OMB issues guidance on "green" competitive sourcing plans The Office of Management and Budget has asked federal agencies to craft plans for letting contractors bid on federal jobs from now through 2008. The multiyear plans will help it decide which agencies deserve a "green" rating, or top marks in competitive sourcing, said OMB Deputy Director for Management Clay Johnson in a Dec. 22, 2003 memorandum announcing the planning exercise. He added that OMB would evaluate plans based on how well they support an agency's mission. "OMB will assess a plan's effectiveness in a manner that accounts for the agency's unique mission and workforce needs as well as the agency's demonstrated ability to conduct reviews and competitions in a reasonable and responsible banner," Johnson wrote in the memorandum, which was distributed to the President's Management Council. The plans could serve as a window into how agencies would comply with the competitive sourcing initiative in a second term of the Bush administration, if the president is re-elected. Until now, most agencies have worked to implement OMB-approved plans to earn a "yellow" rating, which signals mixed results...Forest advisory board supports aggressive plan The Black Hills National Forest Advisory Board voted Monday to support a 10-year accelerated option for insect and fuels treatment that would help reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire and restore forest health. State Representative and Advisory Board Vice Chairman John Teupel of Spearfish made the motion in favor of a 10-year option that would see the U.S. Forest Service treat an average of 39,000 acres annually to reduce the threat on areas in the high hazard category. Though some of his fellow advisory board members argued that the more aggressive seven-year option for fuels treatment might reduce wildfire danger more quickly, Teupel favored the 10-year plan as "aggressive but executable."...Military, Local Officials Coordinate Firefighting Efforts Local Navy and Marine flight crews took a big first step Monday toward becoming certified to fight civilian brush fires. After last October's disastrous firestorm, forestry officials are eager to recruit aerial reinforcements from the military. Officials said that it's going to take a lot of intense training, planning and logistical work to coordinate their firefighting efforts -- but that they can do so. On Monday, pilots and flight crews from the California Department of Forestry met with counterparts from Naval Station North Island, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and the California National Guard to map out the process of coordinating radio frequencies and air-operation protocols, as well as the sticky topic of chain of command. Authorities also want to have the military pilots certified to fight civilian fires, an effort that has been cleared by the Pentagon...Resorts sprouted after Sun Valley With the opening of Sun Valley as the nation's premier winter resort, it was only a matter of time before Idahoans began looking to other mountaintops as a way to cash in on the fun. Popular folklore says Averell Harriman considered Mount Bonneville - the highest point in the Portneuf Range - for his Sun Valley resort, but decided it was too difficult to get to. No matter. In 1947, 11 years after Sun Valley opened, several Pocatello daredevils formed the Alpette Ski Club and pooled their resources to buy a New Sweden rope tow, which they placed on Scout Mountain...Both sides claim win in minnow decision A decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals 10th Circuit to vacate its earlier decision in the endangered species Rio Grande silvery minnow case is being declared a victory by both sides of the issue. Representatives of the state and agricultural community called the decision by the 10th Circuit a victory. Environ-mentalists said it gets the appeals court out of the picture but does not undo their earlier victory in federal district court in Albuquerque. The court ruled that an appeal of the Court of Appeals' June decision regarding diversion of water to maintain a habitat for the silvery minnow was made moot by events occurring after the entry of the injunction order, which expired on Dec. 31. The appeals court had agreed during the summer with Chief U.S. District Judge James A. Parker of Albuquerque. Each court held that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation can take water from middle Rio Grande irrigators and others who contract for imported water through the San Juan-Chama Project if it's needed to sustain the minnow. The State of New Mexico, the federal government, the City of Albuquerque and irrigation districts had asked the appeals court to reconsider its decision. "The injunctive order from which this appeal was taken no longer provides the court with a live controversy to review," the 10th Circuit judges wrote, which were released on Monday...Endangered wolf escapes from Battle Creek zoo An endangered Mexican gray wolf remained on the loose Tuesday after escaping from Binder Park Zoo. Three wolves escaped from their enclosure through a small hole they stretched in their exhibit fence early Saturday morning. Two wolves quickly were recaptured, but one climbed the zoo's 9-foot perimeter fence and got away. "This is not a situation that is taken lightly at Binder Park Zoo," Geise said. "We are very concerned for the safety of this animal, and we are taking every possible measure to see that it is returned safely." The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service owns the wolf and two service biologists who specialize in wolves are aiding in the search, Geise said... Petition to list "eastern" sage grouse rejected The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has rejected a petition to list "eastern" sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act, saying there's no evidence they are a unique subspecies of other sage grouse found in the West. But the agency said it will continue a preliminary review of other pending petitions involving the species as a whole. A finding on those petitions, including one filed last month by 20 conservation organizations, is expected by the end of March, the agency said...Column: Puzzling times Land acquisitions in our local communities are not necessarily real estate transactions between two willing parties but are sometimes classified as controls and "takings." They come in many forms other than a deeded sale of property. If we were to put a jigsaw puzzle together with each piece representing a "controlling program," we could see how close the puzzle is to being complete... Editorial: Species act has support Signed into law Dec. 28, 1973, the law is designed to provide a safety net for fish, wildlife and plant species on the brink of extinction. It is arguably the most comprehensive conservation measure ever crafted. The act makes it illegal to kill, harm or harass listed species. And it allows for protection of critical habitat for listed species. Several signature species, including the American bald eagle, the peregrine falcon and the southern California sea otter, have rebounded from perilously low numbers through protection afforded by the act. The Endangered Species Act has strong public support. In a Lou Harris & Associates poll commissioned by The Olympian several years ago, 71 percent of the adults surveyed called the act somewhat to very effective in protecting plants and animals from extinction. And two-thirds of those polled wanted Congress to reauthorize the act... Groups seek end to Park Service's 'Blanket Approval' Policy Four conservation groups have cited the National Park Service for authorizing wholesale Wilderness Act violations by its own staff at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains. Sequoia and Kings Canyon contains more than 700,000 acres of congressionally designated wilderness in some of the wildest country in California. The Wilderness Act prohibits such things as motor vehicles and aircraft landing in wilderness. The prohibitions apply not only to the public who visit wilderness, but also the federal agencies that administer it. The Act allows federal agencies some latitude to engage in practices prohibited by the Wilderness Act but only when the practices are absolutely needed for administering the wilderness... Report says bear attack occurred during the day The bear that killed Timothy Treadwell and Amie Huguenard attacked them at their campsite at midday, not at night as was widely believed, according to a National Park Service report. The report, released Dec. 29 by a technical board of investigation for Katmai National Park, says the attack began at 1:58 p.m. Oct. 5. The time is based on a date stamp found in a digital video camera the couple turned on just before the attack. The digital video contains the sounds of the attack but no pictures, apparently because the lens cap was on...Religious debate rages at National Parks With pages of eye-catching photographs of the Grand Canyon and the blue waters of the Colorado River, the hardback "Grand Canyon: A Different View" is a medium seller at the national park's bookstore. But the book's use of a biblical time scale to claim that the Grand Canyon is only a few thousand years old has thrust the park into the debate over religious materials at public sites. Some critics say examples from the Grand Canyon to the Lincoln Memorial show the National Park Service has caved to pressure from conservative and fundamentalist Christian groups, accommodating their requests to post or alter materials. But National Park Service officials deny the accusation, saying they seek legal advice before acting. Parks also may sell or post materials considered inspirational, such as poetry and photographs, as long as they don't make scientific claims, the agency said...BLM releases report on Otero Mesa The controversial fate of southern Otero County's Otero Mesa is a step closer to being decided with the Bureau of Land Management's release of a proposed Resource Management Plan. The plan, also known as the EIS (Environmental Impact Statement), outlines decisions that will guide the management of almost two million acres of federal public lands and mineral estate administered by the Las Cruces BLM field office. "What this document shows is a proposed plan how we would administer oil and gas leasing," said Tom Phillips, BLM land use planner in the Las Cruces office. "This is our proposed plan. The final EIS. This is at the end of five years of development." There will be a 30-day protest period, Phillips said. Protestants have to send their documents to the BLM director in Washington...Column: Hydrogen's Dirty DetailsThe day after George W. Bush's 2003 State of the Union address, the president of the National Mining Association, Jack Gerard, wrote him a letter applauding Bush's plan for a pollution-free future powered by fuel cells, the battery-like devices that use hydrogen to release energy. "Coal - reliable, abundant, affordable and domestic," wrote Gerard, "will be the source for much of this hydrogen-powered fuel." Gerard is right: The so-called hydrogen economy will be a boon for the mining industry. The clean-energy future that many environmentalists have dreamed of has been turned over to the coal industry and a notoriously dirty Siberian mining company run by Russian oligarch Vladimir Potanin. A deal personally smoothed over by Bush has given Norilsk Nickel, one of the world's worst polluters, a toehold on American soil - and a major stake in the hydrogen economy. The new mining frenzy is emerging as yet another piece of Bush's "black hydrogen agenda," according to the Green Hydrogen Coalition, whose members include the Sierra