Livestock and Wolves: Defenders of Wildlife's proactive guide provides ranchers, land managers ways to protect stock -- and save wolves Read the comments (1)
Dec. 11, 2008
Fact
& Fiction and the Bookstore
at the University of Montana offer a review of "The Wide Open: Prose, Poetry and Photographs of the Prairie."
Dec. 2, 2008
Rule change on guns in national parks takes effect in January
The Bush administration successfully overturned a 25-year-old federal rule that restricted loaded guns in national parks and a new rule will take its place that bases rules on guns in parks to mirror the rules on guns in the states in which the parks are located.
Casper Star-Tribune (AP); 12/06/2008
EPA drops effort to change air-pollution limits near parks
The Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday that it would not pursue proposed changes that would have made it easier to build coal-fired power plants near national parks and changed when power plants must install antipollution devices.
Washington Post; 12/11/2008
Interior Dept. moves ahead on ESA rule change
A proposed change to the federal Endangered Species Act that will allow federal agencies to move forward on construction projects without first getting an independent review of the effect such projects may have on endangered species is expected to publish in the Federal Register today, putting in motion a 30-day comment period.
New York Times; 12/12/2008
Economy stalls work on Colorado mountain developments
The nation's economic slump has hit Colorado's high-end mountain developments hard, with construction on Orvis Shorefox, an 1,553-acre project along the Colorado River in Grand County proposed by the Vermont-based Orvis fishing company, in arrears on payments to its primary lender.
Denver Post; 12/09/2008
DOE: Yucca Mountain facility must be bigger
The Energy Department's report to Congress said that its proposed nuclear waste repository in Nevada should be tripled in size, and that there are no reasons to prohibit such an expansion.
Las Vegas Review-Journal; 12/10/2008
Arizona population growth slows to lowest in 18 years
Arizona gained just 100,000 residents in the past year, the smallest increase reported since 1990.
Arizona Republic; 12/10/2008
Groups sue over management of National Bison Range
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility joins others as plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Interior over its contract with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes to share management of the National Bison Range in Montana, alleging that the contract violates federal laws designed to keep contractors from having too much authority over public lands.
Denver Post (AP); 12/08/2008
Banks call loans made to Navajo Nation businesses
Biochemical Decontamination Systems Manufacturing Inc. and Diné Poultry Products have failed to make payments on their loans from Native American Bank in Denver and JP Morgan Chase, forcing the banks to begin collection proceedings on a combined $3.5 million, which the Navajo Nation, as co-signer on the loans, may have to pay.
Farmington Daily-Times; 12/10/2008
Montana senator, others press Obama on tribal issues
U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., is one of 22 senators that signed a letter to President-elect Barack Obama asking him to budget $1 billion for water projects, $250 million for health care and $750 million for public safety projects on American Indian reservations.
Missoulian; 12/11/2008
Federal agencies, N.M. landowners ink landmark species deal
On Monday, the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service signed agreements with a New Mexico rancher and an oil and gas company to protect the lesser prairie chicken and the sand dune lizard in New Mexico's southeastern corner.
Casper Star-Tribune (AP); 12/09/2008
Group to petition to list whitebark pine trees as endangered
The Natural Resources Defense Council plans to petition the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services today to list the whitebark pine tree as endangered, citing climate change, blister rust and the mountain pine beetle as threats to the species.
Jackson Hole Daily; 12/09/2008
Interior official: Efforts could keep sage grouse off ESA list
Assistant Interior Secretary Stephen Allred said that efforts of states in the Rocky Mountain West to preserve sage grouse habitat, along with federal policy changes made over the past few years may be enough to keep the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from putting the species on the federal endangered list.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (AP); 12/11/2008
Idaho study finds 'free ride' disrupts salmon's migration abilities
A group of University of Idaho fisheries researchers has found that salmon and steelhead trout that were barged around dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers in Washington and Oregon as juveniles had trouble migrating back upstream as adults, reducing their odds of surviving in the wild.
Idaho Statesman; 12/05/2008
RMEF hosts Montana meeting on regional brucellosis options
At a conference in Billings this week hosted by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, representatives from livestock, veterinarian and wildlife groups in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, as well as Yellowstone National Park and the National Elk Refuge in Wyoming, and other groups met to discuss how brucellosis is affecting elk, bison and livestock in the Greater Yellowstone Area.
Billings Gazette; 12/10/2008
Yellowstone National Park ready to open for winter use
Despite an avalanche of court rulings on snowmobile limits in Yellowstone National Park, the park is ready to open on Monday, with a daily limit of 720 commercially guided snowmobiles and up to 78 snow coaches, although the park doesn't yet have enough snow for snowmobiles.
