Saturday, November 27, 2004
NEWS ROUNDUP
Forest Service at crossroads The U.S. Forest Service is in the midst of a midlife crisis as it approaches its centennial year. There is little doubt that the agency, which manages 192 million acres of forest land nationally and 8 million acres in Utah, is struggling to redefine its mission as it embarks on its next century. A Forest Service that spent the past century suppressing wildfires is now grappling with the buildup of undergrowth - fuel for wildfires, in other words - that has accumulated over decades. Complicating the situation further: a six-year drought that robbed soils of moisture and led to insect infestation that is killing large stands of fir throughout the Intermountain region....
Wolves' genetic diversity worryingly low Wolf eradication in the US has had a far more devastating impact on the genetic diversity of remaining populations than previously thought, a new study reveals. Although wolves were systematically eradicated across North America over the last couple of centuries, it had been thought that the human impact on the Canadian wolf population - which is currently a relatively healthy 70,000 - was minor....
Retired park service employees want checkoff to fund maintenance Retired National Park Service workers are supporting legislation allowing people to donate money to the agency through a checkoff on their federal tax return. "I believe there's enough national pride in the park system to make this work," said Bill Wade, former superintendent at Shenandoah National Park and spokesman for the Coalition of Concerned National Park Service Retirees. "If the public gets behind this, I think it will pass." The bill, called the National Park Centennial Act of 2004, looks to eliminate a $6 billion maintenance backlog in national parks by 2016 -- the Park Service centennial....
Off-roaders crowd California's Imperial Dunes, but no big trouble Off-road enthusiasts crowded into California's largest sand dunes area on Friday but officials reported there had been no repeat of the mayhem of past Thanksgiving weekends. The throng at Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area was expected to peak at up to 200,000. The annual Thanksgiving ritual more than doubles the population of Imperial County, but in the recent past the mix of fast driving and wild parties has been a recipe for "Mad Max" style chaos....
Wire fences roll up as cattle leave wild Steens Sixteen miles of barbed wire and fence posts have already been pulled out, as officials begin the difficult work of returning Steens Mountain to its natural state. "You can't believe the change in the way it looks without that fence," said federal range rider Lee McConnell. The Steens has been cattle country for at least a century, and 1,700 head plus calves grazed on this western face of the mountain for decades. But that era ended when Congress created the wilderness four years ago. Lawmakers declared that 97,229 acres of rangeland in the 170,080-acre wilderness would close to livestock. They gave ranchers and the Bureau of Land Management until fall 2003 to find a new home for the cattle....
Santa Fe-based group names Norton Toxic Turkey A Santa Fe-based environmental group has named US Interior Secretary Gale Norton this year's Toxic Turkey. The New Mexico Environmental Law Center yesterday accused Norton of weakening environmental laws through deregulation, promoting harmful energy policies and weakening air-quality standards....
Bison DNA study lets early hunters shake the blame Prehistoric big-game hunters may be off the hook in the latest twist of a whodunit that tries to explain why bison populations sharply crashed thousands of years ago. Proponents of the overkill theory blamed the first Americans to cross an ice-free corridor -- connecting what is now Alaska and Siberia -- for hunting bison within a whisper of disappearance. Those super hunters also are faulted for pushing massive mammals, such as woolly mammoths, short-faced bears and North American lions into extinction. A team of 27 scientists used ancient DNA to track the hulking herbivore's boom-and-bust population patterns, adding to growing evidence that climate change was to blame. "The interesting thing that we say about the extinctions is that whatever happened, it wasn't due to humans," said the paper's lead author, Beth Shapiro, a Wellcome Trust Research Fellow at Oxford University....
Condit Dam removal to be reviewed A controversial plan to remove Condit Dam from the White Salmon River in the Columbia River Gorge is up for approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. PacifiCorp wants to remove its 91-year-old dam, rather than having to install an expensive fish ladder to renew its federal operating license. Officials of Skamania and Klickitat counties oppose the $17.15 million dam-removal plan, saying it will clog the lower White Salmon with up to 2.3 million cubic yards of sediment that's accumulated for nearly a century in Northwestern Lake. At 125 feet in height, Condit would be the largest dam removed in U.S. history....
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Forest Service at crossroads The U.S. Forest Service is in the midst of a midlife crisis as it approaches its centennial year. There is little doubt that the agency, which manages 192 million acres of forest land nationally and 8 million acres in Utah, is struggling to redefine its mission as it embarks on its next century. A Forest Service that spent the past century suppressing wildfires is now grappling with the buildup of undergrowth - fuel for wildfires, in other words - that has accumulated over decades. Complicating the situation further: a six-year drought that robbed soils of moisture and led to insect infestation that is killing large stands of fir throughout the Intermountain region....
Wolves' genetic diversity worryingly low Wolf eradication in the US has had a far more devastating impact on the genetic diversity of remaining populations than previously thought, a new study reveals. Although wolves were systematically eradicated across North America over the last couple of centuries, it had been thought that the human impact on the Canadian wolf population - which is currently a relatively healthy 70,000 - was minor....
Retired park service employees want checkoff to fund maintenance Retired National Park Service workers are supporting legislation allowing people to donate money to the agency through a checkoff on their federal tax return. "I believe there's enough national pride in the park system to make this work," said Bill Wade, former superintendent at Shenandoah National Park and spokesman for the Coalition of Concerned National Park Service Retirees. "If the public gets behind this, I think it will pass." The bill, called the National Park Centennial Act of 2004, looks to eliminate a $6 billion maintenance backlog in national parks by 2016 -- the Park Service centennial....
Off-roaders crowd California's Imperial Dunes, but no big trouble Off-road enthusiasts crowded into California's largest sand dunes area on Friday but officials reported there had been no repeat of the mayhem of past Thanksgiving weekends. The throng at Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area was expected to peak at up to 200,000. The annual Thanksgiving ritual more than doubles the population of Imperial County, but in the recent past the mix of fast driving and wild parties has been a recipe for "Mad Max" style chaos....
Wire fences roll up as cattle leave wild Steens Sixteen miles of barbed wire and fence posts have already been pulled out, as officials begin the difficult work of returning Steens Mountain to its natural state. "You can't believe the change in the way it looks without that fence," said federal range rider Lee McConnell. The Steens has been cattle country for at least a century, and 1,700 head plus calves grazed on this western face of the mountain for decades. But that era ended when Congress created the wilderness four years ago. Lawmakers declared that 97,229 acres of rangeland in the 170,080-acre wilderness would close to livestock. They gave ranchers and the Bureau of Land Management until fall 2003 to find a new home for the cattle....
Santa Fe-based group names Norton Toxic Turkey A Santa Fe-based environmental group has named US Interior Secretary Gale Norton this year's Toxic Turkey. The New Mexico Environmental Law Center yesterday accused Norton of weakening environmental laws through deregulation, promoting harmful energy policies and weakening air-quality standards....
Bison DNA study lets early hunters shake the blame Prehistoric big-game hunters may be off the hook in the latest twist of a whodunit that tries to explain why bison populations sharply crashed thousands of years ago. Proponents of the overkill theory blamed the first Americans to cross an ice-free corridor -- connecting what is now Alaska and Siberia -- for hunting bison within a whisper of disappearance. Those super hunters also are faulted for pushing massive mammals, such as woolly mammoths, short-faced bears and North American lions into extinction. A team of 27 scientists used ancient DNA to track the hulking herbivore's boom-and-bust population patterns, adding to growing evidence that climate change was to blame. "The interesting thing that we say about the extinctions is that whatever happened, it wasn't due to humans," said the paper's lead author, Beth Shapiro, a Wellcome Trust Research Fellow at Oxford University....
Condit Dam removal to be reviewed A controversial plan to remove Condit Dam from the White Salmon River in the Columbia River Gorge is up for approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. PacifiCorp wants to remove its 91-year-old dam, rather than having to install an expensive fish ladder to renew its federal operating license. Officials of Skamania and Klickitat counties oppose the $17.15 million dam-removal plan, saying it will clog the lower White Salmon with up to 2.3 million cubic yards of sediment that's accumulated for nearly a century in Northwestern Lake. At 125 feet in height, Condit would be the largest dam removed in U.S. history....
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Friday, November 26, 2004
NEWS ROUNDUP
Congress taking aim at Endangered Species Act A bruising battle over reforming the nation's premier law for protecting endangered species is shaping up for the next Congress. Emboldened by their increased majority, House and Senate Republicans said they are optimistic that they can enact major changes to the Endangered Species Act, a goal that has eluded the GOP for more than a decade. Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, chairman of the subcommittee with oversight of the endangered-species law, have also said reform is a top priority for the 109th Congress. Next week, the Western Governors Association is hosting a "summit meeting" in San Diego to develop a legislative strategy for prodding Congress to make major changes to the act....
Study finds moderate grazing benefits Nevada plants Livestock grazing advocates may have new ammunition in the dispute over the long terms effects of livestock grazing. An article released this week in the Journal of Rangeland Management documents a comprehensive research project that looked for differences between grazed and un-grazed rangelands in Nevada. The study, called "Vegetation change after 65 years of grazing and grazing exclusion," found that there are few differences among plant populations on grazed and un-grazed lands. "Advocates for the removal of livestock often do not provide scientific evidence of long-term damage from properly managed livestock grazing," said Barry Perryman, co-author of the study and assistant professor of animal biotechnology at the University of Nevada, Reno. "On the other hand, livestock grazing supporters have little documented evidence of grazing having any beneficial effect on the land."....
Firefighter accused of setting 3 wildfires A U.S. Forest Service firefighter from Greenfield (Monterey County) has been accused of starting three wildfires this summer that burned 800 acres and cost $2.5 million to fight. Craig Matthew Underwood, 31, was charged Wednesday in a San Jose federal court with three counts of willfully setting fire to federal lands. Those fires -- the Memorial Fire, Slide Fire and Fred's Fire -- all occurred in the Los Padres National Forest, where Underwood lives. He could face a penalty of up to 15 years in prison for the three counts and up to $750,000 in fines....
Wilderness plan backed Gov. Janet Napolitano has joined those supporting a new wilderness area for Arizona. The proposed Tumacacori Highlands wilderness, which would cover 84,000 acres in southern Arizona, drew the governor's backing for the protection it would give the land. "In addition to maintaining the natural beauty and condition of the Tumacacori Highlands, enacting the . . . wilderness proposal would provide economic benefit to the region by creating a fantastic tourist destination," Napolitano wrote....
