BLM Auction of Ferret Habitat
Friday, October 12th, 2007
Energy development and environmental protection are clashing yet again, this time in Colorado, where the Bureau of Land Management yesterday auctioned 150,000 acres of turf for oil and gas development. For months now, we’ve heard noise out of the BLM that their top goal is a reorganization to create a “one stop shop” for energy developers that will grease the wheels of the leasing process. But in a case of a “multiple use” policy perhaps stretched a bit thin, the agency offered up a chunk of land where it has been trying to establish a colony of endangered black-footed ferrets, ruffling the fur of environmental groups. Protests have ensued; lawsuit almost assuredly to follow.
Meanwhile, the BLM’s likely new honcho, Idaho governor Dirk Kempthorne, is holding down the fort in Boise, awaiting confirmation. Kempthorne’s nomination was reviewed and approved by the Energy and Natural Resources Committee Wednesday, and has been passed along for a confirmation vote. His confirmation is expected to turn on issues related to energy development on public lands.
New reports about the extent of the National Security Agency’s domestic spying operations have been making the rounds and raising a fuss around the country. An interesting Western angle on the story has emerged along with the new information. The Denver Post reports that former Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio, who worked closely with the feds on intelligence projects, successfully resisted NSA efforts to access Qwest customer records. Qwest was the only one of the four Baby Bells to tell the NSA to take a flying, while Verizon, AT&T and BellSouth provided the government with the 411 on millions of their customers.
The booming popularity of “peak bagging” is having its environmental toll on Colorado’s 14,000-foot mountains, according to this interesting feature by Joshua Zaffos of the Colorado Springs Independent. Efforts by a private land owner to restrict access to one of CO’s most popular bagging routes has raised a kafuffle.
SOURCE: The New West
Rocky Mountain Media Grok BLM – Auction of Ferret Habitat Ruffles Environmental Fur
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