Beach erosion from Ike may make homes illegal Even people whose coastal houses were spared by Hurricane Ike could see them condemned under a little-known Texas law, and hundreds whose beachfront homes were wrecked could be barred from rebuilding there. Now here's the saltwater in the wound: It could be a year before the state tells these homeowners what they may or may not do. And if these homeowners do lose their beachfront property, they may get no compensation from the state. The reason: the 1959 Texas Open Beaches Act. Under the law, the strip of beach between the average high-tide line and the average low-tide line is considered public property, and buildings are illegal there. Over the years, the state has repeatedly invoked the law to seize houses in cases where a storm eroded a beach so badly that a home was suddenly sitting on public property. The aftermath of Ike could see the biggest such use of the law in Texas history....

Republicans Suspect Democrats May Punt Oil Drilling Ban Past Election Senior Republican congressional aides told CNSNews.com that they believe the Democratic leadership may now roll the dice by allowing the ban on new offshore oil drilling leases to expire at the end of this month while planning to renew it early next year if they manage to win the White House and maintain control of Congress. That would allow them to avoid a potentially politically damaging showdown over offshore drilling in the month leading up to the November election. Such a tactic could succeed, the Republicans say, because no new drilling leases could be auctioned in intervening time. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), meanwhile, suggested in an interview with CNSNews.com on Thursday that he was aware Democrats could allow the ban on offshore drilling to expire without immediately risking new drilling in domestic waters....

Coming To The Supreme Court

Summers v. Earth Island Institute (07-463)

Earth Island Institute and other conservation groups sued the United States Forest Service after it authorized application of regulations 36 C.F.R. 215.4(a) and 36 C.F.R. 215.12(f) to a planned salvage logging project in the Sequoia National Forest. The conservation groups claimed that the regulations, which limit public notice, comment and administrative appeals, were invalid under the Administrative Procedure Act, which protects the ability of the public to appeal administrative actions. The parties settled the dispute over the regulations as they were applied to the salvage logging project, but the conservation groups continued the suit as a direct facial challenge to the regulations themselves. At issue before the Supreme Court in this case is whether judicial review of the regulations was proper, whether the conservation groups established standing and ripeness to challenge the regulations after settling the controversy over the regulations’ application to the specific project, and whether issuing a nationwide injunction was a proper remedy. The outcome of the case will influence federal agencies’ requirements to provide administrative appeals, the ability of the public to challenge administrative actions, and the scope of equitable remedies against improper applications of agency regulations....

Conclusion

This case rests on whether individuals may appeal agency regulations only as they are applied to specific agency actions, or whether individuals may challenge the validity of regulations without linking the challenge to a specific agency project. The Forest Service argues that under the APA, only as-applied regulations may be challenged. The conservation groups, on the other hand, argue that the APA supports direct, facial challenges to agency regulations. The Supreme Court’s decision will affect the rights of individuals to contest unlawful agency regulations and the scope of federal agencies’ responsibilities to provide administrative appeals. The decision will likely clarify the balance between agencies’ autonomy and their transparency toward the public, which will have ramifications for advocacy groups, industry members, and federal agencies.

Winter v. Natural Res. Def. Council (NRDC) (07-1239)

On March 22, 2007, the Natural Resources Defense Council ("NRDC") sued the United States Navy in the District Court for the Central District of California to enjoin the Navy from conducting training exercises off the coast of southern California. Specifically, the NRDC sought to prevent the Navy from using mid-frequency active ("MFA") sonar during these exercises because such use harmed whales and other marine mammals, in violation of several environmental laws. The District Court concluded in January 2008 that NRDC had proven that allowing the exercises to continue would cause near certain harm to the environment and issued a preliminary injunction. In response to the injunction, both the President and the Council for Environmental Quality ("CEQ") exempted the Navy from two environmental statutes, finding that emergency circumstances existed which allowed the training to continue. The District Court, however, found the exemptions were improper and upheld its preliminary injunction, and the Ninth Circuit affirmed. The Navy challenges this decision by arguing that courts below used too lax of a standard when deciding that a preliminary injunction was justified and that the judiciary improperly interfered with the executive branch’s authority to control the military. How the Supreme Court decides this case will not only reflect its view on balancing environmental protection and national security, but also clarify the roles each Federal branch has in these matters....