Club, Public Citizen, and Jeremy Rifkin, a leading proponent of hydrogen fuel cells...BLM may shave coal lease Federal land managers want to cut 123.6 million tons from a lease by application (LBA) for federal coal in the southern Powder River Basin. The West Antelope LBA Tract is one of five under consideration in the Bureau of Land Management's South Powder River Basin Coal final Environmental Impact Statement, which was released for a 30-day public comment period on Christmas Eve. Under the BLM's proposed alternatives, the agency would make available five new leases for a total of 1.5 billion tons of federally-owned coal in a competitive lease process. Antelope Coal Co., a subsidiary of Kennecott Energy, had applied for one new lease tract containing about 3,542 acres and 294 million tons of coal to extend the life of its Antelope coal mine straddling the Campbell and Converse county line in northeast Wyoming...State to oppose prairie dog listing State officials will soon ask the federal government to drop the black-tailed prairie dog as a candidate for the threatened species list. Pennington County ranchers say the state should do more - and fast. George Vandel, the top biologist for the state Game, Fish & Parks Department, told the Pennington County Commission and a large group of area ranchers Tuesday that GF&P Secretary John Cooper and state Agriculture Secretary Larry Gabriel will make the formal request to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Vandel said the state's request will contain preliminary data from a survey indicating the state has more than 200,000 acres inhabited by prairie dogs, including 170,000 acres of nontribal land. The survey is nearly complete...Colorado set to post record in 2004 for oil, gas well permits A record 2,500 permits to drill oil and gas wells in the state are expected to be issued this year, furthering the Rockies' claim as a hot spot for energy producers. The 2004 forecast by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, based on a poll of 600 companies actively operating in the state, is substantially higher than the previous record of 2,378 permits set in 1980. "There has been a sustained drilling boom for three years in a row, but we believe 2004 will be an all-time record," said oil and gas commission Director Rich Griebling...Following busy year, Wyoming tries to cope with coalbed growing pains In the last four years, the Bureau of Land Management office here has expanded three times. The staff has jumped from 25 employees to 76. The Forest Service, which shared the office with the BLM for years, has been squeezed out. "We've beefed up knowing that the onslaught is coming," said Beels, project manager for oil and gas in the BLM's Buffalo office. The signs are obvious in places like the Lower Prairie Dog Creek drainage, just outside Sheridan. Older pickup trucks steered by ranchers are giving way to new pickups driven by gas company officials and tractor trailors hauling pipes and equipment. The rolling ranchland is still a bucolic setting, but increasingly is home to giant compressors, underground pipes, new roads and scores of squat beige boxes that house coalbed methane wells...Heated discussion marks first post-fire meeting Skepticism and disagreement marked the beginning of an experimental "consensus" process for planning post-fire management projects in the Flathead's North Fork Valley. The Flathead National Forest launched the process Monday at the Kalispell Center WestCoast Hotel, with 83 out of 110 registered participants showing up. The crowd included some of the most vocal environmental and multiple-use activists in the Flathead Valley, creating a charged atmosphere for the start of a process that will continue with a series of meetings over the next 10 days...Energy firms paying tab for GOP trip A dozen or more congressional Republicans will gather at a resort in balmy Phoenix this week to hear the legislative wish lists of Western coal, power and mining companies - and raise money from them. The four-day conference begins today with a $1,500-per-person round of golf and private dinner, dubbed "Mulligans and Margaritas." The money raised from industry officials will be divided among the re-election campaigns of the lawmakers, most of whom serve on committees that oversee the mining and energy industries... An Environmental Memoir It is strange to recall, given his spectacular misdeeds in office, that Richard Nixon was among the 20th century's most progressive political leaders on matters of the environment. During his presidency, Nixon set in motion policies that cleaned waterways, removed grit and fumes from the air, saved big chunks of critical habitat and hundreds of plant and animal species, reduced and in some cases banned the use of deadly pesticides and created several interlocking federal agencies to protect the environment and the public domain. "That environmental agenda," Washington insider Russell Train writes in his memoir, "Politics, Pollution, and Pandas," "was so wide-ranging, and yet so comprehensive, as to be without precedent in the history of the United States."... Former Colo. Arsenal Gets a Cleanup site once branded as the most polluted square mile in America, where sarin gas and other weapons of mass destruction were manufactured for decades, has been declared free of chemical weapons. The Rocky Mountain Arsenal, 10 miles north of Denver, once represented 60 percent of the nation's chemical weapons production capacity, but is now on its way to becoming a federal wildlife preserve. The federal Superfund site has undergone a $2.2 billion cleanup aimed at transforming it into a wildlife preserve...Dixon dairy faces federal suit over 1.3 million gallon spill A Dixon dairy that spilled more than 1 million gallons of manure-tainted water into streams leading to the Sacramento River faces a federal lawsuit for violating the Clean Water Act, environmentalists said Tuesday. The Sierra Club notified Heritage Dairy owner Peter Albers last week that it intends to sue him in U.S. District Court for a November spill that began when a pump failed in a manure storage lagoon. Federal environmental lawsuits require 60 days notice before they can be filed. The Sierra Club has targeted large livestock operations as a national priority in its campaign to prevent pollution, but it's the first Clean Water Act lawsuit the club has threatened to bring in California...Western States Submit the Nation's First Plans to Reduce Haze over National Parks and Wilderness Areas Five Western states and the City of Albuquerque have completed the nation's first air quality plans designed to reduce haze over federally protected Class I areas, such as national parks and wilderness areas. The states of Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, and Wyoming -- all members of the Western Regional Air Partnership (WRAP) -- each submitted their plans to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in December. These states are among the 13 WRAP states that are working together with Western tribes, federal agencies, industry, and environmental groups to conduct research and develop policies to reduce haze in the West. A key element of each state plan is an innovative strategy to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions from major industrial sources such as coal-fired power plants, smelters, and refineries. The plans institute a regional cap on sulfur dioxide emissions in the five states. The cap limits the tons of sulfur dioxide that can be emitted annually by industrial sources in the five state region. If industrial emissions remain below the cap, no further regulation takes effect. If the cap is exceeded, an emissions trading program is triggered to ensure the environmental goal is achieved. Under the emissions trading program, sources are given an annual emissions allowance and must limit their emissions to that level or purchase additional allowances from another source with excess allowances. Other important elements of the plans are strategies to reduce smoke from prescribed fires and strategies to increase the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency...San Joaquin County farmers to battle California laws on agriculture discharge Farmers, agricultural water providers, environmentalists and the public in general will be allowed to voice their opinions Wednesday on new rules requiring farmers to monitor pesticides and other items discharged from their land to California waterways. Six appeals representing farmers and one appeal by a coalition of environmentalists have been filed with the California Water Resources Control Board, a division of the California Environmental Protection Agency...Seize the opportunity It's not exactly a full-scale victory for Rio Grande water users and rights owners, but the federal appeals court decision to vacate its earlier ruling on water for the silvery minnow allows them to catch their breath. In what was more a technical decision than a ruling, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals said its June decision that would allow the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to divert San Juan-Chama water from Rio Grande irrigators to habitat for the minnow was moot because the lower court preliminary injunction it upheld had expired. The decision sends the case back to federal district court in Albuquerque for a new hearing before Judge James A. Parker, who issued the preliminary injunction that the state had appealed to the 10th Circuit. In rehearing the case, Parker will have to deal with a new federal law sponsored by U.S. Sens. Pete Domenici and Jeff Bingaman, both of New Mexico, that passed Congress in November and was signed by President Bush. That law prohibits the federal government from taking San Juan-Chama water for the minnow... Wyoming Livestock Board approves emergency brucellosis testing The Wyoming Livestock Board on Tuesday unanimously approved emergency rules requiring testing of cattle for brucellosis. Testing for the disease, which causes cattle, bison and elk to abort and can lead to chronic flu-like symptoms in humans, is optional in Wyoming. Mandatory testing could affect tens of thousands of cattle, industry experts said. The board adopted the rules to allay concerns from other states about the safety of Wyoming's cattle in wake of the finding of brucellosis in a herd in Sublette County... Calgary's big money proposal: Potential $1 million payout turns heads During the NFR in Las Vegas, officials from the Calgary Stampede announced that their event will pay out more than $1 million for this year. And the money will bring some major changes to the Calgary Stampede and create new questions for the PRCA. Prior to 2004, 10 competitors qualified for Sunday's Stampede Showdown rounds. The top four would advance to the finals with the champion earning a winner-take-all $50,000 bonus. The money in the bonus round did not count toward the world standings. This summer, the Calgary Stampede is changing the format, increasing its payouts and how competitors qualify...Paying attention But today, I wasn't able to concentrate on much of anything. Not with her on my mind. You'd have to see her to know why my thoughts ran like a stampede of steers through five holes in a fenceline. She was as pretty a cowgirl as my eyes ever had the pleasure to witness and, best of all, she liked cowboys. More important, she liked this cowboy, at least enough to say "yes" when my bumbling mouth stuttered a request for a date to the Stock Show. Now all she had to do was arrive and I'd be the happiest man holding up a hat this side of the Atlantic. It was a week ago I asked her, stumbling over the words, and I'd been a nervous wreck since...

