Obama creates Pacific Northwest Trail

When the national scenic trails system was created four decades ago, the goal was to build a walking path across the United States. That goal has come closer to reality with President Obama's signing of a bill creating the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail and two others. They are the first such trails designated in 26 years. "The dream of a transcontinental pathway across America is 1,200 miles closer to reaching fruition," said Ron Strickland, a former Washington resident who first proposed the Pacific Northwest trial in 1970. The trail will eventually run from Glacier National Park in Montana to the Pacific Ocean at Cape Alava in Washington. Portions of the trail have existed for centuries, and for the past three decades the nonprofit Pacific Northwest Trail Association has been gradually improving the route and erecting a few signs. The federal designation means money will be provided to connect all portions of the trail, build bridges and other improvements, and to erect signs and access points along its length, said Jon Knechtel of the association...AP

Biobutanol Creeps Toward the Market

A type of fuel once used in Japanese aircraft during World War II is slowly making its way again toward the market, and its backers say that it will work better in automobiles than ethanol. DuPont and BP hope to produce the fuel, called biobutanol, on a commercial scale starting in 2013. They are currently testing it in Britain, where a demonstration-scale plant should start operations at the end of next year, according to Nick Fanandakis of DuPont’s applied biosciences division. The fuel — butyl alcohol derived from plant materials rather than fossil fuels — is being pursued by other companies as well. Last November, a private equity company, Patriarch Partners, purchased a shuttered pulp mill in Maine, with the purpose of refitting it to produce biobutanol derived from maple, birch and beech tree chips...NYTimes

Forest Service Underlines Importance of Backcountry Aviation

Following years of work and discussions, Abigail Kimbell, Chief of the U. S. Forest Service, has signed a directive acknowledging the long and proud history of aviation use and airstrips on forest service lands, and asked USFS managers at all levels to inventory and maintain existing facilities, and to support aviation as an important recreational activity. This action resulted from meetings between representatives of the Recreational Aviation Foundation and a team of senior Forest Service executives in Washington. Similar to policy statements regarding many other classes of the public and user groups such as hikers, fishermen, and boaters, the memorandum says: “Aviation has been part of our country's heritage, both as a mode of transportation and as a means of access to remote and scenic areas for a wide variety of purposes. Backcountry airstrips are an appropriate use of National Forest System (NFS) lands as they provide enhanced access for a variety of legitimate recreational activities ... Recreational aircraft and backcountry airstrips can be an integral part of a balanced and efficient transportation system.” From the earliest days of aviation a system of backcountry airstrips has served the forest service and its users, providing support for forest managers, fire crews, and medical evacuation aircraft. And countless backpackers, campers, boaters, and fishermen have used them to gain access to remote parts of the forest...AeroNews

BLM selects 12 specialists to evaluate deferred Utah leases

The US Bureau of Land Management named a 12-member multi-disciplinary team from three federal agencies on July 17 to evaluate 77 deferred oil and gas lease parcels in southeastern Utah. The group does not include anyone involved in any previous decisions concerning the tracts, BLM said. It includes James Haerter, BLM’s program lead for oil, gas, and energy, and eight other employees of the US Department of the Interior agency, along with two specialists from the National Park Service and one from the US Forest Service. The team’s findings are expected by late September, according to BLM. Its Utah office originally auctioned the 77 parcels at a Dec. 19, 2008, lease sale. A federal district court enjoined their sale on Jan. 17 and US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar ordered that they not be issued on Feb. 6...PennEnergy

Volunteers fined for leaving water for border crossers

Thirteen members of humanitarian organizations received fines for littering earlier this month after putting gallon water jugs along the Arizona border with Mexico, intended for undocumented immigrants entering the country. The people were issued citations in the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, which stretches 30 miles north of the border in southern Arizona, near the town of Arivaca. The refuge has been identified as an active corridor for migrants. Members of three humanitarian groups - No Más Muertes (No More Deaths), Samaritanos de Tucson (Tucson Samaritans) and Fronteras Humanas (Humane Borders) - tried to place gallons of drinking water in four specific points of the corridor at a time when forecasts had temperatures reaching 110. No Más Muertes developed a program in which gallon jugs were left in large numbers at specific points with the date and GPS coordinates written on the side. The volunteers said they checked the locations weekly to replace the used gallons and to collect any discarded bottles and other garbage...YumaSun

Florida wildlife officials to issue python hunting permits

By next week, the first of a select squad of python hunters will be ready to roll. Gov. Charlie Crist on Wednesday approved plans to begin capturing and killing Burmese pythons that have invaded the Everglades. The governor called the program, similar to one used for ''nuisance'' alligators on state lands, important for protecting wildlife and the public. Scientists believe the snakes, likely offspring of pets released by owners or freed from cages or shops by Hurricane Andrew, primarily pose a threat to native species. Trappers, whom the FWC said would be confined to volunteer experts, will euthanize the snakes. They also will provide scientific data from weight to gut contents. Trappers would be able to sell the meat and skin, which has commercial value for shoes and other items...MiamiHerald

