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Overflow communities: Sonoran Institute's latest publication explores the result of development cascading into Wyoming, Idaho counties from Wyoming's Teton County
June 12, 2008
Fact & Fiction and the Bookstore at the University of Montana offer a review of Deborah Richie Oberbillig's Bird Feats of Montana
July 11, 2008
BLM public meetings on geothermal energy development:
July 14: Reno, Nevada; Washoe County Library - Spanish Springs Branch, 7100 Pyramid Highway
July 15: Salt Lake City, Utah; Salt Lake City Library, 210 East 400 South
July 16: Tucson, Ariz.; Pima County Public Library, Dusenberry River Branch, 5605 E. River Road
July 17: Cheyenne, Wyo.; Laramie County Library, Willow Room, 200 Pioneer Avenue
July 21: Boise, Idaho; Boise Public Library, 715 South Capitol Boulevard
July 22: Albuquerque, N.M., University of New Mexico, Conference Center, Room C, 1634 University N.E.
July 23: Helena, Mont.; Lewis and Clark Main Library, 120 S. Last Chance Gulch
July 24: Denver, Colo.; PPA Event Center, 2105 Decatur Street
July 28: Seattle, Wash.; Seattle Public Library, University Branch, 5009 Roosevelt Way, N.E.
July 29: Portland, Ore.; Multnomah County Library, Central Branch, 801 SW 10th Avenue
Sept. 8-11: The U.S. Geological Survey's Third Interagency Conference on Research in the Watersheds, Estes Park, Colo. Read a preview.
Report: Energy production threatens hunting opportunities
A study commissioned by the Interior Department, performed by experts hand-picked by Interior Secretary Gale Norton before she left that office in 2006, found considerable fault with the Bush administration's policies on wildlife management and energy development.
Jackson Hole News & Guide; 07/10/2008
U.S. House sends catastrophic wildfire funding bill to the Senate
On Wednesday, the U.S. House passed the Federal Land Assistance, Management and Enhancement Act, which creates a special federal fund for fighting catastrophic wildfires; the bill now moves on to the Senate for action.
Idaho Statesman; 07/10/2008
Alberta earmarks $4 billion to capture carbon, build mass transit
In the campaign to curb greenhouse gas emissions, Alberta officials announced Tuesday that they would put $4 billion into two funds, one to fund research on the capture and sequestration of carbon and another to expand the province's mass transit systems.
Toronto Globe and Mail (Reuters); 07/08/2008
Lack of financing shackles once-booming Idaho resort
Tamarack Resorts in Idaho made headlines in 2003 as it was one of only a few new ski resorts to get approved in the West in decades, and for four years construction of the homes, shops and restaurants made Donnelly, the small town 95 miles from Boise, a boomtown, but in late 2007, a lack of financing stalled all new construction, delivering a hard economic punch to the town and Valley County.
Wall Street Journal; 07/07/2008
Utah valley residents say proposed resort too big for area, road
The developers of Powder Mountain, a proposed ski and golf resort with 3,950 homes and hotel rooms that will straddle two Utah counties near Ogden, said they'll drop their effort to incorporate the Utah resort into its own town using a short-lived state law, if Weber County officials approves the development plan, but area residents said the narrow, winding road won't support all that development.
Salt Lake Tribune; 07/09/2008
Nevada water engineer approves SNWA's pipeline plan
Tracy Taylor, the Nevada state engineer, approved Southern Nevada Water Authority's plan to pump 18,355 acre feet of groundwater annually from the Snake Valley aquifer that lies along the Nevada-Utah border, and that the two Utah counties that had requested a chance to testify on the project had missed their opportunity to be included by not protesting in 1989 when the project was first proposed.
Salt Lake Tribune; 07/10/2008
Second-home owners in Aspen offer $380K in lieu of worker housing
After the Aspen-Pitkin County Housing Authority (APCHA) took second-home owners Larry and Mara Lawrence to court for not abiding with the deed restrictions on their Colorado property by making a unit available for worker housing, the Lawrences offered APCHA $380,000 in lieu of making the unit available to a Pitkin County employee.
Aspen Times; 07/11/2008
Montana tribe appeals to Congress to investigate IHS services
The Fort Peck Tribal Executive Board declared a health care emergency on its lands in Montana, and asked Congress to investigate the level of services provided by Indian Health Services to their tribal members.
