Bush Administration Fails To Defend Timber Industry Lawsuits:

Timber industry and Bush Administration lawyers late yesterday filed proposed settlements in two federal court cases challenging the protected status and critical habitat designations for northern spotted owls and marbled murrelets. Conservation groups, who have intervened in the cases and have full party status, have been excluded from the settlement talks, and announced that they would file objections to the settlement with the court.
“I hope the Bush Administration doesn’t follow this same back room process to settle litigation from the Enron mess,” said Mitch Friedman of Northwest Ecosystem Alliance. “This sweetheart deal sets in motion actions that could open up our old growth forests to renewed attack.”
Complete story at Earthjustice.