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A conversation about protecting land, farmers and ranchers
Missoulian
Since good quality farmland is indeed a finite, non-renewable resource, we can’t let what the current situation in agriculture or current farming dictate our decisions for the future. There are many options and opportunities out there that we aren’t even thinking about. If we somehow destroy that land or the land is destroyed through development or poorly planned development, then we’ve completely lost the resource. It’s not like we’re just going to re-create that land somewhere else.

Have gray wolves found a home in Colorado?
High Country News
Officially, wild wolves do not live in Colorado. The nearest established population is in Wyoming, where gray wolves were introduced to Yellowstone National Park in 1995. But rumors of wolf sightings abound in Colorado, and in recent years, at least two wolves have died in the state.

Last April, in a narrow mountain valley in northwestern Colorado, Cristina Eisenberg was searching for scat.

Then, on the edge of an aspen grove, one of the biologists saw something unusual: a scat roughly as long and wide as a banana, tapered at the ends, perhaps two months old. When Eisenberg examined it, she saw that it contained hair from deer or elk and shards of bone, some almost as long as a fingernail. It smelled distinctively earthy, like a shady forest floor.

Everything about it -- the size, the shape, the smell, the contents -- indicated a creature that had been extirpated from the state more than 70 years ago. Everything about it said wolf.

The art of the land deal
Billings Gazette.com
The deal was facilitated by The Conservation Fund, a nonprofit land trust that purchased and held the property until the BLM could arrange funding. The transaction an example of land deals that occur regularly across Montana and the nation where state or federal agencies collaborate with nonprofits.

“Land trusts are very helpful to get the deals done,” said Craig Haynes, lands and realty program leader at the BLM’s state office in Billings.

Ag real estate values show some softening
California Farm Bureau Federation
The crash of residential and commercial real estate markets has barely ruffled agricultural property values, but that may change in coming months. There are factors on the horizon that could erode prices and quash sales.

Rural property appraisers cite a laundry list of threats to agricultural real estate values, starting with unreliable water supplies and moving through burdensome regulations, international competition, rising input costs and tighter credit availability. They warn there may be a continued softening of prices.

Alternative Investments - Agriculture Land
The Wall Street Journal
Since most farmland investment funds are set up as private-equity vehicles, accurate return information is hard to come by. Geoff Burke, managing director at Agro-Ecological Investment Management Ltd., which manages funds that invest in farmland in New Zealand and other areas, says dairy land in New Zealand historically has appreciated at a rate of about 12% a year, while the value of mixed-crop land in the U.S. has risen at about an 8% rate.

Bill would ax estate tax for agriculture
Capital Press
Farmers and ranchers are supporting a bill in Congress that would exempt certain land from the federal estate tax as long as the property is kept in agriculture.

The bill by U.S. Reps. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., and John Salazar, D-Colo., would deduct from the estate tax the value of farmland in cases where the heir had been involved in the farm operation for five of the past eight years.

The idea pleases ranchers such as California cattle producer Kevin Kester, whose family had to pay $2 million over 10 years to the Internal Revenue Service after his grandfather died in 1993.

Bison Will Soon Roam Again at Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

The preserve's General Management Plan, which dates to 2002, calls for restocking genetically pure, disease-free animals. For all practical purposes that means the initial batch of bison has to come from the large wild herd (500+ animals) at the 44-square mile Wind Cave National Park. Yellowstone genetically pure bison won’t do, since many are infected with brucellosis, and even careful screening for the disease won’t make them acceptable to nervous ranchers in the Tallgrass vicinity. Wind Cave’s bison are not only genetically pure (no cattle genes), but also free of brucellosis.

The Nature Conservancy, which owns nearly all of the land in the preserve and manages it in cooperation with the National Park Service, had wanted to buy 20 bison for Tallgrass. TNC wanted mostly young cows, since that gender mix would lead to a rapid increase in herd size. However, what they got was six cows and seven bulls

CWCB may have to wait for instream flow appropriations
The Norwood Post
During the public meeting, Baessler said, “[CWCB] is here to balance the needs of mankind with a reasonable protection of the natural environment.” The appropriations that CWCB is proposing are based on studies by the Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW), Forest Service and BLM scientists, who have asked for instream flow appropriations to protect several elements of riparian habitat along the lower San Miguel River.

Currently, the stream segments being considered for instream flow protection are Red Canyon Creek, North Fork Tabeguache Creek, San Miguel River, and Tabeguache Creek, as well as Alpine Gulch, Big Dominguez Creek, Blue Creek, Cebolla Creek, Cochetopa Creek, East Beaver Creek, Little Dominguez Creek, Spring Creek, and Willow Creek.

Everlands Meltdown Leaves Montana’s Lone Mountain Ranch in Limbo

In 2007, with the mountain real estate boom still in full swing, Bob and Vivian Schaap, the long-time owners of the iconic Lone Mountain Ranch in Big Sky, Mont., decided it was time to sell. After vetting several prospective buyers, they reached a deal with a nascent luxury vacation club called Everlands, which promised to keep the historic property intact even as they transformed it into a mostly members-only resort.

Farmland More Valuable Than Ever
USA Today
Farm real estate prices rose 20% to 23% in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming in 2007, according to Farm Credit Services of America, an agricultural lender.

Federal agency settles wolf lawsuit
The Capital Press
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and environmentalists reached an agreement Friday that scraps a rule the agency had used to kill or permanently remove any wolf that killed three heads of livestock in a year.

Habitat project designed to keep elk off Colorado pasture land
Buckmasters
The project, which will create more than 700 acres of new meadow habitat, is a cooperative effort of the Dos Hermanos Ranch, the Colorado Division of Wildlife, and the Mount Blanca Habitat Partnership Committee. Ron Rivale, a district wildlife manager in the area, explained that traditional elk winter range in this area in the western foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains has become densely forested. Consequently, elk move from the mountains in the fall onto high-value pasture in the valley between the New Mexico border and the town of San Luis.

Interior chief Salazar's first year a gusher of controversy
Denver Post
If energy companies didn't know it already, the Bush era of free-wheeling oil and gas drilling across the West was officially over.

A year into his tenure as the 50th secretary of the interior, Salazar has surprised both fans and critics. He's proved bold, ambitious and more willing to directly confront foes than accommodate them.

Investors Returning to Agriculture Land Market
Hoosier AG Today
After spending months on the sidelines, investors are starting to return to the nation's agriculture land as a home for their investment dollars. Investors have long played a role in the land-buying market, but toward the end of 2008 those once active investors retreated, according to Lee Vermeer, AFM, vice president of real estate operations at Farmers National Company.

During the past six months, owner/operators around the country took advantage of the decline in investor attention and purchased available land to expand their operations. It was that activity that kept land values steady despite the turbulent economy.

Rebuilding a forest
Summit Daily News
The ranch had been named the recipient of the foundation’s 2009 Good Steward Award — one of 20 different awards presented in April to individuals and groups from across America “who are making a difference around the world through planting trees or through nature education.”

Recession hasn’t killed Western Colorado hunting season
Glenwood Springs Post Independent
If there is a recession in Western Colorado, the hunters haven’t noticed.

According to the Colorado Division of Wildlife applications are down less than 2 percent from 2008. The license applications include pronghorn, mountain goat, bighorn sheep, moose, turkey, fall bear, desert bighorn sheep, spring turkey and the most popular species of elk and deer.

Sustainable Agricultural Standard Growing Closer
Rueters
A long awaited national standard for sustainable agricultural is growing closer to realization. Scientific Certification Systems (SCS), an independent certifier in California, is developing the National Sustainable Agriculture Practice Standard. SCS has agreed to relinquish copyright ownership for any advancements in the standard to a charitable nonprofit and that any standard be made public.

