OPINION/COMMENTARY

EPA's Space Odyssey

The pivotal issue here is not whether farmers are adhering to the refuge requirements, or what is the best way to measure regulatory compliance. It is that the very basis of the EPA's regulatory policy towards gene-spliced plants and foods is unscientific and nonsensical. The EPA holds gene-spliced plants to a higher standard than other similar crop and garden plants, requiring the hugely expensive testing -- as though they were chemical pesticides -- of varieties of corn, cotton wheat and tomatoes that have been genetically improved for enhanced pest- or disease-resistance. The policy fails to recognize that there are important differences between spraying synthetic, toxic chemicals, and genetic approaches to enhancing plants' natural pest and disease resistance.
EPA's policy is so potentially damaging and outside scientific norms that it has galvanized the scientific community. A consortium of dozens of scientific societies representing more than 180,000 biologists and food professionals published a report warning that the policy will discourage the development of new pest-resistant crops and prolong and increase the use of synthetic chemical pesticides, increase the regulatory burden for developers of pest-resistant crops, limit the use of biotechnology to larger developers who can pay the inflated regulatory costs, and handicap US companies competing in international markets. All of these warnings have come to pass...

Center Urges House Committee to Investigate Greenpeace

Hon. William M. Thomas
Committee on Ways and Means
U.S. House of Representatives
1102 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Chairman Thomas:

On behalf of the Center for Individual Freedom, I write to ask that the Committee on Ways and Means investigate and hold hearings on abuses of tax-exempt status by non-profit organizations in general, and violations committed by the group Greenpeace in particular.
While tax violations by for-profit corporations have for some time captured legislative, regulatory, media, and public attention, similar violations by non-profits have gone largely unnoticed. Because of the magnitude of the budgets involved � and the magnitude of the corresponding impact on taxpayers � it would be prudent to bring this issue to the forefront.
To explain how non-profits routinely circumvent federal tax laws, Public Interest Watch, a non-profit watchdog, recently issued a report on the financial practices of Greenpeace. The report documents how during a three-year period Greenpeace Fund, Inc., diverted over $24 million in tax-deductible contributions to related entities for use in non-qualifying programs. In doing so, Greenpeace Fund, Inc., violated both the letter and the spirit of the law under which it was chartered, IRC Section 501(c)(3), cheating taxpayers in the process...

Revised New Source Review Will Help Clean-Air Efforts

The aim of President Bush's new source review program is to speed up the modernization of older utilities with newer, cleaner and more fuel-efficient technology. Under the 1977 Clean Air Act's new source review provisions, older utilities and industrial facilities that weren't required to install state-of-the-art pollution reduction equipment were required to install the best available pollution reduction devices if they expanded or substantially modified their power plants.
Older power plants were allowed to perform periodic maintenance, repairs and upgrades without having to file paperwork for or undergo a new source review. However, as the National Academy of Public Administration has noted, regulators were given little guidance concerning what counts as routine maintenance as opposed to a substantial modification or expansion.
As a result, a review is lengthy and the results are unpredictable, making it nearly impossible for industrial facilities to change operations quickly...

"Soft Kyoto" Strategy Raises Energy Concerns

As part of the deal moving energy legislation out of the Senate, leaders agreed to schedule debate on the "Climate Stewardship Act" (S. 139), sponsored by Presidential aspirants Senators John McCain (R-Arizona) and Joe Lieberman (D-Connecticut). Like the Kyoto Protocol, S. 139 would impose caps on carbon dioxide emissions from the U.S. power, manufacturing, and transportation sectors.
McCain says he does not expect Congress to enact his bill. However, conference committee members may feel they have to accept a renewable portfolio standard--a top priority for Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee ranking member Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico)--in order to look "green" and produce a bill Democratic leaders can support.
The possibility of an RPS provision in the energy bill raises several red flags for energy economists and policy analysts.
-- An RPS is fundamentally a set-aside program--corporate welfare that would not exist in a free market. At whatever level it is initially set, the RPS will function as a floor, not a ceiling. Once enacted, it will strengthen the renewable-energy lobby and grow like other entitlements. The potential to exploit consumers, misdirect capital investment, and undermine the productivity of electric-intensive industries is great. In March 2002, John Kerry (D-Massachusetts), Lieberman, and 27 other senators voted for a 20 percent RPS--twice the size of S. 517's mandate. Enacting a 10 percent RPS would encourage them to keep pushing, year after year, until Congress ratchets up the RPS to 20 percent or higher.
-- A nationwide RPS is an unfunded, one-size-fits-all federal mandate. Why require states to develop implementation plans for meeting federal clean air standards if Congress is going to dictate the details of those plans? States are already free to subsidize and mandate the use of renewables if they wish, and many do. A nationwide RPS tosses federalism out the window.
-- If Congress forces the power sector to use more non-fossil energy, utilities will have less reason to resist Kyoto or McCain-Lieberman, since they will already effectively comply with a carbon cap. Some may even lobby for McCain-Lieberman, figuring their renewable portfolios will make them net sellers of carbon credits under a cap-and-trade program. Instead of mollifying the Kyoto crowd, enacting an RPS will simply tee up McCain-Lieberman for the next round...

Glaciers, 'Global Warming,' and NY Times Hysteria

Speaking in grave tones, the editors of the New York Times have informed us that global warming--of the man-made, catastrophic variety--is fomenting "startling changes in landscapes once thought immutable." They cite several examples, including troublesome signs in Alaska, and now, a new study from three scientists that the Arctic's largest ice shelf is "disintegrating" (note: the editors studiously avoid discussing the retraction of a front-page Times story in 2001 linking global warming with "open sea ice" in Antarctica).
Surely proof of man-induced global warming, right?
Not exactly: "It is not yet possible, [the three scientists] say, to tie the melting directly to rising atmospheric concentrations of so-called greenhouse gases, or to the human activities--chiefly the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil--that create these gases."...

