NEWS ROUNDUP
Whose Sheep? Mountain sheep vanished from Oregon in the 1940s, disappearing even earlier on the Idaho side of the canyon. Now they're back, at least to some degree. But whether these iconic animals will ever return to their historical levels is not yet clear. For at least 20 years, biologists have recommended keeping domestic and wild sheep apart on the range. Years of research have shown that when bighorns interact with their tame cousins, massive bighorn sheep die-offs soon follow. Nearly 20,000 domestic sheep still graze on parts of the Payette National Forest in Idaho, which contains ideal range—for both domestic and wild sheep—and is contiguous with Hells Canyon. New telemetry data have confirmed what biologists long suspected: Wild sheep from Hells Canyon are roaming onto domestic grazing allotments on the Payette. This summer, the Forest Service for the first time barred domestic sheep from those parts of the forest that connect with bighorn sheep habitat. That decision was upheld by a federal judge. But the recovery of the bighorns may depend, ultimately, on the outcome of a continuing legal dispute between supporters of wild sheep reintroduction and longtime domesticated sheep ranchers in Idaho. The battle for the Payette promises to clarify where bighorns will be protected. At the same time, it may determine the future of the sheep-ranching industry, which has depended on access to public grazing leases across the West for more than a century.
Strange bedfellows A scheme to help preserve biological diversity that pleases both environmental groups and land-use groups would be quite an accomplishment. Congress has a chance to approve such a plan. The Endangered Species Recovery Act of 2007 has broad support, including the Environmental Defense Fund, National Wildlife Federation and Defenders of Wildlife on one side and the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Society of American Foresters and a coalition that includes the National Association of Home Builders on the other. Some of these groups have faced off in court. This approach gives them a chance to work together. Introduced in both the House (HR 1422) and Senate (S 700), this proposal creates tax incentives for private landowners, primarily farmers and ranchers, who proactively preserve or enhance habitat for threatened or endangered species. Agreements that earn tax credits can include restrictions on how land is used. The goal remains species preservation, but this is a cooperative model instead of an adversarial one. It makes an endangered species a benefit to the landowner instead of a liability. The bill has moved through Senate committees in two forms. One is a stand-alone version, which we strongly support....
Pinyon-juniper chaining project will benefit wildlife, watershed Deer, elk and a portion of the watershed draining into the Duchesne River will benefit from the recent chaining of pinyon-juniper trees on the foothills of Tabby Mountain in north-central Utah. Roughly 1,000 acres of pinyon-juniper were knocked down using a heavy chain pulled by bulldozers. The project included 600 acres on the Blacktail Ridge and another 400 in Sandwash. The project is a cooperative effort among the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and its partners: the Bill Barrett Corp., the U.S. Forest Service and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. The Bill Barrett Corp. pledged $20,800 to the project as mitigation for wildlife disturbances. The Forest Service and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation donated $60,000 and $7,500 respectively. Another $100,000 came through the DWR as part of Utah's Watershed Restoration Initiative. "The area is losing its wildlife habitat and watershed values because of the pinyon-juniper," said Alison Whittaker, DWR habitat biologist....
Preserving Our Equine Heritage on Public Lands Act Introduced in Senate Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) introduced the Preserving our Equine Heritage on Public Lands Act (S. 2238) on November 1st. This bill is similar to the so-called “Right-to-Ride” bill that was introduced in the last Congress by Senator Crapo. “Senator Crapo has been a champion of preserving riders’ access to public lands,” said American Horse Council (AHC) President Jay Hickey. “He has retooled the bill he introduced in the last Congress and we appreciate his steadfastness in introducing the legislation again. Equestrians are going to have to let Congress know that they are concerned about access to trails and public lands and that they support this bill if we hope to get it passed.” The bill directs the Secretaries of Interior and Agriculture to manage the federal lands under their jurisdiction “in a manner that preserves and facilitates the continued use and access of pack and saddle stock animals” on lands on which “there is a historical tradition” of use. The bill provides that such lands “shall remain open and accessible to the use of pack and saddle stock animals” where there is such a tradition. The bill applies to the management of the National Park System, BLM lands, National Wildlife Refuge System land, and National Forest System land. The bill does not limit the federal agencies’ ultimate authority to restrict such use, provided the agencies perform the review required under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. The bill would also impose additional specific and designated procedures to be followed by agencies before any land closures. These procedures include advance notice of any proposed reduction in use to allow public comment, convening a public meeting near the area involved, and collaboration with various users during the process....
Feds investigate logging in forest Agriculture Department investigators are in the Giant Sequoia National Monument this week probing allegations of illegal logging, lawmakers revealed Tuesday. The investigators from the department's Office of Inspector General are examining claims that the Forest Service allowed about 200 protected trees to be chopped down in 2004 and 2005. Environmentalists contend the logging included trees removed near the popular Trail of 100 Giants. "They're looking to move pretty quickly," said Jeff Lieberson, spokesman for Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y. "We wanted them to take a look and see what the real deal is." The investigation could reopen old wounds around the Giant Sequoia National Monument, established by President Bill Clinton in 2000 despite some local opposition. Critics contended the 327,769-acre monument, carved into the existing Sequoia National Forest, would unduly cramp important commercial and recreational activities. Monument supporters fear loggers have continued to hold too much power even in areas meant to be preserved....
Ship's collision with bridge leaves 58,000 gallons of oil in San Francisco Bay After the largest oil spill in San Francisco Bay in more than a decade Wednesday, agencies today plan to continue the clean-up of 58,000 gallons of oil leaked inside the Bay as they assess damage to wildlife and beaches. The spill occurred on a foggy morning when a cargo ship collided with the Bay Bridge. Throughout the day, U.S. Coast Guard crews worked to surround the spill with floating boom, removing at least 8,000 gallons with skimmer ships and absorbent pads, said spokesman U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael Anderson. "The Coast Guard is committed to protecting the environment. We are deploying all available resources to clean it up," he said. The effect on wildlife was unknown by late Wednesday night. At first, Coast Guard officials said the spill had only resulted in 140 gallons of bunker fuel entering the water. But by 10 p.m., the agency upgraded the amount to 58,000 gallons. The spill occurred when a container ship, the Cosco Busan, bound from Oakland to South Korea, hit a barrier on a tower of the bridge....
Snowy plover plan curbs beach activity The Western snowy plover, a tiny beach bird that weighs less than two ounces, could get stiff shoreline boundaries under a state plan introduced Monday. Dogs and kite-flying will be off-limits on 32 miles of beaches under the plan, introduced by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. Off-road driving is already banned at the proposed sites. The plan, submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, covers 32 miles of the state’s 230 miles of sandy beaches. Plovers, whose numbers in Oregon were counted at 125 this year, have been listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act since 1993. Oregon submitted the plan to the Fish and Wildlife Service to receive a permit that acknowledges recreation will at times disturb or harm plovers....
Environmentalists Are Muscling In on Atlanta's Water Supply With the Southeast suffering a prolonged drought, the city of Atlanta, Georgia, has only about a three month supply of readily accessible water. Nevertheless, in compliance with the Endangered Species Act, the Army Corps of Engineers continues to drain more than a billion gallons a day from Lake Lanier, Atlanta's main water source, to release it downstream for an endangered species of mussel. "The Endangered Species Act is a danger to the human species," said Dr. Keith Lockitch, a resident fellow of the Ayn Rand Institute. "People find it hard to believe that environmental laws like the Endangered Species Act could really require the sacrifice of human beings to nature. But that is exactly what they have to mean in practice; they mean that in order to sustain some obscure mussel species, the people in Atlanta must go without water. Environmentalists claim that blaming the mussels is unfair. They say it is just a way of diverting attention from the real causes of the water crisis, which, in their view, are a lack of strict water conservation mandates and the 'unbridled development' of metro Atlanta over the last few years." But, says Lockitch, "this amounts to the bizarre claim that the problem is not a failure to build reservoirs and expand water capacity, but a 'failure' to obstruct economic progress and impose draconian water restrictions on Atlanta. In other words, the environmentalists' view is that Atlantans should sacrifice even more to nature....
Obama outlines rural Nevada plan Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said he does not support mining reform legislation that recently passed the House of Representatives and would work to find a compromise that is more friendly to the mining industry. "The legislation that has been proposed places a significant burden on the mining industry and could have a significant impact on jobs (in rural Nevada) given the difficulties the industry is already facing in maintaining its operations," Obama said during a conference call with Nevada reporters discussing his platform for rural Nevada. Of the detailed, 11-page package of proposals, Obama stressed shoring up the mining industry, improving rural residents' access to health care and fighting "the scourge of methamphetamine." The plan also includes supporting the state's right to regulate gaming, keeping Lake Tahoe blue, fighting wildfires, protecting ranchers and opposing the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain...
Panelists nix split zone for cattle After hours of rancorous debate punctuated by yelling and boos from the audience, the Montana Board of Livestock on Tuesday stepped away from a plan to split Montana into two zones to manage a dreaded cattle disease. On a 6-1 vote, the seven-member panel that governs the Montana Department of Livestock decided to pursue other ways of preventing the spread of brucellosis from infected bison and elk in Yellowstone National Park into Montana's neighboring cattle. The decision does not mean the state will never pursue a so-called "split state" to deal with brucellosis, said board Chairman William Hedstrom. Something major, like a second case of the disease or an outcry from ranchers, would have to come up before the board would consider the issue again, he said in an interview after the meeting. "This has divided the industry, and the board is divided," Hedstrom said of the issue and the board's carefully worded resolution on the matter. It seemed to remove split-state status from consideration while not fully closing the door on the idea....
Country Music Hall of Fame Member Hank Thompson Dies Country Music Hall of Fame member Hank Thompson died late Tuesday (Nov. 7) at his home near Fort Worth, Texas, following a battle with lung cancer. The 82-year-old singer, songwriter and bandleader last week canceled all of his tour dates after being hospitalized. He played his last concert on Oct. 8 in his native Waco, Texas, when Hank Thompson Day was declared by Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Waco Mayor Virginia DuPuy. According to Thompson's official Web site, a celebration of his life will take place Nov. 14 at Billy Bob's Texas, the famed nightspot in Fort Worth. Few performers in any era of the music have known and appreciated its history as well, and Thompson, elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1989, was a big part of that history. His warm and rich baritone graced hits from the 1940s to the 1970s, as his award-winning Brazos Valley Boys band gave those honky-tonk hits a distinctive flavor of Western swing, much in the pattern followed later by fellow Texan George Strait. Henry William Thompson was born on Sept. 3, 1925. His parents were Jule Thomas Thompson and Zexia Ida Wells Thompson, and his paternal grandparents were German Czechs named "Kocek" who Anglicized the name to "Thompson." Though the family lived on a farm outside of town, Jule Thompson was a mechanic, and his son always had at least an amateur's interest in such handy things as radio electronics. He earned part-time money doing radio shop work in Waco during his high school days, then studied radio communications and electronics while serving in the Navy and at college extension courses (from Princeton University and the University of Texas) which helped him earn credits toward his postwar discharge. Neither of his parents even dabbled at music, and Thompson told writer Rich Kienzle that growing up, country was the only music he listened to and the only music that anybody he knew listened to....
Cow Falls Off Cliff, Crashes Onto Van on Highway Charles and Linda Everson were driving back to their hotel when their minivan was struck by a falling object — a 600-pound cow. The Eversons were unhurt but the cow, which had fallen off a cliff, had to be euthanized. The year-old cow fell about 200 feet from the cliff and landed on the hood of the couple's minivan, causing heavy damage. A Chelan County fire chief, Arnold Baker, said the couple missed being killed by a matter of inches in the accident Sunday on a highway near Manson. The Eversons, visiting the area from their home in Westland, Mich., to celebrate their first wedding anniversary, were checked at Lake Chelan Community Hospital as a precaution. Everson, 49, said he didn't see the cow falling and didn't know what happened until afterward. He said he kept repeating: "I don't believe this. I don't believe this."
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
NEWS ROUNDUP
Climate Bills Will 'Require a Wholesale Transformation of the Nation's Economy and Society' A Washington Post article today stated that the Democrats' current global warming proposals "will require a wholesale transformation of the nation's economy and society." The article by Post staff writer Juliet Eilperin noted that Democrat presidential candidates' climate proposals would "cost billions of dollars," and detailed exactly what the American people will face when it comes to cap-and-trade proposals. The Post article cited an MIT expert who said climate proposals would drive up the costs of energy on already overburdened American families. "According to energy expert Tracy Terry's analysis of a recent Massachusetts Institute of Technology study, under the scenario of an 80 percent reduction in emissions from 1990 levels, by 2015 Americans could be paying 30 percent more for natural gas in their homes and even more for electricity. At the same time, the cost of coal could quadruple and crude oil prices could rise by an additional $24 a barrel," the article reported. Even the Democratic candidates are now fully admitting that the cost of these global warming bills will be extremely costly both financially and politically, according to the Washington Post article....
Fly could halt plan to expand old cemetery The 120-year-old Hermosa Gardens Cemetery - the final resting place of many Colton pioneers, professional baseball players and notable figures such as Wyatt Earp's younger brother - could hold its last burial four years from now. That's when cemetery officials believe they will be out of room if they aren't allowed to expand. There are 20 acres adjacent to the city-owned cemetery that have been planned for burial plots, but there's a problem. The Delhi Sands flower-loving fly, a federal endangered species, was spotted over the summer on the land, officials said. "Right now, we're kind of at a standstill because of the fly," said Billy Pratt, general manager of the cemetery. "Something has to be done, but we don't know exactly what." About 40,000 people are buried in the 20-acre developed portion of the cemetery on Meridian Avenue between C and Olive streets, Pratt said....
Forest Guardians criticizes BLM habitat plans An environmental group says the Bureau of Land Management's plans to protect habitat for the lesser prairie chicken and the sand dune lizard will do the species more harm than good. "We fear this is recipe for extinction dressed up as a conservation plan," said Lauren McCain, desert and grasslands program director for Forest Guardians. The release of the proposed special status species management plan and final environmental impact statement last week started a 30-day period for protests. The BLM said its amended management plan for the prairie chicken will allow oil and gas development, grazing and off-road vehicles on federal land used by the birds but still will protect its population. Landowners and conservationists in New Mexico have been working to keep the bird from being listed under the federal Endangered Species Act. Forest Guardians favors listing both species....
Small rodent, big pain for builders Developer Steve Schuck said he never found a Preble’s meadow jumping mouse on land north of Colorado Springs, but he said the animal wound up costing him $1 million and years of delay. As he crawled his way through a maze of federal regulations under the Endangered Species Act, Schuck said he encountered requirements that did nothing for the “quality and the livability of the development.” “That’s all because we couldn’t prove a mouse didn’t live on our property,” he said. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Thursday that the Preble’s mouse will retain its federal protection under the Endangered Species Act in Colorado but not Wyoming. While agency officials say development in Colorado has destroyed much of the mouse’s habitat, developers and some local government officials say they are being unfairly burdened by regulations to protect the mouse. "This is all about a mouse that nobody ever sees,” Schuck said. “Millions and millions of dollars are going out for this rodent — and that’s what it is,” said Monument Mayor Byron Glenn. “In the meantime, schools are not being built. Roads are not being built....
Naturalists want more info on giant worms Naturalists are searching southwest Washington state for the giant Palouse earthworm in an effort to get the species on the endangered list. The worms grow up to 3 feet long. But they are surprisingly difficult to find for a large worm, The Seattle Times reported Tuesday. The Palouse Prairie Foundation applied for an endangered species listing recently. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rejected the petition on the grounds that there is no proof they are endangered. Very little is known about the worms, including whether they are extinct, since only four specimens have been recorded in 30 years. Most scientists believe that the worms prefer prairie habitat but there is at least one 19th-century report of worms found in a forest. Jodi Johnson-Maynard of the University of Idaho said that scientists are trying new methods to bring the worms to the surface. They include a device that sends a mild electrical shock into the earth, flooding burrows with a mild solution of hot mustard and vinegar and sending vibrations into the ground....
Advocates Sue to Enforce Pesticide Order Salmon advocates filed a lawsuit Monday to force the Bush administration to obey a 5-year-old court order requiring it to make permanent rules to keep agricultural pesticides from killing salmon. Filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, the lawsuit asks a judge to order NOAA Fisheries, the agency in charge of protecting salmon, to formally consult with the Environmental Protection Agency over the use of 37 pesticides. Several are commonly found in rivers around the country and can kill salmon at minute concentrations. U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour had ordered the formal consultations in 2002 and imposed temporary restrictions that barred crop-dusting next to salmon streams and required home and garden stores to post warnings for consumers....
Pickens Water Plan Poised to Gain Bond, Condemnation Authority Boone Pickens, the high-rolling oilman, may have engineered one of his shrewdest takeovers yet in the form of eight acres of Texas scrubland. The land in Roberts County, a stretch of ranchland outside Amarillo, holds no oil. Instead, it is central to Pickens's plan to create an agency to condemn property and sell tax-exempt bonds in the search for one of his other favorite commodities: water. Approval of the district is all but certain when Texans vote today in state and local elections. By law, only the two people who actually live on the eight acres will be allowed to vote --the manager of Pickens's nearby Mesa Vista ranch and his wife. The other three owners, who will sit on the district's board, all work for Pickens. Pickens ``has pulled a shenanigan,'' said Phillip Smith, a rancher who serves on a local water-conservation board. ``He's obtained the right of eminent domain like he was a big city. It's supposed to be for the public good, not a private company.'' Pickens and his allies say no shenanigans are involved. Once the district is created, the board will be able to issue tax-exempt bonds to finance construction of Pickens's planned 328-mile, $2.2 billion pipeline to transport water from the panhandle across the prairie to the suburbs of Dallas and San Antonio....
