The right of all citizens to request a preliminary injunction was upheld in a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling Tuesday in a case brought by two environmental groups.

The appeals court set a precedent by defining at what point citizens groups may obtain a preliminary injunction to stop federal projects in the Western states.

“This landmark precedent is vitally important because the court ruled that citizens can still get injunctions to temporarily stop government actions, such as clearcutting, while a case is being heard,” said Michael Garrity, executive director of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies, which, along with the Native Ecosystems Council, was a plaintiff in the original lawsuit at the district court level.

“Environmentalists aren’t the only victors today,” said Garrity. “Right now we have farmers and ranchers fighting proposed transmission lines to export power from Montana,” said Garrity. “This ruling preserves the right of all citizens to request a preliminary injunction to stop construction before the damage is done.”

….

“The preliminary injunction is a critical tool for environmentalists because it allows opponents of a project to stave off an imminent destructive project,” she said.

Brown said the issue clarifies the Supreme Court ruling in Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Council, in which the court refused to grant plaintiffs an injunction against the U.S. Navy’s use of sonar off the California coast. In that case, the Supreme Court allowed Navy maneuvers to continue despite plaintiffs’ contention that such use was causing damage to whales and other sea mammals.

Under the Winter decision, plaintiffs must establish that irreparable harm is likely, not just possible, in order to obtain a preliminary injunction.

“In the wake of the Supreme Court decision in Winter v. NRDC, the Department of Justice began arguing nationally that Winter substantially curtailed plaintiffs’ ability to obtain injunctive relief, and that the sliding scale test – which allows the court to balance the often-great magnitude of environmental harm against the likelihood of plaintiff’s success – was no longer good law,” Brown explained.

“We put DOJ’s theory to the test, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in our favor,” she said. “This is vitally important because it can be difficult to fully demonstrate damages when confronted with the short timelines and incomplete agency decision-making records that are common in preliminary injunction cases.”

At this point, the Justice Department could ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review this Ninth Circuit decision, and all parties are waiting to see if that happens. If no Supreme Court review is sought, this case goes back to the U.S. District Court in Missoula, Montana for a ruling on the merits.

via Appeals Court Upholds Environmentalists’ Right to a Preliminary Injunction.

A number of the modules Imperial Oil intends to transport from Idaho through Montana now line the edge of the container yard at the Port of Lewiston, awaiting oversized permits from both states. The loads take up two lanes of highway, are longer than a hockey rink and weigh 200,000 pounds more than the Statue of Liberty. by Alex Sakariassen

Rich Wesson told me the first four megaloads are set to roll up scenic highway 12 over the Lolo Pass into Montana on their way to the Alberta tar sands. The Missoula Independent has an article about the megaloads, lengthy but a full summary and one of the best I’ve read.

Rich writes:

The first two loads will probably leave Lewiston Feb. 1.  Locals like the Friends of the Clearwater have called for peaceful protests on Jan. 29 or 31 at 11 a.m. in Lewiston, either at the bridge or more likely at the IDT office there.  If that happens, I’ll be going and will be able to take people with me who would like to go and ride together.  Bob, Lynne and I attended a direct action protest seminar last Monday and I strongly suspect that there will be an escalation of the protests sooner or later.  After the first four loads, which are imminent, the next 207 loads will have to  go through their own permitting process.

For those wanting to know just a little more about the Alberta Tar Sands, a trailer for the movie H2 Oil is here.

Update from the Friends of the Clearwater:

We would like to invite you to a 2nd peaceful public rally on *Saturday January 29th* on the Memorial Bridge in Lewiston. A car-pool will be leaving from the Eastside Marketplace in Moscow at 12 noon. Look for us on the south side of the parking lot, close to Highway 8. Our scheduled snow-show hike for the 29th has now been cancelled and will be re-scheduled pending on weather conditions. Sorry for any inconvenience.

The rally is to defend the Wild & Scenic Clearwater and Lochsa River corridor from Big Oil’s mega-loads and will last from 1-3pm. Parking is available at the Pepsi Ball Field, which is adjacent to the bridge. The event is family friendly and we encourage you to bring signs, banners and musical instruments. We will be walking along the west side of the bridge, just upstream from the Port of Lewiston.

