From GREENLines today: BUSH ADMINISTRATION HALTS FOREST SERVICE WILDLIFE PROTECTION RULE: "Under a temporary rule issued Wednesday by the Bush administration, national forest managers won't have to adhere to strict wildlife protections that have been in place for more than two decades," said the Los Angeles Times, 9/30. The rule, issued in 1982 by the Reagan administration, directed the Forest Service to manage national forests to maintain "viable populations" of fish and wildlife and regulate logging in habitat for owls and other wildlife. Conservationists see the move as a weakening of a key safeguard for wildlife. "It's been the [agency's] only rule protecting wildlife," said Andy Stahl, executive director of Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To get off the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask]