NEWS ROUNDUP
Feds reconsider prairie dog rules Prairie dogs could be poisoned throughout three federal grasslands in South Dakota and Nebraska under a plan to be considered by U.S. Forest Service officials. Forest Service officials announced Monday that they will begin a one-year process to amend management plans, allowing them greater latitude in managing prairie dogs on the Buffalo Gap and Fort Pierre national grasslands in South Dakota and the Oglala National Grassland in Nebraska. After years of complaints from ranchers that prairie dogs were ruining federal grazing lands and encroaching onto their private land, the Forest Service late last year began poisoning prairie dogs in buffer zones between the national grasslands and adjacent private rangeland. The Forest Service on Monday said its new effort is needed to further manage prairie-dog populations to protect soil, water and vegetation resources, which it said have been overused by prairie dogs, especially during recent drought....
Population Gains Eat Up Available Land in the West "Plan" and "zone" used to be treated as other four-letter words uttered in some parts of the West, but as waves and waves of newcomers fill up subdivisions that are popping up all over the region, land-use efforts are gaining ground in new areas of the West and are being revamped in areas that have had such plans in place for decades. The desire for suburban living that arose in the 40s and 50s has turned into the desire for a place of one’s own, usually in exurbs. Exurbs, those subdivisions miles away from the closest towns, were the focus of a two-day land-use conference held last week in Idaho. The Idaho Statesman reports that ranchers, public officials, conservationists, hunters and anglers at the Idaho Land-Use Summit voiced their concerns about what is happening in rural Idaho counties. County officials said that a state mandate on managing growth should come with assistance for such planning efforts attached. The Statesman quotes Adams County Commissioner Judy Ellis as saying, "We are one of four states without technical support (offered to counties for planning), yet we are mandated by the state to plan. There's not a full-time planner anywhere in our county. I'm a teacher and a dairyman. I didn't come prepared to write ordinances." The change in the highest value use of private land from agricultural and resource uses such as timber and mining into development is part of the reason rural counties are being hit with an onslaught of growth issues....
Editorial - A howling success The recent videotaping and sightings of a wild wolf in Wallowa County raises hopes that the magnificent creatures once hunted to near extinction throughout the West are making a comeback in Oregon. The July videotaping and sightings last weekend provide firm evidence that a new strategy to allow wolves to migrate into Oregon from Idaho, where they were introduced as part of a federal recovery program a decade ago, is off to a promising start. An Oregon management plan, more than three years in the making, sets an ambitious goal of four breeding pairs each in eastern Oregon and western Oregon, with the animals monitored by state biologists. The plan represents a complete turnaround in Oregon's historical approach to wolves. Just six decades ago, state wildlife officials were so intent on eliminating wolves that they were paying bounties to wolf hunters....Let's hope a pair sets up a nice den real close to the editorial offices of this newspaper.
Proposal encourages inactive mine cleanup Conservation and community groups could soon have an incentive to pitch in and clean up some of Montana's abandoned hard rock mines under legislation co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. The proposal, called the Cleanup of Inactive and Abandoned Mines Act, would exempt good samaritans who clean up abandoned mine sites from legal liability under federal environmental laws. Federal and state regulators would have to approve and oversee the work to ensure that it is done correctly. The bill passed the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Wednesday and now goes to the full Senate for approval. With Congress set to recess in a couple of weeks to campaign for the November election, it's unlikely the bill will pass this year. There are about 6,000 abandoned hard rock mines in Montana, 150 of which are a high-priority for cleanup, said John Koerth, who supervises the state's abandoned mines program. Abandoned mining operations often belch drainage that's high in acids and heavy metals into streams and aquifers. They can be a source of fine silts that destroy fish spawning beds and smother the insects and invertebrates that fish feed on....
Plum Creek seeks exemption from lynx critical habitat designation Time is getting short for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. By Nov. 1, the agency has to decide whether or not to designate thousands of acres as critical habitat for the federally threatened Canada lynx. Between now and then, Fish and Wildlife Service officials need to sift through a whole new batch of comments on a recently released economic analysis - and decide on a request by Plum Creek Timber Co. to exclude nearly 1 million acres of private timberlands in Montana and Maine. “We're operating under a tight time frame,” said Lori Nordstrom, the Fish and Wildlife Service's lead lynx biologist. “We have a court-ordered deadline of Nov. 1 to have the final critical habitat designation signed.” The FWS received about 8,000 comments after releasing its proposal to designate 3,549 square miles of Montana and Idaho as critical habitat last year. The proposal also affected lands in Maine, Minnesota and Washington....
Editorial - Feds shouldn't welsh on century-old bargain Congress should live up to the bargain it made nearly a century ago: That if states such as Oregon held federal lands in trust for the nation, the nation would help make up the money that land might have earned in local taxes. That bargain has kept rural schools open and roads repaired through world wars and a depression. Now it hangs by a thread. The Bush administration has agreed to continue the $400 million program for one more year past Sept. 30, when it’s due to expire. But it’s still unclear where the money will come from, and what will happen when the year runs out. This is no way to honor a deal — especially to Oregon, home to vast tracts of land managed by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. The money keeps Marion County sheriff’s deputies paroling the rural community of Detroit, so that it doesn’t turn into a haven for gangs and drug users. It keeps eight to 10 sheriff’s deputies on the road in rural Polk County. It sends about a half-million dollars to the Salem-Keizer School District. But the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act isn’t just about Oregon. Eight hundred rural communities in 41 states have a stake in this program’s survival....
Controversial Gold Mine in Wilderness Open For Comment A controversial plan would open up the Uncompahgre Wilderness to gold mining. The Forest Service has put plans for the Robin Redbreast Lode up for public comment. It envisions using mule trains and helicopters to remove the ore from a wilderness area, where motorized vehicles and industrial development typically aren't allowed. The Montrose Daily Press reports on the project, which has been battled over for nearly 20 years. The mining claim is held by Robert and Marjorie Miller, of Montrose. They fought for the validity of their claim until 2003, when and Interior Department administrative law judge ruled in their favor. The Colorado Wilderness Act of 1890 established the wilderness area, but it also recognized existing mineral rights. Forest Service officials releaed a draft environmental impact statement on the plan earlier this month. The proposal calls for two mine tunnels, storage buildings, compressors and mining equipment at the site, just below tree line at about 11,500 feet. It calls for pack animals to do most of the transporting, but some large equipment and occassional loads could move by helicopter....
Spending on firefighting nears record Four years after the most expensive fire season in history and two years after an exhaustive federal report on high firefighting costs, the U.S. Forest Service still is burning through dollars like wildfire through chaparral. Last month, tax dollars flew out the agency's door at an average of $12 million a day -- $500,000 an hour. By the time you finish reading this paragraph, $1,250 more will be spent. This week, if current patterns hold, 2006 will become the most costly year ever, exceeding the $1.27 billion spent in 2002. The pace of the spending, which has drawn the concern of Congress and the White House Office of Management and Budget, threatens to siphon money from other programs, among them reforestation efforts designed to help the land heal from fire. The cost has been aggravated by the nature of this year's fire season, which began early and so far has crackled across a record 8.8 million acres -- including 145,000 acres burning in California on Saturday. But that's hardly the only reason for the soaring tab. Others include:....The costs should continue to come out of the Forest Service budget for two reasons: 1) Prior mismangement by the Forest Service has created the ecological conditions for these massive fires, and 2) Fewer dollars in other programs will prevent the Forest Service from heaping more mischief on the land and people of the West.
Wild horses turn filmmaker into advocate for prairie herds It started off as just another assignment for filmmaker Ginger Kathrens. It ended up changing her life. The assignment would bring her professional recognition, money and, ultimately, a sense of responsibility for a ragtag herd of animals that once symbolized a West that is now long gone. In 1993, Kathrens was approached by the producer and host of the Public Broadcasting Service's popular TV show "Wild America." He wanted her to do a show on the dwindling number of wild horses in the West. Like most Americans, she vaguely knew there were remnants of once-large herds of wild horses roaming in remote areas of the West. Other than that, however, she knew virtually nothing about their history, their location or their plight....
Nevada's Wild Horses: Soon Gone Forever? Nevada is home to more than half of all the wild horses in the nation, but the number of horses on the open range has plummeted in the past few years, mostly because of large-scale roundups by the Bureau of Land Management. After these horses are rounded up, they end up in large holding pens in other states. The I-Team's George Knapp checked out one of the closest facilities. Some of the horses that are sent to the holding pens have ended up at slaughterhouses, sold for meat. Many do end up getting adopted to good homes. Oddly enough, if a Southern Nevada resident wants to adopt a wild horse from Nevada, that person will probably have to go to California to do it. Wild horse advocates say the adoption program here is pathetic. In the high desert of Southern California, the Ridgecrest Wild Horse and Burro facility stands as a safe haven for up to 1,000 horses and burros gathered from public lands. The 50-acre facility can hold more than 1,000 horses at any given time, 80-percent of them from Nevada....
Want to wed in park? Pay up Citing a fivefold increase in weddings inside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the past half-decade, the National Park Service is set to begin charging for permits for them. "We are not making money, we are just recouping our costs," park spokeswoman Nancy Gray said Monday of the plan intended to give Smokies' managers greater control over the 600 or so weddings held annually in the country's most-visited national park. Beginning Oct. 1, couples must pay $50 for weddings in the park straddling the Tennessee-North Carolina border. That applies to standard ceremonies, Gray said. More elaborate ceremonies that call for rangers to be present for traffic control or other services require an additional $150 use permit. Businesses that want to use the park as a location for weddings as part of packages they sell must buy a commercial use authorization. The same applies to commercial companies that transport people to wedding locations, wedding photographers and other such services. Those applications will cost $200 plus $10 dollars each month of the 24-month authorization....
Critics roar about mouse The title of the Monday afternoon congressional hearing said it all. "Abuses of the Endangered Species Act: the so-called Preble's meadow jumping mouse." Two harsh Republican critics of the 1973 federal act - Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, of Colorado, and Rep. Richard Pombo, of California - called the House Committee on Resources session to hear from locals about hardships created by the tiny, federally protected mouse. And the invited farmers, water managers, home builders, biologists and public officials did not disappoint. Preble's-related restrictions are strangling local economic development and punishing farmers already reeling from years of drought, Pombo and Musgrave were told. In addition, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the agency charged with protecting threatened and endangered species, has bungled the whole affair, several witnesses testified.The Preble's mouse should have been booted from the federal list of protected wildlife years ago, they said, because it is nearly indistinguishable from other mice and is more abundant and widespread than researchers once believed. "They exist only in the minds of the Fish and Wildlife Service and some environmentalists," Wyoming Attorney General Patrick Crank said of the Preble's mouse....
Gray wolf's death raises questions As federal wildlife officials continue to investigate circumstances surrounding the death of a rare gray wolf in Box Elder County last week, a Salt Lake City-based wolf advocacy group also is asking questions. Kirk Robinson, director of the Utah Wolf Forum, said Monday that the leg-hold trap the wolf was found in north of Tremonton should not have, by itself, killed the animal, which is federally protected under under the Endangered Species Act. Robinson wondered if the trapper - still unidentified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - was checking the traps every 48 hours as required by law. "A wolf shouldn't die in 48 hours in a trap, so I'm a little skeptical about this," he said. Wildlife officials with knowledge of the situation say that the wolf, a 3-year-old male, initially went unseen by the trapper because the animal had dragged the leg-hold and the rock it was attached to approximately 200 yards from the trap's original location. The trapper didn't find the wolf and the trap, which was set for coyotes, until the next inspection. By then the wolf was dead. The trapper alerted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service after making the discovery. Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswomen Diane Katzenberger would neither confirm nor deny details of the investigation, which she said is continuing....
With scientists' help, Miami blue butterfly takes wing again The Miami blue butterfly, just 50 pairs of fluttering wings from extinction three years ago, breeds up a storm these days. So far, the butterfly boom has been confined to a laboratory in Gainesville. But scientists hope to duplicate the success in the wild and create new colonies of an endangered species now found only on one small island in the Florida Keys, Bahia Honda. This week, a team of researchers from the University of Florida will release hundreds of captive-bred Miami blue caterpillars on Elliott Key and hunt for any full-grown butterflies produced by a batch placed last month on the Biscayne Bay island. ''This is a key to keeping the Miami blue part of the landscape,'' said Jaret Daniels, who directs the Miami blue breeding program at the Florida Museum of Natural History's McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity. (''Lepidoptera'' means butterflies and moths, for those of us who skipped entomology class.) It will be the second shot at reestablishing the delicate little creatures, whose vividly colored wings barely span a nickel. Two years ago, researchers tried a similar effort in Everglades and Biscayne national parks but the butterflies didn't make it -- at least, surveys haven't found any....
Eco-activists Use Red Wolf Sightings as Obstacle to Navy Airfield Conservationists fighting a military proposal to build a new landing field next to a wildlife refuge in North Carolina say the already controversial field could displace endangered red wolves in the area. According to Diane Hendry, outreach coordinator of the US Fish and Wildlife Service's Red Wolf Recovery Project, at least eight red wolves in several packs have been seen within the Navy's proposed airfield. Red wolves have been listed as endangered by the federal government since 1993. A spokesperson for the Navy's Fleet Forces Command in Norfolk, Virgina told the Associated Press that the Navy did not have the federal tracking data of the red wolves and said it would be inappropriate to comment. The Navy wants to buy 30,000 acres in the area to use for jets taking off from military installations in Virginia Beach, Virginia and Cherry Point, North Carolina. The Outlying Landing Field would be built in an area that incorporates a large swath of Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in the northeastern part of the state. In a letter to the Navy, the group said one pack lived entirely within the site, and at least 32 other red wolves had been spotted in neighboring areas....
Escaped farm-raised elk may never be found, Idaho officials say An emergency public hunt opening Tuesday in eastern Idaho probably won't destroy all of the farm-raised elk that escaped from a private hunting reserve last month, state officials acknowledge. "I'm not expecting we will recover all the animals," Steve Schmidt, Idaho Department of Fish and Game regional supervisor in Idaho Falls, told The Associated Press Monday. "It's likely a number of these animals will never be recovered." Up to 160 domesticated elk broke through a hole in the wire-net fencing of veterinarian Rex Rammell's Chief Joseph private hunting reserve near Rexburg in mid-August. Concerned the farm-raised elk could spread disease and pollute the genetic pool of wild herds, Idaho Gov. Jim Risch issued an emergency order Sept. 7 authorizing state officers to search out and destroy as many of Rammell's loose elk as possible. But after state agency shooters killed only 15 domestic elk between Sept. 9 and 15, Risch and the Idaho Fish and Game Commission decided to open a special depredation hunt for local private landowners and licensed hunters with valid elk tags. The first of three such hunts starts Tuesday and ends Monday, and there is no limit on the number of domesticated elk - identified by U.S. Department of Agriculture livestock eartags - that hunters can kill....
Fish Is Used to Detect Terror Attacks A type of fish so common that practically every American kid who ever dropped a fishing line and a bobber into a pond has probably caught one is being enlisted in the fight against terrorism. San Francisco, New York, Washington and other big cities are using bluegills _ also known as sunfish or bream _ as a sort of canary in a coal mine to safeguard their drinking water. Small numbers of the fish are kept in tanks constantly replenished with water from the municipal supply, and sensors in each tank work around the clock to register changes in the breathing, heartbeat and swimming patterns of the bluegills that occur in the presence of toxins. "Nature's given us pretty much the most powerful and reliable early warning center out there," said Bill Lawler, co-founder of Intelligent Automation Corporation, a Southern California company that makes and sells the bluegill monitoring system. "There's no known manmade sensor that can do the same job as the bluegill." Since Sept. 11, the government has taken very seriously the threat of attacks on the U.S. water supply. Federal law requires nearly all community water systems to assess their vulnerability to terrorism....
Hawks Attack More Than 100 People in Rio Residents of crime-plagued Rio de Janeiro have a new kind of predator to worry about _ hawks. A pair of hawks have attacked more than 100 residents of the upscale Ipanema beach district over the past year, scratching peoples heads and faces, doormen working at buildings in the area said Monday. "People leave the building carrying umbrellas to protect themselves from the attacks," said Luis Honorato, a doorman in a building near where the hawks have built a nest. "At first, they think that someone is throwing something, like a can, onto their heads from the floors above." Honorato said that one day he saw five attacks in 20 minutes. "Every time I leave the building I keep waving my hands over my head," said Mario Roxo, a 75-year-old chauffeur who had his head badly scratched by a hawk. The O Globo newspaper reported that one woman lost part of her scalp to a hawk and another man mistook an attack for a stray bullet. Rodgrigo Carvalho, a biologist with Brazil's environmental agency, said the hawks were just trying to defend their young....
US Hay Stocks Near Record Lows Ahead Of Winter U.S. farmers and ranchers are heading into winter with very low hay and forage reserves, and depending on the winter's severity, they could end up with record-low stocks on May 1, the end of the current crop year, market analysts said Monday. If hay stocks on May 1 aren't the lowest on record, they could be the lowest since 1996, said Jim Robb, agricultural economist at the Livestock Marketing Information Center. Robb said LMIC economists estimated carryover supplies on May 1 at 16 million short tons, the lowest since the LMIC began keeping records in 1960. On May 1, 2005, carryover stocks totaled 21.3 million tons, and the previous year, they were at 27.8 million tons, he said. With the entire autumn and winter yet to come, that could affect consumption and even pasture and other forage production, a lot depends on the weather, Robb said....
Age-sourcing cattle creates niche market Public concern over food safety has spawned a new niche market for cattle producers: age- and source-verified cattle. Florida cattle producers can earn substantial premiums by age- and source-verifying their calves, which qualifies beef from their animals for sale to Japan and other export markets. One company helping ranchers take advantage of this opportunity is Okeechobee Livestock Market. Florida's largest livestock market is selling truckload lots of age- and source-verified cattle over the Internet through Producers Cattle Auction LLC, an online cattle auction company based in Mobile, Ala. "Retailers are paying premiums for age- and source-verified cattle, and there's no need for the feed lots and the packers to be the only ones in the production chain that are getting them," said Todd Clemons, president of Okeechobee Livestock Market. "Our aim is to help ranchers take care of age and source verification on their end so they can keep more of the money in their own pockets. The cow/calf producer is the only person who can verify the age and source of feeder calves."....
