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WGA on energy, water: As Chairman of the Western Governors' Association,
Utah governor lays out agenda on energy and water
Aug. 14, 2008
Fact & Fiction and the Bookstore at the University of Montana offer a review of offer a review of Stephen Trimble's Bargaining for Eden: The Fight for the Last Open Spaces in America
Aug. 28, 2008
New this week:
Oct. 8-9: Idaho Wildland Fire Conference, Boise, Idaho. Read a preview.
Oct. 8-10: The inaugural WaterSmart Innovations Conference and Exposition, Las Vegas, Nev. Read a preview.
Sept. 8-11: The U.S. Geological Survey's Third Interagency Conference on Research in the Watersheds, Estes Park, Colo. Read a preview.
Sept. 11-12: Public Land Foundation's annual meeting: "Sustaining the Ecological, Economic and Social Vitality of the Public Lands," Park City, Utah. Read a preview.
Sept. 15-17: Headwaters Summit: Re-visioning how we use water in a changing climate, Missoula, Mont. Read a preview.
Sept. 22-24: The 32nd Annual Public Land Law Conference, "A Federal Lands Agenda for the 21st Century," Missoula, Mont. Read a preview.
Idaho, USFS reach roadless accord
The federal government and Idaho released a plan Friday on management of the 9.3 million acres of federal roadless forest lands that would prohibit development of any kind on 3.3 million acres of the land; fuels-reduction work would be allowed on 5.6 million acres, and 400,000 would be open to all development.
New York Times; 08/30/2008
N.M. adopts Sportsmen for Responsible Energy Development's policies
New Mexico became the first state in the union to adopt a set of recommendations developed by the Sportsmen for Responsible Energy Development designed to protect wildlife from rampant energy development. You may have to view an ad to read this article.
Albuquerque Journal (AP); 09/02/2008
Colorado city zones mobile-home park for 'manufactured housing'
Residents of the Orchard Grove mobile-home park cheered the Boulder City Council's decision to rezone the 27-acre park for "manufactured housing," which protects the park from a proposed redevelopment that would have removed 216 units of affordable housing from the Colorado city.
Boulder Daily Camera; 09/03/2008
Engineers have plan to repair Montana dam
A custom-made, 16-foot-wide, 14-foot-high steel bulkhead will be dropped in front of the Hebgen Dam intakes to curtail flow while crews repair broken gates on the Montana dam that failed Sunday, sending flows in the Madison River to spring runoff levels.
Montana Standard; 09/04/2008
Bruce Willis offers Idaho land for airport
Actor Bruce Willis made a surprise appearance at the Friedman Memorial Airport Authority's meeting Tuesday night, where he offered to donate 2,000 acres of land in Camas County for a new regional airport.
Idaho Mountain Express (Sun Valley); 09/03/2008
Denver reports fewer ozone violations this summer
A Regional Air Quality Council official said this summer was one of the cleanest for Denver's air, with federal ozone limits exceeded just 20 times; in 2006, the Mile High City exceeded federal ozone limits 34 times and in 2007, 24.
Denver Post; 09/04/2008
Developers take Utah county to court over incorporation battle
Powder Mountain developers sued the Weber County Commission, alleging that the Utah county commission was illegally blocking the developers' choice of town leaders, but county officials said they believed all of the residents of the newly incorporated town should be represented by the board, not just the developers and the resort owners.
Salt Lake Tribune; 09/05/2008
Return of water to Arizona reservation brings hope of better life
The water settlement between the federal government and the two principal tribes on the Gila River reservation in Arizona has returned water to the Arizona reservation, and tribal leaders are hopeful that the new flow of water will allow the tribes to return to farming and gardening and provide residents access to a more healthful diet and way of life.
New York Times; 08/30/2008
Arizona tribe orders man to stop putting out water for illegal border-crossers
Mike Wilson, a Tohono O'odham member, has been putting 55-gallon barrels of water at strategic points on the tribe's reservation in southern Arizona to cut down on the number of illegal border crossers who die in the desert, but the tribe has now ordered Wilson to stop doing that and has threatened him with banishment if he doesn't comply with the tribe's order.
