In the Rockies today, the Interior Department's review of its ban on loaded guns in national parks elicits a response from current and former federal employees.
A legion of current and former national park employees and law enforcement officers are protesting the Interior Department's decision to review its ban on guns in national park and wildlife refuges.
Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced the review in a letter to 50 U.S. senators, who penned their request that the rules be changed with some help from the National Rifle Association.
The Association of National Park Rangers, the Ranger Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, as well as the National Parks Conservation Association have joined forces to oppose the rule change.
Leaders of those groups said they're confident that once the public is allowed to have their say, loaded guns will not be allowed in national parks or wildlife refuges.
Rockies today
Western tribes exercise their water claims
The U.S. Supreme Court gave tribes the primary rights to water that flowed across their lands in 1908, but until recently 19 tribes in the West did not exercise those rights, but this year tribes in Nevada, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico and California are close to securing those claims.
USA Today; Feb. 26
Interior Department says it will review ban on guns in parks
On Friday, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced that his department will review gun laws on lands under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service, and draw up new rules by April 30 for public comment, a move supported by 50 senators, including those from Wyoming and Montana, but opposed by park rangers, retirees and conservation groups.
Missoulian; Feb. 26
Group pushes for lynx protection in New Mexico too
Santa Fe-based group WildEarth Guardians said that since 1999, when 200 Canada lynx were reintroduced into Colorado, more than 60 have wandered south into New Mexico, 14 of which have died, and the group is joining the call for endangered species protection to be extended to the lynx in New Mexico. You may have to view an ad to read this article.
Albuquerque Journal; Feb. 25
Nevada company plans seismic testing on SW Montana site
Green River Energy Resources has filed a notice of its intent to conduct seismic testing for oil and gas drilling on state and federal lands in southwestern Montana near Lima, a proposal that has prompted concerns from Bureau of Land Management personnel who said the lands are important elk-calving and bighorn sheep-lambing areas in the spring and summer, when the Nevada company proposes to do the testing.
Montana Standard; Feb. 26
Report: Grazing stirs up the dust in the American West
A new report published in this week's issue of Nature Geoscience says dust pollution in the American West has increased 600 percent over the past two centuries and says land management decisions, primarily grazing, is to blame for the region's dustier air.
Denver Rocky Mountain News; Feb. 26
Arizona lawmakers say they'll appeal ELL decision
Arizona's legal tab in fighting a federal court's decision on funding education for English language learners will increase, after legislative leaders and the state's schools chief announced they would take their fight on the issue all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Arizona Republic; Feb. 26
Industry giants urge Alberta to slow oilsands leasing
In a letter last month to Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach, Petro-Canada, Imperial Oil and Suncor urged the government not to issue oilsands leases on three protected conservation areas, a position not all oilsands operators agree with, and Stelmach said it was unlikely any leases would be issued in those areas until June, after the province completed its own study of the area.
Edmonton Journal; Feb. 26
Special Olympics Invitational kicks off in Boise
Athletes from around the world are in Boise for the four-day 2008 Special Olympics Invitational Winter Games.
Idaho Statesman; Feb. 26
Opinion
Economist.com takes a tour of Montana's Berkeley Pit
The Economist.com's Montana's diary recounts a day in Butte at the copper mines, including a stop at the famed Berkeley Pit, and a day trip to Helena to meet with Gov. Schweitzer.
Economist.com; Feb. 26
If wolf recovery is the issue, then it's time to celebrate
Twenty years ago, wildlife conservationists began work to get wolves reintroduced into the Yellowstone ecosystem, now the wolves are back, the states are prepared to manage them, and it's time to leave wolves and the people who live with them alone. A guest column for NewWest.net by Whitney Tilt, a former director of conservation for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
NewWest.net; Feb. 26
Best way to fix Utah's flawed incorporation law is to repeal it
Legislation passed by the 2007 Utah Legislature that eased the process to incorporate towns in the state could easily be the poster child of unintended consequences, and the fix cobbled together by the 2008 Legislature surely nails some of the problems down, but the better route would to have simply repealed the whole morass.
Salt Lake Tribune; Feb. 26
Colorado can only gain from delay of Village at Wolf Creek
The proposal to build the 10,000-home Village at Wolf Creek at the top of a mountain pass in Colorado as famous for its winter closures as it is for its beauty was dealt another setback last week, and with another lawsuit pending and another environmental impact study needed for a proposed access road to the development, Coloradans can only hope this ill-fated project never comes to fruition.
Durango Herald; Feb. 25
Beyond the region
EPA considers exempting factory farms from emission reporting
Since the 1980s, factory farms have been required to report large emissions of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide from animal manure to the Environmental Protection Agency, but the federal agency is considering dropping that requirement, saying no one uses the reports anyway, even though the reports have been cited in lawsuits brought by communities against large farms.
Washington Post; Feb. 26
Federal government considers another bailout of the housing market
The federal government is weighing options to shore up the nation's sagging housing market, and some experts forecast that rescue efforts could rival that of the $124 billion savings-and-loan bailout of the 1980s.
Christian Science Monitor; Feb. 26
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Seattle's foreclosure aid program raises ire in some quarters
As federal officials mull options to prop up the tumbling housing market, local governments, such as Seattle, are stepping in with their own plans to help distressed homeowners and limit broader economic fallout, but those plans are slamming into citizens' ideals of fairness and personal responsibility.
New York Times; Feb. 26
Shutdown of Canadian isotope facility sparks calls for U.S. facility
Canada's Chalk River research reactor provides 60 percent of the molybdenum isotope used in 35,000 medical images each day in the United States, and after the aging reactor was forced to shutdown for a couple of months late last year, a University of Missouri nuclear engineer is campaigning to bring the processing of the medically necessary isotope to the United States.
Toronto Globe and Mail; Feb. 26
In depth
Montana governor frustrated with energy committee's lack of consensus
Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer is one of eight governors who sit on the National Governors Association's Natural Resources Committee that is serving as a task force to develop a national policy on energy, but the Montana Democrat said the panel is having trouble reaching consensus on the regulation of greenhouse gases.
Missoulian; Feb. 26
Governors pitch public works projects as economic stimulus to Bush
A bipartisan group of governors pitched a public works plan to President Bush as a way to stimulate the economy, but the president wasn't interested, and said he preferred to see how the current plan worked before trying other avenues.
New York Times; Feb. 26
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