Them on Us: Wild and scenic river; deathly gas: 12700’?

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

By Jake Nichols

Idaho farmers aren’t too thrilled with the bill introduced by Sen. John Barrasso that would designate a 42-mile stretch of the Snake River below Jackson Dam as “wild and scenic.” The classification would protect water quality and the free-flowing nature of a river, while allowing activities such as fishing, hunting, camping, boating, snowmobile riding, ATV use and livestock grazing.

“We are dead-set against any federal protection designation for that 42-mile stretch of the Snake River below Jackson Dam,” Norm Semanko, executive director of the Idaho Water Users Association, told the Idaho Falls Post Register. Semanko and state growers are concerned that historic water rights could be impinged in eastern Idaho. Idaho Sen. Larry Craig, a Republican, said he is concerned the flow of the river would be affected once it gets to Idaho. “The river starts in Wyoming, but its water belongs to Idaho and is Idaho’s most significant water source,” Craig said.

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The Oregonian’s staff writer, Jeff Baker, wrote a fantastic review of Alexandra “Bo” Fuller’s latest novel, “The Legend of Colton H. Bryant.” The book chronicles the story of one of Wyoming’s many neo-cowboys: roughneck Colton Bryant. Bryant always said he would die young. He did. At age 25 he fell off a rig outside of Pinedale, Wyo., becoming the third casualty on the Ultra Petroleum rig in six months. The novel blossomed out of a writing assignment Fuller was working on for the New York Times. The Wyoming writer’s books include acclaimed memoir “Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight” and “Scribbling the Cat.”
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Jackson attorney Kent Spence is going after big gas and oil for their negligence and poor compensation for workers killed or injured in the field. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Spence is suing Halliburton on behalf of one worker he claims fell to his death on a rig near Kemmerer, Wyo., after being on the job for 47 straight hours. “They’re short-handed, and they want to keep this development going full tilt, because every hole they punch is money,” Spence told the Tribune.

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And if working in the gas fields doesn’t kill you, living there eventually will. CNN aired a piece on Boulder, Wyo., and their battle against smog created by oil and gas exploration. The story was part of their “Planet in Peril” series.

“[P]ollution from vehicles and equipment in the gas fields - along with dust, weather and geography - has raised ozone to a level that rivals those of big cities in the summertime,” CNN reported.
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Bernie Kuntz doesn’t think much of Jackson, but he likes the area. The North Dakota journalist penned an opinion piece for the Jamestown Sun last Friday urging his readers to “get out and see wilderness.”

He writes: “If you get down to Wyoming, you also can see some sights that lure travelers from around the world. The Jackson Lake area is a big draw. Jackson, the town, is a tourist trap, but a view of Jackson Lake, Jenny Lake and the Grand Tetons is something every American should see.”

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Austin, Texas, supergirl Kimery Duda’s adventures are nearing legend in the Lone Star State. Austin 360 featured the traveler recently where they pulled this gem out Duda climbed the tallest mountain in Grand Teton National Park; “the 12,700-foot Grand Teton,” wrote Austin 360. We hope we aren’t the first to break this to Duda, but if she climbed to 12,700 she did not summit the Grand. That tops out at 13,770.

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For those who always wanted to try rock climbing but were turned off by the prospect of, well, falling, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort has an idea for you. The resort hopes to unveil a fall-proof climbing system called “via ferrata,” that features a steel cable that runs the length of each rock-climbing route. Participants are clipped into the cable with a safety line at all times. The system will allow people who haven’t climbed before to “get the experience without risk,” Jessica Milligan, the chief of product, sales and service for JHMR told the Idaho Mountain Express. The routes are being reviewed by the U.S. Forest Service, which administers the property.
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Them on Us: Wild and scenic river; deathly gas: 12700’? | Planet JH News Article: General News

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