NEWS ROUNDUP

Agile fishers' future shaky Fishers, seldom-seen animals about the size of a large house cat, once ranged throughout the old-growth forests of the Northwest. Despite their name, they don't fish. The primarily nocturnal animals eat a variety of medium-sized forest prey, such as rabbits, hare, grouse and squirrels. They're best known for their ability to kill porcupines. "They're definitely the most effective predator for porcupines," said Keith Aubry, a fisher expert and wildlife biologist with the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station in Olympia. But the agile, tree-climbing carnivores are in trouble.... GAO rejects union appeals in job competitions Federal employee unions and workers lost a precedent-setting effort to contest the outcomes of public-private job competitions before the General Accounting Office. However, Comptroller General David Walker urged Congress to resurrect proposals from last year to extend such privileges to federal workers. GAO April 19 denied several protests filed by the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), determining that federal employees and their representatives are ineligible to appeal competitive-sourcing decisions outside of their agencies. The NFFE protest was filed by Forest Service workers in California over a competition awarded to SERCO Management Services Inc. for vehicle maintenance.... Enviros promise renewed fight over Gallatin logging plans The Gallatin National Forest is renewing efforts to move ahead with logging northeast of Gardiner, and environmental groups say they will continue to fight the proposal. “We’re committed to not let it drop,” said Hank Rate of the Gardiner-based Bear Creek Council. Sarah Johnson of the Native Ecosystems Council said it also plans an appeal. Forest officials have spent five years on environmental studies, treer counts and court battles over the proposed Darroch Eagle sale.... D.C. hearings on fee demo bills set Rep. Ralph Regula, R-Ohio - who authored the bill creating the program - is pushing to expand the fee demonstration structure and make it permanent. Regula's bill, which would require recreationists to buy a public lands "passport" for all land managed by the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Reclamation, is being debated in Congress. Rep. George Radanovich, R-Calif., chairman of the House public lands subcommittee, plans a legislative hearing on House Resolution 3283 for May 6.... State unveils sage grouse management plan Hoping not to get "bit in the backside" by a federal endangered species listing, the state of Montana on Tuesday released its own plan for conserving sage grouse. Regionwide, the sage grouse populations are down by 86 percent, the victim of widespread loss of sagebrush grasslands to all manner of development. But by FWP's estimation, sage grouse are scattered across 27 million acres of sagebrush grassland in Montana, and inhabit 39 of 56 counties.... Authorities kill destructive Wyoming grizzly A grizzly bear with a penchant for breaking and entering - and for leaving the scene before being captured - was caught and killed in northwest Wyoming last week. It was the first grizzly this year to be euthanized for problem behavior. Wyoming Game and Fish officials caught the 5-year-old bear just after he broke windows and damaged two buildings along Highway 212 near the Montana border. The 400-pound male had gotten into buildings in years past but slipped away after game officials put up traps to catch him.... Coalition wants farming to stop on KF refuges Some see the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuges as half-full of water. A coalition of conservation groups released a report about the six Basin refuges last week, hoping to draw attention to what they say is the unspoken part of the Klamath water situation.... Taking on the Pentagon Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar on Monday assailed Bush administration and Department of Defense efforts to exempt the military from the nation's keystone environmental laws. Releasing the Pentagon from the tapestry of ecological protections could hobble cleanup work at several current and former military sites in Colorado, Salazar said, including the former Lowry Bombing and Gunnery Range, the Rocky Mountain Arsenal and the Pueblo Chemical Depot. "From my perspective, it is just bad national policy to exempt the nation's biggest polluter, the federal government, from the same environmental laws that states, local governments and private industries must comply with," said Salazar, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate.... States Pan Pentagon's Enviro Plans The attorneys general of 39 states urged Congress Monday to reject a U.S. military request for exemptions from environmental laws. Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar said there is no evidence that the three requested changes would aid training or the movement of tanks and weapons, as the military claims.... Feds to conduct review of protected bull trout The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Tuesday it is conducting a 5-year review of bull trout, which are protected as threatened under the Federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). The 5-year review, as required for all listed species under the ESA, will assess the best available information on how bull trout have fared since they were listed for protection across their range in the lower 48 states in 1999. This will include analyses of population data and threats to the species.... Bush policies anger hunters, anglers When hunting and fishing enthusiasts gathered at President Bush's ranch last week to talk about protecting wild places that are dear to outdoorsmen, Scott Stouder wasn't among them. And that's probably just as well, since this coordinator for the 135,000-member Trout Unlimited might have given Bush a piece of his mind. Stouder has a solid history of voting Republican - for Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Bush Sr. and George W. But this year, he says, "I would vote for John Kerry. The things this