The Return of the American Prairie

In its quest to protect what's here and reintroduce long-gone wildlife (something the World Wildlife Fund is helping with), the American Prairie Foundation began purchasing land from local ranchers in 2004. It now owns 30,000 acres and has grazing privileges on another 57,000. Its goal over the next 25 years is to assemble three million acres, the largest tract of land devoted to wildlife management in the continental United States. Already, herds of elk, deer, and pronghorn antelope roam the grasslands, where visitors can camp, hike, and bike. Cottonwoods and willows are thriving along streams, creating habitats for bobcats, beavers, and other animals. And of course there are the bison. "I'm hoping we can fix up a little mini-migration when we have maybe 400 to 500 of them," says Bill Willcutt, the reserve's original manager. "That'll be something to see." Not everyone shares APF's vision. Some residents of Phillips County (pop. 3,904) worry that the area could become a prairie Disneyland, overcrowded with tourists. But the biggest obstacle is the ranchers themselves, whose cattle compete with prairie dogs and bison for grass and space. "People like me have no intention of selling their ranches," says Dale Veseth, who heads the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance of 35 families in Phillips County and whose family has been ranching here since 1886. "They've been a labor of love through the generations." Instead, he wants APF to pay or subsidize ranchers to raise bison. This would be far less costly for the foundation, he argues, than buying the land outright...read more

Conservationists sue EPA over prairie dog poison

Two conservation groups have sued the Environmental Protection Agency for its decision to register pesticides that curtail prairie dogs, the main source of food for the endangered black-footed ferret. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., by Defenders of Wildlife and Audubon of Kansas, says the chemicals threaten other species, and that in issuing registrations for their use, the EPA is violating the federal Endangered Species Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and other federal laws. The lawsuit claims the EPA failed to heed warnings from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that registrations of the chemicals chlorophacinone and diphacinone "be disapproved or rescinded because of known and potential impacts to wildlife." It seeks an injunction against the registration in 10 states of Rozol, which contains chlorophacinone, and the local use of Kaput-D, which contains diphacinone. The chemicals cause internal bleeding. EPA spokesman Dale Kemery said the agency planned to release a federal register notice next week related to the lawsuit...read more

EPA to exempt small business from greenhouse rule

The Obama administration moved on Wednesday to exempt small businesses from new industrial smokestack controls on emissions of carbon dioxide and other planet-warming greenhouse gases. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said its proposed greenhouse rule would require only large industrial facilities to install the most up-to-date emissions control equipment and energy-efficiency measures when they are built or modified. The regulations would apply to power plants, refineries and factories that emit at least 25,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year. Businesses such as farms, restaurants and other smaller facilities would be excluded to avoid placing an undue strain on the economy, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said in announcing the proposal...read more

Senate climate bill drops "cap and trade" term

Senate Democrats tried out a new catch phrase Wednesday to sell their global warming bill: pollution reduction and investment, or PRI. But it's just another name for cap and trade, a term derided by Republican critics as "cap and tax" because it will increase energy prices and which Democratic polls have shown faring poorly with voters. The rebranding is an indication of the uphill battle the climate bill — which would cap greenhouse gases and also allow industries to buy emission allowances — faces in the Senate. A number of Democratic senators, currently entangled in the heated health care debate, said they continued to have trouble with key elements of the climate legislation. Several said it would be a huge challenge — perhaps impossible — to try to get a climate bill passed this year. The idea to remake cap and trade into pollution reduction and investment came from Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., author of the bill unveiled Wednesday. He came up with it about a month ago to refocus attention on what the bill would do, not how it goes about doing it...more

Collaboration key to Front plan

Congress created instant wilderness nationwide 45 years ago when it passed the Wilderness Act, but the recipe for conserving public land today is akin to slow cooking, with more ingredients needed to satisfy varying tastes. That's what advocates of a new conservation plan that would protect Montana's famed Rocky Mountain Front say. "The name of the game now is collaboration," said Bill Cunningham of Choteau, a Bob Marshall Wilderness Area outfitter who has been involved in wilderness debates for decades. Last week, the Coalition to Protect the Rocky Mountain Front unveiled a conservation plan for 393,000 acres of public lands in the Lewis and Clark and Helena national forests. New wilderness is part of the new plan — but so is a brand new designation with less teeth than a wilderness designation, but more protection for undeveloped roadless lands. Additional funding to fight weeds, a tip of the hat to ranchers, also is part of the proposal. Former Congressman Pat Williams, who introduced 16 wilderness bills between 1982 and 1994, said he had hearings on those bills, but members of the delegation tended to write them. The process has changed, he said. "They wait for local folks to bring them a proposal that is mature, that has been collaborated with lots of meetings," he said...read more