Brokaw dispute poses tough questions Tom Brokaw's recent dispute with an outfitter taking clients on a neighbor's ranch on the West Boulder River poses at least as many questions as it provides answers. And none of them have to do with Brokaw, who was maligned badly by many as the situation went through the courts. Brokaw, anchor of the NBC Nightly News, sought relief from District Court after the Montana Board of Outfitters had given a Wyoming outfitter permission to take 10 archery or rifle clients on three parcels of land on Chuck Reid's Burnt Leather Ranch. District Judge Randal Spaulding wound up ruling that it would have endangered people and livestock for the outfitter to hunt two of the parcels. He barred the outfitter from hunting one narrow strip that straddled the West Boulder Road which was almost surrounded by Brokaw's ranch and another parcel which was larger but had no legal access for the outfitter....
Group, landowners to work on Habitat A regional group hopes that it can work with landowners to improve sage-grouse habitat in northeast Wyoming. The work is considered important because the federal government is expected to list the bird as an endangered species across the West. The Northeast Wyoming Sage Grouse Working Group is producing a brochure on "Successful Seeding for Sage Grouse" that includes a recommended seed mix to revegetate habitat for sage grouse. The objective is to provide more sagebrush in the winter for feed and cover, and provide more broad-leafed plants in the summer for food for chicks. The restored habitat also would provide forage, cover and nesting for sage grouse and other wildlife....
BLM to amend plan for prairie chicken, dune lizard The Bureau of Land Management wants to amend resource management plans in the Roswell and Clovis areas for the lesser prairie chicken and sand dune lizard. The BLM published notice of its intent in the Federal Register on Wednesday. The federal agency says the amendment will help it respond to changing resource conditions for the two species on public lands in southeastern New Mexico. Both species have experienced population declines in the past decade and are candidates to be listed as threatened or endangered species....
Some believe wolves killed Blaine Co. calf A calf killed south of Chinook has the owner and the person who investigated the kill suspecting wolves. Some government officials said it's unlikely wolves have migrated to this part of Montana. "The chances are very slim," said Ed Bangs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Gray Wolf Recovery Program coordinator. Any wolf found here would be a gray wolf from Canada, he said, not one of the wolves that were reintroduced in Yellowstone National Park in 1995....
Western wildlife agencies undertake massive survey Wildlife agencies in 19 Western states and one Canadian province are taking part in an enormous survey to gauge the public's perception of fish and wildlife management issues. The survey is called "Wildlife Values in the West." The surveys were sent out in October to residents across the West. Sikorowski said the participating wildlife agencies are hoping to receive 400 completed surveys per state for a response rate of about 30 percent. The 12-page survey is broken up into two sections. One section is common to all the states. But the final portion is state specific, giving wildlife agencies insight into what their constituents are thinking....
Editorial: A balanced plan for Roan Plateau The cartoon image of the Bush administration as a pillaging caretaker of public lands took a hit the other day with the release of the Bureau of Land Management's draft plan for the natural-gas-rich Roan Plateau in western Colorado. If what the BLM proposes amounts to pillaging, then the Dalai Lama is a war-monger. To be sure, the BLM's "preferred alternative" permits increased energy production in the lower elevations of the 73,602 acres of public land in play, but it simultaneously delays drilling for many years on the top of the plateau. The higher elevations are prized for their beauty, so it is only natural for people to worry about their scenic qualities being scarred by drilling rigs....
BLM to reopen West Slope to oil shale studies, leases More than 20 years after "Black Sunday" signaled the end of the oil shale boom on the Western Slope, the government is planning to offer some shale leases. The Bureau of Land Management earlier this week announced its intent to begin an oil shale leasing program, offering oil companies a chance to conduct research on 40-acre plots for short periods. It has been decades since the BLM has issued any oil shale leases, but memories of the boom in the 1970s are still strong on the West Slope....
Army tests ravaged family's land Siblings Louise, Douglas and Allan Cannon inherited a gold mine. But they say the Army is giving them the shaft, figuratively, as some of its old, dark secrets have turned their dream of rich income into a nightmare. They found belatedly that the Army's nearby Dugway Proving Ground attacked the old family mines with 3,000 rounds of chemical arms at the end of World War II. The purpose was to simulate what the Army would face against Japanese bunkers and caves. The Army also bombed the surface of 1,425 acres of Cannon family-owned land above the mines with more than 23 tons of chemical arms, including deadly mustard agent, hydrogen cyanide and the choking agent Phosgene, plus high explosives and incendiary arms that included napalm, butane and gasoline (from flame throwers)....
City joins appeal on Poudre River flow The city of Greeley has joined the state and a Fort Collins irrigation company in a brief filed with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals about the operation of one of its high mountain reservoirs. They argue that the bypass flow requirements sought by Trout Unlimited from Long Draw Reservoir are illegal and that the lawsuit by Trout Unlimited against the U.S. Forest Service, the city and the irrigation company should be dismissed. In May, the U.S. District Court in Denver ruled in favor of Trout Unlimited on a lawsuit it filed in 1994 against the city, Water Supply and Storage Co., which supplies irrigation water to more than 50,000 acres in Larimer and Weld counties and the forest service. In May, the court ruled that the forest service is required to minimize harm to fish and wildlife when issuing or re-issuing permits for operation of dams and diversions on federal lands....
Prescott deal set to quench growing thirst Attorneys from Prescott and Prescott Valley on Wednesday signed off on a major water project that many say has as much significance locally as the Central Arizona Project does to the Valley. Finishing touches were placed on an intergovernmental agreement to buy the 4,500-acre JWK Ranch north of Prescott for $23 million. The governing councils of both municipalities are expected to approve the deal within the next two weeks. Subsurface pumping from the Big Chino aquifer, a sprawling groundwater basin that extends beneath the JWK Ranch, is expected to provide nearly 9,000 acre-feet of water annually to the two rapidly growing, water-strapped municipalities. An acre-foot is 325,851 gallons of water....
Texas Returns to the Passion of the Longhorn Faced with extinction 75 years ago, the Texas Longhorn is not only thriving again but fetching prices in the tens of thousands of dollars from fans of the iconic cattle breed of the Wild West. The 1,000-pound longhorns number in the hundreds of thousands these days, with many being kept on small pleasure farms by a new breed of cattle enthusiast. "People are spreading out and they are building 'ranchettes' -- 25 to 50 acre places. They are looking for some cattle for these places and the longhorn fits right in," said Larry Barker, the director of promotions for the Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America, based in Fort Worth, Texas....
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Congress taking aim at Endangered Species Act A bruising battle over reforming the nation's premier law for protecting endangered species is shaping up for the next Congress. Emboldened by their increased majority, House and Senate Republicans said they are optimistic that they can enact major changes to the Endangered Species Act, a goal that has eluded the GOP for more than a decade. Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, chairman of the subcommittee with oversight of the endangered-species law, have also said reform is a top priority for the 109th Congress. Next week, the Western Governors Association is hosting a "summit meeting" in San Diego to develop a legislative strategy for prodding Congress to make major changes to the act....
Study finds moderate grazing benefits Nevada plants Livestock grazing advocates may have new ammunition in the dispute over the long terms effects of livestock grazing. An article released this week in the Journal of Rangeland Management documents a comprehensive research project that looked for differences between grazed and un-grazed rangelands in Nevada. The study, called "Vegetation change after 65 years of grazing and grazing exclusion," found that there are few differences among plant populations on grazed and un-grazed lands. "Advocates for the removal of livestock often do not provide scientific evidence of long-term damage from properly managed livestock grazing," said Barry Perryman, co-author of the study and assistant professor of animal biotechnology at the University of Nevada, Reno. "On the other hand, livestock grazing supporters have little documented evidence of grazing having any beneficial effect on the land."....
Firefighter accused of setting 3 wildfires A U.S. Forest Service firefighter from Greenfield (Monterey County) has been accused of starting three wildfires this summer that burned 800 acres and cost $2.5 million to fight. Craig Matthew Underwood, 31, was charged Wednesday in a San Jose federal court with three counts of willfully setting fire to federal lands. Those fires -- the Memorial Fire, Slide Fire and Fred's Fire -- all occurred in the Los Padres National Forest, where Underwood lives. He could face a penalty of up to 15 years in prison for the three counts and up to $750,000 in fines....
Wilderness plan backed Gov. Janet Napolitano has joined those supporting a new wilderness area for Arizona. The proposed Tumacacori Highlands wilderness, which would cover 84,000 acres in southern Arizona, drew the governor's backing for the protection it would give the land. "In addition to maintaining the natural beauty and condition of the Tumacacori Highlands, enacting the . . . wilderness proposal would provide economic benefit to the region by creating a fantastic tourist destination," Napolitano wrote....
Brokaw dispute poses tough questions Tom Brokaw's recent dispute with an outfitter taking clients on a neighbor's ranch on the West Boulder River poses at least as many questions as it provides answers. And none of them have to do with Brokaw, who was maligned badly by many as the situation went through the courts. Brokaw, anchor of the NBC Nightly News, sought relief from District Court after the Montana Board of Outfitters had given a Wyoming outfitter permission to take 10 archery or rifle clients on three parcels of land on Chuck Reid's Burnt Leather Ranch. District Judge Randal Spaulding wound up ruling that it would have endangered people and livestock for the outfitter to hunt two of the parcels. He barred the outfitter from hunting one narrow strip that straddled the West Boulder Road which was almost surrounded by Brokaw's ranch and another parcel which was larger but had no legal access for the outfitter....
Group, landowners to work on Habitat A regional group hopes that it can work with landowners to improve sage-grouse habitat in northeast Wyoming. The work is considered important because the federal government is expected to list the bird as an endangered species across the West. The Northeast Wyoming Sage Grouse Working Group is producing a brochure on "Successful Seeding for Sage Grouse" that includes a recommended seed mix to revegetate habitat for sage grouse. The objective is to provide more sagebrush in the winter for feed and cover, and provide more broad-leafed plants in the summer for food for chicks. The restored habitat also would provide forage, cover and nesting for sage grouse and other wildlife....
BLM to amend plan for prairie chicken, dune lizard The Bureau of Land Management wants to amend resource management plans in the Roswell and Clovis areas for the lesser prairie chicken and sand dune lizard. The BLM published notice of its intent in the Federal Register on Wednesday. The federal agency says the amendment will help it respond to changing resource conditions for the two species on public lands in southeastern New Mexico. Both species have experienced population declines in the past decade and are candidates to be listed as threatened or endangered species....
