NEWS ROUNDUP
Cause of blazes still eludes investigators Four months after the historic firestorms struck the region, investigators have yet to pinpoint a cause for either the Cedar, Paradise or Otay fires that burned more than 376,000 acres. As they have done almost from the first days of the disasters, investigators for the U.S. Forest Service classify the fires as "human-caused," but stop short of saying whether the blazes were accidental, resulted from negligence or were set.... Public access rights to trails creating outcry from private owners It's happening in Alpine, Mapleton and other places in Utah County. One by one, developments and private land owners block once-public trails, choking off access to public lands beyond. Around Utah Lake, a legal dispute over the border between private and public lands has put public access to the shoreline in question. The issue pits the rights of private property owners against the rights of the community at large.... All Logged out? But today, the industry that sustained him and his business, Scott Logging, has changed as much as the mill he once relied on to process his logs. The mill — formerly located along the Deschutes River in the Old Mill District — is now a mall. The forest, which was once almost entirely open to loggers, is now mostly off limits. And as the timber industry has spiraled from its high point to its current, drastically different enterprise, parts of Oregon have reeled from the change. Jobs were lost, mills shut down and communities were vacated.... Judges bars damages for Alaska Pulp Alaska Pulp Corp., which operated a mill in Sitka for nearly 40 years, had sought up to $8.7 billion in damages from the federal treasury. The Japanese-owned company won a court ruling in 2001 that the government breached its 50-year contract to supply the mill with timber from the Tongass National Forest, the country's largest national forest. A judge then agreed that when Congress enacted the Tongass Timber Reform Act in 1990, which reduced the amount of trees available for logging, it constituted a violation of Alaska Pulp's contract. The company was entitled to press for damages. But Judge Lawrence M. Baskir said in a ruling Jan. 28 said that Alaska Pulp should not get a dime from the government.... Dog owners put Valley wolf at risk A lone wolf frequenting the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area is at risk from a small group of irresponsible dog owners. "We've had people out here trying to breed their dogs with the wolf, playing ball with it, trying to feed it - it's gotten really bad in recent weeks," said Michelle Warrenchuk, a U.S. Forest Service naturalist and interpreter at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center. "It's becoming habituated.".... Sagebrush finally gets respect Long derided, degraded, dug up and burned, sagebrush in the American West is finally commanding respect. Twenty-one environmental groups filed a petition in December to list sage grouse as an endangered species. That action has accelerated efforts to preserve sagebrush ecosystems on which the birds depend across 11 Western states and Canada. If sage grouse are listed, new restrictions could be placed on grazing, oil and gas development, hunting, motorized recreation, power lines, roads and farming across 110 million acres. Impacts on the economy of the West would surpass those of the listing of the northern spotted owl.... Lynx seen in Medicine Bow Four radio-collared lynxes were spotted in Medicine Bow National Forest just north of the state line, the first confirmation of the cats in the forest since one was trapped in 1856. Listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, Canada lynxes have been transplanted in much of Colorado. Some have denned successfully and produced kittens, but many of the kittens have starved. The four lynxes in Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest spent several days moving across the state line last fall.... A legendary firefighter who was both inventor and hero is to be honored with a memorial called The Pulaski Project Long before he invented the handy tool that kept forest firefighters from having to carry both an ax and a hoe, Pulaski was a Forest Service ranger in Wallace in August 1910 when the woods exploded into a firestorm, trapping 1,800 firefighters between Wallace and Avery. Drawing on his knowledge of the area, Pulaski led his 45-man crew to safety in an abandoned mine, now known as the Pulaski Tunnel. There, they lay face down through a suffocating night of smoke and heat. Their leader kept some from panicking and heading outside to certain death with the end of his pistol. He beat out flaming timbers at the mine´s entrance with horse blankets and mine water he gathered in his hat.... Napolitano says feds doing too little to ease fire threat Western states are approaching another wildfire season without enough federal action to reduce the threat faced by forest communities, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano said Saturday. "Western forests are facing the triple threat of unprecedented bark beetle infestations caused by historic drought and worsened by the administration's refusal to restore forests on federal land," Napolitano said.... Editorial: Park fee plan is a bust The U.S. Forest Service spent $1.6 million building an outhouse near the Maroon Bells, then whined it didn't have money for toilet paper and cleaning supplies. Now it charges citizens a fee just to look at the famous peaks. The paradox is just one example of why the federal recreation fee demonstration program is a bust.... Idaho, Montana chafe at Wyo wolf delay The Legislature's refusal last week to change Wyoming's wolf management plan put Idaho and Montana wildlife officials in a tough spot, they said last week. "The longer wolves remain listed, the more wolves there will be," said Steve Nedeau, the state coordinator for large carnivores in Idaho's Department of Fish and Game. "Wyoming is causing the wolf populations to increase in the other states." Montana shares the same frustration, said Carolyn Sime, Montana's Fish, Wildlife and Parks wolf planning coordinator.... Stalking the Elusive Cougar...if There Is One to Stalk Officially, the eastern cougar has not prowled the great piney woods of the Adirondacks for more than a hundred years. Though still listed as a federally endangered species, it is, in the minds of state environmental officials, a phantom - extinct, kaput. Trouble is, people keep seeing them. And one man, Peter V. O'Shea Jr., a former New York City police sergeant turned self-taught naturalist, is on a campaign to make their presence known. He himself has never seen a cougar, also called a puma, mountain lion, panther or painter. But he has talked to scores of people who say they have, and he says he has seen cougar tracks four times in the past 20 years.... Park County ranchers list wolf woes Angry, frustrated and fed up, Park County ranchers listed their wolf woes to the Park County Commission Friday evening. Most of their anger was directed toward the federal government, which brought wolves back to Yellowstone National Park in 1995 and 1996. "They're pathological liars," said Bob Fanning, founder of the Friends of the Northern Yellowstone Elk Herd. He, along with Park County Stockgrowers President Justin O'Hair, helped write a resolution now before the commission. That document asserts that Park County has the authority to kill wolves, whether they have federal protections or not.... Coalition opposes dam spills The Coalition for Smart Salmon Recovery lends the collective voice of industry groups to a debate that's emerged as a major point of contention in the long-running, and expensive, effort to protect salmon in a river system radically altered by hydroelectric dams. Federal dam managers contend that summer spilling costs tens of millions of dollars in lost electricity sales but only provides negligible benefits to endangered fish. The coalition appealed to the governors of four Northwest states on Thursday.... Editorial: Protect salmon if you want dams The Bonneville Power Administration is exploring possible changes in some Columbia and Snake River dams' summer spills. A spill is where water is allowed to flow over the top of a dam, instead of through turbines. This protects young salmon. Reducing or eliminating the spills would be an extremely bad idea. Salmon protection efforts have been marginal, barely good enough to allow modest recovery of some runs. A federal judge has ordered better plans for fish protection, finding that the requirements of the Endangered Species Act haven't been met. Whatever legal complications a change in summer spills might create, it would be a retreat from the promises of aggressive salmon protection that, supposedly, can prevent the need to remove any dams. It would also turn the Columbia a bit more into a massive holding pond rather than a river.... Group pays ranchers to keep lands intact Gareth Plank's ranch is one of the oldest in Siskiyou County, dating back to 1850. He wants to make sure its future is as rich as its past. Plank is taking part in a new land conservation program to ensure cattle can freely roam his expansive Scott Valley ranch for decades to come. The Pacific Forest Trust, based in Santa Rosa, has protected lands all over California, Oregon and Washington for more than a decade. Now the group has started the Klamath-Cascade Project, which would receive $900,000 if approved as part of the 2005 federal budget.... Editorial: For the birds Public access to all of Oregon's coastal beaches isn't just enshrined in state law. It's also critical to the economies of Oregon's coastal towns, and part of the state's identity as a wide-open, egalitarian and outdoor-centered place. That's why the state Department of Parks and Recreation should expect to get an earful of squawks, screeches and caws from Oregon residents over plans to restrict beach access to protect the western snowy plover.... Lifeline thrown to species at risk To the surprise of many environmental groups, 12 days of often fractious negotiations at the convention on biological diversity in Kuala Lumpur resulted in a concrete programme to ensure the "significant reduction of biodiversity loss by 2010". By 2010 each country is required to designate 10% of its territory as protected. Local indigenous communities will be involved in all decisions on the management of the zones, which will also be assessed by a global monitoring network. Marine zones, to be included in the plan by 2012, will be expanded to encompass deep sea mountains and other areas in international waters rich in biodiversity but at risk from trawlers.... Smarter than your average bear Scientists have long appreciated a number of the polar bear's adaptations, which allow it to survive 20 years or more on the glacial ice of the Arctic Circle, all the while defying standard bear omnivorousness to subsist almost exclusively on seals. Classified as a marine animal, Ursus maritimus comes specially equipped with a double layer of fur, undergirded by 10 centimetres of blubber, that almost completely prevents heat loss; broad, fluffy paws that act as snowshoes, and short, solid claws that grip the ice; an elongated snout for poking into ice holes and pulling out seals; and the ability of that snout to smell prey from a distance of more than 30 kilometres.... Save room for mice, developers are told Developers on this barrier island have received notices that they may have to make room for Perdido Key beach mice because the endangered rodents have outgrown their home at a neighboring state park. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to schedule a meeting next month to discuss the issue with owners of four major projects on the Florida side of Perdido Key. The island's western tip is in Alabama.... State eyes ban on hunting female lions The Arizona Game and Fish Department is considering making it illegal to hunt female mountain lions with spotted kittens, a first for the state. There are currently no restrictions on hunting mountain lions in Arizona, and the proposal is meant to help protect females and their kittens, Game and Fish said.... Environmental cases hinge on limits of authority As early as Tuesday, the Supreme Court could begin to issue decisions on four environmental cases with implications for improving water quality, cutting air pollution and protecting unscathed federal land in the West. By the time the court term ends in June, justices will have ruled on eight cases bearing on the environment — the most heard in one term in a decade. The court will not be ruling on the constitutionality of any environmental laws. Instead, it will decide who has the authority to make decisions or how far law extends in cases that affect water, air and land quality. How the justices decide a case involving the Clean Water Act, for example, could require officials in the West to obtain permits to move water from hundreds of reservoirs and canals.... Past environmental chiefs back SUWA Top environmental officials from every presidential administration since Richard Nixon urged the Supreme Court to side with environmentalists to force the Bush administration to consider limiting off-road vehicle use on delicate Utah lands. The case, filed by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, argues that the Bureau of Land Management is required by law to consider closing certain areas to prevent permanent damage by off-road vehicles. The areas at issue in the suit are potential wilderness areas. In a brief filed with the Supreme Court this week, the eight former directors of the White House Council on Environmental Quality argued that the Interior Department must take steps to protect sensitive lands in its care when factors change.... Industry, environmentalists oppose user fee plan Energy industry representatives and environmentalists are thumbing their noses at a White House proposal to reduce the Bureau of Land Management's oil and gas management budget and impose $3 million in new user fees on energy companies. Industry representatives say that there is not enough money and question the value of the user fees. Environmentalists say the money is being squandered and are concerned that energy companies will receive control over the well-permitting process in exchange for the users fees.... Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund Statement on Ralph Nader: 'Monumentally Irresponsible' Following is a statement of Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund President Rodger Schlickeisen on Ralph Nader: "In the last three years, the Bush administration has mounted arguably the greatest assault on our conservation laws ever seen. Mr. Nader's entry into the presidential race only increases the likelihood that assault will continue for a second term. It is monumentally irresponsible for Ralph Nader, who professes a reverence for our natural environment, to take any step that aids the President's re-election bid.... Now the Pentagon Tells Bush: Climate Change Will Destroy Us Climate change over the next 20 years could result in a global catastrophe costing millions of lives in wars and natural disasters. A secret report, suppressed by US defense chiefs and obtained by The Observer, warns that major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a 'Siberian' climate by 2020. Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will erupt across the world. The document predicts that abrupt climate change could bring the planet to the edge of anarchy as countries develop a nuclear threat to defend and secure dwindling food, water and energy supplies. The threat to global stability vastly eclipses that of terrorism, say the few experts privy to its contents.... State tests birth control for geese Honk if you're sterile. That is, if you're a goose. Canada geese in parts of Oregon, including those in Bend, are participating in an experiment aimed at keeping the honking birds from proliferating. In short, many Canada goose populations in Oregon are about to get dosed with birth control.... Bioterrorism rules delay elk testing Federal rules classifying the bacteria Brucella abortus as a potential bioterrorism weapon have delayed attempts to determine the cause of a disease outbreak in Wyoming cattle. Wyoming researchers call the red tape overkill. Brucella abortus, one of several Brucella species, was classified a “select agent” following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and an anthrax scare a month later that killed five people. “The feds kind of went bonkers, and they decided they wanted complete control and inventory,” said Donal O’Toole, who directs the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory in Laramie.... Wheat Is at Forefront of Biotech Battle More than 10,000 years after nomadic hunters first harvested stands of wild wheat, researchers are working on genetically engineering mankind's oldest crop in what may become the last stand in the battle over biotech foods. With a genome five times the size of the human genome, wheat is so complex that it is one of the last major crops to undergo genetic manipulation. The food staple has become the center of the fight over genetically modified organisms....Deputies shut down hog dog match While country music played, Johnny Hayes was allowed to preside over a pig chase for kids, as well as a hog-catch for pit bulls. After, he was allowed to announce the winners. Then he was led away in handcuffs and charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty.... 1872 fight near Billings captivates local historians Only a few miles northeast of Billings, 365 soldiers and 20 surveyors and engineers scouting a corridor for the Northern Pacific Railway, fought a combined force of Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho early on the morning of Aug. 14, 1872. Near the Yellowstone River, where Maj. E.M. Baker is camped in an oxbow, troopers scramble in the dark to form skirmish lines. Warriors who have stolen into camp and infiltrated the livestock herds, retreat to the bluffs as a shot rings out. It probably was fired by a startled wolfer awakened in time to prevent the theft of his gun.... Rodeo cowboys tough enough A little more than a year ago, after the crippled middle finger on his left hand was broken for the umpteenth time, former bareback riding world champion Mark Gomes had had enough. So, he had it cut off at the middle knuckle. "It was hindering me," Gomes said with a shrug....
Sunday, February 22, 2004
THE FINAL WORD Issue 87 Feb. 20, 2004
Alan Guebert
1.) Cowboy justice clips meatpackers
In days of yore, cowboy justice involved six-shooters, a length of sturdy rope or both. Today, it involves federal courts, a gaggle of sturdy lawyers or both. On Feb. 17, a six cattlemen and their small gaggle of lawyers shook every bone in America's concentrated, collusive red meat industry when a federal jury in Montgomery, AL, ruled unanimously that Tyson Foods illegally pushed down US cattle prices. The jury awarded $1.28 billion in damages to the class of cattle sellers (estimated at 30,000) represented by the plaintiffs in the civil lawsuit and ordered the court to remedy the price-depressing affect packer-controlled livestock have on cash cattle prices. The verdict, called the most important event in the livestock industry since the passage of the Packer & Stockyards Act of 1921, was the result of an eight-year-long lawsuit that pitted the cattlemen against the meatpacking powerhouse. Tyson, easily the world's largest integrated poultry producer, became the nation's largest beef packer with its $2.9 billion, 2001 purchase of IBP. The case, named Pickett after its lead plaintiff, alleged that spot market cattle sellers received lower prices from IBP from early 1994 through late 2002 because the giant packer used its captive cattle supply to beat down cash prices. That action, alleged Pickett, violated the Packers & Stockyards Act. "We knew we could win (the lawsuit) if we got the facts before a jury of our peers," said Johnny Smith, one of the plaintiffs and a South Dakota cattleman, Tuesday. "All we did was show what every cattleman has known to be true for years--today's cattle markets are rigged." Plaintiff attorneys used cattlemen testimony to explain to the 12-person jury just how dysfunctional today's cash cattle market has become because of packer contact cattle: tiny, often less-than-an-hour per week selling windows to price market-ready beef; one-time take-it-or-leave-it bidding by single buyers; and buyer boycotts of selected sellers. "These guys are nothing but old-time gangsters, thugs and thieves," noted Mike Callicrate, a one-time Kansas cattle seller to Tyson/IBP and a Pickett plaintiff. "They beat your brains in with their market power and take your money." In trial testimony, C. Robert Taylor, an ag economist at Auburn University, hung numbers on Callicrate's claim. According to Taylor, econometric modeling suggested Tyson was able to lower spot market cattle prices $5.62 per hundredweight for every 100,000 head it controlled through contracts. Moreover, estimated Taylor, since Tyson controlled nearly half of the 9.5 million cattle it slaughtered annually, spot market sellers to it were drilled for $2.1 billion from early 1994 to late 2002. Tyson attorneys countered Taylor with experts of their own. According to sources who attended the trial, several Tyson witnesses, like IBP's cattle boss Bruce Bass, however, helped the cattlemen more than the packer. For example, when asked to explain IBP's cattle-buying regime, Bass noted that he informed IBP's 75 or so cattle buyers four times daily as to the supply of cattle IBP had on hand through it contracts and open market buys. He then advised them on the number of animals to purchase on the spot market and what price they should pay. Bass further explained that some weeks IBP owned as much as 190 percent of its kill needs--90 percent more than it could push through its beef slaughtering plant. Those vast amounts were the result of both controlled and spot market purchases. When that happened, Bass said, he told IBP buyers to lower spot market bids. Another defense witness, say sources, did equal damage after he asserted that one reason Tyson contracted cattle was to ensure ample supplies of "quality" cattle required by Tyson's meat buyers. Economist Taylor, however, refuted that assertion by using IBP meat quality data to show that Tyson had actually bought more quality cattle on the spot market than through contracts. "I thought much of the evidence supplied by Tyson witnesses showed there was no relationship between captive supplies and quality," noted Michael Stumo, general counsel at the Organization of Competitive Markets (OCM) who also advised Pickett attorneys. In fact, says Stumo, "Tyson never offered any evidence, testimony or internal studies to show captive cattle increased plant utilization, improved meat quality consistency or enhanced the company's ability to deliver a high quality product to its customers." Given that shortfall, Stumo adds, "IBP/Tyson gave it their best comprehensive shot in court after having eight years to prepare and a jury found their arguments were either contrived or not true." Plaintiff Smith was jubilant victory. "No one outside our group thought we could win, but we beat Goliath. And we beat them without help from what is supposed to be the cattlemen's best friend, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association." Indeed, says OCM executive director Steve Cady, "The NCBA--and the USDA, for that matter--never once helped the Pickett plaintiffs over the eight years this case has been around. That's pretty astounding. I mean this was the biggest trial in the cattle industry in nearly a century and neither played any role in it? Wow." Then again, as I noted in the Farm and Food File for Feb. 22, the absence of both "only proves that if you toss Tyson--or, for that matter, any meatpacker--in a sack with USDA and NCBA and then roll it down a hill, there would be a chicken on the top all the way down."
