NEWS ROUNDUP
Victims of bear attack had visited forest several times before The mountaintop swimming hole near where a black bear killed a 6-year-old girl and injured her mother and 2-year-old half brother was a favorite spot for the outdoors-loving Ohio family, relatives said Monday. Relatives of Elora Petrasek met with reporters for the first time Monday since she was killed four days earlier near a waterfall pool on a 1,800-foot mountain in the Cherokee National Forest of southeast Tennessee. "We are very familiar with this area, very familiar with being out in nature," her father, Robert Petrasek, 37, of Sarasota, Fla., said after reading a statement thanking rescuers and doctors. He said the family previously lived in southeast Tennessee. Elora Petrasek, of Clyde in northern Ohio, was killed Thursday afternoon. The bear also bit her half brother, 2-year-old Luke Cenkus, puncturing his skull, and went after the children's mother, Susan Cenkus, 45, who was critically injured as she tried to fend off the animal with rocks and sticks. The mother remained in critical condition Monday at Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga, but she was "awake and doing well" and "neurologically intact," Dr. Vicente Mejia said in a release from the hospital. Her son was listed in fair condition and is expected to get more antibiotic treatment and a psychological evaluation to determine any emotional effects from the attack....
Endangered, Rescued, Now in Trouble Again Black-footed ferrets, the weasel with the burglar's mask that was brought back to life after reaching the brink of extinction, are facing a new challenge from the spread of plague in prairie dogs, their only prey. The disease has slowed the growth of the wild population, which is constantly replenished by the introduction of captive-bred ferrets. And plague is now approaching a colony of prairie dogs that supports half the wild ferret population. Wildlife biologists are waiting to see if the disease will reach the Conata Basin here, a treeless moonscape next to Badlands National Park with the largest population of the highly endangered black-footed ferrets anywhere in the country. "If we lose Conata, oh boy, the program is in trouble," said Michael Lockhart, coordinator of the black-footed ferret recovery program for the federal Fish and Wildlife Service. There are now about 850 of the ferrets in the United States, about 350 in a captive breeding center at Fort Collins, Colo., and the rest at 10 sites around the West and one site in Mexico. About 250 of the wild ferrets live in the Conata Basin. The plague bacteria, Yersinia pestis, is the same one that caused the Black Death in Europe. It came to the West Coast of the United States from China around 1900, and slowly spread in rodents and other animals to the Rocky Mountain West. Black-footed ferrets are extremely sensitive to plague....
Hikers irate over cattle grazing in Walnut Creek parks Scoot over skeeters, the spring rains have brought another nuisance to vex hikers. The cows grazing in Walnut Creek open space aren't new, but they are making their annual appearance in the pastures where they have seasonal grazing rights. Some might find the sight pastoral, even a nod to the city's ranching history; others see a scene fraught with mud, manure and mashed wildflowers. When resident Mike Egan took his dog hiking last week, he brought a plastic bag along to pick up after the pup, like any responsible pet owner -- but felt silly when he found the trail already littered with sizable mounds of manure. "I'm thinking, what's wrong with this picture?" he said. Egan is among a group of critics of the city's long-standing policy of leasing grazing rights to ranchers. Concerns range from mucking up trails and muddying waterways to eating the wildflowers and littering trails with cow patties....
Elk, wolf researchers probe wildlife battlefield Christianson and Creel are researching elk in the northwest part of the Yellowstone Ecosystem to see how they're affected by wolves. From previous years, they know that wolves cause elk to change herd sizes, behavior patterns and use of the landscape. Now, the researchers are trying to understand how these changes affect the elks' nutrition, reproduction and survival. From January into spring, Christianson lives during the week in a one-room bunkhouse off U.S. 191. He spends his days doing things like spotting elk and wolves, inspecting tracks and scrutinizing videotapes of the animals. Creel generally drives down from Bozeman every Wednesday to join Christianson on his rounds. Every two weeks, the researchers follow elk paths through the Porcupine, Taylor and Tepee/Daly drainages, recording where the elk have traveled and fed and what plants they have eaten. Sometimes, they drop a lead ball or pound the snow with an imitation hoof to see how hard the elk had to work to get through the snow to a meal. It's all to see how wolves affect how well the elk are feeding and how hard the elk have to work for a meal. This day was somewhat different, though. With an unsolved mystery pulling them toward Cameron Draw, Christianson slipped into cross-country skis while Creel donned snowshoes....
Salmon advocates to sue over Oregon Coastal coho Salmon advocates Monday notified the federal agency in charge of protecting salmon that they intend to go to court to challenge a decision not to put Oregon Coastal coho salmon back on the threatened species list after a court ruling took it off. The 60-day notice of intent to sue, required by law before bringing a lawsuit against the government, argues that the decision by NOAA Fisheries violates the Endangered Species Act, goes against the best available science and relies on a new theory put forth by the state of Oregon that coho can rebound even from very low populations. "Coho are still in trouble, their habitat is still in trouble, and now is not the time to declare mission accomplished and walk away," said Jan Hasselman, an attorney for Earthjustice in Seattle, who represents the coalition of salmon conservation and fishing groups....
California tackles greenhouse emissions As it has done with tailpipe emission standards, coastal protection, and endangered species, California is trying to become a leader on one of today's most pressing environmental concerns: global warming. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) and Democratic leaders are getting behind measures to curb greenhouse gas emissions by forcing California businesses to measure how much they emit, and establish ways to limit them. Last week, Mr. Schwarzenegger brought together top environmental, political, and business leaders for a "Climate Action Summit" in San Francisco. There, he called for a "market based system" in which companies would receive strict caps on how much ozone-depleting gases (carbon dioxide, methane, and others) they could emit. Companies with emissions below such caps could then sell their unexpelled allotment to others who have exceeded their limits. Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez (D) and Assemblywoman Fran Pavley (D) are already sponsoring a specific "cap and trade" bill. And Senate President pro tem Don Perata (D) is sponsoring a bill that would require in-state utilities, which establish long-term contracts with out-of-state energy providers to no longer allow sources with high carbon content....
Pygmy owl to be taken off endangered list A tiny desert owl is set to be taken off the federal government's endangered species list, drawing praise from developers but protests from environmentalists. The cactus ferruginous pygmy owl is only about 6 inches long and weighs in at less than 3 ounces, but has been at the center of a battle between environmentalists and developers for more than a decade. Environmental groups successfully sued to have it placed on the endangered list in the early 1990s. Developers countersued in 2001, opposing restrictions placed on land use to protect the bird. An appeals court ordered the government to reconsider the listing and the habitat designation....
Delta Smelt's Fate Worries Scientists Last summer, state fish and game workers dragged a net dozens of times through the milk-chocolate waters of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, looking for a tiny, steely blue fish found nowhere else in the world. The catch, 17 delta smelt, was shockingly small. Never in the nearly five decades that the state has monitored smelt in the sprawling delta, where two of the state's biggest rivers converge just east of San Francisco Bay, have their numbers been as dismal. So abundant a generation ago that fishermen used the translucent, finger-length fish for bait, the delta smelt population has plummeted from the millions to an estimated 100,000 or less — bringing it, some warn, to the brink of extinction. The smelt's recent collapse, coupled with the decline of three other fish species that swim in the delta, has launched a multimillion-dollar scientific detective hunt for the reason. There is a sense of urgency because the smelt's only home is one of California's most important, if troubled, ecosystems. The hub of the state's giant water system and a Bay Area playground, the delta is a vital link in the estuary chain that supports most of California's commercial fish species....
Fish count agency gets extension The contract for the agency that counts salmon and other fish in the Columbia River has been extended while a federal appeals court considers arguments about whether it should remain open. Officials with the Bonneville Power Administration said the agency has extended the existing contract through Nov. 30 for the Fish Passage Center in Portland. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled in March that money for the center should be continued until a lawsuit filed by environmentalists and Indian tribes challenging its closure can be resolved. The court likely will hear arguments in the case in mid-September, power officials said. Bonneville had decided to split the fish counting duties between two other agencies after a legislative move by Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, that effectively eliminated the center's $1.3 million budget....
Book Review: The Last Season by Eric Blehm Probing account of the mysterious death in the High Sierras of a veteran National Park Service ranger and the passion that shaped his life. Blehm, an outdoor-sports editor and writer, goes to great lengths to establish the wilderness experience, skills and dedication of outdoorsman Randy Morgenson in a sometimes redundant apotheosis. Morgenson mysteriously disappeared in his 28th season as a backcountry ranger while on patrol in July 1996, in the Kings Canyon national park, some 200 miles south of Yosemite in a valley called, by legendary wilderness pioneer John Muir, one of the most beautiful in the Sequoia region. Yet while the book unfolds with flashbacks as his fellow rangers marshal to search for him some six days after his last communication, Blehm also builds the picture of a complex and conflicted person, as well as a man whose wife, having become aware of his recent affair, is seeking a divorce. The question of whether Morgenson was in a state of depression serious enough to take his own life haunts the expedition as the search party fans out, some recalling that he 'hadn`t been himself' in the weeks or even months prior. The suspense is leavened by hints that the circumstances of his death are not to be immediately resolved....
Park 2,000 acres bigger Just in time for spring wildflower season, Pinnacles National Monument, a popular escape for Bay Area hikers and rock climbers in San Benito County, will grow by nearly 2,000 acres today. At a ceremony in the park, located 32 miles south of Hollister, federal officials and environmentalists will mark the transfer of Pinnacles Ranch, a 1,967-acre expanse of oak woodlands and grasslands, into the park's boundaries. The property had been owned by Stuart Kingman, a former Hewlett-Packard engineer and resident of Campbell and Portola Valley. Kingman became part-owner of the ranch in 1978 after he left Hewlett-Packard. He then built and managed a popular campground on the property, which lies adjacent to the park's eastern entrance off Highway 25. He and his wife, Peggy, lived on the ranch for 28 years, but decided as they got older, they wanted to make sure it was protected rather than carved up into 40-acre ranchettes. The Nature Conservancy, a non-profit land trust, paid the Kingmans, who now live in Sonora, and two business partners $5.3 million in February 2005 for the property. The land couldn't transfer to the National Park Service, however, until Congress approved the money, which took several years of legislative effort by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif....
Park Service rules may be revised With 50 species of mammals and 250 species of birds, with its Wonderland rock formations and its away-from-it-all backpacking spots, Joshua Tree National Park each year offers 1.4 million visitors a break from the traffic, smog and noise that define much of Southern California. So would any of that change, really, if the National Park Service makes some seemingly obscure revisions to one of its enormously bureaucratic internal documents? That question is central to the controversy surrounding a Park Service plan to rewrite the guidelines that park directors rely on when balancing conservation against visitors' use of the country's 390 national parks, seashores and historic sites. The current regulations make park protection the top priority, but the revisions tend to make “park use” and “conservation” equally important. Many of the nation's park directors, as well as a good sampling of congressional Democrats and Republicans, fear that what's being proposed would favor visitor use over preservation – a new focus that some claim is an outgrowth of what they call President Bush's development-friendly policies....
Parks brace for reductions The Bush administration has directed the National Park Service n including Wyoming’s Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks -- to substantially decrease its reliance on tax-supported funding, according to internal documents released Monday by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. Park Service officials say they’re simply trying to cope with rising costs and tighter budgets, without harming the parks or decreasing the enjoyment of more than 270 million visitors each year. According to Jeff Ruch, PEER’s executive director, the Park Service is using a new approach called "core operations analysis," in which each park is asked to develop budgets based on a 20 to 30 percent reduction in federal budget support. Park superintendents have the daunting task of deciding which visitor services or other functions can be jettisoned, Ruch said. Whatever shortfalls in support for essential operations remain must be covered with fee hikes, donations from foundations, partnerships with concessionaires and businesses, cost shifting or increased reliance on volunteers, Ruch said....
Progress made in sale of ranch The sale of the Eberts family Badlands ranch for preservation and public use is cruising forward in third gear. The Badlands Little Missouri Ranch, important for its link to President Theodore Roosevelt, is closer than ever to being in public hands. The Ebertses have been trying for three years to sell the land to preserve its historic integrity. After being struck down twice, the family may have a third-time charm. The family of three brothers, Ken, Allan and Dennis, tried to sell the ranch first to the National Park Service, and then to North Dakota for a state preserve. There was interest in acquiring the land where Roosevelt grazed cattle in the 1880s, but the attempts died for lack of public support and funding. The U.S. Forest Service through Dakota Prairie Grasslands has $1.5 million available this summer for a down payment on the 5,200-acre ranch north of Medora. The Forest Service and the Eberts family have yet to sign any agreement. It's pending a formal appraisal. The ranch was appraised at $3.5 million in 2004 when North Dakota, led by Gov. John Hoeven's administration, tried to buy it for what would have been the first state-owned preserve....
BLM draws fire for Pinedale office location State and national wildlife and sportsmen's groups are questioning a federal agency's new building location in a Pinedale wildlife corridor. The Wyoming Wildlife Federation and the Wildlife Management Institute of Washington, D.C., said the Bureau of Land Management's decision to move into a building in an already-tight pronghorn antelope migration corridor reflects poorly on the agency. "We consider it inappropriate, leasing office space in the middle of a pronghorn migration corridor," said Dave Gowdey, executive director of the Wyoming Wildlife Federation. "We think it shows an indifference to wildlife that we find extremely disturbing." Steven Hall, spokesman for the BLM's Cheyenne office, called an article about the office location -- published in the Wildlife Management Institute's "Outdoor News Bulletin" April 12 -- irresponsible....
BLM expects Wyo staff losses While the U.S. Bureau of Land Management is boosting its staff to help deal with booming energy development in Wyoming, the agency's other functions will likely be handled by fewer people in coming years. “We’re going to have to do more with less,” said Rubel Vigil, acting field manager for the BLM's Lander office. During an open house meeting last week with ranchers who graze livestock on the Green Mountain Common Allotment, Vigil said the BLM in Wyoming is looking at a 10 percent cut in staffing over the next two years. Vigil said it might take a while before he could replace a range conservationist who’s leaving the Lander Field Office. Yet in the Rawlins and Buffalo field offices, staffing levels have grown by 22 and six positions, respectively, in response to the rapidly growing workload involved with the energy boom in those districts. Those additional positions are funded separately, via provisions in the National Energy Act....
Cloned cattle await approval Jan Schuiteman and the customers for his cloned bulls have been waiting two years for the government to decide whether meat from such animals' offspring should be allowed for sale. Clones produced by his TransOva Genetics of Sioux Center cost $15,000 to $20,000 apiece, so the decision from the Food and Drug Administration is critical to his business. The bigger question, though, may be whether consumers and big food buyers like McDonald's will purchase the meat or milk that are products of cloning. Foods made with genetically engineered corn or soybeans have been sold widely for several years, but polls suggest consumers will be hesitant to buy meat or milk that is produced through biotechnology. "It's a social, political issue also," said Schuiteman, chief executive officer of TransOva, which is promoting its cloning business at the Biotechnology Industry Organization's trade show this week. The government's "stamp of approval would go a long way" toward assuring consumers that the products are safe, he said. Cloning an animal produces an exact copy of the parent, an attractive idea to farmers and ranchers who are looking to copy cattle, hogs or horses with top genetic traits. A bull could be cloned, for example, that is more likely to produce calves that would yield high-quality beef. At today's cattle prices, a steer whose beef is graded as choice would fetch about $80 more than a steer rated "select." Studies indicate the meat or milk of cloned livestock would be safe to eat. However, companies like TransOva have been observing a voluntary moratorium requested by FDA on using cloned animals for food while the agency decides how to regulate the products....
Government won't require birth date in animal tracking system A livestock tracking system planned by the government will not include the age of animals, despite the key role age has played in mad cow disease investigations. Agriculture Department officials say they don't want to overburden ranchers and can track most birth dates. Critics said the omission could make the system worthless. "So what's the point of having this animal ID system? This is one fact you actually really need to know when it comes to mad cow," Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives at Consumers Union, said Monday. The department promised to create the system after the nation's first case of mad cow disease two years ago and has already spent $84 million on it. Earlier this month, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns promised it would be in place by 2009. The system also applies to pigs and chickens and to many other diseases. But the controversy is about mad cow disease, medically known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE....
New plan to track animals draws snorts from ranchers A new, high-tech livestock identification and tracking plan aimed at improving animal health and consumer confidence instead has triggered a revolt among some Texas producers. "It's an affront to my personal liberty," said Ron Hickerson, who runs a small herd in Bandera. "I find this is about the most intrusive law they've ever passed in my life." Under the law, every livestock animal and every location where livestock can stay is to be assigned a number. If an animal is moved, its owner is expected to report that movement to a central tracking system. The measure, House Bill 1361, addresses the fears of a global market about the devastating outbreak of such maladies as mad-cow disease and bird flu. But it will increase the costs and record keeping for everyone from ranches to rodeos — consequences critics see not only as unwise but also un-American. "Looking at the Bill of Rights, it's unconstitutional to have to register with an agency to keep livestock," said Debbie Davis, a Bandera area Longhorn rancher who is president of the Cattlemen's Texas Longhorn Registry. "It's Marxism." HB 1361, passed by the Legislature last year, authorizes the Texas Animal Health Commission to implement an animal identification system for livestock, which excludes dogs, cats and other companion animals. The computerized system is designed to help authorities locate animals that have been exposed to a disease within 48 hours of its outbreak....
Rounding up the Western family All things need nurturing, even ranch lands of the American West. In their upcoming book, writer Linda Hussa and photographer Madeline Graham Blake hope to show why ranch lands of the American West require a lot of mothering. With the help of Carole Fisher of Bonanza, who's serving as project manager, Blake and Hussa are combining efforts to create "Mothering in the West: A Literary and Photographic Study of Ranch Families." The large format book is scheduled to be published by the University of Nevada Press in early 2008. Photo exhibits will be held in conjunction with the book's release. "It's not going to be just a picture book about the West," says Hussa, who lives and works with her husband John on a third generation cattle ranch in Modoc County's Surprise Valley. "It's talking to the real blood and guts issues, and why we need to pay attention to them." "The time is right to have a book about the West and how people in the West preserve its history and culture," says Fisher, who raises sheep near Bonanza with her husband, a retired large-animal veterinarian....
It's All Trew: A look at wash day from early to modern Many of my columns originate from a casual inquiry from a reader. David Bowerman of Amarillo asked whether I knew some of his relatives who operated a laundry or "wash-a-teria" in early McLean. When the question was presented to our coffee shop locals, we heard some interesting facts and stories about this most important local institution. The earliest laundry site recalled is still standing as a wooden building near the alley across from the Methodist Church. The equipment included Maytag washing machines with wringers and rinsing tubs. Since this was before the advent of affordable clothes dryers, the back lot of the laundry was filled with clotheslines. Most laundries of the time had a shallow trough built into the concrete floor and covered with wooden slats to allow for dumping of tubs and machines of dirty water. Most people brought their own homemade lye soap to use....
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Monday, April 17, 2006
NEWS ROUNDUP
Voter initiative calls for removal of all wolves from Idaho Ron Gillett wants Idaho voters to get a chance to vote to remove wolves from Idaho. The president of the Idaho Anti-wolf Coalition and his supporters are circulating petitions demanding the removal of the more than 500 wolves in Idaho's backcountry "by any means necessary," including killing them. The coalition has gathered 5,000 to 6,000 signatures in the few weeks it has circulated petitions, Gillett said. Most so far have come from rural areas like Challis. He was setting up stations to gather signatures in Boise on Wednesday. Gillett's first challenge is time. He needs signatures of 47,000 registered voters by May 1 to put the measure on the ballot in November. His second challenge is lack of organizational support. Natural allies like the Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, the Idaho Farm Bureau, the Idaho Outfitters and Guides Association and the Idaho Cattle Association all oppose the petition, even though they dislike wolves....
Report: Clean up Western coal If Wyoming doesn't develop a cleaner design for coal-based power plants, it will begin to lose coal customers and an estimated $60 million per year in taxes and royalty revenues, according to a new study released this week. Western Resource Advocates issued a report Thursday detailing a financial analysis of a new "clean" coal market. The report argues that failure to demonstrate coal gasification and other advanced coal technologies with Western coal threatens not only the region's environmental quality, but could also lead to a loss of market share for Western coal producers, harming local economies. "Electric utilities in the Midwest -- where a lot of Wyoming coal is shipped -- have announced their intention to go to (coal gasification), not using Western coal," said Bruce Driver, co-author of the report titled "Western Coal at the Crossroads."....
