ENVIRONMENT-U.S.:  KEEP ATVs OFF CALIFORNIA DUNES, ACTIVISTS SAY
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By Haider Rizvi* - Tierramrica  NEW YORK, Sep. 15, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Despite strong objections from environmental groups, the U.S. government wants to allow off- road vehicles in protected areas of sand dunes in the southern California desert.
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An oil companyâs plan to begin exploratory drilling near the remote site of Robert Smithsonâs âSpiral Jettyâ along the Great Salt Lake in Utah has stirred an impassioned response from artists and others who fear that the project could endanger that massive artwork. The jetty, a 1,500-foot-long curlicue of salt crystals, rocks and mud jutting into the lake, was completed by Smithson in 1970, three years before he died in a plane crash. The State of Utah, which must approve any plan for drilling in the area, decided recently to extend a period for public comment on the proposal until Feb. 13. John Harja, who runs the stateâs public land policy coordinating office, said on Tuesday that the office had received 900 letters, e-mail messages and calls about the issue in the last several days. Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, issued a statement calling the jetty âa significant cultural siteâ and saying that the trust was âdeeply concerned about the potential harm that energy development could bringâ to it.
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By Dania Akkad, The Monterey County Herald, Calif.  Jun. 9--Neighbors of one of the last pieces of undeveloped land in the city of Monterey are concerned that the stretch of dense pine forest along Highway 1 may be replaced with a high-density development.
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NEW YORK  - Children riding all-terrain   vehicles (ATVs) are in danger of suffering disabling or even   fatal head injuries, a team of neurosurgeons warns.
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By The Sacramento Bee, Calif.  Jun. 8--There is no such thing as a private beach in California. Beaches  are public, but some owners of coastal property apparently aren't above lying  to try to keep away the huddled masses.
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By MATT WEISER McClatchy News Service  The push behind its likely removal as an endangered species has some worried.   SACRAMENTO, Calif.
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From their trailer in the middle of the desert, Larry and Donna Charpied two-finger typed the first lawsuit they filed to stop Los Angeles County from putting one of the nation's biggest dumps on the edge of Joshua Tree National Park. And won.
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By Snow, Nick  Categorical exclusions (CEs) from environmental documentation authorized under the Energy Policy Act of 2005 are not compromising federal lands in the US West, land-use officials told a hearing by two House Resources Committee subcommittees on Apr. 26.
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By NOAKI SCHWARTZ  JOSHUA TREE, Calif. - From their trailer in the middle of the desert, Larry and Donna Charpied two-finger typed the first lawsuit they filed to stop Los Angeles County from putting one of the nation's biggest dumps on the edge of Joshua Tree National Park. And won.
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Authorities will stop actively searching for missing U.S. adventurer Steve Fossett but will keep air crews on standby to fly to possible crash sites, a spokesman for Nevada's public safety department said on Wednesday.
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By Gabriel Tynes, Walton Sun, Santa Rosa Beach, Fla.  Sep. 16--Walton County commissioners may apply for an exemption from a new state statute rescinding the current ban against operating all terrain vehicles on public roads. The new statute, which goes into effect Oct.
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By Rob Varnon, Connecticut Post, Bridgeport  Dec. 15--The state Department of Transportation said Thursday it is turning to salt alone in its battle with winter, banishing the use of environmentally harmful sand.
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By Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, Calif.  Feb. 19--FOR A QUARTER OF A CENTURY, government officials, farmers and environmentalists have been trying to find a way of prevent dangerous agricultural runoff from polluting the Delta and other state waterways.
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By JOHN ARNOLD Journal Staff Writer  Santa Fe National Forest acting supervisor Martin Chavez has rejected an appeal by environmentalists who are fighting a controversial forest-thinning project near Las Vegas, N.M.
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By Fred Hiers, Ocala Star-Banner, Fla.  May 30--OCALA -- Every few days, the Ocala National Forest is marred.  Piles of trash, abandoned boats and cars, leaking batteries and worn out tires  are illegally dumped, scarring the landscape like cancerous tumors.
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By Christina Vance, The Fresno Bee, Calif.  Sep. 10--The Sierra reminds me.   Trail hikers frequently talk of coming to their senses in the high places -- finding escape from the din of cell phones and honks of cars. They leave behind stuff-crammed buildings, carrying only a bag.
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Two environmental outfits, Western Resource Advocates and Environmental Defense, have issued a study called "Climate Alert: Cleaner Energy for the Southwest." Predictably, the groups oppose the construction of a planned new $3.8 billion, 1,500-megawatt coal-fired electric plant near Ely.