Help Bring Wolves Back to Oregon and Protect Them!!

YOU ARE NEEDED THIS THURSDAY FEB. 10TH!!!  LAST CHANCE TO TESTIFY IN FAVOR OF WOLF PROTECTION IN OREGON!!!  ANTI WOLF FOLKS WILL BE THERE IN NUMBERS, WE MUST BE THERE FOR THE WOLVES!!!  IF NOT YOU, THEN WHO???

In 1963 bounty hunters killed what was thought to be the last native wolf in Oregon, closing the book on a sorry chapter in our state’s history. In recent years there have been instances in which gray wolves crossed over the Snake River from Idaho into Eastern Oregon, only to be removed and killed. These majestic predators are missing from our state’s ecological balance to keep other animals in check and to improve habitat.

Because gray wolves may again attempt the crossing, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife recently began work on a plan for how to recover and manage wolf populations. A draft of this “Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management Plan” has been released and is currently out for public comment. To see it, go to: www.dfw.state.or.us/wolves/main.html.

The plan is a good start to managing the wolf as it returns to its previous habitat, but it needs strengthening. Here is where you come in!

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

1) Testify at the LAST Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission hearing       

Date: Thursday, February 10, 2005 (LAST CHANCE!!)

Time: 1:00-5:00pm

Location:  Sam Cox Annex Building, 1106 E. Columbia River Highway, Troutdale 

(Directions: >From the East or West, take I-84 to exit 18. Exit and turn left onto Crown Point Hwy. Go 1/2 mile and turn right onto E. Columbia River Hwy. Building is at 1/4 mi.) 

Some carpools will depart from the Sierra Club office at 2950 SE Stark at 12:15 pm. on Thursday. Please RSVP to Ivan Maluski at 503-243-6656, x304 if you can drive others or need a ride to

IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT THAT PRO WOLF VOICES BE HEARD! You are encouraged to testify and will have 3 minutes. Please let the Commission know that you support the plan but that you want wolf protections to be strengthened (see points below). It is recommended that you arrive well before the start time to sign up to speak.  The wolf gods will smile upon you!!!

2) Comment on the Plan!

Send in your written comments on the Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management plan by mail, e-mailed or fax. Comments are due February 10 ^th, 2005:

ODFW

Information and Education Division

3406 Cherry Avenue NE

Salem , OR 97303-4924

Fax: 503-947-6009

E-mail: Odfw.Comments@... (In the subject line, type: Wolf Comments)

Here are a few talking points we suggest you include in your public comments - written or oral.  Most importantly, speak from your heart:

Ø     Increase the number of mating pairs to at least 10 on both sides of the state before the wolf is de-listed.

Ø     There should be no harassment or killing of wolves on public land; our public lands should be managed with wildlife first.

Ø     Do not allow private industry interests to upset the delicate balance struck by the 12 member Wolf Advisory Committee that guided the draft of the plan.

Ø     Non-lethal controls and improved husbandry should be required for compensation and before any lethal actions are taken by livestock owners

For more information go to the Oregon Chapter web site at: www.oregon.sierraclub.org/conserv/wildlife/index.asp or email Patrick Shannon at pwshannon@....

THANK YOU!!!!

Formerly "RangeBiome's Headlines", RangeTree County is the cyberspace equivalent of a "clipping service" providing a  periodic sample of news believed to be of interest to RangeBiome's audience.

February 20, 2005

• NCBA Remains Firm in Opposition to Grazing Permit Buyouts

• Interior report slams grazing deal

  • Judicial Nominee Criticized: Actions at Interior Dept. Questioned by Inspector General

  • Bush Judicial Nominee Involved in Controversial Grazing Deal

  • Freshman Dem senator's independent streak gets new test

  • Myers' position on public lands grazing, 2002 debate (RealVideo, 29 minutes, 48mb download)

    • Audio transcript of 2002 public lands grazing debate (RealAudio, 85 minutes, 7mb download)

• Grazing gets OK: Study says cattle on state land within refuge is acceptable

• Rangeland grazing fee committee meets Feb. 25 (OR)

• Panel plans for sage grouse future

  • BLM plan calls for more drilling

• Panel OKs fortifying Utah's land-use plan

• Forest Service grapples with Valle Vidal future

• Citizens hear overview of resource plan (Cascade-Siskiyou NM)

• Kansas Parks Trust takes over Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

• 2 million acres of New Mexico grasslands latest battleground over drilling

• Welcome back the wolves

• Prairie dogs focus of grass shortage dilemma: Ranchers, environmentalists, federal government at odds

• Federal officials say ... Habitat designation will have little effect (southwestern willow flycatcher)

• Controversy over cattle guard illustrates a growing problem

• Fight of the Condors

• Investigators say Agriculture Department allowed imports of questionable meat

  • Utah House approves sealing records on livestock and disease

    • Legislation in 2 states would let sick farms stay secret

  • Prosecution claims tonnes mad cow tainted meat eaten in Turkey

  • States fight to ban Canadian cattle

  • Canada, U.S. Urged to Test All Older Cattle for BSE

• Conditions easing in Fremont County, but drought not over yet (WY)

  • U.S. Drought Monitor (current map)

  • U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook (current map)

  • Drought in the Interior West (multi-year chart)

• Do cows and tennis balls stoke global warming?

