The Westerner

Eminent Domain

Woman vs. eminent domain

Eighty-year-old Emma Dimasi has told friends and neighbors she wants to live the rest of her years on the corner of Clifton and Dixmyth avenues, in the small brick house she's owned since 1959. The city has given her until Saturday to get out. In a case that could have statewide implications, a Hamilton County magistrate will decide Monday whether the city of Cincinnati has the right to take Dimasi's house for a $4 million relocation of Dixmyth Avenue. The taking of Dimasi's house is a routine and long-accepted use of eminent domain for a city like Cincinnati, which has filed 21 such court actions for road projects since 2003. But Dimasi argues that private economic development - not public transportation - is driving the road project. That's because Good Samaritan Hospital is contributing $1.28 million toward the project, which would give the hospital more room to grow as it continues a $122 million expansion. Under its agreement with the city, the hospital also stands to get whatever land is left over after road construction for $1. The case is the first to test an Ohio law banning for one year the use of eminent domain for economic development if the property will ultimately end up in the hands of another private owner. And it's a prime example of what critics say is a legal system that stacks the deck against property owners....

Plans to condemn Southern Baptist church proceed after 6-0 vote for eminent domain

Another step was taken toward the destruction of the Filipino Baptist Fellowship building March 13 when the Long Beach Redevelopment Agency Board voted 6-0 to condemn the church in order to build condominiums, despite testimonies from community members regarding the public good that flows from the religious institution. “I had no illusions that we were going to stop the vote, but what was most discouraging yesterday was the utter lack of any evidence on why this was necessary to cure some blighted areas blocks away,” John Eastman, director of The Claremont Institute’s Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence who is defending the church, told Baptist Press. “They didn’t bother to answer that. That was their legal obligation, and they went ahead and condemned a church anyway.” During the hearing, the redevelopment agency voted to authorize the city attorney to begin condemnation proceedings, Eastman explained. The next step will be for the city attorney to file a complaint to condemn the property, which includes demonstrating that it meets the statutory requirements for condemnation....

Groups File Lawsuit In Fight Over Golf Club

Lawsuits were filed Tuesday aimed at stopping an affluent suburban village from using the legal concept of eminent domain to take over a privately owned golf course. "This proposed condemnation may be the most extreme abuse of eminent domain in the country," said John Wilson, a Deepdale Golf Club member named as a plaintiff. The village's mayor said the federal and state lawsuit were a "pre-emptive strike" and no decision has been made on whether to proceed with a takeover of Deepdale, considered one of the finest golf courses in the country. But in North Hills -- a 2.8 square mile community of 1,800 residents on Long Island's "gold coast," where housing prices begin in the millions -- members of the Deepdale Club are rallying to save their 175-acre facility from being taken by village officials. The federal suit questions the village's right to seize the property through eminent domain; the state case challenges the village's alleged abuse of zoning law to cut secret deals with private developers. Wilson said in a statement that the takeover "has nothing to do with a master plan that promotes the public good or eliminating blight, issues usually behind eminent domain. Rather, it is a naked grab for private property in an apparent effort to satisfy the private desires of a few elected officials."....

Eminent domain fears aired

Gopal Panday says after he built Rainbow Liquors on Broadway in Long Branch into a million-dollar-a-year business, it turned worthless overnight in the eyes of New Jersey's much-maligned eminent-domain law. "Under eminent domain laws, it doesn't provide you with anything for your business," Panday said Monday after testifying before the Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee. "Just the land," he said. Flood victim Linda Brnicevic of Bound Brook described how she says eminent domain there is being used to uproot minorities. Residents of Camden's Cramer Hill neighborhood asked why eminent domain has them being moved out of a stable and tidy area. Eminent domain, the process whereby government exercises legal steps to take private property for what it envisions as the good of the community, is under fire in New Jersey for instances in which it is being used to promote economic redevelopment....

Stockbridge couple have ally in mayor

The couple fighting the city of Stockbridge's efforts to use eminent domain laws to forcibly buy their business might get to keep the property after all. At a raucous City Council meeting Monday evening, Stockbridge Mayor R.G. "Rudy" Kelley said he would ask his fellow council members to vote on whether Mark and Regina Meeks may keep their florist shop. The vote is contingent on getting written notification from the couple that they want to keep the shop. "I will send them a letter tomorrow," said a smiling Mark Meeks. The Meekses' battle shined a spotlight on eminent domain — laws allowing governments to force property owners to sell their land. State lawmakers are considering legislation changing how it's used in Georgia. Last March, the Stockbridge City Council approved plans to redevelop its struggling downtown with a new City Hall, homes, shops and offices on about 22 acres. The Meekses have vigorously resisted the city's efforts — saying Stockbridge negotiated in bad faith. City officials deny such claims....

Eminent domain debated

State legislatures and city councils around the country are debating what limits should be put on the power of local governments to take property by eminent domain. In November, Ohio voters might also get a say. Some lawmakers say nothing short of amending the state constitution - requiring a vote on a statewide ballot - will curb perceived abuses of eminent domain by cities. That's because Ohio's 1912 constitution gives cities and villages the power of home rule - allowing them to set their own standards for the taking of private property. "No bill that we pass will impact every local government unless we amend the constitution," said state Sen. Kevin Coughlin, R-Cuyahoga Falls, the author of one such amendment. His proposal, outlined for a special legislative task force Thursday, wouldn't change the way eminent domain is used in Ohio - he'd leave that up to state lawmakers. His amendment would require only that all municipalities follow state law when they take property....

Voters Block Taking Of Souter’s Property By Eminent Domain

There won’t be any “taking” of Supreme Court Justice David Souter’s farmhouse to make way for the Lost Liberty hotel. By a 3-1 margin, voters in Souter’s hometown voted down a proposal Tuesday 1,167 too 493 that would have allowed the town to seize his 200-year-old farmhouse under eminent domain. Angered by the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision last year in the property rights case of Kelo v. New London, activists sought to take Souter’s property as a payback. Voters instead asked the town Board of Selectman to urge the state to adopt a law that would forbid seizures of property by eminent domain. Souter, a long-time resident of Weare, home to about 9,500, was in the majority for the 5-4 eminent domain case of Kelo v. City of New London , Conn., last June in which the Supreme Court ruled that government entities can take private property if the land is for public use. In Kelo, the Court said New London could take private property through eminent domain for the development of a hotel and convention center. A group of activists, led by California resident Logan Darrow Clements, wanted Souter's 200-year-old farmhouse and eight acres seized for the purpose of building an inn to be known as the Lost Liberty Hotel....

New Mexico governor’s property ripe for eminent domain?

After the infamous 2005 Kelo v. City of New London decision, Logan Darrow Clements started an eminent domain campaign against US Supreme Court Justice Souter’s New Hampshire home. The point: Build Lost Liberty Hotel in its place, which would provide greater economic benefits to the community. Clements was justified: The Court’s slim 5-4 decision cited economic development as justification for essentially taking one’s property and delivering it to another private party. Darrow should go after any property New Mexico Gov. Richardson owns in “The Land of Enchantment”. Why? On March 8, Richardson became the first governor since Kelo to veto legislation that would have helped protect property owners against condemnation. The Rio Grande Foundation (RGF), a New Mexico think tank, distributed a media release deriding Richardson’s property rights snub....

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In the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court's Kelo decision regarding eminent domain, we are delighted to inform you that our recent Independent Policy Forum, "Eminent Domain: Abuse of Government Power?", will air on C-SPAN2 on Sunday, March 19th.
http://www.independent.org/events/detail.asp?eventID=114

Here is the exact airing time:

Sunday, March 19th, 1:15 p.m. ET (10:15 a.m. PT) C-SPAN2
http://www.booktv.org/General/index.asp?segID=6696&schedID=408

The program features presentations by:

STEVEN GREENHUT, Senior Editorial Writer, Orange County Register, and author of Abuse of Power: How the Government Misuses Eminent Domain.

TIMOTHY SANDEFUR, Staff Attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation.
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Senate backs drilling But outcome in House remains 'hard to tell'

By the barest of margins, the Senate approved legislation late today that would allow energy companies to hunt for crude in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. But whether drilling supporters now can rustle up the votes they were lacking in the House just three months ago remains unclear. "It's kind of hard to tell yet," said Lee Fuller, vice president of government relations for the Independent Petroleum Association of America. In what has become a running battle in the halls of Congress, the Senate voted 51-49 Thursday to approve a budget bill that would end a 26-year moratorium and clear the way for oil and gas companies to explore in the northern Alaska refuge....
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HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

Into a Belfast pub comes Paddy Murphy, looking like he'd just been run over by a train. His arm is in a sling, his nose is broken, his face is cut and bruised and he's walking with a limp.

"What happened to you?" asks Sean, the bartender.

"Jamie O'Conner and me had a fight," says Paddy.

"That little shit, O'Conner," says Sean, "He couldn't do that to you, he must have had something in his hand."

"That he did," says Paddy, "a shovel is what he had, and a terrible lickin' he gave me with it."

"Well," says Sean, "you should have defended yourself, didn't you have something in your hand?"

That I did," said Paddy. "Mrs. O'Conner's breast, and a thing of beauty it was, but useless in a fight."


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An Irishman who had a little too much to drink is driving home from the city one night and, of course, his car is weaving violently all over the road.

A cop pulls him over.

"So," says the cop to the driver, where have ya been?"

"Why, I've been to the pub of course," slurs the drunk.

"Well," says the cop, "it looks like you've had quite a few to drink this evening."

"I did all right," the drunk says with a smile.

"Did you know," says the cop, standing straight and folding his arms across his chest, "that a few intersections back, your wife fell out of your car?"

"Oh, thank heavens," sighs the drunk. "For a minute there, I thought I'd gone deaf."

*************************************************************************


Brenda O'Malley is home making dinner, as usual, when Tim Finnegan arrives at her door.

"Brenda, may I come in?" he asks. "I've somethin' to tell ya".

"Of course you can come in, you're always welcome, Tim. But where's my husband?"

"That's what I'm here to be telling ya, Brenda." There was an accident down at the Guinness brewery..."

"Oh, God no!" cries Brenda. "Please don't tell me."

"I must, Brenda. Your husband Shamus is dead and gone. I'm sorry.

Finally, she looked up at Tim. "How did it happen, Tim?"

"It was terrible, Brenda. He fell into a vat of Guinness Stout and drowned."

"Oh my dear Jesus! But you must tell me true, Tim. Did he at least go quickly?"
"Well, Brenda... no. In fact, he got out three times to pee."


*************************************************************************


Mary Clancy goes up to Father O'Grady after his Sunday morning service, and she's in tears.

He says, "So what's bothering you, Mary my dear?"

She says, "Oh, Father, I've got terrible news. My husband passed away last night."

The priest says, "Oh, Mary, that's terrible. Tell me, Mary, did he have any last requests?"

She says, "That he did, Father." The priest says, "What did he ask, Mary?"

She says, He said, 'Please Mary, put down that damn gun...'


*************************************************************************


A drunk staggers into a Catholic Church, enters a confessional booth, sits down but says nothing.

The Priest coughs a few times to get his attention but the drunk continues to sit there.

Finally, the Priest pounds three times on the wall.

The drunk mumbles, "ain't no use knockin, there's no paper on this side
either."
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NEWS ROUNDUP

