The Southern Utes overcame poverty and oppression to become a wealthy and powerful tribe with nationwide energy holdings.
Case in point
Artifacts roadshow connects archaeologists to lost treasures
Seeing the triceratops for the trees
Kirk Johnson combines science and art to create an ancient landscape
Dust takes a toll
Soil in the West’s air disrupts health, snow cover, even rainfall
Green on brown
Your recent article regarding renewable energy on brownfields is accurate and well-timed (HCN, 6/7/10). This idea makes sense for developers and site owners like mining companies, but the advantages for land conservation deserve to be more fleshed out. Siting large renewable energy projects on disturbed areas eases the pressure to develop pristine public lands such…
HCN rocks with eTown
ETown, the eco-groovy weekly radio music show based in Boulder, Colo., will honor HCN Founder Tom Bell and HCN’s 40th Anniversary with its E-chievement Award at a special concert July 30 at the Redrocks Amphitheater near Denver. The “Greenrocks at Redrocks” event will feature great music from Lyle Lovett and Taj Mahal, a little stage…
How to return a pot
Imagine discovering a pot tucked inside an ancient ruin on a hike. That’d really look nice on my mantel, you think, and grab it. Later, you learn that collecting artifacts from public lands is not only illegal, it permanently destroys the object’s original context and meaning — the information that helps archaeologists piece together the…
It’s the science, not the numbers
Hal Herring’s recent article on wolf hunts mischaracterizes Defenders of Wildlife’s position as supporting a population goal of 450 wolves per state, when we do not in fact seek such a target (HCN, 5/10/10). It’s tempting to try to come up with a number of wolves that all stakeholders can agree on, in hopes of…
Native fish vs. native Americans
In reading the issue of June 7, I was rather shocked by the disparity of funding for programs covered. In particular, $120 million for razorback suckers and $1.4 million to help Native Americans integrate into the modern school system. Leon JonesOgden, Utah This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline…
Strength in small victories
Two letters slammed Kim Todd’s essay “Walking Woman” for alleged inaccuracies of grammar and, more deeply, for incorrectness of attitude — demonstrating exactly what too often turns us enviros into self-defeating scolds (HCN, 5/24/10). First, to the would-be grammarian: In 30 years of hiking and climbing the range as a native-born L.A. boy, I and…
The HCN mix
“I have been a subscriber for a long time … I have concerns about how HCN has changed over recent years. It has become like a glossy news magazine … Is HCN still relevant to what is happening in the West?” That recent note from a careful reader got the attention of the editors here.…
Buy buy ballot
Nevada mines squash tax hike
Turning back the tide
Preserving the beautiful and fragile Elkhorn Slough
Border creep
Surrendering U.S. turf : That’s the impression given by new signs on some Bureau of Land Management land in southern Arizona. The signs — which warn people to avoid the area south of Interstate 8 — were installed after a local sheriff’s deputy was reportedly shot by a Mexican drug trafficker in late April. “We…
The fight for the Flathead
Environmental victories come in increments, not meetings
Peril in paradise
The Light In High Places: A Naturalist Looks at Wyoming Wilderness, Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep, Cowboys, and Other Rare SpeciesJoe Hutto256 pages, hardcover: $24.95.Skyhorse Publishing, 2009. To Joe Hutto, a “romantic scientist,” it seemed that the vast grandeur of Wyoming’s Wind River Range existed “in spite of us,” that “human civilization and technology had proven…
An example and an antidote
Imagination in PlaceWendell Berry196 pages, hardcover, $24.Counterpoint, 2010. Wendell Berry, the author of 50 books of poetry, fiction and nonfiction, is a farmer who has lived his life in service to “local geography and local culture.” By chance and choice, he tells us in his new collection of essays, Imagination in Place, he has lived…
Some of the key players
LEONARD BURCH, who died in 2004, is widely considered the Southern Utes’ most influential leader. He was elected tribal chairman in 1966 and served for 30 years, with just one three-year hiatus to comply with term limits. SAM MAYNES, sometimes called the last real water buffalo in the West, was instrumental in getting two water…
The Southern Utes’ empire
A history of lost land … and a big comeback
The Ute Paradox
A small Colorado tribe takes control of its energy resources and becomes a billion-dollar corporation — but has it gone too far?