In the Rockies today, Wyoming ranchers take a live-and-let-live approach on wolves, but in Idaho, a confrontation on the issue gets out of hand.
When the federal government hands over wolf management to Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, the species will be classified as a predator in much of Wyoming, which means they can be removed through continuing contracts such as coyotes and foxes are now.
But ranchers in Wyoming said that their attitudes on wolves will stay pretty much the same: they want wolves that kill their livestock removed.
In Idaho, a confrontation Tuesday between an anti-wolf activist and the director of a Ketchum-based conservation group resulted in assault charges being filed against the head of the Idaho Anti-Wolf Coalition.
And in our In depth section, new Census reports that track population changes in the nation's metropolitan areas pegs St. George, Utah, as the nation's second fastest-growing urban area, and Grand Junction, Colo., ranked ninth.
Rockies today
Nevada utility to build geothermal plant near Fallon
Nevada Power Co. is teaming up with geothermal developer Ormat Technologies to build a 30-megawatt geothermal plant near Fallon, that will eventually produce enough electricity for 22,000 homes.
Las Vegas Sun; March 27
Art, industry collide on the shores of Utah's Great Salt Lake
Utah is considering a proposal to allow oil drilling five miles across the Great Salt Lake from the "Spiral Jetty," a 1,500-foot curved construction of rock and earth by the artist Robert Smithson created in the lake in the 1970s, but the plan is being protested by artists and environmentalists who said the operations threaten wildlife and the decades-old art.
New York Times; March 27
Gritty ad campaign helped curbed meth use in Montana
In 2005, Montana had the fastest growing prison population in the United States, with nearly half the male inmates and two-thirds of the female inmates incarcerated for methamphetamine-related crimes, and the state ranked fifth in the nation for use of the drug, but now the state ranks 39th, and officials credit a gritty anti-drug advertising campaign launched by the Montana Meth project, and law enforcement's new focus on disrupting the supply lines.
Christian Science Monitor; March 27
Wyoming ranchers say they won't bother wolves that don't bother them
When federal protections of wolves are removed this Friday, the species becomes a predator in most of Wyoming, but ranchers in the state said they don't plan a full-scale attack on the species, and have adopted a live-and-let-live attitude toward wolves.
Casper Star-Tribune; March 26
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Police charge anti-wolf activist in Idaho with assault
Stanley outfitter Ron Gillett, who heads the Idaho Anti-Wolf Coalition, was charged with assaulting Lynne Stone, director of the Boulder White Clouds Council, after a confrontation between the two Tuesday afternoon in Stanley.
Twin Falls Times-News; March 27
Volunteers put boots on the ground in Colorado's national forests
In 2006, the latest year for which figures are available, nonprofit groups and businesses pitched in $12.2 million in cash and labor for projects in Colorado's national forests, and U.S. Forest Service officials said the agency turned $28.6 million in seed money into $61.4 million in on-the-ground projects across the Rocky Mountain region.
Denver Post; March 27
Copper thieves shutter Arizona special-needs day care
High prices of copper have made thieves brazen, and thefts of building components made of copper are becoming a daily event in Arizona, but the theft this weekend of three copper and brass valves from a day care operated by United Cerebral Palsy of Central Arizona hit especially hard, forcing the organization to shift $6,600 from programs to replace the valves.
Arizona Republic; March 27
Opinion
Montana agreement with tribe could unleash a gush of energy work
On Tuesday, Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer and Tribal Chairman Rusty Stafne signed off on an agreement that ensures oil extracted from the Fort Peck Indian Reservation will be taxed just once, clearing away what some said was the biggest obstacle to energy development on the tribal lands in Montana.
Great Falls Tribune; March 27
Federal government should stop fighting and clean up n-waste in Idaho
Now that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has said the federal government should clean up the 2 million cubic feet of plutonium-laced garbage it buried in southeast Idaho in the 1950s and 1960s, the federal government ought to do just that.
Idaho Statesman; March 27
Data-gathering buoys fail to find evidence that oceans are warming
In 2003, 3,000 Argo buoys were released into the world's oceans, where the fence-post sized sentinels drift downward into the ocean a mile or more, collect data on the temperature, salinity, pressure and velocity of the upper oceans, and then surface to disgorge their findings, and repeat the process dozens of times a year--and for five years, the data gathered by the fleet of Argos has failed to confirm that the oceans are getting warmer, which runs counter to supercomputer models and the arguments on global warming.
Toronto National Post; March 27
Beyond the region
NOAA to assess ice melt's risk to 4 species of seals
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will study four species of seals in Alaska's Bering Sea to determine if the loss of sea ice puts them at risk.
Washington Post; March 27
B.C. city explores exporting garbage to landfill in S. Washington state
The regional landfill at Cache Creek is expected to be full in 2010, and Vancouver and Delta won't take any more trash at the Vancouver-owned Burns Bog in Delta, leaving the B.C. municipalities with only one short-term option: ship their garbage across the border into southern Washington state for disposal at the Rabanco Companies-operated Roosevelt Regional Landfill.
Vancouver Sun; March 27
With prices sky high, rustlers are making off with farmers' grain
As prices for wheat, barley, canola and other grains have doubled, and in some cases, tripled, grain rustlers are hitting isolated farms, filling up their trucks and driving away with a cash crop, and one U.S. think-tank, the Urban Institute, said crop thefts in the United States are nearing $5 billion annually.
Toronto National Post; March 27
Spokane woman pleads guilty to operating diploma mill in Wash. state
The case against four residents of Spokane for operating a diploma mill in the Washington city is believed to be the first successful prosecution by the U.S. Department of Justice against such operations, using wire and mail fraud statutes.
Spokane Spokesman-Review; March 27
In depth
Census data says Utah city 2nd fastest-growing in the nation
According to a Census report issued today, St. George is the second fastest growing metropolitan area in the nation, but the 5.6 percent growth reported between July 1, 2006 and July 1, 2007, is down from the year before, where the Utah city was the nation's fastest-growing urban area with a 6 percent increase in population.
Deseret News; March 27
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Census: Grand Junction tops in growth in Colorado, 9th in nation
New Census data released today said Grand Junction was the fastest-growing metropolitan area in Colorado, and the Western Slope city ranked ninth in the nation in terms of percentage increase of population.
Grand Junction Sentinel; March 27
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Census: Tri-Cities area of Washington state grew by nearly 20 percent
New Census data released today found that many of Washington state's metropolitan areas had substantially added population over the past seven years, and that the Tri-Cities metro area of Richland, Kennewick and Pasco led the state in growth over that time.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (AP); March 27
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