High Country News – Know the West

When nature calls, don't follow your instincts

For environmental as well as aesthetic reasons, parks like Grand Teton in Wyoming are doing away with wilderness outhouses, and requesting hikers to use "poop bags" to pack out human waste.

Jon Waldman Essay Sept. 2, 2002 From the print edition

Bikers waffle on wilderness

In California, the International Mountain Bicycling Association is leery of a new proposal to designate two and half million acres of wilderness in the state.

Jon Waldman Aug. 19, 2002 From the print edition

Mi rio, mi agua

Tension is rising between Mexico and the U.S. over the little water left in the drought-stricken Rio Grande.

Jon Waldman Aug. 19, 2002 From the print edition

The sod squad wants to soak you

In the drought-stricken West, water cops, singing governors and giant walking raindrops are just some of the odd measures spawned by water-conservation campaigns.

Jon Waldman Aug. 19, 2002 From the print edition

Shrinking water supply makes room for birds

At Roosevelt Lake in Arizona, endangered southwestern willow flycatchers are actually thriving as the water level drops and willow and tamarisk take over.

Jon Waldman Aug. 19, 2002 From the print edition

Utah gases up

Veritas DGC Inc. has released a draft EIS proposing oil and gas exploration in Utah's Book Cliffs.

Jon Waldman Aug. 5, 2002 From the print edition

Lewis and Clark revisited

The Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition plans to commemorate the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with a get-together examining the connections between the explorers, Native Americans and salmon.

Jon Waldman Aug. 5, 2002 From the print edition

It's the dog days for prairie dogs

Conservation groups petition to list the white-tailed prairie dog as endangered, but the species is unlikely to be listed because the agency is laready backlogged.

Jon Waldman Aug. 5, 2002 From the print edition

N.D. court ruling rescinds tribal authority

North Dakota farmer Roger Shea hoped to prevent a dam on the Maple River by giving the Chippewa Indians title to his land, but the state Supreme Court rules that the state may condemn tribal land.

Jon Waldman Aug. 5, 2002 From the print edition

Prescribed burns tame the beast

Fighting fire with fire is becoming more common in the West, as the Forest Service uses prescribed burns to tackle wildfires.

Jon Waldman July 8, 2002 From the print edition

A wide-angled wilderness

The proposed Wild Sky Wilderness Area northeast of Seattle could be a model for future wilderness designations, based on its diversity of tourism-based opportunities along with good environmental stewardship.

Jon Waldman June 24, 2002 From the print edition

Growth boundary grows

The growth boundary to limit sprawl on Colorado's Front Range, originated five years ago by concerned business leaders, developers and government officials, has been revised periodically to accommodate more growth, which critics say defeats the purpose.

Jon Waldman and Erika Trautman June 24, 2002 From the print edition

Interior's conflicting interests

Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles is accused by environmentalists of conflict of interest in his encouragement of coalbed-methane drilling in the Powder River Basin.

Jon Waldman June 10, 2002 From the print edition

Expatriate fish could return a hero

The Hofer rainbow trout, a foreign offspring of the Pacific rainbow, may be the answer to the cure for whirling disease, but wildlife managers are concerned about introducing the imported species, fearing it could displace native fish.

Jon Waldman May 27, 2002 From the print edition

We'd like 2,387 salmon and a Pepsi, please

A report from the National Marine Fisheries Service suggests exact numbers of wild salmon and steelhead needed in each tributary of the Columbia for removal from the endangered species list.

Jon Waldman May 27, 2002 From the print edition

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