In the Rockies today, lawsuits old and new are in the news.
Revett Minerals' effort to pull silver and copper out of Montana's Cabinet Mountains prompted a lawsuit over water quality in Rock Creek.
Conservation groups said sediment levels in the creek are nearly too high now for native species such as bull trout, and allege that the mine will push the sediment level even higher, putting the fish at risk.
In a lawsuit over management of the Glen Canyon Dam filed by the Grand Canyon Trust, a federal judge allowed all seven states that are party to the Colorado River Water Compact to join the lawsuit in support of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
In Nevada, a rancher who sued the U.S. Forest Service in 1991 over grazing permits and water rights, won his case on the water issue.
Wayne Hage, who was married to the late U.S. Idaho Rep. Helen Chenoweth-Hage, died in 2006, but his estate will receive $4.2 million in damages, and could receive another $4.4 million in interest.
Also in the news, Montana defers the sale of energy leases on the Rocky Mountain Front, hundreds attend a hearing in Colorado on the state's new oil and gas regulations, and Wyoming orders a company to put its carbon dioxide emissions to good use.
Rockies today
Lawsuit alleges Montana's Rock Creek mine will harm bull trout
A coalition of conservation groups have filed a lawsuit to stop the Rock Creek copper and silver mine proposed in Montana's Cabinet Mountains because they fear the mine will increase the sediment load in Rock Creek and harm bull trout, but Revett Minerals officials said the mitigation measures the mine will put in place will actually improve the water quality of the creek.
Missoulian; June 11
Late Nevada rancher wins water suit against USFS
The late Wayne Hage, a Nevada rancher who sued the U.S. Forest Service in 1991 over the agency's requirement that Hage use only hand tools to keep irrigation canals clear of brush and trees, won his lawsuit on Friday, when a federal appeals judge ruled the U.S. Forest Service's hand-tool regulation resulted in the agency's wrongful taking of that water right.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (AP); June 11
Federal judge lets Colorado River states join Glen Canyon dam suit
A federal judge allowed Nevada, Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming to intervene in support of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in a lawsuit filed by the Grand Canyon Trust against the federal agency over management of Glen Canyon Dam.
Las Vegas Sun (AP); June 11
Montana pulls energy leases on Rocky Mountain Front from auction list
After conservation groups and the state's Fish, Wildlife and Parks agency protested four parcels of energy leases along Montana's Rocky Mountain Front, the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation deferred leasing the parcels for six months.
Billings Gazette (AP); June 11
Wyoming orders ExxonMobil to pipe, pump carbon dioxide emissions
The Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission passed a resolution on Tuesday requiring ExxonMobil to curb carbon dioxide emissions at its Shute Creek natural gas processing facility near LaBarge and pipe the emissions to energy drilling operations where it can be used to enhance oil recovery.
Casper Star-Tribune; June 11
Utah asks NRC to nix plan to import Italian nuclear waste
The public comment period on EnergySolutions' proposal to import radioactive waste from Italy for disposal at its Tooele County facility in Utah closed on Tuesday, and the state asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to reject the proposal.
Salt Lake Tribune; June 11
Hundreds pack Colorado center to talk about oil, gas rules
Most of the 2,000 or so people who packed the Two Rivers Conventions Center in Grand Junction on Tuesday voiced their concerns about the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission's new regulations and the effect it would have on their jobs and communities, but there were misconceptions expressed as well, and Commission personnel addressed those directly.
Grand Junction Sentinel; June 11
Opinion
Wyoming must eventually decide if revenue rules over wildlife
A proposal to build a natural gas processing and carbon sequestration plant on state land in Sublette County, land that provides crucial winter habitat for a herd of about 200 elk, highlights what is, and will continue to be, a conundrum for Wyoming: Does the state want the income or does it prefer to protect its wildlife, and how the state responds this time will no doubt pave the way for future policy.
Casper Star-Tribune; June 11
Colorado governor's plan for Roan Plateau better than the BLM's
Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter's six-phase energy development plan for the Roan Plateau is not only environmentally superior to the Bureau of Land Management's all-at-once plan, but it also makes more sense economically.
Denver Post; June 11
Cities in Idaho's Wood River Valley must allow high-density development
The citizens and officials of communities in Idaho's Wood River Valley have shown their commitment against sprawl by developing a plan and sticking to it, which is why state Highway 75 between Hailey and Ketchum is uncluttered by commercial development and hillsides in Ketchum, Sun Valley and Blaine County aren't cluttered with homes, but development must, and should, happen in the cities, including all range of housing options and commercial development.
Idaho Mountain Express (Sun Valley); June 11
Decision on Idaho's slickspot peppergrass has little to do with the plant
While some decisions issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on endangered species certainly deserve to be revisited, its finding on Idaho's slickspot peppergrass isn't one of them.
Twin Falls Times-News; June 11
Beyond the region
Largely partisan vote kills oil companies' windfall tax bill in U.S. Senate
The Democrat-sponsored energy legislation in the U.S. Senate would have imposed a windfall tax on the nation's oil companies, eliminated some tax breaks for those companies, and would have required the U.S. Justice Department to investigate the role speculation in oil futures is having in the current skyward march of oil prices.
Washington Post; June 11
Canada, U.S. pledge new cooperation on Columbia River Basin issues
The United States and Canada already collaborate on the hydroelectric power system that includes 14 dams on the Columbia River, but officials met earlier this week at the Grand Coulee Dam and pledged additional cooperation, including the possibility of creating a Columbia River Institute.
Spokane Spokesman-Review; June 11
Washington state bus-riding backpacker gains new followers
Seattle resident Dave McBee has been hopping on public transportation to get to trailheads for backpacking trips for more than a decade, and when he wrote a guide for other bus-hopping backpackers in 1999, many dismissed him as eccentric, but with gasoline prices now at $4-a -gallon and higher, McBee is gaining new followers each day.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer; June 11
Presidential candidates' campaign schedule highlights battleground states
Republican Sen. John McCain is campaigning for president in Pennsylvania, while Democratic Sen. Barack Obama is in Missouri, Iowa, and Wisconsin.
Christian Science Monitor; June 11
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