ST. PAUL, Minn. - Several conservation groups are calling on the federal government to require the state to reduce haze over Minnesota's national parks and wilderness areas. Chuck Laszewski with the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy says they've petitioned the Departments of Interior and Agriculture to include some tough clean-up measures in a draft plan now being drawn up by the state Pollution Control Agency.
He says one target is emissions from what he cites as one of the area's worst pollution offenders, the state's largest generating plant, run by Xcel Energy in Sherburne County.
"The air over some of our most pristine areas, particularly the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and Voyageurs National Park, suffers from haze many days of the year. It shouldn't. When people go to those places, they should have crystal-clear skies to look at."
He also includes the Isle Royale National Parks as a haze victim. The groups want the Pollution Agency plan being drafted to reduce the emissions and haze and improve the region's air quality.
The EPA says the Xcel coal plant in Sherburne County is considered the biggest polluter of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide in the state. Xcel notes that, over the years, it has implemented whatever controls were necessary to meet regulations, and says it will continue to comply with any reasonable guidelines.
Laszewski says the coastal scenery in Isle Royale and other national parks should not have to be viewed through a haze. And he says the sources are well-known.
"It's the particulates, basically, that come out of coal-fired power plants and out of taconite processing plants. In particular, we're asking that they use the best available technology to cut those types of pollutants."
He says the petition asks the federal government to order the state to act more thoroughly than the state plan now being considered. The advocates want tougher rules, and they say getting the feds involved will help bring pressure.
Other groups in the federal petition for stronger haze reductions are the National Parks Conservation Association, Voyageurs National Park Association and Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness.
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The Bureau of Land Management proposed a new plan for public lands in southwest Wyoming, that makes some headway for conservation.
The BLM's new resource management plan for the 3.6 million acre Rock Springs Field Office is the first update since 1997.
According to the agency, the plan incorporates both new science and updated federal priorities including renewable energy and federal-Tribal relations.
The BLM must consider mining, grazing, recreation interests and - as of a rule effective in June - the "health and resilience of ecosystems."
Meghan Riley, wildlife program manager with the Wyoming Outdoors Council, said some parts of the plan strike an effective balance - for example, prioritizing greater sage-grouse and big-game species in the area's northern portion.
"It's sort of a win-win," said Riley, "because there's limited potential and even no potential for a lot of mineral development in that area."
The agency had four alternative plans to work with, and chose a mix of what it calls the "conservation" and "balanced" options.
In a statement, Gov. Mark Gordon said the new one "does not meet Wyoming's expectations."
The final mix of options significantly scales back some conservation opportunities, including cutting the number of areas of environmental concern from 16 to 12.
Riley said the plan could have further protected crucial wildlife habitats such as winter range and migration corridors across the whole area, rather than applying the strongest protections in only a few locations.
"Having management actions that are tied to specific habitat types might allow the agency to be more nimble," said Riley, "in updating management as new maps and data are available from the state."
The public protest period runs through September 23.
Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.
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The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation has issued flood alerts following wildfires burning huge swaths of the state.
Floods are more likely after fires because there is less vegetation on the land to absorb water. At least 64 wildfires are burning in Montana right now and the state is closing in on a thousand for the year.
While wildfires can burn quickly and threaten structures and human lives, they create another danger even after the flames are out.
Traci Sears, national flood insurance program coordinator for the department, said the blazes leave behind acres of barren land unable to absorb rain water.
"Essentially, that soil actually becomes what they call 'hydrophobic,'" Sears explained. "It will repel water almost like concrete would. It can cause situations where you don't just have flooding but you could actually have mud flows as well."
The state is creating an interactive flood plain map to track where floods are likely to happen and to help residents plan for them when heavy rains come.
The severity of the flooding varies based on the terrain and type of vegetation destroyed by the fire but Sears pointed out it can take as long as seven years for some areas to regrow shrubs and other ground cover, and longer for trees. On the positive side, Sears noted the issue is drawing more attention because the state has been making residents more aware of the threat.
"There has definitely been more awareness, I would say, in the last six to seven years," Sears observed. "Montana has been really proactive in working not just with the flooding department but also looking and working with our fire department as well, to try and coordinate on some of this messaging."
The fires in Montana have scorched nearly 90,000 acres as dry and windy conditions persist throughout the western United States.
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The federal government is looking to combat the climate crisis and protect public lands in Utah and around the country by empowering young adults.
Ken Goodson, director of the National Civilian Community Corps for AmeriCorps, said its newly launched partnership with the U.S. Forest Service will give people ages 18-26 hands-on experience in wildfire mitigation, reforestation, conservation and resource management.
"The origin story here is largely one based on successful history of AmeriCorps programs and working in the environmental, conservations space," Goodson pointed out. "Then just the increasing risk that we see through a greater frequency of fires and a greater intensity of fires, particularly here in the Mountain West."
Goodson pointed out the U.S. Forest Service launched its wildfire crisis and reforestation strategies over a year ago and approached AmeriCorps in an effort to grow its "people power" to implement both strategies, and invest in a future workforce.
Goodson said the Forest Corps is one of the first new programs launched as part of President Biden's American Climate Corps, an initiative aimed at training young people in high-demand skill areas for jobs in the clean energy sector.
"Under the Climate Corps initiative you have the opportunity to help get these disparate efforts largely rowing in the same direction," Goodson emphasized. "Thinking about greater, collective impact and then also individual programs being able to share their successes, their challenges."
More than 40,000 acres have burned in Utah so far this year, significantly more than last year's 18,000 acres.
With climate change having an effect, Goodson added it is another reason the Forest Corps program is so needed.
"The moment in time right now with fires becoming more frequent and more intense really causes me to feel like the Forest Corps is the right program for the right time and would certainly welcome any 18- to 26-year-olds who are interested to please check us out," Goodson concluded.
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