Saturday, January 22, 2005
NEWS ROUNDUP
Rancher wins $600K in suit against enviros Tucson's Center for Biological Diversity must pay rancher and banker Jim Chilton $600,000 because the environmental group defamed him with a press release and photos posted on its Web site, a jury decided Friday. In a 9-1 verdict, jurors in Pima County Superior Court awarded Chilton $100,000 for the harm done to his reputation and Arivaca cattle company. The jury tacked on an additional $500,000 in punitive damages meant to punish the center and deter others from committing libel....
Enviro center that lives by the suit gets burned by the suit The lawyer giveth, the lawyer taketh away. The Center for Biological Diversity has built a national reputation - and made a living - by suing the federal government on behalf of endangered species. In 2003, it got reimbursed for $992,354 in expenses after winning in court - about double what its 10,000 members donated that year. But now that same legal system has hit the Tucson-based group with a $600,000 judgment - one-quarter of the center's net assets at the end of 2003, according to the most recent annual report posted on its Web site....
Group fights for property rights It's a classic David versus Goliath tale. Recognizing that together they have a louder voice, the small farm owners in eastern Colorado are joining up to take a stand against the state government over compensation for property taken from them. The property is mainly water rights and the organization is the Property Rights Foundation of the West (PRFW). The group came into being as a result of many farmers in Morgan County and surrounding areas finding some of their wells shut down by the Colorado government. The group feels that these closings represent the government taking private property for public use without just compensation. Members of the group are looking for a good case so that they can start the legal proceedings and hopefully set a precedent that will help the rest of the members in their individual battles....
Federal judge weighs arguments in Montana coal-bed methane case The U.S. Bureau of Land Management relied on an inadequate environmental study when approving expansion of a coal-bed methane project, and did not provide enough opportunity for public comment while the project was being considered, a watchdog group said in federal court. U.S. Magistrate Richard Anderson is weighing the arguments he heard Thursday in the lawsuit filed by the Northern Plains Resource Council. The group is challenging the BLM's permission for Fidelity Exploration & Production Co. to expand its coal-bed methane project in the Badger Hills of southeastern Montana. Northern Plains wants Anderson to order a more thorough environmental study of the project, and order opportunities for public comment....
US to allow oil exploration in protected area of Alaska Citing a need for domestic energy sources, the government plans to open for exploratory drilling thousands of acres on Alaska's North Slope that have been protected for decades because of migratory birds and caribou. The Bureau of Land Management has concluded that oil and gas exploration in the northeastern corner of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska can be conducted with ''minimal impact" on the area's wildlife. While most of the 22 million-acre reserve is open to oil development, its lake-pocked northeastern corner has been fenced off, dating back to the Reagan administration, because of environmental concerns. That area also is viewed as having the highest oil and gas potential within the reserve. Interior Secretary Gale Norton is expected to sign off on the bureau's recommendation next week, said a department official, speaking on condition of anonymity because a final action has not been announced....
Klamath farmers take on new threat Klamath Basin farmers, who have spent years fighting for irrigation water, now face a battle over the flow of another key resource: electricity. The power company PacifiCorp has notified state officials of the expiration of a deal that for decades has supplied farmers on the Oregon-California line with some of the cheapest electricity around. It means about 1,300 farms, most in Oregon, could be socked next year with more than tenfold rate increases. Such a steep rise, they say, would unravel the plumbing of a region that depends on electric pumps to move its precious water....
Off the Road No one could invent Quartzsite, Ariz. It's a mile or so beyond imagining. Picture a forlorn desert town of about 3,500 souls, a crossroads of trailers, dust, wind and a heartless summer sun blazing down at 110 degrees. With just a handful of tall trees, the only shade is under your hat. Now fast-forward past the cruel season into November and December, and watch as this southwest Arizona community—at the junction of Highway 95 and Interstate 10, 130 miles west of Phoenix—transforms into a temporary Shangri-La for retirees fleeing the northern cold. Most come in giant RVs to claim a spot at one of 73 RV parks or one of the sprawling Bureau of Land Management campgrounds. And what a sight these motorized Conestogas make, thousands and thousands of them sparkling in the sun for as far as you can see....
Antlers worth $25K stolen A Grand Junction man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of trying to sell a unique set of elk antlers worth more than $25,000. The antlers belong to a New Zealand man, Neville Cunningham, who was trying to have a duplicate set made of the 10-point antlers, which are approximately 5 feet 2 inches tall. “The antlers are huge, and because of the size, that is the market value,” Grand Junction Police Department spokeswoman Kris Olson said. “I’ve never seen antlers this huge come off an elk,” Police Department Service Technician Julia Marston said. “A moose maybe, but not an elk. They fork, and then they fork again.”....
Western Heritage, Cowboy Style For Americans who care about Western heritage, open spaces, animals and cowboy lore, the place to be from January 22nd to January 26th is Elko, Nevada, the home of the 21st Annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering. The mission of the Western Folklife Center, the Poetry Gathering’s host, is to "enhance the vitality of American life through the experience, understanding and appreciation" of the American West. Revered cowboy poet Waddie Mitchell—who once managed a 36,000 acre ranch in Jiggs, Nevada— recalled that when the first poetry gathering was held, a few locals set up some folding chairs in the Elko Junior High School auditorium. "I didn’t think anyone would show up. But I figured for the few who did, we would probably have a pretty good party," said Mitchell. But to Mitchell’s surprise, more than 2,000 fans trekked to Elko. And attendance at the gathering has increased every year to nearly 10,000 people from all over the world....
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Rancher wins $600K in suit against enviros Tucson's Center for Biological Diversity must pay rancher and banker Jim Chilton $600,000 because the environmental group defamed him with a press release and photos posted on its Web site, a jury decided Friday. In a 9-1 verdict, jurors in Pima County Superior Court awarded Chilton $100,000 for the harm done to his reputation and Arivaca cattle company. The jury tacked on an additional $500,000 in punitive damages meant to punish the center and deter others from committing libel....
Enviro center that lives by the suit gets burned by the suit The lawyer giveth, the lawyer taketh away. The Center for Biological Diversity has built a national reputation - and made a living - by suing the federal government on behalf of endangered species. In 2003, it got reimbursed for $992,354 in expenses after winning in court - about double what its 10,000 members donated that year. But now that same legal system has hit the Tucson-based group with a $600,000 judgment - one-quarter of the center's net assets at the end of 2003, according to the most recent annual report posted on its Web site....
Group fights for property rights It's a classic David versus Goliath tale. Recognizing that together they have a louder voice, the small farm owners in eastern Colorado are joining up to take a stand against the state government over compensation for property taken from them. The property is mainly water rights and the organization is the Property Rights Foundation of the West (PRFW). The group came into being as a result of many farmers in Morgan County and surrounding areas finding some of their wells shut down by the Colorado government. The group feels that these closings represent the government taking private property for public use without just compensation. Members of the group are looking for a good case so that they can start the legal proceedings and hopefully set a precedent that will help the rest of the members in their individual battles....
Federal judge weighs arguments in Montana coal-bed methane case The U.S. Bureau of Land Management relied on an inadequate environmental study when approving expansion of a coal-bed methane project, and did not provide enough opportunity for public comment while the project was being considered, a watchdog group said in federal court. U.S. Magistrate Richard Anderson is weighing the arguments he heard Thursday in the lawsuit filed by the Northern Plains Resource Council. The group is challenging the BLM's permission for Fidelity Exploration & Production Co. to expand its coal-bed methane project in the Badger Hills of southeastern Montana. Northern Plains wants Anderson to order a more thorough environmental study of the project, and order opportunities for public comment....
US to allow oil exploration in protected area of Alaska Citing a need for domestic energy sources, the government plans to open for exploratory drilling thousands of acres on Alaska's North Slope that have been protected for decades because of migratory birds and caribou. The Bureau of Land Management has concluded that oil and gas exploration in the northeastern corner of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska can be conducted with ''minimal impact" on the area's wildlife. While most of the 22 million-acre reserve is open to oil development, its lake-pocked northeastern corner has been fenced off, dating back to the Reagan administration, because of environmental concerns. That area also is viewed as having the highest oil and gas potential within the reserve. Interior Secretary Gale Norton is expected to sign off on the bureau's recommendation next week, said a department official, speaking on condition of anonymity because a final action has not been announced....
Klamath farmers take on new threat Klamath Basin farmers, who have spent years fighting for irrigation water, now face a battle over the flow of another key resource: electricity. The power company PacifiCorp has notified state officials of the expiration of a deal that for decades has supplied farmers on the Oregon-California line with some of the cheapest electricity around. It means about 1,300 farms, most in Oregon, could be socked next year with more than tenfold rate increases. Such a steep rise, they say, would unravel the plumbing of a region that depends on electric pumps to move its precious water....
Off the Road No one could invent Quartzsite, Ariz. It's a mile or so beyond imagining. Picture a forlorn desert town of about 3,500 souls, a crossroads of trailers, dust, wind and a heartless summer sun blazing down at 110 degrees. With just a handful of tall trees, the only shade is under your hat. Now fast-forward past the cruel season into November and December, and watch as this southwest Arizona community—at the junction of Highway 95 and Interstate 10, 130 miles west of Phoenix—transforms into a temporary Shangri-La for retirees fleeing the northern cold. Most come in giant RVs to claim a spot at one of 73 RV parks or one of the sprawling Bureau of Land Management campgrounds. And what a sight these motorized Conestogas make, thousands and thousands of them sparkling in the sun for as far as you can see....
