High Country News - Writers on the Range
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Idaho seeks a reputation - and a reality - free of hate
As Boise celebrates the opening of its Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial, the late Bill Wassmuth is remembered as the activist who helped lead the charge against Idaho's neo-Nazi extremists.
by Rocky Barker, Sep 30, 2002 -
A modest forest proposal for President Bush
Pres. Bush can talk about "common sense" forest management all he wants, but until he --- and the rest of us - use common sense in our forests, wildfires and other problems will keep happening.
by Jeff Golden, Sep 16, 2002 -
A NIMBY and proud of it
The term "NIMBY" is used as a term of abuse, but the writer says that when it comes to things like coalbed methane drilling on Colorado's Western Slope, he is eager and proud to declare: NOT IN MY BACKYARD.
by Paolo Bacigalupi, Sep 02, 2002 -
Hot town, summer in the city
Living with drought in cities such as Denver, Colo., has its challenges.
by Marty Jones, Aug 19, 2002 -
Don't proclaim the West is dead until you've met a Mexican motorcyclist with a wooden leg
The best way to meet the true West is to explore its small towns and especially its smoky bars, and listen to the stories of the folks who gather there.
by Laura Paskus, Aug 05, 2002 -
Montana's governor is a poor choice to lead the West
The Western Governors Association made a serious mistake when it selected as its leader Montana Gov. Judy Martz, R, the least qualified member in terms of experience, personality and results.
by Ray Ring, Aug 05, 2002 -
Life amid fire - the mundane and the macabre
A Durango, Colo., resident writes about how life goes on as the Missionary Ridge Fire continues to blaze just outside his town.
by Bill Roberts, Jul 08, 2002 -
Restoring the West, goat by goat
Lani Lamming of Wyoming leases goats to conscientious landowners who have discovered the benefits of organic weed control.
by Ed Marston, Jun 24, 2002 -
The name might be green, but not the group
The writer warns readers to be wary of organizations' names, which can be deceiving as to their missions.
by Pete Letheby, Jun 10, 2002 -
Ranching the changing times
Bad economic times lead the writer to turn his ranching career into a "sell-out" occupation: the ranch-recreation business.
by Tony Malmberg, May 27, 2002 -
The Old West went that-a-way
Encouraged by an East Coast editor, the writer gives her outspoken opinion of the "Real West," and the editor turns it down.
by Mary Sojourner, May 13, 2002 -
Leave my town out of your 'Top 10'
When an article appears in Men's Journal proclaiming his home town in the "top 10" of best places to live, the author can't understand what criteria the decision was based on.
by Rob Marin, Apr 29, 2002 -
Notes from a corporate insider: It's not easy turning green
The sustainable-business movement, which holds that environmentalism and business can be a winning combination, is not as easy on the ground as it may seem.
by Auden Schendler, Apr 01, 2002 -
Developers push revisionist history
Developers engage in "green washing" when they claim willing participation in consensus to save Dry Lake.
by Norm Wallen, Apr 15, 2002 -
The Postal Service stamps the mythic West
Wyoming's fight with Montana over a new Montana stamp that shows a cowboy on a bucking horse shows that the Postal Service has fallen for Western myths that have nothing to do with the states' real characters.
by Mark Matthews, Apr 01, 2002 -
Bush turns BLM into energy machine
President Bush's brand-new National Energy Office is designed to expedite drilling and mining on public lands.
by Charles Levendosky, Mar 18, 2002 -
In California, no water project is too big
An Alaska company's much-mocked plan to haul bags of water 400 miles along the California coast is really no crazier than the things California has come up with in its search for water.
by John Krist, Mar 18, 2002 -
Westerners share a different reality
A "time" magazine column about satellite radio that described the New Jersey Turnpike as "the middle of nowhere" provides unintentional humor to Westerners who know the real meaning of nowhere.
by Ray Ring, Mar 04, 2002 -
You can call mine Mortgage Manor
A new database that allows one to register the fancy names of luxury homes for $75 a house will not get a lot of use by those who live in houses with names like Sagging Floor and Mortgage Manor.
by Mary Sojourner, Mar 04, 2002 -
The Eucalyptus: Sacred or profane?
The writer says that California's much-prized eucalyptus trees are really overgrown, fire-prone weeds that would be better off in their native Australia.
by Ted Williams, Feb 18, 2002
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