The Westerner

NEWS ROUNDUP

Grizzly study wraps up After walking hundreds of miles through rugged backcountry and collecting roughly 33,000 samples of bear hair, crews have completed field work on the Northern Divide Grizzly Bear Project. Next, the hair samples will be processed by a genetics laboratory. The results will eventually produce the first scientifically credible estimate of how many grizzly bears occupy an 8-million-acre area encompassing Glacier National Park, the Bob Marshall Wilderness and surrounding areas....
Fragile shrimp spark big dispute between L.A. airport and feds The scrubby, rock-filled drainage ditch at the end of a runway at Los Angeles International Airport might not look like much, but to scores of endangered shrimp, it's home. The little depression, surrounded by a chain-link fence with signs warning "Los Angeles World Airports — Endangered Species — Keep Out," is part of a 108-acre area at Los Angeles International that federal officials want to designate as a preserve for the tiny creatures....
Attorney says laws are out of control Environmental extremism has polluted federal laws designed to protect the country’s air, water and endangered species, an attorney with the Mountain States Legal Foundation said.Perry Pendley, president and chief legal officer of the Colorado-based nonprofit, said the enforcement of seemingly reasonable environmental laws has “gone crazy” courtesy of organizations that are “very, very well-funded by the radical left who go to court every day to stop things.”At a meeting of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association, Pendley cited several legal battles the foundation has been involved in as cautionary tales for otherwise “unsuspecting citizens.”....
Arkansas outlaws mechanical decoys starting next season Starting next year, duck decoys equipped with lifelike spinning wings that help lure wary waterfowl into shotgun range will be outlawed in Arkansas.The state Game and Fish Commission voted unanimously Thursday to ban the wildly popular decoys, starting with the 2005-2006 waterfowl season. The vote does not affect the upcoming season. The ban includes "electronic, mechanically guided, wind-powered or manually powered spinning blade devices that simulate wing movement."....
GPS Technology Puts Invasive Plants On The Map A weed might be the last thing you'd expect global positioning system (GPS) technology to track, but that's exactly what's happening at America's wildlife refuges across the country. To assess the harm done from non-native plants to native ecosystems, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and the National Institute of Invasive Species Science of the U.S. Geological Survey have launched the Cooperative Volunteer Invasives Program, a pilot program to track the invasives threat on six national wildlife refuges located in California, Florida, New Hampshire, Montana, Texas, and Ohio....
Little Bighorn reveals secrets: Battlefield diggers find historical clues Headlong into a retreat from the Little Bighorn River, a 7th Cavalry horse racing to join the main body of troops on the ridge above threw a shoe. "If they were coming this way, they were moving awful fast,'' Dave Thorn of Bozeman said Wednesday as he picked up a rusted horseshoe from a shallow hole near Medicine Tail Coulee. Thorn, one of 18 volunteers and professionals working on an archaeological project at Little Bighorn Battlefield, examined the nails on the Army-issue horseshoe for clues to its story. The nails barely protruded through the metal shoe, indicating they had been working themselves loose during the long march from North Dakota, he said....
Senate panel puts off claims fee increase U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., has won Senate Appropriations Committee approval for a measure that delays a hike in mining claim fees until federal agencies develop tracking systems for mining permits.The provision that also requires the federal agencies to come up with recommendations for faster permitting is tacked onto the Interior appropriations bill voted out of committee this week. National Mining Association supports the linking of the fee hike from $100 to $125 to concerns about the time it takes for federal agencies to permit a mining or exploration plan of operations....
Man to plead guilty in ATV assault case A Hollister resident is pleading guilty to a felony assault charge for running into a ranger with his all-terrain vehicle. According to court documents, 19-year-old Tom Callen has agreed to change his innocent plea to guilty on October fifth, the same day his jury trial would have started. Prosecutors say Callen was riding the A-T-V in an off-limits area of the Big Sand Bay recreation area when he was approached by Bureau of Land Management ranger Zachary Oper....
Underground blasts probe Earth's crust Stanford University scientists and graduate students began a series of underground explosions early Thursday morning as part of their research on the thickness and composition of the Earth's crust. The study, which focuses on northeast California and northwest Nevada, involves simultaneous detonations scheduled to continue just after midnight on Friday, said Ken Collum, a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Land Management....
Grand Teton chief: Grazing might continue Continued cattle grazing in Grand Teton National Park is still being considered, despite 50-year-old goals of Congress to phase the activity out, a park official said Thursday.Mary Gibson Scott, Grand Teton's new superintendent, said meetings with Washington, D.C., officials are ongoing and continued grazing, as well as its elimination, are both on the table.Grazing in the park has been contentious in recent years, and groups in Jackson Hole have been examining the relationship between cattle grazing on public lands and open space in the valley....
Coyotes kill family's dog A Newbury family's labrador retriever was killed in a coyote attack that left the 14-year-old dog surrounded by a pack of predators as he tried to make it home from his nighttime walk, the dog's owner said. ``Boomer was a great dog,'' said Geoffrey Walker, referring to his fox red labrador. ``We've got to find a way to control the coyote population. They have no fear.'' Wildlife officials said such efforts are being hindered by a 1996 referendum that banned traps used to control coyotes and other animals now surging in population. Newbury officials have seen two coyote attacks in the past three weeks, and other wildlife officials said they are receiving more reports about the animals prowling around local homes.....
Spirit of the water The sun catches a glimmer of water trickling through an old, rusty pipe by the side of a road that runs through the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation. All around this pipe, tied to bushes and trees, are pieces of cloth in many colors. These are prayer cloths: an offering to the spirit of Iron Teeth, a Cheyenne woman whose spirit is believed to reside in this spring, watching over the people and the water. This spring is a place where the Cheyenne give thanks for water. And though the tribe is sovereign over its reservation of approximately 700 square miles in southeast Montana, the Cheyenne are learning they may not be sovereign over the water beneath their land....
Ewe can't beat Sheep Wagon Days Some Craig elementary school students couldn't get enough of the lamb samples Thursday at the Sheep Wagon Days celebration in Alice Pleasant Park. That some had never tasted the delicacy before may be one indication of the decline of sheep ranching in Northwest Colorado. In the early 1900s and well through the middle part of the century, sheep ranching dominated the northwest corner of the state as ranchers collectively ran about 100,000 head, estimated sheep rancher Albert Villard. Today, the county's sheep number about one- third of that, he said. During the sixth annual event that wraps up Saturday, area ranchers fill the downtown park with sheep wagons. School children are offered tours through the small movable structures and given educational lectures. Food is available on site and ranchers bring in animals for children to pet, such as miniature horses, llamas and goats....