A chance at the dream
The Brookings Register
For many young people, the idea of getting back into farming and ranching is a daunting one, filled with questions, doubts and uncertainties, but USDA FSA is there to help with its Loans for Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Program. This program offers agriculture loans at low interest rates and extended repayment terms and individualized financial planning with an experienced , local loan officer.

A path through these tough times
BlueRidgeNow.com
We should not forget that the “federal activism” of the early 1930s led to the creation of the Civilian Conservations Corps and the Bureau of Land Management. In fact, land stewardship practices originated by the Forest Service, National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management during the Great Depression are today shared by small nonprofit conservation groups, interested land owners and local land trusts. The work relief programs of the New Deal were precursors to the conservation expertise that many land protection professionals currently use every day.

As conditions change, people take a hard look at Iowa farmland values
DesMoinesRegister.com
Interest in Iowa farmland values, always high, has notched up in recent months as corn and soybean prices have plunged from record levels and the ethanol industry has stalled. "Agriculture had a crazy year in 2008," Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey said. "The first half of the year looked like the 1970s, the second half looked like the 1980s."

Big Sky Rivers Act Would Create Streamside Setbacks on 10 Montana Rivers
New West
When it comes to passing streamside setback legislation in Montana, river advocates hope the third time’s the charm.

House Bill 455, also known as the Big Sky Rivers Act would effectively limit new housing development along select major rivers in Montana.

Farm Management: What Is A Fair Land Rental Rate?
CattleNetwork.com
Land owners need to give serious consideration to the value of land management practices in setting rental rates. A conscientious producer, who fertilizes, performs bush hogging and maintains fences is preserving the value of the landlord’s property and saving the owner property taxes.

Farmland values drop off for first time in decade
DesMoinesRegister.com
A survey of land values by Realtors confirmed Tuesday what farmers and auctioneers have believed for several months: A decade of rising farmland values in Iowa is over.

A survey by the Iowa Farm & Land chapter of Realtors Land Institute showed Iowa land values dropped by an average of 7.6 percent statewide since September.

"Low commodity prices, higher input costs for farmers, a depressed market for livestock producers and a volatile economy and stock market all contributed to the decrease," said Troy Louwagie of Hertz Real Estate Services.

Feds Delist Wolves in Idaho, Montana
New West
The gray wolf in Montana and Idaho is once again on its way off the endangered species list, but wolves in Wyoming will stay, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today.

Grazing bill seeks to cap value of Wyoming leases
Forbes.com
In an effort to preserve long-term grazing leases, the Wyoming ranching industry is backing a bill in the state Legislature that would set a cap on the amount that could be bid for leases on state trust lands

In GarCo, more farms but less land
AspenDailyNews Online
In many ways, the Hawkinses are the new face of agriculture in Garfield County. A recent agricultural census by the United States Department of Agriculture found Garfield County, like the country as a whole, experiencing an upsurge in small farms, even as agricultural acreage dwindles. Colorado is experiencing a similar trend, with a modest boost in farmland.

In ranch country, fewer riding the range
Sioux City Journal
The program offers hopeful ranchers with no collateral, low-interest, government loans of up to $300,000 if they complete a ranch management course. Besides teaching students the best way to raise livestock, it teaches them how to run a ranch as a successful business. And participants must complete a business plan to present to U.S. Agriculture Department's Farm Service Agency, which lends the money.

Kids Connected With Nature Will Caretake Wild Places
New West
That was Rick Potts, Conservation and Outdoor Recreation Chief for the National Park Service, charge to children, parents and everyone alike in his opening address Wednesday night to the inaugural Missoula Children and Nature Summit being held on the University of Montana, Missoula campus. The summit, which continues this afternoon, explores how to get children outside to connect with nature.

Northern Rockies Wilderness Bill Back in Congress
New West
Undaunted by many years of failure, backers of the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act (NREPA) have had it introduced once more into the 111th Congress.

And once more, the massive legislation is being billed as a jobs program, which should get more traction in the face of the current economic meltdown and rapidly rising unemployment.

“NREPA also would formally designate as wilderness all 24 million acres of inventoried roadless areas in the Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, eastern Oregon and eastern Washington.”

Women take reins of agricultural enterprises
Coshocton Tribune
Although not all of them are the chief operators of their agriculture enterprises, the following women represent a sampling of the hundreds of women involved in agriculture in the county, and were suggested to The Tribune by people involved in agriculture-related organizations

Wyoming, Montana ranchers change techniques to ‘ranch for profit'
The Prairie Star
In 1998 Glen Barlow, of Gillette, Wyo., was running his cattle operation the traditional way - calving in early spring, feeding cow-calf pairs until the pasture grass came in. After weaning in the fall, they would feed the cows through out the winter.

Then Barlow participated in a Ranching for Profit School with Dave Pratt.

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A modern advancement to an age-old practice
Buffalo Bulletin
“Next year you’ll be looking at one of the biggest new conservation projects in this part of the world. It’s critical for us to stabilize water systems in Johnson County, and we hope that we’re demonstrating a method other landowners can consider,”

Colorado hunting harvest numbers may be down
Aspen Times
Unusually warm fall temperatures in northwestern Colorado has the Colorado Division of Wildlife anticipating a lower hunting harvest this year.

Conservation Coalition Releases 2009 Policy Agenda
Fly Rod & Reel Online
The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) today released its 2009 Conservation Policy Agenda, which represents the consensus priorities of its wide-ranging partners. The agenda was developed by a broad coalition that includes national hunting, fishing and conservation organizations, labor unions and grassroots sportsmen. The TRCP will focus sustained and coordinated efforts on these issues in the coming year.

Cross Walk Between Farm-Level Measures Of Net Income & Farm-Sector Estimates
CattleNetwork.com
U.S. agriculture consists of farm businesses that are diverse in economic size and commodity production. Ownership from the viewpoint of farmland tenure or sources of capital, along with age, occupation, and other attributes of the operator and his or her household may also be considered in characterizing business diversity.

Experts say wolves should be treated like any wild game
The Washington Times
The prestigious Boone & Crockett Club, founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887 and widely recognized for its work in protecting Yellowstone National Park as well as for club members that established Glacier and Denali national parks, says the gray wolf should be delisted as an endangered and/or threatened animal and be managed as a game species by states in which the large canines are found.

Fact vs. Fiction on Food vs. Fuel
International Analyst Network
The sharp drop in world prices for oil and grain precipitated by the past few months’ economic turmoil has literally, if probably temporarily, taken the energy out of last summer’s vitriolic “food-versus-fuel” debate. Suddenly, we’re not hearing the denunciations about how ethanol is taking corn from the world’s hungry in order to put it in the gas tanks of the world’s rich.

Farm Service Agency: Agency works to protect farmland nationwide
The Advertiser.com
Many people are very concerned about the seemingly large amounts of farmland that are being lost to development. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has a program called the Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program.

Farmers raising a stink about possible law that could tax cow 'emissions'
Gaston Gazette
Farmers are raising a stink about a possible law that could tax them for their animals' gaseous nature.

"If they do impose the tax, it's going to put a greater detriment on dairy farmers. It's hard enough to sustain the dairy industry with all the regulations put on them," said Laura Worden, livestock agent with the Gaston office of the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service.

Feds hurt Wyoming's efforts to settle wolf issue
Cody Enterprise
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service had an opportunity recently to make real progress on the seemingly unending wolf de-listing issue - and they blinked.

Instead of a careful response to litigation triggered by earlier efforts to remove wolves from Endangered Species Act protections, the agency is pushing for a careless new plan in a rushed process designed to fail.

