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)

The Motorcycle of the Future Motoczysz-E1pc . It is electric,

This is the MotoCzysz E1PC. It is electric. It is almost certainly the most advanced motorcycle on the planet. And it is the future.We told you moto-genius Michael Czysz  pronounced sizz  was building another contender for the TT Zero electric motorcycle race on the Isle of Man. But we caught up with him early in the build and he wasn’t providing details or pics. Now that the bike’s hit the track, Wes Siler of Hell For Leather has all the details on the MotoCzysz E1PC in a piece posted over at Popular Science.

This bike is bad-ass, no two ways about it. It has a custom-built 12.5-kilowatt-hour lithium polymer battery that can be swapped in seconds. The custom-built, oil-cooled motor generates 100 horsepower (continuous) and 250 pound-feet of torque. It all hangs from a custom frame. Of course, it’s got the usual top-shelf hardware. Ohlins. Brembo. You know the drill.

Czyzs and his crew in Portland, Oregon, were literally buttoning the bike up before the first practice session on the Isle of Man, having just gotten the body panels through customs. No one had tested the bike before, but rider Mark Miller smoked the field during practice, finishing more than three minutes ahead of the competition. The bike hit a top speed of 140 mph and lapped the 37.7-mile course at an average speed of 94.66 mph.

For all the high-tech componentry, the E1PC is designed first and foremost as a motorcycle, so it’s meant to be hammered. Many bikes racing in the TTXGP series suffer ground-clearance issues when leaning into a turn, but the E1PC has no such trouble. Siler says riders accustomed to a conventional sportbike will feel right at home on the E1PC.
Take a close look at the pics. You’re looking at the future of motorcycling.

(wired)

Is there anything you'd like to know about tsunamis?

SEASIDE, Ore. Amid the hundreds of people who walked up and down the promenade overlooking the Oregon coast at Seaside on Saturday was one man on a mission.”Is there anything you’d like to know about tsunamis?” Patrick Corcoran said as he approached passersby toting shopping bags or walking their dogs.In many cases, the answer was yes. Thus began a series of impromptu lectures on big waves, subduction zones and the real tsunami danger in the Pacific Northwest: not far-off quakes, but close-up ones.”These distant-event tsunamis are really nothing, and we tend to overemphasize them,” Corcoran said. “If people come away from this thinking tsunamis on the Oregon coast mean licking ice cream cones and strolling on the promenade here, that’s a terrible mistake.”Corcoran is an education and outreach specialist with Oregon State University’s Oregon Sea Grant program. He works with coastal communities on tsunami preparation.

With the media attention from Saturday’s massive earthquake in Chile and the tsunami that it spawned sure to attract gawkers to the coast, Corcoran figured it would be a “teachable moment.”The National Weather Service issued an advisory that covered the West Coast indicating a tsunami capable of producing strong currents or waves was expected. It was canceled by early evening, and amid typical swells of around 8 feet and a falling tide on Saturday afternoon, few effects from the tsunami were visible in Seaside or elsewhere in the Northwest.The western edge of the Cascadia subduction zone lies just off the Pacific Coast and runs from Mendocino, Calif., all the way up to Vancouver Island. The last major quake off the coast was 310 years ago, Corcoran said. They come every 330 years on average.Such a quake could easily send a 60- to 90-foot wall of water onto shore within half an hour, he said.

There was no danger of that on Saturday, but police and Coast Guard helicopters shooed people off the beach repeatedly. As soon as they were gone everyone went back on the sand, Corcoran said.He urged people to learn the difference between the distant tsunamis and the close-up ones – “We’re going to be Chile, not Hawaii,” he said – and plan in advance a spot on high ground to meet with loved ones if a big wave does come.”When the earth shakes it’s too late to be looking for your map,” he said

OKLAHOMA CITY Bad year for biofuel ends on a dour note

Lyle Rudensey holds a cup of refined homemade biodiesel

OKLAHOMA CITY  An alternative fuel for diesel engines is off to a shaky start this year though it emits fewer pollutants and cuts down on petroleum use because it’s made from environmentally friendly waste and vegetable oil.A federal tax credit that provided makers of biodiesel $1 for every gallon expired Friday. As a result, some U.S. producers say they will shut down without the government subsidy.Biodiesel’s woes come on top of a year of problems for the fledgling biofuel industry – an irony given the push to cut down on greenhouse gases and ease the nation’s need for foreign oil. A key driver for the alternative fuel – the high cost of oil – disappeared as diesel prices dropped 18 percent since the beginning of the recession. Then in March the European Union placed import-killing tariffs on biodiesel and other biofuels.It was a huge hit for U.S. biofuel makers, with Europe taking 95 percent of all global exports.Biodiesel, which is usually blended with traditional fuel, had over the past few years been the fastest growing fuel among fleet vehicles like buses, snow plows and garbage trucks.

