Arizona jaguar's death probably hastened by capture, zoo veterinarian says

A jaguar captured recently during an Arizona Game and Fish Department research study was fitted with a tracking collar and released. Jaguars were once thought to be extinct in the U.S., and researchers were hopeful that following the big cat's movements could prove helpful in the jaguar conservation effort. But events took a sad turn when wildlife officials noted Macho B's movement patterns slowing. Observing the jaguar in the wild, they noted his abnormal gait and apparent weight loss. Fearing for his health, they recaptured Macho B and transported him to the Phoenix Zoo for evaluation. Shortly thereafter, Macho B was euthanized when tests revealed severe kidney failure from which he could not recover. Fish and Wildlife spokesman Jeff Humphrey said kidney failure was common in older cats, but questions remained about whether stress from his capture had caused or exacerbated Macho B's condition. A necropsy was performed, and today Phoenix Zoo Executive Vice President Dr. Dean Rice is saying the capture probably played a key role in the jaguar's death...LA Times

Capture 'em and kill 'em, a new motto for the USFWS.

Let's bring them boys over to manage the mexican wolf program.

Memorial service for euthanized jaguar

A service in memory of jaguar Macho B will double as an appeal for better protection for other jaguars in the United States. The service will be held from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday outside the offices of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 201 N. Bonita Ave., Suite 141, in Tucson. Macho B's death came as a blow to scientists who had hoped to learn more about the species by tracking him. No jaguar besides Macho B had been seen in the U.S. for the last 10 years. The Center for Biological Diversity hopes the service will provide an outlet for people to reflect on the loss of Macho B and push for increased protection of jaguars as an endangered species, according to a press release...azcentral

From the CBD press release:

"...By speaking out for Macho after he is gone, we fervently hope that our mountains and deserts can still be home to his kin for decades and centuries into the future,” said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity. The event will allow people to share their thoughts and feelings about the much-photographed Macho B, along with their wishes for a new presidential administration to right the many wrongs committed against American jaguars before it is too late. “Secretary Salazar has an opportunity to correct past wrongs done to Macho B and other jaguars by the Bush administration,” said Robinson. The public is invited to bring written expressions of support for protection of critical habitat for jaguars and for development of a long-delayed jaguar recovery plan. These, along with other pleas for the defense of jaguars and the conservation of their wild homelands in the Southwest, can be addressed to the new Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar. The public prayers and petitions will be handed to local Fish and Wildlife Service officials at the conclusion of the services. Participants are also encouraged to bring signs to express their regret over the loss of Macho B...

One has to wonder if they are mourning the death of the jaguar, or more likely, the loss of their stalking horse for critical habitat.

These are the same folks who want to bury every public lands rancher in the southwest. Then they'll go after the remnant on private land. They are looking forward to more memorial services.

Humane Society throws its weight behind 'ROAM' Act

The Humane Society of the United States has put its support behind a proposed law change that would restore the 34-year-old ban on the commercial sale and slaughter of American wild horses and burros. HSUS president and chief executive Wayne Pacelle testified before the US National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee Tuesday in support of The Restoring Our American Mustangs Act (HR 1018), introduced by House Natural Resources Committee chairman Nick Rahall and National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee chairman Raul Grijalva. "For more than 30 years, wild horses and burros had been protected from commercial sale and slaughter since the passage of the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971," Pacelle said. "Yet, a midnight manoeuvre by former Senator Conrad Burns, (R-Montana) - in which he slipped a controversial rider into an omnibus spending bill - gutted these longstanding protections. HR 1018 removed outdated limits on areas where horses can roam freely, allowing the BLM to find additional, suitable acreage for these animals. Further, it strengthened the BLM's wild horse and burro adoption programme, and required consistency and accuracy in the management of wild horse and burro herds, he said...horsetalk

Federal hogs protect feral hogs

A man from Licking is accused of illegally hunting wild hogs in the Mark Twain National Forest. The U.S. attorney's office says Charles Wade operates a guide service that advertises hunts for wild hogs and other animals. Wade, 66, is charged with violating federal law and U.S. Forest Service regulations regarding feral hogs. Prosecutors say Wade conducted an illegal hog hunt last April in the forest in Texas County. They say it's illegal to conduct work activity in the national forest without a special use permit or other government authorization...KY3 News

Committee says no to Mount St. Helens national park

An advisory committee on the future of Mount St. Helens is recommending that Congress keep the mountain in the hands of the U.S. Forest Service instead of converting it to a national park. The committee's draft recommendations now go out for public comment. Advocates of a national park say the mountain would get more money and visitors if it was run by the National Park Service and was given the marquee status that goes with national park designation. Others worry that access would be restricted if the 108,000-acre Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument was converted to a national park, including limiting opportunities for elk hunters and snowmobilers. The 14-member committee, including county and tourism officials, did recommend after meeting last weekend that the Forest Service create campgrounds within the monument boundaries and reopen the Coldwater Ridge vistor center, closed in 2007 for lack of funds, as an overnight destination. The service should also "develop destination resorts in and around the monument," the committee said...The Oregonian

Land and Water Conservation Fund Coalition Releases New Report

The Nature Conservancy and 51 national, regional and state land conservation and outdoor recreation groups today released a report which documents the decline of two major federal land conservation programs and the need to restore federal funding to protect America’s public lands. The report, Conserving America’s Landscapes, urges Congress and the Obama Administration to fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), the premier federal program for buying open space and creating parks, forests, wildlife habitat, and recreation areas across the country. Since its creation in 1965, LWCF funding has been used to safeguard some of America’s most iconic places; including Redwood National Park, Valley Forge National Historical Park, the Appalachian Trail National Scenic Trail, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site. In the report, the Land and Water Conservation Fund Coalition recommends full and dedicated funding of $900 million annually for the LWCF federal and state grants programs and an annual allocation of $125 million the Forest Legacy Program...Nature Conservancy

Go here (pdf) to view the report.

I wish I knew how many millions of dollars had passed from the LWCF to the federal agencies and then to the Nature Conservancy. They are clearly lobbying to fund themselves.

The feds currently own one out of every three acres. Why on earth do they need more?

Vilsack Outs a Bad Contractor: Where Do We Find Stan Johnson?

Who is Stan Johnson? That was the mystery in the White House press room on Wednesday morning. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Director of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano spoke on behalf of the Obama Administration's new initiative to eliminate waste and abuse from federal contracting. As part of his speech, Vilsack mentioned that he had learned of a USDA contract worth $400,000 that career officials in the department had flagged as "unnecessary." Vilsack was vague, saying only that the contract had come late in the Bush Administration and was likely awarded due to contacts. He added that the contract included questionable international travel. Pressed by reporters for additional information, Vilsack looked to Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, as if asking for permission. When Gibbs did not object, Vilsack revealed that the contract had gone to a man named Stan Johnson, a major operator in Iowa who Vilsack, former governor of Iowa, said he knew personally. (One assumes Vilsack will not be invited to the next Johnson family dinner party.) So the question is, who is Stan Johnson and what did he do (or not do) as part of his "unnecessary" federal contract? A little bit of online sleuthing reveals that Johnson is primarily a poobah at Iowa State University, having once headed ISU's Center for Agricultural and Rural Development and the university's extension school...Mother Jones

Watch out for sheep

Pet owners and bicyclists are asked to keep an eye peeled over the next four months for 500 to 1,000 sheep that will be grazing at various locations in the former Fort Ord, an annual chow-down that keeps the critters fed and helps the natural environment in the 2,500-acre area. The woolly animals, who make their home at a Los Banos ranch, are imported each year by the Bureau of Land Management to clear selected areas of weeds, thistle and non-native grasses — a plan that has worked effectively since the BLM received the property in 1996. A chief concern, though, is that speeding bicyclists and unleashed dogs aren't always compatible with large herds of animals...Contra Costa Times