Some believe wolves killed Blaine Co. calf A calf killed south of Chinook has the owner and the person who investigated the kill suspecting wolves. Some government officials said it's unlikely wolves have migrated to this part of Montana. "The chances are very slim," said Ed Bangs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Gray Wolf Recovery Program coordinator. Any wolf found here would be a gray wolf from Canada, he said, not one of the wolves that were reintroduced in Yellowstone National Park in 1995....
Western wildlife agencies undertake massive survey Wildlife agencies in 19 Western states and one Canadian province are taking part in an enormous survey to gauge the public's perception of fish and wildlife management issues. The survey is called "Wildlife Values in the West." The surveys were sent out in October to residents across the West. Sikorowski said the participating wildlife agencies are hoping to receive 400 completed surveys per state for a response rate of about 30 percent. The 12-page survey is broken up into two sections. One section is common to all the states. But the final portion is state specific, giving wildlife agencies insight into what their constituents are thinking....
Editorial: A balanced plan for Roan Plateau The cartoon image of the Bush administration as a pillaging caretaker of public lands took a hit the other day with the release of the Bureau of Land Management's draft plan for the natural-gas-rich Roan Plateau in western Colorado. If what the BLM proposes amounts to pillaging, then the Dalai Lama is a war-monger. To be sure, the BLM's "preferred alternative" permits increased energy production in the lower elevations of the 73,602 acres of public land in play, but it simultaneously delays drilling for many years on the top of the plateau. The higher elevations are prized for their beauty, so it is only natural for people to worry about their scenic qualities being scarred by drilling rigs....
BLM to reopen West Slope to oil shale studies, leases More than 20 years after "Black Sunday" signaled the end of the oil shale boom on the Western Slope, the government is planning to offer some shale leases. The Bureau of Land Management earlier this week announced its intent to begin an oil shale leasing program, offering oil companies a chance to conduct research on 40-acre plots for short periods. It has been decades since the BLM has issued any oil shale leases, but memories of the boom in the 1970s are still strong on the West Slope....
Army tests ravaged family's land Siblings Louise, Douglas and Allan Cannon inherited a gold mine. But they say the Army is giving them the shaft, figuratively, as some of its old, dark secrets have turned their dream of rich income into a nightmare. They found belatedly that the Army's nearby Dugway Proving Ground attacked the old family mines with 3,000 rounds of chemical arms at the end of World War II. The purpose was to simulate what the Army would face against Japanese bunkers and caves. The Army also bombed the surface of 1,425 acres of Cannon family-owned land above the mines with more than 23 tons of chemical arms, including deadly mustard agent, hydrogen cyanide and the choking agent Phosgene, plus high explosives and incendiary arms that included napalm, butane and gasoline (from flame throwers)....
City joins appeal on Poudre River flow The city of Greeley has joined the state and a Fort Collins irrigation company in a brief filed with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals about the operation of one of its high mountain reservoirs. They argue that the bypass flow requirements sought by Trout Unlimited from Long Draw Reservoir are illegal and that the lawsuit by Trout Unlimited against the U.S. Forest Service, the city and the irrigation company should be dismissed. In May, the U.S. District Court in Denver ruled in favor of Trout Unlimited on a lawsuit it filed in 1994 against the city, Water Supply and Storage Co., which supplies irrigation water to more than 50,000 acres in Larimer and Weld counties and the forest service. In May, the court ruled that the forest service is required to minimize harm to fish and wildlife when issuing or re-issuing permits for operation of dams and diversions on federal lands....
Prescott deal set to quench growing thirst Attorneys from Prescott and Prescott Valley on Wednesday signed off on a major water project that many say has as much significance locally as the Central Arizona Project does to the Valley. Finishing touches were placed on an intergovernmental agreement to buy the 4,500-acre JWK Ranch north of Prescott for $23 million. The governing councils of both municipalities are expected to approve the deal within the next two weeks. Subsurface pumping from the Big Chino aquifer, a sprawling groundwater basin that extends beneath the JWK Ranch, is expected to provide nearly 9,000 acre-feet of water annually to the two rapidly growing, water-strapped municipalities. An acre-foot is 325,851 gallons of water....
Texas Returns to the Passion of the Longhorn Faced with extinction 75 years ago, the Texas Longhorn is not only thriving again but fetching prices in the tens of thousands of dollars from fans of the iconic cattle breed of the Wild West. The 1,000-pound longhorns number in the hundreds of thousands these days, with many being kept on small pleasure farms by a new breed of cattle enthusiast. "People are spreading out and they are building 'ranchettes' -- 25 to 50 acre places. They are looking for some cattle for these places and the longhorn fits right in," said Larry Barker, the director of promotions for the Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America, based in Fort Worth, Texas....
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Thursday, November 25, 2004
HAPPY THANKSGIVING
"No people on earth have more cause to be thankful than ours, and this is said reverently, in no spirit of boastfulness in our own strength, but with the gratitude to the Giver of good who has blessed us. Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds." -- Theodore Roosevelt
Property and the First Thanksgiving
At Thanksgiving, Americans reflect on their blessings and hope for uplifting family gatherings of togetherness and unity, with the Pilgrims used as examples of peace, harmony, and thankfulness. However, while the Pilgrims' 1623 "way of thanksgiving" represents what we wish to infuse in Thanksgiving, Plymouth Colony before 1623 was closer to a Thanksgiving host's worst fears—resentments surface, harsh words are spoken, and people turn angry and unhappy with one another. The Pilgrims' unhappiness was caused by their system of common property (not adopted, as often asserted, from their religious convictions, but required against their will by the colony's sponsors). The fruits of each person's efforts went to the community, and each received a share from the common wealth. This caused severe strains among the members, as Colony Governor William Bradford recorded....
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"No people on earth have more cause to be thankful than ours, and this is said reverently, in no spirit of boastfulness in our own strength, but with the gratitude to the Giver of good who has blessed us. Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds." -- Theodore Roosevelt
Property and the First Thanksgiving
At Thanksgiving, Americans reflect on their blessings and hope for uplifting family gatherings of togetherness and unity, with the Pilgrims used as examples of peace, harmony, and thankfulness. However, while the Pilgrims' 1623 "way of thanksgiving" represents what we wish to infuse in Thanksgiving, Plymouth Colony before 1623 was closer to a Thanksgiving host's worst fears—resentments surface, harsh words are spoken, and people turn angry and unhappy with one another. The Pilgrims' unhappiness was caused by their system of common property (not adopted, as often asserted, from their religious convictions, but required against their will by the colony's sponsors). The fruits of each person's efforts went to the community, and each received a share from the common wealth. This caused severe strains among the members, as Colony Governor William Bradford recorded....
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Wednesday, November 24, 2004
NEWS ROUNDUP
Norton plans to continue collaborative approach at Interior The collaborative approach to managing much of the nation's lands that Interior Secretary Gale Norton pledged when she took office nearly four years ago will continue to mark her leadership, she said Tuesday. Getting people to work together to find solutions is the only way to reach the delicate management balance required to reconcile conflicting demands for use of federal lands, she said during an appearance at the University of Colorado. ''The challenge for our country for the future is finding ways of meeting the needs we have for the economy, jobs, and the amenities we enjoy and at the same time protecting our environment,'' she said. ''You can find that if you have an atmosphere that encourages people to be creative in solving problems, get people to understand each other's perspectives.''....
Morgart is named Mexican wolf program coordinator Dr. John R. Morgart, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has been selected as the coordinator of the high-profile and controversial Mexican Gray Wolf recovery program. The service began reintroducing wolves into southwestern New Mexico and eastern Arizona in 1998 under an experimental and non-essential population designation, allowed under the Endan-gered Species Act....
Editorial: A fishy lawsuit On Thursday, the board of the Southern Nevada Water Authority approved a historic agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Moapa Valley Water District and the owner of a planned residential development at Coyote Springs. The deal is designed to protect the endangered Moapa dace during a two-year test of water pumping in the area. The goal is to see whether the water authority can tap groundwater in the Coyote Springs Valley, northeast of Las Vegas, to send 35,000 acre-feet of water per year to thirsty Las Vegas via a multimillion-dollar pipeline. The plan to protect the tiny minnows calls for the private landowner to pay $50,000 per year and give up rights to 460 acre-feet of water -- nearly 150 million gallons. The parties together would spend $1.6 million protecting a tiny creature hardly anyone has ever seen -- about $1,750 apiece for the 907 minnows counted by biologists during a 2003 population survey of the upper reaches of the Muddy River and the warm springs that feed it. But is all that enough to satisfy the environmentalists? Of course not....
New law worries horse advocates Wild horse advocates say they're worried that healthy horses rounded up on the range could be sold for slaughter under a herd-thinning measure Congress passed over the weekend. The legislation lets wild horses older than 10, or those that have unsuccessfully been put up for adoption three times, be sold without limitations at local sale yards or livestock facilities. "I would expect under this law we're going to have far higher numbers of horses going to slaughter," said Howard Crystal, attorney for the Fund for Animals. "If someone under this program can now buy 300 horses and ship them to a slaughterhouse, people will start making money." Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that funds the Bureau of Land Management, placed the measure in a 3,000-page year-end spending bill after consulting with Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and Harry Reid, D-Nev., Burns spokeswoman Jennifer O'Shea said....
Drilling on Roan Plateau could exceed projections, group says The gas well numbers being offered in a draft plan for the Roan Plateau are meaningless, said the president of a local energy watchdog group, because the state can increase drilling density later. "Those numbers are not fixed," said Duke Cox, president of the Grand Valley Citizens Alliance. Greg Goodenow, planning and environmental coordinator for the Bureau of Land Management's Glenwood Springs field office, confirmed that well numbers laid out last week in five draft management alternatives for the plateau should not be viewed as the maximum amount of drilling that would be allowed by each alternative....
Giving cows right of way for the birds Waving off an objection by the Barona Indians, county supervisors said Tuesday that it was time for cars to take precedence over cows on a winding, two-lane backcountry road that runs by the Barona Valley Ranch Resort and Casino. Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to tentatively remove the "open range" and "grazing" designations from Wildcat Canyon Road. The action will become official when the ordinance is considered again at the board's Dec. 1 meeting....
