Items by Bruce Hamilton

High Country News in the ’70s
High Country News in the ’70s
The HCN community reflects on the ‘Me Decade.’
David Brower: Remembering the Archdruid
Conservationists mourn the recent death of David Brower, former Sierra Club director, founder of Friends of the Earth and Earth Island Institute, and passionate fighter against dams and for the wild.
Wise-use power is overblown; the real threat is apathy
Writer says the environmental movement has not lost clout yet.
Edward Abbey: druid of the arches
The sudden death last week of Edward Abbey recalled to us this superb profile of the writer by Bruce Hamilton, who was HCN managing editor in 1976, when this story appeared.
EPA shrinks from regulating tons of dust stirred up by coal mines
As coal mines proliferate, environmentalists are starting to realize that mining creates major air pollution problems, but federal agencies appear reluctant to regulate it and industry may not have the technology to control it.
Congress passes 'fantastic' park and recreation bill
In its final hours, Congress passed a $1.2 billion National Park and Recreation Act that settles several of the nation's leading environmental controversies, including the fight over Mineral King in California.
Alaska: how the House was won
A Sierra Club employee recounts his initiation as a lobbyist during the congressional battle over the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.
Carter's water politics to strangle the West?
The Carter Administration's proposals for reforming national water policy may ruffle the longstanding laws of prior appropriation, and have Western politicians and water user groups fighting mad.
Boise rediscovers geothermal
Using geothermal energy to warm your home and heat your water may sound like a far-fetched idea, but some residents of Warm Springs Avenue in Boise, Idaho, have been doing it for 85 years.
Carter attacks dams; battle of the decade ahead?
President Jimmy Carter has asked Congress to delete funds in the next fiscal year for 19 controversial water development projects.
Wood stove revival puts damper on energy costs
Today, with rising energy costs, wood burning is probably the fastest growing form of alternative renewable energy use.
Idaho legislature axes conservation programs
The forced resignation of Earl Adams, the director of Idaho's Office of Energy, was the coup de grace in a long line of attacks by a hostile Republican-controlled legislature against efforts to set up a state energy conservation policy.
Rest-rotation range plan -- panacea of problem?
Both critics and advocates are weighing in on the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's drive to improve deteriorating range conditions on public lands in the West through a grazing system known as rest-rotation.
Utah oil shale boom: not if, but when
Unknowns are plaguing oil shale development southwest of Vernal, Utah, but the burst of optimism for oil shale in the early 1970s has many local residents saying that extraction of oil from their abundant rock is inevitable.
Grizzly critical habitat -- what will be excluded?
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has released its suggested boundaries for grizzly bear habitat in the Lower 48 States; many high country residents are up in arms because activities like logging, according to the FWS, may have to be "modified" in critical habitat.
Boulder adopts plan to slow growth
Boulder, Colorado, has become the first community in the Rocky Mountain West to attempt to slow down its growth rate by city ordinance, which will limit the amount of new housing.
Alunite-to-alumina plant proposed for southwest Utah
Unstable supplies of bauxite -- the main raw material of aluminum -- have prompted the government and industry to search for new bauxite substitutes such as alunite. Southwest Utah has that resource and residents there are apparently welcoming the industry.
Congress preserves new wild areas
A summary of the bills that passed and failed in the scramble that occurred before Congress adjourned, including legislation concerning strip mining, wild rivers, synfuels subsidies, wilderness, water pollution, and more.
Interior to designate grizzly critical habitat
The threat of the federal government designating parts of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming as grizzly bear critical habitat has some people more frightened than if they had actually met one of the awesome creatures on the trail.
BLM caught in multiple use bind
Conflict over the Challis Planning Unit in east-central Idaho, managed by the Bureau of Land Management, is an example of the difficulties faced by that agency when it tries to balance the demands of multiple user groups.
What ever happened to the federal land use bill?
David Calfee, an Environmental Policy Center lobbyist for the federal land use planning bill that narrowly failed in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1975, gives insight into what caused the effort to falter.
Dick Randall: a life with coyotes
Dick Randall, who grew up in Wyoming's wide open spaces and at one time in his life shot hundreds of coyotes from a plane, is now an outspoken opponent of predator control.
Cartoons, counseling, and butterflies
When HCN cartoonist Rob Pudim isn't slaying social dragons, he's often out catching butterflies or helping out with Boulder's methadone program.
How to get out the conservation message
KOA-TV Science Editor Don Kinney gives tips on press releases, editorials, and other methods for spreading a conservation message.
Saving swamps for ducks and men
Although swamps have historically been viewed as unattractive and worthless, a building movement -- buoyed by federal laws -- recognizes wetlands as havens for wildlife that also hold and purify water used by humans.