NM state fish back in Rio Grande

New Mexico's state fish, the Rio Grande cutthroat trout, has returned to its namesake river. Dozens of volunteers released 2,000 fish into the Rio Grande on Wednesday after making an arduous trek down steep basalt cliffs to the confluence of the Rio Grande and Red River in northern New Mexico. On their backs, they carried heavy jugs and plastic bags full of the 2- to 3-inch fingerlings. This marked the first time the fish, a candidate for federal endangered species protection, has been released in the upper reaches of the infamous Rio Grande Gorge. "It's a release that's intended to get people interested in the fish, understand its situation and hopefully over time, we'll be able to restore the cutthroat to its native range," said Greg Gustina, a biologist with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which oversees the Wild Rivers Recreation Area where the fish were released. Like many other native fish, the Rio Grande cutthroat has all but disappeared from its historic range throughout the Rio Grande basin in New Mexico and Colorado...Hays Daily News

Picacho Fire grows to 5,000 acres

The Picacho fire churning west of Artesia in Chaves County has grown to an estimated 5,000 acres. New Mexico State Forestry is reporting wildland firefighters knocked down much of the fire but were concentrating on one remaining active and dsnagerous area. The crews were making a stand in the path of the flames working to burn out fuels and stop the advance of the fire, a State Forestry spokesman said. He also said firefighters would be on the scene through the night. The fire near Dunken is not threatening any structures, according to State Forestry. No cause has been reported. A Chaves County Fire Department spokesperson said earlier that the fire started shortly after noon and spread to the northeast jumping U. S. Highway 82 near mile marker 59. The fire reduced visibility on the highway bringing out New Mexico State Police officers to control traffic...KRQE

Supreme Court limits advocacy groups' standing to challenge public lands rules

Advocacy groups cannot challenge federal regulations on public lands unless they can prove they are themselves directly threatened by the proposed rules, the Supreme Court ruled in a split decision today. In a 5-4 ruling, the justices sided with the Bush administration, which argued that environmental groups do not have the standing to sue the Forest Service on land management policies that might contradict congressional action. The Summers v. Earth Island Institute case turned on whether the Forest Service violated the requirements of the 1992 Appeals Reform Act -- a law designed to ensure the agency considers public comment when it writes land and resource management plans -- when it enacted regulations that severely limited the rights of notice, appeals and public comment on certain projects that it deems to have little environmental impact. The majority sided with the Bush administration, finding that groups or individuals can challenge regulations in court only if they can show that they will be directly harmed by specific actions resulting from the regulations. "Except when necessary in the execution of that function, courts have no charter to review and revise legislative and executive action," Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in the opinion, referring to what he called the court's traditional role of preventing personal injury resulting from a legal violation. Because of this role, which Scalia called a "fundamental limitation," the burden of proof is on the groups or individuals seeking redress, Scalia said. Environmental groups had argued that they were personally affected because they were denied the chance to comment on certain Forest Service proposals, but Scalia said they did not show "concrete interest" and so failed to sufficiently prove direct and explicit harm. "The regulations under challenge here neither require nor forbid any action on the part of respondents," the decision says. "The standards and procedures that they prescribe for Forest Service appeals govern only the conduct of Forest Service officials engaged in project planning."...NY Times

SUMMERS v. EARTH ISLAND INSTITUTE (No. 07-463)

===============================================================

SUMMERS v. EARTH ISLAND INSTITUTE (No. 07-463)

Web-accessible at:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/07-463.ZS.html

Argued: October 8, 2008 -- Decided: March 3, 2009 Opinion author: Scalia ===============================================================

After the U. S. Forest Service approved the Burnt Ridge Project, a salvage sale of timber on 238 acres of fire-damaged federal land, respondent environmentalist organizations filed suit to enjoin the Service from applying its regulations exempting such small sales from the notice, comment, and appeal process it uses for more significant land management decisions, and to challenge other regulations that did not apply to Burnt Ridge. The District Court granted a preliminary injunction against the sale, and the parties then settled their dispute as to Burnt Ridge. Although concluding that the sale was no longer at issue, and despite the Government's argument that respondents therefore lacked standing to challenge the regulations, the court nevertheless proceeded to adjudicate the merits of their challenges, invalidating several regulations, including the notice and comment and the appeal provisions. Among its rulings, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the determination that the latter regulations, which were applicable to Burnt Ridge, were contrary to law, but held that challenges to other regulations not at issue in that project were not ripe for adjudication.

Held: Respondents lack standing to challenge the regulations still at issue absent a live dispute over a concrete application of those regulations. Pp. 4-12.

(a) In limiting the judicial power to "Cases" and "Controversies,"
Article III restricts it to redressing or preventing actual or imminently threatened injury to persons caused by violation of law. See, e.g., Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U. S. 555 . The standing doctrine reflects this fundamental limitation, requiring that "the plaintiff ... 'alleg[e] such a personal stake in the outcome of the controversy'as to warrant his invocation of federal-court jurisdiction," Warth v. Seldin, 422 U. S. 490 . Here, respondents can demonstrate standing only if application of the regulations will affect them in such a manner. Pp. 4-5.

(b) As organizations, respondents can assert their members' standing. Harm to their members' recreational, or even their mere esthetic, interests in the National Forests will suffice to establish the requisite concrete and particularized injury, see Sierra Club v. Morton, 405 U. S. 727 , but generalized harm to the forest or the environment will not alone suffice. Respondents have identified no application of the invalidated regulations that threatens imminent and concrete harm to their members' interests. Respondents' argument that they have standing based on Burnt Ridge fails because, after voluntarily settling the portion of their lawsuit relevant to Burnt Ridge, respondents and their members are no longer under threat of injury from that project. The remaining affidavit submitted in support of standing fails to establish that any member has concrete plans to visit a site where the challenged regulations are being applied in a manner that will harm that member's concrete interests. Additional affidavits purporting to establish standing were submitted after judgment had already been entered and notice of appeal filed, and are thus untimely. Pp. 5-8.

(c) Respondents' argument that they have standing because they have suffered procedural injury--i.e., they have been denied the ability to file comments on some Forest Service actions and will continue to be so denied--fails because such a deprivation without some concrete interest affected thereby is insufficient to create Article III standing. See, e.g., Defenders of Wildlife, supra, at 572, n. 7. Pp. 8-9.

(d) The dissent's objections are addressed and rejected. Pp. 9-12.

490 F. 3d 687, reversed in part and affirmed in part.

Scalia, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Roberts, C. J., and Kennedy, Thomas, and Alito, JJ., joined. Kennedy, J., filed a concurring opinion. Breyer, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Stevens, Souter, and Ginsburg, JJ., joined.

Obama Signs Memo Putting on Hold Bush Rule on Endangered Species

President Barack Obama announced plans Tuesday to resume full scientific reviews of projects that might harm endangered wildlife and plants. The president signed a memorandum putting on hold a Bush administration regulation allowing agencies to avoid scientific reviews in endangered species decisions. During a visit to the Interior Department, Obama said the review process had been undermined by past administrations. "For more than three decades, the Endangered Species Act has successfully protected our nation's most threatened wildlife. We should be looking for ways to improve it, not weaken it," Obama said. Obama's action puts the Bush regulation on hold until the Interior and Commerce departments complete a review. While on the campaign trail, Obama said he would fight to maintain the protections of the Endangered Species Act and work to undo what was then a proposal by the Bush administration. The rule, finalized in December, made optional the mandatory, independent consultations federal scientists have performed for 35 years on projects. The reviews have been blamed by developers and federal agencies for delays and cost increases...CNS News

Here's the full memo:

The White House, March 3, 2009

MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES

SUBJECT: The Endangered Species Act

The Endangered Species Act (ESA), 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq., reflects one of the Nation's profound commitments. Pursuant to that Act, the Federal Government has long required a process of broad interagency consultation to ensure the application of scientific and technical expertise to decisions that may affect threatened or endangered species.

