Republicans Oppose Forest Service Declaring Areas “Wilderness”
by Steve Thompson, RangeFire, April 19, 2010 [here]
Today, according to a press release from House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), he and National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee Ranking Member Rob Bishop (R-Utah) along with 16 other members of Congress, sent a letter [here] to the chief of the U.S. Forest Service opposing the views expressed in a letter from House Democrats requesting that the Forest Service manage Recommended Wilderness Areas as de facto Wilderness Areas. This would be a gross misinterpretation of the law, circumvent Congressional authority and lock up tens of millions of acres of public land.
Citing Wilderness Act statute, the Republicans wrote, “The law is crystal clear that the power to designate wilderness rests squarely and solely with the Congress. It is a baseless, twisted reading of the law to suggest that Congress intended to allow an agency to administratively declare an area as recommended for wilderness designation and then to manage that area exactly as if Congress had taken action to make such a designation.”
The letter goes on to note that, “Designating an area as wilderness imposes the most restrictive land-use policies that can be taken. As you well know, it places severe limitations on public access to public lands, prohibits motorized and mechanized recreation, severely restricts job-creating and energy-producing activities, responsible timber management, and decreases capabilities to respond to fires and emergencies as roads, trails, structures and other facilities are banned.”
Senate Republicans Move to Bar NEPA Analysis of Climate Change Impacts
By NOELLE STRAUB, Greenwire, NY Times, April 20, 2010 [here]
Republican senators introduced legislation today that would block White House efforts to require federal agencies to consider climate change in environmental analyses of proposed projects.
The bill says the National Environmental Policy Act should not be used to document, predict or mitigate the climate effects of specific federal actions. Under the measure, NEPA reviews could not consider the greenhouse gas emissions of a proposed federal project nor climate change effects as related to the proposal’s design, environmental impacts, or mitigation or adaptation measures.
The measure comes after the White House in February issued draft guidance [here] that will require federal agencies to consider greenhouse gas emissions and climate change when carrying out NEPA reviews. The White House Council on Environmental Quality, or CEQ, is accepting public comment on the proposal through May 24.
The senators say assessing the climate change impacts of individual projects would provide no meaningful information for the public but instead would encourage more bureaucratic delays and litigation “designed to change NEPA into a global warming prevention statute.” They claim the guidance could block road construction, delay domestic energy production and hurt job creation, while their bill would ensure federal agencies won’t engage in “costly, and ultimately useless” reviews.
The bill was written by Environment and Public Works Committee ranking member James Inhofe (R-Okla.) along with Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and David Vitter (R-La.). Co-sponsors include Sens. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Bob Bennett (R-Utah), and Pat Roberts (R-Kan.). … [more]
More Global Warming Profiteering by Obama Energy Official
Ex-Gore associate and current Obama energy official Cathy Zoi is exploiting global warming for her own mega-gain.
by Christopher Horner, Pajamas Media, April 26, 2010 [here]
Surprising documents made available to this author reveal that Assistant Secretary of Energy Cathy Zoi has a huge financial stake in companies likely to profit from the Obama administration’s “green” policies.
Zoi, who left her position as CEO of the Alliance for Climate Protection — founded by Al Gore — to serve as assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy, now manages billions in “green jobs” funding. But the disclosure documents show that Zoi not only is in a position to affect the fortunes of her previous employer, ex-Vice President Al Gore, but that she herself has large holdings in two firms that could directly profit from policies proposed by the Department of Energy.
Among Zoi’s holdings are shares in Serious Materials, Inc., the previously sleepy, now bustling, friend of the Obama White House whose public policy operation is headed by her husband. Between them, Zoi and her husband hold 120,000 shares in Serious Materials, as well as stock options. Reporter John Stossel has already explored what he sees as the “crony capitalism” implied by Zoi being so able to influence the fortunes of a company to which she is so closely associated.
