Los Angeles vows to return some water to a parched lakebed
News
Posted inApril 24, 2000: At your service: Unions help some Western workers serve themselves
One dam, two rallies
A protest draws demonstrators who want to drain Lake Powell, and those who love it
Posted inApril 24, 2000: At your service: Unions help some Western workers serve themselves
Locked out of the public lands
Rich folks are blocking the public domain, say hunters and ORV riders
Posted inApril 24, 2000: At your service: Unions help some Western workers serve themselves
Wildcat subdivisions fuel fight over sprawl
Arizona argues over how to rein in runaway development
Posted inApril 24, 2000: At your service: Unions help some Western workers serve themselves
Tug-of-war continues over trust lands
Note: in the print edition of this issue, this article appears as a sidebar to another news article, “Wildcat subdivisions fuel fight over sprawl.” In the summer of 1998, Arizona Republican Gov. Jane Hull pulled together 15 conservationists, business leaders and state legislators and formed the Growing Smarter Commission. Their task would be to ward […]
Posted inApril 10, 2000: Beyond the Revolution
The Wayward West
A national land trust recently preserved over 21,000 acres as open space between Denver and Colorado Springs, Colo. (HCN, 2/28/00: Acre by acre). The tract, which is the largest area of undeveloped land remaining along Colorado’s Front Range, was sold last week to The Conservation Fund, a Boulder, Colo.-based land trust, and Douglas County. “People […]
Posted inApril 10, 2000: Beyond the Revolution
Reclaiming a golden landscape
MONTANA A court-ordered cleanup plan for the Golden Sunlight Mine in western Montana marks the beginning of a golden era of mine reclamation, say local environmentalists. “For the first time since the West was opened by miners, people have stood up and told the mining industry that they can’t leave a ravaged landscape when a […]
Posted inApril 10, 2000: Beyond the Revolution
A letter fans the flames
NEVADA When Humboldt-Toiyabe Forest Supervisor Gloria Flora resigned last November, she said local hostility toward federal employees was a major reason for stepping down (HCN, 11/22/99: Nevadans drive out forest supervisor). Now, a letter has surfaced from a county official that supports her words. In a Dec. 30, 1998, letter to public land-use advisor Gene […]
Posted inApril 10, 2000: Beyond the Revolution
Incinerator plans go up in smoke
WYOMING Last April, Wilson, Wyo., resident Mary Mitchell called the Jackson Hole News demanding to know more about plans to burn nuclear waste at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. But Jackson papers had paid no attention to the Department of Energy’s plans to build an incinerator in eastern Idaho, even though the facility […]
Posted inApril 10, 2000: Beyond the Revolution
Gentlemen, stop your engines!
Note: in the print edition of this issue, this article appears as a sidebar to another news article, “Zion takes tourists out of their cars.” The Park Service philosophy of accommodating humans and their machines is changing. The first sign came on March 13, when officials announced that they were leaning toward banning snowmobiles in […]
Posted inApril 10, 2000: Beyond the Revolution
Boss must pay for poisoning employee
A judge hands down the first-ever conviction for knowingly exposing an employee to hazardous waste
Posted inApril 10, 2000: Beyond the Revolution
Water deal could drain New Mexico’s small towns
Northern New Mexico farmers fear cities will suck their communities dry
Posted inApril 10, 2000: Beyond the Revolution
Zion takes tourists out of their cars
One of the nation’s most popular parks invites visitors to ride the bus
Posted inMarch 27, 2000: The last wild river
The Wayward West
A federal judge threw out a lawsuit challenging a 1997 ban on oil and gas drilling on the Rocky Mountain Front, imposed by then Lewis and Clark Forest Supervisor Gloria Flora (HCN, 10/13/97: Forest Service acts to preserve ‘the Front’). The lawsuit claimed Flora was unduly influenced by public opinion and ignored her agency’s analysis […]
Posted inMarch 27, 2000: The last wild river
Agency torpedoes canyon planning
ARIZONA Grand Canyon National Park recently pulled the plug on consensus efforts among private boaters, environmentalists and commercial rafting companies (HCN, 12/21/98: Grand Canyon Gridlock). The outcome could have reduced the number of motorized boats on the river by giving more permits to private rafters and kayakers, and by implementing a wilderness management plan. The […]
Posted inMarch 27, 2000: The last wild river
Greens call snowmaking a snow job
COLORADO The Forest Service has given Arapahoe Basin Ski Area the green light to imitate nature and make snow. In 1998, A-Basin, the only major resort in Colorado that doesn’t make artificial snow, submitted a plan to divert water from the North Fork of the Snake River. Snowmaking would allow the ski area to compete […]
Posted inMarch 27, 2000: The last wild river
Mine proposal stumbles
CALIFORNIA The Bureau of Land Management might just say “no.” For years, critics have blasted a proposed open-pit gold mine on public land in southeastern California, arguing that the Glamis Imperial Corp. project would destroy both Native American sacred sites and habitat of the threatened desert tortoise (HCN, 8/2/99: Weighing artifacts against gold). After a […]
Posted inMarch 27, 2000: The last wild river
Guides may get guidelines
NATION Close to 4,000 outfitters ply their trades in national forests, bringing in nearly $4 million annually to the Forest Service. With recreation booming on public lands, Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, has introduced a bill that standardizes outfitter operations in areas administered by the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. Craig’s Outfitters Policy Act […]
Posted inMarch 27, 2000: The last wild river
Whirling disease keeps spreading
NEW MEXICO A deadly fish disease that has been spreading across the West now has a foothold in New Mexico. Three state hatcheries recently tested positive for whirling disease, prompting New Mexico Game and Fish officials to begin testing streams, rivers and lakes. Whirling disease spores, now known to be present in 10 Western states, […]
Posted inMarch 27, 2000: The last wild river
Homesteaders sue over ancestral land
Their mesa became home to the Manhattan Project