Global Warming Threat to US Security, Liberals Claim Global warming is one of the greatest threats to U.S. national security and the world, according to a panel of well-known environmentalists who spoke Tuesday at the self-described "progressive" Take Back America conference in Washington, D.C. In their discussion, "Global Warming: Meeting a Real and Present Danger," the panelists warned that, despite a rising movement to debunk the theory of global warming as a myth, climate change threatens America's security. Two panelists also claimed that no matter the outcome of November elections, U.S. environmental policy will improve. John Podesta, president/CEO of the liberal America Center of Progress and former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, called global warming a "severe national security problem" and noted that President Bush, who has made national security a top priority, has nonetheless nearly ignored the problem of climate change. Nonetheless, said Podesta, "I am confident in 2009 we will have government that will take on global warming. At least all three candidates believe there is a problem this time. The next president is going to have to show that this is, overall, a top priority in the government."....
Death by Environmentalism For the last half century, the environmentalist movement has been a dominant influence on the cultural and political scene. This is widely viewed as a blessing, whose progressive result has been without exception the improvement of our society. John Berlau has written a book aimed at kicking that smug sense of green achievement smack in the teeth. Berlau makes a sharp and vigorous presentation of the view that the environmentalist movement has had some very unfortunate consequences. He begins by reviewing the history of the successful campaign by environmentalist organizations to demonize DDT and other pesticides. DDT was first discovered in the 1870s and found to be a potent insecticide in the 1930s. But it was the U.S. military that pushed its mass production at the outbreak of World War II. With the troops facing both malaria and typhus — which had killed millions in World War I — the army knew it had to find some way to combat the vectors, i.e., the disease-carrying insects (lice and mosquitoes). It gave the assignment to Merck, and one of Merck's top chemists (Joseph Jacobs) was able to set up a plant to mass produce DDT. Starting in 1943, DDT was widely used; it stopped a number of wartime typhus epidemics. It was then used worldwide in the 1950s and early 1960s to stop malaria, which it almost eliminated. But after Rachel Carson's popular book "Silent Spring" (1962), in which she alleged that DDT and other pesticides were killing wildlife and hinted that they were causing cancer in people, DDT was banned. Berlau covers in detail a number of other issues, with arguments that are sure to rile environmentalist tempers. He argues that cars are a Godsend and that big cars save lives. He suggests that environmentalists (especially such people as "population guru" Paul Ehrlich) have a not-so-hidden agenda of stopping people from having children, viewing children as a kind of pollution. He supports the view that far from there being a shortage of trees, "There has never been a better time for forests and wildlife" (155). He argues, indeed, that because we have fossil fuels, we don't have to chop down trees for fuel. Moreover, he holds that the biggest threat to forests is the environmentalists themselves, because they fight the harvesting of old growth, leaving forests more prone to disastrous fires....
Americans Cool to Global Warming Action, New Poll Finds Forty-eight percent of Americans are unwilling to spend even a penny more in gasoline taxes to help reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new nationwide survey released today by the National Center for Public Policy Research. The poll found just 18% of Americans are willing to pay 50 cents or more in additional taxes per gallon of gas to reduce greenhouse emissions. U.S. Representative John Dingell (D-MI), chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, has called for a 50 cent per gallon increase in the gas tax. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, transportation accounts for 33% of the U.S.'s man-made carbon dioxide emissions. Over 60% of these emissions - or about 20% of all U.S. carbon dioxide emissions - result from burning gasoline in personal automobiles. "With one-fifth of all U.S. CO2 emissions coming from light trucks and cars, any serious effort to significantly reduce U.S. emissions would have to encourage fuel conservation in personal automobiles," said David A. Ridenour, vice president of the National Center for Public Policy Research. "But almost half of all Americans oppose spending more for gasoline, despite polls indicating wide public concern over global warming. These results suggest Americans' concern may not be as deep as we've been led to believe." Opposition to increased gasoline taxes was especially strong among minorities, with 53% of African-Americans indicating they are unwilling to pay higher gas taxes in any amount. Eighty-four percent of blacks and 78% of Hispanics opposed paying an additional 50 cents or more for their gasoline....
