In the Rockies today, the tiny pika, a proposed wind tax in Wyoming, and a new report on black bear deaths in Canada's national parks are in the news.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rejected a petition to list the pika, a tiny cousin to rabbits as endangered.
The alpine dweller can't live with temperatures above 78 degrees, and thus is at risk of warming temperatures, and has disappeared from some areas of the Intermountain West.
But the federal agency said the pika is still in existence in ample numbers in sufficient areas of the United States to preclude its listing as a endangered species.
Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal's proposal to tax wind energy generated in the state has met with plenty of opposition, with some Republican gubernatorial candidates questioning if this is the right time to tax an up-and-coming sector of the Cowboy State's economy.
And in Canada, a new report details threats to black bears in its national parks.
Parks Canada said vehicles and trains killed the highest percentage of bears in the parks, and that Jasper National Park, which is the largest national park with the highest number of black bears, led the nation in bear deaths.
Rockies today
USFWS declines to list pikas as endangered
Groups concerned that climate change was pushing the American pika, a tiny cousin of rabbits that cannot live in temperatures that exceed 78 degrees, to the brink of extinction, sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2007 to have the pika listed as endangered, but on Thursday, the federal agency said that while the pika was extinct in some areas of the Intermountain West, other populations in Washington state and other areas were doing just fine and declined to list the pika.
Seattle Times ; Feb. 5
Federal gov't forms new advisory group on conservation issues
Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer was on hand Thursday when Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the formation of a new group to advise the federal government on wildlife conservation and hunting issues: the new Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council will replace the Sporting Conservation Council.
NewWest.net; Feb. 5
GOP contenders dispute Wyoming governor's wind-tax proposal
Some of the Republicans who are considering a gubernatorial run this year or who have actually launched their campaigns voiced strong opposition to legislation supported by Gov. Dave Freudenthal to impose a $3-per-megawatt-hour tax on wind energy.
Casper Star-Tribune ; Feb. 5
Utah House panel OKs resolution challenging climate-change
Rep. Mike Noel, the Utah legislator most well-known for his skepticism about climate change, spoke before the House Natural Resources Committee in support of a resolution challenging climate change, and said climate change is a worldwide conspiracy to limit population.
Salt Lake Tribune; Feb. 5
Colorado House advances bill on trans-basin water transfers
Geography trumped party politics when the Colorado House Agriculture Committee voted 9-4 to approve House Bill 1159 that puts new requirements on trans-basin water transfers; the bill now moves to the full House for action.
Durango Herald ; Feb. 5
Republican senators challenge Chu on Yucca Mountain decision
During a hearing Thursday on the Energy Department's 2001 budget, Energy Secretary Steven Chu defended his department's decision to set aside its efforts to build a national nuclear waste repository in Nevada's Yucca Mountain.
Las Vegas Review-Journal ; Feb. 5
Report tracks bear deaths in Canada's national parks
A new report issued by Parks Canada said that, between 1990 and 2009, that nearly 23 black bears died each of those years in national parks, and that 53 percent of those bears died on highways through the parks and 28 percent were killed by trains.
Rocky Mountain Outlook ; Feb. 4
Opinion
Keep what's good about No Child Left Behind, toss the bad
Critics of the Bush administration's No Child Left Behind law said it's failed, but it hasn't as it's brought national focus on student achievement, and the Obama administration's plan to reform the law should separate what's working from what's not and close the loophole that allows statistical sleight of hand to keep schools open.
New York Times ; Feb. 5
It's doubtful that Idaho parks can pay their own way
Idaho isn't alone in its quest to make its state parks self-sustaining, as many other states in the nation are dealing with slashed budgets and rising costs, but it's doubtful Idaho will be successful in making its state parks self-sustaining as no other state in the nation has succeeded in their efforts to do so.
Twin Falls Times-News ; Feb. 5
Beyond the region
Canada adds 43,000 part-time jobs to economy
The addition of 43,000 part-time jobs to Canada's economy in January helped bring the national unemployment rate down to 8.3 percent.
Toronto Globe and Mail ; Feb. 5
Report. U.S. unemployment rate dips to 9.7 percent
A Department of Labor report released today said private companies in the United States added 63,000 jobs in January, pushing the national unemployment rate down from 10 percent in December to 9.7 percent last month.
Denver Post (AP); Feb. 5
Canada to announce today 'Buy American' trade exemptions
Canada is expected to announce today that it has struck a deal with the Obama administration to have certain sectors of the Canadian economy treated as American because the supply chains are so integrated that they cannot be separated.
Toronto Financial Post; Feb. 5
Pacific Power, Washington dairyman tangle over power rates
Pacific Power said Washington state law prohibits it from paying for more than 1 megawatt of energy produced at the only manure digester in Washington's Yakima County, but Dan DeRuyter, the dairyman who built the digester that turns livestock waste into electricity, said he needs to be paid for the full capacity of the 1.2-megawatt facility for it to pay for itself.
Yakima Herald-Republic ; Feb. 5
Idaho miner discovers new vein of gold in Alaska mine
Idaho-based Coeur d'Alene Mines reported that it had discovered a new significant vein of gold in its Kensington mine near Juneau, Alaska.
Idaho Statesman (AP); Feb. 5
Brown pelicans fill shelters in Oregon, California
Wildlife specialists don't know why nearly 1,000 brown pelicans stayed in Oregon rather than make their annual trek to California, leaving them starving and begging for food, and the gangly seabirds that did make the flight were so battered by storms in California that shelters there are full of emaciated birds, too.
Los Angeles Times ; Feb. 5
In depth
Medical marijuana is Montana's new 'green' rush
In 2008, Montana had 1,557 registered users of medical marijuana, but after the federal government announced in October that it would defer to states on the issue of medical marijuana, the number of registered users soared to more than 7,000, and the Missoula Independent walks the reader through what it takes to become a registered user and a discussion of what might happen in the 2011 Legislature.
Missoula Independent ; Feb. 5
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