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NEWS ROUNDUP

Plaque honoring hero must come off Utah mountain The Salt Lake City Police officers who slogged up Kings Peak on Saturday to place a 14-pound plaque honoring a fallen comrade may soon have to venture there again - this time, to lug it down. U.S. Forest Service officials say the police failed to get proper permission and, in effect, broke the law. Leaving human-made objects on Kings Peak, which is inside the High Uintas Wilderness Area, violates the 1964 Wilderness Act and Forest Service wilderness regulations, said Clark Tucker, district ranger for the Ashley National Forest. On the Sept. 11 anniversary, seven police officers trekked to the peak, the highest point in Utah, to memorialize James Cawley. A police detective and Marine reservist, Cawley died during the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. The officers were accompanied by Cawley's brother, Mike Cawley....
Forest officials close motorcycle trail in Bridgers A motorcycle trail in the Bridger Mountains will be barricaded this weekend for the second time in a year. The trail leads from Sypes Canyon to the top of Mount Baldy and there is disagreement over whether it is a legal trail. Whatever its status, motorcyclists have been damaging plants and soils so it will be barricaded, according to Brian McNeil, trails and roads supervisor for the Bozeman district of the Gallatin National Forest....
Forest service to shut down mountain bike courses The U.S. Forest Service this week shut down two mountain bike trails on Kingsbury Grade that are steep, fitted with jumps and platforms, but are near creeks and allegedly damaging water quality. "The level of damage to resources has become out of control; we can't stand by and let it happen," said Garrett Villanueva, civil engineer and trail planner for the Forest Service. "It's gone over that threshold from not so bad to pretty serious impacts to water quality."....
Dry Canyon ATV use shut down What do you get when you combine booming population growth and the runaway popularity of all-terrain vehicles in a small mountainside community? A real mess on the hill. ATV use above this Utah County city has gotten so out of hand that U.S. Forest Service and Lindon officials on Thursday announced that all vehicle access will be shut down in the Dry Canyon area. They hope to eliminate what has grown into 13 miles of ATV trails on the bench above the city....
Oil lease pullback comes as surprise People across the state expressed surprise Wednesday at the U.S. Forest Service's decision to withhold oil and gas leases in northwest Wyoming just three weeks before the scheduled auction. Curt Parsons, division operations manager with EOG Resources in Big Piney, said he was "chagrined." Tom Darin, an attorney with the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance and a critic of the lease sale, hailed Tuesday's decision....
State, Feds Will Attempt To Save Golden Trout Federal and state officials plan to announce Friday an agreement to spend $1.3 million over the next five years to save California's state fish. If it's successful, the effort would avoid having to list the golden trout as a federally threatened or endangered species. Recent DNA testing by University of California, Davis, researchers found such alarming interbreeding among all remaining populations that there is a real possibility of extinction, according to the assessment and recovery strategy to be released Friday....
Editorial: No salvage rider: Smith should withdraw Biscuit salvage proposal It's hard for parties in any dispute to negotiate a balanced, reasonable compromise when one of them has a 500-pound gorilla standing behind it. If court-ordered mediation fails to resolve legal challenges to logging of old-growth forest reserves burned in Southern Oregon's 2002 Biscuit Fire, a key reason will be the gorilla that is Sen. Gordon Smith's threat to introduce legislation that would summarily end all existing and future legal challenges to the Forest Service's salvage plan....
Laney enters pleas; faces minimum of five months in jail Rancher Kit Laney faces a minimum sentence of five months in jail and five months of house arrest after pleading guilty to assaulting or resisting a federal officer and obstruction of a court order. The Catron County rancher had been charged with eight counts, including assault with a deadly weapon, assault on federal officers and obstruction of justice. At sentencing, which will be in October, federal prosecutors are to dismiss the remaining six counts against him under a plea bargain agreement....
Yellowstone Club Warren Miller had been trying to get me to visit the ultra-exclusive Yellowstone Club ever since he sold his home in Vail, Colo., two seasons ago and moved to Montana to become the club's director of skiing. "Just spend one day here and it will change how you think about skiing forever," Warren promised. I wasn't taking the bait. The price of admission is well beyond what most of SKI's readers could ever afford. Even the U.S. Senate has more members than the Yellowstone Club, where the initiation fee alone is $250,000 and prospective members at first were expected to have at least $3 million in liquid assets-a lot of Dom Perignon....
Democrats help stall vote on Cape Fox bill Democrats on Tuesday walked out of a U.S. Senate committee hearing on a bill to privatize acreage at Berners Bay, stalling a vote on the proposed Cape Fox Corp. land exchange. At least until next week, the Cape Fox bill and two other bills left in limbo will remain in committee, said Chuck Kleeschulte, a spokeswoman for U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who is trying to push the Cape Fox bill and another controversial piece of Native land legislation onto the Senate floor. Three other Murkowski natural resource bills affecting Southeast Alaska already have been approved by the Senate....
Federal undersecretary joins in Biscuit mediation sessions The president's point man on national forests is expected in Eugene today for a closed-door mediation of lawsuits that have blocked logging of trees burned in the 2002 Biscuit Fire in Southern Oregon. The talks led by U.S. Magistrate Thomas Coffin aim to clear the legal thicket surrounding one of the largest sales of federal timber in recent years. Sawmills want access to the burned timber, but environmental activists say the Bush administration wants to log far more than the scorched landscape can stand. Mark Rey, the administration's undersecretary of agriculture over the U.S. Forest Service, will join the talks, along with droves of attorneys, environmental representatives, timber companies and representatives of the governor....
Forest Service plan upheld despite objections, appeals from all sides The U.S. Forest Service's Washington, D.C., headquarters has upheld the vast majority of a new management plan for the White River National Forest over objections of several diverse groups, according to the forest supervisor's office. Numerous parts of the plan were appealed by groups seeking everything from more protection for roadless areas to more places to ride off-road vehicles. An appeal was even made by the Colorado Department of Natural Resources in an attempt to open more lands to logging on the theory that the practice would allow more spring runoff to reach streams and be tapped for human uses....
Editorial: Parks in peril In 1997, Congress established the Recreational Fee Demonstration Program allowing most national parks to charge entrance fees and each individual park to keep 80 percent of the amount collected. The other 20 percent is to be spent on projects throughout the Park Service system and for maintenance of smaller parks that are not part of the demonstration program. The fees are collected by the National Park Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service. Prior to 1997 only 133 areas under the National Park Service charged admission fees and they were capped at $5 per vehicle and $3 per individual....

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OPINION/COMMENTARY

Not So Greenpeace

Environmental regulations are notoriously difficult to keep up with, what with all the paperwork and communication required. Just ask Greenpeace.

The radical environmental group and habitual filer of lawsuits is learning how the other side feels after prosecutors in Alaska filed criminal charges against it for violating state environmental laws. It seems a Greenpeace boat, the Arctic Sunrise, entered Alaskan water without the required oil spill prevention plan and proof of financial responsibility should a spill occur. The vessel, which can carry 128,000 gallons of fuel and lubricants (Exxon Valdez, anyone?), was sailing near Ketchikan to protest logging activities.

The state charges that when the environmental group was notified of the violations on July 14, the ship's agent agreed to remain anchored until the situation was fixed. Instead, the Arctic Sunrise left port that very morning and went joyriding in "environmentally sensitive areas during peak salmon runs, without care or consideration for the catastrophic impacts that would occur from failure to have the necessary resources to initiate a response." The case goes to trial in October....