• Three Wilderness Bills Clear Senate Committee

• Can America's wild horses survive another four years of Bush?

• State suit says developer bladed protected plants, ancient ruins (AZ)

• Should Americans protect the 'Frankenfish?' Western county commissioners challenge the use of Endangered Species Act (Editorial Note: Their strategy is to attempt to intentionally misuse ESA in an attempt to kill it.)

  • Western officials seek species protection for Asian fish

• Forest Service Becoming Rogue Agency: Forty-Four Recent Court Rulings Find Environmental Lawbreaking

  • See the Forest Service summary of environmental cases it lost in FY 2003 and 2004 (PDF)

  • Forest Service Whistle Blowers

• Fish, wildlife scientists complain of interference

• European rights court condemns Britain in 'McLibel' case (Editorial Note: The euro is overtaking the dollar as the world's most desirable "reserve currency", and now it appears that maybe the EU is beginning to provide better protection of freedom of speech than the good old U. S. of A. Are we losing our position as "leader of the free world"?)

Formerly "RangeBiome's Headlines", RangeTree County is the cyberspace equivalent of a "clipping service" providing a  periodic sample of news believed to be of interest to RangeBiome's audience.

February 26, 2005

• Report blasts BLM deal with Thermop rancher

  • Judicial Nominee Cleared in BLM Case: Interior IG's Report Critical of Others

  • “Deflector General” Tries to Blame Myers’ Out-of-Control Subordinates

  • The full OIG report (PDF)

• Fed agency, N.M. group clash over bird release

  • Forest Guardians demands documents over falcon decisions

  • Elusive aplomado falcon finally makes an appearance

• Groups plan to sue Forest Service (prairie dogs & Buffalo Gap National Grassland)

• The noble pronghorn struggles to survive

• Gregoire will call for lands task force (State Lands, WA)

• Western South Dakota drought has gotten worse

  • U.S. Drought Monitor (current map)

  • U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook (current map)

  • Drought in the Interior West (multi-year chart)

• Canadians want U.S. to pay for beef ban

  • California sacred lands law triggers $50 million NAFTA claim

  • New clues to amyloidoses ?

  • Report touts centralized food safety rules

  • Ban on Older Canadian Cows Faces Challenge

  • Consumers Union Asks Feds to Retest Suspect Mad Cow After Crucial Test Omitted; USDA Urged to Follow Intl Recognized Procedures

  • Japan has 15th case of mad cow disease

• Location of CWD research facility causes public health concerns

• Film documents Forest Service history

• High court won't remove judge from suit 

  • Judge's plan for Indian trust money accounting back on

Formerly "RangeBiome's Headlines", RangeTree County is the cyberspace equivalent of a "clipping service" providing a  periodic sample of news believed to be of interest to RangeBiome's audience.

March 5, 2005

• Ranching With Lawyers: The deep-pocketed Chiltons stampede their cattle critics

• Soil fertility's fall from graze

• Cattlemen fear decision will affect industry: county committee rejects "open range" (CA)

• False arguments in grazing debate (AU)

  • Defy the welfare issues, look after cows at home (Ed. note: Some western U.S. ranchers could learn a lot from a "down-under" cattleman.)

• Bison quarantine: Officials use facility to fight brucellosis

• Fish and Wildlife agrees to review petition on pygmy rabbit

• USFS works on prairie dog plan

  • Ferret recovery still a fight: Plague-free South Dakota sites most successful in the nation

• State fish caught in political net (CA)

• Mad Cow's Stubborn Mystery: Scientists still know far too little about it -- and the feds are making rules in the dark

  • Judge Delays USDA Plan to Allow Imports of Cattle From Canada

  • School meal link to CJD

  • U.S. Senate votes against reopening border to Canadian cattle

  • States moving to keep mad cow investigations secret

  • Creekstone Farms sold to Sun Capital Partners investment firm

  • 12 mad-cow cases detected in Spain since January

  • U.S. to propose new int'l rule on beef trade

  • Researchers working on device to detect BSE in live cattle 

• Financing the farmer: A special report exploring farm and ranch subsidies
• Judge: Manure rules said not protecting water
• Lawsuit aims to halt guzzlers

• BLM Seeks Central California Resource Advisory Council Nominations

  • BLM seeking applicants for 17 positions (OR & WA)

• Old photos hold key to environmental changes

• Trust land reform collapses: SALT says it is 'disappointed' (AZ)

  • Trust land selloff?

• Wily coyotes enjoying buffet across country

• Mustangs face slaughter in wild west

• Welcome to Doomsday

Formerly "RangeBiome's Headlines", RangeTree County is the cyberspace equivalent of a "clipping service" providing a  periodic sample of news believed to be of interest to RangeBiome's audience.

