The Peregrine Fund has proven that it can breed and
release endangered birds of prey as often as it needs to, but do we
want to treat Western wildlife like a crop of annual flowers that
has to be re-seeded every year?
Items by Paul Larmer
Longtime community activist and HCN
board member Luis Torres is delighted to see environmentalists and
loggers working together in the forests of his native northern New
Mexico
High Country News reveals its odd
historical connection with the West’s uranium obsession of
the 1950s
Westerners, like most Americans, are deeply in love with
their lawns – but in an time of increasing drought, the
Kentucky bluegrass is going to have to go
Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth talks about how his
agency has changed over the years, defending current forest
management policies as well as the Service’s dealings with
the energy industry
In his book Collapse: How Societies Choose to
Fail or Succeed, Jared Diamond warns about societies that
overreach themselves – a warning that southern Arizona, in
the midst of its tremendous real estate boom, ought to
heed
Curmudgeons like Jim Stiles – owner/editor of
Moab’s Canyon Country Zephyr – have
a lot to teach us about why it is so important for us to cling to
the West that we love
The writer says California is the leader when it comes to
alternative fuels and insistence on cleaner air
California has a lot to teach the Interior West –
particularly about clean energy and water conservation
Interior Secretary Gale Norton’s decision to resign
prompts a look at Interior’s conservative counterrevolution
during her tenure, along with its unintended consequences
The writer thanks Gale Norton for inspiring Westerners to
form a new kind of coalition
HCN now has a blog; HCN’s Tucson board meeting and potluck; correction and clarification
Despite its problems and failures – many of them
arising from the conflict between the United States’ growing
population and our declining wildlife habitat – the
Endangered Species Act is a necessary law
The writer has some suggestions for conservationists as
prices for houses and timberland skyrocket
As privately owned timberlands go up for sale around the
West, some communities are trying to find ways to keep their
forests from disappearing in a flood of development
The writer imagines George Bush as the ultimate
environmental president
The writer urges Western states to seize the moment and
make the most of the gas bonanza that is enriching private
companies
Westerners need to prepare for the next economic bust by
saving money from today’s energy boom, just as black bears
store calories in the form of fat in order to get through the
winter
The writer welcomes a shift from cars to light rail in
Denver and other Western cities
As the rapidly growing city of Las Vegas, Nev., schemes to
find more water, it reminds those of us who live outside big cities
that we also need to rethink the way we use water
The Quivira Coalition is working hard to try to preserve
the West’s remaining private ranchlands – but much more
needs to be done to protect this invaluable land
The military’s plan to close Cannon Air Force Base
is being fought by nearby Clovis, N.M., a community that, like many
in the West, has become spectacularly dependent on a single
industry
The West’s rural areas are erupting with large-lot,
big, expensive homes, but the actual costs of this new rural
lifestyle extend far beyond the purchase price
The time is ripe for moderate reform of the conservation
easement system
The writer loves natural gas but opposes drilling for it
in the wrong places
If the folks who run the Forest Service listened to the
wisdom of their people on the ground, disasters like the Biscuit
Fire logging project would be less likely to occur
The writer praises grazing buyouts as a way to help land
and ranchers
Paul Larmer interviews longtime activist Andy Kerr, director of the National Public Lands Grazing Campaign, about grazing buyouts and the future of public-lands ranching
Some Western ranchers, fed up with economic problems and
other conflicts, are handing over their grazing allotments to
conservation groups in exchange for a healthy check
Westerners may love their cars, but the region’s
rapid growth means that even the most ardent car-lovers have a
stake in mass transit, and in Denver’s grand experiment in
light rail
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