logging

FRIANT, Calif. (AP) — Two cowboys on horses pushed cattle across an expanse of golden hills overgrown with tall grasses and oak trees, up an unpaved road toward another pasture. From the Sierra Nevada foothills, the cattle will be sent for processing into beef, prized by consumers looking for locally raised, grass-fed meat in California's Central Valley.

But this isn't a ranch. It's a nature preserve managed by the Sierra Foothill Conservancy, a Fresno-area land trust that protects ecosystems. The Conservancy says it is breaking new ground by raising its own beef herd, using cattle to benefit the environment and to improve its bottom line.

A prominent Cambodian environmental activist was fatally shot Thursday in a confrontation with military police near a forest area where illegal logging reportedly takes place, a human rights group and police said.

Military police spokesman Kheng Tito said National Resources Protection Group director Chut Wutty was shot in a clash at a checkpoint in Koh Kong province during which the activist also fatally shot a military police officer.