March 12, 2005

• Expansion of cattle grazing stopped

• AZ: Judge Confirms $600,000 Libel Award and Finds Fault with Environmentalists

• Home on the range in Harney County (Editorial note: Sometimes I do see a speck of "common ground", small though that speck may be. I believe that both sides on the public lands grazing  issue are "...frustrated that they may be penalized for federal land managers' failure to build a complete and accurate record...")
• Tehama supervisors say no to open range
  • Cattlemen say proposal would keep costs down (Editorial note: State "open range" laws are all about externalizing ranchers' business costs onto other private landowners and drivers on public thoroughfares. There is no federal open range. )
• Idaho rancher first to kill wolf under new federal rule
• Wing Bee benefits sage grouse
• Forest Service seeks comment on prairie dog plan
  • Preliminary Prairie Dog Plan For S.D. Released
• Do partnerships drive ESA decisions?
• US Scientists Say They Are Told to Alter Findings
• Lawsuit filed on behalf of migrants allegedly assaulted ("...detaining thousands of illegal immigrants on property that he owns or holds grazing rights to.")
  • $32 million suit: Illegal immigrants claim sheriff, county businessman violated their civil rights
• No repeat of mysterious elk deaths so far this year
• Judge rejects meatpackers' bid resume Canadian cattle imports
  • Canada's Mad Cow Mystery (Editorial note: Conspiracy buffs will find this article interesting reading. Apparently the US right-wing does not have a lock on conspiracy theories, black helicopter sightings, and the like.)
  • American cattle producers hurting own industry
  • State cattle industry split on court decision: Some hope Canadian border stays closed, others fear long-term damage
  • R-CALF bought cheap cows in Canada; group's president says it's no 'big deal'
  • Brain Trust: The Hidden Connection Between Mad Cow and Misdiagnosed Alzheimer's Disease (book review)
  • Agriculture secretary sees inconsistency on beef imports
  • S.D. governor signs law allowing consumers to electronically track beef's origin (Editorial note: No more mystery meat? Hmmm, I wonder if my local WINCO or COSTCO will start carrying "South Dakota Branded Beef"?)
  • U.S. cattle ban expected to last a year
  • Panel: Ease blanket testing for BSE (Japan)
• Disease threat prompts elk plan
• New Report Addresses U.S.-Mexico Water-Resources Management
• Wood bison revival: Biologist hopes to restore a living relic of Alaska's past
• Government-Approved Slaughter
• Fourteen years in making, Sierra plan still challenged
• ACLU may fight Martin's Cove lease

Formerly "RangeBiome's Headlines", RangeTree County is the cyberspace equivalent of a "clipping service" providing a  periodic sample of news believed to be of interest to RangeBiome's audience.

March 19, 2005

• Ranchers watch and wait as wolf migration returns

• Scientists dig deep, find silt is culprit (Editorial Note: Digging deeper, it appears that silt is the symptom while cattle and sheep grazing may be the culprits in the decline of Australia's Great Barrier Reef!)

• Forest Service Releases Administrative Direction for New Planning Rule

• Ranchers can sign up for drought aid (SD)

  • USDA declares Humboldt state of emergency

  • U.S. Drought Monitor (current map)

  • U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook (current map)

  • Drought in the Interior West (multi-year chart)

• Governor raps Great Divide plan

  • Freudenthal asks BLM to clarify drilling agenda

• America's liquidation sales of wildlife habitat should worry all conservationists

• Few elk in Red Rim this year

• County deals with butterfly issue

• Brucellosis cattle infected wildlife

• Myers Vote Sets Up Senate Battle Over Bush Judicial Nominees

• U.S. officials mull legal options as deadline passes in Montana cattle case

  • Canadian, New York men charged in cattle smuggling

  • Swift action on vCJD needed

  • Bush uses rule book to roll back protections: Easing hand of government -- or a payoff to corporations?

  • Researcher plans discussion on 'mad cow' disease at ISU

  • US Rancher Group Seeks Aug. Trial on Canada Cattle

    • Montana Judge Sets July Hearing on Canada Cattle

    • Ag. Dept. Appeals Ruling on Canada Cattle

    • USDA seeks to overturn cattle trade injunction

  • Farming and your Freedom - It's a good thing we don't shoot at Canadians!

  • Debate over testing 100% of cattle heats up (Editorial note: While USDA did not "get it", maybe the Canadians do. Any country that can provide and export fully tested beef in large quantity is going to create their own "sellers' market", and reap the benefits of premium pricing well in excess of the costs of testing!)

  • Animal epidemic spreads to Badakhshan. "... Nearly 65% of the animal livestock in north-eastern Badakshan province have died after contracting a form of mad-cow disease..."

• Horse Evolution Followed Twisty Trail, Study Says

• Mass slaughter on barren Kasos

Formerly "RangeBiome's Headlines", RangeTree County is the cyberspace equivalent of a "clipping service" providing a  periodic sample of news believed to be of interest to RangeBiome's audience.

March 26, 2005

• BLM Updates Land Use Planning Handbook: Incorporates policy and guidance developed over past four years

• Enviros plan water monitoring

• Oil and Gas Thumper Trucks Set to Disturb Wyoming Wilderness

  • Hands on in the hills

  • Will no site be off-limits?

