High Country News – Know the West

Urban planning — with a wild touch

Practical Ecology for Planners, Developers and Citizens and Nature-Friendly Communties are two new handbooks on innovative land-use planning and habitat protection

Ray Ring Feb. 6, 2006 From the print edition

Tiny stream invaders may harm Western trout

The tiny New Zealand mud snails that are rapidly invading the West’s waters may pose a threat to the region’s trout

Ray Ring Feb. 6, 2006 From the print edition

Time for a little outrage

It’s time for hunters to rally on behalf of wild lands and wild animals – beginning with the bison in Yellowstone

Ray Ring Opinion Feb. 6, 2006 From the print edition

Forest Service shuts down 'three old geezers'

Armed law enforcement officers prevented three environmentalists, including 83-year-old Stewart Brandborg, from attending a Forest Service press conference in Hamilton, Mont.

Ray Ring and Carlotta Grandstaff Jan. 23, 2006 From the print edition

Bipartisan uprising sinks public-lands selloff

Reps. Richard Pombo’s and Jim Gibbons’ controversial proposal to sell off public lands was pulled after both Republican and Democratic lawmakers and citizens rallied against it

Ray Ring Dec. 26, 2005 From the print edition

Energy companies plow some profits back into Western ground

Raymond Plank, chairman of Apache Corp., says responsible companies like his prove that the energy industry can reduce its environmental impacts and give more back to local communities

Ray Ring Nov. 28, 2005 From the print edition

Gold from the Gas Fields

Energy companies are reaping billions from the West, but few states outside Wyoming are making sure that wealth stays at home and is invested wisely.

Ray Ring Nov. 28, 2005 From the print edition

Oil and gas drilling clouds the West's air

Air pollution from oil and gas drilling is on the increase in the Rocky Mountain West, and environmentalists and energy companies are trying to prevent it from getting any worse

Ray Ring Oct. 31, 2005 From the print edition

Handling griz: How much is enough?

Increasing numbers of the West’s grizzly bears wear radio collars, and some environmentalists question the necessity of the practice

Colleen O'Brien and Ray Ring Oct. 17, 2005 From the print edition

Strange bedfellows make a grazing deal in Idaho

Anti-grazing activist Jon Marvel makes a deal with ranching magnate J.R. Simplot, allowing cattle to continue to graze on federal land in Idaho

Ray Ring Oct. 3, 2005 From the print edition

Horn hunters face hard times

The rising popularity of Viagra has cut into the profits of Western antler-hunters, including Wyoming Boy Scouts

Andrew Slaton and Ray Ring Aug. 8, 2005 From the print edition

As Washington waffles, Western states go green

Western state legislatures boost wildlife and green energy, even as Washington, D.C., remains hooked on fossil fuels

Ray Ring July 25, 2005 From the print edition

Dear friends

Skipped issue; corrections and clarifications to Write-Off on the Range and other stories; our mailbox runneth over

Ray Ring and Jodi Peterson June 27, 2005 From the print edition

Write-off on the Range

In Montana’s Madison County, Reid Rosenthal uses conservation easements to help the land — and make his investors rich

Ray Ring May 30, 2005 From the print edition

How to Examine Conservation Easements

Conservation easements are often a closed book if you're not one deal makers. Here are a few tips on how to examine a conservation easement in your area.

Ray Ring May 30, 2005 From the print edition

Colorado tax credits make easements work for working people

Conservation easements are considered the domain of the wealthy, but in Colorado, tax credits are helping farmers like Dorothy and Norman Kehmeier preserve their family’s land.

Ray Ring May 30, 2005 From the print edition

Congress looks to reform a system with no steering wheel

A proposal to overhaul the tax rules around conservation easements has private-land conservationists worried, but recent financial scandals show the need for some reform

Ray Ring May 30, 2005 From the print edition

Biohazard lab takes shape

A Biosafety Level 4 lab is being added to the National Institutes of Health Rocky Mountain Laboratories campus in Hamilton, Mont.

Ray Ring March 21, 2005 From the print edition

Tribe close to sharing federal bison refuge

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes will begin sharing management of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Bison Range Complex in Montana

Ray Ring March 7, 2005 From the print edition

Small tribe in Idaho weighs big water deal

The Nez Perce tribe is close to a major water-rights settlement with Idaho and the federal government, but not everyone thinks it’s a good idea for the tribe or for endangered salmon.

Ray Ring March 7, 2005 From the print edition

Libby tested environmentalists, who came up short

The writer says environmentalists cared so much about wildlife and public lands that they missed a deadly mess in Libby, Montana

Ray Ring Opinion Essay March 2, 2005

Where were the environmentalists when Libby needed them most?

The story of Libby, Montana, where hundreds have died from mining pollution, raises questions about the environmental movement itself.

Ray Ring Feb. 21, 2005 From the print edition

Rulings keep the West open for business

Recent decisions not to list as endangered the white-tailed and black-tailed prairie dogs and the greater sage grouse open the door to increased energy exploration and development in the West

Ray Ring Dec. 20, 2004 From the print edition

Whatever happened to the environmental movement?

The writer says the environmental movement has stalled: He proposes a Green March on Washington to wake people up

Ray Ring Opinion Essay Dec. 6, 2004

A New Dialogue for Idaho

Rick Johnson of the Idaho Conservation League is working with Republican Congressman Mike Simpson on a wilderness bill for the Boulder and White Cloud mountains, but not everybody in "Planet Idaho" is happy

Ray Ring Nov. 22, 2004 From the print edition

Udall patriarch laments startling changes

Stewart Udall talks about his years as Interior secretary, and criticizes the Bush administration’s environmental policy

Ray Ring Oct. 11, 2004 From the print edition

State judges get political

In Western states where judges are elected, an increasing amount of special-interest group money is being spent on hotly contested state judge campaigns

Ray Ring Oct. 11, 2004 From the print edition

Wamsutter Profiles

Some of Wamsutter’s citizens are briefly profiled: a Baptist preacher, a couple of real estate entrepreneurs, a café owner, the deputy sheriff, a bar owner, an oil-field worker, the town librarian and a local Democrat

Ray Ring Sept. 13, 2004 From the print edition

When a Boom is a Bust

Wamsutter, Wyo., is a boomtown these days, but the town is struggling to be a real community, instead of just a barracks for the natural gas industry

Ray Ring Sept. 13, 2004 From the print edition

Supreme Court reins in citizens' right to sue

A recent Supreme Court ruling in a Utah wilderness lawsuit will limit the ability of citizens to sue the government over how its agencies manage natural resources

Ray Ring July 19, 2004 From the print edition

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