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Through the trees, we could see the mama bear. She apparently could see us, too, and took a few steps in our direction. We were at a safe distance and knew that black bears seldom attack people, but we also knew it would be a mistake to run.

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An environmental analysis is called the Black Hills Vegetation Management Project (BHVMP). The project area totals 163,139 acres of forestland plus almost 20,000 acres of along the mountain range that includes Mingus Mountain and other prominent peaks. The land abuts Cottonwood, Camp Verde Clarkdale, Jerome, Chino Valley, Prescott, Prescott Valley, Dewey, Humboldt and Cherry.

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The ban covers the Ojo de la Vaca area where County Road 51 intersects Forest Service Road 326. Homemade cardboard targets are scattered along the roads in the area, sometimes tacked to trees. Ranchers have complained that shooters also are using oil cans and leaving them to drip into stock tanks.

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Under normal circumstances, building a one-lane, nine-mile gravel road would not seem much of a problem. You have to be suspicious, though, when its chief sponsor is Representative Don Young, second only to Senator Ted Stevens in bringing pork-barrel projects to Alaska. And you’d be right. This road would bisect an extraordinary wildlife refuge in the middle of federally protected wilderness.

The first step in this would be supporting NREPA, would it not?

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A “very vigorous campaign” is under way to protect the Rocky Mountain Front, including an effort to add more acreage to the Bob Marshall Wilderness, the head of the state’s oldest and largest wilderness advocacy group said Friday

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The federal government is under a judge’s order to reconsider an earlier decision against listing the sage grouse as endangered, and wildlife biologists are scouring the species’ customary mating grounds to see how many are left.

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Ewins called the committee’s recommendation not to change the polar bear’s status “an easy way out.”

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A Montana Democrat wants the Bush administration to release more information on its discussions with a timber company that could open millions of acres of his state’s forests to development.

The Forest Service has been working with the Plum Creek Timber Co. to review and amend easement agreements on agency cost-share roads that provide access to timberlands — discussions that have not included local governments.

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A bill approved Thursday by the House Natural Resources Committee would set aside up to $1 billion to pay for fighting major wildfires such as those that devastated Southern California last fall.