In a surprise move, the Interior Department extended its comment period a third time on R.S. 2477, a law adopted in 1866 to spur colonizing of the West. R.S. 2477 granted a right-of-way to rural counties for the construction of highways on public lands (HCN, 3/21/94). When Congress repealed the law in 1976, pre-existing claims […]
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Posted inDecember 26, 1994: Albuquerque learns it really is a desert town
Are bears de-fenceless?
Roads closed in some national forests in Idaho to protect grizzly bears are really wide open to anyone driving a motorcycle or all-terrain vehicle, says the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The agency conducted an unannounced inspection of about 80 gates in the state’s Panhandle National Forest this fall and found nearly 90 percent of […]
Posted inDecember 12, 1994: Shrink to fit
Noose threatens planning supporter
Ellen Gray locks her office door when she’s at work. Since she was threatened during a public meeting in Everett, Wash., this month, her job as director of the Pilchuck Audubon Society’s SmartGrowth Campaign seems a high-risk occupation. Gray had just testified about a proposed land-use ordinance at a Snohomish County Council hearing when a […]
Posted inDecember 12, 1994: Shrink to fit
A passion for less
Did you know that the average American spends one year of his or her life watching TV commercials, that every year in this country 1.3 million acres are blacktopped, and that each day, nine square miles of rural land are turned over to development? Americans overconsume, yet remain unhappy, according to statistics in All Consuming […]
Posted inDecember 12, 1994: Shrink to fit
Fighters for justice
Gail Small: I am a member of the Northern Cheyenne tribe. I am an environmental attorney, activist, and founder of Native Action – one of the few grass-roots environmental groups based on a reservation. The 500,000-acre Northern Cheyenne reservation is located in the beautiful ponderosa pine country of southeastern Montana, (and is) rapidly being surrounded […]
Posted inDecember 12, 1994: Shrink to fit
War on wheels
Jeeps, dirt bikes and four-wheelers roar off designated roads in the wildlands of Utah and rip up desert wildlife, says the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. Meanwhile, the Bureau of Land Management stands by and lets the damage happen, the group charges. SUWA wants President Clinton to issue an Executive Order closing all public lands to […]
Posted inDecember 12, 1994: Shrink to fit
Pests and pesticides
If you don’t like chemical pesticides but don’t like pests either, then Pesticides in our Communities: Choices for Change may be for you. It tells how to substitute boric-acid powder, powdered sugar, corn syrup and stale beer for dichlorvos (Vapona), chlorpyrifos (Raid Roach, Hot Shot Roach), and carbaryl (Sevin). Published by Concern Inc., a Washington, […]
Posted inDecember 12, 1994: Shrink to fit
Drilling in Wyoming
After a two-year moratorium, drill rigs may soon rumble into action in the Thunder Basin National Grassland. The Forest Service has rejected an appeal by the Wyoming chapter of the Sierra Club and Friends of the Bow to reduce oil and gas leasing within the nearly 2 million-acre grassland in northeastern Wyoming. The decision “just […]
Posted inDecember 12, 1994: Shrink to fit
The honeymoon is over
The Honeymoon Is Over Back in about 1969, middle America married the environment … After 25 years of marriage, the relationship is growing a little thin … People who care about rivers – that’s you and me – need to court our spouses anew (and) persuade middle America that we really do care about mainstream […]
Posted inDecember 12, 1994: Shrink to fit
Stupid shooting
The large cactus on Arizona’s Tonto National Forest near Phoenix wasn’t menacing anyone, yet it now stands riddled with holes, the shooting target of vandals. The three arms of the approximately 250-year-old saguaro were shot until they fell to the ground. The Maricopa County attorney’s office will arraign five suspects, all under age 20, who […]
Posted inDecember 12, 1994: Shrink to fit
Mount Usher-in-More
While the National Park Service may be talking about minimizing vehicle gridlock at Grand Canyon and Yosemite, Mount Rushmore in South Dakota is planning a $16 million parking lot to handle the memorial’s annual 3 million visitors. Superintendent Dan Wenk proposes charging drivers $4 to $5 to park to help fund the parking lot. Mount […]
Posted inDecember 12, 1994: Shrink to fit
Owl defenders awarded $1 million
The federal government must pay $1 million to lawyers who fought to protect the northern spotted owl during a six-year legal battle with the Bureau of Land Management. Federal District Court Judge Helen J. Frye awarded $966,317 in attorney fees to the Seattle-based Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, while the Western Environmental Law Center of […]
Posted inDecember 12, 1994: Shrink to fit
Reprieve for the Uintas
More than 218,000 acres in the Uinta Mountains near Salt Lake City have been spared the drill. Although the Forest Service approved an oil and gas exploration permit that Chevron applied for in 1989, the company announced this summer that it would withdraw. Chevron had only one hurdle left before drilling: the signature of Salt […]
Posted inDecember 12, 1994: Shrink to fit
Desert Images
Phil Lauro of Dillon, Colorado, is not a fan of photographers who shoot mediocre images and then expound on how wonderful, creative, important and awe-inspiring they are. Rather, he says, “I just shoot whatever looks neat to me.” For “His bite is worse than his bark,” pictured above center, Lauro shot just one frame before […]
Posted inDecember 12, 1994: Shrink to fit
BLM: The Next Generation
Note: this is a sidebar to the news article titled “The BLM: New faces and new attitudes“ BLM: The Next Generation * Nina Hatfield, Assistant Director, Business and Fiscal Services * Maitland Sharpe, Assistant Director, Resource Assessment and Planning * Hord Tipton, Assistant Director, Resource Use and Protection ALASKA Tom Allen, state director Sally Wisely, […]
Posted inNovember 28, 1994: Beauty eludes the beast
Enviros sue state land board
Better – but not good enough – says a coalition of Oregon environmentalists that is suing the state land board to institute “truly competitive bidding” for leases on state-owned land. In a break from tradition across the West, the board in July opened the bidding process so that conservationists could compete with ranchers for leases […]
Posted inNovember 28, 1994: Beauty eludes the beast
Horses must back off
Horses can’t poop in a source of drinking water for 25 homes in Lama, N.M. The Taos County court recently found Dr. John Wilson and his wife Barbara guilty of allowing their horses to pollute the El Rito de Lama Acequia, reports The Taos News. For more than 200 years, the acequias – irrigation ditches […]
Posted inNovember 28, 1994: Beauty eludes the beast
Forest plan rapped
Forest plan rapped The first revision of a forest management plan in the nation is a flop, says a coalition of environmental groups that monitors activities on South Dakota’s Black Hills National Forest. The draft plan emphasizes logging and fails to implement ecosystem management, says Brian Brademeyer, conservation chair of the Black Hills Sierra Club. […]
Posted inNovember 28, 1994: Beauty eludes the beast
Environmental records of ranking Republican members ofcommittees addressing natural resource issues
Note: this is a sidebar to the news story titled “Election ’94 postmortem“ Environmental records of ranking Republican members of committees addressing natural resource issues. Compiled by League of Conservation Voters, based on bill sponsorship and recorded votes in the 103rd Congress. Sen. John Chafee, Committee on Environment and Public Works – 79 percent Sen. […]
Posted inNovember 14, 1994: Land grant universities
Who are you calling redskin?
When you go to a Saints’ football game “and a little mascot dressed like the pope runs around and sprinkles holy water on all the drunks, then you should start protesting. And us Indians will be right there beside you,” says the director of the American Indian Movement, Clyde Bellecourt. He makes the comparison in […]