Artifact cases to proceed

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Federal prosecutors in Utah said Monday that despite the death of an undercover informant they'll move ahead with cases against more than 20 people charged after a long-running artifacts looting investigation.
The operative's death may prompt prosecutors to change their strategy at trial, but the setback isn't enough for them to scrap the cases, said acting U.S. Attorney for Utah Carlie Christensen. She declined to provide more details.
“We think we have enough evidence to move ahead with the case,'' Christensen said Monday morning after a status conference at federal court in Salt Lake City. Defense attorneys indicated they'll ask federal judges to limit what kind of evidence can be presented at trial when it comes to Ted Gardiner, a Utah businessman who worked with the FBI and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for two years. He secretly recorded deals for American Indian artifacts in the Four Corners area.
Gardiner provided hundreds of hours of footage for investigators that are central to prosecutors' cases. He died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound March 1 in what police called an apparent suicide. Two defendants in the case committed suicide last year.
“I think it's been emotional for everyone,'' said defense attorney Richard Mauro, who's representing Marie Crites, one of 26 people indicted as part of the sting operation.
In court Monday, prosecutors made their first acknowledgment of Gardiner's death but did not identify him by name. Assistant attorney Richard McKelvie said the development was not fatal to the government's case.
University of Utah law professor Paul Cassell said Gardiner's absence makes it more difficult for the government to tell a complete story to the jury.
“They have a movie but no context,'' Cassell said. “It makes the government's life more complicated.'' Also Monday, U.S. Magistrate Samuel Alba scheduled several cases for trial. The first is set to start May 3.
He gave defense attorneys until April 2 to submit requests to limit evidence.
Two people pleaded guilty last summer to federal charges connected with the case. The rest have pleaded not guilty.
The investigation is considered one of the largest ever targeting those who excavate, buy and sell pottery, jewelry, pipes and other ancient Indian relics taken from public and tribal land in the Southwest. Gardiner signed up with federal investigators in early 2007. Over the next two years, he struck deals for more than 250 artifacts worth more than $335,000. Court papers said he was typically paid $7,500 a month.
Gardiner was expected to testify at a trial in Colorado on March 29. That trial has now been reset for July.

Pine Ridge cocaine dealers enter guilty pleas

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — Five men have pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to distribute cocaine on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
The U.S. Attorney's office said they were part of a plan over an 8-year period to obtain cocaine in Denver and resell it on the reservation.
Facing sentencing in June are 39-year-old Merrill Catches of Rapid City and four Pine Ridge men: 21-year-old Matt Tobacco, 40-year-old Bervin Brings Plenty, 40-year-old Guy Yellow Boy, and 35-year-old Will Tymes.

Kulongoski commits to helping Klamath Basin farmers

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — About 1,300 farmers in a Klamath Basin irrigation project are waiting to hear whether drought conditions will leave enough water to plant crops this year without help from a landmark agreement designed to share scarce water between fish and farms.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski is headed to Klamath Falls on Tuesday to be briefed by federal authorities on what is being done to allow irrigation of 200,000 acres along the Oregon-California border while meeting federal requirements for protected fish.
Even if some flexibility can be found to help threatened suckers in Upper Klamath Lake and coho salmon in the Klamath River, ``it is likely that drought conditions will require significant reduction of irrigation deliveries to the farming community,'' Kulongoski wrote in a letter Wednesday to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.
Without some good spring rains, as much as 80 percent of the Klamath Reclamation Project could be without water this year, said Greg Addington of the Klamath Water Users Association.
He said it is particularly tough on farmers to have to face a drought with the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement not yet approved. The agreement is part of a two-part deal to remove dams from the river to help salmon.
“To have this year right out of the chute...,'' Addington said. “Our interest is getting our guys through this so they can enjoy the (benefits of the agreement) in the future, and not having foreclosures and bankruptcies right away.''
Signed two weeks ago in Salem after five years of negotiations, the restoration agreement offers drought provisions such as storing more water in reservoirs over the winter, paying farmers to leave their land idle, and buying water from wells. Farmers would know what to expect by March 1 instead of April when irrigation season starts.
The agreement requires approval and funding from Congress, and is likely to be phased in over 10 years.
Kulongoski and state water authorities will consider a drought declaration next week, which would open up low-interest loans and other federal programs to farmers. Mike Carrier, a natural resources adviser for the governor, said Kulongoski was looking into other state and federal programs to help farmers. Kulongski also asked Salazar to authorize Interior agencies to work with Oregon and California on developing the drought plan called for in the restoration agreement, even though it has not yet been approved by Congress.
Snowpack is about 30 percent below normal and Upper Klamath Lake, the irrigation project's main reservoir, has been running about the same water level as in 2001, when drought forced the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to shut off water to the project to leave enough water for fish.
Water was restored later in the year, but it was too late to save many of the region's crops, which include potatoes, onions, grain, and alfalfa.
When full irrigation was restored the next year, tens of thousands of adult salmon died in the Klamath River from diseases related to low and warm water. Widespread desire to avoid a repeat led to the restoration agreement signed by farmers, Indian tribes, the governors of Oregon and California, fishermen and conservation groups.

Coeur d'Alene Tribe awarded $12 million high speed Internet grant

BOISE (AP) — The federal government is giving the Coeur d'Alene Tribe more than $12 million to build a high-speed Internet connection on its rural reservation in the Idaho Panhandle.
For the tribe, the stimulus project could mean a lifeline to the outside world and connect up to 3,500 homes on a reservation that is about half the size of Rhode Island.
Right now, the tribe's landline broadband options are limited. The local cable company has pulled out of the market and Verizon Communications Inc., offers digital subscriber line (DSL) service to just a small slice of the reservation.
The tribe expects to start installing miles of fiber optic lines in town such as Plummer and Worley during the coming months.

State wants more wolves killed in north Idaho

LEWISTON (AP) — More wolves need to be killed in the Lolo area of the Clearwater River basin to stop the decline in elk populations, the director of Idaho Fish and Game says.
Cal Groen said state wildlife managers will recommend significant changes to wolf seasons in the Lolo and other zones where elk numbers are not at management levels. The changes will be consistent with the 2008-2012 Idaho Wolf Management Plan, he said.
Groen said management tools could include increased harvest limits, multiple tags, trapping, and asking outfitters to help reduce wolf numbers. Dave Cadwallader, supervisor of the department's Clearwater Region, said the changes could be put in place next fall.
Groen said eight of the state's 29 elk hunting zones are below the department's population objectives. He said five of those have significant wolf populations, including the Lolo, Selway and Sawtooth zones.
Elk numbers in the Lolo Zone peaked in the 1980s with a population of about 16,000. Biologists attribute the large herds to open fields created by large wildfire in the early part of the 20th century.
But the open fields began filling with brush and young trees, reducing elk habitat and causing elk numbers to decline, and then plunge after the severe winter of 1996-1997. Fish and Game responded by restricting elk hunting and allowing more bear and mountain lions to be killed, which Groen said caused elk numbers to pick up.
“Then wolves took over and became the leading cause of Lolo elk deaths,'' Groen said. “It wasn't until May of last year the state could finally manage wolves. By then, the balance of elk and wolves in the Lolo Zone was completely out of whack.''
The agency set a harvest limit of 27 wolves in the Lolo Zone and 17 in the Selway. But through Friday, 11 wolves in the Lolo Zone had been killed by hunters and seven in the Selway.
Plans to increase wolf hunting in Idaho could be derailed. Environmental groups have sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife for its decision to remove wolves from federal protection, and that case is expected to go to trial this spring.