Forest roads a legal puzzle After a decade-long fight over the Endangered Species Act, property rights and a threatened fish called the bull trout, the fate of a two-mile stretch of national forest road in one of the most remote canyons in the West might come down to a simple question: Who was there first? Was the dirt road in northeast Nevada built before Congress added the wildly rugged terrain to the Humboldt National Forest on Jan. 20, 1909? It's a dispute that's playing out in several states as more and more rural counties stake claims to roads the government insists are federal property -- a legal and political divide the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals described in a ruling in Utah earlier this year as "one of the more contentious land use issues in the West." A federal court ruling expected this summer might be viewed as a precedent in jurisdictions with similar conflicts. The issue in Elko County's Jarbidge Canyon is how much of South Canyon Road leading to federally protected wilderness should be off-limits to motorized vehicles given its proximity to the southernmost population of the bull trout in the U.S. The concern is that vehicles traveling the road that follows and sometimes crosses the Jarbidge River could damage the stream bed and push the fish into extinction....
County set to buy Six-Bar Ranch Pima County is about to add another spread to it's ranch holdings: the 3,300-acre Six-Bar Ranch in the San Pedro River Valley. County officials are negotiating a deal to buy the ranch from its private owner for $11.6 million to acquire land that officials say includes great examples of riverfront cottonwood-willow habitat, along with Sonoran Desert scrub, mesquite and grasslands. Six-Bar would be the sixth ranch acquired with a total of $44.5 million from the county's 1997 and 2004 open-space bonds. Most of those purchases were financed by the more recent bond of $174 million. The purchase matches County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry's strategy of targeting ranches far outside the city in hopes of building a ring around the metro area's edges to prevent urban sprawl from moving into now-rural areas. The county is particularly interested in this area because of the presence of Edgar and Buehmann Canyons, both on tributaries to the San Pedro, the Southwest's last major, free-flowing desert river. Edgar Canyon runs from the Catalina Mountains down to the river, and this parcel includes 2,000 acres along the canyon....
Montana BER takes first step in protecting Water Beyond Methane The Montana Board of Environmental Review (BER) took an important first step in protecting Montana's farmers and ranchers from the negative impacts of Coal Bed Methane. The seven member board met on Thursday, March 23rd and voted to protect Montana's existing water quality, by instituting a non-degradation policy. This policy protects the existing water quality of Montana River's upon which irrigators depend on for their livelihood, including protection for Montana fisheries and aquatic life. The proposal, titled Water Beyond Methane, did not pass in it's entirety. The Board rejected the portion of the proposal that called for CBM produced water to be reinjected into shallow aquifers citing the reason that the BER did not have the legal authority to require reinjection. The Board postponed another aspect of the petition that would call for CBM producers to remove salts before discharging water into surface ponds or irrigating with it. Water Beyond Methane is backed by conservation groups, local farmers and ranchers, and area irrigators. Lead by Northern Plains Resource Council, grassroots family farm and conservation organization that petitioned the state last year to strengthen water pollution standards for the coal bed methane industry, the proposed rule before the Board was intended to achieve stronger protections of water quality, ensuring that there will be water beyond methane....
Editorial: Setback for drilling agreement House Bill 1185, a measure giving landowners more say over oil and gas drilling on their properties, died recently in the Colorado legislature, leaving a nettlesome problem unsolved. A compromise should have been possible, but both the energy industry on one side and a broad coalition of ranchers, homebuilders, environmentalists and real estate firms on the other asked for too much. Colorado law separates the right to develop oil and gas from ownership of the surface, typically favoring mineral development. Disputes about such "split estates" have escalated in recent years along with the intensity and density of energy drilling. Subdivisions are encroaching on the traditional landscape of farms, pasture and drilling rigs on the plains of northeastern Colorado. In the western part of the state, second homes and ranches lie in the path of the rush to pump more natural gas. The issue is a hot one around the West, with Wyoming, Kansas and North Dakota adopting reforms last year; Montana is studying the issue. In New Mexico, an move to bolster landowner rights also stalled this year. In Colorado, two Democrats, Rep. Kathleen Curry of Gunnison and Sen. Jim Isgar of Hesperus, tried to balance mineral and surface-owner rights in HB 1185....
Ranchers go off road, into the sky Idaho's congressional delegation and the administration of Gov. Dirk Kempthorne spent two years persuading the Federal Aviation Administration to give ranchers permits to shoot coyotes and other wild predators while flying overhead in powered parachutes and ultralight flying machines. After initially refusing to allow the state to issue aerial gunning permits for experimental aircraft operated by noncertified pilots, FAA Administrator Marion Blakey relented last spring and agreed to come up with "the most appropriate means of accommodation," according to correspondence obtained by The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act. The FAA is now allowing Idaho to issue permits to ranchers for aerial shooting of predators to protect livestock if their vehicle qualifies as a "light sport aircraft" under new FAA regulations. The new category has spawned a squadron of unconventional flying craft known as "aerial ATVs." "These are the newest, hottest things for ranchers," said Allen Kenitzer, a spokesman for the FAA in Renton, Wash. But wildlife activists say the use of kit-built and experimental flying contraptions for airborne attacks on wild animals is dangerous and absurd....
Grazing in '06 proceeds under current rules There won't be any new rules this summer for one of the largest, unfenced public land grazing allotments in the United States. The Green Mountain Common Allotment won’t get new grazing regulations until the 2007 spring turnout, said John Likins, rangeland management specialist for the Bureau of Land Management’s Lander Field Office. In an open house meeting Thursday afternoon, Likins said he was leaning toward 60 percent of authorized use for the 500,000 acres between the Red Desert and Jeffrey City, Bairoil and the Sweetwater River. The unfenced allotment has been the subject of concerns about drought and overgrazing in recent years. Depending on which pasture is used for spring turnout, Likins said livestock can enter the allotment sometime between May 10 and 20. He added that the maximum grazing season this year will be May 10 through Oct. 1, though that could be extended a bit with good moisture....
Fishlake thinning plans upheld by appeals court A federal appeals court has upheld a proposed Forest Service thinning and timber sale project on the Fishlake National Forest that seeks to curb spruce beetle infestation. A local environmental group, the Utah Environmental Congress, challenged the project on the grounds that the Forest Service acted "arbitrarily and capriciously" by failing to consider effects on fish and wildlife in implementing the Seven Mile Project, thus violating federal environmental laws. But a district court upheld the Forest Service proposal, and the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed the decision, ruling that the agency's 123-acre project met federal environmental guidelines. "We've felt strongly all along that this is a good project which promotes sound stewardship of the forest and meets our obligations, both procedural and substantive. The 10th Circuit Court decision supports this view," Fishlake National Forest supervisor Mary Erickson said in a statement....
So Many Bald Eagles, So Little Room Left to Nest The dramatic aerial battle this month between two bald eagles contending for territory on the Potomac River south of Washington is a sign that their population rebound has been so successful they are running out of habitat. The number of breeding pairs of eagles in the Chesapeake Bay region grew from fewer than 100 in the late 1970s to about 1,000 this year. Eagles are crowding together more closely, and a growing number of birds are being treated for injuries suffered in turf battles. The nonprofit Wildlife Center of Virginia in Waynesboro treated six eagles last year that had wounds consistent with fights with other eagles, compared with two the year before, said its president, Ed Clark. At Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research in Newark, Del., another nonprofit facility, the bald eagle injured near Washington was the fifth one brought in this year from Maryland with fight injuries....
Busy off-road weekend sees 25 hurt, 1 fatal drug overdose An estimated 30,000 off-road enthusiasts converged on the dunes, trails and sagebrush flats of Little Sahara State Recreation Area for the Easter weekend, one of the busiest of the year. About 70 law enforcement officers from the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, Juab County and the Utah Highway Patrol were on hand to provide emergency assistance and help curtail serious injuries, but dozens of off-roaders were hurt - some seriously - and one person died of a drug overdose, said BLM spokeswoman Lisa Reid. "These numbers are good," she said. "They are really low numbers. . . . But, people underestimate the hill they're going up." Fourteen people were treated since Friday at the BLM-owned recreation center medical office for minor injuries involving accidents, Reid said. Six more were taken by ambulance and five others were flown to area hospitals for more serious injuries....
Sage grouse will keep BLM protections The Bureau of Land Management plans to continue upholding protections for the Gunnison sage grouse, despite the fact the bird was determined healthy enough to stay off the endangered species list last week. “Right now we’re going to continue as is,” said Theresa Sauer, spokeswoman for the Colorado state office of the BLM. “We will still do the efforts we have been doing because we still want to keep the Gunnison sage grouse off the endangered species list.” Sauer said the agency was working on a strategy with the state and other partner agencies to come up with a plan to manage habitat occupied by the grouse. Until the strategy is complete, Sauer said, the BLM’s protection efforts would not change. More than 50 percent of the grouse’s habitat is on land managed by the BLM, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service. The BLM has afforded protections to the bird, particularly for oil and gas drilling....
World’s tallest horse wows ’em in Jerseyville Visitors wanting to get a peek at the world’s tallest horse Saturday had to hoof it to a farm supply store in Jerseyville because of the large crowd it drew. The parking lot at the Jerseyville Farm and Home Supply store, 725 Shipman St., was full of cars, as were the streets lining the store. Families pushing strollers, farmers and just plain curious folk wanted to see the horse in person. Radar, a Belgian draft horse, appeared calm while standing in a pile of straw where half of the sporting goods section previously had been at Farm and Home Supply. The 2,400-pound gelding stands 6 feet 7 inches tall at the withers, or the top of the shoulders, and only blinked when children tried to get his attention and camera flashes temporarily blinded him....
Montana’s horse-racing history runs deep American Indians brought horses into Montana in the 1700s, beginning a stellar history of horse racing that spans several centuries. The tiny town of Racetrack near Deer Lodge commemorates the earliest form of the sport. According to local tradition, Indian horsemen raced their fast ponies along its straightaway. Billy Bay was Montana’s first famous thoroughbred. Native people reportedly brought the Kentucky stallion here from the region north of the Great Salt Lake. Trader Malcolm Clarke, whose stage stop was the site of the present Sieben Ranch headquarters, acquired the horse from his Blackfeet in-laws. Billy Bay already had a reputation for winning inter-tribal races. Miners loved a good race, and the streets of most mining camps served as early racetracks. Virginia Slade, an expert horsewoman, acquired Billy Bay from Clarke and rode him in the Sunday races held in the streets of Virginia City. It was Billy Bay that carried his mistress hell-bent down the road into Virginia City to save her miscreant husband, hanged by the vigilantes in March of 1864. That wild ride was one race Billy Bay did not win....
Staging a Texas Legacy A lone cowboy on horseback, holding a fluttering Texas flag, stands at the edge of a high ridge in Palo Duro Canyon State Park. Suddenly, fireworks explode in the evening sky, signaling the start of a historical summer pageant that has celebrated the Texas Panhandle's ranching heritage for 40 years. As sparks fade, the audience in Pioneer Amphitheatre cheers wildly while the rider races along the ridge's edge and vanishes into the darkness. "I remember seeing that cliff rider as a child, and I always wanted to be one,” says Shannon Timberlake, 47, of nearby Canyon, Texas (pop. 12,857). "Now I am, and I can't explain the feeling I get when I hear people whooping as I ride away. It's awesome.” Canyon's relationship with cowboys, cattle and the 120-mile-long Palo Duro Canyon—known as the Grand Canyon of Texas—is legendary and undisputable. In 1887, cattle rancher Lincoln Guy Conner founded the town, which residents named after Palo Duro Canyon. When the railroad arrived a decade later, Canyon City—renamed Canyon in 1911—became a major shipping center for cattle and cotton....
On the Edge of Common Sense: Infinite time affects natural gas boom Infinite Time: The way I've been able to absorb the concept of 'No beginning and no end' is that time must be like a rolling ball. Of course, in my mind time recycles itself over a long period. Thus my surprise when I read about the natural gas boom in Pinedale, Wyo., and the record high price of farmland in Iowa. Take yourself back 25 years. In the early '80s, the population of Casper, Wyo., was nearly 80,000. Commuter airlines into Wyoming were full of engineers and roughnecks from Houston, real estate agents were giddy, the city had discontinued its traditional Ranch City banquet, all eyes were on the oil. Meanwhile in Iowa, farmland was increasing in value proportionate to the 14-percent inflation rate that was roaring through the country. The price of cattle, corn and soybeans remained at subsistence levels, but banks were lending money using the inflated land values as collateral. Farmers were buying more land and more machinery, ag lenders felt like Santa Claus....
Voter initiative calls for removal of all wolves from Idaho Ron Gillett wants Idaho voters to get a chance to vote to remove wolves from Idaho. The president of the Idaho Anti-wolf Coalition and his supporters are circulating petitions demanding the removal of the more than 500 wolves in Idaho's backcountry "by any means necessary," including killing them. The coalition has gathered 5,000 to 6,000 signatures in the few weeks it has circulated petitions, Gillett said. Most so far have come from rural areas like Challis. He was setting up stations to gather signatures in Boise on Wednesday. Gillett's first challenge is time. He needs signatures of 47,000 registered voters by May 1 to put the measure on the ballot in November. His second challenge is lack of organizational support. Natural allies like the Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, the Idaho Farm Bureau, the Idaho Outfitters and Guides Association and the Idaho Cattle Association all oppose the petition, even though they dislike wolves....
Report: Clean up Western coal If Wyoming doesn't develop a cleaner design for coal-based power plants, it will begin to lose coal customers and an estimated $60 million per year in taxes and royalty revenues, according to a new study released this week. Western Resource Advocates issued a report Thursday detailing a financial analysis of a new "clean" coal market. The report argues that failure to demonstrate coal gasification and other advanced coal technologies with Western coal threatens not only the region's environmental quality, but could also lead to a loss of market share for Western coal producers, harming local economies. "Electric utilities in the Midwest -- where a lot of Wyoming coal is shipped -- have announced their intention to go to (coal gasification), not using Western coal," said Bruce Driver, co-author of the report titled "Western Coal at the Crossroads."....
Forest roads a legal puzzle After a decade-long fight over the Endangered Species Act, property rights and a threatened fish called the bull trout, the fate of a two-mile stretch of national forest road in one of the most remote canyons in the West might come down to a simple question: Who was there first? Was the dirt road in northeast Nevada built before Congress added the wildly rugged terrain to the Humboldt National Forest on Jan. 20, 1909? It's a dispute that's playing out in several states as more and more rural counties stake claims to roads the government insists are federal property -- a legal and political divide the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals described in a ruling in Utah earlier this year as "one of the more contentious land use issues in the West." A federal court ruling expected this summer might be viewed as a precedent in jurisdictions with similar conflicts. The issue in Elko County's Jarbidge Canyon is how much of South Canyon Road leading to federally protected wilderness should be off-limits to motorized vehicles given its proximity to the southernmost population of the bull trout in the U.S. The concern is that vehicles traveling the road that follows and sometimes crosses the Jarbidge River could damage the stream bed and push the fish into extinction....
County set to buy Six-Bar Ranch Pima County is about to add another spread to it's ranch holdings: the 3,300-acre Six-Bar Ranch in the San Pedro River Valley. County officials are negotiating a deal to buy the ranch from its private owner for $11.6 million to acquire land that officials say includes great examples of riverfront cottonwood-willow habitat, along with Sonoran Desert scrub, mesquite and grasslands. Six-Bar would be the sixth ranch acquired with a total of $44.5 million from the county's 1997 and 2004 open-space bonds. Most of those purchases were financed by the more recent bond of $174 million. The purchase matches County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry's strategy of targeting ranches far outside the city in hopes of building a ring around the metro area's edges to prevent urban sprawl from moving into now-rural areas. The county is particularly interested in this area because of the presence of Edgar and Buehmann Canyons, both on tributaries to the San Pedro, the Southwest's last major, free-flowing desert river. Edgar Canyon runs from the Catalina Mountains down to the river, and this parcel includes 2,000 acres along the canyon....
Montana BER takes first step in protecting Water Beyond Methane The Montana Board of Environmental Review (BER) took an important first step in protecting Montana's farmers and ranchers from the negative impacts of Coal Bed Methane. The seven member board met on Thursday, March 23rd and voted to protect Montana's existing water quality, by instituting a non-degradation policy. This policy protects the existing water quality of Montana River's upon which irrigators depend on for their livelihood, including protection for Montana fisheries and aquatic life. The proposal, titled Water Beyond Methane, did not pass in it's entirety. The Board rejected the portion of the proposal that called for CBM produced water to be reinjected into shallow aquifers citing the reason that the BER did not have the legal authority to require reinjection. The Board postponed another aspect of the petition that would call for CBM producers to remove salts before discharging water into surface ponds or irrigating with it. Water Beyond Methane is backed by conservation groups, local farmers and ranchers, and area irrigators. Lead by Northern Plains Resource Council, grassroots family farm and conservation organization that petitioned the state last year to strengthen water pollution standards for the coal bed methane industry, the proposed rule before the Board was intended to achieve stronger protections of water quality, ensuring that there will be water beyond methane....
Editorial: Setback for drilling agreement House Bill 1185, a measure giving landowners more say over oil and gas drilling on their properties, died recently in the Colorado legislature, leaving a nettlesome problem unsolved. A compromise should have been possible, but both the energy industry on one side and a broad coalition of ranchers, homebuilders, environmentalists and real estate firms on the other asked for too much. Colorado law separates the right to develop oil and gas from ownership of the surface, typically favoring mineral development. Disputes about such "split estates" have escalated in recent years along with the intensity and density of energy drilling. Subdivisions are encroaching on the traditional landscape of farms, pasture and drilling rigs on the plains of northeastern Colorado. In the western part of the state, second homes and ranches lie in the path of the rush to pump more natural gas. The issue is a hot one around the West, with Wyoming, Kansas and North Dakota adopting reforms last year; Montana is studying the issue. In New Mexico, an move to bolster landowner rights also stalled this year. In Colorado, two Democrats, Rep. Kathleen Curry of Gunnison and Sen. Jim Isgar of Hesperus, tried to balance mineral and surface-owner rights in HB 1185....
Ranchers go off road, into the sky Idaho's congressional delegation and the administration of Gov. Dirk Kempthorne spent two years persuading the Federal Aviation Administration to give ranchers permits to shoot coyotes and other wild predators while flying overhead in powered parachutes and ultralight flying machines. After initially refusing to allow the state to issue aerial gunning permits for experimental aircraft operated by noncertified pilots, FAA Administrator Marion Blakey relented last spring and agreed to come up with "the most appropriate means of accommodation," according to correspondence obtained by The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act. The FAA is now allowing Idaho to issue permits to ranchers for aerial shooting of predators to protect livestock if their vehicle qualifies as a "light sport aircraft" under new FAA regulations. The new category has spawned a squadron of unconventional flying craft known as "aerial ATVs." "These are the newest, hottest things for ranchers," said Allen Kenitzer, a spokesman for the FAA in Renton, Wash. But wildlife activists say the use of kit-built and experimental flying contraptions for airborne attacks on wild animals is dangerous and absurd....
Grazing in '06 proceeds under current rules There won't be any new rules this summer for one of the largest, unfenced public land grazing allotments in the United States. The Green Mountain Common Allotment won’t get new grazing regulations until the 2007 spring turnout, said John Likins, rangeland management specialist for the Bureau of Land Management’s Lander Field Office. In an open house meeting Thursday afternoon, Likins said he was leaning toward 60 percent of authorized use for the 500,000 acres between the Red Desert and Jeffrey City, Bairoil and the Sweetwater River. The unfenced allotment has been the subject of concerns about drought and overgrazing in recent years. Depending on which pasture is used for spring turnout, Likins said livestock can enter the allotment sometime between May 10 and 20. He added that the maximum grazing season this year will be May 10 through Oct. 1, though that could be extended a bit with good moisture....
