Here's a news item from the Associated Press:  BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The State Historical Society has abandoned a plan to transfer oversight of discoveries of woolly mammoths and other ancient creatures on state land to an Idaho State University museum, at least for now. The historical agency expects an increase in federally-funded energy projects could result in more of Idaho's paleontological treasures — spiral-toothed sharks, ancient short-faced bears and ground sloths, among them — being found. As a result, officials wanted shift authority to issue permits for such digs to experts at the Museum of Natural History at ISU. ISU raised concerns such a program could cost $150,000 — money that's unavailable amid a budget crisis. Historical Society director Janet Gallimore now plans to investigate proper procedures in the event of a discovery. Idaho's last big find was 1994, when remains of up to seven mammoths and an ancient bison were unearthed near Grangeville.

---

---