In addition, the disclosure forms reflect that Zoi holds between $250,000 and $500,000 in “founders shares” in Landis+Gyr, a Swiss “smart meter” firm. She also still owns between $15,000 and $50,000 in ordinary shares. … [more]
They’re here and they’ll keep coming
Wildlife Services talk focuses on wolves in the Big Horns
by Grant Smith, Buffalo Bulletin, April 21, 2010 [here]
Spurred by the devastating results of last summer when 113 sheep were killed by wolves in the Big Horn Mountains, Jim Pehringer with the USDA-Wildlife Services took the stage last Saturday night to make a plea to area ranchers.
“We want to hear from you,” Pehringer said. “You need to call us every time you see a wolf. We need your help to help you.”
Pehringer was on hand at a meeting scheduled by the Johnson County Animal Management Board to discuss the threat of wolves in the area and the proper steps toward identifying wolf kills and preventing livestock loss.
“Wolves are very transit and they never stop moving,” Pehringer said. “It doesn’t do a lot of good to argue whether they’re in the Big Horns or not. That argument’s been out there for 16 years. They’re here and they’ll keep coming. We have to focus on what to do with them.”
Pehringer, stationed in Cody, started his talk by highlighting his organization’s efforts in Park County.
“We have to go out and confirm that it was a loss to wolves, from there we get direction on what we can do,” Pehringer said. “In the last two years we’ve been able to go into areas with chronic killing and take out whole packs and it stopped the killing in that area.”
Throughout his talk, Pehringer continually stressed the importance of getting a confirmed kill in order for them to take action and curtail subsequent livestock losses.
“We have to prove it every time we do something,” Pehringer said. “That’s why it is important to know from you what wolves you’ve seen and what’s going on. We believe you but it doesn’t do any good unless we can confirm it.” … [more]
New brucellosis “hot spots” found in Yellowstone area
By MATTHEW BROWN, AP, R&D Online, April 24, 2010 [here]
The animal disease brucellosis is emerging in new “hot spots” around Yellowstone National Park, according to new research that could complicate efforts to control transmissions of the disease to cattle.
Feeding grounds where food is left for elk as well as herds of bison inside the park have long been considered the main sources of brucellosis, which causes pregnant animals to abort their young.
But Paul Cross with the U.S. Geological Survey said a third source is now emerging: Blood tests indicate large elk herds living far from the feeding grounds have brucellosis exposure rates ranging from 10 percent to 30 percent.
That means containing the park’s bison and getting rid of the feeding grounds might not be enough to stop brucellosis transmissions to cattle in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.
The Yellowstone region has an estimated 100,000 elk and is the nation’s last reservoir for the disease. Over the last decade, cattle infections have appeared in all three states bordering the park.
“It’s no longer appropriate to say bison and the supplemental feed grounds are the only sources of contamination,” Cross said.
Cross was the lead author of a USGS study published online Friday by the Public Library of Science.
Co-authored by researchers from Wyoming Game and Fish, Montana State University and USGS, the study was based on more than 6,000 blood tests collected from Wyoming elk between 1991 and 2009.
Since the testing began, Cross said disease rates increased dramatically in two “hot spots” — north of Dubois, Wyo. and northwest of Cody, Wyo. Both of those areas are far from the state’s 23 artificial feeding grounds.
The study comes on the heels of another USGS report in March that found brucellosis rates on the rise across the region. Prevalence rates increased from between 0 percent and 7 percent in 1991-1992, to between 8 percent and 20 percent in 2006-2007. … [more]
Three wolf packs in SW Montana to be eliminated
By Nick Gevock, Montana Standard, April 25, 2010 [here]
BUTTE — Federal trappers killed four wolves this month from an area of the Big Hole Valley that has repeatedly seen attacks on livestock.
The four wolves come on the heels of five others that have been lethally removed over the past three months from the Miner Lakes and Bender packs, as well as any wolves remaining from the Battlefield pack that was taken out last year, said Carolyn Sime, wolf program coordinator for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. …
Sime added the control actions are ongoing, but trappers have been unable to locate and kill all the wolves.
