Artesia native Gary D. Bratcher, an agribusinessman and former state economic development secretary, was named Tuesday as executive director of the Valles Caldera Trust. He takes over at a critical juncture in management of the 89,000-acre Valles Caldera National Preserve in the Jemez Mountains. Congress approved money to buy the preserve in 2000, with the caveat it try to pay its own operating costs by 2015, something no other public land agency is expected to do. The preserve, which includes scenic valleys left by an ancient volcanic eruption, is managed by the Valles Caldera Trust, whose board members are appointed by the U.S. president. The Valles Caldera is an experiment in public land management. Congress mandated the protection of natural resources at the Valles Caldera and increased public access while continuing its operations as a working ranch — three goals often seen in conflict with each other....
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Valles Caldera director's task to make preserve self-sufficient
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Artesia native Gary D. Bratcher, an agribusinessman and former state economic development secretary, was named Tuesday as executive director of the Valles Caldera Trust. He takes over at a critical juncture in management of the 89,000-acre Valles Caldera National Preserve in the Jemez Mountains. Congress approved money to buy the preserve in 2000, with the caveat it try to pay its own operating costs by 2015, something no other public land agency is expected to do. The preserve, which includes scenic valleys left by an ancient volcanic eruption, is managed by the Valles Caldera Trust, whose board members are appointed by the U.S. president. The Valles Caldera is an experiment in public land management. Congress mandated the protection of natural resources at the Valles Caldera and increased public access while continuing its operations as a working ranch — three goals often seen in conflict with each other....
Artesia native Gary D. Bratcher, an agribusinessman and former state economic development secretary, was named Tuesday as executive director of the Valles Caldera Trust. He takes over at a critical juncture in management of the 89,000-acre Valles Caldera National Preserve in the Jemez Mountains. Congress approved money to buy the preserve in 2000, with the caveat it try to pay its own operating costs by 2015, something no other public land agency is expected to do. The preserve, which includes scenic valleys left by an ancient volcanic eruption, is managed by the Valles Caldera Trust, whose board members are appointed by the U.S. president. The Valles Caldera is an experiment in public land management. Congress mandated the protection of natural resources at the Valles Caldera and increased public access while continuing its operations as a working ranch — three goals often seen in conflict with each other....
Deer trafficking: Texas case raises questions about deer industry
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Two years ago, Brian Becker drove 1,008 miles from Madelia, Minn., to the small East Texas town of Bedias, unaware that federal authorities had him under surveillance after being tipped off that his gooseneck trailer carried contraband -- trophy deer. His smuggling operation, which reaped $300,000 from a single customer in four years, exposes a dark underside to Texas' $73 million deer-hunting industry, which has provided jobs and other economic benefits to many rural areas of the state. On Nov. 24, Becker, 38, already on probation for smuggling deer to Oklahoma in 2005, was sentenced by a federal court in Plano, Texas, to 33 months in prison. The buyer, Robert L. Eichenour, 51, a wealthy Houston businessman and owner of a posh hunting ranch in Bedias, received an 18-month term and was ordered to pay a $50,000 fine. Both had pleaded guilty and did not dispute the charges. "This is just the tip of the iceberg," said Mike Merida, a Fort Worth-based special agent with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, referring to interstate deer trafficking, which he said threatens herds with bovine tuberculosis and chronic wasting disease, a devastating condition likened to mad-cow disease but spread among deer, elk and moose. "From my perspective, there's a lot of movement of black-market deer, whether it's wild deer 'laundered' into a high-fence operation or 'put and take' hunting," said Capt. Greg Williford of Texas Parks & Wildlife, who says smuggling is an open secret in the industry. "We're out to try to prove it." When breeding bucks with the right genetics can fetch as much as $500,000 at auction, "you always have some trying to go around corners," said John Meng, marketing director of the Texas Deer Association....
Two years ago, Brian Becker drove 1,008 miles from Madelia, Minn., to the small East Texas town of Bedias, unaware that federal authorities had him under surveillance after being tipped off that his gooseneck trailer carried contraband -- trophy deer. His smuggling operation, which reaped $300,000 from a single customer in four years, exposes a dark underside to Texas' $73 million deer-hunting industry, which has provided jobs and other economic benefits to many rural areas of the state. On Nov. 24, Becker, 38, already on probation for smuggling deer to Oklahoma in 2005, was sentenced by a federal court in Plano, Texas, to 33 months in prison. The buyer, Robert L. Eichenour, 51, a wealthy Houston businessman and owner of a posh hunting ranch in Bedias, received an 18-month term and was ordered to pay a $50,000 fine. Both had pleaded guilty and did not dispute the charges. "This is just the tip of the iceberg," said Mike Merida, a Fort Worth-based special agent with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, referring to interstate deer trafficking, which he said threatens herds with bovine tuberculosis and chronic wasting disease, a devastating condition likened to mad-cow disease but spread among deer, elk and moose. "From my perspective, there's a lot of movement of black-market deer, whether it's wild deer 'laundered' into a high-fence operation or 'put and take' hunting," said Capt. Greg Williford of Texas Parks & Wildlife, who says smuggling is an open secret in the industry. "We're out to try to prove it." When breeding bucks with the right genetics can fetch as much as $500,000 at auction, "you always have some trying to go around corners," said John Meng, marketing director of the Texas Deer Association....
