A new magazine called ColorLines, with editorial offices in Oakland, Calif., takes a harsh look at what it calls the “prison-industrial complex.” It finds an unsavory relationship between corporations that improve their bottom line thanks to cheap prison labor, and our society’s desire to lock up people we’ve given up trying to socialize or educate. […]
Prisoners for hire
Posted inSeptember 28, 1998: A senator for the New West in the race of his life
Elk: Pursuing the hunt and preserving the species
For author, hunter, woodsman and “hard-core, out-and-amongst-’em … serious wildlife watcher” David Petersen, elk are more than just a hobby, topic or even a passion; they are a religion. If books had to have subtitles that reflected their deeper messages, Petersen’s newest book, Elkheart: A Personal Tribute to Wapiti and Their World, might be A […]
Posted inSeptember 28, 1998: A senator for the New West in the race of his life
Zero Circles
ZERO CIRCLES Daniel Dancer’s “Zero Circles Project” sets out to end logging in the West’s public forests by illustrating the history of logging on these lands, as well as illuminating the wonders of the native forests that remain. He has trekked across forests of the West, forming circles of fire, people or wood – then […]
Posted inSeptember 28, 1998: A senator for the New West in the race of his life
High desert pronghorn
In the northern reaches of the Great Basin, a herd of more than 6,000 pronghorn antelope roams across a high desert range. Two islands of this vast desert are protected by federal refuges, but thousands of acres that straddle the Oregon-Nevada border separate them. A coalition of environmental groups led by the Oregon Natural Desert […]
Posted inSeptember 28, 1998: A senator for the New West in the race of his life
Doing dirty work for free
Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado is looking for people to do their dirty work – shoveling, that is, and hoeing, digging, planting and hammering. Since 1984, Outdoor Colorado has been enlisting individuals, families, children and adults to plant gardens and mend trails on Colorado’s public lands. The group hosts 10 to 12 projects throughout the year, […]
Posted inSeptember 28, 1998: A senator for the New West in the race of his life
Mining: There’s a reform-blocking rider
It’s not easy fighting mines. Under the 1872 General Mining Law, mining is the “highest and best use” of federal public lands, and every anti-mine effort is an uphill battle. But buried in the Bureau of Land Management code of regulations is a glimmer of good news for activists: a directive to the secretary of […]
Posted inSeptember 28, 1998: A senator for the New West in the race of his life
Glacier takes a stand
A draft plan for managing Glacier National Park in Montana for the next 20 years would avoid problems plaguing other national parks by proposing bold moves: banning personal watercraft use and barring commercial air tours. The proposal would also protect historic lodges, gradually improve Going-to-the-Sun Road, increase services for visitors during the winter season, and […]
Posted inSeptember 28, 1998: A senator for the New West in the race of his life
Tour the underground
It’s probably not the first place you might think of for a family vacation, but coal mines and electricity-generating plants in North Dakota have packaged a tour of their facilities as the “Energy Trail.” Hitting the trail offers more than authentic coal soot. If you time it right, Thursday at the Freedom Mine in Mercer […]
Posted inSeptember 28, 1998: A senator for the New West in the race of his life
On The Trail
In Utah, Republican Rep. Merrill Cook was fishing for green votes when he told his urban Wasatch Front district that he wants to see more Beehive State wilderness protected – without saying exactly how much (HCN, 8/3/98). But his support for wilderness didn’t endear him to environmental groups. In early September, the Sierra Club and […]
Posted inSeptember 28, 1998: A senator for the New West in the race of his life
Hunt sparks whale of a controversy
This fall, members of the Makah tribe of northwestern Washington state plan to do something they haven’t done for decades: kill a whale. The ceremonial whale hunt, set to begin in October, will mark the restoration of rights promised in an 1865 treaty between the Makahs and the United States. The International Whaling Commission allows […]
Posted inSeptember 28, 1998: A senator for the New West in the race of his life
The Wayward West
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt have agreed to settle a squabble over state-owned school trust lands isolated by the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument; now it awaits approval in Washington, D.C. (HCN, 5/25/98). The deal means Utah will trade 377,000 acres of state lands for $50 million and 139,000 acres of federal […]
Posted inSeptember 28, 1998: A senator for the New West in the race of his life
Critics slam bison plan
-I’ve got two words for this plan: it stinks,” said Page McNeill, chair of the Wyoming chapter of the Sierra Club, at a recent public meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Criticism of the draft management plan for the Yellowstone National Park bison herd (HCN, 7/6/98) came fast and furious at the Aug. 10 meeting, where […]
Posted inSeptember 28, 1998: A senator for the New West in the race of his life
Is park station a boondoggle?
When user fees went into effect two years ago in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming’s Teton County residents thought the money would go toward improving existing facilities. Then the Park Service proposed to spend that money to build a $1.4 million welcome center along a remote dirt road in the park’s southwest corner. Local opposition, […]
Posted inSeptember 28, 1998: A senator for the New West in the race of his life
God to Helen: ‘Do I know you?’
The fall of 1998 will undoubtedly go down in history as a record year for confessions of infidelity – followed by professions of contrition – from politicians. The latest comes from Idaho Rep. Helen Chenoweth, the ultra-conservative Republican, who recently admitted to a six-year affair with a married, former business partner. The Idaho Statesman decided […]
Posted inSeptember 28, 1998: A senator for the New West in the race of his life
Heard around the West
Maybe the issue isn’t who first threw the shoes. A huge old tree close to U.S. 50 in Nevada – dubbed “the loneliest road in America” – has become festooned with shoes and even pairs of skis and rollerblades. Stories vary as to how the shoes first went airborne, but one oft-told tale goes like […]
Posted inSeptember 28, 1998: A senator for the New West in the race of his life
Cell phones: Sometimes you need a crutch
Dear HCN, Because I am currently involved in a heated wilderness debate myself, Christina Nealson’s essay about cellular phones in wilderness areas caught my eye (HCN, 8/17/98). In the Grand Canyon where I work, as elsewhere, the debate over what constitutes a wilderness experience and the appropriate role of the federal government in prescribing exacting […]
Posted inSeptember 28, 1998: A senator for the New West in the race of his life
Congress avoids buying public land
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Thirty-five years ago, in that golden age when a president could engage in White House trysts without worrying about it, one of those presidents endorsed the idea of a self-financing fund to raise money so the government could buy land. It was a popular idea, so popular that it soon became law, […]
Posted inSeptember 28, 1998: A senator for the New West in the race of his life
In place of a bigger park, Tucson gets houses
TUCSON, Ariz. – Five years ago, federal officials saw a perfect spot in the Tucson Mountains foothills for a park expansion. Covered by lush stands of palo verdes, saguaros and ocotillos, the site included several washes that provided shelter for wildlife. It also contained one of the few perennial water sources in the mountains, attracting […]
Posted inSeptember 28, 1998: A senator for the New West in the race of his life
Voters to decide mining’s future
MISSOULA, Mont. – Two years ago, a broad coalition of environmentalists, ranchers and politicians put an initiative on Montana’s ballot to force mining companies to clean up their wastewater before dumping it into rivers. The initiative failed after the mining industry spent $2 million convincing voters that tighter water standards would affect anyone who washed […]
Posted inSeptember 28, 1998: A senator for the New West in the race of his life
Dear friends
Here comes camouflage Some of the men you see walking down the streets of this town of 1,400 look a mite peculiar these days. Their faces are deliberately dirty and they’re wearing camouflage. It’s the first clue that summer is close to over and fall is moving in fast. The earliest hunters to appear are […]