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This article reports that according to an announcement from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, it may remove the marbled murrelet, a small seabird, from the list of endangered species. The announcement came in October 2005. Murrelet is a robin-sized bird, which lays its eggs on the moss-covered branches of old-growth trees. It has hampered Northwest logging for more than a decade. Scientists say that the species is on the verge of extinction in Oregon, Washington and California. However, the officials in the U.S. administration believes that the birds in these states do not differ enough from more numerous murrelets in Canada and Alaska to earn protection on their own. According to a draft report released by the biologists in the Fish and Wildlife Service's regional office in Portland, Oregon, there were clear enough differences between murrelet populations to necessitate the protection of the birds in the Northwest. The report also indicated that the loss of any murrelet populations would compromise long-term viability.

Reports on the funding in federal tax credits provided by the U.S. Treasury Department to Portland, Oregon-based nonprofit Ecotrust to attract investment money in 2005. Information on the group's purchase of forestland near regions with unemployment and poverty rates; Percentage of tax credits investors could claim; Views of Grant Munro, president of a timber-management firm, on forest investments.

Reports on the effect of budget cuts on the U.S. Forest Service in 2005. Possible sale of the agency's excess buildings according to Forest Service budget chief Hank Kashdan; Information on the Healthy Forests Initiative, a push to thin flammable Western forests, from U.S. President George W. Bush; Suspicions of critics on the motives of Bush's administration.

Focuses on a surprise bequest given by the late real estate businessman Norman Yeon to the environmental conservation group Friends of the Columbia Gorge in Oregon. Amount received by the Columbia Gorge; Brief profile of Norman Yeon; Opinion of the group's founder Nancy Russell concerning their group.

Reports on the expiration of the deal of the state of Oregon and California with PacifiCorp which supplies electricity to farmers in the area. Impact of the deal expiration on farmers; Increase in electricity rate in 2006; Challenges encountered by farmers in the area.

Presents information on proposal presented by citizens of Oregon to the Fish and Wildlife Commission in September 2004, allowing wolf packs to move in from Idaho. Reason for such strategy; Proposal for the adjustment of laws related to wolf attacks.

Reports on the acknowledgment by the government through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that the fish kill in the Klamath River was caused by diversions of water to Klamath Basin farms and farmers. Statement from Interior Secretary Dale Norton's deputy chief of staff Sue Ellen Wooldridge about the fish kill; Other factors that caused the death of salmon; Number of fish affected by water diversions.

Presents updates on environmental issues in the U.S. as of December 2003. Passage of two bills in California aimed to protect drinking water supplies from perchlorate; Threat on the expansion of the Wind Cave National Park in the Black Hills in South Dakota due to the sale of Casey Ranch; Report of the National Research Council supporting the claims of Klamath Basin farmers in Oregon and California.

Presents news briefs from the U.S. as of September 1, 2003. Settlement of a lawsuit requiring the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to sell federal timber; Rulings of district courts on the role of the U.S. Department of Energy in cleaning up nuclear waste; Auction of Tom Chapman's acquired property within the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

Reports on the conclusion of a study by the Northwest Economic Initiative about the problem with federal aid for loggers and their communities. Decrease in number of workers in the wood-products industry for 1998; Decision of U.S. President George W. Bush not to include funding for the Initiative in his proposed 2003 budget.

Reports that the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush will revise the Northwest Forest Plan, a federally imposed truce between environmentalist and the timber industry. Details on the plan; Reason for revising the Northwest Forest Plan; Result of a settlement of a lawsuit between the U.S. Department of Justice and two timber groups; Scheduled release date of the revised plan.

Presents updates on the conservation of natural resources in Western U.S., as of April 29, 2002. Plans of the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush, through the U.S. Forest Service, for the Northwest Forest Plan; Details of regulations that ban wildlife such as grizzly bears in Wyoming counties near Yellowstone Park.

Presents updates on environmental protection issues concerning Western U.S., as of January 21, 2002. Information on the recreation fees imposed by the U.S. Forest Service; Concerns regarding the effectiveness of the Cooperative Management Act approved by the U.S. Congress; Collaboration among Wyoming-based organizations on a management plan for the Snowy Range of the Medicine Bow National Forest.

Pays tribute to Portland, Oregon-based range ecologist Joy Belsky, who died on December 15, 2001. Role of Belsky in the conservation of natural resources in Western U.S.; Educational and career background; Information on publications by Belsky; Stance of Belsky on range management.

Reports on the selection of public-land rangers to guard federal buildings in Washington, D.C., and to serve as temporary airline sky marshals. Significance of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to the move; Background on the memorandum issued by U.S. Bureau of Land Management director Nina Rose Hatfield regarding the matter; Concerns over the possible impact of the move on wildlife protection.