NEWS ROUNDUP

Feds speed up salvage Saws could be buzzing soon in the burn area of the Toolbox fire near Silver Lake. The U.S. Forest Service has declared an economic emergency exists concerning salvageable timber on public land scorched in July 2002. The agency is using new regulations that allow it to skip the appeals process in order to expedite timber sales.... Groups reach agreement on recommendations for motor vehicle management After nearly two years of negotiations, a coalition of outdoor enthusiasts and conservation groups has approved recommendations for managing public lands in portions of the Little Belt and Big Snowy mountains. The coalition, which includes the Montana Wilderness Association and various ski and snowmobile clubs, signed an accord Tuesday that recommends protecting motorized travel in some areas, while setting other areas aside for non-motorized uses. The plan includes recommendations for winter travel restrictions in much of the Jefferson Division of the Lewis and Clark National Forest. "This really is the first time we've sat down and tried to resolve problems between us rather than go to court," said Alan Brown, legal affairs director and past president of the Montana Snowmobile Association. "It's an agreement we can all live with.".... Hatchery salmon to count as wildlife The Bush administration has decided to count hatchery-bred fish, which are pumped into West Coast rivers by the hundreds of millions yearly, when it decides whether stream-bred wild salmon are entitled to protection under the Endangered Species Act. This represents a major change in the federal government's approach to protecting Pacific salmon -- a $700 million-a-year effort that it has described as the most expensive and complicated of all attempts to enforce the Endangered Species Act. The decision, contained in a draft document and confirmed Wednesday by federal officials, means that the health of spawning wild salmon will no longer be the sole gauge of whether a salmon species is judged by the federal government to be on the brink of extinction. Four of five salmon found in major West Coast rivers, including the Columbia, are already bred in hatcheries, and some will now be counted as the federal government tries to determine what salmon species are endangered.... Federal proposal for Calif toad would cut habitat by 40,000 acres Federal officials want to remove more than 40,000 acres of California land from the critical-habitat list for the arroyo toad but the plan would have little impact on the survival of the endangered species, a biologist said Wednesday. The proposal won't provide "any dramatic change" to the toad's survival, said Creed Clayton, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Much of it is based on more precise mapping of the 23 areas where they live to exclude urban regions where the toads don't breed anyway, he said.... New study supports science behind Platte River recovery plan A much-anticipated study released Wednesday bolsters a plan to improve habitat for the whooping crane and three other threatened or endangered species in the three-state Platte River Basin. The National Academy of Sciences report concluded that the plan was based on scientifically valid data. It also found that a critical habitat designation is warranted for the whooping crane and the piping plover along areas of the Platte in Nebraska. The Department of the Interior was awaiting this report and one other before making a recommendation on the plan, which would affect Colorado and Wyoming along with Nebraska. The other report, not yet finished, is an assessment by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on whether the plan will comply with the Endangered Species Act.... Cougar Convention Gets Underway For the true believer, spotting a cougar in the eastern United States is like seeing a UFO: Convincing the rest of the world can become an obsession. At a three-day conference in West Virginia, those believers may find the tools to prove what they know. Scientists and amateurs alike will hear national experts and authors make the case that cougars are returning to native lands in the East.... Species may leave critical list Reps. Richard Pombo and Dennis Cardoza, a Republican and Democrat from neighboring districts, are working to change the way habitats for endangered plants and animals are designated. Pombo, the House Resources Committee chairman, has long championed property rights and has sought to make changes to the Endangered Species Act. He has scheduled a hearing today on a bill by Cardoza, D-Merced, to give the Interior Department more leeway in designating habitats critical to the survival of endangered or threatened species. The bill is H.R. 2933. Now, critical habitat is supposed to be designated when a species is listed as endangered or threatened, though that often is delayed. Cardoza's bill would prevent the government from designating habitat until a species recovery plan is developed, and only then if it's "practicable, economically feasible and determinable.".... Fire-break bill killed by committee A bill that would have let property owners ignore environmental laws and clear their land of trees and brush up to 300 feet in all directions of homes and buildings was shot down this week by a key state Senate committee. Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Murrieta, whose 36th district encompasses portions of San Diego and Southwest Riverside counties, said he pushed the bill to let property owners protect themselves from wildfires such as those that destroyed more than 2,400 San Diego County homes in October. Most land clearing in the county is subject to environmental review to avoid ruining protected habitat. Hollingsworth's bill would have exempted homeowners from such review when clearing their properties.... Ethical Questions Persist Concerning Bush Administration Environmental Policies and Public Lands Management There is growing concern that the current Administration has become comfortable operating within a pattern of deception and spin to circumvent laws and environmental protections and exploit the natural resources found on public lands. From keeping confidential files on public meetings, misleading the public through misnamed programs, ignoring scientific and economic facts, to granting sweetheart out-of-court settlements to friends in industry, Administration officials have become increasingly brazen in their intentions toward public lands.... Ensign, Reid back LV air tour operators on Lake Mead issue The biggest worry Southern Nevada's air tour operators had when they learned that a new set of air tour rules was being established for Lake Mead National Recreation Area was whether the new regulations would somehow affect existing flights to the Grand Canyon. In a letter co-signed by Sens. Harry Reid and John Ensign on Tuesday to Marion Blakey, administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, and Fran Minella, director of the National Park Service, tour operators were assured that they could fly over Lake Mead on their way to the Grand Canyon without having to comply with whatever new restrictions emerge on Lake Mead.... BLM closes public land in Nevada to protect fossils The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is closing 2,340 acres of public land in the Pine Nut Range to motorized off-road vehicles in an effort to protect ancient vertebrate fossils. "Soil erosion from expanding off-highway vehicle use, originating mostly from residents in new housing developments adjacent to the Pine Nut Mountains, is causing these fossils to be uncovered, and in many cases destroyed or illegally collected," Chuck Pope, the BLM's assistant director for non-renewable resources, said Tuesday.... Walker's wild idea for Washington County Gov. Olene Walker is bringing together long-feuding parties in a bid to resolve a decades-old dispute over Utah wilderness. Walker soon will announce the formation of a working group consisting of environmental groups, county commissioners, ranchers and off-highway-vehicle users to negotiate a compromise on wilderness areas and multiple-use lands in rapidly growing Washington County. Details are still being finalized by Walker and Lt. Gov. Gayle McKeachnie. They have declined to comment on the matter until her announcement, expected Monday.... Many have tried to resolve Utah's wilderness debate The hinterlands of Utah are littered with creative, well-intentioned ideas for resolving the Balkanized wilderness debate. County commissioners, several members of Utah's congressional delegation and former Gov. Mike Leavitt have tried to free the logjam over how much of Utah's desert and redrock country should be protected from development and motor vehicles under the Wilderness Preservation Act. All attempts have failed, mainly because the Utah Wilderness Coalition has refused to budge from its original bill for 5.7 million acres of wilderness on public lands administered by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. That bill since has grown to 9.1 million acres.... UN Event Will Attract 600 Children from 100 Countries to Connecticut in July Ten young environmentalists from around the world have been selected to serve on a board that is integral in planning the 2004 Tunza International Children's Conference on the Environment. A signature event of the United Nations Environment Programme, the prestigious Conference will attract 600 children ages 10-13 from 100 countries to Connecticut in July. The Junior Board consists of four representatives from the United States and one each from Iran, Kenya, Ghana, Colombia, Australia, and Canada. The next generation of environmental leaders is helping to plan everything from the conference's workshop to dinner menus.... High court hands loss to environmentalists in Calif. smog case The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a Southern California agency may have gone too far in imposing its own antismog rules for city buses, airport shuttles and other vehicles. Justices, on a 8-1 vote, sided with oil companies and diesel engine manufacturers who claimed that local pollution rules conflict with national standards. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the tougher local rules, but the decision was voided by the high court. The Supreme Court sent the case back to California to consider the issues.... Water allegedly diverted from Phoenix An Arizona utility is seeking a court order to block what it says is the illegal diversion of Verde River water that should be going to Phoenix. The Arizona Republic said Wednesday a Maricopa County judge is considering a request from the Salt River Project for a court order blocking the allegedly illegal taking of water by a dozen major landowners in the Verde Valley.... 1.3 Million acres of hunting land closed: Ranchers are tired of being Ignored A long–time contentious battle between ranchers and the Game, Fish and Park Commission heats up again. The issue of debate concerns whether conservation officers should be allowed to enforce hunting regulations on private land without permission. In an effort to get their point across, ranchers are locking down their land. As of today, more than 1.3 million acres of hunting land is closed. It's the response of angry ranchers to the state senate's decision not to pass the open fields bill....