Legal Defense Fund to Answer to USDA, Michigan Department of Agriculture Motions to Dismiss NAIS Suit
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Motions filed by the U.S. and Michigan Departments of Agriculture seeking to dismiss the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund suit to stop the implementation of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS), incorrectly claim that NAIS is a voluntary program. "Even as the agencies try to deny the clear facts of what they have done in Michigan, the USDA recently issued a memo that confirms what the Fund has stated in its lawsuit: NAIS is not voluntary," said Pete Kennedy, interim president of the Fund. Kennedy cited Veterinary Services Memorandum No. 575.19 addressed to USDA's "Veterinary Services Management Team" that requires NAIS premises registration for various disease program activities. "The memo includes activities such as vaccinations, testing, and applying official ear tags for programs for every livestock species, ranging from brucellosis to scrapies to equine infectious anemia," Kennedy noted. "One of the most important aspects of this memo is that people who refuse to have their farms registered will be registered against their will. Thus, USDA has officially abandoned the supposed 'voluntary' nature of NAIS." NAIS is the USDA's plan to electronically track every livestock animal in the country. The Michigan Department of Agriculture has implemented the first two stages of NAIS - property registration and animal identification - for all those who own cattle across the state as part of a state-wide bovine tuberculosis disease control program required by a grant from the USDA. The suit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court - District of Columbia on September 8 asks the court to issue an injunction to stop the implementation of NAIS at both the state and the federal levels by any state or federal agency. If successful, the suit would halt the program nationwide. The suit charges that USDA has never published rules regarding NAIS, in violation of the Federal Administrative Procedures Act; has never performed an Environmental Impact Statement or an Environmental Assessment as required by the National Environmental Policy Act; is in violation of the Regulatory Flexibility Act that requires the USDA to analyze proposed rules for their impact on small entities and local governments; and violates religious freedoms guaranteed by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act....
Motions filed by the U.S. and Michigan Departments of Agriculture seeking to dismiss the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund suit to stop the implementation of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS), incorrectly claim that NAIS is a voluntary program. "Even as the agencies try to deny the clear facts of what they have done in Michigan, the USDA recently issued a memo that confirms what the Fund has stated in its lawsuit: NAIS is not voluntary," said Pete Kennedy, interim president of the Fund. Kennedy cited Veterinary Services Memorandum No. 575.19 addressed to USDA's "Veterinary Services Management Team" that requires NAIS premises registration for various disease program activities. "The memo includes activities such as vaccinations, testing, and applying official ear tags for programs for every livestock species, ranging from brucellosis to scrapies to equine infectious anemia," Kennedy noted. "One of the most important aspects of this memo is that people who refuse to have their farms registered will be registered against their will. Thus, USDA has officially abandoned the supposed 'voluntary' nature of NAIS." NAIS is the USDA's plan to electronically track every livestock animal in the country. The Michigan Department of Agriculture has implemented the first two stages of NAIS - property registration and animal identification - for all those who own cattle across the state as part of a state-wide bovine tuberculosis disease control program required by a grant from the USDA. The suit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court - District of Columbia on September 8 asks the court to issue an injunction to stop the implementation of NAIS at both the state and the federal levels by any state or federal agency. If successful, the suit would halt the program nationwide. The suit charges that USDA has never published rules regarding NAIS, in violation of the Federal Administrative Procedures Act; has never performed an Environmental Impact Statement or an Environmental Assessment as required by the National Environmental Policy Act; is in violation of the Regulatory Flexibility Act that requires the USDA to analyze proposed rules for their impact on small entities and local governments; and violates religious freedoms guaranteed by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act....
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
New Report Lists Top 10 U.S. Species in Need of Protection
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Ten species have been named the most in-need of protection under the Endangered Species Act in a report released today by the Endangered Species Coalition. The report, “Without a Net: Top Ten Wildlife, Fish and Plants in Need of Endangered Species Act Protection,” demonstrates the grave problem in the current implementation of the Endangered Species Act—a listing program that has been crippled. The report includes ten species plus three honorable mentions that are in danger of extinction, but are not protected under the Endangered Species Act. “The Endangered Species Act is our nation's safety net for the wildlife, fish and plants at risk of disappearing forever,” said Leda Huta, executive director of the Endangered Species Coalition. “Sadly, too many species are being left without the Act's protections.” The first step to implementing the Endangered Species Act is to place an animal, plant or fish on the “endangered species list.” Yet some species wait to get on the list for years. Under the Bush administration, listings have greatly decreased—accounting for the lowest per year listing average of any president in the history of the Endangered Species Act. Now there are hundreds of species on and off the “candidate list,” that are in jeopardy and are waiting to be officially recognized as endangered....Go here to view the report.
Ten species have been named the most in-need of protection under the Endangered Species Act in a report released today by the Endangered Species Coalition. The report, “Without a Net: Top Ten Wildlife, Fish and Plants in Need of Endangered Species Act Protection,” demonstrates the grave problem in the current implementation of the Endangered Species Act—a listing program that has been crippled. The report includes ten species plus three honorable mentions that are in danger of extinction, but are not protected under the Endangered Species Act. “The Endangered Species Act is our nation's safety net for the wildlife, fish and plants at risk of disappearing forever,” said Leda Huta, executive director of the Endangered Species Coalition. “Sadly, too many species are being left without the Act's protections.” The first step to implementing the Endangered Species Act is to place an animal, plant or fish on the “endangered species list.” Yet some species wait to get on the list for years. Under the Bush administration, listings have greatly decreased—accounting for the lowest per year listing average of any president in the history of the Endangered Species Act. Now there are hundreds of species on and off the “candidate list,” that are in jeopardy and are waiting to be officially recognized as endangered....Go here to view the report.
