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graduate student Kari Peterson spent nearly a month in Antarctica during Christmas break as part of a project to obtain a slice of ice from 17,500 years ago. The ice will help scientists figure out how Earth came out of the Ice Age and how climate change can happen in the future.
• The National Science Foundation funded the project, which started eight years ago. It involves more than 20 universities and national laboratories.
• Each university will get its slice of the ice to be able to analyze it. Cole-Dai says the analysis will take about a year.
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• PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- Saturday is the first day to reserve campsites and cabins for the state's open house and free fishing weekend in May.
• The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department says reservations can be made starting at 7 a.m. Saturday for a May 17 arrival.
• The state allows people to make reservations for campsites and cabins as 90 days before they arrive. Custer State Park accepts reservations beginning one year before arrival.
• Reservations can be made online at http://www.CampSD.com/ or by calling 1-800-710-2267.
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• MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture will open a four-week general signup for the Conservation Reserve Program on May 20.
• Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack plans to make the formal announcement Saturday at the National Pheasant Fest and Quail Classic in Minneapolis. He says in a statement to The Associated Press that CRP was vital in later summer's drought. He says it protected sensitive land from erosion, while emergency haying and grazing on CRP lands provided critical livestock feed and forage.
• Around 27 million acres are enrolled in the CRP, a voluntary program that pays farmers to keep environmentally sensitive land out of production, typically for 10 to 15 years. The goals are to improve water quality, control erosion and enhance wildlife habitat. Contracts on about 3.3 million acres expire Sept. 30.
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