In the Rockies today, a new estimate on oil reserves in Montana and an Idaho senator submits a new version of his Owyhee Canyonlands wilderness bill.
The shale in the Bakken Formation that lies under the prairies of Montana and North Dakota hasn't changed, but technology for prying the oil out of that rock has, and that's why the U.S. Geological Survey's latest estimate of the oil contained in that formation increased from the 151 million barrels in its 1995 report to the eye-popping 3 billion to 4.3 billion barrels estimated Thursday.
That doesn't mean all that oil can or will be extracted, as the estimates are easily skewed by technology and economic changes.
Moving on to wilderness and Idaho, Sen. Mike Crapo's Owyhee Initiative that would protect hundreds of thousands of acres of land in Idaho's Owyhee Canyonlands as wilderness will get a hearing before the Senate Natural Resources Committee on April 22nd.
Crapo changed several provisions of the legislation first submitted in 2006 to help shore up support for the measure from Senate Democrats.
Rockies today
USGS survey ups estimates of oil reserves under Montana, N.D.
On Thursday, the United States Geological Survey released a new assessment of the oil reserves of the Bakken Formation, an area of shale and other rock that stretches from eastern Montana east into North Dakota, that said the area could contain 3 billion to 4.3 billion barrels of oil, a 25-fold increase over its 1995 assessment of the area that estimated 151 million barrels of oil could be extracted.
New York Times; April 11
Montana wildlife agency says 90 percent of bighorn sheep herd dead
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials said they believed pneumonia, possibly contracted from domestic sheep or goats, caused the "all-age" die-off of the wild bighorn sheep herd in the Elkhorn Mountains that reduced the number of sheep from around 220 animals to just 19.
Helena Independent Record; April 11
Idaho senator tries again on Owyhee Canyonlands wilderness bill
Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo submitted a new version of his legislation that would protect 517,000 acres of Owyhee Canyonlands in the state as wilderness and would designate 315 miles of river as Wild and Scenic Rivers; the bill would also release 200,000 acres of wilderness study lands back to multiple-use management.
Idaho Statesman; April 11
Colorado-based Frontier Airlines files for bankruptcy protection
Frontier Airlines officials said the announcement from its primary credit card processor that it would begin withholding significant portions of Frontier ticket sales prompted the Denver-based airline to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protections late Thursday.
Denver Post; April 11
Federal firefighting funding bill gets warm welcome at U.S. House hearing
Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, Jack Ward Thomas and five other former U.S. Forest Service chiefs, and Idaho Congressman Bill Sali were among those who testified Thursday in support of the Federal Land Assistance, Management and Enhancement Act, a bill that would create a special fund to fight catastrophic wildfires.
Casper Star-Tribune; April 11
Federal panel approves renaming Arizona peak after fallen soldier
On Thursday, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names approved changing the name of Squaw Peak in Arizona to Piestewa Peak, to honor the first American Indian woman ever to die in combat while serving in the U.S. military; Army Spc. Lori Piestewa died in Iraq in 2003.
Arizona Republic; April 11
Utah activates its wolf-management plan
Now that the gray wolf is off the federal government's endangered species wolf, Utah will put its wolf-management plan in place that allows for two breeding packs with two offspring in the area east of Interstate 84 and I-15 and north of I-80 that's included in the Northern Rocky Mountain gray wolf recovery area.
Salt Lake Tribune; April 11
Montana resort asks USFS for special-use permits in 2 forests
The Bitterroot Resort has filed for special-use permits to expand nordic skiing operations in the Lolo National Forest and nordic and alpine skiing operations in the Bitterroot National Forest in Montana; this is the third permit sought by the Montana resort, the first which sought to develop 11,000 acres of national forest lands was denied by the Forest Service, and a second, scaled down version of the first request, was stalled by a legal challenge of the national forest's management plan.
Ravalli Republic; April 11
Opinion
Wyoming residents deserve study on health impacts of energy work
The Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency need to get on the same page and ask the U.S. Centers for Disease Control to complete a Health Impact Assessment of drilling operations in Wyoming's Pinedale Anticline.
Casper Star-Tribune; April 11
Beyond the region
U.S. Senate passes bill to address housing market woes
President Bush and House Democrats criticized legislation passed by the U.S. Senate to ease the nation's troubled housing market because they believe the bill doesn't do enough to aid individuals at risk of losing their homes; the bill provides $4 billion for local governments to buy foreclosed properties; a $7,000 tax credit for people who buy foreclosed homes, and $150 million for counseling borrowers.
New York Times; April 11
Pacific fisheries council cancels salmon fishing from Calif. to Oregon
Concerned about the total collapse of the fall Chinook salmon run in the Sacramento River, the Pacific Fishery Management Council voted Thursday to curb commercial fishing along the coast from California to north-central Oregon.
New York Times; April 11
Bee-destroying pathogen threatens Washington state crops
Eight of Washington state's 10 most valuable crops need bees to pollinate the crops, and growers last year were relived to avoid the mysterious colony collapse seen in other states, but now a pathogen is killing bees by the hive, and beekeepers are investing in a crash research program at Washington State University to figure out what is happening to the bees.
Seattle Times; April 11
Oil the 'new gold' in speculative investment market
Investors in oil, many of whom are not producers or users of the commodity, are driving the activity in the market, and the price of oil up, and some investment groups, such as the California Public Employees Retirement System, the nation's largest pension fund, changed its rules to allow managers to trade in oil futures.
Edmonton Journal; April 11
In depth
Simpson optimistic that Idaho wilderness bill will get a hearing this year
U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson's Central Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Act made it through the U.S. House in 2006 but faltered in the U.S. Senate, but the Idaho congressman is optimistic the House Resources Committee is poised to once again take up the consensus legislation that designates 318,765 acres of central Idaho as wilderness.
Idaho Mountain Express; April 11
Washington wilderness part of public-lands bill passed by U.S. Senate
The U.S. Senate passed a public-lands bill on Thursday that designated 167 square miles in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in Washington state as wilderness; the measure now moves back to the U.S. House for final approval.
Twin Falls Times-News; April 11
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