NEWS ROUNDUP


Seizing land for development is banned Private property rights found favor again with Oregon voters Tuesday night. With 46 percent of the votes counted, Measure 39 passed with 67 percent in favor. Inspired by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling expanding eminent-domain powers, the measure bars state and local authorities from taking private property for economic-development projects such as retail-residential complexes that end up in the hands of private developers. Following on the heels of Measure 37 in 2004, which gave property owners the right to demand payment for lost market value or a waiver of land-use laws imposed since they bought property, Measure 39 kept Oregon in the forefront of states protecting private property rights, said the main supporter of both measures, Dave Hunnicutt of Oregonians in Action. "Property rights are important to all Oregonians: Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Green Party, it doesn't really matter," Hunnicutt said from the Columbia County Courthouse in St. Helens. Chuck Sides, a Salem developer who served in the Legislature and on the Salem-Keizer School Board, said that passage of Measure 39 likely would freeze action on urban-development projects for a while, then likely would lead to expanding urban growth boundaries as cities look for new places to grow instead of redeveloping old ones. Hunnicutt disagreed. "I have never been in a city in Oregon where there aren't plenty of property owners happy to make their land available to development," he said. "So why find the one property owner who doesn't want to sell and force them?"....
Arizona Supreme Court erases ruling against property rights measure A state Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday at least temporarily removed a legal cloud from a property rights initiative approved by Arizona voters. The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a judge's ruling allowing Proposition 207 to go on Tuesday's state general-election ballot but erased the judge's finding that the measure apparently violated a requirement that some propositions include a funding source for implementation costs. The Supreme Court issued its unanimous ruling one day after Arizona voters overwhelmingly approved the measure restricting the state's use of eminent domain and ensuring compensation for a property owner whose property values are reduced by government land-use laws. Eight states approved laws that limited use of eminent domain, but voters in California, Idaho and Washington state rejected measures that required compensation to property owners for government land use actions that were similar to the Arizona proposition....
Ca. Environmentalists downplay Prop 87 loss, vow reform The defeat of a measure to promote alternative fuels may have bucked voters' embrace of other environmental issues, but conservationists vowed to make the state a leader in curbing fuel use and combatting global warming. In a state where the gubernatorial candidates fought over who was greenest, the environment largely prevailed at the ballot box. The defeat of Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, who as House Resources Committee chairman tried to rewrite the Endangered Species Act, was labeled the “sweetest victory” by the Sierra Club, which poured more than $600,000 into the race. He lost out to wind energy consultant Jerry McNerney. Conservationists prevailed in passing a $5.4 billion bond to improve water quality and create more parks, and they defeated a property rights measure that could have jeopardized the ability to protect the coast, farmland and wetlands. But the celebrities who rallied behind Proposition 87 to impose a $4 billion tax on oil production to promote alternative fuels and energy-efficient vehicles failed to overcome a $94 million campaign funded largely by the oil industry that warned of higher gas prices....
Environmentalists revel in downfall of their public enemy No.1 Republican Rep. Richard Pombo of California gave environmentalists fits with his unmasked disdain for the Endangered Species Act and his reverence for private property rights. They exacted a stunning revenge this week. Defenders of Wildlife, the Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters and others spent more than $1 million to shove the seven-term incumbent out of office Tuesday at the peak of his power as chairman of the House Resources Committee, which writes environmental laws. At a press conference Wednesday afternoon in Tracy, where he and his family live at their cattle ranch, a subdued Pombo said he had called McNerney to offer congratulations. He declined to take shots at his opponent, Democrats or the environmental groups that bedeviled him. "I knew I was going to be a target of these outside groups, but it didn't change what I did as a member of Congress," Pombo said. "I've fought for the things I believed in and I'll go home with my head held high. ... Obviously, my opponent spent a huge amount of money. But today it's all about congratulations."....
Environmentalists put down 'Western rebellion' The "Western rebellion" that propelled California Republican Rep. Richard Pombo to power now has receded, leaving many of its most important goals unmet and possibly beyond reach. Democrats will run the House Resources Committee, which Pombo has led for the past four years. That will mean new priorities for parks, public lands and Western water. The Democratic takeover also emboldens the environmental groups that spent well over a million dollars to help ensure Tuesday night's stunning defeat of Pombo. It all portends an intriguing next couple of years in the environmental trenches. "As environmentalists, we're often frustrated that our issues are not part of the political conversation," Gene Karpinski, the president of the League of Conservation Voters, said Wednesday. "But in race after race across the country, the environment was part of the conversation ... (and) we're proud of what we did." The Western rebellion, also known as the Sagebrush rebellion, involves people in the West who think that the federal government oversteps itself on property rights issues, especially regarding enforcement of the Endangered Species Act. They also chafe over the fact that half the West is owned by the federal government instead of privately. Pombo wasn't, however, the only Republican targeted by environmental groups. Of 13 lawmakers identified by the League of Conservation Voters' "Dirty Dozen" campaign, nine lost Tuesday. With the exception of Pombo's race, the environment wasn't the highest profile issue in targeted House and Senate campaigns. Independent polls ranked it far below Iraq, terrorism, ethics and health care. Taken together, though, the congressional departures transform the environmental debate....
Taking back the initiatives Five outta six ain't bad. As I mentioned earlier, the takings measures in Montana and Nevada were yanked by the courts. Then last night, the good news just kept on coming. Voters in three Western states -- California, Idaho, and Washington -- soundly rejected ballot measures that aimed to hamstring local governments and cripple environmental protections. It wasn't close. In most places voter's message was deafening: we want to protect our communities and our natural heritage. The only blot on the otherwise wholesale rejection was Arizona, where Proposition 207 appears to have won -- 65 (yes) to 35 (no). Opponents there had to struggle against an unbelievably crowded ballot and the usual deceptive tactics of anti-government mogul Howie Rich and his minions. The "property rights" movement isn't going away. But last night's elections dealt them a crushing blow. They'll be forced now to contend with the fact that the overwhelming majority of Americans, even in conservative states (and perhaps especially so), value local decision-making and want to respect natural limits....
Voters Nationwide Demand Respect for Private Property Rights Voters in nine states spoke with a single voice on Tuesday, demanding that bureaucrats respect their private property rights and stop abusing eminent domain. “This is an amazing day,” said Pacific Legal Foundation Staff Attorney Timothy Sandefur. “Americans are demanding protection from eminent domain, and insisting that the bureaucrats respect their property rights.” In what is widely seen as a reaction against the Supreme Court’s notorious Kelo decision, ballot initiatives in Florida, Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oregon, and South Carolina passed overwhelmingly, creating powerful new limits on government’s power to seize private property and transfer it to private developers. The reforms that passed on Tuesday received a landslide national average of 75 percent “Yes” votes. Probably the strongest reform enacted on Tuesday was Florida’s Amendment 8. Along with prohibiting eminent domain for private development, the Florida initiative forbids government from taking property for purposes of eliminating “blight.” This restriction is important, Sandefur explains, because the legal definition of “blight” is often so ambiguous that officials can use the label to take whatever land they want. “Florida has chosen a clear course of respecting people’s right to keep and use the land that they have honestly bought and paid for,” Sandefur added. Initiatives in Idaho, California, and Washington failed to pass. “The initiatives proposed in those states suffered from several problems,” explained Sandefur. “Some of them were vaguely written, and had complicated legal flaws. I think voters wanted to be sure that they got real reform on eminent domain.”....
Green Republicans Lead GOP Losses Green Republicans who have supported higher energy prices and opposed protecting property rights suffered major losses in House and Senate elections, according to an initial analysis by the Competitive Enterprise Institute. There were also setbacks for consumers and private property owners in the mid-term elections. The biggest loss was the defeat of Representative Richard Pombo (CA) of California, Chairman of the House Resources Committee. Pombo had been the number one target of several environmental political action committees in this election. In the Senate, Green Republicans Lincoln Chafee (RI) and Mike DeWine (OH) were sent packing by voters. In the House, notable green Republicans who were defeated include Representatives Charles Bass (NH), Jeb Bradley (NH), Nancy Johnson (CT), and Jim Leach (IA). The re-election race of another green Republican, Rep. Rob Simmons (CT), was still undecided as of Wednesday morning. “Although many green Republicans, such as Senator Chafee stressed their environmental records, it didn’t seem to do them much good,” said Myron Ebell, CEI Director of Energy and Global Warming Policy. “It is also worth noting that groups such as the League of Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club didn’t spend any money to support their Republican allies in Congress....
Arizona Voters Pass Proposition 204 Arizona voters have passed Proposition 204, which will end the use of gestation-sow stalls in the state. The issue passed by a significant margin-- 61.5 percent to 38.5 percent. This follows a similar development that occurred in Florida in 2002, and it will set the stage for animal activists’ future efforts elsewhere. It will strengthen their cause and their abilities to push for similar bans. It also will build their confidence to move deeper into the arena of dictating how animal agriculture performs and how animals are raised. It is worth noting that Florida voters addressed constitutional amendments again on Nov. 7. They passed a constitutional amendment that will make it harder for them to change the state constitution in the future. Amendment 3, which passed with 58 percent of the vote, was at least partly in response to the 2002 gestation-stall amendment. Amendment 3 requires that future constitutional amendments receive 60 percent approval for adoption. Had it been in place in 2002, the gestation-crate proposal would have been defeated. In a response to the Arizona initiative, the National Pork Producers Council said: “It is regrettable animal rights groups were successful in vilifying honest, hardworking farmers and ranchers who treat their animals humanely and provide them a safe, healthy environment in which to grow….Lessons learned in Arizona will be valuable as these anti-agriculture groups take this issue to other states.”....
Santa Clara County Voters Reject Measure A A Santa Clara County measure that would have put building limits on hundreds of thousands of acres of ranchlands and other open spaces has been defeated. With votes from all the precincts counted, a little more than 51 percent of Santa Clara County voters cast their ballots against Measure A. The measure would have set strict new building limits on about 400,000 acres across the county. It was strongly opposed by farmers, ranchers and rural property owners who said it would have hampered their ability to construct new buildings for their operations, or to build homes on their properties.
Victim describes coyote attack Four people who live in the Green Valley area are getting rabies shots as a precaution after they were attacked by a coyote. The animal was roaming near the San Ignacio and Canoa Hills golf courses, on the south side of Green Valley. The first attack happened Wednesday and, over the weekend, Elgin Pritchard says he was bitten while grilling in his yard. Elgin Pritchard was grilling dinner when he noticed a yard light went out. He went to adjust it and something grabbed him. "I just felt him grab me and then I looked around and I obviously knew what happened cause I saw him standing right there," Pritchard said. "He was a big guy and I just yelled at him 'Get out of here! Get out of here! Get out of here!" The coyote left four puncture wounds in Pritchard's right leg....
County suing feds Otero County is suing the United States Fish and Wildlife Service for failure to remove the Sacramento mountain thistle from the endangered species list. Otero County Administrator Dr. Martin Moore said the purpose of the lawsuit is to tell "the federal government to do their job and follow due process." The lawsuit was filed on Nov. 2 in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque. Moore said that Otero County petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service over a year and a half ago to have the thistle removed from the endangered species list. It was found by the county to be plentiful, and it's endangered status is effecting the livelihood of certain county residents, including ranchers and people involved in recreation. Moore said human access was limited in "certain areas people use for recreation (and) cattle grazing" and the limited access also effects any public works projects in the area....
Judge reopens sensitive snowmobile trails A federal judge has reopened popular snowmobile trails in northern Idaho that had been closed to protect caribou. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Robert Whaley in Spokane, Wash., on Tuesday lifted the snowmobile ban from the caribou recovery zone in the Idaho Panhandle National Forests surrounding Priest Lake. "I've never seen anything like this," said Mark Sprengel of the Conservation Alliance. "This blindsided us. It contravenes all available science." Craig Hill, a resort owner on the west shore of Priest Lake, said he was ecstatic with the ruling. "This couldn't have happened at a better time," he told The Spokesman-Review. "It's something that's going to save the winter economy at Priest Lake."...
BLM touts Sublette efforts The Bureau of Land Management kick-started its public relations efforts surrounding energy development in Sublette County this week, reconvening a muddled advisory group and championing its progress managing public lands. The Pinedale Anticline Working Group, a citizens' group that makes recommendations to the BLM regarding environmental impacts in the major natural gas field, gathered Monday with seven new members and two existing members. That group's purpose became clouded in recent months after many former members criticized the BLM for diluting their role, and for tabling many recommendations because of expiring terms. Also Monday, the BLM held an open house to highlight a 177-page document outlining a list of commitments made in BLM documents concerning development on the Anticline and Jonah gas fields. More than 90 percent of those commitments were completed by the BLM, according to the agency. The BLM's work has come under fire in recent months, as internal agency documents showed it had failed to follow through on many commitments and had fallen short in protecting natural resources....
Fish and Wildlife Service designates lynx habitat The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is designating 1,841 square miles, in three states, as critical habitat for the threatened Canada lynx. The territory is far less than the service proposed originally. A federal rule announced Wednesday applies to lynx habitat in 1,389 square miles in Montana's Glacier National Park; 317 square miles in Minnesota's Voyageurs National Park; and 135 square miles in Washington's North Cascades National Park. The Endangered Species Act defines critical habitat as places with features essential for the conservation of a species threatened or endangered. A designation may bring special management of habitat. The rule is to be published Thursday in the Federal Register. Lynx, typically weighing 18 to 23 pounds, are on the federal list of threatened species. They prey on the snowshoe hare and occupy forested areas in the Northeast, the Great Lakes region, the Rocky Mountains and the Cascade Mountains. Originally, the Fish and Wildlife Service wanted to place a critical-habitat designation on about 18,000 square miles in Maine, Minnesota, the northern Rocky Mountains and north-central Washington....
Fort Bliss plan draws concern During a public input meeting Wednesday at the Alamogordo city commission chambers, Fort Bliss presented its plans for accommodating training and living facilities for some 20,000 to 30,300 incoming soldiers. Following the presentation, three individuals stood to speak their minds and concerns over the Fort Bliss preferred option for reorganizing its land use of the McGregor Range area. The proposed action alternative involves base activities extending north of State Road 506, a road which provides Otero Mesa ranchers their primary access to Alamogordo and also provides a potential fire break for grass fires. Otero Mesa rancher Bob Jones also shared the fire danger concern. "The grass is belly-deep out there," Jones said. "It's a real concern to us." Jones said when there is a fire out on the mesa about two-thirds of the time the ranchers are able to put it out before the responsible parties even get to the area. "Five-oh-six worries us because everything comes in on that road," Jones said, bringing up a second concern. "Would it be possible to put an overpass over that road?" The road is already closed down for periods of time for military use. Jones and fellow rancher Bebo Lee shared concerns about how long it would take to open the road each time with additional military activity taking place around it....
Lawyers prep for American Indians' suit Attorneys for American Indian farmers and ranchers are gathering information and witnesses for a discrimination case against the federal government. Attorneys planned to meet Thursday near Fort Yates near the South Dakota state line to collect data for the lawsuit, which was filed in 1999. The lawsuit alleges the U.S. Department of Agriculture discriminated against native Americans in the granting of loans beginning in 1981. "This is an information-gathering trip - we want to reach out to people in South Dakota about the case," said Joe Sellers, lead attorney for the American Indians. Sellers, said his Washington, D.C.-based firm will gather up to 100 Indian ranchers and farmers to serve as witnesses at trial. He said about 50 have been found so far, mostly in North Dakota, Montana and Oklahoma. The meeting near Fort Yates targets Indian producers from South Dakota who believe they have been discriminated against by the USDA, Sellers said....
Japan halts beef imports after bad documentation on shipment Japan said Wednesday it has halted beef imports from one U.S. meatpacking plant after finding a shipment with improper documentation, a development that may test the public's concern about the safety of American beef imports. The Agriculture and Health ministries decided to halt shipments from Swift & Co.'s plant in Greeley, Colo., after a shipment from the facility arrived in Osaka without proper documentation for some of the internal organs contained within, Agriculture Ministry official Yasushi Yamaguchi said. The Japanese government has asked the U.S. government to investigate the mishap and outline measures to prevent a recurrence, Yamaguchi said. After receiving a report from the U.S. side, the Japanese will send a delegation to the Greeley plant to review whether it is following rules for export to Japan before allowing trade to resume. "We are very concerned about what appears to be a simple error because it comes so soon after Japan lifted its import ban," Yamaguchi said. The suspect package was only of 760 boxes containing 11 tons of frozen beef and beef tongue....
The legend of 'Ol' Slewfoot' No one knows for sure how the deer known as "Ol' Slewfoot" lost its leg. No one even remembers which leg the deer was missing. But the big buck "mulie" was commonly seen over 50 years ago by ranchers living in the shadows of the big buttes known as Sheridan's Gates on the western edge of Nebraska's Pine Ridge. Nearby Fort Robinson played a final role in the defeat of the Sioux as the tribes filtered in, destined to live in reservations in Dakota Territory. The last to surrender was the great Sioux War Chief Crazy Horse who was killed at the fort in 1877. Shortly after, the cattlemen came and then the homesteaders. It's from this homesteading era that many ranchers trace their roots. That's the case with Dale Chesek who still lives just a couple miles south of where his grandfather homesteaded in the 1880s. And it was from Dale, that I learned the story of Ol' Slewfoot, the once-majestic mulie whose rack and skull have hung in Chesek's machine shed since the big blizzard of 1948-49....