Outdoorsmen speak out against bill that would restrict access to rivers
ksl.com
Hundreds of outdoorsmen and river enthusiasts rallied at the Capitol Thursday morning. Their aim was to convince lawmakers to cut loose a bill which would block the public's access to most Utah streams and rivers.

Opponents of the bill said it could cost the state tens of millions of dollars, as those who want to fish or float Utah's rivers and streams would simply go to other states.

Plan for tax on cow gas stinks, US farmers say
guardian.co.uk
Livestock producers say that the government's Environment Protection Agency (EPA) wants to charge them for rising levels of methane and other polluting nitrous gases emitted by their farm animals.

Plan proposes ponds to cut pollution
ChicagoTribune.com
An idea to cut down on pollution runoff from farms by building shallow ponds is running into opposition from landowners unwilling to part with parcels that could yield historically high-priced corn and soybeans.

Public Lands Bill: Finally, A Blow for Mother Nature
New West
The U.S. Senate finally gave some good news to the community of anglers, hunters, hikers, backpackers, recreational outfitters--anybody who loves the great outdoors--by finally clearing the way to protect 200 million acres of wilderness in nine states.

Ranchers optimistic for 2009
The Spectrum.com
Byl said he thinks statistically that it has been shown agriculture does much better under Democratic rule rather than Republican, but is not convinced a turnaround will happen instantly.

The Beaverhead-Deerlodge Partnership: Right Idea, Wrong Bill
New West
For four years, I’ve been writing about what I’ve coined the “Wilderness Drought,” 25 years of frustration and infighting since we’ve seen a single acre of Wilderness designated in Montana. Now, several mainstream groups have joined forces with representatives of the wood products industry in a grand attempt to end it.

The Land's Worth
iStockAnalyst
F armland values continue to rise in Iowa and the upper Midwest, but many banks are requiring more collateral for loans. The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago quarterly survey of 213 bankers in the five-state district found the value of good farmland rose 2 percent between July 1 and Oct. 1, and 14 percent between Oct. 1, 2007, and this Oct. 1.

The Stone Barns Center Grows a New Crop: Farmers
Lancaster Farming
This former Rockefeller estate transformed itself into the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in May 2004 and has been on a mission ever since to excite and educate the public about sustainable farming.

USDA ENACTS CHANGES TO PAYMENT LIMITATIONS, INCOME QUALIFICATIONS ...
USDA
"Changes to program participation rules and qualifying income requirements will make farm program payments more defendable to America's taxpayers," Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said. "This is a step in the right direction to ensuring that program benefits are targeted to active qualifying farmers and ranchers."

USDA enacts changes to ag program payment eligibility
Cedar Valley Daily Times
The United States Department of Agriculture has announced changes to Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) qualifications, program payment limitations, and direct attribution for Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) programs, which became effective in accordance with the 2008 Farm Bill.

Valuing land not always a strict matter of money
Calgary Herald
So it is that an alliance of ranchers -- the Pekisko Group --now argues the land's case before an Energy Resources Conservation Board panel. Petro-Canada wants to build a sour gas pipeline through an area of outstanding natural beauty due west of where they run their cattle, south of the Eden Valley Indian reserve. The ranchers hate the thought.

Winter cattle glut likely
Portage Daily Graphic
The United States Department of Agriculture released its Nov. 1 Cattle on Feed report on Nov. 21. The pre-report estimates were expecting to see placements down nine per cent and actual placements are down 11 per cent at 2.44 million head. Analysts are speculating with continued heavy placement of 800-plus pound feeders there will likely be a glut of cattle ready for market in December to February.

Agricultural markets face own global crises
Winnipeg Free Press
All the talk a few months back over food commodity prices achieving a permanently higher plateau are gone, just like summer. In fact, the talk by analysts last week was all about a "global glut" of wheat weighing on wheat and corn prices in the coming year.

That's right, a glut. Offer farmers the promise -- even the illusion -- of good returns and they'll deliver, just as they'll try to produce their way out of a market downturn.

Battling the beetles
HelenaIR.com
About 2,000 dead and dying trees on 30 acres in the Park Lake area southwest of Helena will probably be logged as part of the Helena National Forest’s battle with mountain pine beetles.

Break the Cycle: Bring Interior Back to its Roots
New West
Every four years those of us living in the Intermountain West --a largely federal landscape filled with vast potential and spectacular resources—find ourselves wondering who will be appointed as our new landlord, and why.

Buck Up, Borrowers, Ag Credit Could be Harder to Obtain
The Fence Post
Unprecedented volatility in U.S. financial markets means American farmers could soon be facing the most challenging credit conditions in the last 25 years: Negative cash flows, higher interest costs and plunging land values. Those factors already are generating a perfect storm in growers' finances, said Dave Kohl, professor emeritus of agricultural finance at Virginia Tech, during a DTN webinar Nov. 10

Court Opens Mitchell Slough in Landmark Stream Access Case
New West
For more than 20 years, the Mitchell Slough in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley has become a showcase of the battle between public access and private property rights and Monday the Montana Supreme Court ruled in favor of the former.

With a 54-page ruling, the Supreme Court deemed the waterway a natural stream, which means access to it is protected by Montana’s stream access law, which is among the strongest in the country.

Farm Real Estate Sector Headed into a Decline?
Seeking Alpha.com
According to the data from Economic Research Service, farm real estate comprises nearly 79% of total U.S. farm assets in 2000. Since much of the current attention is focused on the residential real estate and subsequent credit crisis, it is high time to look at another important market, farm real estate. Agricultural land values typically vary from state to state, depending on the quality of soil and demand for its use.

Have Farmers Hit The Daily Double?
Herold & Review.com
About two years ago the demand for corn to feed ethanol refineries caused the market to bid up prices and buy acres for both corn and soybeans. That initiated a bull market that carried corn and soybeans to record levels and provide the opportunity for farm revenues to reach a solid level of profitability.

Montana Wildlife Federation Wants More Assurances from Cabela’s
New West
“We believe it is time to re-engage with Cabela’s and evaluate outcomes of prior communications,” Sharpe wrote to Gregg Severinson, Director of CTO. “We are asking for help in understanding what Cabela’s is doing differently than a year ago.”

Aiming to build a better habitat
TimesLeader.com
Joe Lukashunas waded into an inhospitable tangle of weeds and thorns and saw potential. Never mind that the old farm fields in Nescopeck State Park had been overrun with invasive plant species for decades, Lukashunas is hopeful the area can be transformed into fields of native plants and grasses that will be a boon to wildlife.

Controlled burns are a vital tool, say wildlife professionals
The Globe Gazette
Greg Hanson is the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) district manager for six North Iowa counties, including Worth. His job is to maintain and improve public land for the benefit of both game and non-game species.

His job includes practices like controlled burning that some consider wrong.

Green spaces, grasslands, are casualties of the ranching industry’s woes
WLTribune.com
The age-old rhythms of cattle ranching stay true to tradition in spite of the industry being in the most critical state it has ever been in, in its very long timeline of existence. The industry is in distress; if it were compared to a hospital patient, you would say that it is on life support and many are thinking that it’s time to pull the plug (if they haven’t already).

How to hunt elk in Colorado
The Leadville Chronicle
Hunting elk is one of the most exciting big-game pursuits in North America. But stalking these animals is challenging, and most hunters won't get easy shots.

Walden Hears Rumble of Energy Boom
Rocky Mountain News
"We're a resource-based community," said Mike Blanton, a Jackson County commissioner and convenience store owner, reflecting on the region's history of lumber mills and coal mines. "And this is getting us back to where we need to be."

