HCN takes a state-by-state look at the most important
elections coming up in the West.
Magazine
October 14, 2002
After a decade and a half without reasonable or effective leadership,Arizona has become the West's most incompetently run state, its politics propelled almost entirely by growth. This year's gubernatorial election offers a chance for change. Also in this issue: The 1994 Northwest Forest Plan was seen as a watershed move to balance logging with environmental protection. But logging companies say the plan's controversial species-management provision has put too much land off-limits, and now the Bush administration is moving to relax the rules.
Feature
In Montana, Initiative 145 would undo the deregulation of
power in the state, allowing citizens to take back control of
hydroelectric dams.
The recent decline in support for the New Mexico Green
Party seems to have no effect on the hopes of its candidates or the
anxiety of the state's Democratic party, which sees the Greens as
spoilers.
In Utah, an initiative that would triple the cost of
disposal at Envirocare's radioactive waste dump in Tooele County
and it from taking hotter wastes is being fiercely fought by the
company.
Almost every major election in Arizona is up for grabs
this year, along with a rash of ballot initiatives, and some
observers hope the state can pull out of its headlong rush into
uncontrolled growth and development.
Sidebar
A federal judge has struck down a series of Utah laws
meant to block a planned high-level nuclear waste storage facility
on the Skull Valley Goshute Reservation.
Editor's Note
An introduction to the special election issue says that
voting should be less predictable in the West this year.
Essays
How did the Republican Party cease being the party of
conservation, and why do Westerners continue to give it their
support?
Book Reviews
The Web site of PEER - Public Employees for Environmental
Responsibility - features a report on increasing violence against
National Park Service employees, along with other topics.
The Rocky Mountain Mineral Foundation is holding a two-day
conference on "Regulation and Development of Coalbed
Methane."
A floating laboratory called Forever Earth prowls Nevada's
Lake Mead, doing scientific research and working with academic and
environmental groups.
In Native Waters: Contemporary Indian Water Settlements
and the Second Treaty Era, scholar Daniel McCool explores the
current struggle by tribes to finally get the water they have long
been promised by treaty.
In New Mexico, Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge
celebrates its annual Festival of the Cranes in November.
Writers on the Range
An encounter in a bar with a guy named Dwayne causes a
writer named Mary Lou to ponder the hidden meanings lurking behind
first names in the West.
Heard Around the West
Utah leads in bankruptcy and stupid chili-roasting laws;
Jackson Hole Guide fact-checks New York Times; new mascot - Reddy
the Squirrel - wants to replace Smokey Bear; Boulder vs. starling
control; and Forest Service workers vs. fee demo program.
Dear Friends
Tim Egan speaks at HCN Seattle board meeting; Ed Marston
steps aside; correction; Betsy Offermann obituary
Interim HCN publisher Paul Larmer remembers his first
encounter with retiring publisher Ed Marston, and considers what he
- and the paper - have gained under Marston's aegis.
News
The Bush administration bows to pressure from the logging
industry to revise the Clinton-era Northwest Forest Plan.
Under pressure from the home-building industry, the Fish
and Wildlife Service drastically trims critical habitat for the
threatened California red-legged frog.
San Gabriel Watersheds Study Act passes House; Sisters'
cattle removed from BLM land; Gold mine resurrected for land sacred
to Indians; Utah Rep. Jim Hansen makes deal to sell site to Mormon
Church; and Mont. Gov. says miners are "true
environmentalists."
The city of Albuquerque, N.M., is fighting a judge's order
that says city water must be released from reservoirs into the Rio
Grande to save the endangered silvery minnow.
Thousands of steelhead and chinook and coho salmon have
died in Northern California's Klamath River, and conservationists
blame the Bush administration's decision to lower river
flows.
Cowboy poet, rancher and environmentalist Wally McRae
talks about the romance of the range and the hard reality of things
like coal development in Montana.
