Please note that all
links to the news stories below were accurate and working at the
time of posting and archiving, however, the Guardian
has no control on the length of time that a respective news
source will continue to maintain any story in its own archives,
so be advised that you may encounter non-working links - Bill
McKee - Editor.
The News, Links &
Commentary Section was
not published on Aug 19-20, 2002
[NOTE:
This section of the Guardian website will not be
published again
until midweek to allow some time for software upgrades
and site changes -
please check back on Wednesday or Thursday - thanks,
Ed.]
Sunday
The local overnight low temperature last night
was +37F and yesterday's afternoon high temp was
+83F. We recorded no precipitation during
the last 24 hour period ending at 6AM. Daily
local min-max temp & precip charts may
be seen on our PR Temp
& Precip Data page
Saturday,
17-Aug-2002
Yellowstone
buffalo gores photographer Gored
by a bull bison while angling for a better
photograph, Minnesota man also receives criminal
charges for harassing wildlife
Population
center of Montana marked No
one lives at the center of Montana's population,
and placing a marker at the site will be done
with no fanfare
Use
of Grazing Permits Under Attack Ranchers
have leveraged their federal grazing permits as
collateral for bank loans for decades. But the
practice is under fire by environmentalists, who
argue it "commercializes" public lands
and gives financial institutions undue influence
over how the lands are managed.
Destination
Seeley Lake
Seeley Lake is shifting from timber to
recreation…
but at what price?
Aug
17th - LITTLE HORSE fire update:
from the NIFC daily situation report "in
the Salmon-Challis National Forest. A Type 2
Incident Management Team (Saleen) is assigned.
This fire is 30 miles northwest of Salmon, ID.
Torching and spotting were observed in subalpine
fir, spruce and lodgepole pine. Heavy fuel
loading, very steep terrain and unfavorable
winds are hampering containment efforts.
Structure protection is in place at Middle Fork
Lodge, Gattin Ranch, Oreana Lookout and Cabin
Creek." Reported resources are : 280
persons, 9 crews, 4 engines, & 4
helicopters. Reported size is 1,123 acres.
Embattled
INS Chief Ziglar Quits [this
is good for immigration, now for the good of the
forests lets hope that the FS' Bosworth is next
to quit - Ed.]
War
games rigged? General
says Millennium Challenge 02 ‘was almost
entirely scripted’ The most elaborate war game
the U.S. military has ever held was rigged so
that it appeared to validate the modern,
joint-service war-fighting concepts it was
supposed to be testing, according to the retired
Marine lieutenant general who commanded the
game’s Opposing Force
Saturday
The local overnight low temperature last night
was coolish +28F and yesterday's afternoon high
temp was +76F. We recorded no
precipitation during the last 24 hour period
ending at 6AM. Daily local min-max temp &
precip charts may be seen on our PR
Temp & Precip Data page
Weekly
FHWA West Fork Road Construction Status Report
for 15-Aug-2002 [the weekly
report once again gives less than 24 hr notice
that the contractor won't be working on Friday
(today) and in direct contradiction to what the
FHWA project management has been saying for
months, now indicates that the Alta materials
pit will be used - Ed.]
Although this looks like a picture taken from a Hollywoodmovie, it is in fact a real photo, taken near the South African
coast during a military exercise of the
British Navy. It has been nominated by Geo as
"THE photo of the year"
Friday
The local overnight low temperature last night
was +37F and yesterday's afternoon high temp was
+83F. We recorded no precipitation during
the last 24 hour period ending at 6AM. Daily
local min-max temp & precip charts may
be seen on our PR Temp
& Precip Data page
Asarco
stock sale halted The
U.S. Justice Department is accusing Asarco of
trying to sell its most valuable asset -- stock
in a sister company -- to avoid paying mil lions
of dollars in environmental cleanup costs.
Asarco denies the allegation, but has agreed to
delay the sale pend ing a judge's review
There's
another sort of 'local' fire over on the
Salmon-Challis National Forest southwest of Alta
in the general area between Cayuse Point and
Parker Mountain. The fire is called Little
Horse. According to today's NIFC morning
report "A type 2 Incident Management Team
(Saleen) has been ordered. This fire is 30
miles northwest of Salmon, ID. Extreme
fire behavior with spotting up to 3/4 mile ahead
of the front was observed in subalpine fir,
spruce, and lodgepole pine. Heavy fuel
loading, very steep terrain and unfavorable
winds are hampering containment efforts.