Top Birder Challenges Reports of Long-Lost Woodpecker The ivory billed woodpecker? That is the bird that went extinct and was rediscovered, and then there was some argument. But it is all settled now, and the great creature lives, elusively, in an Arkansas swamp, with a chunk of federal money to keep it comfortable. Right? Maybe not. The nation's best known birder, David A. Sibley, whose book "The Sibley Guide to Birds" is a bible for field identification, has decided that the happy ending is too good to be true. Mr. Sibley, a soft-spoken, attention-avoiding writer and illustrator of many other bird books, says in an article being published today in Science that a blurry videotape that was the strongest evidence of the woodpecker's continued existence does not show an ivory bill at all. He and three colleagues write that the bird on the tape was almost certainly a common pileated woodpecker and that there is simply no conclusive evidence that the ivory bill has escaped extinction. The videotape, which has been called an ornithological Zapruder film, was made on April 25, 2004, by M. David Luneau Jr., an engineering professor at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock. Professor Luneau had joined a search led by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to gather more evidence after two serious birders reported seeing the ivory bill fly in front of their canoe. Along with sightings, the tape was the centerpiece of a spring 2005 paper, also in Science, that caused jubilation among conservationists and birders and prompted the federal government to commit $10 million for ivory bill conservation....
With Energy-Tax Bonanza, Wyoming Schools Enjoy Windfall Forget the bucking bronco. A clattering cash register has become the more apt symbol of Wyoming in the energy rush. Over the past four years, as natural gas prices have spiked and drillers have descended here on the nation's least-populous state, Wyoming has collected about $65 million a month more in energy taxes than the government can spend. The numbers, in their cumulative power and duration, are starting to change the state's vision of what it could be and how to get there. Money has been poured into wildlife protection, historical preservation and the support of families of National Guard troops in Iraq. A $100 million tax cut this year eliminated the sales tax on groceries. (There is no personal or corporate income tax to cut.) But that still left hundreds of millions to be set aside in an all-purpose savings account that some state officials fantasize could one day grow large enough to subsidize the state budget itself — Wyoming as trust-fund kid, or cowboy emirate....
Cattle may use creek again after salt water spill Ranchers who relied on a McKenzie County creek to water their cattle may use it again, because a hazard posed by a salt water spill has passed, a state Health Department official says. The company responsible for the pollution, Zenergy Inc. of Tulsa, Okla., is cleaning up the salt-contaminated soil. Charbonneau Creek was polluted in early January when a salt water disposal pipeline ruptured, spilling briny water into a stock pond, a beaver dam and the creek itself. Salt water is a waste product of oil production. The creek, which is fed by spring water and is flowing, empties into the Yellowstone River. Dave Glatt, chief of the Health Department's environmental section, said it does not appear the Yellowstone was harmed by the accident. Recent melting snow has caused salt levels in the creek to recede, Glatt said. The creek will be monitored to make sure salt from the creek bed does not leach again into the water, he said....
Additional Proposed Changes to Federal Oil and Gas Regulations In a move that will help the nation meet its energy needs, the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service are jointly proposing further revisions of regulations governing oil and gas activity on the public lands. These further proposed revisions supplement an earlier proposal – published by the two agencies in July 2005 – that would revise an existing set of regulations known as Onshore Oil and Gas Order Number 1. The Order’s regulations establish the requirements that companies must meet to obtain approval for oil and gas exploration and development on all Federal and Indian lands (except those of the Osage Tribe). The BLM’s and Forest Service’s latest proposed regulatory revisions, published in today’s Federal Register, would implement portions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 by making Order Number 1’s drilling permit provisions consistent with those in the Act. The new energy law contains a timeline for processing drilling permit applications – known as Applications for Permits to Drill (APDs) – that differs slightly from the one contained in the regulatory proposal of July 2005. Besides making the timeline in Order Number 1 consistent with that in the Energy Policy Act, today’s further proposed revision specifies what constitutes a “complete” APD package. This latest proposal also makes clear that the BLM and Forest Service intend to continue requiring an on-site inspection before determining that an APD package is complete. In addition, the proposal published today would require additional bonding in split-estate situations where a lessee cannot reach agreement with an Indian surface owner. The Federal Register notice published today opens up a 30-day comment period during which the public may submit written comments on the further proposed revisions to Onshore Oil and Gas Order Number 1. (The notice also re-opens for 30 days the comment period on the July 2005 regulatory proposal.)....
States Calculate Global Warming Pricetag In a new sign of growing concern about the impact of global warming on the health of the U.S. economy, the insurance commissioners of the 50 U.S. states last week voted unanimously to establish a task force on the possible impact of climate change on the insurance industry and its consumers. The decision, taken by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, came during the same week that the world's biggest insurance broker, Marsh & McLennan, briefed its corporate clients, which include roughly 75 percent of the "Fortune 500" biggest companies, on the potential impact of global warming on their businesses. Marsh's clients heard from, among others, Carol Browner, who headed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) when former President Bill Clinton signed the Kyoto Protocol to curb greenhouse gas emissions, and Robert Watson, the chief climate scientist at the World Bank and former head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)....
More indictments in NW ecoterrorism probe Two more people were indicted Thursday on charges they were part of a group calling itself "The Family" that was responsible for a series of firebombings around the Northwest from 1996 to 2001 claimed by the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front. The indictment handed up by a federal grand jury in Eugene brings to 13 the number of people who will go on trial Oct. 31 on 65 counts, including conspiracy, arson, and use of a destructive device in a crime of violence. The targets included U.S. Forest Service ranger stations in Oregon, government and university research labs in Washington, a horse slaughterhouse in Oregon, a tree farm in Oregon, a power transmission tower in Oregon, a Colorado ski resort, lumber mills in Oregon, and federal wild horse corrals in Oregon, Wyoming and California. The fires caused more than $100 million in damages....
Forest Land Sale Plan Goes Forward The Bush administration formalized its plan to sell more than 300,000 acres of national forest to help pay for rural schools in 41 states, submitting legislation to Congress on Thursday to funnel $800 million to the schools over the next five years. The schools would get $320 million next year, but the figure would drop sharply after that, to $40 million in its final year, officials said. That would be a 90% decrease from current spending — a figure Western lawmakers called unacceptable. The legislation came as four former Forest Service chiefs criticized the land sale plan as contrary to more than a century of agency practice. "Selling off public lands to fund other programs, no matter how worthwhile those programs, is a slippery slope," the retired chiefs said, calling the land sale "an unwise precedent." The letter was signed by Max Peterson, Dale Robertson, Jack Ward Thomas and Michael Dombeck. The men led the agency under four presidents from both parties....
Report: Losses from decay heavy from Biscuit Fire Losses from unsalvaged timber from the 2002 Biscuit fire in southwest Oregon stand to approach $140 million if nothing is done to harvest it, according to a report from the U.S. Forest Service. Some Biscuit sales were logged in 2004 and 2005. The report said data "shows clearly that 42 percent of the volume per acre has been lost since late 2002," largely from decay. However, the thought of logging the area is anathema to many scientists and environmentalists who say the best way to help the area recover is to leave it alone. The report, released by Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., placed the value of the timber that could be legally and profitably cut immediately after the fire at about $171.8 million. It said about $32.3 million of that has been recovered to date....
A Century of Debate Just how exciting can a book about the Antiquities Act of 1906 be? Probably more so than you would think--certainly it was for me. It's not the history of an obscure, 100-year-old law; this is the story of fundamental questions of importance to all Americans. It is the story of visionaries trying to preserve a heritage that, even then, was vanishing. It is the story of bruising political battles that continue even to today. It is the story of how public archaeology came into being in the United States. Ultimately, it is the story of how we decided to treasure our nation's cultural--and natural--heritage. The Antiquities Act is brief, and only the second and third of its four sections are important today. The second deals with the creation of National Monuments: lofty ideals, vague wording, and a sweeping presidential prerogative. The third provides access to the sites and artifacts found on the Monuments for scholars, museums, and universities, but this access comes with certain responsibilities. All this in some 269 words. It is an extraordinary document. The book about all of this, The Antiquities Act: A Century of American Archaeology, Historic Preservation, and Nature Conservation (University of Arizona Press, 2006; cloth $45.00, paper $19.95), is edited by David Harmon (conservationist, George Wright Society), Francis P. McManamon (archaeologist, National Park Service), and Dwight T. Pitcaithley (historian, New Mexico State University). The editors contributed an introduction and concluding chapter, but the main portion of the book is a collection of 15 chapters authored by various specialists and grouped according to four themes....
US hails calm world reaction to new mad cow case The low-key world reaction to discovery of the third U.S. case of mad cow disease is a sign that trading partners recognize American beef is safe, an Agriculture Department spokesman said on Tuesday. The new case was an elderly Santa Gertrudis beef cow from a small herd in Alabama and the first found since November 2004. The cow was buried on the farm. "It was not an animal that got in the (human) food supply. It did not get in the animal feed supply. Our firewalls worked," Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns told reporters in Berlin, his third stop on a trip to Europe. "I think overall there has been a very measured reaction to the announcement," USDA spokesman Ed Loyd wrote in responses to e-mail questions. Loyd cited "an increasing understanding worldwide of (the) safety of U.S. beef" and acceptance of international guidelines that say beef can be traded when nations take steps to prevent the spread of mad cow, formally named bovine spongiform encephalopathy....
Horse Owners Are Bridling at Changes It used to be a place where a middle-class family could own a small house on a large parcel with a horse corral out back and a few chickens and roosters running around the yard. But these days in Sylmar, the human population is going up while the number of horses is dropping. And this has some longtime residents concerned that a way of life in this foothill community on the northeastern edge of the San Fernando Valley is disappearing. Even its name sounds pastoral, derived from a combination of the word "sylvan" and the Spanish word mar, roughly translating into "sea of trees." In Sylmar, olive trees once grew thick on land tilled by farmers and ranchers, who turned the arid countryside into a hub for olive growing and related agricultural enterprises. After World War II, the land was subdivided into generous lots, giving it the feel of the country, even though it was only about 26 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. But developers looking for places to build in today's hot real estate market have discovered Sylmar. They are razing the ranch-style houses and replacing them with tracts of single-family homes, condominiums and town houses....
Rancher Carlton goes to the grave in her pickup A gun-toting wisp of a woman who favored jeans and John Wayne went out the way she lived. At Fleta Carlton's funeral Wednesday, ranch hands loaded her casket into the bed of Old Blue, the gas-belching pick-up she drove all over the 1,400-acre Carlton Triangle Ranch. Friend Ed Bledsoe steered the beat-up Dodge to the Old Miakka Cemetery, where folks in boots and Wranglers, suits and ties sang "Amazing Grace." Carlton was buried in a plaid cowboy shirt and jeans. "A dress? She would have been angry at us for that," said niece Stacey Carlton. In her pocket, her little brother Tony put something familiar: her Old Timer pocketknife, which she only put down at night. And a sharpening stone, just in case the thing gets dull....
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Rabies Confirmed in Lea County Horse
Department of Health Reminds Public To Vaccinate Animals

The New Mexico Department of Health and the New Mexico Livestock Board reported that a horse from Lea County tested positive for rabies, and three people who were potentially exposed to the infected horse are receiving rabies vaccine to prevent them from developing the deadly viral disease. Rabies is a fatal disease if it is not treated before symptoms develop. The Department of Health and Livestock Board would like to remind people that it is important to vaccinate their animals to protect them from rabies. “This should serve as a wakeup call to people who keep horses and other livestock, that there are wild animals in the area infected with rabies, most likely skunks,” said Dr. Dave Fly, deputy state veterinarian with the New Mexico Livestock Board. “Owners of valuable livestock should consult with their veterinarian about protecting these animals by giving them rabies vaccine.” The horse began behaving abnormally last week and then became very aggressive before it died. Tissue samples sent in by a local veterinarian tested positive for rabies at the Department of Health’s Scientific Laboratory Division. Other livestock on the ranch that were exposed to the horse will be given rabies vaccine and quarantined for six months. According to residents in the area, wild skunks have been attacking livestock for several weeks. “Since pet dogs and cats that roam and hunt can come into contact with rabid animals and potentially transmit it to people, it is also very important to make sure all dogs and cats have current rabies vaccinations,” said Dr. Paul Ettestad, state public health veterinarian at the Department of Health....
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Kempthorne biography

Governor Dirk Kempthorne was reelected as Idaho’s governor in November of 2002. He was first elected as Idaho’s 30th chief executive in 1998, following a six-year term in the United States Senate. Kempthorne began his commitment to public service as the highly successful mayor of Boise. During his seven years in office, he helped direct a renaissance in the state's capital city that resulted in record growth, economic development and numerous national honors and recognitions for quality of life, business climate and family issues. Kempthorne established a statewide voluntary immunization registry to help ensure that more Idaho children from birth to 18 months receive the full complement of vaccinations recommended by pediatricians. He also worked with the Legislature to enact an Idaho reading initiative, designed to have every Idaho child reading at grade level by the third grade. Following the devastating wildfires of 2000, he worked with fellow western governors and federal officials to fundamentally change the approach to forest health and wildfire management. Under his leadership, Idaho has developed wolf and grizzly bear management plans aimed at delisting the endangered species and protecting state's rights by giving the state management responsibilities. Idaho has instituted the first-ever tax credit for companies that expand high-speed voice and data broadband communications lines, and the state has provided funding for regional economic development experts in 12 regions of the state. These professionals work with local communities to attract and retain businesses. In his years of service as governor of Idaho, Kempthorne has signed into law more than 50 bills which have provided either significant tax relief or tax credits for Idahoans. Governor Kempthorne has been recognized by his peers as a national leader. His colleagues elected him as the chairman of the National Governor's Association in August of 2003. In this role, he has launched an initiative to bring a national focus on the looming crisis of long-term care. He has served as president of the Council of State Governments and chairman of the Western Governors Association. He serves on the executive committees of the National Governors Association and the Republican Governors Association. U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige appointed Governor Kempthorne to the national assessment governing board and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge appointed him to the homeland security task force. Governor Kempthorne and his wife Patricia are both University of Idaho graduates and have two grown children, Heather and Jeff.
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Bush Nominates Idaho Governor Kempthorne as Interior Secretary

President George W. Bush nominated Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne as his new secretary of the Interior, the federal department that oversees one out of every five acres of land in the nation. Kempthorne, 54, a Republican and former U.S. senator, was named to replace Gale Norton, who announced last week she is leaving at the end of the month. The nomination is subject to approval of the U.S. Senate. Kempthorne has ``been a responsible steward'' of Idaho's public lands and is ``the right man'' to continue the work started by Norton in managing U.S.-owned land, Bush said today in making the announcement in the Oval Office. Kempthorne is approaching the end of his second term as Idaho's governor and can't run again. He previously served one term as U.S. senator from the state and as mayor of Boise, Idaho's capital....
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Bush picks Idaho's Kempthorne for Interior

President George W. Bush on Thursday chose Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne as his choice to replace Gale Norton as Interior secretary, a Republican official said. Bush was expected to make a formal announcement at 5:30 p.m. EST on Thursday. Kempthorne, who was first elected governor in 1998, is also a former senator. The Interior secretary job, which oversees federal lands, requires Senate confirmation....
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Fox News is reporting that Dirk Kempthorne is the President's pick for Secretary of Interior.
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NEWS ROUNDUP

