Wildlife Habitat
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While coal-fired power plants are notoriusly dirity, some are a lot worse than others. They are usually the older plants. One that has long galled me is the old, but big, 4-corners power plant near the Four Corners area of Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado. It spews its pall over the scenic canyonlands country…
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This is on Idaho’s deep, deep drought from the Idaho Mountain Express. By Jason Kaufmann. The last week, the flow of monsoonal moisture coming up from the south (typical of August) has begun with thunderstorms, some quite wet. These have dampened some of the fires, but have little effect on the dry forests. These heavy…
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This video shows some of the rangefire damage, and they talk about damage to sage grouse leks and big game habitat. The best is at the end when they indirectly counter Larry Craig and the ranchers with quotes such as “Fuel moisture was at an all-time low…. fire burned right through grazed areas …” 76…
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This is from the Western Watersheds Project blog. I’m not a great enthusiast for feral horses, although they are lovely to watch . . . prettier than cows. The horses can lead to overgrazing, but they are usually not the real culprit because the BLM does keep their numbers down, a minor factor compared to…
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The one big fire in Yellowstone keeps growing, and now at over 2000 acres has burned out the middle of Specimen Creek, a major drainage in the NW Corner of the Park. My earlier stories on the Owl Fire. Update, from Inciweb on Saturday, July 28. Today 12 handcrews were assigned to the fire line…
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Oh boy, these Idaho politicians acted fast to try to define what caused the fires, protect their butts, and try to get a bit extra for their good buddies out there. It’s quite a scene — the BLM and 1000 of their staff diverted to help fight fires in Idaho caused not by the Clinton…
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A relatively new forest fire, Trapper Ridge, is pumping a lot of smoke into Stanley Basin. There will be a big controversy over grazing when the Murphy Complex and other range fires are out. Burned areas should be rested a good while and seeded with native grass, forbs, and brush to reduce the liklihood of…
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Slickspot peppergrass and the sage grouse will be a step further toward extinction because of the huge Murphy Fire burning in SW Idaho. Huge fire ravages rare species habitat. By Cynthia Sewel. Idaho Statesman. The only place in the world that slickspot peppergrass grows is southwest Idaho. More Idaho fire news. Governor declares state of…