Green lobby critical of Obama's new-roads agenda
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Friends of the Earth on Monday attacked President-elect Barack Obama's call for new infrastructure projects in his economic-stimulus package, saying it's a road to pollution. The 39-year-old environmental group launched a new Web site (www.roadtonowhere .org) and announced plans for ads, grass-roots mobilization and lobbying of Congress to keep new construction of roads out of a stimulus bill. "More roads mean more pollution and more dependence on oil, hurting our economy, security and climate," Friends of the Earth's Colin Peppard said. The group, which includes more than 100,000 members and activists in the U.S., said transportation is responsible for 30 percent of the country's global-warming pollution and nearly 70 percent of its oil use, and that 10 miles of new four-lane highway result in emissions equivalent to the lifetime emissions of more than 45,000 Hummers. Mr. Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress have made building roads, bridges and schools - and repairing or repaving existing infrastructure - a cornerstone of a stimulus that could cost between $600 billion and $1 trillion early next year....
Friends of the Earth on Monday attacked President-elect Barack Obama's call for new infrastructure projects in his economic-stimulus package, saying it's a road to pollution. The 39-year-old environmental group launched a new Web site (www.roadtonowhere .org) and announced plans for ads, grass-roots mobilization and lobbying of Congress to keep new construction of roads out of a stimulus bill. "More roads mean more pollution and more dependence on oil, hurting our economy, security and climate," Friends of the Earth's Colin Peppard said. The group, which includes more than 100,000 members and activists in the U.S., said transportation is responsible for 30 percent of the country's global-warming pollution and nearly 70 percent of its oil use, and that 10 miles of new four-lane highway result in emissions equivalent to the lifetime emissions of more than 45,000 Hummers. Mr. Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress have made building roads, bridges and schools - and repairing or repaving existing infrastructure - a cornerstone of a stimulus that could cost between $600 billion and $1 trillion early next year....
Vilsack tapped for agriculture secretary
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Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack is expected to be named President-elect Barack Obama’s designee to be U.S. Secretary of Agriculture on Wednesday, Democratic officials said today. Obama is expected to make the announcement at 10:45 a.m. Wednesday in Chicago, where he is expected to be joined by Visack. Vilsack would be the first Iowa Democrat to serve as a Cabinet secretary since Henry A. Wallace held the same position during President Franklin Roosevelt’s administration. It would also mark the first time the agriculture secretary and Senate Agriculture Committee chairman were both Iowans, creating a unique confluence of Iowa authority over agriculture and food policy. As governor, Vilsack had been a proponent of renewable energy and worked to develop industry related to the state’s ethanol and wind-generated electricity production. Iowa is nation’s leading producer of ethanol and among the leaders in wind-generated electricity....
Obama to Pick Tom Vilsack To Lead USDA Both environmentalists and food industry leaders reacted positively to the choice of Vilsack, a political centrist. "We're encouraged by it," said Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group. "He thinks we need to reform the subsidy system, he recognizes the importance of the food programs, and he's very good on conservation." Tom Buis, president of the National Farmers Union, called Vilsack a "great choice" who "has an understanding of the challenges and opportunities that exist in rural America." Left as an infant at a Roman Catholic orphanage, Vilsack was raised by his adoptive parents in Pittsburgh. He settled in his wife's home town of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, and was elected governor in 1998, serving two four-year terms. On the often controversial issue of farm subsidies, Vilsack has taken a moderate position, siding at times with those favoring a shift of funding in the agriculture budget from traditional subsidies to new kinds of supports for farmers that improve soil and water management....
Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack is expected to be named President-elect Barack Obama’s designee to be U.S. Secretary of Agriculture on Wednesday, Democratic officials said today. Obama is expected to make the announcement at 10:45 a.m. Wednesday in Chicago, where he is expected to be joined by Visack. Vilsack would be the first Iowa Democrat to serve as a Cabinet secretary since Henry A. Wallace held the same position during President Franklin Roosevelt’s administration. It would also mark the first time the agriculture secretary and Senate Agriculture Committee chairman were both Iowans, creating a unique confluence of Iowa authority over agriculture and food policy. As governor, Vilsack had been a proponent of renewable energy and worked to develop industry related to the state’s ethanol and wind-generated electricity production. Iowa is nation’s leading producer of ethanol and among the leaders in wind-generated electricity....Obama to Pick Tom Vilsack To Lead USDA Both environmentalists and food industry leaders reacted positively to the choice of Vilsack, a political centrist. "We're encouraged by it," said Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group. "He thinks we need to reform the subsidy system, he recognizes the importance of the food programs, and he's very good on conservation." Tom Buis, president of the National Farmers Union, called Vilsack a "great choice" who "has an understanding of the challenges and opportunities that exist in rural America." Left as an infant at a Roman Catholic orphanage, Vilsack was raised by his adoptive parents in Pittsburgh. He settled in his wife's home town of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, and was elected governor in 1998, serving two four-year terms. On the often controversial issue of farm subsidies, Vilsack has taken a moderate position, siding at times with those favoring a shift of funding in the agriculture budget from traditional subsidies to new kinds of supports for farmers that improve soil and water management....
Big Drilling Issues Await Salazar
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Sen. Ken Salazar, President-elect Barack Obama's choice to run the Interior Department, is a Colorado Democrat who has opposed Bush administration efforts to open more Western land for oil-shale exploration, but worked with Republicans to broker a deal to allow more offshore oil exploration. Mr. Salazar has been an outspoken advocate of renewable-energy sources, as have Mr. Obama's pick for energy secretary, Steven Chu, and his choice to be the top White House environmental adviser, Carol Browner. But as head of the Interior Department, Mr. Salazar will be both custodian and gatekeeper for the extensive fossil-fuel resources on public lands. Among Mr. Salazar's mandates at Interior will be restoring confidence in the department's management of mineral resources following a series of scandals at Interior's Minerals Management Service. One of the hottest issues Mr. Salazar would face would be a decision on where and when the government should allow oil and gas exploration, particularly on the Outer Continental Shelf where experts say billions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas lie untapped. Despite falling oil prices, the Obama administration will have to readdress the drilling issue in the new year. Under pressure from voters whose budgets were hit hard by $4-a-gallon gasoline, Congress allowed a federal moratorium on offshore drilling to expire, paving the way for a new lease schedule unless lawmakers and the administration reinstate the ban....
