The health and safety of workers cleaning up the nation’s nuclear weapons complex have been badly neglected, according to a study by the Office of Technology Assessment, a research arm of the U.S. Congress. Because of the historic autonomy and secrecy of its atomic mission, the Department of Energy is the only federal agency exempt […]
Book Reviews
Posted inMarch 7, 1994: Pay as you waste, says EPA
Wet and wild symposium
With memories of drought still fresh in the West, the Montana Environmental Education Association is sponsoring “Water, Wet & Wild: Flowing into the 21st Century” from March 25-27 in Billings, Mont. Designed for elementary and high school teachers, the meeting offers workshops on water pollution and water rights and exhibits by film makers and publishers. […]
Posted inMarch 7, 1994: Pay as you waste, says EPA
Roxborough friends fight for park
Local residents who enjoy the relative wildness and beauty of Roxborough State Park near Denver, Colo., are fighting a developer’s plans to build 850 houses along the park’s entire eastern boundary. The development, known as Southdowns at Roxborough, could begin as soon as this March and would destroy wildlife habitat for deer, elk and golden […]
Posted inMarch 7, 1994: Pay as you waste, says EPA
New plans for Yellowstone
Managers in Yellowstone National Park just released a plan that could leave the park’s 2.2 million acres of backcountry a little more organized. The draft backcountry management plan suggests classifying the park into three management zones. Most people would visit the threshold zone, which surrounds roads and developed areas in the park. It would have […]
Posted inMarch 7, 1994: Pay as you waste, says EPA
Fast food at fault
That humble staple of the fast-food industry – the french fry – is more dangerous than it looks. A recent study by the non-profit Columbia Basin Institute found that fry-makers in the Columbia River Basin waste cheap water and poison residential wells. The 100-page report, Value Added and Subtracted, says fry-makers use only half of […]
Posted inMarch 7, 1994: Pay as you waste, says EPA
A natural vacation
National forests in the Northwest have opened unused fire lookouts, stock stations and maintenance cabins to the public. All can be rented for overnight camping with up to a two-week stay allowed in some places. Because each facility is rented by the national forest in which it is located, two brochures, available at most Forest […]
Posted inMarch 7, 1994: Pay as you waste, says EPA
For green writers
Environmental issues are particularly difficult for journalists from small newspapers and broadcast stations who do not have the benefit of large libraries, colleges or conferences. “Charting the Environmental Journalism Frontier,” an April 14-16 workshop at the University of Colorado at Boulder, will help such journalists develop a better understanding of environmental issues in the West. […]
Posted inMarch 7, 1994: Pay as you waste, says EPA
Missile chaos
In a 4-inch-thick draft environmental impact statement, the U.S. Army recently concluded that its missile test flights to the White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico could have significant land-use impacts. Launched from either Green River, Utah, or Fort Wingate, N.M., the missiles would fly over Canyonlands National Park, Dead Horse Point State Park […]
Posted inFebruary 7, 1994: Can she save ecosystems?
Canyonlands backcountry plan
In an attempt to preserve the wildness and solitude of eastern Utah’s Canyonlands National Park, the National Park Service wants to restrict camping, backpacking and mountain biking in heavily used and ecologically important areas of the park. In a 66-page environmental assessment, the agency lays out five alternatives for managing backcountry use of the 337,000-acre […]
Posted inFebruary 7, 1994: Can she save ecosystems?
Cow stomp and more
The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance will hold a conference for anti-grazing activists in Salt Lake City on Feb. 19. “Take Back the West” is designed for people discouraged by the Interior Department’s efforts at grazing reform. It includes talks about Babbitt’s soon-to-be-released grazing regulations and the wise-use movement. Grazing activist George Wuerthner and writer-naturalist Terry […]
Posted inFebruary 7, 1994: Can she save ecosystems?
Work for (a) change
Would you like to build trails and fences on a nature preserve this summer? How about researching and writing on conservation issues in Idaho? The Northern Rockies Action Group recently published the third annual Making a Change: A Student Guide to Social Change Internships in the Northern Rockies, which describes internships with environmental and social […]
Posted inFebruary 7, 1994: Can she save ecosystems?
Taking back Santa Fe
Hoping to rein in the runaway development that has transformed Santa Fe, N.M., into a mecca for tourists and the affluent, a new group is registering voters for the city elections March 1. Take Back Santa Fe has trained dozens of volunteers who are going door-to-door to register people to vote. Organizer Gloria Mendoza says […]
Posted inFebruary 7, 1994: Can she save ecosystems?
Slip sliding away
Preventing land from washing into streams, rivers and lakes may not be the sexiest topic around, but for 25 years the International Erosion Control Association has held an annual conference in an attempt to make it so. This year’s conference, scheduled for Feb. 15-18 in Reno, Nev., tackles “Sustaining Environmental Quality: The erosion control challenge,” […]
Posted inFebruary 7, 1994: Can she save ecosystems?
Agriculture in the round
For the past three years, up to 400 people have gathered in Denver for Colorado Gov. Roy Romer’s Agricultural Outlook Forum. This year, on Feb. 18, Romer wants the gathering to focus on the ecology and economics of sustainable farming. Experts such as Marty Strange, who founded Nebraska’s Center for Rural Affairs, and Ralph Grossi, […]
Posted inFebruary 7, 1994: Can she save ecosystems?
Idaho’s unsettling sediment
A new government study shows that Idaho’s Lake Coeur d’Alene is one of the most contaminated bodies of water in the world. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that 85 percent of the 50-square-mile lake bed is contaminated with 75 million metric tons of sediments containing silver, copper, lead, zinc, cadmium, mercury and arsenic. The contamination […]
Posted inFebruary 7, 1994: Can she save ecosystems?
Join the eagles
Eagle watchers will convene in Klamath Falls, Ore., Feb. 18-20 during the largest gathering of bald eagles in the lower 48 states. They will also attend the 15th annual Klamath Basin Bald Eagle Conference, sponsored by the Klamath Basin Audubon Society and other non-profit groups and federal agencies, to look at the successes of bald […]
Posted inFebruary 7, 1994: Can she save ecosystems?
Wanted: Wild poets
Poets who find their inspiration in nature may want to enter the ninth annual wilderness poetry competition sponsored by the Utah Wilderness Association. The group welcomes poems on the theme of wilderness, its preservation and spiritual nature. The winning poet receives $100, and the winning poem and five honorable mentions will be printed in the […]
Posted inDecember 27, 1993: Yellowstone
Wildlife refuge needs money
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Wildlife refuge needs money.
Posted inDecember 27, 1993: Yellowstone
Little support for public-land ranchers
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Little support for public-land ranchers.
Posted inDecember 27, 1993: Yellowstone
Nevada mine wants to grow
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Nevada mine wants to grow.