Coloradans Vote to Embrace Alternative Sources of Energy Colorado utilities will have to sell a lot more electricity from wind power in years to come under a statewide ballot initiative approved by voters on Nov. 2, and if they want some pointers they might talk to Adam T. Kremers, a 19-year-old sophomore at Colorado State University here. He has been there and done that. Mr. Kremers sold wind power to the occupants of individual dormitory rooms this fall, under an agreement between the university and the local utility that environmentalists describe as one of the first such programs in the nation. Colorado voters said much the same thing when they approved, over the vehement objections of most energy companies, a proposal mandating that 10 percent of the state's electricity must come from wind and solar power by 2015. The law, Amendment 37, makes Colorado the 18th state with an environmentally friendly energy standard, but the first one to have bypassed the Legislature and put the rule into place through referendum. An energy bill similar to the one the voters approved was defeated by Colorado's Legislature three times in the last three years....
Arctic Council report warns of dire consequences of global warming The Arctic Council, a group of eight countries with Arctic territory, including the United States, is expected to issue recommendations on global warming Wednesday that will put the spotlight on a critical area where the United States is at odds with many of its allies. The council's meeting this week in Reykjavik, Iceland, follows a stark report by the council on the consequences of greenhouse gas emissions on the Arctic, which is more vulnerable to global warming than other parts of the world. The Arctic Council's recommendations also come as some Republicans and Democrats in Congress are stepping up calls on the administration to take firmer action on global warming....
Federal agency shifts ownership of water facilities to local control The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation signed agreements Tuesday that will shift the ownership of a pair of water conveyance facilities to local water agencies. In a first for the state, the bureau will transfer ownership of the 21.5-mile Provo Reservoir Canal and the 42-mile Salt Lake Aqueduct to the Provo River Water Users Association and the Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake and Sandy, respectively. The two facilities jointly help provide culinary and irrigation water to over 1 million residents along the Wasatch Front....
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Norton plans to continue collaborative approach at Interior The collaborative approach to managing much of the nation's lands that Interior Secretary Gale Norton pledged when she took office nearly four years ago will continue to mark her leadership, she said Tuesday. Getting people to work together to find solutions is the only way to reach the delicate management balance required to reconcile conflicting demands for use of federal lands, she said during an appearance at the University of Colorado. ''The challenge for our country for the future is finding ways of meeting the needs we have for the economy, jobs, and the amenities we enjoy and at the same time protecting our environment,'' she said. ''You can find that if you have an atmosphere that encourages people to be creative in solving problems, get people to understand each other's perspectives.''....
Morgart is named Mexican wolf program coordinator Dr. John R. Morgart, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has been selected as the coordinator of the high-profile and controversial Mexican Gray Wolf recovery program. The service began reintroducing wolves into southwestern New Mexico and eastern Arizona in 1998 under an experimental and non-essential population designation, allowed under the Endan-gered Species Act....
Editorial: A fishy lawsuit On Thursday, the board of the Southern Nevada Water Authority approved a historic agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Moapa Valley Water District and the owner of a planned residential development at Coyote Springs. The deal is designed to protect the endangered Moapa dace during a two-year test of water pumping in the area. The goal is to see whether the water authority can tap groundwater in the Coyote Springs Valley, northeast of Las Vegas, to send 35,000 acre-feet of water per year to thirsty Las Vegas via a multimillion-dollar pipeline. The plan to protect the tiny minnows calls for the private landowner to pay $50,000 per year and give up rights to 460 acre-feet of water -- nearly 150 million gallons. The parties together would spend $1.6 million protecting a tiny creature hardly anyone has ever seen -- about $1,750 apiece for the 907 minnows counted by biologists during a 2003 population survey of the upper reaches of the Muddy River and the warm springs that feed it. But is all that enough to satisfy the environmentalists? Of course not....
New law worries horse advocates Wild horse advocates say they're worried that healthy horses rounded up on the range could be sold for slaughter under a herd-thinning measure Congress passed over the weekend. The legislation lets wild horses older than 10, or those that have unsuccessfully been put up for adoption three times, be sold without limitations at local sale yards or livestock facilities. "I would expect under this law we're going to have far higher numbers of horses going to slaughter," said Howard Crystal, attorney for the Fund for Animals. "If someone under this program can now buy 300 horses and ship them to a slaughterhouse, people will start making money." Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that funds the Bureau of Land Management, placed the measure in a 3,000-page year-end spending bill after consulting with Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and Harry Reid, D-Nev., Burns spokeswoman Jennifer O'Shea said....
Drilling on Roan Plateau could exceed projections, group says The gas well numbers being offered in a draft plan for the Roan Plateau are meaningless, said the president of a local energy watchdog group, because the state can increase drilling density later. "Those numbers are not fixed," said Duke Cox, president of the Grand Valley Citizens Alliance. Greg Goodenow, planning and environmental coordinator for the Bureau of Land Management's Glenwood Springs field office, confirmed that well numbers laid out last week in five draft management alternatives for the plateau should not be viewed as the maximum amount of drilling that would be allowed by each alternative....
Giving cows right of way for the birds Waving off an objection by the Barona Indians, county supervisors said Tuesday that it was time for cars to take precedence over cows on a winding, two-lane backcountry road that runs by the Barona Valley Ranch Resort and Casino. Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to tentatively remove the "open range" and "grazing" designations from Wildcat Canyon Road. The action will become official when the ordinance is considered again at the board's Dec. 1 meeting....
Coloradans Vote to Embrace Alternative Sources of Energy Colorado utilities will have to sell a lot more electricity from wind power in years to come under a statewide ballot initiative approved by voters on Nov. 2, and if they want some pointers they might talk to Adam T. Kremers, a 19-year-old sophomore at Colorado State University here. He has been there and done that. Mr. Kremers sold wind power to the occupants of individual dormitory rooms this fall, under an agreement between the university and the local utility that environmentalists describe as one of the first such programs in the nation. Colorado voters said much the same thing when they approved, over the vehement objections of most energy companies, a proposal mandating that 10 percent of the state's electricity must come from wind and solar power by 2015. The law, Amendment 37, makes Colorado the 18th state with an environmentally friendly energy standard, but the first one to have bypassed the Legislature and put the rule into place through referendum. An energy bill similar to the one the voters approved was defeated by Colorado's Legislature three times in the last three years....
Arctic Council report warns of dire consequences of global warming The Arctic Council, a group of eight countries with Arctic territory, including the United States, is expected to issue recommendations on global warming Wednesday that will put the spotlight on a critical area where the United States is at odds with many of its allies. The council's meeting this week in Reykjavik, Iceland, follows a stark report by the council on the consequences of greenhouse gas emissions on the Arctic, which is more vulnerable to global warming than other parts of the world. The Arctic Council's recommendations also come as some Republicans and Democrats in Congress are stepping up calls on the administration to take firmer action on global warming....
Federal agency shifts ownership of water facilities to local control The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation signed agreements Tuesday that will shift the ownership of a pair of water conveyance facilities to local water agencies. In a first for the state, the bureau will transfer ownership of the 21.5-mile Provo Reservoir Canal and the 42-mile Salt Lake Aqueduct to the Provo River Water Users Association and the Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake and Sandy, respectively. The two facilities jointly help provide culinary and irrigation water to over 1 million residents along the Wasatch Front....
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Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Tests Negative on Suspected Mad Cow Case
No sign of mad cow disease was found in an animal the Agriculture Department had singled out for followup tests, officials said Tuesday. Initial screenings last week had raised the possibility of a new case of the disease in the United States. A more definitive test at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, came back negative, the officials said. The announcement was a relief to the U.S. beef industry, which is still trying to recover from the nation's first case of the disease last December. The department said it ran a "gold standard" test twice. Officials did not say where the cow came from or why it was suspected of being diseased. "Negative results from both … tests make us confident that the animal in question is indeed negative," the announcement said....
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No sign of mad cow disease was found in an animal the Agriculture Department had singled out for followup tests, officials said Tuesday. Initial screenings last week had raised the possibility of a new case of the disease in the United States. A more definitive test at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, came back negative, the officials said. The announcement was a relief to the U.S. beef industry, which is still trying to recover from the nation's first case of the disease last December. The department said it ran a "gold standard" test twice. Officials did not say where the cow came from or why it was suspected of being diseased. "Negative results from both … tests make us confident that the animal in question is indeed negative," the announcement said....
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NEWS ROUNDUP
Security ramped up to protect ancient finds at Range Creek The state of Utah is beefing up security at the remote eastern Utah canyon of Range Creek to protect an estimated 2,000 to 5,000 archaeological sites kept secret until last summer. Archaeologists estimate as many as 250 households occupied the canyon over a span of centuries ending about 750 years ago. They left half-buried stone-and-mortar houses, cob houses and granary caches, and painted colorful trapezoidal figures with spiky hair styles on canyon walls. Researchers had quietly conducted surveys at the site for three years, but the significance of the finds was hidden until news reports surfaced in June about the transfer of the land from a rancher to the state....
Gov. Criticized Over Stance on Forest Roads A majority of the state's congressional delegation has denounced the Schwarzenegger administration's failure to defend a Clinton-era ban on road building in some of the nation's most pristine forest lands, including more than 4 million acres in California. All 33 of the state's House Democrats issued a statement last week calling Schwarzenegger's position an outrage....
No Easy Answer for Otters For reasons that have eluded scientists for several decades, California's sea otters have been struggling while most otter populations elsewhere have thrived. Now, however, scientists studying Pink-White and her kind believe that they may be closing in on one of the most baffling mysteries involving endangered species in the United States. The latest clue is in the deaths among female otters, especially those in the reproductive prime of their lives. Females more than 4 years old have a low survival rate in the heart of their range, between Santa Cruz and Big Sur, while males are doing fine, their populations growing....
Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) has been contemplated for some time. With today's record high prices, the pressures to drill have never been higher. In the November election, the pro-drilling constituency picked up, by some estimates, four votes. If that is true, then drilling is likely, for Congress has the votes to repeal the twenty-five-year-old ban on drilling in ANWR, and allow the prospecting to begin. The road from the enactment of the law to actual production of oil and gas will be long and twisty, however. Federal law protects wilderness, wildlife habitat, and air and water quality. And ANWR drilling will have to comply with all the relevant laws and regulations - which I will describe in this column....