  • Officials OK plan to stock sage grouse by Strawberry

• Confusion arrives on wings of doves

• Chief accepts Wasatch-Cache plan

• Plan allows development in Southern California deserts

• Landowners in Western Nebraska Cited for Clean Water Act Violations

• Spring snow doesn't stick to ribs of drought (ND)

  • Drought reducing cattle numbers in southwestern North Dakota
  • U.S. Drought Monitor (current map)

  • U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook (current map)

  • Drought in the Interior West (multi-year chart)

• Japan holds firm on US beef ban

  • Saudi Bans Canada Beef Imports Over Mad Cow Fears

  • No warning given about beef from wrongly-slaughtered cattle

  • French woman may have had vCJD in 1971

    • NIH may destroy human brain collection (Editorial note: "Shredding" the evidence?)

  • Bill regulating mad cow reports OK'd (CO)

    • Cattle Disease Secrecy Bill Heads To Governor

• Wild horses or free-range meat?

• Stanley residents oppose land gifts for wilderness

• After 100 years, Forest Service still grappling with timber cutting and wildfire

• Farmers meet to study about how to be more environmentally friendly

• Neolithic find shows UAE desert site was once green

  • some recommended related background reading

• 'Fish at Risk from Pollution (UK)

• Boundary dispute heats up: Paiute Mesa rep to seek legal opinion on resident's unwanted chapter exchange

Formerly "RangeBiome's Headlines", RangeTree County is the cyberspace equivalent of a "clipping service" providing a  periodic sample of news believed to be of interest to RangeBiome's audience.

April 2, 2005

• Some fear comments ignored: Jack Morrow Hills plan

• Japan confirms 16th case of mad cow disease

  • Japan panel rules on relaxing cow standards

  • Illegal meat trade is uncovered

  • Mad cow import standard OK'd

  • Researcher identifies substances that could prevent BSE

  • Japan's Food Safety Commission says USDA asleep at the wheel on mad cow disease

  • Mad cow anger leads to dead cow carcass in MP Boudria's driveway

  • Groups seek to save NIH brain collection

• Public can comment on plans for Escalante State Park

• Appointee to wildlife trust anxious to start

• Sage Brush-Grasslands -- One Of Montana's Rich Habitats

• New evidence: farming is huge source of greenhouse gases

Formerly "RangeBiome's Headlines", RangeTree County is the cyberspace equivalent of a "clipping service" providing a  periodic sample of news believed to be of interest to RangeBiome's audience.

April 9, 2005

• Grazin' Hell: Bush put former industry lobbyists in charge of public lands. Now a deal with a Wyoming rancher has the stewards running for cover. (Editorial note: After 7 years, RICO charges filed by Thermopolis rancher Frank Robbins against several BLM employees are still seeping through the court system!)

• Ranchers Applaud Congressional Task Force on NEPA Reform

• Two-nation probe into ruminant gas

• Is a sustainable future possible? "... the market value of clean water running out of the Sierra Nevada in California is approximately twice the value of the Sierra's timber, grazing, and tourist industries combined."

  • Researcher: Storm dust could affect snowpack

• Group considers protections for sage grouse

  • Sage grouse netting aids study of bird mortality

• Montana chases bison back into Yellowstone

• Plan seeks balance to conserving, developing (California Desert)

• BWC wilderness bill set to go to Congress: 'Fierce opposition' anticipated
  • CIEDRA still faces tough challenges

• U.S. mad cow coverup alleged: American records not credible, former packing plant vet says

  • U.S. denies hiding mad-cow cases

  • France has two more human mad cow cases

  • Over 80 Countries Still Ban British Beef

  • Mad cow declared a disaster

  • Quebec farmer sues local feed company over mad cow

  • Fibril shape is the basis of prion strains and cross-species prion infection

  • Japan finds 17th case of madcow

• Only one wolf pair left in Norway

• Nominations sought for advisory committee (OR)

• Times of change for the Forest Service

• Justice Department seeks reversal of rulings for tribes

• First spammer convicted gets 9 years

RMRS Online Publication
RMRS-GTR-144: Big Sagebrush: A Sea Fragmented into Lakes, Ponds, and Puddles

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Welch, Bruce L. 2005. Big sagebrush: A sea fragmented into lakes, ponds, and puddles. Gen. Tech Rep. RMRS-GTR-144. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 210 p.

Pioneers traveling along the Oregon Trail from western Nebraska, through Wyoming and southern Idaho and into eastern Oregon, referred to their travel as an 800 mile journey through a sea of sagebrush, mainly big sagebrush ( Artemisia tridentata). Today approximately 50 percent of the sagebrush sea has given way to agriculture, cities and towns, and other human developments. What remains is further fragmented by range management practices, creeping expansion of woodlands, alien weed species, and the historic view that big sagebrush is a worthless plant. Two ideas are promoted in this report: (1) big sagebrush is a nursing mother to a host of organisms that range from microscopic fungi to large mammals, and (2) many range management practices applied to big sagebrush ecosystems are not science based.

Keywords: Artemisia tridentata, distribution, canopy cover relationships, fire interval, nutritive value

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About PDFs: For best results, do not open the PDF in your Web browser. Right-click on the PDF link to download the PDF file directly to your computer. Click here for more PDF help or order a printed copy of this publication.

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Download RMRS-GTR-144
http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rmrs_gtr144.pdf
PDF File Size: 2.1 MB

Formerly "RangeBiome's Headlines", RangeTree County is the cyberspace equivalent of a "clipping service" providing a  periodic sample of news believed to be of interest to RangeBiome's audience.

