NEWS ROUNDUP

Jogger fights off timber wolf attack A man's evening jog became a struggle for his life in northern Saskatchewan when a timber wolf lunged at his head and sank its teeth into his leg. But Fred Desjarlais, 55, was able to fight off several attacks by the large predator and then wrestled it into submission long enough for a busload of co-workers to arrive and scare the beast away. "I don't know what came over me or how I did it," Desjarlais said from his Saskatoon home where he was recuperating. "All I know is I had his head and I wasn't letting go until someone came to help me."....
Gray wolf thriving in Rockies Seeking to reintroduce an animal that had been an icon of the West even though it was reviled by ranchers, the Clinton administration 10 years ago this month released gray wolves imported from Canada into Yellowstone with great fanfare. The following year they introduced more into nearby Idaho. The effort has been a resounding success. From just 14 when the program began, the population has risen to 165 wolves in 15 packs in Yellowstone, a 3,472-square-mile expanse that lies mostly in Wyoming. Including those that have migrated outside the park, their number stands at about 850....
Wyoming stands its ground on wolf rules Wyoming has no plans to back away from its lawsuit over wolf management even as the federal government grants Idaho and Montana more authority to kill problem wolves. Gov. Dave Freudenthal said Tuesday that the new rules, which provides added leeway to state officials as well as private landowners, give those states little new flexibility. "I didn't see where it was a significant advantage," he said, pointing out that Idaho and Montana must still answer to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "When you look at it, I think it's a lot like taking your sister to the prom." Wyoming sued Fish and Wildlife last year over its rejection of Wyoming's plan for managing wolves after their removal from Endangered Species Act protection. The sticking point is Wyoming's proposal to allow wolves to be shot more or less on sight in most of the state....
Blue Planet: Congress may act on ESA The long, lonely flight of the Endangered Species Act might just result in revision and reauthorization this year as all sides have been worn down by the debate over its future. The ESA is at once one of the most popular and most vilified pieces of legislation ever to grace the American legal landscape. It is popular because of what it does -- helps ensure the survival of animal species imperiled by a variety of threats. It is unpopular because it can be tough, inflexible, litigious and counterproductive....
Governor would end bison hunt Gov. Brian Schweitzer, fearing a national "public relations nightmare" for Montana, said Wednesday he wants to cancel the revived hunting of bison that wander from Yellowstone National Park, but is unsure he can do it before the season starts Jan. 15. After meetings with state wildlife and livestock officials and a representative of the ranching industry, the newly inaugurated Democrat said he is convinced the planned sale of 10 bison hunting licenses will give the state a black eye while doing nothing to curb the ballooning Yellowstone herd. "My instinct is to cancel it," Schweitzer said. "How does this make sense to shoot 10 head? We're still going to suffer" the negative national publicity....
Alternate forest plan suggested Interest groups, including the timber industry, are calling for a 30 percent increase in logging in the Black Hills National Forest. That recommendation, along with others, will be submitted late next week to the U.S. Forest Service. "Wildfires and bugs have taken hold of our forest," Aaron Everett of Black Hills Forest Resource Association told reporters Wednesday in Rapid City. The association represents loggers and sawmills. Everett said beetles had killed a million trees in the Black Hills since the forest plan was adopted in 1997. Wildfires have burned 170,000 acres in the Black Hills — more than the total for any decade in the 130-year recorded history of the Black Hills. Thinning overgrown forests could reduce the risk of catastrophic fires and mountain pine beetle infestations, Everett said. But he added that timber harvests in the Black Hills currently average only 13,000 to 15,000 acres a year, compared to 30,000 acres a year in the 1980s. "We're going down when we should be going up," he said. Black Hills Forest Resource Association is joined in its recommendations by the Black Hills Regional Multiple Use Coalition, which represents 40 groups, including ranchers, hunters, homeowners, four-wheelers, fly fishers, the tourism industry and other groups....
Trail-building fund catches state agencies by surprise Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, seeing that the state didn't have any major trail-building fund, created one and put $4 million into it. The Alaska Trails Initiative was included in the big spending bill that passed Congress late last year to fund government agencies and pay for projects across the nation. At first, no one in the state Department of Transportation, the state Parks Division, or even the Federal Highway Administration's Alaska office knew what this money was for. Trail enthusiasts were clueless too. But word has trickled out....
Cast-off fishing line poses significant danger to wildlife The Montana Wildlife Federation, in partnership with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, is beginning a program to recycle old monofilament fishing line. The effort is being funded by a private grant, said Craig Sharpe, the federation's executive director. "I think it's a good, positive thing for Montana sportsmen to set up and show that they're responsible," he said. Fishing line left on river banks and in the water can be hazardous to fish and other wildlife, said Rob Brassfield, Forest Service fisheries biologist on the Stevensville Ranger District. Brassfield once rescued a bird with fishing line wrapped around its beak and tongue. He's also seen ducks and small mammals tangled in it....
Walden wants to pick up pace on forest health Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., chairman of the House Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health, addressed over 500 attendees from across the country Thursday at a congressional policy discussion hosted by the Department of Agriculture honoring the centennial anniversary of the U.S. Forest Service. "Theodore Roosevelt was many things, but principal among them he was a man of action. And if he were to join us today, I hardly believe he would be happy knowing that 190 million acres of the federal forest reserves are subject to catastrophic wildfire, disease and bug infestation,” said Walden. “This Rough Rider of a president would throw a fit if he knew we were losing more than 4,500 acres a day to the spread of noxious weeds. The man who charged up San Juan Hill would never stand for the gridlock that has overtaken the ability of the trained professionals in the Forest Service to effectively manage the forests. And neither should we.”....
