http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/ar/ en-us Sun, 3 Jan 2010 18:39:00 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2420086/posts A Denver-based conservative legal foundation says a federal policy that barred development of about 58 million acres of forests nationwide illegally created de facto wilderness areas. The Mountain States Legal Foundation makes that argument in a brief filed Tuesday in support of the state of Wyoming's fight to overturn the so-called "roadless rule" approved by President Bill Clinton in 2001. Conflicting federal court rulings have upheld and overturned the road-building ban on the national forest land. The California-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in August threw out a Bush administration policy that opened some of the roadless areas to... Associated Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2420086/posts#comment Sun, 3 Jan 2010 18:39:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411647/posts When the new West is won, will there be cowboys? In light of what her neighbors are up to, Double O Ranch owner Vicki Olson isn’t so sure. “I guess the point that I keep hammering at is that if they succeed, that means all of us third- and fourth-generation ranchers are gone,” Olson said. She is the average Montana rancher, 56 going on 70, working a spread gouged from the pebbly soil by her grandparents 100 years ago. Her neighbor, the nonprofit American Prairie Foundation, is methodically acquiring ranches and crafting a 3.5-million-acre wildlife reserve out of private property... The Gazette http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411647/posts#comment Sun, 20 Dec 2009 14:40:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2399090/posts Recently Jim Robinson posted two threads declaring Free Republic’s determination to see Conservatives elected and ousting Rino's from government. Jim and a great many Freepers believe that we need to take back control. But the RNC is not hearing us. Activism is called for NOW. 2010 is nearing and we need Conservative candidates to run. The time is ripe and people are ready for another 1994 type election. But we need to make the RNC hear us loud and clear. This is the Rino Free America Project. Get involved. Make them listen. Write a letter and MAIL it. Republican... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2399090/posts#comment Thu, 3 Dec 2009 06:31:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2395047/posts How are forest-thinning projects on Boulder County open space land affecting the tassel-eared Abert's squirrel? Which shorebirds and waterfowl are nesting at county ponds? How well have county wetland restoration projects really worked? These are the kinds of questions the Parks and Open Space Department hopes a new corps of volunteers will help answer when the county's new Natural Resource Monitor program begins next year. "We have a lot of acreage, and we have really diverse natural resources on our open space," said Michael Bauer, education and outreach specialist for the county's open space department... As the county designed the... Camera http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2395047/posts#comment Thu, 26 Nov 2009 18:53:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2391820/posts Senators have to find a balance between voting their conscience and voting as their constituents would like. If senators vote their conscience too heavily, constituents tend to get angry. When this happens, constituents may ask for a recall of their U.S. Senator. (The 5 steps are listed in detail) -- The 18 states allowing for recall are as follows: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin. E-How http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2391820/posts#comment Sun, 22 Nov 2009 03:42:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2389597/posts People Say Animals Are Preying On Larger Livestock. People living in major Valley neighborhoods... that coyotes have all but overtaken their neighborhoods. Don Hoopes and his 7-year-old son Jordan have a new ritual every night. They need to make sure all their animals are tucked safely inside, now that they know what can happen if they don't. Neighbor Richard Tate said, "I saw one yesterday morning trying to attack dogs in broad daylight." Tate's had a couple sheep slaughtered by coyotes already. He said they even tried to go after his ram. Tate said , "My concern is that if... CBS 5 News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2389597/posts#comment Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:42:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2386455/posts 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. Fish and Wildlife spokesman Tom Buckley said the three-strikes rule "will no longer stand." Ranchers said the policy targeted wolves that grow accustomed to preying on cattle. Several environmental groups sued in May 2008, asking a U.S. District Court in Arizona to stop the removal policy on the Mexican gray wolf, a subspecies of the gray wolf. Buckley said agency officials hope a judge... Associated Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2386455/posts#comment Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:13:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2384924/posts For some people, hybrid wolf dogs are pets. For others, they're predators. Gary Schukantz said he last saw his three small dogs in his backyard ... "I didn't see any of my dogs, and I heard a yelp," . Schukantz said a hybrid wolf-dog came out of the woods and took off with his beloved pets. Shortly after the wolf ran off, Schukantz came across his youngest pet, a tiny Yorkshire terrier ..."We found his body and got him back," . Schukantz would have tried going after his pets, he said, but the wolf-dog turned on him and backed him... komo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2384924/posts#comment Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:38:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2373928/posts Youngsters in Churchill are warned not to dress in furry white costumes, to steer clear of baited traps stuffed with seal meat and to listen for the tell-tale sound of fireworks. That's because these candy-seekers