Great Falls Tribune; 07/06/2008
NPS archaeologist leads team in study of Idaho bison jump
National Park Service archaeologist Ken Cannon is leading a team of select high school students in a study of a bison jump near Challis, where it is believed tribes hundreds of years ago drove bison off a sheer cliff to kill dozens of the animals which were then butchered for the tribe's needs; an earlier study dated the site back just to the early 1800s.
Idaho Mountain Express; 07/09/2008
Tribe pins economic plans on coal reserves underlying Montana lands
The Crow Tribe estimates there are about 9 million tons of extractable coal underlying the tribe's two million acres of land in Montana, and tribal officials want to tap into that coal to fuel a planned coal-to-liquids plant.
Billings Gazette (AP); 07/10/2008
Tribes launch pilot program to test 4-day workweek in Montana
The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes’ Tribal Council voted to test a four-day workweek for tribal programs for a 60-day period beginning July 14 in an effort to reduce transportation costs for employees on their lands in Montana.
Char-Koosta News; 07/10/2008
BLM suspends moratorium on new solar projects
Less than six weeks after issuing a moratorium on new solar project applications on public lands in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah, U.S. Bureau of Land Management officials lifted the moratorium and said that it would forge ahead on a sweeping environmental study on the effects large-scale solar projects would have on those lands.
New York Times; 07/03/2008
Yellowstone-area states now focus on elk in brucellosis fight
With new cases of brucellosis reported in Wyoming and Montana over the past few weeks in areas where bison haven't roamed for decades, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming officials are urging elk, which also carry the disease, be culled to halt the transmission of brucellosis to cattle, a proposal that is drawing considerable fire from hunters and outfitters.
Casper Star-Tribune (AP); 07/07/2008
USFS, Montana groups disagree on effect of logging decision
The ruling by an 11-justice panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on timber sales issued last week was hailed by U.S. Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey as a "landmark case," but the head of one of the environmental groups that brought the lawsuit said the decision didn't settle anything, and the supervisor of one national forest in Montana said it's too early to tell just what the decision means.
Missoulian; 07/10/2008
BLM's plan to euthanize wild horses elicits protests
U.S. Bureau of Land Management officials said overpopulation of wild horse herds, as well as the public's lack of interest in adopting wild horses, makes euthanization of some of the horses necessary, but horse advocates said the agency has simply pulled too many horses off public lands, and that they'll fight any plan to kill the horses.
Seattle Times (AP); 07/07/2008
Groups challenge USFWS decision to delist Preble's mouse in Wyoming
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to remove Preble's meadow jumping mouse from its list of threatened species in Wyoming but not Colorado was based on the fact that new populations of the mouse were found in Wyoming in habitat that wasn't at risk of development, which wasn't the case in Colorado, where development has severely impacted its habitat.
Casper Star-Tribune (AP); 07/10/2008
Report tracks effects climate change will have on Alberta
The results of a three-year study of the effect climate change will have on Alberta have not yet been released to the public, but highlights have been that indicate that the Canadian province's water supply will be less reliable as it gets more rain rather than snow; more forests will be at risk from drought and beetle infestation; and farmers will have to adapt to a longer, but warmer, growing season.
Edmonton Journal; 07/11/2008
Report details at-risk species, wild areas in British Columbia
"Taking Nature's Pulse," a 300-plus page report due to be released Wednesday, says that 43 percent of the plant and animal species found in British Columbia are at risk, and that large swaths of the province from Okanagan grasslands to forests on eastern Vancouver Island are in "big trouble."
Vancouver Sun; 07/08/2008
N.M. national forest's plan closes half its roads to motorized travel
The Santa Fe National Forest is accepting public comment on its revised travel plan that proposed to prohibit motorized travel on more than half the existing roads in the 1.5-million acre forest.
Santa Fe New Mexican; 07/11/2008
Nation needs a federal siting authority for power lines
Lack of electrical transmission capacity is hindering the development of renewable resources in Wyoming and across the nation, and the best way to get that transmission capacity built is to create a single federal board to select the routes for those transmission lines.
Casper Star-Tribune; 07/07/2008
Montana environmentalists not pleased with logging alternative
Environmental groups in Montana and other western states pushed loggers and timber companies out of business by demanding protections for species large and small, but now that Plum Creek Timber Co. is planning to sell off some of its land in Montana and clear the way for large homes in the woods, those groups are beginning to think loggers made better neighbors than out-of-state wealthy, part-time residents.