If you cannot make it to the public rally on Saturday 29th, you are invited to join us for a press conference in the parking lot of the Lewiston ITD office on *Monday January 31st*. A number of groups and citizens will be giving statements to the media. Event is family friendly and will last from 11am-1pm. A car-pool will be leaving from Eastside Marketplace in Moscow at 10am. Look for us on the south side of the parking lot, close to Highway 8. The Conoco Phillips mega-loads are set to begin moving up U.S. Route 12 on Tuesday February 1st. Please contact our office (208) 882-9755 if you are interested in helping us monitor the loads traveling on the highway. They will be moving between 10pm and 5am. The ExxonMobil loads are still sitting at the Port and have not been given permits yet.

ExxonMobil has over 30 mega-loads at the Port of Lewiston. A series of locks and dams are being repaired on the Columbia River and when they are re-opened in late March, the remaining 177 oil-processing modules will be shipped up river. ExxonMobil has requested to truck 207 mega-loads up the Wild & Scenic Lochsa River corridor so that it can expand its Tar Sands strip-mining operation in Alberta, Canada. Learn more here.

Hope to see you at the public events in Lewiston.

Map of Central Cascades from National Geographic

The National Geographic Society today unveiled its latest Geotourism MapGuide, which highlights the sustainable places and attractions in the Central Cascades region of the Pacific Northwest. Based on recommendations of local residents and business owners, the MapGuide showcases authentic and sustainable ways to experience the dynamic landscape, pioneering culture and recreational treasures of the Central Cascades areas of Washington and Oregon.

The Central Cascades MapGuide will be available in the West Coast edition of the May/June issue of National Geographic Traveler magazine, as well as through a new Web site, www.TheCentralCascades.com.

“We are thrilled that Oregon and Washington have seen this challenging, multi-year project through to its successful completion,” remarked John Francis, National Geographic’s vice president for Research, Conservation and Exploration. “In defining this region by what its residents most treasure, you have made great strides toward ensuring its geographical character for future generations.”

The MapGuide features more than 200 geotourism sites selected by the National Geographic Society and regional committees, based on more than 1,200 nominations from local residents. Points of interest include cultural, recreational, agricultural, natural and geological attractions and activities that promote sustainable travel throughout the Central Cascades. The MapGuide also features full-color photography from Northwest photographers and famed National Geographic cartography.

“It is much more than a map,” said Todd Davidson, CEO of Travel Oregon. “Reading the MapGuide, a visitor gains a sense of the Central Cascades area as unique to any other place on Earth. Not only does it inspire travel, but it also instills a desire to celebrate and preserve our singular landscape, culture and regional identity.”

“The Central Cascades area is filled with unparalleled natural beauty and authentic travel experiences, from hiking Mount Rainier to windsurfing in the Columbia River Gorge,” said Marsha Massey, executive director of Washington State Tourism. “This MapGuide truly captures the spirit of the region, and we are honored to partner with the National Geographic Society in promoting sustainable tourism in Washington and Oregon.”

The double-sided, large-format-print MapGuide measures 25″ x 37″ and features such famed landmarks as Mount Rainier’s Paradise Lodge and Oregon’s Timberline Lodge, as well as many lesser-known “hidden gems” like Pigman’s Organic Produce Patch and Joe’s Donuts, a local icon for extra-large fritters. Also highlighted are scenic byways; birding, hiking and biking trails; public markets; shops; galleries; festivals; and events. The Central Cascades, as designated by the National Geographic Society, stretches from Mount Rainier National Park in Washington to Crater Lake National Park in Oregon and is loosely bounded by Highway 97 to the east and Interstate 5 to the west.

“Having grown up in the Northwest, I am proud to have my restaurant included on the National Geographic MapGuide,” said Karen Lasher, Chef/Owner, Around the Table, Camas, Wash. “Sustainable tourism is an important part of my business and my community, and I hope this MapGuide will inspire travelers to visit our beautiful region.”

More information about the Central Cascades MapGuide, including ordering information and details on the National Geographic Society’s geotourism program, can be found at www.TheCentralCascades.com and www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/sustainable.

MapGuide Background

The National Geographic Society’s Center for Sustainable Destinations provided project direction under Jonathan Tourtellot, the center’s director, and James Dion, associate director. National Geographic Maps, led by chief cartographer Allen Carroll, handled the cartography.

Lead project partners include Travel Oregon, Washington State Tourism and the Central Cascades Geotourism Stewardship Council, with regional coordination provided by Sustainable Travel International, Sustainable Northwest and Rural Development Initiatives.

