Climate change threatens two-thirds of California's unique plants, study says Two-thirds of California's unique plants, some 2,300 species that grow nowhere else in the world, could be wiped out across much of their current geographic ranges by the end of the century because of rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns, according to a new study. The species that cannot migrate fast enough to higher altitudes or cooler coastal areas could face extinction because of greenhouse gas emissions that are heating the planet, according to researchers. California's flora face a potential "collapse," said David Ackerly, an ecologist at UC Berkeley who was the senior author of the paper. "As the climate changes, many of these plants will have no place to go." Half of the plant species that are unique to the continental United States grow only in the Golden State, from towering redwoods to slender fire poppies. And under likely climate scenarios, many would have to shift 100 miles or more from their current range -- a difficult task given slow natural migration rates and obstacles presented by suburban sprawl. The study, published Tuesday in the peer-reviewed on-line journal PLoS One, is the first to analyze the effect of climate change on all of the plants unique to one of the world's most biologically diverse areas. Previous models have focused on fewer species in areas such as the eastern United States, Europe, South Africa and Australia....
EPA Report: Climate Change Manageable if Agencies Act Now Climate change will eventually force federal and state agencies to change their resource management strategies as ecosystems adapt to a warmer planet, warns a new Environmental Protection Agency report. In Utah and across the West, an uptick in wildfires blamed on global warming is significantly impacting how the Forest Service operates, says Dave Meyers, the Uintah-Wasatch-Cache National Forest Deputy Supervisor. "Nearly half of our budget now in the U.S. Forest Service goes to wild-land fire suppression," Meyers says. "That's a real large part, recognizing we're a multiple-use agency and we have many other parts to our agency managing other resources: recreation - incredible amounts of outdoor recreation - wildlife fisheries, range management." Both the frequency and severity of wildfires have increased, and climate scientists anticipate it will only get worse in the future. However, the new EPA report also has some good news for public resource managers. Strategies currently in place to mitigate the impact of other environmental stresses, such as invasive species, pollution and habitat loss, also help guard against the effects of climate change, says Joel Scheraga, director of the EPA's Global Change Research Project....
Florida Buying Big Sugar Tract for Everglades The dream of a restored Everglades, with water flowing from Lake Okeechobee to Florida Bay, moved a giant step closer to reality on Tuesday when the nation’s largest sugarcane producer agreed to sell all of its assets to the state and go out of business. Under the proposed deal, Florida will pay $1.75 billion for United States Sugar, which would have six years to continue farming before turning over 187,000 acres north of Everglades National Park, along with two sugar refineries, 200 miles of railroad and other assets. It would be Florida’s biggest land acquisition ever, and the magnitude and location of the purchase left environmentalists and state officials giddy. Even before Gov. Charlie Crist arrived to make the announcement against a backdrop of water, grass and birds here, dozens of advocates gathered in small groups, gasping with awe, as if at a wedding for a couple they never thought would fall in love. After years of battling with United States Sugar over water and pollution, many of them said that the prospect of a partnership came as a shock. “It’s so exciting,” said Margaret McPherson, vice president of the Everglades Foundation. “I’m going to do cartwheels.” The details of the deal, which is scheduled to be completed over the next few months, and does not require legislative approval, may define how long the honeymoon lasts. Previous acquisitions took longer to integrate than initially expected and because United States Sugar’s fields are not all contiguous, complicated land swaps with other businesses may be required....
An Unlikely Way to Save a Species: Serve It for Dinner SOME people would just as soon ignore the culinary potential of the Carolina flying squirrel or the Waldoboro green neck rutabaga. To them, the creamy Hutterite soup bean is too obscure and the Tennessee fainting goat, which keels over when startled, sounds more like a sideshow act than the centerpiece of a barbecue. But not Gary Paul Nabhan. He has spent most of the past four years compiling a list of endangered plants and animals that were once fairly commonplace in American kitchens but are now threatened, endangered or essentially extinct in the marketplace. He has set out to save them, which often involves urging people to eat them. Mr. Nabhan’s list, 1,080 items and growing, forms the basis of his new book, an engaging journey through the nooks and crannies of American culinary history titled “Renewing America’s Food Traditions: Saving and Savoring the Continent’s Most Endangered Foods” (Chelsea Green Publishing, $35). The book tells the stories of 93 ingredients both obscure (Ny’pa, a type of salt grass) and beloved (the Black Sphinx date), along with recipes that range from the accessible (Centennial pecan pie) to the challenging (whole pit-roasted Plains pronghorn antelope). To make the list, an animal or plant — whether American eels, pre-Civil War peanuts or Seneca hominy flint corn — has to be more than simply edible. It must meet a set of criteria that define it as a part of American culture, too. Mr. Nabhan’s book is part of a larger effort to bring foods back from the brink by engaging nursery owners, farmers, breeders and chefs to grow and use them....
