DATELINE: LOS FRESNOS, TX; Sep 17, 2008

The Lakes Master Planned Community in Los Fresnos, Texas has announced the successful installation of the first wind-driven electric generator connection at a residence in the nearly 750-acre project. The wind generating unit is about 30 feet tall and will generate approximately 1.8 kilowatts of electricity to supplement the electrical needs of the home. When the electricity from the windmill exceeds the home use, the power feeds back through a "reverse meter" into the Electric Reliability Council of Texas' grid and the owner is paid for the electricity provided to the system. [more]

SECTION: Natural Resources

Facing lawsuits from environmental groups, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service is abandoning a plan to remove Endangered Species Act protections from gray wolves in the Northern Rockies and confer management responsibility to Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, a spokesman said yesterday. [more]

BYLINE: By JEFF BARNARD, AP Environmental Writer

DATELINE: GRANTS PASS Ore.


Oregon lawmakers are keeping a close eye on a three-year state experiment with killing cougars, and will be hearing from a scientist who has found that taking out too many can break down the big cats' social structure, which may actually lead to more run-ins with people and livestock.

The featured witness at the Friday legislative hearing in Newport, Ore., will be Robert Wielgus, a professor of wildlife biology at Washington State University and head of the Large Carnivore Conservation Laboratory, who has done three studies on the effects of cougar hunting. [more]

BYLINE: By H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writer

DATELINE: WASHINGTON
A scandal involving sex, drugs and uh, offshore oil drilling.

It's a strange mix, and it couldn't have come at a worse time for those in Congress pressing to expand oil and gas development off America's beaches while trying to stave off an election-year rush by Democrats to impose new taxes and royalties on the oil industry. [more]

BYLINE: By JUDITH KOHLER, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: DENVER


Conservation groups, land managers and others will gather in a statewide summit next month to explore the growing threats that population, development and loss of farmland pose to Colorado's wildlife.

The Colorado Conservation Summit Oct. 6-8 in Keystone will examine the future of wildlife and habitat over the next 50 years. Speakers lined up include Gov. Bill Ritter, U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Regional Forester Rick Cables and the federal Bureau of Land Management's Colorado director, Sally Wisely. [more]

Staci Matlock | Originally published in the The NEW MEXICAN
9/5/2008 - 9/6/08

Datil, N.M., is a tiny rural town with a cafe, a school, three churches, a U.S. Department of Agriculture office and a mom-and-pop grocery store next to the post office, snuggled up to the Datil Mountains and cupped by the San Agustin Plains.

California retiree Carol Pittman said ranch families and "people trying to escape the law or life or something else" used to populate the valley. In the last couple of decades, retirees like Pittman have steadily moved in.

All it took to unite the old-time ranchers and the new retirees, however, was the threat of a New York company siphoning off 17 billion gallons of water each year from an area near Datil. "It is a real rallying point," Pittman said. [MORE]

Byline: Roy Seawolf-Weekly Sentinel editor

In a New Mexico history class I once took as an undergraduate, I was amazed to learn that in 1860 the Las Cruces area had more than 2000 residents, while El Paso had only 438. Today, El Paso eclipses Las Cruces in population and economic opportunity many fold. It has always been a source of wonder to me why two areas in such close geographic proximity can be as different in terms of growth and economic opportunities as night and day, after a period of less than 170 years. What decisions were made, or not made? What opportunities were capitalized on or neglected that could account for the disparity in two cities 40 miles apart? [more]

Byline: Roy Seawolf-Weekly Sentinel editor

McCain has frequently highlighted his bipartisan proposal to clamp down on greenhouse gas emissions but according to liberal pundits, naming Sarah Palin as his running mate means McCain has aligned himself with a Republican whose record as governor of Alaska has drawn criticism from environmentalists, most notably for her denial that humans are causing climate change.

The fact of the matter is that for every scientist who says that humans are causing global climate change, another one says that it is a natural occurrence. The ethno-centrism of the environmental religion continues to assume that everyone is a believer, without checking the facts. [more]

Byline: Roy Seawolf, Weekly Sentinel Editor

Livestock grazing under the Taylor Grazing Act created a scenario whereby cattle numbers were restricted to the level of forage available. Those individuals who could not conform to the restrictions of grazing permits were soon driven out of business. The surviving ranchers have successfully grazed U.S. Forest and BLM land for over 60 years with little intervention by those tasked to manage these properties. These pioneers were and are stewards of the ranges they pastured, knowing that to do otherwise would result in business failure. [more]