Deer breeders sue state A group of deer breeders has sued the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, asking a Travis County district judge to determine who owns the white-tailed deer and mule deer held in breeding pens in Texas. The current state statute under which breeders operate allows them to buy, sell, breed, medicate and even shoot released deer for sport but retains ownership of the deer for the State of Texas. Licensed breeders, though, claim ownership of the deer they breed and want the courts to decide whether the state could be taking away their property rights. "I just firmly believe they ought to be our deer," said Quinlan rancher James Anderton, one of the eight plaintiffs listed in the suit filed Friday in Austin. "I want to know if they're my deer or if the state can shut me down and say they own the deer." Texas has about 800 breeding facilities, comprising more than 40,000 animals with an estimated worth of more than $100 million. Individual breeding bucks have sold for as much as $450,000 in Texas....
Wildfires might claim 10,000 head of cattle Panhandle ranchers scrambled to move livestock to safe ground Wednesday as wildfires, revived in places by 30-mph winds, were claiming up to an estimated 10,000 head of cattle over 840,000 blackened acres. “It burned every inch of our ranch,” said Glenda Adcock of the Lazy 11 near Miami, her voice breaking. “And we’re still fighting it. We probably lost more than 100 cattle, and we’re not completely through. They found 30 baby calves and lot of mama cows.” Ted McCollum, a livestock specialist with the Texas Cooperative Extension service, said few cattle producers carry insurance against fire loss. He said that aside from the cost of replacing livestock and miles of fencing at $5,500 to $10,000 a mile, there might also be a psychological toll. “There are ranches completely consumed,” McCollum said. “All that’s left is the house. One can only imagine what they are dealing with emotionally in terms of the losses and trying to determine how to go from here.”....
Yellowstone bison sent to slaughter without testing Roughly 30 bison captured near the western border of Yellowstone National Park were shipped to slaughter without being tested for the disease brucellosis, a state livestock official said Wednesday. Marc Bridges, executive director of the state Department of Livestock, said authorities had to set up a portable trap and plow through deep snow to get to the bison Tuesday. He said officials had tried to haze the animals but deemed them ``unhazable.'' Hazing and capture of bison are allowed under a state-federal management plan that's aimed at reducing the potential spread of brucellosis from bison to cattle in Montana. Brucellosis is found in the Yellowstone bison herd, and the disease can cause cows to abort. If it were to show up in cattle, it could cost the state its prized brucellosis-free status — a real worry to ranchers. But activists have countered that there's no proof of bison spreading brucellosis to cattle in the wild....
Killing of Carnivores Won't Protect Sheep Industry Decades of U.S. government-subsidized predator control has failed to prevent a long-term decline in the sheep industry, according to a study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), which says that market forces – not predators – are responsible for the drop-off in sheep numbers. The study, which appears in the latest issue of the journal Conservation Biology, says that more than 80 years of federally subsidized predator control with a total investment of more than 1.6 billion dollars have not been able to stave off an 85 percent decline in the sheep industry since its peak of 56.2 million animals in 1942. According to the study, predation by coyotes is often cited as the primary cause of the decline. However, 80 years of historical data reveal that a variety of market trends ranging from fluctuating hay prices and rising wages for livestock workers, to the drop in wholesale prices of lamb and wool, are the real culprits behind the industry’s drop-off. As evidence, the study points to a 141-percent increase in wages, 23 percent decrease in lamb prices, and 82 percent decrease in wool prices during the period in which sheep numbers were reduced by 85 percent....
One man’s journey to the end of the Colorado River Now, however, the U.S. is crushing the hopes of Gonzalez and his neighbors for a little more water and the better future it could bring. The U.S. is beginning projects that will further cut the already diminished flow of fresh water to Mexico from the Colorado River. With minimal international consultation, the U.S. — along with the Metropolitan Water District and other water agencies — is turning down the spigot to Mexico to divert more water for new housing developments in Los Angeles and cities across Southern California. In so doing, water managers not only will starve Mexico for water, but likely will set up Los Angeles and urban Southern California for water shortages by enabling more growth than the river ultimately can support. Each new development approved by local city councils flush with builder cash in Southern California — from Playa Vista in Los Angeles to teeming subdivisions in the Inland Empire and San Diego County — represents death by a thousand cuts for the many cultures, economies and nature itself along the 1,450-mile-long Colorado River, which slakes the thirst and waters the crops of 30 million people in seven Western states and Mexico. It’s a case of history be damned to the people on both sides of the border and all along the river who have staked their lives on farming, fishing, ranching and recreation....
Klamath water crisis may lead to salmon season cancellation The Klamath River and the dependence of fishermen and irrigators for its water has once again reached the crisis point as federal salmon fishing season decision makers are proposing to limit or completely eliminate the salmon catch so stocks can replenish. No final decision has been made by the Pacific Fishery Management Council, and the proposals will go out to public hearings before being sent to U.S. Commerce Department for final adoption. The three possible options are to completely ban salmon fishing along the California coast from Monterey to the Oregon border, set catch numbers at last year's levels that reduced the catch by 60 percent or further reduce the catch below last year's levels. What has caused the reduced numbers of fish has been debated for years. Fishermen say the causes are low water levels, dams and contaminants because of diversions to farmers. Irrigators claim other factors, including warm water, disease and overcrowding have reduced salmon runs....
Feds have wolf delisting plan U.S. Interior Secretary Gail Norton is expected to announce a plan today to hand over management of wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan to natural resource agencies in those states. The plan, in the works for a decade, will give the states leeway to trap and shoot wolves in areas where livestock or pets have been killed. It could lead to limited state trapping and hunting seasons if wolves remain prolific. Under the proposal, wolves will lose their federal Endangered Species Act threatened status in Minnesota and endangered status in Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The plan is a scaled-down version of one proposed by Norton in 2004 that was struck down by two federal courts, in Oregon and Vermont, in 2005....
Agreement ends sheep grazing in area rife with wolves, bears Domestic sheep don't mix well with grizzly bears and wolves. Now they won't mix at all on more than 70,000 acres in the Absaroka-Beartooth wilderness. A 74,000-acre sheep grazing allotment south of Big Timber in the Gallatin National Forest has been permanently closed, and the ranchers who used it for generations have been paid to move their sheep elsewhere, according to a deal expected to be announced today. The agreement is the eighth -- and second-largest -- in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem in recent years that has led to the retirement of about 300,000 acres from grazing. "Ultimately, this is going to be one of the most effective solutions we have to deal with chronic conflicts between wildlife and livestock," said Hank Fischer of the National Wildlife Federation, one of the groups that helped organize the deals....
Farmers' vote could keep state out of court Farmers who irrigate from the Harlan County Reservoir at Alma agreed Wednesday to sell $2.5 million in water to the state to satisfy the terms of a Republican River compact and fend off a Kansas lawsuit. Mike Delka, manager of the Bostwick Irrigation District, said those attending a meeting at district headquarters in Red Cloud voted 172-14 to advance the unprecedented agreement. The outcome also addresses a multi-year drought, depleted rivers and streams, heavy groundwater pumping in the area and the likelihood Bostwick irrigators will get no water from the reservoir this year. Gov. Dave Heineman praised the landowners who voted and others involved in the agreement....
Gunnison's prairie dog not on endangered list The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has reviewed a petition to list the Gunnison's prairie dog under the Endangered Species Act and has concluded the petition does not contain substantial scientific information that the petitioned action is warranted. The finding was published in the Federal Register. The FWS made the determination in response to a petition received on Feb. 23, 2004, from Forest Guardians and 73 other organizations and individuals. The petition requested that the Gunnison's prairie dog found in the Four Corners region of northern Arizona, southwestern Colorado, northwestern New Mexico and southeastern Utah be listed as threatened or endangered. Under the ESA, the FWS is required to review the petition to decide whether it contained substantial scientific information that warrants a more thorough review. "The service remains interested in the population status, trends and ongoing management actions important to the conservation of the Gunnison's prairie dog," said Mitch King, the FWS director of the Mountain-Prairie Region, "and we encourage interested parties to continue to gather data that will assist in these conservation efforts. More research is needed to better determine the distribution and abundance of the species throughout its range."....
Editorial: Resigning U.S. secretary of the Interior lauded by industry but despised by environmentalists THE first female head of the Interior Department, departing Secretary Gale Norton, remained true to the pro-industry, antiregulation philosophy she learned as a protege of James Watt, the controversial interior secretary in the Reagan administration. During her five years in office, Norton accomplished many of the goals that Watt's careless rhetoric placed beyond his reach. At President Bush's direction, Norton put wilderness and wildlife preservation second behind opening federal lands to expanded logging, mining and drilling activities. Coal and natural gas production on public lands rose during her tenure. As federal lands provide the United States with 30 percent of its energy, and as the nation is increasingly dependent on imported oil and gas, efficient use of domestic resources must be looked on as a plus. Unfortunately, Norton needlessly outraged environmental protection organizations by rolling back Clinton-era restrictions on wilderness development and supporting congressional efforts to dismember the landmark Endangered Species Act....
Norton mum on plans after resigning as interior secretary In her first visit home since announcing her resignation, Interior Secretary Gale Norton said Wednesday another Westerner should replace her as chief manager of the nation's public lands and resources. "I think it's important to have somebody who really understands what a significant role the Interior Department can play in people's lives here in the West," she said. Norton, a former Colorado attorney general, plans to step down at the end of the month after five years heading the department that oversees the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service and other agencies that manage millions of acres of public land. Norton said she wanted to leave as early as possible in President Bush's second term to allow her successor time to take over and continue programs. She said she might have left earlier if not for such tasks as restoring offshore energy production after the hurricanes that racked the Gulf Coast....
Beyond the Gale The rumor mill is churning fast as Interior Secretary Gale Norton prepares to bid adieu to the Bush administration, and two names on the short list of possible replacements are leading the pack: for an outside-the-Beltway pick, Dirk Kempthorne, Republican governor of Idaho; for an inside-the-agency pick, Lynn Scarlett, currently Norton's No. 2, who will likely run the department anyway until a permanent replacement is secured. "This administration has done things two ways when it comes to nominations," observes Frank Maisano, a lobbyist for the energy industry. "They find a high-profile person outside Washington who can be easily confirmed, carry his own water, and lift the profile of the agency" -- think Christine Todd Whitman, the former New Jersey governor who served as Bush's first EPA administrator -- "or the under-the-radar administrative person who can make the trains run on time, is an effective manager, and has the respect of agency staffers" -- think current EPA administrator Stephen Johnson. Whichever course the Bush administration chooses in this case, it's a safe bet that the outcome will be business as usual....
Key Environmental Law Ever-Tangled in Litigation The American Bar Association's environmental law conference at Keystone, Colorado, drew several hundred attorneys, and it may take all of them – and then some – to deal with the ever-growing mountain of legal battles surrounding the Endangered Species Act (ESA). "It's death by a 1,000 cuts," said Eileen Sobeck, a U.S. Department of Justice attorney who handles many endangered species cases for the Department of the Interior. "The Department of Justice and the Department of Interior can't handle the volume. There are 30 challenges to critical habitat pending (in court) in California alone," Sobeck said last weekend during a panel discussion on the big daddy of environmental laws. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, charged with managing rare and threatened plants and critters, can't seem to win for losing. Some critical habitat cases are in their third or fourth round of litigation, said panelist Michael Senatore, with the Washington, D.C.-based Defenders of Wildlife. Sometimes, as was recently the case with Canada lynx, the agency is challenged when it doesn't designate habitat quickly enough. When it does come out with a critical habitat delineation, challenges frequently come from both sides....
Column: We Can't Afford This Public Land Sale Selling federal forest land to subsidize rural schools and road projects is a bad idea for many reasons. But a proposal to do just that, incorporated into the Bush administration's 2007 budget, has one powerful virtue: It has focused welcome public attention on a century-old welfare program that has yet to achieve its goals. Bush and his Department of Agriculture, which runs the U.S. Forest Service, have proposed extending a law that gives money to logging-dependent counties to compensate them for revenue losses caused by declining timber harvests. That law was signed by President Clinton in 2000 after protections for the northern spotted owl and other endangered species reduced logging in the Pacific Northwest, causing rural revenues to tumble. But thanks to such fiscal irritants as the war in Iraq, tax cuts and a reluctance to veto even the most outlandish congressional spending proposals, the administration can't afford to keep the rural subsidy afloat. Rather than find offsetting savings elsewhere, or let the program expire as lawmakers apparently intended six years ago, the president and Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey want to prolong it another five years and sell more than 300,000 acres of national forest land to pay the $800 million bill....
Red-legged frogs hamper efforts to clear storm drains After more than two decades, Bob Loya of Cordelia's A.R. Loya Electrical Construction, Inc., said the well-being of a frog could put his business at risk. Loya's is among several firms in the Cordelia Industrial Owner's Association's industrial condo business park at Lopes Road and Fulton Avenue that were flooded in the New Year's Eve storms. Loya said a subsequent investigation found that a clogged drainage system caused part of the flooding. Attempts to get that cleared out, however, are blocked by rules designed to protect an endangered species of frog, he said....
County trades land to protect rare cactus The county approved a land swap yesterday that it says will help protect the endangered Pima pineapple cactus. The county gave up 640 acres off South Swan Road and will receive 529 acres near Elephant Head in the Santa Rita foothills, about 30 miles south of Tucson. Developer Donald Diamond's South Wilmot LLC plans a major development in the Swan Road area, and cactuses on the parcel next to it are mysteriously dying off. Only three of the 28 plants put on the preserve survived and officials are not sure why. The Elephant Head habitat is expected to be more hospitable. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which regulates endangered species, has approved the land swap, said County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry....
Leader Urges Argentinians to Eat Less Beef Argentines rank among the world's biggest meat-eaters. But President Nestor Kirchner has told his carnivorous compatriots it's time to consume less if beef prices continue to rise and threaten his campaign against inflation. But isn't that like shunning the tango or telling a soccer-mad nation to skip the World Cup? Just ask Argentines, who made Kirchner's stridently public threats of a near-boycott on beef the talk of the town Wednesday at barbecue pits and steakhouses across this vast cattle-raising country. What's the Argentine president's beef with beef? Kirchner on Tuesday urged consumers to "buy less beef if they don't lower the price," speaking of industry prices he is trying to control. "Let's make them feel the power of the consumer so they don't sell at whatever prices they want," he said....
Back At Home On The Range Long ago in Texas’ more sordid past, fed-up ranchers would host “neck-tie parties” to exact their own brand of justice against cattle thieves. But, while mob rule is no longer an acceptable approach, make no mistake about it -- the very crime of “rustling” continues to this day in Gillespie County. Modern advancements in crime lab forensics have refined investigations to a science, and yet many unsavory sorts are still blinded by high cattle prices and see the risk of thievery worth taking. Nowadays, cattle rustlers use a “blending in” method, a clever study of schedules and modern transport to pull off their crimes....
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FLE

Border Agents Denied Bail

A judge denied bail Tuesday for two supervising Border Patrol agents accused of taking $300,000 in bribes and releasing illegal immigrants from custody. After an hour-long detention hearing, U.S. Magistrate Judge William McCurine found that agents Mario Alvarez and Samuel McClaren, both of Imperial, were a risk to flee and a danger to the community. McCurine rejected requests by defense attorneys to release their clients on $50,000 bonds secured by property. The judge said Alvarez and McClaren were men of "considerable accomplishment," but had shown "a tragic willingness to put at risk the lives of their colleagues." An eight-count indictment alleges that the defendants, who worked in the Mexican Liaison Unit in El Centro and were assigned to administer the Guide Identification Prosecution Program, "unlawfully released or facilitated the unlawful release of numerous previously apprehended illegal aliens from custody and returned them to members of an alien smuggling ring in exchange for cash."....