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NEWS ROUNDUP

Grizzly habitat a matter of debate It takes a lot of ground to sustain a viable grizzly bear population. But exactly how much land you need, and the best ways to manage that land, remain matters of debate. It proposes to designate 2.8 million acres of national forest land as a "primary conservation area," where logging and roadbuilding would be limited. Sheep grazing allotments would be phased out over time, and there would be no changes to existing motorized routes or snowmobile areas. All of Yellowstone and most of Grand Teton National Park also lie within the PCA. In total, grizzly habitat would receive high priority for protection on about six million acres, much of which is already designated as wilderness or roadless land....
Editorial: Restoring wolves: Task force proposes practical, workable strategy Quick riddle: What do you get when a task force made up of ranchers, conservationists, hunters, economists and tribal representatives agrees on a plan to introduce and manage gray wolves in Oregon? Short answer: A miracle. Long answer: A visionary but practical strategy that would make Oregon the first Western state to independently embrace the return of gray wolves - and a plan that the state Fish and Wildlife Commission should approve....
Forest Service Halts Yellowstone-Area Oil And Gas Leases Responding to intense public opposition--including detailed legal objections by Earthjustice--the U.S. Forest Service has withdrawn plans for imminent oil and gas leasing across a broad swath of scenic national forest lands south of Yellowstone National Park. The leasing would have paved the way for oil and gas development on nearly 158,000 acres in the Wyoming Range of western Wyoming’s Bridger-Teton National Forest, including 92,000 acres of pristine roadless areas that provide habitat for wildlife species ranging from elk to Canada lynx....
Forest Service swears by equines Mules and horses loaded with lumber, crosscut saws, axes and more pack a semi-truck load of materials needed to build a new bridge. They haul firefighters, equipment, food and supplies deep into the forest, where even helicopters cannot fight fires. And they are the most important tool for the handful of rangers who construct, maintain and repair the 1,000 miles of trails that were once cared for by 600 people in the Shoshone Forest....
Senate Committee Approves Funding for Key Colorado Conservation Projects The Trust For Public Land (TPL) today praised the Senate Appropriations Committee for providing $1.5 million in funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) for the Colorado Canyons National Conservation Area (NCA) in west central Colorado and $1.5 million in LWCF funds for the High Elk Corridor, a valley system running from Crested Butte to Marble. The LWCF funding will protect approximately 3,365 acres of key inholdings within public lands in Colorado. The Senate Committee recommended $217 million nationwide for the LWCF, a significant increase from levels approved by the House of Representatives, which recommended no funding for projects in its version of this bill....
Column: Don't Abandon Roadless Rule While researching a new book last spring, I had the opportunity and pleasure of interviewing Dale Bosworth, chief of the Forest Service. I found him to be an honest, straightforward, forthcoming, and, at times, courageous man. So when I read that he had agreed to the repeal of the Clinton-era Roadless Rule on our national forests--a ruling he supported as a career forester in the Clinton administration--I was shocked. I wrote to Chief Bosworth, suggesting that if he couldn't deter the Bush administration from its reversal of this epic act of conservation, he should consider resigning in protest. This public act of conscience would draw attention to a tragic step backward....
Column: Let States Broker Roadless Lands So what's the real deal? The Bush administration is dropping the roadless issue in the laps of state governors. After all, as the July 16 Federal Register notice declares in classic bureau-speak: "States affected by the roadless rule have been keenly interested in inventoried roadless area management, especially the Western states where most of the agency's inventoried roadless areas are located." How keen that interest is now, and how it will finally shake out at a state level is a function of two factors: geography and demographics. Geographically speaking, most roadless areas are a peripheral, trivial matter, of importance only to environmental groups. But at the local level, roadless policy decisions can be critical to communities....
Plan May Threaten Las Vegas Wild Lands Environmentalists are sharply criticizing a federal Bureau of Land Management analysis that they say will mean less land for rare and endangered species in Clark County. The critics say that the BLM analysis threatens a precedent-setting compromise that granted county the right to continue developing while still protecting endangered and rare desert animals and plants. The controversy is a byproduct of the Clark County Conservation of Public and Natural Resources Act of 2002, which redesignated "wilderness study areas" used, in part, for the protection of animal and plant species, including the desert tortoise....
NCPA: Kennedy Pollutes Truth About Bush Environmental Record Environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is currently promoting a new book, Crimes Against Nature: How George W. Bush and His Corporate Pals are Plundering the Country and Hijacking Our Democracy. Kennedy argues that the Bush administration is rolling back decades of environmental laws and regulations. Yet according to experts from the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), this accusation is patently untrue. "While it is true the Bush administration is not trying to ram through a host of new environmental regulations, it is absurd to suggest they are rolling anything back," said NCPA Senior Fellow H. Sterling Burnett. According to the NCPA, no major environmental statute has been revised and there have been no serious legislative proposals to scale back existing environmental laws....
Column: Polluting the Truth I have been quite critical of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s attacks on the Bush administration's environmental record. Where Kennedy accuses Bush of "crimes against nature," I accuse Kennedy of "crimes against fact." While I believe there are many reasonable grounds upon which to criticize the administration (e.g., the energy bill), Kennedy's attacks have been wildly inaccurate and over-the-top....
Tribes say they are able to co-manage the Bison Range For centuries Native Americans managed the bison ranges before the arrival of Europeans and they are now ready to take back the responsibility of being the stewards of the lands as their ancestors did. The Confederated Salish Kootenai Tribe (CSKT) and the United States Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials presented to the public a question and answer session this week to solidify public understanding of the controversial proposal. Under the proposal, the tribes would take responsibility for activities in five categories- management, biological programs, habitat management, fire programs and maintenance and visitor services. Head of Natural Resources for the CSKT Clayton Matt says the responsibility for the management of the Bison Range should have no effect on non-tribal members who may own private property near the range....
Park Ranger Killed in Rockfall on Maui A National Park Service ranger was killed when a boulder fell 40 feet and struck her as she was trying to remove rocks from a road at Haleakala National Park, officials said Wednesday. Suzanne E. Roberts, 36, who had worked at the Maui park since April, was struck Tuesday by a boulder more than 3-feet in diameter....
Editorial: Keep Oil Drills Out of Rockies The nation may be getting a hint of it, though, as the administration moves to open broad areas of largely unspoiled land to oil and gas exploration in the Rocky Mountains. The evolving policy is being carried out by Interior Department officials with past ties to the energy industry. Officials have lifted drilling restrictions on hundreds of thousands of acres containing oil and gas reserves in Utah and Colorado, and are pressing the Bureau of Land Management to issue new drilling permits for those areas, prized for their spectacular scenery, abundant wildlife and clean water. One area targeted for drilling is the terminus of the longest wildlife migration route in the continental United States. Yet for three of the past four years, drilling permits have been issued at a record pace....
A rumble over Clear Creek Emotions ran high between off-highway vehicle users and environmentalists at a public comment meeting concerning land use of the Clear Creek Management Area Wednesday night, however a desire to work together toward a solution emerged through the animosity. More than 60 people attended the meeting held at the Veterans Memorial Building, the majority of them off-highway vehicle enthusiasts, to voice their concerns to the Bureau of Land Management staff about a plan that could limit the amount of routes available for public use....
BLM must look before it leases It is unclear now whether the BLM must invalidate possibly hundreds or more leases that were sold in the same fashion as the Pennaco leases that sparked the lawsuit, according to BLM officials. Conservation groups have forced the BLM to rescind numerous coal-bed methane gas permits in the basin during the past year, pointing to inadequate analysis of the impacts coal-bed methane water might have on the surface. Those procedural volleys stem from the ongoing dispute about whether the BLM considered those impacts before it conveyed the right to develop through leasing....
'What are the benefits of wilderness?': Experts seek to quantify economic aspects A dominant view of designated wilderness is that of a trade-off - protecting vast tracts of land for future generations while giving up the promise of commercial gain. Whether for or against the designation of pristine land kept out of reach of commercial interests, motorized use, and energy exploration, many citizens view wilderness as an economic loss. But a number of economists, scientists and researchers are trying to re-frame the economic debate surrounding wilderness. By calculating the economic value of wilderness areas, they hope to shed light on how nearby communities benefit from wilderness areas - and provide a new framework for discussion about the economic costs and benefits of protecting wild places....
IMBA Testifies in Front of Congress The International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) will testify in front of Congress today regarding a proposed Oregon Wilderness bill. IMBA board member Chris Distefano will speak before members of a subcommittee of the Senate Natural Resources Committee in Washington, D.C. to explain how the bill would impact mountain bikers. While IMBA supports the preservation of primitive public lands in an undeveloped condition, the Wilderness designation bans bicycles. IMBA local clubs, Wilderness advocates, Oregon elected officials, recreation groups and others have been working for months on the bill. Distefano will say that IMBA supports the goal of protecting the undeveloped roadless areas of the Mount Hood National Forest, but the bill would close about approximately 200 miles of trail to bicycling....
Hunting Access Work Continues To Make Headway For the 2004 hunting season, hunters in Montana will have access to over 8.5 million acres of land statewide through the Block Management Program administered by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. The program assists landowners in managing hunting activities and provides hunters with free public hunting access to private and isolated public land....
Sierra Club campaign effort bypasses Arizona The Sierra Club is launching some aggressive homestretch campaign efforts related to this year's presidential contest. But the environmental group, which is backing Democrat John Kerry over President George W. Bush, is not targeting Arizona in its $10 million effort. The heavy hitting environmental group is focusing on 10 battleground markets, including Las Vegas and Reno, Nev.; Albuquerque and Santa Fe N.M.; Portland, Ore.; Tampa, Fla.; and Milwaukee....
Nevada lawmakers, environmentalists face off over land bill Nevada lawmakers say legislation to auction off 100,000 acres of federal land in a rural county is needed for its economic development. But environmentalists object, saying too much Lincoln County land would be sold off to private buyers and a provision in the bill could jeopardize the state's groundwater supplies. Lawmakers of both parties say they support the Lincoln County Conservation, Recreation and Development Act, which has the backing of all five members of the state's congressional delegation. The bill would authorize 5 percent of the proceeds from the land auction would go to the state education fund, 45 percent to Lincoln County for economic development, and 50 percent to the Interior Department for management and protection of archaeological resources and conservation....
Outdoor gear executives support Kerry The Kerry-Edwards campaign Tuesday trumpeted the endorsement of 31 top executives from outdoor recreation companies that represent a growing economic force. The executives, who work for companies ranging from Patagonia to Washington County-based Columbia Sportswear, claimed the Bush administration has rolled back protections for public lands and parks....
Objections signal high hurdles for Mount Hood wilderness bill Key Senate Republicans and Bush administration officials objected Tuesday to a plan to expand wilderness protection around Mount Hood, putting the bill on a lengthy and perhaps impossible road to passage. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., introduced the wilderness plan in July. It would set aside an additional 160,000 acres, approximately doubling the area protected under the National Wilderness Preservation System. Among those raising concerns at a Senate hearing on Wyden's bill was Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., whose support is essential to passage....
Ex-EPA chief lashes out at Bush One of the earliest heads of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a lifelong Republican joined a group of Minnesota Republicans on Tuesday in a blistering attack against President Bush's environmental policies. Russell Train, who headed the EPA under Presidents Nixon and Ford, called the Bush administration's environmental record over the past four years appalling and filled with paybacks to special interests....
Committee OKs Highlands bill, sends it before full Senate Preservation of the ecologically sensitive Highlands region that provides the New York City metro area with much of its drinking water got a boost Wednesday when a Senate committee endorsed a bill authorizing $110 million in federal aid to buy and preserve land. The bill now heads to the full Senate for approval. If passed there, as supporters expect, it would go back to the full House for a final vote. Wednesday's blessing by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee was the latest in a sequence of steps that began last year with introduction of a bill asking for $250 million to protect the swath of forests, trout streams and rolling hills arching from Pennsylvania to Connecticut....
Editorial: Boost Columbia salmon without dam removal The federal government's revised plan for protection and restoration of Columbia River salmon and steelhead deals head-on with the system's fish-killing dams. Solutions are to be found in dam operations, because the dams are not going away. Last week, federal fish managers, dam operators and the river's power wholesaler released a draft of a reworked biological opinion that has an official audience of one, a federal judge in Oregon....
A crucial OK for Hearst land deal The California Coastal Conservancy approved a deal Wednesday to protect more than 80,000 acres of stunning Central Coast landscape at Hearst Ranch from development despite lingering protests from some environmentalists. The unanimous approval by the state agency follows years of acrimony, litigation and negotiation, and it marks the biggest private conservation accord in the state's history....
U.S. Senate passes CalFed water bill The Senate passed the long-fought CalFed water bill Wednesday, authorizing $395 million to restore California's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and ensure a reliable water supply for millions of farmers and residents. The sweeping bill, which would enact the first major changes to California's water infrastructure since the 1960s, must still pass the House before going to the president for his signature. The bill authorizes feasibility studies for several major new storage projects, among them enlarging Los Vaqueros reservoir in Contra Costa County and raising the Shasta Dam....
Cattle test positive for rabies In the last month, two cows in the Elwood area have died and been documented as positive rabies cases which concerns Elwood veterinarian, Dr. Marshall Goodenberger and his staff. Their concern arises for the possibility of farmers and ranchers being exposed to the disease. According to Annette Bred-thauer, DVM, Nebraska Public Heath Veterinarian for the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, Nebraska is currently experiencing an outbreak of rabies in animals after many years with few cases. As of the first of the year, there have been 18 cases of positive rabies cases which include 10 cases involving either a cow or a calf....
Agriculture at the symphony: Farmers hope to reach city dwellers through classical music Farmers accustomed to dusty fields and the clatter of combines have chosen the concert hall and sweet strains of the symphony to tell the story of life on the farm to city folk. Farmers will snap photos over the next year around their western Ohio farms for a slide show to be shown next fall during a classical concert by the Springfield Symphony Orchestra. "We're dealing with two endangered species _ the symphony orchestra and the individual family farm," Westwater said. "By joining forces they can help each other."....