Conclusion

This case addresses an important question about the significance of environmental protection. The answer may hinge on the Supreme Court’s view of the balance among the three branches of government, and the extent of the executive branch’s authority over the military. Overall, the Supreme Court’s decision on the separation of powers will have implications beyond the immediate issue of environmental protection.

Past bedevils Army in Pinon Canyon expansion The Army won that round, but lost the fight for public opinion in southeast Colorado with missteps that now endanger its plans to add 100,000 acres to train soldiers. "We found the Army wasn't truthful that first go-round," said Herman Multrer, a Vietnam veteran and rancher who opposes the expansion. "I support the Army 100 percent, but only when they're doing the right thing." In the late '70s and early '80s, the Army eventually used condemnation to obtain nearly half the training site. Its promises of jobs and federal money for local communities proved empty. As Congress this fall again debates whether the Army should be allowed to buy land, the past haunts today's negotiations. "There are some hard feelings left over from the past," said Rep. Doug Lamborn, a Republican, who as Colorado Springs' congressman is fighting to get the Army the 100,000-acre addition. In a bid to overcome resistance, the Army in recent months has cut its expansion plans from more than 400,000 acres to 100,000, and promised jobs and $100 million in construction cash. It hasn't worked....

A full measure of incompetence The sex and drugs and possible bribery within the Interior Department's oil and gas royalties program was bad enough — a slap in the face to those of us struggling with higher gas and fuel costs. Now we learn that, even worse, federal regulators may have short-changed Americans by billions of dollars worth of the fossil fuels. New audits from the Government Accountability Office found that the Minerals Management Service and the Bureau of Land Management have failed to keep pace with inspecting the very meters on oil and gas rigs that determine how much of the fuels are to go to the government. We applaud the congressional scrutiny now focused on the MMS and its Royalty in Kind division. Hopefully, the extra scrutiny will eventually produce a better process, and that could mean pulling MMS into a separate agency that would be more transparent and easily monitored. Measurements are vital to the royalty program, which allows energy companies to pay federal royalties with oil and gas instead of cash. The RIK program then markets the fuels to increase federal funds and to shore up reserves. Last year, MMS collected more than $11 billion in the royalties program. With so much at stake, we would expect that the need for accurate measurements is a no-brainer. Apparently, that responsibility wasn't so obvious to MMS....

Let's talk climate impact on wildlands Arizona's climate is changing. Statistics show that we are, on average, 2.7-degrees warmer now than a century ago. This is causing major problems for our wildlife, wildlands and the outdoor heritage we enjoy in Arizona. Ongoing drought conditions are affecting many wildlife populations. Forests throughout northern Arizona are dying off from beetle infestations that are partially caused by higher winter temperatures. Wildfires like the Rodeo-Chediski Fire near Cibeque in 2002 are getting bigger and burning unnaturally hotter. Habitually low water levels in Lake Mead and Lake Powell are impacting fish production and reducing boating opportunities. The list goes on and on. In Arizona, the topic of climate change remains controversial. The "sky is falling" mentality of the left combined with the "head in the sand " naysayers on the right prevent reasoned discussion. With Arizona's outdoor heritage at stake, this is a shame....

Sheep grazing limits proposed to protect bighorns Payette National Forest officials are considering a ban on domestic sheep grazing in some areas frequented by wild bighorns. If approved, the plan would force several ranchers to give up grazing areas in parts of Hells Canyon and the Salmon River canyon. The draft plan is open to comment for 90 days. Once a final decision is made, each individual grazing decision will be handled separately, forest Supervisor Suzanne Rainville told The Idaho Statesman. The environmental review and draft plan followed an order by U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill in 2007 that ranchers move their sheep off of five allotments in Hells Canyon to protect the wild sheep. Domestic sheep carry some diseases to which they have resistance but that can spread to more vulnerable wild bighorns. In the draft, the Forest Service said Canada and the United States have a long history of large-scale, sudden, all-age die-offs in bighorn sheep populations, many of them associated with domestic animal contact....

