SOLAR POWER

Udall Proposes SUN Act to Expand Solar Power

Sen. Mark Udall announced Wednesday a new bill intended to boost solar energy production by extending solar tax credits to residents who invest in community solar farms to power their homes.

The bill is the first of a series of clean energy bills Udall, D-Colo., plans to unveil. He said the legislation was inspired by conversations he had with residents and business owners on Colorado’s Western Slope during a tour of the region last month.

The bill, dubbed the Solar Uniting Neighborhoods Act, would extend a solar tax credit to those who pay into an offsite community-based solar array to provide power to their homes. Current law allows homeowners to receive a 30 percent credit for installing solar panels on their property.

Along the Frontier Column

The “Next West:” Up in the Air

In early March, I had the privilege of visiting a project in northern California that felt very much like a preview of the future.

If the current ‘New West’ is inexorably giving way to the ‘Next West,’ as so many ‘New Wests’ have done before, and if the region is in search of a new mission statement as a consequence, then clues to what’s coming might be found among the bright green grass of a small ranch in Marin County.

Design in the West

In the Mountains, Is Modern Design The Right Style?

Modern in the mountains: is modern design an appropriate style of architecture in a mountain environment? 

Styles in architecture are associated with places, cultures and eras, but in one’s own home, especially in America, style is often thought of as something that can be picked and applied.  Mediterranean design is used for new homes in the Southwest, French Chateau styles are used widely, etc., largely based on an owner’s preference or a developer’s interpretation of what a market segment might be looking for.

Style is also a personal choice or an ingrained preference, of course.

In many climates more benign than the Mountain West, choice of a particular style might not really make a difference in building performance. The style is mostly icing on the cake, and the cake itself is similar. Heating, cooling, upkeep costs, and durability are more or less the same, regardless of the style of the home.

News Nugget

A Tale of Two Stream Access Bills

Water is indeed for fighting in the West. But, the fight is no longer just about who gets to use the water, it’s also about who gets access to the water.

This week, the issue is playing out, in very different ways in the legislatures of Colorado and Utah. Montana is perhaps the most famous Western state when it comes to stream access—with one of the strongest stream access laws in the country (strong in that it protects the public’s right to access) but also some of the most high-profile battles over it. (See some of New West’s coverage of the issue here, here and here.)

But, Utah and Colorado might be working to replace Montana as the West’s steam access battle ground.

In Utah, the legislature recently passed a bill that would drastically restrict public access to waterways that run through private land. This comes after a 2008 Supreme Court ruling that opened those waterways to the public. As the Salt Lake Tribune reports, “HB141 allows anglers and others to wade in public waters crossing private lands only if there is an established 10-year pattern of public use there.”

Meanwhile, the debate seems to be going the other way in Colorado.

Press Release

Montana Legacy Project Phase II Concludes, Transfers 122,000 Acres to Forest Service

The following is a press release the U.S. Forest Service and is part of NewWest.Net’s bulletin board, which offers press releases with a wide variety of views and news about the West.

The Lolo and Flathead National Forests are assuming management of approximately 112,000 acres of former Plum Creek Timber Company lands purchased by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and The Trust for Public Land (TPL) as Phase II of the Montana Legacy Project comes to a close today with the official transfer of ownership to the Forest Service. 

“It’s such an honor to witness the addition of over a hundred thousand acres of occupied lynx, grizzly bear, and bull trout habitat brought under the umbrella of public land management,” said Northern Regional Forester Leslie Weldon.  “There is significant wetland habitat and a great diversity of plant species on these lands.  Acquiring these parcels allows us to restore whole landscapes, assist wildlife in adapting to climate change by reducing habitat fragmentation and conserving water flows as these working forests are placed in permanent public ownership.”

Guest Column

Now is the Time for Mining Reform

Everyone who fishes for trout in the Frying Pan River or hunts elk on the Grand Mesa knows that Colorado has a rich fish and wildlife legacy. Yet any person who spends time in Colorado’s mountains knows that more than a century of hard-rock mining has created a different kind of legacy – one that continues polluting some of our most essential fish and wildlife habitat and has left a lasting impact on our state’s unique lands and waters.

While mining is a legitimate use of public lands, few laws are more in need of an overhaul than the 1872 General Mining Law, the most outdated natural resource law in the nation. Fortunately, promising legislation currently being considered by the U.S. Senate would implement long-overdue reform of this 137-year-old law – legislation that is benefiting from the support of Colorado’s leadership.

Both Sen. Mark Udall and Sen. Michael Bennet have said “yes” to responsible management of our shared natural resources and cosponsored Senate Bill 796, the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act. They deserve the appreciation of Coloradans for their action on this important public-lands issue, but we still need their help to assure the bill’s speedy passage into the law of the land.

From the Flathead Beacon

A Changing of the Guard At Plum Creek

When he retires from Plum Creek Timber Co. at the end of the month, Hank Ricklefs will feel much better about stepping down from his position as vice president of northern resources and manufacturing than he would have a year ago at this time.

“It was absolute turmoil,” he said of 2009. “No one had a solid feeling for where the bottom was.”

Sage Grouse Misses ESA Listing By A Feather

You might be all in a tizzy about whether Avatar or Hurt Locker won the big Oscar on Sunday. But a lot of folks in the Interior West—and enviro wonks from all over—were focused last week on a much bigger announcement: Will the greater sage grouse get federal protection under the Endangered Species Act or not?

The answer? No. At least not yet.

In a March 5 press conference, Interior Secretary Salazar said that the bird—whose numbers have declined by 90 percent over the past century—will not get federal protection. That’s in spite of the fact that the feds believe the bird needs protection. Extensive scientific research over the past few years, said Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife Tom Strickland, has demonstrated that the grouse “does warrant protection. But we are proposing to not list, because of the need to address higher priority species.”

From the Idaho Panhandle

Rezoning: Not for the Faint of Heart

Municipal zoning is not for the faint of heart. Only those who know the future can take it on with complete confidence. Sandpoint’s all-volunteer Planning and Zoning Commission doesn’t seem to have anyone that prescient, so they must make the best decisions they can with the information they have.

What they have is the Sandpoint Comprehensive Plan, a document that was debated at length in numerous community meetings and extensive city council sessions before finally being officially adopted last fall. And they have examples of zoning that other communities have used in an effort to meet similar ends. The commission is charged with moving past those examples to draft new zoning that provides for the future that Sandpointers have said they want.