NEWS
Old Plains ranching, farming traditions disappearing Tom McNeil is the kind of American little boys and grown-up men, movie stars and even presidents dream of being: tall and weather-beaten, spare with words, wearing a hat and boots that clearly are tools instead of ornaments. McNeil is a real cowboy in Loup County in central Nebraska, one of the disappearing ranchers and farmers of the northern Great Plains. He’s a man riding reluctantly, sadly into the sunset of a civilization that once was seen as among the great achievements of the American nation. It’s a place where we get much of our food. And it’s a place where we’ve gotten many of our best people. Now, isolation, harsh weather, more and more food imports, the ever-increasing size of farms and ranches and the economic and social pull of large population centers threaten to turn this vast region in the middle of the United States into a mostly empty Outback....
Kansas town reflects plains' past, present future The roiling sky above this northwest Kansas town one April afternoon was a fitting symbol of the battle Oberlin is waging against the natural, social and economic forces that are emptying it and many other towns in the Northern and Central Great Plains. Gripped by a three-year drought and dependent on surrounding wheat farms, Oberlin residents watched hopefully as the dark clouds of a rain-laden thunderstorm moved in from the southwest. But it soon became clear that the rain so clearly visible in the distance was evaporating before hitting the parched ground. Mayor Kenneth Shobe watched and just shook his head. In many ways, this area in far northwestern Kansas reflects the past, present and future of the Northern and Central Plains, once a promised land for optimistic farmers, now struggling to staunch population hemorrhage and facing a bleak future....
A good yarn: Wool prices dip to record lows, but sheep ranchers find a way to stay in business Broadus sheep rancher Rebecca McEuen saw the beginning of the end in 1997. The population of sheep in the state had been dropping for decades and the price of wool was headed for an all-time low. By 1998, fleece was bringing about $1.80 per sheep and it cost $2 to sheer the sheep. "It was time to change the old way of ranching," said McEuen, who with her mother and husband, Dennis, have been raising sheep in the Broadus area for more than 20 years. McEuen's mother introduced the American Cormo breed to the area when the family moved there in 1978 from Southern California and they weren't ready to give up on sheep yet. The McEuens, along with a rancher friend, Charlotte Carlat, decided first to expand their natural wool yarn business. During the winter of 1998-1999, they spent more hours than they could count cleaning 800 pounds of wool, tugging small sticks and mud and burrs and who knows what else out of the raw wool by hand. "Our fingers got real sore," she said....
Unsettling times: Few folks in the big open Calvin Thomas, a rancher who came in to the Sand Springs Store for a 5-gallon jug of drinking water, is on his second cup of coffee as he tells how it used to be in Sand Springs. "At one time Sand Springs was pretty big," he says. "It was runner-up for county seat." That honor eventually went to Jordan, 20 miles east on Highway 200. Jordan is losing population, too, but with about 350 people it's by far the largest town in Garfield County. Sand Springs reached a population peak of about 50, Calvin says, but now the only full-time resident is Daisy Dutton, who owns the store. "They used to have a sign," Calvin says: "End of the world, 12 miles. Jordan, 14." It might not be the end of the world, but it does feel like the middle of nowhere. Garfield County takes in 4,668 square miles, but with a population of only 1,279 at the time of the 2000 census, it had 0.27 people per square mile. That gave Garfield the lowest population density in Montana and very nearly the lowest in the continental United States....
Weekend cowboys Clinging to their saddle horns, the inexperienced riders fought to stay astride their horses as they plunged into a rocky ravine where eight stray cows hid in the brush. The heifers initially ignored their shouts and then grudgingly shuffled up a steep hill to join the rest of the herd for the drive to greener pastures. For three days over a recent weekend, a group of city dwellers rounded up strays and herded cattle, paying $700 each to work like the cowhands they'd watched on the silver screen. These "City Slicker"-style roundups at the Varian family's V6 Ranch in Monterey County help pay the bills and ensure the 20,000-acre spread remains open space for future generations....
Rancher of the Year to be honored Saturday There are seven nominees and one of them will be recognized Saturday at the Cowboy Roundup USA as Rancher of the Year. Everything around Amarillo was once ranch country, said Quien Stapleton, Cowboy Roundup USA president. Ranching is the heritage of the Texas Panhandle. Stapleton said his organization figures the Coors Ranch Rodeo next week is the perfect time to recognize a Rancher of the Year. Sponsored by Duncan & Boyd Jewelers and KGNC Radio, the Rancher of the Year will be named at the Saturday night performance of the Coors Ranch Rodeo in the Amarillo National Center, Stapleton said....
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Monday, May 30, 2005
Sunday, May 29, 2005
NEWS
Survey: Canyon visitors firmly grounded Those who drive to the Grand Canyon are keen on clean air, conservation and geology, but not so fond of riding all-terrain vehicles there, gambling in general or taking helicopter tours, a recent Northern Arizona University survey shows. These conservation-minded tourists stay longer, spend more -- $1,131 on average per group -- and care about the environment more than other vacationers, the Travel Industry Association of America said. Whether they also will care to visit a glitzy theme park proposed for a 1,000-acre site near Williams 60 miles south of Grand Canyon Village is another question. "They really fit the pattern of what the travel industry has called geotourists," said Cheryl Cothran, director of the yearlong tourism survey from NAU's Hospitality Research and Resource Center....
Only who can prevent fires? The money that aided Duryea's group came from the National Fire Plan, an August 2000 directive to provide more money for fire fighting and reducing risky fire conditions in and around the nation's forests. Critics say the National Fire Plan isn't providing enough money for projects like Windcliff and that funding similar private programs could cut the rising costs for fire suppression and hazardous fuels treatment on public lands. The U.S. Forest Service has spent more than $1 billion fighting fires in three of the past five years. It's especially puzzling given that 85 percent of the nation's land most at-risk for fire is state, local or private, critics say. A report released this spring by the Wilderness Society said that an average of 7.8 percent of the nation's wildland fire funding has gone toward state and local assistance since 2001....
Rising prices bring oil boom to Utah County In the high, open county of southeastern Utah County, a Denver-based company is getting ready to sink an exploratory well nearly 13,000 feet into the geologic fold of ancient sandstone. High prices and a substantial strike in Sevier County have sparked interest and brought oil and gas exploration to Utah County. "Higher oil price has spurred a lot of interest in oil companies getting out on the ground," said Jim Springer of the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining. Denver-based Ansbro Petroleum Co. has a freshly approved permit to drill a well in the southeastern part of the county. It is one of more than 100 such permits approved by the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining this month. As of Friday afternoon, 606 drilling permits for oil and gas wells have been issued -- 207 in April -- in Utah this year. Most of them were in Uintah County. The permit approval pace already has outstripped activity last year, when by the end of May, 424 permits had been issued....
Agencies working together on restoration Reclamation of abandoned oil and gas field sites has been a contentious issue with federal and state land and conservation agencies for many years. But the tide is turning. The oil and gas industry is now working with the agencies on restoration efforts, federal and state agency officials said. A new federal pilot program — the Environmental Quality Improvement Program — is being implemented, and the industry has expressed a willingness to participate. The program is geared toward improving the habitat of the endangered lesser prairie chicken and the sand dune lizard, which is being considered for the endangered species list. Last week, Marathon Oil Company donated $40,000 to the New Mexico Association of Conservation Districts to support the non-profit organization’s efforts to help the Bureau of Land Management implement the program in Eddy and Lea counties....
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Survey: Canyon visitors firmly grounded Those who drive to the Grand Canyon are keen on clean air, conservation and geology, but not so fond of riding all-terrain vehicles there, gambling in general or taking helicopter tours, a recent Northern Arizona University survey shows. These conservation-minded tourists stay longer, spend more -- $1,131 on average per group -- and care about the environment more than other vacationers, the Travel Industry Association of America said. Whether they also will care to visit a glitzy theme park proposed for a 1,000-acre site near Williams 60 miles south of Grand Canyon Village is another question. "They really fit the pattern of what the travel industry has called geotourists," said Cheryl Cothran, director of the yearlong tourism survey from NAU's Hospitality Research and Resource Center....
Only who can prevent fires? The money that aided Duryea's group came from the National Fire Plan, an August 2000 directive to provide more money for fire fighting and reducing risky fire conditions in and around the nation's forests. Critics say the National Fire Plan isn't providing enough money for projects like Windcliff and that funding similar private programs could cut the rising costs for fire suppression and hazardous fuels treatment on public lands. The U.S. Forest Service has spent more than $1 billion fighting fires in three of the past five years. It's especially puzzling given that 85 percent of the nation's land most at-risk for fire is state, local or private, critics say. A report released this spring by the Wilderness Society said that an average of 7.8 percent of the nation's wildland fire funding has gone toward state and local assistance since 2001....
Rising prices bring oil boom to Utah County In the high, open county of southeastern Utah County, a Denver-based company is getting ready to sink an exploratory well nearly 13,000 feet into the geologic fold of ancient sandstone. High prices and a substantial strike in Sevier County have sparked interest and brought oil and gas exploration to Utah County. "Higher oil price has spurred a lot of interest in oil companies getting out on the ground," said Jim Springer of the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining. Denver-based Ansbro Petroleum Co. has a freshly approved permit to drill a well in the southeastern part of the county. It is one of more than 100 such permits approved by the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining this month. As of Friday afternoon, 606 drilling permits for oil and gas wells have been issued -- 207 in April -- in Utah this year. Most of them were in Uintah County. The permit approval pace already has outstripped activity last year, when by the end of May, 424 permits had been issued....
Agencies working together on restoration Reclamation of abandoned oil and gas field sites has been a contentious issue with federal and state land and conservation agencies for many years. But the tide is turning. The oil and gas industry is now working with the agencies on restoration efforts, federal and state agency officials said. A new federal pilot program — the Environmental Quality Improvement Program — is being implemented, and the industry has expressed a willingness to participate. The program is geared toward improving the habitat of the endangered lesser prairie chicken and the sand dune lizard, which is being considered for the endangered species list. Last week, Marathon Oil Company donated $40,000 to the New Mexico Association of Conservation Districts to support the non-profit organization’s efforts to help the Bureau of Land Management implement the program in Eddy and Lea counties....
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SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE WESTERNER
Influencing tomorrow with a bible and a rope
By Julie Carter
Every now and then I get a glimpse of a bright promising future by looking at the youth of today.
Hold your moans and groans. Put away the mental images you just reviewed of tattooed, long haired, earring-in-their nose youth with their bottom clothing riding low and their top clothing riding high.
The youth I speak of are home grown in places not always visible to the world.
I’ve been happy to be part of several programs that continually endear me to their ability to grow good kids. Youth rodeo, FFA and 4-H guide young people from ages 5-19 through solid steps to adulthood with self esteem building techniques that are time proven.
Last week I was invited to an event that swelled that hope for the future.
Every Thursday night the Capitan High School rodeo team meets to practice at a private home and arena tucked away in the hills north of Capitan.
Along with the high school rodeo hands were youngsters of every age. They all spent a couple hours practicing their assorted roping events, barrel racing and some good old fun- jumping on the trampoline.
The sun was setting, it was warm with no wind, and kids-having-fun laughter could be heard from all directions.
There were parents everywhere--some loading cattle in the chute, giving instruction, tuning on a horse or just visiting with each other. The atmosphere was casual, relaxed and very friendly. But that weekly gathering is more than just spending time in the arena with a rope.
Some people from the church had brought over a huge grill on a trailer and were cooking up ribs, sausage and brisket with all the trimmings to feed the hungry kids and their parents when practice was over. They did this just because they wanted to, it was a gift.
While the crowd of about 40 filled their plates, ate and talked, the mechanical roping machines were lined up with kids playing with ropes.
These were good kids spending quality time with parents who were taking an interest in where they were and what they were doing.
It is a common thread I see throughout the 4-H, FFA and youth rodeo experience that makes me believe the long hours, long miles and expense is worth every penny invested.
After dinner, bales of hay and a few odds and ends of chairs were lined up in the runway of the barn for short bible message. To the sounds of horses stirring in the stalls on either side, praise music was accompanied by a guitar followed by reverent prayer.
A story about using your life to become a bible story concluded the evening. It ended right where it always should—giving thanks to the source of our blessings.
The entire evening underlined the fact that we are not blessed by chance but are blessed by choice.
I would not presume to say that if a youngster does not take part in one of the aforementioned youth activities that he or she won’t amount to anything.
I am saying that if they do, their chances for success in this life are measurably multiplied.
Influence is a powerful tool and on this night a very positive influence was present in abundance. You couldn’t have hidden from it.
Thank you Chris and Sheila Williams-- for sharing your home and your life touching influence with so many. I was honored to be only one.
Julie can be reached for comment at jcarter@tularosa.net
© Julie Carter 2005
I welcome submissions for this feature of The Westerner.
===
Influencing tomorrow with a bible and a rope
By Julie Carter
Every now and then I get a glimpse of a bright promising future by looking at the youth of today.
Hold your moans and groans. Put away the mental images you just reviewed of tattooed, long haired, earring-in-their nose youth with their bottom clothing riding low and their top clothing riding high.
The youth I speak of are home grown in places not always visible to the world.
I’ve been happy to be part of several programs that continually endear me to their ability to grow good kids. Youth rodeo, FFA and 4-H guide young people from ages 5-19 through solid steps to adulthood with self esteem building techniques that are time proven.
Last week I was invited to an event that swelled that hope for the future.
Every Thursday night the Capitan High School rodeo team meets to practice at a private home and arena tucked away in the hills north of Capitan.
Along with the high school rodeo hands were youngsters of every age. They all spent a couple hours practicing their assorted roping events, barrel racing and some good old fun- jumping on the trampoline.
The sun was setting, it was warm with no wind, and kids-having-fun laughter could be heard from all directions.
There were parents everywhere--some loading cattle in the chute, giving instruction, tuning on a horse or just visiting with each other. The atmosphere was casual, relaxed and very friendly. But that weekly gathering is more than just spending time in the arena with a rope.
Some people from the church had brought over a huge grill on a trailer and were cooking up ribs, sausage and brisket with all the trimmings to feed the hungry kids and their parents when practice was over. They did this just because they wanted to, it was a gift.
While the crowd of about 40 filled their plates, ate and talked, the mechanical roping machines were lined up with kids playing with ropes.
These were good kids spending quality time with parents who were taking an interest in where they were and what they were doing.
It is a common thread I see throughout the 4-H, FFA and youth rodeo experience that makes me believe the long hours, long miles and expense is worth every penny invested.
After dinner, bales of hay and a few odds and ends of chairs were lined up in the runway of the barn for short bible message. To the sounds of horses stirring in the stalls on either side, praise music was accompanied by a guitar followed by reverent prayer.
A story about using your life to become a bible story concluded the evening. It ended right where it always should—giving thanks to the source of our blessings.
The entire evening underlined the fact that we are not blessed by chance but are blessed by choice.
I would not presume to say that if a youngster does not take part in one of the aforementioned youth activities that he or she won’t amount to anything.
I am saying that if they do, their chances for success in this life are measurably multiplied.
Influence is a powerful tool and on this night a very positive influence was present in abundance. You couldn’t have hidden from it.
Thank you Chris and Sheila Williams-- for sharing your home and your life touching influence with so many. I was honored to be only one.
Julie can be reached for comment at jcarter@tularosa.net
© Julie Carter 2005
I welcome submissions for this feature of The Westerner.