State continues overhaul of oil, gas rules State regulators headed toward the final stretch of work on new oil and gas rules as they prepared to grapple with ways to protect the state’s wildlife and manage drilling waste pits amid Colorado’s natural gas boom. Those were among the issues on the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission’s agenda Monday and Tuesday. The panel has given preliminary approval to dozens of new regulations since August and is expected to take final votes in October on the state’s most comprehensive rewrite of rules for the industry since drilling rates started breaking records. Small groups will report back after trying to unravel disagreements on a few topics, such as reclamation, overlap of local and state regulations and the size of buffers between houses and wells. Also still hanging is the standoff between the state and Colorado office of the Bureau of Land Management on whether the state rules would apply to federal land. The BLM says “no.” The commission says “yes,” citing states’ rights to oversee wildlife, air and water quality. Both sides say they’ll keep talking....

Scientists study endangered kangaroo rat habitat Scientists plan to use satellite photos to count Giant Kangaroo Rats, the first-ever monitoring of an endangered species from outer space. Scientists will examine images taken from the same satellite used by Israeli defence forces to find the circular patches of earth denuded by the rats as they gather food around their burrows. From that they plan to get the first-ever accurate population count of the rodents, a bellwether for the health of a parched plains environment. The information will help scientists determine when cattle might be used to reduce non-native grasses, allowing the rats to more easily find food. Giant Kangaroo Rats, nocturnal rodents so named because they hop on back legs, adapted to their desert environment by extracting moisture from seeds and in their nasal passages from the humid air they exhale. For food, they pile seeds from native grasses in circles outside their burrows, which provide shelter for the endangered San Joaquin antelope squirrel and blunt-nosed lizards. Their fat five-inch (nearly 13-centimeter) bodies are a favoured source of food for the endangered kit fox....

NM Game and Fish recommends cougar hunting changes Conservationists who have been seeking changes in the way New Mexico wildlife officials manage cougar hunts are throwing their support behind agency recommendations that they say will help maintain the big cats' population. The state Game and Fish Department is recommending that the agency provide information on its Web site to teach hunters the difference between male and female cats to ensure that more breeding females are left in the wild and kittens are not orphaned. The department is also recommending that a cougar control program aimed at reducing depredation of livestock in the southeastern part of the state come to an end. Those recommendations and others dealing with New Mexico's big game hunting rules for the 2009 and 2010 seasons will be taken up by the state Game Commission at its Oct. 2 meeting....

Virtual fence could modernize the Old West Dean Anderson insists he doesn't want to put cowboys out of business. But he would like to see them get more indoor work. Anderson, an animal science researcher with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is working on a system that will allow cowboys to herd their cattle remotely by singing commands and whispering into Bessie's ears via radio and tracking her movements by satellite and computer. "I could be sitting in my office here and programming cows in Mongolia. It's not technologically impossible," says Anderson. The technology isn't exactly ready yet, but Anderson and others involved in researching the concept of "virtual fencing" of cattle and other livestock say it is getting close. "It's not a silver bullet," he insists. "You're not going to spend a year in Mazatlan and run your cows by computer. You need to have a human on the ground." No kidding, says Gary Morton, who runs 2,000 head of yearling cattle at Valles Caldera in the Jemez Mountains range of northern New Mexico. "They've been saying cowboys and the way we do business is dying for the last 100 years," Morton says. "But we're still around."....

Honoring Old Yeller Dressed boyishly in denim overalls and a straw hat, Kassie Stagner, 10, wraps her arms around a yellow Labrador retriever, striking a pose that’s reminiscent of character Travis Coates and his devoted dog in the 1957 movie classic, Old Yeller. “This morning, I rubbed my T-shirt in the dirt, too,” says Stagner, whose efforts won her the “Travis Look-Alike” contest during Old Yeller Day in Mason, Texas (pop. 2,134), last year. The annual October event honors the late author Fred Gipson, who spent most of his life in Mason, where he penned the beloved dog tale in 1956. The following year, Walt Disney turned Old Yeller into a Hollywood favorite, starring Dorothy McGuire, Fess Parker and Tommy Kirk. Set in the 1860s, Old Yeller was inspired by a true story told by Gipson’s grandfather and recounts the frontier adventures of a teenage boy, Travis, and his poor family who adopt an ugly “yeller” dog....

Casey and the grulla
Cowgirl Sass & Savvy

Julie Carter

Cowboys are quite often loners, especially if they are holding down a ranch job in a remote area of the West.

Casey was just such a loner, with his horses serving as his best friends.