NEWS ROUNDUP

Forest Service Decides To Keep Jobs In-House Of 969 full-time positions studied for possible takeover by private contractors, all but 47 were determined to be performed better and more cheaply by the agency, Tom Mills, the Forest Service's deputy chief for business operations, said last week. The agency also demonstrated that it should retain 946 positions at the 18 Job Corps vocational training centers it helps operate, Mills said. The agency has 34,700 employees. "We overwhelmingly retained them in-house," Mills said. "Our costs were better than the comparable contract costs." The Forest Service's job studies took place over nine months and are part of the administration's government-wide push to determine if hundreds of thousands of jobs done by federal employees could be more efficiently performed by private contractors. Bush says forcing civil servants to compete for jobs considered "commercial" in nature promotes cost cutting and saves taxpayers money, even if the jobs remain within agencies...Group to sue over firefighting Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics will file suit against the U.S. Forest Service this week, demanding that the agency formally and publicly evaluate the environmental and social effects of wildland firefighting. "Too many firefighters die each year in a fruitless and self-defeating war against fire," said Andy Stahl, executive director of the Oregon-based group of 12,000 former and current Forest Service employees and agency watchdogs. The first-ever lawsuit challenging the Forest Service's firefighting mission and practices, the complaint will be filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Missoula - because, Stahl said, "Missoula is the nerve center of a huge fire industrial complex." "The Forest Service has never, not once in its history, weighed the pros and cons of firefighting," said Marc Fink, the Western Environmental Law Center attorney representing FSEE in the lawsuit...Light being shed on fens In California mountain ranges, verdant ecosystems called fens are finally getting some respect. In Yosemite Valley, an earthmover this month finished scraping away tons of river sand spread over a fen in the 1920s to create a 1-acre parking lot. And in Lassen Volcanic National Park, water flow diverted decades ago is being restored to a 90-acre fen. In June, the U.S. Forest Service launched its first survey of fens in the state's national forests. And the more scientists such as Forest Service regional botanist Anne Bradley learn about these peat-forming wetlands, the more amazed they are at their prevalence. "It's new terrain for scientists and not much is known about the distribution and character of fens in California," said Bradley. "We're getting an education ourselves." Bradley anticipates that researchers will ultimately discover hundreds of new fens in California. She said the newly identified fens mapped so far range in size from "a few hundred feet to a large part of a wet meadow." Fen, a name derived from the Old English word "fenn," meaning a flat, marshy area, connotes images of the English countryside, where fens cover vast areas. But they're also not uncommon in the United States east of the Rockies. Fenway Park in Boston is named for a large wetland -- now mostly drained -- that was once called the Back Bay Fen...Column: We need a sensible approach to fighting wildfires Up here, the really large wildfires tend of late to run in six-year cycles, as they have perhaps across the millennia, whereas the political cycles rage every two years. Cycle by cycle, we make slow gains in educating the public about fire -- in separating fear-mongering myth from scientific reality -- though in election cycles, the truth often backslides. This year, the Bush administration's so-called "Healthy Forest Initiative" (H.R.1904, known in the Senate as the "Senate Logging Bill"), was a document born of the times. It is most dangerous and untruthful on two major points: First, it focuses on increasing logging of the national forests in the remote backcountry, far from the human communities supposedly at risk. The Forest Service's own studies show that fire prevention is most effective within 200 feet of a dwelling. Second, the bill proposes to take away the public's democratic right to participate effectively in the decision-making process of how our national forests are managed, and it also intrudes on the federal court system by directing the judiciary to rule in favor of the timber industry... Money for Kenai trail sent south The dream of the Alaska Mountain and Wilderness Huts Association for 30 miles of new backcountry trail connecting four shelters on the Kenai Peninsula appears to have gone up in the smoke of Western forest fires this summer. Alaska officials with the U.S. Forest Service say the entire $500,000 that U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, an Alaska Republican, earmarked for construction of new trail and the huts in the Paradise Valley area of the Chugach National Forest near Seward went south to help pay for firefighting. Volunteers who have spent five futile years trying to create a hut-to-hut hiking opportunity in the 49th state are frustrated...Ouray volunteers patrol a former land of the fee The southwestern Colorado county had an option that made dumping fee demo easier: volunteers. Opponents of the fee-demo program banded together and formed the Yankee Boy Regional Conservation Association, and offered to patrol and protect Yankee Boy and the Canyon Creek area adjacent to it. Ouray became the first county to substitute citizen volunteers for a fee-demo staff of federal workers. By many accounts, the program has worked well, doing for less than $5,000 what the U.S. Forest Service planned to budget more than $30,000 for this summer...Damage prompts trail closure in Bitterroot Forest Increasing damage along a trail in the Bitterroot National Forest near Hamilton has prompted officials to close it to all motorized use, the agency said. Sleeping Child Trail No. 105 is in an area about four miles east of Little Sleeping Child Road. Bitterroot Forest Supervisor Dave Bull signed an emergency closure order because of "rapidly expanding resource damage." Increased motorized use the past two years has widened and eroded the trail, and damaged streamside areas, officials said. "The trail had been open to motorcycles only, but the damage is being caused by ATVs and motorcycles," a news release said...Tourists try Icelandic whale steaks "We had the smoked puffin and whale sashimi. Good choice," says a North American tourist. "How many people do you know who can say they've eaten puffin and whale?" When Iceland resumed whaling after a 14-year break in August, environmentalists warned tourists to shun the country. But some tourists really don't mind that the North Atlantic nation offering popular whale-watching tours also serves the massive sea mammal on a plate... Tiny robots in the trees Tiny mobile robots zipping through the wilderness on cables could monitor endangered species discreetly and analyze environmental chemistry linked to global climate. Although people tend to mention the "Big Brother" aspect of the robots' surveillance work, Hamilton said, "I don't think any of the animals I study (would) care. The whole point of this is to not disturb animals. It's a lot more intrusive to catch an animal and tie a band to it than to monitor it without its knowledge - which these robots allow us to do."...Primate expert calls Bush's environmental record "terrifying" Primatologist Jane Goodall criticized President Bush's environmental policies Sunday, charging the White House with leading an "onslaught" against the Endangered Species Act that could lead to more African animals being killed or captured for profit... The Copycat of Last Resort Everybody knows that cats don't really have nine lives. But in Dr. Betsy Dresser's New Orleans laboratory that may soon change. Dresser and her staff have managed to clone an endangered African wildcat named "Jazz" using techniques never before demonstrated on a wild carnivore. The feat, scheduled to be announced this week, has implications beyond the obscure animal, which is endangered in parts of Africa. Dresser, Director of the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species and a biologist at the University of New Orleans, believes she and her colleagues have come up with a method of last resort to rescue mammals on the brink of extinction. "If a species goes extinct," she says, "this might be a way to bring it back."...Expert says Alaska mauling was result of irresponsibility The leading expert on grizzly bear recovery in the northern Rockies says a bear mauling in Alaska a week ago was prompted by irresponsible behavior, and could cause big setbacks for grizzlies everywhere. Experts say Treadwell was long ago warned he should stop playing with wild bears, because it was dangerous for both him and the bears. He didn't stop, and other filmmakers began to mimic him, documenting their own up-close encounters with grizzlies in Alaska and in Glacier and Yellowstone national parks. Bear biologists said Treadwell didn't need to die, not if he would have followed standard rules for staying out of the way of wild bears... Protecting Rattlesnakes The Nature Conservancy of Washington and the Bureau of Land Management want to protect the unique places in the Mid-Columbia where hundreds of snakes congregate to survive the winter. And the scientists believe the key to protecting these sites is by identifying their locations and why the snakes choose them. "These hibernation sites are really important," said Lisa Hallock, a snake scientist for the state Department of Natural Resources. "If we lose the sites, then we lose the snakes."... Rockies' natural gas fuels land-use clash The Rocky Mountains' rising stature as an energy star is fueling increased tension between producers and environmentalists over natural-gas drilling. Land-use conflicts are nothing new in the West, but analysts see a troubling correlation between surging demand for the Rockies' natural gas and acrimony over access to gas-rich public lands...Drilling applications soaring for W. Slope A remarkable number of natural gas wells are being proposed on Western Slope land, say government officials.
