NEWS ROUNDUP

Mine Project Is No Jewel for Tiffany & Co. When Tiffany & Co. takes out a newspaper advertisement, the famous jewelry store is usually spotlighting one of its upscale sparklers -- some really fine diamond drop earrings for $200,000, say. But Tiffany took the Bush administration and the mining industry by surprise yesterday with its advocacy ad in The Washington Post. Michael J. Kowalski, chairman of the board and chief executive of Tiffany & Co., took out the ad to publish an open letter to U.S. Forest Service chief Dale Bosworth, criticizing the planned Rock Creek copper and silver mining project in Montana as unsafe for the environment and wildlife. The Revett Silver Co. would tunnel under the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness in Kootenai National Forest. The Forest Service has "approved the Rock Creek project in concept despite vehement opposition by a coalition of local, regional and national conservation groups, along with local business representatives, public officials and ordinary citizens. The opponents fears are justified," Kowalski wrote in the ad. " . . . Other disputes of this nature . . . are too often settled in favor of developers because statutes and department regulations tilt that way." He called for an revision of the 1872 General Mining Act....NOTE: The ALRA put out an email alert on this topic today, but as of this evening it hasn't been posted to their website.... Forests OK road plans for grizzly habitat area Supervisors on the Kootenai, Idaho Panhandle and Lolo national forests have signed off on forest plan amendments to guide motorized access in the Cabinet-Yaak and Selkirk grizzly bear recovery areas. The changes are expected to provide greater flexibility for providing roadless habitat and managing roads in defined "bear management units." But environmental groups have been deeply critical of that flexibility and are likely to sue the forests.... Trespassers caught during lion hunt Authorities didn't bag any mountain lions in Sabino Canyon Wednesday, but they did nab two trespassers who they said were trying to dismantle lion traps. State and federal law enforcement officials said they apprehended two of three trespassers that they spotted on a ridgetop early Wednesday afternoon, about a mile up the canyon from the canyon visitors center. Authorities used binoculars to spot the trespassers, then went on foot with a helicopter pilot acting as a guide to find them.... DNR removes wolf from list of threatened animals The gray wolf, once hunted until it became but a rumor in Wisconsin's forests, was removed Wednesday from the state's list of threatened animals by the Natural Resources Board. The number of wolves in Wisconsin has climbed steadily under a recovery program overseen by the agency. The wolf did much of the work on its own after it was placed on both the state and federal endangered species lists. Animals, nearly wiped out by trapping and poisoning in the 1950s, started moving again into the state's protected wild lands, mostly from Minnesota. Recent population counts show their numbers at about 335.... Feds take another look at Preble's meadow jumping mouse The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will reassess whether the Preble's meadow jumping mouse should continue to receive federal protection, officials announced Wednesday. The mouse, found mostly along waterways and only in Colorado and Wyoming, was listed as threatened in 1998. Designation of critical habitat for the rodent has delayed construction of government buildings and housing projects, and restricted typical farm-and-ranch operations such as haying and weed control. The state of Wyoming filed a 110-page petition in December after scientists at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science determined that the jumping mouse is genetically indistinguishable from a common type of mouse found extensively in the western United States.... Fish go 'ping' in the deep Wildlife biologists on land do it. Now marine biologist Charles Greene is spearheading a plan to help marine scientists do it too. Dr. Greene and more than a dozen colleagues from across the United States are laying the groundwork for a multimillion-dollar observatory here to track whales, dolphins, tuna, marlin, sea turtles, and a vast menagerie of other open-ocean creatures as they ply the waters off the big island of Hawaii. The observatory would turn up to 500 cubic kilometers (119 cubic miles) of ocean into the world's largest aquarium and give scientists their most comprehensive peek yet into marine life.... Rounds plans to sue Corps over new Missouri River plan Gov. Mike Rounds wants the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to do more than just promise to try to manage the Missouri River so that fish spawning in the river's reservoirs is protected during April and May each year. Rounds said Tuesday that the State of South Dakota will ask a federal judge to order the Corps to set specific targets and outline detailed steps regarding the reservoirs' fisheries in its new Missouri River master manual and annual operating plan.... Desert expansion for Army OK'd The Army can expand its tank-training center in the San Bernardino County desert if it sets aside land and installs other protective measures for the threatened desert tortoise and an endangered plant, federal wildlife officials said Wednesday. The long-awaited decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the latest in the 19 years of politically charged debate between the military and environmentalists over what became known as "tanks vs. tortoises." Because the tortoise and the Lane