FireSafe Montana Conference

The wildfire issue is a pressing one in the New West. Fire seasons are getting longer and drier by the year, fires are more severe, and, to top it off, the modern western migration is bringing an unprecedented influx of homes into the wildland-urban interface (WUI).

As wildland fire suppression operations increasingly consume dwindling Forest Service budgets and taxpayers grow ever wearier of footing the pricey bill of defending homes in the WUI, the onus for preparation and protection is increasingly falling on homeowners and local communities.

In 2006, interested parties from the public and private sector gathered in Helena at the Montana Communities and Wildfire Conference to begin a new discussion on the WUI and the West’s changing fire seasons. According to organizers, participants expressed overwhelming support for the formation of a non-governmental non-profit to perform public education, outreach and on-the-ground assistance in wildfire mitigation in the WUI. The result is FireSafe Montana, which held its first annual conference in Bozeman this week. [more]

State politics: Idaho

An education bill passed out of committee on Monday is intended to provide high-speed Internet access throughout Idaho, including currently underserved areas, and eventually to provide such access to industry and to state government itself.

There has been some dispute over the past couple of years regarding how many people in Idaho lack high-speed Internet access. U.S. West (Qwest) has indicated that it believes that a majority of the people in Idaho who want such high-speed connections have access if they want it, but some people have disagreed, saying they want it but can’t get it – and that Qwest has stymied efforts by other companies to provide it. [more]

Western Biofuels Research

Sustainable Oils, a new joint venture between Seattle-based Targeted Growth and Houston-based Green Earth Fuels, will be expanding in Bozeman soon. The research and development center will provide genetically refined seeds to Montana camelina producers and will also purchase camelina crops produced from those seeds through contractual agreements. The harvest will then be refined to produce biodiesel – 100 million gallons worth by 2010, according to the company.

The European Camelina sativa plant is particularly suited for Montana’s cool, arid climate. Recent support for biofuel production of camelina from Governor Brian Schweitzer and Montana Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester is creating a friendlier environment for camelina producers in Montana; first-time camelina growers in the 32 counties covered by Montana's Agro Energy Plan can now recoup some of their seed costs.

“I believe Montana is going to be the poster child for developing a crop like this because of the great support from Helena and the industry at large,” Sustainable Oils President Donald Panter posits. [more]

Just one day before his budget presentation

One day before he was due to give the budget presentation to the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee for the Department of Commerce, Director Jim Ellick has gone on leave effective immediately for unspecified personal reasons, according to Governor Butch Otter's office and the Department.

Ellick had caused some controversy earlier this year by reportedly telling Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Representative Darrell Bolz, R-Caldwell, that he expected Micron's manufacturing facility to leave Idaho within two years. [more]

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In the Spring Issue and online here:

• Montana’s Cash Cowboy
• Real Ranch Living: Not Everyone is Selling Out
• Essay: The Family Farm, Version 2.0
• Essay: Tracks Across A Landscape
• Have Your Ranch & Develop It, Too
• Design Showcase: The Big and Little of Western Building
• Stuff It: Can Wolf Hunting Help Conserve the Species?
• Traffic Perplexes New Western Communities
• Boise in Its Own Little Bubble
• Revenge of the Resource Economy
• Spotlight North Idaho: On the Agenda: Youth, Growth & Silver
• Spotlight North Idaho: Players of the Panhandle
• Spotlight North Idaho: Coeur d’Alene Tribe Rides the Idaho Boom

[more]

By Robert Struckman, 2-01-08 | comments (23) | email story | print story

 

Monday Business Roundup

There's a big NFL game this Thursday night pitting the 10-1 Dallas Cowboys against the Green Bay Packers, who sport the same record. But plenty of fans in the Mountain West won't get it to see it, because their cable provider doesn't include the NFL Network, which will broadcast the content, in its basic cable package.

The dustup between the NFL, which owns the NFL Network, and the major cable providers including Comcast, has brought to a boil the long-simmering dispute between proponents of bundled cable service – where you pay for a big package of channels, only a few of which you actually watch – and "a la carte" service, in which consumers would choose, and pay only for, the stations they actually want to see.

In other business news: Colorado looks at possible abuses of conservation easements, and for streamside development it's two steps forward, one step back.
[more]

Monday Business Roundup

The ski resorts of the Mountain West are looking at millions of dollars in lost revenue as unseasonably warm temperatures and an almost complete lack of snow pushes back opening dates for the region's major resorts. This is especially troubling in a year when resorts across the region have invested hundreds of millions in new developments and upgrades in hopes of luring more visitors.

Telluride became the latest ski area to postpone its opening when it said on Friday its planned opening date of Thanksgiving Day is unrealistic given the lack of snow.

Many mountain operators were hoping for a big dump early this week to allow for Thanksgiving skiing – but it now appears that the real snow will happen only in the far northern Rockies, bypassing Colorado and Utah.

In other business news: DIA beefs up its snow-handling force; big labor creates a "behemoth" union for state employees; and Boulder minds the gap between revenue levels and relatively lavish city services.
[more]

Monday Business Roundup

With the national equity markets slumping and Fed chief Ben Bernanke predicting an economic slowdown, the question becomes, how long can states in the Mountain West defy the national trends?

Booming energy production, strong tourism results, a resilient construction sector buoyed by the continuing influx of new arrivals, a resurgent technology industry – all of these are contributing to making the Mountain West the nation's strongest economic region. Now, some snow for the skiing industry would help.

In other business news: Colorado legislators seek a new method of distributing exploding revenues from energy production; Crocs' magical stock-market ride ends with a thud; and Colorado's State Fair faces a roller-coaster future. [more]

Hurdles For E-Trains

Backers of Northern Colorado's ambitious FasTracks plans for light rail spidering out from downtown Denver cannot be pleased with the results of this week's referendum in Washington State.

There, voters soundly rejected a long-term, multi-billion-dollar mass transit plan for Seattle that had as its centerpiece the Puget Sound's first light-rail system. Notably, among the groups expressing doubts about the "Roads & Transit" Proposition 1 were environmentalists like the Sierra Group.

In other energy news: Gov. Ritter unveils his Climate Plan while seeking middle ground with the oil and gas industry, and energy prices hit an unfortunate trifecta with gasoline, heating oil, and diesel fuel all topping $3 a gallon. [more]

Throwing Away the Key

El Dorado County is nearly bankrupt, and one reason is the chronically overcrowded county jail, which is so understaffed that the inmate-officer ratio is 89-1 – a situation has led to "near-riot" events, Sheriff Terry Maketa tells the Colorado Springs Independent. That would seem to be a recipe for a private prison operator – but the business of corporate corrections in Colorado has proven to be a mixed bag at best.

Since the riot at the privately run Crowley County jail in 2004, and the State Auditor's report two years ago that found unacceptable health care and staffing levels, not much has changed in Colorado's five private lock-ups. Nevertheless, the state plans to contract out more prisons to private firms.

In other business news: local officials gear up to handle renewed molybdenum mining in Southwest Colorado; private security force MVM is sued by a Westminster resident; and investment firm Janus tries to recover from the loss of star money managers. [more]