Sen. Ken Salazar, President-elect Barack Obama's choice to run the Interior Department, is a Colorado Democrat who has opposed Bush administration efforts to open more Western land for oil-shale exploration, but worked with Republicans to broker a deal to allow more offshore oil exploration. Mr. Salazar has been an outspoken advocate of renewable-energy sources, as have Mr. Obama's pick for energy secretary, Steven Chu, and his choice to be the top White House environmental adviser, Carol Browner. But as head of the Interior Department, Mr. Salazar will be both custodian and gatekeeper for the extensive fossil-fuel resources on public lands. Among Mr. Salazar's mandates at Interior will be restoring confidence in the department's management of mineral resources following a series of scandals at Interior's Minerals Management Service. One of the hottest issues Mr. Salazar would face would be a decision on where and when the government should allow oil and gas exploration, particularly on the Outer Continental Shelf where experts say billions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas lie untapped. Despite falling oil prices, the Obama administration will have to readdress the drilling issue in the new year. Under pressure from voters whose budgets were hit hard by $4-a-gallon gasoline, Congress allowed a federal moratorium on offshore drilling to expire, paving the way for a new lease schedule unless lawmakers and the administration reinstate the ban....
Fixing Interior - NY Times Editorial
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Senator Ken Salazar, the Colorado Democrat who is President-elect Barack Obama’s choice for secretary of the interior, will inherit a department riddled with incompetence and corruption, captive to industries it is supposed to regulate and far more interested in exploiting public resources than conserving them. No cabinet post is as critical to the integrity of the nation’s parks, its open spaces and its animal species. Mr. Obama, and his environmental adviser in chief, Carol Browner, must be prepared to offer Mr. Salazar full support, especially in fending off the ranchers and the oil, gas, mining and other special interests who have always found the Interior Department to be a soft target, never more so than in the Bush administration. Mr. Salazar’s most urgent task will be to remove the influence of politics and ideology from decisions that are best left to science. Mr. Salazar’s second big task will be to achieve a rational balance between the department’s oil and gas leasing program and its obligation to protect environmentally sensitive lands and the wildlife that depend on them. Reconciling energy and environmental demands has never been easy, but some interior secretaries — notably Bruce Babbitt, who served under President Bill Clinton — have proceeded with greater care than others. The third big task will be to deal with departmental corruption, some of it extending back many years....
Senator Ken Salazar, the Colorado Democrat who is President-elect Barack Obama’s choice for secretary of the interior, will inherit a department riddled with incompetence and corruption, captive to industries it is supposed to regulate and far more interested in exploiting public resources than conserving them. No cabinet post is as critical to the integrity of the nation’s parks, its open spaces and its animal species. Mr. Obama, and his environmental adviser in chief, Carol Browner, must be prepared to offer Mr. Salazar full support, especially in fending off the ranchers and the oil, gas, mining and other special interests who have always found the Interior Department to be a soft target, never more so than in the Bush administration. Mr. Salazar’s most urgent task will be to remove the influence of politics and ideology from decisions that are best left to science. Mr. Salazar’s second big task will be to achieve a rational balance between the department’s oil and gas leasing program and its obligation to protect environmentally sensitive lands and the wildlife that depend on them. Reconciling energy and environmental demands has never been easy, but some interior secretaries — notably Bruce Babbitt, who served under President Bill Clinton — have proceeded with greater care than others. The third big task will be to deal with departmental corruption, some of it extending back many years....
Coal Mines, Casinos, and Cocaine
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The current Bush administration has gone further still. Bush's Interior transition team, after all, included GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff and stuffed the department full of former industry officials, many of whom were unqualified to do the conservation jobs they were given. The key figure early on was deputy secretary Steven Griles, an ex-mining executive who flouted ethics rules by conferring with former coal clients over mountaintop mining and coal-bed methane drilling. (His meetings were discovered by Kirsten Sykes, a young staffer at Friends of the Earth.) Griles was eventually ousted after the Abramoff scandal, when it was revealed that he had pledged to block approval for an Indian casino that Abramoff was fighting to kill while the lobbyist poured money into a front group run by Griles's girlfriend. (Griles later served ten months in prison for obstruction of justice.) During the Bush years, Interior officials catered entirely to miners, ranchers, and loggers--and paid virtually no attention to conservation. The tone was set from the beginning, when the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) diverted thousands of gallons from the Klamath River at the behest of farmers, despite scientific findings that the diversions would lead to massive kills of endangered salmon and suckerfish. (Later reporting revealed that Dick Cheney had pressured the department to divert the water.) Bush's first Interior secretary, Gale Norton, interfered with scientific assessments of the impact on Arctic drilling, suppressed a report on mountaintop removal mining, and refused to list a single new endangered species. Again, the difference with what was going on in the EPA was stark--Jeff Ruch of the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, whose group works with whistleblowers at both agencies, told me that at the EPA, scientific recommendations would simply be excluded from consideration by political appointees; at Interior, however, officials like Julie MacDonald, the deputy assistant secretary for Fish & Wildlife & Parks, would order the conclusions reversed. (MacDonald, semi-hilariously, resigned after it was revealed that, among other things, she was sharing internal agency documents with a teenage online gaming friend via his father's e-mail account.) Then, of course, there was the spectacularly sordid ongoing scandal at the Minerals Management Service (MMS), the federal agency that sells oil and gas collected as royalties from energy companies drilling on federal lands. As an inspector general's report revealed earlier this year, MMS employees were receiving thousands of dollars of gifts from the oil companies they were supposed to oversee. Stacy Leyshon, who had received $2,887 worth of meals, drinks, and golf passes from oil companies between 2002 and 2006, later allowed companies to revise their bids for oil after they had been awarded--118 amendments that cost the government $4.4 million. The manager of the royalty program was steering contracts to his outside consulting firm, all while buying cocaine from and sleeping with subordinates....