Antlers worth $25K stolen A Grand Junction man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of trying to sell a unique set of elk antlers worth more than $25,000. The antlers belong to a New Zealand man, Neville Cunningham, who was trying to have a duplicate set made of the 10-point antlers, which are approximately 5 feet 2 inches tall. “The antlers are huge, and because of the size, that is the market value,” Grand Junction Police Department spokeswoman Kris Olson said. “I’ve never seen antlers this huge come off an elk,” Police Department Service Technician Julia Marston said. “A moose maybe, but not an elk. They fork, and then they fork again.”....
Western Heritage, Cowboy Style For Americans who care about Western heritage, open spaces, animals and cowboy lore, the place to be from January 22nd to January 26th is Elko, Nevada, the home of the 21st Annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering. The mission of the Western Folklife Center, the Poetry Gathering’s host, is to "enhance the vitality of American life through the experience, understanding and appreciation" of the American West. Revered cowboy poet Waddie Mitchell—who once managed a 36,000 acre ranch in Jiggs, Nevada— recalled that when the first poetry gathering was held, a few locals set up some folding chairs in the Elko Junior High School auditorium. "I didn’t think anyone would show up. But I figured for the few who did, we would probably have a pretty good party," said Mitchell. But to Mitchell’s surprise, more than 2,000 fans trekked to Elko. And attendance at the gathering has increased every year to nearly 10,000 people from all over the world....
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Friday, January 21, 2005
NEWS ROUNDUP
Letter claims arson devices as eco-terror Vandals from an eco-terror group that calls itself the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) have claimed responsibility for two attempted arsons at construction sites in Lincoln and Auburn in recent weeks. The claim, made in a two-page, single-spaced letter received by The Bee and three other area newspapers, described the devices left at the sites in some detail and purportedly explains why the devices did not detonate. "Though our fires failed, the actions (were) not completely unsuccessful," the letter said, adding that more incidents will be forthcoming. "We are setting a new precedent, where there will be at least one or more actions every few weeks," the letter said. The FBI said last week it believed the incidents were the work of eco-terrorists, and although the agency would not say much about the letters Wednesday a spokeswoman said an area counter terrorism task force is investigating....
Giving wolf more space The Mexican gray wolf needs more room to roam, and a government study is recommending that the entire state of Arizona, as well as all of New Mexico, be considered part of the wolves' territory. Parts of Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas, as well as Mexico, are also up for consideration, as long as the wolves do not conflict with livestock or humans, a five-year review of the wolf program recommends. The current boundaries - 4.4 million acres on the Apache-Sitgreaves and Gila national forests and 1.6 million acres on the Fort Apache Reservation - are too small, which has resulted in many wolves being captured, removed from the wild or relocated, according to the review of the program by members of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Arizona and New Mexico game and fish departments....
Editorial: Let's expand range for Mexican gray wolf Who's afraid of the big bad wolf? For centuries, the wolf has gotten a bad rap, but in recent years it is proving to be a far better neighbor than legend and myth had us believing. Now New Mexico and other Southwestern states have a golden opportunity, as recommended by biologists, to correct a disgraceful legacy of wolf persecution and embrace a broader and less restrictive repatriation of the Mexican gray wolf. Additionally, the state should join in assessing the possibilities of reintroducing the common or northern gray wolf across the vast public lands of northern New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming, as other recent biological studies suggest....
Heli-skiing permit withdrawn Bridger-Teton National Forest officials have withdrawn approval for expanded helicopter-accessed skiing to investigate claims raised by conservation groups. Forest Supervisor Kniffy Hamilton's decision comes in response to an appeal filed by conservationists who contend that plans to increase helicopter ski trips in the Bridger-Teton and Caribou-Targhee forests would harm wildlife and degrade wilderness. "They raised some issues in their appeal that I need to look into," Hamilton said Tuesday. She said she wants to "make sure that we've done the appropriate level of analysis" and "make sure that we're on firm ground" before issuing the permit....
Old-growth forest plan critiqued The Forest Service isn't protecting as many big old trees as it should in North Idaho, an environmental group says. The Lands Council of Spokane issued "Lost Forests: An Investigative Report on the Old-growth of North Idaho" on Tuesday. The report says officials with the Idaho Panhandle National Forests falsely identify old growth to meet forest plan standards. "Using the Forest Service's own maps, databases and standards for measuring old growth, I routinely found myself surveying stumps and saplings," said Ellen Picken, lead field organizer for the Lands Council. "Several times we found clearcuts the Forest Service documented as old growth."....
Genetic Gradient Theory Challenges Evolutionary Ideas Research published in Science is the first in the world to demonstrate a genetic gradient - or path of gradually changing genetic traits - between two distinct species that have been isolated by distance. The research challenges the prevailing theory among evolutionary biologists that species evolve only when separated by a geographical barrier. The research team, led by Darren Irwin from the University of British Columbia, say the results could have broad implications for preserving biological diversity and endangered species....
Courting Disaster: Bush judicial nominees could shake the foundations of environmental law Perhaps the most disturbing trend in Bush's judicial appointees is their increasingly common links to industry. More than a third of Bush appointments to appellate courts and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims during his first term -- 21 of 59 nominations since 2001 -- have worked as lawyers or lobbyists for the oil, gas, and energy industries, according to a new investigation by the Center for Investigative Reporting. Three of these energy industry-linked Bush nominations have been made to the critically important 9th Circuit (with one confirmed so far), another nominated but not confirmed to the D.C. Circuit Court, and four confirmed to the little-known Court of Federal Claims, which deals with "takings" property claims made by developers and industry against the government....
Wildlife officials plan to quarantine 100 Yellowstone bison for research Wildlife officials plan to capture 100 bison calves that leave Yellowstone National Park in the coming months and use them to test an experimental quarantine facility just outside the park. The pilot project will look at whether a quarantine facility could be helpful in finding bison free of the cattle disease brucellosis to help start herds in Montana and other states. "Our view is that if we are going to restore bison to the landscape in some broader way, we're going to have to take some real active steps," said Pat Flowers, a regional supervisor for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. But bison defenders, such as Mike Mease of the Buffalo Field Campaign, say the facility will serve to treat the bison like cattle....
Chemicals blemish Colorado's water Detergents, drugs, disinfectants and other household chemicals taint Colorado's water, especially along the urban Front Range, federal scientists said Wednesday. "None of the concentrations exceed the regulatory limit, but we don't know what the human health impacts are," said Lori Sprague, chief author of the study. The U.S. Geological Survey's study is the most comprehensive analysis of water quality ever conducted in Colorado, testing for hundreds of chemicals. The findings were unsettling because researchers didn't expect to find so many chemicals in a headwaters state....
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Letter claims arson devices as eco-terror Vandals from an eco-terror group that calls itself the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) have claimed responsibility for two attempted arsons at construction sites in Lincoln and Auburn in recent weeks. The claim, made in a two-page, single-spaced letter received by The Bee and three other area newspapers, described the devices left at the sites in some detail and purportedly explains why the devices did not detonate. "Though our fires failed, the actions (were) not completely unsuccessful," the letter said, adding that more incidents will be forthcoming. "We are setting a new precedent, where there will be at least one or more actions every few weeks," the letter said. The FBI said last week it believed the incidents were the work of eco-terrorists, and although the agency would not say much about the letters Wednesday a spokeswoman said an area counter terrorism task force is investigating....
Giving wolf more space The Mexican gray wolf needs more room to roam, and a government study is recommending that the entire state of Arizona, as well as all of New Mexico, be considered part of the wolves' territory. Parts of Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas, as well as Mexico, are also up for consideration, as long as the wolves do not conflict with livestock or humans, a five-year review of the wolf program recommends. The current boundaries - 4.4 million acres on the Apache-Sitgreaves and Gila national forests and 1.6 million acres on the Fort Apache Reservation - are too small, which has resulted in many wolves being captured, removed from the wild or relocated, according to the review of the program by members of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Arizona and New Mexico game and fish departments....
Editorial: Let's expand range for Mexican gray wolf Who's afraid of the big bad wolf? For centuries, the wolf has gotten a bad rap, but in recent years it is proving to be a far better neighbor than legend and myth had us believing. Now New Mexico and other Southwestern states have a golden opportunity, as recommended by biologists, to correct a disgraceful legacy of wolf persecution and embrace a broader and less restrictive repatriation of the Mexican gray wolf. Additionally, the state should join in assessing the possibilities of reintroducing the common or northern gray wolf across the vast public lands of northern New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming, as other recent biological studies suggest....
Heli-skiing permit withdrawn Bridger-Teton National Forest officials have withdrawn approval for expanded helicopter-accessed skiing to investigate claims raised by conservation groups. Forest Supervisor Kniffy Hamilton's decision comes in response to an appeal filed by conservationists who contend that plans to increase helicopter ski trips in the Bridger-Teton and Caribou-Targhee forests would harm wildlife and degrade wilderness. "They raised some issues in their appeal that I need to look into," Hamilton said Tuesday. She said she wants to "make sure that we've done the appropriate level of analysis" and "make sure that we're on firm ground" before issuing the permit....
Old-growth forest plan critiqued The Forest Service isn't protecting as many big old trees as it should in North Idaho, an environmental group says. The Lands Council of Spokane issued "Lost Forests: An Investigative Report on the Old-growth of North Idaho" on Tuesday. The report says officials with the Idaho Panhandle National Forests falsely identify old growth to meet forest plan standards. "Using the Forest Service's own maps, databases and standards for measuring old growth, I routinely found myself surveying stumps and saplings," said Ellen Picken, lead field organizer for the Lands Council. "Several times we found clearcuts the Forest Service documented as old growth."....