Under that interagency process, executive departments and agencies (agencies) contemplating an action that may affect endangered or threatened species have long been required, except in certain limited circumstances, to consult with, and in some circumstances obtain the prior written concurrence of, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and/or the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) -- the expert agencies that have the primary responsibility to ensure that the ESA is implemented in accordance with the law.

On December 16, 2008, the Departments of the Interior and Commerce issued a joint regulation that modified these longstanding requirements. See 73 Fed. Reg. 76272. This new regulation expands the circumstances in which an agency may determine not to consult with, or obtain the written concurrence of, the FWS or NMFS prior to undertaking an action that may affect threatened or endangered species. But under the new regulation, agencies may continue the previous practice of consulting with, and obtaining the written concurrence of, the FWS and NMFS as a matter of discretion.

I hereby request the Secretaries of the Interior and Commerce to review the regulation issued on December 16, 2008, and to determine whether to undertake new rulemaking procedures with respect to consultative and concurrence processes that will promote the purposes of the ESA. Until such review is completed, I request the heads of all agencies to exercise their discretion, under the new regulation, to follow the prior longstanding consultation and concurrence practices involving the FWS and NMFS.

This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. Agencies shall carry out the provisions of this memorandum to the extent permitted by law and consistent with statutory authorities. The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.

(signed) BARACK OBAMA

Aquatic Animal Farts Contribute to Global Warming

Scientists at the Max Planck Institut and Denmark's Aarhus University found that mussels, freshwater snails and other underwater creatures release nitrous oxide -- laughing gas -- when nitrate is present in water. "There's nitrate in water that has been polluted by humans, so the more we pollute, the higher the production of this problematic gas will be," Fanni Aspetsberger from the institute told AFP on Tuesday. Aspetsberger added that no quantitative data were available, but that it could be "seriously detrimental" to the climate if nitrate pollution continues to rise the way it has over recent years. Laughing gas is one of many greenhouse gasses that has been released into the atmosphere since industrialisation...AFP

I guess laughing gas is no laughing matter.

Geez, two years ago it was dog farts and we can now all mitigate against cat farts. Of course, there's also the moose emissions of CO2...Thanks to Dakota Voice for the links and for bringing this terrible situation to our attention.

And I foolishly thought our only problem was soft toilet paper.

GAO: Mixed results to come from Forest Service move to DOI

Moving the US Forest Service into the US Department of the Interior could potentially create long-term benefits and short-term problems, the Government Accountability Office said in a Feb. 24 report. GAO said according to many agency officials and experts, where the mission of the Forest Service, which now is part of the US Department of Agriculture, is aligned with those of DOI agencies (in particular, its multiple use missions which is comparable to that of the US Bureau of Land Management), a move could increase some of the agencies' programs and policies overall effectiveness. "Conversely, most agency officials and experts GAO interview believed that few short-term efficiencies would be realized from such a move, although a number said opportunities would be created for potential long-term efficiencies," GAO's report continued...Oil & Gas Journal

Bob Burford, Director of the BLM in the 80's, had a proposal to just have the BLM & Forest Service swap land jurisdiction where it made budgetary and administrative sense. For instance, in northern Idaho where most of the land was owned by the FS, they would manage the BLM lands and vice versa in the south. Why have a BLM office & a FS office in the same town or area?

The proposal made sense so naturally it went nowhere.

ND Man fined $10,000 for violating easement

A Lawton, N.D., man convicted of draining wetlands on his property was smacked with a $10,000 fine and five years of probation in federal court Tuesday. It's the second time Alvin Peterson, 78, has been sentenced for such an offense. Peterson hired a contractor build ditches to drain protected prairie potholes in July 2007 on the land he'd farmed for decades, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in North Dakota. In November 2008, Peterson was found guilty of two misdemeanor counts of improper drainage of wetlands. Peterson's attorney Tami Norgard argued Tuesday that her client has opposed the wetland easement since it was first established on his property in 1966, when his now-deceased father -- and then-owner of the farm -- signed a contract with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Prosecutor Cameron Hayden agreed on no jail time, but recommended 10 years of probation and the maximum fine of $10,000, saying Peterson "egregiously violated" the terms of the easement for a second time. U.S. Magistrate Judge Alice Senechal ordered Peterson to pay a $10,000 fine, serve five years probation and cover the government's cost to hire a contractor to restore the wetlands he drained. Roughly 30,000 landowners have about 900,000 acres in the easement program which works to protect wetlands in North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Minnesota and Iowa, Jones said...Individual.com

BLM whittles away Oregon land debt dating to 1859

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management calls it a birthday present from Uncle Sam to Oregon to help mark its 150th year as a state. The BLM has transferred a 640-acre parcel of juniper- and sagebrush-covered land south of Prineville to the state of Oregon. The Juniper Canyon parcel is the latest transfer between the federal government and the state since a 1991 federal court ruling that the BLM owed Oregon about 5,200 acres of land the state should have received back in 1859. Oregon Department of State Lands officials says the BLM has now transferred about 3,600 acres to the state — leaving only about 1,600 acres to go...AP...

That's not too bad. Just 150 years since they became a state and only 18 years since a court mandated the transfer.

Ranchers give wildlife a helping hand

Eastern Oregon critters are getting a lift this spring from ranchers who graze cattle on public land allotments. Worried that thirsty birds and small mammals fall into cattle watering troughs, get stuck and drown, biologists with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife came up with a quick, simple solution: a metal ramp that helps the animals get out of the trough. Officials haven't done a mortality count from ranch watering troughs. But in a land where the sage-grouse populations are vulnerable, every loss is critical, they say. The installation of water trough ramps was a priority for the Baker County Sage-grouse Working Group, which saw the trough problem affecting populations of bats, birds and small mammals in the Blue Mountain ecoregion. Money from the Upland Game Bird Stamp built 120 ramps, and ranchers are installing them this spring...The Oregonian

Economy sours West's wild horse adoption market

When the U.S. Bureau of Land Management put more than 450 wild horses and burros up for adoption here last month, the dirt parking lot was filled with cars and trucks — but very few horse trailers. While wild horses still draw curious onlookers, the market for adopting them in Utah and across the West has cooled dramatically. In 2002, more than 7,700 were adopted nationwide. Last year, as part of a steady decline, it was 3,700. And so far this fiscal year, which started Oct. 1, only 713 have been adopted, according to BLM figures. It's a discouraging development for an agency that relies on adoptions to help keep wild populations in check and is out of room at long-term holding facilities for unadopted horses. Each year, government agents take thousands of horses and burros off the range and put them up for adoption. More than 220,000 have been adopted since 1971. But these days, even at rock-bottom prices — $125 each and $25 more for a "buddy" — the agency is struggling to find buyers. Feed costs aren't the only reason. There is also the rising price of fuel and the falling price for domesticated horses on the market, driven in part by the closure of the nation's horse slaughterhouses...

