NEWS ROUNDUP

Ethics group files lawsuit over Forest Service outsourcing Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics filed suit against the U.S. Forest Service on Wednesday, challenging a decision to hand over analysis of public comment on major agency decisions to private contractors. "We think the public deserves to have its comments read by the government, not by the private sector," said Andy Stahl, FSEEE's executive director. "Government employees are regulated by strict conflict of interest and ethics rules that do not apply to private contractors." Filed in U.S. District Court in Missoula, the lawsuit claims the Forest Service violated a newly enacted federal law by "outsourcing" its content analysis teams in Missoula and Salt Lake City...Bitterroot Valley group sues over 2000 backburn Bitterroot Valley residents who banded together after their homes and properties were destroyed by fire on Aug. 6, 2000, have sued the federal government, claiming negligence when fire crews set a backburn in an effort to slow other wildfires. The suit, filed before U.S. District Judge Don Molloy in Missoula, alleges the government violated its own firefighting rules when intentionally setting a fire on the Trinity Ranch near the mouth of Spade Creek on Aug. 6....Catron officials proposing a Healthy Livestock and Rangeland Committee The committee would advise commissioners "on strategies, methods and opportunities for improving range and livestock stewardship practices and programs," according to the proposed ordinance. The group would work "in cooperation, consultation and coordination with the Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, New Mexico State Land (Office) and other agencies involved in range and livestock (issues)," the document states...Why some gun owners are unhappy with Bush Mr. Rosenbruch, a burly lifelong Republican and acquaintance of former President George H.W. Bush, also carried personal displeasure over the natural- resource agenda of Mr. Bush's son. In particular, Rosenbruch and a groundswell of other gun owners from the lower 48 are challenging the Bush administration's plan to undo protection of Alaska's Tongass and Chugach national forests by opening both to increased logging and road construction. For the current president, who relied upon unwavering support from the so-called "hook and bullet" crowd to win in 2000, the kind of public criticism now being voiced by political conservatives like Rosenbruch represents a potential problem in 2004, observers say...White House expects bill to stall Biscuit salvage challenges One important provision of the bill to be signed today by the president directs judges to weigh the future environmental consequences and risk of fire if nothing is done against the short-term environmental impacts of logging projects, said Mark Rey, the undersecretary of the Department of Agriculture who oversees the U.S. Forest Service. "If the Biscuit recovery is challenged, I would hope the courts look at what Congress has told them," Rey said...Supporters urge logging in fire area Hundreds of thousands of dead trees left standing in the aftermath of the 2002 Biscuit Fire mean just one thing in strapped Douglas County: jobs. And county commissioners, business leaders and mill workers turned out Tuesday to press Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey to proceed with what may be the biggest logging project ever proposed in the Northwest... Forest Service says decision won't change much A U.S. Forest Service litigation expert said that a recent federal judge's ruling regarding ranching permits will barely affect the agency. Jackson said the USFS has already consulted with the Fish and Wildlife Service on almost all of the 33 permits except for about three or four of them. The USFS has thousands of allotments that require consultation for grazing permits, he said. The Forest Service is trying to consult for all of its allotments right now, not just the allotments listed in the lawsuit. "We'll file a supplemental brief probably after Thanks-giving to show the valid consultations for the allotments," Jackson said. "The judge had initially dismissed that count of the lawsuit. So when the judge turned around and ruled on it, it's just a matter of showing the court what we've done."...Scientist sees legal holes in Wyoming wolf plan Contradictions between state law and Wyoming's plan to manage gray wolves must be cleared up before lifting federal protection for wolves, according to a leading wolf expert. David Mech, U.S. Interior Department senior research scientist, is one of 12 experts who were asked to review the Wyoming, Idaho and Montana wolf management plans to determine whether the states would ensure survival of the species once federal protections were lifted. They found that the three plans would meet the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's recovery goal of 30 breeding packs of wolves equitably distributed across the three states. But Mech's approval of Wyoming's plan hinges on whether it is backed up by state law. Critics of Wyoming's plan contend the law and plan don't match...Column: It's Not Over 'Til the Fat Lady Sings - Climate talks are on the rocks, but not dead yet Milan is famous for opera and fashion, so perhaps it's appropriate that the United Nations' Kyoto Protocol conference, being held in the Italian city this week and next, has so far been characterized by high drama and public spectacle. Some 180 negotiators from around the world have been treated to rumors of deliberate sabotage and shady backroom deals, derisive public statements about the treaty from leading U.S officials, and bogus news reports that Russia had dealt a fatal blow to the beleaguered pact (one such report was summarized in yesterday's Daily Grist before the error was exposed) -- all this in