April 2007, Newsletter #21 Welcome to THE RED LODGE CLEARINGHOUSE, the full-service information source for collaborative groups throughout the Interior West committed to resolving resource-use conflicts. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its latest report on April 6th and it seems that the world has changed forever. Small matters that we at Red Lodge considered defining for collaborative management of our nation's public lands and waters exploded into large matters — energy policy requiring top-down policies, the threat of ongoing drought, probable lowland flooding, watersheds and ocean currents cutting new geographic courses, the certainty of mass species extinction. Just as the smaller matters we at Red Lodge deal with, a respect for sound science, a determination to find fair solutions, and a dedication to work cooperatively are all imperative. Skokomish Watershed Action Team We reintroduce the SWAT program and Mike Anderson of The Wilderness Society as paradigms of how collaboration can and should work. Our website home page will tell the current story in greater detail, but we feel it required to remind our "big" policy makers that they're late in coming to grips with our bigger potential problems, and that the spirit to face them must be grounded in good authoritative information, focused leadership, broad public input and access to key policy makers. That's the SWAT way and that's why it works. Members of the group were asked what they considered the key to their success — no surprises — focus, action once a plan is agreed upon, outreach for member input, outreach for political support, close and supportive relationship with the Forest Service — and always — leadership. VISIT OUR HOME PAGE >> READ MORE ABOUT SWAT >> Taking aim at hunters' ammo BY MATT KETTMANN, TIME MAGAZINE, 04/04/07 Ever since the ancient Romans realized their plumbing was giving them gout, lead has been bad news. The plentiful-but-toxic metal has been banned by the federal government in everything from paint and water pipes to food containers and gasoline. And now, one of the poisonous element's last footholds in American culture — the ammunition used by the 25 million people who hunt for sport and food — is being targeted, as states across the country consider enacting bans on the use of lead for hunting. SEE FULL STORY >> Lead bullets under fire in California BY JOSETTE BELARMINO, SONORA UNION DEMOCRAT, 03/27/07 In California, and Tuolumne and Calaveras counties especially, hunting is something revered by many generations, passed from father to son or daughter with a sense of pride and participation. However, a statewide issue has come into focus that may affect the "heart of the art," by forcing hunters to use non-lead bullets. SEE FULL STORY >> Proposal to ban lead bullets on hold till June BY KEVIN HOWE, MONTEREY HERALD, 04/14/07 A decision on whether to ban lead bullets in all or part of California has been put off until June by the state Fish and Game Commission. The commission, meeting in Bodega Bay on Friday, heard testimony on the proposal to eliminate use of bullets or buckshot containing lead to take big game in the state to protect scavenging California condors from getting lead poisoning by swallowing bullet fragments in carcasses or gut piles of animals shot by hunters. SEE FULL STORY >> Ex-BLM official raps oil, gas focus BY NOELLE STRAUB, CASPER STAR-TRIBUNE, 04/18/07 WASHINGTON — A former Bureau of Land Management state director testified Tuesday that energy development has become the predominant use of public lands wherever oil and gas resources exist and that BLM policies facilitate development to the near exclusion of other priorities. SEE FULL STORY >> EPA, DEQ RAP ANTICLINE PLAN >> Drill or hunt? BY NOELLE STRAUB, JACKSON HOLE STAR-TRIBUNE, 03/28/07 WASHINGTON -- Hunters and anglers face growing restrictions on access to public lands and waters because energy development has taken priority over wildlife and habitat protection, conservationists and labor leaders testified Tuesday. "Throughout the country, working men and woman are having a harder time finding public access to hunting and fishing areas, and those that are still available are often experiencing a decrease in the quality and quantity of fish and game," said William Hite, president of a plumbing and pipe-fitting trade union. SEE FULL STORY >> How fast on the Anticline? BY WHITNEY ROYSTER, CASPER STAR-TRIBUNE, 04/03/07 JACKSON — Scientists and environmental groups' consultants say a proposal to dramatically increase natural gas drilling on the Pinedale Anticline is rushed and lacks assurances the environment will be protected. Industry representatives, meanwhile, say the intense, year-round development would allow extraction of gas to be over more quickly, meaning areas could be reclaimed faster. They also say their plans call for use of technologies and practices intended to reduce impact to the environment. SEE FULL STORY >> Have we ‘nuked’ Pinedale’s big game herds? BY WILLIAM ALLDREDGE, NEW WEST, 04/02/07 William Alldredge, professor emeritus from Colorado State University (a renowned training ground for government and independent field scientists in the West) weighs in with this guest essay that calls the BLM under further scrutiny. Will the BLM respond with an explanation for why it justifies further drilling when its own analysis shows that expanding the footprint of drilling will likely displace animals from vital habitat? SEE FULL STORY >> Drilling critics get D.C. hearing BY JUDITH KOHLER, CASPER STAR-TRIBUNE, 03/25/07 DENVER — Congress is asking Westerners to talk about their efforts to protect wildlife and the interests of hunters