Foggy Science In London Back in London, though, the world’s oldest science academy, the Royal Society of London, recently has become a vocal advocate of climate alarmism. RS fellows have included Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin. But, under the previous leadership of Lord Robert May, the Society seems to have taken a wrong turn. They even tried to enlist other science academies into joining them in an alarmist manifesto. However, the U.S. National Academy, though sharing some of these views, decided not to sign up, and the Russian Academy of Sciences has taken an opposing position. In June 2007, the Royal Society published a pamphlet, titled “Climate Change Controversies: a simple guide,” designed to undermine the scientific case of climate skeptics. They presented what they called “misleading arguments” on global warming and then tried to shoot them down. In countering the RS pamphlet, I have prepared a response that is being published tomorrow by the London-based Centre for Policy Studies under the title “Not so simple? A scientific response to the Royal Society’s paper.” Throughout, the Royal Society has relied heavily on the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which used to be regarded as a reliable source of scientific information. The RS thus adopts the IPCC claim that current warming is almost certainly anthropogenic (human-caused) but presents no independent evidence to support such a claim. In its pamphlet, the Royal Society purports to speak on behalf of a consensus of scientists. But no such consensus exists. Direct polling of climate scientists has shown that about 30% are “skeptical” of anthropogenic global warming. More than 31,000 American scientists recently signed the Oregon Petition, which expresses doubt about the major conclusions of the IPCC, and opposes the drastic mitigation demands of the Kyoto Protocol and the proposed “cap-and-trade” legislation of the U.S. Congress. My response to the RS is based on the work of some two dozen independent climate scientists from 16 nations who contributed to the report of the Non-governmental International Panel on Climate Change, or NIPCC, titled “Nature, Not Human Activity, Rules the Climate.” NIPCC corrects many of the errors and misstatements made in the IPCC report, discusses evidence ignored by the IPCC, and cites evidence available since May 2006, the cut-off date for the latest IPCC Report of May 2007....
Publishing convention not quite green BookExpo America, the publishing industry's annual showcase and trend-spotter, is admittedly a little behind in the race to go green. This weekend's convention in Los Angeles will include much discussion about the environment. Three panels will review recent trends and initiatives and a featured speaker, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, will promote his new book, "Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution - and How It Can Renew America." Virtually every major publisher, from Random House Inc. to Scholastic Inc., has announced environmental goals, mostly through the increased use of recycled paper and fiber from forests certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, an international environmental organization. But the revolution has not quite arrived at BookExpo. Around 30,000 event guides, just over 40 pages long, will be distributed at the Los Angeles Convention Center, along with 19,000 copies of the 700-page program guide. More than 10 million pages in all will be printed, none on recycled paper....
Odd Falcon Behavior May be Linked to Chemicals Used to Fight Wildfires New research on wild falcons has uncovered strange behavior which may be linked to chemicals used in wildfire suppression. Last year a digital video camera mounted in a remote area of western Montana by wildlife biologist Byron Crow captured an established peregrine falcon pair nesting in an cliff aerie, Crow said. It was rare footage because of its intimacy and volume—weeks of 24-hour-a-day recordings from a few feet away. Crow’s camera recorded the mother falcon lay its first clutch—four eggs. At first, the camera captured what might be termed “awesome but regular” falcon doings. The wild peregrine falcons ate fish, for instance, which was new to researchers of the bird. More interestingly, the peregrines allowed pack rats to clean out their nests. The rats actually collected bones and other stuff under the beaks of the birds. “Then the first egg starts hatching. The mother looks at the chick, and as soon as it moves, she destroys it and eats it. Pardon my language, but we were, like, s---!” Crow said. “Then she destroys the other eggs and eats the material.”....
Judge partially rejects claims over endangered falcon A federal judge has rejected part of a challenge by environmental groups to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision to designate the northern aplomado falcon as a nonessential, experimental population in New Mexico and Arizona. U.S. District Judge William Johnson last week denied claims that the agency violated the Endangered Species Act by not responding to a petition from the environmentalists within a set period and did not rely on the best science in designating the population in the two states as experimental. Johnson, however, agreed with the environmentalists' argument that Fish and Wildlife unlawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed action on critical habitat for the bird in Texas. He stressed that his decision meant only that Fish and Wildlife is required to answer the environmental groups' 2002 petition within 30 days. Johnson said Friday he was not requiring the agency to designate critical habitat in Texas....