Combating Southwest Border Violence

As the agency with the broadest law enforcement authority within the Department of Homeland Security, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement is said to be uniquely positioned to combat vulnerabilities and threats to America from individuals involved in terrorism, organized crime, human smuggling and narco-terrorism at US borders. According to DHS officials, ICE has established aggressive intelligence and investigative operations at the nation’s borders, ports of entries, and between the ports and the nation’s interior. The southern border of the US is a region particularly vulnerable to cross-border criminal organizations and enterprises and the violence associated with them. In recent years, ICE has witnessed an unprecedented surge in brutality by drug and human smuggling and trafficking organizations along the Southwest border. Below are a few of the initiatives that ICE has launched to combat the criminal organizations behind this activity....

Barriers at border go up as debate on effects goes on

While politicians in Phoenix and Congress talk about building a tall fence along Arizona's border with Mexico, workers here are completing a shorter and more modest obstacle. This low-slung vehicle barrier will do nothing to stop people from walking into Southern Arizona illegally. But on public lands where the obstacles are popping up, officials say the devices have succeeded in stopping the so-called drive-throughs that can imperil law enforcement and scar the thin-skinned desert for decades. Homeland Security and other officials have disclosed plans to build similar barriers along most of the border between Yuma and Nogales, though the cost and timing of many proposals are unclear. On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved at least 200 miles of barriers along Arizona's border with Mexico. To some, barriers that block only vehicles are Band-Aids on a hemorrhaging wound. Vehicles can still drive around the ends, and smugglers are already scheming ways to defeat the new obstacles. In a 2004 report by the House Select Committee on Homeland Security, congressional staff reported seeing photos of a special truck that could park perpendicular to the barrier on the Mexican side, unfold a set of rails over the barrier and unfold another set of rails behind it. "Other vehicles could then drive up the back of the modified truck, across its top and down its front, over the vehicle barrier and into the United States," the report said....

Days of DeWine and Ruses? Reporters May Be Exempt from Eavesdropping Bill

Reporters who write about government surveillance could be prosecuted under proposed legislation that would solidify the administration's eavesdropping authority, according to some legal analysts who are concerned about dramatic changes in U.S. law. But an aide to the bill's chief author, Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, said that is not the intention of the legislation. "It in no way applies to reporters — in any way, shape or form," said Mike Dawson, a senior policy adviser to DeWine, responding to an inquiry Friday afternoon. "If a technical fix is necessary, it will be made." The Associated Press obtained a copy of the draft of the legislation, which could be introduced as soon as next week. The draft would add to the criminal penalties for anyone who "intentionally discloses information identifying or describing" the Bush administration's terrorist surveillance program or any other eavesdropping program conducted under a 1978 surveillance law. Under the boosted penalties, those found guilty could face fines of up to $1 million, 15 years in jail or both. Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Security Studies, said the measure is broader than any existing laws. She said, for example, the language does not specify that the information has to be harmful to national security or classified. "The bill would make it a crime to tell the American people that the president is breaking the law, and the bill could make it a crime for the newspapers to publish that fact," said Martin, a civil liberties advocate....

FBI documents raise new questions about extent of surveillance

An FBI counterterrorism unit monitored - and apparently infiltrated - a peace group in Pittsburgh that opposed the invasion of Iraq, according to internal agency documents released on Tuesday. The disclosure raised new questions about the extent to which federal authorities have been conducting surveillance operations against Americans since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Previous revelations include FBI monitoring of environmental and animal rights organizations, scrutiny of anti-war organizations by a top-secret Pentagon program and eavesdropping by the National Security Agency on domestic communications without court authorization. Federal officials insist that the efforts are legal, although the Pentagon has admitted that the top-secret TALON program mistakenly retained in its database reports on scores of anti-war protests and individuals as part of an effort to identify terrorist threats against defense facilities and personnel. The documents released on Tuesday were obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union under the Freedom of Information Act. They showed that the Joint Terrorism Task Force of the FBI's Pittsburgh office conducted a secret investigation into the activities of the Thomas Merton Center beginning as early as Nov. 29, 2002, and continuing as late as March 2005....

200,000 People in U.S. Terror Database

Police and other government workers in the U.S. have come in contact with terrorists or people suspected of foreign terror ties more than 6,000 times in the past 28 months, the director of the federal Terrorist Screening Center said Tuesday. The encounters in traffic stops, applications for permits and other situations have resulted in fewer than 60 arrests, said Donna Bucella, whose agency maintains a list of 200,000 people known or suspected to be terrorists. The list contains an additional 150,000 records that have only partial names, Bucella said. The vast majority of people on the list are not in this country, and many have only tenuous or inconclusive ties to terrorism, Bucella said at a briefing for reporters at FBI headquarters. The TSC list, conceived after the intelligence failures before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, combines about a dozen databases from nine agencies that any government official — from a Customs agent to a state trooper — can use to check the name of someone who has been screened or stopped. When there is a possible match, the screening center verifies the information is accurate and advises what steps to take. In most of the more than 6,000 incidents Bucella described, officials collected additional information and let the person go....

Barr Slams Patriot Act Renewal

The attempts to reform the national security letter powers that were expanded by the Patriot Act in 2001, failed as Congress renewed the Patriot Act without making meaningful changes. However, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle did agree that more needs to be done to protect our fundamental freedoms while making sure intelligence agents have the tools they need to investigate terrorists. The botched reforms failed to make necessary changes, in fact, government agents are still allowed to look into ordinary citizens' private records without any evidence that they have any connection to a suspected terrorist or terrorist organization. Not only is this the case, but the provision which the President can declare any event a "special event of national significance," giving Secret Service agents expanded powers to exclude, expel and arrest persons not wanted at the event, remains as well. The Congress even snuck in a provision to include penalties regarding the trafficking in contraband cigarettes or smokeless tobacco – which, of course, is not a key factor in the fight against terrorism. The balance of government powers and the Constitution must be upheld....

U.S. Limits Demands on Google

After the Justice Department drastically reduced its request for information from Google, a federal judge said on Tuesday that he intended to approve at least part of that request. The government first subpoenaed Web data from Google last August, as part of its defense of an online pornography law. At a hearing in Federal District Court here, Judge James Ware said that in supporting the government's more limited request, he would nonetheless pay attention to Google's concerns about its trade secrets and the privacy of its users. The government is now requesting a sample of 50,000 Web site addresses in Google's index instead of a million, which it was demanding until recently. And it is asking for just 5,000 search queries, compared with an earlier demand for an entire week of queries, which could amount to billions of search terms. A Justice Department lawyer said at the hearing that the government would review just 10,000 Web sites and 1,000 search queries out of those turned over....

Government Lawyer's Error Upsets Families of 9/11 Victims

Yesterday was another day of frustration for families of the victims of Sept. 11, 2001. They have waited more than four years through delays and appeals for Zacarias Moussaoui's trial to begin. Satellite courtrooms, established by Congress, have been set up in Boston, Manhattan, Long Island, Newark and Philadelphia so they could watch the government make its case that the only person convicted in the United States in the terrorist attacks should be executed. Although the families might disagree about what role Moussaoui played in the attacks and what his sentence should be, many have said that they looked forward to the trial as a vehicle to gather information, heal wounds and, for some, seek some closure. Some family members said they were upset that the actions of a Transportation Security Administration lawyer, Carla J. Martin, could potentially derail the government's case. U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema decided yesterday to exclude all aviation security evidence after Martin violated a court order by e-mailing trial transcripts to seven witnesses and coaching them about their upcoming testimony. Some family members questioned how Martin could have blatantly disregarded a court order -- or not been aware of it. Some wondered whether she was being used as a scapegoat for other government officials who did not want the aviation security evidence to be made public. "I don't think she is alone," Dillard said in a telephone interview last night. "I just don't think she could have gotten away with that. Somebody helped her or prompted her. It just makes me wonder whether this is one more thing where no one is going to be held accountable.... It's almost too clean. I wonder if there is more to the story than we know."....

Government case in Moussaoui trial hurt

The judge in the Zacarias Moussaoui sentencing case decided Tuesday to allow the government to continue to seek the death penalty against the confessed al-Qaida conspirator, but she also barred part of the government's case, which she said had been riddled with “significant problems.” Exasperated by mounting government missteps, U.S. District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled that no testimony about aviation security measures would be allowed during the trial into whether Moussaoui is executed or spends life in prison. “I don’t think in the annals of criminal law there has ever been a case with this many significant problems,” Brinkema said. She ruled the trial could proceed after a daylong hearing into whether coming witnesses had been tainted by improper coaching by a federal lawyer. Brinkema added, “More problems arose today that none of us knew about yesterday.” She said that her order to isolate planned witnesses from trial transcripts and news reports had been violated. She also said she was troubled that one witness sought by defense lawyers was told by federal attorney Carla J. Martin that he could not speak to them and that Martin falsely told the defense that two others were not willing to speak to them. “I wouldn’t trust anything Martin had anything to do with at this point,” Brinkema said. The jury was not present for Tuesday’s questioning and ruling....Anyone who has read Constitutional Chaos by Judge Andrew Napolitano won't be surprised by this prosecutiorial misconduct. Looks, though, like they've run up against a judge who won't put up with it.

Prosecutors Scramble to Salvage 9/11 Case After Ruling

Federal prosecutors yesterday implored a judge to reverse her decision banning key witnesses from testifying at the death penalty trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, saying the misconduct of a government lawyer they labeled a "lone miscreant" should not imperil the case. Calling it unprecedented and "grossly punitive," prosecutors said her ruling devastates their argument that Moussaoui should be executed for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema on Tuesday barred seven witnesses and all aviation security evidence from the trial, saying the actions of Transportation Security Administration lawyer Carla J. Martin had tainted the process beyond repair. At a minimum, prosecutors urged Brinkema to let them present a portion of the disputed evidence through a new witness who had no contact with Martin. A veteran government lawyer, Martin shared testimony and communicated with the seven witnesses in violation of a court order and committed what Brinkema called other "egregious errors." After her ruling Tuesday, prosecutors told Brinkema in a teleconference that she had threatened the sentencing phase of the only person convicted in the United States on charges stemming from the Sept. 11 attacks. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Spencer told her that resuming the proceedings, which began last week in U.S. District Court in Alexandria and are on hold until Monday, would "waste the jury's time."....

U.S. case vs. Hells Angels fizzles

A much ballyhooed racketeering case against Arizona's Hells Angels Motorcycle Club has all but ended in federal court with the U.S. Attorney's Office dismissing charges against some defendants and settling for lesser convictions against the rest. When the two-year sting known as Operation Black Biscuit became public in 2003, it was touted as the most successful infiltration ever of the notorious biker group. Undercover agents were feted in Washington, with Top Cop awards from the National Association of Police Officers. The government's case of drug violations, gun running, murder, racketeering and other crimes came to a close Wednesday, in part because of a feud between federal prosecutors and undercover agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives....

Rushmore to Judgment

America's judges would like to write off last year's anti-court orgy as a political spasm. Tom ("Judges need to be intimidated") DeLay is on the back bench, the testy Supreme Court confirmation hearings are over, and the judge in Terri Schiavo's case no longer needs a deputy to escort him every time he walks his dog. But better times aren't coming back soon. The newest front in the war on the courts is being fought in South Dakota, where, in the shadow of Mt. Rushmore, a group called "J.A.I.L. 4 Judges" is promoting one of the most radical threats to justice this side of the Spanish Inquisition. It's extreme and it's incoherent, but it's got more than 40,000 petition signatures—and it will go to the state's voters as a constitutional amendment in November. A national network of supporters is waiting in the wings, threatening to export the revolution to other states if they do well this fall. The group's proposed measure would wipe out a basic doctrine called judicial immunity that dates back to the 13th century, protecting judges from personal liability for doing their job ruling on the cases before them. A special grand jury—essentially a fourth branch of government—would be created to indict judges for a string of bizarre offenses that include "deliberate disregard of material facts," "judicial acts without jurisdiction," and "blocking of a lawful conclusion of a case," along with judicial failure to impanel a jury for infractions as minor as a dog-license violation. After three such "convictions," the judge would be fired and docked half of his or her retirement benefits for good measure....

Cost Concerns for F.B.I. Computer Overhaul

The long-stalled effort to overhaul the Federal Bureau of Investigation's antiquated computer system could cost another half-billion dollars to complete, and it runs the risk of continued overruns, a Justice Department report concluded Monday. The report, prepared by the Justice Department's inspector general, found that the F.B.I. had taken "important steps" to learn from mistakes that dogged the project. But it also identified what it called "continuing concerns" in budgeting and management. Moreover, the inspector general's office said it was not yet satisfied that the overhaul, even if successful, would allow the bureau to share information adequately with other intelligence and law enforcement agencies. If information-sharing is not built into the system, the report warned, a result may be "costly and time-consuming modifications" of the computer systems at the Justice Department, the Homeland Security Department and elsewhere. The F.B.I. has struggled for more than a decade to develop a modern computer system to allow its agents to analyze data, follow developments in investigations and talk to one another. The agency was forced last year to scrap the final phase in a three-part computer overhaul after spending $170 million on its failed Virtual Case File system. Bureau officials would not discuss the contracting process or the expected cost of the project because the job has not yet been awarded, but the inspector general said the F.B.I. expected the system to cost $400 million to $500 million over the next three to four years. The inspector general promised to "examine in detail the winning bidder's cost estimates" once the job was awarded....
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NEWS ROUNDUP

