In the Rockies today, a lawsuit is filed over a rule change on guns in national parks.
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence sued the federal government on Tuesday, alleging a rule change on concealed guns in national parks violated federal law because no environmental assessment of the change was done.
Also in the news, the Bureau of Land Management releases its management plan for Montana's Powder River Basin, and more information is released on the avalanche that crashed into a mid-mountain restaurant at a Wyoming ski resort.
And in our In-depth section, a roundup of avalanche warnings in the Rocky Mountain West and Northwest.
Headwaters News won't publish on New Year's Day. Our next edition will publish Jan. 2.
Rockies today
Brady Campaign sues Interior Dept. over gun rule change
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence filed a lawsuit against the Interior Department on Tuesday alleging that the agency failed to comply with federal environmental laws when it changed a rule on allowing concealed weapons in national parks to mirror those of the states in which the parks are located.
Grand Junction Sentinel; Dec. 31
Idaho lawmakers expected to OK new mining rule on water
A new rule proposed by the Department of Environmental Quality Board that will need the approval of the Idaho Legislature will allow naturally occurring elements, such as selenium, to enter groundwater under mining and reclamation sites and require mining companies to monitor groundwater to ensure such pollution doesn't migrate off-site.
Idaho Statesman (AP); Dec. 31
Interior Dept. OKs drilling plan for SE Montana
Under a plan approved Tuesday by C. Stephen Allred, assistant secretary for land and minerals management at the Department of Interior, 18,000 new natural gas wells can be drilled on the 1.5 million acre Powder River Basin in southeastern Montana.
Billings Gazette; Dec. 31
Wyoming avalanche injures 5 ski patrollers
The avalanche that roared down the Headwall slope at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort early Monday morning and slammed into the mid-mountain Bridger restaurant building slightly injured five ski patrollers and trapped one member of the ski patrol and his search dog inside a ski patrol room in the building.
Jackson Hole News & Guide; Dec. 31
Report: Home prices declined sharply in October
Home prices across the nation have declined every month since January of 2007, and a report released Tuesday said declines in October in 14 of 20 metropolitan areas set records, with prices in Las Vegas and Phoenix dropping by nearly a third.
New York Times; Dec. 31
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Phoenix leads nation in housing price drop
A report issued Tuesday said Phoenix, Las Vegas and San Francisco had the largest decrease in housing prices in October, ranging from 33 percent to 31 percent, and that Seattle, Wash., and Portland, Ore., reported their first double-digit annual decline in housing prices in October.
Arizona Republic (AP); Dec. 31
Pilot warned fire agency of conditions before Colo. crash
A report issued by the National Transportation Safety Board said a contract pilot fighting wildfires in Colorado in April warned the interagency firefighting dispatch center about high winds that made flying unsafe several times before his plane crashed, killing him.
Denver Rocky Mountain News; Dec. 31
Opinion
Bush's legacy will leave haze in the West
Over the past eight years, energy operations have ramped up on federal lands in the West and pushed up ozone levels in areas around Pinedale in Wyoming, a situation destined to expand to areas in Utah, where much more lands are under lease and where ozone levels in Vernal have already exceeded federal limits. A perspective.
High Country News; Dec. 31
Craig needs to take back ill-advised Idaho dam proposal
Idaho Sen. Larry Craig spent his entire 28-year career championing logging, mining, farming and ranching, so his last proposal to fund a $3-million study of new dams for irrigators isn't surprising, but it is disappointing given that the study would reconsider building the Teton Dam, which collapsed in 1976, killing 11 people and causing $1 billion in damage.
Idaho Statesman; Dec. 30
Time is ripe for commuter rail in W. Montana valley
The growing population of Montana's Bitterroot Valley, as well as the graying of that population, and the increased public support of mass transit has created an ideal environment for passenger rail service between Hamilton and Missoula.
Ravalli Republic; Dec. 31
Beyond the region
California takes federal gov't to court over species act changes
California has sued the federal government a number of times in recent years, emerging the winner in nearly every case in which a decision has been rendered, and on Tuesday, the Golden State sued the federal government over recent changes made to the Endangered Species Act, alleging that those changes put endangered or threatened species in the state in jeopardy.
Los Angeles Times; Dec. 31
California had an 'unprecedented' wildfire year
In 2008, 1.4 million acres of land in California burned, nearly a quarter of all of the land scorched by wildfire in the nation, with the state's tab for fighting those wildfires topping $1 billion and roughly $700 million of the $1.4 billion of the U.S. Forest Service's firefighting tab in fiscal 2008 was spent on California wildfires.
Los Angeles Times; Dec. 31
Report details Oregonians' concerns about water
Oregon and Alaska are the only Western states that do not have a water-supply plan in place to address future needs, and a new report on five water roundtables held in Oregon in September and October indicate that Oregonians are ready and willing to tackle water issues, and that the majority prefer decisions be made at the local level.
Portland Oregonian; Dec. 31
Minimum hourly wage in Washington state goes up Jan. 1
The minimum hourly wage in Washington state will increase on New Year's Day to $8.55 an hour, the highest in the nation, a full $2 more an hour than in neighboring Idaho, where the minimum wage is the federally mandated $6.55 an hour.
Spokane Spokesman-Review; Dec. 31
In depth
Avalanche deaths hit B.C. coal-mining town hard
All eight of the victims of Sunday's avalanche in British Columbia near Fernie lived and worked in Sparwood, a town of 3,600 in southeastern B.C., where five coal mines provide most of the jobs.
Vancouver Sun; Dec. 31
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Backcountry travel not advised in southern B.C.
The avalanche danger is so high in southern British Columbia that officials are advising against any backcountry travel in that region of the Canadian province, and strong cautions have been issued for such travel in northern B.C.
Vancouver Sun; Dec. 31
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Western Montana reports high avalanche danger
The West Central Montana Avalanche Center warned backcountry skiers and snowmobilers to stay clear of avalanche terrain as high-hazard avalanche conditions exist from the Bitterroots to the Absarokas.
Ravalli Republic; Dec. 31
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Utah avalanche conditions 'tricky, dangerous'
Drew Hardesty, forecaster for the Utah Avalanche Center, said snowpack created in October by an early season snowfall set up this season's avalanche season to be one of the most dangerous in recent years in the state, where four people have already died in avalanches this winter.
Deseret News; Dec. 31
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Avalanche warnings preceded fatal slide in Utah
On Sunday, avalanche warnings in Utah's western Uintas said slides were "certain," but the members of the snowmobiling party hit by a slide on Monday that killed a 15-year-old Wyoming boy were apparently unaware of the danger.
Salt Lake Tribune; Dec. 31
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December storms pile on the snowpack in Wyoming
A couple of weeks ago there was too little snow in Yellowstone National Park to snowmobile, but a spate of strong winter storms have dumped seven to nine feet of new snow in Wyoming's western mountains.
Casper Star-Tribune; Dec. 31
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Avalanche danger 'high' in Wyoming's Teton range
A heavy, wet layer of deep snow over rain crusted snow has created dangerous avalanche conditions in the backcountry of the Teton Mountains in Wyoming.
Jackson Hole News & Guide; Dec. 31
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Northwest Avalanche Center issues 'extreme' warning
The Northwest Avalanche Center issued a warning Tuesday that avalanche danger was at the "extreme" level from Mount Rainier to the Central Oregon Cascades.
Portland Oregonian; Dec. 31
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