NEWS ROUNDUP

Pitch canker found in Sierras, normally attacks coastal trees U.S. Forest Service officials have confirmed the first known case of pitch canker disease in the Sierra Nevada, shocking scientists who doubted the tree-killer could survive in the region's harsh climate and causing concern that it could take hold there. Two Douglas fir trees in an El Dorado National Forest seed orchard were infected with the disease, the Forest Service announced. Both trees were destroyed earlier this week, and now scientists are preparing to tackle the huge task of searching the rest of the Sierra Nevada to find out how widespread the canker is -- if it's still there at all.... Course Is 'Forensic Files' of Wildlife Investigation When 15 students in a brand-new Mississippi State University academic course shoulder their backpacks and head to class, textbooks aren’t their major concern. In addition to their normal note-taking tools, they’re packing fingerprint powder, evidence markers and cotton swabs. The students are a new breed of forensic scientists—those learning to investigate crimes against wildlife and the great outdoors. In a class being taught at MSU for the first time this semester by the husband-wife team of Richard Minnis and Clare Chesnavage, the future forensic scientists are getting hands-on training in tracking crimes ranging from hunting out of season to importing restricted animals.... Islands' Foxes Are Now Protected Minutes after federal officials announced Thursday that the animal would be protected under the Endangered Species Act, a baby Channel Islands fox scampered across its pen, flopped onto a small hammock and dozed off. The much-anticipated announcement was no big deal for the grayish, housecat-sized fox, but it marked a major step for scientists, conservationists and park officials desperately trying to save a creature that is nearly extinct. About 75 foxes roam Santa Cruz Island — down from about 1,500 a decade ago. After years of campaigning by conservationists, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials have added to the federal endangered list four subspecies of wild foxes native to Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel and Santa Catalina islands off the Ventura and Los Angeles county coasts. A little more than 300 wild foxes remain on the four islands.... Scientists to reconsider sturgeon protection A judge has ordered federal fisheries scientists to reconsider their finding that green sturgeon do not merit Endangered Species Act protection, saying the failure to take into account the large loss of spawning habitat made no sense. The ruling by U.S. Magistrate Elizabeth Laporte in San Francisco was a step forward for environmentalists battling the Bush administration over the loss of fish and wildlife habitat on the West Coast to irrigation, particularly in the Klamath Basin and California's Central Valley. "The message is the ecosystem is collapsing and the economic value of protecting these areas is far greater than diverting water to grow subsidized crops," said Wendell Wood of the Oregon Natural Resources Council, one of the conservation groups that brought the lawsuit. Brent Plater, an attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, said the ruling was significant because it declared the failure to analyze the loss of spawning habitat was "arbitrary and capricious.".... Enviro groups cry foul Tribes, fishermen groups and environmentalists are claiming a betrayal of trust because they say PacifiCorp's application to renew operations of Klamath River dams overlooks salmon restoration options. "Although the relicensing process provided stakeholders with a form to voice their concerns as the proposed license was developed, many charge that the final product ignored their input, the input of the scientific community, and most importantly, the needs of Klamath River salmon," said Craig Tucker with Friends of the River in a March 1 press release.... One for the books: Hounds tree Michigan wolverine When Thumb-area coyote hunters turned their hounds loose in Huron County on the morning of Feb. 24, they had little idea that it would become a historical day. A coyote or fox was the intended quarry, and a primary purpose of the hunt was to listen to the chorus of hounds on a hot scent. In no time, the hounds hit a hot scent trail meandering through the freshly fallen snow. But the tracks of the animal being pursued puzzled the hunters. None of them could identify the tracks. “We actually thought that maybe it was a mountain lion that had come across from Canada on the ice,” said Cass City’s John Boland, who was in on the chase. “It was a track none of us had ever seen before and we wanted to see what it was.” Soon, the object of the chase was sighted and the hunters surmised that it was a wolverine.... USFWS Chief: Wyoming must bend Wyoming lawmakers are going to have to compromise in order for wolves to be taken off the endangered species list, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Steve Williams said Thursday. "The stumbling block is unregulated take," Williams said. "Call them what you want. The predator class in Wyoming is unregulated take. The Endangered Species Act says you have to have adequate regulatory mechanisms. To approve a plan that does not conform with the law doesn't make any sense.".... Group sues fisheries service over steelhead listing A group representing farmers in Eastern Washington and Oregon sued the National Marine Fisheries Service on Thursday, saying the agency is illegally listing Columbia River and upper Willamette River steelhead as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The Pacific Legal Foundation argued that when counting the fish, the fisheries service must include wild and hatchery-raised steelhead, as dictated by a federal court ruling concerning coho salmon in Oregon in 2001. In addition, the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Yakima, says the fisheries service must count rainbow trout, which it says are scientifically indistinct from steelhead, though rainbows remain in fresh water while steelhead migrate to the ocean.... Administration Negotiating Transfer of Kirwin National Wildlife Refuge to State of Kansas The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is in discussions to surrender management of a national wildlife refuge and turn it over to a state agency, according to an agency email released today by the Blue Goose Alliance and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The groups are expressing concern about both the legality and wisdom of dismantling the National Wildlife Refuge System in a letter they also released today.... DCI investigates wolf incident The state