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In the Rockies today, wolves in three western states, wild horses in the West, and streambed access in Utah are in the news.
On Friday, U.S. District Court judge Donald Molloy granted a preliminary injunction that restored federal endangered species protection to wolves in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, forcing those states to put planned wolf hunts this fall on hold.
There are 30,000 wild horses in temporary holding facilities in the United States, and as the cost of keeping those horses corralled and fed eats up more of the Bureau of Land Management's horse and burro budget, new policies are being considered including euthanizing some of the horses.
And some environmental groups are supporting the policy change, saying the feral animals' impact on desert ranges imperil other species.
And in Utah, the state high court ruled that the public is entitled to use the Utah's waterways, providing they access them via public property.
And in our In-depth section, a round-up of stories on wind energy, the benefits and drawbacks.
Rockies today
Federal judge puts wolves in 3 western states back on endangered list
U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy granted on Friday a request for a preliminary injunction and restored endangered species protections to wolves in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.
Missoulian; July 19
Utah high court rules public entitled to streambed access
The Utah Supreme Court issued a decision Friday that said stream- and riverbeds are open to the public, no matter whose private lands they flow through, and while anglers and rafters applauded the decision, some landowners were less than enthusiastic.
Salt Lake Tribune; July 21
Attitude shifts on wild horses
Some environmentalists and scientists now view wild horses that roam the West from Montana to California as bullies at the top of the food chain, whose teeth and hooves destroy habitat and imperil other species such as desert tortoises and desert birds, and with the cost of boarding 30,000 wild horses eating up two-thirds of the Bureau of Land Management's horse and burro budget, this attitude shift may help drive a change in the BLM's policy.
New York Times; July 20
Environmental groups file intent to sue EPA on drilling emissions
Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action and Earthjustice in the Vanguard, representing a coalition of environmental groups from Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and Montana, have put the Environmental Protection Agency on notice that they intend to sue the agency for not taking steps to update federal clean air safeguards to keep up with energy development in the West.
Farmington Daily-Times; July 20
West's 'megapolitan' areas and future challenges detailed in report
The Washington, D.C.-based Brookings Institution's latest report details the challenges facing the Intermountain West's fastest-growing megapolitan areas: Colorado's Front Range; Utah's Wasatch Front linking Ogden, Salt Lake City and Provo; Arizona's Sun Corridor linking Tucson, Phoenix and Prescott; Greater Las Vegas; and Northern New Mexico linking Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Los Alamos and Rio Arriba counties.
Denver Post; July 21
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Report: West's sprawling cities could hamstring productivity
A new report by the Washington-based Brookings Institution "Mountain Megas: America's Newest Metropolitan Places and a Federal Partnership to Help Them Prosper," focuses on the Intermountain West's sprawling cities and the lack of mass transit needed to stay economically competitive with their European and Asian counterparts.
Salt Lake Tribune; July 20
Group details how climate change affects Montana river basin
A new report issued by the Clark Fork Coalition provides details on how climate change is affecting Montana's Clark Fork River basin.
Missoulian; July 21
Counties urge Colorado to take their ATV rules statewide
The Alpine Loop is a popular all-terrain vehicle route that links Silverton, Telluride, Ouray and Lake City, and in 2006, the counties the trail crosses enacted rules that require ATV riders have valid driver's licenses and carry liability insurance, and now those counties are pushing Colorado to make those requirements apply across the state.
Durango Herald; July 20
Opinion
Time is ripe for Congress to pass wilderness bills
President Bush has indicated that he'll sign any wilderness bills that reach his desk in the waning months of his term, and since there are currently a dozen or so bills in the hopper in Congress that would designate two million acres of land as wilderness, it appears the time for federal lawmakers to act is now.
New York Times; July 21
Colorado should require companies to disclose drilling chemicals
Companies said disclosure of the chemicals they use to extract oil and gas from Colorado lands would put them at a competitive disadvantage, but as the situation where a well-worker became ill, as did the nurse who cared for him indicates, it's imperative that the state require such disclosure for public health and safety reasons.