have more to worry about than ghosts and goblins. They need to avoid a different kind of predator on Halloween - the polar bear. School children get a visit from the polar bear patrol team to go over safety tips. On the day of Halloween, several conservation officers take to the sky in a helicopter to see if there are any bears nearby. As dusk... The Canadian Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2373928/posts#comment Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:01:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2373041/posts Earth First! made headlines with its tree-spiking in the 1980s, but the guy who helped make the anti-logging tactic famous didn't invent it. Mike Roselle even titled one chapter of his new book "Why I Quit Spiking Trees." In it, the co-founder of Earth First!, the Rainforest Action Network and the Ruckus Society described how the practice brought old-growth timber cutting to national awareness, but became a public relations disaster for the protesters. "I think the Wobblies can take credit for it if they want, but it's been around as long as logging," Roselle said, referring to the Industrial Workers... Missoulian http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2373041/posts#comment Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:25:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2370522/posts South African traditional leaders plan to perform ritual animal slaughters to bless stadiums for the 2010 World Cup tournament ahead of the start of the showcase event next June, they said on Friday. Zolani Mkiva, chairman of the Makhonya Royal Trust, a grouping responsible for co-ordinating cultural activities, said the tournament, the first to be held in Africa, needed to be blessed in true "African style." "We must have a cultural ceremony of some sort, where we are going to slaughter a beast (cow)," said Mkiva. South Africa is set to host the World Cup -- the world's most watched... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2370522/posts#comment Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:51:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2368341/posts The Dillon ranchers who lost more than 120 buck sheep in an August wolf attack last week lost 23 lambs from the same area when wolves struck again. Kathy Konen said this week that despite the presence of a herder and guard dogs, wolves struck the herd sometime in the early morning hours Oct. 17. She and husband Jon Konen lost 23 weaned lambs. "They're in the area, and they've killed once," she said of wolves. "We knew they would come back and kill again." The Konens in August lost 122 sheep to wolves in the same pasture in the... mt standard http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2368341/posts#comment Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:46:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2366066/posts Craig Rosebraugh, a longtime activist, former Earth Liberation Front spokesman and former Portland restaurateur, has started up a new quarterly magazine: "Resistance, Journal of the Earth Liberation Movement."View full sizeDoug Beghtel/The Oregonian Craig Rosebraugh in 2000.The Arizona-based magazine isn't striving for mainstream balance; it describes itself as "radical" and names Shell oil company as its "Ecoterrorist of the Season." Today's release is the second edition, but Rosebraugh is describing it as a "national launch," saying the magazine is now available at Borders and hundreds of other stores in the United States and Canada after signing on with Disticor Distribution. Rosebraugh... The Oregonian http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2366066/posts#comment Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:59:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2365521/posts It's every hunter's worst nightmare. You've nestled into your tent for the night when you're awakened by the sound of a bear charging. Within seconds it's on you, teeth sinking into flesh as you fight for your life. "I went into survival mode as she batted me around, biting me," Ken Scown, 36, said Saturday. "I was kind of waiting for the bite to the head and neck and it would all be over." Scown and his pal Jeff Herbert were three days into an 11-day hunting trip near Canal Flats in the East Kootenays region of B. C. when... Vancouver Sun http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2365521/posts#comment Mon, 19 Oct 2009 04:39:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2364862/posts RENO, Nev. - A new federal proposal to manage wild horses is rekindling debate over another fixture of the Western range: cattle. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar last week proposed moving thousands of mustangs to preserves in the Midwest and East to protect horse herds and the rangelands that support them. ~snip~ Many horse defenders and others who had been working to save the romantic symbols of the American West and might have been expected to welcome Salazar's solution instead stampeded the other way. They want Salazar to remove livestock to make room for the mustangs and argue that cows are... Minneapolis Star-Tribune http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2364862/posts#comment Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:22:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2362445/posts Proposed wilderness designations for parts of the Colorado mountains could threaten the Army's only high-altitude training site for helicopter pilots, an Army officer said Tuesday. The proposed "Hidden Gems" wilderness designations would put all of the high-altitude landing zones used by the High-Altitude Army Aviation Training Site off-limits, said Col. Joel Best, senior aviation officer for the Colorado Army National Guard. "We really can't afford to lose any of that land for the security of this nation," Best said. He spoke at a briefing for Colorado county commissioners and legislators. The site, known by the acronym HAATS, is the only... ASSOCIATED PRESS http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2362445/posts#comment Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:54:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2344157/posts I recently received e-mails from