The Klamath: The Basin, The Bucket and Backbone The other definition of watershed is of interest to everyone who's aware of the Klamath. Watershed - A crucial dividing point, line or factor: a turning point. 2001 was a watershed year for the Klamath and for America. There are many reasons for this, but there is one besides 9-11 that will forever be branded in the hearts and minds of Klamath Basin residents and the people nationwide that became involved in the Klamath Basin in the summer of 2001. In 2001, the Klamath's farming community lost its guarantee of water -- a guarantee that had stood the Klamath and America's consumers in good stead for nearly a century. For all the talk of "restoration," the Klamath has never been static....
Colorado gets cloud-seeding gift Ranchers in parched southwestern Colorado are saying a quiet thanks to cities once considered the robber barons of water: Las Vegas, Phoenix and Los Angeles. The cities, maligned by Coloradans for their heavy use of the Colorado River over the years, have agreed to contribute $45,000 this spring to keep cloud-seeding programs going in the San Miguel, Dolores and Las Animas watersheds to boost snowpacks and, with luck, increase the spring runoff in the heavily used Colorado River. It is the first time Nevada, Arizona and California have helped Colorado in this way, said Rod Kuharich, director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board. "This has a lot of symbolic meaning down here," said Don Schwindt, a rancher outside Cortez, who also sits on the Colorado Water Conservation Board. Schwindt's small water district had run out of money to keep its cloud-seeding program going this year....
Cedar Breaks might become national park Is there room for a sixth national park in Utah? Federal officials and Iron County planners say there might be - at Cedar Breaks. The 6,000-acre national monument, with its stunning redrock amphitheater and high alpine scenery, already draws over 500,000 visitors annually. Monument manager Paul Roelandt and Forest Service district ranger Dayle Flanigan told Iron County commissioners this week that by expanding the monument to include the adjacent Ashdown Gorge Wilderness Area and Flanigan Arch, which lies just outside the wilderness area, a new park would not only be feasible - but a boon to the county's economy. "It would make the monument more noticeable and probably bring in more tourists," Roelandt told commissioners during their weekly meeting....
Evangelicals embrace `creation care' of God's green Earth And in early September, he became one of 86 church leaders to sign the Evangelical Declaration on the Care of Creation, a call to conservation from religious conservatives. "Because we have sinned, we have failed in our stewardship of creation," the statement says. "Therefore we repent of the way we have polluted, distorted, or destroyed so much of the Creator's work." It adds, "Because we await the time when even the groaning creation will be restored to wholeness, we commit ourselves to work vigorously to protect and heal that creation for the honor and glory of the Creator." Jim Ball, executive director of the Evangelical Environmental Network, called the ministers' manifesto "groundbreaking." His group, based in Wynnewood, Pa., orchestrated the release of last year's statement. The ecological goals of the "creation care movement" sound like the Sierra Club's agenda: Protect the water, the air, the land, and the creatures that inhabit them. But biblical imperatives are fundamental to the evangelists' movement....
Conservancy groups launch mega-campaign The Gig Harbor-based Russell Family Foundation has promised $3 million over the next two years to an initial $80 million campaign to conserve and restore the Puget Sound shoreline. The donation will kick off a coordinated effort by People for Puget Sound, The Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land to secure public and private money to create 10 new parks and natural areas along the Sound’s shoreline over the next three years. “We will leave it up to them to identify the sites. We haven’t picked any place and said save that one,” said Nancy McKay, who manages the foundation’s efforts to promote environmental sustainability. The Russell foundation typically designates about $3 million in grants annually to organizations dedicated to environmental conservation efforts. This new commitment to the Puget Sound is in addition to what has been doled out to between 75 and 80 grant recipients every year, she said....
Dunes stay off-limits to off-roaders A federal judge Tuesday struck down a plan by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to allow off-roading once more on large sections of desert sand dunes closed six years ago to protect a plant threatened with extinction. U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston, in her long-awaited ruling, sides with the Sierra Club and other environmental groups in saying the bureau violated the Endangered Species Act and other federal laws in proposing to open four areas of the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area to dune buggies and other all-terrain vehicles. "This decision is about as strong as it gets and confirms all of our concerns about the dunes environment," said Daniel Patterson, a desert ecologist with the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the plaintiffs. For now, those areas -- nearly 50,000 acres in all or about one-third of the dunes in southeastern California, also known as Glamis -- will remain closed while the bureau reviews the ruling, said Doran Sanchez, an agency spokesman. The ruling is a significant blow to Inland off-roaders who spend weekends at the dunes camping out in motor homes and cresting the wind-sculpted dunes that reach 300 feet high....
Actions Renew Tensions Over Use of Desert Land A pair of decisions in the last two days governing recreation, conservation and development across several million acres of California desert are reigniting tensions over endangered species and motorized access in the fast-growing region. Late Tuesday, U.S. Bureau of Land Management officials signed the west Mojave management plan, designed to streamline construction and map areas for motorized recreation and wildlife protection on 9.3 million acres of public land in five counties and 11 cities. Parts of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Kern and Inyo counties are included in the plan, which took 12 years to craft. But the plan was promptly lambasted by environmentalists and off-road vehicle groups, who said that thousands of miles of riding trails had been improperly mapped, that there were no funds for enforcement or implementation, and that lawsuits were inevitable. "They don't have a nickel — not a nickel — to implement any of it," said Roy Denner, president of the Off-Road Business Assn., who was appointed by Interior Secretary Gale Norton to serve on the BLM's Desert District Advisory Council and who has monitored the plan closely....
"Shark Parks?" Oceans said in need of protection With tracts of the ocean as little known as Mars, discoveries of a stunning richness of life in the depths are spurring calls for more protection from trawlers, oil drillers and prospectors. Only about 0.5 percent of the oceans are in protected areas, compared to about 12 percent of the earth‘s land surface set aside in parks for creatures ranging from lions in South Africa to polar bears in Alaska. A United Nations meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Brazil from March 20-31 will review calls to extend protected areas into the high seas to help safeguard marine life ranging from seaweeds to sharks and from starfish to corals. Scientists say the issue is pressing because life is being found in parts of the ocean long thought barren -- in the sediments of abyssal plains on the ocean floor, around subsea mountains, deep sea corals or hydrothermal vents....
Cattle ranchers describe 'worst nightmare' Ranchers saw the end of their world Monday. Dead cattle mottled the landscape a day after winds whipped fire into a murderous frenzy across six Texas Panhandle counties. "It's like Armageddon out here," McLean-area rancher Bill Bryant said. "We hauled - I don't remember - 15 to 18 calves that were dead. They just get into a corner and the fire consumes them." Worse than the dead were the dying. Cattle without ears. Tails amputated by fire. Eyelids melted shut. Ranchers had no choice but to put the burned cattle down. "Imagine your worst nightmare, and it can't even come close to this," said Brad Overstreet, a hand on the Taylor Ranch. Fire killed four horses in a pasture on the ranch six miles north of Alanreed. "All the horses were dead when we found them," Overstreet said. "They didn't have a hair on them. "It's the worst thing you've ever seen in your life."
Government to Scale Back Mad Cow Testing Despite the confirmation of a third case of mad cow disease, the government intends to scale back testing for the brain-wasting disorder blamed for the deaths of more than 150 people in Europe. The Agriculture Department boosted its surveillance after finding the first case of mad cow disease in the United States in 2003. About 1,000 tests are run daily, up from about 55 daily in 2003. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns pointed out testing is not a food safety measure. Rather, it's a way to find out the prevalence of the disease. "Keep in mind the testing was for surveillance," Johanns told reporters Monday in Warsaw, Poland, where he was attending trade talks. "It was to get an idea of the condition of the herd." Higher testing levels were intended to be temporary when they were announced two years ago. Yet consumer groups argue more animals should be tested, not fewer. Officials haven't finalized new levels, but the department's budget proposal calls for 40,000 tests annually, or about 110 daily....
U.S. District Court Denies Humane Society of the United States' Request for Preliminary Injunction The United States District Court for the District of Columbia today denied a request by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) for a preliminary injunction that would effectively suspend operations at the nation's three USDA-approved horse processing plants. On Feb. 22, HSUS filed for a preliminary injunction to prevent the inspections of horsemeat until a pending lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibiting the fee-for-service inspections could be settled. The Court also dismissed two of the three claims filed in that lawsuit on grounds that the plaintiffs lack standing. In the U.S., horses are slaughtered in the identical way to cattle, and are protected under USDA's humane slaughter regulations. "The chief executive officer of the multi-million dollar Humane Society of the United States once stated that his personal goal was the abolition of all animal agriculture," said Charlie Stenholm, Senior Government Affairs Advisor, Olsson, Frank and Weeda and spokesperson for the three processing plants. "I'm happy to say, he's lost a very important battle today, and animal agriculture won."....
Bitterroot man digs for truth about Billy the Kid Blowing snow cast a pall over a small horse pasture outside the kitchen window of Dale Tunnell's rural home. In the distance, a line of traffic crawled south on U.S. Highway 93. Tunnell flipped through a box of papers on a small table in the kitchen, choosing a copy of a letter dated March 27, 1881, from W. Bonney to the governor of New Mexico Territory. "Dear Sir: For the last time I ask, will you keep your promise? I start below tomorrow. Send answer by bearer." Soon after sending the letter, for which he received no reply, Bonney better known as Billy the Kid killed two deputies in his escape from the Lincoln County (N.M.) Courthouse. Had he remained in custody, Bonney would likely have been hanged for murder. Instead, he was shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett that July. The piece of correspondence is one small part of a historical puzzle that Tunnell, a retired federal investigator, has been attempting to solve with a former sheriff, a mayor and others, all from New Mexico. The group has uncovered new physical evidence, Tunnell said last week, and has even exhumed the body of a man who died in 1937 and who claimed to be Billy the Kid. DNA samples from the body are being compared with samples taken from blood stains on a carpenter's bench that supposedly held Bonney's body after he was shot by Garrett. "I want to set the record straight. If Billy the Kid, from 1881 to 1937, lived the life of an honest man, a hardworking fool, then I say he paid his debt to society," Tunnell said....
Cussin' grandson kept promise to grandfather George McEntire trekked from Texas to Cumberland Gap to honor his grandfather's dying wish. "We tell visitors about him," said Janice S. Miracle, a ranger at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. "But we do clean up the language." On Sept. 9, 1863, a Yankee army captured the famous mountain pass and its Rebel defenders. The Confederate prisoners of war included Lt. William R. McEntire. "In 1917, on his deathbed, he made his young grandson George promise he would return to the Gap on the 100th anniversary of his capture, face the North and curse the Yankees for five minutes," Miracle said. George McEntire kept his word on Sept. 9, 1963....
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NEWS ROUNDUP

