In the Rockies today, the Trigo wildfire in New Mexico continues to burn out of control.
High winds grounded tankers on Monday and doubled the area burned by the wildfire, which has burned nine homes thus far.
In Montana, the 114 families that sued the U.S. Forest Service over a backburn that they said burned their homes during the 2000 wildfire season were disappointed when a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel affirmed a federal judge's ruling that the agency was protected from liability.
The ruling said firefighters' decisions should be directed by what conditions on the ground demand rather than concerns about future liability.
Today in our "A Look Ahead" column, we give readers a preview of a new quarterly magazine "The New West."
Brought to you by the same folks who produce NewWest.net, the print magazine covers the economy, development and change in the Rocky Mountain West.
Rockies today
High winds hamper efforts to control N.M. wildfire
The Trigo wildfire has burned more than 4,000 acres in New Mexico and destroyed nine homes since it ignited seven days ago. You may have to view an ad to read this article.
Albuquerque Journal; April 22
Appeals Court affirms USFS immunity in Montana backfire ruling
A three-judge 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel affirmed a ruling issued last fall by U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy that said the U.S. Forest Service's decision to light a backburn during firefighting operations in the 2000 catastrophic wildfire season was protected under the discretionary function exception of the federal Tort Claims Act.
Missoulian; April 22
New EPA air-pollution limits would snag 350 counties in the nation
Under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new limit for ozone of 75 parts per billion, the number of counties across the nation that violate the limit would jump from 85 today to 350, according to the most recent data, and the number of counties with federal wilderness areas that would violate the new standard would be 46.
USA Today; April 22
Residents of small Wyoming town line up to complain about bad air
About 170 people attended the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality's meeting on air quality in Pinedale on Monday, and most of those who made their way to the microphone vented about the high levels of air and water pollution allowed in their region over the past several years, most of which has been linked to rampant energy development on the Pinedale Anticline and the Jonah fields.
Casper Star-Tribune; April 22
Group pressures Idaho to press charges on wolf killing
After an Idaho county prosecutor declined to press charges against a landowner who chased a wolf for a mile before killing it, a conservation group is asking the state to create a panel to review wolf killings.
Idaho Statesman; April 22
Trial of water rights claims in Alberta begins today
Two aboriginal communities challenged Alberta's decision in 2006 to close nearly every lake, river and stream in the southern region of the Canadian province, alleging that the plan does too little to protect the environment, and the trial of the lawsuit begins today, a case that many experts said will provide a significant test of the province's authority to manage water.
Calgary Herald; April 22
Gasoline spill forces 4 more families out of their Montana homes
An April 2 crash of a fuel tanker truck along Highway 35 in northwest Montana and the resulting fuel spill has now forced five families out of their homes.
Missoulian; April 22
Opinion
BLM needs to rethink its plan for Wyoming's Pinedale Anticline
If the U.S. Bureau of Land Management wants to follow through on its plan to allow thousands more natural-gas wells to be drilled on Wyoming's Pinedale Anticline, it must assess that proposal using the environmental analysis launched in 2006 that was prompted by nitrous oxide emissions that exceeded limits set by its 2000 record of decision.
Casper Star-Tribune; April 22
Congress should pass Idaho senator's Owyhee Canyonlands bill
Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo has spent the last seven years crafting legislation that would protect the Owyhee Canyonlands as wilderness, and creating a new all-hands-in process for such measures, and Congress should reward Crapo's painstaking process and give Idaho it's first wilderness area in 28 years.
Idaho Statesman; April 20
Salazar-Udall bill will kill energy development on Colorado plateau
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management took seven years to develop its plan for energy development on Colorado's Roan Plateau, but legislation submitted last week by Democratic Sen. Ken Salazar and Reps. John Salazar and Mark Udall will stall such development and, in effect, kill any efforts to tap into the estimated 9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas trapped under the plateau, energy that the nation needs.
Denver Rocky Mountain News; April 22
Congress must extend tax incentives for solar power
Solar power still costs about three times more than electricity generated by conventional fuels, but it's far earlier in the development curve than oil, gas and coal, which receive considerable government subsidies, and solar should get its due as well.
Arizona Republic; April 22
Beyond the region
Experts: Bush administration's spotted owl plan 'deeply flawed'
A panel of nine experts put together by the Sustainable Ecosystems Institute in Oregon issued a 150-page review of the Bush administration's proposed recovery plan for the spotted owl that said the plan underestimates the threat reducing old growth forests presents to the species.
Seattle Times (AP); April 22
Gasoline, oil prices continue their trek upward into record territory
Oil prices hit $117.48 a barrel, climbing 79 cents to a new record high on Monday, and gasoline prices went along for the ride as well, with the national average price for a gallon at $3.50, and diesel prices hit a new record as well at $4.20 a gallon.
New York Times; April 22
Spokane's recycling efforts lag behind other Washington cities
Critics said that one of the reasons Spokane's recycling program has been stagnant for more than a decade is that the other four largest cities in Washington state make it easier to recycle.
Spokesman-Review (Spokane); April 22
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