MAD COW NEWS

DNA Tests Verfiy U.S. Mad Cow From Canada

Genetic testing confirms that the cow diagnosed with the first U.S. case of mad cow disease was born in Canada, agriculture officials said Tuesday.

The test results will allow investigators to intensify their search for the source of infection, most likely from contaminated feed, in Alberta, where the Holstein was born in 1997.

Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman announced the mad cow diagnosis on Dec. 23, the first time the disease has been found in the United States since its discovery in Great Britain in the mid-1980s.

The DNA tests on the cow, on one of its offspring and on the semen from the cow's sire, as well as records that show the cow came from a dairy farm in Alberta, make "us confident in the accuracy of this traceback," said Dr. Ron DeHaven, the Agriculture Department's chief veterinarian.

Brian Evans, a Canadian agriculture official, said independent testing from a Canadian lab agreed.

Canadian officials had announced last May that a cow in Alberta had been diagnosed with the disease.

While no links have been found between the two cases, investigators now will focus on looking for common sources of feed, Evans said.

He added, "We have not got sufficient evidence to make any feed link between the two farms."...

USDA technical briefing and Webcast On BSE with Canadian and U.S. Officials including Dr. Ron DeHaven, Chief Veterinary Officer, USDA and Dr. Brian Evans, Chief Veterinary Officer, Canadian Food Inspection Agency

Washington, D.C.
Tuesday, January 6, 2004

MR. CURLETT: Hello. I'd like to welcome everybody to today's BSE situation update. I apologize for the late start today. Today we have with us Dr. Brian Evans, the chief veterinary officer for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. And we have Dr. Ron DeHaven, the chief veterinary officer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They will both make statements today, and then we will take some questions. We ask that you limit your questions to one, as we have a lot of people on the line, and that you state your name and affiliation prior to asking your question. And with that, I will turn it over to Dr. DeHaven. Thank you.

DR. DEHAVEN: Ed, thank you very much, and thanks to all of you for joining us, particularly on such short notice.

Today we are updating on recent events that have occurred since the briefing that we held yesterday by phone. We now have DNA evidence that allows us to verify with a high degree of certainty that the BSE positive cow found in the state of Washington originated from a dairy farm in Alberta, Canada. This DNA evidence is based on a comparison of DNA from the brain of the positive cow with the DNA from the semen of her sire, as determined by records on the farm in Alberta.

Additional DNA test results involved the yearling heifer calf on the index farm, which was born from this positive cow. Breeding records on that calf confirm that she was born from the positive cow, bearing the same tag number found on the positive cow at slaughter, which is also the same tag number found on the record on the dairy farm in Alberta, Canada.

This new DNA information, coupled with the documentation that we have obtained from our colleagues in Canada, from the owner of the dairy farm in Mabton, Washington, and through import records makes us confident in the accuracy of this trace-back.

Clearly other elements of the investigation will continue, and will continue on both sides of the border, and may provide additional information.

I'd like to point out that from the very beginning of this investigation the cooperative efforts on both sides of the border have been tremendous. Indeed, we are sharing colleagues, with Canadian personnel actively involved in our epidemiological investigation in the United States, as well as their U.S. counterparts actively involved in the investigation and activities on the Canadian side of the border.

So I want to thank our Canadian colleagues for their professionalism, for their thoroughness, and for their assistance in this investigation.

And now I'd like to pass the microphone to my friend and colleague, Dr. Brian Evans, the chief veterinary officer with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Brian?

DR. EVANS: Thanks very much, Ron. As Dr. DeHaven has clearly indicated in his opening address, the DNA results conducted in Canada, and being reported today as well, fully complement and reflect those returned from the U.S. laboratory.

As indicated as well, in reaching the determination being announced today, it is very important that we all recognize the fact that the DNA results themselves are but one step in a broader fabric of elements that are being fully considered as we continue to pursue all of the avenues of the investigation.

The cooperation at the field level and at the laboratory level continues to be exemplary from our perspective, and it reflects the commitment that we both share to protecting public animal health and food safety in the broader North American context.

The finding today is but one step, as Ron has indicated, down a road, which we will continue to pursue in parallel on the Canadian and U.S. sides. The important next steps that we will collaborate on, as he has indicated -- we will look at areas like how this animal has become infected, and therefore feed investigations will be intimate to that determination.

Equally, joint decisions relative to ongoing tracing of associated animals and appropriate depopulation and testing strategies, will be a second key component of the investigation, which we will continue to work through.

And finally, at the end of the day, as we try to bring conclusion to all the avenues of the investigation, we are equally committed to continue to work together in any other manner that would be dictated by the findings of the investigation, so that again other factors are fully taken into account to ensure that there is no outstanding issue, no rock unturned, to ensure at the end of the day, no matter who assesses the integrity of the investigation, that it will withstand any scrutiny brought to bear, and will reflect collectively again our interests to continue to protect public and animal health.

DR. DEHAVEN: With that, operator, I think we could go to questions. Operator, if you could, we would like to have a short question-and-answer period, please...

Consumers group wants carcass testing to stop spread of mad cow Consumers Union says the government's proposals to stop the spread of mad cow disease are inadequate. Senior research associate Dr. Michael Hansen says one of the most effective ways to stop mad cow is to test every carcass for traces of the disease. Hansen says Europe and Japan have been doing this for some time and have prevented diseased animals from getting into the food chain...Rabbis say kosher beef may be safer against mad cow disease Orthodox Jewish rabbis say kosher regulations on beef already include precautions that the government is using to guard against mad cow disease. One rabbi says kosher slaughtering bans animals that cannot stand on their own and forbids stunning cattle with air injections before slaughter -- a technique that might dislocate brain tissue, which is a carrier of mad cow disease. He says the kosher practice of removing cattle's sciatic nerves may also help protect against mad cow disease... Fear, frustration, pessimism greet DNA mad cow confirmation in Alberta It's just as well that Alberta rancher Ron Beniuk was sitting down when he heard Tuesday the DNA confirmation that an American cow diagnosed with mad cow disease originated in Alberta. "I'm sitting down, 'cause I can't get no lower," said Beniuk, who has 175 cows near Lac La Biche north of Edmonton. Beniuk fears that confirmation will only lead to more Alberta-raised cows being found with bovine spongiform encephalopathy. "There are cows that were fed the same feed and everything that are still in the system," he said. "When they get butchered they're going to find some more BSE. That cow wasn't fed that bone meal by herself." The fear and the uncertainty is getting to him...Enzyme Fully Degrades Mad Cow Disease Prion Research by North Carolina State University scientists, in conjunction with scientists from the Netherlands and BioResource International, an NC State spin-off biotechnology company, has shown that, under proper conditions, an enzyme can fully degrade the prion - or protein particle - believed to be responsible for mad cow disease and other related animal and human diseases. These transmissible prions - believed to be the cause of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), the technical name for mad cow disease, as well as the human and sheep versions, called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and scrapie, respectively - are highly resistant to degradation, says Dr. Jason Shih, professor of biotechnology and poultry science at NC State. But the new research, which tested the effects of a bacterial enzyme keratinase on brain tissues from cows with BSE and sheep with scrapie, showed that, when the tissue was pretreated and in the presence of a detergent, the enzyme fully degraded the prion, rendering it undetectable...Deaths rise in Britain from variant of mad cow The number of people in Britain who died from a brain disease related to mad cow increased in 2003 for the first time in four years, the Health Department has announced. Eighteen people died in 2003 from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the agency said Monday, up from 17 in 2002. The disease, known as vCJD, is thought to stem from eating infected beef and attacks the human brain in much the same way as mad cow attacks the bovine brain. To date, 139 people in Britain have died from "definite or probable" cases of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the agency said, and another six are still living with it. Statistically, the increase could be just "random noise," said Dr. Simon Cousens, who tracks the disease at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Still, there is no uniform opinion on whether death from exposure to mad cow disease is falling in Britain, Cousens said...Governor proclaims 'American Beef Week' Gov. Kathleen Sebelius had a suggestion Monday for dinner: "Go buy a burger. Eat a steak." Sebelius' lighthearted message was a serious suggestion that consumers continue to eat beef despite the discovery last month of a cow infected with mad cow disease in Washington state. The governor made the remark as she signed a proclamation marking "American Beef Week." Sebelius said governors of Colorado, Oklahoma, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Texas all signed similar proclamations to reassure consumers the nation's beef supply remains safe. Those states are among 10 that are responsible for about 75 percent of the beef market in the United States, Sebelius said. "We all recognize that it's not only significant for our economies, but it's a key part of the diet of Americans," she said. "Hopefully, Kansas and American consumers will continue to buy and eat beef."...Cattle Prices Sink, Japan to Retain Ban Cattle prices fell sharply in Chicago on Tuesday after officials with top importer Japan said they will keep their ban on U.S. beef imports, two weeks after the discovery of the first case of mad cow disease in the United States. On Tuesday, live cattle for February delivery at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange closed down 1.40 cents a pound at 73.900 cents. That benchmark contract had closed at 90.675 cents on Dec. 23, before the mad cow discovery was announced...Mexican officials to visit U.S. for mad cow talks Mexican officials will visit Washington next week to see what steps the United States is taking to prevent the spread of mad cow disease following the identification of one case last month, officials said on Tuesday. "We extended an invitation to a technical team from the Mexican agriculture ministry to visit the United States, they accepted our invitation and they will be arriving in Washington on Monday," J.B. Penn, an undersecretary for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, told reporters in Mexico City. U.S. agriculture officials pushed Mexico, a major consumer of meat from its northern neighbor, to lift the ban on beef imports at talks in the Mexican capital on Tuesday...Experts Seek Analysis of Human Mad Cow Scientists have yet to document a single U.S. case of someone getting the human version of mad cow disease from contaminated beef. Then again, they might not be looking hard enough. Some experts say scientists should be looking more closely at cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease - a brain-destroying disorder that kills hundreds of Americans each year - to see whether some of these deaths were, in fact, caused by beef from cattle infected with mad cow disease. "Could there be one (missed) case in there? Maybe," said Lawrence Schonberger, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention epidemiologist who has studied CJD for more than a decade. "In this game, we never say something's impossible."...Amending the US beef business Americans today are learning far more than they ever wanted to know about the process of turning cows into thousands of products that even a hard-core vegan would have trouble avoiding - cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, fire-extinguisher foam, lubricants, the glue that holds plywood together. Not to mention the steaks, roasts, hamburger, and other meat items that human carnivores regularly devour. The process is necessarily violent and mechanical, involving slicing, grinding, and high-pressure blasting and compression. It's much safer than it was years ago - both for slaughterhouse and meat- processing workers, as well as for consumers. But it has also run the risk of mixing the potentially disease-causing parts of the cow (brain, spinal cord, and parts of the intestine) into the muscle meat and other food products - including sausage - that many Americans eat every day. Meat from the infected Holstein was mixed in with 20,000 pounds from other cows before being shipped to market. Some doctors now suspect that people diagnosed with Alzheimer's may in fact have the human version of the neurological disease, which incubates years before appearing in the form of mental and physical degeneration. No one knows for sure if there is any possible link to animals with bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE (the scientific name for mad-cow disease), however. That's because until now the inspection system for cattle headed for the slaughterhouse has been relatively minimal...Aussie Beef Prices Soar Fears of an outbreak of mad cow disease in the United States have sent the price of wholesale Australian beef in Japan surging by as much as 40%, according to a report Tuesday. The price of benchmark frozen Australian beef has jumped to Y950 yen a kilogram in Tokyo -- up Y270 yen (US$2.54), or 40 percent, since Dec. 23 -- just before the government slapped an import ban on U.S. beef, the business daily Nikkei Shimbun reported. According to figures from the Japan Meat Trading Center, wholesale U.S. beef prices have plummeted, while the prices of Australian cuts have steadily increased since the Dec. 24 ban, which was imposed after the discovery of the first American case of mad cow disease...Mexico to Weigh Importing Some U.S. Beef Mexico, one of the biggest markets for American beef, will consider allowing imports of some cuts of meat as exceptions to a ban imposed after the United States' first case of mad cow disease was discovered, officials said Tuesday. But Agriculture Secretary Javier Usabiaga said a decision to make those exceptions could take months and would only occur after Mexico was satisfied that U.S. controls were adequate. Mexico also wants to send its own experts to the United States to examine the controls. Cuba also is negotiating new purchases of American cattle, confident that concerns over mad cow disease will be quickly allayed and the animals shipped will be healthy, said Pedro Alvarez, head of Cuba's food import company. Cuba earlier considered postponing some purchases of American cattle because of mad cow concerns...

