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Rating the Rockies: State of the Rockies Report Card provides talking points for counties' officials, West's residents
May 8, 2008
Fact & Fiction and the Bookstore at the University of Montana offer a review of Dorothy Hinshaw Patent's "When the Wolves returned: Restoring Nature's Balance in Yellowstone."
Patent, along with the book's illustrators, Dan and Cassie Hartman, will be signing copies of "When the Wolves Returned" on Sunday, May 11 from 12:30 to 2:00 pm at Fact & Fiction in downtown Missoula in conjunction with the International Wildlife Film Festival,
which kicks off Saturday in that Montana city.
May 15: High Country News hosts a panel discussion: "CRASH! What happens when an energy boom collides with an amenity boom?" at Mesa State College in Grand Junction, Colo. Read a preview.
June 4-6: Natural Resources Law Center's Shifting Baselines & New Meridians — Water, Resources, Landscapes and the Transformation of the American West," at the University of Colorado at Boulder Law School. Read a preview.
Senate committee approves Wyoming conservation bills
On Wednesday, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved the Craig Thomas Snake Headwaters Legacy Act, which would put 387 miles of waterways in the Snake River drainage under the protection of the federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, and the Wyoming Range Legacy Act, which would prohibit further energy leasing on the Wyoming Range and would allow conservation groups to buy existing leases to retire them; the measures must still be approved by the full Senate and the House.
Jackson Hole News & Guide; 05/08/2008
U.S. Senate committee OKs Crapo's Owyhee Canyonlands bill
Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo's bill to designate 807 square miles in the state's Owyhee canyonlands as wilderness was approved by a Senate committee on Wednesday.
Idaho Statesman; 05/08/2008
Senate panel OKs extra protection for Colorado nat'l park
A bill designating Rocky Mountain National Park as a wilderness area was approved by a Senate committee on Wednesday, as was an amendment granting legal protection for the company that maintains the Grand Ditch irrigation canal that runs through the Colorado park.
Denver Post; 05/08/2008
Committee floats Navajo water bill along to full Senate vote
The $900 million price tag to settle the Navajo Nation's water claims in the San Juan River Basin has stalled similar legislation in the past, and the price remains the same on legislation approved Wednesday by the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee; the full Senate must now vote on the bill.
Santa Fe New Mexican (AP); 05/08/2008
Montana county asks USFS to halt road talks with Plum Creek
The Missoula County Commission has asked the U.S. Forest Service to release documents that provide the underpinnings of discussions between the federal agency and Plum Creek Timber Co. on road easements across federal lands and to not hold any more talks with the timber company until the county has had a chance to review the paperwork, but Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey has already said the documents won't be released, and the county is preparing to head to court.
Missoulian; 05/08/2008
Western states' panel votes to ban disposal of foreign waste in Utah
The eight-member Northwest Compact on Low-level Radioactive Waste tweaked its contract with Utah-based EnergySolutions to make it evident that foreign nuclear waste would not be allowed at the company's Tooele County facility, and closed a loophole that allowed foreign waste processed at the company's Tennessee facility to be buried at the Utah site; EnergySolutions asked a judge on Monday to rule that the Northwest Compact has no authority over its Utah site.
Salt Lake Tribune; 05/09/2008
Court orders Montana DEQ to issue permit for 4th gravel pit
For the fourth time in two weeks, a district court judge has ordered the Montana Department of Environmental Quality to issue an open-cut mining permit for a gravel pit without performing an environmental assessment of the project.
Great Falls Tribune; 05/09/2008
Treatment of CBM water in Wyoming on the rise
According to the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, gas companies treated about 8.8 percent of the 638 million barrels of water pumped to the surface by coalbed methane operators in Wyoming's Powder River Basin, or about 56 million barrels of water in 2007; operators treated 45 million barrels of the 680 barrels of water produced in 2006.
Casper Star-Tribune (AP); 05/06/2008
Another upscale development in Idaho files for Chapter 11 protection
The Village Green at the Valley Club, a golf community in Ketchum built around a nine-hole Tom Fazio golf course has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, with just 13 of the 43 custom homes built in the upscale Idaho subdivision.
NewWest.net; 05/05/2008
Idaho facility one of 18 in nation that can take radioactive waste
The American Ecology facility in Idaho's Owyhee County will be getting 6,700 tons of contaminated sand from Kuwait this week, a fairly routine scenario for the facility that has accepted more than 1 million tons of radioactive or hazardous waste from the federal government over the past five years.