and anglers in the face of the energy boom cascading through the Rockies from Montana to New Mexico. A Wyoming man is among seven people, including an energy company official, invited to speak Tuesday before the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources. The topic: Conflicts between sportsmen and energy developers on federal lands. SEE FULL STORY >> Former FWS director warns of oil and gas drilling threat BY DAN BERMAN, LAND LETTER, 03/29/07 Action should be taken to reform the pace and manner of mining and energy drilling on public lands in the intermountain West, according to a former Fish and Wildlife Service director Steve Williams, who appeared before the House Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday. Williams said the increase in energy development on Bureau of Land Management lands is a problem. "More troubling than the pace of development is the manner in which it is conducted," he added. SEE FULL STORY >> Rockies wolf population reached 1,300 in 2006 BY ARTHUR O'DONNELL, LAND LETTER, 03/22/07 An annual count of gray wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountain area shows that there are now about 1,300 wolves in at least 173 packs (two or more adults) living in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Some 86 of those packs include a breeding pair — defined as a male and female adult and two or more pups — making 2006 the seventh year in a row in which more than 30 breeding pairs have been documented. SEE FULL STORY >> READ THE ANNUAL INTERAGENCY WOLF MANAGEMENT REPORT >> Fencing, range riders, guard animals show some promise in safeguarding livestock BY MIKE STARK, BILLINGS GAZETTE, 04/15/07 McLEOD — Barbed wire used to be the only thing keeping Emma Ellison's cows from the Baker Mountain wolf pack. This spring, there's a stiffer line of defense: electrified wire draped with red strips of flagging. "It you touch your nose on it, it'll get your attention," said Brian Finnan, Ellison's friend and neighbor who helps keep an eye on the place. SEE FULL STORY >> Feds plan another wolf concession BY WHITNEY ROYSTER, JACKSON HOLE STAR-TRIBUNE, 03/31/07 JACKSON — One of the major stumbling blocks preventing removal of federal protection for wolves in Wyoming appears to be crumbling, as the federal government has agreed to review a policy allowing wolves to be killed if they are hurting wildlife. Wyoming's inability to kill wolves to protect elk before delisting has been one of the primary unmet demands by Gov. Dave Freudenthal and other state officials in negotiations with federal officials regarding wolf management. SEE FULL STORY >> We found the subject of executive regulations bypassing the legislative branch fertile enough to warrant further discussion, see our home page for more on this subject. Bush bypasses Senate for controversial recess appointment BY LAUREN MORELLO, E&E NEWS PM, 04/04/07 President Bush appointed a controversial nominee today to the Office of Management and Budget's top regulatory post. Bush's recess appointment of Susan E. Dudley, formerly of the industry-affiliated Mercatus Center at George Mason University, comes after objections from Senate Democrats scuttled a vote on the nomination in December, at the end of the 109th Congress. SEE FULL STORY >> Rulings go against administration BY JEFF BARNARD, CASPER STAR-TRIBUNE (AP), 04/17/07 GRANTS PASS, Ore. — A string of federal court rulings in recent weeks has gone against Bush administration environmental policies, and critics say they are proof that the White House regularly circumvents laws designed to protect the nation's air, water, forests and endangered species. SEE FULL STORY >> New guidance minimizes species' historic range in listing decisions BY ALLISON WINTER, GREENWIRE, 03/19/07 The Bush administration is promoting a new interpretation of the Endangered Species Act that would allow agencies to protect plants and animals where they exist today rather than throughout their historic range. Interior Solicitor David Bernhardt outlined the interpretation in a memorandum Friday that says the Fish and Wildlife Service should only apply ESA protections only where a species is directly in danger. SEE FULL STORY >> Bush admin wants to give states more control over protections BY ALLISON WINTER, LAND LETTER, 03/29/07 Following a firestorm of criticism over a leaked document detailing possible changes to regulations implementing the Endangered Species Act, Bush administration officials this week provided some confirmation of expected policy directions but cautioned that the document made public by environmental activists was a stale draft. SEE FULL STORY >> READ THE DRAFT DOCUMENT >> Trout Unlimited yanks proposed policy change on stream access BY GREG LEMON, NEW WEST, 03/26/07 Trout Unlimited is reconsidering a recent proposal to pull itself out of the stream access debates around the country. Last Thursday, Trout Unlimited’s board of trustees decided to pull the resolution presented by chairman, Bob Teufel, said Steve Moyer, vice president for volunteer operations and government affairs. Instead the board recommended forming an ad-hoc committee to review the issue over the summer and make a recommendation to the board of trustees on Aug. 15, Moyer said. SEE FULL STORY >> FINDING THE NEXUS BETWEEN ACCESS AND CONSERVATION >> TU PROPOSES BACKING OUT OF STREAM ACCESS DEBATE >> Public will have its stream access EDITORIAL, THE MISSOULIAN, 04/18/07 Where there's a will, there's always a way. And with public will in Montana so clearly focused on protecting the constitutional right of stream access, you can count on people finding a way to do just that. SEE FULL STORY >> HOME PAGE  |   CONTACT US