Genetic Gradient Theory Challenges Evolutionary Ideas Research published in Science is the first in the world to demonstrate a genetic gradient - or path of gradually changing genetic traits - between two distinct species that have been isolated by distance. The research challenges the prevailing theory among evolutionary biologists that species evolve only when separated by a geographical barrier. The research team, led by Darren Irwin from the University of British Columbia, say the results could have broad implications for preserving biological diversity and endangered species....
Courting Disaster: Bush judicial nominees could shake the foundations of environmental law Perhaps the most disturbing trend in Bush's judicial appointees is their increasingly common links to industry. More than a third of Bush appointments to appellate courts and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims during his first term -- 21 of 59 nominations since 2001 -- have worked as lawyers or lobbyists for the oil, gas, and energy industries, according to a new investigation by the Center for Investigative Reporting. Three of these energy industry-linked Bush nominations have been made to the critically important 9th Circuit (with one confirmed so far), another nominated but not confirmed to the D.C. Circuit Court, and four confirmed to the little-known Court of Federal Claims, which deals with "takings" property claims made by developers and industry against the government....
Wildlife officials plan to quarantine 100 Yellowstone bison for research Wildlife officials plan to capture 100 bison calves that leave Yellowstone National Park in the coming months and use them to test an experimental quarantine facility just outside the park. The pilot project will look at whether a quarantine facility could be helpful in finding bison free of the cattle disease brucellosis to help start herds in Montana and other states. "Our view is that if we are going to restore bison to the landscape in some broader way, we're going to have to take some real active steps," said Pat Flowers, a regional supervisor for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. But bison defenders, such as Mike Mease of the Buffalo Field Campaign, say the facility will serve to treat the bison like cattle....
Chemicals blemish Colorado's water Detergents, drugs, disinfectants and other household chemicals taint Colorado's water, especially along the urban Front Range, federal scientists said Wednesday. "None of the concentrations exceed the regulatory limit, but we don't know what the human health impacts are," said Lori Sprague, chief author of the study. The U.S. Geological Survey's study is the most comprehensive analysis of water quality ever conducted in Colorado, testing for hundreds of chemicals. The findings were unsettling because researchers didn't expect to find so many chemicals in a headwaters state....
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MAD COW DISEASE
Study Finds Broader Reach for Mad Cow Proteins ad cow disease has long been thought to occur in just the brains and nervous systems of infected animals. But scientists are reporting today that the proteins thought to cause the disease can travel to other organs as well. The research is based on experiments with mice, but if it is borne out in other species, it may suggest that no part of an infected animal is safe to eat. The disease leads to a fatal brain infection in humans. In the mouse experiments, reported in the journal Science, researchers in Switzerland found that prions, proteins that are the infectious agent in mad cow disease, follow immune cells, called lymphocytes, in the body. When mice were given chronic infectious diseases of the liver, kidney and pancreas and then inoculated with prions, the prions made their way to the infected organs. Dr. Adriano Aguzzi, a neuropathologist at the University Hospital in Zurich, who led the experiments, said this meant that cows and sheep infected with prions could harbor the disease in any inflamed organ. But Dr. David R. Smith, a veterinarian at the University of Nebraska, said the research did not raise alarms about American beef. For one thing, he said, livestock with obvious signs of systemic infection, like a fever, are not allowed into the food supply. And most American cattle are slaughtered while they are young and at reduced risk of infection....
Japan Says Progress Made in BSE Dispute with US A senior Japanese Farm Ministry official said on Thursday that progress has been made in resolving a dispute with the United States over beef trade, a day after a meeting between mad cow experts from the two countries. Vice Farm Minister Mamoru Ishihara told a news conference: "Japan has always said the discussions with the United States should be based on scientific facts ... experts gave good marks to (Wednesday's meeting), and I think therefore that progress has been made in the talks." Ishihara was referring to a meeting held in Tokyo where US mad cow experts met their Japanese counterparts to explain a new US programme they say will guarantee that all meat exported to Japan is free of the brain-wasting disease. At Wednesday's meeting US experts used data and statistics to explain that if the United States exported the A40 grade of beef to Japan, mainly from cattle aged 12-17 months, the meat should be free of mad cow disease....
Exports of Australian beef this year expected to break records Exports of Australian beef are expected to break records this year, due largely to the United States being locked out of the lucrative Japanese market. Japan banned US beef following a case of mad cow disease in Washington State in December, 2003. Australia has been filling the shortfall. Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) says overall, 900-thousand tonnes of beef was exported last year, the second highest amount on record. Our reporter, James Martin, says exports to Japan topped a record 390,000 tonnes, meaning, for the first time ever, Japanese consumers ate more Australian beef than local product....
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Study Finds Broader Reach for Mad Cow Proteins ad cow disease has long been thought to occur in just the brains and nervous systems of infected animals. But scientists are reporting today that the proteins thought to cause the disease can travel to other organs as well. The research is based on experiments with mice, but if it is borne out in other species, it may suggest that no part of an infected animal is safe to eat. The disease leads to a fatal brain infection in humans. In the mouse experiments, reported in the journal Science, researchers in Switzerland found that prions, proteins that are the infectious agent in mad cow disease, follow immune cells, called lymphocytes, in the body. When mice were given chronic infectious diseases of the liver, kidney and pancreas and then inoculated with prions, the prions made their way to the infected organs. Dr. Adriano Aguzzi, a neuropathologist at the University Hospital in Zurich, who led the experiments, said this meant that cows and sheep infected with prions could harbor the disease in any inflamed organ. But Dr. David R. Smith, a veterinarian at the University of Nebraska, said the research did not raise alarms about American beef. For one thing, he said, livestock with obvious signs of systemic infection, like a fever, are not allowed into the food supply. And most American cattle are slaughtered while they are young and at reduced risk of infection....
Japan Says Progress Made in BSE Dispute with US A senior Japanese Farm Ministry official said on Thursday that progress has been made in resolving a dispute with the United States over beef trade, a day after a meeting between mad cow experts from the two countries. Vice Farm Minister Mamoru Ishihara told a news conference: "Japan has always said the discussions with the United States should be based on scientific facts ... experts gave good marks to (Wednesday's meeting), and I think therefore that progress has been made in the talks." Ishihara was referring to a meeting held in Tokyo where US mad cow experts met their Japanese counterparts to explain a new US programme they say will guarantee that all meat exported to Japan is free of the brain-wasting disease. At Wednesday's meeting US experts used data and statistics to explain that if the United States exported the A40 grade of beef to Japan, mainly from cattle aged 12-17 months, the meat should be free of mad cow disease....
Exports of Australian beef this year expected to break records Exports of Australian beef are expected to break records this year, due largely to the United States being locked out of the lucrative Japanese market. Japan banned US beef following a case of mad cow disease in Washington State in December, 2003. Australia has been filling the shortfall. Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) says overall, 900-thousand tonnes of beef was exported last year, the second highest amount on record. Our reporter, James Martin, says exports to Japan topped a record 390,000 tonnes, meaning, for the first time ever, Japanese consumers ate more Australian beef than local product....
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Thursday, January 20, 2005
NEWS ROUNDUP
Grand Staircase too big, Utah says More than eight years after the establishment of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, the newly minted Huntsman administration wants it downsized. The Utah Attorney General's Office on Tuesday delivered a motion to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals seeking permission to file a friend-of-the-court brief in a lawsuit that is challenging the creation of the monument in September 1996 by then-President Clinton. The Denver-based Mountain States Legal Foundation filed suit in October 1996, then again in November 1997, arguing that Clinton exceeded his authority under the Antiquities Act when he signed a proclamation authorizing the 1.7 million-acre monument in southern Utah....
Expert sees need to protect grouse Pat Deibert speaks English, not bureaucratese, and she doesn't mince words on the subject of the greater sage grouse. "The big mystery is over," said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist and national sage grouse coordinator. "The bird didn't make the list." But just because the FWS announced this month that placing the sage grouse on the Endangered and Threatened Species List was "unwarranted" doesn't mean conservation groups can rest easy. The decision could be revisited anytime and local efforts are needed to keep the feds at bay, Deibert told the Big Horn Basin Sage Grouse Working Group Wednesday. "The thing you want to do is to make me go away," Deibert said. "We think that the species, and more importantly the ecosystem, is still at risk. It wasn't enough to be listed, but we're going to be watching very carefully. We want to make sure that good things are happening out there."....
Allies join park resident's fight for home A self-described "little old lady" facing eviction from her family homestead in Rocky Mountain National Park has garnered the support of a Colorado congressman in her quest to use the home for her remaining summers. The plight of 82-year-old widow Betty Dick, who this July faces the end of her 25-year lease on the property in the park's Kawuneeche Valley, spurred U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Eldorado Springs, to announce the introduction of a bill Tuesday that would preserve her right to use the ranch-style home until her death....
Split-estate bill gets backing from Shell Exploration After years at loggerheads with industry over the need for split-estate legislation, Wyoming landowners were triumphant on Friday when a major oil company endorsed the latest version of the Wyoming Surface Owner Accommodation Act now before the Legislature. Shell Exploration and Production Co.'s support of Split Estate Bill SF60, which was introduced to the Senate committee today, now has the solid support of landowners and industry that two previous split-estate bills lacked. Split estate refers to land in which the surface and the minerals beneath it are owned by separate entities. It has been one of the most divisive issues under discussion between landowners and coal-bed methane developers in the Powder River Basin for more than five years now....
East Texas land dispute goes to trial Millions of dollars in real estate and petroleum deposits are at stake in an East Texas trial to determine title to property that historic documents show was never properly surveyed. The civil trial to settle what started as one of the largest land disputes in modern Texas history opened Tuesday, with attorneys reviewing complex maps with a key witness who is considered one of the state's top licensed land surveyors. The plaintiffs, rancher W.L. Dixon and former surveyor Barton McDonald, filed an application with the Texas General Land Office in 2003, alleging a 4,662-acre vacancy between Gilmer and Longview. A vacancy is land that still belongs to the state, usually found in a gap between surveyed tracts....
