NEWS

Survey: Canyon visitors firmly grounded Those who drive to the Grand Canyon are keen on clean air, conservation and geology, but not so fond of riding all-terrain vehicles there, gambling in general or taking helicopter tours, a recent Northern Arizona University survey shows. These conservation-minded tourists stay longer, spend more -- $1,131 on average per group -- and care about the environment more than other vacationers, the Travel Industry Association of America said. Whether they also will care to visit a glitzy theme park proposed for a 1,000-acre site near Williams 60 miles south of Grand Canyon Village is another question. "They really fit the pattern of what the travel industry has called geotourists," said Cheryl Cothran, director of the yearlong tourism survey from NAU's Hospitality Research and Resource Center....
Only who can prevent fires? The money that aided Duryea's group came from the National Fire Plan, an August 2000 directive to provide more money for fire fighting and reducing risky fire conditions in and around the nation's forests. Critics say the National Fire Plan isn't providing enough money for projects like Windcliff and that funding similar private programs could cut the rising costs for fire suppression and hazardous fuels treatment on public lands. The U.S. Forest Service has spent more than $1 billion fighting fires in three of the past five years. It's especially puzzling given that 85 percent of the nation's land most at-risk for fire is state, local or private, critics say. A report released this spring by the Wilderness Society said that an average of 7.8 percent of the nation's wildland fire funding has gone toward state and local assistance since 2001....
Rising prices bring oil boom to Utah County In the high, open county of southeastern Utah County, a Denver-based company is getting ready to sink an exploratory well nearly 13,000 feet into the geologic fold of ancient sandstone. High prices and a substantial strike in Sevier County have sparked interest and brought oil and gas exploration to Utah County. "Higher oil price has spurred a lot of interest in oil companies getting out on the ground," said Jim Springer of the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining. Denver-based Ansbro Petroleum Co. has a freshly approved permit to drill a well in the southeastern part of the county. It is one of more than 100 such permits approved by the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining this month. As of Friday afternoon, 606 drilling permits for oil and gas wells have been issued -- 207 in April -- in Utah this year. Most of them were in Uintah County. The permit approval pace already has outstripped activity last year, when by the end of May, 424 permits had been issued....
Agencies working together on restoration Reclamation of abandoned oil and gas field sites has been a contentious issue with federal and state land and conservation agencies for many years. But the tide is turning. The oil and gas industry is now working with the agencies on restoration efforts, federal and state agency officials said. A new federal pilot program — the Environmental Quality Improvement Program — is being implemented, and the industry has expressed a willingness to participate. The program is geared toward improving the habitat of the endangered lesser prairie chicken and the sand dune lizard, which is being considered for the endangered species list. Last week, Marathon Oil Company donated $40,000 to the New Mexico Association of Conservation Districts to support the non-profit organization’s efforts to help the Bureau of Land Management implement the program in Eddy and Lea counties....

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