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Photo courtesy of Rick and Susie Graetz
Monday, Oct. 8, 2012
produced daily by Shellie Nelson
Page 2
More news from the Rockies
Community
 Survey: 5% of small businesses in Colorado use insurance-tax credit
A recent survey found that of the estimated 82,000 small businesses in Colorado that are eligible for a tax credit for providing health care coverage to their employees under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act only 5 percent are actually taking advantage of the incentive.
Denver Post; Oct. 8

Utah county with nuclear waste landfill cuts hazmat budget
Tooele County has a multimillion-dollar budget shortfall, prompting the Utah county where EnergySolutions operates its radioactive nuclear waste storage facility, to implement deep budget cuts to state agencies, including those that deal with hazardous waste, although the amount of such waste being disposed in the county is declining as well.
Salt Lake Tribune; Oct. 8

Agricultural land issues focus of county commission race in Montana
Missoula County Commissioner Jean Curtiss and her challenger Mark Brady have different ideas about efforts in the Montana county to preserve agricultural lands, with Curtiss supporting a slate of options to keep such lands in production, and Brady skeptical about any policy that takes away private landowners' rights.
Missoulian; Oct. 8

Environment
 Proposed oil, gas leases in Utah's Red Rock Country spur protests
Bureau of Land Management officials said oil and gas development have been part of Utah's Lisbon Valley's economy for years, with an estimate 317 active wells, and they said that not all the 28 parcels in Grand County currently proposed to be auctioned off in February will actually be sold, and not all of the sold leases will be developed.
Deseret News; Oct. 8

BLM approves Colorado company's plan to mine uranium in Wyoming
Denver-based Ur-Energy Inc. will begin operations to produce yellowcake at its Lost Creek mine in southwest Wyoming within the next few months.
Casper Star-Tribune (AP); Oct. 8

Biennial conference on Yellowstone ecosystem science begins today
The 11th Biennial Scientific Conference on the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem begins tonight at Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park.
Idaho Statesman (AP); Oct. 8

Wildfires continue to ignite in southwestern Colorado
Hot, dry conditions continued to provide perfect wildfire weather in southwestern Colorado where fires were ignited by sparks from a train, an escaped campfire and lightning.
Durango Herald; Oct. 8

Politics
 Montana U.S. Senate candidates to debate tonight
Montana Public Television channels will broadcast tonight's debate between U.S. Sen. Jon Tester and his Republican challenger, U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, and public radio stations will also air the debate.
Helena Independent Record; Oct. 8

President Obama assures Montana congressman: No national monuments
U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg sought, and received, confirmation from President Barack Obama that he had no intention of designating a new national monument in Montana this year using the Antiquities Act.
Billings Gazette; Oct. 8

Economy
 Drought forces Montana ranchers to sell calf crop early
Lack of rain across Montana has dried up pastures and hayfields and forced ranchers to sell their calves early this year.
Billings Gazette; Oct. 7

Wyoming man part of team working on new oilsands extraction method
Mark Trautman, a Wyoming native, is a senior scientist at Florida-based Harris Corporation working on an oilsands extraction method that uses electromagnetic waves to heat the oil out of the sand.
Casper Star-Tribune; Oct. 8
Mountain West News is a program of the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West
at The University of Montana.
"W e are the fastest-growing community in eastern Oregon. I've had people come up to me and say, 'Thank God that you took a stand against the horse slaughter plant.'"

Robert E. Severson, mayor of Hermiston, about the Oregon city's resistance to a horse-processing plant being built in Umatilla County, just outside Hermiston's city limits.
- Portland Oregonian
On The Bookshelf
Barbara Theroux gives readers a preview of books to be released this fall

6/12/2013
A Look Ahead
Oct.8-10: 11th Biennial Scientific Conference on the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Greater Yellowstone in Transition: Linking Science and Decision Making, Mammoth Springs, YellowstoneMammoth Hot Springs Hotel -- Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
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