Burns' rider ensures snowmobiling in park People who want to snowmobile in Yellowstone National Park this winter got an early Christmas present for Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont. -- a law that says the park will remain open. Language inserted into a $388 billion spending bill that passed Congress Saturday, "ensures a continued ability to snowmobile within Yellowstone... through this winter's tourism season," Burns announced in a press release. The new language, often referred to as a "rider" because it was attached to a much larger bill, caught both supporters and opponents of Yellowstone snowmobiling by surprise....
Utah man gets prison for supplying improper seed to feds A Utah man has been sentenced to prison and ordered to pay restitution to the federal Bureau of Land Management for supplying bad seed for the rehabilitation of fire-ravaged areas in the Rocky Mountain West. Boyd Goble, 66, of Gunnison, Utah, was sentenced to 37 months in prison and ordered to pay the federal government $758,394 in restitution. U.S. District Judge David Sam told Goble that the short sentence was in deference to the fact he suffers from diabetes....
Allard calls for new Rocky Flats probe After a new round of questions about whether the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant cleanup has been thorough, U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard today asked the Government Accountability Office to review the effort. Environmental activists have been critical of the cleanup, saying this year it did not take into account some contaminants that were dumped illegally. The Department of Energy and the cleanup contractor, Kaiser Hill Inc., have insisted the work is sound....
Gold production in Alaska is on the verge of a boom The number of producing hard rock mines in Alaska may soon double, growing from three to six and bumping up gold production in the state by an estimated 250,000 ounces per year. That's according to plans outlined Nov. 5 at the Alaska Miners Association's annual convention by developers of the new Rock Creek gold project near Nome, the shuttered underground Nixon Fork gold-copper-silver mine near McGrath and the reopened Kensington gold project north of Juneau....
World Watch, Kicking Dirt on Three Big Greenies Environmentalists around the world are buzzing over a controversial article printed in the November-December issue of World Watch, the magazine published by the Worldwatch Institute, a Washington-based enviro group. The article, "A Challenge to Conservationists," is a scathing attack on the rich and powerful "Big Three" environmental groups -- World Wildlife Fund, Conservation International and the Nature Conservancy. Author Mac Chapin, an anthropologist who has worked with indigenous people for 35 years, accuses the three groups of cozying up to their corporate donors and governmental partners while ignoring the native peoples whose cause they once championed....
Concrete solution for water? From Highway 151, Shasta Dam emerges through the fog and rain like an awesome apparition, a giant wall of concrete whose power generators humming eerily far below add to its supernatural dimension. As California looks for new ways to increase water supplies in the face of mounting shortages, this monstrous 602-foot facade holding back the Sacramento River seems destined to grow even taller. It's a perfect spot for expansion, although it's not the only site under intense scrutiny in this scramble for new water storage....
USDA approves live cattle, border reopening could take months The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved a regulation that allows Canadian ranchers to resume exports of live cattle and more cuts of beef, although there is no date for when that will happen. The proposal must first be reviewed by the U.S. Budget Office and members of Congress. Those reviews could take up to three months. The promise to lift the American ban on live Canadian cattle is getting a skeptical reaction from at least one premier. Lorne Calvert of Saskatchewan says the move is encouraging, but he still has some reservations. "I will believe it when I see it," he said. "When I see a Canadian cow, a live cow, crossing the border then I will be satisfied."....
It's All Trew: Old cowboys offer quotes worth passing on Some people have a way with words and few can compete with the old-time cowboys. It could be because he spent a lot of time alone or talking to his horse. Here are a few of my favorites to pass on to readers....
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Security ramped up to protect ancient finds at Range Creek The state of Utah is beefing up security at the remote eastern Utah canyon of Range Creek to protect an estimated 2,000 to 5,000 archaeological sites kept secret until last summer. Archaeologists estimate as many as 250 households occupied the canyon over a span of centuries ending about 750 years ago. They left half-buried stone-and-mortar houses, cob houses and granary caches, and painted colorful trapezoidal figures with spiky hair styles on canyon walls. Researchers had quietly conducted surveys at the site for three years, but the significance of the finds was hidden until news reports surfaced in June about the transfer of the land from a rancher to the state....
Gov. Criticized Over Stance on Forest Roads A majority of the state's congressional delegation has denounced the Schwarzenegger administration's failure to defend a Clinton-era ban on road building in some of the nation's most pristine forest lands, including more than 4 million acres in California. All 33 of the state's House Democrats issued a statement last week calling Schwarzenegger's position an outrage....
No Easy Answer for Otters For reasons that have eluded scientists for several decades, California's sea otters have been struggling while most otter populations elsewhere have thrived. Now, however, scientists studying Pink-White and her kind believe that they may be closing in on one of the most baffling mysteries involving endangered species in the United States. The latest clue is in the deaths among female otters, especially those in the reproductive prime of their lives. Females more than 4 years old have a low survival rate in the heart of their range, between Santa Cruz and Big Sur, while males are doing fine, their populations growing....
Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) has been contemplated for some time. With today's record high prices, the pressures to drill have never been higher. In the November election, the pro-drilling constituency picked up, by some estimates, four votes. If that is true, then drilling is likely, for Congress has the votes to repeal the twenty-five-year-old ban on drilling in ANWR, and allow the prospecting to begin. The road from the enactment of the law to actual production of oil and gas will be long and twisty, however. Federal law protects wilderness, wildlife habitat, and air and water quality. And ANWR drilling will have to comply with all the relevant laws and regulations - which I will describe in this column....
Burns' rider ensures snowmobiling in park People who want to snowmobile in Yellowstone National Park this winter got an early Christmas present for Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont. -- a law that says the park will remain open. Language inserted into a $388 billion spending bill that passed Congress Saturday, "ensures a continued ability to snowmobile within Yellowstone... through this winter's tourism season," Burns announced in a press release. The new language, often referred to as a "rider" because it was attached to a much larger bill, caught both supporters and opponents of Yellowstone snowmobiling by surprise....
Utah man gets prison for supplying improper seed to feds A Utah man has been sentenced to prison and ordered to pay restitution to the federal Bureau of Land Management for supplying bad seed for the rehabilitation of fire-ravaged areas in the Rocky Mountain West. Boyd Goble, 66, of Gunnison, Utah, was sentenced to 37 months in prison and ordered to pay the federal government $758,394 in restitution. U.S. District Judge David Sam told Goble that the short sentence was in deference to the fact he suffers from diabetes....
Allard calls for new Rocky Flats probe After a new round of questions about whether the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant cleanup has been thorough, U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard today asked the Government Accountability Office to review the effort. Environmental activists have been critical of the cleanup, saying this year it did not take into account some contaminants that were dumped illegally. The Department of Energy and the cleanup contractor, Kaiser Hill Inc., have insisted the work is sound....
Gold production in Alaska is on the verge of a boom The number of producing hard rock mines in Alaska may soon double, growing from three to six and bumping up gold production in the state by an estimated 250,000 ounces per year. That's according to plans outlined Nov. 5 at the Alaska Miners Association's annual convention by developers of the new Rock Creek gold project near Nome, the shuttered underground Nixon Fork gold-copper-silver mine near McGrath and the reopened Kensington gold project north of Juneau....
World Watch, Kicking Dirt on Three Big Greenies Environmentalists around the world are buzzing over a controversial article printed in the November-December issue of World Watch, the magazine published by the Worldwatch Institute, a Washington-based enviro group. The article, "A Challenge to Conservationists," is a scathing attack on the rich and powerful "Big Three" environmental groups -- World Wildlife Fund, Conservation International and the Nature Conservancy. Author Mac Chapin, an anthropologist who has worked with indigenous people for 35 years, accuses the three groups of cozying up to their corporate donors and governmental partners while ignoring the native peoples whose cause they once championed....
Concrete solution for water? From Highway 151, Shasta Dam emerges through the fog and rain like an awesome apparition, a giant wall of concrete whose power generators humming eerily far below add to its supernatural dimension. As California looks for new ways to increase water supplies in the face of mounting shortages, this monstrous 602-foot facade holding back the Sacramento River seems destined to grow even taller. It's a perfect spot for expansion, although it's not the only site under intense scrutiny in this scramble for new water storage....
USDA approves live cattle, border reopening could take months The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved a regulation that allows Canadian ranchers to resume exports of live cattle and more cuts of beef, although there is no date for when that will happen. The proposal must first be reviewed by the U.S. Budget Office and members of Congress. Those reviews could take up to three months. The promise to lift the American ban on live Canadian cattle is getting a skeptical reaction from at least one premier. Lorne Calvert of Saskatchewan says the move is encouraging, but he still has some reservations. "I will believe it when I see it," he said. "When I see a Canadian cow, a live cow, crossing the border then I will be satisfied."....
It's All Trew: Old cowboys offer quotes worth passing on Some people have a way with words and few can compete with the old-time cowboys. It could be because he spent a lot of time alone or talking to his horse. Here are a few of my favorites to pass on to readers....
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Monday, November 22, 2004
Allen survives rugged challenge
All Guy Allen had to do on his final steer in the National Finals Steer Roping was make sure he tied his steer in a reasonable time to win the money title for the year. Instead, he finished with a time of 9.9 seconds to not only win the overall title, but the event as well. That's why he's the 18-time champion. Allen, who lives in Abilene, came into the final day of competition at the Amarillo National Center with a slight lead over former West Texas A&M rodeo standout Trevor Brazile in the overall money, but trailed Brazile and J.R. Olson of Sheridan, Wyo., by four seconds through seven go-rounds. "I knew if I could come out and rope three good steers, I'd have a shot to win," Allen said. "I was kind of in a hole on the average, so that was my game plan." The NFSR title is the only NFR title not awarded in Las Vegas....
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All Guy Allen had to do on his final steer in the National Finals Steer Roping was make sure he tied his steer in a reasonable time to win the money title for the year. Instead, he finished with a time of 9.9 seconds to not only win the overall title, but the event as well. That's why he's the 18-time champion. Allen, who lives in Abilene, came into the final day of competition at the Amarillo National Center with a slight lead over former West Texas A&M rodeo standout Trevor Brazile in the overall money, but trailed Brazile and J.R. Olson of Sheridan, Wyo., by four seconds through seven go-rounds. "I knew if I could come out and rope three good steers, I'd have a shot to win," Allen said. "I was kind of in a hole on the average, so that was my game plan." The NFSR title is the only NFR title not awarded in Las Vegas....