World's tallest horse on show at Caulfield Noddy the Shire Horse, who is unofficially the world’s tallest horse, will make his first public appearance as part of the on-course activities at the Underwood Stakes race meeting at Caulfield on Saturday. The three-year-old giant of 19.2 hands will stand tall among the thoroughbreds contesting Saturday’s two $352,000 Group One events – the Underwood Stakes and the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes. Noddy’s appearance at Caulfield on Saturday will form part of the Clip Clop Club children’s activities on Fountain Lawn. He will be on show from 12 noon to 4pm. Children will be able to have their photo taken with Noddy and measure their height next to him. Owner Jane Greenman said the recognised world’s tallest living horse was a European 16-year-old Shire breed of 19.2 hands when shod. Noddy already has reached that height without horseshoes but will not be officially recognised as the world’s tallest horse until measured when fully grown as a six-year-old....
Trew - 'Baby San' patients celebrate being alive Everywhere Ruth and I travel, we discover history notes and stories we have not heard before. While visiting the Sacramento Mountains Historical Museum in Cloudcroft, N.M., we learned the touching story of “Baby San.” The original name of Cloudcroft Baby Sanitarium was shortened to “Baby San” and operated from 1911 to 1934, treating more than 500 tiny patients from the nearby desert communities of Las Cruces, Alamogordo and El Paso. It was not a tuberculosis sanitarium. It came about because of the absence of air-conditioning cooling devices and refrigerators in private homes in the desert communities. The weaker new-born babies would become dehydrated in the heat and the parents could not get enough liquids into their systems by mother’s milk or baby formula. Stomach ailments occurred and many babies died. The founder of Baby San, Dr. Herbert Stevenson, lost a young son to dehydration in 1904. The loss encouraged the doctor to establish a cool place for these babies to recuperate from various summer heat illnesses. He chose the small mountain settlement of Cloudcroft because it was nearby, stayed cool in the summer and had railroad facilities for transportation of patients. With land donated by the railroad, plans drawn free by an architect, and money raised from wealthy individuals who had lost infants, the Baby San building was constructed next door to a new lodge where mothers could stay near their ailing infants. The building opened on June 14, 1911 containing space for thirty wooden baby cribs....
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Monday, September 18, 2006
NEWS ROUNDUP
Split estates law draws mixed reviews Rancher Steve Adami and oil and gas developer John Kennedy were the first to test Wyoming's new law for settling disputes between landowners who don't own minerals under the surface and the oil and gas developers who want to extract the resources. The experience left both with a bitter taste. Adami says the split-estate law didn't help him much; Kennedy says the law has done more to benefit lawyers than anyone else. Wyoming's split-estate law has been on the books for just over a year, and there are still conflicts between landowners and developers. However, the facts show those conflicts are few in number, and proponents of the law say it has done what it was originally intended to do _ encourage agreements between surface owners and developers. During the first 13 months after the law was enacted July 1, 2005, there were 31 cases where landowners and developers failed to reach agreement on how much compensation the surface owner received for damage to the land and loss of production in order to extract the minerals, according to Don Likwartz, supervisor of the state's Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. And only three landowners ended up carrying the dispute to the commission for a hearing, Likwartz said. Considering that there were 6,922 coal-bed methane well permits approved over the same 13-month period, the law has been in effect, conflicts have been few, he said. Laurie Goodman, of the Landowners Association of Wyoming and one of those who lobbied for the law in 2005, said many oil and gas producers are working better with landowners....
Cattle still won't drink water Charbonneau Creek is precious, except that cattle won't drink from it. The creek was contaminated this winter, when Zenergy Inc. spilled nearly 1 million gallons of toxic salt water from a ruptured oil field pipeline across the land and into the creek. The pipeline carries water four times saltier than ocean water that comes up with oil production. The water down where the oil comes from is ancient, like the Dead Sea. The saltwater line that ruptured and leaked undetected for two weeks normally feeds into a reinjection well that buries it down deep again. Officially, the cleanup is well under way, and the creek has been OK'd for consumption by cattle by health and veterinarian officials. Zenergy, the Oklahoma-based company that owns the saltwater pipeline and is developing the field, will spend at least $2 million to pump up underground contaminated water and dredge up contaminated soils from the spill site up the creek. That's all well and good, except the cattle still won't drink it, ranchers say. They speculate that it may not be the salt alone, but an unpalatable combination of all the contaminants, the heavy metals, the salts and the ammonia that are below the toxic radar but still tainting the creek water. Zenergy is hauling replacement water to some ranches and may drill replacement wells for them....
Oil company wants fresh water to dilute salt The same oil company that's cleaning up the largest environmental disaster in North Dakota's oil history wants permits to drill 21 water wells west of Alexander. Some ranchers are worried about how all those wells will affect the water supply now and in years to come. They have asked for a public hearing to get it sorted out. The State Water Commission agreed it makes sense to review all 21 water wells together instead of one by one so people can get a handle on how much water is at stake. The request amounts to more than a billion gallons of water over the life of the wells. The commission, led by state engineer Dale Frink, will hold an informational hearing and take public comments starting at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 26 at the Watford City Civic Center. Zenergy Inc. is asking to drill new water wells and get permanent permits for existing water wells in the Foreman Butte oil field west of Alexander. It needs the fresh water supply because the 68-section oil field is in one of the saltiest zones in North Dakota. Oil wells produce about as much water as oil. Zenergy wants fresh well water to dilute the toxic saltwater that's coming up with the oil and fouling the pump shafts. The saturated saltwater cools as it rises, dropping out salt crystals that plug up equipment....
Private property, public projects Two years after resolving a long battle over how to handle split-estate disputes between surface owners and oil and gas developers, the two sides are now clashing over the law governing the seizure of private property for public projects. On Monday, the Legislature's Joint Agriculture, Public Lands and Water Resources Interim Committee will hear public comment and discuss possible changes to the state's eminent domain law. The panel will look over draft legislation that proposes a number of changes to the law. Committee Chairman Sen. Gerald Geis, R-Worland, said the issue was raised when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that municipalities could seize homes so a private developer could put up condominiums, a hotel and office buildings. Before the ruling, the eminent domain powers were limited to seizing property for public projects, such as highways. But in Wyoming, the initial concern about the eminent domain law being used to seize private property for private developments has evolved into a movement for seeking changes in how the law is used for public projects as well. Landowners contend the law now leaves them at a disadvantage when facing developers of oil and gas, power lines and pipelines wielding the threat of eminent domain. Developers counter that the current law is fair and necessary in obtaining rights of way and easements to deliver Wyoming's energy resources to consumers in the state and across the nation. Laurie Goodman, of the Landowners Association of Wyoming and one of those who pushed for changing the split-estates law, said she is concerned that some companies are trying to circumvent the split-estates law through use of the eminent domain law. For example, Goodman said, some companies are using eminent domain to discharge coal-bed methane water over the surface. "That causes some real problems for downstream property owners," she said....
Riparian recovery Whether they’re dropped, pushed or pulled, the placement of logs in streams has become a human endeavor until nature can reclaim the fish habitat building-block process. The tradeoff is temporary, but it may take a while. Riparian areas along creeks and streams have vastly recovered from logging’s rollicking heyday — especially the carefree days of the first half of the 20th century. But the growing trees are still decades away from their weight sending them lumbering into stream channels. In the meantime, fish, wildlife and habitat management officials will mimic nature by overseeing the placement of logs in streams. The practice, they said, may take nature 100 to 150 years to duplicate since getting hit hard by logging before environmental rules and regulations were put in place. Logs and other bulky obstacles — like boulders — dissipate stream energy. Rocks and pebbles settle in the slower moving water instead of being washed away. Eventually the collection spreads evenly as a potential bed of gravel for fish to spawn in. The logs also collect debris and form cover for juvenile fish to hide under from predators. At the same time, they shield sunlight from water and keep streams cool. Street said juvenile fish react to newly placed logs immediately. Within 10 minutes, smolt and fry clamor under the logs to take a break from the swift-moving current....
Grazing ban may not resolve bighorn debate Environmentalists are hailing a Forest Service decision to suspend livestock grazing in parts of the eastern Sierra to help protect endangered bighorn sheep as a prime example of how the Endangered Species Act can be used successfully to bring wildlife back from the brink of extinction. But a national ranching organization and other critics say the one-year ban has only postponed an inevitable showdown over whether federal land managers will side with wildlife or with the ranching families who have worked the high country range along the California-Nevada line for more than a century. The Forest Service reached an agreement last month with the largest ranching operation in the area, just northeast of Yosemite National Park, to halt domestic sheep grazing near Sierra Nevada bighorn habitat on one allotment in California's Mono County and limit the use of two others nearby. The restrictions are needed to guard against domestic sheep spreading disease to the bighorns, which were declared endangered in 1999, agency scientists said. The move won rare praise from conservationists who have been waging a legal battle to protect the bighorns for years in the Humboldt-Toiyabe and Inyo national forests....
BLM Plans to Allow Wilderness Airstrips When Lewis and Clark navigated flimsy boats beneath the towering sandstone cliffs of what is now Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument, their journal entries described eroded bluffs, abundant wildlife and the Great Falls, which Meriwether Lewis reckoned were "truly magnificent and sublimely grand." Although the Missouri Breaks looks much as it did when the Corps of Discovery came through in 1805, this primitive landscape now contains something the explorers could not have foreseen 200 years ago — airstrips gouged out of sagebrush plateaus. After decades of ignoring unauthorized takeoffs and landings on the monument's 10 airstrips, the federal Bureau of Land Management is finalizing plans to close four of the airstrips and allow recreational pilots to land small planes on at least six other remote sites in the Breaks' uplands. The proposal has created a tempest at one of the BLM's most isolated and least-visited outposts. On one side, the Montana Pilots' Assn. hails the plan as a victory for recreational pilots and others who advocate increased access to public lands. Arrayed on the other side is a loose coalition of conservationists, hunters and anglers who say the planes will harass wildlife and could destroy the experience of solitude offered by the rugged landscape....
Rare wolf pays visit to Utah, dies in trap A second wolf has found its way into northern Utah. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Thursday that an adult gray wolf was found dead in a leghold trap on private land in the hills north of Tremonton, in Box Elder County. The 3-year-old male was discovered Sunday by a trapper who was contracted to do predator control work for the property owner. The wolf's remains have since been shipped to Ashland, Ore., where they are undergoing genetic tests to determine the animal's lineage. "We think the little guy probably dispersed from the Yellowstone or central Idaho packs and wandered down," said Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman Sharon Rose. "Once the [trapper] found the wolf, he called wildlife services. He was doing coyote management. He wasn't expecting to find a wolf." The discovery of the endangered Canis lupis comes nearly four years after another wolf was found alive in a leghold trap in the mountains north of Morgan. It marked the first confirmed sighting of a wolf in the Beehive State in more than 70 years and started environmentalists and biologists pondering how to welcome wolves back to the state. At the same time, the prospect alarmed ranchers and hunters. The debate led to a chain of events that culminated last year with creation of the state's first wolf management plan....
Feedground lawsuit could halt test-and-slaughter A lawsuit challenging elk feedgrounds on federal lands in western Wyoming could have dire consequences for a research project aimed at reducing brucellosis rates in elk, the state’s brucellosis task force was told this week. The lawsuit, filed in federal court this spring by attorneys representing a coalition of environmental interests, seeks to halt the five-year test-and-slaughter program for elk testing positive for brucellosis on the Muddy Creek elk feedground near Boulder. Brucellosis is a highly contagious bacterial disease that causes abortion and is found in elk and bison in the Yellowstone region. Elk from the Muddy Creek feedground are believed to have transmitted the disease to cattle in late 2003, resulting in the slaughter of an entire cattle herd to rid livestock of the disease and to reduce the potential for further transmission. The brucellosis outbreak led to Wyoming losing its brucellosis-free marketing status for its cattle herds in early 2004 and resulted in an intensive cattle-testing program. Wyoming’s cattle herds regained brucellosis-free status earlier this week. Plans for the elk feedground pilot project involve the test and removal of no more than 10 percent of the total elk herd population per year. During the first year of the project, 58 cow elk were sent to slaughter after testing positive for brucellosis exposure. The groups filing the lawsuit include the Wyoming Outdoor Council, Greater Yellowstone Coalition and the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance. The lawsuit asks the federal court to order the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to begin an environmental review of feedgrounds located on federal lands in western Wyoming. The review would study alternatives to the feeding program, such as a phase-out of the feedgrounds....
Dirt buffs kicking up dust off the paved path Environmentalists call it destructive, whether done legally or illegally. Government officials are concerned too, restricting off-roaders to a smaller slice of state and federal parks while cracking down on illegal riders on public land. Obscenely high gas prices are hitting off-roaders in the pocketbook. Safety advocates and law enforcement officials warn that the sport can be dangerous, particularly when youngsters ignore common-sense precautions. But all that hasn't stopped off-roaders from buying motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles and four-wheel-drive trucks at a national rate of 1,500 a day. Despite its rough-and-rowdy reputation, off-roading continues to be a recreational juggernaut, growing in the number of enthusiasts by 42 percent in the last four years. With nearly half a million enthusiasts in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, Southern California is the hub of off-roading in the West. Yet there are only a handful of areas in the area where it is legal. In fact, environmental restrictions and the high cost of land have made it nearly impossible for state and federal officials to keep up with the demand for off-road parks. As a result, government agencies have located most of them in dried lakebeds, muddy reservoirs or hot desert scrubland, miles from urban centers....
Editorial - Clear ruling needed on rec-area user fees A federal magistrate has ruled that the Forest Service is acting illegally when it charges users a $5 fee for parking at trailheads, picnic areas and undeveloped campgrounds at some of the most popular outdoor recreational areas around Tucson. Magistrate Charles Pyle opened a Pandora's Box two weeks ago when he dismissed charges against a Tucson woman who had been given a $30 ticket twice for failure to pay the Forest Service fee for parking and hiking at Mount Lemmon trails. These fees have been controversial since they were first imposed in 1996. In dismissing the tickets for Christine Wallace, Pyle expressed an opinion frequently cited by foes of the Forest Service's recreational-user fees. A story in the Star by reporter Tony Davis said, "Pyle ruled that the Forest Service went beyond its congressional authorization when it charged fees for parking to use a trail, for roadside or trail-side picnicking, for camping outside developed campgrounds and for roadside parking in general." The Forest Service, not surprisingly, intends to appeal the ruling. The appeal is important because, aside from the fact that the user fees have been a valuable source of operating revenue for the Forest Service, the courts need to clarify once and for all whether those fees are legitimate....
Timber Poachers California's ancient redwood forests have survived fires, logging and disease. Now they face a growing threat from poachers who steal downed old-growth redwood trees in ever-larger numbers, scarring the land and robbing the forest of a vital part of its ecology for the sake of a few thousand dollars. In the past eight months, five men have been convicted of stealing old-growth logs -- those 750 years old or more -- from Redwood National and State Parks, established in 1968 to protect nearly half of the world's remaining old-growth redwoods. The convictions follow a concerted effort by park officials to crack down on thefts and preserve one of California's greatest natural treasures. Poaching is a problem in every national park. There is seemingly nothing poachers won't take, be it snakes from Mojave National Preserve, fossils from Badlands National Park in South Dakota, American ginseng from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia or frontier-era pistols from Fort Davis National Historic Site in Texas....
Column - Dooming woods and wildlife Environmental groups are unwittingly destroying forests and killing wildlife with lawsuits. Ironically, they do so while claiming to save them. Activists again file lawsuits to stop forest management, and the government pays them to do so. They craft settlements that pay them handsomely with taxpayer money so they can live well and file the next lawsuit. No wonder they are inflexible. The latest example uses the California spotted owl and Pacific fisher in arguments supporting a lawsuit to stop restoration thinning in the Giant Sequoia National Monument. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service haven't listed either species as threatened or endangered. These activists claim spotted owls nest in dense forests, so no management should be allowed anywhere the owl might one day live. But, they neglect to mention owls also nest and thrive in managed forests. They ignore the fact owls have to eat, and their prey live mainly in young forests. Like the owl, Pacific fishers prefer patchy forests, where patches of young, middle-aged, and old forest spread across the landscape like squares on a checkerboard. In fact, science shows fishers prosper in managed forests that mimic this patchiness. Moreover, recent data from a University of California-Berkeley researcher indicate there probably are at least 896 fishers in the Sequoia National Monument, which, one study finds, is nearly threefold as dense as needed to maintain the population. Unfortunately, legal action has blocked common-sense thinning to restore forests to their natural diversity and resistance to catastrophic wildfire....
A bummer for bikers From the Fourth of July Lake trail, mountain bikers catch some of the widest views of the comb-like peaks of the Boulder-White Cloud mountains, but only if they can take their eyes off the wrist-twisting shale as the trail cuts across the picturesque alpine basin. Yet, to the dismay of fat-tire aficionados, bikes would be barred from Fourth of July and 85 miles of other nearby singletrack -- the narrow, challenging trails prized by hard-core riders -- under a bill gaining steam in Congress. The Central Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Act, sponsored by Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, pegs 492 square miles near the famed Sun Valley Resort as federally designated wilderness. It's a vexing paradox for the International Mountain Bike Association, whose mission largely is to preserve trails in wild areas across the country. Since the 1980s, the legal definition of wilderness has prohibited mechanized transportation like snowmobiles, all terrain vehicles and -- inexplicably to some -- mountain bikes. So now, the association finds itself battling wilderness bills and tangling with conservationists in Idaho, California, Montana and the corridors of Congress....
Hungry bears encroaching on humans in S.E. Arizona At least four bears have been destroyed this summer after encroaching on humans in Southeastern Arizona. Biologists blame trash dumped by illegal entrants hiking through border mountains, because it acclimates the animals to people. Drought has caused shortages in acorns, juniper and manzanita berries that normally are dietary staples for black bears this time of year. Summer rains came too late to produce more of the foods that bears need as they prepare for hibernation, said Kurt Bahti, an Arizona Game and Fish field supervisor. As a result, bears in the Huachuca Mountains and elsewhere have had to rely heavily on human food, said Tom Skinner, Coronado National Forest wildlife program manager. Entrants crossing through the forest leave behind human-scented trash and leftovers, teaching the bears that people mean food, experts say. And both the number of crossers and the amount of trash are growing....