Idaho Statesman; 05/08/2008
Navajo group, Sithe Global execs meet on proposed N.M. power plant
Representatives of Dine Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment traveled to New York City last week to meet with executives of the company that wants to build the Desert Rock coal-fired power plant on Navajo land in New Mexico, where the two groups discussed the cumulative effect another coal-fired power plant in the Four Corners region would have on Navajo residents' health.
Farmington Daily Times; 05/03/2008
Idaho tribe launches bus service for workers
Citing the high price of gasoline, the Nez Perce Tribe began running buses between Lewiston, Kooskia and other areas to help employees get to their jobs at the Clearwater River Casino, the tribe's headquarters in Lapwai and in Lewiston.
Twin Falls Times-News (Lewiston Tribune); 05/07/2008
Appeals court says Wyoming man must be tried for killing bald eagle
The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Winslow Friday, a member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe, must stand trial for killing a bald eagle on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming in 2006, reversing a federal court decision that had dismissed the criminal charges against Friday.
Billings Gazette (AP); 05/09/2008
Small town in Wyoming has big-city air problem
Boulder, a town of 75 people in Wyoming's Sublette County, has air pollution thick enough to prompt safety warnings from the state, and reducing the levels of ozone in the air to acceptable federal levels may cost energy developers and taxpayers millions of dollars.
Casper Star-Tribune; 05/08/2008
Enviro groups' lawsuit alleges federal wolf goals far too low
In a lawsuit filed last month against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, environmental groups said that the federal agency's original wolf recovery goals of 300 wolves in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, with at least 30 breeding pairs spread among the three states, was far too small for genetic diversity, and said science supports the need for at least 2,000 to 5,000 wolves in the Northern Rockies.
Casper Star-Tribune; 05/08/2008
Proposed drilling rules in Colorado impose restrictions for wildlife
The energy industry said proposed rules that would shut down drilling operations in Colorado for months at a time to provide seasonal protections for about a dozen species are far too restrictive, but conservation groups said the rules don't provide enough protection.
Denver Post; 05/05/2008
USFWS opens public comment on listing white-tailed prairie dog
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is reconsidering its decision not to list the white-tailed prairie dog for protection under the federal Endangered Species Act, and on Tuesday, the agency opened a public comment period on that reconsideration.
Billings Gazette; 05/07/2008
BLM withdraws energy leases from lynx habitat in Colorado
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management withdrew the lease of 146,000 acres of land in the Rio Grande National Forest in Colorado from its auction set for May 8, a decision lauded by groups who had protested leases in the region because the area contains the core release area of Canada lynx.
Durango Herald; 05/06/2008
Alberta man faces charges for shooting, killing grizzly bear
An Alberta man who said he shot and killed a female grizzly bear in self-defense has been charged with five offenses by province officials, who said there were other actions the man could have taken that would have spared the bear.
Vancouver Sun (CanWest News Service); 05/08/2008
West Nile may be culprit in declining sage grouse numbers
North Dakota officials may cancel sage grouse hunts this season, due to die-off linked to West Nile virus, and Montana officials said they're seeing some high mortality rates in some regions of the state and believe West Nile may be to blame as well.
Billings Gazette; 05/08/2008
Utah needs to do more to clean up its air
It's true that Utah's air is cleaner now than it was a couple of decades ago, but two of the Beehive State's cities still made the American Lung Association's Top 10 list for particulate pollution, and instead of going on the defensive, the state's leaders should take a proactive approach to making our state's air cleaner.
Salt Lake Tribune; 05/05/2008
Colorado bill linking growth, water supplies could have been better
If Gov. Bill Ritter signs legislation passed by the Colorado Legislature this session, developers of projects that contain 50 or more housing units will have to tell cities how water for the development will be supplied, and while the legislation could have gone further in shaping growth and water use in the state, it's at least a start.
Durango Herald; 05/05/2008
Suggestion that white-tailed prairie dogs endangered laughable
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is going to spend the next two years studying white-tailed prairie dogs in Colorado, Wyoming and other western states to see if the burrowing rodents deserve federal protection, a new review prompted by allegations that the original decision not to list the species was tainted by politics--and there's hope that science will once again prevail and find that this prolific species is doing just fine.
Grand Junction Sentinel; 05/08/2008
Clinton, Obama should make joint campaign appearances
The race to be the Democratic Party's presidential nominee has reached a critical point, and in order for Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to engage each other's supporters, the candidates should spend the final month of the primary campaign making joint appearances. A column by Pat Williams, Senior Fellow of the Center for the Rocky Mountain West, of which Headwaters News is a project.
