NEWS ROUNDUP

Report: Supervisory mistakes led to firefighter deaths A series of mistakes by fire managers at all levels of the Salmon-Challis National Forest resulted in the deaths of two firefighters working on the Cramer Fire this summer near Salmon, according to a report issued by the National Forest Service today. Jeff Allen, 24, of Salmon, and Shane Heath, 22, of Melba, were killed fighting a fire July 22 in the Salmon River Canyon when they were overrun by flames while trying to create a helicopter landing site. Even though weather and fire conditions made helicopter pickup the primary escape route for Allen and Heath, neither of the two helicopters working on the fire were available to lift them out. Allen asked for a helicopter removal, but it took 15 minutes before a helicopter was able to get there; when it arrived, conditions were too smokey to land, according to the report. Allen and Heath died minutes later after being overrun by the fire. The 1,500 page report, issued today after nearly six months of investigation, revealed several factors that led to the deaths of Allen and Heath, including:....Click here for the entire report....Forest Service offers to cancel 20 Tongass timber sales The U.S. Forest Service has offered to cancel 20 completed timber sales after the agency determined they were uneconomical. The agency determined that if the companies cut the timber in the Tongass National Forest anytime soon they would lose too much money under current market conditions. Battered by low prices, foreign competition and tightening restrictions on logging, the industry welcomed the move. "I'm glad it happened. It's something we've been complaining about for five years. The sales were poorly designed and the mills were more or less forced to purchase them because there was nothing economic to bid on," said Owen Graham, executive director of the Ketchikan-based Alaska Forest Association, a timber industry trade group....Editorial: Keeping OHVs on track It appears the U.S. Forest Service intends to get serious about keeping off-highway vehicles on the "straight and narrow," so to speak, and that's good news for everyone who visits the country's forests. The agency has formed a team to come up with ways to limit OHV use to appropriate trails and keep motorized vehicles from damaging sensitive ecosystems when they are driven miles across forest land where they don't belong. A plan to set limits is vital. Even OHV advocacy groups recognize the need for it. But the Forest Service faces real challenges to getting it done....Humans a threat to Skagit bald eagles, biologists fear It was morning, their prime feeding time. But as one motorboat after another roared by, these birds weren't diving for food. They rarely even moved except to soar between trees, staying high above the fray. Yesterday's busy scene full of fishermen and eagle-watching tourists illustrated a trend that has long concerned wildlife biologists. Here on the Skagit, where 500 or more eagle watchers may show up on a sunny day, people are disrupting the birds' feeding. The question is whether all that disruption affects the survival of these birds, which still are considered threatened with extinction....Wolf opinion expected this week, some groups not optimistic about outcome The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is expected to weigh in on Montana, Idaho and Wyoming's plans to manage gray wolves soon, according to state and federal officials. If the state plans are accepted the wolves could be taken off the endangered species list and management of them could be transferred from the federal government to the states. "The service is planning as soon as possible to get back to the states about their plans," Interior Department spokesman Hugh Vickery said. "I am not going to put a date on it, but it is soon." Wyoming Chief Deputy Attorney General Michael O'Donnell said that he has been told that a response could come as early as Thursday ....Endangered Species Act Targeted: House Resources Chairman Plans to 'Break It Down' The rancher who chairs the House committee for environmental policy says he's finished trying to recast the Endangered Species Act in one fell swoop. Rep. Richard W. Pombo (R-Calif.) says now he wants to take it on bit by bit. Pombo, who contends environmental regulations too often infringe on the rights of farmers and homeowners, said the endangered species law produces more lawsuits and property disputes than it provides protection for wildlife. It is a point he has argued since he was handed the task of rewriting the law in 1995. The Endangered Species Act requires the government to use "the best scientific and commercial data available" in choosing animals and plants to list. Listed species are supposed to be protected from potentially harmful activities. More than 1,200 plants and animals are listed as threatened or endangered. Pombo said his first focus will be to add what he and the law's critics call "sound science" provisions. He says the requirement for the best available data is too vague; he wants the law to demand empirical or peer-reviewed standards. Next, he wants to tackle how critical habitats are designated....Water Districts Hail $26 Million Award as Just Compensation Due to Losses from