Magazine
Magic Valley Uprising

May 1, 2006

An unusual grassroots coalition of citizen activists stops a coal-fired merchant power plant from being built in Idaho’s Magic Valley. Also in this issue: Despite the promises of the Healthy Forests Act, the Bush administration has proposed sweeping cuts to community fire programs in the West.

Feature

Magic Valley Uprising
An unusual grassroots coalition of citizen activists stops a coal-fired merchant power plant from being built in Idaho’s Magic Valley
Ray Ring May 1, 2006 From the print edition

Sidebar

Meet Idaho's Revolutionaries
In their own words, some of the Magic Valley citizens who fought the Sempra coal plant describe the uprising and how they got involved in it
Ray Ring May 1, 2006 From the print edition
The push is on for 'clean coal'
Led by California, Western states are encouraging the energy industry to move toward cleaner coal technology
Ray Ring May 1, 2006 From the print edition

Editor's Note

California, here we come
California has a lot to teach the Interior West – particularly about clean energy and water conservation
Paul Larmer Opinion May 1, 2006 From the print edition

Uncommon Westerners

Stargazer aims his scopes at gas industry
Astronomer Perry Walker uses his stargazing tools and skills to work with the oil and gas industry to prevent air pollution in Wyoming
Ray Ring May 1, 2006 From the print edition

Essays

A very brief conversation with a Jet Fighter
A long solitary hike through an empty, pristine desert is interrupted by a close encounter with an F-16 fighter plane
Craig Childs Essay May 1, 2006 From the print edition

Book Reviews

Ode to a very hot spot
Live! From Death Valley is John Soennichsen’s "love letter to an ill-tempered mistress," California’s Death Valley
Laura Paskus May 1, 2006 From the print edition
A season of change
In Chasing Spring: An American Journey Through a Changing Season, nature writer Bruce Stutz follows spring from New York to Alaska, examining the surprising changes that global warming is bringing
Ewen Callaway May 1, 2006 From the print edition
Ingredients: History, preservatives
In Preserving Western History, editor Andrew Gulliford has put together "the first college reader to address public history in the American West."
Dave Phillips May 1, 2006 From the print edition

Perspective

In Washington, a broad-based effort aims to kick the oil habit
The Set America Free Coalition is a new organization that brings together liberals and conservatives to try to reduce America’s dependency on imported fossil fuels
Jon Margolis Essay May 1, 2006 From the print edition

Heard Around the West

Heard around the West
Composting roadkill in Montana; Army mules for Afghanistan in Wyoming; obsolete Earth First! Bumper stickers; 100-year-old retiree dies; Butte’s new tourist attraction is a pit
Betsy Marston May 1, 2006 From the print edition

Dear Friends

Dear friends
Katie Lee and other visitors; where do you get your news? farewell, Philip Hyde; notes from readers; missing pages in HCN?
Jodi Peterson May 1, 2006 From the print edition

News

Burning down the house
Despite the promises of the Healthy Forests Act, the Bush administration has proposed sweeping cuts to community fire programs in the West
Sarah Gilman May 1, 2006 From the print edition
The Latest Bounce
Mining company allowed to dump waste into Alaskan lake; Colorado split-estate bill unravels; Arizona’s Oak Flat may become a copper mine
Jodi Peterson May 1, 2006 From the print edition
Pure bison make a comeback
In Montana, the American Prairie Foundation and the World Wildlife Fund are working together to create a genuinely wild bison herd, one free of cattle genes
Frances Backhouse May 1, 2006 From the print edition
Hobby miners flock to public streams
Amateur gold prospectors are invading the West’s publicly owned streams, and environmentalists say the hobby’s popularity threatens fish and the environment
Matthew Preusch May 1, 2006 From the print edition
County and Forest Service bury the shovel
Elko County, Nev., has made an agreement with the Forest Service to end the long-running fight over a dirt road in Jarbidge Canyon on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest
Brett Wilkison May 1, 2006 From the print edition
Corporations ask feds to set emissions limits
Executives from six of the nation’s largest energy companies have asked federal lawmakers to set mandatory caps on greenhouse gas emissions
Brett Wilkison May 1, 2006 From the print edition
Guest farmworkers get a new deal
The United Farm Workers has signed a contract with agricultural labor-supply company Global Horizons protecting the rights of guest farmworkers
Brett Wilkison May 1, 2006 From the print edition

Letters

Gays aren't going away
M. Smith May 1, 2006 From the print edition
Too many people just like Fayhee
Kevin Bailey May 1, 2006 From the print edition
The rise of American socialism
Neely Bostick May 1, 2006 From the print edition
Give Norton some credit
Joe Galli May 1, 2006 From the print edition
Is Pombo the kick we need?
Leigh Bernacchi May 1, 2006 From the print edition
The tide of new generations
Barry Vaughan May 1, 2006 From the print edition
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