NEWS ROUNDUP

Forest Service decision on grasslands expected soon The U.S. Forest Service is expected to issue a decision soon regarding 16 appeals against its Northern Great Plains Management Plans Revision, a document involving the management of national grasslands in Wyoming, the Dakotas and Montana. The plan revision was finalized in July 2002, capping seven years of development. Five of the appeals involve grazing and mineral development in northeast Wyoming's Thunder Basin National Grassland... Contractor quits horse roundup in Carson National Forest A contractor hired to round up wild horses in the Carson National Forest has thrown in the towel. New Mexico Horse Project director Carlos LoPopolo failed to capture a single horse in the Jarita Mesa Wild Horse Territory. He blames stormy weather and the flu, which struck many of his crewmembers and halted work for 13 days. A U.S. Forest Service contract gave LoPopolo's group 30 days to round up the horses, beginning December First...Conservation group buys Sage Creek land The Conservation Fund has purchased 160 acres of land along Sage Creek in the Pryor Mountains, with plans to close the deal on an adjoining 160 acre tract in March. The purchase is part of a plan to buy six 160-acre tracts belonging to the Schwend families. The Conservation Fund will then sell the land to the Custer National Forest. Money for the purchase came from a $750,000 appropriation in the Interior budget. Gates Watson, the Montana representative of the nonprofit Conservation Fund, said his group is in the process of drawing up plans to request money from the 2005 budget for the four other tracts...Alaska Wildlife Experts Use Floating Lab In service for 16 years, the Tiglax has emerged as a major player in managing the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, which extends from the state's southeastern arm to the Aleutian Islands to the Arctic Slope. It's a floating science center with access to many of the 2,500 islands, islets and headlands that make up the 3.5 million-acre refuge. Researchers from federal agencies, universities and other institutions use the 120-foot vessel for hundreds of projects, keeping track of the health and welfare of the Far North's abundant marine life. Most of the research is done along the Aleutians and Gulf of Alaska during the warmer months, when lush grasses sprout waist-high and the region comes alive with millions of returning seabirds, whales, otters and sea lions...Some say mouse is hurting business A study suggesting that Preble's meadow jumping mouse may not need protection under the Endangered Species Act comes too late for some developers and landowners. Developer Al Alba said his company, Omnivest Realty, lost more than $1 million as a result of mouse habitat protection that caused an 18-month delay on a Colorado site where he plans to build affordable housing. A recent Denver Museum of Nature and Science study called the mouse's protected status into question, suggesting it's not a genetically distinct subspecies worthy of protection under the Endangered Species Act. "I didn't know whether to cheer or cry when I heard about the museum study," Alba said. "In any case, it came too late to have any bearing on our project. We just had to bite the bullet, take the loss and move on." The study was released on the same day that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that there was insufficient evidence to support three separate petitions to remove the mouse's protected status...Supporters champion stronger ESA Supporters of the Endangered Species Act say the law has been the difference between existence and extinction of many plants and animals, but that more needs to be done to ensure permanent recovery of imperiled species. Calls for increased commitment to the act comes on its 30th anniversary --- celebrated Dec. 28 --- as the Bush administration is considering moves to make significant changes to the law... Costs of ESA provoke ranchers' wrath Livestock producers in Wyoming say the Endangered Species Act has appropriately helped a couple of species survive, but for the most part, they feel, the act is a land use tool that hurts ranchers. Asked to look back on the 30-year history of the Endangered Species Act, Wyoming Stock Growers Association executive vice-president Jim Magagna said the ESA is not working the way it was intended. The act is having huge, negative impacts on the state's livestock producers, he said... Editorial: Common enemies Utah ranchers today are fearing that a decision expected early this week from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will move a once-common bird called the greater sage grouse toward the protections of the Endangered Species Act. If the government does start the process toward protecting the ground-dwelling bird, whose numbers have dropped dramatically over the last 20 years, ranchers fear their ability to graze their herds on public lands will be subjected to more restrictions. But public lands are in need of more restrictions, and would be even if there were no such beast as the greater sage grouse. Ranching throughout the West, already heavily subsidized with cheap grazing permits, is threatened by basically the same factors that have pushed the grouse and its cousins to the brink of extinction -- drought, urban sprawl and overly aggressive oil and gas exploration being the most prominent...Feds delay new elementary school A possible threat to the habitat of two endangered species means that some students may be starting school in a portable classroom rather than a brand-new campus this fall, a school official said Monday. Lake Elsinore Unified School District has put on hold its plans for building the new Ronald Reagan Elementary School off Baxter Road while it works out with federal agencies the potential impacts of the project on the species and takes appropriate action to protect their habitat, district officials said Monday. In July, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers identified the 13-acre parcel as a possible habitat area for the Quino checkerspot butterfly and the coastal California gnatcatcher, a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service official said Monday. Both species are listed by the federal government as being endangered...Appeals Court Favors State Over Minnow New Mexico and other Western states have won another victory over the silvery minnow. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has set aside an earlier decision that allowed the federal government to take water from states or cities to protect an endangered species. State Attorney General Patricia Madrid said the court's ruling applies not just to the silvery minnow, but also to all similar cases. "I think it's a victory for state's rights to say the federal government cannot tell New Mexico how to use its precious and scarce water resources," Madrid said...Snowmobile case surfaces in new court In the latest twist over snowmobiling in Yellowstone National Park, a federal judge in Wyoming has agreed to revive a court case that challenged a ban on the machines that was issued near the end of the Clinton administration. U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer said on Dec. 31 that he would reopen the case but did not set a schedule for when it would proceed. Attorneys on both sides of the snowmobile fight were notified of the decision Monday. The decision could mean that the dispute over snowmobiles moves into two federal courts...Coalbed methane: The lawsuits As drilling for coalbed methane slowly picks up in southeastern Montana, legal battles over development of the natural gas continue to pit conservationists, American Indians and landowners against government agencies and developers. At latest count, there are four cases pending in U.S. District Court in Billings, another case from the district on appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and one suit pending in Montana District Court. Most of the lawsuits challenge two environmental studies approved earlier this year by Montana and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in Montana and Wyoming. Conservation groups, landowners and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe all sued the BLM and U.S. Department of Interior shortly after BLM approved plans in Montana and Wyoming for coalbed methane development. The suits allege the environmental analyses were inadequate and violated federal laws...Conservationists, tribes urge caution in coalbed methane development Conservation groups in 2003 won key rulings on issues of tapping coalbed methane in Montana, and they aren't relaxing their efforts. The Northern Plains Resource Council, a Billings-based non-profit group representing conservationists and family agriculture, has filed at least six lawsuits over coalbed methane. Five are pending and a sixth was settled in NPRC's favor. The Northern Cheyenne Tribe has joined one of the suits against the Bureau of Land Management, saying it fears development plans threaten tribal ways of life. Developers have accused the conservation group of being obstructionist and anti-industry. The group says it only aims to ensure that coalbed methane development doesn't deplete or degrade water resources, or drive farmers and ranchers out of business...Ready, set, Montana takes measured approach to coalbed exploration The year 2003 was a turning point for coalbed methane development in Montana. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management and state of Montana completed a long-awaited environmental study that will guide development of an estimated 26,000 wells in the state in the next 20 years. In March, the Montana Board of Environmental Review adopted numeric water quality standards for salts in groundwater discharged by coalbed methane wells. The standards apply to the Powder, Little Powder and Tongue rivers and Rosebud Creek in southeastern Montana. The numeric standards are to protect the rivers' water quality while allowing developers to discharge some of the huge quantities of groundwater that are brought to the surface to release the natural gas. The wrangling over the numeric standards between landowners, who worried about protecting their soils and crops, and developers, who were concerned that too stringent standards could stymie methane production, ended with standards that both sides said they could live with...Editorial: A cow eating grass You remember the story of the clever art student, the one who framed a blank canvass and titled it "Cow Eating Grass." Where was the grass? The cow ate it all. Where was the cow? Why would she stick around if there was no grass? At the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, that's not a joke. It's a mission statement. In another of those carefully timed announcements (Friday afternoon, when all the bigfoot Washington reporters are off to their weekend houses in Virginia), the BLM released an analysis of its own proposed new rules for grazing rights on the millions of acres it supposedly holds in the name of all of the American people. The agency's own analysis declares that the agency's proposed rules are just wonderful, except for "some short-term adverse effects" that will result from an approach that is even more see-no-evil than the existing one...Helping Mother Nature: Nonprofit group works to protect desert tortoises from too much -- and too little -- human interaction Betty Burge of Las Vegas can't think of an animal more endearing than the desert tortoise. "There's hardly an animal that you can walk up to in the wild, that's this big that's nonthreatening. Even children like them," says Burge, 71, who has largely devoted the past 31 years to studying and protecting the gentle reptile. Aside from inexorable loss of habitat as city replaces desert, the tortoise's placid approachability also places it at risk, notes Burge, who helped found the nonprofit Tortoise Group. Since 1982 it has been advising people on the proper care, feeding and habitat for pet