Wind Farms May Threaten Whooping Cranes Whooping cranes have waged a valiant fight against extinction, but federal officials warn of a new potential threat to the endangered birds: wind farms. Down to about 15 in 1941, the gargantuan birds that migrate each fall from Canada to Texas now number 266, thanks to conservation efforts. But because wind energy has gained such traction, whooping cranes could again be at risk - either from crashing into the towering wind turbines and transmission lines or because of habitat lost to the wind farms. "Basically you can overlay the strongest, best areas for wind turbine development with the whooping crane migration corridor," said Tom Stehn, whooping crane coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The service estimates as many as 40,000 turbines will be erected in the U.S. section of the whooping cranes' 200-mile wide migration corridor....
Daylight Saving Wastes Energy, Study Says Up until two years ago, only 15 of Indiana's 92 counties set their clocks an hour ahead in the spring and an hour back in the fall. The rest stayed on standard time all year, in part because farmers resisted the prospect of having to work an extra hour in the morning dark. But many residents came to hate falling in and out of sync with businesses and residents in neighboring states and prevailed upon the Indiana Legislature to put the entire state on daylight-saving time beginning in the spring of 2006. Indiana's change of heart gave University of California-Santa Barbara economics professor Matthew Kotchen and Ph.D. student Laura Grant a unique way to see how the time shift affects energy use. Using more than seven million monthly meter readings from Duke Energy Corp., covering nearly all the households in southern Indiana for three years, they were able to compare energy consumption before and after counties began observing daylight-saving time. Readings from counties that had already adopted daylight-saving time provided a control group that helped them to adjust for changes in weather from one year to the next. Their finding: Having the entire state switch to daylight-saving time each year, rather than stay on standard time, costs Indiana households an additional $8.6 million in electricity bills. They conclude that the reduced cost of lighting in afternoons during daylight-saving time is more than offset by the higher air-conditioning costs on hot afternoons and increased heating costs on cool mornings....My, my, my. Daylight Savings Time causes increased energy consumption, wind farms slaughter whooping cranes, ethanol consumes more energy than it produces, ethanol creates increased danger and costs for firefighters, and the pythons are coming! Why don't the deep thinkers in DC just leave us alone.
National commission says tribe can't open casino The federal government told an Oklahoma Indian tribe Thursday that it can't open a gambling casino in southern New Mexico. The National Indian Gaming Commission issued a letter to the leader of the Fort Sill Apache Tribe warning that the agency would take enforcement action to close the casino if the tribe opened it even for a few hours. Gov. Bill Richardson released the letter at a news conference and said he hoped the commission's action would end a dispute over whether the tribe could legally operate a casino in New Mexico. The state contends that no gambling whether high-stakes bingo or Las Vegas-style gambling can take place on the tribe's land along Interstate 10 near Deming. ''The ruling today is crucial,'' Richardson said. ''It means that there will be no illegal gaming in New Mexico.'' But Fort Sill Apache Chairman Jeff Houser saw it differently....
Drought forces grazing cutbacks again For the fourth straight year, drought is prompting Forest Service officials to reduce the amount of livestock grazing they will allow on the Fall River Ranger District of the Buffalo Gap National Grassland. The drought looks likely to continue based on the latest forecasts, and vegetation throughout most of the Fall River district is in tough shape after an eight- or nine-year drought, according to Bob Novotny, rangeland specialist for the district. “Nothing in Fall River County looks good right now,” Novotny said. “It’s just because of the drought.” The Fall River District covers roughly 320,000 acres in Fall River, Custer and Pennington counties. The reductions will affect more than 100 ranching operations, Novotny said. He said the reductions in the number of cattle allowed will vary greatly. In the area around Oelrichs, reductions will begin at 30 percent, but there can be adjustments up or down, depending on the range conditions. Some allotments will be cut back 50 percent or more....
