Environmental icon dies at age 90

by Amy Maestas

Blog Last Updated; 3/24/2010

Click images to enlarge

Environmental giant dies

Stewart Udall, one of the West's most iconic defenders of wild spaces, died Saturday in New Mexico. Udall served as secretary of the Interior during the 1960s. As The Salt Lake Tribune and other newspapers pointed out in their coverage, Udall was the last surviving member of the Cabinet that served under President John F. Kennedy.

Throughout his tenure, he added 4 million acres of land the public ownership. His family also was and still is influential in the West. His brother Morris served 15 terms in Congress. His nephew Mark is a Colorado senator. His son Tom, who served five terms in Congress, took over the GOP Senate seat in 2008 for New Mexico.

Though the press far and wide has had interesting stories, perhaps the Tribune's editorial is the best in summing up Udall's impact on public lands in the West. Read it here: http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_14733952.

Obama feels Telluridian's pain

Baked in Telluride, the well-loved bakery in downtown Telluride, burned to the ground in early February. It was a loss that has extended far beyond the mountain hamlet that is home to an admixture of celebrities and scrappy ski bums.

The fire put 25 people out of work and ate up the hard work of its owner, Jerry Greene. But Greene got a bit of consolation last month when he traveled to Denver and was able to meet President Barack Obama. Their meeting wasn't intended just to have the president hear Greene's tragedy. But it turned out that way.

For the complete story, read it here in the Telluride Daily Planet: http://www.telluridenews.com/articles/2010/03/20/news/doc4b848de733eaf425222807.txt.

Natural sounds

The National Park Service several years ago started an effort to save natural sounds in parks throughout the United States. The agency said it recognizes that sounds are important to the experience of visitors and character. The effort is to protect natural sound like it does other natural resources.

Recently, Zion National Park officials said it would begin studying how to preserve the sounds there. The plan is called "soundscape management" and targets ways to make sure human noise doesn't drown out natural sounds.