15 Bears Die In PG&E Waterway In One Month It's a baffling problem in the foothills. Fifteen bears and two mountain lions have been found drowned in a PG&E waterway in just one month. "This heightened number of bear deaths is absolutely alarming and unusual," said Nicole Tam, PG&E. It's unusual because bears are good swimmers, and also because dead bears have showed up in the canal since it was built three years ago. The canal provides electricity to thousands of homes. But only recently, did the animals' carcasses appear in the canal -- 15 bears and two mountain lions between Sept.15-Oct. 15 -- that's one every two days. Experts don't know why the animals are finding their way over the canal's barriers. PG&E says they're working with the Dept. of Fish and Game and the U.S. Forest service to solve the mystery. They say it could be the work of poachers....
Dozens treated after Grand Canyon biologist dies More than two dozen people who came in close contact with a National Park Service wildlife biologist found dead last week are being given antibiotics because he may have died of an infectious disease. Eric York, 37, was found in his home at the Grand Canyon National Park on Friday. The Coconino County Medical Examiner suspects an infectious illness may have killed York because his lungs were filled with fluid and his body showed signs of pneumonia. Tests results are expected later this week. Because of York's professional interests and hobbies, medical officials believe hantavirus and plague are possible causes, according to a Park Service spokeswoman. The Park Service has located approximately 30 people who came within 6 feet of York in the days before his death and while retrieving his body, and all are being treated with a 7-day course of antibiotics as a precaution, spokeswoman Maureen Oltrogge said....
Yellowstone considers closing east entrance Yellowstone National Park reopens for winter in six weeks, and the debate over snowmobile use in the frozen wonderland has revved up again at the world's first national park. Most attention focuses on hundreds of snow machines allowed daily through Yellowstone's west entrance, but a standoff also clouds winter use at the park's lightly visited east gate. Avalanche-prone Sylvan Pass, about 8 miles inside that entrance, is so treacherous and costly to maintain — up to $565 per motorized visitor last season — that the park wants to close it next winter. Since the 8,530-foot pass first opened to snowmobiles in the 1970s, the park has used Army surplus howitzers and a contract helicopter to shoot down heavy buildups of snow after major storms so avalanches won't bury visitors. A risk study for the park's new winter management plan likely to be adopted this week says the threat to workers and visitors is too great....
Park service has 90 days to make offer on ranch The Texas School Land Board decided Tuesday to give the National Park Service 90 days to submit an offer to buy the Christmas Mountains Ranch. Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson wants to sell the 9,000-acre tract, because the state, he says, cannot adequately conserve the land. The Conservation Fund donated the land to Texas in 1991 with strict restrictions on its use. After weeks of public opposition to Patterson's plans to sell the land to a private bidder, the board decided to allow the National Park Service time to make an offer to add it to Big Bend National Park, about 300 miles southeast of El Paso. "I'm looking forward to meeting with National Park Service officials and interested parties to discuss how we can move forward," Patterson said. Patterson has been adamant that any future owner of the property must allow hunting there. The Park Service prohibits firearms in its parks, but the two private bidders have pledged to allow hunting in the Christmas Mountains.
Mount Rushmore officials sued over free speech, religion rights A Christian law group is accusing Mount Rushmore officials of trampling the free speech and religious rights of a Coon Rapids, Minn., man who alleges he cannot get a permit to distribute religious materials at the national monument. The law firm says Boardley distributed “gospel tracts” at the monument on Aug. 9 without incident but was told the next day he needed a permit. Boardley said he applied for a permit, but he has not received one. Gerard Baker, Mount Rushmore superintendent, said Monday that Boardley has never applied for a permit. “We have never denied a permit,” Baker told The Associated Press. “All he has to do is get a hold of us, and we’ll give him a permit. We issue 70-plus permits a year, and I’m not sure what’s going on.” Boardley has not applied for a permit because Mount Rushmore officials would not give him an application, both when he was at the monument and later when he called and asked for one, Kevin Theriot, ADF senior counsel, said Monday....
Broodmare sold for world-record $10.5 million at Keeneland The Emir of Dubai paid $10.5 million to buy Irish-bred Playful Act at Keeneland's Breeding Stock Sale on Monday, a world record auction price for a broodmare. The bidding was another showdown between two titans of the horse breeding industry, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum's Darley Stud and Coolmore Stud of Ireland. "When those two teams hook up, neither one of them wants to stop," said John Sikura of Hill 'n' Dale Bloodstock, who consigned the horse for Swettenham Stud of Australia. "It's a test of wills, test of ego. They bought a fantastic mare. Obviously we wish them nothing but the best and hope she'll bring a champion." John Ferguson, the buyer for the sheik, said he was determined to get the horse, in part to honor Swettenham's late owner, Robert Sangster, who always talked her up. "He was a great friend of Sheik Mohammed," Ferguson said of Sangster, who died in April 2004. "That is part of the reason why Sheik Mohammed was so determined to have this particular mare." During Keeneland's 2006 September yearling sale, Darley outlasted Coolmore to pay $11.7 million for a bay colt by Kingmambo, setting a sale record. The two prominent buyers have battled numerous other times at Keeneland and other auctions....
Brazile's triumph at National Finals Steer Roping puts him in pursuit of history Trevor Brazile's emergence from National Finals Steer Roping Saturday night with a second consecutive gold buckle puts him on a path toward what could become ProRodeo's first Triple Crown parlay since Roy Cooper in 1983 -- winning the steer roping, tie-down roping and all-around titles all in one year. One down. Two to go. Brazile earned a record $46,500 at the NFSR in the Lea County Event Center to run away with the steer roping world championship and will have substantial leads in both the tie-down roping and the all-around standings entering the Dec. 6-15 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in his quest to join Cooper in a very elite club. "You always want to repeat as champion," Brazile said, "and I put extra pressure on myself here because the Triple Crown is definitely in the back of my mind. You can't win a Triple Crown if you don't win the first one. This was just the first step. It is not going to be easy."....
Climate Bills Will 'Require a Wholesale Transformation of the Nation's Economy and Society' A Washington Post article today stated that the Democrats' current global warming proposals "will require a wholesale transformation of the nation's economy and society." The article by Post staff writer Juliet Eilperin noted that Democrat presidential candidates' climate proposals would "cost billions of dollars," and detailed exactly what the American people will face when it comes to cap-and-trade proposals. The Post article cited an MIT expert who said climate proposals would drive up the costs of energy on already overburdened American families. "According to energy expert Tracy Terry's analysis of a recent Massachusetts Institute of Technology study, under the scenario of an 80 percent reduction in emissions from 1990 levels, by 2015 Americans could be paying 30 percent more for natural gas in their homes and even more for electricity. At the same time, the cost of coal could quadruple and crude oil prices could rise by an additional $24 a barrel," the article reported. Even the Democratic candidates are now fully admitting that the cost of these global warming bills will be extremely costly both financially and politically, according to the Washington Post article....
Fly could halt plan to expand old cemetery The 120-year-old Hermosa Gardens Cemetery - the final resting place of many Colton pioneers, professional baseball players and notable figures such as Wyatt Earp's younger brother - could hold its last burial four years from now. That's when cemetery officials believe they will be out of room if they aren't allowed to expand. There are 20 acres adjacent to the city-owned cemetery that have been planned for burial plots, but there's a problem. The Delhi Sands flower-loving fly, a federal endangered species, was spotted over the summer on the land, officials said. "Right now, we're kind of at a standstill because of the fly," said Billy Pratt, general manager of the cemetery. "Something has to be done, but we don't know exactly what." About 40,000 people are buried in the 20-acre developed portion of the cemetery on Meridian Avenue between C and Olive streets, Pratt said....
Forest Guardians criticizes BLM habitat plans An environmental group says the Bureau of Land Management's plans to protect habitat for the lesser prairie chicken and the sand dune lizard will do the species more harm than good. "We fear this is recipe for extinction dressed up as a conservation plan," said Lauren McCain, desert and grasslands program director for Forest Guardians. The release of the proposed special status species management plan and final environmental impact statement last week started a 30-day period for protests. The BLM said its amended management plan for the prairie chicken will allow oil and gas development, grazing and off-road vehicles on federal land used by the birds but still will protect its population. Landowners and conservationists in New Mexico have been working to keep the bird from being listed under the federal Endangered Species Act. Forest Guardians favors listing both species....
Small rodent, big pain for builders Developer Steve Schuck said he never found a Preble’s meadow jumping mouse on land north of Colorado Springs, but he said the animal wound up costing him $1 million and years of delay. As he crawled his way through a maze of federal regulations under the Endangered Species Act, Schuck said he encountered requirements that did nothing for the “quality and the livability of the development.” “That’s all because we couldn’t prove a mouse didn’t live on our property,” he said. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Thursday that the Preble’s mouse will retain its federal protection under the Endangered Species Act in Colorado but not Wyoming. While agency officials say development in Colorado has destroyed much of the mouse’s habitat, developers and some local government officials say they are being unfairly burdened by regulations to protect the mouse. "This is all about a mouse that nobody ever sees,” Schuck said. “Millions and millions of dollars are going out for this rodent — and that’s what it is,” said Monument Mayor Byron Glenn. “In the meantime, schools are not being built. Roads are not being built....
Naturalists want more info on giant worms Naturalists are searching southwest Washington state for the giant Palouse earthworm in an effort to get the species on the endangered list. The worms grow up to 3 feet long. But they are surprisingly difficult to find for a large worm, The Seattle Times reported Tuesday. The Palouse Prairie Foundation applied for an endangered species listing recently. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rejected the petition on the grounds that there is no proof they are endangered. Very little is known about the worms, including whether they are extinct, since only four specimens have been recorded in 30 years. Most scientists believe that the worms prefer prairie habitat but there is at least one 19th-century report of worms found in a forest. Jodi Johnson-Maynard of the University of Idaho said that scientists are trying new methods to bring the worms to the surface. They include a device that sends a mild electrical shock into the earth, flooding burrows with a mild solution of hot mustard and vinegar and sending vibrations into the ground....
Advocates Sue to Enforce Pesticide Order Salmon advocates filed a lawsuit Monday to force the Bush administration to obey a 5-year-old court order requiring it to make permanent rules to keep agricultural pesticides from killing salmon. Filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, the lawsuit asks a judge to order NOAA Fisheries, the agency in charge of protecting salmon, to formally consult with the Environmental Protection Agency over the use of 37 pesticides. Several are commonly found in rivers around the country and can kill salmon at minute concentrations. U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour had ordered the formal consultations in 2002 and imposed temporary restrictions that barred crop-dusting next to salmon streams and required home and garden stores to post warnings for consumers....
Pickens Water Plan Poised to Gain Bond, Condemnation Authority Boone Pickens, the high-rolling oilman, may have engineered one of his shrewdest takeovers yet in the form of eight acres of Texas scrubland. The land in Roberts County, a stretch of ranchland outside Amarillo, holds no oil. Instead, it is central to Pickens's plan to create an agency to condemn property and sell tax-exempt bonds in the search for one of his other favorite commodities: water. Approval of the district is all but certain when Texans vote today in state and local elections. By law, only the two people who actually live on the eight acres will be allowed to vote --the manager of Pickens's nearby Mesa Vista ranch and his wife. The other three owners, who will sit on the district's board, all work for Pickens. Pickens ``has pulled a shenanigan,'' said Phillip Smith, a rancher who serves on a local water-conservation board. ``He's obtained the right of eminent domain like he was a big city. It's supposed to be for the public good, not a private company.'' Pickens and his allies say no shenanigans are involved. Once the district is created, the board will be able to issue tax-exempt bonds to finance construction of Pickens's planned 328-mile, $2.2 billion pipeline to transport water from the panhandle across the prairie to the suburbs of Dallas and San Antonio....
15 Bears Die In PG&E Waterway In One Month It's a baffling problem in the foothills. Fifteen bears and two mountain lions have been found drowned in a PG&E waterway in just one month. "This heightened number of bear deaths is absolutely alarming and unusual," said Nicole Tam, PG&E. It's unusual because bears are good swimmers, and also because dead bears have showed up in the canal since it was built three years ago. The canal provides electricity to thousands of homes. But only recently, did the animals' carcasses appear in the canal -- 15 bears and two mountain lions between Sept.15-Oct. 15 -- that's one every two days. Experts don't know why the animals are finding their way over the canal's barriers. PG&E says they're working with the Dept. of Fish and Game and the U.S. Forest service to solve the mystery. They say it could be the work of poachers....
Dozens treated after Grand Canyon biologist dies More than two dozen people who came in close contact with a National Park Service wildlife biologist found dead last week are being given antibiotics because he may have died of an infectious disease. Eric York, 37, was found in his home at the Grand Canyon National Park on Friday. The Coconino County Medical Examiner suspects an infectious illness may have killed York because his lungs were filled with fluid and his body showed signs of pneumonia. Tests results are expected later this week. Because of York's professional interests and hobbies, medical officials believe hantavirus and plague are possible causes, according to a Park Service spokeswoman. The Park Service has located approximately 30 people who came within 6 feet of York in the days before his death and while retrieving his body, and all are being treated with a 7-day course of antibiotics as a precaution, spokeswoman Maureen Oltrogge said....
Yellowstone considers closing east entrance Yellowstone National Park reopens for winter in six weeks, and the debate over snowmobile use in the frozen wonderland has revved up again at the world's first national park. Most attention focuses on hundreds of snow machines allowed daily through Yellowstone's west entrance, but a standoff also clouds winter use at the park's lightly visited east gate. Avalanche-prone Sylvan Pass, about 8 miles inside that entrance, is so treacherous and costly to maintain — up to $565 per motorized visitor last season — that the park wants to close it next winter. Since the 8,530-foot pass first opened to snowmobiles in the 1970s, the park has used Army surplus howitzers and a contract helicopter to shoot down heavy buildups of snow after major storms so avalanches won't bury visitors. A risk study for the park's new winter management plan likely to be adopted this week says the threat to workers and visitors is too great....
Park service has 90 days to make offer on ranch The Texas School Land Board decided Tuesday to give the National Park Service 90 days to submit an offer to buy the Christmas Mountains Ranch. Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson wants to sell the 9,000-acre tract, because the state, he says, cannot adequately conserve the land. The Conservation Fund donated the land to Texas in 1991 with strict restrictions on its use. After weeks of public opposition to Patterson's plans to sell the land to a private bidder, the board decided to allow the National Park Service time to make an offer to add it to Big Bend National Park, about 300 miles southeast of El Paso. "I'm looking forward to meeting with National Park Service officials and interested parties to discuss how we can move forward," Patterson said. Patterson has been adamant that any future owner of the property must allow hunting there. The Park Service prohibits firearms in its parks, but the two private bidders have pledged to allow hunting in the Christmas Mountains.
Mount Rushmore officials sued over free speech, religion rights A Christian law group is accusing Mount Rushmore officials of trampling the free speech and religious rights of a Coon Rapids, Minn., man who alleges he cannot get a permit to distribute religious materials at the national monument. The law firm says Boardley distributed “gospel tracts” at the monument on Aug. 9 without incident but was told the next day he needed a permit. Boardley said he applied for a permit, but he has not received one. Gerard Baker, Mount Rushmore superintendent, said Monday that Boardley has never applied for a permit. “We have never denied a permit,” Baker told The Associated Press. “All he has to do is get a hold of us, and we’ll give him a permit. We issue 70-plus permits a year, and I’m not sure what’s going on.” Boardley has not applied for a permit because Mount Rushmore officials would not give him an application, both when he was at the monument and later when he called and asked for one, Kevin Theriot, ADF senior counsel, said Monday....
Broodmare sold for world-record $10.5 million at Keeneland The Emir of Dubai paid $10.5 million to buy Irish-bred Playful Act at Keeneland's Breeding Stock Sale on Monday, a world record auction price for a broodmare. The bidding was another showdown between two titans of the horse breeding industry, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum's Darley Stud and Coolmore Stud of Ireland. "When those two teams hook up, neither one of them wants to stop," said John Sikura of Hill 'n' Dale Bloodstock, who consigned the horse for Swettenham Stud of Australia. "It's a test of wills, test of ego. They bought a fantastic mare. Obviously we wish them nothing but the best and hope she'll bring a champion." John Ferguson, the buyer for the sheik, said he was determined to get the horse, in part to honor Swettenham's late owner, Robert Sangster, who always talked her up. "He was a great friend of Sheik Mohammed," Ferguson said of Sangster, who died in April 2004. "That is part of the reason why Sheik Mohammed was so determined to have this particular mare." During Keeneland's 2006 September yearling sale, Darley outlasted Coolmore to pay $11.7 million for a bay colt by Kingmambo, setting a sale record. The two prominent buyers have battled numerous other times at Keeneland and other auctions....
Brazile's triumph at National Finals Steer Roping puts him in pursuit of history Trevor Brazile's emergence from National Finals Steer Roping Saturday night with a second consecutive gold buckle puts him on a path toward what could become ProRodeo's first Triple Crown parlay since Roy Cooper in 1983 -- winning the steer roping, tie-down roping and all-around titles all in one year. One down. Two to go. Brazile earned a record $46,500 at the NFSR in the Lea County Event Center to run away with the steer roping world championship and will have substantial leads in both the tie-down roping and the all-around standings entering the Dec. 6-15 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in his quest to join Cooper in a very elite club. "You always want to repeat as champion," Brazile said, "and I put extra pressure on myself here because the Triple Crown is definitely in the back of my mind. You can't win a Triple Crown if you don't win the first one. This was just the first step. It is not going to be easy."....