===
OPINION/COMMENTARY
UTAH TRAIL GROUPS FIGHT PARK SERVICE CLOSURE OF ROAD
The closure of a recreational road by the National Park Service (NPS) violates the will of Congress that the road be kept open to the public, several recreational groups asserted during oral argument today in Utah federal district court in Salt Lake City. Therefore, argued the groups, the court should invalidate the NPS’s recent decision to close Salt Creek Road in Canyonlands National Park in southeastern Utah. Today’s oral argument is only the latest legal action after nearly ten years of litigation involving the NPS and an environmental group concerning Salt Creek Road, which accesses Angel Arch. “The attempt by the National Park Service to ‘cook the books’ in this endless battle failed because there is still no evidence that the environment will be harmed by keeping this road open,” said William Perry Pendley of Mountain States Legal Foundation, which represents the recreational groups seeking to keep Salt Creek Road open. “In August 2000, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit delivered a harsh rebuke to the National Park Service for illegally closing the road and for reversing its position on appeal, yet the National Park Service and its lawyers have arrogantly refused to do what the law mandates that they do, which is to keep the road open for the public.”....
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UTAH TRAIL GROUPS FIGHT PARK SERVICE CLOSURE OF ROAD
The closure of a recreational road by the National Park Service (NPS) violates the will of Congress that the road be kept open to the public, several recreational groups asserted during oral argument today in Utah federal district court in Salt Lake City. Therefore, argued the groups, the court should invalidate the NPS’s recent decision to close Salt Creek Road in Canyonlands National Park in southeastern Utah. Today’s oral argument is only the latest legal action after nearly ten years of litigation involving the NPS and an environmental group concerning Salt Creek Road, which accesses Angel Arch. “The attempt by the National Park Service to ‘cook the books’ in this endless battle failed because there is still no evidence that the environment will be harmed by keeping this road open,” said William Perry Pendley of Mountain States Legal Foundation, which represents the recreational groups seeking to keep Salt Creek Road open. “In August 2000, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit delivered a harsh rebuke to the National Park Service for illegally closing the road and for reversing its position on appeal, yet the National Park Service and its lawyers have arrogantly refused to do what the law mandates that they do, which is to keep the road open for the public.”....
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OPINION/COMMENTARY
Another Wetlands Horror Story
Charles Johnson, a 73-year-old Korean war veteran, lives with his wife in rural Carver, Massachusetts, where the Johnson family has farmed cranberries for nearly 100 years. In the 1990s, the United States filed a civil action against Mr. Johnson, his wife, his son, and their business, claiming they discharged into wetlands and other “waters of the United States” without a permit in violation of the Clean Water Act. Mr. Johnson insists that all of his farm work was done in areas where there have long been cranberry bogs and permits are not needed. According to PLF’s analysis, the federal government has no legal authority over the Johnsons’ property. That’s because the plain language of the Clean Water Act and the Constitution limit federal regulatory power to “navigable waters” only, such as a river or lake that can be used for shipping or other commerce, and wetlands immediately adjacent to such waters. This clear limitation was affirmed by the United States Supreme Court in its 2001 decision in Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. United States (SWANCC). In Mr. Johnson’s case, none of the three areas targeted by the government are within 20 miles of navigable waters. On the contrary, all of the properties are adjacent to nonnavigable ditches and streams connected to other nonnavigable waters that eventually connect to the navigable Weweantic River. Using these tenuous connections, the federal government has subjected Mr. Johnson and his family to relentless prosecution. After spending more than $1 million to defend his family and farm against this government land grab, Mr. Johnson was eventually forced to represent himself because he could no longer afford attorneys. As a result, he was unable to effectively oppose the government’s case against him at the trial level. In January, a District Court judge found for the Environmental Protection Agency, ordering the family to pay a $75,000 fine and to “restore” 25 acres of their property that the government declared “wetlands.” The EPA estimates the restoration will cost them $1.1 million! PLF has stepped in to represent the Johnson family, without charge, in their appeal to the United States First Circuit Court of Appeals. The government’s lawyers do not dispute that Mr. Johnson’s properties are merely adjacent to nonnavigable waters, but contend they are still subject to federal regulation because of their eventual connection to the Weweantic River. According to their argument, the government has jurisdiction whenever, theoretically, one molecule of water from a nonnavigable wetland could reach a navigable water. The government has been pushing this “any hydrological connection” theory ever since the Supreme Court harshly rebuked its earlier “glancing duck” theory that jurisdiction can be based in a high flying bird’s attraction to a small mud puddle....
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Another Wetlands Horror Story
Charles Johnson, a 73-year-old Korean war veteran, lives with his wife in rural Carver, Massachusetts, where the Johnson family has farmed cranberries for nearly 100 years. In the 1990s, the United States filed a civil action against Mr. Johnson, his wife, his son, and their business, claiming they discharged into wetlands and other “waters of the United States” without a permit in violation of the Clean Water Act. Mr. Johnson insists that all of his farm work was done in areas where there have long been cranberry bogs and permits are not needed. According to PLF’s analysis, the federal government has no legal authority over the Johnsons’ property. That’s because the plain language of the Clean Water Act and the Constitution limit federal regulatory power to “navigable waters” only, such as a river or lake that can be used for shipping or other commerce, and wetlands immediately adjacent to such waters. This clear limitation was affirmed by the United States Supreme Court in its 2001 decision in Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. United States (SWANCC). In Mr. Johnson’s case, none of the three areas targeted by the government are within 20 miles of navigable waters. On the contrary, all of the properties are adjacent to nonnavigable ditches and streams connected to other nonnavigable waters that eventually connect to the navigable Weweantic River. Using these tenuous connections, the federal government has subjected Mr. Johnson and his family to relentless prosecution. After spending more than $1 million to defend his family and farm against this government land grab, Mr. Johnson was eventually forced to represent himself because he could no longer afford attorneys. As a result, he was unable to effectively oppose the government’s case against him at the trial level. In January, a District Court judge found for the Environmental Protection Agency, ordering the family to pay a $75,000 fine and to “restore” 25 acres of their property that the government declared “wetlands.” The EPA estimates the restoration will cost them $1.1 million! PLF has stepped in to represent the Johnson family, without charge, in their appeal to the United States First Circuit Court of Appeals. The government’s lawyers do not dispute that Mr. Johnson’s properties are merely adjacent to nonnavigable waters, but contend they are still subject to federal regulation because of their eventual connection to the Weweantic River. According to their argument, the government has jurisdiction whenever, theoretically, one molecule of water from a nonnavigable wetland could reach a navigable water. The government has been pushing this “any hydrological connection” theory ever since the Supreme Court harshly rebuked its earlier “glancing duck” theory that jurisdiction can be based in a high flying bird’s attraction to a small mud puddle....
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OPINION/COMMENTARY
THE REAL ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS
In "The Real Environmental Crisis: Why Poverty, Not Affluence, Is the Environment’s Number One Enemy," Jack Hollander hopes to teach environmentalists that the key to protecting Planet Earth both locally and globally lies in understanding that wealthier nations and peoples improve environmental quality rather than degrade it. This runs contrary to the rhetoric of many environmental organizations.
Where Hollander really brings some fresh air to the “wealthier is healthier” front is on the subject of energy policy:
* The developed world employs cleaner fuels, such as oil and natural gas, while the poor are stuck with dirty-burning fuels such as wood, coal and animal dung.
* Wind power and direct solar energy make more sense for the developing world since they do not require the large capital investments for transmission and distribution required with fossil fuels and fossil-fueled electrical power.
* The environmental benefits of nuclear power could be great, but certain forms of nuclear power create a risk of providing material for terrorist-type activities; therefore, nuclear is simply not viable for the developing world.
While Hollander is correct in much of his approach and theory, he is not ambitious enough in identifying how to make the poor rich, says reviewer J. Bishop Grewell. Furthermore, says Grewell, Hollander struggles with how much government development assistance can do and how much progress must simply come from within the poorer nations. The tangible need to do something, anything, seems to prevent him from asking whether doing something might be worse than doing nothing, says Grewell.
Source: J. Bishop Grewell, Book Review, A Better Earth, April 2005; based upon Jack M. Hollander, “The Real Environmental Crisis: Why Poverty, Not Affluence, Is the Environment’s Number One Enemy,” University of California Press, 2003.
For text: http://www.abetterearth.org/article.php/1035.html
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THE REAL ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS
In "The Real Environmental Crisis: Why Poverty, Not Affluence, Is the Environment’s Number One Enemy," Jack Hollander hopes to teach environmentalists that the key to protecting Planet Earth both locally and globally lies in understanding that wealthier nations and peoples improve environmental quality rather than degrade it. This runs contrary to the rhetoric of many environmental organizations.
Where Hollander really brings some fresh air to the “wealthier is healthier” front is on the subject of energy policy:
* The developed world employs cleaner fuels, such as oil and natural gas, while the poor are stuck with dirty-burning fuels such as wood, coal and animal dung.
* Wind power and direct solar energy make more sense for the developing world since they do not require the large capital investments for transmission and distribution required with fossil fuels and fossil-fueled electrical power.
* The environmental benefits of nuclear power could be great, but certain forms of nuclear power create a risk of providing material for terrorist-type activities; therefore, nuclear is simply not viable for the developing world.
While Hollander is correct in much of his approach and theory, he is not ambitious enough in identifying how to make the poor rich, says reviewer J. Bishop Grewell. Furthermore, says Grewell, Hollander struggles with how much government development assistance can do and how much progress must simply come from within the poorer nations. The tangible need to do something, anything, seems to prevent him from asking whether doing something might be worse than doing nothing, says Grewell.
Source: J. Bishop Grewell, Book Review, A Better Earth, April 2005; based upon Jack M. Hollander, “The Real Environmental Crisis: Why Poverty, Not Affluence, Is the Environment’s Number One Enemy,” University of California Press, 2003.
For text: http://www.abetterearth.org/article.php/1035.html
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OPINION/COMMENTARY
The Shrinking of the Greens: An environmental movement that shuns the right is bound to fail.
One might think that environmentalists in a conservative country would seek conservative support. Indeed, one might think that environmentalists could recognize natural allies in those who find pleasure and fulfillment in pursuit of wild animals in their habitat, or who have become convinced that God commands them to protect the full abundance of His creation, or who believe that their great country's uncurbed appetite for energy puts it at risk in a dangerous world. By contrast, there is no reason to think--and none is offered--why people of color, feminists, gays, or peace advocates--let alone union members--should be more environmentalist than the public at large. Yet reaching out to hunters and fishers, evangelical Christians, or "geo-green" conservatives is barely mentioned in this debate. Evidently support from those who might have endorsed the war in Iraq, or might oppose gay marriage, or, it seems, might not have voted enthusiastically for Howard Dean will not be welcome in addressing "the greatest calamity in modern history." Certainly cheap shots against "environmental extremists" have long characterized the rhetoric of conservative publicists and politicians. But a mature political judgment should look beyond the cheap shots on all sides to assess, and make use of, the more fundamental forces at work. It should also examine the widespread distrust of environmentalists among outdoorsmen and evangelicals with no apparent reason for striking poses on this issue. If, as may well be true, the goal of this debate is not to revitalize environmental protection as such, but to invest its appeal in a generic revival of "progressive" politics, then these criticisms are beside the point. But to the extent that protecting the environment is still a goal of the environmental movement, one may hope that as the reassessment continues, it will include a deeper look in the mirror....
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The Shrinking of the Greens: An environmental movement that shuns the right is bound to fail.
One might think that environmentalists in a conservative country would seek conservative support. Indeed, one might think that environmentalists could recognize natural allies in those who find pleasure and fulfillment in pursuit of wild animals in their habitat, or who have become convinced that God commands them to protect the full abundance of His creation, or who believe that their great country's uncurbed appetite for energy puts it at risk in a dangerous world. By contrast, there is no reason to think--and none is offered--why people of color, feminists, gays, or peace advocates--let alone union members--should be more environmentalist than the public at large. Yet reaching out to hunters and fishers, evangelical Christians, or "geo-green" conservatives is barely mentioned in this debate. Evidently support from those who might have endorsed the war in Iraq, or might oppose gay marriage, or, it seems, might not have voted enthusiastically for Howard Dean will not be welcome in addressing "the greatest calamity in modern history." Certainly cheap shots against "environmental extremists" have long characterized the rhetoric of conservative publicists and politicians. But a mature political judgment should look beyond the cheap shots on all sides to assess, and make use of, the more fundamental forces at work. It should also examine the widespread distrust of environmentalists among outdoorsmen and evangelicals with no apparent reason for striking poses on this issue. If, as may well be true, the goal of this debate is not to revitalize environmental protection as such, but to invest its appeal in a generic revival of "progressive" politics, then these criticisms are beside the point. But to the extent that protecting the environment is still a goal of the environmental movement, one may hope that as the reassessment continues, it will include a deeper look in the mirror....
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OPINION/COMMENTARY
Cruise Control
What increases overall socio-economic welfare, improves economic competitiveness reduces environmental damage? Obviously, state control and taxes. Or at least that is the answer the OECD, EU transport ministers and even the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) promote. With growing concern about the environment and the so called "greenhouse effect", efforts are under way to reduce transportation by taxing it more. Thus, many countries are seriously considering introducing surveillance tools and road pricing systems based on Global Positioning System (GPS) and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) technology that will trace cars and tax their drivers and one day maybe - if the technology allows - even decide where and at what speed the vehicle goes if it allows it to move at all. In the US, the NTSB is requiring electronic data recorders in all new cars manufactured in the country, and the Department of Transportation sponsors works on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). The EU has since 2000 tested the ITS in several cities in Europe under the PRoGRESS (Pricing Road Use for Greater Responsibility, Efficiency and Sustainability in Cities) program and hopes Galileo satellites will advance the project....
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Cruise Control
What increases overall socio-economic welfare, improves economic competitiveness reduces environmental damage? Obviously, state control and taxes. Or at least that is the answer the OECD, EU transport ministers and even the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) promote. With growing concern about the environment and the so called "greenhouse effect", efforts are under way to reduce transportation by taxing it more. Thus, many countries are seriously considering introducing surveillance tools and road pricing systems based on Global Positioning System (GPS) and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) technology that will trace cars and tax their drivers and one day maybe - if the technology allows - even decide where and at what speed the vehicle goes if it allows it to move at all. In the US, the NTSB is requiring electronic data recorders in all new cars manufactured in the country, and the Department of Transportation sponsors works on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). The EU has since 2000 tested the ITS in several cities in Europe under the PRoGRESS (Pricing Road Use for Greater Responsibility, Efficiency and Sustainability in Cities) program and hopes Galileo satellites will advance the project....
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OPINION/COMMENTARY
General Rent Seeker
The CEO of GE recently committed the company to "define the cutting edge in cleaner power and environmental technology" through increased R&D spending. He also pledged significantly reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 2012 and doubling the revenue earned by cleaner technologies to $20 billion by 2010. A commitment to improved environmental stewardship is commendable but hardly dramatic. Many companies have already raised the bar for their environmental standards. Some are using their actions to shape their image with the public. The motivation for GE's initiative is not completely clear. However, for a company of GE's stature it is fair to ask, why didn't you do this earlier and do it with shareholders instead of politicians and the media? The setting and timing justify a little skepticism. Since we live in a world where images drive perceptions, it is prudent to apply the Reagan maxim of "trust but verify". The GE announcement went beyond just a stronger commitment to environmental improvement. By raising the specter of climate change, GE's CEO called for legislation with clear milestones for greenhouse gas reductions, a cap and trade program (which means mandated limits on energy use to reduce emissions) and a government program to fund technologies. It is ironic that GE's founder and first great innovator, Thomas Edison, did not need government regulations and subsidies to create a market for the light bulb....
