INVENTING THE SOUTHWEST Few people realize that a restaurant and hotel chain played a key role in marketing Indian art as early as the 1880s. An exhibit to run through April 1997, at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Ariz., explores how the Fred Harvey Company influenced the art of the Southwest’s Indians and shaped tourism […]
Staff
Greed makes cents
GREED MAKES CENTS The Forest Service would do well to emulate state and county timber-sales practices, according to a report released by the Political Economy Research Center, a think tank advocating free-market responses to environmental problems. Turning a Profit on Public Forests compares the economic and environmental performance of national forests and state and county […]
Too many pesticides
TOO MANY PESTICIDES Dams aren’t the only threat to Pacific coho salmon. A report, Toxic Water, by the Oregon-based Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides, reveals that pesticide residues in the waters of the Northwest may have built up to harmful concentrations. Since Western states have no reporting requirements for users of pesticides, few records […]
Dear friends
A Beltway correspondent High Country News has just opened a bureau in Washington, D.C. It will be manned by Philip Shabecoff, the creator and publisher of an electronic publication named Green Wire and a 32-year veteran of The New York Times. He spent 1977 to 1991 on the environmental beat out of Washington, D.C. Before […]
Writing the Lives of Southwestern Flora and Fauna
Writers, editors and folklorists will lead a workshop, Oct. 8-10, titled Writing the Lives of Southwestern Flora and Fauna, at Brown Canyon in Arizona’s Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. For information call 520/822-2053 or 520/822-5198. This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Writing the Lives of Southwestern Flora and […]
Sheep Country
Sheep territory stretches from Florida to Alaska, and now there’s a trade magazine for the 100,000 people in all 50 states who raise the animals. For a sample copy of Sheep Country, contact Janice Grauberger at the magazine’s publisher, the American Sheep Industry Association, 6911 S. Yosemite St., Englewood, CO 80112-1414 (303/771-3500). This article appeared […]
Challenging Federal Ownership and Management: Public Lands and Public Benefits
Are people best served by keeping public lands in federal hands? That and other questions will be aired at the University of Colorado School of Law conference, Challenging Federal Ownership and Management: Public Lands and Public Benefits, to be held Oct. 11-13. Registration is $425 before Oct. 3 and $475 thereafter. Contact the Natural Resources […]
10th Annual Wild Rockies Rendezvous
Salvage logging and grizzly bears take center stage at the 10th annual Wild Rockies Rendezvous, Sept. 29 – Oct. 1, sponsored by the Alliance for the Wild Rockies. Speakers include John Weaver, leader of the federal grizzly bear team, Hank Fischer, from Defenders of Wildlife, and Seth Diamond, Intermountain Forest Industries. Contact the Alliance for […]
Restoring a watershed
RESTORING A WATERSHED As part of a cooperative effort to restore Idaho and Washington’s polluted Spokane-Coeur d’Alene watershed, the Sierra Club has created a colorful map of the drainage. The region needs help: mining has left pollution and aquifer contamination; logging and farming have eroded soil. The group’s advice includes cleaning up mine wastes, preventing […]
Inside the glitter
INSIDE THE GLITTER Carmen Rios: My mother had 16 kids, 12 of us are still living, and she worked outside the house too! So we’re used to working. Carmen Rios, 21, is a bus girl and occasional hostess in Reno, Nev., where she often puts in double shifts. You can learn about her life, and […]
Report blasts land giveaways
Report blasts land giveaways Following recent congressional proposals that would divvy up millions of acres of federal land among states and private interests, the Natural Resources Defense Council released a report charging that such measures would “impoverish the nation.” NRDC outlines what it calls an assault on public lands: budget resolutions allowing the sale of […]
Tools for road-rippers
Tools for road-rippers It’s simple, they say: If you want more wilderness, get rid of forest roads. Since l990, Keith Hammer has published a scrappy guide on how to legally close and restore forest roads. He’s his own best success story. Hammer has hounded officials of Montana’s Flathead National Forest to commit to closing and […]
Greater Yellowstone Predators: Ecology and Conservation in a Changing Landscape
Wolves, mountain lions and martens will be among the animals discussed by scientists at the Yellowstone National Park conference, Greater Yellowstone Predators: Ecology and Conservation in a Changing Landscape, Sept. 24-27. For information contact the Yellowstone Association, P.O. Box 117, Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190. This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine […]
Just burn it
JUST BURN IT A year after the Storm King fire in Glenwood Springs, Colo., claimed the lives of l4 firefighters, the Clinton administration announced that it wants to fight fire with fire. The administration’s new policy, which advocates the use of more controlled and prescribed burning, results from reviews of federal firefighting efforts that began […]
Jobs for the environment
JOBS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT A proposed bill to protect the Northern Rockies ecosystem would create thousands of new jobs, according to an economic study released by an environmental group, Alliance for the Wild Rockies. The Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act, recently introduced by New York Rep. Carolyn Maloney, would designate 20 million acres of wilderness […]
Write-em cowboys
WRITE-EM COWBOYS England may have spawned the Sex Pistols band, but in southern Oregon it’s the Tex-Pistols who headline the Rogue River Roundup Sept. 22-24, the Northwest’s first-ever cowboy poetry gathering. The event features poets and artists in Medford, Ore., as well as a Western art, craft and gear show. Tickets are available through the […]
Bart goes to bat
BART GOES TO BAT Inspired by a veteran Hollywood actor named Bart who happens to be a 1,500-pound grizzly bear, the recently expanded Vital Ground Foundation in Montana aims to protect grizzly bear habitat through conservation easements, land acquisition, and public education. “Our vision from the beginning was to do something worthwhile for the environment […]
Dear Friends
Suddenly, late summer It turned hot, and then it turned humid in this mountain valley that receives only 9 to 11 inches of rain a year. Although our swamp coolers can’t keep up, we tell ourselves to enjoy this damp and still warm August weather – slant light announces that fall isn’t far away. Lots […]
Sharp edge of the West
SHARP EDGE OF THE WEST Jumping into the swim of the alternative press is Edging West, a new bimonthly magazine based in Logan, Utah. Editor and publisher Andrew Giarelli says his target audience includes Westerners from their 20s to their 50s who are “maybe a little irreverent.” The 40- to 50-page magazine covers movie, book […]
Breaking the law for trees
Breaking the law for trees With acts of civil disobedience reminiscent of the 1960s civil rights movement, some people in Missoula, Mont., have begun protesting emergency salvage timber sales. One week after President Clinton signed the salvage sales into law, 15 people occupied Montana Sen. Max Baucus’ Missoula office. They refused to leave until the […]