As Mountain Waters Run High, so Do Risks Southern California's record rainfall ended eight days ago, but each day torrential runoff from those storms is creating new and deadly hazards in the region's icy mountain streams and usually innocuous urban rivers. This week, raging currents have killed three people: two children and a 35-year-old woman who were swept away in San Antonio Creek below snow-capped Mt. Baldy in the San Gabriel Mountains. Rescuers recovered two of their bodies Tuesday. The risk will remain high, with mountain snowmelt and city storm runoff coursing down normally bone-dry river beds and channels. Combine that with curious Southlanders beguiled by snowy peaks and roaring waters, and it's a recipe for disaster, emergency officials said....
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Grand Staircase too big, Utah says More than eight years after the establishment of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, the newly minted Huntsman administration wants it downsized. The Utah Attorney General's Office on Tuesday delivered a motion to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals seeking permission to file a friend-of-the-court brief in a lawsuit that is challenging the creation of the monument in September 1996 by then-President Clinton. The Denver-based Mountain States Legal Foundation filed suit in October 1996, then again in November 1997, arguing that Clinton exceeded his authority under the Antiquities Act when he signed a proclamation authorizing the 1.7 million-acre monument in southern Utah....
Expert sees need to protect grouse Pat Deibert speaks English, not bureaucratese, and she doesn't mince words on the subject of the greater sage grouse. "The big mystery is over," said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist and national sage grouse coordinator. "The bird didn't make the list." But just because the FWS announced this month that placing the sage grouse on the Endangered and Threatened Species List was "unwarranted" doesn't mean conservation groups can rest easy. The decision could be revisited anytime and local efforts are needed to keep the feds at bay, Deibert told the Big Horn Basin Sage Grouse Working Group Wednesday. "The thing you want to do is to make me go away," Deibert said. "We think that the species, and more importantly the ecosystem, is still at risk. It wasn't enough to be listed, but we're going to be watching very carefully. We want to make sure that good things are happening out there."....
Allies join park resident's fight for home A self-described "little old lady" facing eviction from her family homestead in Rocky Mountain National Park has garnered the support of a Colorado congressman in her quest to use the home for her remaining summers. The plight of 82-year-old widow Betty Dick, who this July faces the end of her 25-year lease on the property in the park's Kawuneeche Valley, spurred U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Eldorado Springs, to announce the introduction of a bill Tuesday that would preserve her right to use the ranch-style home until her death....
Split-estate bill gets backing from Shell Exploration After years at loggerheads with industry over the need for split-estate legislation, Wyoming landowners were triumphant on Friday when a major oil company endorsed the latest version of the Wyoming Surface Owner Accommodation Act now before the Legislature. Shell Exploration and Production Co.'s support of Split Estate Bill SF60, which was introduced to the Senate committee today, now has the solid support of landowners and industry that two previous split-estate bills lacked. Split estate refers to land in which the surface and the minerals beneath it are owned by separate entities. It has been one of the most divisive issues under discussion between landowners and coal-bed methane developers in the Powder River Basin for more than five years now....
East Texas land dispute goes to trial Millions of dollars in real estate and petroleum deposits are at stake in an East Texas trial to determine title to property that historic documents show was never properly surveyed. The civil trial to settle what started as one of the largest land disputes in modern Texas history opened Tuesday, with attorneys reviewing complex maps with a key witness who is considered one of the state's top licensed land surveyors. The plaintiffs, rancher W.L. Dixon and former surveyor Barton McDonald, filed an application with the Texas General Land Office in 2003, alleging a 4,662-acre vacancy between Gilmer and Longview. A vacancy is land that still belongs to the state, usually found in a gap between surveyed tracts....
As Mountain Waters Run High, so Do Risks Southern California's record rainfall ended eight days ago, but each day torrential runoff from those storms is creating new and deadly hazards in the region's icy mountain streams and usually innocuous urban rivers. This week, raging currents have killed three people: two children and a 35-year-old woman who were swept away in San Antonio Creek below snow-capped Mt. Baldy in the San Gabriel Mountains. Rescuers recovered two of their bodies Tuesday. The risk will remain high, with mountain snowmelt and city storm runoff coursing down normally bone-dry river beds and channels. Combine that with curious Southlanders beguiled by snowy peaks and roaring waters, and it's a recipe for disaster, emergency officials said....
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Wednesday, January 19, 2005
NEWS ROUNDUP
Rancher kills wolf with fed's permission Using a special permit issued by the federal government, a Park County rancher shot and killed a wolf after wolves killed two of his cows. Wyoming residents are only allowed to kill wolves if they have a rarely issued permit from the Fish and Wildlife Service. The agency only issues wolf kill permits if wolves cause damage to people or property. There have been widespread reports of wolves causing problems in Park County this winter, F&W wolf biologist Mike Jimenez said. Multiple cows, a horse and a moose are counted among the casualties, county residents said. The kill permit, issued to rancher Craig Griffith, is the first of its kind issued in Park County. Griffith is licensed to kill two wolves. He killed one last Friday....
Column: Wolf Critics Don't Get It Time flies when the sky is falling. At least, we were told to expect the sky to fall in 1995. That's when federal biologists snatched a bunch of Canadian wolves, hustled them south of the border and cut them loose in central Idaho and Yellowstone. Ten years sped by in a flash. But when I look up, I see a pale blue winter sky, right where it's supposed to be. It puzzles me how people both demonize and idolize wolves. I have concluded it has less to do with data or reason and more with emotion, ideology and culture. Ten years ago, cattle and sheep interests likened wolves to terrorists, sure to rip the guts out of their industry. One senator warned that wolves would snatch kids off bus stops. No doubt, some wolves can be hard on livestock. When a rancher has a troublesome pack in his neighborhood, it's a very real and expensive problem. But it's one of many challenges ranchers face, and for most it has proven to be manageable....
S.D. Senate panel rejects plan to declare prairie dogs as pests A plan to designate the black-tailed prairie dog as a state pest was rejected by a South Dakota legislative panel Tuesday after officials said the measure could wreck the effort to control the critters. Passage of the bill would have destroyed three years of work on a management plan that will allow the state and ranchers to keep the prairie dog population in check, state Game, Fish and Parks Secretary John Cooper said. If the state declared open war on the prairie dog by once again listing it as a pest, it could lead environmental groups to renew their efforts to have the black-tailed prairie dog designated as an endangered species across 11 western states, Cooper said....
Editorial: Endangered Humans Salmon protection could justifiably be listed as the cause of death for four firefighters who perished July 10, 2001, fighting what started as a 25-acre fire near Washington's Chewuch River. The fire seemed to be under control at 5:30 a.m. when the firefighters requested a water drop to finish off the blaze. For the next 8 1/2 hours, authorities dithered and debated as to whether scooping up water from the Chewuch would also scoop up fish from what had been designated as the protected habitat of salmon and trout. By the time the first water arrived at 3 p.m., the fire had reached the point where it would explode into a 2,500-acre inferno. By 5:25 p.m., all four firefighters — two men, two women — were dead. No word on how many endangered fish were lost....
Lynx Released in Colo. Travels 800 Miles A British Columbian lynx released in Colorado two years ago was last tracked north of Missoula, Mont., more than 800 miles from where he was released in March 2003 near Creede. His travels were reported in Yellowstone Science magazine and confirmed by Rick Kahn, Colorado Division of Wildlife lynx coordinator. "We don't know where he's heading, but he may be going back to the area where he was trapped," Kahn said. There have been 166 lynx released in southwest Colorado since 1999 under a program to reintroduce the long-haired, tuft-eared cats....
Whole Foods kills them softly Whole Foods Markets hit a record high yesterday after it hired a "director of animal compassion" to make sure ranchers pamper livestock before slaughtering them. Whole Foods shares rose 2.7 percent to $97.50. The environmentally friendly grocer beloved by foodies said its new executive director of animal compassion will be dedicated to helping animal welfare, and finding feel-good ranchers who'll go along with it. "The creation of the Animal Compassion Foundation offers a brighter future for farm animals," said Anne Malleau, the new unit's chief. "I am proud to lead the foundation to really make a difference in animal life on farms worldwide."....
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Rancher kills wolf with fed's permission Using a special permit issued by the federal government, a Park County rancher shot and killed a wolf after wolves killed two of his cows. Wyoming residents are only allowed to kill wolves if they have a rarely issued permit from the Fish and Wildlife Service. The agency only issues wolf kill permits if wolves cause damage to people or property. There have been widespread reports of wolves causing problems in Park County this winter, F&W wolf biologist Mike Jimenez said. Multiple cows, a horse and a moose are counted among the casualties, county residents said. The kill permit, issued to rancher Craig Griffith, is the first of its kind issued in Park County. Griffith is licensed to kill two wolves. He killed one last Friday....
Column: Wolf Critics Don't Get It Time flies when the sky is falling. At least, we were told to expect the sky to fall in 1995. That's when federal biologists snatched a bunch of Canadian wolves, hustled them south of the border and cut them loose in central Idaho and Yellowstone. Ten years sped by in a flash. But when I look up, I see a pale blue winter sky, right where it's supposed to be. It puzzles me how people both demonize and idolize wolves. I have concluded it has less to do with data or reason and more with emotion, ideology and culture. Ten years ago, cattle and sheep interests likened wolves to terrorists, sure to rip the guts out of their industry. One senator warned that wolves would snatch kids off bus stops. No doubt, some wolves can be hard on livestock. When a rancher has a troublesome pack in his neighborhood, it's a very real and expensive problem. But it's one of many challenges ranchers face, and for most it has proven to be manageable....
