At a Glance: News Briefs

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

By PJH Staff

Federal Reserve summit returns
Jackson Hole, Wyo.-The most important economic symposium of the year for Federal Reserve insiders returns to Jackson Hole this this week.

Expected attendees of the annual summit, sponsored by the Federal Reserve of Kansas City, include every top Fed official, as well as leading economists from the top of the public, private and university food chains.

On Friday morning, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will deliver a speech titled “Lessons from a Year in Crisis.” The talk is expected to play a major role in influencing new economic policies. Many insiders look to the annual Jackson Hole summit to set the tenor of economic discourse for the coming year.

During the Jackson Hole meetings of 2007, Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner (then president of the New York Federal Reserve) is reported to have been one of the first in the Fed to warn of the looming subprime mortgage crisis.

Weather snuffs summer fire season
An unusually mild summer, with more cool temperatures in the forecast, have made this year’s wildfire season one of the mellowest in memory, a Bridger-Teton National Forest spokeswoman said.

Mary Cernicek said one lightning-caused fire allowed to burn in order to “reintroduce fire into the ecosystem” has been declared out. That fire, called the Box Creek Fire, smoldered in the vicinity of Turpin Meadows Ranch, near Moran.
However, even with the cool temperatures, Cernicek said officials have counted a high number of campfires left unattended – 128 so far.
“It’s a problem,” she said.

A pattern of heavy winds, espcecially in the afternoon, can blow embers and create human-caused fires.

Fire officials are reluctant to call the wildfire season of 2009 a no-show. Only when the valleys are blanketed in snow is the possibility for fires at a minimal.

Road Delays in Park
Motorists should plan for roadwork delays on Highway 26/89/191 north of Jackson beginning August 24 until Labor day, according to a Grand Teton National Park release.

A chip-seal paving operation in GTNP will create up to 30 minute traffic delays. The project will begin at the Cunningham Cabin, near Triangle X Ranch, and work north to south to the southern boundary of the Park, four miles north of Jackson.

Alternate routes on Moose Wilson road, Antelope Flats Road, and the Park Road might be quicker, depending on the location of the work. Travelers are encouraged to call 739-3614 for construction updates before they travel that stretch of road.

The incredible shrinking snowfields
Grand Teton glaciers are shrinking, a new study has determined. That may come as alarming news for people in Western Wyoming and Idaho who depend on the “frozen reservoirs” for their water needs. The Salt Lake Tribune even underlined Utah’s reliance on the Teton Glacier and Middle Teton Glacier – the chain’s two biggest glaciers.

State money funded a study by University of Wyoming researchers who compared aerial photos of the glaciers taken in the late 1960s with some taken today. The evidence is clear, they said: The two glaciers have lost about 20 percent to 25 percent of their surface area in the past 40 years.

The findings are consistent with shrinking glaciers elsewhere. A recent U.S. Geological Survey study found that three long-observed glaciers in Alaska and Washington have been shrinking at a faster rate in recent years. Wyoming is the nation’s fifth-driest state. JHW

Courtesy Photo
Ben Bernanke

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