A lifetime watching the wilderness
Ann and Myron Sutton are students and teachers of the wilderness, having studied hundreds of wilderness areas in nearly 40 countries and written over 20 books on the wild outdoors.
BLM farm plans hold promise, problems
Lack of clear goals for Idaho agriculture becomes more evident as the U.S. Bureau of Land Management wrestles with plans to convert thousands of acres of desert lands managed by that agency into individual private farms sanctioned by the Desert Land Act and the Carey Act.
Mineral withdrawals: death of 1,000 cuts?
A wave of controversial mining proposals has led to a call for putting certain public lands off-limits to mining, but the mining industry is concerned that too much land is being considered for these restrictions.
Court lifts Powder River injunction
The U.S. Supreme Court has lifted an injunction barring four coal companies and a railroad from proceeding with coal development in Wyoming's eastern Powder River Basin, opening the way to full-scale development of the region's coal.
High Country News Classifieds
  • EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
    California Coalition for Rural Housing (CCRH) seeks a strategic and visionary Executive Director: View all job details here- https://bit.ly/CCRHED
  • MONTANA BLUES
    The new novel by Ray Ring, retired HCN senior editor, tackles racism in the wild, a story told by a rural White horsewoman and a...
  • DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT SPECIALIST
    Title: Digital Engagement Specialist Location: Salt Lake City Reports to: Communications Director Status, Salary & Benefits: Full-time, Non-Exempt. Salary & Benefits information below. Submission Deadline:...
  • CONSERVATION FIELD ORGANIZER
    Title: Conservation Field Organizer Reports to: Advocacy and Stewardship Director Location: Southwest Colorado Compensation: $45,000 - $50,000 DOE FLSA: Non-Exempt, salaried, termed 24-month Wyss Fellow...
  • UTAH STATE DIRECTOR
    Who We Are: The Nature Conservancy's mission is to protect the lands and waters upon which all life depends. As a science-based organization, we create...
  • EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
    Apply by Oct 18. Seeking collaborative, hands-on ED to advance our work building community through fresh produce.
  • INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS EDITOR - HIGH COUNTRY NEWS
    High Country News is hiring an Indigenous Affairs Editor to help guide the magazine's journalism and produce stories that are important to Indigenous communities and...
  • STAFF ATTORNEY
    Staff Attorney The role of the Staff Attorney is to bring litigation on behalf of Western Watersheds Project, and at times our allies, in the...
  • ASSISTANT VICE PRESIDENT FOR DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
    Northern Michigan University seeks an outstanding leader to serve as its next Assistant Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion. With new NMU President Dr. Brock...
  • EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
    The Clark Fork Coalition seeks an exceptional leader to serve as its Executive Director. This position provides strategic vision and operational management while leading a...
  • GOOD NEIGHBOR AGREEMENT MANAGER
    Help uphold a groundbreaking legal agreement between a powerful mining corporation and the local communities impacted by the platinum and palladium mine in their backyard....
  • EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
    The Feather River Land Trust (FRLT) is seeking a strategic and dynamic leader to advance our mission to "conserve the lands and waters of the...
  • COLORADO DIRECTOR
    COLORADO DIRECTOR Western Watersheds Project seeks a Colorado Director to continue and expand WWP's campaign to protect and restore public lands and wildlife in Colorado,...
  • ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF HISTORY - INDIGENOUS HISTORIES OF THE NORTH AMERICAN WEST
    Whitman College seeks applicants for a tenure-track position in Indigenous Histories of the North American West, beginning August 2024, at the rank of Assistant Professor....
  • DAVE AND ME
    Dave and Me, by international racontuer and children's books author Rusty Austin, is a funny, profane and intense collection of short stories, essays, and poems...
  • CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
    Rural Community Assistance Corporation is looking to hire a CFO. For more more information visit: https://www.rcac.org/careers/
  • EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
    The Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness Foundation (ABWF) seeks a new Executive Director. Founded in 2008, the ABWF is a respected nonprofit whose mission is to support...
  • CANYONLANDS FIELD INSTITUTE
    Field seminars for adults in natural and human history of the northern Colorado Plateau, with lodge and base camp options. Small groups, guest experts.
  • COMING TO TUCSON?
    Popular vacation house, everything furnished. Two bedroom, one bath, large enclosed yards. Dog-friendly. Contact Lee at [email protected] or 520-791-9246.
  • ENVIRONMENTAL AND CONSTRUCTION GEOPHYSICS
    We characterize contaminated sites, identify buried drums, tanks, debris and also locate groundwater.