April 16, 2005

• Governor questions grazing on national monument

  • Oregon governor wants cattle out of national monument

  • Kulongoski urges Siskiyou protections in BLM proposal

• Rancher's attorney challenges report

• BLM settles suit, stops juniper removal

• Report - Sagebrush: A Sea Fragmented into Lakes, Ponds, and Puddles

• "Cost of Freedom" is an award winning documentary that tells the story of an extraordinary wolf and her fight for survival in one of America's last islands of wilderness. (now available on DVD)

• Quid Pro Quo Wilderness - a new threat to public lands

• Colorado hopes to bolster declining numbers of sage grouse

  • Wyoming outdoors: Sage grouse strut on protected prairie

  • Journals make much mention of grouse

• Prairie Dogs: Conservation project aims to show the animals can help farmlands

• Concerns raised about 1997 U.S. mad cow tests

  • U.S. covering up on mad cow: scientist: He's willing to take lie detector test
    • USDA vet: Misquoted on mad cow cover-up
  • CBC to Investigate Alleged Mad Cow Cover-Ups
  • Canada's BSE plague may be U.S.-bred
  • USDA Denies Allegations of More Mad Cow Cases (Editorial note: Surprise, surprise!}
  • No sign of mad cow in 1997 cows
  • Animal test confidentiality questioned
  • Labs required to report mad cow disease
  • Canadian promises lawsuit against R-CALF
  • Bush Administration May Ease 'Downer Cattle' Ban

• Citizen's Plan Better for Forest (NM)

• Land Near Grand Canyon to Be Protected

  • Wal-Mart, NFWF partner for conservation Duo creates landmark partnership to protect wildlife habitat

• Taylor Ranch access granted: Judge allows 100 residents to enter historic property

• Pima County to close on purchase of land southwest of Tucson

• River red gums on the Murray faring badly (AU) (Editorial Note: Logging and overgrazing implicated in continuing decline of Australian national icon, the Murray River.)

Formerly "RangeBiome's Headlines", RangeTree County is the cyberspace equivalent of a "clipping service" providing a  periodic sample of news believed to be of interest to RangeBiome's audience.

April 26, 2005

• Suit seeks to halt grazing (NV)

• BLM will appraise impact of grazing (UT)

• ISU, UI workshop to focus on sage grouse

  • Gold mining prospects raise concerns (WY)

  • Plans are in the Works to Rescue Threatened Species of Wildlife (UT) (comment by May 6)

• Drought crimps grazing on federal lands (SD)

  • Deschutes one of 10 counties seeking drought assistance (OR)

  • U.S. Drought Monitor (current map)
  • U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook (current map)
  • Drought in the Interior West (multi-year chart)
  • Palmer Drought Severity Index, other Palmer Indices, Precipitation, and Temperature by State and Division (Data and Charts, 1895 - present)

• Japan Investigating Two New Suspected Mad Cow Cases, Kyodo Says

  • Are short sugar chains a future drug for Alzheimer's? (also VCJD, CJD, type II diabetes, etc.?)

  • France to Boost Tests for Mad Cow Disease in Goats

  • Study Points to Prions In Brain Disorders

    • Strongest proof yet found for prion hypothesis

  • Dutch Woman Diagonosed With Mad Cow

• Wildlife refuge looks to change ag rules: "...a plan to make those agricultural activities a bit easier to permit and institute... "

• Buffalo battle continues in Yellowstone

• Conservation of grasslands would help western counties

• A trip through Hells Canyon

• Forest Service film scheduled

• Mule Deer in Nevada: Habitat and Biology Part 1

• Sierra Nevada Resources Coalition Files Intervention/Stages Protest against Attorney General's Lawsuit on Sierra Nevada Forest Management Plan

• Northern quoll 'endangered' (AU) (Editorial note: another grazing related casualty.)

• High court declines to hear Indian trust case

  • Tribes win case against government

• Mary Dann, American Indian activist dies in ranch accident

Formerly "RangeBiome's Headlines", RangeTree County is the cyberspace equivalent of a "clipping service" providing a  periodic sample of news believed to be of interest to RangeBiome's audience.

May 1, 2005

• Two Nevada ranchers convicted of illegal grazing

• Buyouts Help Lands and Ranchers: Facing tough times and public lands pressure, some ranchers opt for grazing buyouts

• Industry can't keep up with permits. "... the Bureau of Land Management has issued more gas-drilling permits in the West than the industry has rigs to drill ..."

  • Give public a say in gas development

  • Bad Skeeter is on the way

  • Puff Daddies: Sage Grouse

• Slaughters halt wild horse sales

• GAO faults FDA handling of BSE-linked feed ban

  • Protests greet US beef imports

  • Study: Voluntary testing for mad cow would help beef industry

  • US cattle group attacks Canada BSE testing rate

• Activists make stand for park bison

• Bass and beavers

• Groups seek protection for flower unique to Roan Plateau

• New Model Calculates The True Energy Cost Of Grazing

• Largest private land auction in Nevada history set for this week

Formerly "RangeBiome's Headlines", RangeTree County is the cyberspace equivalent of a "clipping service" providing a  periodic sample of news believed to be of interest to RangeBiome's audience.

