CIRCLE, Mont. -- Montana is suffering from wildfires and possibly the worst drought in 30 years, bringing lots of pain to farmers and ranchers.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, 12 percent of the state is experiencing "exceptional drought," the highest level measured. The northeastern part of the state has been hardest hit by drought conditions.
Brant Quick, a farmer and rancher near Circle and member of the Northern Plains Resource Council, said people in the area are turning to costly solutions such as trucking in hay.
"Of course, that trickles down to the businesses in town and everybody feels the effects of it,” Quick said.
Wildfires are exacerbating the problem. The Lodgepole Complex of fires in eastern Montana's Garfield County is the largest in the nation, and has burned more than 400 square miles.
Montanans such as Mark Fix, a rancher and irrigator near Miles City and also a member of the Northern Plains Resource Council, say climate change is making things worse. A study by Climate Central found Montana has seen a greater increase in large fires than any other state in the last 45 years.
According to States at Risk, a project that assesses the effect of climate change on each state, Montana faces one of the highest threats from drought over the next three decades. Fix said he's noticed a shift in weather patterns.
"It sure seems like climate change is playing a big part, because it just doesn't seem like these are the normal weather patterns and stuff,” Fix said. "It just seems like everything's kind of twisted around and we're getting some strange weather occurrences. "
Quick is skeptical about how much humans are contributing to climate change. But he said even if humans aren't the leading cause, we shouldn't be making the effects worse. That's why he's become an advocate of using cover crops to sequester carbon in the soil.
Quick said the method has a number of benefits, including capturing carbon before it enters the atmosphere, decreasing the ground temperature during situations such as the current drought, and more.
"It also lowers your need for inputs of artificial fertilizers and also will help break up insects and other pest cycles and that type of thing,” he said. "It just puts everything back in balance."
Quick said so far, this has been the driest summer for the area since record-keeping began in 1907.
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A new report found four dams in the Columbia River Basin are big emitters of methane.
Research from the organization Tell The Dam Truth showed the four lower Snake River dams in eastern Washington emit the equivalent of 1.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide each year.
Robin Everett, deputy western region field director for the Sierra Club, said it undercuts some of the claims the dams are helping provide the region with clean energy.
"It's really clear from this report that we have to take this a lot more seriously that there are some real impacts as far as emissions go from these dams," Everett asserted.
The reports showed the dams produce the equivalent emissions of burning 2 billion pounds of coal annually. Defenders of the dams counted they are important for barging and irrigation for the area's agricultural lands.
But Everett pointed out the dams have another effect on the region: they block the dwindling population of salmon and steelhead from traveling upstream on the Snake River. She noted it not only hurts fish populations but the tribes relying on them.
"We have an obligation for them to be able to fish and if there are no fish to fish, we have broken the treaties," Everett contended
Chinook salmon are also an important source of food for orca on the West Coast. Everett added protecting salmon is important for tribes and the region as a whole.
"Our moral obligation to the salmon and the orca that depend on them are met as well," Everett concluded.
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A proposed pumped-storage hydroelectric facility for Cuffs Run near the Susquehanna River in York County has been challenged by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
The foundation filed a motion to intervene in the proceedings with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which is considering granting a preliminary permit to build a 1.8-mile-long dam for the project.
Harry Campbell, science policy and advocacy director for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, said they are working to stop the project in order to protect the unique Cuffs Run area and its ecological benefits for future generations.
"If approved, this project would destroy it about 580 acres of prime farmland, fields and forests, some of which have not been disturbed in about 100 years," Campbell pointed out. "Those farms, fields and forests exist harmoniously with and in support of a plethora of plant and animal life."
The foundation is circulating an online petition and encouraged Pennsylvanians to provide comments before Sunday.
The stream is home to naturally reproducing brook trout. Advocates worry the $2.5 billion project would also be harmful to the Susquehanna River. Campbell noted about 40 families would be displaced.
"For those who call Cuffs Run home, it's more than just a place to live. It's their heritage and they want it to be part of their legacy," Campbell asserted. "This project just simply is the wrong idea in the wrong place. In order to honor that heritage and that legacy, we need to preserve this area."
Campbell emphasized the Cuffs Run project is about 993 acres of land draining into a 2.5-mile unnamed tributary. He added in terms of stream habitat, the rocks, pebbles and woody material have been identified as among the best in the region for supporting critters living in the water.
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Tennesseans want more say in how the Tennessee Valley Authority plans for their future electricity needs and a bill now in Congress could give the public more influence.
The "TVA Increase Rate of Participation Act," would require a more open decision-making process for the utility.
Brianna Knisley, director of public power campaigns for Appalachian Voices, said the TVA is currently developing its new Integrated Resource Plan to meet future energy demands. The bill would require more public participation in the plan's proceedings.
"Right now the stakeholders who get to provide input early on in the IRP process are all hand-selected by TVA," Knisley pointed out. "You can't choose to be in that IRP working group. And those are the only folks who get substantial input in the architecture of the IRP, as it's being designed."
The utility serves more than 10 million people across six states. The TVA said it is reviewing the legislation. A draft of the plan will be published at a later date. The TVA said it already has a "robust stakeholder engagement plan."
After the plan is released, Knisley noted public input happens during what's known as the scoping phase of the National Environmental Policy Act. Open houses are set up, where the TVA answers questions from the public. Knisley encouraged Tennesseans to raise any of their concerns during the public and virtual hearings.
"I think additional public input into our region's long-term energy plan is only going to strengthen outcomes," Knisley contended. "And make that long-term energy plan better meet the needs of the Tennessee Valley, as a whole."
She added it is important for Tennesseans to work with Congress on the best way to improve public input in the TVA decision-making process.
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