Magazine
Planting time

May 12, 2003

The native-seeds business is thriving, as more Westerners realize the value of a restored and healthy rangeland, but the current unfriendly political climate in Washington, D.C., may bring an untimely frost. Also in this issue:The Clinton-era Sierra Nevada Framework is being dismantled under the Bush administration, and California spotted owls, denied protection as endangered species, may pay the price.

Feature

Planting time
The native-seeds business is thriving, as more Westerners realize the value of a healthy rangeland, but the current unfriendly political climate in Washington, D.C., may bring an untimely frost
Mark Matthews May 12, 2003 From the print edition

Sidebar

On Black Mesa, the natives make a comeback
In Arizona, Peabody Western Coal is working with Navajo and Hopi Indians to reclaim its coal mines using culturally valuable native plants
Mark Matthews May 12, 2003 From the print edition

Editor's Note

To restore the West, go big and go native
It is possible for human beings to live sustainably in the West, and native seeds may help to point the way
Paul Larmer Essay May 12, 2003 From the print edition

Essays

In search of the desert manna
A journey in search of New Mexico’s fabled pinon nuts finds them falling victim to drought and beetles
Andy Lenderman Essay May 12, 2003 From the print edition

Book Reviews

Nevada: A diamond in the rough
Earthtones: A Nevada Album pairs essays by Ann Ronald with photos by Stephen Trimble to celebrate the beauty of an austere landscape
Sierra Standish May 12, 2003 From the print edition
Healthy energy on public lands
A new report by the BLM and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory details the opportunities for renewable energy development on Western public lands
Jodi Peterson May 12, 2003 From the print edition
Hiking toward healing
In Crossing Divides: A Couple’s Story of Cancer, Hope, and Hiking Montana’s Continental Divide, Scott Bischke describes how he and his wife, Katie Gibson, refused to let her illness keep them from their beloved outdoors
Betsy Marston May 12, 2003 From the print edition
How safe is that fillet?
A new label from the Marine Stewardship Council and a pocket guide from California’s Monterey Bay Aquarium help consumers pick out sustainably harvested seafood
Rebecca Clarren May 12, 2003 From the print edition

Writers on the Range

In Iraq, there’s hope of restoring the Garden of Eden
Iraq has a chance to restore its fabled Mesapotamia Marshes, just as America could revive its own Colorado River Delta
Susan Tweit Essay May 12, 2003 From the print edition

Heard Around the West

Heard Around the West
Misprint confuses wolves with wives; "peace threats;" Sen. Scott McInnis denounces French-made tombstone; "Aspen Pure" water doesn’t come from Aspen; Utah mayor wasn’t kidnapped; Colorado Central spoofs real estate ads; "Chateau de Plateau;" Old Faithful
Betsy Marston May 12, 2003 From the print edition

Dear Friends

Dear Friends
Two weeks to redesign launch; HCN’s April Fool’s succeeds in fooling Dubois; corrections: national monuments have been overturned
Greg Hanscom May 12, 2003 From the print edition

News

New forest plan leaves owls in a lurch
The Clinton-era Sierra Nevada Framework is being dismantled under the Bush administration, and California spotted owls, denied protection as endangered species, may pay the price
Jane Braxton Little May 12, 2003 From the print edition
The Latest Bounce
Animas-La Plata dam building begins; fish appreciate removal of Washington’s Goldsborough Creek dam; 11th Mexican gray wolf killed in Arizona; lamprey denied endangered status; "stop work" order at Yucca Mountain ignored; and National Park Service critici
Laura Paskus May 12, 2003 From the print edition
Tiny tribe bets its community on casino
Washington’s 194-member Stillaguamish Tribe has demolished its only village to make room for a casino, but now the casino’s financiers are under investigation, and the tribe’s gaming permit is in limbo
Matthew Preusch May 12, 2003 From the print edition
Nation’s largest tribe keeps casinos out
The Navajo Nation has said no to legalized gambling, but under Arizona’s new Proposition 202, the tribe may benefit from gambling on other reservations
Sierra Standish May 12, 2003 From the print edition
Backcountry road deal runs over wilderness
Utah has dropped its threatened lawsuit over the control of backcountry roads, but the agreement the state made with the federal government casts a cloud over future wilderness protection
Tim Westby May 12, 2003 From the print edition
Missing Interior money: Piles or pennies?
American Indians have denounced a recent report defending the Interior Department’s trust account transactions
Gail Binkly May 12, 2003 From the print edition
Farmland protection may dry up
California’s Williamson Act, a 40-year-old farmland-protection program, may be a casualty of the state’s huge budget deficit
Sierra Standish May 12, 2003 From the print edition
Phelps tries to dodge bond
Phelps Dodge Corporation is at loggerheads with environmentalists and the state of New Mexico over plans to clean up the Chino Mine, an open-pit copper mine near Silver City
Gail Binkly May 12, 2003 From the print edition
Historic preservation vs. tourism?
Colorado State Treasurer Mike Coffman wants to use funds earmarked for historic preservation to promote tourism instead
Sierra Standish May 12, 2003 From the print edition

Letters

Ranches: Wildlands or scenery?
Ranches: Wildlands or scenery
Jeff Burgess May 12, 2003 From the print edition
Wilderness would have been better for ranchers
Wilderness would have been better for ranchers
Robert Weed Weinick May 12, 2003 From the print edition
Stay divided, and the land may fall
Stay divided, and the land may fall
Bill Peterson, Jr. May 12, 2003 From the print edition
There are plenty of places for bicycling
There are plenty of places for bicycling
Evan Cantor May 12, 2003 From the print edition
Leave wilderness to llamas
Leave wilderness to llamas
Noel McRae May 12, 2003 From the print edition
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