ONDA wins grazing injunction A U.S. District Court judge is barring cows from two grazing allotments in the Malheur National Forest (MNF) this summer. The May 16 injunction ordered by Judge Ancer L. Haggerty is intended to protect fish habitat, but observers say it comes as part of a larger movement to challenge grazing rights on public lands across the West. "This was a real blow," said Loren Stout, a Dayville rancher who won't be able to turn his cows onto the forest as he had planned on July 15. "They are putting an industry in jeopardy." Haggerty granted a temporary restraining order and injunction on two MNF allotments, one in the Murderers Creek area and the other on the Lower Middle Fork John Day River. The injunction affects six permittees who had been given permission to run cattle between June and October. The injunction was sought by the Oregon Natural Desert Association (ONDA), the Center for Biological Diversity and the Western Watersheds Project, which contend that the grazing practices threaten habitat for steelhead and bull trout, two species of fish that are federally listed for protection. They also contend that the U.S. Forest Service isn't adequately monitoring the conditions of the allotments and any damages caused by grazing....
Delisting of wolves raises hackles Ever since humankind first huddled around a fire, the eerie howl and piercing amber eyes of wolves have been both fascinating and fearsome. Today, some of those primal emotions are at play as ranchers and politicians, bureaucrats and environmental activists work out the future of Canis lupus in the northern Rocky Mountains. Like many contested issues involving wildlife, this one is in federal court. Federal agencies, affected state governments, and ranching and hunting interests say there are so many gray wolves in the Rockies now that it’s time to remove them from the list of endangered species. Wolf advocates say it’s too soon to do that, and later this week a federal judge in Missoula, Mont., will decide how the case should proceed. In many parts of the rural West, the federal government controls much of the landscape (64 percent of Idaho), and Uncle Sam is seen as big brother imposing an environmentalist view. “It should be the people in Idaho deciding whether we have wolves or not,” says Rex Rammell, a veterinarian, former elk rancher, and independent candidate for the US Senate seat being vacated by Larry Craig (R). A native Idahoan and lifelong hunter who lives in Rexburg, Idaho, Dr. Rammell contradicts official reports in asserting that elk and moose herds in many places have dropped substantially due to wolves. He also takes a strict state-rights position: “All of these western states should have the land turned over to them.”....
Ranchers go to court over bison Cattle ranchers upset over a herd of bison still lingering outside Yellowstone National Park went to court Wednesday, seeking to compel the Montana Department of Livestock to move the animals and accusing the agency of jeopardizing the state's brucellosis-free status. The Department of Livestock said it already planned within days to haze the bison into the park and off of private land whose owners want the state to leave the animals alone. To do so would be a violation of a federal-state agreement that calls for killing or removing bison that migrate outside Yellowstone to prevent the spread of brucellosis – a disease that can cause cows to abort their calves. Since February, 1,728 Yellowstone bison have been killed or removed under the program. "They have to be hazed back in, captured or shot," said Errol Rice with the Montana Stockgrowers Association. "Now's the time to be extremely cautious, not more tolerant of bison in Montana." For the last three years, state officials have allowed bison to linger outside the park past a May 15 deadline outlined in the 2000 federal-state agreement. On Wednesday, the stockgrowers group and two ranchers went to court in Helena to compel the Department of Livestock to comply with the agreement – just hours before the state said between 85 and 100 of the animals would be pushed back into the park from 700 acres owned by the Galanis family....
Court rulings resolve little in packhorse flap In the ongoing legal battle between the U.S. Forest Service and environmental groups over commercial horsepacking in two Sierra Nevada wilderness areas, the only loser seems to be the taxpayer. Months after throwing out a $7.5 million plan to manage horsepacking in the John Muir and Ansel Adams wilderness areas, a federal judge has ordered only slim reductions in usage levels for commercial operators. In her May 8 ruling, Judge Elizabeth D. Laporte reinstated the Forest Service's 2001 management plan and trimmed trail quotas for commercial stock use by 5%. Laporte's latest decision, however, seems unlikely to halt the 8-year-old tussle between environmental groups, the Forest Service and 17 horsepacking outfits. Last October, Laporte ordered the Forest Service to vacate its 2005 management plan, ruling that some elements violated federal laws designed to protect wilderness areas. She ruled the plan allowed for "significantly increased commercial packstock use in some parts of the wilderness, including areas previously recognized by the Forest Service as already being heavily damaged from excessive stock use." By reverting to the 2001 plan, horsepack operators again will be governed by a trail quota system that limits the number of stock that can enter a trail on a single day....
New Threat To Spotted Owl Exposed A new study provides a baseline distribution of blood parasites and strains in Spotted Owls, suggesting a more fragile immune health than previously understood for the already threatened Northern and California Spotted Owls. The study, co-authored by San Francisco State University biologists, is the first to show a Spotted Owl infected with an avian malaria (Plasmodium) parasite. According to the researchers, the infected Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) may have been exposed to the parasite by coming into contact with mosquitoes that fed on a Barred Owl (Strix varia). The increasingly invasive Barred Owls compete with Spotted Owls for food and nesting sites. Ishak and Sehgal expect their findings will prompt more research into this species and enhance general knowledge of the role and effects of blood-borne pathogens in wild bird populations....