Since the beginning of the year nine cows or calves have been killed by wolves in the Big Hole. The attacks have been especially concentrated in the west side of the valley.
State officials authorized the removal of the Miner Lakes pack, which had grown large and been estimated to contain around 15 wolves. And last year the Battlefield pack that lived west of Wisdom was authorized for elimination after repeated attacks.
Trappers killed all but one of the pack and the lone survivor was believed to have joined the Miner Lakes pack. But attacks on livestock continued west of Wisdom.
The issue boiled over last fall when rancher Fred Hirschy, who has lost cattle to wolves repeatedly, closed off part of his ranch to public hunting.
Sime said the continued attacks highlight the challenges of managing wolves in the Big Hole Valley. The Bender pack quickly moved into the area where the Battlefield pack had roamed after it was removed. …
She said a higher quota is justified because even with a record number of wolves killed through control actions and an additional 72 taken by hunters, the wolf population continued to grow. … [more]
On Earth Day, Did You Thank a Hunter?
by Humberto Fontova, Townhall, April 23, 2010 [here]
In 1970, a Senator from Wisconsin named Gaylord Nelson raised his voice and called on every American to take action on behalf of the environment,” reads President Obama’s Earth Day proclamation. “In the four decades since, millions of Americans have heeded that call and joined together to protect the planet we share.”
Well, I’ve got news for our President. Millions of Americans who had never heard of Gaylord Nelson “took action on behalf of the environment,” decades before the good Senator “raised his voice.” More newsworthy still, most of these belonged to those insufferable rustics who “cling to guns and bibles.” To wit:
The Pittman-Robertson Act (1937) imposed an excise tax of 10 per cent on all hunting gear. Then the Dingell-Johnson act (1950) did the same for fishing gear. The Wallop-Breaux amendment (1984) extended the tax to the fuel for boats. All of this lucre goes to “protect the environment” in the form of buying and maintaining National Wildlife Refuges, along with state programs for buying and maintaining various forms of wildlife habitat.
For the last couple of decades hunters and fishermen have contributed over $1.5 billion per year towards Senator Gaylord Nelson’s lofty goal. To date, hunters and fishermen have shelled out over $20 billion “on behalf of the environment.” A study by the National Shooting Sports Foundation found that for every taxpayer dollar invested in wildlife conservation, hunters and fishermen contribute nine. … [more]
This land is your land; this land is my land
By Leonard Gilroy, Washington Times, April 23, 2010 [here]
The federal government owns nearly 30 percent of all the land in the country. In the West, those numbers soar even higher. The federal government controls more than 84 percent of the land in Nevada, more than 50 percent of the land in Alaska, Utah, Oregon and Idaho, and more than 40 percent of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Wyoming.
It’s safe to say that many of these states are getting tired of the feds. Utah recently passed a law authorizing it to seize federal land through eminent domain. The law, while likely unconstitutional, reflects a widely felt sentiment in Western states: Let states control the land within their borders.
The U.S. Forest Service holds more than 156 million acres of land - nearly equivalent to the size of Texas - west of the Mississippi River. It controls 155 national forests and 600 ranger districts. With an ever-growing federal bureaucracy and massive budget deficits, it is time to let states manage this land, taking up to $5 billion a year off the federal books.
It is highly unlikely that the feds would simply give valuable land to the states for free. And deficit-riddled states are in no position to purchase expensive land right now. But a payback period of 30 years (like your standard mortgage) could make deals feasible.
Once in state hands, what would they do with the land? There would be political pressure to keep large portions of it, especially parks and recreation areas, undeveloped. But there are huge portions of land that could be put to better use. The supporters of the Utah law, for example, hope to sell certain parcels for development and apply the proceeds to fund education programs.
Still, even if a state does buy land from the feds, would they simply absorb those areas into their own state park systems - and thus add large new budget items to their own budgets? No, that doesn’t have to be the case.
