High Country News February 19, 2007
Feature
One Nation, Under Fire
The Sonoran Desert homeland of the Tohono O’odham Nation has become a nerve-wracking police state, caught in the crossfire between drug and immigrant smugglers and the U.S. Border Patrol.
Editor's Note
Border Patrol Whack-a-Mole
The United States needs genuine immigration reform instead of the politically motivated shouting match that has taken the place of reasonable debate.
Uncommon Westerners
New Mexico’s water rebel
Albuquerque water developer Bill Turner, a board member of the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, is often described as the bane of the district as well.
News
The end of ‘analysis paralysis’?
The Forest Service has overhauled its cumbersome forest-planning process, but many experts say the agency may have gone too far.
Sans petrol
Willits, Calif., is one of a growing number of communities trying to prepare for a post-oil world by becoming economically and agriculturally sustainable.
Powered by pond scum
Colorado inventor Jim Sears is among those researchers fascinated by the possibility that algae farms in the Southwest could provide a source of biodiesel.
Book Reviews
Ode to a public lands experiment
It may have lovely photographs, but Valles Caldera: A Vision for New Mexico’s National Reserve is much more than just another coffee-table book.
A quest for the world’s finest pinot noir
Brian Doyle’s new book, The Grail, lives up to its lively subtitle as it describes “a year ambling and shambling through an Oregon vineyard in pursuit of the best pinot noir in the whole wild world.”
Essays
The Land of the Dry
A Westerner makes the disconcerting discovery that as we age, the high, dry West we love isn't so good for our moisture-loving bodies, and the only cure is a trip to the beach.
Heard Around the West
Heard around the West
Remembering Molly Ivins; cactuses beat caucuses in Utah; picking up butts on the California coast; rats in the toilet; deer hunting on the fairway.
Letters
Even Sacajawea had to wash her socks sometimes
Does this mean you'll renew your subscription?
Easements are too easy
Two Weeks in the West
Two weeks in the West
Forest Service faces budget cuts; Rural Schools Act dies; local governments may have to pay more firefighting costs; user fees upheld; grazing fees go down; Klamath dams may fall; livestock killed by wolves, and wolves killed; and UFOs in the West.
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