In the Rockies today, snowmobile limits in Yellowstone National Park; beetle-killed timber in Colorado and a cloud-seeding program in Nevada are in the news.
On Thursday, the National Park Service announced new daily snowmobile limits for Yellowstone National Park that will be in place for the next two seasons as the agency completes a permanent winter-use plan.
Yellowstone officials defended the daily limit of 318 snowmobiles and 78 snow coaches, and said that visits in recent winter seasons were ofter below those limits.
In Colorado, where pine-bark beetles have left millions of acres of dead trees, the U.S. Forest Service will begin cutting beetle-killed trees in three national forests along roads, trails and near campgrounds, as they pose a safety hazard.
And in Nevada, where budget woes put the state's decades-long cloud-seeding program on the chopping block, the Southern Nevada Water Authority voted Thursday to spend as much as $900,000 over the next three years to operate snow generators in the Ruby Mountains southeast of Elko and one generator in the Tuscarora Mountains northwest of Elko.
Rockies today
NPS officials announce winter-use plan for Yellowstone
In a telephone conference Thursday, National Park Service officials announced that, for the next two winters, 318 snowmobiles and 78 snow coaches will be allowed each day in Yellowstone National Park, and that during that time, a permanent winter travel plan will be completed.
Jackson Hole Daily; Oct. 16
USFS mounts aggressive attack on beetle-killed trees in Colorado
The U.S. Forest Service rolled out its plan to deal with hazardous trees killed by pine-bark beetles in Colorado's White River, Arapaho-Roosevelt and Medicine Bow-Routt national forests, with crews now prioritizing projects along 250 miles of roads through forests, 380 miles of trails and on 1,000 acres at campgrounds in those forests.
Denver Post; Oct. 16
SNWA steps in to save Nevada cloud-seeding program
The Southern Nevada Water Authority voted Thursday to provide funding for Nevada's decades-long cloud-seeding project in northeastern Nevada and around Lake Tahoe, a program that had been doomed by the state's budget woes.
Las Vegas Review-Journal; Oct. 16
Litter mate of wolf killed in Colorado shot in Wyoming
The female wolf that garnered attention for her trek from Montana's Paradise Valley to Colorado, where she was found dead this spring, was a litter mate to a male wolf that a federal agent shot and killed in Wyoming's Big Horn Mountains near Ten Sleep on Oct. 6.
Casper Star-Tribune (Billings Gazette); Oct. 16
EPA promises stricter enforcement of Clean Water Act
Lisa P. Jackson, the administrator of the federal Environmental Protection Agency told lawmakers during a hearing Thursday before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, that her agency would step up enforcement of the Clean Water Act.
New York Times; Oct. 16
U.S. Supreme Court won't hear Montana game farm case
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal of a Montana Supreme Court decision that found the 2000 initiative that banned new game farms in the state and prohibited the transfer of licenses for existing game farms did not constitute the "taking" of property and that game farm owners were not due compensation; the U.S. high court decision effectively ends all constitutional challenges of the Montana law.
Helena Independent Record; Oct. 16
PPL Montana officially launches hydroelectric dam upgrade
The 100-year-old Rainbow Dam in Montana is getting a facelift, and on Thursday, PPL officials, along with federal, state and local officials gathered on the shores of the Missouri River to kick off the planned, $230-million project to upgrade the hydroelectric plant.
Great Falls Tribune; Oct. 16
Opinion
Private bridge over Utah Lake isn't really a no-brainer
A proposal to build a private, six-mile bridge over Utah Lake to link Sarasota Springs to Orem will invite sprawl, something that the area already has too much of, may threaten the ecology of Utah Lake, and should be carefully scrutinized to ensure the taxpayers won't get stuck with supporting it.
Salt Lake Tribune; Oct. 16
Beyond the region
Bankruptcies at 4-year high in Washington state
According to AACER, a bankruptcy-data and management firm, as of the end of September, more than 23,000 people in Washington state had filed for bankruptcy this year, the highest number in four years.
Seattle Times; Oct. 16
In depth
ARRA data pegs Colorado first in nation in stimulus-created jobs
The first batch of data on jobs created by the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act indicates that Colorado leads the nation with 4,695 jobs created or saved, although most of those jobs, generated by Englewood-based TeleTech Government Solutions, were temporary and not located in the Centennial State.
Denver Post; Oct. 16
Report: Federal stimulus funds for jobs miss some states
A preliminary report issued by the federal government on jobs created by stimulus funds found that 30,832 jobs have been created thus far, but many of those jobs weren't in states with the highest unemployment rates.
New York Times; Oct. 16
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