Homeowner recalls escape from N. Mich. forest fire
By JOHN FLESHER (AP), May 21, 2010 [here]
SOUTH BRANCH TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Glenn King was cleaning his basement when sheriff’s deputies pounded on the front door, warning that a wildfire (Meridian Boundary Fire) was bearing down on his frame house in the northern Michigan backwoods.
“They told me to evacuate,” King said. “In three minutes.”
The 62-year-old retiree quickly loaded family portraits, irreplaceable mementos and Paco, his red Labrador, into his Jeep and raced down an unpaved route toward a state highway. It was midafternoon Tuesday, but the smoke became so thick he could barely see.
“You could hear the fire roaring like a train,” King said.
Authorities said 12 homes were destroyed and two damaged by the inferno that broke out Tuesday and blasted across jack pine forests in Michigan’s northern Lower Peninsula after a local resident lost control of a brush fire.
The fire, about 60 miles east of Traverse City, covered roughly 8,800 acres. The fire was considered 80 percent contained, or secure enough that flames were unlikely to jump the line dug around the perimeter. … [more]
Hundreds show support in Cody for state to manage predator
By Richard Reeder, Cody Enterprise, May 24, 2010 [here]
The wolf impact rally in Cody on Saturday attracted several hundred people to talk about the future of the gray wolf.
The rally in City Park, held on a blustery cool day, was sponsored by the Cody Country Outfitters and Guides, and Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife groups. It featured a variety of speakers hoping to educate the public about the need for delisting the predator.
For one of the first times in a public event, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation executive director David Allen shared his group’s views about the wolf issue.
“We were not at the table when we needed to be,” he said. “But now we are all about getting back to our foundation’s roots.
“We won’t wander off point anymore - we are a hunter conservation group,” he added. “And we support sound, science-based management by the state of the wolf.”
Allen said the dispute about wolves isn’t just about the predator, but is an ideological war between hunters and environmental groups.
He said he believes there are strong anti-gun and anti-hunting agendas driving the ongoing legal battles about delisting.
Allen said ultimately sportsmen and hunters will pay for whatever outcome results from the wolf controversy.
“Once this is all over, the environmental groups will walk away and we will have to clean up the mess,” he said. “Hunters and sportsmen have created the wildlife system in the West.” … [more]
Judge dismisses Nevada wild horse roundup lawsuit
By Frank X. Mullen Jr., Reno Gazette Journal, May 25, 2010 [here]
A federal judge Monday dismissed a lawsuit brought by horse activists that sought to halt the roundups of wild horses in Nevada and the stockpiling of the animals in Midwestern facilities.
District Judge Paul L. Friedman in Washington, D.C., dismissed the lawsuit against government agencies by In Defense of Animals, Nevada wildlife ecologist Craig Downer and Verdi children’s author Terri Farley on the grounds that the parties did not have standing to take legal action in the matter of holding the horses in a long-term facility and because the roundup in the Calico area of Nevada ended in February.
“We remain confident in the merits of our case and look forward to pursuing this legal issue in the near future,” said William J. Spriggs, lead counsel for Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney. “The Bureau of Land Management’s practice of removing horses from the Western range and warehousing them in Midwestern holding facilities is flat out illegal, and the judge’s preliminary ruling in this regard was correct.”
BLM officials said they are withholding comment until they study the decision.
The lawsuit sought to stop a roundup of 2,500 wild horses from the half-million-acre herd management Calico area complex, comprised primarily of publicly owned lands north of Gerlach. … [more]
Fresno judge lifts delta pumping restrictions
By John Ellis, The Fresno Bee, May 26, 2010 [here]
A federal judge in Fresno on Tuesday temporarily lifted Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta pumping restrictions designed to help endangered salmon, siding with urban and agricultural water users who said the move would not harm the fish.
The order by U.S. District Judge Oliver W. Wanger will be in place until June 15. For west-side agriculture — including farmers and ranchers in the Westlands Water District — that could mean an extra 200,000 acre-feet of water, said Tom Birmingham, Westlands’ general manager.