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DIAMOND BAR CATTLE COMPANY

Rancher admits assaulting federal officer in range dispute A southern New Mexico rancher pleaded guilty Wednesday to assaulting or resisting a federal officer and obstruction of a court order. Kit Laney, 43, was arrested March 14 during a roundup of cattle belonging to him and his ex-wife, Sherry Farr, on the Gila National Forest. Authorities said he threatened to trample federal officers with his horse and tried to release some of the impounded livestock. Laney and Farr did not have a permit to graze the cattle. Laney had been charged in federal court with eight counts including assault with a deadly weapon, assault on federal officers and obstruction of justice. At sentencing, which has not been scheduled, federal prosecutors are to dismiss the remaining six counts against Laney. Authorities had alleged that Laney's horse, spurs and horse reins were the deadly weapons used to assault federal officers....More than 450 head of the cattle were sold at auction over the summer for about $211,000. Laney was sent a bill for an additional $250,000 by the federal government for time and expense of the roundup of his cattle. The convictions each carry a maximum penalty of up to a year in prison, a fine of up to $100,000 and a term of supervised release. Norm Kairns, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Albuquerque, said the agreement stipulates that Laney's sentence will be on the low end of the penalties, which means he faces a 10-16 month sentence. The minimum sentence would be five months jail time and five months home confinement....

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Executive Order Facilitation of Cooperative Conservation

Another step forward for property rights It went completely unnoticed in the press amid the hoopla surrounding the swiftboat ads and the Republican National Convention. Nevertheless, on August 26, President Bush issued an executive order which could significantly change the way federal agencies do business. Federal agencies charged with the responsibility of implementing environmental laws and regulations are now required to cooperate with state and local government, for-profit, and not-for-profit organizations, and individuals who may be affected by federal action. It's a small step, long overdue, but welcome, nonetheless. Existing law already requires cooperation with local governments under certain circumstances, but federal agencies long ago devised procedures to bypass this requirement. During the Clinton/Gore era, vast stretches of land were put off-limits to human activity, with virtually no communication with local governments or the individuals who were dramatically affected....

President Bush issues executive order to consider local interests in environmental decisions Without much public notice, President Bush issued an executive order August 26, 2004, to the Departments of Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Defense and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to include local groups in decision-making that affects land use and environmental regulations. Specifically, the order calls for "cooperative conservation" among local, state, and tribal governments, and for-profit and non-profit organizations in carrying out the functions of the departments as they relate to the environment and natural resources. The order also requires that these federal agencies "take account" of the interests of local property owners, and include them in the decision making "to the extent permitted by law." According to the Associated Press, the Sierra Club claims the order is "part of the "shrink-the-federal-safety-net" efforts by the Bush administration."....

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WESTERN STATES WATER, ISSUE 1582

LITIGATION/WATER RESOURCES
Kansas v. Colorado/Arkansas River Compact

On October 4, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments regarding the amount of damages Colorado owes Kansas for reducing the flow of the Arkansas River by allowing unregulated ground water pumping from 1950 to 1994. Kansas filed a bill of complaint in 1985. In 1994, California water lawyer Arthur Littleworth, appointed as Special Master, recommended the Court determine that Colorado had violated the Arkansas River Compact of 1949. In 1995, by adopting Special Master Littleworth’s recommendations, and rejecting the exceptions filed, the Court held Colorado had violated the compact with unregulated well pumping in the Lower Arkansas Valley. The Court determined the unregulated pumping took 248,000 acre feet from the river between 1950 and 1994. In 2001, the Court ruled Kansas was entitled to monetary damages. Then, another trial was held to determine whether Colorado’s administration of Arkansas River Basin water rights from 1996-1998 complied with the compact. In 2003, Special Master Littleworth submitted his findings to the Court. The upcoming hearing will deal not only with the amount of monetary damages, but also with the sufficiency of Colorado’s current compact administration. According to Colorado Deputy Attorney General Ken Lane, the state has implemented new administrative rules that bring the state into compliance for 1997 through 1999. Kansas has filed exceptions to the Special Master’s most recent report. (The Pueblo Chieftan, Sept. 3, 2004)

