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Fact & Fiction and the Bookstore at the University of Montana offer a review of Craig Childs' Animal Dialogues.
Continental Divide Trail: Continental Divide Trail Alliance uses volunteer labor to carve out passage through five Western states one section at a time.
New study puts water, energy needs on collision course
In a new analysis published today in the British scientific journal Nature, Sandia National Laboratories scientists say that unless energy and water needs are addressed collectively, the nation will not have enough of either to satisfy demand, and that the need for water and energy officials to collaborate is especially high in water-scarce New Mexico. You may have to view an ad to read this article.
Albuquerque Journal; 03/20/2008
Idaho lawmakers, governor push for new, higher dams
Idaho lawmakers are pushing the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to study a long-proposed dam on the Weiser River, update studies on the Teton Dam, which burst in 1976, and consider raising the height of the Minidoka Dam on the Snake River to increase the capacity of that dam's reservoir.
Idaho Statesman; 03/20/2008
Power execs question if Arizona dam release worth the cost
Grand Canyon Park Superintendent Steve Martin lauded the massive water release that rebuilt sandbars needed for fish habitat along the Colorado River and is lobbying the Interior Department for routine releases when sand supplies are adequate, but federal Bureau of Reclamation officials said they're not sure the releases were worth the $4 million loss in hydroelectric power.
Salt Lake Tribune; 03/17/2008
Utah judge denies Swiss bank's request for Promontory receiver
On the heels of Idaho's Tamarack Resort's financial problems, Utah's Promontory, a gated golf and ski development with about 2,000 homes, is now hitting hard times, and Credit Suisse and the Arizona-based developer are now embroiled in a lawsuit that may force Pivotal Group to seek bankruptcy protection.
NewWest.net; 03/21/2008
Analysts say today's suburban McMansions may be tomorrow's tenements
Housing market analysts said the 60-year trend of Americans seeking life in the suburbs is reversing, with more and more residents moving closer in to downtown areas, leaving many homes in outlying suburbs vacant.
Atlantic Monthly; 03/18/2008
Montana lake community to try again on growth plan
Members of the Seeley Lake Community Council hope an April workshop designed to provide residents in their area of Montana with more information about growth management will help move the community's plan to channel future growth in such a way that will protect the region's natural resources and allow new homes.
Missoulian; 03/19/2008
Utah asks FERC to begin water pipeline study
Water-conservancy districts in Washington, Kane and Iron counties and the state of Utah want to build a 139-mile pipeline from Lake Powell in southeastern Utah to a reservoir outside St. George, to provide 100,000-acre-feet of water to those counties, with seven hydroelectric generating stations proposed along the project, and the state's request to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission sets the environmental assessment process in motion.
Salt Lake Tribune; 03/20/2008
Montana county, developer struck accord on grizzly corridor plan
The Missoula County Commission approved a four-home subdivision on 152 acres along the grizzly bear corridor in Montana's Swan Valley after the developer agreed to move the homesite on one of the 40-acre lots to a less sensitive area.
Missoulian; 03/21/2008
B.C. company develops urban retirement centers in Arizona
Avenir Group has had success building urban retirement centers in Vancouver in its home province of British Columbia and now the Canadian company hopes to replicate that success in three Arizona communities, with projects either underway or proposed in Scottsdale, Surprise and Chandler.
Arizona Republic; 03/21/2008
American Indian plaintiffs say government owes them $58B
The plaintiffs in the 12-year-old class action lawsuit against the federal government over management of funds held in trust for American Indians told a federal judge that the government should pay $58 billion to settle their claims.
Missoulian (AP); 03/21/2008
Longest Walk 2 enters Colorado
The walkers who are retracing the steps of the 1978 Longest Walk, a cross-country trek from San Francisco to Washington D.C. to protest legislation in Congress that would have breached treaties that protect American Indian sovereignty, have reached Colorado and spent a recent afternoon in Montrose at the Ute Indian Museum.
High Country News; 03/21/2008
Canada categorizes private land as critical habitat for endangered fish
Canada's effort to save the Nooksack dace, a small fish that exists only in four small streams in British Columbia's Fraser Valley listed private property as critical habitat that needs protection in order to protect an at-risk species, the first time Canada has ever listed private property as critical habitat for a species.
Toronto Globe and Mail; 03/19/2008
BLM extends comment period on commercial oil shale development
The Bureau of Land Management agreed on Thursday to extend the comment period on its environmental impact statement on commercial oil shale development in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming another 30 days.
Grand Junction Sentinel; 03/21/2008
Spike in ozone levels in Colorado county concerns federal, local officials
Ozone levels in Colorado's Garfield County are occasionally reaching levels nearing new federal ozone standards set to take effect in May, and U.S. Forest Service and county officials said the winter-time occurrence of the higher readings, along with higher readings in lower elevations, are starting to concern them.