Glaciers Melting In Montana Park A panel meeting in France this week plans to discuss concerns that human-caused warming of the climate is why the glaciers in Glacier National Park are melting. CBS News correspondent Stephan Kaufman reports one proposal to be discussed at the World Heritage and Climate Change meeting in Paris this week is a plan to designate Montana's Glacier National Park as a "world heritage site in danger" due to global warming. A dozen organizations last month filed a petition asking the United Nations to declare Glacier in Montana and the adjacent Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada endangered, because of glacial retreat and its effect on the environment of the parks. Together they are known as Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, and are covered by a 1995 treaty as a UNESCO World Heritage Site....
US Hopes to Reverse Oil Decline by Burying CO2 The Department of Energy and some environmentalists hope that in coming decades oil companies will expand programs that boost the output of aging oilfields by injecting the gas most scientists call the main culprit in global warming. Since the early 1980s, almost as long as US oil output has been waning, companies have been pumping small amounts of CO2 into old Texas oilfields to force to the surface remaining crude that is trapped between complicated rock formations. Depending on the price of oil and CO2, the United States could quadruple its oil reserves to 89 billion barrels, by pumping more of the gas into oilfields, the Department of Energy said in a report earlier this month....
An energy boom in Silt, Colo., for better and worse Lloyd and Rita Jane Moore have a long list of grievances against the gas companies that have been drilling on their land for the past five years. An access road cuts through their pasture, making it impossible to irrigate the field. The waste tanks leak, the promised "reclamation" has yielded nothing but weeds, and the trucks and drills create a constant drone of noise. Perhaps worst of all, their well ran dry. "The sight, sound, noise, and odor pollution will last for 20 to 40 years," says Mrs. Moore. "When we moved from Mead [Colo.] to here we got more land and we thought we'd sell this place later and retire.... How are we going to sell the place with no water?" Unlike some buyers, the Moores knew when they bought their 37 acres in 1993 that they didn't own the mineral rights - a common situation in the West known as a "split estate." But no one had drilled gas for years. Now, nearly 3,000 wells are operating in Garfield County, most of them drilled in the past six years, with thousands more planned. And opposition is building among an unlikely coalition of environmentalists, conservative property-rights advocates, ranchers, county commissioners, and mayors. It's a sign that the West no longer embraces energy booms the way it used to....
Trust U.S. with water, city’s told The city of Grand Junction wants more protection for its watershed, despite the federal Bureau of Land Management claiming plenty of safety nets are in place. “The BLM says they have adequate watershed stipulations in place, but there’s no detail,” said Greg Trainor, utility manager for the city. “We say lay out the detail now, so when someone comes in to drill, there won’t be any surprises.” About 13,000 acres of the city’s and the town of Palisade’s watersheds on Grand Mesa were recently offered for sale in a February oil and gas lease auction. All of the acres were bid on by an individual from Denver for about $1 million, but the leases have not officially been granted. A protest process surrounding the leases likely will not be resolved until mid-April, according to officials with the BLM’s state office. City and town officials, however, want to see stronger stipulations in place on the leases to assure that pipelines, well pads, roads and compressor stations don’t lead to degraded water quality....
Compromises for drilling in Wyoming Flying above the most prolific natural gas field in the lower 48 states last summer, environmentalist Linda Baker looked at the spider web of drill sites spread out like an ugly but lucrative quilt. Nearby, another gas-rich field was just starting to be drilled, but this time, Baker hoped, it would have fewer drill pads to disturb dwindling wildlife. In an unusual move, environmentalists and industry here had forged a compromise to allow drilling while also protecting the environment. Questar Exploration & Production Co. local general manager Ron Hogan described it this way: "We win. The government wins. The country wins. The wildlife wins." The alliance excited Baker: "Here in the middle of the hottest gas field in the United States, we have these two extremes juxtaposed right next to each other: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." Not anymore. This rare compromise vanished in the seven months since Hurricane Katrina swept ashore some 2,255 miles away....
BLM hollers uncle over permit processing rule Overwhelmed by the explosion of oil and gas drilling in the Rockies, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management on Monday said it can no longer process permit requests within 30 days, as required by federal law. "Our goal is to process drilling permits within 30 days, but we cannot commit to processing all permits within that time frame," BLM spokeswoman Celia Boddington said Monday. "Legal requirements like the National Historic Preservation Act, National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act take beyond 30 days. We clearly have a responsibility to do a thorough review of applications in accordance with those statutes." The BLM said it would make an effort to meet the 30-day goal but it would not be possible for all permit applications. That's because the agency has to comply with several statutes and work with different agencies while approving or denying permits. That could cause delays. The 30-day requirement was set in the Energy Act of 2005 to streamline the processing of permits and boost drilling in the Rocky Mountains. Energy companies have to apply for permits to the BLM, and those permits must be approved before they can drill on federal lands....
Off-roader laws face hard turn Pablo Salas rolled into Cathedral City on a recent weekend expecting to enjoy some family fun riding dirt bikes on a popular hill north of Interstate 10. Instead he found a police blockade near Date Palm Drive at an entrance to an area seasoned off-road riders call "the shovel." The spot, one of few great sites left in the Coachella Valley, boasts a mix of open private and public land that includes plenty of trails, hills and sand that are great for riding. It's also the focus of a Cathedral City police crackdown as the community considers enforcing one of the strictest anti-off-road laws in Southern California to give police more time to patrol the rest of the city. If approved, people like Salas, 34, won't be able to ride in the Coachella Valley anymore....
Power plant shutdown fuels fight between tribes, utility On the last day of 2005, the West's dirtiest power plant shut down, forcing the coal mine that supplied it to close. That was keenly felt by the nation's most populous Indian tribe, which lost jobs and millions of dollars in royalties from the world's largest coal company. Those elements now frame a sticky debate in Indian country about one of the USA's thorniest policy issues: reliance on traditional energy sources such as oil, gas and coal, vs. developing renewable alternatives such as wind and solar power. A key to the debate is an arcane regulatory mechanism called pollution credits. Polluters, such as coal-fired power plants, buy and sell credits in a commodities-style market designed to help clean up the nation's smokestacks. A plant that closes and stops polluting earns credits, based on a federal formula, for its owners. In this dispute, an outside coalition of environmental groups for the first time is demanding tens of millions of dollars worth of the plant owner's credits as restitution for decades of pollution and, the groups say, undervalued coal royalties. ...
Jumbo jet applies for firefighting job There could be a new weapon to help battle wildfires this year -- a very big weapon. An Oregon-based aviation company has spent $40 million to convert a Boeing 747 into a firefighting air tanker that can deliver a monster payload of water or chemical retardant on forest and grass fires. The modified version of the largest passenger jet in service must receive certification from the Federal Aviation Administration and pass a series of tests conducted by the U.S. Forest Service. Pat Norbury, head of the Forest Service's aviation operations, said the huge tanker could be used this year in what is likely to be a major fire season in the parched West. The jet can dump 20,500 gallons of firefighting liquids, nearly seven times the capacity of the largest tanker approved by the Forest Service for use this season....
Endangered Species Act: Time to reform old law The environment is cocktail party fare in places like New York, Boston and Washington, D.C. But in places like Libby, Montana, Klamath Falls, Oregon and Nye County, Nevada, where people's livelihoods depend on living off the land, the environment is a life or death matter. In these places, and hundreds of other communities just like them, Bush's promise to balance the needs of nature with the needs of people was well received in places that had suffered years of economic hardship in the name of snail darters, short nosed suckers and spotted owls. People from New Mexico to the Canadian border were tired of being told by bureaucrats and environmental activists that under the provisions of the Endangered Species Act they would no longer be allowed to graze their livestock, water their crops, turn a shovel or saw a tree because some obscure plant, insect, fish bird or animal might somehow be impacted. It didn't matter whether it meant they could not feed their families, schools would have to close or whether recovery plans were based on weird science. Bush's promise to reform the ESA and put people back into the equation by focusing on recovery plans and recognizing private property rights resonated in the rural districts....
Orcas: Loved to death? Luna's death was sad enough in itself. The end for the young orca on Friday off Vancouver Island becomes just a little more disturbing when you remember that the juvenile was part of an endangered species. Returning the lost male to his pod could have boosted the efforts to save Puget Sound's dwindling population of 90 orcas. The orcas are a long way from the historical population level of about 120 to 150. Activists and Canadian and U.S. authorities put a good amount of effort into developing fairly promising plans to reunite Luna with his family, but for various reasons nothing came to pass. For all those efforts, in fact, people probably hastened Luna's doom. The whale died pretty much as people had taught him to live, taking chances around a big boat. In his separation from his family, the apparently lonely guy had found much-too-ready companionship with people who circled, watched and even fed him from their boats, or on shore....
Supreme Court tilts eastward The U.S. Supreme Court has taken on a decidedly more Eastern tinge. With Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito replacing William Rehnquist and Sandra Day O’Connor, court watchers are wondering how the newly configured court will deal with natural resource issues that are of crucial importance to the Rocky Mountain region. The panelists weren’t exactly sure how the eastward tilt might affect upcoming Supreme Court cases, but several speakers pointed out that Rehnquist and O’Connor, with ties to Arizona, had a special interest in Western geography and critical regional water issues. O’Connor and Rehnquist were middle of the road when it came to environmental rulings, voting "with the environment" 31 percent and 36 percent of the time, respectively, said Thompson. It’s unlikely that the most recent appointees will approach that rating, said panelist Nan Aron, president of the Alliance for Justice, a national association of public interest and civil rights groups. A careful scrutiny of Roberts’ and Alito’s judicial history raises grounds for "extreme concern" from the standpoint of environmental interests, Aron said. The two new justices are much more likely to challenge the federal government’s authority to address environmental issues, she explained....
Buyer Beware: Conservation Can Backfire Over the past few decades, nongovernmental organizations have spent billions buying land and creating natural reserves. Recently, scientists have begun trying to evaluate whether these groups are getting their money's worth. Ecologists Gretchen Daily of Stanford University and Peter Kareiva of the Nature Conservancy teamed up with a pair of economists to learn more about the interplay between conservation and real estate markets. Building a basic economic model, the group considered three categories of land: reserves set up for conservation, private lands with surviving habitat, and developed areas that are no longer useful for wildlife. The law of supply and demand predicted a common-sense result: When private land is scarce, buying a big chunk for a new reserve jacks up prices, which makes it more expensive to buy private land in the future. "Your conservation dollar doesn't go as far," says economist Paul Armsworth of the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom, one of the study's co-authors. A bigger concern is that buying land and setting it aside as a reserve simply shifts development elsewhere. A reserve can become a selling point, making the surrounding private land even more attractive for developers who cater to homeowners longing for uncluttered views....
Editorial: Flora, fauna, and folly LAST YEAR, the House gutted important provisions of the Endangered Species Act, benefiting developers and drillers who do not want their projects slowed by concerns for plants and animals facing extinction. Now it is up to the Senate to defend a law that has kept the nation's symbol, the bald eagle, from disappearing from the lower 48 states. As chairman of the Environment committee's Fish, Wildlife, and Water subcommittee, Senator Lincoln Chafee, Republican of Rhode Island, is in a position to ensure that any changes to the law are improvements, not loopholes. The House bill would change the law's very purpose by limiting designation of protected habitats to areas needed to save a species from imminent extinction, rather than the current standard of recovery. The House bill also would require federal agencies to ignore species protection if it interferes with their mission. The Defense Department already has this authority, which would now be extended to agencies overseeing oil and gas drilling, mining, and timbering....
Camping, hiking and fishing in the wild as a child breeds respect for environment in adults, study finds If you want your children to grow up to actively care about the environment, give them plenty of time to play in the "wild" before they're 11 years old, suggests a new Cornell University study. "Although domesticated nature activities -- caring for plants and gardens -- also have a positive relationship to adult environment attitudes, their effects aren't as strong as participating in such wild nature activities as camping, playing in the woods, hiking, walking, fishing and hunting," said environmental psychologist Nancy Wells, assistant professor of design and environmental analysis in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell. Interestingly, participating in scouts or other forms of environmental education programs had no effect on adult attitudes toward the environment. "Participating in nature-related activities that are mandatory evidently do not have the same effects as free play in nature, which don't have demands or distractions posed by others and may be particularly critical in influencing long-term environmentalism," Wells said....
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Burst oil pipeline causes 'catastrophe' in Alaska

A burst pipeline in Alaska's North Slope has caused the Arctic region's worst oil spill, spreading more than 250,000 gallons of crude oil over an area used by caribou herds and prompting environmentalists again to question the Bush administration's drive for more oil exploration there. The leak was first spotted by a British Petroleum worker 11 days ago, and was reported to have been plugged a few days later. Initial hopes expressed by BP that the spill was limited to a few tens of thousands of gallons proved to be over-optimistic. Alaska's Department of Environmental Conservation has steadily increased its estimate of the size of the spill, the latest estimate putting it at around 265,000 gallons. The leak, whose cause is unknown, occurred in a remote part of the most sparsely populated state in the United States, and it remains to be seen what damage, if any, it has done to ecosystems. It does, however, give grist to groups who have challenged Washington's assertion that oil can be prospected and shipped while leaving only the gentlest of "footprints" on the landscape....
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MAD COW DISEASE

Statement by USDA Chief Veterinary Officer John Clifford (DVM) Regarding Positive BSE Test Results

“We received a positive result on a Western blot confirmatory test conducted at the USDA laboratories in Ames , Iowa , on samples from an animal that had tested “inconclusive” on a rapid screening test performed on Friday, March 10. “The samples were taken from a non-ambulatory animal on a farm in Alabama . A local private veterinarian euthanized and sampled the animal and sent the samples for further testing, which was conducted at one of our contract diagnostic laboratories at the University of Georgia . The animal was buried on the farm and it did not enter the animal or human food chains. “We are now working with Alabama animal health officials to conduct an epidemiological investigation to gather any further information we can on the herd of origin of this animal. The animal had only resided on the most recent farm in Alabama for less than a year. “We will be working to locate animals from this cow’s birth cohort (animals born in the same herd within one year of the affected animal) and any offspring. We will also work with Food and Drug Administration officials to determine any feed history that may be relevant to the investigation. Experience worldwide has shown us that it is highly unusual to find BSE in more than one animal in a herd or in an affected animal’s offspring. Nevertheless, all animals of interest will be tested for BSE. “Under USDA testing protocols, surveillance samples are sent to contract laboratories for screening tests. If the sample is found to be inconclusive on the screening test, it is then shipped to our National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames , Iowa , for an additional rapid test and two confirmatory tests: the immunohistochemistry (IHC) test, which is conducted by APHIS scientists, and the Western blot test, which is conducted by scientists with USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. USDA considers an animal positive for BSE if either of the two confirmatory tests returns a positive result. “In this instance, the inconclusive result from the contract lab in Georgia was confirmed through a second rapid test at NVSL. Now, the Western blot test has returned a positive result, and that is sufficient for us to confirm this animal to be positive for BSE, which is why we are making this announcement today. The IHC results are still pending and we will release those results as soon as they are available, which we expect to be later this week. “I want to emphasize that human and animal health in the United States are protected by a system of interlocking safeguards, and that we remain very confident in the safety of U.S. beef. Again, this animal did not enter the human food or animal feed chains. “While epidemiological work to determine the animal’s precise age is just getting underway and is ongoing, the attending veterinarian has indicated that, based on dentition, it was an older animal, quite possibly upwards of 10 years of age. This would indicate that this animal would have been born prior to the implementation of the Food and Drug Administration’s 1997 feed ban. Older animals are more likely to have been exposed to contaminated feed circulating before the FDA’s 1997 ban on ruminant-to-ruminant feeding practices, which scientific research has indicated is the most likely route for BSE transmission. “By any measure, the incidence of BSE in this country is extremely low. Our enhanced surveillance program was designed as a one-time snapshot to provide information about the level of prevalence of BSE in the United States . We have conducted surveillance in the United States since 1990 and following the initial positive in December 2003, we developed an enhanced surveillance program. Since June 2004, all sectors of the cattle industry have cooperated in this program by submitting samples from more than 650,000 animals from the highest risk populations and more than 20,000 from clinically normal, older animals, as part our enhanced BSE surveillance program. To date, including the animal in today’s announcement, only two of these highest risk animals have tested positive for the disease as part of the enhanced surveillance program. “As we approach the conclusion of our enhanced surveillance program, let me offer a few thoughts regarding surveillance going forward. I can assure you that we will continue to base our maintenance surveillance testing on international guidelines. Though the nature and extent of maintenance surveillance has not yet been finalized, the incidence of BSE in this country remains extremely low and our interlocking safeguards are working to protect both human and animal health and we remain very confident in the safety of U.S. beef. “As we move forward with the epidemiological investigation that has been initiated today into this case of BSE, we will continue to be very transparent in sharing information with the public and with our trading partners around the world."

US confirms 3rd case of mad cow in 27 months

A beef cow from a herd in Alabama has tested positive for mad cow disease, U.S. officials said on Monday, confirming the third case of the disease in 27 months. The U.S. Agriculture Department said the 10-year-old animal, which had tested "inconclusive" for mad cow disease during the weekend, showed a positive result when subjected to a more advanced test. The latest discovery came at a time when U.S. officials were trying to convince Japan to reopen its market to U.S. beef after a shipment of veal violated meat export rules by containing spinal material. Japan suspended beef trade on January 20. South Korea said earlier on Monday it could cancel a planned opening of its market in April to U.S. beef if a new U.S. case was found. Seoul has banned U.S. beef since the first U.S. case in December 2003. Agriculture Department Chief Veterinarian John Clifford announced the positive test results during a telephone news conference. He said the new case was confirmed through the Western Blot test, which was added to USDA's battery of tests last year....

Finding of mad cow in U.S. hits Tyson shares

News that another case of mad cow disease has been found in the United States pressured shares of the country's largest beef processor on Monday. Following the afternoon report, shares of Tyson Foods (TSN) dropped 4.3% to close at $13.07. In a written statement, Tyson said "we remain confident in the safety of our beef products because of the kind of cattle we buy and the precautionary measures we take" and that it does not expect "today's finding to change consumer demand for beef." The company buys young beef animals, "usually less than 30 months old, which are not in the BSE risk group," it added. "We also make sure materials from beef cattle that can potentially carry BSE, such as the brain and spinal cord, are removed and do not enter the food supply." Clifford also said that the U.S. beef supply remains safe....

