A massive federal effort to replace thousands of residential lawns in Idaho's Silver Valley because of mining pollution has been completed, the Environmental Protection Agency said.

The race is on to replace the industry's graying work force as retirements increase in the next decade, prompting companies to ramp up recruitment efforts.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- The fire season has gotten longer throughout the West in the past few years. It used to stretch from May into August or September, starting with blazes flaring up in the Southwest's arid spring, said Rich Nieto, regional fire operations director for the Southwest Coordination Center.

In Arizona, the latest human-caused wildfire has burned more than 15 square miles, destroyed four homes in the community of Crown King, forced a weeklong evacuation of more than 100 people and cost upward of $2 million to fight.

BADLANDS NATIONAL PARK, S.D. By CARSON WALKER (AP) 7/7/2008 The north end of this national park bustles with roughly a million tourists a year who pull over to view and photograph the majestic canyons, spires and tables, hike the trails and learn about fossils.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- The fire season has gotten longer throughout the West in the past few years.

Silver Falcon Mining, Inc. today released the results of the second assay, conducted by Met-Solve Laboratories, Inc. of Burnaby, BC, Canada, on the tailings to be moved from War Eagle Mountain to its mill in Melba, Idaho.

The race is on to replace the industry's graying work force as retirements increase in the next decade, prompting companies to ramp up recruitment efforts.

Far from being wild, most blazes and some of the nation's worst are caused by people

Playing with matches, being careless with a campfire, even burning a letter from an estranged husband.