Ever wonder how your feathered friends are faring in the face of deforestation, farming and other formidable foes? You can find out in the National Audubon Society’s State of the Birds 2004 report. Using 40 years of data collected from the U.S. Geological Survey’s national Breeding Bird Survey, the National Audubon Society assessed population changes […]
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Posted inNovember 22, 2004: Conservationist in a Conservative Land
Racetrack
ARIZONA Incumbent Rep. Rick Renzi, R, soundly defeated Democratic hopeful Paul Babbitt in a contest for the U.S. House seat representing the state’s largest — and predominantly Democratic — District 1 (HCN, 10/25/04: Dems stumble in Arizona race). Proposition 200, which passed with Hispanic support, prevents non-citizens from voting and requires proof of legal immigration […]
Posted inNovember 22, 2004: Conservationist in a Conservative Land
EPA pulls back on fish-killing rule change
A little attention from the media helped thwart an attempt by the federal government to do a favor for the mining industry at the expense of fish and birds. In question is the metal selenium, which is a byproduct of coal- and phosphate-mining, copper-smelting and agriculture. At low levels, selenium is an essential nutrient for […]
Posted inNovember 22, 2004: Conservationist in a Conservative Land
Calendar
The Association of Partners for Public Lands is holding its annual convention in Portland, Ore., from March 6-10. The convention will include more than 35 educational sessions, a trade show and an auction. 1-877-647-APPL www.appl.org The Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute?s 14th annual conference will be held at the University of Denver College of Law […]
Posted inNovember 22, 2004: Conservationist in a Conservative Land
A beautiful ode to a melting earth
Gretel Ehrlich’s latest book, The Future of Ice, is an intimate “ode and lament” on the effects of global warming. The conclusions are dire, of course: In the Arctic, as billions of gallons of fresh water pour into places like the Greenland Ice Sheet and where, in 2002, “at least 264,400 square miles of ice […]
Posted inNovember 22, 2004: Conservationist in a Conservative Land
Dear friends
ELECTION DAY On election day, the phones at High Country News headquarters grew silent and the office seemed as still as a tomb, so we were delighted to chat with a visiting sculptor-pilot from Telluride, Colo. Richard Arnold told us he’d been a longtime reader, but what brought him to Paonia was the Zimmerman Foundry. […]
Posted inNovember 22, 2004: Conservationist in a Conservative Land
In Oregon, a lesson learned the hard way
Washington has apples. Colorado has football and hockey. Oregon? We have land-use laws. It’s what built our state’s reputation. Planning textbooks often feature a chapter on Oregon, and environmentalists and land-use planners throughout the West look longingly toward our state Legislature in Salem; it’s the place where smart people put a cap on sprawl. That […]
Posted inNovember 22, 2004: Conservationist in a Conservative Land
Election Day surprises in the schizophrenic West
The Interior West goes for Bush while the Coast goes to Kerry, but on the ground, it’s more complicated than ‘red’ vs. ‘blue’
Posted inNovember 22, 2004: Conservationist in a Conservative Land
Colorado voters snub coal for all things renewable
Not long after Enron, one of our larger humpty-dumpties, had its great fall, I heard a supporter say he missed its CEO, because “Ken Lay was a visionary. He wanted to cover parts of Texas with wind turbines and export that clean energy to the rest of the country.” Yeah, a visionary. Wind or natural […]
Posted inNovember 22, 2004: Conservationist in a Conservative Land
Heard around the West
WYOMING A man working in a brushy area of his horse pasture in Big Horn, Wyo., looked over his shoulder and suddenly noticed he’d been stalked: A mountain lion stood 10 feet away. The man, who told the Cody Enterprise he wished to remain anonymous, did everything right: He straightened up, yelled and banged his […]
Posted inNovember 22, 2004: Conservationist in a Conservative Land
A mountain lifts a heavy heart
On a recent Saturday, with a heart heavy as concrete, I headed north, leaving my house in Portland, Ore., as rain pounded the windshield. The remnants of a recent breakup cast the world in dull hues. Mount St. Helens was busy spitting ash into the sky, and I figured, what else cheers the soul like […]
Posted inNovember 22, 2004: Conservationist in a Conservative Land
Freewheeling wilderness proposal irks purists
Oregon bill would allow mountain bikers and chain saws in ‘wilderness’
Posted inNovember 22, 2004: Conservationist in a Conservative Land
Politics as a winner-takes-all game is a loser
There was a brief moment of civility the day after the bitterly fought presidential campaign. On that bloody Wednesday afternoon, John Kerry and George Bush both acknowledged each other and the need for the nation to unite again. Mr. Bush sounded humble when he said, “A new term is a new opportunity to reach out […]
Posted inNovember 22, 2004: Conservationist in a Conservative Land
A New Dialogue for Idaho
Environmentalist Rick Johnson and Republican Congressman Mike Simpson are crafting a new language for wilderness protection, but not everyone wants to speak it.
Posted inNovember 8, 2004: Keepers of the Flame
Hunting: It’s a lot about the gun
I read Tom Reed’s essay in the Oct. 11 issue and was struck with the anti-gun rhetoric and the doom and gloom about the state of hunting in the West. First, although Tom considers the National Rifle Association a mere dispenser of propaganda, he should understand that it’s one of the few organizations that fights […]
Posted inNovember 8, 2004: Keepers of the Flame
Everett Ruess lives!
I was delighted to see your story about the Udall clan (HCN, 10/11/04: The Coyote Caucus Takes the West to Washington). The story made me think about the time I first met Mark Udall. It was May of 1976, and my two buddies and I were camped on a bench above the Escalante River across […]
Posted inNovember 8, 2004: Keepers of the Flame
Memories of Mo Udall
Thank you so much for your wonderful article about the four Udall congressmen. I knew Mo as a child in Tucson, and worked on his presidential campaign. I often meet younger people who never heard of him, especially now that I live in Iowa, far from the West I love. Mo was a giant man, […]
Posted inNovember 8, 2004: Keepers of the Flame
Steward Udall wasn’t all green
I respect the sum total of Stewart Udall’s accomplishments and would certainly prefer him to the current administration’s secretary of Interior. But it is not accurate to portray his record as a string of “unambiguous environmental victories” as does Ray Ring (HCN, 10/11/04:Udall patriarch laments startling changes). In 1963, Secretary Udall supported damming the Grand […]
Posted inNovember 8, 2004: Keepers of the Flame
Mark Udall should step up
I enjoyed your story, “The Coyote Caucus takes the West to Washington” (HCN, 10/11/04: The Coyota Caucus takes the West to Washington). The question to me is, will Mark Udall step up and be a conservation leader? I have concerns, owing to an issue in a federal enclave largely in Mark’s district, Rocky Mountain National […]
Posted inNovember 8, 2004: Keepers of the Flame
Think global (warming,) act local
The Rocky Mountain Climate Organization, a new nonprofit in Colorado, is taking a backyard approach to the global problem of climate change. “Our main thrust is what (global warming) can mean right here, and that is more drought, more fire, and less biodiversity,” says founder Stephen Saunders, a 30-year Colorado resident. “It’s threatening what makes […]