Las Vegas Review-Journal; 07/08/2008
9th Circuit Court's decision on timber sale a return to common sense
Now that an 11-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has unanimously felled a previous decision of that court which required justices to second guess U.S. Forest Service scientists on timber sales, projects designed to curb wildfire risk can get approved and common sense will once again reign in the nation's forests.
Kalispell Daily Inter Lake; 07/09/2008
Kudos to Western governors for pledge on protecting wildlife
At the Western Governors' Association annual meeting last week in Wyoming, the governors pledged to protect historic wildlife migration corridors and critical habitat, a commitment that comes none too soon.
Great Falls Tribune; 07/10/2008
High fuel prices drill through objections to domestic energy production
Consumer pain at the pump appears to be fueling a new bipartisan effort on the nation's energy policies, including Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who stated for the record this week "...Democrats support domestic production," and it would behoove Congress to jump on the bipartisan bandwagon and promote not only domestic production but expansion of renewable energy efforts, before gas prices hit $6 a gallon and voters decide to make some changes of their own.
Arizona Republic; 07/11/2008
Colorado Wild warns of unintended consequences of Udall bill
U.S. Rep. Mark Udall's proposed amendment to the 1986 law governing ski-area permits on federal lands to provide other year-round outdoor recreational opportunities is too vague, said Colorado Wild Director Ryan Demmy Bidwell, and he said the amendment could open up such areas to such things as roller coasters and water parks.
Durango Herald; 07/11/2008
Federal court halts USDA's plan to open CRP lands for grazing, haying
U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour in Seattle issued a temporary restraining order in a lawsuit filed by the National Wildlife Federation and six affiliates challenging the U.S. Department of Agriculture's "Critical Feed Use Program" that would have opened up 24 million acres of agricultural lands in the federal Conservation Reserve Program to grazing and haying; Coughenour's order puts the feed program on ice until after a full hearing is held and he issues a final decision.
Seattle Times; 07/10/2008
Bush administration opposes bill to compensate ranchers for wolf kills
Legislation sponsored by Montana Sen. Jon Tester and Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso would provide matching federal funds to state programs designed to compensate livestock producers for animals killed by wolves, but at a hearing Wednesday on the bill, Interior officials said the federal government should not be responsible for such payments.
Casper Star-Tribune (AP); 07/10/2008
Presidential candidates differ on high-risk health insurance plans
Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain said he favors expanding federal support for states' high-risk health insurance programs that cover residents whose health makes it impossible for them to get insurance, while Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama proposed to require insurers to accept all applicants, regardless of their health status.
New York Times; 07/09/2008
Idaho governor wants nonmotorized watercraft to be registered
Idaho's 880 square miles of water, its teeming rivers and creeks, are a draw for watercraft, motorized and human-powered, and Idaho's consideration of a proposal to require all watercraft be registered has roiled the waters of public debate.
Los Angeles Times; 07/06/2008
Montana legislative panel sets hearing on carbon sequestration
The Energy and Telecommunications Interim Committee of the Montana Legislature will hold a public hearing on two draft carbon sequestration bills, as well as two draft reports--one on publicly owned power and the other on carbon sequestration--on July 16 in Helena.
Billings Gazette; 07/08/2008
Legislative audit finds DEQ backlog threatens Montana's water quality
On the heels of a legislative audit that exposed serious flaws in the Montana Department of Environmental Quality's open-pit mining permit process, another audit found 52 percent of the 172 wastewater discharge permits issued by the DEQ have expired yet permitholders continue to discharge wastewater.
Great Falls Tribune; 07/08/2008
Gaming-revenue report brings more bad news for Nevada officials
Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons, state lawmakers and residents of the Silver State could use some good economic news, but the Gaming Control Board's report on gaming tax collections didn't have any for them, with tax collections in June down 22.7 percent from the same month last year, the worst drop reported in a decade.
Las Vegas Review-Journal; 07/11/2008
ASU laboratory designed to bolster solar power in Arizona
Over the last year, at least nine companies have passed over Arizona for new solar-power technology facilities, opting instead to build them in other states, and Arizona State University officials hope its newly created Solar Power Laboratory will help attract such ventures to the state in the future.