The current Bush administration has gone further still. Bush's Interior transition team, after all, included GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff and stuffed the department full of former industry officials, many of whom were unqualified to do the conservation jobs they were given. The key figure early on was deputy secretary Steven Griles, an ex-mining executive who flouted ethics rules by conferring with former coal clients over mountaintop mining and coal-bed methane drilling. (His meetings were discovered by Kirsten Sykes, a young staffer at Friends of the Earth.) Griles was eventually ousted after the Abramoff scandal, when it was revealed that he had pledged to block approval for an Indian casino that Abramoff was fighting to kill while the lobbyist poured money into a front group run by Griles's girlfriend. (Griles later served ten months in prison for obstruction of justice.) During the Bush years, Interior officials catered entirely to miners, ranchers, and loggers--and paid virtually no attention to conservation. The tone was set from the beginning, when the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) diverted thousands of gallons from the Klamath River at the behest of farmers, despite scientific findings that the diversions would lead to massive kills of endangered salmon and suckerfish. (Later reporting revealed that Dick Cheney had pressured the department to divert the water.) Bush's first Interior secretary, Gale Norton, interfered with scientific assessments of the impact on Arctic drilling, suppressed a report on mountaintop removal mining, and refused to list a single new endangered species. Again, the difference with what was going on in the EPA was stark--Jeff Ruch of the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, whose group works with whistleblowers at both agencies, told me that at the EPA, scientific recommendations would simply be excluded from consideration by political appointees; at Interior, however, officials like Julie MacDonald, the deputy assistant secretary for Fish & Wildlife & Parks, would order the conclusions reversed. (MacDonald, semi-hilariously, resigned after it was revealed that, among other things, she was sharing internal agency documents with a teenage online gaming friend via his father's e-mail account.) Then, of course, there was the spectacularly sordid ongoing scandal at the Minerals Management Service (MMS), the federal agency that sells oil and gas collected as royalties from energy companies drilling on federal lands. As an inspector general's report revealed earlier this year, MMS employees were receiving thousands of dollars of gifts from the oil companies they were supposed to oversee. Stacy Leyshon, who had received $2,887 worth of meals, drinks, and golf passes from oil companies between 2002 and 2006, later allowed companies to revise their bids for oil after they had been awarded--118 amendments that cost the government $4.4 million. The manager of the royalty program was steering contracts to his outside consulting firm, all while buying cocaine from and sleeping with subordinates....
Greens Send Obama Quick Fix List
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Environmentalists see the Blue Tide as more of a Green Tide, and they not only have their hopes up, but their sleeves rolled up. A huge coalition of green groups, 98 in all, has just finished a massive analysis of the current regulatory situation governing the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service amd prepared a lengthy quick fix list to President-elect Obama’s transition team. Based on this action-packed letter, Obama’s choices for Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of Agriculture will have a lot of homework to do long before they start work in January. In a November 26 letter, not yet formally released to the press, Randi Spivak, executive director of the American Lands Alliance and 97 other officials from conservation groups from all across the land--and with a combined membership of 1.5 million earth-friendly people--sent their “100-Day Prioriies” to David J. Hayes, who is coordianting energy and natural resource issues for President-elect Obama’s transition team....Go here(pdf) to view the document.
Environmentalists see the Blue Tide as more of a Green Tide, and they not only have their hopes up, but their sleeves rolled up. A huge coalition of green groups, 98 in all, has just finished a massive analysis of the current regulatory situation governing the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service amd prepared a lengthy quick fix list to President-elect Obama’s transition team. Based on this action-packed letter, Obama’s choices for Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of Agriculture will have a lot of homework to do long before they start work in January. In a November 26 letter, not yet formally released to the press, Randi Spivak, executive director of the American Lands Alliance and 97 other officials from conservation groups from all across the land--and with a combined membership of 1.5 million earth-friendly people--sent their “100-Day Prioriies” to David J. Hayes, who is coordianting energy and natural resource issues for President-elect Obama’s transition team....Go here(pdf) to view the document.
Florida Water Board, Voting 4 to 3, Approves U.S. Sugar Deal in the Everglades
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Florida’s water managers agreed to buy nearly 300 square miles of land from United States Sugar on Tuesday, approving a $1.34 billion deal that could reshape the Everglades, the sugar business and several small towns that have relied on agriculture for decades. The decision by the board of the South Florida Water Management District, by a vote of 4 to 3, with one abstention, moves the state closer to completing its largest and most expensive environmental acquisition. But supporters and opponents said economic uncertainties could keep the deal from closing. Board members were so concerned about the worsening financial picture that they added an amendment to the contract that says its debt burden from the purchase must not “adversely affect” the district’s core operations, like flood control. Tuesday’s vote begins a 60-day auction period, in which competing offers — one has been made, by a family-owned farming company called the Lawrence Group — must be considered by United States Sugar’s shareholders. Florida Crystals, a politically powerful competitor that owns strategically located land for restoration, has also sued to stop a state court from approving the state’s contract....
Florida’s water managers agreed to buy nearly 300 square miles of land from United States Sugar on Tuesday, approving a $1.34 billion deal that could reshape the Everglades, the sugar business and several small towns that have relied on agriculture for decades. The decision by the board of the South Florida Water Management District, by a vote of 4 to 3, with one abstention, moves the state closer to completing its largest and most expensive environmental acquisition. But supporters and opponents said economic uncertainties could keep the deal from closing. Board members were so concerned about the worsening financial picture that they added an amendment to the contract that says its debt burden from the purchase must not “adversely affect” the district’s core operations, like flood control. Tuesday’s vote begins a 60-day auction period, in which competing offers — one has been made, by a family-owned farming company called the Lawrence Group — must be considered by United States Sugar’s shareholders. Florida Crystals, a politically powerful competitor that owns strategically located land for restoration, has also sued to stop a state court from approving the state’s contract....