Conservation coalition opposes Nevada land swap bills Legislation that would create almost 550,000 acres of wilderness in the Nevada desert is facing opposition from a coalition of environmentalists who say the bill trades away other public land for private development "like currency." The coalition of 80 conservation groups object to a measure in the bill that would open up 45,000 acres in rural White Pine County to development in exchange for the wilderness protection. The bill, drafted by Nevada Sens. John Ensign and Harry Reid, is one of four pieces of legislation opposed by the groups. The others involve similar land-use exchanges in Idaho and Utah. "All of them have this quid pro quo strategy of giving away public land in one place for protection in another place," said Janine Blaeloch, director of the Western Lands Project. "If wilderness is going to be protected, it should not happen at the cost of losing the rest of our public lands." Other conservation groups disagree. "These bills are not perfect," said Jeremy Garncarz of The Wilderness Society. "No one is saying they are, but there are some good things here."....
On the Edge of Common Sense: 'Factory' farming a fact of modern life "We must stop the cruel confinement systems used in modern corporate factory health care!" "We must abolish the abusive practice of government-sponsored factory education systems where children are forced to sit still for hours a day!" "Evil corporate factory transportation companies that confine passengers in buses and airplanes in seats like crates which prevent turning around, lying down or completely extending their limbs must be regulated to reduce stress." Factory health care, factory education, factory transportation, i.e., hospitals, schools, airlines. All means of performing essential services that allow a more even distribution of benefits. Sure, there are people who can afford a private room, a personal physician, a tutor at home, a private jet, but not most of us. Factory farming is a buzzword invented by the ANTIs to denigrate methods used in agriculture today like feedlots, chicken houses, hog confinement facilities, dairies and veal barns. These methods of "factory" farming allow us to produce meat, milk and eggs in quantities large enough to meet the demands of a hungry nation....
Split estates law draws mixed reviews Rancher Steve Adami and oil and gas developer John Kennedy were the first to test Wyoming's new law for settling disputes between landowners who don't own minerals under the surface and the oil and gas developers who want to extract the resources. The experience left both with a bitter taste. Adami says the split-estate law didn't help him much; Kennedy says the law has done more to benefit lawyers than anyone else. Wyoming's split-estate law has been on the books for just over a year, and there are still conflicts between landowners and developers. However, the facts show those conflicts are few in number, and proponents of the law say it has done what it was originally intended to do _ encourage agreements between surface owners and developers. During the first 13 months after the law was enacted July 1, 2005, there were 31 cases where landowners and developers failed to reach agreement on how much compensation the surface owner received for damage to the land and loss of production in order to extract the minerals, according to Don Likwartz, supervisor of the state's Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. And only three landowners ended up carrying the dispute to the commission for a hearing, Likwartz said. Considering that there were 6,922 coal-bed methane well permits approved over the same 13-month period, the law has been in effect, conflicts have been few, he said. Laurie Goodman, of the Landowners Association of Wyoming and one of those who lobbied for the law in 2005, said many oil and gas producers are working better with landowners....
Cattle still won't drink water Charbonneau Creek is precious, except that cattle won't drink from it. The creek was contaminated this winter, when Zenergy Inc. spilled nearly 1 million gallons of toxic salt water from a ruptured oil field pipeline across the land and into the creek. The pipeline carries water four times saltier than ocean water that comes up with oil production. The water down where the oil comes from is ancient, like the Dead Sea. The saltwater line that ruptured and leaked undetected for two weeks normally feeds into a reinjection well that buries it down deep again. Officially, the cleanup is well under way, and the creek has been OK'd for consumption by cattle by health and veterinarian officials. Zenergy, the Oklahoma-based company that owns the saltwater pipeline and is developing the field, will spend at least $2 million to pump up underground contaminated water and dredge up contaminated soils from the spill site up the creek. That's all well and good, except the cattle still won't drink it, ranchers say. They speculate that it may not be the salt alone, but an unpalatable combination of all the contaminants, the heavy metals, the salts and the ammonia that are below the toxic radar but still tainting the creek water. Zenergy is hauling replacement water to some ranches and may drill replacement wells for them....
Oil company wants fresh water to dilute salt The same oil company that's cleaning up the largest environmental disaster in North Dakota's oil history wants permits to drill 21 water wells west of Alexander. Some ranchers are worried about how all those wells will affect the water supply now and in years to come. They have asked for a public hearing to get it sorted out. The State Water Commission agreed it makes sense to review all 21 water wells together instead of one by one so people can get a handle on how much water is at stake. The request amounts to more than a billion gallons of water over the life of the wells. The commission, led by state engineer Dale Frink, will hold an informational hearing and take public comments starting at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 26 at the Watford City Civic Center. Zenergy Inc. is asking to drill new water wells and get permanent permits for existing water wells in the Foreman Butte oil field west of Alexander. It needs the fresh water supply because the 68-section oil field is in one of the saltiest zones in North Dakota. Oil wells produce about as much water as oil. Zenergy wants fresh well water to dilute the toxic saltwater that's coming up with the oil and fouling the pump shafts. The saturated saltwater cools as it rises, dropping out salt crystals that plug up equipment....
Private property, public projects Two years after resolving a long battle over how to handle split-estate disputes between surface owners and oil and gas developers, the two sides are now clashing over the law governing the seizure of private property for public projects. On Monday, the Legislature's Joint Agriculture, Public Lands and Water Resources Interim Committee will hear public comment and discuss possible changes to the state's eminent domain law. The panel will look over draft legislation that proposes a number of changes to the law. Committee Chairman Sen. Gerald Geis, R-Worland, said the issue was raised when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that municipalities could seize homes so a private developer could put up condominiums, a hotel and office buildings. Before the ruling, the eminent domain powers were limited to seizing property for public projects, such as highways. But in Wyoming, the initial concern about the eminent domain law being used to seize private property for private developments has evolved into a movement for seeking changes in how the law is used for public projects as well. Landowners contend the law now leaves them at a disadvantage when facing developers of oil and gas, power lines and pipelines wielding the threat of eminent domain. Developers counter that the current law is fair and necessary in obtaining rights of way and easements to deliver Wyoming's energy resources to consumers in the state and across the nation. Laurie Goodman, of the Landowners Association of Wyoming and one of those who pushed for changing the split-estates law, said she is concerned that some companies are trying to circumvent the split-estates law through use of the eminent domain law. For example, Goodman said, some companies are using eminent domain to discharge coal-bed methane water over the surface. "That causes some real problems for downstream property owners," she said....
Riparian recovery Whether they’re dropped, pushed or pulled, the placement of logs in streams has become a human endeavor until nature can reclaim the fish habitat building-block process. The tradeoff is temporary, but it may take a while. Riparian areas along creeks and streams have vastly recovered from logging’s rollicking heyday — especially the carefree days of the first half of the 20th century. But the growing trees are still decades away from their weight sending them lumbering into stream channels. In the meantime, fish, wildlife and habitat management officials will mimic nature by overseeing the placement of logs in streams. The practice, they said, may take nature 100 to 150 years to duplicate since getting hit hard by logging before environmental rules and regulations were put in place. Logs and other bulky obstacles — like boulders — dissipate stream energy. Rocks and pebbles settle in the slower moving water instead of being washed away. Eventually the collection spreads evenly as a potential bed of gravel for fish to spawn in. The logs also collect debris and form cover for juvenile fish to hide under from predators. At the same time, they shield sunlight from water and keep streams cool. Street said juvenile fish react to newly placed logs immediately. Within 10 minutes, smolt and fry clamor under the logs to take a break from the swift-moving current....
Grazing ban may not resolve bighorn debate Environmentalists are hailing a Forest Service decision to suspend livestock grazing in parts of the eastern Sierra to help protect endangered bighorn sheep as a prime example of how the Endangered Species Act can be used successfully to bring wildlife back from the brink of extinction. But a national ranching organization and other critics say the one-year ban has only postponed an inevitable showdown over whether federal land managers will side with wildlife or with the ranching families who have worked the high country range along the California-Nevada line for more than a century. The Forest Service reached an agreement last month with the largest ranching operation in the area, just northeast of Yosemite National Park, to halt domestic sheep grazing near Sierra Nevada bighorn habitat on one allotment in California's Mono County and limit the use of two others nearby. The restrictions are needed to guard against domestic sheep spreading disease to the bighorns, which were declared endangered in 1999, agency scientists said. The move won rare praise from conservationists who have been waging a legal battle to protect the bighorns for years in the Humboldt-Toiyabe and Inyo national forests....
BLM Plans to Allow Wilderness Airstrips When Lewis and Clark navigated flimsy boats beneath the towering sandstone cliffs of what is now Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument, their journal entries described eroded bluffs, abundant wildlife and the Great Falls, which Meriwether Lewis reckoned were "truly magnificent and sublimely grand." Although the Missouri Breaks looks much as it did when the Corps of Discovery came through in 1805, this primitive landscape now contains something the explorers could not have foreseen 200 years ago — airstrips gouged out of sagebrush plateaus. After decades of ignoring unauthorized takeoffs and landings on the monument's 10 airstrips, the federal Bureau of Land Management is finalizing plans to close four of the airstrips and allow recreational pilots to land small planes on at least six other remote sites in the Breaks' uplands. The proposal has created a tempest at one of the BLM's most isolated and least-visited outposts. On one side, the Montana Pilots' Assn. hails the plan as a victory for recreational pilots and others who advocate increased access to public lands. Arrayed on the other side is a loose coalition of conservationists, hunters and anglers who say the planes will harass wildlife and could destroy the experience of solitude offered by the rugged landscape....
Rare wolf pays visit to Utah, dies in trap A second wolf has found its way into northern Utah. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Thursday that an adult gray wolf was found dead in a leghold trap on private land in the hills north of Tremonton, in Box Elder County. The 3-year-old male was discovered Sunday by a trapper who was contracted to do predator control work for the property owner. The wolf's remains have since been shipped to Ashland, Ore., where they are undergoing genetic tests to determine the animal's lineage. "We think the little guy probably dispersed from the Yellowstone or central Idaho packs and wandered down," said Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman Sharon Rose. "Once the [trapper] found the wolf, he called wildlife services. He was doing coyote management. He wasn't expecting to find a wolf." The discovery of the endangered Canis lupis comes nearly four years after another wolf was found alive in a leghold trap in the mountains north of Morgan. It marked the first confirmed sighting of a wolf in the Beehive State in more than 70 years and started environmentalists and biologists pondering how to welcome wolves back to the state. At the same time, the prospect alarmed ranchers and hunters. The debate led to a chain of events that culminated last year with creation of the state's first wolf management plan....
Feedground lawsuit could halt test-and-slaughter A lawsuit challenging elk feedgrounds on federal lands in western Wyoming could have dire consequences for a research project aimed at reducing brucellosis rates in elk, the state’s brucellosis task force was told this week. The lawsuit, filed in federal court this spring by attorneys representing a coalition of environmental interests, seeks to halt the five-year test-and-slaughter program for elk testing positive for brucellosis on the Muddy Creek elk feedground near Boulder. Brucellosis is a highly contagious bacterial disease that causes abortion and is found in elk and bison in the Yellowstone region. Elk from the Muddy Creek feedground are believed to have transmitted the disease to cattle in late 2003, resulting in the slaughter of an entire cattle herd to rid livestock of the disease and to reduce the potential for further transmission. The brucellosis outbreak led to Wyoming losing its brucellosis-free marketing status for its cattle herds in early 2004 and resulted in an intensive cattle-testing program. Wyoming’s cattle herds regained brucellosis-free status earlier this week. Plans for the elk feedground pilot project involve the test and removal of no more than 10 percent of the total elk herd population per year. During the first year of the project, 58 cow elk were sent to slaughter after testing positive for brucellosis exposure. The groups filing the lawsuit include the Wyoming Outdoor Council, Greater Yellowstone Coalition and the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance. The lawsuit asks the federal court to order the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to begin an environmental review of feedgrounds located on federal lands in western Wyoming. The review would study alternatives to the feeding program, such as a phase-out of the feedgrounds....
Dirt buffs kicking up dust off the paved path Environmentalists call it destructive, whether done legally or illegally. Government officials are concerned too, restricting off-roaders to a smaller slice of state and federal parks while cracking down on illegal riders on public land. Obscenely high gas prices are hitting off-roaders in the pocketbook. Safety advocates and law enforcement officials warn that the sport can be dangerous, particularly when youngsters ignore common-sense precautions. But all that hasn't stopped off-roaders from buying motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles and four-wheel-drive trucks at a national rate of 1,500 a day. Despite its rough-and-rowdy reputation, off-roading continues to be a recreational juggernaut, growing in the number of enthusiasts by 42 percent in the last four years. With nearly half a million enthusiasts in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, Southern California is the hub of off-roading in the West. Yet there are only a handful of areas in the area where it is legal. In fact, environmental restrictions and the high cost of land have made it nearly impossible for state and federal officials to keep up with the demand for off-road parks. As a result, government agencies have located most of them in dried lakebeds, muddy reservoirs or hot desert scrubland, miles from urban centers....
Editorial - Clear ruling needed on rec-area user fees A federal magistrate has ruled that the Forest Service is acting illegally when it charges users a $5 fee for parking at trailheads, picnic areas and undeveloped campgrounds at some of the most popular outdoor recreational areas around Tucson. Magistrate Charles Pyle opened a Pandora's Box two weeks ago when he dismissed charges against a Tucson woman who had been given a $30 ticket twice for failure to pay the Forest Service fee for parking and hiking at Mount Lemmon trails. These fees have been controversial since they were first imposed in 1996. In dismissing the tickets for Christine Wallace, Pyle expressed an opinion frequently cited by foes of the Forest Service's recreational-user fees. A story in the Star by reporter Tony Davis said, "Pyle ruled that the Forest Service went beyond its congressional authorization when it charged fees for parking to use a trail, for roadside or trail-side picnicking, for camping outside developed campgrounds and for roadside parking in general." The Forest Service, not surprisingly, intends to appeal the ruling. The appeal is important because, aside from the fact that the user fees have been a valuable source of operating revenue for the Forest Service, the courts need to clarify once and for all whether those fees are legitimate....
Timber Poachers California's ancient redwood forests have survived fires, logging and disease. Now they face a growing threat from poachers who steal downed old-growth redwood trees in ever-larger numbers, scarring the land and robbing the forest of a vital part of its ecology for the sake of a few thousand dollars. In the past eight months, five men have been convicted of stealing old-growth logs -- those 750 years old or more -- from Redwood National and State Parks, established in 1968 to protect nearly half of the world's remaining old-growth redwoods. The convictions follow a concerted effort by park officials to crack down on thefts and preserve one of California's greatest natural treasures. Poaching is a problem in every national park. There is seemingly nothing poachers won't take, be it snakes from Mojave National Preserve, fossils from Badlands National Park in South Dakota, American ginseng from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia or frontier-era pistols from Fort Davis National Historic Site in Texas....
Column - Dooming woods and wildlife Environmental groups are unwittingly destroying forests and killing wildlife with lawsuits. Ironically, they do so while claiming to save them. Activists again file lawsuits to stop forest management, and the government pays them to do so. They craft settlements that pay them handsomely with taxpayer money so they can live well and file the next lawsuit. No wonder they are inflexible. The latest example uses the California spotted owl and Pacific fisher in arguments supporting a lawsuit to stop restoration thinning in the Giant Sequoia National Monument. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service haven't listed either species as threatened or endangered. These activists claim spotted owls nest in dense forests, so no management should be allowed anywhere the owl might one day live. But, they neglect to mention owls also nest and thrive in managed forests. They ignore the fact owls have to eat, and their prey live mainly in young forests. Like the owl, Pacific fishers prefer patchy forests, where patches of young, middle-aged, and old forest spread across the landscape like squares on a checkerboard. In fact, science shows fishers prosper in managed forests that mimic this patchiness. Moreover, recent data from a University of California-Berkeley researcher indicate there probably are at least 896 fishers in the Sequoia National Monument, which, one study finds, is nearly threefold as dense as needed to maintain the population. Unfortunately, legal action has blocked common-sense thinning to restore forests to their natural diversity and resistance to catastrophic wildfire....
A bummer for bikers From the Fourth of July Lake trail, mountain bikers catch some of the widest views of the comb-like peaks of the Boulder-White Cloud mountains, but only if they can take their eyes off the wrist-twisting shale as the trail cuts across the picturesque alpine basin. Yet, to the dismay of fat-tire aficionados, bikes would be barred from Fourth of July and 85 miles of other nearby singletrack -- the narrow, challenging trails prized by hard-core riders -- under a bill gaining steam in Congress. The Central Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Act, sponsored by Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, pegs 492 square miles near the famed Sun Valley Resort as federally designated wilderness. It's a vexing paradox for the International Mountain Bike Association, whose mission largely is to preserve trails in wild areas across the country. Since the 1980s, the legal definition of wilderness has prohibited mechanized transportation like snowmobiles, all terrain vehicles and -- inexplicably to some -- mountain bikes. So now, the association finds itself battling wilderness bills and tangling with conservationists in Idaho, California, Montana and the corridors of Congress....
Hungry bears encroaching on humans in S.E. Arizona At least four bears have been destroyed this summer after encroaching on humans in Southeastern Arizona. Biologists blame trash dumped by illegal entrants hiking through border mountains, because it acclimates the animals to people. Drought has caused shortages in acorns, juniper and manzanita berries that normally are dietary staples for black bears this time of year. Summer rains came too late to produce more of the foods that bears need as they prepare for hibernation, said Kurt Bahti, an Arizona Game and Fish field supervisor. As a result, bears in the Huachuca Mountains and elsewhere have had to rely heavily on human food, said Tom Skinner, Coronado National Forest wildlife program manager. Entrants crossing through the forest leave behind human-scented trash and leftovers, teaching the bears that people mean food, experts say. And both the number of crossers and the amount of trash are growing....
Conservation coalition opposes Nevada land swap bills Legislation that would create almost 550,000 acres of wilderness in the Nevada desert is facing opposition from a coalition of environmentalists who say the bill trades away other public land for private development "like currency." The coalition of 80 conservation groups object to a measure in the bill that would open up 45,000 acres in rural White Pine County to development in exchange for the wilderness protection. The bill, drafted by Nevada Sens. John Ensign and Harry Reid, is one of four pieces of legislation opposed by the groups. The others involve similar land-use exchanges in Idaho and Utah. "All of them have this quid pro quo strategy of giving away public land in one place for protection in another place," said Janine Blaeloch, director of the Western Lands Project. "If wilderness is going to be protected, it should not happen at the cost of losing the rest of our public lands." Other conservation groups disagree. "These bills are not perfect," said Jeremy Garncarz of The Wilderness Society. "No one is saying they are, but there are some good things here."....