Fundamentals of Water Law

November 9, 2006 - Albuquerque, NM
Who Should Attend:

This basic-to-intermediate level seminar is designed for environmental attorneys, general practice attorneys, young attorneys, paralegals, government officials, regulators, water management specialists, real estate developers and others involved in the use, regulation and protection of water resources.

Seminar Details and Highlights:

Strike A Fair Balance Between Quality and Development

Water is a precious resource that must be managed and preserved – but water law in the United States can be confusing to non-specialists. Different areas of the country use different doctrines to determine which parties have priority over water use; there are varying regulatory agencies that are involved in determining water quality standards and adjudicating water rights; and there is always a tension between beneficial use and preservation. How can you help your clients navigate this area of law, while protecting their water rights?

This seminar will provide the fundamental information you need to work with water law issues. Our faculty will give you a primer on water law, including a survey of recent case law and legislation. Base your advice on important concepts related to water supply, use and quality. In addition, you'll be able to address the ethical issues that may arise in the water law context.

* Examine and apply recent water cases and legislation in your state and look at future trends in this area of law.
* Differentiate between the doctrines of prior appropriation and riparian rights.
* Know how to register a water rights claim – and how to avoid an abandonment claim for non-use.
* Consider the effects of federal interests, access and recreation needs, and urban growth when helping clients with their water questions.
* Understand the role of the EPA, and the challenges of enforcing water quality standards, so you can work effectively with them when necessary.
* Avoid ethical problems with water rights, such as conflicts of interest....

For a summary of the election returns in the Rocky Mountain West see Headwaters News election page.