Arizona Republic; 07/11/2008
E-T Energy unveils electric new way to pull oil from Alberta's oilsands
On Thursday, E-T Energy gave potential investors a tour of its expanded pilot project in Alberta's oilsands complex where electrodes heat the bitumen out of the rock, creating an underground pool of oil that will be pumped out of the ground over the next 250 days.
Calgary Herald; 07/11/2008
Wind-generation companies rush to lease Montana lands
Wind development companies are courting landowners in southcentral Montana, where the potential for wind-generated energy is classified as "outstanding."
Billings Gazette; 07/11/2008
Texas company rolls out plan for Wyoming wind farm
Last week, Carbon County commissioners and members of the Carbon County Planning Commission got the details of a large-scale wind farm project Texas-based Horizon Wind Energy wants to build in their Wyoming county.
Casper Star-Tribune (AP); 07/07/2008
Canceled building projects boost unemployment rate in Colorado
Colorado's unemployment rate in May was 4.9 percent, up from 4.4 percent in April, and the cancellation of 36 building projects along the Front Range since the first of the year was cited as part of the reason for the increase.
Denver Post; 07/09/2008
Extra wind, hydropower taxes BPA's grid
Last week's gust of wind energy and this year's delayed spring run-off is straining Bonneville Power Administration's electricity transmission system.
Newhouse News Service; 07/06/2008
S.Ct. decision muddies EPA enforcement of Clean Water Act
A 2006 Supreme Court decision on the Army Corps of Engineers' regulatory role in the federal Clean Water Act and a subsequent Environmental Protection Agency memo on enforcing such actions has led to the EPA deciding not to pursue potential Clean Water Act violations in hundreds of cases due to "jurisdictional uncertainty."
Washington Post; 07/08/2008
Texas oilman launches $58M campaign to wean nation off foreign oil
T. Boone Pickens, legendary oilman turned hedge-fund manager, said he'll spend $58 million of his own money to cut the nation's dependence on foreign oil more than a third over the next decade, with "The Pickens Plan," based on the installation of thousands of more wind turbines in the center of the country to boost wind-generated electricity supplies and using natural gas for transportation fuel.
Denver Post; 07/09/2008
USDA considers putting CRP lands back into crop production
U.S. Department of Agriculture officials are said to be considering a plan to allow farmers to pull lands out of the Conservation Reserve Program and put them back into crop production, but environmentalists said that many of the CRP lands are in the program because they're fragile.
Washington Post; 07/11/2008
Interior Dept. adds energy workers for Bakken Formation leases in N.D.
The Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in western North Dakota lies atop the Bakken Formation, which reportedly contains millions of barrels of oil, and after N.D. Sen. Byron Dorgan chastised the Bureau of Indian Affairs for holding up leases on the reservation, the Interior Department announced it was adding nine workers to help manage energy leases and development on the reservation.
Helena Independent Record (AP); 07/11/2008
Census: Arizona, Nevada cities among nation's fastest growing
New Census figures released Thursday found that Phoenix was second in the nation in the number of residents added to its population for the year that ended July 1, 2007, and that North Las Vegas in Nevada; Gilbert, Ariz., and Henderson, Nev., were among the nation's 10 fastest-growing cities with 100,000 or more residents.
New York Times; 07/10/2008
Energy development boosts population growth in Wyo. counties
U.S. Census data released Thursday said that Pinedale, in Wyoming's resource-rich Sublette County, led the state in population growth for the year that ended June 30, 2007; and that nine of the state's 20 fastest-growing communities are in southwest Wyoming.
Casper Star-Tribune; 07/10/2008
Census: Energy boom drives population gains in Colorado, too
New Census estimates released today indicate that cities and towns in two counties at the epicenter of the West Slope energy boom in Colorado were among the state's fastest growing.
Grand Junction Sentinel; 07/10/2008
Population estimates track Arizonans' march to the 'burbs
New Census estimates said that Gilbert grew faster than all but two other communities of 100,000 or more in the nation between 2000 and July 1, 2007, but when you compare cities of all sizes in Arizona, Gilbert ranks only 10th in the fastest-growing category.
Arizona Daily Sun; 07/10/2008
Census data tracks population shifts in Montana
New Census estimates released Thursday said Whitefish has been Montana's fastest-growing city since 2000, recording a 60.6 percent increase in population during that time; Billings remains the state's largest city, and Hysham, Flaxville and Medicine Lake reported the largest percentage decrease in their populations.
Billings Gazette (AP); 07/11/2008
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