May 8, 2005

• Coalition seeks action against rancher

• Change threatens a Rockies rite of spring

• Ranchers question lawsuit's impact ... Litigation attempts to halt grazing on 800,000 acres of BLM land

• Nevada, feds fight over burning sage grouse habitat

  • U.S. Forest Service Scales Back Burns

• Progress Report: Grazing Effects Monitoring in the Golden Trout Wilderness

• Public can comment on wildlife strategy (WY)

  • Department plots its course

  • Game and Fish Department asked to draft 'strategic plan' by Sept. 1

• Bush rescinds roadless rule

  • New rule opens national forest areas to roads, commerce

• Bear River flood drowns livestock, swamps ranches

  • Bird lovers cut off from favorite site

• Isolated sheepherders live without basic amenities, survey finds (CA)

• Montana's bull trout runs threatened

• RCMP probing reports wild horses shot: Cattle ranchers' antipathy to animals cited as possible reason for killings in Chilcotin

• Feds probing alleged mad cow cover-up

  • Feds probing claims of mad cow violations

  • First Dutch "mad cow" disease patient dies

  • UK forms partnership to hunt for vCJD treatment

  • Researcher may have found key to testing for mad cow disease

  • Canadian whistleblowers win review

  • Agriculture Dept. envisions mandatory livestock ID by 2009

  • Harney urged to explain vCJD infection

  • Measure to establish animal ID program awaits Senate approval (TX)

  • Elderly Donegal man being treated for suspected vCJD

  • Report: Northwest Risks Mad Cow Exposure

• Security of Indian trust computers at issue in new hearings

• We the People, You the Rest… and the Sierra Club

  • Part I: The Country and the Club

  • Part II: Where Does Animal Advocacy Come In?

• How to catch a holy cow - with bare hands, rope and a prayer

Formerly "RangeBiome's Headlines", RangeTree County is the cyberspace equivalent of a "clipping service" providing a  periodic sample of news believed to be of interest to RangeBiome's audience.

May 13, 2005

• Free Yellowstone from domestic livestock

• Gunnison Sage-Grouse Rangewide Conservation Plan (final)

  • Mineral lease auction nets BLM nearly $1.4M

    • BLM nets $1.3M from oil, gas leases

  • Plan may keep bird off endangered list: Wildlife officials working to enlist landowners' help

  • Forest Service scales back plans for burn

• The Most Expensive Ranches

  • 'Tax cows' still grazing in shade of huge exemptions

• Strategy aims to keep species off list (WY)

• Scientists preparing to unveil grasslands report (ND)

• U.S. man to be retested for human mad cow: "...may have been the first person to acquire human mad cow disease in the United State..."

  • Cow Brain: It’s What’s for Dinner!

  • Mad cow crisis starting to hurt U.S. beef industry

  • Congress Is Staying Clear of Dispute Over Mad Cow

    • Bid to block Canada cattle withers in U.S. House

    • U.S. ranchers want mad cow ruling

  • Japan finds a new possible case of mad cow disease (Editorial Note: This would be their 18th case. Is it possible that they have found so many BECAUSE THEY TEST? What does this indicate about the possible food safety in countries that do a fraction as much testing such as the US and Canada?)

    • Japan finds 18th case of mad cow disease

  • No Longer Kindred Souls in the Saddle: Mad Cow Disease Divides Canadian And U.S. Ranchers

  • Active vaccine prevents mice from developing prion disease

  • Mad Cow Disease-Resistant Calf Sent to Japan

    • Korea's Cloning Master to Strike Again

  • Double standards on beef confusing

• Colorado expands CWD testing

  • Wasting disease may hurt more than deer, U.S. senator fears

  • Louisiana Extends Ban on Deer, Elk Importation

• 'Greenup' brightens outlook for ranchers: "... but ... BLM grazing allotments in Fremont County have a long way to go for full recovery." (WY)

  • Drought crimps grazing on federal grasslands (SD)

  • Drought Links

• After the fall: "... a short story that takes us to an imagined future, Muir's cathedral, where the law of unintended consequences is slowly unfolding." (Hetch Hetchy Valley)

• Arizona: Earth First! Call to Action to Defend the Prairie Dogs!

• Species rebirth thanks to fence (AU)

• New hope for decimated rare flower

• Lawmaker protests loss of lynx protections

• Land exchange refloated in House (UT)

• Developers eye Mojave land

• Playing a fool's game with the environment: Requiring proof that a project won't cause harm is turning logic on its head

• Bush clear-cuts a forest plan

• Bleak future for our oldest plants (UK)

• The Case for Charisma

• Habitat conservation bank OK'd south of Dixon (CA)

• Tarkine activist says fight "far from over" (AU)

• NGOs launch programme to save the environment (Ghana)

• Mass death on Souli mountains (Greece) (wild horses)

• Gir lions shift to greener pastures: From a brown patch, the Girnar forest is now a showpiece green cover. The transformation has moved even the lions of neighbouring Gir—17 of them have made it their new den (India)

• Today's Editorial - Grazing: What is in a Word?

Formerly "RangeBiome's Headlines", RangeTree County is the cyberspace equivalent of a "clipping service" providing a  periodic sample of news believed to be of interest to RangeBiome's audience.

