High Country News – Know the West

Despite a few high-profile wildfires, 2013 was a fairly quiet fire season after all.

Mitch Tobin Nov. 25, 2013 From the print edition

Condor 134’s harrowing experience with lead poisoning exemplifies these endangered birds’ greatest challenge – which some advocates hope to ease by banning lead bullets in California

Mitch Tobin March 5, 2007 From the print edition

Rancher wins big in libel suit against enviros

Arizona rancher and investment banker Jim Chilton wins a $600,000 judgment for libel against The Center for Biological Diversity

Mitch Tobin Feb. 21, 2005 From the print edition

Squirrels and scopes in the line of fire

A wildfire on Arizona’s Mount Graham almost reached the University of Arizona’s controversial mountaintop telescopes – and may yet destroy an already endangered squirrel

Mitch Tobin Aug. 30, 2004 From the print edition

Water holes awash in controversy

Game managers and environmentalists disagree on the usefulness of artificial water holes for game; environmental groups say they spread disease, attract killer bees, and give predators a convenient spot to ambush prey. The Arizona Game and Fish Department

Mitch Tobin April 26, 2004 From the print edition

Phelps Dodge looks to revive mining in the Copper State

Phelps Dodge wants to open a big copper mine near Safford, Ariz., but some critics say that the company’s planned land swap is a rip-off, and that the mine may have harmful environmental impacts

Mitch Tobin Feb. 2, 2004 From the print edition

Warm-water native fish are left out in the cold

A new study by a team of biologists shows little is being done to save a dozen of the Southwest’s threatened and endangered native fish species

Mitch Tobin Jan. 19, 2004 From the print edition

Delta beast rears its head

The Interior Department is considering restarting the Yuma Desalting Plant, and environmentalists fear the plant’s salty runoff could destroy Mexico’s Cienega de Santa Clara – the Sonoran Desert’s largest wetland

Mitch Tobin Sept. 15, 2003 From the print edition

State land no longer just for the cows

The environmental group Forest Guardians outbids a rancher to gain control of a grazing allotment on state school-trust land in Arizona

Mitch Tobin Sept. 1, 2003 From the print edition

Bikers want back in to national park

Tucson, Ariz., mountain bikers are pushing the Park Service to reopen the Cactus Forest Trail in Saguaro National Park

Mitch Tobin July 7, 2003 From the print edition

Monument presents a management morass

In Arizona’s Ironwood Forest National Monument, ranchers, recreationists and illegal immigrants are all fighting for space

Mitch Tobin April 14, 2003 From the print edition

Fences go up along the Mexican border

The Border Patrol wants to erect 249 miles of fences along the Arizona-Mexico border, and some environmentalists are worried about their impact on desert wildlife.

Mitch Tobin March 3, 2003 From the print edition

Where’d you get that cactus, partner?

Southern Arizona cities are importing cacti from west Texas, and demand is beginning to outstrip the natural supply.

Mitch Tobin Feb. 17, 2003 From the print edition

Wheels still spin after desert lockdown

Road closures to protect endangered Sonoran pronghorn in Ariz.'s Cabeza Prieta Nat'l Wildlife Refuge and Organ Pipe Cactus Nat'l Monument will keep the public out, but may not stem the tide of drug smugglers, illegal immigrants and Border Patrol agents.

Mitch Tobin April 1, 2002 From the print edition

A wing and a genius grant

Tucson pilot Sandy Lanham wins a MacArthur "genius grant" for her work flying scientists and conservationists while charging no more than the cost of fuel and airport fees.

Mitch Tobin March 4, 2002 From the print edition

Protecting Arizona's underground wonderland

Arizona State Parks is fighting a proposal resort near Benson, Ariz., which some fear could harm the nearby Kartchner Caverns.

Mitch Tobin Dec. 17, 2001 From the print edition

Dangerous parks

The U.S. Park Rangers Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police lists the 10 most dangerous national parks in the country.

Mitch Tobin Aug. 27, 2001 From the print edition

Luxury homes torched in Tucson

In Phoenix, Mark Warren Sands is charged with burning down eight trophy homes, but the June arsons that burned three brand-new, vacant luxury homes in Tucson's Pima Canyon Estates remain a mystery.

Tony Davis and Mitch Tobin July 2, 2001 From the print edition

Arizona waffles on wolves

The Arizona Game and Fish Commission wants to pull the plug on Mexican wolf reintroduction.

Mitch Tobin June 18, 2001 From the print edition

Will a watched refuge ever revive?

At the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona, ranchers, environmentalists and agencies are at odds over whether grazing could help beat back an exotic grass, Lehmann lovegrass.

Mitch Tobin Nov. 6, 2000 From the print edition

Mining the crown jewels

The 1872 Mining Law may allow the Rainbow Talc Mine to resume operations, despite the mine's location in a wilderness area of California's Death Valley National Park.

Mitch Tobin Aug. 17, 1998 From the print edition

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