S.D. Senate panel rejects plan to declare prairie dogs as pests A plan to designate the black-tailed prairie dog as a state pest was rejected by a South Dakota legislative panel Tuesday after officials said the measure could wreck the effort to control the critters. Passage of the bill would have destroyed three years of work on a management plan that will allow the state and ranchers to keep the prairie dog population in check, state Game, Fish and Parks Secretary John Cooper said. If the state declared open war on the prairie dog by once again listing it as a pest, it could lead environmental groups to renew their efforts to have the black-tailed prairie dog designated as an endangered species across 11 western states, Cooper said....
Editorial: Endangered Humans Salmon protection could justifiably be listed as the cause of death for four firefighters who perished July 10, 2001, fighting what started as a 25-acre fire near Washington's Chewuch River. The fire seemed to be under control at 5:30 a.m. when the firefighters requested a water drop to finish off the blaze. For the next 8 1/2 hours, authorities dithered and debated as to whether scooping up water from the Chewuch would also scoop up fish from what had been designated as the protected habitat of salmon and trout. By the time the first water arrived at 3 p.m., the fire had reached the point where it would explode into a 2,500-acre inferno. By 5:25 p.m., all four firefighters — two men, two women — were dead. No word on how many endangered fish were lost....
Lynx Released in Colo. Travels 800 Miles A British Columbian lynx released in Colorado two years ago was last tracked north of Missoula, Mont., more than 800 miles from where he was released in March 2003 near Creede. His travels were reported in Yellowstone Science magazine and confirmed by Rick Kahn, Colorado Division of Wildlife lynx coordinator. "We don't know where he's heading, but he may be going back to the area where he was trapped," Kahn said. There have been 166 lynx released in southwest Colorado since 1999 under a program to reintroduce the long-haired, tuft-eared cats....
Whole Foods kills them softly Whole Foods Markets hit a record high yesterday after it hired a "director of animal compassion" to make sure ranchers pamper livestock before slaughtering them. Whole Foods shares rose 2.7 percent to $97.50. The environmentally friendly grocer beloved by foodies said its new executive director of animal compassion will be dedicated to helping animal welfare, and finding feel-good ranchers who'll go along with it. "The creation of the Animal Compassion Foundation offers a brighter future for farm animals," said Anne Malleau, the new unit's chief. "I am proud to lead the foundation to really make a difference in animal life on farms worldwide."....
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Tuesday, January 18, 2005
MAD COW DISEASE
Plan to Allow Canadian Cattle Into U.S. Worries Ranchers Canada is nearly 200 miles north of here as the crow flies, but it looms very large once again to cattle ranchers like Craig Winterburn. The Bush administration is moving ahead with plans to reopen the border with Canada to the importing of live cattle and beef on March 7, despite two new cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly called mad cow disease, in Canada. Both cases were found in Alberta, the province just north of here. The decision has ignited anger and concern among cattlemen across the West, who say reopening the northern border could endanger an industry that is prospering for the first time in many years. One cattle producers group has asked a federal court to keep the cattle and beef from coming into the United States....
6 cattle tied to BSE animal shipped to U.S. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is trying to trace six cows it says were born on the same farm as a BSE-infected animal and then shipped to the U.S. Spokesman Marc Richard said American officials have been contacted and are looking for the cattle, which were born in the year before and after the infected cow. When the animals are found, they will be slaughtered and tested for bovine spongiform encephalopathy....
U.S. lowers age of cattle for Japan export The United States has told Japan that it is prepared to restrict beef exports to meat from cattle aged up to about 14 months, in a bid to break a deadlock on the restart of trade, a Japanese daily said on Tuesday. The proposal will be discussed at a meeting between U.S. and Japanese experts in Tokyo on Wednesday, which will be open to the public, the Nihon Kezai Shimbun said. After months of protracted talks, Tokyo agreed in October to resume beef imports from cattle aged up to 20 months. However, the two countries have been unable to reconcile their differences on how to judge the age of an animal. The Japanese daily said the new U.S. proposal was aimed at decreasing the possibility of meat from cattle older than 20 months slipping into the Japanese market....
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Plan to Allow Canadian Cattle Into U.S. Worries Ranchers Canada is nearly 200 miles north of here as the crow flies, but it looms very large once again to cattle ranchers like Craig Winterburn. The Bush administration is moving ahead with plans to reopen the border with Canada to the importing of live cattle and beef on March 7, despite two new cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly called mad cow disease, in Canada. Both cases were found in Alberta, the province just north of here. The decision has ignited anger and concern among cattlemen across the West, who say reopening the northern border could endanger an industry that is prospering for the first time in many years. One cattle producers group has asked a federal court to keep the cattle and beef from coming into the United States....
6 cattle tied to BSE animal shipped to U.S. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is trying to trace six cows it says were born on the same farm as a BSE-infected animal and then shipped to the U.S. Spokesman Marc Richard said American officials have been contacted and are looking for the cattle, which were born in the year before and after the infected cow. When the animals are found, they will be slaughtered and tested for bovine spongiform encephalopathy....
U.S. lowers age of cattle for Japan export The United States has told Japan that it is prepared to restrict beef exports to meat from cattle aged up to about 14 months, in a bid to break a deadlock on the restart of trade, a Japanese daily said on Tuesday. The proposal will be discussed at a meeting between U.S. and Japanese experts in Tokyo on Wednesday, which will be open to the public, the Nihon Kezai Shimbun said. After months of protracted talks, Tokyo agreed in October to resume beef imports from cattle aged up to 20 months. However, the two countries have been unable to reconcile their differences on how to judge the age of an animal. The Japanese daily said the new U.S. proposal was aimed at decreasing the possibility of meat from cattle older than 20 months slipping into the Japanese market....
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NEWS ROUNDUP
Tortoises, Army cash ranches out The U.S. Army has bought three sprawling cattle ranches and former railroad lands in the San Bernardino County desert to compensate for its long-sought but controversial expansion of a tank-training center into endangered-species habitat. The purchases will eventually eliminate cattle from 250,000 acres in the western Mojave Desert, free-ranging animals that can stomp and out-compete desert tortoises for food. It also paves the way for the Army to train battalion-size brigades in a valley considered crucial to the threatened reptile's survival. In a complicated deal, the Army bought private lands belonging to the two ranchers, about 160 acres in all, that were tied to three grazing allotments on public lands, Rekas said....
Wolves killed after multiple cattle deaths U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials have killed all but one of the wolves in the Owl Creek wolf pack after a string of livestock killings in the Meeteetse area left six cattle and one horse dead. "It's not a good deal when people lose livestock," said U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist Mike Jimenez. The Meeteetse livestock killings began last January after wolves formed a pack in the area, Jimenez told the Northern Wyoming Daily News....
$2.4M Plan to Disperse Salmon-Eating Birds The federal government has approved plans to spend more than $2.4 million to squeeze the world's largest colony of salmon-eating Caspian terns off a Columbia River island so they will establish new nesting areas as far away as San Francisco Bay. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plan calls for developing bare stretches of sand in Washington, Oregon and California where the terns can nest, then letting vegetation gradually grow back on East Sand Island near the mouth of the Columbia River. "Studies show that a two-thirds reduction in the tern concentration on East Sand Island could result in a 1 percent or greater increase in the growth rates of four populations of Columbia River Basin steelhead," said Dave Allen, director of the Pacific Region of Fish and Wildlife....
Decisions made this winter could cost you money and change Idaho's rural landscape and economy The waters of the Snake River and the huge underground Snake Plain Aquifer have made Idaho's desert bloom, nurtured a cherished agricultural way of life and generated some of the least expensive electricity in the nation. But the supply of water once thought to be virtually infinite has been depleted in recent years by drought, increased pumping of groundwater for crops and more efficient irrigation that puts less water back into the aquifer. The need for water for domestic use, recreation, industry and endangered species like salmon has focused attention on the growing demands on this crucial resource. Now, the Idaho Legislature faces major decisions about two conflicts over water....
Nez Perce negotiate to give up their claim to the Snake to benefit their land and fish The Idaho Legislature must decide by March 31 whether to join Congress and President Bush and support an agreement that settles the claims of Idaho's Nez Perce Tribe to all the water in the Snake River. The $193 million deal would provide benefits for endangered salmon; legal cover for Idaho water users and loggers; and cash, water and land for the tribe. It would settle the claims the tribe makes to all of the water in the Snake River and its tributaries based on its 1855 treaty with the United States. That treaty guaranteed the tribe the right to take salmon and other fish. They base their water claims on those rights....
Our Analysis of the aquifer issue What is the problem? There isn't enough water to meet all the needs of water users in southern Idaho. Farmers and others have been able to deal with droughts in the past. But today, a dispute between people who pump their water from wells and those who use springs that flow out of the aquifer has triggered a legal crisis. Historically, groundwater users never had to shut off their pumps even though Idaho's "first come, first served" water rights system gives priority to users who began using water first. Idaho law now requires that groundwater users have to either lease an alternative supply of water or pay water users with higher-priority water rights....
Plant owner says EPA nearly ruined his business A metal stamping plant owner says he plans to sue EPA criminal investigators for at least $10 million over a fruitless investigation that nearly ruined his business. Steve McNabb, whose wife, Jan, owns American Carolina Stamping, this week said he is gathering information to sue members of the Environmental Protection Agency's Criminal Investigation Division for discrimination and retaliation during a more than four-year investigation of the Transylvania County company....
