News
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The new land rush
In the Rocky Mountain West, old mining claims are suddenly the newest real estate hot spots.
by Erin Halcomb and Jonathan Thompson, Sep 03, 2007 -
A dustup over weed control
Some environmentalists are unhappy about the BLM’s plans to spray herbicides for weed control, but many public-land managers say it’s the only way to tackle the invasion of flammable weeds.
by Eve Rickert, Sep 03, 2007 -
Private landowners become lords of the public estate
A landowner locks a gate on a road into Arizona’s Aravaipa Canyon, highlighting an increasingly bitter debate over access to public lands in the West
by Renee H. Guillory, Jun 27, 2005 -
Follow-up
Army Corps of Engineers will have to release water from Columbia and Snake river dams to help salmon; Montana mining ban is not a property "taking"; kinks in plan to drill for natural gas at Colorado nuclear site.
by Laura Paskus, Jun 27, 2005 -
Writing a comment letter? Better make it good
The Bureau of Land Management is tightening its standards on what it considers worthwhile, "substantive" public comments from citizen activists
by Matt Jenkins, Jun 27, 2005 -
Wyoming wildlife faces twin threats
A major pronghorn migration route near Pinedale, Wyo., gets squeezed by new subdivisions and oil and gas drill rigs
by Noah Brenner, Jan 24, 2005 -
Powered by pond scum
Colorado inventor Jim Sears is among those researchers fascinated by the possibility that algae farms in the Southwest could provide a source of biodiesel.
by Jennie Lay, Feb 19, 2007 -
Sans petrol
Willits, Calif., is one of a growing number of communities trying to prepare for a post-oil world by becoming economically and agriculturally sustainable.
by Tim Holt, Feb 19, 2007 -
The West’s public lands are open for business
A close look at the data shows that, despite some restrictions, oil and gas drilling is on the rise in the West.
by Michelle Blank, Feb 05, 2007 -
Energy illusions
A BLM report issued in late 2006 appears to show that less land is available for energy exploration now than in 2003, but a closer look shows that appearances are deceiving.
by Michelle Blank, Feb 05, 2007 -
Condemned
In Idaho and Wyoming, old eminent domain laws allow private entities to condemn landowners’ property – as Peter and Judy Riede discovered when J.R. Simplot Co. announced plans to expand its phosphate mine and build a road across their ranch.
by Rebecca Huntington, Feb 05, 2007 -
Excremental gains?
Kern County, Calif., is trying to prevent Los Angeles sludge from entering the county, where it is used to fertilize farmland, and the resulting stink is raising all kinds of questions about how we handle human waste
by Matt Jenkins, Dec 25, 2006 -
Environmental change
Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., does an about-face and moves to protect New Mexico’s Valle Vidal from oil and gas drilling
by April Reese, Dec 11, 2006 -
River Redux
Six decades after Friant Dam killed off the San Joaquin River’s spring-run chinook, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Friant Water Users Authority are working with the federal government to restore both the fish and the river
by Matt Jenkins, Dec 11, 2006 -
Los Alamos races against time
In the wake of the Cerro Grande fire, Los Alamos faces a new problem: how to prevent summer rainstorms from flooding the fire-denuded canyons and washing the laboratory's hazardous wastes into the Rio Grande.
by Tony Davis, Jul 03, 2000 -
Thumpers hit a speedbump
In southwestern Colorado, a judge has temporarily halted the use of seismic "thumper trucks" to explore for oil and gas in the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument.
by Gail Binkly, Sep 30, 2002 -
Land plan attracts an anti-grazing gorilla
A draft plan by Moffat County, Colo., commissioners to turn over control of 1.7 million acres of federal land to local trustees draws the ire of environmentalist Jon Marvel of the Western Watersheds Project.
by Robyn Morrison, Aug 05, 2002 -
Energy boom's forward guard stalls out in Utah ... for now
Developing energy at any cost appears to be the Bush administration's strategy as they send "thumper trucks" into southern Utah to carry out seismic detection of oil deposits.
by Adam Burke, May 13, 2002 -
Shrinking salmon
As salmon runs in the Northwest diminish, the size of individual fish decreases too.
by Elizabeth Manning, May 15, 1995 -
Shifting sands in Navajoland
On the drought-stricken Navajo Nation, scientist Margaret Hiza Redsteer studies the movement of sand dunes.
by Michelle Nijhuis, Jun 23, 2008
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