federal judge Judge orders protections reinstated for gray wolf in Montana and Idaho

HELENA, Mont. A federal judge on Thursday reinstated protections for wolves in Montana and Idaho, saying the government made a political decision in removing the protections from just two of the states where Northern Rocky Mountain wolves roam.The decision puts a halt to wolf hunts in Montana and Idaho planned for this fall. Montana wildlife regulators last month set the wolf-hunt quota at 186, more than doubling last year’s number, with the aim of reducing the state’s wolf population.U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in Missoula said in his ruling that the entire region’s wolf population either must be listed as an endangered species or removed from the list, but the protections for the same population can’t be different for each state.

Last year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service turned over wolf management to Montana and Idaho wildlife officials but left federal endangered species protections in place for wolves in Wyoming. There, legislators have approved a plan classifying wolves in most areas of the state outside the vicinity of Yellowstone National Park as predators that could be shot on site.

Molloy sided with the wildlife advocates who sued the federal government, ruling that Endangered Species Act does not allow the Fish and Wildlife Service to list only part of a species as endangered, and the federal agency must protect the entire Northern Rocky Mountain wolf population.”The rule delisting the gray wolf must be set aside because, though it may be a pragmatic solution to a difficult biological issue, it is not a legal one,” Molloy wrote.

Gray wolves were listed as endangered in 1974, but following a reintroduction program in the mid-1990s, there are now more than 1,700 in the Northern Rockies, which includes all of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, along with portions of Washington, Oregon and Utah.Defenders of Wildlife, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition and other wildlife advocates sued the federal government after the Fish and Wildlife Service decision in April 2009. They argued that the government’s decision would have set a precedent allowing the government to arbitrarily choose which animals should be protected and where.

Doug Honnold, an attorney for EarthJustice representing the plaintiffs, said he was gratified by the ruling, though he is sure there will be another chapter to the story.”For today, we are celebrating that the approach we thought was flatly illegal has been rejected. The troubling consequences for the Endangered Species Act have been averted and the wolf hunts are blocked,” Honnold said.

The plaintiffs don’t want wolves on the endangered species list forever, but they do want a solid plan in place, said Suzanne Stone, Northern Rockies representative for Defenders of Wildlife. The government’s plan was poorly devised and would have allowed too many wolves to be killed, she said.”We need a good wolf management and delisting that allows for a healthy interconnected wolf population,” Stone said.

Officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game declined to comment immediately after the ruling was released, saying they had yet to read the whole decision.The Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission has asked the state to appeal the ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, according to a statement by the state Fish, Wildlife and Parks agency.

Carolyn Sime, wolf program coordinator for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said Montana has done everything it’s been asked to do in developing its state management program but now will have to apply federal law and regulations once more.”This puts a spotlight on Wyoming and seeing what can be done with Wyoming,” Sime said.The increase in the wolf population brought livestock losses for ranchers and competition for hunters for big game, such as elk. Molloy’s decision means ranchers in northwestern Montana will no longer be able to haze, harass or kill wolves that prey on their livestock, Sime said.

Wolves in southwestern Montana will revert to their “experimental population” status and ranchers there will still be able to kill wolves that attack their animals, she said.But a big blow is the loss of a hunting season, Sime said.”That’s clearly a management tool that we want to have in the toolbox. We think it’s legitimate and appropriate,” she said.Both Idaho and Montana held wolf hunts last year. Montana’s kill ended with 73 wolves and Idaho’s with 185.

Idaho’s congressional delegation released a statement that said Molloy’s ruling ignored the exploding population of wolves and that the state can manage wolves in a sustainable and responsible way.”We look for a more reasonable decision from a higher court,” said the statement from Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch and Reps. Mike Simpson and Walt Minnick.At the end of 2009, there were at least 843 wolves in Idaho, 524 in Montana and 320 in Wyoming, with more in parts of Oregon and Washington state.

Thursday’s ruling could affect a lawsuit in which Wyoming charges the Fish and Wildlife Service had no reason to refuse to turn over management of gray wolves to Wyoming as it did to the other states. The case is before U.S. District Judge Alan B. Johnson of Cheyenne.”If the rule is vacated, there’s a question that Judge Johnson has to consider of whether or not there is something for him to decide,” said Bruce Salzburg, Wyoming attorney general.(AP)

license application for new US uranium mill

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) received the radioactive materials license application and environmental report from Energy Fuels on 18 November. The application will undergo a comprehensive technical review process including technical evaluations, a review of the environmental report and two public hearings. Public comments will also be accepted throughout the review process, which Colorado law stipulates must take no more than 14 months. Energy Fuels has previously mentioned the possibility of starting construction of the mill by the second quarter of 2011.