In real-world terms, he added, it will mean an additional 75,000 acres of farmland could be put back into production — and with it more people put to work.
“I am thrilled with the ruling,” he said.
But in the complicated world of water law, whether the increased water deliveries actually happen is still unclear.
Pumping restrictions designed to protect another threatened fish, the tiny delta smelt, have been on the back burner because they are less restrictive than those covering the salmon. But now that the salmon restrictions have been lifted, “in theory, the smelt restrictions should limit” pumping, said Doug Obegi, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, which opposed the water users’ request.
Even Birmingham admitted as much, saying the possibility exists that the smelt pumping restrictions could wipe out every drop of water gained by Tuesday’s ruling. … [more]
Monument concerns prompt meeting
Illinois Valley News, May 26, 2010 [here]
Tuesday afternoon, May 18, Josephine County Commissioner Sandi Cassanelli traveled to Yreka, Calif. to attend a five-hour meeting regarding a proposal to create the Siskiyou Crest National Monument.
The monument, being promoted by the Ashland-based Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center environmental group, would encompass more than 600,000 acres in Josephine and Jackson counties in Oregon, and Del Norte and Siskiyou counties in California.
Cassanelli said that other attendees at the meeting, held at the Yreka Community Theater, included Tom Kitchar, of the Waldo Mining District; Jackson County Commissioner C.W. Smith, and representatives from U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management Medford office.
Another attendee was Rob Patridge from the office of 2nd District Congressman Greg Walden (R-Oregon).
Siskiyou County officials are concerned that designation of a monument would limit various activities on public land in the area, Cassanelli said. They could include grazing, logging, mining and riding all-terrain vehicles. Fire suppression issues also are important to county officials, she added.
Another fear, Cassanelli said, is that President Obama possibly could use the American Antiquities Act of 1906 to establish the monument without an open public process.
“It’s out of BLM’s control if the president declares a monument,” Cassanelli said.
The five-hour meeting was attended by more than 400 people, Cassanelli said. A hand count was taken to determine how many people were in support of the monument proposal, she said, and only one person expressed that sentiment.
Officials from the counties that would be affected by the monument designation are planning to submit documentation of their opposition to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, Cassanelli said.
“Now is the time for us to band together,” she said. “If we do it together, there’s some hope.”
Signs of Global Cooling
Late spring snowstorm surprises Utahns
KSL.com, May 24th, 2010 [here]
SALT LAKE CITY — Many Utahns woke up to a blanket of snow Monday morning. The wet and slushy weather caused a few problems throughout the day, but the late storm was mostly an inconvenience.
The storm produced the latest spring snow ever recorded at Salt Lake City International Airport. It arrived late Sunday night and produced huge, heavy snowflakes as Salt Lake City commuters arrived for work Monday morning. … [more]
Record low of 32 set at Spokane airport today
by Mike Prager, The Spokesman-Review, May 24, 2010 [here]
Cool spring weather continues across the Inland Northwest with a record low of 32 at Spokane International Airport this morning.
Forecasters said they do not see any kind of big warm up through this week.
This morning’s weather began with a freeze warning from the National Weather Service, and many locations saw cold temperatures. Spokane International Airport had a temperature of 32 degrees, which breaks the old record of 35 set in 1975. … [more]
Cold weather isn’t imaginary … we’re setting records for late spring
The Sacramento Bee, May 24, 2010 [here]
Northern California matched or broke cold records from Redding to Stockton this weekend, the National Weather Service reported Sunday.
And more cold — and likely rain — is on its way.
In fact, the region is facing the coldest spell for this late in the season in more than a half century. … [more]
Brazilian Coffee Crops May Face Frost Next Week
By Lucia Kassai, Business Week, May 24, 2010 [here]
(Bloomberg) — Coffee crops in Brazil, the world’s largest producer and exporter of the bean, may be harmed by frost next week as a cold air mass approaching the southeast of the country pushes temperatures down, a forecaster said.