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NEWS ROUNDUP

Some fear Hearst deal sets precedent The 68-year-old cattleman hopes to preserve it all by selling the development rights on his 12,000-acre ranch to the California Rangeland Trust in Sacramento. But he says he'll withdraw his offer if environmentalists win more public access or government oversight of the Hearst Ranch conservation deal the California Coastal Conservancy is set to approve Wednesday. "You would lose our contract and probably 90 percent of the people in line for conservation easements," he said. "It just sets a very bad precedent." For ranchers and environmentalists alike, the landmark Hearst conservation deal has become a litmus test for the future of easements designed to restrict development forever....
Coalition writes Bush in support of roadless rule So on Tuesday, the Montana Tech professor joined a coalition of Montana hunters, anglers, business owners and conservationists in calling on President Bush to protect the state's remaining 6 million acres of unprotected roadless land. In its sted, Bush would allow governors to petition the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to establish or adjust the management of roadless areas on national forests in their own state. Owners of the 117 Montana companies that wrote the president Tuesday beg to differ....
One Million Americans: Stop the Bush Administration's National Forests Giveaway Members of Congress and conservationists today announced that more than one million Americans had written the Bush Administration in the past 60 days to admonish their plan to open 58.5 million acres of pristine National Forests to logging. The groups held a convention-style event on the Ellipse in front of the White House with state 'delegates' on-hand to announce local tallies. With the Administration's comment period reaching the halfway mark today, coalition members said they expect comments against the Bush plan to continue to pour in. Similar events were also held locally in about 25 states today....
Parties reach accord on bighorns Ranchers and wildlife advocates have found some common ground in a draft document that aims to retain bighorn sheep populations on public lands without adverse economic impacts to the state's sheep producers. The Wyoming Bighorn/Domestic Sheep Working Group labored for two years to develop unique, Wyoming "solutions" for addressing anticipated problems between domestic sheep and bighorn sheep, group members said....
Act represents public's place in land management discussions A discussion about wilderness might begin most appropriately with facts and figures: how many acres, how many states, and how many mountain ranges. It might also begin with a discussion of values: clean water, clean air and clean ecosystems. It could focus initially on the philosophical virtues of open space, silence and remoteness. Still, no matter how it begins, the discussion is made relevant largely because of what happened 40 years ago....
Lawmaker tried to ax fire probe, agents say On a windy day last March, U.S. Rep. Henry Brown (R-S.C.) set a fire in a controlled burn on his timberland adjacent to the Francis Marion National Forest in coastal South Carolina. But the fire spread to the national forest, charring about 20 acres of loblolly pines. Allowing a fire that was purposely set on private land to spread to a national forest is a federal crimine. The U.S. Forest Service proposed fining Brown $250 and billing him at least $4,000 for the government's firefighting costs....
Smith offers plan to speed Biscuit salvage logging Sen. Gordon Smith proposed legislation Tuesday that would end legal challenges to logging of old growth forest reserves burned in the 2002 Biscuit fire in southern Oregon. Using unusually blunt language, Smith warned "radical environmentalists" and others that he will do everything in his power to move the logging plan forward. If necessary, he will offer the plan as a rider to a "must-pass" spending bill slated for approval by Congress this fall, Smith said....
State Gives Utah Loggers Preference Gov. Olene Walker has signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Forest Service that gives local loggers priority for some timber sale contracts in southern Utah. "This will allow for contracting and other methods that encourage local industry and local jobs in our communities," Walker said at the signing Friday. The memorandum calls for creation of a Forest Restoration Partnership Working Group made up of state, local and forest officials. They will meet in about 45 days to form a plan for securing local rights to some logging contracts, particularly restoration and thinning work....
Winning wilderness Almost 50 years after joining the movement in Congress to pass the nation's first wilderness bill, Stewart Brandborg can look to the west from his home up Tin Cup and feel proud that his efforts have borne fruit. But at 79, the gritty, lifelong conservationist said he sees the nation's 106 million acres of wilderness - 97 million of which were added after the country's first wilderness areas were designated in September 1964 - as a glass half full, a good start to forever protecting America's remaining premier wild areas. Brandborg is the only person alive who was involved from start to finish in the eight-year process to gain passage of the Wilderness Act....
Rehberg calls for eradication of troublesome wolf pack Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., is calling for the eradication of a Park County wolf pack that has attacked a sheep herd twice in the past week. Three of Bob Weber's ewes were killed Friday night or Saturday morning less than 100 yards from his home in Paradise Valley. Weber lost four sheep to wolves the week before, and said his herd has been attacked three times in the past year. Weber has since corralled his sheep to within 100 yards of his house....
Clint Eastwood To Receive National Conservation Award The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (Foundation) announced today that it will honor film icon Clint Eastwood for his efforts in conservation at a special fundraising dinner next week. Eastwood will receive the Foundation’s "Chairman’s Award" - the highest accolade bestowed by one of the nation’s leading conservation organizations. The Foundation will hand out the award at a private fundraising event on New York City’s Randall’s Island Sept. 22, 2004, and Eastwood will attend the event if his production schedule allows. The award recognizes outstanding leadership in the conservation of America’s natural resources. Past recipients of the Chairman’s Award have included former presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan....
Editorial: Junking Science he Bush administration has from time to time found it convenient to distort science to serve political ends. The result is a purposeful confusion of scientific protocols in which "sound science" becomes whatever the administration says it is. In the short run, this is a tactic to override basic environmental protections in favor of industry. In the long run, it undermines the authority of science itself. The latest example concerns the marbled murrelet, a small seabird listed as a threatened species that lives along the coast from Northern California up to the Aleutian Islands....
Mixed signals? At least 30 national parks sprout cellphone towers and antennas, a new government survey shows, and some environmentalists fear a forest of steel and concrete will spring up unless the National Park Service cracks down....
Burns acts to boost water level at Fort Peck Montana Republican Sen. Conrad Burns and North Dakota Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan joined forces Tuesday to increase water levels in Montana's Fort Peck, North Dakota's Lake Sakakawea and South Dakota's Lake Oahe. Inclusion of the provision in the bill sets up a future fight between lawmakers from upriver states, such as Montana and the Dakotas, and downriver states, such as Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska. The provision would require the Army Corps of Engineers to stop navigation in downriver states if the total water storage in Fort Peck and the two other reservoirs falls below 40 million acre-feet. Under the current regulations, navigation would not stop until water storage reached 31 million acre-feet. The current storage is about 36 million acre-feet, and Fort Peck, Sakakawea and Oahe are all at all-time lows....
Plan to Protect Colorado River Habitat Interior Secretary Gale Norton has signed an agreement with representatives of Arizona, Nevada and California to protect wildlife habitat on the Colorado River and aid native species. The Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program will create 8,100 acres of riparian, marsh and backwater habitat for about 27 species, six of which are endangered. The program is designed to protect habitat between Lake Mead and the U.S.-Mexico border while ensuring enough water is available and power operations using Colorado River water can continue. The river supplies water and power to 20 million people in Arizona, Nevada and California....
Tribe dances to protest Shasta Dam expansion As darkness fell across the crescent-shape Shasta Dam, eight barefoot Winnemem Wintu Indians armed with bows began the tribe's first war dance since 1887. Members of the tiny tribe began the four-day protest Sunday night to stop a potential expansion of the Shasta Dam, which would destroy sacred sites that had survived its original construction....
Conservation deal will boost water quantity in Blue River Summit County will see its prized Blue River rise, thanks to a fledgling effort designed to permanently dedicate more water in streams for fish and the environment. Under a deal approved Tuesday by the state, nearly 800 acre-feet of water will be donated to the Blue River by the nonprofit Colorado Water Trust. An acre-foot equals 326,000 gallons, enough to serve up to two households for a year....
N.M. stream panel supports Gila River deal The New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission has signed off on a deal with Arizona that would allow New Mexico to tap the Gila River. The commission decided yesterday to endorse the agreement, which also would give New Mexico $66 million federal dollars for water projects. And it calls for the state to receive up to $128 million if it decides to build a diversion project -- likely a series of wells near the river....
Farm drought aid clears Senate vote Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., pushed an amendment through the Senate Tuesday night that would provide $2.9 billion in relief for farmers and ranchers - some struck by hurricanes and others by drought. Under Baucus' proposal, farmers and ranchers in counties that have been declared a disaster area would be eligible to receive assistance. To receive assistance they would have to prove that they had suffered a 35 percent loss. Farmers who could prove a 35 percent loss and had crop insurance would be covered for 65 percent of their loss. Farmers without crop insurance would be covered for 60 percent of their loss. A similar formula would apply to ranchers based on the amount of forage that they lost....
Town seeking grant for Zane Grey cabin The Zane Grey Cabin Foundation fund-raising effort could get a major boost if the organization receives a $50,000 grant from the Gila River Indian Community. Total estimated cost to rebuild the famous western novelist's cabin adjacent to the Rim Country Museum at Green Valley Park is $184,920. The original cabin, where Grey penned many of his novels longhand, burned down in the Dude Fire in 1990....
Country stores at risk From his spot behind the cash register, David Pinder lets his eyes sweep across his country store: to the wines, barbecue supplies, bread, milk, soft drinks, sandwiches, and freshly brewed coffee. A table and two chairs occupy center stage for the regulars who enjoy going a few rounds on any hot topic: property taxes, development, the gubernatorial election....

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MAD COW DISEASE, CJD

Japan confirms new case of mad cow disease Japan has confirmed a new case of mad cow disease, the third discovery of the brain-wasting illness in the country this year, an official said Monday. The 5-year-old dairy cow tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, on Friday at a slaughterhouse in Shisui town, in southern Kumamoto prefecture (state) about 565 miles southwest of Tokyo, prefectural spokesman official Toshinori Takano said. More precise tests at a state-run infectious disease research institute confirmed the finding on Monday, Takano said....
Japan could let regions set own mad cow standards Japan's health minister said on Tuesday it may let local governments set their own standards for mad cow tests, a move that could complicate the talks to ease a ban on U.S. beef imports. The Japanese government is considering demands from the United States that it relax a central policy that all cattle must be tested for mad cow disease. But while talks on the issue between the countries are seen moving slowly, Health Minister Chikara Sakaguchi told a news conference that he would not oppose local governments setting their own stricter safety standards....
Disease fear for Tassie 12 TWELVE Tasmanians will receive letters telling them they may have been exposed to a disease for which there is no known cure. The 12 have all had brain or spinal surgery at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in the past 18 months. They are among the 1000-plus patients who are being contacted since a patient operated on last year died from Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. The letter emphasises there is only the remotest chance of developing the disease, which is closely related to mad cow disease....
CJD scare: $3m to boost sterilisation at hospitals The State Government is set to spend more than $3 million on new sterilisation equipment at seven public hospitals to prevent a repeat of this week's Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease contamination scare. The announcement came as three other hospitals were drawn into the scare yesterday, following the admission on Monday by the Royal Melbourne that equipment potentially contaminated with the fatal brain disease had been used on brain and spine surgery patients for about 20 months....