Three energy companies - Williams Production, EnCana Oil and Gas and KLT - have applied for 261 drilling permits at 34 locations over the next two years on Bureau of Land Management property in Garfield County. The companies have already asked for permission to drill 71 other wells from BLM land onto private land at Hunter Mesa and Grass Mesa, BLM associate field manager Steve Bennett said...Editorial: The Snowmobile Quagmire In mid-December the snowmobiling season is scheduled to open in Yellowstone National Park - another winter of health risks for park workers and visitors, pollution haze over the west entrance and Old Faithful, the din of a fleet of noisy machines in an otherwise silent park and daily harassment of winter-stressed animals. By siding with the snowmobile industry and overturning a Clinton-era plan to phase out snowmobiles, the Bush administration would continue a practice that violates the conclusions of its own Environmental Protection Agency, the better judgment of many National Park Service employees, the public will and common sense. In its own small way, the snowmobile issue demonstrates once again that when it comes to public lands the administration is always willing to sacrifice public good for private interest...Supporters fly in food and supplies for Pilgrims: Pilots reach family locked in dispute with National Park Service Friends and political supporters are flying winter supplies this weekend to the remote Wrangell Mountain cabin of the Pilgrim family, who have been blocked by the National Park Service from hauling supplies over an old mining-era road that the family had reopened with a bulldozer. Food and clothing for the 17-member family are at the top of the list for volunteer pilots flying to the high valley home, 14 overland miles from the settlement of McCarthy. The property lies in the heart of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. "The response has been overwhelming here in the valley," said Lee Adler of Glennallen, who flew the first two loads Wednesday, landing his two-seat Citabria on the family's prospecting-era gravel airstrip. "There's a lot of stuff waiting on both sides of the river and even more in Glennallen." ...Also see Winter supplies head to Alaska family feuding with Park... Animas-La Plata meeting anything but calm In interviews, several participants in the meeting said some bureau officials had seemed to blame the Ute Mountain Ute tribe, which had prepared the earlier cost estimates through a contractor. Tribal officials felt wrongly accused. Non-Indian partners worried that the increased costs would be passed to them and to local water users under terms of their written agreements with the bureau. It seemed that the decades-old, carefully nurtured, ever-so-delicate alliance of American Indians, farmers and local officials advocating A-LP was in danger of coming apart... Attendees: Litigation anything but calm Many of the people who attended a closed-door meeting in August to discuss the Animas-La Plata Project went to find out why construction costs had increased so dramatically. Few thought they were there to discuss potential litigation the cited reason for closing the meeting to the public. In interviews with The Durango Herald, many of the 44 people who attended the meeting Aug. 14 at Sky Ute Casino said they didn't go to discuss specific or pending litigation. Under state law, state boards like the Animas-La Plata Water Conservancy District board must meet in public, although they may close their meetings to receive legal advice from a lawyer on pending or imminent court actions... US energy bill thin on conservation, critics say The bill, the first overhaul of U.S. energy policy in a decade, aims to offer billions of dollars in incentives for oil companies, electric utilities, coal plants and nuclear plant owners to boost production or generate more megawatts. But while the Republican-written bill is generous in giving industry help to produce more energy, it gives U.S. consumers few reasons to conserve, critics say. To the Republican writers of the bill, the solution to the growing U.S. energy shortage is to make it easier for oil and gas companies to drill more. They would accomplish this by opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, easing permitting requirements on Western federal lands, and ordering an inventory of energy reserves in protected offshore areas along the East Coast...Column: We shouldn't let drying aquifers destroy Utah agriculture Utah's state engineer, who oversees the state Division of Water Rights, has indicated that several basin aquifers in Utah are greatly over-appropriated, some exceeding their safe yield by 240 percent. Overdrawn aquifers can deteriorate water quality by increasing salt concentrations, and can also result in subsidence or compaction of the air spaces the water used to occupy. So even if the aquifer is recharged in the future, it will have lost a good deal of its capacity to hold water. The state engineer has suggested alternatives to reduce the excessive draw on our aquifers. However, the solutions clearly must involve cutting back the water pumped from the aquifers, which will have a tremendous negative economic impact on the agricultural industry. State law is clear. Those who had the water first should have the right to it before those who came later -- the prior appropriation doctrine. However, many farmers question why agriculture should bear the multi-million-dollar brunt of this mistake... Producers pushing for slaughter of sheep Australian livestock producers have increased their efforts to keep the sheep stranded on board the Cormo Express from returning to Australia. The National Farmers Federation, the Cattle Council, the Sheepmeat Council and WoolProducers have united in a bid to convince the Federal Government to slaughter the 50,000 sheep at sea if no country comes forward to take them. But the Government is standing firm that slaughter at sea is the least preferred option...Editorial: Mad cow threat merits strong measures The Bush administration is considering new measures to ensure the safety of American beef, including ending the recycling of cow parts for animal feed and testing cattle that fall ill and die on the farm. These are major changes with potentially large costs for stockgrowers and perhaps consumers. But such steps may also be what ensure ongoing prosperity for the entire beef industry. The case favoring these measures can be summed up in three words: "mad cow disease." It's a weird, ultimately fatal brain disorder in cattle feared because of its potential to infect humans who eat meat products from afflicted animals. The human form of the disease is known as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. A related disorder, chronic wasting disease, has infected deer and elk on game farms and also in some wild populations, but its potential to infect humans has never been established...Bill Shoemaker, Hall of Fame Jockey, Dies at 72 Bill Shoemaker, the 4-foot-11, 98-pound dynamo who was among horse racing's most renowned figures and who rode the winners of 11 Triple Crown races, died yesterday at his home in San Marino, Calif. He was 72. Shoemaker died in his sleep, Paddy Gallagher, his assistant in his years as a trainer, told The Associated Press. From his premature birth on a small cotton farm in Texas in 1931 to his tour of 14 racetracks in 8 countries in 1989 before his retirement as a jockey, Bill Shoemaker led a life laced with glory. But he was paralyzed in an auto accident on April 8, 1991, when he was 59, and spent the rest of his life training horses from his electric wheelchair, a feisty and sad figure perhaps, but still a racing legend from his home base at Santa Anita to Belmont Park...Something fishy about ancients' shift to meat About 6 000 years ago, people living in what is now Britain, stopped eating fish and shifted to cattle, sheep, pigs and goats in an abrupt and mysterious transformation that may offer new insights into the complex reasons why ancient peoples periodically changed their way of life...Search begins for mouse-breeding site Where in the heck do you build a mousery? The question had some folks shaking their heads Friday after Gov. Bill Owens suggested publicly that the state should begin breeding mice - the Preble's meadow jumping mouse, to be exact...French Cowboy Impresses Peers With Riding Five years ago Yvan Jayne stepped off a plane from France as a skinny exchange student who dreamed of becoming a cowboy - something he quickly shared with his host family. Since then a transformation has taken place and Jayne has become a professional rider with a slew of awards, including a new buckle he won over the weekend, to go along with his boots and hats. "We're just riders in France," Jayne, 21, said as he prepared for the final day of competition Saturday at the Sam Houston State University Regional Rodeo where he won the All-Around competition after impressing crowds with his bareback and saddle bronc riding...

