Items by Heather Abel

Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses
In an election that drew a lot more media attention than actual voting, the Sierra Club membership votes down a controversial anti-immigration policy.
Heather Abel May 11, 1998 From the print edition
Golden Dreams, Poisoned Streams
"Golden Dreams, Poisoned Streams" by Carlos D. Da Rosa and James Lyon, is reviewed by Heather Abel.
Heather Abel Jan. 19, 1998 From the print edition
Superfund strives for accountability
The Superfund Law was created to make sure companies clean up the messes they make, but the system has glitches.
Heather Abel Jan. 19, 1998 From the print edition
Miners and Montana were too cozy
In his own words, former water-quality enforcer Kevin Keenan criticizes the state of Montana for its favoring of the mining industry.
Heather Abel Dec. 22, 1997 From the print edition
The rise and fall of a gold mining company
A time line describes the decline and fall of gold mining at Montana's Zortman-Landusky Mine.
Heather Abel Dec. 22, 1997 From the print edition
A company that moved mountains runs into a wall
Local activists fight a mining giant when they battle the Zortman-Landusky gold mine on the edge of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation.
Heather Abel Dec. 22, 1997 From the print edition
Don't trust the mining industry, says a retired rancher
In his own words, retired rancher Land Lindbergh warns against the damage the McDonald Mine would do to the Blackfoot.
Heather Abel Dec. 22, 1997 From the print edition
Don't worry, says the McDonald Mine's geologist
In his own words, mining geologist KD Feeback defends the proposed McDonald Mine.
Heather Abel Dec. 22, 1997 From the print edition
Where one sister sees gain, another sees ruin and loss
The Garland family in Lincoln, Mont., illustrates Montana's love-hate relationship with mining, with Teresa Garland in favor of the McDonald Mine and her sister Becky strongly against it.
Heather Abel Dec. 22, 1997 From the print edition
A gold mine is a city until the ore runs out
The statistics of a huge gold mine like the proposed McDonald Mine are impressive, but the de facto city created will last only 10 to 20 years.
Heather Abel Dec. 22, 1997 From the print edition
Montana's army of writers tested the power of the pens
Montana writers collaborate on a book called "Headwaters," hoping to protect the Blackfoot River from a gold mine.
Heather Abel Dec. 22, 1997 From the print edition
Gold mines exist in a shaky financial world
McDonald mine owners, Canyon Resources, face problems related to spills, finances and falling gold prices.
Heather Abel Dec. 22, 1997 From the print edition
Mine wastes haunt a mythic river
The proposed McDonald Mine on the Blackfoot River would impact a landscape made mythic by anglers and Norman Maclean's "A River Runs Through It."
Heather Abel Dec. 22, 1997 From the print edition
Montana on the edge: A fight over gold forces the Treasure State to confront its future
Montana on the edge: A fight over gold forces the Treasure State to confront its future
Montana has long had a love-hate relationship with hardrock mining, and the prospect of new massive gold mines is bringing all the problems to a boil.
Heather Abel Dec. 22, 1997 From the print edition
The Wayward West
Babbitt on gambling; Charles Wilkinson's pro-logging; Headwaters protesters; Portland's bikes stolen; Animas La-Plata update; winter in Yellowstone; China Left timber sale; oil/gas industry appeal Mont. ban; Dinosaur Nat'l Mon.; BLM's Mike Austin.
Heather Abel, Peter Chilson Nov. 24, 1997 From the print edition
The Wayward West
Dr. Patrick Shipsey convicted in Oregon cow killing; Goshute Indians want casino in Utah; Judge William Dwyer retires; Yellowstone Chief Ranger Dan Sholly under investigation.
Heather Abel Nov. 10, 1997 From the print edition
The Wayward West
Sierra Club on immigration; USFS Christian group, ACROSS; Kevin Gover to head BIA; Tyrannosaurus Sue; Colorado politics; USFS's Charles Cartwright under scrutiny; Jim Baca new mayor of Albuquerque; governor's race in Idaho.
Heather Abel Oct. 27, 1997 From the print edition
The Wayward West
Margaret Reeb agrees; Sen. Dan Young gets monument documents; Eugene, Ore., Mayor Jim Torrey gets barfed on; Charles Hurwitz gets pie in face; Reed Benson to direct WaterWatch.
Heather Abel Oct. 13, 1997 From the print edition
The Wayward West
Animal Damage Control changes name to Wildlife Services; Richard Riordan; Jeff DeBonis leaves PEER, Jeff Ruch takes his place; People For the West and grizzlies; Zakkare Garrett.
Heather Abel Sept. 29, 1997 From the print edition
The Wayward West
Helen Chenoweth, Barbara Cubin, Jim Hansen and Rick Hill give Newt Gingrich, Dick Armey and Tom DeLay a tour of the West; Bruce Babbitt, Sen. Slade Gorton on Elwha dam removal; convicted Fife Symington resigns; Jane Dee Hull is Ariz. gov.; Ricky Denesik
Heather Abel Sept. 15, 1997 From the print edition
The Wayward West
Greenpeace USA crashes and makes extreme cutbacks; Phil Hocker leaves Mineral Policy Center; Ted Turner plans to breed Mexican wolves on his N.M. ranch; Forest Service says no to checks; Bill Yellowtail is reappointed to Denver EPA office.
Heather Abel Sept. 1, 1997 From the print edition
The Wayward West
Sen. Dale Bumpers and Rep. Elizabeth Furse plan to leave Congress; Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund changes name; Mike Mease travels in buffalo bus; Great Grizzly hikers trek to protect Mont. bear habitat; Mormon Trail wagon train.
Heather Abel Aug. 4, 1997 From the print edition
The Wayward West
Looter gets break on sentence; Tate and Hodel replace Reed in Christian Coalition; Wyo.'s Gov. Jim Geringer on endangered ranching; Helen Chenoweth on "warm-climate community"; Hari Heath's Benewah County group secedes; Dan Quayle gets Western address.
Heather Abel July 7, 1997 From the print edition
Weighing in on mining rules
Mining supporters outnumber environmentalists at a series of meetings held in the West by the BLM to consider possible changes in BLM mining regulations.
Heather Abel July 7, 1997 From the print edition
The Wayward West
Babbitt borrows from Broadway; Moabites convicted of pilfering artifacts, Billings, Mont., poacher fined; Al Schneberger quits N.M. Cattle Growers' Assn.; Ruckus Society protesters arrested; Adam Werbach and Bert Fingerhut head enviro governing councils.
Heather Abel June 23, 1997 From the print edition
Genealogy of a mining company
Tracing Summo USA's family tree can be challenging, since it is wholly owned by Summo Minerals, a Canadian company, which does nothing but own its American company.
Heather Abel June 23, 1997 From the print edition
A mine turns two landowners into activists
In their own words, Kay Howe and Claudia Akers discuss how their homesteading in Utah's Lisbon Valley turned them into anti-mining activists.
Heather Abel June 23, 1997 From the print edition
Blasting from the past: the 1872 Mining Law
A brief glossary on the 1872 Mining Law.
Heather Abel June 23, 1997 From the print edition
A fruit-grower opposes mining - and tourism
In his own words, orchardist Estevan Arellano speaks of querencia - love of home - and how it is threatened by Summo's planned copper mine.
Heather Abel June 23, 1997 From the print edition
On the trail of mining's corporate nomads
The copper mining company Summo USA's plans to mine in northern New Mexico and Lisbon Valley, Utah, lead a reporter to follow what happens when local communities resist - and don't resist - a hardrock mining project.
Heather Abel June 23, 1997 From the print edition
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