New Pipeline Delivers Water to Arizona Elk Country

MISSOULA, Mont.? Elk and other wildlife on the parched Arizona landscape now have six new, reliable watering sources thanks to a landmark pipeline project spearheaded by the Arizona Game and Fish Department and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

The partly buried 1½-inch pipe, 12 miles long, delivers useable wastewater from the City of Tusayan to areas south of the Grand Canyon?Arizona?s famous Unit 9 hunting area.

As part of this project, seven stand-alone water catchments also were built in the area.

The Elk Foundation expended $348,000 on this project using contributions from donors, proceeds from Arizona hunting permit raffles and grants from RMEF banquets and other fundraisers across the state. The Arizona Game and Fish Department provided $520,000. Other groups supported the project with volunteer labor and in-kind services.

Across the Southwest, water often is the missing ingredient for healthy habitat. In an average year, conservation agencies and organizations in Arizona annually spend over $100,000 hauling water into elk country. Severe drought can drive expenses way up.

?It took six years to design, facilitate and build this pipeline system but the valves are now open and water is flowing. From now on, in all but the most extreme drought years, we shouldn?t have to haul water into this region,? said Clair Harris, an RMEF member from Flagstaff, Ariz., who helped organize volunteer labor for the project.

Harris said more than 100 volunteers from every RMEF chapter in Arizona helped build the pipeline and catchments.

Over the years, RMEF funds and volunteers have been involved in the construction or renovation of over 30 watering sources across Unit 9. With the new additions, biologists agree the area now has a good minimum supply of water.

?Wildlife in this area is absolutely tied to these water developments and the new pipeline provides an efficient, reliable distribution system that will be beneficial for many species including elk, deer and other big game,? said John Goodwin, habitat specialist with the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

Goodwin said the pipeline is supplied from a runoff pond at the Tusayan water treatment plant, supplemented with reclaimed effluent, snowmelt and rain. The pond is heavily used by local wildlife. A pump moves surplus water through high-density plastic pipe that won?t crush beneath vehicles, break from freezing or degrade in sunlight. The line is buried where soils are deep and runs along the surface where the ground is rocky. Water flows into six strategically located, fiberglass storage tanks averaging about 7,000 gallons each. Each tank is then connected to an auto-fill drinking device accessible to wildlife.

Stand-alone catchments are designed to collect rain and snowmelt on site, store water in 20,000-gallon holding tanks, and dispense water into drinkers.

The Kaibab National Forest approved the project after lengthy environmental analyses.

Goodwin credited the Elk Foundation and especially Harris as ?a tremendous asset for coordinating progress on the ground and rallying volunteer labor so the project didn?t have to rely on contractors or paid employees.?

Comments Urgently Needed to Oppose EPA Proposed Livestock Tax

November 30, 2008

The American Farm Bureau Federation has registered its opposition to an Environmental Protection Agency proposal to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, asserting it would essentially result in new taxes on livestock operations.

“Steep fees associated with this action would force many producers out of business. The net result would likely be higher consumer costs for milk, beef and pork,” said Mark Maslyn, AFBF executive director of public policy, in comments submitted to EPA.

According to Agriculture Department figures, any farm or ranch with more than 25 dairy cows, 50 beef cattle or 200 hogs emits more than 100 tons of carbon equivalent per year, and thus would need to obtain a permit under the proposed rules. More than 90 percent of U.S. dairy, beef and pork production would be affected by the proposal. The fee for dairy cattle would be $175 per dairy cow and $87.50 for every head of beef cattle. http://tinyurl.com/5h4vsz

Cattle and other ruminants produce methane, a greenhouse gas, as a natural byproduct of the animal’s digestive process. However, globally ruminants only account for roughly 26% of methane emissions resulting from human activities. Methane is also produced by landfills (the largest US human-caused source of methane) and the production of natural gas (the second largest US source). Methane is also produced by manure management, treatment of wastewater, rice cultivation, wetlands, and the burning of forests and grasslands.

The complex regulatory schemes of the three primary Clean Air Act programs are not suited for regulating agricultural greenhouse gas. The costly burden of compliance could cause many farming operations to cease altogether.

The Department of Agriculture’s office writes: Agricultural emissions, the result of natural biological processes, are not easily calculated or controlled. Technology does not currently exist to prevent the methane produced by enteric fermentation associated with the digestive process in cows and the cultivation of rice crops; the nitrous oxide produced from tilling soils; the carbon dioxide produced by soil; and animal agriculture respiratory processes. The only means of controlling such emissions would be through limiting production which would result in decreased food supply and radical changes in human diets.

More information on livestock and methane emission can be found in the following articles:

Do Cattle Really Increase Methane In Atmosphere?
http://www.cattletoday.com/archive/2008/October/CT1776.shtml
Tiny url: http://tinyurl.com/69qun9

Cow Tax? EPA looking into regulating greenhouse gases
Tiny url: http://tinyurl.com/6ohkxo

Although the deadline to file comments was November 28, EPA will continue to post late comments. Public input on this issue is critical – please send your comments without delay.

Full information and scope of Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Regulating Greenhouse Gas Emissions under the Clean Air Act is at http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/anpr.html

How to Comment:
Comments should be identified with the Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-0318
Email comments to a-and-r-Docket@epa.gov or fax to 202-566-9744
Or follow the instructions and submit online at http://www.regulations.gov/search/index.jsp