NEWS ROUNDUP
Arizona town for sale on eBay for $5.5M Tortilla Flat, a little spot of land with a few wood buildings near the Salt River Lakes, is for sale on the Internet for $5.5 million. Advertised as one of the "last remnants of the Old West", the town's listing on eBay has received more than 6,500 hits. Nestled in the Superstition Mountains about 18 miles northeast of Apache Junction on winding state Route 88, the restaurant offers prickly pear cactus ice cream, half-pound cowboy burgers and saddle seating at the bar...Regional forester to take job with elk foundation Regional Forester Brad Powell will leave the U.S. Forest Service after 32 years to accept a position next month with the Missoula-based Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, he said Thursday. Since 2001, Powell has been the Northern Region forester in charge of 13 national forests and grasslands covering 25 million acres in Montana, North Idaho and the Dakotas. Powell said he will retire from the Forest Service Jan. 23 and join the elk foundation, an international non-profit group whose mission is to ensure the future of elk, other wildlife and their habitat, as senior vice president for conservation and lands...Forest Service Won't Block E-Mail The Forest Service is dropping a plan to ignore public comments from certain e-mail servers or on printed post cards. The agency had said last spring that it intended to bar "duplicative materials" such as mass e-mails, form letters and printed post cards, on grounds that they added little to debate over forest decisions...Study finds $70 billion in possible outsourcing The government's push to open federal jobs to competition could open as much as $70 billion outsourcing opportunities to private firms, but lingering uncertainties on the final version of the rules make it more difficult to predict, according to a new report from research firm Input. Researchers considered the number of jobs that could be outsourced -- officials have estimated that almost 900,000 federal jobs could be suitable for outsourcing -- and Bush administration officials have said they want agencies to open half of those to competition by September 2004. Based on those figures, Input calculates that competitive sourcing could bring up to $70 billion to vendors, including up to $5 billion for information technology companies, if all the potential jobs are outsourced...Economists Criticize Forest Service Over $10 Billion Road Backlog Investing in current roads instead of building new ones would help reduce the growing road maintenance crisis in the national forests, according to new letter that was sent today from 25 prominent economists to President Bush. The letter notes that, "Prioritizing road system expenditures toward existing infrastructure, rather than commissioning the construction of new roads would help to reduce this taxpayer burden and make better use of existing roads to increase access to the National Forests." The letter calls for, " 'a few good roads' not more miles of poorly maintained roads that add sediment to our streams, fragment wildlife habitat and displace non-motorized recreation such as hiking and mountain biking." The economists also call for the President and the administration to support the current Roadless Area Conservation Rule as a tool to support bring the road maintenance crisis under control. According to the letter supporting such an effort would, "increase the likelihood that the U.S. Forest Service can maintain existing roads in good working order at a reasonable cost to U.S. Taxpayers."...Click here(pdf) to see the letter...Oregon leading research into deadly ailment affecting deer Oregon is taking the lead on learning more about a mysterious ailment that is killing blacktailed deer from the crest of the Cascades to the coast. Deer hair-loss syndrome, a vexing condition that appears to irritate deer literally to death, has spread the past several years since it was discovered in Southwest Washington. Afflicted deer are commonly mangy, thin and weak. It's common throughout wet regions of Western Washington in both blacktail and whitetailed deer and in blacktails in Western Oregon. It might be infecting blacktails in Northern California...Snowmobile use, restrictions spur appeals in Logan district The Utah Snowmobile Association and a loosely organized group of nonmotorized recreation users have appealed a new winter recreation plan for the Logan Ranger District. Snowmobilers are upset because a popular area near Tony Grove Lake has been closed to motorized use to provide more opportunity for snowshoers and backcountry skiers. The nonmotorized group appealed because it thinks too much U.S. Forest Service land has been left open to snowmobiles...Feds propose ban on West Coast swordfish fishing to save turtles The federal government is proposing to shut down commercial swordfish fishing on the West Coast because too many endangered turtles are getting caught on hooks and dying. The proposed regulations by the National Marine Fisheries Services would affect about two dozen remaining long-line fishing boats that operate off the coast of California after restrictions to protect sea turtles forced the vessels from the waters of Hawaii...Fish and Wildlife Service again calls for flow changes in Missouri River A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ruling Thursday affirmed the need for flow changes in the Missouri River starting next summer, shifting a 14-year battle into an election year and probably beyond. In a surprise ruling that sparked strong criticism in Missouri, government biologists concluded that the Army Corps of Engineers must provide shallower water in the lower river next summer to help the endangered pallid sturgeon - or violate the Endangered Species Act...Agency Rejects Bid To Take Mouse Off Endangered List The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refused Thursday to remove the Preble's meadow jumping mouse from the Endangered Species List, even as new research was announced that will keep the dispute alive. The agency said available science doesn't justify yanking federal protections for the mouse found along the Rockies' eastern front in Colorado and southeastern Wyoming, said Ralph Morgenweck, director of the service's regional office in Lakewood. Also Thursday, Denver-based scientists said new research shows the mouse isn't a distinct subspecies -- a designation that was the basis for placing it on the Endangered Species List...NWF Takes Legal Action to Ensure Wolf Recovery in the Northeast Charging that the Bush administration's decision to abandon wolf recovery efforts in the Northeast violates the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and four coalition partners filed a lawsuit today in federal district court in Vermont. In the complaint, NWF and the other groups explain that the final Wolf Reclassification Rule that was issued in April effectively terminates federal wolf recovery efforts in the Northeast, where suitable wolf habitat exists and wolves are apparently beginning to return. The rule changes the status of wolves from endangered to threatened in the Northern Rockies and the Great Lakes where wolves have begun to thrive, but terminates recovery planning for wolves in states like Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, where no wolf recovery efforts have taken place to date...Wolf watching: A big bad business Since their reintroduction into the Lamar Valley around Soda Butte Creek in 1995, wolves have created a cottage industry. There are now wolf guides, wolf-watching outfitters and motels in nearby Cooke City that cater to the crowd. Wolf enthusiasts buy powerful spotting scopes, tripods and long-lens cameras to fill their quest. The Lamar Valley wolf packs can be seen anytime -- high noon on an August day -- but sightings are most likely from early-May to mid-June, soon after the elk and bison herds drop their young. The baby wolves rest snug as a bug in their den with a "babysitter" on guard while mom or pop journeys out of the hills, across the highway and down into the lush river valley to grab a calf. Grizzly bears and coyotes emerge as well. The kill is quick, merciful and generally clean. The adults gorge themselves, then return across the road and up into the cliffs to regurgitate for the young ones...Wolves: The Sierra Club's view Now here in Wyoming, we are engaged in a debate about how to best manage these animals. The state legislature, ignoring the economic and biological benefits of wolves, passed legislation in the 2003 session that classifies wolves as "trophy game animals" in a few areas in Western Wyoming and classifies them as "predators" in the rest of the state. The significance of these classifications is that in the majority of the state where they are classified as "predators," wolves will be subject to the same persecutions visited upon them during the 1800s and first half of the 1900s. They may be killed by any means for any reason, or for no reason except the sake of killing them...Wolves: An outfitter's view Most Wyoming hunters opposed the introduction of the Canadian Gray Wolf and continue to oppose its protection. The primary reason for this opposition is very simple; wolves compete for the huntable surplus of game. Historically, more animals are born than are needed to replace natural mortality. This recruitment enables the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to issue permits to hunters, producing revenue to pay for game management. Game populations are kept in balance through regulated hunting and Wyoming hunters are able to get meat for the freezer to help feed their families. This system has worked for several decades. Many outfitters don't believe wolves only kill the weak, sick and old of a herd. Enter the Canadian Gray Wolf, courtesy of the US Fish and Wildlife Service and those who push the anti-hunting, pro-predator agenda. They introduced this non-native wolf under the guise of "restoring historical balance to the Yellowstone ecosystem", even though strong evidence shows that wolves rarely entered Yellowstone in the 77 years prior to 1913 (National Park Service Documents, The Wolves of Yellowstone" Weaver 1978)...Snowcoach operators stage protest People who used to run snowcoaches in Yellowstone National Park held a "friendly demonstration" at the park's west gate Thursday, protesting the loss of their permits to do business there. "We're just trying to keep a few jobs that shouldn't have been lost," said Jim Holstein, a partner in Yellowstone Tour Guides, based in Big Sky. He said he had to turn away $1,500 worth of reservations Thursday and is canceling $15,000 worth of reservations that had been made for this season. In the wake of this week's court decision, the focus has been on snowmobiles. But there is considerable anger and confusion among snowcoach operators as well...Park Service Moves to Fire Police Chief Over Comments U.S. Park Police Chief Teresa C. Chambers, who was placed on leave after stating publicly that her department was understaffed, was formally notified yesterday that the National Park Service intends to fire her. The notification, which was faxed to an attorney for Chambers yesterday morning, caps two weeks of suspense and intrigue at the Park Police, a 620-member department whose chief responsibility is safeguarding the Mall and its monuments. Called a "proposal for removal," the notification for the first time stipulates the charges against Chambers, according to people familiar with the document. Chambers is accused, among other allegations, of improperly lobbying Congress and disclosing secret budget details through her public comments...Snowmobile ban brings quiet - and lot of noise When Jerry Schmier says it's all quiet on the western front of America's first national park, he has a different interpretation from most. Mr. Schmier worries the silence may presage economic calamity for his town of West Yellowstone, the self-proclaimed "snowmobile capital of the world." This week, on the eve of Yellowstone National Park opening its gates to winter visitors, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., issued a controversial order that has left many in the park gateway community stunned. "The whole thing is a political nightmare, and we're caught in the middle of it," says Schmier, standing next to a fleet of cleaner and quieter snow machines he bought to keep his 30-year-old tourist business afloat, a fleet the federal government encouraged him to buy. "If this ban holds up, it's going to be devastating."...Snowmobile Industry Fights Back The snowmobile industry and snowmobile enthusiasts said they will appeal this week's federal court decision cutting by half the number of snowmobiles allowed in Yellowstone National Park this winter. The State of Wyoming and the National Park Service are expected to join the appeal, the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association said in a press release. The appeal seeks an emergency stay of Judge Emmet Sullivan's ruling, which blocked a Bush administration policy in favor of an earlier, Clinton-era rule. An emergency stay would allow more snowmobiles into Yellowstone while the case is being appealed. The snowmobile industry argues that blocking the Bush administration plan at the last minute is causing serious harm in communities surrounding the park, which depend on wintertime tourists...Snowcoach builder miffed at park Ron Gatheridge braked his snowcoach-like Chevrolet Suburban to an abrupt halt in front of Yellowstone National Park's west entrance Wednesday morning, jumped out and propped a "For Sale" sign in the driver's side window. Then he stomped off. "The U.S. government can have the f--er!" Gatheridge yelled over his shoulder when asked why he left the vehicle at the park gate...Column: State officials ignore "death fences" Those concerned about the present and future protection and management of our valuable big game resource and the problem with high fences with low bottom wires cannot be taken lightly. High tensile fences on state and Bureau of Land Management public lands are for containment of domestic bison, a largely public- subsidized industry. High, 60-inch fences with low, 11-inch bottom wires, are devastating to the survival of elk, mule deer, whitetail deer, bighorn sheep, moose and pronghorn antelope. The high fences on the Robb-Ledford area, Willow Creek and the north fork of the Greenhorn were reported in Range Magazine, May 21, 2002, "Ted Turner's Death Fences" and in the Washington Times "Greens Give Turner a Break." A bighorn sheep was found entrapped in the same fence this spring and a moose calf last summer. The Montana Standard also reported August 2001, "Death Trap?" These fences go on for miles and miles in the Robb-Ledford area with more miles constructed this summer in the Dark Hollow-Cream Creek area...U.S. Court to Review Nev. Fight Over Dump Nevada's legal team will tell a federal appeals court that the government is trying to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain even though the site does not meet the original legal requirements for a dump, lawyers said yesterday. The hearing Jan. 14 before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will cover six lawsuits, now consolidated, that the state filed against the federal government between 2000 and 2002. For Nevada, which has failed in the political arena for more than two decades to stop the dump, the courts might represent its best chance of keeping out 77,000 tons of the nation's most radioactive waste, lawyers said at a media briefing. The waste would be buried for 10,000 years at a desert site 90 miles from Las Vegas...Editorial: Wetlands support worth cheering After reports surfaced that the Environmental Protection Agency wanted to open millions of acres of fragile wetlands to potential development for the first time since the signing of the 1972 Clean Water Act, many agency-watchers were disappointed but few were surprised. But then a strange thing happened: Roused to action, conservationists, anglers and hunters besieged the EPA and the White House with more than 133,000 letters and e-mails mostly protesting the proposal. Adding their voices to the fray were 218 members of Congress and 26 senators. This time, it worked...Column: Patchwork wetlands rules leave too much to chance Memo from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to landowners, home builders, developers and regulatory field officials: "You're out of luck." That, in essence, is what the two agencies said when they announced that they would not issue a new rule on federal regulatory jurisdiction over isolated wetlands at a hastily arranged joint news conference on Tuesday. Instead, the agencies will continue to direct field staff to rely on a patchwork of contradictory circuit court rulings to make critical environmental decisions. If you own land or you ever intend to buy any, you should be deeply concerned by this turn of events...Western EPA managers report increased political pressure More than 80 percent of managers at an Environmental Protection Agency regional offices believe they are under increased pressure to base decisions on politics, rather than science, according to a recent survey by an environmental advocacy group. Roughly 83 percent of managers responding to the questionnaire, distributed by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), a nonprofit organization based in Washington, to employees at the EPA's Region 8 office, agreed that "political interests affect key decisions made by the EPA more than they did five years ago." About three-quarters of managers said they think the EPA regional office is a weaker "environmental protection organization" than five years ago. Non-management employees at the regional office were not quite as critical...MoveOn.org Voter Fund, Environment2004 to Fight Bush Administration's Dirty Air Agenda Two weeks after announcing its campaign to educate Floridians about the dismal environmental record of President Bush and his allies, Environment2004, a new Democratic section 527 group, is teaming up with MoveOn.org Voter Fund to urge Floridians to oppose weakening the Clean Air Act. Section 527 groups are allowed to collect soft money to fund direct voter contact and issue messaging. The organizations will use Internet ads and emails from former Clinton administration EPA chief Carol Browner to Floridians to urge that they petition Gov. Jeb Bush and Attorney General Charlie Crist to oppose changes in the "New Source Review" program. This program requires aging power plants and industrial facilities to reduce their emissions when they expand or refurbish. Weakening this program is a centerpiece of the Bush Administration's environmental agenda...Climate Change Leading to Diseases: WHO A new report by the World Health Organization (WHO) says climate change is adversely affecting the health of millions of people across the world, leading to the death of thousands, and fueling diseases like diarrhea and malaria. According to the study -- authored by WHO in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme, the World Meteorological Organization and the United States Environmental Protection Agency -- even small temperature changes can increase the prevalence of malaria...Lightning strike zaps 13 cows An Australian farmer lost 13 of his Friesian cows when lightning hit a tree they were sheltering under during a storm this week. "There was two big claps of thunder and when I went to get the cows, there were 13 of them dead under the tree," David Potter of Fernvale told the Brisbane Courier. "You could see where the lightning had hit the tree. I've never heard of anything like this. It's ... just unlucky -- unlucky 13."...Worldwide transfusion fear after UK mad cow death British blood recipient may have become the world's first case of human-to-human transmission of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), the lethal human form of "mad cow" disease linked to eating British beef products. If the case is not an isolated one, it may have ramifications for blood transfusion services worldwide...Italy Has BSE Case An Italian cow from a breeding farm in central Italy has tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, bringing the nation's total to 115 cases, the Health Ministry said Thursday. The disease was confirmed by testing done at a Turin zoological institute that serves as the national control center for the disease. Italy found its first case in cattle in 2001, after the European Union ordered mandatory tests on cattle older than 30 months destined for slaughter. Fifty positive cases were reported in 2001, 36 in 2002, and 29 so far this year...100 years ago, The Great Train Robbery launched feature film industry A fierce-looking outlaw aims his six-shooter at a cluster of law-abiding citizens sitting in the darkness. He pulls the trigger and smoke pours out of the gun barrel. Men shriek. Women faint. The gun fired but no sound was heard, except for the pounding of an upright piano. The outlaw was actor George Barnes, and the scene came at the end of an 11-minute silent movie, The Great Train Robbery. It was a week before Christmas 1903 - the night the motion picture industry was born. The Great Train Robbery and other westerns that followed "created the whole studio system eventually," observed Randy Haberkamp, film programmer for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...Youngsters ages nine, five, travel cross-country Their father, Jack Abernathy, was a well-known U.S. Marshal who could fight wolves with his bare hands and did so to great fanfare in the presence of President Theodore Roosevelt. Abernathy taught his boys to ride, care for their horses, and to be independent from the time they could physically stay on a horse. The boys' trips turned into publicity events with newspaper reporters, townspeople, and, yes, even former president Teddy Roosevelt watching from afar. It all started in the summer of 1909 when the nine-year-old Bud (real name Louis) began studying his dad's maps. His five-year-old brother, named Temple after Sam Houston's son, knew his older brother could do no wrong...Rocking horse restriction overruled The future of the rocking horse is no longer under threat, after the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) admitted that its ruling that rocking horses must be below 600mm (less than 2ft) was a mistake. Last week, the British Toymakers' Guild announced that advice had gone out from the Department of Trade and Industry to local trading standards authorities not to act on the new standards - due to become effective from 1 January. The height restriction ruling was made to apply to rocking toys, such as those on springs commonly seen in children's playgrounds, and never intended for the British rocking horse...