May 21, 2005

• Sheep grazing plan for Sawtooths challenged

• Scientists preparing to unveil grasslands report

• Report: More than 60 percent of northern New Mexico rivers polluted

• State prepares to sell off land under pilot program (MT)

  • Conflict of Interest for Some Legislators? (AZ)

• Land-grant movement After decades of inaction, fight is gaining traction (NM)

• Conservation Groups File Lawsuit to Compel Protection of Rare Snake

  • Environmental groups file suit to protect rare central Utah plant

• Struttin' their stuff: Booming mating displays of sage grouse draw bird watchers

• U.S. Supports Change in BSE Guidelines

  • Tokyo twisted BSE safety report: panel member

• Wolf group seeks to find balance on hostile issue: The panel will pitch its plan statewide starting this week (UT)

  • Wolf plan hits rough patch (OR)

• Sides Line Up for Fight to Rewrite Endangered Species Act

• Simpson re-submits BWC wilderness bill: Bill proposes three separate wilderness areas

• Biodiversity strategy discussion paper to be released (AU)

• Cattlemen claim blow (AU)

• Eco Crisis: We Need To Understand Life Support Systems

Formerly "RangeBiome's Headlines", RangeTree County is the cyberspace equivalent of a "clipping service" providing a  periodic sample of news believed to be of interest to RangeBiome's audience.

June 5, 2005

• A grazing conspiracy (Editorial note: consider the source.)

• Ranchers giving up business, heritage (Editorial Note: Not enough to mitigate, but maybe there IS at least one positive environmental impact from drilling.)

• The 'other' wolves

  • Wolves plan still lacking consensus

• Bighorn sheep group racks up accomplishments

• "Buffalo Commons" author following state quarter debate

• The Range War "Down Under"

  • A new beginning for the Alpine National Park (Victoria Government Report)

  • Snowy actor to ride again

    • Ban on grazing is 'killing' The Man from Snowy River

  • Doyle backs mountain cattlemen's fight

  • Environment comes first

  • Group joins bush row

  • Grazing harm is undeniable

• New laws in place for breeding cattle (SD)

• Sage grouse group to meet June 6 (WY)

  • Groups seek sage grouse proposals (WY)

• Statewide conservation plan one step closer to happening (NV)

• With purchase, park expansion complete (NE)

• King Island village deemed endangered

• Up to 50 exposed to mad cow disease

  • NIH says it will preserve CJD brains

  • Japan discovers 19th suspected case of mad cow disease at slaughterhouse

    • Japan confirms 19th case of mad cow disease

    • Japan discovers suspected 20th case of of BSE, or mad cow disease

  • Testing of human mad cow suspect delayed

  • NIH finds clue to what makes prions kill

    • Variant prion protein causes infection but no symptoms

  • U.S. Appeals Court to Hear Canada Cattle Import Case July 13

  • Congress keeps lid on information

• Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission To Meet June 9 In Helena

• Botanist in 'right place' for rare find

• Who should wrangle Utah's wild horse herds? A state legislator says the feds have created a stampede

  • Turf battle

  • guest commentary: Fact, fiction on West's wild horses

• Scenic, but isolated, county slowly losing moniker of best-kept secret (Capitol Reef, UT)

• Yellowstoned: 4.6 billion years in Jackson

• Making most of money a challenge then, now for Forest Service

• Forest rangers' jobs change with times

• Myers Confirmation on Chopping Block

• New Web Site - Weather Perspectives for the 17 Contiguous Western States: Weather models calibrated against the Twentieth Century record to provide context and perspective as an aid to forming perceptions about weather and climate events, cycles, and trends.

Formerly "RangeBiome's Headlines", RangeTree County is the cyberspace equivalent of a "clipping service" providing a  periodic sample of news believed to be of interest to RangeBiome's audience.

June 12, 2005

• Plan to Kill Bighorns to Protect Herds From Disease Protested

  • State wants to kill endangered bighorns

• Rein Huckelberry in (AZ)

• Brain degeneration at the Dept. of Agriculture

  • Beef Industry Officials Face Demonstrators at St. Paul Meeting

  • U.S. announces another mad cow case

    • Lisbon alert over 'mad cow' disease (Editorial note: Same day announcements of possible cow infected in U.S. and possible human infected in Portugal which would be our second and their first. Guess which the press covered most.)

  • US mad cow test results may take two weeks

  • Texas cow tests positive for mad cow

  • New US BSE case at sensitive time

    • Lower house lawmakers (Japan) to check U.S. efforts on BSE

  • US mad cow scare 'proves need for tagging'

  • A timeline of major mad cow-related events

• The Range War "Down Under"

  • Time for cattle to move on

  • Legend best back in history

  • Heritage is in huts expert

  • Wrath of the bush rides into town

  • Vic Govt remains firm on alpine park grazing ban

  • Minister issues grazing listing

  • Governments dispute heritage listing implications

  • Park sacrificed for tradition 

  • Legal war looms on Snowy grazing

  • New national park declared in SA

  • Cattle's time up

  • Healthy change for High Country

• Khalifa issues law to organise livestock grazing in capital (UAE)

  • Ecosystem, Wildlife Conservation Funded in Afghanistan

  • New methods needed in hill country (NZ)

• West's agenda: habitat - State takes lead role on sage grouse plan

  • Researchers suggest ways to protect grouse

• Plan would alter grizzly's endangered listing

• War on Juniper: Modoc National Forest & Alturas BLM

• Senate makes no change to Idaho wolf budget

• Debate Over Wild Horses a Turf Battle

  • Measure protects burros, mustangs

• Wyoming wildlife strategy faces Oct. deadline

• Government of Canada announces $9.2 million to help conserve species at risk and their habitat

  • Canada chided over environmental commitment

• You have to love all this green (Editorial Note: I guess that the author was not visiting the northwestern corner of Wyoming.)

