The Yellowstone
Net Newspaper Monday October 27, 1997 Vol. 1 No. 8 |
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MORE NEWS The Yellowstone Net Newspaper is published on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays ARCHIVES DISCUSSION FORUMS Go to Yellowstone Net Home Page Note: In-house stories are signified by the abbreviation YNET. Otherwise, the stories herein are from outside sources, to which proper credit is given.
Publisher / Editor Staff Writers |
The U.S. House of Representatives has approved the a bill which includes the cash to buy out the New World Mine near the northeast corner of Yellowstone. The Interior bill which was approved would pay Crown Butte Mines Inc. $65 million to abandon the New World Mine. The bill would also appropriate $12 million to repair and maintain the famous Beartooth highway which runs from Red Lodge, Montana, to the northeast gate of Yellowstone Park. In addition, the bill calls for a transfer of $10 million worth of federal mining rights to the state of Montana for possible future development. The bill as passed differs from the original proposal of over a year ago in the transfer of the mining rights for possible future development. Environmentalists and some of the other original backers of the New World deal are fearful that the transfer of mining rights will lead to the exploitation of other environmentally sensitive areas in Montana. Nonetheless, the bill garnered the backing of a significant number of both Republicans and Democrats, and both of Montana's senators have stated that they will also support the measure. Montana Republican Rick Hill is the author of the buyout plan as passed with the mining rights addition. He previously pushed to have the Rocky Mountain Front in western Montana opened to mining, a proposal which Montana voters defeated. There is the possibility that President Clinton might veto the measure because of the additional mining rights transfer. Several enviromental groups are urging him to do so. The vote does seem to indicate that governmental leaders are in agreement that Yellowstone National Park needs to be protected from development which would threaten its pristine state. On the other hand, the mining rights transfer tacked on the agreement gives notice that the tension between mining (formerly the number one industry in much of the West) and so-called ecotourism (nature-based tourism, anchoring the tourist industy in the West which is now larger than the mining industry and still growing) continues. |
The only road in Yellowstone which will remain open throughout the winter season is the road from Cooke City, Montana, to Mammoth, Wyoming, to Gardiner, Montana. ------------------ Ranchers in the Yellowstone area have not generally been supporters of the Wolf Reintroduction program. The Defenders of Wildlife, a conservation group, has been trying to act as a mediator by financially compensating area ranchers who lose wildlife to sheep. As a part of this effort, Defenders paid some $4,000+ to a Wyoming rancher who lost an estimated 60 sheep to the Yellowstone wolves. ------------------ Colorado and southern Wyoming were hit by the first serious snow storm of the season this past weekend. Denver came to a standstill Saturday, as two-three feet of snow fell througout Colorado. Many roads throughout the state were closed. Southern Wyoming also had a number of road closures. In addition, the mountain ranges in the Yellowstone region received up to three feet of snow from the storm. For updated information on road conditions in Wyoming and Montana, you can now click on the appropriate links in the far left column of this Newspaper.
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