tortoises...Big chill triggers jump in U.S. natural gas U.S. natural gas prices made big gains Monday on the first trading day of the year, propelled by cold weather and persistent market concerns about the nation's ability to meet demand as its gas supplies lag. A 10-percent jump in U.S. gas futures prices Monday fits a volatile pattern seen in recent months that most energy analysts blame on the market's inability to find equilibrium...Wyden deftly walks political line Sen. Ron Wyden helped Republicans turn controversial legislation regarding public lands and Medicare drug benefits into law in 2003. But the Portland Democrat appears to be riding out the anger from some of his urban, liberal supporters -- people who opposed the Healthy Forests Restoration Act as a backdoor effort to boost logging on public lands and the Medicare prescription drug bill as the first step toward privatizing the federal program. Oregon political experts say that Wyden's actions reflect the savvy calculations of a man skilled in navigating the state's political waters...Smith branches out by writing text for Fielder's forest book Colorado landscape photographer John Fielder and Glenwood Springs resident Steve Smith have paddled rivers and promoted environmental protection together. Now they have teamed up on Fielder's latest book, released late in 2003. Smith, a consultant to environmental organizations, has penned a 10,000-word essay accompanying the photos in "Seeing Colorado's Forests for the Trees." Smith's text covers the gamut: the different types of trees found at different elevations in Colorado; the history of man's use and enjoyment of forests; the impacts of fires, and infestations of insects and weeds; and the conservation ethic that has arisen side by side with logging, road development and other human incursions into the backcountry... Bush Makes Time for 'Hook and Bullet' Set The National Rifle Assn. was represented at the White House meeting; so were Ducks Unlimited and Pheasants Forever. Altogether, President Bush spent more than an hour with the leaders of some 20 hunting and fishing groups in the room named for Theodore Roosevelt, the first conservationist president. The unusually lengthy meeting -- followed by a major decision in its favor -- shows the "hook and bullet" crowd, as the anglers and hunters call themselves, to be a powerful new force on environmental issues in Washington. Traditional environmental groups, which have been hostile to the president from the start, have had a hard time catching the administration's ear. The hunters and anglers are more effective with the Bush administration, some of their leaders said, because they represent millions of Americans, many of whom vote Republican, and because they reject the confrontational strategy of the environmental movement...3 Top Enforcement Officials Say They Will Leave E.P.A. Three top enforcement officials at the Environmental Protection Agency have resigned or retired in the last two weeks, including two lawyers who were architects of the agency's litigation strategy against coal-burning power plants. The timing of the departures and comments by at least one of the officials who is leaving suggest that some have left out of frustration with the Bush administration's policy toward enforcement of the Clean Air Act. "The rug was pulled out from under us," said Rich Biondi, who is retiring as associate director of the air enforcement division of the agency. "You look around and say, `What contribution can I continue to make here?' and it was limited." Cynthia Bergman, a spokeswoman for the agency, said of the departures, "This is an office of several hundred employees -- and to have one political appointee and two career employees leave is not indicative of unrest or departmentwide frustration."...Column: Politics in the lab hits US scientific integrity In theory, science is supposed to be cold, analytical, dispassionate - and studiously apolitical. But in the real world of competing demands for federal research dollars, savvy scientists of all disciplines - from cognitive psychologists running rats through mazes to nuclear physicists operating massive particle accelerators - recognize that a certain amount of political meddling in their research by policymakers in the executive branch and Congress is to be expected. However, there are limits - limits the Bush administration has frequently disregarded by imposing stringent political controls on a broad variety of federal scientific programs and activities. This has raised acute concern in the American scientific community that the administration's drive to stamp its conservative values on science isn't just affecting policy decisions, but undermining the integrity of the US research infrastructure itself...Ozone standards pose health risk, scientists report The air Americans breathe contains more ozone from pollution than the Environmental Protection Agency estimates, Harvard scientists report. Ozone can cause pain, breathing difficulties, and coughing. It can damage the lungs, EPA warns on its Web site, and it can also make one susceptible to respiratory infections. Those active outdoors are particularly at risk for exposure, the agency says. To calculate air quality standards for ozone, EPA distinguishes between the background or "natural" levels of ozone in the air and that caused by pollution in North America. "Our results actually indicate that EPA is overestimating the background level, and as a result is underestimating the health risk associated with ozone pollution," atmospheric chemist Arlene Fiore says. This assumption skews the air quality standards that EPA sets, making them weaker than they could be, Fiore and co-authors report in the Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres, published by the American Geophysical Union...Pollution database lists 300 spills over 5 years On Nov. 11, 1998, an equipment malfunction caused the Montana Sulphur and Chemical Co. plant in Billings to release nearly 14 tons of sulfur dioxide into the air during a 2 1/2-hour period. Near Cut Bank on March 10, 2002, vandals turned loose railroad cars that derailed into a building containing batteries and caused abouts six gallons of acid to leak into the ground. Those were two of more than 300 suspected or actual unauthorized spills, discharges and releases of pollution in Montana reported over the past five years to a national clearinghouse maintained by the federal government. An Associated Press review of the National Response Center's database shows a wide variety in the types of spills and releases reported - from seemingly insignificant releases of hair spray to tens of thousands of gallons of ethanol. In about six of every 10 incidents, the chemical or substance reached a body of water, usually a nearby river or stream, the analysis found...Water Sentinels Go 'Knee-Deep' Kruzen is one of eight regional staffers in the Water Sentinels program. Now in its second year, the program educates the public about local water-quality problems and the lack of environmental law enforcement. Sierra Club chapters recruit, train, and equip teams of volunteers and field them to threatened waterways, where they take regular water samples, compile evidence, and build momentum for state-level enforcement actions focused on specific watersheds...New dam rivaling Grand Coulee suddenly not so unthinkable Workers in coveralls are drilling through the basalt beneath this empty, wind-torn basin to see what it would take to erect a mighty new dam -- a colossal structure as tall as the Space Needle and as wide as the Grand Coulee. It's an odd backward lunge to early-day Northwest efforts to corral nature through monumental feats of engineering. The enormous project pushed by drought-weary Eastern Washington farmers calls for siphoning millions of gallons from the Columbia River and piping it into a downward-sloping valley between Yakima and the Tri-Cities...'Halt water deals', Senator calls on General Land Office to halt water deal negotiations Senator Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, asked the Commissioner of the General Land Office to postpone further negotiations with private companies on prospective water deals until legislators can examine the proposals. Fraser, in a letter to GLO Commissioner Jerry Patterson, said he was troubled by recent newspaper accounts of potential water deals being negotiated by the state agency. "In reading about these proposed ventures, I am also surprised at the pace of the negotiations, especially given that the Texas Legislature has not been afforded the opportunity to review the proposals in detail," Fraser wrote. Fraser noted that the Legislature in 1997 enacted major water policy legislation, Senate Bill 1, which created 16 regional water planning districts throughout the state to ensure local control of water planning decisions...Editorial: Waterway words Along some of its course, the river is not much Rio and even less Grande, but its water brings life to fields and cities -- and has been very much in dispute for many years. It is refreshing, then, to see a proposal that would bring the governors of New Mexico, Texas and the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila and Tamaulipas together to draft a water agreement. Water from the Rio Grande has been a source of conflict between Mexico and Texas for generations. Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, which also has an interest in the river, doesn't think the U.S. and Mexican governments are paying enough attention...Deer dispute is now federal case Just outside the window of Hollywood Park's town hall, a deer herd was seen Monday afternoon quietly strolling through a hilly yard next door. The four were naturally unaware that a longtime explosive debate about managing their abundant population in this North Side town had just moved hours earlier from nearby town hall to a federal courthouse. Town residents and members of the Hollywood Park Humane Society joined together to file a lawsuit claiming that a much-debated 2002 municipal ordinance is both inhumane to the deer, and unconstitutional to homeowners who should be able to use their land as they want. Under the ordinance, anyone caught feeding deer is subject to a $500 fine, even if the feeding is done on private property. About two dozen citations have been handed out since its December 2002 inception, officials said...Gunfire punctuates Montana's bar culture After he shot his dog but before he murdered the jukebox, Gregory Michael Pepin explained to the bartender that he would dearly love to shoot himself. He just didn't have the nerve. What he did have, as he sat at the bar, was a snootful of tequila and a semiautomatic rifle with 30 bullets in the clip. The bartender, his hands trembling, poured Pepin a drink and tried to talk of happy days. It was going rather well, Roger Malmquist, the bartender, remembers thinking, when the jukebox suddenly started up. As the bartender tells the story, Pepin whirled on his barstool and fired four rounds into the jukebox. The music stopped. Moments later, the phone rang behind the bar. Pepin silenced it with five more bullets. Then the jukebox, wounded but not yet dead, erupted with another song. Pepin whirled again, fired two more rounds and finished it off. The bartender, trembling still, poured Pepin another drink...In Dewey, Mont., blame it on the jukebox "Almost all of these bars had a shooting in them," said Louie Rivenes, bartender for 20 years at the H Bar J. And here in Dewey last month, there was Gregory Pepin, his semiautomatic rifle and the bullet-riddled jukebox. "I talked him out of shooting the five televisions, the mirrored back-bar, the kegs, the windows and the doors," Malmquist said. "I reminded him of how he had changed that flat tire for the gal and how I tabbed him, and he started to calm down." Then, that jukebox played, the phone rang and all hell broke loose. Malmquist said he watched in fear and disbelief as Pepin emptied his 30-round clip...