NEWS ROUNDUP

Bush Appointee Lied to Congress A Bush administration appointee misled Congress in 2002 on the negative impact of new power plant emissions rules on ongoing federal lawsuits against coal-burning utilities. The Environmental Protection Agency in August eased rules for utilities to make it easier for them to revamp facilities without triggering expensive pollution-reduction requirements. Consumer advocacy group Public Citizen says in a report released today that EPA Deputy Administrator Jeff Holmstead gave "false and misleading testimony" in July 2002 to a joint Senate committee by claiming the rules would not harm ongoing federal lawsuits. Holmstead calls Public Citizen's assertions "absolutely outrageous and completely untrue," and said the rule changes had not harmed the cases. Buit Holmstead, in defending the EPA's positions, told other lies about the issue, including a misrepresentation of positions of a former EPA official... Sen. Clinton still intends to place hold on EPA nominee Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday she still intends to block Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt's nomination to head the Environmental Protection Agency, after her office received new details of how the White House and EPA fought over air quality concerns after Sept.11. Democrats on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee had requested more information about an August EPA inspector general's report which found the agency was pressured by White House officials to prematurely assure New Yorkers the air pollution from the World Trade Center rubble posed no health threat. Documents sent to committee members show there were screaming arguments between some White House and EPA staff, as members of the White House Council on Environmental Quality insisted on changes to EPA's public statements about the air around ground zero...Column: Leavitt Hold-Up The source of Leavitt's confirmation difficulty is not policy, but politics. Senate Democrats have decided that slowing Leavitt's confirmation is in their political interest. The margin by which voters trust Democrats more than Republicans is greater on environmental protection than on any other issue. Thus, Democratic strategists surmise, anything that keeps environmental issues in the public eye works to the Democrats' advantage. Some even hope to drag the confirmation to the end of the year, forcing President Bush to consider a recess appointment, thereby giving Democratic presidential candidates an issue throughout the spring. It's no wonder that every Democratic senator still running for president has placed a hold on Leavitt's nomination. At Leavitt's confirmation hearing, Democratic senators devoted most of their attention to current Bush administration policies, largely ignoring Leavitt's record in Utah...Cattle don't keep time, but Leonard Johnson does It's 5 a.m., an hour before dawn coaxes the chill from the high-country air, and 66-year-old Johnson is cooking bacon and eggs and brewing coffee in his cowboy cabin. Nearby, one of his employers, Ed Booth, begins to stir, and soon the two men are seated at a small table, eating and talking about what lies ahead. It's Sept. 29, and today Johnson, Booth and a dozen others will drive 1,300 head of cattle from their summer grazing grounds north of Creede down the mountain to the various ranches from which they hail. Booth is one of four ranchers who pay the Forest Service to let their cattle graze on 1,000 acres of the Rio Grande National Forest in the summer. He and other members of the Park Cattlemen Association have been taking their cattle to the national forest for 50 years. Come the end of summer, it's time to move those little dogies back home... Editorial: Let's leave the howling to the wolves If NWF's having trouble getting things right, it's in good company. When it comes to figuring out what comes next with wolf recovery, almost no one is getting it quite right. The path toward restoration of a species that had been nearly exterminated from the lower 48 states leads through uncharted territory, and the route best taken is debatable. What's more, restoring threatened and endangered species in recent decades has, in general, been a quixotic undertaking in this country. We have a lot more experience - and, for some, perhaps comfort - addressing failures than successes. Which is what we've got on our hands with wolves - a rousing success. Healthy, thriving populations of wolves have been restored to Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. It's happened far faster and with fewer problems than many people dared hope in 1995, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began transplanting wolves from Canada to Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho, leapfrogging migratory wolves that had already begun slowly recolonizing western Montana on their own...Greens intend lawsuit over mountain plover A coalition of conservation organizations notified the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Friday that they intend to sue over last month's withdrawal of Endangered Species Act protection for the mountain plover. The 60-day notice of intent to sue is required under the act and gives the Interior Department that much time to respond or settle out of court...Summer's Salmon Die-Off Worst In Recorded History Nine of every 10 threatened Butte Creek spring-run Chinook salmon may have died before they could spawn this summer, a federal agency said in asking that Pacific Gas & Electric Co. be ordered to do more to avert annual fish kills. A greater percentage of salmon died in Butte Creek, near Chico, than in the massive Klamath River kill in Northwest California a year ago that killed 33,000 fall-run fish. This summer's die-off in the state's largest spring run is the worst since the state began keeping track. Still, more fish survived than existed before PG&E began diverting water for hydroelectricity in the Sacramento River tributary, said California Department of Fish and Game fishery biologist Paul Ward on Friday... Provisions Benefiting Energy Industry Are Folded into Bill Now Republicans drafting broad energy legislation have decided not to wait for EPA to issue its final report. Instead, the House-Senate compromise on the energy bill exempts the technique, known as "hydraulic fracturing," from some of the controls of the 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act. The little-noticed decision shows the extent to which the far-reaching energy legislation has become a catchall for environmental provisions long advocated by industry lobbyists. Some controversial initiatives, such as one allowing oil and gas exploration in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, could yet be removed from the bill to improve chances of passage in the politically divided Senate. But other less prominent environmental provisions, especially ones dealing with water issues, seem likely to survive, according to congressional aides in both parties. For example, language agreed to by House-Senate negotiators would, for the first time, end a requirement that construction activities related to oil and gas exploration operate with a permit under the Clean Water Act... Proposal keeps recreation on fringe of Headwaters reserve Visitors would be kept mostly to the edges of the 7,400-acre Headwaters Forest Reserve along California's northern coast, under a U.S. Bureau of Land Management plan sent to Congress this week. Millions of dollars would be spent over eight years to restore watersheds and the ancient redwood forest that was purchased in 1999 by the state and federal governments for $380 million to save it from logging by Pacific Lumber Co...BLM offers $1,000 reward to catch vandals at Lovelock Cave Federal officials frustrated by ongoing vandalism at a historic cave site in northern Nevada announced a $1,000 reward Saturday to help catch the crooks. The reward will go to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and prosecution of those responsible for the vandalism at the Lovelock Cave recreation site southwest of Lovelock, Bureau of Land Management officials said... Fishing is history at Skull Point reservoir A Lincoln County coal mine is seeking federal permission to use the small Skull Point Reservoir near Kemmerer as a sediment control pond, according to the Bureau of Land Management. Wyoming Game and Fish Department officials said the proposal marks the demise of a once-popular recreation area that offered good fishing experiences to local anglers for many years...Chirikof's wild cattle herd face expulsion from island home They are touted as some of the hardiest cattle in the world, robust members of a wild herd that's roamed this remote Alaska island for more than 100 years. The herd on Chirikof Island is a mix of Angus, Siberian and other breeds that survived long stretches without a human caretaker. Initially introduced in the late 1800s, the cattle supplied meat for early pioneers, including whaling crews and an Arctic blue fox industry established by Russian fur traders... BLM to restrict usage along West Walker River Bureau of Land Management plans to restrict motorized vehicles and prohibit camping along a one-mile stretch of the West Walker River east of Smith Valley have been finalized, officials said Friday. The emergency closure, prompted by environmental damage to the popular Wilson Canyon Recreation Area, is scheduled to take effect when the notice is published in the Federal Register...Udall urges Norton to keep wilderness policy Rep. Mark Udall, D-Boulder, has urged Interior Secretary Gale Norton to keep the current policies that allow for interim wilderness protection for Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands in Colorado. Since 1997, the BLM's various state directors have developed the interim wilderness protection policy in Colorado. The policy was implemented with public input and received more than 3,000 comments from citizens across the state concerning it and lands examined under it for wilderness potential. Last month, as a result of a settlement in a case in Utah, the BLM rescinded similar policies related to lands proposed by citizen groups for wilderness designation in that state, and Norton applied the Utah settlement to BLM lands nationwide...Mustang trainer's love not mere horseplay Enter Phil West, 44, a Mono County sheriff's deputy who has honed his own brand of mustang training over the years. West tries to attend as many BLM adoptions as possible, he said, giving educational demonstrations on the gentling and trust process that needs to happen between a mustang and its trainer. West lives in Bishop, where his wife, daughter and son all ride mustangs he has gentled and trained. West uses one of the horses for the mounted patrol... Column: Squeezing multiple use Multiple use was once the guiding principle behind public lands management. The idea was that many uses could be balanced across