NEWS ROUNDUP

Conservationists Challenge Administration's Leasing Decision in National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska In an effort to restore a balance between development and wildlife protection in Alaska's western arctic, conservation groups announced today a lawsuit challenging a plan to open up the entire northwest portion of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (the Reserve) to oil and gas leasing. The groups challenge the January 22, 2004, decision to open 100 percent of the 8.8-million-acre northwest portion of the Reserve fails to permanently protect any of the region's most important wildlife habitat or hunting and fishing grounds.... Dam removal effort aims at helping steelhead In a project almost unprecedented in California's 150-year history of using dams to make an arid state habitable, scientists, environmental groups and water officials are trying to determine whether they can tear down the fishes' main obstacle. For the past 83 years, the 107-foot-tall San Clemente Dam has blocked steelhead from returning smoothly to the upper Carmel River. The challenge: how to help the fish they are seeking to rescue from the Endangered Species List, without accidentally killing them in the process. Built in 1921, San Clemente Dam is a graceful curve of smooth concrete. Once it stored drinking water for thousands of people around Monterey.... New data shows population increase for threatened shorebird California's efforts to rescue the western snowy plover are starting to pay off as new data showed population increases for the threatened shorebird, state officials said Tuesday. The number of snowy plovers that hatched and survived in state parks along the California coast rose significantly during the latest nesting season, according to the state Department of Parks and Recreation. New reports show that 548 nests were found in state parks in 2003 -- a 24 percent increase over 2002 -- and that 322 of those nests successfully hatched at least one egg, a 52 percent increase over the previous year. The number of chicks hatched more than doubled to 967 chicks over the previous year.... One Fish, Two Fish Jerry Big Eagle drugs fish. Tens of thousands of fish, every day. The tiny, stunned salmon slide through the hands of his crews as, with a snip and a jab, workers clip off a back fin and thrust a metal wire not much wider than a hair into each snout. It takes just seconds. Then each fish is dropped into a watery chute, checked magnetically to ensure it's tagged, and swept back into hatchery ponds to sleep it off. Big Eagle is a fish tagger - probably California's premier fish tagger - and one of only a handful of private contractors in the West who make a living inserting distinctive, lifelong codes into living fish.... Lodge owner welcomes battle with National Park Service Lodge owner Doug Frederick wants the National Park Service to make an example out of him. He's refusing to pay a $500 fine for failing to have a permit to place wooden pallets on muddy sections of a trail inside the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park because he says the agency invited his help and then betrayed him. "I was working with the Park Service. Basically, they set me up," Frederick said. "Somebody has to expose the Park Service. These people are clear out of control.".... Judge Scolds Park Service Over Snowmobiles A federal judge threatened Tuesday to hold National Park Service officials in contempt for violating his orders and deciding last week to allow more snowmobiles in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said he found it "mystifying" that the Park Service last Wednesday decided to allow 780 snowmobiles in Yellowstone when he ordered them last year to allow no more than 493 of them this winter. "It's just a nonchalant attitude of the government to a federal judge's order," the judge said, setting a hearing for March 9 on a possible contempt finding. The Park Service increased the number of snowmobiles allowed in Yellowstone after another federal judge, Clarence Brimmer in Wyoming, last Tuesday ordered officials to quit implementing a Clinton administration plan that bans individual snowmobiles entirely beginning next winter.... EPA scientist queried over biowarfare warning An Environmental Protection Agency scientist has been questioned by the FBI about an anonymous letter accusing a colleague of plotting biowarfare in the days before the 2001 anthrax attacks. Agents from the FBI's anthrax task force, according to a document obtained by The Washington Times, sought information on the anonymous letter, which warned that Ayaad Assaad, an Egyptian native who works as a toxicologist at the EPA, was an anti-American "religious fanatic" with the means to unleash a bioweapons attack.... Agency to recommend minimum flows to aid fish More than a century after the state began doling out water rights to people, the state Department of Ecology now intends to recommend a minimum flow of water for fish, too. The agency expects to adopt minimum flows by 2005 for Salmon Creek and the Washougal River in Clark County. The Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board received $200,000 in state funding in December 2001 to compile the best scientific information available, and