In the Rockies today, a new report pushes for federal action on abandoned mines in the West.
A dozen people died in accidents at abandoned mines between 2004 and 2007, and a new report from the Interior Department said more such fatalities are likely.
The report, issued by the department's Inspector General Earl E. Devaney was unusually harsh, and called for the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service to immediately revamp their programs for securing abandoned mines.
Also, in the news, as wildfire season flares up in the West, the Idaho Statesmen continues its in-depth look at the U.S. Forest Service's fire-fighting policies and how new scientific findings and long-held public sentiment affect the agency's efforts to change those policies.
In "On the Bookshelf," we offer readers a review of Courtney White's Revolution on the Range:The Rise of a New Ranch in the American West.
The book began as a collection of essays White wrote for Headwaters News on people who embrace a sustainable approach to western resources.
White's book-signing tour kicks off tomorrow night in Denver at the Tattered Cover Bookstore in LoDo, and includes stops in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.
Rockies today
Interior Dept. report urges cleanup of abandoned mines
A report issued Friday by Inspector General Earl E. Devaney of the Interior Department, based on interviews of Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service employees, as well as visits to 45 abandoned mines, most in Nevada, Arizona and California, said that the abandoned mines contained the potential for more deaths and injuries and represented a considerable environmental hazard.
Washington Post; July 26
Lack of public commitment keeps wildfire policy locked in the past
Nearly half of the U.S. Forest Service's annual budget is consumed by firefighting costs, and while some remote fires are allowed to burn, most are extinguished, a policy that is losing scientific support, but retains strong public support, especially from those who live in forested communities. Another in a series.
Idaho Statesman; July 27
Meandering Utah river in the sights of thirsty Wasatch Front cities
The Bear River covers 500 river miles but ends just 90 miles from its origins in the Uinta Mountains at the marshlands at the northeast shore of the Great Salt Lake in Utah, and a 17-year-old fiat from the state's Legislature based on an even older agreement between Utah, Idaho and Wyoming, has kept the river from being tapped for drinking water, but that's going to change in the near future.
Salt Lake Tribune; July 26
N.M. doubtful EPA can meet Desert Rock timeline
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to release its decision Thursday on the air-quality permit for the proposed coal-fired Desert Rock power plant to be built on Navajo Nation land in New Mexico, but New Mexico officials said it's doubtful the federal agency can meet its legal obligation to respond to each of the 1,200 public comments on the project by July 31.
Santa Fe New Mexican; July 28
Hundreds evacuated from flooded N.M. communities
A record 4.6 inches of rain fell in a 24-hour period over the weekend in New Mexico, forcing the Rio Ruidoso River out of its banks and hundreds of people in Ruidoso and Ruidoso Downs out of their homes. You may have to view an ad to read this article.
Albuquerque Journal; July 28
Montana, Wyoming, Idaho discuss options on wolf decision
During a teleconference held Friday, lawyers representing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the states of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, and representatives of sportsmen and agriculture group discussed their next move in the ongoing debate over management of wolves in the three Western states in light of a recent federal court decision that returned endangered species protections to wolves.
Billings Gazette (AP); July 28
Idaho biologists say first sockeye salmon have reached the state
Biologists have counted 814 sockeye salmon at the Lower Granite Dam near Lewiston so far this year, and with wild sockeye salmon numbers reportedly high in the Columbia and Snake rivers, Idaho hopes hundreds more will soon follow.
Idaho Statesman; July 28
Opinion
Judge's ruling gives Rocky Mountain wolves needed protections
Neither Idaho, nor Montana nor especially Wyoming have a wolf-management plan in place that would provide a path to supporting viable populations of the species, and U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy was right on the money when he returned wolves in those states to the federal endangered species list.
New York Times; July 26
Utah county should proceed with caution on nuclear plant proposal
Emery County and Green River officials must carefully weigh the benefits and disadvantages of having a nuclear power plant in their Utah community, and if they do that, they will surely discover the reasons not to allow such a facility overwhelmingly outweigh the benefits.
Salt Lake Tribune; July 27
Beyond the region
Grazing on Washington state lands under fire
Washington state officials opened up state fish-and-wildlife lands to grazing to see if grazing helped nourish forage for elk and deer and to provide ranchers with graze for their cattle, but some state biologists and other local ranchers said the program is causing more problems than it's helping.
Seattle Times; July 28
Congress sends housing-aid bill to the president
On Saturday, the U.S. Senate sent a package of legislation designed to provide relief to hundreds of thousands of families across the nation who are facing the loss of their homes to foreclosure, but critics warned taxpayers stand to lose much in that the legislation raises the national debt ceiling by $800 billion to $10.6 trillion, and raises the limit on the government's credit card to 14 digits.
New York Times; July 27
Manufacturers streamline, disguise solar panels
More solar-power panel manufacturers are creating neater, cleaner panels to tackle complaints about the esthetics of the panels designed to capture the power of the sun.
Calgary Herald (Reuters); July 28
Global warming may end decades-long wolf, moose study in Michigan
Last weekend was the 50th anniversary of the Isle Royale Wolf/Moose Study, and scientists and National Park Service officials from around the country gathered in the nation's least-visited national park in Michigan where wolves and moose have lived in relative isolation, and where the numbers of both species have plummeted in recent years, due in part to rising temperatures.
Washington Post; July 21
Virgin Galactic to unveil new aircraft to carry tourists to outer space
Today, British billionaire Sir Richard Branson and American aerospace designer Burt Rutan will unveil the aircraft that will carry a spacecraft carrying tourists above the Earth's atmosphere.
Toronto Globe & Mail; July 28
In depth
Wildfire near California's Yosemite Park destroys 12 homes
Hundreds of residents were forced out of their homes by the Telegraph Fire, which has burned across 26,000 acres, destroyed 12 homes and 27 outbuildings and forced officials to cut power to Yosemite National Park in California.
Los Angeles Times; July 28
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Washington state fire chief feared dead in California wildfire
Dan Packer, a fire chief for Washington state's Pierce County who grew up in Montana, was in California helping fight a wildfire in the Klamath National Forest when he went missing, and it is feared that he died; another Washington state man died fighting another wildfire in California on Friday.
Seattle Times; July 28
Montana wildfire explodes to 5,000 acres over the weekend
The Cascade Fire, burning 11 miles from Red Lodge, is now at 5,000 acres, although cooler temperatures and lack of wind forecast for today is expected to help firefighters get a handle on the Montana fire.
Billings Gazette; July 28
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Wildfire threatens cabins in north-central Montana
The Harley Creek Wildfire in Montana's Little Belt Mountains is now estimated at 147 acres, and is burning just a couple of miles away from nine cabins in the Lewis and Clark National Forest.
Great Falls Tribune; July 28
Firefighters jump into effort in Utah wildfire
A wildfire sparked by a suspicious fire at the shuttered Bridal Veil Falls restaurant in Utah's Provo Canyon has burned about 40 acres, and 20 smokejumpers from northern Utah are expected to jump on the front lines of the wildfire today.
Salt Lake Tribune; July 28
Wildfire burning in beetle-killed timber in Wyoming
The Gunbarrel Fire is burning 38 miles west of Cody, and has burned about 232 acres in Wyoming's North Absaroka Wilderness.
Billings Gazette; July 28
Fire crews contain lightning-sparked wildfires in Colorado
A wildfire burned 1,700 acres of grasslands in Colorado's southern Adams County on Sunday before crews were able to contain it; and another lightning-sparked grasslands fire burned 800 acres in Washington County.
Denver Post; July 28
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