High Country News June 11, 2012
Feature
FLDS continues abusive polygamist practices in Utah and Arizona
The states' failure to crack down on Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints means abuses still happen, despite the conviction of extreme polygamist Warren Jeffs.
Current
Gregory Jaczko's resignation weakens federal nuclear regulation
The San Onofre nuclear power plant has problems that are perhaps endemic to the industry, and chairman Gregory Jaczko's May 2012 resignation from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission means there's one less strong regulator keeping a sharp eye on industry.
Surveying the oft-snubbed (and very cool) spider with citizen scientists
Volunteers at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science's Colorado Spider Survey help scientists gather important data by roaming nooks and crannies across the state, finding and cataloguing Colorado's myriad spiders.
On the hunt for abalone poachers in Northern California
Don Powers, of the California Department of Fish and Game, spends his days relentlessly pursuing abalone poachers who can't seem to resist the chance to bring in some illegal shellfish cash.
Helping hikers before they get hurt
National parks are increasingly focusing on educating hikers before they get hurt or lost, a technique known as preventative search and rescue.
Editor's Note
Calling for a crackdown on polygamous crime
Crimes committed by a fundamentalist sect on the Utah-Arizona border needs to be seriously investigated by both the Mormon Church and those states.
Dear Friends
High Country News gets visitors and a new employee
HCN hires new circulation assistant Angela Caldwell; bikers visit Paonia; corrections.
Book Reviews
Hidden in plain sight: A review of The American Wall
In the two massive volumes of The American Wall, French photographer Maurice Sherif works with anthropologists, activists and writers to explore the border fence that separates the U.S. from Mexico.
Essays
Learning a landscape by tracking its rivers
A newcomer to Montana tries to understand the state's place in the West by figuring where its rivers flow.
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