Fishlake thinning plans upheld by appeals court A federal appeals court has upheld a proposed Forest Service thinning and timber sale project on the Fishlake National Forest that seeks to curb spruce beetle infestation. A local environmental group, the Utah Environmental Congress, challenged the project on the grounds that the Forest Service acted "arbitrarily and capriciously" by failing to consider effects on fish and wildlife in implementing the Seven Mile Project, thus violating federal environmental laws. But a district court upheld the Forest Service proposal, and the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed the decision, ruling that the agency's 123-acre project met federal environmental guidelines. "We've felt strongly all along that this is a good project which promotes sound stewardship of the forest and meets our obligations, both procedural and substantive. The 10th Circuit Court decision supports this view," Fishlake National Forest supervisor Mary Erickson said in a statement....
So Many Bald Eagles, So Little Room Left to Nest The dramatic aerial battle this month between two bald eagles contending for territory on the Potomac River south of Washington is a sign that their population rebound has been so successful they are running out of habitat. The number of breeding pairs of eagles in the Chesapeake Bay region grew from fewer than 100 in the late 1970s to about 1,000 this year. Eagles are crowding together more closely, and a growing number of birds are being treated for injuries suffered in turf battles. The nonprofit Wildlife Center of Virginia in Waynesboro treated six eagles last year that had wounds consistent with fights with other eagles, compared with two the year before, said its president, Ed Clark. At Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research in Newark, Del., another nonprofit facility, the bald eagle injured near Washington was the fifth one brought in this year from Maryland with fight injuries....
Busy off-road weekend sees 25 hurt, 1 fatal drug overdose An estimated 30,000 off-road enthusiasts converged on the dunes, trails and sagebrush flats of Little Sahara State Recreation Area for the Easter weekend, one of the busiest of the year. About 70 law enforcement officers from the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, Juab County and the Utah Highway Patrol were on hand to provide emergency assistance and help curtail serious injuries, but dozens of off-roaders were hurt - some seriously - and one person died of a drug overdose, said BLM spokeswoman Lisa Reid. "These numbers are good," she said. "They are really low numbers. . . . But, people underestimate the hill they're going up." Fourteen people were treated since Friday at the BLM-owned recreation center medical office for minor injuries involving accidents, Reid said. Six more were taken by ambulance and five others were flown to area hospitals for more serious injuries....
Sage grouse will keep BLM protections The Bureau of Land Management plans to continue upholding protections for the Gunnison sage grouse, despite the fact the bird was determined healthy enough to stay off the endangered species list last week. “Right now we’re going to continue as is,” said Theresa Sauer, spokeswoman for the Colorado state office of the BLM. “We will still do the efforts we have been doing because we still want to keep the Gunnison sage grouse off the endangered species list.” Sauer said the agency was working on a strategy with the state and other partner agencies to come up with a plan to manage habitat occupied by the grouse. Until the strategy is complete, Sauer said, the BLM’s protection efforts would not change. More than 50 percent of the grouse’s habitat is on land managed by the BLM, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service. The BLM has afforded protections to the bird, particularly for oil and gas drilling....
World’s tallest horse wows ’em in Jerseyville Visitors wanting to get a peek at the world’s tallest horse Saturday had to hoof it to a farm supply store in Jerseyville because of the large crowd it drew. The parking lot at the Jerseyville Farm and Home Supply store, 725 Shipman St., was full of cars, as were the streets lining the store. Families pushing strollers, farmers and just plain curious folk wanted to see the horse in person. Radar, a Belgian draft horse, appeared calm while standing in a pile of straw where half of the sporting goods section previously had been at Farm and Home Supply. The 2,400-pound gelding stands 6 feet 7 inches tall at the withers, or the top of the shoulders, and only blinked when children tried to get his attention and camera flashes temporarily blinded him....
Montana’s horse-racing history runs deep American Indians brought horses into Montana in the 1700s, beginning a stellar history of horse racing that spans several centuries. The tiny town of Racetrack near Deer Lodge commemorates the earliest form of the sport. According to local tradition, Indian horsemen raced their fast ponies along its straightaway. Billy Bay was Montana’s first famous thoroughbred. Native people reportedly brought the Kentucky stallion here from the region north of the Great Salt Lake. Trader Malcolm Clarke, whose stage stop was the site of the present Sieben Ranch headquarters, acquired the horse from his Blackfeet in-laws. Billy Bay already had a reputation for winning inter-tribal races. Miners loved a good race, and the streets of most mining camps served as early racetracks. Virginia Slade, an expert horsewoman, acquired Billy Bay from Clarke and rode him in the Sunday races held in the streets of Virginia City. It was Billy Bay that carried his mistress hell-bent down the road into Virginia City to save her miscreant husband, hanged by the vigilantes in March of 1864. That wild ride was one race Billy Bay did not win....
Staging a Texas Legacy A lone cowboy on horseback, holding a fluttering Texas flag, stands at the edge of a high ridge in Palo Duro Canyon State Park. Suddenly, fireworks explode in the evening sky, signaling the start of a historical summer pageant that has celebrated the Texas Panhandle's ranching heritage for 40 years. As sparks fade, the audience in Pioneer Amphitheatre cheers wildly while the rider races along the ridge's edge and vanishes into the darkness. "I remember seeing that cliff rider as a child, and I always wanted to be one,” says Shannon Timberlake, 47, of nearby Canyon, Texas (pop. 12,857). "Now I am, and I can't explain the feeling I get when I hear people whooping as I ride away. It's awesome.” Canyon's relationship with cowboys, cattle and the 120-mile-long Palo Duro Canyon—known as the Grand Canyon of Texas—is legendary and undisputable. In 1887, cattle rancher Lincoln Guy Conner founded the town, which residents named after Palo Duro Canyon. When the railroad arrived a decade later, Canyon City—renamed Canyon in 1911—became a major shipping center for cattle and cotton....
On the Edge of Common Sense: Infinite time affects natural gas boom Infinite Time: The way I've been able to absorb the concept of 'No beginning and no end' is that time must be like a rolling ball. Of course, in my mind time recycles itself over a long period. Thus my surprise when I read about the natural gas boom in Pinedale, Wyo., and the record high price of farmland in Iowa. Take yourself back 25 years. In the early '80s, the population of Casper, Wyo., was nearly 80,000. Commuter airlines into Wyoming were full of engineers and roughnecks from Houston, real estate agents were giddy, the city had discontinued its traditional Ranch City banquet, all eyes were on the oil. Meanwhile in Iowa, farmland was increasing in value proportionate to the 14-percent inflation rate that was roaring through the country. The price of cattle, corn and soybeans remained at subsistence levels, but banks were lending money using the inflated land values as collateral. Farmers were buying more land and more machinery, ag lenders felt like Santa Claus....
Sunday, April 16, 2006
MAD COW DISEASE
Mad Cow Case Is Found in Canada
Canada on Sunday confirmed a case of mad cow disease at a farm in British Columbia. It is the country's fifth reported case since May 2003, when the United States closed its border to Canadian beef after sick cows had been found in Canada. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced Thursday that it had what it suspected was a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy. In humans, meat products contaminated with the disease have been linked to more than 150 deaths, mostly in Britain, from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare and fatal nerve disease. The 6-year-old cow was identified on a Fraser Valley farm through a national surveillance program. In a written statement, the inspection agency said the case would have no bearing on the safety of Canadian beef, because no part of the animal had entered the human food or animal feed systems. The animal was the second one to test positive for mad cow disease that had been born after a 1997 ban on certain types of cattle feed, which were believed to spread the disease. The cow's age has led to questions about the effectiveness of the ban, because the disease has been believed to spread only when cattle eat feed containing certain tissues from infected cattle....
Tokyo weighs lifting beef ban
Tokyo is moving closer to cutting a deal with Washington to resume imports of American beef, which have been suspended since January. The move, which apparently has the support of the prime minister, is meant to head off U.S. demands that Japan raise its quota on rice imports, but critics say the government is putting relations with its No. 1 trading partner ahead of consumer safety. Japan first banned imports of U.S. beef in December 2003 after a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, was reported in the United States. It lifted the ban late last year, but only on several conditions, including that imports contain no risky body parts. When the U.S. beef reached Narita International Airport in January, however, inspectors found it contained spinal column, one of the parts prohibited under the agreement. Tokyo cannot afford to risk Washington's ire at the moment, according to agriculture ministry officials in favor of working toward lifting the ban. The United States has a commanding position at the World Trade Organization's Doha round of negotiations, which plans to set up rules by the end of this month. "We want to avoid a situation where Japan is pressed into making a large expansion of its rice imports because it refused to resume U.S. beef imports," an agriculture official said....
Mad Cow Case Is Found in Canada
Canada on Sunday confirmed a case of mad cow disease at a farm in British Columbia. It is the country's fifth reported case since May 2003, when the United States closed its border to Canadian beef after sick cows had been found in Canada. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced Thursday that it had what it suspected was a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy. In humans, meat products contaminated with the disease have been linked to more than 150 deaths, mostly in Britain, from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare and fatal nerve disease. The 6-year-old cow was identified on a Fraser Valley farm through a national surveillance program. In a written statement, the inspection agency said the case would have no bearing on the safety of Canadian beef, because no part of the animal had entered the human food or animal feed systems. The animal was the second one to test positive for mad cow disease that had been born after a 1997 ban on certain types of cattle feed, which were believed to spread the disease. The cow's age has led to questions about the effectiveness of the ban, because the disease has been believed to spread only when cattle eat feed containing certain tissues from infected cattle....
Tokyo weighs lifting beef ban
Tokyo is moving closer to cutting a deal with Washington to resume imports of American beef, which have been suspended since January. The move, which apparently has the support of the prime minister, is meant to head off U.S. demands that Japan raise its quota on rice imports, but critics say the government is putting relations with its No. 1 trading partner ahead of consumer safety. Japan first banned imports of U.S. beef in December 2003 after a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, was reported in the United States. It lifted the ban late last year, but only on several conditions, including that imports contain no risky body parts. When the U.S. beef reached Narita International Airport in January, however, inspectors found it contained spinal column, one of the parts prohibited under the agreement. Tokyo cannot afford to risk Washington's ire at the moment, according to agriculture ministry officials in favor of working toward lifting the ban. The United States has a commanding position at the World Trade Organization's Doha round of negotiations, which plans to set up rules by the end of this month. "We want to avoid a situation where Japan is pressed into making a large expansion of its rice imports because it refused to resume U.S. beef imports," an agriculture official said....
Those who left
by Larry Gabriel
Not everyone is strong enough to live in South Dakota. Many have tried and left for an easier life.
I recently read an obituary in a California newspaper about a man who left his "Dakota farm" when bitter cold, drought, and grasshoppers drove him off the land during the great depression.
The Californian was not alone. Many followed him. As I read about this man's life, it became clear to me that such people are a great tribute to our state. That may sound like a contradiction, but it is not.
These were not soft people. Many like the man who went to California worked hard and long all their life. He worked in Civilian Conservation Corps camps until he landed a job with the railroad, where he worked his way up from flagman to yardmaster.
For those of you who know little about rail business, the yardmaster is a position of power and authority. Nothing happens in that yard without his approval.
These were tough and intelligent people, yet the obituary claimed that farm life in South Dakota was simply an impossible task.
Therein lies the tribute: in the face of impossible challenges, somebody stayed; in the face of impossible hardship, somebody not only did the impossible, they did it well.
They covered the prairie with farms, ranches, towns and infrastructure. They built everything we now take for granted, even when some very good people found it impossible.
We should occasionally look back at such things. However, being grateful for what our forefathers gave us is not enough. We owe it to them to make good use of their works.
Sometimes our problems (such as rural decline) may appear unsolvable. However, compared to the problems faced by South Dakotans during settlement or the dry periods of the 1930s and 1950s, today's "problems" are insignificant.
Perhaps we have grown soft, but I believe it is only a superficial softness. We come from the best of stock, and there is almost nothing we cannot accomplish if we put our minds and hearts into it.
Actually, many of the "problems" of rural America are only viewed as such because some sociologist calls them "problems".
New technology is not a problem. Disagreements over development are not a problem. World markets are not a problem. Those are all challenges, not problems.
Those who left are proof that the rest of us need not worry.
If our ancestors could do the impossible, we can certainly handle these challenges.
Mr. Gabriel is the South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture
What a difference 30 years makes
By Julie Carter
As the front line of baby boomers hit the wall at 60 this year, there are a few million more right behind them by a decade or less who are singing the tune "I'm not as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was."
Beside the automatic delivery of vitamins every month, the switch from acid rock to acid reflux, and the acceptance that instead of going to a new hip joint they will be receiving a new hip joint, the absolute worst reality comes from the workforce that is now employed by that generation.
Those young 20-some-things ask questions that should get their head knocked off and say things that probably will.
They have no idea that the Rolling Stones is no relation to kidney stones or that Willie Nelson didn't always have a braid.
"Waylon who? Didja know Johnny Cash only wore black? Rad huh? When I listen to your music it makes me want to find some polyester to wear. Who was Wolfman Jack?
Okay, like, when you were my age it was embarrassing to wear clothes with rips in them? Like WHAT? You didn't buy them like that?"
No, but I did rip out the neck and sleeves of my sweatshirts ala Flash Dance craze and added a twisted bandana headband to my curls.
"Eight tracks? What are eight tracks? An album is what? So did you guys, like dance, in high school?
So when you were a kid, did you, like, have any fun?
You had a pen pal? What exactly is a pen pal?
So if you didn't have a cell phone, real phone, TV or electricity, how DID you live?
So, if someone wanted to leave a message, how exactly would they have done that? Like how old were you when you had a microwave?
Wadda-ya-mean no Victoria's Secret? Like where did you get your underwear? You sat in a car to watch a movie? Why?"
The 70s was a time of long hair that progressed to today's basic longing for hair.
Weekend disco has become weekend Costco.
The decade of taking acid turned to a new millennium of taking antacid.
Passing the driver's test is now challenged only by passing the vision test.
We have come from trying to look like Marlon Brando and Liz Taylor to trying NOT to look like Marlon Brando and Liz Taylor.
The focus on "seeds and stems" of the 70s has become simply about fiber and roughage.
Hoping for a BMW evolved to hope for a BM. A KEG was for the life of the party and now it is EKG for life.
The predominate color in my childhood photos was plaid and usually in corduroy. Anybody wear corduroy anymore?
We typed on typewriters that had ribbons and most were not yet electric. We had super-sized bell bottoms, platform shoes, pet rocks and the first "Earth Day."
We wore bubble gum lip gloss, Heaven Scent perfume, halter tops, tube tops and mirrored sunglasses. Farrah Fawcett's winged hair style was all the rage.
Today we look for senior discounts, get AARP Magazine in the mail and hope we can last a few more years before the first knee replacement. We cover the gray, soften the lines, hide the lumps and wonder where our eyelashes went.
"I'm not as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was." As long as I get to pick when that once is.
© Julie Carter 2006
by Larry Gabriel
Not everyone is strong enough to live in South Dakota. Many have tried and left for an easier life.
I recently read an obituary in a California newspaper about a man who left his "Dakota farm" when bitter cold, drought, and grasshoppers drove him off the land during the great depression.
The Californian was not alone. Many followed him. As I read about this man's life, it became clear to me that such people are a great tribute to our state. That may sound like a contradiction, but it is not.
These were not soft people. Many like the man who went to California worked hard and long all their life. He worked in Civilian Conservation Corps camps until he landed a job with the railroad, where he worked his way up from flagman to yardmaster.
For those of you who know little about rail business, the yardmaster is a position of power and authority. Nothing happens in that yard without his approval.
These were tough and intelligent people, yet the obituary claimed that farm life in South Dakota was simply an impossible task.
Therein lies the tribute: in the face of impossible challenges, somebody stayed; in the face of impossible hardship, somebody not only did the impossible, they did it well.
They covered the prairie with farms, ranches, towns and infrastructure. They built everything we now take for granted, even when some very good people found it impossible.
We should occasionally look back at such things. However, being grateful for what our forefathers gave us is not enough. We owe it to them to make good use of their works.
Sometimes our problems (such as rural decline) may appear unsolvable. However, compared to the problems faced by South Dakotans during settlement or the dry periods of the 1930s and 1950s, today's "problems" are insignificant.
Perhaps we have grown soft, but I believe it is only a superficial softness. We come from the best of stock, and there is almost nothing we cannot accomplish if we put our minds and hearts into it.
Actually, many of the "problems" of rural America are only viewed as such because some sociologist calls them "problems".
New technology is not a problem. Disagreements over development are not a problem. World markets are not a problem. Those are all challenges, not problems.
Those who left are proof that the rest of us need not worry.
If our ancestors could do the impossible, we can certainly handle these challenges.
Mr. Gabriel is the South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture
What a difference 30 years makes
By Julie Carter
As the front line of baby boomers hit the wall at 60 this year, there are a few million more right behind them by a decade or less who are singing the tune "I'm not as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was."
Beside the automatic delivery of vitamins every month, the switch from acid rock to acid reflux, and the acceptance that instead of going to a new hip joint they will be receiving a new hip joint, the absolute worst reality comes from the workforce that is now employed by that generation.
Those young 20-some-things ask questions that should get their head knocked off and say things that probably will.
They have no idea that the Rolling Stones is no relation to kidney stones or that Willie Nelson didn't always have a braid.
"Waylon who? Didja know Johnny Cash only wore black? Rad huh? When I listen to your music it makes me want to find some polyester to wear. Who was Wolfman Jack?
Okay, like, when you were my age it was embarrassing to wear clothes with rips in them? Like WHAT? You didn't buy them like that?"
No, but I did rip out the neck and sleeves of my sweatshirts ala Flash Dance craze and added a twisted bandana headband to my curls.
"Eight tracks? What are eight tracks? An album is what? So did you guys, like dance, in high school?
So when you were a kid, did you, like, have any fun?
You had a pen pal? What exactly is a pen pal?
So if you didn't have a cell phone, real phone, TV or electricity, how DID you live?
So, if someone wanted to leave a message, how exactly would they have done that? Like how old were you when you had a microwave?
Wadda-ya-mean no Victoria's Secret? Like where did you get your underwear? You sat in a car to watch a movie? Why?"
The 70s was a time of long hair that progressed to today's basic longing for hair.
Weekend disco has become weekend Costco.
The decade of taking acid turned to a new millennium of taking antacid.
Passing the driver's test is now challenged only by passing the vision test.
We have come from trying to look like Marlon Brando and Liz Taylor to trying NOT to look like Marlon Brando and Liz Taylor.
The focus on "seeds and stems" of the 70s has become simply about fiber and roughage.
Hoping for a BMW evolved to hope for a BM. A KEG was for the life of the party and now it is EKG for life.
The predominate color in my childhood photos was plaid and usually in corduroy. Anybody wear corduroy anymore?
We typed on typewriters that had ribbons and most were not yet electric. We had super-sized bell bottoms, platform shoes, pet rocks and the first "Earth Day."
We wore bubble gum lip gloss, Heaven Scent perfume, halter tops, tube tops and mirrored sunglasses. Farrah Fawcett's winged hair style was all the rage.
Today we look for senior discounts, get AARP Magazine in the mail and hope we can last a few more years before the first knee replacement. We cover the gray, soften the lines, hide the lumps and wonder where our eyelashes went.
"I'm not as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was." As long as I get to pick when that once is.
© Julie Carter 2006
A Story About My Uncle, Who Turns 90 on May 24th
A visit with the man known as 'Cowboy'
By Brenda Cannon Stancil
ORANGE, TX - L. J. "Curley" McCarey of Orange said when he met his wife, Shirley, "She had a good horse, a nice car, an obedient dog and a new rifle, so I married her." And then the old cowboy slaps his leg and laughs good and loud along with Shirley. Mrs. McCarey then adds, "Yea, that's right. I married him, he got me pregnant, sold my horse, gave away my dog, drove the car and somebody broke into our house and stole my rifle." From this introduction alone, one can easily see the McCareys are a fun couple that know how to have a good time and have the art of making guests feel comfortable on their 16-acre ranch down to a science.