On the Edge of Common Sense: 'Factory' farming a fact of modern life "We must stop the cruel confinement systems used in modern corporate factory health care!" "We must abolish the abusive practice of government-sponsored factory education systems where children are forced to sit still for hours a day!" "Evil corporate factory transportation companies that confine passengers in buses and airplanes in seats like crates which prevent turning around, lying down or completely extending their limbs must be regulated to reduce stress." Factory health care, factory education, factory transportation, i.e., hospitals, schools, airlines. All means of performing essential services that allow a more even distribution of benefits. Sure, there are people who can afford a private room, a personal physician, a tutor at home, a private jet, but not most of us. Factory farming is a buzzword invented by the ANTIs to denigrate methods used in agriculture today like feedlots, chicken houses, hog confinement facilities, dairies and veal barns. These methods of "factory" farming allow us to produce meat, milk and eggs in quantities large enough to meet the demands of a hungry nation....
Sunday, September 17, 2006
SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE WESTERNER
A tale of Slats, Dan and Whitey
By Julie Carter
Slats is a team roping horse worthy of a story. His owner Dan follows narrowly in second place for his story worthiness. And then there is Whitey the dog.
These are true stories with the names unchanged to protect no one.
From a regular person's perspective, Dan looks to be close to 7 feet tall, weighing in at about 80 pounds.
Both numbers are obvious exaggerations but you now have the mental image of this very tall, very narrow cowboy.
Perhaps the only 17-hands-high heeling horse south of the Mason-Dixon line, Slats is a trim 900 pounds.
His height is not a handicap only because Dan's arms are long enough to compensate.
Slats seems only slightly self-conscious of his height as he stands head and shoulders above the other heeling horses when tied to the fence during the beer drinking breaks at the arena.
This fine animal's resume begins with his career as a race hose in El Paso where he received all the appropriate training and made two starts.
According to Dan, Slats was so polite by nature that when he saw all those other horses in such a hurry, he just let them go on by. He came in dead last both times.
Management moved him to a new track-related position as a pony horse where Slats remained for a number of years.
Sadly he became a victim of company downsizing, was traded and was soon on unemployment. In this case that also meant a starvation diet.
Dan was day working for the man that owned Slats, saw his plight and asked if he could have him. The deal made was that if Dan would pay the vet bill to get Slats back up to using shape, he could have him. To date Dan has $382.50 in Slats plus another couple million dollars in wormer and feed.
Slats even has a pet. When Slats first came to live with Dan, he was thin and weak and according to Dan, thinking about dying. Dan thought a buddy might make Slats more interested in continuing life and making a career change. Whitey the dog became Slats' full time partner.
When Whitey first arrived to live with Slats he spent a good portion of his time chasing him. Now that Slats is back in good form, he chases Whitey.
Dan's description of Whitey includes "he is about so-high, has a medium length basic black coat, trimmed in black."
On occasion Dan offers Slats to his best friend and fellow team roper. Tim is of average build, 6 foot tall or so, and when Dan says he can use Slats to make a run he always gives the offer some consideration.
Looking at Dan and then at Slats, Tim says, "It'll take me a month to reach your stirrups." Dan volunteers to take up the stirrups about four holes.
Tim backs in the heeling box. Slats does his usual rocket launch break which Tim is able to ride him through.
Quickly in position behind the steer, he casts his loop. The minute it leaves his hand, Slats buries his front feet in the ground and the back pockets of Tim's Wranglers are precariously day-lighted from the saddle.
Back at the roping boxes, Dan laughs and says to those standing there, "I love making him ride old Slats. He falls for it every time."
That kind of friend is hard to find.
© Julie Carter 2006
The Storm Season
by Larry Gabriel
Here is latest forecast: Heavy pontification and high winds with occasionally severe thunder and lightning followed by heavy deluges are likely during the afternoon and evening hours through the first week of November. After that, El Nino will settle in and become the topic of moderate conversations yielding a milder and calmer winter in the Northern High Plains.
Those with "horse sense" will find a sheltered area, put their tails to the wind, their heads down and wait it out until the stormy political season has passed.
Parts of our modern democracy-in-action process don't make a lot of sense. I often wonder if we should not go back to the days when United States Senators were appointed by and served at the pleasure of their state legislatures.
Maybe the old system produced more "statesmanship", less political pandering and shorter political seasons. I don't know. But I sometimes suspect it is so.
I recently saw a letter from a rural South Dakota woman who was upset about the current debate over drought assistance. She does not understand why so much emphasis is placed on drought aid instead of people like her, struggling to survive by working a low paying job to supplement a meager social security check and meet the ever rising costs of medical prescriptions.
Maybe she felt no one cares about her struggle, but I know people who care. I am one of them. That is exactly why the South Dakota Department of Agriculture tries to keep its focus on things that will improve our rural economy as a whole rather than benefit a few individuals.
Federal disaster aid is not the same thing. There was a time when a man named Crockett warned his fellow Congressmen there would be no end to such funding once started. He defeated a disaster aid bill by offering money from his own pocket and challenging others to do the same. The people's money is not yours to give away, Crockett argued.
Government aid can be meaningful. It can be targeted to accomplish a specific public benefit. It is not easy, but it can be done. If we are to have federal disaster aid, it should be done right.
Several years ago my staff and I traveled to Washington, DC to propose a system of drought aid tied to actual precipitation records that targeted aid to specific locations with measurable impacts from drought.
Some federal officers praised the concept, but Congress did not adopt it. Why? I don't know. Maybe their system generates more voter support.
If I had my druthers, I would follow the wisdom of my horse and wait out this season of political storms.
However, some of us must live in the storms. For us there is nothing to do but keep on trying, while remembering that the big noises of the season are mostly harmless and importance often fades to insignificance when the stormy season is over.
Come to think of it, I don't care much for weather forecasts. I prefer to look at the sky.
Mr. Gabriel is the South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture
A tale of Slats, Dan and Whitey
By Julie Carter
Slats is a team roping horse worthy of a story. His owner Dan follows narrowly in second place for his story worthiness. And then there is Whitey the dog.
These are true stories with the names unchanged to protect no one.
From a regular person's perspective, Dan looks to be close to 7 feet tall, weighing in at about 80 pounds.
Both numbers are obvious exaggerations but you now have the mental image of this very tall, very narrow cowboy.
Perhaps the only 17-hands-high heeling horse south of the Mason-Dixon line, Slats is a trim 900 pounds.
His height is not a handicap only because Dan's arms are long enough to compensate.
Slats seems only slightly self-conscious of his height as he stands head and shoulders above the other heeling horses when tied to the fence during the beer drinking breaks at the arena.
This fine animal's resume begins with his career as a race hose in El Paso where he received all the appropriate training and made two starts.
According to Dan, Slats was so polite by nature that when he saw all those other horses in such a hurry, he just let them go on by. He came in dead last both times.
Management moved him to a new track-related position as a pony horse where Slats remained for a number of years.
Sadly he became a victim of company downsizing, was traded and was soon on unemployment. In this case that also meant a starvation diet.
Dan was day working for the man that owned Slats, saw his plight and asked if he could have him. The deal made was that if Dan would pay the vet bill to get Slats back up to using shape, he could have him. To date Dan has $382.50 in Slats plus another couple million dollars in wormer and feed.
Slats even has a pet. When Slats first came to live with Dan, he was thin and weak and according to Dan, thinking about dying. Dan thought a buddy might make Slats more interested in continuing life and making a career change. Whitey the dog became Slats' full time partner.
When Whitey first arrived to live with Slats he spent a good portion of his time chasing him. Now that Slats is back in good form, he chases Whitey.
Dan's description of Whitey includes "he is about so-high, has a medium length basic black coat, trimmed in black."
On occasion Dan offers Slats to his best friend and fellow team roper. Tim is of average build, 6 foot tall or so, and when Dan says he can use Slats to make a run he always gives the offer some consideration.
Looking at Dan and then at Slats, Tim says, "It'll take me a month to reach your stirrups." Dan volunteers to take up the stirrups about four holes.
Tim backs in the heeling box. Slats does his usual rocket launch break which Tim is able to ride him through.
Quickly in position behind the steer, he casts his loop. The minute it leaves his hand, Slats buries his front feet in the ground and the back pockets of Tim's Wranglers are precariously day-lighted from the saddle.
Back at the roping boxes, Dan laughs and says to those standing there, "I love making him ride old Slats. He falls for it every time."
That kind of friend is hard to find.
© Julie Carter 2006
The Storm Season
by Larry Gabriel
Here is latest forecast: Heavy pontification and high winds with occasionally severe thunder and lightning followed by heavy deluges are likely during the afternoon and evening hours through the first week of November. After that, El Nino will settle in and become the topic of moderate conversations yielding a milder and calmer winter in the Northern High Plains.
Those with "horse sense" will find a sheltered area, put their tails to the wind, their heads down and wait it out until the stormy political season has passed.
Parts of our modern democracy-in-action process don't make a lot of sense. I often wonder if we should not go back to the days when United States Senators were appointed by and served at the pleasure of their state legislatures.
Maybe the old system produced more "statesmanship", less political pandering and shorter political seasons. I don't know. But I sometimes suspect it is so.
I recently saw a letter from a rural South Dakota woman who was upset about the current debate over drought assistance. She does not understand why so much emphasis is placed on drought aid instead of people like her, struggling to survive by working a low paying job to supplement a meager social security check and meet the ever rising costs of medical prescriptions.
Maybe she felt no one cares about her struggle, but I know people who care. I am one of them. That is exactly why the South Dakota Department of Agriculture tries to keep its focus on things that will improve our rural economy as a whole rather than benefit a few individuals.
Federal disaster aid is not the same thing. There was a time when a man named Crockett warned his fellow Congressmen there would be no end to such funding once started. He defeated a disaster aid bill by offering money from his own pocket and challenging others to do the same. The people's money is not yours to give away, Crockett argued.
Government aid can be meaningful. It can be targeted to accomplish a specific public benefit. It is not easy, but it can be done. If we are to have federal disaster aid, it should be done right.
Several years ago my staff and I traveled to Washington, DC to propose a system of drought aid tied to actual precipitation records that targeted aid to specific locations with measurable impacts from drought.
Some federal officers praised the concept, but Congress did not adopt it. Why? I don't know. Maybe their system generates more voter support.
If I had my druthers, I would follow the wisdom of my horse and wait out this season of political storms.
However, some of us must live in the storms. For us there is nothing to do but keep on trying, while remembering that the big noises of the season are mostly harmless and importance often fades to insignificance when the stormy season is over.
Come to think of it, I don't care much for weather forecasts. I prefer to look at the sky.
Mr. Gabriel is the South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture
OPINION/COMMENTARY
Animal-rights radicals fail to value human life
Six of America's most committed animal-rights activists will soon find themselves entering cages instead of smashing them. Along with their organization, Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, they were convicted on federal terrorism charges in March. Their campaign of fear and intimidation targeted employees, customers, and suppliers of a medical research laboratory that uses animals. Yesterday in Trenton, three were sentenced to six years in jail. The remaining three face sentencing this week and next. Like true terror masterminds, these six took protecting lab rats past the point of earnest debate and honest persuasion, choosing instead to orchestrate a destructive crusade. Was it terrorism? You decide. The campaign included death threats, overturned cars, bombings and front-lawn midnight protests complete with chants of "Let's burn his house to the ground." There was even a menacing phone barrage directed at New York Stock Exchange employees, targeted for agreeing to list an animal research company on the Big Board. Real people with real families were terrified....
Bill may stir California business exodus
A measure to limit greenhouse gas emissions in California could foster fresh interest among California companies looking outside the state for a less regulated business environment. The cap, designed to cut greenhouse gas output 25 percent by 2020, evoked stern responses from business advocates such as the California Chamber of Commerce, which said in a statement that the act would drive companies and jobs out of California and jack up power and fuel prices for residents of the Golden State. Gino DiCaro, a spokesman for the California Manufacturers and Technology Association, said the limit will weigh heavily on emissions-producing cement makers, power companies, steel manufacturers and oil refiners. The Milken Institute reported that doing business in California already costs 24 percent more than the national average, DiCaro said, and many of the state's companies simply can't bear any more economic burdens. "This bill, combined with the more expensive cost of doing business, makes it almost impossible to stay competitive in California," DiCaro said. "Predictability in the economy is, more than anything else, what businesses look for when they're selecting a site. This bill does nothing but create uncertainty in terms of future growth in California."....
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'
The new CO2 reduction mandate in California is the state's latest bout of feel-good environmentalism that even supporters admit will accomplish very little, says the Wall Street Journal.
The self-congratulation took place despite an understanding that:
* By 2020 California is expected to account for only 1.3 percent of total world-wide CO2 emissions.
* By contrast, China is expected by 2020 to increase its share of global greenhouse emissions to more than 22 percent of the world's total, surpassing the output of the entire United States.
* Even if it reaches its CO2 goals, the state will have reduced global emissions by only 0.3 percent.
What is really accomplished here, says the Journal, is the ultimate in political symbolism. California's politicians understand that none of this will register on the global temperature dial. They also know the Kyoto Protocol has proven to be a failure, as European countries routinely ignore their CO2 limits.
And even symbolism can have consequences, and California's economy will be lucky to escape this unscathed, says the Journal.
* The state's high energy prices and strict pollution controls long ago forced utilities to tighten up, and this latest round of regulation will force many out of the state.
* Those that do stay will thus pay more for the privilege, passing those costs along to consumers via higher energy prices and more expensive products.
Source: Editorial, "California Dreamin,'" Wall Street Journal, September 11, 2006.
Snake Oil Policy
Washington has hundreds of pending bills dealing with energy, and it's difficult to predict which ones will move in a Congress under pressure to do something about $3-a-gallon gas before the November elections (even though average prices have recently fallen by nearly 20 percent from that mark). Unfortunately, most of these proposals are anti-market and pro-big government and therefore likely to do more harm than good. Here's a rundown of the worst of the worst: 1. Oil Rationing -- Politicians routinely complain about $3 gas and then offer up "solutions" likely to raise the cost to $4 or even $5. One such idea is to cap the amount of oil Americans can use. The provisions vary, but most would require the nation to sharply reduce petroleum consumption over the next decade. Proponents claim that a tough limit on oil use will lead to the development of petroleum alternatives -- kind of like banning the use of pharmaceuticals in the hope that herbal remedies will make big strides. In reality, by instituting a quota we would be doing to ourselves what the al Qaeda terrorists who have attempted to blow up Saudi oil facilities want to do to us -- reduce the quantity and raise the price of oil to unprecedented levels. The only realistic chance rationing has for reducing the price of oil is if this misguided policy sparks a big recession -- a very real possibility. 2. Alternative Energy Mandates -- The flipside of mandating less oil use is mandating more alternatives to oil, and proposals to do so are included in several bills. Of course, replacing oil would be great, if it is with something better that outcompetes it, but not with something that's so bad that the feds must force it on the public. The sponsors of alternative energy mandates always miss this rather obvious point....
Don't Accuse PETA of Having Any Class
Less than a week after it happened, PETA is already using the death of Steve Irwin, a.k.a. the Crocodile Hunter, as a chance to stir up controversy. As Dan Matthews, PETA's celebrity outreach director, callously told MSNBC, "It comes as no shock at all that Steve Irwin should die provoking a dangerous animal ... If you compare him with a responsible conservationist like Jacques Cousteau, he looks like a cheap reality TV star." It was only a matter of time before these self-proclaimed "complete press sluts" used Irwin's death as a means to draw attention to themselves. PETA has a history of exploiting human suffering for cheap publicity stunts. After Rudy Guliani was diagnosed with prostate cancer, PETA erected a billboard, showing the former New York mayor with a milk mustache, which read: "Got Prostate Cancer?" And PETA planned on using the image of the late President Ronald Reagan in a campaign linking meat consumption with Alzheimer's disease until the recently widowed Nancy Reagan stopped them....
Animal-rights radicals fail to value human life
Six of America's most committed animal-rights activists will soon find themselves entering cages instead of smashing them. Along with their organization, Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, they were convicted on federal terrorism charges in March. Their campaign of fear and intimidation targeted employees, customers, and suppliers of a medical research laboratory that uses animals. Yesterday in Trenton, three were sentenced to six years in jail. The remaining three face sentencing this week and next. Like true terror masterminds, these six took protecting lab rats past the point of earnest debate and honest persuasion, choosing instead to orchestrate a destructive crusade. Was it terrorism? You decide. The campaign included death threats, overturned cars, bombings and front-lawn midnight protests complete with chants of "Let's burn his house to the ground." There was even a menacing phone barrage directed at New York Stock Exchange employees, targeted for agreeing to list an animal research company on the Big Board. Real people with real families were terrified....
Bill may stir California business exodus
A measure to limit greenhouse gas emissions in California could foster fresh interest among California companies looking outside the state for a less regulated business environment. The cap, designed to cut greenhouse gas output 25 percent by 2020, evoked stern responses from business advocates such as the California Chamber of Commerce, which said in a statement that the act would drive companies and jobs out of California and jack up power and fuel prices for residents of the Golden State. Gino DiCaro, a spokesman for the California Manufacturers and Technology Association, said the limit will weigh heavily on emissions-producing cement makers, power companies, steel manufacturers and oil refiners. The Milken Institute reported that doing business in California already costs 24 percent more than the national average, DiCaro said, and many of the state's companies simply can't bear any more economic burdens. "This bill, combined with the more expensive cost of doing business, makes it almost impossible to stay competitive in California," DiCaro said. "Predictability in the economy is, more than anything else, what businesses look for when they're selecting a site. This bill does nothing but create uncertainty in terms of future growth in California."....
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'
The new CO2 reduction mandate in California is the state's latest bout of feel-good environmentalism that even supporters admit will accomplish very little, says the Wall Street Journal.
The self-congratulation took place despite an understanding that:
* By 2020 California is expected to account for only 1.3 percent of total world-wide CO2 emissions.
* By contrast, China is expected by 2020 to increase its share of global greenhouse emissions to more than 22 percent of the world's total, surpassing the output of the entire United States.
* Even if it reaches its CO2 goals, the state will have reduced global emissions by only 0.3 percent.
What is really accomplished here, says the Journal, is the ultimate in political symbolism. California's politicians understand that none of this will register on the global temperature dial. They also know the Kyoto Protocol has proven to be a failure, as European countries routinely ignore their CO2 limits.