For five years running, he wintered very peacefully at the Box Canyon Camp on the Estacado Comida Ranch in northern New Mexico, a job that suited him perfectly.

With an abundance of horse charm and the fact that the ranch raised premier colts from their large mare herd, it was a good match for them all.

The mares were wintered in the large, protected canyon, giving the colts that were born in the spring a safe place to grow and a chance to learn to travel in the rough country.

Casey would work a little with the young ones, teaching them a few manners and getting them used to being around that beast called man. It was called work, but for him, it was something next to heaven.

He kept the mares gentled down and, when needed, offered a little midwifery skill during foaling.

Then along came the ranch owner's son, fresh out of college with a degree and an assignment to reacquaint Casey with reality.

Brad arrived at winter camp full of book ideas, enthusiasm for the invigorating outdoors and thoroughly in love with a blonde who promised to wait for him until spring.

During the cold months, Brad got over his scholarly schemes and recognized the environment for its greater challenges, but when it was time to bring the mares and colts out of the canyon, he was still in love.

Casey usually hit the rodeo road during the summer. Brad decided he and Blondie, who happened to be a barrel racer, would summer with Casey on the rodeo trail.

He was, after all, the boss' s kid, so off they went to collect the girl and get on with the summer.

When they met her at the arena, both men's eyes lit up.

This was a very pretty girl - long honey blonde hair and big green eyes. She was riding a big grulla gelding built like a fine quarter horse should be.

Brad had his eyes on the girl, but Casey had eyes on the gelding.

Through the summer, the cowboys kept their pockets lined with their rodeo winnings.

However, Blondie wasn't faring as well with the grulla, who hadn't quite caught on to the concept of running around three cans.

Casey regularly applied his "horse charm" to keep the big slate-colored horse calm and working well enough to get Blondie to the next rodeo.

He was not charming enough to keep her consistently winning, not that she noticed.

She and Brad spent more time looking at each other than at the rodeo schedule, so it didn't appear to be a career goal for either of them.

When the winds of autumn began cooling the days and fall nights took on a crispness recognized as a precursor to winter, Casey began to think about Box Canyon.

He had one more thing he wanted to accomplish before summer's end.

Brad and the honey-blonde were making their own plans and a fall wedding was in the works.

Casey agreed to stand in as best man at ranch headquarters along with further arrangements to leave right after the ceremony.

He and the newlyweds had come to an agreement about the future.

After the last toast for lifelong bliss was made, Casey changed into his jeans, a Carhartt jacket and set off for winter camp.

Brad had the girl. Casey left riding his gray and leading the grulla.

And everybody lived happily ever after.

Now, don't you feel all warm and fuzzy?

Julie is looking for a Box Canyon winter hideout.

FDA Proposes Regulations for Genetically Engineered Animals The prospect of foods and other products from so-called genetically engineered animals moved a step closer to reality Thursday, as U.S. regulators said producers of such animals will have to prove they are safe to eat. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it was proposing new guidelines for genetically engineered animals. These guidelines lay out the agency's position on its authority to regulate the burgeoning industry of genetically engineered animals and spell out requirements and recommendations to producers of these animals. "Genetic engineering is no longer a new technology. It has been widely used in agriculture to make crops resistant to certain pests or herbicides or with improved nutritional qualities," Randall Lutter, deputy commissioner for policy at the FDA, said during a morning teleconference. Genetic engineering in animals refers to the use of what scientists call recombinant DNA techniques to introduce new characteristics or traits, often adding a genetic trait from one animal to another. Proponents say the practice will lead to animals that can grow faster, produce healthier foods such as heart-healthy eggs, or be resistant to certain diseases, such as mad cow disease. Opponents say the practice could unleash unintended consequences by altering the traditional genetic structures of animals....

Farmers sue state over raid on funds State officials violated the U.S. and state constitutions when they took money from a trio of agriculture funds to balance the state budget, farm interests charge in a new lawsuit. It's the latest blow against the budget, which has drawn complaints far and wide as agencies and the people who rely on them grapple with cuts in state funding. In this case, farm groups say the state was wrong to "sweep" the money in agriculture funds and use it to shore up the state's general fund for the budget year that ended June 30. The money is voluntarily contributed by farmers and growers to pay for research grants and held in trust by the state treasurer until the grants are awarded....