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MAD COW DISEASE
Statement By U.S. Department of Agriculture Press Secretary Alisa Harrison
November 22, 2004
"Test results for the BSE inconclusive are not complete. There will be no announcements made tonight. USDA will release the results as soon as the National Veterinary Services Laboratory completes the testing process."
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Statement By U.S. Department of Agriculture Press Secretary Alisa Harrison
November 22, 2004
"Test results for the BSE inconclusive are not complete. There will be no announcements made tonight. USDA will release the results as soon as the National Veterinary Services Laboratory completes the testing process."
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NEWS ROUNDUP
Poison plan irks rancher American Indian rancher Scott Cuny is upset that a federal-state project to poison prairie dogs on Buffalo Gap National Grassland is not happening in buffer zones across from Shannon County on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. State Game, Fish & Parks Department workers, under an agreement with the federal government, are poisoning prairie dogs in buffer zones on the national grassland next to private rangeland in Fall River, Custer, Pennington and Jackson counties....
Klamath chinook returns disappointing, disease and climate outlook not good This fall the returns of chinook salmon to Bogus Creek, and the Shasta, Scott and Salmon rivers — tributaries to the Klamath River in Northern California — have been disappointing. Estimates based on fish and carcass counts are showing less than a quarter of last year's returns, and less than 10 percent of the strong returns of 2000. The reasons are difficult to nail down, but the more researchers look, the more disease they are finding in young chinook migrating down the Klamath River. The fish that survive to reach the ocean are finding less food than they did a few years ago....
Ranchers, vintners agree to conserve California tiger salamander A family of ranchers and the Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates agreed to help the federal government to conserve the California tiger salamander, officials said. The agreement reached Friday by Darwin and Jeanette Sainz and Kendall-Jackson to implement measures on their vast properties in Los Alamos and Los Robles came one day after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalized habitat protections for the imperiled amphibian. Pete Downs, vice president of government affairs for Kendall-Jackson, said the agreement allows for "private landowner's need for an economic return from his or her land, and the conservation needs of the California tiger salamander."....
Western Icons Making Dens in the Eastern U.S. Coyotes, the subject of folklore and the scourge of ranchers, have finally made their way into the nation's capital. The coyote population has been expanding eastward since the middle of the last century. Native to California and most points in the West, the creatures made a two-pronged advance over the years — into New England through Canada and the Great Lakes region, and up through the South from Texas. They typically weigh between 30 and 35 pounds, although recent evidence points to the species growing larger as it has moved east. In Connecticut, researchers have caught males weighing close to 50 pounds. The difference in size from their Western cousins has caused some scientists to question whether coyotes are forming a new subspecies in the East. Cold weather might have driven natural selection to favor bigger, better-insulated animals. Genetic evidence suggests that, as they migrated, they have bred with dogs and wolves, which could explain the extra pounds....
Congress secures Mineral King cabins Congress secured 66 historic cabins in the Mineral King Valley as part of the $388 billion spending bill passed Saturday. "I think this is a victory not only for the cabin owners, but also for the public," said John Crowe of Visalia. The hotly-contested issue of allowing owners to keep the cabins came after a deal signed in 1978 allowed them to stay in the vacation cabins -- temporarily -- after Mineral King was incorporated into the national park....
BLM and Garco team up to delay gas leasing atop the Roan Plateau The Bureau of Land Management is crediting Garfield County with coming up with a plan to defer gas leasing on the top of the Roan Plateau until a specified amount of energy development occurs in surrounding lowlands. The federal agency is making that idea the cornerstone of its preferred draft alternative for managing the plateau top and base during the next 20 years. Jamie Connell, manager of the Glenwood Springs office of the BLM, said the county suggested deferring drilling while working with the BLM as a cooperating agency on the draft plan....
Editorial: Innovation needed for oil, gas drilling on Roan Every town in Garfield County asked the feds to not allow oil and gas drill rigs on the 3,500-foot plateau, which dominates the skyline north of the Colorado River near Rifle. Local residents fear rigs, and roads needed to service them, would mar vistas and harm wildlife. The worries are legitimate, given recent experiences in other parts of the West. Nationwide, the BLM is under tremendous pressure from the White House to permit oil and gas development even in fragile habitat and potential wilderness areas. Some 80 percent of land near the plateau is already available for energy production. Much of the Roan itself is already open to drilling, too....
Bush's Plan, Four New Senators Aid Exxon's, BP's Alaska Hopes Exxon Mobil Corp., BP Plc and ConocoPhillips are among companies poised to realize a decades- old dream of drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, thanks to Republican gains in this month's U.S. Senate elections. Four new Republican senators who favor drilling in the refuge will replace Democrats who opposed President George W. Bush's proposal when it was rejected by a four-vote margin in 2003. Senate Republicans said they plan to renew their bid to allow exploration of the refuge's coastal tundra next year....
If there someday is a will, a way to reclaim the Hetch Hetchy Valley has been devised When the valley was inundated in 1923 to provide water to San Francisco, it was assumed it would remain submerged forever. But two months after a Bay Area environmental organization announced a study supporting the restoration of long-drowned Hetch Hetchy Valley, the idea has gained a degree of momentum. A recent study by the group Environmental Defense indicates the valley could be resurrected, with water needs met by transferring water to Don Pedro Reservoir and building additional infrastructure. The study, which estimated it would cost between $500 million to $1.6 billion to expand water storage facilities below Hetch Hetchy, augments earlier analyses by UC Davis and the U. S. Department of Interior, both concluding that restoration was possible without threatening state water supplies. Earlier this month, the Schwarzenegger administration announced it was authorizing a state study to evaluate restoration scenarios....
Go with the flow How rare and wonderful. A helicopter airlift brought native fish to Fossil Creek last month. Soon, the creek will be undammed, carrying a full flow of water for the first time in almost a century. What's really rare and wonderful is the cooperation that led to restoring the creek. It starts with Arizona Public Service, which is voluntarily shutting down its two hydroelectric plants at Fossil Creek next spring. The utility will open the gate at its dam there, releasing the water that's now diverted to the plants....
Power Flush: A sedimental journey A great "flush" of the Colorado River began Sunday morning when four bypass tubes at the base of Glen Canyon Dam were slowly opened, shooting huge jets of water about 150 feet out into the river. The bypass tubes will remain open until 4 p.m. Wednesday and at its peak at 4 p.m. today, the flow will rush 41,000 cubic feet of water per second into the river. The goal is to help native fish species, such as the humpback chub, regain a toehold in the river that has been lost over time to non-native species, such as trout, and to restore beaches that have been washed away....
Column: Cities, farms can share Water shortages over the past three summers have reminded Coloradans that we live in the Great American Desert. In response, the state legislature has devoted much of its time to addressing Colorado's water needs. Unfortunately, it has approached the task of finding a solution as a zero-sum game, a fight between agricultural interests and the rapidly growing (and ever thirstier) cities and suburbs of the Front Range. Since agricultural use accounts for some 90 percent of Colorado's water, most solutions propose to take agricultural lands out of production, temporarily or permanently, and divert water resources to municipal use....
On The Edge Of Common Sense: Never underestimate the power of surprise Although Lee was generally well accepted by the Indian nation, he did run up against the medicine man on occasion. The medicine man, hereinafter called, "He Who Teaches Lesson to Cocky Paleface," was particularly amused the first time he saw Lee castrate a horse. Lee's feelings were hurt. He felt insulted. He had envisioned himself as a gifted medical missionary bringing progress to the primitive community. "He Who ... " challenged Lee to a contest to determine who could castrate a horse more quickly. Lee accepted. Two unbroken 3-year-old stallions were roped from the wild bunch. One was led to "He Who ... " and one to Dr. Lee....
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Poison plan irks rancher American Indian rancher Scott Cuny is upset that a federal-state project to poison prairie dogs on Buffalo Gap National Grassland is not happening in buffer zones across from Shannon County on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. State Game, Fish & Parks Department workers, under an agreement with the federal government, are poisoning prairie dogs in buffer zones on the national grassland next to private rangeland in Fall River, Custer, Pennington and Jackson counties....
Klamath chinook returns disappointing, disease and climate outlook not good This fall the returns of chinook salmon to Bogus Creek, and the Shasta, Scott and Salmon rivers — tributaries to the Klamath River in Northern California — have been disappointing. Estimates based on fish and carcass counts are showing less than a quarter of last year's returns, and less than 10 percent of the strong returns of 2000. The reasons are difficult to nail down, but the more researchers look, the more disease they are finding in young chinook migrating down the Klamath River. The fish that survive to reach the ocean are finding less food than they did a few years ago....
Ranchers, vintners agree to conserve California tiger salamander A family of ranchers and the Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates agreed to help the federal government to conserve the California tiger salamander, officials said. The agreement reached Friday by Darwin and Jeanette Sainz and Kendall-Jackson to implement measures on their vast properties in Los Alamos and Los Robles came one day after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalized habitat protections for the imperiled amphibian. Pete Downs, vice president of government affairs for Kendall-Jackson, said the agreement allows for "private landowner's need for an economic return from his or her land, and the conservation needs of the California tiger salamander."....
Western Icons Making Dens in the Eastern U.S. Coyotes, the subject of folklore and the scourge of ranchers, have finally made their way into the nation's capital. The coyote population has been expanding eastward since the middle of the last century. Native to California and most points in the West, the creatures made a two-pronged advance over the years — into New England through Canada and the Great Lakes region, and up through the South from Texas. They typically weigh between 30 and 35 pounds, although recent evidence points to the species growing larger as it has moved east. In Connecticut, researchers have caught males weighing close to 50 pounds. The difference in size from their Western cousins has caused some scientists to question whether coyotes are forming a new subspecies in the East. Cold weather might have driven natural selection to favor bigger, better-insulated animals. Genetic evidence suggests that, as they migrated, they have bred with dogs and wolves, which could explain the extra pounds....
Congress secures Mineral King cabins Congress secured 66 historic cabins in the Mineral King Valley as part of the $388 billion spending bill passed Saturday. "I think this is a victory not only for the cabin owners, but also for the public," said John Crowe of Visalia. The hotly-contested issue of allowing owners to keep the cabins came after a deal signed in 1978 allowed them to stay in the vacation cabins -- temporarily -- after Mineral King was incorporated into the national park....
