A pastoral letter being prepared by the Catholic bishops of the Northwest calls Catholics and others to a new environmental, economic and spiritual relationship with a sacred river – the Columbia.
The Wilderness Awareness School
The Wilderness Awareness School, based in Duvall, Wash., teaches animal tracking, storytelling and the art of mentoring. Classes for the national program are scheduled in several locations including Washington and California, as well as Vermont and New Jersey, from Sept. 22 to Nov. 5. Write to P.O. Box 5000 #5-137, Duvall, WA 98019 (425/788-1301), or…
Who needs “ersatz consensus’?
Dear HCN, Your article on coal mining in the North Fork of the Gunnison River was interesting in its happy-happy spin on ersatz consensus and collaboration groups (HCN, 7/31/00: Out of the darkness: A Western Colorado community meets a coal boom halfway). As an environmental activist, the main question I had was this: “Was the…
www.birdsource.com
The call of a golden-winged warblers and the habitat needs of finches are only a click away. A new Web site managed by the National Audubon Society and Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, www.birdsource.com, allows birders not only to gather information but also to record and share bird sightings with other enthusiasts. This article appeared in…
Environmental Performance at the Bench: The EPA’s Record in Federal Courts
A report on Environmental Performance at the Bench: The EPA’s Record in Federal Courts says that unlike most federal agencies, the EPA rarely wins lawsuits. Author Jonathan H. Adler says the agency’s poor record signals a need for management reform because EPA regulations aren’t solving environmental problems. The 22-page report costs $15 from Reason Public…
Voices in the Wind
Inspired by the Waterton Glacier International Peace Park located in southwestern Alberta and north-central Montana, a collection of short stories, essays, poems and editorials depicts life in the mountainous border region. Tales of the Blackfeet tribe, hailstorms, grizzly bears and fur poachers illuminate the history of this wild place. The 236-page Voices in the Wind…
Drowning in Noise: Noise Costs of Jet Skis in America
The authors of a new report conclude that the only solution to noise annoyance from motorized water skis is an outright ban. Charles Kamanoff and Howard Shaw found that at an average beach, recreationists say they’d pay $47 to shut up one noisy machine for the day. To order a free copy of Drowning in…
Natural History and Environmental Issues School
To kick off the Colorado Mountain Club’s new Natural History and Environmental Issues School, on Sept. 19, HCN publisher Ed Marston will speak about collaboration in the West and on Sept. 26, nature photographer John Fielder will discuss sprawl in the Southern Rocky Mountains. Contact Sean or Kirstin Pack at 303/279-3080, ext. 6, or e-mail…
The Latest Bounce
The Army Corps of Engineers has suffered a setback: The National Marine Fisheries Service revoked approval Aug. 25 for the Corps to deepen 103 miles of the Columbia River’s shipping lane. New studies show dredging will hurt endangered salmon (HCN, 1/17/00: A dredging dilemma). Meanwhile, a preliminary report by independent scientists in Portland, Ore., estimates…
GAO blasts land exchanges
A recent audit report by the General Accounting Office found that land exchanges by the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management are rarely in the public’s best interest. In fact, the report says that both agencies often agree to exchanges that undervalue public lands and overvalue private holdings. The report, BLM and the Forest…
A massacre is not forgotten
In 1864 in southeastern Colorado, more than 150 Cheyenne and Arapaho tribe members, mostly women, children and elderly people, were killed in an unprovoked attack led by Colonel John Chivington. Although the U.S. government quickly denounced Chivington’s actions as a national disgrace, no memorial distinguishes the site from its surroundings. More than a century later,…
Faith found in forests
Religion and the Forests, a new publication by the California-based Religious Campaign for Forest Conservation, illustrates the trend of religious groups going green. In the first edition of the magazine, personal essays and biblical references show the relationship between forest conservation and moral responsibility. The publication aims to end all commercial logging on public forests.…
Cold can knock out whirling disease
New research on whirling disease, the malady killing trout populations in the West, has scientists crossing their fingers (HCN, 9/18/95: The West’s fisheries spin out of control). The disease targets fish less than nine weeks old, destroying cartilage and causing the young fish to swim in circles. In search of a remedy, Richard Vincent, a…
‘Weed’
A marriage of the arts and government took the stage Aug. 4 as Weed premiered at the Creede Repertory Theatre in Creede, Colo. The Colorado Rural Development Council commissioned the play last year, hoping to present a nonbiased – and entertaining – view of land-use issues. During playwright Micki Panttaja’s research for Weed, she toured…
New developer thinks big
UTAH An unlikely company is proposing to build what most developers can’t – a dense community in an area where large homes and large lots are the norm. Kennecott Utah Copper Corp., which has mined copper in the Salt Lake Valley for almost 100 years, plans to build 12,000 homes, apartments and condominiums and 4…
Salmon Corps
In the Northwest, where thousands of people have rallied to save salmon, the salmon are helping young, at-risk Native Americans. The Salmon Corps – a partnership of five tribes, the federal Americorps, the city of Portland, government agencies and several corporations – trains Native Americans, aged 18 to 25, in stream restoration work, while they…
A whir of wings