Hunting is just one way to manage wolf packs It wasn’t unusual for one or two lambs to go missing every other year on Eric Wallis’ 600-acre sheep farm in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. But six years ago, 46 lambs disappeared. The next year, 51 went missing. Wallis searched in vain for their carcasses, until he found one, torn up and barely alive. That was all Wallis needed to identify the culprits: wolves. In search of a way to keep the wolves at bay, Wallis turned to Central Michigan University wolf biologist Thomas Gehring—an expert when it comes to non-lethal methods of preventing livestock predation. Gehring suggested that Wallis invest in four Great Pierney guard dogs. Since the dogs have been protecting the herd, Wallis hasn’t lost any lambs. “They’re naturals at protecting our sheep. We still find wolf tracks outside my fences, but the presence of my dogs and their marking of the territory is enough to keep the wolves out,” Wallis says. Non-lethal management includes using guard dogs, putting shock collars on wolves so they won’t enter livestock owners’ property, and setting off loud noises to frighten the animals. Fladry is another approach: flags, each 18-inches long, hang off a rope encircling a pasture. “With just a little bit of wind, it turns into this big moving thing,” says Gehring. “A wolf is probably a little freaked out by it.” All of these techniques have been shown to keep wolves away from livestock—at least for a while. Gehring has found shock collars work for about 40 days, and fladry is effective for up to three months....
Group of wolves sighted in Utah, but is it a pack? Wolves may finally be making a permanent home in the Beehive State for the first time since the Great Depression era. While sightings of individual wolves in Utah have been steady for years, particularly since the reintroduction of the animals at Yellowstone National Park, the endangered animals generally haven't stayed in state. Instead, they've crossed into Utah and then back into Wyoming, Montana or Idaho, where larger wolf populations reside. But a recent report of five wolves spotted near the Dutch John Airport in Daggett County have wildlife experts wondering if a wolf pack is establishing territory in Utah, said Kevin Bunnell, mammals program director for the Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR). "We do think it was a credible sighting and we've done a lot of follow-up to try to confirm," Bunnell said Wednesday. A pilot headed to Dutch John Airport spotted what he believed to be three gray and two black wolves traveling in a remote section of the county at the end of February, said Bunnell....
Group sues to protect prairie dog A Western conservation group has filed suit in federal court in Washington, D.C., to force Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to respond an August 2007 petition to list the black-tailed prairie dog under the Endangered Species Act. The lawsuit filed by WildEarth Guardians on March 13 claims the department has failed to meet a 90-day finding deadline required under the ESA. The suit also claims that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, overseen by the Interior Department, ignored scientific evidence supporting the need for federal protection for the species and overturned earlier findings due to political pressure. In the complaint, the group claims that from 2000 to 2004, the black-tailed prairie dog was listed as a candidate for endangered protection but was removed after a Fish and Wildlife survey of seven complexes, or groups of prairie dog colonies, determined the future of the species was secure. Nicole Rosmarino, wildlife program director for WildEarth Guardians in Santa Fe, N.M., said the species has faced new threats since the 2004 removal decision including widespread poisoning, shooting and other removal methods by government agencies as well as populations decimated from nonnative disease. The group is filing suit after six months of waiting for a finding in hopes of getting results for what Rosmarino calls a "species on the brink."....
Pushing the envelope U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave wants to know why Congress' ban on activities promoting the expansion of Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site appears toothless. The Colorado congresswoman, whose district includes counties near Fort Carson's proposed expansion area in southeast Colorado, has sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, in an effort to find out. Among Musgrave's concerns: Why was consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton early this year posting a Colorado Springs job for an "Army Land Expansion Project Manager" to handle the "land acquisition process" for Piñon Canyon? Musgrave, a Republican, teamed up last year with U.S. Rep. John Salazar, a southern Colorado Democrat, to secure a 383-34 House vote preventing "any action that is related to or promotes" the expansion of the site in 2008. The Senate passed the Military Construction Appropriations Act with the same language, and President Bush signed it into law. But later, when the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008 was finalized, it included authorization for Piñon Canyon expansion studies as pushed by U.S. Rep. Mark Udall and Sens. Ken Salazar and Wayne Allard, starting with an initial analysis by the Army due in July. Musgrave is questioning why all these expansion-related activities are apparently trumping the spirit of her law....The power of the purse is one of the few powers Congress hasn't delegated. Apparently the military, in their quest to acquire ever more territory, feels they can spend the money whether it's authorized or not. No doubt the two Senators and Udall muddied the water with their language requesting a study. Do they really think the will get a factual, objective "study"?
Crossfire -- Water, Power, and Politics On Saturday, there will be a Eyewitness News I-Team special titled "Crossfire: Water, Power, and Politics." This is an in-depth examination of how Las Vegas growth is going to affect vast areas of the American Southwest. Rural Nevada is facing two dramatic challenges, both of which are directly related to our community's relentless growth. One proposal would siphon billions of gallons of water from environmentally-sensitive but politically weak rural counties. At the same time, plans are moving forward to build three, massive coal-fired power plants in the same areas. Most rural residents believe their land, their air and their way of life are threatened by both. Las Vegas leaders say the economy of the entire state could collapse if the plans are thwarted. No matter which side is right, our state will never be the same. Every resident, every business, whether urban or rural, has a direct stake in the outcome. The issues involved are the most important of our time; global warming, conservation, growth, sustainability, economic justice versus economic realities, how to plan for the future. The decisions made in the next few years will affect the lives of millions of people for the next century and beyond, so it's important to get it right....