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
NEWS ROUNDUP
Wolf that attacked sled dogs had rabies A wolf that was part of a pack that attacked sled dogs in the village of Marshall last week has tested positive for rabies and state officials say unvaccinated dogs that were exposed to the wolves will be euthanized. Also Wednesday, another pack of wolves killed a pet dog in a North Pole subdivision at the edge of Chena Lake and the Chena Lakes Recreation Area. In the Yukon River village of Marshall, the rabies-infected wolf was among those that killed six sled dogs before residents drove them out of town. Residents killed one wolf and possibly injured several others. Tests confirmed the 17-month-old female wolf was positive for the rabies virus. Alaska Department of Fish and Game Wildlife veterinarian Kimberlee Beckmen said it is possible other wolves in the pack also have the disease. Several dogs were bitten by wolves during the pack's attack....
The deceit behind global warming No one can deny that in recent years the need to "save the planet" from global warming has become one of the most pervasive issues of our time. As Tony Blair's chief scientific adviser, Sir David King, claimed in 2004, it poses "a far greater threat to the world than international terrorism", warning that by the end of this century the only habitable continent left will be Antarctica. The story of how the panic over climate change was pushed to the top of the international agenda falls into five main stages. Stage one came in the 1970s when many scientists expressed alarm over what they saw as a disastrous change in the earth's climate. Their fear was not of warming but global cooling, of "a new Ice Age". For three decades, after a sharp rise in the interwar years up to 1940, global temperatures had been falling. The one thing certain about climate is that it is always changing. Since we began to emerge from the last Ice Age 20,000 years ago, temperatures have been through significant swings several times. The hottest period occurred around 8,000 years ago and was followed by a long cooling. Then came what is known as the "Roman Warming", coinciding with the Roman empire. Three centuries of cooling in the Dark Ages were followed by the "Mediaeval Warming", when the evidence agrees the world was hotter than today....
Gore: Don't give equal time Last week, climate scientist John Christy wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal taking issue with Vice President Al Gore's assertions about global warming. Gore took the opportunity of a television appearance on Monday to address Christy's claims. NBC's Meredith Viera asked Gore, "You know, you share the prize with scientists from the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. And one of those scientists, John Christy, wrote an op-ed last Thursday in the Wall Street Journal in which he criticized your dire predictions about the impact of global warming. He wrote, 'I see neither the developing catastrophe nor the smoking gun proving that human activity is to blame for most of the warming we see.'" Gore immediately responded, "Well, he's an outlier. He no longer belongs to the IPCC. And he is way outside the scientific consensus." Gore then attacked the news media directly, saying that "part of the challenge the news media has had in covering this story is the old habit of taking the 'on the one hand, on the other hand' approach. There are still people who believe that the earth is flat. But when you're reporting on a story like the one you're covering today, where you have people all around the world, you don't search out for someone who still believes the earth is flat and give them equal time."....
US must meet global warming challenge: Clinton Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton Monday pledged to slash US greenhouse gas emissions, as she aimed to bounce back from her most difficult week yet on the campaign trail. Clinton's comprehensive plan to tackle global warming represented the latest sign that environmental issues are playing a greater role in the 2008 White House race, than in any previous US election. The Clinton plan uses a cap and trade system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050, in a bid to head off the most damaging results of global warming. It also sets a target of reducing foreign oil imports to the gas guzzling United States by two-thirds from levels projected to be reached in 2030 -- a cut of 10 million barrels per day. The plan is also designed to kick-start research and development on clean and energy efficient technology and to cut energy consumption in the home. Clinton would also increase fuel efficiency standards to 55 miles per gallon over the next 23 years, and help US car manufacturing giants retool production plants with 20 billion dollars in "green vehicle bonds."....
Ritter takes aim at greenhouse gases Coloradans will have to drive cleaner cars, use less electricity and recycle more in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent below 2005 levels in the next 13 years, under a climate action plan unveiled Monday by Gov. Bill Ritter. The goal means C02 emissions would reach just 92.9 million metric tons by 2020, down 37 percent from what would be produced if the state did nothing, according to the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization. Ritter's plan calls for dramatically reducing electricity use, slashing the miles commuters drive to work each year, beefing up energy codes for new buildings and requiring that large emitters of CO2, begin phased-in mandatory reporting of their emissions. His plan stops short of mandating tough clean-air standards for cars, but it does direct the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission to begin examining use of such standards....
Ohio Cities Buying Up Foreclosed Homes For $1 Each Under a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development program, cities in Ohio may buy unsold foreclosed homes for $1 each. Through the program, any foreclosed home that HUD has unsuccessfully listed for sale for longer than six months is available for city purchase. The city of Tallmadge, in suburban Akron, is hoping to buyat least one house as part of their efforts against the rising tide of abandoned homes in the city. HUD advertises the Dollar Homes program as a way for communities to repair empty houses and resell them to help revitalize neighborhoods, but Tallmadge has a different plan. City officials say they likely will tear down the house, sell the land and put the sale proceeds into the city's historic preservation programs.
Hearing underway on rules for oil, gas pits Mark Fesmire remembers when, as a young engineer readying a new oil well for production in southeastern New Mexico, he was told by his boss to get rid of a pit full of salty waste water by ripping the liner and letting the stuff soak into the ground. While it broke no rules, "That's haunted me ever since," Fesmire said. "That was wrong." Two decades later, the state Oil Conservation Division that Fesmire heads is proposing a new, tougher rule for oil and gas pits that has drawn vehement objections from the industry. A hearing that could last into next week resumed Monday before the Oil Conservation Commission, which has the final say. Environmental groups and some ranchers and city officials contend that contamination including carcinogens and heavy metals from unlined or poorly lined pits threatens water quality and the health of New Mexico's people, livestock and wildlife....
Ranchers rush to secure conservation easements Changes in state and federal tax laws have made donating land for conservation purposes more attractive to ranchers like Jay Fetcher. Over the last 13 years, Fetcher has placed the bulk of his 2,000-acre ranch near Steamboat Springs into conservation easements, designed to protect it from development. The benefits he has reaped have changed with the tax laws. o the state of Colorado. A lot of what we did in 1994 had an impact on tax laws." When Fetcher made his first donation of 1,350 acres in 1994, he was able to take about $50,000 in deductions over six years. The donation was worth about $1.2 million for tax purposes. By 2005, when he made his second donation of 217 acres valued at about $1 million, Colorado had implemented a program that allowed ranchers to sell tax credits earned from donating a conservation easement. Fetcher was able to claim the proceeds from the sale of $200,000 in credits as ordinary income, helping him recoup a total of $300,000. Last year, the federal tax laws were revised, increasing the charitable deduction from 30 percent of adjusted gross income to 50 percent. It also allows farmers to deduct up to 100 percent of their AGI and increased the number of years over which a donor can take deductions from six to 16 years....
Ranchers, land trusts rush to beat deadline Land trusts in Wyoming are racing the clock to wrap up conservation easements before the end of the year, when attractive tax benefits are slated to expire. The land trusts and their client farmers and ranchers are hoping, but not counting on Congress to pass legislation that would extend those tax benefits beyond Dec. 31. The Teton Regional Land Trust, which operates in both Idaho and Wyoming, has three times as many projects as normal for this time of year. "We're turning away projects and bidding out some baseline evaluation work that we normally do in house," said Michael Winfield, executive director. Glen Pauley, of the Wyoming Stock Growers Agricultural Land Trust, said he too is busy with late efforts to create conservation easements....
Black-footed ferrets are saved from extinction, but where will they live? In late October, biologists in Arizona’s Aubrey Valley spent five nights in a row trapping and tagging black-footed ferrets, considered “the most endangered mammals in the United States.” They found 29, which means that there are probably about 70 ferrets altogether in this reintroduction area south of the Grand Canyon. According to Jeff Pebworth, wildlife program manager with the Arizona Game and Fish Department, the Aubrey Valley site is “coming on strong” because “now we’re at the stage where the ferrets are reproducing in the wild.” An estimated 1,000 black-footed ferrets live in the wild, all descendants of 18 animals captured in Wyoming in the late 1980s. The 20-year, $30 million project to bring the animal back from extinction is a success, but ironically, the recovered species may now have no place to live, says Mike Lockhart, national black-footed ferret recovery coordinator with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The ferrets depend completely on prairie dogs for both food and shelter. One ferret can eat about 110 prairie dogs in a year. They hunt at night, moving in a series of galloping jumps from one prairie dog burrow to the next, killing their sleeping prey with a bite to the back of the neck or throat. The ferrets then adopt the burrows as their own, spending about 90 percent of their time underground....
New Montana board to look at livestock losses from wolves Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer is assembling a new board to help deal with livestock loss. The Livestock Loss and Mitigation Board was created during this year's legislative session and Gov. Schweitzer says the board's mission is to help ranchers when they lose livestock to wolf attacks. "This board will be the board that runs the, the mitigation process in reimbursing these folks when they have losses." The board is made up of three members from the Board of Livestock, three members from the Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks Commission and a public member. That public member is a student at the Montana State University in Bozeman involved in several livestock organizations. Gov. Schweitzer adds that the board will create a process so that ranchers can be reimbursed following a wolf attack.
Forest will revise cattle grazing plan Following an appeal by seven conservation groups, the Stanislaus National Forest must revise a 10-year cattle grazing plan it released nearly four months ago. The plan covers about 70,000 high-country acres on the forest's Summit and Calaveras ranger districts. Environmentalists hailed the appeal decision as a victory, while forest employees downplayed the ruling by the forest's regional office in Vallejo. "It's more of going back and re-documenting, re-looking at it," Susan Forbes, the forest's range management specialist, said of the grazing plan. Environmentalists complain that the original plan, approved in July by Forest Supervisor Tom Quinn, allow cattle to graze at current levels with only minimal changes. Their appeal, filed in early September, said the Forest Service failed to evaluate effects that grazing has on water quality and wildlife and that the agency didn't consider sufficient alternatives....
Misguided litigation magnifies wildfires The massive toll catastrophic wildfire exacts on human lives and property is well documented. Since Oct. 20, the ongoing Southern California fires have scorched nearly 500,000 acres - roughly three-fourths the size of Rhode Island, prompted the largest evacuation since the Civil War, caused 12 deaths and injured hundreds, all at a cost yet to be determined, but some think will top $2 billion. And there are other consequences as well, including endangered wildlife dead, watersheds dramatically damaged by ash and erosion, and native plants wiped out. But the underlying causes of these monster fires aren't as well understood. Why do they keep happening at such intensity? One reason is that for years, groups that literally make a living by obstructing government efforts to manage forests have filed myriad lawsuits intended to delay, stall or stop anything resembling science. They seek to prevent the federal government from implementing balanced efforts to manage the land, including efforts to thin forests and brushland to help prevent catastrophic wildfire. Just last year in Southern California, an environmental advocacy organization filed a lawsuit against reasonable forest management impacting more than 3.5 million acres in four National Forests. Interestingly, more than 100,000 of these same acres have now burned in the past few days in three of these forests - Angeles, San Bernardino and Cleveland. But the lawsuit proceeds....
The fates of salmon and hydroelectric production lie in the hands of a federal judge The struggle over saving Columbia River salmon could reach a climax in 2008. A federal judge has rejected the past two plans to manage dams and salmon — saying they didn't do enough to save the endangered fish. If he doesn't like this one, he has warned that the region and its hydroelectric power system could face "serious consequences." Last week, the Bush administration presented new drafts of how it hopes to manage Columbia-Snake river dams and salmon. This time, officials offered more guarantees: • Hatcheries will be fixed. • Water will be provided by Idaho farmers. • Habitat will be restored. • Congress and federal power customers will pay for it all. But the plans stopped short of the actions that fisheries biologists say may be necessary for putting the Snake River's four salmon and steelhead runs on the road to recovery. Most notably — but least surprising — the Bush plan would not breach four dams on the lower Snake River in Washington....
Plan manages Colorado River in drought The Law of the River has gotten another adjustment with a federal plan to manage the Colorado River during dry years. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on Friday released a final environmental impact study that could be a way to avoid renegotiating an 85-year-old agreement based on inflated notions of how much water really is in the river. Or, according to river advocates, the plan that will govern use and allocation through 2026 could be a way to ensure none of the seven Western states that share the river ever has enough water. The study's conclusions drew from a consensus decision by the seven Western states that depend on the Colorado River on what to do during low-water years, officials said. "This is an arrangement for operating the river where everyone shares the pain when you're going through a drought time," said Tom Ryan, a Bureau of Reclamation hydrologist in Salt Lake City. The Bureau of Reclamation began the environmental study in 1999. Since then, the river basin has experienced the worst drought in 100 years of recorded history, and its two largest reservoirs - Lake Powell and Lake Mead - have gone from being nearly full to just over half-full. The report, expected to be final in December, plans how the upper basin states - Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico - will respond to demand from California, Arizona and Nevada, the lower basin states, which have more people and older water rights....
How Will You Ride and Feed Your Horses in 2030?
In 2007 for the first time in human history, the bulk of the world’s population was expected to live in urban centers in greater numbers than in rural areas. The world’s urban population is expected to rise from 3 billion in 2003, to 5 billion by 2030, and the rural population will decline from 3.3 billion to 3.2 billion during that time, according to the U.N.’s Population Division report World Urbanization Prospects: the 2003 Revision. According to the report, this “historic demographic shift” makes man a predominantly urban species for the first time in our history. And, these new population and demographic shifts among mankind have reached the equestrian industry. For horse and land lovers, concerns for the availability of land for agricultural, recreational, and food-growing purposes are growing by the day. In fact, land loss is encroaching on the very basic need of horses and their owners – where to ride and where to grow grain and hay to feed the horses. Due to decreasing availability of hay, protecting and maintaining the land on which our beloved animals so dearly depend has become a new priority for the equestrian community....
Confusion reigns over US plans to test Canadian meat at border Canada dispatched one of its top food inspection officials to Washington Monday as confusion reigned over new "additional import requirements" for Canadian meat and poultry exports heading across the U.S. border. Bill Anderson, meat program director at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, will attempt to negotiate with the Americans on new rules announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture over the weekend to track three pathogens in Canadian chicken, beef and pork. Although the increased testing for salmonella, listeria monocytogenes and E. coli 0157:H7 had not started Monday, the lack of clarity quickly caused confusion and frustration in the multibillion-dollar meat processing industry. "The government is disappointed with the USDA decision to take these actions," said Frederique Moulin, who works with Anderson at the CFIA in Ottawa as national manager of international programs. Moulin said the U.S. is suggesting that the extra testing will start this week. "It's going to create disruption for sure, but we hope the disruption will be at a minimum," she said. U.S. officials are also expected to arrive in Canada later this week to begin an audit of the Canadian food safety system, with a focus on Rancher's but also to include other meat processing plants. The Ottawa-based Canadian Meat Council said Monday that many unknowns remained over the heightened Canadian requirements in an industry that requires a high level of planning and scheduling....
Canada wants U.S. to reconsider extra meat tests Canadian food safety officials want the U.S. Agriculture Department to reconsider plans to step up testing and inspection of Canadian meat this week, a senior Canadian Food Inspection Agency official said on Monday. "We expect the interim measure will be reconsidered," said Frederique Moulin, manager of international meat programs with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Moulin said Canada was respected around the world for its meat inspection system and that Canadian meat was safe. Officials from the USDA and CFIA were discussing the tests, she said, which the USDA had planned to start on Monday. "The measures that they (USDA officials) were supposed to put on this morning -- the hold and test of the (meat) products imported from Canada -- this was postponed," Moulin said, adding talks between the two countries continued. A USDA spokesman said the plan to test Canadian meat had not been delayed....
No Early Hearing for R-CALF A South Dakota judge has turned down a request for an expedited hearing schedule to try and get an injunction on USDA Rule 2. R-CALF filed the complaint earlier this week. It opposes the U.S. Department of Agriculture's plan to allow the import of older Canadian cattle, staring on November 19th. Rule 2 would permit the movement of cattle born after March 1st, 1999 across the border. The current age restriction is 30 months. R-CALF claims Rule 2 increases the risk of infection of the U.S. cattle herd with BSE. A Canadian Cattlemen's Association spokesman is concerned there may be some legal techniques where R-CALF could potentially still get an injunction. John Masswohl says they're following up to rebuff R-CALF's arguments. He adds R-CALF may have made a tactical mistake by waiting so long to go to court.
It's All Trew: Old West fires often impossible to tame The first structures on the frontier were dugouts built into a hill or creek bank. Some buildings in the first settlements were built of rock, if available, close by. Later, most structures, both homes and commercial buildings, were constructed of raw, fresh-sawed lumber and were heated by wood-burning stoves. This combination, aided by rusted stove pipes, carelessness and poor attendance of stoves caused many fires. In fact, almost every town or country school in the old west burned or partially burned at least once during its history. Long before volunteer fire departments of today came the fire brigades whose volunteers rose to the occasion using whatever means and equipment at hand. They were faithful and tried hard, but the results were usually disastrous. The Great American West has always been short on water and simple means were about all that could be devised to assist in combating a fire. For example, water storage in the form of wooden whiskey or vinegar barrels were set all about town being placed under the gutter spouts and roof overhangs to catch water from the dews and occasional rain showers. If no moisture came, the merchants or homeowners tried to keep the containers full with water drawn from the nearest water well. Some towns even hired a man with a tank wagon to keep the barrels full of water....
