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Open for Business: Gov’t to Erect $98,670 Outhouse in Alaska

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Photo Credit: Romtec

Photo Credit: Romtec

The Federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently paid $98,670 for the purchase and installation of an outhouse at the Swede Park Trail Head in Alaska.

The purchase includes a single-vault Romtec 1011 “Aspen Single” prefabricated waterless toilet and its installation at the parking area for the trail head.

KJ Mushovic of the BLM tells CNSNews.com, “Almost half of it (contract expense) is for the cost of the toilet.”

The Oregon based company Romtec lists the “Aspen Single” model on its website for “as low as $9,999”, but the BLM says the price they paid likely includes shipping to Alaska.

“And the cost of all the materials that will have to be taken to the site, Mushovic said. “There will be earthwork that’ll have to be done.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama’s Interior Department Releases Plan to Close 1.6 Million Acres to Shale Oil Development

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photo credit: farther along
The Interior Department on Friday issued a final plan to close 1.6 million acres of federal land in the West originally slated for oil shale development.

The proposed plan would fence off a majority of the initial blueprint laid out in the final days of the George W. Bush administration. It faces a 30-day protest period and a 60-day process to ensure it is consistent with local and state policies. After that, the department would render a decision for implementation.

The move is sure to rankle Republicans, who say President Obama’s grip on fossil fuel drilling in federal lands is too tight.

Interior’s Bureau of Land Management cited environmental concerns for the proposed changes. Among other things, it excised lands with “wilderness characteristics” and areas that conflicted with sage grouse habitats.

Read more from this story HERE.