NASA warming scientist: 'This is the last chance' Exactly 20 years after warning America about global warming, a top NASA scientist said the situation has gotten so bad that the world's only hope is drastic action. James Hansen told Congress on Monday that the world has long passed the "dangerous level" for greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and needs to get back to 1988 levels. He said Earth's atmosphere can only stay this loaded with man-made carbon dioxide for a couple more decades without changes such as mass extinction, ecosystem collapse and dramatic sea level rises. "We're toast if we don't get on a very different path," Hansen, director of the Goddard Institute of Space Sciences who is sometimes called the godfather of global warming science, told The Associated Press. "This is the last chance." To cut emissions, Hansen said coal-fired power plants that don't capture carbon dioxide emissions shouldn't be used in the United States after 2025, and should be eliminated in the rest of the world by 2030....
Wolves Running Wild in the West In Idaho's rugged ranch country, a young calf killed by predators is every rancher's worst nightmare. For veteran biologist Rick Williamson, it's the beginning of a wildlife version of "CSI." "There's a blood trail through here," Williamson observed. "We need to have the evidence to suggest what happened to this calf." Wolves have been spotted in the region, but so have coyotes, bears and mountain lions. As part of his investigation, Williamson conducts a necropsy — an animal autopsy — right on the spot. If a wolf is responsible, the rancher will be compensated, and the wolf pack possibly hunted down. "We are looking for feeding patterns that would suggest wolves [which] feed differently than coyotes or red fox or black bears," he said. Such scenes are playing out across the northern Rocky Mountains as the growing wolf population — once endangered — leads to more and more conflict. The Soulen family has raised livestock since 1929 on a sprawling ranch in western Idaho. Now, father and son run the ranch. It is hard, demanding work, branding lambs, docking their tails and preparing their flock for the annual 100-mile trek to a summer range up in the mountains. Last summer, some sheep strayed. "We had about 150 head pull off from the band and they pulled up onto a ridge one night and bedded down," Harry Soulen said. "The wolves got into them and by the time the herder gathered up the remnants, we had lost 63 in that one incident." Over the last three years, the Soulens say they've lost more than 800 head of sheep to wolves, which has had a "huge" impact on their livelihood. "In a way it's a little bit like a thief or a shoplifter," Soulen said. "Each one of the incidents doesn't break you but day after day, night after night, you are losing sheep; after a while it adds up to some serious money." Now, the Soulens and other ranchers have every right to kill wolves that threaten their livestock....
NM tradition clashes with off-roaders on public land Richard Montoya looks out the pickup truck's window as he heads down the dirt road toward the steel gate. To the right, a few cows and horses graze in a pasture bordered by hills thick with pinon and juniper trees. To the left, the remaining stone walls of this once vibrant trading post stand out against the backdrop of Glorieta Mesa. ''So what do you think of this country?'' the 67-year-old northern New Mexico rancher says. It's not a question, but rather Montoya's way of affirming the beauty of the surroundings he and his wife, Zenaida, have known all of their lives. They say they're lucky to live on the mesa, raising their horses and cattle and living off the land as their families have done for generations. But the couple worries about whether they can maintain their traditional way of life now that the challenges of ranching in the West are being compounded by a new threat the growing popularity of off-road motorized recreation on public land. And the ranchers of Glorieta Mesa are not alone. Battles among off-roaders, ranchers, land owners and environmentalists are heating up around the country as the U.S. Forest Service tries to decide which of its millions of acres should be designated for travel by motorcycles, four-wheelers and other backcountry vehicles....
Canaries in the Uranium Mine Teddy Nez, a Navajo rancher and Vietnam War veteran, lives practically in the shadow of a 40-foot-high pile of radioactive waste abutting his small home outside of Gallup, N.M. Nez has colon cancer, which he treats with herbs — but not with ones growing near his house, because those could be contaminated with uranium. Thousands of Navajo have developed lung cancer, kidney disease and other serious illnesses linked to uranium mining — which has supplied the U.S. government with material for nuclear weapons and power plants from the 1940s through the ’80s. Uranium mining in the United States came to a near halt in the early ’90s because of low uranium prices, related largely to the cooling of the arms race and public disillusionment with nuclear power. But now, thanks to skyrocketing oil prices and renewed interest in nuclear energy, companies are once again planning to mine uranium in and around Navajo land. Jeff Spitz, a Chicago filmmaker who in the late ’90s shot Return of Navajo Boy — a documentary that followed a family affected by uranium — says Navajo families at the time thought they would have to deal with only the legacy of uranium....
