Tagged: Environment

Twelve years ago, Boise writer Mike Medberry took off with friends to hike in Craters of the Moon National Monument in eastern Idaho. 

They camped that night, staying up to recite poetry. Medberry – a longtime advocate of conservation – tells Sadie Babits the next morning he tried to tell more poetry but couldn’t find the words.  He stumbled a bit but didn’t think anything of it as the group began their hike through the lava. Medberry says what happened that day is the basis for his new book “On the Dark Side of The Moon.”

Biologists say the sea lions that scoop up fish at the foot of Bonneville dam on the Columbia river have killed more sturgeon this year than salmon.

Two different species of sea lions like to feast at Bonneville.  California sea lions only eat salmon.  But Stellar sea lions arrive earlier in the year. While they wait for the spring salmon run to start, they snack on sturgeon.

Biologists with the Army Corps of Engineers estimate that this year, the Stellar sea lions ate about 2,500 sturgeon.

There's a hint of sage in the air this morning as rain falls across the Treasure Valley.  These long overdue rain showers today though have created concerns for floods and mudslides.

The people who raise cattle destined to become steak or hamburger on your dinner plate are feeling the pinch. Wildfires this summer have scorched more than a million acres of Northwest rangeland. In addition, the Midwest drought is driving up feed costs across the board.

Now ranches and feedlots are looking to cut their feed costs in the short term.  And longer term, have an eye on making the cattle themselves more efficient.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said Idaho Power must honor its obligation to purchase energy from wind farms. But it stopped short of taking enforceable action while the Idaho Public Utilities Commission decides how to rule on the case.

Gene Fadness is a spokesman with the Idaho Public Utilities Commission. “This order comes even before we’ve made a decision," explains Fadness. "The wind developers wanted something before a commission order hoping that that would perhaps sway the commission in their deliberations.”

Residents of Pine and Featherville -- who've been evacuated because of a wildfire - were temporarily allowed back in their homes Tuesday.   Officials say it's still too smokey and risky to let them back in for good.

The Trinity Ridge Fire has threatened these communities for days now. At more than 132,000 acres, fire crews now have it 10 percent contained. They've shored up a six mile stretch through Featherville and south to Pine. 

Updated August 24, 2012 at 1:41 p.m.:

The Mustang Complex Fire near Salmon grew dramatically Thursday.  That prompted an evacuation order for Spring Creek and Indian Creek residents.  In fact, it grew so fast that firefighters had to leave their posts around 11 p.m. last night. 

“The fire was growing too hot and too erratic and so we pulled the firefighters off,” says fire spokeswoman Lisa Radosevich-Craig.  She blames it on gusty winds.  She says the crews were back on the fire line this morning, but it could flare up again this afternoon.