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In the Rockies today, national parks in the Rocky Mountain West get money to spruce up for the National Park Service's Centennial Celebration scheduled for 2016.
Two national parks in Utah were among the first projects to be funded by the National Park Service's public-private partnership that provides matching federal dollars for donations.
Zion National Park plans to use its $150,000 grant to hire a park ranger and to pay for an artist-in-residence program, while Cedar Breaks will use its $150,000 for its "Partners in the Park" program.
Montana's Glacier National Park plans to spend its $490,000 on preparations for that park's 100th anniversary celebration in 2010.
And in Idaho, the Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument will use its nearly $40,000 grant to build an interpretive trail and amphitheater at Carnivore Cove.
Rockies today
Congressional budget officer details costs of cap-and-trade program
Peter Orszag, director of the Congressional Budget Office, testified before the Senate Finance Committee that the cap-and-trade legislation sponsored by Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and John Warner, R-Va., would raise the price of gasoline by 25 cents a gallon, but Montana Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the committee, said not addressing greenhouse gas emissions could have a much higher, long-term cost.
Casper Star-Tribune; April 25
Utah parks among first to get funds from NPS Centennial fund
On Thursday, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced the first recipients under the National Park Centennial Initiative, a program to improve the nation's national parks using a combination of federal funds and donated dollars, and Utah's Zion and Cedar Breaks were among the first parks designated to receive funds.
Salt Lake Tribune; April 25
Grizzly bear study in Northwest Montana running out of funding
An injection of cash from the Flathead National Forest will keep grizzly-bear monitoring efforts in Northwest Montana going for another year, but after that the program is out of money, and on Thursday a committee of federal and state agency officials told members of the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem grizzly bear subcommittee it would take $586,000 annually to develop a monitoring program for the bears similar to that in place in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
Kalispell Daily Inter Lake; April 25
Idaho county begins process to repeal affordable-housing mandate
Citing a decision earlier this year by an Idaho district judge that found McCall's requirement that 20 percent of new housing be deed-restricted was unconstitutional and amounted to an illegal tax, the Blaine County Commission voted Thursday to initiate the process to repeal its ordinance passed in 2006 that requires all new developments contain 20 percent affordable housing.
Idaho Mountain Express (Sun Valley); April 25
After 8 years of going it alone, Colorado town asks EPA for help
Eight years ago, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency first considered putting Creede on its list of Superfund sites to clean up a century of mining waste, residents of the Colorado town created the Willow Creek Reclamation Committee and cleaned up seven sites on its own, but now the town and the Environmental Protection Agency are working together to clean up a 100-year-old drainage tunnel.
Denver Post; April 25
Montana will announce Blackfoot River cleanup deal today
Under the terms of a settlement to be announced today, Atlantic Richfield Co. and Asarco will pay the state of Montana $37 million to remove the aging Mike Horse Dam and the sediment contained behind it on the upper reaches of the Blackfoot River.
Helena Independent Record; April 25
Opinion
Adopting mercury limits for waterways a no-brainer for Idaho
The Idaho Board of Environmental Quality should adopt the proposal of the Idaho Conservation League to establish mercury regulations for the state's waterways when the board meets today.
Idaho Mountain Express (Sun Valley); April 25
Interior Dept., USFS need a makeover and here's how to do it
The proposal to move the U.S. Forest Service out of the Department of Agriculture and into the Department of Interior is once again bouncing around Washington, D.C., and this time the idea should stick, and then the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management should be reorganized into three focused agencies: the outdoor recreation service, the resource management service and the fire service.
NewWest.net; April 25
Beyond the region
Nevada, Arizona among states reporting growing budget deficits
The National Conference of State Legislatures' report that will be released today says that the national debate about whether the United States is in a recession is a moot point in some states where growing budget deficits signal that those states' economies are already in recession. Contains a graphic showing which states are dealing with budget deficits, including Nevada and Arizona.
Idaho Statesman (AP); April 25
Washington state board rules for WSU in water dispute
The Washington Pollution Control Hearings Board ruled that The Palouse Water Conservation Network, the Palouse Group Sierra Club and Pullman-area resident Scotty Cornelius did not adequately prove their claim that Washington State University's plan to consolidate its water rights would impair other existing water rights in the area.
Twin Falls Times-News (AP); April 25
In depth
Commerce Dept: New home sales at lowest point since the 1990s
A report issued by the Commerce Department on Thursday said that builders have the largest backlog of unsold homes in more than 25 years, and that the sales of new homes dropped 8.5 percent in March, and if sales continue at that pace, it will take builders nearly a year to clear the backlog of unsold homes.
New York Times; April 25
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Analyst says home prices in Las Vegas back to 2004 levels
The president of a Las Vegas-based research firm said the median price for an existing home in the Nevada city fell 4 percent in 2007, and predicted that those prices will decline 8 percent by the end of the year.
Las Vegas Review-Journal; April 25
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Inventory of unsold homes declines in Denver
A report by the Wall Street Journal said that Denver was one of only five metropolitan areas with a year-over-year decline in unsold homes, a sign that the local housing market in the Colorado city was improving.
Denver Post; April 25
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