2.) Cowboys 1, Tyson 0; now what?
The cowboy-favoring Pickett decision is but the first step to restoring fair, transparent markets to US livestock producers, says Michael Stumo, OCM general counsel. The next step means going back to court. According to Stumo, Pickett plaintiffs sued Tyson with two specific goals. First, they wanted Tyson to reimburse them for the losses they felt Tyson had imposed on them in the cash cattle market. The jury agreed, awarding $1.2 billion in damaged to cash cattle sellers who dealt exclusively with IBP/Tyson. The jury also awarded the plaintiffs injunctive relief. In short, explains Stumo, the jury told the court to fix the broken system. "That's a more difficult problem," he says. What could injunctive relief look like? In a Feb. 19 Wall Street Journal story, plaintiff attorney David Domina gave this view: "to limit significantly the ability of the nation's biggest meatpacker to use contractual arrangements to control cattle before they are ready to be slaughtered ..." If the trial judge agrees, notes the Journal story, "The nation's meatpacking giants could be forced to return to the way they did business two decades ago--scrambling each day to buy enough cattle to keep their plants busy." Domina hinted that he might be willing to settle for Tyson having to buy 90% of its slaughter requirements in the open market. Presently, it's guessed that Tyson buys more than 50% of needs through previously negotiated contracts. At this point, however, explains Stumo, both Tyson and the winning plaintiffs will submit their injunctive relief ideas to the judge, U.S. District Judge Lyle Strom who--despite being from Omaha--was assigned the Alabama case because of his cattle market knowledge. Additionally, Strom is also on senior status--basically, semi-retired. As such, explains Stumo, he can devote more time to difficult and potentially lengthy trials. And he will. In addition to presiding over the injunctive phase of the Pickett case, Strom also is the judge of record for two more Packers & Stockyards lawsuits similar to Pickett. Both allege market monkey business by packers--one suit names Cargill's Excel as defendant; the other names Swift--who use captive supplies. Additionally, Tyson says it plans to appeal the Pickett decision.
3.) USDA mad cow miracle: Downer cows that walk
And now for the latest ricochet from the gang that has yet shoot straight. Contrary to ardent claims made by USDA, three eyewitnesses at the Moses Lake, WA slaughter plant where America's single mad cow was discovered say the animal walked to its demise Dec. 9. In short, the tallwalker USDA has repeatedly labeled as a downer was, in fact, walking tall when it was put down, according to the trucker who hauled the cow to the plant, the plant technician that actually killed the animal and the plant's co-manager. If true, the information means one of two things: either USDA covered up the actual events surrounding the BSE cow or the Washington state downer cow pulled off the greatest comeback since the 1969 New York Mets. The news of the Lazarus-like downer, reported by the Associated Press and the Washington Post Feb. 18, first surfaced in an 18-page affidavit from Tom Ellestad, co-manager of Vern's Moses Lake Meats, to the Government Accountability Project, a Washington, D.C. watchdog group. According to Ellestad affidavit, "The BSE-positive cow was not a downer." Before the affidavit landed on page 2 of the Post, however, it landed at the House Committee on Government Reform, Congress's government watchdog. Committee Chairman Tom Davis, R-VA, and Ranking Minority Member Henry Waxman, D-CA, said the new information, if accurate, means "USDA's (BSE) surveillance system may need to be significantly expanded." In an 11-page, highly detailed Feb. 17 letter to USDA boss Ann Veneman, the congressmen noted that the affidavit held "serious implications for both the adequacy of the national BSE surveillance system and the credibility of the USDA." It then listed three points it said the committee would investigate. First, "Three eyewitnesses say that the BSE-infected cow was not a downer." Second, "The BSE-infected cow was not tested because it was a downer cow." And, third, "USDA had information stating that the BSE-infected cow was not a downer cow." The Davis-Waxman letter notes that co-manager Ellestad "faxed a handwritten letter to USDA's Boulder District office (on Jan 6, 2004) regarding his observations. Mr. Ellestad's fax disputed the assertion that the BSE-infected cow was sampled because it was a downer. The fax stated, 'the brain sample was not taken because this animal was non-ambulatory.' USDA has not released this information to Congress or the public." What's going on here? First, more evidence has now surfaced that USDA simply was lucky--or unlucky, given your point of view--in catching the Washington State BSE-cow. The animal wasn't tested because it was a downer; it was tested out of pure chance. In fact, Ellestad's affidavit claims the Moses Lake slaughterer had stopped accepting downer cows in Feb. 2003. Moreover, according to Ellestad, a Washington state official told him on Jan. 19, 2004, that the cow had never been a downer cow. Indeed, claimed the meatpacker, the official had noted the cow had "walked through the milking barn 3 or 4 days ..." after calving in late November. It now appears that the cow was tested, according to the Davis-Waxman letter, because the Ellestad slaughterhouse "was initially asked to participate in USDA's BSE surveillance program around June 2003. USDA offered ten dollars for every sample taken from downer cattle up to a total of 1,000 samples." However, Ellestad declined the generous USDA offer because--quite simply--the slaughterhouse did not accept downer cows. But USDA was insistent, Ellestad is quoted in the Davis-Waxman letter, because "they were having real difficulty getting plants to sample and that they were having difficulty getting the number of brain stem samples that they were expected to get." According to Ellestad, "USDA was so needful of getting samples, that they backed away from the requirement that tested animals be downers and eventually, a modified contract was offered to us." (Emphasis added by Davis and Waxman in the letter to USDA's Veneman.) Holy cow. According to Ellestad, not only did the Moses Lake plant not take downer cows, USDA knew it didn't take downer cows. And even after USDA knew the plant didn't take downer cows, it altered its lucrative BSE-testing offer to Ellestad because it was "so needful of getting samples" to prove that it was doing some--and, evidently, any was fine by it--testing. Even more remarkable--and against unfathomable odds--a BSE-positive animal walks into the Moses Lake slaughterhouse Dec. 9 and is tested before ascending to hamburger heaven. Two weeks later, USDA claims the animal was a downer despite an already clear line of established evidence to the contrary. Ever loyal Annie, however, stuck to her guns. On Feb. 19, Veneman maintained the cow was a downer. This is not at all surprising. The current gang at USDA, like the gang at the White House, seem almost pathological in their belief that the public and the press must disprove their lies before they admit the truth. More importantly, they believe, if we let their words, actions and ideas go unchallenged or if we fail to completely rout their white lies, half-lies and bald-faced lies, well, then it's our own dumb fault that we then are misled. It's gutter government at it worst, and USDA's mad cow madness takes it--really you and me--even deeper into the gutter. Once upon a time not so long ago, truth was the coin of the realm in American government. Today, with this USDA and White House at least, truth is just another downer to be disassembled, like so many cow parts, and tossed into the meat grinder.
C 2004 ag comm The Final Word comes to you each Friday by special arrangement. Alan Guebert's regular column, the Farm and Food File, is published weekly in more than 70 newspapers around the US and Canada. Contact him at AGuebert@worldnet.att.net.
Alan Guebert
1.) Cowboy justice clips meatpackers
In days of yore, cowboy justice involved six-shooters, a length of sturdy rope or both. Today, it involves federal courts, a gaggle of sturdy lawyers or both. On Feb. 17, a six cattlemen and their small gaggle of lawyers shook every bone in America's concentrated, collusive red meat industry when a federal jury in Montgomery, AL, ruled unanimously that Tyson Foods illegally pushed down US cattle prices. The jury awarded $1.28 billion in damages to the class of cattle sellers (estimated at 30,000) represented by the plaintiffs in the civil lawsuit and ordered the court to remedy the price-depressing affect packer-controlled livestock have on cash cattle prices. The verdict, called the most important event in the livestock industry since the passage of the Packer & Stockyards Act of 1921, was the result of an eight-year-long lawsuit that pitted the cattlemen against the meatpacking powerhouse. Tyson, easily the world's largest integrated poultry producer, became the nation's largest beef packer with its $2.9 billion, 2001 purchase of IBP. The case, named Pickett after its lead plaintiff, alleged that spot market cattle sellers received lower prices from IBP from early 1994 through late 2002 because the giant packer used its captive cattle supply to beat down cash prices. That action, alleged Pickett, violated the Packers & Stockyards Act. "We knew we could win (the lawsuit) if we got the facts before a jury of our peers," said Johnny Smith, one of the plaintiffs and a South Dakota cattleman, Tuesday. "All we did was show what every cattleman has known to be true for years--today's cattle markets are rigged." Plaintiff attorneys used cattlemen testimony to explain to the 12-person jury just how dysfunctional today's cash cattle market has become because of packer contact cattle: tiny, often less-than-an-hour per week selling windows to price market-ready beef; one-time take-it-or-leave-it bidding by single buyers; and buyer boycotts of selected sellers. "These guys are nothing but old-time gangsters, thugs and thieves," noted Mike Callicrate, a one-time Kansas cattle seller to Tyson/IBP and a Pickett plaintiff. "They beat your brains in with their market power and take your money." In trial testimony, C. Robert Taylor, an ag economist at Auburn University, hung numbers on Callicrate's claim. According to Taylor, econometric modeling suggested Tyson was able to lower spot market cattle prices $5.62 per hundredweight for every 100,000 head it controlled through contracts. Moreover, estimated Taylor, since Tyson controlled nearly half of the 9.5 million cattle it slaughtered annually, spot market sellers to it were drilled for $2.1 billion from early 1994 to late 2002. Tyson attorneys countered Taylor with experts of their own. According to sources who attended the trial, several Tyson witnesses, like IBP's cattle boss Bruce Bass, however, helped the cattlemen more than the packer. For example, when asked to explain IBP's cattle-buying regime, Bass noted that he informed IBP's 75 or so cattle buyers four times daily as to the supply of cattle IBP had on hand through it contracts and open market buys. He then advised them on the number of animals to purchase on the spot market and what price they should pay. Bass further explained that some weeks IBP owned as much as 190 percent of its kill needs--90 percent more than it could push through its beef slaughtering plant. Those vast amounts were the result of both controlled and spot market purchases. When that happened, Bass said, he told IBP buyers to lower spot market bids. Another defense witness, say sources, did equal damage after he asserted that one reason Tyson contracted cattle was to ensure ample supplies of "quality" cattle required by Tyson's meat buyers. Economist Taylor, however, refuted that assertion by using IBP meat quality data to show that Tyson had actually bought more quality cattle on the spot market than through contracts. "I thought much of the evidence supplied by Tyson witnesses showed there was no relationship between captive supplies and quality," noted Michael Stumo, general counsel at the Organization of Competitive Markets (OCM) who also advised Pickett attorneys. In fact, says Stumo, "Tyson never offered any evidence, testimony or internal studies to show captive cattle increased plant utilization, improved meat quality consistency or enhanced the company's ability to deliver a high quality product to its customers." Given that shortfall, Stumo adds, "IBP/Tyson gave it their best comprehensive shot in court after having eight years to prepare and a jury found their arguments were either contrived or not true." Plaintiff Smith was jubilant victory. "No one outside our group thought we could win, but we beat Goliath. And we beat them without help from what is supposed to be the cattlemen's best friend, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association." Indeed, says OCM executive director Steve Cady, "The NCBA--and the USDA, for that matter--never once helped the Pickett plaintiffs over the eight years this case has been around. That's pretty astounding. I mean this was the biggest trial in the cattle industry in nearly a century and neither played any role in it? Wow." Then again, as I noted in the Farm and Food File for Feb. 22, the absence of both "only proves that if you toss Tyson--or, for that matter, any meatpacker--in a sack with USDA and NCBA and then roll it down a hill, there would be a chicken on the top all the way down."
2.) Cowboys 1, Tyson 0; now what?
The cowboy-favoring Pickett decision is but the first step to restoring fair, transparent markets to US livestock producers, says Michael Stumo, OCM general counsel. The next step means going back to court. According to Stumo, Pickett plaintiffs sued Tyson with two specific goals. First, they wanted Tyson to reimburse them for the losses they felt Tyson had imposed on them in the cash cattle market. The jury agreed, awarding $1.2 billion in damaged to cash cattle sellers who dealt exclusively with IBP/Tyson. The jury also awarded the plaintiffs injunctive relief. In short, explains Stumo, the jury told the court to fix the broken system. "That's a more difficult problem," he says. What could injunctive relief look like? In a Feb. 19 Wall Street Journal story, plaintiff attorney David Domina gave this view: "to limit significantly the ability of the nation's biggest meatpacker to use contractual arrangements to control cattle before they are ready to be slaughtered ..." If the trial judge agrees, notes the Journal story, "The nation's meatpacking giants could be forced to return to the way they did business two decades ago--scrambling each day to buy enough cattle to keep their plants busy." Domina hinted that he might be willing to settle for Tyson having to buy 90% of its slaughter requirements in the open market. Presently, it's guessed that Tyson buys more than 50% of needs through previously negotiated contracts. At this point, however, explains Stumo, both Tyson and the winning plaintiffs will submit their injunctive relief ideas to the judge, U.S. District Judge Lyle Strom who--despite being from Omaha--was assigned the Alabama case because of his cattle market knowledge. Additionally, Strom is also on senior status--basically, semi-retired. As such, explains Stumo, he can devote more time to difficult and potentially lengthy trials. And he will. In addition to presiding over the injunctive phase of the Pickett case, Strom also is the judge of record for two more Packers & Stockyards lawsuits similar to Pickett. Both allege market monkey business by packers--one suit names Cargill's Excel as defendant; the other names Swift--who use captive supplies. Additionally, Tyson says it plans to appeal the Pickett decision.
3.) USDA mad cow miracle: Downer cows that walk
And now for the latest ricochet from the gang that has yet shoot straight. Contrary to ardent claims made by USDA, three eyewitnesses at the Moses Lake, WA slaughter plant where America's single mad cow was discovered say the animal walked to its demise Dec. 9. In short, the tallwalker USDA has repeatedly labeled as a downer was, in fact, walking tall when it was put down, according to the trucker who hauled the cow to the plant, the plant technician that actually killed the animal and the plant's co-manager. If true, the information means one of two things: either USDA covered up the actual events surrounding the BSE cow or the Washington state downer cow pulled off the greatest comeback since the 1969 New York Mets. The news of the Lazarus-like downer, reported by the Associated Press and the Washington Post Feb. 18, first surfaced in an 18-page affidavit from Tom Ellestad, co-manager of Vern's Moses Lake Meats, to the Government Accountability Project, a Washington, D.C. watchdog group. According to Ellestad affidavit, "The BSE-positive cow was not a downer." Before the affidavit landed on page 2 of the Post, however, it landed at the House Committee on Government Reform, Congress's government watchdog. Committee Chairman Tom Davis, R-VA, and Ranking Minority Member Henry Waxman, D-CA, said the new information, if accurate, means "USDA's (BSE) surveillance system may need to be significantly expanded." In an 11-page, highly detailed Feb. 17 letter to USDA boss Ann Veneman, the congressmen noted that the affidavit held "serious implications for both the adequacy of the national BSE surveillance system and the credibility of the USDA." It then listed three points it said the committee would investigate. First, "Three eyewitnesses say that the BSE-infected cow was not a downer." Second, "The BSE-infected cow was not tested because it was a downer cow." And, third, "USDA had information stating that the BSE-infected cow was not a downer cow." The Davis-Waxman letter notes that co-manager Ellestad "faxed a handwritten letter to USDA's Boulder District office (on Jan 6, 2004) regarding his observations. Mr. Ellestad's fax disputed the assertion that the BSE-infected cow was sampled because it was a downer. The fax stated, 'the brain sample was not taken because this animal was non-ambulatory.' USDA has not released this information to Congress or the public." What's going on here? First, more evidence has now surfaced that USDA simply was lucky--or unlucky, given your point of view--in catching the Washington State BSE-cow. The animal wasn't tested because it was a downer; it was tested out of pure chance. In fact, Ellestad's affidavit claims the Moses Lake slaughterer had stopped accepting downer cows in Feb. 2003. Moreover, according to Ellestad, a Washington state official told him on Jan. 19, 2004, that the cow had never been a downer cow. Indeed, claimed the meatpacker, the official had noted the cow had "walked through the milking barn 3 or 4 days ..." after calving in late November. It now appears that the cow was tested, according to the Davis-Waxman letter, because the Ellestad slaughterhouse "was initially asked to participate in USDA's BSE surveillance program around June 2003. USDA offered ten dollars for every sample taken from downer cattle up to a total of 1,000 samples." However, Ellestad declined the generous USDA offer because--quite simply--the slaughterhouse did not accept downer cows. But USDA was insistent, Ellestad is quoted in the Davis-Waxman letter, because "they were having real difficulty getting plants to sample and that they were having difficulty getting the number of brain stem samples that they were expected to get." According to Ellestad, "USDA was so needful of getting samples, that they backed away from the requirement that tested animals be downers and eventually, a modified contract was offered to us." (Emphasis added by Davis and Waxman in the letter to USDA's Veneman.) Holy cow. According to Ellestad, not only did the Moses Lake plant not take downer cows, USDA knew it didn't take downer cows. And even after USDA knew the plant didn't take downer cows, it altered its lucrative BSE-testing offer to Ellestad because it was "so needful of getting samples" to prove that it was doing some--and, evidently, any was fine by it--testing. Even more remarkable--and against unfathomable odds--a BSE-positive animal walks into the Moses Lake slaughterhouse Dec. 9 and is tested before ascending to hamburger heaven. Two weeks later, USDA claims the animal was a downer despite an already clear line of established evidence to the contrary. Ever loyal Annie, however, stuck to her guns. On Feb. 19, Veneman maintained the cow was a downer. This is not at all surprising. The current gang at USDA, like the gang at the White House, seem almost pathological in their belief that the public and the press must disprove their lies before they admit the truth. More importantly, they believe, if we let their words, actions and ideas go unchallenged or if we fail to completely rout their white lies, half-lies and bald-faced lies, well, then it's our own dumb fault that we then are misled. It's gutter government at it worst, and USDA's mad cow madness takes it--really you and me--even deeper into the gutter. Once upon a time not so long ago, truth was the coin of the realm in American government. Today, with this USDA and White House at least, truth is just another downer to be disassembled, like so many cow parts, and tossed into the meat grinder.
