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Rating the Rockies, Part III: West has the renewable energy resources to power the region, now it needs the leadership to take the helm
May 20, 2008
Fact & Fiction and the Bookstore at the University of Montana offer a review of Dorothy Handsaw Patent's "When the Wolves returned: Restoring Nature's Balance in Yellowstone."
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.
June 29-July 1: Western Governors' Association Annual Meeting; Wildlife corridors, climate change, energy and managing water on agenda, Stetson Village
Jackson Hole, Wy. Read a preview.
New climate report paints grim picture of West's water supply
The new climate report issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture said that over the next 20 to 50 years, the American West will face increased demand for water at a time when mountain snows upon which the West depends to fill reservoirs are expected to diminish, and when precipitation does come in the form of rain, it will come in amounts and at times when it's difficult to manage.
New York Times; 05/28/2008
Climate report: Federal land managers face new, uncharted territory
The federal report on the effects of climate change found that of the 1,598 animal species studied, nearly 60 percent had already been affected by climate change and that public lands in the Interior West were already affected by larger, more frequent forest fires and widespread beetle infestations. Another look.
Washington Post; 05/28/2008
Group: Jemez Mountains epicenter of climate change in N. M.
The Nature Conservancy's "Implications of Recent Climate Change on Conservation Priorities in New Mexico," said the state's Jemez Mountains are already showing considerable effects of a changing climate, putting the already endangered Jemez Mountain salamander at further risk.
Santa Fe New Mexican; 05/30/2008
White House's report admits human activity a factor in climate change
A report issued Thursday by the National Science and Technology Council and the U.S. Climate Change Science Program admitted that natural causes alone cannot explain recent extreme changes in the Earth's weather, a stance environmentalists said was a big shift from previous reports.
Arizona Republic; 05/30/2008
British lawmakers say Energy Solutions courting U. K. nuclear waste
Utah Rep. Jim Matthews said statements by a member of the British Parliament about exporting nuclear waste to Utah concerned him, but Energy Solutions spokesman John Ward said that since current British law bans the export of nuclear waste, discussions between U. K. officials and the company were just brainstorming sessions at this point.
Salt Lake Tribune; 05/28/2008
Plum Creek ready to sell 300,000 acres in Montana
Montana Sen. Max Baucus announced a deal last week with Plum Creek Timber Co. to conserve 300,000 acres of the company's land in Montana as working forests, using funding from the latest Farm Bill and from The Nature Conservancy and The Trust for Public Land.
Missourian; 05/24/2008
- Montana's stalemate with Rey on Plum Creek documents continues
U.S. Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey says he's not sure when, or if, documents underlying a year's worth of discussions between the U.S. Forest Service and Plum Creek Timber Co. about road easements in Montana will be released to the public, but lawyers representing Montana counties and public landowners said they'll go to court to get access to the documents.
Missoulian; 05/24/2008
Arizona city considers 'housing first' campaign against homelessness
The Phoenix City Council is considering an overhaul of its campaign to end homelessness by adopting the "Housing First" model, which provides safe, secure housing to the homeless as a first step toward getting them off the streets.
Arizona Republic; 05/28/2008
Rainfall, snowmelt boosts water levels in Wyoming reservoir
Water levels and releases from Bighorn Lake in Wyoming have been a point of contention between Wyoming recreational interests and Montana fisheries officials, but inflows into the reservoir increased substantially over the weekend, and Bureau of Reclamation officials told Montana and Wyoming representatives that releases from Yellowtail Dam into the Bighorn River would remain at 4,500 cubic feet per second for now.
Billings Gazette; 05/28/2008
Montana dispute puts focus on floodplain development
The owner of property along Montana's East Rosebud River said he believed recent streamside subdividing prompted his neighbors to complain about beaver dams and fallen trees on his property that affected the flow of the stream, and he urged Stillwater County Commissioners to put a moratorium on floodplain development.
Billings Gazette; 05/30/2008
Coeur d'Alene Tribe gives millions to Idaho, Montana schools, communities
Coeur d’Alene Tribal Council Chairman Chief Allan announced today that the tribe has provided $4.5 million to schools and communities in Montana and Idaho over the past two years, with $1.1 million contributed to North Idaho and Western Montana elementary and high schools; $2.5 million to community programs; and $973,000 to universities and higher education programs in Idaho.
