In the Rockies today, wind power in Wyoming, a new travel plan for an area of Montana, and new whitewater parks in Idaho are in the news.
A legislative panel declined Wednesday to sponsor either of the two proposed bills that would have imposed a tax on wind-generation projects in Wyoming.
Wyoming state Sen. John Schiffer who sponsored one of the proposed bills, said he's not sure if he'll try to get the bill before the Legislature on his own, while representatives of the wind industry applauded the panel's decision.
In Montana, where more than 30 objections had been filed to the Bureau of Land Management's proposed travel plan for an area between and around Helena and Butte, the Interior Department's s Board of Land Appeals rejected all the appeals, clearing the way for the plan to be put into effect.
The plan closes more than 200 miles of roads and trails to motorized use, but BLM personnel said many of the routes closed were redundant or were in areas where motorized travel was causing erosion or other problems.
And in Idaho, work has begun on two whitewater parks, one on the Payette River in Cascade and another in Boise in the Boise River.
Tonight in Bozeman, Gary Ferguson will present the final lecture in the series on climate change in Montana hosted by the National Parks Conservation Association and the Big Sky Institute at Montana State University.
Ferguson's lecture will be on "Yellowstone National Park in a Changing Climate" and will begin at 7 p.m. in the Bozeman Public Library.
Rockies today
Wyoming panel nixes legislation to tax wind-energy projects
At its meeting on Wednesday in Cheyenne, the Wyoming Joint Revenue Committee declined to sponsor two bills that would have imposed taxes on wind energy development.
Casper Star-Tribune (AP); Nov. 19
Interior Dept. board dismisses appeals of Montana travel plan
The decision by the Interior Department's Board of Land Appeals to reject more than two dozen appeals filed to the Bureau of Land Management's travel plan in Montana clears the way for the plan, which closes more than 200 miles of trails and roads in an area that includes the Scratchgravel Hills in Helena, North Hills, Marysville, Boulder-Jefferson City and Upper Big Hole River, to be put in place.
Montana Standard; Nov. 19
Idaho congressman's bill would reimburse veterans for travel costs
Idaho U.S. Rep. Walt Minnick wants the federal government to reimburse veterans for travel expenses if they have to travel more than 150 miles for treatment at a hospital or clinic operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Twin Falls Times-News; Nov. 19
Two new whitewater parks in the works in Idaho
Whitewater enthusiasts in Idaho will have two new whitewater parks to play in, as construction has started on the Kelly's Whitewater Park on the North Fork of the Payette River in Cascade and work is expected to begin on Ray Neef River Recreation Park along the Boise River in late winter or early spring.
Idaho Statesman; Nov. 19
Western states plant clouds with silver to increase snowfall
Idaho Power Co. is investing $1 million in its cloud-seeding program and several eastern Idaho counties and businesses are pooling funds for a cloud-seeding program in the Upper Snake River Basin; Wyoming, Nevada and Colorado also have aggressive cloud-seeding programs to increase snowpack in their states.
Idaho Statesman; Nov. 19
Montana resort files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
Moonlight Basin Ranch, a Montana ski resort and golf community, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Billings Gazette (AP); Nov. 19
Opinion
Plan to reinstate sales tax on food in New Mexico cruel
The task force assembled in Santa Fe to discuss ways to balance New Mexico's budget has suggested reinstating the sales tax on groceries--an unconscionable plan given the regressive nature of such a tax that unfairly taxes residents of the state who can afford it the least.
Santa Fe New Mexican; Nov. 19
Idaho must stick to its guns and end wolf hunt Dec. 31
The Idaho Fish and Game Commission will entertain a proposal at its meeting today in Coeur d'Alene to extend the state's first-ever wolf hunt beyond the scheduled Dec. 31 end, a proposal that must be nixed because most of the zones where quotas have not yet been met are at high elevations, and the last thing the Gem State needs is a video of a hunter on a snowmobile pursuing a wolf slogging through deep snow and shooting it.
Twin Falls Times-News; Nov. 19
Beyond the region
BLM, EPA battle stalls mine cleanup in Oregon
The Formosa mine in southern Oregon is the most polluted of the 140 abandoned mines in the state, but cleanup of the Superfund site has stalled because the Bureau of Land Management contends that contamination left behind by years of mining at the site originates on its land, but the Environmental Protection Agency says it does and won't proceed with the cleanup until the BLM promises to pay its fair share of the cost.
Portland Oregonian; Nov. 19
California gets $5.5 million for green-jobs training
The federal stimulus bill contains $500 million for green-jobs training, and the U.S. Department of Labor awarded more than a dozen grants in California totaling $5.5 million under that program.
Los Angeles Times; Nov. 19
U.S. Chamber of Commerce president ready for climate-change fight
Several high-profile members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, e.g., Apple, Levi Strauss & Company, Mohawk Paper and the utilities Pacific Gas and Electric, Exelon and PNM Resources, resigned this fall to protest the Chamber's hostile stance on climate legislation, but Chamber President Thomas J. Donohue said he's willing to work with Congress on climate legislation, but would not support any provision that calls for a cap on greenhouse gas emissions.
New York Times; Nov. 19
Senate Democrats roll out their health care proposal
On Wednesday evening, Democratic senators unveiled their health care reform proposal that they said will provide health insurance coverage to 31 million Americans who do not have it now, add more benefits to Medicare and reduce the federal deficit.
New York Times; Nov. 19
Senate bill would require new E. coli tests at slaughterhouses
New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's E. Coli Eradication Act of 2009 would require slaughterhouses to test for the deadly bacterium and would also require additional tests at grinder facilities that turn trimmings into hamburger.
New York Times; Nov. 19
China's decision leaves Canadian canola farmers in the lurch
Canada's grain farmers have encountered several international trade barriers over the past month, with the Europe Union blocking flaxseed imports over concerns about a genetically modified variety and the U.S. placing four crushing plants in Canada on restriction due to salmonella bacteria found in feedstock; and not China is refusing Canada's canola over fungal disease.
Toronto Globe and Mail; Nov. 19
In depth
Errors in reporting stimulus spending in Colorado corrected
Colorado has corrected and explained the errors on the federal web site that tracks stimulus spending that incorrectly indicated such spending occurred in federal congressional districts that don't exist in the Centennial State.
Denver Post; Nov. 19
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Federal web site has errors on stimulus spending in New Mexico
The federal web site created to track stimulus funding has been changed to correctly reflect that New Mexico has just three congressional districts; the site had referenced funding for projects in four districts in the state that do not exist.
Santa Fe New Mexican; Nov. 19
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Web site has errors on stimulus spending in Nevada, too
The federal government's web site, Recovery.gov, is rife with errors on tracking federal stimulus funding, including projects in Nevada, where projects are reported in non-existent congressional districts.
Las Vegas Review-Journal; Nov. 19
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