But groups representing hunters and conservationists are more cautious. They cherish North Park - a million-acre expanse surrounded by spectacular mountains and wilderness - for its wildlife and scenery. They acknowledge the fruits, but warn of the fallout, of yet another pocket of Colorado facing the Rockies' ongoing energy boom

What’s your fish and wildlife habitat IQ?
Delta County Independent
Do you have a good basic understanding of whatfish and wildlife need to survive? You probably do if you can answer the questions below correctly. Choose only one answer for each.

Wildlife land plans raise doubts
DenverPost.com
The proposed rule to manage Colorado's 4.1 million acres of roadless forests raises "potentially higher risks" for wildlife and fisheries, according to a federal analysis.

The U.S. Forest Service's draft environmental-impact statement on the rule estimates there could be higher risks for wildlife in 118 of the 345 roadless areas in the state.

Natural fisheries in 44 roadless areas would also face potentially higher risks compared with a more protective rule, according to the environmental assessment.

Drilling moves closer to our doorstep
DenverPost.com
The area of acute concern no longer is confined to some remote canyon country far to the west where most people who read this seldom go. The latest place to face the blowtorch is North Park, an outdoor playground to many thousands from Colorado's Front Range. From Fort Collins to metro Denver, hunters and fishers flock to a high mountain valley laced with rivers and lakes and framed by some of the state's most valued deer and elk terrain.

Fear in the fields as Iowa begins rich harvest
DesMoinesRegister.com
Iowa farmers prepare to combine what may be the richest harvest in the state's history. But their sense of well-being over surging corn and soybean prices, rising farm profits and soaring land values is giving way to uneasiness.

The record harvest-time prices of $5.50 per bushel for corn and $11.50 per bushel for soybeans look very good. At late September prices, the expected cash return from this year's Iowa harvest would add up to a financial yield around $16 billion, at least $2 billion more than last year's record cash yield.

Is Credit Crisis
CNBC
This is a capital-intensive business. Farmers borrow big upfront to plant and then repay as the harvest cashes in. They have strong balance sheets, but much of that value is in the land, and we are hearing that some banks think farm real estate may be a bubble. They may not lend as much. So will the credit crisis hit agriculture in a meaningful way? We won't know for a couple of months, when farmers start asking for loans.

Matador Ranch opens hunting lodge to stay profitable
Lubbock Centennial
Cattle aren't the only cash crop at the Matador Ranch anymore. Managers of the sprawling ranch 80 miles northeast of Lubbock have discovered there's something else on their land people are willing to pay for - deer. "The abundance of wildlife here is unbelievable," said Bob Kilmer, manager of the 128,000-acre Matador Ranch.

Popularity of ag easements growing
Capital Press
While it can't yet be nailed down with numbers, the growing interest is tangible, said Charles Tyson, manager of the California Farmland Conservancy Program, which directs funding toward farmland preservation. With a drop in the demand for land among developers, more farmers are considering selling easements, which preserve open land for agriculture or conservation.

Time to Codify the Roadless Rule
New West
On January 5, 2001, with George W. Bush’s moving van parked at the back door of the White House, President Bill Clinton signed his now-infamous Roadless Rule. With a stroke of his pen and without the approval of Congress, Clinton protected almost one-third of our national forests, 58.5 million acres, from road building.

Conservation Easements: The Need for Closer Scrutiny
The New West
With development pressures increasing on lands throughout the country, particularly in amenity-driven regions like the Rockies, Pacific Northwest, Northeast and elsewhere, the use of conservation easements to preclude subdivisions and other developments has become the conservation method of choice for many non-profit and governmental organizations.

Cooperation creates a common good
The Denver Post
How these two men — one dedicated to providing water for millions, the other to recreation for anglers — have arrived at common ground amid seeming conflict stands as one of the most encouraging developments in Colorado's ever-changing outdoor landscape.

Critical situation for ranchers
High Plains Journal
Last week, a judge issued a restraining order that halted the Critical Feed Use provision on Conservation Reserve Program acres. The program was announced May 27 to provide "much needed feed and forage while maintaining conservation efforts." The NWF sought and received the restraining order after the program had already begun in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico.

DOW eager to strike a balance
Craig Daily Press
Bill de Vergie is committed to doing what he can to bridge the gap between the Colorado Division of Wildlife and local landowners, including the farmers and ranchers who have been critical of regional wildlife policy.

DOW studies mule deer aging
Delta County Independent
Early results of a mule deer aging study being conducted by the Colorado Division of Wildlife are helping provide insight into the trade-offs between hunt quality and hunting opportunity in southwest Colorado.

Many hunters would like to hunt deer every year and have the opportunity to harvest a buck four years old or older. The reality is that you can’t have it both ways.”

DOW urges landowners to repair, build fences to protect crops
Valley Courier Online
Ranchers, farmers and landowners still have time to order free fencing materials to protect their hay and crops from winter wildlife damage.

The Colorado Division of Wildlife provides protective fencing materials at no charge to agricultural producers. DOW staff helps landowners design the best protective system and then delivers the materials directly to the building site.

Drilling for Natural Gas in Wyoming Raises Debate
The Online News Hour
NewsHour Correspondent: Gary Amerine makes his living as an outfitter in the rugged mountains of Wyoming. He's raised his children riding horses, and he guides hunters and fishermen into the Wyoming Range, the snowcapped peaks south of Grand Teton National Park that provide the backdrop to his ranch.

Drought has a death grip on the Oklahoma Panhandle
High Plains Journal
Despite conditions that are even dryer than the historic Dust Bowl of the 1930s, another catastrophic dust bowl is being averted thanks to conservation practices that have been put in place for the last 70 years.

As bad as it is, I really saw a lot of great work being done by farmers to save the land," McManus said of his trip to the area. "I also saw instances where conservation practices weren't being used and saw the great damage being done above and beyond what Mother Nature has done.

Dubois, Wyoming named one of the 20 Best Places to Live in the ...
Adventure Travel Media Source
Based on factors from outdoor adventures to towns where history comes alive, they’ve compiled a list of the top spots in the nation to experience authentic Western culture today. The list pays tribute to a few remaining outposts where true Western spirit still thrives as residents and communities go about their everyday affairs.

Dude ranches grow in popularity
The Coloradoan
At Sundance Trail and Guest Ranch, aspiring cowboys and cowgirls can spend the day on horseback, practice their archery skills, relax in a hammock or socialize on the expansive front porch. No matter what guests choose, ranch owners say it’s the relaxing and unstructured atmosphere that people crave.

Editorial: Farmers in the Lead on Global Climate Change
The Spanish Journal
During my years on a farm in southeastern Wisconsin, my parents taught their five children to live a life of careful conservation and land and water stewardship long before anyone we knew was talking about "going green."

Effective grass waterways need regular maintenance
High Plains Journal
Producing a good crop demands a lot of attention during the growing season. But producers and landowners shouldn't overlook the maintenance needs of grass waterways and other conservation practices, either, said DeAnn Presley, Kansas State University Research and Extension soil management specialist. "Grass waterways are an important part of a farm's overall soil conservation plan," Presley said. They are permanent strips of grass seeded in areas of cropland where water concentrates or flows off a field from terraces or diversions.

Environmentalists Question Roads in Roadless Areas
The New West
While the fate of a federal roadless rule protecting millions of pristine acres across the country remains in question, Colorado is moving forward with its own proposal to protect roadless lands across the state.

Enviros sue to stop drilling
Aspen Daily News
A coalition of 10 environmental and wildlife organizations filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Denver on Friday in an effort to stop hotly contested drilling on the Roan Plateau.