Letters
Featured stories
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OPERATIONS DIRECTOR We are a Santa Fe-based nonprofit that builds resilience on arid working lands. We foster ecological, economic, and social health through education, innovation, and collaboration....
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COMMUNITY ORGANIZER Come work alongside everyday Montanans to project our clean air, water, and build thriving communities! Competitive salary, health insurance, pension, generous vacation time and sabbatical....
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CAMPAIGN MANAGER Oregon Natural Desert Association (ONDA), a nonprofit conservation organization dedicated to protecting, defending and restoring Oregon's high desert, seeks a Campaign Manager to works as...
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HECHO DEPUTY DIRECTOR Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting, and the Outdoors (HECHO) was created in 2013 to help fulfill our duty to conserve and protect our public lands for...
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REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVE, COLUMBIA CASCADES The Regional Representative serves as PCTA's primary staff on the ground along the trail working closely with staff, volunteers, and nonprofit and agency partners. This...
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FINANCE AND OPERATIONS DIRECTOR 
The Montana Land Reliance (MLR) seeks a full-time Finance and Operations Director to manage the internal functions of MLR and its nonprofit affiliates. Key areas...
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DIRECTOR OF CONSERVATION
The Nature Conservancy is recruiting for a Director of Conservation. Provides strategic leadership and support for all of the Conservancy's conservation work in Arizona. The...
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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR The Amargosa Conservancy (AC), a conservation nonprofit dedicated to standing up for water and biodiversity in the Death Valley region, seeks an executive director to...
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BIG BASIN SENIOR PROJECT PLANNER - CLIMATE ADAPTATION & RESILIENCE Parks California Big Basin Senior Project Planner - Climate Adaptation & Resilience ORGANIZATION BACKGROUND Parks California is a new organization working to ensure that our...
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CUSTOMER SERVICE ASSISTANT - (PART-TIME) High Country News, an award-winning media organization covering the communities and environment of the Western United States, seeks a part-time Customer Service Assistant, based at...
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SCIENCE PROJECT MANAGER About Long Live the Kings (LLTK) Our mission is to restore wild salmon and steelhead and support sustainable fishing in the Pacific Northwest. Since 1986,...
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HUMAN RESOURCES GENERALIST Honor the Earth is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate based on identity. Indigenous people, people of color, Two-Spirit or LGBTQA+ people,...
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DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Colorado Trout Unlimited seeks an individual with successful development experience, strong interpersonal skills, and a deep commitment to coldwater conservation to serve as the organization's...
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NEW BOOK BY AWARD-WINNING WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST, BRUCE SMITH In a perilous place at the roof of the world, an orphaned mountain goat is rescued from certain death by a mysterious raven.This middle-grade novel,...
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DESCHUTES LAND TRUST VOLUNTEER PROGRAM MANAGER The Deschutes Land Trust is seeking an experienced Volunteer Program Manager to join its dedicated team! Deschutes Land Trust conserves and cares for the lands...
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PROGRAM DIRECTOR Now hiring a full-time, remote Program Director for the Society for Wilderness Stewardship! Come help us promote excellence in the professional practice of wilderness stewardship,...
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WYOMING COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS COORDINATOR The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership is seeking Coordinator to implement public education and advocacy campaigns in the Cowboy State to unite and amplify hunter, angler,...
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MOUNTAIN LOTS FOR SALE
Multiple lots in gated community only 5 miles from Great Sand Dunes National Park. Seasonal flowing streams. Year round road maintenance.
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RURAL ACREAGE OUTSIDE SILVER CITY, NM Country living just minutes from town! 20 acres with great views makes a perfect spot for your custom home. Nice oaks and juniper. Cassie Carver,...
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A FIVE STAR FOREST SETTING WITH SECLUSION AND SEPARATENESS This home is for a discerning buyer in search of a forest setting of premier seclusion & separateness. Surrounded on all sides by USFS land...