Group teaches animal tracking to urbanites Jason Davis knelt in a snow-filled ditch beside a frozen gravel road, the bill of his baseball cap nearly touching four small marks in the snow. As he examined the marks, more than a dozen other animal trackers gathered around. The trackers are volunteers with Cascadia Wild, which has organized the Wolverine Tracking Project for the past five years to bring urbanites closer to nature and gather information about animal species in Mount Hood National Forest. Every Saturday and Sunday for six winter weekends, volunteers strap on showshoes to spot signs of wildlife around Oregon's tallest mountain, Mount Hood. They record how many animal tracks they find and add the information to a growing database that is shared with the U.S. Forest Service....
Eco-terrorists' elusiveness frustrate law enforcement in Pa. On New Year's Day two years ago, the Earth Liberation Front, a radical environmental group, claimed responsibility for igniting several trucks and sport utility vehicles at an auto dealership - the fourth and last known attack in northwestern Pennsylvania in the preceding year. No one has ever been charged and eco-terrorism experts say it's unlikely that anyone will. "Unless somebody squeals or somebody got a license place number, they're probably not going to get caught," said Gary Perlstein, an eco-terrorism expert and professor emeritus at Portland State University. Gerald Clark Jr., acting supervisory special agent of the FBI's Erie office, remains optimistic. Agents "continue to follow leads that we feel have potential in the investigation," he said Wednesday....
Boggs’ big-game furor: Hall of Famer’s hunting prowess upsets activists Newly elected Hall of Famer Wade Boggs made millions hitting baseballs but now spends tens of thousands killing scores of exotic animals - including some critics charge are ``threatened'' species - as a member of an elite safari club. Boggs has been honored with a ``Diamond Grand Slam'' by the Safari Club International for gunning down 70 animals, including lions, hippopotamuses, zebras, bears, crocodiles, buffaloes and leopards during international hunting trips, mostly in Africa. Among Boggs' acknowledged kills: a leopard during a trip to Tanzania and Mozambique. Leopards are listed as ``threatened'' on the U.S. Department of Fisheries and Wildlife's endangered species list. ``He's a pretty vile individual contrary to his deity status in baseball,'' said animal rights activist Bob MacKay....
Alaska plans to sue feds over water rights The state plans to challenge the federal government's right to control certain Alaska waters, contending the U.S. departments of Interior and Agriculture have overstepped their bounds and failed to follow proper procedure in setting forth reserved water rights. The deadline for challenging the regulations is Sunday. The state said it would file a lawsuit against the two federal agencies in U.S. District Court on Friday. The lawsuit will challenge the expansion of federal jurisdiction over certain waterways and water bodies, over marine waters beyond the mean high tide mark and over state and private lands....
Bureau asks for drought declaration Less than a week into 2005, Bureau of Reclamation officials want it officially declared a drought year. They face a thin snowpack in the Cascades and a demand to set aside 100,000 acre-feet of water for coho salmon downstream of the Klamath Reclamation Project. So they want Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski to give them the OK to increase groundwater pumping to provide irrigation water that would offset the demand for in-stream water....
Governor, Tribes sign Lake Roosevelt water agreement Washington Gov. Gary Locke, Colville Tribal Chairman Joe Pakootas and state Fish and Wildlife Director Jeff Koenings signed an agreement Tuesday that will allow the state to obtain intermittent releases of water from Lake Roosevelt, when needed, from April to August each year. The agreement with the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation is an important component of Locke's Columbia River Initiative, a new proposal for managing Columbia River water resources for the next 20 years....
Panel looks at animal massage rule More then a century after statehood, lawmakers on Wednesday at long last tackled the tough question: Is it time to formally define animal deep-tissue massage in Montana? Sen. Rick Laible, R-Victor, and several Western Montana cattle owners and equine masseuses think it is. Laible's Senate Bill 22 would define in state law that animal massage therapy is not a form of veterinary medicine. At issue, Laible said, is whether the state Board of Veterinary Medicine should regulate animal massage therapists. Right now, he told the committee, the board does regulate animal massage and is making it more difficult for horse owners and other animal lovers to get the hands-on massage their animals need....
Lawmakers seek to block border reopening Sen. Tim Johnson and Rep. Stephanie Herseth will back efforts brewing in Congress to block the Bush administration's proposal to reopen the border to Canadian cattle and additional Canadian beef. Herseth will support a bill introduced Tuesday by Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., that would maintain the current ban on live Canadian cattle, a spokesman said. She also has asked Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman to reconsider the border reopening proposal. Pomeroy's bill would prevent the U.S. Department of Agriculture from resuming imports of Canadian cattle unless the United States regains major beef export markets, including Japan and Korea, which were shut down after the discovery in December 2003 of a Washington state cow with mad cow disease. That cow originated in Alberta....
Two U.S. politicians urge probe of Canadian feed before cattle ban dropped Two U.S. politicians said Wednesday the ban on Canadian cattle shouldn't be dropped until officials investigate whether feed rules are routinely violated north of the border. In a letter to the man nominated as the next secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Michael Johanns, the two cite what they describe as new information suggesting Canadian companies are flouting rules that ban feeding animal remains to cows. That practice, considered the primary way mad cow disease is spread, was banned in Canada in August 1997. U.S. Representative Henry Waxman and Senator Kent Conrad said regulators have discovered animal material in Canadian feed over the last 15 months, issuing import alerts to block products from 17 companies. Recent inspections have revealed seven Canadian feed mills had "major non-compliance issues" and three were failing to prevent contamination of cattle feed, they said....