Farm Bill Proposal Contains Mixed Results for Waterfowl Needs
Ducks Unlimited
With a Farm Bill being readied for a final floor vote in the House and Senate, agricultural conservation initiatives are being treated differently than they were in earlier versions of this year’s bill and in previous Farm Bills.

Farm Bill's forest fix falls short
Baker City Herald - Baker City,OR,USA
The 2008 Farm Bill includes new programs and funding for private forests, but woodland owners and forest managers in Baker County and across the state deem the dollars a "drip in the bucket" considering the scope of the nation's forest health crisis.

Farm Real Estate at Record High
KIMATV.com
National farmland prices are at an all-time high, and the Tri-Cities area is no exception.
Prices locally have doubled in the last few years, up 15 percent since last year.
Realtors say farmers switching out traditional crops for bio-fuels play a big role in the hike.

Farm clans often inherit a fight
News & Observer - Raleigh,NC,USA
In North Carolina's hotbeds of suburban growth, heirs of large tracts of land often face tough choices -- keeping their family inheritance intact or selling to developers.
Sometimes, the decisions can tear families apart.

Farmers and Ranchers Fight NAIS - And Win
The John Birch Society
Small farmers, big ranchers, home farmers, animal and pet owners, and food freedom advocates have come together to legally fight implementation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Animal Identification System (NAIS). The results are encouraging.

Farmers and ranchers rewarded for being good land stewards
KPTM Fox 42
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - About 204 farmers and ranchers in an 11-county area of south-central Nebraska and parts of Kansas will receive financial rewards for being good stewards of the land.

Farmers' Market A 'Green' Business

Farmland Grab
Tri-State Observer
The global food crises is contributing to new agricultural awarenesses, not the least of which is that food comes from farmland.





For Americans, production from domestic farmland is exposed to export risk. Food raised in America is not specifically earmarked for Americans,
but for a global food market.

The Chinese government is working o­n a proposal to support and encourage Chinese companies to buy farmland abroad.

Farmland values soar to new highs
Capital Press
The United States housing market may be in the tank, but farm real estate values continue to push higher.

Nationwide, the average value of farm real estate - including land and buildings - climbed $190 per acre in 2007 to a new record high of $2,350 per acre, according to a report released Monday, Aug. 4, by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Fed report says climate change risks crops, water
Associated Press
Climate change is increasing the risk of U.S. crop failures, depleting the nation's water resources and contributing to outbreaks of invasive species and insects, according to a federal report released Tuesday.

Fishing in Grand County: So much water, so little time
Sky-Hi Daily News
Anglers visiting Grand County are confronted with an enviable dilemma: so much water, so little time. How much water? About 1,000 miles of streams and rivers, 1,000 acres of high mountain lakes and a whopping 11,000 acres of reservoirs, according to the Grand County Tourism Board Web site.

Fuel for thought
Boston.com
EUROPEAN OFFICIALS have the foresight and flexibility to admit that the world's romance with biofuels is going sour. Why can't the United States do the same?

Get ready to hike
WyomingNews.com
City-owned land could join a planned Colorado trails system within the next five years that would stretch more than 40 miles over tens of thousands of acres of land.

Getting Paid for How You Farm
The Progressive Farmer
High grain prices caused by burgeoning world demand forced lawmakers to make a major change in farm legislation. Using adjustments in the conservation provisions, the 2008 bill encourages farmers to produce more crops and keep fewer acres idle.

Good times for rural banks
Minneapolis Star Tribune
While farmers raise corn and wheat, many small-town bankers are growing profits.

Government Land Acquisition on the Sly
The National Center for Public Policy Research - Washington,DC,USA
Dana, as many of you know, is the author of the absolutely excellent new paper on conservation easements, "Conservation Easements: The Good, the Bad, ...

Gray wolf sighted in New Mexico
LA Times
A possible gray wolf has been sighted on a ranch in northern New Mexico, raising the prospect that wolves may have migrated into the state from the Northern Rockies where they were reintroduced more than a decade ago.

Guest Opinion: Solutions needed now to control wildlife disease
Billings Gazette
While no conclusive evidence exists that the latest positive test for brucellosis in Paradise Valley has come from either bison or elk, that has not stopped those who would either privatize or kill off wildlife species such as bison and elk from our public landscape rather than work to find an equitable solution for all involved.

High corn prices hit hard locally
Steamboat Pilot - Steamboat Springs,CO,USA
Most cattle ranchers don’t pump pounds of corn into the bellies of their beasts. But by all accounts, the record high price of the grain is having a negative impact on the ranching industry.

Home on the Range
FT.com
Equestrian living has become increasingly popular with wealthy buyers attracted to rural landscapes combined with luxury residences and the amenities found in private golf communities. Their reasons for choosing this lifestyle are varied, but follow two themes: horses and open space.

Hooked on North Park
The Denver Post
Lost in the publicity shuffle are the best lakes hardly anyone is paying attention to. The several trout havens of North Park.

Hunter Green - The People Behind a Conservation Success Story
washingtonpost.com
Today's green movement uses certain buzzwords -- organic, locavore, renewable -- to the wry amusement of 15 million to 20 million of us who've actually lived the eco-friendly lifestyle that these words describe.

We are hunters.

Hunters, fishermen call for curbs on oil and gas drilling
Seattlepi.com
Two top-ranking U.S. Forest Service officials from the Clinton administration today pitched in on a campaign by hunters and fishermen to rein in oil and gas development in five Rocky Mountain states. The drilling has skyrocketed under the Bush administration, alienating many in the hook-and-bullet crowd. The group calls itself Sportsmen for Responsible Energy Development.

In the Deer Lodge Valley, Ranching and Restoring a River
The New West
In 2005, the Clark Fork Coalition, a non-profit river conservation group, bought a 2,300-acre cattle ranch in the heart of the Deer Lodge Valley. It’s smack in the middle of the nation’s largest Superfund complex—the upper Clark Fork River from Butte to Missoula—where the toxic remnants from a century of mining are about to be cleaned up in the largest “river fix” ever undertaken in the West.

Increased bear activity blamed on late spring bloom
9 News.com
Some mountain communities are experiencing an increase in spring bear activity due to the late bloom of berries.

King Ranch Executive Urges Ranchers To `Plan for Profitability´
CattleNetwork.com
For some ranchers, strategic planning may seem tedious. For others, it may seem something a large corporation - not a working cattle operation - would do. But Texas A&M University - Kingsville´s King Ranch Institute for Ranch Management Executive Director Barry Dunn encourages cattle ranchers to make the time.

Let's talk climate impact on wildlands
The Arizona Republic
In Arizona, the topic of climate change remains controversial. The "sky is falling" mentality of the left combined with the "head in the sand " naysayers on the right prevent reasoned discussion. With Arizona's outdoor heritage at stake, this is a shame. Left unaddressed, the climate issue will severely impact our natural surroundings and the hiking, camping, fishing, hunting and boating opportunities that Arizona is famous for.

Little-known tribe taps big tax credits in Colorado
Rocky Mountain News
It was this simple: During 2005 and 2006, a little-known Indian tribe from southwestern Oregon mailed 11 one-page documents to the Jackson County clerk and recorder's office placing conservation easements on 11 small parcels of North Park scrubland.

Llano Springs Ranch Shines As Conservation Beacon Amid Changing Texas
Lone Star Outdoor News
The famed wide-open spaces of Texas are under siege, threatened by ever-expanding suburban development and fragmenting into ever-smaller pieces as people in cities buy up land in the country. The good news is conservation-minded landowners stand as bastions against these trends, places like Llano Springs Ranch south of Junction, which on May 21 received the Leopold Conservation Award for Texas from Sand County Foundation and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, part of the department’s Lone Star Land Steward Awards program.

