Study of Horse Slaughter Plant Gets ND House Nod

North Dakota lawmakers have agreed to set aside $50,000 for a possible study of a horse slaughter plant. New laws and public sentiment against horse processing have resulted in the recent closure of U.S. plants. Selfridge Rep. Rod Froelich says that makes it difficult for ranchers to dispose of horses that are old or injured. He says North Dakota should try to solve the problem. Representatives voted 89-5 on Wednesday to set aside money for a study. The state`s Agricultural Products Utilization Commission would have to approve the project. The bill says state money for the study would have to be matched by private industry. The legislation now goes to the North Dakota Senate. The bill is HB1496...KFYR-TV News

Team roping represents significant economic development

Peoria, Phoenix, Goodyear, and Mesa have their baseball spring training to lure visitors to their municipalities. With little fanfare Wickenburg has developed a sizable group of winter visitors who come specifically to rope. On any given Tuesday or Saturday the parking lot at Beaver Bird’s Horse World Arena on Rincon Road is completely full with trucks and horse trailers as literally hundreds of men and women participate in several team-roping events. While this is probably the most active local roping site, the area is sprinkled with several more arenas enabling a roper to rope every day of the week. Retired Caterpillar employee and part-time rancher Monte Alkire is a typical roper who found Wickenburg and annually visits strictly because of the roping activity. According to estimates by both Bird and Alkire, there are probably about 200 ropers who stay in Wickenburg during the winter specifically for the roping activity. They stay in recreation vehicles, rented property, motels, and many have even purchased homes. The economic benefits to the town are obvious. This group obviously eats at the restaurants, goes to shows at the Web Center, and shops at the local stores. It is interesting to note that this significant economic engine has naturally occurred by word of mouth without advertising, formal economic development, or government stimulation...Wickenburg Sun

Elk controversy in Washington state

There's a controversy brewing over removing 79 cow elk from the South Rainier elk herd. One side, those opposing the removal, have asked me to post this link to their petition.

Patsy Cline Lip Sync - She's Got You

Gov. Richardson Proposes Modifications to NM Oil Field Pit Rule

Governor meets with oil and gas industry reps, changes will moderate fiscal impact of compliance

SANTA FE – Governor Bill Richardson today announced that he is directing Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department Secretary Joanna Prukop to work with the oil and gas industry to modify several provisions of the state’s Pit Rule. The proposed changes would allow oil and gas companies to better absorb the costs associated with the stronger regulations, which were implemented last year. Governor Richardson personally met recently with leaders of the oil and gas industry as well as oil patch legislators to discuss their concerns about the financial impact of the rule. “The oil and gas industry is critical to New Mexico’s economy and these changes will help producers weather the financial storm while still protecting the environment,” said Governor Richardson. The Pit Rule was revised last year with the input of industry, the environmental community and many other stakeholders. It is designed to protect the State of New Mexico and its citizens from any future ground water or other environmental contamination from oil field waste pits, and also to protect the operators from the potentially crippling liability of major environmental impacts. “We are not doing anything to diminish the environmental protections gained by the Pit Rule, but we are going to work with industry to ease the financial burden of compliance,” stated Joanna Prukop, Cabinet Secretary, New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department. Since it went into effect on June 16, 2008, oil prices hit an all time high of $147 per barrel in July 2008 and have since dropped towards $34 a barrel today. The oil and gas industry plays a critical role in the State of New Mexico, and it is important that government and the private sector work together during these difficult economic times. Therefore, the Oil Conservation Division will propose six changes to the Pit Rule to support the oil and gas industry as they move forward in complying with the Pit Rule:

Proposal #1
Below-grade tanks

The Oil Conservation Division will propose allowing industry to use less expensive field screening techniques instead of in-laboratory testing. This proposal will save substantial operator costs and allow industry to close below-grade tanks faster. This proposal requires administrative action by the Oil Conservation Division, to establish approved alternative testing methods.

Proposal #2
Six month extension for removal of free liquids and closure completion regarding temporary pits

The Oil Conservation Division will propose allowing industry two (2) extensions of three months each, for a total of six months, which extends the timeframe in which free liquids must be removed from a temporary pit and the closure completion timeframe for temporary pits and drying pads for closed-loop systems. This proposal requires administrative action by the Oil Conservation Division.

