Land Letter

WOLVES: As Southwest recovery effort struggles, northern Rockies packs multiply -- a tale of two populations

Thu Mar 18 14:00:00 EDT 2010

Mexican wolves have had little success reclaiming their historic range in the Southwest. Captive breeding and rearing by the Fish and Wildlife Service has helped grow the population, but it remains unclear whether Mexican wolves will ever achieve the success of wolves in the northern Rockies. Photo courtesy of Wild Canid Survival and Research Center.

Mexican gray wolves and their cousins in the northern Rockies are biologically linked, but geography, economics and politics has created a wide chasm between how the two populations have fared in the wild. In the Southwest, Mexican wolves have struggled to gain a foothold in the 7,000-square-mile recovery zone where wolves were first reintroduced 12 years ago. Meanwhile, gray wolves in Montana and Idaho are abundant enough that FWS lifted Endangered Species Act protection for the animals last year, after only 15 years of sustained recovery efforts. The disparity between the two populations has created some vexing questions for the regulators and biologists charged with restoring wolves to their native habitats across the West. And while some of the answers are elusive, the evidence suggests the Mexican wolf’s fate may be tied to a unique set of factors – including efforts to reintroduce it into the heart of one of the nation’s most established ranching cultures, where cattle outnumber both wolves and humans. Land Letter reporter April Reese takes an in-depth look at the factors affecting Mexican wolves in the second installment of a three-part series on the embattled FWS recovery program.

RENEWABLE ENERGY: Massive Calif. solar proposal faces species, water issues

Thu Mar 18 14:00:00 EDT 2010

A 1,000-megawatt solar power plant planned for Riverside County, Calif., could strain local groundwater supplies and infringe on habitat for endangered desert tortoises and rare plants. But state and federal…

OIL AND GAS: BLM to suspend 61 leases in Mont. to review climate impacts

Thu Mar 18 14:00:00 EDT 2010

Sixty-one oil and gas leases covering nearly 38,000 acres in Montana would be suspended by the Bureau of Land Management in order to evaluate the impacts drilling could have on…

OIL AND GAS: Landowners notch key victory in CBM discharge water dispute

Thu Mar 18 14:00:00 EDT 2010

A Wyoming state board's decision to side with a Powder River Basin landowner who complained that discharge water from a coalbed methane (CBM) operation was flooding his property could dramatically…

OIL AND GAS: Mont. governor urges cancellation of federal leases near Glacier NP

Thu Mar 18 14:00:00 EDT 2010

Hundreds of oil and gas leases that were improperly issued on national forest land west of Glacier National Park should be cancelled to protect a pristine mountain watershed, Montana Gov.…

OIL AND GAS: EPA begins study of fracturing's effects on water supplies

Thu Mar 18 14:00:00 EDT 2010

U.S. EPA announced the start today of a study examining the effects of a controversial oil and gas production technique known as hydraulic fracturing on water supplies. "Our research will…

COAL: Mont. sells rights to 571B tons of Otter Creek reserves

Thu Mar 18 14:00:00 EDT 2010

Montana sold the rights to more than a half-billion tons of state-owned coal today after receiving a lone bonus bid of $86 million earlier this week from Arch Coal Inc.…

FORESTS: Myriad challenges await new Northern regional forester

Thu Mar 18 14:00:00 EDT 2010

By almost any standard, the new head of the Forest Service's Northern Region faces a full plate of issues, ranging from a bark beetle infestation and overgrown forests to the…

FORESTS: Mont. timberlands transfer to federal ownership

Thu Mar 18 14:00:00 EDT 2010

The Forest Service will add 112,000 acres of former timberland to its holdings in Montana under a deal announced this week. The lands, formerly owned by Seattle-based Plum Creek Timber…

MINING: No hardrock reform this year -- Reid

Thu Mar 18 14:00:00 EDT 2010

There will be no reform this year of the 1872 law governing hardrock mining, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said last week. The Nevada Democrat told the Elko, Nev., Daily…

WATER: Interior opens spigots for San Joaquin Valley

Thu Mar 18 14:00:00 EDT 2010

Feb. 26). "The allocations have significantly increased throughout the valley," Salazar told reporters during a Tuesday press briefing. Salazar also addressed legislation introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) that would…

PARKS: Groups petition Interior over haze in Rocky Mountain NP

Thu Mar 18 14:00:00 EDT 2010

Two conservation groups this week asked the Interior Department to declare that pollution from coal-burning power plants is impairing visibility in Rocky Mountain National Park and require Colorado to revise…

ENDANGERED SPECIES: USDA to direct conservation programs for sage grouse

Thu Mar 18 14:00:00 EDT 2010

A version of this story first appeared in E&ENews PM. The Agriculture Department plans to spend $16 million to help landowners conserve sage grouse habitat on their property. The program…

ENDANGERED SPECIES: U.S. designates 1.6M acres of critical habitat for famed Calif. frog

Thu Mar 18 14:00:00 EDT 2010

Oct. 8, 2009). In a release, the service said the 2008 proposal to designate 1.8 million acres was the basis for the latest decision. Adjustments were made to the proposed…

WOLVES: Minn. seeks delisting as gray wolf population reaches 3,000 mark

Thu Mar 18 14:00:00 EDT 2010

With Minnesota's gray wolf population now estimated at 3,000 animals, state officials say it is time to remove federal protections for the predator. In a petition to the Fish and…

WILDLIFE: Human noise disrupts wildlife -- study

Thu Mar 18 14:00:00 EDT 2010

Anthropogenic noise -- including roads, airplanes, recreation and energy development -- has wide-ranging impacts on wildlife, disrupting their ability to mate, avoid predators, find prey, forage and engage in other…

TRANSMISSION: Effort to link Wyo. wind farms to Colo. grid forges ahead

Thu Mar 18 14:00:00 EDT 2010

A proposed power transmission line that would link Wyoming wind farms to Colorado's Front Range is moving ahead despite Xcel Energy Inc.'s rejection of Wyoming wind for its plan to…

WILDLIFE: DOT won't fund more underpasses in Wyo.

Thu Mar 18 14:00:00 EDT 2010

The federal government will not fund a plan to build at least 30 wildlife underpasses in southwest Wyoming to help migrating deer, elk and antelope avoid collisions with motor vehicles.…