Sea lice are on the move — and they’re
spreading, courtesy of fish farms (HCN, 3/17/03: Bracing against
the tide). According to a study published in the British
Proceedings of the Royal Society, wild seaward salmon passing a
fish farm in the Pacific were 73 times more likely to
contract sea lice, a parasite that weakens the fish, near
the farm than anywhere else in their migration corridor. The study
concluded that “amplified sea lice infestations due to salmon farms
are a potential limiting factor to wild salmonid conservation.”
Ain’t democracy great? Last
November, Colorado’s citizens voted to implement a renewable
energy standard that would require the state’s largest
electricity providers to generate 10 percent of their electricity
from renewable sources by 2015 (HCN, 5/2/05: The Winds of Change).
Now, the members of one of those providers, Intermountain Rural
Electric Association, have voted to exempt the cooperative from the
state requirements. The association’s 124,000 members in six
counties voted by a margin of 79 to 21 percent to exempt themselves
from the renewable portfolio standard.
New
Mexico’s most ornery rancher is leaving the
country. Last spring, Catron County rancher Kit Laney
attacked Forest Service employees who were rounding up his cattle
from public lands; he was arrested and subsequently charged with
assault with a deadly weapon — his horse, spurs and reins
(HCN, 9/13/04: Follow-up). Now, Laney has completed a five-month
stint in federal prison — and is moving to Argentina. Laney,
who has fought the federal government for 14 years over the right
to graze his cattle on 144,000 acres of Forest Service land, told
The Denver Post of his decision to give up his
fight: “It’s a bitter pill to swallow. I come from a
patriotic family. I’ve always believed that if you work hard
enough, you could prevail. Now, I know that you might splatter a
little egg on their face, but you aren’t going to win.”
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Follow-up.
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