Investigators struggle with horse slaughter law

The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act prohibits the shipping, transporting, moving, delivering, receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling or donation of horses and other equines to be slaughtered for human consumption and for other purposes. Not everyone sees the after affects of the Horse Slaughter Law like we do,” explained Andrea Soliz, director of the Amarillo-Panhandle Humane Society. “Most people, who invest in livestock, invest in them for work purposes. When an animal could no longer work, they were usually sent to the slaughter house. Now there’s nowhere to send them. “They’re put out to pasture . . . That’s not a good thing if you’re an old horse that doesn’t have any teeth.” With the Horse Slaughter Ban, Soliz and Steele are receiving more calls. Soliz, shaking her head, said, “What baffles us is how can you let things get in this condition?” In the past, when a working animal could not do its job, it was sent to the slaughter house to be humanely killed. What the Horse Slaughter Ban has done, especially in western states like Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, is to perpetuate unwanted horses. Many horse owners cannot afford the $600 fee to euthanize an animal, and then pay someone to haul off the carcass. Owners are resorting to putting these equines out to pasture, where there may not be good grass until a rain. Steele sees horses that have been dumped on the highway. Some horses have been let loose on ranches without the rancher knowing they were there, until he was investigated for neglect. Steele advised, “(Landowners) need to understand they become the responsible party.”...ag journal

Roper celebrates turning 80 in the arena

Wind, rain, age and being blind did not stop Leonard Alexander from roping on Feb. 22 at his 80th birthday celebration held at Tony and Karen Cain’s ranch in Canebrake. It was an open roping event to honor Alexander’s many years of loving this sport. Among the nearly one hundred people that gathered at the roping arena to celebrate with Alexander were members of the Tipton, Alexander, Larsen, Carver, Andreas, Rhoads, Crowder, Kleidon, Scott, Lucher, Vanrensselaer, and Hafenfeld families; all having as Alexander does, very deep roots in the Kern River Valley. Alexander roping off his faithful horse named “Rose” teamed up with Tony Cain; Alexander took the head and Cain the heels with a time of 14.02. Wondering how a blind man knows when to throw his rope, Alexander said, “Rose knows where I need to be and I know by the feel of the rope if I get to dally.” Then he added, “ And besides I have my many roper friends watching and when I get one, they yell, “You caught him.” This life long love did not always fall under the title of a hobby; Alexander began roping cattle at a very young age. When he was six years old he attended cattle drives with many of the valley ranchers when they moved the cattle from the desert floor to the high country, long before there were any roads leading to their camp. Alexander’s experience began with his uncle, Jim Robertson and Will Alexander when they ran cattle on Walkers Pass in the winter and spring, and Marvin Powers and Stanley Smith when they ran their cattle in Indian Wells and Grapevine Canyon...Kern Valley Sun

'Shovels hit the ground' on stimulus project, Obama says

President Obama said Tuesday that the country already is "seeing shovels hit the ground" on the first infrastructure repair project funded through the Transportation Department's share of the $787 billion stimulus bill...CNN

Nope, it ain't shovels hitting the ground. Rex Barron gets it right in this cartoon:



Looks like donkey dung and elephant excrement to me.

Two more Coloradans at Interior?

It’s probably not a surprise that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar would look to familiar faces as he fills out appointments at the Department of Interior. Al Kamen at the Washington Post is reporting that Mike King, deputy director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources and former state assistant attorney general may become director of the Bureau of Land Management. Also, he writes that Anne Castle, a Denver lawyer specializing in water issues may become assistant secretary for water and science. Those folks would join Tom Strickland, former U.S. attorney for Colorado, who is now Salazar’s chief of staff. Strickland also has been nominated by President Obama to be assistant secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks in the Interior Department...Denver Post

Judge rules in southwest Idaho grazing case

A federal judge has directed the Bureau of Land Management to rethink the way it manages grazing across thousands of acres of southern Idaho, especially the impact livestock have on sage grouse and other threatened species. But Thursday's decision by U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill falls far short of the all-out ban on grazing sought by conservationists on 625,000 acres of the so-called Jarbidge Resource Area, which stretches across southwestern Idaho and Nevada's northeast corner. The ruling stems from motions filed last year by the Western Watershed Project, a Hailey-based group that has battled for decades to roll back cattle grazing across Idaho and other western states. Western Watersheds asked the court to ban grazing on 36 allotments, none of which suffered any damage during the Murphy Complex fire in 2007. Ignited by lightning, that wildfire burned for three weeks and became the largest single fire ever fought by the Idaho BLM at nearly 1,000 square miles, leaving dead wildlife and cattle and scorched prime habitat for sage grouse. Winmill denied the outright ban and a handful of other motions sought by the group to curtail grazing. But he concluded that grazing is a key factor in the decline of species like the sage grouse, pygmy rabbit and slickspot peppergrass, and that the agency must give more consideration in the future to the impact grazing has on those species and their habitat....AP

James Hansen's Political Science

Speaking before Bill Clinton's Global Initiative in New York City last Nov. 2, Gore advocated the concept of civil disobedience to fight climate change. "I believe we have reached the stage where it is time for civil disobedience to prevent the construction of new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration," Gore said to loud applause. Following Gore's lead, a group called Capitol Climate Action organized a protest that took place Monday at the 99-year-old Capitol Power Plant in southeast Washington, D.C. Its Web site invited fellow warm-mongers to "mass civil disobedience at the coal-fired" plant that heats and cools the hallowed halls of Congress. The site features Gore's quote as well as a video by Hansen, head of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies and a leading global-warming activist, urging attendance at the event. Hansen has called such coal-fired facilities "factories of death" and considers climate-change skeptics guilty of "high crimes against humanity and nature." Despite Dr. Hansen's hysterical animus toward carbon, the fact is that CO2 is still a mere 0.038% of the gaseous layer that surrounds the Earth, and only 3% of that thin slice is released by man. According to Dr. William Happer, a professor of physics at Princeton University, current atmospheric CO2 levels are inadequate in historical terms and even higher levels "will be good for mankind." Happer, who was fired by Gore at the Department of Energy in 1993 for disagreeing with the vice president on the effects of ozone to humans and plant life, disagrees with both Gore and Hansen on the issue of the impact of man-made carbon emissions. He testified before the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) on Feb. 25 that CO2 levels are in fact at a historical low. "Many people don't realize that over geological time, we're really in a CO2 famine now. Almost never has CO2 . . . been as low as it has been in the Holocene (geologic epoch) — 280 (parts per million) — that's unheard of," said Happer. He notes the earth and humanity did just fine when CO2 levels were much higher...IBD

Soft Toilet Paper: Mankind’s Doom?

The tenderness of the delicate American buttock is causing more environmental devastation than the country's love of gas-guzzling cars, fast food or McMansions, according to green campaigners. At fault, they say, is the US public's insistence on extra-soft, quilted and multi-ply products when they use the bathroom. "This is a product that we use for less than three seconds and the ecological consequences of manufacturing it from trees is enormous," said Allen Hershkowitz, a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defence Council. "Future generations are going to look at the way we make toilet paper as one of the greatest excesses of our age. Making toilet paper from virgin wood is a lot worse than driving Hummers in terms of global warming pollution."...The Guardian

And yet, As Ryan Young points out here, while our population has tripled in the last century, the amount of forested land has remained stable at 32%.

Doesn't look like ecological disaster to me, so keep those soft babies coming.

