In the Rockies today, federal reports on endangered species decisions and energy resources on public lands are in the news.
The General Accountability Office released its report on actions taken by the Interior Department on endangered species decisions that were politically influenced by Julie MacDonald, a former deputy assistant secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
A GAO official told members of the House Natural Resources Committee on Thursday, that had the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service broadened its investigation of species decisions, it would have found at least four other political appointees may have intervened in those decisions.
The Bureau of Land Management released its inventory of untapped gas and oil resources on Wednesday that said there are about 30 billion barrels of oil and 231 trillion cubic feet of natural gas underlying the nation's public lands.
The report says that 24.2 billion barrels of oil are technically recoverable, but only 6.3 billion barrels are perhaps recoverable, or about 3 years worth of oil given the United States' daily consumption of 20 million barrels of oil.
Rockies today
GAO report: Four other Interior officials had role in ESA decisions
Robin Nazzaro of the Government Accountability Office told members of the House Natural Resources Committee that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service limited its investigation of endangered species decisions that may have been politically influenced by reviewing just those decisions affected by Julie MacDonald, but that at least four other Interior Department officials may have had a role in exerting political influence in ESA decisions.
Missoulian; May 22
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Report faults Interior Dept.'s work on MacDonald's ESA decisions
A report issued by the Government Accountability Office criticized the Interior Department for not doing more to address eight endangered or threatened species decisions influenced by a former Interior official's intervention, including three species found in Utah: the Canada lynx, the Southwestern willow flycatcher and the white-tailed prairie dog.
Salt Lake Tribune; May 22
BLM issues report on oil, gas resources
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management's Phase III inventory of onshore oil and gas resources mandated by the 2005 Energy Policy Act found a little more than 30 billion barrels of oil and 231 trillion cubic feet of natural gas on public lands, but not all of those resources can be developed due to environmental protections, private property or wildlife concerns or other reasons.
Salt Lake Tribune; May 22
Biologists: Burbot eat their way up the food chain in Utah-Wyo. reservoir
A team of researchers from Utah State University are studying how fast the population of burbot, or ling cod, is growing in the Flaming Gorge, a 91-mile-long reservoir that straddles the Wyoming-Utah border, and they have found that the voracious fish are eating crayfish and may be feasting on kokanee salmon eggs.
Salt Lake Tribune; May 22
National Bison Range in Montana celebrates 100-year anniversary
As estimated 40 million bison wandered over the North American continent when the United States was founded, but by 1889, William Hornaday counted the remaining bison and said 1,091 existed, and by 1900 the number in the wild had fallen to 100, and with the efforts of Salish tribal members, Montana residents and East Coast conservationists, including U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, a national refuge was established for the bison in Montana on May 23, 1908.
Missoulian; May 22
Hunters urge Idaho to reduce wolf numbers
Dozens of people attended a hearing hosted by the Idaho Fish and Game Department in Jerome on the state's wolf-management plan, where hunters complained about the loss of big game to wolves, and said the state should reduce the number of wolves to the bare minimum required by federal law.
Twin Falls Times-News; May 22
Hundreds gather in Utah to edit regional cap-and-trade emissions policy
Members of the Western Climate Initiative, which includes officials from Utah, Arizona, California, Montana, New Mexico, Washington, Oregon and three Canadian provinces, as well as industry representatives, environmental groups and labor unions gathered in Salt Lake City to help edit the first draft of a cap-and-trade emissions program.
Salt Lake Tribune; May 22
Opinion
Colorado legislators need to fix eminent-domain law
After the U.S. Supreme Court issued the Kelo decision, which expanded local governments' authority to take private property for economic development, analysts at the Independence Institute offered to draft legislation that would ensure Colorado landowners would get at least the assessed value of their property should they face eminent domain measures, and now that some Denver homeowners are being offered less than that value from the Regional Transportation District, it's time for lawmakers to act.
Denver Rocky Mountain News; May 22
Beyond the region
U.S. appeals court strikes down Washington state's ban on nuke waste
A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found that Washington state's voter-passed initiative that banned the importation of any new nuclear waste to the Hanford nuclear complex until the Department of Energy completes cleanup operations there was in violation of federal law.
Spokane Spokesman-Review; May 22
Oil prices tap $135 a barrel in Asian markets, then dip slightly
In early trading in Asian markets Thursday, the per-barrel price of oil hit a new record, $135, and then fell back slightly.
Toronto Globe and Mail (AP); May 22
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U.S. Senate once again grills oil company execs
For the second time this year, oil companies executives were on Capitol Hill, where members of the Senate Judiciary Committee spent three hours zinging oil execs, who deflected blame, and no solutions were offered.
Seattle Times (McClatchy Newspapers); May 22
Alaska governor says state will challenge polar bear listing
Gov. Sarah Palin said Alaska will file a challenge to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne's decision to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act on the grounds that there is insufficient evidence to support the decision that the species is in decline.
New York Times (AP); May 22
Clerical error puts Farm Bill back before the U.S. House again
The U.S. House voted yesterday to override President Bush's veto of the five-year, $307-billion Farm Bill, but after discovering that a whole section on policy had mistakenly been omitted from the bill before it was voted on, the U.S. House is expected to take the bill up again today.
Washington Post; May 22
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