Santa Fe New Mexican (AP); 09/05/2008
Judge extends bald-eagle protections in Arizona until 2009
Arizona tribes and the Center for Biological Diversity were successful in getting a federal court judge to extend federal protection for bald eagles in Arizona to give tribes more time to establish that there were more bald eagles in the state than the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said there were when the agency declined to list the eagles in the state as a distinct population.
Arizona Republic; 08/30/2008
BLM releases plan for oil-shale deposits in 3 western states
The plan released Thursday on developing oil-shale deposits on Bureau of Land Management lands in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah was a month late, and even though the BLM acknowledges it doesn't know what kind of technology will be used to pull the oil from its rocky bed, Congress is beginning to push to get production going.
Casper Star-Tribune (AP); 09/05/2008
EPA lists Arizona mine, smelter as Superfund sites
The Iron King Mine and the nearby Humboldt Smelter in Arizona were listed as a federal Superfund cleanup site, one of six new sites listed across the nation and the first for Arizona in more than 20 years.
Arizona Republic; 09/04/2008
- Mine in SW Colorado on EPA's Superfund list
The Nelson Tunnel-Commodore Waste Rock Site in southwest Colorado near Creede was listed by the federal Environmental Protection Agency as one of the nation's top priority sites for environmental cleanup.
Santa Fe New Mexican (AP); 09/04/2008
Federal judge allows 3 groups to intervene in Utah, BLM roads lawsuit
The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, the Sierra Club and The Wilderness Society were allowed in as defendants in a federal lawsuit filed by Utah and Juab County against the Bureau of Land Management over who owns three roads in the Utah's Deep Creek Mountains.
Salt Lake Tribune; 09/05/2008
Study says grazing not a factor in destructive 2007 Idaho wildfire
A new peer-reviewed study from the Bureau of Land Management, the University of Idaho, as well as other state and federal researchers, found that extreme temperatures and other weather factors made the 2007 Murphy Complex Fire the destructive force that it was, but it did say that while grazing or the lack of it wasn't a factor in that fire, grazing should remain in the federal agency's fire-management "toolbox."
Twin Falls Times-News; 09/05/2008
Another company lays out mining plan for Canadian Flathead in B.C.
At a meeting in the latter part of August, representatives from three mining companies updated the Flathead Basin Committee on proposed mining plans for an area of the Canadian Flathead in British Columbia directly north of Glacier National Park in Montana, with Cline Mining Co.'s plan for a coal mine and British Petroleum's plan for a coalbed methane project under environmental review by the B.C. government, and Kennecott Canada Exploration Inc. outlined its proposal for an underground coal mine in the Elk River watershed, west of the Canadian Flathead.
Hungry Horse News; 08/28/2008
New study supports leaving B.C.'s old-growth forests standing
A new report from Simon Fraser University and backed by three environmental groups, Wilderness Committee, David Suzuki Foundation, and Ecojustice, found that the carbon captured by and stored in British Columbia's old-growth forests far outweighed the value of the trees as timber.
Toronto Globe & Mail; 09/05/2008
Oilsands operators reshape Alberta landscapes to reclaim them
Under Alberta's environmental laws, oilsands companies must return lands disturbed by mining operations to a productive capability that is the same or better than it was before, and near Fort McMurray, one such project is under way, although the Gateway Hill lands used to be rich wetlands and now the parcel is more hilly uplands. Part of a series on Alberta's oilsands.
Edmonton Journal; 09/04/2008
Northwest needs to expand transmission capacity
A new study by the Pacific NorthWest Economic Region said that in order for Montana to fully develop its vast energy resources, including wind, the state must work with surrounding states and Canadian provinces to build new transmission capacity because all that energy won't do the state any good if it can't be shipped to market. A guest column by Montana state Rep. Llew Jones.
