http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/06/29/news/wyoming/28-fire-restrictions.txt
LARAMIE — The U.S. Forest Service has banned campfires and stove fires in the Medicine Bow National Forest in Albany County, except in grates and grills installed in developed campgrounds.
Diann Ritschard, a spokeswoman for the forest, said the measure was aimed at preventing forest fires, such as the Isabelle Fire near Lake Owen that burned about 1,200 acres earlier this month.
“Even though some areas of the forest look green, they don’t have a high moisture,” Ritschard said. “Even if they look green, they can burn fast and hot.”
http://www.hungryhorsenews.com/articles/2006/06/28/news/news1.txt
About 50 people attended a meeting last week to voice concerns about gravel pit mining in the Flathead Valley, including a pit that’s about an eighth of a mile from Glacier National Park.
The Montana Department of Environmental Quality hosted the public meeting in Kalispell to take comments on issues that might be covered in an environmental impact statement on sand and gravel mining in the Flathead.
“I understand with the increases in the number of proposed gravel pits people are getting concerned,” said Greg Hallsten with the DEQ.
http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/06/22/features/outdoors/30-fish.txt
Bob Jacklin claims he was just lucky in catching a 30-inch-long, 10-pound brown trout out of the Madison River last week. That’s more than a bit of an overstatement.
Jacklin is one of the best fly fishermen in Montana. He’s an expert caster. He’s an expert fly tyer. He’s been guiding on the rivers of southwestern Montana for almost four decades.
In short, he knows the bugs, the fish and all the ways to catch them. The luck part came in his timing of the big catch.
You mean Rush Limbaugh, Matt Drudge and Sean Hannity were wrong about global warming? Shocking.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13474997/
Humans behind Earth’s warming, scientists say.
WASHINGTON - Weighing in on the highest profile debate about global warming, the nation’s premier science policy body on Thursday voiced a “high level of confidence” that Earth is the hottest it has been in at least 400 years, possibly even longer.
A panel convened by the National Research Council reached that conclusion in a broad review of scientific studies, reporting that the evidence indicates “recent warmth is unprecedented for at least the last 400 years.”
The panel of top climate scientists told lawmakers that the Earth is running a fever and that “human activities are responsible for much of the recent warming.” Their 155-page report said average global surface temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere rose about 1 degree F during the 20th century.
http://www.newwest.net/index.php/main/article/gas_leases_make_inroads_into_roadless_areas/
Parts of the White River National Forest and an adjacent forest that are currently designated as roadless areas could be opened up to drilling after an auction of oil and gas leases set for August.
Some environmentalists say that would circumvent a state process designed to make recommendations to the federal government about which roadless areas should receive stiffer protections.
With the state roadless task force set to meet in Glenwood Springs on Wednesday to discuss the White River National Forest, environmentalists are criticizing the decision by the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to offer up these parcels before the group’s work is done.
http://www.startribune.com/531/story/498729.html
For the fourth consecutive summer, Minnesota officials will be offering anglers a deal: free nontoxic fishing tackle in exchange for their lead gear.
So far over the past three years, anglers have turned in 1½ tons of lead tackle.
This summer, more stores will carry “Get the Lead Out!” display racks with nontoxic tackle for sale, and numerous State Park gift shops will do the same.
http://www.mnbiketrails.com/main.asp?SectionID=21&SubSectionID=44&ArticleID=486&TM=16687.93
The state of Minnesota and private conservation groups are joining to buy development rights on up to 50,000 acres of former Boise Cascade Corp. forest in Itasca and Koochiching counties.The deal, the largest of its kind in Minnesota, will be announced today and will secure legally binding conservation easements to keep the land from being parceled off and developed. It’s being touted by Gov. Tim Pawlenty and top Department of Natural Resources officials as a major step toward maintaining large blocks of working timberland for environmental and economic benefits.
http://www.tu.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=7dJEKTNuFmG&b=1356161&ct=2395473
CODY — Trout Unlimited and a host of Wyoming sportsmen are asking the state’s governor and federal delegation to protect the remaining 3.2 million acres of roadless backcountry and the hunting and fishing resources within them from further development, the organization announced Monday during a press conference.
“These places are special to a lot of people, and if we’re not careful, we’re going to lose them,” said Tom Reed, Wyoming field coordinator for Trout Unlimited and chief author of TU’s newest report, Where the Wild Lands Are: Wyoming. The report details the direct connection between hunting and fishing success and Wyoming’s undeveloped backcountry. “Wyoming is one of the best destinations for hunters and anglers in the country. At the rate our state is being developed, it won’t be that special much longer. We’re asking Gov. Freudenthal and our federal delegation to consider the long-term resources these areas contain, and we’d like very much for these areas to remain off limits to further development.”
