Just as a U.S. judge has been the primary force for determining the fate of endangered salmon in the Columbia, a judge now will look into why salmon numbers are down in British Columbia’s Fraser River.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed Supreme Court Justice Brice Cohen to look into the mysterious drop in sockeye returns to the Fraser River, British Columbia’s top salmon producer.

The Obama administration and the region’s federal dam managers are pinning their hopes to the scientific reputation of Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The economy has been hurting but that hasn’t kept people away from the world’s first national park.

Yellowstone’s visitation through October already sets a record for annual visits. The park recorded 3,267,683 visitors from January through October this year. That was well above the 3,037,557 recorded for the same ten month period in 2008, and 116,340 more than the 3,151,343 visitors recorded for all twelve months of 2007.

Idaho Power Co. gets a chance at a big chunk of stimulus money but it doesn’t have it yet.

The utility is negotiating with Department of Energy officials the details of the “smart grid proposal” that goes beyond installing smart meters on customers’ homes. If it plays it cards right Idaho Power will get a great chance to catch up to the enlightened utilities like Xcel who are already operating pilot projects to demonstrate smart grid technology.

Standing knee deep in the Boise River along the Bethine Church Nature Trail it is easy to forget you are in a city of 200,000 people.

The river in the fall is very different than the river of summer, filled with inner tubes and rafts. The fishing is as good as any outside of Idaho’s roadless and wilderness areas.

New West columnist Bill Schneider of Montana asks somewhat politically naively why Congress can’t put President Bill Clinton’s roadless rule into law.

Wilderness Society President Bill Meadows proposal for National Climate Trusts has already prompted some great debate that I thought I would share.

Wilderness Society President Bill Meadows proposal for National Climate Trusts likely won’t end up locking away from the timber industry millions of new acres.

The reality nationwide is that the United States gets only 2 percent of our fiber from public lands. The rest comes from private forests that are managed for fiber and timber production.

Michael Buck sees the world through the eyes of a forester on a tropical island in the Pacific. As the director of Hawaii’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife, he had to make tough decisions in a political atmosphere that was tough and laden with competing values.

The census will soon determine how much clout the West has in Congress and how much money it cities states and counties will get in federal funding.

Idaho will need to show it has about 182,000 more people than its estimated population of 1.5 million in 2008 if it wants to get another Congressional seat. That’s not going to happen.

But Utah, Arizona, Nevada and Oregon are expecting new seats while California could actually lose seats.