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Photo courtesy of Rick and Susie Graetz
Friday, Aug. 17, 2012
produced daily by Shellie Nelson
Page 2
More news from the Rockies
Community
Colorado universities create housing policy based on concealed-carry permits
After the Colorado Supreme Court upheld a decision that struck down the University of Colorado's ban on guns on campus, the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs are creating segregated dorms for students with concealed-carry permits.
Denver Post; Aug. 17

Idaho warns of blue-green algae in northern end of Hayden Lake
The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and the Panhandle Health District have posted warnings about blue-green algae Anabaena circinalis, which is toxic to humans and animals, in the northern end of Hayden Lake.
Coeur d'Alene Press; Aug. 15

Tribes
Annual Crow Fair kicks off in Montana
With teepees dotting the landscape, the 94th Annual Crow Fair on the Crow Reservation in Montana began Thursday, and will continue through Monday.
Billings Gazette; Aug. 15

Environment
Crews have Utah's largest active wildfire nearly contained
The 5,100-acre Shivwits Wildfire in Utah's Washington County was 95 percent contained this morning, and the 3,067-acre Reserve Fire near St. George is 75 percent contained.
Salt Lake Tribune; Aug. 17

Smoke from one SW Idaho wildfire calms flames
Residents of Featherville were spared evacuation as smoke from the Trinity Ridge wildfire slowed the 69,000-acre fire's advance, while the Halstead Fire burning near Stanley forced the evacuation of the Yankee Forks area on Thursday.
Idaho Statesman (AP); Aug. 15

Gawkers near foraging bears in Wyoming national park force road closure
Grand Teton National Park officials closed the road between Moose and Wilson on Thursday morning for 48 hours after a crowd of people gathered just feet away from foraging grizzly and black bears.
Denver Post (AP); Aug. 17

Drought pushes hungry bears into Wyoming communities
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department recently relocated a black bear that wandered into Garden Creek, and sightings of the bruins are on the rise in other communities as bears begin stocking up on calories for hibernation.
Casper Star-Tribune; Aug. 15

With wetlands restored, trumpeter swans released into Montana valley
In 2003, grant money from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and PPL Montana funded an 8,000-acre wetlands restoration project on a ranch in Montana's Madison Valley, and on Wednesday, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the Montana Audubon Society released five trumpeter swans onto those wetlands.
Helena Independent Record (Bozeman Daily Chronicle); Aug. 15

Japanese beetles found in two Idaho counties
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is putting traps out to capture destructive Japanese beetles recently reported in Idaho's Ada and Kootenai counties, and officials are asking anyone who finds the beetles to send them in to the Plant Industries Division in Boise.
Idaho Statesman; Aug. 15

Anthrax kills cows on two more ranches in northeastern Colorado
Anthrax, a bacterium that occurs naturally in soils and can lie inactive for years, is believed to have killed 60 cows on a ranch in Logan County in northeastern Colorado, as well as two cows on two adjacent ranches.
Durango Herald (AP); Aug. 17

Politics
Colorado secretary of state asks 4,000 voters to prove they're eligible
The 4,000 voters who received a letter from Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler used a noncitizen identification when they applied for a driver's license from the state and registered to vote, and Gessler said the letters were sent to inform those voters they need to prove they are now eligible to vote.
Denver Post; Aug. 17

Legislature
Legislative panel recommends basic health care plan for Utah
On Thursday, the Utah Legislative Health Reform Task Force selected the Public Employee Health Plan’s (PEHP) "Basic Plus" policy as the benchmark for the state's "bare minimum" health care plan.
Salt Lake Tribune; Aug. 17

Economy
Alberta company begins investigating fatal natural gas accident in Colorado
An explosion Wednesday at a natural gas well in Colorado killed one worker and injured three others is being investigated by Calgary-based Encana Corp. and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Calgary Herald and Canadian Press; Aug. 15

Report: Utah's exports for first half of 2012 up 14 percent
The International Trade Administration reported that exports from Utah, which include primary metals, computer and electronic products and chemicals, for the first half of 2012 were 14 percent higher than for the same period of 2011.
Salt Lake Tribune; Aug. 17

Company shuts down B.C. molybdenum mine due to low prices
Thompson Creek Metals shut down mining at its Endako molybdenum project in northwestern B.C., citing low prices, lower-than-expected ore quality and operational problems.
Vancouver Sun; Aug. 16

Utah real estate company hires 90 more agents
Sandy-based Coldwell Banker Residential Mortgage is on a hiring binge, an indication that the housing market on Utah's Wasatch Range, is improving.
Salt Lake Tribune; Aug. 17





Mountain West News is a program of the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West
at The University of Montana.
"D oes oil and gas have emissions? Absolutely. What frustrates us is that it’s so clear that's not the primary factor. The primary factor is the meteorological conditions."

Uintah County impact district director Paul Hacking, discussing an winter ozone pollution study that said oil and gas operations played a role in pollution levels in Utah's Uinta Basin.
- Salt Lake Tribune

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