Billings Gazette; 12/11/2008
Colorado adopts new drilling regulations
The Colorado Oil and Gas Commission adopted the most comprehensive package of energy regulations in the country on Wednesday, and Republican lawmakers said the first half of the state's upcoming legislative session would be spent dealing with the new rules.
Denver Post; 12/11/2008
U.S. must raise fuel taxes
In an effort to fund new technology and wean the nation off its foreign oil habit, the United States should raise fuel taxes.
NewWest.net; 12/08/2008
Calls to relist Yellowstone grizzly bears are premature
This year's high mortality rate for grizzly bears in the Yellowstone ecosystem has prompted some conservation groups to call for the big bear's return to the federal endangered species list, but given estimates that the total population of the bears has increased despite the high mortality rate, those demands are premature at best.
Casper Star-Tribune; 12/10/2008
Idaho city needs to make fire standards mandatory
In the wake of last summer's fatal Oregon Trail wildfire, Boise city officials reviewed the Idaho city's fire codes and made a list of recommended changes to those codes, and while it's understandable why the city mandating that roofs be replaced with fire-resistant materials, it could require homeowners to make their yards more fireproof.
Idaho Statesman; 12/10/2008
Colorado must show its commitment to infrastructure
Colorado must not only provide President-elect Barack Obama with a concrete plan for infrastructure projects federal funds could build, but must also be ready to shore up that plan with a funding mechanism or revenue stream of its own to pour into such projects.
Denver Post; 12/11/2008
Montana stewardship project based on flawed assumptions
While the wilderness aspects of the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Proposal are certainly worth exploring, the provisions of the Montana plan that would fund that protection by logging other areas are based on flawed assumptions that those areas need to be logged and that there will be a market for the logged timber. A guest column by George Wuerthner.
NewWest.net; 12/11/2008
Hard-rock miners gear up for new 1872 mining act fight
The hard-rock mining industry has been hit hard by the global economic slowdown, and at an industry convention in Nevada last week, officials discussed the current economic situation, as well as the projected battle in Congress next year over reform of the 136-year-old General Mining Act of 1872.
Las Vegas Review-Journal (AP); 12/08/2008
Domenici's 36 years in Senate leaves legacy in New Mexico
When U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici leaves the Senate on Jan. 4, he leaves behind a legacy to the six terms he's served as New Mexico's senator, including the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, a uranium-enrichment project, expanded missions of Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories and other tangible efforts to transform New Mexico into a high-tech state.
Santa Fe New Mexican; 12/09/2008
Dozens in contention to be Idaho's new lieutenant governor
Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter is expected to name a new lieutenant governor on Jan. 6, when Lt. Gov. Jim Risch takes his U.S. Senate post.
Idaho Statesman (AP); 12/10/2008
Outgoing state legislators finalists for Colorado Sec'y of State
On Tuesday, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter announced that State Rep. Bernie Buescher, Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon and House Speaker Andrew Romanoff were the finalists to be the next secretary of state to replace Mike Coffman, who resigned to take a seat in Congress.
Denver Post; 12/10/2008
Colorado congressman gets House Appropriations seat
U.S. Rep. John Salazar's acceptance of a position on the powerful House Appropriations Committee sent a clear signal that the Colorado congressman was in consideration to be President-elect Barack Obama's Agriculture secretary.
Denver Post; 12/11/2008
Utah lawmakers say immigration law won't be changed
After months of hearings on a package of measures crafted to thwart illegal immigration that passed in the 2009 Legislature, Utah lawmakers said that the law will be virtually unchanged when it takes effect on July 1, 2009.
Salt Lake Tribune; 12/07/2008
Montana legislator to carry assisted-suicide bill
After a state district court judge ruled that the Montana Constitution protects an individual's right to end his or her life, state Representative-elect Dick Barrett, D-Missoula, said he would sponsor legislation to codify that decision.
Billings Gazette; 12/09/2008
Nevada Legislature passes 4 budget bills in special session
Nevada lawmakers made quick work of legislation designed to address the state's $340-million budget shortfall, passing four bills in just nine hours in a special session on Monday, but warned that the measures were just "Band-Aids" until real surgery can be done during the 2009 legislative session.
Las VegasReview-Journal; 12/09/2008
Panel OKs bill to expand Wyoming's property-tax exemption
At its meeting Tuesday, the Joint Interim Revenue Committee approved legislation that, if passed by the Legislature next session, would expand the state's property tax exemption.
Casper Star-Tribune; 12/10/2008
Colorado lawmaker says fight not over on oil, gas rules
As the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission begins its final work on new drilling regulations, Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, said the Legislature hasn't yet had its final say on the matter.
