A beautiful evening in the Salmon Valley

Salmon Valley this week. Still some snow on the mountains.

Oregon Field Guide: Columbia Gorge: The Fight for Paradise

Imagine a beautiful mountain side or river gorge that slowly disappeared as more homes, subdivisions and strip malls were constructed. That’s what the folks in Oregon dealt with over the past few decades. OPB’s Oregon Field Guide tackles the issue of preserving land from over development.

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Environmental Protection Falls to State Budget Cuts (AP Story)

(AP)

BOISE, Idaho – When lightning ignited a wildfire near Idaho’s Sun Valley in 2007, environmental regulators used monitoring gear to gauge the health effects for those breathing in the Sawtooth Mountains’ smoky, mile-high air.

Salmon Recovery Timeline

TIMELINE: By Oregonian

1991/92: Federal government lists Snake River sockeye as an endangered species, others as threatened.

Earth: A view from space.

The beautiful earth view from the International Space Station.

LABRADOR CO-SPONSORS BILL TO END ALL ENERGY SUBSIDIES

(WASHINGTON, D.C.)-Congressman Raúl Labrador (ID-01) announced today at a press conference in front of the U.S. Capitol that he has co-sponsored the “Energy Freedom and Economic Prosperity Act,” legislation that if enacted would permanently end all taxpayer subsidies for the energy industry.

GOVERNOR: JEREMY HILL DECISION WELCOME, BUT ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT MUST BE FIXED

(BOISE) – Governor C. L. “Butch” Otter issued the following statement today in reaction to the decision to drop federal criminal charges against a northern Idaho man who shot a protected grizzly bear on his property in May.

Welcome Home Salmon (Photos)

Point of View: By Aaron Kunz

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By mid-August, the evening and morning temperatures at Stanley, Idaho hover around 31 degrees.  At least that’s what the built in temperature gauge on the green Idaho Public Television Tahoe told us.  The air temperature was colder than the water in the nearby Salmon River and Redfish Lake causing an early morning mist on the water surface.

Study: Changing climate could cut Western trout habitat in half

BOISE, Idaho—A new study shows a changing climate could reduce suitable trout habitat in the western U.S. by about 50 percent over the next 70 years, with some trout species experiencing greater declines than others. The results were reported by a team of 11 scientists from Trout Unlimited, the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, Colorado State University, the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Washington Climate Impacts Group.

11th Circuit Court Finds Individual Health Insurance Mandate Unconstitutional

Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.

BOISE, Idaho — The Atlanta based 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that the individual mandate of the Obama Health Care Act is unconstitutional.  The decision sides with the argument raised by 26 states including Idaho that the individual mandate that requires people to enter into contracts with private insurance companies.  The three justices on the panel lead by Chief Judge Joel Dubina said that provision “exceeds Congress enumerated commerce power”.