Curley said he was working out near Death Valley building a plant when he first laid eyes on Shirley. The agile woman worked at a pack station and could outwork almost anyone there, according to her husband. "She had worked for Disney for over five years and knew her way around a horse. I said, 'She's for me,' and I married her. Been together ever since," he said. Curley said Shirley is either 82 or 83, but no one would know it by looking at her or watching her work rounding up the horses, hauling feed or working at her computer.
Curley and Shirley will be celebrating their 58th wedding anniversary on May 29. They have two sons, Mike and Pat and three grandchildren. Their two granddaughters are horse people, too, and ride well and compete in rodeo barrel racing events. Pictures of the winning granddaughters now join those of their famous grandfather.
Curley will be celebrating another important milestone on May 24th when he turns 90 years old. "You can bet I'll celebrate by riding old Brian, my favorite horse, some that day, too," he said. Brian, now 26, plays peacefully out back on the ranch with his friends; three other registered roping horses, under the watchful eye of Shirley who's an excellent horseman herself. "Horses are our life," said Shirley as she pointed to one framed photograph or another and took guests on enlightening tours of the 16 or so documentary photo albums of their exciting life together.
Curley was born in 1916 in Murfreesboro, Ill. and from the earliest time he can remember, he loved animals and was good with them. "My daddy was a railroad man and we moved around and lived in a lot of different places, but we always had animals wherever we were," Curley said. The family moved to Ranger, Texas when Curley was a teenager and he found he had a way with horses especially. He was riding, roping and breaking hard-nosed critters as a very young man.
His first love has always been the cowboy way of life and he has been called the last of a dying breed. "There's nothing like riding and roping," Curley said with a gleam in his eye. Working in the oilfields, perfecting his trade as a structural ironworker, building huge plants as a supervisor for the Fluor Corporation (now called Fluor Daniels), traveling all over the world, serving in the U.S. Navy in WWII and working on various ranches, as well as owning several others, seems to be quite a full life, but there's more.
Always owning, breaking and training horses, Curley made a point of taking his animals with him whenever possible. "Sometimes it was pretty near impossible," he said. "Why, we've lived and worked in New York, New Jersey, Canada, London, Iran and Saudi Arabia and other places, too."
While living in Cowtown, N.J., Curley was asked by Dennis Weaver and the Screen Actors Guild to provide the horses for the movie series, "McCloud." Curley agreed, but said it wore on his patience. "Some of those guys they brought out didn't know which end of a horse to get on or which end to face," said Curley. "They brought out this one big dude and said he was a stunt double. I had a horse there, fact is, Popeye was my own horse and the guy said he needed a good horse for a particular scene in '42nd Street Calvary.' I told him he could ride Popeye. Now, this was on Manhattan Island, mind you."
Curley said the guy was dressed up real fancy and had on some little short spurs. "Not like we wear in Texas," he said apologetically. "Well, he gets on old Popeye and I could tell he didn't have a clue about what he was doing. First thing I know he sticks them little sharp spurs in Popeye's side and the horse takes off. I mean he is going. And, all of a sudden he runs under a tree limb and the actor is jerked right off. He falls hard. Well, the guy gets up, puts his hat back on and walks over to where we are and says, 'Did you see me take that fall?' just like it was part of the script. Oh, Lord, did we laugh."
Curley said in the old days when he started out cowboying, he worked hard for $1 per day and room and board. "We'd round up the cattle and brand them with the ranch's sign and then we'd go down to the river, jump in and clean up."
Shirley said that when he bought a new pair of jeans, he would also go down to the river and jump in. "In the old days, the Levi jeans were really blue and if you didn't wash them good before you wore them, you'd get the blue all over your legs so the cowboys and cowgirls would put on the new jeans and go swimming in the river to get the color out a little. It also made them draw up to fit you tighter, too," she laughed and said.
The McCareys bought the comfortable Orange ranch in 1978 and Curley retired from his job, building a plant for Texaco, in 1982, to spend time with Shirley and their horses.
Curley has won so many awards for his riding and roping feats that they are impossible to list in one article. He's ridden and won in Madison Square Garden in New York; Cowtown, N.J.; Houston; Los Angeles; Des Moines; all over Texas and other arenas around the world. His best time for bulldogging is 3.8 seconds. His team-roping partner of many years, Roy Greer of Sour Lake, died on Dec. 8, 1988, but is still fondly remembered on the Orange ranch. Greer gave Shirley an oak tree seedling before he died that has now grown into a huge oak tree. "We call it 'Mr. Greer,' after Roy," she said.
Curley has won somewhere between 22 and 25 genuine leather saddles for his efforts and won his last one in 1995. He said, "I guess I am just a real, old-time cowboy, and there's nothing better to me." He won his first trophy belt buckle in 1962 and still proudly has it at the ranch among his large collection of other awards.
Curley is a member of the Old Timers Rodeo Cowboys Association and is a 32-degree Mason and has recently celebrated his 50th year with this organization. Curley says his favorite music is country and he loves Willie, Merle and some of the new ones. He particularly likes George Strait because "George and his son are both ropers and he can sing, too," said Curley. He's fond of the Oak Ridge Boys and is taking Shirley to the concert at Delta Downs on April 22 where they plan to enjoy the night. "They put on a great show," he said.
Reflecting on his long and full life, Curley said, "I'm happy where I'm at. There's not much we've missed. I'd like to leave everybody happy and I think I can do that." He added, "I've never turned away a young cowboy who wanted to learn. I've helped them as best I could, taught them to ride or to rope and spent time with them. Everybody needs an encouraging word from time to time."
Chad Cooper, sports editor for The Examiner, first met Curley and Shirley at their mutual doctor's office in Beaumont. Cooper said, "I knew from the minute I met them in Dr. Hoffman's office that there was a story in that old cowboy's eyes. Our love of horses drew us together and we immediately hit it off well. They're good people."
The western saying that, "Old cowboys never die. They just ride off into the sunset toward that great round up in the sky," surely is true of Curely McCarey, the man known as "Cowboy."
A visit with the man known as 'Cowboy'
By Brenda Cannon Stancil
ORANGE, TX - L. J. "Curley" McCarey of Orange said when he met his wife, Shirley, "She had a good horse, a nice car, an obedient dog and a new rifle, so I married her." And then the old cowboy slaps his leg and laughs good and loud along with Shirley. Mrs. McCarey then adds, "Yea, that's right. I married him, he got me pregnant, sold my horse, gave away my dog, drove the car and somebody broke into our house and stole my rifle." From this introduction alone, one can easily see the McCareys are a fun couple that know how to have a good time and have the art of making guests feel comfortable on their 16-acre ranch down to a science.
Curley said he was working out near Death Valley building a plant when he first laid eyes on Shirley. The agile woman worked at a pack station and could outwork almost anyone there, according to her husband. "She had worked for Disney for over five years and knew her way around a horse. I said, 'She's for me,' and I married her. Been together ever since," he said. Curley said Shirley is either 82 or 83, but no one would know it by looking at her or watching her work rounding up the horses, hauling feed or working at her computer.
Curley and Shirley will be celebrating their 58th wedding anniversary on May 29. They have two sons, Mike and Pat and three grandchildren. Their two granddaughters are horse people, too, and ride well and compete in rodeo barrel racing events. Pictures of the winning granddaughters now join those of their famous grandfather.
Curley will be celebrating another important milestone on May 24th when he turns 90 years old. "You can bet I'll celebrate by riding old Brian, my favorite horse, some that day, too," he said. Brian, now 26, plays peacefully out back on the ranch with his friends; three other registered roping horses, under the watchful eye of Shirley who's an excellent horseman herself. "Horses are our life," said Shirley as she pointed to one framed photograph or another and took guests on enlightening tours of the 16 or so documentary photo albums of their exciting life together.
Curley was born in 1916 in Murfreesboro, Ill. and from the earliest time he can remember, he loved animals and was good with them. "My daddy was a railroad man and we moved around and lived in a lot of different places, but we always had animals wherever we were," Curley said. The family moved to Ranger, Texas when Curley was a teenager and he found he had a way with horses especially. He was riding, roping and breaking hard-nosed critters as a very young man.
His first love has always been the cowboy way of life and he has been called the last of a dying breed. "There's nothing like riding and roping," Curley said with a gleam in his eye. Working in the oilfields, perfecting his trade as a structural ironworker, building huge plants as a supervisor for the Fluor Corporation (now called Fluor Daniels), traveling all over the world, serving in the U.S. Navy in WWII and working on various ranches, as well as owning several others, seems to be quite a full life, but there's more.
Always owning, breaking and training horses, Curley made a point of taking his animals with him whenever possible. "Sometimes it was pretty near impossible," he said. "Why, we've lived and worked in New York, New Jersey, Canada, London, Iran and Saudi Arabia and other places, too."
While living in Cowtown, N.J., Curley was asked by Dennis Weaver and the Screen Actors Guild to provide the horses for the movie series, "McCloud." Curley agreed, but said it wore on his patience. "Some of those guys they brought out didn't know which end of a horse to get on or which end to face," said Curley. "They brought out this one big dude and said he was a stunt double. I had a horse there, fact is, Popeye was my own horse and the guy said he needed a good horse for a particular scene in '42nd Street Calvary.' I told him he could ride Popeye. Now, this was on Manhattan Island, mind you."
Curley said the guy was dressed up real fancy and had on some little short spurs. "Not like we wear in Texas," he said apologetically. "Well, he gets on old Popeye and I could tell he didn't have a clue about what he was doing. First thing I know he sticks them little sharp spurs in Popeye's side and the horse takes off. I mean he is going. And, all of a sudden he runs under a tree limb and the actor is jerked right off. He falls hard. Well, the guy gets up, puts his hat back on and walks over to where we are and says, 'Did you see me take that fall?' just like it was part of the script. Oh, Lord, did we laugh."
Curley said in the old days when he started out cowboying, he worked hard for $1 per day and room and board. "We'd round up the cattle and brand them with the ranch's sign and then we'd go down to the river, jump in and clean up."
Shirley said that when he bought a new pair of jeans, he would also go down to the river and jump in. "In the old days, the Levi jeans were really blue and if you didn't wash them good before you wore them, you'd get the blue all over your legs so the cowboys and cowgirls would put on the new jeans and go swimming in the river to get the color out a little. It also made them draw up to fit you tighter, too," she laughed and said.
The McCareys bought the comfortable Orange ranch in 1978 and Curley retired from his job, building a plant for Texaco, in 1982, to spend time with Shirley and their horses.
Curley has won so many awards for his riding and roping feats that they are impossible to list in one article. He's ridden and won in Madison Square Garden in New York; Cowtown, N.J.; Houston; Los Angeles; Des Moines; all over Texas and other arenas around the world. His best time for bulldogging is 3.8 seconds. His team-roping partner of many years, Roy Greer of Sour Lake, died on Dec. 8, 1988, but is still fondly remembered on the Orange ranch. Greer gave Shirley an oak tree seedling before he died that has now grown into a huge oak tree. "We call it 'Mr. Greer,' after Roy," she said.
Curley has won somewhere between 22 and 25 genuine leather saddles for his efforts and won his last one in 1995. He said, "I guess I am just a real, old-time cowboy, and there's nothing better to me." He won his first trophy belt buckle in 1962 and still proudly has it at the ranch among his large collection of other awards.
Curley is a member of the Old Timers Rodeo Cowboys Association and is a 32-degree Mason and has recently celebrated his 50th year with this organization. Curley says his favorite music is country and he loves Willie, Merle and some of the new ones. He particularly likes George Strait because "George and his son are both ropers and he can sing, too," said Curley. He's fond of the Oak Ridge Boys and is taking Shirley to the concert at Delta Downs on April 22 where they plan to enjoy the night. "They put on a great show," he said.
Reflecting on his long and full life, Curley said, "I'm happy where I'm at. There's not much we've missed. I'd like to leave everybody happy and I think I can do that." He added, "I've never turned away a young cowboy who wanted to learn. I've helped them as best I could, taught them to ride or to rope and spent time with them. Everybody needs an encouraging word from time to time."
Chad Cooper, sports editor for The Examiner, first met Curley and Shirley at their mutual doctor's office in Beaumont. Cooper said, "I knew from the minute I met them in Dr. Hoffman's office that there was a story in that old cowboy's eyes. Our love of horses drew us together and we immediately hit it off well. They're good people."
The western saying that, "Old cowboys never die. They just ride off into the sunset toward that great round up in the sky," surely is true of Curely McCarey, the man known as "Cowboy."
Child Killed by Black Bear in Polk County
A black bear attacked a family of three in Polk County, Tennessee, killing a 6-year-old girl, and seriously injuring a 2-year-old boy and the children's mother. They have been airlifted to Erlanger Medical Center and are listed in critical condition. The attack happened late Thursday afternoon in the Cherokee National Forest, at the Chilhowee campground. The family was visiting from Ohio. According to Dan Hicks, a spokesperson with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, it was around 4 pm when the bear walked up to the family near Benton Falls. Everyone started throwing rocks and yelling at the bear to get it to go away. Instead the bear picked up the 2 year old boy and began to maul him. The boys mothers tried to help her son and she was attacked. During the confusion the 6 year old girl ran away. The bear ran away as well. A search began for the girl. She was found dead 100 yards away. Hicks said her injuries were consistant with a bear attack....
Authorities Capture Bear Believed To Have Killed Girl
The U.S. Forest Service said Sunday that it has captured a bear believed to be the one that killed a girl in a Tennessee state park Thursday. A spokeswoman said the forest service plans to euthanize the black bear and send its body to experts to see if it's the one that attacked a family. The official said the bear is "the same size" as the one that killed the young Ohio girl. She also said there aren't "that many bears" in the area that was quarantined after the attack. The 350- to 400-pound bear attacked a mother and her two children on a trail in Tennessee's Cherokee National Forest....
Slaying by bear second since 2000
The Thursday fatal bear attack in Polk County is the second slaying by a black bear of a human in the area since a woman was killed in Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2000. After that fatality, Park officials increased distribution of safety tips outlining how visitors should behave in bear country. On May 21, 2000, an adult and a yearling female bear killed Glenda Bradley, 50, an elementary school teacher at Jones Cove in Sevier County. This was the first black bear slaying of a human in a national park, according to Park spokeswoman Nancy Gray. Bradley was killed while hiking on Goshen Prong Trail near Elkmont. In the Smokies there are over 9 million visitors annually, and it is home to about 1,800 bears. Bear encounters with humans are inevitable....
A black bear attacked a family of three in Polk County, Tennessee, killing a 6-year-old girl, and seriously injuring a 2-year-old boy and the children's mother. They have been airlifted to Erlanger Medical Center and are listed in critical condition. The attack happened late Thursday afternoon in the Cherokee National Forest, at the Chilhowee campground. The family was visiting from Ohio. According to Dan Hicks, a spokesperson with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, it was around 4 pm when the bear walked up to the family near Benton Falls. Everyone started throwing rocks and yelling at the bear to get it to go away. Instead the bear picked up the 2 year old boy and began to maul him. The boys mothers tried to help her son and she was attacked. During the confusion the 6 year old girl ran away. The bear ran away as well. A search began for the girl. She was found dead 100 yards away. Hicks said her injuries were consistant with a bear attack....
Authorities Capture Bear Believed To Have Killed Girl
The U.S. Forest Service said Sunday that it has captured a bear believed to be the one that killed a girl in a Tennessee state park Thursday. A spokeswoman said the forest service plans to euthanize the black bear and send its body to experts to see if it's the one that attacked a family. The official said the bear is "the same size" as the one that killed the young Ohio girl. She also said there aren't "that many bears" in the area that was quarantined after the attack. The 350- to 400-pound bear attacked a mother and her two children on a trail in Tennessee's Cherokee National Forest....
Slaying by bear second since 2000
The Thursday fatal bear attack in Polk County is the second slaying by a black bear of a human in the area since a woman was killed in Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2000. After that fatality, Park officials increased distribution of safety tips outlining how visitors should behave in bear country. On May 21, 2000, an adult and a yearling female bear killed Glenda Bradley, 50, an elementary school teacher at Jones Cove in Sevier County. This was the first black bear slaying of a human in a national park, according to Park spokeswoman Nancy Gray. Bradley was killed while hiking on Goshen Prong Trail near Elkmont. In the Smokies there are over 9 million visitors annually, and it is home to about 1,800 bears. Bear encounters with humans are inevitable....
Boy Attacked by Mountain Lion in Colorado
A 7-year-old boy hiking with his family was attacked Saturday by a mountain lion. The cat was later killed by a wildlife officer. The mountain lion bit the boy's head or jaw, and the child also suffered puncture wounds or scrapes on his legs, likely from the animal's claws, Division of Wildlife spokesman Tyler Baskfield said. The boy, whose name was not released, was apparently the last in a single-file line of seven other people taking a short hike at a scenic area of Flagstaff Mountain, Baskfield said. ''The father turned and saw the cat had a hold of the young boy,'' he said. The group began screaming at the cat and throwing rocks and was able to free the boy, he said. The group was 50 yards from a parking lot when the cat attacked, Baskfield said. The boy was initially listed in stable condition at Boulder Community Hospital. He was later transferred to The Children's Hospital in Denver, Baskfield said, but he did not know the boy's condition. An officer fatally shot the cat early Sunday in the same area of the attack, Baskfield said....
A 7-year-old boy hiking with his family was attacked Saturday by a mountain lion. The cat was later killed by a wildlife officer. The mountain lion bit the boy's head or jaw, and the child also suffered puncture wounds or scrapes on his legs, likely from the animal's claws, Division of Wildlife spokesman Tyler Baskfield said. The boy, whose name was not released, was apparently the last in a single-file line of seven other people taking a short hike at a scenic area of Flagstaff Mountain, Baskfield said. ''The father turned and saw the cat had a hold of the young boy,'' he said. The group began screaming at the cat and throwing rocks and was able to free the boy, he said. The group was 50 yards from a parking lot when the cat attacked, Baskfield said. The boy was initially listed in stable condition at Boulder Community Hospital. He was later transferred to The Children's Hospital in Denver, Baskfield said, but he did not know the boy's condition. An officer fatally shot the cat early Sunday in the same area of the attack, Baskfield said....
Friday, April 14, 2006
30th annual Public Land Law Conference
September 25-27, 2006
Missoula , MT
The Law of Ecosystem Restoration: National Policy Implications of the Clark Fork River Basin Natural Resource Damage Program
Keynote Speaker: Lynn Scarlett, Deputy Secretary of the Interior
The Public Land & Resources Law Review proudly presents the 30th annual Public Land Law Conference, held in beautiful Missoula, Montana. The conference will focus on the history, successes, and continuing challenges of implementing this national program in Montana’s Clark Fork River Basin.
Background
In 1983, the State of Montana filed a natural resource damage (NRD) lawsuit against ARCO to recover damages for mining-caused injuries to the Clark Fork River Basin’s water, soils, vegetation, fish and wildlife, and for the public’s lost use and enjoyment of these resources. As part of a 1999 settlement, the state received $215 million, including about $130 million earmarked to restore or replace the injured resources. While the state’s NRD litigation is not fully resolved, major steps are already underway to restore or improve the injured natural resources and the recreation opportunities that accompany them. For example, the NRD program will help fund full restoration at the confluence of the Blackfoot and Clark Fork rivers, where a multi-party consent decree signed in 2005 (pursuant to a separate Superfund enforcement action) will result in the historic removal of the Milltown Dam and the tons of toxic sediments contained in its reservoir.
Focus
Many issues raised in the ongoing Clark Fork River Basin restoration reflect national concerns about natural resource damage assessment and implementation. This conference will provide insights into current NRD law and policy developments nationwide, with a look ahead at possible resolutions in the Clark Fork River Basin and beyond. Starting with keynote speaker Lynn Scarlett, special attention will be paid to issues before the federal advisory committee examining U.S. Department of the Interior NRD programs.
Who Should Attend
This conference offers Continuing Legal Education credits for attorneys. The program will also be of interest for federal, state, tribal, and local policy officials and resource managers; scholars; and representatives of industry, environmental, and community development groups involved in ecosystem restoration. There will be ample opportunity to participate in facilitated discussions with panel members and to speak with them outside of their presentations. Some of the speakers will publish their presentations as articles in the Public Land & Resources Law Review.
