July 2006, Newsletter #12 Welcome to THE RED LODGE CLEARINGHOUSE, the full-service information source for collaborative groups throughout the Interior west committed to resolving resource-use conflicts. Climate change is beginning to dominate the news. A report commissioned by the House science committee's chairperson, Sherwood Boehlert, recognizes that spiking temperatures are indeed real. Another study finds that rising temperatures are more to blame for the West's catastrophic wildfires than forest management practices. US Congress starts to believe in climate change NEW SCIENTIST, 07/12/06 In Washington, DC they are starting to believe. A report commissioned by Congress from the National Academy of Sciences has concluded that the controversial "hockey stick" graph of global warming is real, and that the spike in temperatures has probably been caused by human activity. SEE FULL STORY >> Global warming amplifies Western forest fire seasons – study BY DAN BERMAN, GREENWIRE, 07/06/06 Global warming, not poor forest management, is responsible for accelerating catastrophic Western forest fires over the past 35 years, a new federally funded report states. SEE FULL STORY >> Climate changes put national parks at risk BY PAUL NUSSBAUM, BILLINGS GAZETTE, 07/18/06 Global warming is erasing the glaciers from Glacier National Park and the Joshua trees from Joshua Tree National Park, and may turn the Everglades into the Neverglades. SEE FULL STORY >> Matador Ranch — Grass banking and endangered species MORE ABOUT THE MATADOR RANCH >> BY JIM ROBBINS, NEW YORK TIMES, 07/11/06 Dale Veseth slowly drives a pickup over dirt tracks studded with small boulders, across a prairie that the word expansive does not begin to describe. The blanket of spring-green grass stretches 40 or 50 miles in every direction, and there is not a tree in sight. SEE FULL STORY >> MORE ABOUT GRASS BANKING >> Pronghorn migration corridor at risk MORE ABOUT TRAPPER'S POINT >> BILLINGS GAZETTE (AP), 07/11/06 Scientists for the Wildlife Conservation Society and National Park Service say that protection of an annual pronghorn migration corridor is both feasible and necessary due to its invariable nature and narrow width. "If obstructed, whether by petroleum development, housing or other factors, an entire population from a national park will be eliminated, leaving a conspicuous gap in the function of native predator-prey interactions there," said the report. SEE FULL STORY >> Blackfoot Challenge wins award, $100,000 grant MORE ON THE BLACKFOOT CHALLENGE >> BY PERRY BACKUS, THE MISSOULIAN, 07/10/06 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Partners for Fish and Wildlife program and its cooperative approach to conservation in the Blackfoot River watershed will be recognized Monday with a prestigious award that includes a $100,000 grant. SEE FULL STORY >> USFWS: No critical habitat in Southwest for jaguar ARIZONA DAILY STAR (AP), 07/13/06 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Wednesday that it will not designate critical habitat for the endangered jaguar in the Southwest. U.S. habitat for the animal makes up less than 1 percent of the species' range and is not critical to conserve it, the agency said. Thus, it doesn't meet the requirements of the Endangered Species Act for designating critical habitat. SEE FULL STORY >> MORE ON THE MALPAI BORDELANDS GROUP >> Draft plan calls for more grizzlies in the Cabinets BY PERRY BACKUS, THE MISSOULIAN, 07/07/06 The state of Montana's new grizzly bear management plan would supplement bear numbers in the Cabinet-Yaak ecosystem, stay the course in the Northern Continental Divide and get people ready for bears to show up someday in the Bitterroot Mountains. SEE FULL STORY >> MORE ON BITTERROOT GRIZZLY REINTRODUCTION >> Ranchers band together to stave off development BY NANCY PERKINS, DESERET NEWS, 07/16/06 Sandy Webster says his memories of lambing and herding sheep with his family are among his most cherished possessions. While life as a sheep rancher hasn't always been easy, it's the only one he has ever wanted. That lifestyle is a part of southern Utah's heritage that he'd like to preserve, for generations to come. SEE FULL STORY >> New collaborative group tackles county-wide forest & wildfire management issues in southern Oregon GRANTS PASS NEWS, 07/13/06 As the 2006 wildfire season heats up around southwestern Oregon, Josephine County Integrated Fire Plan (JCIFP) partners announce the recent formation of the Josephine County Stewardship Group, a collaborative forum to address stewardship contracting opportunities on public and private lands throughout the county. SEE FULL STORY >> MORE ON STEWARDSHIP CONTRACTING >> Rare alliance would protect land in Sierra BY ZACHARY COLE, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, 07/10/06 An unusual alliance of off-road vehicle enthusiasts, environmentalists and local officials in the Eastern Sierra has crafted a deal to set aside more than 40,000 acres of wilderness near Yosemite National Park, which lawmakers are calling a model of how to build consensus to protect public lands. SEE FULL STORY >> MORE ON RECREATION-FOCUSED COLLABORATION >> Sportsmen's group proposes wildlife coalition BY JEFF GEARINO, CASPER STAR-TRIBUNE, 07/09/06 A sportsmen's group is joining the growing call to halt leasing and drilling in the Wyoming Range in western Wyoming. Officials with the Wyoming Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife are proposing to form a sportsmen's coalition to work with landowners, oil and gas industry officials, and state and federal agencies to help protect wildlife resources in the Wyoming Range. SEE FULL STORY >> Enviro groups buy out commercial permits in California GREENWIRE, 06/28/06 In an effort to curtail the damaging effects of certain fishing methods, two environmental groups announced yesterday that they have bought out several fishing operations along the California coast. SEE FULL STORY >> Visit our web site to read about the Elk Collaborative, an Idaho effort that generated numerous consensus recommendations on elk habitat, but failed to reach agreement on predator management. RED LODGE CLEARINGHOUSE HOME PAGE >> HOME PAGE  |   CONTACT US