Thursday, July 27, 2006
NEWS ROUNDUP
Groups press drilling bill Business groups have stepped up their lobbying efforts in support of a bill that could lead to more offshore oil and gas development. The bill, which faces a cloture vote today in the Senate, is more limited than a House measure already passed. It would only expand offshore drilling to an area in the eastern Gulf of Mexico known as Lease 181. The House version, by contrast, gives states more authority to determine whether to allow drilling off their coasts. Drilling moratoriums are now in place for most offshore areas. Drilling critics worry that conferees will use the opportunity presented in conference to broaden the Senate measure as well. But business groups such as the National Association of Manufacturers and the American Chemistry Council, which represent companies stung by high prices for natural gas, have been out in force on Capitol Hill urging yes votes....
Senate Passage of Energy Bill Appears Assured The Senate moved closer on Wednesday to passing a bill that would expand energy production in the Gulf of Mexico. A procedural vote of 86 to 12 allowing the debate to begin signaled wide support for opening up large new tracts for drilling. Thirty-one Democrats and one independent joined all but one Republican, Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, in the early test vote, usually a strong indicator of a bill’s potential to pass with bipartisan support. But the consensus may be fragile, and the bill, if approved in a final vote that is expected next week, would still have to be reconciled with a very different drilling bill approved by the House. The bill identifies 8.3 million acres for new energy development in the gulf, four times the area sought by the Bush administration through its lease program for 2007-12. It would also create protections for Florida’s western coastline and establish a program that gives other gulf states — Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama — 37.5 percent of royalties from energy production that now accrue to the federal government, potentially a shift of billions of dollars in revenues....
Column: New Land Rules Serve Ranchers, Hamper Conservationists In the latest showdown between contrasting visions of the American West, the federal Bureau of Land Management has rolled out new regulations for livestock grazing on public lands. Environmentalists are taking the agency to court, warning that the rules would trample environmental protections, further endanger wildlife, and close avenues for public oversight. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) claims its new rules, announced earlier this month, will promote "flexibility" for ranchers who have access to hundreds of millions of acres of public rangelands. But conservation groups say the Bureau is seeking to enhance its "working relationship" with ranchers by suppressing public stakeholders. John Carter, Utah director of the Western Watersheds Project, a group that opposes cattle-grazing on federal lands, called the rules "another step in the effort by public-lands ranchers to divest the American people of ownership of these lands." Arguing that cattle roaming the Western states form one of the most destructive uses of the country's natural resources, groups complain that the new rules would make it nearly impossible to fully address livestock damage to local wildlife. They say that additional bureaucratic hurdles would paralyze the enforcement of Clinton-era guidelines intended to balance grazing with other public-land uses like camping and fishing....
Water rights activists question Nevada-Utah deal Water rights activists in Nevada and Utah raised questions Wednesday about a plan to split up water rights in Snake Valley, on the border between the two states, and in the process help get more water to booming Las Vegas. The Great Basin Water Network sent a letter to U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., urging him to seek a delay in a pending compact between the two states that would apportion the water rights in the valley, near Great Basin National Park. Susan Lynn, executive director of the network, said more than 80 ranchers, Indians, environmentalists and others signed the letter, which calls the agreement premature. The letter adds the compact would "ease the way" for the Southern Nevada Water Authority to start drawing on eastern Nevada water via a planned $2 billion pipeline to Las Vegas. The SNWA's current vice-chairman is Clark County Commission Chairman Rory Reid, Sen. Reid's son. The letter also states that the public was "largely excluded" from discussions about the agreement until word of its existence was leaked inadvertently on a government Web site....
Wyoming wildlife officials unveil elk brucellosis plan Ranchers would be encouraged to change their cattle operations under a new state plan for managing brucellosis in feedground elk in western Wyoming. Incentives, financial or otherwise, would be sought to help sway producers to make changes that may lessen the risk of elk and cattle coming into contact - or of elk spreading brucellosis to cattle. The source of any such funds isn't specified in the plan, released Wednesday by the state Game and Fish Department. But Jared Rogerson, a brucellosis feedground habitat biologist with the agency, said the state likely would pursue federal dollars. Agency officials say the plan is aimed at lowering the risk of brucellosis spread, either from elk to cattle or among elk that gather on feedgrounds in the fall and winter. But it stops short of calling for the immediate elimination of any of the three feedgrounds in the Upper Green River Elk Herd Unit, north of Pinedale....
Unfragmented Landscape Working Wilderness: The Malpai Borderlands Group and the Future of the Western Range, by Nathan Sayre. Rio Nuevo Publishers, $22.95. That acknowledged, Working Wilderness is an enjoyable read about something taking place in our own backyard that epitomizes the "think globally, act locally" admonition. "It's a volatile mixture of people and land, history and ecology, passion and politics," author Nathan Sayre promises--and then delivers...And that's only logical when the book itself zeros in on the nonprofit Malpai Borderlands Group, a diverse panoply of ranchers, scientists, public agencies and private conservationists--all with preconceived notions, many with conflicting aims. Not only are the players local and readily identifiable; their 800,000 acres of borderland, a 1,250-square-mile triangle where Arizona and New Mexico meet Sonora and Chihuahua, is familiar turf to those who live in this neck of the woods...In a chapter subhead titled "Origins of Mutual Distrust," Sayre, a geography professor at the University of California at Berkeley, admits to readers that while the historical Western range may be broken, "the polarized politics of rangeland conflict, pitting ranchers against environmentalists in a kind of holy war, made wholesale reform unattainable." Instead, it took innovative approaches emerging from the grassroots level, poking up through layers of indifference, habit and bureaucracy, to get differing agendas on the same page. "Imagine the Western range as an enormous puzzle whose pieces have not only come apart but changed their shapes as well. They cannot be put back together according to the old picture. The Malpai Group has chosen to look at all the pieces in this 1,250-square-mile puzzle and insist they can be one whole again. The Group remains many years away from completing this new picture, but they are further along than anyone else."....
No subsidy provided for killed livestock in wolf program The US Fish and Wildlife Service says it will continue to reintroduce the endangered Mexican gray wolf in eastern Arizona and western New Mexico, but not everyone is pleased with the news. Many area ranchers have been vocal opponents of the reintroduction effort because of livestock depredation. Neither the current program nor recommendations accepted this week provide for any government subsidy or reimbursement for wolf-killed livestock. The recommendations would authorize states and tribes to issue permits to use non-lethal means to harass wolves engaging in “nuisance behavior or livestock depredation” and lethal means if they attacked domestic dogs....See how these Federales "think". A rancher can only holler or throw rocks at a wolf if he is killing a calf, but if that wolf attacks his dog then by golly he can blow the hell out of him. You can't protect your livelihood but you can protect your pets. That's Federale "thinking" in full display.
Forest Service blasts Idaho logjam Teams of explosives technicians from the U.S. Forest Service blasted a logjam on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River on Wednesday. Rafters -- stranded since Monday by the pileup of 30-foot-long logs, as well as boulders and debris -- will be able to float through by Thursday, Forest Service officials told the Idaho Statesman newspaper. The logjam temporarily blocked about 200 rafters from passing through a remote stretch of wilderness, outfitters said. The Middle Fork, a 100-mile stretch of water in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness, is considered one of the most thrilling whitewater floats in the country. After the blast, crews continued working with ropes and hand tools, moving several remaining logs. As many as 60 logs had plugged the river at the Pistol Creek Rapids. The Forest Service planned to scout the river first to make sure the path was clear before sending the rafters through....I didn't know you could blow up stuff in a wilderness area. Do you reckon they would blow up something to help a rancher? Nope...except maybe to protect his dog.
Oft-criticized Parks chief resigns post The director of the National Park Service announced her resignation Wednesday from an agency often at odds with environmentalists and Westerners for shifting its focus from conservation to recreation. Fran Mainella headed the agency for six years and most recently oversaw a controversial rewriting of management policies for the parks under its care. Mainella is leaving her position to devote more time to her family, according to a Park Service release. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne told Mainella that perhaps her most important contribution was her "effort to foster a culture of partnership within the National Park Service," according to a letter released by the Interior Department. Mainella and the Park Service were sharply criticized by some members of Congress after the agency released a management proposal that would have placed more emphasis on recreation and expanded the use of snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles on federal land....When I worked at Interior, the Parkies would cut your throat if you messed with their turf. Looks like they're still at it. It will be interesting to see who Kempthorne appoints as Director of NPS, and also as Assistant Sec. of Fish, Wildlife & Parks. Should give us a feel for where he will take the dept.
Burns criticizes firefighters, says they didn't heed ranchers Republican Sen. Conrad Burns chastised a group of firefighters over the weekend for doing a "poor job" dousing a 92,000-acre blaze near Billings, a state report shows. Burns and the firefighters - members of the Augusta Hot Shots from the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest in Virginia -were at Billings Logan International Airport awaiting flights, according to Burns and Forest Service representatives. Burns approached the firefighters and told them they had "done a poor job" and "should have listened to the ranchers," according to a report prepared by Paula Rosenthal, a state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation employee who was sent to the airport to speak with the senator. Burns also said he had heard from one rancher that fire crews on the Bundy Railroad fire put a strip of fire retardant on the edge of Bureau of Land Management federal land, implying the fire crews were more interested in protecting public land than private....
Smokey Bear's New Anti-Fire Messages These past few days in the East County show once again how a small campfire can turn into mass destruction. To help reinforce the importance of fire prevention, the U.S. Forest Service is turning to an old friend. The message is not new, but as man-made wildfires devour more and more California land, it's a point that bears repeating. "As Americans are watching these terrible wildfires, we want to use this moment to remind them all through the Bambi and Smokey Bear PSAs to be extra vigilant in the wilderness," said Peggy Conlon of the Ad Council. The Ad Council, along with the forest service, is using Bambi and her wilderness friends to further drive home Smokey Bear's point. The public service announcements will run throughout the season....Do the Federales really think the illegal immigrants who started the fire will be watching Smokey & Bambi on TV?
Federal agency removes falcon from endangered list When the first breeding pair of endangered northern aplomado falcons in half a century were spotted near Deming in 2002, biologists and the showy raptor's fans were ecstatic. Now, environmental groups are vowing to fight in federal court against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to remove the bird from the endangered species list at the same time the agency starts reintroducing captive-bred northern aplomado falcons in Southern New Mexico. They say the decision is premature, violates the Endangered Species Act and decreases protections for the raptor's habitat. The federal agency announced its final decision Wednesday to downlist the northern aplomado falcon to a "nonessential experimental species," and reintroduce the birds in Southern New Mexico, saying it is the quickest way to re-establish the bird of prey that once roamed the state's skies. The agency is working with the nonprofit Peregrine Fund, based in Idaho, which plans to release up to 150 northern aplomado falcons a year over the next decade in Southern New Mexico, possibly beginning as early as mid-August. "I think we share the same goals as the environmental groups that want to recover the bird," agency spokeswoman Elizabeth Slown said. "We just disagree on how. We think bringing in birds will help recover the birds more quickly."....
Appeals judges approve drilling for oil in NPR-A A federal appeals court Wednesday affirmed a decision that clears the way for oil drilling in part of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. A three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals backed a ruling by Judge James K. Singleton Jr. of Anchorage in January 2005 that rejected efforts by a coalition of environmental groups to increase wildlife protections in the northwest section of the 23.5-million-acre NPR-A. "We're certainly disappointed in the decision," said Stan Senner, executive director of Alaska Audubon. "We think BLM failed to consider a range of alternatives in the northwest NPR-A." The decision affects 8.8 million acres south and west of Barrow, Senner said. Singleton in January 2005 found that the environmental groups failed to make their case that the government, which is leasing land for oil and gas drilling in the reserve, violated environmental and other laws....
Warming warning targets parks Global warming threatens to damage 12 of the nation's most prominent parks, including Rocky Mountain and Mesa Verde national parks, according to a new report. The study, released Tuesday by the Colorado-based Rocky Mountain Climate Organization, says global warming will hit harder in the West, citing research that indicates temperatures will rise 3 to 7 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century. Among the global-warming changes forecast for the parks are the loss of glaciers at Glacier National Park by 2030, the eradication of Joshua trees at Joshua Tree National Park and reduced rafting opportunities at the Lake Mead and Glen Canyon natural areas. "A climate disrupted by heat-trapping pollution is the gravest threat our national parks have ever faced," said Stephen Saunders, an author of the report and a former deputy assistant secretary of the interior overseeing the National Park Service. In Colorado, big changes are forecast at Mesa Verde and Rocky Mountain national parks. Rocky Mountain is ranked among the top three parks vulnerable to ecosystem changes....
In Texas, Conditions Lead to a Rabble of Butterflies For a moment, Carol Cullar thought she was seeing fall leaves gusting down the highway south of Quemado, Tex., on the Mexican border. But it is blistering midsummer, Ms. Cullar, director of the Rio Bravo Nature Center in Eagle Pass, realized. And leaves would not all be flying north at two or three feet off the ground — car radiator height. These were butterflies. At least 200,000 of them, she guessed, perhaps a half-million. It was an invasion, she said, “like nothing I’ve ever seen.” South Texas is under siege from swarms of airborne migrants: tens of millions of Libytheana bachmanii larvata — snout butterflies to y’all — along with Kricogonia lysides, or yellow sulfurs, that have taken advantage of an unusual drought-and-deluge cycle to breed in spectacular if not record profusion. The smallish, dull-colored snouts take their name from an appendage they attach to branches to disguise themselves as leaves. Blinded drivers who have to pick the critters off their grilles to avoid dangerous engine overheating are less than enthralled, as are the mottephobes, who fear butterflies and moths. But lepidopterists are thrilled with the spectacle, which they predict may be only the beginning of a population explosion of snouts....
Ohio Supreme Court Rejects Taking of Homes for Project The Ohio Supreme Court ruled unanimously yesterday that a Cincinnati suburb cannot take private property by eminent domain for a $125 million redevelopment project. The property rights case was the first of its kind to reach a state’s highest court since the United States Supreme Court ruled last year that municipalities could seize property for private development that public officials argue would benefit the community. The Ohio decision rejected that view, and is part of a broader backlash. Since the ruling last year, 28 state legislatures have passed new protections against the use of eminent domain. “This is the final word in Ohio, and it says something that I think all Americans feel,” said Dana Berliner, a lawyer with the Institute for Justice, a public-interest law firm in Arlington, Va., who argued on behalf of the homeowners before the Ohio court. “Ownership of a home is a basic right, regardless of what the U.S. Supreme Court may have decided.” Since the Ohio case was argued based on the state’s Constitution, yesterday’s decision cannot be appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which decides matters involving federal law. The United States Supreme Court decision last year made it clear that state constitutions could set different standards for property rights. “The Ohio decision takes the loophole that was left by the U.S. Supreme Court decision and drives a Mack truck right through it,” said Richard A. Epstein, a law professor at the University of Chicago. Mr. Epstein said the decision was especially surprising coming from the Ohio Supreme Court, which he said had rarely reached unanimous decisions and had often sided with developers. “But this decision indicates that the justices were entirely distrustful of planning officials and developers working under nebulous criteria.”....Go here to read the decision.
Water and the West The West hasn't run out of water, but there's no longer enough for everyone who needs it. Urban growth and drought have boosted demand for water and crimped supply. Something has to give, and it's looking like the giver will be agriculture, as thirsty cities and suburbs increasingly buy up water rights to ranches, hay farms and other ag enterprises. Water that once supplied cattle and hay fields is now being shifted to fast-growth areas such as greater Denver, Las Vegas and southern California. The implications of this shift are profound. Beef producers with expansion hopes may find themselves with fewer options because land without water is of limited use. In addition, the infrastructure of rural communities will suffer as ag shrinks, leaving fewer customers for farm supply and equipment dealers. These issues create friction between rural communities and the cities that are buying up water. They also spur tension between producers who willingly sell their water rights and leave, and those who stay behind to continue in agriculture....
Cattle deaths labeled a crisis by ag commissioner With an estimated 120 dairy cows a day succumbing to the ongoing heat wave, San Joaquin County officials declared an emergency Tuesday to help farmers dispose of the carcasses. "We have a significant problem, a crisis problem," county Agricultural Commissioner Scott Hudson said after winning the unanimous emergency proclamation from the Board of Supervisors. With that proclamation, officials hope to set procedures, perhaps as early as today, to allow farmers and ranchers to dispose of large animals at landfills, compost or bury them on the farm, or simply hold them for rendering at some later date - all practices usually prohibited. Part of the problem is that there are only four or so rendering plants in the Central Valley to handle dead livestock properly since last year's closure of a Modesto facility, officials noted....
Knight backs simpler voluntary national animal ID system The Senate Ag Committee held a hearing Wednesday on the nomination of several top agriculture officials. Among them is, Bruce Knight, the current Chief of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, who has been nominated for the post of USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs. If confirmed, Knight will oversee key USDA agencies, including the Grain Inspection and Packers and Stockyards Administration, the Agricultural Marketing Service, and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. In that role, Knight will also be the administration’s point man on national animal ID. Missouri GOP Senator Jim Talent told Knight he doesn’t support a mandatory national animal ID program. “I also think that it’s the kind of program that either makes its value known to producers, or it doesn’t,” Talent said. “And if it doesn’t, then, obviously, a compulsory program’s not going to be a good idea. And if it does, then you’re going to get a lot of sign-ups without that.” Talent invited Knight to share his views, and Knight agreed with Talent that national animal ID should be a voluntary program. Knight also said national animal ID would be among his top priorities, and should be simplified to increase its adoption by livestock producers. “There is room for improvement making this touchable, tangible and understandable for farmers and ranchers,” Knight said. “We need a voluntary program that’s very easy to understand, and a program that is very apparent to producers why it’s important to both themselves as an individual and to the industry good as a whole,” he added....
Japan says lifts ban on US beef imports from Thursday Japan said it had formally decided to allow U.S. beef imports, suspended for the past six months, to restart from Thursday from all but one of 35 U.S. beef processing plants authorized by the U.S. government as suppliers to Japan. Japan's decision will take effect later in the day after it notifies the United States, a government official said. The decision came after the government concluded, based on a report from Japanese inspectors, that most of the authorized U.S. beef plants had no problems complying with Japan's safety requirements. Japan requires U.S. suppliers not to export beef from animals older than 20 months, and to eliminate specified risk materials suspected of spreading mad cow disease, such as spinal cords, before shipment....
Short term, heat wave may lower prices for beef Prolonged drought had already taken a toll on the pastures and fields of the Great Plains before this month's heat wave. Last week's triple-digit heat and the prospect of hitting 100 degrees again this weekend has made the situation even more critical. "We're seeing cattle moving into the feedlots 30 to 60 days early in the northern Plains," said John Harrington, an analyst with DTN. "All across Montana and the Dakotas, pasture is significantly below normal." An increase in cattle being sent to market early could, in the short term, lower beef prices for consumers. In the long term, though, it could mean an increase in prices....
Team Liberty plans to join the Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race Shawn Davis of Tucumcari and eight other horsemen from Quay County are setting their sights on The Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race of September 2007. Entered as Team Liberty, they will be one of the inaugural teams riding in the first race. The 13-day event from Sept. 3 through Sept. 13, 2007 will be from Santa Fe to Independence, Mo. The race will be 550 miles over 11 days. Davis, who is an inspector with the New Mexico Life Stock board, is Team Liberty’s captain. Other members are Pete Walden, Donnie Bidegain, Ryan Hamilton, Dustin Nials, Dereck Owen, Kacee Bradley, Paul Leonard and Dawson Higgins. “It’s a challenge because of the length of the race and it’s never been done before,” said Davis, organizer of the local team. Preparation is also about getting riders in shape. Beginning in November, not only will the horses be stretching out for five to eight miles, three times a week, “the guys will be running, too,” Davis said. Often, because of the terrain or to meet daily goals, the rider will dismount and run along with his horse, said Davis, who runs about a mile and a half four times a week....
Cowboys Celebrated in South Dakota Ten-gallon hats, boots and jeans were the preferred dress on Saturday as "cowpokes" across the country celebrated the National Day of the American Cowboy. Designated by presidential proclamation in 2005 as the fourth Saturday of each July, this annual event honors the history, culture and traditions of those who live a good portion of their lives in the saddle. Cowboys from across the northern plains gathered at the High Plains Western Heritage Center in Spearfish, South Dakota, to raise their hats to the men - and women - who lived the life that has become the image of the Old West. As familiar cowboy songs played in the background, they traded stories about their own cattle days, and shared some cowboy poetry. The Heritage Center was established in 1989 to house cowboy memorabilia and help preserve the history of this region. George Blair's father was one of the founders. At 84, Blair says he considers himself a cow "man," not a cow "boy."....
Permalink 0 comments
Groups press drilling bill Business groups have stepped up their lobbying efforts in support of a bill that could lead to more offshore oil and gas development. The bill, which faces a cloture vote today in the Senate, is more limited than a House measure already passed. It would only expand offshore drilling to an area in the eastern Gulf of Mexico known as Lease 181. The House version, by contrast, gives states more authority to determine whether to allow drilling off their coasts. Drilling moratoriums are now in place for most offshore areas. Drilling critics worry that conferees will use the opportunity presented in conference to broaden the Senate measure as well. But business groups such as the National Association of Manufacturers and the American Chemistry Council, which represent companies stung by high prices for natural gas, have been out in force on Capitol Hill urging yes votes....
Senate Passage of Energy Bill Appears Assured The Senate moved closer on Wednesday to passing a bill that would expand energy production in the Gulf of Mexico. A procedural vote of 86 to 12 allowing the debate to begin signaled wide support for opening up large new tracts for drilling. Thirty-one Democrats and one independent joined all but one Republican, Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, in the early test vote, usually a strong indicator of a bill’s potential to pass with bipartisan support. But the consensus may be fragile, and the bill, if approved in a final vote that is expected next week, would still have to be reconciled with a very different drilling bill approved by the House. The bill identifies 8.3 million acres for new energy development in the gulf, four times the area sought by the Bush administration through its lease program for 2007-12. It would also create protections for Florida’s western coastline and establish a program that gives other gulf states — Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama — 37.5 percent of royalties from energy production that now accrue to the federal government, potentially a shift of billions of dollars in revenues....
Column: New Land Rules Serve Ranchers, Hamper Conservationists In the latest showdown between contrasting visions of the American West, the federal Bureau of Land Management has rolled out new regulations for livestock grazing on public lands. Environmentalists are taking the agency to court, warning that the rules would trample environmental protections, further endanger wildlife, and close avenues for public oversight. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) claims its new rules, announced earlier this month, will promote "flexibility" for ranchers who have access to hundreds of millions of acres of public rangelands. But conservation groups say the Bureau is seeking to enhance its "working relationship" with ranchers by suppressing public stakeholders. John Carter, Utah director of the Western Watersheds Project, a group that opposes cattle-grazing on federal lands, called the rules "another step in the effort by public-lands ranchers to divest the American people of ownership of these lands." Arguing that cattle roaming the Western states form one of the most destructive uses of the country's natural resources, groups complain that the new rules would make it nearly impossible to fully address livestock damage to local wildlife. They say that additional bureaucratic hurdles would paralyze the enforcement of Clinton-era guidelines intended to balance grazing with other public-land uses like camping and fishing....
Water rights activists question Nevada-Utah deal Water rights activists in Nevada and Utah raised questions Wednesday about a plan to split up water rights in Snake Valley, on the border between the two states, and in the process help get more water to booming Las Vegas. The Great Basin Water Network sent a letter to U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., urging him to seek a delay in a pending compact between the two states that would apportion the water rights in the valley, near Great Basin National Park. Susan Lynn, executive director of the network, said more than 80 ranchers, Indians, environmentalists and others signed the letter, which calls the agreement premature. The letter adds the compact would "ease the way" for the Southern Nevada Water Authority to start drawing on eastern Nevada water via a planned $2 billion pipeline to Las Vegas. The SNWA's current vice-chairman is Clark County Commission Chairman Rory Reid, Sen. Reid's son. The letter also states that the public was "largely excluded" from discussions about the agreement until word of its existence was leaked inadvertently on a government Web site....
Wyoming wildlife officials unveil elk brucellosis plan Ranchers would be encouraged to change their cattle operations under a new state plan for managing brucellosis in feedground elk in western Wyoming. Incentives, financial or otherwise, would be sought to help sway producers to make changes that may lessen the risk of elk and cattle coming into contact - or of elk spreading brucellosis to cattle. The source of any such funds isn't specified in the plan, released Wednesday by the state Game and Fish Department. But Jared Rogerson, a brucellosis feedground habitat biologist with the agency, said the state likely would pursue federal dollars. Agency officials say the plan is aimed at lowering the risk of brucellosis spread, either from elk to cattle or among elk that gather on feedgrounds in the fall and winter. But it stops short of calling for the immediate elimination of any of the three feedgrounds in the Upper Green River Elk Herd Unit, north of Pinedale....
Unfragmented Landscape Working Wilderness: The Malpai Borderlands Group and the Future of the Western Range, by Nathan Sayre. Rio Nuevo Publishers, $22.95. That acknowledged, Working Wilderness is an enjoyable read about something taking place in our own backyard that epitomizes the "think globally, act locally" admonition. "It's a volatile mixture of people and land, history and ecology, passion and politics," author Nathan Sayre promises--and then delivers...And that's only logical when the book itself zeros in on the nonprofit Malpai Borderlands Group, a diverse panoply of ranchers, scientists, public agencies and private conservationists--all with preconceived notions, many with conflicting aims. Not only are the players local and readily identifiable; their 800,000 acres of borderland, a 1,250-square-mile triangle where Arizona and New Mexico meet Sonora and Chihuahua, is familiar turf to those who live in this neck of the woods...In a chapter subhead titled "Origins of Mutual Distrust," Sayre, a geography professor at the University of California at Berkeley, admits to readers that while the historical Western range may be broken, "the polarized politics of rangeland conflict, pitting ranchers against environmentalists in a kind of holy war, made wholesale reform unattainable." Instead, it took innovative approaches emerging from the grassroots level, poking up through layers of indifference, habit and bureaucracy, to get differing agendas on the same page. "Imagine the Western range as an enormous puzzle whose pieces have not only come apart but changed their shapes as well. They cannot be put back together according to the old picture. The Malpai Group has chosen to look at all the pieces in this 1,250-square-mile puzzle and insist they can be one whole again. The Group remains many years away from completing this new picture, but they are further along than anyone else."....
No subsidy provided for killed livestock in wolf program The US Fish and Wildlife Service says it will continue to reintroduce the endangered Mexican gray wolf in eastern Arizona and western New Mexico, but not everyone is pleased with the news. Many area ranchers have been vocal opponents of the reintroduction effort because of livestock depredation. Neither the current program nor recommendations accepted this week provide for any government subsidy or reimbursement for wolf-killed livestock. The recommendations would authorize states and tribes to issue permits to use non-lethal means to harass wolves engaging in “nuisance behavior or livestock depredation” and lethal means if they attacked domestic dogs....See how these Federales "think". A rancher can only holler or throw rocks at a wolf if he is killing a calf, but if that wolf attacks his dog then by golly he can blow the hell out of him. You can't protect your livelihood but you can protect your pets. That's Federale "thinking" in full display.
Forest Service blasts Idaho logjam Teams of explosives technicians from the U.S. Forest Service blasted a logjam on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River on Wednesday. Rafters -- stranded since Monday by the pileup of 30-foot-long logs, as well as boulders and debris -- will be able to float through by Thursday, Forest Service officials told the Idaho Statesman newspaper. The logjam temporarily blocked about 200 rafters from passing through a remote stretch of wilderness, outfitters said. The Middle Fork, a 100-mile stretch of water in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness, is considered one of the most thrilling whitewater floats in the country. After the blast, crews continued working with ropes and hand tools, moving several remaining logs. As many as 60 logs had plugged the river at the Pistol Creek Rapids. The Forest Service planned to scout the river first to make sure the path was clear before sending the rafters through....I didn't know you could blow up stuff in a wilderness area. Do you reckon they would blow up something to help a rancher? Nope...except maybe to protect his dog.
Oft-criticized Parks chief resigns post The director of the National Park Service announced her resignation Wednesday from an agency often at odds with environmentalists and Westerners for shifting its focus from conservation to recreation. Fran Mainella headed the agency for six years and most recently oversaw a controversial rewriting of management policies for the parks under its care. Mainella is leaving her position to devote more time to her family, according to a Park Service release. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne told Mainella that perhaps her most important contribution was her "effort to foster a culture of partnership within the National Park Service," according to a letter released by the Interior Department. Mainella and the Park Service were sharply criticized by some members of Congress after the agency released a management proposal that would have placed more emphasis on recreation and expanded the use of snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles on federal land....When I worked at Interior, the Parkies would cut your throat if you messed with their turf. Looks like they're still at it. It will be interesting to see who Kempthorne appoints as Director of NPS, and also as Assistant Sec. of Fish, Wildlife & Parks. Should give us a feel for where he will take the dept.
Burns criticizes firefighters, says they didn't heed ranchers Republican Sen. Conrad Burns chastised a group of firefighters over the weekend for doing a "poor job" dousing a 92,000-acre blaze near Billings, a state report shows. Burns and the firefighters - members of the Augusta Hot Shots from the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest in Virginia -were at Billings Logan International Airport awaiting flights, according to Burns and Forest Service representatives. Burns approached the firefighters and told them they had "done a poor job" and "should have listened to the ranchers," according to a report prepared by Paula Rosenthal, a state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation employee who was sent to the airport to speak with the senator. Burns also said he had heard from one rancher that fire crews on the Bundy Railroad fire put a strip of fire retardant on the edge of Bureau of Land Management federal land, implying the fire crews were more interested in protecting public land than private....