The cold front from the South Pole may damage arabica coffee plantations in some areas of the South of Minas Gerais, the country’s biggest coffee-producing region, said Expedito Rebello, head of research at the government’s Meteorology Institute, known as Inmet. … [more]
Coral reefs off Fla. Keys already at risk, now under oil threat
By KATY BISHOP, Scripps Howard News Service, 05/24/2010 [here]
… This past winter’s cold spells had “drastic” effects on corals, and experts have just begun to collect data on the loss of corals that resulted, Ruzicka added.
Corals that were 200 to 300 years old and perfectly healthy died during the five-day cold snap in January, said Causey. … [more]
County passes ordinance opposing designation of Otero Mesa as a national monument
By Laura London, Alamogordo Daily News, 5/22/2010 [here]
After about two hours of spirited discussion during a public hearing Thursday night, the Otero County Commission passed an ordinance opposing the designation of Otero Mesa as a national monument.
The commission moved the meeting from its usual place in the county administrative building to the commission’s larger former chambers in the county courthouse to accommodate the crowd that was expected. The room was full, with most people standing along the walls because there weren’t enough chairs.
A news release issued from Gov. Bill Richardson’s office March 18 states the Obama administration may be considering 14 sites across the West for national monument status, including Otero Mesa. President Obama could make Otero Mesa a national monument by executive order by invoking the Antiquities Act, according to discussions at previous county meetings.
Commission Chairman Doug Moore opened discussion at the regular meeting Thursday by saying he was opposed to the process that could be used to create the monument, a presidential signature without any local input or due process.
“I think that is at the heart of my opposition to the creation,” Moore said. “There may very well be some well-founded reasons for that area to be considered. I believe it inappropriate to do that consideration without local process and consideration of local custom and culture.”
Commissioner Clarissa McGinn agreed, and said passing the ordinance would require any agency to come to the county and local citizens first before taking action to create a national monument on Otero Mesa.
“I consider it a preemptive action so that we can all be involved before that were to happen, with our input,” McGinn said. … [more]
Backers of dam-removal plan fail at polls
Mallams: ‘Our elected officials aren’t listening’
By MITCH LIES, Capital Press , May 24, 2010 [here]
That combination of political stances on Klamath County commission candidate Dennis Linthicum’s website was a winning combination — particularly the part about opposing the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, which calls for removing four dams on the Klamath River.
Opposition to dam removal helped the political newcomer win nearly 63 percent of the vote in the May 18 Klamath County Republican primary to unseat longtime commissioner John Elliott.
Elliott has been a supporter of the dam agreement.
Linthicum now faces Democrat Kirk Oakes in the general election.
Rep. Bill Garrard, R-Klamath Falls, who also opposes the agreement and dam removal, scored a convincing win May 18, securing 64 percent of the vote in the Republican primary for House District 56.
His opponent, wheat farmer Karl Scronce, supports the agreement.
“The people have spoken,” said Tom Mallams, a Klamath County rancher and vocal opponent of dam removal.
Mallams pointed to three recent polls that show more than 65 percent of Klamath County voters oppose the agreement and dam removal. Still, he said, Klamath County commissioners endorsed the plan.
“Our elected officials aren’t listening to people,” Mallams said. “That is what the problem is.”
Scronce agreed that supporting dam removal is an unpopular position.
“I’m sure it played a role (in my defeat),” he said. “It had to have played a role.” … [more]
My moment of rock-star glory at a climate change sceptics’ conference in America
James Delingpole, Spectator.com.uk, 26th May 2010 [here]
Wow! Finally in my life I get to experience what it’s like to be a rock star and I’m loving every moment. OK, so the drugs are in pretty short supply. As too is the meaningless sex with nubile groupies. But what do I care, the crowd love me and I love them. God bless America! God bless the Heartland Institute’s Fourth International Conference on Climate Change!
You’d think it would be quite dull, a conference of 700 climate sceptics (or ‘realists’, as we prefer to call ourselves) cooped up for two and half days of intense panel sessions (‘Quantifying the Effects of Ocean Acidification on Marine Organisms’; ‘Green Eggs and Scam: the Myth of Green Jobs’; ‘Analysis of the Russian Segment of the HADCRUT3 Database’) and lectures (beginning at 7.30 a.m). But I haven’t had so much fun in years.
