Magazine
Libby's dark secret

March 13, 2000

Asbestos-laced dust from a vermiculite mine near Libby, Mont., has caused illness and death among locals for decades, but it is only recently that the media - and victims - have called W.R. Grace & Co. to account.

Feature

Libby's dark secret
Asbestos-laced dust from a vermiculite mine near Libby, Mont., has caused illness and death among locals for decades, but it is only recently that the media - and victims - have called W.R. Grace & Co. to account.
Mark Matthews March 13, 2000 From the print edition

Sidebar

Who knew what, and when?
Mine owner W.R. Grace says it's always been frank about the dangers of asbestos, but former workers and union leaders disagree, pointing to damning company memos.
Mark Matthews March 13, 2000 From the print edition
'It's like sacking feather'
Former mine worker Lester Skramstad, who is dying of asbestos-caused disease, recalls how he and co-workers worked casually with asbestos, unaware of the danger.
Mark Matthews March 13, 2000 From the print edition
'Grace is going to have to own up'
Don Judge of the Montana State AFL-CIO says W.R. Grace is culpable in the tragedy of asbestos poisoning.
Mark Matthews March 13, 2000 From the print edition

Uncommon Westerners

Tom Watkins has left us, but his Western dream remains
T.H. Watkins is remembered as "a writer and teacher and concerned citizen and father and husband and consummate agitator" whose literature and life revealed a deep love for the West.
Todd Wilkinson March 13, 2000 From the print edition
The last Celtic warlord lives in New Mexico
A profile of Catron County, N.M.'s lawyer, Jim Catron, reveals a man steeped in Celtic and cowboy mythology, and uncompromising in his anti-government fervor.
Lisa Jones March 13, 2000 From the print edition

Essays

A barbed tragedy is lodged in Libby
The writer describes her thoughts as she witnessed the closing arguments of an asbestosis case in Libby, Montana.
'Asta Bowen Essay March 13, 2000 From the print edition
Shadows out West
"Maria," an illegal immigrant, is only one among the many thousands whose work keeps the West going, even as the workers live in fear of deportation.
Daniel J. Mcgill Essay March 13, 2000 From the print edition
Shoveling vs. sniveling
A Montana mill owner's plan to send 10,000 shovels to Elko, Nev., so sagebrush rebels can re-open a road closed by the Forest Service, is "a triumph of symbolism over substance," according to the writer.
Ben Long Essay March 13, 2000 From the print edition

Perspective

Marc Racicot: One of the would-be president's men
Montana Gov. Marc Racicot, R, is a popular politician and a likable man, but environmentalists say his support of shooting wandering Yellowstone bison shows how weak his environmental record is.
Todd Wilkinson Opinion March 13, 2000 From the print edition

Heard Around the West

Heard around the West
Feces hits fan (and houses) in Utah again; Ariz. Legislature says state has right to secede, and worries about too much democracy; Flexcar in Seattle and Portland; golf carts in Senior Estates, Ore.; Reno billboards; Seattle school toilets save money.
Betsy Marston March 13, 2000 From the print edition

Dear Friends

Dear Friends
Chris Setti and Joint Action in Community Service; HCN wins Web site award; Ted Smith of Kendall Foundation and Newsweek's Brook Larmer among visitors.
Ed Marston March 13, 2000 From the print edition

News

A new town hits the skids
After a 14-hour hearing packed with anti-growth activists, Garfield County Commissioners vote down Sanders Ranch, a huge development that would create a new town between Glenwood Springs and Carbondale.
Catherine Lutz March 13, 2000 From the print edition
The Wayward West
Rosebud Sioux can't halt hog farm; illegal aliens caught near Douglas, Ariz.; Yosemite toad and mtn. yellow-legged frog in danger; Lolo Nat'l Forest, Mont., off-limits to snowmobiles; George W. Bush promises not to breach Snake River dams.
Rebecca Clarren March 13, 2000 From the print edition
Poison traps kill unintended victims
After an M-44 cyanide trap put on their land by a government trapper kills the family dog, Paul and Lee-Ann Wright sue the federal government.
Keri Watson And Greg Hanscom March 13, 2000 From the print edition
Goose got your gander?
A skyrocketing population of once-uncommon Canada geese has some locals up-in-arms and ready to try lethal methods to bring goose numbers under control.
David B. Williams March 13, 2000 From the print edition
Round two for Steens Mountain development
John and Cindy Witzel want to build a school for outfitters on the 160 acres they own on Oregon's Steens Mountain, an area also being considered for national monument status.
Jim Witty March 13, 2000 From the print edition
Hunter orange is a long shot
In Idaho, sportsmen are divided over a proposed law that would require hunters to wear blaze orange clothing.
Ali Macalady March 13, 2000 From the print edition
Endangered species must learn to wait
Environmentalists are fighting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to no longer accept petitions seeking to move species off the agency's candidates list and up to formal threatened and endangered status.
Tony Davis March 13, 2000 From the print edition
A scarce bird tests the new rule
Crawford, Colo., rancher Mark Le Valley and other locals have set up a voluntary conservation plan to protect the Gunnison sage grouse enough to keep it off the endangered list.
Ali Macalady March 13, 2000 From the print edition
Loggers tap new forests
The decline of logging in the Northwest has created a timber boom in the South, where most timber grows on private lands and chip mills are increasingly popular.
Karen Mockler March 13, 2000 From the print edition
EPA sets sights on snowmobiles
The Environmental Protection Agency says snowmobiles should be banned in Yellowstone, at least until cleaner machines are built, but the Park Service is seeking a less controversial alternative.
Scott McMillion March 13, 2000 From the print edition
Neighborly mining negotiations sour
In Montana, a consensus effort between environmental groups and the Stillwater Mining Co. have stalled over the mine's insistence that environmental data be kept secret and lawsuits not allowed.
Robyn Morrison March 13, 2000 From the print edition
A dam good speech
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber becomes the first major political figure in the Northwest to back breaching of four Snake River dams to help endangered salmon.
Paul Larmer March 13, 2000 From the print edition

Letters

Tom Bell: The rancher's dominance is over
Tom Bell March 13, 2000 From the print edition
How much forest planning is enough?
Jim Gerber March 13, 2000 From the print edition
About those Churro sheep
Russ Mason March 13, 2000 From the print edition
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