Pat Williams, Center for the Rocky Mountain West; 05/09/2008
Nevada, N.M. senators unveil Democrats' oil bill
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, with N.M. Sen. Jeff Bingaman standing by his side, rolled out the Democrats' plan to address high energy prices that includes a 25 percent tax on oil companies' profits above what is "reasonable," and redirects about $17 billion in tax breaks from oil companies to fund renewable energy research; New Mexico's Republican Sen. Pete Domenici dismissed the legislation as a "do-nothing" package. You may have to view an ad to read this article.
Albuquerque Journal; 05/08/2008
Shell Oil exec criticizes lack of access to U.S. resources
At a speech before a national conference of states' attorneys general in Idaho, John Hofmeister, the president of Shell Oil Co., said the United States' reliance on foreign oil is exacerbated by a lack of access to domestic resources; Hofmeister also criticized Americans' addiction to energy consumption, and the federal government's inaction on addressing greenhouse gas emissions.
Idaho Statesman (Spokane Spokesman Review); 05/08/2008
Republican senators ask EPA to back off ethanol goals
Twenty-four Republican senators, including Arizona Sen. John McCain, sent a letter last week to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency asking that mandates for ethanol-based fuel production over the next 15 years be waived to help ease the rising price of food.
Denver Rocky Mountain News (AP); 05/06/2008
Arizona congressman gives nod to state's guest-worker legislation
Republican Congressman John Shadegg said Arizona's guest-worker legislation may be just the impetus Congress needs to get to work on immigration reform.
Arizona Republic; 05/05/2008
Arizona panel OKs tougher vehicle-emissions standard
The Governor's Regulatory Review Council approved new vehicle-emission standards for all new light trucks and cars sold in Arizona, beginning in 2012, although the plan's implementation hinges on the outcome of a lawsuit filed by California, Arizona and other states against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency seeking a waiver that allows states to set such standards.
Arizona Republic; 05/07/2008
Arizona governor files paperwork to put transit initiative before voters
Organizers of the effort to put a $42.6 billion statewide transportation plan on the Arizona ballot in November have until July 3 to collect the 153,365 valid signatures needed to put the initiative on the ballot.
Arizona Republic; 05/07/2008
Wyoming gets $51 million in abandoned-mine funds
The federal Office of Surface Mining announced Wednesday that it was returning $51 million in abandoned mine funds to Wyoming, the second allotment of funds paid to the state this year; the federal agency is returning coal-tax funds that were collected but never appropriated, and Wyoming will at least $82.7 million annually over the next six years.
Casper Star-Tribune; 05/09/2008
Arizona lawmaker says bill will aid immigration enforcement work
Arizona state Rep. Steve Pearce submitted a resolution on Tuesday that would prohibit local governments from passing policies that would prevent law enforcement officials from enforcing federal immigration laws.
Arizona Republic; 05/07/2008
Colorado House sends migrant-worker bill to Ritter
Legislation designed to ease the process for agricultural companies in Colorado to hire seasonal workers in Mexico was passed by the House on Monday and sent to Gov. Bill Ritter for action.
Denver Post; 05/06/2008
Utah AG says initiative ban in land-use laws may be illegal
Legislation that was touted as a "housekeeping" bill to codify court decisions on land-use laws in Utah sailed through the Legislation this session, but an opinion rendered by the state's Attorney General's office said the law which bans voter initiatives and referenda on such laws may be unconstitutional.
Salt Lake Tribune; 05/07/2008
Freudenthal, Wyoming lawmakers at odds over wildlife trust funds
On Saturday, Gov. Dave Freudenthal toured the Festo Lake restoration project, which was funded by the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust Fund, and used the opportunity to criticize Wyoming legislators whom he said were always happy to show up and share the praise for projects paid for by the trust fund, but were less forthcoming when it came time to actually appropriate money for the fund.
Casper Star-Tribune; 05/05/2008
French company picks Idaho as site for new uranium-enrichment plant
French-owned Areva Inc. will build a $2-billion uranium-enrichment plant in Idaho, near the Idaho National Laboratory.
Santa Fe New Mexican (AP); 05/06/2008
Colorado picked as site for world's largest wind-turbine tower factory
An announcement posted on Vestas Wind Systems' web site said that the Danish company plans to build the world's largest wind-turbine tower factory in Colorado, and that it planned to have the facility up and running by the middle of 2010, although the company has not yet announced the location of the plant.
