A deal intended to protect the world’s largest stand of privately owned old-growth redwoods, the Northern California grove known as the Headwaters Forest, got a makeover in the California Legislature. On Aug. 31, the state Senate voted to require stricter environmental standards on Pacific Lumber’s surrounding private land. The Headwaters Forest has been at the […]
Headwaters deal gets tougher
Posted inSeptember 14, 1998: We are shaped by the sound of wind, the slant of sunlight
Between an oil lease and a hard place
The Bureau of Land Management has a dilemma of its own making in the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness of northwest New Mexico. First, the agency is writing a draft environmental impact statement for drilling 13 oil wells and building 5.5 miles of road in a federally protected wilderness. Second, nobody really wants to drill there. The problem […]
Posted inSeptember 14, 1998: We are shaped by the sound of wind, the slant of sunlight
Barry Lopez: We are shaped by the sound of wind, the slant of sunlight
In the United States in recent years, a kind of writing variously called “nature writing” or “landscape writing” has begun to receive critical attention, leading some to assume that this is a relatively new kind of work. In fact, writing that takes into account the impact nature and place have on culture is one of […]
Posted inSeptember 14, 1998: We are shaped by the sound of wind, the slant of sunlight
Heard around the West
For two years a buffalo dubbed Bart lived without incident at a Tucson, Ariz., guest ranch, apparently content in its confinement. But recently the 2,000-pound animal busted out of his pen and the puzzlement began. No one, it seemed, knew how to corral a truly wild beast, and every attempt to trap, harass, entice (“Come […]
Posted inSeptember 14, 1998: We are shaped by the sound of wind, the slant of sunlight
Forget the theories, and instead look at people’s faces
Charles Bowden knows exactly what we, and he, don’t want to see, and in Juarez: the Laboratory of our Future he makes it impossible to ignore. Here is the very worst of life after NAFTA, captured by a crew of street photographers who chase the violence of Ciudad Juarez and the border zone. The huge, […]
Posted inSeptember 14, 1998: We are shaped by the sound of wind, the slant of sunlight
Longtime foes practice ritual combat in an Idaho forest
Last fall, I traveled to a war in central Idaho. For six years, in the longest-standing Earth First! demonstration in the country, environmentalists have laid pipe, cement, trees and themselves in front of logging trucks at the Cove-Mallard timber sale, 80 miles southeast of Lewiston, Idaho, in the Nez Perce National Forest. And though this […]
Posted inSeptember 14, 1998: We are shaped by the sound of wind, the slant of sunlight
A polygamist of place: The tradition of the Eastern Westerner
I begin with a confession. While it’s true I have only one wife and no hidden mistresses, I am a polygamist of place. The writers I’ve always admired most, from Thoreau to Colorado’s Reg Saner, have made it their habit to wedge into one place, to know that place well through long association with the […]
Posted inSeptember 14, 1998: We are shaped by the sound of wind, the slant of sunlight
Worn shoes, cattle and a spring
ENNIS, Mont. – It was late one afternoon some years back, when I drove from the Forest Service’s ranger station to the little grocery store at the end of Main Street. Among those milling about the aisles making last-minute purchases, I recognized the young wife and two school-aged children of the rancher with whom I’d […]
Posted inSeptember 14, 1998: We are shaped by the sound of wind, the slant of sunlight
Southwest cows have friends in high places
The Forest Service is once again pinned down in a shootout over grazing in the Southwest. If the agency moves one way, it dodges lawsuits from environmental groups that say cows imperil endangered fish and birds. If it steps the other way, it faces fire from the livestock industry and its powerful allies in Congress. […]
Posted inSeptember 14, 1998: We are shaped by the sound of wind, the slant of sunlight
Dreams of new industry go up in smoke
WILLISTON, N.D. – An empty warehouse, a crooked smokestack and a few tons of hazardous waste in a decayed industrial district on the edge of town are all that remain of a company that five years ago opened to fanfare. This isolated Missouri River town of 14,000 people on the northern prairie had welcomed Dakota […]