Man Fights Off Mountain Lion With Chainsaw

Wielding his chain saw as a weapon, a Colorado man says he fought off a starving mountain lion that attacked him while he was camping with his wife and two toddlers in northwestern Wyoming. Dustin Britton, a 32-year-old mechanic and ex-Marine from Windsor, Colo., said he was alone cutting firewood about 100 feet from his campsite in the Shoshone National Forest when he saw the lion staring at him from some bushes. Britton revved his 18-inch chain saw and tried to back away. But the 100-pound lion followed. "When it came, you know, I didn't bring the saw up until I knew what it was going to do," Britton told CBS station KCNC-TV in Denver. As the animal pounced, the 6-foot-tall, 170-pound Britton raised his saw and met it head-on - a collision he said felt like a grown man running right into him. "It batted me three or four times with its front paws and as quick as I hit it with that saw it just turned away," he said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press...CBS

Farm Groups Say Food Safety Bill Would Make it Tougher for Farmers to Produce Safe Food

Major farm groups are concerned that a bill in Congress intended to shore-up food-safety guidelines could actually make it harder for some livestock and poultry producers to guarantee safe food. A panel of national agricultural experts testified before the House Committee on Agriculture last week about the potential dangers of food-safety legislation currently under discussion in the House. The current version of the Food Safety Enhancement Act, sponsored by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), would give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversight of livestock farms across the country, thus requiring all ranchers and farmers to meet new regulations, as dictated by the FDA. Currently the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and state authorities oversee the raising of livestock. The Food and Drug Administration only regulates meat once it has been processed from its animal source. The farm groups complained that the bill would give the FDA authority to oversee farms and set standards for livestock producers, as well as require producers to pay for inspections...CNSNews

USDA: 760,000 pounds of ham for $1.2M

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack pushed back Monday against reports his agency spent $1.2 million in economic stimulus funds on a two-pound ham. Vilsack said the department actually bought 760,000 pounds of ham with funds from the $787 billion stimulus, which the GOP has attacked as wasteful spending. Vilsack put out the statement after the Drudge Report posted several contracts from the government’s stimulus website. The contracts suggest the administration spent $1.19 million on two pounds of ham, $1.56 million for mozzarella cheese and $16.8 million on canned pork, among other items. Republicans sent blast e-mails of screenshots from the Drudge Report, highlighting the contracts as wasteful spending. “The White House was wrong when they said there was no pork in the stimulus — and at a higher price than at the average grocery store,” said Antonia Ferrier, a spokeswoman for House Minority Leader John Boehner (Ohio). None of the contracts indicated how much food was purchased with the stimulus funds. Vilsack’s statement said his agency bought 837,936 pounds of mozzarella, for example. Vilsack said the food was purchased for distribution to local groups, including food banks and soup kitchens that support the needy. He said the purchases would help reduce hunger among those hardest hit by the recession...TheHill

Still wondering how this creates jobs.

Rustling Rise Hurts Ranchers

The rate of cattle theft has more than doubled in the past year to about 45 head a month, according to officials at the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture. Many blame the weak economy. "We talk about the tough economic times and you talk about the factories closing in the city, but you forget about the rural communities. They're hurting, too," said Tom Troxel, an agriculture professor at the University of Arkansas. "Cattle rustling always seems to go up when the economy goes down." States such as Texas, Missouri and Montana also report steep increases in cattle rustling, Troxel said. Cattle rustling might seem like a crime straight out of the Wild West, but modern livestock thieves prey on ranchers by using trucks, trailers, ATVs and a network of nearly 100 stockyards and cattle auctions across Oklahoma, said Col. Mike Grimes, director of investigative services for state Agriculture Department. Recent beef prices put a cow's value somewhere near $1,000. The price can be even higher for specialty breeds. And unlike stealing a car or tractor, most cattle can be sold for 100 percent of market value...cattlenetwork

Horse Poaching

Law enforcement authorities in Florida are investigating the death of another horse apparently butchered for its meat. Miami-Dade County Police discovered the horse's carcass July 19 after an anonymous tipster reported it lying near a roadway. The flesh from the horse's sides had been removed and its neck was mutilated. The incident is the latest among a dozen similar horse killings in and around Miami-Dade County. In June, a rancher discovered two slaughtered horses partially buried in a dirt mound on his Miami-Dade property. In May, authorities found the butchered remains of two Paso Fino horses near the Miami-Dade County border. Police speculate the incidents are tied to an illegal horsemeat market in Florida...TheHorse