Bovine TB designation hinders NM ranching, dairy operations Beef and dairy producers are preparing for stringent regulations across state lines and advocating for a smaller zone of restrictions after the USDA's Sept. 11 bovine tuberculosis downgrade. Around 50 representatives of state government, New Mexico State University and the ranching and dairy communities met at NMSU to discuss the state's downgrade Friday, part of a series of such informative meetings across the state. Two infections since May 2007, in Roosevelt and Curry counties in eastern New Mexico, prompted the USDA downgrade, to reduce the possible spread of the infection outside of the state. "We see that, in New Mexico, as the area of risk," said Myles Culbertson, executive director of the New Mexico Livestock Board, who said it was still unknown where the most recent cow became infected. Culbertson said the original anti-TB guidelines were established in 1917 because of a 6 percent prevalence of bovine TB in the bovine population and a higher incidence of people drinking raw milk. Though untreatable, cooking meat and pasteurizing milk kill the bacteria that causes bovine TB. The bacteria that causes it can be transmitted between infected animals and humans through drinking raw milk or breathing, according to the USDA. He said bovine TB should not be "misconstrued as a public health crisis." "Now, (the prevalence) is .016 percent, infinitesimally small," Culbertson said, noting that Colorado and Oklahoma were each one infection away from being downgraded as well. "That program, I think, is archaic ... The program says if you find two cases within 48 months, the whole state goes down." State veterinarian Dr. Dave Fly has estimated the cost of testing could cost the state up to $6 million. Culbertson said the quickest the state could get its downgrade revoked would be two years, but Gov. Bill Richardson and the state Livestock Board have asked the USDA for a reconsideration by October....

Error results in tax break for horse owners Horse owners in eastern New Mexico can look forward to a tax break this year due to an oversight by the New Mexico Livestock Board. Due to a accounting error, there will be no livestock board tax on horses in New Mexico for 2008 — horse owners will only have to pay local and state property taxes. The error will cost the livestock board $72,000 toward the 2009 budget, which is $6 million, said Myles Culbertson, executive director of the livestock board. “This error will not affect our services, but it will reduce our budget,” Culbertson said. “We have a large budget, but every dollar is spoken for.”....

Who was the Indian princess? Before it is swept away by the river of oblivion, this writer wishes to share a little-known legend about a mysterious Native American woman who once lived in Belen. In the late 1700s or early 1800s, there lived a mysterious woman who claimed to be an Indian princess. We don't know her name, although many called her "La Indita." Others called her the "Aztec Princess," suggesting that she came from a rich, powerful Indian tribe and culture in Old Mexico. Many facts have been lost through the cloudy lenses of time, and to tell her story, one must rely on the few facts that have filtered down by word of mouth from generation to generation. This noble-looking woman was the subject of speculation and curiosity among the people of Belen. She remained rather aloof, but was otherwise friendly, speaking Spanish haltingly. She sometimes attended church services and sometimes attended wedding dances held in the popular dance hall located across the road from the old church. Where did this beautiful stranger come from? And why did she live in Belen?....

EFF sues U.S. over NSA surveillance program The Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Bush administration on behalf of AT&T customers to halt what it called the "massively illegal" warrantless surveillance of Americans' Internet and telephone communications. In addition to suing the National Security Agency, the nonprofit Internet advocacy group also names President George Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Cheney's chief of staff David Addington, and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, as well as others. "For years, the NSA has been engaged in a massive and massively illegal fishing expedition through AT&T's domestic networks and databases of customer records," senior staff attorney Kevin Bankston said in a statement. "Our goal in this new case against the government, as in our case against AT&T, is to dismantle this dragnet surveillance program as soon as possible."....

Anthrax Suspect Didn't Act Alone, Leahy Posits Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) yesterday broke a years-long public silence about the anthrax-mailing case to cast doubt on the FBI's assertion that a bioweapons researcher acted as the lone culprit in the deadly attacks. Leahy, one of two congressional addressees of poison-laced letters in the fall of 2001, did not offer reasons for his suspicions, which could heighten calls for an independent review of the evidence that authorities gathered against Bruce E. Ivins. "If he is the one who sent the letter, I do not believe in any way, shape or manner that he is the only person involved in this attack on Congress and the American people," Leahy told FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III at a hearing yesterday. "I believe there are others involved, either as accessories before or accessories after the fact. I believe that there are others who can be charged with murder."....