In the Rockies today, the National Wildlife Federation released a report detailing the effects of climate change on wildlife and calling for action on addressing greenhouse gas emissions.
University of Montana professor Diana Six said recent mountain pine beetle infestations in the Rocky Mountain West, which are 10 times larger than any reported in the past, are a symptom of the warming climate, and UM Regents Professor Steve Running, said coal-fired power is the driver in the worldwide increase in carbon emissions, the driver of climate change.
In Colorado, U.S. Sen. Mark Udall said his concerns about ongoing drought and a more intense wildfire season prompted him to ask the U.S. Forest Service to outfit seven C-130 transport planes to use as air tankers for the upcoming wildfire season.
Moose are on the decline in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, due to an increase of wolf-related kills in the northern end of the park, and in Montana, cow moose have been outfitted with radio collars in the Cabinet Mountains near Libby, in the Big Hole and along the Rocky Mountain Front to allow the state to learn more about those populations.
Also in Montana, a bridge-component fabrication business that opened just three years ago is closing in Libby, eliminating 70 jobs in Lincoln County, which already has the highest unemployment rate in the state.
This evening Montana Public Radio will broadcast the latest edition of Mountain West Voices.
Tune in at 8:25 p.m. to hear Clay Scott's conversation with with Bonnie Preikszas of Laurel, Montana about her life as a rural schoolteacher in the 1930's, or if you miss the broadcast, you can always listen online via the Mountain West Voices' website.
Today in Western Perspective, the results of Colorado College's 2013 Conservation in the West poll are in -- and the survey found that a majority of residents in the Rocky Mountain West favor protection of sensitive lands, oppose the selling of public lands, and believe production of renewable energy should be a priority.