Smokey Bear's New Anti-Fire Messages These past few days in the East County show once again how a small campfire can turn into mass destruction. To help reinforce the importance of fire prevention, the U.S. Forest Service is turning to an old friend. The message is not new, but as man-made wildfires devour more and more California land, it's a point that bears repeating. "As Americans are watching these terrible wildfires, we want to use this moment to remind them all through the Bambi and Smokey Bear PSAs to be extra vigilant in the wilderness," said Peggy Conlon of the Ad Council. The Ad Council, along with the forest service, is using Bambi and her wilderness friends to further drive home Smokey Bear's point. The public service announcements will run throughout the season....Do the Federales really think the illegal immigrants who started the fire will be watching Smokey & Bambi on TV?
Federal agency removes falcon from endangered list When the first breeding pair of endangered northern aplomado falcons in half a century were spotted near Deming in 2002, biologists and the showy raptor's fans were ecstatic. Now, environmental groups are vowing to fight in federal court against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to remove the bird from the endangered species list at the same time the agency starts reintroducing captive-bred northern aplomado falcons in Southern New Mexico. They say the decision is premature, violates the Endangered Species Act and decreases protections for the raptor's habitat. The federal agency announced its final decision Wednesday to downlist the northern aplomado falcon to a "nonessential experimental species," and reintroduce the birds in Southern New Mexico, saying it is the quickest way to re-establish the bird of prey that once roamed the state's skies. The agency is working with the nonprofit Peregrine Fund, based in Idaho, which plans to release up to 150 northern aplomado falcons a year over the next decade in Southern New Mexico, possibly beginning as early as mid-August. "I think we share the same goals as the environmental groups that want to recover the bird," agency spokeswoman Elizabeth Slown said. "We just disagree on how. We think bringing in birds will help recover the birds more quickly."....
Appeals judges approve drilling for oil in NPR-A A federal appeals court Wednesday affirmed a decision that clears the way for oil drilling in part of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. A three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals backed a ruling by Judge James K. Singleton Jr. of Anchorage in January 2005 that rejected efforts by a coalition of environmental groups to increase wildlife protections in the northwest section of the 23.5-million-acre NPR-A. "We're certainly disappointed in the decision," said Stan Senner, executive director of Alaska Audubon. "We think BLM failed to consider a range of alternatives in the northwest NPR-A." The decision affects 8.8 million acres south and west of Barrow, Senner said. Singleton in January 2005 found that the environmental groups failed to make their case that the government, which is leasing land for oil and gas drilling in the reserve, violated environmental and other laws....
Warming warning targets parks Global warming threatens to damage 12 of the nation's most prominent parks, including Rocky Mountain and Mesa Verde national parks, according to a new report. The study, released Tuesday by the Colorado-based Rocky Mountain Climate Organization, says global warming will hit harder in the West, citing research that indicates temperatures will rise 3 to 7 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century. Among the global-warming changes forecast for the parks are the loss of glaciers at Glacier National Park by 2030, the eradication of Joshua trees at Joshua Tree National Park and reduced rafting opportunities at the Lake Mead and Glen Canyon natural areas. "A climate disrupted by heat-trapping pollution is the gravest threat our national parks have ever faced," said Stephen Saunders, an author of the report and a former deputy assistant secretary of the interior overseeing the National Park Service. In Colorado, big changes are forecast at Mesa Verde and Rocky Mountain national parks. Rocky Mountain is ranked among the top three parks vulnerable to ecosystem changes....
In Texas, Conditions Lead to a Rabble of Butterflies For a moment, Carol Cullar thought she was seeing fall leaves gusting down the highway south of Quemado, Tex., on the Mexican border. But it is blistering midsummer, Ms. Cullar, director of the Rio Bravo Nature Center in Eagle Pass, realized. And leaves would not all be flying north at two or three feet off the ground — car radiator height. These were butterflies. At least 200,000 of them, she guessed, perhaps a half-million. It was an invasion, she said, “like nothing I’ve ever seen.” South Texas is under siege from swarms of airborne migrants: tens of millions of Libytheana bachmanii larvata — snout butterflies to y’all — along with Kricogonia lysides, or yellow sulfurs, that have taken advantage of an unusual drought-and-deluge cycle to breed in spectacular if not record profusion. The smallish, dull-colored snouts take their name from an appendage they attach to branches to disguise themselves as leaves. Blinded drivers who have to pick the critters off their grilles to avoid dangerous engine overheating are less than enthralled, as are the mottephobes, who fear butterflies and moths. But lepidopterists are thrilled with the spectacle, which they predict may be only the beginning of a population explosion of snouts....
Ohio Supreme Court Rejects Taking of Homes for Project The Ohio Supreme Court ruled unanimously yesterday that a Cincinnati suburb cannot take private property by eminent domain for a $125 million redevelopment project. The property rights case was the first of its kind to reach a state’s highest court since the United States Supreme Court ruled last year that municipalities could seize property for private development that public officials argue would benefit the community. The Ohio decision rejected that view, and is part of a broader backlash. Since the ruling last year, 28 state legislatures have passed new protections against the use of eminent domain. “This is the final word in Ohio, and it says something that I think all Americans feel,” said Dana Berliner, a lawyer with the Institute for Justice, a public-interest law firm in Arlington, Va., who argued on behalf of the homeowners before the Ohio court. “Ownership of a home is a basic right, regardless of what the U.S. Supreme Court may have decided.” Since the Ohio case was argued based on the state’s Constitution, yesterday’s decision cannot be appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which decides matters involving federal law. The United States Supreme Court decision last year made it clear that state constitutions could set different standards for property rights. “The Ohio decision takes the loophole that was left by the U.S. Supreme Court decision and drives a Mack truck right through it,” said Richard A. Epstein, a law professor at the University of Chicago. Mr. Epstein said the decision was especially surprising coming from the Ohio Supreme Court, which he said had rarely reached unanimous decisions and had often sided with developers. “But this decision indicates that the justices were entirely distrustful of planning officials and developers working under nebulous criteria.”....Go here to read the decision.
Water and the West The West hasn't run out of water, but there's no longer enough for everyone who needs it. Urban growth and drought have boosted demand for water and crimped supply. Something has to give, and it's looking like the giver will be agriculture, as thirsty cities and suburbs increasingly buy up water rights to ranches, hay farms and other ag enterprises. Water that once supplied cattle and hay fields is now being shifted to fast-growth areas such as greater Denver, Las Vegas and southern California. The implications of this shift are profound. Beef producers with expansion hopes may find themselves with fewer options because land without water is of limited use. In addition, the infrastructure of rural communities will suffer as ag shrinks, leaving fewer customers for farm supply and equipment dealers. These issues create friction between rural communities and the cities that are buying up water. They also spur tension between producers who willingly sell their water rights and leave, and those who stay behind to continue in agriculture....
Cattle deaths labeled a crisis by ag commissioner With an estimated 120 dairy cows a day succumbing to the ongoing heat wave, San Joaquin County officials declared an emergency Tuesday to help farmers dispose of the carcasses. "We have a significant problem, a crisis problem," county Agricultural Commissioner Scott Hudson said after winning the unanimous emergency proclamation from the Board of Supervisors. With that proclamation, officials hope to set procedures, perhaps as early as today, to allow farmers and ranchers to dispose of large animals at landfills, compost or bury them on the farm, or simply hold them for rendering at some later date - all practices usually prohibited. Part of the problem is that there are only four or so rendering plants in the Central Valley to handle dead livestock properly since last year's closure of a Modesto facility, officials noted....
Knight backs simpler voluntary national animal ID system The Senate Ag Committee held a hearing Wednesday on the nomination of several top agriculture officials. Among them is, Bruce Knight, the current Chief of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, who has been nominated for the post of USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs. If confirmed, Knight will oversee key USDA agencies, including the Grain Inspection and Packers and Stockyards Administration, the Agricultural Marketing Service, and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. In that role, Knight will also be the administration’s point man on national animal ID. Missouri GOP Senator Jim Talent told Knight he doesn’t support a mandatory national animal ID program. “I also think that it’s the kind of program that either makes its value known to producers, or it doesn’t,” Talent said. “And if it doesn’t, then, obviously, a compulsory program’s not going to be a good idea. And if it does, then you’re going to get a lot of sign-ups without that.” Talent invited Knight to share his views, and Knight agreed with Talent that national animal ID should be a voluntary program. Knight also said national animal ID would be among his top priorities, and should be simplified to increase its adoption by livestock producers. “There is room for improvement making this touchable, tangible and understandable for farmers and ranchers,” Knight said. “We need a voluntary program that’s very easy to understand, and a program that is very apparent to producers why it’s important to both themselves as an individual and to the industry good as a whole,” he added....
Japan says lifts ban on US beef imports from Thursday Japan said it had formally decided to allow U.S. beef imports, suspended for the past six months, to restart from Thursday from all but one of 35 U.S. beef processing plants authorized by the U.S. government as suppliers to Japan. Japan's decision will take effect later in the day after it notifies the United States, a government official said. The decision came after the government concluded, based on a report from Japanese inspectors, that most of the authorized U.S. beef plants had no problems complying with Japan's safety requirements. Japan requires U.S. suppliers not to export beef from animals older than 20 months, and to eliminate specified risk materials suspected of spreading mad cow disease, such as spinal cords, before shipment....
Short term, heat wave may lower prices for beef Prolonged drought had already taken a toll on the pastures and fields of the Great Plains before this month's heat wave. Last week's triple-digit heat and the prospect of hitting 100 degrees again this weekend has made the situation even more critical. "We're seeing cattle moving into the feedlots 30 to 60 days early in the northern Plains," said John Harrington, an analyst with DTN. "All across Montana and the Dakotas, pasture is significantly below normal." An increase in cattle being sent to market early could, in the short term, lower beef prices for consumers. In the long term, though, it could mean an increase in prices....
Team Liberty plans to join the Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race Shawn Davis of Tucumcari and eight other horsemen from Quay County are setting their sights on The Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race of September 2007. Entered as Team Liberty, they will be one of the inaugural teams riding in the first race. The 13-day event from Sept. 3 through Sept. 13, 2007 will be from Santa Fe to Independence, Mo. The race will be 550 miles over 11 days. Davis, who is an inspector with the New Mexico Life Stock board, is Team Liberty’s captain. Other members are Pete Walden, Donnie Bidegain, Ryan Hamilton, Dustin Nials, Dereck Owen, Kacee Bradley, Paul Leonard and Dawson Higgins. “It’s a challenge because of the length of the race and it’s never been done before,” said Davis, organizer of the local team. Preparation is also about getting riders in shape. Beginning in November, not only will the horses be stretching out for five to eight miles, three times a week, “the guys will be running, too,” Davis said. Often, because of the terrain or to meet daily goals, the rider will dismount and run along with his horse, said Davis, who runs about a mile and a half four times a week....
Cowboys Celebrated in South Dakota Ten-gallon hats, boots and jeans were the preferred dress on Saturday as "cowpokes" across the country celebrated the National Day of the American Cowboy. Designated by presidential proclamation in 2005 as the fourth Saturday of each July, this annual event honors the history, culture and traditions of those who live a good portion of their lives in the saddle. Cowboys from across the northern plains gathered at the High Plains Western Heritage Center in Spearfish, South Dakota, to raise their hats to the men - and women - who lived the life that has become the image of the Old West. As familiar cowboy songs played in the background, they traded stories about their own cattle days, and shared some cowboy poetry. The Heritage Center was established in 1989 to house cowboy memorabilia and help preserve the history of this region. George Blair's father was one of the founders. At 84, Blair says he considers himself a cow "man," not a cow "boy."....
Permalink 0 comments
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
NEWS ROUNDUP
‘Environmentally sound’ drilling? The view from the edge of the Roan Plateau, more than 1,500 feet above the Colorado River, is a bit dull on this particular day, western Colorado’s normally crystalline air partly obscured by a haze emanating from distant wildfires raging elsewhere across the torrid Southwest. But the haze isn’t so bad as to hide what’s below: The miles of roads and seemingly countless well pads carved out of the sagebrush flats, evidence of our nation’s hunger for fossil fuels. Those same road-laced flats once were key winter range for one of Colorado’s biggest herds of mule deer. Today, it seems unlikely that mule deer, genetically disposed to stick close to their home range, could scrape even a meager living from that land swirled with a maze of roads, the heavy truck traffic throwing up clouds of dust and adding to the brown mantle across the sky. Keith Goddard, owner of Magnum Outfitters of Rifle, looked down the Roan Plateau’s steep sides and slowly counted the drill rigs working below. “Let’s see. I count at least five new ones, and there might be one behind that hill where we can’t see it,” said Goddard, who at 42 already has more than 20 years of guiding experience behind him. He turned to the handful of people around him. “If that’s any indication of what’s going to happen up here, you can kiss this area goodbye,” he said, his National Finals Rodeo buckle glinting in the sun....
Oregon battle sweeps West Oregon's property-rights movement is being exported across the western United States, letting voters from California to Montana decide how vigorously governments control the landscape. November ballot measures in a block of seven states this side of the Rocky Mountains would limit public officials' ability to buy and regulate property. But opposition is sweeping the West, too, with well-organized critics predicting scattered subdivisions and contaminated water if the measures pass. An initiative in Washington -- the one most like Oregon's Measure 37 -- offers a window into the clashing values that will fuel campaigns. Property-rights activists seized on their 2004 win in Oregon, where governments now waive land-use rules or pay owners for lost value. The U.S. Supreme Court inflamed the movement with its Kelo v. New London ruling, allowing government to forcibly buy land and turn it over to another private owner as an economic development tool. Both issues crop up in the latest batch of initiatives, including an Oregon proposal restricting governments' ability to condemn land. Allowing citizens to challenge regulations, as Measure 37 did, is more controversial. In Washington, Initiative 933 would require governments to excuse landowners from rules approved after 1995 or compensate them. New regulations could be created only as a last resort. State Farm Bureau leaders, who wrote the measure, say rural residents shouldn't shoulder the cost of discouraging country development, protecting habitat and shepherding people into cities....
Backers, critics debate scope of proposed law Fast-growing Southwest Washington makes the perfect case study for Initiative 933, as adversaries speculate about the measure's effect on city neighborhoods and rural landscapes. Dubbed the "Property Fairness Initiative," it has been modeled after Oregon's Measure 37. If the measure becomes law, governments would compensate landowners for restrictive planning rules or let them opt out. And in the future, public officials would have to study effects on property value before adopting regulations. Bill Zimmerman, president of the Clark-Cowlitz Farm Bureau, is convinced the time has come for a sweeping land-rights law in Washington. "What we're saying is, if you're going to do something that reduces the value of our property, then pay us for it," he said. Val Alexander, who owns 65 acres near La Center, sees consistent land-use regulations as her only hope to keep sprawl at bay. She operates a U-pick berry farm called Coyote Ridge Ranch. "It would make it very, very difficult for people to continue farming," Alexander said. "We'd see a lot more development in rural areas."....
Where is the Lincoln headed? New Lincoln National Forest supervisor Lou Woltering hopes to implement extensive and far-reaching plans the Forest Service has for the Lincoln. A strategic plan for the forest for 2006 through 2010 envisions thinning as a fire-management tool, restrictions on certain off-road activities, and monitoring of grazing allotments. Next year, the Forest Service is also starting a forest land management plan revision process. The Forest Service will be working with the public to develop the strategic direction that will guide the Lincoln Forest into the next 10 to 15 years. "We're going to be emphasizing the implementation of the southwestern region's central priority," Woltering said, the central priority being the restoration of "fire into fire" adapted ecosystems. Fire into fire, he explained, is an attempt to reestablish the natural fire systems that existed long ago, so that there isn't excessive undergrowth that can provide fuel for wildfires. "Historically," he said, "our ecosystems burned every 40 to 50 years, over hundreds of years." Now there is an excess of fuels that in a natural fire system would not have been allowed to accumulate. "Fire into fire" seeks to protect communities and private land owners from wildfires by treating fuels adjacent to communities and private land. "We'll be using logging, thinning, and prescribed burning to help us do that, so that fire plays a more natural role in maintaining a healthy forest." He said thinning is good for the health of the forest, and it also helps prevent wildfires....
Fish and Wildlife Service Moves To Expand Predator Control Against Endangered Mexican Wolves Today the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced its approval of a controversial set of recommendations for the endangered Mexican wolf that will leave the government unrestrained to kill and trap wolves for the next few years. The move is a precursor to an eventual rule change that will result in even more wolves being subject to the federal predator control program. “This is the Bush administration’s formal announcement that it will ignore the pleas of independent scientists to reduce wolf mortality by addressing the problem of cattle and horse carcasses that habituate wolves to preying on livestock,” said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity in Pinos Altos, New Mexico. The recommendations were developed by the interagency Mexican Wolf Adaptive Management Oversight Committee in its Blue Range Wolf Reintroduction Project’s Five-Year Review. They are available via the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s website at: MW 5-Year Review AMOC Recommendations Component. The recommendations, approved three years and three months late (from the five-year anniversary of the reintroduction program’s inception in March 1998), include the following four elements that will further jeopardize the Mexican wolf's survival and ultimately prevent its recovery:....
Ranchers eyed to protect grasslands The Nature Conservancy has opened an office here to focus on grassland conservation in communities, like Cheyenne, that are seeing rapid residential and commercial development. "We would like to see the ranching community stay out there on the land because they've done a really good job of keeping those lands in good shape," said Brent Lathrop, director of southeast Wyoming programs for The Nature Conservancy. Lathrop said prairie grasslands have largely disappeared, from the eastern tall-grass prairies to the western short-grass that makes up more than one third of Wyoming's land area. He said grasslands are among the most threatened ecosystems in the world. Development is rapidly consuming the prairie along Colorado's Front Range, Lathrop said. Lathrop said his group wouldn't advocate for limiting development, but would instead seek ways to help ranchers keep their land in operation instead of selling it for development. Jim Magagna, executive vice president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, said his group had had positive relations with the state chapter of The Nature Conservancy, despite not always agreeing with The Nature Conservancy's national agenda....
Put another log on the mire A logjam on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River has temporarily blocked about 200 rafters from floating through a remote stretch of wilderness, outfitters say. The Middle Fork, a 100-mile stretch of water in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness, is considered one of the most thrilling whitewater floats in the country. The central Idaho waterway is accessible only to those with permits. U.S. Forest Service spokesmen and outfitters familiar with the Middle Fork told KTVB-TV in Boise that they have never seen a blockage this large. Heavy rain caused a Monday washout that pushed "a bunch of logs, from 50 to 60 logs" into the river, said Jackie Nefzger, of Mackay Wilderness River Trips. "It's completely blocked the Middle Fork." Her company has a group of 24 rafters in the area, as well as six guides, she said Tuesday. It could take as long as three days to clear the debris, U.S. Forest Service spokesmen said....
Montana Forest Proposition May Close Singletrack Access A proposed Montana forest plan revision could set a dangerous national precedent by closing hundreds of miles of singletrack to bicycles. Montana's Bitterroot, Flathead and Lolo National Forests are recommending a new policy that will ban bicycles from trails in many roadless areas where access is currently allowed. More than 400 miles of trail in seven roadless areas near Missoula are at risk, including many epic routes cherished by local cyclists. Some of the best trails include Heart Lake, Monture Creek, Bluejoint Creek and Blodgett Canyon. The Great Burn area alone contains 139 miles of singletrack that will be made off-limits to bicycles. Unless cyclists take action, the Forest Service will zone these lands as "Recommended Wilderness," and will ban bicycles. Although most national forests around the country allow existing uses such as mountain biking to continue in Recommended Wilderness, the Bitterroot, Flathead and Lolo will not, thus setting a dangerous precedent....
Feathers bring more charges for activist Animal-rights activist Rodney Coronado, who is awaiting sentencing on convictions related to disruption of the March 2004 mountain-lion hunt in Sabino Canyon, has been additionally charged with possessing the feathers of a golden eagle and other protected birds. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service cited Coronado Friday on two misdemeanor counts of possessing golden eagle feathers and migratory bird feathers, said Frank Solis, special agent for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He said the feathers were found at Coronado's Tucson home in February when the FBI arrested him on unrelated charges. In addition to the eagle feathers, Solis said, agents found feathers of a great horned owl, barn owl, great blue heron, redtail hawk, Cooper's hawk and Harris hawk. The citations, which are misdemeanor charges, seek a combined fine of $1,350, Solis said. Coronado could legally possess the feathers if he were a registered member of an American Indian tribe, but he is not, said Solis. Coronado's Tucson attorney Antonio Felix said Coronado is a member of the Yaqui Tribe but Felix said he was still researching the issue of tribal registration and could not comment on the new charge....
House bans Valle Vidal drilling Backers of a bill in Congress to protect one of the most popular hunting, fishing and hiking areas in northern New Mexico - the Valle Vidal - from oil and gas drilling say its fate is up to Sen. Pete Domenici. Without objection, the House passed a measure Monday that puts the 101,000-acre portion of Carson National Forest northeast of Red River off-limits to mineral exploration. The area is home to the state's largest elk herd and is used annually by thousands of Boy Scouts from nearby Philmont Scout Ranch. Thousands of people have voiced support for the drilling ban. "The people's voice has been heard, but the job isn't over yet," said Jeremy Vesbach, director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation. "It will not pass without Sen. Domenici's support." The Albuquerque Republican remained noncommittal Monday, praising Udall for his "good purpose" but saying he still preferred to let the U.S. Forest Service decide the fate of the area as part of an ongoing study....
Ruling backs mining Saying the public's right to hold federal agencies accountable is threatened, activists and local officials are pondering their next step after a federal appeals court shot down their challenge of selling public land for a mine atop a western Colorado mountain. A ruling issued by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday upheld a lower court's finding that third parties can't legally challenge mining patents - essentially deeds - on public lands. Town and county officials and residents have been fighting for nearly 30 years to stop a molybdenum mine on the summit of Mount Emmons, which towers over the ski community of Crested Butte. The ruling could affect similar claims throughout the West and silence the public's voice on an important public-lands issue, said Jeff Parsons, senior attorney with the Western Mining Action Project, which is helping represent Crested Butte, Gunnison County and the High Country Citizens Alliance. A three-judge panel of the appeals court sided with an earlier ruling that said only people with a competing claim to ownership of the land can sue....
Researchers find a new genus of cricket Researchers say they have discovered a new type of cricket in the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, located in a remote strip of land on the Utah-Arizona border. The cricket was discovered in samples taken from the area last spring by Kyle Voyles, a state of Arizona cave coordinator and a physical science technician with the Bureau of Land Management, and J. Judson Wynne, a Northern Arizona University doctoral candidate. Voyles and Wynne spent time surveying 24 caves and taking samples from 15. "Finding a new species is one thing, but finding a new genus is beyond my wildest dream," Kyle Voyles, a state of Arizona cave coordinator said. A genus is a broader category in the classification of animals; it can encompass many related species. In addition to the possible new genus of cricket, four new species of crickets have been identified from the spring samples. A barklouse also was found in the caves. Though common in South America, this was the first one discovered in North America, Voyles said....
Former owners sold monument to BLM after 38 years An unscripted encounter of some historical significance took place Monday at Pompeys Pillar National Monument. Peyton "Bud" Clark, great-great-great-grandson of Capt. William Clark, and other members of his family met Stella Foote, the woman mostly responsible for preserving the sandstone monument where Capt. Clark carved his name 200 years ago today. Foote and her late husband, Don Foote, already ardent collectors of Western books and artifacts, purchased Pompeys Pillar in 1955 and operated the historical landmark for 38 years, until selling it to the Bureau of Land Management in 1991. Bud Clark met Stella Foote Monday afternoon, after delivering a presentation on Capt. Clark during the Lewis and Clark Signature Event at Pompeys Pillar. He said he had talked to Stella Foote by phone before, but had not met her. He was impressed.
"Had it not been for their family's diligence, we might not be standing here," he said....
Tug of War Is On in Montana Over Public Access to Waterway Mitchell Slough is a slice of Montana heaven, a meandering 13-mile-long waterway that purls gently past houses and ranches, with the black backs of large, darting trout visible beneath the crystal-clear surface. There are some two dozen landowners along the waterway, including the rock musician Huey Lewis and a Las Vegas contractor who built a dazzling home with a glass floor over a branch of the slough. Now lawyers for Mr. Lewis and the other landowners are before the Montana Supreme Court arguing that the waterway is no more than a man-made ditch. The case turns on a state law that mandates public access to natural waterways, something Mr. Lewis and the others insist should not apply to Mitchell Slough. For the property owners, the story of the slough would not be titled “A River Runs Through It,” but “An Irrigation Ditch Runs Through It.” “Definitely it is a ditch, because it’s diverted water for irrigation,” Mr. Lewis said by phone from New York, where he was on tour. “If you watch the water levels go up and down, you know it’s a ditch.” A state district judge agreed in May that while Mitchell Slough was once part of the nearby Bitterroot River, it had been transformed by the hand of man, by changes including numerous head gates that control flows, and so was exempt from the Montana stream access law....
Cuba oil probe spurs calls for U.S. drilling Congressional proponents of oil and gas drilling are pointing to Cuba's exploration off the coast of Florida -- with help from China -- as a prime reason to open up U.S. drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. But Florida legislators continue to resist, and some of them are trying to stop Cuba's activities by pushing to rescind a 1977 treaty dividing the Straits of Florida halfway between the two countries. The Bush administration, with an eye toward the pivotal role Florida has played in presidential politics and out of solidarity with President Bush's brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, has largely sided with Florida in the dispute. It supports only very limited drilling off the coast of Florida, as would be permitted under a bill pending in the Senate. "American politics today -- it is the no-drill zone," said Sen. Larry E. Craig, Idaho Republican. "We sit here watching China exploit a valuable resource within eyesight of the U.S. coast," he said, noting that one 2005 U.S. Geological Survey estimated the North Cuba Basin may contain as much oil as the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve in Alaska....
Bears Seeking Food Near People in Denver Triathlete Sabrina Oei was speeding downhill at nearly 40 mph, cycling through the Colorado foothills during a race, when something brought her to a sudden, painful, stop: a bear. Oei, 31, slammed broadside into a black bear when it wandered onto the race course Sunday. She went airborne, then slid on her back across the pavement. She wasn't seriously injured and even finished the triathlon. The bear didn't seem to be hurt, either, scampering back into the woods. But the unusual high-speed encounter is a dramatic example of what experts are seeing across the West as drought forces bears to forage farther for food while urban development pushes into formerly wild areas. Oei's encounter is the latest anecdotal evidence coming in from around the West this year: In Nevada, near Lake Tahoe, a bear climbed into a vintage convertible July 2 and snacked on pizza and beer as a crowd gathered. In Alaska, a bear charged a jogger in an Anchorage city park this month. In Colorado Springs, a woman last week came home to find a bear rummaging through her refrigerator....
Culberson County residents like spaceport plans Residents and officials from a sparsely populated West Texas county who showed up this evening at a federal hearing are thrilled Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos has chosen their remote area for a commercial space venture. "We are very excited about Blue Origin," Ron Helm, 50, an area rancher, said at a Federal Aviation Administration hearing on the spaceport being developed by the Internet billionaire's company. "As far as we can tell, this is a great opportunity." "This has a lot of possibilities," added Mayor Okey D. Lukas, 70, who described the secretive venture under construction about 25 miles north of his town of about 3,000 people as the biggest thing to hit Culberson County in his 23 years in office. The FAA hearing was to take public comment on a 229-page draft report of an environmental assessment of the project on some 165,000 acres of property Bezos has purchased in the county about 120 miles east of El Paso. The hearing drew about three dozen area residents, and none expressed any misgivings....
Spaceport America! I recently visited the Southwest Region Spaceport near this former railroad siding and cattle holding area, Upham, New Mexico. I was on what tourism marketers call a “show me tour” and in the company of Spaceport information officer Katie Roberts, William Gutman, Ph.D., deputy director of Emerging Technologies Lab at New Mexico State University, and French journalist Philippe Boulet-Gercourt of the Observateur. We visited one of the ranches, the Bar Cross, owned by Ben and Jane Cain, who were named New Mexico Ranchers of the Year by the New Mexico Cattlemen’s Association a few years ago. The Bar Cross once covered 10 square miles, mostly leased BLM land, but they’ve been passing it along to their kids. The Cains got it in 1955 after the military urged them off a spread to the east that was to become military property. Now they’ll be moving again to make room for the spaceport, and are taking it in stride. “Things happen,” said Jane. “That’s progress, I guess.”....
Dairy cows dying Blistering heat has killed thousands of dairy cows in the Central Valley, depressed milk production and put crops such as walnuts and peaches at risk, state agriculture officials said Tuesday. "Humans take a while to acclimate to the heat, and animals are impacted as well," said Ann Schmidt-Fogarty, a spokeswoman for the California Farm Bureau. "We are doing all we can to protect them. But farmers are scrambling -- I don't think anyone anticipated this number of days when it was this hot." The large number of dairy cow deaths have overwhelmed the rendering plants that normally dispose of the carcases. "If you don't bury them, you have to deal with the stench and flies," said John Ferreira of the Cotta & Ferreira Dairy in Stockton. The state Department of Food and Agriculture has issued a waiver in eight counties allowing animal carcases to be disposed of in landfills. Steve Lyle, a spokesman for the department said his agency believes thousands of head of livestock have died, but he could not provide a specific number....
A Trans-Texas Horror There is an issue in Texas quietly building steam in what could be a major campaign theme in this fall's elections for governor and the state agricultural commissioner. It's an issue that has folks in rural Texas feeling the pain of Native Americans centuries prior. It's an issue that has farmers and ranchers readying their pitchforks. And it's an issue that has some of the most conservative counties in the state upset with Republicans they used to consider defenders of free men on the range. The issue is the Trans-Texas Corridor, a 4,000-mile, $183-billion plan proposed by Republicans and promoted by Gov. Rick Perry as the 50-year solution to Texas' traffic needs. The routes span the state, snaking across central and eastern Texas, connecting Laredo to Oklahoma and Arkansas. Future routes could bring in an East-West line from El Paso or others up through the Panhandle. Each corridor could contain up to four trucker lanes, six vehicle lanes, six rail lines and a 200-foot utility path. At its maximum size, each TTC could be 1,200 feet wide, consuming up to 9,000 square miles of land, more than exists in all of New Jersey....