Denver Post; 05/09/2008
Exxon Mobil will build CO2 plant in Wyoming
Texas-based Exxon Mobil Corp. plans to break ground this summer on a plant in Wyoming that will use cryogenics to remove carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and other unwanted compounds from methane, with production at the $100-million plant near Exxon's Shute Creek natural gas processing plant at LaBarge.
Casper Star-Tribune; 05/06/2008
Sithe Global Power lets water contract for Nevada plant lapse
The company that wants to build the 750-megawatt, coal-fired Toquop plant near Mesquite has let its contract with its water supplier lapse, giving opponents of the Nevada plant hope that the developer is walking away from the project.
Las Vegas Sun; 05/06/2008
Colorado picked as site for world's largest wind-turbine tower factory
An announcement posted on Vestas Wind Systems' web site said that the Danish company plans to build the world's largest wind-turbine tower factory in Colorado, and that it planned to have the facility up and running by the middle of 2010, although the company has not yet announced the location of the plant.
Denver Post; 05/09/2008
Utility says it will build 3 more wind farms in Wyoming
Rocky Mountain Power officials said the company will build two wind farms in Wyoming's Albany and Carbon counties: the 99-megawatt High Plains project slated to go online in June 2009; the 88.5-megawatt McFadden Ridge project scheduled to be operational by December 2010; and plans are in the works for a third, as yet unnamed, project.
Casper Star-Tribune; 05/08/2008
Moody's declares Arizona is in a recession
Moody's Economy.com followed up its earlier report that Arizona was in a recession with a later declaration that Phoenix and Tucson were also in a recession.
Arizona Republic; 05/09/2008
Oregon company shutters two B.C. pulp mills
Oregon-based Pope & Talbot was forced to shut down its two B.C. pulp mills and its Halsey mill in Oregon after the insolvent timber company's agreement to sell the mills to an Asian company collapsed.
Vancouver Sun; 05/06/2008
Expert: B.C. sawmill business will go from bad to worse
A consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers said with housing starts in the United States at half what they were two years ago, and sawmill production levels remaining steady, more British Columbia sawmills will be shuttered over the next year.
Vancouver Sun; 05/09/2008
Federal government releases revamped salmon plan
The federal government released its final, court-ordered plans to protect 13 threatened and endangered species of salmon and steelhead in the Columbia Basin on Monday, but environmental groups called the plan, which does not require the removal of any of the 14 federal hydroelectric dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers, a step backward.
Washington Post (AP); 05/06/2008
President Bush signs bill creating Wild Sky wilderness in Washington state
The Wild Sky wilderness, created by legislation signed into law by President Bush today, is the first wilderness area designated in Washington state in nearly 25 years.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer; 05/08/2008
Survey pegs loss of honeybees across the nation at 36 percent
The Apiary Inspectors of America second annual survey of the nation's commercially managed bee hives found that beekeepers lost 36.1 percent of their bees in 2007, up from the 32 percent reported in 2006.
Washington Post (AP); 05/07/2008
Study links air pollution to bees' demise
A study by three University of Virginia researchers found that air pollution destroys the scent-bearing hydrocarbon molecules released by flowers, making it harder for bees to find their food source and leading to a decline in the pollinators.
Washington Post; 05/05/2008
EPA official says agency might not act on perchlorate contamination
At a hearing of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Benjamin H. Grumbles, the Environmental Protection Agency's assistant administrator for water, said that it was a "distinct possibility" that the agency may not set limits for perchlorate in water, even though experts testifying at the hearing said they had sufficient data to support such a limit.
Los Angeles Times; 05/07/2008
Renewed interest in mining in the West faces new opposition
As mining lumbers back into the West's economy, the industry is meeting new resistance from those who have moved to the area because of its natural amenities.
Christian Science Monitor; 05/02/2008
In 5 Western states, new rush to mine uranium
The number of uranium mining claims in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming grew from 4,333 new claims in 2004 to 43,153 in 2007.
Los Angeles Times; 05/04/2008
Atlanta Gold, USFS to meet about Idaho mine plan
A sticking point for a proposed gold mine in Idaho is how long water treatment at the site will continue, and on Tuesday, Atlanta Gold executives will meet with U.S. Forest Service officials and environmental groups to discuss the company's plan to explore an old mine tunnel on private land as an access point for a new underground mine.
Idaho Statesman; 05/05/2008
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