Disabled. YOU CAN NOW MAKE THREADS ON COMMENTS

Based on your comments, I just disabled this “feature.”  I kind of liked it, but WordPress needs to do a lot of work on it before I will try it again.

Please please keep this reversion in your mind because you might want to make it more evident in your comments exactly who you are responding to.

“Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep” video – Colorado Division of Wildlife

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Companies rethink coal plants

Many planned coal plants are now being scrapped-

Companies rethink coal plants. By Traci Watson, USA Today.

Planned new coal plants are dropping by the scores. However, the majority of electricity in the U.S. is produced by coal, and many by old, and therefore more polluting plants like the one below.

On my recent trip to the Arizona region, I noticed the utilities had really taken advantage of the Indian nations of NE Arizona and NW New Mexico and packed the place with coal plants. The air quality was good, however, but I think that was because the jet stream was directly overhead when I passed through taking the emissions rapidly off to the east.

The Coronado coal-fired steam electric plant on the Navajo Reservation. March 2009. Copyright Ralph Maughan

Judge faults gov’t plan to save Pacific NW salmon

U.S. District Court Judge James A. Redden tells Federal Government to come up with backup plan to breach dams.

Hatchery Chinook Salmon in the South Fork Salmon River. © Ken Cole

Judge faults gov’t plan to save Pacific NW salmon
Associated Press

The four dams on the lower Snake River, Lower Granite Dam, Little Goose Dam, Lower Monumental Dam, and Ice Harbor Dam, were originally built for navigation purposes so that Lewiston Idaho could become a sea port. The river provides subsidized transportation for the Palouse region’s wheat and other products but there are other options for them including the existing rail system. The dams don’t generate much in the way of electricity either and when they generate the most, during spring runoff, the demand isn’t at its high as it would be during the heat of the summer when people use it for air conditioning. Because of this the Bonneville Power Administration sells it at very low rates to aluminum smelters on the Columbia River. During the Enron contrived “power crisis” the subsidized electricity was re-sold at a profit by the aluminum smelters instead of letting water pass over the spillways to benefit salmon during the low water year.

The dams disrupt many natural conditions on the river and kill juvenile fish on their downstream migration. Their impact on returning adult salmon is lower but they do cause issues by raising the temperature which diverts a number of Idaho bound late summer, early fall-run steelhead into cooler rivers like the Deschutes River in Oregon.

Several Native American tribes, Idaho, Montana and Washington have engaged in a collaborative process in an attempt at saving the dams but the Spokane and Nez Perce Tribes and are siding with the environmental groups.

Todd True, attorney for the legal group Earthjustice, had this to say about the collaborative process being utilized to come up with a solution.

“Salmon don’t swim in collaboration,” Todd True said. “They won’t return in greater numbers because of a new collaboration — no matter how sincere.”

Worlds of trappers, pet owners collide in Boise area

Here’s a place where Footloose.org could do some new work-

Worlds of trappers, pet owners collide. Reports to the Idaho Statesman of injured dogs are three times higher this year. By Pete Zimowsky. Idaho Statesman

– – – – –

Because I mentioned Footloose, and Footloose’s E.D’s comment kind of got buried, I am moving it up to the body of this post. Ralph Maughan

Anja Heister [of Footloose] wrote:

During the past two trapping seasons – 2007-08 and 2008-09, Footloose Montana received 20 reports from people whose dogs were either injured or died in traps set by recreational and commercial trappers on public lands in MT! Contrary to what trappers and FWP want you to believe, trapping for fun is extremely loosely regulated: There is no trap check period required, instead, FWP merely recommends that trappers check their traps every 48 hours (whether they do it or not, is basically up to the trappers!).

Trappers don’t have to post signs in areas where they trap and so the public is left in the dark as to where traps are. Traps are indiscriminate and injure our wildlife in unimaginable ways. If the creatures caught in traps, are still alive when the trapper eventually returns, he either clubs them to death, strangulates them, shoots them in the head or stands on the animal’s chest “to compress inner organs, which leads to death.” This is what trappers don’t want you to know, but this is reality.

Montana Sportsmen Support Wilderness for Scotchman Peaks and West Cabinets

These rugged areas are high in fishing and hunting opportunities-

Sportsmen Support Wilderness. The River Guide.

I haven’t been to these roadless areas, but the relief of the Scotchman Peaks is some of the greatest in Montana.