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Photo courtesy of Rick and Susie Graetz
Thursday, Aug. 23, 2012
produced daily by Shellie Nelson
Editor's Notes...

West map In the Rockies today, the financial side of wildfires, environmental regulations in Canada and large parcels of land in western Montana are listed for sale.

Rocky Barker at the Idaho Statesman takes a look at the U.S. Forest Service's "suppress all" wildfire policy and federal finances that led to that policy, and the Associated Press examines how this year's fewer, but larger wildfires have affected states' budgets.

In Alberta, the province's regional conservation plan for the Athabasca region that takes effect on Sept. 1 will require the province to buy energy leases from 19 companies, and there are already questions just how those oilsands leases will be valued.

Changes to Canada's Environmental Assessment Act means the federal government will not continue environmental reviews on 492 projects in British Columbia.

And in western Montana, Plum Creek Timber has listed several large parcels of its lands for sale, including some in important wildlife corridors.

Rockies today

 Plum Creek puts W. Montana properties up for sale
Plum Creek is the largest private landowner in the United States and in Montana, and the company is offering a number of parcels it owns in western Montana for sale, including a 5,140-acre tract near Missoula that lies adjacent to the Rattlesnake National Recreation Area.
Missoula Independent; Aug. 23

Colorado's largest export to China is scrap, recyclable material
Forty percent of all the trash generated in the United States annually is exported to China, where it is recycled, and in Colorado, scrap metal and other waste products is the single largest export to that Asian country.
Denver Post; Aug. 23

USFS's 'suppress all' wildfire policy grounded in finances
The Flame Act of 2009 created a fund for firefighting costs, but Congress raided that fund in 2011 and cuts this year left the account empty, prompting the U.S. Forest Service to institute its "suppress all" wildfire policy in May.
Idaho Statesman; Aug. 23

Wildfires burn through states' funds
While the number of wildfires so far this season in the United States is lower than the 10-year average, the seven million acres burned thus far is already well above the 5.4-million-acre 10-year average, and wildfire costs have already exceeded states' budgets for those costs, such as in Utah, where the state budgeted $3 million to fight wildfires, and the costs thus far are $16 million.
Idaho Statesman (AP); Aug. 23

Alberta releases final conservation plan for oilsands region
Alberta's Lower Athabasca Regional Plan is the first of seven such plans designed to direct development of areas for industry, conservation and recreation, and there are questions on just how the province will compensate the 19 energy companies that own leases on lands within the region where development will be banned after Sept. 1, when the plan takes effect.
Edmonton Journal; Aug. 23

Revised Canadian law removes 492 projects in B.C. from federal review
Canada's federal government has dropped environmental assessments of 492 projects in British Columbia after revisions to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act take effect.
Vancouver Sun; Aug. 23

Alberta water researcher says phosphorous culprit in blue-green algae
David Schindler, the internationally respected University of Alberta water scientist, has published a paper urging that phosphorous be targeted in the fight against the toxic blue-green algae, a stance that puts him in opposition to those who believe nitrogen is the culprit that should be targeted.
Edmonton Journal; Aug. 23

Cities embrace green infrastructure to keep water clean
New York City and Seattle have long recognized the importance of trees and other vegetation to trap and cleanse rain water and runoff, and cities across the United States are more and more embracing such "green infrastructure."
Environment360; Aug. 23

Opinion

 Gray wolves face uncertain future in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming
The reintroduction of wolves into Idaho, Montana and Wyoming has succeeded to the point where the federal government has taken wolves in Idaho and Montana off the federal endangered species list, and will do so at the end of this month in Wyoming, but it remains to be seen if the wolf management plans in place in those states will maintain a sustainable population, especially in Wyoming, where wolves will be allowed to be shot on site in four-fifths of the state.
New York Times; Aug. 22

Beyond the region

 Wildfire in California prompts disaster declaration in three counties
The Ponderosa Fire has burned 24,000 acres in three northern California counties, and on Wednesday, Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in those counties.
Christian Science Monitor; Aug. 22

Reid says Nevada land bill must contain a wilderness provision
U.S. Sen. Harry Reid said he supports legislation for legislation that mandates a fair-market-value sale of about 19 square miles of federal Bureau of Land Management land surrounding the Nevada Copper Mine to Yerington, if the bill contains a designation of land between Smith Valley and Bridgeport, Calif., as wilderness.
Reno Gazette-Journal; Aug. 23
Mountain West News is a program of the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West
at The University of Montana.
"T hese are the largest non-conservation out-sales that I can remember Plum Creek doing in the last 10 or 15 years. I can't think of other large blocks in this 3,000- to 5,000-acre size that have gone up for private sale to anyone but groups like The Nature Conservancy."

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologist Jay Kolbe, about large parcels of land in western Montana that Plum Creek has recently put on the market.
- Missoula Independent
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

5/22/2013:  This Little Journey
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