Feature

Rangeland Revival

The Quivira Coalition wants to bring peace and prosperity to the West’s public grazing lands, but some critics question whether the collaboration-based group can accomplish its goals

Editor's Note

Hope for the West's open lands

The Quivira Coalition is working hard to try to preserve the West’s remaining private ranchlands – but much more needs to be done to protect this invaluable land

Dear Friends

Dear friends

Laura Paskus moves to Albuquerque to become HCN’s Southwest editor; JoAnn Kalenak becomes our marketing and sales coordinator; Kerri Brown is the new production and design assistant; visitors; Santa Fe board meeting and potluck coming up

News

Judge rejects old-growth forest rollbacks

A federal judge has rolled back the Bush administration’s rollback of the Northwest Forest Plan’s old-growth forest "survey and manage" rules

Lawsuit spurs endangered species reviews

Some property-owners are pushing for more reviews of various endangered species in a move that some environmentalists fear is an attempt to undermine species protection

The harder they spawn, the quicker they die

Silvery minnows had a good run this year on New Mexico’s Middle Rio Grande, but an increase in the number of dead fish has prompted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to raise the "incidental take" numbers allowed for the species

The Latest Bounce

California Coastal Commission rejects 36 oil and gas leases; EPA proposes two-stage regulation for radiation exposure at Yucca Mountain; developer’s attorneys have to pay legal fees in lawsuit against environmentalist; wannabe border patrol volunteer lose

Pollution for jobs: a fair trade?

The Navajo Nation is wrangling over the benefits – and dangers – of the proposed Desert Rock Power Plant in northwestern New Mexico

The Snake River, unplugged

The Nez Perce Tribe says that salmon-killing dams -- such as the three in Hells Canyon whose licenses are up for renewal this year – amount to an illegal "taking" of the tribe’s guaranteed right to fish

Atlas of Pacific Salmon

The Atlas of Pacific Salmon by Xanthippe Augerot provides a thorough, well-illustrated, scientific but readable examination of the state of salmon species on both sides of the North Pacific

Book Reviews

The restoration will not be televised

After the Fires: The Ecology of Change in Yellowstone National Park is an anthology of articles chronicling the long-term effects of the 1988 fires on the park’s ecosystem and wildlife

Out of the video arcade and into the woods

In Last Child in the Woods, child advocate and journalist Richard Louv confronts what he calls "nature-deficit disorder" – the loss of the bond between children and nature today

Aliens in the Backyard: Plant and Animal Imports to America

John Leland’s book, Aliens in the Backyard, discusses both the dangers and the benefits arising from the vast number of exotic species in North America – including human beings

Maverick Autobiographies: Women Writers and the American West, 1900-1936

In Maverick Autobiographies, Cathryn Halverson rediscovers three fascinating Western women writers: Mary MacLane, Opal Whiteley and Juanita Harrison

Essays

The return of the hodgepodge

The new transportation bill makes the day-to-day working of transportation policy more political than it’s ever been – and also serves up some amazing helpings of pork

The meeting of heaven and earth

A park ranger talks about the increasing practice of mourners scattering the ashes of loved ones outdoors in national parks.

Heard Around the West

Heard around the West

"Spiral Jetty" returns; "fart science"; the methane-cow question; pigs with personalities; Mustang Ranch is back in business

Letters

A scourge of the mainland

'Brotherhood' leads to pain and suffering

Self-defense?

Gangs are not the norm

Racism is alive and well...

No easy way out

Don't give up on your kid

You can't blame the church

LDS history buff pleased

Related Stories

The 'New Ranch' poster child hangs on by a thread

Rancher Jim Williams believes the Quivira Coalition helped change his life, but restoring his arid rangeland has proved difficult, and between drought and an uncertain economy, the future of his ranch still hangs in the balance

Science: The chink in Quivira's armor

The Quivira Coalition has a lot of anecdotal evidence supporting its claim that its grazing methods work, but hard, independent science on the topic is much harder to find