Steve Tarlton, radiation program manager for CDPHE, said the review would consider short- and long-term impacts of the proposed mill, including radiological and non-radiological impacts to water, air and wildlife, as well as economic, social and transportation-related impacts. “Our job is to ensure that the licence, if approved, will protect public health and the environment,” he said.Energy Fuels plans to build the Pinon Ridge mill near Naturita on land that it bought in 2007. The 500 tonnes per day mill would be the first new uranium mill to be built in the USA in over a quarter of a century. Energy Fuels president and CEO George Glassier said he was confident that the “thorough and accurate” license application would meet all CDPHE’s regulations. “In progressing to this final stage of approvals, Energy Fuels is clearly moving forward on its plan to construct the first new uranium mill in the US in more than 25 years,” he said.

Energy Fuels Resources Corp is part of Toronto-based Energy Fuels Inc, which has a portfolio of uranium and vanadium properties in Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Idaho and New Mexico, as well as Canadian exploration properties in Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin. The company has been working to refurbish and reopen some of its formerly producing mines, including former uranium-vanadium mines in the Urania mineral belt in western Colorado. Energy Fuels has near-term uranium projects at Whirlwind and Tenderfoot Mesa in Colorado and also at nearby Energy Queen in Utah. Although permitted to restart, the company placed the Whirlwind project on standby in late 2008 as part of a “capital preservation strategy”, although the company said at the time it would be maintained in a state of readiness to ramp up to full production at 30 days’ notice.

Powertech queries groundwater rules

Meanwhile, another would-be Colorado uranium producer has queried the legality of proposed state rules on groundwater protection. According to press reports, Power-tech USA says that proposed rules on groundwater quality and reclamation forming part of legislation on  leach mining are currently too broad. A specific issue of concern is the proposed requirement for a “baseline” for water quality, defined before mining began, which would become the standard for future reclamation, with no scope to revise the requirements at a later date.The Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety is due to hold a public meeting on the rules in early December.

Earl Cooley: Remembering an Early Smokejumper

Earl Cooley, who died November 9 at age 98, helped to develop the profession of sending firefighters by parachute to battle forest fires.Years ago, a young forester took an unusual new job. Earl Cooley became one of the first smokejumpers. Smokejumpers parachute from airplanes. They fight fires that crews cannot reach quickly or easily from the ground.Earl Cooley worked for the United States Forest Service, an agency of the Agriculture Department. The Forest Service had a plane that it wanted to use to drop water bombs onto wildfires. But that idea failed. So the agency decided to use the plane for what was then a new practice: smokejumping.

The first fire jump in the United States took place on July twelfth, nineteen forty, in the Nez Perce National Forest in Idaho.Another smokejumper, Rufus Robinson, went first. Then out came Earl Cooley.As he later described it, the plane was not much more than half a kilometer above the trees. The day was windy, and the jump was not as good as others he had made.

He began to turn over in the air when his chute opened, and there were problems with the lines at first. But he chose a large spruce tree to land in near the fire, and climbed down.With hand tools, he and Rufus Robinson threw dirt on the fire and dug a line to contain it so the flames would not spread. They worked through the night and had the fire controlled the next morning, when other men arrived from a camp in the area.

Earl Cooley always said he was not afraid being a smokejumper. Over the years, he worked to develop the profession. He served as the first president of the National Smokejumper Association. He also wrote about his experiences. But not all had happy endings.On August fifth, nineteen forty-nine, he was involved in a disaster at a forest fire near Helena, Montana. He had to choose where a crew would jump. But the wind changed and the fire grew unexpectedly, taking thirteen lives.Many years later, Earl Cooley told a newspaper that he still believed he had made the best decision he could. He retired from the Forest Service in nineteen seventy-five. But he continued to visit the mountaintop where the men were buried, until he could no longer make the climb.

Earl Cooley died on November ninth in Missoula, Montana. He was ninety-eight years old.Today, more than two hundred seventy men and women are smokejumpers for the Forest Service. Smokejumpers are also used in Russia and other countries.And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I’m Karen Leggett. (VOA)