Private companies already operate the commercial activities - lodges, shops, restaurants and the like - in treasured national parks, including the Grand Canyon, Yosemite and Yellowstone. Similarly, the Forest Service makes extensive use of concessionaires to operate and maintain complete parks and campgrounds better and cheaper than government could.
States could use this model to take over parks - without absorbing them into the state budget. One Forest Service contractor in Arizona recently offered to take over six state parks that were going to be closed owing to budget cuts. The company would collect the same visitor fees the state charges today while taking the operations and maintenance costs off the state’s books entirely. Not only that, but the company would also pay the state an annual “rent” based on a percentage of the fees collected, turning parks into a state revenue generator instead of a loss leader. The state would still own the land, and the company would be subject to strict state controls on operating rules, fee-setting and development restrictions.
The devolution of Forest Service land could be implemented over time, starting with pilot programs in select Western states, like Utah or Nevada, to test the model and refine best practices. Once perfected, the process could be extended throughout the Forest Service system, and then expanded throughout the Bureau of Land Management system, which owns roughly the same amount of Western land and costs taxpayers another $1.1 billion a year.
All sides of the political spectrum should be able to agree that decisions about how to most wisely use land are best made at the local or state level, by officials with accountability to those residents. And since the federal deficit could top $1.5 trillion this fiscal year, now more than ever it doesn’t make sense for the federal government to be the biggest landowner in the West.
Leonard Gilroy is the director of government reform at Reason Foundation and a certified urban planner.
Note: The Feds have adopted No Touch - Let It Burn policies that are destroying public and private lands. Incinerating forests in catastrophic holocausts degrades all resources. Transfer of the Federal Estate back to local control is about more than “wise use”; it is a desperate necessity if we are to save our forests, watersheds, homes, and communities from scorched earth disasters.
AFBF: Reject Fed Takeover of Puddles
Statement by Bob Stallman, President, American Farm Bureau Federation, Regarding ‘America’s Commitment to Clean Water Act’ [here]
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 22, 2010 – “The American Farm Bureau Federation does not support legislation that would change and expand federal control of our nation’s waters. We are greatly concerned that ‘America’s Commitment to Clean Water Act,’ introduced yesterday by Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), would do precisely that. We urge all members of the House of Representatives to not support this bill. This measure would change the Clean Water Act by extending federal control of all waters in the United States, not just real navigable waters, as Congress clearly intended when it passed the Clean Water Act in 1972.
“Farm Bureau has always supported the Clean Water Act as a vital tool for protecting our nation’s valuable water resources. The bill unveiled yesterday, however, goes farther by removing the word ‘navigable’ from the Clean Water Act. If the word ‘navigable’ is deleted from the law, any farm pond or ditch would be at the mercy of federal regulations. This vague and overreaching amendment to the Clean Water Act is unacceptable to America’s farm and ranch families.
“Farm Bureau is also deeply concerned that the legislation will overturn the current treatment of prior converted cropland, a regulation that has been in place for nearly two decades. This would effectively give federal control of the development rights of 53 million acres of private land. This extension of federal control over private property rights is dangerous and unprecedented.
We urge members of Congress to support America’s farm and ranch families and reject ‘America’s Commitment to Clean Water Act.’”
-30-
Note — The Puddle Power Bill is co-sponsored by the usual urban extreme lefties: Senators Boxer, Cardin, Brown, Cantwell, Carper, Dodd, Durbin, Gillibrand, Kerry, Kohl, Lautenberg, Leahy, Levin, Lieberman, Menendez, Merkley, Reed, Sanders, Schumer, Shaheen, Stabenow, Whitehouse, and Wyden. If you own it, they want to steal it from you. That’s what Stalin-style socialism is all about.
Appeals court upholds more water ruling for tribe
AP, Las Vegas Sun, April 21, 2010 [here]
A federal appeals court has upheld most of a ruling that ordered a rural Nevada irrigation district to pay back billions of gallons of water that it took from a tribe decades ago.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday directed a federal judge in Reno to go back and determine how much more water the Pyramid Lake Paiutes are entitled to as a result of the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District illegally diverting flows for its own farmers and ranchers in northern Nevada’s high desert during the 1970s and 1980s.
