NEWS ROUNDUP

Grizzly study wraps up After walking hundreds of miles through rugged backcountry and collecting roughly 33,000 samples of bear hair, crews have completed field work on the Northern Divide Grizzly Bear Project. Next, the hair samples will be processed by a genetics laboratory. The results will eventually produce the first scientifically credible estimate of how many grizzly bears occupy an 8-million-acre area encompassing Glacier National Park, the Bob Marshall Wilderness and surrounding areas....
Fragile shrimp spark big dispute between L.A. airport and feds The scrubby, rock-filled drainage ditch at the end of a runway at Los Angeles International Airport might not look like much, but to scores of endangered shrimp, it's home. The little depression, surrounded by a chain-link fence with signs warning "Los Angeles World Airports — Endangered Species — Keep Out," is part of a 108-acre area at Los Angeles International that federal officials want to designate as a preserve for the tiny creatures....
Attorney says laws are out of control Environmental extremism has polluted federal laws designed to protect the country’s air, water and endangered species, an attorney with the Mountain States Legal Foundation said.Perry Pendley, president and chief legal officer of the Colorado-based nonprofit, said the enforcement of seemingly reasonable environmental laws has “gone crazy” courtesy of organizations that are “very, very well-funded by the radical left who go to court every day to stop things.”At a meeting of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association, Pendley cited several legal battles the foundation has been involved in as cautionary tales for otherwise “unsuspecting citizens.”....
Arkansas outlaws mechanical decoys starting next season Starting next year, duck decoys equipped with lifelike spinning wings that help lure wary waterfowl into shotgun range will be outlawed in Arkansas.The state Game and Fish Commission voted unanimously Thursday to ban the wildly popular decoys, starting with the 2005-2006 waterfowl season. The vote does not affect the upcoming season. The ban includes "electronic, mechanically guided, wind-powered or manually powered spinning blade devices that simulate wing movement."....
GPS Technology Puts Invasive Plants On The Map A weed might be the last thing you'd expect global positioning system (GPS) technology to track, but that's exactly what's happening at America's wildlife refuges across the country. To assess the harm done from non-native plants to native ecosystems, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and the National Institute of Invasive Species Science of the U.S. Geological Survey have launched the Cooperative Volunteer Invasives Program, a pilot program to track the invasives threat on six national wildlife refuges located in California, Florida, New Hampshire, Montana, Texas, and Ohio....
Little Bighorn reveals secrets: Battlefield diggers find historical clues Headlong into a retreat from the Little Bighorn River, a 7th Cavalry horse racing to join the main body of troops on the ridge above threw a shoe. "If they were coming this way, they were moving awful fast,'' Dave Thorn of Bozeman said Wednesday as he picked up a rusted horseshoe from a shallow hole near Medicine Tail Coulee. Thorn, one of 18 volunteers and professionals working on an archaeological project at Little Bighorn Battlefield, examined the nails on the Army-issue horseshoe for clues to its story. The nails barely protruded through the metal shoe, indicating they had been working themselves loose during the long march from North Dakota, he said....
Senate panel puts off claims fee increase U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., has won Senate Appropriations Committee approval for a measure that delays a hike in mining claim fees until federal agencies develop tracking systems for mining permits.The provision that also requires the federal agencies to come up with recommendations for faster permitting is tacked onto the Interior appropriations bill voted out of committee this week. National Mining Association supports the linking of the fee hike from $100 to $125 to concerns about the time it takes for federal agencies to permit a mining or exploration plan of operations....
Man to plead guilty in ATV assault case A Hollister resident is pleading guilty to a felony assault charge for running into a ranger with his all-terrain vehicle. According to court documents, 19-year-old Tom Callen has agreed to change his innocent plea to guilty on October fifth, the same day his jury trial would have started. Prosecutors say Callen was riding the A-T-V in an off-limits area of the Big Sand Bay recreation area when he was approached by Bureau of Land Management ranger Zachary Oper....
Underground blasts probe Earth's crust Stanford University scientists and graduate students began a series of underground explosions early Thursday morning as part of their research on the thickness and composition of the Earth's crust. The study, which focuses on northeast California and northwest Nevada, involves simultaneous detonations scheduled to continue just after midnight on Friday, said Ken Collum, a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Land Management....
Grand Teton chief: Grazing might continue Continued cattle grazing in Grand Teton National Park is still being considered, despite 50-year-old goals of Congress to phase the activity out, a park official said Thursday.Mary Gibson Scott, Grand Teton's new superintendent, said meetings with Washington, D.C., officials are ongoing and continued grazing, as well as its elimination, are both on the table.Grazing in the park has been contentious in recent years, and groups in Jackson Hole have been examining the relationship between cattle grazing on public lands and open space in the valley....
Coyotes kill family's dog A Newbury family's labrador retriever was killed in a coyote attack that left the 14-year-old dog surrounded by a pack of predators as he tried to make it home from his nighttime walk, the dog's owner said. ``Boomer was a great dog,'' said Geoffrey Walker, referring to his fox red labrador. ``We've got to find a way to control the coyote population. They have no fear.'' Wildlife officials said such efforts are being hindered by a 1996 referendum that banned traps used to control coyotes and other animals now surging in population. Newbury officials have seen two coyote attacks in the past three weeks, and other wildlife officials said they are receiving more reports about the animals prowling around local homes.....
Spirit of the water The sun catches a glimmer of water trickling through an old, rusty pipe by the side of a road that runs through the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation. All around this pipe, tied to bushes and trees, are pieces of cloth in many colors. These are prayer cloths: an offering to the spirit of Iron Teeth, a Cheyenne woman whose spirit is believed to reside in this spring, watching over the people and the water. This spring is a place where the Cheyenne give thanks for water. And though the tribe is sovereign over its reservation of approximately 700 square miles in southeast Montana, the Cheyenne are learning they may not be sovereign over the water beneath their land....
Ewe can't beat Sheep Wagon Days Some Craig elementary school students couldn't get enough of the lamb samples Thursday at the Sheep Wagon Days celebration in Alice Pleasant Park. That some had never tasted the delicacy before may be one indication of the decline of sheep ranching in Northwest Colorado. In the early 1900s and well through the middle part of the century, sheep ranching dominated the northwest corner of the state as ranchers collectively ran about 100,000 head, estimated sheep rancher Albert Villard. Today, the county's sheep number about one- third of that, he said. During the sixth annual event that wraps up Saturday, area ranchers fill the downtown park with sheep wagons. School children are offered tours through the small movable structures and given educational lectures. Food is available on site and ranchers bring in animals for children to pet, such as miniature horses, llamas and goats....