There’s cause to celebrate in New
Mexico: The Salt River Project has decided to pull the
plug on its plans for a coal strip-mine near the Zuni Reservation
(HCN, 10/08/01: Salt Woman confronts a coal mine). Tribes and
environmental groups have fought the mine for more than 10 years,
and earlier this year, Gov. Bill Richardson and both the
state’s senators jumped on the anti-mine bandwagon. Now, the
utility company, which provides electricity to Phoenix, is casting
about for coal in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin.
The dams are coming down: In
early August, Pacific Gas and Electric Company tore down the first
of three dams on West Panther Creek on the upper Mokelumne River in
Northern California (HCN, 9/24/01: River of dreams). In order to
renew its federal hydropower license for the rest of its dams on
the river, the company is demolishing three that have been rendered
useless by sediment buildup. The $40 million project will restore
more than 40 miles of salmon habitat.
The Forest Service has already burned through its
firefighting budget for the year (HCN, 5/26/03: A losing
battle). The agency says it expects to spend $773 million dollars
fighting wildfires this summer, even though its current budget
hovers around $350 million. Under pressure to cut the
nation’s gargantuan deficit, Congress refused to allocate
more money to the agency before adjourning for summer recess
— much to the dismay of Western governors and congressmen,
who have about 20 big wildfires on their hands as this issue goes
to press.
What do you get when you mix
a political strategist, a Republican senator, 1,400 farmers and the
Bureau of Reclamation? Apparently, 33,000 salmon and
steelhead belly-up in the Klamath River (HCN, 6/23/03: Sound
science goes sour). At the end of July, the Wall Street Journal
revealed that in January 2002, Karl Rove, President Bush’s
right-hand man, met with 50 officials at the U.S. Department of the
Interior and urged them to “accommodate agricultural
interests” — thereby giving a boost to Sen. Gordon
Smith, R-Ore., and his re-election campaign. That summer, Interior
gave farmers their full allotments of water, a move that likely
killed the fish the following September.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Follow-up.
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