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General Rent Seeker
The CEO of GE recently committed the company to "define the cutting edge in cleaner power and environmental technology" through increased R&D spending. He also pledged significantly reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 2012 and doubling the revenue earned by cleaner technologies to $20 billion by 2010. A commitment to improved environmental stewardship is commendable but hardly dramatic. Many companies have already raised the bar for their environmental standards. Some are using their actions to shape their image with the public. The motivation for GE's initiative is not completely clear. However, for a company of GE's stature it is fair to ask, why didn't you do this earlier and do it with shareholders instead of politicians and the media? The setting and timing justify a little skepticism. Since we live in a world where images drive perceptions, it is prudent to apply the Reagan maxim of "trust but verify". The GE announcement went beyond just a stronger commitment to environmental improvement. By raising the specter of climate change, GE's CEO called for legislation with clear milestones for greenhouse gas reductions, a cap and trade program (which means mandated limits on energy use to reduce emissions) and a government program to fund technologies. It is ironic that GE's founder and first great innovator, Thomas Edison, did not need government regulations and subsidies to create a market for the light bulb....
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OPINION/COMMENTARY
Consumer Group: Get PETA Out Of Schools
El Paso, TX – This morning, Terrace Hill Middle School joined the long list of schools targeted by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). With its school campaigns, PETA targets children as young as six years old for indoctrination with violent and graphic propaganda. The $25 million animal rights group targets kids at every age level, sidestepping parents and school authorities to lure young and impressionable children into radical activism. PETA targets kids using graphic comic books, age-specific websites, grotesque toys, schoolyard demonstrations, and e-mail alerts sent directly to small children. All of these efforts are exposed in a report by the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF), titled “Your Kids, PETA’s Pawns.” Psychologists and school officials have denounced PETA’s propaganda tactics. “Some of the graphics and some of the messages are very, very disturbing – especially to younger kids,” says Dr. Jeffrey Dolgan, chief of psychology at Children’s Hospital in Denver. “Children become the unwitting victims of some campaigns, which are, in fact, harmful because they prey on children’s fears, and they prey on children’s vulnerabilities, and they prey on children’s anxieties.” PETA’s 2003 annual report boasts of reaching more than 2.3 million children and teachers using a variety of reckless tactics....
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Consumer Group: Get PETA Out Of Schools
El Paso, TX – This morning, Terrace Hill Middle School joined the long list of schools targeted by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). With its school campaigns, PETA targets children as young as six years old for indoctrination with violent and graphic propaganda. The $25 million animal rights group targets kids at every age level, sidestepping parents and school authorities to lure young and impressionable children into radical activism. PETA targets kids using graphic comic books, age-specific websites, grotesque toys, schoolyard demonstrations, and e-mail alerts sent directly to small children. All of these efforts are exposed in a report by the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF), titled “Your Kids, PETA’s Pawns.” Psychologists and school officials have denounced PETA’s propaganda tactics. “Some of the graphics and some of the messages are very, very disturbing – especially to younger kids,” says Dr. Jeffrey Dolgan, chief of psychology at Children’s Hospital in Denver. “Children become the unwitting victims of some campaigns, which are, in fact, harmful because they prey on children’s fears, and they prey on children’s vulnerabilities, and they prey on children’s anxieties.” PETA’s 2003 annual report boasts of reaching more than 2.3 million children and teachers using a variety of reckless tactics....
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OPINION/COMMENTARY
Hate the SUV, but don't shoot the driver
Also, I drive an SUV and figure I need all the help I can get. I am keenly aware that some people don't just hate SUVs, they hate SUV drivers. From the looks I get in certain neighborhoods, I may as well be wearing a mink coat and gnawing on a veal chop. Moreover, for the past couple of years, I've been tracking the spread of Irrational SUV Hostility (ISUVH) and have collected a folder of news stories involving the maligned vehicle. Invariably when an SUV driver is involved in an accident, the story focuses on the SUV. As though sedans, station wagons and especially hybrids never make mistakes. Here's a headline from the Boston Globe (February 2004): "Teacher dies after SUV strikes her in driveway." The subhead lets us know that the former husband is to face murder charges. Ah. So an embittered husband runs down his wife, but the SUV did it. Would a BMW have killed her any less? I'm just asking. Here's the Alameda Times-Star (September 2003): "Swerving SUV kills 92-year-old woman." If we read the story, we learn that the woman was killed when the SUV was sideswiped by another car, forcing the SUV onto the sidewalk. And what was the make of the swerving car? We never learn. Doesn't matter. What's significant is that the SUV killed the poor woman. Here's a CBS Internet headline from November 2004: "Man dies in SUV accident on Long Island." You'd think the SUV picked the man out of a herd and iced him. In reality, the man crashed his Ford Explorer into a cement barrier after sliding on a rain-slicked road. Presumably, he'd still be alive today if he'd been driving a more popular vehicle. Just one more, this one from an NBC affiliate in Philadelphia in February: "Police say out-of-control SUV killed blind woman." Not only do SUVs consume more gasoline than is morally defensible, but they run down old ladies, murder spouses and blind women, and will kill their own drivers in bad weather. If you insist on owning one anyway, the L.A. Sheriff's Department is ready to change your mind. (That's a joke.) All may change soon as auto manufacturers are turning SUVs into the coolest hybrids ever. Lexus has debuted a luxury SUV with low CO2 emissions and great mileage, and others are riding their bumpers. All those SUV haters out there soon will have to find a new demon to despise - and I have utter faith - but I don't expect to clip many news stories that begin: "Hybrid runs down elderly, blind woman." Or, "Ten deputies stop hybrid in hail of bullets."....
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Hate the SUV, but don't shoot the driver
Also, I drive an SUV and figure I need all the help I can get. I am keenly aware that some people don't just hate SUVs, they hate SUV drivers. From the looks I get in certain neighborhoods, I may as well be wearing a mink coat and gnawing on a veal chop. Moreover, for the past couple of years, I've been tracking the spread of Irrational SUV Hostility (ISUVH) and have collected a folder of news stories involving the maligned vehicle. Invariably when an SUV driver is involved in an accident, the story focuses on the SUV. As though sedans, station wagons and especially hybrids never make mistakes. Here's a headline from the Boston Globe (February 2004): "Teacher dies after SUV strikes her in driveway." The subhead lets us know that the former husband is to face murder charges. Ah. So an embittered husband runs down his wife, but the SUV did it. Would a BMW have killed her any less? I'm just asking. Here's the Alameda Times-Star (September 2003): "Swerving SUV kills 92-year-old woman." If we read the story, we learn that the woman was killed when the SUV was sideswiped by another car, forcing the SUV onto the sidewalk. And what was the make of the swerving car? We never learn. Doesn't matter. What's significant is that the SUV killed the poor woman. Here's a CBS Internet headline from November 2004: "Man dies in SUV accident on Long Island." You'd think the SUV picked the man out of a herd and iced him. In reality, the man crashed his Ford Explorer into a cement barrier after sliding on a rain-slicked road. Presumably, he'd still be alive today if he'd been driving a more popular vehicle. Just one more, this one from an NBC affiliate in Philadelphia in February: "Police say out-of-control SUV killed blind woman." Not only do SUVs consume more gasoline than is morally defensible, but they run down old ladies, murder spouses and blind women, and will kill their own drivers in bad weather. If you insist on owning one anyway, the L.A. Sheriff's Department is ready to change your mind. (That's a joke.) All may change soon as auto manufacturers are turning SUVs into the coolest hybrids ever. Lexus has debuted a luxury SUV with low CO2 emissions and great mileage, and others are riding their bumpers. All those SUV haters out there soon will have to find a new demon to despise - and I have utter faith - but I don't expect to clip many news stories that begin: "Hybrid runs down elderly, blind woman." Or, "Ten deputies stop hybrid in hail of bullets."....
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Saturday, May 28, 2005
NEWS ROUNDUP
Column: When the wolf is at the door It takes an idealist to think livestock, hunting, academic and ecology groups could agree about what to do when wolves move into Utah. The legendary predator creates a visceral reaction. To ranchers and hunters, that reaction is strongly negative. Most view wolves as a threat to sheep, livestock and big game. Ecologists and wildlife enthusiasts see the big predator as not only a symbol of wilderness, but, at the top of the food chain, as a necessary component of a functioning ecosystem....
Ranchers reach easement deal A conservation easement signed by two ranchers will restrict development on their 6,300-acre property in the Big Hole Valley. In the agreement with The Nature Conservancy, John and Gail Dooling forego the right to subdivide their land but retain the right to continue current ranch operations. The agreement is binding on any future owners of the ranch. "This valley is one of the few that is still wide open, with very little development," John Dooling said. "I'd like this valley to stay in agriculture and wish other ranchers here would sign conservation easements to make sure we keep the valley like it is."....
Coyotes are a menace for local ranchers and farmers They’re cunning. They’re clever. And they’re everywhere. The critters in question are the coyote — and area hunters revere them as some of the smartest varmints they have ever met. Coyote are can also be cunning in the way they capture their prey, he said. “They know when an animal is at its weakest point,” Tivis said, pointing out coyotes will attack young cattle on the back of their leg, ripping out their hamstrings. No longer able to stand, the crippled calves collapse in a heap. Tivis also said he has seen coyotes snatch the calf from a cow giving birth. “One coyote will distract the mother,” he said, “while another one snatches the calf.” A carnivorous animal not much bigger than most family dogs, the coyote is one of the most adaptable yet hated animals in the Southwest....
Whistleblower files complaint, claims Forest Service retribution The U.S. Forest Service has suspended a top regional official who recently complained that some of the agency's managers ignored rules and environmental laws in spraying pesticides and weed-killing chemicals on forests in the Southwest. Doug Parker, pesticide coordinator and assistant director of forestry and forest health for the agency's Southwestern Region, is accused of failing to follow a direct order to train and certify employees each month in the use of pesticides. Parker, who has worked for the agency for nearly 38 years, also is accused of failing to submit one monthly progress report on the training. Deputy Regional Forester Lucia Turner spelled out the reasons for the 10-day suspension in a letter sent to Parker on Thursday....
Hotshots cut to restore meadows Today, there are meadows where yesterday there were none, thanks to the Sierra Hotshots. The 20-person U.S. Forest Service firefighting crew cut a wide swath through the pines Friday, and there wasn't a blaze anywhere to fight. Instead of battling fires, the hotshots were fighting the growth of pine trees - using chain saws to carve out clearings in Black Hills National Forest about 10 miles southwest of Spearfish. Forest Service officials believe the clearings - once a common part of the forest ecosystem that has been lost in many areas to encroaching pine growth - will benefit wildlife and allow aspen and other vegetation to flourish. They will also create safety zones that might save the lives of firefighters in the future....
Wyoming opal rush causes headaches for federal land managers The scattershot markers of different sizes and colors stand out among the sagebrush with nothing more than a lonely, sauntering wild horse as far as the eye can see. The markers are monuments to a 21st century rush of prospectors. They descended on this remote, hilly area in south-central Wyoming last March with grand hopes and dreams of striking it rich by finding a precious gemstone called opal. The rush caught federal officials off guard, resulted in a bureaucratic paper jam that has delayed actual mining and prompted authorities to take measures to protect an endangered flower from being trampled....
Ranchers alarmed by brucellosis in elk The upper Madison Valley is the state of Montana's hot spot for brucellosis in elk, state officials told a group of ranchers here Thursday. But despite a spike in the infection rate that showed up in Madison Valley elk based on random sampling, officials said a much larger sample is needed to discern whether the disease is spreading among elk. "We don't want to be pushing any panic buttons," Montana State Veterinarian Tom Linfield told a skeptical crowd of about 60 people, mostly area ranchers. "But we are facing a risk of infection from elk-cattle interaction."....
SUMMARY OF 21ST MEETING OF THE CITES ANIMALS COMMITTEE The 21st meeting of the Animals Committee (AC-21) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) convened from 20-25 May 2005, in Geneva, Switzerland. On 20 and 21 May, a joint session with the 15th session of CITES Plants Committee (PC-15) was held. The Animals Committee (AC) discussed 23 agenda items on issues including: the implementation of the Strategic Vision until 2007 and the establishment of priorities; the review of trade in animal species included in the Appendices and significant trade in Appendix II species; transport of live animals; and trade in sea cucumbers, sharks and great apes. The joint session addressed issues of common interest to both Committees, including: the Strategic Vision and Plan until 2013; the review of Scientific Committees and regional communication; the study of production systems for specimens of CITES-listed species; and the Addis Ababa Principles and Guidelines for the Sustainable Use of Biodiversity adopted by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)....
Editorial: The Path to Splendor The mission of the National Park Service has been inherently contradictory since its establishment by Congress in 1916: to conserve federal lands while maximizing public enjoyment of them. This has frustrated both those who want the parks pristine and those who want comfortable lodging and other amenities — to say nothing of the park managers who try to satisfy these competing interests. An immediate case in point is the much-heralded, and somewhat maligned, approach to the base of 2,425-foot Yosemite Falls in Yosemite National Park. Here's the conflict in microcosm: How to make the falls pleasantly accessible to more than 1 million visitors each year without trashing the natural setting....
Column: One Man's Meat Is Another Man's Money I yield to no man in my appreciation for beef, so I don't need the Cattlemen's Beef Promotion and Research Board to tell me what's for dinner. If I were completely unconcerned about cholesterol, beef might be for breakfast and lunch too. I'm not the only one who finds the ads unhelpful. Some of the ranchers who are forced to pay for them, through a government-imposed annual assessment of $1 per head of cattle, complain that generic beef promotion undermines their attempts to distinguish their products from the other guy's. If consumers believe, as the ads imply, that all beef is pretty much the same, they are not likely to specifically look for, say, grass-fed beef, Angus beef, or Hereford beef. These dissenters argue that forcing them to subsidize messages with which they disagree violates their constitutional right to freedom of speech, which includes the right to remain silent....
California cattle truck restrictions impact ranchers A California vehicle code limiting the types of livestock trucks that can move cattle out of Humboldt County is forcing ranchers into a legislative battle during the busy shipping season. A local exemption allows semi-trailers up to 70 feet long on narrow portions of area highways. But a clause in the vehicle code states 65- to 70-foot trucks need 40 feet from the kingpin to the rear axle, which livestock trucks don’t have. The 70-foot trucks are the standardized method of hauling cattle. “That clause effectively negates our 70-foot exemption,” said Humboldt Auction Yard owner and rancher Lee Mora in a phone interview from his Fortuna, Calif., office. “Those are the only trucks available to us.” Buyers from outside the state buy 90 percent of the cattle raised in Humboldt County. The buyers demand the larger trucks that give cattle more room to lie down, which is better for their health, said Mora....
The Horse Hugger MATT Farley does not look like a touchy-feely guy. Standing 6 feet 1, weighing 240 pounds and packing a tin of chewing tobacco in his back pocket, the horse trainer looks like a cross between a linebacker and a cowboy. But his approach to animals is hardly macho. "Oh, he loves the rubbin'," said Farley as he used a stick-and-string device to massage the underbelly of a paint horse named Mike. "Rub, rub, rub." A few moments later, Farley lay peacefully on Mike's back, giving the huge animal the weight of his body. Farley and his wife, April Schneider, are the owners of Park Pacifica Stables, a 120-acre ranch in a valley east of Linda Mar. Both grew up with horses, but Farley, son of a Gold Country rancher, learned the "old school" approach to training horses....