Pot raid nabs drugs, guns $625,000 in cash
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A multiple agency drug task force hit nine suspected indoor marijuana growing operations in rural El Dorado County and Nevada County earlier today, seizing pot, guns, cultivation equipment and about $625,000 in cash. A total of 10 search warrants and five arrest warrants were served. About 200 law enforcement officers from the state Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, El Dorado County Sheriff's Office, the U.S. Forest Service and many other agencies participated in the coordinated raids. In a press release, Attorney General Jerry Brown noted that armed guards protected the sites and he called the indoor growing operations "a threat to public safety." Search warrants were served at six locations in El Dorado County. Those homes were located on Silver Ridge Court, Camino, High Twist Lane, and Grizzly Court, Somerset, Fort Jim Road, Placerville, Mosquito Road, Swansboro, and Spring Valley Road in Pollock Pines....Next time you hear Forest Service law enforcement crying they don't have the budget or personnel to protect federal lands, ask them how come they have the budget and personnel to raid indoor growing operations on private property.
A multiple agency drug task force hit nine suspected indoor marijuana growing operations in rural El Dorado County and Nevada County earlier today, seizing pot, guns, cultivation equipment and about $625,000 in cash. A total of 10 search warrants and five arrest warrants were served. About 200 law enforcement officers from the state Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, El Dorado County Sheriff's Office, the U.S. Forest Service and many other agencies participated in the coordinated raids. In a press release, Attorney General Jerry Brown noted that armed guards protected the sites and he called the indoor growing operations "a threat to public safety." Search warrants were served at six locations in El Dorado County. Those homes were located on Silver Ridge Court, Camino, High Twist Lane, and Grizzly Court, Somerset, Fort Jim Road, Placerville, Mosquito Road, Swansboro, and Spring Valley Road in Pollock Pines....Next time you hear Forest Service law enforcement crying they don't have the budget or personnel to protect federal lands, ask them how come they have the budget and personnel to raid indoor growing operations on private property.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Obama picks Salazar as Interior secretary
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President-elect Barack Obama plans to name Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) to lead the Interior Department -- an appointment that could put the brakes on several controversial energy development projects across the West. Two senior Democrats said Monday that Obama would name Salazar, a Latino, to the post, rounding out an energy and environmental policy team announced at a Chicago news conference. Salazar was not the first choice of some environmental groups, who had favored Rep. Raul M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.). A coalition of 141 environmental groups, biologists and other scientists launched an e-mail and letter-writing campaign in support of Grijalva. Karen Schambach, the California coordinator for the group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, described Salazar as more of a centrist. Still, she expected he would be a "sympathetic soul" in a department that had offered a cold shoulder to the environmental community. Salazar's family helped settle what is now New Mexico in the 1500s. He was raised on a ranch in the San Luis Valley of southern Colorado, and became an attorney with expertise in water law....
President-elect Barack Obama plans to name Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) to lead the Interior Department -- an appointment that could put the brakes on several controversial energy development projects across the West. Two senior Democrats said Monday that Obama would name Salazar, a Latino, to the post, rounding out an energy and environmental policy team announced at a Chicago news conference. Salazar was not the first choice of some environmental groups, who had favored Rep. Raul M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.). A coalition of 141 environmental groups, biologists and other scientists launched an e-mail and letter-writing campaign in support of Grijalva. Karen Schambach, the California coordinator for the group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, described Salazar as more of a centrist. Still, she expected he would be a "sympathetic soul" in a department that had offered a cold shoulder to the environmental community. Salazar's family helped settle what is now New Mexico in the 1500s. He was raised on a ranch in the San Luis Valley of southern Colorado, and became an attorney with expertise in water law....
Mr. Interior Secretary
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If anyone had doubts about Sen. Ken Salazar's commitment to the welfare of public lands, they should have vanished in the wake of news that he will be named Interior secretary in President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet. Say this much about Salazar: He's qualified for the job. Highly qualified, in fact, both in professional expertise and in life experience. The cowboy hat he often sports in public is of course partly a prop - a down-home Western image never hurts a politician - but it is also a genuine symbol of his roots on the land in the San Luis Valley. Combine that background with his experience as head of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources and then as state attorney general, where he dealt with a host of public lands and water issues, and Salazar will take the Interior post with more than enough knowledge to hit the ground running. As senator, Salazar has crafted a mostly deserved reputation as a moderate Democrat, and we hope that perspective carries forward into his new job at Interior. Salazar is known for his deliberate style, assimilating as much information as possible before drawing a conclusion. It's a habit that should serve him - and the nation - well in his important new job....You can here all those folks concerned about Grijalva sighing with relief.
If anyone had doubts about Sen. Ken Salazar's commitment to the welfare of public lands, they should have vanished in the wake of news that he will be named Interior secretary in President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet. Say this much about Salazar: He's qualified for the job. Highly qualified, in fact, both in professional expertise and in life experience. The cowboy hat he often sports in public is of course partly a prop - a down-home Western image never hurts a politician - but it is also a genuine symbol of his roots on the land in the San Luis Valley. Combine that background with his experience as head of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources and then as state attorney general, where he dealt with a host of public lands and water issues, and Salazar will take the Interior post with more than enough knowledge to hit the ground running. As senator, Salazar has crafted a mostly deserved reputation as a moderate Democrat, and we hope that perspective carries forward into his new job at Interior. Salazar is known for his deliberate style, assimilating as much information as possible before drawing a conclusion. It's a habit that should serve him - and the nation - well in his important new job....You can here all those folks concerned about Grijalva sighing with relief.