Permalink 0 comments
‘Environmentally sound’ drilling? The view from the edge of the Roan Plateau, more than 1,500 feet above the Colorado River, is a bit dull on this particular day, western Colorado’s normally crystalline air partly obscured by a haze emanating from distant wildfires raging elsewhere across the torrid Southwest. But the haze isn’t so bad as to hide what’s below: The miles of roads and seemingly countless well pads carved out of the sagebrush flats, evidence of our nation’s hunger for fossil fuels. Those same road-laced flats once were key winter range for one of Colorado’s biggest herds of mule deer. Today, it seems unlikely that mule deer, genetically disposed to stick close to their home range, could scrape even a meager living from that land swirled with a maze of roads, the heavy truck traffic throwing up clouds of dust and adding to the brown mantle across the sky. Keith Goddard, owner of Magnum Outfitters of Rifle, looked down the Roan Plateau’s steep sides and slowly counted the drill rigs working below. “Let’s see. I count at least five new ones, and there might be one behind that hill where we can’t see it,” said Goddard, who at 42 already has more than 20 years of guiding experience behind him. He turned to the handful of people around him. “If that’s any indication of what’s going to happen up here, you can kiss this area goodbye,” he said, his National Finals Rodeo buckle glinting in the sun....
Oregon battle sweeps West Oregon's property-rights movement is being exported across the western United States, letting voters from California to Montana decide how vigorously governments control the landscape. November ballot measures in a block of seven states this side of the Rocky Mountains would limit public officials' ability to buy and regulate property. But opposition is sweeping the West, too, with well-organized critics predicting scattered subdivisions and contaminated water if the measures pass. An initiative in Washington -- the one most like Oregon's Measure 37 -- offers a window into the clashing values that will fuel campaigns. Property-rights activists seized on their 2004 win in Oregon, where governments now waive land-use rules or pay owners for lost value. The U.S. Supreme Court inflamed the movement with its Kelo v. New London ruling, allowing government to forcibly buy land and turn it over to another private owner as an economic development tool. Both issues crop up in the latest batch of initiatives, including an Oregon proposal restricting governments' ability to condemn land. Allowing citizens to challenge regulations, as Measure 37 did, is more controversial. In Washington, Initiative 933 would require governments to excuse landowners from rules approved after 1995 or compensate them. New regulations could be created only as a last resort. State Farm Bureau leaders, who wrote the measure, say rural residents shouldn't shoulder the cost of discouraging country development, protecting habitat and shepherding people into cities....
Backers, critics debate scope of proposed law Fast-growing Southwest Washington makes the perfect case study for Initiative 933, as adversaries speculate about the measure's effect on city neighborhoods and rural landscapes. Dubbed the "Property Fairness Initiative," it has been modeled after Oregon's Measure 37. If the measure becomes law, governments would compensate landowners for restrictive planning rules or let them opt out. And in the future, public officials would have to study effects on property value before adopting regulations. Bill Zimmerman, president of the Clark-Cowlitz Farm Bureau, is convinced the time has come for a sweeping land-rights law in Washington. "What we're saying is, if you're going to do something that reduces the value of our property, then pay us for it," he said. Val Alexander, who owns 65 acres near La Center, sees consistent land-use regulations as her only hope to keep sprawl at bay. She operates a U-pick berry farm called Coyote Ridge Ranch. "It would make it very, very difficult for people to continue farming," Alexander said. "We'd see a lot more development in rural areas."....
Where is the Lincoln headed? New Lincoln National Forest supervisor Lou Woltering hopes to implement extensive and far-reaching plans the Forest Service has for the Lincoln. A strategic plan for the forest for 2006 through 2010 envisions thinning as a fire-management tool, restrictions on certain off-road activities, and monitoring of grazing allotments. Next year, the Forest Service is also starting a forest land management plan revision process. The Forest Service will be working with the public to develop the strategic direction that will guide the Lincoln Forest into the next 10 to 15 years. "We're going to be emphasizing the implementation of the southwestern region's central priority," Woltering said, the central priority being the restoration of "fire into fire" adapted ecosystems. Fire into fire, he explained, is an attempt to reestablish the natural fire systems that existed long ago, so that there isn't excessive undergrowth that can provide fuel for wildfires. "Historically," he said, "our ecosystems burned every 40 to 50 years, over hundreds of years." Now there is an excess of fuels that in a natural fire system would not have been allowed to accumulate. "Fire into fire" seeks to protect communities and private land owners from wildfires by treating fuels adjacent to communities and private land. "We'll be using logging, thinning, and prescribed burning to help us do that, so that fire plays a more natural role in maintaining a healthy forest." He said thinning is good for the health of the forest, and it also helps prevent wildfires....
Fish and Wildlife Service Moves To Expand Predator Control Against Endangered Mexican Wolves Today the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced its approval of a controversial set of recommendations for the endangered Mexican wolf that will leave the government unrestrained to kill and trap wolves for the next few years. The move is a precursor to an eventual rule change that will result in even more wolves being subject to the federal predator control program. “This is the Bush administration’s formal announcement that it will ignore the pleas of independent scientists to reduce wolf mortality by addressing the problem of cattle and horse carcasses that habituate wolves to preying on livestock,” said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity in Pinos Altos, New Mexico. The recommendations were developed by the interagency Mexican Wolf Adaptive Management Oversight Committee in its Blue Range Wolf Reintroduction Project’s Five-Year Review. They are available via the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s website at: MW 5-Year Review AMOC Recommendations Component. The recommendations, approved three years and three months late (from the five-year anniversary of the reintroduction program’s inception in March 1998), include the following four elements that will further jeopardize the Mexican wolf's survival and ultimately prevent its recovery:....
Ranchers eyed to protect grasslands The Nature Conservancy has opened an office here to focus on grassland conservation in communities, like Cheyenne, that are seeing rapid residential and commercial development. "We would like to see the ranching community stay out there on the land because they've done a really good job of keeping those lands in good shape," said Brent Lathrop, director of southeast Wyoming programs for The Nature Conservancy. Lathrop said prairie grasslands have largely disappeared, from the eastern tall-grass prairies to the western short-grass that makes up more than one third of Wyoming's land area. He said grasslands are among the most threatened ecosystems in the world. Development is rapidly consuming the prairie along Colorado's Front Range, Lathrop said. Lathrop said his group wouldn't advocate for limiting development, but would instead seek ways to help ranchers keep their land in operation instead of selling it for development. Jim Magagna, executive vice president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, said his group had had positive relations with the state chapter of The Nature Conservancy, despite not always agreeing with The Nature Conservancy's national agenda....
Put another log on the mire A logjam on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River has temporarily blocked about 200 rafters from floating through a remote stretch of wilderness, outfitters say. The Middle Fork, a 100-mile stretch of water in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness, is considered one of the most thrilling whitewater floats in the country. The central Idaho waterway is accessible only to those with permits. U.S. Forest Service spokesmen and outfitters familiar with the Middle Fork told KTVB-TV in Boise that they have never seen a blockage this large. Heavy rain caused a Monday washout that pushed "a bunch of logs, from 50 to 60 logs" into the river, said Jackie Nefzger, of Mackay Wilderness River Trips. "It's completely blocked the Middle Fork." Her company has a group of 24 rafters in the area, as well as six guides, she said Tuesday. It could take as long as three days to clear the debris, U.S. Forest Service spokesmen said....
Montana Forest Proposition May Close Singletrack Access A proposed Montana forest plan revision could set a dangerous national precedent by closing hundreds of miles of singletrack to bicycles. Montana's Bitterroot, Flathead and Lolo National Forests are recommending a new policy that will ban bicycles from trails in many roadless areas where access is currently allowed. More than 400 miles of trail in seven roadless areas near Missoula are at risk, including many epic routes cherished by local cyclists. Some of the best trails include Heart Lake, Monture Creek, Bluejoint Creek and Blodgett Canyon. The Great Burn area alone contains 139 miles of singletrack that will be made off-limits to bicycles. Unless cyclists take action, the Forest Service will zone these lands as "Recommended Wilderness," and will ban bicycles. Although most national forests around the country allow existing uses such as mountain biking to continue in Recommended Wilderness, the Bitterroot, Flathead and Lolo will not, thus setting a dangerous precedent....
Feathers bring more charges for activist Animal-rights activist Rodney Coronado, who is awaiting sentencing on convictions related to disruption of the March 2004 mountain-lion hunt in Sabino Canyon, has been additionally charged with possessing the feathers of a golden eagle and other protected birds. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service cited Coronado Friday on two misdemeanor counts of possessing golden eagle feathers and migratory bird feathers, said Frank Solis, special agent for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He said the feathers were found at Coronado's Tucson home in February when the FBI arrested him on unrelated charges. In addition to the eagle feathers, Solis said, agents found feathers of a great horned owl, barn owl, great blue heron, redtail hawk, Cooper's hawk and Harris hawk. The citations, which are misdemeanor charges, seek a combined fine of $1,350, Solis said. Coronado could legally possess the feathers if he were a registered member of an American Indian tribe, but he is not, said Solis. Coronado's Tucson attorney Antonio Felix said Coronado is a member of the Yaqui Tribe but Felix said he was still researching the issue of tribal registration and could not comment on the new charge....
House bans Valle Vidal drilling Backers of a bill in Congress to protect one of the most popular hunting, fishing and hiking areas in northern New Mexico - the Valle Vidal - from oil and gas drilling say its fate is up to Sen. Pete Domenici. Without objection, the House passed a measure Monday that puts the 101,000-acre portion of Carson National Forest northeast of Red River off-limits to mineral exploration. The area is home to the state's largest elk herd and is used annually by thousands of Boy Scouts from nearby Philmont Scout Ranch. Thousands of people have voiced support for the drilling ban. "The people's voice has been heard, but the job isn't over yet," said Jeremy Vesbach, director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation. "It will not pass without Sen. Domenici's support." The Albuquerque Republican remained noncommittal Monday, praising Udall for his "good purpose" but saying he still preferred to let the U.S. Forest Service decide the fate of the area as part of an ongoing study....
Ruling backs mining Saying the public's right to hold federal agencies accountable is threatened, activists and local officials are pondering their next step after a federal appeals court shot down their challenge of selling public land for a mine atop a western Colorado mountain. A ruling issued by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday upheld a lower court's finding that third parties can't legally challenge mining patents - essentially deeds - on public lands. Town and county officials and residents have been fighting for nearly 30 years to stop a molybdenum mine on the summit of Mount Emmons, which towers over the ski community of Crested Butte. The ruling could affect similar claims throughout the West and silence the public's voice on an important public-lands issue, said Jeff Parsons, senior attorney with the Western Mining Action Project, which is helping represent Crested Butte, Gunnison County and the High Country Citizens Alliance. A three-judge panel of the appeals court sided with an earlier ruling that said only people with a competing claim to ownership of the land can sue....
Researchers find a new genus of cricket Researchers say they have discovered a new type of cricket in the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, located in a remote strip of land on the Utah-Arizona border. The cricket was discovered in samples taken from the area last spring by Kyle Voyles, a state of Arizona cave coordinator and a physical science technician with the Bureau of Land Management, and J. Judson Wynne, a Northern Arizona University doctoral candidate. Voyles and Wynne spent time surveying 24 caves and taking samples from 15. "Finding a new species is one thing, but finding a new genus is beyond my wildest dream," Kyle Voyles, a state of Arizona cave coordinator said. A genus is a broader category in the classification of animals; it can encompass many related species. In addition to the possible new genus of cricket, four new species of crickets have been identified from the spring samples. A barklouse also was found in the caves. Though common in South America, this was the first one discovered in North America, Voyles said....
Former owners sold monument to BLM after 38 years An unscripted encounter of some historical significance took place Monday at Pompeys Pillar National Monument. Peyton "Bud" Clark, great-great-great-grandson of Capt. William Clark, and other members of his family met Stella Foote, the woman mostly responsible for preserving the sandstone monument where Capt. Clark carved his name 200 years ago today. Foote and her late husband, Don Foote, already ardent collectors of Western books and artifacts, purchased Pompeys Pillar in 1955 and operated the historical landmark for 38 years, until selling it to the Bureau of Land Management in 1991. Bud Clark met Stella Foote Monday afternoon, after delivering a presentation on Capt. Clark during the Lewis and Clark Signature Event at Pompeys Pillar. He said he had talked to Stella Foote by phone before, but had not met her. He was impressed.
"Had it not been for their family's diligence, we might not be standing here," he said....
Tug of War Is On in Montana Over Public Access to Waterway Mitchell Slough is a slice of Montana heaven, a meandering 13-mile-long waterway that purls gently past houses and ranches, with the black backs of large, darting trout visible beneath the crystal-clear surface. There are some two dozen landowners along the waterway, including the rock musician Huey Lewis and a Las Vegas contractor who built a dazzling home with a glass floor over a branch of the slough. Now lawyers for Mr. Lewis and the other landowners are before the Montana Supreme Court arguing that the waterway is no more than a man-made ditch. The case turns on a state law that mandates public access to natural waterways, something Mr. Lewis and the others insist should not apply to Mitchell Slough. For the property owners, the story of the slough would not be titled “A River Runs Through It,” but “An Irrigation Ditch Runs Through It.” “Definitely it is a ditch, because it’s diverted water for irrigation,” Mr. Lewis said by phone from New York, where he was on tour. “If you watch the water levels go up and down, you know it’s a ditch.” A state district judge agreed in May that while Mitchell Slough was once part of the nearby Bitterroot River, it had been transformed by the hand of man, by changes including numerous head gates that control flows, and so was exempt from the Montana stream access law....
Cuba oil probe spurs calls for U.S. drilling Congressional proponents of oil and gas drilling are pointing to Cuba's exploration off the coast of Florida -- with help from China -- as a prime reason to open up U.S. drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. But Florida legislators continue to resist, and some of them are trying to stop Cuba's activities by pushing to rescind a 1977 treaty dividing the Straits of Florida halfway between the two countries. The Bush administration, with an eye toward the pivotal role Florida has played in presidential politics and out of solidarity with President Bush's brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, has largely sided with Florida in the dispute. It supports only very limited drilling off the coast of Florida, as would be permitted under a bill pending in the Senate. "American politics today -- it is the no-drill zone," said Sen. Larry E. Craig, Idaho Republican. "We sit here watching China exploit a valuable resource within eyesight of the U.S. coast," he said, noting that one 2005 U.S. Geological Survey estimated the North Cuba Basin may contain as much oil as the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve in Alaska....
Bears Seeking Food Near People in Denver Triathlete Sabrina Oei was speeding downhill at nearly 40 mph, cycling through the Colorado foothills during a race, when something brought her to a sudden, painful, stop: a bear. Oei, 31, slammed broadside into a black bear when it wandered onto the race course Sunday. She went airborne, then slid on her back across the pavement. She wasn't seriously injured and even finished the triathlon. The bear didn't seem to be hurt, either, scampering back into the woods. But the unusual high-speed encounter is a dramatic example of what experts are seeing across the West as drought forces bears to forage farther for food while urban development pushes into formerly wild areas. Oei's encounter is the latest anecdotal evidence coming in from around the West this year: In Nevada, near Lake Tahoe, a bear climbed into a vintage convertible July 2 and snacked on pizza and beer as a crowd gathered. In Alaska, a bear charged a jogger in an Anchorage city park this month. In Colorado Springs, a woman last week came home to find a bear rummaging through her refrigerator....
Culberson County residents like spaceport plans Residents and officials from a sparsely populated West Texas county who showed up this evening at a federal hearing are thrilled Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos has chosen their remote area for a commercial space venture. "We are very excited about Blue Origin," Ron Helm, 50, an area rancher, said at a Federal Aviation Administration hearing on the spaceport being developed by the Internet billionaire's company. "As far as we can tell, this is a great opportunity." "This has a lot of possibilities," added Mayor Okey D. Lukas, 70, who described the secretive venture under construction about 25 miles north of his town of about 3,000 people as the biggest thing to hit Culberson County in his 23 years in office. The FAA hearing was to take public comment on a 229-page draft report of an environmental assessment of the project on some 165,000 acres of property Bezos has purchased in the county about 120 miles east of El Paso. The hearing drew about three dozen area residents, and none expressed any misgivings....
Spaceport America! I recently visited the Southwest Region Spaceport near this former railroad siding and cattle holding area, Upham, New Mexico. I was on what tourism marketers call a “show me tour” and in the company of Spaceport information officer Katie Roberts, William Gutman, Ph.D., deputy director of Emerging Technologies Lab at New Mexico State University, and French journalist Philippe Boulet-Gercourt of the Observateur. We visited one of the ranches, the Bar Cross, owned by Ben and Jane Cain, who were named New Mexico Ranchers of the Year by the New Mexico Cattlemen’s Association a few years ago. The Bar Cross once covered 10 square miles, mostly leased BLM land, but they’ve been passing it along to their kids. The Cains got it in 1955 after the military urged them off a spread to the east that was to become military property. Now they’ll be moving again to make room for the spaceport, and are taking it in stride. “Things happen,” said Jane. “That’s progress, I guess.”....
Dairy cows dying Blistering heat has killed thousands of dairy cows in the Central Valley, depressed milk production and put crops such as walnuts and peaches at risk, state agriculture officials said Tuesday. "Humans take a while to acclimate to the heat, and animals are impacted as well," said Ann Schmidt-Fogarty, a spokeswoman for the California Farm Bureau. "We are doing all we can to protect them. But farmers are scrambling -- I don't think anyone anticipated this number of days when it was this hot." The large number of dairy cow deaths have overwhelmed the rendering plants that normally dispose of the carcases. "If you don't bury them, you have to deal with the stench and flies," said John Ferreira of the Cotta & Ferreira Dairy in Stockton. The state Department of Food and Agriculture has issued a waiver in eight counties allowing animal carcases to be disposed of in landfills. Steve Lyle, a spokesman for the department said his agency believes thousands of head of livestock have died, but he could not provide a specific number....
A Trans-Texas Horror There is an issue in Texas quietly building steam in what could be a major campaign theme in this fall's elections for governor and the state agricultural commissioner. It's an issue that has folks in rural Texas feeling the pain of Native Americans centuries prior. It's an issue that has farmers and ranchers readying their pitchforks. And it's an issue that has some of the most conservative counties in the state upset with Republicans they used to consider defenders of free men on the range. The issue is the Trans-Texas Corridor, a 4,000-mile, $183-billion plan proposed by Republicans and promoted by Gov. Rick Perry as the 50-year solution to Texas' traffic needs. The routes span the state, snaking across central and eastern Texas, connecting Laredo to Oklahoma and Arkansas. Future routes could bring in an East-West line from El Paso or others up through the Panhandle. Each corridor could contain up to four trucker lanes, six vehicle lanes, six rail lines and a 200-foot utility path. At its maximum size, each TTC could be 1,200 feet wide, consuming up to 9,000 square miles of land, more than exists in all of New Jersey....
Permalink 0 comments
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Japan to Ok U.S. Beef Import Resumption
Japan is preparing to approve a resumption of imports of U.S. beef this week, officials said Tuesday, despite a report that Japanese inspectors found problems at some U.S. meat processing plants. Officials from Japan's agriculture and health ministries are expected to decide soon, possibly when the Food Safety Commission meets Thursday, on whether to allow U.S. beef back into Japan. But Japanese inspectors who toured U.S. meat processing facilities have found compliance problems 'at one or two facilities,' the Yomiuri newspaper reported Tuesday, citing unidentified Health Ministry officials. The inspectors returned on Sunday after a month touring 35 U.S. meat processing facilities to find out if they meet Japanese guidelines. Japan banned U.S. beef earlier this year amid concerns about mad cow disease, but agreed in principle to resume imports last month on the condition that Japanese inspectors found no problems at U.S. plants. Experts are currently examining the inspection results and details cannot yet be disclosed, Health Ministry official Kenichi Watanabe told The Associated Press. He said Japanese officials have not decided what to do if any problems are found at the U.S. plants. Japan lifted an earlier ban on U.S. beef late last year, but re-imposed it in January after inspectors found a shipment containing banned animal parts. Health and agriculture officials were compiling a report on the inspections, and the government is expected to announce which facilities have been approved to provide beef for the Japanese market....
Permalink 0 comments
Japan is preparing to approve a resumption of imports of U.S. beef this week, officials said Tuesday, despite a report that Japanese inspectors found problems at some U.S. meat processing plants. Officials from Japan's agriculture and health ministries are expected to decide soon, possibly when the Food Safety Commission meets Thursday, on whether to allow U.S. beef back into Japan. But Japanese inspectors who toured U.S. meat processing facilities have found compliance problems 'at one or two facilities,' the Yomiuri newspaper reported Tuesday, citing unidentified Health Ministry officials. The inspectors returned on Sunday after a month touring 35 U.S. meat processing facilities to find out if they meet Japanese guidelines. Japan banned U.S. beef earlier this year amid concerns about mad cow disease, but agreed in principle to resume imports last month on the condition that Japanese inspectors found no problems at U.S. plants. Experts are currently examining the inspection results and details cannot yet be disclosed, Health Ministry official Kenichi Watanabe told The Associated Press. He said Japanese officials have not decided what to do if any problems are found at the U.S. plants. Japan lifted an earlier ban on U.S. beef late last year, but re-imposed it in January after inspectors found a shipment containing banned animal parts. Health and agriculture officials were compiling a report on the inspections, and the government is expected to announce which facilities have been approved to provide beef for the Japanese market....
Permalink 0 comments
MEXICAN WOLF PROJECT TO CONTINUE
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has determined that the Mexican Wolf Blue Range Reintroduction Project will continue with modifications following a 5-year review of the project by the Mexican Wolf Adaptive Management Oversight Committee (AMOC).
The AMOC consists of representatives of the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, Arizona Game and Fish Department, USDA Wildlife Services and the Forest Service, and the White Mountain Apache Tribe. The Service?s decision was based upon recommendations from the AMOC and extensive public input.
"The Service in cooperation with members of the AMOC will continue to move forward in the management of wolves in their natural habitat," said the Service?s Acting Southwest Regional Director Dr. Benjamin Tuggle. "We support AMOC's recommendations and think the recommendations and subsequent discussions with stakeholders will greatly improve the effectiveness of the Mexican wolf program."
In 1976 the wolf was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In 1998, the Service began reintroducing Mexican wolves in a portion of their historic habitat in the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. The wolves were released as a ?nonessential experimental population? under section 10(j) of the ESA. A designation as a nonessential population permits more flexibility in the management of species that are reintroduced to their historic range.
Among the recommendations presented by the AMOC are basic management activities that can be started immediately to improve monitoring, live trapping methods, communications and outreach, and methods of estimating wolf populations.
The Service with input from AMOC and other partners will craft necessary modifications requiring formal rule changes - such as boundary expansion - that are under federal jurisdiction.
Tuggle said the Service also plans to work with its cooperators to develop a comprehensive wolf-livestock interdiction program that would address known and potential economic impacts by nuisance wolves and other measures to reduce livestock depredation and recover wolf populations. In addition, the agency will consider the appropriate role of a wolf recovery team in implementing the AMOC recommendations. These measures would be contingent upon available funding and could take up to three years to complete, he added.
"Today we?ve taken a major step forward, but there is much work still to be done, Tuggle said. In the coming months and years, we will continue working closely with AMOC, conservation groups, ranchers and other stakeholders to recover the Mexican wolf population and minimize impacts on livestock and landowners. This is the essence of cooperative conservation."
Copies of the AMOC?s 5-year review documents (including the 37 recommendations) can be downloaded from the Arizona Game and Fish Department website at :
http://www.azgfd.gov/w_c/es/wolf_reintroduction.shtml
Permalink 0 comments
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has determined that the Mexican Wolf Blue Range Reintroduction Project will continue with modifications following a 5-year review of the project by the Mexican Wolf Adaptive Management Oversight Committee (AMOC).
The AMOC consists of representatives of the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, Arizona Game and Fish Department, USDA Wildlife Services and the Forest Service, and the White Mountain Apache Tribe. The Service?s decision was based upon recommendations from the AMOC and extensive public input.
"The Service in cooperation with members of the AMOC will continue to move forward in the management of wolves in their natural habitat," said the Service?s Acting Southwest Regional Director Dr. Benjamin Tuggle. "We support AMOC's recommendations and think the recommendations and subsequent discussions with stakeholders will greatly improve the effectiveness of the Mexican wolf program."
In 1976 the wolf was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In 1998, the Service began reintroducing Mexican wolves in a portion of their historic habitat in the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. The wolves were released as a ?nonessential experimental population? under section 10(j) of the ESA. A designation as a nonessential population permits more flexibility in the management of species that are reintroduced to their historic range.
Among the recommendations presented by the AMOC are basic management activities that can be started immediately to improve monitoring, live trapping methods, communications and outreach, and methods of estimating wolf populations.
The Service with input from AMOC and other partners will craft necessary modifications requiring formal rule changes - such as boundary expansion - that are under federal jurisdiction.
Tuggle said the Service also plans to work with its cooperators to develop a comprehensive wolf-livestock interdiction program that would address known and potential economic impacts by nuisance wolves and other measures to reduce livestock depredation and recover wolf populations. In addition, the agency will consider the appropriate role of a wolf recovery team in implementing the AMOC recommendations. These measures would be contingent upon available funding and could take up to three years to complete, he added.
"Today we?ve taken a major step forward, but there is much work still to be done, Tuggle said. In the coming months and years, we will continue working closely with AMOC, conservation groups, ranchers and other stakeholders to recover the Mexican wolf population and minimize impacts on livestock and landowners. This is the essence of cooperative conservation."
Copies of the AMOC?s 5-year review documents (including the 37 recommendations) can be downloaded from the Arizona Game and Fish Department website at :
http://www.azgfd.gov/w_c/es/wolf_reintroduction.shtml
Permalink 0 comments
Land Rights Network
American Land Rights Association
PO Box 400, Battle Ground, WA 98604
(360)687-3087 - Fax: (360)687-2973
Email: alra@governance.net
Web Address: http://www.landrights.org
Legislative Office: 507 Seward Square SE - Washington, DC 20003
202)329-3574 - Fax: (202)543-7126
Email: landrightsnet@yahoo.com
Last Minute Land Grab - ACTION NEEDED
United States Senator "Liberal Lamar" Alexander is at it again!!!
Senate Votes On Wednesday
For the SECOND TIME this year, Liberal Lamar is placing his own left wing environmental agenda ahead of America’s vital interests!
For the SECOND TIME this year, Liberal Lamar is threatening to defeat legislation to expand America’s domestic energy sources!
For the SECOND TIME this year, Liberal Lamar, at the last minute and with no votes or public debate, has snuck into legislation a PERMANENT trust fund to finance land acquisition and pad the budgets of leftwing environmental groups with tax money.
This Wednesday, the Senate will vote on legislation to open up limited parts of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) - the area off the coasts of the Atlantic and Pacific states, and the Gulf of Mexico - to oil and gas exploration. This will greatly increase America’s domestic oil and gas production and make us less dependent on foreign oil.
Sounds like a good idea, right? Right.
HOWEVER, at the last minute, only days before the vote, Liberal Lamar has added language to the bill that would take 12.5% of the tax revenue generated from the oil and gas production, and PERMANENTLY dedicate it to land acquisition - PERMANENTLY finance property seizure nationwide! This adds up to AT LEAST $450 million dollars EVERY YEAR.
It will also substantially pad the pockets of environmental groups, since so many of them buy land and then quickly resell it to state and federal agencies at huge profits, with the collusion of government agents. Now those government agents will have a PERMANENT GUARANTEED FUND to draw from to grab land and finance their leftwing environmentalist allies!
United States Senator "Liberal Lamar" Alexander is threatening to defeat sorely needed oil and gas production in order to accomplish his leftwing environmental agenda.
Liberal Lamar attempted this same tactic earlier this year, when the Senate voted on opening up the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to limited oil and gas exploration. At the last minute, the vote on ANWR was changed to include a PERMANENT FUND to finance land grabs. Alexander’s sleazy, sneaky maneuver created confusion, weakened support for ANWR, and helped to cause its defeat.
Senator Liberal Lamar Alexander doesn’t care about your gas prices, that comes in second to financing his leftwing buddies in the environmental movement.
Now Liberal Lamar Alexander is attempting the same move again. In a sleazy, sneaky last-minute maneuver, he has taken good legislation to increase America’s energy supplies, and made a terrible addition to it - a GUARANTEED FUND to PERMANENTLY finance property seizure and finance leftwing environmental groups.
*****ACTION ITEM:
Call, fax or e-mail both your two home state Senators, whether Republican or Democrat, whether "conservative" or "liberal." THE VOTE WILL BE CLOSE, and many deals are being made, so almost anyone might vote almost any way. Any Senator may be called at (202) 224-3121.
Look what has happened already!!! A "Republican" controlled Senate proposes handing over billions of dollars to leftwing enviros to seize private property - and is getting NOTHING in return – not one single vote for expanding energy production. As a matter of fact, "Liberal Lamar" Alexander, one of the leading enviros in Congress, actually claims to be a "Republican!"
ALL ONE HUNDRED SENATORS votes are up for grabs on Wednesday, because of Liberal Lamar’s last minute moves, which have confused the battle lines on this vote.
*** PLEASE ***
Contact your both two Senators - no matter who they are.
TELL THEM:
You SUPPORT more energy exploration.
You SUPPORT more gas and oil production here in America.
However:
You OPPOSE a permanent, guaranteed fund for seizure of private land.
You OPPOSE any legislation that includes permanent, guaranteed financing of leftwing environmental groups.
There is NO REASON to include Senator Lamar Alexander’s pet project in this energy production bill.
Ask your Senators to VOTE NO on any bill that includes permanent, guaranteed funding for seizure of private land.
