Bush administration touts state control, but Washington, D.C., will make the final call
News
Posted inJune 27, 2005: Reflections on a Divided Land
Follow-up
U.S. District Court Judge James A. Redden announced he plans to order the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to release water from its dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers to help endangered salmon and steelhead (HCN, 6/13/05: “For salmon, a crucial moment of decision”). Although NOAA Fisheries, the agency charged with protecting the fish, […]
Posted inJune 27, 2005: Reflections on a Divided Land
Developer blocks trail to a famous ‘fourteener’
Ambitious hikers eager to scale all of Colorado’s 54 “fourteeners” almost had one less peak to cross off their list. Texas developer Rusty Nichols owns a 300-acre patchwork of mining claims on Wilson Peak, a 14,017-foot-tall mountain in southwestern Colorado whose image adorns calendars, posters and Coors beer cans worldwide. Last July, citing liability concerns, […]
Posted inJune 27, 2005: Reflections on a Divided Land
Frozen in time: Endangered species science
If scientists have learned anything new about the genetics of rare species in the past three decades, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service may not want to hear about it. In January, H. Dale Hall, the Service’s Region 2 director, released a new policy for developing recovery plans for rare species: Scientists are to use […]
Posted inJune 27, 2005: Reflections on a Divided Land
Hungry sea lions put salmon-savers in a bind
The California sea lions that snarfed up 3,000 chinook salmon at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River have finally headed south to mate. But their big appetites this spring have some fishermen calling for the quick removal and even killing of the protected mammals. “Our fishermen are very concerned. It’s their livelihood and they are […]
Posted inJune 27, 2005: Reflections on a Divided Land
Factory wants to squeeze cheese underground
A massive cheese factory, mired in controversy over water-quality violations, has innovative plans for its wastewater: It wants to pump the milky liquid deep underground. In December, the Sacramento Bee exposed wastewater disposal violations at Hilmar Cheese Company near Modesto, which produces over 1 million pounds of cheese every day. A subsequent state investigation into […]
Posted inJune 27, 2005: Reflections on a Divided Land
Highway plans aim to keep habitat — and wildlife — in one place
In the Cascade Range, the question isn’t why animals cross the road, but how they can do so without becoming salamander road-cakes or elk a la SUV. The answer, say Washington state transportation officials and biologists, lies under and over a humming mountain highway. In June, the state’s Department of Transportation released plans for widening […]
Posted inJune 27, 2005: Reflections on a Divided Land
Writing a comment letter? Better make it good
Agencies say mass e-mails and form letters don’t mean much
Posted inJune 27, 2005: Reflections on a Divided Land
Private landowners become lords of the public estate
In Arizona, a strange dispute illustrates a growing problem
Posted inJune 27, 2005: Reflections on a Divided Land
Suburbia blasts through a national monument
With a road headed its way, a new development takes root on Albuquerque’s West side
Posted inJune 13, 2005: Owning a Piece of Paradise
Soaring home prices spur changes to environmental law
California’s main environmental protection law is slated for reform in the name of affordable housing. With the median home price in California now over $500,000, developers and real estate agents say the best remedy is to build more homes fast. But the California Environmental Quality Act, passed in 1970 as a more stringent supplement to […]
Posted inJune 13, 2005: Owning a Piece of Paradise
Follow-up
Interior Secretary Gale Norton recently took a swipe at environmentalists while hanging out with hunters in Washington, D.C. Speaking to the American Wildlife Conservation Partners — a coalition of 35 hunting groups ranging from the Boone and Crockett Club to the National Rifle Association — Norton accused environmental groups of using lawsuits over endangered species […]
Posted inJune 13, 2005: Owning a Piece of Paradise
Rural residents split over coalbed methane
In Powder River County on the plains southeast of Billings, a new grassroots group has formed to work on coalbed methane issues. Unlike many other groups around the West, though, the members of the Citizens for Resource Development say, “Bring on the drilling.” “This is coming from our hearts,” says rancher Rick Rice, the group’s […]
Posted inJune 13, 2005: Owning a Piece of Paradise
Pueblo happily hangs on to mustard gas
While most states are eager to see hazardous materials head for the nearest border, Colorado has decided to cling to the aging chemical weapons stored at the Army’s Pueblo Chemical Depot. Federal legislation passed May 12 will keep Pueblo’s 780,000 Cold War-era mustard gas shells on site for destruction, after a tense period when the […]
Posted inJune 13, 2005: Owning a Piece of Paradise
How low will Vegas go for water?
Patricia Mulroy, the manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, has acquired a certain notoriety among Western water groupies for her hard-nosed approach to Colorado River water politics. But now, she may be winning new renown for setting records in a sort of how-low-can-you-go aquatic limbo. The Water Authority currently pumps water to 1.7 million […]
Posted inJune 13, 2005: Owning a Piece of Paradise
For salmon, a crucial moment of decision
Ruling could set in motion dramatic changes on Northwest rivers
Posted inJune 13, 2005: Owning a Piece of Paradise
Idaho gets smart about water
Science helps state juggle water rights during dry times
Posted inJune 13, 2005: Owning a Piece of Paradise
Uranium miners go back underground
With prices high and support from the president, the yellowcake rush is on
Posted inJune 13, 2005: Owning a Piece of Paradise
Navajos put more than 17 million acres off-limits
Note: in the print edition of this issue, this article appears as a sidebar to another news article, “Uranium miners go back underground.” From 1947 until 1970, thousands of Navajos worked underground on and off the reservation, mining uranium for use in nuclear weapons and power plants. As a result, hundreds have been diagnosed with […]
Posted inMay 30, 2005: Write-off on the Range
Follow-up
Sea lice are on the move — and they’re spreading, courtesy of fish farms (HCN, 3/17/03: Bracing against the tide). According to a study published in the British Proceedings of the Royal Society, wild seaward salmon passing a fish farm in the Pacific were 73 times more likely to contract sea lice, a parasite that […]