many acres. America was a place for all walks of life - cowboys and fishermen, loggers and miners, family vacationers and wildlife... These high-profile use conflicts highlight the sort of controversy public lands are known for. Traveling through the Thompson Creek country you can see a few places where livelihoods are made. Yet I saw no huge clearcuts, no overgrazed range, and no gas wells discharging into surface water. The scale was modest, and you get the feeling that people can live there without the benefit of a trust fund or comfortable retirement account. You will also find a lot of remote and wild country, which is one reason why some environmentalists would like to see the creation of a new wilderness area there...Bush eases land rules for miners, angering environmentalists The Bush administration has announced that it will start allowing companies that mine gold, silver, and other precious metals as much public land as they need to help them develop their claims. The decision, a reinterpretation of the 1872 Mining Law, came in response to pressure from the mining industry and members of Congress in big mining states. They said that because of the requirements of modern mining, it takes more space to work a standard 20-acre claim than the five acres allowed for "mill sites" in the 130-year-old law. Concerned that government regulators were failing to restrict the size of mining sites, John Leshy, the Interior Department's solicitor in the Clinton administration, issued an opinion in 1997 stressing that only one five-acre "mill site" should be allowed for every 20-acre mineral claim. The Bush administration's action on Friday overturns that decision. A legal opinion, released in Nevada on Friday evening, said that the 1872 law does not limit how many five-acre mill sites could be granted along with a mining claim...Rangers ask help with pot gardens: Money still needed to stop drug problem, they tell lawmakers Police and park and forest rangers pleaded their case for more drug enforcement money and resources to a trio of congressmen Friday morning. The hearing at Sequoia National Park's Wuksachi Lodge offered some surprises for the lawmakers and shed light on bureaucratic obstacles facing local, state and federal narcotics officers as they combat a burgeoning problem of marijuana and methamphetamine being produced in national forests and parks and on other public lands...Klamath plan meets opposition: Conservation groups say a proposed land transfer threatens old growth and wilderness Fearing a potential decline in wilderness preservation and stepped-up logging operations, 17 Northwest conservation groups this week opposed the transfer of national forest lands the size of Rhode Island to the Klamath Tribes. Instead, the groups argued for the federal government to purchase 400,000 acres of private lands to compensate the tribes and bring an end to the region's water battles. But conservationists, led by the Oregon Natural Resources Council, found no support Friday among Klamath farmers and tribal leaders, who said any such plan would only bring more anger and division to the region. The proposal comes as farmers and tribes, with the Bush administration's support, try to forge an agreement to assure farmers in the Klamath Project a predictable, if reduced, water supply and to restore fish and wildlife promised to the tribes under their 1864 treaty with the government... Deal protects riverside land: 8,000 acres along Skykomish barred from development People worried about suburban sprawl along the scenic Skykomish River can rest a little easier after a local conservation group announced yesterday that a large piece of land along the river -- almost 8,000 acres -- will be permanently protected from development. Under the deal, the land's owner, Hancock Timber Resource Group, sold the land to private individuals. They then sold a conservation easement -- a bundle of property rights that forbids development -- to the state Department of Natural Resources for $2.4 million. The Cascade Land Conservancy, a local, non-profit land trust, brokered the deal. The Forest Legacy Program paid for it. The program, part of the U.S. Forest Service, helps states protect forests... Book Review: Visit Yellowstone with first tourists In "A Ride to the Infernal Regions: Yellowstone's First Tourists," Eugene Lee Silliman lets you read a firsthand account of what National Park Service historian Lee Whittlesey describes as "the first documented commercial tourist party" to visit the area. Silliman has edited the 1871 and 1872 articles written by Calvin C. Clawson, a Deer Lodge newspaper editor who made that first tourist trek. Clawson wrote about the three-week journey in 17 installments printed in the New North-West, a territorial newspaper. The stories of Clawson's trip with four other men and guide Gilman Sawtell are brought together in the new book... Cave in Missouri veritable 'Ice Age time capsule' The dynamite that blasted into limestone for a new road in Greene County uncovered proof that 1,400-pound short-faced bears roamed the Ozarks during the Ice Age, and they struggled with arthritis and gout. Mr. Forir and other researchers are also investigating the possibility that herds of peccary — piglike animals — sought shelter in caves thousands of years ago, as opposed to being dragged in by predators for food. "Everywhere you look in here, you find something significant," said Mr. Forir, president of Missouri Speleological Survey... Mauled filmmaker was warned about his behavior For a dozen years, park rangers and bear biologists warned Timothy Treadwell that his up-close encounters with Alaskan brown bears were inexcusably dangerous. For all of those years, Treadwell ignored the warnings, insisting that he had a special gift - that bears accepted, even welcomed, his presence in Katmai National Park. Summer after summer, he returned to remote Kaflia Bay, making camp in dense brush on a trail thick with grizzlies, pressing in close as the bears grazed in deep meadows or fished the coastal salmon runs, breaking every rule the rangers imposed. "I love you," he chanted, as he set up a video camera inches from a bear. "I love you, I love you, I love you."...Crapo's closed water talks continue In an attempt to convince the conservation groups to stay out of the courts, Crapo has brought people from every related interest he could think of to a series of talks that, most recently, took up most of Thursday and Friday morning. And the farmers, irrigators, ranchers, city leaders, environmentalists, conservationists and politicians at least agreed on one thing: To keep talking. And here's what they're talking about: 3.5 million acres of farmland, bringing in about $2.9 billion a year. And they're talking about the fish that led Lewis and Clark from what would become Idaho, along the Snake and Columbia rivers, to the Pacific Ocean. But they're talking behind closed doors - like the other major water debate going on between water users and the Nez Perce Tribe. The tribe claimed the rights, by seniority, to virtually the entire Snake River, and if the three-year mediation effort leads to an agreement, it could radically effect anything Crapo's group decides as well... Cowboy church attracts worshippers A life-size cardboard cutout of a smiling Roy Rogers and his horse Trigger stands in the background of the stage. The curtains are made of red handkerchiefs hung over horseshoe-shaped fixtures. It's not a normal setting for a worship service, but the Cowboy Church in a theater room on the Prairie Rose Chuckwagon Supper rounds in Benton drew 27 people last Sunday. It's part of a growing trend to cater to "country folk" who might not be comfortable with the trappings of organized religion. "We don't need all the "thees and thous,'" said church founder Dan Boyd, whose white beard and suspenders have some confusing him with country singer Charlie Daniels. "People don't say those King James prayers when they're hurting." The nondenominational church is similar to hundreds popping up nationwide that create a setting for worship that reflects a cowboy way of life...On The Edge Of Common Sense: My cow is sick - can you write a poem? I have a friend who is a well-known actor. We see him in the movies and on television often. However, he started out shoein' horses. I've always appreciated that in him. He has a useful skill. Sure, he can act, but can he do anything? You bet, when the chips are down, he can shoe your horse. I went to veterinary school so when I graduated and went lookin' for a job and the prospective employer asked me, "What can you do?" I could say, "I kin fix yer cow!"...Government considers testing cattle for mad cow infection While no case of mad cow infection has ever been found in the United States, the Agriculture Department and Food and Drug Administration are looking at new ways to combat the disease. One proposal being discussed is to test all cows that get sick and die on the farm, even if mad cow is not suspected. Discovery of a sick cow in Canada has led the United States to re-examine ways to protect U.S. herds. Veterinarians and food safety regulators test for mad cow because it is linked to a similar incurable illness that affects humans, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The Agriculture Department wants to test for mad cow disease in cattle that get sick or die on the farm. The idea is to head off any problem early, prevent the brain-wasting illness from infecting animals and, ultimately, to protect consumers. The agency also is proposing that farmers end the practice of sending the carcasses to rendering plants to process them for pet food and animal feed, in an effort to lower the risk for the disease... No foot-and-mouth found at border Preliminary tests indicate cattle quarantined because they had blisters in their mouths are not sick with foot-and-mouth disease, the Agriculture Department says. Peter Fernandez, associate administrator for the department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, made the announcement Friday, a day after U.S. officials quarantined the herd of 40 cows because of the blisters. Fernandez said scientists at the department's laboratory in Plum Island, N.Y., were still checking for other diseases, but the cattle "are not sick with any foreign animal disease that would stop trade." ...Mexico closes border as USDA tests cattle Mexico has shut down its borders to livestock trade with the United States after U.S. officials quarantined a herd of cattle that may have symptoms of disease, Agriculture Department officials said Friday. The 40 U.S. cattle that were stopped Thursday before crossing the border into Mexico at Nogales, Ariz., do not have a fever, which is a key symptom of disease, said Peter Fernandez, associate administrator for the department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Mexico's decision to shut down trade Friday morning may have been premature, he said...