Judge rejects U.S. management plan for California desert

A federal judge has rejected key provisions of a plan for managing millions of acres in the California desert, saying the U.S. Bureau of Land Management designated roughly 5,000 miles of off-road vehicle routes without properly taking into account their impact on public lands, archaeological sites and wildlife. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston on Monday ruled that the West Mojave plan, which the bureau approved in 2006 after a decade of development, is "flawed because it does not contain a reasonable range of alternatives" to limit the number of miles of off-road routes. She also determined that the bureau's analysis of the routes' impacts on air quality, soils, plant communities and sensitive species such as the Mojave fringe-toed lizard was inadequate, pointing out that the desert and its resources are "extremely fragile, easily scarred, and slowly healed." "The court recognizes the complexity of the issues presented in this case," Illston said, "and that defendants have been given the difficult task of addressing the interests and needs of OHV [off-highway vehicle] recreationists while at the same time protecting listed species as required by law."...read more

U.S. Forest Service launches inquiry into Station fire response

The U.S. Forest Service has launched an internal inquiry into the agency's attack on the deadly Station fire, an operation that was scaled back the night before the blaze began to burn out of control. "With the significant loss of life, and impacts to the local community, we must determine the effectiveness of our efforts," Forest Service Chief Thomas Tidwell said in a written statement Wednesday. Tidwell said he would ask other agencies to participate in the review. But the Forest Service has declined to release detailed information about its response to the suspected arson fire, citing in part an ongoing homicide investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department into the deaths of two firefighters whose truck fell off a mountain road. Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said the department sent a letter Wednesday to fire officials asking that the material be withheld until detectives review it. Neither Forest Service officials nor Whitmore would explain how the release of information on the deployment of firefighters and equipment might jeopardize the investigation. The firefighters were killed on the blaze's fifth day...read more

Forest Service forbids 'religious themes' on 5,000 decorations recognizing holiday

The U.S. Forest Service has banned the name of Jesus from decorations being assembled by children in Arizona for a blue spruce from the state that will become the Capitol Christmas Tree this year, and a legal firm is challenging the censorship. "Banning Christmas from the Capitol Christmas tree is just absurd. Christian students shouldn't be discriminated against for expressing their religious beliefs," said Jonathan Scruggs, litigation staff counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund. "The First Amendment does not allow government officials to exclude schoolchildren's ornaments for the capitol's Christmas tree merely because they communicate a religious viewpoint," he said yesterday. The organization has sent a letter to state and federal officials, including Arizona Gov. Janie Brewer, who are supervising the program, calling on them to stop enforcement of the prohibition...read more

Forest Service's wilderness plans scuttled by judge

A federal judge has ruled that the U.S. Forest Service did not give adequate consideration to potential wilderness areas in its management plan for four Southern California forests. The state of California and seven environmental groups sued the Forest Service last year over its plan for more than a million acres of so-called roadless areas across the San Bernardino, Cleveland, Angeles and Los Padres national forests. The groups said the agency's decision to allow road building, oil drilling and off-highway vehicle use in remote areas would harm endangered species and threaten forest health. California's Natural Resources Agency, which sued separately on behalf of the state, contended the federal plan ignored state policy banning road building in pristine areas. The state and environmental group lawsuits were combined. Although U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel found no merit in most points, she agreed with the principal complaint that the Forest Service violated federal law by failing to consider cumulative damage that roads would cause in those areas...read more

Senate quizzes Forest Service nominee

Coloradan Harris Sherman coasted through a U.S. Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday on his way to overseeing the U.S. Forest Service. The Senate Agriculture Committee did not vote Wednesday on Sherman or five other nominees for senior U.S. Department of Agriculture posts, but members asked Sherman about roadless areas, climate change and rural development. President Barack Obama has nominated Sherman to be USDA undersecretary for natural resources and environment, a post that oversees the Forest Service and Natural Resources Conservation Service. "Let me just re-emphasize my personal commitment to protection of the country's roadless areas. This is an extremely important asset to our current generations and future generations in the United States," Sherman said, responding to a question from committee chairwoman Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark. Sherman has not sat down to discuss roadless strategy with his future boss, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, he said...read more