Meat Company Shares Sink on Mad Cow News

Shares of beef-dependent companies including Tyson Foods Inc. and McDonald's Corp. traded lower Monday after the Agriculture Department confirmed that a cow in Alabama has tested positive for mad cow disease. Shares of meat producer Smithfield Foods Inc. gave up 5 cents, to $28.07 on the NYSE. In the restaurant industry, hamburger giant McDonald's shares fell 33 cents to close at $34.32, while Wendy's International Inc.'s stock fell 54 cents to $62.08. YUM Brands Inc., owner of Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, fell 33 cents to $48.45. Stephens Inc. analyst Farha Aslam, however, said in a client note on Tyson that "beef demand has proven very resilient" in the face of past mad cow headlines and doesn't believe Tyson's U.S. sales will suffer. Aslam said mad cow is currently "less worrisome than bird flu."....

CME Cattle Review: Mixed; Seen Down Tue On Positive BSE Test

Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures prices settled mixed Monday on news the U.S. Department of Agriculture was testing a cow brain sample for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease. But, after the close, the USDA announced a positive test for the cow, which spent the past year on a farm in Alabama. As a result, lower prices for CME cattle futures are expected Tuesday morning. Most active April live cattle futures have already fallen 1,233 points from their Jan. 10 top to Friday's low, for a 13% decline. "Unless this animal's herd mates also test positive for the disease, I don't see any sustained impact," said Dan Vaught, analyst and economist with AG Edwards and Sons. "American consumers have become immunized to this type of story." But, although there is often a seasonal bounce in early spring cattle prices, as weather warms for grilling, Vaught and others warned of an expected summer increase in slaughter-ready live cattle supplies. "I'm already bearish because of the supply and demand fundamentals," said Tres Knippa, a live cattle pit broker with many cattle feedlot customers. "This positive result could exacerbate an expected early summer supply glut." The news comes at a difficult time for the nation's cattle producers. Poultry protein price competition has increased due to diminished U.S. chicken exports in the wake of worldwide bird flu fears....

Industry leaders: Mad cow finding shows U.S. system works

Cattle industry leaders say the discovery of a new case of mad cow disease in this country points to the success of the United State's testing and surveillance program. They also say that consumers -- both in this country and abroad -- can remain confident in the safety of U-S beef. A cow in Alabama tested positive for mad cow disease. Officials with the U-S Department of Agriculture say the animal did NOT enter the human food or animal feed chains. This is the third case of mad cow disease in the U-S since December 2003. Authorities are still investigating the origin of the animal involved in the latest case. Jim Magagna, of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, says that now, there isn't the sense of panic and fear that surrounded the disease early on. He says there is -- quote -- "pretty good evidence we don't have a widespread problem in this country."

Hong Kong halts Swift Beef imports

Hong Kong health authorities have slapped a suspension on all imports from a Colorado-based beef processor after discovering the firm had shipped meat products to the territory containing skeletal bones. Imports from the Swift Beef Company were suspended with "immediate effect," according to the airport office of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, citing a spot inspection of product from the company carried out Friday. "The decision was made following discovery of beef imports with bones from that plant during inspections," a department spokesman said in a statement. Hong Kong permits only boneless beef from cattle less than 30 months old, with the animal's brain, spinal cord and other parts with a high risk of mad cow disease removed. Hong Kong banned all beef U.S. beef imports Dec. 24, 2003, after mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, was detected in a cow in Washington State. The ban was partially lifted Dec. 29 after a protocol was agreed that set out the packing requirements and handling requirements. "We will contact the relevant authorities for more information concerning the beef imports in question," the spokesman said. The U.S. meat processing plant that made the ineligible shipment to Hong Kong is certified by the U.S. Agriculture Department as eligible for overseas shipment, including Hong Kong and Japan....

Japan to seek more U.S. explanation on beef checks

Japan's vice farm minister said on Monday his ministry would seek further explanations from the United States about its beef inspection system after Hong Kong suspended U.S. beef imports. Japan wants to know why beef shipped to Hong Kong from a plant of U.S. beef company Swift & Co. contained banned cattle parts, Vice Agriculture Minister Mamoru Ishihara said. "It was very disappointing," Ishihara said when asked by reporters about the U.S. violation of its beef trade agreement with Hong Kong, which came nearly two months after Japan detected a similar violation in its inspection of a shipment of U.S. veal. Ishihara said that the latest violation may answer Japanese questions about whether the ineligible U.S. shipment to Japan was an isolated case or a systematical problem....
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NEWS ROUNDUP

Bush to look West when replacing Interior's Norton President Bush will abide by tradition and name a Westerner to replace Interior Secretary Gale Norton, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card said. And the White House will look for a successor whose views mirror those of the pro-development Norton, Card said. "We will be looking West," Card told The Denver Post. "She came to the job with a real appreciation of Western lands. ... We will be looking for people who have the same appreciation." Under Norton, there has been a 22 percent increase in coal production on U.S. public lands and a 17 percent increase in natural-gas production. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management, part of her agency, went from a backlog of oil and gas permits to producing them faster than companies can drill them. She also made federal lands friendlier to loggers, snowmobilers and off- roaders....
Interior's Norton had big impact on West Perhaps no one person has done more in the past five years to alter the landscape of the rural West than Gale Norton, who resigned Friday as Interior secretary. She opened the Rocky Mountains and much of the North Slope of Alaska to oil and gas development. She all but banned new protected wilderness areas on the federal land under her control. And she urged the Bureau of Land Management to seek more logging on 2.5 million acres in Western Oregon. Norton, who leaves office at month's end, personally oversaw a messy water war in Oregon's Klamath River basin in 2002 that eventually resulted in irrigation for farmers while more than 60,000 fish died. The river is still in such ill health that chinook fishing may be shut down along vast stretches of the West Coast....
Why Interior is such a difficult agency to lead Geographically speaking, no member of the Bush administration has had more impact on or responsibility for the United States than Interior Secretary Gale Norton. Secretary Norton, who announced her resignation Friday, oversaw more than 500 million acres of national parks and wilderness, water reclamation projects, most energy development, Indian tribal issues, endangered-species protection, and tracts of arid Western rangeland where cattle roam and the deer and the antelope play. The position is a challenging one that often embroils its occupants in controversy - and is likely to continue to do so. Typically run by a native Westerner, the Interior Department in recent years has swung between an emphasis on environmental protection and a philosophy of developing public lands - called "wise use" or "market-based environmentalism." To his critics, James Watt, President Ronald Reagan's lightning-rod Interior secretary, represented the latter approach at its most extreme. During the Clinton years, Bruce Babbitt - former head of the pro-environment League of Conservation Voters - fought to close old mines and dams, tried to charge users more for cattle grazing and mineral mining, and expanded national monuments and protections for other federal landscape. Ms. Norton's five-year tenure, moving Interior back to a more development-oriented agenda, gets mixed reviews....
Mystery animal killing sheep in McCone, Garfield counties Ranchers in McCone and Garfield counties, as well as federal wildlife officials, are hunting a wolf or wolf hybrid that has killed 35 sheep and wounded 70 others since late December. The attacks started near Circle more than 250 miles from the nearest known wolf territory. Five sheep were killed and 15 wounded, some of which died later. The next attack happened Jan. 10 and ended with 21 grown ewes dead and 40 injured. In both cases, agents with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services looked at tracks and other evidence and determined domestic dogs were responsible. On Jan. 12, four more sheep were killed and six injured, said Carolyn Sime, wolf program coordinator for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Word of the attacks spread, and ranchers began looking for a killer dog. On Feb. 6, Jeff Skyberg, a private trapper in Circle, got a call from a rancher who said he'd spotted large dog tracks in some fresh snow. Skyberg, who works for a local predator control district funded by ranchers, got in a small plane and followed the tracks. "When I got to the end of the tracks, it wasn't a dog," he said. He described what looked like a wolf: a big gray animal with a straight tail. Dog or hybrid tails often curl....
Zoo's wolves are Southwestern visitors Minnesota Zoo keeper Jackie Fallon has spent much of her career working desperately to save the "ghosts of the Southwest," the rarest and most endangered wolves in North America. Mexican gray wolves were wiped out in the United States by the middle of the 20th century, but the subspecies found a sliver of hope in the late 1970s after a trapper working for the government captured five wolves alive in Mexico. For more than a decade, Fallon has been part of a two-nation effort to breed those captive wolves and return their descendants to the wild, after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service asked the Apple Valley zoo in 1994 to help. One of the zoo's former wolves is now at a holding facility awaiting release into the Blue Mountain Range in Arizona. "That's what I've always strived for, every day, for all of these years," Fallon said. In the meantime, Fallon cares for four male Mexican wolves, the smallest and most genetically distinct type of gray wolf....
Love of Land, Hate for Developers Unite Agriculturalists and Environmentalists From the time they could sit in a saddle, Cary and Layne Lightsey have enjoyed riding around the family's 6,500-acre cattle ranch near Lake Wales in wonder at its natural beauty. These days the brothers, also partners in Lightsey Cattle Co., take a special pleasure in their rides knowing they've found a way to preserve the beauty of the land for generations to come. "Our happiness comes from the land and work and the traditional lifestyle. We're preserving what makes us happy," said Cary Lightsey, a sixth-generation rancher. The Lightseys have sold the development rights to 60 percent of their 16,000acre ranch properties in Polk, Highlands and Osceola in five separate deals during the past 14 years to state and federal government conservation programs, which will keep the land in its natural state in perpetuity. Although they and future Lightsey generations will maintain physical possession of the land and can continue using it for agricultural purposes, they cannot sell the land to real estate developers for homes, stores or office buildings. Any future owners outside the family also will have to maintain the land as is....
Column: State errs on private hunting decision The recent decision by the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission to limit the general big game hunting season to five weeks is a thinly veiled effort to force more public hunting on private property. Unfortunately, limiting the season to just five weeks and not allowing early and late season hunts is unlikely to improve wildlife management and will almost certainly hurt hunters in the long run. Opening access to private property is a recurring theme for Gov. Schweitzer's administration, one that should leave landowners shaking in their cowboy boots or their wing-tips. The governor recently blamed fences, especially those built by out-of-staters, for keeping out hunters and anglers. He said that "these fences aren't fencing Angus bulls in, they are fencing Montanans out." The new rules clearly go beyond the out-of-state owners so disdained by the governor to include Montana citizens who do own Angus bulls....
Kansas is increasing efforts to get control of its wild hog population A dozen men, a half-dozen trucks and a helicopter moved across Kansas as a team last week, shooting wild hogs from the air in spots where the pigs were loathed. Shortly after listening to a landowner lament damage to fences, crops and gamebird nests Wednesday, the aircraft flushed eight hogs from thick cedars. Soon, the entire herd was dead. Sam Graham of the Kansas Animal Health Department was even happier than the rancher. His department is concerned feral swine could hold diseases that could affect livestock and humans, so the hunt gives them hogs to test. Tom Halstead, U.S. Department of Agriculture wildlife services state director, said the project was funded by the state health department, with cooperation from his agency. Not native to the U.S., and only found in Kansas within the last 15 years, wild hogs are getting a lot of attention this year....
Barriers at border go up as debate on effects goes on While politicians in Phoenix and Congress talk about building a tall fence along Arizona's border with Mexico, workers here are completing a shorter and more modest obstacle. This low-slung vehicle barrier will do nothing to stop people from walking into Southern Arizona illegally. But on public lands where the obstacles are popping up, officials say the devices have succeeded in stopping the so-called drive-throughs that can imperil law enforcement and scar the thin-skinned desert for decades. In a 2004 report by the House Select Committee on Homeland Security, congressional staff reported seeing photos of a special truck that could park perpendicular to the barrier on the Mexican side, unfold a set of rails over the barrier and unfold another set of rails behind it. "Other vehicles could then drive up the back of the modified truck, across its top and down its front, over the vehicle barrier and into the United States," the report said. To build the barriers, workers may need to widen roads, build new ones and sink wells to supply water for making concrete. Despite those impacts, biologists, land managers and environmentalists generally favor the barriers because they don't impede wildlife and can prevent even greater damage by vehicles....
Suit aims to stall Alaska oil development Environmental groups are suing the Interior Department to block expanded oil and gas exploration in an ecologically sensitive area of Alaska's North Slope. The 18-page lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Juneau focuses on the government's decision in January to allow drillers to lease previously closed acreage in the northeast corner of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The Bush administration's decision opens up 389,000 acres for leasing, giving drillers a chance to find and produce an estimated 2 billion barrels of oil and 3.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the tundra north and east of Teshekpuk Lake. The plaintiffs contend the Bureau of Land Management, an Interior agency, violated the Endangered Species Act and other federal laws in failing to properly analyze the potential impacts of oil and gas activity in a region that is a magnet for thousands of migratory geese. They contend the agency paid inadequate attention to the potential for industrial sprawl that could chop up an Arctic haven for animals of great importance to subsistence hunters....
Editorial: Oil and gas leasing moving too quickly Colorado resources will help meet the nation's energy needs, but oil and gas development should respect other public values such as clean air, clean water and wildlife. There is a risk that the frenetic pace of oil and gas activity in the West is running roughshod over other public goals. And the leases now being granted could dictate the fate of our public lands and national forests for decades. The Bush administration long has pushed for expanded drilling on federal lands, even in ecologically sensitive areas. As a result, if a future Congress wants to someday protect those areas, it may be too late. Mineral leases are property rights, so once oil and gas companies obtain them they have all but guaranteed their ability to move in drill rigs, usually within a 10-year window. Oil companies also must apply for drilling permits, but that approval is very likely. Ironically, energy outfits already have more federal land under lease than they can drill in the foreseeable future. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management's 2004 data show that energy companies have leased 35 million acres of public lands, but only about a third, or 11.6 million acres, are producing any oil or gas. Energy companies have more than 4,300 leases on federal lands in Colorado, but in 2004 sought permission to drill on just 378. The backlog of untapped leases means that oil and gas companies have locked in their right to drill on public lands well beyond this administration. The companies say there's so much drilling taking place that they can't get enough rigs - they're even bringing in rigs from China....
Evangelicals, Scientists, Environmentalists Fight for Endangered Species Act As the Senate prepares to take up revisions to the Endangered Species Act this month, evangelicals, scientists, environmentalists, and environmental-evangelical-scientists launched a nationwide effort to raise awareness among their supporters about the threat to the landmark law and to urge policymakers to preserve scientific protections in the act. The Noah Alliance, an interfaith group of Evangelical Christian, Protestant and Jews, began running about $200,000 of advertisements on hundreds of radio, print and television media since Mar. 8. Organizers hope the ads, which will run through Mar. 13, will serve to alert people of faith to the potential dismantling of the Endangered Species Act – legislation they call “America’s modern-day ark to save God’s creatures.” “As Evangelical Christians in our time, we see a most profound threat to God's creation in the destruction of endangered species and their God-given habitat,” said Calvin DeWitt, environmental professor at the University of Wisconsin and president of the Academy of Evangelical Scientists and Ethicists. “We want the public to see the risk we face if Congress weakens the Endangered Species Act.” The Academy, which includes nearly 70 Evangelical scholars from Baptist, Pentecostal, Reformed, and other churches and from 35 Christian colleges and universities in 19 states, is one of several faith-based groups that formed Noah’s Alliance last year specifically to bring a religious voice in the movement to protect endangered species....
Raging Texas Wildfires Blamed for 7 Deaths Massive wildfires raced across the Texas Panhandle and South Plains early Monday, burning more than half a million acres, leaving at least seven people dead and injuring at least seven more. Four of the victims were killed in a chain-reaction crash on Interstate 40 east of Groom as smoke obscured the road. Three others died in fires near Borger, northeast of Amarillo. "This is probably one of the biggest fire days in Texas history," said Warren Bielenberg, a spokesman for the Texas Forest Service. The fires scorched more than 663,000 acres - about two-thirds the size of Rhode Island - far eclipsing the deadly wildfires that prompted Gov. Rick Perry to declare a statewide drought disaster in January. The earlier blaze charred more than 455,000 acres, destroyed more than 340 homes and killed three people in Texas....
200 ordered to flee N.M. grass fire A 70,000-acre grass fire burned Sunday near homes and farms in two southeastern New Mexico communities, prompting evacuation orders for up to 200 people and injuring one man. The fire burned the post office in McDonald and several other buildings, officials said. A state road was closed and residents in McDonald and Prairie View were told to leave their homes. A man who suffered burns while trying to put out the fire was taken to a Lubbock, Texas, hospital where he was in stable condition, Lovington Fire Department Capt. Robert Morris said. About a dozen fire departments fought the blaze and dug fire lines to protect homes and buildings as winds gusted to 60 mph, Morris said....
Cattlemen's philosophies deepen split There is a split down the middle of the U.S. cattle industry that runs deep, although it can be difficult for city and town folks to fathom. On one side are R-CALF USA and state affiliates such as the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association. On the other side are the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and state affiliates such as the South Dakota Cattlemen's Association. They disagree sharply on issues such as foreign trade agreements, country-of-origin labeling, mandatory animal identification and opening the U.S. border to Canadian cattle after that country's mad cow disease problem. It's hard to tell the difference between these groups simply by appearances. They all typically wear cowboy hats and boots. They all make their living from cattle. The two sides are so sharply split that they don't even agree on why they are split....
Most recent rift between cattle groups began in the 1990s The growing rift in the cattle and beef industry began coming to a head in 1999, although various livestock associations have been battling each other since the turn of the 20th century. R-CALF was formed out of frustration with the National Cattlemen's Beef Association on the part of some of its members. Among them was Leo McDonnell, a Columbus, Mont., rancher who chafed when the group, in his view, wasn't battling hard enough on behalf of independent ranchers. McDonnell, along with Herman Schumacher, a sale-barn operator from Herreid, and Kathleen Kelley of Meeker, Colo., founded the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund in 1998. McDonnell became its president. The group became a membership organization in 1999. The Stockgrowers were becoming split, with some favoring what they saw as the more progressive philosophy of the NCBA and others complaining that the NCBA was favoring the feeders and big meatpacking companies over the interests of independent ranchers....
Mixing saddles and spas Once considered the "dude ranch capital of the world," Tucson sometimes seems to have traded in its boots and spurs for multivitamin facials and golf carts. But now, it's mixing them. Two of Tucson's three surviving guest ranches are offering services such as tai chi and yoga classes, hot rock massages, full-service manicures and fitness centers. The third, the Lazy K Bar Guest Ranch in Marana, doesn't have a spa, but it is joining the others in offering new programs such as cowgirl camps and Nature Conservancy programs to attract new demographic groups. "We're doing better than we have in the last number of years by adjusting our focus on getting different types of people to the ranch," Lazy K Sales Manager Mikki Gries said....
Payson's oldest cowboy still has swagger at 90 Charlie Henderson is the oldest cowboy in Payson -- although he'd probably never admit it. He's much too classy for that sort of bravado, even for an old rancher. But that doesn't stop his friends from crowing the news. Back when Highway 260 was still a dusty drag heading east, Duke Wilbanks worked cattle with Henderson on nearby Little Green Valley Ranch. "He made one of the best ranches in Arizona," Wilbanks said. "He had a lot of common sense and took care of the land better than the Forest Service." And at 90, Henderson's still got that cowboy swagger. His dusty, black-felt cowboy hat, curling at the edges, sits low on his head, obscuring his cornflower blue eyes. He wears a flannel shirt and faded Levi's, threadbare in the knee....
San Juan Capistrano: Living History in Spanish West Mission San Juan Capistrano, is one in a chain of 21 settlements founded by the Spanish missionaries during the middle 1700s. On November 1, 1776, Father Junipero Serra founded the San Juan Capistrano Mission, in what is now Orange County. San Juan Capistrano is best known for where the swallows once migrated each March after wintering 7,000 miles away in Goya, Argentina. However, before the swallows' annual return was first recorded at the San Juan Capistrano Mission, the grounds had fallen to opportunists, government turnovers, and to violent Pacific storms. Serra built a self-contained adobe fort in the 1770s in what had been a valley of several hundred Juaneno Indians. They used local materials to construct the San Juan Capistrano Mission on a knoll, north of where two salmon-plump rivers merged. In 1794, forty adobe homes were built, housing Mission workers and ranch hands, along Los Rios Street --the oldest residential street in California. In 1797 construction began on a stone church designed to hold hundreds of parishioners. The massive structure took nine years to complete and towered above the valley floor....
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SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE WESTERNER