First, the hospitality. They know how to look after you, these right-leaning US think tanks — even modest-sized ones like the free-market Heartland Institute, which suffers the misfortune of being largely funded by private donors rather than — contrary to what you’re told by many greens — Big Oil, Big Carbon or Big Totally Evil. Food is good. Booze is plentiful. …
Forest Service may end ban on using firefighting aircraft at night
The head of the federal agency also tells a U.S. Senate panel that water-dropping helicopters would have been used on the first night of the Station fire had they been available
By Paul Pringle, Los Angeles Times, May 27, 2010 [here]
The head of the U.S. Forest Service told a Senate panel Wednesday that water-dropping helicopters would have been deployed during the critical first night of last summer’s disastrous Station blaze if they had been available and that the agency is considering ending its decades-long ban on using federal firefighting aircraft after dark.
Under sometimes pointed questioning by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Rep. Adam Schiff (D- Burbank), Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell also defended the agency’s handling of the fire the next morning, when a heavy aerial assault did not begin until several hours after daylight. He said aircraft alone would not have stopped the flames from racing through the Angeles National Forest.
Schiff later expressed doubt that an earlier air attack on Day 2 would have been ineffective because of steep terrain, as the Forest Service determined after an internal review. “The conclusion that it would not have helped anyway is a little too facile,” he said.
Schiff said he was confident that the Forest Service would resume flying at night, a tactic it abandoned in the 1970s after a fatal crash. “We are moving toward a change in policy,” he said.
Feinstein, who chairs the Senate subcommittee that held Wednesday’s hearing, said that equipping the Forest Service with night-flying aircraft is a “real priority,” especially in California. She said global warming and enduring droughts have heightened the danger of huge wildfires that threaten neighborhoods.
“Fires are not going to get better, they’re going to get worse,” she said. “The air assets are critical, and they have to be in place, they have to be accessible…. We have to do better.”
She noted that cost estimates for a new fleet of Forest Service air tankers exceed $1.5 billion but said she would push for the funding.
Tidwell said the Forest Service is weighing that option and several others for a return to flying during darkness, including an increased reliance on aircraft owned by local agencies, such as the Los Angeles County Fire Department, which routinely flies at night. He said recommendations could be released by year’s end.
Regarding the Station fire, which broke out on Aug. 26, Tidwell said, “If we would have had helicopters available that night, we would have used helicopters.”
He said the county department had turned down an informal Forest Service request to assign a night-flying copter to the fire. County Chief Deputy John Tripp, however, said in a subsequent interview that there is no record of the request.
Tripp also disputed a Forest Service account that a county chopper left the blaze the first night because it was needed for non-fire medical evacuations. He said the copter actually went to the fire after a medical call and left when the Forest Service released all choppers at nightfall.
“They have their facts wrong,” Tripp said.
The Forest Service will look into the matter further, spokesman David Sandretti said. “There’s a conflict,” he said. … [more]
EPA Offers Cash for Propaganda
by Alex Newman, The New American, 28 April 2010 [here]
The Environmental Protection Agency is offering thousands of taxpayer dollars and free publicity to whoever produces the most compelling pro-government-regulation propaganda, it announced on its website and in a YouTube video.
“Almost every aspect of our lives is touched by federal regulations,” the contest announcement correctly points out. “Even before you leave the house in the morning, government regulations help set the price of the coffee you drink, the voltage of electricity your alarm clock uses, and the types of programming allowed on the morning news.”
But rather than point out the total lack of constitutional authority for said rules — or the growing regulation-induced economic burden shouldered by struggling American families and businesses — the EPA is bribing citizens and legal residents to create propaganda promoting the “importance” of the thousands of arbitrary edicts spewed forth by Leviathan’s myriad bureaucracies.