Thursday, December 18, 2003
Wednesday, December 17, 2003
NEWS ROUNDUP
Proposal to expand management of wolves opposed A proposed "memorandum of understanding" drafted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposes involving other agencies in the management of Mexican gray wolves. Such a move would "lower the service's leadership in wolf recovery, and give more life-and-death power over the wolves to interests more directly responsive to the livestock industry," according to Michael Robinson, a Silver City staffer with the Center for Biological Diversity...Utah, Feds Continue To Stonewall Public On Phantom Highways Controversy The state of Utah and the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) continue to withhold documents from the public concerning their supposedly "open process" for resolving claims to disputed dirt tracks across Utah, conservationist groups charged today. The charge came as two of the groups, the Southern Utah Wilderness Society (SUWA) and The Wilderness Society, lodged a formal appeal last week with the Interior Department over a decision by BLM's Utah office to withhold information concerning jeep tracks and cattle paths claimed as constructed highways by Utah under the repealed, Civil War-era law known as R.S. 2477...11 dams on Emigrant fix-up list Stanislaus National Forest Supervisor Tom Quinn, taking his turn in one of his forest's longest-running controversies, has decided to permit maintenance of 11 Emigrant Wilderness check dams while letting seven others deteriorate over time. Letting those seven go "moves the Emigrant Wilderness, as a whole, towards a more pristine condition," Quinn wrote in his Record of Decision, which the Forest Service published Tuesday...'Healthy Forests Act' needs careful watch, enviros say The Healthy Forest Restoration Act ought to be given a chance to work "under careful scrutiny" Western Colorado Congress and Colorado photographer John Fielder said. President Bush this month signed the measure that significantly changes the way some of the nation's most fire- threatened forests will be managed. The new law, which was carried by U.S. Rep. Scott McInnis, whose 3rd Congressional District is among the most forested in the nation, isn't what environmental organizations most wanted...Susanville timber mill closing This city is losing a major employer and its last timber mill. Sierra Pacific Industries announced Tuesday that it will close its 39-year-old sawmill by the end of the first quarter of 2004. The company cited the loss of government timber supplies and competition from foreign imports as reasons for the closure. The move will affect about 150 workers, SPI spokesman Ed Bond said. Workers at the mill make an average hourly wage of $18.30...Beetles threaten thousands of acres of pinyon trees Colorado's Roaring Fork Valley is vulnerable to a beetle infestation that could wipe out pinyon trees covering thousands of acres, according to a forestry expert. John Denison, district forester for the Colorado State Forest Service, said that conditions in the scenic valley make the pinyon susceptible to the Ips beetle. He estimated that 80 percent of the trees could die...Judge rules for listing orcas as endangered A federal judge yesterday struck down the Bush administration's decision not to protect Puget Sound orcas under the Endangered Species Act, chastising federal officials for failing to consider the "best available science." The U.S. District Court ruling was a major victory for environmentalists. The National Marine Fisheries Service had justified its June 2002 decision by saying that even if orcas that reside in the Sound and nearby waters disappeared, their place could be taken by far-ranging transient orcas that sometimes visit...Column: The Cartoonist Who Fought Dams Hard In George Fisher's world, the dam-building, river-straightening, concrete-addicted nature destroyers of the Army Corps of Engineers wore dark sunglasses, knee boots, impossibly tight pants and dorky pith helmets emblazoned with his unofficial motto for the agency: "Keep Busy." They carried rolled-up blueprints, drove menacing dredges with ferociously pointy teeth and drooled over free-flowing streams like dirty old men ogling young virgins. When they died, they arrived at the Pearly Gates armed with channelization plans for the Kingdom of Heaven and recoiled at the picturesque river valleys God had let fester there...Column: Global Warming is Likely to Cause Huge Climatic Changes -- and Possibly a New Ice Age What killed the saber-toothed tiger, the mastodon and the mammoth, formidable animals that were on top of the food chain in North America 20,000 years ago? Was it fierce Stone Age hunters as has commonly been assumed, or the little-studied but very real phenomenon of abrupt climate change? This question is not just of academic interest, to be debated by pipe-smoking professors at conferences. The rapid natural climate changes at the end of the Ice Age could be mirrored by man-made global warming in the 21st century, leading to devastating consequences for the planet's biodiversity and the human race itself...Baby condor makes historic flight in Grand Canyon Arizona's first baby condor in recorded history made its first flight November 5 when it glided 500 feet to the ground from its nest on a cliff located in a remote area of the Grand Canyon. "The significance of the first wild-hatched California condor in Arizona is tremendous. While captive-bred condors have exceeded our expectations, it is this chick and others like it in the future that will ensure condor recovery in Arizona," Arizona Game and Fish director Duane Shroufe said...City Officials Angry Over Fire Prevention Delays City officials in San Bernardino, Calif., say the U.S. Fish and Wildlife agency's concerns about endangered species delayed a federally funded fire prevention program for seven years and led directly to the disastrous fires there in October. According to city officials, philosophical problems among some biologists, environmentalists and other agencies delayed approved measures to prevent fires from being enacted. City officials also claim that they set aside $500,000 for a program meant to thin a number of trees in problem areas identified in a 1995 survey, but not one square foot of forestry was thinned. According to a congressional investigation, more than half of all federal projects proposed to reduce the literal fuel to the fires never get implemented, including several projects that may have limited the scope of this fall's California wildfires. Those fires burnt 750,000 acres, destroyed 3,640 homes, killed 22 people and countless wildlife and are estimated to have cost $10 billion in damage...Lawmaker calls for investigation of Wildlife Service over fires Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, wants Congress to investigate why the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Carlsbad office reportedly delayed prescribed burns in San Bernardino County forest areas scorched in the October wildfires. California Department of Forestry Chief Tom O'Keefe told the Riverside Press-Enterprise for a story published Tuesday that the Fish and Wildlife Service opposed prescribed fires that might have helped save plant and animal habitats. "The U.S Fish and Wildlife policy of obstructionism contributed to the most devastating wildfires the state of California has ever seen," Calvert said in a statement Wednesday. "I have every intention of investigating their role in delaying and preventing prescribed fires that could have saved businesses, homes and lives."...Duck slaughter found Federal wildlife officials want to know who killed 35 wild ducks and dumped them, without cleaning them or saving any of the meat, beside Deer Creek Road near East Missoula. Rick Branzell, a special agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, discovered the ducks tossed in a snowbank beside the road Wednesday afternoon after receiving a tip from a Missoula County snowplow driver. The discarded ducks could represent several possible violations of state and federal wildlife laws, according to Branzell...Bald eagle closures begin in December Recreational activities are being temporarily limited at 13 locations near Arizona waterways beginning in December in an effort to protect nesting bald eagles. Arizona Game and Fish Department biologists say bald eagles start rebuilding nests in December in preparation for laying eggs. Land and wildlife management agencies enact the seasonal breeding area closures from December through June at locations on Tonto Creek, the Salt and Verde rivers, as well as Alamo, Pleasant, Becker, Lynx and Luna lakes...Crowing, howling greet return of wolves to West The sound of success pierces the cold, still air. Howling gray wolves announce their dominance over the food chain stretching from Yellowstone National Park's Lamar Valley to Montana less than a decade after wildlife biologists returned them to their traditional habitat. Bringing wolves back from the brink of extinction is being hailed as an ecological triumph, so much so that the federal government reclassified the animal this year from "endangered" to "threatened." The next step toward removal from the protected species list is for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to transfer responsibility for wolf management to game officials in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, possibly late next year. The livestock industry and hunters, who have simmered as the wolf population soared from 31 in the mid-1990s to 750, say they can't wait for return of local control. On the other side, environmental groups fear that a lack of federal oversight will mean a return to the "shoot, shovel and shut up" mindset that nearly caused the wolf's demise...Park Service board concludes probe of fatal bear attack on California couple A panel that investigated the deadly bear attack on a California couple in Katmai National Park and Preserve last October is recommending a review of the park's camping and bear management policies, federal officials said Wednesday. The Technical Board of Investigation has completed its inquiry in the deaths of Malibu, Calif., bear activists Timothy Treadwell and Amie Huguenard and plans to submit its final report to National Park Service officials within a week. The four-page report also sums up likely contributing factors in the deaths of Treadwell, 46, a wildlife author who spent the past 13 summers tracking brown bears at the Alaska Peninsula park, and Huguenard, 37, who joined him in recent years. Treadwell was known and sometimes criticized for getting too chummy with brown bears - as coastal grizzlies are called in Alaska - without any kind of protection such as bear spray...Last-minute ruling prompts scramble on Yellowstone's opening day Carol Steinhauer was sputtering mad Wednesday morning. The Indiana woman's long-awaited two-week vacation in Yellowstone National Park had been disrupted, and she wanted somebody to pay. "This is a $5,000 vacation," she said as she pulled off her snowmobile helmet and began looking for a way to enter the park, a place that had been closed to unescorted snowmobilers like herself and her husband, Paul, just 12 hours earlier. "I'd like to send the bill to the senator who came up with this," she said. "Or the judge. Or the tree huggers."...Park ruling sparks dismay Norm Brunel of Manitoba, Canada, waited patiently in the cold morning darkness for the park to officially open. When it did, he presented a permit and fee receipt he'd purchased a month earlier, which were to have gained him admittance. Instead, he was told they were no longer valid. "No matter what I have," he said in frustration, "I can't go into the park, not without going out and hiring a guide. I drove 1,200 miles for this."...NYT Editorial: Banishing Snowmobiles n a federal courtroom in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Judge Emmet Sullivan declared a halt to the Bush administration's plan to continue and indeed expand snowmobiling in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. His ruling, which reinstates a Clinton-administration plan to phase out the snowmobiles, is a victory for the parks, their wildlife and the visitors who come to enjoy both. Beyond that, it is a resounding rebuke to the Bush administration, whose eagerness to satisfy a narrow political constituency caused it to violate its statutory obligation to protect the parks from degradation and to leave them, as the law commands, "unimpaired" for future generations. That snowmobiles impaired the parks was never much in doubt -- not to the Park Service employees who hated President Bush's plan; not to the public, whose comments reflected overwhelming disapproval for the plan; and not to the government's own scientists, who concluded that even the newer, quieter snowmobiles the administration had promoted as the ultimate compromise would foul the air and disrupt animal life...Snowmobile Community Appeals District of Columbia Court Opinion on Yellowstone The Snowmobile Community will immediately appeal an opinion issued by U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by Judge Emmet Sullivan, blocking the 2003 Yellowstone National Park Winter Use Plan. The State of Wyoming and the National Park Service (NPS) are expected to join the appeal. The Snowmobile Community, including individuals and small business owners in the Yellowstone gateway communities, snowmobile enthusiast organizations, and snowmobile manufacturers through the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association (ISMA), will seek an emergency stay of the Judge's ruling. The stay requests that the opinion not be implemented while the case is being appealed...Sled ruling hits home to outfitters Early Wednesday morning Jackson Hole Snowmobile Tours office manager Stacey Chapman called two people and told them that because of a judge's ruling Tuesday night they would not be able to rent snowmobiles. "They were irate," said Chapman, who is the office manager. "They did not understand. That's how it's going to be. We are going to have a lot of angry people." Wyoming officials and snowmobile industry attorneys are trying to keep Chapman from having to speak with more angry customers. Both are working to overturn U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan's ruling that cuts in half the number of snowmobiles allowed in Yellowstone and Grand Teton this winter and would eliminate snowmobiles from the park next winter...Waiting List For Grand Canyon Raft Trips Frozen The National Park Service has imposed a freeze on adding new names to the waiting list for permits to raft through the Grand Canyon. There are now more than 8,000 people on the list for self-guided rafting trips through the park. Those at the end of the list will have to wait 20 years to make the trip down the Colorado River...Report stresses animal safety: Vehicles must be prevented from running over imperiled species during a desert race The U.S. Defense Department will have to take steps to prevent robotic vehicles from running over desert tortoises and other imperiled species when it hosts a race from Barstow to Las Vegas, a report issued Wednesday said. While it is anticipated that few, if any, desert tortoises would be killed or injured, tortoise monitors will be required to sweep the route before the race and move any reptiles 100 feet off the course, the Bureau of Land Management report said...Lawns and life could get ugly if lake keeps falling Daily life in the Las Vegas Valley could become increasingly challenging if Lake Mead continues its decline, dipping below 1,125 feet above sea level in 2005 and pushing the region into a drought emergency, the most severe of the region's three drought categories. Lawn watering could be banned. Water rates could increase for the second time in 18 months. Golf courses might have to operate with less water...Regulators say protecting Tahoe Basin a priority Preventing a major wildfire from devastating the Lake Tahoe Basin and fouling its sensitive environment for years must be the area’s top priority, land-use regulators decided Wednesday. Governors of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency reviewed a $26.5 million plan to begin thinning trees and taking other precautions in fire-prone forests along the dangerous ribbon of landscape where forests abut populated communities...Editorial: Federal land sales While water officials throughout the West continue to grapple with the implications of our record-setting drought, at least there's some good news from Washington. The Bush administration has said it will neither halt nor slow the pace of public land sales in Southern Nevada. At a meeting Friday in Las Vegas of the agencies that receive water from the Colorado River, Assistant Interior Secretary Bennett Raley said, "The federal government is not going to play a role in where (people) can and should live. That's a local issue, not a federal issue." And that's the appropriate response. Washington bureaucrats have no business meddling in local planning and zoning decisions -- notwithstanding the "Livable Communities Initiative," a scheme hatched by former Vice President Al Gore in 1999 to have the federal government buy up undeveloped land and make it off-limits for future homes or businesses...The Killing Hills Martin didn't find a sympathetic ear in Mike Roach, conservation officer for the Division of Wildlife Resources. Roach investigated the incident, ruled it a legal kill and said Martin had no recourse against the offending hunter. The problem, said Roach, is that landowners made no attempt to distinguish their property lines from the public land that backs up against the Olympus Cove neighborhood. And he can't enforce a trespassing complaint unless fences were erected or signs posted...Bush hears Ducks Unlimited concerns With one third of the waterfowl hunters answering a Ducks Unlimited survey saying success is below average so far this season, DU president John Tomke and others met last week with President Bush. Tomke's concern comes from a 2001 Supreme Court decision that, if broadly interpreted, could eliminate long-standing protection of wetlands and small bodies of water under the Clean Water Act. During the meeting, Tomke also remarked that in recent months more than 20,000 letters have been sent to the White House and other key decision makers in Washington by DU members and supporters on this issue...Cheney-Cornyn pheasant hunt drawing slings and arrows When Dick Cheney and a hunting party that included Sen. John Cornyn and several other Texas Republicans bagged hundreds of pheasants at a private game reserve in Pennsylvania last week, animal-rights activists denounced it as a slaughter. They were especially outraged that the vice president shot more than 70. But Mr. Cornyn said Wednesday that the birds had a sporting chance, even if they were farm-raised and released from nets for the hunters. "It was a good shoot," said Mr. Cornyn, who figures he shot dozens of pheasants himself...Water feud stirs Texas water policy review A heated debate in