Proposal #3
Pit Rule Exceptions and Administrative Approvals

The Oil Conservation Division will work with the oil and gas industry to grant exceptions to the Pit Rule where they are warranted. The pit rule provides for an exception to any provision except the requirement of a permit, exceptions and modification or transfer requirements. To date, there has been no application for an exception from the Pit Rule and only one application for administrative approval in a field office. In order to receive an exception to the rule, an operator must make application to the Santa Fe office, provide public notice and show that the exception will provide equivalent or better protection of fresh water, public health and the environment.

Proposal #4
Below-grade tanks and/or lined permanent pits

The Oil Conservation Division will propose changes to extend the application submittal dates for existing below grade tanks and lined permanent pits for two years (19.15.17.17 NMAC). This will allow operators more time to amortize the costs related to generating applications and completing associated construction modifications or retrofits. This proposal will require action by the Oil Conservation Commission.

Proposal #5
Below-grade tanks

The Oil Conservation Division will propose an amendment to the Pit Rule that allows most below-grade tanks that existed prior to June 2008 to be retrofitted or closed upon final closure, sale, or transfer. This proposal will require action by the Oil Conservation Commission.

Proposal #6
Waste material burial closure standards for chloride with regard to on-site trench burial

The Oil Conservation Division proposes to increase the content (waste) burial standard for chlorides and to also include a comparison to background concentrations at the site with regard to the implementation of on-site trench burial closure method pursuant to Paragraph (3) of Subsection F of 19.15.17.13 NMAC. This proposal will require action by the Oil Conservation Commission.

PR hasn't been posted on Guv's website, so no link.

Ranchers in Colorado's Piñon Canyon fight a massive Army land grab

Reason Magazine reports:

But Louden, an activist for the group Not 1 More Acre!, puts up with the inconvenience. What the cause asks for, ranchers like Louden give. The alternative is the end of life as they know it. Publicity is a powerful if uncomfortable weapon for people accustomed to their privacy, for whom property lines and personal space are more important than mere law. In the asymmetrical war these ranchers are fighting, they use any weapon they can, because theirs is an opponent that tends to win: the U.S. Army. The Army already occupies 245,000 acres of Colorado’s desolate Piñon Canyon, which it uses for large-scale, force-on-force mechanized brigade combat exercises involving tanks and armored units. But since 2006 Uncle Sam has had his eye on at least 418,000 acres more, to handle increased demand for maneuvers and the expansion of Fort Carson. Most of that land is private property in the Comanche National Grasslands lying between the rustic ranching towns of La Junta, Trinidad, and Walsenburg. The proposed annexation, which would create a contiguous Army-owned area 85 percent the size of Rhode Island, has attracted loud opposition from local landowners, environmentalists, scientists, and politicians. Their combined efforts were enough to gain a congressionally ordered reprieve in 2007, but the Army appears determined to wear them down. In fact, the training ground expansion may be just the first phase of an enormous land grab potentially involving millions of acres. The Army’s land envy is why Louden, the 58-year-old son and grandson of Colorado ranchers, closed Marty Feeds, a Trinidad landmark for almost a century, in the summer of 2008. He could run a ranch, run a business, or fight the land grab, but not all three at once...I've covered this issue from the beginning. This article provides an excellent history of the issue and is well worth your time.

Stimulus package gives a boost to clean energy

The LA Times reports:

The renewable-energy sector got a lift from the economic stimulus package signed Tuesday, with a fix to a crucial tax issue that had stalled projects nationwide. Solar and wind companies said it could take several months for the legislation to get portions of the industry moving again. But some players are already gearing up for growth. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will invest nearly $79 billion in renewable energy, energy efficiency and green transportation, according to a final tally of the legislation by the nonprofit Environment California. Rive and others are hailing a piece of the recovery legislation that allows developers of renewable-energy projects to swap their existing tax credits for cash grants from the Department of Energy. The switch means little to taxpayers, because the cost to the government is about the same. But it removes a huge financing obstacle that has stymied the sector. That's because solar and wind projects are driven as much by tax policy as they are by the weather. Renewable-energy companies historically have relied on tax credits to help them generate competitive returns and attract investors, a process that has been short-circuited by the U.S. financial meltdown...

Escape From D.C.

