F

or confirmation of the Rocky Mountain region's stature as a U.S. energy infrastructure backbone, go to Washington, D.C., where on May 26, 2006, Dirk Kempthorne – until that moment the governor of Idaho – was sworn in as U.S. Secretary of the Interior. He now oversees 20 percent of U.S. land, 80,000 employees and a US$9- billion budget. Issue No. 1 will be regional differences in how the department treats states: Current policy nets the Rocky Mountain states a 50- 50 split of oil and gas development revenues, while states with significant offshore energy development activity get nil.
   Before he left office, Kempthorne was one of several Rocky Mountain governors to sign into law other infrastructure measures, like Idaho's $1.2- billion "Connecting Idaho" highway program, to be funded with Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle (GARVEE) bonds. Meanwhile, Union Pacific and BNSF, under pressure because of coalfield train backups, are investing approximately $100 million to expand their jointly owned rail line in Wyoming's Powder River Basin.
   This year we asked the states to help us take a look at recent physical infrastructure projects and programs in the

Rocky Mountain Infrastructure Charts (click thumbnails below)
Highway, rail, electric power and spec space	Airport, port, water and sewer, telecom and education

Rocky Mountain states. The accompanying charts show the results, which may in turn help determine some site selection results.
   Mineral resources indeed underlie all that Rockies scenery. But a related unifying factor is a strong engineering tradition – present across industries as well as higher education institutions – that is making itself known via another measure of infrastructure: the human capital variety. The annual Cyberstates report on high- tech employment released by the AeA in April found that Colorado, despite a slight drop in total employment, remains the state with the highest concentration of tech industry workers, at 89 of every 1,000 private sector workers, earning an average salary of $76,400. In Idaho, the AeA found that high- tech exports increased from $1.9 billion in 2004 to $2.3 billion in 2005, comprising 69 percent of the state's total exports. In Utah, they only comprise 16 percent, but the state's reputation for entrepreneurialism is well- earned, as it saw venture capital investments of $248 million in 2005, up 23 percent from $202 million in 2004.
   The region's technical prowess shows itself in both corporate and public projects, both under way and under consideration. Examples of the former range from the Center for Bio- Inspired Nanomaterials at Montana State University in Bozeman to the $100- million, 365- job, 195,000- sq.- ft. (18,116- sq.- m.) manufacturing expansion by biopharmaceutical firm Cephalon in Salt Lake City, which saw approval of a $2.1 million incentive by the Governor's Office of Economic Development in April.
   An example of the latter is the still- percolating $300- million Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory that will be run by the National Science Foundation. The Foundation's search has come down to the closed Homestake gold mine in South Dakota and the active Henderson molybdenum mine near Empire, Colo., west of Denver. The Colorado option has the full backing of both the Denver legislature and the mine operator, Phelps Dodge Corp.