MAD COW NEWS

Technical Briefing and Webcast On BSE with Government Officials

Jan. 5, 2004

ED CURLETT: Hello, I'd like to welcome everybody to today's BSE update. Today we have Dr. Stephen Sundlof with the Food and Drug Administration. We have Dr. Daniel Engeljohn with the Food Safety and Inspection Service. And we have Dr. Ron DeHaven, the chief veterinary officer for USDA. Dr. DeHaven will make some opening remarks, and then we'll open it up for questions. We ask that you state your name and affiliation prior to asking your question. And with that, I will turn it over to Dr. DeHaven. Thanks.

DR. DEHAVEN: Thank you, Ed. And happy New Year to everyone.

Just a brief opening statement, update today, and then we'll go to the questions and answers, as Ed indicated.

The first item has to do with depopulation of the bull calf operation. We have made a decision to depopulate those bull calves. Those operations will proceed sometime this week, largely dependent upon logistical issues as well as some weather concerns that exist in the Yakima area. The calves will be transported to a slaughter facility that currently is not being used. We will have animal care experts on hand both at the farm where the calves are loaded, as well as the slaughter facility, to ensure humane treatment and handling of those calves. In total there are approximately 450 animals that will be sacrificed as part of this overall effort. And none of the animals will enter the human food chain; nor will any of the product from those animals go into a rendered product. So, again, none of the materials from those materials will either go into the human food chain, nor will they go into a rendered product.

I would just urge restraint on the part of those in the media, and particularly in the Yakima area. We know that there are a number of reporters that are watching this facility, and we would again request that you respect the privacy and property rights of both the owners of the farm in question, as well as not to interfere with these operations once they get underway.

As far as the DNA testing results, that has been proceeding at both of the laboratories, one in Canada and one in the U.S., and we would hope to have some level of announcement later this week once all of the laboratory tests are completed and analyzed, and comparisons made between the results from the two laboratories. So, again, that is still pending, but work is progressing in the laboratories.

In terms of our trace out of the 82 animals that presumably entered the United States, including the positive cow, one would be the index cow. Nine others are known to be part of the index herd from which the positive cow departed immediately before she went to slaughter. One is the animal that I mentioned last week, which is on the Mabton dairy operation. And we believe that one still may be in Canada. Nothing new significant to report at this point on the whereabouts of the other 70 animals. Our epidemiological investigation on those animals continued through the weekend. And while we have made significant progress in terms of tracing where they may have gone subsequent to entering the United States. Nothing confirmed that we can report to you at this point.

And then one last item, before we go to the Qs and As. We are dispatching from Washington a high-level team going to Mexico to have discussions relative to trade restrictions imposed by Mexico subsequent to the finding of this positive case. And we have making up that team Undersecretary Bill Hawks from Marketing Regulatory Programs. And he is accompanied by Undersecretary J.B. Penn of the Farm and Foreign Ag Services.

With that, let's, operator, go to the first question, please.

OPERATOR: Yes, Our first question today comes from Bob Bruin (sp). Please state your affiliation.

BOB BRUIN: Bob Bruin (sp) from Computer World. I'd like to follow up on the national livestock ID system. I'd like to find out where you folks are going to get the funding, if you know what the funding is. Are you going to adhere to the USAIP plan? And how soon can you get this in operation? USAIP calls for July 2004.

DR. DEHAVEN: This is Dr. DeHaven. In terms of funding for the animal ID program, still yet to be determined in terms of exactly where those monies would come from and the speed with which we implement -- field and implement that whole system certainly is somewhat dependent on the funding. In the meantime, we are still progressing, developing that plan. We have species-specific groups that will be making recommendations on appropriate means of identification of animals based on the species and marketing patterns of those animals. So, for example, with cattle for the most part and animals moved individually, and as we are looking at appropriate means for individual animal ID, largely based on radio frequency ID chip. For other species of animals, such as poultry and swine that largely move in groups or lots, there could be potentially a lot ID as opposed to individual animal ID. Conceptually, ID would be put on the animals at the time that they leave the premises of birth, and would follow those animals through slaughter, with a means of tracking them electronically as they go through concentration points such as feed lots, livestock markets, and of course to slaughter. So work is progressing. We are still evaluating potential sources of funding to fund that project.

Operator, next question please?

OPERATOR: Your next question is from Seth Borenstein. Please state your affiliation.

SETH BORENSTEIN: Seth Borenstein, Knight Ridder Newspapers. Dr. DeHaven, in terms of the 450 animal sacrifice, what's the compensation that the farm owner has gotten? Has that been negotiated already? And who does it come from? And if it's a USDA amount of money, where in the budget does it come from?

DR. DEHAVEN: This is Dr. DeHaven. In fact, we have an indemnity program that is based on fair market value of those animals. So before the depopulation would begin there would be an agreement in terms of what is fair market value of those animals. We would in essence take ownership of those animals prior to the actual depopulation. There are operational funds that have been made available for the indemnity purposes, so those dollars will come out of USDA funds.

Operator, next question please?

OPERATOR: Our next question is from Sally Schuff. Please state your affiliation.

SALLY SCHUFF: Yes, hi, this is Sally Schuff. I'm with Feedstuffs. My question is there's been quite a bit in the news media about the possibility of the U.S. being termed "BSE free." Is that in fact a possibility? And, as a follow up, can you tell us how soon you knew after the cow was diagnosed that she might have been a Canadian cow?

DR. DEHAVEN: This is Dr. DeHaven. In terms of whether or not the U.S. would be declared as BSE free is just simply way too premature to make that kind of determination, and for the most part while we may or may not make that declaration, if we would it would be up to each importing country who might import animals or products from the U.S. to do their own risk assessment and make that evaluation. Clearly at the appropriate time in the future we would be presenting a packet of dossier to the OIE, the international standard-setting body, requesting country categorization. But, again, any efforts in that regard would be way premature at this point to make that declaration.

Clearly our efforts to trace this particular animal as well as any other animals that might have come with her from the index herd -- or, excuse me, the birth herd -- would be critical in terms of our being able to, at whatever point in the future, being able to make some kind of determination -- or making our case, if you will, in terms of a BSE free status for the U.S.

And I'm sorry, the second part of your question again?

SALLY SCHUFF: The second part of my question was: How soon after the diagnosis of this BSE cow in the U.S. were you aware that she was a Canadian cow, or had at least a Canadian ear tag?

DR. DEHAVEN: Well, I would remind you that the confirmation was received on December 23rd. And so it was a number of days -- I want to say three or four days where we had some definitive paper trail back to Canada. We knew early on that she had a tag in her ear that was consistent with what tags are applied in Canada. But it wasn't until three or four days later that we had actually established with our Canadian colleagues some paper trail, which would suggest that she had been in, or come from Canada. And, as you will recall, we had the age discrepancy issue, which we think we have subsequently resolved. So it was four or five days, and again I would remind everyone that in the middle of that we had Christmas; and for the Canadians we had Boxing Day. So we were working through weekends and holidays to come to that determination. And I think we announced that to the media very shortly after having seen those documents and establishing a paper trail.

Next question, operator?

OPERATOR: Our next question comes from Leah Beth Ward. Please state your affiliation.

LEAH BETH WARD: Yes, Yakima Herald Republic. Explain to us what led you first to Eastport, Idaho as the port of entry, and then to Oroville, Washington. And does that at all change your confidence in the source of the cow?