NEWS ROUNDUP


GOP Rep. Pombo loses to little-known Democrat Little-known Democrat Jerry McNerney beat GOP Rep. Richard Pombo, the powerful chairman of the House Resources Committee, in a stunning victory for environmentalists and surging Democrats. McNerney, a wind-energy consultant, novelist and political neophyte, lost badly to Pombo two years ago. This time he roared back in the campaign's final weeks, as the national mood shifted toward Democrats and environmental groups spent heavily to make the race a referendum on Pombo's ethical issues and industry-friendly legislating. "Sierra Club declares victory as Pombo goes down," read a release from the group that spent more than $500,000 on the effort. Defenders of Wildlife, League of Conservation Voters and others also joined in, opposing Pombo for efforts to rewrite species protections and increase oil drilling in Alaska and off-shore while fundraising from industry groups. With 98 percent of precincts reporting, McNerney had 53 percent to Pombo's 47 percent....
Editorial - The environment should be a top priority for new Congress When Congress returns to work after the elections, the environment should be high on the list of unfinished business. Much of the work unfortunately requires stopping proposals that would harm national forests and other natural resources. Congress also should take steps to protect the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, the world’s largest temperate rain forest, from logging. The forest — home to grizzlies, bald eagles and 800-year-old trees — is not protected by a federal rule that limits logging and road building in pristine areas of national forests. That rule, instituted by former President Clinton, has been under attack by President Bush. A federal court recently reinstated it. Congress should make sure this protection remains in place, with the Tongass added. No matter the political party, polls show, voters care about protection of natural resources. Congress should respond favorably....
Environment Wins in Democratic Landslide Democrats upset Republicans across the country Tuesday to win control of the House of Representatives for the first time since 1994 - spelling an end to the terms of some of the legislators most disliked by conservationists. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California will move into the Speaker's seat, becoming the first woman Speaker of the House in U.S. history. Her environmental views match those of conservationists, particularly on climate and energy issues. Pelosi supports legislation to control global warming introduced by Democrats earlier this year. The measure would establish a market-based emissions trading system for the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. Her position is opposite to that of the Bush administration and the Republican Congressional leaders who have attempted to deny and suppress evidence of climate change. Pelosi opposes drilling for oil in the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. "We should not sacrifice the Arctic coastal plain, one of America’s last truly wild places, for the sake of a small amount of oil," she said....
Humane Farms leading in Arizona With 83.6 percent of precincts reporting, the Humane Farms initiative is commanding a strong lead with 61.3 percent of voters supporting the measure, compared to 38.7 percent in opposition. Supporters of the initiative are seeking an end to what they say is an unnecessary and cruel business practice, while detractors argue Prop 204 is the product of radical animal rights activists intent on disrupting meat production in Arizona by adding costs to a strained industry. Arizonans for Humane Farms includes members of the Animal Defense League of Arizona, Arizona Humane Society, Humane Society of the United States, and the Farm Sanctuary, a national non-profit group has also contributed to help the proposal reach the ballot. Cheryl Naumann, chairman of Arizonans for Humane Farms, said she’s excited and sure of victory. "We’re thrilled Arizona voters voted on behalf of these animals…even those raised for food,” she said before taking the stage at a Phoenix hotel to congratulate a jubilant crowd." Prop. 207 is opposed by the Campaign for Arizona Farmers and Ranchers which includes the Arizona Farm Bureau, Arizona Pork Council, Arizona Cattlemen’s Association and the Arizona Dairymen Political Action Committee....
Scientists warn of soil damage Two soil scientists on the faculty of the University of Wyoming are voicing grave concerns over less protective coal-bed methane water standards proposed last month by the Wyoming Water and Waste Advisory Board. The board had accepted electrical conductivity and sodium adsorption ratio default standards proposed by Montana soil scientist Kevin Harvey, who has worked extensively for Powder River Basin energy companies. Ginger Paige and Larry Munn, UW soil scientists, said that if these looser standards are adopted by the state’s Environmental Quality Council, the result will be more discharges of heavily salted water, more soil and plant damages and more litigation. Of all the states engaged in coal-bed methane development -- Wyoming, Montana, Colorado and New Mexico -- only Wyoming is considering less stringent standards, Paige said....
DEQ rejects water standards The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality has criticized an advisory board’s recommendations for setting looser standards for salinity in coal-bed methane water. John Wagner, administrator of DEQ's water quality division, wrote to members of the Wyoming Water and Waste Advisory Board in late October that the department disagrees with the board’s action to relax the default limits on electrical conductivity and sodium adsorption ratio measurements. Electrical conductivity is a measure of the amount of dissolved salts in water. At a certain point, increases in the conductivity can cause decreases in plant growth. The sodium adsorption ratio is a measure of the abundance of sodium in water. A high ratio has the potential to impair soil structure and the permeability of the soil, leading to a chronic lack of soil moisture. “The (water quality division) believes that it must take a conservative approach to insure that irreparable damage to land does not occur,” Wagner wrote. Large volumes of groundwater are pumped to the surface during coal-bed methane production. In some instances, coal-bed methane water is put to beneficial use, such as agricultural irrigation and livestock watering. However, a majority of the water isn't put to a specific beneficial use and often overruns low-lying grazing lands....
Forest fire strategy: Just let it go In the worst year for wildfires in nearly half a century, it may seem odd to celebrate how well some of them burned. But the Payette National Forest in central Idaho is doing just that. "It was a real long season, but we got some nice fire effects," says Sam Hescock, a fire management officer on the 2.3-million-acre forest where more than 150 fires this summer and fall burned about 70,000 acres. "We're pretty happy with what we got." Hescock's satisfaction reflects a shift in how the federal government approaches fire management. That shift began in earnest a decade ago and is gaining momentum. Land managers at the U.S. Forest Service and other agencies are becoming more comfortable co-existing with fire rather than reflexively trying to stomp it out with all the men and materiel at their command. Their reasoning is that fire is a natural part of the landscape that clears out underbrush and small trees and creates forest openings in a mosaic pattern. Such conditions help keep small fires from growing into the kind of large, catastrophic blazes that have become increasingly common in recent years. They now say that decades of aggressively fighting fires was a mistake because it allowed forests to become overcrowded and ripe for fires nearly impossible to control....
Many public lands targeted for trimming A forest west of Washoe Valley is on a growing list of public lands to be thinned out to prevent forest fires, land managers said. From central Nevada to Lake Tahoe Basin, overgrown landscapes ripe for catastrophic fire are being targeted for treatment. It's a critical step for Nevada to avoid more fire seasons like the last one, when more than 1.3 million acres burned across the state, said Nevada State Forester Pete Anderson. "This truly was one of the worst fire seasons on record," Anderson said. Since 1999, 7 million acres have been lost to wildfire across the Silver State, he said. More disastrous fire seasons are likely. Federal land managers are increasingly fighting fire before it starts by thinning forests and using controlled fire....
Federal investigators looking into Arizona wolf death U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service investigators are seeking information about the death of an endangered Mexican gray wolf near Alpine, Ariz. A necropsy was ordered on the body of the female wolf, found dead Sept. 23. A reward of up to $10,000 is being offered for information. Killing one of the endangered wolves is a violation of the Endangered Species Act that is punishable by a fine of up to $50,000 and six months in jail. The Fish and Wildlife Service began releasing wolves into the wild on the Arizona-New Mexico border in 1998 to re-establish the species in part of its historic range.
Column - Conservation Easements Recent amendments to our tax laws provide conservationists with additional incentives to protect the natural beauty of their land. Landowners who relinquish their land development rights by donating a conservation easement can ensure that the natural beauty of their land is preserved in perpetuity. Currently, donors also receive tax breaks at the federal and state levels. For those who have already achieved their financial goals, donating their land development rights can bring additional the tax benefits. On August 17, 2006, President Bush signed into law H.R. 4, a bill that significantly expanded the federal tax incentives for landowners who voluntarily give up the development rights to their property by placing their land under a conservation easement. A conservation easement is a legal agreement between a landowner and a conservation organization that protects the natural, historic, scenic, and agricultural values of a property by placing permanent limits on the future development of the property. Giving these rights to a non-profit organization is similar to making other gifts to charity. As with gifting to a non-profit organization, taxpayers reap not only the benefit of donating to worthy cause but they also gain some tax relief....
Toyota and Lexus Salute 'Green' Celebrities at the 16th Annual Environmental Media Awards Toyota and Lexus are Presenting Sponsors of the Environmental Media Awards. This star-studded gala event recognizes the creative teams behind television, film and music productions that raise public awareness of environmental issues by incorporating positive environmental messages in their work. Previous honorees include Daryl Hannah, Edward Norton, and Cameron Diaz, and programs such as Grey's Anatomy, The Simpsons, and Lilo & Stitch. "Entertainment is a potent vehicle for raising awareness of environmental issues," said Dian Ogilvie, senior vice president and chief environmental officer of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. "The creative teams who are honored with an Environmental Media Award are inspiring people to think and act in ways that benefit our planet." Toyota's commitment to the environment goes beyond the hybrid story. The company's initiatives in North America include recycling, reducing landfill waste, conserving natural resources, using renewable energy, and nurturing strong partnerships with organizations like the U.S. National Parks Service, National Public Lands Day, National Arbor Day Foundation, Audubon Society the American Lung Association, and EMA. The Environmental Media Association is a non-profit created in 1989 by producers Norman Lear and Alan Horn and their wives Lyn Lear and Cindy Horn. EMA is guided by top Hollywood talents and leading environmentalists....
U.S. defends stance on global warming The chief U.S. climate negotiator on Monday defended Washington‘s stand against compulsory caps on global-warming emissions, and said the Bush administration was unlikely to change its policy. "With few exceptions you‘re seeing those emissions rise again," Watson said of countries bound by Kyoto. Developing nations, the European Union , environmentalists and others are urging Washington to sign onto obligatory cuts after 2012 — when Kyoto expires — in emissions of heat-trapping gases blamed by scientists for global warming. Here in Nairobi, the Kyoto countries will continue talks on what kind of emissions targets and timetables should follow 2012. But many, before committing, are waiting to see whether the United States, accounting for 21 percent of the world‘s greenhouse gases, will submit to a mandatory regime of cutbacks. Watson‘s words seemed to rule that out for the next two years....
RFK, JR.: Wilderness Crucial, Press Clueless, Bush A Bitter Pill The Bush White House is the worst in American history and the press has let America down, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. told a quiet standing-room-only crowd of about 500 in a Yosemite conference hall Friday morning. Scion of a Democratic political family, Kennedy preached to the choir for 65 minutes to about 450 Sierra Business Council attendees and some Park Service employees at the famed national park. Kennedy called the people Pres. George W. Bush has appointed to run agencies designed to protect natural resources as "bottom feeders" and "indentured servants" responsible "for the diminution of the quality of life over the last six years." Kennedy closed with a saying he credited to the Lakota - "We don't inherit the world from our ancestors: We borrow it from our children." - and got a standing ovation....
One Down Trevor Brazile's three world champion all-around gold buckles finally have some company. Brazile, who finished second in the final world steer roping standings six times (1998, 2000-04), finished the 2006 season on top at the conclusion of this weekend's National Finals Steer Roping in Hobbs, N.M. Entering the event with a lead of some $17,000, Brazile (Decatur, Texas) erased any doubts by placing in five of the first six rounds and finishing the season with earnings of $87,090, easily outdistancing former team roping partner J.P. Wickett (Sallisaw, Okla.), who earned $69,824. Overall, Brazile earned $18,750 in two days in the Lea County Event Center, placing in five rounds and finishing fourth in the average. Overall, Brazile earned $18,750 in two days in the Lea County Event Center, Nov. 3-4. He placed in five rounds and finished fourth in the average — a clean run in the 10th and final round would have given him the average title, but his steer got up, giving the Texan a no-time. Instead, J.R. Olson (Sheridan, Wyo.) claimed the average title, recording a total time of 127.0 seconds on nine head. "There are some things I could have done differently, but all in all, it's the end result that matters," Brazile said. "I'm tickled to death. This is my first event title, and it means a lot to me. This is the event I started watching my dad compete in. I'm just so thankful for what I've got." Brazile, who won world all-around honors from 2002-04 but finished second last year, finally achieved his longtime goal to claim a single-event title. He finished second to 18-time world champion and 30-time NFSR qualifier Guy Allen five times (1998, 2000-01, 2003-04) and was runner-up to Buster Record Jr., when he claimed the gold buckle in 2002....

This article was on the front page of today's Wall Street Journal. A subscription is required and I don't have a link. Below are some excerpts.


