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 California sprawl

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