friends showing mother cows with their rectums and female organs torn from their bodies by the wolves. These cows were lying down and the blood and raw meat trailed down on their legs. You could tell they were in awful pain. I am sure hundreds of our deer and elk are suffering the same way. All you wolf lovers should take a good look at these pictures and share them with your families and your children, show them what these savage animals are really all about. Anyone that supports these evil acts are evil themselves.... missoulian http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2344157/posts#comment Sun, 20 Sep 2009 14:23:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2341454/posts In an case of real life imitating Hollywood, the US scientific community is increasingly concerned that two nonnative python breeds currently slithering free in south Florida could morph into a giant man-eating swamp coil. The capture of five African rock pythons recently near an Everglades already teeming with the gentler Burmese pythons has scientists worried about so-called "hybrid vigor" – a phenomenon that occurs when interbreeding uncorks volatile recessive genes, passing traits such as aggression onto the offspring. Think Africanized bees. The two species have interbred in captivity. While Burmese pythons aren't known to eat people in their native habitat,... yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2341454/posts#comment Wed, 16 Sep 2009 22:30:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2337204/posts Wildlife officers with the Colorado Division of Wildlife are searching for a bear involved in an attack Thursday night in Aspen. A man ...was attacked in his home by a bear shortly after 8 p.m. the homeowner's three dogs began barking loudly in the ground floor of the house... When the homeowner went downstairs to check on the dogs, he was confronted by a large, black bear. The victim of this attack is being treated at an area hospital. Aspen Daily News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2337204/posts#comment Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:23:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2332188/posts Frank Gwozdz says coyotes have made a meal out of his livestock so often in the past several months that the farmer is thinking of leaving agriculture. “They are wiping me out,’’ Gwozdz said ...from his 110-acre farm in Dartmouth in Southeastern Massachusetts. In the past several months, Gwozdz said, coyotes have killed two cows, four calves, 14 goats, two lambs, two sheep, and numerous geese, ducks, and chickens. “They are getting bolder and bolder,’’ Gwozdz said of the coyotes... Gwozdz said he and his family have tried to deter the animals, sometimes by standing guard into the early morning... Globe http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2332188/posts#comment Fri, 4 Sep 2009 16:34:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2331744/posts A federal judge has sided with managers of northern Wyoming's Bighorn National Forest and against an environmental group that challenged livestock grazing in the forest. Boise-based Western Watersheds Project filed suit over a 2005 revision to the forest management plan... U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer ruled Monday that forest managers did as the law required -- they took a "hard look" at the environmental consequences of the forest plan. Associated Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2331744/posts#comment Fri, 4 Sep 2009 01:59:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2331022/posts A harbour seal leapt from the water and dragged a five-year-old girl off a dock at a marina in West Vancouver ... "When she popped to the surface, she said, 'Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, the seal!' ... A neighbour on a nearby boat then told Cunning a seal had jumped out of the water and pulled Caleigh from the dock. "This thing must have taken a running start to be able to launch itself four feet out of the water, grab a 50-pound five-year-old and then drag her underneath the water with a life-jacket on," . He initially thought his daughter's... CBC http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2331022/posts#comment Thu, 3 Sep 2009 06:02:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2329736/posts Hunters purchased nearly 2,600 wolf licenses Monday, the first day they went on sale in Montana. The sales occurred on the same day U.S. District Judge Mike Molloy of Missoula heard arguments from animal rights and environmental groups seeking to block hunts in Idaho and Montana. Idaho's hunt started Tuesday as Molloy took the arguments under consideration. the slower sales — compared to the 4,000 sold on the first day licenses were available in Idaho — might have been due to the uncertainty of the court decision. If the hunt is halted before the season starts, holders will be refunded... AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2329736/posts#comment Tue, 1 Sep 2009 20:50:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2327439/posts Police departments in the high country report a rash of bears breaking into cars and homes this summer. Penny Turilli captured video of a bear walking up to her car, parked in her driveway outside her Vail home. The animal opened the door and climbed inside... CBS4 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2327439/posts#comment Sat, 29 Aug 2009 15:32:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2326857/posts Radical environmentalists have occasionally argued that the life of one member of an endangered species is worth more than the life of one member of the human race. Judging by the money it is spending on the Mexican wolf reintroduction program, federal and state governments seem to agree with this extremist viewpoint. $400,000 per Wolf Since the Mexican wolf reintroduction program was launched more than a decade ago, millions of dollars have been spent by the United States, Arizona and New Mexico governments. The goal was to reestablish a target population of 100 wolves in the mountainous areas of southwestern... Rio Grande Foundation http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2326857/posts#comment Fri, 28 Aug 2009 19:57:31 GMT