Puppy Power: How Humane Society Gets the Vote Out

For the first time in its 50-year history, the Humane Society is trying to elect candidates to Congress who support its animal-welfare agenda. After a series of mergers with other animal-welfare groups, the Humane Society counts 10 million Americans as members, an average of 23,000 in each of the 435 House districts. That's more than twice the membership of the National Rifle Association, which is considered one of the most effective single-issue campaign organizations. More important, the Humane Society's motivating issue -- the promotion of animal welfare -- resonates with the white suburban women who could be the key block of voters who decide this election...Among Republicans the Humane Society is targeting are Montana's Sen. Conrad Burns, who opposed Mr. Sweeney's horse-slaughter bill in the Senate, Rep. Heather Wilson of New Mexico and Mr. Pombo of California. The Humane Society has endorsed more than 300 candidates for Congress. But it has spent money in just two dozen of the closest races where Mr. Pacelle believes he can swing about 5% of the vote...Mr. Pacelle began creating the Humane Society political operation two years ago when he was named chief of the organization. Since then, he has quietly built a formidable election campaign machine. To comply with tax and election laws, Mr. Pacelle has created two offshoots of the Humane Society to focus on election campaigns. In total, the entities have spent $3.4 million on congressional elections and ballot initiatives, more than Exxon Mobil Corp. They have contributed $150,000 to candidates for Congress, which is more than Halliburton Co. has contributed...The Humane Society first tested the waters in congressional elections in 2004 -- and then, in just one race. In that campaign, the group campaigned against Rep. Chris John in Louisiana when the Democrat ran for an open Senate seat against Republican Rep. David Vitter. Mr. John championed the state's legalized cockfighting industry, and the Humane Society didn't want to see him in the Senate. Polls showed that nine in 10 women in Louisiana opposed cockfighting, so the Humane Society set about to tell 300,000 white female voters that Mr. John supported the practice. The group spent $400,000 on radio ads and mailings to get the message out. When Mr. Vitter won with 51% of the vote, the Humane Society knew it could be a force....

NEWS ROUNDUP

Court: BLM violated rodent's protection A small rodent that lives in the treetops of old growth forests is blocking two timber sales in southwestern Oregon. A federal appeals court on Monday ruled the U.S. Bureau of Land Management illegally downgraded protections for the red tree vole to make the two sales possible. The three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco found that the BLM failed to conduct a public review before changing the classification of the red tree vole, whose numbers are dwindling because of clear-cutting and other forestry practices. The public review is mandated under the "survey and manage" provisions of the Northwest Forest Plan. The Northwest Forest Plan reduced timber harvests on federal lands west of the Cascade Range in Oregon, Washington and Northern California by more than 80 percent to protect habitat for the threatened northern spotted owl, salmon and hundreds of other species. The bureau has been much more aggressive than the U.S. Forest Service in trying to reach the timber harvest goals, which have never been met....
U.S. court backs tribe in fight over Calpine plant A U.S. federal appeals court backed an Indian tribe on Monday in a fight in which the bankrupt power producer Calpine Corp (CPNLQ.PK: Quote, Profile, Research) had sought to build a geothermal plant in an area Native Americans consider sacred. San Jose, California-based Calpine planned to erect a plant on leased U.S. Forest Service land in the northern Mount Shasta region of California after more than a decade of planning. The Pit River Tribe sued in federal court over the plan in 2002, saying the 66-square-mile Medicine Lake Highlands is sacred ground even if not part of the tribe's reservation. The tribe lost its initial legal fight, but on Monday the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court and ruled against U.S. government agencies, saying they had improperly extended the leases to Calpine for the land. "We conclude that the agencies did not take a 'hard look' at the environmental consequences of the 1998 lease extensions and never adequately considered the no-action alternative," Judge Clifford Wallace wrote for a three-judge panel....
Army eyes 1 million acres for warfare training The U.S. Army is eyeing another million acres of southeastern Colorado ranch and croplands for additional training grounds for its modernized Army, and landowners who don't want to lose their homesteads could be facing condemnation proceedings. The Army, through spokeswoman Karen Edge at Fort Carson Army Base, said nothing has happened so far, and technically, the base doesn't even have permission to acquire any more land. But landowners around the present Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site are preparing their arguments against what they see as an evitable land grab, just like the condemnation proceedings during the 1970s when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers used legal proceedings to get about half of the 235,000 acres in the current site. Susan Savoia of the Williams Land & Cattle Co. in nearby Walsenburg told WND that it is about the "biggest 'land grab' since the Indians lost their land to the government." On the agenda is an expansion by about 418,000 acres, although the areas of interest including about a million acres. "After promises of never expanding or allowing live fire to occur at the maneuver site, under a BRAC (Base Realignment and Closing) recommendation the Army has AGAIN decided that productive ranch and farm land is insignificant to the world's economy and is planning another 'theft' of land to expand the maneuver site," she wrote. Opponents of the plan have organized in a group at PinonCanyon.com, and are attending public hearings, writing representatives and lobbying for the land that, sometimes, has been passed down from generation to generation since the Spanish Land Grants....
In vitro work raises hopes for wood bison Wood bison have had their habitat destroyed, been hunted to the edge of extinction and been infected with debilitating diseases. Now Canadian researchers are hoping to use modern-day reproductive technologies to create test-tube bison in an attempt to turn back the clock for the country's largest land mammal. In a groundbreaking experiment, scientists recently salvaged testes and ovaries from bison in the Northwest Territories, which were sent to slaughter. The animals were sick, but their genetic material is disease-free and a boon to scientists desperate to maintain diversity in dwindling bison bloodlines. Eggs were extracted in an Alberta laboratory and fertilized with sperm in a culture dish. Now, 27 bison embryos and 780 sperm samples (including some taken from live animals) are frozen in liquid nitrogen, waiting to be implanted in surrogate bison cows. A male wood bison can grow to 3.8 metres in length, stand 1.8 metres at the shoulder and tip the scale at one tonne. Wood bison, notable for a massive hump at the shoulder, are not to be confused with the smaller and more numerous plains bison, but interbreeding on habitats that overlap has added to the confusion....
Yosemite makeover put on hold over concerns for scenic river Ambitious plans to remodel lodging, move a road and expand campsites in Yosemite National Park are on hold until officials prepare a better plan to protect the Merced River, which runs through the heart of the park, a judge ruled. Two conservation groups celebrated Friday's ruling, which effectively halts about $60 million in construction projects for at least two years, as a major environmental victory. Yosemite officials, still reeling from the decision, said it could have "huge negative impacts" on the park's efforts to accommodate the 3 million visitors who travel there each year. "The fact that now we can't repave a road, with winter coming on, is just devastating," said Scott Gediman, a park spokesman. "Sure you can argue about campgrounds or building the lodge, but what about when you've got paving on a road that's literally falling apart?" The order, issued in a U.S. District Court in Fresno, directs the park service to immediately stop nine projects included in the Yosemite Valley Plan, a grand scheme to develop the park's amenities that has been the subject of a lengthy legal battle....
Female Leader Would Be First for Navajos One candidate in Tuesday's Navajo Nation presidential election promises accountability and staunch protection of tribal land. The other vows to build on the reservation's economic progress in the past four years. But in the race between incumbent Joe Shirley Jr. and challenger Lynda Lovejoy, the overriding issue is sex. A win would make Lovejoy the first female leader on the largest Indian reservation in the United States, which extends into New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. "She is a woman, and that is going to be an issue no matter what her stance on policy," said Dale Mason, an associate professor of political science at the University of New Mexico at Gallup. "She represents something entirely new." Lovejoy, a former New Mexico state lawmaker and current member of the Public Regulation Commission, hopes to unseat Shirley, 58, a former tribal council delegate who has been leading the tribe for four years....
Buffalo ranches won’t receive drought aid The buffalo on the Limpert ranch are nearly out of grass. The stock dams on the ranch south of Harding County’s Slim Buttes are bone dry. Buffalo are hardy animals, able to stand up to weather extremes, but they still need to eat and drink. This year’s drought has been tough on the buffalo and even tougher on buffalo ranchers such as Sandy and Jacki Limpert. With stunted pastures and virtually no hay crop, buffalo ranchers in this region, like cattle ranchers, are spending tens of thousands of dollars to feed their herds. Others have sold off animals. The Limperts are among buffalo ranchers miffed that they were left out of the recent federal drought aid for livestock producers. State ag officials said the meager amount of money from the U.S. Department of Agriculture would have been spread too thin if they had extended it to other livestock besides breeding herds of cattle and sheep....
Ranches work as retreats for rich Wealthy absentee owners are converting more of the West's ranches and farms into personal hunting and fishing playgrounds, including areas near scenic Yellowstone National Park. Well-heeled outsiders, dubbed "amenity ranchers," are not a new phenomenon, but their growing appetite for these retreats is. Even as housing prices slump in cities and suburbs, the market flourishes for getaways with hundreds or thousands of acres of mountain, forest or prairie. Two retailers of hunting and fishing gear, Cabela's and Orvis, have even launched operations to sell dream properties. "Since we already offer everything that sportsmen and women need to succeed in the field, why not make the field itself more accessible?" says David Nelson, manager of Cabela's Trophy Properties. A study published last month by researchers at the University of Colorado, Oregon State University and New Zealand's University of Otago details the growth of trophy ranches. It analyzed ranch sales around Yellowstone in 10 Montana and Wyoming counties from 1990 to 2001. Just 26% of those who bought parcels 400 acres or larger were traditional ranchers. Nearly 40% were "amenity" buyers — millionaire out-of-towners who don't rely on the ranch to make a living, the report said. The rest were investors, part-time ranchers, developers and others....
Stockmen don’t cotton to livestock registration The government’s drive to register places that house livestock to guard against disease and bioterrorism is meeting resistance from stockmen. The Department of Agriculture is pushing everyone from farmers to veterinarians to register. Officials say the information would help them slow or halt the spread of mad cow disease, avian flu or another killer infection. For Rob Alexander, a cow-calf rancher in Elbert County, the program could be just another drain on his already wafer-thin profit margin. “I have to buy this new tool to put a tag in the ear, and then I have to buy new software to scan the tags,” he said. “Will it make my life more complicated? Yes. Am I excited about that? No. To the producer who’s on the short end of the stick, this smells like a rat, because most of the burden is going to be on us.” Alexander, who hasn’t registered his ranch, is a Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo Foundation board member and wonders how the program will affect rodeos and the contractors that provide rodeo stock. He’s also curious about its impact on county and state fairs; his daughter shows 4-H calves. Joel Franz of Burlington, a cattle rancher for 50 years, is like many of his friends. He hasn’t signed up his ranch and takes issue with a voluntary program he said pushes registration through 4-Hers and with bribes. Some states offer cash to register, he said. “There is no law that says it has to be done,” he said. “Not by anybody.”....
Creekstone answers USDA in court over mad cow testing Creekstone Farms Premium Beef has answered the U.S. Department of Agriculture's court documents opposing the company's motion for summary judgment in its lawsuit againstUSDA. Creekstone sued the USDA in March for refusing to allow the Arkansas City beef processor to voluntarily test all the cattle it slaughters for BSE, commonly called mad cow disease. USDA officials have told the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that Creekstone's case is now largely moot because Japan and Korea have re-opened their borders to U.S. imports. Several countries had banned imports of U.S. beef because of concerns over mad cow. The USDA maintains that it has the right to regulate private testing for BSE on the basis of a 100-year-old law intended to stop the sale of bogus hog cholera serums to Midwest farmers. In its filing, Creekstone maintains that the USDA is using the law in a way it was never intended, not to protect ranchers from suppliers of bogus serums but to regulate competition among beef processors. Creekstone's filing also maintains that the company is seeking to test 100 percent of its beef for BSE to enhance its brand reputation and to make it possible to sell beef for higher prices in both domestic and foreign markets....
Plan to create human-cow embryos UK scientists have applied for permission to create embryos by fusing human DNA with cow eggs. Researchers from Newcastle University and Kings College, London, have asked the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority for a three-year licence. The hybrid human-bovine embryos would be used for stem cell research and would not be allowed to develop for more than a few days. But critics say it is unethical and potentially dangerous....

