http://www.newwest.net/index.php/city/main/C108/L108/ New West Network: The Voice of the Rocky Mountains en info@newwest.net Copyright 2009 Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:23:31 MST Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:23:31 MST http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/newwest/city/boise/~3/Q-fdEFcv42U/ Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:16:55 MST Saturday, Idaho Senator Mike Crapo delivered a national address on the health care legislation expected to be considered by the U.S. Senate Saturday evening.  Crapo was chosen by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell to offer the Republican response to the President's weekly radio address.  A vote in the Senate on whether or not to allow debate on the bill is expected Saturday night. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/saturday_crapo_delivers_national_address_on_health_bill/C108/L108/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/newwest/city/boise/~3/VV6mM-acOiw/ Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:00:10 MST The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt & The Fire That Saved America by Timothy Egan Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 324 pages, $27 In August of 1910, the largest fire ever to sweep across forests in the United States claimed trees, buildings, and lives across a stretch of three million acres in the Rocky Mountains.  Timothy Egan writes in his follow-up to The Worst Hard Time, his National Book Award-winning exploration of the Dustbowl, that this blaze was known as "The Big Burn," and it stretched "from central Idaho, east into Montana, west into Washington, north into British Columbia." The smoke drifted as far away as Chicago.  "It was as if a volcanic blast had disgorged the airborne remains of the forested northern Rockies into disparate parts of the United States." Besides destroying several towns in the region, this fire had a lasting effect on the course of the country's conservation movement, initiated by Theodore Roosevelt and his close confidant Gifford Pinchot, first head of the United States Forest Service. Egan shows that many of the lessons derived from the Great Fire of 1910 were still followed by foresters a century later.  People on both sides of the conservation movement tried to use it to achieve their political ends.  To demonstrate the larger set of circumstances in which this fire played out, after a vivid opening chapter set in the midst of the fire, Egan steps back to February of 1899, when the 34-year-old Gifford Pinchot visits the Governor of New York, Teddy Roosevelt, who invited him to engage in a wrestling match and a boxing bout.  This afternoon of roughhousing cemented their friendship.  "Both were adrenaline addicts and thrill seekers, the longer the odds, the better," Egan writes.  Pinchot was born into wealth in Connecticut, but found his calling in the forests of the Western United States.  He studied the concept of forestry in Europe, and began to try to convince people that American forests should be managed, and that lumber interests, mining companies, developers, and speculators should not have the sole say in the fate of America's forests.  When Roosevelt became Vice President in 1901, and President McKinley's assassination later that year installed him as President, he brought Pinchot and his ideas with him to the White House. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/young_men_and_fire_timothy_egans_the_big_burn/C108/L108/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/newwest/city/boise/~3/Xr89_DSklI4/ Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:12:04 MST Skiing and snowboarding aren't exactly the TV spectacles that baseball and football are in this country, but every four years when the Winter Olympics roll around, they have their moment in the spotlight. Resort operators hope the Olympics will inspire more people to get out on the slopes this winter, and more traveling skiers to avoid Vancouver's crowds to come to ski areas south of the border. "The Olympics coming up are going to bring so much attention to the sport of skiing and ski resorts," says Billy Kidd, a former Olympian and director of skiing at Colorado's Steamboat Mountain Resort, as he signs posters for fans wearing his trademark Stetson hat at the annual Denver Ski & Snowboard Expo. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/resorts_hope_olympics_will_be_golden_for_snow_sports/C108/L108/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/newwest/city/boise/~3/8e8-UBRI_CY/ Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:47:21 MST Montanans living along the winding Teton River, well east of the Rocky Mountain Front were quick to notice their new neighbor this summer. As early as the beginning of July, ranchers and other landowners along the prairie began intermittently spotting a solitary grizzly bear journeying east away from the mountains. Residents of the rural grasslands, including Mike Madel, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Park's Region 4 Grizzly Bear Management Specialist based in Choteau, were even more surprised in mid-July when members of a local ranching family captured photographs of the lone bear on their land along the Teton north of Fort Benton, ambling through open prairie nearly 100 miles from the mountains, where Ursus arctos horribilis is expected these days. For Madel and other bear managers in the state, the bear's arrival so far beyond the range of today's grizzlies and into historic habitat was a revelation -- and one that would be the first of many throughout the summer and fall. Madel, a 23-year veteran of working with grizzlies along the Front, called 2009 an "unprecedented" year for bears wandering back on to the prairie, and says the bears' presence there is only likely to increase in coming years. That means an entire population of humans will now have to learn how to cohabitate with grizzlies. While the plains are historically grizzly country, for many living there now, the return of the grizzly is -- to put it lightly -- a surprise.  