The Ricks family in Rexburg, Idaho experiments with new technology and makes much of it themselves, including an all-electric car.
Items by Joan Nice
Muriel "Tommie" Bell, wife and partner of HCN founder Tom
Bell, is fondly remembered as a strong, loving, sustaining
woman.
Yellowstone National Park's image is being been tarnished by disturbing facts emerging about one of the western wilderness' most critical ingredients: the grizzly bear.
One can be a technotwit, a businessman, a flower child or even a woman and win elections in the Rockies, but it helps if one also knows how to swing a rope, or at least a fly rod.
After weeks of secrecy, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management revealed a list of more than 4.3 million acres of public land that may be sold to reduce the national debt.
Outside Meeteetse, Wyo., the debate has shifted from whether black-footed ferrets exist to how to ensure their survival.
With the rise of innovative heating systems and home designs, often owner-built, building codes are becoming more controversial.
Now that the Sagebrush Rebels have a president and half a dozen conservative senators sympathetic to their cause, their goal of turning over federally managed lands to the states looks more tangible than ever.
Today solar electricity is running, among other things, a remote refrigerator, a radio repeater, a national park building and a backwoods out-house in the Rocky Mountain states. Six years from now, the U.S. Department of Energy predicts that solar cells will be cheap enough even for the average biscuit baker.
More than 174 million obscure acres in the West have been spotlighted by the Bureau of Land Management's wilderness inventory, which is now the subject of public scrutiny.
Ambiguities in the Wilderness Act leave open the possibility of oil and gas development in Montana's Bob Marshall Wilderness and other wilderness areas.
A recent policy shift made by the Interior Department in its Animal Damage Control program has generally pleased environmentalists and raised hackles among sheepmen, who see the action as a betrayal.
A group of Crested Butte, Colo., citizens are confronting the 1872 Mining Law as a way to stop AMAX, Inc. from extracting molybdenum from nearby Mt. Emmons.
In the second article of a two-part series on wind energy, a giant wind-water generating system is proposed near Medicine Bow in southeastern Wyoming.
Despite a resurgence of enthusiasm for wind power, expensive new wind turbines -- many of which are proving unreliable -- are undermining widespread adoption of the technology.
With varying degrees of success, mediation has been substituted for legal or political confrontation in a number of recent environmental battles.
A plan to divert the South Platte River in order to recharge groundwater and ease an agricultural water shortage on Colorado's northeastern plains might also create wetlands that would provide needed wildlife habitat.
Although the Department of Energy has focused its attention on encouraging "active" solar technology -- which uses separate collectors, pumps and fans -- recent research indicates that "passive" systems are cheaper and more effective.
When the Forest Service began its second Roadless Area Review and Evaluation (RARE II) a year ago, industry representative feared it. But now, as environmentalists and even agency officials themselves criticize the plan, timber and mining interests are the only ones who seem pleased.
The National Center for Appropriate Technology in Butte, Mont., is pushing projects that don't seem controversial -- solar heaters, wood stoves, windmills, greenhouses, and compost heaps. But after only a year in operation, NCAT is being criticized by other public interest groups, utilities, and the federal government.
Utah environmentalists consider themselves practically without representation in Congress, as Senators Jake Garn and Orrin Hatch and congressmen Gunn McKay and Dan Marriott consistently thwart their efforts.
Jay McGrew, an independent energy conservation consultant, says "the insulation business is a little bit like the insurance business. The salesmen always want to sell you more than you need."
Colorado's congressional delegation has the best environmental voting record of any state in the Northern Rockies. Only on the issue of water has Colorado recently voted as a typical inland Western delegation.
Enthusiasm for solar electric technology is being dampened by the reality that most consumers cannot afford it.
The stories of solar homeowners indicate that harnessing the sun for heat by putting collectors on a roof may not be as simple as it appears.
The Bureau of Reclamation may begin a reservation system for the Desolation Canyon section of Utah's Green River amid concerns about the growing number of river visitors.
A Colorado company called Bio-Gas claims it can provide rural electricity by harvesting and digesting cow manure to produce burnable methane gas.
