My Page: New West Editor
The New West Festival in May brought together an eclectic group of Rocky Mountain enthusiasts and entrepreneurs who examined the quality of life, work and play in the region. From an opening keynote about climate change, with practical solutions for reducing carbon footprints, to a closing session about entrepreneurism and the funding of new businesses, the day was packed with interesting ideas for personal and professional growth.
[more]National Park News
Rising River Levels Expected to Have Little Impact on Yellowstone Visitors, Unless They Fish
The National Weather Service is forecasting the Yellowstone River at Fishing Bridge to approach record levels this weekend. The river level is forecast to reach 8.8 feet on Saturday, just shy of the 8.9-foot record set on June 18, 1997. Flood stage is 9 feet.
While other rivers in Yellowstone including the Lamar, Gardner, Gibbon, Madison, Firehole, Lewis and Snake Rivers are running high and fast, none are forecast to reach flood level.
What most visitors are likely to notice is the high water flow of the Yellowstone over the Upper and Lower Falls in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
Walkways along the river on either side of historic Fishing Bridge are already under water, as is Gull Point Drive, a short scenic side trip off the Grand Loop Road south of Bridge Bay. Areas near Pelican Creek east of Fishing Bridge and along Elk Antler, Trout, and Alum Creeks in Hayden Valley look more like shallow lakes due to high water.
Anglers are having a tougher time in the park this summer, with turbid, fast-running water. Some campsites and trails remain closed due to the ongoing impacts of snow, high water and muddy conditions.
Breaking News
AP: Feds Knew Wood Piles Could Further Contaminate Libby, Montana
An Associated Press investigation discovered that the Environmental Protection Agency, in charge of clearing asbestos concentrated in Libby, Montana—the deadliest Superfund site in America—has known for at least three years that piles of wood chips and bark people put in their yards and parks contained asbestos.
According to an AP story published today, the EPA “did not stop removal of the material” until reporters began investigating in early March.
The levels of the contamination and its effects on humans are not known, according to the story, “EPA documents obtained by the AP showed that the agency found potentially deadly asbestos fibers in four of 20 samples taken from the piles of scrap wood in 2007.”
[more]Fracking News
Critics Find Gaps in State Laws to Disclose Hydrofracking Chemicals
Over the past year, five states have begun requiring energy companies to disclose some of the chemicals they pump into the ground to extract oil and gas using the process of hydraulic fracturing.
While state regulators and the drilling industry say the rules should help resolve concerns about the safety of drilling, critics and some toxicologists say the requirements fall short of what’s needed to fully understand the risks to public health and the environment.
The regulations allow companies to keep proprietary chemicals secret from the public and, in some states, from regulators. Though most of the states require companies to report the volume and concentration of different drilling products, no state asks for the amounts of all the ingredients, a gap that some say is disturbing.
“It’s a shell game,” said Theo Colborn, a toxicologist who has testified before Congress about the dangers of drilling chemicals. Colborn and her organization, TEDX, examine the long-term health risks of chemicals and have opposed the expansion of drilling in Colorado and elsewhere. “They’re not telling you everything that there is to know.”
[more]Energy & The Economy
Oil and Natural Gas Drilling in the West Nears 20-Year High
Oil and natural gas drilling in the United States has returned to pre-recession levels and the drilling rig count is nearing a 20-year high according to a new graphical analysis by the independent research group Headwaters Economics based in Bozeman, Montana.
Since a recession-induced low in 2008, oil and natural gas drilling “has made a strong recovery,” said Julia Haggerty, the report’s author. Market prices and advancements in drilling technology account for most of the increases, she said.
By late May 2011, national drilling activity was at 91 percent of a 20-year high last reached during the 2008 natural gas surge (2,031 rigs). Rig activity plunged in late 2008 in response to the global economic downturn and lower energy prices. Since then, the national rig count has steadily recovered. As of the week of May 27, 2011, the number of active drilling rigs is more than 1,800.
