NEWS ROUNDUP

Omitted pieces put back in fire report U.S. Forest Service officials have reinserted much of the information previously blacked out of their report investigating the deaths of Idaho wildland firefighters Jeff Allen and Shane Heath, with one major exception — the names of everyone involved. The only people identified in the Cramer Fire accident report are Allen and Heath. Forest Service officials once again edited out the names of fire managers in the modified report, but reinserted their titles in some places. So while a reader can now determine which fire officials made which decisions that led to the deaths of Allen and Heath on July 22, they won´t be able to identify them — a key omission for critics of the Forest Service.... What’s next The Forest Service is conducting a misconduct investigation into the Cramer Creek Fire and will issue proposed disciplinary actions before fire season begins this year. Fire officials did not identify which employees are being investigated, what the possible penalties could be, or whether the penalties will be made public.... No fishing: U.S. Forest Service rejects request from local angling-conservation club for a catch-and-release season at Spirit Lake The U.S. Forest Service has rejected a request to allow limited catch-and-release trout fishing at Spirit Lake on the north side of Mount St. Helens. The Clark-Skamania Flyfishers, a Vancouver-based angling and conservation club, made the request in early January to Cliff Ligons, manager of the the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. The lake has been closed to fishing since the massive eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980.... Turkeys fly into a controversy With the release of 82 more turkeys in the Ochoco Mountains earlier this month, spring turkey hunters will have more opportunity for success. But not everyone is excited about the releases. The Central Oregon Audubon Society has expressed concern over the continued transplanting of the non-native game bird and would like to see the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife discontinue any further releases of turkeys in Central Oregon and other areas of the state until a review of turkey management plans can occur.... America's new coal rush After 25 years on the blacklist of America's energy sources, coal is poised to make a comeback, stoked by the demand for affordable electricity and the rising price of other fuels. At least 94 coal-fired electric power plants - with the capacity to power 62 million American homes - are now planned across 36 states. The plants, slated to start coming on line as early as next year, would add significantly to the United States' generating power, help keep electricity prices low, and boost energy security by offering an alternative to foreign oil and gas. But they would also pump more airborne mercury and greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and sulfur dioxide into the air.... Senators Should Consider Environmental Impacts of Judicial Nominations For the first time ever, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) has included in its National Environmental Scorecard a vote on a nominee to the federal courts. William H. Pryor was nominated by President Bush in April 2003 to fill a lifetime seat on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which hears appeals of federal environmental cases in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. On July 31, 2003, Pryor’s supporters fell seven votes short of the 60 needed to end debate on Pryor’s nomination and force a vote on the Senate floor. However, Mr. Pryor was recently given a recess appointment to that same seat, which will expire at the end of the next Senate session.... Column: Cry of the wolf The new census of northwest Montana’s wolves shows declining numbers, and that casts doubt on the government’s contention that the population is robust enough to remove from federal protection as an endangered species. In the annual count by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the region’s gray wolves numbered only 92 in 2003, down from 108 the year before. More importantly, only four pairs of wolves produced at least two pups that survived the year. The year before, 11 breeding pairs were counted.... Editorial: Wolf change shouldn't wait for Wyoming Wolves have been restored to self-sustaining numbers in the Northern Rockies. It's time to release them from the extraordinary protective custody of the federal government and for the states to assume responsibility for managing wolves in conjunction with other wildlife. Montana and Idaho are ready, willing and able to assume control of wolf management, but Wyoming is not. Our neighbor to the south is playing games with the issue, and the result has been to stall progress toward scratching wolves off the endangered species list. The Department of Interior will not - and legally cannot - take wolves off the endangered species list until the states adopt plans for managing the animals in ways that will ensure their perpetuation. Montana and Idaho have done just that. Wyoming came up with a plan, but it included a provision allowing wolves to be shot on sight in certain areas. Federal officials rejected Wyoming's plan, largely for that reason. Right now, Wyoming officials are debating whether to revise their plan or to go to court in an attempt to force the feds to approve their plan.... Wyoming House ready for wolf battle After retreating a day earlier from a possible lawsuit against the federal government for its rejection of the state's wolf-management plan, the Wyoming House reversed itself again Wednesday and voted to bolster the case for a court battle. With little debate, representatives voted 44-14 for a bill that aligns state law with the now-rejected Game and Fish Commission's management plan for gray wolves. Conforming statutes to the plan is seen as a way to strengthen the state's hand in a possible suit.... Column: Is chronic wasting disease the new mad cow? The good news about CWD is that—at least so far—there is no established link between eating or handling venison and vCJD, the devastating human disease linked to beef consumption in England. And, though research at this moment is not yet complete, CWD has not seemed to infect the unlucky cows, goats, and sheep that have been kept in close quarters with infected deer and