Savvy words are a foreign language

By Julie Carter

Language ranks among the most visible, audible, extensive, and useful cultural evidence that human societies create. I think it is one of the most important parts of any culture.

Anyone looking into ranch life, cowboys, “westernisms,” history and culture of the American West will find a cultural language all its own. Yankees don’t always understand it or even recognize it as a real language.

I know that my personal dialect is that of a direct plain-spoken westerner. I use words that others don’t recognize as words and I leave out words (that) others would place in the thought process I’m expressing. See parenthesis. They might call it correct grammar. I call it unnecessary.

While I possess in the recesses of my upbringing a full vocabulary of range vernacular, some very skilled mentors managed to round off the edges of my speech. As a young girl my mother came west from the civilized world bringing with her a civilized vocabulary. I was also blessed with teachers that were able to teach me to hold my own in polite company when it came to conversation.

I’m not embarrassed that I often have to look up the meaning of words used casually and easily by my coworkers. Given the opportunity I could give them a few they would have to look up, not because they are unlearned but because it’s a foreign language to them. And they wouldn’t find them in ordinary dictionaries.

In “cowboy,” jingle isn’t a bell sound or a song. It is a verb that means to gather the horses. Hooley-ann isn’t a country girl but a type of loop thrown to catch a horse. Hoolihan is something completely different and would they know where to look for the dew-claws? Could they label which horse was the crow hopper, crawfisher or the blind bucker?

The early cowboy was generally not highly educated but he never lacked for expression. The sharp directness of his speech seemed novel and strange to conventional people but no one could accuse him of being boring. His ability to turn a picturesque phrase was as refreshing as it was unexpected and often showed his keen sense of humor.

His figures of speech are descriptive and clearly accurate. Trying to accomplish the impossible is “like tryin’ to scratch your ear with your elbow.” When expressing his idea of prominence he might say it “stuck out like a new saloon in a church district.”

Pretty is “prettier than a spotted dog under a red wagon,” and ugly is expressed in colorful descriptions like “so narrow between the eyes he could look through a keyhole with both eyes.”

Today’s cowboy is quite often very educated, but you will find the “book learnin’” never takes away his ability to employ his words in a way that suits him. He will arrange them in a manner that best expresses his idea and is completely unrestricted by tradition.

That cowboy slang, twang and verbal saunter is often worn like the camouflage of a chameleon. From behind it the cowboy will sometimes attempt to beguile the listener and lull them into false sense of superiority. That dumb ole boy trick has made many a cowboy a whole lot of money. Their theory is to not tamper with the natural ignorance of a greenhorn.

Whatever their dialect, phraseology, and vernacular, the cowboy did and still does have a way of expressing a big thought in a few words. “Success is the size of the hole a man leaves after he dies.”

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

© Julie Carter 2006
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OPINION/COMMENTARY

Joint Letter to House and Senate Leadership on Opening ANWR to Energy Exploration

The undersigned organizations are dismayed that an obstructionist bloc in the first session of the 109th Congress was able to thwart the will of majorities in both the House and the Senate to enact legislation to open a small portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil and gas exploration. We urge you to move budget reconciliation legislation (and any other vehicle that can overcome the procedural obstacles that will no doubt be used again to try to block the majority in both chambers) as soon as possible to accomplish this important goal and pledge that we will strongly support your efforts. We believe that there are several important reasons to open ANWR. First, contrary to claims by environmental pressure groups that the oil and gas ANWR potentially contains are only a few “drops in the bucket” and that oil companies are not interested in exploring ANWR’s coastal plain, the U. S. Geological Survey’s mean estimate of economically recoverable oil and gas reserves under the coastal plain of ANWR is 10.4 billion barrels of crude oil. Such an amount would increase proven U. S. crude oil reserves by 50% and is equivalent to approximately a quarter century of current imports from Saudi Arabia, one of our top foreign suppliers. The USGS estimate was based on assuming oil priced at $30 a barrel; assuming $60 a barrel would give a much higher estimate of economically recoverable reserves. Second, environmental pressure groups contradict themselves by arguing that opening ANWR would be nothing but a payoff to “Big Oil”. If it contains little oil, then it isn’t much of a payoff. If it does contain billions of barrels of oil, then oil companies will bid for the right to explore. It is estimated that the winners will initially pay several billion dollars for exploration contracts....

SKI OPERATOR ASKS TO JOIN IN OPPOSING ENVIRO LAWSUIT

A ski operator that has provided helicopter skiing in Teton County, Wyoming, for decades moved today to intervene in a lawsuit filed by several environmental groups challenging a U.S. Forest Service permit issued to the operator. High Mountain Heli-Skiing filed its motion with the Idaho federal district court asking that it be permitted to become involved in the lawsuit as a party defendant, that is, in support of the Forest Service’s decision. High Mountain maintains that the lawsuit by the environmental groups asserting that the Forest Service permit interferes with wilderness study areas is without merit and that the decision by the Forest Service complied full with federal law and regulations. High Mountain believes that the case may not be heard properly in Idaho. “This lawsuit was filed in Idaho and not in one of the only two locations in which it could have been filed legally because the environmental groups sought a more favorable forum for their groundless complaint, that is, a state that falls within the Ninth Circuit’s jurisdiction,” said William Perry Pendley of Mountain States Legal Foundation, which represents High Mountain. “We are confident this case will be removed as the Forest Service requests and, after a full hearing on the merits, our client will prevail and continue to operate.” High Mountain Heli-Skiing began in the Bridger-Teton and Caribou-Targhee National Forests in 1974, providing heli-skiing under a Special Use Permit since 1977 in a 70-square-mile area. Previously, High Mountain operated in a larger area but, with passage of the 1984 Wyoming Wilderness Act, terrain in the Jedediah Smith Wilderness and the Gros Ventre Wilderness was removed from the permit area, reducing that area by a third. Today, 61 percent of High Mountain’s permit is in the Palisades Wilderness Study Area....

New FBI Smoking Guns Point To PETA

In December the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) made a big public splash by unveiling documents obtained from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) under a Freedom of Information Act request. At the time, the ACLU released only a few dozen pages from its FBI treasure trove, selected to bolster its case that the federal government was spying on groups including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) despite what it called "a lack of evidence" that PETA was "engaging in or supporting violent action." But during the past few weeks, the ACLU's website has been quietly updated to include more than 200 additional pages of the FBI's files on PETA. And this new material indicates a solid connection between PETA and the animal-rights movement's violent underbelly. The complete set of pages, finally available on the ACLU's website (look for a link titled "Full set of PETA documents"), includes some disclosures that PETA will not be happy about -- and which indicate that the FBI knows exactly what it's doing. If you don't relish the thought of wading through 227 pages of heavily redacted FBI files, we've collected the most interesting material on our AnimalScam.com website. Click here to read the FBI's conclusions that (among other things) PETA recruits interns from overseas for "the sole purpose of committing criminal acts."....

Environmental Justice?

Did you know that a court can mandate a human to give an apology to an animal after a conviction of endangered species "harrassment?" ecoEnquirer: A peaceful Sunday of fishing turned sour for Josh Williams recently. The problems started when Mr. Williams hooked a nice smallmouth bass, and a bald eagle took notice. While the eagle swooped in, attempting to catch the bass in its talons, Mr. Williams was observed by a Fish and Wildlife Service officer trying to scare the eagle away by throwing stones at it. The FWS officer testified in U.S. District Court of South Dakota that Mr. Williams had clearly violated one of the Endangered Species Act's prohibited activities that specifically makes it illegal to "...harass....an endangered or threatened species without a permit from the Secretary of the Department of the Interior." The judge agreed, finding the man guilty of a misdemeanor violation of the Act. The judge was lenient in sentencing, however, requiring only that the man apologize to the eagle. Mr. Williams expressed remorse, stating that the eagle would be welcome to help him fish anytime it wanted to. The eagle had no comment....

UPDATE: The last story is a hoax. Read the comments for further info.
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