Coverage Of Dutch-Oven Event To Air In July The Food Network has announced the premier showing of the Great Plains Bison-tennial Dutch Oven Cook-off on the "All-American Festivals" show. The premier is scheduled for Monday, July 25. The Food Network/Food TV is broadcast on cable and satellite stations throughout the world. Check your local cable company listing for the Food Network's channel listing. The Great Plains Bison-tennial Dutch Oven Cook-off features historic cooking and recipes prepared in Dutch ovens that could have been enjoyed by travelers visiting the Great Plains more than 200 years ago. Bison is the featured entree because the buffalo was the primary source of food for our ancestors. Today's bison rancher raises the same high quality product that was enjoyed so many years ago. July is National Bison Month and this is a perfect opportunity for you to enjoy the unique way of preparing bison and the great recipes by our Cook-off contestants. For more information about 2005's Great Plains Bison-tennial Dutch Oven Cook-off log on to: www.dutchovencookoff.com....
Living like an outlaw It was a wind-burned, tired and saddle-sore bunch that rode into the De Baca County Fairgrounds after seven days and 125 miles on the Billy the Kid Trail. Twenty-five riders, ages 15 to 70, set out from Lincoln on April 28 to follow, as best they could, the trail the Kid took when he shot his way out of jail in Lincoln in 1881 and rode hellbent for leather to his eventual doom in Fort Sumner. Now, on May 4, they were at the end of their ride. Waiting for them in the shade of the fairground barn were 80 fourth-graders from Capitan and Fort Sumner, cheering the riders as if they were movie cowboy heroes or the cavalry come to the rescue. The kids, following a curriculum created by Coda Omness, curator of education at the Hubbard Museum of the American West in Ruidoso Downs, had been studying the ride - everything from the physiology of a horse, to the geography of the trail, to how much stuff could be carried horseback....
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Column: When the wolf is at the door It takes an idealist to think livestock, hunting, academic and ecology groups could agree about what to do when wolves move into Utah. The legendary predator creates a visceral reaction. To ranchers and hunters, that reaction is strongly negative. Most view wolves as a threat to sheep, livestock and big game. Ecologists and wildlife enthusiasts see the big predator as not only a symbol of wilderness, but, at the top of the food chain, as a necessary component of a functioning ecosystem....
Ranchers reach easement deal A conservation easement signed by two ranchers will restrict development on their 6,300-acre property in the Big Hole Valley. In the agreement with The Nature Conservancy, John and Gail Dooling forego the right to subdivide their land but retain the right to continue current ranch operations. The agreement is binding on any future owners of the ranch. "This valley is one of the few that is still wide open, with very little development," John Dooling said. "I'd like this valley to stay in agriculture and wish other ranchers here would sign conservation easements to make sure we keep the valley like it is."....
Coyotes are a menace for local ranchers and farmers They’re cunning. They’re clever. And they’re everywhere. The critters in question are the coyote — and area hunters revere them as some of the smartest varmints they have ever met. Coyote are can also be cunning in the way they capture their prey, he said. “They know when an animal is at its weakest point,” Tivis said, pointing out coyotes will attack young cattle on the back of their leg, ripping out their hamstrings. No longer able to stand, the crippled calves collapse in a heap. Tivis also said he has seen coyotes snatch the calf from a cow giving birth. “One coyote will distract the mother,” he said, “while another one snatches the calf.” A carnivorous animal not much bigger than most family dogs, the coyote is one of the most adaptable yet hated animals in the Southwest....
Whistleblower files complaint, claims Forest Service retribution The U.S. Forest Service has suspended a top regional official who recently complained that some of the agency's managers ignored rules and environmental laws in spraying pesticides and weed-killing chemicals on forests in the Southwest. Doug Parker, pesticide coordinator and assistant director of forestry and forest health for the agency's Southwestern Region, is accused of failing to follow a direct order to train and certify employees each month in the use of pesticides. Parker, who has worked for the agency for nearly 38 years, also is accused of failing to submit one monthly progress report on the training. Deputy Regional Forester Lucia Turner spelled out the reasons for the 10-day suspension in a letter sent to Parker on Thursday....
Hotshots cut to restore meadows Today, there are meadows where yesterday there were none, thanks to the Sierra Hotshots. The 20-person U.S. Forest Service firefighting crew cut a wide swath through the pines Friday, and there wasn't a blaze anywhere to fight. Instead of battling fires, the hotshots were fighting the growth of pine trees - using chain saws to carve out clearings in Black Hills National Forest about 10 miles southwest of Spearfish. Forest Service officials believe the clearings - once a common part of the forest ecosystem that has been lost in many areas to encroaching pine growth - will benefit wildlife and allow aspen and other vegetation to flourish. They will also create safety zones that might save the lives of firefighters in the future....
Wyoming opal rush causes headaches for federal land managers The scattershot markers of different sizes and colors stand out among the sagebrush with nothing more than a lonely, sauntering wild horse as far as the eye can see. The markers are monuments to a 21st century rush of prospectors. They descended on this remote, hilly area in south-central Wyoming last March with grand hopes and dreams of striking it rich by finding a precious gemstone called opal. The rush caught federal officials off guard, resulted in a bureaucratic paper jam that has delayed actual mining and prompted authorities to take measures to protect an endangered flower from being trampled....
Ranchers alarmed by brucellosis in elk The upper Madison Valley is the state of Montana's hot spot for brucellosis in elk, state officials told a group of ranchers here Thursday. But despite a spike in the infection rate that showed up in Madison Valley elk based on random sampling, officials said a much larger sample is needed to discern whether the disease is spreading among elk. "We don't want to be pushing any panic buttons," Montana State Veterinarian Tom Linfield told a skeptical crowd of about 60 people, mostly area ranchers. "But we are facing a risk of infection from elk-cattle interaction."....
SUMMARY OF 21ST MEETING OF THE CITES ANIMALS COMMITTEE The 21st meeting of the Animals Committee (AC-21) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) convened from 20-25 May 2005, in Geneva, Switzerland. On 20 and 21 May, a joint session with the 15th session of CITES Plants Committee (PC-15) was held. The Animals Committee (AC) discussed 23 agenda items on issues including: the implementation of the Strategic Vision until 2007 and the establishment of priorities; the review of trade in animal species included in the Appendices and significant trade in Appendix II species; transport of live animals; and trade in sea cucumbers, sharks and great apes. The joint session addressed issues of common interest to both Committees, including: the Strategic Vision and Plan until 2013; the review of Scientific Committees and regional communication; the study of production systems for specimens of CITES-listed species; and the Addis Ababa Principles and Guidelines for the Sustainable Use of Biodiversity adopted by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)....
Editorial: The Path to Splendor The mission of the National Park Service has been inherently contradictory since its establishment by Congress in 1916: to conserve federal lands while maximizing public enjoyment of them. This has frustrated both those who want the parks pristine and those who want comfortable lodging and other amenities — to say nothing of the park managers who try to satisfy these competing interests. An immediate case in point is the much-heralded, and somewhat maligned, approach to the base of 2,425-foot Yosemite Falls in Yosemite National Park. Here's the conflict in microcosm: How to make the falls pleasantly accessible to more than 1 million visitors each year without trashing the natural setting....
Column: One Man's Meat Is Another Man's Money I yield to no man in my appreciation for beef, so I don't need the Cattlemen's Beef Promotion and Research Board to tell me what's for dinner. If I were completely unconcerned about cholesterol, beef might be for breakfast and lunch too. I'm not the only one who finds the ads unhelpful. Some of the ranchers who are forced to pay for them, through a government-imposed annual assessment of $1 per head of cattle, complain that generic beef promotion undermines their attempts to distinguish their products from the other guy's. If consumers believe, as the ads imply, that all beef is pretty much the same, they are not likely to specifically look for, say, grass-fed beef, Angus beef, or Hereford beef. These dissenters argue that forcing them to subsidize messages with which they disagree violates their constitutional right to freedom of speech, which includes the right to remain silent....
California cattle truck restrictions impact ranchers A California vehicle code limiting the types of livestock trucks that can move cattle out of Humboldt County is forcing ranchers into a legislative battle during the busy shipping season. A local exemption allows semi-trailers up to 70 feet long on narrow portions of area highways. But a clause in the vehicle code states 65- to 70-foot trucks need 40 feet from the kingpin to the rear axle, which livestock trucks don’t have. The 70-foot trucks are the standardized method of hauling cattle. “That clause effectively negates our 70-foot exemption,” said Humboldt Auction Yard owner and rancher Lee Mora in a phone interview from his Fortuna, Calif., office. “Those are the only trucks available to us.” Buyers from outside the state buy 90 percent of the cattle raised in Humboldt County. The buyers demand the larger trucks that give cattle more room to lie down, which is better for their health, said Mora....
The Horse Hugger MATT Farley does not look like a touchy-feely guy. Standing 6 feet 1, weighing 240 pounds and packing a tin of chewing tobacco in his back pocket, the horse trainer looks like a cross between a linebacker and a cowboy. But his approach to animals is hardly macho. "Oh, he loves the rubbin'," said Farley as he used a stick-and-string device to massage the underbelly of a paint horse named Mike. "Rub, rub, rub." A few moments later, Farley lay peacefully on Mike's back, giving the huge animal the weight of his body. Farley and his wife, April Schneider, are the owners of Park Pacifica Stables, a 120-acre ranch in a valley east of Linda Mar. Both grew up with horses, but Farley, son of a Gold Country rancher, learned the "old school" approach to training horses....
Coverage Of Dutch-Oven Event To Air In July The Food Network has announced the premier showing of the Great Plains Bison-tennial Dutch Oven Cook-off on the "All-American Festivals" show. The premier is scheduled for Monday, July 25. The Food Network/Food TV is broadcast on cable and satellite stations throughout the world. Check your local cable company listing for the Food Network's channel listing. The Great Plains Bison-tennial Dutch Oven Cook-off features historic cooking and recipes prepared in Dutch ovens that could have been enjoyed by travelers visiting the Great Plains more than 200 years ago. Bison is the featured entree because the buffalo was the primary source of food for our ancestors. Today's bison rancher raises the same high quality product that was enjoyed so many years ago. July is National Bison Month and this is a perfect opportunity for you to enjoy the unique way of preparing bison and the great recipes by our Cook-off contestants. For more information about 2005's Great Plains Bison-tennial Dutch Oven Cook-off log on to: www.dutchovencookoff.com....
Living like an outlaw It was a wind-burned, tired and saddle-sore bunch that rode into the De Baca County Fairgrounds after seven days and 125 miles on the Billy the Kid Trail. Twenty-five riders, ages 15 to 70, set out from Lincoln on April 28 to follow, as best they could, the trail the Kid took when he shot his way out of jail in Lincoln in 1881 and rode hellbent for leather to his eventual doom in Fort Sumner. Now, on May 4, they were at the end of their ride. Waiting for them in the shade of the fairground barn were 80 fourth-graders from Capitan and Fort Sumner, cheering the riders as if they were movie cowboy heroes or the cavalry come to the rescue. The kids, following a curriculum created by Coda Omness, curator of education at the Hubbard Museum of the American West in Ruidoso Downs, had been studying the ride - everything from the physiology of a horse, to the geography of the trail, to how much stuff could be carried horseback....
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Friday, May 27, 2005
Rodeo great Linderman dies
Former rodeo great Walt Linderman passed away Wednesday at the age of 69 at St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings. Linderman was part of the famed Linderman rodeo family of Red Lodge. Older brothers Bill and Bud Linderman were former PRCA world champions. Walt Linderman was a nine-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier in steer wrestling. He was second three times - 1966, 1970 and 1971 - in the final world standings. Linderman won the NFR steer wrestling aggregate title, the second-most coveted buckle in professional rodeo, in 1967. Linderman was also known for his famed steer wrestling horse, Scott. Purchased for $1,600, Scott won more than $2 million dollars in earnings for cowboys who rode the large chestnut gelding. Scott carried Harley May to a steer wrestling title in 1965 and Jack Roddy to world championships in 1966 and 1968. Following his retirement from professional rodeo, Linderman worked 20 years for the Montana State Highway Department out of White Sulphur Springs. He and wife moved back to Billings five years ago. Born in Billings to John and Margaret Linderman, Walt Linderman had four brothers and one sister. He embarked on his rodeo career immediately after graduating from Belfry High School. Linderman won steer wrestling titles at most of the major rodeos, including Cheyenne Frontier Days, the Calgary Stampede and the Pendleton Round-Up. Linderman is survived by his wife of 52 years Dorothy (Nauman), daughter Vickie (Curt) Brass of Billings and son Jay (Chrissy) Linderman of Savery, Wyo. Funeral services for Linderman will be Sunday, May 29 at 2 p.m. at Smith-Olcott Funeral Chapel in Red Lodge....
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Former rodeo great Walt Linderman passed away Wednesday at the age of 69 at St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings. Linderman was part of the famed Linderman rodeo family of Red Lodge. Older brothers Bill and Bud Linderman were former PRCA world champions. Walt Linderman was a nine-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier in steer wrestling. He was second three times - 1966, 1970 and 1971 - in the final world standings. Linderman won the NFR steer wrestling aggregate title, the second-most coveted buckle in professional rodeo, in 1967. Linderman was also known for his famed steer wrestling horse, Scott. Purchased for $1,600, Scott won more than $2 million dollars in earnings for cowboys who rode the large chestnut gelding. Scott carried Harley May to a steer wrestling title in 1965 and Jack Roddy to world championships in 1966 and 1968. Following his retirement from professional rodeo, Linderman worked 20 years for the Montana State Highway Department out of White Sulphur Springs. He and wife moved back to Billings five years ago. Born in Billings to John and Margaret Linderman, Walt Linderman had four brothers and one sister. He embarked on his rodeo career immediately after graduating from Belfry High School. Linderman won steer wrestling titles at most of the major rodeos, including Cheyenne Frontier Days, the Calgary Stampede and the Pendleton Round-Up. Linderman is survived by his wife of 52 years Dorothy (Nauman), daughter Vickie (Curt) Brass of Billings and son Jay (Chrissy) Linderman of Savery, Wyo. Funeral services for Linderman will be Sunday, May 29 at 2 p.m. at Smith-Olcott Funeral Chapel in Red Lodge....
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Yukon the Polar Bear Has 'Breath Surgery'
Yukon the polar bear underwent surgery that zookeepers hope will clear the air. The 16-year-old polar bear got an infected tooth pulled Thursday at Seneca Park Zoo. A team of veterinarians used a small hammer and chisel to remove it. The 805-pound bear was the perfect patient. He remained still on a large examination table, sighing occasionally during the hour-long procedure, the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle reported Friday. Of course, he was sedated. The doctors linked the tooth to Yukon's bad breath. "You can just enter his den and you can smell it," said Dr. Jeff Wyatt, the zoo's director of Animal Health and Conservation. "It's kinda funky." Wyatt, who performed the surgery, said Yukon's tooth problem is actually quite common in older bears....
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Yukon the polar bear underwent surgery that zookeepers hope will clear the air. The 16-year-old polar bear got an infected tooth pulled Thursday at Seneca Park Zoo. A team of veterinarians used a small hammer and chisel to remove it. The 805-pound bear was the perfect patient. He remained still on a large examination table, sighing occasionally during the hour-long procedure, the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle reported Friday. Of course, he was sedated. The doctors linked the tooth to Yukon's bad breath. "You can just enter his den and you can smell it," said Dr. Jeff Wyatt, the zoo's director of Animal Health and Conservation. "It's kinda funky." Wyatt, who performed the surgery, said Yukon's tooth problem is actually quite common in older bears....
