Western Watersheds Project challenges sage grouse decision

An environmental group is challenging plans by the Interior Department to classify sage grouse as merely a candidate for protection under the Endangered Species Act and not list the bird as threatened or endangered.

The department announced Friday that federal protection as an endangered or threatened species is warranted but precluded by higher priorities -- species deemed in more dire need of protection right now.

Read the full story from the Casper Star-Tribune here .

Wyoming Supreme Court upholds coal plant permit

The Wyoming Supreme Court has upheld a state air quality permit for a power plant being built at a coal mine north of Gillette. Construction of the coal-fired Dry Fork Station plant is about 75 percent complete. The Supreme Court ruling Friday lifts one of the few remaining bureaucratic obstacles before the Basin Electric plant can become fully operational next year. "It will be one of the most environmentally sound plants in the country" Daryl Hill, a spokesman for the Bismarck, N.D.-based utility, said Monday. The plant's $1.3 billion cost includes $334 million in pollution-control equipment, Hill said. Even so, environmental groups have said the plant isn't going to be fitted with the best available pollution control technology. Click here for the full story from the Grand Forks Herald.

River-access bill hits snag in Colorado Senate

A bill that could buoy or sink Colorado's rafting industry and affect hundreds of thousands of river enthusiasts and landowners may have floated through the House, but it's on the rocks in the Senate.

The Capitol battle pits two core Colorado values against each other: the love of the outdoors and the allegiance to personal property rights.

The bill would guarantee the right of existing commercial rafters to float through private land, a practice now threatened by a conflict between a developer and outfitters on the Taylor River near Almont.

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_14527068#ixzz0hiPZWU4d

BLM buy in Wyoming would ensure angler access

Anglers will gain permanent access to a mile-long stretch of the North Platte River known for its blue-ribbon trout fishing if the U.S. Bureau of Land Management can swing the funding, the director of the Wyoming office of The Conservation Fund said.

The Conservation Fund, BLM and Wyoming Flycasters are working with the Miles Land and Livestock Co. to secure about 400 acres along the west bank of the river, Luke Lynch of The Conservation Fund and Joe Meyer of the BLM's Casper field office told the Natrona County commissioners.

The BLM has developed a comprehensive management plan for the North Platte River to identify areas worthy of public access, Lynch said.

Read the full story from the Casper Star-Tribune here .

Montana senators introduce bill banning mining in North Fork

Business leaders are lobbying for a ban on mining west of Glacier National Park, saying a clean environment is critical to the region's economy.

The area, said Kalispell Chamber of Commerce president Joe Unterreiner, plays "a very important part in our economic vitality."  Unterreiner addressed his comments in a letter to Sen. Max Baucus, who on Thursday introduced legislation prohibiting mines in the North Fork Flathead River Valley.

Baucus teamed with fellow Democrat Sen. Jon Tester on the legislation, which comes on the heels of similar protections north of the border.

Read the full story from The Missoulian here .

Sage grouse will get limited protection

Federal authorities today embarked on a compromise effort to protect the sage grouse as a "candidate" species under the Endangered Species Act.

Short of designating the sage grouse as threatened or endangered, the compromise crafted by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar embraced the latest science indicating that grouse need help to avoid extinction in the face of energy development, grazing and house-building.

This approach "gives an open window" of "several years" for public and private land users to take action "making sure the grouse doesn't have to be put on the endangered species list," Salazar said. "We believe we can do that."

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_14519584#ixzz0hblxh32K

Wyoming reports another CBM water spill at Williams site

A recent Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality citation is just part of a series of problems Williams Production Co. has had with handling water produced by coal-bed methane wells in the Powder River Basin, state and federal documents show.

Williams pipes have broken and spilled coal-bed methane water at least 16 times in the basin since August. The combined spills released close to 1 million gallons, according to U.S. Bureau of Land Management documents and the Department of Environmental Quality's inspection and compliance supervisor, Brian Lovett.

Six spills within the last 10 days -- including a 21,000-gallon spill just Tuesday -- have totaled nearly 166,000 gallons, Lovett said.

Read the full story from the Casper Star-Tribune here .

Senior-water rights holders sue Colorado

Lawyers for senior water-rights owners sued the state government Monday in La Plata County and five towns, saying the state engineer is failing to protect water-rights owners from gas and oil companies.

Gas and oil companies remove water from the ground after they drill wells. In a previous case, the state Supreme Court ruled in favor of two Archuleta County families - the Vances and the Fitzgeralds - and required gas companies to get water permits for their coal-bed methane wells.

Read the full article from the Durango Herald here .

Utah makes bold move to seize federal land

Long frustrated by Washington's control over much of their state, Utah legislators are proposing a novel way to deal with federal land -- seize it and develop it.

The Utah House of Representatives last week passed a bill allowing the state to use eminent domain to take land the federal government owns and has long protected from development.

The state wants to develop three hotly contested areas -- national forest land in the Wasatch Mountains north of Salt Lake City, land in a proposed wilderness area in the red rock southwestern corner of the state, and a stretch of desert outside of Arches National Park that the Obama administration has declared off-limits to oil and gas development.

Read the full article from the L.A. Times here .

New chief for USFS Northern Region discusses agenda

Leslie Weldon can look out her downtown office window to see some of the challenges confronting her as the Northern Region's top forester.

Beetle-killed pine trees, snow-free watersheds and a shuttered pulp mill are just some of the topics Weldon discussed in an interview with the Missoulian. She also spoke of some fundamental shifts in the mission of her agency.

The new overseer of U.S. Forest Service management on 15 national forests and four national grasslands in three states started her career 28 years ago as a fisheries biologist.

Read the interview from the Missoulian here .