In the Rockies today, Alberta, British Columbia and Montana share space at the top of the page.
Carbon capture and sequestration is in the news a lot these days, and in Alberta, a new $500,000 study is underway to design technology to capture carbon dioxide currently released into the atmosphere in one of the province's most prolific oil-producing regions and pipe it underground to reinvigorate fields where oil production is falling.
At a meeting in Montana this week, speakers from British Columbia assured Montanans that their protests about mining projects planned in B.C. in the headwaters of the Flathead River were having an effect.
And in British Columbia, the head of an international wood products association said that the U.S. housing slump was primarily responsible for the closure of many small B.C. sawmills, and that as that slump continues, larger companies will be forced to close mills as well.
Headwaters News will not publish on Thanksgiving.
Look for Week in Review on Friday.
Rockies today
Canada launches $500,000 study on carbon capture
The Petroleum Technology Alliance Canada, in partnership with the Alberta Energy Research Institute and 15 companies, will research ways to capture carbon dioxide that is currently vented into the air from oil industry operations in the Fort Saskatchewan area near Edmonton and inject the captured carbon dioxide underground to pump up oil production in areas where production has fallen.
Edmonton Journal; Nov. 21
Canadians say Montana protests on B.C. mining gaining attention
At an open house in Whitefish sponsored by the Flathead Coalition, a group of Montana residents concerned about mining plans in British Columbia, speakers from British Columbia said that efforts by Montana to prohibit mining in the headwaters of the Flathead River is gaining attention in the Canadian province, and that international law may provide another tool to keep mining out of areas where impacts cross international borders.
Daily Inter Lake; Nov. 21
Expert: U.S. housing slump will shutter more B.C. mills
The head of the International Wood Products Group Inc. said the U.S. housing slump will continue for another 18 months, putting more British Columbia sawmills in danger of closing, even the ones in the interior of the province that have been feeding on a diet of beetle-killed timber.
Vancouver Sun; Nov. 21
Idaho unveils draft wolf-management plan post-ESA delisting
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game released its draft plan to manage wolves after the species is removed from the federal endangered list that requires the state to maintain 15 breeding pairs; allows wolves to remain in areas where they do not cause excessive conflict with human activities; divides the state into 14 wolf-management zones; and sets guidelines for wolf hunts.
Idaho Statesman (AP); Nov. 20
Park Service releases winter travel plan for Yellowstone, Grand Teton
As reported on Tuesday, the National Park Service confirmed that Sylvan Pass in Wyoming will remain open when avalanche conditions allow in the winter, an unexpected decision in the Park Service's winter plan for Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Park that allows 540 snowmobiles per day on guided trips and 83 snowcoaches per day in Yellowstone.
Casper Star-Tribune; Nov. 21
Colorado begins investigation into conservation easement program
Two divisions of Colorado's Department of Regulatory Agencies is investigating the use of tax credits given to farmers and ranchers to keep their lands in agriculture rather than develop them, and cited the phenomenal increase of the program which has grown from $2.3 million in tax credits issued in 2001 to $85.1 million issued in 2006 as the impetus for the investigation.
Durango Herald; Nov. 21
Biofuels project targets Montana farmers for source crop
U.S. Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester and Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer announced Tuesday the formation of a biodiesel firm that wants to turn camelina grown in Montana into biofuel, with Montana producers providing most of the crop needed.
Missoulian; Nov. 21
Opinion
USDA should ground aerial predator control efforts
The U.S. Department of Agriculture spends a good portion of its $75 million annual budget for predator control on aerial gunning of coyotes, but that practice has exacted a human toll as well, with 10 Wildlife Services employees died and 28 injured in aerial-gunning accidents over the past three decades, and given that the more coyotes you kill, the bigger litters are born, the federal agency should consider non-lethal coyote control methods.
Salt Lake Tribune; Nov. 21
ZENN vehicle provides guilt-free city driving in Montana
Did you know Montana passed a law that allows modified electric vehicles or NEVs (Neighborhood Electric Vehicles) to go 35 mph? Neither did I until I read NewWest.net columnist Bill Schneider's account of his spin on Helena's streets in a Zero Emissions, No Noise, ZENN electric car on loan to Student Advocates for Valuing the Environment, a local nonprofit, from Bozeman-based EcoAuto, Inc.
NewWest.net; Nov. 17
Beyond the region
Land swap allows border fence through Ariz. refuge to go forward
A few weeks before construction was to begin on a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border through an Arizona wildlife refuge, the manager of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge rescinded his declaration that the fence would have no significant environmental impact, after which the Department of Homeland Security brokered a land swap with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that transferred the corridor needed to Homeland Security.
New York Times; Nov. 21
Oil prices continue to climb, pushes through $99-per-barrel record
Analysts said that the price of light, sweet crude oil for January hit $99.29, and said oil prices would like crash through the $100-per-barrel record within a few days.
Washington Post; Nov. 21
In depth
Colorado town to buy lumberyard to build housing
Next week, the Aspen City Council is expected to approve spending $18.25 million to buy a former lumberyard to build about 100 affordable housing units in the Colorado town.
Aspen Times-News; Nov. 21
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Wyoming county's ad campaign hopes to change view on housing
Sweetwater County officials said residents of the Wyoming county know there is a great need for entry-level housing for new residents, teachers, firemen and other workers, but no one seems to want the projects built near their homes, and next month the Sweetwater Economic Development Association will launch an ad campaign designed to introduce residents to the workers who will live in those houses.
Casper Star-Tribune; Nov. 21
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Colorado county says it needs more time on energy man camp rules
Despite energy companies' plea for new regulations on temporary housing for their workers, Garfield County commissioners declined to issue new rules that would have created a three-tier regulation system in the Colorado county based on the number of workers housed in man camps and gave themselves until Feb. 4 to take action.
Grand Junction Sentinel; Nov. 19
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