Conference Schedule
Lynn Scarlett, Deputy Secretary of the Interior, will deliver the Keynote Address on the evening of Monday, September 27, 2006. Tuesday will include interactive morning talks and panel discussions on national NRD issues; an on-site lunch provided; an afternoon session on Clark Fork River Basin issues; followed by a catered evening reception on the Clark Fork River, for all conference participants. Wednesday morning sessions will focus on lessons learned in the Clark Fork River Basin and in other states’ NRD programs, and will explore implications for national policies and practice; the program will conclude at noon. Plans are also underway for an optional tour of the Milltown Dam restoration site in conjunction with the conference.
Sponsored by the Public Land & Resources Law Review, the Public Policy Research Institute, and the University of Montana School of Law, with additional support from the Clark Fork Coalition, the Montana Natural Resources, Energy and Environmental Law Bar, and the Montana Water Trust
September 25-27, 2006
Missoula , MT
The Law of Ecosystem Restoration: National Policy Implications of the Clark Fork River Basin Natural Resource Damage Program
Keynote Speaker: Lynn Scarlett, Deputy Secretary of the Interior
The Public Land & Resources Law Review proudly presents the 30th annual Public Land Law Conference, held in beautiful Missoula, Montana. The conference will focus on the history, successes, and continuing challenges of implementing this national program in Montana’s Clark Fork River Basin.
Background
In 1983, the State of Montana filed a natural resource damage (NRD) lawsuit against ARCO to recover damages for mining-caused injuries to the Clark Fork River Basin’s water, soils, vegetation, fish and wildlife, and for the public’s lost use and enjoyment of these resources. As part of a 1999 settlement, the state received $215 million, including about $130 million earmarked to restore or replace the injured resources. While the state’s NRD litigation is not fully resolved, major steps are already underway to restore or improve the injured natural resources and the recreation opportunities that accompany them. For example, the NRD program will help fund full restoration at the confluence of the Blackfoot and Clark Fork rivers, where a multi-party consent decree signed in 2005 (pursuant to a separate Superfund enforcement action) will result in the historic removal of the Milltown Dam and the tons of toxic sediments contained in its reservoir.
Focus
Many issues raised in the ongoing Clark Fork River Basin restoration reflect national concerns about natural resource damage assessment and implementation. This conference will provide insights into current NRD law and policy developments nationwide, with a look ahead at possible resolutions in the Clark Fork River Basin and beyond. Starting with keynote speaker Lynn Scarlett, special attention will be paid to issues before the federal advisory committee examining U.S. Department of the Interior NRD programs.
Who Should Attend
This conference offers Continuing Legal Education credits for attorneys. The program will also be of interest for federal, state, tribal, and local policy officials and resource managers; scholars; and representatives of industry, environmental, and community development groups involved in ecosystem restoration. There will be ample opportunity to participate in facilitated discussions with panel members and to speak with them outside of their presentations. Some of the speakers will publish their presentations as articles in the Public Land & Resources Law Review.
Conference Schedule
Lynn Scarlett, Deputy Secretary of the Interior, will deliver the Keynote Address on the evening of Monday, September 27, 2006. Tuesday will include interactive morning talks and panel discussions on national NRD issues; an on-site lunch provided; an afternoon session on Clark Fork River Basin issues; followed by a catered evening reception on the Clark Fork River, for all conference participants. Wednesday morning sessions will focus on lessons learned in the Clark Fork River Basin and in other states’ NRD programs, and will explore implications for national policies and practice; the program will conclude at noon. Plans are also underway for an optional tour of the Milltown Dam restoration site in conjunction with the conference.
Sponsored by the Public Land & Resources Law Review, the Public Policy Research Institute, and the University of Montana School of Law, with additional support from the Clark Fork Coalition, the Montana Natural Resources, Energy and Environmental Law Bar, and the Montana Water Trust
NEWS ROUNDUP
Critical red-legged frog habitat cut by feds The Bush administration Thursday dramatically shrunk the land deemed crucial for survival of the California red-legged frog, a threatened amphibian at the center of a national debate. After years of litigation and scientific dispute, the Fish and Wildlife Service formally declared 450,288 acres as critical habitat for the frog once celebrated by Mark Twain. It's a sprawling patchwork spread over 20 California counties, including Monterey, San Luis Obispo, and portions of Merced, Nevada and El Dorado counties. But the frog's critical habitat no longer includes the county commemorated in Twain's famous ''The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.'' It is also 39 percent smaller than scientists had proposed in November, and 89 percent smaller than officials suggested at the start of the Bush administration. That angers environmentalists but gratifies congressional critics who dispute the usefulness of critical habitat....
Conservationists rally against drilling plan Pinedale Middle School eighth-grader Tracey McCarty said she wanted to find out about ozone levels in Sublette County when she began a prize-winning science fair project last November. With the increased development in the Jonah natural gas fields in southwest Wyoming and 3,100 more wells planned, McCarty wondered whether gas development affected ground-level air quality, specifically ozone levels. So she set up an experiment designed to measure ozone levels at four locations around Pinedale. What the 14-year-old amateur scientist found were ozone levels exceeding national standards. "We got a shocking number of ground-level ozone from my calculations ... We measured ground-level ozone at about 182 parts per billion, and definitely the limit of what we should have in this area, or any area, is under 90 parts per billion," McCarty said Thursday. McCarty joined a host of conservationists, ranchers and Sublette County residents speaking at press conferences in Pinedale and Laramie to announce the filing of two appeals of the Bureau of Land Management's decision approving the Jonah Infill Drilling Project. The appeals were filed by the Laramie-based Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, the Center for Native Ecosystems and the Pinedale-based Upper Green River Valley Coalition....
Former EPA director advocates balancing environment, business Christine Todd Whitman served a frustration-filled two years as administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She joined the Bush administration as it began its first term, and she was regarded highly as a moderate voice. But two years later, a period interrupted by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, she resigned, frustrated by environmental groups, business resistance, congressional opposition and a White House that appeared to have its eye on different victories. Whitman will be in town next week to address Valley Forward's Livability Summit, which will focus on smarter growth strategies, said Diane Brossart, the group's executive director. Valley Forward is an organization that promotes a balance of economic growth and environmental quality. The Republic's Michael Clancy discussed the issues with Whitman, a former governor of New Jersey....
Column: Kane County can't cope with free enterprise Kane County's history includes an experiment in the 1870s when Mormon leader Brigham Young tried a form of socialism in which residents pooled and divided resources for the common good. That didn't last long. But it appears Kane County's current conservative Republican commission still has a problem with the free-enterprise system. How else can the commission's recent actions trying to subvert an environmental organization's purchase of Bureau of Land Management grazing rights be interpreted? Between 1999 and 2001, the Arizona-based Grand Canyon Trust bought $1.5 million of grazing permits on 350,000 acres of Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument land from willing sellers, with the idea of retiring those permits. Fearing the loss of their area's agricultural industry, Kane County Commissioners sued to take away the trust's property, arguing the permits must be used to graze cattle. Even though the trust was using some permits for grazing, that wasn't enough. Commissioners persuaded the Utah Legislature to spend more than $100,000 of state tax money to sue the BLM for issuing the permits to the Grand Canyon Trust. If an environmental organization sued to obtain grazing permits from a rancher, conservatives would call this "a taking." So how can they justify trying to grab the trust's legally obtained rights?....
Schweitzer explains bison plan to ranchers Gov. Brian Schweitzer is proposing an expanded bison hunt and state payments to ranchers who remove their cattle from grazing grounds in the West Yellowstone area and the Gardiner basin. The measures, part of a 10-year management plan, would help preserve Montana's brucellosis-free status and save the state money it otherwise would have to spend hazing and slaughtering bison, he said. "It doesn't make any sense to haul (the bison) up and bring them to slaughter," said Schweitzer, who rolled out his ideas Wednesday in a meeting with landowners. "We're putting the entire cattle industry at risk. I think we can do it better, and I think we can do it cheaper." Several ranchers expressed skepticism at his plan, saying the solution should come from the federal government....
Helping Save Prickly Victims of Development The operation began military-style at the crack of dawn. Bearing welders' gloves, shovels and tweezers for medical emergencies, the brigade of 40 moved across the desert, undaunted by rattlers, in single-minded pursuit of their well-defended targets. It was the 141st mission of the Cactus Rescue Crew, and its challenge could be seen nearby, where whirling sprinklers signaled another "championship golf fairway" under construction, another "active adult master-planned community" in progress. That would soon bring extensive "blading" — clearing for development — to this spot outside Tucson populated by baby saguaros, lurching barrels and spiny clumps of hedgehogs. In this booming state, second only to Nevada in population growth, the citizens' brigade was organized out of concern that plants on vast swaths of the Sonora Desert were vanishing. The cactus rescuers, volunteers all, have pioneered a novel approach to sprawl, swooping in at the 11th hour to save the desert flora from the bulldozer....
Environmental group sues EPA over Central Valley dust rule An environmental group sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday claiming a new regulation over air pollution in the Central Valley is too lax. Earthjustice is challenging the rule over particulate matter with a lawsuit filed in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In particulate matter pollution, tiny specks of dust and dirt can linger in the air and become lodged in people's lungs, causing numerous health problems, such as asthma. Agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley, one of the nation's most polluted air basins, is one of the leading causes of particulate matter in the region. The agriculture regulation earlier this year required farmers to water service roads, plant grass between trees and buy updated equipment to help cut down on dust pollution. That is not far enough to significantly cut down on pollution, said Paul Cort of Earthjustice....
Irrigators to pay more for power Klamath Basin irrigators will pay higher power costs under an Oregon Public Utility Commission decision Wednesday. The ruling goes into effect Sunday and covers 1,400 Klamath Reclamation Project irrigators and 700 off-Project irrigators. It's intended to put them on rates similar to other PacifiCorp irrigation customers after a seven-year phase-in. Scott Seus, a California farmer and chairman of the Klamath Water Users Association's power committee, used a baseball analogy to describe the ruling. “It's not a home run, but a double,” he said. “They recognize what we have advocated all along - that there is a credit for value. (Phase-in) allows people time to adjust their irrigation practices to stay in business. “The commission came out somewhere in the middle. That's probably a reasonable approach. It gives us breathing room.” The amount of cost increase varies among customer classes, but each now pays less than a penny per kilowatt hour while other PacifiCorp irrigation customers pay 6.98 cents, according to the utility commission....
Government made $9 million in loans to ineligible farmers The Agriculture Department loaned $9 million over six years to farmers who shouldn't have gotten loans, according to an audit released Thursday. The 98 farmers failed to fully repay earlier loans, according to the agency's inspector general. Congress considers those borrowers ineligible for future loans. Through its Farm Service Agency, the department is a lender of last resort; it loans money to farmers and ranchers who can't get credit from banks or other lenders. In 2004 alone, the department issued $323 million in loans, the audit said. The farmers got credit because department employees misunderstood the rules and approved some loans by mistake, the audit found. In other cases, debt history was missing from the department's automated system for tracking loans, or the system wasn't used, auditors reported....
Mad cow suspected in Canada Federal officials Thursday tested a British Columbia dairy cow suspected of contracting mad cow disease, potentially bad news for Canadian cattle ranchers still recovering from a two-year ban on their beef in the United States. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said it was trying to confirm whether it is a new case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE. The cow was identified on a Fraser Valley farm through the national BSE surveillance program. It would be the fifth case in Canada since May 2003, when the U.S. border was closed to Canadian beef after the sick cows were detected in Canada....
Critical red-legged frog habitat cut by feds The Bush administration Thursday dramatically shrunk the land deemed crucial for survival of the California red-legged frog, a threatened amphibian at the center of a national debate. After years of litigation and scientific dispute, the Fish and Wildlife Service formally declared 450,288 acres as critical habitat for the frog once celebrated by Mark Twain. It's a sprawling patchwork spread over 20 California counties, including Monterey, San Luis Obispo, and portions of Merced, Nevada and El Dorado counties. But the frog's critical habitat no longer includes the county commemorated in Twain's famous ''The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.'' It is also 39 percent smaller than scientists had proposed in November, and 89 percent smaller than officials suggested at the start of the Bush administration. That angers environmentalists but gratifies congressional critics who dispute the usefulness of critical habitat....
Conservationists rally against drilling plan Pinedale Middle School eighth-grader Tracey McCarty said she wanted to find out about ozone levels in Sublette County when she began a prize-winning science fair project last November. With the increased development in the Jonah natural gas fields in southwest Wyoming and 3,100 more wells planned, McCarty wondered whether gas development affected ground-level air quality, specifically ozone levels. So she set up an experiment designed to measure ozone levels at four locations around Pinedale. What the 14-year-old amateur scientist found were ozone levels exceeding national standards. "We got a shocking number of ground-level ozone from my calculations ... We measured ground-level ozone at about 182 parts per billion, and definitely the limit of what we should have in this area, or any area, is under 90 parts per billion," McCarty said Thursday. McCarty joined a host of conservationists, ranchers and Sublette County residents speaking at press conferences in Pinedale and Laramie to announce the filing of two appeals of the Bureau of Land Management's decision approving the Jonah Infill Drilling Project. The appeals were filed by the Laramie-based Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, the Center for Native Ecosystems and the Pinedale-based Upper Green River Valley Coalition....
Former EPA director advocates balancing environment, business Christine Todd Whitman served a frustration-filled two years as administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She joined the Bush administration as it began its first term, and she was regarded highly as a moderate voice. But two years later, a period interrupted by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, she resigned, frustrated by environmental groups, business resistance, congressional opposition and a White House that appeared to have its eye on different victories. Whitman will be in town next week to address Valley Forward's Livability Summit, which will focus on smarter growth strategies, said Diane Brossart, the group's executive director. Valley Forward is an organization that promotes a balance of economic growth and environmental quality. The Republic's Michael Clancy discussed the issues with Whitman, a former governor of New Jersey....
Column: Kane County can't cope with free enterprise Kane County's history includes an experiment in the 1870s when Mormon leader Brigham Young tried a form of socialism in which residents pooled and divided resources for the common good. That didn't last long. But it appears Kane County's current conservative Republican commission still has a problem with the free-enterprise system. How else can the commission's recent actions trying to subvert an environmental organization's purchase of Bureau of Land Management grazing rights be interpreted? Between 1999 and 2001, the Arizona-based Grand Canyon Trust bought $1.5 million of grazing permits on 350,000 acres of Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument land from willing sellers, with the idea of retiring those permits. Fearing the loss of their area's agricultural industry, Kane County Commissioners sued to take away the trust's property, arguing the permits must be used to graze cattle. Even though the trust was using some permits for grazing, that wasn't enough. Commissioners persuaded the Utah Legislature to spend more than $100,000 of state tax money to sue the BLM for issuing the permits to the Grand Canyon Trust. If an environmental organization sued to obtain grazing permits from a rancher, conservatives would call this "a taking." So how can they justify trying to grab the trust's legally obtained rights?....
Schweitzer explains bison plan to ranchers Gov. Brian Schweitzer is proposing an expanded bison hunt and state payments to ranchers who remove their cattle from grazing grounds in the West Yellowstone area and the Gardiner basin. The measures, part of a 10-year management plan, would help preserve Montana's brucellosis-free status and save the state money it otherwise would have to spend hazing and slaughtering bison, he said. "It doesn't make any sense to haul (the bison) up and bring them to slaughter," said Schweitzer, who rolled out his ideas Wednesday in a meeting with landowners. "We're putting the entire cattle industry at risk. I think we can do it better, and I think we can do it cheaper." Several ranchers expressed skepticism at his plan, saying the solution should come from the federal government....
Helping Save Prickly Victims of Development The operation began military-style at the crack of dawn. Bearing welders' gloves, shovels and tweezers for medical emergencies, the brigade of 40 moved across the desert, undaunted by rattlers, in single-minded pursuit of their well-defended targets. It was the 141st mission of the Cactus Rescue Crew, and its challenge could be seen nearby, where whirling sprinklers signaled another "championship golf fairway" under construction, another "active adult master-planned community" in progress. That would soon bring extensive "blading" — clearing for development — to this spot outside Tucson populated by baby saguaros, lurching barrels and spiny clumps of hedgehogs. In this booming state, second only to Nevada in population growth, the citizens' brigade was organized out of concern that plants on vast swaths of the Sonora Desert were vanishing. The cactus rescuers, volunteers all, have pioneered a novel approach to sprawl, swooping in at the 11th hour to save the desert flora from the bulldozer....
Environmental group sues EPA over Central Valley dust rule An environmental group sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday claiming a new regulation over air pollution in the Central Valley is too lax. Earthjustice is challenging the rule over particulate matter with a lawsuit filed in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In particulate matter pollution, tiny specks of dust and dirt can linger in the air and become lodged in people's lungs, causing numerous health problems, such as asthma. Agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley, one of the nation's most polluted air basins, is one of the leading causes of particulate matter in the region. The agriculture regulation earlier this year required farmers to water service roads, plant grass between trees and buy updated equipment to help cut down on dust pollution. That is not far enough to significantly cut down on pollution, said Paul Cort of Earthjustice....
Irrigators to pay more for power Klamath Basin irrigators will pay higher power costs under an Oregon Public Utility Commission decision Wednesday. The ruling goes into effect Sunday and covers 1,400 Klamath Reclamation Project irrigators and 700 off-Project irrigators. It's intended to put them on rates similar to other PacifiCorp irrigation customers after a seven-year phase-in. Scott Seus, a California farmer and chairman of the Klamath Water Users Association's power committee, used a baseball analogy to describe the ruling. “It's not a home run, but a double,” he said. “They recognize what we have advocated all along - that there is a credit for value. (Phase-in) allows people time to adjust their irrigation practices to stay in business. “The commission came out somewhere in the middle. That's probably a reasonable approach. It gives us breathing room.” The amount of cost increase varies among customer classes, but each now pays less than a penny per kilowatt hour while other PacifiCorp irrigation customers pay 6.98 cents, according to the utility commission....
Government made $9 million in loans to ineligible farmers The Agriculture Department loaned $9 million over six years to farmers who shouldn't have gotten loans, according to an audit released Thursday. The 98 farmers failed to fully repay earlier loans, according to the agency's inspector general. Congress considers those borrowers ineligible for future loans. Through its Farm Service Agency, the department is a lender of last resort; it loans money to farmers and ranchers who can't get credit from banks or other lenders. In 2004 alone, the department issued $323 million in loans, the audit said. The farmers got credit because department employees misunderstood the rules and approved some loans by mistake, the audit found. In other cases, debt history was missing from the department's automated system for tracking loans, or the system wasn't used, auditors reported....
Mad cow suspected in Canada Federal officials Thursday tested a British Columbia dairy cow suspected of contracting mad cow disease, potentially bad news for Canadian cattle ranchers still recovering from a two-year ban on their beef in the United States. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said it was trying to confirm whether it is a new case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE. The cow was identified on a Fraser Valley farm through the national BSE surveillance program. It would be the fifth case in Canada since May 2003, when the U.S. border was closed to Canadian beef after the sick cows were detected in Canada....
FLE
DEA Agent Who Shot Self In Foot Sues U.S.
A Drug Enforcement Administration agent who stars in a popular online video that shows him shooting himself in the foot during a weapons demonstration for Florida children is suing over the tape's release, claiming that his career has been crippled and he's become a laughingstock due to the embarrassing clip's distribution. Lee Paige, 45, blames the video's release on DEA officials in an April 7 federal lawsuit filed against the U.S. government. A copy of the pro se complaint by Paige, a DEA agent since 1990, can be found below. According to the lawsuit, Paige was making a "drug education presentation" in April 2004 to a Florida youth group when his firearm (a Glock .40) accidentally discharged. The shooting occurred moments after Paige told the children that he was the only person in the room professional enough to carry the weapon. The accident was filmed by an audience member, and the tape, Paige claims, was turned over to the DEA....
