Magazine
Riding the middle path

December 8, 2003

A homegrown consensus effort called the Owyhee Initiative is trying to save both wilderness and ranching in southwestern Idaho – but in the polarized Bush era, consensus is often controversial. Also in this issue: Federal wildlife managers admit that the massive fish kill in the Klamath River in 2002 was caused, in part, by the diversion of water to farmers.

Feature

Riding the middle path
A homegrown consensus effort called the Owyhee Initiative is trying to save both wilderness and ranching in southwestern Idaho – but in the polarized Bush era, consensus is often controversial
Robyn Morrison Dec. 8, 2003 From the print edition

Sidebar

In Boulder-White Cloud mountains, another wilderness compromise
A compromise brewed by Republican Rep. Mike Simpson would designate wilderness in the Boulder Mountains and White Cloud Peaks of Idaho
Rocky Barker Dec. 8, 2003 From the print edition
Wilderness deals held hostage in salmon struggle
When Idaho salmon advocates challenged the state’s farm-irrigation system, Norm Semanko held them off by taking a couple of wilderness deals hostage
Rocky Barker Dec. 8, 2003 From the print edition

Editor's Note

Save the middle ground: Hug a radical
Even though it’s true that without the radical extremes, there would be no middle ground, to save wilderness in the Bush era, environmental hard-liners need to ease up on consensus deals
Greg Hanscom Opinion Dec. 8, 2003 From the print edition

Essays

Leaving Las Vegas
Now that she’s left Las Vegas, the writer recalls the surrealistic city, and is haunted by the memory of the desert that surrounds it
Sarah Flick Essay Dec. 8, 2003 From the print edition

Book Reviews

Getting high in class
Bruce Gordon started his nonprofit EcoFlight in Aspen, Colo., to take kids out of the classroom and let them see environmental issues from above, in his Cessna 210
Josh Garrett-Davis Dec. 8, 2003 From the print edition
Calendar
Staff Dec. 8, 2003 From the print edition
Gas wells wash out habitat
Environmental scientist James Gore warns that the water that coalbed methane wells pours into streams could wipe out up to 30 aquatic species in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana
Josh Garrett-Davis Dec. 8, 2003 From the print edition
American Speedster
In Built for Speed: A Year in the Life of Pronghorn, zoology professor John Byers offers a glimpse into the life of North America’s fastest mammal
Ali Macalady Dec. 8, 2003 From the print edition

Writers on the Range

A cheer for runaway bison and the Rocky Mountain Front
The Rocky Mountain Front in Montana is precious land, and it is under threat from the Bush administration’s predatory energy policy
Ben Long Essay Dec. 8, 2003 From the print edition
Being a local doesn't make you any better
Robert Struckman confesses he's a knee jerk local who's trying to get over it
Robert Struckman Opinion Essay Dec. 8, 2003 From the print edition

Heard Around the West

Heard around the West
Circumcised elk; grizzly bear highway deaths; recycling fraud in California; money talks at Copper Mountain; newspaper bloopers; crime waves in Cortez, Colo
Betsy Marston Dec. 8, 2003 From the print edition

Dear Friends

Dear Friends
HCN’s upcoming Holiday Open House; Toby Harshaw, John Singlaub, and Rea Orthner visit; Congratulations to Dick Carter and Deb French; and corrections and comments
Greg Hanscom Dec. 8, 2003 From the print edition

News

News flash: Fish do need water
Federal wildlife managers admit that the massive fish kill in the Klamath River in 2002 was caused, in part, by the diversion of water to farmers
Michael Milstein Dec. 8, 2003 From the print edition
Follow-up
$11 million is set aside for a nuclear trigger factory that Carlsbad, N.M., is hoping to host; Yucca Mountain, Nev., gets $580 million for nuclear waste storage; no extra water for the Rio Grande silvery minnow; Pentagon wins exemptions to environmental l
Laura Paskus Dec. 8, 2003 From the print edition
As Congress adjourns, the environment is left in limbo
The energy bill is stalled for now as Congress wraps up its business for the year, but a lot of anti-environmental legislation has been passed in an end-of-season rush
Michelle Nijhuis and staff Dec. 8, 2003 From the print edition
Utahns beat back radioactive waste
In the face of noisy opposition, Envirocare of Utah pulls its federal application to dump high-level radioactive waste in the desert
Tim Westby Dec. 8, 2003 From the print edition
Forest protection on the honor system
The House and Senate pass the Healthy Forests Restoration Act, which environmentalists fear will do the opposite of its name
Puanani Mench Dec. 8, 2003 From the print edition
New nuke studies are in the works
Congress sets aside money for new nuclear weapons research and tells the Nevada Test Site to get ready for nuclear weapons-testing
Laura Paskus Dec. 8, 2003 From the print edition

Letters

Bring back the green republicans!
Tom Taylor Dec. 8, 2003 From the print edition
Roosevelt was a pragmatic conservationist
Jim Gerber Dec. 8, 2003 From the print edition
Treadwell was no new-ager
Nancy Jacques, Kathleene Parker Dec. 8, 2003 From the print edition
What's with the uppity New Englanders?
Mike Stevenson Dec. 8, 2003 From the print edition
Drop the stereotypes
Keith Scoular Dec. 8, 2003 From the print edition
Essay insults easterns and westerners
James Kelly Dec. 8, 2003 From the print edition
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