Babbitt development role draws flak As U.S. Interior secretary, Bruce Babbitt threatened a federal takeover of the San Pedro's management back in 1999 to keep development and pumping from drying the river up. Now, as a private citizen and development consultant, Babbitt is pushing for a subdivision northwest of Sierra Vista that several local scientists say could ultimately harm the San Pedro, the Southwest's last major, free-flowing desert river. Babbitt is working as a land planner and minor investor in a 1,600-home, 5,000-acre development that is likely to draw from a 630-foot-deep well lying 2 to 3 miles from a leading tributary of the San Pedro. He's been a spokesman for a group of California and Texas investors who bought the land for $35 million. One of them is Richard Blum, a San Francisco financier, chairman of the California Board of Regents and husband of U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. The development would be in the Rain Valley Ranch, whose easternmost point is two miles west of the well. But because much of the development would center in an area farther west, water would be pumped uphill five to seven miles from the well to serve homes on the ranch. The well was drilled three months ago in Whetstone, north of Sierra Vista....
Pearce wilderness bill draws fire The introduction of a bill last week by U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., has revived controversy about the fate of thousands of acres of public land in Doña Ana County. Pearce, also a candidate for U.S. Senate, last Wednesday introduced legislation, H.R. 6300, that would remove a temporary wilderness designation from parcels of Doña Ana County land and instead create two new designations for certain swaths. It would also change a federal process for selling public land, opening up 65,000 acres for disposal. A spokesman for Pearce said the legislation, backed by a group of area ranchers, accomplishes a goal of protecting key lands from development, without hindering law enforcement access. Ranchers applauded the legislation, saying it would keep operations unharmed....
Pearce Submits People’s Proposal to the House HR 6300, a version of the People’s Proposal, was submitted to the U.S. House of Representatives by Steve Pearce (R-NM) on June 18, 2008, creating a flurry of activity this weekend on both side of the Dona Aña County Wilderness Debate. An email to Doña Ana Wilderness Coalition supporters announced a press conference and rally against HR 6300. The email says HR 6300, - Eliminates ALL Current Wilderness Protections in the 8 Temporary Wilderness Areas in Dona Ana County, including in the Organ Mountains -Creates a New Process for Selling Off Public Lands in Dona Ana County and A Hand Picked Special Interest Group Committee to Decide How Dona Ana County Grows -Takes Federal Funding Away From the Federal Governments Ability to Maintain and Expand Americas Most Important Natural Lands. The new process for selling public lands by a hand picked special interest group, refers to the land advisory board. When I first read the People’s Proposal, now HR 6300, the land advisory board made me nervous. Special interest groups flashed through my brain, too. I asked the principle author of the proposal Frank Dubois, a former New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture, to explain it to me. Mr. Dubois explained that presently the Bureau of Land Management’s land use plan calls for the disposal (sale) of 60,000 acres of the proposed protected lands. If neither the Citizen’s Proposal nor the People’s Propsal is introduced and passed, the land will be sold and the monies distributed in accordance with the Federal Lands Facilitation Act (FLFA). FLFA says 80 percent of the monies can be spent in New Mexico, while 20 percent can be used anywhere in the nation. Conceivably, none of the money might end up in Doña Ana County. A local advisory board would not oversee the current disposal, conducted under the auspices of BLM. Under HR 6300, a board consisting of representatives from the city, county, conservation community, business community, Elephant Butte Irrigation District, Department of the Interior, and the BLM District Manager would facilitate the how and when of the sale. The intent to sell would be announced and open to public comment. The bulk of the money from the sales would come back to Doña Ana County....
Idaho officials, Humane Society spar over horse bill Some in Idaho worry that efforts to ban the slaughter of horses for human consumption will lead to more people letting unwanted horses free, leaving them to die miserable deaths and exacerbating conflicts with ranchers who count on the sparse forage of the West’s high desert for their cattle. This year, Congress passed legislation that bans funding for inspection of horses for human food, making it temporarily impossible for plants to market horse meat. Additional bills would prohibit outright the movement and slaughter of horses for human food and other purposes. Officials including U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and brand inspectors point to an overabundance of mustangs on the open range and say that banning horse slaughter for human consumption will only make things worse. For instance, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced plans Wednesday to gather about 1,700 wild horses from the Nevada range, citing ongoing drought, dwindling forage and an overabundance of animals in three herd management areas. ‘‘All these do-gooders that want this slaughter thing stopped — they think it’s so inhumane. You’re going to have horses suffering 10 times as much,’’ Larry Hayhurst, the state brand inspector in Meridian, told the Twin Falls Times-News. ‘‘There’s no out for these unwanted horses. They are going to turn them out.’’....
New mad cow case confirmed in B.C. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has confirmed the 13th case of mad cow disease in Canada, but the agency says the case poses no risk to human or animal health. Dr. George Luterbach, a senior veterinarian with CFIA, said Monday the disease was found in a cow that died on a farm in western British Columbia. However, the exact farm where the animal was from has not been determined. "At this point in time we're in the early stages of the investigation," said Luterbach. "We have no other suspect animals." He said that to date, CFIA has not found more than one case on an individual farm. "The birth farm is often not the farm in which the animal was found to have died," he added. By late Monday the agency still did not know what farm the infected cow was from....
