The ever-changing thermal geology of Yellowstone National Park
has created a hot spot that melted an asphalt road and closed
access to popular geysers and other attractions at the height of
tourist season, officials said Thursday.
Looking eastward from the canyon’s popular South Rim, visitors
could soon see a hive of construction as workers build
restaurants, hotels and shops on a distant mesa on the Navajo
Indian reservation. … That project and a second, unrelated
development proposed for just south of the canyon have set off
alarms at the National Park Service, which sees them as the most
serious threat the park has faced in its 95-year history.
From the Los Angeles Times, in a commentary by Jeff Burrell:
Today, working as a wildlife conservation scientist in the
Northern Rockies, I see grizzly bears regularly. … Every
sighting is gratifying, especially since the grizzly bear has
been listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act for most of my
life.”
In April, the city [Detroit] set a target of cutting
service to 3,000 customers a week who were more than $150 behind
on their bills. In May, the water department sent out 46,000
warnings and cut off service to 4,531.
This is the same river route Lewis and Clark took 200 years ago,
a 1,000-mile journey along the Columbia and Snake rivers and
right up the musket of the American West. … For eight days
we make shore visits to waterfalls, wineries, dams, fish ladders,
museums and forts along the way.
Lingering drought is taking a toll on wildlife across Northern
Nevada, shrinking deer herds on the high desert, drying up
fisheries in the valleys and starting to push everything from
bears to snakes into urban areas they normally don’t frequent.
Arizona could be forced to cut water deliveries to its two
largest cities unless states that tap the dwindling Colorado
River find ways to reduce water consumption and deal with a
crippling drought, officials of the state’s canal network said
Tuesday.
“Four in 10 new oil and gas wells near national forests and
fragile watersheds or otherwise identified as higher pollution
risks escape federal inspection, unchecked by an agency
struggling to keep pace with America’s drilling boom, according
to an Associated Press review that shows wide state-by-state
disparities in safety checks.”
“The Supreme Court ruled Monday that a group of homeowners in
North Carolina can’t sue a company that contaminated their
drinking water decades ago because a state deadline has lapsed, a
decision that could prevent thousands of other property owners in
similar cases from recovering damages after being exposed to
toxic waste.”
“Facing the largest boil-water order in the region’s history,
Portlanders emptied stores’ supplies of bottled water, chucked
potentially contaminated food and braced for a complicated
Memorial Day weekend.”
“Scientists have
discovered that the rapid spread of hybridization between a
native species and an invasive species of trout in the wild is
strongly linked to changes in climate. … The study, published today [May 25] in
Nature Climate Change, was based on 30 years of research
by scientists with the U.S.
From The New York Times, in a commentary by Brendan Jones:
“As a resident of Sitka, in southeast Alaska, I’ve worked in
the local commercial fishing industry on and off for the past 17
years. … This year, though, the fishing fleet in southeast Alaska
will work under the shadow of an announcement by the United
States Forest Service that it intends to approve the Big Thorne
timber sale …”
“Delivering a major blow to state-licensed pot growers in
Washington state and Colorado, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
said today [May 20] it will not allow any federally-controlled
water to be used on marijuana crops.”
“The clear, flowing Smith River is a life force in the northern
corner of California, where the locals keep a sharp eye out for
threats to the pristine water and thriving fish.”
“In Portland, Ore., city authorities decided to drain a 38
million-gallon reservoir because someone had been reportedly
peeing in it. Portland is not like California; it does not lack
water.”
“Fisheries biologist Pete Verhey waded through the cold, clear
creek that feeds into the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River,
scanning riffles and side channels looking for evidence of fish
eggs.”
“The first USGS streamgage in the country is turning 125 years
old, and the U.S. Geological Survey, along with many partner
agencies, is commemorating the event on Tuesday, April 22, with a
celebration at the Embudo streamgage near Espanola.
