NEWS ROUNDUP

$15,000 tab likely for USFS helicopter to empty Nev outhouse The Forest Service hired a helicopter Friday to haul sewage from a remote outhouse in northeast Nevada at the end of a national forest road, saying an offer by a group of anti-federal activists to do the job for free posed a health hazard. The aerial hauling of an estimated 1,000 gallons of sewage from the outhouse near Jarbidge along the Idaho-Nevada line, combined with a contract with a septic pumping service, is expected to end up costing as much as $15,000, Forest Service officials said. A local citizens group that disputes the government's right to close the washed-out South Canyon Road to the outhouse had planned a volunteer work project on Oct. 18. The so-called "Shovel Brigade" said it could do the job, at no cost to taxpayers, using either four-wheel drive trucks or possibly a horse-drawn wagon... Judge rules against Forest Service on six timber sales A federal judge Thursday extended the halt on logging six old growth timber sales in Oregon, ruling that the U.S. Forest Service violated environmental laws in evaluating the projects. U.S. District Judge Garr M. King found that the Forest Service failed to survey for rare plants and animals that depend on old growth forests to survive, as required by the Northwest Forest Plan. The judge also found that the Forest Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to include the public in its decisions... Landmark Fire Report Offers Solutions to Wildland Fire Management Dilemma; Phone Media Briefing Set for Oct. 14 The recent fire legislation deal made in the Senate fails to sufficiently prioritize community protection as the first tenet of wildland fire policy. With language fraught with room for abusive interpretation, the bill does not go far enough to safeguard the lives of those most in need. Like the House bill, it is not environmentally sound public policy focused on protecting the homes and communities of Americans. In its new report, "The Wildland Fire Challenge," The Wilderness Society offers a plan to prioritize these communities at risk, examine the data inconsistencies of Forest Service science, and offers a plan to restore healthy forest damaged by fire suppression efforts over the past half-century...Regional forester rejects appeals of Arizona forest thinning plan An 8,000-acre forest thinning project in Kaibab National Forest should be allowed to continue, a regional Forest Service official said in rejecting an environmental appeal. The thinning project, which is expected to cover 267,000 trees including 7,000 trees larger than 18 inches in diameter, followed all environmental laws and guidelines, said Abel Camarena, the southwestern deputy regional forester in Albuquerque, N.M...Forest Service cancels plan to poison creek The U.S. Forest Service has suspended a California plan to poison a stretch of wilderness creek, triggering a national review of the competing environmental responsibilities between the state and federal governments. Hundreds of joint federal-state partnerships trigger environmental reviews under state or federal law. In many instances, however, they have proceeded after just a state environmental review, a practice challenged by a federal lawsuit and the Forest Service's decision. The state Department of Fish and Game had been set to kill nonnative fish in 11 miles of Silver King Creek, an Eastern Sierra tributary of the Carson River south of Lake Tahoe. The poisoning was part of a high-priority plan to reintroduce native Paiute cutthroat trout, which are listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act... Forest Service investigates destruction of trees JAMESTOWN, Colo. The Forest Service is investigating the destruction of more than 100 trees near this mountain town. Many trees, some of which were 2 feet diameter and hundreds of years old, were pushed or pulled over, while others were snapped violently. Forest Service officials believe heavy machinery was used to carry out the mayhem around Labor Day...U.S. May Expand Access To Endangered Species The Bush administration is proposing far-reaching changes to conservation policies that would allow hunters, circuses and the pet industry to kill, capture and import animals on the brink of extinction in other countries. Giving Americans access to endangered animals, officials said, would feed the gigantic U.S. demand for live animals, skins, parts and trophies, and generate profits that would allow poor nations to pay for conservation of the remaining animals and their habitat. This and other proposals that pursue conservation through trade would, for example, open the door for American trophy hunters to kill the endangered straight-horned markhor in Pakistan; license the pet industry to import the blue fronted Amazon parrot from Argentina; permit the capture of endangered Asian elephants for U.S. circuses and zoos; and partially resume the trade in African ivory. No U.S. endangered species would be affected... Toxic Air Pollution from Copper Smelters Challenged The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is failing to protect communities and the environment from toxic air pollution emitted by copper smelters, environmental groups argued today. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia heard oral arguments in a case (Docket # 02-1253) challenging EPA's inadequate regulations for controlling toxic air emissions from primary copper smelters. Earthjustice is representing the Sierra Club in the case... FWP delays vote on range easement HELENA - The state Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission on Thursday delayed action on purchasing a nearly $1 million conservation easement after one member chastised fellow commissioners for not looking over the land first. The proposal would give the Gordon Cattle Co. $945,000 to establish a perpetual conservation easement on two areas of its vast ranch north of Zurich along Montana's Hi-Line. In the works for about five years, the plan would result in maintaining native prairie grassland and about 400 acres of wetlands, while still allowing the ranch operations to continue. The easement would limit residential development to one site; prohibit draining or filling of wetlands; protect the prairie from weed spraying, plowing and burning; forbid fee hunting; and ensure public hunting will continue... Interior Department Corrects Erroneous Mill Site Interpretation Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Rebecca Watson announced today that the Department of the Interior is issuing a final rule to improve regulations on locating, recording and maintaining mining claims or sites. The final rule includes a provision, based upon a new Solicitor's opinion, that will restore the department's traditional interpretation of the mining law's mill site provisions. "The Solicitor's opinion and the final rule remove unnecessary and burdensome requirements for mine operations while fully protecting the environment," Watson said. "This action will also encourage a reliable supply of the critical strategic minerals that we need to support our way of life, the economy and our national security."