In the Rockies today, a new Environmental Protection Agency report is out on toxic contaminants in the nation's lakes and reservoirs.
A random sampling of tissue taken from fish from 500 bodies of water in the lower 48 states found concentrations of mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, as well as other toxins, but in Montana, the levels in fish taken from 16 lakes wasn't high enough to generate a warning.
Western states got some grim economic news this week, with the Pew Center on the States reporting that Arizona, Nevada and Oregon were headed off the same financial cliff as California.
And RealtyTrac's monthly report on foreclosures for October found Nevada again at the forefront for foreclosures, followed closely by Arizona and Idaho.
Today in Headwaters News' On the Bookshelf, Barbara Theroux of Fact & Fiction reviews Timothy Egan's "The Big Burn."
The book tracks the 1910 wildfire that scorched three million acres in Eastern Washington, Northern Idaho and Northwest Montana, and the effect it had on the nascent U.S. Forest Service and its firefighting policy.
Egan will be in Missoula, Mont., at Fact & Fiction next Wednesday, Nov. 18, to read from his book and sign it.
Rockies today
EPA study finds elevated levels of toxins in fish in 48 states
The Environmental Protection Agency studied fish tissue samples taken from 500 randomly selected lakes and reservoirs across the contiguous United States, including 16 in Montana, and the results found concentrations of toxins such as mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, although the levels found in fish in Montana weren't considered dangerous.
Great Falls Tribune; Nov. 12
BLM nominates stretch of Utah canyon for historic designation
The Bureau of Land Management nominated 63 sites along Utah's Nine Mile Canyon for the National Register of Historic Places, and the federal agency has plans to nominate more than 800 sites in the petroglyph-rich canyon for listing in the future.
Salt Lake Tribune (AP); Nov. 12
Report ranks 4 Western states among 10 at most risk of fiscal peril
A report released Wednesday by the Pew Center on the States said Arizona, Nevada and Oregon were among the states at most risk of following California into the maw of fiscal disaster.
Portland Oregonian; Nov. 12
RealtyTrac: Nevada, Arizona, Idaho in Top 5 for foreclosures
Despite Nevada's recent legislative efforts, the Silver State remains top in the nation for home foreclosures, according to RealtyTrac's report for October, with California, Florida, Arizona and Idaho, filling out the top five states for foreclosures; Utah came in 10th in the nation.
Salt Lake Tribune; Nov. 12
Rocky Mountain pipeline completes run from Colorado to Ohio
The final leg of the Rockies Express Pipeline, a $6.7-billion pipeline that stretches 1,700 miles from its origin in Meeker, Colo., through Wyoming and then east to its terminus in Clarington on Ohio’s eastern border is now done.
Grand Junction Sentinel; Nov. 12
Yellowstone bison may be headed to Ted Turner's Montana ranch
Montana and federal officials recommended a dozens of bison held in quarantine after they wandered out of Yellowstone National Park be relocated to Ted Turner's 113,000-acre Flying D Ranch in Montana.
Montana Standard (AP); Nov. 12
States vie for slice of $4-billion federal education pie
The U.S. Department of Education will divvy up $4 billion in education funds through its Race to the Top program, and Colorado has launched one of the nation's most energetic campaigns for a share of the money.
New York Times; Nov. 12
Opinion
Colorado shackled with an empty prison
Colorado's $208-million ultra-secure prison in Canon City sits empty because the state has no money to staff it, and while Gov. Bill Ritter had no hand in building the prison, his decision to spend $1 million to hire 11 new employees at the prison, including eight to guard the empty facility, at a time when agencies' budgets and employee rolls are cut again and again, is a bad call. A column by Susan Greene.
Denver Post; Nov. 12
Beyond the region
Gold prices invade new record territory
The price of gold continued its climb into record territory today, reaching $1,123.40 an ounce.
Seattle Times (AP); Nov. 12
T. Boone Pickens heralds natural gas as U.S. fuel of choice
During a discussion with the editorial board of the Calgary Herald, Texas oil baron T. Boone Pickens said the conversion of more than seven million heavy trucks and vehicles to cleaner-burning natural gas would help wean the United States off foreign oil.
Calgary Herald; Nov. 12
Report ranks Canada's boreal forest as top carbon storehouse
A report released recently by Canadian and American researchers said that Canada's boreal forest, which stretches from Newfoundland across to the Yukon holds 208 billion tons of carbon, about 26 years' worth of emissions.
Calgary Herald (Canwest); Nov. 11
Washington state ski resorts open early
Crystal Mountain opened Wednesday, one of the earliest openings for the ski area in Washington state ever, and after a week of nearly non-stop snow, Mount Baker Ski Area will open today.
Seattle Times; Nov. 12
Washington irrigators angry at state's inertia on water rights
Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association said its 2006 agreement with Washington state requires the state to make water rights freed up by conservation agreements available to the irrigators, but that hasn't happened, and the association's leaders said if the state doesn't shift the water their way, they're not going to support other conservation projects.
Tri-City Herald; Nov. 12
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