High Country News – Know the West

Hal Clifford April 17, 2006 From the print edition

The West might still be the nation’s outdoor playground, but the Western companies that make outdoor recreation gear are finding greener pastures overseas

Hal Clifford Oct. 27, 2003 From the print edition

Reweaving the river

Local ranchers and farmers in southern Colorado’s San Luis Valley are working to restore the Alamosa River, site of the infamous Summitville mine cyanide spill

Hal Clifford Sept. 29, 2003 From the print edition

NEPA gets short shrift in the courts

A recent study by Defenders of Wildlife documents the Bush administration’s unprecedented rollback of the National Environmental Policy Act

Hal Clifford Sept. 1, 2003 From the print edition

“They want the workers to be invisible”

Former Leadville miner Bob Elder decries the exploitation of service workers who have to commute from Leadville to jobs in the resort counties. Jim Zoller, a former miner who now works as Leadville’s police chief, thinks that a lot of his town’s problems

Hal Clifford Dec. 23, 2002 From the print edition

In search of the Glory Days

Twenty years after its longtime mainstay, the Climax Molybdenum Mine, closed, Leadville, Colo., is still groping for a secure economy and a new identity.

Steve Voynick, with Ray Ring and Hal Clifford Dec. 23, 2002 From the print edition

Permanent user fees in the pipeline

The Bush administration wants to permanently install user fees for recreation on public lands, but opponents are speaking out.

Hal Clifford June 10, 2002 From the print edition

Colorado oil shale gets a second look

Royal Dutch/Shell wants to take another crack at producing petroleum from oil shale in northwestern Colorado's Piceance Basin, but local towns such as Parachute are wary, remembering the last energy boom and bust in the region.

Hal Clifford March 4, 2002 From the print edition

Can cows and grouse coexist on the range?

Colorado rancher Brad Phelps believes that cattle and sage grouse can live together, but biologists, environmentalists and other ranchers continue to argue over exactly what impact grazing has.

Hal Clifford Feb. 4, 2002 From the print edition

Chick-a-boom-boom at the lek

Male sage grouse gather at leks to dance in front of females in elaborate mating displays.

Hal Clifford Feb. 4, 2002 From the print edition

Last dance for the sage grouse?

Across the Interior West, as the sagebrush sea recedes under the environmental stress of human impacts, its emblematic bird, the sage grouse, is also in decline, and no one seems to know what to do about it.

Hal Clifford Feb. 4, 2002 From the print edition

Montana gets a crash course in methane

A brief moratorium on drilling is giving coalbed methane-rich Montana a chance to prepare for the coming boom in Gallatin County and the northern part of the Powder River Basin.

Hal Clifford Nov. 5, 2001 From the print edition

Mickey Steward, coordinator for the Coal Bed Methane Coordination Coalition

In her own words, Mickey Steward talks about seeking consensus on coalbed methane drilling in Wyoming.

Hal Clifford Nov. 5, 2001 From the print edition

Miles Keogh, Wyoming rancher

In his own words, rancher Miles Keogh talks about how he deals with the coalbed methane industry.

Hal Clifford Nov. 5, 2001 From the print edition

Patricia Clark, Wyoming rancher

In her own words, rancher Patricia Clark talks about coalbed methane drilling on her ranch.

Hal Clifford Nov. 5, 2001 From the print edition

Wyoming's powder keg

In Wyoming's Powder River Basin, the coming energy boom in coalbed methane gas has local ranchers and environmentalists worried.

Hal Clifford Nov. 5, 2001 From the print edition

Ski resorts pump up ecoterrorism defenses

In the wake of the arson at Vail two years ago, Western ski resorts have hired security staff to keep an eye out for ecoterrorism.

Hal Clifford Oct. 8, 2001 From the print edition

Drawing a line in the mud

In Colorado, The Nature Conservancy begins a battle against the exotic invader tamarisk, hoping to make the San Miguel River tamarisk-free before the plant takes over entirely.

Hal Clifford Aug. 27, 2001 From the print edition

Backyard power struggle

Some locals on southwestern Colorado are fighting an electric utility's plans to upgrade the power line that runs between Nucla and Telluride.

Hal Clifford Jan. 29, 2001 From the print edition

Ski town workers find homes in the hills

Unable to afford skyrocketing rents, a growing number of Telluride, Colo., workers live illegally on Forest Service land.

Hal Clifford Sept. 11, 2000 From the print edition

Telluride tackles ski town sprawl

The ski town of Telluride, Colo., is fighting a developer's plans to build up the Valley Floor, 857 acres of pasture and wetlands that are currently open space on the highway leading into town.

Hal Clifford Aug. 14, 2000 From the print edition

Fee fighters refuse to pay

Sun Valley, Idaho, resident Diana Fassino, is among the protesters who have gone to court over their refusal to pay recreation fees.