Durango Herald; July 21
Western states should pace renewable-energy projects
Western states need only look at the acres of empty subdivisions to see what over-enthusiasm can reap, and before Oregon, Washington and Idaho sprout acres of wind turbines, attention must be paid to just how to get the power produced to paying markets.
NewWest.net; July 21
Army's scaled-back plans for Colorado expansion should lift moratorium
The U.S. Army's decision to expand its Pinon Canyon training grounds in Colorado by just 100,000 acres rather than the 400,000 it previously wanted to add, and the fact the Army said it now has a landowner willing to sell the needed land to it, should be enough for Congress to lift a moratorium on funding for the expansion.
Denver Rocky Mountain News; July 21
Beyond the region
Two wolves captured in Washington state
Wildlife biologists captured what are believed to be two wolves in western Okanogan County in Washington state on Friday, one of which is a lactating female.
Casper Star-Tribune (AP); July 19
Water-thrifty rain barrels violate Washington state law
Water-conscious residents of Washington state are placing barrels under their rain gutters to capture precious water, but they're also violating state law which says that rainwater is a public resource, but doesn't set a threshold on when collecting rainwater wades into state territory.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer; July 21
Group warns consumers of eating fish from urban waters in Washington
A Spokane-based group launched a campaign to educate consumers about the dangers of eating fish from urban waters such as the Spokane River in Washington state.
Spokane Spokesman Review; July 21
Washington state wildfire 75 percent contained
The Mount Adams wildfire burned nearly 8,000 acres in Washington state since it ignited July 12, and U.S. Forest Service officials said it wasn't certain when access to popular recreation sites would be restored.
Yakima Republic-Herald; July 21
In depth
BPA: Northwest's wind power could quadruple
Bonneville Power Administration officials said their assessment of future power projects found 4,716 megawatts of wind-generated energy could come online within the next five years in the Northwest, but that the current transmission grid can handle only about a third of the anticipated megawatts.
Portland Oregonian; July 21
Montana watches Alberta community's struggle with wind power
Pincher Creek, an Alberta city about 250 miles north of Great Falls, Mont., featured its first wind farm on a postage stamp three years ago, but with more such projects in the works, groups fighting to impose regulations based on the cumulative number of wind turbines are battling with groups promoting wind development and property-rights champions.
Great Falls Tribune; July 21
Montanans ask wind developers to slow down, consider the scenery
If the Montana Alberta Tie Line, a proposed transmission line, between Great Falls and Lethbridge, Alberta, is built, state and federal regulators agree that there are very few restrictions and regulations on where wind farms can be built, a situation that concerns some Montanans who decry the impact wind farms have on the state's spectacular scenery.
Great Falls Tribune; July 21
Montana wind farm killed hundreds of bats, birds in one year
A study of the Judith Gap Wind Farm in Montana found that, between July 2006 and May 2007, an estimated 1,200 bats and 406 birds were killed by the 91 wind turbines.
Great Falls Tribune; July 21
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| "If you can pee in a jar, 25 bucks an hour to start. That's not bad for a kid straight out of high school."
Tom Richmond, a petroleum engineer and administrator of the Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation, on what it takes to get a job in Montana's oilfields.
- Billings Gazette
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North Dakota outpaces Montana in tapping into Bakken oil formation
OSHA plugs up Nevada university's water-recycling plans
Energy work takes a toll on Colorado's 'mule-deer factory'
BLM releases land-use plan for Utah's Kane, Garfield counties
Housing sales down, but prices remain steady in Colorado resorts
Mining company's lobbying efforts pay off in Arizona
University of Wyoming hosts international conference on hydrogen energy
New Mexico pulls oil, gas permit in Rio Arriba County
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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 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
for the Rocky Mountain West at the University
of Montana. |
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