Durango Herald; 12/10/2008
Pipeline projects spiderweb their way across the West
Landowners in the path of the various pipeline projects designed to carry natural gas produced in the Rocky Mountain West to markets east and west of the Rockies say their land will take years to recover from the construction process.
Missoulian (AP); 12/11/2008
- State Dept. extents comment period on Alberta-Texas pipeline
At the urging of several farm-interest groups, the U.S. State Department extended the public comment period for the Keystone Pipeline, a 1,980-mile pipeline from Alberta's oilsands country to Port Arthur, Texas, that will cross Montana.
Great Falls Tribune; 12/07/2008
Arizona wind-turbine maker predicts a whirling 2009
Arizona-based Southwest Windpower announced Wednesday it expects a 90 to 100 percent increase in sales in 2009, as it gears up production and distribution to meet growing demand for its small wind generators in China and Europe.
Arizona Daily Sun; 12/11/2008
Rio Tinto to forge ahead, expand B.C. Alcan smelter
Rio Tinto's plan to cut spending and jobs won't affect the international mining conglomerate's planned $2.5-billion refurbishment at its aluminum smelter in Kitimat, B.C.
Vancouver Sun; 12/12/2008
- Kennecott officials say Rio Tinto layoffs will affect Utah jobs
Rio Tinto's plan to cut 14,000 jobs will have an impact on jobs at Kennecott Utah Copper, which is owned by the international mining conglomerate, although just how many of the nearly 5,000 jobs in Utah will be affected won't be known until after the first of the year.
Salt Lake Tribune; 12/11/2008
Construction slowdown forces Montana contractors out
Bankruptcy attorneys across Montana said they're seeing more and more small construction companies filing for bankruptcy, with many opting for a Chapter 7 process, a total liquidation of assets.
NewWest.net; 12/05/2008
Montana sawmill celebrates 100th anniversary
The Stoltze family's Half Moon sawmill in Montana began as State Lumber in December of 1898, and the mill is still operating.
Hungry Horse News; 12/04/2008
Washington legislators say water problem a state issue
Lawmakers from Washington's Lower Yakima Valley acknowledged the area has a water-pollution problem for the first time in a letter to Gov. Christine Gregoire objecting to a meeting held last week by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, stating that the EPA had overstepped its authority.
Yakima Herald; 12/09/2008
Oregon on short list for European solar company's plant
Oregon officials said the state's relatively large subsidies, skilled semiconductor-industry workers and its proximity to California's robust solar market were cited as reasons a European solar company was considering Gresham as a location for a manufacturing plant.
Portland Oregonian; 12/10/2008
President-elect Obama selects energy, environment chiefs
Officials with President-elect Barack Obama said that he will select Steven Chu, the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, as his energy secretary, and Nancy Sutley, an energy and environment official with Los Angeles, to head up the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
New York Times; 12/11/2008
Alberta oilsands operations berated at U.N. climate talks
The Canadian delegation to an international climate-change conference in Poland demanded that a display featuring aerial photographs of Alberta's oilsands operations with a banner "Canada's dirty secret," be taken down.
Toronto National Post; 12/11/2008
- Report: Alberta oilsands holding ponds leaking
A new report issued by Environmental Defence, a Toronto-based conservation advocacy group, says that tailings ponds in Alberta oilsands country are leaking 11 million liters of toxic water each day.
Toronto Globe and Mail; 12/09/2008
Obama promises massive public-works program
On the heels of Friday's report that the nation lost 533,000 jobs in November, President-elect Barack Obama promised Saturday to create a vast public-works program not seen since the construction of the nation's interstate highway system.
New York Times; 12/07/2008
- Washington governor promises 'big, bold' stimulus plan
Emerging from a two-hour, closed-door session with Washington state's top business and education leaders, Gov. Christine Gregoire said she would unveil a stimulus plan that would put people to work.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer; 12/09/2008
- Idaho compiles list of projects ready for federal funding
Idaho's $2.5 billion list of infrastructure projects ready for federal funding under President-elect Barack Obama's proposed stimulus plan contains $805 million of highway construction projects.
Twin Falls Times-News (AP); 12/12/2008
- Colorado governor asks Obama to fund renewable energy
In his letter to President-elect Barack Obama, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter's wish list for infrastructure projects included not only roads and natural gas pipelines, but also funding for renewable energy projects and incentives.
Denver Rocky Mountain News; 12/12/2008
- Arizona has $869-million list of 'shovel-ready' projects
In preparation for the federal government's proposed federal stimulus projects, Arizona put together its wish list containing $869 million worth of infrastructure projects that includes $30.9 million for Coconino County.
Arizona Daily Sun; 12/12/2008
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