Wolf that attacked sled dogs had rabies A wolf that was part of a pack that attacked sled dogs in the village of Marshall last week has tested positive for rabies and state officials say unvaccinated dogs that were exposed to the wolves will be euthanized. Also Wednesday, another pack of wolves killed a pet dog in a North Pole subdivision at the edge of Chena Lake and the Chena Lakes Recreation Area. In the Yukon River village of Marshall, the rabies-infected wolf was among those that killed six sled dogs before residents drove them out of town. Residents killed one wolf and possibly injured several others. Tests confirmed the 17-month-old female wolf was positive for the rabies virus. Alaska Department of Fish and Game Wildlife veterinarian Kimberlee Beckmen said it is possible other wolves in the pack also have the disease. Several dogs were bitten by wolves during the pack's attack....
The deceit behind global warming No one can deny that in recent years the need to "save the planet" from global warming has become one of the most pervasive issues of our time. As Tony Blair's chief scientific adviser, Sir David King, claimed in 2004, it poses "a far greater threat to the world than international terrorism", warning that by the end of this century the only habitable continent left will be Antarctica. The story of how the panic over climate change was pushed to the top of the international agenda falls into five main stages. Stage one came in the 1970s when many scientists expressed alarm over what they saw as a disastrous change in the earth's climate. Their fear was not of warming but global cooling, of "a new Ice Age". For three decades, after a sharp rise in the interwar years up to 1940, global temperatures had been falling. The one thing certain about climate is that it is always changing. Since we began to emerge from the last Ice Age 20,000 years ago, temperatures have been through significant swings several times. The hottest period occurred around 8,000 years ago and was followed by a long cooling. Then came what is known as the "Roman Warming", coinciding with the Roman empire. Three centuries of cooling in the Dark Ages were followed by the "Mediaeval Warming", when the evidence agrees the world was hotter than today....
Gore: Don't give equal time Last week, climate scientist John Christy wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal taking issue with Vice President Al Gore's assertions about global warming. Gore took the opportunity of a television appearance on Monday to address Christy's claims. NBC's Meredith Viera asked Gore, "You know, you share the prize with scientists from the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. And one of those scientists, John Christy, wrote an op-ed last Thursday in the Wall Street Journal in which he criticized your dire predictions about the impact of global warming. He wrote, 'I see neither the developing catastrophe nor the smoking gun proving that human activity is to blame for most of the warming we see.'" Gore immediately responded, "Well, he's an outlier. He no longer belongs to the IPCC. And he is way outside the scientific consensus." Gore then attacked the news media directly, saying that "part of the challenge the news media has had in covering this story is the old habit of taking the 'on the one hand, on the other hand' approach. There are still people who believe that the earth is flat. But when you're reporting on a story like the one you're covering today, where you have people all around the world, you don't search out for someone who still believes the earth is flat and give them equal time."....
US must meet global warming challenge: Clinton Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton Monday pledged to slash US greenhouse gas emissions, as she aimed to bounce back from her most difficult week yet on the campaign trail. Clinton's comprehensive plan to tackle global warming represented the latest sign that environmental issues are playing a greater role in the 2008 White House race, than in any previous US election. The Clinton plan uses a cap and trade system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050, in a bid to head off the most damaging results of global warming. It also sets a target of reducing foreign oil imports to the gas guzzling United States by two-thirds from levels projected to be reached in 2030 -- a cut of 10 million barrels per day. The plan is also designed to kick-start research and development on clean and energy efficient technology and to cut energy consumption in the home. Clinton would also increase fuel efficiency standards to 55 miles per gallon over the next 23 years, and help US car manufacturing giants retool production plants with 20 billion dollars in "green vehicle bonds."....
Ritter takes aim at greenhouse gases Coloradans will have to drive cleaner cars, use less electricity and recycle more in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent below 2005 levels in the next 13 years, under a climate action plan unveiled Monday by Gov. Bill Ritter. The goal means C02 emissions would reach just 92.9 million metric tons by 2020, down 37 percent from what would be produced if the state did nothing, according to the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization. Ritter's plan calls for dramatically reducing electricity use, slashing the miles commuters drive to work each year, beefing up energy codes for new buildings and requiring that large emitters of CO2, begin phased-in mandatory reporting of their emissions. His plan stops short of mandating tough clean-air standards for cars, but it does direct the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission to begin examining use of such standards....
Ohio Cities Buying Up Foreclosed Homes For $1 Each Under a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development program, cities in Ohio may buy unsold foreclosed homes for $1 each. Through the program, any foreclosed home that HUD has unsuccessfully listed for sale for longer than six months is available for city purchase. The city of Tallmadge, in suburban Akron, is hoping to buyat least one house as part of their efforts against the rising tide of abandoned homes in the city. HUD advertises the Dollar Homes program as a way for communities to repair empty houses and resell them to help revitalize neighborhoods, but Tallmadge has a different plan. City officials say they likely will tear down the house, sell the land and put the sale proceeds into the city's historic preservation programs.
Hearing underway on rules for oil, gas pits Mark Fesmire remembers when, as a young engineer readying a new oil well for production in southeastern New Mexico, he was told by his boss to get rid of a pit full of salty waste water by ripping the liner and letting the stuff soak into the ground. While it broke no rules, "That's haunted me ever since," Fesmire said. "That was wrong." Two decades later, the state Oil Conservation Division that Fesmire heads is proposing a new, tougher rule for oil and gas pits that has drawn vehement objections from the industry. A hearing that could last into next week resumed Monday before the Oil Conservation Commission, which has the final say. Environmental groups and some ranchers and city officials contend that contamination including carcinogens and heavy metals from unlined or poorly lined pits threatens water quality and the health of New Mexico's people, livestock and wildlife....
Ranchers rush to secure conservation easements Changes in state and federal tax laws have made donating land for conservation purposes more attractive to ranchers like Jay Fetcher. Over the last 13 years, Fetcher has placed the bulk of his 2,000-acre ranch near Steamboat Springs into conservation easements, designed to protect it from development. The benefits he has reaped have changed with the tax laws. o the state of Colorado. A lot of what we did in 1994 had an impact on tax laws." When Fetcher made his first donation of 1,350 acres in 1994, he was able to take about $50,000 in deductions over six years. The donation was worth about $1.2 million for tax purposes. By 2005, when he made his second donation of 217 acres valued at about $1 million, Colorado had implemented a program that allowed ranchers to sell tax credits earned from donating a conservation easement. Fetcher was able to claim the proceeds from the sale of $200,000 in credits as ordinary income, helping him recoup a total of $300,000. Last year, the federal tax laws were revised, increasing the charitable deduction from 30 percent of adjusted gross income to 50 percent. It also allows farmers to deduct up to 100 percent of their AGI and increased the number of years over which a donor can take deductions from six to 16 years....
Ranchers, land trusts rush to beat deadline Land trusts in Wyoming are racing the clock to wrap up conservation easements before the end of the year, when attractive tax benefits are slated to expire. The land trusts and their client farmers and ranchers are hoping, but not counting on Congress to pass legislation that would extend those tax benefits beyond Dec. 31. The Teton Regional Land Trust, which operates in both Idaho and Wyoming, has three times as many projects as normal for this time of year. "We're turning away projects and bidding out some baseline evaluation work that we normally do in house," said Michael Winfield, executive director. Glen Pauley, of the Wyoming Stock Growers Agricultural Land Trust, said he too is busy with late efforts to create conservation easements....
Black-footed ferrets are saved from extinction, but where will they live? In late October, biologists in Arizona’s Aubrey Valley spent five nights in a row trapping and tagging black-footed ferrets, considered “the most endangered mammals in the United States.” They found 29, which means that there are probably about 70 ferrets altogether in this reintroduction area south of the Grand Canyon. According to Jeff Pebworth, wildlife program manager with the Arizona Game and Fish Department, the Aubrey Valley site is “coming on strong” because “now we’re at the stage where the ferrets are reproducing in the wild.” An estimated 1,000 black-footed ferrets live in the wild, all descendants of 18 animals captured in Wyoming in the late 1980s. The 20-year, $30 million project to bring the animal back from extinction is a success, but ironically, the recovered species may now have no place to live, says Mike Lockhart, national black-footed ferret recovery coordinator with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The ferrets depend completely on prairie dogs for both food and shelter. One ferret can eat about 110 prairie dogs in a year. They hunt at night, moving in a series of galloping jumps from one prairie dog burrow to the next, killing their sleeping prey with a bite to the back of the neck or throat. The ferrets then adopt the burrows as their own, spending about 90 percent of their time underground....
New Montana board to look at livestock losses from wolves Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer is assembling a new board to help deal with livestock loss. The Livestock Loss and Mitigation Board was created during this year's legislative session and Gov. Schweitzer says the board's mission is to help ranchers when they lose livestock to wolf attacks. "This board will be the board that runs the, the mitigation process in reimbursing these folks when they have losses." The board is made up of three members from the Board of Livestock, three members from the Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks Commission and a public member. That public member is a student at the Montana State University in Bozeman involved in several livestock organizations. Gov. Schweitzer adds that the board will create a process so that ranchers can be reimbursed following a wolf attack.
Forest will revise cattle grazing plan Following an appeal by seven conservation groups, the Stanislaus National Forest must revise a 10-year cattle grazing plan it released nearly four months ago. The plan covers about 70,000 high-country acres on the forest's Summit and Calaveras ranger districts. Environmentalists hailed the appeal decision as a victory, while forest employees downplayed the ruling by the forest's regional office in Vallejo. "It's more of going back and re-documenting, re-looking at it," Susan Forbes, the forest's range management specialist, said of the grazing plan. Environmentalists complain that the original plan, approved in July by Forest Supervisor Tom Quinn, allow cattle to graze at current levels with only minimal changes. Their appeal, filed in early September, said the Forest Service failed to evaluate effects that grazing has on water quality and wildlife and that the agency didn't consider sufficient alternatives....
Misguided litigation magnifies wildfires The massive toll catastrophic wildfire exacts on human lives and property is well documented. Since Oct. 20, the ongoing Southern California fires have scorched nearly 500,000 acres - roughly three-fourths the size of Rhode Island, prompted the largest evacuation since the Civil War, caused 12 deaths and injured hundreds, all at a cost yet to be determined, but some think will top $2 billion. And there are other consequences as well, including endangered wildlife dead, watersheds dramatically damaged by ash and erosion, and native plants wiped out. But the underlying causes of these monster fires aren't as well understood. Why do they keep happening at such intensity? One reason is that for years, groups that literally make a living by obstructing government efforts to manage forests have filed myriad lawsuits intended to delay, stall or stop anything resembling science. They seek to prevent the federal government from implementing balanced efforts to manage the land, including efforts to thin forests and brushland to help prevent catastrophic wildfire. Just last year in Southern California, an environmental advocacy organization filed a lawsuit against reasonable forest management impacting more than 3.5 million acres in four National Forests. Interestingly, more than 100,000 of these same acres have now burned in the past few days in three of these forests - Angeles, San Bernardino and Cleveland. But the lawsuit proceeds....
The fates of salmon and hydroelectric production lie in the hands of a federal judge The struggle over saving Columbia River salmon could reach a climax in 2008. A federal judge has rejected the past two plans to manage dams and salmon — saying they didn't do enough to save the endangered fish. If he doesn't like this one, he has warned that the region and its hydroelectric power system could face "serious consequences." Last week, the Bush administration presented new drafts of how it hopes to manage Columbia-Snake river dams and salmon. This time, officials offered more guarantees: • Hatcheries will be fixed. • Water will be provided by Idaho farmers. • Habitat will be restored. • Congress and federal power customers will pay for it all. But the plans stopped short of the actions that fisheries biologists say may be necessary for putting the Snake River's four salmon and steelhead runs on the road to recovery. Most notably — but least surprising — the Bush plan would not breach four dams on the lower Snake River in Washington....
Plan manages Colorado River in drought The Law of the River has gotten another adjustment with a federal plan to manage the Colorado River during dry years. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on Friday released a final environmental impact study that could be a way to avoid renegotiating an 85-year-old agreement based on inflated notions of how much water really is in the river. Or, according to river advocates, the plan that will govern use and allocation through 2026 could be a way to ensure none of the seven Western states that share the river ever has enough water. The study's conclusions drew from a consensus decision by the seven Western states that depend on the Colorado River on what to do during low-water years, officials said. "This is an arrangement for operating the river where everyone shares the pain when you're going through a drought time," said Tom Ryan, a Bureau of Reclamation hydrologist in Salt Lake City. The Bureau of Reclamation began the environmental study in 1999. Since then, the river basin has experienced the worst drought in 100 years of recorded history, and its two largest reservoirs - Lake Powell and Lake Mead - have gone from being nearly full to just over half-full. The report, expected to be final in December, plans how the upper basin states - Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico - will respond to demand from California, Arizona and Nevada, the lower basin states, which have more people and older water rights....
How Will You Ride and Feed Your Horses in 2030?
In 2007 for the first time in human history, the bulk of the world’s population was expected to live in urban centers in greater numbers than in rural areas. The world’s urban population is expected to rise from 3 billion in 2003, to 5 billion by 2030, and the rural population will decline from 3.3 billion to 3.2 billion during that time, according to the U.N.’s Population Division report World Urbanization Prospects: the 2003 Revision. According to the report, this “historic demographic shift” makes man a predominantly urban species for the first time in our history. And, these new population and demographic shifts among mankind have reached the equestrian industry. For horse and land lovers, concerns for the availability of land for agricultural, recreational, and food-growing purposes are growing by the day. In fact, land loss is encroaching on the very basic need of horses and their owners – where to ride and where to grow grain and hay to feed the horses. Due to decreasing availability of hay, protecting and maintaining the land on which our beloved animals so dearly depend has become a new priority for the equestrian community....
Confusion reigns over US plans to test Canadian meat at border Canada dispatched one of its top food inspection officials to Washington Monday as confusion reigned over new "additional import requirements" for Canadian meat and poultry exports heading across the U.S. border. Bill Anderson, meat program director at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, will attempt to negotiate with the Americans on new rules announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture over the weekend to track three pathogens in Canadian chicken, beef and pork. Although the increased testing for salmonella, listeria monocytogenes and E. coli 0157:H7 had not started Monday, the lack of clarity quickly caused confusion and frustration in the multibillion-dollar meat processing industry. "The government is disappointed with the USDA decision to take these actions," said Frederique Moulin, who works with Anderson at the CFIA in Ottawa as national manager of international programs. Moulin said the U.S. is suggesting that the extra testing will start this week. "It's going to create disruption for sure, but we hope the disruption will be at a minimum," she said. U.S. officials are also expected to arrive in Canada later this week to begin an audit of the Canadian food safety system, with a focus on Rancher's but also to include other meat processing plants. The Ottawa-based Canadian Meat Council said Monday that many unknowns remained over the heightened Canadian requirements in an industry that requires a high level of planning and scheduling....
Canada wants U.S. to reconsider extra meat tests Canadian food safety officials want the U.S. Agriculture Department to reconsider plans to step up testing and inspection of Canadian meat this week, a senior Canadian Food Inspection Agency official said on Monday. "We expect the interim measure will be reconsidered," said Frederique Moulin, manager of international meat programs with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Moulin said Canada was respected around the world for its meat inspection system and that Canadian meat was safe. Officials from the USDA and CFIA were discussing the tests, she said, which the USDA had planned to start on Monday. "The measures that they (USDA officials) were supposed to put on this morning -- the hold and test of the (meat) products imported from Canada -- this was postponed," Moulin said, adding talks between the two countries continued. A USDA spokesman said the plan to test Canadian meat had not been delayed....
No Early Hearing for R-CALF A South Dakota judge has turned down a request for an expedited hearing schedule to try and get an injunction on USDA Rule 2. R-CALF filed the complaint earlier this week. It opposes the U.S. Department of Agriculture's plan to allow the import of older Canadian cattle, staring on November 19th. Rule 2 would permit the movement of cattle born after March 1st, 1999 across the border. The current age restriction is 30 months. R-CALF claims Rule 2 increases the risk of infection of the U.S. cattle herd with BSE. A Canadian Cattlemen's Association spokesman is concerned there may be some legal techniques where R-CALF could potentially still get an injunction. John Masswohl says they're following up to rebuff R-CALF's arguments. He adds R-CALF may have made a tactical mistake by waiting so long to go to court.
It's All Trew: Old West fires often impossible to tame The first structures on the frontier were dugouts built into a hill or creek bank. Some buildings in the first settlements were built of rock, if available, close by. Later, most structures, both homes and commercial buildings, were constructed of raw, fresh-sawed lumber and were heated by wood-burning stoves. This combination, aided by rusted stove pipes, carelessness and poor attendance of stoves caused many fires. In fact, almost every town or country school in the old west burned or partially burned at least once during its history. Long before volunteer fire departments of today came the fire brigades whose volunteers rose to the occasion using whatever means and equipment at hand. They were faithful and tried hard, but the results were usually disastrous. The Great American West has always been short on water and simple means were about all that could be devised to assist in combating a fire. For example, water storage in the form of wooden whiskey or vinegar barrels were set all about town being placed under the gutter spouts and roof overhangs to catch water from the dews and occasional rain showers. If no moisture came, the merchants or homeowners tried to keep the containers full with water drawn from the nearest water well. Some towns even hired a man with a tank wagon to keep the barrels full of water....
