Feature

The sacred and profane collide in the West

The growing desire of Native Americans to protect their sacred sites in the West leads to sometimes acrimonious debate over public access, the First Amendment and the definition of sacred places.

How do you define sacred?

A Comanche writer points out that Native Americans rarely agree on anything, including sacred places and spirituality, but believes that the discussion is good for us and that common sense can lead to mutual respect.

Dear Friends

Dear friends

Feedback; Manas magazine returns to life; new interns Jamie Murray and Alan Schussman.

News

Some fear the Colorado is getting nuked

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's decision to let Atlas Minerals buy 10 million tons of uranium tailings near Moab, Utah, has environmentalists worried about possible contamination of the nearby Colorado River.

The wayward West

Ted Turner's "tainted" money; Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund changes name; Patrick Shea to head BLM; Kathy Karpan to head reclamation/enforcement; "mysterious" letter from Ag Dept. against "unlogging"; Max Vezzani quits CO State Land Board; and more.

Just don't do it

A logging company defies a request from the Oregon State Forestry Department that loggers voluntarily stop clear-cutting slide-prone slopes above highways and homes.

Pressure builds for Yucca Mountain

U.S. Senate wants to begin using Nevada's Yucca Mountain to temporarily store high-level nuclear waste.

Judge settles Telluride wetlands dispute

The EPA orders the Telluride Ski and Golf Co. to restore 17 acres of wetlands it filled to build a golf course.

Flood bill awash with anti-environmental riders

A flood-relief bill in Congress is infested by riders that could cause tremendous environmental damage if passed.

Feds learn that a man's ranch is his castle

Federal officials find it difficult to study endangered species when private landowners won't let them on their property.

Mount Zirkel's acid trip

Air pollution from coal-fired power plants in Craig and Hayden, Colo., is harming wildlife in the Mount Zirkel wilderness.

Watch for fish-friendly foods

The Pacific River Canal's new "Salmon-Safe" program labels agricultural products that don't harm salmon.

A Republican wins it

Republican Bill Redmond beats out Democrat Eric Serna and Green Party candidate Carol Miller to represent northern New Mexcio as Bill Richardson leaves to be ambassador to the UN.

Book Reviews

Free-range ferrets

Black-footed ferrets may soon be returned to Colorado's Moffat County and Utah's Uintah County.

Yellowstone at 125

The Greater Yellowstone Coalition holds its 14th annual meeting at Montana State University in Bozeman, Mont., May 29-June 1, under the theme, "The National Park Idea: Where have we been? Where are we going?"

Eco-ranching - really?

The Sierra Club's Santa Fe, N.M., chapter and the Quivira Coalition host a free workshop June 14 to show that a ranch can be both a successful livestock business and a landscape of healthy native grasses and riparian zones.

Let's talk

A conference on environmental conflict resolution prompted a bill that would establish a U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution within the Udall Foundation.

A negligent bureau?

Public Employees for Environmental Responsbility's report, "Comprehensive Study of the Public Domain Forestry Program of the Bureau of Land Management," excoriates the BLM.

For urban dropouts

John Clayton's book, "Small Town Bound: Your guide to small-town living, from determining if life in the country lane is for you, to choosing the perfect place to set roots, to making your dream come true," is reviewed.

The Colorado Trail Foundation

The Colorado Trail Foundation offers three classes during the summer, on wildflowers, on watercolor and ornithology, and on geology of the San Juans.

Youth Conservation Workshop

The Colorado branch of the Society for Range Management is taking applications for four scholarships to its annual Youth Conservation Workshop, July 6-12.

Forest Guardians

The Forest Guardians' first annual conference, is to be held at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, N.M., June 20-22.

Western governors' annual meeting

Representing 18 Western states, governors will meet June 22-24 to discuss the theme, "Common Interests: Commanding Our Own Destiny."

Essays

Moving in, as the snow moves on

The springtime movement of birds and mammals in northwest Wyoming leads the author to speculate on the meaning of travel and coming home.

Uh, oh - the glaciers are growing

The unusually high snowpack in Montana this winter may actually be a sign of global warming.

Heard Around the West

Heard around the West

Why can't government manage the weather right?; Lake Powell poop; jet ski management; bears learn to use the fridge; "Diet Dirt"; N.D. and Italy work together to make pasta; Mark Obmascik floats Denver's Cherry Creek through a golf course.

Related Stories

'There's a notion that Indians practicing their religions are less than religious'

In her own words, Lakota Sioux spiritual and cultural leader Charlotte Black Elk discusses the clash between Native and white spirituality at places like Devils Tower.

Mutual respect costs us little and gains us much

In her own words, Devils Tower Superintendent Deborah Liggett urges respect for Indian sacred sites.