Building a living: Missoula's homebuilding industry shows signs of life as developers seek new markets, products
June 25, 2009
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Keeping Safe: On Montana's Blackfeet Reservation, the Po'ka Ranch looks beyond bars and walls to help troubled youth.
June 18, 2009
Fact & Fiction sponsors a review of Doug Scott's "Our Wilderness: America's common ground"
June 17, 2009
Greater Yellowstone Coalition's 2009 summer outdoor adventures and projects:
- July 10-11: Greater Yellowstone Coalition's Adopt-A-Wetland Project, Blackfoot River Wildlife Management Area, Southeast Idaho
- July 11: GYC's Sunlight Basin Hike, northwest of Cody, Wyo.
July 19-22: The Teton Conservation District and BioCycle magazine host "Organic Waste Diversion in the Rockies," Jackson, Wyo. Read a preview.
Report faults western states' spending of stimulus funds for roads
The national Smart Growth America group released a report this week that took a state-by-state review of federal stimulus funds on transportation projects that found most western states were spending too much on new roads and not enough on clearing up the backlog of maintenance projects.
NewWest.net; 07/02/2009
Arizona, Montana coal ash dumps on EPA's high-hazard list
The Environmental Protection Agency released a list Monday of 44 coal ash waste dumps that had a high potential for loss of human life should a dam failure occur that includes the coal ash waste dump at the Colstrip Steam Electric Station in Montana, and seven such dumps at the Apache Station Combustion Waste Disposal Facility near Cochise and two at the Cholla Power Plant near Holbrook, both in Arizona.
New York Times; 07/01/2009
Creditors of Yellowstone Club World sue E. Blixseth
Edra Blixseth, the co-founder of the now-bankrupt Yellowstone Club in Montana, has been sued by creditors of a failed spin-off of the exclusive development in Montana, for allegedly illegally transferring money from Yellowstone Club World to pay Yellowstone Club debts.
Billings Gazette (AP); 07/02/2009
Denver breaks into ranks of 25 largest cities in the U.S.
New Census estimates released today pegs Denver's population at nearly 600,000, making the Colorado city the 24th largest in the nation; the new estimates ranked Mead, a former agricultural town centrally located between Fort Collins, Denver, Boulder and Greeley, the fastest-growing city in the state.
Denver Post; 07/01/2009
Air Force's realignment plan cuts 700 jobs at Utah base
The Air Force released its restructuring plan for fiscal year 2010 on Friday that proposed cutting 787 military jobs at Utah's Hill Air Force Base, while adding 87 civilian jobs on base.
Salt Lake Tribune; 06/29/2009
Scientist takes 'big picture' look at migration in ancient Southwest
Steve Lekson, an archaeologist from the University of Colorado, argued a decade ago in "The Chaco Meridian: Centers of Political Power in the Ancient Southwest," that the Anasazi aligned their settlements along the 108th meridian of longitude in the southwest United States, and in his new book,"A History of the Ancient Southwest," he extends the trajectory of the ancient people south to the Mound of the Cross at Paquime, a 14th-century ruin in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, a theory other archaeologists question.
New York Times; 06/30/2009
Blackfeet Tribe shuts down Port of Piegan project in Montana
The Blackfeet Tribal Employment Rights Office shut down a Homeland Security construction project at the Port of Piegan in Montana for 24 hours this week and cited three companies for failing to obtain business licenses and six workers for not having a tribal work permit.
Great Falls Tribune; 07/02/2009
Colorado's new oil, gas rules now apply to federal lands
Under an agreement struck between state and federal officials, new rules put in place by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission on drilling activities, now apply to U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lands in the state as well.
Denver Post (AP); 07/02/2009
Beetle-killed timber changes fire dynamics in the West
Pine-bark beetles have all but killed seven million acres of forest between Colorado and Canada, and in Montana between Helena and Butte, three million acres of trees killed by beetles are standing dead, and fire managers are keeping their fingers crossed that this isn't the season that those trees ignite.