Tester wants Plum Creek investigation U.S. Sen. Jon Tester asked congressional investigators Tuesday to examine closed-door road negotiations between the U.S. Forest Service and Plum Creek Timber Co. The Montana Democrat also asked Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer to postpone making any changes to Plum Creek's federal road easements until the investigation is complete. “My hope is just to find out what the heck is going on,” Tester said in a telephone interview Tuesday afternoon. At issue are decades-old agreements Plum Creek has with the Forest Service that allow the timber company to drive across federal land to log its own property. Since 1999, however, Plum Creek has not been organized as a timber company, but as a real estate investment trust. Selling industrial timberlands for real estate development has since been an increasingly lucrative part of Plum Creek's business, and the company has said it intends to sell more. For the past two years, Tester said, the company has been negotiating behind closed doors with federal officials to expand the uses allowed under its road easements, which previously dealt only with logging. The proposed new easements would give Plum Creek the right to drive across public land for commercial, industrial or residential development, and according to Tester and several western Montana officials, would open up numerous tracts of land to real estate development....
Forest may examine cattle fence in detail Bridger-Teton National Forest officials say they will likely take a closer look at the environmental consequences of building fences and a corral proposed at a grazing allotment in the Gros Ventre River drainage. Jackson District Ranger Dale Deiter said Monday he will consider a more stringent analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act for proposal to construct a corral and two sections of fence in the pronghorn migration corridor in the Gros Ventre. Officials had previously recommended a “categorical exclusion,” a level of analysis reserved for activities that do not have a significant effect on the environment. Deiter said the fences and the corral would likely necessitate an “environmental assessment,” a more in-depth look at the possible environmental consequences. Deiter stopped short of committing to such a study. Deiter called grazing on the Upper Gros Ventre a “valid use.” The proposal comes after 550 cow-calf pairs cattle owned by ranchers Shane Christian, of Pavillion, and Jack and Amy Robinson of Jackson, repeatedly wandered off the Upper Gros Ventre allotment last summer and onto the 178,000-acre Bacon-Fish reserve. Conservation groups purchased the Bacon-Fish allotment in January 2007 to provide additional grazing opportunities for big game such as elk, and to provide options for managing large carnivores. Part of the 178,000 acres is a forage reserve where infrequent grazing could be allowed....
House Committee Invokes Rarely Used Powers to Block Uranium Mining Near Grand Canyon As Senate leaders drag their feet on reform of the nation's 136-year-old mining law, today a House committee may exercise rarely used emergency powers to protect the Grand Canyon from a surge in uranium mining claims near the canyon rim. The House Natural Resources Committee will take up a resolution by Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) that would force Interior Sec. Dirk Kempthorne to ban new mining claims on approximately 1 million acres adjacent to Grand Canyon National Park. The resolution, which would have the force of law, would use the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to direct Kempthorne to withdraw the land from mining activity. Between January 2003 and January 2008, the number of claims within 5 miles of Grand Canyon National Park increased from 10 to more than 1,100, according to Bureau of Reclamation data compiled by the Environmental Working Group (EWG). Google maps of the claims are available at http://www.ewg.org/reports/grandcanyon . Most, if not all, of the claims are for uranium, sparked by a surge in uranium prices linked to renewed interest in nuclear power. In December 2007, the Forest Service issued a permit to a British company to drill for uranium as close as 2 miles from the Park, citing the government's inability to prevent the action under the 1872 Mining Law. Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the Southern Nevada Water Authority have all written to Kempthorne with concerns about the surge of claims near the canyon and the effect uranium mining might have on Colorado River drinking water. The Colorado, which flows through the canyon, provides water for 25 million people including residents of Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix and San Diego....
With Rainbow Gathering conflict, Scouts pull plug Maybe it’s not as bad as the ill-conceived overlap of the Hells Angels’ disastrous presence during the Altamont Speedway Free Festival in 1969, but Boy Scouts of America organizers aren’t taking any chances. BSA officials said concerns over a scheduling conflict with the Rainbow Gathering, an annual meeting of free spirits and people living on the fringes of mainstream society, has forced them to cancel a major habitat restoration project. The BSA had intended to conduct the project on public lands in Sublette County, just weeks after the freewheeling event is expected to peak in the same vicinity. More than 1,000 Scouts were expected for the week-long project, part of the largest service mission undertaken by the Scouts in decades. The project was scheduled for July 26 to Aug. 2. The Rainbow Gathering, with no formal leadership or members, is happening this year in the Big Sandy region of the Bridger-Teton National Forest and the Bureau of Land Management lands. National Forest Service officials said late Monday as many as 1,100 people, known as the Rainbow Family, already had arrived for the gathering, which is expected to see its largest numbers around July 4 with tens of thousands of participants....
