At Home in the Wasteland: Nevada Visions of Environment and Community is the title of a forum sponsored by the Nevada Humanities Committee, April 15 at the University of Nevada Reynolds School of Journalism auditorium in Reno. The panel features photographer Peter Goin, geographer Paul Starrs, historians James Hulse and Elizabeth Raymond, teacher and state […]
Staff
Posted inApril 4, 1994: Who speaks for the Colorado Plateau?
Working on writing
At the end of April, hundreds of journalists will gather in Salt Lake City, Utah, and five other cities across the country to work on their writing. “This is a great experience for journalists to get meaningful training at a low cost,” says David Ledford, managing editor of the Salt Lake Tribune and organizer of […]
Posted inApril 4, 1994: Who speaks for the Colorado Plateau?
Trees are more than logs
An “idea fair” sponsored by the Forest Service and a coalition of private and public organizations will show how to extract higher value from forest products before they leave timber-dependent communities. “Growing Sustainable Forest Enterprises, An Intermountain Idea Fair” examines how timber can be made into specialty products such as toys or furniture rather than […]
Posted inApril 4, 1994: Who speaks for the Colorado Plateau?
Court strikes at Endangered Species Act
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service cannot require private landowners to protect the habitat of endangered species, according to a recent court decision. The ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., stems from a lawsuit challenging federal regulations restricting timber harvesting near spotted owl nests in Oregon and […]
Posted inApril 4, 1994: Who speaks for the Colorado Plateau?
Energy Fair
Alternative energy technologies will be on display at the second annual, free Energy Fair April 30-May 1 in Montrose, Colo. Vendors will feature tepees, dome houses, earth-sunken homes, devices to computerize energy conservation and energy-efficient lighting and building materials. Workshops will examine bio fuels and hybrid solar systems, among other topics. Events include baking cookies […]
Posted inApril 4, 1994: Who speaks for the Colorado Plateau?
Saving trees to save bears
In what one official calls a “directional shift” in agency policy, the Forest Service has proposed some of the country’s most stringent guidelines for protecting grizzly bear habitat in a portion of Idaho’s Targhee National Forest. Under the plan, the Forest Service would suspend new road construction and timber harvests for at least 11 years […]
Posted inApril 4, 1994: Who speaks for the Colorado Plateau?
Rural co-ops must change
Under a draft proposal by the Western Area Power Administration, over 600 publically owned utilities and rural electric associations must add renewable resources and energy efficiency to their planning procedures or forfeit their right to buy cheap federal hydropower. WAPA’s Draft Energy Planning and Marketing EIS, released March 25, would require all utilities that buy […]
Posted inApril 4, 1994: Who speaks for the Colorado Plateau?
Salmon fishing banned
For the first time ever, salmon fishing in the Pacific Ocean has been banned. The prohibition, imposed by a federal panel, applies to waters off Washington, Oregon and California, though not to Alaska or British Columbia. “The combination of effects has created a natural disaster,” says Robert Turner, director of fisheries for the state of […]
Posted inApril 4, 1994: Who speaks for the Colorado Plateau?
Scratching for a living
Dan Popkey, a columnist with the Idaho Statesman, noted irony in the Idaho State Land Board’s decision to overturn a grazing lease won at an auction by an environmental group. The board returned the lease to the Ingrams, a ranching family from Challis, Idaho, after hearing the ranchers’ emotional plea to protect family agriculture in […]
Posted inMarch 21, 1994: On the borderline
Hammering out “ecosystem management’
Lynx, grizzly bear and salmon could be the winners in a new plan to link the current patchwork of parks, national forests and recreation areas in Washington’s North Cascades. Along with the National Park Service, groups like The Wilderness Society, the National Parks and Conservation Association and the Canadian Earthcare Society will host a three-day […]
Posted inMarch 21, 1994: On the borderline
Grazing plan springs a leak
The Department of Interior’s revised grazing reform regulations are not due out until the end of March, but leaked copies are already making headlines. According to the Washington Post, the big changes from last year’s reform proposal will be a grazing fee increase scaled back from $4.28 per animal unit month to $3.96; new incentives […]
Posted inMarch 21, 1994: On the borderline
North Dakota may get a wilderness
In a surprise move in late February, North Dakota Gov. Ed Schafer endorsed portions of a Sierra Club plan to establish the state’s first ever federal wilderness areas. Although all of North Dakota’s major newspapers and many citizen’s groups have backed the wilderness plan, Schafer, a Republican, is the state’s first politician to sign on. […]
Posted inMarch 21, 1994: On the borderline
Chevron drops leases
Chevron USA surrendered all of its oil and gas leases in the Bridger-Teton National Forest near Jackson Hole, Wyo., last month. The surprise release of both its new 1993 leases and older ones dating back to the early 1980s may spare the 60,000-acre Willow Creek roadless area from drilling. Chevron says it backed off the […]
Posted inMarch 21, 1994: On the borderline
Some groups hot, some not
If membership figures are any indication, the 1990s will be a lot tougher for many environmental groups than the 1980s. Traditional heavyweights like The Wilderness Society, the National Audubon Society, the Sierra Club and The National Wildlife Federation have experienced significant drops in membership since 1990. Membership at The Wilderness Society, for instance, dropped from […]
Posted inMarch 21, 1994: On the borderline
Tree poaching on the rise
Timber prices are now so high that renegade loggers in northern Idaho have been stealing trees from national forests. Recently, 15 people were arrested for 35 timber thefts that occurred last year on the Priest Lake District of the Idaho Panhandle National Forest. Don Hacker, 42, of Priest River, Idaho, was fined $600 and ordered […]
Posted inMarch 21, 1994: On the borderline
Noisy wildlife refuges
Arizona’s endangered bobwhite quail and New Mexico’s antelope may be running away from national wildlife refuges instead of toward them. According to a recent study by the non-profit Defenders of Wildlife, military overflights continue to disrupt at least 35 refuges. The group’s report, Unfriendly Skies, says that while bombers and fighter-planes practice overhead, startled birds […]
Posted inMarch 21, 1994: On the borderline
Elevating mud to art
You might need to build a new addition just to house the Adobe Journal. The 11 by 14 inch quarterly from Albuquerque, N.M., allows ample room for black and white photos of adobe innovations, from castles with stained glass and arches, to “earthships” of tires and cans that house indoor gardens. Published by the non-profit […]
Posted inMarch 21, 1994: On the borderline
Sun Day
When making plans for Earth Day this spring, don’t forget about Sun Day, April 24, a national celebration of renewable energy and energy conservation. Organizers hope to educate people about the potential of renewable energy and showcase renewable-energy programs and technologies. Over 50 national environmental, business, utility, student and government groups are sponsoring Sun Day, […]
Posted inMarch 21, 1994: On the borderline
News but no paper
For people who want to keep up with environmental news but don’t want to drown in a sea of paper, Green Disk offers a wealth of information without filling up the mailbox or the local landfill. The Green Disk: Paperless Environmental Journal comes on a computer diskette in Mac or DOS format. Included in the […]
Posted inMarch 7, 1994: Pay as you waste, says EPA
Workers need protection
The health and safety of workers cleaning up the nation’s nuclear weapons complex have been badly neglected, according to a study by the Office of Technology Assessment, a research arm of the U.S. Congress. Because of the historic autonomy and secrecy of its atomic mission, the Department of Energy is the only federal agency exempt […]