In the Rockies today, federal policies are at the top of the page.
During a hearing before the House Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced it would phase out the beleaguered royalty-in-kind program that has the focus of much scandal and investigation of late.
Calling the program a "blemish" on the Interior Department, Salazar said it would be phased out.
Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, whose state receives the largest share of onshore in-kind energy royalties, had just requested the state be allowed to audit in-kind natural gas payments made to the state.
Salazar also explained his department's decision to cancel 77 energy leases in Utah that had been auctioned off in December last year, citing the Bureau of Land Management's lack of consultation with the National Park Service on leases near national parks and monuments in the Beehive State as the reasons the leases were getting another look.
The Government Accountability Office also criticized the Bureau of Land Management for its use of categorical exclusions to speed up drilling operations--with the report citing 2,462 such exclusions granted for drilling permits in Wyoming along between 2006 and 2008.
And in our In-depth section, two new transmission projects, one in British Columbia and another between Alberta and Montana,< will move forward after receiving commitments of federal cash.
Rockies today
Interior secretary ends royalty-in-kind program
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced Wednesday that it would end its controversial royalty-in-kind program, which allowed energy companies to pay royalties in actual oil and natural gas.
Denver Post (AP); Sept. 17
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Wyoming governor wants to audit MMS royalty-in-kind payments
Royalty-in-kind payments pay federal energy royalties in the form of actual oil and natural gas, with Wyoming's royalty-in-kind the largest onshore program in the country, and after a review of the Minerals Management Service's administration of the RIK program indicated the MMS wasn't collecting all the revenues it should, Gov. Dave Freudenthal asked the MMS to let the state conduct an audit of three years of natural gas payments to the state under the program.
Wyofile.com; Sept. 17
GAO report criticizes BLM's use of categorical exclusions
The Government Accountability Office released a report that said the Bureau of Land Management's use of categorical exclusions in 2006-2008 was frequently out of compliance with federal law, and recommended that the use of the process, which streamlines the environmental review of energy projects, be brought into line with federal law.
Casper Star-Tribune; Sept. 17
U.S. Justice Dept. investigates former Interior Sec'y Norton
During the waning months of the George W. Bush administration, the Interior Department's Office of Inspector General launched an investigation into whether Gale Norton discussed employment with Royal Dutch Shell PLC at the time she was Interior Secretary and when the Interior Department awarded that company three oil shale leases in Colorado, and now the matter has been referred to the U.S. Justice Department for a criminal investigation.
Los Angeles Times; Sept. 17
Salazar explains Utah lease decision to U.S. House panel
At a hearing before the House Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said his agency put 77 leases in Utah on hold after determining that the Bureau of Land Management did not consult as required with the National Park Service on energy leases near Arches and Canyonlands national parks and the Dinosaur National Monument, and that he would not support drilling near those areas.
Deseret News; Sept. 17
Montana group releases details of Rocky Mountain Front bill
The Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act crafted by the Coalition to Protect the Rocky Mountain Front targets lands along the Montana Front sandwiched between wilderness areas on the west and development on the east.
Great Falls Tribune; Sept. 17
Montana bear managers capture 5 grizzlies near Dupuyer
After a Montana rancher near Dupuyer reported a cow was killed by a grizzly bear on Saturday, state bear managers set four snares near the carcass to capture the bear responsible for the kill, and on Monday, when they checked the snares, they found five bears.
Great Falls Tribune; Sept. 17
Opinion
Cedar Breaks deserves to be Utah's new national park
Cedar Breaks National Monument's 1,600-year-old bristlecone pines, its who's who of Utah mammals and the area's colorful, mineral-stained rock formations provide more than enough reasons to turn the monument into a new national park.
Salt Lake Tribune; Sept. 17
Those who dream of breaching Snake River dams need reality check
Northern Idaho and Eastern Washington state would bear the brunt of the economic consequences of breaching the Snake River dams, and until the federal government and the environmental groups pressing for this scenario can pay the tab for their Holy Grail project, the dam-breaching should remain just a fantasy.
Twin Falls Times-News; Sept. 17
Beyond the region
NTSB: Firefighting copter in fatal 2008 crash was overloaded
The National Transportation Safety Board's report on a 2008 helicopter crash in northern California that killed seven wildland firefighters, as well as the pilot and a Forest Service inspector pilot, was 2,000 pounds heavier than U.S. Forest Service guidelines recommend, which led to the copter's crash and the nine deaths.
Portland Oregonian; Sept. 17
Algae is all the rage on California's 'biotech beach'
An area of San Diego is known as Biotech Beach due to the nearly 200 companies that have set up shop there to conduct research into turning algae into oil, and now national energy companies are converging on that area of California as well.
Los Angeles Times; Sept. 17
Report: Billions of federal money lands in obscure airfields
USA Today's analysis of the 28-year-old Airport Improvement Program, a federal program funded by taxes on airline tickets, found that some of the money was used to build and maintain tiny, out-of-the-way general aviation airports where daily flights are minimal, including the H.A. Clark Memorial Field in northern Arizona, where eight planes on average land each day.
USA Today; Sept. 17
Canada's PM, President Obama meet for the 7th time
Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper was in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, where he met with President Barack Obama and discussed trade issues and the war in Afghanistan, and Harper will meet today with Senate Majority Leader Harry Read and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to discuss Buy American provisions under debate in Congress.
Calgary Herald (Canwest); Sept. 17
USFS says unauthorized gold mining damaged Oregon creek
Clifford R. Tracy filed an application for a permit to mine gold in southwest Oregon four years ago, but apparently grew tired of waiting for the U.S. Forest Service to approve the permit and began working his claim in the Siskiyou National Forest, activities the U.S. Forest Service said has damaged a key salmon creek, and now Tracy is in jail and the U.S. Forest Service is facing a lose-lose situation.
Portland Oregonian; Sept. 17
In depth
Montana-Alberta Tie Line gets green light from Energy Department
The Department of Energy announced that Tonbridge Power Inc. of Toronto, the company that will build the Montana-Alberta Tie Line, a 214-mile transmission line that will stretch from Great Falls north to Lethbridge, Alberta, will get $161 million in federal stimulus loans, a decision that allows the company to perform final stages of surveys and geotechnical analyses, with construction to begin this fall.
Great Falls Tribune; Sept. 17
With Ottawa's support, B.C. moves ahead with transmission project
After Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Wednesday that the Canadian government would pay up to $130 million of the cost of a $404-million transmission project in northwestern British Columbia, B.C. officials said the province would move ahead with the project, which will serve several mines in that region of B.C.
Vancouver Sun; Sept. 17
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