Posted inSeptember 14, 1998: We are shaped by the sound of wind, the slant of sunlight
A community seeks to feed its own
ETHETE, Wyo. – A tribal elder on the Wind River Indian Reservation is relying on Arapaho traditions of generosity and prayer to fight hunger here. The elder is Laverne Brown, who has donated seven acres of river-bottom land for a community garden. Vegetables grown in the garden are made available free to families who need […]
Posted inSeptember 14, 1998: We are shaped by the sound of wind, the slant of sunlight
In the flatter parts of Montana, some ranchers fence out subdivisions
GREAT FALLS, Mont. – Four years ago, Jerry Townsend and his family drove from their ranch in the shadow of the Highwood Mountains in the middle of Montana, bound for their children’s track meet a few hours to the west. They climbed the Continental Divide and descended into the famed Blackfoot River Valley on their […]
Posted inSeptember 14, 1998: We are shaped by the sound of wind, the slant of sunlight
A county in Nevada assaults a river
County commissioners of Elko County, Nev., in the sparsely populated northeastern corner of the state, aren’t known for their goodwill toward the federal government. So when they decided to do a little road repair on Forest Service land this summer, they didn’t waste any time on paperwork. They wanted to reopen the flood-damaged South Canyon […]
Posted inSeptember 14, 1998: We are shaped by the sound of wind, the slant of sunlight
Dear Friends
Visitors of late summer Chip Blake, managing editor of Orion magazine, stopped by after taking part in a floating reunion of river guides at Cataract Canyon in Canyonlands National Park. Chip, who has been with the Massachusetts-based quarterly for six years, shared his expertise about reaching potential new readers. In a nutshell, Chip says, anything […]
Posted inAugust 31, 1998: Excavating Ecotopia
Department of Energy Web site
A redesigned Department of Energy Web site aims to be a clearinghouse for a variety of sustainability issues. Learn about land-use planning, “green” buildings, and join a dialogue at the Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development. The Web site address is www.sustainable.doe.gov. This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline […]
Posted inAugust 31, 1998: Excavating Ecotopia
Westslope cutthroat trout
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has added 60 days to the comment period on the petition to list the Westslope cutthroat trout as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. See the petition at www.mcn.net/~amwild and send comments by Oct. 13 to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Native Fishes Management, 4052 Bridger Canyon Rd., […]
Posted inAugust 31, 1998: Excavating Ecotopia
Water for Fish vs. Water for People: A Real Conflict?
Western cities that drink water like a fish may actually compete with fish for water. The Western Regional Instream Flow Conference, Water for Fish vs. Water for People: A Real Conflict?, Oct. 8-9 at Copper Mountain Resort in Colorado, features speakers including Colorado Supreme Court Justice Greg Hobbs, and High Country News publisher Ed Marston. […]
Posted inAugust 31, 1998: Excavating Ecotopia
Peaks to Prairies: A Conference on Watershed Stewardship
Case study workshops at Peaks to Prairies: A Conference on Watershed Stewardship, Sept. 27-30 in Rapid City, S.D., will test ideas about community and the environment to see if they hold water. Speakers include history professor Patricia Nelson Limerick; contact Thorne Ecological Institute, 5398 Manhattan Circle, Suite 120, Boulder, CO 80303-4239 (303/499-3647) or e-mail dir@thorneecoinst.org. […]
Posted inAugust 31, 1998: Excavating Ecotopia
Oregon Natural Desert Association
Desert rats in eastern Oregon will cavort near fossil beds, on the river and under the stars at the Oregon Natural Desert Association’s annual membership meeting, Sept. 25-27. Contact Gillian Lyons at 503/525-0193 or glyons@onda.org. This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Oregon Natural Desert Association.
Posted inAugust 31, 1998: Excavating Ecotopia
Colorado Environmental Education Conference & Expo
Educators in Colorado are invited to discover what’s new in environmental curricula, where to find speakers and ideas for classroom presentations, and how to share information to help build a statewide environmental education master plan. Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education hosts the Colorado Environmental Education Conference & Expo Sept. 26 at Red Rocks Community College […]