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Photo courtesy of Rick and Susie Graetz
Friday, Aug. 31, 2012
produced daily by Shellie Nelson
Page 2
More news from the Rockies
Community
After 2-year lull, new homes being built in Idaho development
In 2006, Ada County approved six planned communities, but Avimor is the only one in the Idaho county that survived the national housing slump, and while the construction halted in 2009 after just 20 homes were built, construction began again in 2011, with 35 homes built in the past year.
Idaho Statesman; Aug. 31

Decline in inmate numbers, hazardous waste nips Utah county's budget
Tooele County's newly opened jail sits half empty, the Utah county's revenue from hazardous waste is decreasing as less waste is being stored in the county and the Deseret Chemical Depot is now cleaned up, forcing county officials to lay off 12 employees, mostly corrections officers, to address a projected $2-million budget shortfall.
Deseret News; Aug. 31

Montana governor tours clinic for state workers the day before it opens
On Thursday, Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer got a tour of the new health care clinic for 11,000 state workers and their families in Helena that will open today.
Helena Independent Record; Aug. 31

Idaho university, college collaborate on physician-assistant program
Idaho State University will expand its two-year Master of Physician Assistant Studies Program to the College of Idaho in Caldwell under an agreement signed Thursday.
Idaho Statesman (AP); Aug. 31

Environment
BLM extends deadline for wild horse sanctuary proposals
The Bureau of Land Management did not explain why it extended the time for landowners to submit wild horse sanctuary proposals from Aug. 29 to Sept. 19.
Casper Star-Tribune (AP); Aug. 31

Idaho wildfire burns four miles into Montana
The Mustang Complex fire has now burned across 196,000 acres in Idaho and Montana, and earlier this week made an unusual late night, early morning run across 30,000 acres, bringing the blaze seven miles closer to the Lost Trail Ski Area in Montana.
Ravalli Republic; Aug. 31

Montana wildfire now at 3,000 acres, near I-90
The Nineteen Mile Fire near Whitehall has burned nine structures, and on Thursday, was within a couple of miles of Interstate 90 in Montana.
Montana Standard; Aug. 31

Protecting watershed a priority in Montana wildfire fight
The Millie Fire has burned an estimated 10,000 acres in the Storm Castle Creek drainage and crews are expected to make a stand to keep the Montana wildfire out of the Hyalite basin, a watershed from which Bozeman draws water.
Bozeman Daily Chronicle; Aug. 31

Aspen Skiing Co. begins work to expand terrain at Snowmass
Crews from Aspen Skiing Co. are thinning trees and removing downfall to link an additional 230 acres of skiing east of Longshot, currently the only existing inbounds run on Burnt Mountain.
Aspen Times; Aug. 31

Colorado ski area provides details on plan to expand terrain
On Wednesday in Keystone, Arapaho Basin released details on the Colorado ski area's long-term master development plan that would extend lift service to The Beavers, dangerous steeps located just outside its current boundaries.
Denver Post; Aug. 31

Hunting seasons begin Sept. 1 in Wyoming
Wyoming Game and Fish Department personnel reminds the public that hunting seasons for upland birds, small game and bighorn sheep open on Saturday, Sept. 1.
Jackson Hole Daily; Aug. 31

Montana archery hunters asked to be bear aware
Archery season begins Saturday in Montana, and bear managers in the Greater Yellowstone Area, where there are an estimated 600 grizzly bears roaming around, to take precautions.
Billings Gazette; Aug. 31

Biologists investigate death of whitefish in E. Idaho rivers, streams
The Idaho State Journal reports that state fisheries biologists are investigating why mountain whitefish are dying in the South Fork and the main stem of the Snake River, as well as the Teton and North Fork of the Salmon rivers.
Idaho Statesman (Idaho State Journal); Aug. 31

National Wildlife Federation report links U.S. weather events, climate change
In a report released Thursday entitled "Ruined Summer: How Climate Change Scorched the Nation in 2012," the National Wildlife Federation tracked the effects of an early spring, late frost, drought and extreme heat on the United States, its residents and its wildlife.
Deseret News; Aug. 31

Economy
Colorado oil, gas panel focuses on setbacks, plugging abandoned wells
The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission is working on new rules on setbacks for oil and gas wells, as well as new policies on plugging abandoned wells near hydraulic fracturing operations.
Durango Herald; Aug. 31

Crack in storage tank cause of oil spill at Utah refinery
Holly Frontier Corp. officials said problems with a storage tank at the Holly Oil Refinery in Utah led to a spill reported early Friday morning of an undetermined amount of oil that could take days to clean up.
Salt Lake Tribune; Aug. 31

Real estate sales pick up in Montana's Flathead Valley
Residential sales in Montana's Flathead Valley for the first seven months of this year are 32 percent higher than the same period last year, although sales remain lower than in other areas of the state and in the nation.
Hungry Horse News; Aug. 31

Trout fishing the hook that landed financial conference in Wyoming
In 1978, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City began hosting its annual conference at different sites and different times of the year, and in 1982, conference organizers decided to use then-Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker's love of fly-fishing to lure him to the event and scheduled the meeting in August in Jackson Hole and the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium was born, and today Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is scheduled to speak before an international audience at the Jackson Hole Lodge in Wyoming.
San Francisco Chronicle (AP); Aug. 31





Mountain West News is a program of the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West
at The University of Montana.
"C anada is a small country with a relatively small capital market. There is no way Canada can finance the development of the oil sands. We need foreign capital and foreign buyers."

John Brussa, a Calgary lawyer and chairman of Penn West Petroleum Ltd., explaining the increase in foreign interest in investing in Alberta's oilsands.
- Toronto Globe and Mail

On The Bookshelf
Barbara Theroux gives readers a preview of books to be released this fall

6/12/2013

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

6/19/2013:  Tap
6/12/2013:  An Afternoon Cigar
5/29/2013:  Like A Small Family
5/22/2013:  This Little Journey
5/15/2013:  A Long Way


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



at the

The University of Montana