NEWS ROUNDUP

Senate allows new job competitions at Interior, Forest Service Language added Tuesday to the Senate version of the Interior appropriations bill would allow the department to put more jobs up for bids, but also enables lawmakers to monitor the results of public-private job competitions at Interior. Senators approved the language, offered by Sens. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., and George Voinovich, R-Ohio, by a vote of 53 to 43. The amendment requires the secretary of Interior to provide Congress with an annual report including statistics on numbers of competitions conducted, the results of those competitions, money spent on competitive sourcing and estimated and actual savings generated by these competitions...Senators Reach Tentative Forest Bill Deal Senators from both parties said late Tuesday they have reached tentative agreement on a bill to ease environmental restrictions on logging and speed thinning projects in national forests to reduce the danger of wildfire. A final agreement was put off because some participants wanted the Bush administration to agree to support the proposal in a conference committee with the House, which already approved a similar bill...Senate opts not to free up funds for Pacific Crest Trail For the first time in six years, there is no money in the U.S. Senate public-land acquisition budget for the Pacific Crest Trail. The Senate opted not to tap the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund as it has in past years, and trail supporters worry that the House, also in a budget-tightening mode, will follow suit...Senate Increases Funds to Fight Wildfires The Senate increased funds for fighting wildfires by $400 million Tuesday, nearly doubling fire suppression money in a $20 billion Interior Department spending bill...White House to release study on environmental reviews An inter-agency task force tapped by the Bush administration will release a report Wednesday recommending ways to streamline federal environmental reviews, according to an environmental group which circulated portions of the report on Tuesday. But the report falls short of defending some exemptions sought by the administration from the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, which requires federal agencies to prepare environmental impact statements before changing regulations, the National Environmental Trust said...Using GPR to estimate tree root biomass USDA Forest Service (FS) researchers are improving the use of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to study tree roots nondestructively. They are refining GPR's processing capabilities by comparing results with those of more invasive methods...Schilling previews Wyoming Forum The Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service will conduct 12 resource management plans in the next seven years that will shape Wyoming's future, Wyoming Business Alliance President Bill Schilling said Monday...Wildlife crossing urged for Tijeras The Wildlands Project, a national conservation group, has a wild cross-traffic proposal for I-40 in Tijeras Canyon. The group wants to establish a corridor along the spine of the continent - from the Yukon into Mexico - for safe wildlife migration and shorter trips by bears, deer, mountain lions and other animals. In a news conference in Santa Fe today, Wildlands Project representatives will announce it has identified five "endangered linkages" in that corridor - including Tijeras Canyon...Project aims to reduce wildfire fuel Clearing dead branches and cutting branches from trees in the space where residential areas and wildland meet will not make an area fireproof, according to local officials, but it will make future fires more manageable. Seasonal workers began work this month on the Portneuf-Westbench Fuels Project, one of 10 pilot projects listed in President Bush's Healthy Forests Initiative...Flag site previously owned by the county After the American flag-burning incident atop Peak 1 this month, a Summit County resident recently e-mailed the Board of County Commissioners to suggest the county acquire the mountaintop for a permanent Sept. 11 memorial. That way, the county could have more control instead of people having to obtain permits through the U.S. Forest Service...Wolf population growth slows as recovery chief says boom is over While more gray wolves are prowling the Northern Rockies, the population's overall rate of growth this year is the slowest it has been since reintroduction efforts were launched eight years ago, a federal wolf expert said Tuesday...Species vs. Species Because loggerhead shrikes on San Clemente Island are critically endangered, the foxes that prey on their nestlings should be controlled. Right? Wrong. The problem is that the foxes are also at-risk. A new analysis shows that instead of pitting the shrike against the fox, both species could have been protected with an ecosystem-wide conservation plan... Environmental safeguards on drilling in wildlife refuges is spotty, GAO report says Amid a new push to open an Alaska wildlife refuge to oil companies, a congressional report said Tuesday the government's track record in protecting refuges where oil and gas are already being pumped is spotty and needs to be strengthened... Home builders organization ads to fill 'void' on pygmy-owl issue The Southern Arizona Home Builders Association is waging an air campaign against what it considers biased media coverage. A radio ad began airing earlier this month that SAHBA hopes will fill an information "void" about a recent federal appeals court ruling about the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl... Amish man uses old fashioned "horse" power to clear forest The modern ways aren't always the best ways. Outside Canon City an Amish man from the San Luis Valley is using his horse to clear dead brush from land controlled by the Bureau of Land Management...Over 7,900 Acres on Ute Mt. Protected (NM) The Trust for Public Land (TPL), the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Taos Land Trust (TLT) announced today the successful first phase of a multi-year effort to preserve the breathtaking 14,344-acre Ute Mountain property on the New Mexico-Colorado border. TPL, a national non-profit land conservation organization, conveyed to the BLM 7,924 acres of the Ute Mountain property, bringing one of New Mexico's most notable landscapes into permanent protection... Metropolitan Water District board approves Colorado River water-sharing deal The board of the Metropolitan Water District, the largest water broker in Southern California, approved a deal Tuesday to divide the state's share of Colorado River water and officials said they were optimistic they'd win needed support from three other agencies. Metropolitan was the first of the four agencies to vote on the long-awaited pact, which is needed to secure the water future for thirsty and fast-growing Southern California...Commissioners oppose Referendum A Following the lead of dozens of state legislators, La Plata County commissioners approved a resolution Monday opposing Referendum A. Opponents, who also include U.S. Rep. Scott McInnis, R-Colo., and Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar, believe Western Slope farmers and ranchers would lose their long-held water rights to supply water to Front Range cities as a result of the referendum...Inspector sees gas drilling behind well problems The problems that ranchers Roland and Beverly Landry have experienced with a home well going dry is an example of coalbed methane companies operating unscrupulously, the Powder River Basin Resource Council claims...Pistol John Wayne used in movie is stolen A pistol that John Wayne used in a movie has been reported stolen from his family's collection on display at the John Wayne Marina building in this Olympic Peninsula town. "They lifted the glass out somehow," assistant harbormaster Tyler Kish said Sunday. "They didn't even take the holster to the gun."...