Magazine
April 4, 2005
Tough economics, drought, and increasing clashes with other public-lands users are leading some ranchers to consider taking the "golden saddle" – a check from conservationists in exchange for their grazing permits. Also in this issue: Two researchers say that the "Sustainable Slopes" program, touted by the National Ski Areas Association as a sign of the industry’s environmental responsibility, is little more than "greenwashing."
Feature
Tough economics, drought, and increasing clashes with
other public-lands users are leading some ranchers to consider
taking the "golden saddle" – a check from conservationists in
exchange for their grazing permits
Editor's Note
Some Western ranchers, fed up with economic problems and
other conflicts, are handing over their grazing allotments to
conservation groups in exchange for a healthy check
Uncommon Westerners
Lorena Gorbet, a Mountain Maidu Indian, has dedicated her
life to saving her tribal culture through forest management in the
Feather River area of Northern California
Essays
A rider in the federal spending bill will end a
34-year-old ban on selling wild horses for slaughter
The Wild West lives on in a distinctly Eastern way at
Western Village in Imaichi, Japan, sister city of Rapid City,
S.D.
Dear Friends
Tragedy in Paonia; visitors; "Starting West" conference at
Stanford discusses frustration; clarification from BLM; Happy 35th
birthday, HCN
News
Biologist Mark Intyme is marking time; "Termoonator" takes
on wolves; coorections; "Million Bush March" and other
oddities
Developer George Johnson is being sued by the state of
Arizona for major violations of environmental laws, committed in
the early stages of his planned La Osa Ranch development
Two researchers say that the "Sustainable Slopes" program,
touted by the National Ski Areas Association as a sign of the
industry’s environmental responsibility, is little more than
"greenwashing"
Resolution Copper Company is trying to obtain a land swap
in order to mine at Arizona’s Oak Flat campground, a popular
rock-climbing spot
Three important "takings" lawsuits claim farmers should be
compensated when water is withheld from irrigators in order to help
endangered species during times of drought
A judge rules that Pacific Coast fishermen can intervene
as a third party in a lawsuit between Klamath River Basin farmers
and the federal government
Book Reviews
Caribou Rising by Rick Bass is an
impassioned plea on behalf of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
and the Gwich’in people who have hunted caribou there for
thousands of years
In Common Waters, Diverging Streams
William Blomquist, Edella Schlager, and Tanya Heikkila argue on
behalf of "conjunctive management" – coordinating the use of
surface water with underground aquifers
Santa Fe Hispanic Culture: Preserving Identity in
a Tourist Town by Andrew Leo Lovato explores the way
Santa Fe, N.M., both preserves and exploits its colorful
past
In Diminished Democracy, Harvard
University professor Theda Skocpol considers the decline of
volunteerism in American life, and what it means for the
nation’s democracy
In Common Southwestern Plants, Jack L.
Carter, Martha A. Carter and Donna J. Stevens have created a
user-friendly botanical guide
Heard Around the West
Only resident of Monowi, Neb., loves it, but other Great
Plains towns struggle to attract people; "no intelligent life out
here" is right; no plastic surgery for Hollywood pets; Glenwood
Springs, Colo., cops catch Denver bad guy; "low-cow" Internet in
Hot
Letters
Related Stories
The various grazing buyout proposals offer different
amounts to ranchers in exchange for retiring their grazing
permits
On the Upper Deschutes area of Oregon, the Bureau of Land
Management is working to move cows off the public land
Paul Larmer interviews longtime activist Andy Kerr, director of the National Public Lands Grazing Campaign, about grazing buyouts and the future of public-lands ranching