Monday, November 05, 2007
NEWS ROUNDUP
Wisconsin to hunters: Kill wild pigs on sight State wildlife officials are encouraging hunters to report feral pig sightings or shoot them if they see them while pursuing other game. The wild pigs are exotic, non-native animals that threaten both the environment and agricultural operations, according to the Department of Natural Resources. "Free-roaming pigs can be found across a wide variety of habitats and are highly destructive because of the rooting they do in search of food," said Brad Koele, a wildlife biologist for the DNR. "They're also efficient predators preying on many species including white-tailed deer fawns and ground-nesting birds like grouse, woodcock, turkeys and songbirds." Wild pigs are known to carry a number of diseases worrisome to the domestic swine industry, including swine brucellosis, pseudorabies and leptospirosis, but infected pigs have not been documented in Wisconsin....
Wild Boar in Ohio Ohio’s hunters are encouraged to harvest any feral swine they encounter in the wild in order to limit the spread of this destructive wild animal species in the state. Wild boars feed most heavily at dawn and dusk, spending their days resting in dense vegetation or wallowing in mud holes. These nuisance animals may be legally harvested year-round by hunters with a valid Ohio hunting license or by landowners on their own property. During the deer gun and the statewide muzzleloader seasons, a valid Ohio deer permit is also required and hunters should use only the firearm legal for the season. Known in Ohio as “wild boars,” they also are also called free-ranging European wild boar, Russian wild boar, wild pigs, wild hogs, or razorbacks. These “eating machines” damage agricultural crops, degrade wildlife habitat and consume ground-nesting bird eggs, reptiles, amphibians, or just about anything else they come across, say state wildlife biologists. They also carry diseases that can infect domestic livestock, wildlife, and even people. At present, the two most significant diseases wild boars carry are Pseudorabies and swine brucellosis....
Europe Eyes 20 to 30 Percent Post-Kyoto Emission Cuts Laying the groundwork for a major climate change meeting next month where a successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol will be discussed, the European Union plans to ask developed countries to agree to cut their "greenhouse gas" emissions by 20 percent by 2020, compared to 1990 levels. And if a "fair and effective" global agreement is reached, then the E.U. will push for a 30 percent reduction, the president of the E.U.'s Executive Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, said this week. Greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide (CO2) and others that many believe are affecting the climate. December's U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting on the Indonesian resort island of Bali will discuss a climate treaty for the period after 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol's commitment period ends....
U.S. auto workers, allies charge GOP’s ‘Nissan bloc’ is driving energy bill talks Three GOP senators are driving behind-the-scenes negotiations on higher fuel efficiency standards because their support could hand Democratic leaders the key to passing a contentious energy bill before the end of the year, according to union and auto industry lobbyists. Unions and some auto industry lobbyists have dubbed Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and Tennessee GOP Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker “the Nissan bloc” because Nissan has manufacturing plants in their states and the senators are backing the Japanese company’s positions in the complicated fight over imposing more stringent Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards on automakers. Critics of the Senate version of the energy bill, which would require each manufacturer’s vehicle fleet to average at least 35 miles per gallon by 2020, charge that the three are supporting tougher CAFE provisions because they would give Nissan a competitive advantage while potentially crippling an already ailing domestic auto industry....
Colorado Ranchers Angry Over Army Site Expansion Herman Moltrer returned from Vietnam to be a cattle rancher on the broad shortgrass prairie that stretches as far as the eye can see in southern Colorado. The rugged work earned him a living and a little something extra for his soul, but now he fears he may have to sell his land, at someone else's price. The U.S. Army wants 418,000 acres of private ranch land to triple the size of its Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site, a training area considered suitable -- some would say essential -- for preparing American warriors to do battle in the Middle East and Afghanistan. The 1,000-square-mile facility would be 15 times the size of the District. Several dozen ranchers and members of 15 county commissions that voted to oppose the project find themselves pitted against the Pentagon and Colorado business interests in a struggle over property rights, personal heritage and the contested priorities of national security. Amid countless conversations around Colorado dinner tables about the potential for an economic boom or a government betrayal, experts on the environment, archaeology and paleontology are registering their concerns that the land will suffer. Both chambers of Congress voted against funding further work next year, one skirmish in a fight not nearly over. Colorado may not be alone. Military planners foresee a need for 5 million more acres for training facilities by 2011....
Drought-Ravaged Town Trucks In Water As twilight falls over this Tennessee town, Mayor Tony Reames drives up a dusty dirt road to the community's towering water tank and begins his nightly ritual in front of a rusty metal valve. With a twist of the wrist, he releases the tank's meager water supply, and suddenly this sleepy town is alive with activity. Washing machines whir, kitchen sinks fill and showers run. About three hours later, Reames will return and reverse the process, cutting off water to the town's 145 residents. The severe drought tightening like a vise across the Southeast has threatened the water supply of cities large and small, sending politicians scrambling for solutions. But Orme, about 40 miles west of Chattanooga and 150 miles northwest of Atlanta, is a town where the worst-case scenario has already come to pass: The water has run out. The mighty waterfall that fed the mountain hamlet has been reduced to a trickle, and now the creek running through the center of town is dry....
Business big in fighting water crisis Urinals without water. Fountains without water. A waterfall without water. Dry is the goal as United Parcel Service Inc., Coca-Cola Co. and other top companies in the Atlanta area lead the rally to cut water use in response to the region's most extreme drought since at least the 1920s. Metropolitan Atlanta, which has added more new residents than any other U.S. city since 2000, may face limits on growth if the shortage persists, business officials said. And many worry that the water-saving efforts might not be enough to head off a near-term crisis. ''It is the No. 1 topic that businesses are concerned about,'' said John Somerhalder II, CEO of AGL Resources Inc., which provides natural gas in Atlanta. He also is vice chairman of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce's environmental committee. UPS, the world's biggest package-delivery company, is following the lead of many businesses and facilities in the West and using urinals that drain without water. Coca-Cola turned off the fountain in front of its Atlanta headquarters and canceled planting of new flowers that would require watering, said spokeswoman Kirsten Witt....
Groups work to increase the number of conservation easements in the state A third of the plant species that exist in Montana grow on the Rocky Mountain Front because of its elevation and moisture variants. Grizzly bears still roam in the prairies, and wetlands still exist. That makes the Rocky Mountain Front pretty unique, said Dave Carr, the Nature Conservancy's Rocky Mountain Front program director. That's why the Nature Conservancy is making it a priority to preserve land on the Front. Meanwhile, the Montana Land Reliance is focusing on the Smith River, where the organization holds 46,000 acres in conservation easement, as well as a number of other river drainages. A conservation easement is a voluntary, legal agreement where a landowner sells or donates certain rights — typically the right to subdivide or develop the land — to a land trust or other conservation organization. The easements are tied to the land and last forever, regardless of sale or the land being passed on. About 100,000 acres on the Front are protected....
Forest Service ruled not liable for Cedar fire The U.S. Forest Service isn't responsible for the 2003 Cedar fire, a federal judge ruled this week. Fifteen people who lost houses when the 2003 wildfire swept through the Cleveland National Forest sued, saying the Forest Service had a 100-year-old policy of putting out naturally occurring fires to preserve the forest for public use. The result was unnaturally dense trees and brush, they said. Or, in other words, a recipe for an unholy firestorm. The homeowners allege their losses were a predictable result of Forest Service policies and that the government effectively “took” their property. But Judge John Wiese of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims disagreed, dismissing the case. In short, the judge said the Forest Service isn't responsible because a lost hunter caused the Cedar fire. The hunter, Sergio Martinez of West Covina, eventually pleaded guilty to setting the fire and was sentenced to six months of private confinement and 960 hours of community service. “Unless one is prepared to say that the hunter was acting as the government's agent, causation cannot be attributed to the government,” Wiese wrote....
Shrinking glaciers affect park's wildlife This summer, for the first time in Glacier National Park's 100-year history, Gem Glacier was entirely snow-free, a glistening sheet of bare ice sweating dark and blue under a relentless sun. Many miles away, a bubbling mountain stream turned to a trickle, fading finally, underground. It was one of many streambeds that dried up this year, and one of many more to come. "There's still water down there under the cobble," Dan Fagre said of that stream, "but it's not so good if you're a fish." Fagre, a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, has been monitoring Glacier's glaciers for years, studying the many implications of retreating ice and snow. This summer's disappearing streams, he said, are but the latest signs of a rapidly changing climate driving an equally rapidly changing park system....
Glaciers grow on Mount Shasta Ever since Eric White first climbed to the top of 14,162-foot Mount Shasta 22 years ago, he has kept an eye on the mountain. He has watched its blanket of snow rise and fall with each passing season. And he has studied the changes on Shasta's seven glaciers. "One of the things I've really noticed is that some of the glaciers have moved a bit lower since I first saw them back in the '80s," said the 42-year-old lead climbing ranger and avalanche specialist for the U.S. Forest Service's Mount Shasta Ranger Station. What he has noticed is what appears to be a rare phenomenon of growing glaciers, an aberration in an era when many of the Earth's leading scientists report global warming is shrinking glaciers worldwide. Indeed, Mount Shasta's glaciers have continued to expand in the past half-century, according to a research paper published last year by Ian M. Howat, then a doctoral student in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of California-Santa Cruz. Four other scientists assisted him in the project....
Fires not caused by climate, panel says The House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming yesterday acknowledged that climate change is not responsible for California's devastating wildfires, but members of the committee nonetheless blamed President Bush, land development and the theoretical fallout of rising temperatures for an increase in national forest fires. "Not since Hurricane Katrina slammed the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts have so many suffered from extreme weather," said committee Chairman Edward J. Markey, Massachusetts Democrat, evoking images of 2005's devastating hurricane. That storm damage, in part, has been attributed to climate change by the news media and many members of Congress. Mr. Markey quickly added, "Global warming does not cause an individual fire or hurricane, and global warming is not the cause of the California fires." California authorities have said that at least one of the fires was started by a child playing with matches. "Death and destruction aren't the only thing wildfires and hurricanes share in common. They are both now being used as poster children for global warming," said the committee's ranking Republican, F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. of Wisconsin....
Running: Climate change will cause more severe wildfires A Montana professor testified Thursday that climate change will increase and intensify wildfires, while members of Congress and Forest Service officials grappled with how to pay for the increased costs of fire suppression. Forest Service Chief Gail Kimball and several experts at a House hearing agreed that changes in temperature and precipitation patterns from climate change will cause longer and more severe fire seasons in the West. Kimball already has taken $300 million in the agency’s 2009 budget away from other priorities to steer it toward firefighting, she said. Steven Running, an ecology professor at the University of Montana who recently shared the Nobel Peace Prize, testified that the only way to deal with the problem in the long run is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. At a hearing of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, several witnesses noted that since 1986, the fire season in the West has grown 78 days longer. That’s a 20 to 30 percent increase, Running said, and roughly the same percentage increase can be expected over the next decades. Projections show that in a century, two or three times as much land in the West will burn each year as does today, said Chairman Edward Markey, D-Mass....
BLM issues prairie chicken plan The Bureau of Land Management said Friday an amended management plan for the lesser prairie chicken will allow oil and gas development, grazing and off-road vehicles on federal land used by the birds but still will protect its population. The release of the proposed special status species management plan and final environmental impact statement starts a 30-day period for protests to the plan. The document also was sent to Gov. Bill Richardson for a 60-day review. Prairie chicken habitat covers parts of New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Landowners and conservationists in New Mexico have been working to keep the bird from being listed under the federal Endangered Species Act. They won a major battle last year when the state Game Commission recommended not adding the bird to the state endangered species list....
Climbing's popularity comes at a cost Evidence of rock climbing's excesses are visible everywhere around the base of a popular summer ascent here. Dead pines lie decomposing on the eroded rock, their roots exposed by thousands of boot soles. The approach is marred by 40 separate trails braiding around the granite face. Then, there's the garbage. Last month, volunteers packed out 900 pounds of abandoned rope, snack wrappers and toilet paper strewn around some of Yosemite National Park's most cherished crags. Millions of Americans have developed a taste for rock climbing, a fad fueled by a proliferation of urban climbing gyms and glamorized by programs like America's Next Top Model, which recently showed its models hanging from climbing ropes. But as neophyte rock jocks head to national parks to test their skills in the great outdoors, some are unwittingly breaking the wilderness ethic governing the sport. Others are violating federal wilderness regulations by drilling into the bare rock face with power tools....
Tribes aim to hunt bison A pair of Idaho-based American Indian tribes want to hunt bison in parts of Montana and Wyoming near Yellowstone National Park. The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes would become the third Indian group in modern times to exercise their 19th century treaty rights by sponsoring an off-reservation bison hunt. Tribal leaders have been in discussions with state officials about starting an annual hunt in Montana beginning with the winter of 2008-09. No harvest numbers have yet been revealed. The tribes also are seeking a federal permit to kill up to five bison annually from the National Elk Refuge near Jackson for ceremonial purposes. "It is important for the tribes to continue practicing, teaching and preserving our unique tribal way of life in our traditional hunting areas," tribal leaders said this week in a statement to The Associated Press. "The tribes have resided and hunted bison and other big game in these areas, since time immemorial."....
Rancher vs. land-locked neighbor In February, the Trabuccos expect to appear in Department Four of Nevada County Superior Court in a civil case filed by their neighbor, Ian Garfinkel. The case also involves the Nevada County Land Trust, which holds an agricultural easement of 760 acres on the Trabuccos' land. Garfinkel wants a road easement across the ranch to reach his own 160 adjacent but land-locked acres, where he said he also plans to graze cattle and use the land for family visits. Allowing Garfinkel to drive through the heart of the ranch to access his acreage would disrupt the cattle ranch's viability, the Trabuccos said. An agreement granting a road across the Trabuccos' land could violate their contract with the land trust. It also could set a precedent for the future conservation of other agricultural lands at a time when they are quickly disappearing across the state, Anna Trabucco said....
U.S. to boost testing of imported Canada meat Meat and poultry products being imported from Canada will be subjected to increased testing and inspection after an outbreak of E. coli in several U.S. states traced to beef from a Canadian company, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Saturday. The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service said it would increase testing for salmonella, listeria monocytogenes and E. coli O157:H7. The agency said it would require the products be held until testing shows they do not contain any of those pathogens. Canadian meat and poultry products will also receive increased levels of reinspection by FSIS officials to confirm they are eligible to enter the U.S. market. Those requirements will begin next week. The FSIS said it would also conduct an audit of Canada's food safety system. The audit will focus on plants that export beef to the United States....
Cargill recalls 1 million-plus pounds of beef The giant agribusiness company Cargill Inc. said Saturday it is recalling more than 1 million pounds of ground beef that may be contaminated with E. coli bacteria. The ground beef was produced between Oct. 8 and Oct. 11 at Cargill Meat Solutions' plant in Wyalusing, Pa. and distributed to retailers across the country. They include Giant, Shop Rite, Stop & Shop, Wegmans and Weis. Cargill learned the meat may be contaminated after the Agriculture Department found a problem with a sample of the beef produced on Oct. 8, the company said. The bacteria is E. coli 0157:H7. "No illnesses have been associated with this product," said John Keating, president of Cargill Regional Beef, said in a statement. "We are working closely with the USDA to remove this product from the marketplace."....
Brazile dominates first night of National Finals Steer Roping Trevor Brazile knew he needed a big first night at the $195,000 National Finals Steer Roping to have a chance at defending his world championship and wasn't about to let a little thing like competing on a new horse get in the way. Brazile won two of five rounds Friday night at the Lea County Event Center and cashed checks in all but one aboard Lobo, a horse he bought Thursday from Steve Wolf after his elite steer roping mount Roan Ranger pulled a muscle Wednesday, just as Brazile was about to load his trailer and drive here from his home in Decatur, Texas. Whatever misgivings Brazile may have had about taking his new mount into a noisy building for the first time, he took an aggressive approach in every round and finished the night with an event-best $18,750, a 10-second lead over Rocky Patterson in the average standings after five rounds and what seems to be a firm grasp on first place in the Crusher Rentals PRCA World Standings. Ahead of 18-time world champion Guy Allen by about $1,900 at the start of the night, Brazile enters Saturday's last five rounds of the NFSR with a lead of just more than $19,000....He won the title Saturday night.
The Professional Bull Riders Celebrate the Duke's Birthday On November 2, the Professional Bull Riders’ (PBR) will commemorate a special day in Western heritage. The 100th celebration of John Wayne’s birthday will be observed during the fifth round of the PBR’s 2007 Built Ford Tough World Finals presented by Wrangler. The salute to the Duke will include a presentation to his wife Pilar Wayne and his daughter Aissa Wayne Conrad. His granddaughter, Jennifer Wayne along with Jeremy Popof will sing “God Bless John Wayne” to complete the presentation. The top 45 bull riders will also salute one of the greatest actors in the history of films. “John Wayne is such a central figure of Western heritage,” said Randy Bernard, CEO of the PBR. “As the PBR continues to grow and reach all corners of the globe, I think it’s important to remember where we came from, and honoring the 100th celebration of the year John Wayne was born certainly does just that.”....