From Silicon to Steers A few years back, Roger and Cynthia Lang found themselves with a lot of money and even more free time. Roger's software company, Infinity Financial Technology, went public in 1996, and just two years later was acquired by SunGard Data Systems (SDS ) for a reported $313 million, leaving them millionaires many times over. Like stereotypical Californians, the Langs love the outdoors and are passionate about conservation. So, with all that cash, they decided to put their principles into practice. That same year, they bought ponytailed actor Steven Segal's ranch in Cameron, Mont., and set out to prove that raising cattle could go hand-in-hand with environmental ideals....
Legal fight continues over Mustang Ranch A brothel owner has been barred by a judge from using the name of Nevada’s most storied bordello until a lawsuit over ownership of the trademark is settled. Lance Gilman bought the pink stucco building that once housed the Mustang Ranch in 2003 for $145,100 and moved it a short distance next to his Wild Horse Adult Resort & Spa off Interstate 80 east of Reno. He had planned to reopen the second brothel under the Mustang Ranch name later this month....
It's All Trew: Train engineers, cattle could be deadly mix Most old-time cowboys have a tale to tell of trying to pen a herd of cattle at railroad corrals with a steam engine and cattle cars sitting nearby on the track. For some unknown reason, whether stupidity, impatience or plain cussedness, the engineer sometimes released a cloud of white steam at exactly the wrong moment causing the herd to turn back and stampede. As a young boy, I personally witnessed two such wrecks. Both were dangerous, nearly causing serious injury to both cowboys and livestock. The first incident caused the engineer to be pulled from the train and thoroughly thrashed by a mad cowboy. The second incident featured the engineer protecting himself in the engine cab with a heavy wrench....
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Tortoises, Army cash ranches out The U.S. Army has bought three sprawling cattle ranches and former railroad lands in the San Bernardino County desert to compensate for its long-sought but controversial expansion of a tank-training center into endangered-species habitat. The purchases will eventually eliminate cattle from 250,000 acres in the western Mojave Desert, free-ranging animals that can stomp and out-compete desert tortoises for food. It also paves the way for the Army to train battalion-size brigades in a valley considered crucial to the threatened reptile's survival. In a complicated deal, the Army bought private lands belonging to the two ranchers, about 160 acres in all, that were tied to three grazing allotments on public lands, Rekas said....
Wolves killed after multiple cattle deaths U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials have killed all but one of the wolves in the Owl Creek wolf pack after a string of livestock killings in the Meeteetse area left six cattle and one horse dead. "It's not a good deal when people lose livestock," said U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist Mike Jimenez. The Meeteetse livestock killings began last January after wolves formed a pack in the area, Jimenez told the Northern Wyoming Daily News....
$2.4M Plan to Disperse Salmon-Eating Birds The federal government has approved plans to spend more than $2.4 million to squeeze the world's largest colony of salmon-eating Caspian terns off a Columbia River island so they will establish new nesting areas as far away as San Francisco Bay. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plan calls for developing bare stretches of sand in Washington, Oregon and California where the terns can nest, then letting vegetation gradually grow back on East Sand Island near the mouth of the Columbia River. "Studies show that a two-thirds reduction in the tern concentration on East Sand Island could result in a 1 percent or greater increase in the growth rates of four populations of Columbia River Basin steelhead," said Dave Allen, director of the Pacific Region of Fish and Wildlife....
Decisions made this winter could cost you money and change Idaho's rural landscape and economy The waters of the Snake River and the huge underground Snake Plain Aquifer have made Idaho's desert bloom, nurtured a cherished agricultural way of life and generated some of the least expensive electricity in the nation. But the supply of water once thought to be virtually infinite has been depleted in recent years by drought, increased pumping of groundwater for crops and more efficient irrigation that puts less water back into the aquifer. The need for water for domestic use, recreation, industry and endangered species like salmon has focused attention on the growing demands on this crucial resource. Now, the Idaho Legislature faces major decisions about two conflicts over water....
Nez Perce negotiate to give up their claim to the Snake to benefit their land and fish The Idaho Legislature must decide by March 31 whether to join Congress and President Bush and support an agreement that settles the claims of Idaho's Nez Perce Tribe to all the water in the Snake River. The $193 million deal would provide benefits for endangered salmon; legal cover for Idaho water users and loggers; and cash, water and land for the tribe. It would settle the claims the tribe makes to all of the water in the Snake River and its tributaries based on its 1855 treaty with the United States. That treaty guaranteed the tribe the right to take salmon and other fish. They base their water claims on those rights....
Our Analysis of the aquifer issue What is the problem? There isn't enough water to meet all the needs of water users in southern Idaho. Farmers and others have been able to deal with droughts in the past. But today, a dispute between people who pump their water from wells and those who use springs that flow out of the aquifer has triggered a legal crisis. Historically, groundwater users never had to shut off their pumps even though Idaho's "first come, first served" water rights system gives priority to users who began using water first. Idaho law now requires that groundwater users have to either lease an alternative supply of water or pay water users with higher-priority water rights....
Plant owner says EPA nearly ruined his business A metal stamping plant owner says he plans to sue EPA criminal investigators for at least $10 million over a fruitless investigation that nearly ruined his business. Steve McNabb, whose wife, Jan, owns American Carolina Stamping, this week said he is gathering information to sue members of the Environmental Protection Agency's Criminal Investigation Division for discrimination and retaliation during a more than four-year investigation of the Transylvania County company....
From Silicon to Steers A few years back, Roger and Cynthia Lang found themselves with a lot of money and even more free time. Roger's software company, Infinity Financial Technology, went public in 1996, and just two years later was acquired by SunGard Data Systems (SDS ) for a reported $313 million, leaving them millionaires many times over. Like stereotypical Californians, the Langs love the outdoors and are passionate about conservation. So, with all that cash, they decided to put their principles into practice. That same year, they bought ponytailed actor Steven Segal's ranch in Cameron, Mont., and set out to prove that raising cattle could go hand-in-hand with environmental ideals....
Legal fight continues over Mustang Ranch A brothel owner has been barred by a judge from using the name of Nevada’s most storied bordello until a lawsuit over ownership of the trademark is settled. Lance Gilman bought the pink stucco building that once housed the Mustang Ranch in 2003 for $145,100 and moved it a short distance next to his Wild Horse Adult Resort & Spa off Interstate 80 east of Reno. He had planned to reopen the second brothel under the Mustang Ranch name later this month....
It's All Trew: Train engineers, cattle could be deadly mix Most old-time cowboys have a tale to tell of trying to pen a herd of cattle at railroad corrals with a steam engine and cattle cars sitting nearby on the track. For some unknown reason, whether stupidity, impatience or plain cussedness, the engineer sometimes released a cloud of white steam at exactly the wrong moment causing the herd to turn back and stampede. As a young boy, I personally witnessed two such wrecks. Both were dangerous, nearly causing serious injury to both cowboys and livestock. The first incident caused the engineer to be pulled from the train and thoroughly thrashed by a mad cowboy. The second incident featured the engineer protecting himself in the engine cab with a heavy wrench....
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Monday, January 17, 2005
CASPER STAR-TRIBUNE SERIES ON WOLVES
Wolves' impact grows From 1995 to 2003, wolves have killed 301 cattle, 804 sheep and 63 dogs in the three states. Those are only "confirmed" kills, and some estimate actual losses are much higher. Magagna said the issue is frustrating for ranchers because for all the "confirmed" wolf kills, there are others that aren't confirmed because any evidence is obliterated. "Ranchers have one or two confirmed but have 20 calves missing and were not able to attribute to any cause," he said. "All the data that I have seen, I would say the ratio is between eight and 10 to one," meaning for every one confirmed kill there are eight to 10 other wolf kills that go unconfirmed. Ranchers have been adapting, moving cattle and increasing riders with the herds, but moving cattle has a negative effect on weight gain. The presence of wolves can also harm grazing allotments by causing cattle to overgraze areas where they go to avoid wolves, ranchers say....
Other articles in the series
Wolf showdown set for Feb. 4
Symbolism shapes wolf views
Wolves hurt some, help others
Wolves take share of big game
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Wolves' impact grows From 1995 to 2003, wolves have killed 301 cattle, 804 sheep and 63 dogs in the three states. Those are only "confirmed" kills, and some estimate actual losses are much higher. Magagna said the issue is frustrating for ranchers because for all the "confirmed" wolf kills, there are others that aren't confirmed because any evidence is obliterated. "Ranchers have one or two confirmed but have 20 calves missing and were not able to attribute to any cause," he said. "All the data that I have seen, I would say the ratio is between eight and 10 to one," meaning for every one confirmed kill there are eight to 10 other wolf kills that go unconfirmed. Ranchers have been adapting, moving cattle and increasing riders with the herds, but moving cattle has a negative effect on weight gain. The presence of wolves can also harm grazing allotments by causing cattle to overgraze areas where they go to avoid wolves, ranchers say....
Other articles in the series
Wolf showdown set for Feb. 4
Symbolism shapes wolf views
Wolves hurt some, help others
Wolves take share of big game
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NEWS ROUNDUP
Wolves expected to grow in numbers Following a decade of acrimony, suspicion and lawsuits, the players in the ongoing wolf debate in Montana and Idaho have a chance to lower their dukes and see if they can all get along. "It's about trust," said Dick Dolan, program director for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, a pro-wolf group. "Let's see if we can do this as a community and a region, to live with wolves, to have agriculture and ungulates and predators." Ag, government and green groups often butt heads, especially over wolves. Now they're being "asked to hold hands," said Carolyn Sime, gray wolf program coordinator for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. "It's scary, but it's refreshing. If all we do is throw rocks at each other, we'll never make progress."....
