Hebgen Lake Dam malfunctioning. Evacuation?

I’ve just learned from Salle E. that something is wrong with Hebgen Dam near West Yellowstone and the area downstream is being evacuated due to flooding flows of the Madison River.

I see nothing on-line yet.

Update. Here is a news story. It looks like a gate is stuck open and a lot of water is flowing into the reservoir from heavy thunderstorms.

Link to Heben/Quake Lake area Google Maps

Update. Sunday. Sept. 7. Apparently this is still not fixed. Engineers are fashioning some steel “bulkheads” and so plug the headgates that became stuck open. Last week they were removing concrete from the water intake tower. After that the bulkhead will be lowered down. I believe the Madison River flows are still about 4 times normal for this time of year.

Note: this post has been superseded. See the more recent one.

Idaho Statesman: A last-minute rewrite of Endangered Species Act regulations is rash and futile

A last-minute rewrite of Endangered Species Act regulations is rash and futile. Editorial by the Idaho Statesman.

This rewrite, or gutting of the Act, is going to disappear if the right candidate wins the presidency.

Nevada governor chides Forest Service over letting East Shell Rock fire burn

The East Shell Rock fire in the Jarbidge Wilderness of extreme northern Nevada was allowed to burn for “ecological benefits,”* but it burned well outside the Wilderness, destroying some of the last sagebrush stands suitable for sage grouse in the area.

There is suspicion that was done to help powerful ranchers, who want more grass and no troublesome species around.

It’s odd to be on the same side as Nevada’s anti-conservation governor.

Nevada governor chides Forest Service over fire. By Martin Griffith.  Associated Press Writer

* It’s important to remember that nowadays in the interior West as far as wildlife habitat goes, forest fires are usually neutral to good and range fires usually bad.