6PM: UPDATED WITH NEW INFO FROM ODFW

The hunt for wolves in Northeast Oregon is – for all practical purposes – on permanent hold as federal officials begin the job of studying how the hunt will impact the state’s small population of gray wolves.

Dan Kruse of Cascadia Wildlands says his group received a letter from USDA Wildlife Services, the agency that was assigned the job of killing two members of the Imnaha pack in Wallowa County.

He says Wildlife Services has agreed to voluntarily hold off hunting until it completes an Environmental Assessment, one of the steps called for under the National Environmental Policy Act.

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Metro is adding another 1,000 feet to the popular Marine Drive Trail near the Columbia River.

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They’re just trying to have it both ways.

Can we allow some industrial development on West Hayden Island, while leaving enough of the area untouched so it can useful as wildlife habitat?

Thursday’s vote on the Portland City Council is a tentative,  ”yes”.

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UPDATE: The Oregonian reports that a federal judge in Spokane has blocked the garbage shipments until the end of August. The O quotes the judge as writing, “There are serious questions relating to whether the USDA adequately analyzed the environmental impacts of shipment and receipt of Hawaiian waste.”

EARLIER:

A coalition of environmental groups, and the Yakama Nation, are suing to stop Hawaii from shipping garbage through the Columbia River Gorge.

The garbage shipments received final approval this week from the Agriculture Department.

The suit says USDA didn’t do a good enough job studying the risks – which the groups say include invasive plants and insects that could damage rare ecosystems and the area’s fruit crop.

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With Portland on board for a statewide ban on single use plastic bags, supporters are bringing the cause to other cities around the state. Tonight, there’s an event in Eugene. More on that in a moment.

I also spoke this morning with State Senator Mark Hass, one of the co-sponsors of ban-the-bag legislation. He’s got some interesting insights on why the Portland City Council voted for a resolution, instead than passing a real law.

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For the first time in more than a century, wild Rocky Mountain goats are back home in the Central Oregon Cascades.

45 goats – relocated from the Elkhorn Mountains – were released Tuesday at the base of Mt. Jefferson. It’s part of an ongoing effort to help the Rocky Mountain goat recover in the state.

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Portland’s City Council joins the “ban the bag” movement.

This afternoon, the council voted unanimously to support a statewide ban on single use plastic bags, and a five cent fee on paper bags. The proposed ban would start in 2012.

Success depends on the legislature approving it, but they don’t meet until 2011. So what happens if Oregon’s lawmakers say no? In that case, the council says they’ll  look at passing a bag ban law in Portland.

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