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Southeast Montana
Photo courtesy of Rick and Susie Graetz
Monday, July 2, 2012
produced daily by Shellie Nelson
Editor's Notes...
In the Rockies today, as wildfires continue to burn across the Rocky Mountain West, scientists have begun to delve into how the West's forests have been affected by the recent drought cycle and beetle infestations, and the role those factors are playing in wildfire behavior.
Over the weekend, Montana wildfires burned across tens of thousands more acres, pushing that state to the top in the West as far as acres burned by wildfire.
And we again begin the week, with a roundup of coverage of wildfires in the West in our In-depth section, which includes the Charlotte Fire in Idaho that has burned 66 homes, and the Arapaho Fire in Wyoming that made a 50-square-mile run on Friday.
Also in the news, Idaho congressmen try different routes to get federal grazing lease terms expanded from 10 years to 20 years; Rio Tinto discusses its expansion plans for its Kennecott Copper Mine in Utah, as the Los Angeles City Council appears poised to fight a proposed expansion of a coal mine in Utah.
And on Friday, the World Trade Organization sided with Alberta ranchers, and affirmed that the U.S.'s country-of-origin-labeling requirement on meats violated trade agreements.
Beetle-kill, weather forces changes in wildfire models
Hot, dry, windy weather has been a driving force in wildfires in the West, as has widespread beetle kill, and scientists are at work developing models to help managers deal with fire and beetles.
Idaho Statesman (AP);
July 2
Montana leads the nation with 10 large wildfires burning in the state
Montana has 10 large wildfires burning in the state, Utah has eight, and Colorado has seven, although the Centennial State leads the nation with the most structures (722) lost to wildfires this year, the Big Sky State has the highest acreage burned--207,000.
Billings Gazette;
July 2
Idaho congressmen's bills would extend grazing permit leases
Idaho U.S. Rep. Raul Labrador's bill to extend the lease period of grazing leases on federal lands from 10 to 20 years is included in the Conservation and Economic Growth Act, while U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson's bill is contained within appropriations bills for the Interior Department and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Denver Post (Twin Falls Times-News);
July 2
Rio Tinto plans $660 million to expand Utah copper mine
The $660 million Rio Tinto officials said they planned to spend to expand its the life of its Kennecott Copper mine to 2029 in Utah doesn't include projects like the planned power plant upgrade.
Salt Lake Tribune;
July 2
Los Angeles City Council to consider measure on Utah coal mine
Los Angeles gets a quarter of its power from the coal-fired Intermountain Power Project in Delta, which buys its coal from Alton Coal Development's Coal Hollow Mine near Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah, but the California city's council plans to vote to oppose Alton's request to expand that Utah mine, and said the city is working to replace the 39 percent of its power it now gets from coal with another source.
Salt Lake Tribune;
June 30
Utah city tops Forbes' list of best for business
Forbes magazine released its annual "Best Place for Business and Careers" last week, which compared communities using factors related to job growth, business and living costs, among other things, and four cities in the Rocky Mountain West were listed in the Top 10 of the 25 cities, with Provo, Utah, ranked first; Fort Collins and Denver in Colorado ranked third and fifth, respectively; and Ogden, Utah, ranked sixth.
Salt Lake Tribune;
July 2
Opinion
Federal lands bill has its roots in the 1980s
Idaho U.S. Rep. Raul Labrador's Self-Sufficient Community Lands Act is based on the public land trust premise first espoused by Randal O'Toole as an alternative to the Forest Service's management policy in the 1980s, but O'Toole hates that forest lands trusts would be set up to benefit rural counties, which he believes have been getting a free ride for far too long. A column by Rocky Barker.
Idaho Statesman;
June 30
Wyoming legislators have only themselves to blame for health care problem
Wyoming was one of the 26 states that challenged the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, one provision of which required the state to set up a health exchanges that would provide small businesses and individuals a place to buy health insurance coverage, and state legislators could have come up with such a plan but chose not to, a decision that takes away their grumbling rights about a shortened timeline to create such an exchange now that the federal law has been held constitutional.
Casper Star-Tribune;
June 30
Beyond the region
New profit model emerges on agriculture
As large-scale agricultural operations struggle to find laborers to harvest crops, more small-scale operations offering local produce are becoming more common, and in Oregon, a former manager at Microsoft has invested $2 million in 58 acres, where he offers small plots to organic farmers, as well as training.
New York Times;
July 2
Idaho wildfire destroys 66 homes
A number of wildfires are burning across Idaho, including the 1,038-acre Charlotte Fire, which has burned 66 homes south of Pocatello.
Idaho Statesman (AP);
July 2
Firefighters moved off one Montana wildfire to another
The 22,000-acre Dahl fire near Roundup is now 75 percent contained, and some fire crews have been reassigned from that Montana fire to another: The Horse Creek fire near Hysham, which is now estimated to be 20,000 acres in size.
Billings Gazette;
July 2
Crews have destructive Utah wildfire 100 percent contained
The Wood Hollow Fire in Utah, which burned across 47,387 acres, destroyed 108 structures and killed one man, is now 100 percent contained, as is the Rosecrest Fire in Herriman, although new wildfires were reported on Sunday in Kane and Cache counties.
Salt Lake Tribune;
July 2
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"W e've always had bark beetle infestations, but we've never had anything that's been so widespread and spread so quickly. The only place it's really starting to slow down is just where we're starting to run out of trees."
Mountain West Perspectives
Mountain West Voices
Hear weekly stories from the Rocky Mountain West as gathered by Clay Scott
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