Today in Headwaters News' Western Perspective, we offer a look at the Western Governors' Association agenda for the next year.
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. will lead the governors group, and he will focus on energy and water for the year that ends next June.
The WGA is working with the federal Energy Department to study and define areas of the West most amenable to the development of clean energy and to define corridors for transmission lines to carry that electricity to market.
Water is an increasingly precious resource in the Rocky Mountain West, and the WGA is working with states to document water planning processes to facilitate federal agencies' efforts in the Western states.
We invite you to read the column and send us your comments.
And in "A Look Ahead," we offer a preview of the 32nd Annual Public Land Law Conference scheduled Sept. 22-24 in Missoula, Mont.
This year's focus will be on federal public lands policies and recommendations for changes to those policies for the next administration.
Rockies today
Groups plan immediate appeal of roadless ruling
Representatives of Earthjustice and The Wilderness Society said they planned to immediately appeal U.S. District Court Judge Clarence Brimmer's decision that could open up 58 million acres of federal forest lands to development, while Trout Unlimited and Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership issued pleas to hunters, anglers and others who cared about protecting wildlife habitat to press lawmakers to keep the roadless rule in place.
Jackson Hole News & Guide; Aug. 14
BLM's new rules designed to protect sage grouse in Wyoming basin
New rules released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management will reduce the number of natural gas well pads allowed in Wyoming's Powder River Basin from eight per square mile to just one, unless companies can prove higher density will not harm the sage grouse.
Casper Star-Tribune; Aug. 14
Alberta approves Montana-Alberta transmission line
The Alberta Energy and Utilities Board approved the Alberta portion of a 215-mile electricity transmission line that will run between Lethbridge and Great Falls, although the $150 million, 230-kilovolt line still needs approval for the 130-mile portion in Montana from that state's regulators, as well as the approval of the federal government.
Great Falls Tribune; Aug. 14
USFS manages Wyoming wildfire to burn beetle-killed trees
The Gunbarrel fire in Wyoming's Shoshone National Forest is the largest fire ever managed for beneficial use in the Rocky Mountain West, and the 65-square mile fire is also testing recent work done to reduce fuels to create defensible space around structures.
Billings Gazette; Aug. 14
Nuclear energy company asks Idaho county to rezone plant site
Eagle-based Alternate Energy Holdings Inc. took the first step in the process to build a nuclear power plant in Idaho by asking the Elmore County Commission to rezone the 1,400 acres of land where the plant will sit from agricultural to industrial.
Twin Falls Times-News; Aug. 14
Toyota donates $800K, five cars to Yellowstone park foundation
Toyota officials will deliver an $800,000 check to The Yellowstone Foundation, the fundraising partner of Yellowstone National Park, at a ceremony Friday, along with five cars.
Bozeman Daily Chronicle; Aug. 14
Group effort restores Bonneville cutthroat in 4 Western states
Bonneville cutthroat used to swim the waters in a large part of Utah and smaller portions of Idaho, Wyoming and Nevada, and after years of effort by federal and state agencies, along with nonprofit conservation groups like Trout Unlimited, genetically pure strains of the fish are returning to their historic waters.
Salt Lake Tribune; Aug. 14
Defense Dept., developers ink deal for Utah aerospace park
On Wednesday, the Defense Department and several private developers signed a 50-year agreement that will pave the way for an aerospace park on 550 acres on the west side of Hill Air Force Base in Utah.
Salt Lake Tribune; Aug. 14
Opinion
Conflict only certainty in oil-shale projects in the Rocky Mountain West
The Bureau of Land Management's estimate that the rocky shale in Utah, Wyoming and Colorado contains 2 trillion barrels of oil is viewed with skepticism by most people involved in energy production or analysis, but the federal government must believe, with the right subsidies, older methods of extraction can successfully pull oil out of the rock. A perspective.
NewWest.net; Aug. 13
Beyond the region
Oregon farmers' irrigation screen saves fish, makes them money
A 1996 flood in Oregon's Mount Hood area destroyed water intakes in the Hood River Valley and put the farmers in the valley on a mission: build a better fish screen that saves fish, diverts debris and still gets water where it needs to go, and now they have a patented system that's inviting international attention.
Portland Oregonian; Aug. 14
Denver, Salt Lake City hop on national streetcar trend
More than a dozen cities across the nation have existing streetcar lines, still in place decades after the transportation mode was shelved, but some, like Cincinnati, are planning to put streetcars back on track, and others, such as Denver and Salt Lake City, are planning to introduce them into the transit mix in their downtowns.
New York Times; Aug. 14
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