  • Drought Links

• Soil survey online (ND)

• 'Extinct' wallabies, offspring found

• BLM's Kate Padilla retires

  • Perry headed to Washington, D.C.

Formerly "RangeBiome's Headlines", RangeTree County is the cyberspace equivalent of a "clipping service" providing a  periodic sample of news believed to be of interest to RangeBiome's audience.

June 17/ 2005

• Administration Excised Scientists' Warnings in Grazing Report

• BLM Publishes Final Environmental Impact Study on Changes to Grazing Regulations

  • Background

  • U.S. on Grazing: Use Rights or Lose Them

  • U.S. Bureau of Land Management's New Regulations Undercut Public Participation and Threaten Wildlife & Water with Hand-outs to the Livestock Industry

  • Ranchers welcome grazing changes

  • Conservationist: Changes 'lock out' public

  • Rules eased for grazing on federal land

  • Environmental groups criticize new BLM management rules

  • New Grazing Rules Will Rip Up Public Land

• Tonto National Forest managers jeopardize desert by resuming ranching without thoroughly evaluating drought impacts

• Disease hits state's livestock (NM)

• Deal allots 24,000 acres to wildlife (AZ)

• The Mad Cow Cover-Up Begins to Unravel

  • Consumers Union Urges USDA to Adopt Western Blot as Definitive Mad Cow Test

  • U.S. ranchers urge stricter tests for mad cow
  • Government summit on cattle disease meets with skepticism

  • US Department of Agriculture uses Three Mad Cow Tests on Suspect Animal

  • Feds skipped key mad cow disease test in 2004 case

  • CHRONOLOGY- Mad Cow Test Results Vary for Suspect Animal

  • Colorado governor assails U.S. 'hypocrisy' in mad cow policy

    • US Mad Cow Policy Under Attack

  • Lawmakers Ask for Reinstatement of U.S. Beef Import Ban (Taiwan)

  • Mad-cow fears drive U.S. cattle prices to 13-month low

  • USDA pressed about new mad cow tests

  • In Wake Of Mad-Cow Test, USDA Deals With Host Of Questions

  • Suspect US animal may have rare mad cow strain

    • Mad cow DNA may offer clues to latest U.S. case

  • Company says it has developed new BSE test (Editorial Note: This one is a live test.)

  • Gaps Remain in Mad Cow Disease Defenses

• Feds plan Wyoming toad reintroduction

• Too Many Sheep Spoil The Eggs

• Fight For The Australian High Country

  • Law passes to end alpine cattle grazing

• Governors seek species act changes

  • U.S. Reps. to Visit Southwest for Environmental Hearing: Local groups to testify on National Environmental Policy Act's effects
  • Hearing to discuss environmental policy

• Plains Drought Cycle Has Long History, Ominous Future

  • Precipitation Trends in the West

• Desertification, dust are global threats - report

Formerly "RangeBiome's Headlines", RangeTree County is the cyberspace equivalent of a "clipping service" providing a  periodic sample of news believed to be of interest to RangeBiome's audience.

June 22, 2005

• Federal cattle grazing analysis called whitewash: Bush administration altered key sections to justify easing rules, 2 retired scientists say

  • The White House’s White-Out Problem

  • BLM releases report on new grazing rules

  • Bush eases land use for ranchers

  • Editing or sabotage?

  • Science Under Siege By Bush Administration, ACLU Charges

    • The Assault on Scientific Freedom

      • Executive Summary (PDF)

      • Full Report (PDF)

  • Cattle Grazing Study Tramples on the Truth

  • White House warms up to the politics of science

  • Battle brewing over BLM's new grazing rules: Environmental group calls changes illegal, vows to sue
  • Follow the money

• Company says BSE test awaiting OK

  • U.S. appeal on cattle imports to be televised

  • 2nd case of mad cow disease found in Austria

  • Government too lax about mad cow

  • Consumers Union Asks USDA to Test All Cattle for Mad Cow Disease

  • BSE Update: US Officials Expect BSE Test Results As Early As Friday

• Animal activists fire back in defense of wolves

• Plans to save grouse lack pecking order

  • Grouse numbers rise (WY)

  • Operators seek year-round drilling

  • Dissertation: Investigation into the Decline of Populations of the Lesser Prairie-Chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus Ridgway) in Southeastern New Mexico.

• Final Wyoming grizzly bear plan released

• Nevada lawmakers introduce bill to make horse adoptions cheaper

  • Humane Society says 'whoa' to Nevadans' wild horse bill

• American Indians Offer to Settle Suit

• BLM unveils Web site restoration