DR. DEHAVEN: This is Dr. DeHaven. There was more than one health certificate involved, and I can't -- I don't have the specific records that led us initially to Eastport, Idaho and then subsequently to Oroville, Washington, but I think it's a matter of having multiple documents. And while we have preliminary information, and as I said repeatedly our primary line of inquiry takes us back to a dairy herd in Alberta, Canada, and we know that the animal ended up in the herd in Mabton, Washington, the exact route on how she got between those two points was in question, initially because of multiple documents that had some conflicting information. So I think the most relevant points are that we at least have a primary line of inquiry that would take us back to what we at least at this point in time think is the likely birth herd. We know where she ended up. We know what animals accompanied her. So those are the most important pieces of information -- not the exact port from which she entered the U.S. So the short answer to your question is no, it really doesn't shake our confidence in terms of our tracing ability as it relates to this investigation.

Operator, next question please?

OPERATOR: The next question is from Beth Gorman (sp). Please state your affiliation.

BETH GORMAN: Hi, Beth Gorman from the Canadian Press. Dr. DeHaven today is the deadline for public comment on reopening the border to Canadian live cattle. When do you expect to have or to see some kind of a decision on that? And will those public comments be reopened at some point in the future?

DR. DEHAVEN: This is Dr. DeHaven. Thanks for the question. Indeed our public comment period on the proposed rule does close today. We have at this point decided that we will not take any action at this point on that proposed rule, pending the outcome of the epidemiological investigation. After we have all of the relevant information from that investigation, as well as the consideration of the comments that are received by the close of business today, then at the appropriate time in the future we'll make a decision on how to proceed from there. And that decision obviously has not been made yet. Whether it would proceed to a final rule, proceed with the new proposal; proceed with an additional comment period on the existing proposal. There's been no limit in terms of the options that might be considered, or at what point we would make those determinations. We'll make that decision subsequent to completing this epidemiological investigation, and take all of that relevant information into account when we decide on how to proceed with the proposed rule.

Next question, please, operator?

OPERATOR: Okay, next question comes from Elizabeth Weise. Please state your affiliation.

ELIZABETH WEISE: Yes, It's Elizabeth Weise with USA Today. Just a background question on the DNA testing. Seeing as you're testing the sire's semen and the offspring, is there a percentage of likelihood that you found the right cow, or is it 100 percent? Is it somewhere below that?

DR. DEHAVEN: This is Dr. DeHaven. In terms of what will be disclosed in the DNA testing could be anywhere in between I think the range that you said, and most likely a probability rating. Without getting too technical, in doing the DNA testing what they are looking at is specific points along the DNA chain, and looking for similarities between the different samples that have been submitted, and based on the number of points along that chain that are similar between the different samples; then attaching a probability to that. So it won't be -- more than likely will not be something that we can absolutely 100 percent guarantee, but rather as you are suggesting some probability based on the numbers of points along the DNA molecule where there are identical results, or where the molecule is identical between the different samples.

We are, as you said, running a number of samples, the two most important of which would be the DNA from the semen from what we think is the sire of the infected cow, as well as DNA from the brain of the positive cow. But we also have gotten samples from progeny from the cow in question, as well as semen from sires from those progeny.

Operator, next question?

OPERATOR: Our next question comes from Harry Siemans (sp). Please state your affiliation.

HARRY SIEMENS: Yes, this is Harry Siemens, and I'm from Farm Watch, the Manitoba Cooperator. If indeed that cow is identified as being from Canada that obviously raised our cow number with BSE from one to two. Does that in your opinion raise our risk level a substantial amount? I know it's 50 percent, but what do you have on -- what's your take on that?

DR. DEHAVEN: This is Dr. DeHaven. I think it's too early to make that kind of determination, because there's too many other factors that we don't yet have -- or too many other pieces of information that we don't yet have in terms of what would be, if any, epidemiological link between those two cases. And you know the closer the epidemiology might be in terms of linking those two situations could result in different conclusions being drawn, or I should say the level of epidemiological connection or lack thereof could have a significant bearing on our overall evaluation of the prevalence of the disease in Canada, which of course is important.

Having said that, I would just echo what I have been saying in terms of the fact that the two markets between the U.S. and Canada we know are highly integrated. Second, we know a lot about the firewalls and safeguards that had been in place both in the United States and Canada. So all of those things would be taken into consideration as well.

HARRY SIEMENS: Do you think it matters to Japan as far as it being from Canada or the U.S.?

DR. DEHAVEN: I wouldn't at this point speculate with regard to what Japan -- or speak on behalf of what Japan may think at this point.

MR. CURLETT: This is Ed Curlett, and I would ask that everyone keep their questions just to one. We've got a lot of people on the call, so we want to try to get in as many as we can. So, thanks. And, operator, next question please?

OPERATOR: Okay, next question is from Marion Aka (sp). Please state your affiliation.

MARION AKA: Hi, I'm from CNN. And if you could just clarify, because I missed the top because I was disconnected, where the depopulation will take place, what exactly the relationship is to the index cow? And my question is I know that the food from or meat from that cow never entered the food chain. What about the saw, the equipment that was used to cut up the index cow. Has that been removed? Since prions can't be sanitized off, you made a point to make clear that where the depopulation will take place will be in a currently unused facility. But what about the facility that originally chopped up the index cow? How is it not being spread that way?

DR. DEHAVEN: This is Dr. DeHaven. I'll take your first question, and defer to Dr. Engeljohn from FSIS for the second question. Actually I didn't by intent state an exact location where the depopulation will take place. The calves will be loaded from their current location, the calf feeding operation. They will then be moved to a location, which is a slaughter plant that is not currently being used, where they will be properly euthanized. So just out of the interest of ensuring lack of interference with our operation, as well as the privacy and property rights of the owners of those different facilities, we are not going to disclose the exact locations.

MARION AKA: But it's --

DR. DEHAVEN: Dr. Engeljohn, do you want to take the second question?

DR. ENGELJOHN: Yes. This is Dr. Engeljohn with the Food Safety Inspection Service. With regards to the slaughter and processing of the animal, this was an animal that was initially identified as a suspect, so it was handled specially in the sense that it was handled separately from the other cattle that were processed that day.

But with regard to overall sanitation, we know from the best available science and expert opinion that good sanitation is our best preventative measure that we have in place of prevention of cross-contamination. And so we have sanitation occurring in that plant for which we monitor well. We also know that on that particular day that we did in fact monitor the sanitation there as well. So we have confidence that the sanitation was effective.

MR. CURLETT: Operator, next question please?

OPERATOR: The next question comes from Scott Kilman. Please state your affiliation.

SCOTT KILMAN: Scott Kilman with the Wall Street Journal. Dr. DeHaven, in the first part of your presentation it was hard to hear, so I was going to ask really two questions -- one a clarification. Did you say whether the cattle, the bull calves, the brains of those bull calves, would be tested for BSE? And then my question is: Why are the precautions that Secretary Veneman announced last week different from what the FSIS was considering in their thinking paper a year ago? If I remember, the FSIS was talking about targeting cattle that were 24 months. And last week we heard a lot about 30 months.

DR. DEHAVEN: This is Dr. DeHaven. I'll take your first question, and then again refer to Dr. Engeljohn for response to the second part of your question. In terms of testing the brain, we know from the science and the research involved with this particular disease that it doesn't show up -- the prion doesn't show up, and therefore tests would not be positive, even in infected animals, until typically after 30 months of age. And in fact the most accepted and broadly quoted studies being done in Britain would suggest that even in animals experimentally infected with a high dose, you don't find the prion or the infectious agent even in brain tissue until typically at the earliest 32 months of age. So there would be no purpose in testing all of these animals, because even in the unlikely event that there had been maternal transmission to this single bull calf, the calf would not test positive at this point in time.

Having said that, just as a precaution, we will be collecting blood samples from the appropriate subpopulation or subgroup of animals that are going to be euthanized, so if we should need to do some DNA testing or other type of testing we would have those materials in the future. But, again, the science would say that to test all of those brains would not be fruitful, in that you wouldn't expect, even if there had been transmission of the disease, which is unlikely, but even if there had been the animal would not test positive.

Dr. Engeljohn?

DR. ENGELJOHN: Yes, this is Dr. Engeljohn with the Food Safety Inspection Service. On the question about why 30 months in the policy issued last week versus 24 months in the current thinking paper that we issued in February of 2002, the reason is that when we first commissioned Harvard to conduct a risk assessment for us at that time, we were considering a range of months in terms of infectivity to consider. And 24 months was what was modeled back in 1998. We received that report just before
February of 2002. And so it was based on the best available information that we had at that time. I think since then, in terms of the international community, 30 months is the marker for which typically is used for modeling age of onset.

MR. CURLETT: Operator, we have time for two more questions.

OPERATOR: Okay, our next question comes from Lauri Struve. Please state your affiliation.

LAURI STRUVE: This is Lauri Struve with the Brownfield Network. And, Dr. DeHaven, my question is on the non-ambulatory rules does include, if I understand it correctly, that does include animals injured in transport. What kind of compensation will producers have for those animals? We could be talking about a 1,200-pound steer that would grade out choice. That's over $1,000.

DR. DEHAVEN: This is Dr. DeHaven. You are right in terms of the fact that animals that might be injured en route to slaughter, if they meet the FSIS definition of non-ambulatory disabled at the time that they are received at slaughter, they would not enter the food chain. We are as we speak developing our surveillance-testing plan, and so I am just not in a position at this point to respond to what if any compensation might go to the owner of such an animal. It's just premature to speculate if that would even happen at all. We are developing the plan, and I can assure you that all of those kinds of considerations will be taken into account as we make those decisions, but no decision has been made yet.

