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Photo courtesy of Rick and Susie Graetz
Monday, June 18, 2012
produced daily by Shellie Nelson
Page 2
More news from the Rockies
Community
Montana city gets dust test results back
Dust samples taken in Missoula near Montana Rail Link tracks found that coal dust made up between 1 and 5 percent of the material in the samples.
Missoulian; June 18

Wyoming settles nearly all subsidence claims in Rock Springs
Five years after the Wyoming Abandoned Mine Land Division pounded an area of Rock Springs with multiton weights to collapse underground mines to create stable land for affordable housing, neighbors of the project that said the work damaged their homes have settled their claims against the state for that damage.
Casper Star-Tribune; June 18

Proposed development near Utah's Soldier Creek Dam raises concerns
The developers of Strawberry Ranch near the Soldier Creek Dam and Strawberry Reservoir envision more than 550 cabins on 7,000 acres with nature centers and lodges, but the owner of an existing seasonal subdivision is concerned that the large development will essentially put a city next door, and federal officials have concerns about the plan to use a road across the dam as the primary access route to the development.
Salt Lake Tribune; June 18

Property values stop their slide in one Idaho county, continue in another
Ada County property values declined just 1.7 percent last year, ending three years of double-digit declines in the Idaho county, but in neighboring Canyon County, those values fell 8 percent.
Idaho Statesman; June 18

Tribes
Nez Perce allows gillnetting of chinook in Idaho's Clearwater River
The Nez Perce is allowing gillnets to be used by commercial anglers fishing for chinook on the Clearwater River in Northern Idaho.
Idaho Statesman (Lewiston Tribune); June 18

Environment
Dozens share views on wolf management at Montana FWP meeting
Nearly 100 people attended a meeting last week in Kalispell hosted by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks on proposed changes to the state's wolf hunting plan that includes allowing trapping.
Flathead Beacon; June 17

Montana, Idaho groups to sue to stop logging project in N. Idaho
The Alliance for the Wild Rockies and the Friends of the Clearwater have filed a notice of intent to sue the U.S. Forest Service to stop the 2,500-acre Little Slate Project in northern Idaho, charging that the plan to remove beetle-killed trees threatens Canada lynx, bull trout, steelhead and other threatened species.
Missoulian (Lewiston Tribune); June 18

Politics
Wyoming on the hunt for a new oil, gas supervisor
Tom Doll will leave his post as the supervisor of the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission on July 3, and Gov. Matt Mead has formed a search committee to find an interim director.
Casper Star-Tribune; June 16

Campaign cash decision divides Montana U.S. Senate candidates
Montana U.S. Sen. Jon Tester and his Republican challenger U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg met for their first debate on Tuesday in Big Sky Saturday, where they disagreed on a wide range of issues, especially the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case that protected corporate campaign donations as free speech.
Flathead Beacon (AP); June 16

At Montana GOP convention, Gingrich speaks of his 'dream nation'
Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich spoke at the Montana Republican Party convention in Missoula on Saturday, where he chided President Obama on his new immigration initiative and outlined his vision of the nation should Mitt Romney win the presidential race: Environmental Protection Agency decisions based on economics, Fish and Wildlife Service decisions based on common sense, and education initiatives that lead to students in expensive unionized schools actually learning.
Missoulian; June 18

Montana sugar beet farmers celebrate good political developments
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's tentative approval of the use of genetically modified sugar beets and the U.S. Senate's decision to block a measure of the proposed Farm Bill that would have allowed the import of more foreign sugar have Montana sugar beet farmers feeling optimistic, although they're sure more attempts will be made to allow more foreign sugar into the country.
Billings Gazette; June 18

Idaho Republicans to meet in Twin Falls this week
Republicans added another day to the Idaho state convention scheduled to begin Thursday in Twin Falls to debate platform changes.
Idaho Statesman (AP); June 18

Idaho governor orders agencies to fashion budgets with less federal cash
Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter ordered Idaho agencies to develop budgets based on a 20 percent decline in federal aid.
Spokane Spokesman-Review; June 18

Economy
Jobless rates in May went up 0.4 percent in Idaho county, city
According to Idaho Department of Labor reports, the unemployment rate in Twin Falls rose from 8 percent to 8.4 percent between April and May; and in Twin Falls County, the jobless rate rose from 7.5 percent to 7.9 percent during the same period.
Twin Falls Times-News; June 18

Unemployment in Colorado rose again in May
The unemployment rate in Colorado increased in May to 8.1 percent, the second month in a row that the unemployment rate rose in the state.
Denver Post; June 18





Mountain West News is a program of the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West
at The University of Montana.
"W e know that figuring out how to break cellulose down into sugars is the big gridlock. But you can't afford not to pursue wood. Producing bioenergy from forests is the only agricultural practice in the world that also provides clean water and recreation and doesn't compete with food production."

Montana State University extension forester Peter Kolb, a member of the Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance, which is seeking a way to turn waste wood into jet fuel.
- Missoulian

On The Bookshelf
Barbara Theroux of Fact & Fiction reviews Christine Byl's "Dirt Work: An education in the woods

5/15/2013

Mountain West Perspectives
Study uncovers the restoration realities in Montana


4/15/2013

Mountain West Voices
Hear weekly stories from the Rocky Mountain West as gathered by Clay Scott

5/15/2013:  A Long Way
5/8/2013:  Making Roots
5/1/2013:  Cancer in the Real World
4/24/2013:  Sheep Country
4/10/2013:  Shearing Sheep


Mountain West News is a program of the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West



at the

The University of Montana