Please forward this message as widely as possible.
Permalink 0 comments
American Land Rights Association
PO Box 400, Battle Ground, WA 98604
(360)687-3087 - Fax: (360)687-2973
Email: alra@governance.net
Web Address: http://www.landrights.org
Legislative Office: 507 Seward Square SE - Washington, DC 20003
202)329-3574 - Fax: (202)543-7126
Email: landrightsnet@yahoo.com
Last Minute Land Grab - ACTION NEEDED
United States Senator "Liberal Lamar" Alexander is at it again!!!
Senate Votes On Wednesday
For the SECOND TIME this year, Liberal Lamar is placing his own left wing environmental agenda ahead of America’s vital interests!
For the SECOND TIME this year, Liberal Lamar is threatening to defeat legislation to expand America’s domestic energy sources!
For the SECOND TIME this year, Liberal Lamar, at the last minute and with no votes or public debate, has snuck into legislation a PERMANENT trust fund to finance land acquisition and pad the budgets of leftwing environmental groups with tax money.
This Wednesday, the Senate will vote on legislation to open up limited parts of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) - the area off the coasts of the Atlantic and Pacific states, and the Gulf of Mexico - to oil and gas exploration. This will greatly increase America’s domestic oil and gas production and make us less dependent on foreign oil.
Sounds like a good idea, right? Right.
HOWEVER, at the last minute, only days before the vote, Liberal Lamar has added language to the bill that would take 12.5% of the tax revenue generated from the oil and gas production, and PERMANENTLY dedicate it to land acquisition - PERMANENTLY finance property seizure nationwide! This adds up to AT LEAST $450 million dollars EVERY YEAR.
It will also substantially pad the pockets of environmental groups, since so many of them buy land and then quickly resell it to state and federal agencies at huge profits, with the collusion of government agents. Now those government agents will have a PERMANENT GUARANTEED FUND to draw from to grab land and finance their leftwing environmentalist allies!
United States Senator "Liberal Lamar" Alexander is threatening to defeat sorely needed oil and gas production in order to accomplish his leftwing environmental agenda.
Liberal Lamar attempted this same tactic earlier this year, when the Senate voted on opening up the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to limited oil and gas exploration. At the last minute, the vote on ANWR was changed to include a PERMANENT FUND to finance land grabs. Alexander’s sleazy, sneaky maneuver created confusion, weakened support for ANWR, and helped to cause its defeat.
Senator Liberal Lamar Alexander doesn’t care about your gas prices, that comes in second to financing his leftwing buddies in the environmental movement.
Now Liberal Lamar Alexander is attempting the same move again. In a sleazy, sneaky last-minute maneuver, he has taken good legislation to increase America’s energy supplies, and made a terrible addition to it - a GUARANTEED FUND to PERMANENTLY finance property seizure and finance leftwing environmental groups.
*****ACTION ITEM:
Call, fax or e-mail both your two home state Senators, whether Republican or Democrat, whether "conservative" or "liberal." THE VOTE WILL BE CLOSE, and many deals are being made, so almost anyone might vote almost any way. Any Senator may be called at (202) 224-3121.
Look what has happened already!!! A "Republican" controlled Senate proposes handing over billions of dollars to leftwing enviros to seize private property - and is getting NOTHING in return – not one single vote for expanding energy production. As a matter of fact, "Liberal Lamar" Alexander, one of the leading enviros in Congress, actually claims to be a "Republican!"
ALL ONE HUNDRED SENATORS votes are up for grabs on Wednesday, because of Liberal Lamar’s last minute moves, which have confused the battle lines on this vote.
*** PLEASE ***
Contact your both two Senators - no matter who they are.
TELL THEM:
You SUPPORT more energy exploration.
You SUPPORT more gas and oil production here in America.
However:
You OPPOSE a permanent, guaranteed fund for seizure of private land.
You OPPOSE any legislation that includes permanent, guaranteed financing of leftwing environmental groups.
There is NO REASON to include Senator Lamar Alexander’s pet project in this energy production bill.
Ask your Senators to VOTE NO on any bill that includes permanent, guaranteed funding for seizure of private land.
Please forward this message as widely as possible.
Permalink 0 comments
NEWS ROUNDUP
Growing Coalition Opposes Drilling Now, Valle Vidal has become a battleground in the drive to expand energy exploration on public land, attracting the attention of a growing coalition of hunters, anglers, environmentalists, ranchers, homeowners and politicians across the ideological spectrum. Here and elsewhere in the Western United States, this coalition is starting to resist the push for energy exploration in some of the nation's most prized wilderness areas. Although it remains unclear how successful they will be, these new activists -- including many who treasure Valle Vidal as a place to fish for cutthroat trout, hunt for elk and ride horses across its wide expanses -- have brought a new dynamic to the public debate over energy development in the West. "There's clearly a headlong rush into opening up these areas, but there's a recognition there's precious areas, beautiful landscapes that people appreciate and love," said Rep. Tom Udall (D-N.M.). "In those cases, the equation swings over to protection." Udall sponsored legislation to make Valle Vidal off-limits to oil and gas drilling and to protect hundreds of thousands of acres of wilderness in California, Idaho and Oregon. The House unanimously approved Udall's bill on Monday, and the issue is now before the Senate. In two other states, prominent GOP senators -- Conrad Burns (Mont.) and Craig Thomas (Wyo.) -- have also pushed in the past month to restrict energy exploration on public land....
As states ponder protection, roadless forests unravel The Clear Fork roadless area in western Colorado holds one of the largest expanses of aspen trees in the world. In 2001, the 24,000-acre tract in the Grand Mesa-Uncompahgre-Gunnison National Forest was protected, part of 58.5 million acres preserved nationwide by President Clinton’s Roadless Area Conservation Rule. Shortly after taking office, President Bush abandoned his predecessor’s rule by failing to defend it against lawsuits. Then, last May, the administration unveiled its own version of the rule, and allowed individual governors a say in how roadless areas in their states are managed. While states consider whether to recommend protections — they have until Nov. 13 to submit petitions — the Forest Service promised not to move forward with any development in roadless areas. But even as Colorado Gov. Bill Owens, R, gathers public input, the Clear Fork may be headed for the auction block. Next month, at the behest of industry, federal officials plan to offer part of the area for natural gas exploration. At least 14 other roadless-area projects, ranging from energy development to logging and mining, are also in the works around the West....
BLM affirms Jack Morrow Hills plan A controversial plan to allow oil and gas development in the Jack Morrow Hills area of the Red Desert has been approved by the Bureau of Land Management, to the outcry of conservationists. The plan foresees development of 255 more wells in the 622,000-acre area, although it does not set a cap on the number of wells. Despite about 1,000 protest letters received by the BLM during the planning process, the BLM issued a final decision last week that basically mirrors its original plan. Joy Owen, statewide coordinator for Friends of the Red Desert, said she was surprised the agency signed off on a plan even after it received so many protests. The BLM also released an amendment to the Green River resource management plan along with the Jack Morrow Hills decision last week. The amendment explains in broad brush strokes how the BLM will manage for things including sage grouse and recreation, and is intended to address some of the protests....
Land issues help Dems hook rod and gun crowd As more oil and gas wells spring up throughout the Rocky Mountain West, moderate Democrats are telling hunters and ang lers worried about open space that they feel their pain. Hoping to capitalize on the frustration of outdoorsmen and women watching the mechanization of their playgrounds, Democrats are talking about responsible land policy that balances industrial and recreational needs. The approach has created some strange bedfellows. Sportsmen, traditionally leery of Democrats because of their pro gun-control stance, are coming to the table to talk about how to protect the land. And environmentalists, who in the past have demanded that all public land remain pristine, are softening enough to talk about responsible industrial land use. Democrats see this new group of disaffected hunters and mellowed greenies as one of the keys to electoral victory in the Rocky Mountain West....
Montana reviewing Wyoming water discharge permits Despite the verbal sparring between Wyoming and Montana over the release of water from coal-bed methane wells into rivers and streams, Montana regulators haven't objected to any water discharge permits issued by Wyoming. "Montana is reviewing every draft (water discharge) permit we put out," said John Wagner of the Water Quality Division in Wyoming's Department of Environmental Quality. "So far, they have not had a problem with any permit we've put out." Richard Opper, director of Montana's Department of Environmental Quality, said Monday that his agency has offered comments on permit applications, though he couldn't characterize the nature of the comments and didn't immediately know how many applications the agency had weighed in on. As a matter of courtesy, he said, the agencies in both states have given each other copies of such applications. As for Montana's water quality standards, "We certainly don't feel Wyoming can violate that, and generally Wyoming hasn't violated that to date." Most of the debate centers around water quality in such rivers as the Powder and Tongue, which flow into Montana from northern Wyoming, where coal-bed methane development has taken off....
West Enders urged to ready for gas development With 50,000 acres of oil and gas leases in Montrose County pending in an Aug. 10 auction, West End residents received a primer Sunday on what to expect should development come their way. Since almost all of that acreage sits in the West End, the Uncompahgre Valley Association, a Montrose-based community group, hosted a panel of local and federal officials to field queries and explain the planning process for oil and gas development. Former La Plata County Commissioner Josh Joswick urged landowners to learn about their rights. The upcoming auction includes 9,979 acres of split-estate parcels, in which the land above the mineral is privately owned. Should an energy company try to develop on private property, the landowner can have a say in the location well pads, roads, compressor station and what will happen to the property’s water supply. “Everything except your name and the legal description of your property is negotiable,” said Joswick, who served 12 years as a commissioner. For much of the 1990s, La Plata County worked to find regulations that would protect landowners who saw a deterioration in their water quality and methane gas creeping up through their foundations. The county finally discovered a way to implement protections in their land-use regulations after a number of court battles, but Joswick urged residents to investigate their options sooner rather than later....
Oregon’s Property Rights Law Kicks In, Easing Rigid Rules Voter approval of Measure 37 was a shot heard around the property rights world. Several states, including neighboring Idaho and Washington, now have similar measures on their ballots this fall. The Oregon law could remake the face of the state, where some of the most restrictive land-use rules in the nation are designed to keep forest and farm areas intact and cities compact. After a bumpy ride through the courts, backers of the measure were handed a clear victory this year. Government officials say the measure has essentially knocked out “the Oregon way,” the distinct set of rules that have long angered many property owners but delighted the urban-planning community. It has made for chaos at the county level, many officials say, by taking away local government’s ability to plan for development in an orderly fashion. Since the measure was approved, Oregon property owners had filed 2,755 claims covering 150,455 acres, according to the university’s Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies, which is tracking the measure’s impact. If all the claims were paid, state officials say, it could amount to more than $3 billion in compensation. But not a single claim has been paid, the institute reported. Instead of paying property owners, local government agencies have routinely chosen to waive the regulations, clearing the way for numerous developments in rural areas. But supporters of the measure, which was approved by 61 percent of voters, say that the worst fears of opponents have not been realized, and that the law simply gives Oregon property owners the right to basic compensation when regulations harm the value of their land....
Column - Taking Liberties Libertarians and property-rights activists believe that a huge array of common government regulations on real estate, such as zoning or subdivision limits, "take" away property value. Therefore, they say, the government should compensate the owner, or back off. The extreme view of "regulatory takings" is really at the core of this campaign — not eminent domain. The campaign to pass regulatory-takings laws began in the 1980s, when libertarians seized on the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which says: "Nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." They’ve tried to use Congress, state legislatures and ballot initiatives to pass laws that would treat most regulations as takings. Their first big win came in November 2004, when they persuaded Oregon’s voters to pass Measure 37. That initiative blew holes in the strictest land-use system in the country, allowing longtime landowners to escape many state, county and city regulations (HCN, 11/22/04: In Oregon, a lesson learned the hard way). The impacts of Measure 37 have been delayed by court battles, and the libertarians are determined to turn the delays to their advantage. Before the fallout in Oregon can be fully understood, they are rushing to pass similar ballot initiatives in Montana, Idaho, Washington, Arizona, Nevada and California. While each initiative has its own sales pitch, they all deliberately tuck the notion inside the unrelated eminent domain controversy....
Study bolsters protecting Western jumping mouse A tiny mouse vying for survival in the Rocky Mountains may have gained an upper hand over Western developers. Scientists hired to review contradictory evidence for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concluded the Preble's meadow jumping mouse is a unique subspecies, limited to parts of Colorado and Wyoming. The study by the Portland, Ore.-based Sustainable Ecosystems Institute, obtained Sunday by The Associated Press, would help justify keeping the 3-inch mouse protected under the Endangered Species Act. The mouse, which uses its 6-inch tail and strong hind legs to jump a foot and a half in the air, inhabits grasslands that include prime real estate along Colorado's fast-growing Front Range. Fish and Wildlife is expected to decide by early August whether the mouse should stay on the endangered species list. The decision affects nearly 31,000 acres designated as critical habitat to help the mouse recover. Its population has dwindled to an average of 44 mice per mile of stream because of urban sprawl....
Biologist backs delisting Preble's mouse Denver-area biologist Rob Roy Ramey said Monday that the latest attack on his Preble's meadow jumping mouse research - this time from an expert panel appointed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - doesn't change the bottom line: The Colorado-dwelling mouse is nearly identical to other meadow jumping mice and doesn't deserve the special protections it enjoys as a "threatened" subspecies under the Endangered Species Act. "If you're willing to keep this listed as a subspecies, then how far are you willing to go?" said Ramey, a former Denver Museum of Nature & Science curator who now works as an Interior Department consultant. "We basically have lowered the bar to the point where we can list almost anything" on the federal list of threatened and endangered wildlife, he said....
Carson forests wants ranchers to remove cows Carson National Forest wants some ranchers to remove their cattle from forest land by the end of the month, and the ranchers are fighting the decision. Due to the drought, Jarita Mesa cannot support the nearly 500 head of cattle grazing on the mesa this summer along with wild horses and wildlife, forest officials say. Ranchers who hold 18 permits for the allotment have asked Rio Arriba County officials to intervene. The County Commission last week adopted a resolution supporting the critical role of agriculture on the county's economy and culture. The Forest Service's actions threaten to "negatively and irreversibly impact the lives, the economy, the culture and reshape the natural and human environments of Rio Arriba County," the resolution states. Commissioner Felipe Martinez of El Rito said the commission might draft another resolution requesting that Sheriff Joe Mascarenas "take action to protect private property rights of these folks." Mascarenas said he would do what he could for the ranchers as long as it's "within the law." Ranchers and their supporters blame more than the drought for the shortage of forage. They say the Forest Service hasn't done an adequate job of managing Jarita Mesa's elk and wild horse populations. According to the Forest Service, as many as 150 of the horses roam the 54,000-acre Jarita Mesa Wild Horse Territory northeast of El Rito....
Big California Wildfire Likely from Illegal Immigrant Campfire A 7,000-acre wildfire that forced the evacuation of more than a hundred homes near the California-Mexico border may have been caused by an abandoned campfire set by illegal immigrants, authorities said Monday. The fire had burned nearly 11 square miles of brush and chaparral in the Cleveland National Forest in southern San Diego County. It appeared to have spread early Saturday from an abandoned campfire set in a side drainage of a canyon, the U.S. Forest Service said in a statement. Evidence at the scene suggested “the campfire was left by undocumented immigrants,” it said. Forest Service spokeswoman Anabele Cornejo said investigators found food containers and bottles off a park trail. “Based on collected evidence, we’re making an educated guess that it was probably started by immigrants,” Cornejo said. She did not immediately know whether anyone was detained in connection with the fire....
Forest Service to Revise Trail Classification System The U.S. Forest Service is currently soliciting public comments as it revises its National Trail Classification System (TCS). This process will result in new guidelines for trail classification, design and implementation on all 133,000 miles of National Forest System trails. IMBA is currently evaluating the 75-page document and will send official comments to the Forest Service in the near future. Interested mountain bikers should check the IMBA website in mid-August, 2006, to view IMBA's comments and for assistance preparing individual comments. The official deadline for public comments is Sept. 1. The draft TCS is largely positive for mountain biking and should be a major improvement over the document it replaces. In particular, the draft includes revised trail design parameters and language to manage mountain biking much like hiking and horse use, and separate from motorized recreation. Mountain biking is also categorized, along with hiking, as an activity generally acceptable on all trail classes. Read the Forest Service's Federal Register notice for more information on the TCS revision and instructions for public comment.
Editorial - Prison will provide time to ponder: What were they thinking? What were they thinking? Members of the so-called Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front are probably wondering that themselves. Six of them pleaded guilty last week in federal court in Eugene to a string of arsons or attempted arsons across the West from 1996 to 2001. Their targets included the U.S. Forest Service Detroit Ranger Station in October 1996 and the offices of Boise Cascade Co. in Monmouth on Christmas Day 1999. These wannabe radicals surely never planned to exit in a welter of plea-bargains. Maybe they finally figured it out: They may have done an estimated $100 million worth of damage, but they didn’t change the world. They probably didn’t change anyone’s mind. What did they expect: That people would read of an arson at an auto-sales lot and say, “I’ve seen the light. I’m going to ditch my SUV?”....
Forest Service Overrides EPA Drinking Water Contamination Objections The U.S. Forest Service is breaking environmental protection rules and endangering public health in approving a major expansion of a lakeside resort, according to a formal appeal filed today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The resort sits on Fremont Lake which provides unfiltered drinking water for the city of Pinedale, in western Wyoming. The Bridger Teton National Forest has green-lighted this large-scale expansion of an old lake resort by deciding that the project has no significant environmental impact meriting further study or public input. This finding comes despite a warning by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that the project “will increase the likelihood of contamination, and generally degrade the microbiological and chemical quality of water in Fremont Lake.” Pushed by a former district ranger, the resort project involves construction of a pavilion and 25-unit lodge, a marina with 39 boat slips, 10 duplex cabins, a restaurant expansion, access roads and parking lots. Year-round occupancy of the resort complex will rise to more than 200 people. The only proposed water treatment is an expanded septic system....
Appeals Court Dismisses Grand Staircase Challenge A decade after President Clinton shocked and angered Utah politicians by creating the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, a federal appeals court on Monday said opponents had no standing to challenge the decision. A three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Utah judge’s decision to throw out the lawsuit filed by Denver-based Mountain States Legal Foundation. The foundation’s 1997 suit had been consolidated with a suit filed nine months earlier by the Utah Association of Counties, which didn’t join the appeal, and the state Schools and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, which dropped out before the appeal was filed. “Because we conclude that (Mountain States Legal Foundation) lacked standing to bring this suit, we dismiss the appeal,” appellate judges David M. Ebel, Paul J. Kelly and Stephanie Seymour wrote in a decision released late Monday. The judges said the legal foundation couldn’t produce a person who could show he was harmed by Clinton’s designation of the 1.9 million-acre monument, which opponents called an abuse of the president’s discretion under the 1906 Antiquities Act....
'Clark was here'? Signatures located all over area A graffiti-scarred patch of sandstone on the Rimrocks bears an inscription similar to Capt. William Clark's famous signature at Pompeys Pillar National Monument. Is it an artifact from the Lewis and Clark expedition? A Billings woman believes so. Doubters say it's a hoax concocted by somebody with a sense of humor and a passing knowledge of Montana history. Whatever the truth, the city of Billings, which owns the property where the inscription is located, has made an effort to protect it from weather and vandalism while attempts are made to determine its authenticity. As at Pompeys Pillar, the inscription is carved in a looping cursive script with Clark's first name abbreviated "Wm." The date attached to the Billings inscription is July 24, 1806. The date would mean that Clark landed near the site of Billings, hiked nearly two miles to the top of the Rims, carved his signature, hiked back and traveled to Pompeys Pillar the next day....
Grouse protections ‘good for industry’ Conservation groups say new guidelines will help keep sage grouse protected and off the endangered species list, benefitting not only the animals, but also industry. Several groups such as the Sagebrush Sea Campaign have thrown their support into a sage grouse conservation “blueprint” that aims to increase the animals’ population 33 percent by 2015, and distribution 20 percent by 2030. Written by Clait Braun, a biologist with Grouse Inc., the plan makes specific recommendations about a number of issues affecting sage grouse habitat including management of development, fire, grazing, and invasive species. Conservation groups plan to send the document to the Bureau of Land Management and state agencies in the coming weeks. “Gas development, primarily... is extremely negative,” biologist Erik Molvar with the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance said in a teleconference Thursday. “We need to start thinking about setting aside some fairly large reserves that won’t be disturbed.”....
Wyoming loses try at delisting gray wolf The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has denied a petition from the state of Wyoming that had asked to remove the gray wolf population in the northern Rocky Mountains from the federal list of threatened and endangered species. The state promises a legal challenge. Wyoming officials had proposed a policy of allowing wolves to live unmolested in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. The state also proposes to allow trophy hunting for the animals in a large area immediately outside the parks while classifying them as predators that could be shot on sight elsewhere. In rejecting the state's petition, the Fish and Wildlife Service said Monday that it couldn't remove federal protections for wolves in Wyoming until the state sets firm limits on how many could be killed. The federal agency also said the state needs to commit to maintaining a set minimum population of the animals. Gov. Dave Freudenthal said Monday that the federal agency's decision will make it easier for Wyoming to go to court and get a judge to decide whether the state's plan is scientifically adequate....
Wildlife refuge owner given house arrest, fine Amarillo Wildlife Refuge owner Charlie Azzopardi must spend 180 days in home confinement as part of his punishment for selling and transporting an endangered leopard species, according to federal court documents. U.S. Magistrate Judge Clinton Averitte on Friday also assessed Azzopardi a $2,000 fine and ordered that Azzopardi be placed on probation for three years, documents show. Azzopardi was indicted Jan. 18 on the selling charge and three counts of aiding and abetting the making of a false record stemming from an attempt to sell two clouded leopards for $5,000 each to a buyer at a Clinton, Okla., gas station in July 2005. The buyer was an undercover U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent....
Groups halt prairie dog relocation A project to relocate prairie dogs from Cedar Ridge Golf Course and from land owned by the Paiute Tribe of Utah has been halted because of environmental group's objection to the plans. Nicole Rosmarino, director of the Forest Guardians endangered species program, contends the project is unnecessary and will lead the animals' extinction. "What's on the table is unacceptable," Rosmarino said. "There's no getting around it -- the picture on this animal is very bleak. The species is on the verge of extinction. It's in real trouble biologically." The prairie dogs have run rampant at the golf course, where 6,000 golfers play every month. Keith Day, state Division of Wildlife Resources wildlife biologist, estimates that there are more than 360 prairie dogs there alone. And the animals are breeding quickly on the Paiute Tribe's land, limiting use, tribal chairwoman Lora Tom said. "It is disappointing," Tom said. "I wish that those groups or individuals who feel that prairie dogs are endangered would look at some of the areas affected by prairie dogs." Plans were to trap the prairie dogs this summer, said Cedar City Mayor Gerald Sherratt. Trapping season ends in August. Now, the tribe and the golf course will have to wait at least another year before permits could be issued because the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must first resolve the environmental group's complaints, said Elise Boeke, a Fish and Wildlife Service ecologist....
Beavers keep homeowner concerns high Northern Nevada beavers are busy patching and rebuilding their dams and lodges damaged by high runoff on the Truckee River and other regional waterways, officials said. Beavers aren't usually a major problem in the area, but high-water years cause more beaver activity as they meticulously fix their trademark habitats when the water recedes, as it has now, officials said. "They have to go back to work," U.S. Department of Agriculture wildlife biologist Jack Spencer Jr. said, adding that most of the time, the animals go unnoticed until they eat someone's landscaping. "Aspen and cottonwoods are beaver favorites, and I've heard a number of reports of homes that have lost fruit trees," Spencer said. Homeowners and park managers can wrap trees in chicken wire to keep beavers away, and it is legal to trap them with a permit in season....
Private, Public Land Conservation Growing, Needs Better Coordination America is experiencing a huge growth in the conservation of land by private trusts, and new research has found that even more conservation benefits could be gained by coordination among different groups or government land-protection programs with similar goals. From 1998 to 2003, about 1,500 private trusts more than doubled the amount of land in the United States that such groups have been able to protect for conservation purposes, such as species protection, flood control or recreation. Two new studies by researchers at Oregon State University and the University of Illinois outline the value of good coordination of such activities between private groups, and between these groups and state and federal governments. It’s also essential that government agencies better understand the effect they have on private activities in order to optimize the environmental and conservation goals that both sides hope to achieve, scientists say. In some cases, in fact, protection of lands by government agencies has actually served to repel private conservation on nearby lands – a situation that can defeat a frequent goal of creating larger, contiguous blocks of land for endangered species protection and other goals....
GOP's McCloskey endorsing Dem against Pombo Maverick former GOP Rep. Pete McCloskey took on his party's establishment - and lost - with a primary challenge to Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, chairman of the powerful House Resources Committee. Now McCloskey, 78, plans to urge Northern California voters who supported him in the state's June primary to vote for Pombo's Democratic opponent, wind engineer Jerry McNerney, in November. McCloskey won 32 percent of the Republican primary vote June 6 to 62 percent for Pombo. McNerney is "an honorable man that has not and will not seek to enrich himself and his family through his office," McCloskey said in an interview. His support for Democrats doesn't stop with McNerney. McCloskey, who served in Congress from 1967 to 1982 and was an original author of the Endangered Species Act, said he'd like to see his party lose control of the House of Representatives....
U.S. trade court backs Canada in lumber ruling Canada's forest industry is hailing its victory in the United States Court of International Trade, a ruling that may have ramifications for a controversial deal to end the long-running dispute over softwood lumber. The U.S. trade court yesterday backed a Canadian claim that the U.S. illegally continued to impose punitive tariffs on domestic lumber after a North American Free Trade Agreement ruled there was no basis for the duties. On the basis of the decision, the group representing British Columbia lumber interests says that the Canadian lumber industry should get back $1.2-billion (U.S.), or roughly 26 per cent of the $4.6-billion in duties it has paid out since May, 2002. The U.S. Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports, the lobby group representing lumber interests south of the border, immediately indicated yesterday that it will appeal the ruling....
Anthrax Risk High For South Dakota Livestock The drought has forced hundreds of KELOLAND ranchers to sell their herds. Now, hundreds more are taking extra steps to keep their livestock alive. The drought has made the spread of the anthrax spores easier. Animals are grazing closer to the ground and eating more dirt with the grass. And that's where the spores are usually found. Now, many ranchers are worried South Dakota is on the verge on an anthrax outbreak. Anthrax spores can lay dormant in dirt for decades, and now dry conditions are putting more KELOLAND livestock at risk for the illness. “We're on pins and needles waiting for it to break, and watching it very closely,” said Veterinarian Steve Tornberg. Recent hot temperatures combined with dry weather have created the perfect conditions for anthrax spores to flare up in areas where stock dams are drying up....
Anthrax Reported in Texas It's the same song, yet another verse for naturally-occurring anthrax cases in livestock and wildlife in Val Verde and Kinney Counties in Southwest Texas. A little rain, a lot of hot weather and the invisible, spore-forming bacteria Bacillus anthracis has resurfaced, putting unvaccinated livestock and grazing wildlife at risk in the area. "Anthrax has been confirmed in a pen of deer in Val Verde County, and in a Charolais bull in Kinney County. We know that that anthrax often goes under-reported, as we hear of anecdotal reports of livestock or deer losses without laboratory confirmation. Many ranchers forego the veterinary inspection and laboratory tests, and, instead, just begin vaccinating," reported Bob Hillman, DVM, Texas' state veterinarian and head of the Texas Animal Health Commission. "Anthrax cases are not unusual, but a laboratory confirmation should alert ranchers and livestock owners that it is time to vaccinate their animals in Val Verde, Kinney and surrounding counties." "Vacationers and hunters get concerned about anthrax, but there is no need to worry, if proper precautions are taken," said Hillman....
Farm groups, Congressmen declare support for U.S. WTO position The U.S. farm community appears to be lining up in support of U.S. trade officials’ decision to just say no to further concessions to the European Union and the so-called advanced developing countries in the Doha Development Round. Most of the country’s major farm and commodity organizations issued statements praising U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab’s and Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns’ efforts after the Doha Round negotiations were suspended indefinitely in Geneva, Switzerland. Farm-state House members and senators also joined in supporting the Bush administration’s trade team, expressing the general sentiment that “no agreement was better than a bad agreement,” as Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, put it....
Calving at Maggie Creek Early morning sunshine brought the cold Maggie Creek calving barn to life. The buckaroos started their busy day in the pen behind the barn, stumbling over half-frozen turds, playing that same ol' game all ranch horses like to play when they see a cowboy show up with a halter in his hand. Snow, sprinkled across the surrounding hills like icing sugar, had no intention of leaving Nevada's high desert just yet. The night shift man was heading for the warm comfort of his bedroll. His hourly inspections, although cold, dark and lonely, would yield some amazing opportunities to stargaze, especially on those clear nights with no moon. Maggie Creek Ranch, with its headquarters in the Humboldt River valley just West of Elko, Nevada, has been in the Searle family for over 30 years. Its namesake watershed, Maggie Creek, actually originates in the Independence Mountains to the North, running into the Humboldt near the boisterous mining town of Carlin. Local buckaroos consider the ranch to be "a nice, tidy outfit" because it features a well-bred Angus-based commercial cowherd that runs on mostly deeded ground, somewhat of a rarity in the rugged, mountain state largely comprised of BLM (federal Bureau of Land Management) holdings. The ranch doesn't run a big cavvy these days, and many of the full and part time help take advantage of this opportunity to ride their own horses to work, which can be a pretty good deal when it comes time to release a good, broke ranch horse into a strong seller's market....
