Search
Our archives

Major Funders:
Foundation for Community Vitality
Greater Montana Foundation
Liz Claiborne Art Ortenberg Foundation
Idaho Public TV
Focust West
Southeast Montana
Photo courtesy of Rick and Susie Graetz
Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012
produced daily by Shellie Nelson
Page 2
More news from the Rockies
Community
BuRec's options for Henry's Fork water storage in Idaho now at 17
Rebuilding the Teton Dam in Idaho, the failure of which in 1976 killed 11 people and caused $2 billion in property damage, is among the 17 current options being considered by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to increase water storage options in the Henry's Fork Basin.
Idaho Statesman (Idaho Falls Post-Register); Sept. 11

Environment
Montana FWP meetings on statewide fisheries plan begin today
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks will take public comment on its proposed six-year, statewide fisheries plan through Oct. 12, and the agency will host eight public meetings on the plan, with the first scheduled in Missoula today, Great Falls on Wednesday, and Kalispell on Thursday.
Great Falls Tribune; Sept. 11

Invasive snail found again at Utah trout hatchery
New Zealand snails were again discovered at the Loa State Fish Hatchery in Utah, forcing the Division of Wildlife Resources to revamp its stocking plan to put the trout currently at the hatchery only in waters were the snails are already present.
Deseret News; Sept. 11

Crews battle high winds on W. Wyoming fireline
The Little Horsethief Fire southeast of Jackson gained ground Monday as winds drove the fire to 2,700 acres in size, and fire officials said the Wyoming wildfire was about half a mile from the point where mandatory evacuations would be ordered.
Jackson Hole Daily; Sept. 11

Some structures burned by Wyoming wildfire
The Sheepherder Fire has burned more than 10,000 acres on Casper Mountain in Wyoming, and some structures have been destroyed by the fire, although officials are uncertain how many of those buildings were homes.
Casper Star-Tribune; Sept. 11

Wind-pushed wildfire forces Alberta residents from their homes
Winds near 70 mph drove a wildfire that ignited on the Blood reserve in southern Alberta near Lethbridge on Monday drove 2,500 residents out of their homes.
Calgary Herald; Sept. 11

Wildfire in W. Montana grows to nearly 4,000 acres, hundreds evacuated
The Sawtooth Fire burning in Montana's Bitterroot Valley doubled in size Monday afternoon, and 400 residences west of Hamilton were ordered evacuated.
Ravalli Republic; Sept. 11

Lightning sparks spate of wildfires in N. Utah
Three of the four wildfires sparked by lightning Monday afternoon in northern Utah were quickly extinguished by crews, but the Shanty Canyon Fire on Stansbury Island had grown to 350 acres by Monday evening.
Salt Lake Tribune; Sept. 11

BLM reports all 45 Pryor Mountain mustangs adopted out
The 38 horses and 7 foals from the Pryor Mountain wild horse herd on the Montana-Wyoming border that were rounded up and captured this summer were all adopted at an event held last Saturday.
Billings Gazette; Sept. 11

Politics
Idaho's tax revenues in August 1.1 percent below projections
The $197.6 million that rolled into Idaho's coffers in August was about 1.1 percent less than predicted, although it is about 3.7 percent higher than the amount reported in August last year, an indication the state's economy is recovering.
Idaho Statesman (AP); Sept. 11

Idaho's presidential ballot lists six candidates
There are six candidates on the presidential ballot in Idaho, two less than in neighboring Washington state, which has eight candidates.
Spokane Spokesman-Review; Sept. 11

Legislature
Legislative audits in Utah raise questions about radioactive waste
A Utah legislative panel requested an audit of the state's oversight of radioactive waste disposal and of the taxes paid by that industry, and a report was delivered on Monday that said the state should no longer rely on waste-disposal companies' self reporting and cited an incident that led to nearly two dozen containers of illegal hazardous waste buried in the desert in western Utah.
Salt Lake Tribune; Sept. 11

Economy
New tire chain factory planned in Colorado
Austria-based Pewag will build a tire-chain factory in Pueblo that will employ 55 workers in the Colorado city when it begins operations.
Denver Post; Sept. 11

Survey of Canadian companies finds Alberta city a hotbed for hiring
A survey done by employment services firm Manpower found that 40 percent of firms in the Edmonton area planned to hire new workers in the last quarter of this year, although the survey also found that workers may not have the skills needed for available jobs in the Alberta city.
Edmonton Journal; Sept. 11

USDA predicts record sugar beet crop in Wyoming, Montana
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service is predicting sugar beet yields in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska of 30.54 tons per acre, the largest in the nation.
Billings Gazette; Sept. 11

Plasma services company to build new center in Idaho
The multimillion-dollar facility BioLife Plasma Services is building in Idaho's Treasure Valley will employ 50.
Idaho Statesman; Sept. 11

Hay thefts on the rise in Colorado
Drought has severely curtailed hay production in the West, with prices for feed increasing dramatically, and theft of hay is on the rise in northern Colorado.
Denver Post; Sept. 11





Mountain West News is a program of the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West
at The University of Montana.
"I t is too early to judge the data as being indicative of any trend, but what I can say is that the diversity of species we have found on the reclaimed land is similar to what you would expect on natural habitat."

Ken Foster, a biologist and president of Calgary firm Owl Moon Environmental, who has been counting migrating songbirds at Syncrude's oilsands reclamation project in Alberta for the past two years.
- Edmonton Journal

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

A Look Ahead
Roundtable on the Crown of the Continent's Third Annual Conference: Pathways to Prosperity: Caring for Communities in the Crown of the Continent, Fernie, B.C.

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