Major water ruling challenged
MercuryNews.com
Opponents of a state decision to allow 6.1 billion gallons of water a year to be pumped from three rural Nevada valleys and piped to Las Vegas went to court Friday to challenge the decision.
Representatives of the Great Basin Water Network and other groups and individuals opposed to the Southern Nevada Water Authority pumping plan said in a petition filed in district court in Ely that the pumping from Delamar, Dry Lake and Cave valleys would be excessive.

Memorandum of understanding signed for Brunot area
The Mineral County Miner
The Colorado Division of Wildlife, the Colorado Wildlife Commission, Governor Ritter and the Southern Ute Indian Tribe have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) concerning wildlife management and enforcement in an area known as the Brunot area. Efforts by the Southern Ute Tribe to re-establish hunting rights on 3.7 million acres in western Colorado— in accordance with the 1874 Brunot federal treaty— had some hunters and land users up in arms.

My Day with a Rancher: Standing on the Same Turf
The New West
I got introduced to a way of life that is not too far off from my own. I appreciate and care for this land of Montana and the Rocky Mountains. I want it to be healthy and have the best management practices to keep it viable and teeming with diverse flora and fauna. And the ranchers share that perspective, but they are the ones with dirt under their nails from managing the land that I appreciate.

NM takes steps to protect wildlife, habitat
Las Cruces Sun News
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—With the oil and gas boom spreading across the West, New Mexico officials are taking an unprecedented step to get federal and state land management agencies to think about wildlife before opening up public land to energy development.

Neighborly advice: How Steamboat Springs saved open space, water and the ranching way of life by planning ahead
Sky-Hi Daily News
Call it the law of unintended consequences — a place promotes “Wide Open Spaces” to attract people, but as more people buy into the idea and move to the area, those wide open spaces are lost.

New Federal Policy Seen As Boon to Farmers
Istockanalyst
Though some area farmers question whether the bill, passed last month, does enough to help them, others say it ushers in far-reaching improvements -- to the industry as well as the towns that house it.

"This Farm Bill just blows my mind," said David Tuttle, the USDA's rural development director for Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. "I was amazed by the amount of time spent (on it) and by the level of detail."

New Realities For The Farm Bill
Wildfowl
A careful look at the two periods would turn up a number of variables that affected waterfowl, but I think it's safe to say that an appreciable amount of the difference is USDA land retirement programs, which is to say, the conservation reserve, the wetland reserve, and the grassland reserve, along with other USDA conservation programs like WHIP, EQIP, and Sodsaver. Biologists with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimate that, thanks to CRP, "since 1992, net increases of about two-million additional ducks per year were produced in the prairie pothole region of North Dakota, South Dakota, and northeastern Montana."

New website offers shocking advice on working with fractional real estate and fractional real estate ownership.
Web Wire
Fractional real estate ownership is new, and exciting and it’s very possible that the more people that jump on the bandwagon the harder it will be to get the great deals that you can now. This being said anyone interested is suggested to look into fractional real estate NOW while this is still a hot new trend.

Night life painted brown at Delaney
The Denver Post
For most of the year, these are not easy to catch. Save for erratic spurts in late May and June when they lose their inhibition during a damselfly hatch, they burrow beneath layers of vegetation where awaits a banquet of scuds, snails, leeches and varied courses of several insects.

Such subversive behavior, at least on the part of the browns, ends abruptly with the onset of October. Driven by mating urges generally unrequited in this lake environment, trout as long as a fifth-grader's leg prowl the shoreline looking for love.

No Forty Acres - Black Farmers Seek Justice From USDA
Black Voices
The number of black-owned farms in this country has declined from approximately 1,000,000 around the turn of the century to approximately 18,000.

That translates to a decrease from about 14 percent to around 1 percent of farms in America. And no one can blame incompetence or disinterest as the primary reasons for disappearing black-owned farms. Instead, discrimination by the United States Government is at least a large part of the reason many of these farms failed.

No crop stands alone: Brown Ranch grows diversity, soil health
The Prairie Star
Gabe Brown, a Burleigh County Soil Conservation District supervisor, spoke to the group about how managing the soil and developing an active soil conservation and grazing management program turned out to be the best of both worlds for their farm/ranch.

No-till saves time, money and brings better yields
North Platte Bulletin
--“In 1987 when I got started with no-till, I was 35 years old and still single. I had better things to do than till fields to kill weeds that weren’t even there yet,” said Dan Gillespie, no-till specialist for the Natural Resource Conservation Service.
In the 20 years since, Gillespie has used the no-till system on his own land. He says no-till saves money and leads to better crops. He has seen a reduction in soil erosion, an increase in soil organic matter and moisture holding capacity, and a decrease in the time he spends in the field.

Perfection in land of hoppers and droppers
Dallas Morning News
"I was lucky because I made my passion my living," said Stefanek, master fishing guide and river keeper for three miles of upscale private trout waters on Marabou Ranch, just outside of Steamboat Springs, and 40 miles of private trout waters on North Park Fishing Club in nearby Walden, Colo.

Pilot program expanded to help farmers understand on-farm wildlife management
Peace Country Sun
Farms can be places where wildlife can flourish, given a commitment to protect them. To assist farmers, Ducks Unlimited has expanded a pilot project, known as Natural Advantage: The On-Farm Wildlife and Biodiversity Planning Service, into a permanent program to help farmers understand how to conserve their land and the creatures that live there.

Price of Farmland Continues Climb in Nation, Mountain West

Rancher can trust his land is protected
Hutch News
More ranchers and farmers are turning to conservation easements, a voluntary agreement allowing a landowner to permanently limit development on their property while retaining private ownership. The trust usually holds the easement, which can specify that the land can continue to be ranched or farmed.

Realtor: Buyers Still Flocking to Farmland
Farm Week
Farmland values last year increased as much as 20 percent, according to Farmers National. Home sales in the state during the same time declined by a reported 31 percent.

Recent Sampling of Sales from the Plains
AgWeb - USA
Here's a sampling of recent sales from the Midwest to give you a feel for what's happening in land demand. The sales reports provide some data on the strength in land demand.

Report Analyzes Booming Megapolitan West
The New West
A new report by the Brookings Institution assesses the dramatic population growth and economic and demographic shifts redefining the southern Intermountain West.

As all eyes turn to the West for the Democratic National Convention...

Report sees peril and promise in emerging patterns of forestland ownership
BethalCitizen.com
A recently published report looks at evolving ownership patterns in the northern forest and concludes that state governments and conservation groups need to “reexamine their toolkits,” if the forests are to continue to provide recreation, clean water and economic support for local communities.

Roadless Rule Takes Another U-Turn
New West
The rule protecting millions of roadless acres on public lands across the West and around the country has followed a long and winding road since the Clinton administration put it in place. Now it has taken another U-turn, and it leaves 58.5 million acres, mostly in the West, in limbo

Rule Allowing More Mountain Biking in National Parks No Big Deal
New West
Hikers and mountain bikers agree that they should be natural allies in wildland protection, but of course, this never happens unless hiking groups agree to something less than “big W” Wilderness--i.e.something that’s “bicycle friendly.” Witness the International Mountain Bike Association’s (IMBA) recent success in convincing California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to veto the California Wilderness Act because it prohibited mountain biking on several state parks.

Ruling bars road to landlocked property
TheUnion.com
Land trusts across the state are looking at a court decision in Nevada County and the precedents it could set for conservation easements elsewhere.

In a tentative ruling, a county judge has decided in favor of the Nevada County Land Trust and landowners Bill and Anna Trabucco in a civil lawsuit brought by adjacent landowner Ian Garfinkel.

