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OPEN SEASON
The dramatic red-rock formations of southern Utah may be unique, but the same can not be said for the fight over plans to open the area to energy exploration and production. From the high alpine valleys of Montana to the border grasslands of New Mexico, the energy rush is on. We review how the Bush administration’s plans for accelerating energy production in the west is threatening ten wilderness areas.

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There were eight smoke jumpers working on the Nylander Creek Fire and 200 fire personnel on the Horse Creek Fire, according to officials.

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Fire information officers for Sawtooth National Forest and the Bureau of Land Management did not return phone calls Monday evening, but a press release issued earlier in the day noted progress toward full containment of the fire.

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UTICA - A fire that has burned about 1,000 acres in central Montana was “creeping and smoldering” on Monday and no longer threatened some commercial property and vacation homes, the U.S. Forest Service said.

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For the first time since coming under federal protection 15 years ago, the northern spotted owls’ forest haven may be in jeopardy.

Tragic story. I wish their families the best in these impossible circumstances.

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STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. — A crude oil storage tank exploded as two teens were jumping on it, hurling the youths 150 yards to their deaths, deputies said Monday

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MEYERS, Calif. - A raging wildfire near Lake Tahoe on Monday forced hundreds of residents to flee towering flames that destroyed more than 200 buildings, turned the sky orange and fouled the lake’s famously clear waters with falling ash.