then recommend minimum flows to sustain imperiled salmon and steelhead.... House approves limit on water well useThe House has approved a measure that would allow the state engineer to limit water use from domestic wells in areas facing water problems. But the House diluted the proposed powers for the state engineer. When the bill passed the Senate earlier this month, it would have allowed the engineer to deny new wells in a critical management area. However, the House eliminated the power to deny a well permit and instead the state engineer could limit a well to one-half acre foot per year for a household.... House approves proposal for state water reserve The House has approved legislation that would establish a state strategic river reserve. The proposal calls for leasing or buying water rights to deal with New Mexico’s pressing water problems. It would earmark three percent of the state’s yearly severance tax bond financing for the water reserve during the next 20 years to provide money for the acquisition of water rights.... Bill restricting access to private property debated A bill pitting landowners against game wardens was considered Tuesday by the state Senate Agriculture Committee, but a vote was delayed until Thursday. HB1258 would require that game wardens get permission from landowners before going onto private property unless wardens have good reasons to believe people are violating hunting or fishing laws, have reports of violations, must kill crippled animals, or are responding to emergencies. Supporters of the bill said it is unfair to hunters to assume they are guilty until they can prove they are licensed. Game wardens should not be allowed to come onto private property to check for licenses unless they have reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing, HB1258 supporters said.... Editorial: A vote for open space As Utahns watch population growth gobble up farms and foothills, some people are searching for ways to preserve open space. The Nature Conservancy has a suggestion that Utah voters should consider. It proposes that the state issue $150 million in revenue bonds to purchase land to preserve rivers, lakes, watershed, open space, wildlife habitat, parks and recreational trails for future generations. The bond would be paid for by an increase of .05 percentage points in the state sales tax (five cents on each $100) for a maximum of 10 years.... Logging laws struck down In a ruling that could open up hundreds of properties to logging in the Santa Cruz Mountains, a state appellate court in San Jose has sided with logging interests in striking down Santa Cruz County laws aimed at limiting where trees can be harvested. The decision, released Tuesday by the three-judge panel of the 6th District Court of Appeal, sent shock waves through environmental groups concerned that farmers, ranchers and other landowners with forested properties would rush to chop down timber on their mountain properties.... Beef Battle A beef battle is brewing at the State Capitol in Pierre and it may become the first true controversy in Governor Mike Rounds' administration. The Governor fired four members of the tate board in charge of tracking cattle Monday night. The move comes after a report by the attorney general's office accused inspectors of violating the state's inspection rules. For more than 60 years, the South Dakota State Brand Board has had a contract with the State Stockgrowers Association. The board voted to end that contract last Thursday, and now the governor has fired four of the board's five members. On Tuesday, hundreds of producers filled the Capitol Rotunda to tell the governor they think the inspection program was fine before and they think he's made a big mistake.... Cattle Farmers Awarded $1.28 Billion in Beef Suit A federal jury in Alabama awarded $1.28 billion to cattle farmers yesterday, deciding that a beef-processing giant used its dominance of the $70 billion beef industry to manipulate prices for cattle on the open market. Tyson Foods Inc. said it intends to appeal the verdict in the case filed against IBP Inc., which Tyson now owns. Another piece of the case -- involving a possible injunction against certain cattle-buying practices -- has yet to be decided by the judge involved. But the jury's decision could be a first step toward reversing the kind of power big businesses have gained as consolidation has swept through the cattle and beef industries over the past two decades.... Idaho farmers want legal foreign labor, less red tape If Idaho farmers want to follow the law and hire legal immigrant workers, they need time, patience and luck. They must apply for the foreign workers no later than 45 days before the workers will be needed, which is sometimes tricky to gauge. They must advertise across the country, offering the jobs to U.S. workers first. They must plow through hundreds of pages of rules and work with the departments of Labor, Homeland Security and State.... Saddle broncs are his business Dan Mortensen of Billings, Mont., has a business and economics degree from Montana State University. One day, he might get to use it for its intended purpose. Right now, Mortensen is best in the business of riding saddle bronc horses, which is very good for his economic situation....