Show V Section Friday April 25 2003 The Herald Journal Pagel I 0utdoors roport Archery golf The Cache Archers will host their annual golf shoot from 9 am to 3 pm April 7 in the foothills above Providence (follow the signs from the Maverick) Archery golf is flayed with a bow and arrow The Shoot is open to all skill levels Bring your own equipment Cost is $5 per round and food will be available For information call 3 or 26-2- 563-943- 753-79- 84 CAPS match A CAche Practical Shooters pistol match open to the public will be Saturday at 9 am at die Cache Valley Hunter Education Center three miles west of Logan on Highway 30 The e match will be free to participants Otherwise the fee is $12 for CAPS members and $17 for nonmembers Also a $20 shotgun side match will follow the pistol match For information contact Rich 1 or via email at Meacham at first-tim- 149 Utah grazing permits challenged SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — An environmental group has asked a court to cancel 149 grazing permits on 15 million acres in northern Utah The action filed in US District Court in Salt Lake City earlier this Western d month by the Watersheds Project challenges graz- ing permits on Bureau of Land Man- agement property in Tooele Rich and Box Elder counties “The science is in and it is clear Grazing in arid places such as Utah takes a heavy environmental toll” said John Carter an ecologist for the group who lives in Mendon Utah “Cows destroy streams grasses and soils This destruction harms all manner of wildlife’’ Idaho-base- Western Watersheds started fight- al ing the northern Utah grazing mits administratively two yean ago saying that the BLM did too little to assess the damage from grazing before awarding the allot: ments The Interior Board of Land Appeals rejected that claim The group punued its claim in a federal court suit last spring that asked that the BLM be required to do an environmental impact state- ment on the impact of grazing on the 15 million acres The ranchers and their attorney had not seen the latest legal brief but they denied that the BLM had made a bad decision in allowing the grazing per-feder- 10-ye- ar “Well-manag- ed livestock grazing is good for the land” said Ken Brown one of about 75 affected ranchers He said the $40000 in legal fees the ranchos have spent on the case so far would have been better spent on range management Attorney Karen Budd Falen of Cheyenne Wyo who represents the ranchers said her clients will fight the attack on their grazing permits and will ask that the ranchos be allowed to continue using the allot- ments while the issue is in dispute “The claim that livestock grazing is turning northern Utah into the of the moon is just not true” she said ' BLM spokesman Don Banks said suits like Western Watershed's pre- - vent agency staff from being on the ' ground managing range because they are forced to shuffle lawsuit paperwork at their desks “And that’s very troubling” Banks said Western Watersheds contends grazing has resulted in soil erosion habitat destruction and degraded water quality in streams The group said for example that the BLM did not measure impacts on 208 Box Elder County springs even though about 124 springs and 16 perennial streams are in danger because of grazing Western Water-fac- e sheds said the BLM should consider reducing the number of livestock grazed and excluding livestock from sensitive or unsuitable areas 787-813- Rmeachamsisnacom traps II Coyote hot topic Common Ground -- Common Ground will host a fishing trip today leaving the Whittier Center at 2 pm and returning for ice to reserve cream Call 713-028- 8 Common Ground will transportation also host the “Race for Ability” fundraiser Saturday at Adams Park The race starts at 8 am with registration at 7 am Cost is $10 if preregistered and $12 the day of the race in Maine ' SNC activities The Stokes Nature Center is having a nature activity for children ages 3 today Preregistration is required The program fees are $3 for nonmembers and $2 for SNC members to register Call 2-- 755-32- 39 ORC sale Selected items from Utah State University’s Outdoor Recreation Center rental gear will be for sale from 9 am to noon Saturday at the ORC Snowshoes snowboards skis climbing shoes sleeping bags and tents are some of the items available for information Call 797-326-4 River celebration The second annual Bear River Celebration will be 9 am to 4 pm Saturday at the American West Heritage The Center 4025 S Hwy 89-9- 1 event is free and will include student displays activities food booths and demonstrations North end Above Tom Schaeffer regional biologist for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife examines the carcass of a deer in Grand Lake Stream Maine Schaeffer supports the state's current coyote snaring program which is aimed at protecting deer populations Opponents of the program say the snares are cruel to coyotes and deadly to other animals such as lynx and eagles At left a male eastern coyote snarls in its pen at the AE Howell Wildlife Conservation Center in ride-- The Cache Valley Veloists bicyride at cling club will host a 15-m- ile 9 am: Sunday departing from 1500 E 1780 North after a breakfast