NEWS ROUNDUP

Nevada’s Family Ranches Go the Way of the Old West In Nevada, the fastest-growing state in the country, family ranches — veritable symbols of the Old West — are disappearing. “We are losing our culture,” said Devere Dressler, 55, a fifth-generation rancher whose family has sold off all but 150 acres here in the Carson Valley in northern Nevada, home to some of the state’s oldest ranches and some of the newest mansions. Once, the Dresslers owned 20,000 acres, but economic realities clashed with romantic ideals, and family members have sold most of the land, including large chunks for a housing development called, with a bit of paradox, Gardnerville Ranchos. Steve White, hanging on to a nearly 100-year-old 150-acre dairy farm in sight of trophy homes sprouting in the surrounding fields, scoffs at the changing valley. They are nice people, Mr. White concludes of the newcomers, many of them retirees, commuters from Carson City and Reno, and casino workers and ski enthusiasts from Lake Tahoe, just over the other side of the Sierra Nevada that loom above the landscape. These “ranchettes,” he said as if describing a new weed, “are all around us now.” All over the West, city and suburb have seeped into farmland and desert, answering a demand for housing, jobs and business in settings befitting a Bierstadt painting while also raising qualms about taming the roughness that makes the region so attractive. Those same dynamics are playing out here in the Carson Valley, only more so. Aside from losing a way of life, the loss of ranching has raised questions statewide, particularly in the northern reaches where the working ranches predominate, over the pace of development and whether there will be enough water and other resources to sustain it....
Pombo race is the fight of his career Only a few months ago, most savvy political analysts had concluded that beating seven-term Republican Congressman Richard Pombo in his comfortable Northern California district was Jerry McNerney's impossible dream. The little-known Democrat McNerney, they said, may as well have been tilting at the wind turbines in Altamont Pass, which separates the solidly liberal San Francisco Bay Area from the largely conservative exurban ranchland that is Pombo's stronghold. But charges of political corruption and environmental mismanagement against Pombo, the powerful chairman of the House Resources Committee, would not go away. Hundreds of political volunteers and environmental activists poured into the district from the Bay Area to work for McNerney, 55, a soft-spoken mathematics PhD and expert on alternative energy. As Tuesday's election approaches, California's 11th Congressional District is highly competitive, the most likely of the state's 53 congressional seats to change hands Tuesday....
First lady defends Pombo's record The Republican chairman of the House Resources Committee, who has faced of wave of attack ads from national conservation groups, is an "enthusiastic steward" of the environment and a friend of wildlife, first lady Laura Bush told GOP supporters Friday. The first lady defended the environmental record of seven-term U.S. Rep. Richard Pombo, seeking to give him a boost in his unexpectedly tight re-election campaign. Environmental groups have spent heavily to defeat the California congressman, angered by what they say are anti-environmental policies he has championed as the committee's chairman. Appearing with Pombo at a campaign rally, Bush told supporters that the congressman has led efforts to promote alternative fuels and reform the Endangered Species Act. She said the act has created barriers to repairing the aging levees that crisscross Pombo's district, which stretches from the agricultural plains of the Central Valley to eastern San Francisco Bay area suburbs. "Congressman Pombo is an enthusiastic steward of our country's natural resources," Bush said in Pleasanton, about 40 miles east of San Francisco. "Because of his leadership, wildlife, property and people will be protected from dangerous flooding."....
'Alias' actress Jennifer Garner joins campaign to oust Pombo The fiercely competitive race for the 11th Congressional District seat got a jolt of star power Saturday as actress Jennifer Garner headlined an environmental rally dedicated to ousting Republican Rep. Richard Pombo. Garner said the battle between Pombo and Democrat Jerry McNerney was "a fight bigger than the 11th district." "This is a fight for our land and natural heritage," the "Alias" star told a crowd of about 300 gathered in a downtown park, many of them waving "McNerney for Congress" signs. The rally in Pleasanton, about 45 miles east of San Francisco, was organized by the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund. It is one of several national environmental groups that spent more than $1 million combined to run television ads attacking Pombo's record....
State officially added to mountain lion expansion map In August 2006, the nationally recognized Cougar Network announced that it was, for the first time, including the North Dakota Badlands region into its “big picture” map of the known mountain lion range in the United States. The decision was made based on North Dakota Game and Fish Department data confirming that breeding mountain lions have recolonized that area of the state. The Cougar Network is a nonprofit research organization whose board of directors includes some of the most-experienced research biologists in the United States. According to the Network’s mission statement, “.....we are especially interested in the phenomenon of expanding cougar populations into their former habitat.” For the past 100 years, the known mountain lion range in the United States has been west of the prairie states. In recent years, however, biologists differ as to the reasons why mountain lions have been making a fairly rapid comeback. Many knowledgeable mountain lion researchers believe that recolonization of the lions’ former range is well under way....
Operation Indian Country Editors' note: During the World War II era, the federal government condemned and leased hundreds of thousands of Indian acres for military use, much of it never returned to Indian hands. In this series, Indian Country Today spoke with Native people affected by the takings, many of whom served their country in wartime, lost their land to the government, and still harbor strong feelings on the matter. Indian time is slow. But in Washington they have a well-kept secret: the father of Indian time is ''government time.'' Today, much of the Indian estate taken when World War II veterans were still in their teens remains unsafe, unusable, unreturned or simply unremembered. The Navajo have fared better with lands at Fort Wingate depot, albeit 70 years down the road. Soon to be divided between the Navajo and Zuni, some 20,000 acres are at stake. ''We're not going backwards, so there's no need for opening these areas for range land use,'' said Charlie Davis, a Navajo rancher in the Wingate area. He'd like to see a veterans' hospital and nursing home on depot land. ''It shouldn't be something we fight on,'' he urged. ''It's something we should all have access to,'' including veterans of all colors and creeds. ''It's about more than who owns what.'' Annie Yazzie, who herded sheep on Wingate land long ago, agreed. ''Who am I to say I want that land returned to me where we're a growing community here, and we're crowded? How is that going to help the larger population by stating, 'This is where I was born. This is where I lived?''' Uranium mining north of Church Rock has contaminated land with high radon levels, including a flat where the Navajo wanted to build a large housing project. As a result, the Church Rock chapter covets former depot land for housing, provided it can be fully decontaminated. Yazzie is worried by relatives who want portions of her family's old land once the depot is handed over, a sentiment echoed by other families concerned that the rush for land may sabotage larger tribal efforts....
Hole in the dike? When a reservoir containing coal-bed methane water leaked in Sheridan County, it caused contaminated water to resurface on a hillside below. The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality issued a notice of violation to the company responsible because it was considered an illegal, or unpermitted discharge of water. But when that same leak traveled down to another reservoir which in turn leaked and saturated an alfalfa field below it, the DEQ could do nothing about the damage. The water didn't resurface this time, but remained in the subsurface. Technically, it was not an illegal surface discharge in the eyes of DEQ. In another well-known case, rancher Kenny Claybaugh has watched the culmination of multiple upstream coal-bed methane water discharges transform a productive bottomland meadow on his property into a lake. This continues to happen year after year as DEQ and the state engineer continue to explain that neither is legally responsible for either preventing or rectifying the situation. "We just permitted another discharge that is showing up on Claybaugh's property because we could only look at water quality. ... But that's not the problem. It's the water quantity," DEQ water quality administrator John Wagner told members of a special legislative task force on Thursday. Several members of the Coalbed Natural Gas Water Use Task Force agreed that it may take a change in the law to fill this apparent regulatory hole that exists between DEQ and the state engineer's office....
California officials propose California Endangered Species Act Exemption for Klamath River In the Klamath River Basin these days environmental news is dominated by talk about dam removal and, occasionally, new restrictions on fishing. But now another issue is poised to compete for the headlines. The California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) announced late last month that it plans to give a hundred or so farmers and alfalfa ranchers in Siskiyou County just south of the Oregon border an exemption from the California Endangered Species Act. Released without fanfare, the announcement caused barely a ripple in the regional media. But below the surface a virtual tsunami may be forming. Ever since Klamath River Coho were listed as “threatened”, Fish and Game officials have been meeting behind closed doors with Scott and Shasta River irrigation interests. The irrigators are concerned because their dams, diversions and irrigation pumps have regularly killed thousands of salmon and steelhead. They want to be protected from prosecution for killing Coho while continuing irrigation practices which virtually dry up Scott and Shasta rivers and streams in drought years. Klamath River Basin Tribes, conservation and fishing groups have been nervous about the closed door meetings. As downstream interests, they asked to be included in the talks only to be rebuffed by CDFG and the irrigators. Now the reasons for the secret meetings are beginning to come to light. While the actual Endangered Species Act exemption – technical known as an “Take Permit” - has not been released pending review by irrigator and state lawyers, preliminary environmental documents indicate that, while ranchers and growers will exclude fish from irrigation ditches, they will be allowed to continue dewatering the Scott and Shasta Rivers. If fish need water, the environmental documents indicate, the irrigators will consider renting water to CDFG on an annual basis. In return the CDFG will continue to have access to river sections that pass through private ranches and alfalfa fields – something that some ranchers have denied to CDFG since the Coho were listed as threatened....
Elk preserves elicit criticism from hunters, wildlife managers A self-described "mountain man" with a beauty queen daughter has no problem with hunters shooting trophy elk fenced in on his 168-acre ranch. But the outside world crashed in on Rex Rammell recently when a bear dug a hole that breached that fence, allowing what he estimates as about 100 of his 160 elk to escape his private hunting farm in August, the largest such breakout in state memory. Suddenly Rammell, who casts himself as an American West iconoclast whose forebears were homesteaders in the 1800s, was at the center of a regional tempest about the ethics of elk hunting preserves. Idaho Gov. James Risch ordered a special hunt to kill the escaped elk, angering Rammell, who's now charged with obstructing a game officer and poking a participating citizen hunter in the eye. The hunt officially ended last week. So emotional is the issue that the governors of three states tied to Yellowstone National Park, including Idaho, condemned Rammell and his shooting ranch, which is legal in Idaho and is among a growing number of 14 statewide, including one planned by former Denver Bronco Rulon Jones outside Idaho Falls. What triggered an outrage evocative of the old Wild West was concern that a large domestic herd would spread disease to Yellowstone's wild elk just 8 miles away during the rut. Like the buffalo that once blanketed the country, elk suffered near-extermination in the 1800s, but now they number about 1 million and are regarded as a national heritage, conservationists said. Rammell says the state has no right to kill his elk because they're private property, classified like livestock. He adds that he is a veterinarian who has ensured that his domestic elk are disease-free, posing no danger to Yellowstone's animals....
Column - Water war is worth fighting Every day I thank God that I live in the most geographically diverse and breathtakingly beautiful state in the nation. For that reason, I am going to fight like hell alongside those who oppose the Las Vegas water grab. Here's why: We live in the arid West. In fact, we Utahns live in the second driest state in the nation behind Nevada. Although I'm a native Westerner, for all of my life - more than 50 years - I've gone about my pursuit of happiness paying scant attention to the laws of aridity. But the proposed Las Vegas project to build a 285-mile, $2 billion pipeline to pull ground water from aquifers in six basins - part of which lie under Utah lands - to quench the seemingly quenchless thirst of Las Vegas residents jolts me out of my ignorant bliss. Here are the simple facts: We cannot live without water nor can we create water or increase our water supply. In Utah we add one person to our population about every six seconds while our average precipitation remains stubbornly low, and many of the nation's aquifers, which, by the way, pay no attention to state borders, have been steadily declining. You run the numbers....
Agents kill wolf thought to have killed 120 sheep Federal agents have shot a wolf believed responsible for killing about 120 sheep in attacks on ranches in Garfield, McCone and Dawson counties since December 2005. The 106-pound wolf was shot Thursday morning on private land between Jordan and Circle, apparently ending a series of attacks that had area livestock owners on edge for months. There was frequent speculation among wildlife agents and ranchers that the elusive predator was either a wolf or wolf hybrid. Some thought there was more than one animal attacking the sheep. "We do think it was a single animal and this chapter is closed," said Carolyn Sime, head of Montana's Fish, Wildlife and Parks' wolf program. Meanwhile, in Park County, two wolves were shot on Oct. 25 following a confirmation that a calf had been killed by the wolves on a cattle ranch about 10 miles south of Livingston, Sime said. On Wednesday, a landowner in Garfield County reported large canid tracks in deep snow on his property, Sime said. Even though there had been no confirmed reports of wolf attacks for months, USDA Wildlife Services was authorized to search for the animal and kill it. Crews in the air spotted the wolf Thursday morning and shot it....
Idaho game commissioners frustrated over delays Idaho Fish and Game Commissioners continue to express frustration at the federal government’s refusal to quickly remove wolves from endangered species status. ‘‘There is some real frustration,’’ said commission chairman Cameron Wheeler of Ririe. ‘‘The problem is we have responsibility with no authority.’’ At the commission’s meeting in Lewiston on Thursday the group pressed state wildlife biologists to work within the framework of federal rules to thin wolves in areas where elk herds are lagging, The Lewiston Tribune reported. Commissioners said that wolf populations continue to grow by 20 percent each year. They complained of the state’s stalled attempt to get permission to kill wolves in the Lolo Hunting Zone near the Montana border. They directed the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to update and resubmit their request to kill 43 wolves in the Lolo mountains, while also aggressively pushing the federal government to remove wolves from endangered species protection. Commissioner Tony McDermott of Sagle wants to push federal regulators. ‘‘I think it’s time we take some drastic measures as a state,’’ he said. ‘‘I’m tired of not finding any elk in the Lolo.’’....
Grasslands aren't just for raising cattle, researcher says The study of unique grasslands has taken Linda Kennedy from the High Plains of north central Kansas to sky islands of southeast Arizona. While she's spent plenty of time on native grasses that have been grazed by cattle and other livestock for hundreds of years, Kennedy now spends much of her time in work to correct the burdens on grasses that livestock have placed. As the director of the National Audubon Society's Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch, Kennedy has a different perspective about the impact cattle have on a different part of the nation. Kennedy offered her thoughts at a recent master class to rangeland biology students at Fort Hays State University as part of her receiving an alumni achievement award during this year's homecoming festivities. The Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch is an 8,000-acre sanctuary and research facility in southeastern Arizona. The ranch is a treasure trove of information for researchers as a contrast to, say, prairie grasslands. Kennedy said it is a "naïve" ecosystem because it does not have the historic use by large hooved animals that grasslands such as those grazed upon by bison has....