The Last Cowboy President? Lyndon B. Johnson compared going to Vietnam’s aid to coming to the aid of the defenders at the Alamo. Leonid Brezhnev derided Ronald Reagan as a global cowboy in 1981 (the Cold War Soviet leader did not like the “Great Communicator’s” plan to arm Afghan rebels fighting Soviet occupation). Our current president George W. Bush has been called a hard-line cowboy for his provocative statements like “You’re either with us, or you’re with the terrorists.” (Indicative of “Range Wars” theology:?circle the wagons and protect your own; after the “homestead” is secure, then you can go on the offensive.) Cowboy beliefs and history have played a role in American politics since the mid-1880s, when “cowboy” entered the political debate as a derogatory term. By the 1900s, though, the image of a degenerate cowboy had transformed into that of a virtuous hero. Dakota Territory rancher and former Rough Rider Teddy Roosevelt led the charge in redefining a cowboy president as a hero when he took up the nation’s highest office in 1901. He kicked off the notion of presidential “cowboy diplomacy” by summarizing his approach to his international policy as, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” Being a cowboy is also a state of mind; you can be one out here in the glorious American West or while walking the New York City pavement or in Germany or Australia or our neighbor up north Canada. Since the turn of the 20th century, U.S. presidents too have recreated themselves as cowboys in the eyes of our nation and the rest of the world, a topic fittingly explored during this Presidential election year by the Autry National Center in Los Angeles, California. The “Cowboys and Presidents” exhibit runs at the Autry through September 7....A slide show is available at the link.
A Wild Time at Wildly Well At around 4 a.m., Doña Ana County Sheriff Pat Garrett and his posse are trying to sneak up on murder suspects Oliver Lee and Jim Gilliland at Lee’s Wildy Well Ranch, east of the Jarilla Mountains in New Mexico. Lee and Gilliland are wanted for the murder of Albert Jennings Fountain and his eight-year-old son Henry. For Garrett, it’s almost 17 years to the day since the incident that made him famous (or infamous)—the killing of Billy the Kid. This is a chance for him to reclaim some of the glory that had eluded him since that night in Fort Sumner. He may be able to restart a law enforcement career that stalled more than a decade ago. He’s headed for a disappointment. The lawmen break into the adobe house—and find the Madison family, asleep in their beds. Lee and Gilliland are asleep on the adobe’s flat roof, and protected by a two-foot high wall....
Cattle Towns: Fort Morgan, Colorado The fort was located on a plateau about a half mile from the river, which was called "Morgan Flats" This plateau would be in approximately the same location as today's Municipal Skate Park and Tennis Courts on Railroad Avenue in Fort Morgan. This location afforded a wide view of the countryside up and down the river valley and a clear view of the North side of the river. Fort Morgan stood as the only military presence between Julesburg and the more populated areas along the mountains. Fort Morgan was known as "Fort Morgan Cut Off" of the Overland Trail, since it was the point where the trail left the river and headed across the plains directly to Denver. The fort was about the size of one square city block. It had twenty buildings inside the compound surrounding a large parade ground with a flagpole n the middle. The buildings were made of sod and adobe and had log roofs. There was no stockade around the fort since it was large enough to withstand an attack without one. The fort usually had one to six companies, or 200 to 1200 men, occupying it at one time. The fort also housed three cannons on the Northeast and Southwest sides. The presence of Fort Morgan acted as a deterrent to large-scale Indian attacks in the immediate vicinity, since the troops offered protection to travelers from one fort to another and subdued the Indians and returned them to the reservation. The fort also acted as a gathering place for wagons traveling west, though this sometimes caused hard feelings with the travelers since they were not allowed to leave the fort until at least 30 armed men had gathered....
It's All Trew: Fresh beef top concern for settlers Before refrigeration arrived in rural areas, a system called "meat clubs" allowed families to keep fresh meat all year. An example recorded in Temple tells how the system worked. One community family became butchers for processing meat. They killed and processed one beef or more a week all year, serving some 30 to 40 families organized in a meat club. Each Saturday, the families came to pick up a portion of the fresh meat. Since each family fed and kept beeves all year, they were expected to furnish one beef per year to the meat club. Detailed accounting and scheduling was kept on beef taken and beef supplied. Fresh meat kept well for about a week before spoiling. The meat club system kept all in fresh beef the full year. Dried meat called jerky, pemmican meat dried with other ingredients added, and different forms of barbecue were all devised to preserve meat from spoiling. Canned meat preserved in cans and jars by cooking in a steam pressure cooker was developed by Napoleon Bonaparte in France to preserve meat for his soldiers in warfare. This system is still widely used today commercially....