Proposed blast raises alarm over lingering radioactivity and talk of bombing Iran
News
Posted inMay 29, 2006: 'Clinging Hopelessly to the Past'
Dust and Snow
High in the snowy San Juan Mountains, tiny particles have big implications
Posted inMay 1, 2006: Magic Valley Uprising
County and Forest Service bury the shovel
A long-running dispute over an infamous dirt road in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest may be winding down. The Forest Service and Elko County, Nev., are asking a federal judge to approve a settlement over the county’s claim to South Canyon Road in Jarbidge Canyon. Although the agency still refuses to recognize the county’s assertion of […]
Posted inMay 1, 2006: Magic Valley Uprising
Corporations ask feds to set emissions limits
Last month, executives from six of the country’s largest energy companies made a startling request to federal lawmakers: Set mandatory caps on greenhouse gas emissions. At an April 4 climate conference held by New Mexico Sens. Pete Domenici, R, and Jeff Bingaman, D, the leaders of Shell, General Electric and others said they would prefer […]
Posted inMay 1, 2006: Magic Valley Uprising
Guest farmworkers get a new deal
Foreign workers in the West’s fields and orchards have a new bodyguard: the United Farm Workers of America. Last month, the union signed a contract with Global Horizons, a California-based company that’s one of the country’s largest suppliers of foreign agricultural labor. At peak harvest, the company employs more than 4,000 workers in 28 states, […]
Posted inMay 1, 2006: Magic Valley Uprising
The Latest Bounce
There’s gold in them thar hills — and tailings in that thar lake. The Army Corps of Engineers confirmed its decision to let a mining company dump millions of tons of mine waste into an Alaskan lake (HCN, 7/25/05: Mining waste dumped in streams — and now lakes). Last fall, environmentalists sued the agency to […]
Posted inMay 1, 2006: Magic Valley Uprising
Pure bison make a comeback
Prairie conservationists build a herd free of cattle genes
Posted inMay 1, 2006: Magic Valley Uprising
Hobby miners flock to public streams
Growing pastime raises concerns about an outdated law
Posted inMay 1, 2006: Magic Valley Uprising
Burning down the house
Bush administration proposes sweeping cuts to community fire programs
Posted inApril 17, 2006: The War on Wildfire
The Latest Bounce
To fund rural schools and services, President Bush’s 2007 budget proposes putting thousands of public acres on the auction block (HCN, 3/6/06: Public acres for sale). But two Democratic senators have a better idea: Close a legal loophole that lets some government contractors skip out on taxes. Montana’s Max Baucus and Oregon’s Ron Wyden proposed a bill […]
Posted inApril 17, 2006: The War on Wildfire
Valle Vidal Coalition gathers momentum
Even as new drill rigs tickle the boundaries of the Valle Vidal, the coalition opposing energy exploration in New Mexico’s Yellowstone gains strength. In January, the Bureau of Land Management gave Houston-based El Paso Energy the go-ahead to drill 25 new coalbed methane wells on the Vermejo Park Ranch, private land adjacent to the Valle […]
Posted inApril 17, 2006: The War on Wildfire
Norton eases road claims
In a parting gesture last month, outgoing Interior Secretary Gale Norton opened the door for counties and states to claim control of roads crossing federal lands managed by her department. Revised Statute 2477, enacted in 1866, allowed states and counties to construct highways across public land (HCN, 12/20/04: The road to nowhere). Although the act was […]
Posted inApril 17, 2006: The War on Wildfire
Mass wolf kill rests on shaky science
Idaho’s Fish and Game Department wants to boost the Lolo management zone’s dwindling elk herd by killing up to three-quarters of the area’s estimated 58 wolves and maintaining low wolf numbers for the next five years. But some biologists and conservation groups question the science behind the plan — the department’s first attempt to manage […]
Posted inApril 17, 2006: The War on Wildfire
Enviros wary of ‘Nevada-style’ wilderness bill
Utah proposal includes public-lands sale, utility corridors
Posted inApril 17, 2006: The War on Wildfire
Dam removal considered for Klamath
As salmon suffer, truce settles on river
Posted inApril 17, 2006: The War on Wildfire
Citizens unite against gas field chaos
Group meets company halfway to deal with natural gas impacts
Posted inApril 17, 2006: The War on Wildfire
City makes desperate bid for watershed
Note: this article is a sidebar to a news article, “Citizens unite against gas field chaos.” “This is your first time, isn’t it?” whispered a kindly Bureau of Land Management matron to an apprehensive Greg Trainor at a recent oil and gas lease auction in Denver, Colo. Trainor, who manages the water supply for Grand […]
Posted inApril 3, 2006: Land of Disenchantment
No clear victory for property-rights activists
A recent Oregon court ruling has bolstered a Westwide effort to force local governments to compensate landowners who lose property value to land-use regulations. But celebrations may be premature. On Feb. 21, the Oregon Supreme Court upheld Measure 37, which was originally passed by the state’s voters in November 2004, but declared unconstitutional by a […]
Posted inApril 3, 2006: Land of Disenchantment
Casinos coming to Navajo Nation
After resisting the Indian-gaming trend for decades, the Navajo Nation now plans to build up to six casinos within its borders beginning this year. Twice, in 1994 and 1997, tribal members voted against gambling initiatives. Critics expressed concerns that state gaming compacts might undermine tribal sovereignty and that casinos would encourage social ills such as […]
Posted inApril 3, 2006: Land of Disenchantment
If you’ve got some nuke waste, you can WIPP it
Things could get a lot hotter at southeastern New Mexico’s nuclear waste storage facility if the state carries out plans to relax its rules. Opened in 1999, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) stores radioactive waste, such as contaminated equipment and soil, from as far away as the Idaho National Laboratory and Washington’s Hanford Nuclear […]