The confessions of an off-road-vehicle outlaw

He had a change of heart when other off-roaders ruined his elk hunt-

The confessions of an off-road-vehicle outlaw. By Garrett Veneklasen. Op-ed in the Salt Lake Tribune. Writers on the Range.

Wyoming Game and Fish sets wildlife guidelines for wind developers

Wyo. sets wildlife guidelines for wind developers. By Matt Joyce. Associated Press.

Another Western Watersheds Project victory in Arizona

Western Watersheds Project Wins Summary Judgment on the 100,000 acre Byner Complex Allotments. BLM-

This no “family ranch” but a spin-off of Freeport-McMoRan mining.

Here is the WWP’s news release on the victory for the American people

♦Western Watersheds Project’s Arizona Office has been granted Summary Judgment byAdministrative Law Judge Harvey C. Sweitzer in a successful appeal of a grazing permit decision issued by the Kingman Field Office, Bureau of Land Management. ♦Judge Sweitzer agreed with WWP that the BLM violated the National Environmental Policy Act on the Big Sandy, Los Molinos, and Diamond Joe Allotments (collectively called the “Byner Complex”). ♦The successful Appeal and Motion for Summary Judgment were written by WWP’s Arizona Director Greta Anderson. The rancher on the allotments is not a ranching family at all but a subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan Copper Company, the Byner Cattle Company. Freeport-McMoRan is one of the world’s largest copper and gold mining companies http://www.fcx.com/ ♦The 98,736 acres of public lands in the Byner Complex encompass a range of vegetation communities, including Joshua trees and saguaros, and provide habitat for Southwestern willow flycatcher, bald eagle, yellow-billed cuckoo, Sonoran desert tortoise, and other native and imperiled wildlife. ♦The Big Sandy River passes through the Big Sandy allotment, and numerous seeps and springs and ephemeral washes occur on all of the allotments. ♦The Byner Complex of allotments has some serious rangeland health issues, and the proposed action sought to limit livestock impacts in some key areas by moving livestock to new unexploited areas through the development of new water sources. To do this, the BLM had proposed building five new wells, eleven new troughs, twelve new miles of pipeline and fifteen new miles of fence, which all could have extensive effects on the landscape and the riparian areas. ♦The BLM failed to analyze or even disclose the descriptions of the new water facilities. Administrative Law Judge Sweitzer found the BLM’s behavior to be in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act.This legal decision remands the final grazing decision to the Kingman, Arizona field office of the BLM to redo its analysis before issuing a new grazing decision. ♦The new analysis will need to address the failures of the BLM to analyze many issues including the effects on native ecosystems of invasive species introduced by livestock, the inadequacies of setting rangeland health goals based on existing conditions, the failure to exclude grazing in sensitive riparian areas, the failure to consider effects to imperiled species, and the existing degraded condition of soils, cultural resources, and wildlife habitats. ♦WWP anticipates a more complete and detailed analysis of the Byner Complex allotments by the BLM the next time around !   — Read the Full Order – – – – – – – – – –

Joshua Tree photo: USFWSYou Can Help   Southwestern willow flycatcher photo: USFWS

Western Watersheds Project Is A West Regional Conservation Organization Working To Protect And Restore Western Watersheds And Wildlife. Consider joining Western Watersheds Project yourself or enrolling a friend with a gift membership. Joining is easy at WWP’s secure online membership pageBe sure to visit the WWP web site at http://www.westernwatersheds.org.

Green Valley Dam could fail. Army Corps working hard to shore up dam above it.

This might sound a little confusing, but apparently the way to reduce the threat of the Green Valley Dam failing after heavy rains is to shore up the Howard Hanson Dam upstream. The article says this will reduce the chances of Green Valley failing to 1 in 25 this winter.

A failure would flood a heavily populated area just south of Seattle, WA.

Corps:  Dam work lessens Seattle-area flood chance. AP

Senate Democrats advance climate bill without GOP

Republicans boycotted the committee vote, so the Democrats passed the bill without them, 10 to 1-

What the Democrats did is what you might expect, but in the past the Democrats have said, “Oh we need some bipartisanship,” when it is clear the minority at present wants nothing to do with bipartisanship.

I guess no one will be surprised by the one Democrat to vote against it — Montana’s nobleman senator Max Baucus.

So the climate bill will head to the floor of the Senate.

Senate Democrats advance climate bill without GOP. By Dina Cappiello. The Associated Press
New on Nov. 6.  Democrats Push Climate Bill Through Panel Without G.O.P. Debate. By John M. Broder. New York Times.

Record returns for sockeye salmon in Sawtooth Valley

833 sockeye made the trip back to the Sawtooth Valley from the ocean this year-

This is a great success from the not too distant past when only one salmon returned — “Lonesum Larry”

Record sockeye salmon return. By Jon Duval. Idaho Mountain Express Staff Writer