Roderick Nash, whose passion is exploring and preserving wilderness, sees wilderness not as an amenity, but as a powerful aid for overcoming a frontier mentality.
Although Utah is one of the first Western states to require all new buildings to meet energy conservation standards, it has also been instrumental in pushing the controversial Intermountain Power Project coal-fired power plant.
At a time when energy prices are making it increasingly difficult for people to make ends meet, Malcolm Lillywhite shows people simple technology that they can use to produce quality food and shelter at low cost.
Today's Featured Stories
-
EARTH CRUISER FX FOR SALE Overland vehicle for long distance travel on or off road. Fully self-contained. Less than 25,000 miles. Located in Redmond, OR. Offered at $225,000. Call 541-526-5164.
-
COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR 
is seeking an energetic Communications Coordinator to help manage our social media, digital, and print communications. www.azwildlife.org
-
ARIZONA WILDLIFE FEDERATION
is seeking a Development Director to lead our fundraising and planned giving programs.
-
WATER CONSERVATION DIRECTOR The Water Conservation Director will primarily be responsible for effective and efficient management of the organization's water program activities including acquiring water from willing sellers,...
-
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Bridge Partners is currently partnering with NOLS to recruit their next Chief Financial Officer. The Role: Location: Lander, WY Reports to: President (Terri Watson) Team:...
-
EV SENIOR POLICY ANALYST
Western Resource Advocates seeks a strategic and experienced relationship builder to join our growing team as an EV Senior Policy Analyst. This new role is...
-
WASHINGTON - MONTANA DIRECTOR
Western Watersheds Project seeks a Washington and Montana Director to continue and expand WWP's campaign to protect and restore public lands in these two states,...
-
BEST OF THE MOUNTAINS AND VALLEY. This foothill location in the village of Placitas between Albuquerque and Santa Fe has fabulous views as well as orchard, vineyard and cottonwood trees. Five...
-
HISTORIC COMMERCIAL OPPORTUNITY IN DOWNTOWN NOGALES Nogales. 3 active lower spaces and upper floor with lots of potential. 520-245-9000 [email protected]
-
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - NEVADA WILDLIFE FEDERATION The Nevada Wildlife Federation is seeking an Executive Director to collaborate with the board of directors to position the organization as a leading and influential...
-
TROUT UNLIMITED WILD STEELHEAD INITIATIVE ADVOCATE The Wild Steelhead Initiative Advocate leads advocacy work in Washington State to protect and restore wild steelhead. This entails advocating policies and management that will...
-
ROCKY MOUNTAIN BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY DIRECTOR OF ADMINISTRATION a full time position accountable for institutional success of the IT, logistics and administrative departments.
-
2 PROPERTIES ON THE WESTERN EDGE OF THE GILA WILDERNESS - FOR SALE BY OWNERS - [email protected] Organic farm, hot springs, San Francisco River runs through both. [email protected]
-
FARM HOUSE WITH VINEYARD! Updated 4BD/3BA on 3.7 irrigated acres, newly renovated kitchen, main-floor master; office, garage with shop area. 78 vines for personal winemaking!
-
SECLUDED MONTANA PROPERTY. Unique 42-acre property w/amazing views near Helena MT. Timber-framed 48 x 36 shop w/ 12 ft doors, plumbing, heat, and electric, well & septic. Nice...
-
PHILANTHROPY DIRECTOR AT WILDERNESS WORKSHOP Wilderness Workshop seeks a full time Philanthropy Director to raise funds for our team. Learn more: www.wildernessworkshop.org
-
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR High Country News Seeks an Executive Director to advance its mission, grow its audience and influence, and strategically and sustainably guide the organization through a...
-
CHUCK BURR'S CULTUREQUAKE.COM BLOG Change will happen when we see a new way of living. Thinking to save the world.
-
COMING TO TUCSON? Popular vacation house, furnished, 2 bed/1 bath, yard, dog-friendly. Lee at [email protected] or 520-791-9246.
-
DIRECTOR, TEXAS WATER PROGRAMS The National Wildlife Federation seeks a Director to lead our water-related policy and program work in Texas, with a primary focus on NWF's signature Texas...
