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Wednesday, 17 December 2008 00:00 |
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BLM Announces New Guidance Enhancing the Protection and Recovery of Rare Species on 258 Million Acres of Federal Lands The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) today announced new guidance for its management of federally threatened, endangered, or otherwise rare species and the ecosystems upon which they depend on BLM-administered lands. After a two-year process, the BLM has completed a revision to its 6840 Manual for Management of Special Status Species, providing further policy and guidance for the conservation of BLM special status species and their habitats. Last updated in 2001, the Manual supports the BLM’s broad conservation authorities and duties pertaining to fish, wildlife and plant conservation pursuant to multiple statutes including the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, the Sikes Act, and the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
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Federal Agencies Move to Ease Development of Geothermal Energy |
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Thursday, 18 December 2008 10:40 |
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Potential for ten-fold increase in geothermal power-generation capacity on federal lands WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management today published the Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan Amendments for Geothermal Leasing in the Western United States to make more than 190 million acres of federal lands available for leasing and potential development of geothermal energy resources. The approved development scenario, which was analyzed in the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, anticipates a potential 5,500 megawatts of new electric generation capacity from resources in the 12 western States (including Alaska) by 2015. It also estimates an additional 6,600 megawatts by 2025 for a total of 12,100 megawatts. “Geothermal energy will play a key role in powering America’s energy future,” said Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne.” “All but 10 percent of our geothermal resources are found on Federal lands and facilitating their leasing and development is crucial to supplying the secure, clean energy American homes and businesses need.” Replenished by heat sources deep in the earth, geothermal energy is a renewable resource that generates electricity with minimal carbon emissions. Direct use of geothermal energy is used to heat buildings, plus many other uses such as in greenhouses and aquaculture, offers additional possibilities for reducing the need for conventional energy sources. The approved development scenario envisions as many as 270 western communities that could benefit from such direct uses. The Record of Decision amends 114 Bureau of Land Management resource management plans and allocates about 111 million acres of Bureau-managed public lands as open for leasing. An additional 79 million acres of National Forest System lands are also legally open for leasing. Site-specific analysis of future leasing nominations, permit applications, and operations plans can refer back to the impact analysis and best management practices included in the Approved Resource Management Plan Amendments, thus reducing the processing time of future geothermal development. These actions will reduce the time to produce energy from federal geothermal resources. |
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Colorado Roadless Rule Update |
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Wednesday, 24 December 2008 06:45 |
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Wilderness Groups Pressure Colorado Governor on Colorado Roadless Rule
The ups and downs of the Colorado Roadless Rule (CRR) process stretching over 3 years are close to producing a tangible result. COHVCO, Colorado Trail Preservation Alliance and the BlueRibbon Coalition have followed this process - with a magnifying glass - and have done an excellent job of protecting motorized interests.
Recently, radical environmental groups have put pressure on Colorado Governor Ritter to make changes in the Rule, despite that fact that it was crafted using over 100,000 comments from individuals and organizations, and hundreds of public meetings around the State. The fact that the Colorado Rule enjoys support from a wide range of stakeholders across Colorado won't stop the Wilderness activist from trying to slip in a back-room deal during the change of Administrations.
In October, I attended a meeting of the Roadless Area Conservation National Advisory Committee (RACNAC) in Salt Lake City. It was my impression that the environmental community may have been buying time, hoping to stop the Colorado Rule in the event that Senator Obama was elected President. My impression seems to have been proven correct, as there has been a recent notice of an extension that allows the next administration to "review" the CRR. The Governor's representatives to that meeting strongly supported the Colorado Rule.
Of further concern is that the motorized public cannot, at this time, support the specific language of the Final Rule because we don't have it yet. This creates the difficult situation of not being able to weigh in directly upon the argument except to support the proposed Rule, which we have already done. |
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Some Pollutants Declining in Willamette and Columbia Rivers |
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Wednesday, 17 December 2008 00:00 |
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A study released by U.S. Geological Survey reports the Willamette, a large river associated with 70 percent of the population of Oregon, is getting cleaner in regard to some persistent toxic pollutants that are a legacy of past management practices. A 257-mile portion of the Columbia River between Umatilla, Oregon, and Skamokawa, Washington, is also showing a similar trend. These findings are based on research by U.S. Geological Survey biologists. For 15 years, they have tracked environmental contaminants in the Pacific Northwest using ospreys and a variety of fish as environmental indicators. Ospreys are a good indicator species of aquatic ecosystem health because they eat almost exclusively large fish caught within a short distance of nest sites spaced at fairly regular intervals along large rivers. They often are directly exposed to pollutants that accumulate in aquatic food chains. |
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Energy Corridor Designation FEIS Published |
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Friday, 12 December 2008 18:11 |
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Four Federal agencies have released a Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Final PEIS) proposing to designate more than 6,000 miles of energy transport corridors on Federal lands in 11 western states. The proposed energy corridors would facilitate future siting of oil, gas, and hydrogen pipelines, as well as electricity transmission and distribution facilities on Federal lands in the West to meet the region’s increasing energy demands while mitigating potential harmful effects to the environment. The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Departments of Energy, Agriculture, and Defense prepared the Final PEIS as part of their work to implement Section 368 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. |
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