The purchase preserves permanent public access via County Road 42 to Petroglyph Hill, an important archaeological site on an adjacent 780-acre parcel purchased last year.
After the fires: Mesa Verde National Park
Two lightning-ignited fires roared through forests of pinon pine, Utah juniper and Gambel oak in Mesa Verde National Park, scorching 21,061 acres in the park and another 7,786 acres nearby.
Idaho Fish and Game reports record salmon runs
Most of these steelhead salmon are of hatchery origin, not the wild runs that swam upriver before Bonneville Dam was built in 1938.
State of Washington reports mixed salmon news
At least 1.6 million wild chinook salmon fry died last spring after being stranded in gravel by low-water conditions along a 17-mile stretch of the Columbia River.
California desert tortoise wins protection
The Aug. 24 decision upholds that cattle grazing harms the desert tortoise and its critical habitat.
Link between Southwest climate, cultural changes established
Cultural changes during this period, including the earliest evidence for cultivation of corn and cotton, occur concurrently with changes in available moisture.
Protection for California spotted owl in Sierra Nevadas sought
In an effort to protect the California spotted owl and the Pacific fisher conservation groups filed suit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in federal district court.