Texas over a proposal to pump groundwater from state lands for commercial sale is spurring state officials to take another look at a sacred 100-year-old water policy often called "the biggest straw wins." The so-called rule of capture gives a landowner the right to pump an unlimited amount of groundwater by tapping into an underlying aquifer. The owner is not liable for injury to his neighbor because of excessive pumping unless it's intentional. The Texas Supreme Court as recently as four years ago upheld the rule based on an English law that has been modified in most other states because the pumping can exhaust the groundwater supply if it's not naturally recharged...Editorial: Where tradition, law collide On Dec. 8, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review a Colorado court's decision upholding traditional rights of land-grant heirs to use southern Colorado's Taylor Ranch for grazing and other uses. That may be the end of the legal road - but unless cool heads prevail, the rancor generated by the long-running dispute may continue to simmer. The four-decade battle highlighted a clash between two very different legal systems: absolutist concepts of property rights rooted in Anglo-Saxon law and communal rights as practiced under Spanish and Mexican colonial land grants that were used to lure settlers to the Southwest...Tempers flare in property dispute It was shaping up as the Upshur County Land War and no one knew what to expect. Seven police, sheriff and highway patrol cars were lined up out front and folks inside were furious at what could happen to them. "You can bet there are guns in there," said Sylvia Mobley, who drove over from Shreveport, La., to see if there was any substance to the threat of the state of Texas confiscating property that had been in her family for 153 years...State Assaults Private Property In his new book, Mugged By The State: Outrageous Government Assaults on Ordinary People and Their Property, published by Regnery, a sister company of HUMAN EVENTS, Randall Fitzgerald describes how common, ordinary American citizens have been subjected to government abuse. Fitzgerald, a veteran journalist, provides many riveting examples of ranchers, homeowners and small businessmen who have encountered the wrath of bureaucrats and regulators, who, in the zeal of enforcing cumbersome government regulations, have seized homes, private property, cars, bank accounts, and closed down businesses in the interest of "public safety" and the "public good." U.S. gets trade-pact deal with four nations The Bush administration reached a free-trade agreement yesterday with four Central American countries. The accord — reached just weeks before the 10th anniversary of the North American Free Trade Agreement — would allow more than 80 percent of U.S. consumer and industrial products into Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Honduras duty-free as soon as it went into force. That figure would rise to 85 percent within five years and 100 percent in a decade. U.S. agricultural products would take considerably longer — up to 18 years — to reach duty-free status, largely because U.S. trade negotiators insisted on protecting the American sugar market from Central American exports...Lawsuit could affect cattle producers A trial in federal court scheduled for Jan. 12 in Montgomery, Ala., could have a huge impact on Nebraska cattle producers, said Steve Cady, executive director of Organization for Competitive Markets, which is based in Lincoln. According to Cady, the trial, know as "Pickett vs. IBP," is the first class action case ever brought by producers against beef packers over the issue of captive supply...Sheriff: Roaming horses causing a problem Open range areas along U.S. Highway 87 south of Havre have been problematic for motorists using the highway, Hill County Sheriff Greg Szudera said. The Sheriff's Office has received numerous complaints about livestock on or near the highway, and two women were hospitalized Saturday after their car collided with a horse. The horse was killed. The accident has prompted local law enforcement and the State Department of Livestock to search for ways to better enforce animal grazing laws. Szudera and state livestock detective Dan Campbell have been meeting to figure out what recourse the Sheriff's Office has under somewhat confusing state laws...Mad cow variant kills blood donor and a recipient The British government announced Wednesday the first reported case of a person dying from the human form of mad cow disease after a blood transfusion from an infected donor. Health Secretary John Reid told Parliament it was not possible to determine whether the transfusion recipient contracted the fatal brain-wasting illness from the donor or whether the two were independently infected. But it was the first report supporting the idea the disease might be transmitted by blood transfusions...Kids’ video gets good response An educational children’s video on the cowboy way of life, which was partially filmed in the Laramie area, has received an overwhelming response nationwide, one of its producers said. “All About Cowboys” was filmed entirely in Wyoming and is designed to educate children on Western history by portraying and comparing the 1800s cowboy culture with today’s ranching techniques and rodeo showmanship. The video touches on the history of cowboy culture, tells what it’s like to be a cowboy today, and features Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo action, trick riders, a world-class trick roper and a 7-year-old cowboy with his pony...The West Under Cover: Haycox wrote off into the sunset Ernest Hemingway once said he bought a copy of the Saturday Evening Post whenever it had a story by Ernest Haycox. For years the Spur award, given annually by the Western Writers of America, was known as the "Erny," in honor of Haycox. His short story, "Stage to Lordsburg," was made into "Stagecoach," the John Ford movie that made John Wayne famous. Some critics (including this one) will tell you his 1943 novel, Bugles in the Afternoon, with its avoidance of mythology and its insistence on psychological correctness, is among the best Western books ever written...
Proposal to expand management of wolves opposed A proposed "memorandum of understanding" drafted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposes involving other agencies in the management of Mexican gray wolves. Such a move would "lower the service's leadership in wolf recovery, and give more life-and-death power over the wolves to interests more directly responsive to the livestock industry," according to Michael Robinson, a Silver City staffer with the Center for Biological Diversity...Utah, Feds Continue To Stonewall Public On Phantom Highways Controversy The state of Utah and the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) continue to withhold documents from the public concerning their supposedly "open process" for resolving claims to disputed dirt tracks across Utah, conservationist groups charged today. The charge came as two of the groups, the Southern Utah Wilderness Society (SUWA) and The Wilderness Society, lodged a formal appeal last week with the Interior Department over a decision by BLM's Utah office to withhold information concerning jeep tracks and cattle paths claimed as constructed highways by Utah under the repealed, Civil War-era law known as R.S. 2477...11 dams on Emigrant fix-up list Stanislaus National Forest Supervisor Tom Quinn, taking his turn in one of his forest's longest-running controversies, has decided to permit maintenance of 11 Emigrant Wilderness check dams while letting seven others deteriorate over time. Letting those seven go "moves the Emigrant Wilderness, as a whole, towards a more pristine condition," Quinn wrote in his Record of Decision, which the Forest Service published Tuesday...'Healthy Forests Act' needs careful watch, enviros say The Healthy Forest Restoration Act ought to be given a chance to work "under careful scrutiny" Western Colorado Congress and Colorado photographer John Fielder said. President Bush this month signed the measure that significantly changes the way some of the nation's most fire- threatened forests will be managed. The new law, which was carried by U.S. Rep. Scott McInnis, whose 3rd Congressional District is among the most forested in the nation, isn't what environmental organizations most wanted...Susanville timber mill closing This city is losing a major employer and its last timber mill. Sierra Pacific Industries announced Tuesday that it will close its 39-year-old sawmill by the end of the first quarter of 2004. The company cited the loss of government timber supplies and competition from foreign imports as reasons for the closure. The move will affect about 150 workers, SPI spokesman Ed Bond said. Workers at the mill make an average hourly wage of $18.30...Beetles threaten thousands of acres of pinyon trees Colorado's Roaring Fork Valley is vulnerable to a beetle infestation that could wipe out pinyon trees covering thousands of acres, according to a forestry expert. John Denison, district forester for the Colorado State Forest Service, said that conditions in the scenic valley make the pinyon susceptible to the Ips beetle. He estimated that 80 percent of the trees could die...Judge rules for listing orcas as endangered A federal judge yesterday struck down the Bush administration's decision not to protect Puget Sound orcas under the Endangered Species Act, chastising federal officials for failing to consider the "best available science." The U.S. District Court ruling was a major victory for environmentalists. The National Marine Fisheries Service had justified its June 2002 decision by saying that even if orcas that reside in the Sound and nearby waters disappeared, their place could be taken by far-ranging transient orcas that sometimes visit...Column: The Cartoonist Who Fought Dams Hard In George Fisher's world, the dam-building, river-straightening, concrete-addicted nature destroyers of the Army Corps of Engineers wore dark sunglasses, knee boots, impossibly tight pants and dorky pith helmets emblazoned with his unofficial motto for the agency: "Keep Busy." They carried rolled-up blueprints, drove menacing dredges with ferociously pointy teeth and drooled over free-flowing streams like dirty old men ogling young virgins. When they died, they arrived at the Pearly Gates armed with channelization plans for the Kingdom of Heaven and recoiled at the picturesque river valleys God had let fester there...Column: Global Warming is Likely to Cause Huge Climatic Changes -- and Possibly a New Ice Age What killed the saber-toothed tiger, the mastodon and the mammoth, formidable animals that were on top of the food chain in North America 20,000 years ago? Was it fierce Stone Age hunters as has commonly been assumed, or the little-studied but very real phenomenon of abrupt climate change? This question is not just of academic interest, to be debated by pipe-smoking professors at conferences. The rapid natural climate changes at the end of the Ice Age could be mirrored by man-made global warming in the 21st century, leading to devastating consequences for the planet's biodiversity and the human race itself...Baby condor makes historic flight in Grand Canyon Arizona's first baby condor in recorded history made its first flight November 5 when it glided 500 feet to the ground from its nest on a cliff located in a remote area of the Grand Canyon. "The significance of the first wild-hatched California condor in Arizona is tremendous. While captive-bred condors have exceeded our expectations, it is this chick and others like it in the future that will ensure condor recovery in Arizona," Arizona Game and Fish director Duane Shroufe said...City Officials Angry Over Fire Prevention Delays City officials in San Bernardino, Calif., say the U.S. Fish and Wildlife agency's concerns about endangered species delayed a federally funded fire prevention program for seven years and led directly to the disastrous fires there in October. According to city officials, philosophical problems among some biologists, environmentalists and other agencies delayed approved measures to prevent fires from being enacted. City officials also claim that they set aside $500,000 for a program meant to thin a number of trees in problem areas identified in a 1995 survey, but not one square foot of forestry was thinned. According to a congressional investigation, more than half of all federal projects proposed to reduce the literal fuel to the fires never get implemented, including several projects that may have limited the scope of this fall's California wildfires. Those fires burnt 750,000 acres, destroyed 3,640 homes, killed 22 people and countless wildlife and are estimated to have cost $10 billion in damage...Lawmaker calls for investigation of Wildlife Service over fires Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, wants Congress to investigate why the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Carlsbad office reportedly delayed prescribed burns in San Bernardino County forest areas scorched in the October wildfires. California Department of Forestry Chief Tom O'Keefe told the Riverside Press-Enterprise for a story published Tuesday that the Fish and Wildlife Service opposed prescribed fires that might have helped save plant and animal habitats. "The U.S Fish and Wildlife policy of obstructionism contributed to the most devastating wildfires the state of California has ever seen," Calvert said in a statement Wednesday. "I have every intention of investigating their role in delaying and preventing prescribed fires that could have saved businesses, homes and lives."...Duck slaughter found Federal wildlife officials want to know who killed 35 wild ducks and dumped them, without cleaning them or saving any of the meat, beside Deer Creek Road near East Missoula. Rick Branzell, a special agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, discovered the ducks tossed in a snowbank beside the road Wednesday afternoon after receiving a tip from a Missoula County snowplow driver. The discarded ducks could represent several possible violations of state and federal wildlife laws, according to Branzell...Bald eagle closures begin in December Recreational activities are being temporarily limited at 13 locations near Arizona waterways beginning in December in an effort to protect nesting bald eagles. Arizona Game and Fish Department biologists say bald eagles start rebuilding nests in December in preparation for laying eggs. Land and wildlife management agencies enact the seasonal breeding area closures from December through June at locations on Tonto Creek, the Salt and Verde rivers, as well as Alamo, Pleasant, Becker, Lynx and Luna lakes...Crowing, howling greet return of wolves to West The sound of success pierces the cold, still air. Howling gray wolves announce their dominance over the food chain stretching from Yellowstone National Park's Lamar Valley to Montana less than a decade after wildlife biologists returned them to their traditional habitat. Bringing wolves back from the brink of extinction is being hailed as an ecological triumph, so much so that the federal government reclassified the animal this year from "endangered" to "threatened." The next step toward removal from the protected species list is for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to transfer responsibility for wolf management to game officials in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, possibly late next year. The livestock industry and hunters, who have simmered as the wolf population soared from 31 in the mid-1990s to 750, say they can't wait for return of local control. On the other side, environmental groups fear that a lack of federal oversight will mean a return to the "shoot, shovel and shut up" mindset that nearly caused the wolf's demise...Park Service board concludes probe of fatal bear attack on California couple A panel that investigated the deadly bear attack on a California couple in Katmai National Park and Preserve last October is recommending a review of the park's camping and bear management policies, federal officials said Wednesday. The Technical Board of Investigation has completed its inquiry in the deaths of Malibu, Calif., bear activists Timothy Treadwell and Amie Huguenard and plans to submit its final report to National Park Service officials within a week. The four-page report also sums up likely contributing factors in the deaths of Treadwell, 46, a wildlife author who spent the past 13 summers tracking brown bears at the Alaska Peninsula park, and Huguenard, 37, who joined him in recent years. Treadwell was known and sometimes criticized for getting too chummy with brown bears - as coastal grizzlies are called in Alaska - without any kind of protection such as bear spray...Last-minute ruling prompts scramble on Yellowstone's opening day Carol Steinhauer was sputtering mad Wednesday morning. The Indiana woman's long-awaited two-week vacation in Yellowstone National Park had been disrupted, and she wanted somebody to pay. "This is a $5,000 vacation," she said as she pulled off her snowmobile helmet and began looking for a way to enter the park, a place that had been closed to unescorted snowmobilers like herself and her husband, Paul, just 12 hours earlier. "I'd like to send the bill to the senator who came up with this," she said. "Or the judge. Or the tree huggers."...Park ruling sparks dismay Norm Brunel of Manitoba, Canada, waited patiently in the cold morning darkness for the park to officially open. When it did, he presented a permit and fee receipt he'd purchased a month earlier, which were to have gained him admittance. Instead, he was told they were no longer valid. "No matter what I have," he said in frustration, "I can't go into the park, not without going out and hiring a guide. I drove 1,200 miles for this."