Just before sunlight hits New Mexico’s Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in November, visitors can hear the squawking of ducks, geese and cranes. In a roar of wings, thousands of these birds take flight at dawn – an event most viewers consider a highlight of the annual Festival of the Cranes. “Then, during the…
ORVs named one of top threats
Off-road vehicle use is one of the most serious threats to wild places, according to a Wilderness Society report outlining the 15 most endangered wild lands in the United States. Jerry Greenberg of The Wilderness Society says that although mining and oil drilling industries can’t be ignored, soil erosion and pollution from ORVs are fast-growing…
Farm Bureau not for farmers
Washington, D.C.-based Defenders of Wildlife wants to expose the American Farm Bureau Federation. In its 98-page report, Amber Waves of Gain: How the Farm Bureau is reaping profits at the expense of America’s family farmers, taxpayers and the environment, Defenders accuses the Farm Bureau of bowing to conglomerates, carrying an anti-wildlife agenda and aligning itself…
About meth and other highs
Dear HCN, If Erec Hopkins, the small-town meth reformee pictured in your Aug. 14 issue, is going straight, then why is he shown wearing a 420 T-shirt? Is it possible that Stephen Lyons doesn’t know that 420 is the drug users’ code for smoking marijuana? I teach high school English in rural Utah, and was…
Finding fresh flora
A month ago, Scott Sundberg added another plant to his growing list of Oregon flora – kudzu, an exotic vine usually found in the South. With this discovery, the Oregon Flora Project tallies 4,430 species, subspecies and varieties of plants identified in the state. The project was started by Sundberg, a professor at Oregon State…
Mollusks run through it
Dear HCN, Thanks for running Guy Webster’s item on the Kanab ambersnail (HCN, 7/31/00: The snail that stands like a dam). All too often “endangered species’ are pegged as furry, feathered or scaly. There are lots more, all parts of the big story, like the ambersnail. And it’s amazing just how much mileage scientists have…
Conserving connections
Science, government and corporations don’t often find common ground – except when they’re trying to save some. United by a mission to protect and connect wild spaces, the Chatfield Basin Conservation Network, southwest of Denver, has successfully brought together businesspeople, county officials, road builders and environmentalists. “The purpose of the network is to strengthen the…
Wilderness is the key
Dear HCN, Perhaps after losing one too many a battle, Steve Hinchman has lost his will to fight for what “should be,” and now advocates for what he thinks “can be,” given political realities and resistance from local communities (HCN, 7/31/00: Rural Green: A new shade of activism). Where would we be today if the…
Sustainable Communities Symposium
A Sustainable Communities Symposium in Crested Butte, Colo., Sept. 22-24, features keynote speaker Randy Udall of the Community Office of Resource Efficiency, workshops on building materials and tours of energy-efficient businesses. For more information on the $50 event, call the High Country Citizens’ Alliance at 970/349-7104 or e-mail hcca@csn.net or visit www.sni.net/hcca. This article appeared…
Wilderness fans need compromise
Dear HCN, Just a short comment on Susan Tixier’s letter (HCN, 8/28/00: Wilderness needs strong advocates). It’s deceptively easy to airily dismiss the entire body politic from the wilderness debate by saying, “It’s about the land, not the people.” Many Utah activists have embraced this view, with the predictable result that no new wilderness areas…
Holy water
The Catholic Church seeks to restore the Columbia River and the church’s relevance to the natural world
Heard around the West
Two Wyomingites are trying to set the record straight about “real” cowboy attire. Studying old photos, mail-order catalogs and interviewing relatives of early range-riders, Tom Lindmier and Steve Mount conclude that the big-hatted denim look popularized by Hollywood is all wet. Their book, I See By Your Outfit, says that 19th century cowboys were more…
Excerpts from the pastoral letter draft
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. We offer here a pastoral reflection, derived from Christian teachings about creation and ecology developed over the ages from their biblical origins. We speak with the voices of faith and compassion, and ask those with greater scientific and social expertise to enter into dialogue…
Remembering an establishment revolutionary
John Sawhill wasn’t planning to stick around as president of The Nature Conservancy for much longer. As he told some associates, 10 years is a long time for one of those high-powered jobs, and as a 63-year-old diabetic, Sawhill was starting to think about a life with fewer plane trips and less tension. Maybe he…
On the path to a greener church
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. An organization with as much heft as the Catholic Church, and with 2,000 years of history, does not move quickly or simply. The Columbia River Basin pastoral letter, scheduled for release in November, has been five years in the making. But even five years…
Dear Friends
A sad goodbye When you live in a small town, you have to wear a lot of different hats. Here in Paonia, pop. 1,600, for example, the mayor runs a laundromat and carpet-cleaning business and drives a school bus. Many people work several jobs and volunteer at the schools, the public radio station, the ambulance…
Coalition ushers a mine off sacred ground
Agreement will fill a hole dug for the fashion industry
Ski town workers find homes in the hills
Squatters say camping on public land is the only affordable option
What’s best for a crumbling treasure?
Plans to rescue Glacier’s hotels could be a sweetheart deal for big business in a national park