That President Obama waited until Tuesday to sign the $787 billion stimulus bill during a trip to Denver speaks volumes. He wanted to highlight the bill's green provisions, not its "stimulus." It's strange that so few mainstream media outlets have pointed out the obvious: The bill Congress hurried to pass late last week without anyone having read the entire 1,434 pages will in fact not stimulate much of anything. It is a spending bill, pure and simple. Every dollar the government spends must either be borrowed, taken through taxation or printed. Any way you look at it, every dollar comes from the pockets of the people it will be spent on. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office had this to say: "In the longer run, the legislation would result in a slight decrease in gross domestic product compared with CBO's baseline economic forecast." Get that? The economy, under this plan, will be smaller than it would have been, while adding $1.7 trillion to our deficits. Obama said there was "no disagreement" over the need for stimulus. In response, more than 200 economists, including several Nobel Prize winners, took out a newspaper ad saying: "With all due respect, Mr. President . . . we the undersigned do not believe that more government spending is a way to improve economic performance." Just as with global warming, it's a non-consensus consensus...IBD

Climate Law Institute Launched in San Francisco

The Center for Biological Diversity has launched the San Francisco-based Climate Law Institute with initial funding of $17 million to fight global warming over the next five years. The primary goals of the Climate Law Institute are to: * Establish legal precedents requiring existing environmental laws such as the Clean Air Act, Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Clean Water Act, and the California Environmental Quality Act to be fully implemented to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, land management, and wildlife management * Establish new state and federal environmental laws and policies to rein in global warming * Ensure all new laws and policies are judged against the scientific standard of whether they will lead to a reduction in atmospheric CO2 from 385 ppm to below 350 ppm * Prevent the construction of new coal-fired power plants and coal mines while quickly phasing out existing coal-fired power plants * Prevent the creation of an oil-shale or tar sands energy sector...SustainableBusiness.com

Endangered Species Act Protection Sought for 42 Great Basin Spring Snail Species

Today the Center for Biological Diversity and the Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society filed a scientific petition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect 42 spring snail species from Nevada, Utah, and California as endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. “These 42 species of spring snails are severely threatened by groundwater withdrawal proposed by the Southern Nevada Water Authority and other users,” said Tierra Curry, conservation biologist with the Center and lead author of the petition. “Unsustainable groundwater pumping threatens not just these snails but also hundreds of other desert species and water supplies for rural residents and future generations.” Because spring snails are dependent on consistent groundwater flow, reductions in flow will have an immediate impact on their populations. As such, spring snails are an excellent indicator of declining water tables. The spring snails are found primarily in Clark, Lincoln, Nye, and White Pine counties in Nevada and Beaver and Millard counties in Utah. Fourteen of the species occur at only a single location, and 39 occur at 10 or fewer locations. None are currently protected on state, federal, or private lands...Center For Biological Diversity

Can America’s West stay wild?

The Christian Science Monitor reports:

Here, the tale of the pygmy rabbit intersects with a long-raging acrimonious debate in the US West. Just over half the land in the West is public land. And what are public lands for – the preservation of “pristine” nature or resource extraction? Historically, management of these lands by state and federal agencies has favored resource extractors far more than conservationists would like. But as western economies change and demographics shift, this emphasis on extraction makes less and less sense, economists say. Steve Herman, a biologist emeritus at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., says cattle may have pushed the animals over the edge. At the site, scientists observed trampled rabbit burrows and broken sagebrush, which the rabbit needs for both food and protection from predators. When cows were finally removed, “it was too late,” he says. “We’ve lost a life form, and it’s likely that our species [is] responsible.” Matthew Monda, the Washington (State) Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (WDFW) wildlife program director for Region 2, counters that although observers had noted trampled burrows and the rabbits were in obvious decline, there was no decisive evidence that grazing was responsible. In fact, he adds, since cows and rabbits had coexisted for perhaps 100 years to that point, some worried that removing cows might make things worse. WDFW initiated a study to determine “if the grazing that occurred on the area was good, bad, or ugly.” But when the rabbit populations declined precipitously, the study was halted and the cows removed...

