The Bureau of Land Management is tightening its standards
on what it considers worthwhile, "substantive" public comments from
citizen activists
Items by Matt Jenkins
Patricia Mulroy of the Southern Nevada Water Authority has
ambitious plans for getting yet more water for Las Vegas from
intake pipes in Lake Mead
In his essay collection Dragons in
Paradise, George Sibley reminisces about his years in the
funky mountain ski town of Crested Butte, Colorado
In Utah, an "omnibus" public-lands bill may create several
new wilderness areas near Zion National Park, but at the same time
authorize the auction of federal lands for development
A wet winter postpones the declaration of a shortage on
the Colorado River as the Upper and Lower Basin states continue to
squabble over long-strategy for dealing with the region's
droughts
The Bureau of Land Management is shortening the amount of
time that citizens and environmental groups in Wyoming and Utah
will have to protest oil and gas leases
Montana approves green-power initiative; geothermal
company takes Valles Caldera Preserve to court; bills to exempt
hydraulic fracturing from regulation; William Jensen Cottrell
sentenced for SUV vandalism
The Department of Energy finally agrees to move the Atlas
uranium mine tailings pile away from Moab, Utah, and the flood risk
of the Colorado River.
"Animal Planet" at the HCN office;
Leslie Glustrom vs. coal; correction; HCN Paonia potluck
In The Conquest of Bread, Richard
Walker takes a sweeping, skeptical look at the history of
agriculture in California
EPA will investigate allegations that bunk science led to
approval of hydraulic fracturing; racketeering lawsuit against
environmentalist dismissed; ACLU sues over BLM’s decision to
Wyoming’s Martin’s Cove historic site to Mormon
Church
In Common Waters, Diverging Streams
William Blomquist, Edella Schlager, and Tanya Heikkila argue on
behalf of "conjunctive management" – coordinating the use of
surface water with underground aquifers
Three important "takings" lawsuits claim farmers should be
compensated when water is withheld from irrigators in order to help
endangered species during times of drought
Ten years ago, Ben Harding created a worst-case drought
scenario for a U.S. Geological Survey study, but the current
drought on the Colorado River may be even worse than he
imagined
Rampant growth in the Phoenix area and a severe drought on
the Colorado River challenge Arizona's water
sustainability.
David Carle’s Introduction to California
Water is an ambitious field guide to the incredibly
complicated world of California water
The Bureau of Land Management is handing out public-lands
drilling permits like a McDonald’s drive-through with a
hyperactive "Order Assembly Target."
As the Colorado River Basin enters a sixth year of
drought, the Interior Department orders seven states to start
coordinating their management of the dwindling water
supply.
The writer says the "Great Barbecue" of the 1920s is back:
The federal government is leasing land for oil and gas as fast as
it can
Hovenweep National Monument in remote southeastern Utah
narrowly escapes an attempt to lease nearby land for oil and gas
drilling
Judge puts stay on initiative to keep more nuclear waste
from coming to Hanford Nuclear Reservation; Phoenix Mine expansion
approved in Nevada; Western governors discuss reforming Endangered
Species Act
California Gov. Schwarzenegger won’t fight for
roadless rule; California Attorney General Bill Lockyer blasts
Forest Service revision of Sierra Nevada plan; Arizona Water
Settlements Act gives water and money to tribes; Lincoln County
(Nevada) Conserva
Owyhee Canyonlands wilderness comes closer to Idaho; Bush
funds CALFED; oil and gas brings money to Rocky Mountain states;
National Wildlife Federation says federal Conservation Reserve
Program is abused
Activists in Butte County, Calif., have put a
genetic-engineering ban on the ballot, but some farmers fear it
could also ban a tried-and-true "mutagenic" variety of
rice
In Wyoming, Gov. Dave Freudenthal tries to put the brakes
on the oil and gas leasing rush, but the drilling frenzy continues
across the West
HCN’s upcoming potluck is in Portland; new interns
Deanna Belch and Lissa James; and corrections
The writer says as the 40th anniversary of the Wilderness
Act approaches, it’s time to push small wilderness proposals,
such as the White River in Utah
As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Wilderness
Act, it’s time we got back to a realistic attitude about
proposed wilderness, saving actual places, no matter how small they
are, instead of holding out for mega-proposals
Many Western cities like Sierra Vista, Ariz., were built
beside once-beautiful rivers which were overused and then
neglected, while the cities looked elsewhere for new water sources
to exploit
HCN’s summer visitors; corrections; Canyon Country
Zephyr and Four Corners Free Press thrive
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