Magazine
Out of the Four Corners

October 3, 2005

Susan Ryan, a young archaeologist, has some unusual ideas about why the Anasazi left their homes in the Southwest, 700 years ago. Also in this issue: In the city of Albuquerque, underdog candidate Eric Griego, a critic of sprawl, challenges incumbent Mayor Marty Chavez, a pro-growth booster.

Feature

Out of the Four Corners
Susan Ryan, a young archaeologist, has some unusual ideas about why the Anasazi left their homes in the Southwest, 700 years ago

Sidebar

Anasazi: What's in a name?
The name "Anasazi" has fallen out of favor, but none of the other names now used for this vanished civilization are satisfactory, either

Editor's Note

Exodus
The abandonment of the American Southwest by the Anasazi 700 years ago – and the destruction of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina today – show that all civilizations are fragile, complex, and ultimately at the mercy of the climate

Essays

Be a patriot — get your hands dirty
It’s time for Americans to remember World War II, and start planting "Victory Gardens" to save resources

Book Reviews

Meloy's last message — from bighorn country
In Eating Stone, her last book, Ellen Meloy tells the eloquent, passionate story of the time she spent studying the Blue Door Band of desert bighorn sheep

Writers on the Range

What's at stake in the evolution debate
The so-called "debate" over the teaching of evolution is really a debate over whether our society will continue to be based on reality

News

A smart-growth bulldog
In the city of Albuquerque, underdog candidate Eric Griego, a critic of sprawl, challenges incumbent Mayor Marty Chavez, a pro-growth booster
The Latest Bounce
U.S. Geological Survey gets Yucca Mountain research funding cut; logging halted on Giant Sequoia National Monument; New Mexican politicians fight proposal to drill in Valle Vidal
Methamphetamine fuels the West’s oil and gas boom
In Craig, Colo., Moffatt County Sheriff Buddy Grinstead fights an epidemic of methamphetamine use on the oil and gas rigs
Boulder gets the gas-drilling blues
Energy companies are planning to drill on open space in Boulder County, Colo.
Strange bedfellows make a grazing deal in Idaho
Anti-grazing activist Jon Marvel makes a deal with ranching magnate J.R. Simplot, allowing cattle to continue to graze on federal land in Idaho
Contaminated water can't stop California sprawl
Perchlorate, a toxic chemical used in rocket fuel, has been found in drinking water wells, but that won’t stop the development of West Creek, a planned community northeast of Los Angeles

Heard Around the West

Heard Around the West
A duck named Gooey; sea lion frat boys; Golden Gate ostrich; new Utah dinosaur; speeding in Montana; downtown living in Salt Lake City

Dear Friends

Dear friends
Books for Folks in New Orleans; fall interns Emma Brown and Michelle Burkhart; clarifications and corrections

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