of Bob's waffles The group will bike through North Logan aqd Smithficld For more information call ride leader 6 Bob Bayn at 752-838- Project MUD ’ The Bear River Watershed Coun- cil’s initial meeting for Project MUD foe Motorized Use Data Project will be at 7 pm April 30 at the Logan City Library 255 N Main Volun- teers will adopt a 75 minute quadrangle map and go into the field to record written and photographic observations relating to illegal motorized use BRWC will make data available at wwwBRWCoun-cilor- g Concepts goalsand procedures will be discussed at the meeting along with a crash course in' map reading Ron Vance of the Logan Ranger District will answer questions concerning the existing Travel Plan Dan Schroeder from the Ogden Sima Club will present photos of OHV impacts from the Ogden Ranger District and Southern Utah’s Piute Trail Volunteers need to provide a camera film and compass and some knowledge of map reading First aid course The Stokes Nature Center will offer a wilderness First Aid course hands-o- n y May 4 This course coven a wide range of wilderness medicine topics for people that travel and work outdoors View an outline at wwwwminol8edu Cost is $140 and preregistration is required For information call Glen Gantz at or gkgantzearth-linkne- t to register 3-- two-da- 48 GRAND LAKE STREAM Maine (AP) — Dave Tobey does not particularly care for coyotes but he may have a stronger distaste for the wily predators’ would-b- e protectors Standing over the bones of a deer carcass Tobey explains how his livelihood as a hunting guide faces threats from coyotes that kill deer and the conservationists trying to ban coyote snaring “To us in the last 100 years the coyote is like an invasive species" he said “Do we sit back and let them run rampant?" Tobey is licensed in the state's coyote snaring program which has become the subject of a debate that underscores the state’s north-sout- h divide pitting hunters against environmentalists and rural interests vs urban values Legislative efforts to ban snaring have been stymied this session and the Maine Senate recently gave its preliminary approval to a bill that would preserve the practice with added oversight An activist group called the NoSnare Task Force is now planning to sue to end snaring in Maine Defenders say the current snaring program overseen by the state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife helps protect fragile local deer populations from decimation by predators They also say that today's snares are more humane than older versions that often took days to kill Opponents say the snares — wire loops often placed near food sources that snag animals' necks and tighten as they struggle to escape — are cruel to coyotes and deadly to other animals And they argue there is no evidence that snaring is actually effective in thinning the population of coyotes The debate inside and outside the Amity Maine See SNARE on C2 Amigo joins local FS law enforcement team Uia Perez By Wasatch-Cach- National Forest e i Cheri Lang’s newest partner in the Logan Ranger District is friendly playful big (but only weighs 80 pounds) and runs around sniffing comers and greeting visitors Lang’s partner Amigo is the district’s new K9 patrol agent black and Hie tan German shepherd has been ' trained and certified as a patrol service detection and tactical deployment dog Officer Lang received her training as a patrol detections ami tactical deployment dog handler through the Utah Peace Officer Standards and Training K9 pro- three-year-o- gram- - ld : Most of the time Amigo is a charmer friendly Wul just about as normal a dog as you’d ever'meet But when ordered to “apprehend” a ng S V ' Lang said “especially when I'm out patrolling backcountry threatening assailant Amigo will pursue and hold on to the individual until'Lang tells him to release Amigo is trained to do handler protection and apprehension narcotics detection for three drugs area and building searches and tracking For the past three month Lang pnd Amigo have been partners patrolling the Intermountain Region’s Wasatch-Cach- e National Forest Logan Ranger District an area used for many areas of the forest where regular police backup is often miles away” Lang’s vehicle is specially equipped to handle the needs of her partner with a kennel in the backhand a temperature monitoring system Amigo will also be of valuable assistance to the Forest Service Cache County sheriff's Office and the Logan Police' Department in performing numerous narcotic searches in and around the Forest Amigo also helps the Forest Service with community relations and education visiting with local youth groups and high school drivers education classes types of recreation The Law Enforcement Tcath's top priority is to enforce the travel management plan apprehending those using ATVs mid other off highway vehicles in areas not designated for their use The two are forming a close bond according to Lug “Amigo provides officer pro-tection and backup support” Lisa Perez is the Conservation Education Coordinator for the Logan Ranger District Photo courtesy of Lisa Perez " Wasatch-Cach- e Lang's new K-- 9 Law Enforcement Officer Cheri partner Amigo ' v 1 ‘si |