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:
- Aug. 1: Dog Creek Hike, Jackson, Wyo.
- Aug. 1: Hike to Cinnamon Mountain Lookout Tower, near Big Sky, Mont.
- Aug. 22 : Hike to the High Lakes of the Beartooth Plateau, near Cody, Wyo.
Obama administration rolls out new winter plan for Yellowstone
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced a new two-year winter travel plan for Yellowstone National Park that limits daily snowmobile visits to 318, requires all snowmobilers ride with guides and allows 78 snow coaches to pass through the gates each day.
Jackson Hole Daily; 07/24/2009
Monsanto, Idaho Conservation League team up on mercury rules
International agrichemical giant Monsanto fought against regulations limiting mercury emissions in Idaho this winter, but now the company has joined with the Idaho Conservation League to get some regulation of mercury emissions in place.
Idaho Statesman; 07/22/2009
Dozens attend DOE meeting on mercury storage in Colorado
About 80 people showed up at the Department of Energy's meeting Tuesday in Grand Junction about storage of 17,000 tons of mercury for the next four decades, with DOE officials promising the Colorado crowd that they would be kept in the loop as the department decides which of seven sites it will select to store the mercury.
Grand Junction Sentinel; 07/22/2009
Developer of posh Utah resort files for bankruptcy protection
The company that wants to develop Utah's Elk Meadows ski area into an exclusive gated resort filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 9, but a week later, MHU Holdings, LLC of New York City, the largest unsecured creditor of Mount Holly Partners LLC, asked the federal bankruptcy judge to dismiss the case.
Salt Lake Tribune; 07/24/2009
Federal engineers lay out options for Utah irrigation canal
Engineers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommended that the Logan Northern Canal in Utah, which breached on July 11 causing a mudslide that killed three people, either be eliminated entirely with the water re-routed north to the Logan, Hyde Park, Smithfield Canal Co. or the treacherous slopes of the canal be bypassed by installing pipelines in the The Island neighborhood of Logan.
Salt Lake Tribune; 07/22/2009
BIA chief lays out his priorities for Indian Country
Larry Echohawk, the former Idaho attorney general who is now in charge of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, said his top three goals for the agency are education, economic development, and especially law enforcement.
Idaho Statesman; 07/20/2009
Blackfeet cultural leader dies in Montana
Clarence "Curly Bear" Wagner, a member of the Blackfeet Tribe and cultural historian, died in Montana at the age of 64.
Helena Independent Record (AP); 07/21/2009
Grassroots group sues Navajo Nation to curb spending
Hada'a Sidi filed a notice of intent to sue the Navajo Nation over a recently passed resolution that allows unlimited discretionary spending by the council speaker and president of the Navajo Nation.
Farmington Daily Times; 07/21/2009
Southern Ute Tribe asks Congress for funds to fix irrigation canal
The Southern Utah Tribal Council endorsed legislation in both the U.S. House and the Senate that would require the Interior Department to fix the Pine River Indian Irrigation Project in Colorado.
Durango Herald; 07/23/2009
Arizona tribe takes land dispute with Glendale to court
The Tohono O'odham Nation sued Glendale, demanding that the Arizona city prove its claims that land the tribe wants to use for a casino and resort actually lies within the city's borders and that the proposed use is not suitable.
Arizona Republic; 07/23/2009
Federal crew takes a parcel-by-parcel look at BLM leases in Utah
When Interior Secretary Ken Salazar put 77 energy leases auctioned off in Utah on hold, he promised a new review of those leases, and now a federal crew of 12 led by Mark Stiles, supervisor of Colorado's San Juan National Forest, is in Utah taking a new look at each and every lease parcel.
Salt Lake Tribune (AP); 07/20/2009
Colorado congressman submits wilderness legislation
A bill sponsored by Colorado U.S. Rep. John Salazar would designate 63,000 acres of land in San Juan, Ouray and San Miguel counties as wilderness and specially managed mountain terrain.
Durango Herald; 07/18/2009
High levels of ammonium found in Western parks, monuments
High levels of ammonium, the combination of hydrogen and nitrogen mixed with rain or snow, has been detected in seven national parks or monuments in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and Washington state, and ecologists said high levels of nitrogen are changing the landscape and affecting the creatures that live within those parks and monuments.
