Under increasing political pressure from the Bush
administration and its appointees, agency scientists find it
difficult to keep both their jobs and their integrity
Magazine
December 20, 2004
Under increasing political pressure from the Bush administration and its appointees, some agency scientists are finding it difficult to keep both their jobs and their integrity. Also in this issue: The omnibus appropriations bill just passed by Congress contained more than a few anti-environmental riders, but not all of them survived for the president’s pen to sign.
Feature
Sidebar
Earle Dixon says the Bureau of Land Management fired him
because he tried to enforce environmental and public safety laws in
the course of the Yerington Mine cleanup in Nevada
Environmentalists and some of his own biologists say James
Lecky sold out the endangered fish he was charged with protecting,
but NOAA Fisheries has just given him a promotion
Editor's Note
Like their military compatriots in Iraq, the American
civil servants charged with managing our public lands, water and
wildlife lack adequate funding, back-up, or the moral support of
their higher-ups
Uncommon Westerners
When a gravel company locked a gate on a road into
California’s Yuba Goldfields, a 70-year-old retired salesman
named Bill Calvert suddenly became a citizen activist, and fought
for public access to public lands
Essays
A writer spends time in a primitive cabin in the Colorado
mountains, and discovers the wonder of silence and
darkness
Book Reviews
The Energy Department is calling for public comment on its
plans to clean up a 130-acre pile of uranium tailings and
contaminated soils just upstream from Moab, Utah, on the Colorado
River
The Cyanide Canary by Joseph Hilldorfer
and Robert Dugoni tells a chilling tale of an environmental crime
in Idaho that ruined a worker’s life
Writers on the Range
New Senate minority leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., brings to
Capitol Hill the lessons learned from a hardscrabble Nevada
childhood
Heard Around the West
Pork and mariachi; Victoria’s Secret vs. trees; Zach
Mann vs. Starbucks; poaching preachers; elk poachers get popped;
crimes solved in Jackson, Wyo.
Dear Friends
Skipped issue; High Country News open
house; Boulder board meeting and potluck; corrections and
clarifications
News
The omnibus appropriations bill just passed by Congress
contained more than a few anti-environmental riders, but not all of
them survived for the president’s pen to sign
Judge puts stay on initiative to keep more nuclear waste
from coming to Hanford Nuclear Reservation; Phoenix Mine expansion
approved in Nevada; Western governors discuss reforming Endangered
Species Act
Utah’s attempt to take over backcountry roads begins
to unravel, largely because of problems stirred up by the attempt
to claim the remote Weiss Highway in Juab County as an R.S. 2477
road
Recent decisions not to list as endangered the
white-tailed and black-tailed prairie dogs and the greater sage
grouse open the door to increased energy exploration and
development in the West
In response to Oregon’s recently passed Measure 37,
Bend, Ore., adopts a rule that allows people to sue their neighbors
if nearby development reduces property values
Despite nearly unanimous support for designating the Ojito
Wilderness Area, New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici, R, is stalling over
reserved water rights and – according to critics –
trying to undermine the Wilderness Act
As soon as the National Park Service announced its new
snowmobile rules – which slightly reduce the number of
vehicles allowed in Yellowstone and Grand Teton – lawsuits
began flying from both sides of the political divide
Hovenweep National Monument in remote southeastern Utah
narrowly escapes an attempt to lease nearby land for oil and gas
drilling
Letters
Featured stories
-
COMMUNICATIONS AND OUTREACH ASSOCIATE Communications and Outreach Associate Position Opening: www.westernlaw.org/communications-outreach-associate ************************************************* Location: Western U.S., ideally in one of WELC's existing office locations (Santa Fe or Taos, NM, Helena,...
-
FREELANCE GRAPHIC DESIGNER & PROJECT COORDINATOR (REMOTE) High Country News (HCN) is seeking a contract Graphic Designer & Project Coordinator to design promotional, marketing and fund-raising assets and campaigns, and project-manage them...
-
FILM AND DIGITAL MEDIA: ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF INDIGENOUS MEDIA, CULTURAL SOVEREIGNTY AND DECOLONIZATION (INITIAL REVIEW 12.1.21) Film and Digital Media: Assistant Professor of Indigenous Media, Cultural Sovereignty and Decolonization (Initial Review 12.1.21) Position overview Position title: Assistant Professor - tenure-track Salary...
-
REAL ESTATE SPECIALIST 
To learn more about this position and to apply please go to the following URL.
-
ENVIRONMENTAL GEOPHYSICS "More Data, Less Digging" Find groundwater and reduce excavation costs!
-
RARE CHIRICAHUA RIPARIAN LAND FOR SALE 40 acres: 110 miles from Tucson: native trees, grasses: birder's heaven::dark sky/ borders state lease & National forest/5100 ft/13-16 per annum rain
-
CENTRAL PARK CULTURAL RESOURCE SPECIALIST Agency: Oregon Parks and Recreation Department Salary Range: $5,203 - $7,996 Position Title: Central Park Cultural Resource Specialist Do you have a background in Archaeology...
-
STAFF ATTORNEY Come live and work in one of the most beautiful places in the world! As our Staff Attorney you will play a key role in...
-
ARIZONA GRAZING CLEARINGHOUSE
Dedicated to preventing the ecological degradation caused by livestock grazing on Arizona's public lands, and exposing the government subsidies that support it.
-
OPERATIONS MANAGER Position Summary: Friends of the Inyo (friendsoftheinyo.org) is seeking a new Operations Manager. The Operations Manager position is a full-time permanent position that reports directly...
-
WATER RIGHTS BUREAU CHIEF
Water Rights Bureau Chief, State of Montana, DNRC, Water Resources Division, Helena, MT Working to support and implement the Department's mission to help ensure that...
-
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...
-
DEVELOPMENT & OUTREACH ASSOCIATE Southeast Alaska Conservation Council is hiring! Who We Are: The Southeast Alaska Conservation Council (SEACC) is a small grassroots nonprofit based out of Juneau, Alaska,...
-
DESERT LANDS ORGANIZER Position Summary: Friends of the Inyo seeks a Desert Lands Organizer to assist with existing campaigns that will defend lands in the California desert, with...
-
IDAHO CONSERVATION LEAGUE Want to help preserve Idaho's land, water, and air for future generations? Idaho Conservation League currently has 3 open positions. We are looking for a...
-
LUNATEC ODOR-FREE DISHCLOTHS are a must try. They stay odor-free, dry fast, are durable and don't require machine washing. Try today.
-
EVENTS AND ANNUAL FUND COORDINATOR The Events and Annual Fund Coordinator is responsible for managing and coordinating the Henry's Fork Foundation's fundraising events for growing the membership base, renewing and...
-
EDUCATION DIRECTOR Position Description: The Education Director is the primary leader of Colorado Canyons Association's (CCA) education programs for students and adults on the land and rivers...
-
10 ACRES OF NEW MEXICO HIGH DESERT
10 Acres of undeveloped high desert land in central NM, about 45 minutes from downtown Albuquerque. Mixed cedar and piñon pine cover. Some dirt roadways...
-
WATERSHED RESTORATION DIRECTOR $58k-$70k + benefits to oversee watershed restoration projects that fulfill our strategic goals across urban and rural areas within the bi-national Santa Cruz and San...
