High Country News October 03, 2005
Feature
Out of the Four Corners
Susan Ryan, a young archaeologist, has some unusual ideas about why the Anasazi left their homes in the Southwest, 700 years ago
Editor's Note
Exodus
The abandonment of the American Southwest by the Anasazi 700 years ago – and the destruction of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina today – show that all civilizations are fragile, complex, and ultimately at the mercy of the climate
Dear Friends
Dear friends
Books for Folks in New Orleans; fall interns Emma Brown and Michelle Burkhart; clarifications and corrections
News
A smart-growth bulldog
In the city of Albuquerque, underdog candidate Eric Griego, a critic of sprawl, challenges incumbent Mayor Marty Chavez, a pro-growth booster
The Latest Bounce
U.S. Geological Survey gets Yucca Mountain research funding cut; logging halted on Giant Sequoia National Monument; New Mexican politicians fight proposal to drill in Valle Vidal
Methamphetamine fuels the West's oil and gas boom
In Craig, Colo., Moffatt County Sheriff Buddy Grinstead fights an epidemic of methamphetamine use on the oil and gas rigs
Boulder gets the gas-drilling blues
Energy companies are planning to drill on open space in Boulder County, Colo.
Strange bedfellows make a grazing deal in Idaho
Anti-grazing activist Jon Marvel makes a deal with ranching magnate J.R. Simplot, allowing cattle to continue to graze on federal land in Idaho
Contaminated water can't stop Californiasprawl
Perchlorate, a toxic chemical used in rocket fuel, has been found in drinking water wells, but that won’t stop the development of West Creek, a planned community northeast of Los Angeles
Book Reviews
Meloy's last message — from bighorn country
In Eating Stone, her last book, Ellen Meloy tells the eloquent, passionate story of the time she spent studying the Blue Door Band of desert bighorn sheep
Letters
Don't 'dumb and numb' readers
A quantum leap
If it affects the West, it belongs in HCN
Stick to environmental topics
Clovis highlights America's eternal war economy
Unpaid advertisement for Parriott?
Parriott offers a fair solution
Related Stories
Anasazi: What's in a name?
The name "Anasazi" has fallen out of favor, but none of the other names now used for this vanished civilization are satisfactory, either






