New West Feature

Against all odds, a swarming legal strategy that has produced more individual defeats than victories seems to have placed the opponents of oversized oil equipment shipments on Highway 12 in the driver’s seat.

ExxonMobil, whose subsidiary, Imperial Oil, has been attempting to gain court permission to truck about 200 so-called megaloads along the pristine byway through Idaho and Montana en route to the Kearl Oil Sands development in Canada, announced Monday that it is pursuing alternative routes for shipment of smaller modules. 

Adventure Rockies

Through the high meadows we hiked towards Natahki Lake. Glacier’s wildflowers were in full, lush bloom as we followed an old stream bed to a cliff band below the lake. Goat trails, as they typically do, provided an excellent path through the scree and onto more stable rock.

We had a quick break along the shore of the azure lake and then made our way to Altyn Peak, climbing the northwestern slope, admiring the deft mountain goats lounging in a snowfield. From the top of Altyn (7,947 feet), we again snacked and took in the views of the Swiftcurrent Valley.

Idaho Fish and Game Feature

Lake Lowell in southwestern Idaho has been much in the news lately. The state government is fighting a federal proposal to limit longtime recreational uses on the huge reservoir, which was built for irrigation in the early 1900s.

Federal officials want to restrict water sports to about a third of the lake and ban dogs and horses, to protect wildlife in the Deer Park National Wildlife Refuge, which incorporates the lake. Idaho Gov. Butch Otter insists the state should manage the wildlife. Amidst this debate, Idaho Fish and Game announced this week it was considering how to reduce a carp infestation that has disrupted the reservoir’s aquatic systems.

New West Feature

An agreement reached last week between Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Director Dan Ashe, and the State of Wyoming will allow treatment of the wolf as a predator that can be shot, trapped, or run over at any time throughout most of the state.

Interior has agreed to remove Wyoming wolves from the threatened and endangered species list, and give the state authority to manage wolves under a unique and widely criticized dual management plan.

New West Feature

One of the dirtiest coal-fired power plants in the West has been given five years by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to clean up its act, which its operators say could cost $750 million or more.

The EPA issued a final rule on Friday that Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) must retrofit its San Juan Generating Station near Farmington, New Mexico to diminish emissions that cause visibility problems.

Boise State University Update Feature

Fewer people have gone 200 mph on land than have stood atop Mount Everest.

If the members of Greenspeed, an unusual student club at Boise State University, can get their hands on a few more key car parts in coming days, they may join that club, and stand alone as builders of the world’s fastest vegetable oil-fueled vehicle.

New West Feature

A suite of habitat stressors appears to have caused a massive decline in mule deer and pronghorn herds around the border of Wyoming and Colorado, according to a recent National Wildlife Federation (NWF) report.

The herds, which tend to migrate back and forth over state lines, have encountered a number of pressures over the past 30 years, including fragmentation of habitat, disease, energy development, drought, and harsh winters.

Camping Protocol

An increase in abandoned campfires in the Rockies over recent weeks has prompted fire officials to issue a reminder: be careful in the woods this time of year, when the fire danger often is high.

In Montana, more than a dozen abandoned campfires have been discovered lately. Sixty-one percent of fires on lands managed by the state have been human-caused this summer. In the Lolo National Forest alone, firefighters have responded to 16 human-caused blazes, or 55 percent of the total fires there.

Backcountry Driving

Central Idaho is a maze of roadless areas, which is terrific, until it’s time to travel. So it’s understandable that I get excited when the Trail Creek Road is open for a few months during summer.

The road, which connects the base of Idaho’s tallest peak, Mt Borah (elevation 12,662 feet), to the tony resort town of Sun Valley, shaves a cool 40 miles off the journey from my little mountain town of Salmon. I like to pretend the route is faster. 

New West Feature

The reinstatement on Saturday, Aug. 6, of protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for a mouse in Wyoming might seem a small move, but it encapsulates many of the special interest considerations that dominate land use decisions in the West.

The issue, which goes back several years, revolves around the familiar question of what “best science” means. Government agencies, the courts, the media, and biologists themselves have weighed into the debate, closely attended by conservationists, ranchers, and politicians.