New York Times; 06/29/2009
- USFS offers up its own analysis of thinning efforts
National Fire Director Tom Harbour said Friday that nearly 44 percent of the thinning and fuels reduction work performed by the U.S. Forest Service in recent years occurred in the wildland-urban interface, a considerably higher percentage than the 11 percent reported in a study published earlier this month in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, but Harbour said he could not explain the differences in the numbers.
Portland Oregonian (AP); 06/27/2009
UN panel votes to send study group to Montana, Alberta parks
At its meeting on Friday in Spain, UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee passed a resolution to send representatives to Canada to evaluate the threat coal mining and coalbed methane in southeastern British Columbia may present to Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park in Alberta and Montana, and set a Feb. 1, 2010 deadline for submission of a report.
Helena Independent Record (AP); 06/27/2009
U.S. turns its attention to saving the unlovely species as well
Ten of the fifteen species in the United States that have been deemed "recovered" since the Endangered Species Act passed in 1973 are the type that look good on a T-shirt: wolves, grizzly bears and bald eagles, and those species often garnered the lion's share of funding and effort to save them, but times are changing, and even the homely species are getting a boost away from the brink of extinction.
Washington Post; 06/29/2009
Montana wildlife agents catch grizzly bear near Missouri River
Mike Madel, a grizzly bear management specialist with the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, said in his more than two decades of managing bears along the Rocky Mountain Front, he has never seen a bear as far east as the young male agents caught Tuesday near Loma; the bear was fitted with a radio collar and released west of Marias Pass on the Flathead National Forest.
Great Falls Tribune; 07/02/2009
Wyoming bans wind turbines in sage grouse areas
In August 2008, Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal signed an executive order that mapped out core sage grouse management areas and imposed restrictions on development in those areas, and the state recently decided not to allow wind-power projects, including pilot projects, in those areas, a decision that halts three wind projects in Carbon County.
Casper Star-Tribune; 07/02/2009
Eurasian milfoil invades two Montana reservoirs
Not too long ago, Montana and Wyoming were the only states in the union that didn't have Eurasian milfoil, a fast-spreading aquatic plant, in any waters in the state, but the invasive weed hitched a ride on a boat and is now clogging the water in Noxon and Cabinet Gorge reservoirs in western Montana, and state officials are working hard to keep the weed out of other bodies of water in Montana.
Missoulian; 06/30/2009
Middle ground on grazing debate turns ranchers into rangers
Ranchers that run their livestock on public lands and environmental groups that would like to see an end to grazing on public ground have been at loggerheads for years, a battle in which some on both sides of the issue are unwilling to give ground, but a compromise that pays ranchers to become rangers to patrol the land and do water and land restoration projects seems like a win-win situation.
Idaho Statesman; 06/29/2009
U.S. president needs to take audacious steps to fix health care
If President Barack Obama wants to truly reform the United States' health care system, he should attack the first two enormous distortions that make health care so expensive: the tax deduction allowed for employer-provided health-care benefits and the for-fee basis upon which most doctors in America work.
The Economist.com; 06/30/2009
Western Caucus should boost bipartisan membership
There's a place for the newly formed Western Caucus in the U.S. Senate, but the thus-far Republican-only group should reach across the aisle to other western lawmakers like Montana U.S. Sens. Jon Tester and Max Baucus and New Mexico Sen. Jeff Bingaman and should refocus its mission from an opposition agenda to a proactive list of things it wants to accomplish.
Casper Star-Tribune; 06/28/2009
Pine-bark beetle changes outlook from Montana home
Jim Robbins writes about clearing all the trees from his 11 acres in Montana after pine-bark beetles bored their way through the forest.
New York Times; 07/02/2009
Wyoming senator vows to stop energy, climate-change bill
U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, Wyoming's junior senator, opposes the Waxman-Markey bill because he said it will drive up the cost of energy, do little to address global climate change and won't make renewable-energy less expensive.