Senator Dorgan Discusses Farm Bill
kxmc.com
Dorgan said at the meeting that the new Farm Bill will give a boost to North Dakota farmers and ranchers by strengthening the farm safety net, implementing country-of-origin labeling, and restoring a permanent disaster aid program.

Sportsmen meet in Wyo. to talk preservation of hunting land
Daily Camera - CO,USA
Energy development is increasingly coming into conflict with traditional hunting and fishing grounds in the West, prompting concern from outdoor enthusiasts who want to see their longtime stomping grounds preserved for future generations.

Spotlight on Easements
The Rocky Mountain News
Some real estate appraisers, property owners and land trusts have manipulated tax credits available from Colorado's conservation easement program in ways that seem downright criminal.

So we welcome Wednesday's decision by Attorney General John Suthers asking a statewide grand jury to look into the more questionable deals. An independent probe is essential.

Stalking a passion - Boulder-area hunters gear up for big-game season
Daily Camera
They wait all year for the end of summer, checking and rechecking gear, shopping for supplies, testing tents and campers and planning for those coveted few weeks of getting back to nature — and stalking wild game.

Hunters across Colorado are in the midst of big-game season.

The 10 Acre Rule Controversy
The Cattle Network
Looking at the language in new farm bill, USDA Secretary Ed Schafer announced a plan that could effectively eliminate over a quarter of a million small farms from qualifying for direct payments and save the Department $24 million. “Oops,” said prominent members of the legislative branch as more than 50 members of the house and 25 senators immediately signed letters to Mr. Schafer stating his interpretation goes against ‘clear congressional intent.’

The Fires Next Time
New West
Think about wildfire in the West and it’s hard to picture a rosy future, except for the sunsets bleeding through the smoke.

Climate change is creating longer, hotter, more explosive burning seasons, while more and more homes sprout on flammable ground.

The Rise of a New Ranch in the American West
The New West
Courtney White’s new book Revolution on the Range (Island Press, $25.95) seeks common ground between the goals of Western ranchers and environmentalists. White reports on individuals who are working to end the “tribal warfare between denizens of the ‘Old’ West and advocates of the ‘New,’ with lassos on one side, and lattes on the other.”

The Undaunted Steward
Helena Independent Record - Helena,MT,USA
Trying to figure out a balance between ranch productivity while preserving wildlife and their habitat spurred Clark to learn about the Undaunted Stewardship program.

Towns, Local Trusts Buying Development Rights To Save Land, Farms
Courant.com
A developer had his eye on the land recently, one of only three privately owned properties of 40 acres or more left in this 12-square-mile town of nearly 7,000 residents. His plan was to build 20 homes on the site. Instead, Johnson entered into an agreement with the local land trust to restrict the use of his land, a deal that local officials say is a milestone for Essex and the Essex Land Trust, the latest land trust to look to purchasing development rights as a way to preserve farmland.

Trout Unlimited meets with Energy Industry
KJCT8.com - Grand Junction,CO,USA
Many businesses and groups have interest in the Roan Plateau, from the gas industry to environmentalist and sportsmen. Sometimes the goals of those groups come into conflict.

UA report details the effects of climate change on agriculture
University of Arizona News
University of Arizona researchers contributed to one of the most extensive examinations of climate impacts on U.S. ecosystems, which was released recently by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program.

USDA: less red tape for rural devlopment
The Pratt Tribune
Removing paperwork roadblocks was the goal of Thomas Dorr, United States Department of Agriculture Undersecretary for Rural Development, as he addressed rural technology providers Wednesday at Pratt Community College.

Vast Tejon Ranch agreement protects vital condor habitat in California.
Wild Life Extra
The vast 270,000 acre Tejon Ranch and five environmental groups have agreed to permanent conservation of 90 percent of the giant ranch.

Wall Street Journal Analyzes Idaho Resort’s Collapse
New West
“The luxury-resort boom brought windfalls to once-sleepy towns throughout the Rockies, as developers planned resorts with secluded homes and memberships to golf and ski clubs. Banks such as Credit Suisse Group, which syndicated nearly $1 billion in loans to luxury developments in the West, fueled the boom.

Water gets land treatment
The Lantern
"This generation is witnessing an ever-increasing loss of private rights," said Ohio Sen. Tim Grendell (R), who sponsored the joint resolution to put Issue 3 on the ballot. "It's always to everyone's advantage, especially the younger generation, to protect these rights because once they are lost, it's very hard to get them back."

Issue 3 deals with private water rights. If passed, the same rights that currently apply to land ownership will apply to water as well.

What is Wise When Managing Wildfire?
The New West
Mark Finney, a scientist with the Forest Service's Fire Science Lab in Missoula put it pretty clearly when talking to Matthew Frank at NewWest.Net:

"It's the paradox of fire: the more you suppress them, the worse they get," Finney...

What’ll You Pay for Western Water?
New West
I’ve yet to hear of a single project that’s been delayed or canceled because of a water issue. We were once promised that rain would follow the plow. That turned out to be wrong. Water, it seems, actually follows the real estate developer.

Where Yields Are Still High
The Wall Street Journal
It has been a difficult year in rural Missouri, with early floods followed by an extended drought. But this is my 31st harvest, and I'm used to the ups and downs of farming, if not entirely resigned to them. One of the first fields we "combined" this fall was on land that my grandfather began to work in 1931. He picked corn with nothing but a mule, a wagon and a corn hook that fitted into the palm of his hand. I'm driving $300,000 of the latest technology, complete with a Global Positioning Unit that maps our yields and a satellite radio that follows the latest news of the financial crisis. Grandpa ended up on the fields we harvest today because he lost his first farm in the Depression. I hope that America's tools for managing financial crises have advanced as much as our ability to harvest grain.

Wildlife rules offer appropriate balance
Rocky Mountain News
The wildlife protections focus on critical habitat for a limited number of species, including mule deer, elk, bald eagles, sage grouse and cutthroat trout. This habitat covers only a portion of the state and is located almost entirely in western Colorado. In these areas, but only in these areas, the DOW will advise the commission about the best way to configure development to least impact the species of concern. Commission staff might then require that some, all or none of the recommendations be implemented.

World forests 'threatened by food, fuel demands'
AFP
The world's forests will be gobbled up by an escalating demand for fuel and food unless steps are taken to hand the people who live in them greater rights, two reports published here Monday said. The world will need a minimum of 515 million more hectares (1.27 billion acres) by 2030, in order to grow food, bio-energy and wood products, said the reports. This is almost twice the amount of available land and equal to an area 12 times the size of Germany, the RRI said.

Young farmers face tough issues
The Clarksdale Press Register
Farmers across the Mississippi Delta and America are in the midst of a unique time.
While they say they are generally receiving high prices for their products, input costs across the board –– fuel, fertilizer and seed to name a few –– have reportedly doubled and even tripled from this time last year.
As a result, farmers say they are making tough decisions every day as to how they can keep operations running most efficiently or sometimes even at all.
But does the American consumer, frustrated with paying more and more for the food they eat, truly understand some of these issues facing growers?

"Echo Effect" Slows Region's Real Estate
The New West
“If you can’t sell your house in Phoenix or LA, you can’t buy one here,” said Sandpoint-based Dave Eacret, president of Real Estate Economics.

‘Mustang’: Defending Wild Horse’s Place in West, and in History
New West
Some 55 million years ago, the ancestor to the modern-day horse, the “dawn horse,” appeared on what would become North America, writes Deanne Stillman. Four million years ago, Equus, the first creature we would recognize as a horse, appeared in what would be the American West.

A $55 million ranch
Steamboat Pilot
One of the largest ranches in the Yampa Valley is on the market for $55 million, and the firm marketing the property is pointing out that it offers the potential for more than 70 estate building lots.



