BRIEFS

Boise

Governor asks volunteers for more help to restore wildfire site

U.S. Forest Service workers have processed millions of seeds Idaho residents helped glean to plant in the Murphy Creek Complex fire area along the Idaho-Nevada border.

KTVB reports that Governor Butch Otter wants 1,000 volunteers to help plant bitterbrush and sagebrush in the Murphy Complex area this spring.

The Murphy Complex Fire destroyed much of the habitat in the 600,000 acres it burned.

Otter asked Idahoans last fall to help restore sagebrush habitats by collecting thousands of pounds of seeds near Lucky Peak Nursery.

Clark Fleege, who manages the nursery, says volunteers gathered about 4,000 pounds of material that will produce about 2 million sage seeds per pound.

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Sandpoint, Idaho

Department says 150 moose died on N. Idaho roads, rails

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game says this winter has been hard on northern Idaho moose.

The department's regional supervisor, Chip Corsi, says deep snow caused the animals to use roads and railroad tracks as travel corridors, and as many as 150 were struck and killed by cars and trains in Bonner and Boundary counties.

He says the department received many reports of injured moose, as well.

Corsi says the department generally tries not to bother injured big game animals and let nature take its course.

If an animal is beyond saving or poses a safety risk to the public, a Fish and Game officer or local law officer will put it down.

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Provo, Utah

Fatal mauling of 11-year-old leads to lawsuits

The family of an 11-year-old boy killed by a bear filed lawsuits Friday against Utah and the federal government, blaming them for the fatal attack.

Sam Ives' parents said wildlife officials failed to warn that a bear had been chased away many hours before the boy was snatched from his tent in American Fork Canyon and killed.

Ives was killed by a black bear last June while camping with his family about a mile above the Timpooneke Campground.

State officials have denied any wrongdoing.

"How can you protect the public in all instances?" Martin Bushman, a Utah assistant attorney general, said Friday. "There's no easy solutions to it. These types of attacks are extraordinarily rare."

The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is responsible for wildlife on federal land. The U.S. Forest Service controls campgrounds.

The lawsuit against the Forest Service seeks $2 million.