Division of Criminal Investigation is looking into the incident of tranquilized wolves left on private land near Meeteetse on Feb. 14. Park County Attorney Bryan Skoric said he requested the DCI investigation into possible criminal trespass charges Tuesday afternoon. The DCI could spend up to two weeks talking with "witnesses and potential suspects" and reviewing paperwork including maps and Global Positioning System coordinates, Skoric said Wednesday. "I want to gather all the facts," Skoric said. He said criminal trespass is a misdemeanor under Wyoming law.... Park Service official quits in protest The National Park Service's Number Two man in charge of wilderness programs has quit in protest. Jim Walters, who'd worked for the Park Service for 37 years, says the agency has shirked its legal responsibilities to protect the wild back country.... New federal drilling plan benefits a Republican donor The federal government has eased oil and gas drilling restrictions on a large tract of desert grassland in New Mexico in a decision that benefits a large Republican donor in the state. The donor, George Yates, said his contributions and fund-raising assistance to Vice President Dick Cheney had nothing to do with the decision. The Interior Department says its drilling plan, while opening up more land in Otero Mesa, will be the most restrictive ever. The Bush administration "would allow 141 oil and gas wells over about 7 million acres; Interior is committed to protecting our public lands," department spokesman Mark Pfeifle said. However, environmentalists are crying foul.... Stretch of Colo. land becomes battleground It's a deceptively peaceful scene. The Roan is a battleground, much as it was in 1894 when cattlemen vying for grazing rights against sheep ranchers drove 4,000 sheep off the cliffs in a clash known as the Peach Day Massacre. More than a century later, the latest fight over the Roan — owned by the American public and managed by the Department of Interior's Bureau of Land Management — focuses on natural gas. Deep beneath the plateau rests 5.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, enough to heat 2.5 million homes for 20 years. Drilling on the plateau for natural gas, which the Bush administration has signaled it favors, would bring jobs and more than $100 million for the local county. So it is supported by some local chambers of commerce and regional government associations.... Monument probe ends: U.S. reviews complaints, backs Grand Staircase-Escalante managers The embattled managers of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument have been exonerated of allegations of wrongdoing, according to a federal investigation initiated at the request of Sen. Orrin Hatch. The probe looked into allegations that monument management engaged in illegal hiring practices, intimidated staff and sought to eliminate livestock grazing within the 1.9-million-acre federal reserve in southern Utah. "No evidence was found to indicate that any illegal activities or violations of regulations occurred related to the grazing program. The investigation also found no evidence of illegal personnel practices," according to a U.S. Department of Interior memorandum obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune through the Freedom of Information Act.... Court Decision Gives GE Chance to Sue EPA A federal appeals court has revived a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the 1980 Superfund law that allows the government to assess polluters for cleaning up toxic waste sites. The unanimous decision by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals directs a lower court judge to reopen General Electric Co.'s suit against the Environmental Protection Agency arising out of a planned $500 million cleanup of the upper Hudson River. U.S. District Court Judge John D. Bates wrongly dismissed the suit a year ago when he ruled GE didn't have standing to bring it until after EPA issued a cleanup order requiring the company to pay the entire cost of removing carcinogenic PCBs it had dumped into the river since the mid-1940s, the panel said. The lawsuit claimed the Superfund statute violates due process rights by giving regulators unchecked authority to order costly, intrusive cleanups with no chance at a timely review by the courts.... Interior proposes Trinity deal The federal government wants to end the years of litigation about flows on the Klamath water issue's other stem, the Trinity River. First, though, it would have to get the sides of the water debate to support a new proposal. Bennett Raley, an assistant Interior secretary, was in Northern California earlier this week meeting with the parties to a court fight over flows on the Trinity. He came with a proposal for "adaptive management," or flexible flow schedules for the river.... COLORADO RIVER: Plan to boost water share returns The federal government is evaluating a controversial plan that would allow Southern Nevada to draw more water from the Colorado River to meet the demands of a growing population in a drought-stricken desert. Federal lawyers are reviewing a decade-old proposal that would let the Southern Nevada Water Authority increase its allocations by adding water that flows into Lake Mead from the Virgin and Muddy rivers, said Bennett Raley, Interior Department assistant secretary for water and science, on Wednesday.... Reactions to Cloud Seeding Are Mixed at West Texas Meeting Like two thunderclouds clashing in a storm, opposite sides of the cloud-seeding issue collided Wednesday at a Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation public hearing. What started out as a gentle rain of opposition from speakers turned into a hailstorm of questions being fired at C.E. Williams, general manager of Panhandle Groundwater Conservation District.... Lawsuit heats up gold mining battle Colorado has become a battleground for the surging gold mining industry and its opponents - a group that includes environmentalists, ranchers, farmers and activists. The latest salvo was fired by the industry last week when the Colorado Mining Association sued Summit County for imposing a ban in late January on cyanide heap leach, a mining technique used to extract gold from low- grade ore.... The Most Expensive Ranches Michael Jackson's public image may be many things to different people, but one identity that doesn't immediately leap to mind is rancher. However, the name for his California home, Neverland Ranch, isn't just a matter of whimsy. By leasing out some of his land to a cattle rancher and agreeing not to develop the rest of it, like many landowners the King of Pop for years has received tax credits saving him tens of thousands of dollars in property taxes....