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Energy Package Clears Senate Committee
A Senate panel reached bipartisan agreement on energy legislation yesterday, after years of failing to craft a measure that had broad support. Supporters said the legislation would help ease high prices by encouraging the development of more energy. The bill provides incentives for construction of nuclear plants, renewable energy facilities, and plants that burn coal using technology that spews fewer pollutants than traditional plants. It also seeks more oil and natural gas development on federal land. The Senate bill lacks a number of controversial provisions included in energy legislation approved by the House last month -- setting the stage for difficult negotiations when the two bills go to a House-Senate conference committee. The House legislation calls for drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; the Senate version does not. Both chambers have approved budget resolutions that anticipate revenue from drilling in the refuge, and lawmakers must approve additional legislation before drilling can occur. The Senate bill contains some measures that opponents said would be likely to face debate when the full Senate considers it -- including a provision to give federal regulators authority over states on locating liquefied natural gas terminals....
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A Senate panel reached bipartisan agreement on energy legislation yesterday, after years of failing to craft a measure that had broad support. Supporters said the legislation would help ease high prices by encouraging the development of more energy. The bill provides incentives for construction of nuclear plants, renewable energy facilities, and plants that burn coal using technology that spews fewer pollutants than traditional plants. It also seeks more oil and natural gas development on federal land. The Senate bill lacks a number of controversial provisions included in energy legislation approved by the House last month -- setting the stage for difficult negotiations when the two bills go to a House-Senate conference committee. The House legislation calls for drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; the Senate version does not. Both chambers have approved budget resolutions that anticipate revenue from drilling in the refuge, and lawmakers must approve additional legislation before drilling can occur. The Senate bill contains some measures that opponents said would be likely to face debate when the full Senate considers it -- including a provision to give federal regulators authority over states on locating liquefied natural gas terminals....
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NEWS ROUNDUP
Government Shirked Its Duty to Wild Fish, a Judge Rules A federal judge in Oregon ruled Thursday that the Bush administration had arbitrarily limited and skewed its analysis of the harm that 14 federal dams cause to endangered Columbia and Snake River salmon and steelhead. As a result, Judge James A. Redden of Federal District Court ruled, the administration had shirked its duty to ensure that government actions were not likely to jeopardize the survival of the species. The ruling came in a challenge by environmentalists, fishing groups and Indian tribes to the administration's determination that the harm the hydropower dams were posing to the young salmon and steelhead could be remedied over the next 10 years by $6 billion in improvements to the dams, including spillways designed to get the fish through safely. The ruling sends the issue back to the National Marine Fisheries Service for the third time. It also paves the way for the judge to rule on other pending requests by the same groups that the fish have a greater claim than they have had on limited water resources, especially when the Army Corps of Engineers manages the rate of flow this summer during the annual out-migration of year-old fish....
Island pigs slaughter protested at Norton event in Santa Barbara About two-dozen demonstrators greeted Interior Secretary Gale Norton with signs Thursday calling for an end to the slaughter of feral pigs on Santa Cruz Island in Channel Islands National Park. The National Park Service and The Nature Conservancy, which co-own the island, have hired a professional hunter to kill the pigs as part of its effort to protect endangered island foxes. Parks officials say the pigs attract nonnative golden eagles to the island that then also prey on the dwindling fox population. There are fewer than 100 foxes left on the island today. Norton was visiting Santa Barbara for the dedication of the city's Spanish colonial courthouse as a national historic landmark. She did not address the demonstrators during her prepared remarks, which were met with a few jeers....
Forest Service reactivates tankers The Forest Service will reinstate a fleet of 25 heavy tankers and other large aircraft to join hundreds of smaller planes and helicopters in combatting what is expected to be another tough wildfire season this summer. Officials said Thursday that despite some recent safety concerns, they have contracted to use nine P2V tankers and seven former Navy P-3 Orion turboprops to fight wildfires across the West. The large fixed-wing aircraft can drop up to 3,000 gallons of chemical fire retardant on blazes. In addition, an old Douglas DC-7 propeller-driven airliner, retrofitted with fire monitoring equipment, will be used to gather data on wildfires. Eight of the military's enormous C-130 transport planes, each outfitted with firefighting gear, also are being made available for use....
Study: Aspen declines in West Stands of white-barked aspens across the West are facing a similar fate. Decades of fire suppression have left the sensitive trees unable to compete in forests overcrowded with pine and fir trees and shrubs. Historically, frequent, low-intensity fires burned away trees and brush and encouraged new growth in aspen populations, which sprout from a massive, fire-resilient root system, Mueller said. The tree is known for its distinctive bark and fluttering leaves and valued as prime elk, deer and bird habitat. Without fire or other disturbances, the massive, interconnected root systems that link entire stands of aspens put all their energy into the larger trees, which emit a hormone that suppresses new sprouts. Those trees, which have little tolerance for competition, are slowly being overrun by conifers and shrubs. The root systems, which can live and produce trees for thousands of years, are shrinking....
U.S. judge throws out Columbia dams plan A federal judge yesterday rejected the Bush administration's $6 billion plan to improve the Columbia Basin hydroelectric dam system, saying it violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to protect threatened and endangered salmon. Noting that federal law puts salmon "on an equal footing with power production," U.S. District Judge James Redden in Portland ruled in favor of a challenge by environmentalists, Indian tribes and fishermen to a NOAA Fisheries plan for balancing dams against salmon. That plan, called a biological opinion, contended that $6 billion in improvements to the dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers and other measures would eliminate threats to the future survival of threatened and endangered salmon....
Interior chief pans Hetch Hetchy plan The nation's top natural resources official cast a cup of cold, mountain water Wednesday on an ambitious proposal to tear out a century-old dam and restore Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park. "We have not closed any doors on anything, but what I see is a scarcity of water throughout the West," said Interior Secretary Gale Norton. Norton made the remarks during a brief question-and-answer session with reporters after speaking here to the Commonwealth Club of California....
Part of Alaska's Denali Closed After Bear Attack Rangers have temporarily closed a popular section of Denali National Park and Preserve after a grizzly bear attacked a hiker earlier this week, officials said on Thursday. The hiker, Joanne Saunders of Poquoson, Virginia, suffered cuts, bruises and a broken nose on Monday when the bear grabbed her by the ankle and pulled her onto the ground, the Park Service said. Saunders was treated and released from a Fairbanks hospital. The attack, which lasted just a few seconds before the bear fled into the brush, occurred when Saunders and her husband were standing on a rock outcropping to get a better view while hiking in an off-trail area with heavy brush and poor visibility, officials said....
Land swap proposed Utah's Republican Sens. Bob Bennett and Orrin Hatch are wading into the shark-infested Colorado River — or at least they are wading into the land politics of southeastern Utah. And the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance is praising the move. Both senators introduced legislation Thursday calling for an exchange of state School Trust lands in the Moab area for an equal amount of land somewhere else that can be developed. The trust "currently owns some of the most spectacular lands in America, located along the Colorado River in southeastern Utah," Bennett said. The legislation will trade those lands "into federal ownership and for the benefit of future generations." According to Bennett, the state would give up roughly 40,000 acres along the Colorado River corridor to better protect views of Arches National Park, the famous Kokopelli and Slickrock bicycle trails, wilderness study areas and Westwater Canyon, one of the world's premier whitewater rafting destinations....
Sportsmen and Conservation Groups Act to Save Otero Mesa From Giveaway to Big Industry Sportsmen and Conservation groups, represented by Earthjustice, filed a lawsuit today in federal district court in Albuquerque seeking to save New Mexico’s Otero Mesa from the onslaught of oil and gas development. The conservation groups’ lawsuit supports a similar legal challenge filed in April by the state of New Mexico. Today’s suit claims the federal government failed to disclose the true effects of the oil and gas development on water resources, wildlife, and archaeological sites, in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act. The suit also contends that the development plan fails to protect wildlife and plants in the most environmentally sensitive areas. On April 22, New Mexico Attorney General Patricia Madrid filed suit on behalf of New Mexico against the federal Bureau of Land Management in federal district court in Santa Fe. New Mexico governor Bill Richardson has repeatedly asked the federal government to consider state interests and scale back the oil and gas development plans at Otero Mesa. The New Mexico lawsuit says that BLM violated federal laws by refusing to consider state interests when it adopted its aggressive oil and gas development scheme....
Land swap pushed for new mine Arizona lawmakers introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives on Wednesday that would help pave the way for a new underground copper mine near Superior. Versions of the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act of 2005 were introduced in the Senate by Sen. Jon Kyl and in the House by Rep. Rick Renzi. The act would convey 3,155 acres of federal lands to Resolution Copper Co. and the town of Superior in exchange for 4,814 environmentally sensitive acres owned or controlled by Resolution Copper. Resolution's holdings include 3,073 acres along the lower San Pedro River in Pinal County, the 1,030-acre Appleton Ranch in Santa Cruz County and smaller sites near Superior and north of Phoenix....
Irvine Ranch Land Reserve Trust Launched with $20 Million Vowing to create a "new standard" for conservation stewardship and outdoor recreation, Irvine Company Chairman Donald Bren today announced creation of the Irvine Ranch Land Reserve Trust covering 50,000 acres on the Irvine Ranch. The Reserve stretches from the mountains to the sea in central Orange County and covers more than 145 square miles. Speaking in Irvine Regional Park to 200 invited environmentalists, city, county, state and federal officials, Reserve landowners, and outdoor and environmental advocates, Bren said the Bren Foundation would make a $20 million gift to the Trust to support enhanced conservation and recreation on the Reserve. The non-profit organization will encourage far-reaching and cooperative efforts among more than 30 public entities involved with the Reserve....
Norton has harsh words for enviros, critical habitat lawsuits Escalating the rhetoric over congressional efforts to rewrite the Endangered Species Act, Interior Secretary Gale Norton accused environmentalists yesterday of focusing on litigation and fundraising at the expense of conservation and species recovery. "It certainly is far easier -- and more lucrative -- for some organizations to put out a press release or file a lawsuit than it is to restore a wetland or eradicate invasive weeds," Norton told a gathering of hunters and conservationists in Washington. "I am concerned about the polarization and politicizing of conservation. Instead of cooperation and consensus, we often see conflict," Norton said in an address to the American Wildlife Conservation Partners Conference. "This conflict frequently is spurred more by the desire to do fundraising than out of genuine concern for the resource."...
Brucellosis eradication debated for Yellowstone ecosystem A proposal to eradicate brucellosis from the greater Yellowstone ecosystem has raised concern from conservationists and praise from ranchers. Conservationists say they worry the proposal signals a shift toward more aggressive tactics to combat the disease that would treat wildlife like livestock. Cattle ranchers say a more aggressive approach is long overdue. At a meeting of the Greater Yellowstone Interagency Brucellosis Committee on Wednesday, a new "memorandum of understanding" to guide the group was proposed that includes language to eliminate the disease that causes cattle to abort. The current agreement only calls for developing plans to eradicate the disease. Rob Hendry of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association said the committee has been talking about getting rid of brucellosis in Yellowstone for the last 10 years without much progress....
Legends of Jim Hathaway One of the most notorious cases during his eight years as constable in Nogales was the Mother Modie incident. On Oct. 19, 1925, the townsfolk of Nogales were horrified to learn of a terrible crime committed against one of their most beloved citizens. Gertrude "Mother" Modie ran a lodging house in town. She was known as a soft touch because she would never turn anyone away from her door if they needed a place to stay. She was well known and loved by every rancher, prospector, homesteader and cowboy on both sides of the border. Constable Jim Hathaway got the call early in the morning and hurried to the rooming house where he found Mother Modie lying in a pool of blood, dangerously near death. The 72-year-old woman had been beaten, slashed with a knife. The odor of charred flesh in the room led to the grisly discovery that her hands and feet had been brutally burned....
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Government Shirked Its Duty to Wild Fish, a Judge Rules A federal judge in Oregon ruled Thursday that the Bush administration had arbitrarily limited and skewed its analysis of the harm that 14 federal dams cause to endangered Columbia and Snake River salmon and steelhead. As a result, Judge James A. Redden of Federal District Court ruled, the administration had shirked its duty to ensure that government actions were not likely to jeopardize the survival of the species. The ruling came in a challenge by environmentalists, fishing groups and Indian tribes to the administration's determination that the harm the hydropower dams were posing to the young salmon and steelhead could be remedied over the next 10 years by $6 billion in improvements to the dams, including spillways designed to get the fish through safely. The ruling sends the issue back to the National Marine Fisheries Service for the third time. It also paves the way for the judge to rule on other pending requests by the same groups that the fish have a greater claim than they have had on limited water resources, especially when the Army Corps of Engineers manages the rate of flow this summer during the annual out-migration of year-old fish....
Island pigs slaughter protested at Norton event in Santa Barbara About two-dozen demonstrators greeted Interior Secretary Gale Norton with signs Thursday calling for an end to the slaughter of feral pigs on Santa Cruz Island in Channel Islands National Park. The National Park Service and The Nature Conservancy, which co-own the island, have hired a professional hunter to kill the pigs as part of its effort to protect endangered island foxes. Parks officials say the pigs attract nonnative golden eagles to the island that then also prey on the dwindling fox population. There are fewer than 100 foxes left on the island today. Norton was visiting Santa Barbara for the dedication of the city's Spanish colonial courthouse as a national historic landmark. She did not address the demonstrators during her prepared remarks, which were met with a few jeers....
Forest Service reactivates tankers The Forest Service will reinstate a fleet of 25 heavy tankers and other large aircraft to join hundreds of smaller planes and helicopters in combatting what is expected to be another tough wildfire season this summer. Officials said Thursday that despite some recent safety concerns, they have contracted to use nine P2V tankers and seven former Navy P-3 Orion turboprops to fight wildfires across the West. The large fixed-wing aircraft can drop up to 3,000 gallons of chemical fire retardant on blazes. In addition, an old Douglas DC-7 propeller-driven airliner, retrofitted with fire monitoring equipment, will be used to gather data on wildfires. Eight of the military's enormous C-130 transport planes, each outfitted with firefighting gear, also are being made available for use....
Study: Aspen declines in West Stands of white-barked aspens across the West are facing a similar fate. Decades of fire suppression have left the sensitive trees unable to compete in forests overcrowded with pine and fir trees and shrubs. Historically, frequent, low-intensity fires burned away trees and brush and encouraged new growth in aspen populations, which sprout from a massive, fire-resilient root system, Mueller said. The tree is known for its distinctive bark and fluttering leaves and valued as prime elk, deer and bird habitat. Without fire or other disturbances, the massive, interconnected root systems that link entire stands of aspens put all their energy into the larger trees, which emit a hormone that suppresses new sprouts. Those trees, which have little tolerance for competition, are slowly being overrun by conifers and shrubs. The root systems, which can live and produce trees for thousands of years, are shrinking....
U.S. judge throws out Columbia dams plan A federal judge yesterday rejected the Bush administration's $6 billion plan to improve the Columbia Basin hydroelectric dam system, saying it violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to protect threatened and endangered salmon. Noting that federal law puts salmon "on an equal footing with power production," U.S. District Judge James Redden in Portland ruled in favor of a challenge by environmentalists, Indian tribes and fishermen to a NOAA Fisheries plan for balancing dams against salmon. That plan, called a biological opinion, contended that $6 billion in improvements to the dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers and other measures would eliminate threats to the future survival of threatened and endangered salmon....
Interior chief pans Hetch Hetchy plan The nation's top natural resources official cast a cup of cold, mountain water Wednesday on an ambitious proposal to tear out a century-old dam and restore Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park. "We have not closed any doors on anything, but what I see is a scarcity of water throughout the West," said Interior Secretary Gale Norton. Norton made the remarks during a brief question-and-answer session with reporters after speaking here to the Commonwealth Club of California....