...NYT Editorial: Banishing Snowmobiles n a federal courtroom in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Judge Emmet Sullivan declared a halt to the Bush administration's plan to continue and indeed expand snowmobiling in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. His ruling, which reinstates a Clinton-administration plan to phase out the snowmobiles, is a victory for the parks, their wildlife and the visitors who come to enjoy both. Beyond that, it is a resounding rebuke to the Bush administration, whose eagerness to satisfy a narrow political constituency caused it to violate its statutory obligation to protect the parks from degradation and to leave them, as the law commands, "unimpaired" for future generations. That snowmobiles impaired the parks was never much in doubt -- not to the Park Service employees who hated President Bush's plan; not to the public, whose comments reflected overwhelming disapproval for the plan; and not to the government's own scientists, who concluded that even the newer, quieter snowmobiles the administration had promoted as the ultimate compromise would foul the air and disrupt animal life...Snowmobile Community Appeals District of Columbia Court Opinion on Yellowstone The Snowmobile Community will immediately appeal an opinion issued by U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by Judge Emmet Sullivan, blocking the 2003 Yellowstone National Park Winter Use Plan. The State of Wyoming and the National Park Service (NPS) are expected to join the appeal. The Snowmobile Community, including individuals and small business owners in the Yellowstone gateway communities, snowmobile enthusiast organizations, and snowmobile manufacturers through the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association (ISMA), will seek an emergency stay of the Judge's ruling. The stay requests that the opinion not be implemented while the case is being appealed...Sled ruling hits home to outfitters Early Wednesday morning Jackson Hole Snowmobile Tours office manager Stacey Chapman called two people and told them that because of a judge's ruling Tuesday night they would not be able to rent snowmobiles. "They were irate," said Chapman, who is the office manager. "They did not understand. That's how it's going to be. We are going to have a lot of angry people." Wyoming officials and snowmobile industry attorneys are trying to keep Chapman from having to speak with more angry customers. Both are working to overturn U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan's ruling that cuts in half the number of snowmobiles allowed in Yellowstone and Grand Teton this winter and would eliminate snowmobiles from the park next winter...Waiting List For Grand Canyon Raft Trips Frozen The National Park Service has imposed a freeze on adding new names to the waiting list for permits to raft through the Grand Canyon. There are now more than 8,000 people on the list for self-guided rafting trips through the park. Those at the end of the list will have to wait 20 years to make the trip down the Colorado River...Report stresses animal safety: Vehicles must be prevented from running over imperiled species during a desert race The U.S. Defense Department will have to take steps to prevent robotic vehicles from running over desert tortoises and other imperiled species when it hosts a race from Barstow to Las Vegas, a report issued Wednesday said. While it is anticipated that few, if any, desert tortoises would be killed or injured, tortoise monitors will be required to sweep the route before the race and move any reptiles 100 feet off the course, the Bureau of Land Management report said...Lawns and life could get ugly if lake keeps falling Daily life in the Las Vegas Valley could become increasingly challenging if Lake Mead continues its decline, dipping below 1,125 feet above sea level in 2005 and pushing the region into a drought emergency, the most severe of the region's three drought categories. Lawn watering could be banned. Water rates could increase for the second time in 18 months. Golf courses might have to operate with less water...Regulators say protecting Tahoe Basin a priority Preventing a major wildfire from devastating the Lake Tahoe Basin and fouling its sensitive environment for years must be the area’s top priority, land-use regulators decided Wednesday. Governors of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency reviewed a $26.5 million plan to begin thinning trees and taking other precautions in fire-prone forests along the dangerous ribbon of landscape where forests abut populated communities...Editorial: Federal land sales While water officials throughout the West continue to grapple with the implications of our record-setting drought, at least there's some good news from Washington. The Bush administration has said it will neither halt nor slow the pace of public land sales in Southern Nevada. At a meeting Friday in Las Vegas of the agencies that receive water from the Colorado River, Assistant Interior Secretary Bennett Raley said, "The federal government is not going to play a role in where (people) can and should live. That's a local issue, not a federal issue." And that's the appropriate response. Washington bureaucrats have no business meddling in local planning and zoning decisions -- notwithstanding the "Livable Communities Initiative," a scheme hatched by former Vice President Al Gore in 1999 to have the federal government buy up undeveloped land and make it off-limits for future homes or businesses...The Killing Hills Martin didn't find a sympathetic ear in Mike Roach, conservation officer for the Division of Wildlife Resources. Roach investigated the incident, ruled it a legal kill and said Martin had no recourse against the offending hunter. The problem, said Roach, is that landowners made no attempt to distinguish their property lines from the public land that backs up against the Olympus Cove neighborhood. And he can't enforce a trespassing complaint unless fences were erected or signs posted...Bush hears Ducks Unlimited concerns With one third of the waterfowl hunters answering a Ducks Unlimited survey saying success is below average so far this season, DU president John Tomke and others met last week with President Bush. Tomke's concern comes from a 2001 Supreme Court decision that, if broadly interpreted, could eliminate long-standing protection of wetlands and small bodies of water under the Clean Water Act. During the meeting, Tomke also remarked that in recent months more than 20,000 letters have been sent to the White House and other key decision makers in Washington by DU members and supporters on this issue...Cheney-Cornyn pheasant hunt drawing slings and arrows When Dick Cheney and a hunting party that included Sen. John Cornyn and several other Texas Republicans bagged hundreds of pheasants at a private game reserve in Pennsylvania last week, animal-rights activists denounced it as a slaughter. They were especially outraged that the vice president shot more than 70. But Mr. Cornyn said Wednesday that the birds had a sporting chance, even if they were farm-raised and released from nets for the hunters. "It was a good shoot," said Mr. Cornyn, who figures he shot dozens of pheasants himself...Water feud stirs Texas water policy review A heated debate in Texas over a proposal to pump groundwater from state lands for commercial sale is spurring state officials to take another look at a sacred 100-year-old water policy often called "the biggest straw wins." The so-called rule of capture gives a landowner the right to pump an unlimited amount of groundwater by tapping into an underlying aquifer. The owner is not liable for injury to his neighbor because of excessive pumping unless it's intentional. The Texas Supreme Court as recently as four years ago upheld the rule based on an English law that has been modified in most other states because the pumping can exhaust the groundwater supply if it's not naturally recharged...Editorial: Where tradition, law collide On Dec. 8, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review a Colorado court's decision upholding traditional rights of land-grant heirs to use southern Colorado's Taylor Ranch for grazing and other uses. That may be the end of the legal road - but unless cool heads prevail, the rancor generated by the long-running dispute may continue to simmer. The four-decade battle highlighted a clash between two very different legal systems: absolutist concepts of property rights rooted in Anglo-Saxon law and communal rights as practiced under Spanish and Mexican colonial land grants that were used to lure settlers to the Southwest...Tempers flare in property dispute It was shaping up as the Upshur County Land War and no one knew what to expect. Seven police, sheriff and highway patrol cars were lined up out front and folks inside were furious at what could happen to them. "You can bet there are guns in there," said Sylvia Mobley, who drove over from Shreveport, La., to see if there was any substance to the threat of the state of Texas confiscating property that had been in her family for 153 years...State Assaults Private Property In his new book, Mugged By The State: Outrageous Government Assaults on Ordinary People and Their Property, published by Regnery, a sister company of HUMAN EVENTS, Randall Fitzgerald describes how common, ordinary American citizens have been subjected to government abuse. Fitzgerald, a veteran journalist, provides many riveting examples of ranchers, homeowners and small businessmen who have encountered the wrath of bureaucrats and regulators, who, in the zeal of enforcing cumbersome government regulations, have seized homes, private property, cars, bank accounts, and closed down businesses in the interest of "public safety" and the "public good." U.S. gets trade-pact deal with four nations The Bush administration reached a free-trade agreement yesterday with four Central American countries. The accord — reached just weeks before the 10th anniversary of the North American Free Trade Agreement — would allow more than 80 percent of U.S. consumer and industrial products into Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Honduras duty-free as soon as it went into force. That figure would rise to 85 percent within five years and 100 percent in a decade. U.S. agricultural products would take considerably longer — up to 18 years — to reach duty-free status, largely because U.S. trade negotiators insisted on protecting the American sugar market from Central American exports...Lawsuit could affect cattle producers A trial in federal court scheduled for Jan. 12 in Montgomery, Ala., could have a huge impact on Nebraska cattle producers, said Steve Cady, executive director of Organization for Competitive Markets, which is based in Lincoln. According to Cady, the trial, know as "Pickett vs. IBP," is the first class action case ever brought by producers against beef packers over the issue of captive supply...Sheriff: Roaming horses causing a problem Open range areas along U.S. Highway 87 south of Havre have been problematic for motorists using the highway, Hill County Sheriff Greg Szudera said. The Sheriff's Office has received numerous complaints about livestock on or near the highway, and two women were hospitalized Saturday after their car collided with a horse. The horse was killed. The accident has prompted local law enforcement and the State Department of Livestock to search for ways to better enforce animal grazing laws. Szudera and state livestock detective Dan Campbell have been meeting to figure out what recourse the Sheriff's Office has under somewhat confusing state laws...Mad cow variant kills blood donor and a recipient The British government announced Wednesday the first reported case of a person dying from the human form of mad cow disease after a blood transfusion from an infected donor. Health Secretary John Reid told Parliament it was not possible to determine whether the transfusion recipient contracted the fatal brain-wasting illness from the donor or whether the two were independently infected. But it was the first report supporting the idea the disease might be transmitted by blood transfusions...Kids’ video gets good response An educational children’s video on the cowboy way of life, which was partially filmed in the Laramie area, has received an overwhelming response nationwide, one of its producers said. “All About Cowboys” was filmed entirely in Wyoming and is designed to educate children on Western history by portraying and comparing the 1800s cowboy culture with today’s ranching techniques and rodeo showmanship. The video touches on the history of cowboy culture, tells what it’s like to be a cowboy today, and features Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo action, trick riders, a world-class trick roper and a 7-year-old cowboy with his pony...The West Under Cover: Haycox wrote off into the sunset Ernest Hemingway once said he bought a copy of the Saturday Evening Post whenever it had a story by Ernest Haycox. For years the Spur award, given annually by the Western Writers of America, was known as the "Erny," in honor of Haycox. His short story, "Stage to Lordsburg," was made into "Stagecoach," the John Ford movie that made John Wayne famous. Some critics (including this one) will tell you his 1943 novel, Bugles in the Afternoon, with its avoidance of mythology and its insistence on psychological correctness, is among the best Western books ever written...
Tuesday, December 16, 2003
*
*
And you thought everything would change when Christie Whitman left EPA. After all, we got a western Governor in the top spot. I'm sure the back-tracking on this key issue had nothing to do with this meeting. Looks like someone will have to sue Bush to get him to implement the Supreme Court decision.
*
*
Bush administration abandons effort to rewrite wetlands regulations
WASHINGTON (AP) President Bush is abandoning a plan that could have further reduced wetlands protections even though his administration has said their occasional use by farmers, migratory birds or endangered species isn't reason enough to stop developers from filling them in.
Mike Leavitt, the new administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, said Tuesday that Bush personally made the decision ''not to issue a rule that could reduce'' further wetlands protections under the Clean Water Act.
Leavitt said the administration wants to avoid ''a contentious and lengthy rule-making debate'' over disputed environmental benefits or losses by putting into force advisory guidelines issued in January.
The administration recognizes the ecological value of remaining wetlands that function as ''nature's kidneys'' by filtering pollutants, Leavitt said, explaining Bush's decision to drop a formal rule-making process since then.
The Supreme Court ruled in 2001 in a Chicago-area case that isolated ponds and mudflats should not be afforded Clean Water Act protections if only to provide habitat for migratory birds.
The EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers issued the January guidelines for carrying out the court's decision. Environmentalists said those guidelines went beyond the court ruling by adding ''endangered species'' and ''crop irrigation'' as insufficient grounds for protecting wetlands, isolated streams, ponds and marshes that don't cross state lines.
At the same time, the administration began crafting new regulations specifically to exclude isolated ponds and streams, many of them dry for part of the year, as protected wetlands under the law.
Chandler Morse, a policy analyst for the National Association of Home Builders, said the guidelines have created even more inconsistency and unpredictability on whether developers must get permits from the Corps of Engineers before filling isolated wetlands.
''Not moving ahead with the rule-making is going to leave the problems around,'' he said. ''There just isn't a lot of information on what this all means.''
Last month, 218 House members, including 26 Republicans, independent Rep. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and all but 14 of the House's 205 Democrats, signed a letter to Bush urging him to scrap what they called an attempt ''to remove federal protection from waters ... that have been covered by the Clean Water Act for decades.''
EPA has estimated that as much one-fifth of the current 100 million acres of wetlands in the United States, a full 20 million acres, could be considered isolated. Other Bush administration officials have put that figure at as low as 45,000 acres.
''We're happy that they've decided not to go forward,'' said Malia Hale, a water policy specialist at the National Wildlife Federation. ''However, the guidance still stands out there.''
Tracy Mehan, who oversees the EPA Office of Water, said the Supreme Court's decision and guidelines implementing it have had little impact on wetlands so far.
*
And you thought everything would change when Christie Whitman left EPA. After all, we got a western Governor in the top spot. I'm sure the back-tracking on this key issue had nothing to do with this meeting. Looks like someone will have to sue Bush to get him to implement the Supreme Court decision.
*
*
Bush administration abandons effort to rewrite wetlands regulations
WASHINGTON (AP) President Bush is abandoning a plan that could have further reduced wetlands protections even though his administration has said their occasional use by farmers, migratory birds or endangered species isn't reason enough to stop developers from filling them in.
Mike Leavitt, the new administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, said Tuesday that Bush personally made the decision ''not to issue a rule that could reduce'' further wetlands protections under the Clean Water Act.
Leavitt said the administration wants to avoid ''a contentious and lengthy rule-making debate'' over disputed environmental benefits or losses by putting into force advisory guidelines issued in January.
The administration recognizes the ecological value of remaining wetlands that function as ''nature's kidneys'' by filtering pollutants, Leavitt said, explaining Bush's decision to drop a formal rule-making process since then.
The Supreme Court ruled in 2001 in a Chicago-area case that isolated ponds and mudflats should not be afforded Clean Water Act protections if only to provide habitat for migratory birds.
The EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers issued the January guidelines for carrying out the court's decision. Environmentalists said those guidelines went beyond the court ruling by adding ''endangered species'' and ''crop irrigation'' as insufficient grounds for protecting wetlands, isolated streams, ponds and marshes that don't cross state lines.
At the same time, the administration began crafting new regulations specifically to exclude isolated ponds and streams, many of them dry for part of the year, as protected wetlands under the law.
Chandler Morse, a policy analyst for the National Association of Home Builders, said the guidelines have created even more inconsistency and unpredictability on whether developers must get permits from the Corps of Engineers before filling isolated wetlands.
''Not moving ahead with the rule-making is going to leave the problems around,'' he said. ''There just isn't a lot of information on what this all means.''
Last month, 218 House members, including 26 Republicans, independent Rep. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and all but 14 of the House's 205 Democrats, signed a letter to Bush urging him to scrap what they called an attempt ''to remove federal protection from waters ... that have been covered by the Clean Water Act for decades.''
EPA has estimated that as much one-fifth of the current 100 million acres of wetlands in the United States, a full 20 million acres, could be considered isolated. Other Bush administration officials have put that figure at as low as 45,000 acres.
''We're happy that they've decided not to go forward,'' said Malia Hale, a water policy specialist at the National Wildlife Federation. ''However, the guidance still stands out there.''
Tracy Mehan, who oversees the EPA Office of Water, said the Supreme Court's decision and guidelines implementing it have had little impact on wetlands so far.