Debate Rages Over Elk Feeding

From the NY Times:

When the mighty elk herds of the West were facing the possibility of extinction from overhunting, settlement and neglect a century ago, people here stepped forward and began what has turned out to be a profound biological experiment. They offered food to the straggling survivors. The Jackson herd, now tens of thousands of animals strong, became the foundation for a resurgent elk population. After the federal government stepped in to run the feeding system in 1912, a self-reinforcing loop of tourism, hunting, ranching and politics emerged. Having lots of elk in one place where humans would feed them, year in and year out, gradually became a goal in itself, shrouded with complex motives and enshrined by time. Now a new and tightening circle of challenges is closing in on the elk and the human system that has sustained them, forcing a debate over the science, emotion and economics of protecting these magnificent animals and the landscape they inhabit. At the center is a critical question: Did human kindness backfire, setting the elk up for disaster? A federal lawsuit filed last year by a coalition of environmental groups charges that feeding the elk violates the Fish and Wildlife Service’s charter to manage refuges for healthy populations and biological integrity. Feeding programs, the suit argues, endanger the elk and create monocultures that degrade the landscape for other creatures, like birds, which can no longer nest on feeding grounds stripped of willows by the ravenous herd...

Judge backs Utah men in feather possession cases

The Salt Lake Tribune reports:

A judge ruled Tuesday that a federal ban on the possession of eagle feathers by non-Indians is too restrictive, a victory for two Utah men who have fought for a decade to use the feathers as part of their practice of Native American religion. The decision could lead to the return of feathers to the men, who are not federally recognized tribal members, and open the door for others like them to apply to get the feathers, according to attorney Joseph Orifici. "The government has to revisit its policy," said Orifici, a Holladay lawyer representing Samuel Wilgus Jr., one of the litigants. Andrew Ames, a spokesman for the Department of Justice, said Tuesday the government is studying the ruling and has not determined its next step. U.S. District Judge Dee Benson said Tuesday making non-tribal members ineligible to apply for feathers at a national repository and subjecting them to possible criminal prosecution -- the way chosen by the government to protect both eagles and the Native American culture -- puts a burden on the free exercise of religion. The judge also said the government failed to prove the ban was the least restrictive method possible to achieve those goals, a requirement under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). The act requires that religious practices be accommodated unless a compelling governmental interest can be demonstrated...

The Navajo Nation Case

The U.S. Supreme Court will decide in the coming weeks whether to take up an important and interesting case from the U.S Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit involving religious liberties and the seminal federal statute – the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) – designed to safeguard them. In this column, we will discuss the issues the case raises; the reasons why the Ninth Circuit's resolution of these issues, while understandable, might not do justice to the complex and competing interests involved; and the problems that both the Supreme Court and lower courts face when trying to implement this well-meaning but imperfectly-drafted Congressional statute. The case, Navajo Nation v. U.S. Forest Service, involves an effort by a group of Native Americans to block the U.S. Forest Service's plans to allow artificial snow generated from recycled wastewater (containing small amounts of human waste) to be made and placed on federal lands that are leased to ski operators, but which also are used by the Native Americans for sacred rituals and activities. The plaintiff Native Americans contend that use of such "dirty" snow desecrates the mountain, and thus the ceremonies they hold on it, in violation of their religious sensibilities and rights under the RFRA...Findlaw

Bill gives control over pores to land-owners

Property owners might someday earn extra money from leasing the space between rocks under their land to store carbon dioxide and other substances. Storing greenhouse gases underground rather than releasing them into the atmosphere could help reduce global warming. A bill introduced in the state Senate by Clint D. Harden, R-Clovis, would give land owners control over the subsurface "pore space." Under the bill, if the surface land was sold, the rights to the pore space would go with it, unless specifically excluded. The owners of mineral rights would still have the right to mine oil and gas from pore spaces. Wyoming was the first state to pass a pore-space bill. California and Montana are considering similar measures. Pore spaces could also be used to store compressed air, which can be used to turn wind turbine blades to generate power when the wind doesn't blow. Harden's original bill caused some consternation at the Office of the State Engineer and the Oil Conservation Division. Both are working on a substitute bill addressing their concerns...Santa Fe New Mexican

Several states moving toward horse slaughter

Salt Lake Tribune reports:

Utah's resolution supporting the transport of horses out of state for slaughter in Canada and Mexico is one of several efforts in the nation to reinstate the controversial practice. Legislatures in Arizona, Kansas, Minnesota and Wyoming are working on similar resolutions while lawmakers in Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri and Montana hope to open the gate to horse slaughtering facilities within their borders. A court order, in 2007, closed the country's last horse-butchering plant in Illinois. Horse slaughter for human consumption is banned in the United States. Facilities outside the country cater to markets in Asia, Europe and South America that regard horse meat as a delicacy. A federal bill is pending, HR503, that would prohibit the transport of horses out of the country for slaughter. Proponents of the measure support horse-slaughtering, saying it's a humane way for horse owners to dispose of surplus animals. But animal welfare groups stand foursquare in opposition to an industry they view as cruel and cut-throat...