Spokane Spokesman Review; 05/28/2008
Navajo Code Talker Jerry C. Begay Sr. died Monday
Jerry C. Begay Sr., who joined the U.S. Marine Corps at the age of 17 and served as a Navajo Code Talker during World War II, died at the age of 83 in Albuquerque on Memorial Day.
Farmington Daily-Times; 05/29/2008
Federal land managers announced Wednesday that new restrictions on coalbed methane operations in Wyoming's Powder River Basin will be imposed to save sage grouse habitat and protect the species from further decline.
Casper Star-Tribune; 05/29/2008
Montana ranchers sue state to get bison off Horse Butte
Two ranchers and the Montana Stockgrowers Association have sued the state Department of Livestock for not meeting a May 15 deadline for hazing bison that wandered out of Yellowstone National Park back into the park.
Bozeman Daily Chronicle; 05/29/2008
USFS rescinds decision to let driller fund study of Wyoming Range project
The U.S. Forest Service announced Tuesday that it would not allow Stanley Energy to pay for the environmental analysis of energy development on the Wyoming Range, leases which Stanley Energy hopes to acquire.
Billings Gazette (Casper Star-Tribune); 05/28/2008
Number of desert tortoises in Utah falls again
Eight years ago, there were an estimated 3,200 desert tortoises living on the 62,000-acre Red Cliffs Desert Reserve in southwestern Utah, but that number has been declining since 2000, and this year's annual count found 1,700 tortoises.
Salt Lake Tribune; 05/24/2008
Public comment sought on change to wolf policy in N.M., Ariz.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson supports a change to Standard Operating Procedure 13, which requires Mexican gray wolves reintroduced in parts of New Mexico and Arizona to be removed if they prey on livestock three times in one year, a policy some fear would entice a rancher to intentionally lure wolves into attacking livestock so the wolves could be removed.
Santa Fe New Mexican (AP); 05/24/2008
Alberta university under fire for keeping mum on wolf kill test
The University of Alberta's five-year plan to reduce the number of wolves along the Eastern Slopes near Rocky Mountain House using a combination of sterilization and targeted kills in order to increase the number of elk in the region has drawn some harsh criticism, not only for the project itself but also for the university's refusal to release any documentation about the project.
Calgary Herald (Rocky Mountain Outlook); 05/26/2008
USFS: Turkey hunters' campfire sparked destructive N.M. wildfire
The U.S. Forest Service's lead investigator on the Trigo wildfire said they had traced the origins of the fire that burned for more than a month and destroyed 59 homes to one square yard on the west side of Trigo Canyon, and that a witness reported seeing hunters wearing camouflage carrying long guns on April 15th, the day the fire started and the first day of turkey hunting season, in that area. You may have to view an ad to read this article.
Albuquerque Journal; 05/30/2008
Wolf hearing in Montana made for a crowded courtroom
More than a dozen lawyers were on hand in a Missoula courtroom, to argue their clients' side of reinstating federal protection of wolves in the Northern Rockies while a lawsuit filed by a host of environmental groups to put the wolf back on the federal endangered species list makes its way through the courts.
Missoula; 05/30/2008
U.S. Army, Shell to pay Colorado $35M for arsenal contamination
During World War II, the U.S. Army produced chemical and incendiary weapons on the 27-square-mile Rocky Mountain Arsenal in Colorado's Adam County; and Shell Oil Company produced insecticides, herbicides and pesticides on that site for three decades, and on Thursday, the Army and Shell agreed to pay the state $$35 million in cash and land to settle natural resource damage claims.
Grand Junction Sentinel; 05/30/2008
Utah's tourism too important to economy to be drilled under
Utah's landscape, wildlife and outdoor recreational opportunities are too important to the state's economy to fall victim to the federal government's relentless push to drill for whatever pittance of energy may underlie our public lands.