Documents Show Link Between AT&T and Agency in Eavesdropping Case
Mark Klein was a veteran AT&T technician in 2002 when he began to see what he thought were suspicious connections between that telecommunications giant and the National Security Agency. But he kept quiet about it until news broke late last year that President Bush had approved an N.S.A. program to eavesdrop without court warrants on Americans suspected of ties to Al Qaeda. Now Mr. Klein and a few company documents he saved have emerged as key elements in a class-action lawsuit filed against AT&T on Jan. 31 by a civil liberties group, the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The suit accuses the company of helping the security agency invade its customers' privacy. Mr. Klein's account and the documents provide new details about how the agency works with the private sector in intercepting communications for intelligence purposes. The documents, some of which Mr. Klein had earlier provided to reporters, describe a mysterious room at the AT&T Internet and telephone hub in San Francisco where he worked. The documents, which were examined by four independent telecommunications and computer security experts at the request of The New York Times, describe equipment capable of monitoring a large quantity of e-mail messages, Internet phone calls, and other Internet traffic. The equipment, which Mr. Klein said was installed by AT&T in 2003, was able to select messages that could be identified by keywords, Internet or e-mail addresses or country of origin and divert copies to another location for further analysis....
AT&T asks judge to order documents alleging wiretaps returned
Attorneys for AT&T have asked a federal judge to order a San Francisco civil liberties group to return ``highly confidential'' documents that allegedly show that the telecommunications giant provided detailed records of millions of its customers to a government intelligence agency. In documents filed on Monday, AT&T's attorneys also asked Judge Vaughn Walker to order the Electronic Frontier Foundation to refrain from referencing the documents in its lawsuit. The EFF filed a lawsuit against AT&T in January alleging that AT&T had collaborated with the National Security Agency in a ``massive and illegal program to wiretap and data-mine Americans' communications.'' Last week, the group filed additional documents to the federal court in San Francisco totaling more than 140 pages. The documents purportedly provide evidence of the technology that AT&T had used to conduct surveillance for the NSA. The documents, which included a sworn declaration from retired AT&T technician Mark Klein and confidential company documents, were voluntarily placed under seal by the group pending a decision by the judge to make them public....
Librarians Win as U.S. Relents on Secrecy Law
After fighting ferociously for months, federal prosecutors relented yesterday and agreed to allow a Connecticut library group to identify itself as the recipient of a secret F.B.I. demand for records in a counterterrorism investigation. The decision ended a dispute over whether the broad provisions for secrecy in the USA Patriot Act, the antiterror law, trumped the free speech rights of library officials. The librarians had gone to federal court to gain permission to identify themselves as the recipients of the secret subpoena, known as a national security letter, ordering them to turn over patron records and e-mail messages. It was unclear what impact the government's decision would have on the approximately 30,000 other such letters that are issued each year. Changes in the Patriot Act now allow the government discretion over whether to enforce or relax what had been a blanket secrecy requirement concerning the letters. Lawyers for the group, the Library Connection of Windsor, Conn., argued that their client was eager to participate freely in the debate last year over the reauthorization of the Patriot Act. But federal prosecutors asserted that the Patriot Act required that the group's identity remain secret and that the government would suffer irreparable harm if any information about its investigations became known. The decision by the Justice Department to drop the case was applauded by the American Civil Liberties Union, which brought the lawsuit on behalf of the librarians. The civil liberties group said it would identify its clients at a news conference once court proceedings in the case are completed in a few weeks....
Efforts to secure US borders ‘have slowed since 9/11’
The growth in the number of agents patrolling US borders has slowed in the 4½ years since the September 11 terrorist attacks and concerns over illegal immigration override fears of terrorist infiltration in the allocation of border resources, according to a new analysis. The report, by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (Trac) at Syracuse University and released last week, also found that, although the national commission investigating the 2001 attacks warned of vulnerabilities on the long northern border with Canada, the southern border with Mexico has continued to take priority. The administration and Congress “have not taken the commission’s recommendations to heart”, the study said. The data gathered by Trac show that the US has poured resources into border security over the past decade, but that the effort has actually slowed since 2001. It said the annual growth rate in the number of full-time Border Patrol agents was higher in both the first and second terms of president Bill Clinton than it has been so far under President George W. Bush. Between 1997 and 2001, the second Clinton term, the number of agents increased by 42 per cent to 9,651. In the four years following the attacks, that number has risen by a more modest 15 per cent to 11,106. Proposals under consideration by Congress would almost double the size of the Border Patrol to 21,000 – making it by far the largest federal law enforcement agency, nearly double the current size of the Federal Bureau of Investigation....
Security lapse reveals secrets of Air Force One
Air Force One, the presidential jet, is a near-mythical symbol of US power, shrouded in so much secrecy that even foreign leaders invited on board are forbidden from seeing every corner. But the aircraft just became rather less mysterious after it emerged that detailed plans of its interior and exterior had been made publicly available on the website of an American air force base. One diagram shows the location of the president's suite, at the very front of the Boeing 747, which is known to include a medical facility, workout room, kitchen and office, as well as a bedroom. Another shows the location of oxygen tanks which could, in theory, be targeted by a terrorist sniper. The information appears to be intended for personnel involved in responding to an emergency on board. The documents, which had not been removed from the site yesterday, add precise detail to what was already known about the president's plane: that it contains 85 telephones, 19 televisions, facilities for film screenings, flares to repel missiles and shielding to protect onboard electronics from an electromagnetic pulse. They also underline the previously publicised fact that the plane always pulls up at public events with its left side facing people and buildings - protecting the president's quarters on the right side....
DEA Agent Who Shot Self In Foot Sues U.S.
A Drug Enforcement Administration agent who stars in a popular online video that shows him shooting himself in the foot during a weapons demonstration for Florida children is suing over the tape's release, claiming that his career has been crippled and he's become a laughingstock due to the embarrassing clip's distribution. Lee Paige, 45, blames the video's release on DEA officials in an April 7 federal lawsuit filed against the U.S. government. A copy of the pro se complaint by Paige, a DEA agent since 1990, can be found below. According to the lawsuit, Paige was making a "drug education presentation" in April 2004 to a Florida youth group when his firearm (a Glock .40) accidentally discharged. The shooting occurred moments after Paige told the children that he was the only person in the room professional enough to carry the weapon. The accident was filmed by an audience member, and the tape, Paige claims, was turned over to the DEA....
Documents Show Link Between AT&T and Agency in Eavesdropping Case
Mark Klein was a veteran AT&T technician in 2002 when he began to see what he thought were suspicious connections between that telecommunications giant and the National Security Agency. But he kept quiet about it until news broke late last year that President Bush had approved an N.S.A. program to eavesdrop without court warrants on Americans suspected of ties to Al Qaeda. Now Mr. Klein and a few company documents he saved have emerged as key elements in a class-action lawsuit filed against AT&T on Jan. 31 by a civil liberties group, the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The suit accuses the company of helping the security agency invade its customers' privacy. Mr. Klein's account and the documents provide new details about how the agency works with the private sector in intercepting communications for intelligence purposes. The documents, some of which Mr. Klein had earlier provided to reporters, describe a mysterious room at the AT&T Internet and telephone hub in San Francisco where he worked. The documents, which were examined by four independent telecommunications and computer security experts at the request of The New York Times, describe equipment capable of monitoring a large quantity of e-mail messages, Internet phone calls, and other Internet traffic. The equipment, which Mr. Klein said was installed by AT&T in 2003, was able to select messages that could be identified by keywords, Internet or e-mail addresses or country of origin and divert copies to another location for further analysis....
AT&T asks judge to order documents alleging wiretaps returned
Attorneys for AT&T have asked a federal judge to order a San Francisco civil liberties group to return ``highly confidential'' documents that allegedly show that the telecommunications giant provided detailed records of millions of its customers to a government intelligence agency. In documents filed on Monday, AT&T's attorneys also asked Judge Vaughn Walker to order the Electronic Frontier Foundation to refrain from referencing the documents in its lawsuit. The EFF filed a lawsuit against AT&T in January alleging that AT&T had collaborated with the National Security Agency in a ``massive and illegal program to wiretap and data-mine Americans' communications.'' Last week, the group filed additional documents to the federal court in San Francisco totaling more than 140 pages. The documents purportedly provide evidence of the technology that AT&T had used to conduct surveillance for the NSA. The documents, which included a sworn declaration from retired AT&T technician Mark Klein and confidential company documents, were voluntarily placed under seal by the group pending a decision by the judge to make them public....
Librarians Win as U.S. Relents on Secrecy Law
After fighting ferociously for months, federal prosecutors relented yesterday and agreed to allow a Connecticut library group to identify itself as the recipient of a secret F.B.I. demand for records in a counterterrorism investigation. The decision ended a dispute over whether the broad provisions for secrecy in the USA Patriot Act, the antiterror law, trumped the free speech rights of library officials. The librarians had gone to federal court to gain permission to identify themselves as the recipients of the secret subpoena, known as a national security letter, ordering them to turn over patron records and e-mail messages. It was unclear what impact the government's decision would have on the approximately 30,000 other such letters that are issued each year. Changes in the Patriot Act now allow the government discretion over whether to enforce or relax what had been a blanket secrecy requirement concerning the letters. Lawyers for the group, the Library Connection of Windsor, Conn., argued that their client was eager to participate freely in the debate last year over the reauthorization of the Patriot Act. But federal prosecutors asserted that the Patriot Act required that the group's identity remain secret and that the government would suffer irreparable harm if any information about its investigations became known. The decision by the Justice Department to drop the case was applauded by the American Civil Liberties Union, which brought the lawsuit on behalf of the librarians. The civil liberties group said it would identify its clients at a news conference once court proceedings in the case are completed in a few weeks....
Efforts to secure US borders ‘have slowed since 9/11’
The growth in the number of agents patrolling US borders has slowed in the 4½ years since the September 11 terrorist attacks and concerns over illegal immigration override fears of terrorist infiltration in the allocation of border resources, according to a new analysis. The report, by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (Trac) at Syracuse University and released last week, also found that, although the national commission investigating the 2001 attacks warned of vulnerabilities on the long northern border with Canada, the southern border with Mexico has continued to take priority. The administration and Congress “have not taken the commission’s recommendations to heart”, the study said. The data gathered by Trac show that the US has poured resources into border security over the past decade, but that the effort has actually slowed since 2001. It said the annual growth rate in the number of full-time Border Patrol agents was higher in both the first and second terms of president Bill Clinton than it has been so far under President George W. Bush. Between 1997 and 2001, the second Clinton term, the number of agents increased by 42 per cent to 9,651. In the four years following the attacks, that number has risen by a more modest 15 per cent to 11,106. Proposals under consideration by Congress would almost double the size of the Border Patrol to 21,000 – making it by far the largest federal law enforcement agency, nearly double the current size of the Federal Bureau of Investigation....
Security lapse reveals secrets of Air Force One
Air Force One, the presidential jet, is a near-mythical symbol of US power, shrouded in so much secrecy that even foreign leaders invited on board are forbidden from seeing every corner. But the aircraft just became rather less mysterious after it emerged that detailed plans of its interior and exterior had been made publicly available on the website of an American air force base. One diagram shows the location of the president's suite, at the very front of the Boeing 747, which is known to include a medical facility, workout room, kitchen and office, as well as a bedroom. Another shows the location of oxygen tanks which could, in theory, be targeted by a terrorist sniper. The information appears to be intended for personnel involved in responding to an emergency on board. The documents, which had not been removed from the site yesterday, add precise detail to what was already known about the president's plane: that it contains 85 telephones, 19 televisions, facilities for film screenings, flares to repel missiles and shielding to protect onboard electronics from an electromagnetic pulse. They also underline the previously publicised fact that the plane always pulls up at public events with its left side facing people and buildings - protecting the president's quarters on the right side....
Thursday, April 13, 2006
NEWS ROUNDUP
The New Ranch May Be Key to the Success of the New West There’s a saying in farming and ranching circles that asphalt is the last crop. That paints a dim picture, but Tuesday’s panelists chose instead to focus not on lamenting the issue, but on showing through example how modifying traditional ranching lands and practices to meet new challenges has renewed the definition of success for ranchers and habitat alike throughout the Rockies. Moderator Jack Wold, president of Wold Oil and Gas and a rancher himself, led the discussion on the threats and signs of hope in Rockies ranching, with student researcher Andrew Yarbrough, author and environmentalist Dan Dagget, ranchers and leaders of the Country Natural Beef co-op Doc and Connie Hatfield, rancher Dale Lasater, New Seasons Market CEO Brian Rohter and rancher and Wyoming State Senator John Schiffer. The lively discussion kicked off with a presentation from Yarbrough highlighting the changes ranching has seen over the last several decades, and the trends that promise to shape – for better or worse – the future of ranching in the Rockies. Like conservation and biodiversity, ranching’s biggest threat is population growth, with ranch lands being sold off to developers with offers too tempting for struggling farmers and ranchers to turn down. Shrinking healthy soils and grasses, consolidation of the livestock industry and the ongoing effects of government subsidies were also on trial during the discussion....
Lawsuit against BLM dismissed A U.S. District Court has dismissed a suit by a local rancher who accused the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) of destroying the viability of her ranch by allowing oil and gas companies to extract minerals below the surface. Tweety Blancett, who leases federal land in San Juan County near the Colorado state line, alleged in the Dec. 2004 suit filed in United States District Court in Washington, D.C. that the BLM "failed to comply with its mandatory duties under the Taylor Grazing Act." The purpose of the Act is to safeguard livestock grazing areas. The suit also alleged the BLM did not take enforcement action against oil and gas companies who have violated BLM regulations. According to a written opinion filed March 20 by Judge John D. Bates, the court lacked jurisdiction in the matter and dismissed the case without prejudice, meaning Blancett could refile. "I thought it was an interesting decision," Blancett said. She added that while the court dismissed the claim, Bates did recognize the ranch was not viable. "The court agrees, and will presume for the purpose of resolving the present motion that the alleged lack of enforcement action for the violations was the primary cause of decline," Bates wrote. "He's not disagreeing the ranch has been destroyed," Blancett said. "This judge was very knowledgeable on the issues." However, BLM officials said although the opinion may have acknowledged a decline in the ranch, it did not agree the BLM failed to live up to its obligations....
Group appeals feds' approval of Burnt Mountain expansion A coalition of backcountry skiers and environmentalists refuses to surrender Burnt Mountain without a fight. This week the coalition appealed a U.S. Forest Service decision that allows the Aspen Skiing Co. to expand east of the Long Shot trail on Burnt Mountain. White River National Forest Supervisor Maribeth Gustafson approved the Skico project as an amendment to the ski area's master plan in February. The Skico wants to thin trees on about 500 acres of Burnt Mountain and add roughly 200 acres of skiable terrain that would provide a "semi-backcountry experience." It might pursue the project this summer and might some day add a chairlift to serve the terrain. Donald Duerr, director of the Wyoming-based Ark Initiative, prepared the appeal. A 217-page document lays out the arguments, which often go into excruciating detail. One other environmental organization, eight individuals from the Roaring Fork Valley and two people from Florida are also appellants....
Navy drilling for geothermal energy Developers have often been reluctant to hunt for new geothermal energy because of the enormous cost and risk associated with drilling down deep below the earth's surface. So the U.S. Navy is increasingly doing the drilling on their behalf, scouting for untapped reserves of heat pent up beneath the surface of military facilities. One of the Navy's most recent geothermal discoveries, at Fallon Naval Air Station in Nevada, will culminate with a private power plant coming on line in 2008, officials said during a congressional hearing Thursday. Under the deal, the Navy will share profits with the contractor, making industry "more willing to partner in what is still a risky enterprise," said Wayne Arny, deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for installations and facilities. The Navy is conducting similar activities at a handful of other sites, which officials see as part of a larger effort to open federal property to renewable energy development as an alternative to foreign oil....
Don't count on federal timber payments, Smith says Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith says he will fight hard to renew a program that has pumped more than $2 billion into Oregon and other states hurt by logging cutbacks on federal land. But the Republican said rural counties and school districts across the West should not depend on the federal subsidies indefinitely. “I have a duty to my colleagues in county government to remind them this was a temporary program. This was never meant to be a permanent thing,” Smith said in an interview with The Associated Press. Smith said he was speaking out because many counties – including some in Oregon – are locking the federal payments into their operating budgets for such basics as schools and roads. “This is a mistake,” Smith said. “It just isn't wise to lock it into permanent baseline budgets.”....
Cougar plan draws fire It's hard to find anyone who really likes the proposed state plan for controlling cougars, but the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission is widely expected to adopt it this week. The commission meets Thursday in Salem to consider the plan put together by biologists from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to address a rising number of complaints that cougars have been eating more pets and livestock -- and scaring more people -- since voters adopted a ban on hound hunting in 1994. The plan tries to restore the balance of cougars, humans, livestock and game animals that was in place in 1994. That's the year Oregon voters adopted a ban on hound hunting, widely considered the most effective means of killing cougars. Voters reiterated their support for the ban two years later. The cougar plan calls for holding Oregon's cougar population at or above the 1994 estimate of 3,000 animals. The current estimate is 5,000. It gives the department authority to kill cougars as long as livestock kills and complaints from people exceed 1994 levels, which they now do, and in 66 wildlife management areas where deer, elk and bighorn sheep herds are struggling. The Oregon Hunters Association grudgingly supports the plan, but contends it should have given hunters a bigger role in controlling cougar numbers....
Plum Creek shuts down half a shift at sawmill Plum Creek has cut half a shift at its sawmill here and offered the 45 employees impacted by the cut transfers to other plants in the valley. The sawmill used to have two full-time shifts. Plum Creek will cut that to 1.5 shifts, Hank Ricklefs, vice president of manufactured products said Tuesday. The reason for the cuts is the head rig saw is designed to take larger dimension timber. But Ricklefs said Forest Service sales and its own timber don't supply the volume of large logs that are needed to keep the head rig saw running at 80 hours a week. Most sales today are smaller dimension timber, he noted. “It's completely driven by wood supply issues,” he said. The other side of the mill uses a smaller saw that accommodates smaller-diameter timber, but the two are designed to work in tandem, Ricklefs noted....
Can Missoula's Mountain Bikers and the Forest Service Get Along? The president of Mountain Bike Missoula, a cycling advocacy group, is holding a weathered, two-week-old newspaper article in his hand. Ryan, an attorney with graying hair and an athletic build, doesn't look like the typical stereotype of a mountain biker – a teenager illicitly building big jumps in the woods. But Ryan, a Missoula native, has been biking the trails around here for 20-odd years, and knows his way around just about all of them. Ryan describes MBM members as an eclectic mix of middle-aged bikers and younger freeriders. The reason for his frustration is the article in his hand: A month ago, the Forest Service warned local bikers in a terse letter to stay off the Blue Mountain National Recreation Trail, a nine-mile, scenic trail overlooking Missoula’s valley floor. Following the letter, an article in the Missoulian reiterated the letter’s warning – noting that a hefty $175 fine would be slapped on anyone caught on two wheels on the trail. The sudden announcement took the local mountain bike community by surprise. But for a few years, their relationship with officials on the Lolo National Forest’s Missoula Ranger District has been on the rocks. In their view, the increased fines and abrupt letter were typical communication in a string of conflicts between local land managers and mountain bikers....
As wood rots, timber companies still seek Biscuit timber Four years after the giant Biscuit fire, timber companies remain interested in logging trees it killed. But both loggers and the U.S. Forest Service say the end of the salvage is near, given the deterioration of timber in the Siskiyou portion of the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. "We are interested in the volume. We need the wood," said Steve Swanson, president of Swanson Group Inc. in Glendale. "Without a doubt the quality and value of that wood has diminished," he said. "And it's not going to get any better. The chance of a viable sale diminishes every single day." Darrel Bonde, timber manager for South Coast Lumber Co. of Brookings, said the two planned salvage sales this year "will be the last shot at anything. It'll all be gone after this summer." Forest officials say no date has been set for timber auctions. The logging would be harvested by helicopter to reduce soil damage. The sales would be in areas designated as roadless. Environmentalists say any salvage harms the natural recovery after a fire and is not economically justifiable....
New diversion aids fish The historic channel of Clearwater River that meets the North Umpqua River roared back to life last week with the opening of a gate on PacifiCorp's newly completed water diversion project. It had been 50 years since the natural connection sustained Clearwater River's flow. A previous man-made project had diverted all of its flow to Toketee Lake -- a reservoir that formed with the construction of a dam on the North Umpqua River. The new diversion puts part of Clearwater River back on its original course to allow fish, amphibians and habitat debris to pass between the two rivers again. It was one of the requirements in PacifiCorp's 35-year relicensing settlement agreement with the U.S. Forest Service, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and other state and federal agencies for its 185-megawatt North Umpqua Hydroelectric Project....
