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Photo courtesy of Rick and Susie Graetz
Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012
produced daily by Shellie Nelson
Page 2
More news from the Rockies
Community
Ranching, energy groups support Colorado county's open space ballot measure
The Holy Cross Cattlemen's Association and the West Slope Colorado Oil and Gas Association are endorsing a proposal on Garfield County's ballot that would authorize the Colorado county to levy a 0.25 percent sales tax for 10 years to fund an agricultural land conservation and recreational open space program that would allow mineral development on those lands.
Post Independent (Glenwood Springs); Oct. 25

Montana county OKs $350,000 for Swan Valley conservation easement
Missoula County Commissioners Bill Carey and Jean Curtiss voted Wednesday to approve contributing $350,000 toward a conservation easement on 738 acres in the upper Swan Valley in Montana.
Missoulian; Oct. 25

Sales of map of Flathead Lake benefit Montana groups
The Flathead Lakers and the University of Montana's Flathead Lake Biological Station will share in some of the proceeds from the sale of an old-world style, hand-drawn map of the Montana lake, and on Tuesday, both groups got a check for $2,500.
Missoulian; Oct. 25

Environment
Group's report questions Utah's lack of response to climate change
Utah Rivers Council released its "Crossroads" report on Wednesday that praised the state's Department of Health for its recent report on how climate change could affect residents' lives, but criticized the state's Department of Water Resources for failing to address how changing weather and precipitation patterns may affect water supplies.
Salt Lake Tribune; Oct. 25

Montana State U. graduate's study captures rarest ladybug in U.S.
When Ross Winton, who is now a senior wildlife technician with Idaho Fish and Game, was a entomology graduate student at Montana State University, he captured the only male found of a rare ladybug species in the United States, which led to the identification of that species.
Helena Independent Record (Montana State University); Oct. 25

U. of Alberta student finds new species of beetles in dead trees
Charlene Wood's biodiversity study as a University of Alberta master's student took her to northwestern Alberta, where she found a number of new species of beetles living in the dead trees.
Edmonton Journal; Oct. 25

Wildfire in SW Colorado forces residents to flee
A trash fire that burned out of control near Dolores in southwest Colorado forced the evacuation of 30 homes on Wednesday evening, and many more area residents are on standby.
Durango Herald; Oct. 25

Wyoming again stocks reservoirs with tiger muskies
Concerns about disease halted stocking of tiger muskies, a game fish that are a cross between northern pike and muskellunge, in Wyoming waters, but the state game officials found a disease-free source of the sterile fish, and are again releasing them in reservoirs.
Casper Star-Tribune; Oct. 25

Charges pending against suspects in Wyoming moose poaching case
A joint investigation by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Tribal Fish and Game and the FBI into a poaching incident near Hudson where two bull and two cow moose were killed has resulted in the arrest of four suspects.
Casper Star-Tribune (AP); Oct. 25

Wyoming reports chronic wasting disease in another hunting zone
A mule deer doe killed near Pavillion tested positive for chronic wasting disease, the first such case reported in deer Hunt Area 157 near Lander in Wyoming.
Casper Star-Tribune; Oct. 25

High levels of mercury in fish prompts new advisories in Utah
Utah issued consumption warnings on striped bass caught in the southern reaches of Lake Powell and for largemouth bass hooked in Quail Creek Reservoir after high levels of mercury were found in those species caught in those waters.
Salt Lake Tribune; Oct. 25

Montana couple videos mountain lions feeding on elk carcass
After discovering a dead elk in their Bitterroot Valley pasture, a Montana couple set up a motion-detecting camera near the carcass and captured mountain lions devouring the elk.
Ravalli Republic; Oct. 25

Politics
President Obama stops by Denver on his 11th trip to Colorado
An estimated 16,000 people braved chilly weather in Denver to see President Barack Obama on Wednesday, when he made his 11th visit to the Centennial State this year.
Denver Post; Oct. 25

U.S. House Majority leader in Idaho to campaign for Rep. Labrador
U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who is making campaign appearances for Republican congressional candidates in Idaho and Montana, spoke at an event for U.S. Rep. Raul Labrador on Wednesday, where he said he would schedule a vote on the Farm Bill after the November elections.
Idaho Statesman; Oct. 25

All 5 candidates in Utah congressional race met for debate Wednesday
On Wednesday night in Cedar City, all five of the candidates in the running for Utah's 2nd Congressional District, left open by U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson's candidacy in the state's new 4th Congressional District, got to take the stage.
Salt Lake Tribune; Oct. 25

Montana state judge orders GOP candidate to stop spending donation
A state district court judge ordered Montana gubernatorial candidate Rick Hill to stop spending the $500,000 campaign contribution from the Montana Republican Party made during a six-day period when the state's law limiting campaign donations in state races was not in effect due to a federal court decision finding the limits unconstitutional.
Helena Independent Record; Oct. 25

Legislature
With ink dry on laptop contract, Idaho lawmakers begin hunting for funds
Now that Idaho has signed a $180-million contract with Hewlett-Packard to give teachers and high school students laptops, and if voters approve Proposition 3 in November, when legislators convene early next year in Boise, one of their first tasks will be finding the $9.9 million needed for the first phase of the plan.
Idaho Statesman; Oct. 25

Economy
Ohio company builds distribution center in Colorado
WinWholesale, which is one the nation's largest suppliers of construction materials and equipment, is building a distribution center in Aurora that will employ 30 when the Colorado center is up and running next fall.
Denver Post; Oct. 25

Five workplace fatalities reported last week in Alberta
In five separate incidents last week in Alberta, workers died on the job.
Edmonton Journal; Oct. 25

Southwest Airlines to end Boise-Portland direct flights in April
Low passenger counts and better use for airplanes on other routes were cited by Southwest Airlines officials' for their decision to end direct flights between Boise and Portland, Ore., on April 13, 2013.
Idaho Statesman (AP); Oct. 25





Mountain West News is a program of the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West
at The University of Montana.
"T here are too many people looking at lines on maps instead of the biology of the situation."

Karen Steenhof, a member of the Bureau of Land Management's Boise District Resource Advisory Council, about the BLM's preferred alternative for the route of the Gateway West transmission line that ignored two other routes offered by local groups in Idaho.
- Idaho Statesman

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
Environmental Law Group's 2012 Fall Lecture Series at the University of Montana School of Law
    Oct. 25: "The Public's Treasure in Land, Water, & Minerals: Law and Policy on Public Lands in the West," by Alan Campbell, attorney with the Office of General Counsel of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture in Missoula

Nov. 14-16: Quivira Coalition's 11th annual conference: "How to feed 9 billion people from the ground up," Albuquerque, N.M.

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