A buzzard by any other name may not have killed animals, commenters say

Bird experts deluged the Times-Review Web site this week with critical comments after a story about the sightings of birds of prey in southeastern Johnson County that, according to the story, appeared to be crested caracara, also known as Mexican buzzards. According to the Web site peregrinefund.org, crested caracara is the formal name. The same site said the crested caracara is also known as king buzzard, Mexican eagle and Audubon’s caracara and Mexican buzzard. The Times-Review story quoted a woman residing between Rio Vista and Parker as saying the birds in question had scavenged a newborn calf and a cat. She said she believed the animals to have been killed by the birds. The story also quoted a local goat rancher as saying he had heard of attacks on baby goats by Mexican buzzards. The rancher suggested using guard animals to monitor herds. Not correct, Sheri Williamson wrote on the Times-Review Web site. “The northern (a.k.a. crested) caracara is strikingly marked in black and white and has a fully feathered head except for a patch of bare orange skin at the base of its bill. They are predators as well as scavengers but seldom kill animals larger than a cottontail rabbit or large snake,” she reported...CleburneTimesReview

Right rope links cowboys to past

Just as a golfer can't golf without his clubs, a rodeo cowboy can't wrangle without his rope. And while bull riders tend to get most of the glory at rodeos, including this week's California Rodeo Salinas, it's the men lassoing wayward cattle who most resemble the traditional rodeo cowboy. "Ropes, naturally, are a big deal in rodeo," said Denny Watkins, a two-time team roping national champion. As suggested by the events' names, ropes are an essential part of tie-down roping and team roping. And they allow the "pickup" men to steer bulls and broncos back to the pen after a ride. These events, along with saddle bronc riding, simulate the skills of cowboys in the Old West and those working present-day ranches. The roping events are less about expressing one's machismo and more about finesse. Roping a calf or steer running at full speed requires as much precision as a baseball pitcher hitting spots in the strike zone, but the cowboy must do it from a galloping horse rather than a stationary pitcher's mound. Ropers are very particular about their ropes, much like golfers are about their clubs or surfers about their boards. They scrutinize such traits as stiffness, weight and durability, all of which contribute to a rope's effectiveness. Some ropes last 10 runs, while other last up to 30. "But if the rope that lasts 10 runs feels right to you, that's the one you're going to use," said Watkins, who is competing in his 37th Salinas rodeo...MontereyCountyHerald

Song Of The Day #088

Today's selection is dedicated to all those who, like me, have recently experienced computer problems, and to all those who've had run-ins with modern ranching technology. I also nominate this tune as the theme song for those fighting the NAIS.

Here is Dan Roberts doing Cowhand.com from his 2000 CD Cowhand.com.

If you haven't heard it, get ready for some fun.

House votes to save wild horses, burros

The nation's wild horses would be protected from slaughter and given millions more acres to roam under legislation moving toward passage Friday in the House. Supporters of the bill mobilized after the Interior Department announced last year that it may have to kill thousands of healthy wild horses and burros to deal with the growing population on the range and in holding facilities. Republicans complained the bill underscores Democrats' misplaced priorities by focusing on animals instead of people, at a time when the nation's unemployment rate is approaching double digits. They also said the measure would place the protection of wild horses and burros above other animals that rely on the rangeland. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that enacting the Restore our American Mustangs Act would cost about $200 million over the next five years. Currently, the wild herds roam over about 33 million acres of Western land. To comply with the bill, the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management would need to find an additional 20 million acres, primarily after 2013, at a cost of up to $500 million, according the CBO...AP

According to Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wa), this bill would create a "$700 million welfare program for wild horses and burros" by doing the following:

- a wild horse census would be conducted every two years

- it provides “enhanced contraception” and birth control for these horses

- it would acquire or move 19 million acres of public and private land for the specific purpose of giving these horses more places to roam around. 19 million acres is roughly the size of the distinguished Chairman’s state of West Virginia.

- five million dollars a year will then be spent to repair the damage that horses cause to these lands

- and there are new mandates that government bureaucrats perform home inspections before Americans can adopt a wild horse.

Hastings, Bishop Criticize Obama Administration Decision to Lock Up 40 Percent of America’s Uranium Supply

Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) and National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee Ranking Member Rob Bishop (UT-01) criticized the Department of the Interior’s announcement that the Administration will block new uranium mining for two years on one million acres of land in Arizona. “Once again, the Obama Administration is saying no to American energy and no to American jobs,” said Ranking Member Hastings. “In just six short months, the Administration has blocked new offshore drilling, blocked oil and natural gas leases in Utah, and is now blocking uranium mining in Arizona. Today’s announcement will cost American jobs at a time when unemployment is at a 26-year high and make us more dependent on foreign countries for energy. If the President is serious about reducing carbon emissions, he would support increased American uranium development, which is used to produce clean, carbon-free nuclear energy.”...PressRelease

