Items by Stephen Stuebner

Grazing foes float a buyout
Anti-grazing groups are trying to convince Congress to buy out ranchers' grazing allotments on public land, but resistance on the part of permit holders may stop the effort.
Raising a stink
When the dairy industry invades rural Idaho, communities face the dilemma of what to do with the waste cows produce. The huge dairy operations are contaminating local air and water.
BLM director forced to resign
Martha Hahn is forced out of her job as Idaho state director of the BLM, largely because she backed grazing cutbacks in the Owyhee Mountains.
Global market squeezes sheep ranchers
Foreign competition, low prices and increasing labor costs have sent the U.S. sheep industry into a decline that is felt especially in Idaho.
Idaho reaches for control of the ESA
Idaho's new Office of Species Conservation is supposed to oversee endangered species recovery in the state, but some fear the office and its first director, Jim Caswell, will be more concerned about industry's needs than wildlife.
A quick resource guide for teachers of the wild
A list gives some of the resources environmental educators can find on the Internet.
Science teachers go local
Jeff Mitchell in Philomath, Ore., and Clinton Kennedy in McCall, Idaho, are two teachers who have found creative ways to teach environmental studies in the conservative West.
How green is this Tree?
Some critics say that Project Learning Tree, one of the most popular environmental education programs, is too biased toward the timber industry which helps to underwrite it.
Teach the children well
In the West's public schools, corporations and conservationists quietly compete to control what students will learn in the largely unregulated field of environmental education.
Paul Fritz left a unique legacy for the Park Service
The late Paul Fritz is remembered as a conservationist whose years in the Park Service reflect a man who was independent and outspoken.
Idaho resorts near 'wild' river must go
In Idaho, a judge rules that three fishing lodges along the Wild and Scenic Salmon River must be removed.
Libertarian is Chenoweth's heir apparent
C.L. "Butch" Otter, who is running for the U.S. House seat that Rep. Helen Chenoweth, R, is leaving, has gained points in conservative Idaho by fighting the EPA over destroying part of a wetland.
Washington's Steel Magnolia
Washington state Democrat Maria Cantwell, who is running against longtime Republican Sen. Slade Gorton, is backed by tribes and environmentalists.
Stalking Slade
An unprecedented, informal coalition of angry Indian tribes, environmentalists and Democrats are going after Washington Republican Sen. Slade Gorton's seat in November, and Gorton's opponent - Democrat Maria Cantwell - may have a chance for victory.
Flashpoint in the Northern Rockies
Two backcountry huts used by cross-country skiers in Sun Valley, Idaho, were destroyed by arson, and some suspect the arsonists might have been snowmobilers irate over ORV restrictions in national forests.
'Multiple use is still the best concept'
In his own words, ranch manager Stacy Davies says that multiple use is best for Steens Mountain.
'I don't want to run a different business'
In his own words, rancher Fred Otley defends ranchers' stewardship on Steens Mountain.
'The more protection ... the better'
In his own words, Bill Marlett of the Oregon Natural Desert Association says that Steens Mountain needs all the protection it can get.
'I see lawsuits as a last resort'
In her own words, Sierra Club volunteer Jill Workman says that grazing need not be banned on Steens Mountain.
'Environmentalists will win'
In his own words, environmentalist lawyer Andy Kerr argues for an end to grazing on Steens Mountain.
Go tell it on the mountain
While Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt considers greater protection for Oregon's Steens Mountain, local ranchers and environmentalists argue over whether the land should become a cow-free national monument or a conservation area that would allow grazing.
'I think we can work with ranchers'
In his own words, retired Air Force pilot and environmentalist Herb Meyr discusses working with ranchers one-to-one vs. Jon Marvel's combative tactics.
'We're trying to turn up the heat'
Land and Water Fund lawyer Laird Lucas defends Jon Marvel's work against public-lands ranching.
'Jon Marvel is the wing nut'
Emmett, Idaho, rancher Brad Little says that environmental activist Jon Marvel is abusing the system in his attempt to end all ranching, not just public-lands ranching.
Jon Marvel vs. the Marlboro Man
Jon Marvel, Hailey, Idaho, architect, founded the Idaho Watersheds Project to target public-lands grazing, but his notoriously in-your-face, confrontational style has roused a lot of controversy along the way.
Fly-in wilderness
Pilots object to a proposed wilderness management plan that would require user fees and permits on flights to airstrips in Idaho's Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness.
The new voice at BLM
Dallas lawyer Thomas A. Fry III is appointed acting director of BLM.
Web hosts faux greens
The Idaho Conservation League is furious because a pro-timber industry group has set up a Web site with a very similar name and an opposing message.
Plant pays hefty fine for polluting the air
FMC Corp.'s phosphorous plant near Pocatello, Idaho, is fined $11.8 million for environmental violations that include a fire that sent poisonous gas wafting onto Shoshone-Bannock tribal land.
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