Missing Cracker horse may have been stolen Investigators are searching for the whereabouts of Sally Mae, a 5-year-old workhorse — and a descendant of Florida history — who went missing in Loxahatchee July 9. Sally Mae's owner, Casey Barnes, said he was riding the Cracker horse near 206th Terrace and 59th Lane North when he dismounted to discipline one of his dogs. Something spooked the horse, he said, and she galloped away. Sally Mae is also a descendant of Spanish horses first brought to Florida in 1521 by Ponce de Leon, said Palm Beach County Judge Nelson Bailey, a local historian and member of the Florida Cracker Horse Association. Bailey said Cracker horses were the first horses to step foot in the United States. He said they are also a domestic endangered species — with roughly 900 registered in North America....
On the Edge of Common Sense: Horse ride a real Kodak moment for new bride I've always had a soft spot in my heart for city girls who marry into an agricultural way of life. They are expected to learn, understand and participate in a culture that is as alien to them as the life of a New York cabbie, a San Francisco homeless person, or Donald Trump's butler is to us! But, to their credit, most of them try. Diana married into Barney's Ohio horse family. On her first visit to the grandparents, they arrived as Grandpa was trying out a new horse - a 3-year-old Palomino colt named Cody. "Would you like to ride him?" offered Grandpa. Diana was dressed for their airline flight scheduled later in the day. "I don't know if I ..." she started to say. "Oh, come on," said Grandpa, "I can tell he likes you." Diana thought to herself, 'Grandpa's 87 years old. They wouldn't let me get on an animal that could hurt me.' She kicked off her high-heeled sandals and put her bare left foot in the stirrup. Barney, her new husband, held Cody by the headstall. Their eyes met....
Permalink 0 comments
Growing Coalition Opposes Drilling Now, Valle Vidal has become a battleground in the drive to expand energy exploration on public land, attracting the attention of a growing coalition of hunters, anglers, environmentalists, ranchers, homeowners and politicians across the ideological spectrum. Here and elsewhere in the Western United States, this coalition is starting to resist the push for energy exploration in some of the nation's most prized wilderness areas. Although it remains unclear how successful they will be, these new activists -- including many who treasure Valle Vidal as a place to fish for cutthroat trout, hunt for elk and ride horses across its wide expanses -- have brought a new dynamic to the public debate over energy development in the West. "There's clearly a headlong rush into opening up these areas, but there's a recognition there's precious areas, beautiful landscapes that people appreciate and love," said Rep. Tom Udall (D-N.M.). "In those cases, the equation swings over to protection." Udall sponsored legislation to make Valle Vidal off-limits to oil and gas drilling and to protect hundreds of thousands of acres of wilderness in California, Idaho and Oregon. The House unanimously approved Udall's bill on Monday, and the issue is now before the Senate. In two other states, prominent GOP senators -- Conrad Burns (Mont.) and Craig Thomas (Wyo.) -- have also pushed in the past month to restrict energy exploration on public land....
As states ponder protection, roadless forests unravel The Clear Fork roadless area in western Colorado holds one of the largest expanses of aspen trees in the world. In 2001, the 24,000-acre tract in the Grand Mesa-Uncompahgre-Gunnison National Forest was protected, part of 58.5 million acres preserved nationwide by President Clinton’s Roadless Area Conservation Rule. Shortly after taking office, President Bush abandoned his predecessor’s rule by failing to defend it against lawsuits. Then, last May, the administration unveiled its own version of the rule, and allowed individual governors a say in how roadless areas in their states are managed. While states consider whether to recommend protections — they have until Nov. 13 to submit petitions — the Forest Service promised not to move forward with any development in roadless areas. But even as Colorado Gov. Bill Owens, R, gathers public input, the Clear Fork may be headed for the auction block. Next month, at the behest of industry, federal officials plan to offer part of the area for natural gas exploration. At least 14 other roadless-area projects, ranging from energy development to logging and mining, are also in the works around the West....
BLM affirms Jack Morrow Hills plan A controversial plan to allow oil and gas development in the Jack Morrow Hills area of the Red Desert has been approved by the Bureau of Land Management, to the outcry of conservationists. The plan foresees development of 255 more wells in the 622,000-acre area, although it does not set a cap on the number of wells. Despite about 1,000 protest letters received by the BLM during the planning process, the BLM issued a final decision last week that basically mirrors its original plan. Joy Owen, statewide coordinator for Friends of the Red Desert, said she was surprised the agency signed off on a plan even after it received so many protests. The BLM also released an amendment to the Green River resource management plan along with the Jack Morrow Hills decision last week. The amendment explains in broad brush strokes how the BLM will manage for things including sage grouse and recreation, and is intended to address some of the protests....
Land issues help Dems hook rod and gun crowd As more oil and gas wells spring up throughout the Rocky Mountain West, moderate Democrats are telling hunters and ang lers worried about open space that they feel their pain. Hoping to capitalize on the frustration of outdoorsmen and women watching the mechanization of their playgrounds, Democrats are talking about responsible land policy that balances industrial and recreational needs. The approach has created some strange bedfellows. Sportsmen, traditionally leery of Democrats because of their pro gun-control stance, are coming to the table to talk about how to protect the land. And environmentalists, who in the past have demanded that all public land remain pristine, are softening enough to talk about responsible industrial land use. Democrats see this new group of disaffected hunters and mellowed greenies as one of the keys to electoral victory in the Rocky Mountain West....
Montana reviewing Wyoming water discharge permits Despite the verbal sparring between Wyoming and Montana over the release of water from coal-bed methane wells into rivers and streams, Montana regulators haven't objected to any water discharge permits issued by Wyoming. "Montana is reviewing every draft (water discharge) permit we put out," said John Wagner of the Water Quality Division in Wyoming's Department of Environmental Quality. "So far, they have not had a problem with any permit we've put out." Richard Opper, director of Montana's Department of Environmental Quality, said Monday that his agency has offered comments on permit applications, though he couldn't characterize the nature of the comments and didn't immediately know how many applications the agency had weighed in on. As a matter of courtesy, he said, the agencies in both states have given each other copies of such applications. As for Montana's water quality standards, "We certainly don't feel Wyoming can violate that, and generally Wyoming hasn't violated that to date." Most of the debate centers around water quality in such rivers as the Powder and Tongue, which flow into Montana from northern Wyoming, where coal-bed methane development has taken off....
West Enders urged to ready for gas development With 50,000 acres of oil and gas leases in Montrose County pending in an Aug. 10 auction, West End residents received a primer Sunday on what to expect should development come their way. Since almost all of that acreage sits in the West End, the Uncompahgre Valley Association, a Montrose-based community group, hosted a panel of local and federal officials to field queries and explain the planning process for oil and gas development. Former La Plata County Commissioner Josh Joswick urged landowners to learn about their rights. The upcoming auction includes 9,979 acres of split-estate parcels, in which the land above the mineral is privately owned. Should an energy company try to develop on private property, the landowner can have a say in the location well pads, roads, compressor station and what will happen to the property’s water supply. “Everything except your name and the legal description of your property is negotiable,” said Joswick, who served 12 years as a commissioner. For much of the 1990s, La Plata County worked to find regulations that would protect landowners who saw a deterioration in their water quality and methane gas creeping up through their foundations. The county finally discovered a way to implement protections in their land-use regulations after a number of court battles, but Joswick urged residents to investigate their options sooner rather than later....
Oregon’s Property Rights Law Kicks In, Easing Rigid Rules Voter approval of Measure 37 was a shot heard around the property rights world. Several states, including neighboring Idaho and Washington, now have similar measures on their ballots this fall. The Oregon law could remake the face of the state, where some of the most restrictive land-use rules in the nation are designed to keep forest and farm areas intact and cities compact. After a bumpy ride through the courts, backers of the measure were handed a clear victory this year. Government officials say the measure has essentially knocked out “the Oregon way,” the distinct set of rules that have long angered many property owners but delighted the urban-planning community. It has made for chaos at the county level, many officials say, by taking away local government’s ability to plan for development in an orderly fashion. Since the measure was approved, Oregon property owners had filed 2,755 claims covering 150,455 acres, according to the university’s Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies, which is tracking the measure’s impact. If all the claims were paid, state officials say, it could amount to more than $3 billion in compensation. But not a single claim has been paid, the institute reported. Instead of paying property owners, local government agencies have routinely chosen to waive the regulations, clearing the way for numerous developments in rural areas. But supporters of the measure, which was approved by 61 percent of voters, say that the worst fears of opponents have not been realized, and that the law simply gives Oregon property owners the right to basic compensation when regulations harm the value of their land....
Column - Taking Liberties Libertarians and property-rights activists believe that a huge array of common government regulations on real estate, such as zoning or subdivision limits, "take" away property value. Therefore, they say, the government should compensate the owner, or back off. The extreme view of "regulatory takings" is really at the core of this campaign — not eminent domain. The campaign to pass regulatory-takings laws began in the 1980s, when libertarians seized on the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which says: "Nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." They’ve tried to use Congress, state legislatures and ballot initiatives to pass laws that would treat most regulations as takings. Their first big win came in November 2004, when they persuaded Oregon’s voters to pass Measure 37. That initiative blew holes in the strictest land-use system in the country, allowing longtime landowners to escape many state, county and city regulations (HCN, 11/22/04: In Oregon, a lesson learned the hard way). The impacts of Measure 37 have been delayed by court battles, and the libertarians are determined to turn the delays to their advantage. Before the fallout in Oregon can be fully understood, they are rushing to pass similar ballot initiatives in Montana, Idaho, Washington, Arizona, Nevada and California. While each initiative has its own sales pitch, they all deliberately tuck the notion inside the unrelated eminent domain controversy....
Study bolsters protecting Western jumping mouse A tiny mouse vying for survival in the Rocky Mountains may have gained an upper hand over Western developers. Scientists hired to review contradictory evidence for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concluded the Preble's meadow jumping mouse is a unique subspecies, limited to parts of Colorado and Wyoming. The study by the Portland, Ore.-based Sustainable Ecosystems Institute, obtained Sunday by The Associated Press, would help justify keeping the 3-inch mouse protected under the Endangered Species Act. The mouse, which uses its 6-inch tail and strong hind legs to jump a foot and a half in the air, inhabits grasslands that include prime real estate along Colorado's fast-growing Front Range. Fish and Wildlife is expected to decide by early August whether the mouse should stay on the endangered species list. The decision affects nearly 31,000 acres designated as critical habitat to help the mouse recover. Its population has dwindled to an average of 44 mice per mile of stream because of urban sprawl....
Biologist backs delisting Preble's mouse Denver-area biologist Rob Roy Ramey said Monday that the latest attack on his Preble's meadow jumping mouse research - this time from an expert panel appointed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - doesn't change the bottom line: The Colorado-dwelling mouse is nearly identical to other meadow jumping mice and doesn't deserve the special protections it enjoys as a "threatened" subspecies under the Endangered Species Act. "If you're willing to keep this listed as a subspecies, then how far are you willing to go?" said Ramey, a former Denver Museum of Nature & Science curator who now works as an Interior Department consultant. "We basically have lowered the bar to the point where we can list almost anything" on the federal list of threatened and endangered wildlife, he said....
Carson forests wants ranchers to remove cows Carson National Forest wants some ranchers to remove their cattle from forest land by the end of the month, and the ranchers are fighting the decision. Due to the drought, Jarita Mesa cannot support the nearly 500 head of cattle grazing on the mesa this summer along with wild horses and wildlife, forest officials say. Ranchers who hold 18 permits for the allotment have asked Rio Arriba County officials to intervene. The County Commission last week adopted a resolution supporting the critical role of agriculture on the county's economy and culture. The Forest Service's actions threaten to "negatively and irreversibly impact the lives, the economy, the culture and reshape the natural and human environments of Rio Arriba County," the resolution states. Commissioner Felipe Martinez of El Rito said the commission might draft another resolution requesting that Sheriff Joe Mascarenas "take action to protect private property rights of these folks." Mascarenas said he would do what he could for the ranchers as long as it's "within the law." Ranchers and their supporters blame more than the drought for the shortage of forage. They say the Forest Service hasn't done an adequate job of managing Jarita Mesa's elk and wild horse populations. According to the Forest Service, as many as 150 of the horses roam the 54,000-acre Jarita Mesa Wild Horse Territory northeast of El Rito....
Big California Wildfire Likely from Illegal Immigrant Campfire A 7,000-acre wildfire that forced the evacuation of more than a hundred homes near the California-Mexico border may have been caused by an abandoned campfire set by illegal immigrants, authorities said Monday. The fire had burned nearly 11 square miles of brush and chaparral in the Cleveland National Forest in southern San Diego County. It appeared to have spread early Saturday from an abandoned campfire set in a side drainage of a canyon, the U.S. Forest Service said in a statement. Evidence at the scene suggested “the campfire was left by undocumented immigrants,” it said. Forest Service spokeswoman Anabele Cornejo said investigators found food containers and bottles off a park trail. “Based on collected evidence, we’re making an educated guess that it was probably started by immigrants,” Cornejo said. She did not immediately know whether anyone was detained in connection with the fire....
Forest Service to Revise Trail Classification System The U.S. Forest Service is currently soliciting public comments as it revises its National Trail Classification System (TCS). This process will result in new guidelines for trail classification, design and implementation on all 133,000 miles of National Forest System trails. IMBA is currently evaluating the 75-page document and will send official comments to the Forest Service in the near future. Interested mountain bikers should check the IMBA website in mid-August, 2006, to view IMBA's comments and for assistance preparing individual comments. The official deadline for public comments is Sept. 1. The draft TCS is largely positive for mountain biking and should be a major improvement over the document it replaces. In particular, the draft includes revised trail design parameters and language to manage mountain biking much like hiking and horse use, and separate from motorized recreation. Mountain biking is also categorized, along with hiking, as an activity generally acceptable on all trail classes. Read the Forest Service's Federal Register notice for more information on the TCS revision and instructions for public comment.
Editorial - Prison will provide time to ponder: What were they thinking? What were they thinking? Members of the so-called Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front are probably wondering that themselves. Six of them pleaded guilty last week in federal court in Eugene to a string of arsons or attempted arsons across the West from 1996 to 2001. Their targets included the U.S. Forest Service Detroit Ranger Station in October 1996 and the offices of Boise Cascade Co. in Monmouth on Christmas Day 1999. These wannabe radicals surely never planned to exit in a welter of plea-bargains. Maybe they finally figured it out: They may have done an estimated $100 million worth of damage, but they didn’t change the world. They probably didn’t change anyone’s mind. What did they expect: That people would read of an arson at an auto-sales lot and say, “I’ve seen the light. I’m going to ditch my SUV?”....
Forest Service Overrides EPA Drinking Water Contamination Objections The U.S. Forest Service is breaking environmental protection rules and endangering public health in approving a major expansion of a lakeside resort, according to a formal appeal filed today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The resort sits on Fremont Lake which provides unfiltered drinking water for the city of Pinedale, in western Wyoming. The Bridger Teton National Forest has green-lighted this large-scale expansion of an old lake resort by deciding that the project has no significant environmental impact meriting further study or public input. This finding comes despite a warning by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that the project “will increase the likelihood of contamination, and generally degrade the microbiological and chemical quality of water in Fremont Lake.” Pushed by a former district ranger, the resort project involves construction of a pavilion and 25-unit lodge, a marina with 39 boat slips, 10 duplex cabins, a restaurant expansion, access roads and parking lots. Year-round occupancy of the resort complex will rise to more than 200 people. The only proposed water treatment is an expanded septic system....
Appeals Court Dismisses Grand Staircase Challenge A decade after President Clinton shocked and angered Utah politicians by creating the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, a federal appeals court on Monday said opponents had no standing to challenge the decision. A three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Utah judge’s decision to throw out the lawsuit filed by Denver-based Mountain States Legal Foundation. The foundation’s 1997 suit had been consolidated with a suit filed nine months earlier by the Utah Association of Counties, which didn’t join the appeal, and the state Schools and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, which dropped out before the appeal was filed. “Because we conclude that (Mountain States Legal Foundation) lacked standing to bring this suit, we dismiss the appeal,” appellate judges David M. Ebel, Paul J. Kelly and Stephanie Seymour wrote in a decision released late Monday. The judges said the legal foundation couldn’t produce a person who could show he was harmed by Clinton’s designation of the 1.9 million-acre monument, which opponents called an abuse of the president’s discretion under the 1906 Antiquities Act....
'Clark was here'? Signatures located all over area A graffiti-scarred patch of sandstone on the Rimrocks bears an inscription similar to Capt. William Clark's famous signature at Pompeys Pillar National Monument. Is it an artifact from the Lewis and Clark expedition? A Billings woman believes so. Doubters say it's a hoax concocted by somebody with a sense of humor and a passing knowledge of Montana history. Whatever the truth, the city of Billings, which owns the property where the inscription is located, has made an effort to protect it from weather and vandalism while attempts are made to determine its authenticity. As at Pompeys Pillar, the inscription is carved in a looping cursive script with Clark's first name abbreviated "Wm." The date attached to the Billings inscription is July 24, 1806. The date would mean that Clark landed near the site of Billings, hiked nearly two miles to the top of the Rims, carved his signature, hiked back and traveled to Pompeys Pillar the next day....
Grouse protections ‘good for industry’ Conservation groups say new guidelines will help keep sage grouse protected and off the endangered species list, benefitting not only the animals, but also industry. Several groups such as the Sagebrush Sea Campaign have thrown their support into a sage grouse conservation “blueprint” that aims to increase the animals’ population 33 percent by 2015, and distribution 20 percent by 2030. Written by Clait Braun, a biologist with Grouse Inc., the plan makes specific recommendations about a number of issues affecting sage grouse habitat including management of development, fire, grazing, and invasive species. Conservation groups plan to send the document to the Bureau of Land Management and state agencies in the coming weeks. “Gas development, primarily... is extremely negative,” biologist Erik Molvar with the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance said in a teleconference Thursday. “We need to start thinking about setting aside some fairly large reserves that won’t be disturbed.”....
Wyoming loses try at delisting gray wolf The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has denied a petition from the state of Wyoming that had asked to remove the gray wolf population in the northern Rocky Mountains from the federal list of threatened and endangered species. The state promises a legal challenge. Wyoming officials had proposed a policy of allowing wolves to live unmolested in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. The state also proposes to allow trophy hunting for the animals in a large area immediately outside the parks while classifying them as predators that could be shot on sight elsewhere. In rejecting the state's petition, the Fish and Wildlife Service said Monday that it couldn't remove federal protections for wolves in Wyoming until the state sets firm limits on how many could be killed. The federal agency also said the state needs to commit to maintaining a set minimum population of the animals. Gov. Dave Freudenthal said Monday that the federal agency's decision will make it easier for Wyoming to go to court and get a judge to decide whether the state's plan is scientifically adequate....
Wildlife refuge owner given house arrest, fine Amarillo Wildlife Refuge owner Charlie Azzopardi must spend 180 days in home confinement as part of his punishment for selling and transporting an endangered leopard species, according to federal court documents. U.S. Magistrate Judge Clinton Averitte on Friday also assessed Azzopardi a $2,000 fine and ordered that Azzopardi be placed on probation for three years, documents show. Azzopardi was indicted Jan. 18 on the selling charge and three counts of aiding and abetting the making of a false record stemming from an attempt to sell two clouded leopards for $5,000 each to a buyer at a Clinton, Okla., gas station in July 2005. The buyer was an undercover U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent....
Groups halt prairie dog relocation A project to relocate prairie dogs from Cedar Ridge Golf Course and from land owned by the Paiute Tribe of Utah has been halted because of environmental group's objection to the plans. Nicole Rosmarino, director of the Forest Guardians endangered species program, contends the project is unnecessary and will lead the animals' extinction. "What's on the table is unacceptable," Rosmarino said. "There's no getting around it -- the picture on this animal is very bleak. The species is on the verge of extinction. It's in real trouble biologically." The prairie dogs have run rampant at the golf course, where 6,000 golfers play every month. Keith Day, state Division of Wildlife Resources wildlife biologist, estimates that there are more than 360 prairie dogs there alone. And the animals are breeding quickly on the Paiute Tribe's land, limiting use, tribal chairwoman Lora Tom said. "It is disappointing," Tom said. "I wish that those groups or individuals who feel that prairie dogs are endangered would look at some of the areas affected by prairie dogs." Plans were to trap the prairie dogs this summer, said Cedar City Mayor Gerald Sherratt. Trapping season ends in August. Now, the tribe and the golf course will have to wait at least another year before permits could be issued because the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must first resolve the environmental group's complaints, said Elise Boeke, a Fish and Wildlife Service ecologist....
Beavers keep homeowner concerns high Northern Nevada beavers are busy patching and rebuilding their dams and lodges damaged by high runoff on the Truckee River and other regional waterways, officials said. Beavers aren't usually a major problem in the area, but high-water years cause more beaver activity as they meticulously fix their trademark habitats when the water recedes, as it has now, officials said. "They have to go back to work," U.S. Department of Agriculture wildlife biologist Jack Spencer Jr. said, adding that most of the time, the animals go unnoticed until they eat someone's landscaping. "Aspen and cottonwoods are beaver favorites, and I've heard a number of reports of homes that have lost fruit trees," Spencer said. Homeowners and park managers can wrap trees in chicken wire to keep beavers away, and it is legal to trap them with a permit in season....
Private, Public Land Conservation Growing, Needs Better Coordination America is experiencing a huge growth in the conservation of land by private trusts, and new research has found that even more conservation benefits could be gained by coordination among different groups or government land-protection programs with similar goals. From 1998 to 2003, about 1,500 private trusts more than doubled the amount of land in the United States that such groups have been able to protect for conservation purposes, such as species protection, flood control or recreation. Two new studies by researchers at Oregon State University and the University of Illinois outline the value of good coordination of such activities between private groups, and between these groups and state and federal governments. It’s also essential that government agencies better understand the effect they have on private activities in order to optimize the environmental and conservation goals that both sides hope to achieve, scientists say. In some cases, in fact, protection of lands by government agencies has actually served to repel private conservation on nearby lands – a situation that can defeat a frequent goal of creating larger, contiguous blocks of land for endangered species protection and other goals....
GOP's McCloskey endorsing Dem against Pombo Maverick former GOP Rep. Pete McCloskey took on his party's establishment - and lost - with a primary challenge to Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, chairman of the powerful House Resources Committee. Now McCloskey, 78, plans to urge Northern California voters who supported him in the state's June primary to vote for Pombo's Democratic opponent, wind engineer Jerry McNerney, in November. McCloskey won 32 percent of the Republican primary vote June 6 to 62 percent for Pombo. McNerney is "an honorable man that has not and will not seek to enrich himself and his family through his office," McCloskey said in an interview. His support for Democrats doesn't stop with McNerney. McCloskey, who served in Congress from 1967 to 1982 and was an original author of the Endangered Species Act, said he'd like to see his party lose control of the House of Representatives....
U.S. trade court backs Canada in lumber ruling Canada's forest industry is hailing its victory in the United States Court of International Trade, a ruling that may have ramifications for a controversial deal to end the long-running dispute over softwood lumber. The U.S. trade court yesterday backed a Canadian claim that the U.S. illegally continued to impose punitive tariffs on domestic lumber after a North American Free Trade Agreement ruled there was no basis for the duties. On the basis of the decision, the group representing British Columbia lumber interests says that the Canadian lumber industry should get back $1.2-billion (U.S.), or roughly 26 per cent of the $4.6-billion in duties it has paid out since May, 2002. The U.S. Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports, the lobby group representing lumber interests south of the border, immediately indicated yesterday that it will appeal the ruling....
Anthrax Risk High For South Dakota Livestock The drought has forced hundreds of KELOLAND ranchers to sell their herds. Now, hundreds more are taking extra steps to keep their livestock alive. The drought has made the spread of the anthrax spores easier. Animals are grazing closer to the ground and eating more dirt with the grass. And that's where the spores are usually found. Now, many ranchers are worried South Dakota is on the verge on an anthrax outbreak. Anthrax spores can lay dormant in dirt for decades, and now dry conditions are putting more KELOLAND livestock at risk for the illness. “We're on pins and needles waiting for it to break, and watching it very closely,” said Veterinarian Steve Tornberg. Recent hot temperatures combined with dry weather have created the perfect conditions for anthrax spores to flare up in areas where stock dams are drying up....
Anthrax Reported in Texas It's the same song, yet another verse for naturally-occurring anthrax cases in livestock and wildlife in Val Verde and Kinney Counties in Southwest Texas. A little rain, a lot of hot weather and the invisible, spore-forming bacteria Bacillus anthracis has resurfaced, putting unvaccinated livestock and grazing wildlife at risk in the area. "Anthrax has been confirmed in a pen of deer in Val Verde County, and in a Charolais bull in Kinney County. We know that that anthrax often goes under-reported, as we hear of anecdotal reports of livestock or deer losses without laboratory confirmation. Many ranchers forego the veterinary inspection and laboratory tests, and, instead, just begin vaccinating," reported Bob Hillman, DVM, Texas' state veterinarian and head of the Texas Animal Health Commission. "Anthrax cases are not unusual, but a laboratory confirmation should alert ranchers and livestock owners that it is time to vaccinate their animals in Val Verde, Kinney and surrounding counties." "Vacationers and hunters get concerned about anthrax, but there is no need to worry, if proper precautions are taken," said Hillman....
Farm groups, Congressmen declare support for U.S. WTO position The U.S. farm community appears to be lining up in support of U.S. trade officials’ decision to just say no to further concessions to the European Union and the so-called advanced developing countries in the Doha Development Round. Most of the country’s major farm and commodity organizations issued statements praising U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab’s and Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns’ efforts after the Doha Round negotiations were suspended indefinitely in Geneva, Switzerland. Farm-state House members and senators also joined in supporting the Bush administration’s trade team, expressing the general sentiment that “no agreement was better than a bad agreement,” as Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, put it....
Calving at Maggie Creek Early morning sunshine brought the cold Maggie Creek calving barn to life. The buckaroos started their busy day in the pen behind the barn, stumbling over half-frozen turds, playing that same ol' game all ranch horses like to play when they see a cowboy show up with a halter in his hand. Snow, sprinkled across the surrounding hills like icing sugar, had no intention of leaving Nevada's high desert just yet. The night shift man was heading for the warm comfort of his bedroll. His hourly inspections, although cold, dark and lonely, would yield some amazing opportunities to stargaze, especially on those clear nights with no moon. Maggie Creek Ranch, with its headquarters in the Humboldt River valley just West of Elko, Nevada, has been in the Searle family for over 30 years. Its namesake watershed, Maggie Creek, actually originates in the Independence Mountains to the North, running into the Humboldt near the boisterous mining town of Carlin. Local buckaroos consider the ranch to be "a nice, tidy outfit" because it features a well-bred Angus-based commercial cowherd that runs on mostly deeded ground, somewhat of a rarity in the rugged, mountain state largely comprised of BLM (federal Bureau of Land Management) holdings. The ranch doesn't run a big cavvy these days, and many of the full and part time help take advantage of this opportunity to ride their own horses to work, which can be a pretty good deal when it comes time to release a good, broke ranch horse into a strong seller's market....
Missing Cracker horse may have been stolen Investigators are searching for the whereabouts of Sally Mae, a 5-year-old workhorse — and a descendant of Florida history — who went missing in Loxahatchee July 9. Sally Mae's owner, Casey Barnes, said he was riding the Cracker horse near 206th Terrace and 59th Lane North when he dismounted to discipline one of his dogs. Something spooked the horse, he said, and she galloped away. Sally Mae is also a descendant of Spanish horses first brought to Florida in 1521 by Ponce de Leon, said Palm Beach County Judge Nelson Bailey, a local historian and member of the Florida Cracker Horse Association. Bailey said Cracker horses were the first horses to step foot in the United States. He said they are also a domestic endangered species — with roughly 900 registered in North America....
On the Edge of Common Sense: Horse ride a real Kodak moment for new bride I've always had a soft spot in my heart for city girls who marry into an agricultural way of life. They are expected to learn, understand and participate in a culture that is as alien to them as the life of a New York cabbie, a San Francisco homeless person, or Donald Trump's butler is to us! But, to their credit, most of them try. Diana married into Barney's Ohio horse family. On her first visit to the grandparents, they arrived as Grandpa was trying out a new horse - a 3-year-old Palomino colt named Cody. "Would you like to ride him?" offered Grandpa. Diana was dressed for their airline flight scheduled later in the day. "I don't know if I ..." she started to say. "Oh, come on," said Grandpa, "I can tell he likes you." Diana thought to herself, 'Grandpa's 87 years old. They wouldn't let me get on an animal that could hurt me.' She kicked off her high-heeled sandals and put her bare left foot in the stirrup. Barney, her new husband, held Cody by the headstall. Their eyes met....
Permalink 0 comments
Monday, July 24, 2006
MEXICAN WOLF REINTRODUCTION PROJECT
Southwest Region (Arizona - New Mexico - Oklahoma - Texas) http://southwest.fws.gov
TELE-NEWS CONFERENCE -- FOR ACCREDITED MEDIA ONLY!
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will hold a telephone news conference to announce its decision following a 5-year review of the Mexican Wolf Blue Range Reintroduction Project.
WHEN: Tuesday, July 25, 2006 at 10 a.m. MST.
WHO: Spokespersons – Dr. Benjamin Tuggle, Acting Regional Director, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Southwest Region; John Morgart, Mexican Wolf Recovery
Coordinator
Moderator – David Eisenhauer, Acting Assistant Regional Director for External Affairs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Southwest Region
HOW: Call toll free 888-455-0043. Use passcode 31943 and identify leader as David
Eisenhauer. If you encounter problems, please call 505-248-6911 for assistance.
CONTACTS: David Eisenhauer, 917-502-9057 (cell); or Cindy Laws, 505-248-6912
Permalink 0 comments
Southwest Region (Arizona - New Mexico - Oklahoma - Texas) http://southwest.fws.gov
TELE-NEWS CONFERENCE -- FOR ACCREDITED MEDIA ONLY!
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will hold a telephone news conference to announce its decision following a 5-year review of the Mexican Wolf Blue Range Reintroduction Project.
WHEN: Tuesday, July 25, 2006 at 10 a.m. MST.