Unbridled history Wild horses roaming what’s now Theodore Roosevelt National Park have been linked for years to three of the area’s most noteworthy historic figures: Sitting Bull, the Marquis de Mores and Old Four Eyes himself. A trail of written accounts connects war ponies that were confiscated from Sitting Bull and his followers to horses used by ranchers during the open-range era around Medora, N.D. But the National Park Service has taken the position that airtight proof is lacking to officially acknowledge any ties. If the link were recognized, wild horse advocates say, it would force the park service to work actively to preserve an important historic legacy, and stop what they say is the systematic removal of descendant horses. The park’s horse herd, culled every few years in roundups to avoid overgrazing, is exempt from federal laws to protect horses from mistreatment. Years ago, horses were routinely sold for slaughter, including as food for zoo animals, and horse advocates say cavalier treatment continues, as evidenced by a helicopter crash during a roundup last month. That incident, which injured the pilot and a park biologist, remains under investigation. The roundup was the first on record without using horseback riders, horse advocates said. Now two noted historians – both former National Park Service officials – say compelling historic evidence shows that horses in the park are descended from Sitting Bull and his followers, and therefore should be carefully preserved as living history....
Pregnant heifer broke dragging records Charlie survived and is now a member of that elite group of cowmen who have run the O.B. Chain Marathon. “O.B. chain” for you readers who are poultry producers and might think this refers to manacles worn by Over the Border illegals or a delicate veterinary instrument used to spay heifers by Ovary Burglars, it is not. O.B. stands for Obstetrical. Obstetrics refers to pregnancy, labor and birth. During a calving … well, let me tell you Charlie’s story. He and his brother run a modest-sized cow ranch in the pretty rolling country north of Lewistown, Mont. It was a wet spring and the brothers were in the midst of calving outside. They had bought 100 bred heifers. They worked together during the day and took turns each night so the other could get some sleep. The night of the marathon, Charlie drove out through the calving pasture shining his headlights and spotlighting the group. An experienced hand in the calving can detect the subtle differences in a resting cow and one in the process of parturition. It is a developed skill....
Wisconsin to hunters: Kill wild pigs on sight State wildlife officials are encouraging hunters to report feral pig sightings or shoot them if they see them while pursuing other game. The wild pigs are exotic, non-native animals that threaten both the environment and agricultural operations, according to the Department of Natural Resources. "Free-roaming pigs can be found across a wide variety of habitats and are highly destructive because of the rooting they do in search of food," said Brad Koele, a wildlife biologist for the DNR. "They're also efficient predators preying on many species including white-tailed deer fawns and ground-nesting birds like grouse, woodcock, turkeys and songbirds." Wild pigs are known to carry a number of diseases worrisome to the domestic swine industry, including swine brucellosis, pseudorabies and leptospirosis, but infected pigs have not been documented in Wisconsin....
Wild Boar in Ohio Ohio’s hunters are encouraged to harvest any feral swine they encounter in the wild in order to limit the spread of this destructive wild animal species in the state. Wild boars feed most heavily at dawn and dusk, spending their days resting in dense vegetation or wallowing in mud holes. These nuisance animals may be legally harvested year-round by hunters with a valid Ohio hunting license or by landowners on their own property. During the deer gun and the statewide muzzleloader seasons, a valid Ohio deer permit is also required and hunters should use only the firearm legal for the season. Known in Ohio as “wild boars,” they also are also called free-ranging European wild boar, Russian wild boar, wild pigs, wild hogs, or razorbacks. These “eating machines” damage agricultural crops, degrade wildlife habitat and consume ground-nesting bird eggs, reptiles, amphibians, or just about anything else they come across, say state wildlife biologists. They also carry diseases that can infect domestic livestock, wildlife, and even people. At present, the two most significant diseases wild boars carry are Pseudorabies and swine brucellosis....
Europe Eyes 20 to 30 Percent Post-Kyoto Emission Cuts Laying the groundwork for a major climate change meeting next month where a successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol will be discussed, the European Union plans to ask developed countries to agree to cut their "greenhouse gas" emissions by 20 percent by 2020, compared to 1990 levels. And if a "fair and effective" global agreement is reached, then the E.U. will push for a 30 percent reduction, the president of the E.U.'s Executive Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, said this week. Greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide (CO2) and others that many believe are affecting the climate. December's U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting on the Indonesian resort island of Bali will discuss a climate treaty for the period after 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol's commitment period ends....
U.S. auto workers, allies charge GOP’s ‘Nissan bloc’ is driving energy bill talks Three GOP senators are driving behind-the-scenes negotiations on higher fuel efficiency standards because their support could hand Democratic leaders the key to passing a contentious energy bill before the end of the year, according to union and auto industry lobbyists. Unions and some auto industry lobbyists have dubbed Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and Tennessee GOP Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker “the Nissan bloc” because Nissan has manufacturing plants in their states and the senators are backing the Japanese company’s positions in the complicated fight over imposing more stringent Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards on automakers. Critics of the Senate version of the energy bill, which would require each manufacturer’s vehicle fleet to average at least 35 miles per gallon by 2020, charge that the three are supporting tougher CAFE provisions because they would give Nissan a competitive advantage while potentially crippling an already ailing domestic auto industry....
Colorado Ranchers Angry Over Army Site Expansion Herman Moltrer returned from Vietnam to be a cattle rancher on the broad shortgrass prairie that stretches as far as the eye can see in southern Colorado. The rugged work earned him a living and a little something extra for his soul, but now he fears he may have to sell his land, at someone else's price. The U.S. Army wants 418,000 acres of private ranch land to triple the size of its Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site, a training area considered suitable -- some would say essential -- for preparing American warriors to do battle in the Middle East and Afghanistan. The 1,000-square-mile facility would be 15 times the size of the District. Several dozen ranchers and members of 15 county commissions that voted to oppose the project find themselves pitted against the Pentagon and Colorado business interests in a struggle over property rights, personal heritage and the contested priorities of national security. Amid countless conversations around Colorado dinner tables about the potential for an economic boom or a government betrayal, experts on the environment, archaeology and paleontology are registering their concerns that the land will suffer. Both chambers of Congress voted against funding further work next year, one skirmish in a fight not nearly over. Colorado may not be alone. Military planners foresee a need for 5 million more acres for training facilities by 2011....
Drought-Ravaged Town Trucks In Water As twilight falls over this Tennessee town, Mayor Tony Reames drives up a dusty dirt road to the community's towering water tank and begins his nightly ritual in front of a rusty metal valve. With a twist of the wrist, he releases the tank's meager water supply, and suddenly this sleepy town is alive with activity. Washing machines whir, kitchen sinks fill and showers run. About three hours later, Reames will return and reverse the process, cutting off water to the town's 145 residents. The severe drought tightening like a vise across the Southeast has threatened the water supply of cities large and small, sending politicians scrambling for solutions. But Orme, about 40 miles west of Chattanooga and 150 miles northwest of Atlanta, is a town where the worst-case scenario has already come to pass: The water has run out. The mighty waterfall that fed the mountain hamlet has been reduced to a trickle, and now the creek running through the center of town is dry....
Business big in fighting water crisis Urinals without water. Fountains without water. A waterfall without water. Dry is the goal as United Parcel Service Inc., Coca-Cola Co. and other top companies in the Atlanta area lead the rally to cut water use in response to the region's most extreme drought since at least the 1920s. Metropolitan Atlanta, which has added more new residents than any other U.S. city since 2000, may face limits on growth if the shortage persists, business officials said. And many worry that the water-saving efforts might not be enough to head off a near-term crisis. ''It is the No. 1 topic that businesses are concerned about,'' said John Somerhalder II, CEO of AGL Resources Inc., which provides natural gas in Atlanta. He also is vice chairman of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce's environmental committee. UPS, the world's biggest package-delivery company, is following the lead of many businesses and facilities in the West and using urinals that drain without water. Coca-Cola turned off the fountain in front of its Atlanta headquarters and canceled planting of new flowers that would require watering, said spokeswoman Kirsten Witt....
Groups work to increase the number of conservation easements in the state A third of the plant species that exist in Montana grow on the Rocky Mountain Front because of its elevation and moisture variants. Grizzly bears still roam in the prairies, and wetlands still exist. That makes the Rocky Mountain Front pretty unique, said Dave Carr, the Nature Conservancy's Rocky Mountain Front program director. That's why the Nature Conservancy is making it a priority to preserve land on the Front. Meanwhile, the Montana Land Reliance is focusing on the Smith River, where the organization holds 46,000 acres in conservation easement, as well as a number of other river drainages. A conservation easement is a voluntary, legal agreement where a landowner sells or donates certain rights — typically the right to subdivide or develop the land — to a land trust or other conservation organization. The easements are tied to the land and last forever, regardless of sale or the land being passed on. About 100,000 acres on the Front are protected....
Forest Service ruled not liable for Cedar fire The U.S. Forest Service isn't responsible for the 2003 Cedar fire, a federal judge ruled this week. Fifteen people who lost houses when the 2003 wildfire swept through the Cleveland National Forest sued, saying the Forest Service had a 100-year-old policy of putting out naturally occurring fires to preserve the forest for public use. The result was unnaturally dense trees and brush, they said. Or, in other words, a recipe for an unholy firestorm. The homeowners allege their losses were a predictable result of Forest Service policies and that the government effectively “took” their property. But Judge John Wiese of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims disagreed, dismissing the case. In short, the judge said the Forest Service isn't responsible because a lost hunter caused the Cedar fire. The hunter, Sergio Martinez of West Covina, eventually pleaded guilty to setting the fire and was sentenced to six months of private confinement and 960 hours of community service. “Unless one is prepared to say that the hunter was acting as the government's agent, causation cannot be attributed to the government,” Wiese wrote....
Shrinking glaciers affect park's wildlife This summer, for the first time in Glacier National Park's 100-year history, Gem Glacier was entirely snow-free, a glistening sheet of bare ice sweating dark and blue under a relentless sun. Many miles away, a bubbling mountain stream turned to a trickle, fading finally, underground. It was one of many streambeds that dried up this year, and one of many more to come. "There's still water down there under the cobble," Dan Fagre said of that stream, "but it's not so good if you're a fish." Fagre, a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, has been monitoring Glacier's glaciers for years, studying the many implications of retreating ice and snow. This summer's disappearing streams, he said, are but the latest signs of a rapidly changing climate driving an equally rapidly changing park system....
Glaciers grow on Mount Shasta Ever since Eric White first climbed to the top of 14,162-foot Mount Shasta 22 years ago, he has kept an eye on the mountain. He has watched its blanket of snow rise and fall with each passing season. And he has studied the changes on Shasta's seven glaciers. "One of the things I've really noticed is that some of the glaciers have moved a bit lower since I first saw them back in the '80s," said the 42-year-old lead climbing ranger and avalanche specialist for the U.S. Forest Service's Mount Shasta Ranger Station. What he has noticed is what appears to be a rare phenomenon of growing glaciers, an aberration in an era when many of the Earth's leading scientists report global warming is shrinking glaciers worldwide. Indeed, Mount Shasta's glaciers have continued to expand in the past half-century, according to a research paper published last year by Ian M. Howat, then a doctoral student in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of California-Santa Cruz. Four other scientists assisted him in the project....
Fires not caused by climate, panel says The House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming yesterday acknowledged that climate change is not responsible for California's devastating wildfires, but members of the committee nonetheless blamed President Bush, land development and the theoretical fallout of rising temperatures for an increase in national forest fires. "Not since Hurricane Katrina slammed the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts have so many suffered from extreme weather," said committee Chairman Edward J. Markey, Massachusetts Democrat, evoking images of 2005's devastating hurricane. That storm damage, in part, has been attributed to climate change by the news media and many members of Congress. Mr. Markey quickly added, "Global warming does not cause an individual fire or hurricane, and global warming is not the cause of the California fires." California authorities have said that at least one of the fires was started by a child playing with matches. "Death and destruction aren't the only thing wildfires and hurricanes share in common. They are both now being used as poster children for global warming," said the committee's ranking Republican, F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. of Wisconsin....
Running: Climate change will cause more severe wildfires A Montana professor testified Thursday that climate change will increase and intensify wildfires, while members of Congress and Forest Service officials grappled with how to pay for the increased costs of fire suppression. Forest Service Chief Gail Kimball and several experts at a House hearing agreed that changes in temperature and precipitation patterns from climate change will cause longer and more severe fire seasons in the West. Kimball already has taken $300 million in the agency’s 2009 budget away from other priorities to steer it toward firefighting, she said. Steven Running, an ecology professor at the University of Montana who recently shared the Nobel Peace Prize, testified that the only way to deal with the problem in the long run is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. At a hearing of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, several witnesses noted that since 1986, the fire season in the West has grown 78 days longer. That’s a 20 to 30 percent increase, Running said, and roughly the same percentage increase can be expected over the next decades. Projections show that in a century, two or three times as much land in the West will burn each year as does today, said Chairman Edward Markey, D-Mass....
BLM issues prairie chicken plan The Bureau of Land Management said Friday an amended management plan for the lesser prairie chicken will allow oil and gas development, grazing and off-road vehicles on federal land used by the birds but still will protect its population. The release of the proposed special status species management plan and final environmental impact statement starts a 30-day period for protests to the plan. The document also was sent to Gov. Bill Richardson for a 60-day review. Prairie chicken habitat covers parts of New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Landowners and conservationists in New Mexico have been working to keep the bird from being listed under the federal Endangered Species Act. They won a major battle last year when the state Game Commission recommended not adding the bird to the state endangered species list....
Climbing's popularity comes at a cost Evidence of rock climbing's excesses are visible everywhere around the base of a popular summer ascent here. Dead pines lie decomposing on the eroded rock, their roots exposed by thousands of boot soles. The approach is marred by 40 separate trails braiding around the granite face. Then, there's the garbage. Last month, volunteers packed out 900 pounds of abandoned rope, snack wrappers and toilet paper strewn around some of Yosemite National Park's most cherished crags. Millions of Americans have developed a taste for rock climbing, a fad fueled by a proliferation of urban climbing gyms and glamorized by programs like America's Next Top Model, which recently showed its models hanging from climbing ropes. But as neophyte rock jocks head to national parks to test their skills in the great outdoors, some are unwittingly breaking the wilderness ethic governing the sport. Others are violating federal wilderness regulations by drilling into the bare rock face with power tools....
Tribes aim to hunt bison A pair of Idaho-based American Indian tribes want to hunt bison in parts of Montana and Wyoming near Yellowstone National Park. The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes would become the third Indian group in modern times to exercise their 19th century treaty rights by sponsoring an off-reservation bison hunt. Tribal leaders have been in discussions with state officials about starting an annual hunt in Montana beginning with the winter of 2008-09. No harvest numbers have yet been revealed. The tribes also are seeking a federal permit to kill up to five bison annually from the National Elk Refuge near Jackson for ceremonial purposes. "It is important for the tribes to continue practicing, teaching and preserving our unique tribal way of life in our traditional hunting areas," tribal leaders said this week in a statement to The Associated Press. "The tribes have resided and hunted bison and other big game in these areas, since time immemorial."....
Rancher vs. land-locked neighbor In February, the Trabuccos expect to appear in Department Four of Nevada County Superior Court in a civil case filed by their neighbor, Ian Garfinkel. The case also involves the Nevada County Land Trust, which holds an agricultural easement of 760 acres on the Trabuccos' land. Garfinkel wants a road easement across the ranch to reach his own 160 adjacent but land-locked acres, where he said he also plans to graze cattle and use the land for family visits. Allowing Garfinkel to drive through the heart of the ranch to access his acreage would disrupt the cattle ranch's viability, the Trabuccos said. An agreement granting a road across the Trabuccos' land could violate their contract with the land trust. It also could set a precedent for the future conservation of other agricultural lands at a time when they are quickly disappearing across the state, Anna Trabucco said....
U.S. to boost testing of imported Canada meat Meat and poultry products being imported from Canada will be subjected to increased testing and inspection after an outbreak of E. coli in several U.S. states traced to beef from a Canadian company, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Saturday. The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service said it would increase testing for salmonella, listeria monocytogenes and E. coli O157:H7. The agency said it would require the products be held until testing shows they do not contain any of those pathogens. Canadian meat and poultry products will also receive increased levels of reinspection by FSIS officials to confirm they are eligible to enter the U.S. market. Those requirements will begin next week. The FSIS said it would also conduct an audit of Canada's food safety system. The audit will focus on plants that export beef to the United States....
Cargill recalls 1 million-plus pounds of beef The giant agribusiness company Cargill Inc. said Saturday it is recalling more than 1 million pounds of ground beef that may be contaminated with E. coli bacteria. The ground beef was produced between Oct. 8 and Oct. 11 at Cargill Meat Solutions' plant in Wyalusing, Pa. and distributed to retailers across the country. They include Giant, Shop Rite, Stop & Shop, Wegmans and Weis. Cargill learned the meat may be contaminated after the Agriculture Department found a problem with a sample of the beef produced on Oct. 8, the company said. The bacteria is E. coli 0157:H7. "No illnesses have been associated with this product," said John Keating, president of Cargill Regional Beef, said in a statement. "We are working closely with the USDA to remove this product from the marketplace."....