Inquiry brings some anxiety A U.S. Forest Service employee has asked to have an attorney present before answering investigators' questions involving the deaths of five Forest Service firefighters in last month's Esperanza Fire. Anxiety over answering questions may spring from a 2003 fire in Idaho that killed two firefighters and resulted in an incident commander being held criminally liable, investigators said. The incident commander lost his job and was placed on federal probation for 18 months. The commander in Idaho was found liable after an investigation by the office of the inspector general in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Forest Service. That same office is now investigating Forest Service employees' actions in the Esperanza Fire. Joe Duran, of the National Federation of Federal Employees, the union that represents all federal employees, said he does not know the identity of the employee in connection with the current fire. Dick Mangan, president of the International Association of Wildland Fire, an association of wildland fire professionals, said the inspector general's involvement has brought a distrust in the investigative process. "Now what we've done is say, 'We think you robbed a bank. Tell us how you did it. But you're still going to go to jail if you cooperate.' " The Esperanza Fire is the only other investigation conducted by the inspector general's office after a 2002 law required the office to investigate fire service deaths caused by fires....
Official says car linked to suspect found near other arsons A car linked to a man charged with setting a wildfire that killed five firefighters was spotted near at least 10 other arsons, according to an official involved in the investigation. Word of the potential connection came Friday as the first funerals were held for members of the five-man U.S. Forest Service crew that was overtaken Oct. 26 as the blaze roared through the San Jacinto Mountains, 90 miles east of Los Angeles. Cameras secretly placed atop utility poles in remote areas captured details of a car registered to a man who said he had sold it to Raymond Lee Oyler months ago, said the official, who requested anonymity because the case was continuing. The official said detectives then began investigating Oyler for a string of arsons and found evidence linking him to last week's deadly fire. The cameras did not catch Oyler setting that fire, the official said. Oyler has been charged with murder and arson. Although prosecutors described the evidence against him as overwhelming, they have not provided many details of the case....
Debate rages over status for Dominguez Canyon Riddell, a volunteer with the Western Colorado Congress who lives in Montrose, said he’s a passionate advocate of permanent protection of Dominguez and nearby canyons, maybe as wilderness, maybe as a national conservation area. That’s a kick in the chaps to others, like gold prospector Marlin Littlefield, who says any sort of protection for public land around Dominguez Canyon is a violation of his rights because it might mean prospecting and off-road vehicles may be banned from there. Dominguez Canyon has been a wilderness study area for nearly two decades. “If they turn that into a national conservation area, it’s as bad, if not worse, than a wilderness area,” said Littlefield, of Crawford. “You can’t pick up a rock and look at it.” That’s important to Littlefield, because he pans for gold along the Gunnison River, and he said he’s afraid the government will ban him from using his motorized suction dredge....
Environmental group call for release of oil shale details An environmental group is accusing the Bureau of Land Management of refusing to release information on proposed oil shale projects in Colorado. Western Resource Advocates said it has sent a letter to Deputy Interior Secretary Lynn Scarlett protesting the decision not to release comments received on the BLM’s environmental review of three projects proposed in northwestern Colorado. “I think the BLM is trying to avoid scrutiny of the actions that it is proposing until it’s too late,” said Bob Randall, staff attorney for the Boulder-based group. The BLM was expected to issue final decisions on the oil shale research and development leases by the end of October. BLM spokeswoman Celia Boddington in Washington said Friday a decision is expected soon and added that the agency will respond to Western Resource Advocates’ Freedom of Information request by the Nov. 8 deadline....
Three lions killed on season’s third day Three more mountain lions n one male, one female and another of which the sex had not been confirmed by news deadline n were killed Friday, according to South Dakota Department of Game, Fish & Parks officials. The three kills on the third day of the 2006 Black Hills mountain lion season brought the season total to four. One was killed Wednesday on the opening day, and none was killed Thursday. GF&P regional supervisor Mike Kintigh, who confirmed Friday’s kills, said he was surprised. “Yeah, things are happening a little faster than I thought they would right now,” he said Friday evening. “I was anticipating a lion or so today. But to have three come in today surprises me a little.” He could only confirm the sex of two of the cats -- a male and a female. The sex of the third cat was unknown, as it hadn’t been brought into the GF&P regional office by news deadline. The Black Hills season will end either Dec. 31 or when eight females or 25 total lions are shot. Depending on the sex of the third cat, at least two of the allotted eight females have been killed....
Environmental coalition digs in at Tejon Ranch Developers of the largest chunk of privately owned wild lands remaining in Southern California and representatives from the nation's most powerful environmental groups gathered at a special summit last spring to consider a deal. Under it, environmentalists would forgo legal challenges if the proposed 23,000-home Centennial development on Tejon Ranch were reconfigured to more than double the amount of land set aside for a preserve. The May 19 meeting was supposed to have produced agreement on a tangle of thorny issues at the center of the negotiations. It failed. Tejon Ranch Co. rejected the proposal, opting to continue working with officials in Los Angeles and Kern counties on plans for Centennial and two other developments on the 270,000-acre ranch. The company wants to develop houses, resorts, industrial parks and golf courses on 5% of the property and set aside 100,000 acres of backcountry as a natural preserve, creating the biggest conservation area carved from private land in California. There are no specific plans for the rest of the ranch land....
Court Invalidates U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Exclusion of Nearly 900,000 Acres of Vernal Pool Critical Habitat Yesterday, Federal District Court Judge William B. Shubb issued a major ruling overturning the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) decision to omit 900,000 acres in 11 counties from its 2005 final rule designating critical habitat for 15 imperiled vernal pool plants and animals. Vernal pools are seasonal wetlands found throughout California. Judge Shubb also rejected industry's attempt to overturn the protections for more than 800,000 acres that FWS did protect as critical habitat. The court agreed with the six conservation organizations involved in the case that FWS failed to look at whether its decision to eliminate critical habitat protections for vernal pool grasslands in Butte, Fresno, Madera, Merced, Monterey, Placer, Sacramento, Shasta, Solano, Stanislaus, and Tehama counties affected the future recovery of the vernal pool species. In sending FWS back to the drawing board, Judge Shubb accepted the central argument of the conservation organizations that in excluding vernal pool critical habitat within 11 California counties, FWS continued its long history of failing to consider the essential importance of such designation to the ultimate recovery of the vernal pool species....
New Approach to Protect Private Property Rights Landowners from across the country will be meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, November 10-11, 2006, to learn brand new techniques to protect their private property rights. Hosted by three national property rights organizations, the two-day event will offer courses that teach individual citizens strategies to fight their local battles one by one. Today, citizens realize the issues that threaten their liberty and property rights, are no longer something they only read about in the newspapers. They are personally affected by zoning, park expansions, transportation corridors, endangered species, smart growth (sustainability) issues, wetland restrictions, conservation easements, access restrictions, grazing limitations, and hundreds of other regulatory schemes. “It’s the landowners who have learned how to organize and fight strategically that have had the greatest successes at protecting their land and communities from federal, state and local anti-private property measures,” stated Margaret Byfield, executive director of Stewards of the Range, the main sponsor of the meeting. “The key is teaching people how to re-think their issues and give them the tools to fight their specific battles.” That’s what the “Unite to Fight” conference is all about – winning locally. Fred Kelly Grant has been teaching these strategies for over 10 years and has been tremendously successful. A former prosecutor, who brought down organized crime figures in Baltimore, Maryland, and one of the most ingenious land-use consultants in the West, will be teaching landowners his secrets on how to win locally....
OSU, OHSU study of 'male-oriented' rams gains high-profile foe The tale of Oregon's gay sheep experiment just grew stranger. On Thursday, tennis great Martina Navratilova sent letters asking the presidents of OSU and OHSU to end what she calls "homophobic and cruel experiments." "Many gays and lesbians," she wrote, "stand to be deeply offended by the social implications of these tests." For years, researchers at Oregon State University and Oregon Health & Science University searched in relative obscurity for biological differences that might distinguish rams who mount ewes from rams who mount rams. Roughly 5 percent to 8 percent of rams are "male-oriented," say the researchers, who avoid the term "gay" as being too human-focused. The research results include a 2002 finding that a part of the brain in ram-oriented rams is different than in other rams. Researcher Charles Roselli is now leading a follow-up study to explore those differences, partly by changing hormone levels in pregnant sheep to see if that affects the eventual brain development and partner preference of unborn rams....
'Wool women' plan Wyoming mill Although they laughingly refer to themselves as “domesticated hippies” looking for fun ways to turn their creativity into something lucrative, Valerie Spanos and Karen Hostetler are not to be taken lightly. They are on the verge of establishing a woolen mill in Buffalo, a mill which will take Wyoming’s raw wool and convert it into marketable products. Their first goal was to find a mill that would take a raw fleece and make it into marketable products, such as baby sweaters, socks, quilt batting and yarn. They bought a bale of wool from Peter John Camino, a local sheep rancher, only to discover the nearest mill was in Canada. About nine months later, their order arrived in Buffalo: quilt batting, two queen size comforters and skeins of all-natural yarn. “It was the softest, most beautiful yarn you ever saw, soft enough for a baby blanket,” Hostetler said. “We marketed it right here in Buffalo and everyone loved it.” Thus, the Mountain Meadow Wool Company was born. Another bale of raw wool was soon on its way to Canada, but because it took so long to get anything back, Spanos and Hostetler decided to investigate starting a mill of their own....
A look at the historic Carlsbad Irrigation District building, then and now In 1890, the county seat was changed from Seven Rivers to Eddy by a vote of 331 to 81, the prairie grass was so high hay could be cut from it and the first election was held in the new county of Eddy on Nov. 4 of that year. The town of Eddy was on the move. It was also the year a new building was built on the corner of Fox and Canal streets that was home to the Pecos Irrigation and Investment Company, the precursor to the Carlsbad Irrigation District. Today, 116 years later, the building continues to be home to the Carlsbad Irrigation District, but sadly, it is in need of repair and restoration if it is to continue to be a historic landmark. The building was placed on the National Historic Register in 1965. To save the building, located on the city's main thoroughfare, it will take thousands of dollars, which CID officials say the agency does not have....
Girl lassoes dream The Christmas list of Sheridan Lintz may be short this year, because she already received the best present ever. The 8-year-old, who has loved horses since she was a tiny tot, recently won a horse of her own in a national essay contest. The pretty filly, a sorrel quarter horse, is aptly named Dream. "I always wished for a horse at Christmas, Easter and birthdays," Sheridan said. "I got my Christmas wish early, after a lot of hard work." Sheridan, the daughter of Eric and Jenni Lintz of north Fort Collins, is a home-schooled third-grader. She won second place in the contest, sponsored by a private organization called Kids 4 Horses. The theme of this year's essay contest was "How Horses Help Children and Adults with Disabilities." Sheridan had seen a TV broadcast about horses helping injured soldiers, so she went online and found that information for her essay. She also used the public library for research and conducted her first-ever interview. She cited her references at the end of her work. In the end, Sheridan's five-page essay (reprinted on page 16) was the longest paper she had ever written. Now, Sheridan could write another essay on a favorite saying of her dad's: "If you work really hard, it always pays off."....
Ranch culture branded into hides of Western ski areas A 6-foot-wide pair of painted circles mark the snow. In the center of each stands a woman clad in a cowboy hat and full-length duster. Ahead, coiled ropes hang from fence posts. Below, horses await with saddles at their sides. The competition is set to begin. A group of ProRodeo riders, fresh from Denver's National Western Stock Show, lines up at the head of a Steamboat run. Competing in pairs, the ski-riding cowboys will charge down the slope, barrel-racing through slalom gates and flying over a 4-foot berm, hoping not to crash like a bronco-bucked buckaroo. 'Pokes who reach the bottom will attempt to lasso the lass and saddle the horse, or at least keep from sliding under it. The finish line lies just beyond. "We really don't think about the risk when we get involved with something like this," says bull rider Justin Hathaway. "That's just the cowboy way." For more than three decades, Steamboat Springs has hosted the annual Cowboy Downhill competition, and in this northern Colorado community, a chaps-on-chairlifts event seems appropriate. After all, Steamboat's roots are ranching....
Christmas Valley rancher remembers career as cowboy stunt man Floyd Baze is a man of many alter egos. Over the years, he has worn wigs and pasted on beards while successfully passing himself off as Lee Marvin, William Holden, Jack Lord, Robert Preston and Neville Brand, among others. It's all been legal. For 25 years Baze was a Hollywood stunt man in Westerns, mostly doing horseback stunts deemed too dangerous for the stars. "To me it was all business," Baze said. "I don't think I'd call it glamor. I'd figure out the easiest, the best and the safest (way) for me and the horse." For the 72-year-old Baze, life on horseback in the movies was just a continuation of the life he's always lived. "When I was working in the pictures a guy asked me (about) the first time I ever rode a horse. I told him I couldn't remember," Baze said. Baze was born and raised in Eastern Washington's Yakima Valley, where his father, Dock, raised race horses — always at least 800. Baze was on horseback as a youngster, and riding in rodeos at age 13....
The charms of cowboy speak It's been a good two or three weeks, getting the fall cattle roundup done, and there's enough stories right there to fill a few columns, but the thought strikes me that, just as there is in every business, there's a certain way ranchers talk and think, a way that says who they are better than any name tag or public introduction could ever do. So, it's a thrill when I hear guys like lifelong valley rancher Bill Fender holler, "Where the hell you hidin'," in a big, booming voice, knowing he'll get on my case for being in the house in the first place. He's just topped 80 and is, of course, pleased to see me at home because he wants to visit a little, maybe impart a bit of knowledge my way, with any luck. "I saw those cows coming from a long ways off, along the ridge behind Mac's house up there in Section 36. You know where I mean? Hell yes, ya better. The long, afternoon sun reflected off their backs or I might not have seen them at all in that brush. Wouldn't you know, as I sat there waiting for them to hit the middle gate into our upper place - you know, the 240 - one of the purtiest sunsets I've ever witnessed came over the sky. You've seen 'em, I know you have. I should've gone over to the Hell's Hole to look for more cows, but it was a-getting dark and that damned sunset was enough to get me home, anyway." Over coffee with a good friend, I hear, "Isn't it a pisser? People who've never owned a cow in their lives cut through your property without permission and then try to tell you how to run your business 'cause they stepped in some cow shit. Not to mention the government, always pryin' its nose into what you're doin'. Seems like you catch hell from all sides, people wantin' to run you out of the business. It's not like we're gettin' rich at this game. It's a lot of damned work, and we're sure as hell not goofin' off."....
On the Edge of Common Sense: Curious cow learns lessons of flying This is the story of a curious cow who lived on Mr. Marvin's farm in the kingdom of Kansas. Her name was Yvonne. She was of Scottish and English heritage, but farmer Marv guessed that she had some Native American Pronghorn antelope in her lineage because everyone knows that antelopes are very curious. Farmer Marv had a large old-fashioned barn with a second-story hay mow, a high pitched roof and a rooster weather vane on the tallest peak. Yvonne was piddling around the barnyard one fine day doing her hooves, trying to find her cuticles and curling her switch. "How did that rooster get on top of the barn?" she wondered. "Well," said Peggy, her best hen friend, "I suppose he walked. He could not fly because the Poultry Protection League made it illegal for us to fly higher than a chicken wire fence." "Hmmm," said Curious Cow as she wandered into the barn, "Let's see." She walked between two old draft horse feed troughs, the milk cow stanchion, the rebuilt tractor and the sacks of protein supplement to a steep set of wooden stairs....

SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE WESTERNER


Matching the pitch to the buyer

By Julie Carter

Tex was a horse trader, skilled at many things but horse-trading was his first love.

He is also Dan's uncle. You recall Dan of "Dan the team roper and Slats the politest horse ever" fame.

Living in an area where there are lots of cowboys, lots of ropers and lots of horseman, Tex was making a viable living at trading horses. All those horsemen and ropers felt the need every once in awhile to change colors or upgrade their horses, so they'd go see Tex.

Tex tried hard to maintain an adequate inventory of trained horses but also made a point to fit each customer's needs to the abilities and personality of each horse. An admirable quality in a horse trader, indeed.

Calf roping was the "hot" sport at this particular time. Tex had Dan living in the bunkhouse, training and tuning up the calf roping horses for the customers.

Dan would get them going good, correct any little bad tendencies and be ready at a moments notice to show these good horses to prospective buyers.

One afternoon, Rocky, a regular customer, called and told Tex he needed a new but very good calf horse.

Tex was caught kind of short in his "good calf horse" inventory. All he had was one sorrel stocking-legged horses standing in the lot ready to sell.

Tex told Rocky this good sorrel horse was quiet, had nice conformation, an impressive set of papers validating good breeding and had been started right. He would need some more polishing up on his arena work but would be a good horse someday. Tex priced the sorrel at $1,250.