Salt Lake Tribune; 05/24/2008
Tribes, U.S. salmon deal less historic than 'business as usual'
The recent agreement between Northwestern tribes and the federal government on salmon management on the Columbia River and its largest tributary, the Snake, that provided more than $1 billion in federal funds for salmon projects allows four hydroelectric dams to remain in place, which means not much will change for the salmon over the next ten years. A guest column by Mike Barenti, a former Yakima Herald-Republic reporter and the author of "Kayaking Alone: Nine Hundred Miles from Idaho's Mountains to the Pacific Ocean."
Yakima Herald Republic; 05/27/2008
Growing urban areas change West's political landscape
This year's presidential race has unearthed a rural-urban divide in the Rocky Mountain West, and neither the Democrats nor the Republicans have found a unifying message that appeals both to the rural hook-and-bullet crowd and the urban, outdoor-minded voters.
Boise Weekly; 05/29/2008
USFS needs to start over on drilling plan for Wyoming Range
The U.S. Forest Service's decision to withdraw from its agreement to allow Stanley Energy, Inc. to fund the environmental analysis of drilling leases it hopes to acquire on the Wyoming Range isn't enough; the federal agency should begin the process anew and toss the new accelerated timeline.
Casper Star-Tribune; 05/29/2008
Renewable energy needs to be included in climate change debate
The U.S. Senate is poised to take up the Lieberman-Warner climate bill, and New Mexico Sen. Jeff Bingaman should use his position as chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to ensure that tax incentives for renewable energy and more efficient vehicles should be included in that debate.
Santa Fe New Mexican; 05/30/2008
Clinton, Obama make their case to Montanans on energy, wilderness
Just days before Montana's June 3 primary, the Flathead Beacon asked Democratic presidential contenders Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama to set out their positions on guns, energy, federal land management and other issues that loom large in the Big Sky State.
Flathead Beacon; 05/28/2008
Western governors meet in Utah, team up on renewable energy
At the first meeting of the Western Governors' Association's Western Renewable Energy Zones project on Wednesday in Salt Lake City, Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. outlined the group's core mission: tapping into the West's renewable energy resources and adding them to the nation's power grid.
Deseret News; 05/29/2008
Utah congressman stands alone on n-waste disposal issue
U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson's legislation would prohibit EnergySolutions from importing about 1,600 tons of radioactive waste from Italy for storage in Utah, but so far none of his congressional colleagues have lined up to support the legislation.
Salt Lake Tribune; 05/26/2008
With primary over, Idaho's political season pushes off
The battle between Republican Lt. Gov. Jim Risch and Democrat Larry LaRocco, a former Idaho congressman for the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by Sen. Larry Craig's retirement is the headliner in this year's political season in Idaho, and on Wednesday both candidates came out swinging.
Spokane Spokesman-Review; 05/29/2008
Initiative on 'personhood' qualifies for Colorado ballot
An initiative to define a person, for the use of extending constitutional protections in Colorado, as "any human being from the moment of fertilization," qualified for the ballot in November.
Denver Post; 05/30/2008
Montana groups, landowners move toward accord on stream access
Montana law allows public access to streams and rivers, a measure private landowners have unsuccessfully tried to overturn recently, and the state Fish and Wildlife Department has been working with opposing sides of the issue to develop a bill to take to the Legislature to settle access issues.
Billings Gazette; 05/25/2008
Arizona governor criticizes lawmakers for budget inaction
Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano said legislators had her plan to address the state's potential $2-billion shortfall for more than a month, and warned them not to try any last minute gimmicks to try to avoid addressing her concerns.
Arizona Daily Sun; 05/29/2008
BLM, DOE to team up on solar-power study in 6 Western states
Bureau of Land Management officials announced Thursday that the agency will work with the Department of Energy to conduct analyses of solar-power projects on federal lands in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (AP); 05/30/2008
Miners head back to Idaho's Silver Valley
Mining is making a comeback in Idaho's Silver Valley, fueled by skyrocketing prices for silver and other metals, and miners who left the state decades are coming back, and finding that tourism has changed the housing market considerably.
Twin Falls Times-News (AP); 05/27/2008
Alberta's campaign promoting oilsands, investigations collide
Just as Alberta launches a $25-million, three-year branding campaign, a portion of which promoting the development of the Canadian province's oilsands resources as environmentally sustainable, the province is wading into more than a dozen investigations of leaks, regulatory lapses and environmental consequences of tapping into the oilsands.
