In the Rockies today, the focus is on energy.
In Wyoming, a two-day conference on wind energy generated a lot of interest as the conference is sold out.
Among the issues on the agenda are siting of wind farms, the effect the facilities may have on sage grouse -- and how the industry could help ranchers in the state.
Also in Wyoming, an international uranium company is snapping up uranium mines and processing facilities in the state's Powder River Basin.
Coalbed-methane operations in that basin, which overlies the Montana-Wyoming border, may face new restrictions as the Northern Cheyenne Tribe is considering new water quality regulations on discharge water from those operations to protect the Tongue River, that flows from Wyoming through tribal lands in southeastern Montana.
And in Utah, EnShale, a subsidiary of Bullion Monarch Mining Inc., is ready to begin processing oil shale.
And Bob Abbey, the new head of the Bureau of Land Management in an interview with the Elko Daily Free Press earlier this week said he'll focus on renewable-energy projects on the agency's lands in the short term.
Rockies today
Montana, Illinois firms want to make pipe at former mill site
A Stevensville-based pipefitting company is in talks with an Illinois company to turn a former lumber mill in Montana into a manufacturing facility for a special kind of plastic pipe used in municipal water systems, and if the plans work out, 380 new jobs would be created at the Bonner mill site.
Ravalli Republic; Aug. 13
Wind-energy entrepreneur takes statewide approach to projects
Jeff Meyer, a Wyoming ranch owner and entrepreneur, has spent the last three years meeting with other ranchers in six counties, local, state and federal officials, wildlife experts and wind-energy companies, to develop a plan for wind projects in the state that will help ranchers, protect the state's wildlife and viewsheds and generate electricity, and his company, Pathfinder Renewable Energy LLC, is one of eight sponsors of sold-out Wyoming Wind Symposium at the University of Wyoming today and Friday.
Casper Star-Tribune; Aug. 13
Uranium company goes on a buying spree in Wyoming
Uranium One, one of the world's largest uranium producers with operations on four continents, has recently bought several uranium facilities in Wyoming's Powder River Basin.
Casper Star-Tribune (AP); Aug. 13
Montana tribe raises the bar on coalbed methane water quality
A federal lawsuit is already pending over restrictions put in place in Montana over discharge water from coalbed methane operations in the Powder River Basin that runs along the Montana-Wyoming border, and now the Northern Cheyenne Tribe is proposing even more stringent restrictions during some months of the year that tribal officials said are necessary to protect the Tongue River as it flows through tribal lands in southeastern Montana.
Casper Star-Tribune (AP); Aug. 13
Montana, Idaho members of Northwest Power panel vote no on plan
At a meeting Wednesday in Spokane, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council voted 4-to-4 on a proposal that calls for 85 percent of the new power demands for the 4-state region over the next decade be met with conservation efforts, with Montana and Idaho delegates voting against the proposal and Washington and Oregon voting for it.
Seattle Times; Aug. 13
EnShale poised to begin processing Utah oil shale
At a newly-built plant built on private land in Utah's Uintah County near Naples, EnShale Inc., a subsidiary of Bullion Monarch Mining (BMM), plans to begin processing oil shale.
Vernal Express; Aug. 12
BLM's new chief calls job "a great opportunity"
Bob Abbey served as the state director of the Bureau of Land Management in Nevada for eight years, and now he leads the federal agency, and in a recent interview with the Elko Daily Free Press, he said his plans in the near term as head of the BLM will focus on renewable energy projects on the agency's lands.
Elko Daily Free Press; Aug. 13
Opinion
Current oilshale plans just aren't big enough
Tapping into the oil trapped in shale in Utah, Colorado and Wyoming will take a whole lot of water and processing -- and perhaps the best way to get the oil out of the rock is to dig it up, haul it to Louisiana--where the 27 million gallons of water needed daily is in ample supply--and process it there. A Writers on the Range column by Ed Quillen.
High Country News; Aug. 13
Shift in attitude about wind energy proves Wyoming wasn't ready
In less than two years, Wyoming went from offering tax incentives for wind-energy project to eliminating those incentives and slapping restrictions on where such projects could be built, a true reflection of how unprepared the state was for the wind boom, and this week's conference on wind energy will address some of the issues that need to be resolved about this burgeoning industry.
Casper Star-Tribune; Aug. 13
Beyond the region
Millions of sockeye salmon missing from B.C. river
Early estimates said that between 10.6 million and 13 million sockeye salmon were expected to make their annual swim up the Fraser River in British Columbia, but the Department of Fisheries and Oceans said to date only 1.7 million have made the trek, and no one knows what happened to the other nine million or so fish.
Toronto Globe and Mail; Aug. 13
BPA: Oregon, Washington wind farms hit new production peak
The Bonneville Power Administration said 22 wind farms in Washington and Oregon hit a new peak of production on Aug. 6, producing 2,089 megawatts of power on the evening of Aug. 6.
Portland Oregonian; Aug. 13
DOE holds Oregon meeting on storing mercury in Washington state
The public is invited to a meeting tonight in Portland, Ore., to listen to the Department of Energy's proposal to store more than 10,000 tons of mercury at the Hanford nuclear complex near Richland, Wash., one of seven sites under consideration for the storage facility.
Portland Oregonian; Aug. 13
B.C. program works to build populations of Oregon spotted frogs
Since 2002, British Columbia's Oregon Spotted Frog Recovery Program has been collecting spawn in the Fraser Valley wetlands, raising the tadpoles in sheltered conditions, and releasing young frogs in protected areas in the fall to revive a species that once thrived from B.C. south to California.
Toronto Globe and Mail; Aug. 12
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