“Create a short video, not to exceed 90 seconds in length, explaining why rules are important” urges the EPA’s online announcement. Additionally, the video should discuss “why the average American should care about federal regulations.” Presumably, a threat of jail time or over a trillion dollars in wasted “compliance” costs are not the reasons being sought for why people should care. To be eligible for the prize, the entry must also direct viewers to www.regulations.gov, a federal website which touts itself as “your online source for U.S. government regulations from nearly 300 federal agencies.” … [more]
Wolves take calves from inside barn pen
AG Week, May 17 2010 [here]
FARGO, N.D. — Gary Leonhardt says he’s seen the height of boldness.
Officials have confirmed that two wolves came onto his farm near Waskish, Minn., three miles east of Upper Red Lake. They crawled through a cattle gate and went into his cow barn to kill three of his newborn calves.
“I’ve never seen that before, never heard of it,” Leonhardt says.
Leonhardt is happy with quick responses from federal wildlife officials, who say wolf complaints this year are running about double the normal amount because of an unusually early spring that makes deer harder for the wolves to catch and kill.
Leonhardt hopes get state compensation for the calf loss, a total of about $2,100. He’s a bit worried about the timeliness of the compensation, considering Minnesota’s budget woes.
Leonhardt says the whole things surprised him.
The majority of Leonhardt’s cows are out on pasture now, but he’s still feeding hay on those pastures for another couple of weeks. About 30 of his cows have not yet calved.
At 7:30 p.m. May 10, he put three newborn calves in a calving pen in his barn.
“One of the calves was 3 days old, the other two were a day old,” says Leonhardt, 59. “Their mother was on the other side of the gate. I turned the mothers out to eat and have water for the night. Then I’d turn the calves back out in the morning.”
At 6:30 a.m. May 11, when Leonhardt went to the barn to let them out, all thee calves were dead — gutted or torn in pieces. Tracks told him there were two wolves — one with paw prints 4 inches across and then a smaller wolf had prints 3 inches across.
The cattle gate allowed less than a foot between the bars. He’d left the solid door open on the north side of the structure for air circulation. On the south side of the barn were the mothers and the cows that hadn’t yet calved. … [more]
Bipartisan effort needed to fight bark beetles
By SEN. JIM RISCH and SEN. MARK UDALL, the Idaho Mtn Express, May 21, 2010 [here]
Bark beetles ravaging Western forests are neither Democrat nor Republican. Responding to the impacts they have created demands similar bipartisanship. That’s why we have joined together to introduce legislation to help respond to the threats posed by this natural disaster.
We understand that the federal government cannot combat this threat alone. So, our proposal encourages and promotes the assistance of a viable local timber industry.
The timber industry provides jobs and helps our local rural economies. When timber cutting is done responsibly, it can promote forest health by thinning dense stands and establishing diverse age classes—conditions that help trees rebuff insects, withstand drought and reduce catastrophic wildfire. Nature itself performs this role, but for more than a century humans have affected these natural cycles.
Beetle-killed trees nevertheless provide a source of potentially useful timber for harvesting. Tax incentives can encourage the productive use of removed trees to generate heat and electricity and produce transportation fuels while reducing the costs of clearing overgrowth to reduce fire threats.
Congress helped by passing the Healthy Forest Restoration Act of 2003, which streamlined the processes for timber harvesting projects. But clearly, we can do more.
That’s why we have introduced the National Forest Insect and Disease Emergency Act. This bipartisan bill would go further than the 2003 act by focusing limited resources in beetle-killed areas. Our bill would also create incentives to productively use removed trees for energy production and other non-building materials, and thereby make them more economically valuable and attractive for commercial harvesting.
The bill would also promote more effective “stewardship contracting,” which reduces the costs of removing the dead trees and helps make this wood more attractive as a commodity. And as they can be written for up to 10 years, these contracts can provide more certainty and ensure a relatively stable supply of timber to support commercial operations.
The bill would also permanently authorize timber harvesters to come onto Forest Service land adjacent to nonfederal land where harvesting or other treatment work is also occurring. This so-called “good neighbor” authority further uses the private sector to reduce fire threats and protect homes, infrastructure, watersheds and other community assets. … [more]
Wallowa County ranchers report wolf kill No. 4 in 15 days
East Oregonian Publishing Group 5/21/2010 [here]
Todd and Angie Nash, owners of Marr Flat Cattle Co., are the fourth Wallowa County ranchers in 15 days to suffer wolf kills of their livestock. One of their calves was killed sometime Thursday, May 20.
