Nation briefs 03/06/03

Feds: Economic activity subdued in last 2 months

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Reserve said Wednesday economic activity around the country remained subdued in January and February as concerns about a possible war in Iraq slowed spending by consumers and businesses.

Perhaps epitomizing the mood, the central bank noted a terrorism-related spurt in the sales of duct tape, plastic and other hardware goods.

The Fed's latest survey of business conditions, compiled from information received from its 12 regional banks, showed that most areas of the country had seen little pickup in activity since the last survey completed in early January.

The central bank said that business spending, the key missing ingredient in the economic recovery, continued to lag in the early part of the year.

A new signature for U.S. currency: John W. Snow

WASHINGTON -- It was a Mick Jagger moment.

With cameras whirring and clicking, a smiling Treasury Secretary John Snow signed his name with flair, relishing one of the perks of the job: signing his name on the nation's greenbacks.

Snow and United States Treasurer Rosario Marin provided their signatures to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing at a ceremony Wednesday. Those signatures, after being transferred by engravers to steel plates, will be printed on all new U.S. currency.

Roughly eight billion notes are made each year.

The new notes carrying Snow's John Hancock are expected to begin rolling off the presses this summer, starting with $1 bills, said Tom Ferguson, director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

Forest Service could face huge budget deficit

WASHINGTON -- The Forest Service could face a deficit of close to $1 billion if this summer's fire season is anywhere close to last year's record outbreak, the agency's chief said Wednesday.

The recently enacted budget allocates the Forest Service about $420 million to fight fires -- nearly $1 billion less than officials spent last year during one of the worst fire seasons on record.

The Forest Service already faces a deficit of more than $300 million from that effort, after lawmakers reimbursed the agency for just $636 million of the $919 million it "borrowed" from other accounts.

"That's $300 million worth of programs that won't get done," Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth told a House budget panel Wednesday.

Programs that will be affected include watershed and habitat improvement, road repairs and restoration of areas damaged by previous fires, Bosworth said.

Senate looks to approve Russian arms treaty

WASHINGTON -- Democratic senators said Wednesday they would vote for a U.S.-Russian arms treaty despite misgivings that it does little to make Americans more secure.

They said the treaty will not reduce the nuclear threat because it calls for weapons only to be removed from service, not destroyed. They said it lacks verification procedures and makes it too easy for either side to withdraw.

The treaty calls for the United States and Russia to cut their strategic, or long-range, nuclear arsenals by two-thirds.

Ratification of the treaty has been a top priority for Russia before a Bush-Putin summit this May. It comes as the United States is pressing Russia not to use its U.N. Security Council veto to block a resolution authorizing a war against Iraq.

-- From wire reports