Structure protection is in place at the Gattin
Ranch." Current resources on the 800
acre fire show to be 5 persons and 1 engine.
Thursday
The local overnight low temperature last night
was +38F and yesterday's afternoon high temp was
+84F. We recorded no precipitation during
the last 24 hour period ending at 6AM. Daily
local min-max temp & precip charts may
be seen on our PR Temp
& Precip Data page
Wednesday
The local overnight low temperature last night
was +38F and yesterday's afternoon high temp was
+85F. We recorded no precipitation during
the last 24 hour period ending at 6AM. Daily
local min-max temp & precip charts may
be seen on our PR Temp
& Precip Data page
Tuesday,
13-Aug-2002
Official:
Wolves not decimating elk population
Gray wolves in and around Yellowstone National
Park haven't had a severe impact on elk
populations or the agriculture industry,
according to the lead coordinator for wolf
recovery in the region.
Family
shoots dog stuck in wolf trap in recreation area Biologists
place traps along trails wolves travel on ... "...Youngman
said the trap was about 20 inches off the trail.
The Youngmans were hiking with their 2 1/2
-year-old son, Noah. “It blows my mind that my
son could have stepped in it,” she said.
“This is ridiculous.” The Fish and Wildlife
Service has since pulled all traps from the
area. “I told them to pull the traps,”
Niemeyer said. “A biologist was coming up the
trail to pick up the traps. We were a little
late..."
Land
or money?
A decades-old struggle over ancestral land
leaves the Western Shoshone divided once again
NPS
eyes park snowmobiles The head of
the National Park Service said Saturday morning
that she believes snowmobiles can be used in
Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks
without impairing natural resources
Tuesday
The local overnight low temperature last night
was +36F and yesterday's afternoon high temp was
+77F. We recorded no precipitation during
the last 24 hour period ending at 6AM. Daily
local min-max temp & precip charts may
be seen on our PR Temp
& Precip Data page
Monday,
12-Aug-2002
Session
meets budget target HELENA -
When lawmakers left the Capitol early Sunday,
the state budget was expected to wind up this
fiscal year with a surplus just large enough to
meet the requirements of state law
Monday
The local overnight low temperature last night
was +37F and yesterday's afternoon high temp was
another Fall-like +78F. We recorded no
precipitation during the last 24 hour period
ending at 6AM. Daily local min-max temp &
precip charts may be seen on our PR
Temp & Precip Data page
News
Archives
In order to keep the news page loading time short, we
regularly archive the stories appearing on this page. You can see other News,
Links, & Commentary stories by selecting the appropriate
available archive period in the table below.
In accordance with
Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in the stories above is
distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit
research and educational purposes only.
About
the Painted Rocks Guardian's News, Links, & Commentary Section
It is
a daily look at environmentally related stories from around the country,
many of which are illustrative of the high level of incompetence (and
worse) existing within most of the government entities currently charged
with administering our nation's parks, forests, other public lands,
waterways, and airsheds. As you read these news stories from many
different sources, you will note that almost all environmental
protection/preservation efforts and programs to save our nation's public
treasures originate from private environmental organizations, often
times via court order, and NOT through the respective governmental
agencies with primary administration responsibilities. Most of these
governmental entities (e.g., the Forest Service) have become top heavy
with many levels of career bureaucrats who, instead of protecting and
preserving the nation's priceless resources, are 'busy' catering to
consumptive/extractive industry interests in the course of administering
politically designed social welfare employment programs and wealth
redistributionist grant programs. While the current system is almost
hopelessly corrupt at many levels, it is being increasingly understood
as such by the general public. Increased general public awareness of the
problem is necessary to trigger environmentally informed political
actions that will eventually save the nation's public treasures.
Effective solutions to the current situation will most likely involve
the deconstruction of several bureaucratic agencies as they exist today
with a functional redesign that will shift major policy development and
administrative direction authority into the hands of environmental
groups/organizations (as contrasted with agency hand-picked and selected
'citizen groups' dominated by consumptionists) and out of the hands of
self-interested bureaucrats and extractive industry interests.
- Bill McKee - Editor.