Marlyn Riggs, USDA Wildlife Services wolf hunter, confirmed the wolf kill after inspecting the site where the partially eaten remains of the calf were found about 10 miles east of Wallowa Lake in the Cat’s Back area.
Nash had checked his cattle that morning and then went to a meeting of cattlemen, county commissioners, Wallowa County Sheriff Fred Steen and Rep. Greg Smith, R-Heppner, to discuss the issue of Oregon Fish and Wildlife officials’ refusal to abide by Wildlife Service findings on wolf kills.
When Nash rechecked the pasture at 1 p.m., he found the kill.
“I saw a cow that I suspected had a dead calf on the morning before the meeting. That’s why I went back up there. I had an inkling,” he said. “When I went back up I saw a couple of golden eagles on the carcass and kicked them off and called Fred Steen and Marlyn Riggs.”
According to Steen and Nash, Riggs was able to identify trauma and bite marks on the carcass and wolf tracks and scat were found nearby.
ODFW Biologist Vic Coggins represented his agency at the site inspection, but could not reveal his determination until after consulting with his superiors. Late Friday, ODFW announced that it had determined the kill was done by a wolf or wolves. “ODFW is considering next steps to avoid more livestock losses,” spokeswoman Michelle Denehy said. “Under Oregon Administrative Rules guiding responses to wolf depredation, the department may issue permits to landowners allowing them to injuriously haze wolves or to shoot wolves “caught in the act” of biting, wounding or killing but not testing or scavenging livestock.”
Steen has taken possession of the remains of the Nash calf as he did with the Makin calf killed May 16. Steen has vowed to treat all wolf predation as a matter of public safety. Although Nash’s calf was killed in a remote location, several ranchers have reported wolves within sight of their homes and say that the wolves simply stand and look at them until they fire a gun in the air or pursue them with a motor vehicle. Several ranchers have said publicly that they no longer allow their children to check the cattle out of fear for their safety.
On May 5, ODFW confirmed Bob Lathrop’s calf was killed by wolves but has refused to confirm that wolves killed the calves of Tom and Lori Schaafsma on May 13 or Kirk and Liz Makin on May 16. ODFW Wolf Program Coordinator Russ Morgan did not examine the kill site in any of the last three cases.
Although this the fourth kill confirmed by Wildlife Services, Nash and other ranchers have been complaining for months that previously pregnant cows pastured on remote locations are found without calves. Other ranchers have reported that they did not call in suspected kills because the carcass did not match ODFW’s classification of a “textbook” wolf kill. … [more]
Orcas sighting near Longview
Tom Paulu, Longview Daily News, 05/22/10 [here]
LONGVIEW — Scott White had stopped for construction on Ocean Beach Highway just west of Longview on Monday and was passing time sitting on the guardrail.
Then, he’s sure, he saw a couple of killer whales surface about 25 feet off the river bank.
“It happened so fast,” White said. “Up they came and took a breather, and then I didn’t see them no more.”
White is positive they were orcas, not the sea lions and seals commonly seen in the Columbia.
“You don’t see a white-and-black seal, and they ain’t 20 feet long,” he said.
White, who was stopped for highway construction near Germany Creek, surmises it was a mother and calf following the spring chinook run up the river.
Experts say that killer whales indeed might appear that far up the Columbia, more than 50 river miles from its mouth.
Brad James, a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife fisheries biologist in the Vancouver office, said that in the 1980s he saw a pod of killer whales in the Columbia below the Megler-Astoria bridge. Co-workers have seen orcas in the Columbia River Estuary, but James said he hasn’t heard of them as far upstream as Germany Creek, which is well above the river’s salt water zone.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re in there,” said Dyanna Lambourn, a WDFW biologist who works with marine mammals. She said salmon would draw them into the river.
Her office hadn’t received any reports of orcas in the Columbia. … [more]