So, operator, last question please.

OPERATOR: Okay, our last question comes from Andy Dworkin. Please state your affiliation.

ANDY DWORKIN: Yes, with the Oregonian. I was wondering in terms of disposal of these cattle once they are taking to the slaughter facility and killed how you guys are going to deal with this. I know at least for chronic wasting some of the states have debated high-temperature incinerators or processing with high alkaline fluids and things. Have you guys figured out what you are going to do with the carcasses yet?

DR. DEHAVEN: And let me clarify you are talking about the bull calves?

ANDY DWORKIN: These are the bull calves, yeah, that you guys are going to depopulate.

DR. DEHAVEN: Well, again, I would go back to the science of the situation. We are talking about one bull calf that we know is from the positive cow. We know that that calf is just slightly over a month in age. We know that the likelihood of the disease being transmitted from the cow to this calf is very remote. And we know that even if the transmission did occur that the infectious agent wouldn't be found in this animal until probably 30 months of age or older. So, one, even if the calf is infected, there would be no infectious agent at this point for which we would be concerned about, and so no reason to go to the extreme measures that you are describing. So we do not plan at this point to do the alkaline digester or any other extreme measure, such as incineration, simply because what we know about the disease and the research of the disease would suggest that those types of measures in this situation are not warranted. Those are the kinds of actions that we would take in a population that would be of the appropriate age and appropriate level of exposure that those would be necessary.

With that, again, before I pass it back to Ed, let me thank everyone for participating, and we will do our best to keep you informed through these kinds of briefings. Ed?

MR. CURLETT: Yes, this is Ed. Just want to let you know for follow-up questions call 202-720-4623. And also from this point forward we are going to be doing these technical briefings on an as-needed basis. As information becomes available to us, we will pass it along. Look for the announcement on the USDA homepage for these technical briefings. So, again, from this point forward we will be doing these as needed. Transcripts will be available on the USDA website. And we will be sending out a note to reporters when those technical briefings will occur. And, with that, I would like to thank everyone again. And thank you very much.

OPERATOR: Thank you. That concludes today's conference call.

USDA to kill 450 calves in mad cow scare U.S. agriculture officials have decided to kill 450 calves in a Washington state herd that includes an offspring of the cow diagnosed with mad cow disease. Ron DeHaven, the Agriculture Department's chief veterinarian, said Monday that the month-old calves would be slaughtered this week at an undisclosed facility that is not being used. He also announced that USDA officials would visit Mexico to discuss that country's ban on American beef products following the diagnosis last month of the first U.S. case of mad cow disease. Mexico is one of more than 30 countries to halt U.S. beef imports. The herd that is to be destroyed is one of three under quarantine in Washington because of ties to the diseased Holstein. The other herds contain cows that probably are from the same Alberta farm as the 6-year-old Holstein, but DNA tests to confirm the cow's origins are not complete. Officials decided to kill all month-old calves in the Sunnyside, Wash., herd because they cannot determine which one was born to the infected cow. While officials have said contaminated feed is the most likely source of infection, they cannot rule out transmission of the disease from mother to calf...Sales off for La. cattle farmers Monday Louisiana cattle prices were off slightly but volume was down substantially in the state's first auctions since last month's mad cow scare, the state Department of Agriculture and Forestry reported Monday. Louisiana's cattle industry shuts down during the two weeks of Christmas and New Year's. The first cattle sales scheduled in Louisiana since the mad cow announcement were held Monday throughout the state, and the number of cattle sold was a fraction of pre-announcement totals. In West Monroe the drop was from around 600 to about 200, in Baton Rouge the number went from 400 to 100, and in Kinder the drop was from 1000 to around 170 head of cattle. By contrast, however, prices were comparatively stable, according to the agriculture department. Cows for slaughter were only off by a few dollars per hundred pounds, and feeder cattle were off by about five dollars...Number of cattle at West Texas auction down significantly The number of cattle for sale at Tulia's livestock auction was down about 70 percent from normal Monday as few producers wanted to be the first to sell their stock since mad cow disease was found in the United States. Rather than buying, many who attended came to see what the prices were like at the Tulia Livestock Auction. "It's hurt the pocketbook," auction manager Mark Hargrave. "The cattle industry has lost a lot of money." A 615-pound steer brought the highest price at $89.50 per 100 pounds - about $10 less per 100 pounds than what it would have sold for during the last Tulia auction on Dec. 22. "It wasn't near as bad as everybody thought it would be," Hargrave said of the prices. "Everyone was encouraged. It was lower but it wasn't a wreck." Typically, there are about 3,000 cattle at the auction, one of the two largest in the Panhandle region, Hargrave said. About 800 were up for sale Monday...Cattle Farmers Watch Anxiously As Sales Resume Like many cattle farmers, Jeff Riester was an anxious spectator Monday as cattle sales resumed at Blue Grass Stockyards in Lexington for the first time since the mad cow disease scare. Riester and others expressed relief as prices fell only slightly during light sales at the Lexington stockyard. Other cattle markets will reopen in Kentucky this week after the long holiday break. Kentucky is the leading beef cattle producer east of the Mississippi River. Prices on Monday dropped, on average, by $5 to $10 per hundredweight from the last sales in December, said David Holt, assistant manager at the Lexington stockyard. Some cattle producers had braced for the possibility that prices would fall by $25 to $30 per hundredweight, he said. "It's a very light volume today because everybody was nervous about what was going to happen," Holt said. "We've had a crowd of farmers sitting and watching. But now the talk is very positive." The Lexington stockyard typically sells 2,500 to 3,000 cattle on the first sales day of the new year, Holt said. On Monday, only 350 cattle went on the auction block...Economist sees $70 cattle in first quarter, upper $60s later "Where do prices go from here?" That's the question on every cattle producer's mind at this point, says Darrell Mark, University of Nebraska ag economist. Barring decreases in domestic consumer demand and assuming no additional mad cow cases are found in the US, fed cattle prices are likely to trade in the mid- to upper-$70s during the first quarter of 2004, he says. That's the low end of normal, says another ag economist."The loss of US beef exports represents about 10% of US production," Purdue ag economist Chris Hurt said in a release December 24. "If all other factors remain the same, we would look for a 12% to 16% drop in cattle prices. This probably adds up to a $2 billion hit to the beef industry at the farm level in 2004...Japan looks at taking more NZ beef A delegation of Japanese officials is to arrive on Monday to discuss increasing New Zealand beef exports to Japan in the wake of a case of madcow disease in the United States. A Meat New Zealand spokeswoman said the delegation included three Japanese officials, from the equivalent of New Zealand's Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF). The group was also to speak to Australian officials about its beef trade with Japan. "What they are going to do is talk about supply, because Japan has said it won't take beef from the US now," she said...Cattlemen, feedlots stock up in hope of more sales to Japan Australian cattleman Scott de Bruin plans to raise 20 per cent more cattle this year, betting a ban on US beef means higher sales to Japan and South Korea. The two Asian nations are among more than 30 countries that barred US beef after one case of mad cow disease was found in a Washington state herd. Japan and Korea buy about two-thirds of US beef exports, which totalled as much as $US3.8 billion ($4.97 billion) in 2003. A shortage of the fatty US meat many Japanese prefer means higher prices for graziers like Mr de Bruin, who this year aims to sell 300 Wagyu cattle, the breed producing Japan's Kobe beef. For Australia, the world's biggest beef exporter, US misfortune may reverse a two-year slide in sales as the weakening US dollar made Australian exports more expensive...Mad cow, other brain diseases, mystify scientists For all the worry mad cow disease is generating, it's just one in a family of 10 diseases discovered so far - five in animals, five in humans - that are arguably medicine's most mystifying maladies. Most so-called prion diseases are incredibly rare in this country, although one has spread into deer and elk herds in at least 12 states, sparking concern about contaminated game meat. Yet scientists can't answer the most basic questions about prions, even though learning how the rogue proteins cause sponge-like holes in brains could improve understanding of more common neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's...Japan Critical Of US Safeguards Japan on Monday questioned the effectiveness of U.S. safeguards against bovine spongiform encephalopathy, suggesting Tokyo would hold out for stricter U.S. screening of livestock before lifting an import ban on U.S. beef. Following the discovery of the first U.S. case of BSE, commonly known as mad cow disease, last month, the U.S. announced new restrictions on beef aimed at keeping cow brains, eyes, spinal cords and small intestines and the meat of "downer cows" that can't walk or stand on their own from entering the food supply. But Vice Agriculture Minister Yoshiaki Watanabe indicated U.S. action hasn't quieted concerns in Japan about the safety of American beef. "They are not as effective as steps being taken in Japan," Watanabe told a news conference on Monday. Confused About Mad Cow? New Ad Exposes Scaremongers and Dispels Myths The best science available says, overwhelmingly, that mad cow disease poses near-zero risk to American consumers. Yet activists -- many with hidden political or financial agendas -- continue to promote needless food scare myths in order to frighten consumers. With a new full-page ad on the back cover of this week's national edition of U.S. News & World Report, the Center for Consumer Freedom aims to shatter these myths and reveal America's newest class of scaremongers. At www.ConsumerFreedom.com, readers can learn the latest about the mad-cow scare, get straight answers to Frequently Asked Questions, and see responses to the misinformation promoted by a rogues gallery of mad-cow alarmists including:...