Brazile dominates first night of National Finals Steer Roping Trevor Brazile knew he needed a big first night at the $195,000 National Finals Steer Roping to have a chance at defending his world championship and wasn't about to let a little thing like competing on a new horse get in the way. Brazile won two of five rounds Friday night at the Lea County Event Center and cashed checks in all but one aboard Lobo, a horse he bought Thursday from Steve Wolf after his elite steer roping mount Roan Ranger pulled a muscle Wednesday, just as Brazile was about to load his trailer and drive here from his home in Decatur, Texas. Whatever misgivings Brazile may have had about taking his new mount into a noisy building for the first time, he took an aggressive approach in every round and finished the night with an event-best $18,750, a 10-second lead over Rocky Patterson in the average standings after five rounds and what seems to be a firm grasp on first place in the Crusher Rentals PRCA World Standings. Ahead of 18-time world champion Guy Allen by about $1,900 at the start of the night, Brazile enters Saturday's last five rounds of the NFSR with a lead of just more than $19,000....He won the title Saturday night.
The Professional Bull Riders Celebrate the Duke's Birthday On November 2, the Professional Bull Riders’ (PBR) will commemorate a special day in Western heritage. The 100th celebration of John Wayne’s birthday will be observed during the fifth round of the PBR’s 2007 Built Ford Tough World Finals presented by Wrangler. The salute to the Duke will include a presentation to his wife Pilar Wayne and his daughter Aissa Wayne Conrad. His granddaughter, Jennifer Wayne along with Jeremy Popof will sing “God Bless John Wayne” to complete the presentation. The top 45 bull riders will also salute one of the greatest actors in the history of films. “John Wayne is such a central figure of Western heritage,” said Randy Bernard, CEO of the PBR. “As the PBR continues to grow and reach all corners of the globe, I think it’s important to remember where we came from, and honoring the 100th celebration of the year John Wayne was born certainly does just that.”....
Unbridled history Wild horses roaming what’s now Theodore Roosevelt National Park have been linked for years to three of the area’s most noteworthy historic figures: Sitting Bull, the Marquis de Mores and Old Four Eyes himself. A trail of written accounts connects war ponies that were confiscated from Sitting Bull and his followers to horses used by ranchers during the open-range era around Medora, N.D. But the National Park Service has taken the position that airtight proof is lacking to officially acknowledge any ties. If the link were recognized, wild horse advocates say, it would force the park service to work actively to preserve an important historic legacy, and stop what they say is the systematic removal of descendant horses. The park’s horse herd, culled every few years in roundups to avoid overgrazing, is exempt from federal laws to protect horses from mistreatment. Years ago, horses were routinely sold for slaughter, including as food for zoo animals, and horse advocates say cavalier treatment continues, as evidenced by a helicopter crash during a roundup last month. That incident, which injured the pilot and a park biologist, remains under investigation. The roundup was the first on record without using horseback riders, horse advocates said. Now two noted historians – both former National Park Service officials – say compelling historic evidence shows that horses in the park are descended from Sitting Bull and his followers, and therefore should be carefully preserved as living history....
Pregnant heifer broke dragging records Charlie survived and is now a member of that elite group of cowmen who have run the O.B. Chain Marathon. “O.B. chain” for you readers who are poultry producers and might think this refers to manacles worn by Over the Border illegals or a delicate veterinary instrument used to spay heifers by Ovary Burglars, it is not. O.B. stands for Obstetrical. Obstetrics refers to pregnancy, labor and birth. During a calving … well, let me tell you Charlie’s story. He and his brother run a modest-sized cow ranch in the pretty rolling country north of Lewistown, Mont. It was a wet spring and the brothers were in the midst of calving outside. They had bought 100 bred heifers. They worked together during the day and took turns each night so the other could get some sleep. The night of the marathon, Charlie drove out through the calving pasture shining his headlights and spotlighting the group. An experienced hand in the calving can detect the subtle differences in a resting cow and one in the process of parturition. It is a developed skill....
Sunday, November 04, 2007
FLE
TSA Exposed Its Undercover Operatives The Transportation Security Administration touts its programs to ensure security by using undercover operatives to test its airport screeners. In one instance, however, the agency thwarted such a test by alerting screeners across the country that it was under way, even providing descriptions of the undercover agents. The government routinely runs covert tests at airports to ensure that security measures in place are sufficient to stop a terrorist from bringing something dangerous onto an airplane. Alerting screeners when the undercover officer is coming through and what the person looks like would defeat the purpose. But that's exactly what happened on April 28, 2006, according to an e-mail from a top TSA official who oversees security operations. In an e-mail to more than a dozen recipients, including airport security staff, the TSA official warned that ``several airport authorities and airport police departments have recently received informal notice'' of security testing being carried out by the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration....
FBI Hoped to Follow Falafel Trail to Iranian Terrorists Here Like Hansel and Gretel hoping to follow their bread crumbs out of the forest, the FBI sifted through customer data collected by San Francisco-area grocery stores in 2005 and 2006, hoping that sales records of Middle Eastern food would lead to Iranian terrorists. The idea was that a spike in, say, falafel sales, combined with other data, would lead to Iranian secret agents. A similar project was aimed at Sunni Arabs in the Washington, D.C., area. The brainchild of top FBI counterterrorism officials Phil Mudd and Willie T. Hulon, according to well-informed sources, the project didn’t last long. It was torpedoed by the head of the FBI’s criminal investigations division, Michael A. Mason, who argued that putting somebody on a terrorist list for what they ate was ridiculous — and possibly illegal. A check of federal court records in California did not reveal any prosecutions developed from falafel trails....
Homeland Security Retreats From Facets of 'Real ID' The Bush administration is easing its demand for tough national standards for driver's licenses, acting at the behest of state officials who say the "Real ID" plan is unworkable and too costly, officials familiar with the new policy said. While Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff hailed an agreement with New York last week on more secure state identification cards for citizens as a sign that "the tide is moving more rapidly in favor of Real ID," his department is preparing to extend deadlines for the second time in a year and ease or take over responsibility for new security measures, the officials said. Chertoff had earlier announced that DHS would waive the original May 2008 deadline and set a new target of 2013 for getting all 245 million U.S. driver's licenses to comply with a national standard. Now, DHS may extend the original deadline by a decade, to 2018 for drivers older than 40 or 50 to reduce the costs associated with a projected surge of customers at state motor vehicle departments, the officials said. In a recent meeting, DHS policy official Richard C. Barth told state officials to expect Real ID's price tag to fall by "billions of dollars" as DHS eases previous demands that the new licenses be renewed every five years, that expensive, tamper-resistant materials be used to create the ID cards, and that each state develop its own document verification systems, those officials said....
E.U. Seeks Data on American Passengers American travelers' personal data would for the first time be exported to all European Union states by airline carriers flying to Europe under a proposal to be announced this week. The data, including names, telephone numbers, credit card information and travel itinerary, would be sent to E.U. member states so they could assess passenger risk for counterterrorism purposes, according to a draft copy obtained by The Washington Post. The European Commission proposal would allow the data to be kept for 13 years or longer if used in criminal investigations and intelligence operations. It would cover all passengers flying into and out of Europe, not just Americans. Airlines already share data with U.S. authorities on passengers entering the United States. A handful of countries, including Canada and Australia, have similar laws. The European proposal was apparently modeled after an agreement signed in July between the United States and Europe dealing with passenger data from European flights entering and leaving the United States. Under the proposal by Franco Frattini, European commissioner for freedom, security and justice, airlines or computerized reservation systems would send at least 19 pieces of data on each passenger to data-analysis units set up by each state. The data fields also would include e-mail addresses, names of accompanying passengers and open ones for such special requests as meals or medical service....
DHS Relaxes Chemical Plant Storage Rules The Department of Homeland Security yesterday eased rules requiring tens of thousands of U.S. chemical plants to protect their stockpiles from terrorists, pleasing chemical industry lobbyists but disappointing environmentalists and some Democratic lawmakers, who said they will beef up requirements next year. The regulations will touch a wide range of U.S. industry, including pulp and paper mills, petroleum plants, food and agriculture facilities, and manufacturing and industrial cleaning sites. The measure has been delayed for years by disagreements within the Bush administration over the need for new regulations after the 2001 terrorist attacks. Partisan battling is likely to intensify in the Democratic Congress because the chemical security legislation expires in September 2009. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff described the rules as "a critical piece" of federal efforts to diminish the threat posed by large private stockpiles of dangerouschemicals....
Rancher sees benefit from a fence Richard Hodges was driving his Jeep along International Road after 8 p.m. one night this past summer when he noticed an opening in the barbed wire fence along one side of his property. He owns 372 acres near Bisbee Junction. The edge of his land is located on the border with Mexico. Fearing his cows might escape and cross the border, he stopped to close the hole in the fence. He parked his vehicle so the headlights were shining on the fence. As he was mending the section of barbed wire, he was struck in the chest by a rock. He turned to step out of the way of the lights and he felt another rock whiz by his head. He walked around to get in his Jeep and he heard rocks rain down on the canvas top of his Jeep. He went home. Hodges suspects the people who were throwing the rocks are drug runners. “They wanted me to leave so they could conduct their illegal business,” he said. His land is regularly crossed by illegal entrants and he strongly believes many of them are smuggling narcotics. Hodges also has been shot at a few times over the years. He thinks it is unreasonable that he can’t stand on his own property without being threatened with injury or death. “This is my place,” he said. “I inherited this from my grandparents. My great-grandfather homesteaded it. I’ve been out here all my life, except when I was in school and in the military.” The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps is building a mile-long fence along one side of his property to divert the illegal traffic. He said the fence is a necessity.
TSA Exposed Its Undercover Operatives The Transportation Security Administration touts its programs to ensure security by using undercover operatives to test its airport screeners. In one instance, however, the agency thwarted such a test by alerting screeners across the country that it was under way, even providing descriptions of the undercover agents. The government routinely runs covert tests at airports to ensure that security measures in place are sufficient to stop a terrorist from bringing something dangerous onto an airplane. Alerting screeners when the undercover officer is coming through and what the person looks like would defeat the purpose. But that's exactly what happened on April 28, 2006, according to an e-mail from a top TSA official who oversees security operations. In an e-mail to more than a dozen recipients, including airport security staff, the TSA official warned that ``several airport authorities and airport police departments have recently received informal notice'' of security testing being carried out by the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration....
FBI Hoped to Follow Falafel Trail to Iranian Terrorists Here Like Hansel and Gretel hoping to follow their bread crumbs out of the forest, the FBI sifted through customer data collected by San Francisco-area grocery stores in 2005 and 2006, hoping that sales records of Middle Eastern food would lead to Iranian terrorists. The idea was that a spike in, say, falafel sales, combined with other data, would lead to Iranian secret agents. A similar project was aimed at Sunni Arabs in the Washington, D.C., area. The brainchild of top FBI counterterrorism officials Phil Mudd and Willie T. Hulon, according to well-informed sources, the project didn’t last long. It was torpedoed by the head of the FBI’s criminal investigations division, Michael A. Mason, who argued that putting somebody on a terrorist list for what they ate was ridiculous — and possibly illegal. A check of federal court records in California did not reveal any prosecutions developed from falafel trails....
Homeland Security Retreats From Facets of 'Real ID' The Bush administration is easing its demand for tough national standards for driver's licenses, acting at the behest of state officials who say the "Real ID" plan is unworkable and too costly, officials familiar with the new policy said. While Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff hailed an agreement with New York last week on more secure state identification cards for citizens as a sign that "the tide is moving more rapidly in favor of Real ID," his department is preparing to extend deadlines for the second time in a year and ease or take over responsibility for new security measures, the officials said. Chertoff had earlier announced that DHS would waive the original May 2008 deadline and set a new target of 2013 for getting all 245 million U.S. driver's licenses to comply with a national standard. Now, DHS may extend the original deadline by a decade, to 2018 for drivers older than 40 or 50 to reduce the costs associated with a projected surge of customers at state motor vehicle departments, the officials said. In a recent meeting, DHS policy official Richard C. Barth told state officials to expect Real ID's price tag to fall by "billions of dollars" as DHS eases previous demands that the new licenses be renewed every five years, that expensive, tamper-resistant materials be used to create the ID cards, and that each state develop its own document verification systems, those officials said....
E.U. Seeks Data on American Passengers American travelers' personal data would for the first time be exported to all European Union states by airline carriers flying to Europe under a proposal to be announced this week. The data, including names, telephone numbers, credit card information and travel itinerary, would be sent to E.U. member states so they could assess passenger risk for counterterrorism purposes, according to a draft copy obtained by The Washington Post. The European Commission proposal would allow the data to be kept for 13 years or longer if used in criminal investigations and intelligence operations. It would cover all passengers flying into and out of Europe, not just Americans. Airlines already share data with U.S. authorities on passengers entering the United States. A handful of countries, including Canada and Australia, have similar laws. The European proposal was apparently modeled after an agreement signed in July between the United States and Europe dealing with passenger data from European flights entering and leaving the United States. Under the proposal by Franco Frattini, European commissioner for freedom, security and justice, airlines or computerized reservation systems would send at least 19 pieces of data on each passenger to data-analysis units set up by each state. The data fields also would include e-mail addresses, names of accompanying passengers and open ones for such special requests as meals or medical service....
DHS Relaxes Chemical Plant Storage Rules The Department of Homeland Security yesterday eased rules requiring tens of thousands of U.S. chemical plants to protect their stockpiles from terrorists, pleasing chemical industry lobbyists but disappointing environmentalists and some Democratic lawmakers, who said they will beef up requirements next year. The regulations will touch a wide range of U.S. industry, including pulp and paper mills, petroleum plants, food and agriculture facilities, and manufacturing and industrial cleaning sites. The measure has been delayed for years by disagreements within the Bush administration over the need for new regulations after the 2001 terrorist attacks. Partisan battling is likely to intensify in the Democratic Congress because the chemical security legislation expires in September 2009. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff described the rules as "a critical piece" of federal efforts to diminish the threat posed by large private stockpiles of dangerouschemicals....
Rancher sees benefit from a fence Richard Hodges was driving his Jeep along International Road after 8 p.m. one night this past summer when he noticed an opening in the barbed wire fence along one side of his property. He owns 372 acres near Bisbee Junction. The edge of his land is located on the border with Mexico. Fearing his cows might escape and cross the border, he stopped to close the hole in the fence. He parked his vehicle so the headlights were shining on the fence. As he was mending the section of barbed wire, he was struck in the chest by a rock. He turned to step out of the way of the lights and he felt another rock whiz by his head. He walked around to get in his Jeep and he heard rocks rain down on the canvas top of his Jeep. He went home. Hodges suspects the people who were throwing the rocks are drug runners. “They wanted me to leave so they could conduct their illegal business,” he said. His land is regularly crossed by illegal entrants and he strongly believes many of them are smuggling narcotics. Hodges also has been shot at a few times over the years. He thinks it is unreasonable that he can’t stand on his own property without being threatened with injury or death. “This is my place,” he said. “I inherited this from my grandparents. My great-grandfather homesteaded it. I’ve been out here all my life, except when I was in school and in the military.” The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps is building a mile-long fence along one side of his property to divert the illegal traffic. He said the fence is a necessity.
Technology for the cowboy
Cowboy Sass And Savvy
By Julie Carter
When you see a cowboy leaning on the side of a pickup with an adult beverage in his hand, hat cocked back and a big toothy grin accenting the story he is telling, you just never, even remotely, consider there might be cutting-edge technology impacting his life, his job and his sport.
For the competitive roper, technology has become an integral part of his game.
For instance, a new rope has now come on the cowboy equipment scene that has some sort of space-age coating baked on it, so that it never loses its "slickum." Thereby, it is always fast in doing its job. This sci-fi layer replaces the wax coating common to good ropes.
There is also a rope available with a weighted tip in the loop. Evidently, someone, theoretically a roping consultant of reputed expertise, determines the perfect tip point. The rope is fashioned with a weight at that point. Bowling ball technology may have moved to the cowboy world.
The senior cowboys still hanging on in the new world of the techno-roper will regale you with stories of how ropes used to be made at home, not bought already manufactured.
A trip to the feed store allowed for the purchase of the right length of grass rope which was taken home, stretched for a millennium and left out to be weather-cured.
At just the right time, which often was determined by necessity, the rope was taken loose, a honda tied in it and a burner placed in the honda. A kitchen match struck on the backside of a denimed-leg was used to burn the burrs off the rope. With a bread wrapper or other such modern plastic technology, a slightly slick finish could be rubbed on the rope and it was good to go.
This piece of handcrafted equipment seemed to last longer. The amount of trouble it took to make it might have been a definite incentive for longevity. According to memory and legend, this masterpiece caught faster, bigger cattle more often with better accuracy. It could have also hung a few deserving people and in general was a valuable piece of equipment.
And as a bottom line, the initial grass rope to start this process cost only $4. The 100 hours of work put in the construction was valued at a quarter an hour. That brought the complete production cost to $29, which is, coincidentally, the same cost as today's no-count nylon and poly ropes. Progress is wonderful isn't it?
Other technology gains have been as major as the invention of the horse trailer, pop-top cans eliminating the need for keeping track of the "church key" opener and in the integration of sports physiology and sports psychology.
Video cameras allow for taping and analyzing runs to find places to shave off a hundredth of a second. It also gave the fence sitters a viable job instead of using the afternoon to empty the requisite resident cooler while telling the other ropers how it should be done. This may account for some of the roping runs, which are over before you can say how much it would pay to win.
I'm a fairly technological person. I'm thinking I could easily upgrade to this more technological cowboy world.
In fact, I bet I could run the chute with that new electronic remote control, or operate the cooler lid and possibly both at the same time.
