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Photo courtesy of Rick and Susie Graetz
Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012
produced daily by Shellie Nelson
Page 2
More news from the Rockies
Community
Colorado governor launches discussion of state's population capacity
At a conference in Denver on Wednesday, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper said the time is now to start talking about exactly how many people the state and its resources can handle.
Denver Post; Sept. 20

Utah water commission approves earmarking funds for future water projects
At a meeting Tuesday, the Utah State Water Development Commission approved a plan to earmark 15 percent of future growth in sales tax revenues for water projects.
Deseret News; Sept. 20

Wyoming supercomputer in final testing phase
National Center for Atmospheric Research has 11 research projects lined up to run on its new supercomputer, Yellowstone, in Wyoming.
Casper Star-Tribune (AP); Sept. 20

Tribes
Wyoming senator's bill would speed up energy development on tribal lands
Last week the Senate Indian Affairs Committee approved legislation offered by Wyoming U.S. Sen. John Barrasso that would amend a provision of the 2005 Energy Act to require review of energy leases of tribal lands to be done within 120 days and gives tribes more management authority over energy projects; the measure now awaits action by the full U.S. Senate.
Casper Star-Tribune; Sept. 20

Environment
Alberta park has plan in place to deal with loads of larch lookers
The larch trees in Banff National Park are starting to show their fall colors, and to prevent a repeat of last year's traffic jam where visitors in cars, trucks and recreational vehicles were backed up for miles, Parks Canada has a monitoring plan in place to ensure smooth traveling.
Calgary Herald; Sept. 20

Montana FWP issues warning after grizzly bear attacked elk hunter
After an elk hunter doing cow calls in the Madison Range attracted a grizzly sow with two young cubs, and was bitten by the bear before it ran off, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials warned archery hunters and others in bear country in southwest Montana to take extra care to avoid conflicts with bears.
Montana Standard (Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks); Sept. 20

Rehab team assesses area burned by Montana wildfire
The 10,400-acre Millie Fire is still smoldering in some spots south of Bozeman, but a Burned Area Emergency Response Team is already assessing the area burned by the Montana wildfire to determine how best to rehabilitate the area burned.
Bozeman Daily Chronicle; Sept. 20

Crews gain ground on wildfires in Wyoming
The 400-acre Chall Creek Fire in western Wyoming that threatened 13 homes is now 30 percent contained, and the 3,400-acre Horsethief Canyon Fire near Jackson is 82 percent contained, while the 8,050-acre Gilead Fire near Buffalo in northern Wyoming is 38 percent contained.
Casper Star-Tribune (AP); Sept. 20

Wildfires in south-central Idaho expose artifacts
Public-land managers in south-central Idaho are reminding people to not pick up relics that may have been exposed by this year's wildfires.
Twin Falls Times-News; Sept. 20

National wildlife refuge in Colorado reopens to the public
The U.S. Army has completed the drilling of eight groundwater monitoring wells on the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge in Colorado, allowing federal land managers to again open the refuge to public access.
Denver Post; Sept. 20

BLM to offer wild horses from Wyoming, Utah, Oregon at Colorado auction
Wild horses gathered from Wyoming, Utah and Oregon will be offered at the Bureau of Land Management's auction on Sept. 22 in Grand Junction, Colo.
Grand Junction Sentinel; Sept. 20

Politics
Montana attorney general race draws funds from national GOP group
The Washington, D.C.-based Republican State Leadership Committee Inc. has spent $580,000 to buy radio and television ads supporting GOP candidate Tim Fox in the Montana attorney general's race.
Montana Standard; Sept. 20

Legislature
Democrats roll out Montana jobs plan
The six-part plan to create jobs in Montana released Wednesday by Democrats proposed freezing tuition to keep education affordable and using energy revenue to develop infrastructure in eastern Montana.
Flathead Beacon (AP); Sept. 20

Utah legislators said recent audit an indication UTOPIA should go
The Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency, or UTOPIA, is a collaboration between 11 cities to build a high-speed, fiber-optic network, but the project has been plagued with problems, and a new audit had state legislators questioning if now is the time to pull the plug on the still-uncompleted project.
Salt Lake Tribune; Sept. 20

Legislators give preliminary OK to plan to expand 80 mph speed limit on Utah freeways
After a study found that increasing the speed limit on some of Utah's freeways had no impact on speeding or crashes, an interim panel of legislators approved a measure that would push the speed limit up to 80 mph on more stretches of freeways.
Deseret News; Sept. 20

Economy
Flathead firms get lion's share of Montana economic development funds
The Montana Department of Commerce recently awarded $1.2-million in Big Sky Economic Development Trust Fund grants, with $937,350 going to companies in the Flathead Valley: $217,500 was awarded to Western Building Center to buy new equipment for its new SmartLam production facility in Columbia Falls, creating 29 new jobs; Nomad Global Communication Solutions, also in Columbia Falls, received $652,500 for new equipment and training that will add 87 new jobs; and Whitefish-based ZaneRay Group got $67,350 to create 10 new jobs.
Hungry Horse News; Sept. 20

Census data show decline in household income in Colorado decelerating
Colorado's median household income peaked in 2007 and has been declining since then, but new Census data indicates that the rate of decline has slowed.
Denver Post; Sept. 20





Mountain West News is a program of the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West
at The University of Montana.
"O ur detailed analysis has shown that to meet the emission reductions required by EPA's mercury and air toxics standards, we would need to invest $38 million in the Corette plant. We simply cannot justify that level of spending in the current wholesale power market in the Northwest."

Pete Simonich, PPL Montana vice president and chief operating officer, in a news release announcing PPL Montana would close its coal-fired power plant in Billings by 2015.
- Billings Gazette

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

5/15/2013:  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