Part of Alaska's Denali Closed After Bear Attack Rangers have temporarily closed a popular section of Denali National Park and Preserve after a grizzly bear attacked a hiker earlier this week, officials said on Thursday. The hiker, Joanne Saunders of Poquoson, Virginia, suffered cuts, bruises and a broken nose on Monday when the bear grabbed her by the ankle and pulled her onto the ground, the Park Service said. Saunders was treated and released from a Fairbanks hospital. The attack, which lasted just a few seconds before the bear fled into the brush, occurred when Saunders and her husband were standing on a rock outcropping to get a better view while hiking in an off-trail area with heavy brush and poor visibility, officials said....
Land swap proposed Utah's Republican Sens. Bob Bennett and Orrin Hatch are wading into the shark-infested Colorado River — or at least they are wading into the land politics of southeastern Utah. And the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance is praising the move. Both senators introduced legislation Thursday calling for an exchange of state School Trust lands in the Moab area for an equal amount of land somewhere else that can be developed. The trust "currently owns some of the most spectacular lands in America, located along the Colorado River in southeastern Utah," Bennett said. The legislation will trade those lands "into federal ownership and for the benefit of future generations." According to Bennett, the state would give up roughly 40,000 acres along the Colorado River corridor to better protect views of Arches National Park, the famous Kokopelli and Slickrock bicycle trails, wilderness study areas and Westwater Canyon, one of the world's premier whitewater rafting destinations....
Sportsmen and Conservation Groups Act to Save Otero Mesa From Giveaway to Big Industry Sportsmen and Conservation groups, represented by Earthjustice, filed a lawsuit today in federal district court in Albuquerque seeking to save New Mexico’s Otero Mesa from the onslaught of oil and gas development. The conservation groups’ lawsuit supports a similar legal challenge filed in April by the state of New Mexico. Today’s suit claims the federal government failed to disclose the true effects of the oil and gas development on water resources, wildlife, and archaeological sites, in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act. The suit also contends that the development plan fails to protect wildlife and plants in the most environmentally sensitive areas. On April 22, New Mexico Attorney General Patricia Madrid filed suit on behalf of New Mexico against the federal Bureau of Land Management in federal district court in Santa Fe. New Mexico governor Bill Richardson has repeatedly asked the federal government to consider state interests and scale back the oil and gas development plans at Otero Mesa. The New Mexico lawsuit says that BLM violated federal laws by refusing to consider state interests when it adopted its aggressive oil and gas development scheme....
Land swap pushed for new mine Arizona lawmakers introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives on Wednesday that would help pave the way for a new underground copper mine near Superior. Versions of the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act of 2005 were introduced in the Senate by Sen. Jon Kyl and in the House by Rep. Rick Renzi. The act would convey 3,155 acres of federal lands to Resolution Copper Co. and the town of Superior in exchange for 4,814 environmentally sensitive acres owned or controlled by Resolution Copper. Resolution's holdings include 3,073 acres along the lower San Pedro River in Pinal County, the 1,030-acre Appleton Ranch in Santa Cruz County and smaller sites near Superior and north of Phoenix....
Irvine Ranch Land Reserve Trust Launched with $20 Million Vowing to create a "new standard" for conservation stewardship and outdoor recreation, Irvine Company Chairman Donald Bren today announced creation of the Irvine Ranch Land Reserve Trust covering 50,000 acres on the Irvine Ranch. The Reserve stretches from the mountains to the sea in central Orange County and covers more than 145 square miles. Speaking in Irvine Regional Park to 200 invited environmentalists, city, county, state and federal officials, Reserve landowners, and outdoor and environmental advocates, Bren said the Bren Foundation would make a $20 million gift to the Trust to support enhanced conservation and recreation on the Reserve. The non-profit organization will encourage far-reaching and cooperative efforts among more than 30 public entities involved with the Reserve....
Norton has harsh words for enviros, critical habitat lawsuits Escalating the rhetoric over congressional efforts to rewrite the Endangered Species Act, Interior Secretary Gale Norton accused environmentalists yesterday of focusing on litigation and fundraising at the expense of conservation and species recovery. "It certainly is far easier -- and more lucrative -- for some organizations to put out a press release or file a lawsuit than it is to restore a wetland or eradicate invasive weeds," Norton told a gathering of hunters and conservationists in Washington. "I am concerned about the polarization and politicizing of conservation. Instead of cooperation and consensus, we often see conflict," Norton said in an address to the American Wildlife Conservation Partners Conference. "This conflict frequently is spurred more by the desire to do fundraising than out of genuine concern for the resource."...
Brucellosis eradication debated for Yellowstone ecosystem A proposal to eradicate brucellosis from the greater Yellowstone ecosystem has raised concern from conservationists and praise from ranchers. Conservationists say they worry the proposal signals a shift toward more aggressive tactics to combat the disease that would treat wildlife like livestock. Cattle ranchers say a more aggressive approach is long overdue. At a meeting of the Greater Yellowstone Interagency Brucellosis Committee on Wednesday, a new "memorandum of understanding" to guide the group was proposed that includes language to eliminate the disease that causes cattle to abort. The current agreement only calls for developing plans to eradicate the disease. Rob Hendry of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association said the committee has been talking about getting rid of brucellosis in Yellowstone for the last 10 years without much progress....
Legends of Jim Hathaway One of the most notorious cases during his eight years as constable in Nogales was the Mother Modie incident. On Oct. 19, 1925, the townsfolk of Nogales were horrified to learn of a terrible crime committed against one of their most beloved citizens. Gertrude "Mother" Modie ran a lodging house in town. She was known as a soft touch because she would never turn anyone away from her door if they needed a place to stay. She was well known and loved by every rancher, prospector, homesteader and cowboy on both sides of the border. Constable Jim Hathaway got the call early in the morning and hurried to the rooming house where he found Mother Modie lying in a pool of blood, dangerously near death. The 72-year-old woman had been beaten, slashed with a knife. The odor of charred flesh in the room led to the grisly discovery that her hands and feet had been brutally burned....
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Thursday, May 26, 2005
MAD COW DISEASE
World Health Body Backs Beef Trade From BSE Countries The World Organization of Animal Health said countries with mad-cow disease should be allowed to export certain cuts of beef, allowing for a lifting of bans on U.S. and European Union meat. Red-muscle meat without bones is safe if the animal isn't suspected of having the brain-wasting disease bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, Alex Thiermann, an official from the organization, said at a press conference in Paris today. The body is responsible for setting animal health standards. ``It applies to all countries in all categories of risk,'' said Thiermann, who heads the unit governing animal health trade. ``I would hope that the bans would be minimized.'' The change, from previous rules allowing beef to be banned after just one case of mad-cow disease is found, may help the U.S., U.K. and Canada. Beef exports in all three nations plunged after the illness was diagnosed in their herds. World Trade Organization rules state that standards set at the 167-nation animal-health group must be followed unless scientific evidence is produced to justify otherwise. ``Many of the bans as they exist today are not based on'' the organization's standards, Thiermann said. For the first year, only meat from cattle younger than 30 months will benefit from the new rule. The age limit will be reconsidered next year....
Statement By Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns Regarding The OIE'S Adoption Of Changes To The International Animal Health Code Chapter On BSE "I applaud the leadership of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) in modernizing the international approach to the safe trade of beef products by updating the BSE guidelines to reflect current science. "The United States and several other countries have advocated for guidelines that reflect science, the low risk associated with BSE, and the effectiveness of risk mitigation measures. I applaud the OIE for developing guidelines that incorporate all such factors. The international standard for to BSE is now based on the same information that has guided the United States' current practices and the proposed minimal risk rule. "Among other items, the OIE has now officially recognized additions to the list of non-risk products-most significantly to include boneless beef that can be traded without regard to a country's BSE status. "The OIE has also adopted a new, streamlined system for classifying countries according to relative risk for BSE in a manner that reflects the steps they have implemented to manage and reduce that risk....
Economic impact of BSE still playing out, says economist Two years after the North American beef industry was rocked by BSE's arrival, the economic impact continues to play out, University of Nebraska-Lincoln specialists say. The discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in a cow in Canada in May 2003 led the US to shut down imports of Canadian cattle. Seven months later, a BSE case was discovered in Washington state, which led to a loss of most US beef export markets. Different sectors of the US beef industry have been affected very differently by the discoveries of mad cow disease. US meatpackers that rely on Canadian imports to meet their processing capacity have been hard hit. A Kansas State University estimate is that 5,000 American meatpackers lost their jobs in the last two years as Canadian imports dried up. Some US cow-calf producers may see Canada's woes as helping their situation. In the short term, that may be so, but the long-term outlook is less certain, said Dillon Feuz, UNL agriculture marketing specialist at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center at Scottsbluff. The bottom line, Feuz said, is that all sectors in the beef industry are best served by a robust, open trade environment. From 1998 to 2002, the last full year before BSE was discovered on this continent, open trade benefitted the U.S. economy significantly, as the nation annually imported $3.7 billion in cattle, beef and byproducts and exported $5.1 billion. That's a $1.4 billion annual trade balance in the black....
First Technology to Remove Prions that Cause vCJD From Blood Launched The risk of receiving blood contaminated with variant Cruetzfeldt-Jakob (vCJD) prions may no longer be a concern for the thousands of people who require a transfusion. Pall Corporation (NYSE: PLL) announced today the Council of Europe (CE) marking of its Leukotrap® Affinity Prion Reduction Filter System. It is the first and only technology that removes infectious prions that may be the causative agent of vCJD from red cells, the most commonly transfused blood component. Variant CJD, a fatal neurodegenerative disease, is the human form of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), also known as Mad Cow Disease. The CE mark means the new prion reduction filter meets pan-European essential requirements for safety of medical devices. "The availability of our prion reduction filter is a seminal event heralding a new era in blood safety," says Eric Krasnoff, Chairman and CEO of Pall Corporation. "We are working very closely with health authorities, starting with the nations hardest hit by vCJD, to help protect the safety of the blood supply and prevent the spread of this insidious disease."....
Agents of brain-wasting disease observed Scientists for the first time have watched agents of brain-wasting diseases, called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE), as they invade a nerve cell and then travel along wire-like circuits to points of contact with other cells. These findings will help scientists better understand TSE diseases and may lead to ways to prevent or minimize their effects. TSE, or prion, diseases include scrapie in sheep and goats; chronic wasting disease in deer and elk; mad cow disease in cattle; and Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease in humans." These findings offer intriguing leads toward developing therapies to stop the spread of TSE and possibly other degenerative brain diseases," says NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci. "Potentially, it may be possible to block the pathways that prions use to invade cells, their exit to other cells or their replication within the cells."....
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World Health Body Backs Beef Trade From BSE Countries The World Organization of Animal Health said countries with mad-cow disease should be allowed to export certain cuts of beef, allowing for a lifting of bans on U.S. and European Union meat. Red-muscle meat without bones is safe if the animal isn't suspected of having the brain-wasting disease bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, Alex Thiermann, an official from the organization, said at a press conference in Paris today. The body is responsible for setting animal health standards. ``It applies to all countries in all categories of risk,'' said Thiermann, who heads the unit governing animal health trade. ``I would hope that the bans would be minimized.'' The change, from previous rules allowing beef to be banned after just one case of mad-cow disease is found, may help the U.S., U.K. and Canada. Beef exports in all three nations plunged after the illness was diagnosed in their herds. World Trade Organization rules state that standards set at the 167-nation animal-health group must be followed unless scientific evidence is produced to justify otherwise. ``Many of the bans as they exist today are not based on'' the organization's standards, Thiermann said. For the first year, only meat from cattle younger than 30 months will benefit from the new rule. The age limit will be reconsidered next year....
Statement By Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns Regarding The OIE'S Adoption Of Changes To The International Animal Health Code Chapter On BSE "I applaud the leadership of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) in modernizing the international approach to the safe trade of beef products by updating the BSE guidelines to reflect current science. "The United States and several other countries have advocated for guidelines that reflect science, the low risk associated with BSE, and the effectiveness of risk mitigation measures. I applaud the OIE for developing guidelines that incorporate all such factors. The international standard for to BSE is now based on the same information that has guided the United States' current practices and the proposed minimal risk rule. "Among other items, the OIE has now officially recognized additions to the list of non-risk products-most significantly to include boneless beef that can be traded without regard to a country's BSE status. "The OIE has also adopted a new, streamlined system for classifying countries according to relative risk for BSE in a manner that reflects the steps they have implemented to manage and reduce that risk....
Economic impact of BSE still playing out, says economist Two years after the North American beef industry was rocked by BSE's arrival, the economic impact continues to play out, University of Nebraska-Lincoln specialists say. The discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in a cow in Canada in May 2003 led the US to shut down imports of Canadian cattle. Seven months later, a BSE case was discovered in Washington state, which led to a loss of most US beef export markets. Different sectors of the US beef industry have been affected very differently by the discoveries of mad cow disease. US meatpackers that rely on Canadian imports to meet their processing capacity have been hard hit. A Kansas State University estimate is that 5,000 American meatpackers lost their jobs in the last two years as Canadian imports dried up. Some US cow-calf producers may see Canada's woes as helping their situation. In the short term, that may be so, but the long-term outlook is less certain, said Dillon Feuz, UNL agriculture marketing specialist at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center at Scottsbluff. The bottom line, Feuz said, is that all sectors in the beef industry are best served by a robust, open trade environment. From 1998 to 2002, the last full year before BSE was discovered on this continent, open trade benefitted the U.S. economy significantly, as the nation annually imported $3.7 billion in cattle, beef and byproducts and exported $5.1 billion. That's a $1.4 billion annual trade balance in the black....
First Technology to Remove Prions that Cause vCJD From Blood Launched The risk of receiving blood contaminated with variant Cruetzfeldt-Jakob (vCJD) prions may no longer be a concern for the thousands of people who require a transfusion. Pall Corporation (NYSE: PLL) announced today the Council of Europe (CE) marking of its Leukotrap® Affinity Prion Reduction Filter System. It is the first and only technology that removes infectious prions that may be the causative agent of vCJD from red cells, the most commonly transfused blood component. Variant CJD, a fatal neurodegenerative disease, is the human form of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), also known as Mad Cow Disease. The CE mark means the new prion reduction filter meets pan-European essential requirements for safety of medical devices. "The availability of our prion reduction filter is a seminal event heralding a new era in blood safety," says Eric Krasnoff, Chairman and CEO of Pall Corporation. "We are working very closely with health authorities, starting with the nations hardest hit by vCJD, to help protect the safety of the blood supply and prevent the spread of this insidious disease."....
Agents of brain-wasting disease observed Scientists for the first time have watched agents of brain-wasting diseases, called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE), as they invade a nerve cell and then travel along wire-like circuits to points of contact with other cells. These findings will help scientists better understand TSE diseases and may lead to ways to prevent or minimize their effects. TSE, or prion, diseases include scrapie in sheep and goats; chronic wasting disease in deer and elk; mad cow disease in cattle; and Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease in humans." These findings offer intriguing leads toward developing therapies to stop the spread of TSE and possibly other degenerative brain diseases," says NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci. "Potentially, it may be possible to block the pathways that prions use to invade cells, their exit to other cells or their replication within the cells."....
