Feature

Being Green in the Land of the Saints

Mormons are often stereotyped as conservative anti-environmentalists, but Utah activists Richard Ingebretsen and Chris Peterson of the Glen Canyon Institute want to convince fellow believers that it’s OK to be green

Editor's Note

Toppling monoliths in Mormon Country

Now that Mormons are debating environmental issues such as draining Lake Powell, it’s high time they looked at overpopulation and the rampant development of Utah’s Wasatch Front

Dear Friends

Dear Friends

HCN takes a Christmas break; thanks to Peggy Rosenberry; Robyn Morrison and Rosemary Winters keep writing; this issue’s cover art; and scratch ‘n’ sniff manure brochures work

News

Massive logging plan shakes Northwest

The proposed salvage logging of the Biscuit Fire area in Oregon’s Siskiyou Forest is one of the largest timber sales in history, and critics say it’s not only ecologically dangerous, but undermines the Roadless Rule

Follow-up

EPA boss Mike Leavitt approves Bush’s Clear Skies Initiative; Bush signs Healthy Forests Restoration Act; Forest Service lays off workers to privatize jobs; and former government officials form Environment 2004 to criticize Bush’s environmental policies

West Nile isn’t just for people

West Nile virus is impacting Western wildlife, particularly birds, and some think coalbed methane development may be spreading the disease

National preserve is in hot water

GeoProducts wants to build a geothermal plant in New Mexico’s Valles Caldera National Preserve and sell power to Los Alamos National Laboratory, but some say the whole plan is a scam to get money from the Forest Service

Fires take toll on San Diego’s wildlife

The October wildfires in Southern California burned rare trees and may have caused the extinction of a butterfly -- proving, some say, that San Diego’s Multiple Species Conservation Program did not protect enough habitat to save imperiled species

King coal is back

With a natural gas shortage looming, and the encouragement of the Bush White House, energy companies are looking to coal again, and coal-fired power plants are being planned in Sigurd, Utah, and across the West

Big development gets bought out

California buys the controversial Ahmanson Ranch, north of Los Angeles, and agrees to preserve it as open space

Biologist busted for moving endangered cacti

Tucson environmental consultant Mary Darling pleads guilty to illegally moving endangered Pima pineapple cacti, in a complicated plan to raise the value of local real estate

Clean water changes could sully Western streambeds

If the Bush administration pushes through a rule change to the Clean Water Act, three-fourths of the West’s rivers would be unprotected from pollution

Mormons win Martin’s Cove

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gains control of the Wyoming historic site of Martin’s Cove, where Mormon immigrants died 150 years ago

A near-miss for California’s clean-air rules

California’s newest clean-air law, designed to deal with pollution from small engines, narrowly survives an attempt to shoot it down in the U.S. Congress

Wildlife win one in Yellowstone

The National Wildlife Federation negotiates two important land deals with ranchers in the Yellowstone area, ending grazing on Horse Butte and protecting local bison

Cattalo could get the boot

The bison herd that wandered into Grand Canyon National Park is largely made up of bison-cow half-breeds, but the state of Arizona and the park are still undecided about what to do with the destructive but valuable animals

Book Reviews

Whose thousand words?

Print the Legend: Photography and the American West by Martha Sandweiss takes a hard and thoughtful look at the historical uses of photography in the West

Calendar

More than just a city on a river

In Hispanic Albuquerque: 1706-1846, Marc Simmons takes readers on a fascinating journey through the history of the Duke City in New Mexico

Log onto Democracy!

The nonprofit State Democracy Foundation has created a new Web site to keep citizens informed about what their legislators are up to

Essays

Planning for the new rural Idaho

People sometimes move to rural places like Driggs, Idaho, to get away from the rest of the world, but they tend to stay in communities that are lively and welcoming

A gift of supreme excellence

The writer remembers with love a man who might have seemed worthless to the rest of his community, but who taught a young boy important lessons about fishing, rivers, life and sovereignty

Heard Around the West

Heard Around the West

Fat bears; La Verkin welcomes U.N.; Boise, Utah; scratch ‘n’ sniff for rural newcomers; pronghorn vs. antelope; clear-thinking kids thwart crazy bus driver; and global warming is good for wine

Letters

Story gave San Diego plan short shrift

Story was biased against Los Alamos

A disappointing story on Los Alamos

Related Stories

Mormonism 101: A primer for gentiles

The Mormon Church, founded by Joseph Smith in the early 19th century, has a distinctive set of doctrines, theology and church governance