Feature

Can this man break the right's grip on Idaho?

In Idaho, Democrat Walt Minnick, a multimillionaire, former timber executive and environmentalist, mounts a quixotic campaign against Republican Sen. Larry Craig for Senate seat.

A Bold Stroke: Clinton takes a 1.7 million-acre stand in Utah

President Bill Clinton uses the Antiquities Act of 1906 to designate a new 1.7 million-acre national monument in southern Utah, and reactions range from joy to indignation and outrage.

Dear Friends

Dear friends

Odds and ends, corrections, fall visitors, web wanderings, llamas continued.

News

It ain't over till it's over

Some worry that the land swap proposed to prevent Crown Butte Resources from mining near Yellowstone has only a 50-50 chance of success.

Snail's trail leads to Yellowstone

Prolific New Zealand mudsnails are invading Yellowstone Park's Madison River, where scientists worry they will disrupt the food chain.

Glacier Park finds itself inundated

A new management proposal for Montana's Glacier National Park, designed to control visitor overcrowding, meets opposition from the local tourism industry and others.

Redwood summer roars back

Around 900 people were arrested at a protest in Carlotta, Calif., in an attempt to save the Headwaters Grove - the world's largest privately owned redwood forest, from being logged.

Who snatched the salmon?

One of only 132 adult salmon to survive the spawning journey to Idaho's Salmon River is killed - and eaten - by a poacher.

Feds go after Summitville boss

Justice Department lawyers go after Canadian mining magnate Robert Friedland for the Summitville gold mine cleanup in Colorado.

All is not quiet on the Front

Wyoming businessman Mark Alldredge files 104 mining claims in Montana's Rocky Mountain Front, possibly searching for diamonds.

Uranium poisons Navajo neighborliness

Local Navajos lead the fight against Hydro Resources Inc.'s plan to leach uranium from groundwater at three sites on or near the Navajo Reservation.

If they build it, will more come?

A plan to build a visitor's center for Utah's Grand Gulch worries some, who fear more people - including pothunters - will be encouraged to visit the area.

Tribal group tries again to save mountain

The President's Advisory Council on Historic Preservation says the Forest Service erred by letting construction of a telescope on Arizona's Mount Graham begin before the cultural significance of the site had been considered.

Will counties de(grade) wilderness?

Bruce Babbitt's announcement of a new BLM inventory of southern Utah wilderness leads to a flurry of illegal road work, since roaded land can't be classified as wilderness.

Colorado resort shelves ski expansion

The Crested Butte Ski Resort in Colorado drops its plans to build new ski runs on a neighboring mountain.

Salt Lake has an Olympian traffic jam

Utah's plan to enlarge I-15 in Salt Lake City worries some environmentalists, farmers and hunters, who say the proposed highway corridor includes lakeside wetlands and farmland.

Book Reviews

The Producer/Consumer Connection

The 22nd annual conference, "The Producer/Consumer Connection," is being held Oct. 11-13 on Flathead Lake near Rollins, Mont.

Wilderness: The Foundation of Culture

The New Mexico Wilderness Coalition and Santa Fe chapter of Sierra Club sponsor an Oct. 5 workshop on "Wilderness: The Foundation of Culture."

Unplug America: Give mother earth a rest day

"Unplug America: Give mother earth a rest day" will be held Oct. 13, started by Native American environmental groups, including the Seventh Generation Fund.

Literary natural history

"Literary Natural History: Scientists and Artists" is a series of free public readings October through April.

Small is back

Jeff Rast of the Center for Small Acreage Farming in Camas County, Idaho, tries to help small farms survive and prosper.

Not coal alone

"How the West Can Win: A Blueprint for a Clean & Affordable Energy Future" offers environmental alternatives to relying on coal.

Overworked and under-appreciated

The report, "Working in Durango, Colorado," documents the economic inequity of a booming Colorado town.

How to talk Western

Thomas L. Clark's new book, "Western Lore and Language: A Dictionary for Enthusiasts of the American West," documents Western slang.

Essays

How the New West will vote is anyone's guess

Variable voting patterns on the West make it difficult to predict who will win on election day.

Forget widgets, we sell wilderness

Western wilderness is too popular for its own good - especially among wealthy foreigners who come to ski at Vail.

The bigger the mine, the better the deal

Land swaps, like the one planned to save land near Yellowstone National Park from mining, are a bad habit with a bad history in Montana's national forests.

A harsh and priceless gift to the world

The author says the Escalante belongs as much to the rest of the world as to Utah, and provides a kind of energy that has nothing to do with coal.

Heard Around the West

Heard around the West

Mining and sea-captaining in Vail; Boy Scouts stone California bear; mountain lions chase mountain bikers and domestic pets; illegal immigrants disrespectful of horse trailer; park volunteers; tourist railroad billed for forest fire.

Related Stories

Craig: Betting on Idaho's enduring conservatism

Incumbent Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig has a strong conservative and industrial backing.

Compare the candidates

Democrat Walt Minnick and incumbent Republican Sen. Larry Craig fall into clear party lines in their views on many issues.

The mother of all land grabs

Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, R., in his own words, condemns the new monument.

A daunting, beautiful place

The 1.7 million acres at the new Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument contain a wide variety of landscapes, life zones and archaeological treasures.

Managing the monument: The devil is in the details

Utah's newest national monument will be managed by the BLM instead of the Park Service, and a lot of the details for that management remain to be worked out.