administration is doing to our public lands are inexcusable.".... Endangered rat threatens park Plan A didn't pan out. Plan B doesn't look so hot. Redlands may be running out of options in its efforts to build a softball and soccer complex. Redlands officials have hit a major snag in their efforts to appease federal wildlife officials and provide adequate habitat for an endangered kangaroo rat, required for the Redlands Sports Park to proceed.... Colorado cutthroat won't be listed Federal officials won't consider the Colorado River cutthroat trout for listing under the Endangered Species Act, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials announced Tuesday. USFWS officials concluded that a petition to list the Colorado River cutthroat trout as threatened or endangered under the ESA did not provide substantial biological information to indicate a listing is warranted.... Appeals court blocks Yosemite Valley plan A federal appeals court on Tuesday blocked a federal plan for Yosemite Valley, heeding critics who said the plan had more to do with development than restoration in the national park. Included in the $441 million plan is a project to replace employee housing, lodging and campsites destroyed when the Merced River crested its banks in 1997, said Greg Adair, founder and co-director of Friends of Yosemite Valley. That project is already under way, but will be put on hold by Tuesday's court ruling, he said. It will take at least a year to redraft the plan and hold proper public hearings, estimated Adair, whose organization sued and won the order along with Mariposans for Environmentally Responsible Growth.... Craters of the Moon decision appealed A Hailey-based environmental group has filed an appeal against the Bureau of Land Management for its alleged decision to permit increased livestock grazing in the Laidlaw Park area of Craters of the Moon National Monument. The action, filed by Western Watersheds Project with the Department of the Interior's Office of Hearings and Appeals, follows a decision by BLM Shoshone Field Office Manager Bill Baker to allow livestock to graze at levels greater than recent averages on public lands the group said are already degraded by grazing.... Interior Dept, Nat'l Park Service Sued For Revoking Pro-Life Groups' Permit A legal group filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the federal government for revoking a permit issued to pro-life groups to display pro-life signs in the nation's capital this weekend, to counter an upcoming pro-abortion march.... Jailed rancher won't budge over grazing A year in prison didn't change Wally Klump's mind about running his cattle on federal land. So the 71-year-old Willcox rancher, who spent most of his life rounding up steers and riding fences under Arizona skies, was ordered to remain behind bars Monday by U.S. District Judge John Roll. Klump has not been convicted of any crime, but he is being held in contempt of court because he refuses to remove his cows from Simmons Peak Allotment, a chunk of Dos Cabezas Mountains owned by the Bureau of Land Management.... Rancher ordered to move cattle from tortoise habitat In a move to protect desert tortoises, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management ordered a Mojave Desert rancher to remove her cattle from a part of her allotment where the threatened reptiles are active. Anthony Chavez, a BLM rangeland management specialist, said Tuesday that 45 to 50 cattle belonging to Cathey Smith have been in and wandering near an off-limits area since March 14. Smith of Hinkley didn't immediately return a telephone call seeking comment. Chavez said part of the problem is that the cattle are calving and she doesn't want to move them while they are giving birth.... National Environmental Groups Launch Campaign to Defeat President Bush Leading members of the national environmental community today formally launched at a press conference rally the "Environmental Victory Project," an unprecedented grassroots effort with the singular goal of defeating President George W. Bush and electing John Kerry in November. The Environmental Victory Project (EVP) coalition includes the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, Friends of the Earth Action and the League of Conservation Voters (LCV). This is a unique coalition that demonstrates the extent of the political coordination inside the environmental community in 2004 and the unity of purpose among environmentalists in the effort to defeat George Bush. The Environmental Victory Project will target four battleground states -- Florida, New Mexico, Oregon and Wisconsin.... Black Canyon suit to go forward A lawsuit challenging the federal government's right to sacrifice national park resources to aid state economic development will proceed in federal court after a ruling last week. U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer of Wyoming rejected a request by the Interior Department and the state of Colorado to dismiss a suit challenging a federal decision to abandon a valuable water right in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.... Feds: No motor access to gold mine The owner of a gold mine inside the Kalmiopsis Wilderness on the Siskiyou National Forest has lost one court battle over his right to drive to his property, but is continuing his fight. The U.S. Forest Service recently agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by environmentalists by withdrawing their 1998 decision granting Carl Alleman of Selma motorized access to the land. After Alleman refused the terms of a special use permit granting him eight motor vehicle trips per year to his property, located 12 miles inside the wilderness boundary, the Forest Service felt it had better use for its money than to defend its decision to give him access, Illinois Valley District Ranger Pam Bode said Tuesday. Alleman said he is awaiting the outcome of his own lawsuit against the Forest Service. It claims The Wilderness Act and the 1866 Mining Act both grant him the right to drive to his 60 acres in southwestern Oregon's Klamath Mountains. He had been planning to turn the property