Items by Pat Ford

The obscure music where wild animals sing from the heart
The obscure music where wild animals sing from the heart
Pat Ford Opinion Dec. 31, 2015
Who are the true Idaho conservatives?
Who are the true Idaho conservatives?
Pat Ford Opinion Aug. 14, 2014
Elwha, a story of today's West
Elwha, a story of today's West
Cheering the return of salmon to the Elwha River after the dam came down
Pat Ford Opinion May 30, 2013
Singing about a land where free rivers flow on
Singing about a land where free rivers flow on
Woody Guthrie's long history of writing about dams and hydropower.
Pat Ford Opinion Oct. 19, 2012
Conservation-business alliances
Pat Ford Aug. 20, 2012 From the print edition
Another chance emerges for salmon
Another chance emerges for salmon
Pat Ford reminds us that sockeye salmon face enormous hurdles – especially if they’re trying to return to Redfish Lake.
Pat Ford Opinion Essay Oct. 17, 2008
Let's bury the word 'environmentalism'
Pat Ford March 21, 2005 From the print edition
Tribes doing most for salmon, feds least
Pat Ford July 30, 2001 From the print edition
Foundation's help was invaluable
Pat Ford Jan. 22, 1996 From the print edition
Jim Thrash: A solid man
A eulogy for conservationist Jim Thrash, who died in the Canyon Creek fire.
Pat Ford July 25, 1994 From the print edition
A guide to the players
A guide to federal agencies involved in salmon issues.
Pat Ford April 18, 1994 From the print edition
Salmon: the Clinton-Babbitt train wreck
Agencies will try to find a way around new salmon ruling.
Pat Ford Opinion Essay April 18, 1994 From the print edition
Should the 'Frank' be one forest?
An influential congressman's proposal to create the nation's first all-wilderness national forest in central Idaho has the Forest Service scrambling.
Pat Ford Sept. 7, 1992 From the print edition
The Snake's imperiled salmon: A personal call to act
I want to tell you about a fish, a place named for it, and a recent weekend there that I will not forget.
Pat Ford July 1, 1991 From the print edition
And now -- the Last Salmon Ceremony?
The big hydroelectric dams stand as symbols of the crossroads now confronting the Pacific Northwest's salmon and steelhead. A century ago these wild fish numbered some 16 million. Now their annual count is dropping below 1 million.
Pat Ford April 22, 1991 From the print edition
How the basin's salmon-killing system works
The Columbia Basin's eight mainstem dams account for nearly all of the Northwest's annual salmon slaughter, and could be modified.
Pat Ford April 22, 1991 From the print edition
Old-growth forests fight global warming
Three Northwest forest researchers conclude that converting old-growth to young forests won't slow down global warming. Their results may help settle one question in the Northwest's intense debate over its remaining ancient forests.
Pat Ford March 26, 1990 From the print edition
Is the Forest Service changing?
A former timber sale planner says "it's all talk."
Pat Ford Feb. 26, 1990 From the print edition
Idaho points the way to stream quality
For a variety of reasons, Idaho is the first Western state to seriously attempt to control nonpoint source water pollution.
Pat Ford Dec. 4, 1989 From the print edition
Idaho wilderness issue is tied in knots
Conservationists haven't yet figured out how to blow the whistle on McClure without also appearing to be attacking Andrus.
Pat Ford July 3, 1989 From the print edition
INEL puts Idaho's political hypocrisy to a rough test
The Idaho National Energy Lab is the biggest blind spot in Idaho politics. Politicians who rail against the evils of big government while pulling every string for INEL projects are faithfully reflecting those who elect them.
Pat Ford Opinion Dec. 19, 1988 From the print edition
Idaho: The political winds have shifted
Statewide, conservation and outdoor issues played a key role only in the race won by Rep. Richard Stallings.
Pat Ford Nov. 21, 1988 From the print edition
Balkanized, atomized Idaho
A combination of technological change and free market ideology has led the nation to abandon not just railroad and bus lines but its long-held commitment to universal transportation and communication. The article describes the Balkanization process and its consequences for the rural West.
Pat Ford Oct. 24, 1988 From the print edition
Now Idaho wants national parks
In theory, wild, beautiful and lightly populated Idaho should be bursting with national parks. In fact, its ranching, logging and mining roots have kept it totally free of parks.
Pat Ford Oct. 10, 1988 From the print edition
During the boom, Idaho succumbed to good sense
Lest you think that the entire West succumbed to the hypnotic beat of boom, boom, boom, here is an account of how the conservative state of Idaho behaved conservatively -- resisting the lure of a coal-fired power plant that was to carry the state to the land of milk and honey.
Pat Ford Sept. 12, 1988 From the print edition
McClure-Andrus wilderness bill is worse than nothing
The McClure-Andrus package is obviously superior, statewide, to McClure's 1984 proposal. But the transformation of public perceptions that we require has not occurred. Now the exigencies of substantially improving or fighting this legislation will dominate our time.
Pat Ford Opinion Feb. 1, 1988 From the print edition
Idaho debates public land access
The Idaho Conservation League joins a battle to regain access to a part of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area.
Pat Ford Dec. 21, 1987 From the print edition
Rancher-lawmaker takes on the establishment
Idaho's John Peavey proves that a legislator can win major fights against the West's power triangle -- big business, utilities and the farm-ranch establishment.
Pat Ford May 11, 1987 From the print edition
BuRec looks anew at the Teton Dam site
Ten years after the collapse of the Teton Dam, irrigators and city officials in eastern Idaho are beginning a campaign to rebuild it.
Pat Ford April 27, 1987 From the print edition
Idaho enters the nuclear weapons business
The Idaho National Engineering Laboratory near Idaho Falls is preparing for its first major nuclear weapons project.
Pat Ford Feb. 16, 1987 From the print edition
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