High Country News – Know the West

A homegrown consensus effort called the Owyhee Initiative is trying to save both wilderness and ranching in southwestern Idaho – but in the polarized Bush era, consensus is often controversial

Robyn Morrison Dec. 8, 2003 From the print edition

Climbers: More than just fun-hogs?

The Access Fund says it’s out to prove that climbers care about the environment, but some say that the group’s tactics are no different from any wise-use group’s

Robyn Morrison July 7, 2003 From the print edition

One park clamps down on climbers

Hueco Tanks State Historic Site near El Paso, Texas, had to enact strict regulations governing climbing after the area’s rock art was vandalized

Robyn Morrison July 7, 2003 From the print edition

Who’s managing climbers?

A look at popular climbing areas around the West shows both the problems – and the solutions – inspired by the popularity of rock climbing

Robyn Morrison July 7, 2003 From the print edition

Invasion of the rock jocks

Bishop, Calif., is a hot spot for the lively new sport of bouldering, but some fear that the new generation of rock-climbers is short on environmental ethics, treating nature as little more than an outdoor climbing gym

Robyn Morrison July 7, 2003 From the print edition

A small-town mayor challenges developers

Erie, Colo., one of the country’s fastest-growing communities, is trying to slow development down, with the help of a controversial anti-growth mayor, Barbara Connors.

Robyn Morrison March 31, 2003 From the print edition

As the dust settles

Michael Brown’s documentary, Dust to Dust, tells the story of Libby, Mont., and the struggle of its people against deadly disease caused by asbestos-laced dust from a vermiculate mine

Robyn Morrison Feb. 17, 2003 From the print edition

Conservation pays off in a desert town

Residents of Castle Valley, Utah, are working with the state trust lands agency to find a way to preserve open space while also raising more money for schools

Robyn Morrison Feb. 17, 2003 From the print edition

Logging for water creates a buzz

In Colorado, a long-dead notion to clear-cut forests to increase water runoff is resurrected in a time of drought.

Robyn Morrison Dec. 23, 2002 From the print edition

One Colorado county takes a stand

Poor but coal-rich Delta County, Colo., made history when its county commissioners, responding to a determined citizens' movement, voted to deny four coalbed methane test wells and attach conditions to the drilling of a fifth.

Robyn Morrison Sept. 2, 2002 From the print edition

Land plan attracts an anti-grazing gorilla

A draft plan by Moffat County, Colo., commissioners to turn over control of 1.7 million acres of federal land to local trustees draws the ire of environmentalist Jon Marvel of the Western Watersheds Project.

Robyn Morrison Aug. 5, 2002 From the print edition

Spilling salt into rivers

The Southern Ute Tribe is upset with Colorado state officials for issuing a permit to allow two coalbed-methane wells to spill polluted water into the Florida River, upstream from the tribe.

Robyn Morrison May 13, 2002 From the print edition

Dunes shifts toward park status

Residents of Colorado's San Luis Valley are pleased at the prospect of the Great Sand Dunes National Monument adding the neighboring Baca Ranch and becoming a national park.

Robyn Morrison Feb. 18, 2002 From the print edition

Church aims to purchase public land

The Mormon Church is working to purchase a national historic site along the Oregon Trail in Wyoming, where nearly 200 Mormon pioneers died in the winter of 1856.

Robyn Morrison Dec. 3, 2001 From the print edition

Items by Robyn Morrison

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