NEWS ROUNDUP
Fish and Wildlife Service faulted in Southern California wildfires Officials say efforts to battle California wildfires were hampered because the US Fish and Wildlife Service delayed their request for controlled burns. The city of San Bernardino received funding from the federal government in 1995 to burn areas of heavy brush near the San Bernardino National Forest. But it took the Fish and Wildlife Service seven years to conclude the burns would not jeopardize rare animals and plants. That decision came just a few months before the Old Fire destroyed hundreds of homes. The city was preparing public hearings on the burn when the fire started...Forest Service approves food storage order After two years of revisions, the U.S. Forest Service approved an order to keep food away from bears in more parts of the Bridger-Teton and Shoshone national forests, officials said Tuesday. The order spells out how food, pet food, dead game animals, livestock grains and feeds, garbage and hygiene items should be stored by forest users so they don't attract bears. Forest Service officials say the order, which has drawn criticism and threats of litigation from several Wyoming counties, is necessary to address increasing bear and human encounters and ensure visitor safety...Supervisors approve revised Frank Church Wilderness plan Supervisors of four national forests have signed off on a revised management plan for central Idaho's 4.2 million-acre Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness. The wilderness plan, a decade in the making, includes increases in Salmon River jet boat use by allowing the boats to stay longer, changes in float boating on the Salmon's main and middle forks and changes at wilderness airstrips. It also provides broad direction to forest managers...Klamath Tribes release forest restoration plan Pressing a campaign to regain control over 690,000 acres of national forest taken from them in the 1960s and 1970s, the Klamath Tribes have formed a plan to restore elements of the forest the way it was before a century of logging. The plan, produced by two of the Northwest's leading foresters, would represent one of the biggest forest restoration projects in the West...BuzzFlash interview: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. For his entire adult life, Robert F. Kennedy has fought to protect our environment. In a recent lengthy commentary in Rolling Stone Magazine, Kennedy issued a brilliant, impassioned, well-documented indictment of the Bush administration for its assault on the air, water, and land owned by all Americans for our common good. BuzzFlash recently interviewed Kennedy about his case against the Bush administration's ruinous policies toward the environment...Pot guards endanger land users Mexican cartels have taken over much of California's marijuana farming, boosting both the potency of the drug and the propensity for violence from armed guards protecting the crop, the nation's drug czar said Monday. They're planting huge marijuana plots on public lands, creating a growing danger to hikers and hunters stumbling into the line of fire, said John Walters, director of National Drug Control Policy, in advance of appearances today in Reno and South Lake Tahoe, Nev...Federal lawsuit filed over climbing ban at Tahoe landmark A rock climbing group filed a lawsuit Monday in federal court challenging a U.S. Forest Service management plan that bans climbing on Cave Rock, a landmark on Lake Tahoe's east shore. The Forest Service has agreed to postpone until May implementation of its Cave Rock management plan, which means it's OK to climb there for the time being...Riders, nature-lovers agree: Give land a rest Tire ruts appearing on San Diego County's newly burned hillsides have prompted an unusual alliance of off-road enthusiasts and environmentalists to carry a single message: Stay off the burned lands while they heal. Don't go off trails, even if the now-cleared countryside looks tempting...Bush Administration to Cut Key Salmon-Protection Measures The Bush administration's attempt to eliminate protections for imperiled salmon and steelhead in the Columbia and Snake River Basin drew concern today from a coalition of businesses, fishermen and conservationists. The coalition sent a letter to the President arguing that a decision to eliminate summer spill would be a "serious blow" to salmon-dependent communities and would jeopardize the long-term survival of salmon throughout the Basin. Similar letters from the State of Alaska and the Alaska Trollers' Association have also been sent...Tiny owl may lose U.S. protection The U.S. agency that put the pygmy owl on the endangered species list now wants it taken off, which would make it easier to develop thousands of acres of prime Northwest Side land. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service filed papers last week asking a federal judge to drop the listing of the tiny cactus ferruginous pygmy owl, whose protection transformed the politics of growth in Pima County. Echoing arguments made by home build-ers' groups, the Wildlife Service said a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in August leaves a lower District Court judge no choice but to take the owl off the list...U.S. to Delist Ariz. Agave As Endangered Federal wildlife officials plan to take the Arizona agave off the nation's list of endangered species because scientific studies concluded that the plant is a hybrid. "It hasn't progressed far enough on the evolutionary path to call it a species. Not to say it couldn't, but it hasn't gotten there yet," said Mima Falk, a plant ecologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service...Man charged in aerial coyote hunt A man who survived a small plane crash that killed the pilot pleaded not guilty Monday in federal court to a misdemeanor charge of aerial hunting of coyotes on the Crow Indian Reservation without a permit. The criminal complaint charges Paul A. Garrison, who was injured when the Piper PA-22 he was riding in went down Feb. 20 about six miles east of Garryowen. Pilot Jeff Puente was killed...Park snowmobiling dealt blow It was supposed to have been a merry Christmas party for the 200 or so employees of West Yellowstone's Holiday Inn, and for an extra hour it was. Then Clyde Seely, owner of the lodge, stood up and broke the news: "I didn't want to spoil this night, but an hour ago we learned the judge struck down the Bush plan to allow snowmobiling in Yellowstone (National Park). At this point we don't know the full ramifications of the decision," he said. "I'm sorry." U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled late Tuesday in Washington, D.C., that the Bush administration should not have set aside a Clinton administration plan to ban snowmobiles from the national park. Sullivan's ruling effectively reinstated a Clinton phase-out plan. Now, under that plan, 490 snowmobiles per day will be allowed through the four gates to the park this season, and unless the decision is overturned, the park will be closed to the machines next winter. Under the Bush plan, 950 of the cleaner, quieter machines were to have been allowed into the park each day for years to come...Looter gets 37 months in prison in stolen artifact case in Vegas An Oklahoma man who admitted his role in a theft ring that netted thousands of pilfered relics from throughout the West has received one of the longest prison sentences ever in a case involving stolen artifacts, authorities said Tuesday. Bobbie Wilkie, 45, of Oklahoma City, was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas to 37 months in federal prison and was ordered to pay $102,000 in restitution, Nevada's U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden said...Pilgrim family member found guilty of doing park business without permit A man living inside Wrangell-St. Elias National Park was found guilty of taking an undercover ranger on a paid horseback excursion without a permit. Federal magistrate Harry Branson said Joshua Hale _ who is part of the 17-member Pilgrim family embroiled in a dispute with the government over park access _ knew that Bonanza Mine was part of the national park and that he needed a permit to guide there. But his family accepted $200 from the ranger and Hale took him on a horseback trip to the mine above Kennecott, the magistrate said. In the nonjury trial, Branson found Hale, 23, guilty of the misdemeanor crime of doing business on federal land without a permit...Wild Land or Disneyland? As though do-it-yourself river access weren't already limited at Grand Canyon National Park, Park Service officials in the Bush Administration have announced a "freeze" on accepting applications for river permits for those who don't want a large-sized, commercialized experience on one of the world's most sought-after wilderness rivers. The Administration's Park Service freeze applies only to those seeking a permit to run the river on self-guided and mostly oar-powered trips, while commercial outfitters, who already hold a tight 70% of access to the river, are allowed to continue selling seats for their large motor trips. The current system of permitting has resulted in 20+ year waits for people seeking an authentic wilderness river experience...Scientists say Desert Act limits them Roland Brady used to study geological faults in the Mojave Desert, work that he hoped would lead to a better understanding of earthquakes and help to build structures more resistant to the shaking of the ground. No more. With passage of the Desert Protection Act in 1993 and its implementation the following year, the Cal State Fresno professor says he found himself hamstrung by new regulations and restrictions. The act set aside large areas of Bureau of Land Management territory and regions of Death Valley as wilderness. It also created the Mojave National Preserve, much of it designated as wilderness. Mechanized equipment is banned in wilderness areas. The prohibition applies not only to off-road vehicles - making it impractical for scientists to trek for miles with heavy research supplies or simply access remote areas on foot - but even things such as a tape recorder that might be placed in a study zone to gather data...EPA battles Canadian company over river pollution It's not often the United States serves as a dumping ground for a foreign factory, but that is happening in the remote northeast corner of Washington. The Environmental Protection Agency is trying to force a Canadian company to clean up decades of toxic smelter wastes that have flowed down the Columbia River into Lake Roosevelt in the United States...Western Shoshone payments challenged The Western Shoshone have found an ally in U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva to join their near half-century long land battle with the federal government. The Arizona congressman is taking the Department of Interior to task asking some hard-line questions and requesting bundles of documents related to land and treaty rights directly connected with the current distribution bill which considers one-time payments to the tribe. In a four-page letter, dated Nov. 17 and addressed to Interior Secretary Gale Norton, Grijalva, D-Ariz. asked the department to cite the law the government used to take title to Western Shoshone land, called for the release of reports justifying the agency's recent treatment of the tribe and demanded information regarding any meetings or communications the agency has had with special interests eyeing the land for potential energy development. Although Grijalva said the letter isn't meant to be accusatory or demanding in nature its tone is quite clear. He wants everything laid out on the table so Congress can make an informed decision on H.R. 884, better known as the "Western Shoshone Distribution Bill." Grijalva said he hopes at least to get some "factual answers" to all the questions he raises in his letter...Theft Hampers Archaeology Site Protection Ranger Jason Caffey was on routine patrol, miles from anywhere, when he saw it: A rockshelter that archaeologists had been excavating for a decade was looted, scooped out in the middle with thousands of stone artifacts and bone fragments cast aside. But since Caffey's discovery in June in rugged, remote north-central Wyoming, no arrests have been made and leads have been limited. The vandalism points out the difficulty that a limited number of federal officials in the field face in protecting remote archaeological sites containing valuable artifacts...Ranching proposal faces criticism Proposed new federal rules would improve grazing management and help continue public lands ranching in the rural West, some say. "This proposed rule will help public lands ranchers stay on the land," Interior Secretary Gale Norton recently told the Joint Stockmen's Convention in Albuquerque. Others say the rules will perpetuate a subsidized industry and make it harder for the public to get involved in decisions that affect public lands...Top Fish and Wildlife Priorities Discussed President George W. Bush along with Interior Secretary Gale Norton and Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman met with Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership Chairman Jim Range and representatives from several of the country's leading hunting and angling organizations Friday at the White House. The meeting was called in part to thank those in the group who had supported the President's Healthy Forest Initiative which he signed into law as the Healthy Forest Restoration Act on November 21. The meeting also provided an opportunity for the President to address issues that the sporting community has recently identified as top priority conservation concerns...Bill would protect landowners from drilling Landowners would have more protections if their property is targeted for oil and gas development under a bill introduced by U.S. Reps. Mark Udall, D-Colo., and Tom Udall, D-N.M. The Western Waters and Surface Owners Protection Act was introduced just before Congress recessed for the year, after several efforts to add its provisions to the now-stalled energy bill failed. The bill would require oil and gas operators to replace water supplies lost or damaged due to development, outline steps to protect water resources and negotiate surface-use agreements with private landowners whose property sits over federal minerals. If an agreement cannot be reached, the bill provides for an alternative dispute mechanism to ensure good-faith negotiations...To see the bill, click here and enter H.R. 3698 ...Water plan under fire from rights holders New Mexico's first comprehensive state water plan is scheduled to come before Interstate Stream Commissioners today, but already the Assessment Payers Association of the Middle Rio Grande is complaining that historic water rights holders -- including Indian tribes -- "have every reason to be nervous." In the Assessment Payers November newsletter, "Watermark," put out by association member Lisa Roberts with direction from the board, a cover story states that, "Among the salient criticisms of the draft plan is the short shrift given to the protection of vested rights." Promises made under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo are not addressed in the plan and there is no mention of pre-1907 water rights, the newsletter said...Banks may have to choose between pumpers, trout farms Southern Idaho bankers said they have not had to side with groundwater users or trout producers when it comes to handing out operating loans. But a growing conflict over available water could change that. The dispute revolves around the effect of wells punched into the Snake River Plain Aquifer in eastern Idaho. That ultimately lowers the freshwater springs which supply the trout hatcheries downstream at Hagerman. Those trout farms often have earlier water rights than the groundwater pumpers. The state's dairy industry depends on that pumping...Agreement may put wolf at further risk, some say The recovery of the highly endangered Mexican wolf may be further at risk under a new agreement among federal, state and tribal leaders, conservationists say. They said the so-called memorandum of understanding places too much authority over the wolves with local officials and the livestock industry. The agreement, signed by only a handful of agencies so far, acknowledges the responsibilities of state, county and tribal governments for the welfare and protection of their citizens, and makes them an intricate part of the management process for the wolves...Non-lethal methods can resolve conflicts between bears and humans How do you keep a black bear from taking out the backyard bird feeder or going through your garbage? Play the sound of a helicopter, or flash a strobe light, say scientists from the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and other organizations, who tested several non-lethal techniques to minimize conflicts between humans and large carnivores. The scientists, who published their results in the December edition of Conservation Biology, compared the effectiveness of non-lethal methods for keeping large carnivores away from human structures, livestock, and other potential conflict areas. They found that motion-activated lights and sounds can keep both large- and medium-sized predators away from food sources, thus preventing a clash that can result in large carnivores being destroyed...Editorial: Labeling law shouldn't be delayed The reasons country-of-origin labeling on food products is good for the United States are so overwhelming that it's appalling that it has been delayed. What is even more despicable is that the labeling law (COOL) has already passed; the debate has already taken place. COOL was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush as part of the 2002 Farm Bill...Court reinstates madcow suit against USDA A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday revived an animal protection group's lawsuit against the Department of Agriculture aimed at stopping the sale of "downed" animals for human food because of a fear of mad cow disease. In its ruling, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a trial court's finding that the Farm Sanctuary, based in upstate New York, and Fordham University professor Michael Baur had no standing to file the suit...Keeping Cows Safe From Terrorism That's the concern of the Department of Homeland Security, which announced Friday a $33 million plan for a pair of academic centers to combat possible terrorist attacks on America's livestock and food supply. The department contends that so-called "agroterrorism" is a "top priority for university research." But outside homeland security and biological defense circles, experts are deeply divided over how realistic the threat actually is...Group aims to market lamb to US Australia has joined forces with the United States and New Zealand to boost consumption of lamb in the United States and to avoid the difficulties faced in the market in the past. Four years ago the US Government increased the tariff on lamb imports from Australia and New Zealand in an attempt to protect local farmers from competition. The World Trade Organisation eventually ruled the tariff increase illegal and the US was forced to back down...East Texans dig in for land battle "Boogie" Feagin thought his little corner of Upshur County was his retirement castle, a scrub-pine slice of East Texas where a working man could run some cows and watch his grandkids play. But trouble arrived in his mailbox three months ago. Now the 69-year-old and his neighbors are worried that an arcane Texas legal maneuver known as a "vacancy claim" could cost them their homes and land...All 31 Brucellosis-infected cattle had been vaccinated for the disease All 31 cattle which tested positive for brucellosis on a ranch in the Boulder area had been vaccinated against the disease, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture veterinarian. After answering Sublette County residents' questions during a 41/2-hour meeting in Pinedale Monday night, officials were deciding what to do next to contain the outbreak. They were weighing a number of options, including providing booster shots to Sublette County cattle. Bret Combs, a veterinarian with the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said Tuesday that seven of the infected cattle had been inoculated with the Strain 19 vaccine and the rest with the newer RB51 vaccine, which began being administered around 1996...Railcar shortage hits U.S. A record 2003 corn crop, high grain prices and rising demand in Europe and Asia for wheat and soybeans are factors contributing to railcar shortages, the Agriculture Marketing Service indicated in its weekly grain and transportation report. As a result, grain is being stored on the ground in many locations...Borders may be open to beef by 2004 As 2003 draws to a close, area beef producers are optimistic that the American border will reopen to Canadian beef early in the new year. A comment period to the American government on a proposal to reopen the border, which was closed on May 20 after one breeder cow in Alberta tested positive for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), will end on Jan. 5, 2004. Lyle Vanclief, federal minister of agriculture, reportedly told media recently that he expects the border to reopen to live animals younger than 30 months within a week following the Jan. 5 deadline for comments, but one area farmer thinks that's optimistic...Members of the Senate will work to restore COOL -- Grassley Although supporters of Country of Origin Labeling have expressed hope that the Senate will stop a two-year delay in mandatory country of origin labeling when it votes on a spending bill next January, that's not likely to happen, the Chair of the Senate Finance Committee said Tuesday. "It will not be stopped in the Senate on January 20, but I would not preclude activity in the next appropriations process," said Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA)...Time, progress change cowboys' job description Few things in western history have changed as drastically as the job descriptions of the American cowboy. Our long-time vision of a tall, bowlegged, sunburned, weathered, chapped and spurred rugged individual seems to have all but disappeared from the western scene. Perhaps it is because of the ever-changing job descriptions he endures. At one time, the cowboy arose before daylight, topped off his bronc for the day, then rode the wide-open ranges until late evening, tending livestock and enjoying complete freedom. In the 1880s, barbed wire was invented and the chore of fence building and repair was added to his duties...Fans want former rider in hall of fame It's been decades since "Brownie" Smith last settled down on top a saddle bronc, nodded to the men holding the gate latch and exploded into rodeo arenas all around southwest Montana. But her horsemanship skills and ability to make a good ride haven't been forgotten. And now people around Montana are working to see Smith's achievements as a cowgirl be remembered forever as a member of the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame. "The first I can remember seeing Brownie ride was at a rodeo in Dillon," remembers Jim Eighorn of Melrose in his nomination letter. "She made an exhibition saddle bronc ride that made your hair stand on end...
