High Country News February 14, 2000
Feature
Land of the fee
While cash-strapped land managers praise the Recreation Fee Demonstration Program, some recreationists and activists rail against it, and others point out that the program isn't producing as much money as was hoped for.
News
From missile silo to theme park
The new Minuteman Missile National Historic Site in South Dakota will teach visitors about the Cold War and its once-top secret weaponry.
The Wayward West
U.S. admits exposing nuclear workers to radiation; Gloria Flora speaks in Kalispell, Mont.; Yellowstone Wolf No. 9 "retires" from pack; Air Force sued over low-level training flights; rancher's road permit in limbo in Arrastra Wilderness, Arizona.
Mumma resigns - wildlife division shaken up
John Mumma resigns as director of the Colorado Division of Wildlife as agency morale drops under a state government unsympathetic to wildlife.
How green is your politico?
In Washington state, TV commercials use Bill Nye, "The Science Guy," to inform voters about how candidates up for re-election have voted on green issues.
Book Reviews
Amend the Northwest Forest Plan
The Clinton administration proposes to amend the Northwest Forest Plan, for which comments are being accepted by March 3.
Report card
The National Commission on Small Farms released a report card grading the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture's effort to help family farmers.
Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness management plan
The Forest Service has extended the comment deadline for Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness management plan.
Canaries in the Utah desert
In "Canaries on the Rim: Living Downwind in the West," Chip Ward describes how his home of Grantsville, Utah, came to be one of the county's worst toxic dumping grounds.
Shaping the Sierra
In "Shaping the Sierra: Nature, Culture and Conflict in the Changing West," Timothy P. Duane discusses how growth has hit California's Sierra Nevada.
Women on the move
The 20-year-old quarterly "Women in Natural Resource" covers the changing role of women in the natural resource professions.
A simpler salmon plan
Jay W. Nicholas uses simple language and colorful watercolors to explain Oregon's salmon recovery plan in his book "Down to the Sea."
Essays
'Hunting' for elk in the salt pits of the upper Yellowstone
A hunter condemns "salt baiting" - using illegal salt pits to lure elk out of Yellowstone into the open, where trophy hunters easily ambush them.
Heard Around the West
Heard around the West
Post Office vs. Grand Canyon, gobbledygook in D.C.; Salt Lake keeps eye on movies, nose on smells; faux snow; cougar vs. dog; rabbits vs. Sheridan, Wyo.; roadkill for dinner; snowmobiler survival near Spokane.
Letters
Goring our own oxen
Don't blame Naropa University
At, not down!
White River is like Targhee
'Clear-cuts for kids'
'Romantic piece of fluff'
Related Stories
Fees around the West
A comparison of the different fees for recreational use in different national forests, national parks and recreation areas around the West.
Working class can't foot the bill
Some social scientists and activists charge that user fees will have a disproportionate impact on working-class people and shut many of them out of the public lands.
'Fee demo is not the full answer'
Inyo National Forest Supervisor Jeff Bailey says that fee demo is not the full answer to the forest's many needs.
'You can't sell a sunset'
In his own words, Scott Silver of Wild Wilderness denounces the fee demo program.
'I think recreation should be subsidized'
Former Inyo wilderness ranger Gary Guenther says that recreation should be subsidized as the extractive industries have always been.
'We want the public lands to be in the backyard of the little guy'
Chris Wood, senior policy advisor to Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck, discusses the pros and cons of fee demo.
Fee fighters refuse to pay
Sun Valley, Idaho, resident Diana Fassino, is among the protesters who have gone to court over their refusal to pay recreation fees.
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