just the first two days of the two-week conference...Bush Administration "Sabotaging Endangered Species Act," Group Charges; New Report Analyzes White House Court Strategies The Bush administration is engaged in a systematic attempt to weaken the Endangered Species Act (ESA), engaging in a pattern of illegal acts, rigged science and flagrant disregard of court orders to undermine the law, a new report today by Defenders of Wildlife charges. Sabotaging the Endangered Species Act is the third in a series of reports from Defenders' Judicial Accountability Project, and includes analysis of more than 120 ESA cases in which administration officials influenced legal strategy and outcome of the case...Click here(pdf) to view the entire report...Congressman wants more Nevada land sale money for education Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., wants to give a bigger cut of proceeds from federal land auctions in southern Nevada to education _ reducing the amount available for acquiring and improving environmentally sensitive areas. Gibbons said his planned amendment to the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act, which he hopes to introduce early next year, would help Nevada's fast-growing public schools without requiring a tax increase, while leaving plenty of funding for environmental purposes...Economists challenge Bush Western land policies A group of economists, including two Nobel Laureates, Wednesday asked the Bush Administration and 11 Western state governors to rethink policies they say threaten the West's environment and hurt the region's economic prosperity. "Despite your commitments ... many state and federal actions are causing additional environmental degradation, increasing the risks of future degradation, or slowing efforts to reverse past degradation," the economists said in an open letter sent Wednesday to the administration and governors...Steens plan drafted by mining leaders The U.S. Bureau of Land Management hired Enviroscientists Inc. of Reno, Nev., for $670,000 in October 2001 to draw up management options for Steens. Enviroscientists President Richard DeLong, manager of the Steens project, is treasurer of the California Mining Association, according to a report in today's Oregonian. The report went on to say that DeLong spoke to a mining conference in May about strategies to "minimize the effects" of activist groups intent on halting mines...Energy bill is omnicide, slow death for Indian people American Indian stewards of the earth - Northern Cheyenne, Western Shoshone, Navajo, Zuni, Yankton Sioux and Gwich'in - gathered to oppose the U.S. Energy bill 2003, in a press conference adjacent to the National Congress of American Indians' 60th Annual Convention. Norman Patrick Brown, Navajo, said "the uranium monster must be prevented from coming through the door." Navajos have suffered from 65 years of Cold War uranium mining, with a trail of cancer and death. Cora Phillips, Navajo, said the energy bill is omnicide - the ultimate taking of life. It is the slow death of Navajo from uranium poisoning, damaging their life support system and their gene pool. It damages human cells and unborn children. The energy bill, Section 631, authorizes up to $30 million in grants to uranium mining companies for demonstration projects using the in situ leach mining method, which would contaminate the groundwater, she said...Dry area boiling on water deal A fight is brewing in drought-stricken West Texas over a Midland-based company's proposal to pump billions of gallons of water from aquifers stretching under four counties. The group of oilmen intent on building their business into the region's main water supplier has raised the ire of an unlikely coalition of West Texas ranchers, environmentalists and officials. Critics believe the plan to lease 355,000 acres of public land for the lucrative water rights will further dry up an already parched region...Cattlemen take on conservation groups Land trusts, including The Nature Conservancy, are taking agricultural land out of production across America, C.J. Hadley, publisher of Range magazine, told members of the South Dakota Cattlemen's Association here Wednesday. "They're overpaid, overeducated and they think they know what's good for you and your family," Hadley told the SDCA members at the Ram-kota Hotel for their annual convention...U.S. Cattlemen Seek Repeal Of Some Canada Trade Barriers The Canadian government has begun a review of current restrictions on U.S. feeder cattle imported into Canadian feedlots after meetings last week in Ottawa with officials from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. "For decades, non-scientific trade restrictions have created barriers in the selling of U.S. feeder cattle, breeding stock, and semen and embryos to Canada," said Chandler Keys, NCBA vice president of government affairs. "Continued testing requirements by Canada for anaplasmosis and bluetongue on our imported cattle should not be tolerated."...Cowboy golf: It's just like regular golf, except it's played in a cow pasture Cowboy golf is a phenomenon of the West, and is as irreverent and yet as practical as true westerners can be. There are well known paintings of cowboys attempting to hit golf balls in typical western settings, ranch horses patiently waiting nearby. A herd of crazed longhorns stampeding down the canyon; a raccoon washing a golf ball in a stream while a cowboy looks for it; a cowboy attempting to drive his ball from an outcropping on a canyon wall while hitched to the horn of his saddle to keep from falling into the canyon below. Glenwood's third annual Cowboy Golf fund-raiser didn't involve horses, but it did take place in a cow pasture. Organizer Darrel Allred of Glenwood insists that the course compares favorably to other "real" golf courses he's golfed in the past...