Great Falls Tribune; 09/02/2008
Idaho's roadless plan could map the way for future compromises
The agreement between Idaho and the federal government on how the 9.3 million acres of federal roadless forest lands should be managed shows that there is room for compromise in the West, and Idaho Lt. Gov. Jim Risch deserves some of the credit for brokering the deal during his seven-month tenure of governor of the state.
Idaho Statesman; 09/03/2008
Wildfires in West must be managed, not suppressed
The catastrophic wildfires that have burned through Western forests over the past several years is the result of decades of aggressive fire suppression policies, and in order to prevent future catastrophic fires, Congress and state legislatures should dedicate steady streams of revenue to fuel reduction projects that will not only reduce the risk of wildfire but will also provide jobs in rural areas of the Western states where they're sorely needed. A perspective.
Science Progress; 09/04/2008
Idaho city should ban cedar-shake roofs in fire-prone areas
Last month's wildfire that killed a woman in a Boise southeast neighborhood is the needed impetus for the Idaho city council to ban cedar-shake roofs on houses in neighborhoods that abut open space.
Idaho Statesman; 09/05/2008
Idaho high court rules Rammell will stay on November ballot
Independent Senate candidate Rex Rammell will remain on November's ballot after the Idaho Supreme Court tossed a challenge filed by 10 voters and the state Republican Party that claimed Rammell hadn't collected enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.
Idaho Statesman (AP); 09/04/2008
Analysts: Palin pick could help GOP in 5 Western states
According to recent polling data, Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama are within 7 percentage points in Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nevada and New Mexico, and analysts said that McCain's choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin may help boost his numbers in those states.
Grand Junction Sentinel; 09/04/2008
- Environmental groups, Palin at odds on many issues
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, now Republican presidential candidate John McCain's running mate, opposed the listing of the polar bear as an endangered species, defends aerial shooting of wolves to protect the state's moose and caribou herds for hunters, and has disputed that human activity has had a role in climate change.
Las Vegas Sun (AP); 09/04/2008
- Palin put oil windfall taxes in place that McCain opposed on federal level
During Gov. Sarah Palin's two years at the helm of Alaska, she raised taxes on oil companies' profits and returned the cash to consumers, led the charge for a licensing process to build a multibillion-dollar natural gas pipeline that the state's major oil companies opposed so much they refused to bid on the project, and is in a fight with oil companies over drilling rights to one of the state's richest natural gas deposits.
Toronto Globe and Mail; 09/05/2008
Nighthorse Campbell part of Indian country's supporters for McCain
On Sept. 3, Republican presidential nominee John McCain announced the roster of leaders of the American Indians for McCain Coalition, which included former Colorado Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell a Northern Cheyenne.
Indian Country Today; 09/05/2008
N.M. governor signs kids' insurance, road legislation into law
On Tuesday, Gov. Bill Richardson signed the final two bills passed by the New Mexico Legislature during a special session in August into law; one provides $200 million in highway funds and the other $20 million to provide health care insurance to uninsured children. You may have to view an ad to read this article.
Albuquerque Journal (AP); 09/03/2008
USDA pulls Montana's brucellosis-free status
Following the discovery of brucellosis in a cattle near Yellowstone National Park twice in the past two years, Montana lost its brucellosis-free status and must wait until May 2009 before it can petition the federal government to reinstate it; ranchers must now test all cattle capable of breeding and older than a year and a half before the animals can be sent out of state.
Casper Star-Tribune (AP); 09/04/2008
Federal judge rules Grupo Mexico's transfer of Asarco assets illegal
Washington state officials said it's unclear how a weekend decision by a Texas bankruptcy judge that found Grupo Mexico, the parent company of Asarco, had illegally transferred two Peruvian copper mines from Asarco to a subsidiary in 2003 virtually assuring Asarco's tumble into bankruptcy, would affect Asarco's reorganization plan that earmarked $200 million for environmental cleanup in the state.
Tri-City Herald; 09/03/2008
U.S. Labor Dept. asks for criminal investigation in Utah mine disaster
The Utah attorney general has been asked to conduct a criminal investigation into last year's Crandall Canyon mine collapse where two separate incidents killed nine men.