into a wilderness resort, but since the forest burned in the 2002 Biscuit fire, he said he wants to mine the gold.... Black Activists Condemn Elitist "Earth Day" Elitist environmental activists observing "Earth Day" on April 22 are promoting a regulatory agenda hostile to minority ambitions for economic and social advancement. Members of the African-American leadership network Project 21 prefer an alternative environmental justice agenda that ensures human welfare is not sacrificed to meet regulatory goals. "Most people in our country favor things such as clean air that are raised on Earth Day. However, I believe that Earth Day has changed into an opportunity for socialists and others with interests in slowing down our economy to suppress the resource development, exploration and production that our country needs to maintain our quality of life," said Project 21's Ak'Bar Shabazz. Policies advocated by the environmentalist establishment show little regard for the economic priorities of the average American, and can be even harder on poor and minority citizens.... Court Upholds Tribal Power It Once Denied The Supreme Court ruled Monday that Indian tribes have the authority to prosecute members of other tribes for crimes committed on their reservations. And because tribes act as sovereign nations in such prosecutions, the court said, ordinary principles of double jeopardy do not apply and do not bar the federal government from bringing a subsequent prosecution for the same offense. The 7-to-2 decision was welcomed by Indian tribes, which in a 1990 Supreme Court decision lost the authority to enforce their criminal laws against members of other tribes. Congress promptly amended the Indian Civil Rights Act to restore that power. The case on Monday required the Supreme Court to decide both the nature and the validity of the Congressional action.... 'Indian Country' rulings create jurisdiction questions U.S. Attorney David Iglesias said a series of conflicting court decisions have created "prosecution-free zones" on thousands of acres in New Mexico. In cases from Taos, Pojoaque and Santa Clara pueblos, criminal charges have been dismissed or are stalled as judges wrestle with whether private land that was formerly within pueblo boundaries legally constitutes "Indian Country.".... Column: "Ole Man River" is endangered The mighty Mississippi made the news all across the nation when it appeared on the American Rivers "Ten Most Endangered Rivers" list. By the amount of publicity this list receives, we would assume important alarming information is alerting us to serious conditions on our nation's rivers. Apparently the criteria for this list is in what "the listers" consider endangers a river. The Mississippi River was placed on this list, not because it is too muddy or polluted, but because the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recommended two new locks and dams and a plan to remodel some of the current antiquated locks and dams along the river.... Fed water policy flayed While world and U.S. leaders seem focused like a laser on oil, key Western senators howled Tuesday that the Bush administration is not paying enough attention — or cash — to water in the parched Mountain West. They complained in a hearing that the administration's proposed 2005 budget for federal water agencies is $180 million short of needs for reasonable ongoing operation — even while the area is in drought. Worse, they said it does not seek any new dams or long-term development to keep ahead of growing needs in the West.... April rains reduce Mexico water debt to Texas A single week of April rains significantly reduced Mexico's Rio Grande water debt to the United States, but some U.S. farmers and officials remained skeptical of Mexico's intentions to pay what it owes. Rain from the week ending April 10 brought at least 143,000 acre feet of water into the two binational reservoirs along the Rio Grande, officials said Tuesday. About one-third of that water went toward Mexico's debt, bringing it to about 920,000 acre feet.... Water wars theme of Wyo film As a kid, Bill Dahlin used to deliver the local newspaper by horseback. Now the Sheridan, Wyo., businessman is bankrolling and producing the first Western movie to be shot in Wyoming in many years. Casting for "Thicker Than Water" starts Saturday at Sheridan Community College. "It's a contemporary Western with old West genre or flavor," Dahlin said. "It has the good guys, the bad guys, the fair lady and the family dynamics. It kind of skims around water rights, as well.".... Japan rejects U.S. argument on cattle testing Japan has rejected arguments in a U.S. trade report that testing of all slaughtered cattle is not necessary to protect against mad cow disease, and will retain its ban on imports of U.S. beef until such testing is done, government officials said Wednesday.... Records contradict USDA's mad cow decision The agency recently had said animals that young are not old enough to test positive for mad cow, even if they were infected, and used that as the basis for blocking Creekstone Farms, of Arkansas City, Kan., proposal to voluntarily test all its cattle -- nearly all of which were under the age of 30 months -- for mad cow disease. However, the USDA's mad cow testing records for 2002 and 2003, which were obtained by United Press International, show the federal agency tested 2,051 animals -- and possibly more -- from the past two years that were under the age of 30 months.... Cows "Mad as Hell" After Learning of Deportation to US Outraged cattle formed a barrier across the Trans-Canada Highway near Medicine Hat, Alberta today, to protest a US decision to lift the ban on imported beef from Canada. Traffic was backed up from the BC to Alberta borders while angry drivers were heard yelling "shoot the bastards, over loud mooing." A spokesperson for the angry animals stated the cattle felt it was too early to lift the ban on imports and believed more cases of BSE were likely to appear. Another major concern of the bovine demonstrators was the very likelihood of "certain death and being eaten"when the border ban is lifted....