BLM says Pickens deal for wild horses flawed

An offer from the wife of Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens to establish a sanctuary for 30,000 wild horses is "problematic" and not viable as proposed, a federal land management official said Monday. Nonetheless, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management is willing to continue talks with Madeleine Pickens, said Ron Wenker, the agency's state director for Nevada. Wenker, who recently served two months as acting national BLM director, said there are two problems with Pickens' offer. One is the $500 per head, per year — or $15 million annually for 30,000 horses — she was asking to take the animals now in long-term holding facilities off the government's hands. Pickens last week told The Associated Press the stipend would used to finance a nonprofit foundation that would care for the animals. "You've got to get some kind of break from the government," she said. "We need help from them." The other problem with Pickens' proposal, Wenker said, involves use of public lands. He said government land Pickens has considered for the sanctuary is ineligible because federal law restricts horses to areas where they existed when the Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act was enacted nearly four decades ago. "Because the BLM grazing allotments under consideration by your foundation did not have wild horse herds in 1971, wild horses cannot now be placed there," Wenker wrote to Pickens in a Feb. 20 letter obtained by the AP. "At this point, two options seem most plausible," Wenker wrote. "The BLM could contract with your foundation to care for wild horses strictly on private land. Alternatively, your foundation could own and care for the horses without compensation from the BLM, as you first proposed."...AP

Measure favors mineral rights over surface rights

Kennecott soon could strengthen its mining claims in the Oquirrh Mountains under a bill that bestows broader power on the company to grow its mine and places the interests of prospectors above those of homeowners, hikers and horeseback riders. The copper giant insists the measure -- sponsored by Sen. Sheldon Killpack, R-Syracuse -- simply puts the mine's existing rights into writing and ensures its long-term success. "We want to feel confident that the money we are investing in operations will allow us to continue mining into the future," spokesman Kyle Bennett said. But Salt Lake County leaders warn that SB68 would diminish government regulation, shrink private-property rights and weaken the county's power to police nuisance complaints. So what, exactly, would the legislation do? It would make mineral rights dominant over surface rights. That means landowners would have to let a mining company such as Kennecott search beneath their soil for ore, allowing them access to the property and "reasonable use" of the surface if the mine chooses to extract those minerals. The bill isn't breaking new ground on this point, according to mining-law attorney Daniel Jensen. Mineral rights already rule in the courts. But the provision comes months after a turf battle in which the state's most-populous county fought unsuccessfully to keep Kennecott from prospecting on an open-space preserve in the Oquirrh Mountains. County officials fear SB68 would chip away at surface owners' remaining rights. Among their concerns: The bill includes no provision for compensating landowners for damage to their property...Salt Lake Tribune

Law school's enviro conference

The University of Oregon Law School’s annual Public Interest Environmental Law Clinic (PIELC), more commonly known as E-LAW, is the nation’s and world’s premier gathering of Environmental attorneys, law students, policy wonks, Indigenous activists and eco-activists. Planned and conducted by a new group of Law students each year, this one-of-a-kind gathering held its 27th annual at the plush NIKE, er Knight, Law School building at the U of O the last weekend of February. The hallways of the Law School are lined with tables full of literature from a wide range of activist groups. The next door Native Longhouse is the site of many discussions of what is going on on Native Lands and to Native peoples worldwide. Established by visionary eco-lawyers and professors John Bonine and Mike Axline, E-LAW is always the place for some though-provoking panel discussions and plenary keynote speeches...Then there was the time that Earth First! co-founder Dave Foreman got an entire crowed of DC policy wonks, government factotums, attorneys, would-be attorneys and crusty activists to join him in a spirited wolf howl...Saturday night, the definitely not-sanctioned by PIELC, Outlaw Party is held by local Earth First!ers. Local musicians play for a crowd of all ages - outside with the traditional bonfire. Even some of the DC crowd attends. Often, huge effigies of bulldozers, oil derricks, etc. are burned to the delight of the crowd...counterpunch

Debate over economic stimulus priorities hits Park Service

The economic stimulus package sent $750 million to the National Park Service -- and is sparking debate over the agency's priorities. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides $15 million for historic preservation, $146 million for deferred maintenance and "critical repair and rehabilitation projects," and $589 million for replacing facilities and equipment and cleaning abandoned mine sites, among other things. But the law does not mention "natural resources," and that has some worried that the stimulus will be repairing park roads, rebuilding visitors centers and shoring up campgrounds. That would leave nothing for restoring wildlife habitat, tracking wildlife populations or battling invasive species. Rita Beard, an invasive species expert at the service, said that while the agency has a backlog of infrastructure problems to address, natural resource infrastructure must be shored up, as well...NY Times

Feted as hot new resort, Idaho's Tamarack goes bust

Tamarack Resort in central Idaho billed itself as the first new destination ski resort in a quarter century when its first customers climbed aboard lifts in December 2004. Four years later, the resort operation, including lodging, is shutting down Wednesday, leaving owners of resort real estate once worth millions fearing the worst. Factors dooming Tamarack, at least for now, include a spending spree by French owner Jean-Pierre Boespflug that drained a $250 million construction loan, tight credit markets, collapsing resort real estate demand, foreclosure litigation and $20 million in unpaid construction bills. Mom-and-pop ski areas come and go, the victims of fickle weather and fickle finances. Where there were once more than 800 such U.S. resorts, there are now about 475. Still, to find a failed Western resort approaching Tamarack's size and aspirations, Michael Berry, president of the National Ski Areas Association, can recall only the 1974 demise of Stagecoach Ski Area, about 20 minutes from Colorado's Steamboat Springs...Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Wild turkey crashes through window at school

A fifth-grade class received an unexpected visitor today. Around noon today a wild turkey crashed into the window of a fifth-grade classroom at the Our Lady of Lourdes School, said school principal Carol Polito. "He literally flew through the window right from the outside. Thank God nobody was injured,” she said. “I think it’s just amazing that not only did the bird come flying through, but the noise it made; it was a very, very loud noise.” Technology Teacher Josh Marris was able to coax and walk the turkey outside of the building. He said the turkey didn’t appear to be hurt, although he did see red on the stairwell when he was taking the bird outside. “I heard the smash, the fifth-graders screamed,” he said. “They went screaming down the hall, some of them were holding the door shut." He then went in the room and began the process of coaxing the bird out. “We’ll remember this one for a very long time,” Polito said. The Observer-Dispatch.

I took some Wild Turkey to school once, and I crashed too.

Attempt to move Forest Service could spark turf war

In what eventually could become a major bureaucratic turf war, there have been stirrings on Capitol Hill about moving the U.S. Forest Service from the Agriculture to the Interior Department. For more than a century, the Forest Service, which manages the federal forests, has been part of the Agriculture Department, while the nation's three other public lands agencies - the Bureau of Land Management, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service - have been at Interior. Backers of the switch say it makes sense because the agencies face such similar problems as climate change, wildfires and the pressures of urbanization. Critics say the move wouldn't save much money, at least initially, and it could leave the Forest Service more vulnerable to political pressure. "We believe there is a need to approach these things innovatively - to think outside the box," Robin Nazzaro, director of natural resources and environment for the Government Accountability Office, said in an interview. "This is one option. This is the beginning of the debate on how to position ourselves to meet these challenges." Nazzaro was among those who testified last week before the House Appropriations Committee's interior subcommittee about moving the Forest Service to Interior. The committee controls the purse strings for the Forest Service, even though it is part of Agriculture, and the Interior Department...Kansas City Star

Mineral rights showdown at Badlands ranch

A Montana man who wants to mine gravel on the Badlands ranch where Theodore Roosevelt once ran his cattle is comparing his dispute with the U.S. Forest Service to an Old West stare-down. He says he won't blink. "If they want me out of the picture, pay me $2.5 million and I'll go back to Montana and they'll never here from me again," Roger Lothspeich said. "Or I'm going to mine that ranch for decades and decades to come." Lothspeich, 50, of Miles City, Mont., claims he owns half the mineral and gravel rights beneath the 5,200-acre ranch in western North Dakota. He said his portion of the subsurface rights represents about $10 million in high-grade gravel that can be sold to the government and oil companies for road building. The Forest Service purchased the ranch, next to Theodore Roosevelt's Elkhorn Ranch site, from brothers Kenneth, Allan and Dennis Eberts and their families in 2007. It cost $5.3 million, with $4.8 million coming from the federal government and $500,000 from conservation groups. The purchase did not include mineral rights. The Ebertses had bought the ranch and half the mineral rights from the Connell family in 1993 for $800,000. Lothspeich, who grew up near the ranch before moving to Montana, bought the other half of the mineral rights about a year ago, knowing the government had not obtained them in the Eberts deal. Byron Connell, of Scottsbluff, Neb., said the Forest Service never gave him a formal offer for the mineral rights. "They had a middle man call me and he offered some ridiculous price," Connell said. "After that, I never heard from them again." Connell calls it a joke and says it's typical of government. "Nobody did their homework on this," Connell said. "Now, everybody is ducking and diving at the Forest Service and trying to save face."...AP

Budget offers $50 million for forests across the U.S.