Grand Junction Sentinel; 03/18/2008
Colorado, federal wildlife officials launch sage grouse effort
Various federal and Colorado agencies signed off on an agreement Monday that outlines steps to be taken to protect sage grouse populations in Colorado to help keep the bird from being listed as an endangered species.
Denver Post (AP); 03/19/2008
Warmer climate brings spring earlier to the Rocky Mountain West
Scientists say climate change has been pushing signs of spring earlier and earlier in the American West over past decades, with salmon runs up the Columbia River occurring 11 days earlier than in 1939; yellow-bellied marmots are emerging from hibernation in Colorado a month earlier; and satellite images showing spring "green-up" north of the Mason-Dixon line occurring eight hours earlier each year.
Denver Post (AP); 03/20/2008
- As Yellowstone National Park warms, a new ecosystem emerges
Changes are afoot in Yellowstone National Park, with Canada thistle taking advantage of the new warmer, drier climate to continue its march across valleys, aided by pocket gophers that feed on the plant's roots, and disturb the soil, making it easier for the plant to take root, and grizzly bears have discovered the gophers are a good food source, leading to an increase of bears as well.
New York Times; 03/18/2008
About one-quarter of Yellowstone bison slaughtered or killed this year
Yellowstone National Park officials estimated that there were 4,700 bison in the park before winter set in, and on Monday the unofficial tally of bison that were captured and sent to slaughter or otherwise killed hit 1,098, topping the previous record of 1,047 set in the winter of 1996-97.
Billings Gazette; 03/18/2008
Wyoming rancher relinquishes grazing allotment near Yellowstone Park
The National Wildlife Federation and other groups helped broker a deal between the Diamond G Ranch and Shoshone National Forest that pays the Wyoming ranch $150,000 to secure grazing elsewhere and removes livestock from a predator-prone allotment near Yellowstone National Park.
Billings Gazette; 03/21/2008
Nuclear power ill-suited for today's electricity needs
Energy analysts believe that nuclear energy is the single biggest business disaster in history, and unlike non-nuclear sources of energy, nuclear plants cannot be easily shut down or started up to meet changing demands for electricity.
Toronto National Post; 03/16/2008
Federal regulations aren't holding up Colorado's oil shale development
The cadre of Republican senators who failed to overturn the one-year moratorium on rules for commercial development of oil shale in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming are mistaken in their premise that it's a lack of federal regulation that has stalled oil-shale development--economics and technology are what's hobbling the effort.
Grand Junction Sentinel; 03/18/2008
If Desert Rock is to be built, at least build it with clean-coal technology
The Navajo Nation partner of Sithe Global Power's lawsuit against the federal Environmental Protection Agency to force the agency to move forward on the process to build the coal-fired Desert Rock Power Plant on Navajo land in New Mexico is no doubt prompted out of concern that a change in the White House may spell curtains for the project, but this project has been on the drawing board for five years -- and yet does not even consider using new cleaner technology.
Santa Fe New Mexican; 03/20/2008
Colorado bill will protect state's waters as new uranium boom nears
House Bill 1161 has been substantially improved from its first iteration, and will protect the state's water during the next uranium boom, especially in light of the "in situ" processes under consideration that processes the precious ore on site.
Denver Post; 03/21/2008
Federal legislation would ban mining near Grand Canyon
Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva's Grand Canyon Watersheds Protection Act of 2008 would prohibit mining on 1 million acres of public land around the Grand Canyon.
Arizona Republic; 03/18/2008
Low voter turnout in Alberta elicits call for compulsory voting
Some political analysts said the 41 percent voter turnout in Alberta's elections March 3 is proof that the Canadian province's democratic foundation is crumbling, and that officials should consider making voting mandatory.
Edmonton Journal; 03/16/2008
Former Idaho elk rancher to run as an independent for U.S. Senate
Rex Rammell, a former elk rancher in Idaho had previously announced that he would run for the Republican Party's nomination for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Sen. Larry Craig, who is not seeking re-election, but with what Rammell said was the GOP's "anointment" of Lt. Gov. Jim Risch as the party's nominee, Rammel has decided to run for the seat as an independent candidate.
Twin Falls Times-News; 03/20/2008
Arizona, dozens of other states, face huge budget gaps
Arizona and at least two dozen other states are expecting budget shortfalls in 2009, and although the state's projected $1.8 billion budget gap is not the highest in the nation, it does represent 16 percent of its general fund, which is the highest percentage in the nation.
New York Times; 03/17/2008
Colorado Senate approves Ritter's nominees for oil, gas commission
The 15 Republicans in the Senate opposed two of Gov. Bill Ritter's nominees for the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, but all six nominees were approved.