C 2004 ag comm The Final Word comes to you each Friday by special arrangement. Alan Guebert's regular column, the Farm and Food File, is published weekly in more than 70 newspapers around the US and Canada. Contact him at AGuebert@worldnet.att.net.
SOME JIM BEERS COLUMNS
NATIVE ECOSYSTEMS & OTHER LIES
What is the “native ecosystem” of central Africa? Is it the forests grazed and trampled to destruction by overpopulations of elephants? Is it the bush around villages or towns that have been in place for eons? Is it the imagined plant and animal mix before Arab slave traders or conquerors from far off massacred and enslaved “native” populations? What about our UN “partners” in forcing Asians and South Americans to “preserve” “their native ecosystems?” Is Germanys’ “native ecosystem” dated before the Nazis? Before the Romans? Before the Cro-Magnons? Is England’s “native ecosystem” dated before the Battle of Hastings? Before the Roman occupation? Before the druids? Why are any of these dates or any particular mix of plants and animals worthy of note?
Plants and animals have been invading new (and often for some of them, old) habitats since time began. Plants and animals have been disappearing from habitats for almost as long. Weather, rainfall, snowfall, fire, predators, elimination of a food source, opportunity in the form of a floating log or a windstorm, and other reasons too long to mention account for these changes. In recent (geologically) times, human activities such as farming, hunting, migration, villages, ships, trade, roads, fire, domestications, and another list too long to mention introduced and diminished untold plant and animal communities. North America’s environmental changes over the past 20,000 years are spectacular and some of the most extreme known, because when the prodigious changes of the past 500 years occurred, advanced European science and record-keeping ably recorded the changes....
WHOSE HABITAT?
Ever notice how often press releases, media commentators, nature writers, and environmental programs refer to how “we” are destroying or occupying or fragmenting “their” (wolves, cougars, elephants, leopards, and a list too long to include here) habitat. The old saw usually goes “increasing human populations”, “increasing development”, “increasing roads”, “increasing recreation”, and a whole host of human-oriented “increases” are “destroying habitat”, “increasing conflicts with (put your favorite critter here)”, “destroying the ecosystem”, and another long list too big to include here. Nonsense.
Is New York City a despoiled habitat? Is Yellowstone? Is North Dakota? How about Texas or the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio? Do condos destroy habitat? Does ranching or logging? Do wolves belong in my backyard or does a golden retriever? Are Africans entitled to surroundings wherein their children are not eaten by leopards or crocodiles? How about African farmers are they entitled to grow crops free of marauding elephants like Nebraskans grow corn free of marauding buffalo? These questions represent human values and a human society that strives to manage its environment for human good....
HUNTED AND TRAPPED
I have lost count of the propaganda press releases that have crossed my desk in the past 12 months referring to the carnage wrought by hunting and trapping. “Wolves were hunted and trapped until they were extinct in the west.” “Cougars were hunted and trapped until they were extinct everywhere except the west.” “Wolverines were hunted and trapped into extinction in the west.” Lynx were hunted and trapped into near extinction throughout the northern states.” “Buffalo were hunted to extinction throughout the US.” Will saying these things 50 times or reading them 100 times make them true? The answer is NO!
If no European settler (native Americans are never credited with killing “too many” of anything) ever hunted a buffalo there wouldn’t be one more buffalo than there are today. Why? Because when increasing numbers of settlers began farms and began grazing cattle and towns cropped up everywhere, there was no room left for buffalo. They ate forage needed for cattle, they knocked down fences, they trampled crops and gardens, they endangered rural children and old folks by stampeding, they tore up roads, and were simply out of place on lands intended by us to raise families, crops, and an American society. The buffalo had to go....
THE SLIPPERY SLOPE
A nation founded on individual freedoms and guaranteed rights is not a society where powerful interests should be able to deny freedoms and eliminate traditional rights. However that is not only happening routinely today, it has steadily increased in frequency for many years. In spite of a Constitution that designates and limits the powers and responsibilities of state and Federal government, environmental and animal rights interests have been successful in transferring state authorities to the Federal government and using those contrived authorities to transform the country into a socialist dictatorship in these matters.
How did we come to accept Federal wolves for which the Federal government is not responsible when they destroy private property; unmanaged whales and seals that depress already depressed commercial fisheries; increasingly vast unmanaged Federal lands that are inaccessible, unproductive fire hazards; invented Federal authority over animal testing and dog breeding; Federal proposals to ban trapping, ban bear baiting, ban hunting with dogs, restore “Pre-Columbian ecosystems”, eradicate “Invasive Species”, finance “non-game species”, register pet owners, and on and on?....
TAKING
“Taking” is all of these things, and more. The government takes from you when they condemn your land for a road. They take from landowners when they declare “viewsheds” and “corridors” around Parks and Refuges that restrict land use. They take from all of us when National Parks close state roads. They take from you when they forcibly introduce wolves that then kill your livestock, your pets, and the big game herds that you hunt. They take your property when they declare Critical Habitat or the presence of an Endangered Species on your property and you can no longer log, mow, build a home, burn, plant, graze, run dogs, hunt, fish, boat, etc. on your property. Property owners are increasingly “agitated and distressed” by the increase in magnitude and occasions of such takings. Government bureaucrats are “captivated” and “pleased” as they increasingly take from citizens. The increasing success of “taking” private property by bureaucrats, environmental radicals, animal rights activists, and politicians is clearly “infectious” and “contagious.” Of all the examples cited, in only the first (roads) are property owners paid or compensated for the property taken by government.
The Founding Fathers knew their history. For hundreds of years Kings, barons, and Parliaments “took” property on a whim and generally for their own profit. Whether it was monasteries transferred to political allies, rural landscapes and rivers reserved for the powerful rulers pleasure, Scotch and Irish land clearances, weapons confiscated, sons taken for war or daughters taken for the powerful, or homes destroyed for the “viewsheds” of the rich; “Taking” by government was a danger to be avoided at all costs. Therefore, the 5th Amendment to the US Constitution (smack dab in the middle of what we call “The Bill of Rights”) concludes, (No person shall…)”be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” There is nothing about good causes or the environment or some group of critters being exceptions to the obligation of the government to pay “just compensation” when they take property. The perverse current definition of public use ought to also be considered in this Constitutional light....
NATIVE ECOSYSTEMS & OTHER LIES
What is the “native ecosystem” of central Africa? Is it the forests grazed and trampled to destruction by overpopulations of elephants? Is it the bush around villages or towns that have been in place for eons? Is it the imagined plant and animal mix before Arab slave traders or conquerors from far off massacred and enslaved “native” populations? What about our UN “partners” in forcing Asians and South Americans to “preserve” “their native ecosystems?” Is Germanys’ “native ecosystem” dated before the Nazis? Before the Romans? Before the Cro-Magnons? Is England’s “native ecosystem” dated before the Battle of Hastings? Before the Roman occupation? Before the druids? Why are any of these dates or any particular mix of plants and animals worthy of note?
Plants and animals have been invading new (and often for some of them, old) habitats since time began. Plants and animals have been disappearing from habitats for almost as long. Weather, rainfall, snowfall, fire, predators, elimination of a food source, opportunity in the form of a floating log or a windstorm, and other reasons too long to mention account for these changes. In recent (geologically) times, human activities such as farming, hunting, migration, villages, ships, trade, roads, fire, domestications, and another list too long to mention introduced and diminished untold plant and animal communities. North America’s environmental changes over the past 20,000 years are spectacular and some of the most extreme known, because when the prodigious changes of the past 500 years occurred, advanced European science and record-keeping ably recorded the changes....
WHOSE HABITAT?
Ever notice how often press releases, media commentators, nature writers, and environmental programs refer to how “we” are destroying or occupying or fragmenting “their” (wolves, cougars, elephants, leopards, and a list too long to include here) habitat. The old saw usually goes “increasing human populations”, “increasing development”, “increasing roads”, “increasing recreation”, and a whole host of human-oriented “increases” are “destroying habitat”, “increasing conflicts with (put your favorite critter here)”, “destroying the ecosystem”, and another long list too big to include here. Nonsense.
Is New York City a despoiled habitat? Is Yellowstone? Is North Dakota? How about Texas or the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio? Do condos destroy habitat? Does ranching or logging? Do wolves belong in my backyard or does a golden retriever? Are Africans entitled to surroundings wherein their children are not eaten by leopards or crocodiles? How about African farmers are they entitled to grow crops free of marauding elephants like Nebraskans grow corn free of marauding buffalo? These questions represent human values and a human society that strives to manage its environment for human good....
HUNTED AND TRAPPED
I have lost count of the propaganda press releases that have crossed my desk in the past 12 months referring to the carnage wrought by hunting and trapping. “Wolves were hunted and trapped until they were extinct in the west.” “Cougars were hunted and trapped until they were extinct everywhere except the west.” “Wolverines were hunted and trapped into extinction in the west.” Lynx were hunted and trapped into near extinction throughout the northern states.” “Buffalo were hunted to extinction throughout the US.” Will saying these things 50 times or reading them 100 times make them true? The answer is NO!
If no European settler (native Americans are never credited with killing “too many” of anything) ever hunted a buffalo there wouldn’t be one more buffalo than there are today. Why? Because when increasing numbers of settlers began farms and began grazing cattle and towns cropped up everywhere, there was no room left for buffalo. They ate forage needed for cattle, they knocked down fences, they trampled crops and gardens, they endangered rural children and old folks by stampeding, they tore up roads, and were simply out of place on lands intended by us to raise families, crops, and an American society. The buffalo had to go....
THE SLIPPERY SLOPE
A nation founded on individual freedoms and guaranteed rights is not a society where powerful interests should be able to deny freedoms and eliminate traditional rights. However that is not only happening routinely today, it has steadily increased in frequency for many years. In spite of a Constitution that designates and limits the powers and responsibilities of state and Federal government, environmental and animal rights interests have been successful in transferring state authorities to the Federal government and using those contrived authorities to transform the country into a socialist dictatorship in these matters.
How did we come to accept Federal wolves for which the Federal government is not responsible when they destroy private property; unmanaged whales and seals that depress already depressed commercial fisheries; increasingly vast unmanaged Federal lands that are inaccessible, unproductive fire hazards; invented Federal authority over animal testing and dog breeding; Federal proposals to ban trapping, ban bear baiting, ban hunting with dogs, restore “Pre-Columbian ecosystems”, eradicate “Invasive Species”, finance “non-game species”, register pet owners, and on and on?....
TAKING
“Taking” is all of these things, and more. The government takes from you when they condemn your land for a road. They take from landowners when they declare “viewsheds” and “corridors” around Parks and Refuges that restrict land use. They take from all of us when National Parks close state roads. They take from you when they forcibly introduce wolves that then kill your livestock, your pets, and the big game herds that you hunt. They take your property when they declare Critical Habitat or the presence of an Endangered Species on your property and you can no longer log, mow, build a home, burn, plant, graze, run dogs, hunt, fish, boat, etc. on your property. Property owners are increasingly “agitated and distressed” by the increase in magnitude and occasions of such takings. Government bureaucrats are “captivated” and “pleased” as they increasingly take from citizens. The increasing success of “taking” private property by bureaucrats, environmental radicals, animal rights activists, and politicians is clearly “infectious” and “contagious.” Of all the examples cited, in only the first (roads) are property owners paid or compensated for the property taken by government.
The Founding Fathers knew their history. For hundreds of years Kings, barons, and Parliaments “took” property on a whim and generally for their own profit. Whether it was monasteries transferred to political allies, rural landscapes and rivers reserved for the powerful rulers pleasure, Scotch and Irish land clearances, weapons confiscated, sons taken for war or daughters taken for the powerful, or homes destroyed for the “viewsheds” of the rich; “Taking” by government was a danger to be avoided at all costs. Therefore, the 5th Amendment to the US Constitution (smack dab in the middle of what we call “The Bill of Rights”) concludes, (No person shall…)”be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” There is nothing about good causes or the environment or some group of critters being exceptions to the obligation of the government to pay “just compensation” when they take property. The perverse current definition of public use ought to also be considered in this Constitutional light....
Saturday, February 21, 2004
OPINION/COMMENTARY
Glass Houses and Thrown Stones
People who live in glass houses should not throw stones. In this case, it is the political hatchet that the Sierra Club is trying to throw at Associate Supreme Court Justice Scalia, announcing last week that it was considering formally asking the Justice to recuse himself from the pending Cheney energy task force case, claiming that his personal relationship with Vice President Cheney will unfairly influence his decision in the pending case. (Recall that Justice Scalia accompanied Vice President Cheney on a recent duck-hunting trip to Louisiana.)
In the meantime, the Sierra Club is reportedly under attack from within by three candidates for its governing board who are accusing the organization and some of its top officials of unfairly trying to influence the club’s upcoming election. The three candidates claim individuals who were nominated by board members are being unfairly favored over those who gathered signatures to qualify for the ballot....
Invoking a Real Precautionary Principle
We live in a world increasingly dominated by an article of faith that human beings have undue, even nefarious, influence over the dynamic systems of the Earth like climate. Climate science, however, is finally catching up with climate theology and asking some questions that might upset the faithful.
Increasing numbers of scientists, politicians, and journalists have become aware of the huge impact that natural climate drivers, like the amount of solar energy reaching the earth, have on our global climate over time. Moreover, we now understand that the numerical computer models used by many academics too often replicate the biases of their programmers. Current climate models that assume greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide, drive climate change, fail to reproduce observed climate change over even geologically short time spans....
California's Fruits and Nuts Oppose Agriculture
In a state known for dumb, gratuitous referendum issues, Measure H takes the cake. It would ban the cultivation of any plant genetically improved using the most precise and predictable techniques, regardless of their risk.
To begin with, Measure H's definition of DNA is bizarre and scientifically incorrect. Measure H is also logically inconsistent, in that its restrictions are inversely related to risk. It permits the use of microorganisms and plants that are crafted with less precise, less predictable techniques, but bans those made with highly precise and predictable ones. It turns science-based regulation on its head.
Significant advances in the fight against cancer, diabetes, AIDS, Parkinson's, and numerous other diseases have relied on biotechnology. If future research were to lead to development of a product that provides significant relief, or even a life-saving cure, Measure H would prohibit its use in Mendocino County. That alone is reason enough to defeat this poorly-worded and confusing measure....
Nature in the Suburbs
A decade ago, who would have thought that New Jersey would host a black bear hunt--the first in 33 years? Or that Virginia, whose population of bald eagles was once down to 32 breeding pairs, would have 329 known active bald eagle nests? Who would have expected Metropolitan Home magazine to be advising its readers about ornamental grasses to keep away white-tailed deer, now found in the millions around the country?
Such incidents illustrate a transformed America. This nation, often condemned for being crowded, paved over, and studded with nature-strangling shopping malls, is proving to be a haven for wild animals.
It is difficult to ignore this upsurge of wildlife, because stories about bears raiding trashcans and mountain lions sighted in subdivisions frequently turn up in the press or on television. Featured in these stories are animals as large as moose, as well as once-threatened birds such as eagles and falcons and smaller animals like wolverines and coyotes....
PETA Running From The Truth
The truth can hurt. Sometimes, it is so embarrassingly hideous that its enemies are moved to vigilante censorship and vandalism. Anything to shield the public from the awful truth. And so it is with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and the Center for Consumer Freedom's advertisements, appearing this month on the Washington Metrorail system. Activists who aren't fans of our message have been taking matters -- and the ads themselves -- into their own hands.
