Today, in Western Perspective, Headwaters News is privileged to present an exclusive first look at an important regional conference next week.
Colorado College will present its third annual "State of the Rockies Report Card" April 10-13 in Colorado Springs.
Caitlin O'Brady and Bryan Hurlbutt, this year's editors of the Colorado College's report, write in their preview that the Rocky Mountain West must act in concert to bring national attention to the issues the region is facing.
The eight-state region addressed in the Report is the fast-growing in the nation, and that growth, along with increased energy development, is having a marked effect on the region.
The conference will look at loss of ranchland and wildlife habitat, the effects of climate change and environmental justice, among other topics.
The State of the Rockies report traditionally assigns a grade to all 281 counties in the region on a critical community issue, and this year the issue is how counties nurture their youth.
Stay tuned to Headwaters for news from the conference next week, or better yet, attend the free conference and see how your county fared.
Read the column and share your thoughts.
Rockies today
Canada study says culling wolves doesn't work
A study presented at the North American Wolf Conference looked at livestock deaths due to wolves in Alberta between 1982 and 1996, and in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming between 1987 and 2003, and found that culling doesn't solve predation problems, and instead suggests compensation for livestock losses and other methods be used.
Toronto Globe and Mail; April 6
Services cut in Wyoming's national parks to pare costs
A Government Accountability Office report reflected a disturbing picture of the financial health of the nation's national parks, including cuts in services to law enforcement efforts in Yellowstone National Park, staff cuts in Grand Teton's interpretative services and reducing backcountry patrols in Utah's Bryce Canyon National Park.
Casper Star-Tribune (AP); April 6
Former USFS official disputes analysis of Colorado road plan
Ed Ryberg is the first Forest Service insider to confirm documentary evidence that a deputy to Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey involved himself in Texas billionaire developer Billy Joe "Red" McCombs' push to gain access roads to the controversial Village at Wolf Creek planned in Colorado.
Denver Post; April 6
Colorado glaciers buck global trend, holding their own
Mountain glaciers around the world have been losing mass for nearly a century, a trend scientists have linked to global warming, but the Andrews and Tyndall glaciers in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park appear to be doing just fine, according to Lakewood-based geologist Jon Achuff.
Denver Rocky Mountain News; April 6
Jumbo water tanker owners duel for federal firefighting contracts
Millionaires from Texas and Oregon have each converted jumbo jets into super-sized water tankers to use in fighting wildfires this season, but the tankers use different methods of dropping water and it's a close race to see who will get the federal contract.
Los Angeles Times; April 6
Wyoming governor asks EPA to toss Montana's water-quality rules
Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer's chief policy adviser said he hasn't had time to review Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal's letter to the Environmental Protection Agency that requested Montana's proposed water-quality regulations be rejected in part because of their potential impact on Wyoming's coalbed methane industry.
Missoulian (AP); April 6
Company says it will reopen Colorado molybdenum mine in '09
Phoenix-based Phelps Dodge said it will reopen a molybdenum mine on Colorado's Fremont Pass and expects to begin harvesting the stainless steel-hardening mineral in 2009, adding 300 jobs to the local economy.
Denver Rocky Mountain News; April 6
Opinion
Wyoming can make the call on ending wolf-management dispute
The definition of insanity, it's said, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, a premise Wyoming should consider now that, once again, a federal court has sided with the federal government in saying that the state's wolf-management plan doesn't pass muster.
Casper Star-Tribune; April 6
Idaho property-tax reform bill a risky measure
Although Idaho lawmakers have no doubt appeased angry landowners with their proposed property tax reform legislation, the measure has drawn opposition from realtors, educators and even some lawmakers, who acknowledge that it's a tax shift not a tax cut.
Idaho Statesman; April 6
Colorado rep's mine cleanup bill deserves support
Colorado Rep. John Salazar's legislation that would allow public and private stakeholders to clean up abandoned mines in the Animas River watershed without fear of incurring environmental liability is an important step in encouraging locally led environmental clean-up projects.
Durango Herald; April 6
Beyond the region
Senate Republicans create three-tiered immigration plan
The Senate will decide Friday on a compromise deal worked out by Republican senators that divides illegal immigrants into three categories with those who have been here longest put on a direct path to citizenship and those who have been in the country less than two years having to leave.
New York Times; April 6
House passes campaign contribution limits on '527 groups'
Individual donations to campaign advocacy groups such as MoveOn.org and Swift Boat Veterans for Truth would be limited to $25,000 a year under legislation passed on a 218-to-209 vote in the U.S. House; the bill now moves to the Senate where Sen. John McCain is offering a similar measure.
New York Times; April 6
White House turns up the heat on climate researchers
Scientists working on climate research said that since the summer of 2004 they have been required to clear all media requests with White House officials, and that over the past year, administration officials have removed references to global warming from their reports, news releases and conference Web sites.
Washington Post; April 6
Price for n-waste treatment plant in Washington jumps $1 billion
A new team of experts said the cost of building a waste treatment plant at the Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington is now $11.3 billion, up from the earlier estimate of $10.5 billion, and nearly double the estimate made in early 2005 of $5.8 billion.
Casper Star-Tribune (AP); April 6
In depth
Massive bomb test in Utah renews fears of nuclear revival
A test bomb set to be detonated in June at the Nevada Test Site will contain no nuclear component, but it is designed to help the federal government figure out the minimum size of nuclear weapon needed to destroy underground targets, and will be five times larger than the military's largest conventional weapon.
Salt Lake Tribune; April 6
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New Mexico may have role in fed's new nuclear plan
The Bush administration's new nuclear plan is the most broad realignment and modernization plan proposed since the Cold War, and calls for rebuilding the nation's nuclear weapons complex and restoring large-scale bomb production capacity.
Los Angeles Times; April 6
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