Nation IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C : U.S. Workers Tell of Job Reprisals

John Mumma, former head of the U.S. Forest Service region that includes Montana and Idaho, told a House panel that he was involuntarily reassigned to Washington after refusing to meet logging quotas in national forests because they violated federal conservation laws. Lorraine Mintzmyer, former Denver regional chief of the Park Service, testified that White House pressure led to reducing ecological protections in a management plan for Yellowstone National Park. The panel is investigating whether the Bush Administration is illegally punishing whistle-blowers in the two agencies.