http://www.newwest.net/topic/main/C85/L41/ New West Network: The Voice of the Rocky Mountains en info@newwest.net Copyright 2008 Sat, 05 Jul 2008 20:23:17 MDT Sat, 05 Jul 2008 20:23:17 MDT http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/congress_needs_to_walk_the_talk_on_recreation_fees/C85/L41/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/congress_needs_to_walk_the_talk_on_recreation_fees/C85/L41/ Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:00:00 MDT On June 18, finally, Congress started seriously looking into the runaway recreational fee charging policy of federal agencies, primarily the U.S. Forest Service (FS), but it's still just talk. We've had enough of that, so let's just spike this pay-for-play policy, which is at best an extreme stretch of the legal authority given agencies by Congress--"given," sort of, I should say, since our elected leaders never even debated it or voted on it. Even though it's moving at glacier speed, we at least have the Baucus-Crapo Bill, S. 2438, introduced in the Senate to spike the Recreation Access Tax. This is clearly a bipartisan issue, ripe for election-year politics. Now, we need a sponsor for a similar bill in the House. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/the_eyes_of_oahe/C85/L41/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/the_eyes_of_oahe/C85/L41/ Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:22:00 MDT If you like to fish for walleyes--often called "eyes" because they need such big ones to gather as much light as possible down at the bottom of the lake where they almost always dwell--you're probably like me and dream about fishing South Dakota's Oahe Reservoir. I finally had my chance last week, and now, I'm already trying to figure out how to get back there for more. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/montana_rivers_peak_late_season_moisture_may_cutail_fire_season/C85/L41/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/montana_rivers_peak_late_season_moisture_may_cutail_fire_season/C85/L41/ Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:33:00 MDT It’s the weekend to get out and enjoy the rivers, as they've reached their max and the weather is going to be 80’s-90’sF and sunny across Montana. To many of us, it seems like an amazing year of river flows, but not so. “This is historically a normal year in Montana,” said Mel White, chief of the data management unit for the USGS in Helena. “We have just forgotten about what normal is because we’ve had a drought in effect for at least the past seven to eight years.” Because of the unusually high snowpack along with the timely late May and June rains, the rivers have continued to rise up to this point. White concluded they have peaked and starting on their way down. “It’s a good thing,” said White. “Due to the increase moisture in the high country, it will keep the fisheries happy and curtails our fire season.” http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/nra_nemesis_alive_and_well_and_supporting_obama/C85/L41/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/nra_nemesis_alive_and_well_and_supporting_obama/C85/L41/ Tue, 24 Jun 2008 09:59:00 MDT Even when you're the biggest and toughest of them all there's always somebody there to challenge you, as the National Rifle Association (NRA) has learned. The NRA's two-year-old nemesis, the American Hunters and Shooters Association (ASHA) just won't go away. "I'm here to tell you we're alive and well and plan to continue being a viable alternative to the NRA," announced AHSA President Ray Schoenke at a news conference at the annual conference of the Outdoor Writers Association of America currently being held in Bismarck, North Dakota. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/five_dollar_gas_the_pain_before_the_gain/C85/L41/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/five_dollar_gas_the_pain_before_the_gain/C85/L41/ Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:06:00 MDT We're all feeling Pump Pain, and who among us doesn't think that $5 gas is around the corner? I'm writing as fast as I can, in fact, so I can get this column posted before I have to fill up my pickup truck again, if I can afford it. And thinking that perhaps $5 gas is just what we need. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/aspen_mtn_opens_for_weekend/C85/L41/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/aspen_mtn_opens_for_weekend/C85/L41/ Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:47:01 MDT It’s June, the sun is shining, and … it’s time to go skiing. “Record winter snowfall has left the top of the mountain covered in snow as the traditional summer operating season begins,” reports the Aspen Skiing Company. “With an average depth of more than three feet on upper slopes, the mountain will open with seven runs and about 45 acres of mostly intermediate terrain, served by the Ajax Express chairlift.” http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/debunking_brucellosis_myths/C85/L41/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/debunking_brucellosis_myths/C85/L41/ Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:06:00 MDT Montana just lost its brucellosis-free status, just as Idaho and Wyoming have in recent years. Whenever this happens, stockgrowers and politicians rush to blame the bison and elk herds living in Yellowstone National Park and the government for not doing enough to eradicate the disease. When they should be blaming themselves. Ranchers, especially in Wyoming but not only in Wyoming, have done more than anybody, even the federal government, to keep the brucellosis threat alive. And you could even argue that they want to keep it alive. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/congress_looks_at_rat/C85/L41/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/congress_looks_at_rat/C85/L41/ Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:23:00 MDT The U.S. House of Representatives has decided to take a serious look at the much-criticized implementation, if not over-implementation, of the Federal Lands Recreational Enhancement Act (FLREA), This is the law that has saddled us the pandemic of new and ever-increasing recreation fees to enter and use our public lands, which is why it's called RAT, for Recreation Access Tax, by its distracters. Those who pay the RAT to use their own land don't get many chances to voice their opinions, but now, our elected officials want to hear what you think. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/use_stillwater_forest_to_mold_new_model_for_state_lands/C85/L41/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/use_stillwater_forest_to_mold_new_model_for_state_lands/C85/L41/ Thu, 05 Jun 2008 07:45:01 MDT Last week, I wrote about the dilemma facing the Montana Land Board and other state land boards--what to do with extremely valuable state land near rapidly growing municipalities. A small section of the Stillwater State Forest on the outskirts of Whitefish, Montana, is an excellent choice for establishing a new policy where managing for outdoor recreation, watershed, wildlife habitat and open space trumps timbering and/or subdivision. The rub is, such non-commercial uses might be illegal even if everybody agrees this option would benefit the most people for the longest time. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/land_board_should_move_slowly_carefully_on_real_estate_biz/C85/L41/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/land_board_should_move_slowly_carefully_on_real_estate_biz/C85/L41/ Thu, 29 May 2008 08:29:00 MDT A few weeks ago, down at the saloon, where I regularly get lots of advice about what to write about, I heard about the major western Montana landowner traditionally only interested in timber management but now changing its focus to real estate development. Everybody already knows about Plum Creek, I replied. But they weren't talking about Plum Creek Timber Company, the largest private landowner in the USA, and it's now-notorious plan to become the largest real estate developer in the USA. They were worrying about the State of Montana becoming "another Plum Creek." And it wasn't just bar talk.