Our ad highlights PETA's appalling stance on medical research using lab animals, clearly articulated by PETA president Ingrid Newkirk herself: "Even if animal research resulted in a cure for AIDS, we'd be against it." PETA even discourages the public from supporting the Pediatric AIDS Foundation, the Alzheimer's Association, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation (Race for the Cure), the Shriner's Hospitals for Crippled Children, and many, many more....
Sleeping with the Enemy
The late and legendary community activist must have been giddy in his grave the other day, when the world's largest lending institution, Citigroup, announced a broad reaching agreement with its arch nemesis, the Rainforest Action Network (RAN), to apply a "comprehensive environmental policy" in all of its operations.
The policy, which sets standards related to endangered ecosystems, illegal logging, ecologically sustainable development and climate change, was framed in an atmosphere of civility, constructiveness, and cooperation -- and, not coincidentally, after the bank had endured four punishing years of, among other niceties:....
Let Them Eat Precaution
On cue, at last fall's World Trade Organization meeting in Cancun, self anointed "Green" activists showed up to protest the use of gene modification (G.M.) technology in agriculture. A bevy of teenagers outfitted as monarch butterflies flitted through what resembled a Halloween riot. Dotted amongst the chanting demonstrators was an assortment of human side dishes including walking "killer" tomatoes, a man dressed as a cluster of drippy purple grapes, and a woman in a strawberry costume topped with a fish head peddling T-shirts that warned of the weird and horrid mutants that will be created if "Corporate America" and the "multinationals" get their way.
But of most immediate importance, it is spreading the Green Revolution to the poorest corners of the globe. G.M. technology has led to the development of soybeans, wheat, and cotton that generate natural insecticides, making them more drought resistant, reducing the need for costly and environmentally harmful chemicals, and increasing yields. Researchers are perfecting ways to increase the vitamin content of staples like rice and bananas, which could dramatically cut malnutrition and lengthen life spans. Yet, for all its vast demonstrated value, this still-nascent technology, which promises further breakthroughs in fields such as plant-based pharmaceuticals, remains drastically underused, mired in controversy....
And finally, two from Robert Binidotto over at ecoNot.com
Greens sue feds to protect habitat for insects
The Endangered Species Act (ESA) has become the most potent legal weapon for environmentalists seeking de facto nationalization of private property. The assumption underlying the ESA is that every species of every life form has intrinsic or inherent value in itself, and therefore must be sustained and protected--whatever the cost to human beings (who are apparently the only life forms not protected under the law). By their specious premise of species protection--and by arbitrarily adding an ever-growing number of "sub-species" to the ESA's purvue (often defined on the basis of their geography, rather than their biology)--the 'viros have been able to discover "endangered" or "threatened" beasts, birds, bugs, trees, plants, and fungi on virtually every piece of real estate in the United States. And under the ESA, all such land can then become subject to draconian development and use restrictions--in effect, annihilating private property rights....
Man's clearest threat to birds: windows
Daniel Klem, Jr., is outraged about Man's "senseless slaughter of wildlife." But what bothers him most is not our cell phone towers, oil spills, power lines, Atkins diets, or pesticides. The Muhlenberg College ornithologist is mainly incensed that humans--exhibiting their typically callous insensitivity toward Mother Nature--have arrogantly covered the walls of their homes, offices, and other structures with a hazard deadly to birds: windows.
"Glass is ubiquitous and it's indiscriminate, killing the fit and the unfit," rages Klem. He claims that collisions with glass kill up to 1 billion birds a year in the United States alone. "Buildings that we have created to be aesthetically pleasing are slaughtering birds." Indeed! How dare we enter mere human aesthetic pleasure into such a moral calculus?....
Glass Houses and Thrown Stones
People who live in glass houses should not throw stones. In this case, it is the political hatchet that the Sierra Club is trying to throw at Associate Supreme Court Justice Scalia, announcing last week that it was considering formally asking the Justice to recuse himself from the pending Cheney energy task force case, claiming that his personal relationship with Vice President Cheney will unfairly influence his decision in the pending case. (Recall that Justice Scalia accompanied Vice President Cheney on a recent duck-hunting trip to Louisiana.)
In the meantime, the Sierra Club is reportedly under attack from within by three candidates for its governing board who are accusing the organization and some of its top officials of unfairly trying to influence the club’s upcoming election. The three candidates claim individuals who were nominated by board members are being unfairly favored over those who gathered signatures to qualify for the ballot....
Invoking a Real Precautionary Principle
We live in a world increasingly dominated by an article of faith that human beings have undue, even nefarious, influence over the dynamic systems of the Earth like climate. Climate science, however, is finally catching up with climate theology and asking some questions that might upset the faithful.
Increasing numbers of scientists, politicians, and journalists have become aware of the huge impact that natural climate drivers, like the amount of solar energy reaching the earth, have on our global climate over time. Moreover, we now understand that the numerical computer models used by many academics too often replicate the biases of their programmers. Current climate models that assume greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide, drive climate change, fail to reproduce observed climate change over even geologically short time spans....
California's Fruits and Nuts Oppose Agriculture
In a state known for dumb, gratuitous referendum issues, Measure H takes the cake. It would ban the cultivation of any plant genetically improved using the most precise and predictable techniques, regardless of their risk.
To begin with, Measure H's definition of DNA is bizarre and scientifically incorrect. Measure H is also logically inconsistent, in that its restrictions are inversely related to risk. It permits the use of microorganisms and plants that are crafted with less precise, less predictable techniques, but bans those made with highly precise and predictable ones. It turns science-based regulation on its head.
Significant advances in the fight against cancer, diabetes, AIDS, Parkinson's, and numerous other diseases have relied on biotechnology. If future research were to lead to development of a product that provides significant relief, or even a life-saving cure, Measure H would prohibit its use in Mendocino County. That alone is reason enough to defeat this poorly-worded and confusing measure....
Nature in the Suburbs
A decade ago, who would have thought that New Jersey would host a black bear hunt--the first in 33 years? Or that Virginia, whose population of bald eagles was once down to 32 breeding pairs, would have 329 known active bald eagle nests? Who would have expected Metropolitan Home magazine to be advising its readers about ornamental grasses to keep away white-tailed deer, now found in the millions around the country?
Such incidents illustrate a transformed America. This nation, often condemned for being crowded, paved over, and studded with nature-strangling shopping malls, is proving to be a haven for wild animals.
It is difficult to ignore this upsurge of wildlife, because stories about bears raiding trashcans and mountain lions sighted in subdivisions frequently turn up in the press or on television. Featured in these stories are animals as large as moose, as well as once-threatened birds such as eagles and falcons and smaller animals like wolverines and coyotes....
PETA Running From The Truth
The truth can hurt. Sometimes, it is so embarrassingly hideous that its enemies are moved to vigilante censorship and vandalism. Anything to shield the public from the awful truth. And so it is with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and the Center for Consumer Freedom's advertisements, appearing this month on the Washington Metrorail system. Activists who aren't fans of our message have been taking matters -- and the ads themselves -- into their own hands.
Our ad highlights PETA's appalling stance on medical research using lab animals, clearly articulated by PETA president Ingrid Newkirk herself: "Even if animal research resulted in a cure for AIDS, we'd be against it." PETA even discourages the public from supporting the Pediatric AIDS Foundation, the Alzheimer's Association, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation (Race for the Cure), the Shriner's Hospitals for Crippled Children, and many, many more....
Sleeping with the Enemy
The late and legendary community activist must have been giddy in his grave the other day, when the world's largest lending institution, Citigroup, announced a broad reaching agreement with its arch nemesis, the Rainforest Action Network (RAN), to apply a "comprehensive environmental policy" in all of its operations.
The policy, which sets standards related to endangered ecosystems, illegal logging, ecologically sustainable development and climate change, was framed in an atmosphere of civility, constructiveness, and cooperation -- and, not coincidentally, after the bank had endured four punishing years of, among other niceties:....
Let Them Eat Precaution
On cue, at last fall's World Trade Organization meeting in Cancun, self anointed "Green" activists showed up to protest the use of gene modification (G.M.) technology in agriculture. A bevy of teenagers outfitted as monarch butterflies flitted through what resembled a Halloween riot. Dotted amongst the chanting demonstrators was an assortment of human side dishes including walking "killer" tomatoes, a man dressed as a cluster of drippy purple grapes, and a woman in a strawberry costume topped with a fish head peddling T-shirts that warned of the weird and horrid mutants that will be created if "Corporate America" and the "multinationals" get their way.
But of most immediate importance, it is spreading the Green Revolution to the poorest corners of the globe. G.M. technology has led to the development of soybeans, wheat, and cotton that generate natural insecticides, making them more drought resistant, reducing the need for costly and environmentally harmful chemicals, and increasing yields. Researchers are perfecting ways to increase the vitamin content of staples like rice and bananas, which could dramatically cut malnutrition and lengthen life spans. Yet, for all its vast demonstrated value, this still-nascent technology, which promises further breakthroughs in fields such as plant-based pharmaceuticals, remains drastically underused, mired in controversy....
And finally, two from Robert Binidotto over at ecoNot.com
Greens sue feds to protect habitat for insects
The Endangered Species Act (ESA) has become the most potent legal weapon for environmentalists seeking de facto nationalization of private property. The assumption underlying the ESA is that every species of every life form has intrinsic or inherent value in itself, and therefore must be sustained and protected--whatever the cost to human beings (who are apparently the only life forms not protected under the law). By their specious premise of species protection--and by arbitrarily adding an ever-growing number of "sub-species" to the ESA's purvue (often defined on the basis of their geography, rather than their biology)--the 'viros have been able to discover "endangered" or "threatened" beasts, birds, bugs, trees, plants, and fungi on virtually every piece of real estate in the United States. And under the ESA, all such land can then become subject to draconian development and use restrictions--in effect, annihilating private property rights....
Man's clearest threat to birds: windows
Daniel Klem, Jr., is outraged about Man's "senseless slaughter of wildlife." But what bothers him most is not our cell phone towers, oil spills, power lines, Atkins diets, or pesticides. The Muhlenberg College ornithologist is mainly incensed that humans--exhibiting their typically callous insensitivity toward Mother Nature--have arrogantly covered the walls of their homes, offices, and other structures with a hazard deadly to birds: windows.
"Glass is ubiquitous and it's indiscriminate, killing the fit and the unfit," rages Klem. He claims that collisions with glass kill up to 1 billion birds a year in the United States alone. "Buildings that we have created to be aesthetically pleasing are slaughtering birds." Indeed! How dare we enter mere human aesthetic pleasure into such a moral calculus?....
Friday, February 20, 2004
NEWS ROUNDUP
Ranchers will pay more to graze herds on federal land Ranchers across the West will see an increase in the monthly fee they pay to graze their herds on federal land, the Bush administration said Friday. Beginning March 1, the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service will raise their monthly rate from $1.35 to $1.43 per month. The monthly fee covers grazing of a horse, a cow and calf, or five sheep or goats. The change, based on a formula established by Congress in 1978, will affect 18,000 BLM grazing permits and leases and 8,000 Forest Service permits....Lawsuit filed over Rock Creek logging Insisting they fear logging more than forest fires, two environmental groups filed suit Friday to stop the Lolo National Forest from thinning 1,100 acres in the Rock Creek drainage. Filed in U.S. District Court in Missoula, the lawsuit dings the Forest Service for allegedly failing to analyze the wilderness characteristics of all unroaded areas marked for thinning. In addition, the complaint claims the project would harm Rock Creek's resident bull trout by increasing sediment in the stream, which would then harm the drainage's tourist-dependent economy.... Forest Service not dropping old growth timber sales Environmentalists have suffered another setback in a campaign to block logging in patches of old growth forests designated for timber harvest under the Northwest Forest Plan. After volunteers found evidence of more red tree voles than the U.S. Forest Service had discovered on a group of timber sales on the Mount Hood and Willamette national forests, a federal judge ruled the environmental analyses were inadequate, holding up logging. But the Forest Service this week came out with amendments to their environmental analyses addressing the shortcomings mentioned by the judge, including gathering more public input.... New twist emerges in firefighter's arson case On the morning that Grant was to be sentenced on eight counts of arson in U.S. District Court, federal public defender John Rhodes instead asked that his client be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea. The reason: Rhodes believes Grant pleaded guilty to a nonexistent crime, because the fires he ignited were not on federal land.... EPA says Biscuit salvage plan will harm water quality and salmon U.S. Forest Service salvage logging plans for the 2002 Biscuit fire promise to cause long-term damage to key salmon streams already suffering from poor water quality, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says. EPA urged the Siskiyou National Forest to limit salvage logging to areas designated for timber harvest under the Northwest Forest Plan, known as matrix lands, and drop plans to log extensively in key salmon watersheds and undeveloped forest known as inventoried roadless areas.... Panel endorses check on federal acquisition of state land A bill that would require legislative approval before land owned by state government could be transferred to the federal government was approved unanimously Friday by the Senate State Affairs Committee. Rep. Larry Rhoden, R-Union Center, said the measure is needed to ensure that the federal government doesn't increase its already substantial holdings in South Dakota.... WWF Calls on U.S. Retailers to Demand Paper Giant APP Stop Unsustainable Logging World Wildlife Fund today called on U.S. retail customers of Asia Pulp and Paper, one of the world's largest paper companies, to demand that the company stop unsustainable logging operations. APP and its affiliates in Indonesia are clearcutting one of the world's most biodiverse and threatened forests, WWF said.... SAVING SPECIES ON FRINGE: Plan offsets East County growth Protecting more than two dozen species of endangered animals and plants in Contra Costa County from the bulldozer will cost $300 million, according to a draft plan released for review. The land would become a permanent home for rare species such as the San Joaquin kit fox, Alameda whipsnake, California red-legged frog and western burrowing owl.... Wyoming lawmakers reject compromise plan on wolves Wyoming moved a step closer to a lawsuit with the federal government Friday after the state House gave initial approval to holding firm to a state wolf-management plan that was rejected by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. House Bill 111, which was given initial approval on a voice vote with no opposing arguments, was reluctantly offered by the top wolf expert in the chamber. Rep. Mike Baker, R-Thermopolis, who had crafted a second compromise measure in hopes of avoiding a lawsuit, resigned himself to the fact that House leadership won’t bring up his alternative for debate, and that litigation is all but inevitable.... Brimmer denies greens’ request New snowmobile rules in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks likely will remain in effect for the rest of the season, following an order Thursday from a federal judge. U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer denied a request by conservation groups to halt the implementation of temporary rules governing the number and type of snowmobile trips allowed into the parks. The Greater Yellowstone Coalition and other groups had sought a freeze on the new regulations while they appeal an earlier ruling by Brimmer that ordered the Park Service to adopt the rules.... USFWS ISSUES GRIZZLY BEAR BIOP FOR IDAHO, MONTANA A long-awaited biological opinion from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gives the green light to Forest Service plans for managing roads in the Cabinet-Yaak and Selkirk grizzly bear recovery areas. The biological opinion, which was signed earlier this week, says road management strategies for the Kootenai, Idaho Panhandle and Lolo national forests "are not likely to jeopardize" the remnant bear populations in the two recovery areas....Desert tortoise says spring has sprung Easterners may have Punxsutawney Phil, French Creek Freddy and Buckeye Chuck, but when it comes to predicting the arrival of spring in the West, Mojave Max is the reptile to watch. The decades-old desert tortoise, who makes his home at a southern Nevada conservation area, poked his scaly nose out of his den at 11:14 a.m. Thursday — less than four months after he burrowed down for the winter on Oct. 28.... Poll: Wyo favors landowner protections Eighty-six percent of Wyoming voters would favor a new law to ensure landowners are consulted and fairly compensated when drilling projects impact their land, according to a polling firm. And 85 percent prefer that the pace of mineral development be managed so communities don't go through boom-and-bust cycles. The findings are based on 700 completed interviews with a random sample of Wyoming voters, according to Decision Research, a national polling firm....Dispute flares over tainted land settlement The dispute involves settlement of a long-running lawsuit known as Sumner Peck v. Bureau of Reclamation. The Westlands farmers who rallied together in 1986 under the Sumner Peck name contend the government's failure to provide irrigation drainage led to the poisoning of about 34,000 selenium-laden acres. The December 2002 settlement involved the federal government agreeing to pay $107 million and the Westlands district agreeing to pay $32 million in order to retire the land from farming. Fearing the Westlands land-retirement payments might starve some of their own favorite water projects, the California lawmakers insist the federal government's share be paid out of a Justice Department account, rather than the Bureau of Reclamation's budget. It's not simply an accounting debate.... Aurora close to water deal Aurora officials hope to complete a deal by next month that would allow them to replenish the city's depleted reservoir system with water leased from Arkansas River Valley farmers. If completed, the deal for up to 12,600 acre feet of water would cost the city $5.5 million and would be the largest temporary water supply agreement ever reached in Colorado.... Riders, ropers learn skills of the range at N.M. ranch All get a friendly welcome at Linette and Bobbie Gordon's 8,300-acre spread in the boot-heel of New Mexico, a few miles south of the speck of town called Animas. Their ranch isn't fancy and doesn't try to be. Their ranch, in addition to being an innovative cow-calf operation, is the destination of two longtime cowboys who offer classes for ranch hands wanting to hone skills, riders trying to improve their technique, ropers aiming to loop the loop better, and people who want to learn to be a cowboy.... California Ranchers Start Nation's First Mobile Livestock Slaughter Facility A group of Central Coast ranchers will start operating the state's first mobile livestock processing unit. Literally a slaughtering facility on wheels, the unit will help ranchers in San Luis Obispo and Monterey counties take advantage of the rapidly emerging markets for organic and grass-fed beef, said George Work, who operates a ranch northeast of San Miguel.... The Cowboy that will never give up If a movie could be made of John Sharp's life, it would have to be a Western. Bigger than life. Full of adventure. And there would have to be plenty of horses. He's as much a part of the High Desert Landscape as the mountains, rivers, and other wide open spaces....