Gunnison sage grouse won't be put on list Federal officials announced Wednesday that they have decided against placing the Gunnison sage grouse on the endangered species list, saying the bird's numbers have stabilized or increased over several years. The decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reverses one in 2000 that designated the bird as a candidate for the list, meaning it needed protection but wasn't a priority. A new analysis of data from Colorado and Utah state wildlife agencies showed that the number of Gunnison sage grouse increased to an estimated 4,500 to 5,000 birds from about 3,000 in 2003, said Pat Mehlhop of the regional Fish and Wildlife office in Lakewood. "We said, 'Let's look at these trends more thoroughly and determine if they are as large a threat as we first perceived them to be when we put (the grouse) on the candidate's list,'" Mehlhop said. Environmental groups had petitioned to have the bird listed as threatened or endangered after it was classified as a candidate for federal protection....
Deal blocks testing during hunt An energy company has agreed to stop seismic testing on a Wyoming national forest just before hunting season begins, after negotiating with a hunters' group. ExxonMobil agreed to stop geophysical seismic activity two weeks before hunting season begins and throughout the season in Hunt Area 143 west of LaBarge on the Bridger-Teton National Forest. Forest Service officials last year agreed to allow seismic activity during hunting season, but that decision was appealed by the Wyoming Wildlife Federation and Wyoming Outdoor Council. The seismic activity -- which includes use of ATVs, helicopters, cables and explosives to determine the presence of oil and gas -- was halted last year after the appeal was filed. A court was supposed to take up the case this winter, but the groups reached an agreement out of court....
BLM proposes multi-year birth control program for wild horses The U.S. Bureau of Land Management, concerned about deteriorating conditions at the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range, is proposing the use of birth control over the next five years to limit herd growth while the agency works on range improvement projects and a long-term herd plan, an agency official said. BLM officials also want to use a bait-trapping program this summer to capture and take up to 24 horses off the range, which is in southern Montana and northern Wyoming. Linda Coates-Markle, BLM's wild horse and burro specialist for Montana and the Dakotas, said this and the birth control effort are more humane and less intrusive than traditional round ups that cull horses from the land. "We have to limit grazing impacts, at least temporarily, until we get out of the drought, and the range has a chance to show an improving trend," she said. The carrying capacity of the range is just over 140, assuming good range conditions, Coates-Markle said. The current herd size is estimated near 160 horses -- not counting the foals BLM expects this year -- and range conditions cannot be considered good, she said....
The New Ranch May Be Key to the Success of the New West There’s a saying in farming and ranching circles that asphalt is the last crop. That paints a dim picture, but Tuesday’s panelists chose instead to focus not on lamenting the issue, but on showing through example how modifying traditional ranching lands and practices to meet new challenges has renewed the definition of success for ranchers and habitat alike throughout the Rockies. Moderator Jack Wold, president of Wold Oil and Gas and a rancher himself, led the discussion on the threats and signs of hope in Rockies ranching, with student researcher Andrew Yarbrough, author and environmentalist Dan Dagget, ranchers and leaders of the Country Natural Beef co-op Doc and Connie Hatfield, rancher Dale Lasater, New Seasons Market CEO Brian Rohter and rancher and Wyoming State Senator John Schiffer. The lively discussion kicked off with a presentation from Yarbrough highlighting the changes ranching has seen over the last several decades, and the trends that promise to shape – for better or worse – the future of ranching in the Rockies. Like conservation and biodiversity, ranching’s biggest threat is population growth, with ranch lands being sold off to developers with offers too tempting for struggling farmers and ranchers to turn down. Shrinking healthy soils and grasses, consolidation of the livestock industry and the ongoing effects of government subsidies were also on trial during the discussion....
Lawsuit against BLM dismissed A U.S. District Court has dismissed a suit by a local rancher who accused the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) of destroying the viability of her ranch by allowing oil and gas companies to extract minerals below the surface. Tweety Blancett, who leases federal land in San Juan County near the Colorado state line, alleged in the Dec. 2004 suit filed in United States District Court in Washington, D.C. that the BLM "failed to comply with its mandatory duties under the Taylor Grazing Act." The purpose of the Act is to safeguard livestock grazing areas. The suit also alleged the BLM did not take enforcement action against oil and gas companies who have violated BLM regulations. According to a written opinion filed March 20 by Judge John D. Bates, the court lacked jurisdiction in the matter and dismissed the case without prejudice, meaning Blancett could refile. "I thought it was an interesting decision," Blancett said. She added that while the court dismissed the claim, Bates did recognize the ranch was not viable. "The court agrees, and will presume for the purpose of resolving the present motion that the alleged lack of enforcement action for the violations was the primary cause of decline," Bates wrote. "He's not disagreeing the ranch has been destroyed," Blancett said. "This judge was very knowledgeable on the issues." However, BLM officials said although the opinion may have acknowledged a decline in the ranch, it did not agree the BLM failed to live up to its obligations....
Group appeals feds' approval of Burnt Mountain expansion A coalition of backcountry skiers and environmentalists refuses to surrender Burnt Mountain without a fight. This week the coalition appealed a U.S. Forest Service decision that allows the Aspen Skiing Co. to expand east of the Long Shot trail on Burnt Mountain. White River National Forest Supervisor Maribeth Gustafson approved the Skico project as an amendment to the ski area's master plan in February. The Skico wants to thin trees on about 500 acres of Burnt Mountain and add roughly 200 acres of skiable terrain that would provide a "semi-backcountry experience." It might pursue the project this summer and might some day add a chairlift to serve the terrain. Donald Duerr, director of the Wyoming-based Ark Initiative, prepared the appeal. A 217-page document lays out the arguments, which often go into excruciating detail. One other environmental organization, eight individuals from the Roaring Fork Valley and two people from Florida are also appellants....
Navy drilling for geothermal energy Developers have often been reluctant to hunt for new geothermal energy because of the enormous cost and risk associated with drilling down deep below the earth's surface. So the U.S. Navy is increasingly doing the drilling on their behalf, scouting for untapped reserves of heat pent up beneath the surface of military facilities. One of the Navy's most recent geothermal discoveries, at Fallon Naval Air Station in Nevada, will culminate with a private power plant coming on line in 2008, officials said during a congressional hearing Thursday. Under the deal, the Navy will share profits with the contractor, making industry "more willing to partner in what is still a risky enterprise," said Wayne Arny, deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for installations and facilities. The Navy is conducting similar activities at a handful of other sites, which officials see as part of a larger effort to open federal property to renewable energy development as an alternative to foreign oil....
Don't count on federal timber payments, Smith says Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith says he will fight hard to renew a program that has pumped more than $2 billion into Oregon and other states hurt by logging cutbacks on federal land. But the Republican said rural counties and school districts across the West should not depend on the federal subsidies indefinitely. “I have a duty to my colleagues in county government to remind them this was a temporary program. This was never meant to be a permanent thing,” Smith said in an interview with The Associated Press. Smith said he was speaking out because many counties – including some in Oregon – are locking the federal payments into their operating budgets for such basics as schools and roads. “This is a mistake,” Smith said. “It just isn't wise to lock it into permanent baseline budgets.”....
Cougar plan draws fire It's hard to find anyone who really likes the proposed state plan for controlling cougars, but the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission is widely expected to adopt it this week. The commission meets Thursday in Salem to consider the plan put together by biologists from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to address a rising number of complaints that cougars have been eating more pets and livestock -- and scaring more people -- since voters adopted a ban on hound hunting in 1994. The plan tries to restore the balance of cougars, humans, livestock and game animals that was in place in 1994. That's the year Oregon voters adopted a ban on hound hunting, widely considered the most effective means of killing cougars. Voters reiterated their support for the ban two years later. The cougar plan calls for holding Oregon's cougar population at or above the 1994 estimate of 3,000 animals. The current estimate is 5,000. It gives the department authority to kill cougars as long as livestock kills and complaints from people exceed 1994 levels, which they now do, and in 66 wildlife management areas where deer, elk and bighorn sheep herds are struggling. The Oregon Hunters Association grudgingly supports the plan, but contends it should have given hunters a bigger role in controlling cougar numbers....
Plum Creek shuts down half a shift at sawmill Plum Creek has cut half a shift at its sawmill here and offered the 45 employees impacted by the cut transfers to other plants in the valley. The sawmill used to have two full-time shifts. Plum Creek will cut that to 1.5 shifts, Hank Ricklefs, vice president of manufactured products said Tuesday. The reason for the cuts is the head rig saw is designed to take larger dimension timber. But Ricklefs said Forest Service sales and its own timber don't supply the volume of large logs that are needed to keep the head rig saw running at 80 hours a week. Most sales today are smaller dimension timber, he noted. “It's completely driven by wood supply issues,” he said. The other side of the mill uses a smaller saw that accommodates smaller-diameter timber, but the two are designed to work in tandem, Ricklefs noted....
Can Missoula's Mountain Bikers and the Forest Service Get Along? The president of Mountain Bike Missoula, a cycling advocacy group, is holding a weathered, two-week-old newspaper article in his hand. Ryan, an attorney with graying hair and an athletic build, doesn't look like the typical stereotype of a mountain biker – a teenager illicitly building big jumps in the woods. But Ryan, a Missoula native, has been biking the trails around here for 20-odd years, and knows his way around just about all of them. Ryan describes MBM members as an eclectic mix of middle-aged bikers and younger freeriders. The reason for his frustration is the article in his hand: A month ago, the Forest Service warned local bikers in a terse letter to stay off the Blue Mountain National Recreation Trail, a nine-mile, scenic trail overlooking Missoula’s valley floor. Following the letter, an article in the Missoulian reiterated the letter’s warning – noting that a hefty $175 fine would be slapped on anyone caught on two wheels on the trail. The sudden announcement took the local mountain bike community by surprise. But for a few years, their relationship with officials on the Lolo National Forest’s Missoula Ranger District has been on the rocks. In their view, the increased fines and abrupt letter were typical communication in a string of conflicts between local land managers and mountain bikers....
As wood rots, timber companies still seek Biscuit timber Four years after the giant Biscuit fire, timber companies remain interested in logging trees it killed. But both loggers and the U.S. Forest Service say the end of the salvage is near, given the deterioration of timber in the Siskiyou portion of the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. "We are interested in the volume. We need the wood," said Steve Swanson, president of Swanson Group Inc. in Glendale. "Without a doubt the quality and value of that wood has diminished," he said. "And it's not going to get any better. The chance of a viable sale diminishes every single day." Darrel Bonde, timber manager for South Coast Lumber Co. of Brookings, said the two planned salvage sales this year "will be the last shot at anything. It'll all be gone after this summer." Forest officials say no date has been set for timber auctions. The logging would be harvested by helicopter to reduce soil damage. The sales would be in areas designated as roadless. Environmentalists say any salvage harms the natural recovery after a fire and is not economically justifiable....
New diversion aids fish The historic channel of Clearwater River that meets the North Umpqua River roared back to life last week with the opening of a gate on PacifiCorp's newly completed water diversion project. It had been 50 years since the natural connection sustained Clearwater River's flow. A previous man-made project had diverted all of its flow to Toketee Lake -- a reservoir that formed with the construction of a dam on the North Umpqua River. The new diversion puts part of Clearwater River back on its original course to allow fish, amphibians and habitat debris to pass between the two rivers again. It was one of the requirements in PacifiCorp's 35-year relicensing settlement agreement with the U.S. Forest Service, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and other state and federal agencies for its 185-megawatt North Umpqua Hydroelectric Project....
Gunnison sage grouse won't be put on list Federal officials announced Wednesday that they have decided against placing the Gunnison sage grouse on the endangered species list, saying the bird's numbers have stabilized or increased over several years. The decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reverses one in 2000 that designated the bird as a candidate for the list, meaning it needed protection but wasn't a priority. A new analysis of data from Colorado and Utah state wildlife agencies showed that the number of Gunnison sage grouse increased to an estimated 4,500 to 5,000 birds from about 3,000 in 2003, said Pat Mehlhop of the regional Fish and Wildlife office in Lakewood. "We said, 'Let's look at these trends more thoroughly and determine if they are as large a threat as we first perceived them to be when we put (the grouse) on the candidate's list,'" Mehlhop said. Environmental groups had petitioned to have the bird listed as threatened or endangered after it was classified as a candidate for federal protection....
Deal blocks testing during hunt An energy company has agreed to stop seismic testing on a Wyoming national forest just before hunting season begins, after negotiating with a hunters' group. ExxonMobil agreed to stop geophysical seismic activity two weeks before hunting season begins and throughout the season in Hunt Area 143 west of LaBarge on the Bridger-Teton National Forest. Forest Service officials last year agreed to allow seismic activity during hunting season, but that decision was appealed by the Wyoming Wildlife Federation and Wyoming Outdoor Council. The seismic activity -- which includes use of ATVs, helicopters, cables and explosives to determine the presence of oil and gas -- was halted last year after the appeal was filed. A court was supposed to take up the case this winter, but the groups reached an agreement out of court....
BLM proposes multi-year birth control program for wild horses The U.S. Bureau of Land Management, concerned about deteriorating conditions at the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range, is proposing the use of birth control over the next five years to limit herd growth while the agency works on range improvement projects and a long-term herd plan, an agency official said. BLM officials also want to use a bait-trapping program this summer to capture and take up to 24 horses off the range, which is in southern Montana and northern Wyoming. Linda Coates-Markle, BLM's wild horse and burro specialist for Montana and the Dakotas, said this and the birth control effort are more humane and less intrusive than traditional round ups that cull horses from the land. "We have to limit grazing impacts, at least temporarily, until we get out of the drought, and the range has a chance to show an improving trend," she said. The carrying capacity of the range is just over 140, assuming good range conditions, Coates-Markle said. The current herd size is estimated near 160 horses -- not counting the foals BLM expects this year -- and range conditions cannot be considered good, she said....
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
GAO
Reports
National Park Service: Major Operations Funding Trends and How Selected Park Units Responded to Those Trends for Fiscal Years 2001 through 2005. GAO-06-431, March 31.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-431
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d06431high.pdf
Testimonies
National Park Service: Major Operations Funding Trends and How Selected Park Units Responded to Those Trends for Fiscal Years 2001 through 2005, statement for the record by Robin M. Nazzaro, director, natural resources and environment, before the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, House Committee on Appropriations. GAO-06-631T, April 5.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-631T
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d06631thigh.pdf
Correspondence
Endangered Species: Time and Costs Required to Recover Species Are Largely Unknown. GAO-06-463R, April 6. http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-463R
Reports
National Park Service: Major Operations Funding Trends and How Selected Park Units Responded to Those Trends for Fiscal Years 2001 through 2005. GAO-06-431, March 31.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-431
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d06431high.pdf
Testimonies
National Park Service: Major Operations Funding Trends and How Selected Park Units Responded to Those Trends for Fiscal Years 2001 through 2005, statement for the record by Robin M. Nazzaro, director, natural resources and environment, before the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, House Committee on Appropriations. GAO-06-631T, April 5.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-631T
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d06631thigh.pdf
Correspondence
Endangered Species: Time and Costs Required to Recover Species Are Largely Unknown. GAO-06-463R, April 6. http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-463R
Jury awards $9.25M to cattle raisers
A federal jury on Wednesday awarded $9.25 million to cattle raisers who said large meat packing companies had underpaid producers for live cattle. The class action lawsuit was filed by three men and sought almost $43 million from Tyson Fresh Meats Inc., Cargill Meat Solutions Corp. doing business as Excel Corp., Swift Beef Co. and National Beef Packing Co. The jury awarded damages of $4 million from Tyson, $3 million from Cargill-Excel and $2.25 million from Swift, Reed Rasmussen, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys, told The Associated Press. The jury ruled in favor of National Beef. From April 2, 2001, to May 11, 2001, the U.S. Department of Agriculture misreported the boxed beef cutout prices for choice and select cuts of meat. The lawsuit alleged the meatpackers knowingly used that information to pay less to cattle producers than they would have if the cutouts were correct. The packers denied knowing about the faulty reports before the USDA acknowledged them. The erroneous reports were the result of a flawed computer program that took into account a lesser quality of beef when calculating cutouts for choice and select cuts. As a result, the choice and select cutouts were too low. Tom White, an Omaha, Neb., lawyer who represented the plaintiffs, said the packers treated his side's witnesses, the cattle producers and the jury with contempt. The suit was filed by Herman Schumacher of Herreid, Michael Callicrate of Kansas and Roger Koch of Nebraska....
A federal jury on Wednesday awarded $9.25 million to cattle raisers who said large meat packing companies had underpaid producers for live cattle. The class action lawsuit was filed by three men and sought almost $43 million from Tyson Fresh Meats Inc., Cargill Meat Solutions Corp. doing business as Excel Corp., Swift Beef Co. and National Beef Packing Co. The jury awarded damages of $4 million from Tyson, $3 million from Cargill-Excel and $2.25 million from Swift, Reed Rasmussen, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys, told The Associated Press. The jury ruled in favor of National Beef. From April 2, 2001, to May 11, 2001, the U.S. Department of Agriculture misreported the boxed beef cutout prices for choice and select cuts of meat. The lawsuit alleged the meatpackers knowingly used that information to pay less to cattle producers than they would have if the cutouts were correct. The packers denied knowing about the faulty reports before the USDA acknowledged them. The erroneous reports were the result of a flawed computer program that took into account a lesser quality of beef when calculating cutouts for choice and select cuts. As a result, the choice and select cutouts were too low. Tom White, an Omaha, Neb., lawyer who represented the plaintiffs, said the packers treated his side's witnesses, the cattle producers and the jury with contempt. The suit was filed by Herman Schumacher of Herreid, Michael Callicrate of Kansas and Roger Koch of Nebraska....
NEWS ROUNDUP
Two candidates say state should drop wolf litigation Wyoming should drop its court battle with the federal government over wolves and negotiate a wolf-management plan, a Republican gubernatorial candidate says. "This litigation, I don't think, has gotten us anywhere," Ray Hunkins, a Wheatland lawyer, said Monday during a campaign stop. "Meanwhile, the packs are growing; the safety concerns are also growing." Dale Groutage, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, also said he favored dropping the litigation during a recent interview with Wyoming Public Radio in Laramie. Gov. Dave Freudenthal, a Democrat who is seeking re-election, has spearheaded Wyoming's legal action against the federal government on the wolf issue. Freudenthal defended the state's litigation and dismissed Hunkins' suggestion as a surrender. "It's not a new option," he said. "It's one available, to capitulate to the feds."....
Grading the "State of the Rockies" The Rockies Baseline is established as a set of key indicators to “take the pulse” of our region and measure where we are against our goals, and how we compare to other regions of the country. Baseline statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau show a 7% growth rate in the region since 2004, well over the national average of 2%, with a total population of 19,400,000 (2004). Other baseline statistics from 2004 include: - Commuters in the Rockies average a 22-minute drive to work each day, compared to the 25-minute average - About 20% of families in the region speak a language other than English at home - About 22% of the region’s population identify themselves as Hispanic or Latino - Median home value in the region was $162,232 - High school graduates stood at 27%, those who went on to obtain at least a Bachelor’s Degree were at 17%. - Regional median income was slightly below the national average at $43,391 - Poverty levels across the Rockies stood alongside the national average at 10% - Employment growth in the Rockies was 8%, with the largest gain in the service industry at 15% - both exceeding the national average....