Fish and Wildlife Service faulted in Southern California wildfires Officials say efforts to battle California wildfires were hampered because the US Fish and Wildlife Service delayed their request for controlled burns. The city of San Bernardino received funding from the federal government in 1995 to burn areas of heavy brush near the San Bernardino National Forest. But it took the Fish and Wildlife Service seven years to conclude the burns would not jeopardize rare animals and plants. That decision came just a few months before the Old Fire destroyed hundreds of homes. The city was preparing public hearings on the burn when the fire started...Forest Service approves food storage order After two years of revisions, the U.S. Forest Service approved an order to keep food away from bears in more parts of the Bridger-Teton and Shoshone national forests, officials said Tuesday. The order spells out how food, pet food, dead game animals, livestock grains and feeds, garbage and hygiene items should be stored by forest users so they don't attract bears. Forest Service officials say the order, which has drawn criticism and threats of litigation from several Wyoming counties, is necessary to address increasing bear and human encounters and ensure visitor safety...Supervisors approve revised Frank Church Wilderness plan Supervisors of four national forests have signed off on a revised management plan for central Idaho's 4.2 million-acre Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness. The wilderness plan, a decade in the making, includes increases in Salmon River jet boat use by allowing the boats to stay longer, changes in float boating on the Salmon's main and middle forks and changes at wilderness airstrips. It also provides broad direction to forest managers...Klamath Tribes release forest restoration plan Pressing a campaign to regain control over 690,000 acres of national forest taken from them in the 1960s and 1970s, the Klamath Tribes have formed a plan to restore elements of the forest the way it was before a century of logging. The plan, produced by two of the Northwest's leading foresters, would represent one of the biggest forest restoration projects in the West...BuzzFlash interview: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. For his entire adult life, Robert F. Kennedy has fought to protect our environment. In a recent lengthy commentary in Rolling Stone Magazine, Kennedy issued a brilliant, impassioned, well-documented indictment of the Bush administration for its assault on the air, water, and land owned by all Americans for our common good. BuzzFlash recently interviewed Kennedy about his case against the Bush administration's ruinous policies toward the environment...Pot guards endanger land users Mexican cartels have taken over much of California's marijuana farming, boosting both the potency of the drug and the propensity for violence from armed guards protecting the crop, the nation's drug czar said Monday. They're planting huge marijuana plots on public lands, creating a growing danger to hikers and hunters stumbling into the line of fire, said John Walters, director of National Drug Control Policy, in advance of appearances today in Reno and South Lake Tahoe, Nev...Federal lawsuit filed over climbing ban at Tahoe landmark A rock climbing group filed a lawsuit Monday in federal court challenging a U.S. Forest Service management plan that bans climbing on Cave Rock, a landmark on Lake Tahoe's east shore. The Forest Service has agreed to postpone until May implementation of its Cave Rock management plan, which means it's OK to climb there for the time being...Riders, nature-lovers agree: Give land a rest Tire ruts appearing on San Diego County's newly burned hillsides have prompted an unusual alliance of off-road enthusiasts and environmentalists to carry a single message: Stay off the burned lands while they heal. Don't go off trails, even if the now-cleared countryside looks tempting...Bush Administration to Cut Key Salmon-Protection Measures The Bush administration's attempt to eliminate protections for imperiled salmon and steelhead in the Columbia and Snake River Basin drew concern today from a coalition of businesses, fishermen and conservationists. The coalition sent a letter to the President arguing that a decision to eliminate summer spill would be a "serious blow" to salmon-dependent communities and would jeopardize the long-term survival of salmon throughout the Basin. Similar letters from the State of Alaska and the Alaska Trollers' Association have also been sent...Tiny owl may lose U.S. protection The U.S. agency that put the pygmy owl on the endangered species list now wants it taken off, which would make it easier to develop thousands of acres of prime Northwest Side land. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service filed papers last week asking a federal judge to drop the listing of the tiny cactus ferruginous pygmy owl, whose protection transformed the politics of growth in Pima County. Echoing arguments made by home build-ers' groups, the Wildlife Service said a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in August leaves a lower District Court judge no choice but to take the owl off the list...U.S. to Delist Ariz. Agave As Endangered Federal wildlife officials plan to take the Arizona agave off the nation's list of endangered species because scientific studies concluded that the plant is a hybrid. "It hasn't progressed far enough on the evolutionary path to call it a species. Not to say it couldn't, but it hasn't gotten there yet," said Mima Falk, a plant ecologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service...Man charged in aerial coyote hunt A man who survived a small plane crash that killed the pilot pleaded not guilty Monday in federal court to a misdemeanor charge of aerial hunting of coyotes on the Crow Indian Reservation without a permit. The criminal complaint charges Paul A. Garrison, who was injured when the Piper PA-22 he was riding in went down Feb. 20 about six miles east of Garryowen. Pilot Jeff Puente was killed...Park snowmobiling dealt blow It was supposed to have been a merry Christmas party for the 200 or so employees of West Yellowstone's Holiday Inn, and for an extra hour it was. Then Clyde Seely, owner of the lodge, stood up and broke the news: "I didn't want to spoil this night, but an hour ago we learned the judge struck down the Bush plan to allow snowmobiling in Yellowstone (National Park). At this point we don't know the full ramifications of the decision," he said. "I'm sorry." U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled late Tuesday in Washington, D.C., that the Bush administration should not have set aside a Clinton administration plan to ban snowmobiles from the national park. Sullivan's ruling effectively reinstated a Clinton phase-out plan. Now, under that plan, 490 snowmobiles per day will be allowed through the four gates to the park this season, and unless the decision is overturned, the park will be closed to the machines next winter. Under the Bush plan, 950 of the cleaner, quieter machines were to have been allowed into the park each day for years to come...Looter gets 37 months in prison in stolen artifact case in Vegas An Oklahoma man who admitted his role in a theft ring that netted thousands of pilfered relics from throughout the West has received one of the longest prison sentences ever in a case involving stolen artifacts, authorities said Tuesday. Bobbie Wilkie, 45, of Oklahoma City, was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas to 37 months in federal prison and was ordered to pay $102,000 in restitution, Nevada's U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden said...Pilgrim family member found guilty of doing park business without permit A man living inside Wrangell-St. Elias National Park was found guilty of taking an undercover ranger on a paid horseback excursion without a permit. Federal magistrate Harry Branson said Joshua Hale _ who is part of the 17-member Pilgrim family embroiled in a dispute with the government over park access _ knew that Bonanza Mine was part of the national park and that he needed a permit to guide there. But his family accepted $200 from the ranger and Hale took him on a horseback trip to the mine above Kennecott, the magistrate said. In the nonjury trial, Branson found Hale, 23, guilty of the misdemeanor crime of doing business on federal land without a permit...Wild Land or Disneyland? As though do-it-yourself river access weren't already limited at Grand Canyon National Park, Park Service officials in the Bush Administration have announced a "freeze" on accepting applications for river permits for those who don't want a large-sized, commercialized experience on one of the world's most sought-after wilderness rivers. The Administration's Park Service freeze applies only to those seeking a permit to run the river on self-guided and mostly oar-powered trips, while commercial outfitters, who already hold a tight 70% of access to the river, are allowed to continue selling seats for their large motor trips. The current system of permitting has resulted in 20+ year waits for people seeking an authentic wilderness river experience...Scientists say Desert Act limits them Roland Brady used to study geological faults in the Mojave Desert, work that he hoped would lead to a better understanding of earthquakes and help to build structures more resistant to the shaking of the ground. No more. With passage of the Desert Protection Act in 1993 and its implementation the following year, the Cal State Fresno professor says he found himself hamstrung by new regulations and restrictions. The act set aside large areas of Bureau of Land Management territory and regions of Death Valley as wilderness. It also created the Mojave National Preserve, much of it designated as wilderness. Mechanized equipment is banned in wilderness areas. The prohibition applies not only to off-road vehicles - making it impractical for scientists to trek for miles with heavy research supplies or simply access remote areas on foot - but even things such as a tape recorder that might be placed in a study zone to gather data...EPA battles Canadian company over river pollution It's not often the United States serves as a dumping ground for a foreign factory, but that is happening in the remote northeast corner of Washington. The Environmental Protection Agency is trying to force a Canadian company to clean up decades of toxic smelter wastes that have flowed down the Columbia River into Lake Roosevelt in the United States...Western Shoshone payments challenged The Western Shoshone have found an ally in U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva to join their near half-century long land battle with the federal government. The Arizona congressman is taking the Department of Interior to task asking some hard-line questions and requesting bundles of documents related to land and treaty rights directly connected with the current distribution bill which considers one-time payments to the tribe. In a four-page letter, dated Nov. 17 and addressed to Interior Secretary Gale Norton, Grijalva, D-Ariz. asked the department to cite the law the government used to take title to Western Shoshone land, called for the release of reports justifying the agency's recent treatment of the tribe and demanded information regarding any meetings or communications the agency has had with special interests eyeing the land for potential energy development. Although Grijalva said the letter isn't meant to be accusatory or demanding in nature its tone is quite clear. He wants everything laid out on the table so Congress can make an informed decision on H.R. 884, better known as the "Western Shoshone Distribution Bill." Grijalva said he hopes at least to get some "factual answers" to all the questions he raises in his letter...Theft Hampers Archaeology Site Protection Ranger Jason Caffey was on routine patrol, miles from anywhere, when he saw it: A rockshelter that archaeologists had been excavating for a decade was looted, scooped out in the middle with thousands of stone artifacts and bone fragments cast aside. But since Caffey's discovery in June in rugged, remote north-central Wyoming, no arrests have been made and leads have been limited. The vandalism points out the difficulty that a limited number of federal officials in the field face in protecting remote archaeological sites containing valuable artifacts...Ranching proposal faces criticism Proposed new federal rules would improve grazing management and help continue public lands ranching in the rural West, some say. "This proposed rule will help public lands ranchers stay on the land," Interior Secretary Gale Norton recently told the Joint Stockmen's Convention in Albuquerque. Others say the rules will perpetuate a subsidized industry and make it harder for the public to get involved in decisions that affect public lands...Top Fish and Wildlife Priorities Discussed President George W. Bush along with Interior Secretary Gale Norton and Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman met with Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership Chairman Jim Range and representatives from several of the country's leading hunting and angling organizations Friday at the White House. The meeting was called in part to thank those in the group who had supported the President's Healthy Forest Initiative which he signed into law as the Healthy Forest Restoration Act on November 21. The meeting also provided an opportunity for the President to address issues that the sporting community has recently identified as top priority conservation concerns...Bill would protect landowners from drilling Landowners would have more protections if their property is targeted for oil and gas development under a bill introduced by U.S. Reps. Mark Udall, D-Colo., and Tom Udall, D-N.M. The Western Waters and Surface Owners Protection Act was introduced just before Congress recessed for the year, after several efforts to add its provisions to the now-stalled energy bill failed. The bill would require oil and gas operators to replace water supplies lost or damaged due to development, outline steps to protect water resources and negotiate surface-use agreements with private landowners whose property sits over federal minerals. If an agreement cannot be reached, the bill provides for an alternative dispute mechanism to ensure good-faith negotiations...To see the bill, click here and enter H.R. 3698 ...Water plan under fire from rights holders New Mexico's first comprehensive state water plan is scheduled to come before Interstate Stream Commissioners today, but already the Assessment Payers Association of the Middle Rio Grande is complaining that historic water rights holders -- including Indian tribes -- "have every reason to be nervous." In the Assessment Payers November newsletter, "Watermark," put out by association member Lisa Roberts with direction from the board, a cover story states that, "Among the salient criticisms of the draft plan is the short shrift given to the protection of vested rights." Promises made under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo are not addressed in the plan and there is no mention of pre-1907 water rights, the newsletter said...Banks may have to choose between pumpers, trout farms Southern Idaho bankers said they have not had to side with groundwater users or trout producers when it comes to handing out operating loans. But a growing conflict over available water could change that. The dispute revolves around the effect of wells punched into the Snake River Plain Aquifer in eastern Idaho. That ultimately lowers the freshwater springs which supply the trout hatcheries downstream at Hagerman. Those trout farms often have earlier water rights than the groundwater pumpers. The state's dairy industry depends on that pumping...Agreement may put wolf at further risk, some say The recovery of the highly endangered Mexican wolf may be further at risk under a new agreement among federal, state and tribal leaders, conservationists say. They said the so-called memorandum of understanding places too much authority over the wolves with local officials and the livestock industry. The agreement, signed by only a handful of agencies so far, acknowledges the responsibilities of state, county and tribal governments for the welfare and protection of their citizens, and makes them an intricate part of the management process for the wolves...Non-lethal methods can resolve conflicts between bears and humans How do you keep a black bear from taking out the backyard bird feeder or going through your garbage? Play the sound of a helicopter, or flash a strobe light, say scientists from the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and other organizations, who tested several non-lethal techniques to minimize conflicts between humans and large carnivores. The scientists, who published their results in the December edition of Conservation Biology, compared the effectiveness of non-lethal methods for keeping large carnivores away from human structures, livestock, and other potential conflict areas. They found that motion-activated lights and sounds can keep both large- and medium-sized predators away from food sources, thus preventing a clash that can result in large carnivores being destroyed...Editorial: Labeling law shouldn't be delayed The reasons country-of-origin labeling on food products is good for the United States are so overwhelming that it's appalling that it has been delayed. What is even more despicable is that the labeling law (COOL) has already passed; the debate has already taken place. COOL was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush as part of the 2002 Farm Bill...Court reinstates madcow suit against USDA A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday revived an animal protection group's lawsuit against the Department of Agriculture aimed at stopping the sale of "downed" animals for human food because of a fear of mad cow disease. In its ruling, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a trial court's finding that the Farm Sanctuary, based in upstate New York, and Fordham University professor Michael Baur had no standing to file the suit...Keeping Cows Safe From Terrorism That's the concern of the Department of Homeland Security, which announced Friday a $33 million plan for a pair of academic centers to combat possible terrorist attacks on America's livestock and food supply. The department contends that so-called "agroterrorism" is a "top priority for university research." But outside homeland security and biological defense circles, experts are deeply divided over how realistic the threat actually is...Group aims to market lamb to US Australia has joined forces with the United States and New Zealand to boost consumption of lamb in the United States and to avoid the difficulties faced in the market in the past. Four years ago the US Government increased the tariff on lamb imports from Australia and New Zealand in an attempt to protect local farmers from competition. The World Trade Organisation eventually ruled the tariff increase illegal and the US was forced to back down...East Texans dig in for land battle "Boogie" Feagin thought his little corner of Upshur County was his retirement castle, a scrub-pine slice of East Texas where a working man could run some cows and watch his grandkids play. But trouble arrived in his mailbox three months ago. Now the 69-year-old and his neighbors are worried that an arcane Texas legal maneuver known as a "vacancy claim" could cost them their homes and land...All 31 Brucellosis-infected cattle had been vaccinated for the disease All 31 cattle which tested positive for brucellosis on a ranch in the Boulder area had been vaccinated against the disease, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture veterinarian. After answering Sublette County residents' questions during a 41/2-hour meeting in Pinedale Monday night, officials were deciding what to do next to contain the outbreak. They were weighing a number of options, including providing booster shots to Sublette County cattle. Bret Combs, a veterinarian with the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said Tuesday that seven of the infected cattle had been inoculated with the Strain 19 vaccine and the rest with the newer RB51 vaccine, which began being administered around 1996...Railcar shortage hits U.S. A record 2003 corn crop, high grain prices and rising demand in Europe and Asia for wheat and soybeans are factors contributing to railcar shortages, the Agriculture Marketing Service indicated in its weekly grain and transportation report. As a result, grain is being stored on the ground in many locations...Borders may be open to beef by 2004 As 2003 draws to a close, area beef producers are optimistic that the American border will reopen to Canadian beef early in the new year. A comment period to the American government on a proposal to reopen the border, which was closed on May 20 after one breeder cow in Alberta tested positive for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), will end on Jan. 5, 2004. Lyle Vanclief, federal minister of agriculture, reportedly told media recently that he expects the border to reopen to live animals younger than 30 months within a week following the Jan. 5 deadline for comments, but one area farmer thinks that's optimistic...Members of the Senate will work to restore COOL -- Grassley Although supporters of Country of Origin Labeling have expressed hope that the Senate will stop a two-year delay in mandatory country of origin labeling when it votes on a spending bill next January, that's not likely to happen, the Chair of the Senate Finance Committee said Tuesday. "It will not be stopped in the Senate on January 20, but I would not preclude activity in the next appropriations process," said Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA)...Time, progress change cowboys' job description Few things in western history have changed as drastically as the job descriptions of the American cowboy. Our long-time vision of a tall, bowlegged, sunburned, weathered, chapped and spurred rugged individual seems to have all but disappeared from the western scene. Perhaps it is because of the ever-changing job descriptions he endures. At one time, the cowboy arose before daylight, topped off his bronc for the day, then rode the wide-open ranges until late evening, tending livestock and enjoying complete freedom. In the 1880s, barbed wire was invented and the chore of fence building and repair was added to his duties...Fans want former rider in hall of fame It's been decades since "Brownie" Smith last settled down on top a saddle bronc, nodded to the men holding the gate latch and exploded into rodeo arenas all around southwest Montana. But her horsemanship skills and ability to make a good ride haven't been forgotten. And now people around Montana are working to see Smith's achievements as a cowgirl be remembered forever as a member of the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame. "The first I can remember seeing Brownie ride was at a rodeo in Dillon," remembers Jim Eighorn of Melrose in his nomination letter. "She made an exhibition saddle bronc ride that made your hair stand on end...