Visit Julie’s web site at www.julie-carter.com
Cowboy Sass And Savvy
By Julie Carter
When you see a cowboy leaning on the side of a pickup with an adult beverage in his hand, hat cocked back and a big toothy grin accenting the story he is telling, you just never, even remotely, consider there might be cutting-edge technology impacting his life, his job and his sport.
For the competitive roper, technology has become an integral part of his game.
For instance, a new rope has now come on the cowboy equipment scene that has some sort of space-age coating baked on it, so that it never loses its "slickum." Thereby, it is always fast in doing its job. This sci-fi layer replaces the wax coating common to good ropes.
There is also a rope available with a weighted tip in the loop. Evidently, someone, theoretically a roping consultant of reputed expertise, determines the perfect tip point. The rope is fashioned with a weight at that point. Bowling ball technology may have moved to the cowboy world.
The senior cowboys still hanging on in the new world of the techno-roper will regale you with stories of how ropes used to be made at home, not bought already manufactured.
A trip to the feed store allowed for the purchase of the right length of grass rope which was taken home, stretched for a millennium and left out to be weather-cured.
At just the right time, which often was determined by necessity, the rope was taken loose, a honda tied in it and a burner placed in the honda. A kitchen match struck on the backside of a denimed-leg was used to burn the burrs off the rope. With a bread wrapper or other such modern plastic technology, a slightly slick finish could be rubbed on the rope and it was good to go.
This piece of handcrafted equipment seemed to last longer. The amount of trouble it took to make it might have been a definite incentive for longevity. According to memory and legend, this masterpiece caught faster, bigger cattle more often with better accuracy. It could have also hung a few deserving people and in general was a valuable piece of equipment.
And as a bottom line, the initial grass rope to start this process cost only $4. The 100 hours of work put in the construction was valued at a quarter an hour. That brought the complete production cost to $29, which is, coincidentally, the same cost as today's no-count nylon and poly ropes. Progress is wonderful isn't it?
Other technology gains have been as major as the invention of the horse trailer, pop-top cans eliminating the need for keeping track of the "church key" opener and in the integration of sports physiology and sports psychology.
Video cameras allow for taping and analyzing runs to find places to shave off a hundredth of a second. It also gave the fence sitters a viable job instead of using the afternoon to empty the requisite resident cooler while telling the other ropers how it should be done. This may account for some of the roping runs, which are over before you can say how much it would pay to win.
I'm a fairly technological person. I'm thinking I could easily upgrade to this more technological cowboy world.
In fact, I bet I could run the chute with that new electronic remote control, or operate the cooler lid and possibly both at the same time.
Visit Julie’s web site at www.julie-carter.com
OPINION & COMMENTARY
Planet propaganda
CNN's Anderson Cooper revealed the alarmist nature of his ecological special, Planet in Peril, before the much-hailed program even aired. Momentarily pre-empted by coverage of Southern California's wildfires, Cooper used the interruption to claim that global warming is partially to blame for the disaster. "Fire, drought, deforestation," he intoned. "It's all connected." Such inappropriate commentary persisted throughout the next four hours, leaving no question that the documentary's purpose was not to investigate key environmental issues but to engage in environmental tub-thumping. Of course, even if CNN were of a mind to offer a measured view of these subjects, the overstuffed focus of their production doesn't allow them time to. Taking an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach, Planet in Peril pushes so many ecological buttons—chemical ingestion, endangered species poaching, pollution—that none is examined with any more depth than a music video. However, the most troubling aspect of the documentary is that it never considers the human cost of the causes it champions....
Senate Climate Bill Would Be Costly, Ineffective
A global warming bill on the move in the U.S. Senate would needlessly slow economic growth and reduce the nation's ability to pursue other programs with bigger payoffs in terms of improved human health and welfare, according to H. Sterling Burnett, a senior fellow with the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA). The bill, titled "America's Climate Security Act," would restrict greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, petroleum refiners, major manufacturers and natural gas supplied to both residential and commercial buildings under what is called a "cap and trade" mechanism. "Back in 1997 the Senate took the sensible position that the U.S. should not adopt any climate treaty that would either harm the economy or that didn't include meaningful participation by major developing countries," said Burnett. "Now the Senate is rushing to adopt a unilateral bill that violates both of those principles." Burnett noted that an analysis of cap and trade proposals in general by the Congressional Budget Office estimated costs to the economy in tens of billions and perhaps hundreds of billions of dollars annually and concluded that the poor would bear the brunt of resulting higher energy prices....
Polar Bear Pandering
Sen. Barbara Boxer of California delivered a speech in the Senate last week in which she linked global warming to the San Diego wildfires, Darfur, the imminent loss of the world's polar bears and even a poor 14-year-old boy who died from "an infection caused after swimming in Lake Havasu," because its water is warmer. Forget arson. Forget genocide. Forget nature. There is no tragedy that cannot be placed at the doorstep of global-warming skeptics. Oh, and there's no need to acknowledge that the regulations or taxes necessary to curb emissions by a substantial degree might damage economic growth. According to Boxer, laws to curb greenhouse gases -- this country would have to cut its greenhouse gas emissions in half over 12 years to meet the latest international community goals -- will do good things for the American economy and create lots of jobs. It's Nostradamus science wedded to Santa Claus economics. It is rhetoric such as Boxer's -- an odd combination of the-end-is-near hysteria and overly rosy economic scenarios -- that keep me in the agnostic-skeptic global-warming camp....
Science vs. Symbolism
Is Governor Tim Pawlenty looking to get a Nobel Peace Prize by following in the wake of Al Gore? Minnesota’s Governor Tim Pawlenty is reportedly planning a spring trip to the Arctic to dramatize the impact of climate change. He is also planning a series of forums across the State to warn about the impact of climate change on Lake Superior. Newsflash Governor Pawlenty: Lake Superior was formed by the melting of a massive glacier about 10,000 years ago, and the last glaciers retreated from Minnesota about 9000 years ago. Global warming started about 15,000 years ago, and without it Minnesota would be a vast desert covered in a mile thick layer of ice. The effect of global warming on Minnesota is pretty obvious: without it there would be no Minnesota to govern. In some ways, it makes sense for Pawlenty to visit the arctic, if he were to take away the real lesson offered there: without the global warming that has occurred over the last 15,000 years, Minnesota and much of the Northern Hemisphere would be as barren of life as the arctic is today....
New Gingrich's Contract with the Earth
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has a new book out, "A Contract with the Earth," which, Publishers Weekly says, calls for "businessmen and conservationists to form 'compatible partnerships'" on the environment. "Compatible partnerships" between business and "conservationists" usually run along the lines of businesses forking over loads of cash to big-government environmental organizations in exchange for the perception that their company will be put slightly lower on Big Green's hit list. I concede that once in a while the motive is different -- sometimes businesses see a way to profit from new regulations, so they sincerely support Big Green's efforts to get us to pay for them. That sort of sincerity we can do without. At a conservative environmental policy meeting in 1996 a list of complaints on environmental issues were raised about then-Speaker Gingrich. The list, which I believe provides some context for Gingrich's book tour, was published in a contemporaneous National Center newsletter article under the apt title, "Conservatives Ponder What to Do When the GOP House Speaker is on the Other Side"....
Deja Vu: Feds Abandon Another Chance to Narrow NEPA
In the mid-1980s, environmental groups challenged oil and gas leasing proposals by the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Forest Service along the Overthrust Belt in Montana and Wyoming. They argued that the federal agencies had not obeyed the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) because, instead of Environmental Impact Statements (EISs), which often run hundreds of pages, the agencies wrote Environmental Assessments (EAs). After all, the agencies reasoned, there would be no physical impact from the leasing. Later, when the lessees decided where to drill, full-blown EISs would be prepared. In 1987, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Denver, ruling as to the Wyoming plan, held that the agencies were right: NEPA did not require them to engage in a purely hypothetical examination of possible impacts at yet to be determined drilling sites. In 1988, however, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco, addressing the Montana plan, disagreed: NEPA demanded that the agencies engage in an intensive examination of the 1.3 million acres of land to be leased even though no one knew where on the 2000-acre leases the drilling pads, which each occupy less than 5 acres, would be located. Oil and gas operators recognized the impact of the Ninth Circuit’s ruling: preparation of full-blown EISs takes years; worse yet, the length and detail of those documents present easy targets for lawsuits by environmental groups, which lead to more studies, delay, and lawsuits....
The Cost of the Biofuel "Free Lunch"
Economics teaches us that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Anyone that tells you differently is probably trying to sell you something. In this case, the “something being sold” is bio-fuels. Bio-fuels, the transformation of corn, sugar, soybeans and other crops into motor fuels, have taken on a new sense of urgency due to, in part, the global warming consensus. Global warming advocates push regulations that mandate ethanol additives in cars, as well as other policies that encourage the U.S. to consume more bio-fuels. Furthermore, these policies are sold as a win-win policy that reduces the country’s overall carbon emissions and its reliance on foreign energy supplies. Not surprisingly, the federal government’s subsidization of the bio-fuels industry has increased. The subsidies and regulations are designed to increase our efficiency, production, and use of bio-fuels. There are serious negative consequences from these policies, however. Subsidizing a favored industry is an old theory in economic development. Bio-fuel subsidies result from excessive lobbying from the bio-fuels industry just as much, if not more, than the true scientific merit of the technology. Consequently, we are missing out on the opportunity to judge whether bio-fuels are actually a viable future alternative fuel, and if so, to what extent. As such, society may be missing out on a more appropriate energy source in the future. Perhaps more importantly, the subsidization of bio-fuels is imposing a real and direct cost on people and the global economy in the here and now. When people’s demand for a product increases by more than its supply, prices rise. The growing subsidies and encouragement of bio-fuels use is increasing the demand for the source materials of bio-fuels: corn, sugar, soybeans and other crops at a faster pace than supply. Greater demand for agricultural goods is driving up food costs around the world. For instance, the price of corn is up 40% this year. The price of soybeans is up 75%. The price of wheat is up 70%. And, it is not just the prices of agricultural commodities. Higher prices for crops are increasing the prices of beef, pork, and chicken....
Planet propaganda
CNN's Anderson Cooper revealed the alarmist nature of his ecological special, Planet in Peril, before the much-hailed program even aired. Momentarily pre-empted by coverage of Southern California's wildfires, Cooper used the interruption to claim that global warming is partially to blame for the disaster. "Fire, drought, deforestation," he intoned. "It's all connected." Such inappropriate commentary persisted throughout the next four hours, leaving no question that the documentary's purpose was not to investigate key environmental issues but to engage in environmental tub-thumping. Of course, even if CNN were of a mind to offer a measured view of these subjects, the overstuffed focus of their production doesn't allow them time to. Taking an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach, Planet in Peril pushes so many ecological buttons—chemical ingestion, endangered species poaching, pollution—that none is examined with any more depth than a music video. However, the most troubling aspect of the documentary is that it never considers the human cost of the causes it champions....
Senate Climate Bill Would Be Costly, Ineffective
A global warming bill on the move in the U.S. Senate would needlessly slow economic growth and reduce the nation's ability to pursue other programs with bigger payoffs in terms of improved human health and welfare, according to H. Sterling Burnett, a senior fellow with the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA). The bill, titled "America's Climate Security Act," would restrict greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, petroleum refiners, major manufacturers and natural gas supplied to both residential and commercial buildings under what is called a "cap and trade" mechanism. "Back in 1997 the Senate took the sensible position that the U.S. should not adopt any climate treaty that would either harm the economy or that didn't include meaningful participation by major developing countries," said Burnett. "Now the Senate is rushing to adopt a unilateral bill that violates both of those principles." Burnett noted that an analysis of cap and trade proposals in general by the Congressional Budget Office estimated costs to the economy in tens of billions and perhaps hundreds of billions of dollars annually and concluded that the poor would bear the brunt of resulting higher energy prices....
Polar Bear Pandering
Sen. Barbara Boxer of California delivered a speech in the Senate last week in which she linked global warming to the San Diego wildfires, Darfur, the imminent loss of the world's polar bears and even a poor 14-year-old boy who died from "an infection caused after swimming in Lake Havasu," because its water is warmer. Forget arson. Forget genocide. Forget nature. There is no tragedy that cannot be placed at the doorstep of global-warming skeptics. Oh, and there's no need to acknowledge that the regulations or taxes necessary to curb emissions by a substantial degree might damage economic growth. According to Boxer, laws to curb greenhouse gases -- this country would have to cut its greenhouse gas emissions in half over 12 years to meet the latest international community goals -- will do good things for the American economy and create lots of jobs. It's Nostradamus science wedded to Santa Claus economics. It is rhetoric such as Boxer's -- an odd combination of the-end-is-near hysteria and overly rosy economic scenarios -- that keep me in the agnostic-skeptic global-warming camp....
Science vs. Symbolism
Is Governor Tim Pawlenty looking to get a Nobel Peace Prize by following in the wake of Al Gore? Minnesota’s Governor Tim Pawlenty is reportedly planning a spring trip to the Arctic to dramatize the impact of climate change. He is also planning a series of forums across the State to warn about the impact of climate change on Lake Superior. Newsflash Governor Pawlenty: Lake Superior was formed by the melting of a massive glacier about 10,000 years ago, and the last glaciers retreated from Minnesota about 9000 years ago. Global warming started about 15,000 years ago, and without it Minnesota would be a vast desert covered in a mile thick layer of ice. The effect of global warming on Minnesota is pretty obvious: without it there would be no Minnesota to govern. In some ways, it makes sense for Pawlenty to visit the arctic, if he were to take away the real lesson offered there: without the global warming that has occurred over the last 15,000 years, Minnesota and much of the Northern Hemisphere would be as barren of life as the arctic is today....
New Gingrich's Contract with the Earth
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has a new book out, "A Contract with the Earth," which, Publishers Weekly says, calls for "businessmen and conservationists to form 'compatible partnerships'" on the environment. "Compatible partnerships" between business and "conservationists" usually run along the lines of businesses forking over loads of cash to big-government environmental organizations in exchange for the perception that their company will be put slightly lower on Big Green's hit list. I concede that once in a while the motive is different -- sometimes businesses see a way to profit from new regulations, so they sincerely support Big Green's efforts to get us to pay for them. That sort of sincerity we can do without. At a conservative environmental policy meeting in 1996 a list of complaints on environmental issues were raised about then-Speaker Gingrich. The list, which I believe provides some context for Gingrich's book tour, was published in a contemporaneous National Center newsletter article under the apt title, "Conservatives Ponder What to Do When the GOP House Speaker is on the Other Side"....
Deja Vu: Feds Abandon Another Chance to Narrow NEPA
In the mid-1980s, environmental groups challenged oil and gas leasing proposals by the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Forest Service along the Overthrust Belt in Montana and Wyoming. They argued that the federal agencies had not obeyed the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) because, instead of Environmental Impact Statements (EISs), which often run hundreds of pages, the agencies wrote Environmental Assessments (EAs). After all, the agencies reasoned, there would be no physical impact from the leasing. Later, when the lessees decided where to drill, full-blown EISs would be prepared. In 1987, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Denver, ruling as to the Wyoming plan, held that the agencies were right: NEPA did not require them to engage in a purely hypothetical examination of possible impacts at yet to be determined drilling sites. In 1988, however, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco, addressing the Montana plan, disagreed: NEPA demanded that the agencies engage in an intensive examination of the 1.3 million acres of land to be leased even though no one knew where on the 2000-acre leases the drilling pads, which each occupy less than 5 acres, would be located. Oil and gas operators recognized the impact of the Ninth Circuit’s ruling: preparation of full-blown EISs takes years; worse yet, the length and detail of those documents present easy targets for lawsuits by environmental groups, which lead to more studies, delay, and lawsuits....
The Cost of the Biofuel "Free Lunch"
Economics teaches us that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Anyone that tells you differently is probably trying to sell you something. In this case, the “something being sold” is bio-fuels. Bio-fuels, the transformation of corn, sugar, soybeans and other crops into motor fuels, have taken on a new sense of urgency due to, in part, the global warming consensus. Global warming advocates push regulations that mandate ethanol additives in cars, as well as other policies that encourage the U.S. to consume more bio-fuels. Furthermore, these policies are sold as a win-win policy that reduces the country’s overall carbon emissions and its reliance on foreign energy supplies. Not surprisingly, the federal government’s subsidization of the bio-fuels industry has increased. The subsidies and regulations are designed to increase our efficiency, production, and use of bio-fuels. There are serious negative consequences from these policies, however. Subsidizing a favored industry is an old theory in economic development. Bio-fuel subsidies result from excessive lobbying from the bio-fuels industry just as much, if not more, than the true scientific merit of the technology. Consequently, we are missing out on the opportunity to judge whether bio-fuels are actually a viable future alternative fuel, and if so, to what extent. As such, society may be missing out on a more appropriate energy source in the future. Perhaps more importantly, the subsidization of bio-fuels is imposing a real and direct cost on people and the global economy in the here and now. When people’s demand for a product increases by more than its supply, prices rise. The growing subsidies and encouragement of bio-fuels use is increasing the demand for the source materials of bio-fuels: corn, sugar, soybeans and other crops at a faster pace than supply. Greater demand for agricultural goods is driving up food costs around the world. For instance, the price of corn is up 40% this year. The price of soybeans is up 75%. The price of wheat is up 70%. And, it is not just the prices of agricultural commodities. Higher prices for crops are increasing the prices of beef, pork, and chicken....
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