Ranchers will pay more to graze herds on federal land Ranchers across the West will see an increase in the monthly fee they pay to graze their herds on federal land, the Bush administration said Friday. Beginning March 1, the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service will raise their monthly rate from $1.35 to $1.43 per month. The monthly fee covers grazing of a horse, a cow and calf, or five sheep or goats. The change, based on a formula established by Congress in 1978, will affect 18,000 BLM grazing permits and leases and 8,000 Forest Service permits....Lawsuit filed over Rock Creek logging Insisting they fear logging more than forest fires, two environmental groups filed suit Friday to stop the Lolo National Forest from thinning 1,100 acres in the Rock Creek drainage. Filed in U.S. District Court in Missoula, the lawsuit dings the Forest Service for allegedly failing to analyze the wilderness characteristics of all unroaded areas marked for thinning. In addition, the complaint claims the project would harm Rock Creek's resident bull trout by increasing sediment in the stream, which would then harm the drainage's tourist-dependent economy.... Forest Service not dropping old growth timber sales Environmentalists have suffered another setback in a campaign to block logging in patches of old growth forests designated for timber harvest under the Northwest Forest Plan. After volunteers found evidence of more red tree voles than the U.S. Forest Service had discovered on a group of timber sales on the Mount Hood and Willamette national forests, a federal judge ruled the environmental analyses were inadequate, holding up logging. But the Forest Service this week came out with amendments to their environmental analyses addressing the shortcomings mentioned by the judge, including gathering more public input.... New twist emerges in firefighter's arson case On the morning that Grant was to be sentenced on eight counts of arson in U.S. District Court, federal public defender John Rhodes instead asked that his client be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea. The reason: Rhodes believes Grant pleaded guilty to a nonexistent crime, because the fires he ignited were not on federal land.... EPA says Biscuit salvage plan will harm water quality and salmon U.S. Forest Service salvage logging plans for the 2002 Biscuit fire promise to cause long-term damage to key salmon streams already suffering from poor water quality, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says. EPA urged the Siskiyou National Forest to limit salvage logging to areas designated for timber harvest under the Northwest Forest Plan, known as matrix lands, and drop plans to log extensively in key salmon watersheds and undeveloped forest known as inventoried roadless areas.... Panel endorses check on federal acquisition of state land A bill that would require legislative approval before land owned by state government could be transferred to the federal government was approved unanimously Friday by the Senate State Affairs Committee. Rep. Larry Rhoden, R-Union Center, said the measure is needed to ensure that the federal government doesn't increase its already substantial holdings in South Dakota.... WWF Calls on U.S. Retailers to Demand Paper Giant APP Stop Unsustainable Logging World Wildlife Fund today called on U.S. retail customers of Asia Pulp and Paper, one of the world's largest paper companies, to demand that the company stop unsustainable logging operations. APP and its affiliates in Indonesia are clearcutting one of the world's most biodiverse and threatened forests, WWF said.... SAVING SPECIES ON FRINGE: Plan offsets East County growth Protecting more than two dozen species of endangered animals and plants in Contra Costa County from the bulldozer will cost $300 million, according to a draft plan released for review. The land would become a permanent home for rare species such as the San Joaquin kit fox, Alameda whipsnake, California red-legged frog and western burrowing owl.... Wyoming lawmakers reject compromise plan on wolves Wyoming moved a step closer to a lawsuit with the federal government Friday after the state House gave initial approval to holding firm to a state wolf-management plan that was rejected by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. House Bill 111, which was given initial approval on a voice vote with no opposing arguments, was reluctantly offered by the top wolf expert in the chamber. Rep. Mike Baker, R-Thermopolis, who had crafted a second compromise measure in hopes of avoiding a lawsuit, resigned himself to the fact that House leadership won’t bring up his alternative for debate, and that litigation is all but inevitable.... Brimmer denies greens’ request New snowmobile rules in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks likely will remain in effect for the rest of the season, following an order Thursday from a federal judge. U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer denied a request by conservation groups to halt the implementation of temporary rules governing the number and type of snowmobile trips allowed into the parks. The Greater Yellowstone Coalition and other groups had sought a freeze on the new regulations while they appeal an earlier ruling by Brimmer that ordered the Park Service to adopt the rules.... USFWS ISSUES GRIZZLY BEAR BIOP FOR IDAHO, MONTANA A long-awaited biological opinion from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gives the green light to Forest Service plans for managing roads in the Cabinet-Yaak and Selkirk grizzly bear recovery areas. The biological opinion, which was signed earlier this week, says road management strategies for the Kootenai, Idaho Panhandle and Lolo national forests "are not likely to jeopardize" the remnant bear populations in the two recovery areas....Desert tortoise says spring has sprung Easterners may have Punxsutawney Phil, French Creek Freddy and Buckeye Chuck, but when it comes to predicting the arrival of spring in the West, Mojave Max is the reptile to watch. The decades-old desert tortoise, who makes his home at a southern Nevada conservation area, poked his scaly nose out of his den at 11:14 a.m. Thursday — less than four months after he burrowed down for the winter on Oct. 28.... Poll: Wyo favors landowner protections Eighty-six percent of Wyoming voters would favor a new law to ensure landowners are consulted and fairly compensated when drilling projects impact their land, according to a polling firm. And 85 percent prefer that the pace of mineral development be managed so communities don't go through boom-and-bust cycles. The findings are based on 700 completed interviews with a random sample of Wyoming voters, according to Decision Research, a national polling firm....Dispute flares over tainted land settlement The dispute involves settlement of a long-running lawsuit known as Sumner Peck v. Bureau of Reclamation. The Westlands farmers who rallied together in 1986 under the Sumner Peck name contend the government's failure to provide irrigation drainage led to the poisoning of about 34,000 selenium-laden acres. The December 2002 settlement involved the federal government agreeing to pay $107 million and the Westlands district agreeing to pay $32 million in order to retire the land from farming. Fearing the Westlands land-retirement payments might starve some of their own favorite water projects, the California lawmakers insist the federal government's share be paid out of a Justice Department account, rather than the Bureau of Reclamation's budget. It's not simply an accounting debate.... Aurora close to water deal Aurora officials hope to complete a deal by next month that would allow them to replenish the city's depleted reservoir system with water leased from Arkansas River Valley farmers. If completed, the deal for up to 12,600 acre feet of water would cost the city $5.5 million and would be the largest temporary water supply agreement ever reached in Colorado.... Riders, ropers learn skills of the range at N.M. ranch All get a friendly welcome at Linette and Bobbie Gordon's 8,300-acre spread in the boot-heel of New Mexico, a few miles south of the speck of town called Animas. Their ranch isn't fancy and doesn't try to be. Their ranch, in addition to being an innovative cow-calf operation, is the destination of two longtime cowboys who offer classes for ranch hands wanting to hone skills, riders trying to improve their technique, ropers aiming to loop the loop better, and people who want to learn to be a cowboy.... California Ranchers Start Nation's First Mobile Livestock Slaughter Facility A group of Central Coast ranchers will start operating the state's first mobile livestock processing unit. Literally a slaughtering facility on wheels, the unit will help ranchers in San Luis Obispo and Monterey counties take advantage of the rapidly emerging markets for organic and grass-fed beef, said George Work, who operates a ranch northeast of San Miguel.... The Cowboy that will never give up If a movie could be made of John Sharp's life, it would have to be a Western. Bigger than life. Full of adventure. And there would have to be plenty of horses. He's as much a part of the High Desert Landscape as the mountains, rivers, and other wide open spaces....
NEWS ROUNDUP
Conservation Groups Challenge Bush Administration Old Growth Timber Sale Overlooking Grand Canyon National Park Two conservation groups today challenged a risky Bush administration proposal to log old growth forest less than three miles from the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. The groups contend that the Forest Service's proposed East Rim timber sale in remote areas of Kaibab National Forest would harm rare wildlife, create an increased risk of fire, and illegally log within designated old-growth forests as well as the Grand Canyon Game Preserve, a protected area set aside by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 for the benefit of wildlife. The lawsuit was filed by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and Sierra Club in the District of Arizona's Phoenix courthouse.... Capps Leads Protest Against Drilling Congresswoman Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara), who wrote the Los Padres National Forest Conservation Act, spoke at a press conference downtown on how oil drilling would be detrimental to the economy, environment and quality of life in the Central Coast region of California. If passed by Congress, the Conservation Act would permanently prohibit all forms of exploration and drilling for oil or gas within the boundaries of the forest. Capps and Rep. Sam Farr (D-Salinas) introduced the bill on Feb. 11.... Turkeys reclaim what fire gobbled The hills scorched by the Hayman Fire are now alive with the sound of turkeys. Officials of the Colorado Division of Wildlife and Pike-San Isabel National Forest and volunteers from the National Wild Turkey Federation released 22 hens, three big toms and three younger males west of Colorado Springs near Divide on the southern edge of the 138,000-acre burn area. Larger mammals have returned to the area, but not the turkeys.... $6,000 In Rewards Offered For Black Bear Killer Rewards totaling up to $6,000 are being offered for information leading to an arrest in the poaching of a black bear near this town in Florida's Panhandle, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced Thursday. An anonymous donor is offering $5,000 and the commission's Wildlife Alert program will pay up to $1,000, agency officials said in a news release.... Wake Up Weyerhaeuser. Protect Forests Now This morning environmental activists braved dizzying heights in downtown Seattle to unfurl a 2,400 square foot banner reading "Wake Up Weyerhaeuser: Protect Forests Now." The non-violent direct action marks the launch of an international Consumer Democracy Campaign to transform the barbaric environmental practices of Washington-based logging giant Weyerhaeuser (NYSE: WY), the number one destroyer of old-growth forests in North America. The campaign follows Rainforest Action Network's recent victory with Boise Cascade Corporation (NYSE: BCC) that resulted in the company's withdrawal from old-growth forests in the United States and adoption of a plan to exit endangered forests worldwide. Forest Action Network is the Canadian coalition partner, and in Alberta, the campaign is supported by the Sierra Club of Canada's Bighorn Country Campaign.... Opponents, backers of Prop. A almost even in fund raising There is big money on both sides of the issue, which county voters will decide in the March 2 primary election. If it passes, the measure will in essence draw an urban growth boundary line around area cities and towns, making 700,000 acres ---- one-third of San Diego County's unincorporated area ---- off-limits to suburban-style housing. Supporters say the measure will preserve the backcountry and provide for orderly, compact urban development in cities and towns, while opponents say it would further constrain the local housing supply, pushing yet more families into neighboring counties and worsening area freeways.... Another group threatens snowmobiling lawsuit Yet another lawsuit over snowmobiling in Yellowstone National Park could be standing in the wings, ready to enter the stage. This one, if it succeeds, could eliminate snowcoach travel as well, according to Bluewater Network, a San Francisco-based environmental group. It also could affect dozens of national parks around the country.... Greens Urge Defeat of the 2004 Revised Energy Bill "We strongly urge the Senate to defeat the 2004 Revised Energy Bill," said Jake Schneider, treasurer of the Green Party of the UnitedStates. "This bill is only slightly less damaging to the environment than last year's version, and does nothing for energy conservation." The bill, announced by Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM),chair of the Senate Energy Committee, reportedly would eliminate the $3 billion Energy Savings Performance Contracts program, which would conserve energy by retrofitting federal government buildings with energy efficient equipment.... Yellowstone bison shipped to slaughter Ten bison captured outside Yellowstone National Park on Tuesday were shipped to slaughter Wednesday, the first large shipment of bison to slaughter this year. Eight others, including year-old calves whose mothers were among those sent to slaughter, were tested and released, according to Dan Brister of the Buffalo Field Campaign.... Complaints prompt talk of ban on rifle hunting Rifle hunting could be prohibited in all or part of Minnehaha County under a request being studied by the state Department of Game, Fish and Parks. Officials say resident safety complaints are rising along with rural development, to about 50 complaints last year. The GF&P will consider restricting some areas to shotguns and muzzleloaders, which have a shorter shooting range than rifles. "With Sioux Falls expanding into the county, people are concerned with the safety issue. Their kids are out in the yards," said Kristoff DeKramer of Game, Fish and Parks.... A 'hostile' takeover bid at the Sierra Club The Sierra Club - America's premier environmental group, with 750,000 members and considerable political clout - is the target of an unfriendly takeover attempt. A combination of animal-rights and anti-immigrant activists is aiming to take control of the organization - and change its philosophy and direction - by getting their slate of candidates elected to the group's board of directors. They already control several seats, and more are up for grabs. The dispute gets to two core questions among environmental activists.... Hop farmer reaches settlement with EPA A former Grandview hop farmer has reached a $3.5 million settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency over cleanup of an herbicide from his property. Dan Alexander, owner of Yakima Chief Ranches, agreed to reimburse the federal agency $3.05 million for the cost of soil cleanup at the farm. He also will pay $500,000 for cleanup of 1,600 tons of contaminated soil left on the 4-acre site.... Agencies cooperating on water-related matters Under a settlement agreement signed Wednesday, growers in the west San Joaquin Valley no longer will try to acquire water rights in the San Joaquin River. In the eastern Valley, the Friant Water Association will ask its 22 member irrigation districts to rescind resolutions restricting water transfers or other cooperation with the Westlands Water District. The two agencies, once bitter enemies, announced they would cooperate on a variety of water-related matters.... Tax program boosts Colorado conservation But the Browns are big winners in a Colorado program that allows land-rich, cash-poor ranchers like them to sell the tax credits they get for granting conservation easements. Virginia and South Carolina are the only other states with similar programs. Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina and California have tax credit programs for conservation easements but lack the provision allowing those credits to be sold. The California program has been suspended for the past two years because of budget woes.... Drop in estrogen drug sales puts horses in trouble Animal rights groups warn that tens of thousands of horses are doomed to become what's for dinner in Europe and Asia, because women are using fewer estrogen-replacement drugs made from the urine of pregnant mares. Groups such as Fearing's have organized "rescue" or "adoption" programs for mares and their foals that they contend would be otherwise trucked to Canadian and U.S. slaughter plants. And they're using the issue to further their campaign against slaughtering horses for human consumption.... NCBA, R-CALF explore issues Two cattlemen groups will lock horns a week from now on a variety of issues. Local agricultural journalist Shae Dodson has been chosen to serve as moderator in La Junta at a forum between the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and R-CALF USA (Ranchers'-Cattlemen's Active Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America). One of the nation's oldest cattlemen's organizations, the Bent-Prowers Cattle and Horse Grower's Association, will host the three-hour meeting between Terry Stokes, CEO of NCBA, and Bill Bullard, CEO of R-CALF USA.... The real cowboys of N.D. Clara Bell Rose rolled her own cigarettes, smoked constantly, wore men's clothing, carried a six-shooter on her hip and developed noticeable facial hair that earned her the nickname "Mustache Maude." She married, divorced and ranched here, and became a well-known midwife, once claiming to have smacked half the bottoms in the area. She also was believed to be the only woman in the country convicted of cattle rustling.... Coon hunting The old man was a well digger by trade, one of the last of a dying breed who could locate groundwater by "divining" with a forked stick. His greatest talent -- and his truest love -- became evident, however, on frost, moonlit nights. That's when he would turn his Black-and-Tan hounds loose in one of the creek bottoms where raccoons were plentiful when I was youngster. When I first met Mr. Cable, it was through my father who had done some business with him. To an adolescent boy, he seemed as old as Methuselah -- wrinkled as a piece of yesterday's bacon and lean as a willow switch. Any thought that he might be a bit frail for coon hunting was erased, though, within thirty minutes after we hit the woods the first time my dad and I joined him on a night hunt....