Tribes look ahead The five Indian Nations which nominated sections of Mount Taylor to be a temporary Traditional Cultural Property are now looking to the future. At a press conference at Sky City Hotel last Thursday, tribal leaders outlined their future efforts following a question from the Beacon. Zuni Governor Norman Cooeyate said, “We're setting up a working group to provide the additional information required by the Cultural Properties Review Committee. We also need to study the maps showing private property on the mountain because the maps shown at the Saturday meeting were provided by the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management and they differ from the tribes' maps.” The Zuni leader also stated that the five tribes are looking for other groups and individuals who support the Traditional Cultural Property designation. “This process is open to anyone who is a citizen of New Mexico and we welcome other groups to join us,” he said. Cooeyate added that each tribe will determine how much tribal information will be released during the process. “Sometimes we've been too open in the past and it has caused problems,” he said. Hopi Tribal Chairman Benjamin Nuvamsa noted that Katsina ceremonies were underway at his reservation and his people will give thanks for the decision from the Cultural Properties Review Committee during their summer solstice prayers....
Senator Domenici assails forest plans Restrictions on forest management have led to the loss of more national forest lands and personal property to wildfires. U.S. Senator Pete Domenici made the comments last week at the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on the preparedness of federal land management agencies-primarily the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management-for the 2008 fire season. In a statement to the Senate, Domenici asserted that almost 155 million acres of forest have burned since he entered the Senate in 1973, with 58 million of those acres burning in the past seven years. Nationally, more than 1.7 million acres have burned this year since Jan. 1, including about 20,000 acres in New Mexico. The Dripping Springs Fire in the Organ Mountains near Las Cruces continue to burn as of Monday. “I note that the trend of acres burned versus the number of acres managed by the Forest Service through timber sales and pre-commercial thinning is troubling. As the number of acres that have been treated has decreased, the number of burned acres has increases,” Domenici said. “We are spending more, managing less, burning more and, as a result, having to cut funds to other important resource programs such as recreation, fisheries and wildlife to battle these wildfires. In addition, we're increasing the carbon dioxide and other pollutants that get pumped into the atmosphere by these fires,” he said....
Gov. Ritter on energy/wildlife hot seat The bully boys of oil and gas are drilling away at Colorado's fish and wildlife again. No surprise there. It's what an industry allowed to rumble unrestrained by the federal administration has come to view as its absolute right. Question is, will the administration of Gov. Bill Ritter roll over beneath this latest onslaught and allow the energy express to quash its own laws and regulations? At issue is a series of draft rules by the Colorado Oil and Gas Commission, a branch of the Department of Natural Resources, establishing protection for the state's streams and big game herds. As proposed by commission staff, the rule would prohibit drilling within 300 feet of streams. It also would establish sensitive periods and areas for certain species, such as fawning for mule deer or mating for sage grouse. Unaccustomed even to such seemingly reasonable requirements, the industry launched an all-out campaign of distortion that seems to be gnawing away at Ritter administration resolve. The attack includes newspaper and radio advertisements designed to create hysteria ranging from higher energy prices to layoffs of employees. Frightened energy workers packed an initial commission hearing in Grand Junction and again turned out in force at Monday's second and final hearing in Denver....
Feds: New drilling rules won't apply on our lands New drilling regulations being considered by a Colorado agency wouldn’t apply to federal land, the largest part of western Colorado lands, the Bureau of Land Management said in a letter it sent to the group. Sally Wisely, state director for the bureau, wrote to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, saying federal legislation preempts state law when state laws “stand as an obstacle” against the will of Congress. The state, however, isn’t backing down from its authority, said Deb Frazier, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. Three draft regulations before the commission affect wildlife-timing restrictions, geographic-area plans and reclamation. Wildlife-timing restrictions were frequently criticized at a commission hearing earlier this month because they would set a moratorium on drilling for at least three months each year, potentially crippling western Colorado’s booming energy industry. Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., also jumped into the fray Tuesday, writing to the departments of Interior and Agriculture to express his concern that the state “is overstepping its jurisdiction in attempting to regulate oil and gas activity” on federal and Southern Ute tribe lands....