The appellate court rejected most of the district’s bid to overturn a 2003 decision that determined the water from Lake Tahoe and other reservoirs should have continued down the Truckee River to help bolster a traditional tribal fishery in serious decline.
U.S. District Court Judge Howard McKibben in Reno was correct when he determined at that time the irrigation district had “willfully failed to comply” with a 1973 agreement that divided up the water, according to the opinion Judge Mary Schroeder issued on behalf of a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit in San Francisco.
Since then, the district has made “several additional attempts to sidestep accountability” under that agreement, she wrote.
A lawyer for the tribe who hailed the ruling as a victory said Wednesday that he is certain it will mean additional water for the tribe and perhaps as much as 75 percent more than McKibben ordered in 2003. … [more]
Another polar rescue must send chills down spines of alarmists
by Andrew Bolt, Herald Sun, April 21, 2010 [here]
TOM Smitheringale wanted to prove the world was warming. Now he’s another alarmist with frostbite.
The 40-year-old from Perth planned to be the first Australian to trek unassisted to the North Pole, but announced he’d raise some consciousness along the way.
As he wrote on his website: “Part of the reason Tom’s One Man Epic is taking place now is because of the effect that global warming is having on the polar ice caps.”
Indeed, he wanted to see the North Pole while it was still there: “Some scientists have even estimated that the polar ice cap will have entirely melted away by 2014!”
Have your say at Andrew’s blog
But Antarctica isn’t melting away, and Arctic ice has slowly increased since its big low in 1997.
But no one seems to have told Tom, who soon found his extremities freezing.
Two weeks ago he nearly called off his trek after suffering excruciating pain in his fingers and thumbs, forcing him to call in emergency help.
And last week he had to be rescued by Canadian soldiers after falling through the ice sheet.
“(I) came very close to the grave,” he said, on being flown out.
This is actually now the fourth year running that warming alarmists have had to be rescued from expeditions to prove the Arctic is warmer than it actually is. … [more]
Arctic sea ice is highest for this date in 8 years
Earth gives us an Earth Day present
Watts Up With That, April 22, 2010 [here]
You gotta love it when the Earth gives back the love, especially today.
Those who have been following NSIDC and JAXA sea ice plots have noted that this has been an extraordinary year so far, with Arctic sea ice hitting the “normal” line on some datasets. Today the Earth gave back more for us.
As of today, JAXA shows that we have more ice than any time on this date for the past 8 years of Aqua satellite measurement for this AMSRE dataset. Yes, it isn’t much, but if this were September, and the sea ice minimum was down by this much compared to all other years, you can bet your sweet bippy we’d see it screamed in news headlines worldwide.
Of course some will argue that it “doesn’t matter” in the context of trend, or that it’s just a “weather” blip. Let us remind our friends of such blips the next time a heat wave or a storm is cited as proof of global warming.
What can be said about the short term trend in Arctic sea ice is that for the past two years, it has recovered from the historic low of 2007. It recovered in 2008, and more in 2009. If today’s Earth Day gift is any indication, it appears that it is on track now for a third year of recovery in 2010 as we’ve been saying at WUWT since fall of 2009. … [more, with graphs]
Climate consensus collapses in Senate
By Matt Viser and Beth Daley, Boston Globe, April 25, 2010 [here]
WASHINGTON — In one of the proudest moments of his long legislative career, Senator John F. Kerry was poised to unveil a long-awaited climate change bill tomorrow that would put a price on carbon emissions and provide billions of dollars in incentives to industry to drastically cut greenhouse gases. …
Then his effort ran headlong into the Senate’s partisan snarl, and last night the release of the bill was postponed indefinitely.
Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who had allied himself with Kerry on the issue, abruptly abandoned the effort last night, saying he was irate that the Senate’s Democratic leadership might proceed with a controversial immigration bill first.