Tester releases Montana wilderness bill

Flanked by representatives from the state's timber industry, wilderness groups, backcountry enthusiasts and motorized off-road-vehicle groups, U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., on Friday unveiled a broad piece of legislation aimed at saving timber jobs and increasing wilderness acreage in the state. The measure, dubbed the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act of 2009, designates more than 660,000 acres of new wilderness in Montana, while mandating the logging of 100,000 acres on public forests over a 10-year period. Proponents of the 84-page bill hailed the measure as the product of years of collaboration between often disparate groups of stakeholders. They say the bill will save jobs in timber communities while permanently protecting wilderness and increasing recreational opportunities. However, not all conservationists are enthusiastic about the plan. Some wilderness advocates say the bill gives up too much public land for timber harvesting, road building and off-road vehicle use in exchange for too little wilderness designation. The measure also is being attacked from the other side. The Montana Multiple Use Association blasted it as the product of closed-door negotiations by special-interest groups, adding it ignores mining and other interests. However, Tester said the measure is critical to saving Montana's wood-products industry while reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire...GreatFallsTribune

Obama Defends Bush Rule; Judge Slaps Forest Service

Environmental activists are unsure of what it will take to convince the Forest Service that it can't simply brush away the over-riding requirements of the federal laws that outline forest management. Conservation advocates who had hoped that the Obama administration might turn the agency around have been disappointed so far. Under Obama, the Forest Service pursued the very same arguments in the planning rule case as it did under Bush. That's worrisome to Andy Stahl, who heads up Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics. The group is comprised of former and current agency employees who watchdog the agency and protect whistle-blowers. “There's two options,” said Stahl. “One, There's nobody in charge,” he said, referring to the lack of an appointment to a key position in the Agriculture Department. Under that scenario, the agency might simply be following the momentum set by previous officials. The other alternative is more ominous, according to Stahl. “Two, whoever is in charge is no different than the previous administration,” he said. One hint might be the appointment of Doug Crandall, a senior-level Bush administration official, to the position of Forest Service legislative affairs director, or chief lobbyist for the agency. Stahl said Crandall is a former timber lobbyist. Rocky Smith, who analyzes Forest Service policy for the conservation group Colorado Wild, said Crandall is known for his support of “industrial recreation” on national forest lands. “I don't think the National Forests are all that important to Obama. I think his administration sees them as places to spend federal stimulus dollars and for energy production,” Stahl said...

Many felt the same way when the Bush Justice Dept. defended Clinton rules.

The thing to note is this: the government is out to defend the government, and little things like national elections don't change their number one priority.

Green-Industrial Complex

Environmentalism may still have a somewhat edgy, down-at-heel public image, but going green has become big business, and there are buckets of cash to be made from “saving the planet.” In fact, we are witnessing the emergence of a Green-Industrial Complex—an alliance between national governments, enormous corporations, and powerful individuals that uses the politics of fear to procure public money. This new axis discourages healthy debate (accusing those who question it of being “climate-change deniers”); thwarts individual initiative (treating saving the planet as something that can only be done by central bankrollers); and helps to keep the Third World in poverty (encouraging it to remain “carbon-lite” in order to offset the “carbon heaviness” of the West). It’s time to toss an intellectual hand grenade into this network. For a snapshot of the federal and business interests intertwined in the rise of green capitalism, consider the best-known environmentalist, Al Gore, director of the film that has informed so many people’s views on the future of our planet, “An Inconvenient Truth.” To many, especially those still convinced that he was robbed of the 2000 presidential election, Gore is simply a super-committed individual determined to make the planet a better place. But there is far more to him. Gore is getting rich from environmentalism, not just by being paid a whopping $175,000 per speech but by using political pressure to force government policy in a direction that benefits his business interests...AmericanConservative

Greater Yellowstone Elk-wolf Study Shows Elk Having Fewer Calves

Wolves have caused elk in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem to change their behavior and foraging habits so much so that herds are having fewer calves, mainly due to changes in their nutrition, according to a new study published by Montana State University researchers. During winter, nearly all elk in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem are losing weight, said Scott Creel, ecology professor at MSU, and lead author on the study which appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "Essentially, they are slowly starving," Creel said. "Despite grazing and browsing during the winter, elk suffer a net loss of weight. If winter continued, they would all die, because dormant plants provide limited protein and energy, and snow makes it more difficult to graze efficiently." With the presence of wolves, elk browse more - eating woody shrubs or low tree branches in forested areas where they are safer - as opposed to grazing on grass in open meadows where they are more visible, and therefore more vulnerable to wolves. Browsing provides food of good quality, but the change in foraging habits results in elk taking in 27 percent less food than their counterparts that live without wolves, the study estimates...ScienceDaily