Conservation Groups Challenge Bush Administration Old Growth Timber Sale Overlooking Grand Canyon National Park Two conservation groups today challenged a risky Bush administration proposal to log old growth forest less than three miles from the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. The groups contend that the Forest Service's proposed East Rim timber sale in remote areas of Kaibab National Forest would harm rare wildlife, create an increased risk of fire, and illegally log within designated old-growth forests as well as the Grand Canyon Game Preserve, a protected area set aside by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 for the benefit of wildlife. The lawsuit was filed by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and Sierra Club in the District of Arizona's Phoenix courthouse.... Capps Leads Protest Against Drilling Congresswoman Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara), who wrote the Los Padres National Forest Conservation Act, spoke at a press conference downtown on how oil drilling would be detrimental to the economy, environment and quality of life in the Central Coast region of California. If passed by Congress, the Conservation Act would permanently prohibit all forms of exploration and drilling for oil or gas within the boundaries of the forest. Capps and Rep. Sam Farr (D-Salinas) introduced the bill on Feb. 11.... Turkeys reclaim what fire gobbled The hills scorched by the Hayman Fire are now alive with the sound of turkeys. Officials of the Colorado Division of Wildlife and Pike-San Isabel National Forest and volunteers from the National Wild Turkey Federation released 22 hens, three big toms and three younger males west of Colorado Springs near Divide on the southern edge of the 138,000-acre burn area. Larger mammals have returned to the area, but not the turkeys.... $6,000 In Rewards Offered For Black Bear Killer Rewards totaling up to $6,000 are being offered for information leading to an arrest in the poaching of a black bear near this town in Florida's Panhandle, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced Thursday. An anonymous donor is offering $5,000 and the commission's Wildlife Alert program will pay up to $1,000, agency officials said in a news release.... Wake Up Weyerhaeuser. Protect Forests Now This morning environmental activists braved dizzying heights in downtown Seattle to unfurl a 2,400 square foot banner reading "Wake Up Weyerhaeuser: Protect Forests Now." The non-violent direct action marks the launch of an international Consumer Democracy Campaign to transform the barbaric environmental practices of Washington-based logging giant Weyerhaeuser (NYSE: WY), the number one destroyer of old-growth forests in North America. The campaign follows Rainforest Action Network's recent victory with Boise Cascade Corporation (NYSE: BCC) that resulted in the company's withdrawal from old-growth forests in the United States and adoption of a plan to exit endangered forests worldwide. Forest Action Network is the Canadian coalition partner, and in Alberta, the campaign is supported by the Sierra Club of Canada's Bighorn Country Campaign.... Opponents, backers of Prop. A almost even in fund raising There is big money on both sides of the issue, which county voters will decide in the March 2 primary election. If it passes, the measure will in essence draw an urban growth boundary line around area cities and towns, making 700,000 acres ---- one-third of San Diego County's unincorporated area ---- off-limits to suburban-style housing. Supporters say the measure will preserve the backcountry and provide for orderly, compact urban development in cities and towns, while opponents say it would further constrain the local housing supply, pushing yet more families into neighboring counties and worsening area freeways.... Another group threatens snowmobiling lawsuit Yet another lawsuit over snowmobiling in Yellowstone National Park could be standing in the wings, ready to enter the stage. This one, if it succeeds, could eliminate snowcoach travel as well, according to Bluewater Network, a San Francisco-based environmental group. It also could affect dozens of national parks around the country.... Greens Urge Defeat of the 2004 Revised Energy Bill "We strongly urge the Senate to defeat the 2004 Revised Energy Bill," said Jake Schneider, treasurer of the Green Party of the UnitedStates. "This bill is only slightly less damaging to the environment than last year's version, and does nothing for energy conservation." The bill, announced by Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM),chair of the Senate Energy Committee, reportedly would eliminate the $3 billion Energy Savings Performance Contracts program, which would conserve energy by retrofitting federal government buildings with energy efficient equipment.... Yellowstone bison shipped to slaughter Ten bison captured outside Yellowstone National Park on Tuesday were shipped to slaughter Wednesday, the first large shipment of bison to slaughter this year. Eight others, including year-old calves whose mothers were among those sent to slaughter, were tested and released, according to Dan Brister of the Buffalo Field Campaign.... Complaints prompt talk of ban on rifle hunting Rifle hunting could be prohibited in all or part of Minnehaha County under a request being studied by the state Department of Game, Fish and Parks. Officials say resident safety complaints are rising along with rural development, to about 50 complaints last year. The GF&P will consider restricting some areas to shotguns and muzzleloaders, which have a shorter shooting range than rifles. "With Sioux Falls expanding into the county, people are concerned with the safety issue. Their kids are out in the yards," said Kristoff DeKramer of Game, Fish and Parks.... A 'hostile' takeover bid at the Sierra Club The Sierra Club - America's premier environmental group, with 750,000 members and considerable political clout - is the target of an unfriendly takeover attempt. A combination of animal-rights and anti-immigrant activists is aiming to take control of the organization - and change its philosophy and direction - by getting their slate of candidates elected to the group's board of directors. They already control several seats, and more are up for grabs. The dispute gets to two core questions among environmental activists.... Hop farmer reaches settlement with EPA A former Grandview hop farmer has reached a $3.5 million settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency over cleanup of an herbicide from his property. Dan Alexander, owner of Yakima Chief Ranches, agreed to reimburse the federal agency $3.05 million for the cost of soil cleanup at the farm. He also will pay $500,000 for cleanup of 1,600 tons of contaminated soil left on the 4-acre site.... Agencies cooperating on water-related matters Under a settlement agreement signed Wednesday, growers in the west San Joaquin Valley no longer will try to acquire water rights in the San Joaquin River. In the eastern Valley, the Friant Water Association will ask its 22 member irrigation districts to rescind resolutions restricting water transfers or other cooperation with the Westlands Water District. The two agencies, once bitter enemies, announced they would cooperate on a variety of water-related matters.... Tax program boosts Colorado conservation But the Browns are big winners in a Colorado program that allows land-rich, cash-poor ranchers like them to sell the tax credits they get for granting conservation easements. Virginia and South Carolina are the only other states with similar programs. Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina and California have tax credit programs for conservation easements but lack the provision allowing those credits to be sold. The California program has been suspended for the past two years because of budget woes.... Drop in estrogen drug sales puts horses in trouble Animal rights groups warn that tens of thousands of horses are doomed to become what's for dinner in Europe and Asia, because women are using fewer estrogen-replacement drugs made from the urine of pregnant mares. Groups such as Fearing's have organized "rescue" or "adoption" programs for mares and their foals that they contend would be otherwise trucked to Canadian and U.S. slaughter plants. And they're using the issue to further their campaign against slaughtering horses for human consumption.... NCBA, R-CALF explore issues Two cattlemen groups will lock horns a week from now on a variety of issues. Local agricultural journalist Shae Dodson has been chosen to serve as moderator in La Junta at a forum between the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and R-CALF USA (Ranchers'-Cattlemen's Active Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America). One of the nation's oldest cattlemen's organizations, the Bent-Prowers Cattle and Horse Grower's Association, will host the three-hour meeting between Terry Stokes, CEO of NCBA, and Bill Bullard, CEO of R-CALF USA.... The real cowboys of N.D. Clara Bell Rose rolled her own cigarettes, smoked constantly, wore men's clothing, carried a six-shooter on her hip and developed noticeable facial hair that earned her the nickname "Mustache Maude." She married, divorced and ranched here, and became a well-known midwife, once claiming to have smacked half the bottoms in the area. She also was believed to be the only woman in the country convicted of cattle rustling.... Coon hunting The old man was a well digger by trade, one of the last of a dying breed who could locate groundwater by "divining" with a forked stick. His greatest talent -- and his truest love -- became evident, however, on frost, moonlit nights. That's when he would turn his Black-and-Tan hounds loose in one of the creek bottoms where raccoons were plentiful when I was youngster. When I first met Mr. Cable, it was through my father who had done some business with him. To an adolescent boy, he seemed as old as Methuselah -- wrinkled as a piece of yesterday's bacon and lean as a willow switch. Any thought that he might be a bit frail for coon hunting was erased, though, within thirty minutes after we hit the woods the first time my dad and I joined him on a night hunt....
Thursday, February 19, 2004
Grazing permit debate finds its way to Greenlee
The fight between ranchers and the U.S. Forest Service regarding the validity of grazing permits on private property is making its way to Greenlee County as the agency struggles to enforce the debate's precedent-setting decision.
Wray Schildknecht is the legal researcher for New Mexico ranchers Kit and Sherry Laney. He said in an e-mail that Greenlee County rancher Dan Martinez will follow in the footsteps of the Laneys as he contests U.S. Forest Service grazing permits on his ranches. The Laneys are involved in the case between the Diamond Bar Cattle Company and the Forest Service.
"Dan filed a Constructive Notice to the Forest Service, giving them notice that he owned the vested fee interest and that it is private property under the jurisdiction of the State of Arizona, not the federal government," Schildknecht said. Although it could not be verified by press time, Schildknecht also said, "This notice will be served on Frank Hayes, Clifton District Ranger, by the Sheriff's Department Tuesday morning (Feb. 17)."
Dan Martinez owns the Martinez and Hickey ranches, which are located northeast of Clifton. Schildknecht said Martinez' parents recently sold the ranches to their son after filing "a Declaration of Ownership of a vested private fee interest for raising cattle on lands held by the U.S. Government within the boundaries of the Martinez ranch."
Martinez' claim of ownership of the fee coincides with the enforcement of the Laney case. Kit and Sherry Laney are ranchers in Catron County, N.M., and recently lost the ability to graze on their private property.
Gila National Forest Public Affairs Officer Andrea Martinez said on Feb. 11 that access to the area encompassing the Laney's ranch was closed at 8 a.m. She also said the removal of the Laneys' cattle will begin in mid-February.
On Feb. 13, the U.S. Forest Service rescinded the area closure and announced the delay of the cattle removal.
"We had hoped to meet our tentative mid-February date, but as it stands, we will not be able to. We do not have a contractor to conduct the livestock removal at this time and are in the process of advertising for bids," District Ranger Annette Chavez said in the release. The release also indicated that "the contracting process may take a few to several weeks."
Rancher and member of the New Mexico Cattle Grower's Association Laura Schneberger told the Courier in early February that the original contractor who was going to remove the cattle had backed out. She said he could not find anyone to help him with the removal, which is necessary when moving hundreds of cattle.
"I think he also backed out because he realized this was a touchy situation in this community, not just a feral cattle issue," Schneberger said.
Catron County Sheriff John Snyder felt obligated by the New Mexico Constitution to stop the order, according to a letter he faxed to Forest Service officials.
The fax was posted on the Feb. 7 issue of www.thewesterner.blogspot.com and voiced Snyder's concerns with allowing federal officials to remove cattle from the property. In the fax, Snyder cites several New Mexico laws that he was concerned could create a conflict of interest.
"These cattle cannot be shipped and sold without being in direct violation of the New Mexico statute," Snyder said in the fax. "I cannot, in good conscience, ignore my oath of office or the liability to my county. I intend to enforce the state livestock laws in my county. I will not allow anyone, in violation of state law, to ship Diamond Bar cattle out of my county."
Andrea Martinez told the Courier last Wednesday that the agency met with Snyder to resolve potential problems regarding the enforcement of the precedent-setting decision. She also said any potential enforcement issues have been resolved with Snyder's department.
"The Catron County Sheriff indicated there would be no interference," Martinez said. "That was very good to hear."
Snyder was not available for comment and did not return a call made by the Courier by press time.
Martinez also said the Laneys are not a threat, and they intend to comply with the removal. She did this to address any rumors indicating otherwise.
A recent misquote from the Silver City Daily Press indicated problems between the Forest Service and Snyder, which Martinez denied.
Rumors have abounded since Snyder voiced his concerns with allowing federal officials to enforce the court's decision.
Schneberger said the Forest Service is faced with another problem because it does not hold a necessary New Mexico Livestock Board certificate "allowing them to manipulate the cattle."
She said, "Apparently, until we started insisting they uphold state law, they were just not going to."
The enforcement of the ruling is also being closely watched by conservation groups such as the Center for Biological Diversity.
Michael Robinson is a representative of the organization and supports the removal of the cattle for numerous reasons.
In July, the Courier reported that Robinson supports the removal of the cattle because he thinks the animals have a negative impact on the Blue Range Mexican Gray Wolf Reintroduction Project.
"Now, their unauthorized livestock are again destroying precious streams and their vegetation and wildlife owned by all Americans -- hundreds of square miles of some of the most beautiful and wild country in the lower 48 states," he said in a Feb. 13 e-mail to the Courier. "This latest bout of trespass has been going on for almost a year, and it's time for the court orders to be followed, for the cows to go and for the Laneys to pay off their newly acquired $64,000 fine."
While conservationists and ranchers hold extremely different opinions about the decisions of the federal court, it is evident that both will be taking note of the situation.
The Courier previously reported in early January that a Dec. 23 press release from the Center for Biological Diversity announced that the Diamond Bar and Laney cattle companies will have to remove hundreds of cattle from two former national forest grazing allotments within 30 days of the Dec. 22 injunction or face severe federal penalties.
The Diamond Bar allotment occupies 146,470 acres and the Laney allotment occupies 27,926 acres. Both allotments are located in Catron County, N.M.
This precedent-setting decision sides with the U.S. Forest Service's opinion that grazing rights must be obtained by applying for a permit with the Forest Service. The Laneys tried to claim that by owning the private property rights, they did not need a permit to graze cattle on the land.
The decision by the judge means the argument used by the Laneys was ineffective and that ranchers who are grazing without a permit will not be able to successfully use it to their defense in the future.
Look to the Courier for more on these events as they evolve.
To contact John Kamin, call 428-2560 (ext. 240) or e-mail him at johnk@eacourier.com.
The fight between ranchers and the U.S. Forest Service regarding the validity of grazing permits on private property is making its way to Greenlee County as the agency struggles to enforce the debate's precedent-setting decision.
Wray Schildknecht is the legal researcher for New Mexico ranchers Kit and Sherry Laney. He said in an e-mail that Greenlee County rancher Dan Martinez will follow in the footsteps of the Laneys as he contests U.S. Forest Service grazing permits on his ranches. The Laneys are involved in the case between the Diamond Bar Cattle Company and the Forest Service.
"Dan filed a Constructive Notice to the Forest Service, giving them notice that he owned the vested fee interest and that it is private property under the jurisdiction of the State of Arizona, not the federal government," Schildknecht said. Although it could not be verified by press time, Schildknecht also said, "This notice will be served on Frank Hayes, Clifton District Ranger, by the Sheriff's Department Tuesday morning (Feb. 17)."
Dan Martinez owns the Martinez and Hickey ranches, which are located northeast of Clifton. Schildknecht said Martinez' parents recently sold the ranches to their son after filing "a Declaration of Ownership of a vested private fee interest for raising cattle on lands held by the U.S. Government within the boundaries of the Martinez ranch."
Martinez' claim of ownership of the fee coincides with the enforcement of the Laney case. Kit and Sherry Laney are ranchers in Catron County, N.M., and recently lost the ability to graze on their private property.
Gila National Forest Public Affairs Officer Andrea Martinez said on Feb. 11 that access to the area encompassing the Laney's ranch was closed at 8 a.m. She also said the removal of the Laneys' cattle will begin in mid-February.
On Feb. 13, the U.S. Forest Service rescinded the area closure and announced the delay of the cattle removal.
"We had hoped to meet our tentative mid-February date, but as it stands, we will not be able to. We do not have a contractor to conduct the livestock removal at this time and are in the process of advertising for bids," District Ranger Annette Chavez said in the release. The release also indicated that "the contracting process may take a few to several weeks."
Rancher and member of the New Mexico Cattle Grower's Association Laura Schneberger told the Courier in early February that the original contractor who was going to remove the cattle had backed out. She said he could not find anyone to help him with the removal, which is necessary when moving hundreds of cattle.
"I think he also backed out because he realized this was a touchy situation in this community, not just a feral cattle issue," Schneberger said.
Catron County Sheriff John Snyder felt obligated by the New Mexico Constitution to stop the order, according to a letter he faxed to Forest Service officials.
The fax was posted on the Feb. 7 issue of www.thewesterner.blogspot.com and voiced Snyder's concerns with allowing federal officials to remove cattle from the property. In the fax, Snyder cites several New Mexico laws that he was concerned could create a conflict of interest.
"These cattle cannot be shipped and sold without being in direct violation of the New Mexico statute," Snyder said in the fax. "I cannot, in good conscience, ignore my oath of office or the liability to my county. I intend to enforce the state livestock laws in my county. I will not allow anyone, in violation of state law, to ship Diamond Bar cattle out of my county."
Andrea Martinez told the Courier last Wednesday that the agency met with Snyder to resolve potential problems regarding the enforcement of the precedent-setting decision. She also said any potential enforcement issues have been resolved with Snyder's department.
"The Catron County Sheriff indicated there would be no interference," Martinez said. "That was very good to hear."
Snyder was not available for comment and did not return a call made by the Courier by press time.
Martinez also said the Laneys are not a threat, and they intend to comply with the removal. She did this to address any rumors indicating otherwise.
A recent misquote from the Silver City Daily Press indicated problems between the Forest Service and Snyder, which Martinez denied.
Rumors have abounded since Snyder voiced his concerns with allowing federal officials to enforce the court's decision.
Schneberger said the Forest Service is faced with another problem because it does not hold a necessary New Mexico Livestock Board certificate "allowing them to manipulate the cattle."
She said, "Apparently, until we started insisting they uphold state law, they were just not going to."
The enforcement of the ruling is also being closely watched by conservation groups such as the Center for Biological Diversity.
Michael Robinson is a representative of the organization and supports the removal of the cattle for numerous reasons.
In July, the Courier reported that Robinson supports the removal of the cattle because he thinks the animals have a negative impact on the Blue Range Mexican Gray Wolf Reintroduction Project.
"Now, their unauthorized livestock are again destroying precious streams and their vegetation and wildlife owned by all Americans -- hundreds of square miles of some of the most beautiful and wild country in the lower 48 states," he said in a Feb. 13 e-mail to the Courier. "This latest bout of trespass has been going on for almost a year, and it's time for the court orders to be followed, for the cows to go and for the Laneys to pay off their newly acquired $64,000 fine."
While conservationists and ranchers hold extremely different opinions about the decisions of the federal court, it is evident that both will be taking note of the situation.
The Courier previously reported in early January that a Dec. 23 press release from the Center for Biological Diversity announced that the Diamond Bar and Laney cattle companies will have to remove hundreds of cattle from two former national forest grazing allotments within 30 days of the Dec. 22 injunction or face severe federal penalties.
The Diamond Bar allotment occupies 146,470 acres and the Laney allotment occupies 27,926 acres. Both allotments are located in Catron County, N.M.
This precedent-setting decision sides with the U.S. Forest Service's opinion that grazing rights must be obtained by applying for a permit with the Forest Service. The Laneys tried to claim that by owning the private property rights, they did not need a permit to graze cattle on the land.
