In the Rockies today, Congress takes up issues of import in the Rocky Mountain West.
On Thursday, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held an oversight hearing on off-road vehicle use on federal lands.
Bureau of Land Management officials told senators that they needed another decade to complete travel plans for their lands, a timeline panel chairman New Mexico Jeff Bingaman said was too long, and suggested more resources be directed to getting travel plans in place.
Today, Western water managers and federal scientists will appear before Congress to discuss climate change and Colorado River water supplies.
The hearing is designed to educate lawmakers about the water situation in the seven states that share Colorado River water and to press for more funding for river monitoring and more scientific studies.
Rockies today
BLM officials say they need another 10 years on OHV plans
At an oversight hearing before the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Thursday, Bureau of Land Management officials said they'll need at least another decade to complete local travel plans, but Committee Chairman New Mexico Sen. Jeff Bingaman said the agency must get the resources to get plans in place sooner than that.
Billings Gazette; June 6
Scientists take Colorado River concerns to Congress today
At a congressional hearing today, scientists will provide federal lawmakers with their concerns about the effect climate change is having on the Colorado River, and present a study that shows that even a 1.5-degree increase in the Southwestern United States would shrink water supplies in the river to the point where allocations required under the Colorado River Compact could not be met.
Las Vegas Sun; June 6
Montana conference focuses on limiting beetles' impact on forests
More than 150 people attended a one-day conference in Missoula to discuss what can be done to lessen the economic, ecological and wildfire threat the pine bark beetle infestation has had on forest lands in Montana and across the Rocky Mountain West.
Missoulian; June 6
Federal judge orders USFWS to reconsider Idaho peppergrass decision
A federal judge issued an order Wednesday requiring the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reconsider its decision not to list the slickspot peppergrass, a plant with tiny white flowers find almost exclusively in Idaho's Snake River Plain and on the Owyhee Plateau, as an endangered species.
Twin Falls Times-News; June 6
Energy company wants to build plant on elk habitat in Wyoming
The Wyoming Board of Land Commissioners must decide whether to allow Colorado-based Climax Energy Co. to build a gas processing and carbon sequestration plant on a parcel of state school trust lands, which would generate $24 million annually for Wyoming schools, but would impact the largest wintering herd of elk in Sublette County.
Casper Star-Tribune; June 6
Montana agency struggles with options for school trust lands parcel
The 440-acre parcel of state school trust land near Woods Bay, a community near Montana's Flathead Lake, lacks access needed for the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to adequately manage the property, but selling the wildlife-rich property to a developer is an option that has caused quite a bit of public outcry, and prompted a call to designate the parcel a Montana Natural Area.
Missoulian; June 5
Group asks Alberta to declare area off-limits to oilsands production
The Cumulative Environmental Management Association, a coalition of energy firms, environmentalists and aboriginal groups, submitted their proposed land use plan that said oilsands development in Alberta should continue apace until the area reaches eight million barrels a day, but also said the amount of land set aside for protection would increase 20 to 40 percent, up from the current eight percent.
Calgary Herald; June 6
Opinion
Presidential candidates well versed in Native issues
Both Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama are advocates of Native Americans, a crucial voting bloc that will be well-served no matter the outcome of November's election.
Indian Country Today; June 6
Airline woes could dampen Colorado's tourism push
United Airlines' decision to pull the plug on its low-cost carrier, Ted, is a harbinger of tougher times ahead and couldn't come at a worse time for Colorado, as the state is finally ramping up its efforts on tourism.
Denver Post; June 6
Beyond the region
Bill to extend timber payments to rural counties fails in the U.S. House
Although a majority of representatives voted in favor a measure to extend payments to rural counties in Oregon and other states where timber revenues from federal lands are declining, special House rules that did not allow amendments led to the demise of the bill, sparking another round of angry words between Oregon's Democratic Rep. Peter DeFazio and his Republican counterpart Rep. Greg Walden.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (AP); June 6
U.S. Senate Democrats consider pulling climate-change bill
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is expected to pull the contentious climate-change legislation that opened debate with political maneuvering and spawned bitter partisan wrangling about the bill's cost.
Washington Post; June 6
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Utah senators say cost of climate-change legislation too high
Utah Sens. Bob Bennett and Orrin Hatch said the climate-change bill currently under debate in the U.S. Senate tries to fix a global problem with a national solution, which wouldn't affect the overall amount of greenhouse gases but would increase the amount of money U.S. citizens would have to pay for fuel and energy.
Salt Lake Tribune; June 6
Alltel's rural customers concerned about sale to Verizon
Verizon Wireless' $5.9-billion purchase of Alltel pleased investors, but rural customers of Alltel said they were concerned that Verizon won't honor Alltel's commitment to provide coverage to some of the nation's most rural areas.
Salt Lake Tribune (AP); June 6
DOE fines Hanford contractor $302K for tank spill
The CH2M Hill Hanford Group must pay the Department of Energy $302,500 for last summer's spill of radioactive waste at the Hanford tank farms in Washington state.
Tri-City Herald; June 6
In depth
Clean-up at Montana Superfund sites varies greatly
From Butte and its infamous Berkeley Pit to Missoula's Milltown Reservoir and up to Libby, the town contaminated with a particularly nasty form of asbestos named Libby Amphibole, the nation's Superfund environmental clean-up program is on display, with varying degrees of success.
Missoula Independent; June 6
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