Search
Our archives

Major Funders:
Foundation for Community Vitality
Greater Montana Foundation
Liz Claiborne Art Ortenberg Foundation
Idaho Public TV
Focust West
Ear Mountain, Rocky Mountain Front
Photo courtesy of Rick and Susie Graetz
Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2012
produced daily by Shellie Nelson
Page 2
More news from the Rockies
Community
Mead: Wyoming may re-examine hydraulic fracturing regulations
On Tuesday, Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead said that if the latest tests of groundwater in the Pavillion area support findings of the Environmental Protection Agency that contaminants from oil and gas production made its way into the groundwater, then the state might take a look at its hydraulic fracturing regulations, which were implemented after the Pavillion-area wells were drilled, to see if those rules would have protected the groundwater.
Casper Star-Tribune; Oct. 3

Intermountain Gas Co. lowers rates for Idaho natural gas customers again
The Idaho Public Utilities Commission approved the sixth consecutive request for a rate decrease for Intermountain Gas Co.'s customers in the Gem State.
Twin Falls Times-News; Oct. 3

Colorado golf community to go on auction block in November
The Ironbridge Golf Club, a Colorado development with 118 homesites and an 280-member golf operation owned by a holding company of the now-collapsed Lehman Brothers, will be sold at auction on Nov. 5.
Denver Post; Oct. 3

Tribes
Montana tribe makes first payment of federal settlement funds
The Fort Peck Tribe in Montana received $75 million from the settlement of a case against the federal government for mismanagement of tribal assets, and on Tuesday, the tribe paid out $1,500 to each adult enrolled member, with plans to make an additional payment of $1,000 at Christmas.
Billings Gazette; Oct. 3

Environment
Alberta parcel one of four protected by the Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy of Canada, with funding from Canada's Natural Areas Conservation Program and TD Bank's TD Forests program, has purchased four parcels across Canada, including a 262-acre parcel near Alberta's Crowsnest Pass adjacent to Crowsnest Lake.
Calgary Herald; Oct. 3

Lichen-poisoned elk prompts Wyoming to warn hunters
After finding a cow elk that died from lichen poisoning, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department are warning elk hunters in the Wamsutter area to not shoot elk that appear sick or paralyzed.
Casper Star-Tribune; Oct. 3

Wildfire in S. Utah quickly burns across 2,500 acres
The Roundabout Fire in southern Utah near Cedar City ignited on Monday and was 20 percent contained by Wednesday morning.
Salt Lake Tribune; Oct. 3

Idaho's Moe Fire burns its way across the border into Montana
The lightning-caused Moe Fire has been burning in Idaho for weeks, and in the past couple of days, it has burned its way into Montana's Bitterroot National Forest.
Ravalli Republic; Oct. 3

Researchers follow track of Beartooth glaciers in Montana
With funding from the U.S. Forest Service and the Cinnabar Foundation, and in cooperation with the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Foundation, researchers from Rocky Mountain College are measuring changes in the West Grasshopper Glacier and a glacier on the side of Mount Rearguard in Montana's Beartooth Mountains.
Billings Gazette; Oct. 3

Montana FWP to hold second wolf-trapping class in Hamilton Saturday
The first round of six classes hosted by the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks to certify trappers to trap wolves have certified 330 people, and now a second round of classes are set, including one in Hamilton on Saturday.
Ravalli Republic; Oct. 3

Politics
Clark says revenue from Alberta-B.C. pipeline not her top concern
After her brief meeting with Alberta Premier Alison Redford on Monday, B.C. Premier Christy Clark said that she would continue to press her environmental concerns about moving heavy Alberta crude through the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, but dismissed the financial benefits of the Alberta-B.C. pipeline as being "chump change" when compared to the development of natural gas pipeline projects worth a trillion dollars of benefits.
Calgary Herald; Oct. 3

Colorado's newest residents make state a political battleground
More attention has been to Colorado in the past three elections, beginning with the Democratic National Convention in 2008 held in Denver to tonight's first presidential debate in Denver, because newly arrived residents have changed the political spectrum of the state.
Durango Herald (AP); Oct. 3

Federal health care focus of Montana state auditor candidates
Montana State Auditor Monica Lindeen and her Republican challenger Derek Skees are at opposite ends of the debate on the Affordable Care Act, with Lindeen taking steps to ensure the state has a health care exchange required by the federal law in place by the mandated deadline, and Skees indicating that he would resist all aspects of the law.
Helena Independent Record; Oct. 3

Montana U.S. House candidates follow party lines at Billings debate
At Tuesday night's debate in Billings, Republican Steve Daines and Democrat Kim Gillan, who are vying to be Montana's next U.S. representative, disagreed on taxes, with Daines favoring keeping tax incentives in place and cutting federal budgets, and Gillan supporting closing some tax loopholes for the nation's more wealthy taxpayers and trimming federal spending.
Billings Gazette; Oct. 3

Documentary tracks how Montanans' tax dollars are spent
Montana PBS will premiere the documentary "Billing Montanans: Two Family Tax Stories" at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Missoulian; Oct. 3

Legislature
Idaho schools chief, legislator have heated debate on education reforms
At Tuesday's City Club forum in Boise on Propositions 1, 2 and 3 on November's ballot, Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna and state Rep. Brian Cronin pulled no punches in their disagreement about the education reform measures.
Idaho Statesman; Oct. 3

Economy
Private equity firms interested in parts of company that owns Albertson's
Supervalu, the nation's third-largest grocer that purchased Idaho-based Albertsons in 2006, is up for sale, and while the company would prefer to sell all of its assets to one buyer, private equity firms are reportedly interested in buying just portions of the company, which includes nearly a dozen retail banners, some pharmacies and one distribution center.
Idaho Statesman (Bloomberg News); Oct. 3

Utah company gets $25M in capital to build more data centers
Lindon-based C7 Data Centers is growing faster than it can build facilities, and the Utah company will use $25 million from Utah-based Signal Peak Ventures and Virginia-based MCG Capital Corp. to build a new data center in the Salt Lake Valley and an additional one somewhere in the West.
Salt Lake Tribune; Oct. 3

NFR Energy sells Montana natural-gas assets to NorthWestern Energy
NorthWestern Energy purchased NFR Energy LLC's natural-gas interests in Montana's Bear Paw Basin for $19.5 million.
Great Falls Tribune; Oct. 3

Cost-of-living increase enough to raise Montana's minimum wage
Montana Labor Commissioner Keith Kelly said the cost of living in the state increased to the level that triggered an increase in the state's minimum hourly wage, which will rise to $7.80 on Jan. 1.
Great Falls Tribune; Oct. 3

Beans are no small potatoes to Idaho's economy
Idaho ranks fifth in the nation in bean production, and it's among the top in the nation for producing bean seeds.
Twin Falls Times-News; Oct. 3





Mountain West News is a program of the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West
at The University of Montana.
"I f lake trout in Yellowstone Lake are so devastating to cutthroat and threaten them with extinction, why have they coexisted for 120 years in Heart Lake six miles away? Why have they coexisted in Jenny Lake? Jackson Lake?"

Peter Moyer, a Jackson attorney and one of a number of Wyoming anglers who question Yellowstone National Park's efforts to remove lake trout from Yellowstone Lake.
- Jackson Hole News & Guide

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

6/12/2013:  An Afternoon Cigar
5/29/2013:  Like A Small Family
5/22/2013:  This Little Journey
5/15/2013:  A Long Way
5/8/2013:  Making Roots


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



at the

The University of Montana