Friends of Nevada Wilderness expects major changes to proposal "Based on the feedback we have received," the Friends of Nevada Wilderness has reported it expects some major changes are "likely" in the Lyon-Mineral wilderness maps as it is fully expected some areas on the maps will not be designated as wilderness. "Let me state first that I think there is a great deal of misinformation and confusion about what wilderness is and about the current public lands process in Lyon and Mineral County," said Brian Beffort, Associated Director for the Reno staff of FNW. Beffort explained that when a public lands bill process is being considered by the Congressional delegation and the counties, the Nevada Wilderness Coalition, of which Friends of Nevada Wilderness is one member organization, "works to identify areas in the county with high wilderness values (as defined by the 1964 Wilderness Act)." "We do preliminary mapping and field work, but that is just a beginning," Beffort said. "We then share these initial proposals with others. Our goal is to get feedback on our proposal and begin more detailed discussions with ranchers and other public land users to learn how these lands are being used. Many of these uses may be compatible with wilderness; some many not be."....
Off-road vehicle fight rages over trails, taxes From the air, the desert around the Estrella Mountains is a tangle of dirt roads, looping around and crossing back on each other haphazardly. Trails carve up the foothills, scratching through the green flush of springtime growth to expose bare ground. From an airplane window, state Rep. Jerry Weiers sighed. "With the city of Buckeye expanding, this area is going to get hammered," said Weiers, a Glendale Republican. The hammer is coming from off-highway vehicle use, and it's coming down hard. OHV ownership has skyrocketed in Arizona, and with it has come increasing ridership on lands that weren't necessarily designed for motorized vehicles. "The problem is they don't have any idea where to go or not go," said Jeff Gursh, a volunteer with the Arizona Off-Highway Vehicle Coalition. "Rogue trails" have been carved out by people heading out on their OHVs, only to be followed by others, and then others - and before you know it, there's a trail where none was intended. Weiers looked at this expanding network of trails spun like spiderwebs across desert and mountain. What he saw was disaster....
Preserving Wildlife Routes Long before windmills festooned the San Gorgonio Pass, before Interstate 10 barreled through it and before homes and strips malls sprouted, animals rambled freely between the San Bernardino and San Jacinto mountains searching for food, mates and shelter. They still do, although they have to maneuver around some obstacles. The Pass and some of its mountain canyons are among the 15 wildlife linkages between the southern Sierra Nevada and the Mexican border that are considered key to keeping native species thriving and preventing their extinction, according to a report released Wednesday by South Coast Wildlands, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization that focuses on connecting wildlife habitat. "Essentially, if one of these linkages is lost, it reduces the ecological integrity of the entire network," said Kristeen Penrod, conservation director for South Coast Wildlands. In 2000, land managers, conservancy groups and academic and government scientists from such agencies as the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service and state parks gathered at the San Diego Zoo. There, they identified 232 wildlife linkages in California, 69 of them in Southern California....
Firefighting Burns Through Forest Service Budget This year’s wildfire season is about to begin, and Congress is scrambling to figure out how to stop it from consuming the U.S. Forest Service’s budget. Over the past decade, the Forest Service has devoted an increasing share of its annual funding toward putting out large, catastrophic fires. The service requested nearly $2 billion for wildland fire suppression in fiscal 2009, or 48 percent of its discretionary account. Firefighting accounted for only 13 percent of the total in 1991. “We’re approaching the majority of the budget,” said Rep. Raul M. Grijalva, D-Ariz. “It’s becoming a fire department.” Nine million acres burned across the United States last year, and experts see little reason to believe that 2008 will be any different. Climate change and drought are creating longer and more intense fire seasons, while a century of fire suppression has made the forests more susceptible to burning, experts say. An even more important factor is development in wooded areas, known as the “wildland-urban interface,” said Mark E. Rey, undersecretary for Natural Resources and the Environment at the Agriculture Department. This means the Forest Service has to use more personnel and equipment to stop houses from burning down....
Conservationist: Federal agencies reneg on bison plan An eight-year-old plan to give bison grazing room outside Yellowstone National Park has never been put in place because promised federal funding hasn’t materialized. Federal agencies are reneging on the agreement, a conservationist said this week. The Interagency Bison Management Plan adopted in 2000, aimed at limiting the spread of disease from bison to cattle, provided for a $2.8 million, 30-year lease of grazing rights for the Yellowstone herds on the Royal Teton Ranch adjacent to the park. The lease would allow the bison to migrate onto an additional 7,500 acres of winter habitat. The plan was adopted and signed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the Montana Department of Livestock. “It’s not in the budget,” said Bruce Knight, undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs for APHIS. Knight said his agency’s entire budget for managing brucellosis, a disease that causes bison and cattle to abort, is less than $9 million. In addition to bison removal, the service has been seeking a “meaningful long-term solution without the need for land acquisition,” Knight said, referring to efforts to develop a vaccination protocol for bison. Brucellosis has been fully eradicated nationwide except for remnants in the greater Yellowstone area, he said....
