WASHINGTON - September 17 - According to recent statements by senior U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) officials, FWS intends to rescind its own wolf delisting rule - issued in March - sometime this week. This will place the Northern Rockies gray wolf back under federal protections.

LOS ANGELES - September 17 - The Bureau of Land Management has issued a Notice of Proposed Legislative Withdrawal to enable the eventual transfer of 365,906 acres of fragile public land in the Mojave Desert to the U.S. Marine Corps for bombing, tank training and other "live fire" exercises.

LIVINGSTON, Mont. - September 17 - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will withdraw its decision to remove endangered species protections from the gray wolf in the Northern Rockies, according to press reports. Federal protections of wolves will continue for wolves in Yellowstone, Central Idaho and Glacier ecosystems. This development comes on the heels of a federal judge's decision on a suit brought by NRDC and 11 other conservation groups that blocked the delisting decision. Recently the Department of Interior has been roundly criticized over proposed changes to the Endangered Species Act.

WASHINGTON - September 17 - A deal set to take effect this month allows a Montana tribe to assume operational control over the National Bison Range, considered the crown jewel of the National Wildlife Refuge System. The plan is studded with legal and practical failings which contributed to the abrupt cancellation of an earlier arrangement, according to congressional comments filed today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).

WASHINGTON - September 16 - Defenders of Wildlife and The Humane Society of the United States filed suit today over the National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS) decision to roll back protections for critically endangered North Atlantic right whales, humpbacks, and fin whales. The agency's decision removes older protections deemed necessary to protect whales from deadly entanglement in fishing gear, and at the same time delays new, more protective requirements. The resulting gap in protections puts whales at serious risk of entanglement for a full six months.

WASHINGTON - September 15 - A federal court ruled today that the Bush Administration's decision authorizing snowmobile use in Yellowstone National Park violates the fundamental legal responsibility of the National Park Service to protect the clean air, wildlife, and natural quiet of national parks, including Yellowstone, for the benefit of all visitors. The court found that the Administration authorized snowmobile use despite scientific conclusions by the National Park Service that its decision would result in significant increases in noise and unhealthy exhaust, which disrupt the experiences of visitors, and

KALISPELL, Mont. - September 15 - The public is invited to attend a series of free lectures starting Thursday, September 25, at Flathead Valley Community College (FVCC) in Kalispell.