And even symbolism can have consequences, and California's economy will be lucky to escape this unscathed, says the Journal.
* The state's high energy prices and strict pollution controls long ago forced utilities to tighten up, and this latest round of regulation will force many out of the state.
* Those that do stay will thus pay more for the privilege, passing those costs along to consumers via higher energy prices and more expensive products.
Source: Editorial, "California Dreamin,'" Wall Street Journal, September 11, 2006.
Snake Oil Policy
Washington has hundreds of pending bills dealing with energy, and it's difficult to predict which ones will move in a Congress under pressure to do something about $3-a-gallon gas before the November elections (even though average prices have recently fallen by nearly 20 percent from that mark). Unfortunately, most of these proposals are anti-market and pro-big government and therefore likely to do more harm than good. Here's a rundown of the worst of the worst: 1. Oil Rationing -- Politicians routinely complain about $3 gas and then offer up "solutions" likely to raise the cost to $4 or even $5. One such idea is to cap the amount of oil Americans can use. The provisions vary, but most would require the nation to sharply reduce petroleum consumption over the next decade. Proponents claim that a tough limit on oil use will lead to the development of petroleum alternatives -- kind of like banning the use of pharmaceuticals in the hope that herbal remedies will make big strides. In reality, by instituting a quota we would be doing to ourselves what the al Qaeda terrorists who have attempted to blow up Saudi oil facilities want to do to us -- reduce the quantity and raise the price of oil to unprecedented levels. The only realistic chance rationing has for reducing the price of oil is if this misguided policy sparks a big recession -- a very real possibility. 2. Alternative Energy Mandates -- The flipside of mandating less oil use is mandating more alternatives to oil, and proposals to do so are included in several bills. Of course, replacing oil would be great, if it is with something better that outcompetes it, but not with something that's so bad that the feds must force it on the public. The sponsors of alternative energy mandates always miss this rather obvious point....
Don't Accuse PETA of Having Any Class
Less than a week after it happened, PETA is already using the death of Steve Irwin, a.k.a. the Crocodile Hunter, as a chance to stir up controversy. As Dan Matthews, PETA's celebrity outreach director, callously told MSNBC, "It comes as no shock at all that Steve Irwin should die provoking a dangerous animal ... If you compare him with a responsible conservationist like Jacques Cousteau, he looks like a cheap reality TV star." It was only a matter of time before these self-proclaimed "complete press sluts" used Irwin's death as a means to draw attention to themselves. PETA has a history of exploiting human suffering for cheap publicity stunts. After Rudy Guliani was diagnosed with prostate cancer, PETA erected a billboard, showing the former New York mayor with a milk mustache, which read: "Got Prostate Cancer?" And PETA planned on using the image of the late President Ronald Reagan in a campaign linking meat consumption with Alzheimer's disease until the recently widowed Nancy Reagan stopped them....
Friday, September 15, 2006
NEWS ROUNDUP
Idaho officers kill four more elk believed to have fled game farm Fish and Game authorities have killed four more elk believed to have escaped from a private hunting reserve in eastern Idaho. And they are continuing the hunt, despite elk rancher Rex Rammell's demands that state officers stand down from Gov. Jim Risch's emergency declaration allowing the animals to be shot on sight. Since the escape, state hunters have shot 14 elk. At least four of the elk did not have ear tags identifying them as domesticated animals, but officials say they still may belong to Rammell. He just may not have properly tagged them. Rammell says he has recovered about 40 head -- including 10 prized bulls....
Column - Forest Service, Two Dot rancher long at odds over public land My grandfather McFarland wintered in the house I live in in 1889. Our current brand was registered in 1902. I lease grass from the U.S. Forest Service and have an outfitting permit. I have Forest Service grazing permits that total 78 animal units per month, or 0.3 percent of my ranch operation. Most hunting is done on private land. I agree that the public has a right to go to their land, but I don't have to surrender my property rights to make it happen. I have been around this ranch all of my life, and most of the time we have allowed people to access the Forest Service's Big Elk Canyon. To get to the canyon you come to the ranch office and sign in. I offered to make that into a written agreement with the Forest Service. That offer was rejected. The ranch owns several sections of timber surrounded by Forest Service land. I was going to do a fuel reduction plan. I applied for a permit to cross Forest Service corners to get to my land. The USFS had this application in their files for years. They came up and viewed the crossings with five people. After three years, I got a bit impatient and started making some calls. This is when I became a villain....
7 black-footed ferrets take 1st step toward the wild For black-footed ferrets, being released in Colorado is almost a death sentence. South Dakota is fairly safe. Wyoming is getting better all the time. But a ferret hitting the ground on the Colorado reintroduction area has only a 10 percent chance of surviving a few months. Fortunately for them, only one of the seven adolescent ferrets being loaded into a pickup at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo on Thursday was slated to stay in its home state. The slender, 2-pound prairie dog hunters chattered and sniffed at the mesh on their cages as their keepers prepared to ship them to Fort Collins for a few weeks of learning to prey on live prairie dogs before they are released. The recovery has two parts: a captive breeding program led by zoos across the country, including Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, and a program to release the animals into the wild. Breeding starts in spring. In the fall, hundreds of ferrets are released at 11 sites in the West....
Editorial - Water deal with Nevada best kept off fast track It's clear that Utah and Nevada ranchers understand the proper order of horse and cart better than the Southern Nevada Water Authority or the Department of Interior. Those two agencies have made a surreptitious deal for a massive groundwater pumping project to benefit burgeoning Las Vegas before getting all the facts about its potential negative effects. The folks whose ranching livelihoods could be threatened by a SNWA plan to drain hundreds of thousands of acre feet of water out of the aquifer under rural valleys in eastern Nevada and western Utah reasonably want water officials to consider hard science before deciding whether to approve the plan. That makes more sense than allowing the SNWA to pull 225,000 acre feet of water out of the arid valleys near the Great Basin National Park and ship it to Las Vegas through a brand-new 200-mile pipeline before reports show what the impact of the project could be. The U.S. Geological Survey is collecting data for a groundwater analysis that will be completed next year. The Bureau of Land Management is doing an environmental impact study that is not yet finished. Moving ahead without the results of those studies to allow the pumping and then monitor its effects after the fact seems to us to be dangerously putting the cart way out ahead of the horse....
Drought relief stalls again in Senate The latest attempt to pass $6.5 billion in drought relief for farmers and ranchers has failed. Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., offered an amendment Wednesday that would have added disaster assistance to a Senate port security bill. Republicans on Thursday blocked the amendment with a procedural maneuver, saying it is not germane to the legislation. The amendment was based on two separate pieces of disaster assistance legislation introduced by Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., and Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont. Burns, whose bill would have added about $230 million for wildfire recovery, expressed disappointment at the decision. “I don’t think the fires we’ve had in Montana yield to a point of order,” Burns said of the procedural maneuver....What a charade. They knew the point of order would be made before they offered the amendment. Pure political theater for the folks back home.
Column - The Endangered Species Act Maybe this is just what we needed. For the past several years, I have been trying to get the attention of our elected leaders at the local, state and federal level to mount a campaign to push back hard against an organization called the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD). This organization has served to establish Santa Barbara County as ground zero with respect to the Endangered Species Act. The damage being incurred is as a result of the fact that the CBD files lawsuits to accomplish three goals or means to their end. Our elected officials and the staff at all levels of government that work for them don't do anything effective to counter these goals by way of effectively fighting the lawsuits or changing the law to prevent more of the same. What the CBD does first is they get species listed. Santa Barbara County has more species listed than any other county in the continental United States! The CBD then sues to get critical habitat for the species designated, which has served to encumber almost our entire county. As an example, if you add the critical habitat designation and range of the species for the tiger salamander, which typically occurs on ranchlands, in areas away from waterbodies, and the land designated for the red-legged frog, which typically occurs near water bodies, there isn't much of this county left unencumbered! Throw into the mix another 20-30 species, and well, you get the idea. Now, the CBD has moved to phase three of their plan, which will serve to limit the ability of landowners to make productive use of their property as a result of the critical habitat designations....
DEATH to TUI CHUBS A white-suited man strolling along the Diamond Lake Resort dock systematically pumps death into the depths of Diamond Lake. From a backpack and a hose, he dispenses lethal levels of the pesticide rotenone, culminating a five-year, $5.6 million effort to kill millions of unwanted tui chubs that have robbed the lake's natural ecology and trampled its once-famous trout fishing. Jim Caplan, the former Umpqua National Forest supervisor who signed the chubs' death warrant in 2004, watches this "collision of values" before him — poisoning a lake in the name of saving it — and laments the loss. "In one sense, it's a tragedy that these resources have to be expended and, oh, so much life has to be destroyed," Caplan says. "But there's a higher value here." Reclaimed water quality, a rejuvenated ecosystem and the eventual revival of what once was Oregon's most popular trout fishery all make Thursday's massive fish-kill a necessary evil, he says....
Firefighting by agency fires a dispute A Bush administration study on whether some jobs in the U.S. Forest Service could be done better by private contractors compromises the agency's in-house firefighting force, say groups representing federal employees. Administration officials dispute the claim. But the question of whether "competitive sourcing" studies -- which determine whether nongovernment activities should be kept in-house or turned over to private firms -- undermine the "fire militia" has caught the attention of Congress. The Government Accountability Office this year began looking into the issue after a bipartisan group of senators asked if the outsourcing competition studies give enough consideration to the Forest Service's long-term ability to manage wildfires. While Congress has prohibited the Forest Service and the Interior Department from studying outsourcing of federal jobs that are dedicated to fire suppression and management full time, there's no similar protection for staffers in other jobs who are cross-trained in fire duties, say union officials, wildland firefighter associations and watchdog groups. "If you outsource Clark Kent, what are you going to do when you need Superman?" said Mark Davis, a Forest Service chemist in Madison, Wis., and a member of the Forest Service Council, an arm of the union representing federal employees....Unbelievable. Now they think they are Superman.
Streamlining forest “Health” Legislation that would cut across federal, state and tribal boundaries and suspend standard management rules in a bid to streamline forest projects was unveiled by Bush administration officials Sept. 5. The new approach is needed, they say, to react to increasing danger from forest fires and bark beetle infestation. The “Healthy Forests Partnership Act” sent to Congress would allow for the declaration of “healthy forests partnership zones” wherein the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management could grant no-bid, long-term contracts to state and tribal governments to prepare and carry out fuel reduction projects on federal land. “We’ve made great progress under the Healthy Forests Initiative and have improved the health of millions of acres of forests and rangelands across America. This legislation, however, will allow us to work more effectively with our state and local government partners to fully achieve the desired effects of HFI,” Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth said at a Denver press conference on the issue. Conservation groups who have criticized provisions of the 2003 Healthy Forests Initiative aimed at speeding up projects say this new proposal works more aggressively to reduce public involvement and circumvent existing environmental laws. Mike Peterson, executive director of the Lands Council, characterizes the act as a “privatization scheme” because it would turn control of wide swaths of national forests over to state entities, which could subcontract the work. The “partnership projects” and “partnership zones” would be exempt from certain provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Forest Management Act, and judicial oversight of these projects would also be restricted, which concerns Peterson and other groups including Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Wilderness Society and the WildWest Institute....What? Share Superman's cape? This can't be.
Utah's acting BLM director given national assignment Henri Bisson, acting director for the Utah Bureau of Land Management, was named the national BLM's deputy director of operations on Thursday. "Henri is one of the Bureau's most highly regarded managers," BLM Director Kathleen Clarke said in a statement. "He has a deep understanding of our multiple use mission and is a skilled professional who will bring broad expertise in field operations to Washington, D.C." Bisson will manage the BLM's daily operations, which includes 9,000 employees and a budget of more than $1.7 billion. He will take over the post in November, after Clarke's chief of staff, Selma Sierra, arrives in Utah to assume the state director job permanently. At the request of Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., the Interior Department's inspector general is investigating a meeting between Bisson, Utah county officials and oil company representatives to determine whether he made commitments to influence land-use plans in the state to expand oil and gas development....
Federal agencies grow leery of S. Utah land sale proposal The Bush administration expressed reservations Thursday about key provisions of a bill, already opposed by environmental groups, aimed at shaping the explosive growth in Washington County. The Interior Department voiced concerns over language in the bill directing the department to sell off up to 20,000 acres of land now under control of the Bureau of Land Management. And the White House budget office is not satisfied with limits placed on the $1 billion the sales could rake in. "The Department of Interior supports the goals of the legislation, but opposes provisions that require lands to be sold, regardless of whether they have been identified for disposal," Deputy Assistant Interior Secretary Chad Calvert told a House subcommittee. "Furthermore, the administration believes that all taxpayers should receive some benefit from the sale." The bill would earmark 85 percent of the money from the land sales for conservation initiatives, but the White House Office of Management and Budget does not want its hands tied. The administration hopes to work through the issues with the bill's sponsors, Republican Sen. Bob Bennett and Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson, Calvert said. Matheson pointed out that the bill divides the money using the same formula Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., used in two similar Nevada bills. But Calvert said the White House budget office "would like to revisit that."....There they go again, messin' with Superman's cape.
Group fights for equality of horses Like people, horses are found in different colors — and like humans, horses were discriminated against because of the color of their coat. Before the 1960s, "painted" horses were considered inferior to those of solid color. Painted horses are a mixed-color breed deriving from a blend of the quarter horse and thoroughbred blood lines. It wasn't until 1962 that a handful of people decided to change ranchers' perspectives on painted horses by forming the American Paint Horse Association. APHA gives painted-horse enthusiasts an opportunity to see what they can do in different events such as roping and trail courses. The events are meant to show the horse's skills. Marla Fadel, Utah APHA show secretary, said for years painted horses were considered outcasts and horsemen wouldn't breed them. A lot of people thought if a horse had white feet, they were considered weaker than if they had dark feet. "Paints weren't considered as good a quality," she said. Jerry Circelli, APHA director of public relations and marketing, said the association wanted to prove painted horses could do things just like any other horse. APHA has grown, and painted horses have been recognized as equals to quarter horses and thoroughbreds. APHA president Carl Parker said there are 890,000 registered painted horses and 102,000 members in the association....
Idaho officers kill four more elk believed to have fled game farm Fish and Game authorities have killed four more elk believed to have escaped from a private hunting reserve in eastern Idaho. And they are continuing the hunt, despite elk rancher Rex Rammell's demands that state officers stand down from Gov. Jim Risch's emergency declaration allowing the animals to be shot on sight. Since the escape, state hunters have shot 14 elk. At least four of the elk did not have ear tags identifying them as domesticated animals, but officials say they still may belong to Rammell. He just may not have properly tagged them. Rammell says he has recovered about 40 head -- including 10 prized bulls....
Column - Forest Service, Two Dot rancher long at odds over public land My grandfather McFarland wintered in the house I live in in 1889. Our current brand was registered in 1902. I lease grass from the U.S. Forest Service and have an outfitting permit. I have Forest Service grazing permits that total 78 animal units per month, or 0.3 percent of my ranch operation. Most hunting is done on private land. I agree that the public has a right to go to their land, but I don't have to surrender my property rights to make it happen. I have been around this ranch all of my life, and most of the time we have allowed people to access the Forest Service's Big Elk Canyon. To get to the canyon you come to the ranch office and sign in. I offered to make that into a written agreement with the Forest Service. That offer was rejected. The ranch owns several sections of timber surrounded by Forest Service land. I was going to do a fuel reduction plan. I applied for a permit to cross Forest Service corners to get to my land. The USFS had this application in their files for years. They came up and viewed the crossings with five people. After three years, I got a bit impatient and started making some calls. This is when I became a villain....
7 black-footed ferrets take 1st step toward the wild For black-footed ferrets, being released in Colorado is almost a death sentence. South Dakota is fairly safe. Wyoming is getting better all the time. But a ferret hitting the ground on the Colorado reintroduction area has only a 10 percent chance of surviving a few months. Fortunately for them, only one of the seven adolescent ferrets being loaded into a pickup at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo on Thursday was slated to stay in its home state. The slender, 2-pound prairie dog hunters chattered and sniffed at the mesh on their cages as their keepers prepared to ship them to Fort Collins for a few weeks of learning to prey on live prairie dogs before they are released. The recovery has two parts: a captive breeding program led by zoos across the country, including Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, and a program to release the animals into the wild. Breeding starts in spring. In the fall, hundreds of ferrets are released at 11 sites in the West....
Editorial - Water deal with Nevada best kept off fast track It's clear that Utah and Nevada ranchers understand the proper order of horse and cart better than the Southern Nevada Water Authority or the Department of Interior. Those two agencies have made a surreptitious deal for a massive groundwater pumping project to benefit burgeoning Las Vegas before getting all the facts about its potential negative effects. The folks whose ranching livelihoods could be threatened by a SNWA plan to drain hundreds of thousands of acre feet of water out of the aquifer under rural valleys in eastern Nevada and western Utah reasonably want water officials to consider hard science before deciding whether to approve the plan. That makes more sense than allowing the SNWA to pull 225,000 acre feet of water out of the arid valleys near the Great Basin National Park and ship it to Las Vegas through a brand-new 200-mile pipeline before reports show what the impact of the project could be. The U.S. Geological Survey is collecting data for a groundwater analysis that will be completed next year. The Bureau of Land Management is doing an environmental impact study that is not yet finished. Moving ahead without the results of those studies to allow the pumping and then monitor its effects after the fact seems to us to be dangerously putting the cart way out ahead of the horse....
Drought relief stalls again in Senate The latest attempt to pass $6.5 billion in drought relief for farmers and ranchers has failed. Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., offered an amendment Wednesday that would have added disaster assistance to a Senate port security bill. Republicans on Thursday blocked the amendment with a procedural maneuver, saying it is not germane to the legislation. The amendment was based on two separate pieces of disaster assistance legislation introduced by Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., and Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont. Burns, whose bill would have added about $230 million for wildfire recovery, expressed disappointment at the decision. “I don’t think the fires we’ve had in Montana yield to a point of order,” Burns said of the procedural maneuver....What a charade. They knew the point of order would be made before they offered the amendment. Pure political theater for the folks back home.