Calgary Herald; 05/24/2008
Arizona utility plans to build 3 natural-gas power plants
The Salt River Project announced plans to build three natural-gas power plants in Pinal County to help the Arizona utility meet peak summertime power demands.
Arizona Republic; 05/29/2008
Utah company gets contract to maintain tanks at Hanford nuclear site
Washington River Protection Solutions, a partnership between Utah-based EnergySolutions, Washington's URS Corp. and a subsidiary of France's Areva Group, was awarded a $1.7-billion federal contract to maintain the 177 storage tanks on the Hanford nuclear complex in Washington state.
Deseret News; 05/30/2008
N.Y. company has a plan for Montana slag pile
Thermo-Tek Ltd. officials said they've come up with an innovative use for the 10 million tons of fumed slag at the idle Asarco plant in East Helena, and that if they can work out a deal with Asarco, they'll build a plant right on top of the Montana slag pile to manufacture the product.
Helena Independent Record; 05/25/2008
Texas oil companies' deal will boost oil production in Montana
Fort Worth-based XTO Energy announced it had purchased 352,000 acres of Bakken shale land in Montana and North Dakota from Dallas-based Headington Oil Co. for $1.85 billion, and plans to add at least 100 more wells to the land.
Billings Gazette; 05/29/2008
Efforts to build 'clean-coal' projects stall
Coal is an abundant, cheap fuel in this country, assuring it will continue to be used, and everyone from energy companies to environmentalists to all three top presidential contenders have embraced carbon sequestration as a way to clean up coal-fired power plants' emissions, but since the first of the year, the government has canceled what was to be its showcase project to do that and other projects in Washington state and others have also stalled.
New York Times; 05/30/2008
Ethanol is losing its luster
Complaints that ethanol is putting the squeeze on food prices have spurred a call for Congress to rollback its biofuels mandate, although analysts say it's unlikely that any action will be taken before November's election since the 10 states that produce 80 percent of the nation's ethanol have among them nearly half the 270 electoral votes needed to win a presidential election.
Salt Lake Tribune (AP); 05/25/2008
Tiny California town wants to jump ship, join Arizona or Nevada
The residents of Needles, a tiny town on the Colorado River in eastern California, want to leave the Golden State and its disadvantageous business climate and become a part of either Nevada or Arizona.
Los Angeles Times; 05/27/2008
Federal investigators probe investors' role in rising oil prices
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced Thursday that it was investigating the role of large investors that have been buying up oil futures in the spiraling cost of oil.
Los Angeles Times; 05/30/2008
Washington state monitoring toxic spill in Columbia River
A break in a pipe at the huge Teck Cominco lead and zinc smelter in Trail, British Columbia, dumped approximately 2,100 pounds of lead and 100 gallons of acid into the Columbia River, putting Washington state environmental regulators on alert.
Idaho Statesman (AP); 05/30/2008
Study compares carbon footprint of 100 urban areas of U.S.
A new study released today by the Brookings Institution of 100 urban areas in the United States found that West Coast areas had a much lower carbon footprint than areas in the East and Midwest, with Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, Oregon ranked third lowest and Boise-Nampa, Idaho, ranked fifth lowest. Has a graphic
New York Times; 05/29/2008
- Salt Lake City ranks 51st in nation in carbon imprint
A study conducted by the Brookings Institution of the carbon footprint made by the nation's 100 largest urban areas ranked Salt Lake City 51st in the nation.
Salt Lake Tribune; 05/29/2008
- Denver-Aurora ranks 42nd on carbon-footprint analysis
A member of the Brookings Institution's study group that developed the analysis of the carbon footprint in 100 urban areas of the United States said the auto-driven sprawl of the Denver-Aurora area helped boost the Colorado city's ranking to 42nd in per-capita, greenhouse-gas emissions.
Denver Post; 05/29/2008
- Phoenix celebrates its 21st place ranking in greenhouse-gas analysis
Despite its reputation of being a "heat island" and its renowned sprawl, Phoenix fares pretty well in the Brookings Institution's measurement of urban areas' carbon footprints, primarily due to the Arizona city's mild environment and its energy efficiencies.
Arizona Republic; 05/29/2008
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