NEWS ROUNDUP

Great promise in innovations for firefighting From thousands of miles above Earth, a satellite once programmed to detect Soviet missiles spots the birth of a wind-driven wildfire in San Diego County. A computer-controlled dispatch system sends fire crews to the site, telling them the best way to get there and keeping track of each unit once it arrives. As the flames near a home, an electronic sensor on the roof bathes the rooms in a protective foam and triggers a call to the fire department. This is what the future of wildland firefighting could look like, and most of the technology needed to make it happen already exists....Forest Service plans merger The U.S. Forest Service will consolidate its districts in Aspen and Carbondale into one, according to White River National Forest Supervisor Martha Ketelle. Ketelle, who recommended the move last year, said Friday that the concept has been approved by the regional and national Forest Service offices. Now formal approval must be granted....Tribe is suing over logging, planning The Nez Perce Tribe is suing the Clearwater National Forest over its North Lochsa Face timber sale and restoration project. The tribe also is suing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service for their analysis of the planned work, which the agencies said would not harm threatened fish. Tribal officials said they believe the work would harm bull trout and wild steelhead, both of which are on the endangered species list....Panel mulls lawsuit A legislative committee recommends preparing to sue about the federal rejection of the state's wolf plan, but the chairman thinks the Legislature should have other options. Along with bringing a lawsuit against the federal government, other options could be yielding to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service demands or compromising, Rep. Mike Baker of Thermopolis said Monday. He added that the delay in delisting wolves from federal protection will put game herds and agriculture at continued risk....Bill in works to address feds' wolf concerns A bill is being drafted for the upcoming budget session to address concerns raised by the federal government over Wyoming's plan to manage wolves. While some lawmakers and Gov. Dave Freudenthal are mulling possible legal action, Sen. Bruce Burns, R-Sheridan, is heading efforts to draft a bill that seeks to address the federal government's concerns. Sen. Keith Goodenough, D-Casper, supports the legislation....New proposal to import water to north Reno valleys A new proposal has emerged to import groundwater from Honey Lake Valley on the Nevada-California line to the north valleys of Reno. But backers said the latest project is different than a similar one that was killed a decade ago. Vidler Water Co. bought the 9,800-acre Fish Springs Ranch on the Nevada side of Honey Lake in 2000 to develop the groundwater resource and pipe it to the fast-growing valley areas north of Reno.... BLM proposes new rules for grazing on public lands About the only thing ranchers and environmentalists can agree on in the Bureau of Land Management's draft proposal on new livestock grazing rules is that the regulations do not offer any groundbreaking proposals for rangeland management. But that's the limit of their consensus. Cattlemen like the recommendations because they say the proposed rules clarify terms and issues murky in current legislation. Environmentalists say that the proposal makes no progress in protecting natural resources and revoke gains made during the Clinton administration....WTO Deals New Blow to Canada Over Lumber The World Trade Organization ruled on Monday that Canada was providing some state support to its softwood industry, delivering a second successive setback to Ottawa in a dispute over U.S. import duties. The WTO's Appellate Body, whose verdicts are final, also partially overturned a previous decision by WTO trade judges that the way Washington calculated its countervailing duties was unfair....Muslin, cheesecloth were fabrics of life Many early-day items were so common they were hardly mentioned in history. Two of those staples were white muslin and cheesecloth. Both were made from cotton and shipped all over the world, even to the most remote, thinly settled areas of the West. Both materials came in rolls, allowing customers to cut off whatever amount they could afford. Muslin was used for bed sheets, pillow cases, dish towels, diapers, quilt backing, curtains, sacking, slips and underwear. Cheesecloth was used to strain milk, make cheese and curtains and as wall and ceiling hangings in an effort to make the crude homes more comfortable.....