Monday, December 15, 2003
NEWS ROUNDUP
Money matters When wildfires threaten homes or forests - and especially when they can be seen from populated areas - a sense of urgency dominates the atmosphere as thickly as the blazes' smoke. The call goes out to "save" structures and habitat, and at that point, nobody asks how much a bulldozer, helicopter or hand crew will charge. But this year, as fire suppression costs nationwide top $1 billion, including at least $112 million in Montana alone, many people are wondering exactly what we're buying with that money...Heavy equipment costs $3.2 million When the heavy metal thundered into the Lincoln area to help combat the Moose/Wasson and Snow/Talon blazes, their operators were greeted with open arms. With hand crews and aircraft a limited commodity in the early days of the Lincoln Complex blazes, firefighters eagerly turned to bulldozers, skidgines, caterpillars and tractors to help cut lines around the fires in an effort to contain them. Within four days of the Snow/Talon's start, 20 water trucks, plus 14 bulldozers and skidgines - a hybrid piece of equipment that carries water for firefighting but also has a dozer-type blade on it - were at the scene, ready to work on dousing the flames...Gov report shows some cost cutting To many people, it seems as though when a wildfire begins, the United States Forest Service just opens its checkbook and starts writing, with little regard for the bottom line. However, a report by the Forest Service that looked at how the Lincoln Complex Fires were managed does show some cost-cutting attempts while also noting a couple of issues that had a "direct and negative impact" on cost containment efforts...Editorial: Big spending on wildfires To someone whose home was spared from wildfire by the quick, determined and costly efforts of firefighters, it might seem churlish to worry very much about the costly part. But, as today's stories by reporter Eve Byron reveal, some of those costs are mind-boggling. It takes nothing away from the fire bosses' courage and willingness to do whatever it takes to battle a forest fire to ask whether the job can be done for a cheaper price. That's a question, however, that can't even be discussed until people know in detail how current policies are working. That's why Rep. Hal Jacobson, D-Helena, and other legislators are seeking a performance audit to get a better handle on the spending. Jacobson, a member of the legislative audit committee, and Rep. Dave Lewis, R-Helena, a former state budget director, note that when the state gets a bill for $27 million for its share of this year's firefighting costs, maybe it's time for the state to have a say on how that firefighting is managed...Rapidly multiplying invasive species pose host of dangers to U.S. Even in this age of heightened security, dangerous invaders continue to infiltrate the United States. While they may appear harmless, they've got a rap sheet a mile long. Their infiltration threatens human health; it lays waste to fields, forests and waterways; and it costs the nation billions of dollars each year. These foreign critters are what scientists call "invasive species," and they're the No. 2 cause of death to endangered species -- beating out pollution, overharvesting, disease and global warming. They cause grave medical problems, damage crops, and can restrict trade...Colo. report on proposed drilling diluted wildlife recommendations Some recommendations for protecting wildlife amid proposed gas drilling on the Roan Plateau of northwest Colorado were omitted from a state report, prompting criticism from an environmental group. The Colorado Division of Wildlife's suggestions that four areas be protected from development were left out of the state's final report to the federal Bureau of Land Management, internal records show...Reviving species - with a puppet and planes It has to be one of man's strangest odysseys since Orville and Wilbur Wright - human beings dressed as birds flying machines with birds following who think that those humans - in their planes - are birds. But humans go to great lengths to snub Darwin: Like the reintroduction of red wolves and elk in the Smoky Mountains, this was part of a wider effort to drag animals back from the brink of extinction and repopulate regions with species that have disappeared. Florida was the cranes' winter home before they died off in the East; this journey was designed to show them back to their old habitat...Young Bald Eagles Are 'Recruited' for Relocation Jim Spickler scales a 100-foot Sitka spruce and perches at the edge of an eagle's nest, but his job is only half done. Next, he speaks to the 8-week-old raptors in the nest, just long enough to coax them into a padded nylon bag. Then he makes the descent. For the past two summers, Spickler has been on a recruiting drive that could return bald eagles to Channel Islands National Park off the coast of Southern California. The native population on the islands was wiped out by DDT...Riverbed changes owners The Black River courses through the rolling hills of Interior Alaska, past an isolated Gwich'in village and some summer fish camps. This remote waterway became something of a national issue this fall when the state of Alaska took title to its gravelly bottom, courtesy of the federal Bureau of Land Management. A paperwork transfer involving a little-known river in a far-flung corner of Alaska normally wouldn't stir ripples of interest among politicians, tribal leaders and environmentalists alike. But in this case, it marked the first time a state laid claim to a riverbed under a new fast-track approach by the Bush administration aimed at turning more federal land over to states. The BLM action opens the door for Alaska to gain control over thousands of rivers across the state. Alaska gained control of the Black River because of a policy shift at the Department of Interior ushered in by the Bush administration. Last February, the BLM revised its "recordable disclaimer of interest" regulations to make it easier for states to gain title over riverbeds and historic rights of way on public land, such as wagon and sled dog trails, cattle paths, and mining and trapper routes, for example. In Alaska, common examples include the Stampede Trail in Denali National Park, the Girdwood to Eagle River Trail, and the Chilkoot Trail outside Skagway...Road project endangers bats Snoozing in an abandoned church by day and crossing a two-lane highway by night to feed on insects, a colony of endangered and highly sensitive bats has somehow settled in a stretch of forest in rural, west-central Pennsylvania. But a proposal to build a new bridge across U.S. 22 in Blair County could disrupt their flight pattern. Wildlife experts are worried that the Indiana bats could be killed by moving vehicles at a far higher rate than they already get hit, potentially wiping out a particularly unusual colony...Trip to Yellowstone puts pupils in virtual valley A group of New Lenox middle school pupils recently visited Yellowstone National Park's Hayden Valley--without having to sell a single candy bar or roll of wrapping paper to raise money for the trip. That's because the 23 pupils at Liberty Junior High School visited the park's valley on a "virtual tour" via laptop computers as part of their earth science lesson. Yellowstone's Education Program unleashed the 50-minute virtual field trip, dubbed "Zooming in on Hayden Valley," in November, the third of its electronic field trips. Dianne Zinkel, a 7th-grade science teacher at Liberty, jumped at the chance to give her pupils a real-life look at the valley, in the center of Yellowstone Park in Wyoming, and relate it to the curriculum on weathering and erosion last week...Bush Plans Drilling in Untapped Alaska Oil Reserve Across the western Arctic sprawls an Indiana-sized land mass dotted with lakes, populated by migratory birds and other wildlife, and packed with potential oil riches. The National Petroleum Reserve of Alaska (NPR-A), wedged between the foothills of the rugged Brooks Range and the icy Arctic coastline, is about 120 miles from the better-known Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The NPR-A was set aside 80 years ago as an energy storehouse for the U.S. military, but the reserve has yet to send a barrel of oil to market...Spotted owl kin complicates status The northern spotted owl, icon of the Pacific Northwest timber wars a decade ago, now faces a threat at least as imposing as loggers: its bigger, badder cousin, the barred owl. The threat posed by the nonnative barred owl, reviewed by a panel of scientists Friday at Washington State University Vancouver, could influence a re-assessment of the northern spotted owl's status as a threatened species. The owl's 1990 listing sparked an uproar after a federal judge halted all federal timber sales to protect the owl's dwindling habitat in old growth forests...Court tosses timber ruling A federal appellate court on Thursday struck down a Sacramento judge's refusal to block a major logging project in Eldorado National Forest, telling the judge he applied the wrong legal standard for an injunction. One of the appellate judges even questioned whether the U.S. Forest Service can be trusted to administer such projects, since it derives all the proceeds...EPA rules may mean curbs on barbecuing, lawn mowing as focus switches from industry Southeast Michigan officials who are studying ways to comply with tough new federal air pollution rules warn that no source of smog is sacred. Not even the family barbecue. Cars and factories still emit most of Metro Detroit's air pollution, but residents also will be asked to sacrifice to meet tough new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ozone regulations that begin taking effect in 2007 and could cost the region tens of millions of dollars...Bush routes revised clean air policy to EPA Convinced that its effort to revamp the Clean Air Act is stalemated in Congress, the Bush administration is pushing the policies, which govern pollution from power plants, through regulation rather than legislation. This week the Environmental Protection Agency plans to release a pair of proposals that closely track President Bush's proposed amendments to the Clean Air Act, known as the Clear Skies Initiative. The regulations share the same timelines, limits and trading mechanisms for three of the main pollutants released from burning fossil fuels: mercury, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Both proposals would expand the current pollution trading systems for sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides and introduce a new one for mercury...Brazil: Anti-Logging Activist Missing in Amazon Delta Greenpeace has admitted it is "deeply, deeply worried" about a British activist who has gone missing from one of its ships in the Amazon delta. Yesterday the Brazilian authorities launched an investigation into whether her disappearance is linked to the group's campaign against illegal logging...Beef exports to United States surging Beef exports to the United States have surged with November recording the largest amount ever shipped in a single month. Attractive prices on offer in the US are encouraging exporters to send more product to the market, which now accounts for almost half of Australia's total exports. Peter Weeks, Chief Market analyst with Meat and Livestock Australia, says the surge in shipments to North America will mean Australia may now fill the export quota when earlier in the year that looked impossible...New Jersey's bear hunt ends with 328 confirmed kills New Jersey's first bear hunt in 33 years, prompted by rising numbers of run-ins with humans, ended with hunters taking about 10 percent of the state's estimated bear population. The six-day hunt ended Saturday evening with 328 confirmed kills -- 209 females and 119 males, state Division of Fish and Wildlife Director Martin McHugh said...To Protect Ecosystem, Grand Canyon Hopes to Evict Buffalo The bison trample vegetation, defecate in ponds, pollute springs and create wallows, said Elaine Leslie, a wildlife biologist at the Grand Canyon. Some of the soil they tread on has also begun to erode, putting trees and plants at risk. Consequently, park officials have met with the state to discuss how to remove the bison, which the state owns and maintains on land outside the park. "We need to figure out how to get these animals out of the park eventually," Leslie said...Wyoming ranchers sweat as brucellosis found in cattle herd Three dozen cattle in a Wyoming herd tested positive for a highly contagious bacterial infection that, if widespread, would sharply limit the state's export of cattle, prompt the slaughter of tainted livestock and cause millions of dollars in losses. Even before Donald "Doc" Jensen's entire herd of 391 Hereford cattle was tested for brucellosis, Colorado blocked import of cattle from a sweeping region of Wyoming. Idaho, Montana, Nebraska and Utah are poised to follow suit if the National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa, confirms state lab test results, according to the Wyoming governor's office...First cutting horse champion has legendary status The story of Hub is one that seems almost made up. It has a noble beginning and a sweet ending. It reads like a children's book designed to teach values and character. It is a true story -- certainly one that has been gently massaged over the years -- but it remains faithful to the events, nevertheless. It began in the early 1880s near Jacksboro, northwest of Fort Worth. Bill Wood, a horse trainer who lived on Keechi Creek just outside Jacksboro, had a little bay that Graves dearly coveted. As it turned out, Graves had no money, and Wood needed fence rails. A bargain was struck. Graves split 2,000 rails in payment for Hub. The legend began...
