Clean air gone for the summer in Idaho?

With the onset of the thunderstorm season in parched southern Idaho, the clean air is probably gone for the summer. I took the photo below June 9this year. It is of the Lost River Range from Copper Basin.

It is very hazy today in Pocatello, Idaho today due to all the wildfires lightning ignited yesterday. Just got a call from Stanley — very smoky there too. You can check for air clarity by clicking on the web cams I have linked to. I notice today that a number of them show degraded air quality.

The air may not be this clear again until late September. The photo is a medium telephoto.

Photo copyright Ralph Maughan. Lost River Range. East Central Idaho. This is a telephoto shot taken from Copper Basin.

post 1294

Center for Biological Diversity echoes Richardson’s outrage over killing rare Mexican wolf

Center for Biological Diversity Statement on Governor Richardson’s Call to Suspend Federal Wolf Killing Program. Published on Yuba.net

Warm water due to hot weather, not hot springs, killing Yellowstone Park trout

With the record high temperatures in the Rocky Mountain and Intermountain West, the temperatures of trout streams are soaring above, sometimes far above, that which kills trout.

It is plainly evident in Yellowstone Park. Heat kills fish in Yellowstone. Jackson Hole News and Guide. Yellowstone is more vulnerable than many mountain stream areas because the hot springs do raise the stream temperatures over what is common at the elevation and the Yellowstone is mostly a high plateau, not an area full of snow-capped peaks.

Trout and other fish are under heat stress in many other places too, with their mortality not getting in the news like it does in Yellowstone Park.

post 1292

Rocky Barker’s blog: Summer means U.S. reporters start thinking about Idaho

It is true that there seems to be more national news about obscure Idaho in the summer.

Barker’s blog. Idaho Statesman