BLM and Garco team up to delay gas leasing atop the Roan Plateau The Bureau of Land Management is crediting Garfield County with coming up with a plan to defer gas leasing on the top of the Roan Plateau until a specified amount of energy development occurs in surrounding lowlands. The federal agency is making that idea the cornerstone of its preferred draft alternative for managing the plateau top and base during the next 20 years. Jamie Connell, manager of the Glenwood Springs office of the BLM, said the county suggested deferring drilling while working with the BLM as a cooperating agency on the draft plan....
Editorial: Innovation needed for oil, gas drilling on Roan Every town in Garfield County asked the feds to not allow oil and gas drill rigs on the 3,500-foot plateau, which dominates the skyline north of the Colorado River near Rifle. Local residents fear rigs, and roads needed to service them, would mar vistas and harm wildlife. The worries are legitimate, given recent experiences in other parts of the West. Nationwide, the BLM is under tremendous pressure from the White House to permit oil and gas development even in fragile habitat and potential wilderness areas. Some 80 percent of land near the plateau is already available for energy production. Much of the Roan itself is already open to drilling, too....
Bush's Plan, Four New Senators Aid Exxon's, BP's Alaska Hopes Exxon Mobil Corp., BP Plc and ConocoPhillips are among companies poised to realize a decades- old dream of drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, thanks to Republican gains in this month's U.S. Senate elections. Four new Republican senators who favor drilling in the refuge will replace Democrats who opposed President George W. Bush's proposal when it was rejected by a four-vote margin in 2003. Senate Republicans said they plan to renew their bid to allow exploration of the refuge's coastal tundra next year....
If there someday is a will, a way to reclaim the Hetch Hetchy Valley has been devised When the valley was inundated in 1923 to provide water to San Francisco, it was assumed it would remain submerged forever. But two months after a Bay Area environmental organization announced a study supporting the restoration of long-drowned Hetch Hetchy Valley, the idea has gained a degree of momentum. A recent study by the group Environmental Defense indicates the valley could be resurrected, with water needs met by transferring water to Don Pedro Reservoir and building additional infrastructure. The study, which estimated it would cost between $500 million to $1.6 billion to expand water storage facilities below Hetch Hetchy, augments earlier analyses by UC Davis and the U. S. Department of Interior, both concluding that restoration was possible without threatening state water supplies. Earlier this month, the Schwarzenegger administration announced it was authorizing a state study to evaluate restoration scenarios....
Go with the flow How rare and wonderful. A helicopter airlift brought native fish to Fossil Creek last month. Soon, the creek will be undammed, carrying a full flow of water for the first time in almost a century. What's really rare and wonderful is the cooperation that led to restoring the creek. It starts with Arizona Public Service, which is voluntarily shutting down its two hydroelectric plants at Fossil Creek next spring. The utility will open the gate at its dam there, releasing the water that's now diverted to the plants....
Power Flush: A sedimental journey A great "flush" of the Colorado River began Sunday morning when four bypass tubes at the base of Glen Canyon Dam were slowly opened, shooting huge jets of water about 150 feet out into the river. The bypass tubes will remain open until 4 p.m. Wednesday and at its peak at 4 p.m. today, the flow will rush 41,000 cubic feet of water per second into the river. The goal is to help native fish species, such as the humpback chub, regain a toehold in the river that has been lost over time to non-native species, such as trout, and to restore beaches that have been washed away....
Column: Cities, farms can share Water shortages over the past three summers have reminded Coloradans that we live in the Great American Desert. In response, the state legislature has devoted much of its time to addressing Colorado's water needs. Unfortunately, it has approached the task of finding a solution as a zero-sum game, a fight between agricultural interests and the rapidly growing (and ever thirstier) cities and suburbs of the Front Range. Since agricultural use accounts for some 90 percent of Colorado's water, most solutions propose to take agricultural lands out of production, temporarily or permanently, and divert water resources to municipal use....
On The Edge Of Common Sense: Never underestimate the power of surprise Although Lee was generally well accepted by the Indian nation, he did run up against the medicine man on occasion. The medicine man, hereinafter called, "He Who Teaches Lesson to Cocky Paleface," was particularly amused the first time he saw Lee castrate a horse. Lee's feelings were hurt. He felt insulted. He had envisioned himself as a gifted medical missionary bringing progress to the primitive community. "He Who ... " challenged Lee to a contest to determine who could castrate a horse more quickly. Lee accepted. Two unbroken 3-year-old stallions were roped from the wild bunch. One was led to "He Who ... " and one to Dr. Lee....
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Sunday, November 21, 2004
NATIONAL FINALS STEER ROPING
Guy Allen wins again! He won the world and the average, that makes 18 for the Lovington, NM native. Cody Ohl won the calf roping.
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Guy Allen wins again! He won the world and the average, that makes 18 for the Lovington, NM native. Cody Ohl won the calf roping.
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Allen rallies into second behind Brazile
Guy Allen's Saturday didn't get off to the best of starts in the National Finals Steer Roping, but the 17-time PRCA champion rallied to put himself in position to win another title at the Amarillo National Center. Allen missed his second steer of the day the first time around and had to go to his second loop for a 21.7 seconds. That left him at the time in fifth place with a total time of 72.4 seconds after five go-rounds. Three go-rounds were completed on Friday. "I had a really good steer and I missed him," he said. "That kind of knocked me back, but you've got to pick yourself up." Allen picked himself up quite well in the Saturday evening session, with a 10.2 in the sixth go-round and a 9.0 in the seventh. Both times tied for second-fastest in their go-rounds and Allen's total of 91.6 places him second behind Trevor Brazile with the final three go-rounds set for 1 p.m. today. Allen's total of $60,061.88 for the year leads in overall money won, and Brazile's sum of $57,194.53 stands him in second. With a total payout of $121,251, Amarillo native Brazile is still well in the chase for the only NFR title not awarded in Las Vegas. Earlier, Brazile posted times of 12.5 and 11.9 in the two morning session go-rounds, which Brazile said were more difficult than he had expected. "I film the steers just to know what I'm going to have to compete on," he said. "But I had two extras that hadn't been competed on, which means that they weren't one of the 15 better steers." Brazile posted an 11.6 on his steer in the sixth go-round, but had to go to his second loop in the seventh go-round and posted a 21.9, which leaves him in the lead with a seven-round total of 89.7 seconds. He leads Allen by 1.9 seconds....
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Guy Allen's Saturday didn't get off to the best of starts in the National Finals Steer Roping, but the 17-time PRCA champion rallied to put himself in position to win another title at the Amarillo National Center. Allen missed his second steer of the day the first time around and had to go to his second loop for a 21.7 seconds. That left him at the time in fifth place with a total time of 72.4 seconds after five go-rounds. Three go-rounds were completed on Friday. "I had a really good steer and I missed him," he said. "That kind of knocked me back, but you've got to pick yourself up." Allen picked himself up quite well in the Saturday evening session, with a 10.2 in the sixth go-round and a 9.0 in the seventh. Both times tied for second-fastest in their go-rounds and Allen's total of 91.6 places him second behind Trevor Brazile with the final three go-rounds set for 1 p.m. today. Allen's total of $60,061.88 for the year leads in overall money won, and Brazile's sum of $57,194.53 stands him in second. With a total payout of $121,251, Amarillo native Brazile is still well in the chase for the only NFR title not awarded in Las Vegas. Earlier, Brazile posted times of 12.5 and 11.9 in the two morning session go-rounds, which Brazile said were more difficult than he had expected. "I film the steers just to know what I'm going to have to compete on," he said. "But I had two extras that hadn't been competed on, which means that they weren't one of the 15 better steers." Brazile posted an 11.6 on his steer in the sixth go-round, but had to go to his second loop in the seventh go-round and posted a 21.9, which leaves him in the lead with a seven-round total of 89.7 seconds. He leads Allen by 1.9 seconds....
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SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE WESTERNER
We're going to start something new at The Westerner.
As you know, on a weblog you link to an article, study, report, etc. and then either summarize or comment on the linked to item. This takes less space and keeps you from violating copyright law.
There is, however, some good stuff out there that is not available on the internet, or has not been published at all. That is where this new Saturday section of The Westerner will come in. I will post original items to this section. It can be fiction, non-fiction, book or cd reviews, poetry, or whatever. It must, though, be related to the issues this blog covers or to the western lifestyle.
Got a neat story of something that happened on your ranch or on a recent hunting trip? A good joke? A remembrance of a friend, relative or good horse? Want to sound off on a policy issue? Then email me at flankcinch@hotmail.com
Legislating cowboy hats—Aussie lawmakers say they are dangerous
By Julie Carter
Headlining agriculture news this week is a story about the felt hats worn by the Australian cowboys (stockmen) not meeting modern industrial safety standards.
With this hitting international news, will American cowboy hat legislation be far behind?
It all began in 2001 with the death of an Australian cowboy. Daniel Croker, 23, suffered massive head injuries after being trampled by the bulls he was gathering when he fell from his horse.
The New South Wales state government brought charges against the ranch owner and last month fined him $72,000 for breaches of safety, including failure to provide the horseman with an equestrian helmet.
Since then helmets have become compulsory for Aussie ranch cowboys while ranchers are calling for industrial laws to be changed to delineate between Outback and city factory work.
It is a given that the United States is notorious for its attempts to legislate intelligence or the lack of it, in the name of protecting us from ourselves. Making rules for what kind of “lid” the cowboy should wear to work seems not far away.
We in the west will give the same arguments they are currently presenting in Australia.
A helmet in 100 plus degree temperatures is a recipe for a heat stroke. Additionally, here in the southwest we set records for skin cancer rates. Substituting helmets for broad brimmed hats would increase the hazards for that lethal disease.
Somewhere along the line the cowboy hat got passed off as something of a romantic Wild West icon with no real function except to identify a cowboy in a crowd.
While indeed an identity to the cowboy, the hat functions well as protection from the elements. The sun is shaded off the head and the face, ears and neck. The rain runs off the brim and down the back of your slicker instead of down your neck into the inside of your clothes.
Tipped against the wind it can protect your face from the blowing dust and wind in general. Head ducked to your chest, traveling into a snowstorm, the brim will protect against a slush plastered face.
Other uses include watering your horse, fanning a fire, signaling for help and sometimes most important, providing shade over the face at siesta time.
The son of a Philadelphia hat maker created the first cowboy hat in 1865. His name was John B. Stetson, now known as the inventor of the cowboy hat.