elk. Still, TSE diseases develop slowly, over a minimum of 15 months to 17 months after exposure, and there is not yet enough evidence to rule out cross-species transmission altogether. Having learned from the British government's mistakes in the BSE crisis, no national or state government agencies have made out-and-out exhortations to continue eating venison from the infected areas (e.g., à la John Gummer, the British secretary of agriculture who famously endeavored to demonstrate the safety of British beef by feeding a hamburger to his 4-year-old daughter). But the issue is complicated by the fact that those who consume venison and elk meat are often the hunters who slaughter the animals—they thus must decide for themselves whether their quarry is safe for consumption.... Artist forced to surrender art because he used eagle feathers What Juneau artist Mark Horn considered a spiritual expression, federal authorities considered a possible crime. Three pieces displayed at the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council came under scrutiny of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service enforcement officers because they contained eagle feathers. Agent Sam Friberg said Friday that he couldn't comment about the ongoing investigation, except to say that it was limited to exhibits involving eagle feathers.... More park bison sent to slaughter The National Park Service has sent another 27 bison to a slaughterhouse after they tested positive for exposure to the disease brucellosis. That brings this winter's total slaughter of animals captured inside Yellowstone National Park to 53 animals. Another 36 captured animals that tested negative for exposure to the disease are being held in a beefed-up corral until spring, when enough green grass emerges inside the park to keep the shaggy giants from wandering out of the park.... Saddle up One of the oldest traditions of the West — mule rides into the Grand Canyon — will resume on March 23. The National Park Service suspended the trips last September for the first time in a century so it could do trail maintenance. The move worried some longtime fans who thought the rides might never return. But the Park Service says the closure was never meant to be permanent.... More drilling on tap for Padre The National Park Service announced Thursday that it will allow a Corpus Christi company to start drilling what will become the eighth natural gas well on the otherwise undeveloped barrier island. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates 80 billion cubic feet of natural gas lies beneath the 130,454-acre seashore — the longest remaining undeveloped stretch of barrier island in the world. That's enough gas to satisfy the nation's entire demand for about two days, according to the American Gas Association, an industry group.... Fearing 'Unprecedented Land Grab' During Election Year, Group Urges 60,000 Interior Department Employees to Use Tipline The nonprofit Campaign to Protect America's Lands (CPAL) announced that it is sending an email today to 59,684 Department of Interior employees urging them to use a confidential tipline (1- 866-LANDTIP or http://www.landtip.org) to report any new anti-environment rules or other steps related to America's public lands, parks or wilderness areas that may crop up in the coming months. CPAL's goal is to thwart a whole new round of special-interest proposals that are expected to clog Interior if panicked industry executives come to believe that President Bush is unlikely to serve a second term.... Unexplained elk deaths in Wyo. leave wildlife officials puzzled In the last three weeks, about 275 elk, mostly breeding-age cows in prime condition, have been found either dead or paralyzed in a 3-square-mile area just north of the Colorado border. "They go to lie down, and then they can't get up," Wyoming Game and Fish Department spokesman Tom Reed said Thursday. "Their heads are up and they bark at you when you approach. But they can't move." State biologists are euthanizing the stricken animals and have examined about a dozen carcasses in an attempt to find the cause of the deaths. Whatever is killing the elk has yet to affect the horses, cows, calves and antelope observed in the area. Scavengers like coyotes, ravens or magpies that are feeding on the carcasses also appear to be immune.... Tyson Asks Judge to Reverse $1.28 Billion Verdict The nation's largest beef packer, Tyson Foods Inc., said Thursday it has asked a federal judge to throw out a jury's $1.28 billion verdict that the company illegally manipulated cattle prices. Tyson asked visiting U.S. Senior District Judge Lyle Strom to enter a substitute ruling or order a new trial. A jury last week sided with a group of cattlemen who accused the Arkansas-based company of using contracts with a select few ranchers to drive cattle prices down for other producers. "Given the complexity of the issues presented and the consequences of this court's decision to an entire industry ... it is important that judgment be entered on the evidence actually presented and the applicable law rather than on the jury's instincts regarding the 'spirit of the law,'" Tyson lawyers said in court papers filed Wednesday.... USDA resists increased mad cow testing The United States Department of Agriculture is blocking small beef packing companies and ranchers from testing their cattle for mad cow disease. The beef packing companies and ranchers see the increased testing as a way to restore consumer confidence and enable their products to be exported to Japan and other countries that shut their borders to U.S. beef in December after the detection of a mad cow-infected animal in Washington state.... North Texas woman recalls rodeo life, wins in the '50s Many little girls dream of riding horses and barrel racing; and for a Decatur lady, that dream was a reality in her early years, when she competed in the Girls Rodeo Association (GRA), now the Womens Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA). The success of those rides, earned LaTonne (rhymes with baton) Sewalt Enright a place in the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame (TRCHF). Following the hall-of-fame legacy of both her dad Royce, a 1946 world champion calf roper, and her younger brother Ronnye, a reserve world champion calf roper, LaTonne was among the 16 others who were inducted in the hall on Feb. 14....