Them on us: Pine beetles near

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

By Jake Nichols

Get your kicks on route 89
Jackson Hole, Wyo.-The new Route 66 is 89. Highway 89 is a gateway to no less than seven Western national parks including Grand Teton and Yellowstone, of course. Teton-area parks have helped earn the stretch of blacktop its “scenic byway” status. Saguaro, Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce Canyon, and Glacier also lie along Highway 89.

Ann Torrence has authored a new book titled U.S. Highway 89. We read a review at her publisher’s website: sagebruch-press.com. Torrence’s book is filled with photos, traveler tips, and anecdotal info about numerous stop?s along the 1,252-mile road.

Pave it and they will come
The U.S. Department of the Interior reported that 285 million Americans and foreign tourists visited the parks last year – 10 million more than in ‘08. Some individual parks had their best years ever in 2009, including Yellowstone, which saw 3.3 million people. We read the news in the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Banker hikes more than interest rates
Federal bankers won’t have Donald Kohn to push them around anymore. Kohn is the vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board and a close adviser to Fed chairmen Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan. He announced to the Wall Street Journal that he will step down from the post when his term ends in June.

For many, that means no more grueling hikes in Jackson Hole. Apparently, the 67-year-old is known among other central bankers for the long hikes he leads at the Fed’s annual summer conclave at Jackson; hikes so strenuous that some call them the “Don Kohn Death March.”

Renters beware
Don’t fall for the long-running real estate scam that has begun popping up in Wyoming, warned the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.

It goes like this: Sucker (renter) sees Jackson rental listed on Craigslist for $1,500 a month. Sucker’s email application is “accepted” and sucker is told they will get the keys as soon as they fork over the first month’s rent and security deposit. Sucker and his money are then parted.

Cheyenne Lt. Mark Munari said  scammers are generally overseas. They can usually be identified by their horrendous grammar and bad spelling … sort of like a JH Weekly journalist.

The beetles are coming
Colorado received the lion’s share of federal money allocated to fight whitebark pine beetle infestation. Wyoming got some but not enough according to Gov. Dave Freudenthal and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

The NRDC asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to place the whitebark pine tree on the Endangered Species Act protection list more than a year ago. Hearing nothing since, attorneys filed a lawsuit last Wednesday.

The beetle is living high off the hog thanks to global warming. Warmer temperatures have increased the beetles’ numbers at high elevation where the whitebark pines like to grow. According to NRDC, North America’s high-elevation ecosystems are some of the fastest-warming areas and the extreme cold snaps that used to limit the insects’ breeding have not been present for many years.   JHW

Courtesy Photo
The Majestic Tetons

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Them on us: Pine beetles near | Planet JH News Article: General News

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