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USDA CLOSES BORDER TO CATTLE FROM DURANGO, MEXICO
Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has closed the U.S. border to cattle from the Mexican state of Durango due to inadequacies with that state's bovine tuberculosis (TB) management program. Durango is essentially divided into two sections for the purposes of exporting cattle to the United States with one section allowed to export and one that is not. During a review of Durango's TB management practices, APHIS found that animals from the section not allowed to export were being moved into the region that is allowed to export. This, combined with other conflicts with APHIS guidelines, led to the border closing. "I called Mexican Secretary of Agriculture Javier Usabiaga Monday evening to discuss this development and he fully understands the safety concerns that prompted our action," Johanns said. "He also expressed his appreciation for our willingness to assist Mexico with corrective measures so we can resume normal trade with Durango." In order to resume trade, Durango must meet all APHIS guidelines, including the recommendations by the APHIS review team, such as: prohibiting the movement of dairy heifers from herds in the known infected region into the exporting region; requiring quarantine and tests of animals in any heifer raising operation in the exporting region that has received cattle from dairy herds in the known infected region; and requiring quarantine and tests for herds along Durango's internal regional border if one or more animal in the herd has tested positive....
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Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has closed the U.S. border to cattle from the Mexican state of Durango due to inadequacies with that state's bovine tuberculosis (TB) management program. Durango is essentially divided into two sections for the purposes of exporting cattle to the United States with one section allowed to export and one that is not. During a review of Durango's TB management practices, APHIS found that animals from the section not allowed to export were being moved into the region that is allowed to export. This, combined with other conflicts with APHIS guidelines, led to the border closing. "I called Mexican Secretary of Agriculture Javier Usabiaga Monday evening to discuss this development and he fully understands the safety concerns that prompted our action," Johanns said. "He also expressed his appreciation for our willingness to assist Mexico with corrective measures so we can resume normal trade with Durango." In order to resume trade, Durango must meet all APHIS guidelines, including the recommendations by the APHIS review team, such as: prohibiting the movement of dairy heifers from herds in the known infected region into the exporting region; requiring quarantine and tests of animals in any heifer raising operation in the exporting region that has received cattle from dairy herds in the known infected region; and requiring quarantine and tests for herds along Durango's internal regional border if one or more animal in the herd has tested positive....
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NEWS ROUNDUP
The Rancher's Revenge Jim Chilton doesn't just admire cowboy values. He believes in them. And, like any true believer, he's eager to share the gospel in well-rehearsed sound bites, whenever the situation allows. Ask him, for example, why he decided to sue one of the West's most prominent environmental groups. "I laid in bed at night, wondering if I was a cowboy or a wimp," he'll reply. "If you're a cowboy, you stand up and fight for truth, justice, integrity and honor. If you're a wimp, you lay there and go to sleep." Or, ask about nature. "For a cowboy," he'll tell you, "every day is Earth Day." That's why Chilton got so mad at the Center for Biological Diversity. The Center tried to make him the bad guy when he, the cowboy, was supposed to be the hero. And that was an attack no cowboy could forgive. (Forgiveness, after all, is for wimps.) And so he sued -- a switch, given that the Center is normally the one filing the lawsuits. Chilton took the case to trial, and won one of the biggest punitive damage awards Arizona is likely to see this year....
Wife of Mexican peasant ecologist recounts attack on family The wife of a Mexican environmental activist ambushed last week by gunman described on Wednesday the flash of muzzles, a hail of bullets outside her home and futile screams to stop the attack that killed two of her children. "I was screaming at them not to shoot," said Reyna Mojica, the wife of Albertano Penaloza, a founder of the embattled Organization of Peasant Ecologists in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero. "Even with me screaming, with my children, they still kept firing hard." Mexican and international rights groups on Wednesday called for a thorough investigation of the unsolved killings of Penaloza's sons and for protection of the family....
SPECIAL REPORT: KEY ENVIRONMENTAL LAW ERODING ON MANY FRONTS The US federal government is in the midst of a broad campaign to revamp one of the bedrock US environmental laws, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). A slew of developments are highlighted in this TipSheet, but there are more out there, and likely more to come. Since the vast majority of these changes are new, or still in process, it's too early to tell how they will work out. But in general, many business groups are applauding, and many environmental groups are concerned. Since 1969, NEPA has provided a way to gauge the effects of major development on public lands, look at alternatives, and give the public a chance to comment. In recent decades many business and industry interests have complained that NEPA has "morphed into an all-purpose delaying tactic," in the words of the Heritage Foundation's Ben Lieberman (202-608-6139). But much less time could be spent in the environmental evaluation process if it were addressed upfront with initial project planning, as it often isn't, says the Sierra Club's Neha Bhatt (202-548-4596, NEPA page)....
Column:Is the Mississippi Corridor changing into the Mississippi Wildlands? A $216 million-plus regulatory package has been given to “reduce the human stress on the fragile river environment and improve wild habitats” on the Upper Mississippi. “This is big stuff. It really gouges a lot of folks,” said Ron Nicklaus, 56, of Genoa, Wis., an avid duck hunter who camps every summer on the Mississippi in a recent Associated Press report. “It (the Mississippi) doesn’t belong to the Fish and Wildlife Service. It belongs to the folks.” Regulations through the year 2020 can be found in a 600-page document with designs for 240,000 acres of the Upper Mississippi floodplain designated as a national wildlife refuge. Who owns that property now? Local residents wonder who will pay for all the federal officials to enforce the 600 pages of regulations. Most believe this is jurisdiction that should stay in the hands of state and local government....
Editorial: Endangered species, endangered sense What the environmentalists now beating the Bushes to save endangered species won't tell you is that the Endangered Species Act itself makes genetic science irrelevant. The Endangered Species Act defines a species for the purposes of the act as a "species," a "subspecies" or a "distinct population segment." If only a "distinct population segment" of a species is in danger of extinction, then the "species" can be listed as endangered. In practice, the results are silly. Sometimes the only difference between an endangered animal and an unendangered animal is the shade of the spots (maroon is endangered, candy apple red is not). In California, an owl on one side of a highway is endangered while an identical bird on the other side is not. In Michigan, the difference between a "threatened" flatbelly snake and a snake without federal protection is a county line or the measure of latitude. Of course, minor color variations, roads and political geography have little to do with whether a species is endangered or not. If such ludicrous standards were applied to humans, blacks in South Dakota would be endangered. Taking note of the fact that few humans live in northern parts of Alaska or the Arizona desert, Fish and Wildlife Service scientists could apply for endangered species status for humans....
Southwest, Rockies and Alaska primed for active fire season Federal wildfire forecasters say unusual rainfall patterns in the West this winter and spring have boosted growth of grasses and low-lying vegetation that will dry to fuel, setting the stage for a worse than normal fire season in the Southwest, Northern Rockies and Alaska. "We are very concerned because we've had all the grass growth but the forests in the higher elevations of the Northwest and the Northern Rockies have missed out on all their snowpack," Rick Ochoa, the national fire weather program manager for the National Weather Service, said Wednesday at a briefing with federal land agency fire managers. "Usually, when that snowpack gradually melts, you are basically watering the trees every day, but we're missing that this year." While the Rocky Mountain region had a dry winter and wet spring, the precipitation pattern flip-flopped in the Southwest. A wetter-than-normal winter caused flooding and mudslides in Arizona, New Mexico, southern Nevada and Southern California, followed by a dry spring....
Nature Preserve Designed for 100,000 Acres of Tejon Ranch The design for a 100,000 acre nature preserve on the Tejon Ranch was unveiled Wednesday at the ranch after nearly two years of scientific study to identify the best of the natural resources on the historic ranch. The Tejon Ranch Preserve protects the habitat of threatened and endangered species, preserves wilderness areas and provides public access as the preserve design includes a realignment through Tejon Ranch of the Pacific Crest Trail, a 2,650 mile long congressionally designated scenic trail from the Mexican border to Canada. Representatives of Tejon Ranch and the Trust for Public Land (TPL) gathered at the ranch 60 miles north of Los Angeles to share the new design - the result of consultation and recommendations by a scientific peer review panel and an independent environmental advisory group....
Predator in the Crosshairs Almost two centuries ago, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark's Corps of Discovery trudged across Lemhi Pass from western Montana and began a memorable 105-day culinary tour of Idaho. When traversing the Bitterroot Mountains, they had a lean snack of coyote and crayfish. Starving near the Clearwater River, they dined on huckleberries and horsemeat. At one point, dried salmon and camas root were a welcome gift from some sympathetic Nez Perce; alas, it resulted in food poisoning. But the Corps found the pinnacle of the Gem State cornucopia at what is often called Camp Chopunnish, on the western fringe of the current Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness. Here, the adventurers developed a hankering for the gamey flesh of North America's largest predator, the grizzly bear. Over a month-long stay, they killed and consumed no less than seven bears, including a mother and two cubs, by utilizing a Nez Perce cooking technique that Captain Lewis thought made the bear extra-tender. Two centuries and several brushes with extinction later, Idaho hunters may once again have the opportunity to bring home the bear-bacon....
Conservation Groups Intervene to Protect 27 Endangered California Species A coalition of conservation groups yesterday sought to intervene in a lawsuit brought by housing developers that would eliminate habitat protections for 27 of California's most endangered plants and animals. The developers' lawsuit challenges the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's designation of "critical habitat" for the species under the Endangered Species Act. It was filed March 30 by the Home Builders Association of Northern California, Building Industry Legal Defense Foundation, California Building Industry Association, California State Grange and Greenhorn Grange. (Click here for a factsheet about the species challenged by the developers' lawsuit.) "The California building industry is trying to sink Noah's Ark," said Peter Galvin, Conservation Director for the Center for Biological Diversity (Center), one of the groups intervening in the case....
Council OKs plan to let ranchers kill wolves At 10 minutes after midnight on Wednesday morning, local wildlife representatives voted 7-4 in favor of allowing wolves to be shot on public and private land. Friends and foes of wolves had gathered in Springville for a meeting of the Central Utah Regional Advisory Council that began at 6:30 p.m. The vote followed hours of public comment on the subject. The proposed plan, drafted over two years, had recommended using rubber bullets and other nonlethal control methods before allowing farmers and ranchers to shoot the animals. The Springville meeting -- the fourth of five public hearings on the wolf plan -- was the fourth in a row to add amendments allowing ranchers, their families and employees to shoot wolves on public and private land. The state Wildlife Board is expected to make a binding vote on the plan next month....
Landowner kills wolf that was chasing livestock A landowner legally shot and killed a wolf chasing livestock on private property near Hall, 50 miles southeast of Missoula, on Monday morning, according to state wildlife officials. Federal rules now in effect in a portion of western Montana allow ranchers to kill wolves that are actively attacking, chasing or harassing livestock, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Under the rule, which offers Montana more wolf management authority and flexibility, anyone who shoots or kills a wolf must report the incident within 24 hours. In addition, evidence of the actual wolf attack, or evidence that an attack was imminent, must be available for state and federal inspectors....
Disease-resistant trout studied A team of Utah researchers has received an $83,000 grant to study rainbow trout with a "significant resistance" to whirling disease found in a Madison County reservoir. "They are not absolutely resistant, but they are significantly resistant," said Richard Vincent, who works with Fish, Wildlife and Parks at Montana State University. Researchers haven't found a solution for whirling disease, which has infected more than 130 streams in Montana, but Vincent said the Willow Creek Reservoir trout warrant continued study. The encouraging strain of fish came from Wyoming between 1977 and 1981. Before that, the fish came to Wyoming from California....
To Protect Mustangs, BLM Imposes New Rules on Animal Sales The Bureau of Land Management, the agency responsible for the horses, announced last week that it has beefed up legal protections for the animals and will resume selling them as early as this week. The BLM also said it is attempting to strike an agreement with the nation's three horse slaughterhouses to reject wild horses, identifiable by government freeze brands. The announcement, which some advocacy groups for wild horses have greeted with skepticism, comes five months after President Bush signed a measure into law ordering the agency to sell some of the wild horses and burros roaming the West. The agency estimates there are still 31,000 out there, scattered across 10 states. An additional 22,000 excess horses have been rounded up and put in government holding facilities. Excess horses are those deemed by the bureau to be more than their environs can sustain. Wild horses are allowed to roam on 201 separate patches of federal land totaling about 29.5 million acres. The BLM estimates the land supports, at most, 28,000....
Fisherman swaps rare turtle for Mercedes An Albanian net fisherman has enraged biologists by swapping an endangered leatherback turtle weighing 806 kilos for a used Mercedes from an Italian fish trader. Hysni Xhemali told the Metropol newspaper he was out fishing in Albania's Ionian Sea waters, as he had done for the past 10 years, when he saw "a big black thing in the net." Five of his friends came to his help to drag the turtle close to shore, but in the end they needed a mechanical excavator to beach it. Xhemali said he was immediately approached by an Italian fish trader but refused to deal. He reconsidered when offered a "nearly new" Mercedes and the turtle was reportedly shipped to a zoo in Rome....
Free Trade Agreement Gains Support from Agriculture and Manufacturing A new push for Congressional approval of the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) has officially begun. During April, separate agricultural and manufacturing coalitions released studies proclaiming the benefits of expanding free trade. Farmers rallied for CAFTA-DR on April 11. More than 50 organizations, coming together as the Agriculture Coalition for CAFTA-DR, were joined by Mike Johanns, secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and other public and private officials at a media event in the nation's capitol. The groups are urging Congress to "pass the already negotiated agreement." According to the coalition, the trade deal would yield nearly $1.5 billion in U.S. agricultural exports to the CAFTA-DR region, providing significant opportunities for U.S. farmers and ranchers. The nations of CAFTA-DR represent the second largest market in Latin America for U.S. products. "When you look at the aggregate, CAFTA-DR is a net positive for [U.S.] agriculture," said American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) President Bob Stallman. "The agreement will generate millions of dollars annually by eliminating tariffs on U.S. agricultural goods." Tariffs on almost all U.S. products exported to CAFTA-DR nations will decrease to zero after full implementation. Currently, U.S. agriculture products entering the region without the agreement are subject to up to 60 percent tariffs....
R-CALF USA Court Case Attacked by State Cattle Groups As a possible hearing date in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals looms on the horizon, members of some local cattle-producer organizations from Georgia, to Louisiana, to Colorado and beyond, seem to be experiencing some frustration and confusion as members learn their state associations signed on to a court document that supports the immediate reopening of the Canadian border – but without input from the local level. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) have filed an amicus brief (friend of the court brief) in the 9th Circuit, which fully supports the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Final Rule that calls for the immediate reopening of the Canadian border to live cattle and additional beef products. A total of 29 cattlemen’s organizations are signatories on the document....
Editorial: Beef decision undercuts free speech You don't have to care about "What's for Dinner" to have a beef with a decision the U.S. Supreme Court just dished out. A six-justice majority on Monday ruled that fees levied on ranchers don't violate the free-speech rights of ranchers hurt by the advertising campaign bankrolled by the fees - $1 a head, totaling some $80 million a year. Many small operators object to the "Beef: It's what's for dinner" advertising campaign because it doesn't promote American-grown beef. Indeed, promotion of generic beef is just as likely to help foreign beef producers whose imports to the United States are a worrisome source of competition for domestic producers. The ruling itself is as disappointing as a well-done rib-eye. The reasoning behind the majority's change in perspective is as hard to swallow as a big gob of fat and gristle....