WHO: Spokespersons – Dr. Benjamin Tuggle, Acting Regional Director, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Southwest Region; John Morgart, Mexican Wolf Recovery
Coordinator
Moderator – David Eisenhauer, Acting Assistant Regional Director for External Affairs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Southwest Region
HOW: Call toll free 888-455-0043. Use passcode 31943 and identify leader as David
Eisenhauer. If you encounter problems, please call 505-248-6911 for assistance.
CONTACTS: David Eisenhauer, 917-502-9057 (cell); or Cindy Laws, 505-248-6912
Permalink 0 comments
NEWS ROUNDUP
Fire forces ranch to move cattle A Meeteetse rancher is suffering through smoke and endured a midweek scramble to move horses and employees, but otherwise is surviving a forest fire just fine. Jack Turnell of the Pitchfork Ranch this week had to bring riders and horses out of Washakie wilderness area where the Little Venus fire erupted to 13,000 acres earlier this week. It is now estimated to be 27,000 acres -- more than 40 square miles. For a month or so, the fire was allowed to burn unhindered due to its remote and rugged location. That changed when the fire suddenly flared up Tuesday, leaving the wilderness area and threatening structures. Crews are now battling the blaze. Turnell said he had to move his cattle to a more concentrated area, which is less desirable. The new area is out of the timber. His employees trailed the cattle down earlier this week when the fire erupted, but most of the cows started down on their own. "They're not dumb," he said. He also said the thick smoke makes it hard for people to breathe, and it may affect the cattle, too....
Rancher mulls future after fire In rapid staccato, rancher John Patterson describes his situation: "My summer pasture is gone. My winter pasture is gone." "This is a good fire. Nobody died." "Wendy Kucera saved my hay and my house." "I have not shot a cow." "The story is that I have about 950 cows and calves that are unharmed. I have 37 confirmed dead." "They are either dead or unhurt." Patterson's ranch sits about 40 miles east of Billings. He estimates that 90 percent of his 70-section ranch in eastern Yellowstone and northern Big Horn counties was charred by the Pine Ridge complex of fires last week. Patterson's ranch sits in the middle of the complex of fires that blackened more than 122,000 acres over the past week and half in Yellowstone and Big Horn counties south of the Yellowstone River. The fires on the Patterson Ranch - three of them - began just before midnight July 11. The next afternoon, a fierce windstorm swept through the area, sending the fire racing across the grazing lands, through the coulees and draws, creating fire twisters, which Ruth Ann Patterson has on videotape. On Saturday and Sunday, the flames threatened the home built in 2001-02....
Cowboy rides a Caterpillar Scrapers swirl in maneuvers calculated to prepare the way for one more natural gas well among the many thousands planned for the big basins of Wyoming. Rancher Rob Hendry visits with an Encana Oil and Gas (USA) engineer, chit-chatting about this and that, watching the mechanical crawlers rearrange the powdery earth of the Frenchie Draw Field. There is no conflict here, no frustrated words about split estates or access through pasturelands. The cowboy and the engineer are on the same page. Hendry is making money off the energy boom. He figured early on that mineral royalties -- of which he holds few beneath the surface of his ranch -- were not a path to acquiring wealth. But hard work was. "That's just almost as good as mineral rights," he says. Hendry carved out a niche by providing construction services to oil and gas companies operating on the deeded and Bureau of Land Management surface that comprises his Clear Creek Cattle Company in the Fremont-Natrona County border country. It's been about three years since Hendry asked Encana to give him a shot at a reclamation project. They did. So he fired up equipment on hand at the ranch and went to work. He did a few reclamation jobs, then other tasks. Today Hendry takes on all sorts of projects, from cutting roads and leveling well pads, to reseeding projects and landscaping....
Lawsuit targets water standards A regional landowners group has filed a motion to join a case that is pitting three coal-bed methane companies and the State of Wyoming against Montana and its water quality standards for the Powder and Tongue rivers. The Powder River Basin Resource Council on Thursday said that lifting more stringent water quality standards set by Montana that reduce the salinity and runoff in the rivers would adversely impact Wyoming ranchers. Removing “constraints that Montana rules place on Wyoming permits to discharge coal-bed methane water ... would cause further damage to PRBRC members' crops, forage and soils,” the council wrote in its filing with the U.S. District Court in Cheyenne. The motion comes in a case in which Devon Energy Co., Marathon Oil Co. and Pennaco Energy Inc., along with the State of Wyoming have challenged federal approval of the Montana rules, calling the action an unconstitutional control on interstate business....
The battle to drill A growing property rights controversy between the oil and gas industry and property owners in Northeastern Colorado may be decided by voters in November. As oil and gas industries rally for more effective drilling rights in Colorado, developers and other landowners are rallying for the right to be compensated when mineral extractors drill on their land. As the demand for oil and gas soars, so does the incentive for mining companies to extract as much as possible from each site. Oil and gas companies want more rights to assure they are drilling to capacity, leaving as little resources behind as possible. Landowners, who don't always own mineral rights beneath their land, want better compensation from those same companies. Colorado Land Owners for Fairness, organized by Glenwood Springs real estate agent John Gorman, last week started collecting the 68,000 signatures needed to place a proposed initiative on the November ballot. The ballot initiative would ask voters, "Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado Constitution requiring a mineral extractor to pay the fair value of damages brought about in the development per extraction of a mineral, including oil and gas?"....
New group forms to combat Wyoming Range drilling A new group has formed in western Wyoming that aims to protect the Wyoming Range from energy leasing and development, according to organizers. "Citizens Protecting the Wyoming Range" hosted a kick-off barbequet at a ranch in Daniel Wednesday evening to launch the new organization. Comprised of local landowners, outfitters, business owners and ranchers, the group will work to prohibit new energy development in the Wyoming Range, according to the organization's mission statement. "The Wyoming Range is fundamental to why many choose to live here and the tourism revenue the range generates is a mainstay of our local economy," the statement said. "With so much development already happening next door to the Wyoming Range on Bureau of Land Management, state and private lands, it just doesn't make sense to let it expand onto the national forest."....
Enviro group warns against gas leases in Montrose County A meeting about gas leases on private property and public land at the Naturita Community Center on Sunday afternoon brought dire warnings from environmental groups and reassurances from representatives of the federal government. Sponsored by the Uncompahgre Valley Association, a community group of Western Colorado Congress, much of the meeting was devoted to warnings about what could happen from a former LaPlata County commissioner. The meeting was prompted by a planned auction of 50,000 acres of Montrose County land on Aug. 10 by the federal government on behalf of the Bureau of Land Management, said Peter Crowell, vice president of the association, who moderated the meeting. Crowell said his organization will file a protest with the federal government Tuesday to delay the auction so the land up for lease can be more carefully studied. “In some cases they are roadless areas and watershed areas,” he said. “We will ask the BLM to postpone or withdraw leasing of certain parcels.”....
Western Ranchers Join Lawsuit To Defend Grazing Regulations The Public Lands Council (PLC), an organization of public lands ranchers throughout the West, has joined in a lawsuit to help defend the final grazing regulations issued by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The PLC represents the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, the American Sheep Industry and the Association of National Grasslands. “The new regulations stabilize the climate for operating ranches on BLM lands by encouraging good stewardship of those lands,” says PLC Executive Director Jeff Eisenberg. “In developing these final rules, the BLM has restored the balance between resource conservation and range management. These are policies PLC and its members are willing to protect with their hard earned dollars.” Upon publication on July 12, the Western Watersheds Project immediately filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Idaho to block the regulations. A second suit was also filed by the National Wildlife Federation, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Idaho Conservation League, and the Idaho Wildlife Federation. PLC has retained Bill Thomas of the law firm Best Best & Kreiger to represent the ranchers’ views in this matter. Each side has the opportunity to make arguments at a preliminary injunction hearing scheduled for July 28 in Boise, Idaho....
Interior Dept. deputy kills a bison, then resigns after money questions The American bison, once hunted almost to extinction, is now so revered in the United States that its image graces the seal of the Interior Department, where it stands proudly in the shadow of mountains. Still, a senior political appointee at Interior apparently thought that the real thing might look better stuffed and mounted -- so he shot one. David Smith, a hunter who until last Friday was deputy assistant secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, shot and killed a bison grazing at a friend's ranch in Texas in December 2004. He had the hoofs made into bookends and kept the skull, wrapped in taxidermy packaging, in the garage of his home. Smith broke no laws by shooting the semi-domesticated animal in the head with a rifle from 50 yards away. But in a new report, Interior Inspector General Earl Devaney found that Smith violated rules banning federal officials from accepting gifts from people who are regulated by, or might do business with, their agency....
Proposal leaves riders in a rut Mark Powell says Jeep drivers have been trying to show that they care about the environment by picking up litter along Springhill Road. So he and other members of Capital City Jeepers say they're concerned that the U.S. Forest Service is proposing to close land along Springhill Road to off-road vehicles because of damage they are causing. "Those of us who like to ride legally have very few areas left where we can ride," Powell said. "We try to promote responsible use of the resource." The Forest Service is proposing to temporarily close 11,625 acres to vehicles including Jeeps, trucks, motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles. Licensed vehicles can continue to drive through those areas on official forest roads. The proposed closed areas would be in addition to 6,814 acres that were closed temporarily in 2004 and haven't been reopened....
Fat Tire Festival Every year, thousands of fat-tire enthusiasts descend on this timber town to ride the surrounding trails. Oakridge sits more than 1,000 feet above sea level, and the mountains ringing it rise thousands of feet higher. It's a jumping-off point for scenic pedals and gnarly trail rides, as well as a growing number of races and festivals. This weekend, mountain bikers from all over America will make the trek to Oakridge to ride and relax at the Fat Tire Festival. The community is actively working to replace its once-booming timber industry with "adventure tourism."....
Grizzlies on rivers put managers on edge From her office across from the confluence of the Kenai and Russian rivers, Dianne Owens watches a daily dance of grizzly bears and people and wonders what's next. Already this year, a sow grizzly has been wounded in a spray of gunfire near the Sportsman's Landing campground; one of her cubs was injured when hit by a car on the Sterling Highway. The sow subsequently disappeared and is now presumed dead. The fate of the yearling cub hit by the car remains unknown. Meanwhile, two other yearling cubs appear to have taken up residence adjacent to the campground since their mother died. With the yearlings hanging around, the manager of the Russian River ferry said human-bear encounters have become an all-too-regular occurrence. "Every day, two or three times a day," she said. "We're sitting on a time bomb here."....
Feds ax Colorado public lands jobs Public lands managers are bracing for three years of federal budget cuts and job losses to help pay for homeland security and the war in Iraq. With the belt-tightening, the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management expect to trim more than 60 jobs in Southwest Colorado, according to a memo sent to some 220 Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service employees working in areas from Pagosa Springs to the Utah state line. Officials said it's unclear how the public will be affected by the reducti0ns, but at least half the job cuts will be positions that are currently unfilled. "Since 2001, Congress and the administration have intensified scrutiny of domestic spending because of national and international pressures," reads the June memo from San Juan Public Lands Center officials. "The Forest Service and BLM expect to see shrinking and performance-based budgets for the foreseeable future."....
'Wild and Scenic River' U.S. Sen. John McCain and U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi plan to introduce legislation next week to include Fossil Creek in the nation's Wild and Scenic River System. The unique waters form in the Fossil Creek Wilderness Area along the Yavapai County border near Strawberry. The creek runs 14 miles through the national forest to the Verde River southeast of Camp Verde. A stretch of the Verde River currently has the only Wild and Scenic River designation in Arizona. "Fossil Creek is one of the most valuable natural treasures in Arizona, and I'm prepared to take the necessary steps to ensure it's preserved for generations to come," Renzi said Friday when he confirmed plans to introduce legislation next week....
Pipeline plan draws no opposition Based on the amount of public comment at a hearing for a proposed natural gas pipeline from Merna to Jackson, it appears everyone is in favor of the project. Either that, or no one knew about the hearing. Not one member of the public showed up Thursday night to ask questions or give testimony about a proposed pipeline that will cross the Hoback River nine times, will snake along a highway and through some rugged terrain. In fact, all 10 people at the hearing, in front of members of the Wyoming Public Service Commission, were representatives of Lower Valley Energy, the company proposing the 49.7-mile pipeline. But the PSC staff asked some tough questions that members of the public might be wondering. David Piroutek, the commission's engineering supervisor, asked about the river crossings. Chad Jensen, vice president of Lower Valley, said Bridger-Teton National Forest officials have advised the company to "get in and get out," and the pipeline can be trenched and laid in the river bed in four hours....
On Public Land, Sunday in the Park With Prayer This is what church looked like to Deana Wingert on a recent Sunday: the wind ruffled the lake behind the pulpit, evergreens towered above the pews, a yellow butterfly danced over a sunny patch of grass, and the scent of lighter fluid wafted through, followed by the smell of meat grilling. Most members in the congregation did not know one another. They had come, like the Wingerts, to Cowans Gap, about 100 miles southwest of Harrisburg, to camp, swim and picnic. But it was Sunday, and for the 100 or so Christians with baseball caps and bug spray who wanted to worship, the park offered itself as their church. “This is the day that the Lord has made,” the congregation sang to the cloudless sky, as the chaplain, Bruce Carriker, strummed the guitar and began the service. “We shall rejoice and be glad in it.” From Memorial Day to Labor Day, 42 state, national and private parks in Pennsylvania hold nondenominational Christian worship services. It is the only state with such a program, said the Rev. Paul L. Herring of the Pennsylvania Council of Churches. The chaplains come from local towns and faraway states, as do the worshipers, mostly Protestants. Last year, 18,000 people attended services in Pennsylvania parks....
Cuba drills for oil off Florida Cuba is drilling for oil 60 miles off the coast of Florida with help from China, Canada and Spain even as Congress struggles to end years of deadlock over drilling for what could be a treasure trove of offshore oil and gas. Republicans in Congress have tried repeatedly in the past decade to open up the outer continental shelf to exploration, and Florida's waters hold some of the most promising prospects for major energy finds. Their efforts have been frustrated by opposition from Florida, California and environmental-minded legislators from both parties. Florida's powerful tourism and booming real estate industries fear that oil spills could cost them business. Lawmakers from the state are so adamantly opposed to drilling that they have bid to extend the national ban on drilling activity from 100 miles to as far as 250 miles offshore, encompassing the island of Cuba. Cuba is exploring in its half of the 90-mile-wide Straits of Florida within the internationally recognized boundary as well as in deep-water areas of the Gulf of Mexico. The impoverished communist nation is eager to receive any economic boost that would come from a major oil find....
Bush Pollution Curbs Are Rated Equal to Clinton's The Bush administration's new program to cut harmful pollutants from utilities through a cap-and-trade system will do nearly as much to clean the nation's air as the Clinton administration's effort to make aging power plants install pollution controls when they modernize or expand, a report by an independent scientific panel has concluded. The report from the National Academy of Sciences, released yesterday, represents the latest effort to assess how best to reduce air pollution estimated to cause as many as 24,000 premature deaths each year. The panel concluded that an earlier Bush plan would have allowed pollution to increase over a dozen years, but it found that the administration's more recent Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) -- which targets emissions from power plants in 22 states and the District of Columbia -- would help clean the air over the next two decades. The CAIR approach aims to reduce nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide emissions by 70 percent by 2025 at the latest, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, through a system that would allow utilities to sell and buy pollution credits as long as industry emissions as a whole stayed below a pre-set cap. The Clinton administration had focused on cutting emissions under the 1970 Clean Air Act through a program called New Source Review (NSR), now discarded, which required aging plants to install new, cleaner technology every time they upgraded facilities....
Kansan popularized Smokey Bear Kansan Rudolph Wendelin may not have created Smokey Bear, but he did his best to make him a national icon. For nearly four decades, Wendelin illustrated Smokey for the U.S. Forest Service in TV ads, billboards, posters, newspapers and magazine with the warning: "Remember, only YOU can prevent forest fires." After the war, he helped launch the Smokey Bear project. The character was based on a live bear cub that survived a 1950 New Mexico forest fire. At least 10 other artists turned out earlier versions of the bear, but Wendelin is credited with giving Smokey his friendliness and popularity. Wendelin's bear wore jeans and a green ranger's hat and carried a shovel. According to the Web site Smokeybear.com, Smokey's correct, full name is Smokey Bear. A song in 1952 called "Smokey the Bear" added a "the" to his name. That same year, Smokey was so popular he was given his own ZIP code -- 20252 -- because of the volume of mail he was receiving....
Where global warming's welcome Stefan Magnusson lives at the foot of a giant, melting glacier. Some think he's living on the brink of a cataclysm. He believes he's on the cusp of creation. The 49-year-old reindeer rancher says a warming trend in Greenland over the past decade has caused the glacier on his farm to retreat 300 feet, revealing land that hasn't seen the light of day for hundreds of years, if not more. Where ice once gripped the earth, he says, his reindeer now graze on wild thyme amid the purple blooms of Niviarsiaq flowers. The melting glacier near Mr. Magnusson's home is pouring more water into the river, which he hopes soon to harness for hydroelectricity. "We are seeing genesis by the edge of the glacier," he says. Average temperatures in Greenland have risen by 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit over the past 30 years -- more than double the global average, according to the Danish Meteorological Institute. By the end of the century, the institute projects, temperatures could rise another 14 degrees....
WTO talks slip deeper into crisis, no breakthrough Last ditch talks to keep hopes alive of a global free deal faced a deepening crisis on Monday after trading powers failed to achieve a breakthrough at a marathon first session, diplomats said. The so-called G6 -- Australia, Brazil, India, Japan, the European Union and the United States -- must reach agreement on how to boost trade in farm and industrial goods or risk seeing nearly five years of WTO negotiations crumble in failure. But 14 hours of negotiations on Sunday, chaired by World Trade Organisation (WTO) chief Pascal Lamy, who has the task of brokering a deal, failed to advance in the key area of farm subsidies, known as domestic support, where the United States is under pressure to make further concessions. Washington has been insisting that the EU and other WTO members that it calls "protectionist" go further in agreeing to lowering farm tariff barriers before it moves further on subsidies....
Cattle broker won't face charges A Utah livestock broker who arranged the illegal import of 920 head of cattle into Sublette County earlier this year probably won’t be prosecuted because current state regulations do not provide for such prosecution, local ranchers were told this week. State Veterinarian Dwayne Oldham told about 30 area cattle producers that as state livestock regulations currently stand, there is not sufficient language to prosecute someone acting as a broker in illegally importing cattle into Wyoming. Under current regulations, only the livestock haulers can be charged, not the person who conspired to have the illegal import occur. Although the hole in the regulations was revealed to state officials in 2003, and the Wyoming Livestock Board drafted changes to the regulations, the regulations were never finalized. In late May, state livestock officials learned that 16 loads of central Utah cattle with paperwork calling for a Woodruff, Utah, destination had been delivered to two Sublette County ranches instead. Having the Woodruff destination on the Utah brand inspection allowed the animals to get through the Evanston port of entry without health inspections required for delivery into Wyoming. Because the 15-month-old cattle were not certified as having been vaccinated for brucellosis and had not been spayed, Wyoming animal health officials would not have allowed the animals to be imported under state rules....
Cowboys enjoy their day in the sun Every cowboy gets his day. On a blistering Saturday afternoon at California Rodeo Salinas, state Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Merced, presented officials with a resolution passed by the California Legislature declaring July 22 as National Day of the Cowboy. "It recognizes our pioneering men and women that make up our cowboys in the nation," he said. During a break in the competition, Denham presented a framed copy of the resolution to California Rodeo president Jim Slaten in front of a crowd of about 7,000 people. Slaten was joined by Marianne Johnson Schaeffler, the rodeo's hostess 50 years ago, and Rodeo Hall of Fame inductee Doc Etienne. "Falling on our day, it's special for us. It's an honor," said Slaten. "All the cowboys really appreciate it because cowboys don't get a lot of recognition as athletes," he said. Denham said the day symbolizes not only the rodeo, but ranchers and "an ongoing commitment to a way of life in our rural communities."....
Boots 'n' Britches prepares small riders for the rodeo circuit Maureen Weishaupt just wanted to give Fallon youngsters a chance to compete in rodeo events at a fun level in an event that came to be called Boots 'n' Britches Play Day. Twenty-two years later, she's still giving them the chance. "I grew up being in the Junior Rodeo and had such good memories," said Weishaupt, whose family moved to Fallon in 1960. "So, Candy Moffitt and I worked on getting it started." At the time, Weishaupt was the leader of a 4-H horse group. Now Boots 'n' Britches includes anyone who wants to participate. "The event is practice for the events the young cowboys and cowgirls do at Junior Rodeo, and to help prepare them for high school rodeo competition," said Weishaupt. On the average, some 60 to 70 riders compete in breakaway roping, pole bending, goat tying, goat tail un-decorating, and barrel racing....
My grandfather knew Billy the Kid Having been born on my grandparents ranch in Ancho, Lincoln County, was more by accident than on purpose. My mother was visiting her parents in New Mexico from our home in West Virginia, and overextended her stay, which resulted in my being a native New Mexican. Our family eventually settled in Albuquerque around 1935. My father named me after my step-grandfather, whom I always considered to be my grandfather, because my real grandfather, Rosalio Lopez, died during the 1918 flu epidemic long before I was born. My mother not only lost her father to the flu, but also her only brother that same year. We visited Ancho often and I remember spending a few summers at the ranch. My step-grandfather, Nick Maes, often spoke of Billy the Kid — or el Chivato (little kid), as he was affectionately referred to by the native Hispanics. He always said he was muy valiente y muy vaquero. As I was still pretty much a kid myself, these tales didn't mean much to me at the time. It wasn't until many years later, and after old Nick Maes died in 1939, that my late cousin, Manuel Lopez, who was about eight or nine years older than me, told me about some events I either did not know or did not recall....
Trew: Long-gone community leaves mark on the prairie Rockledge, 5 miles west of Alanreed, just off to the south of Interstate 40, was such a place. Located on Rockwall County School Land, named for the deep canyons nearby, the land is part of the Trew Ranch today. Hartley Davis, the resident section foreman, recalled an incident he witnessed while replacing ties at Rockledge. One morning the train stopped to allow a real estate agent from Amarillo off. A buggy approached from the east with two people aboard. The men talked, argued and the man from Amarillo pulled a gun and shot one of the other men. He turned and ran toward the section crew working nearby when the second man shot and killed him. The crew stopped the next train and sent the bodies on to Alanreed to the funeral parlor. Rockledge figured prominently in the news in 1939 when two men robbed the bank in Alanreed of $3,000. They escaped west on Route 66 until their car quit near Rockledge. They fled into the deep canyons nearby where the law surrounded the area and arrested the pair....
Permalink 0 comments
Fire forces ranch to move cattle A Meeteetse rancher is suffering through smoke and endured a midweek scramble to move horses and employees, but otherwise is surviving a forest fire just fine. Jack Turnell of the Pitchfork Ranch this week had to bring riders and horses out of Washakie wilderness area where the Little Venus fire erupted to 13,000 acres earlier this week. It is now estimated to be 27,000 acres -- more than 40 square miles. For a month or so, the fire was allowed to burn unhindered due to its remote and rugged location. That changed when the fire suddenly flared up Tuesday, leaving the wilderness area and threatening structures. Crews are now battling the blaze. Turnell said he had to move his cattle to a more concentrated area, which is less desirable. The new area is out of the timber. His employees trailed the cattle down earlier this week when the fire erupted, but most of the cows started down on their own. "They're not dumb," he said. He also said the thick smoke makes it hard for people to breathe, and it may affect the cattle, too....
Rancher mulls future after fire In rapid staccato, rancher John Patterson describes his situation: "My summer pasture is gone. My winter pasture is gone." "This is a good fire. Nobody died." "Wendy Kucera saved my hay and my house." "I have not shot a cow." "The story is that I have about 950 cows and calves that are unharmed. I have 37 confirmed dead." "They are either dead or unhurt." Patterson's ranch sits about 40 miles east of Billings. He estimates that 90 percent of his 70-section ranch in eastern Yellowstone and northern Big Horn counties was charred by the Pine Ridge complex of fires last week. Patterson's ranch sits in the middle of the complex of fires that blackened more than 122,000 acres over the past week and half in Yellowstone and Big Horn counties south of the Yellowstone River. The fires on the Patterson Ranch - three of them - began just before midnight July 11. The next afternoon, a fierce windstorm swept through the area, sending the fire racing across the grazing lands, through the coulees and draws, creating fire twisters, which Ruth Ann Patterson has on videotape. On Saturday and Sunday, the flames threatened the home built in 2001-02....
Cowboy rides a Caterpillar Scrapers swirl in maneuvers calculated to prepare the way for one more natural gas well among the many thousands planned for the big basins of Wyoming. Rancher Rob Hendry visits with an Encana Oil and Gas (USA) engineer, chit-chatting about this and that, watching the mechanical crawlers rearrange the powdery earth of the Frenchie Draw Field. There is no conflict here, no frustrated words about split estates or access through pasturelands. The cowboy and the engineer are on the same page. Hendry is making money off the energy boom. He figured early on that mineral royalties -- of which he holds few beneath the surface of his ranch -- were not a path to acquiring wealth. But hard work was. "That's just almost as good as mineral rights," he says. Hendry carved out a niche by providing construction services to oil and gas companies operating on the deeded and Bureau of Land Management surface that comprises his Clear Creek Cattle Company in the Fremont-Natrona County border country. It's been about three years since Hendry asked Encana to give him a shot at a reclamation project. They did. So he fired up equipment on hand at the ranch and went to work. He did a few reclamation jobs, then other tasks. Today Hendry takes on all sorts of projects, from cutting roads and leveling well pads, to reseeding projects and landscaping....
Lawsuit targets water standards A regional landowners group has filed a motion to join a case that is pitting three coal-bed methane companies and the State of Wyoming against Montana and its water quality standards for the Powder and Tongue rivers. The Powder River Basin Resource Council on Thursday said that lifting more stringent water quality standards set by Montana that reduce the salinity and runoff in the rivers would adversely impact Wyoming ranchers. Removing “constraints that Montana rules place on Wyoming permits to discharge coal-bed methane water ... would cause further damage to PRBRC members' crops, forage and soils,” the council wrote in its filing with the U.S. District Court in Cheyenne. The motion comes in a case in which Devon Energy Co., Marathon Oil Co. and Pennaco Energy Inc., along with the State of Wyoming have challenged federal approval of the Montana rules, calling the action an unconstitutional control on interstate business....
The battle to drill A growing property rights controversy between the oil and gas industry and property owners in Northeastern Colorado may be decided by voters in November. As oil and gas industries rally for more effective drilling rights in Colorado, developers and other landowners are rallying for the right to be compensated when mineral extractors drill on their land. As the demand for oil and gas soars, so does the incentive for mining companies to extract as much as possible from each site. Oil and gas companies want more rights to assure they are drilling to capacity, leaving as little resources behind as possible. Landowners, who don't always own mineral rights beneath their land, want better compensation from those same companies. Colorado Land Owners for Fairness, organized by Glenwood Springs real estate agent John Gorman, last week started collecting the 68,000 signatures needed to place a proposed initiative on the November ballot. The ballot initiative would ask voters, "Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado Constitution requiring a mineral extractor to pay the fair value of damages brought about in the development per extraction of a mineral, including oil and gas?"....
New group forms to combat Wyoming Range drilling A new group has formed in western Wyoming that aims to protect the Wyoming Range from energy leasing and development, according to organizers. "Citizens Protecting the Wyoming Range" hosted a kick-off barbequet at a ranch in Daniel Wednesday evening to launch the new organization. Comprised of local landowners, outfitters, business owners and ranchers, the group will work to prohibit new energy development in the Wyoming Range, according to the organization's mission statement. "The Wyoming Range is fundamental to why many choose to live here and the tourism revenue the range generates is a mainstay of our local economy," the statement said. "With so much development already happening next door to the Wyoming Range on Bureau of Land Management, state and private lands, it just doesn't make sense to let it expand onto the national forest."....
Enviro group warns against gas leases in Montrose County A meeting about gas leases on private property and public land at the Naturita Community Center on Sunday afternoon brought dire warnings from environmental groups and reassurances from representatives of the federal government. Sponsored by the Uncompahgre Valley Association, a community group of Western Colorado Congress, much of the meeting was devoted to warnings about what could happen from a former LaPlata County commissioner. The meeting was prompted by a planned auction of 50,000 acres of Montrose County land on Aug. 10 by the federal government on behalf of the Bureau of Land Management, said Peter Crowell, vice president of the association, who moderated the meeting. Crowell said his organization will file a protest with the federal government Tuesday to delay the auction so the land up for lease can be more carefully studied. “In some cases they are roadless areas and watershed areas,” he said. “We will ask the BLM to postpone or withdraw leasing of certain parcels.”....
Western Ranchers Join Lawsuit To Defend Grazing Regulations The Public Lands Council (PLC), an organization of public lands ranchers throughout the West, has joined in a lawsuit to help defend the final grazing regulations issued by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The PLC represents the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, the American Sheep Industry and the Association of National Grasslands. “The new regulations stabilize the climate for operating ranches on BLM lands by encouraging good stewardship of those lands,” says PLC Executive Director Jeff Eisenberg. “In developing these final rules, the BLM has restored the balance between resource conservation and range management. These are policies PLC and its members are willing to protect with their hard earned dollars.” Upon publication on July 12, the Western Watersheds Project immediately filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Idaho to block the regulations. A second suit was also filed by the National Wildlife Federation, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Idaho Conservation League, and the Idaho Wildlife Federation. PLC has retained Bill Thomas of the law firm Best Best & Kreiger to represent the ranchers’ views in this matter. Each side has the opportunity to make arguments at a preliminary injunction hearing scheduled for July 28 in Boise, Idaho....