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YELLOWSTONE PARK ILLEGALLY POCKETS CELL TOWER MONEY; Plus Free Phones and 60,000 Free Cell Minutes for Park Staff Yellowstone National Park has been illegally using lease funds from telecommunications companies to pay staff salaries and other expenses, according to internal records released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Over the last several years, the National Park Service (NPS) issued six rights-of-way for cell phone towers in Yellowstone National Park. Two are issued to Union Telephone Company of Wyoming. Four were issued to interests now owned by Western Wireless Corporation. The annual fee from these two companies covers both the cost of administering the right-of-way and the rental for the use of federal land. The former funds are allowed to remain within the park to defray their costs. However, funds derived from the rental of land are to be deposited with the U.S. Treasury, as miscellaneous receipts....
Ruling in Nevada cattle-seizure cases raises new questions A judge may have raised more questions than answers with a recent ruling sought by Nevada agriculture officials caught in the middle of a dispute between state ranchers and federal land managers who confiscated their cattle. Washoe County District Judge Janet Berry dismissed the unusual case brought by state Attorney General Brian Sandoval on behalf of the Nevada Department of Agriculture and its brand inspector. Berry denied the state's request for a "judicial confirmation" ruling on whether the brand inspector acted properly in 2001 when he certified the U.S. Bureau of Land Management owned cattle it seized from a rancher accused of repeatedly trespassing on federal land....
Probe: Forest Service Logging PR Plan OK The U.S. Forest Service broke no laws in paying a public relations firm to promote its plan to triple logging in Sierra Nevada forests, Congressional investigators said Monday. "An agency has a legitimate right to explain and defend its policies and respond to attacks on that policy," said a 13-page report by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office. It echoed conclusions reached in May by the Agriculture Department's inspector general. At issue was a $90,000 contract the Forest Service gave to OneWorld Communications Inc. of San Francisco to work on a "Forests with a Future" campaign justifying increased logging as necessary to avoid catastrophic wildfires....
Mountain lion study approved State wildlife commissioners meeting Thursday in Durango approved Colorado's most extensive study of mountain lions: a 10-year look at lion population, its habitat requirements, and predator-prey relationships on the southern end of the Uncompahgre Plateau. "For many years, management of the mountain lion was a biologist's best guess," Gary Miller, the Department of Wildlife research leader, said outside the meeting. "But since it's a high-profile species we needed hard, scientific data."....
Federal appellate ruling stops fed plan to restore Idaho forest The U.S. Forest Service has put most of its projects in the Idaho Panhandle on hold following a federal appellate ruling last month that could dramatically change the way federal land managers approach timber sales. Environmentalists called the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision the most far-reaching it has won while a spokesman for the Idaho Panhandle National Forests said it could delay some projects and significantly disrupt others. Dave O'Brien said the government is still assessing its options in response to the ruling....
New lawsuit aimed at protecting flowers In what has become a common move to get heightened protection for endangered species, an environmental group in Idyllwild filed a lawsuit Monday to compel federal wildlife officials to designate critical habitat for six rare wildflowers found across Inland mountains. The Center for Biological Diversity, joined by the California Native Plant Society, filed the federal lawsuit in Riverside against the U.S. Interior Department, the second of its kind in as many months. In August, the Center filed a similar lawsuit over the mountain yellow-legged frog, one of the Inland area's most imperiled species....
Battle lines are drawn over Arizona's forests The north rim of the Grand Canyon is ground zero in the battle between President Bush and Sen. John Kerry for the future care and handling of national forests. Here, in a hunting preserve created by President Teddy Roose velt nearly a century ago, the Bush administration is cutting old-growth trees to improve wildlife habitat and, under Bush's Healthy Forests Act, plans to cut down even more to lessen the threat of catastrophic fire....
Poaching story deserves retelling Grosz relates the compelling story of this seven-year saga in his latest book, "The Thin Green Line," which will be available next month from Boulder-based Johnson Books. It is the sixth in a series detailing a 32-year career as a state and federal wildlife officer and the first devoted to his activities in Colorado. The extended chapter about the covert exercise in the San Luis Valley of southern Colorado carries the highest drama of the book. The impact rests not only in the scandalous scope of the violations - 547 elk, 2,005 deer, 92 eagles and numerous other illegal kills offered for sale to an undercover officer - but the lack of support by Colorado's governor in the wake of the exercise....
One wolf to be killed, others collared Federal officials plan to kill one wolf and radio collar another after wolves killed three ewes and a lamb on a Paradise Valley ranch. Bob Weber lost the four animals late Friday or early Saturday. He lost eight sheep to wolves in December 2003, while his brother, Hubie, who owns an adjoining ranch, lost 17. The wolves are from the Lone Bear pack -- the same pack that attacked the Webers' livestock last year, said Ed Bangs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wolf recovery coordinator. Government trappers killed three wolves in that pack in 2003....
Trio survives night on Snake River Three boaters survived a chilly night on the Snake River Sunday after their boat overturned on a logjam and sent them into the 55-degree water. Karl Hammes, 35, and Christopher Texier, 31, both of Denver, along with Texier's twin, Cory, of St. Louis, ran into a logjam at 7 p.m. Sunday about 2.5 miles north of Moose in Grand Teton National Park....
Udall assails billionaire's push for road at Wolf Creek U.S. Rep. Mark Udall and an environmental group are girding to battle a possible last-minute amendment to a major appropriations bill that could give a Texas billionaire a controversial road through public land in Colorado. Billy Joe "Red" McCombs owns an island of property near Wolf Creek ski area where he wants to build the state's largest resort village....
Bush Record: New Priorities in Environment Every fall, after raising their young near Teshekpuk Lake and the Colville River, tens of thousands of geese and tundra swans leave the North Slope of Alaska for more southerly shores. Some end their journey at the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in the flatlands of North Carolina. Both habitats could be transformed if current Bush administration initiatives come to pass. The birds would have oil rigs as neighbors in Alaska and be greeted by Navy jets simulating carrier takeoffs and landings in North Carolina....
Environmentalists Oppose Mormons' Forest Church Several prominent environmental groups are joining forces to oppose plans by Mormon leaders to build a 12,868-square-foot church facility that environmentalists say would threaten sensitive wildlife habitat and encourage further development in the fire-prone San Bernardino Mountains. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints won approval this summer from the San Bernardino County Planning Commission to build a chapel, cultural center, classrooms and offices on a 7.7-acre wooded parcel near Rim of the World Highway in Running Springs....
Green Meeting in Brazil to Propose Environmental Court A meeting this week sponsored by major energy companies will propose creating an international court to assess and punish environmental crimes, organizers said. The Fourth Green Meeting of the Americas will seek proposals to promote development while protecting the environment, said Paulo Cesar Fernandes, one of the conference organizers. The main proposal will be the creation of an International Environmental Court, modeled after the World Court in the Hague, Netherlands....
Kerry releases plan to protect lakes, promises no diversions John Kerry promised on Monday that as president he wouldn't let arid regions quench their thirst with Great Lakes water. President Bush, meanwhile, reiterated his opposition to removing Great Lakes water from the basin as both sides accused each other of going back on forth on the touchy issue. Kerry included the no-diversion pledge in a Great Lakes plan that also called for more federal spending on cleanup of polluted sites and a crackdown on mercury contamination, toxic discharges and introduction of exotic species....
State Must Pay Legal Fees To Environmentalists The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) has been ordered by the Court of Appeals to pay an environmentalist organization $104,000 for their attorney fees in litigating against the state agency over California's largest state forest. The Campaign to Restore Jackson State Redwood Forest took the agency to court and obtained an injunction against timber harvesting, contending the management plan for the forest was being violated and needed updating. The trial court found that the harm from the harvesting operations could be substantial and, possibly, irreparable....
Colorado River conservation pact awaits signature Moving to avert disruptions in water deliveries and power generation, Interior Secretary Gale Norton today will sign an agreement that promises $625 million over the next half-century to protect rare fish and wildlife along the Colorado River from Lake Mead to Mexico. The cost-sharing agreement with major water purveyors in California, Arizona and Nevada is considered a milestone in an eight-year push to adopt a broad conservation plan for the 300-mile section of the Colorado, home to some 30 threatened or endangered species....
Defeated commissioner says county can't win water fight A White Pine County commissioner who lost his re-election bid Tuesday because of his willingness to negotiate with Las Vegas water officials said his rural county may be headed toward a fight it can't win. One-term incumbent David Provost lost to retired sheep rancher Raymond Urrizaga, who carried the Republican primary with 56 percent of the vote....
Duo make customized saddle for President Before the work began, they needed the OK from the White House and permission to replicate the presidential seal on the saddle, a four-month process facilitated by U.S. Rep. Nick Smith (R., Addison) and his staff. Still, as well as they work together, Mr. Rice and Ms. Cole sparred in a good-natured way over the design of the President's saddle, which they began on June 20. Mr. Rice wanted an old-style piece, with a deep seat and protruding hump for the President to dig his thighs into. Ms. Cole wanted large tapaderos - which shield the lower legs from thick brush and scrub. She also wanted to carve the President's seal into the fenders and his initials into the tapaderos, which she did. "We met in the middle," Ms. Cole says of the compromise that was reached....
Tales of the $100 steak At $100 for a 16-ounce porterhouse steak, Wagyu beef might be a hard sell. Evan Lobel, of famous New York butcher shop Lobel's, is undaunted. He's already selling at least 100 of his beyond-prime porterhouses each month, plus 150 or more bone-in strip steaks starting at $89 a pound, 100 bone-in hip steaks and so on — well over $55,000 worth of meat — to a star-studded roster of clients....
Homes on the range, in high style The Dallas boutique, "Cowboy Cool" draws such celebs as Madonna and Billy Bob Thornton, who pay up for handmade boots and private label western wear. The magazine "Cowboys & Indians" is a popular read. The Blacksmith Restaurant in Bend, Ore., has even coined the term "new ranch cuisine" to describe its menu of haute comfort food. "There is a real fantasy with the American West," said Billy Long, a third generation rancher and partner Ranch Marketing Associates, one of several firms that specialize in ranches. "When you really make it big in Hollywood or on Wall Street, you want to fulfill that fantasy."....
Cowboy for Hire Among that rare breed known as cowboy, Vaughn Kennemer is rarer still. He’s a full-time, freelance cowboy who hires himself out for day work to ranchers in the rolling red hills, wooded river bottoms, and mesquite canyons of his native Oklahoma. Kennemer has earned a reputation for roping the mean ones—errant cows determined to get away and big bulls nobody else can catch....
It's All Trew: Mineral Wells once a booming health spa Sketchy Trew family history recalls that at some unknown early date, Grandma Trew once traveled to Mineral Wells to bathe in the legendary, hot, healing waters containing Crazy Water Crystals. She returned with a supply of crystals to be mixed with tap water and drank in daily doses. No details have been recalled about her ailments. Research finds that in 1880, the Judge James Lynch family cured their collective ills by camping by, bathing and drinking the warm waters gushing from a nearby spring on the outskirts of Mineral Wells....