Celebratory mood on centennial trail drive In May 1966, Texans who owned longhorn cattle embarked on an elaborate commemoration of the centennial of the first Texas cattle drives. From soon after the Civil War through the 1870s, thousands of Texas-raised cattle were driven north almost 500 miles to the railhead in Dodge City, Kan. A drive took about three months, and weather, stampedes and hostile Indians were constant concerns. One of the participants in the Texas Longhorn Centennial Trail Drive was Hood County rancher Courts K. Cleveland Jr., 82, a decorated infantry second lieutenant and a veteran of the European front in World War II. Cleveland owned dozens of longhorns and belonged to the new Texas Longhorn Breeders Association. "As the trail from San Antonio began, the drovers outnumbered the cattle," Cleveland recalls. "We started with 93 steers and about 200 people on horseback or in wagons and stagecoaches." Charlie Schreiner III, owner of the famous Hill Country YO Ranch, provided several ranch cowboys to handle the cattle, Cleveland said. "The rest of us were pretty much along for the fun of the ride," he said....
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The Rancher's Revenge Jim Chilton doesn't just admire cowboy values. He believes in them. And, like any true believer, he's eager to share the gospel in well-rehearsed sound bites, whenever the situation allows. Ask him, for example, why he decided to sue one of the West's most prominent environmental groups. "I laid in bed at night, wondering if I was a cowboy or a wimp," he'll reply. "If you're a cowboy, you stand up and fight for truth, justice, integrity and honor. If you're a wimp, you lay there and go to sleep." Or, ask about nature. "For a cowboy," he'll tell you, "every day is Earth Day." That's why Chilton got so mad at the Center for Biological Diversity. The Center tried to make him the bad guy when he, the cowboy, was supposed to be the hero. And that was an attack no cowboy could forgive. (Forgiveness, after all, is for wimps.) And so he sued -- a switch, given that the Center is normally the one filing the lawsuits. Chilton took the case to trial, and won one of the biggest punitive damage awards Arizona is likely to see this year....
Wife of Mexican peasant ecologist recounts attack on family The wife of a Mexican environmental activist ambushed last week by gunman described on Wednesday the flash of muzzles, a hail of bullets outside her home and futile screams to stop the attack that killed two of her children. "I was screaming at them not to shoot," said Reyna Mojica, the wife of Albertano Penaloza, a founder of the embattled Organization of Peasant Ecologists in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero. "Even with me screaming, with my children, they still kept firing hard." Mexican and international rights groups on Wednesday called for a thorough investigation of the unsolved killings of Penaloza's sons and for protection of the family....
SPECIAL REPORT: KEY ENVIRONMENTAL LAW ERODING ON MANY FRONTS The US federal government is in the midst of a broad campaign to revamp one of the bedrock US environmental laws, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). A slew of developments are highlighted in this TipSheet, but there are more out there, and likely more to come. Since the vast majority of these changes are new, or still in process, it's too early to tell how they will work out. But in general, many business groups are applauding, and many environmental groups are concerned. Since 1969, NEPA has provided a way to gauge the effects of major development on public lands, look at alternatives, and give the public a chance to comment. In recent decades many business and industry interests have complained that NEPA has "morphed into an all-purpose delaying tactic," in the words of the Heritage Foundation's Ben Lieberman (202-608-6139). But much less time could be spent in the environmental evaluation process if it were addressed upfront with initial project planning, as it often isn't, says the Sierra Club's Neha Bhatt (202-548-4596, NEPA page)....
Column:Is the Mississippi Corridor changing into the Mississippi Wildlands? A $216 million-plus regulatory package has been given to “reduce the human stress on the fragile river environment and improve wild habitats” on the Upper Mississippi. “This is big stuff. It really gouges a lot of folks,” said Ron Nicklaus, 56, of Genoa, Wis., an avid duck hunter who camps every summer on the Mississippi in a recent Associated Press report. “It (the Mississippi) doesn’t belong to the Fish and Wildlife Service. It belongs to the folks.” Regulations through the year 2020 can be found in a 600-page document with designs for 240,000 acres of the Upper Mississippi floodplain designated as a national wildlife refuge. Who owns that property now? Local residents wonder who will pay for all the federal officials to enforce the 600 pages of regulations. Most believe this is jurisdiction that should stay in the hands of state and local government....
Editorial: Endangered species, endangered sense What the environmentalists now beating the Bushes to save endangered species won't tell you is that the Endangered Species Act itself makes genetic science irrelevant. The Endangered Species Act defines a species for the purposes of the act as a "species," a "subspecies" or a "distinct population segment." If only a "distinct population segment" of a species is in danger of extinction, then the "species" can be listed as endangered. In practice, the results are silly. Sometimes the only difference between an endangered animal and an unendangered animal is the shade of the spots (maroon is endangered, candy apple red is not). In California, an owl on one side of a highway is endangered while an identical bird on the other side is not. In Michigan, the difference between a "threatened" flatbelly snake and a snake without federal protection is a county line or the measure of latitude. Of course, minor color variations, roads and political geography have little to do with whether a species is endangered or not. If such ludicrous standards were applied to humans, blacks in South Dakota would be endangered. Taking note of the fact that few humans live in northern parts of Alaska or the Arizona desert, Fish and Wildlife Service scientists could apply for endangered species status for humans....
Southwest, Rockies and Alaska primed for active fire season Federal wildfire forecasters say unusual rainfall patterns in the West this winter and spring have boosted growth of grasses and low-lying vegetation that will dry to fuel, setting the stage for a worse than normal fire season in the Southwest, Northern Rockies and Alaska. "We are very concerned because we've had all the grass growth but the forests in the higher elevations of the Northwest and the Northern Rockies have missed out on all their snowpack," Rick Ochoa, the national fire weather program manager for the National Weather Service, said Wednesday at a briefing with federal land agency fire managers. "Usually, when that snowpack gradually melts, you are basically watering the trees every day, but we're missing that this year." While the Rocky Mountain region had a dry winter and wet spring, the precipitation pattern flip-flopped in the Southwest. A wetter-than-normal winter caused flooding and mudslides in Arizona, New Mexico, southern Nevada and Southern California, followed by a dry spring....
Nature Preserve Designed for 100,000 Acres of Tejon Ranch The design for a 100,000 acre nature preserve on the Tejon Ranch was unveiled Wednesday at the ranch after nearly two years of scientific study to identify the best of the natural resources on the historic ranch. The Tejon Ranch Preserve protects the habitat of threatened and endangered species, preserves wilderness areas and provides public access as the preserve design includes a realignment through Tejon Ranch of the Pacific Crest Trail, a 2,650 mile long congressionally designated scenic trail from the Mexican border to Canada. Representatives of Tejon Ranch and the Trust for Public Land (TPL) gathered at the ranch 60 miles north of Los Angeles to share the new design - the result of consultation and recommendations by a scientific peer review panel and an independent environmental advisory group....
Predator in the Crosshairs Almost two centuries ago, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark's Corps of Discovery trudged across Lemhi Pass from western Montana and began a memorable 105-day culinary tour of Idaho. When traversing the Bitterroot Mountains, they had a lean snack of coyote and crayfish. Starving near the Clearwater River, they dined on huckleberries and horsemeat. At one point, dried salmon and camas root were a welcome gift from some sympathetic Nez Perce; alas, it resulted in food poisoning. But the Corps found the pinnacle of the Gem State cornucopia at what is often called Camp Chopunnish, on the western fringe of the current Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness. Here, the adventurers developed a hankering for the gamey flesh of North America's largest predator, the grizzly bear. Over a month-long stay, they killed and consumed no less than seven bears, including a mother and two cubs, by utilizing a Nez Perce cooking technique that Captain Lewis thought made the bear extra-tender. Two centuries and several brushes with extinction later, Idaho hunters may once again have the opportunity to bring home the bear-bacon....
Conservation Groups Intervene to Protect 27 Endangered California Species A coalition of conservation groups yesterday sought to intervene in a lawsuit brought by housing developers that would eliminate habitat protections for 27 of California's most endangered plants and animals. The developers' lawsuit challenges the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's designation of "critical habitat" for the species under the Endangered Species Act. It was filed March 30 by the Home Builders Association of Northern California, Building Industry Legal Defense Foundation, California Building Industry Association, California State Grange and Greenhorn Grange. (Click here for a factsheet about the species challenged by the developers' lawsuit.) "The California building industry is trying to sink Noah's Ark," said Peter Galvin, Conservation Director for the Center for Biological Diversity (Center), one of the groups intervening in the case....
Council OKs plan to let ranchers kill wolves At 10 minutes after midnight on Wednesday morning, local wildlife representatives voted 7-4 in favor of allowing wolves to be shot on public and private land. Friends and foes of wolves had gathered in Springville for a meeting of the Central Utah Regional Advisory Council that began at 6:30 p.m. The vote followed hours of public comment on the subject. The proposed plan, drafted over two years, had recommended using rubber bullets and other nonlethal control methods before allowing farmers and ranchers to shoot the animals. The Springville meeting -- the fourth of five public hearings on the wolf plan -- was the fourth in a row to add amendments allowing ranchers, their families and employees to shoot wolves on public and private land. The state Wildlife Board is expected to make a binding vote on the plan next month....
Landowner kills wolf that was chasing livestock A landowner legally shot and killed a wolf chasing livestock on private property near Hall, 50 miles southeast of Missoula, on Monday morning, according to state wildlife officials. Federal rules now in effect in a portion of western Montana allow ranchers to kill wolves that are actively attacking, chasing or harassing livestock, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Under the rule, which offers Montana more wolf management authority and flexibility, anyone who shoots or kills a wolf must report the incident within 24 hours. In addition, evidence of the actual wolf attack, or evidence that an attack was imminent, must be available for state and federal inspectors....
Disease-resistant trout studied A team of Utah researchers has received an $83,000 grant to study rainbow trout with a "significant resistance" to whirling disease found in a Madison County reservoir. "They are not absolutely resistant, but they are significantly resistant," said Richard Vincent, who works with Fish, Wildlife and Parks at Montana State University. Researchers haven't found a solution for whirling disease, which has infected more than 130 streams in Montana, but Vincent said the Willow Creek Reservoir trout warrant continued study. The encouraging strain of fish came from Wyoming between 1977 and 1981. Before that, the fish came to Wyoming from California....
To Protect Mustangs, BLM Imposes New Rules on Animal Sales The Bureau of Land Management, the agency responsible for the horses, announced last week that it has beefed up legal protections for the animals and will resume selling them as early as this week. The BLM also said it is attempting to strike an agreement with the nation's three horse slaughterhouses to reject wild horses, identifiable by government freeze brands. The announcement, which some advocacy groups for wild horses have greeted with skepticism, comes five months after President Bush signed a measure into law ordering the agency to sell some of the wild horses and burros roaming the West. The agency estimates there are still 31,000 out there, scattered across 10 states. An additional 22,000 excess horses have been rounded up and put in government holding facilities. Excess horses are those deemed by the bureau to be more than their environs can sustain. Wild horses are allowed to roam on 201 separate patches of federal land totaling about 29.5 million acres. The BLM estimates the land supports, at most, 28,000....
Fisherman swaps rare turtle for Mercedes An Albanian net fisherman has enraged biologists by swapping an endangered leatherback turtle weighing 806 kilos for a used Mercedes from an Italian fish trader. Hysni Xhemali told the Metropol newspaper he was out fishing in Albania's Ionian Sea waters, as he had done for the past 10 years, when he saw "a big black thing in the net." Five of his friends came to his help to drag the turtle close to shore, but in the end they needed a mechanical excavator to beach it. Xhemali said he was immediately approached by an Italian fish trader but refused to deal. He reconsidered when offered a "nearly new" Mercedes and the turtle was reportedly shipped to a zoo in Rome....
Free Trade Agreement Gains Support from Agriculture and Manufacturing A new push for Congressional approval of the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) has officially begun. During April, separate agricultural and manufacturing coalitions released studies proclaiming the benefits of expanding free trade. Farmers rallied for CAFTA-DR on April 11. More than 50 organizations, coming together as the Agriculture Coalition for CAFTA-DR, were joined by Mike Johanns, secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and other public and private officials at a media event in the nation's capitol. The groups are urging Congress to "pass the already negotiated agreement." According to the coalition, the trade deal would yield nearly $1.5 billion in U.S. agricultural exports to the CAFTA-DR region, providing significant opportunities for U.S. farmers and ranchers. The nations of CAFTA-DR represent the second largest market in Latin America for U.S. products. "When you look at the aggregate, CAFTA-DR is a net positive for [U.S.] agriculture," said American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) President Bob Stallman. "The agreement will generate millions of dollars annually by eliminating tariffs on U.S. agricultural goods." Tariffs on almost all U.S. products exported to CAFTA-DR nations will decrease to zero after full implementation. Currently, U.S. agriculture products entering the region without the agreement are subject to up to 60 percent tariffs....
R-CALF USA Court Case Attacked by State Cattle Groups As a possible hearing date in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals looms on the horizon, members of some local cattle-producer organizations from Georgia, to Louisiana, to Colorado and beyond, seem to be experiencing some frustration and confusion as members learn their state associations signed on to a court document that supports the immediate reopening of the Canadian border – but without input from the local level. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) have filed an amicus brief (friend of the court brief) in the 9th Circuit, which fully supports the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Final Rule that calls for the immediate reopening of the Canadian border to live cattle and additional beef products. A total of 29 cattlemen’s organizations are signatories on the document....
Editorial: Beef decision undercuts free speech You don't have to care about "What's for Dinner" to have a beef with a decision the U.S. Supreme Court just dished out. A six-justice majority on Monday ruled that fees levied on ranchers don't violate the free-speech rights of ranchers hurt by the advertising campaign bankrolled by the fees - $1 a head, totaling some $80 million a year. Many small operators object to the "Beef: It's what's for dinner" advertising campaign because it doesn't promote American-grown beef. Indeed, promotion of generic beef is just as likely to help foreign beef producers whose imports to the United States are a worrisome source of competition for domestic producers. The ruling itself is as disappointing as a well-done rib-eye. The reasoning behind the majority's change in perspective is as hard to swallow as a big gob of fat and gristle....
Celebratory mood on centennial trail drive In May 1966, Texans who owned longhorn cattle embarked on an elaborate commemoration of the centennial of the first Texas cattle drives. From soon after the Civil War through the 1870s, thousands of Texas-raised cattle were driven north almost 500 miles to the railhead in Dodge City, Kan. A drive took about three months, and weather, stampedes and hostile Indians were constant concerns. One of the participants in the Texas Longhorn Centennial Trail Drive was Hood County rancher Courts K. Cleveland Jr., 82, a decorated infantry second lieutenant and a veteran of the European front in World War II. Cleveland owned dozens of longhorns and belonged to the new Texas Longhorn Breeders Association. "As the trail from San Antonio began, the drovers outnumbered the cattle," Cleveland recalls. "We started with 93 steers and about 200 people on horseback or in wagons and stagecoaches." Charlie Schreiner III, owner of the famous Hill Country YO Ranch, provided several ranch cowboys to handle the cattle, Cleveland said. "The rest of us were pretty much along for the fun of the ride," he said....
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Wednesday, May 25, 2005
GAO TESTIMONY
Natural Resources: Federal Agencies Are Engaged in Numerous Woody Biomass Utilization Activities, but Significant Obstacles May Impede Their Efforts, by Robin M. Nazzaro, director, natural resources and environment, before the Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health, House Committee on Resources. GAO-05-741T, May 24. http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-05-741T
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d05741thigh.pdf
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Natural Resources: Federal Agencies Are Engaged in Numerous Woody Biomass Utilization Activities, but Significant Obstacles May Impede Their Efforts, by Robin M. Nazzaro, director, natural resources and environment, before the Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health, House Committee on Resources. GAO-05-741T, May 24. http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-05-741T
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d05741thigh.pdf
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