Deseret News; 09/04/2008
Utah leads the nation in natural-gas cars
Gas prices in Utah have been higher than in most of the other contiguous United States, which may explain why the Beehive State leads the nation in use of cars that run on natural gas.
New York Times; 08/30/2008
Vail Resorts spends $100M to upgrade Colorado, other ski resorts
Vail Resorts officials said the $100 million planned in improvements spent at its five resorts, including Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Heavenly Mountain Resort near Lake Tahoe, could increase to $115 million.
Denver Post; 09/04/2008
California Senate sends 'sprawl' bill along to the governor
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger hasn't indicated if he'll sign the bill passed by the California Legislature that ties billions of dollars of state and federal transportation aid to counties' and cities' efforts to curtail driving by focusing development around labor centers or by creating high-density development near mass transit systems and jobs.
New York Times; 09/01/2008
Lockheed Martin wins $3B contract for work at Hanford nuclear campus
The Department of Energy announced Wednesday that a team led by Lockheed Martin won a $3 billion contract to provide support services at the Hanford nuclear complex in Washington state for up to 10 years.
Tri-City Herald; 09/04/2008
Federal judge orders former lobbyist Abramoff to prison for 4 years
Former lobbyist Jack Abramoff was sentenced by a federal judge to spend four years in prison for corruption and tax offenses for bilking Indian tribes out of millions of dollars in an influence-peddling scheme that tainted some Republican leaders in Congress; Abramoff has already served about two years on unrelated fraud charges involving cruise ships.
New York Times; 09/05/2008
EPA's error on Idaho phosphorus limits stalls Washington state's efforts
The Washington Department of Ecology was on the verge of issuing final discharge permits to Washington companies when the federal Environmental Protection Agency announced it had made a mistake in calculating phosphorus limits in permits for Idaho cities that discharge treated wastewater into the Spokane River, which means Washington state needs to start its process over again as its permitting process was tied to the federal limits for the Idaho cities.
Spokane Spokesman-Review; 09/05/2008
German 'Mogs' muscle up firefighting arsenal in Nevada
Fighting wildfires in the driest state in the nation requires another option rather than water, and the Bureau of Land Management has found Unimogs, 15-and-a-half-ton, four-wheel-drive vehicles with a two-ton blade mounted on their noses, built by Mercedes craftsmen in Germany, to be the vehicle of choice.
High Country News; 08/25/2008
Idaho wildfire proves it takes a neighborhood to be firewise
The wildfire that destroyed 10 homes in a southeast Boise subdivision provided a good lesson on how creating defensible space around a home can save it from wildfire, but also proved that one homeowner's effort won't always save a home if surrounding houses don't have defensible space.
Idaho Statesman; 08/31/2008
Nevada governor questions USFS's decision to let wildfire burn
Gov. Jim Gibbons said the U.S. Forest Service's decision to let the wildfire that ignited in the Jarbidge Wilderness Area of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest near the Idaho line burn for two weeks unchecked was a bad decision given the amount of fuels in the area and the hot, dry, windy weather conditions.
Reno Gazette-Journal; 09/01/2008
USFS: Wyoming wildfire a steal of a deal at $10.5 million
Rain and snow helped subdue the Gunbarrel and New Fork Lakes fires burning in beetle-killed timber in Wyoming, and with the Gunbarrel fire doing away with 105 square miles of dead and dying trees, U.S. Forest Service officials said the $10.5 million cost of the fire works out to be about $153-per-acre to treat the land.
Casper Star-Tribune; 09/03/2008
NTSB officials call tanker's crash in Nevada 'puzzling'
The Neptune Aviation air tanker that crashed on Monday, killing all three crew members aboard, had recently been inspected and was just 36 hours into a normal 100-hour inspection, and National Transportation Safety Board officials said the fire that engulfed the engine shortly after takeoff was unusual.
Missoulian; 09/04/2008
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