Editorial: The wolves at our door Ten years ago this week wolves returned to Yellowstone National Park amid fears that they would destroy elk herds and rampage through sheep and cattle ranches in the Rocky Mountains. Now there's a well-considered plan to allow wolves to return to Oregon, and some ranchers and hunters are loudly voicing the same fears that greeted wolves at Yellowstone. The difference now is the West has a decade of experience and knowledge about wolves. Oregonians can see what happened in the Rocky Mountain West. Wolves and the wildlands they have come back to have flourished. Problem wolves have been killed. Ranchers have been compensated for losses....
Column: States making progress in long-term wolf management In the early 1990s, before the first Rocky Mountain gray wolf set foot in Yellowstone National Park after a 60-year absence, a broad range of individuals and organizations struck a deal that promised to restore Canis lupus to the Western landscape. The deal took into consideration the legitimate concerns of ranchers, hunters and outfitters who feared their livelihoods would be threatened. The agreement said that, once there were enough wolves for a biologically sound population, and when Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming came up with reasonable wolf management plans, wolves would be removed from the federal endangered species list and management would be turned over to the states. As we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the wolf reintroduction in Yellowstone National Park, I am pleased to say that we have made great strides toward that goal. In doing so, we are writing what eventually could be the greatest wildlife restoration success story in our nation's history....
Groups usually on opposite sides of fence congregate to preserve the environment In the parking lot of the Albuquerque Hilton, a mud-caked diesel pickup with a Bush/Cheney decal and a gun rack sat next to a hybrid bearing bumper stickers urging, "Keep Abortion Legal" and "Treasure our Bosque." As improbable as it might seem, it was quite likely that the owners of the disparate vehicles were there for the same event. The Quivira Coalition - a nonprofit organization that brings ranchers and environmentalists to the communal table - held its fourth annual conference in Albuquerque this week. And nary a "tree hugger" nor "land rapist" passed the lips of any of the attendees. In fact, whether you wore a cowboy hat or a ponytail came secondary to a commitment to preserving both healthy landscapes and the Western way of life....
Governor threatens suit over salmon Gov. Ted Kulongoski, on the heels of a fiery Monday speech at the statehouse in which he criticized federal environmental policies, told the Bush administration Friday he would sue unless federal agencies make hydropower dam operations less destructive to salmon. Kulongoski's action adds considerable weight to the side of fishing and conservation groups, which are challenging the administration's recent conclusion that federal dams in the Columbia Basin pose no threat of driving endangered salmon to extinction. Kulongoski on Friday said he was "gravely concerned" the administration's approach to salmon protection "abandons any effort to achieve recovery of Columbia and Snake River salmon and steelhead populations."....
Column: It's time that San Francisco let go of Hetch Hetchy San Francisco, tear down that dam. But the hometown of the Sierra Club dithers over the fate of Hetch Hetchy, the main holding tank for city water in Yosemite National Park, while a Republican governor takes the lead by default. The city's fearless leader, Mayor Gavin Newsom, is a study in equivocation, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, confusing dams with rivers, makes ludicrous statements about the "destruction" of the source of the city's water. If the prologue is any indication, we're in for some great political theater....
US churches tell Bush to care for the planet Caring for the planet is a universal value and a central part of God’s concern for stewardship of the earth’s resources, say American church leaders in a powerful inter-religious statement aimed at changing the minds of US legislators and President George W Bush. The ‘God’s Mandate: Care for Creation’ statement is seeking tens of thousands of signatories by 21 January 2005. It is being promoted by the Interfaith Climate Change Network (ICCN) is a joint effort of the Eco-Justice Working Group of the National Council of Churches of Christ USA (NCC) and the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL). The statement expresses “great dismay and alarm at plans by the Administration and the leadership of the 109th Congress to reverse and obstruct programs that protect God’s creation in our land and across the planet.”....
Sheep industry to vote on fee Since 2002, the industry has paid a fee on sheep and lambs sold or purchased for slaughter. Those who oppose paying it can file for a refund. But beginning Jan. 31, producers, feeders and packers will decide whether the national lamb checkoff will become mandatory and nonrefundable. The vote comes at a time when checkoff programs for beef and other commodities are being challenged as unconstitutional by producers who say they shouldn't have to pay for advertising that they don't necessarily agree with. But supporters, while mindful of the court challenges and potential implications for the lamb program, say the assessment is key to the industry's growth and insist that producers, seeing far better sheep and lamb prices than a few years back, can ill-afford to do away with the program - on their own - now....
Hobson family builds on bulls Jeanette and Jamie Stevenson started out in the Depression; young newlyweds with a bunkhouse, a few cattle and big dreams. At times they raised turkeys and sold cream and eggs to make ends meet on their drought-stricken ranch near Hobson. By 1946, after 10 years of toil, the couple had saved enough cash to buy their first registered Angus herd, consisting of three pregnant heifers. Over the next 60 years, the Stevenson family parlayed that hard-earned investment into one of Montana's biggest agricultural success stories....
Branding's mark on West may fade It's a deep scar that serves as a Westerner's coat of arms. It's an indelible mark of ownership that stands out on a cow even in a blizzard, and anybody worth his salt can tell when it's been altered. Hot-iron brands were the Americas' first corporate logos, going back to the 1500s with Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortez's singe of three crosses. But some of those who know brands best can see a day, perhaps a couple of decades out, when this ancient practice, still strong in the American West, might finally be ended by high-tech alternatives considered as cheap and reliable....
New Mexico standoff Friends and foes alike agreed that Elfego Baca never lacked courage in the face of danger. This praise was not surprising, given his family's history. The Bacas were descendants of nearly every conquistador who had proceeded from Mexico City to New Mexico in Spanish colonial times. Fiercely proud of their culture and heritage, the Bacas quickly took offense against those who were insolent. This background fostered Elfego's boldness and prepared him well for his Oct. 30-31, 1884, stand-off against approximately 80 well-armed Texas cowboys at Frisco, N.M., south of Reserve. Elfego Baca was just 19 years old in the fall of 1884. Working for Jose Baca, a relative and prominent merchant in Socorro, Elfego met Socorro County Deputy Sheriff Pedro Saraccino, Jose's brother-in-law. Saraccino wore a large, shiny deputy's badge, an emblem of authority that awed the impressionable teenager....
On The Edge of Common Sense: Rodeo reasoning You can talk about the glamour/and the love of rodeo/The challenge and the heartbreak/of the dally and the throw/Of the guts and luck and glory/the leather and the sweat/The gristle and the power/of the bull that ain't rode yet/And the get-up-in-the-morning/and the miles-down-the-road/And the bronc that stands awaitin'/and the rope that ain't been throwed....
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Wolves expected to grow in numbers Following a decade of acrimony, suspicion and lawsuits, the players in the ongoing wolf debate in Montana and Idaho have a chance to lower their dukes and see if they can all get along. "It's about trust," said Dick Dolan, program director for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, a pro-wolf group. "Let's see if we can do this as a community and a region, to live with wolves, to have agriculture and ungulates and predators." Ag, government and green groups often butt heads, especially over wolves. Now they're being "asked to hold hands," said Carolyn Sime, gray wolf program coordinator for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. "It's scary, but it's refreshing. If all we do is throw rocks at each other, we'll never make progress."....
Editorial: The wolves at our door Ten years ago this week wolves returned to Yellowstone National Park amid fears that they would destroy elk herds and rampage through sheep and cattle ranches in the Rocky Mountains. Now there's a well-considered plan to allow wolves to return to Oregon, and some ranchers and hunters are loudly voicing the same fears that greeted wolves at Yellowstone. The difference now is the West has a decade of experience and knowledge about wolves. Oregonians can see what happened in the Rocky Mountain West. Wolves and the wildlands they have come back to have flourished. Problem wolves have been killed. Ranchers have been compensated for losses....
Column: States making progress in long-term wolf management In the early 1990s, before the first Rocky Mountain gray wolf set foot in Yellowstone National Park after a 60-year absence, a broad range of individuals and organizations struck a deal that promised to restore Canis lupus to the Western landscape. The deal took into consideration the legitimate concerns of ranchers, hunters and outfitters who feared their livelihoods would be threatened. The agreement said that, once there were enough wolves for a biologically sound population, and when Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming came up with reasonable wolf management plans, wolves would be removed from the federal endangered species list and management would be turned over to the states. As we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the wolf reintroduction in Yellowstone National Park, I am pleased to say that we have made great strides toward that goal. In doing so, we are writing what eventually could be the greatest wildlife restoration success story in our nation's history....
Groups usually on opposite sides of fence congregate to preserve the environment In the parking lot of the Albuquerque Hilton, a mud-caked diesel pickup with a Bush/Cheney decal and a gun rack sat next to a hybrid bearing bumper stickers urging, "Keep Abortion Legal" and "Treasure our Bosque." As improbable as it might seem, it was quite likely that the owners of the disparate vehicles were there for the same event. The Quivira Coalition - a nonprofit organization that brings ranchers and environmentalists to the communal table - held its fourth annual conference in Albuquerque this week. And nary a "tree hugger" nor "land rapist" passed the lips of any of the attendees. In fact, whether you wore a cowboy hat or a ponytail came secondary to a commitment to preserving both healthy landscapes and the Western way of life....
Governor threatens suit over salmon Gov. Ted Kulongoski, on the heels of a fiery Monday speech at the statehouse in which he criticized federal environmental policies, told the Bush administration Friday he would sue unless federal agencies make hydropower dam operations less destructive to salmon. Kulongoski's action adds considerable weight to the side of fishing and conservation groups, which are challenging the administration's recent conclusion that federal dams in the Columbia Basin pose no threat of driving endangered salmon to extinction. Kulongoski on Friday said he was "gravely concerned" the administration's approach to salmon protection "abandons any effort to achieve recovery of Columbia and Snake River salmon and steelhead populations."....
