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<br />\.:v.- <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Sen. Salazar Says President's Budget Shores Up Defense, But Ignores Rural America: On Feb. 6, <br />U.S. Senator Ken Salazar released a statement on the Presidents FY 07 Budget. He noted he supported the <br />Administrations efforts to ensure strong support for Defense and Homeland Security priorities by <br />increasing funding up to $439 billion and for funding programs at Pueblo Chemical Depot. However, he <br />stated he was concerned with the lack of funding for rural Am~ric!!. The President:; budget prujlVses <br />cutting farm program spending by $1 billion; conservation programs by $220 million; rural development <br />programs by $308 million; and agricultural research by $382 million. Fifty-seven of Colorado's 64 <br />counties rely on PlL T to support their education and transportation infrastructure; while rural <br />communities across the state utilize CDBGs to bring new business vitality to their areas. <br /> <br />ConOicting Studies on Preble's Mouse Protection: An acrobatic mouse is threatening Bush <br />administration efforts to give Western developers an upper hand over endangered species. The Preble's <br />meadow jumping mouse of Colorado and Wyoming is in fact a distinct creature, according to a U.S. <br />Geological Survey study released in January. <br /> <br />The new study casts doubt on an earlier one, touted by Interior Secretary Gale Norton a year ago when <br />she proposed removing the mouse from the federal endangered species list. <br />Officials were to decide nellt month whether to deny the mouse protection but will now request a six- <br />month extension, said Mitch King, acting director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regional office in <br />Denver. <br /> <br />The previous study, done by a Denver biologist later hired by Norton's department, concluded there was <br />no genetic difference between the Preble's meadow jumping mouse and the much more common Bear <br />Lodge meadow jumping mouse. The new study by a federal researcher in West Virginia has a larger <br />sample size than the older one, King said, and included different analyses. <br /> <br />Listed by the government as a threatened species since 1998, the Preble's mouse stands in the way of any <br />project that could damage its habitat, a broad swath from Colorado Springs north through Denver and <br />Fort Collins and reaching north to Laramie. Nearly 31,000 acres, or 48 square miles, were designated as <br />critical habitat to be conserved for the recovery of the Preble's meadow mouse. A year ago, developers <br />welcomed the findings of biologist Rob Roy Ramey of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and <br />the Interior Department's conclusion, based on his study, that the Preble's mouse no longer needed federal <br />protections. Ramey was later contracted as a science adviser to the Interior Department in its attempt to <br />reclassify several species whose endangered status is blocking developers. The new study was conducted <br />by Tim King, a USGS conservation geneticist, and peer-reviewed by academic experts ootside <br />government. One reviewer, Eric Hallerman, a professor of fisheries and wildlife science at Virginia Tech, <br />said King's study debunks Ramey's work. <br /> <br />Due to the conflicting data on both reports, on February 17, The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service <br />announced a six-month extension of its proposal to delist the Preble's meadow jumping mouse as <br />threatened under the Endangered Species Act and reopened the public comment period until April IS, <br />2006. <br /> <br />Update on Consejo de Desarrollo Economlco de MexicaU et al. vs.Unlted States: This legal action <br />was originally filed on July 19, 2005, and consisted of 8 counts: unconstitutional deprivation of water <br />rights (Count I); constitutional tort (Count 2); equitable apportionment use (Count 3); estoppel (Count 4); <br />violation of the National Environmental Protection Act ("NEP A") and the Administrative Procedures Act <br />("APA") (Count 5); Endangered Species Act ("ESA") violations (Count 6); unlawful take ofa listed <br />migratory bird species (Count 7); and violation of the San Luis Indian Water Rights Settlement's Act <br />(replacement measures)(Count 8). On Feb 8, Judge Philip Pro of the United States District Court of <br /> <br />5 <br />