Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks looks at hunting quota of 75 wolves for this fall

Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks looks at hunting quota of 75 wolves for this fall. Gazette News Services.

Oil and gas leases on Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front pulled from auction

Oil and gas leases on Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front pulled from auction. AP

A tremendous effort has been made by conservationists, the state, even oil companies to keep drilling off of Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front. So it only makes sense for the Montana Lands Department not to auction the small acreage of state land, especially because it is in very sensitive wildlife country.

Unfortunately, they only deferred the plan to auction.

Earthquake swarm near Reno, NV begins again

Earthquake swarm picks up again in northern Nevada. By Martin Griffith. AP.

Video: Reno Earthquakes Return, Rattle Residents, Sways High-Rises. National Ledger.

You can follow earthquakes as they occur at USGS’s Latest Earthquakes.

Former Larry Craig aide and timber lobbyist, uses federal position to help access to trophy home sites deep in the forest

We’ve talked about Mary Rey before. He is under secretary for natural resources and environment in USDA, and thus oversees the U.S. Forest Service. Before that he learned the ropes from none other than Larry Craig and became a lobbyist for the timber industry.

In the past, he has barely escaped jail for defying court orders, and most recently is busy trampling on states rights to open national forest logging roads as acess to proposed and under constrution trophy homes deep the the forests.

These energy sucking, hard-to-service palaces are being built over the objections of states and counties that will have to pay the bills.

Rocky Barker discusses Rey today. D.C. political appointee flouts states rights and local control. Letters from the West. Idaho Statesman

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Earlier. Rey to explain Plum Creek deal. By Michael Jamison. Missoulian.

Collaboration on the Clearwater

Another local conservationist adds his voice to a growing chorus of activists on the ground who are learning first hand the consequences to wildlife and wild places when a particular model of conservation sets its backdrop of hand-picked participants at a table, satisfied with quid pro quos rather than strict adherence to the law.

Gary Macfarlane writes of the looming process of “collaborative” land management in the Clearwater :

Collaboration on the Clearwater – via Counterpunch

A reminder of what appears to be the point of these exercises ~ access and capital to play politics : An Open Letter to the Conservation Community Calling for a Moratorium on Damaging Public Land & Wilderness Legislation 9/12/06 – Read the lettersigned by over 80 local & regional conservation groups.