Column: It's time that San Francisco let go of Hetch Hetchy San Francisco, tear down that dam. But the hometown of the Sierra Club dithers over the fate of Hetch Hetchy, the main holding tank for city water in Yosemite National Park, while a Republican governor takes the lead by default. The city's fearless leader, Mayor Gavin Newsom, is a study in equivocation, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, confusing dams with rivers, makes ludicrous statements about the "destruction" of the source of the city's water. If the prologue is any indication, we're in for some great political theater....
US churches tell Bush to care for the planet Caring for the planet is a universal value and a central part of God’s concern for stewardship of the earth’s resources, say American church leaders in a powerful inter-religious statement aimed at changing the minds of US legislators and President George W Bush. The ‘God’s Mandate: Care for Creation’ statement is seeking tens of thousands of signatories by 21 January 2005. It is being promoted by the Interfaith Climate Change Network (ICCN) is a joint effort of the Eco-Justice Working Group of the National Council of Churches of Christ USA (NCC) and the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL). The statement expresses “great dismay and alarm at plans by the Administration and the leadership of the 109th Congress to reverse and obstruct programs that protect God’s creation in our land and across the planet.”....
Sheep industry to vote on fee Since 2002, the industry has paid a fee on sheep and lambs sold or purchased for slaughter. Those who oppose paying it can file for a refund. But beginning Jan. 31, producers, feeders and packers will decide whether the national lamb checkoff will become mandatory and nonrefundable. The vote comes at a time when checkoff programs for beef and other commodities are being challenged as unconstitutional by producers who say they shouldn't have to pay for advertising that they don't necessarily agree with. But supporters, while mindful of the court challenges and potential implications for the lamb program, say the assessment is key to the industry's growth and insist that producers, seeing far better sheep and lamb prices than a few years back, can ill-afford to do away with the program - on their own - now....
Hobson family builds on bulls Jeanette and Jamie Stevenson started out in the Depression; young newlyweds with a bunkhouse, a few cattle and big dreams. At times they raised turkeys and sold cream and eggs to make ends meet on their drought-stricken ranch near Hobson. By 1946, after 10 years of toil, the couple had saved enough cash to buy their first registered Angus herd, consisting of three pregnant heifers. Over the next 60 years, the Stevenson family parlayed that hard-earned investment into one of Montana's biggest agricultural success stories....
Branding's mark on West may fade It's a deep scar that serves as a Westerner's coat of arms. It's an indelible mark of ownership that stands out on a cow even in a blizzard, and anybody worth his salt can tell when it's been altered. Hot-iron brands were the Americas' first corporate logos, going back to the 1500s with Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortez's singe of three crosses. But some of those who know brands best can see a day, perhaps a couple of decades out, when this ancient practice, still strong in the American West, might finally be ended by high-tech alternatives considered as cheap and reliable....
New Mexico standoff Friends and foes alike agreed that Elfego Baca never lacked courage in the face of danger. This praise was not surprising, given his family's history. The Bacas were descendants of nearly every conquistador who had proceeded from Mexico City to New Mexico in Spanish colonial times. Fiercely proud of their culture and heritage, the Bacas quickly took offense against those who were insolent. This background fostered Elfego's boldness and prepared him well for his Oct. 30-31, 1884, stand-off against approximately 80 well-armed Texas cowboys at Frisco, N.M., south of Reserve. Elfego Baca was just 19 years old in the fall of 1884. Working for Jose Baca, a relative and prominent merchant in Socorro, Elfego met Socorro County Deputy Sheriff Pedro Saraccino, Jose's brother-in-law. Saraccino wore a large, shiny deputy's badge, an emblem of authority that awed the impressionable teenager....
On The Edge of Common Sense: Rodeo reasoning You can talk about the glamour/and the love of rodeo/The challenge and the heartbreak/of the dally and the throw/Of the guts and luck and glory/the leather and the sweat/The gristle and the power/of the bull that ain't rode yet/And the get-up-in-the-morning/and the miles-down-the-road/And the bronc that stands awaitin'/and the rope that ain't been throwed....
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Sunday, January 16, 2005
SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE WESTERNER
Don’t drink the blue stuff
By Julie Carter
In this season of winter I find myself giving some thought to things I am thankful for while the wind howls and thermometer drops.
At the top of my thankful list is how thankful I am that there are no heifers to calve to this winter.
Making a mental note of the advantages of calving heifers when nights hit the single digits on the thermometer makes for a mighty short list. Frozen hands covered in afterbirth goo and wallowing a wet calf to the barn with a mad momma intent on snorting you out of the pen seem to not make the list.
Birthing anything, calves or children, never seems to come at a convenient time. I have no end of recall to situations where the birth of a child aggravatingly interfered with hunting season, an important roping or happy hour at the local cantina.
Why even as recent as last week, a local basketball coach had to miss the first game of a tournament because his wife thought she needed to have the baby at the hospital. She turned down the offer of the school’s hospitality room, even though she was assured of a cleared table and at least an hour of privacy.
Having given birth myself has given me the sense that I have one notch more empathy for a heifer birthing a calf than any male counterpart could ever muster.
When those calving chains are hooked to a come-a-long to pull that unwilling calf on out, I give audible praise to God that the cowboy standing next to me hadn’t delivered his own child.
Cowboys, for all that they are, there is a list of things they are not. Two of the “nots” are empathetic and patient when it comes to the details of womanhood.
Mentioning that the cold is making your skin dry and flaky will return a cynical comment about the hot oil treatment you had only a week ago. And they truly think getting showered in hot hydraulic fluid when the line broke on the tractor while you were in close proximity should have fixed that dry skin problem.
In today’s world many ranch wives have town jobs and that sometimes leaves the cowboy boot clad Rambo of the outfit in charge of feeding, dressing and monitoring small children.
“What do you mean tortillas and M&M’s aren’t a complete meal? Besides, today we finished off the bag of those candy bars with the with the nutritional cookie centers.”
Then he will defend the day’s recreational activities. “But the kids wanted to watch Baywatch. It’s got some great lifesaving water safety tips.”
Revenge is often unintended but just as sweet. Let’s say the cowboy of the house is a kool-aid drinker along with the kids. The gallon pitcher on the counter invites him to pour a big glass full and down it quickly to sooth his quenched parched thirst.
When he finds out that blue stuff was not a blueberry punch but in fact a newly mixed batch of Miracle Grow intended for the house plants, all hell breaks loose. By his decree, any beverage with a blue tint is forever forbidden to exist on the ranch.
The real downside to the event for the cowboy is he will have to endure years of ribbing from his buddies on just what could possibly happen after drinking a full 12 ounces of Miracle Grow.
Julie can be reached for comment at jcarter@tularosa.net
Copyright Julie Carter 2005
Remember, I welcome submissions for this Saturday night feature, fiction or non-fiction.
Permalink 0 comments
Don’t drink the blue stuff
By Julie Carter
In this season of winter I find myself giving some thought to things I am thankful for while the wind howls and thermometer drops.
At the top of my thankful list is how thankful I am that there are no heifers to calve to this winter.
Making a mental note of the advantages of calving heifers when nights hit the single digits on the thermometer makes for a mighty short list. Frozen hands covered in afterbirth goo and wallowing a wet calf to the barn with a mad momma intent on snorting you out of the pen seem to not make the list.
Birthing anything, calves or children, never seems to come at a convenient time. I have no end of recall to situations where the birth of a child aggravatingly interfered with hunting season, an important roping or happy hour at the local cantina.
Why even as recent as last week, a local basketball coach had to miss the first game of a tournament because his wife thought she needed to have the baby at the hospital. She turned down the offer of the school’s hospitality room, even though she was assured of a cleared table and at least an hour of privacy.
Having given birth myself has given me the sense that I have one notch more empathy for a heifer birthing a calf than any male counterpart could ever muster.
When those calving chains are hooked to a come-a-long to pull that unwilling calf on out, I give audible praise to God that the cowboy standing next to me hadn’t delivered his own child.
Cowboys, for all that they are, there is a list of things they are not. Two of the “nots” are empathetic and patient when it comes to the details of womanhood.
Mentioning that the cold is making your skin dry and flaky will return a cynical comment about the hot oil treatment you had only a week ago. And they truly think getting showered in hot hydraulic fluid when the line broke on the tractor while you were in close proximity should have fixed that dry skin problem.
In today’s world many ranch wives have town jobs and that sometimes leaves the cowboy boot clad Rambo of the outfit in charge of feeding, dressing and monitoring small children.
“What do you mean tortillas and M&M’s aren’t a complete meal? Besides, today we finished off the bag of those candy bars with the with the nutritional cookie centers.”
Then he will defend the day’s recreational activities. “But the kids wanted to watch Baywatch. It’s got some great lifesaving water safety tips.”
Revenge is often unintended but just as sweet. Let’s say the cowboy of the house is a kool-aid drinker along with the kids. The gallon pitcher on the counter invites him to pour a big glass full and down it quickly to sooth his quenched parched thirst.
When he finds out that blue stuff was not a blueberry punch but in fact a newly mixed batch of Miracle Grow intended for the house plants, all hell breaks loose. By his decree, any beverage with a blue tint is forever forbidden to exist on the ranch.
The real downside to the event for the cowboy is he will have to endure years of ribbing from his buddies on just what could possibly happen after drinking a full 12 ounces of Miracle Grow.
Julie can be reached for comment at jcarter@tularosa.net
Copyright Julie Carter 2005
Remember, I welcome submissions for this Saturday night feature, fiction or non-fiction.
Permalink 0 comments