“It’s one of a kind,” Morris said. “Seventy percent of its boundary is on national forest, but it’s only 15 minutes from a great resort town. And it has four miles of trophy trout fishing.”

A Small Town's Questions on A Big Land Deal
The New West
By Matthew Frank
"We don't know these 320,000 acres. You do," said Caroline Byrd of The Nature Conservancy.

Which is why TNC and the Trust for Public Lands held a public meeting in Evaro Wednesday evening, the first of many to be held in communities...

A natural farmer
Citizen.com
Jennifer Mayo is a lady farmer and proud of it. She began farming in 1994 at what she says was the "ripe age of 43", wishing to raise her own food. She is now self-sustaining and feeds not only herself but a growing number of customers who share Mayo's belief that they should know where their food comes from and how it is grown.

Age-old industry gets new spin
The Journal
The Butlers put their own spin on the trend, and opened Shenandoah Valley Sportsmen at Butler's Farm. Now, each year, beginning in late summer, the family's 800-acre farm in Inwood is transformed into a tourism destination. Hunters flock to the fields to hunt birds and deer and enjoy an afternoon lunch on the farm

Agreement reached for wildlife area drilling outside New Castle
Post Independent
Colorado Wildlife Commissioners on Thursday unanimously approved a surface-use agreement with Orion Energy Partners that will allow the company to begin drilling in Garfield Creek State Wildlife Area this summer.

Agriculture groups seek livestock disease fix
Business Week
The Montana Stockgrowers and the Montana Farm Bureau say they are working together to find a workable plan for the state's brucellosis problem.

Agritourism may be future of family farming, speaker says
The Daily Republic
It may sound strange to traditional agricultural producers, but a marketing professional predicts that the survival of many family farms may depend on a catchy new term, agritourism, in the coming years.

“I feel the ultimate paradox is that for so many of our farms, in order for us to stay in business, we have to transform the farm into something beyond production agriculture,” said Jane Eckert, founder and CEO of Eckert Marketing, a company that provides professional marketing services to farm and ranch operators engaged in agritourism.

Agritourism offers a taste of farm living
Arkansas Democrat Gazette
In agritourism, farm visitors experience the rural life firsthand, either through helping out with chores, picking their own produce or just taking a hayride. Community supported agriculture consumers buy shares of the farm and get choice produce for their membership.

Aspen viewing will have different twist this year
Coloradoan
This year's aspen show is going to be like none other, at least in certain parts of the state. That's because along with all that gold from the aspen, leaf peepers will be seeing plenty of red, or more accurately rust, in the form of beetle-kill lodgepole pines. The Fraser Valley, in particular, has been hard hit.

Balancing on political precipice
Craig Daily Press
Several residents who attended the meeting sponsored by state Rep. Al White, R-Hayden, many of whom are local farmers and ranchers, said the overabundance of wildlife — specifically elk, deer and antelope — make it difficult, if not near-impossible, to make a living.
The animals eat more crops and cause more damage than the state has money to pay for, locals said

Baucus, Plum Creek, Conservation Groups Announce Massive Land Deal
The New West
Standing just below the summit of Kalispell’s Lone Pine State Park, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., today announced the purchase of 320,000 acres of Plum Creek Timber Company-owned land by two conservation groups, calling the deal, “the largest land purchase, for conservation purposes, in American history.”

Be aware of bear season
Cortez Journal - Cortez,CO,USA
It's officially bear season, which means Colorado Division of Wildlife officer Zach Holder is in full-scale bear awareness mode. ...



Tuesday, June 3rd 2008
By Stephanie Paige Ogburn | Journal Staff Writer

The weather has warmed, spring is finally here, and the bears are coming down from the mountains. It's officially bear season, which means Colorado Division of Wildlife officer Zach Holder is in full-scale bear awareness mode.

Betting on the Farm
The Deal.com
Driven by rising global demand for corn, wheat, soybeans and other crops, U.S. farm net income in 2007 reached record levels, and 2008 is shaping up to be just as profitable. Net farm income in 2008 is forecast by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to hit $92.3 billion, up 4.1% from farm earnings last year and 51% above the 10-year average of $61.1 billion.

Boom in grain prices pressures idle-acre programs
Arkansas Democrat Gazette
As grain prices have soared and costs of food and feed have escalated during the past year, many animal-agriculture and food-industry groups have called for more U. S. farmland to be used to produce more food, feed and fuel crops.

Bush administration proposes major cut to endangered species protections

CWC plan not ducky to some hunters
The Denver Post
Hunters spoke against a Colorado Wildlife Commission plan that would close the entire river east of Greeley to duck hunting four days each week and require reservations on all public property. Proponents of this notion believe shielding ducks from constant pressure will cause them to remain on the river, where nearly all public hunting occurs.

Cattle Business: Weather & Rising Prices Bring New Challenges
The Cattle Network
The ranching industry has become an even more challenging business lately due to unpredictable weather, rising costs and cattle cycles that no longer seem to follow a typical 10- to12-year trend.

Coalition: Overhaul roadless rule
GJSentinel.com
That controversial Colorado roadless rule is one major step closer to being official and at least one coalition of sportsmen’s groups isn’t happy about it.

A coalition of Trout Unlimited, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership claims the proposed roadless plan is being rammed through Congress by a Bush administration eager to open more land for energy leasing and development before it leaves office.

Colorado moose population to get boost
The Aspen Times
Two years ago, the Colorado Division of Wildlife and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources teamed up to re-establish a moose population in Colorado’s Grand Mesa National Forest by relocating animals from an overpopulated area in Utah. This winter, both divisions are again joining forces to transplant between 15 and 20 of the animals to the Flat Tops Wilderness east of Meeker in Rio Blanco County, with hopes that an additional 15 to 20 will be transplanted the following year.

Dave Richey: Apathy hurts wildlife management
Traverse City Record Eagle - Traverse City,MI,USA
So where does old Dave Richey come off saying that many anglers and hunters are apathetic? It's true. Look around, and you'll find people who never get involved. Few people want to fight the good fight for proper fish and game management. A serious problem with such problems is they all take time to solve.

Details on criticized Plum Creek land deal emerge
GreatFallsTribute.com
As conservationists and county officials await the outcome of a federal investigation into private negotiations between the Bush administration and Plum Creek Timber Co., the Great Falls Tribune has learned new details about road access agreements between the state's largest landowner and the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

Down on the farm takes on new meaning as agritourism produces new income for farmers
Indenews.com
The agriturismo program started in 1985. It gives tax breaks to farmers who entertain tourists and has grown steadily in recent years. I wondered whether a program that is revitalizing the agricultural economy of Europe might also be good for small farms in Columbia County.
"It has potential for Columbia County, depending on how you define it," said Steve Hadcock, of the Cornell Cooperative Extension. "Farmers are already doing it with u-pick operations, petting zoos and corn mazes. It allows people to get out onto farms. Farmers are receptive to the idea, but I don't know of many offering lodging yet."

Drilling delay near Rifle breeds conflict
Summit Daily News
A proposed new rule by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission prohibiting drilling for 90 days in critical wildlife habitat could drive natural gas companies out of the area, which would mean a loss of jobs and a weaker economy, according to industry representatives.

Drilling for Defeat?
The New York Times
Nearly two decades ago, Republicans won the West by linking Democrats to environmentalists, who supposedly cared more for the spotted owl and other favored species than they did for the jobs of loggers or miners. But now, as a boom in natural-gas drilling reshapes the region, Western Democrats have found success recasting environmentalism as a defense of threatened water supplies, fishing spots and hunting grounds.