Homes may overtake old ranch Back in the early 1970s, when Arizona rancher Don Martin chose to run cattle in northern Pima County, the chances of being squeezed out of business one day seemed remote. That day now looms. The Arizona State Land Department recently announced plans for a 15,900-home development on land that includes the area where Martin's cows graze around his Rail X Ranch. Martin is the only rancher who would be directly affected by the 9,100-acre proposed Arroyo Grande. But the plan, which also includes commercial development, has prompted strong opposition from residents of neighboring Catalina. Martin is philosophical about the development plan. "I can't do anything about it. If it's going to happen, it's going to happen," he said, sounding resigned. Martin owns some private land in the area, he said. But he leases most of it — nearly 26,000 acres of state trust land — for a ranching operation that straddles the Pima-Pinal county line. Like other ranchers, Martin has a 10-year grazing lease the state can cancel at any time. Such leases also can be converted into special land-use permits that allow grazing on a temporary basis, Hogue said. The rancher's lease, which expires in 2015, also could be amended, she said. Doing so would exclude some of the land closer to North Oracle Road, which is slated for development, and allow Martin to keep some of the land....
BLM backs Soda Mountain Wilderness The U.S. Bureau of Land Management supports creating the proposed 23,000-acre Soda Mountain Wilderness in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. Luke Johnson, the agency's deputy director, made the announcement Wednesday while testifying before the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests. "We believe these areas are manageable as wilderness, and we support the designation," Johnson told the subcommittee chaired by U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. Johnson was testifying in response to the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument Voluntary and Equitable Grazing Conflict Resolution Act (Senate Bill 2379), introduced late last year by Wyden and U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore. In addition to creating the wilderness in the 52,947-acre monument, the bill would provide one-time federal payments to ranchers holding BLM grazing leases on the monument. The BLM opposes this portion of the bill. The proposed buyout is $300 per AUM, making the total buyout slightly more than $800,000....
100 more Yellowstone bison captured; total tops 600 One hundred bison were captured for slaughter Thursday as they left Yellowstone National Park, bringing the total captured this winter to 617 under a program to keep the wild animals away from cattle. The Montana livestock industry and government agencies say the bison could transmit a disease that causes some pregnant livestock to abort their calves. With heavy snowfall in Yellowstone this winter, bison have been moving to lower elevations outside the park in search of food. Almost all the animals captured this winter have come from the park's northern herd, including those rounded up Thursday near the town of Gardiner. The herd is one of two in Yellowstone and had roughly 1,500 animals at the start of winter, said Yellowstone spokesman Al Nash. Another 30 bison have been captured on the west side of the park, with more captures planned in coming days. State Department of Livestock officials have said they will run a more aggressive capture program in that area this year....
USDA sued over 'downer' cow rules The Humane Society sued the federal government Wednesday over what it said is a legal loophole that allows sick or crippled cattle, called "downers," into the food supply. A U.S. Department of Agriculture rule change made in July allows some downer cows into the food supply, the Humane Society of the United States alleges in its lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. In 2004, the USDA tightened regulations to prohibit the slaughter of all "downer" cows - animals that cannot stand - after a case of mad cow disease was discovered in Washington state. The lawsuit alleges that under last year's change, cows that fell down after an initial veterinarian inspection but appeared otherwise healthy were allowed to be slaughtered. The lawsuit asks the USDA to close the loophole to protect consumers and ensure the humane treatment of animals. The lawsuit, citing USDA documents, says that even cows whose inability to walk stems from broken limbs are about 50 times more likely to have mad cow disease. The illness weakens their muscles, making them prone to falls....
Re-enactor shares Leap Year ties with Sheriff Pat Garrett It was late morning on Leap Day in 1908, when cowboy Jessie Wayne Brazel walked into the Dona Ana County sheriff's office, laid his Colt .45 on the desk in front of Deputy Sheriff Felipe Lopez, and declared he had killed Pat Garrett. At first, Lopez thought it was a joke, until Brazel's companion, Carl Adamson, confirmed the story that led to Brazel's arrest. Today, 100 years later, the life and times of Pat Garrett, best known for killing Billy the Kid, is memorialized by Ron Grimes, a former Carlsbad educator and an avid historian of the early west, through his portrayal and reenactment of Garrett's deeds. According to the Web site www.westernoutlaw.com, author Chuck Hornung notes that it was a Saturday, about mid-morning, when 57-year-old Pat Garrett met his fate at a mesquite-covered desert crossroads called Alameda Arroyo on the desolate mail road located a few miles east of Las Cruces. A short time after Brazel turned himself in, a sheriff's posse found Garrett lying on his back, dead. Brazel claimed Garrett was about to shoot him with his shotgun when he, in self defense, was force to shoot the former lawman in the back. Brazel was put on trial, but with powerful allies in his corner who hated Garrett, Brazel was acquitted of Garrett's murder following a jury trial....