contagious airborne disease that can travel in either fresh or frozen meat, FMD produces lesions in the mouths and hooves of livestock, such as sheep and cattle. Animals can be vaccinated in preparation for a potential outbreak, but once infected, they generally have to be killed and their carcasses burned. Entire herds can be taken out by the disease, resulting in billions of dollars of lost revenue. If the rule is finalized, the USDA expects an average of 13.2 million pounds of sheep meat per year to arrive in the U.S., according to the Argentine government. That would result in a price decline in the U.S. of about 10 cents per pound of lamb and mutton — overall, an annual $17.7 million loss affecting U.S. sheep ranchers....