The budget calls for an additional $50 million next year to protect and restore national forests in the U.S. "as a cornerstone of a healthy, sustainable environment." The money will "protect natural resources and maintain facilities," including those that got a funding bump in the economic stimulus package signed into law earlier this month. The just-enacted stimulus law also allocated more money to the Forest Service. It devotes $650 million to spending on Forest Service roads, trail maintenance and environmental enhancement projects, Oppenheimer said. An additional $250 million goes toward fuel reduction programs in national forests. Money spent on those efforts - including clearing undergrowth, targeted thinning and proscribed burns - is expected to cut down on long-term firefighting costs. For fires, the budget establishes a dedicated fund for fighting catastrophic wildfires and also fully funds the 10-year average cost of federal firefighting efforts. It also establishes a $75 million contingency fund to use when the 10-year fund is exhausted. That means annual forest management budgets are less likely to be robbed to fight catastrophic fires. It will "ensure that resources are available for other critical activities" of the agencies that oversee public forest land, said Don Smurthwaite, a spokesman for the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise...Idaho Statesman

Will DOI & Forest Service Avoid First Mistake?

With President Barack Obama signing the stimulus bill in Denver, his natural resource agencies and Congress may be on the verge of their first unintended environmental policy mistake. The "green jobs" language for Department of Interior agencies in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (stimulus bill) is biased toward projects such as facility repair and road maintenance in our national parks, national forests and wildlife refuges. Instead, the stimulus bill's funding should prioritize the battle against the invasive terrestrial and aquatic species ravaging all our federal lands and waters. The dedicated Department of Interior staff that prepared stimulus recommendations to Congress erred by focusing on fixed assets such as buildings and roads instead of helping the fish and wildlife resources that make our public lands valuable to Americans in the first place. The U.S. Forest Service took a similar narrow approach to economic growth, offering a job package that focused on road maintenance, facilities repair and wildland fire management...The Coloradoan

FOREST SERVICE AT SEA ON STATUS OF VAST MINERAL RIGHTS

Beset by lawsuits from both industry and environmentalists, the U.S. Forest Service is now pursuing regulations to govern drilling and mining on its lands. The agency’s quandary is especially acute east of the Mississippi where large percentages of its wilderness and experimental forests – areas normally not subject to development – sit atop privately-held mineral estates, according to documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). For the past twenty-five years, the Forest Service has not applied any environmental restrictions on private extraction efforts, even in wilderness areas, following a 1983 decision by an Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, its parent agency. As a result, the Forest Service has not imposed the slightest protection for its most ecologically sensitive lands or wildlife from damaging extraction operations. Dueling lawsuits by both industry and environmentalists concerning thousands of oil and gas wells on the Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania prompted the Forest Service on December 29, 2008 to formally solicit public comment on how to craft “regulations to provide clarity and direction on the management of National Forest System surface resources when the mineral estate is privately held”. On January 16, 2009, the Eastern Region (Region 9) announced that it would “review all applications for access to reserved and outstanding oil and gas” in each national forest within that 21-state region. “This hot potato will be gathering steam on the desk of whomever the Obama administration appoints as the next Chief of the Forest Service,” stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, noting that the other major federal land management agency, the Interior Department, already has regulations governing this topic...Fly Rod & Wheel

Ecoterrorists Strike In Arizona

Vandals who claim to act in the name of animal rights and the environment are expanding their targets from laboratories and constructon sites that offend them to homes and cars of those with whom they disagree. On Feb. 19 in Tucson, a UA researcher had her water valve cemented shut and a mining company employee had her car tires flattened and her windows etched with hateful sayings. A press release posted on the San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center site by a group calling itself "Tucson H.A.A.N.D." or "Hooligans Attack at Night, Duh," claimed responsibility for the acts. It said UA Health Sciences researcher Katalin Gothard's water meter was turned off and cemented shut because of her research with monkeys and Kathy Arnold's car tire was slashed and her window etched because of her job with Augusta Resources Rosemont Copper Project. Augusta wants to open a 1.2-square-mile open-pit copper mine in the Santa Rita Mountains. A post on a Blogspot.com site called "Social Rupture" said the same group was responsible for a Jan. 15 vandalism attack that targeted Si Schorr, Tucson attorney and former chairman of the Arizona Transportation Board. The post said Schorr was targeted because of his espousal of an Interstate 10 bypass route that environmentalists say would damage valuable habitat. Vandals painted and etched expletive-laced slogans on the home's windows and garage doors. Schorr called the language "vile." "They were hateful expressions directed at me in my capacity as a public official," he said...TMC News

How do we manage to manage public lands?

The business of managing public lands is messy, somewhat akin to the sausage making of legislatures. And Congress frequently makes it worse. For readers not well-versed in public-lands acronyms, the resource advisory councils, or RACs (not to be confused with the Rec Rac) were created during the Clinton administration to advise the BLM. There are three resource advisory councils in Colorado, each with 15 members — the Front Range RAC, the Southwest RAC and the Northwest RAC, which includes Mesa County. Representatives from this community include Mike Perry with the Museum of Western Colorado, conservationist Charles Kerr and mountain-bike enthusiast Pat Kennedy. There are also ranchers, off-road vehicle users and oil-and-gas industry representatives on the RAC. They examine issues and offer the BLM recommendations on topics ranging from grazing to gas drilling to recreation. That’s right, recreation. These groups, with citizens representing a wide array of interests, already provide recommendations to the BLM regarding things like recreation fees. So why is another bureaucratic beast such as the Rec Rac necessary? Gene King, a Denver-area resident and member of the Front Range RAC, left little doubt during the combined RAC meeting Wednesday what he thought of the issue. “The reason we have this is that it was stuck in an omnibus bill by a congressman from Ohio, I believe, without any public input,” he said. “And now we’re stuck with this piece of crap.” I couldn’t find evidence of who the congressman was, but King was otherwise correct about the origins of the Rec Racs. They were created through the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act, which was included in the 2005 Omnibus Appropriations Bill, according to a federal Web site...Grand Junction Sentinel

Calif. declares drought emergency, mulls rationing

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday declared a state emergency due to drought and said he would consider mandatory water rationing in the face of nearly $3 billion in economic losses from below-normal rainfall this year. As many as 95,000 agricultural jobs will be lost, communities will be devastated and some growers in the most economically productive farm state simply are not able to plant, state officials said, calling the current drought the most expensive ever. Schwarzenegger, eager to build controversial dams as well as more widely backed water recycling programs, called on cities to cut back water use or face the first ever mandatory state restrictions as soon as the end of the month...Reuters

Enviros, US at odds over jaguar info

On Feb. 18, a jaguar nicknamed Macho B that has been documented by tracking cameras since 1996 was inadvertently snared by an Arizona Game and Fish Department trap. Arizona and New Mexico are on the far northern edge of the animals' range. Their primary home is Central and South America, especially the Amazon. Federal and state experts contend that the jaguars that come into Southern Arizona originate from a colony of perhaps 70 to 100 cats about 130 miles south of the border in the Mexican state of Sonora. After the capture, state biologists placed a collar with GPS satellite-tracking capabilities on the sedated animal and then released him. Because the collar signals location information every three hours and also is programmed to signal when the border is crossed, government scientists and environmentalists agree that it's likely to provide a wealth of data. But the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Center for Biological Diversity, on opposite sides of a lawsuit scheduled for federal trial later this month over the jaguar, disagree over what good the new information will do...Arizona Daily Star

The CBD clearly wants the data to assist in the lawsuit to establish critical habitat.

