Magazine
The Ghosts of Yosemite

October 17, 2005

Modern-day scientists, retracing the path of Joseph Grinnell in Yosemite National Park, document conspicuous changes in the natural world and find a culprit unimagined by biologists 100 years ago: global warming. Also in this issue: On his 12th attempt, Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., succeeds in pushing a bill through the U.S. House designed to reform the Endangered Species Act and end critical habitat protection.

Feature

The Ghosts of Yosemite
Modern-day scientists, retracing the path of Joseph Grinnell in Yosemite National Park, document conspicuous changes in the natural world and find a culprit unimagined by biologists 100 years ago: global warming
Michelle Nijhuis Oct. 17, 2005 From the print edition

Sidebar

In the Great Basin, scientists track global warming
Wildlife biologist Erik Beever says that as the climate warms in the Great Basin, pikas are rapidly disappearing from mountains where they formerly thrived
Michelle Nijhuis Oct. 17, 2005 From the print edition
States lead charge against global warming
With the federal government dragging its feet, Western states are beginning to take action to deal with greenhouse gas emissions and global warming
April Reese Oct. 17, 2005 From the print edition

Editor's Note

Is anyone home at the parks?
The Park Service has always excelled at managing visitors, and as global warming makes itself felt in Yosemite, Glacier and other national treasures, the agency should use its interpretive skills to explain what’s going on
Greg Hanscom Opinion Oct. 17, 2005 From the print edition

Uncommon Westerners

His photographs trace the passage of time
Photographer Mark Klett has made an art of rephotographing Western landscapes first documented about 100 years ago
Renee Guillory Oct. 17, 2005 From the print edition

Essays

Inside the fall
A writer celebrates finding happiness and finding herself, as she romps with her children in the beautiful season of autumn
Laura Pritchett Essay Oct. 17, 2005 From the print edition

Writers on the Range

Blood spills over a $14 camping fee
In the wake of a confrontation over a camping fee that ended in a tourist’s death, a former park ranger remembers a frightening incident from his own career
Jim Stiles Essay Oct. 17, 2005 From the print edition

Heard Around the West

Heard around the West
Border collie looking for work in Boise; washing machine museum in Colorado; "parasite lost" in Wyoming; big house vs. bigger house in Utah; cyclists vs. goathead thorns in Sacramento; nude cycling in North Portland
Betsy Marston Oct. 17, 2005 From the print edition

Dear Friends

Dear friends
Santa Fe board meeting; Emily Stonington and Michael Fischer leave HCN board; Tutti Skaar, Dan Stonington and Florence Williams join board; Ruben Martinez and Angela Garcia speak to HCN meeting; Laura Paskus and Hollis Lawrence get hitched in Albuq
Greg Hanscom Oct. 17, 2005 From the print edition

News

Pombo takes on the Endangered Species Act
On his 12th attempt, Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., succeeds in pushing a bill through the U.S. House designed to reform the Endangered Species Act and end critical habitat protection
Brodie Farquhar Oct. 17, 2005 From the print edition
The Latest Bounce
Gold mining gets go-ahead near South Pass, Wyo.; Eric Griego loses election to Albuquerque Mayor Marty Chavez; W.R. Grace tells Libby, Mont., residents they’re not that sick; farm-labor broker Global Horizons ordered to pay penalties, back wages and taxes
Matt Jenkins Oct. 17, 2005 From the print edition
Handling griz: How much is enough?
Increasing numbers of the West’s grizzly bears wear radio collars, and some environmentalists question the necessity of the practice
Colleen O'Brien and Ray Ring Oct. 17, 2005 From the print edition
'Water bank' drags river basin deeper into debt
The Klamath Basin water bank was intended to end a tug-of-war over scarce water, but with some farmers selling off water while other wells go dry, tensions in the Oregon valley are only getting worse
Rebecca Clarren Oct. 17, 2005 From the print edition
Glen Canyon Dam will stand
The Bureau of Reclamation refuses to dismantle Glen Canyon Dam or drain Lake Powell
Laura Paskus Nov. 5, 2005 From the print edition
Overseas drill rigs head for the West
Faced with an increase of oil and gas drilling permits, energy companies are looking overseas, particularly to China, for enough equipment and crews to work in the West
Patrick Farrell Oct. 17, 2005 From the print edition
Restoration-by-poisoning plan shot down
Just hours before the California Department of Fish and Game planned to poison a Sierra Nevada stream to help restore a threatened trout, a federal court halted the controversial project
Michelle Burkhart Oct. 17, 2005 From the print edition
Salvage logging speeds up
With the Forest Service’s Biscuit Fire salvage logging program acknowledged to be a failure, Oregon Reps. Greg Walden and Gordon Smith want to speed up future post-fire logging
Emma Brown Oct. 17, 2005 From the print edition

Letters

Bring back the great little car
David Rigsby Oct. 17, 2005 From the print edition
Biodiesel is not the answer
Jeff Falen Oct. 17, 2005 From the print edition
Quivira Coalition needs science-based grazing
Jeff Burgess Oct. 17, 2005 From the print edition
Let ranchers restore the land
Preston Wright Oct. 17, 2005 From the print edition
Grasses to grasses, dust to dust
Jennifer Stewart Oct. 17, 2005 From the print edition
Spirits in the stream
Ed S. Kleiner Oct. 17, 2005 From the print edition
Fighting the Las Vegas 'water grab'
Denys M. Koyle Oct. 17, 2005 From the print edition
High Country News Classifieds