Hard Task for New Team on Energy and Climate
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The team President-elect Barack Obama introduced on Monday to carry out his energy and environmental policies faces a host of political, economic, diplomatic and scientific challenges that could impede his plans to address global warming and America’s growing dependence on dirty and uncertain sources of energy. Acknowledging that a succession of presidents and Congresses had failed to make much progress on the issues, Mr. Obama vowed to press ahead despite the faltering economy and suggested that he would invest his political capital in trying to break logjams. “This time must be different,” Mr. Obama said at a news conference in Chicago. “This will be a leading priority of my presidency and a defining test of our time. We cannot accept complacency, nor accept any more broken promises.” The most pressing environmental issue for the incoming team will almost certainly be settling on an effective and politically tenable approach to the intertwined issues of energy security and global warming....
The team President-elect Barack Obama introduced on Monday to carry out his energy and environmental policies faces a host of political, economic, diplomatic and scientific challenges that could impede his plans to address global warming and America’s growing dependence on dirty and uncertain sources of energy. Acknowledging that a succession of presidents and Congresses had failed to make much progress on the issues, Mr. Obama vowed to press ahead despite the faltering economy and suggested that he would invest his political capital in trying to break logjams. “This time must be different,” Mr. Obama said at a news conference in Chicago. “This will be a leading priority of my presidency and a defining test of our time. We cannot accept complacency, nor accept any more broken promises.” The most pressing environmental issue for the incoming team will almost certainly be settling on an effective and politically tenable approach to the intertwined issues of energy security and global warming....
Report: Endangered species decisions tainted
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A high-ranking Interior Department official tainted nearly every decision made on the protection of endangered species over five years, a new inspector general report finds, concluding she exerted improper political interference on many more rulings than previously thought. Julie MacDonald, a former deputy assistant secretary overseeing the Fish and Wildlife Service, did pervasive harm to the department's morale and integrity and may have risked the well-being of species with her agenda, Interior Inspector General Earl Devaney said in his report out Monday. The Interior Department last year reversed seven rulings that denied endangered species increased protection, after an investigation found that MacDonald had applied political pressure in those cases. The new report looked at nearly two dozen other endangered species decisions not examined in the earlier report. It found MacDonald directly interfered with at least 13 decisions and indirectly affected at least two more. "Her heavy-handedness has cast doubt on nearly every ESA decision issued during her tenure," from 2002 until 2007, the report said. MacDonald was deputy assistant secretary from 2004 to 2007 and a senior adviser in the department for two years before that....Go here(pdf) to read the 140 page report.
A high-ranking Interior Department official tainted nearly every decision made on the protection of endangered species over five years, a new inspector general report finds, concluding she exerted improper political interference on many more rulings than previously thought. Julie MacDonald, a former deputy assistant secretary overseeing the Fish and Wildlife Service, did pervasive harm to the department's morale and integrity and may have risked the well-being of species with her agenda, Interior Inspector General Earl Devaney said in his report out Monday. The Interior Department last year reversed seven rulings that denied endangered species increased protection, after an investigation found that MacDonald had applied political pressure in those cases. The new report looked at nearly two dozen other endangered species decisions not examined in the earlier report. It found MacDonald directly interfered with at least 13 decisions and indirectly affected at least two more. "Her heavy-handedness has cast doubt on nearly every ESA decision issued during her tenure," from 2002 until 2007, the report said. MacDonald was deputy assistant secretary from 2004 to 2007 and a senior adviser in the department for two years before that....Go here(pdf) to read the 140 page report.
Not so dead on arrival
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The Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which Bill Clinton signed into law eight days before he left office, protected 58.5 million acres of national forest land from logging and energy development. It was one of the boldest conservation measures in the history of federal land management, but it seemed doomed to a very short lifespan. Because it was only an administrative rule, it could be overturned by the next administration, which strongly opposed it. But nearly eight years later, the Clinton Roadless Rule remains in effect for 35.6 million acres of national forest in seven Western states. Idaho has adopted, and Colorado is about to adopt, state-specific roadless regulations that fall short of the Clinton rule but still provide protection for large swaths of land. (Roadless lands in Wyoming and Utah are currently unprotected.) The Clinton rule's survival still hangs on the outcome of two ongoing court cases, but even if it were to succumb, it is likely that Democrats in Washington would replace it with either a new administrative rule or legislative protection for roadless areas. Thanks to the incompetence of the Bush administration and the tenacity of some never-say-die environmental lawyers, the long-shot maneuver might have worked....
The Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which Bill Clinton signed into law eight days before he left office, protected 58.5 million acres of national forest land from logging and energy development. It was one of the boldest conservation measures in the history of federal land management, but it seemed doomed to a very short lifespan. Because it was only an administrative rule, it could be overturned by the next administration, which strongly opposed it. But nearly eight years later, the Clinton Roadless Rule remains in effect for 35.6 million acres of national forest in seven Western states. Idaho has adopted, and Colorado is about to adopt, state-specific roadless regulations that fall short of the Clinton rule but still provide protection for large swaths of land. (Roadless lands in Wyoming and Utah are currently unprotected.) The Clinton rule's survival still hangs on the outcome of two ongoing court cases, but even if it were to succumb, it is likely that Democrats in Washington would replace it with either a new administrative rule or legislative protection for roadless areas. Thanks to the incompetence of the Bush administration and the tenacity of some never-say-die environmental lawyers, the long-shot maneuver might have worked....