The decision by the judge means the argument used by the Laneys was ineffective and that ranchers who are grazing without a permit will not be able to successfully use it to their defense in the future.
Look to the Courier for more on these events as they evolve.
To contact John Kamin, call 428-2560 (ext. 240) or e-mail him at johnk@eacourier.com.
NEWS ROUNDUP
Nature group marks 30 years In its earliest days, the Oregon Natural Resources Council was a local environmental group based in a Eugene bungalow trying to protect the most beautiful parts of Oregon’s national forests from logging through wilderness legislation. Then it switched gears, becoming a major player in the Northwest timber wars by moving into federal courtrooms to stop logging on ecological grounds, arguing old-growth forests were critical habitat for threatened species like the northern spotted owl and salmon. ONRC this month is celebrating 30 years of saving wild places from chain saws, dams and geothermal plants, proudly pointing to landscapes around Oregon and the nation that would not be the same without its lobbying, legislation and litigation.... Park Service wilderness in disarray Rather than transfer, Walters retired in early January. Soon after, he sent a five-page letter to Park Service Director Mainella, in which he wrote that: "(1) the agency has failed to properly identify and protect its wilderness resources, (2) senior level managers continue to demonstrate either a lack of concern and/or an open hostility to the Service’s wilderness responsibilities, and (3) park managers continuously attempt to ignore or circumvent the instructions of the Wilderness Act and NPS wilderness policies in carrying out their other duties.".... Wandering bison captured for testing In the first action of its kind this winter, 18 bison were captured outside Yellowstone National Park on Tuesday and were being tested for brucellosis. Those that have signs of the disease will be sent to slaughter and the rest will be marked and set free, according to Karen Cooper, a spokeswoman for the Montana Department of Livestock.... Column: A West that works Ranchers, struggling to stay in business, are on the verge of becoming an anachronism in America; the conservation movement, struggling with its vision, has fallen into a rut; the federal management agencies, struggling with their courage, have appeared to lost their heart; and everyone else, struggling with political and social gridlock now endemic to the West, appears to be pretty much exasperated.... Endangered Wolves Make a Comeback The North American gray wolf, wiped out at Yellowstone National Park in the 1930s, is thriving once again after being reintroduced less than a decade ago. Now the government is moving to end federal protection for the wolf under the Endangered Species Act. Only 38 species have been taken off the endangered species list since 1967. More than 1,200 species are still considered to be in peril. The wolf population in Yellowstone has grown more than five-fold -- to nearly 170 -- since their reintroduction in 1995. The recovery has been extraordinary, due in large part to the national park where its natural habitat has been protected, Arnold reports.... Global Environmental Conference Under Way In Malaysia Environment ministers from about 70 countries are meeting in Malaysia to discuss how to protect endangered species and boost ways for poorer nations to profit from the development of their natural resources. The officials, gathered in Kuala Lumpur, are also using the United Nations-backed conference to find ways to slow down the world's current extinction rate of more than 60,000 species a year.... Editorial: The Eagles Return We hesitate to disagree with so learned a Founding Father as Benjamin Franklin, but we see our national symbol differently. Franklin complained in 1784 that the bald eagle was "a bird of bad moral character. He does not get his living honestly." The more enduring opinion belongs to the Second Continental Congress, which in 1782 had named the bald eagle as our national symbol. It is therefore gratifying to see the bald eagle staging a phenomenal comeback after being listed 26 years ago as endangered in 43 states and threatened in five states, including Washington. Now, more than 6,500 nesting pairs of bald eagles have been counted in the contiguous 48 states, up from 417 in 1963.... Lawsuit to test habitat rules Santa Rosa and 40 other public agencies, development and nonprofit groups in Sonoma and San Barbara counties are expected to file a lawsuit today challenging federal endangered species protection for the California tiger salamander. City Attorney Brien Farrell said the case is to be filed in federal court by Steve Quarles, chairman of the natural resources and environmental group of the Washington, D.C., law firm Crowell & Moring.... Park County poised to take over on wolf situation Park County Commissioners would give themselves the authority to kill wolves if the federal government doesn't hurry up and remove its protections, under a resolution the commission is now considering. "Should wolf delisting be delayed the Park County Commissioners reserve their right to protect our county and citizens by ordering lethal wolf control," the resolution says. The document was written by the Park County Stockgrowers, according to commissioner Jim Durgan. He said he supports it.... Environmentalists sue to prevent desert Hyundai track Environmental groups sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Wednesday, objecting to permits it issued allowing Hyundai Motor Co. and California City to build an automotive test track in the Southern California desert. The Center for Biological Diversity and Defenders of Wildlife said the track would destroy or degrade nearly 4,500 acres of desert wildlands that are home to threatened species including the Mojave ground squirrel and desert tortoise.... Livestock predation, wildlife issues drive worries Six county commissioners from two states agreed Tuesday that counties in the West should consider suing the federal government about wolves. "If the state's not going to sue, maybe it's time for us to," Park County Commission Chairman Tim Morrison said during a Tuesday work session in the courthouse.... Agency refuses to ban snowmobiles The National Park Service won't stop grooming roads in the winter or try to prohibit snowmobiles throughout the park system, federal officials said Wednesday. Craig Manson, the Interior Department's assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks, said a request by environmental groups to ban snowmobiles from all national parks has been denied. Limiting the number of snowmobiles in national parks and relying on cleaner and quieter machines will help mitigate any harmful effects of the machines, Manson said, so an across-the-board ban is not needed.... Norton explains positions on issues The Powder River Basin will be an important source of natural gas in coming years but development shouldn't overrun local landowners, Secretary of Interior Gale Norton said Wednesday. "We've taken a strict line that the energy producer needs to work with the surface landowner. We want the companies and the ranchers to be talking and planning for each individual ranch," Norton said. "If they don't have that dialogue and reach that agreement, then we will force the company to post a bond.".... Special Counsel to Investigate Chief Chambers' Case Embattled Park Police Chief Teresa Chambers received some news Wednesday about her fight to keep her job. WTOP has learned that her complaint against her boss is going to be investigated. A letter from the U.S. Office of Special Counsel to Chambers' attorney states that "reasonable grounds exist" for a full investigation into her proposed removal.... Battling smugglers saps park rangers Violence in the Huachuca Mountains has National Park Service rangers here spending more time chasing drug smugglers and illegal immigrants and less time with taxpaying park visitors, the rangers say. And it's dangerous work. The threat of smugglers willing to resort to violence to escape run-ins with law enforcement is becoming all too familiar.... Editorial: Endless litigation blocks snowmobile policy Yellowstone Park's winter season has deteriorated into management by litigation. On Dec. 16, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan of Washington, D.C., ruled that: "NPS is bound by a conservation mandate and that mandate trumps all other considerations." Regrettably, the Bush administration's snowmobile rules and Sullivan's ruling reinstating a 2001 snowmobile phase-out came on the eve of the park's winter season, so vacation and business plans were thrown suddenly into chaos. On Feb. 10, U.S. District Judge Clarence Bremmer of Cheyenne, Wyo., ruled that: "Public interest is served by protecting the business owners and concessionaires ..." Bremmer ordered the Park Service to revert to the unregulated snowmobile situation that predates the 2001 final rules for phasing out snowmobiles. Back to square one.... Former Chairs of Council On Environmental Quality Join in Sonnenschein Supreme Court Brief Opposing Government's Position On NEPA The law firm of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP Tuesday filed an Amicus Brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Norton v. Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, No. 03-101, the first case involving the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that the Court has taken since the 1980s. In a unique aspect to the filing, every surviving Chair of the President's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) extending back to the Nixon Administration and every surviving former General Counsel joined in the brief. The case before the high court deals with the failure of the Bureau of Land Management to prepare analyses under NEPA of the environmental impacts of increasing numbers of off-road vehicles on Bureau lands currently under consideration for permanent wilderness status. The Government contends no further environmental analysis is currently required.... U.S. energy, mine royalties to states jump 46 pct Federal royalties from oil, natural gas, coal and mineral production shared with the states increased by 46 percent last year, thanks in part to higher energy prices, the government said Wednesday. Close to $1.1 billion in royalty fees was distributed to 36 states last year, up from $753 million during the prior year, said the Interior Department, which collects the fees.... Saving Black Mountain: Whose land is it anyway? It's a battle being fought around the Valley as the traditional eco-alliance among conservationists, hikers and other outdoors enthusiasts starts to fray. Conservationists are advocating more extreme measures for protecting open space, including setting aside public land simply for the sake of setting it aside. Recreationists, on the other hand, argue that the new definition of preservation flies in the face of the Interior Department's Recreation and Public Purposes Act, which guarantees public access to public lands.... More lawsuits expected after Tyson verdict A $1.28 billion jury verdict against Tyson Foods Inc. over cattle price fixing could give ranchers momentum as they pursue similar litigation against Excel Corp., a unit of Minnetonka-based Cargill Inc., and Swift & Co. Legal experts said the verdict also could lead to a flood of lawsuits against large meatpackers. "This is an attractive case to bring against the other companies," said Tim Greaney, a law professor at St. Louis University and a former Justice Department official who specialized in anti-trust issues.... Panel says USDA not forthright on sick cow After a monthlong investigation, the Republican and Democratic leaders of a congressional committee Tuesday accused the U.S. Department of Agriculture of misleading the public about a central fact in the nation's first known case of mad cow disease. Since federal officials announced in December that an animal had tested positive for mad cow disease, they have consistently said the animal was a "downer," an ailing animal that could not walk. The USDA national surveillance system for mad cow disease is based primarily on sampling brain tissue of downer cows. But an inquiry by the House Committee on Government Reform reported Tuesday that three eyewitnesses to the slaughter of the sick animal in Washington state have testified that it was not a "downer" and did not appear to be sick at all....
Nature group marks 30 years In its earliest days, the Oregon Natural Resources Council was a local environmental group based in a Eugene bungalow trying to protect the most beautiful parts of Oregon’s national forests from logging through wilderness legislation. Then it switched gears, becoming a major player in the Northwest timber wars by moving into federal courtrooms to stop logging on ecological grounds, arguing old-growth forests were critical habitat for threatened species like the northern spotted owl and salmon. ONRC this month is celebrating 30 years of saving wild places from chain saws, dams and geothermal plants, proudly pointing to landscapes around Oregon and the nation that would not be the same without its lobbying, legislation and litigation.... Park Service wilderness in disarray Rather than transfer, Walters retired in early January. Soon after, he sent a five-page letter to Park Service Director Mainella, in which he wrote that: "(1) the agency has failed to properly identify and protect its wilderness resources, (2) senior level managers continue to demonstrate either a lack of concern and/or an open hostility to the Service’s wilderness responsibilities, and (3) park managers continuously attempt to ignore or circumvent the instructions of the Wilderness Act and NPS wilderness policies in carrying out their other duties.".... Wandering bison captured for testing In the first action of its kind this winter, 18 bison were captured outside Yellowstone National Park on Tuesday and were being tested for brucellosis. Those that have signs of the disease will be sent to slaughter and the rest will be marked and set free, according to Karen Cooper, a spokeswoman for the Montana Department of Livestock.... Column: A West that works Ranchers, struggling to stay in business, are on the verge of becoming an anachronism in America; the conservation movement, struggling with its vision, has fallen into a rut; the federal management agencies, struggling with their courage, have appeared to lost their heart; and everyone else, struggling with political and social gridlock now endemic to the West, appears to be pretty much exasperated.... Endangered Wolves Make a Comeback The North American gray wolf, wiped out at Yellowstone National Park in the 1930s, is thriving once again after being reintroduced less than a decade ago. Now the government is moving to end federal protection for the wolf under the Endangered Species Act. Only 38 species have been taken off the endangered species list since 1967. More than 1,200 species are still considered to be in peril. The wolf population in Yellowstone has grown more than five-fold -- to nearly 170 -- since their reintroduction in 1995. The recovery has been extraordinary, due in large part to the national park where its natural habitat has been protected, Arnold reports.... Global Environmental Conference Under Way In Malaysia Environment ministers from about 70 countries are meeting in Malaysia to discuss how to protect endangered species and boost ways for poorer nations to profit from the development of their natural resources. The officials, gathered in Kuala Lumpur, are also using the United Nations-backed conference to find ways to slow down the world's current extinction rate of more than 60,000 species a year.... Editorial: The Eagles Return We hesitate to disagree with so learned a Founding Father as Benjamin Franklin, but we see our national symbol differently. Franklin complained in 1784 that the bald eagle was "a bird of bad moral character. He does not get his living honestly." The more enduring opinion belongs to the Second Continental Congress, which in 1782 had named the bald eagle as our national symbol. It is therefore gratifying to see the bald eagle staging a phenomenal comeback after being listed 26 years ago as endangered in 43 states and threatened in five states, including Washington. Now, more than 6,500 nesting pairs of bald eagles have been counted in the contiguous 48 states, up from 417 in 1963.... Lawsuit to test habitat rules Santa Rosa and 40 other public agencies, development and nonprofit groups in Sonoma and San Barbara counties are expected to file a lawsuit today challenging federal endangered species protection for the California tiger salamander. City Attorney Brien Farrell said the case is to be filed in federal court by Steve Quarles, chairman of the natural resources and environmental group of the Washington, D.C., law firm Crowell & Moring.... Park County poised to take over on wolf situation Park County Commissioners would give themselves the authority to kill wolves if the federal government doesn't hurry up and remove its protections, under a resolution the commission is now considering. "Should wolf delisting be delayed the Park County Commissioners reserve their right to protect our county and citizens by ordering lethal wolf control," the resolution says. The document was written by the Park County Stockgrowers, according to commissioner Jim Durgan. He said he supports it.... Environmentalists sue to prevent desert Hyundai track Environmental groups sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Wednesday, objecting to permits it issued allowing Hyundai Motor Co. and California City to build an automotive test track in the Southern California desert. The Center for Biological Diversity and Defenders of Wildlife said the track would destroy or degrade nearly 4,500 acres of desert wildlands that are home to threatened species including the Mojave ground squirrel and desert tortoise.... Livestock predation, wildlife issues drive worries Six county commissioners from two states agreed Tuesday that counties in the West should consider suing the federal government about wolves. "If the state's not going to sue, maybe it's time for us to," Park County Commission Chairman Tim Morrison said during a Tuesday work session in the courthouse.... Agency refuses to ban snowmobiles The National Park Service won't stop grooming roads in the winter or try to prohibit snowmobiles throughout the park system, federal officials said Wednesday. Craig Manson, the Interior Department's assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks, said a request by environmental groups to ban snowmobiles from all national parks has been denied. Limiting the number of snowmobiles in national parks and relying on cleaner and quieter machines will help mitigate any harmful effects of the machines, Manson said, so an across-the-board ban is not needed.... Norton explains positions on issues The Powder River Basin will be an important source of natural gas in coming years but development shouldn't overrun local landowners, Secretary of Interior Gale Norton said Wednesday. "We've taken a strict line that the energy producer needs to work with the surface landowner. We want the companies and the ranchers to be talking and planning for each individual ranch," Norton said. "If they don't have that dialogue and reach that agreement, then we will force the company to post a bond.".... Special Counsel to Investigate Chief Chambers' Case Embattled Park Police Chief Teresa Chambers received some news Wednesday about her fight to keep her job. WTOP has learned that her complaint against her boss is going to be investigated. A letter from the U.S. Office of Special Counsel to Chambers' attorney states that "reasonable grounds exist" for a full investigation into her proposed removal.... Battling smugglers saps park rangers Violence in the Huachuca Mountains has National Park Service rangers here spending more time chasing drug smugglers and illegal immigrants and less time with taxpaying park visitors, the rangers say. And it's dangerous work. The threat of smugglers willing to resort to violence to escape run-ins with law enforcement is becoming all too familiar.... Editorial: Endless litigation blocks snowmobile policy Yellowstone Park's winter season has deteriorated into management by litigation. On Dec. 16, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan of Washington, D.C., ruled that: "NPS is bound by a conservation mandate and that mandate trumps all other considerations." Regrettably, the Bush administration's snowmobile rules and Sullivan's ruling reinstating a 2001 snowmobile phase-out came on the eve of the park's winter season, so vacation and business plans were thrown suddenly into chaos. On Feb. 10, U.S. District Judge Clarence Bremmer of Cheyenne, Wyo., ruled that: "Public interest is served by protecting the business owners and concessionaires ..." Bremmer ordered the Park Service to revert to the unregulated snowmobile situation that predates the 2001 final rules for phasing out snowmobiles. Back to square one.... Former Chairs of Council On Environmental Quality Join in Sonnenschein Supreme Court Brief Opposing Government's Position On NEPA The law firm of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP Tuesday filed an Amicus Brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Norton v. Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, No. 03-101, the first case involving the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that the Court has taken since the 1980s. In a unique aspect to the filing, every surviving Chair of the President's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) extending back to the Nixon Administration and every surviving former General Counsel joined in the brief. The case before the high court deals with the failure of the Bureau of Land Management to prepare analyses under NEPA of the environmental impacts of increasing numbers of off-road vehicles on Bureau lands currently under consideration for permanent wilderness status. The Government contends no further environmental analysis is currently required.... U.S. energy, mine royalties to states jump 46 pct Federal royalties from oil, natural gas, coal and mineral production shared with the states increased by 46 percent last year, thanks in part to higher energy prices, the government said Wednesday. Close to $1.1 billion in royalty fees was distributed to 36 states last year, up from $753 million during the prior year, said the Interior Department, which collects the fees.... Saving Black Mountain: Whose land is it anyway? It's a battle being fought around the Valley as the traditional eco-alliance among conservationists, hikers and other outdoors enthusiasts starts to fray. Conservationists are advocating more extreme measures for protecting open space, including setting aside public land simply for the sake of setting it aside. Recreationists, on the other hand, argue that the new definition of preservation flies in the face of the Interior Department's Recreation and Public Purposes Act, which guarantees public access to public lands.... More lawsuits expected after Tyson verdict A $1.28 billion jury verdict against Tyson Foods Inc. over cattle price fixing could give ranchers momentum as they pursue similar litigation against Excel Corp., a unit of Minnetonka-based Cargill Inc., and Swift & Co. Legal experts said the verdict also could lead to a flood of lawsuits against large meatpackers. "This is an attractive case to bring against the other companies," said Tim Greaney, a law professor at St. Louis University and a former Justice Department official who specialized in anti-trust issues.... Panel says USDA not forthright on sick cow After a monthlong investigation, the Republican and Democratic leaders of a congressional committee Tuesday accused the U.S. Department of Agriculture of misleading the public about a central fact in the nation's first known case of mad cow disease. Since federal officials announced in December that an animal had tested positive for mad cow disease, they have consistently said the animal was a "downer," an ailing animal that could not walk. The USDA national surveillance system for mad cow disease is based primarily on sampling brain tissue of downer cows. But an inquiry by the House Committee on Government Reform reported Tuesday that three eyewitnesses to the slaughter of the sick animal in Washington state have testified that it was not a "downer" and did not appear to be sick at all....