Column - The Endangered Species Act Maybe this is just what we needed. For the past several years, I have been trying to get the attention of our elected leaders at the local, state and federal level to mount a campaign to push back hard against an organization called the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD). This organization has served to establish Santa Barbara County as ground zero with respect to the Endangered Species Act. The damage being incurred is as a result of the fact that the CBD files lawsuits to accomplish three goals or means to their end. Our elected officials and the staff at all levels of government that work for them don't do anything effective to counter these goals by way of effectively fighting the lawsuits or changing the law to prevent more of the same. What the CBD does first is they get species listed. Santa Barbara County has more species listed than any other county in the continental United States! The CBD then sues to get critical habitat for the species designated, which has served to encumber almost our entire county. As an example, if you add the critical habitat designation and range of the species for the tiger salamander, which typically occurs on ranchlands, in areas away from waterbodies, and the land designated for the red-legged frog, which typically occurs near water bodies, there isn't much of this county left unencumbered! Throw into the mix another 20-30 species, and well, you get the idea. Now, the CBD has moved to phase three of their plan, which will serve to limit the ability of landowners to make productive use of their property as a result of the critical habitat designations....
DEATH to TUI CHUBS A white-suited man strolling along the Diamond Lake Resort dock systematically pumps death into the depths of Diamond Lake. From a backpack and a hose, he dispenses lethal levels of the pesticide rotenone, culminating a five-year, $5.6 million effort to kill millions of unwanted tui chubs that have robbed the lake's natural ecology and trampled its once-famous trout fishing. Jim Caplan, the former Umpqua National Forest supervisor who signed the chubs' death warrant in 2004, watches this "collision of values" before him — poisoning a lake in the name of saving it — and laments the loss. "In one sense, it's a tragedy that these resources have to be expended and, oh, so much life has to be destroyed," Caplan says. "But there's a higher value here." Reclaimed water quality, a rejuvenated ecosystem and the eventual revival of what once was Oregon's most popular trout fishery all make Thursday's massive fish-kill a necessary evil, he says....
Firefighting by agency fires a dispute A Bush administration study on whether some jobs in the U.S. Forest Service could be done better by private contractors compromises the agency's in-house firefighting force, say groups representing federal employees. Administration officials dispute the claim. But the question of whether "competitive sourcing" studies -- which determine whether nongovernment activities should be kept in-house or turned over to private firms -- undermine the "fire militia" has caught the attention of Congress. The Government Accountability Office this year began looking into the issue after a bipartisan group of senators asked if the outsourcing competition studies give enough consideration to the Forest Service's long-term ability to manage wildfires. While Congress has prohibited the Forest Service and the Interior Department from studying outsourcing of federal jobs that are dedicated to fire suppression and management full time, there's no similar protection for staffers in other jobs who are cross-trained in fire duties, say union officials, wildland firefighter associations and watchdog groups. "If you outsource Clark Kent, what are you going to do when you need Superman?" said Mark Davis, a Forest Service chemist in Madison, Wis., and a member of the Forest Service Council, an arm of the union representing federal employees....Unbelievable. Now they think they are Superman.
Streamlining forest “Health” Legislation that would cut across federal, state and tribal boundaries and suspend standard management rules in a bid to streamline forest projects was unveiled by Bush administration officials Sept. 5. The new approach is needed, they say, to react to increasing danger from forest fires and bark beetle infestation. The “Healthy Forests Partnership Act” sent to Congress would allow for the declaration of “healthy forests partnership zones” wherein the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management could grant no-bid, long-term contracts to state and tribal governments to prepare and carry out fuel reduction projects on federal land. “We’ve made great progress under the Healthy Forests Initiative and have improved the health of millions of acres of forests and rangelands across America. This legislation, however, will allow us to work more effectively with our state and local government partners to fully achieve the desired effects of HFI,” Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth said at a Denver press conference on the issue. Conservation groups who have criticized provisions of the 2003 Healthy Forests Initiative aimed at speeding up projects say this new proposal works more aggressively to reduce public involvement and circumvent existing environmental laws. Mike Peterson, executive director of the Lands Council, characterizes the act as a “privatization scheme” because it would turn control of wide swaths of national forests over to state entities, which could subcontract the work. The “partnership projects” and “partnership zones” would be exempt from certain provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Forest Management Act, and judicial oversight of these projects would also be restricted, which concerns Peterson and other groups including Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Wilderness Society and the WildWest Institute....What? Share Superman's cape? This can't be.
Utah's acting BLM director given national assignment Henri Bisson, acting director for the Utah Bureau of Land Management, was named the national BLM's deputy director of operations on Thursday. "Henri is one of the Bureau's most highly regarded managers," BLM Director Kathleen Clarke said in a statement. "He has a deep understanding of our multiple use mission and is a skilled professional who will bring broad expertise in field operations to Washington, D.C." Bisson will manage the BLM's daily operations, which includes 9,000 employees and a budget of more than $1.7 billion. He will take over the post in November, after Clarke's chief of staff, Selma Sierra, arrives in Utah to assume the state director job permanently. At the request of Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., the Interior Department's inspector general is investigating a meeting between Bisson, Utah county officials and oil company representatives to determine whether he made commitments to influence land-use plans in the state to expand oil and gas development....
Federal agencies grow leery of S. Utah land sale proposal The Bush administration expressed reservations Thursday about key provisions of a bill, already opposed by environmental groups, aimed at shaping the explosive growth in Washington County. The Interior Department voiced concerns over language in the bill directing the department to sell off up to 20,000 acres of land now under control of the Bureau of Land Management. And the White House budget office is not satisfied with limits placed on the $1 billion the sales could rake in. "The Department of Interior supports the goals of the legislation, but opposes provisions that require lands to be sold, regardless of whether they have been identified for disposal," Deputy Assistant Interior Secretary Chad Calvert told a House subcommittee. "Furthermore, the administration believes that all taxpayers should receive some benefit from the sale." The bill would earmark 85 percent of the money from the land sales for conservation initiatives, but the White House Office of Management and Budget does not want its hands tied. The administration hopes to work through the issues with the bill's sponsors, Republican Sen. Bob Bennett and Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson, Calvert said. Matheson pointed out that the bill divides the money using the same formula Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., used in two similar Nevada bills. But Calvert said the White House budget office "would like to revisit that."....There they go again, messin' with Superman's cape.
Group fights for equality of horses Like people, horses are found in different colors — and like humans, horses were discriminated against because of the color of their coat. Before the 1960s, "painted" horses were considered inferior to those of solid color. Painted horses are a mixed-color breed deriving from a blend of the quarter horse and thoroughbred blood lines. It wasn't until 1962 that a handful of people decided to change ranchers' perspectives on painted horses by forming the American Paint Horse Association. APHA gives painted-horse enthusiasts an opportunity to see what they can do in different events such as roping and trail courses. The events are meant to show the horse's skills. Marla Fadel, Utah APHA show secretary, said for years painted horses were considered outcasts and horsemen wouldn't breed them. A lot of people thought if a horse had white feet, they were considered weaker than if they had dark feet. "Paints weren't considered as good a quality," she said. Jerry Circelli, APHA director of public relations and marketing, said the association wanted to prove painted horses could do things just like any other horse. APHA has grown, and painted horses have been recognized as equals to quarter horses and thoroughbreds. APHA president Carl Parker said there are 890,000 registered painted horses and 102,000 members in the association....
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Interior Official Assails Agency for Ethics Slide
The Interior Department’s chief official responsible for investigating abuses and overseeing operations accused the top officials at the agency on Wednesday of tolerating widespread ethical failures, from cronyism to cover-ups of incompetence. “Simply stated, short of a crime, anything goes at the highest levels of the Department of the Interior,” charged Earl E. Devaney, the Interior Department’s inspector general, at a hearing of the House Government Reform subcommittee on energy. “I have observed one instance after another when the good work of my office has been disregarded by the department,” he continued. “Ethics failures on the part of senior department officials — taking the form of appearances of impropriety, favoritism and bias — have been routinely dismissed with a promise ‘not to do it again.’ ” The blistering attack was part of Mr. Devaney’s report on what he called the Interior Department’s “bureaucratic bungling” of oil and gas leases signed in the late 1990’s, mistakes that are now expected to cost the government billions of dollars but were covered up for six years. While these leases were the specific focus of the hearing, Mr. Devaney directed most of his criticism at what he called a broader organizational culture at the Interior Department of denial and “defending the indefensible.”...Mr. Devaney’s broadside against the Interior Department’s culture dovetailed with his tentative conclusions in his most recent investigation, into how the department had managed to sign 1,100 leases for offshore drilling that inadvertently let energy companies escape billions of dollars in royalties on gas and oil produced in the Gulf of Mexico. The leases, signed in 1998 and 1999 during the Clinton administration, allow companies to escape normal federal royalties — usually 12.5 percent of sales — on the tens of millions of barrels of oil on each lease. The royalty break was intended as an incentive for deepwater drilling, but it was also supposed to end if oil prices climbed above a “threshold” level of about $34 a barrel. The leases at issue omitted that restriction, and department officials kept quiet about their mistake for six years after they discovered it. The problem was first disclosed by The New York Times in March. Government officials now estimate that the mistake could cost the Treasury as much as $10 billion over the next decade....
The Interior Department’s chief official responsible for investigating abuses and overseeing operations accused the top officials at the agency on Wednesday of tolerating widespread ethical failures, from cronyism to cover-ups of incompetence. “Simply stated, short of a crime, anything goes at the highest levels of the Department of the Interior,” charged Earl E. Devaney, the Interior Department’s inspector general, at a hearing of the House Government Reform subcommittee on energy. “I have observed one instance after another when the good work of my office has been disregarded by the department,” he continued. “Ethics failures on the part of senior department officials — taking the form of appearances of impropriety, favoritism and bias — have been routinely dismissed with a promise ‘not to do it again.’ ” The blistering attack was part of Mr. Devaney’s report on what he called the Interior Department’s “bureaucratic bungling” of oil and gas leases signed in the late 1990’s, mistakes that are now expected to cost the government billions of dollars but were covered up for six years. While these leases were the specific focus of the hearing, Mr. Devaney directed most of his criticism at what he called a broader organizational culture at the Interior Department of denial and “defending the indefensible.”...Mr. Devaney’s broadside against the Interior Department’s culture dovetailed with his tentative conclusions in his most recent investigation, into how the department had managed to sign 1,100 leases for offshore drilling that inadvertently let energy companies escape billions of dollars in royalties on gas and oil produced in the Gulf of Mexico. The leases, signed in 1998 and 1999 during the Clinton administration, allow companies to escape normal federal royalties — usually 12.5 percent of sales — on the tens of millions of barrels of oil on each lease. The royalty break was intended as an incentive for deepwater drilling, but it was also supposed to end if oil prices climbed above a “threshold” level of about $34 a barrel. The leases at issue omitted that restriction, and department officials kept quiet about their mistake for six years after they discovered it. The problem was first disclosed by The New York Times in March. Government officials now estimate that the mistake could cost the Treasury as much as $10 billion over the next decade....
The federal government stops paying its "property taxes."
What if the largest property owner in your county suddenly decided he wasn't going to pay property taxes anymore? And, worse, there wasn't a damn thing you could do about it. Some 700 counties scattered across rural America now find themselves in precisely this position. And the deadbeat property owner is none other than the U.S. government, the owner of some 90 million acres of timberland--holdings that account for more than half the entire land base in many counties. The history here is straightforward. Since 1906, counties holding federal forestlands have received a share of the revenue generated by various management-related activities, including timber harvesting. While technically not a property tax, revenue sharing placated the Western solons who feared nationalizing public domain lands would make community formation impossible. But the program has slowly ground to a halt over the last 20 years as one administration after another lost its enthusiasm for harvesting federally owned timber. West of the Cascades in Oregon and Washington, folks blame the Endangered Species Act, lawyers and the northern spotted owl, in that order. Down South, it's red-cockaded woodpeckers. In the Midwest, it's Indiana bats. Here in the Intermountain West, where it is still possible to drive all night without seeing another set of headlights, we prefer to blame Eastern dilettantes, trust-fund babies, liberals in general and soccer moms who have no have no idea where lumber comes from or how tough it is to make a living out here...Congress tried to calm the waters, first in 1993 by granting counties hurt by the owl's 1991 listing annual "owl guarantee payments"; and then, in 2000, by allocating $500 million in "safety net" funding to help all federal lands counties cover their budget shortfalls. But safety net funding wasn't designed to permanently replace lost harvest revenue; and now, in a rare moment of fiscal responsibility, Congress appears poised to cancel the deal--a possibility that has many a county commissioner on the warpath...What's missing from this dialogue is a plain-spoken admission by Messrs. Wyden and Smith that the $500 million is chump change compared to what's really been lost in recent years. Consider this: In 1991, 8.5 billion board feet of commercial timber was harvested from national forests. That 8.5 billion generated $5.5 billion in local income, another $325.5 million in shared harvest receipts and $831 million in federal income taxes. Grand total--$6.656 billion; more than 13 times what counties now get in safety net funding....
What if the largest property owner in your county suddenly decided he wasn't going to pay property taxes anymore? And, worse, there wasn't a damn thing you could do about it. Some 700 counties scattered across rural America now find themselves in precisely this position. And the deadbeat property owner is none other than the U.S. government, the owner of some 90 million acres of timberland--holdings that account for more than half the entire land base in many counties. The history here is straightforward. Since 1906, counties holding federal forestlands have received a share of the revenue generated by various management-related activities, including timber harvesting. While technically not a property tax, revenue sharing placated the Western solons who feared nationalizing public domain lands would make community formation impossible. But the program has slowly ground to a halt over the last 20 years as one administration after another lost its enthusiasm for harvesting federally owned timber. West of the Cascades in Oregon and Washington, folks blame the Endangered Species Act, lawyers and the northern spotted owl, in that order. Down South, it's red-cockaded woodpeckers. In the Midwest, it's Indiana bats. Here in the Intermountain West, where it is still possible to drive all night without seeing another set of headlights, we prefer to blame Eastern dilettantes, trust-fund babies, liberals in general and soccer moms who have no have no idea where lumber comes from or how tough it is to make a living out here...Congress tried to calm the waters, first in 1993 by granting counties hurt by the owl's 1991 listing annual "owl guarantee payments"; and then, in 2000, by allocating $500 million in "safety net" funding to help all federal lands counties cover their budget shortfalls. But safety net funding wasn't designed to permanently replace lost harvest revenue; and now, in a rare moment of fiscal responsibility, Congress appears poised to cancel the deal--a possibility that has many a county commissioner on the warpath...What's missing from this dialogue is a plain-spoken admission by Messrs. Wyden and Smith that the $500 million is chump change compared to what's really been lost in recent years. Consider this: In 1991, 8.5 billion board feet of commercial timber was harvested from national forests. That 8.5 billion generated $5.5 billion in local income, another $325.5 million in shared harvest receipts and $831 million in federal income taxes. Grand total--$6.656 billion; more than 13 times what counties now get in safety net funding....
NEWS ROUNDUP
Wild wolf sighted, filmed in Oregon A young, black wolf appears to be roaming a roughly 120-square-mile section of Wallowa County in northeast Oregon, biologists say. The animal was videotaped in late July and has been sighted repeatedly since then. A local rancher spotted it Sunday near some cows, but it ran off when the rancher drove toward it. The wolf appears to be alone, biologists said. It is protected by both the federal Endangered Species Act and Oregon's own state Endangered Species Act. Biologists have long predicted wolves would arrive in Oregon from Idaho, where they were reintroduced in 1995. The wolf population in Idaho is booming. It is the first wolf known to take up residence in Oregon since approval of a state management plan for wolves. The plan sets a goal of four breeding pairs of wolves each in Eastern Oregon and Western Oregon, and calls for state biologists to monitor them....
Arctic Ice Melting Rapidly, Study Says Arctic sea ice in winter is melting far faster than before, two new NASA studies reported Wednesday, a new and alarming trend that researchers say threatens the ocean's delicate ecosystem. Scientists point to the sudden and rapid melting as a sure sign of man-made global warming. Scientists have long worried about melting Arcticsea ice in the summer, but they had not seen a big winter drop in sea ice, even though they expected it. For more than 25 years Arctic sea ice has slowly diminished in winter by about 1.5 percent per decade. But in the past two years the melting has occurred at rates 10 to 15 times faster. From 2004 to 2005, the amount of ice dropped 2.3 percent; and over the past year, it's declined by another 1.9 percent, according to Comiso....
Proposed rock quarry running into opposition in North Bay Conservation groups and Sonoma County residents have stepped forward to oppose a plan by a North Bay mining company to establish a large-scale commercial quarry on a 553-acre ranch near Bodega Bay, saying that the development could spoil one of the most scenic and historic areas on the North Coast. The Dutra Group, whose San Rafael Rock Quarry is being depleted, is negotiating to buy the Bodega property from a longtime ranching family. The group has already conducted a geotechnical investigation of the site, taking core samples of mineral deposits. But conservationists fear that mining the site would destroy the habitat for federally protected steelhead trout. Nearby residents say they fear that trucks, noise and air pollution would come with mining. They also say that a quarry would drive away tourists and undercut land values. "People come here to escape development," said Maya Craig, a spokeswoman for Friends of the Bodega Bay Watershed, which opposes the possible land transfer. "We want to ensure that the zoning laws that protect the land are secure and not vulnerable to out-of-county influence."....
Coalition to unveil energy plan A new energy plan for Colorado will be unveiled Thursday by a coalition of farmers, corn growers, labor unions and environmental groups. The campaign, dubbed the Plan for Colorado's New Energy Future, will include aggressive renewable energy targets for the state such as getting 20 percent of its electricity from wind, sun, and plant and animal waste by 2015. The plan also will direct the state to include at least 10 percent bio-fuel, such as ethanol and biodiesel, in its overall fuel consumption and improve energy savings through conservation efforts. Supporters will call on candidates for the legislature and the governor's office to endorse the plan, said Mike Bowman, a rancher from Wray and a Republican co-chairing the campaign. Bowman said efforts to push a new energy plan stemmed from the state's enthusiastic response to Amendment 37, a ballot measure passed by voters in November 2004, and the utilities' prompt compliance with it. The amendment directs Colorado's top seven utilities to obtain a portion of their electricity from the sun, wind, and plant and animal waste. It calls for 3 percent in 2007 and says utilities must get up to 10 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2015 - at least 4 percent of that from solar....