Significant funding and technical support were provided by Travel Oregon, Washington State Tourism, U.S. Forest Service-Pacific Northwest Region, Bureau of Land Management Oregon State Office, Oregon Cultural Trust, Clackamas County Tourism Development Council, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Central Oregon Visitors Association, Southern Oregon Visitors Association, Greater Portland Regional Partners, Travel Lane County and the Columbia River Gorge Visitors Association.

The National Geographic Society has worked with community-based alliances to develop similar geotourism MapGuides in several other regions around the world. MapGuide projects have been completed or are ongoing in Greater Yellowstone, the Crown of the Continent (Alberta, British Columbia, Montana), Guatemala, Sonoran Desert (Arizona, Sonora), Romania, Norway, Honduras, Peru, Baja California, Rhode Island, Vermont and Appalachia.

The solar collectors lie along a biking and hiking path. At night, the energy collected during the day is used to illuminate blue LEDs, while extra energy collected is fed back into the grid.

The impersonal hellishness of freeway systems is being mitigated, a bit, in Istanbul. A garden has been planted inside a cloverleaf interchange.

Photos via Nezahat Gökyiğit Botanical Garden (inset) and the Istanbul Governor's Office.

The complete story is over on Treehugger, but here’s the jist:

In connection with the Urban Age conference hosted this week in Istanbul, the German bank for the third time issued an open call for entries of projects that “benefit communities and local residents by improving their urban environments.” Out of 87 entries received, a jury shortlisted five — including the Nezahat Gökyiğit Botanical Garden.

“Located improbably in the ‘urban voids’ created by a vast motorway spaghetti-junction on the Asian side of Istanbul, the Ali Nihat Gökyiğit Foundation has created a series of landscaped spaces that provide sanctuary for plants and people in the middle of a dystopian urban setting,” the Deutsche Bank Urban Age Award jury announced.

Established in 1995, the 125-acre botanical garden contains more than 17,000 species of plants and is the city’s largest replanted green area. The facility includes a special children’s garden where schoolkids learn how to grow and care for flowers and vegetables; an area devoted to drought-tolerant plants and those useful in combating soil erosion and desertification; and a section for medicinal plants.

We hope you’ll check it out, leave comments and suggests topics for us to post about. Or, as with Puck, submit an article or photo yourself!

Unpacking Place

About a year ago, I used a bunch of still photos taken by Jolie and did a video reinterpretation of “Unpacking Place,” an installation in the Cougarland Motel in downtown Pullman. Along with 10 other artworks, “Unpacking Place” was available to the public for one day, March 2, 2007. The collection of installations was curated by Samantha DiRosa, assistant professor of digital media, and titled “In(n) and Out of Nowhere.”

You are looking at pictures of our family home in Wales. It was built by myself and my father in law with help from passers by and visiting friends. 4 months after starting we were moved in and cosy. I estimate 1000-1500 man hours and £3000 put in to this point. Not really so much in house buying terms (roughly £60/sq m excluding labour).

What is going on in Wales that passersby stop to help you build your house? The last time a passerby stopped to help was when I was moving in a subletter for my old place in San Francisco. He helped mightily, hefted heavy boxes, the whole nine yards. And also gummied the back door so that the next day, when no one was around, he could slide on in and steal the subber’s laptop.

I can only guess that this “low-impact woodland home” is likely situated in a shire with a low crime rate, so my cynicism does not apply. As it’s dug into the side of a hill (and uses the displaced earth in the elegant, oh so English garden landscaping), it’s got to be snug in the winter and cool in the summer. The designer (I assume), Simon Dale (tho’ the entire site is, perhaps intentionally, rather anonymous), writes further:

The house was built with maximum regard for the environment and by reciprocation gives us a unique opportunity to live close to nature. Being your own (have a go) architect is a lot of fun and allows you to create and enjoy something which is part of yourself and the land rather than, at worst, a mass produced box designed for maximum profit and convenience of the construction industry. Building from natural materials does away with producers profits and the cocktail of carcinogenic poisons that fill most modern buildings.

“Being your own architect” is daunting, but this site has plans, opportunities for involvement, and lots of DIY manifestos about sustainability, permaculture, and green building. And you can’t beat this interior, clearly the work of some smart and talented folks.