http://www.newwest.net/city/article/grizzlies_on_the_move_back_on_to_the_wide_open_prairie/C108/L108/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/newwest/city/boise/~3/afvWF9J1RPI/ Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:01:45 MST As flu pandemics go, H1N1 sometimes seems hard to compute, given all the information flooding our way. Is it a panic? An impending storm? A party theme? Yes, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that some people are hosting "swine flu parties" where people who know someone with H1N1 purposely hang out and try to get infected. Their goal is to get a mild case and gain natural immunity, so they won't catch a more dangerous version later on. Health officials, not surprisingly, say this doesn't work and isn't smart. "While the disease ... has been mild for many people, it has been severe and even fatal for others," the federal health agency says. "There is no way to predict with certainty what the outcome will be for an individual or, equally important, for others to whom the intentionally infected person may spread the virus." Meanwhile, as news about the flu continues to spread at viral speed, a Montana health official offers a few facts to help put things in perspective. Elton Mosher is the influenza surveillance coordinator and an infectious disease expert with the Department of Public Health and Human Services. Here's his view of the flu, plus statistics from the World Health Organization and CDC: http://www.newwest.net/city/article/flu_update_h1n1_cases_down_but_is_uptick_ahead/C108/L108/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/newwest/city/boise/~3/ltIuqS13iEo/ Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:05:13 MST For years, panhandle residents have been trespassing on a narrow strip of private land along the northwest shore of Lake Pend Oreille, using an old road along the shoreline to bike, run, ski, walk their dogs, and occasionally take a dip in the lake. Although their trips rarely traverse more than a mile or two, the land they cross has a multitude of owners--including several private citizens, the cities of Sandpoint and Ponderay, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Bonner County Historical Society, and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad has a right-of-way across it as well. Nearby is the site of the historic town of Sandpoint, which--along with its related de facto public waterfront-- was lost a few years ago to a high-end development. It may be this loss that has spurred the community on to try to formalize and save their access to the strip along the shore. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/saving_public_access_the_pend_oreille_bay_trail/C108/L108/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/newwest/city/boise/~3/_2ISdGkRylg/ Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:23:13 MST Senate Majority Leader Reid released an $849 billion healthcare overhaul bill Wednesday that includes a public option and will extend coverage to 31 million uninsured Americans, though a few Democrats are still on the fence over whether they will vote to proceed to the bill. The bill would extend insurance to 94 percent of eligible Americans. The measure, which would reduce the deficit $127 billion over a decade, creates an insurance exchange where people can compare and purchase coverage; allows insurance co-ops to be formed; expands Medicaid to those earning 133 percent of the federal poverty level; and offers federal subsidies to help those without employer-sponsored coverage purchase insurance. The public option would allow states to opt out if they choose. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., shepherded a more comprehensive public option through the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee but called the opt-out version a strong public option. The overhaul also includes an individual mandate with penalties reaching $750 per person for noncompliance by 2016. Employers that do not offer coverage will pay a fine for each of their employees who receive federal subsidies to purchase insurance in the exchange of as much as $750 per employee at the company, a senior Democratic aide said. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/senate_health_care_bill_now_on_the_table/C108/L108/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/newwest/city/boise/~3/hpsHTH-2z14/ Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:14:21 MST I used to play basketball, but not too much since the day my coach took me aside, patted me on the head, and said, "Bill, you're short, but you're slow, and you really need to follow your shots." Well, that was a long time ago, and I admit to never doing anything about the shortness or the slowness, but I have learned to follow my shots. And sometimes, they're worth following. When I write my columns, I frequently hope something happens, and guess what sometimes it does. Check out these updates to past columns. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/road_rage_explained_getting_kids_outside_usa_still_rocks_and_more/C108/L108/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/newwest/city/boise/~3/mQA-3Gi7_6U/ Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:07:36 MST It can be scary for adults to change careers, but the recession has handed many American workers no choice. Enrollment at trade schools, community colleges and specialized private colleges has increased all over the U.S.  But whether or not graduates of these programs find work in their new area of competence varies based on the quality of the training, the choice of skills to learn, and whether or not the training suits an industry with hiring needs. Rep. Walt Minnick, D-ID, has announced his new bill, H.R. 4072 or the American Manufacturing Efficiency and Retraining Investment Collaboration (AMERICA) Works Act. Minnick has spent eight months developing and writing the bill, which is co-sponsored by three Democratic House Members: Frank Kratovil of Maryland, Debbie Halvorson of Illinois, and Bobby Bright of Alabama. "Thanks to the diverse coalition behind the bill, there will be more co-sponsors of both parties signing on," said John Foster, Minnick's spokesperson. That coalition includes the National Association of Manufacturers, Northwest Carpenters, and community colleges and trade organizations. "American workers are the best in the world," said Minnick. "They are resilient, innovative and hardworking, as is made so clear by the success of many great companies in my home state of Idaho. We need to make sure that those American workers, many of whom are retraining, are given every opportunity to achieve certifications, degrees and qualifications for the jobs American industry needs to fill." http://www.newwest.net/city/article/minnicks_bill_on_job_training_america_works_targets_focused_training_goals/C108/L108/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/newwest/city/boise/~3/rg5S8Vc_pKc/ Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:22:44 MST It's no secret there are a number of Oregonians who enjoy smoking marijuana. And while that may be the case, there are millions in the West who don't enjoy having their water polluted to produce the plant. An estimated 200,000 marijuana plants were discovered in raids during the Oregon growing and harvest season this year, according to state and federal documents. And while that number may be staggering, pools filled with chemical fertilizers to grow the plants are a main nerve of concern among state officials and environmentalists.  http://www.newwest.net/city/article/marijuana_guns_and_oregon/C108/L108/