Whose grabbing whose land?

by Amy Maestas

Blog Last Updated; 3/15/2010

Click images to enlarge

Whose grabbing whose land?

Last week in the Utah legislature, lawmakers passed a bill that gives the state ability to seize national forests and other federal land to develop. The idea is to get more oil and gas drilling, which will provide revenue for the state's ailing budget.

The move has environmental groups up in arms, even though some say they doubt the bill will move past the Utah Senate.

Nonetheless, the issue is gaining national attention. The Los Angeles Times picked up the story. Read it here: http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-utah-domain3-2010mar03,0,841750.story

The interesting thing is, Utah has been nearly apoplectic about a leaked memo from the Department of the Interior that allegedly lays out some plans for establishing new national monuments in the West. Utah lawmakers have pointedly said they see any action as a "federal land grab."

A good perspective about this can be read at High Country News here: http://www.hcn.org/blogs/goat/whos-grabbing-now.

Lat and long for the skinny tires

Residents of the Four Corners who use Google maps for driving now have a good reason to hop on their bikes to get someplace rather than the car. Google recently unveiled its feature that maps bike routes. This includes road directions and trail data. Although reviews about the functionality is mixed, Google knows it and is likely to beef up the feature. For the rural residents of the Four Corners, they don't have to worry as much as urbanites, whose routes could take them through odd or dangerous places.

Check it out for yourself: http://maps.google.com/

Sunny side of life

The National Park Service has announced it is using money from the federal stimulus package to install solar photovoltaic panels at several parks throughout the country. "Funding for the solar installations, as well as for many other park repairs and upgrades, will come from $129 million in savings from large construction projects approved under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that cost less than expected, officials said."

Several projects already have approved funding, including Mesa Verde National Park, where the agency will install eight systems on historic headquarters buildings. In Utah, the agency will replace a photovoltaic inverter at Natural Bridges National Monument to maintain the park's 100 percent dependence on solar electricity. Also in Utah, panels will be put on various buildings at Zion National Park.

On the move

Remember that massive mound of uranium tailings that sits conspicuously on the edge of Moab? The one that has sat there for decades, leaching who knows that into the Colorado River? The one that has been ignored and put off for cleanup for far too long? Well, there has been more progress. Cleanup began last year, but just last week the first train carrying 1 millionth ton of tailings pulled out of town. It was a milestone for this project.

It's the first train to haul that stuff out of there, but remember that the entire removal project is estimated to take 10 years to get rid of 16 million tons.