High Country News holds its first-ever board meeting via telephone and Internet; Marty Durlin becomes new culture editor.
Items by Paul Larmer

Arguing about water is a beloved Western pastime, but as the snowpack shrinks, Coloradoans are going to find themselves seriously fighting over what’s left in the Colorado River.

In small Western towns, schoolkids – and their parents – often make long journeys over rugged mountain roads just to play other high school sports teams.

HCN’s readers pitch in financially; new interns Terray Sylvester, Emily Underwood and Jeff Chen arrive.
Paul Larmer reminds us that it will take more than a single environmental hero – like Tim DeChristopher, who cleverly sabotaged a BLM energy-lease auction – to reform the agency.
Paul Larmer reminds us that it will take more than a single environmental hero – like Tim DeChristopher, who cleverly sabotaged a BLM energy-lease auction – to reform the agency.
There are lessons to be learned from the mistakes that were made, not only in the near-extermination of the wolf, but also in its successful reintroduction.
Photographer Grant Heilman talks about his life and work in the West.
Today’s redesigned High Country News is definitely a magazine, far removed from the black-and-white tabloid newspaper it once was.
Growing corn in the interior West ain't no picnic.
In today’s complicated West, where retirees battle
energy companies and environmentalists fight transmission lines
carrying green power, maybe we need some heroic cowboys to help
straighten everything out.
How far are we willing to go to accommodate wild
creatures?
Protecting environmentally sensitive Western lands from
the current oil and gas frenzy is a challenge to the
conservationists who file protests with the BLM.
The West's abundant resources below ground have supplied
much of the power for the U.S. in the past; are renewables
next?
The Salton Sea might appear to be dying, but like many
another story in the West, it isn’t over with yet.
A Phoenix symposium on dealing with drought and global
warming echoes the larger uncertainties facing public-land and
national park managers throughout the West.
Despite the rhetoric of the Sagebrush Rebel lawyers, most
of today’s Westerners understand that the public land is a
national resource that belongs to all of us.
In a West made up of newcomers, it’s hard to tell
who really counts as a native – even when it comes to exotic
plants such as the infamous tamarisk.
Editor John Mecklin to step down, Jonathan Thompson to
step up; visitors; clarification on Rebecca Solnit
interview.
A showdown in Idaho pits bighorn sheep lovers against
longtime sheep ranchers, but if people are willing to work
together, this grazing knot can be untied.
Meet HCN in Salt Lake City; hasta la vista, Gretchen
Nicholoff; visitors; Robert Funkhouser dies; correction.
Recent Western fires have cleared the stage for the
rampant growth of highly flammable exotic plants such as cheatgrass
and the buffelgrass now invading the Sonoran Desert
Hunters have done a huge amount over the years to preserve
wildlife and habitat, but the powerful group Sportsmen for Fish and
Wildlife, with its obsessive focus on killing predators, seems to
be taking a step backward
Sometimes it seems that only the impact of a severe
drought can get Westerners to work together on water
issues
In his beautiful, compact book Working Wilderness, Nathan
Sayres tells the story of the Malpai Borderlands Group, “the
most hailed example of collaborative place-based resource
management in the West.”
Q and A with Ann Morgan, the former Colorado director of
the BLM, who recently testified before Congress about the agency's
push to open its lands to drilling.
Despite a relatively snowy winter here in western
Colorado, the season itself seems to have shrunk, with spring
arriving weeks earlier than it once did in a trend with ominous
consequences for the desert Southwest, particularly
Phoenix.
Just as winter turns into spring, Paul Larmer watches a
young elk die in western Colorado.
The rapid spread of invasive species like quagga and zebra
mussels could transform the once-isolated and ecologically unique
West into just another McDonaldized patch of the planet.
This issue’s cover essay on New Mexico’s gas
fields – and our publisher’s adventures during a recent
snowstorm in Paonia – reveal the complex links that bind
Westerners together for better or worse
Featured stories
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SPRING MOUNTAINS SOLAR OFF GRID MOUNTAIN HOME Located 50 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada in the pine forest of Lee Canyon at 8000 feet elevation. One of a kind property surrounded...
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WATER PROGRAM DIRECTOR Based in home office within Arizona, with travel to Phoenix 2-3 times/month (TNC office space may be available if located in Phoenix or Tucson area)....
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FOREST PROGRAM DIRECTOR, 51721 The Forest Program Director oversees aspects of protection, science, stewardship and community relations for the Arizona business unit. Provides scientific leadership and support for TNC's...
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SOUTHWEST CONSERVATION ADVOCATE WildEarth Guardians is seeking a full-time advocate in our Wild Places Program to advance a new paradigm of forest management and protection based on the...
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REGIONAL CONSERVATION DIRECTOR FOR THE RIVERSIDE COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION (RCTC) The Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC) is conducting a national search, seeking a dynamic leader and effective manager to be the next Regional Conservation Director....
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WYOMING CONSERVATION COORDINATOR The Wyoming Conservation Coordinator (WCC) is a senior-level position that provides strategic leadership for GYC's efforts to protect lands, waters, and wildlife within the Wyoming...
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NEW AGRARIAN PROGRAM SOUTHWEST COORDINATOR The New Agrarian Program Southwest Coordinator is responsible, in partnership with the NAP Director and Colorado Manager, for implementation of Quivira's apprenticeship program in New...
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NEW AGRARIAN PROGRAM ALUMNI AND OUTREACH MANAGER The New Agrarian Alumni & Outreach Manager is a passionate community builder who enjoys identifying opportunities to develop new programming, supporting beginning agrarians and land...
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ANIMAS RIVERKEEPER San Juan Citizens Alliance seeks a passionate, experienced, and motivated Animas Riverkeeper to lead campaigns to protect water quality and flows in the Animas River...
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CO & NM COALITION TO ENHANCE WORKING LANDS MANAGER Land stewards are more effective when they work as a team and have strong relationships. Our goals are to acknowledge and support the good work...
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PATAGONIA SONOITA-CREEK PRESERVE MANAGER The Patagonia Sonoita Creek Preserve Manager performs and participates in preserve operations including the maintenance, management, development and coordination of conservation programs. On-site housing provided...
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VERDE RIVER PROJECTS TECHNICIAN The Verde River Projects Technician (VRPT) provides technical assistance to Verde River Program staff in implementation of the Verde River Streamflow Monitoring Protocol. This consists...
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HEALTHY CITIES PROGRAM MANAGER The Healthy Cities Program Manager works directly with the business unit's Healthy Cities Program Director to advance the Healthy Cities Program's long-term vision and innovative,...
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MAJOR GIFTS MANAGER - MOUNTAIN WEST, THE CONSERVATION FUND Cultivate, solicit and steward a portfolio of 75-125 donors.
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CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER WITH RURAL COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE CORPORATION RCAC in West Sacramento, CA seeks a strategic CFO to oversee and safeguard RCAC's finances.
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PRECIOUS WATER IN ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK Hardcover and eBook available now. Contact your local bookstore or the author at 970.371.7339 [email protected]
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DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS AND ENGAGEMENT Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers (RFOV) is a non-profit organization with a mission to promote stewardship of our public lands by engaging our community in education,...
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