SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN

Associated Press Writer
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NM city prepares for salt cavern collapse

The bright yellow signs on U.S. 285 are the first indication that things aren't right in Carlsbad.

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6 wild otters from Wash. released into NM river

The sun had barely peaked over the Taos Mountains. A half-dozen river otters from the Pacific Northwest seemed at home after being released Friday into the ice cold water of the Rio Pueblo de Taos.

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Climate debate leads to Chamber of Commerce rift

A rift widened between the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and some utilities as another major power provider quit over the business group's hard stance on pending climate regulation.

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Indian tribes to get stimulus funds to fight crime

The U.S. Department of Justice is committed to helping American Indian communities battle a rising tide of violence against women and children, gang activity and other crime, a top agency official said Monday.

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Lawsuit accuses FEMA of ignoring species threats

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is being sued again over accusations that it violated the Endangered Species Act by issuing flood insurance without determining whether development would impact imperiled plants and animals.

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AG Holder says Hispanic lawyers' influence growing

The head of the Justice Department told Hispanic lawyers, judges and others Thursday that their influence on the legal profession is greater than ever.

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Effort in NM to keep medications out of Rio Grande

New Mexico's largest water utility announced a plan Tuesday aimed at educating the public and keeping pharmaceuticals out of one of the West's most important water ways, the Rio Grande.

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Fed crackdown puts tribal artifact dealers on edge

An intensifying federal investigation into the sale of Native American artifacts has brought fear and uncertainty to one of the nation's largest and longest-running Indian artifact shows.

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Wolf release in Mexico sparks concern in US

American wildlife officials and ranchers are raising questions over a plan to release a rare North American gray wolf to its historic range in northern Mexico: Will it stay south of the border and what can be done if it threatens livestock?

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Groups push for special wolf protections

They're all gray wolves, but the Mexican gray wolf is notably different than its faraway cousins, and conservationists now say the animals need specific protection under federal law to avoid extinction.

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Report: Public lands see increase of OHV use

Hampered by lean budgets and growing responsibilities, federal land management agencies have struggled in recent years to keep up with the rising popularity of off-highway vechicle use on public land, congressional investigators said in a report Thursday.

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Multiplying like bunnies? Not this jackrabbit

Rabbits are certainly known for their propensity for multiplying, but one species of jackrabbit is having trouble keeping up. There are an estimated 150 white-sided jackrabbits left in the United States, and federal wildlife officials announced Wednesday they will study the elusive rabbit to determine if it needs to be protected under the Endangered Species Act.

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New program to tackle diabetes among young Indians

A special curriculum aimed at tackling the growing prevalence of diabetes among American Indian children has been developed by health officials, tribal leaders and educators from across the country.

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NM company to develop hydrogen power plant

A New Mexico-based energy technology company announced plans Wednesday to develop in southern New Mexico what it calls the world's first utility-scale, zero-emissions hydrogen power plant.

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Groups seek federal probe of NM wolf pup deaths

Conservation groups asked the federal government Thursday to investigate the deaths of three endangered Mexican gray wolves found dead in southwestern New Mexico.

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Wolf pups rescued; some found dead

Wildlife agents rescued two Mexican gray wolf pups found abandoned in a New Mexico forest, but three others from the same litter were found dead, officials said Thursday.

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Animal kills by federal agency more than double

The number of animals poisoned, shot or snared by the U.S. Department of Agriculture more than doubled last year, and environmentalists who are critical of the killings are renewing their effort to cut the program's funding.

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Biologists help rare fish flee New Mexico fire

As a lightning-sparked fire charred thousands of acres in southwestern New Mexico, biologists and firefighters used helicopters and trucks for an unusual evacuation.

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EPA sued over claims of air pollution in West

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was sued Friday by an environmental group that claims the agency has failed to safeguard public health in the West by not limiting the transmission of air pollution across state lines.

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New Mexico boy dies of plague, sister recovering

An 8-year-old New Mexico boy has died and his 10-year-old sister was hospitalized after both contracted bubonic plague, the first recorded human plague cases in the nation so far this year.

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Study looks at early Navajo use of smoke signals

Archaeologists and volunteers armed with special flares will fan out over part of the Four Corners region on Saturday to study how early Navajos could have used smoke signals to warn against invaders.

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Feds to reconsider critical habitat for 2 fish

A federal judge has ruled the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service can reconsider the critical habitat designation of two threatened fish species in New Mexico and Arizona after a probe found political interference likely affected scientists' findings.

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BLM, Forest Service sued over air pollution in NM

Environmentalists claim in a lawsuit that federal agencies violated the law by approving plans that would expand oil and gas development in New Mexico's San Juan Basin — one of the nation's largest natural gas fields.

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Federal agency spurs people to adopt wild horses

A federal agency is hoping older wild mustangs rounded up from the range will find new homes with a program that will offer stipends to owners who adopt them.

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Salazar reviews 'midnight' endangered species rule

U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says he will make a decision in the coming weeks on whether to overturn a controversial Bush administration regulation that limits the reach of the Endangered Species Act.

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