There’s A Challenging Bridge.

The Europabrücke in Switzerland, now the world’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge. © Europaweg.

Have you ever wanted to walk across Switzerland’s Grabengufer valley, but lacked the time for the three-hour hike it requires? Good news: there’s now a shortcut, which cuts down the travel time to fewer than ten minutes. All you have to do is walk through the air.

This new possibility comes from the recently opened Charles Kuonen Suspension Bridge, which, CNN reports, is now the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in the world. The bridge opened for business on Saturday, July 29th, and spans 1640 feet—about the length of seven city blocks. At its highest point, it hangs about 28 stories above the ravine.

In far-off photographs, the bridge resembles a thin silver necklace, stretched between two mountainous shoulders. Close up, it looks more like a walkable roller coaster. While crossing, “it is possible to look into the precipice below one’s feet,” the Zermatt travel board writes in a press release.

Yikes. This would be a challenge for me, but I wouldn’t pass it up if I had the opportunity, either. My partner would adore this, and be an annoyingly happy monkey all the way across.

You can read more at Atlas Obscura.

DAPL Approval Illegal, Judge Finds.

Trump on DAPL. © Marty Two Bulls.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers violated the law in its fast-tracked approval of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), a U.S. District Court Judge in Washington D.C. has ruled. Judge James Boasberg said the Corps did not consider key components of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in granting the Lake Oahe easement under the Missouri River when directed to do so by President Donald Trump shortly after his swearing-in.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, with the Cheyenne River Sioux as interveners, had challenged the approval on the grounds that adequate environmental study had not been conducted. Boasberg agreed on many points, though he did not rule on whether the pipeline should remain operational. It has been carrying oil since June 1.

“Although the Corps substantially complied with NEPA in many areas, the Court agrees that it did not adequately consider the impacts of an oil spill on fishing rights, hunting rights, or environmental justice, or the degree to which the pipeline’s effects are likely to be highly controversial,” Boasberg said in his 91-page decision. “To remedy those violations, the Corps will have to reconsider those sections of its environmental analysis upon remand by the Court. Whether Dakota Access must cease pipeline operations during that remand presents a separate question of the appropriate remedy, which will be the subject of further briefing.”

A status conference will be held next week, according to the environmental law firm EarthJustice, which is representing the tribes in this case. Energy Transfer Partners, the pipeline’s builders, did not respond to requests for comment by press time.

“This is a major victory for the Tribe and we commend the courts for upholding the law and doing the right thing,” said Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault II in a statement. “The previous administration painstakingly considered the impacts of this pipeline and President Trump hastily dismissed these careful environmental considerations in favor of political and personal interests. We applaud the courts for protecting our laws and regulations from undue political influence, and will ask the Court to shut down pipeline operations immediately. ”

Indian Country Today has the full story.

Where there’s the smallest good news, there’s always bad news, and in this case, it comes in the form of Zinke:

“I think, talking to tribes, they’re very happy,” Zinke said of his proposal, adding that he “talked to all parties, and they’re pretty happy and willing to work with us.”

But this is not so, according to tribal representatives. In a June 12 press call hosted by U.S. Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM), the vice-chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Navajo Nation Attorney General Ethel Branch said the tribe’s leaders have “maintained a consistent position that they support the monument designation.

“If there is any happiness,” Branch said,” it’s probably that the monument remains intact as of now.

“I think [the ‘happy’ characterization] is probably just a characterization coming from Trump,” Branch added.

Natalie Landreth, a lawyer with the Native American Rights Fund who represents the Hopi, Zuni and Ute Mountain Ute Tribes on Bears Ears issues, said during the Udall call that the proclamation that set up Bears Ears as a national monument had already formed a structure in which five tribes, known as the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, work together to co-manage the monument.

“It’s unclear exactly what the secretary is suggesting, so until we know more details about what he’s talking about, it’s difficult to have a view on it,” Landreth said. “Our initial reaction on behalf of the three tribes we represent is that this was really a cynical effort to distract Indian country from the devastating blow of reducing the size of the monument.”

Landreth said that some of her impacted tribal clients told her as of June 12 that Zinke had not been in touch with them on this matter.

“We don’t know who he’s talking to and what they may have said,” Landreth said.

Full story here.

33 Degrees South: Booborowie, Part 1.

From Lofty: A series of pictures from the hilly district 100 miles north of where I live. Booborowie is the tiny town where we started. The country is gaunt yet beautiful. The rainfall is fickle, early settlers had their hopes dashed every drought but the lucky few families survived and prospered into the 21st century. The wind is a nearly constant feature hence the wind farms but on the day we rode there was little wind so they turned fitfully. Properly speaking the photos should have the title 33 degrees south as we are a fair way from home. The third picture is a zoom shot of the falcon in shot 2. Click for full size!

© Lofty, all rights reserved.