Dead Deer Found in Some West Central Texas Counties in Recent Weeks With deer season just around the corner, deer experts are concerned about reports of an unusually high number of dead deer in several West Central Texas counties. Dr. Dale Rollins, Texas Cooperative Extension wildlife specialist at San Angelo, said most of the calls he has received are from Schleicher County landowners who have found dead deer at water sources. The affected region encompasses an area roughly from Eden to Ozona to Sterling City, said Dr. Don Davis, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station veterinary pathobiologist. "While some level of deer mortality is not newsworthy, it looks like we have a hotspot developing for epizootic hemorrhagic disease," Rollins said. "Epizootic hemorrhagic disease is a viral disease very similar to bluetongue in sheep and cattle, but EHD tends to be most common in white-tailed deer....
Wildfires take the worst toll in acreage since '60 Wildfires across the country have scorched more land in 2006 than in any year since at least 1960, burning an area twice the size of New Jersey. But the flames have mainly raced across sparsely populated desert, causing fewer firefighter deaths than in previous years. As of Wednesday, blazes had torched 8.69 million acres, or 13,584 square miles, just above last year's total of 13,573 square miles, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise. Reliable records were not kept before 1960, officials said. The annual average over the past 10 years is 4.9 million acres. Federal officials attributed the increase to two consecutive seasons of hot and dry weather that left forest and ranges parched and easily ignited by lightning. The Interior Department and the U.S. Forest Service have spent about $1.25 billion fighting the fires since the fiscal 2006 year began last Oct. 1. Meanwhile, a Montana wildfire nearly doubled in size Wednesday, prompting evacuation orders for about 325 homes....hmmmm, no mention of how Federal land management practices have contributed to the problem. It's too bad they don't have figures prior to the 60's, cause the 60's are when they started screwing thing up.
Who Is the Greenest Governor? The Golden State, long a leader in environmental protection, is just getting greener and greener. On August 30, nearing the 11th hour of an overstuffed California legislative session, Assembly Bill 32, also known as the Global Warming Solutions Act, passed in the Assembly and then proceeded to the desk of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. To the satisfaction of environmentalists nationwide, and the outrage of GOP loyalists, Schwarzenegger signed it, instantaneously catapulting California to a leadership position in emissions reductions. It also instantly created a problem for state Treasurer Phil Angelides, the Democratic candidate for governor, and his attempt to present himself as the greenest candidate in this race. Supporters of Angelides argue that Schwarzenegger is not an environmentalist at all and his reasons for passing bills such as AB 32 are motivated only by the November election. Angelides, they say, is the real environmentalist. His record of advocacy goes back a couple of decades and he’s received numerous awards to prove it. He also drives a Toyota Prius, for what it’s worth. Schwarzenegger, however, has often bucked the GOP orthodoxy to sign important eco-legislation – enough times to give him a good reputation with environmentalists. For the first time in California history, it appears that the environment ranks at the top of the list of issues that could decide the gubernatorial race. Both candidates are showcasing their most formidable green achievements and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between the two....
Researchers looking into dying aspens Aspen trees have been dying off, leaving dwindling numbers of the white-barked fixture of the Western mountain landscape. Nobody is quite sure why. More than 100 researchers gathered at Utah State University this week for a two-day conference called "Restoring the West: Aspen Restoration." The trees reproduce with a wide root system, that spawns other trees nearby. Even if the parent tree dies, the surviving root system can support new trees. U.S. Forest Service researcher Wayne Shepperd said in some Colorado stands, the entire root networks have perished. "If we're losing roots," Shepperd said, "that's going to change the amount of aspens on the landscape." The researchers are trying to figure out why aspens, native to the higher elevations of the region, have been dying. In addition to ecological diversity and the aesthetics of an aspen grove on a quiet mountainside, the trees also affect watersheds. With the decrease in aspens, conifers are encroaching on aspen territory. "There may be significant loss of water resources that could be coming out of these watersheds," said Ron Ryel, a Utah State University researcher on wildland resources....
Multiple use advocates descend on capitol Approximately 100 members of grassroots associations gathered at the Montana State Capitol on Saturday to present Gov. Brian Schweitzer with petitions signed by more than 7,800 Montanans opposed to the 2001 Clinton Roadless Rule and Attorney General Mike McGrath's support of the rule. Joining the group were U.S. Senator Conrad Burns and U.S. Representative Denny Rehberg, Montana Public Service Commissioner Doug Mood, Montana State Senator Jerry O'Neil and Montana GOP Legislative Campaign Coordinator Larry Grinde. Forest-use groups present were: Citizens for Balanced Use, Families for Outdoor Recreation, Montana Trail Vehicle Riders Association, Montana Snowmobile Association, Montana Four Wheel Drive Association, Montanans For Multiple Use Association, Montana Property Rights Association, and the Treasure State Alliance. At the front steps of the Capitol, these groups presented Hal Harper, Governor Schweitzer's representative, with the petitions that stated: We the undersigned wish to voice our opposition to the 2001 Clinton Roadless Rule and Montana Attorney General Mike McGrath's continued support for this rule. We the undersigned furthermore ask Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer not to make any petition to President Bush asking these lands be further studied or preserved as roadless areas for future wilderness. We object: • to having our access to our National Forests restricted; • to the gating and destruction of our forest roads; • to having our National Forests mismanaged and reduced to fire fuel; • to being subjected to arbitrary restrictions concerning our preferred activities while on our National Forests. We are the people who live, work, pay taxes and vote in this state....
Judge: Residents cannot sue USFS over lost houses Bitterroot Valley residents who allege their homes were destroyed by a backburn that got away from firefighters cannot sue the U.S. Forest Service over their losses, a federal judge here has ruled. U. S. District Judge Donald Molloy said the agency and its employees are immune from such lawsuits because they were acting under a “discretionary function” exception of federal law when they set the burn. “Whether the government employees’ actions were wise, foolish or negligent is irrelevant in considering whether the exception applies,” Molloy wrote in his ruling, which is dated Aug. 31. The case stemmed from the massive wildfires that burned tens of thousands of acres in the Bitterroot Valley south of Missoula in 2000. In a lawsuit filed in 2003, more than 100 residents sued the Forest Service, alleging that the damage and destruction to their homes was a direct result of a backburn set by fire crews attempting to slow the advancing wildfire. The homeowners and their insurance companies alleged the firefighters violated their own policies when they lit the Aug. 6 backburn, and should have known there was a strong chance it would endanger lives and property in the area. They claimed the backburn was not authorized, was set without warning area residents and was “highly imprudent.” At least 10 homes were destroyed by the fire....
House approves San Ildefonso Pueblo’s land claim The US House has approved legislation that would settle San Ildefonso Pueblo’s decades-old claim to thousands of acres of ancestral land. The bill was passed earlier by the Senate and now heads to President Bush for approval. The measure authorizes land transactions affecting San Ildefonso and Santa Clara pueblos, Los Alamos County and the Forest Service. The pueblos would be able to add land to their pueblos, and the county would be able to protect its water wells. The settlement will resolve the last remaining claim before the Indian Claims Commission, which was established in 1946....
A decade cools the controversy With the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument entering its second decade, it's time to forget the days of yore - and ore. So says Garfield County Engineer Brian Bremner, who challenged scientists this week to pass on a new way of thinking to the next generation that will manage the 1.9 million-acre preserve in southern Utah. “Extractive industries like coal mining and timber harvesting are the old days," he said, "and science represents the new days." Bremner was one of several speakers to address scientists, land managers and government officials attending a “Learning From the Land” science symposium at Southern Utah University. The Cedar City meeting marks the 10-year anniversary - set for Monday - of the monument. On Sept. 18, 1996, then-President Clinton created the preserve, which the federal Bureau of Land Management oversees. The monument - with its vast, austere and rugged landscapes - set the stage for a contentious decade as border communities fought to preserve a way of life that became more complex on lands managed with more scrutiny by the federal government....
Goshute leader calls N-waste rulings 'thin' The leader of the Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians used the words "pretty thin" to describe last week's federal actions that may have been the death knell for a plan to store nuclear waste on his Tooele County reservation. After reviewing decisions by two Interior Department agencies to deny the lease for the Private Fuel Storage consortium, Leon Bear, the disputed chairman of the Goshutes, said the explanations did nothing to justify the potential loss of millions of dollars in future earnings for his small band of about 125 people. "The thing is, I felt that they were kind of skating on thin ice on the issues they brought up," Bear told the Deseret Morning News Monday. "We've met all the conditions of that lease for approval." PFS had planned to move as much as 44,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel to the temporary storage site in Skull Valley about 50 miles from Salt Lake City. The waste would have been stored there until a permanent site becomes available....
Column - Vegas water plan should whet our thirst for answers The lack of water conservation in Las Vegas, where fountains, fake lakes and huge swimming pools are the norm, should make Sin City's effort to grab water from the dry Great Basin an affront to those who treasure the natural world. Why should special places such as Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, the Goshute Range and the Great Salt Lake be potentially sacrificed to accommodate the ugly sprawling mess that Las Vegas has become? And why should a plan to divert as much as 200,000 acre feet of water annually from the Great Basin be fast-tracked when scientists don't know what effect the pumping will have? Does any credible scientist within the Department of Interior believe the fix isn't in when a new agreement requires the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs to withdraw protests filed against this scheme? The agreement is so much horsefeathers. Does anyone really believe that once Vegas gets its hands on the Great Basin water, it will turn off the spigot to preserve wildlife?....
Groups win suit over water flows Former Interior Secretary Gale Norton's decision to let Colorado limit water flows in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park was illegal and "nonsensical," a federal judge ruled Wednesday. U.S. District Court Judge Clarence Brimmer also said the 2003 agreement between Norton and Colorado was "arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of discretion." Brimmer's long-awaited decision was hailed by conservation groups as a victory over Bush administration policies they said ignored science. Gov. Bill Owens and attorneys for the Interior Department hadn't read the decision Wednesday and were unable to comment. In the pact, Norton let Colorado set the year-round minimum flow at 300 cubic feet per second for the Gunnison River within the park. Trout Unlimited, Western Resource Advocates and other conservation groups sued, arguing that 30 years of federal research called for periodic higher flows of 10,000 cfs....
IRS extends tax break for ranchers suffering drought Cattle producers nationwide forced to sell animals because of drought won't have to pay capital gains on their profits for a year after parched conditions end, the Internal Revenue Service has announced. If ranchers replace their animals, their tax liability for sales no longer exists, officials said. Previous legislation gave cattlemen four years — beginning in 2002 — to replace the livestock sold because of drought without recognizing a capital gain. Last week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson extended the provision for an additional year if in the 12 months ending Aug. 31 there was severe, extreme or exceptional drought conditions in a particular area. "Your clock doesn't start ticking until your area recovers enough that it's out of those three categories of drought," National Cattlemen's Beef Association spokesman Joe Schuele said. "This just offers them time to make those (buying) decisions at a time when conditions are better."....
Wyoming recognized as free of brucellosis The federal government declared Wyoming's cattle herds free of brucellosis, meaning costly restrictions placed on the state's producers over the past 2½ years can be eased, state officials said Tuesday. The decision by the U.S. Agriculture Department to declare the state brucellosis-free will be official in the next several days when it is published in the Federal Register, according to Gov. Dave Freduenthal's office. "It is a tribute to the brucellosis task force and the others around the state who worked to make this effort successful," Freudenthal said in a prepared statement. "It also demonstrates the importance of the producers, hunters and Game and Fish in the eastern and western parts of the state working and staying together so that we can retain statewide brucellosis-free status." Brucellosis is a bacterial disease that can cause pregnant bison, cattle and elk to abort their fetuses....
Three Former Chiefs of Natural Resources Conservation Service Praise Introduction of Energy and Conservation Bill Benefitting Farmers Three former chiefs of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) praised the introduction today of the first major agriculture bill introduced prior to the 2007 expiration of the current farm bill because it will help farmers address the nation's energy crisis by boosting funding for renewable energy development on farms, ranches and forest lands. The bipartisan legislation also would provide consumers with greater access to healthy foods and double conservation spending to provide cleaner air, water and wildlife habitat, and help stabilize global warming over the life of the next farm bill. The bill, "The Healthy Farms, Foods and Fuels Act of 2006," is sponsored by U.S. Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.) and has 26 cosponsors. Among other things, the Healthy Farms, Foods and Fuels Act, will: -- Increase from $200 million to $2 billion annual loan guarantees for renewable energy development on farms. -- Expand programs that provide local, healthy food choices to our school children and dramatically expand coupon programs that allow elderly and low income Americans to shop at farmer's markets. -- Double incentives to $2 billion a year for farmers and ranchers to protect drinking water supplies and make other environmental improvements. -- Provide funding to restore nearly 3 million acres of wetlands. -- Provide funding to protect 6 million acres of farm and ranch land from sprawl....
Wild wolf sighted, filmed in Oregon A young, black wolf appears to be roaming a roughly 120-square-mile section of Wallowa County in northeast Oregon, biologists say. The animal was videotaped in late July and has been sighted repeatedly since then. A local rancher spotted it Sunday near some cows, but it ran off when the rancher drove toward it. The wolf appears to be alone, biologists said. It is protected by both the federal Endangered Species Act and Oregon's own state Endangered Species Act. Biologists have long predicted wolves would arrive in Oregon from Idaho, where they were reintroduced in 1995. The wolf population in Idaho is booming. It is the first wolf known to take up residence in Oregon since approval of a state management plan for wolves. The plan sets a goal of four breeding pairs of wolves each in Eastern Oregon and Western Oregon, and calls for state biologists to monitor them....
Arctic Ice Melting Rapidly, Study Says Arctic sea ice in winter is melting far faster than before, two new NASA studies reported Wednesday, a new and alarming trend that researchers say threatens the ocean's delicate ecosystem. Scientists point to the sudden and rapid melting as a sure sign of man-made global warming. Scientists have long worried about melting Arcticsea ice in the summer, but they had not seen a big winter drop in sea ice, even though they expected it. For more than 25 years Arctic sea ice has slowly diminished in winter by about 1.5 percent per decade. But in the past two years the melting has occurred at rates 10 to 15 times faster. From 2004 to 2005, the amount of ice dropped 2.3 percent; and over the past year, it's declined by another 1.9 percent, according to Comiso....
Proposed rock quarry running into opposition in North Bay Conservation groups and Sonoma County residents have stepped forward to oppose a plan by a North Bay mining company to establish a large-scale commercial quarry on a 553-acre ranch near Bodega Bay, saying that the development could spoil one of the most scenic and historic areas on the North Coast. The Dutra Group, whose San Rafael Rock Quarry is being depleted, is negotiating to buy the Bodega property from a longtime ranching family. The group has already conducted a geotechnical investigation of the site, taking core samples of mineral deposits. But conservationists fear that mining the site would destroy the habitat for federally protected steelhead trout. Nearby residents say they fear that trucks, noise and air pollution would come with mining. They also say that a quarry would drive away tourists and undercut land values. "People come here to escape development," said Maya Craig, a spokeswoman for Friends of the Bodega Bay Watershed, which opposes the possible land transfer. "We want to ensure that the zoning laws that protect the land are secure and not vulnerable to out-of-county influence."....
Coalition to unveil energy plan A new energy plan for Colorado will be unveiled Thursday by a coalition of farmers, corn growers, labor unions and environmental groups. The campaign, dubbed the Plan for Colorado's New Energy Future, will include aggressive renewable energy targets for the state such as getting 20 percent of its electricity from wind, sun, and plant and animal waste by 2015. The plan also will direct the state to include at least 10 percent bio-fuel, such as ethanol and biodiesel, in its overall fuel consumption and improve energy savings through conservation efforts. Supporters will call on candidates for the legislature and the governor's office to endorse the plan, said Mike Bowman, a rancher from Wray and a Republican co-chairing the campaign. Bowman said efforts to push a new energy plan stemmed from the state's enthusiastic response to Amendment 37, a ballot measure passed by voters in November 2004, and the utilities' prompt compliance with it. The amendment directs Colorado's top seven utilities to obtain a portion of their electricity from the sun, wind, and plant and animal waste. It calls for 3 percent in 2007 and says utilities must get up to 10 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2015 - at least 4 percent of that from solar....
Dead Deer Found in Some West Central Texas Counties in Recent Weeks With deer season just around the corner, deer experts are concerned about reports of an unusually high number of dead deer in several West Central Texas counties. Dr. Dale Rollins, Texas Cooperative Extension wildlife specialist at San Angelo, said most of the calls he has received are from Schleicher County landowners who have found dead deer at water sources. The affected region encompasses an area roughly from Eden to Ozona to Sterling City, said Dr. Don Davis, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station veterinary pathobiologist. "While some level of deer mortality is not newsworthy, it looks like we have a hotspot developing for epizootic hemorrhagic disease," Rollins said. "Epizootic hemorrhagic disease is a viral disease very similar to bluetongue in sheep and cattle, but EHD tends to be most common in white-tailed deer....
Wildfires take the worst toll in acreage since '60 Wildfires across the country have scorched more land in 2006 than in any year since at least 1960, burning an area twice the size of New Jersey. But the flames have mainly raced across sparsely populated desert, causing fewer firefighter deaths than in previous years. As of Wednesday, blazes had torched 8.69 million acres, or 13,584 square miles, just above last year's total of 13,573 square miles, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise. Reliable records were not kept before 1960, officials said. The annual average over the past 10 years is 4.9 million acres. Federal officials attributed the increase to two consecutive seasons of hot and dry weather that left forest and ranges parched and easily ignited by lightning. The Interior Department and the U.S. Forest Service have spent about $1.25 billion fighting the fires since the fiscal 2006 year began last Oct. 1. Meanwhile, a Montana wildfire nearly doubled in size Wednesday, prompting evacuation orders for about 325 homes....hmmmm, no mention of how Federal land management practices have contributed to the problem. It's too bad they don't have figures prior to the 60's, cause the 60's are when they started screwing thing up.
Who Is the Greenest Governor? The Golden State, long a leader in environmental protection, is just getting greener and greener. On August 30, nearing the 11th hour of an overstuffed California legislative session, Assembly Bill 32, also known as the Global Warming Solutions Act, passed in the Assembly and then proceeded to the desk of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. To the satisfaction of environmentalists nationwide, and the outrage of GOP loyalists, Schwarzenegger signed it, instantaneously catapulting California to a leadership position in emissions reductions. It also instantly created a problem for state Treasurer Phil Angelides, the Democratic candidate for governor, and his attempt to present himself as the greenest candidate in this race. Supporters of Angelides argue that Schwarzenegger is not an environmentalist at all and his reasons for passing bills such as AB 32 are motivated only by the November election. Angelides, they say, is the real environmentalist. His record of advocacy goes back a couple of decades and he’s received numerous awards to prove it. He also drives a Toyota Prius, for what it’s worth. Schwarzenegger, however, has often bucked the GOP orthodoxy to sign important eco-legislation – enough times to give him a good reputation with environmentalists. For the first time in California history, it appears that the environment ranks at the top of the list of issues that could decide the gubernatorial race. Both candidates are showcasing their most formidable green achievements and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between the two....
