Magazine
April 18, 2005
Scientists are struggling to understand winter in the West: the effects of the unusual weather on water and wildlife, and whether the changes are linked to global warming Also in this issue: Recently released e-mails show that federal employees falsified information about the safety of the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev.
Feature
An unusual winter sends ripples through the West's water
and wildlife systems, and leaves scientists wondering whether
global warming is the cause.
Editor's Note
This winter’s weird weather has everybody talking,
but nobody wants to tackle the big question: Is global warming
finally hitting the West?
Uncommon Westerners
Jeff Lee and Ann Martin of Denver are working to turn
their huge personal library into a "land-study" center and
residential library, the Rocky Mountain Land Library
Essays
Montanans are rebelling against the federal government,
angry at the Recreation Enhancement Tax, the Patriot Act, and the
loss of their National Guard to Iraq
The greatest wildflower bloom of a generation hits Death
Valley, and people come from all around in search of the beauty of
"Bloomstock"
Dear Friends
Dave Foreman on "Nature’s Crisis" and what HCN is
doing wrong; kids these days; visitors; clarifications
News
EPA will investigate allegations that bunk science led to
approval of hydraulic fracturing; racketeering lawsuit against
environmentalist dismissed; ACLU sues over BLM’s decision to
Wyoming’s Martin’s Cove historic site to Mormon
Church
A recent study from the U.S. Geological Survey finds
traces of pharmaceuticals, pesticides and personal care products in
Colorado’s streams and groundwater
Ski resorts become a tool for real estate speculation and
development across the West.
The Friends of the Columbia Gorge, a small conservation
group based in Portland, Ore., has received a $4 million bequest
from Norman Yeon
A high-tech climate model will give farmers in
Washington’s Yakima Valley a kind of crystal ball for
predicting weather, choosing which crops to plant, and dealing with
drought and global warming
Preparations have begun to bring down a century-old dam on
Fossil Creek in central Arizona
In New Mexico, Alamogordo’s plan to build a
desalinization plant and tap the Tularosa Basin aquifer has area
ranchers and farmers worried
Recently released e-mails show that federal employees
falsified information about the safety of the proposed nuclear
waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev.
Book Reviews
Maria Chabot – Georgia O’Keeffe:
Correspondence 1941-1949 tempts with its glimpse into the
life of a famous painter but finally fascinates with its portrait
of Chabot and her life in Abiquiu, N.M., during World War
II
In The Conquest of Bread, Richard
Walker takes a sweeping, skeptical look at the history of
agriculture in California
The World’s Water 2004-2005,
edited by Peter Gleick, is the fourth installment of an annual
report that covers water issues that span the globe
In Cronies, Robert Bryce takes on the
state of Texas and its enormous political power, tracing the
network of "cronies" that brought both George Bushes to the White
House
In The Western Confluence, Matthew
McKinney and William Harmon try to find practical ways to solve the
West’s endless struggles over water and resource
management
Heard Around the West
Strange tales from the California Highway Patrol; "Foo Foo
Coffee" vs. gas prices; tumbleweed chic; advice for migrants; dumb
laws; Gov. Dave Freudenthal is a colorful maverick
Letters
Related Stories
The Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies brace for a
fierce fire season, and desperately seek the resources to fight
it.
The Columbia River Basin's serious drought means a hard
choice between fish and hydropower
- on Jim Deacon, pioneering desert fish biologist, dies
- Larry Bullock on Ranch Diaries: A New Mexico cattle company is born
- Randy Piper on Bark beetle kill leads to more severe fires, right? Well, maybe
- Delaine Spilsbury on The water czar who reshaped Colorado River politics
- Buck Drew on Chainsaw diplomacy