Ski area's expansion plans may threaten recently introduced lynx

A plan for conserving lynx habitat in the southern Rockies could affect a proposed expansion of the Breckenridge ski area. The U.S. Forest Service is studying whether the resort's plans conflict with a lynx management plan. Breckenridge wants to add several hundred acres of new trails and ski terrain. The Colorado Division of Wildlife has released more than 200 lynx from Alaska and Canada in southwestern Colorado since 1999 to restore the cat to the state. The Forest Service released a plan last year to manage lynx habitat in national forests in Colorado and southern Wyoming. Ski resort officials hope the Forest Service will complete a draft environmental study on the project this summer...adn.com

I thought the feds were going to create jobs, not destroy them.

The wolf is at the wolf sanctuary's door

Sherrie LaBat, standing by an electric fence that separates her from three wolves, turns to see if the truck she hears is coming her way. She hopes the tires splashing through mud are heading to the remote Howling Acres Wolf Sanctuary she owns with her husband, Charlie LaBat. Someone called earlier in the day and pledged to deliver a donation of dog food. The LaBats, who recently put their mom-and-pop sanctuary up for sale, are down to eight weeks' worth of food for their 20 wolves and wolf-dog hybrids. As the economy crumbles, it's no surprise animal havens and rescue groups are suffering. The first to buckle are small operations run by animal lovers with big hearts and limited funds. In the case of the LaBats, whose southern Oregon sanctuary is 30 miles south of Grants Pass, the situation is trickier because the creatures at stake are among the most notorious in the West. There are an estimated 40 wolf sanctuaries in the United States, according to Wolf Haven International in Tenino, Wash., one of the oldest. The number is sketchy because no one regulates sanctuaries. Only the U.S. Department of Agriculture licenses them when they open for public viewing, and they can come in all sizes and shapes and with a variety of missions...The Oregonian

Water Quality Trading: A tool to strengthen NPS pollution control

During the 19th and 20th centuries, federal water policies were created to develop agricultural industries and to settle the western U.S. Currently, agriculture uses between 70 and 95 percent of water resources in western states. Although the Clean Water Act (CWA) has effectively improved point source pollution problems, there is much left to accomplish regarding nonpoint source (NPS) pollution generated from municipal storm water and agricultural runoff. Current efforts to control NPS pollution involve state water quality monitoring, watershed planning and citizen education. States also provide technical assistance, in the form of Best Management Practices (BMPs), to farmers and ranchers to control NPS pollution on agricultural lands. Water quality trading is a market-based approach to improve water quality. A pollutant is treated as a commodity that can be purchased and sold to achieve and maintain water quality goals. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established a Water Quality Trading Policy consistent with mandates outlined by the CWA to guide states and tribes in attaining and preserving water quality standards. According to Section 303 of the CWA, quantitative and qualitative water quality criteria are established to protect beneficial uses and preserve water quality. TMDLs are required on waters listed as impaired. In addition to TMDLs and watershed planning, EPA's Water Quality Trading Policy program aims to facilitate TMDL implementation further through lowering NPS pollution control costs, thereby encouraging watershed initiatives and voluntary pollutant reductions...Reno Gazette Journal

Environmentalists, landowners help endangered falcons soar

The endangered Northern Aplomado Falcon, a regal gray bird with beige markings that was common across Texas and the Southwest until 1952, is making a comeback. A combined effort by conservationists, federal agencies and private landowners has led to 40 breeding pairs in South Texas and soon, the falcon's reintroduction in West Texas and New Mexico. The success has been so great that he thinks the Northern Aplomado Falcon will soon be delisted as an endangered species. Aplomado is the Spanish word for lead-colored. The Northern Aplomado Falcon's resurgence has relied, more than most rescue efforts, on the goodwill of private landowners. Texas lands are about 97 percent privately owned, limiting the power of the federal government to force change. The Environmental Defense Fund helped create an inducement for landowners in the mid-1990s with a "safe harbor" provision to the Endangered Species Act that protects private property from federal intrusion when landowners set acreage aside for endangered animals. "In return for access, the landowners get a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service" that gives them legal cover, said Michael Bean, a senior attorney with the defense fund. "There are now 2 million acres in Texas in the program."...McClatchy Newspapers

Vilsack pledges guarantees on loans to ethanol producers

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Thursday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture would be providing loan guarantees to help struggling ethanol producers. In a speech to the USDA's annual agriculture outlook conference, he said the USDA "has a responsibility for keeping an eye on that industry" to maintain an infrastructure to produce the next generation of biofuels. Vilsack said later that the USDA is pushing banks to "make sure that the terms and conditions of the loans are more favorably inclined." Des Moines Register

Isn't this how we got into the mortgage crises? Yes, it is, and now the feds are back doing the same thing.

Texas Cattle Trichomoniasis Program Adopted

Beginning April 1, 2009, breeding bulls entering Texas from any other state must be either 24 months of age or younger and certified as a virgin, or be tested negative for cattle trichomoniasis within 30 days prior to entry. The entry requirements are part of a regulatory package adopted by the commissioners for the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) February 24 to address trichomoniasis, a venereal disease of cattle that causes infertility and abortions, and results in extended breeding seasons and diminished calf crops, which costs livestock producers valuable income. Cattle trichomoniasis is not a human health issue. The second phase of the program, which will address in-state movement of Texas breeding bulls, will go into effect January 1, 2010. Dr. Hillman explained that the interstate, or state-to-state movement, phase of the trichomoniasis regulations will begin April 1, 2009. Breeding bulls entering Texas must be officially identified, and may come certified as virgins, provided they are 24 months of age or younger, and have not commingled with female cattle. A breeder’s certificate must accompany the virgin breeding bull, signed by the breeder, and the information also must be included on the certificate of veterinary inspection. Routine documents also are required, including the certificate of veterinary inspection, and other applicable tuberculosis or brucellosis entry requirements must be met, depending on the state of origin, or if the bull is a beef or dairy animal. Non-virgin breeding bulls or bulls older than 24 months of age entering Texas on and after April 1 must be tested negative for trichomoniasis within 30 days prior to entry. During the test period and prior to shipment, the bulls must have no contact with female cattle. Like virgin bulls, the non-virgin bulls must be officially identified with a breed registry tattoo or brand, a USDA metal ear tag, official RFID tag, official trichomoniasis ear tag from the state of origin, or other official identification. The animal must be accompanied by a completed trichomoniasis test document, certificate of veterinary inspection and other routine health documents...TAHC Press Release

