Feature

All the king's horses and all the king's men...

The reclamation of Montana's hardrock mines will cost billions, and is complicated by the fact that no one really knows how to do it, or who should foot the bill.

Dear Friends

Dear friends

Catching up on newspapers; HCN potluck in Tucson, Ariz.; winter intern Michelle Nijhuis.

News

Protester starts her sentence

Former teacher Joni Clark begins a 30-day sentence for tree-sitting in protest of Red Mountain Timber Sale in Colorado's San Juan Mountains.

A road to nowhere?

The controversial "road improvement" of the two-lane road through Utah's Provo Canyon faces accusations that a new road could damage the Provo River - even as four major landslides are caused by road crews.

Haggling over the Grand Staircase-Escalante

Conoco gives up on oil well in Utah's Grand Staircase, but the state School Trust Lands board is insisting that its land - checkerboarded through the monument - must be managed to earn money for the schools, and that may involve oil and gas drilling.

The Wayward West

Taylor Ranch troubles continue; Tortolita, Ariz., under attack; Clinton administration's "no surprise' policy on endangered species suspended; non-residential property owners may vote near Telluride, Colo.; Utah's legal marriage age may rise to 16.

A "liberal' court gets some breathing room

Western conservatives in U.S. Senate, trying to destroy 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals because of its "liberalism,' compromise on creating a commission to study the appeals court system.

Wolf wars enter next round

Environmental groups formerly at odds rally against Judge William Downes' decision ordering the removal of all the introduced wolves.

State fights nuclear waste shipments

Congress authorizes storage of 50,000 tons of nuclear waste at the Nevada Test Site despite protests and warnings of environmentalists.

Book Reviews

Golden Dreams, Poisoned Streams

"Golden Dreams, Poisoned Streams" by Carlos D. Da Rosa and James Lyon, is reviewed by Heather Abel.

Essays

Is our love of the West destroying Chile?

A long-time mining executive argues that many environmentalists are hypocrites who want a 20th-century lifestyle without paying for it, and he points out that the impacts of mining simply get exported to Third World nations.

Heard Around the West

Heard Around the West

Stranded skier dances; Grand Junction, Colo., sheriff victim of alcoholism disability; warhead smashes (empty) trailers in Utah; teen kills deer by hand; NRA defends "Star Spangled Banner'; paying overdue fines at wedding; bus riders on Colo. 82.

Letters

The landscapes of our dreams

Those ideas aren't wacky

Audubon should have thought it over

Recreationists are smarter than cows

We're cheap

Related Stories

Superfund strives for accountability

The Superfund Law was created to make sure companies clean up the messes they make, but the system has glitches.

This heavy-metal collection includes a shovel that dug the Panama Canal

Lloyd Harkins, who spent his early years working in Montana mines, now devotes himself to salvaging and collecting the industrial paraphernalia of hardrock mining, from ore cars to a 78-ft. tall head frame.

A few plants love mine waste

Plant physiologist Ray Brown works to help mining-damaged ecosystems recover - with the help of a few hardy plant species.

Turning the Old West into the New West

The old mining town of Anaconda, Mont., has turned a mine dump into a designer golf course.

Summitville: an expensive lesson

The story of Colorado's Summitville Mine is a story of spectacular failures.

Can tailings piles be historic artifacts?

Some say the often-picturesque ruins of mining create a historical landscape that has value whether there is pollution or not.

A radical approach to mine reclamation

The Sunnyside Mine near Silverton, Colo., is an unusual example of a community working together with miners and environmentalists to find a strategy to heal the damage.

Homestake shows how good a mine can be

Homestake Mining Company's McLaughlin Mine in Northern California is an example of a mine designed with environmental consequences in mind.

This reclamation plan uses waste to bury waste

The Midnite Mine, a uranium mine on Washington's Spokane Indian Reservation, would like to bury its high-level waste with trucked-in low-level nuclear waste, a plan the Spokane tribe protests.