Mountain milk-vetch are listed on the federal endangered species list, the Army needed a ruling by the wildlife agency stating its expansion would not "jeopardize" the existence of the two species or "adversely modify" their habitat.... Editorial: Why promote U.S. parks only to cut key services? Last month, the federal government launched a campaign to woo visitors from home and abroad to the USA's 387 national parks. Officials saw the park promotion as a way to spark tourism, which has dropped by more than 13 million visits since 2001. Yet that same month, a National Park Service (NPS) official ordered parks in 12 Northeastern states to come up with service cuts to stay within a tight budget. While belt tightening is to be expected in an era of skyrocketing federal deficits, the suggestions could threaten some parks' most popular lures. Among the proposals: cutting lifeguards, eliminating guided ranger tours and closing on Sundays, a prime day for visitors.... Column: Parks are in good shape Each year, national parks welcome some 270 million visitors. They give the parks high marks — an approval rating of 96%. With strong funding and management support, the Bush administration is helping our parks maintain this outstanding record. Despite claims in a recent critical report by the National Parks Conservation Association, funding for our parks is at an all-time high. Since 1980, parks have benefited from a 121% increase in operations funding — not a reduction, as the report claims.... Column: Cost-cutting and spin at national parks Depending on whom you believe, the nation's parks are either victims of "willful neglect" on the part of the Bush administration, or National Park Service managers are squandering the generous funding bequeathed to the agency by Congress on unauthorized building projects and needless trips abroad. Whatever the case, internal agency e-mails suggest that budget shortfalls may lead to visitors’ being greeted by uncut grass, shuttered visitor centers and canceled guided ranger tours when they arrive at their favorite park this year, assuming that the place is open at all.... Groups That Exposed NPS Cover-Up of Park Cuts Say Bush Team "Dropped The Ball" on Nearly $100 Million, Possibly More in Park Funds The Bush Administration's Department of the Interior is demonstrating "deliberate disregard" in its management of the national parks by failing in recent years to seek at least $87.5 million and as much as $170 million from Congress to offset costs to the National Park Service (NPS) for natural disasters, mandated employee pay increases and homeland security burdens, according to the two groups - the nonpartisan Coalition of Concerned National Park Service Retirees and the nonprofit Campaign to Protect America's Lands (CPAL) - that made public on March 17, 2004, internal NPS memos urging park superintendents to make major park cuts and then to mislead the public and the news media about the cutbacks.... BLM pulls plug on selling acreage for oil, gas leases The Bureau of Land Management has suspended a controversial decision to auction off more than 45,000 acres of public land for oil and gas leases near Dinosaur National Monument in Colorado and Utah after environmental groups filed protests. A total of 55 leaseable parcels near the monument, which straddles the northwest corner of Colorado and the northeast tip of Utah, are on hold until BLM officials decide whether the protests are legitimate, said Dwayne Spencer, chief fluid mineral officer of the Colorado BLM. The BLM should issue its decision within a couple months, Spencer said.... Poison gas kills five bison in Yellowstone Five bison have died after being exposed to poison gas in a geyser basin in Yellowstone National Park. The dead animals were discovered March 10 in the Norris Geyser Basin. They probably had been dead about a week, the National Park Service announced Tuesday. The bison probably succumbed to a combination of hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide emitted by nearby thermal features.... No Happy Trail in Desert Tale A range war has broken out between environmentalists and off-road motorcyclists over an illegal 3-mile dirt trail that cuts through prehistoric burial grounds and runs past a cave believed to have been used by Native Americans. The motorcyclists say they are finding booby-traps on the foot-wide trail — piano wire stretched taut a few inches above the ground, roofing nails, and pipes camouflaged with brush — designed to topple motorcyclists who regard the Cottonwood Springs area of Juniper Flats as a scenic riding route. Environmentalists, led by members of a local residents group, Friends of Juniper Flats, have denied any responsibility for the alleged acts of sabotage. But they, and some former federal land managers, say motorcyclists have cut property fences, "burning trails" on private property, and trashed what they consider the culturally rich site designated as an "area of critical environmental concern" by the federal Bureau of Land Management.... Court allows Interior computers to go online; Trust account information at heart of recent trouble A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., has issued a stay temporarily rescinding a court order that had resulted in the shutdown this week of hundreds of Department of Interior computers in Billings. Dan DuBray, spokesman for the department, said he is not sure when thousands of computers nationwide will be up and running again. Some have been shut down for more than a week, but the stay was issued late Wednesday.... Wyoming witness cut off at hearing Marjorie West's voice cracked as she described the damage that coalbed methane producers caused on her ranch on Spotted Horse Creek in the Powder River Basin, but her emotion did not change the minds of lawmakers at a Senate committee hearing Wednesday. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman James Inhofe, R-Okla., stopped her testimony as she was describing how the iron-rich water from a well that a coalbed methane producer drilled for her family gave them diarrhea and turned their clothes orange. West, unlike the other people called before the committee, is not an old hand at testifying before congressional panels and Inhofe was in no mood to indulge her.... Bush, Kerry, and green differences As George Bush and John Kerry circle each other warily in the early days of the presidential campaign, focusing mainly on war and economic recovery, there's another issue that could make the key difference in a close race. It's the environment. There are dramatic differences in tone and approach between the presumptive candidates here. As a result, the issue is more politically significant than it has been since former Interior Secretary James Watt's pyrotechnic presence early in the Reagan administration 20 years ago.... Indian groups speak out against Bush appeals court nominee Leading American Indian groups Wednesday strongly protested President Bush's nomination of William G. Myers III to the federal appeals court, contending the former Interior Department lawyer has shown disrespect for Indian lands and rights.... Baucus lacks key support on ban Oklahoma Republican James Inhofe won't support Max Baucus' effort to prohibit drilling in the Rocky Mountain Front. Inhofe, who is the chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and Baucus frequently work together, but they do not see eye-to-eye when it comes to the Rocky Mountain Front. On Wednesday, Inhofe held a hearing to examine the environmental impact of natural gas production. Although development of the Rocky Mountain Front did not come up, Inhofe and his aides were clear about where he stands on the issue.... Demos work toward success in West Some prominent former Democratic elected officials in the Rocky Mountain states and Alaska announced plans Wednesday to form a new group aimed at putting the region back in the Democratic column after several decades of Republican rule. Former U.S. Rep. Pat Williams, D-Mont., is one of 13 founding committee members of Democrats for the West, a group seeking to restore Democrats to power in the eight Rocky Mountain States and Alaska. The group, created with the support of state Democratic parties in the region, aims to unite Democrats across state lines, enhance state party efforts and share ideas and resources.... Animas-La Plata dam threatened A key senator threatened to cut funding for the Animas-La Plata dam in mid-construction if the federal agency building it can't contain costs. "I want to complete this project in a reasonable manner," Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said Wednesday. "But a reasonable manner doesn't mean these cost overruns - or else we'll stop this project in the middle." Domenici has been one of the biggest backers of the ALP dam, which would tap the free-flowing Animas River near Durango. But he says his patience has been tested by a 50 percent surge in costs reported last summer.... Guess who's coming to protest? A decade ago, Karl Rappold, whose family was ranching in Montana before it was a state, would sooner spit than call himself an environmentalist. Today he's still not about to join any greenie groups - but with gas drilling threatening to foul the crystalline waters that gush from the Rockies onto his spread, he is arm-in-arm with a coalition of ranchers and environmental groups that aim to stop the drilling. Whether he likes it or not, Mr. Rappold is part of the new face of the American environmental movement - millions of Americans who may not call themselves environmentalists or belong to big-name green groups, but who might just sport a "What Would Jesus Drive?" bumper sticker or battle a local toxic-waste dump. For example, the number of environmental organizations with more than $1 million in annual income fell by nearly half - from 280 to 151 - during the period from 1995 to 2003, the IRS says. Meanwhile, 4,247 smaller environmental groups (up to $1 million in income) were created - a 51 percent increase. "What we've seen is the growth in the environmental movement shifting away from large-scale national groups," says Robert Brulle, a Drexel University sociologist who tracks environmental groups through IRS data.... Wool contract raises ruckus A contract calling for berets made of 100 percent Australian wool for Iraqi security forces is unfair to American wool producers, Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said in a March 19 letter to President Bush. "The contract's parameters have put American producers at a distinct disadvantage by specifying that the berets be made of 100 percent Australian wool. Such preferential treatment is not only unfair but is a serious concern that deserves immediate attention," Daschle wrote.... Speller says he's pushing U.S. for wide open trade on cattle Agriculture Minister Bob Speller says his U.S. counterpart assured him Wednesday that a decision on resuming the live cattle trade will be based on science, not politics. But it's still unclear how long a decision will take. A public comment period on dropping the U.S. ban is due to end April 7 and American officials will have to review what they've received. "All indications are, in fact, that they should be able to reopen that border" when the review is finished, said Speller....