Idaho pols stop short of endorsing federal land transfer

The state-level politicians in Idaho and Utah, and now Nevada, keep on tinkering with the idea of having fedearl public lands within their borders transferred to state management. I can visualize all sorts of business-happy blight coming from this: Billboards, not cottonwood trees, gracing the landscape of the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area south of Boise; oil and gas wells dotting the Great Basin Desert in all three states; converting the fake lake reservoirs behind hydro dams like American Falls into Jet Ski playgrounds (with motels and grab-and-go store gas stations dotting the shoreline where American white pelicans once lived their lives. You can read about the Idaho clowns right here.

Another climate change victim: The Ameridcan Pika

I saw a Pika many decades ago while hiking in Idaho, my home state. Read about this tiny critter and what us humans are doing to it.