Casper Star-Tribune (AP); 07/02/2009
Senate panel approves federal fund for wolf-kill payments
Idaho U.S. Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch support legislation recently approved by a Senate committee that would establish a $1-million federal fund to compensate ranchers in Idaho and Montana for livestock lost to wolves; the measure must still be approved by the full Senate and the House.
Idaho Statesman (AP); 06/30/2009
Former Colorado congressman formally launches gubernatorial run
Republican Scott McInnis, a former Colorado state legislator who served six terms as the state's 3rd District congressional representative, began fundraising and filed the necessary documents to create a campaign committee on Wednesday to run for governor.
Durango Herald; 07/02/2009
Former N. Las Vegas mayor launches gubernatorial run in Nevada
The day his third term as North Las Vegas mayor ended, Mike Montandon formally launched his Republican gubernatorial campaign that will pit him against incumbent Gov. Jim Gibbons and Joe Heck, a physician and former state senator from Henderson, for the GOP nomination.
Las Vegas Review-Journal; 07/01/2009
Arizona governor calls legislators back for special session
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer wasted no time ripping apart the budget passed early Wednesday morning, calling it "fatally flawed," and issued a call before noon on Wednesday for a special session.
Arizona Republic; 07/02/2009
57 new laws take effect today in Colorado
It will cost more to register a vehicle in Colorado starting today, one of the 57 laws passed by the Legislature that takes effect today.
Denver Post; 07/01/2009
A laundry list of new laws take effect in Idaho Wednesday
On July 1, Idaho workers can haul their guns to work and leave them in their vehicles; unlicensed payday loan operations won't be able to take their debtors to court and borrowers have a legal right to take such businesses to court and recover money paid to them; and boaters will have to buy an invasive species sticker before launching their watercraft in any Idaho lake or river.
Idaho Statesman; 06/29/2009
New liquor laws in Utah take effect tonight
Under Utah's new liquor laws that take effect at midnight tonight, patrons of clubs will no longer have to fill out applications for a libation, and there are two new types of clubs: dining clubs where patrons can order drinks along with their meals, but cannot wander around with drinks in hand; and social clubs where food can be available along with drinks but is not required, and patrons can roam freely about the establishment.
Salt Lake Tribune; 06/30/2009
Slate of new wildlife-related laws take effect July 1 in Wyoming
A ban on Internet-based hunting in Wyoming is one of several wildlife-related laws that take effect on July 1.
Billings Gazette (AP); 06/30/2009
Wyoming's carbon dioxide emissions give oil a boost
Oil companies are lining up for the carbon-dioxide emissions from two sour gas processing facilities in Wyoming to use to boost production from oilfields.
Casper Star-Tribune; 06/29/2009
NSA to build data center in Utah
The National Security Agency's plan to build a 1-million-square-foot data center at Camp Williams in Utah will bring more than a 1,000 high-tech jobs to the state.
Salt Lake Tribune; 07/02/2009
Colorado exhibits what clean-energy can do for economy
Clean-energy jobs have been touted as a remedy for the nation's economic ailments, and in the Denver-region of Colorado, where a trial run of this theory has been under way for the past several years, the investment in wind-turbine manufacturing and solar-energy components appears to support that theory.
Slate.org; 06/27/2009
Montana pork producers hit hard by flu concerns
The mislabeling of the H1N1 flu two months ago as swine flu created consumer hysteria that killed demand for pork, and prompted Russia and China to ban imports of pork from the United States, a decision that hit Montana producers especially hard.
Billings Gazette; 06/30/2009
Boise company will build 14 wind parks in S. Idaho
Boise-based Exergy Development Group said the construction of 14 wind parks in Idaho's Elmore, Cassia, Lincoln and Bingham counties will create 275 jobs during the seven months it will take to build the wind-energy facilities, which will generate 228 megawatts of electricity.
