High Country News May 12, 1997
Feature
Planning under the gun: Cleaning up Lake Tahoe proves to be a dirty business
Is the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency going to clean up beleaguered Lake Tahoe and its surroundings - or simply drive a wedge between the elite and the working class in the community?
Uncommon Westerners
Dick Randall, a fighter for the West
HCN honors the memory of Wyoming's Dick Randall, who went from killing coyotes for Animal Damage Control to being the strongest critic of that agency.
News
The West braces for the big melt
The West has had one of its wettest winters ever, and as the snow keeps falling in the high country, fear of flooding arises.
Rancher shoots for test case
Meeteetse, Wyo., rancher Martin Thomas will argue in court that he was justified in gunning down nine elk with an assault rifle because of the threat of brucellosis to cattle.
Utah Paiutes put the brakes on chaining
Utah Paiutes join environmentalists in protesting the BLM's "chaining" of tree stumps to clear land in central Utah after fires.
County caught in cottonwood quagmire
Benewah County, Idaho, officials face environmental troubles after cutting down hundreds of cottonwoods to stabilize a levee along the rising St. Joe River.
Coffee is bad for birds
Migrating songbirds are threatened as Mexican and Central American coffee plantations cut down shade trees to increase the coffee yield.
The Craig bill: Calm down, everybody
The furor over Idaho Sen. Larry Craig's national forest-reforming bill is really much ado about nothing in the rather tame 105th Congress.
Shutdown attempts go up in smoke
A federal judge allows chemical weapons incinerating to go on at Tooele, Utah, despite environmental warnings of the dangers.
Judge is bullish on trout protection
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service starts the process of listing the bull trout under the Endangered Species Act.
Timber mill dreams of museum
Hull-Oakes Lumber Company wants to make a museum of a 90-year-old mill near Monroe, Ore., but environmentalists believe the company's stipulating that it get subsidized timber at the mill won't wash.
No takers for wilderness trip
Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt tries to calm the state's bitter wilderness debate with a camping trip in proposed wilderness area - but no one wants to come.
Oregon gets shot at saving salmon
Oregon is given the chance to try its own recovery plan for coho salmon, while the southern population of the fish in California is listed under the federal Endangered Species Act.
Coal-tax dispute may return to high court
Montana's Crow Indians are fighting to get money they say was improperly collected in coal severance taxes from Crow-owned coal.
Potatoes raise a stink in Idaho
Millions of pounds of leftover potato sludge dumped by the Idaho Pacific potato processing plant in Ririe, Idaho, are creating a messy, stinky problem, according to local residents.
Taking range reform by the horns
Navajo ranchers are warming up to the idea of range reform on their overgrazed, drought-damaged reservation.
Wolves have friend in Washington
Washington's Congressman Norm Dicks is pushing for the reintroduction of wolves in his district's Olympic National Park.
Marathon Oil sues to get into roadless area
Marathon Oil Company is suing to get into lands pulled from a routine oil and gas lease sale because they are in a roadless, possible wilderness area.
Book Reviews
Arizona Grazing Clearinghouse
A workshop will explore the health of public land and grazing practices on June 14-15 at Northern Arizona State University.
Wild Idaho!
Sawtooth National Recreation Area celebrates 25 years at the Wild Idaho! conference, May 16-18, at Redfish Lake Lodge near Stanley.
Cry Wolf
Review of "The Great American Wolf" by Bruce Hampton
Intimidation is on the rise
The reports by the Oregon-based Western States Center document a chilling rise of incidents of harassment of environmentals and public employees by wise-users' extremist allies.
Beauty prized above all
A survey of the Grand Canyon region's lower-income residents shows that they favor protecting the environment over promoting economic growth.
Following the salmon
The new "Northwest Salmon Recovery Report" provides an independent voice on regional salmon issues.
It's back
The U.S. Air Force tries again to get air space over the Owyhee Canyonlands for bombing and training flights.
Getting off the road to ruin
The Alliance for a Paving Moratorium publishes a quarterly, "Auto-Free Times," out of Arcata, California.
Heard Around the West
Heard around the West
EPA joke network; debunking of "net myth"; comments at Wyo.'s Bridger Wilderness; retorts from Jack Gilluly; Disney's Wild West Show in France needs Indians; polygamist Alma Aldebert Timpson dies; Great Old Broads; Westerners swap jobs; "Spam" haiku.
Letters
Utah's culture war continues
'I felt defensive'
Protect it, don't pave it
The Hopis have a point
Greens should not stick to their guns
Guess who's dining together
Related Stories
The mission is simple: restore Lake Tahoe
The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency was created in 1969 to protect and restore Lake Tahoe.
Here come Clinton and Gore
Back in 1997, President Clinton and Vice President Gore came to Lake Tahoe for a summit on the lake's environment and development.
Three voices on Lake Tahoe
Three quotes from three individuals involved in the Lake Tahoe controversy.
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