Magazine
Raising a stink

April 15, 2002

When the dairy industry invades rural Idaho, communities face the dilemma of what to do with the waste cows produce. The huge dairy operations are contaminating local air and water.

Feature

Raising a stink
When the dairy industry invades rural Idaho, communities face the dilemma of what to do with the waste cows produce. The huge dairy operations are contaminating local air and water.

Sidebar

'You start over new'
In his own words, Dean Swager talks about how he moved his dairy farm from Southern California's Chino Valley to Idaho's Magic Valley.
'The odors were beyond description'
In her own words, Sena McKnight describes how she and her family were forced out of their home next to the Dutch Touch Dairy, due to the nauseating odors and decline in quality of life.
'Big for the sake of big is not good'
In his own words, Bill Stoltzfus compares his small (85-cow) dairy to the huge ones that have taken over the Magic Valley, and admits that dairy farmers who created problems with odor and manure must now take responsibility and deal with them.

Essays

The oldest living thing is a quiet survivor
Shielded in anonymity, the "King Clone," a creosote bush identified as the "oldest living thing on Earth," can be found on a dirt road south of Barstow, Calif., where it continues to keep a low profile about the many benefits of its properties.

Book Reviews

Ranchers offer hospitality
To protect ranchers with conservation easements and preserve local cultural and natural resources, the South Park Heritage Area Board, formed in Park County, Colo., discourages developers and welcomes tourists.
For the love of spoons
Navajo silversmithing is the subject of a book, "Navajo Spoons," by Cindra Kline, exploring Indian artistry and the souvenir trade.
Saving tired tires
A family-owned business, Cordova and Sons, in Cuba City, N.M., collects and recycles used tires for landscaping and building projects.
Bonelight: Ruin and Grace
Mary Sojourner has written 50 vignettes in "Bonelight: Ruin and Grace in the New Southwest," a book of personal stories revolving around her hometown of Flagstaff, Ariz.
Wire Song sticks in your mind
Mark Todd has written a book of lyrical poetry about everyday, outdoor life on a ranch.
Salmon poison
Ten years after being given federal protection under the Endangered Species Act, Pacific salmon still swim in pesticide-laced water, says a report by the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides.

Writers on the Range

Developers push revisionist history
Developers engage in "green washing" when they claim willing participation in consensus to save Dry Lake.

News

Evicted terns get new habitat
In an effort to help endangered salmon on the Columbia River, Caspian terns that prey on the fish are being lured to different habitat.
Water threat inspires a rare alliance
Two proposed power plants in Post Falls, Idaho, have locals, business leaders and environmentalists coming together to block what could have a detrimental effect on the drinking water for more than 400,000 people in northern Idaho and eastern Washington.
The Latest Bounce
Forest Service revokes its approval of Rock Creek Mine in Montana; Nevada's fight against Yucca Mountain may be doomed; ARCO will pay $87 million to treat toxic water in Butte, Mont.'s Berkeley Pit; deadline approaches to ban Jet Skis in national parks; A
Habitat protection takes a critical hit
Lawsuits filed by angry developers have forced the federal government to re-examine the Endangered Species Act of 1978 regarding critical habitat.
Silver Valley residents sue for damages
A class-action lawsuit could force five former mining companies to pay for a medical monitoring program detecting health effects from lead and arsenic contamination for 100,000 people in the Coeur d'Alene Basin.
Fashion faux-pas in the forest
Designer Ralph Lauren's proposal to swap land with the U.S. Forest Service near Ridgway, Colo., has caused a stir among neighbors, who claim the new public road would disrupt wildlife, create forest fires and bring vehicles closer to wilderness.
City gets in the zone for fish
The city of Portland, Ore., drafts a proposal to aid endangered fish through building and landscape regulations to prevent eroding stream banks on 19,000 acres of residential property.
Land exchange could short-change monuments
A land-exchange referendum on the November ballot might shift the borders of the Sonoran Desert and Ironwoods national monuments, designated by President Clinton before he left office, in an effort to resolve power companies' rights-of-way.
Elk and deer disease could waste Western Slope
Despite efforts by the Colorado Division of Wildlife to control it, chronic wasting disease, the fatal brain malady in elk and deer, has spread to two illegally penned wild deer near Craig, Colo.

Heard Around the West

Heard around the West
Due to all the volunteer workers, Salt Lake City's Winter Olympics may actually turn a profit; Bush administration slashes funds on solar energy while condoning oil and gas; Army Secretary Thomas E. White sells $7.8 million Aspen home at loss; wayward coy

Dear Friends

Dear Friends
A metamorphic moment in the paper's history as HCN produces a story with Radio HCN; visitors; HCN business of the month; Mary Sojourner to hold reading in Paonia; upcoming environmental summit; Diane Sylvain's back surgery; April Fool correction.

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