Magazine
Big Sky, big mess in Montana

March 31, 1997

A Montana ski resort originally created by newsman Chet Huntley and intended to be a model of free-market, unconstrained development, is today a morass of lawsuits, environmental degradation and inefficiency.

Feature

Big Sky, big mess in Montana
A Montana ski resort originally created by newsman Chet Huntley and intended to be a model of free-market, unconstrained development, is today a morass of lawsuits, environmental degradation and inefficiency.
Ray Ring March 31, 1997 From the print edition

Sidebar

Big Sky above, private land below
Former Big Sky ski patrolman J.C. Knaub in his own words describes the difficulties faced in trying to bring neighborhood parks and trails to Big Sky.
Ray Ring March 31, 1997 From the print edition
How Huntley sold Big Sky to Montana
Big Sky founding father and famous TV newsman Chet Huntley started the resort but did not live to see what he created.
Ray Ring March 31, 1997 From the print edition
Touring the future on Insta-Teller Road
A computerized key-pad locked road in Big Sky epitomizes a ski resort where the "haves" are carefully kept from the trespassing "have nots."
Ray Ring March 31, 1997 From the print edition
Armies of skiers are coming to Yellowstone
Seven ski resorts ring Yellowstone National Park and add to the pressure on a fragile ecosystem.
Ray Ring March 31, 1997 From the print edition
Chet Huntley's legacy includes suppression of a free press
The preferential treatment Big Sky gives the pro-resort Lone Peak Lookout over the independent Big Sky Bugle is an ironic legacy for a hard-hitting journalist like Chet Huntley to leave.
Ray Ring March 31, 1997 From the print edition

Heard Around the West

Heard around the West
Help wanted in Vail; snowboarders are different; "state snake" loses in Idaho; cattle outnumber humans in Mont.; in Utah horse accidents kill people; dog owners miffed; dog argues against political slander; interesting road signs; Helen Chenoweth on guns
Betsy Marston March 31, 1997 From the print edition

Dear Friends

Dear friends
Small-town post offices, spring visitors, Henrietta Hay visits, HCN overwhelmed by job applicants.
Ed Marston March 31, 1997 From the print edition

News

Mexico launches a green offensive
The International Sonoran Desert Alliance hopes, with the cooperation of the U.S. and Mexican governments, to ease some of the problems - many environmental - that tightened border security is causing.
Susan Zakin March 31, 1997 From the print edition
Hopis tell Navajos: 'Lease or leave'
A thousand resistant Navajos have been ordered to vacate Hopi land by April 1, in an attempt to finally resolve a land dispute between the two tribes that has caused years of anguish and anger.
Cate Gilles March 31, 1997 From the print edition
BLM braces for Mormon pioneers
The BLM is bracing itself for the expected arrival of a million visitors who plan to visit Wyoming's portion of the 150-year-old Mormon Pioneer Trail this spring and summer.
Chris Smith March 31, 1997 From the print edition
Planes beat out quiet
The federal Aviation Administration bows to the protests of air tour operators, and delays setting up new flight-free zones over Grand Canyon until next year.
Danielle Desruisseaux March 31, 1997 From the print edition
'Developer' wants access to Oregon wilderness
Carl Alleman wants to develop his eight mining claims in Oregon's Kalmiopsis Wilderness to create a resort he says will cater to the handicapped.
Sarah Dry March 31, 1997 From the print edition
National groups object to grassroots power in D.C.
The Quincy Library Group, a much-praised, ground-breaking consensus group in Plumas County, Calif., is now being attacked by environmentalists as its forest management plan reaches the Legislature.
Jane Braxton Little March 31, 1997 From the print edition
Owls and subdivisions clash near Tucson
The endangered cactus ferruginous pygmy owl, which has unexpectedly been found near Tucson, may help to stop or slow the city's explosive sprawling growth.
Tony Davis March 31, 1997 From the print edition
Coyotes could get culled
Biologist Alan Clark believes that the only way to help the declining population of the endangered Columbia white-tailed deer is to begin to kill coyotes on the Washington wildlife refuge the deer live on.
Sarah Dry March 31, 1997 From the print edition
Loggers sued for fatal landslide
The relatives of four people killed in a landslide in Douglas County, Ore., last November are suing two logging companies for clearcutting the hills above the victims' home and contributing to the landslide.
Danielle Resruisseaux March 31, 1997 From the print edition

Opinion

High Country Blues
High Country Blues, an April Fool's parody, demonstrates that staff is definitely losing its mind and is probably more than a few AUMs short of a grazing allotment, as we say out here in the West.
Staff Opinion March 31, 1997 From the print edition
Founding father challenges his movement
At the Western States Coalition Summit VII in Salt Lake City, cracks in the wise-use movement are revealed as the small grassroots groups and some founding members such as Chuck Cushman fear People for the West has grown too big and bureaucratic.
Paul Larmer Opinion March 31, 1997 From the print edition
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