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RUSH TO CONSERVE

If Congress does not reauthorize the Pension Protection Act of 2006, most of the tax benefits of putting conservation easements on land will disappear on Dec. 31.

The Casper Star Tribune reported this week that many of the groups that work with landowners to set up conservation easements in Wyoming said they're overwhelmed with deals pitched in an effort to beat that deadline. The Teton Regional Land Trust, which works with landowners in both Idaho and Wyoming, has more than three times the number of projects this year as it normally does, and another Wyoming land trust agent said the demand for conservation agreements has put appraiser in great demand, creating a bottleneck for those deals.

But tax benefits aren't the only reason conservation easements are sought for property.

In Utah, the Salt Lake Tribune reported that Salt Lake County used $8.7 million of its $48-million voter-approved open space funds to secure the Rose Canyon Ranch, a 1,700-acre parcel of land that lies on the valley's west side. County officials said the newly acquired lands, combined with Yellow Fork Park and land owned by the Bureau of Land Management, will provide area residents nearly 4,000 acres of land for recreation. The protected acres also provide habitat for a herd of 750 elk, wild turkeys and mountain lions.
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WESTERN WILDFIRE ROUNDUP

The wildfire burning near South Lake Tahoe has destroyed more than 100 homes, and according to a Los Angeles Times article on Monday, most of those homes burned within the first few hours of the wildfire's start.

Those homes were tucked away in the tinder-dry forests, and are indicative of what's gone awry with development in the Rocky Mountain West, according to a Christian Science Monitor article.

The New York Times reports today that the federal government put states and local governments on notice this spring that more needs to be done to control development in the areas where public lands and private homes abut and that more firefighting costs must be borne by the states.

Public lands are the Rocky Mountain West's equivalent of California's ocean shores--a wonderful amenity to have outside your front--or back--door. But just as crashing tides and wicked weather pose a risk to shore homes, those public lands, too, can be both a wonderful asset and a potential danger during wildfire season. [more]

BIGHORN BATTLEFIELD

The water dispute between Wyoming and Montana regarding flows in the Powder and Tongue Rivers is so contentious, one Montana official said it is almost enough to start a war, to which the Billings Gazette responded with a story lead that provides a visual of a gunned stand-off at the border. But does this scenario over-dramatize the situation?

The situation revolves around an age-old battle over limited water supplies, a 50-year-old water compact, and modern-day technology and industry. In 1950, the two states created the Yellowstone River Compact, which sought to manage the water in these two basins, which cross state lines. But it didn’t dictate how much water each state was to receive. And now with highly efficient irrigation systems that return less than 10 percent of the water used to the rivers and 23,000 coalbed methane wells that discharge millions of gallons of groundwater that isn’t always fit for irrigation, but still has to go somewhere, the compact is out of date. [more]

Western Waters

In Wyoming, water is a wild and scenic issue. In Arizona, ground and surface water apparently never meet in the Legislature. And in New Mexico – if it’s visible at some point in the year, the state can regulate it.

Water – it’s the stuff legislation is made of today.

At a Senate subcommittee hearing in Washington, D.C., Wyoming Sen. Craig Thomas' bill to designate 443 miles of waterways in northwestern Wyoming as "wild and scenic," played to an appreciative audience. The Casper Star-Tribune reported that the nation’s top fly fisherman, Jack Dennis, coach of Fly Fishing Team USA and honorary chairman of Campaign for the Snake Headwaters, gave the bill a big thumbs up – as did officials from the Agriculture and Interior Departments. [more]

OLD ECONOMY

The General Mining Act of 1872 is perhaps the oldest operating legislation significantly affecting the environment and economy in the West on a daily basis. Numerous attempts have been made to update it, but have thus far failed. The most recent attempt looks like it might work, though.

West Virginia Democratic Rep. Nick Rahall, also the current U.S. House Natural Resources Committee Chairman, submitted legislation to rework the 1872 law. Proposed changes include an 8 percent net royalty on minerals mining on public lands, creation of a fund to clean up abandoned mines and a provision to forever ban mining on some federal lands. [more]

GLOBAL WARMING

On Tuesday, the governors of 31 states announced an effort to create a standardized system of monitoring and tracking greenhouse gas emissions by major industries.

The Los Angeles Times reports that state and industry officials said The Climate Registry is an important first step in the process to eventually create limits – whether mandatory or market-based – on gases linked to global warming. The Registry, which has been called by some as the “free-market Kyoto,” after the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement to limit greenhouse gases—and one that the United States has declined to take part in.

The pact puts states ahead of the federal government once again in the effort to slow global warming. Although the federal government launched a similar voluntary program in 2002 to monitor such pollutants, the Climate Registry requires third-party verification of the efforts, a key difference. Another key difference to the federal program, are the standardized reporting guidelines used by the multistate registry.

The Registry will be headquartered in Washington, D.C., and will have regional offices. Reporting is set to begin on Jan. 1, 2008. [more]

WHEN THE WELL RUNS DRY

Thanks to a recent court ruling, the state of Idaho could call for the largest curtailment of groundwater pumping in its history. The Twin Falls Times-News has been reporting for about a week now that if junior water rights holders don’t find a way to provide water for senior water rights holders, the state will shut off the wells of those junior water users.

Water allocation in Idaho and other Western states is tied to a system called prior appropriation, in which water claims are issued in the order they were first asked for — older rights holders can use all of their water before newer, or junior water rights holders, can use their allotment. [more]

STATE OF THE ROCKIES REPORT

In the West, water is the wonky issue, urbanism is the sexy issue and energy is that cyclical issue that rears its big head every few decades. Meanwhile, forestry just seems to plod along through our history, never forgotten, but only in the spotlight when big fires erupt.

But forest issues are now more important than ever, according to researchers at Colorado College and a panel at the State of the Rockies Conference, which just ended in Colorado Springs. Student and faculty researchers at the school presented their baseline date for the health of the region’s forests, noting the increasing problems with insects and fires. [more]

STATE OF THE ROCKIES REPORT

The 2007 State of the Rockies Conference commenced on Monday in the atrium of Armstrong Hall, on the campus of Colorado College in Colorado Springs, and from the opening remarks onward, the speakers all seemed to want to make a few things clear: this report was primarily written by a talented group of undergraduates and a team of professors; climate change is affecting almost every issue covered in the report; and the future of the Rocky Mountain region is mired in uncertainties surrounding growth.

But Day 1 really began to cook during the first panel on water sustainability. Attendees packed the room and, following panelists’ presentations, the audience threw tough questions at the speakers. At that opening panel, presenters outlined water projects and tactics to provide water for growing cities in the West. Following those presentations, audience members grilled the panelists about growth issues. Toward the end, the discussion touched on what might happen when growth outpaces supplies. [more]

RANCH ROUNDUP

Despite all of the economic and cultural changes in the West, ranching still very much defines how we live. But in many cases, ranching isn’t what it once was. For example, in Wyoming, the state bought a 6,439-acre ranch and is preparing management plans, and in New Mexico, a family has sought the help of a land trust in managing its land with conservation in mind.

Wyoming bought the Duncan Ranch last year for $5.9 million after noticing its natural resources. Recently, reports the Casper Star-Tribune, the Office of State Lands and Investments offered up a draft management plan for the ranch. The plan aims to balance agriculture, wildlife and recreation. It is also designed to make money for the state, with profits being directed into a fund to benefit state schools. [more]