In the Rockies today, a new wildfire study ignites debate about current U.S. Forest Service policies, a devastating blow to a herd of bighorn sheep in Montana, and Gov. Gary Herbert's stance on federal lands is the focus of a new ad campaign in Utah.
A University of Wyoming study that looked at wildfire cycles in Colorado, Arizona and Oregon forests from the mid-1800's through the present found that the severity of wildfires in those forests has not worsened of late.
That finding runs counter to current U.S. Forest Service policy that focuses on fuel reduction to reduce the severity of forest fires caused by a century of fire suppression.
In Montana, a vehicle killed seven bighorn sheep lambs, a third of all the lambs born to the Lower Rock Creek herd this year. The herd has been struggling to regain its numbers after nearly half the adults died of pneumonia a couple of years ago.
And in Utah, where Gov. Gary Herbert recently signed legislation into law that would require the federal government to hand over 30 million acres of lands to state control, as well as filing a number of lawsuits seeking control of roads that pass over federal lands, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance launched an ad campaign against the Republican governor.
Governor Herbert's office dismissed the campaign as just more political grandstanding.
Yellowstone Public Radio will broadcast a special edition of Mountain West Voices tonight at 6:30.
In a special half-hour edition of Mountain West Voices, producer Clay Scott takes an amazing musical tour of the region.
Listeners will be introduced to the diversity of music in the Rocky Mountain West, including some musical traditions we seldom hear from or about.
Tune into Yellowstone Public Radio tonight to hear the program.