Stimson puts Bonner mill up for sale Just a few weeks after closing the operation, Stimson Lumber is officially putting its Bonner sawmill up for sale, setting the price tag at $16 million. The announcement of the sale plan came Thursday afternoon, as Stimson officials met with Missoula County Commissioners, Congressional representatives, the Forest Service and local economic development leaders. The company is putting the Bonner mill on the market, with plans for the auction block if there are no suitable offers in the next few weeks. Stimson closed the mill for good late last spring, saying market conditions would no longer support continued operation of the mill, which had been running continuously since the 1880s. Stimson spokesman Jeff Webber says market conditions are no better now, telling Montana's News Station the "short and long term timber supply is not good enough to operate the mill"....
Fight heats up for water along Utah/Nevada border Along with a lawsuit filed this week over water on the Utah/Nevada border, Great Basin Water Network expects to file a petition today appealing Nevada State Engineer Tracy Taylor's ruling last month that granted almost 19,000 acre-feet of water rights to the Southern Nevada Water Authority to supply Las Vegas with water. The water rights named in the petition impact the Cave, Dry Lake and Delamar valleys located inland from the border, where Taylor said there is "unappropriated" water for export. Great Basin Water Network board member and Utahn Steve Erickson said Thursday that the timing of the suit in Nevada state court is meant to coincide with developments on another battle over water in the Snake Valley region, which more importantly to Utah is located along the Utah/Nevada border. Erickson's group is alleging Taylor "grossly" overestimated at least the Dry Lake Valley's perennial yield of water, and that for all of the valleys Taylor arbitrarily cut off the time period for which he will consider "potential impacts to downstream water rights holders and the environment."....
BLM has a decision to make regarding wild horse population The Bureau of Land Management says it has some tough decisions to make in September regarding increases in wild horse population and the rising cost of maintaining the "symbol" of Nevada. The BLM says Nevada's wild horse population is at a turning point. They are caught between dwindling food supplies and a government agency facing an economic squeeze. There is a national advisory board meeting scheduled for September where one way or another a decision will be made on what to do with 30,000 wild horses in Nevada. The BLM says the best solution would be to find people to adopt the horses and provide for them but there are more than 1,100 horses at the Palomino Valley BLM facility. Scott Kandel, a horse trainer with a former wild horse of his own, says adoptions are down dramatically because of the price of hay, fuel and the economy. According to the BLM, it cost them $37 million to care for the horses, an estimated cost of $58 million is expected in 2009 and an incredible $72 million estimated for 2012....
Geothermal lease sales strong Federal land managers sold a record $28.2 million in geothermal leases in eight Northern Nevada counties this week, including one parcel where the rights to produce energy from hot water and steam beneath the earth sold for $1,000 per acre. The Reno-based ENEL Geothermal paid the U.S. Bureau of Land Management more than $2.7 million for the 2,707-acre parcel in Churchill County -- one of 35 parcels totaling 105,312 acres of public lands made available under the 10-year leases. Last August, when the BLM sold $11.7 million worth of geothermal leases in Nevada, the highest bid was $520 per acre. As of early this year, Nevada had 40 geothermal projects in development -- more than any other state....