http://www.newwest.net/index.php/city/main/C/L/ New West Network: The Voice of the Rocky Mountains en info@newwest.net Copyright 2011 Wed, 31 Aug 2011 19:55:46 MST Wed, 31 Aug 2011 19:55:46 MST http://www.newwest.net/city/article/new_draft_of_tester_bill_put_together_by_senate_committee/C33/L33/ Fri, 04 Jun 2010 06:44:25 MST Yesterday, members of the Last Best Place Wildlands Campaign called on Senator Tester to make public a new "Discussion Draft" version of the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act (FJRA) that was put together by the US Senate's Energy and Natural Resources Committee and given to Senator Tester last month. Since the Committee's draft includes significant new language, we believe it's in the best interest of all Montanans and Americans for Senator Tester to make a copy of the Committee's draft available for public review and input. This step will ensure transparency and give all members of the public an equal opportunity to review the new draft language. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/new_report_debunks_myth_of_catastrophic_wildfire/C33/L33/ Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:05:00 MST There is no such thing as "catastrophic wildfire" in our forests, ecologically speaking. That is the central conclusion of a report released this week by the John Muir Project (JMP), a non-profit forest research and conservation organization. The report, "The Myth of Catastrophic Wildfire: A New Ecological Paradigm of Forest Health", is a comprehensive synthesis of the scientific evidence regarding wildland fire and its relationship to biodiversity and climate change in western U.S. forests. It stands many previously held assumptions on their heads, including the assumptions that forest fires burn mostly at high intensity (where most trees are killed), and that fires are getting more intense, as well as the assumption that high-intensity fire areas are ecologically damaged or harmed. The report finds that the scientific evidence contradicts these popular notions. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/idaho_ed_board_risks_legal_action_and_national_censure/C33/L33/ Thu, 31 Dec 2009 12:21:37 MST Paul Agidius, President of the Idaho State Board of Education, has written a defense of proposed changes to its personnel policies. He begins with a reference to Charles Dickens' "worst of times/best of times," presumably with the intent of presenting a state of balance in Idaho higher education. The facts on the ground, however, force us to conclude that the worst, by far, has the upper hand. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/copenhagen_climate_conferences_well_deserved_host/C33/L33/ Sat, 12 Dec 2009 10:01:58 MST Under both left-wing and right-wing governments Denmark has chosen to invest heavily in green infrastructure, and it now has much to show for its wise decisions. Denmark is on track to meet its Kyoto goal of 21 percent CO2 reduction by 2012. The Danes have more than earned the right to host the most important international conference of the 21st Century. The full version can be read here. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/missoulas_progressive_talk_radio_hijacked_again/C33/L33/ Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:54:05 MST Out state owners of our airwaves shut down progressive talk once again..... http://www.newwest.net/city/article/bear_spray_campaign_endangers_hunters_grizzlies/C33/L33/ Sun, 20 Sep 2009 16:19:04 MST Year after year, the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee fails to provide for hunter safety while minimizing grizzly bear mortality. Here are eight solutions to the problem. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/parma_research_station_opinion/C33/L33/ Tue, 14 Jul 2009 08:49:43 MST In my opinion, Jill Kuraitis's NewWest.Net article on the Parma research station (7-9-09) contained an error and omissions. The subtitle of the article indicates that it was a UI College of Agriculture committee that reversed the decision. I don't agree. The article omitted the fact that it was lobbying by growers and a threat of legal action by the UI faculty union that forced the UI administration to reconsider closing this essential research station. Read the full version: www.class.uidaho.edu/ngier/Parma.htm http://www.newwest.net/city/article/parma_research_station_must_remain_open/C33/L33/ Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:59:06 MST The U.S. leads the world in agricultural innovation primarily because of research done at the nation's land grant universities. One of the most successful experiment stations in Idaho is located in Parma, but the UI has just announced that it will be closed at the end of the year. The faculty union and growers are trying to get the UI administration to reverse this disastrous decision. Esmaeil Fallahi, a world renowned fruit expert at Parma, is responsible for the fact that Idaho now grows Fuji apples, table grapes, and white peaches. In the recent years, hundreds of thousands of boxes of white peaches and table grapes have been shipped to Asia. Saad Hafez, another researcher at the Parma station, brings in $500,000 a year in research and service funds for Idaho agriculture. Because of Hafez's work the nematodes that destroy Idaho crops, farmers saved $8.1 million annually over a 20 year period. During a meeting with Parma faculty and staff on June 16, John Hammel, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, was hammered about the closure decision and his mismanagement of the station. Ron Mann, founder of the Idaho Table Grape Association and former advisor to President Reagan, asked Hammel why the growers were not consulted. Mann offered several viable alternatives to save money short of closing the station. In a phone conversation with Mann, he told me that the UI administration is "inept in the management of people and budgets." http://www.newwest.net/city/article/thomas_jefferson_atheist_and_leveler_from_virginia/C33/L33/ Wed, 15 Apr 2009 08:54:45 MST From 1904 to 1957 it was a tradition that every new member of Congress would receive a copy of the "Jeffersonian Bible." Judd Patton, a member of the conservative United Church of God has sought to revive this practice. Since 1997, Patton has spent $1,500 of his own money sending 753 copies of the book to members of Congress. Patton realizes that Jefferson was "not a believer in Christ," but he thinks that it is essential that America's representatives read about the moral essence of Christianity. Read the full version here. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/montana_governor_gets_stoned/C33/L33/ Wed, 08 Apr 2009 13:01:00 MST On Monday, Governor Brian Schweitzer emerged from a closed-door meeting at Smurfit-Stone's Frenchtown mill, looked right into a video camera and declared, "If we can harvest 15,000 acres of the 2 million acres of dead and dying [trees] that we've got on federal land in Montana we can keep this mill open."