Rocky told Tex he was on a winning streak, had won a couple buckles lately and better yet, his girlfriend was real impressed with his roping. He really thought he needed a horse that was quite a lot better than the sorrel Tex had offered him.

Tex thought about it a minute and with the presence of mind only the best of horse traders can muster, he began describing a stocking-legged horse to Rocky. This one had lots of "chrome," the best conformation with lots of muscle definition. He guaranteed a good solid stop on the horse where a man could get off on the right, run down the rope and tie a very quick calf.

Tex promised this horse to be a surefire winner in anybody's book, but added the caution he really wasn't planning on selling him because he didn't have his registration papers. Reluctantly he priced this special horse at $2,500.

Rocky said he'd be right over, that this horse sounded like just what he needed. Dan showed the horse to him, demonstrating his skills on several calves in the arena, catching them all.

Rocky was in love. He'd never miss another calf, would have to build a trophy case for all the buckles he win and his girl friend would be more than impressed.

As Rocky drove off with this exceptional, you guessed it, sorrel stocking-legged horse in the trailer, Tex looked at Dan and said, "Well nephew, we are plumb out of horses now and while I hate to tear up these papers, Rocky ain't going to need them anyhow."

© Jule Carter 2006 Silence can be a speech. It is hard to put a foot in a closed mouth.



The Right Hand Man

by Larry Gabriel

Like most people in charge of an operation, farmers and ranchers are well aware of the value of a good "right hand man".

No one is certain where "right hand man" originated, but it has been around for hundreds of years as an identifier of a most trusted assistant, often the second in command.

During the 18th century, the right hand man was an officer in charge of the right flank of a cavalry unit. Today the phrase applies to both men and women and generally means someone who is a trusted confidant and often left in charge.

Many farms and ranches are blessed with such a person, sometimes with the title of foreman, but often they are a long time employee with the title of "friend". Sometimes it is a son who is in the process of taking over the farm or ranch as the father gets older.

A right hand man is someone who allows the "boss" to be gone without giving a second thought to problems that may arise because his man knows exactly what to do, how to do it and what the boss would do if he were there. For those who bear management responsibility day in and day out, it is great blessing to have such a helper who is more friend than employee.

I am doubly lucky in this regard. I know the feeling of confidence and trust that comes from having a good right hand man both on the ranch and in my government job. You can't imagine what a blessing it is to leave the ranch or the South Dakota Department of Agriculture in trusted hands as I travel back and forth between them.

Another American idiom says, "all good things come to an end." I am not sure that is always true, but in the case of my right hand man at the South Dakota Department of Agriculture it is true in part. Deputy Secretary George A. Williams is leaving Pierre and moving to a new opportunity in Sioux Falls this month.

It is a sad time for our office, almost as sad as when George left us to do a tour of duty in Iraq as a Sergeant First Class in A Battery, 2nd Battalion, 147th Field Artillery unit of the South Dakota National Guard.

For me, this departure is more difficult. When he left for Iraq I knew in my heart he would be back. That's why we never changed a thing in his office and didn't even shut down his email. Our faith paid off when he finally returned.

This time I am really losing my right hand man – the man who was in charge when I was out, the man who could handle anything that might arise, and who I knew would do nothing that I would not do. He gave me freedom from worry during every absence from the office.

Losing that kind of support is difficult, whether it happens on a farm, a ranch or in an office. If you see a few technical errors in the column in the future you will know why.

However, there is also a gain involved. Next month, Sioux Falls will become a more enjoyable place for me to visit, because one of my very best friends will be there.

Mr. Gabriel is the South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture

OPINION/COMMENTARY


The Anti-Kelo Wave

We'll all find out soon whether next week's elections yield the "Democratic wave" so many political seers have predicted. There isn't much doubt, however, about another kind of electoral wave that has been building across America and is set to crash on Tuesday. That tsunami is the property-rights backlash, which is the direct result of last year's misguided and deeply unpopular Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. City of New London. A narrow Court majority decided that the Constitution's "takings" clause somehow allowed the government to seize private property not merely for "public use" but also on behalf of other private interests. As Justice Sandra Day O'Connor argued in dissent, this departed from 200 years of precedent and was an invitation for the politically powerful to use government as an ally against the weak. The one grace note was the majority's concession that "Nothing in our opinion precludes any State from placing further restrictions on its exercise of the takings power." Next week's vote will show just how many Americans are taking up the Court's challenge. No fewer than 11 states (see nearby table) have ballot measures designed to limit government's ability to pilfer private property for someone else's private economic development. Eight initiatives would enshrine those restrictions in state constitutions, and polls show that most are headed for victories. The 11 states where anti-Kelo property-rights initiatives will be on the ballot Tuesday. Louisiana voters approved a constitutional amendment Sept. 30. These referendums build on anti-Kelo measures already passed by state legislatures, which aren't known for moving quickly, much less for exhibiting courage in the face of the powerful special interests (developers, local governments) driving eminent domain abuses. But fear is a powerful motivator, and voter anger at Kelo has yielded striking results. Some 28 states have already passed statutes that limit "takings" powers, and five of Tuesday's 11 ballot measures were crafted by state legislatures....



BUSH ADMINISTRATION PROPOSES MASSIVE LAND GRAB

Days ago, in a proposal unnoticed by the media, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced the largest land grab since President Clinton designated massive national monuments across the West. When Clinton decreed 1.9 million acres of federal land in Utah as the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument to kill a vast underground coal mine that would have employed 1,000 locals in the most economically depressed region of southern Utah, generated $20 million in annual revenue, and produced environmentally compliant coal for generating electricity, there were protests across the West. When the Bush Administration published its plans, there was barely a ripple of protest. There should have been a tidal wave of opposition! What Bush officials propose would make Clinton and his Interior Secretary, Bruce Babbitt, proud indeed. While Clinton’s national monument proclamations affected only federal land, the Bush plan affects primarily state- and privately-owned land. Moreover, while Clinton designated a total of 5.9 million acres to receive special federal protection as national monuments, the Bush plan would impose a protective federal overlay upon 11.5 million acres (18,000 square miles) or an area the size of the states of Massachusetts and Maryland combined. Formally entitled “Revised Designation of Critical Habitat for the Contiguous United States Distinct Population Segment of the Canada Lynx” and published in the Federal Register on November 9, 2005, the plan results from a March 2000 ruling by a federal district court in the District of Columbia. There, after ten years of litigation, a host of environmental groups succeeded in efforts to require the FWS to use the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to protect the Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) in the contiguous United States. That was only the beginning....



Global cooling? Bring it on!

As about six inches of snow fell on Calgary and Edmonton last week, and Fahrenheit temperatures plunged to the 20-above zero level and stayed there, the thoughts of some Albertans – of this one, anyway – focused on the subject of global warming.
"How come," I asked a friend in Virginia, who knows about such things, "how come, if the globe is warming, we have mid-winter arriving here before the end of October?" My trouble, he replied, is that I don't keep up with scientific discovery. Had I not read, for instance, the report of the chief of the Space Exploration Department of the Central Astronomical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences and supervisor of the Astrometria project of the Russian part of the International Space Station. He warned last summer that another problem is rapidly overshadowing the global warming problem. This, he continued, was the problem of global cooling. There is mounting evidence that long before the global warming threat begins to become serious, we may be entering another glacial age. This man is Dr. Khabibullo Abdusamatov, and he reached his conclusion from his readings of solar cycles. Dr Abdusamatov notes that there are three types of solar cycles – an 11-year, a 100-year, and 200-year. The effects of the 11- and 100-year cycles afford little cause for concern. The 200-year cycle, however, is a very different matter. "The whole world has recognized the global warming theory, which pictures catastrophic situations in the future," he told the Russian press. "I do not march in step with the world at this point. However, my theory has raised a certain interest in other countries. Hardly had I made a statement when I received several messages from scientists living in the USA, Iceland and other countries. They wanted to know more of my theory. They also want to know if I have delivered a detailed report on the matter and where it was published." Dr. Abdusamatov said that a global reduction of temperatures would become evident about halfway into this century because solar radiation will be receding. The big chill will begin slowly, gathering pace between 2050 and '55. In effect it will repeat the conditions recorded between 1645 and 1715 when all canals froze in Holland and severe cold forced the evacuation of many communities....



The Snowe-Rockefeller Road to Kyoto

In a recent letter to ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson, Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and John Rockefeller (D-WV) urge Tillerson to end his company's support of "climate change denial front groups." The only group they identify by name is the one for which I work—the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI). I guess the Senators haven't been keeping up with the news, because ExxonMobil stopped funding CEI months ago. The Senators get several other easily checked facts wrong as well. They fault ExxonMobil for not "investing in the development of technologies that might see us through this [global warming] crisis." Maybe they didn't get the memo, but back in 2002, ExxonMobil pledged "to invest $100 million in a groundbreaking Stanford University project dedicated to researching new options for commercially viable, technological systems for energy supply and use which have the capability to substantially reduce greenhouse emissions." More importantly, CEI is not a global warming "denier"—a highly pejorative term, meant to imply a resemblance to "Holocaust deniers." CEI does not deny that global warming is happening, nor that man-made greenhouse gas emissions are contributing to the warming. Rather, we question climate alarmism—the claim, in Vice President Al Gore's words, that global warming is a "planetary emergency." For example, in An Inconvenient Truth, Gore warns that half of the Greenland Ice Sheet could melt or "slip into the sea," raising sea levels by 10 feet. He doesn't say how long this might take, but gives the impression it could happen within our lifetimes, or those of our children. The annual net loss of ice in Greenland is about 92 cubic kilometers per year. That may sound like a lot—but it translates into less than one inch of sea level rise in a century. Apocalypse Not!....


Arizonans Get An Animal-Rights Reality Check

The people who brought you constitutional rights for pigs and the "Fish Empathy Project" have descended on the Copper State. And through a series of crafty campaigns of bait-and-switch, they're hoping to impose their destructive ideology on the good people of Arizona. But we're pushing back. With mobile billboards, full-page ads in major newspapers, and opinion pieces -- like the one in today's Arizona Daily Star -- we're telling Arizonans the truth about exactly who it is they're dealing with. As we wrote in the Star: Animal "rights" sees the institution of pet ownership, including seeing-eye dogs and police K-9 units, as a form of slavery. Extending rights to rhinos would mean zoos simply couldn't keep them anymore. Likewise for circus elephants, marine-park dolphins and every living thing sold at pet stores. Embracing the animal-rights philosophy requires shifting vegetarianism from a choice to an obligation. In the long term, words like beef, pork, veal, cheese, omelet and even "wishbone" would exist only in a Scrabble dictionary. Activists may start out agitating merely for larger cages, but their real goal is the end of all animal agriculture. Including those small "family" farms....