... Gas drilling companies ready to dig in: Permit applications at all-time high for BLM Energy companies have applied for 261 natural gas drilling permits at 34 locations over the next two years on U.S. Bureau of Land Management property in western Garfield County. That's on top of 71 proposed directional gas wells to be drilled from BLM land onto private lands at Hunter Mesa and Grass Mesa, for the same time period, said BLM associate field manager Steve Bennett...Proposal on water issue draws 'fire' According to a confidential memo obtained by the Tri-County Courier, a Department of Interior official told irrigators Oct. 2 that, in return for an 80,000 acre-foot reduction in water deliveries from Upper Klamath Lake, the Klamath Project could have "reliable" water deliveries. In addition, the official went on to say the proposal includes a return of 672,000 acres to the Klamath tribes...Judge denies challenges to Animas-La Plata pact A 6th Judicial District Court judge has dismissed three claims challenging a 1976 agreement on Ute Indian water rights. Judge Gregory Lyman last week said the claims of the Citizens Progressive Alliance have no merit... Yellowstone conference addresses ecosystem challenges Natural threats to ecosystems are impacting the world's species at a greater rate than ever before, and humans are making those threats more likely, a leading scientist and conservationist told attendees of a conservation conference in Yellowstone National Park. Though most of the world's extinct species died out long before humans began to dominate earth, that pace appears to be picking up, Richard Leakey said Tuesday. "The problem is, we're making them more likely," Leakey said in a keynote address to more than 200 scientists, environmentalists and land managers from the United States and Africa. His address opened a conference, "Beyond the Arch: Community and Conservation in Greater Yellowstone and East Africa," sponsored by the National Park Service and several academic and research organizations... Airlift to supply family in feud with park service Volunteer pilots have begun flying winter supplies to a family in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve that is embroiled in a fight with the National Park Service. Papa Pilgrim and his wife and 15 children have been unsuccessful in getting a Park Service permit to use the road leading to their back country cabin. Friends and a group called the American Land Rights Association now have begun to assemble donations and willing pilots to make the trip. Pilgrim gushed about the assistance he had received, estimating he's managed to get about 20 percent of the stores the family needs for winter. Pilgrim changed his name from Bobby Hale. "It's just beautiful," Pilgrim said by telephone from his remote cabin. "I cannot tell you the unity ... They just poured out their hearts."... Biologist believes errors led to bear attack Human remains and clothing found in the stomach of a 28-year-old brown bear killed by National Park Service rangers Monday have confirmed that the animal fed on the bodies of California animal activist Timothy Treadwell and girlfriend Amie Huguenard, authorities reported Thursday. Fresh details about the attack near Kaflia Bay in Katmai National Park on Alaska's southwest coast also began to emerge. According to a memo from Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist Larry Van Daele, Treadwell set up his bear-viewing camp "in such a way that bears wishing to traverse the area would have had to either wade in the lake or walk right next to the tent. A person could not have designed a more dangerous location to set up a camp.'' In videos found at the scene, Van Daele said, Treadwell described "his campsite as (in) a potentially dangerous location, but he expresses his confidence that he understands these bears and they will not harm him.''...Tape reveals sounds of bear attack The graphic sounds of a deadly bear attack in the Alaska wilderness were captured on tape, revealing a wildlife author's final, frantic screams as he tried to fend off the beast, authorities say. Trooper Chris Hill said the tape suggests a video camera was turned on just before Timothy Treadwell was attacked at his campsite. His girlfriend, Amie Huguenard, was later mauled to death by a bear. The recording is audio only, and the screen is blank for all six minutes. "They're both screaming, she's telling him to play dead, then it changes to fighting back. He asks her to hit the bear," Hill said. "There's so much noise going on. I don't know what's him and what might be an animal... Tradition alive and well at saddlery On the showroom wall sits a gallery of photos, at least one autographed, of loyal customer John Wayne. As the story goes: Wayne's saddles were late showing up on the set of the 1969 film True Grit, so he borrowed one made for his stuntman by the Denver company. Wayne liked it so much that he stopped production on the film until Colorado Saddlery could make one for him, and he never again saddled up with products from any other manufacturer, Van Scoyk said. Van Scoyk's father, P.R. Van Scoyk, started the company with three partners in 1945. At its peak, Colorado Saddlery did all of its manufacturing in- house, employing 75 workers in the 72,000-square-foot, five-story building...Mule Jump popularity prompts organizers to make big changesMules will take flight in Pea Ridge again Saturday at the 15 th annual Pea Ridge Mule Jump. Come to the City Park at 9 a.m. for a day of stubbornness and skill as trainers take their mules through their paces... The horse that walked home to die In the middle of a deep autumn fog early yesterday, a woman pulled out to pass a vehicle near the village of Sydenham and struck Serenade the horse at 70 kilometres an hour. Serenade would die from his injuries, but not before making a valiant trip home to see the only family he had known for nearly his entire 19-year life...Teens learn skills of life through working with horses Desperado, an aging sorrel gelding, placidly plods toward a low jump at a walk. His hoof thuds against it, sending the pole into the dirt as he heads for a bucket of grain. To the teens holding lead ropes and standing on opposite sides of the horse, the low hurdle is supposed to symbolize life's obstacles. The grain buckets represent life's temptations. To succeed, the teens must maneuver the horse through one of two narrow lanes blocked by plastic cones representing life's minor obstacles. The course setup, known as Temptation Alley, is one exercise used in Equine Assisted Psychotherapy, a new experiential therapy that uses the horse as a tool in mental-health counseling sessions...Indians like to buckle up That's because the residents are all in Phoenix for the Arizona State Fair's All Indian Rodeo. The purse is big at this rodeo. Winning and money are important. But there's something more significant, more symbolic. Each cowboy and cowgirl has one shining at his or her waist...