NEWS ROUNDUP

Calif. Salamander Given Protected Status Federal wildlife officials on Monday agreed to grant protection to the California tiger salamander and its habitat, handing a major victory to conservationists but angering farmers and real estate developers. The salamander will be listed as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act -- a designation that makes it unlawful to harm the animal and restricts development in its habitat, primarily in the Central Valley, Central Coast and San Francisco Bay area. Officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said they hope to designate nearly 400,000 acres in 20 counties as the salamander's critical habitat....
Ranchers get break with salamander ruling Santa Barbara County ranchers got a break, San Luis Obispo County developers got cause for concern, and environmentalists received a split decision Monday from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The California tiger salamander - a small amphibian that has caused countless headaches for North County property owners and developers - has been down-listed from "endangered" to "threatened" status in Santa Barbara County, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Monday. Protections required for the creature in Santa Barbara County will remain the same - except for ranch land, according to Lois Grunwald of Fish and Wildlife. A new special rule allows ranchers an unlimited "take" of the creatures during "normal" ranching activities....
More habitat available for grizzlies in tri-state area New science reveals more land suitable for grizzly bear habitat exists in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho than previously believed, said a bear specialist with the Natural Resources Defense Council. That will help grizzlies expand their numbers -- if, that is, "people are tolerant and the landscape is not developed," Louisa Willcox of Livingston said Thursday. "There's plenty of room. We can expand where bears can be." She described actions that would help grizzlies in a recently released report, "Bear With Us -- An Alternative Path to Grizzly Recovery in the Lower 48 States."....
'Frozen Ark' to save animal DNA The genetic make-up of endangered species is to be preserved for the future in a major new UK-based project. The 'Frozen Ark', launched on Tuesday, will collect DNA from mammals, birds, insects and reptiles near extinction...
5 wolves readied for Arizona release A family of five Mexican gray wolves was placed in an acclimation pen south of this eastern Arizona town in preparation for the animals' eventual release into the wild. The pack, consisting of a male, a female and their three pups, will stay in the nylon mesh pen for up to two weeks....
Column: Environmentalists Want Your Property Want the last part per million of arsenic removed from your drinking water? Pay for it. Want to save the kangaroo rat? Buy a home in Riverside County, California, and add $1,950 per acre to the price to fund a $100 million rat preserve. Or, if you want a home near Austin, Texas, pay a land trust $1,500 to manage an endangered toad's habitat. In Southern Arizona, pay an additional $7,000 to $12,000 for a building lot to fund 1.2 million acres of habitat for the pygmy owl. In San Bernardino County, you can help fund the $3.3 million spent to relocate a medical center to avoid a sand pit, allegedly visited by an endangered fly. Colton, California, which couldn't site a sports complex because of the fly, says it and other species cost the city 20,000 jobs in the last decade....
Officials draft new grassland plan Wyoming Game and Fish Department officials want to broaden the state's ineffective black-tailed prairie dog management plan into a more comprehensive native species grassland plan. The move is part of an effort to develop and create habitat-wide management plans instead of specific species management plans for individual species such as prairie dogs and sage grouse....
Pioneer lynx ponder: Is Utah the place? Two Canada lynx released in southern Colorado this spring are touring Utah looking for possible new home ranges. Since there have been no confirmed sightings of native wild lynx in Utah since the 1970s, the cats - listed as "threatened" on the Federal Endangered Species list - will probably discover plenty of suitable locations to call home....
Wyoming Aiding Endangered Toad Tadpoles A batch of Wyoming toad tadpoles released into Albany County ponds marked the first time artificial fertilization has been used to help an endangered amphibian, according to researchers. The Wyoming toad is the only toad that lives in the Laramie Basin and the Laramie Basin is the only place that is home to the toad. The toad was listed as endangered in 1984 and was thought to have gone extinct in 1987. But more toads were found. By 2000, the total population of the toad was about 200 in a captive breeding program plus as few as 62 at reintroduction sites....
State might buy forests, use returns for college grants Gov. Ted Kulongoski's staff is exploring the idea of the state purchasing forest land as a long-term investment, with the goals of protecting Oregon's wooded character while aiding troubled logging communities and using returns to make college more affordable for residents. If they pursue the concept, it could be reminiscent of the state's restoration of forests in the Coast Range after wildfires leveled them more than five decades ago. Voters invested $12 million in bond revenue to replant what has become the Tillamook State Forest, which now holds an estimated $3 billion worth of land and timber....
Boise Cascade Quits Forest Industry, Will Focus on Office Supplies Boise Cascade Corp., a major force in the U.S. forest products industry with deep roots in the development of the Pacific Northwest, announced yesterday it is getting out of the lumber and paper business and instead will focus on selling office supplies through its OfficeMax retail chain. The company said it has agreed to sell most of its timberland, forest products, paper mills and other related assets for about $3.7 billion to a new, privately held company formed by Madison Dearborn Partners LLC, a private investment firm based in Chicago....
Environmentalists object to forest drilling leases Environmentalists say Bridger-Teton National Forest is skirting federal environmental law by agreeing to lease more than 100,000 acres for oil and gas drilling. They say the proposed leases in the Wyoming Range are based on outdated studies. Forest officials counter that the old studies are still valid and that more detailed analysis and public comment will come later....
Environmental Data to Be Streamlined Michigan has joined the National Environmental Information Exchange Network, a newly formed system that makes it easier for government workers to compile, submit and swap data collected under federal air and water pollution laws. Thirteen states are members, and the total is expected to reach 35 this year, the Environmental Protection Agency says. Federal and local agencies and Indian tribes also can take part. Eventually, the network will be a vast reservoir of information accessible not only to government officials, but also to scientists, environmentalists and other interests....
Veteran cattle rancher hangs up his hat Rancher Roger Piers has decided that the time has come to mend his last fence, herd his last cow and chase the last trespasser off his 1,200-acre expanse of Stanford University grassland. The only longtime cattle rancher left in Silicon Valley, 80-year-old Piers is retiring. ``It costs more and more, and you make less and less,'' said Piers, whose family has grazed cattle on land leased from the university on both sides of Interstate 280 since 1927....