Environmental organizations are biting the hand that feeds them

But environmental groups face few such restrictions, which is how they can victimize the taxpayer two- or even three-fold. They freely sue dozens of federal government agencies even as they take federal money. Sometimes they take the money and spend equivalent amounts lobbying Congress to restrict consumers’ freedoms. Some of them even pay their executives six-figure salaries. Defenders of Wildlife, whose president makes more than $300,000 a year, has taken about $190,000 in federal grants since 2004. It’s now suing the government to protect aggressive wolves that were recently introduced to a mountainous region and have since ravaged game and impoverished shepherds and ranchers. The group spent nearly $150,000 in the first half of 2009 lobbying Congress to fight against a law allowing for wolf control, among other things. It also has received more than $80,000 in Web development work since 2006 from the Agriculture and Interior departments. And just this year, the Natural Resources Defense Council put a leg aboard the federal gravy train. The famous public interest group, whose president made a modest $433,000 in 2007, has received a $750,000 government grant from the State Department to encourage the Chinese to use less energy. In addition to suing at least seven government agencies, including the Navy recently, the group also spent more than $400,000 in the first six months of 2009 lobbying Congress to require higher efficiency standards — and thus higher prices — for all appliances...read more

Grizzly attack prompts warnings

The grizzly that left a seven-inch slash on shepherd Marcello Suarez’s head recently may be less the average Wyomingite’s worst nightmare than a harbinger of things to come. Suarez herds sheep for the W & M Thoman Ranch. “More people and more bears means more conflict,” said Bear Officer Brian DeBolt, one of two Wyoming Fish and Game employees who investigated the Sept. 14 mauling, which resulted in Suarez being life-flighted to Idaho Falls with numerous claw wounds and a collapsed lung. “It’s just a function of numbers.” The attack occurred in the Upper Green River Basin, near Rock Creek, at 2 a.m. Suarez and coworker Jorge Mesa awoke to the sound of coyotes and barking dogs. They left their tent, located 200-300 yards from the sheep, to investigate. Suarez was suddenly attacked from behind by what he later recalled as a collared bear with “teeth that were plenty sharp and long,”,according to Dick Thoman, whose mother, Missy, employs the two men. Suarez owes his life to the six Pyranees guard dogs that drove the grizzly off, Thoman added. He subsequently sent out an e-mail describing the attack and warning hunters to “beware, be safe, and watch your back.” “This is a serious issue,” Thoman later commented, referring to the fact that, over the last 15 years, the number of grizzlies in the Upper Green River Basin has multiplied to the point that attacks on livestock in the area are “almost a weekly occurrence.” Conflicts between bears and livestock in the area have been increasing since the mid 90s, according to Mark Bruscino, WG&F bear management supervisor...read more

Wolves kill four hunting dogs

A hunter from Worley says four hound dogs were killed by a pack of wolves near Elk River. Bill Greenlee says he was bear hunting with Joseph Nelson of Elk River last week when their dogs ran into a pack of wolves. Greenlee said three of his Walker hounds and one of Nelson's red bone hounds were killed, the Lewiston Tribune reported. He reported the incident to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. Dave Cadwallader, Clearwater Region supervisor, says the Chesima wolf pack is known to use the area where the hounds were killed. In August, two members of that pack were killed for preying on livestock...read more

Killing Wolves for Fun

Unsurprisingly, I believe it is wrong to inflict pain and death unnecessarily on a creature capable of suffering. (Peter Singer more broadly examines the moral standing of animals here.) While this belief might not compel us to be vegetarians, it does demand significant changes in the way we raise animals for food, and it forbids wolf hunting as a form of entertainment. To be clear, I concede all putatively practical justifications for hunting and repudiate only the idea that hunting is a legitimate recreation. It is the person who claims as much who bears the burden of proof — a wolf need not make a case for its not being shot in Montana. I’m not persuaded that hunters have made their case. Some declare that hunting is a cherished tradition in their region or for their family. But having done something in the past is insufficient to justify its repetition. Some note that hunting is a challenging activity. No doubt. As is juggling flaming axes while blindfolded. And drunk. But not everything difficult is desirable. Or ethical. There are people who find it fulfilling to cultivate shooting skills, learn to track, take a walk in the woods, maybe bring the kids and make it a bonding experience or bring a couple of buddies and make it a beer-drinking experience or just an opportunity to avoid spending time with the spouse. All of these might be amiable ways to beguile the time, but none need culminate with a killing. Inflicting death is not an acceptable leisure activity...read more