The call of the tame

High Country News reports:

In 1916, Jack London invited a friend to his ranch in California's Sonoma Valley: "Come to see what I am trying to do with the soil, and with hogs, and with beef-cattle, and dairy-cows, and draft-horses." Who knew that the adventurous, womanizing, hard-drinking public celebrity spent the last years of his short life building a humane "Pig Palace" for his livestock and pouring manure down a slope to avoid using chemicals? London was best known then, as he is now, as a writer. But he wanted his legacy to be in land, not words. He wanted to "leave the land better for my having been," and so he pioneered what we would call today sustainable agriculture on Beauty Ranch, his 1,400-acre farm in Glen Ellen. The ranch, now home to the Jack London State Historic Park, shatters stereotypes...

Rancher cleared of violating rights of illegal immigrants

The Arizona Republic reports:

A federal jury has found that a southern Arizona rancher didn't violate the civil rights of a group of illegal immigrants who claimed he had detained them at gunpoint in 2004, but has ordered him to pay $77,000 in damages for four claims of assault and causing emotional distress. The verdict by the eight-member civil jury on Tuesday also found Roger Barnett wasn't liable on claims of battery and false imprisonment. Barnett declined to comment afterward, but one of his attorneys, David Hardy, said Barnett has a good basis for appeal on the two counts on which he lost because the jury didn't award full damages to the immigrants. For more than a decade, Barnett has been a controversial figure in southern Arizona. He's known for aggressively patrolling his ranch property and areas along highways and roads, often with his wife and brothers, on the lookout for illegal immigrants. The plaintiffs alleged that Barnett threatened them with his dog and told them he would shoot anyone who tried to escape. Barnett's lawyers argued that his land was inundated with illegal immigrants who left trash on his property, damaged his water supply and harmed his cattle. Barnett has been known to wear a holstered 9 mm pistol on his hip and upon encountering groups of migrants, to flash a blue and gold badge resembling that of the highway patrol, with the words: "Barnett Ranch Patrol. Cochise County. State of Arizona." The Barnetts detain and turn over immigrants to the U.S. Border Patrol. In 2006, Barnett estimated that he had detained more than 10,000 illegal immigrants in 10 years...

2 former border agents released from prison

Two former U.S. Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting a fleeing drug smuggler were released from prison Tuesday and allowed to return to their homes in El Paso. Jose Compean, 32, and Ignacio Ramos, 40, served roughly two years of their respective 12-year and 11-year prison sentences before President George W. Bush commuted their sentences Jan. 19, his last full day in office. The commutation is scheduled to take effect March 20. Compean, who was held in a federal facility in Ohio, and Ramos, who was housed in Arizona, will serve out the remaining weeks of their prison sentences under home confinement, according to their attorneys. The former agents had been held in solitary confinement for their own safety...Houston Chronicle

NM tribal resort off to 'dismal' start

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports:

Pojoaque Pueblo Gov. George Rivera on Monday acknowledged that the giant new resort opened last summer on tribal land north of Santa Fe is off to a slow start. However, he declined to discuss a financial publication's report that bondholders are concerned about Buffalo Thunder's revenues. Although he refused to talk specifics, Rivera said the giant hotel and resort is paying off its bond holders. The $245-million Buffalo Thunder resort, with 395 rooms, opened in August, offering gambling, golf, fine dining and other activities. Rivera declined to discuss a recent story in the FT.com, the online version of the Financial Times, that said Buffalo Thunder "could become the first major tribal insolvency this year" because it will be unable to meet its commercial bond payments. One bondholder told the publication that the casino reported $2 million in earnings (before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) during the quarter that ended Dec. 31. "The performance was a dismal start for the recently built ... resort and casino," said the bondholder and a market analyst, according to the Financial Times.
The article also said the pueblo would probably not be able to make the next $11.5 million payment, due at the end of June...