National Cowboy Museum announces Western Heritage Awards

The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum announced today the winners of its 48th annual Western Heritage Awards. The awards honor and encourage the legacy of those whose works in literature, music, film and television reflect the significant stories of the American West. The Western Heritage Awards will be presented at a black-tie banquet April 18 at the museum. Each winner in attendance receives the Wrangler, an impressive bronze sculpture of a cowboy on horseback. Awards presented in 2009 are for works completed in 2008. Qualified professionals outside the museum staff judge all categories. The 2008 best theatrical motion picture winner is “Appaloosa,” starring Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen, Jeremy Irons and Renée Zellweger. The movie is based on the 2005 Western novel by Robert B. Parker and centers around lawman Virgil Cole (Ed Harris) and his deputy Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen). The two friends are hired to defend a lawless 1880s town from a renegade rancher, Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons), who has already taken horses and supplies and killed the deputy and the marshal. Their efforts are disrupted and friendship tested by the arrival of a woman (Renee Zellweger). Director Ed Harris co-wrote the script with Robert Knott, and the two produced the movie. Lighthouse Productions produced “The Challenge of Champions: The Story of Lane Frost and Red Rock,” the winner of the documentary category. Award-winning filmmaker David Wittkower captured the story of two champions and a segment of their celebrated careers. The 90-minute film follows the duel between World Champion Bull Rider Lane Frost and Red Rock, a bull that had been unridden in more than 300 tries. Clyde and Elsie Frost, Lane’s parents, and John Growney, stock contractor and owner of Red Rock, narrate the story. The film features interviews with people closest to the seven-match series including friends and rodeo cohorts Tuff Hedeman and Cody Lambert; sportscaster George Michael; journalist Kendra Santos; and photographer Sue Rosoff...

Energy Taxes

The Administration's fiscal 2010 budget proposal calls for at least $400 billion in new taxes and fees on the oil and natural gas industry, including a significant portion of the revenues that would be raised from a carbon cap-and-trade system. The tax portion of the budget proposal includes at least $80 billion in new taxes on the U.S. energy sector over the next decade. These new taxes and fees could mean less U.S. energy production, fewer American jobs and less revenue for federal, state and local governments at a time when we desperately need all three. These punitive measures could also threaten the retirements of tens of millions of Americans with mutual funds, pensions and retirement plans that invest heavily in U.S. energy companies. The bottom line is that imposing additional taxes on America's oil and natural gas companies will not lower energy costs nor help produce much needed supply. In fact, increased strain on U.S. energy companies will make it more difficult for the United States to compete for energy resources in the global market and threaten jobs here at home...Energy Tomorrow

Cowgirl Sass & Savvy

Cowboy Wedding --From the Hope Chest to the gravy

Julie Carter

Having secured a sort of left-handed proposal of marriage from her cowboy last Sadie Hawkins' Day, the soon-to-be-bride began to work on her Hope Chest.

You don't hear much about that tradition in this day and time, but pragmatic future brides of cowboys still know the wisdom of having a few essentials before the check book becomes his sole territory.

While shopping for linens at Big Lots, this prospective blushing bride found a fantastic world-beater bargain in paper towels. She had already decided that the reception menu would include barbeque ribs, beans and potato salad so paper towels would be a priority.

The ones on sale just happened to be decorated with orange and turquoise designs which inspired her to select those colors for her wedding theme.

As planning progressed, she found the perfect dress. It fit, was in her price range and was bright orange. Nobody was going to miss her at this fiesta.

The bridesmaids' dresses arrived in a stunning shade of turquoise. There was a slight hitch as one of the bridesmaids ordered hers in a size smaller than actually required.

The bridesmaid's Plan A involved a diet before the wedding. The bride's Plan B was to line up a cousin who was the right size.

Her cowboy was not as totally committed to this project as she would have liked, and in an effort to get him involved, she decided they should each write their own vows.

Her vows were very lovely prose, mentioning hearts, flowers, lifelong commitment, a steady partner and love eternal.

When his were finally, reluctantly, presented for inspection, she was somewhat taken aback.

The only thing he had planned on saying was "I do. Let's party."

Of course, they were going to be married outside on the hill overlooking the ranch. The setting would be beautiful. Concerned about her dress, the bride borrowed the long carpet used for the sidewalk at the Post Office to walk down the aisle.

The boom box was tested and required only an occasional slap on the side to keep it playing. Waylon and Willie would do fine.

Helpful neighbors had designated who was to carry the shotgun, who was to usher the guests away from the keg and to seating, who was to keep the dogs quiet during the ceremony and who was to dig the pit for the barbeque.

For quite some time the bride had been waiting for a ring to appear. On their next trip to a real town, she borrowed her cowboy's credit card and headed to the nearest wholesale jewelers. There she bought a ring that fit perfectly and looked almost authentic.

Only detail left was to line up a few married cowboy friends to watch her groom.

That faraway look in his eyes was beginning to be worrisome. She knew that married males would be more dependable. Something about "if I can cowboy-up, so can he."

After all, the bride-to-be was a good cook and these guys liked good food. They also knew they'd be eating regularly at the new couple's outfit when they neighbored at cattle workings. Certainly, it was a smart plan to make sure he married somebody that could cook.

Her good cooking won the heart of her cowboy and the loyalty of the neighbors.

Never underestimate the power of a perfect chicken fried steak and good gravy.

Julie can be reached for comment at julie-carter.com

What do marijuana, porn, brothels, gambling & gay marriage have in common?

Various states want to tax them or otherwise use them to raise revenues during a slumping economy. See today's NY Times.

In California, a state legislator wants to tax marijuana.

In Washington, a bill was introduced to tax pornography.

In Nevada, they want to tax the brothels.

In Massachusetts the legislature is proposing to build two resort-style casinos, including one in Boston.

In Hawaii legislators are proposing to legalize gay marriage to boost tourism, thus raising revenues.

This brings to mind two thoughts. First, ain't it interesting how things which are illegal can suddenly become legal if it benefits government revenues. Which leads to numero segundo, these legislators aren't interested in either liberty or morality, only in getting their hands on more money to spend. More money equals more power and apparently that is all these wonderful legislators care about.

Obama’s Backing Raises Hopes for Climate Pact

Until recently, the idea that the world’s most powerful nations might come together to tackle global warming seemed an environmentalist’s pipe dream. The Kyoto Protocol, signed in 1997, was widely viewed as badly flawed. Many countries that signed the accord lagged far behind their targets in curbing carbon dioxide emissions. The United States refused even to ratify it. And the treaty gave a pass to major emitters in the developing world like China and India. But within weeks of taking office, President Obama has radically shifted the global equation, placing the United States at the forefront of the international climate effort and raising hopes that an effective international accord might be possible. Mr. Obama’s chief climate negotiator, Todd Stern, said last week that the United States would be involved in the negotiation of a new treaty — to be signed in Copenhagen in December — “in a robust way.” That treaty, officials and climate experts involved in the negotiations say, will significantly differ from the agreement of a decade ago, reaching beyond reducing greenhouse gas emissions and including financial mechanisms and making good on longstanding promises to provide money and technical assistance to help developing countries cope with climate change...NY Times

Paul Harvey, News Commentator and Talk-Show Pioneer, Dies at 90

Paul Harvey, the news commentator and talk-radio pioneer whose staccato style made him one of the nation's most familiar voices, died Saturday in Arizona, FOX News has confirmed. He was 90. Known for his resonant voice and trademark delivery of "The Rest of the Story," Harvey had been heard nationally since 1951, when he began his "News and Comment" for ABC Radio Networks. He became a heartland icon, delivering news and commentary with a distinctive Midwestern flavor. He moved to Hawaii in 1940 to cover the U.S. Navy and eventually enlisted in the Army Air Corps, where h served until 1944. In 2000, at age 82, Harvey signed a new 10-year contract with ABC Radio networks. In addition to his unique voice and delivery, Harvey was credited with coining several words on his broadcasts, including "Reaganomics" and "guesstimate."...Fox News