Idaho Statesman; 06/30/2009
Another Canadian energy company moves drilling rigs to Mexico
Alberta-based Savanna Energy Services Corp. announced this week that it was moving four drilling rigs to central Mexico, the second Alberta company to send rigs south, as the number of rigs operating in the U.S. and Canada continues to decline, with a Baker Hughes Inc. rig count late last month indicating 917 rigs operating in the U.S., down from 996 a year ago, and 148 operating in Canada, down 208 from a year ago.
Calgary Herald; 07/02/2009
EPA waiver allows California to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency overturned a Bush administration decision on Monday and issued California a waiver that allows the state to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks.
Los Angeles Times; 06/30/2009
President opposes trade-sanctions portion of climate-change bill
At a news conference Sunday, President Obama said that he disagreed with a provision in the climate-change legislation passed by the U.S. House late Friday night that imposed trade penalties on countries that do not have limits on global-warming pollution.
New York Times; 06/29/2009
- Waxman defends deals to get House climate-energy bill passed
California Congressman Henry A. Waxman doled out benefits large and small to get the climate change-energy bill passed in the U.S. House this week, including tens of billions of dollars of free pollution credits to utilities as well as billions of dollars of research money to develop carbon-capture technology, and environmental groups said as the incentives to pass the bill went up, the targets for greenhouse-gas reductions went down.
New York Times; 07/01/2009
Tim Hortons move to Canada signals concern about U.S. taxes
Tim Hortons announced Monday that it would move its headquarters from Delaware to Canada for tax purposes, a move that other U.S. corporations, concerned about the tax implications of a trillion-dollar deficit, proposed health-care reform and a promised crackdown on corporations that invest overseas, may make as well.
Vancouver Sun (Reuters); 06/30/2009
Groups again ask USFWS to protect Palouse worm in Washington
The Center for Biological Diversity, along with Friends of the Clearwater, Palouse Prairie Foundation, Palouse Audubon and Palouse Group of Sierra Club, have again petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the giant Palouse earthworm, a white worm that can reach up to three feet in length and reportedly smells like lilies, found only in the Palouse, a 2-million-acre area of wheat fields along the Washington-Idaho border.
Seattle Times (AP); 07/01/2009
Federal judge rules against Bush administration on logging rule
On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken in California overturned a Bush administration change to a rule that was designed to protect the northern spotted owl in Washington and Oregon, the third such decision to turn back attempts to change what is known as the viability rule contained within the National Forest Management Act.
Seattle Times (AP); 07/01/2009
Salazar signs order to fast-track solar-energy projects
On Monday, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar signed an order expediting environmental reviews for solar-energy projects on more than 1,000 square miles of public land, about half of which is in California.
Los Angeles Times; 06/30/2009
- Two areas in Utah part of federal solar-energy study
Among the two dozen areas identified by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar Monday for study as potential solar-energy sites are Milford Flats South in Utah's Beaver County and the Escalante Valley in Iron County.
Deseret News; 06/30/2009
- Federal solar-study plan includes 21,000 acres in Colorado
Colorado's San Luis Valley is included in the Interior Department's Solar Energy Study Areas."
Denver Post; 06/30/2009
- Nevada projects could be first under Interior's solar-energy plan
On Monday in Las Vegas, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar rolled out a plan to create 24 Solar Energy Study Areas on 670,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management land in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and California, over the next two years, and cited two projects in Nevada as the first that could be built under the new program.
Las Vegas Review-Journal; 06/30/2009
- BLM's solar-study project covers 190 square miles in New Mexico
Bureau of Land Management New Mexico officials said the Interior Department's program to fast track solar-energy projects on BLM lands will cover 190 square miles in the southern part of the state, and said that solar facilities in some areas would change the BLM's multi-use mission to a single mission.
Santa Fe New Mexican (AP); 07/02/2009
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