NOTES FROM THE FIELD.

The article presents information related to the wildlife conservation in various states of the U.S. Soon there could be more than 300,000 acres of significant new wilderness areas in central Idaho's Boulder and White Cloud Mountains. These two ranges stretch 40 miles from Ketchum to the Salmon River, embracing eight free-flowing rivers and their tributaries. The area provides habitat for salmon, steelhead, bull trout, elk, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, wolves, black bears, and eagles. Alaska is home to two biggest national forests--and both face very big problems. Chugach National Forest, south of Anchorage, is the wildest of the 155 national forests, 98 percent of its 5.5 million acres are road-free. But that is likely to change. A management plan that was finalized over the summer increases the risks facing places such as the Kenai Peninsula and the Copper River Delta. Road building, expanded snowmobile and helicopter access, and powerline construction are likely. In the country's largest national forest, the Tongass, nine million acres are now at greater risk due to the Bush administration's decision not to implement the Roadless Area Conservation Rule there, and in July the U.S. Forest Service approved the sale of more than 650 acres of pristine coastal rainforest.