How the west is shaping up for the Democrats:
Democrats rise again in the Rockies
ESSAY – November 11, 2008
By Rob Saldin
Election night was a smashing success for Democrats in the Mountain West. But there’s a big difference between the national results and those that came out of the Rockies: Up until now, the Intermountain West was considered home turf for the Republican Party.
One of the most important fixit issues ever; The U. S. Forest Service and state services have been pummeled since Reaganomics. I can’t tell you how sad it is to visit some of the smaller parks; they are some of our finest samples of history, geology, biology, and WPA infrastructure. The epic struggles of these parks to keep the roofs from leaking, and reduce human impact on beautiful areas should be the stuff of legends.
WRITERS ON THE RANGE
Can the Forest Service get back on track?
ESSAY – November 06, 2008
By Chris Wood
[It’s been a dismal eight years for the U.S. Forest Service. When the Bush administration took office, it immediately suspended a popular measure to protect 58 million acres of backcountry public forests from new roads. Instead, the agency became consumed by firefighting…]
http://www.hcn.org/wotr/can-the-forest-service-get-back-on-track
Reclamation needs a concerted and big effort. Bush’s last present to drillers has just occurred, and Democrats don’t seem inclined to stop it:
Who’ll clean up when the party’s over?
Land managers and industry are stepping up efforts to reclaim public lands scraped and drilled for oil and gas. Is it too little, too late?
FEATURE STORY – From the November 10, 2008 issue of High Country News
By April Reese
[…”We may reclaim x number of acres, but fragmentation affects many more acres of habitat” for the lesser prairie chicken, sand dune lizard and other species, says Stovall. “It’s much more than just those acres disturbed.”
That’s exactly why the BLM should avoid leasing and developing intact wildlands, says Liz Thomas of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. “I don’t think you can put wildlife habitat back,” she says. “Once you’ve lost a species, that’s it. The habitat fragments (due to roads and wells) and it takes decades, sometimes hundreds of years, to get flora and fauna to come back.”
Other critics argue that the BLM needs to demonstrate that it’s able to heal industrialized lands before it considers new development. “I don’t think we’ve seen enough successful interim and final reclamation that would justify using it as a wide-scale management approach,” says Nada Culver of The Wilderness Society’s Rocky Mountain regional office in Denver….]
http://www.hcn.org/issues/40.20/who2019ll-clean-up-when-the-party2019s-over
Is Japan’s future ours?
Seniors’ crime rate soaring
Wed, November 12 2008
[CRIMES by the elderly in Japan have surged to a record high, with many committed because of money worries, loneliness and difficulty caring for sick relatives, a government report said.
Japan has one of the lowest crime rates in the world, but an increasing number of them are committed by older people, the report revealed…]
Winter’s almost here and the snows have arrived in some parts. Don’t forget to stock up on “day light” spectrum bulbs, if you are subject to SAD.
STUDY SHOWS. . .
Wed, November 12 2008
[A new study indicates that Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) – which can lead to debilitating depression, that begins in autumn and continues through winter – may be linked to a genetic mutation in the eye that makes a patient less sensitive to light….]
http://www.asianpacificpost.com/portal2/c1ee8c441d9304f7011d935c3def00a1_STUDY_SHOWS_____.do.html
Yep. For anyone who participated in a back to the earth movement, like in the 70’s, or grew up on a farm, this doesn’t seem eccentric at all. Statistics show however, that 80% of us are now urban. So, since most of you don’t know, here is a refresher on conservation:
Let it mellow
ESSAY – From the November 10, 2008 issue of High Country News
By Melissa Hart
[One does not expect to learn about conservation via the sight of one’s 85-year- old great-grandmother hunkered down bare-bottomed under the rosebushes, but there it is. In my formative years, “Grandmary” taught me to reduce, reuse and recycle everything from bacon grease to urine….]
I Own My Vote, PUMA, The Denver Group, Just Say No Deal
Grab and Keel 
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