BLM man faces charges in horse case

A former Bureau of Land Management worker arrested last week in connection with the shooting deaths of three horses at a holding facility in Rock Springs in June is facing seven felony and misdemeanor counts, according to authorities. Jason Edward Hein, 39, was arrested in Billings on Sept. 24 by deputy sheriffs of the Yellowstone County (Mont.) Sheriff's Office and BLM law enforcement officers. Sweetwater County authorities said Wednesday that the results of a joint county and federal investigation were turned over the county attorney's office, which filed charges against Hein in Circuit Court in Rock Springs. Two BLM personnel arriving for work on June 12 discovered that three horses had been shot and killed sometime during the night of June 11 at the BLM's Rock Springs corrals. The horse carcasses had been dumped in the holding facility's upper storage yard. Two of the horses killed were privately owned, and a third was a wild mustang that was being held at the corrals. The wild horse had been gathered as part of BLM roundup operations and was being held at the Rock Springs facility while up for adoption. Hein was employed as a maintenance worker at the Rock Springs holding facility at the time of the shootings. BLM officials said Hein was on administrative leave from the BLM's Rock Springs Field Office when he was arrested in Billings...read more

Vilsack touches on changes during Las Cruces visit

The need for changes in the economics of the dairy was addressed by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Wednesday during a visit to Las Cruces. Vilsack addressed a crowd of farmers and other agriculturists at the Do-a Ana County fairgrounds, the site of this week's Southern New Mexico State Fair & Rodeo. It was his 21st stop on a "listening tour," in which he said he's gathering feedback from the country's agricultural producers to take back to President Barack Obama. Vilsack acknowledged the difficulties dairy farmers are facing, not only in New Mexico, but across the country. The USDA is working on some short-term fixes, but "we need a long-term solution." Attendee Sharon Lombardi, director of the Dairy Producers of New Mexico, told Vilsack that the industry needs a new pricing formula, and though policy changes are needed, "we need to be careful what comes out." During a question-and-answer period, John Swapp, who said he's a rancher in southwestern New Mexico, asked Vilsack to back changes to the Endangered Species Act, which he argued is being used by environmentalists to "put us out of business." He cited concerns about the reintroduction of the Mexican gray wolf into New Mexico. Vilsack said the wolf reintroduction program falls under the jurisdiction of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, but he said he'd "carry the message back."...read more

Song Of The Day #145

Today Ranch Radio brings you the 1951 recording of Cowpoke by Elton Britt.

It's available on his Country Music's Yodelling Cowboy Crooner, Vol. 1.

Senate Climate Bill Tougher than House Version

Draft Senate climate change legislation would require a 20 percent cut in greenhouse gases by 2020, far deeper than the reductions mandated in the House version. The draft obtained by The Associated Press remains subject to change. But the overall carbon reduction requirements are expected to stand. The Democratic bill is to be released Wednesday by the Senate Environmental Committee with a vote by the panel likely in late October. The draft includes an economy-wide cap and trade system that would require power plants, industrial facilities and refineries to cut carbon dioxide releases. But it does not lay out how emission allowances would be distributed, leaving that for later. The bill is viewed widely as an early focus of Senate negotiations. AP

A draft version of the bill has leaked and can be seen here.

Western states must make sure water is available before adding development, gov says

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter says Western states must work together on water issues if the region is to continue to grow. Ritter told the Western States Water Council, the Colorado Department of Natural Resources and the Western Governor's Association that Western states need to work with local communities to ensure water is available before new development projects are approved. Ritter said 19 states and 30 million people rely on water from Colorado, and states need to work together or face serious water shortages during the next few decades. The theme of the meeting is "Water and Land Use Planning for a Sustainable Future." Roderick Walston, a water attorney from California, said previous water planning focused on quantity and quality, but California has now integrated those plans with land use planning and development. He said the issue is how to enforce it and how much power gets left to local government. "This will be the future of the West," he told the conference. "Should the courts make the ultimate call, or is it better to do it at the administrative level?" He also said lawmakers have to decide whether to allow the government to reject projects that don't comply with water plans...AP

Alternative Energy Projects Stumble on a Need for Water

In a rural corner of Nevada reeling from the recession, a bit of salvation seemed to arrive last year. A German developer, Solar Millennium, announced plans to build two large solar farms here that would harness the sun to generate electricity, creating hundreds of jobs. But then things got messy. The company revealed that its preferred method of cooling the power plants would consume 1.3 billion gallons of water a year, about 20 percent of this desert valley’s available water. Now Solar Millennium finds itself in the midst of a new-age version of a Western water war. The public is divided, pitting some people who hope to make money selling water rights to the company against others concerned about the project’s impact on the community and the environment. Here is an inconvenient truth about renewable energy: It can sometimes demand a huge amount of water. Many of the proposed solutions to the nation’s energy problems, from certain types of solar farms to biofuel refineries to cleaner coal plants, could consume billions of gallons of water every year...NYTimes