As the story goes, John B. Stetson and some buddies went west to seek the benefits of a drier climate. During a hunting trip, Stetson amused his friends by showing them how he could make cloth out of fur without weaving. Stetson used the fur from hides collected on the hunting trip.
Stetson made an unusually large hat out of this fur-felt. He then wore the hat for the remainder of his hunting trip, at first as a joke, but then grew fond of the hat for its protection from the weather. He and other cowboys of the west ended up liking the idea so well that Stetson soon manufactured and sold a hat true to his original idea.
Perhaps we need to get the cowboy hat designated with some sort of national historical significance like a landmark so legislatures have to leave it alone.
As a cowboy hat advocate in Australia is saying, “The stockman’s hat is an icon. You can’t replace it with an ice-cream container on the head.”
Julie can be reached for comment at jcarter@tularosa.net
© Julie Carter 2004
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We're going to start something new at The Westerner.
As you know, on a weblog you link to an article, study, report, etc. and then either summarize or comment on the linked to item. This takes less space and keeps you from violating copyright law.
There is, however, some good stuff out there that is not available on the internet, or has not been published at all. That is where this new Saturday section of The Westerner will come in. I will post original items to this section. It can be fiction, non-fiction, book or cd reviews, poetry, or whatever. It must, though, be related to the issues this blog covers or to the western lifestyle.
Got a neat story of something that happened on your ranch or on a recent hunting trip? A good joke? A remembrance of a friend, relative or good horse? Want to sound off on a policy issue? Then email me at flankcinch@hotmail.com
Legislating cowboy hats—Aussie lawmakers say they are dangerous
By Julie Carter
Headlining agriculture news this week is a story about the felt hats worn by the Australian cowboys (stockmen) not meeting modern industrial safety standards.
With this hitting international news, will American cowboy hat legislation be far behind?
It all began in 2001 with the death of an Australian cowboy. Daniel Croker, 23, suffered massive head injuries after being trampled by the bulls he was gathering when he fell from his horse.
The New South Wales state government brought charges against the ranch owner and last month fined him $72,000 for breaches of safety, including failure to provide the horseman with an equestrian helmet.
Since then helmets have become compulsory for Aussie ranch cowboys while ranchers are calling for industrial laws to be changed to delineate between Outback and city factory work.
It is a given that the United States is notorious for its attempts to legislate intelligence or the lack of it, in the name of protecting us from ourselves. Making rules for what kind of “lid” the cowboy should wear to work seems not far away.
We in the west will give the same arguments they are currently presenting in Australia.
A helmet in 100 plus degree temperatures is a recipe for a heat stroke. Additionally, here in the southwest we set records for skin cancer rates. Substituting helmets for broad brimmed hats would increase the hazards for that lethal disease.
Somewhere along the line the cowboy hat got passed off as something of a romantic Wild West icon with no real function except to identify a cowboy in a crowd.
While indeed an identity to the cowboy, the hat functions well as protection from the elements. The sun is shaded off the head and the face, ears and neck. The rain runs off the brim and down the back of your slicker instead of down your neck into the inside of your clothes.
Tipped against the wind it can protect your face from the blowing dust and wind in general. Head ducked to your chest, traveling into a snowstorm, the brim will protect against a slush plastered face.
Other uses include watering your horse, fanning a fire, signaling for help and sometimes most important, providing shade over the face at siesta time.
The son of a Philadelphia hat maker created the first cowboy hat in 1865. His name was John B. Stetson, now known as the inventor of the cowboy hat.
As the story goes, John B. Stetson and some buddies went west to seek the benefits of a drier climate. During a hunting trip, Stetson amused his friends by showing them how he could make cloth out of fur without weaving. Stetson used the fur from hides collected on the hunting trip.
Stetson made an unusually large hat out of this fur-felt. He then wore the hat for the remainder of his hunting trip, at first as a joke, but then grew fond of the hat for its protection from the weather. He and other cowboys of the west ended up liking the idea so well that Stetson soon manufactured and sold a hat true to his original idea.
Perhaps we need to get the cowboy hat designated with some sort of national historical significance like a landmark so legislatures have to leave it alone.
As a cowboy hat advocate in Australia is saying, “The stockman’s hat is an icon. You can’t replace it with an ice-cream container on the head.”
Julie can be reached for comment at jcarter@tularosa.net
© Julie Carter 2004
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OPINION/COMMENTARY
Senate Investigates Green Groups And EPA Grants
The U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee chaired by Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) has issued two reports that examine the activities of non-profit environmental groups that received grant money from the Environmental Protection Agency. “Political Activity Of Environmental Groups And Their Supporting Foundations,” examines green groups that have accepted EPA grants from the Bush Administration and then criticized the Administration. Many of the groups discussed in the report were reviewed by Capital Research Center in reports issued by summer fellow David Healy in August and September. The second report, “Grant Management At the Environmental Protection Agency. A New Culture Required To Cure A History of Problems,” investigates how the EPA grants process is abused. A few examples:....
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Senate Investigates Green Groups And EPA Grants
The U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee chaired by Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) has issued two reports that examine the activities of non-profit environmental groups that received grant money from the Environmental Protection Agency. “Political Activity Of Environmental Groups And Their Supporting Foundations,” examines green groups that have accepted EPA grants from the Bush Administration and then criticized the Administration. Many of the groups discussed in the report were reviewed by Capital Research Center in reports issued by summer fellow David Healy in August and September. The second report, “Grant Management At the Environmental Protection Agency. A New Culture Required To Cure A History of Problems,” investigates how the EPA grants process is abused. A few examples:....
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OPINION/COMMENTARY
Abuse of Power
The Constitution's Fifth Amendment contains the clear language that no person should "be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." For most people, things like highways, police stations, and courthouses come to mind as examples of "public use." And "just compensation" means what amount of cash a seller demands in exchange for his or her property. But for local government bureaucrats around the country, the Fifth Amendment has been stood on its head, with "public use" meaning any private use that generates more tax booty for city hall, and "just compensation" meaning whatever the local government goons can steal the property for. In his outstanding book Abuse of Power: How the government misuses eminent domain, author Steven Greenhut tells of how rich developers and big corporations link arms with local government officials to steal property from small business owners, elderly widows, churches, and just plain old hard-working property owners....
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Abuse of Power
The Constitution's Fifth Amendment contains the clear language that no person should "be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." For most people, things like highways, police stations, and courthouses come to mind as examples of "public use." And "just compensation" means what amount of cash a seller demands in exchange for his or her property. But for local government bureaucrats around the country, the Fifth Amendment has been stood on its head, with "public use" meaning any private use that generates more tax booty for city hall, and "just compensation" meaning whatever the local government goons can steal the property for. In his outstanding book Abuse of Power: How the government misuses eminent domain, author Steven Greenhut tells of how rich developers and big corporations link arms with local government officials to steal property from small business owners, elderly widows, churches, and just plain old hard-working property owners....
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OPINION/COMMENTARY
Give governors, residents more say
It takes an act of Congress to designate wilderness, and the courts stopped implementation of Clinton's order. Recently, President Bush proposed to give each governor a voice in how the roadless areas in their state could be used. The level of activity would be considered on a case-by-case basis. Bush was right to do this. Citizens living closest to the lands are the most greatly affected by them. They bear the biggest burden of any environmental harms and dangers such as wildfire, the sight of massive clearcuts, or sediment-filled creeks. And they reap the most immediate benefits, whether from clean water, developed campsites or harvest or recreation use. Those citizens should have greater weight in deciding how those lands are used than legislators acting collectively in Washington, D.C. Wilderness is and should remain a place of solitude and boundless beauty, a place that wildlife can call home and humans only visit. But to set aside 50 percent more land in one fell swoop would have serious consequences for many of us in the West, especially those of us who want access to clear-running creeks and crystal mountain lakes....
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Give governors, residents more say
It takes an act of Congress to designate wilderness, and the courts stopped implementation of Clinton's order. Recently, President Bush proposed to give each governor a voice in how the roadless areas in their state could be used. The level of activity would be considered on a case-by-case basis. Bush was right to do this. Citizens living closest to the lands are the most greatly affected by them. They bear the biggest burden of any environmental harms and dangers such as wildfire, the sight of massive clearcuts, or sediment-filled creeks. And they reap the most immediate benefits, whether from clean water, developed campsites or harvest or recreation use. Those citizens should have greater weight in deciding how those lands are used than legislators acting collectively in Washington, D.C. Wilderness is and should remain a place of solitude and boundless beauty, a place that wildlife can call home and humans only visit. But to set aside 50 percent more land in one fell swoop would have serious consequences for many of us in the West, especially those of us who want access to clear-running creeks and crystal mountain lakes....
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OPINION/COMMENTARY
Making the Desert Bloom
There is big news from the Middle East that is unusual in several ways: It's positive, involves a scientific advance, and comes from a developing country. Researchers at Cairo's Agricultural Genetic Engineering Research Institute have shown that by transferring a single gene from barley to wheat, the plants can tolerate less watering for a longer period of time before their leaves wilt. This new, drought-resistant variety requires only one-eighth as much irrigation as conventional wheat, and actually can be cultivated with rainfall alone in some desert areas. It could literally make the desert bloom. Agricultural shortfalls around the world, especially in developing countries, are being aggravated by the potential catastrophe of water shortages, not only for agriculture but also for basic human needs. As groundwater dwindles, millions of wells throughout Asia and Africa are drying up. Bureaucrats and aid workers long have searched for solutions. Gene-spliced, drought-resistant crops might provide one—so long as unfounded fears and flawed public policy don't block progress....
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Making the Desert Bloom
There is big news from the Middle East that is unusual in several ways: It's positive, involves a scientific advance, and comes from a developing country. Researchers at Cairo's Agricultural Genetic Engineering Research Institute have shown that by transferring a single gene from barley to wheat, the plants can tolerate less watering for a longer period of time before their leaves wilt. This new, drought-resistant variety requires only one-eighth as much irrigation as conventional wheat, and actually can be cultivated with rainfall alone in some desert areas. It could literally make the desert bloom. Agricultural shortfalls around the world, especially in developing countries, are being aggravated by the potential catastrophe of water shortages, not only for agriculture but also for basic human needs. As groundwater dwindles, millions of wells throughout Asia and Africa are drying up. Bureaucrats and aid workers long have searched for solutions. Gene-spliced, drought-resistant crops might provide one—so long as unfounded fears and flawed public policy don't block progress....
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