Those fleets, however, can shift to traditional fuel, as some have, when the prices of diesel drops.The biodiesel industry is now operating at only 15 percent of its potential capacity, according to the National Biodiesel Board, largely because the price of traditional diesel has collapsed. There are close to 180 biodiesel plants operating in about 40 states.The country’s largest biodiesel refinery, in Houston, sits idle. Another major refinery in Hoquiam, Wash., that was restarted recently to meet alternative fuel mandates in Oregon and British Columbia was shut down after an explosion in December.

The loss of the tax credit, which helps pay salaries, buy new equipment and in good times to turn a profit, will hit small producers particularly hard.A one-year extension of the biodiesel tax credit was included in a bill that was approved by the U.S. House recently, but it never made it through the Senate.

Lawmakers say the tax-credit will be retroactive if approved.Production will cease in Valliant, Okla., where Dwight Francis created a biodiesel startup this year as the local timber economy tanked.For each of the 12,000 gallons of biodiesel that Francis produces each week, he has received a $1 tax credit to help keep operations going.

His company has been riding out the economic downturn until now, thanks to the tax credit.”By the time you buy the feedstock and the chemicals to produce the fuel, you have more money in it than you get for the fuel without the tax credit,” Francis said. “We won’t be producing any without the tax credit.”

Ethanol producers, for instance, were hit by a string of bankruptcies, next-generation biofuels were stung by scandal.This summer a federal jury found that Cello Energy, a next-generation biofuel company that specialized in plants-to-fuel technology, had defrauded investors. That is expected to leave the Environmental Protection Agency far short of the millions of gallons of biofuel it had planned to blend into traditional fuel this year.

VeraSun, the country’s second largest ethanol producer, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October and its assets sold. Other ethanol refineries were swept up for pennies on the dollar.”You could say the entire biofuels industry has had a rough year,” said Robert McCormick, principal engineer at the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

There is little chance that the U.S. will reach alternative fuel benchmarks of 36 billion gallons a year by 2022 in hopes of weaning the nation off foreign oil.Still, ethanol producers appear to be bouncing back and maintain unflagging political support. And the Department of Energy announced last month that next-generation biofuels would get more than $600 million in federal funding.(AP)

Philadelphia 76ers vs Portland Trail Blazers 104-93

Lou Williams vs Martell Webster

PORTLAND, Ore.  Elton Brand had a season-high 25 points and nine rebounds in a reserve role, leading the Philadelphia 76ers to a 104-93 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night.Brand, a 6-foot-9 former All Star, made 9 of 20 shots in 30 minutes to help Philadelphia (8-22) rally from a 10-point second half deficit.Allen Iverson, who missed the past four games with a knee injury, returned to the lineup as a starter and scored 19 points. Andre Iguodala, Samuel Dalembert and Marreese Speights scored 14 points each for the Sixers. Iguodala also had seven rebounds and nine assists.Brandon Roy led Portland (20-13) with 24 points, while LaMarcus Aldridge had 17 points and 12 rebounds.

Portland, which had won four consecutive games, all against teams with winning records, shot just 42.2 percent (35 of 83) against Philadelphia. The Sixers shot 57.7 percent from the field, hitting 45 of 78 shots.Portland controlled the second quarter to take a 49-43 halftime lead. The key stretch came midway through the quarter when, with the game tied 36-all, Roy and Dante Cunningham combined to score nine unanswered points to give the Blazers a 45-36 lead.

Portland stretched its lead to 61-51 midway during the third quarter before Philadelphia made its move. The Sixers went on a 13-4 run, then capped the quarter when Royal Ivey hit a buzzer-beating 22-footer to give Philadelphia a 77-73 lead heading into the fourth quarter.The Sixers continued their surge into the final period, outscoring Portland 40-17 over a 13-minute stretch spanning the third and fourth quarters to take a 91-78 lead with 6:05 left in the game.

NOTES: Philadelphia has won three straight and five of six over the Blazers. Iverson, acquired by Philadelphia on Dec. 5, is averaging 16.1 points in six games with the Sixers. Since Nov. 11, Philadelphia is 4-18. Roy has scored at least 23 points in 13 consecutive games. It is the longest active streak of 20-point plus games in the NBA. Portland shot just 5 of 15 from 3-point range against Philadelphia after hitting 16 of 32 3-pointer its past two games.