Interior Dept. deputy kills a bison, then resigns after money questions The American bison, once hunted almost to extinction, is now so revered in the United States that its image graces the seal of the Interior Department, where it stands proudly in the shadow of mountains. Still, a senior political appointee at Interior apparently thought that the real thing might look better stuffed and mounted -- so he shot one. David Smith, a hunter who until last Friday was deputy assistant secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, shot and killed a bison grazing at a friend's ranch in Texas in December 2004. He had the hoofs made into bookends and kept the skull, wrapped in taxidermy packaging, in the garage of his home. Smith broke no laws by shooting the semi-domesticated animal in the head with a rifle from 50 yards away. But in a new report, Interior Inspector General Earl Devaney found that Smith violated rules banning federal officials from accepting gifts from people who are regulated by, or might do business with, their agency....
Proposal leaves riders in a rut Mark Powell says Jeep drivers have been trying to show that they care about the environment by picking up litter along Springhill Road. So he and other members of Capital City Jeepers say they're concerned that the U.S. Forest Service is proposing to close land along Springhill Road to off-road vehicles because of damage they are causing. "Those of us who like to ride legally have very few areas left where we can ride," Powell said. "We try to promote responsible use of the resource." The Forest Service is proposing to temporarily close 11,625 acres to vehicles including Jeeps, trucks, motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles. Licensed vehicles can continue to drive through those areas on official forest roads. The proposed closed areas would be in addition to 6,814 acres that were closed temporarily in 2004 and haven't been reopened....
Fat Tire Festival Every year, thousands of fat-tire enthusiasts descend on this timber town to ride the surrounding trails. Oakridge sits more than 1,000 feet above sea level, and the mountains ringing it rise thousands of feet higher. It's a jumping-off point for scenic pedals and gnarly trail rides, as well as a growing number of races and festivals. This weekend, mountain bikers from all over America will make the trek to Oakridge to ride and relax at the Fat Tire Festival. The community is actively working to replace its once-booming timber industry with "adventure tourism."....
Grizzlies on rivers put managers on edge From her office across from the confluence of the Kenai and Russian rivers, Dianne Owens watches a daily dance of grizzly bears and people and wonders what's next. Already this year, a sow grizzly has been wounded in a spray of gunfire near the Sportsman's Landing campground; one of her cubs was injured when hit by a car on the Sterling Highway. The sow subsequently disappeared and is now presumed dead. The fate of the yearling cub hit by the car remains unknown. Meanwhile, two other yearling cubs appear to have taken up residence adjacent to the campground since their mother died. With the yearlings hanging around, the manager of the Russian River ferry said human-bear encounters have become an all-too-regular occurrence. "Every day, two or three times a day," she said. "We're sitting on a time bomb here."....
Feds ax Colorado public lands jobs Public lands managers are bracing for three years of federal budget cuts and job losses to help pay for homeland security and the war in Iraq. With the belt-tightening, the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management expect to trim more than 60 jobs in Southwest Colorado, according to a memo sent to some 220 Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service employees working in areas from Pagosa Springs to the Utah state line. Officials said it's unclear how the public will be affected by the reducti0ns, but at least half the job cuts will be positions that are currently unfilled. "Since 2001, Congress and the administration have intensified scrutiny of domestic spending because of national and international pressures," reads the June memo from San Juan Public Lands Center officials. "The Forest Service and BLM expect to see shrinking and performance-based budgets for the foreseeable future."....
'Wild and Scenic River' U.S. Sen. John McCain and U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi plan to introduce legislation next week to include Fossil Creek in the nation's Wild and Scenic River System. The unique waters form in the Fossil Creek Wilderness Area along the Yavapai County border near Strawberry. The creek runs 14 miles through the national forest to the Verde River southeast of Camp Verde. A stretch of the Verde River currently has the only Wild and Scenic River designation in Arizona. "Fossil Creek is one of the most valuable natural treasures in Arizona, and I'm prepared to take the necessary steps to ensure it's preserved for generations to come," Renzi said Friday when he confirmed plans to introduce legislation next week....
Pipeline plan draws no opposition Based on the amount of public comment at a hearing for a proposed natural gas pipeline from Merna to Jackson, it appears everyone is in favor of the project. Either that, or no one knew about the hearing. Not one member of the public showed up Thursday night to ask questions or give testimony about a proposed pipeline that will cross the Hoback River nine times, will snake along a highway and through some rugged terrain. In fact, all 10 people at the hearing, in front of members of the Wyoming Public Service Commission, were representatives of Lower Valley Energy, the company proposing the 49.7-mile pipeline. But the PSC staff asked some tough questions that members of the public might be wondering. David Piroutek, the commission's engineering supervisor, asked about the river crossings. Chad Jensen, vice president of Lower Valley, said Bridger-Teton National Forest officials have advised the company to "get in and get out," and the pipeline can be trenched and laid in the river bed in four hours....
On Public Land, Sunday in the Park With Prayer This is what church looked like to Deana Wingert on a recent Sunday: the wind ruffled the lake behind the pulpit, evergreens towered above the pews, a yellow butterfly danced over a sunny patch of grass, and the scent of lighter fluid wafted through, followed by the smell of meat grilling. Most members in the congregation did not know one another. They had come, like the Wingerts, to Cowans Gap, about 100 miles southwest of Harrisburg, to camp, swim and picnic. But it was Sunday, and for the 100 or so Christians with baseball caps and bug spray who wanted to worship, the park offered itself as their church. “This is the day that the Lord has made,” the congregation sang to the cloudless sky, as the chaplain, Bruce Carriker, strummed the guitar and began the service. “We shall rejoice and be glad in it.” From Memorial Day to Labor Day, 42 state, national and private parks in Pennsylvania hold nondenominational Christian worship services. It is the only state with such a program, said the Rev. Paul L. Herring of the Pennsylvania Council of Churches. The chaplains come from local towns and faraway states, as do the worshipers, mostly Protestants. Last year, 18,000 people attended services in Pennsylvania parks....
Cuba drills for oil off Florida Cuba is drilling for oil 60 miles off the coast of Florida with help from China, Canada and Spain even as Congress struggles to end years of deadlock over drilling for what could be a treasure trove of offshore oil and gas. Republicans in Congress have tried repeatedly in the past decade to open up the outer continental shelf to exploration, and Florida's waters hold some of the most promising prospects for major energy finds. Their efforts have been frustrated by opposition from Florida, California and environmental-minded legislators from both parties. Florida's powerful tourism and booming real estate industries fear that oil spills could cost them business. Lawmakers from the state are so adamantly opposed to drilling that they have bid to extend the national ban on drilling activity from 100 miles to as far as 250 miles offshore, encompassing the island of Cuba. Cuba is exploring in its half of the 90-mile-wide Straits of Florida within the internationally recognized boundary as well as in deep-water areas of the Gulf of Mexico. The impoverished communist nation is eager to receive any economic boost that would come from a major oil find....
Bush Pollution Curbs Are Rated Equal to Clinton's The Bush administration's new program to cut harmful pollutants from utilities through a cap-and-trade system will do nearly as much to clean the nation's air as the Clinton administration's effort to make aging power plants install pollution controls when they modernize or expand, a report by an independent scientific panel has concluded. The report from the National Academy of Sciences, released yesterday, represents the latest effort to assess how best to reduce air pollution estimated to cause as many as 24,000 premature deaths each year. The panel concluded that an earlier Bush plan would have allowed pollution to increase over a dozen years, but it found that the administration's more recent Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) -- which targets emissions from power plants in 22 states and the District of Columbia -- would help clean the air over the next two decades. The CAIR approach aims to reduce nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide emissions by 70 percent by 2025 at the latest, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, through a system that would allow utilities to sell and buy pollution credits as long as industry emissions as a whole stayed below a pre-set cap. The Clinton administration had focused on cutting emissions under the 1970 Clean Air Act through a program called New Source Review (NSR), now discarded, which required aging plants to install new, cleaner technology every time they upgraded facilities....
Kansan popularized Smokey Bear Kansan Rudolph Wendelin may not have created Smokey Bear, but he did his best to make him a national icon. For nearly four decades, Wendelin illustrated Smokey for the U.S. Forest Service in TV ads, billboards, posters, newspapers and magazine with the warning: "Remember, only YOU can prevent forest fires." After the war, he helped launch the Smokey Bear project. The character was based on a live bear cub that survived a 1950 New Mexico forest fire. At least 10 other artists turned out earlier versions of the bear, but Wendelin is credited with giving Smokey his friendliness and popularity. Wendelin's bear wore jeans and a green ranger's hat and carried a shovel. According to the Web site Smokeybear.com, Smokey's correct, full name is Smokey Bear. A song in 1952 called "Smokey the Bear" added a "the" to his name. That same year, Smokey was so popular he was given his own ZIP code -- 20252 -- because of the volume of mail he was receiving....
Where global warming's welcome Stefan Magnusson lives at the foot of a giant, melting glacier. Some think he's living on the brink of a cataclysm. He believes he's on the cusp of creation. The 49-year-old reindeer rancher says a warming trend in Greenland over the past decade has caused the glacier on his farm to retreat 300 feet, revealing land that hasn't seen the light of day for hundreds of years, if not more. Where ice once gripped the earth, he says, his reindeer now graze on wild thyme amid the purple blooms of Niviarsiaq flowers. The melting glacier near Mr. Magnusson's home is pouring more water into the river, which he hopes soon to harness for hydroelectricity. "We are seeing genesis by the edge of the glacier," he says. Average temperatures in Greenland have risen by 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit over the past 30 years -- more than double the global average, according to the Danish Meteorological Institute. By the end of the century, the institute projects, temperatures could rise another 14 degrees....
WTO talks slip deeper into crisis, no breakthrough Last ditch talks to keep hopes alive of a global free deal faced a deepening crisis on Monday after trading powers failed to achieve a breakthrough at a marathon first session, diplomats said. The so-called G6 -- Australia, Brazil, India, Japan, the European Union and the United States -- must reach agreement on how to boost trade in farm and industrial goods or risk seeing nearly five years of WTO negotiations crumble in failure. But 14 hours of negotiations on Sunday, chaired by World Trade Organisation (WTO) chief Pascal Lamy, who has the task of brokering a deal, failed to advance in the key area of farm subsidies, known as domestic support, where the United States is under pressure to make further concessions. Washington has been insisting that the EU and other WTO members that it calls "protectionist" go further in agreeing to lowering farm tariff barriers before it moves further on subsidies....
Cattle broker won't face charges A Utah livestock broker who arranged the illegal import of 920 head of cattle into Sublette County earlier this year probably won’t be prosecuted because current state regulations do not provide for such prosecution, local ranchers were told this week. State Veterinarian Dwayne Oldham told about 30 area cattle producers that as state livestock regulations currently stand, there is not sufficient language to prosecute someone acting as a broker in illegally importing cattle into Wyoming. Under current regulations, only the livestock haulers can be charged, not the person who conspired to have the illegal import occur. Although the hole in the regulations was revealed to state officials in 2003, and the Wyoming Livestock Board drafted changes to the regulations, the regulations were never finalized. In late May, state livestock officials learned that 16 loads of central Utah cattle with paperwork calling for a Woodruff, Utah, destination had been delivered to two Sublette County ranches instead. Having the Woodruff destination on the Utah brand inspection allowed the animals to get through the Evanston port of entry without health inspections required for delivery into Wyoming. Because the 15-month-old cattle were not certified as having been vaccinated for brucellosis and had not been spayed, Wyoming animal health officials would not have allowed the animals to be imported under state rules....
Cowboys enjoy their day in the sun Every cowboy gets his day. On a blistering Saturday afternoon at California Rodeo Salinas, state Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Merced, presented officials with a resolution passed by the California Legislature declaring July 22 as National Day of the Cowboy. "It recognizes our pioneering men and women that make up our cowboys in the nation," he said. During a break in the competition, Denham presented a framed copy of the resolution to California Rodeo president Jim Slaten in front of a crowd of about 7,000 people. Slaten was joined by Marianne Johnson Schaeffler, the rodeo's hostess 50 years ago, and Rodeo Hall of Fame inductee Doc Etienne. "Falling on our day, it's special for us. It's an honor," said Slaten. "All the cowboys really appreciate it because cowboys don't get a lot of recognition as athletes," he said. Denham said the day symbolizes not only the rodeo, but ranchers and "an ongoing commitment to a way of life in our rural communities."....
Boots 'n' Britches prepares small riders for the rodeo circuit Maureen Weishaupt just wanted to give Fallon youngsters a chance to compete in rodeo events at a fun level in an event that came to be called Boots 'n' Britches Play Day. Twenty-two years later, she's still giving them the chance. "I grew up being in the Junior Rodeo and had such good memories," said Weishaupt, whose family moved to Fallon in 1960. "So, Candy Moffitt and I worked on getting it started." At the time, Weishaupt was the leader of a 4-H horse group. Now Boots 'n' Britches includes anyone who wants to participate. "The event is practice for the events the young cowboys and cowgirls do at Junior Rodeo, and to help prepare them for high school rodeo competition," said Weishaupt. On the average, some 60 to 70 riders compete in breakaway roping, pole bending, goat tying, goat tail un-decorating, and barrel racing....
My grandfather knew Billy the Kid Having been born on my grandparents ranch in Ancho, Lincoln County, was more by accident than on purpose. My mother was visiting her parents in New Mexico from our home in West Virginia, and overextended her stay, which resulted in my being a native New Mexican. Our family eventually settled in Albuquerque around 1935. My father named me after my step-grandfather, whom I always considered to be my grandfather, because my real grandfather, Rosalio Lopez, died during the 1918 flu epidemic long before I was born. My mother not only lost her father to the flu, but also her only brother that same year. We visited Ancho often and I remember spending a few summers at the ranch. My step-grandfather, Nick Maes, often spoke of Billy the Kid — or el Chivato (little kid), as he was affectionately referred to by the native Hispanics. He always said he was muy valiente y muy vaquero. As I was still pretty much a kid myself, these tales didn't mean much to me at the time. It wasn't until many years later, and after old Nick Maes died in 1939, that my late cousin, Manuel Lopez, who was about eight or nine years older than me, told me about some events I either did not know or did not recall....
Trew: Long-gone community leaves mark on the prairie Rockledge, 5 miles west of Alanreed, just off to the south of Interstate 40, was such a place. Located on Rockwall County School Land, named for the deep canyons nearby, the land is part of the Trew Ranch today. Hartley Davis, the resident section foreman, recalled an incident he witnessed while replacing ties at Rockledge. One morning the train stopped to allow a real estate agent from Amarillo off. A buggy approached from the east with two people aboard. The men talked, argued and the man from Amarillo pulled a gun and shot one of the other men. He turned and ran toward the section crew working nearby when the second man shot and killed him. The crew stopped the next train and sent the bodies on to Alanreed to the funeral parlor. Rockledge figured prominently in the news in 1939 when two men robbed the bank in Alanreed of $3,000. They escaped west on Route 66 until their car quit near Rockledge. They fled into the deep canyons nearby where the law surrounded the area and arrested the pair....
Permalink 0 comments
Sunday, July 23, 2006
SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE WESTERNER
There is life after rodeo
By Julie Carter
Man wasn't created to spend his life locked in time and standing in one place forever. Time moves on and so does life and nothing drives that point home harder for the cowboy than the sport of rodeo.
In a flashback of the lifeline he is a 20-year-old standing at the bucking chutes waiting for his bronc to be run into place. In a blink of an eye he is standing in the same place waiting for his 20-year-old son's bronc to do the same.
With a knowing eye you can look around any rodeo on any given day and spot the cowboys that "used to ride'em." The sport calls them back to rodeo after rodeo, year after to year, to be part of something that once fed an inner calling at some point in their lives.
If they can't still be a contestant, there remains a need to soak up the sights, sounds and smells created by those that are. From the broncs kicking in the chute during the national anthem opening to the last slamming gate signifying the end of the bull riding, it is all encapsulated into a familiar memory that plays like a recording through their entire life.
Many who once were heavily involved in the sport find others way to stay tied to it. It is hard to find a stock contractor, announcer, rodeo judge, producer, rodeo secretary, stock hauler, tack salesman etc. that was not at one time a contestant themselves.
When they no longer can compete in the sport, rodeo used-to-be's will sacrifice the adrenaline rush that comes with those precious few seconds in the arena to find new ways to let the sport touch them. Or they can become team ropers.
If they have kids they become the next generation on the road. Youth rodeos are continually raising and training a new segment of rodeo America.
If the kids are grown and gone or sometimes if they are not, "retired" competitors will find a job of one sort or another attached to the sport. For me it is behind a camera and with a keyboard. I photograph and write about it at every opportunity. It's not the same but it is what I can do for the sport and for me.
As one former rodeo bull fighter recently told me, it's a hard trip down from the rush of the "in the arena" to standing behind a microphone announcing. I understood what he was saying but quipped to him that at least rodeo was finally paying me instead of me paying it.
Philosophical wisdom makes every attempt to sooth the beast within that was once the driving force behind the dedicated rodeo competitor. So today you get a little philosophy.
Life is like the coffee in our cups. It represents jobs, money, position, family and the other things we strive to collect to ourselves in a lifetime.
The cup, whether it is tin, ceramic, or of fine porcelain, simply contains the coffee but does not define the quality of it.
We have a favorite cup but usually we want a better cup. We frequently change the color, shape, size and personalize them. We have clever sayings and pictures printed on them.
We try to make a statement about ourselves by the cup from which we drink our coffee.
Being the humans that we are, we find places in our life where we concentrate only on the cup and fail to enjoy the coffee.
God help us all to not forget to enjoy the coffee each and every day of our lives.
Permalink 0 comments
There is life after rodeo
By Julie Carter
Man wasn't created to spend his life locked in time and standing in one place forever. Time moves on and so does life and nothing drives that point home harder for the cowboy than the sport of rodeo.
In a flashback of the lifeline he is a 20-year-old standing at the bucking chutes waiting for his bronc to be run into place. In a blink of an eye he is standing in the same place waiting for his 20-year-old son's bronc to do the same.
With a knowing eye you can look around any rodeo on any given day and spot the cowboys that "used to ride'em." The sport calls them back to rodeo after rodeo, year after to year, to be part of something that once fed an inner calling at some point in their lives.
If they can't still be a contestant, there remains a need to soak up the sights, sounds and smells created by those that are. From the broncs kicking in the chute during the national anthem opening to the last slamming gate signifying the end of the bull riding, it is all encapsulated into a familiar memory that plays like a recording through their entire life.
Many who once were heavily involved in the sport find others way to stay tied to it. It is hard to find a stock contractor, announcer, rodeo judge, producer, rodeo secretary, stock hauler, tack salesman etc. that was not at one time a contestant themselves.
When they no longer can compete in the sport, rodeo used-to-be's will sacrifice the adrenaline rush that comes with those precious few seconds in the arena to find new ways to let the sport touch them. Or they can become team ropers.
If they have kids they become the next generation on the road. Youth rodeos are continually raising and training a new segment of rodeo America.
If the kids are grown and gone or sometimes if they are not, "retired" competitors will find a job of one sort or another attached to the sport. For me it is behind a camera and with a keyboard. I photograph and write about it at every opportunity. It's not the same but it is what I can do for the sport and for me.
As one former rodeo bull fighter recently told me, it's a hard trip down from the rush of the "in the arena" to standing behind a microphone announcing. I understood what he was saying but quipped to him that at least rodeo was finally paying me instead of me paying it.
Philosophical wisdom makes every attempt to sooth the beast within that was once the driving force behind the dedicated rodeo competitor. So today you get a little philosophy.
Life is like the coffee in our cups. It represents jobs, money, position, family and the other things we strive to collect to ourselves in a lifetime.
The cup, whether it is tin, ceramic, or of fine porcelain, simply contains the coffee but does not define the quality of it.
We have a favorite cup but usually we want a better cup. We frequently change the color, shape, size and personalize them. We have clever sayings and pictures printed on them.
We try to make a statement about ourselves by the cup from which we drink our coffee.
Being the humans that we are, we find places in our life where we concentrate only on the cup and fail to enjoy the coffee.
God help us all to not forget to enjoy the coffee each and every day of our lives.
Permalink 0 comments
OPINION/COMMENTARY
Environmentalist Lawsuit Against Sound Forest Management Is Challenged
Pacific Legal Foundation took action today to derail efforts by radical environmentalists to block sound forest management in California’s Tuolumne County and surrounding areas. PLF intervened to challenge an environmentalist lawsuit that could facilitate more devastating fires in Eldorado National Forest. At issue is a timber salvage operation that was devised by federal officials in the wake of the massive Freds and Power Fires that took place in October, 2004. PLF is challenging the environmentalists’ right to proceed with their lawsuit against the salvage plan without posting a substantial surety bond. "Federal judicial rules mandate that plaintiffs post a bond in this kind of litigation -- and the environmentalists haven’t shown any reason why they should be exempted from that requirement," said Pacific Legal Foundation attorney Damien Schiff. The case is Earth Island Institute v. United States Forest Service. Plaintiffs contend that the salvage plan violates federal environmental law. A Ninth Circuit panel this past March determined that a preliminary injunction should issue against the program. So, if the government does not appeal that ruling to the United States Supreme Court, the case goes back to the federal District Court in Sacramento. "This case shows how a timber-recovery program can be killed simply by environmentalist delaying tactics and ‘temporary’ injunctions from compliant courts," said Schiff....
Ethanol: Bumper Crop for Agribusiness, Bitter Harvest for Taxpayers
In 1973, Richard Nixon announced that the United States would be energy independent by 1980. Over the next three decades, a number of programs and initiatives would be launched in pursuit of that goal and then quietly eliminated when they failed to succeed. One program, ethanol, has been able to weather the changing political climate by cultivating political and popular support. Unfortunately for taxpayers, ethanol is another in a series of highly-subsidized but ineffective energy programs that are costly for consumers and are a bad "investment" of tax dollars. Rather than let ethanol put down even deeper roots, Congress should end the massive chain of subsidies that supports the fuel program and allow market forces, rather than politicians, to determine which energy technologies will survive and grow. Ethanol imposes significant direct and indirect costs on consumers. It is more expensive to produce than gasoline, and its alcohol component prevents the fuel from being shipped as other gasoline products are, leading to higher transportation costs. Government mandates forcing drivers to purchase ethanol will lead to higher fuel bills since ethanol has a lower fuel economy than does gasoline. Also, as the price of corn rises, consumers can expect higher grocery bills as food inflation ripples through commodities markets. Agricultural subsides lead to overproduction, which is then used as a justification for using ethanol. Since ethanol has not been economically viable, it has relied upon subsidies from the federal government as well as a number of states. The federal subsidy is currently costing taxpayers $2 billion a year. The federal government protects domestic producers from international competition by levying a significant tariff on imported ethanol. In a further attempt to prop-up the industry, Congress inserted a renewable fuels standard into the 2005 energy bill. This requirement has the effect of mandating the use of 7.5 billion gallons of ethanol by 2012. States are also imposing their own usage requirements. The need for massive subsidies has not kept politicians in Washington from promoting other crops as ethanol feedstocks. The most popular potential sources are sugar and biomass, or cellulosic ethanol. Sugar-based ethanol would require a subsidy of between $1 and $2 per gallon, significantly higher than the 51-cents-per-gallon that corn-based ethanol currently receives. Taxpayers have already invested $1 billion in cellulosic ethanol research since the 1980s but additional study is expected to cost $2 billion over the next few years....
Why Are We Drinkin' this 'Hooch?
Will the rush to bio-fuels kill people in the developing world? The short answer is yes and probably in the very near future. The main problem with bio-fuels, is that producing them causes the world’s cars to compete for the same resources as the world’s hungry stomachs. If you claim to care about world hunger, “social justice,” or simply understand the economic problems of the bio-fuels industry, then you must reject bio-fuels. We are not the only ones concerned bio-fuel development will end up killing poor people. For example, in the industry’s online clearinghouse site renewableenergyaccess.com some surprising facts come out. In agricultural terms, the world appetite for automotive fuel is insatiable. The grain required to fill a 25-gallon SUV gas tank with ethanol will feed one person for a year. The grain to fill the tank every two weeks over a year will feed 26 people. With so many distilleries being built, livestock and poultry producers fear there may not be enough corn to produce meat, milk, and eggs. And since the United States supplies 70 percent of world corn exports, corn-importing countries are worried about their supply. Since almost everything we eat can be converted into fuel for automobiles, including wheat, corn, rice, soybeans, and sugarcane, the line between the food and energy economies is disappearing. Historically, food processors and livestock producers that converted these farm commodities into products for supermarket shelves were the only buyers. Now there is another group, those buying for the ethanol distilleries and biodiesel refineries that supply service stations....
CITIES REWARD 'LIFESTYLE' THAT CONSERVES WATER
More cities are creating or expanding programs that give residents and businesses rebates or utility-bill credits for installing grass-free lawns or toilets, washing machines and showers that use less water. Rebate programs have grown substantially" because of expanding drought conditions and population increases, says Greg Kail of the American Water Works Association, a trade group. Examples:
* This month, Albuquerque increased its water-bill credit for converting grass lawns to low-water-use "Xeriscapes" from 40 cents to 60 cents for each square foot. Xeriscape is landscaping that uses native plants that require little water.
* Albuquerque also offers credits to residents who reuse rainwater or install water-saving toilets, washers, dishwashers, showerheads and sprinkler timers; since the city first offered credits in 1995, about 100 billion gallons of water have been saved -- enough to supply the city for three years.
* Santa Cruz, Calif., this spring began sending water conservation staffers to homes at residents' request to assess usage and recommend water-saving changes; the city pays $75 to residents who buy low-flow toilets and $100 to those who buy water-efficient washing machines.
* In Charlottesville, Va., residents can get $100 rebates for replacing toilets with more efficient models. Bill Dyer, director of the city's utility billing office, says it also has given away thousands of kits that include faucet aerators, dye tablets that detect toilet leaks, garden hose nozzles and repair kits and outdoor watering gauges.
Observers say cities are trying other ways to conserve water, including watering restrictions and encouraging the reuse of water in manufacturing and to irrigate golf courses. For example, El Paso plans to build the world's largest inland desalination plant, which would turn previously unusable brackish groundwater into 27.5 million gallons of fresh water daily.
Source: Judy Keen, "Cities reward 'lifestyle' that conserves water; Low-flow toilets, no-grass lawns now earn rebates," USA Today, July 20, 2006.
For text:
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20060720/a_water.art.htm
Call Off the Dioxin Dogs
Way back in 1985 the EPA decided it wanted dioxin to be cancer-causing and made it so, labeling it a "probable human carcinogen." Fifteen years later it upped the ante, concluding -- to a round chorus of applause from the media and environmentalist groups -- that the cancer risks for the most exposed people were 10-fold higher than it previously thought. Three years after, it strengthened dioxin's label to "carcinogenic to humans." And last Tuesday ... one big fat fly from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) plopped into the ointment. Indeed, the recommendations of the NAS's National Research Council (NRC) review of the EPA's latest draft report on dioxin could -- or at least should -- turn the entire cancer-rating system of the EPA (and other agencies) on its head. That's because while it's long been accepted that for acute toxicity that "the dose makes the poison" the EPA uses as a rule for all potential carcinogens that if exposure to a rat of something at a level of, say, a quart a day for 30 years is cancer-causing then exposure of a hundredth of a gram a day for one week must also be carcinogenic to humans. No matter that FDA doesn't advise against women taking a daily iron pill because if they took 100 daily they would die. It was this EPA assumption that the National Research Council directly challenged, concluding the "EPA's decision to rely solely on a default linear model lacked adequate scientific support." It said compelling new animal data from the National Toxicology Program -- released after EPA completed its reassessment -- when combined with substantial evidence that dioxin does not damage DNA, is now adequate to justify the use of nonlinear methods for estimating cancer risk at relatively low levels of exposure. In other words, the EPA can't just choose a formula because it's convenient and serves its political ends. It can't ignore the results of myriad animal and human studies and the determination of how a certain chemical affects human cells in favor of simple mathematics....
Running out of oil?
"Proven" oil reserves, oil that's economically and technologically recoverable, are estimated to be more than 1.1 trillion barrels. That's enough oil, at current usage rates, to fuel the world's economy for 38 years, according to Leonardo Maugeri, vice president for the Italian energy company ENI. Mr. Maugeri provides a wealth of information about energy in "Two Cheers for Expensive Oil," published by Foreign Affairs (March/April 2006) and reprinted on the same date in Current. There are an additional 2 trillion barrels of "recoverable" reserves. Mr. Maugeri says these oil reserves will probably meet the "proven" standard in a few years as technological improvement and increased sub-soil knowledge come online. Estimates of recoverable oil don't include the huge deposits of "unconventional" oil such as Canadian tar sands and U.S. shale oil, plus there are vast areas of our planet yet to be fully explored. For decades, alarmists have claimed we're running out of oil. In 1919, the U.S. Geological Survey predicted that world oil production would peak in nine years. During the 1970s, the Club of Rome report, "The Limits to Growth," said that, assuming no rise in consumption, all known oil reserves would be entirely consumed in just 31 years. A substantial increase in oil production alone cannot ease today's high prices because of weak refining capacity. Not a single refinery has been built in the United States for 30 years. Improvements to existing refineries failed to keep up with growing demand and tougher environmental regulations. We're the world's only industrialized country with a net deficit in refining capacity that comes to 20 percent of domestic demand. That makes us highly vulnerable to disasters like last year's hurricanes. Exacerbating weak refining capacity are regulations whereby gasoline produced for one state may not be sold in another. There are 18 mandated different types of gasoline sold in the United States. The long-term outlook for oil is good. There's an increase in oil-drilling technology and exploration. Oil as a source of energy has been in decline. In 1980, oil was 45 percent of energy consumption; today, it's 34 percent, yielding ground to natural gas, coal and nuclear energy. Recently, the House of Representatives passed "The Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act of 2006," which now awaits a Senate vote. Offshore oil exploration has been banned since 1982, despite Department of the Interior estimates that suggest the presence of 19 billion barrels of oil and 84 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The House of Representatives also passed the "Refinery Permit Process Schedule Act of 2006." Should these measures become law, our energy capacity will be enhanced significantly....