Planned fire escapes boundary, burns cabins While angry homeowners accused the U.S. Forest Service of incompetence, firefighters worked Tuesday to contain a prescribed burn that escaped containment lines and destroyed four cabins in a rugged, scenic area of central Wyoming. The Forest Service started the prescribed burn Saturday outside a cabin subdivision near Sinks Canyon State Park and completed it on Sunday, Shoshone National Forest Fire Information Officer Ben Cramer said. Cramer said strong winds stoked the fire on Monday and blew it into the subdivision that borders the forest and contains 30 to 35 mostly seasonal vacation homes and cabins. But the burned-out cabins were evidence of negligence on the part of the Forest Service to at least one owner, while the forest supervisor indicated it was a surprise act of nature rather than mishandling by the Forest Service. Shelli Johnson of Lander, one of those who lost a cabin, said her family was angered by the "careless negligence" of the Forest Service because the agency left the fire unattended before it was completely out. "The facts show this did not have to happen," Johnson said in an e-mail Tuesday to The Associated Press. "It was not an accident. F.S. officials made the conscious decision to leave an area that was still smoldering and did not return to it for at least 12 hours. And we are now the victims of their incompetence."....
Feds reject appeal to stop oil and gas drilling in Los Padres National Forest The U.S. Forest Service rejected appeals filed by the California attorney general and three environmental groups that would have halted oil and gas drilling in Los Padres National Forest, which spans San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties. The Forest Service essentially said the appeals were premature because no new leases are being considered. But the state attorney general-s office said analyzing the effects of additional drilling is needed before leases are granted. The state said the Forest Service was ignoring the purpose of environmental review. "That (is) the gist of our challenge, that the National Environmental Policy Act and its state counterpart, the California Environmental Quality Act, are on the books to influence how decisions are derived, not to be applied after they-re decided," spokeswoman Teresa Schilling said. Los Padres supervisor Gloria D. Brown announced last summer that the Forest Service would open an additional 52,000 acres of Los Padres to oil and gas development. New surface drilling, power lines and roads would be limited to 4,000 acres, and the remaining 48,000 would be open for underground slant drilling....
U.S. Scores High Marks This Earth Day Though 2005 offered a full plate of environmental episodes that riveted the world's attention, including environmental calamities in China, Hurricane Katrina, and the U.N. conference on climate change, the march of environmental progress continues, according to the 2006 Index of Leading Environmental Indicators, released today by the Pacific Research Institute (PRI) and the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). "With over a decade of compiled research in the Index, the facts speak for themselves -- it's impossible to deny the environmental improvements we've made and the certain progress we'll continue to make over time," said Dr. Steven Hayward, author of the Index, senior fellow at PRI, and F.K. Weyerhaeuser Fellow at AEI. The eleventh edition of the Index of Leading Environmental Indicators (available at www.pacificresearch.org) highlights the positive trends occurring in key areas including climate change, air quality, water quality, toxic chemicals, and biodiversity in the U.S....
Governor holds fate of ecoterrorism bill An unusual coalition of interests lobbied on behalf of a bill addressing the threat of ecoterrorism that won final legislative passage last week. The legislation defining what crimes are considered acts of ecoterrorism and setting penalties awaits action from Gov. Ed Rendell. The governor faces a Saturday deadline to either sign or veto the bill, but he could take action as early as today. The bill defines ecoterrorism as using or threatening force against businesses and facilities involved with animals, plants and natural resources such as coal and oil and gas reserves for political and social reasons. The penalties range from misdemeanors to felonies with jail time and restitution for property damages. The coalition supporting the legislation includes industries, academic institutions and professional associations that ordinarily have little in common. The lineup includes the pharmaceutical industry, biotech industry, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, Pennsylvania Forestry Association, Pennsylvania State University, University of Pittsburgh and University of Pennsylvania....
Worldwide Wetland Restoration Could Reduce Bird Flu Threat The loss of wetlands around the world is forcing wild birds that may have avian influenza onto alternative sites like farm ponds and paddy fields, where they come into contact with chickens, ducks, and geese, finds a new report commissioned by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Restoring the tens of thousands of lost and degraded wetlands could help reduce the threat of an avian flu pandemic by providing wild birds with their preferred habitat, according to the report authored by Dr. David Rapport of Canada. The report’s preliminary findings were announced today at a scientific seminar on avian influenza taking place at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi. "Wetland depletion has direct implications for migrating wild birds," Dr. Rapport writes. "Wetland habitat world-wide continues to decline, owing to agricultural expansion and urban development, resulting in fewer staging areas for wild migrating birds."....
Water plan heads for Austin fight Dallas-Fort Worth's battle for future water supplies heats up in April, when critics will argue the region's water plan is illegal. Local business leaders, concerned about the region's future water supply, say the plan must go forward -- or D-FW will face a dire, and dry, future. The 16-county D-FW region, dubbed Region C for compiling the state-mandated plan, is set to present a final version of the plan to the Texas Water Development Board on April 18 at a meeting in Austin. Opponents say they'll testify against the plan, according to Janice Bezanson, executive director of the Austin-based conservation group Texas Committee on Natural Resources. Since discussion of the plan began, controversy has swirled around proposals to study flooding thousands of acres of land to build two different reservoirs, Marvin C. Nichols Dam and Reservoir, about 125 miles northeast of Dallas near Mount Pleasant, and Fastrill Lake in southeast Texas. Two massive, separate coalitions oppose the reservoirs. Their members include environmentalists, landowners, farmers, ranchers, timber companies, business owners, politicians, government officials and wildlife conservationists. The Marvin C. Nichols opposition is citing state legal requirements that water plans be consistent with long-term protection of the state's water resources, agricultural resources and natural resources....
Global warming can cause extinction of thousands of species, says new study Thousands of animal and plant species may disappear from earth's surface as a direct result of global warming, warns a joint study by Australian, Canadian and U.S. scientists. Global warming today is one of the most serious threats to earth's biodiversity and may even rival or exceed risks due to deforestation, say the scientists who have summed up their findings in an article in the latest issue of the journal Conservation Biology. The study carried out by scientists from the University of Toronto, the University of New England, the U.S. Forest Service, the Worldwide Fund for Nature and Conservation International is an extension of a paper in 2004 that prophesied that a quarter of the various live species of the planet would face the prospects of extinction by 2050 because of the impact of global warming. The scientists confirm that conclusion. Emphasizing that climate change is rapidly becoming the most serious threat to earth's biodiversity, Jay Malcolm, assistant forestry professor at the University of Toronto and lead author of the study, said, "This study provides even stronger scientific evidence that global warming will result in catastrophic species loss across the planet."....
The Disappearence of Big Fish It's common knowledge that we are running out of oil. What's not so well known is that we are also running out of big fish. The harsh realization that catches of big fish-marlin, sharks, swordfish and tuna-are declining rapidly is beginning to sink in. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization considers about 75 percent of all fish fully exploited, over-exploited or depleted. The crisis can be seen most extremely across the Pacific, the world's largest source of tuna, where catches are shrinking along with the average size of the fish. Today a 70 pound swordfish-which is too young to have even reproduced-is considered "a good sized fish" and can be legally landed in the US. Just a few short decades ago the same fish averaged 300-400 pounds and could be caught close to shore with a harpoon. In the past two years, the Pacific has seen quotas, restrictions on catches, freezes on effort and even moratoriums. The US longline fleet had to shut down for the second half of 2005 in the Eastern Pacific. Japan and China were not far behind....
Survivor recalls worst train wreck in Montana history Warren Jones and Maurice Odquist were among the passengers on the Milwaukee railroad's Olympian train just after midnight on June 19, 1938, when the train plunged into the rain-swollen waters of Custer Creek 26 miles east of Miles City. Nearly 50 people were killed and scores more were injured, but Jones and Odquist were unhurt. As it happened, they were both packing cameras, and as soon as it was light enough they began photographing the dramatic, devastating scene, the worst train wreck in the history of Montana. They ended up shooting remarkably similar pictures of twisted wreckage and partly submerged passenger cars. Jones sent his film to his father in Milwaukee for developing, while Odquist apparently sent his to Life magazine as quickly as he could. On July 4, 1938, Life splashed Odquist's photos all over a spread that was headlined "A Survivor Photographs the Worst American Train Wreck Since 1887." The Olympian, as every Milwaukee train that ran between Chicago and Tacoma was known, was a fast air-conditioned train, described in a contemporary newspaper account as "the railroad's pride." Shortly before their departure, Jones' father changed the boys' accommodations, moving them from a "tourist" Pullman car into a standard Pullman, which was roomier. That decision probably saved their lives....
Gold-seekers found richness in the land History says sheep came to California along the wagon trains of the 1850s. It was a standard food item for the working and exploring parties. Sheep were highly popular. They furnished their own transportation and they needed no refrigeration, the miners of the Mother Lode consumed more than a half million sheep during this same decade. The shortage of cotton and the need for more wool during the Civil War inflated the price of wool, making sheep raising more profitable. The number of sheep in California increased from 1 million in 1860 to 6 million by 1876. Kit Carson drove the first sheep into the Sacramento Valley, about 15,000 head, by the way of Salt Lake. Then, he sold to the ranchers whatever they wanted. Later, quite a few Sacramento Valley sheep men drove their mutton wethers to Montana or Virginia City for the miners to eat during the 1870s and 1880s, most were 2-year-old wethers. Going to the mountains with sheep and goats stopped rather abruptly in the early 1930s, when the Forest Service said "no more sheep or goats in the Coast Range Mountains," or "no more burning." Burning the brush and dead logs is what made the feed better for the livestock to eat, there would be lots of new leaves and grass to come....
Two candidates say state should drop wolf litigation Wyoming should drop its court battle with the federal government over wolves and negotiate a wolf-management plan, a Republican gubernatorial candidate says. "This litigation, I don't think, has gotten us anywhere," Ray Hunkins, a Wheatland lawyer, said Monday during a campaign stop. "Meanwhile, the packs are growing; the safety concerns are also growing." Dale Groutage, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, also said he favored dropping the litigation during a recent interview with Wyoming Public Radio in Laramie. Gov. Dave Freudenthal, a Democrat who is seeking re-election, has spearheaded Wyoming's legal action against the federal government on the wolf issue. Freudenthal defended the state's litigation and dismissed Hunkins' suggestion as a surrender. "It's not a new option," he said. "It's one available, to capitulate to the feds."....
Grading the "State of the Rockies" The Rockies Baseline is established as a set of key indicators to “take the pulse” of our region and measure where we are against our goals, and how we compare to other regions of the country. Baseline statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau show a 7% growth rate in the region since 2004, well over the national average of 2%, with a total population of 19,400,000 (2004). Other baseline statistics from 2004 include: - Commuters in the Rockies average a 22-minute drive to work each day, compared to the 25-minute average - About 20% of families in the region speak a language other than English at home - About 22% of the region’s population identify themselves as Hispanic or Latino - Median home value in the region was $162,232 - High school graduates stood at 27%, those who went on to obtain at least a Bachelor’s Degree were at 17%. - Regional median income was slightly below the national average at $43,391 - Poverty levels across the Rockies stood alongside the national average at 10% - Employment growth in the Rockies was 8%, with the largest gain in the service industry at 15% - both exceeding the national average....
Planned fire escapes boundary, burns cabins While angry homeowners accused the U.S. Forest Service of incompetence, firefighters worked Tuesday to contain a prescribed burn that escaped containment lines and destroyed four cabins in a rugged, scenic area of central Wyoming. The Forest Service started the prescribed burn Saturday outside a cabin subdivision near Sinks Canyon State Park and completed it on Sunday, Shoshone National Forest Fire Information Officer Ben Cramer said. Cramer said strong winds stoked the fire on Monday and blew it into the subdivision that borders the forest and contains 30 to 35 mostly seasonal vacation homes and cabins. But the burned-out cabins were evidence of negligence on the part of the Forest Service to at least one owner, while the forest supervisor indicated it was a surprise act of nature rather than mishandling by the Forest Service. Shelli Johnson of Lander, one of those who lost a cabin, said her family was angered by the "careless negligence" of the Forest Service because the agency left the fire unattended before it was completely out. "The facts show this did not have to happen," Johnson said in an e-mail Tuesday to The Associated Press. "It was not an accident. F.S. officials made the conscious decision to leave an area that was still smoldering and did not return to it for at least 12 hours. And we are now the victims of their incompetence."....
Feds reject appeal to stop oil and gas drilling in Los Padres National Forest The U.S. Forest Service rejected appeals filed by the California attorney general and three environmental groups that would have halted oil and gas drilling in Los Padres National Forest, which spans San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties. The Forest Service essentially said the appeals were premature because no new leases are being considered. But the state attorney general-s office said analyzing the effects of additional drilling is needed before leases are granted. The state said the Forest Service was ignoring the purpose of environmental review. "That (is) the gist of our challenge, that the National Environmental Policy Act and its state counterpart, the California Environmental Quality Act, are on the books to influence how decisions are derived, not to be applied after they-re decided," spokeswoman Teresa Schilling said. Los Padres supervisor Gloria D. Brown announced last summer that the Forest Service would open an additional 52,000 acres of Los Padres to oil and gas development. New surface drilling, power lines and roads would be limited to 4,000 acres, and the remaining 48,000 would be open for underground slant drilling....
U.S. Scores High Marks This Earth Day Though 2005 offered a full plate of environmental episodes that riveted the world's attention, including environmental calamities in China, Hurricane Katrina, and the U.N. conference on climate change, the march of environmental progress continues, according to the 2006 Index of Leading Environmental Indicators, released today by the Pacific Research Institute (PRI) and the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). "With over a decade of compiled research in the Index, the facts speak for themselves -- it's impossible to deny the environmental improvements we've made and the certain progress we'll continue to make over time," said Dr. Steven Hayward, author of the Index, senior fellow at PRI, and F.K. Weyerhaeuser Fellow at AEI. The eleventh edition of the Index of Leading Environmental Indicators (available at www.pacificresearch.org) highlights the positive trends occurring in key areas including climate change, air quality, water quality, toxic chemicals, and biodiversity in the U.S....
Governor holds fate of ecoterrorism bill An unusual coalition of interests lobbied on behalf of a bill addressing the threat of ecoterrorism that won final legislative passage last week. The legislation defining what crimes are considered acts of ecoterrorism and setting penalties awaits action from Gov. Ed Rendell. The governor faces a Saturday deadline to either sign or veto the bill, but he could take action as early as today. The bill defines ecoterrorism as using or threatening force against businesses and facilities involved with animals, plants and natural resources such as coal and oil and gas reserves for political and social reasons. The penalties range from misdemeanors to felonies with jail time and restitution for property damages. The coalition supporting the legislation includes industries, academic institutions and professional associations that ordinarily have little in common. The lineup includes the pharmaceutical industry, biotech industry, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, Pennsylvania Forestry Association, Pennsylvania State University, University of Pittsburgh and University of Pennsylvania....
Worldwide Wetland Restoration Could Reduce Bird Flu Threat The loss of wetlands around the world is forcing wild birds that may have avian influenza onto alternative sites like farm ponds and paddy fields, where they come into contact with chickens, ducks, and geese, finds a new report commissioned by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Restoring the tens of thousands of lost and degraded wetlands could help reduce the threat of an avian flu pandemic by providing wild birds with their preferred habitat, according to the report authored by Dr. David Rapport of Canada. The report’s preliminary findings were announced today at a scientific seminar on avian influenza taking place at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi. "Wetland depletion has direct implications for migrating wild birds," Dr. Rapport writes. "Wetland habitat world-wide continues to decline, owing to agricultural expansion and urban development, resulting in fewer staging areas for wild migrating birds."....
Water plan heads for Austin fight Dallas-Fort Worth's battle for future water supplies heats up in April, when critics will argue the region's water plan is illegal. Local business leaders, concerned about the region's future water supply, say the plan must go forward -- or D-FW will face a dire, and dry, future. The 16-county D-FW region, dubbed Region C for compiling the state-mandated plan, is set to present a final version of the plan to the Texas Water Development Board on April 18 at a meeting in Austin. Opponents say they'll testify against the plan, according to Janice Bezanson, executive director of the Austin-based conservation group Texas Committee on Natural Resources. Since discussion of the plan began, controversy has swirled around proposals to study flooding thousands of acres of land to build two different reservoirs, Marvin C. Nichols Dam and Reservoir, about 125 miles northeast of Dallas near Mount Pleasant, and Fastrill Lake in southeast Texas. Two massive, separate coalitions oppose the reservoirs. Their members include environmentalists, landowners, farmers, ranchers, timber companies, business owners, politicians, government officials and wildlife conservationists. The Marvin C. Nichols opposition is citing state legal requirements that water plans be consistent with long-term protection of the state's water resources, agricultural resources and natural resources....
Global warming can cause extinction of thousands of species, says new study Thousands of animal and plant species may disappear from earth's surface as a direct result of global warming, warns a joint study by Australian, Canadian and U.S. scientists. Global warming today is one of the most serious threats to earth's biodiversity and may even rival or exceed risks due to deforestation, say the scientists who have summed up their findings in an article in the latest issue of the journal Conservation Biology. The study carried out by scientists from the University of Toronto, the University of New England, the U.S. Forest Service, the Worldwide Fund for Nature and Conservation International is an extension of a paper in 2004 that prophesied that a quarter of the various live species of the planet would face the prospects of extinction by 2050 because of the impact of global warming. The scientists confirm that conclusion. Emphasizing that climate change is rapidly becoming the most serious threat to earth's biodiversity, Jay Malcolm, assistant forestry professor at the University of Toronto and lead author of the study, said, "This study provides even stronger scientific evidence that global warming will result in catastrophic species loss across the planet."....
The Disappearence of Big Fish It's common knowledge that we are running out of oil. What's not so well known is that we are also running out of big fish. The harsh realization that catches of big fish-marlin, sharks, swordfish and tuna-are declining rapidly is beginning to sink in. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization considers about 75 percent of all fish fully exploited, over-exploited or depleted. The crisis can be seen most extremely across the Pacific, the world's largest source of tuna, where catches are shrinking along with the average size of the fish. Today a 70 pound swordfish-which is too young to have even reproduced-is considered "a good sized fish" and can be legally landed in the US. Just a few short decades ago the same fish averaged 300-400 pounds and could be caught close to shore with a harpoon. In the past two years, the Pacific has seen quotas, restrictions on catches, freezes on effort and even moratoriums. The US longline fleet had to shut down for the second half of 2005 in the Eastern Pacific. Japan and China were not far behind....
Survivor recalls worst train wreck in Montana history Warren Jones and Maurice Odquist were among the passengers on the Milwaukee railroad's Olympian train just after midnight on June 19, 1938, when the train plunged into the rain-swollen waters of Custer Creek 26 miles east of Miles City. Nearly 50 people were killed and scores more were injured, but Jones and Odquist were unhurt. As it happened, they were both packing cameras, and as soon as it was light enough they began photographing the dramatic, devastating scene, the worst train wreck in the history of Montana. They ended up shooting remarkably similar pictures of twisted wreckage and partly submerged passenger cars. Jones sent his film to his father in Milwaukee for developing, while Odquist apparently sent his to Life magazine as quickly as he could. On July 4, 1938, Life splashed Odquist's photos all over a spread that was headlined "A Survivor Photographs the Worst American Train Wreck Since 1887." The Olympian, as every Milwaukee train that ran between Chicago and Tacoma was known, was a fast air-conditioned train, described in a contemporary newspaper account as "the railroad's pride." Shortly before their departure, Jones' father changed the boys' accommodations, moving them from a "tourist" Pullman car into a standard Pullman, which was roomier. That decision probably saved their lives....
Gold-seekers found richness in the land History says sheep came to California along the wagon trains of the 1850s. It was a standard food item for the working and exploring parties. Sheep were highly popular. They furnished their own transportation and they needed no refrigeration, the miners of the Mother Lode consumed more than a half million sheep during this same decade. The shortage of cotton and the need for more wool during the Civil War inflated the price of wool, making sheep raising more profitable. The number of sheep in California increased from 1 million in 1860 to 6 million by 1876. Kit Carson drove the first sheep into the Sacramento Valley, about 15,000 head, by the way of Salt Lake. Then, he sold to the ranchers whatever they wanted. Later, quite a few Sacramento Valley sheep men drove their mutton wethers to Montana or Virginia City for the miners to eat during the 1870s and 1880s, most were 2-year-old wethers. Going to the mountains with sheep and goats stopped rather abruptly in the early 1930s, when the Forest Service said "no more sheep or goats in the Coast Range Mountains," or "no more burning." Burning the brush and dead logs is what made the feed better for the livestock to eat, there would be lots of new leaves and grass to come....
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