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Show Wed/Thurs/Fri, January 5-7, 2005 The Park Record B-14 GATEWAY OFFICES ADVANTAGE #4 YOU WON'T GO BROKE WHEN EQUIPMENT BREAKS DOWN! Officials squabble over wolf plan CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) Testimony of a U.S. Interior Department official before a Wyoming legislative committee should be admitted as evidence in the slate's wolf lawsuit against the federal government, Wyoming Attorney General Pat Crank has argued. Rejection of the state's wolf management plan was based on legal and political reasons, not science, according to a brief filed in U.S. District Court by Crank. The rejection of Wyoming's answer to managing its wolf population by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is holding up delisting of wolves in the Northern Rockies as a federally protected animal under the Endangered Species Act. The agency has accepted plans by Idaho and Montana to manage the packs, but Wyoming's version remains mired in legal snarls. At issue in Wyoming's lawsuit against the federal government is testimony by Paul Hoffman, deputy assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks, before the Joint Travel, Recreation and Wildlife Committee on Jan. 15, 2004, in Laramic. The state contends that Hoffman's remarks confirm the state's position that the wolf management plan was adequate from a scientific perspective, but that the agency was swayed by political and legal considerations to reject it. The Interior Department opposes the state's motion that the court consider Hoffman's testimony, on grounds the deputy made his remarks two days after Wyoming received a letter from Steven Williams, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In the letter, Williams notified the state that the federal agency was not prepared to propose removing federal protection for the gray wolf in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, largely because Wyoming's stale law and management plan did not insure the wolf population would be sustained. Because of the timing, Hoffman's remarks are irrelevant to the state's lawsuit, the Interior Department argues. In its reply, the stale said the transcript of Hoffman's remarks is relevant because it explains the "real" rationale for Williams' letter. "The very purpose for Hoffman's appearance was to explain I he decision that is at issue in (his case," said the state's reply brief. Hoffman, lite reply said, is not just any federal official. "Wyoming is not seeking to admit the testimony of some underling who does not happen It) agree with the government's 'official' decision." the state brief said. "Hoffman is the person in charge of decision-making processes within the Department of Interior, lie was sent to Wyoming by the Department of Interior." The department in 1995 and 1996 reinlroduced the wolf into Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho under the Endangered Species Act. The wolves multiplied beyond expectations, prompting the federal government to consider removing protection for the predator in the Yellowstone area, once it approves state plans for taking over management. Wyoming's plan called for wolves to remain protected in the national parks and adjacent wilderness areas but to be treated as predatory animals throughout the rest of the state. The Interior Department and the Fish and Wildlife Service rejected Wyoming's plan on Nov. 4, 2003. In April 2004, the state filed a lawsuit in federal court in Cheyenne challenging that decision. Prices paid for recydables at 10-year high !3i urn* m.. cm cur. ui unt 4 35.655.9 696 www.gatewaybusinesstenler.com DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) The demand for discarded newspapers and plastic containers is rising and so are the prices paid for them. The growing markets for recyclables are expected to continue for several years because of new products and technologies, recycling officials said. "Demand for all raw materials is skyrocketing," said Mick Barry, vice president of MidAmerica Recycling in Des Moines. Barry said countries such as China and Brazil are now importing more used materials from the United States. That's good news for cities that get a cut of the bounty made from old cans, plastic milk jugs and junk mail that is recycled. It also may be satisfying for residents who wondered how much good they were doing by sorting BRINGING THE POWER CLOSER TO HOME. their trash each week. The slrL-ngihening markets has caused the Des Moines-arca Curb It! recycling program to expand ils lisl of items it accepts. In the Des Moines area alone, residents recycle enough paper each year to fill up 17 Olympicsize swimming pools. The increased demand and expanded list of items that arc accepted has excited residents who recycle. "I try lo recycle everything that Curb h! will take," said Alesha Martin of Des Moines. "Pop cans I save and redeem at the store and plastic hags I try to reuse, but everything else goes in that recycle bin: tin cans, flattened cardboard boxes, junk mail and magazines in a paper bag, so it doesn't fly away in the wind, plastic containers and bottles, glass, all of it. The bin is overflowing by recycling day." A few years ago. The Metro Waste Authority had to pay processors to lake some materials. Now. cities and the authority share about SI million a year from the sale of the materials. The money is used to promote recycling and for community beautification programs. The difference, some say, is the booming market for recyclable materials. "It's just the better awareness," said Machele Henderson, general manager of Weyerhaeuser in Des Moines. "People are going out and looking for recycled products." Sarah Rasmussen, spokeswoman for the Metro Waste Authority in Des Moines, said other factors also have contributed to the increase in demand for reusable waste. For instance, when the cotton crop is bad, the sale of recycled plastics increases because old pop bottles can replace cotton in items such as sleeping bags and sweaters. MidAmerica Recycling's Barry said many flat-rate shipping contracts make it lucrative to ship crushed cans and baled newspapers across the Pacific. "For once in our geographic life, we are in the right place." Barry said. "You could ship to China almost as well as to Oklahoma." 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