Magazine
March 5, 2007
Quagga mussels – an extraordinarily prolific and costly invasive species – have appeared in Lake Mead, and no one is sure how to keep these unwanted newcomers from infesting the West. Also in this issue: Condor 134’s harrowing experience with lead poisoning exemplifies these endangered birds’ greatest challenge – which some advocates hope to ease by banning lead bullets in California.
Feature
Quagga mussels – an extraordinarily prolific and
costly invasive species – have appeared in Lake Mead, and no
one is sure how to keep these unwanted newcomers from infesting the
West.
Editor's Note
The rapid spread of invasive species like quagga and zebra
mussels could transform the once-isolated and ecologically unique
West into just another McDonaldized patch of the planet.
Uncommon Westerners
The wolf known as B-7 – the last surviving member of
a group of Canadian wolves released in Idaho in 1995 – has
died.
Essays
After more than a decade of a solitary existence packing
mules in the Northern Rockies, the writer is seriously injured and
must reconsider his way of life.
Writers on the Range
In an effort to “think globally and act
locally,” the author volunteers his time for environmental
causes, rather than just reaching for his checkbook.
Dear Friends
HCN’s Ray Ring wins the 2006 George Polk Award for
Political Reporting for his story, “Taking
Liberties.”
News
Condor 134’s harrowing experience with lead
poisoning exemplifies these endangered birds’ greatest
challenge – which some advocates hope to ease by banning lead
bullets in California
Efforts to privatize instream-flow protection – to
keep enough water in rivers and streams to sustain their ecological
functions – face tough going in the West.
Book Reviews
In Home Ground: Language for an American Landscape, edited
by Barry Lopez and Debra Gwartney, 45 diverse writers define
unusual geographical terms used across the country.
Heard Around the West
Gail Kimbell and the vanishing Forest Service budget; not
saying the Pledge in Mesa, Ariz.; racing old beaters in California;
talkative men’s rooms; saying it (the Miranda warning, that
is) with flowers.
Letters
Two Weeks in the West
The Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change has bad
news; Govs. propose global warming legislation; nuclear revival in
the wings; Rockies Prosperity Act back in Congress; Arizona may
stifle ballot measures; Bush’s budget; the West’s
electrical grid.
Sidebar
Congress has tried to regulate ballast water in ships in
order to stop the spread of zebra mussels, but so far loopholes in
the law and tussles over policy have made the effort
ineffective.
Boaters, kayakers, anglers and other recreationists can
help stop the spread of quagga mussels and other aquatic invasives
by following a few simple rules.
- Kent Schoberle on Ranch Diaries: A New Mexico cattle company is born
- Rich & Terry Fairbanks on Rural communities in the West need a fair shake
- 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
