Livestock foraging on 160 million acres of public lands could roam more freely than ever, thanks to a recent policy change at the Bureau of Land Management. On Aug. 14, the BLM granted eight new “categorical exclusions,” designed to speed up the approval process for a slew of activities on public lands, including grazing, logging, […]
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The great American cat fight
Phantom cat of forest and desert, the jaguar slinks through its surroundings, an optical illusion of tawny, sun-dappled fur. It manifests and evaporates with hardly a trace amid the darkness of South American rainforests and the shattered canyons of the arid Southwest. By the 1980s, however, a century of predator control, hunting and habitat loss […]
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From weapons to wildlife
The Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant was once known for making plutonium triggers for the much-feared nuclear bomb. Today, Rocky Flats is seeking a new reputation – that of a wildlife refuge, where deer, elk, mountain lions and even bald eagles can roam in peace. Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency certified the completion of the […]
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Super rodents build super habitat
Faster than a speeding coyote, able to leap small cacti in a single bound — two “superhero” rodents, the kangaroo rat and the prairie dog, thrive amid the heat and dry sand of the desert Southwest. Each creature influences its environment to an extent that far outweighs its size – a real-life version of Mighty […]
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Pipe dreams
By the time endangered spring chinook reach the mouth of the Methow River, a tributary of the Columbia, in late summer, they have traveled 500 miles and passed nine dams in order to spawn. Upstream, the Chief Joseph Dam, which lacks fish passage, blocks further progress up the Columbia. The Methow’s forested watershed offers one […]
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Love for the clay-loving buckwheat
By 8 a.m., the July day felt like a scorcher. Waves of heat rippled along the western Colorado adobe hills, shriveling plants and baking the soil to a fractured crust that crunched with every step. Two white tents peeking from between golden hills could have been a mirage, if it weren’t for the sizzle of […]
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A dustup over weed control
They race across the West covering 2,300 acres each day, devouring an area the size of twenty Wal-Mart superstores every minute. They reduce habitat for wildlife, dry up water tables and intensify the threat of wildfires on 35 million acres of public land. As the area covered by invasive plants grows, so does the amount […]
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Getting fresh with the West’s groundwater
That shot of hot air coming from the bottom of the refrigerator may soon serve a greater purpose than just warming your feet. A new saltwater distillation technique that uses solar energy and waste heat from appliances could provide remote Southwestern communities with clean drinking water. Researchers Nirmala Khandan and Veera Gude of New Mexico […]
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Turning the tide
One hundred and fifty years ago, the Indian tribes of Washington state signed treaties that were supposed to guarantee, forever, their right to collect shellfish from the beaches of Puget Sound. Not long after, the government started selling off the region’s most productive tidelands to commercial shellfish growers, who were never notified of the Indians’ […]
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Utah plans to join the Wild and Scenic Rivers System
For almost 40 years, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act has been protecting beautiful rivers in states across the West – except two. Utah and Nevada have yet to place any rivers on the Wild and Scenic list, which was started in 1968 to protect outstanding rivers from development. For Utah, however, that could change […]
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The perils of secrecy
Is the wolverine, the country’s most
enigmatic predator, in danger of extinction, or just
misunderstood?
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Making a killing to save Arizona’s desert bighorn sheep
Updated June 30, 2007 A mountain lion paid the ultimate price for his gluttony after helping himself to too many servings of lamb and venison near southwestern Arizona’s Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. Earlier this month wildlife officials killed the lion as it guarded the fresh carcasses of two desert bighorn sheep and a mule deer. […]
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Advice from a horse
If going hunting twice in his life makes Mitt Romney a “lifetime hunter,” then you could say I’m a lifetime horse rider. Besides a couple of childhood pony rides, I took one riding lesson as a teenager from an instructor whose teaching style resembled that of a Russian ballet mistress — when she cracked her […]
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A struggling sea
The Salton Sea, one of California’s largest lakes and a safe haven for thousands of migratory birds, is suffering a case of severe dehydration. Water loss and rising salinity and nutrient concentrations have endangered this saltwater lake in southeastern California. Left untreated, the sea’s ecosystem could collapse within the next few decades, according to the […]
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A gold mine in the Colorado wilderness?
A grandfathered mining claim passed down through generations has trumped the Wilderness Act. For the mine owners it’s a victory; for others the potential mine raises concerns over wilderness protection and mining regulations. For nearly 60 years, Robert and Marjorie Miller of Montrose, Colo., have tried to re-open the Robin Redbreast Gold Mine in southwestern […]
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In the Arizona desert, feathers are flying
Earlier this month, while bald eagle chicks were testing their wings in the Arizona desert, the fight to protect them took an ugly turn. Environmentalists accused government bureaucrats of suppressing science to avoid protecting the Arizona bald eagle as a separate population under the Endangered Species Act, but officials say they were following the law. […]
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The magnificent obsession of sheep herding
(Click on any photo below to see a larger version.) Border collies by nature are intelligent and moody -– one woman fondly describes hers as a habitual sulker — and as many an owner will attest, they’re notoriously high-maintenance. A collie’s obsessive-compulsive herding instinct means that it will round up not just sheep or cattle, […]
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Can Congress drag the 1872 Mining Law into the 21st century?
Today’s hardrock mines are nothing like the pick-and-shovel operations of the mid-19th century, but they are still governed by 19th century laws. Under the General Mining Act of 1872, anyone who stakes a claim on public land for metals such as gold, silver and uranium can extract the ore royalty-free and, until a moratorium 13 […]
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Colorado mountain town raises millions to save meadow
Residents of Telluride, Colo., joined in a chorus of “This Land is Your Land” Wednesday afternoon May 9, just before Mayor John Pryor announced the mountain resort town had raised enough money to save more than 550 acres of natural area near its entrance. “We have fought the good fight. We have prevailed,” declared Pryor […]
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Oregon internees to get honorary degrees
These days, Portland’s Expo Center hosts everything from roller derby to dog shows. But few of the Oregonians who attend can recall when the Expo was used for a much grimmer purpose. At the onset of World War II, Japanese Americans were corralled on the grounds for months, awaiting the construction of internment camps. Sixty-five […]