Casper Star-Tribune (AP); 07/21/2009
Sockeye salmon count in Idaho up a bit
No one knows why the number of sockeye salmon crossing the Lower Granite Dam is higher this year than last, but the fact that 1,108 sockeye had cleared the last dam before they reach Idaho so far this year, and 907 made the leap last year, is good news for the endangered fish.
Idaho Statesman; 07/21/2009
Plentiful whitebark pine crop a good sign for Yellowstone grizzlies
Whitebark pine seeds are a high-protein food source for grizzly bears and wildlife managers in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem hope that this year's good crop of the seeds will help fend off a repeat of last year, when a poor year for the whitebark pines kept grizzlies on the hunt for food and led to a high mortality rate for the bears in human-bear conflicts.
Jackson Hole News & Guide; 07/22/2009
A ton of marijuana plants pulled from Colorado national forest
The West Metro Drug Task Force pulled 5,100 marijuana plants weighing nearly 2,000 pounds from a sophisticated growing operation in Colorado's Pike National Forest.
Denver Post; 07/24/2009
U.S. Senate must kill wild-horse bill
On Friday, the U.S. House voted 239-to-185 to pass the ill-conceived Restore Our American Mustangs Act, which directs the Bureau of Land Management to find 20 million additional acres of rangeland for wild horses and burros to roam, and adding about $200 million in costs over the next five years on the program, and the U.S. Senate must inject some sanity into this issue, and kill the bill.
Casper Star-Tribune; 07/20/2009
N.M. senator's bill needed to pull mining law out of 19th century
With President Obama and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar firmly in his corner, New Mexico Sen. Jeff Bingaman appears to have the political will to get mining reform before the Senate, and Senate Majority Harry Reid should get out of the way and allow mining law to be pulled into the 21st century.
New York Times; 07/21/2009
Protecting Colorado River water should be a no-brainer
Past uranium mines have left a toxic legacy across a good portion of the West, so banning the activity along the Colorado River, which provides drinking water to millions in Southern Nevada, Arizona and Southern California seems like a logical thing to do.
Las Vegas Sun; 07/23/2009
Montana governor's outrage at GM right on the money
The federal government should listen to Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer and tell General Motors Corp. that it must buy its platinum, palladium and rhodium, which it needs to build catalytic converters, from Montana's Stillwater Mine.
Missoulian; 07/21/2009
Montana's federal lawmakers' anger at GM misdirected rhetoric
Lest Montana's U.S. Sens. Jon Tester and Max Baucus and U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg forget, they all voted against bailing General Motors out--and had their votes been on the winning side, not only would the Stillwater Mine have lost its contract with GM, but hundreds of thousands of Americans whose jobs are tied to the auto industry would have lost theirs as well, and GM is doing what every financially strapped company must do: cut expenses.
NewWest.net; 07/24/2009
Arizona senator wants White House's position on land swap
Arizona Sen. John McCain said he's not asking the Obama administration to approve a needed land swap to clear the way for a new major copper mine in his state, but he does want the administration to take a position on the proposal, and until that happens, McCain will block the confirmation of Robert Abbey, Obama's nominee for Bureau of Land Management director, and Wilma Lewis, the president's pick for assistant secretary of lands and minerals management.
Arizona Republic; 07/20/2009
U.S. House holds hearing on bill to ban uranium mining near Grand Canyon
Arizona U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva's Grand Canyon Watersheds Protection Act would permanently ban uranium mining in an area around the Grand Canyon, but even if the House passes the bill, it would have a tough time in the U.S. Senate, as Arizona Sens. Jon Kyl and John McCain have expressed their disapproval about the temporary ban on new uranium mine leases in the area.
Arizona Republic; 07/21/2009
Utah lawmakers object to bill that cuts F-22 funding
The U.S. Senate voted 58-40 to terminate production of the F-22 Raptors after 187 are built, a decision that could cost jobs at the Hill Air Force Base in Utah, and a decision that Utah U.S. Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett, as well as U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop, protested.