Researchers looking into dying aspens Aspen trees have been dying off, leaving dwindling numbers of the white-barked fixture of the Western mountain landscape. Nobody is quite sure why. More than 100 researchers gathered at Utah State University this week for a two-day conference called "Restoring the West: Aspen Restoration." The trees reproduce with a wide root system, that spawns other trees nearby. Even if the parent tree dies, the surviving root system can support new trees. U.S. Forest Service researcher Wayne Shepperd said in some Colorado stands, the entire root networks have perished. "If we're losing roots," Shepperd said, "that's going to change the amount of aspens on the landscape." The researchers are trying to figure out why aspens, native to the higher elevations of the region, have been dying. In addition to ecological diversity and the aesthetics of an aspen grove on a quiet mountainside, the trees also affect watersheds. With the decrease in aspens, conifers are encroaching on aspen territory. "There may be significant loss of water resources that could be coming out of these watersheds," said Ron Ryel, a Utah State University researcher on wildland resources....
Multiple use advocates descend on capitol Approximately 100 members of grassroots associations gathered at the Montana State Capitol on Saturday to present Gov. Brian Schweitzer with petitions signed by more than 7,800 Montanans opposed to the 2001 Clinton Roadless Rule and Attorney General Mike McGrath's support of the rule. Joining the group were U.S. Senator Conrad Burns and U.S. Representative Denny Rehberg, Montana Public Service Commissioner Doug Mood, Montana State Senator Jerry O'Neil and Montana GOP Legislative Campaign Coordinator Larry Grinde. Forest-use groups present were: Citizens for Balanced Use, Families for Outdoor Recreation, Montana Trail Vehicle Riders Association, Montana Snowmobile Association, Montana Four Wheel Drive Association, Montanans For Multiple Use Association, Montana Property Rights Association, and the Treasure State Alliance. At the front steps of the Capitol, these groups presented Hal Harper, Governor Schweitzer's representative, with the petitions that stated: We the undersigned wish to voice our opposition to the 2001 Clinton Roadless Rule and Montana Attorney General Mike McGrath's continued support for this rule. We the undersigned furthermore ask Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer not to make any petition to President Bush asking these lands be further studied or preserved as roadless areas for future wilderness. We object: • to having our access to our National Forests restricted; • to the gating and destruction of our forest roads; • to having our National Forests mismanaged and reduced to fire fuel; • to being subjected to arbitrary restrictions concerning our preferred activities while on our National Forests. We are the people who live, work, pay taxes and vote in this state....
Judge: Residents cannot sue USFS over lost houses Bitterroot Valley residents who allege their homes were destroyed by a backburn that got away from firefighters cannot sue the U.S. Forest Service over their losses, a federal judge here has ruled. U. S. District Judge Donald Molloy said the agency and its employees are immune from such lawsuits because they were acting under a “discretionary function” exception of federal law when they set the burn. “Whether the government employees’ actions were wise, foolish or negligent is irrelevant in considering whether the exception applies,” Molloy wrote in his ruling, which is dated Aug. 31. The case stemmed from the massive wildfires that burned tens of thousands of acres in the Bitterroot Valley south of Missoula in 2000. In a lawsuit filed in 2003, more than 100 residents sued the Forest Service, alleging that the damage and destruction to their homes was a direct result of a backburn set by fire crews attempting to slow the advancing wildfire. The homeowners and their insurance companies alleged the firefighters violated their own policies when they lit the Aug. 6 backburn, and should have known there was a strong chance it would endanger lives and property in the area. They claimed the backburn was not authorized, was set without warning area residents and was “highly imprudent.” At least 10 homes were destroyed by the fire....
House approves San Ildefonso Pueblo’s land claim The US House has approved legislation that would settle San Ildefonso Pueblo’s decades-old claim to thousands of acres of ancestral land. The bill was passed earlier by the Senate and now heads to President Bush for approval. The measure authorizes land transactions affecting San Ildefonso and Santa Clara pueblos, Los Alamos County and the Forest Service. The pueblos would be able to add land to their pueblos, and the county would be able to protect its water wells. The settlement will resolve the last remaining claim before the Indian Claims Commission, which was established in 1946....
A decade cools the controversy With the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument entering its second decade, it's time to forget the days of yore - and ore. So says Garfield County Engineer Brian Bremner, who challenged scientists this week to pass on a new way of thinking to the next generation that will manage the 1.9 million-acre preserve in southern Utah. “Extractive industries like coal mining and timber harvesting are the old days," he said, "and science represents the new days." Bremner was one of several speakers to address scientists, land managers and government officials attending a “Learning From the Land” science symposium at Southern Utah University. The Cedar City meeting marks the 10-year anniversary - set for Monday - of the monument. On Sept. 18, 1996, then-President Clinton created the preserve, which the federal Bureau of Land Management oversees. The monument - with its vast, austere and rugged landscapes - set the stage for a contentious decade as border communities fought to preserve a way of life that became more complex on lands managed with more scrutiny by the federal government....
Goshute leader calls N-waste rulings 'thin' The leader of the Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians used the words "pretty thin" to describe last week's federal actions that may have been the death knell for a plan to store nuclear waste on his Tooele County reservation. After reviewing decisions by two Interior Department agencies to deny the lease for the Private Fuel Storage consortium, Leon Bear, the disputed chairman of the Goshutes, said the explanations did nothing to justify the potential loss of millions of dollars in future earnings for his small band of about 125 people. "The thing is, I felt that they were kind of skating on thin ice on the issues they brought up," Bear told the Deseret Morning News Monday. "We've met all the conditions of that lease for approval." PFS had planned to move as much as 44,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel to the temporary storage site in Skull Valley about 50 miles from Salt Lake City. The waste would have been stored there until a permanent site becomes available....
Column - Vegas water plan should whet our thirst for answers The lack of water conservation in Las Vegas, where fountains, fake lakes and huge swimming pools are the norm, should make Sin City's effort to grab water from the dry Great Basin an affront to those who treasure the natural world. Why should special places such as Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, the Goshute Range and the Great Salt Lake be potentially sacrificed to accommodate the ugly sprawling mess that Las Vegas has become? And why should a plan to divert as much as 200,000 acre feet of water annually from the Great Basin be fast-tracked when scientists don't know what effect the pumping will have? Does any credible scientist within the Department of Interior believe the fix isn't in when a new agreement requires the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs to withdraw protests filed against this scheme? The agreement is so much horsefeathers. Does anyone really believe that once Vegas gets its hands on the Great Basin water, it will turn off the spigot to preserve wildlife?....
Groups win suit over water flows Former Interior Secretary Gale Norton's decision to let Colorado limit water flows in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park was illegal and "nonsensical," a federal judge ruled Wednesday. U.S. District Court Judge Clarence Brimmer also said the 2003 agreement between Norton and Colorado was "arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of discretion." Brimmer's long-awaited decision was hailed by conservation groups as a victory over Bush administration policies they said ignored science. Gov. Bill Owens and attorneys for the Interior Department hadn't read the decision Wednesday and were unable to comment. In the pact, Norton let Colorado set the year-round minimum flow at 300 cubic feet per second for the Gunnison River within the park. Trout Unlimited, Western Resource Advocates and other conservation groups sued, arguing that 30 years of federal research called for periodic higher flows of 10,000 cfs....
IRS extends tax break for ranchers suffering drought Cattle producers nationwide forced to sell animals because of drought won't have to pay capital gains on their profits for a year after parched conditions end, the Internal Revenue Service has announced. If ranchers replace their animals, their tax liability for sales no longer exists, officials said. Previous legislation gave cattlemen four years — beginning in 2002 — to replace the livestock sold because of drought without recognizing a capital gain. Last week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson extended the provision for an additional year if in the 12 months ending Aug. 31 there was severe, extreme or exceptional drought conditions in a particular area. "Your clock doesn't start ticking until your area recovers enough that it's out of those three categories of drought," National Cattlemen's Beef Association spokesman Joe Schuele said. "This just offers them time to make those (buying) decisions at a time when conditions are better."....
Wyoming recognized as free of brucellosis The federal government declared Wyoming's cattle herds free of brucellosis, meaning costly restrictions placed on the state's producers over the past 2½ years can be eased, state officials said Tuesday. The decision by the U.S. Agriculture Department to declare the state brucellosis-free will be official in the next several days when it is published in the Federal Register, according to Gov. Dave Freduenthal's office. "It is a tribute to the brucellosis task force and the others around the state who worked to make this effort successful," Freudenthal said in a prepared statement. "It also demonstrates the importance of the producers, hunters and Game and Fish in the eastern and western parts of the state working and staying together so that we can retain statewide brucellosis-free status." Brucellosis is a bacterial disease that can cause pregnant bison, cattle and elk to abort their fetuses....
Three Former Chiefs of Natural Resources Conservation Service Praise Introduction of Energy and Conservation Bill Benefitting Farmers Three former chiefs of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) praised the introduction today of the first major agriculture bill introduced prior to the 2007 expiration of the current farm bill because it will help farmers address the nation's energy crisis by boosting funding for renewable energy development on farms, ranches and forest lands. The bipartisan legislation also would provide consumers with greater access to healthy foods and double conservation spending to provide cleaner air, water and wildlife habitat, and help stabilize global warming over the life of the next farm bill. The bill, "The Healthy Farms, Foods and Fuels Act of 2006," is sponsored by U.S. Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.) and has 26 cosponsors. Among other things, the Healthy Farms, Foods and Fuels Act, will: -- Increase from $200 million to $2 billion annual loan guarantees for renewable energy development on farms. -- Expand programs that provide local, healthy food choices to our school children and dramatically expand coupon programs that allow elderly and low income Americans to shop at farmer's markets. -- Double incentives to $2 billion a year for farmers and ranchers to protect drinking water supplies and make other environmental improvements. -- Provide funding to restore nearly 3 million acres of wetlands. -- Provide funding to protect 6 million acres of farm and ranch land from sprawl....
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
GAO
Endangered Species: Many Factors Affect the Length of Time to Recover Select Species. GAO-06-730, September 6.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-730
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d06730high.pdf
2. Natural Gas Pipeline Safety: Integrity Management Benefits Public Safety, but Consistency of Performance Measures Should Be Improved.
GAO-06-946, September 8.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-946
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d06946high.pdf
3. Natural Gas Pipeline Safety: Risk-Based Standards Should Allow Operators to Better Tailor Reassessments to Pipeline Threats.
GAO-06-945, September 8.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-945
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d06945high.pdf
4. Army Corps of Engineers: Improved Monitoring and Clear Guidance Would Contribute to More Effective Use of Continuing Contracts.
GAO-06-966, September 8.http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-966
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d06966high.pdf
Endangered Species: Many Factors Affect the Length of Time to Recover Select Species. GAO-06-730, September 6.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-730
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d06730high.pdf
2. Natural Gas Pipeline Safety: Integrity Management Benefits Public Safety, but Consistency of Performance Measures Should Be Improved.
GAO-06-946, September 8.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-946
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d06946high.pdf
3. Natural Gas Pipeline Safety: Risk-Based Standards Should Allow Operators to Better Tailor Reassessments to Pipeline Threats.
GAO-06-945, September 8.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-945
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d06945high.pdf
4. Army Corps of Engineers: Improved Monitoring and Clear Guidance Would Contribute to More Effective Use of Continuing Contracts.
GAO-06-966, September 8.http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-966
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d06966high.pdf
GAO
Alaska Native Allotments: Alternatives to Address Conflicts with Utility Rights-of-Way, by Robin M. Nazzaro, director, natural resources and environment, before the House Committee on Resources. GAO-06-1107T, September 13.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-1107T
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d061107thigh.pdf
Alaska Native Allotments: Alternatives to Address Conflicts with Utility Rights-of-Way, by Robin M. Nazzaro, director, natural resources and environment, before the House Committee on Resources. GAO-06-1107T, September 13.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-1107T
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d061107thigh.pdf
Tenn. health officials alert thousands over rabies at horse show
Tennessee's Department of Health has alerted about 4,200 people who attended a horse show several weeks ago that one of the animals tested positive for rabies, but an official said it is unlikely the disease spread during the show. John Dunn, a medical epidemiologist, said Tuesday letters were sent out Monday to attendees in 34 states, Canada and Germany. The letters say a horse from Waynesville, Mo., became ill during the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration held in Shelbyville from Aug. 23-Sept. 2 and could have spread the disease to people or other horses. However, the chance of rabies spreading to people or other horses is rare, Dunn said. "Rabies can only be contracted through the bite of an infected animal," Dunn said. "There is also a small potential for contraction through a large amount of saliva in a fresh open wound, or in contact with the nose, eyes, or mouth." The letter asks that people contact the department if they believe they had direct contact with the infected horse....
This is an official CDC Health Advisory
Distributed via Health Alert Network
September 9, 2006, 20:44 EDT (08:44 PM EDT) CDCHAN-00248-06-09-09-ADV-N
Horse stabled at Tennessee Walking Horse 2006 National Celebration
Tested Positive for Rabies
The Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) with the assistance of the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are notifying the
approximately 150,000 persons who attended the Tennessee Walking Horse
National Celebration in Shelbyville of a confirmed case of rabies in a
horse stabled on the grounds during the event. If persons were bitten or
came in contact with saliva from this horse (described below) from
August 23-31, 2006 while attending the Celebration, they may have been
exposed to rabies and are invited to contact TDH for an assessment.
Rabies is a viral infection that nearly always results in fatal
encephalitis. Humans may be exposed to rabies primarily through the bite
of a rabid animal or when the virus is introduced into fresh open cuts
in the skin or onto mucous membranes such as the eyes, mouth or nose
from the saliva of a rabid animal. Attending an event where a rabid
animal was present, petting a rabid animal or contact with the blood,
urine or feces of a rabid animal does not constitute a risk for
transmission. If a person is exposed to rabies, a series of shots
(post-exposure prophylaxis) is highly effective in preventing the
disease.
Among the approximate 150,000 persons who attended the Tennessee Walking
Horse National Celebration, the number and origin (U.S. states or other
countries) of persons who may have been exposed to this horse are
unknown. TDH is currently working with event organizers and managers to identify additional mechanisms to contact participants and visitors.
The horse that developed rabies was from Waynesville, Missouri. It was a
3-year-old gelding (neutered male horse), buckskin (cream to tan) in
color with a black mane and tail. "Buck" or "Bucky" was described as
"small," 14 hands or 56 inches tall at the withers (i.e., the highest
area of the shoulders at the base of the neck). He was stabled on the
north side of Barn 50 in stall #12, the third from the west end. A
bright blue curtain labeled "4J Land and Cattle Company" covered the
outside porch of the barn.
The potential for contact by the public was very limited when the horse
was in its stall but there may have been opportunity for public contact
when the horse was taken for rides on the Celebration grounds. The horse
was first noted to be ill on August 28. Over the next few days, the
horse developed severe neurological signs and, as a result, was
euthanized.
Persons directly involved in the care of the horse are being assessed
for possible rabies exposure and the need for rabies post-exposure
treatment....
Tennessee's Department of Health has alerted about 4,200 people who attended a horse show several weeks ago that one of the animals tested positive for rabies, but an official said it is unlikely the disease spread during the show. John Dunn, a medical epidemiologist, said Tuesday letters were sent out Monday to attendees in 34 states, Canada and Germany. The letters say a horse from Waynesville, Mo., became ill during the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration held in Shelbyville from Aug. 23-Sept. 2 and could have spread the disease to people or other horses. However, the chance of rabies spreading to people or other horses is rare, Dunn said. "Rabies can only be contracted through the bite of an infected animal," Dunn said. "There is also a small potential for contraction through a large amount of saliva in a fresh open wound, or in contact with the nose, eyes, or mouth." The letter asks that people contact the department if they believe they had direct contact with the infected horse....
This is an official CDC Health Advisory
Distributed via Health Alert Network
September 9, 2006, 20:44 EDT (08:44 PM EDT) CDCHAN-00248-06-09-09-ADV-N
Horse stabled at Tennessee Walking Horse 2006 National Celebration
Tested Positive for Rabies
The Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) with the assistance of the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are notifying the
approximately 150,000 persons who attended the Tennessee Walking Horse
National Celebration in Shelbyville of a confirmed case of rabies in a
horse stabled on the grounds during the event. If persons were bitten or
came in contact with saliva from this horse (described below) from
August 23-31, 2006 while attending the Celebration, they may have been
exposed to rabies and are invited to contact TDH for an assessment.
Rabies is a viral infection that nearly always results in fatal
encephalitis. Humans may be exposed to rabies primarily through the bite
of a rabid animal or when the virus is introduced into fresh open cuts
in the skin or onto mucous membranes such as the eyes, mouth or nose
from the saliva of a rabid animal. Attending an event where a rabid
animal was present, petting a rabid animal or contact with the blood,
urine or feces of a rabid animal does not constitute a risk for
transmission. If a person is exposed to rabies, a series of shots
(post-exposure prophylaxis) is highly effective in preventing the
disease.
Among the approximate 150,000 persons who attended the Tennessee Walking
Horse National Celebration, the number and origin (U.S. states or other
countries) of persons who may have been exposed to this horse are
unknown. TDH is currently working with event organizers and managers to identify additional mechanisms to contact participants and visitors.
The horse that developed rabies was from Waynesville, Missouri. It was a
3-year-old gelding (neutered male horse), buckskin (cream to tan) in
color with a black mane and tail. "Buck" or "Bucky" was described as
"small," 14 hands or 56 inches tall at the withers (i.e., the highest
area of the shoulders at the base of the neck). He was stabled on the
north side of Barn 50 in stall #12, the third from the west end. A
bright blue curtain labeled "4J Land and Cattle Company" covered the
outside porch of the barn.
The potential for contact by the public was very limited when the horse
was in its stall but there may have been opportunity for public contact
when the horse was taken for rides on the Celebration grounds. The horse
was first noted to be ill on August 28. Over the next few days, the
horse developed severe neurological signs and, as a result, was
euthanized.
Persons directly involved in the care of the horse are being assessed
for possible rabies exposure and the need for rabies post-exposure
treatment....
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