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In the Rockies today, nuclear waste, Wyoming's elk feedgrounds, and a flurry of decisions on drilling in the West are in the news.
The cost of a federal nuclear waste repository proposed for Nevada's Yucca Mountain grew again and is now at $90 billion, a $32-billion increase over the 2001 estimate of $58 billion.
In Wyoming, the U.S. Forest Service reauthorized five elk feedgrounds in the Bridger-Teton National Forest for 20 years, although the state's game commission's request to expand some of them was not approved.
Energy development in New Mexico's Galisteo Basin was put on hold for another six months by Gov. Bill Richardson, who said the moratorium will give state agencies time to collect baseline air and water quality data that they can use to develop regulations on such development.
In Colorado, federal efforts to restore black-footed ferret populations will put some drilling leases on hold in the northwest corner of the state.
And a decade-long dispute over discharge water from coalbed methane operations in Wyoming that has pitted ranchers against energy companies is headed to that state's highest court.
Rockies today
Cost of building Yucca Mountain just keeps growing
The Bush administration said Tuesday that the cost of building a national nuclear-waste repository in Nevada's Yucca Mountain will be more than $90 billion dollars, a $32-billion increase over the $58 billion estimated in 2001.
Deseret News and Associated Press; July 16
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Utah congressman fights transport of nuclear waste through Utah
At a U.S. House subcommittee hearing Tuesday on plans to create a nuclear waste repository in Nevada's Yucca Mountain, U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson reminded his colleagues that a bill he introduced in 2005 and reintroduced this session would keep nuclear waste on site of utilities that generate the waste, a preferable alternative to shipping the waste to Nevada, nearly all of which would have to move through Utah on its way to its final resting place.
Salt Lake Tribune; July 16
USFS reauthorizes 5 state-run elk feedgrounds in Wyoming
Five state-run elk feedgrounds in the Bridger-Teton National Forest were reauthorized for 20 years on Tuesday, but requests from the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission to expand several of those feedgrounds were denied.
Jackson Hole News & Guide; July 16
N.M. governor extends drilling moratorium on Galisteo Basin
On Tuesday, Gov. Bill Richardson issued an executive order banning hydrocarbon extraction in New Mexico's Galisteo Basin and Santa Fe County through January to give state agencies time to develop baseline air and water quality data to help write regulations that will help protect the area.
Santa Fe New Mexican; July 16
Interior panel suspends sales of gas leases in Colo. ferret habitat
Bureau of Land Management officials said they are considering what the agency's next step should be after the Interior Board of Land Appeals overturned the sale of oil and gas leases in northwest Colorado where black-footed ferrets had been released as part of the federal government's effort to restore the species.
Denver Post (AP); July 16
Coalbed-methane water dispute heads to Wyoming high court
The battle between Powder River Basin ranchers and coalbed methane operators about discharge water from CBM operations has been bubbling for nearly a decade, and now two ranching families have appealed their case to the Wyoming Supreme Court, seeking clarity on just how much excess water from such operations ranches must absorb.
Casper Star-Tribune; July 16
USFS approves controversial quarry project in Montana forest
The U.S. Forest Service said Ravalli County must have the 1,000 cubic feet of rock it wants out of an old quarry in Lost Horse Canyon in the Bitterroot National Forest in Montana pulled out by Nov. 1, but a coalition of recreationists, rock climbers and homeowners have vowed to challenge the plan in federal court.
Missoulian; July 16
USFS: Beetle devastation outpaces wildfire damage in West's forests
Robert Mangold, director of Forest Health Protection for the U.S. Forest Service, said bark beetles killed 3.9 million acres of trees in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Oregon and Washington in 2007, making those acres more susceptible wildfire.
USA Today; July 16
Opinion
Let's hope N.M. water ruling will push state to common-sense rules
A ruling by a state district judge that said New Mexico's rule that requires the state Engineer's office automatically approve applications for domestic wells violates the state's constitutional "first in time, first in right" water clause may only apply to three counties now, but if state officials have any sense at all, they'll use it as a springboard to get regulations in place.
Santa Fe New Mexican; July 15
Montana's Gallatin Range deserves wilderness designation
The Gallatin Range in Montana between Bozeman and Yellowstone National Park teems with wildlife that use the corridor to travel between the Greater Yellowstone Area and points north and West, shelters genetically pure westslope cutthroat trout, and provides habitat for bighorn sheep, grizzly bears and wolverines, to name a few, and it's time Congress designated this area as wilderness.
NewWest.net; July 16
Beyond the region
U.S. EPA releases draft of CO2 sequestration rule
A first draft of regulations covering the injection of carbon dioxide underground was released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week.
New York Times; July 16
Washington senator wants Hanford reactor added to landmark list
The B Reactor on the Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington state was the world's first full-scale nuclear reactor, and as such, Sen. Patty Murray said the site deserves designation as a national historic landmark.
Tri-City Herald; July 16
Congress votes to block Medicare pay cuts to doctors
Both houses of Congress voted to over-ride President Bush's veto of a bill that protects doctors from Medicare pay cuts, the fourth bill to be enacted over the president's veto.
New York Times; July 16
Washington state wildfire scorches 12 square miles of scenic lands
The Cold Springs Wildfire burning near Washington state's Mount Adams was just 5 percent contained Tuesday evening, and fire officials said the wildfire had burned across some of the area's most scenic sites.
Portland Oregonian; July 16
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Washington wildfire threatens tribe's commercial timber
About a quarter of the acres burned by the Cold Springs Wildfire in southern Washington are on the Yakama Nation, and crews are fighting to keep the wildfire out of the tribe's commercial timber.
Yakima Herald-Republic; July 16
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Utah county approves geothermal power plant
Colorado asks judge to lift injunction on grazing on federal CRP lands
MillerCoors nixes Colorado headquarters
USFS gets scaled-back proposal for Montana's Bitterroot Resort
Another day without power for B.C. city
Utility says it may shut off services to 47,000 in Colorado
McCain campaigns in New Mexico
Dozens arrested in federal, state crackdown on gangs in Utah
Montana lawmakers ask BER to develop particulate emissions rule
Judge says Newmont must pay to clean up Washington state reservation
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Exclusively
on Headwaters:
NewVoices/NewWest:
Culture
Clash: Can the federal No Child Left Behind Act coexist with Montana's
Indian Education for All?
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Regional Conferences
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BLM public meetings on geothermal energy development:
July 16: Tucson, Ariz.; Pima County Public Library, Dusenberry River Branch, 5605 E. River Road
July 17: Cheyenne, Wyo.; Laramie County Library, Willow Room, 200 Pioneer Avenue
July 21: Boise, Idaho; Boise Public Library, 715 South Capitol Boulevard
July 22: Albuquerque, N.M., University of New Mexico, Conference Center, Room C, 1634 University N.E.
July 23: Helena, Mont.; Lewis and Clark Main Library, 120 S. Last Chance Gulch
July 24: Denver, Colo.; PPA Event Center, 2105 Decatur Street
July 28: Seattle, Wash.; Seattle Public Library, University Branch, 5009 Roosevelt Way, N.E.
July 29: Portland, Ore.; Multnomah County Library, Central Branch, 801 SW 10th Avenue
Sept. 8-11: The U.S. Geological Survey's Third Interagency Conference on Research in the Watersheds, Estes Park, Colo. Read a preview.
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Headwaters
News is a project of the Center
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