In the Rockies today, federal policies and Montana and Arizona tribes are in the news.
On the eve of the White House Tribal Summit today, representatives of Montana's Little Shell Tribe were in Washington D.C. on Wednesday to recount their tribe's futile quest for federal recognition.
At a Senate oversight committee hearing Wednesday, federal officials acknowledged that the process of federal acknowledgment of tribes wasn't working as dictated, and vowed that reform was on the way, but that it would take a couple of years.
In northern Arizona, where a four-decade federal freeze on development on 1.6-million acres of land caught in an ownership dispute between the Hopi Tribe and the Navajo Nation, residents wonder what the next step is now that development is again allowed.
With climate-change legislation under debate in the U.S. Senate, there are a couple of opportunities for Montanans to learn more about the debate tonight.
In Missoula, David Keith, Director of ISEEE Energy and Environmental Systems Group at the University of Calgary, will give a talk at 7 p.m. tonight in Room 123 of the Gallagher Business Building on the University of Montana campus on "Should we Engineer the Climate?"
In Bozeman at the public library, Dr. Molly Cross of the Wildlife Conservation Society, will speak at 7 p.m. on "Protecting Wildlife in a Changing Climate.
Rockies today
Federal officials vow to overhaul tribal recognition process
At a U.S. Senate oversight hearing on Wednesday, representatives from tribes, including the Little Shell Tribe in Montana that have been waiting far longer than the 35 months proscribed by law to learn if they qualify for federal recognition spoke out about the flawed Department of Interior process, and federal officials at that meeting said they would fix the system, although it could take at least two years to do so.
Great Falls Tribune; Nov. 5
Bear-spray regulation in the works in Wyoming
Teton County Attorney Steve Weichman hasn't yet found a sponsor for legislation he is working on that would require all backcountry users in Wyoming to carry bear spray.
Jackson Hole News & Guide; Nov. 4
After 40 years of nothing, Navajo, Hopi mull the future
In 1966, the commissioner of Indian Affairs, Robert Bennett, put a moratorium on all development on 1.6-million acres of land in northeastern Arizona that both the Hopi and the Navajo Nation claimed, and for 40 years nothing happened on that land, but now with the "Bennett Freeze" lifted, residents wonder if they can find the money to build power lines, install water systems and create other infrastructure to catch up to the present.
Los Angeles Times; Nov. 5
Obama's new public-lands policy evident in Arizona
President Barack Obama worked quickly to reverse all-out development of public lands resources in the West, and the policy change is evident in Arizona, where the 2009 Public Lands Omnibus bills signed into law by the president protected the 807-mile Arizona National Scenic Trail from the state line with Mexico to the Utah border.
Arizona Republic; Nov. 5
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BLM pulls 15 energy leases in Wyoming near Adobe Town
The Wyoming Bureau of Land Management pulled 15 oil and gas leases from its Dec. 1 auction that cover 14,842 acres in south-central Wyoming within a citizens' proposed wilderness area at Adobe Town pending guidance from the D.C. office on wilderness issues.
Casper Star-Tribune; Nov. 5
Yellowstone Park already at record for visitors in 2009
At the end of October, 3.26 million people had visited Yellowstone National Park, breaking the record set in 2007 when 3.15 million people visited in all of that year.
Jackson Hole Daily; Nov. 5
Head of Colorado oil, gas group calls for a truce with state
At the Colorado Oil and Gas Association's annual meeting on Wednesday, Don McClure, an EnCana executive who is chairman of the association, asked for a truce between energy companies and state regulators and urged them to work together to boost the supply and use of natural gas.
Durango Herald; Nov. 5
Opinion
Utah county should support urban-farm effort
Salt Lake County should do everything it can to support the urban farm project in the works in the Utah county that will sow fallow acres of public land with oilseed crops for biofuel, provide plots for community gardens and give farmers urban lands to plant produce to be sold locally.
Salt Lake Tribune; Nov. 5
Federal funding will provide needed boost for Colorado park
Mesa Verde National Park stands to get $22 million for a new visitor center and curation facility if President Obama signs the Interior Department's appropriation bill, giving the national park in southwestern Colorado much-needed money to preserve the millions of artifacts now stored under substandard conditions, and perhaps draw the attention of thousands of new visitors to the park.
Durango Herald; Nov. 5
Beyond the region
Reports on number of stimulus-created jobs are all over the map
Conflicting reports on stimulus-created jobs -- such as the purchase of one Toro riding lawnmower tied to the creation or saving of 50 jobs -- or Chrysler's assertion that its $52.9-million federal bailout did not save or create a single job -- reflect the difficulties of tying federal stimulus spending to jobs.
New York Times; Nov. 5
Trio of senators team up on their own climate bill
Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry, South Carolina Sen. Lindsay O. Graham and Connecticut Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman are working with business groups and the White House on compromise climate-change legislation that the bipartisan group of senators said could get the necessary 60 votes to pass.
Washington Post; Nov. 5
AP analysis finds Cash for Clunkers program a failure
An Associated Press analysis of the federal "Cash for Clunkers" program that was designed to get consumers to trade in their gas-chugging vehicles for more fuel-efficient models didn't reach that goal, with 8,200 owners of Ford F150 pickups trading in their older models for new Ford F150s--which get only marginally better mileage.
Salt Lake Tribune (AP); Nov. 5
Groups create 'green' rating for sustainable landscapes
The American Society of Landscape Architects, along with the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C., and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at the University of Texas-Austin have created the Sustainable Sites Initiatives, a national ranking system for landscapes.
USA Today; Nov. 5
Race is on to fortify Washington state dam
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been working to fortify a dam on the Green River in the Green River Valley in Washington after heavy winter rains weakened an abutment on the dam, and residents and businesses in the heavily developed valley near Seattle are building levees and preparing escape plans should the dam, which has been assessed as having a 25 percent chance of failure, actually fails.
Yakima Herald-Republic (AP); Nov. 5
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