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NEWS ROUNDUP

In Grazing Debate, Some Ranchers Are Switching Sides Bob Miller, a fourth-generation farmer in Oregon's Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, is ready to call it quits. He grazes 150 head of cattle on mountainous federal land that provides crucial forage for his herd, but he is well aware that in a matter of years, the government may push him off after completing a multimillion-dollar study on how ranching is affecting the local ecology. Miller and about a dozen other ranchers in Cascade-Siskiyou own federal grazing permits, lifetime permits that allow them to graze cattle for less than $1.50 a month apiece on the public land. But with concern intensifying about what grazing is doing to the land and the rare species that depend on it, he and others are making common cause with environmentalists who want to end the practice....
Editorial: Sensible swap The heavy lifting is over. After five intense years of uncertainty and scrutiny, a reasonable compromise has been reached on the Yavapai Ranch land exchange, the largest swap in the state's history. There may be a temptation to ease up, to think the exchange is a done deal. Complacency would be a mistake. Arizona's two senators, John McCain and Jon Kyl, and the rest of the state's congressional delegation must be vigilant in shepherding the bill through before Congress adjourns. The chance for a successful exchange as late a couple of weeks ago looked bleak. There were three key actions that got talks back on track....
Let's make a deal: State often gives lease discounts When Big Timber rancher Don Tetlie's state grazing lease was about to expire, the only way he could keep it was to match the high bid of neighbor Horatio Burns, who had offered to pay nearly 10 times more. Tetlie agreed to meet the bid, but in the end, he didn't have to pay it: The state agreed to charge him just one-third of what Burns was willing to pay. Similar rate reductions have occurred dozens of times in the past decade, resulting in more than $1.5 million in state lease discounts, according to an Associated Press review of records kept by the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation....
Firefighter is killed in California blaze A firefighter died Sunday and six others were injured while working to contain a comparatively small, but tricky wildfire in Stanislaus National Forest, authorities said. The seven-person crew was overrun by flames while participating in the initial attack on the fire in the Tuolumne River Canyon, said Karen Terrill, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection....
Forest Service deal may preserve Utah sawmills Saving the forests by saving some sawmills? It's an odd combination, but lawmakers and forest officials think it will work. On Friday, Gov. Olene Walker signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Forest Service that gives local loggers priority for some timber sale contracts in southern Utah. "What it means is that forests will be taken care of and along with it, we'll have some communities that will survive," said Walker....
Plundering the past: Archaeologists bemoan looting of artifacts The seed, the bone and bits of charcoal seem little enough reason for smiles all around the small team excavating a rock shelter in a remote canyon near the Pryor Mountains. But finding anything at all is surprising. Looters got there first. If the shelter ever contained arrowheads, stone tools or trade beads, they're gone now....
Nome Cult Trail to be retraced On Sunday, Sept. 12, members of several northern California Native American tribes will begin a 100-mile walk to commemorate the 141st anniversary of the Nome Cult Trail, the forced relocation of Indians from Chico across what is now the Mendocino National Forest to Round Valley. The removal of Indians from Chico to the Nome Cult Reservation in 1863 is one of the many forced relocations following the establishment of reservations in Northern California in the 1850s. Several different tribes were moved to the Nome Cult Reservation after it was established in Round Valley in 1856....
ATV rules on Mount Hood challenged Motorcyclists, snowmobilers and others who ride on backcountry trails and roads within the Mount Hood National Forest complain that federal land managers are squeezing out motorized recreation -- perhaps illegally. The Forest Service says it is following the law, but land managers also acknowledge the agency has stepped up enforcement and posted signs on trails that should have been closed to motorized vehicles long ago....
Woman dies after wilderness accident 41-year-old Tennessee woman died in the Bob Marshall Wilderness on Thursday night after being kicked in the chest by a horse. The woman was an experienced backcountry horsewoman, said Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Cheryl Liedle. She and her husband were taking an extended trip through the Bob Marshall with six horses and a mule. The couple was stopped in the Pretty Prairie area, about 7 miles from the Benchmark trailhead, when the accident occurred, Liedle said. The woman apparently was kicked in the chest just below her neck, Liedle said....
Advocacy group wins appeal, gets trails reopened Utah's largest advocacy group for motorized access of public lands has won an appeal to the Forest Service that will require the Uinta National Forest to reopen 20 miles of motorized trails in American Fork Canyon that were closed last year. Paul Mortensen, attorney for Utah Shared Access Alliance, said the group had tried twice to protest the trails closure, "but our comments were rejected by the Forest Service." When the Forest Service closed the trails, located in Tibble Fork in American Fork Canyon, without accepting public comment, the alliance sued in federal district court....
In West, Old Mines Haunted by Pollution There are as many as 500,000 abandoned mines nationwide, most in the West, government surveys report. About 20% are causing major pollution of rivers, streams and groundwater. Dangerous concentrations of mercury and cyanide along with heavy metals have killed off insects, fish and plant life in some areas. In others, contamination has threatened drinking water. The Environmental Protection Agency says 16,000 miles, or 40%, of all Western headwater streams, are now polluted by old, hard rock mines — mines dug into solid rock....
Bush's environmental record to be decisive issue only in Nevada But Nevada, where Bush wants to entomb a half-century's waste from atomic power plants, is the only state where an environmental issue can realistically swing the outcome, according to environmental leaders and political analysts. He said Kerry could benefit in Western states like New Mexico and Arizona where ranchers, hunters, fishermen and environmentalists all worry about oil and gas drilling on public lands and logging in national forests. Likewise, in Nevada. "If enough votes are guided by concern about Yucca Mountain ... it's very conceivable those five electoral votes could end up in Kerry's column," DiPeso said....
Where the bison roam The cloud of brown dust billows up at the top of the hill, then quickly descends the fenced-in slope. Silent at first, the sound of bovine hooves pounding solid ground soon fills the air as well, along with the excited whoops of riders on horseback. It's a scene straight from the Wild West, with emphasis on "wild." For the animals being herded down the hillside by horses aren't cattle, but bison. And the riders aren't cowboys, but U. S. Fish and Wildlife employees, with local ranchers and college students volunteering to help out at the annual round-up held at the National Bison Range in Montana....
Small snails threaten to cause big headaches They only stand five millimeters tall, but a local species of freshwater snail is making waves across the Northwest. If a local springsnail is added to the endangered species list, cattle grazing rights and the ability to recreate near some local springs could be restricted. Springsnails are small creatures that live in freshwater springs and rivers throughout the western United States. They help keep water clean by eating plant and animal waste....
Feds act to protect 3 Utah riverways Interior Secretary Gale Norton on Saturday officially withdrew nearly 200 miles of scenic riverways along the Green, Colorado and Dolores rivers in southeastern Utah from the exploration and location of new mining claims. The order will provide protection for 20 years of 111,895 acres of public lands along 192 miles of river corridor. The order also helps protect at least 161 prehistoric sites, habitat for six threatened and endangered species and 32 Bureau of Land Management recreation facilities constructed along the Colorado River....
Rare fly draws derision at hearing If big horn sheep had blocked construction of highway overpasses, affordable homes and businesses in the San Bernardino Valley, the public might have understood sacrificing economic growth to protect the habitat of a threatened species. But a lowly fly under federal protection drew no sympathy, just derision and frustration at a Congressional hearing Friday on the impact of the Endangered Species Act....
Great Sand Dunes To Be Declared National Park Colorado will become home to the country's newest national park Monday when Interior Secretary Gale Norton officially reclassifies the Great Sand Dunes National Monument. Norton will join Rep. Scott McInnis and Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell in a ceremony at the dunes to designate the southern Colorado site a national park. McInnis, Campbell and fellow Republican Sen. Wayne Allard sponsored legislation and lobbied to have the 750-foot dunes, North America's tallest, the surrounding mountains and the sagebrush-dotted high desert turned into a national park....
Fearless dogs scare away bears with ‘tough love' The mere mention of the word ‘‘bear'' is enough to get Mishka, Tuffy and Cassidy to stand at attention, poised to attack an animal that probably weighs at least 10 times more than they do. Say ‘‘Bark at the bear!'' and they'll do it like actors on cue. Give them a crack at an actual bear, and they'll send it barreling away as if it had never encountered something so unpleasant. After centuries of breeding in Finland, these Karelian bear dogs don't show a hint of fear when they run toward a bear, pulling their handlers along as they bark furiously....
Drilling to oust wild horses One of Colorado's five remaining herds of wild horses is slated to be rounded up and removed from a rugged area in northwest Colorado to make way for more oil and gas development. The pending removal has infuriated wild horse advocates and environmentalists who view the action as a failure of the Bureau of Land Management to follow a 34-year-old federal mandate to manage wild horse populations....
Administration tilts at more windmills More windmills would sprout throughout California, under a Bush administration plan. Now abundant along the Altamont and Tehachapi passes, wind-driven turbines belong on federal land elsewhere in California, according to a government study released Friday. Some 72,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management land statewide appear promising for wind power development, the bureau’s study concludes....
BLM lease suspensions is costing millions The failure of the Bureau of Land Management to collect rental payments on 1,200 coal-bed methane leases in the Powder River Basin since January 2001 will cost the federal and state governments more than $1.5 million this year. Exact figures for lost revenue in 2002 and 2003 are not available, but are near this year's figure, said Richard Zander, assistant field manager for the Bureau of Land Management's Buffalo office. "The leases were suspended because the BLM couldn't approve any more until the 2003 EIS was completed," Zander said....
Clean the river before using it Rancher John Barnhart dreams of canoers paddling down a picturesque stretch of the San Antonio River as it winds through Goliad County. Barnhart, 78, is part of a group trying to create a canoe trail to bring recreational tourists — and their dollars — to the area. But there's a problem standing in the way: high bacteria counts in the river, which have raised a major stink among residents here. For years, many locals blamed San Antonio-area waste treatment plants for polluting the river. But a new yearlong study has cleared those wastewater plants of blame, leaving scientists to turn their focus on a new set of suspects — cows, deer and other creatures of the brush country....
Horse sense and Palm Pilots Only an authentic cowboy could live by himself for weeks at a time on a rocky and remote patch of ground in Idaho’s central Owyhee County, a stretch of the interior West where cattle outnumber people by an untold margin. At 29, Jeremy Mink is the real deal – a buckaroo with a handlebar mustache, a .38-caliber revolver strapped to his side and a familial commitment to the herd of 1,400 cattle he lives with year-round....
Introduction of "the devil's rope" transformed ranch life forever Cowboying in the West had already been through centuries of evolution, stemming from the tradition of the Spanish vaquero (the word was later corrupted by English speakers to become "buckaroo," which simply means "hired ranch hand") and dating to the time of the early 16th-century Spanish explorer Hernando Cortez. Federal land was freely available, and cowboys kept their cattle on the hoof, moving on before the vegetation was grazed off. Then in 1873, inventor Joseph F. Glidden changed the West forever with his patent on a new kind of fence: the barbed wire....
Cowed? Not these dogs Border collies, the lithe black and white dogs that are born to herd livestock, are all over the fields at the Box R Ranch between Keno and Ashland this weekend for the second annual Oregon Cowdog Championships. The dogs are putting on quite a show, going about their usual business moving cattle on a lengthy, difficult open-field course or shuttling cows through a series of tight pens and gates in an outdoor arena....
Last Part of Mustang Ranch Brothel Moved The last piece of a risque chapter of Nevada history the Mustang Ranch brothel was airlifted to a new home Sunday. Unlike other buildings from the state's first legal bordello, the 63-foot-wide parlor where the working girls lined up for customers was too big to be moved by truck to its new location at the Wild Horse Adult Resort & Spa. About a dozen girls cheered and champagne flowed as a double-rotored helicopter gently lowered the skeleton of the parlor into place and workers secured it to a concrete pad....
On The Edge Of Common Sense: Chihuahua just like home only different We crossed the border at Antelope Wells, N.M., 40 miles south of Hachita on Highway 81, which is paved right up till your front tire hits Mexico. It must be the loneliest immigration outpost in the country. We drove the 72 miles from Animas, N.M., to Mexico Highway 2 in the middle of the day and only passed one car that wasn't up on blocks. The U.S. agent held us for 10 minutes just to visit. We agreed to write him occasionally and he finally let us through. We didn't wake the Mexican border guard....

