High Country News – Know the West

Harvesting ancient farming

The Colorado nonprofit Sustainable Settings wants to teach farmers about an ancient agricultural system called "alley cropping" that uses scant water wisely and protects against soil erosion.

Catherine Lutz Aug. 27, 2001 From the print edition

Missing: One truckload of fuel

More than 7,000 gallons of diesel fuel accidentally dumped in a water-quality monitoring well at Copper Mountain ski resort, Colo., have yet to be found.

Catherine Lutz July 2, 2001 From the print edition

Hot Property: A former nuclear bomb factory gets caught in suburban turf wars

Rocky Flats, a former nuclear bomb factory, is caught between Denver's rapidly growing suburbs, which covet the open space, and conservationists who want the cleaned-up area to become a national wildlife refuge.

Catherine Lutz Jan. 15, 2001 From the print edition

Expansion faces restrictions

Telski, the ski resort in Telluride, Colo., wins a lawsuit and can now expand onto national forest lands.

Catherine Lutz July 3, 2000 From the print edition

Stirrings in the San Rafael Swell

As increasing numbers of recreationists discover Utah's San Rafael Swell, the BLM struggles to manage the area and environmentalists, ORVers and politicians wrangle over the best way to preserve - or exploit - the land.

Catherine Lutz May 22, 2000 From the print edition

Crater doesn't come cheap

Conservationists will need to come up with $3 million to buy a 247-acre caldera near Flagstaff, Ariz., called Dry Lake, from the developer whose plans for the site were stalled by them.

Catherine Lutz May 8, 2000 From the print edition

Western weather waffles

A look at this last winter in the West shows snow in the Northwest and Sierra Nevada, variable weather in the Rockies, and what looks like the beginning of a long, hot, dry summer in the Southwest.

Catherine Lutz May 8, 2000 From the print edition

Backpacks and quacks

Pintail ducks flying north from California's Central Valley this spring will carry transmitters to track their migration routes in an attempt to find out why pintail duck numbers are dropping.

Catherine Lutz April 24, 2000 From the print edition

SUWA goes national

The National BLM Wilderness Campaign, a project of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, is lobbying to protect roadless lands throughout the country.

Catherine Lutz April 24, 2000 From the print edition

Fish find friends in farmers

Washington farmers are working to get into compliance with the Endangered Species and Clean Water acts to save threatened salmon.

Catherine Lutz April 24, 2000 From the print edition

A letter fans the flames

A letter from Elko County District Attorney Gary Woodbury advised Nevada businesses to not sell to or serve Forest Service employees.

Catherine Lutz April 10, 2000 From the print edition

Gentlemen, stop your engines!

The Park Service has begun to restrict motorized recreation in many national parks, banning tourist flights, personal watercraft and snowmobiles in some areas and working to reduce auto congestion.

Catherine Lutz And Robyn Morrison April 10, 2000 From the print edition

What's in your organic burrito?

The Department of Agriculture has released its new, proposed national organic standards for food in the U.S.

Catherine Lutz March 27, 2000 From the print edition

Oh, give me a home...

A new documentary, "Subdivide and Conquer: The New West," takes a sobering look at the rapid development and sprawling subdivisions in the West.

Catherine Lutz March 27, 2000 From the print edition

Guides may get guidelines

Sen. Larry Craig's proposed Outfitters Policy Act would standardize outfitter operations on the public lands, but private users and other critics say the law would tie up the resource for commercial benefit.

Catherine Lutz March 27, 2000 From the print edition

Greens call snowmaking a snow job

Colorado Wild, an environmental group, is appealing the Forest Service's decision to let Arapahoe Basin Ski Area divert water from the North Fork of the Snake River for use in snowmaking.

Catherine Lutz March 27, 2000 From the print edition

The Wayward West

Judge upholds drilling ban on Rocky Mtn. Front; Rep. Tom Udall is for breaching Snake River dams; GAO says Baca Ranch, N.M., is overpriced; Louisiana-Pacific fined for toxic dumping; Albuquerque Mayor Jim Baca supports Mexican wolves in Gila Wilderness.

Catherine Lutz And Robyn Morrison March 27, 2000 From the print edition

A new town hits the skids

After a 14-hour hearing packed with anti-growth activists, Garfield County Commissioners vote down Sanders Ranch, a huge development that would create a new town between Glenwood Springs and Carbondale.

Catherine Lutz March 13, 2000 From the print edition

What to do about "Frankenfoods'?

Two natural-foods chains - Wild Oats Market and Whole Foods Market - are banning genetically engineered foods from their stores.