Durango Herald; 03/18/2008
Colorado lawmakers attempt to capture more energy funds
Democratic Sens. Abel Tapia and Chris Romer unveiled a ballot measure that would raise increase the severance taxes on oil and gas from 6 to 7 percent and would eliminate a property tax credit for the oil and gas industry, and use the new money to fund higher education in Colorado.
Denver Rocky Mountain News; 03/21/2008
Idaho Senate passes duo of tax breaks for uranium plant
In an effort to lure a French company to build a uranium-enrichment plant in the state, the Idaho Senate passed legislation Monday that extends a sales tax exemption to cover production equipment that handles nuclear fuel and caps property tax valuations on the plant at $400 million if Areva Inc. invests $1 billion in the plant over the next seven years.
Twin Falls Times-News (AP); 03/18/2008
Idaho Senate panel kills bill that targeted companies using illegal labor
On Monday, the Idaho Senate State Affairs Committee killed legislation fashioned after an Arizona law that imposes sanctions on employers who knowingly hire illegal workers; similar legislation failed in an Idaho House committee last month.
Idaho Statesman (AP); 03/18/2008
Utah governor signs 86 bills into law
Among the 86 bills signed into law by Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. on Tuesday was a measure mandating the state's utilities to obtain 20 percent of their energy from renewable resources by 2025, if it's cost effective to do so.
Salt Lake Tribune; 03/19/2008
Wyoming's workers' comp reserve prompts lawmakers' probe
Over the past two decades, Wyoming's workers' compensation fund has climbed from a multimillion-dollar deficit to a $925 million fund, a situation employers said is caused by too-high premiums and they're demanding a rebate, but workers said the high reserve is indicative of the state's withholding of benefits to injured workers, and lawmakers have launched an investigation into the program. Part of a series on the state's workers' compensation program.
Casper Star-Tribune; 03/19/2008
Wyoming's coal helps put U.S. exports solidly in the black
Coal exports from Wyoming and West Virginia have increased dramatically as global demand for the fossil fuel has increased, and coal executives said they anticipate exports will increase to 80 million tons this year.
New York Times; 03/19/2008
Lessons learned, company shutters Wyoming coal refinery
Evergreen Energy officials said processes developed at its Wyoming coal refinery will allow the company to refine those methods at its Illinois and Indonesia coal-refinement facilities, but Evergreen shuttered its Wyoming plant Thursday, idling 50 workers.
Casper Star-Tribune; 03/21/2008
Montana mill to close indefinitely; 102 workers idled
Stimson Lumber officials traveled to Bonner Tuesday to tell the workers there the Montana sawmill will close in 60 days and will remain closed indefinitely.
Missoulian; 03/19/2008
Effort to build Wyoming-Oregon pipeline across Utah continues
El Paso Ruby Holding Company has been holding meetings with landowners in Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Nevada and Oregon to build support and get rights-of-way for its $2-billion Ruby Pipeline project, a 680-mile, 42-inch-diameter, natural-gas pipeline that will run between Opal, Wyo., and terminate in Oregon at Malin.
Salt Lake Tribune; 03/20/2008
Federal appeals court grants former Qwest exec a new trial
An appellate court panel voted 2-1 to give former Qwest chief executive Joe Nacchio a new trial.
Denver Post; 03/18/2008
Wyoming ranchers worry about Brazilian company's packing plant deal
Wyoming's Senators John Barrasso and Mike Enzi have asked the Justice Department to carefully monitor Brazil-based JBS SA's proposed $1.1 billion buyout of Smithfield Beef Group Inc. and National Beef Packing Co., which would give the nation's largest meatpacker control over the nation's largest feedlot operation.
Casper Star-Tribune (AP); 03/20/2008
States become the battleground over coal-fired power
With the lack of federal action on greenhouse gas emissions, states are taking action, and in states dependent upon coal-fired power, the battles are becoming particularly heated.
New York Times; 03/20/2008
Washington state's cougar hunt has unintended results
In response to an increase in human-cougar conflicts, Washington stepped up cougar hunting efforts in the northeastern region of the state, but the removal of the mature, adult cougars which hunters prefer to take and which keep sub-adult males in check, has actually led to an increase of human-cougar encounters.
Seattle Times; 03/16/2008
Energy company wants to build $5B-hydro plant in Alberta
TransCanada Corp. and ATCO Power Ltd. want to develop Alberta's last remaining major hydroelectric prospect on the Slave River in northern Alberta.
Calgary Herald; 03/20/2008
- Idaho tribe foots the bill for innovative wolf-tracking system
A device developed at the University of Montana as an inexpensive means of keeping track of wolves emits wolf howls and records and analyzes responses from wolves in the wild, and will be tested in a remote area of Idaho this June.
New York Times; 03/19/2008
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