Wednesday, February 18, 2004
NEWS ROUNDUP
Conservationists Challenge Administration's Leasing Decision in National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska In an effort to restore a balance between development and wildlife protection in Alaska's western arctic, conservation groups announced today a lawsuit challenging a plan to open up the entire northwest portion of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (the Reserve) to oil and gas leasing. The groups challenge the January 22, 2004, decision to open 100 percent of the 8.8-million-acre northwest portion of the Reserve fails to permanently protect any of the region's most important wildlife habitat or hunting and fishing grounds.... Dam removal effort aims at helping steelhead In a project almost unprecedented in California's 150-year history of using dams to make an arid state habitable, scientists, environmental groups and water officials are trying to determine whether they can tear down the fishes' main obstacle. For the past 83 years, the 107-foot-tall San Clemente Dam has blocked steelhead from returning smoothly to the upper Carmel River. The challenge: how to help the fish they are seeking to rescue from the Endangered Species List, without accidentally killing them in the process. Built in 1921, San Clemente Dam is a graceful curve of smooth concrete. Once it stored drinking water for thousands of people around Monterey.... New data shows population increase for threatened shorebird California's efforts to rescue the western snowy plover are starting to pay off as new data showed population increases for the threatened shorebird, state officials said Tuesday. The number of snowy plovers that hatched and survived in state parks along the California coast rose significantly during the latest nesting season, according to the state Department of Parks and Recreation. New reports show that 548 nests were found in state parks in 2003 -- a 24 percent increase over 2002 -- and that 322 of those nests successfully hatched at least one egg, a 52 percent increase over the previous year. The number of chicks hatched more than doubled to 967 chicks over the previous year.... One Fish, Two Fish Jerry Big Eagle drugs fish. Tens of thousands of fish, every day. The tiny, stunned salmon slide through the hands of his crews as, with a snip and a jab, workers clip off a back fin and thrust a metal wire not much wider than a hair into each snout. It takes just seconds. Then each fish is dropped into a watery chute, checked magnetically to ensure it's tagged, and swept back into hatchery ponds to sleep it off. Big Eagle is a fish tagger - probably California's premier fish tagger - and one of only a handful of private contractors in the West who make a living inserting distinctive, lifelong codes into living fish.... Lodge owner welcomes battle with National Park Service Lodge owner Doug Frederick wants the National Park Service to make an example out of him. He's refusing to pay a $500 fine for failing to have a permit to place wooden pallets on muddy sections of a trail inside the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park because he says the agency invited his help and then betrayed him. "I was working with the Park Service. Basically, they set me up," Frederick said. "Somebody has to expose the Park Service. These people are clear out of control.".... Judge Scolds Park Service Over Snowmobiles A federal judge threatened Tuesday to hold National Park Service officials in contempt for violating his orders and deciding last week to allow more snowmobiles in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said he found it "mystifying" that the Park Service last Wednesday decided to allow 780 snowmobiles in Yellowstone when he ordered them last year to allow no more than 493 of them this winter. "It's just a nonchalant attitude of the government to a federal judge's order," the judge said, setting a hearing for March 9 on a possible contempt finding. The Park Service increased the number of snowmobiles allowed in Yellowstone after another federal judge, Clarence Brimmer in Wyoming, last Tuesday ordered officials to quit implementing a Clinton administration plan that bans individual snowmobiles entirely beginning next winter.... EPA scientist queried over biowarfare warning An Environmental Protection Agency scientist has been questioned by the FBI about an anonymous letter accusing a colleague of plotting biowarfare in the days before the 2001 anthrax attacks. Agents from the FBI's anthrax task force, according to a document obtained by The Washington Times, sought information on the anonymous letter, which warned that Ayaad Assaad, an Egyptian native who works as a toxicologist at the EPA, was an anti-American "religious fanatic" with the means to unleash a bioweapons attack.... Agency to recommend minimum flows to aid fish More than a century after the state began doling out water rights to people, the state Department of Ecology now intends to recommend a minimum flow of water for fish, too. The agency expects to adopt minimum flows by 2005 for Salmon Creek and the Washougal River in Clark County. The Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board received $200,000 in state funding in December 2001 to compile the best scientific information available, and then recommend minimum flows to sustain imperiled salmon and steelhead.... House approves limit on water well useThe House has approved a measure that would allow the state engineer to limit water use from domestic wells in areas facing water problems. But the House diluted the proposed powers for the state engineer. When the bill passed the Senate earlier this month, it would have allowed the engineer to deny new wells in a critical management area. However, the House eliminated the power to deny a well permit and instead the state engineer could limit a well to one-half acre foot per year for a household.... House approves proposal for state water reserve The House has approved legislation that would establish a state strategic river reserve. The proposal calls for leasing or buying water rights to deal with New Mexico’s pressing water problems. It would earmark three percent of the state’s yearly severance tax bond financing for the water reserve during the next 20 years to provide money for the acquisition of water rights.... Bill restricting access to private property debated A bill pitting landowners against game wardens was considered Tuesday by the state Senate Agriculture Committee, but a vote was delayed until Thursday. HB1258 would require that game wardens get permission from landowners before going onto private property unless wardens have good reasons to believe people are violating hunting or fishing laws, have reports of violations, must kill crippled animals, or are responding to emergencies. Supporters of the bill said it is unfair to hunters to assume they are guilty until they can prove they are licensed. Game wardens should not be allowed to come onto private property to check for licenses unless they have reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing, HB1258 supporters said.... Editorial: A vote for open space As Utahns watch population growth gobble up farms and foothills, some people are searching for ways to preserve open space. The Nature Conservancy has a suggestion that Utah voters should consider. It proposes that the state issue $150 million in revenue bonds to purchase land to preserve rivers, lakes, watershed, open space, wildlife habitat, parks and recreational trails for future generations. The bond would be paid for by an increase of .05 percentage points in the state sales tax (five cents on each $100) for a maximum of 10 years.... Logging laws struck down In a ruling that could open up hundreds of properties to logging in the Santa Cruz Mountains, a state appellate court in San Jose has sided with logging interests in striking down Santa Cruz County laws aimed at limiting where trees can be harvested. The decision, released Tuesday by the three-judge panel of the 6th District Court of Appeal, sent shock waves through environmental groups concerned that farmers, ranchers and other landowners with forested properties would rush to chop down timber on their mountain properties.... Beef Battle A beef battle is brewing at the State Capitol in Pierre and it may become the first true controversy in Governor Mike Rounds' administration. The Governor fired four members of the tate board in charge of tracking cattle Monday night. The move comes after a report by the attorney general's office accused inspectors of violating the state's inspection rules. For more than 60 years, the South Dakota State Brand Board has had a contract with the State Stockgrowers Association. The board voted to end that contract last Thursday, and now the governor has fired four of the board's five members. On Tuesday, hundreds of producers filled the Capitol Rotunda to tell the governor they think the inspection program was fine before and they think he's made a big mistake.... Cattle Farmers Awarded $1.28 Billion in Beef Suit A federal jury in Alabama awarded $1.28 billion to cattle farmers yesterday, deciding that a beef-processing giant used its dominance of the $70 billion beef industry to manipulate prices for cattle on the open market. Tyson Foods Inc. said it intends to appeal the verdict in the case filed against IBP Inc., which Tyson now owns. Another piece of the case -- involving a possible injunction against certain cattle-buying practices -- has yet to be decided by the judge involved. But the jury's decision could be a first step toward reversing the kind of power big businesses have gained as consolidation has swept through the cattle and beef industries over the past two decades.... Idaho farmers want legal foreign labor, less red tape If Idaho farmers want to follow the law and hire legal immigrant workers, they need time, patience and luck. They must apply for the foreign workers no later than 45 days before the workers will be needed, which is sometimes tricky to gauge. They must advertise across the country, offering the jobs to U.S. workers first. They must plow through hundreds of pages of rules and work with the departments of Labor, Homeland Security and State.... Saddle broncs are his business Dan Mortensen of Billings, Mont., has a business and economics degree from Montana State University. One day, he might get to use it for its intended purpose. Right now, Mortensen is best in the business of riding saddle bronc horses, which is very good for his economic situation....
Conservationists Challenge Administration's Leasing Decision in National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska In an effort to restore a balance between development and wildlife protection in Alaska's western arctic, conservation groups announced today a lawsuit challenging a plan to open up the entire northwest portion of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (the Reserve) to oil and gas leasing. The groups challenge the January 22, 2004, decision to open 100 percent of the 8.8-million-acre northwest portion of the Reserve fails to permanently protect any of the region's most important wildlife habitat or hunting and fishing grounds.... Dam removal effort aims at helping steelhead In a project almost unprecedented in California's 150-year history of using dams to make an arid state habitable, scientists, environmental groups and water officials are trying to determine whether they can tear down the fishes' main obstacle. For the past 83 years, the 107-foot-tall San Clemente Dam has blocked steelhead from returning smoothly to the upper Carmel River. The challenge: how to help the fish they are seeking to rescue from the Endangered Species List, without accidentally killing them in the process. Built in 1921, San Clemente Dam is a graceful curve of smooth concrete. Once it stored drinking water for thousands of people around Monterey.... New data shows population increase for threatened shorebird California's efforts to rescue the western snowy plover are starting to pay off as new data showed population increases for the threatened shorebird, state officials said Tuesday. The number of snowy plovers that hatched and survived in state parks along the California coast rose significantly during the latest nesting season, according to the state Department of Parks and Recreation. New reports show that 548 nests were found in state parks in 2003 -- a 24 percent increase over 2002 -- and that 322 of those nests successfully hatched at least one egg, a 52 percent increase over the previous year. The number of chicks hatched more than doubled to 967 chicks over the previous year.... One Fish, Two Fish Jerry Big Eagle drugs fish. Tens of thousands of fish, every day. The tiny, stunned salmon slide through the hands of his crews as, with a snip and a jab, workers clip off a back fin and thrust a metal wire not much wider than a hair into each snout. It takes just seconds. Then each fish is dropped into a watery chute, checked magnetically to ensure it's tagged, and swept back into hatchery ponds to sleep it off. Big Eagle is a fish tagger - probably California's premier fish tagger - and one of only a handful of private contractors in the West who make a living inserting distinctive, lifelong codes into living fish.... Lodge owner welcomes battle with National Park Service Lodge owner Doug Frederick wants the National Park Service to make an example out of him. He's refusing to pay a $500 fine for failing to have a permit to place wooden pallets on muddy sections of a trail inside the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park because he says the agency invited his help and then betrayed him. "I was working with the Park Service. Basically, they set me up," Frederick said. "Somebody has to expose the Park Service. These people are clear out of control.".... Judge Scolds Park Service Over Snowmobiles A federal judge threatened Tuesday to hold National Park Service officials in contempt for violating his orders and deciding last week to allow more snowmobiles in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said he found it "mystifying" that the Park Service last Wednesday decided to allow 780 snowmobiles in Yellowstone when he ordered them last year to allow no more than 493 of them this winter. "It's just a nonchalant attitude of the government to a federal judge's order," the judge said, setting a hearing for March 9 on a possible contempt finding. The Park Service increased the number of snowmobiles allowed in Yellowstone after another federal judge, Clarence Brimmer in Wyoming, last Tuesday ordered officials to quit implementing a Clinton administration plan that bans individual snowmobiles entirely beginning next winter.... EPA scientist queried over biowarfare warning An Environmental Protection Agency scientist has been questioned by the FBI about an anonymous letter accusing a colleague of plotting biowarfare in the days before the 2001 anthrax attacks. Agents from the FBI's anthrax task force, according to a document obtained by The Washington Times, sought information on the anonymous letter, which warned that Ayaad Assaad, an Egyptian native who works as a toxicologist at the EPA, was an anti-American "religious fanatic" with the means to unleash a bioweapons attack.... Agency to recommend minimum flows to aid fish More than a century after the state began doling out water rights to people, the state Department of Ecology now intends to recommend a minimum flow of water for fish, too. The agency expects to adopt minimum flows by 2005 for Salmon Creek and the Washougal River in Clark County. The Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board received $200,000 in state funding in December 2001 to compile the best scientific information available, and then recommend minimum flows to sustain imperiled salmon and steelhead.... House approves limit on water well useThe House has approved a measure that would allow the state engineer to limit water use from domestic wells in areas facing water problems. But the House diluted the proposed powers for the state engineer. When the bill passed the Senate earlier this month, it would have allowed the engineer to deny new wells in a critical management area. However, the House eliminated the power to deny a well permit and instead the state engineer could limit a well to one-half acre foot per year for a household.... House approves proposal for state water reserve The House has approved legislation that would establish a state strategic river reserve. The proposal calls for leasing or buying water rights to deal with New Mexico’s pressing water problems. It would earmark three percent of the state’s yearly severance tax bond financing for the water reserve during the next 20 years to provide money for the acquisition of water rights.... Bill restricting access to private property debated A bill pitting landowners against game wardens was considered Tuesday by the state Senate Agriculture Committee, but a vote was delayed until Thursday. HB1258 would require that game wardens get permission from landowners before going onto private property unless wardens have good reasons to believe people are violating hunting or fishing laws, have reports of violations, must kill crippled animals, or are responding to emergencies. Supporters of the bill said it is unfair to hunters to assume they are guilty until they can prove they are licensed. Game wardens should not be allowed to come onto private property to check for licenses unless they have reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing, HB1258 supporters said.... Editorial: A vote for open space As Utahns watch population growth gobble up farms and foothills, some people are searching for ways to preserve open space. The Nature Conservancy has a suggestion that Utah voters should consider. It proposes that the state issue $150 million in revenue bonds to purchase land to preserve rivers, lakes, watershed, open space, wildlife habitat, parks and recreational trails for future generations. The bond would be paid for by an increase of .05 percentage points in the state sales tax (five cents on each $100) for a maximum of 10 years.... Logging laws struck down In a ruling that could open up hundreds of properties to logging in the Santa Cruz Mountains, a state appellate court in San Jose has sided with logging interests in striking down Santa Cruz County laws aimed at limiting where trees can be harvested. The decision, released Tuesday by the three-judge panel of the 6th District Court of Appeal, sent shock waves through environmental groups concerned that farmers, ranchers and other landowners with forested properties would rush to chop down timber on their mountain properties.... Beef Battle A beef battle is brewing at the State Capitol in Pierre and it may become the first true controversy in Governor Mike Rounds' administration. The Governor fired four members of the tate board in charge of tracking cattle Monday night. The move comes after a report by the attorney general's office accused inspectors of violating the state's inspection rules. For more than 60 years, the South Dakota State Brand Board has had a contract with the State Stockgrowers Association. The board voted to end that contract last Thursday, and now the governor has fired four of the board's five members. On Tuesday, hundreds of producers filled the Capitol Rotunda to tell the governor they think the inspection program was fine before and they think he's made a big mistake.... Cattle Farmers Awarded $1.28 Billion in Beef Suit A federal jury in Alabama awarded $1.28 billion to cattle farmers yesterday, deciding that a beef-processing giant used its dominance of the $70 billion beef industry to manipulate prices for cattle on the open market. Tyson Foods Inc. said it intends to appeal the verdict in the case filed against IBP Inc., which Tyson now owns. Another piece of the case -- involving a possible injunction against certain cattle-buying practices -- has yet to be decided by the judge involved. But the jury's decision could be a first step toward reversing the kind of power big businesses have gained as consolidation has swept through the cattle and beef industries over the past two decades.... Idaho farmers want legal foreign labor, less red tape If Idaho farmers want to follow the law and hire legal immigrant workers, they need time, patience and luck. They must apply for the foreign workers no later than 45 days before the workers will be needed, which is sometimes tricky to gauge. They must advertise across the country, offering the jobs to U.S. workers first. They must plow through hundreds of pages of rules and work with the departments of Labor, Homeland Security and State.... Saddle broncs are his business Dan Mortensen of Billings, Mont., has a business and economics degree from Montana State University. One day, he might get to use it for its intended purpose. Right now, Mortensen is best in the business of riding saddle bronc horses, which is very good for his economic situation....
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