The Headwaters Economics fact sheet graphically analyzes several key indicators: trends in drilling rig counts by energy type compared to market prices, drilling rig activity by technology type and trends in drilling activity by state, with an emphasis on the energy-producing Rocky Mountain states (CO, MT, NM, UT, and WY) and North Dakota.
Fracking News
Montana Fracking Rules to be Published Thursday; Landowners Concerned
The draft rules exempt public notice of any chemicals deemed trade secrets by the oil and gas industry. The rules also don’t provide easy public access to any other fracking chemicals used. Under the draft rules, nothing will be published on the BOGC website. Paper records of the chemicals specific to each oil and gas well will be kept at the BOGC office in Billings.
The draft rules are available now on the BOGC website.
Flood News
State of Emergency Declared for Montana; Flooding Woes Deepen Across Much of RockiesGov. Brian Scheitzer this week declared a state of emergency in Montana, where flooding has closed a 50-mile stretch of I-90, isolated communities in the central and eastern parts of the state and killed an elderly woman who fell into a flooded ditch.
Water continues rising, with rainfall adding to record snowmelt. The state emergency Coordination Center has received numerous declarations of emergencies from local and tribal jurisdictions. Perhaps hardest hit is the Crow Reservation near the Wyoming border, where those at Crow Agency who have not evacuated are essentially trapped by surrounding water. Potable water there is becoming scarce. The American Red Cross is assisting and several families are staying at high school located on the highest hill in the area.
Big Horn County Emergency Services Coordinator Ed Auker told the Associated Press the flooding was concentrated in the town’s business district and extended for several blocks.
“We’ve got water everywhere,” Auker said. “It took out the major infrastructure, which in Lodge Grass consists of the grocery store. They are pretty isolated until the water goes down.”
I-90 is closed from Hardin to the Wyoming border.
[more]National Park News
Yellowstone’s East Entrance, Closed by Avalanche, to Reopen This Week
The East Entrance to Yellowstone National Park is set to reopen to limited visitor travel Wednesday morning, May 18, after being closed for a week.
The road which opened for the season on May 6, has been closed since May 11 due to unstable snow conditions and repeated avalanches across the road through Sylvan Pass.
Park avalanche forecasters have determined that the safest travel window across the pass will be during those early morning hours between 06:00 am and 10:00 am. Forecasting staff are closely monitoring weather, snowpack, moisture and all of the complex factors that go into determining the safety of opening the road for public travel.
[more]New West Festival
More From New West Festival Featured Speakers
We hosted a stellar lineup of speakers at the New West Festival on Friday, May 6. By request, here are copies of the PowerPoint presentations by several speakers who appeared at the festival
[more]Wildlife Management
Colorado Man Sentenced in Moose Case
A hunter from Highlands Ranch pleaded guilty this month to a felony and several misdemeanors in a case that highlights a growing concern for Colorado wildlife managers—hunters who fail to correctly identify big game animals.
After a three-month long investigation by the Colorado Division of Wildlife, Joel D. Eady, 30, was charged with willful destruction of wildlife, a Class 5 felony, as well as hunting out of season, illegal possession of wildlife and failing to properly care for a harvested animal. The investigation showed that Eady failed to report the incident in a timely manner. This incident happened during a hunting trip in October 2010 in the Missouri Creek Basin, about 30 miles east of Meeker.
“The biggest concern here is that Mr. Eady never reported this to us,” said District Wildlife Manager and lead investigator Jon Wangnild. “We understand that mistakes happen and we will usually be more lenient with someone who reports an accident right away, but failing to report this incident turned a careless mistake into a felony.”
Following Eady’s guilty plea in Rio Blanco County District Court, Judge Gail Nichols sentenced Eady to three years of supervised probation and a $5,177 fine. The conviction means Eady may face a lifetime suspension of his hunting privileges, pending a review by a Division of Wildlife hearing examiner.