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DIAMOND BAR CATTLE COMPANY

Ranch-Forest Service truce sought With a final resolution to rancher Kit Laney’s case in sight, U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., and U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., are urging the U.S. Forest Service to rebuild a working and cooperative relationship with New Mexico livestock producers....Legal advisers earlier this month indicated that Laney will admit guilt to misdemeanor charges related to the March incident with Forest Service officials. On Friday Laney was not at the home of Otero County rancher Bob Jones into whose custody Laney was released by a federal court after his release from jail. A woman who answered the phone at Jones’ ranch Friday said Jones was not there and she did not know where Laney was or how to contact him. Domenici and Pearce said the Forest Service should advocate leniency for Laney as the case is resolved in order to rebuild a strong relationship with livestock producers throughout the state who have grazing permits on federal forest lands....On March 31, Pearce requested an investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture into the handling of the matter by the Forest Service. Pearce asked that the Forest Service move forward with establishing strong contacts with livestock producers in the state. “It should not have come to this point, but now let’s put this sad ordeal behind us and move on,” Pearce said. “I’m certain there are more important cases for the U.S. Attorney’s office to be working on that are affecting our community.” Carl Holguin, New Mexico director of public affairs for the Forest Service, said the agency agreed with the lawmakers. Holguin noted the Forest Service was continuing to employ field personnel to work with ranchers in furthering relationships....

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OPINION/COMMENTARY

A Short History of Federal Land Acquisition & A Suggestion It began a century ago in an age of political frenzy, “progressive” reforms, and environmental concerns. For the first120 years, the Federal government held title only to forts, magazines, naval areas, and lands in recent states and territories that either State governments or citizens had not claimed or homesteaded in some fashion. During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s national concerns and Federal politicians focused on the “need” to preserve both “nature” and natural phenomenon unique to our nation. Simple divestiture of Federal ownership of vast western grazing lands and mountains slowed to a trickle at that time. Specific designations began with first public lands and then certain private properties for national preservation needs. The physical phenomena and game animals of Yellowstone were “saved” as a National Park. The first Park Rangers took off on a mission to stop hunting in the new “Park” and never looked back. Hunting, trapping, and even fishing (proactive management of either animals or plants) remains anathema to National Park policies and employees to this day. Concern for colonial nesting birds in Florida and elk in Oklahoma led to National Wildlife Refuges at Pelican Island and Wichita Mountains. Gifford Pinchot, a man concerned with forest management directed the President to forestry needs and thus were the first National Forests designated for multiple uses from timber production and wildlife to camping and fishing....
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OPINION/COMMENTARY

“Frankenfood Myth” Debunks Biotech Scare The Competitive Enterprise Institute announces a new book on biotech foods and the future of agriculture by Senior Fellow Gregory Conko and co-author Dr. Henry I. Miller. The Frankenfood Myth: How Protest and Politics Threaten the Biotech Revolution (www.frankenfoodmyth.com) takes a clear look at one of the most controversial issues of our time and offers a sober assessment on how best to bring the benefits of new agricultural technology to those who need it most. In this provocative and meticulously researched book, Miller and Conko trace the origins of gene-splicing, its applications, and the backlash from consumer groups and government agencies against so-called “Frankenfoods”—from America to Zimbabwe. They explain how a “happy conspiracy” of anti-technology activism, bureaucratic overreach, and counterproductive industry maneuvering has resulted in a regulatory framework in which there is an inverse relationship between the degree of product risk and degree of regulatory scrutiny....

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OPINION/COMMENTARY

National Geographic Melting Down? This is not your father's National Geographic any more. Once a coffee table staple with gorgeous photos of people, places and things, it now more resembles a host of other slick lobbying mags, pushing today's popular issues. Last month's cover story was "fat." What has that to do with geography, other than some people are skinny, some are large, and they all don't live in the same place? And obesity turns out to be a pretty slippery subject, given that what is fat today was considered healthy a century ago. This month it's global warming, a subject that actually lends itself to quantitative fact-checking, of which National Geographic apparently did little....

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OPINION/COMMENTARY

Private Stewardship Rocks For Rolling Stones Keyboardist While forestry in Georgia may not face the tougher regulatory challenges of other states in the Northeast and Northwest, Leavell still sees the harm rendered by excessive government regulation. He points to the estate tax, the “death tax,” as one government regulation that conservation-minded landowners could do without, because it forces many family forest owners to break up or sell their land to pay taxes: “It cuts against the bedrock of Southern forest conservation – the heritage of family stewardship that people bring to the land.” Leavell also opposes the “very detailed and expensive rules that are intended to tell us just what we have to do to protect water, wildlife and other environmental values,” pointing out that, “Most of us want to do this anyway, and it would be cheaper and less cumbersome to educate people about what to do, and they’ll do it.” Additionally, Georgia foresters face regulatory challenges regarding private property rights and the Endangered Species Act: “When you’re told that you can’t do any harvesting whatsoever on large tracts because there is one pair of red-cockaded woodpeckers nesting in one tree on your place, that’s just unreasonable,” he notes....

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OPINION/COMMENTARY

Do as I say, not as I do Dave Matthews joined the Farm Aid board of directors in 2001 along with founders Willie Nelson, Neil Young, and John Mellencamp. He is scheduled to perform for the fourth year in a row. Matthews is just one more example of the fraud that Farm Aid perpetuates and this guy may be the biggest hypocrite of them all. Matthews is hailed as “outspoken for the environment.” Let’s take a look at some of his rhetoric. In several interviews, Dave Matthews has said one of the reasons his band contributes to environmental causes is to offset the air pollution caused by his tour buses. He sounds like every other “global warming” alarmist I have met. “Everyone else should change their consuming habits in order to save the world, but it won’t work for me.”....

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OPINION/COMMENTARY

Animal Rights Making A Killing In England "There are people here who I don't know and who I'm sure the police don't know who could do what they want: get away with murder." So said long-time British Animal Liberation Front (ALF) leader Robin Webb at a Sunday gathering of UK animal-rights militants. "The Animal Terror Camp," as Britain's Western Daily Press called it, attracted several hundred hard-core activists, mostly from the violent SHAC movement. Webb's veiled reference to future homicides made up for the absence of American terrorist sympathizer Jerry Vlasak, who was barred from entering Great Britain after that country's Home Secretary (analogous to our own Homeland Security chief) learned that Vlasak himself endorsed animal-rights-related assassinations during a 2003 speech. Vlasak delivered the comments as a spokesman for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM)....


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