Environment

Oregon State Parks managers have two new Geiger counters to scan possible tsunami debris that floats in from Japan. On the Washington coast, state health department scientists are now regularly checking marine debris and fish for possible radiation from last year's Japanese nuclear meltdown. The testing is mostly just to reassure the public, not out of grave concern that radiation will get here.

Updated 5:15 PM:  There have been 31 area wildfires so far this year, according to spokeswoman Mallory Eils with the Boise District Bureau of Land Management.  That compares to less than a handful at this time for the past three years. She says nearly all the wildfires this year have been caused by people.    

There are no plans to place fire restrictions on public lands yet.  That would take some time given that state and federal agencies such as the BLM, U.S. Forest Service, and Idaho Department of Lands would all have to agree to those restrictions. 

Last April we told you about reports that link Simplot mines to deformed fish in Idaho rivers. Now that story is getting national attention, but not from major news outlets. Thursday the satirical news program The Daily Show on Comedy Central gave its take.

Fire crews got the upper hand on the Con Shea wildfire Friday. 

Investigators say someone caused the blaze which burned about 9,000 acres along the Snake River near Murphy.  

Brandon Hampton is with the Boise District Bureau of Land Management.  He says, "It could be a variety of things - most likely a campfire ring would indicate a human presence prior to the fire starting.  You can also find remnants of shooting, for example, shell casings, fragments of exploding targets, things like that."

Idaho counties will share more than $26 million as part of the 2012 Payment in Lieu of Taxes program or PILT. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar made the announcement Thursday.

Blaine, Cassia, and Elmore counties will get the largest payments, around $2 million per county.  The payments offset losses in property taxes on nontaxable federal lands. More than 60 percent of Idaho's land is public.

Crews continue to fight the Con Shea wildfire near the town of Murphy, southwest of Boise.  It was discovered last night (Wednesday) and spread quickly.  The latest update from the Bureau of Land Management puts the fire at nearly 9,000 acres.  Two air tankers from Canada have been helping fight the fire.

The planes flew from Saskatchewan to Boise earlier this week.  A wet spring up north, coupled with a shortage of large air tankers in the US and a busy fire season here, means the planes are available for the US Forest Service to hire.    

3:57 PM Update:  A spokeswoman for the Boise District Bureau of Land Management says they hope to contain the Con Shea wildfire near Murphy by noon Friday.

“Things for the most part are looking really good right now,” according to Mallory Eils. 

Two hundred firefighters with equipment that includes rigs, bulldozers, air tankers, and helicopters are out controlling the blaze.

10:30 AM:  The Con Shea wildfire started overnight 4 miles north of Murphy.  Since then it’s grown to nearly 10,000 acres. 

Dozens of state Fish and Wildlife officers fanned out to seafood retailers, wholesalers and exporters late last week.

A puppy, picked up by campers in Ketchum last month, is a wild wolf.  The Idaho Department of Fish and Game confirmed that Tuesday after a DNA test came back positive. 

Out of town campers picked up what they thought was a lost puppy and took it to a vet.  The pup ended up at Zoo Boise, who has been caring for it.  He is gaining weight and his health is improving. 

Fish and Game searched for a wolf pack near where the pup was found, but couldn’t find one.  They speculate the pack was moving the puppy and may have been disturbed by traffic on the road. 

Two grass fires that burned south of Kuna Sunday were sparked by gunfire.  Both fires were contained by Sunday night and both burned on public land. 

Mallory Eils is a fire information officer for the Boise District Bureau of Land Management.  She says the Kave Fire and the Poen Fire were the result of gunshots.  “Someone was probably out doing some target practice and shooting something that resulted in a spark or maybe an exploding target is a common thing that people shoot at and because of the dry fuel conditions out there a wildfire resulted.” 

For the first time, we're getting to listen to the eruption of an undersea volcano off the Northwest coast. Correspondent Tom Banse got a hold of unusual recordings made at a place called Axial Seamount. It's about 300 miles out to sea from Cannon Beach, Oregon.

Researchers from Oregon State University deployed instruments on the seafloor in anticipation of an eruption at Axial Seamount last year. At first, an underwater microphone - called a hydrophone - captured the low-frequency rumblings of small earthquakes. The sped up audio sounds like a loud bump.