Rocky Mountain Media Grok

Sportsmen Seeing Impact of Global Warming

By Jonathan Weber, 5-24-06

About half of America's hunters and fishermen have seen first-hand the impact of global warming, according to a poll released Tuesday by the National Wildlife Federation. While the 1,000-plus sportsmen surveyed voted for by a 2-1 marging for President Bush, who has sought to dismiss global warming as an environmentalist exagerration, 71% said they were concerned about diminishing fish and wildlife populations and many had seen direct impacts of climate change in the field. They also rejected the Bush Administration's fossil-fuel-based energy policy and want more conservation and clean fuels.

In another example of outdoorsmen flouting political categories, Wyoming union workers, led by the AFL-CIO, are protesting a planned BLM drilling lease sale in the Wyoming range. The Casper Star-Tribune reports that workers fear the loss of hunting and recreation lands that their families have used for generations - and with the state's economy in an historic boom period, the jobs that drilling projects bring aren't much of an issue.

The National Ski Areas Association confirms what we knew: it was a good ski season in the Rockies. A record 58.8 million skier visits nationawide, a 3.3% increase, and skier visits in the 6-state Rocky Mountain region rose 5.8%. The new Tamarack Resort in Idahi is among the beneficiaries, with $89 million in real estate sales for the year ended April - "twice as good" as what comparable resorts are seeing, CEO Jean-Pierre Boespflug told the Idaho Statesman.

Denver continues to be a favorite for the next Democratic convention, with respondents to online poll putting it well ahead of three other contenders - New Orleans, New York, and Minneapolis St. Paul.

New homes sales were surprising strong last month - and while white-hot markets on the coasts are cooling a bit, slower but steadier markets in less populated regions remain very strong.

Roughnecks in the energy fields of Colorado are becoming "softnecks", Nancy Lofholm reports in the Denver Post, as more automated and flexible offshore drilling equipment is deployed on land.

And finally, Butte native Evil Knievel isn't feeling too good at 67, which comes as no surprise to those of us who saw the 70s icon's incredible - and often bone-crushing - stunts.

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