Salt Lake Tribune; 07/22/2009
S.C. senator pushes Yucca Mountain funding measure
Nevada U.S. Sen. Harry Reid discounted an amendment offered by Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsay Graham to the 2010 defense authorization bill that would revive funding for a national nuclear waste repository in Nevada's Yucca Mountain, saying other such attempts by Republican lawmakers have failed, and this one would too.
Las Vegas Review-Journal; 07/22/2009
Utah senator walks away from health-care reform work
Utah U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch said he withdrew from the bipartisan group of senators working on a health-care compromise because the discussions headed in a direction he could not support.
Salt Lake Tribune; 07/23/2009
Duke Energy announces plan to build wind farm in Wyoming
Duke Energy officials said the North Carolina-based utility will build a 200-megawatt wind farm on 17,000 acres of state and private land in Wyoming's Converse County, and that it has begun the permitting process under the state's Industrial Siting Act and has begun looking for a buyer for the power that will be produced.
Casper Star-Tribune; 07/21/2009
Wyoming governor, wind industry at odds over grouse habitat
Half of the sage grouse's remaining prime habitat lies within Wyoming's borders, and recently a representative of the wind industry said that the state's prohibition of wind projects in prime sage grouse habitat effectively shut the wind industry out of 75 percent of the state where the potential for wind power was the greatest, but Gov. Dave Freudenthal's office disputed that statement, and said only 5.3 percent of the area where wind potential was considered "superb" was affected by the sage grouse policy.
Casper Star-Tribune; 07/21/2009
Alberta gov't report lowers emissions from oilsands development
A new report issued by the Alberta Energy Research Institute said that greenhouse gas emissions from oilsands operations in western Canada are only about 10 percent higher than emissions from traditional fossil fuel operations, considerably lower than the 40 percent previously estimated, but environmental groups said they were skeptical about the report.
Denver Post; 07/24/2009
Bankruptcy judge allows GM to toss contract with Montana mine
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Gerber in New York allowed General Motors Corp. to scrap its contract with Montana's Stillwater Mine for palladium and platinum used in the manufacture of catalytic converters, a move that will cost the Stillwater Mining Co. about $10 million a year.
Missoulian (AP); 07/23/2009
B.C. mining company to expand to meet Asian demand for coal
Less than half a year ago, British Columbia-based Teck Resources Ltd reduced its coking coal operations due to lack of demand from steel makers, but demand from China and other Asian countries bounced back in recent weeks, and now Teck is scrambling to fill orders.
Toronto Globe and Mail; 07/24/2009
Wyoming has 7 major transmission-line projects on the boards
The Wyoming Infrastructure Authority is tracking seven major electrical transmission line projects in the state that would bring 15,000 megawatts of energy online, but it will take $15 billion to build those lines, and just who will foot the bill for the work is still not clear.
Casper Star-Tribune; 07/19/2009
Idaho-Nevada power-line project re-energized
Idaho Power Co. obtained the rights-of-way for the Southwest Intertie Project, a 500-kilovolt, 500-mile-plus transmission line between Shoshone, Idaho, to near Las Vegas, nearly 15 years ago, and now a Missouri-based company is moving the project forward, with construction planned to begin soon.
Twin Falls Times-News; 07/18/2009
Wyoming cites ski area in employee death
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort officials said they would appeal a citation issued by the Wyoming Department of Employment in the death of a ski patroller last winter because the citation said the ski area should have required employees to wear helmets and that at that time no ski area in the nation has such a requirement in place, although Vail Resorts announced in April that all employees at its five resorts would be required to wear helmets this upcoming ski season.
Jackson Hole News & Guide; 07/22/2009
Alliant Techsystems says it will lay off 450 workers in Utah
Alliant Techsystems is one of the top 20 employers in Utah, but downturns in the aerospace industry has forced the company to downsize its work force, with 300 jobs lost in March and another 450 in October.
Salt Lake Tribune; 07/24/2009
Latest figures paint gloomy picture of Colorado's job market
Colorado lost 104,400 jobs between June of 2008 and June this year, effectively wiping out all jobs gained since the recession of 2001.