Beef merger worries ranchers Wyoming cattlemen concerned about consolidation in the meatpacking industry said they're worried by a Brazilian company's bid to buy out two rivals and become the nation's largest meatpacker. Meanwhile, U.S. Sens. Mike Enzi and John Barrasso have asked Attorney General Michael Mukasey to make sure that the Justice Department closely reviews JBS SA's proposed $1.1 billion buyout of Smithfield Beef Group Inc. and National Beef Packing Co. The senators said they wanted to ensure a fair and open market in the beef industry. They're particularly concerned about $565 million in the deal that would be paid for Smithfield Beef Group Inc. That would give JBS full control of Five Rivers Ranch Cattle Feeding LLC, made up of 10 feedlots in five states with capacity for 811,000 head of cattle. The nation's largest meatpacker would then control the nation's largest feedlot company. Many Wyoming ranchers do business with the five Colorado feedlots owned by Five Rivers....
Tack Room owner retiring after 37 years For nearly four decades, Mendocino and Lake county residents seeking specialty Western wear, saddles and silver accoutrements knew they could find them at the Tack Room in Ukiah. Those days are coming to an end. After 37 years, Dee Runnings is closing the business she owns with her husband, Bob. "It's the end of an era," said Potter Valley rancher and former state Farm Bureau President Bill Pauli. The local feed stores and a small shop in Redwood Valley carry Western clothing and tack, but none has the amount and variety Runnings carries. "They've got really unique stuff," Pauli said. "You knew you could go there and find something really special." Runnings said she's loved running the store, but, at the age of 80, it's time to retire. Her husband, 86, retired 10 years ago. "We're folding up," said Runnings, a petite, vivacious woman with a ready smile. Runnings said she hoped someone would keep the Tack Room going, but she was unable to find a buyer. So she's selling everything between now and May 15, including display items collected, donated or dropped off by customers over the years....
Cattle Towns: Dalhart, Texas Dalhart, the county seat of Dallam County, straddles the border of Dallam and Hartley counties in the northwest corner of the Texas Panhandle. The original settlement was platted early in 1901 by W. J. Blair and Charles W. Thornton when the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway built west from Liberal, Kansas, and crossed the Fort Worth and Denver City line. The site of the crossing was known for a time as Twist Junction. J. H. Conlen supervised the laying of the Rock Island tracks and made an old boxcar into a section house on the site. Later the settlement was named Denrock, a combination of the names of the two railroads; in 1901 Robert B. Edgell named his new newspaper the Denrock Sun. But when postal authorities objected, the town adopted the name Dalhart, combining the first syllables of the names of the two counties in which it is located. On June 11, 1901, Ora D. Atkinson and other promoters incorporated the Dalhart Town Company, and the first and only sale of lots was held on July 20. Dalhart was incorporated as a town on May 6, 1902, and as a city on April 6, 1904. It replaced Texline as Dallam county seat, as a result of an election on February 21, 1903. From that time on, Dalhart quickly grew as a shipping center for the XIT Ranch and other area ranches. The activities of the W. P. Soashqv Land Company also contributed significantly to Dalhart's progress. C. E. Williams, a noted well driller, built the town's first water tower in 1906. Previously, it had been necessary to buy water at twenty cents a barrel from barrels lining the railroad tracks....
It’s The Pitts: RecyclaBull Some women say that bulls are a lot like men; they’re only good for one thing and after they’re done doing that then what do you do with them? While I don’t agree with that analogy I do think that bulls have a lot in common with British Royalty: other than their breeding they aren’t good for anything. After the breeding season is over bulls are as worthless as a Christmas Tree on December 26, an empty piñata, a pumpkin the day after Halloween and hard boiled eggs after Easter Sunday. After bulls are pulled from the cows they require separate pastures and special treatment. They fight worse than Congress and do almost as much damage. In the off season they tear up fences, feeders, horses and cowboys. To add insult to injury they require expensive extra feed to get back in shape. On second thought, maybe they are like men. They sit around eating and causing trouble and the only time they show any interest at all in doing anything other than sleeping, eating and tearing up stuff is during breeding season. My wife says it’s exactly like men during football season. Ever since man and woman first domesticated cattle they have tried to come up with creative ways to get rid of “the bull problem”. They have run the bulls with the cows all year, leased bulls or sent them to a feedlot and let other people suffer the damages. In a few extreme cases bulls drove some cattlemen so insane they sold their cows and started raising sheep. It’s my belief that there simply have to be other solutions that stop short of smelling like a Southdown sheep at all times....