High Country News August 11, 2008
Feature
An unlikely Shangri-la
Steve and Marc Jenson have ambitious plans to turn a failed ski resort near Beaver, Utah, into a private enclave for the ultra-rich, but not everyone is thrilled about the idea.
Editor's Note
If you build it, will they come?
A desert village called Big Water and a troubled ski resort near the hardscrabble town of Beaver are two unlikely places in Utah where entrepreneurs plan to build exclusive resorts for the ultra-rich.
Dear Friends
Dear friends
High school intern Cobun Keegan; summer road-trippers; correction; and goodbye to HCN’s old friend, Woody Hesselbarth
Writers on the Range
Downtown an old – and new – way to live
Bill Croke celebrates his brand-new old-fashioned lifestyle: living upstairs in an old brick building in downtown Salmon Idaho.
News
Death, and taxes
In Western communities with runaway land values, many ranching heirs have a hard time holding on to the family farm.
Crash of the cottonwoods
Across the West, cottonwoods are dying, and no one is sure how to save these iconic trees.
Book Reviews
Living deep in place
Shopping for Porcupine weaves between worry and worship in its celebration of author Seth Kantner’s unique life in northern Alaska.
Another kind of hero
In The Legend of Colton H. Bryant Alexandra Fuller recreates the life of a young man who was killed on a drilling rig in Wyoming.
Essays
Under the asphalt a rumor thrives
In Grand Junction Colo. a team of investigators excavate a downtown parking lot in search of an old safe supposedly buried a century ago.
West Watch
Of populists and political fusion
The last time the Democratic Party held its national convention in Denver was 100 years ago, when the Democratic presidential candidate was well-known Populist William Jennings Bryan.
Two Weeks in the West
Two weeks in the West
Precedent-setting conservation easement lawsuit in Wyoming; wet spring gives way to burning-hot summer; EPA approves air-quality permit for Desert Rock power plant; Smokey Bear vs. ORVs; smoky bear vs. firefighter.
Data
Dems aim to go green at convention.
Snapshot
A nonprofit deconstructs a trophy home near the Columbia Gorge.
Winning the West
Obama's Western ace in the hole
Jim Messina, who hails from Montana, is the chief of staff for Barack Obama's presidential campaign.