OPINION/COMMENTARY

Misinformed missteps on warming

There are few things more dangerous than a misinformed politician seeking to enact a politically correct regulation or legislation.
And there is nothing quite like presumed global warming to provoke politicians and journalists (and even some scientists) into expressing incoherent hysteria and alarm. A perfect example of both is the recent action by the mayors of Newton and Worcester, Mass., to curb global warming.
Whoever is advising these mayors on climate change policy has grossly misinformed them. For example, in an effort to show how important reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions is, the mayors claim a scientific consensus exists that a 75 percent to 85 percent reduction in greenhouse gases is necessary. Such a reduction in CO2 , however, would end life as we know it, since most (if not all) plants would not survive at such low levels...

NEWS ROUNDUP

$15,000 tab likely for USFS helicopter to empty Nev outhouse The Forest Service hired a helicopter Friday to haul sewage from a remote outhouse in northeast Nevada at the end of a national forest road, saying an offer by a group of anti-federal activists to do the job for free posed a health hazard. The aerial hauling of an estimated 1,000 gallons of sewage from the outhouse near Jarbidge along the Idaho-Nevada line, combined with a contract with a septic pumping service, is expected to end up costing as much as $15,000, Forest Service officials said. A local citizens group that disputes the government's right to close the washed-out South Canyon Road to the outhouse had planned a volunteer work project on Oct. 18. The so-called "Shovel Brigade" said it could do the job, at no cost to taxpayers, using either four-wheel drive trucks or possibly a horse-drawn wagon... Judge rules against Forest Service on six timber sales A federal judge Thursday extended the halt on logging six old growth timber sales in Oregon, ruling that the U.S. Forest Service violated environmental laws in evaluating the projects. U.S. District Judge Garr M. King found that the Forest Service failed to survey for rare plants and animals that depend on old growth forests to survive, as required by the Northwest Forest Plan. The judge also found that the Forest Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to include the public in its decisions... Landmark Fire Report Offers Solutions to Wildland Fire Management Dilemma; Phone Media Briefing Set for Oct. 14 The recent fire legislation deal made in the Senate fails to sufficiently prioritize community protection as the first tenet of wildland fire policy. With language fraught with room for abusive interpretation, the bill does not go far enough to safeguard the lives of those most in need. Like the House bill, it is not environmentally sound public policy focused on protecting the homes and communities of Americans. In its new report, "The Wildland Fire Challenge," The Wilderness Society offers a plan to prioritize these communities at risk, examine the data inconsistencies of Forest Service science, and offers a plan to restore healthy forest damaged by fire suppression efforts over the past half-century...Regional forester rejects appeals of Arizona forest thinning plan An 8,000-acre forest thinning project in Kaibab National Forest should be allowed to continue, a regional Forest Service official said in rejecting an environmental appeal. The thinning project, which is expected to cover 267,000 trees including 7,000 trees larger than 18 inches in diameter, followed all environmental laws and guidelines, said Abel Camarena, the southwestern deputy regional forester in Albuquerque, N.M...Forest Service cancels plan to poison creek The U.S. Forest Service has suspended a California plan to poison a stretch of wilderness creek, triggering a national review of the competing environmental responsibilities between the state and federal governments. Hundreds of joint federal-state partnerships trigger environmental reviews under state or federal law. In many instances, however, they have proceeded after just a state environmental review, a practice challenged by a federal lawsuit and the Forest Service's decision. The state Department of Fish and Game had been set to kill nonnative fish in 11 miles of Silver King Creek, an Eastern Sierra tributary of the Carson River south of Lake Tahoe. The poisoning was part of a high-priority plan to reintroduce native Paiute cutthroat trout, which are listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act... Forest Service investigates destruction of trees JAMESTOWN, Colo. The Forest Service is investigating the destruction of more than 100 trees near this mountain town. Many trees, some of which were 2 feet diameter and hundreds of years old, were pushed or pulled over, while others were snapped violently. Forest Service officials believe heavy machinery was used to carry out the mayhem around Labor Day...U.S. May Expand Access To Endangered Species The Bush administration is proposing far-reaching changes to conservation policies that would allow hunters, circuses and the pet industry to kill, capture and import animals on the brink of extinction in other countries. Giving Americans access to endangered animals, officials said, would feed the gigantic U.S. demand for live animals, skins, parts and trophies, and generate profits that would allow poor nations to pay for conservation of the remaining animals and their habitat. This and other proposals that pursue conservation through trade would, for example, open the door for American trophy hunters to kill the endangered straight-horned markhor in Pakistan; license the pet industry to import the blue fronted Amazon parrot from Argentina; permit the capture of endangered Asian elephants for U.S. circuses and zoos; and partially resume the trade in African ivory. No U.S. endangered species would be affected... Toxic Air Pollution from Copper Smelters Challenged The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is failing to protect communities and the environment from toxic air pollution emitted by copper smelters, environmental groups argued today. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia heard oral arguments in a case (Docket # 02-1253) challenging EPA's inadequate regulations for controlling toxic air emissions from primary copper smelters. Earthjustice is representing the Sierra Club in the case... FWP delays vote on range easement HELENA - The state Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission on Thursday delayed action on purchasing a nearly $1 million conservation easement after one member chastised fellow commissioners for not looking over the land first. The proposal would give the Gordon Cattle Co. $945,000 to establish a perpetual conservation easement on two areas of its vast ranch north of Zurich along Montana's Hi-Line. In the works for about five years, the plan would result in maintaining native prairie grassland and about 400 acres of wetlands, while still allowing the ranch operations to continue. The easement would limit residential development to one site; prohibit draining or filling of wetlands; protect the prairie from weed spraying, plowing and burning; forbid fee hunting; and ensure public hunting will continue... Interior Department Corrects Erroneous Mill Site Interpretation Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Rebecca Watson announced today that the Department of the Interior is issuing a final rule to improve regulations on locating, recording and maintaining mining claims or sites. The final rule includes a provision, based upon a new Solicitor's opinion, that will restore the department's traditional interpretation of the mining law's mill site provisions. "The Solicitor's opinion and the final rule remove unnecessary and burdensome requirements for mine operations while fully protecting the environment," Watson said. "This action will also encourage a reliable supply of the critical strategic minerals that we need to support our way of life, the economy and our national security."... Gas drilling companies ready to dig in: Permit applications at all-time high for BLM Energy companies have applied for 261 natural gas drilling permits at 34 locations over the next two years on U.S. Bureau of Land Management property in western Garfield County. That's on top of 71 proposed directional gas wells to be drilled from BLM land onto private lands at Hunter Mesa and Grass Mesa, for the same time period, said BLM associate field manager Steve Bennett...Proposal on water issue draws 'fire' According to a confidential memo obtained by the Tri-County Courier, a Department of Interior official told irrigators Oct. 2 that, in return for an 80,000 acre-foot reduction in water deliveries from Upper Klamath Lake, the Klamath Project could have "reliable" water deliveries. In addition, the official went on to say the proposal includes a return of 672,000 acres to the Klamath tribes...Judge denies challenges to Animas-La Plata pact A 6th Judicial District Court judge has dismissed three claims challenging a 1976 agreement on Ute Indian water rights. Judge Gregory Lyman last week said the claims of the Citizens Progressive Alliance have no merit... Yellowstone conference addresses ecosystem challenges Natural threats to ecosystems are impacting the world's species at a greater rate than ever before, and humans are making those threats more likely, a leading scientist and conservationist told attendees of a conservation conference in Yellowstone National Park. Though most of the world's extinct species died out long before humans began to dominate earth, that pace appears to be picking up, Richard Leakey said Tuesday. "The problem is, we're making them more likely," Leakey said in a keynote address to more than 200 scientists, environmentalists and land managers from the United States and Africa. His address opened a conference, "Beyond the Arch: Community and Conservation in Greater Yellowstone and East Africa," sponsored by the National Park Service and several academic and research organizations... Airlift to supply family in feud with park service Volunteer pilots have begun flying winter supplies to a family in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve that is embroiled in a fight with the National Park Service. Papa Pilgrim and his wife and 15 children have been unsuccessful in getting a Park Service permit to use the road leading to their back country cabin. Friends and a group called the American Land Rights Association now have begun to assemble donations and willing pilots to make the trip. Pilgrim gushed about the assistance he had received, estimating he's managed to get about 20 percent of the stores the family needs for winter. Pilgrim changed his name from Bobby Hale. "It's just beautiful," Pilgrim said by telephone from his remote cabin. "I cannot tell you the unity ... They just poured out their hearts."... Biologist believes errors led to bear attack Human remains and clothing found in the stomach of a 28-year-old brown bear killed by National Park Service rangers Monday have confirmed that the animal fed on the bodies of California animal activist Timothy Treadwell and girlfriend Amie Huguenard, authorities reported Thursday. Fresh details about the attack near Kaflia Bay in Katmai National Park on Alaska's southwest coast also began to emerge. According to a memo from Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist Larry Van Daele, Treadwell set up his bear-viewing camp "in such a way that bears wishing to traverse the area would have had to either wade in the lake or walk right next to the tent. A person could not have designed a more dangerous location to set up a camp.'' In videos found at the scene, Van Daele said, Treadwell described "his campsite as (in) a potentially dangerous location, but he expresses his confidence that he understands these bears and they will not harm him.''...Tape reveals sounds of bear attack The graphic sounds of a deadly bear attack in the Alaska wilderness were captured on tape, revealing a wildlife author's final, frantic screams as he tried to fend off the beast, authorities say. Trooper Chris Hill said the tape suggests a video camera was turned on just before Timothy Treadwell was attacked at his campsite. His girlfriend, Amie Huguenard, was later mauled to death by a bear. The recording is audio only, and the screen is blank for all six minutes. "They're both screaming, she's telling him to play dead, then it changes to fighting back. He asks her to hit the bear," Hill said. "There's so much noise going on. I don't know what's him and what might be an animal... Tradition alive and well at saddlery On the showroom wall sits a gallery of photos, at least one autographed, of loyal customer John Wayne. As the story goes: Wayne's saddles were late showing up on the set of the 1969 film True Grit, so he borrowed one made for his stuntman by the Denver company. Wayne liked it so much that he stopped production on the film until Colorado Saddlery could make one for him, and he never again saddled up with products from any other manufacturer, Van Scoyk said. Van Scoyk's father, P.R. Van Scoyk, started the company with three partners in 1945. At its peak, Colorado Saddlery did all of its manufacturing in- house, employing 75 workers in the 72,000-square-foot, five-story building...Mule Jump popularity prompts organizers to make big changesMules will take flight in Pea Ridge again Saturday at the 15 th annual Pea Ridge Mule Jump. Come to the City Park at 9 a.m. for a day of stubbornness and skill as trainers take their mules through their paces... The horse that walked home to die In the middle of a deep autumn fog early yesterday, a woman pulled out to pass a vehicle near the village of Sydenham and struck Serenade the horse at 70 kilometres an hour. Serenade would die from his injuries, but not before making a valiant trip home to see the only family he had known for nearly his entire 19-year life...Teens learn skills of life through working with horses Desperado, an aging sorrel gelding, placidly plods toward a low jump at a walk. His hoof thuds against it, sending the pole into the dirt as he heads for a bucket of grain. To the teens holding lead ropes and standing on opposite sides of the horse, the low hurdle is supposed to symbolize life's obstacles. The grain buckets represent life's temptations. To succeed, the teens must maneuver the horse through one of two narrow lanes blocked by plastic cones representing life's minor obstacles. The course setup, known as Temptation Alley, is one exercise used in Equine Assisted Psychotherapy, a new experiential therapy that uses the horse as a tool in mental-health counseling sessions...Indians like to buckle up That's because the residents are all in Phoenix for the Arizona State Fair's All Indian Rodeo. The purse is big at this rodeo. Winning and money are important. But there's something more significant, more symbolic. Each cowboy and cowgirl has one shining at his or her waist...

