NEWS ROUNDUP

Bush funding for firefighting still falls short Still, there is a gap between what is budgeted and what has been spent in recent years. At $908 million, the total tapped for wildfire fighting falls short of the $1.4 billion that was spent to fight wildfires in 2002 and is slightly less than the $1 billion that was needed to fight them in 2003. Environmentalists say the $475 million for hazardous-fuels reduction is far short of the $760 million that was promised in legislation overhauling forest policy that President Bush signed into law last year. "It is an increase, and for that, you can say, ‘thank you,' but it is nowhere near what is needed," Mike Francis of the Wilderness Society said. In addition to noting the apparent shortfall in hazardous-fuel reduction money, Francis also noted that the administration's proposed budget would cut state, local and volunteer assistance by 42 percent from $132 million in fiscal year 2004 to $77 million in fiscal year 2005.... Wildfire recovery: Groups challenge results on 2-year settlement anniversary, Forest Service says much work on track Two years after a court settlement cleared the way for logging and restoration in the burned Bitterroot National Forest, environmentalists say the Forest Service and the Bush administration aren't holding up their end of the bargain. They said Thursday the Bitterroot is out of compliance with a "biological opinion" issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service before the burned-area work started following the 2000 fire season, and they accused forest officials of "gross negligence.".... Winter too mild to kill beetles Piñon-munching ips beetles are unlikely to be fazed by the snow and cold weather seen so far this winter around the Four Corners. "Most beetles have their own antifreeze, so it takes prolonged and severe cold to kill them off," Phil Kemp, a Forest Service forester in Dolores, said Tuesday. Kemp, speaking of experience with the mountain pine beetle in Montana and Idaho, said nothing less than a couple of weeks of subzero temperature would finish off the ips.... Massive machines thin areas of Pike forest Called Hydro-Ax, the mighty tractors reach up to 15 feet and lop the tops off trees up to 12 inches in diameter. A roughly 3-inch-thick steel blade housed in a 9,000-pound head and spinning at 1,000 revolutions per minute is lowered onto the 15-foot-high "stem." There is a screeching, deafening roar, and in about a second, the remaining 15 feet of ponderosa pine or Douglas fir is reduced to 6-inch pieces of mulch and scattered up to 300 feet throughout the forest. The Hydro-Ax then reverses over the previously lopped top of the tree, mulching it as well.... Feds sued over OK for drilling "The BLM is approving massive new development, yet they are clearly not able to handle the soil, range, water, air and wildlife impacts that are overwhelming communities throughout the basin from existing development alone," said Treciafaye "Tweeti" Blancett, one of two ranchers who are plaintiffs in the suit. BLM officials have said they cannot comment on pending litigation. But they defended approval of the plan last year by saying that development of the energy resource will occur incrementally over 20 years, and that the BLM will not allow full development if impacts violate federal standards. Blancett and another New Mexico rancher, Don Schreiber, allege that the BLM's lax permitting practices and failure to enforce its own rules have imposed an extreme hardship on their operations, from the uncontrolled spread of noxious weeds to ruined roads and unfenced hazards.... Wolf complaint sent to Norton Bush proposes 14 percent cut for endangered species The Bush administration proposed cutting $9.8 million from endangered species recovery efforts Monday, a 14 percent reduction that would leave the wildlife preservation fund at the lowest level since the president took office. Interior Secretary Gale Norton said the proposed cuts are offset by major increases in grant programs meant to encourage private property owners and state and local governments to preserve land in the name of species protection. "The most effective conservation projects are the ones that are conceived and carried out at the local level, by the people who live and work on the land," Norton said.... ALASKAN SEA OTTER PROPOSED FOR LISTING UNDER ESA The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) today announced a proposed rule to list the Southwest Alaska/Aleutian Islands population of northern sea otter as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The decision comes as a relief to the Center for Biological Diversity who filed a formal petition to protect the population under the ESA in October of 2000. After several years of delay tactics by the Bush Administration, the Center sued the USFWS in December 2003 for failing to take any action to protect the endangered sea otter population.... Republicans begin effort to rewrite species act House Republicans began laying groundwork Wednesday for a rewrite of the Endangered Species Act, questioning whether the work of federal scientists should face more outside scrutiny before it results in costly regulations. Citing the experience of Klamath Basin farmers two years ago, Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., said "unsubstantiated science" led to a $200 million economic catastrophe when federal agencies suspended irrigation flows to protect imperiled fish. "I challenge anyone to find a group that has been more negatively affected by the inadequacy of the science used in making decisions under the Endangered Species Act," he told members of a House Resources subcommittee, referring to Klamath farmers.... Storm brewing over use of San Luis Valley water Pressure over water use in the drought-plagued San Luis Valley is building and could erupt in the kind of legal battles seen along the South Platte River. Several years of drought have dropped water levels underneath the south-central Colorado valley and worsened tension between farmers and ranchers with senior water rights and those with newer claims....