Fire, or ice?
The New York Times's headline read, "America in Longest Warm Spell Since 1776; Temperature Line Records a 25-Year Rise." Well, what's so new about that? The Times has been having an historic fit about global warming for years, hasn't it? Yes, but that particular headline ran in the good gray Times on March 27, 1933 -- 73 years ago. What's more, the Times changed its mind dramatically on the subject 42 years later, in 1975, when it startled its readers on May 21 with "Scientists Ponder Why World's Climate is Changing; A Major Cooling Widely Considered to Be Inevitable." Nor has the Times been the only major periodical to blow hot and cold (if you will forgive me) on the subject of the global climate. On Jan. 2, 1939 Time magazine announced that "Gaffers who claim that winters were harder when they were boys are quite right ... weather men have no doubt that the world at least for the time being is growing warmer." Yet Time scooped The New York Times by nearly a year when, reversing itself, it warned readers on June 24, 1974 that, "Climatological Cassandras are becoming increasingly apprehensive, for the weather aberrations they are studying may be the harbinger of another ice age." Today, of course, Time has changed its mind again and joined the global-warming hysteria. On April 3 this year, it announced that "By Any Measure, Earth is At ... The Tipping Point. The climate is crashing, and global warming is to blame." The last major attack of hysteria, in the mid-1970s, focused on the peril of global cooling, and was especially severe. Fortune magazine declared in February 1974 that "As for the present cooling trend a number of leading climatologists have concluded that it is very bad news indeed. It is the root cause of a lot of that unpleasant weather around the world and they warn that it carries the potential for human disasters of unprecedented magnitude." Fortune's analysis was so impressive that it actually won a "Science Writing Award" from the American Institute of Physics. But the prize for sheer terrorizing surely belonged to Lowell Ponte, whose 1976 book "The Cooling" (a predecessor of Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth," though from the opposite point of view) asserted that "The cooling has already killed hundreds of thousands of people in poor nations." If countermeasures weren't taken, he warned, it would lead to "world famine, world chaos, and probably world war, and this could all come by the year 2000."....
Permalink 0 comments
Environmentalist Lawsuit Against Sound Forest Management Is Challenged
Pacific Legal Foundation took action today to derail efforts by radical environmentalists to block sound forest management in California’s Tuolumne County and surrounding areas. PLF intervened to challenge an environmentalist lawsuit that could facilitate more devastating fires in Eldorado National Forest. At issue is a timber salvage operation that was devised by federal officials in the wake of the massive Freds and Power Fires that took place in October, 2004. PLF is challenging the environmentalists’ right to proceed with their lawsuit against the salvage plan without posting a substantial surety bond. "Federal judicial rules mandate that plaintiffs post a bond in this kind of litigation -- and the environmentalists haven’t shown any reason why they should be exempted from that requirement," said Pacific Legal Foundation attorney Damien Schiff. The case is Earth Island Institute v. United States Forest Service. Plaintiffs contend that the salvage plan violates federal environmental law. A Ninth Circuit panel this past March determined that a preliminary injunction should issue against the program. So, if the government does not appeal that ruling to the United States Supreme Court, the case goes back to the federal District Court in Sacramento. "This case shows how a timber-recovery program can be killed simply by environmentalist delaying tactics and ‘temporary’ injunctions from compliant courts," said Schiff....
Ethanol: Bumper Crop for Agribusiness, Bitter Harvest for Taxpayers
In 1973, Richard Nixon announced that the United States would be energy independent by 1980. Over the next three decades, a number of programs and initiatives would be launched in pursuit of that goal and then quietly eliminated when they failed to succeed. One program, ethanol, has been able to weather the changing political climate by cultivating political and popular support. Unfortunately for taxpayers, ethanol is another in a series of highly-subsidized but ineffective energy programs that are costly for consumers and are a bad "investment" of tax dollars. Rather than let ethanol put down even deeper roots, Congress should end the massive chain of subsidies that supports the fuel program and allow market forces, rather than politicians, to determine which energy technologies will survive and grow. Ethanol imposes significant direct and indirect costs on consumers. It is more expensive to produce than gasoline, and its alcohol component prevents the fuel from being shipped as other gasoline products are, leading to higher transportation costs. Government mandates forcing drivers to purchase ethanol will lead to higher fuel bills since ethanol has a lower fuel economy than does gasoline. Also, as the price of corn rises, consumers can expect higher grocery bills as food inflation ripples through commodities markets. Agricultural subsides lead to overproduction, which is then used as a justification for using ethanol. Since ethanol has not been economically viable, it has relied upon subsidies from the federal government as well as a number of states. The federal subsidy is currently costing taxpayers $2 billion a year. The federal government protects domestic producers from international competition by levying a significant tariff on imported ethanol. In a further attempt to prop-up the industry, Congress inserted a renewable fuels standard into the 2005 energy bill. This requirement has the effect of mandating the use of 7.5 billion gallons of ethanol by 2012. States are also imposing their own usage requirements. The need for massive subsidies has not kept politicians in Washington from promoting other crops as ethanol feedstocks. The most popular potential sources are sugar and biomass, or cellulosic ethanol. Sugar-based ethanol would require a subsidy of between $1 and $2 per gallon, significantly higher than the 51-cents-per-gallon that corn-based ethanol currently receives. Taxpayers have already invested $1 billion in cellulosic ethanol research since the 1980s but additional study is expected to cost $2 billion over the next few years....
Why Are We Drinkin' this 'Hooch?
Will the rush to bio-fuels kill people in the developing world? The short answer is yes and probably in the very near future. The main problem with bio-fuels, is that producing them causes the world’s cars to compete for the same resources as the world’s hungry stomachs. If you claim to care about world hunger, “social justice,” or simply understand the economic problems of the bio-fuels industry, then you must reject bio-fuels. We are not the only ones concerned bio-fuel development will end up killing poor people. For example, in the industry’s online clearinghouse site renewableenergyaccess.com some surprising facts come out. In agricultural terms, the world appetite for automotive fuel is insatiable. The grain required to fill a 25-gallon SUV gas tank with ethanol will feed one person for a year. The grain to fill the tank every two weeks over a year will feed 26 people. With so many distilleries being built, livestock and poultry producers fear there may not be enough corn to produce meat, milk, and eggs. And since the United States supplies 70 percent of world corn exports, corn-importing countries are worried about their supply. Since almost everything we eat can be converted into fuel for automobiles, including wheat, corn, rice, soybeans, and sugarcane, the line between the food and energy economies is disappearing. Historically, food processors and livestock producers that converted these farm commodities into products for supermarket shelves were the only buyers. Now there is another group, those buying for the ethanol distilleries and biodiesel refineries that supply service stations....
CITIES REWARD 'LIFESTYLE' THAT CONSERVES WATER
More cities are creating or expanding programs that give residents and businesses rebates or utility-bill credits for installing grass-free lawns or toilets, washing machines and showers that use less water. Rebate programs have grown substantially" because of expanding drought conditions and population increases, says Greg Kail of the American Water Works Association, a trade group. Examples:
* This month, Albuquerque increased its water-bill credit for converting grass lawns to low-water-use "Xeriscapes" from 40 cents to 60 cents for each square foot. Xeriscape is landscaping that uses native plants that require little water.
* Albuquerque also offers credits to residents who reuse rainwater or install water-saving toilets, washers, dishwashers, showerheads and sprinkler timers; since the city first offered credits in 1995, about 100 billion gallons of water have been saved -- enough to supply the city for three years.
* Santa Cruz, Calif., this spring began sending water conservation staffers to homes at residents' request to assess usage and recommend water-saving changes; the city pays $75 to residents who buy low-flow toilets and $100 to those who buy water-efficient washing machines.
* In Charlottesville, Va., residents can get $100 rebates for replacing toilets with more efficient models. Bill Dyer, director of the city's utility billing office, says it also has given away thousands of kits that include faucet aerators, dye tablets that detect toilet leaks, garden hose nozzles and repair kits and outdoor watering gauges.
Observers say cities are trying other ways to conserve water, including watering restrictions and encouraging the reuse of water in manufacturing and to irrigate golf courses. For example, El Paso plans to build the world's largest inland desalination plant, which would turn previously unusable brackish groundwater into 27.5 million gallons of fresh water daily.
Source: Judy Keen, "Cities reward 'lifestyle' that conserves water; Low-flow toilets, no-grass lawns now earn rebates," USA Today, July 20, 2006.
For text:
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20060720/a_water.art.htm
Call Off the Dioxin Dogs
Way back in 1985 the EPA decided it wanted dioxin to be cancer-causing and made it so, labeling it a "probable human carcinogen." Fifteen years later it upped the ante, concluding -- to a round chorus of applause from the media and environmentalist groups -- that the cancer risks for the most exposed people were 10-fold higher than it previously thought. Three years after, it strengthened dioxin's label to "carcinogenic to humans." And last Tuesday ... one big fat fly from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) plopped into the ointment. Indeed, the recommendations of the NAS's National Research Council (NRC) review of the EPA's latest draft report on dioxin could -- or at least should -- turn the entire cancer-rating system of the EPA (and other agencies) on its head. That's because while it's long been accepted that for acute toxicity that "the dose makes the poison" the EPA uses as a rule for all potential carcinogens that if exposure to a rat of something at a level of, say, a quart a day for 30 years is cancer-causing then exposure of a hundredth of a gram a day for one week must also be carcinogenic to humans. No matter that FDA doesn't advise against women taking a daily iron pill because if they took 100 daily they would die. It was this EPA assumption that the National Research Council directly challenged, concluding the "EPA's decision to rely solely on a default linear model lacked adequate scientific support." It said compelling new animal data from the National Toxicology Program -- released after EPA completed its reassessment -- when combined with substantial evidence that dioxin does not damage DNA, is now adequate to justify the use of nonlinear methods for estimating cancer risk at relatively low levels of exposure. In other words, the EPA can't just choose a formula because it's convenient and serves its political ends. It can't ignore the results of myriad animal and human studies and the determination of how a certain chemical affects human cells in favor of simple mathematics....
Running out of oil?
"Proven" oil reserves, oil that's economically and technologically recoverable, are estimated to be more than 1.1 trillion barrels. That's enough oil, at current usage rates, to fuel the world's economy for 38 years, according to Leonardo Maugeri, vice president for the Italian energy company ENI. Mr. Maugeri provides a wealth of information about energy in "Two Cheers for Expensive Oil," published by Foreign Affairs (March/April 2006) and reprinted on the same date in Current. There are an additional 2 trillion barrels of "recoverable" reserves. Mr. Maugeri says these oil reserves will probably meet the "proven" standard in a few years as technological improvement and increased sub-soil knowledge come online. Estimates of recoverable oil don't include the huge deposits of "unconventional" oil such as Canadian tar sands and U.S. shale oil, plus there are vast areas of our planet yet to be fully explored. For decades, alarmists have claimed we're running out of oil. In 1919, the U.S. Geological Survey predicted that world oil production would peak in nine years. During the 1970s, the Club of Rome report, "The Limits to Growth," said that, assuming no rise in consumption, all known oil reserves would be entirely consumed in just 31 years. A substantial increase in oil production alone cannot ease today's high prices because of weak refining capacity. Not a single refinery has been built in the United States for 30 years. Improvements to existing refineries failed to keep up with growing demand and tougher environmental regulations. We're the world's only industrialized country with a net deficit in refining capacity that comes to 20 percent of domestic demand. That makes us highly vulnerable to disasters like last year's hurricanes. Exacerbating weak refining capacity are regulations whereby gasoline produced for one state may not be sold in another. There are 18 mandated different types of gasoline sold in the United States. The long-term outlook for oil is good. There's an increase in oil-drilling technology and exploration. Oil as a source of energy has been in decline. In 1980, oil was 45 percent of energy consumption; today, it's 34 percent, yielding ground to natural gas, coal and nuclear energy. Recently, the House of Representatives passed "The Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act of 2006," which now awaits a Senate vote. Offshore oil exploration has been banned since 1982, despite Department of the Interior estimates that suggest the presence of 19 billion barrels of oil and 84 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The House of Representatives also passed the "Refinery Permit Process Schedule Act of 2006." Should these measures become law, our energy capacity will be enhanced significantly....
Fire, or ice?
The New York Times's headline read, "America in Longest Warm Spell Since 1776; Temperature Line Records a 25-Year Rise." Well, what's so new about that? The Times has been having an historic fit about global warming for years, hasn't it? Yes, but that particular headline ran in the good gray Times on March 27, 1933 -- 73 years ago. What's more, the Times changed its mind dramatically on the subject 42 years later, in 1975, when it startled its readers on May 21 with "Scientists Ponder Why World's Climate is Changing; A Major Cooling Widely Considered to Be Inevitable." Nor has the Times been the only major periodical to blow hot and cold (if you will forgive me) on the subject of the global climate. On Jan. 2, 1939 Time magazine announced that "Gaffers who claim that winters were harder when they were boys are quite right ... weather men have no doubt that the world at least for the time being is growing warmer." Yet Time scooped The New York Times by nearly a year when, reversing itself, it warned readers on June 24, 1974 that, "Climatological Cassandras are becoming increasingly apprehensive, for the weather aberrations they are studying may be the harbinger of another ice age." Today, of course, Time has changed its mind again and joined the global-warming hysteria. On April 3 this year, it announced that "By Any Measure, Earth is At ... The Tipping Point. The climate is crashing, and global warming is to blame." The last major attack of hysteria, in the mid-1970s, focused on the peril of global cooling, and was especially severe. Fortune magazine declared in February 1974 that "As for the present cooling trend a number of leading climatologists have concluded that it is very bad news indeed. It is the root cause of a lot of that unpleasant weather around the world and they warn that it carries the potential for human disasters of unprecedented magnitude." Fortune's analysis was so impressive that it actually won a "Science Writing Award" from the American Institute of Physics. But the prize for sheer terrorizing surely belonged to Lowell Ponte, whose 1976 book "The Cooling" (a predecessor of Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth," though from the opposite point of view) asserted that "The cooling has already killed hundreds of thousands of people in poor nations." If countermeasures weren't taken, he warned, it would lead to "world famine, world chaos, and probably world war, and this could all come by the year 2000."....
Permalink 0 comments
NEWS
Some items I missed during the week.
Property initiative on ballot An initiative that would make it harder to condemn private property in Montana qualified Thursday for the November general election ballot. But that didn't immediately derail two legal actions surrounding the ballot issue. A court hearing is set for 10:30 this morning in Helena before District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock. Attorneys will debate why the Cascade County Elections Office will not meet today's deadline for turning in ballot-issue signatures supporting Constitutional Initiative 154 to the Montana secretary of state. Cascade County on Wednesday petitioned the state District Court to extend the deadline for the county elections office to certify signatures and turn them in. Also Wednesday, initiative backers sued in state court, asking a judge to compel the Cascade County Elections Office to meet today's deadline. The county got behind in certifying signatures on petitions because of the rare recount of a primary legislative race that ended in a tie.
Lawsuit seeks to kill ballot question A coalition of Southern Nevada governments and business alliances filed a lawsuit Thursday, seeking to kill a ballot question that would rein in eminent domain land-seizure powers. The suit's backers ask a Clark County District Court judge to strip from the Nov. 7 ballot the question known as the People's Initiative to Stop the Taking of Our Land, or PISTOL, which they call overly broad and potentially crippling to prudent land-planning and government coffers. "The lawsuit is an effort to present ... what we believe to be the invalidity of the initiative in several regards," said Bruce Woodbury, a Clark County commissioner who is among the plaintiffs. "Of course, our concerns go well beyond that, and they have to do with what we think would be a very destructive effect that this proposal could have on our quality of life for everybody in the state." Don Chairez, a petition backer, former district judge and current Republican candidate for attorney general, dismissed Woodbury's claims as those of power brokers trying to retain power on the backs of property owners. "He (Woodbury) is trying to stifle and muzzle the voices of the people. I don't think people will go for it. I don't think the courts will go for it," Chairez said. "I'm not worried....
Backers undeterred by Hetch Hetchy estimate Environmentalists vowed Tuesday to press ahead with their campaign to restore the Hetch Hetchy Valley to its natural state, buoyed by a state report that says draining the reservoir is technically feasible and undeterred by significant political opposition and a price tag that could hit $10 billion. They concede there are many questions yet to be answered -- not the least of which are how to knock down a 410-foot dam and how to finance the restoration of a valley submerged beneath 117 billion gallons of water since 1923. Restoration advocates argue the report released Wednesday by the State Department of Water Resources proves restoring Yosemite National Park's Hetch Hetchy Valley can be done without impacting the quality or quantity of water drawn from the Tuolumne River. "The state found no fatal flaws in the restoration concept that would preclude additional study," the report states, adding that "it does appear technically feasible to restore the Hetch Hetchy Valley." Environmentalists seized on that finding to push for further study of an idea they've championed for at least 20 years....
Woodpecker Halts Ark. Irrigation Project A federal judge halted a $320 million irrigation project Thursday for fear it could disturb the habitat of a woodpecker that may or may not be extinct. The dispute involves the ivory-billed woodpecker. The last confirmed sighting of the bird in North America was in 1944, and scientists had thought the species was extinct until 2004, when a kayaker claimed to have spotted one in the area. But scientists have been unable to confirm the sighting. Still, U.S. District Judge William R. Wilson said that for purposes of the lawsuit brought by environmental groups, he had to assume the woodpecker exists in the area. And he ruled that federal agencies may have violated the Endangered Species Act by not studying the risks fully. "When an endangered species is allegedly jeopardized, the balance of hardships and public interest tips in favor of the protected species. Here there is evidence" that the ivory-billed woodpecker may be jeopardized, he said. The National Wildlife Federation and the Arkansas Wildlife Federation had sued the Army Corps of Engineers, arguing that the project to build a pumping station that would draw water from the White River would kill trees that house the birds and that noise from the station would cause the woodpeckers stress. The judge said the Corps and the Interior Department must conduct further studies before proceeding....
Navajo Nation: EPA to set tough standards for power plant The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed some of the most stringent emission requirements in the country for a planned power plant on the Navajo Nation, setting a new level of performance for coal-fired plants in the United States. Houston-based Sithe Global Power and the tribe's Diné Power Authority plan to build a 1,500 megawatt power plant that could power up to 1.5 million homes in cities across the Southwest. The Desert Rock Energy Project would bring in about $50 million a year in taxes and royalty payments for the tribe, making it the largest economic development project to be undertaken by the Navajos. The EPA released a draft clean-air permit for Desert Rock this week, saying its requirements would limit emissions from the plant to levels that protect public health and the environment....
Golf course, Paiutes will have to wait for prairie dog removal The Cedar Ridge Golf Course and Paiute Tribe of Utah's prairie dog problems will continue for at least another year. The golf course and tribe applied for permits allowing them to remove the prairie dogs from their property by relocating some and killing the rest. Elise Boeke, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ecologist, said she received comments from Forest Guardians, a New Mexico-based environmental group, protesting the project. "We'll have to work through these," she said. This means no relocation will take place until next year because USFWS can't issue any permits until this issue is resolved, and the trapping season ends in August....
Scientists want global body to conserve biodiversity Scientists warned on Wednesday that the world is on the brink of a major biodiversity crisis and called for the creation of an international body to advise governments on how to protect the planet's ecosystems. "All the scientific evidence points to the fact that whatever measure of vulnerability you take, whether it is local populations, species or ecosystem, we know that the rate at which we are altering them now is faster than it has been in the past," Georgina Mace said in an interview. Mace, director of science at the Institute of Zoology in London, is one of 19 scientists from 13 countries who signed a declaration published in the journal Nature explaining why an intergovernmental body is needed. They said that although all aspects of biodiversity are in decline and many species are likely to become extinct this century, the crisis is not given the weight and importance it merits in public and private decision making. The new panel would address policy-related issues and get the best consensus on what the scientific opinion really is....
The Writing on the Wal-Mart Picture Al Gore standing in a modest auditorium deep in America's heartland before an exultant crowd of Wal-Mart employees, comparing their campaign to lighten the company's environmental footprint to the Allies' righteous struggle in World War II. This after Rev. Jim Ball, head of the Evangelical Environmental Network, likened the giant retailer's greening efforts to the work of Jesus Christ. This strange scene unfolded last week in Bentonville, Ark., and Muckraker was there to witness it. The occasion was an environmental strategy meeting of some 800 Wal-Mart execs, managers, suppliers, and partners, where the heads of the corporation's various divisions -- from seafood and textiles to transportation and packaging -- outlined their respective green agendas. Mid-afternoon brought a screening of An Inconvenient Truth; more than a few audience members could be seen dabbing teary eyes as the documentary drew to a close. Then the entire crowd erupted into a standing ovation when the lights came back on and Gore trotted up to the stage, Tipper in tow....
BP to Shut Down 12 North Slope Wells Britain's BP PLC is closing 12 oil wells on Alaska's North Slope as a precaution after whistleblowers alleged more than 50 were leaking. The wells were in the process of being shut down Tuesday, BP spokesman Darren Beaudo said. The action came after workers told the Financial Times of London about the leaks, according to the newspaper, which first reported the shutdowns on its Web site. Most of the shuttered wells were in Prudhoe Bay, Beaudo told The Associated Press. The shutdowns come a month after BP confirmed it had received a subpoena from a U.S. grand jury investigating a massive oil leak in Alaska last year....
House approves treaty to protect polar bears The House gave its approval Monday to a U.S.-Russia treaty to help protect polar bears from overhunting and other threats to their survival. The House bill puts into effect a 2000 treaty that sets quotas on polar bear hunting by native populations in the two countries and establishes a bilateral commission to analyze how best to sustain the polar bear habitat. It passed by voice vote. The Polar Bear Specialist Group of the World Conservation Union estimates the polar bear population in the Arctic at 20,000 to 25,000, and projects a 30 percent decline in that number over the next 45 years. Climatic warming that melts the bears’ sea ice habitat is regarded as the main threat, but pollution and overhunting are other major concerns....
Permalink 0 comments
Some items I missed during the week.
Property initiative on ballot An initiative that would make it harder to condemn private property in Montana qualified Thursday for the November general election ballot. But that didn't immediately derail two legal actions surrounding the ballot issue. A court hearing is set for 10:30 this morning in Helena before District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock. Attorneys will debate why the Cascade County Elections Office will not meet today's deadline for turning in ballot-issue signatures supporting Constitutional Initiative 154 to the Montana secretary of state. Cascade County on Wednesday petitioned the state District Court to extend the deadline for the county elections office to certify signatures and turn them in. Also Wednesday, initiative backers sued in state court, asking a judge to compel the Cascade County Elections Office to meet today's deadline. The county got behind in certifying signatures on petitions because of the rare recount of a primary legislative race that ended in a tie.
Lawsuit seeks to kill ballot question A coalition of Southern Nevada governments and business alliances filed a lawsuit Thursday, seeking to kill a ballot question that would rein in eminent domain land-seizure powers. The suit's backers ask a Clark County District Court judge to strip from the Nov. 7 ballot the question known as the People's Initiative to Stop the Taking of Our Land, or PISTOL, which they call overly broad and potentially crippling to prudent land-planning and government coffers. "The lawsuit is an effort to present ... what we believe to be the invalidity of the initiative in several regards," said Bruce Woodbury, a Clark County commissioner who is among the plaintiffs. "Of course, our concerns go well beyond that, and they have to do with what we think would be a very destructive effect that this proposal could have on our quality of life for everybody in the state." Don Chairez, a petition backer, former district judge and current Republican candidate for attorney general, dismissed Woodbury's claims as those of power brokers trying to retain power on the backs of property owners. "He (Woodbury) is trying to stifle and muzzle the voices of the people. I don't think people will go for it. I don't think the courts will go for it," Chairez said. "I'm not worried....
Backers undeterred by Hetch Hetchy estimate Environmentalists vowed Tuesday to press ahead with their campaign to restore the Hetch Hetchy Valley to its natural state, buoyed by a state report that says draining the reservoir is technically feasible and undeterred by significant political opposition and a price tag that could hit $10 billion. They concede there are many questions yet to be answered -- not the least of which are how to knock down a 410-foot dam and how to finance the restoration of a valley submerged beneath 117 billion gallons of water since 1923. Restoration advocates argue the report released Wednesday by the State Department of Water Resources proves restoring Yosemite National Park's Hetch Hetchy Valley can be done without impacting the quality or quantity of water drawn from the Tuolumne River. "The state found no fatal flaws in the restoration concept that would preclude additional study," the report states, adding that "it does appear technically feasible to restore the Hetch Hetchy Valley." Environmentalists seized on that finding to push for further study of an idea they've championed for at least 20 years....
Woodpecker Halts Ark. Irrigation Project A federal judge halted a $320 million irrigation project Thursday for fear it could disturb the habitat of a woodpecker that may or may not be extinct. The dispute involves the ivory-billed woodpecker. The last confirmed sighting of the bird in North America was in 1944, and scientists had thought the species was extinct until 2004, when a kayaker claimed to have spotted one in the area. But scientists have been unable to confirm the sighting. Still, U.S. District Judge William R. Wilson said that for purposes of the lawsuit brought by environmental groups, he had to assume the woodpecker exists in the area. And he ruled that federal agencies may have violated the Endangered Species Act by not studying the risks fully. "When an endangered species is allegedly jeopardized, the balance of hardships and public interest tips in favor of the protected species. Here there is evidence" that the ivory-billed woodpecker may be jeopardized, he said. The National Wildlife Federation and the Arkansas Wildlife Federation had sued the Army Corps of Engineers, arguing that the project to build a pumping station that would draw water from the White River would kill trees that house the birds and that noise from the station would cause the woodpeckers stress. The judge said the Corps and the Interior Department must conduct further studies before proceeding....
Navajo Nation: EPA to set tough standards for power plant The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed some of the most stringent emission requirements in the country for a planned power plant on the Navajo Nation, setting a new level of performance for coal-fired plants in the United States. Houston-based Sithe Global Power and the tribe's Diné Power Authority plan to build a 1,500 megawatt power plant that could power up to 1.5 million homes in cities across the Southwest. The Desert Rock Energy Project would bring in about $50 million a year in taxes and royalty payments for the tribe, making it the largest economic development project to be undertaken by the Navajos. The EPA released a draft clean-air permit for Desert Rock this week, saying its requirements would limit emissions from the plant to levels that protect public health and the environment....
Golf course, Paiutes will have to wait for prairie dog removal The Cedar Ridge Golf Course and Paiute Tribe of Utah's prairie dog problems will continue for at least another year. The golf course and tribe applied for permits allowing them to remove the prairie dogs from their property by relocating some and killing the rest. Elise Boeke, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ecologist, said she received comments from Forest Guardians, a New Mexico-based environmental group, protesting the project. "We'll have to work through these," she said. This means no relocation will take place until next year because USFWS can't issue any permits until this issue is resolved, and the trapping season ends in August....
Scientists want global body to conserve biodiversity Scientists warned on Wednesday that the world is on the brink of a major biodiversity crisis and called for the creation of an international body to advise governments on how to protect the planet's ecosystems. "All the scientific evidence points to the fact that whatever measure of vulnerability you take, whether it is local populations, species or ecosystem, we know that the rate at which we are altering them now is faster than it has been in the past," Georgina Mace said in an interview. Mace, director of science at the Institute of Zoology in London, is one of 19 scientists from 13 countries who signed a declaration published in the journal Nature explaining why an intergovernmental body is needed. They said that although all aspects of biodiversity are in decline and many species are likely to become extinct this century, the crisis is not given the weight and importance it merits in public and private decision making. The new panel would address policy-related issues and get the best consensus on what the scientific opinion really is....
The Writing on the Wal-Mart Picture Al Gore standing in a modest auditorium deep in America's heartland before an exultant crowd of Wal-Mart employees, comparing their campaign to lighten the company's environmental footprint to the Allies' righteous struggle in World War II. This after Rev. Jim Ball, head of the Evangelical Environmental Network, likened the giant retailer's greening efforts to the work of Jesus Christ. This strange scene unfolded last week in Bentonville, Ark., and Muckraker was there to witness it. The occasion was an environmental strategy meeting of some 800 Wal-Mart execs, managers, suppliers, and partners, where the heads of the corporation's various divisions -- from seafood and textiles to transportation and packaging -- outlined their respective green agendas. Mid-afternoon brought a screening of An Inconvenient Truth; more than a few audience members could be seen dabbing teary eyes as the documentary drew to a close. Then the entire crowd erupted into a standing ovation when the lights came back on and Gore trotted up to the stage, Tipper in tow....
BP to Shut Down 12 North Slope Wells Britain's BP PLC is closing 12 oil wells on Alaska's North Slope as a precaution after whistleblowers alleged more than 50 were leaking. The wells were in the process of being shut down Tuesday, BP spokesman Darren Beaudo said. The action came after workers told the Financial Times of London about the leaks, according to the newspaper, which first reported the shutdowns on its Web site. Most of the shuttered wells were in Prudhoe Bay, Beaudo told The Associated Press. The shutdowns come a month after BP confirmed it had received a subpoena from a U.S. grand jury investigating a massive oil leak in Alaska last year....
House approves treaty to protect polar bears The House gave its approval Monday to a U.S.-Russia treaty to help protect polar bears from overhunting and other threats to their survival. The House bill puts into effect a 2000 treaty that sets quotas on polar bear hunting by native populations in the two countries and establishes a bilateral commission to analyze how best to sustain the polar bear habitat. It passed by voice vote. The Polar Bear Specialist Group of the World Conservation Union estimates the polar bear population in the Arctic at 20,000 to 25,000, and projects a 30 percent decline in that number over the next 45 years. Climatic warming that melts the bears’ sea ice habitat is regarded as the main threat, but pollution and overhunting are other major concerns....
Permalink 0 comments
