Magazine
The last wild river

March 27, 2000

The Yellowstone River is the longest undammed river in the West, but Montana's rapid growth is affecting it, as property owners afraid of floods lay huge amounts of riprap along its banks.

Feature

The last wild river
The Yellowstone River is the longest undammed river in the West, but Montana's rapid growth is affecting it, as property owners afraid of floods lay huge amounts of riprap along its banks.
Alan S. Kesselheim March 27, 2000 From the print edition

Sidebar

A family encounters a conservation quandary
Andrew Dana, who went to the Army Corps of Engineers for a permit to stabilize the Yellowstone River's banks on his land, describes the permitting process as "a bad dream."
Alan Kesselheim March 27, 2000 From the print edition
Property owners call the shots
The unregulated development of private property along the banks of the Yellowstone River is the greatest threat to the river.
Alan Kesselheim March 27, 2000 From the print edition
An opportunity lost to politics
Landowner opposition helped shoot down President Clinton's Heritage Rivers Initiative, which Yellowstone River activists believe could have helped the river greatly.
Alan Kesselheim March 27, 2000 From the print edition
A river divided
The 670 miles of the Yellowstone River cross a varied landscape and face an equal variety of problems along the way.
Alan Kesselheim March 27, 2000 From the print edition

Essays

HCN at 30: 'On faith alone'
In the early 1970s, Tom Bell's "High Country News" tackled the killing of eagles by Wyoming sheep ranchers, and when the paper's environmental stand caused subscriptions to drop, loyal readers sent in money to keep it going.
Paul Larmer March 27, 2000 From the print edition

Book Reviews

Oh, give me a home...
A new documentary, "Subdivide and Conquer: The New West," takes a sobering look at the rapid development and sprawling subdivisions in the West.
Catherine Lutz March 27, 2000 From the print edition
Tax-averse Wyoming hurts itself
The Equality State Policy Center, a nonprofit public-policy group, says taxes are an overlooked source of revenue and offers suggestions in its report, "Putting Together the Pieces... Wyoming's Budget Crisis."
Robyn Morrison March 27, 2000 From the print edition
Preserving the westward way
The National Park Service wants to preserve the wagon ruts, campsites, graves and scenery along 13,000 miles of historic trails in the West.
Robyn Morrison March 27, 2000 From the print edition
What's in your organic burrito?
The Department of Agriculture has released its new, proposed national organic standards for food in the U.S.
Catherine Lutz March 27, 2000 From the print edition
Off-road vehicle use
A national conference will discuss off-road vehicle use and its threat to public lands, April 7-11, in Washington, D.C.
Staff March 27, 2000 From the print edition
Nature in Fragments: The Legacy of Urban Sprawl
Unplanned growth and its consequences for North American biodiversity are the focus of the American Museum of Natural History in New York's April 13-14 symposium.
Staff March 27, 2000 From the print edition
Resource Advisory Councils (RACs)
Colorado's office of the Bureau of Land Management is seeking nominations for positions on its Resource Advisory Councils.
Staff March 27, 2000 From the print edition
Western Small Acreage Expo
A free Western Small Acreage Expo is offered to farmers, livestock owners and fruit growers, April 29, in Grand Junction, Colo.
Staff March 27, 2000 From the print edition
Energy Ideas Clearinghouse
Sign up for a biweekly e-mail newsletter to keep abreast of developments in energy-efficient agriculture.
Staff March 27, 2000 From the print edition
Commons or Commodity? The Dilemma of Federal Land Exchanges
A 104-page report discusses history, policy and laws surrounding land exchanges.
Staff March 27, 2000 From the print edition
Missouri River Natural Resources
A conference on Missouri River Natural Resources is set for May 21-24 in Bismarck, N.D.
Staff March 27, 2000 From the print edition

Perspective

High Country
In an early "High Country News" editorial, reprinted here, Tom Bell took on then-Governor of Wyoming Stanley K. Hathaway.
Tom Bell March 27, 2000 From the print edition

Heard Around the West

Heard around the West
Old West shoot-out in Las Vegas; saying howdy with a staplegun; killed wolf becomes Idaho high school mascot; Franken-fish in New Zealand; ideas on refrigerators and houses made from airplanes; Las Vegas plans its own Grand Canyon; Telluride dog trouble.
Betsy Marston March 27, 2000 From the print edition

News

Homesteaders sue over ancestral land
Over 50 years after the Manhattan Project and Los Alamos National Laboratory were built on land owned by Hispanic farmers, descendents of those farmers have sued the Dept. of Energy, saying they were illegally evicted.
Barbara Ferry March 27, 2000 From the print edition
The Wayward West
Judge upholds drilling ban on Rocky Mtn. Front; Rep. Tom Udall is for breaching Snake River dams; GAO says Baca Ranch, N.M., is overpriced; Louisiana-Pacific fined for toxic dumping; Albuquerque Mayor Jim Baca supports Mexican wolves in Gila Wilderness.
Catherine Lutz And Robyn Morrison March 27, 2000 From the print edition
Parks rev up to ban snowmobiles
The Park Service says that snowmobiles will likely be banned from Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks by 2002-2003.
Rachel Odell March 27, 2000 From the print edition
Forest chief steers agency down a rocky road
Tension is high in the Forest Service over Chief Mike Dombeck's plan to decommission unnecessary and unauthorized roads in the national forests.
Robyn Morrison March 27, 2000 From the print edition
Agency torpedoes canyon planning
The Park Service has ended consensus efforts among private boaters, environmentalists and commercial rafting companies over access to the Colorado River in Grand Canyon, saying the talks had become polarized and contentious.
Robyn Morrison March 27, 2000 From the print edition
Greens call snowmaking a snow job
Colorado Wild, an environmental group, is appealing the Forest Service's decision to let Arapahoe Basin Ski Area divert water from the North Fork of the Snake River for use in snowmaking.
Catherine Lutz March 27, 2000 From the print edition
Mine proposal stumbles
The BLM is told it can turn down mines that harm environmental or cultural resources after critics say Glamis Imperial Corp.'s planned open-pit gold mine in southeastern California will hurt Quechan Indian sacred sites and the threatened desert tortoise.
Michelle Nijhuis March 27, 2000 From the print edition
Guides may get guidelines
Sen. Larry Craig's proposed Outfitters Policy Act would standardize outfitter operations on the public lands, but private users and other critics say the law would tie up the resource for commercial benefit.
Catherine Lutz March 27, 2000 From the print edition
Whirling disease keeps spreading
Whirling disease has been found among trout in three state fish hatcheries in New Mexico.
Robyn Morrison March 27, 2000 From the print edition

Opinion

Sly Country News
In a special April Fool's edition, "Sly Country News" features imaginative maps, a bovine poet, earplugs for animals and other ideas, and - scariest of all - the paper's plan for launching its Media Empire.
Staff Opinion March 27, 2000 From the print edition

Letters

What a foggy-headed diatribe
Stephen Stuebner March 27, 2000 From the print edition
Fees fall flat
Tracey Wiese March 27, 2000 From the print edition
That annoying, harassing Adventure Pass
Tom Budlong March 27, 2000 From the print edition
Fees take a big bite
John Webb March 27, 2000 From the print edition
Some free advice
Jim Witwer March 27, 2000 From the print edition
The Cold War is over, but missiles remain
Jim Bock March 27, 2000 From the print edition
We need fees
Bruce Johnson March 27, 2000 From the print edition
Applause for reining in recreation
Ruth S. Sperling March 27, 2000 From the print edition
High Country News Classifieds