Magazine
When a Boom is a Bust

September 13, 2004

Wamsutter, Wyo., is a boomtown these days, but the town is struggling to be a real community, instead of just a barracks for the natural gas industry. Also in this issue: In Colorado and elsewhere in the West, the fear of West Nile Virus brings the controversy about spraying pesticides to a boil.

Feature

When a Boom is a Bust
Wamsutter, Wyo., is a boomtown these days, but the town is struggling to be a real community, instead of just a barracks for the natural gas industry
Ray Ring Sept. 13, 2004 From the print edition

Sidebar

Wamsutter Profiles
Some of Wamsutter’s citizens are briefly profiled: a Baptist preacher, a couple of real estate entrepreneurs, a café owner, the deputy sheriff, a bar owner, an oil-field worker, the town librarian and a local Democrat
Ray Ring Sept. 13, 2004 From the print edition

Editor's Note

The beauty of the ugly West
Towns like Wamsutter, Wyo., may never be quaint and charming, but they can lay claim to their own rough beauty once a real community takes root
Paul Larmer Opinion Sept. 13, 2004 From the print edition

Uncommon Westerners

Composing the new Western: Calexico
Joey Burns and John Convertino, along with the other members of the band Calexico, create music that is thoroughly rooted in the desert Southwest around Tucson, Ariz.
Joshua Garrett-Davis Sept. 13, 2004 From the print edition

Essays

Occupying less
A wild bird helps teach a woman how to let go of the need to own things
Mary Sojourner Essay Sept. 13, 2004 From the print edition

Writers on the Range

Failure of leadership, not a lack of water, dooms the Klamath River
Only the federal government can find away to protect both salmon and farmers in the Northwest’s Klamath River watershed
Tim Holt Essay Sept. 13, 2004 From the print edition

Book Reviews

A thin, dry border between heaven and hell
In his anthology, God’s Country or Devil’s Playground, editor Barney Nelson gathers together an eclectic mix of the best nature writing from the Big Bend of Texas
Jessica Toubman Sept. 13, 2004 From the print edition
The wages of sprawl
A new documentary, Making Sense of Place: Phoenix, the Urban Desert, uses the Arizona megalopolis to show what happens when urban sprawl is unchecked
Jodi Peterson Sept. 13, 2004 From the print edition

Heard Around the West

Heard around the West
Bowdlerizing books at the Layton library; Oregon cheese not from Oregon; property rights – and wrongs – in Delta, Colo.; bears and beer; Colorado coffee-creamer cubs; loving guns in Montana; and prairie dogs vs. gas development
Betsy Marston Sept. 13, 2004 From the print edition

Dear Friends

Dear friends
HCN’s upcoming potluck is in Portland; new interns Deanna Belch and Lissa James; and corrections
Deanna Belch, Lissa James and Matt Jenkins Sept. 13, 2004 From the print edition

News

Communities search for a safer way to kill mosquitoes
In Colorado and elsewhere in the West, the fear of West Nile Virus brings the controversy about spraying pesticides to a boil
Gail Binkly Sept. 13, 2004 From the print edition
A water-and-wilderness bill kicks up dust in Nevada
Critics say an economic development initiative could suck desert springs and rural counties dry
Ryan Slattery Sept. 13, 2004 From the print edition
Colorado voters hold the cards on renewable energy
In November, Coloradans will have the chance to vote on a citizen-proposed renewable-energy initiative, but the utilities are working hard to defeat it
Laura Paskus Sept. 13, 2004 From the print edition
Japanese cars may get all the good lanes
A proposed law would allow California commuters who drive some hybrid vehicles to use the state’s carpool lanes, and the CEO of Ford Motor Co. is not happy about it
Laura Paskus Sept. 13, 2004 From the print edition
Calendar
Staff Sept. 13, 2004 From the print edition

Letters

Backpacker magazine responds
Jonathan Dorn Sept. 13, 2004 From the print edition
The writer replies
Sean Neilson Sept. 13, 2004 From the print edition
Bush neglects parks
Don Kimball Sept. 13, 2004 From the print edition
Parks need efficient money management
Tom Budlong Sept. 13, 2004 From the print edition
Chambers was a part of the problem
R. Barry Cook Sept. 13, 2004 From the print edition
High Country News Classifieds