Idaho discovers traces of radioactive pollution in the Snake River Aquifer
Andrea Barnett
Posted inSeptember 25, 2000: Backyard boom
Of bison, the French and our faux wild
There’s an inside joke in these parts that Yellowstone bison have a thing for French photographers. It’s a weird twist on dwarf tossing, this propensity of theirs to spear and fling men with names like Jacques and Pierre. Now, this is not a hard and fast rule. The most recent casualty was an elderly Australian […]
Posted inAugust 14, 2000: Meth invasion
Small mines stay under the radar
Environmental laws, designed to regulate the big boys, overlook some big messes
Posted inJuly 3, 2000: A river resurrected
Idaho labs blow another stack
IDAHO Last winter, when Jackson Hole, Wyo., residents sued the Department of Energy to stop a nuclear waste incinerator planned for Idaho, it was just the tip of the smokestack (HCN, 4/10/00: Incinerator plans go up in smoke). In early June, two conservation groups, Keep Yellowstone Nuclear Free and Idaho’s Environmental Defense Institute, notified the […]
Posted inJanuary 31, 2000: Searching for pasture
Political war continues over bison herd
All is quiet on the western front of Yellowstone National Park. As 50 bison graze within a few miles of the park border near West Yellowstone. So far this winter the animals have had no reason to cross the park line; mild weather has made foraging easy. Outside that boundary, in what has become an […]
Posted inDecember 6, 1999: Peggy Godfrey's long, strange trip
Court reads the environment its rights
MISSOULA, Mont. – Tom France talks like a man who knows he’s made history. For three years, France, an attorney with the National Wildlife Federation, has been battling a proposed gold mine on Montana’s Blackfoot River (HCN, 12/22/97). In October, he won a ruling from the Montana Supreme Court that could mean the end of […]
Posted inDecember 6, 1999: Peggy Godfrey's long, strange trip
Decision may help a granddaddy keep its teeth
Note: in the print edition of this issue, this article appears as a sidebar to another news article,”Court reads the environment its rights.” The October supreme court ruling may help clarify the granddaddy of Montana’s environmental laws, the Montana Environmental Policy Act, or MEPA, which dates back to 1971. Modeled after the National Environmental Policy […]
Posted inNovember 22, 1999: Go tell it on the mountain
Hunters cry: too many predators
A booming wolf population around Yellowstone National Park has local sportsmen up in arms. More than 2,500 people have sent in a dollar to join the newly formed Friends of the Northern Yellowstone Elk Herd, according to founder Robert Fanning. The group wants to take wolves off the endangered species list and give the state […]
Posted inNovember 8, 1999: A new road for the public lands
Court enforces a healthy environment
A provision in Montana’s constitution guaranteeing residents a “clean and healthful environment” has as much bite as bark, thanks to a recent Montana Supreme Court ruling. In October, the court unanimously agreed that that the constitution protects the state’s resources from actual, proven damage, and from potential harm as well. “Our constitution does not require […]
Posted inSeptember 13, 1999: Troubled Oasis
Tempers flare over winter plan
Gardiner, Mont., is a sleepy town in the winter. Yellowstone National Park’s northern gateway community virtually closes down when the park’s roads do. The local fly shop rents cross-country skis, and a handful of cafés serve burgers for lunch. A few sight-seers drive into the park at dawn and dusk in search of the park’s […]
Posted inAugust 30, 1999: Who's stopping sprawl?
Trappers set free in Big Sky state
After several months of debate, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks commissioners recently voted on new trapping regulations. Most of the rules will remain the same. “The trapping community in Montana has done quite well,” says Kevin Feist, a Kalispell-area man who advocates more stringent rules. “They only have to do a couple […]
Posted inDecember 7, 1998: Vail and the road to a recreational empire
A road could go there
Forest Service officials in central Montana are finding themselves in a tight spot over a proposed land exchange. The agency has been trying for five years to acquire about 4,000 privately owned acres surrounded by the Lewis and Clark National Forest. Acquiring these islands of private land “will enable us to manage in a more […]
Posted inAugust 23, 1993: Timber theft: Logging firms rob a lax agency
Earth First! logging protest evokes hostility in Idaho
Locals are wary of Earth First!ers in Idaho logging communities. To read this article, download this HCN issue in PDF format. This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Earth First! logging protest evokes hostility in Idaho.