NEWS ROUNDUP

Blackfoot land deal announced Hoping to maintain their traditional way of life, upper Blackfoot Valley landowners on Thursday announced an agreement to buy 40,780 acres of Plum Creek Timber Co. land, with an option on 47,933 acres more. If both sales eventually close, the Blackfoot Challenge will buy all of Plum Creek's midelevation timberland between Clearwater Junction and Rogers Pass, north and south of Highway 200. Purchase of the land, residents said, is the only way they know to preserve the upper Blackfoot's heritage of ranching, forestry, public access and wildlife habitat...ONRC announces its ideas for tribal lands The federal government should use private lands - instead of Forest Service lands - to re-establish a reservation for the Klamath Indian Tribes, according to a proposal put forward Wednesday by the Oregon Natural Resources Council. The proposal calls for the government to purchase lands or, when necessary, use eminent domain to acquire private lands within the boundary of the reservation as it existed in 1954, when the Klamath Tribes were terminated. Homes and up to 40 acres of adjoining would be exempt from government acquisition...Species Exemption 'Bad Precedent' Pending federal legislation to exempt water imported into New Mexico from being used to satisfy the federal Endangered Species Act would set a bad precedent, environmentalists in Washington, D.C., and New Mexico say. Both the U.S. Senate and House have passed language that would exempt water from the federal San Juan-Chama diversion project from the Endangered Species Act. In addition, the language proposed by New Mexico's congressional delegation would specify that a study issued this spring by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is legally sufficient and can't be challenged in court. The study concluded that portions of the designated habitat of the endangered Rio Grande silvery minnow could run dry. All members of New Mexico's congressional delegation except Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., have endorsed the proposals. Rather than being free-standing legislation that would be subject to independent vote and debate in Congress, the ESA language is included as a rider in both the House and Senate versions of the energy bills. Differences between the two versions of the legislation is scheduled to be resolved in conference in coming weeks...Fire destroys Hells Canyon recreation field office An early morning fire destroyed the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area field office at Riggins Wednesday. Manager Earl Baumgarten says the building -- a doublewide trailer -- is a total loss. But he says there's still hope that many of the agency's records and documents could be saved... Energy project celebrated It might fit in the back of a pickup. But don't be fooled by its size. The BioMax 50 may have applications as big as its appetite. If properly fed - it'll devour about a ton of wood chips per day - the biomass generator will help reduce built-up forest fuels while producing energy. When finished, the machine will be connected to the power grid and will become the first such generator to be tested in the United States...Private firms won't get jobs in federal forests The U.S. Forest Service will not tap the private sector for some basic maintenance jobs at forests throughout California. Those who oppose the "competitive outsourcing" by the Bush administration call this week's announcement a partial victory, though many other jobs are still up for consideration...Truce maintained in federal 'war in the woods' Controversy continues to stir around the Northwest Forest Plan, developed in the early days of the Clinton administration. The plan has evolved since it was approved 11 years ago, but the purpose remains the same: to protect all forest species while getting logging operations moving again. Protections have been put in place, but logging remains in a holding pattern. Until the plan was adopted, courts had blocked dozens of timber sales because of procedural and legal failures by the U.S. Forest Service...Saving fish may endanger farmers' control of water The politicians, farmers and businessmen who control Idaho's water have avoided a legal confrontation with the Endangered Species Act over the fate of Pacific salmon for more than a decade. Those water barons compromised, cajoled and bullied to keep Idaho in control of water stored behind federal dams in reservoirs on the Snake, Boise and Payette rivers. Now Republican U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo is shuttling between water users and environmentalists to stave off a lawsuit that recent court decisions suggest would wrest control from Idaho and divert water away from farms, cities and industry to increase flows to help salmon. He has until Sunday, the deadline set by salmon advocates, to convince them to withdraw or alter their proposed lawsuit. Complicating his effort are secret court-ordered talks between water users, the Nez Perce Tribe and state and federal officials that address many of the same water issues... Renzi's father said he didn't push son to introduce rider regarding fort The father of U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz., said he never asked his son to introduce an amendment to a House Defense Authorization bill to remove this Southern Arizona Army post from any responsibility for water use off the installation. The Renzi rider, as the amendment is called, has stirred up some environmentalists who say the amendment will mean the San Pedro River will be harmed, if not killed, if the rider is adopted...GAO report faults endangered species program The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service program for designating critical habitat for endangered species is in disarray because of tangled litigation that is devouring the agency's funding, the General Accounting Office reports. As a consequence, Fish and Wildlife priorities, such as listing new endangered species, are being delayed, says the GAO, Congress' investigative arm. "The GAO report states basically what we have been saying for years," said Mitch Snow, the Fish and Wildlife chief of media services. "We would like to have funds available for doing other things besides critical habitat."... Fish and Wildlife study shows economic benefits of wildlife refuges People living near the nation's 542 wildlife refuges also gain from the protected wildlife habitat, according to a government study that touts the economic benefits of the refuge system. The study by the Fish and Wildlife Service finds 35.5 million people visited the nation's 542 refuges in 2002, up 42 percent from 24.9 million visitors in 1995, bringing a huge boost in spending and jobs to communities located just outside the refuges...Judge lets convicted pilot keep plane used in hunt The Harding County pilot convicted last month of illegal aerial hunting will not have to forfeit the airplane and shotgun he used in the hunt, U.S. Magistrate Judge Marshall P. Young decided Thursday. Young rejected arguments by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn Royce that pilot Jerry Janvrin should forfeit his 1946 Piper airplane valued at $15,000 to $20,000, as well as a Benelli shotgun valued at about $900. Jurors found Janvrin guilty Sept. 18 of one count of illegal aerial hunting and acquitted him on another charge. The prosecution said he was trespassing on private land in September of 2002 when he killed a coyote from his airplane...Talks continue over land, water swap A high-level Interior Department official spent three days in the Klamath Basin last week, meeting with various parties to discuss water supplies for the Klamath Basin and restoration of reservation lands for the Klamath Tribes. But his visit isn't a sign that any deals are being made, officials said. Bill Bettenberg, director of the Interior Department's office of policy analysis, said he was in the Basin to give updates on negotiations with the Klamath Tribes and run through scenarios of different water management options for the Klamath Reclamation Project. "I didn't come with any proposals," he said...Nature Conservancy, Plum Creek strike deal LINCOLN and Plum Creek Timber Co. announced plans on Thursday to sell almost 41,000 acres scattered throughout the Blackfoot River Valley for $30 million to The Nature Conservancy. In addition, the conservation organization has an option to purchase an additional 47,900 acres in the area within the next few years for approximately $38 million, bringing the total land deal to 88,700 acres for $68 million an and average of $766 per acre. The non-profit Nature Conservancy plans to resell the large parcels to public and private entities, with the promise that the vast majority of the land would not be subdivided and turned into million dollar ranchettes...Secretary Norton Appoints Chad Calvert Deputy Assistant Secretary for Lands and Minerals Management Calvert will assist Assistant Secretary for Lands and Minerals Management Rebecca Watson in management oversight and policy direction for the Bureau of Land Management, Minerals Management Service and the Office of Surface Mining. "Chad Calvert has rapidly earned a reputation as an individual who immerses himself in a myriad of projects and with positive results," Secretary Norton said. "His experience in dealing with Congress, coupled with his positive outreach experience, increases his value to our team." Calvert was a member of the Bush-Cheney transition team, where he worked on Interior policy and coordinated outreach with external groups. He also assisted in preparing the Secretary for her Senate confirmation hearings and has worked with each of the presidential appointees at Interior to get them through their confirmations...Possible changes to NPR-A stir debate A swath of land in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska sought by oil and gas developers is called critical to wildlife by conservationists. Speakers addressed both issues Wednesday at a public meeting designed to aid the Bureau of Land Management as it rethinks 1998 regulations of the 4.6 million acre northeast NPR-A. About 600,000 northernmost acres--with reportedly high potential for oil and gas deposits--is off-limits to leasing, though that could change if BLM changes its 5-year-old regulations... Fish plan would cause big county expense Santa Barbara County would have to pay $12 million in reconstruction costs if it is required to make habitat improvements at Lake Cachuma for the benefit of endangered steelhead trout in the Santa Ynez River. A recent biological opinion has resulted in a proposal to raise the maximum level of Lake Cachuma by 3 feet to provide more water that can be released into the river for the fish, as well as for South County water users. Raising the lake level would also flood county facilities -- including picnic and camping sites, Mohawk Road, a water intake facility, a water treatment plant, a marina, a launch ramp, trails, two sewer lift stations, and the UCSB crew area. Rebuilding these facilities would cost $12 million. The proposal to raise the lake comes from the Federal Bureau of Reclamation and the Lake Cachuma Operation and Maintenance Board -- consisting of five South County water agencies -- which are responsible for maintenance and operations of Lake Cachuma's water supply facilities...Trinity settlement pitch: End of fight or bogus science? Northern Californians working to get back some Trinity River water are unconvinced that a proposal by Central Valley irrigators would be best for salmon and river communities. On Tuesday, the Westlands Water District, which has sued to block restoration of the river, pitched the settlement proposal to Trinity County supervisors and this newspaper. It aims to pare down water allowed down the river under the restoration plan, in order to boost supplies to the Central Valley Project where Westlands and other districts get their water. The suit is now in the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals after a Fresno U.S. District Court judge ordered the federal restoration plan reworked. The Hoopa Valley Tribe -- which has intervened on the part of the U.S. Interior Department -- is the key player that would have to agree to the proposal. Westlands will not meet with the tribe until next week...New definition of waste sets precedent in Western water policy For most of the year, several of the nation's biggest, richest, and most politically influential water agencies have been squabbling over the best way to divide California's share of the Colorado River - the lifeblood of the Southwest. A conclusion of sorts came last month when the state approved legislation needed to carry out key components of a tortuously negotiated deal, which involves a transfer of water from inland farmers to coastal cities, although litigation and last-minute disagreements still could derail the pact. The loud and divisive rhetoric of conflict overshadowed a subtle but important development that occurred during the summer, at the height of the confrontation. Although it would appear superficially to be a matter of mere semantics, it is potentially the most far-reaching aspect of the entire debate...Trust turns to rust: Western Slope's ties to the Front Range corroding over water When it comes to water, western Colorado hasn't trusted blossoming Front Range cities since the 1930s. So when Gov. Bill Owens asks voters from Meeker to Cortez to "trust" that there's something good in Referendum A for western Colorado, he's paddling upstream against decades of doubt. Referendum A would create $2 billion in state-backed bonds for large, undisclosed water projects. For many folks on the west side of the Continental Divide - the source of most of Colorado's water - Referendum A translates as another water grab... Eleven cities' water allocations reduced Eleven cities that depend on shrinking Lake Meredith for their water are having their allotments cut by millions of gallons, but most say they will still have enough to meet their demands. The Canadian River Municipal Water Authority voted Wednesday to reduce the amounts by 5 percent...Supreme Court urged to protect states environmental authority The Supreme Court was urged Wednesday to keep the federal government from second-guessing state environmental decisions. The justices are considering whether the Environmental Protection Agency went too far by overruling Alaska regulators' decision to let the operators of a zinc and lead mine use less costly anti-pollution technology for power generation. The Clean Air Act allows state officials to make some decisions involving their own facilities...Activists worry over eco-terror A time bomb planted near a controversial water bottling plant last month has the state's environmental community racing to distance itself from the sabotage. The bomb was found Sept. 22 at an unmanned pumping station of Nestle Waters' Ice Mountain water bottling plant near Big Rapids. Police disarmed it, and the FBI is investigating. It is the latest in a string of attacks nationwide this year claimed by the radical Earth Liberation Front... Area Water District Management Adapts to Drought Conditions The current drought has taught the Elephant Butte Irrigation District management a great deal, especially in water conservation and how to adapt to drought conditions. But EBID Board of Directors chairman Gary Arnold also said that he is impressed how well the farmers and district managed its limited water allotment this year. "We pretty much hit it on the nose as far as using our allocation," Arnold said. "We used it all except couple hundred acre-feet. That showed that our hydrologists knew how to figure out how to use the water so that we could spread out what little water we had over several months." During the past irrigation season, the United Stages Bureau of Reclamation allotted only 354,000 acre-feet of water to EBID, or 34 percent of the normal quota. The EBID board decided that it could only supply eight inches of irrigation water, far below the two to three acre-feet it allows when it has a good snow pack runoff...Lake Powell: Half empty or half full? Much reduced from its historic high-water level, the question can be posed: Is Lake Powell half empty or half full? And the answer depends upon whom you ask. Those who live and work near the huge reservoir straddling the Utah/Arizona border worry that the outside world's perception, at least, is that the half-empty desert lake — a tourist magnet — is drying up, like many much-shallower reservoirs in the drought-stricken West. "Some people think we're just a mud puddle," says Bob Seney, vice president of operations for Lake Powell Resorts and Marinas, a concessionaire. The low-water stigma and the stagnant economy are both to blame for business that's down 15 percent to 20 percent for his company, he said... Groups try ecologically sound ranching model Can the tiny leopard frog live alongside a 1,500-pound bull? Will the western tiger swallowtail butterfly prosper sharing the same habitat as a cow? A partnership between Bently Agrowdynamics of Minden and The Nature Conservancy at the 788-acre River Fork Ranch on Carson Valley's west side hopes to demonstrate that a viable cattle operation can coexist with environmental protection and restoration of the property's fish, bird and wildlife habitat...High beef prices no comfort to ranchers with small herds Recent rising beef prices are bitter-sweet for the Valley's ranchers, who survived the drought by selling off the bulk of their herds last year. "Everyone sold when the prices were low," said Randy Rusk, past president of the Custer County Stockgrowers. "There was not enough feed so they sold the weaners, then the calves, then the cows."...Rodeo doctor wins medical society award Dr. Charles Rush Jr.'s birthday is not until Saturday, but he celebrated a little early Thursday night with more than 260 friends at a ceremony where he received the Tarrant County Medical Society's most prestigious award. Rush, a Hurst allergist and longtime doctor to rodeo cowboys, was recognized with the 2003 Gold-Headed Cane award for his years of service. As Rush donned his black cowboy hat, the crowd gave him an ovation, one of many during the night...Have bull; can't travel Rodeo bulls are left pawing the ground in Canada this year, at a time when they would usually be headed south for the bright lights of the American rodeo circuit. Ever since the US border has been closed to cattle because of the BSE scare, absolutely no live cattle have been moving into the States. Rodeo bull breeders are losing money, and are uncertain about the future...