Denver Post; 07/24/2009
BPA releases plan designed to embrace wind-generated power
Bonneville Power Administration is the 800-pound gorilla in the Pacific Northwest's electricity world, and the BPA released an order on Tuesday that would raise fees on wind producers by 95 percent, considerably lower than the 300-percent increase announced earlier this year, and the company is moving forward on four projects designed to accommodate growth in the amount of power produced by wind in the region.
Portland Oregonian; 07/22/2009
Oregon law requires fee, location of all new water wells
As of July 1, Oregonians who want to put in a new water well must pay a $300 fee and submit a map of the well's location, as the state tries to get a handle on its water resources.
Portland Oregonian; 07/19/2009
Washington county asks governor to overturn new well ban
The Kittitas County Commission wants Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire to overrule a 120-day moratorium on new wells in the upper part of the county put in place by the state Department of Ecology.
Yakima Herald-Republic; 07/22/2009
U.S. Senate votes down concealed weapons measure
Thirty-five Democrats, two Republicans and two independents banded together Wednesday to vote against an amendment to the must-pass annual military authorization bill that would would have allowed gun owners with valid permits from one state to carry concealed weapons in other states.
New York Times; 07/23/2009
Federal stimulus money funds Hanford water treatment plant
The groundwater treatment plant at the Hanford nuclear complex in Washington state that is being built with the aid of federal stimulus funds may be the first of its kind in the nation, as it will treat the groundwater for a wide range of contaminants.
Tri-City Herald; 07/24/2009
Forest Jobs and Recreation Act
Montana senator says wilderness, forestry bill strikes a balance
U.S. Sen. Jon Tester said his Forest Jobs and Recreation Act that would designate more than 600,000 acres in Montana as wilderness, and mandates thousands of acres of timber be harvested annually, strikes a good balance between protecting public lands and ensuring a steady flow of timber to area mills. Has a graphic showing affected lands.
Great Falls Tribune; 07/18/2009
Montana senator's wilderness bill covers a lot of ground
The 84-page piece of legislation sponsored by Montana Sen. Jon Tester that designates new areas of wilderness and adds acres to existing wilderness is pretty straightforward on such designations, but the stewardship components of the bill are complicated. An analysis of what the bill does for Montana.
NewWest.net; 07/22/2009
Economic feasibility of Montana senator's wilderness bill questioned
Montana U.S. Sen. Jon Tester's Forest Jobs and Recreation Act ties timber production to restoration projects, and some are questioning whether that requirement is legally or financially feasible.
Missoula Independent; 07/24/2009
Wildfires
B.C. wildfire doubles in size, thousands ordered to evacuate
A third wildfire burning in the Kelowna area of British Columbia forced the evacuations of 2,200 residents after it doubled in size on Thursday; two other wildfires burning in the region that had forced more than 11,000 out of their homes are now under control.
Vancouver Sun; 07/24/2009
Utah wildfire closes trails
A prescribed burn that escaped its perimeter has closed some trails in Utah's Dixie National Forest and Fishlake National Forest, but the 300-acre wildfire is not posing a threat to any structures; the 2,900-acre Horse Valley fire is fully contained, while the Horse fire in Zion National Park is at about 1,200 acres, although only 100 acres are actively burning.
Deseret News; 07/24/2009
Montana wildfire adds acreage to burn area
The Kootenai Creek fire, ignited by lightning on July 12, is the largest wildfire thus far this season in Montana's Bitterroot National Forest, and has now burned about 400 acres.
Ravalli Republic; 07/24/2009
BLM firefighters snuff out 373-acre fire in Idaho
A wildfire that ignited Wednesday evening near Burley was quickly corralled by Bureau of Land Management firefighters, who held the Idaho fire to about 373 acres.
Twin Falls Times-News; 07/24/2009
Nevada wildfires cost $3.4 million to extinguish
A wildfire ignited by a shredded tire on a fifth-wheel camper on U.S. 395 and another caused by a target shooter combined in Nevada to burn across 18 square miles north of Reno, but Bureau of Land Management officials said they had not yet decided whether to hold either party responsible for some of the $3.4 million it cost to extinguish the fires.
Reno Gazette-Journal; 07/24/2009
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