Endangered Species Act Several California water district officials today praised a federal court decision awarding them approximately $26 million for water taken by the United States under the federal Endangered Species Act. Judge John Wiese of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims has determined that a number of water districts, and their water users, in the San Joaquin Valley of California must be compensated for water taken by the United States under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). The December 31, 2003, decision concludes that the fair market value of the water taken was approximately $14 million at the time of the take. It is expected that the final judgment in the case, with interest and litigation expenses, will be approximately $26 million. The case was brought by the districts and water users involved to recover compensation under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution for a taking of the water for federal purposes by the federal government. The water was taken between 1992 to 1994 for the benefit of species listed under the federal Endangered Species Act. The decision comes after an earlier ruling in the case that the federal government was liable under the Fifth Amendment for the taking of the State Water Project (SWP) water, and a lengthy trial to assess the actual amount of water taken and its value. In its earlier ruling concerning the taking of water for ESA purposes, the court was direct and to the point: "The federal government is certainly free to preserve the fish; it must simply pay for the water it takes to do so."....Bush administration may appeal Yellowstone snowmobile ruling The Bush administration has taken a step toward a possible appeal of a judge's ruling that ordered the National Park Service to ban snowmobiles from Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. The Justice Department filed a notice Monday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to preserve the Bush administration's right to lodge an appeal....Mojave Cross dispute continues An effort to save the Mojave Cross isn't sitting well with the ACLU Foundation of Southern California. The cross on federal land and federal legislation designed to save it are both unconstitutional, the group argues in a brief filed recently in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Also, the ACLU is disputing the U.S. Justice Department's argument that the court should consider the department's appeal "moot" and not rule on it. Supporters of the cross say its primary purpose is to serve as a war memorial, not a religious symbol....Fees for milk ads wind up in court A federal appeals court considered Monday whether a dairy-promotion program known for putting milk mustaches on celebrities is unconstitutional because it forces all farmers to pay for the ads, even if they disagree with them. The case, brought by a couple who operate a farm in Pennsylvania, is one of a number of challenges to government marketing programs that produce ads for agricultural products. A federal appeals court in St. Louis ruled in July that ranchers could not be forced to pay a $1-per-head fee on cattle to support the marketing campaign that spawned the slogan "Beef: It's what's for dinner." An appeals court in Cincinnati struck down a similar fee in October that had supported the advertisements calling pork "the other white meat." In both cases the judges said federal regulations requiring farmers to pay for the marketing efforts violated their right to free speech....Calf in Arizona positive for TB A calf in Pinal County has tested positive for tuberculosis but never gave milk and poses no risk to humans, the state agriculture department said Monday. The calf was part of a 300-head herd that is scheduled to be shipped out of state. The herd was placed under quarantine. Regulators won't know until Wednesday whether any of the animals will have to be destroyed....Suit accuses Tyson of illegal cattle buying A jury on Tuesday will begin hearing a nearly 8-year-old lawsuit accusing the nation's largest packer of using illegal cattle-buying practices to help manipulate beef prices. The suit alleges IBP Inc., which merged with Tyson Foods Inc. in 2001, violated the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921 by paying higher prices to producers who enter exclusive agreements and by conspiring to fix prices paid on the open market. Tyson counters that these so-called marketing agreements are legitimate business practices and do not subvert the market principles of supply and demand.... Political Prisoner? Luther Wallace "Wally" Klump recently marked his 70th birthday. He could not celebrate on the family ranch with his wife, children and grandchildren. The old rancher turned 70 in the cell of an Arizona penitentiary. Klump is not in prison for murder, rape, drugs or any of the common offenses against society; his offense is one that astounds the most hardened and cynical criminals in the penal complex where he is housed. Klump’s "crime" boiled down to "trespassing" cows on Bureau of Land Management property in Arizona’s Dos Cabezas Mountains. His fellow inmates understood. For his birthday, they made a card with a picture of a grazing cow and a bold caption "BLM Sucks!"....