Money matters When wildfires threaten homes or forests - and especially when they can be seen from populated areas - a sense of urgency dominates the atmosphere as thickly as the blazes' smoke. The call goes out to "save" structures and habitat, and at that point, nobody asks how much a bulldozer, helicopter or hand crew will charge. But this year, as fire suppression costs nationwide top $1 billion, including at least $112 million in Montana alone, many people are wondering exactly what we're buying with that money...Heavy equipment costs $3.2 million When the heavy metal thundered into the Lincoln area to help combat the Moose/Wasson and Snow/Talon blazes, their operators were greeted with open arms. With hand crews and aircraft a limited commodity in the early days of the Lincoln Complex blazes, firefighters eagerly turned to bulldozers, skidgines, caterpillars and tractors to help cut lines around the fires in an effort to contain them. Within four days of the Snow/Talon's start, 20 water trucks, plus 14 bulldozers and skidgines - a hybrid piece of equipment that carries water for firefighting but also has a dozer-type blade on it - were at the scene, ready to work on dousing the flames...Gov report shows some cost cutting To many people, it seems as though when a wildfire begins, the United States Forest Service just opens its checkbook and starts writing, with little regard for the bottom line. However, a report by the Forest Service that looked at how the Lincoln Complex Fires were managed does show some cost-cutting attempts while also noting a couple of issues that had a "direct and negative impact" on cost containment efforts...Editorial: Big spending on wildfires To someone whose home was spared from wildfire by the quick, determined and costly efforts of firefighters, it might seem churlish to worry very much about the costly part. But, as today's stories by reporter Eve Byron reveal, some of those costs are mind-boggling. It takes nothing away from the fire bosses' courage and willingness to do whatever it takes to battle a forest fire to ask whether the job can be done for a cheaper price. That's a question, however, that can't even be discussed until people know in detail how current policies are working. That's why Rep. Hal Jacobson, D-Helena, and other legislators are seeking a performance audit to get a better handle on the spending. Jacobson, a member of the legislative audit committee, and Rep. Dave Lewis, R-Helena, a former state budget director, note that when the state gets a bill for $27 million for its share of this year's firefighting costs, maybe it's time for the state to have a say on how that firefighting is managed...Rapidly multiplying invasive species pose host of dangers to U.S. Even in this age of heightened security, dangerous invaders continue to infiltrate the United States. While they may appear harmless, they've got a rap sheet a mile long. Their infiltration threatens human health; it lays waste to fields, forests and waterways; and it costs the nation billions of dollars each year. These foreign critters are what scientists call "invasive species," and they're the No. 2 cause of death to endangered species -- beating out pollution, overharvesting, disease and global warming. They cause grave medical problems, damage crops, and can restrict trade...Colo. report on proposed drilling diluted wildlife recommendations Some recommendations for protecting wildlife amid proposed gas drilling on the Roan Plateau of northwest Colorado were omitted from a state report, prompting criticism from an environmental group. The Colorado Division of Wildlife's suggestions that four areas be protected from development were left out of the state's final report to the federal Bureau of Land Management, internal records show...Reviving species - with a puppet and planes It has to be one of man's strangest odysseys since Orville and Wilbur Wright - human beings dressed as birds flying machines with birds following who think that those humans - in their planes - are birds. But humans go to great lengths to snub Darwin: Like the reintroduction of red wolves and elk in the Smoky Mountains, this was part of a wider effort to drag animals back from the brink of extinction and repopulate regions with species that have disappeared. Florida was the cranes' winter home before they died off in the East; this journey was designed to show them back to their old habitat...Young Bald Eagles Are 'Recruited' for Relocation Jim Spickler scales a 100-foot Sitka spruce and perches at the edge of an eagle's nest, but his job is only half done. Next, he speaks to the 8-week-old raptors in the nest, just long enough to coax them into a padded nylon bag. Then he makes the descent. For the past two summers, Spickler has been on a recruiting drive that could return bald eagles to Channel Islands National Park off the coast of Southern California. The native population on the islands was wiped out by DDT...Riverbed changes owners The Black River courses through the rolling hills of Interior Alaska, past an isolated Gwich'in village and some summer fish camps. This remote waterway became something of a national issue this fall when the state of Alaska took title to its gravelly bottom, courtesy of the federal Bureau of Land Management. A paperwork transfer involving a little-known river in a far-flung corner of Alaska normally wouldn't stir ripples of interest among politicians, tribal leaders and environmentalists alike. But in this case, it marked the first time a state laid claim to a riverbed under a new fast-track approach by the Bush administration aimed at turning more federal land over to states. The BLM action opens the door for Alaska to gain control over thousands of rivers across the state. Alaska gained control of the Black River because of a policy shift at the Department of Interior ushered in by the Bush administration. Last February, the BLM revised its "recordable disclaimer of interest" regulations to make it easier for states to gain title over riverbeds and historic rights of way on public land, such as wagon and sled dog trails, cattle paths, and mining and trapper routes, for example. In Alaska, common examples include the Stampede Trail in Denali National Park, the Girdwood to Eagle River Trail, and the Chilkoot Trail outside Skagway...Road project endangers bats Snoozing in an abandoned church by day and crossing a two-lane highway by night to feed on insects, a colony of endangered and highly sensitive bats has somehow settled in a stretch of forest in rural, west-central Pennsylvania. But a proposal to build a new bridge across U.S. 22 in Blair County could disrupt their flight pattern. Wildlife experts are worried that the Indiana bats could be killed by moving vehicles at a far higher rate than they already get hit, potentially wiping out a particularly unusual colony...Trip to Yellowstone puts pupils in virtual valley A group of New Lenox middle school pupils recently visited Yellowstone National Park's Hayden Valley--without having to sell a single candy bar or roll of wrapping paper to raise money for the trip. That's because the 23 pupils at Liberty Junior High School visited the park's valley on a "virtual tour" via laptop computers as part of their earth science lesson. Yellowstone's Education Program unleashed the 50-minute virtual field trip, dubbed "Zooming in on Hayden Valley," in November, the third of its electronic field trips. Dianne Zinkel, a 7th-grade science teacher at Liberty, jumped at the chance to give her pupils a real-life look at the valley, in the center of Yellowstone Park in Wyoming, and relate it to the curriculum on weathering and erosion last week...Bush Plans Drilling in Untapped Alaska Oil Reserve Across the western Arctic sprawls an Indiana-sized land mass dotted with lakes, populated by migratory birds and other wildlife, and packed with potential oil riches. The National Petroleum Reserve of Alaska (NPR-A), wedged between the foothills of the rugged Brooks Range and the icy Arctic coastline, is about 120 miles from the better-known Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The NPR-A was set aside 80 years ago as an energy storehouse for the U.S. military, but the reserve has yet to send a barrel of oil to market...Spotted owl kin complicates status The northern spotted owl, icon of the Pacific Northwest timber wars a decade ago, now faces a threat at least as imposing as loggers: its bigger, badder cousin, the barred owl. The threat posed by the nonnative barred owl, reviewed by a panel of scientists Friday at Washington State University Vancouver, could influence a re-assessment of the northern spotted owl's status as a threatened species. The owl's 1990 listing sparked an uproar after a federal judge halted all federal timber sales to protect the owl's dwindling habitat in old growth forests...Court tosses timber ruling A federal appellate court on Thursday struck down a Sacramento judge's refusal to block a major logging project in Eldorado National Forest, telling the judge he applied the wrong legal standard for an injunction. One of the appellate judges even questioned whether the U.S. Forest Service can be trusted to administer such projects, since it derives all the proceeds...EPA rules may mean curbs on barbecuing, lawn mowing as focus switches from industry Southeast Michigan officials who are studying ways to comply with tough new federal air pollution rules warn that no source of smog is sacred. Not even the family barbecue. Cars and factories still emit most of Metro Detroit's air pollution, but residents also will be asked to sacrifice to meet tough new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ozone regulations that begin taking effect in 2007 and could cost the region tens of millions of dollars...Bush routes revised clean air policy to EPA Convinced that its effort to revamp the Clean Air Act is stalemated in Congress, the Bush administration is pushing the policies, which govern pollution from power plants, through regulation rather than legislation. This week the Environmental Protection Agency plans to release a pair of proposals that closely track President Bush's proposed amendments to the Clean Air Act, known as the Clear Skies Initiative. The regulations share the same timelines, limits and trading mechanisms for three of the main pollutants released from burning fossil fuels: mercury, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Both proposals would expand the current pollution trading systems for sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides and introduce a new one for mercury...Brazil: Anti-Logging Activist Missing in Amazon Delta Greenpeace has admitted it is "deeply, deeply worried" about a British activist who has gone missing from one of its ships in the Amazon delta. Yesterday the Brazilian authorities launched an investigation into whether her disappearance is linked to the group's campaign against illegal logging...Beef exports to United States surging Beef exports to the United States have surged with November recording the largest amount ever shipped in a single month. Attractive prices on offer in the US are encouraging exporters to send more product to the market, which now accounts for almost half of Australia's total exports. Peter Weeks, Chief Market analyst with Meat and Livestock Australia, says the surge in shipments to North America will mean Australia may now fill the export quota when earlier in the year that looked impossible...New Jersey's bear hunt ends with 328 confirmed kills New Jersey's first bear hunt in 33 years, prompted by rising numbers of run-ins with humans, ended with hunters taking about 10 percent of the state's estimated bear population. The six-day hunt ended Saturday evening with 328 confirmed kills -- 209 females and 119 males, state Division of Fish and Wildlife Director Martin McHugh said...To Protect Ecosystem, Grand Canyon Hopes to Evict Buffalo The bison trample vegetation, defecate in ponds, pollute springs and create wallows, said Elaine Leslie, a wildlife biologist at the Grand Canyon. Some of the soil they tread on has also begun to erode, putting trees and plants at risk. Consequently, park officials have met with the state to discuss how to remove the bison, which the state owns and maintains on land outside the park. "We need to figure out how to get these animals out of the park eventually," Leslie said...Wyoming ranchers sweat as brucellosis found in cattle herd Three dozen cattle in a Wyoming herd tested positive for a highly contagious bacterial infection that, if widespread, would sharply limit the state's export of cattle, prompt the slaughter of tainted livestock and cause millions of dollars in losses. Even before Donald "Doc" Jensen's entire herd of 391 Hereford cattle was tested for brucellosis, Colorado blocked import of cattle from a sweeping region of Wyoming. Idaho, Montana, Nebraska and Utah are poised to follow suit if the National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa, confirms state lab test results, according to the Wyoming governor's office...First cutting horse champion has legendary status The story of Hub is one that seems almost made up. It has a noble beginning and a sweet ending. It reads like a children's book designed to teach values and character. It is a true story -- certainly one that has been gently massaged over the years -- but it remains faithful to the events, nevertheless. It began in the early 1880s near Jacksboro, northwest of Fort Worth. Bill Wood, a horse trainer who lived on Keechi Creek just outside Jacksboro, had a little bay that Graves dearly coveted. As it turned out, Graves had no money, and Wood needed fence rails. A bargain was struck. Graves split 2,000 rails in payment for Hub. The legend began...
Sunday, December 14, 2003
America's future: A nation of renters
The generation that fought so hard to save the world from communism is now working feverishly to condemn America's future to socialism. Through dozens of programs, all designed to "protect" the land from development, we are transforming America from the land of the free, to a nation of renters.
Nearly every week, The Nature Conservancy announces a new scheme to "protect" vast stretches of land through outright purchase, the purchase of development rights or through conservation easements. TNC claims they have protected nearly 12 million acres already, and have their eye on another 3 million acres in Alabama and Tennessee. There are more than 1,200 similar "conservancy" organizations in the United States, all doing the same thing.
When a person fragments the title to his land with a perpetual conservation easement, or by selling development rights, he is, in effect, robbing future generations of the opportunity to make their own decisions about how to use the land. What right do we have to deny future generations the use of prime real estate?
The Nature Conservancy paints a pretty picture during the sales pitch: "Imagine a vast natural playground stretching from North Alabama into Central Tennessee. Imagine forests, meadows, rivers and wetlands open to the public for hunting, fishing, canoeing and hiking. Imagine farms managed to be both self-sustaining and environmentally responsible."
Sounds good, until the "open to the public" goes away. And who decides if, and when, and how long the area may be open to the public? Who decides how to manage the farms? The owner, of course -- The Nature Conservancy. The private owners who are convinced to sell development rights or conservation easements sell their right to use their land in any way that's not agreeable to The Nature Conservancy. When it comes time to sell the land for retirement or to pay medical bills, the land has little value, except to The Nature Conservancy. The price is no longer subject to market demand; it is virtually useless.
When The Nature Conservancy acquires the remaining rights to the land, are they under any obligation to keep the land open to the public? No. Their practice has been to use the land for development, for logging, for oil, or for whatever purpose they desire, including selling vast portions of unusable land to the government -- often for a profit.
The campaign to save "the last great places" and all open space has been incredibly successful and even more ridiculous. There is no shortage of space in the United States. Less than 5 percent of the land area is developed, according to the federal government. There is plenty of space, but less and less of it is owned by private individuals.
Governments own nearly 42 percent of the land area and are buying more land every day. Conservancy organizations are buying land for their own "preserves" and selling what they don't want to government. Not only are we stealing our children's birthright, we are condemning them to eventually live in a socialist state, where government owns all the sources of production.
In every community where there is an "open space" bond initiative on the ballot, people should organize to defeat it. In every community where local government is planning to install a "comprehensive plan" to dictate the future use of private property, people should organize to defeat it.
At the rate we are now transferring private property to government, and to its surrogate "conservancy" organizations, it will take only a few more generations before all the land is under government ownership or control. America will then truly be a socialist nation.
Had this trend begun a hundred years ago, we would already be a socialist nation of renters, subject to the whims of government. When there is no more private land to produce property tax, will the government stop collecting tax? Hardly. The government will allow us to work its land and tax our productivity to whatever extent it wishes. That's how it works in socialist nations.
This march toward socialism can be reversed by first recognizing the gross disservice to future generations of our current land-grabbing policies. Then we should force government to begin divesting its gigantic inventories of land, returning it to the private sector where it can again be the basis of our free-market economy.
This can happen only if we have an informed electorate that recognizes the dangers inherent in the present trend, and then works to elect officials at every level of government who share this belief in free markets and are committed to keeping America the land of the free.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Henry Lamb is the executive vice president of the Environmental Conservation Organization and chairman of Sovereignty International.
Combine Mr. Lamb's article with the 9th Circuit Court decision in Big Meadows Grazing Association vs. US(pdf) which found the following:
No less than half of the wetlands n1 in the continental United States have been destroyed since 1600. n2 To counter this trend, the Natural Resource Conservation Service of the Department of Agriculture established the Wetlands Reserve Program (the "WRP") to provide landowners an opportunity to protect, restore, and enhance wetlands on their property. n3 Big Meadows Grazing Association ("Big Meadows) sold the United States a conservation easement so that part of Big Meadows' property could be enrolled in the WRP. When Big Meadows and the United States subsequently disagreed on what conservation[**2] activities would occur on the property, the government began unilaterally implementing its proposed conservation plan. Big Meadows sued, seeking in pertinent part a declaratory judgment that implementation of the conservation plan without its approval would violate 16 U.S.C. 3837a. The district court granted summary judgment for the government, ruling that the government need not obtain Big Meadows' approval before implementing the conservation plan. Big Meadows [*942] timely appealed. Because 3837a neither requires Big Meadows' assent to the conservation plan nor requires that the agreement to implement a conservation plan be made apart from the easement, we affirm.
The generation that fought so hard to save the world from communism is now working feverishly to condemn America's future to socialism. Through dozens of programs, all designed to "protect" the land from development, we are transforming America from the land of the free, to a nation of renters.
Nearly every week, The Nature Conservancy announces a new scheme to "protect" vast stretches of land through outright purchase, the purchase of development rights or through conservation easements. TNC claims they have protected nearly 12 million acres already, and have their eye on another 3 million acres in Alabama and Tennessee. There are more than 1,200 similar "conservancy" organizations in the United States, all doing the same thing.
When a person fragments the title to his land with a perpetual conservation easement, or by selling development rights, he is, in effect, robbing future generations of the opportunity to make their own decisions about how to use the land. What right do we have to deny future generations the use of prime real estate?
The Nature Conservancy paints a pretty picture during the sales pitch: "Imagine a vast natural playground stretching from North Alabama into Central Tennessee. Imagine forests, meadows, rivers and wetlands open to the public for hunting, fishing, canoeing and hiking. Imagine farms managed to be both self-sustaining and environmentally responsible."
Sounds good, until the "open to the public" goes away. And who decides if, and when, and how long the area may be open to the public? Who decides how to manage the farms? The owner, of course -- The Nature Conservancy. The private owners who are convinced to sell development rights or conservation easements sell their right to use their land in any way that's not agreeable to The Nature Conservancy. When it comes time to sell the land for retirement or to pay medical bills, the land has little value, except to The Nature Conservancy. The price is no longer subject to market demand; it is virtually useless.
When The Nature Conservancy acquires the remaining rights to the land, are they under any obligation to keep the land open to the public? No. Their practice has been to use the land for development, for logging, for oil, or for whatever purpose they desire, including selling vast portions of unusable land to the government -- often for a profit.
The campaign to save "the last great places" and all open space has been incredibly successful and even more ridiculous. There is no shortage of space in the United States. Less than 5 percent of the land area is developed, according to the federal government. There is plenty of space, but less and less of it is owned by private individuals.
Governments own nearly 42 percent of the land area and are buying more land every day. Conservancy organizations are buying land for their own "preserves" and selling what they don't want to government. Not only are we stealing our children's birthright, we are condemning them to eventually live in a socialist state, where government owns all the sources of production.
In every community where there is an "open space" bond initiative on the ballot, people should organize to defeat it. In every community where local government is planning to install a "comprehensive plan" to dictate the future use of private property, people should organize to defeat it.
At the rate we are now transferring private property to government, and to its surrogate "conservancy" organizations, it will take only a few more generations before all the land is under government ownership or control. America will then truly be a socialist nation.
Had this trend begun a hundred years ago, we would already be a socialist nation of renters, subject to the whims of government. When there is no more private land to produce property tax, will the government stop collecting tax? Hardly. The government will allow us to work its land and tax our productivity to whatever extent it wishes. That's how it works in socialist nations.
This march toward socialism can be reversed by first recognizing the gross disservice to future generations of our current land-grabbing policies. Then we should force government to begin divesting its gigantic inventories of land, returning it to the private sector where it can again be the basis of our free-market economy.
This can happen only if we have an informed electorate that recognizes the dangers inherent in the present trend, and then works to elect officials at every level of government who share this belief in free markets and are committed to keeping America the land of the free.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Henry Lamb is the executive vice president of the Environmental Conservation Organization and chairman of Sovereignty International.
Combine Mr. Lamb's article with the 9th Circuit Court decision in Big Meadows Grazing Association vs. US(pdf) which found the following:
No less than half of the wetlands n1 in the continental United States have been destroyed since 1600. n2 To counter this trend, the Natural Resource Conservation Service of the Department of Agriculture established the Wetlands Reserve Program (the "WRP") to provide landowners an opportunity to protect, restore, and enhance wetlands on their property. n3 Big Meadows Grazing Association ("Big Meadows) sold the United States a conservation easement so that part of Big Meadows' property could be enrolled in the WRP. When Big Meadows and the United States subsequently disagreed on what conservation[**2] activities would occur on the property, the government began unilaterally implementing its proposed conservation plan. Big Meadows sued, seeking in pertinent part a declaratory judgment that implementation of the conservation plan without its approval would violate 16 U.S.C. 3837a. The district court granted summary judgment for the government, ruling that the government need not obtain Big Meadows' approval before implementing the conservation plan. Big Meadows [*942] timely appealed. Because 3837a neither requires Big Meadows' assent to the conservation plan nor requires that the agreement to implement a conservation plan be made apart from the easement, we affirm.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)