Feature

Move over!

In West Yellowstone, Mont., where snowmobile tourism is a mainstay of the economy, locals are split between fierce supporters of the industry and those who favor a little more quiet and a measure of control.

Dear Friends

Dear Friends

Reporter Ray Ring on snowmobiles; talented West; Judge Greg Hobbs talks about water; Gosh, Hawk, we're sorry! And an update on the capital campaign.

Writers on the Range

Notes from a corporate insider: It's not easy turning green

The sustainable-business movement, which holds that environmentalism and business can be a winning combination, is not as easy on the ground as it may seem.

The Postal Service stamps the mythic West

Wyoming's fight with Montana over a new Montana stamp that shows a cowboy on a bucking horse shows that the Postal Service has fallen for Western myths that have nothing to do with the states' real characters.

News

Drought pinches Colorado River reservoirs

A serious drought in the Colorado River watershed has California and Arizona wondering where the water will come from.

The Latest Bounce

Nuclear power plant may be built in Idaho; Bruce Babbitt to head international division of Cadiz Inc.; Bonneville Power Administration says salmon will get water this summer; Hanford Nuclear Reservation; CO Rep. Scott McInnis wants single "fire czar."

A new world in the woods

In many Western communities, forest workers are quietly converting their skills from industrial logging to forest restoration.

Braking development in the Breaks

Environmentalists are fighting to stop energy development in Montana's Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument.

Wheels still spin after desert lockdown

Road closures to protect endangered Sonoran pronghorn in Ariz.'s Cabeza Prieta Nat'l Wildlife Refuge and Organ Pipe Cactus Nat'l Monument will keep the public out, but may not stem the tide of drug smugglers, illegal immigrants and Border Patrol agents.

Forest Service gives climbers the slip

Rock climbers are fuming at the Forest Service's decision to all but outlaw climbing at caves near Bend, Ore., that are sacred to local tribes and also home to dwindling numbers of bats.

A road through a national monument?

In New Mexico, Albuquerque's new mayor, Martin Chavez, has renewed support for building a controversial road through Petroglyph National Monument.

Snowy plover predators become prey

On the coast of Oregon, federal agencies have decided to start poisoning and killing the predators that steal the eggs of endangered snowy plovers.

Campaign finance reform may boost grass roots

The campaign finance reform bill sponsored by John McCain and Russell Feingold won't solve everything, but it may give grassroots environmental groups a bit of an edge in future political battles.

Book Reviews

Protests from the (tree)top down

A new film, "Tree-Sit: The Art of Resistance," documents years of protests against clear-cut logging in Northern California's Headwaters Forest.

Letting their lights shine

"Northern Lights," series of eight articles by Michael Jamison in Montana's Missoulian, profiles Native American women who have begun to speak up, take charge and bring change to reservations.

A blueprint for better communities

"Solving Sprawl," a new book by the Natural Resources Defense Council, offers guidance on how to counter poorly planned patterns of growth.

How to handle the big cats

A new report by Idaho Fish and Game, "Encounters of the Feline Kind: Mountain Lions and You," offers advice for humans who find themselves in mountain lion territory.

Essays

The 'Niche West' reconnects us to the land

Honest work producing honest goods - not industrial tourism - is the way for Westerners to start a healthy, honest, economic and spiritual relationship with our landscape.

Heard Around the West

Heard around the West

Nevada sells itself as 'predator' playground; hunters vs. humor; salmon vs. highways; solar energy in rainy Oregon; drunk driver vs. driving direction; Nevada sheriff enters brothel biz; cleaning person finds grenade; 1901 doctor praises bicycling.

Letters

Emery County's late-lamented heritage

NRA: Get the lead out, and lead

Evans a liberal Republican

Related Stories

Cleaner machines drive (slowly) toward Yellowstone

The Environmental Protection Agency is developing the first emission standards for off-road motors, including snowmobiles.

Winter-use plan lurches toward the finish line

The National Park Service has issued its Winter-Use Plans Draft Supplemental EIS, the agency's first attempt to manage winter traffic in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.