Montana Stockgrowers’ Suit Over Bison Management Dismissed

I’d say this is a minor victory. The Stockgrowers wanted even more severe “management” of bison that we already have to witness.

Stockgrowers’ Suit Over Bison Management Dismissed. Matt Gouras. Associated Press Writer

Will 100-pound salmon return to Elwha?

The famed runs of salmon are expected to return after two dams are removed but will they be as big?

The Elwha Dam and Glines Canyon Dam on the Elwha River of the Olympic Peninsula were built in violation of an 1890 law which required fish passage facilities on dams “wherever food fish are wont to ascend”.   The logging companies were so powerful that the fisheries commissioner allowed them to get by with a hatchery, that never worked, instead of the required passage facilities. The dams blocked miles and miles of premium salmon and steelhead spawning grounds in Olympic National Park which produced enormous Chinook salmon that were reported to have reached 100 pounds and are thought to have been up to 12 years old!

Now the dams are going to be removed nearly 100 years after their construction. Will the 100 lb Chinook return?

Will 100-pound salmon return to Elwha?.
By PAUL GOTTLIEB – PENINSULA DAILY NEWS

Obama to announce oil drilling and leasing moratoriums

Six month moratorium on new deep water well permits; lease auctions off Virginia and Alaska coast put in suspension. Partial ban on new spuds-

There is finally action by the Administration on oil leases and permits to drill in various places off-shore. It is expected that today the President will announce there will be no new deepwater wells spudded (to begin drilling)  in the next 6 months.  Oil lease auction sales in the western Gulf of Mexico and off the Virginia Coast are said to be canceled.  A freeze or cancelation of lease auctions is very important because once bought, cancellation of a lease by the government requires the government to repay the leaseholder. That can require a lot of money.

Lease sales and spudding in the Arctic Ocean (oh, my god, they were going to do that?) are on hold.

Meanwhile, we are waiting to see if BP was successful in their “top kill” of the big oil gusher under the Gulf of Mexico.

It occurs to me that one reason why the Administration might have been slow on this is that BP holds an important card.  If BP walks away, it’s not like the government has the knowledge or the resources to kill the gushing, ruined well.

AP source: Obama extends stop on deepwater wells. By Erica Werner and Charles Babington. Associated Press.

Update on May 28. U.S. to stop drilling already underway on 33 deepwater rigs! Reuters.

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Tracking the Oil Spill in the Gulf (map). New York Times.