“Moving forward on immigration — in this hurried, panicked manner — is nothing more than a cynical political ploy,’’ Graham said. “I know from my own personal experience the tremendous amounts of time, energy, and effort that must be devoted to this issue to make even limited progress.’’
The sudden switch of priorities began late last week when Senate majority leader Harry Reid suggested to other congressional leaders that he might want to tackle immigrant legislation before the Senate deals with climate change. …
The Obama administration also made it clear the importance the president attaches to passage of a climate change bill. Shortly after Graham’s announcement, the White House climate czar Carol Browner weighed in.
“We’re determined to see [climate legislation] happen this year, and we encourage the senators to continue their important work on behalf of the country and not walk away from the progress that’s already been made,’’ she said in a statement.
Without Graham’s support, the bill, which would have been a challenge to pass in any case, will face a much steeper uphill battle. … [more]
The wolf threat to ranchers’ livelihood
Editorial, Wallowa County Chieftan, 4/22/2010 [here]
Wildlife managers say the recent wolf hunts in Montana and Idaho were successful in every way. They limited the growth of the wolf populations and the amount of damage the predators could do to other wildlife and livestock.
All of which discredits the arguments environmentalists offer that the hunts hinder wolf recovery efforts.
Hunters fell short of taking their wolf quota in either state, dispelling concerns that the hunt would become a free-for-all. …
In the wake of those hunts, the wolf populations in both states remain healthy and continue to grow, managers say. Idaho still has about 840 wolves, and Montana about 532, according to the states’ wildlife managers. …
As that political and legal battle continues, wolves continue to prey upon cattle and sheep in both states and Oregon.
In Montana and Idaho last year, wolves killed 187 cattle, 546 sheep, 20 dogs and three goats. Ranchers, however, estimate that only 20 to 25 percent of wolf kills are ever verified. …
For example, here in Wallowa County, wolves have been repeatedly sighted on private land and were run out of Joseph rancher Karl and Karen Patton’s calf pasture in the middle of the night March 26. His neighbors, Scott and Kellie Shear, have had wolves among the cattle this week. Ranchers are getting up several times in the night to conduct livestock checks in previously safe pastures. Rancher Ramona Phillips is not just scared for her cattle; she’s scared for her children. …
Phillips echoes the feelings of dozens of ranchers when she emphasizes that the issue is not just financial - it’s about stewardship. “It’s not in me to watch a wolf tear apart one my calves and just stand by,” she said. “It’s scary. I’ve always done night checks on heifers to make sure they’re calving all right, but now we’re doing checks every few hours and my husband Charley is getting up at 3 a.m. and staying out with the cattle.”
Sirens are up on the Patton ranch, but there aren’t enough sirens to go around - ODFW only has one. …
“I just talked to ODFW. According to their GPS-collared-wolf records, these wolves are spending 80 percent of their time on private land,” said rancher Rod Childers.
Judging from their rapidly expanding populations across the West, it is obvious that wolf populations are healthy. Our concern is whether we’ll be able to say the same thing about the West’s ranchers in years to come.
Officials monitoring flooding in New Harmony area
AP, Salt Lake Tribune, 04/22/2010 [here]
CEDAR CITY - An emergency coordinator says local firefighters and officials from Washington County and the federal Department of Homeland Security and Forest Service are monitoring flooding of rain-swollen creeks in the rural New Harmony area.
New Harmony Emergency Manager Julie Woods said Wednesday that structures weren’t immediately threatened by water flowing through the valley.
But Harmony Valley Fire Chief Greg Gonzalez says the ground is saturated.
Gonzalez says residents in low-lying areas and around Main, Straight and Dam canyons should prepare for possible evacuations.
Woods says one bridge could be threatened, and officials have found some channel erosion of tributaries into Ash Creek and the Mill Flat fire area.
Note: Government officials have a habit of “monitoring” disasters around New Harmony. Makes one wonder just what “monitoring” means to government functionaries. It is pretty clear that the town can’t take much more of it, whatever it is.