OPINION/COMMENTARY

A Mountain of Money

...Yet that mountain of money is but a molehill compared to the fortune that will be up for grabs if the government ever imposes carbon rationing. The Kyoto protocol and its progeny -- including the McCain-Lieberman bill (S.139) and various "micro-Kyoto" bills circulating in state legislatures -- would cap, or ration, not only gasoline, but most other carbon-based fuels as well, including diesel fuel, jet fuel, natural gas, and coal. While none of the proposed programs use paper coupons, the cost of the carbon allowances, or "C-rations," would be built into the price of fuels and into the price of electricity and all the other products and services that use them. With a cap for U.S. carbon emissions of about 1.5 billion tons (carbon-equivalent) per year, and a market price anywhere from $20 to $200 per ton (depending on how binding the cap is), the value of C-rations distributed by the government would be in the range of $30 to $300 billion dollars per year.
The cost of all those C-rations will be passed on to U.S. consumers -- a fact that advocates of carbon rationing typically neglect to mention. Most "Cost of Kyoto" estimates look only at the real-resource cost (reduced GNP) of carbon rationing, yet this represents only about 10 percent of the total cost to consumers. The other 90 percent is the price consumers pay to holders of the coveted C-rations. In that sense carbon rationing is like a tax -- it produces revenue -- but the revenues from carbon rationing will not go to reduce the budget deficit. Instead, the C-rations will be allocated to industries and organizations that find favor with the government...

NAACP To PETA: We Have No Problem With KFC

Last month we told you that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) had apparently endorsed People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' (PETA's) campaign against KFC. But now the Louisville Courier-Journal is reporting that the NAACP has come to its senses.
According to the Courier-Journal:

A spokesman for NAACP president Kweisi Mfume said the group's leader was only curious about charges leveled against KFC by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals when he wrote Yum! Brands Inc. chairman David Novak last month ... [Mfume] also said he was glad to hear "of your commitment to adopt comprehensive industry-leading guidelines and audits" of the handling and raising of poultry.


The NAACP has asked PETA, the Courier-Journal reports, to remove Mfume's picture and signature from its website. But to no one's surprise, PETA is still trumpeting "NAACP Head Speaks Up for Chickens!" on its anti-KFC page.
As the NAACP leaves animal rights to the PETAphiles and returns to its regularly scheduled programming, PETA is only intensifying its opposition to the horror of the two-piece dinner, both in the U.S. and overseas. In late September PETA tried to intimidate a KFC executive by protesting outside his home and church. And PETA recently announced that it would also initiate shareholder resolutions in an attempt to sway KFC's chicken suppliers.

Bye-Bye Kyoto

Gray Davis's political career isn't the only thing circling the drain this week. Remember the Kyoto protocol on global warming? Russia is about to flush it.
Ever since President Bush decided to withdraw the U.S. from the unratified (and unratifiable) treaty, environmentalists have been scheming to drag the U.S. into Kyoto through the back door. If one more "Annex 1" nation ratifies the treaty, it will go into effect among the nations that have already signed on. The requirements of the treaty would then begin having an effect on American companies doing business in Europe and other Kyoto-conforming countries. This, the greens hoped and expected, would increase pressure on business here in the U.S. to get with the program...

Global Warming Shakeup in Moscow

Events at a recent scientific conference in Moscow represent an important and dramatic change in the worldwide debate over global warming. Several distinguished scientists who spoke at the World Climate Change Conference in Moscow last week shattered claims that the science is settled and any consensus that the Kyoto Protocol would serve any useful purpose.
“This is the most important development in the public debate over global warming since President Bush’s decision that the United States wouldn’t ratify the Kyoto treaty,” said Competitive Enterprise Institute president Fred L. Smith, Jr. “Major scientific voices from both Russia and the U.S. emphasized the uncertainties underlying the theory that man is causing catastrophic global warming. The challenge now is to address these scientific uncertainties while continuing to improve global economic and environmental conditions.” ...

Air Pollution is Declining Under Bush

Nothing you hear about worsening air pollution is true. Air pollution is declining under President Bush, just as it declined under Bill Clinton. With the exception of greenhouse gases, trends in air pollution have been favorable for years or decades, says author Gregg Easterbrook.
According to the author:

"Aggregate emissions," the sum of air-pollution categories, have fallen 48 percent since 1970, although the U.S. population has grown 39 percent.
Local newscasts have recently begun to emphasize code red and code orange ozone-warning days, making smog seem more prevalent, yet the overall number of bad-air days has actually been falling steadily.
In 2001, there were fewer than half as many air-quality warning days across the country as in 1988; Los Angeles, for example, has experienced just one Stage 1 ozone warning in the past five years, whereas in the 1970s it averaged about 100 Stage-1-alert days per year.

Air pollution can decline as the population rises because antipollution technology keeps getting better and because the Clean Air Act controls on cars, power plants and factories have been growing stricter for two decades. Most Clean Air Act enforcement continues to become more strict under Bush, says Easterbrook.

Source: Gregg Easterbrook, "Why Bush Gets A Bad Rap On Dirty Air; But he still needs to tackle the real problem: greenhouse gases," Time Magazine, September 29, 2003.

Energy Exploration in Wildlife Refuges

Environmentalists say drilling in wildlife refuges causes devastating damage while the energy industry says wildlife and drilling can thrive together. However, a new General Accounting Office's analysis of drilling in the lower 48 states concludes that environmental damage can be avoided.
Oil and gas exploration and drilling has or is taking place in hundreds of refuges, says the GAO:
--One-fourth of the nation's more than 500 refuges have a history of oil and gas activity, in some cases dating back to the 1920s.
--Wells on refuges are pumping nearly 24 million barrels of oil annually, more than 1 percent of the nation's total production.
Unfortunately, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is charged with protecting refuges, has not managed the process well. Among the federal shortcomings cited by the report:
--The Service didn't even know how many oil and gas wells are operating on its refuges.
--It does not keep records on oil spills and other damage, and has never assessed the cumulative effects of oil and gas operations on refuges.
--Refuge managers often lack the knowledge, resources, training and commitment to regulate oil-drilling operations effectively.
However, the records at some refuges is better than others. At Hopper Mountain Wildlife Refuge in California, for example, 15 active wells have caused only two oil spills in the past 30 years; each was cleaned up quickly with no detectable effects on wildlife. In Louisiana, where two refuges are strictly monitored, oil and gas operators pay fees to finance the costs of monitoring compliance.
But at Anahuac Wildlife Refuge in Texas, 50 active wells have caused at least seven spills just since 1991, and one killed more than 180,000 fish.
Source: Editorial, "Alaskan drilling debate ignores failures in lower 48," USA Today, October 9, 2003; National Wildlife Refuges: Opportunities to Improve the Management and Oversight of Oil and Gas Activities on Federal Lands GAO-03-517, September 23, 2003, General Accounting Office, Washington, D.C.
For text
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2003-10-08-our-view_x.htm For GAO report
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03517.pdf