Green activists find new ally in US unions
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Some U.S. labor groups that have long feared environmental campaigns as a threat to American jobs are starting to see advantages in going green. This evolution was clear at this week's U.N. climate talks in Poland, where several American labor groups and environmental activists made joint appeals for policies that would promote high-tech renewable energy as the answer to both climate change and job losses. About 25 representatives of U.S. unions were in Poznan — about twice the number at last year's U.N. talks in Bali, Indonesia — representing workers from the electrical, transit, steel, service and other sectors. "There is a very wide cross-section of American unions that reflects the growing engagement of American unions' support of climate change policies," said David Foster, executive director of the Blue Green Alliance. The group was founded by the United Steelworkers, North America's largest manufacturing union, and the Sierra Club, the United States' largest and oldest grass-roots environmental group. The Blue Green Alliance was founded in 2006 and expanded this autumn to include three more unions and another green group....
Some U.S. labor groups that have long feared environmental campaigns as a threat to American jobs are starting to see advantages in going green. This evolution was clear at this week's U.N. climate talks in Poland, where several American labor groups and environmental activists made joint appeals for policies that would promote high-tech renewable energy as the answer to both climate change and job losses. About 25 representatives of U.S. unions were in Poznan — about twice the number at last year's U.N. talks in Bali, Indonesia — representing workers from the electrical, transit, steel, service and other sectors. "There is a very wide cross-section of American unions that reflects the growing engagement of American unions' support of climate change policies," said David Foster, executive director of the Blue Green Alliance. The group was founded by the United Steelworkers, North America's largest manufacturing union, and the Sierra Club, the United States' largest and oldest grass-roots environmental group. The Blue Green Alliance was founded in 2006 and expanded this autumn to include three more unions and another green group....
Goose Eggs May Help Polar Bears Weather Climate Change
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As polar bears adapt to a warming Arctic—a frozen seascape that cleaves earlier each spring—they may find relief in an unlikely source: snow goose eggs. New calculations show that changes in the timing of sea-ice breakup and of snow goose nesting near the western Hudson Bay could provide at least some polar bears with an alternative source of food. This new analysis appears in Polar Biology. Polar bears' habitat rings the Arctic south of 88˚ latitude. Most of this area is sea ice from which bears hunt seals, although the breakup of sea ice over the summer forces some bears to move north, to pack ice, or onto land. More often, it is subadult males that are pushed to these less ideal conditions, where they live, in part, off stored fat reserves. When bears switch to the tundra in some areas, they may enter the nesting grounds of snow geese. Goose eggs and developing embryos are a highly nutritious source of food to opportunistic foragers. Although geese populations were in decline in the early 1900s, the population rebounded and expanded. There are now too many geese for the Arctic to support in the summer, mainly because their over-wintering habitat has increased to cover the northern plains, where they eat waste corn and forage in rice fields. Polar bear and snow geese populations come into contact in the Hudson Bay. Here, some bears routinely live on land for 4-5 months of the year, subsisting on fat reserves. The new research shows that the effects of climate change will bring additional sources of food as the movement of both populations begins earlier each spring....
As polar bears adapt to a warming Arctic—a frozen seascape that cleaves earlier each spring—they may find relief in an unlikely source: snow goose eggs. New calculations show that changes in the timing of sea-ice breakup and of snow goose nesting near the western Hudson Bay could provide at least some polar bears with an alternative source of food. This new analysis appears in Polar Biology. Polar bears' habitat rings the Arctic south of 88˚ latitude. Most of this area is sea ice from which bears hunt seals, although the breakup of sea ice over the summer forces some bears to move north, to pack ice, or onto land. More often, it is subadult males that are pushed to these less ideal conditions, where they live, in part, off stored fat reserves. When bears switch to the tundra in some areas, they may enter the nesting grounds of snow geese. Goose eggs and developing embryos are a highly nutritious source of food to opportunistic foragers. Although geese populations were in decline in the early 1900s, the population rebounded and expanded. There are now too many geese for the Arctic to support in the summer, mainly because their over-wintering habitat has increased to cover the northern plains, where they eat waste corn and forage in rice fields. Polar bear and snow geese populations come into contact in the Hudson Bay. Here, some bears routinely live on land for 4-5 months of the year, subsisting on fat reserves. The new research shows that the effects of climate change will bring additional sources of food as the movement of both populations begins earlier each spring....
Contraceptive for wild horses in Utah
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Eighty wild mares gathered by Utah authorities will be released back in the wilderness after receiving contraceptive pellets. The Bureau of Land Management in Utah is this month removing wild horses from the Cedar Mountain Herd Management Area (HMA). About 630 wild horses currently roam the Cedar Mountain area, which covers about 212,000 acres north of Dugway, Utah. The appropriate management level for the area has been established at 190 to 300 wild horses. The bureau wants to remove 440 horses to get to the low end of that level. About eighty of the mares gathered will be administered a pelleted contraceptive vaccine and returned to the range. Since 1992, the Humane Society of the United States has collaborated with the BLM to develop a contraceptive agent that meets the BLM's requirements for practical and cost-effective wild horse population control.
Eighty wild mares gathered by Utah authorities will be released back in the wilderness after receiving contraceptive pellets. The Bureau of Land Management in Utah is this month removing wild horses from the Cedar Mountain Herd Management Area (HMA). About 630 wild horses currently roam the Cedar Mountain area, which covers about 212,000 acres north of Dugway, Utah. The appropriate management level for the area has been established at 190 to 300 wild horses. The bureau wants to remove 440 horses to get to the low end of that level. About eighty of the mares gathered will be administered a pelleted contraceptive vaccine and returned to the range. Since 1992, the Humane Society of the United States has collaborated with the BLM to develop a contraceptive agent that meets the BLM's requirements for practical and cost-effective wild horse population control.
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