Climate Change to Bring Storm to US Livestock The U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) released the report entitled: "Synthesis and Assessment Product 4.3 (SAP 4.3): The Effects of Climate Change on Agriculture, Land Resources, Water Resources, and Biodiversity in the United States." "The report issued today provides practical information that will help land owners and resource managers make better decisions to address the risks of climate change," said Agriculture Chief Economist Joe Glauber. The report finds that climate change is already affecting U.S. water resources, agriculture, land resources, and biodiversity, and will continue to do so. USDA agencies are responding to the risks of climate change. For example, the Forest Service is incorporating climate change risks into National Forest Management Plans and is providing guidance to forest managers on how to respond and adapt to climate change. The Natural Resources Conservation Service and Farm Services Agency are encouraging actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon sequestration through conservation programs. USDA's Risk Management Agency has prepared tools to manage drought risks and is conducting an assessment of the risks of climate change on the crop insurance program....
Air quality concerns halt drilling A Denver energy company's plan to drill hundreds of natural gas wells in Nine Mile Canyon should not proceed until an environmental study is rewritten to include more information about air quality, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says. In a May 23 letter to Selma Sierra, the Utah director of the federal Bureau of Land Management, EPA Region 8 administrator Robert Roberts said BLM's draft environmental impact study (EIS) for the West Tavaputs Plateau full-field development didn't satisfy requirements of the Clean Air Act. The EPA is particularly concerned with a study finding that the Bill Barrett Corp. project would cause only very small increases in ground-level ozone, a conclusion EPA said "is not technically defensible." The EPA's recommendation could slow Bill Barrett Corp.'s plan to drill 807 wells on 138,000 acres. The public land includes Nine Mile Canyon, which holds more than 10,000 known Ancient Puebloan rock-art images and ruins. But Duane Zavadil, Bill Barrett's vice president for government and regulatory affairs, said the unprecedented action makes no sense because EPA's new ozone standards mean hundreds of counties across the nation now are out of compliance with the Clean Air Act. "Is it appropriate to require this sort of project-specific ozone analysis?" Zavadil said. "The notion that we should go back and remodel and say the same thing is in my opinion tantamount to obstructionism and bullying by the EPA. The models aren't meant to be regulatory tools."....
Ranchers use sun to power water pumps Though ranchers want rain, the hot, sunny weather has been helping some of them get water to cattle in remote pastures. Velva-based Verendrye Electric Cooperative started installing solar-powered pasture well systems for its members in 1991, after about 10 years of studying the idea. More than 130 systems are installed in Verendrye’s seven-county area around Minot. Tom Jespersen, the co-op’s energy adviser, said about 50 or 60 more will be installed this year. AP photo Randy Hauck, left, member service manager, and Tom Jespersen, energy adviser, both of Verendrye Electric Cooperative, stand next to a solar-powered pasture well west of Velva Thursday. Randy Hauck, a member service manager for Veren-drye, said the company was looking for alternatives to building power lines to remote sites....
USDA Opens Conservation Reserve Land to Grazing, Haying The USDA today announced that it will authorize 24 million acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, about 65 percent, to be grazed or hayed for “critical feed” for livestock. The agency cites rising crop prices, high demand for feed and steep competition for acres as its reasons for opening up the CRP lands. The USDA estimates the critical use program will generate 18 million tons of feed worth $1.2 billion. For the 2008 season, 36.8 million acres are enrolled in CRP, which pays landowners to take their land out of production for 10-15 years to restore habitat, curb erosion and improve water quality. For 2007 enrollments, landowners will get a total of $1.8 million in rental payments, at an average of of $49.49 per acre and per farm, about $4,130 a year, according to recent USDA statistics....
Ritter's animal care bill ensures that farmers and ranchers have a voice Governor Ritter's recent signing of a new farm practices bill was welcome news to Colorado farmers and ranchers. It will, over the long term, help make sure our agriculture and livestock community has a strong voice in the regulation of animal care practices in this state. That seems entirely reasonable. After all, farmers and ranchers have a rich heritage in Colorado, and that heritage is inseparable from the well-being of the livestock we raise. It's only natural we care for the interests of our animals and consider their humane treatment one of our greatest responsibilities. As any farmer or rancher could tell you, animals don't know about holidays, days off or vacations. They need care twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year. They need care on the snowiest winter nights and the hottest summer days. It's hard work. But it's what we do to ensure the health and safety of our animals. In the last few years, concerns have been raised about some of the standard practices we've used for many years in raising farm animals. All of these practices, it's important to note, have been developed over time by livestock veterinarians and other animal scientists. And while in most cases the people who are raising these concerns are well meaning, they're not farmers or ranchers, haven't raised livestock or lived around farm animals, and don't know how much care we give them....