High Country News February 18, 2008
Feature
Reluctant Boomtown
A copper-mining company is courting Superior, Ariz., but the former mining town – now re-inventing itself as a modest tourist haven – is unsure whether it really wants a new marriage with extractive industry.
Editor's Note
Men with boots
The transformation of once-scrappy mining towns like Silverton, Colo., and Superior, Ariz., into trendy tourist havens is bound to leave the locals with mixed feelings and some nostalgia.
Dear Friends
Dear friends
HCN’s online reader’s survey; new babies, new books, new music and some visitors.
Two Weeks in the West
Two weeks in the West
HCN looks at the various problems of Western wildlife, including Northern Rockies wolves, porcupines, fishers, pikas, and more; and Rocky Mountain National Park tests elk for chronic wasting disease and also gives out birth control.
News
Power from the underground
Geothermal power heats up in Reno, Nev., as the West begins to pay more attention to its underground energy resources.
Essays
Following the tracks
Catherine Fink recalls long adolescent days spent wandering along Colorado railroad tracks, singing at the top of her lungs and discovering the world.
Heard Around the West
Heard Around the West
Jackson Hole needs a brand-new slogan; trees vs. solar power in environmentalist California; trees vs. the view in Lake Tahoe; Arizona’s “extreme commuters”; drunk driver protects his beer; Barry McCahill loves SUVs even though he doesn’t drive one.
Letters
Biofuel won't do it
Run with it, obama
Hello, Clinton? Hello, McCain?
Wake up and smell the newsprint
Degrees of sacrifice
Catching a ride in costa rica
Related Stories
Mining the West
A potpourri of maps and graphics illustrates the complex nature of hardrock mining in the West today.
A Rico renaissance
The tiny mountain town of Rico, Colo., finds its post-mining economy threatened by a possible mining resurgence.
The short life of Lisbon Valley
A brief timeline traces the brief history of Utah’s Lisbon Valley Mine.
Death of a mine
Utah’s Lisbon Valley Mine was supposed to be a hugely profitable copper producer; instead, it went belly-up in just two years.

