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Slaying A Giant
Coordination Works | Dan Byfield | December 13, 2011 For the past seven months, American Stewards of Liberty has been fighting a real life giant. A giant that has the ability to destroy an entire region which currently provides 20 percent of all the oil produced in America. It’s not a foreign army or a terrorist group, but a three-inch lizard known as the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard (DSL) supposedly...
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Sand Dunes Lizard in Texas and New Mexico
News and Updates | August 10, 2011 | Margaret Byfield -- Scattered across the Permian Basin of West Texas that crosses the Texas border into New Mexico is a little lizard that has been identified as a sub-species because notably, it carries a few more tiny scales on one leg. While its “sub-species” status is still in question, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has determined the reptile warrants...
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High Speed Rail in California
News and Updates | August 10, 2011 | Margaret Byfield -- With the promise of Obama Stimulus money, the California High Speed Rail Authority (Authority) has been working quickly to finalize plans for a Bullet train that would eventually connect San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento. Their expedited plans bring the new corridor right through the heart of California’s Central Valley, ...
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Prairie Dogs in Wyoming
News and Updates | August 10, 2011 | Margaret Byfield -- Two years ago, the U.S. Forest Service made the decision to expand the “no-shoot” zone for prairie dogs from approximately 17,000 acres in the Thunder Basin National Grasslands, to 86,000 acres. Their stated purpose for the expansion was to create the necessary habitat that will eventually support a potential introduction of the endangered ...
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"Coordinating Agency Status" Does Not Exist
Coordination Works | April 13, 2011 | Margaret Byfield -- In some cases where local governments have insisted the federal agencies coordinate their plans and management activities as required by law, the agencies have initially refused. What is revealing in these instances are the arguments used to avoid complying with the very clear mandate set forth by Congress. One of the most recent argum...
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Arizona Ranchers Saved from Tortoise Listing
Coordination Works | March 3, 2011 | Margaret Byfield -- A year and a half ago, the environmental organization Wild Earth Guardians sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) to list the Sonoran Desert Tortoise as an endangered species. They were met by an unexpected adversary in Arizona: The Winkelman Natural Resource Conservation District (District). Last year, we reported on the stealt...
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Coordination Stops Transmission Line Deep in the Heart of Texas
Coordination Works | February 2, 2011 | Dan Byfield --It took 16 months, but the coordination process was a key component in stopping a major electric transmission line from being constructed through a small, rural county deep in the Heart of Texas.When we received the call, the Public Utility Commission (PUC) had just postponed making their decision to run a 345 kV transmission line through an ad...
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Two Court Cases Decided for Coordination
Coordination Works | January 6, 2011 -- We begin the New Year fresh with two positive decisions from two California courts that reinforce the agency’s obligation to coordinate with local governments. SonomaCounty Water Coalition v. Sonoma County Water Agency In the first case, Sonoma County Water Coalition v. Sonoma County Water Agency, a California Court has again recognized the obligation of a...
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Three Reasons to Like NEPA
Coordination Works | December 10, 2010 | Margaret Byfield -- In a recent Coordination Class in Casper, Wyoming, I asked an audience of landowners and local government officials if they liked dealing with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Their response was a resounding “no,” which is the reaction landowners and private property advocates normally have when you mention the federal law....
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The Name of the Game: Mitigation
Coordination Works | November 2, 2010 | Margaret Byfield-- Yesterday, Gray County, located near the top of the Texas Panhandle, delivered a Notice of Intent to Sue to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) for refusing to coordinate and prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on a new electric transmission line. The Service is refusing to analyze the impact of a state approved 140 ...
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Winkelman NRCD Invokes the Data Quality Act
Coordination Works | October 15, 2010 | Margaret Byfield--Last Friday, the Winkelman Natural Resource Conservation District held an important coordination meeting with Region 2, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Phoenix, Arizona, over the potential listing of the Sonoran Desert Tortoise. The environmental group, Wild Earth Guardians, sued the Service in 2008, to have the tortoise listed under the...
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One State's Solution to Coordination
Coordination Works | September 14, 2010 | Dan Byfield -- Last issue, we told you about a recent bill passed in Arizona which requires local governments to initiate coordination with federal and state agencies. In this issue, we look at the existing law in Texas that requires state agencies to coordinate with local governments. This is the powerful statute instrumental in stopping the I-35 Trans-T...
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