In the exotic shrub an ecological menace or merely the best our degraded rivers can muster?
Tackling tamarisk
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
1998 National Wilderness Conference
Over 80 conservation groups are sending representatives to the 1998 National Wilderness Conference in Seattle, Wash., May 29-31, where David Brower is the featured speaker and Walkin” Jim Stoltz the balladeer of lands prowled by grizzlies and wolves. Contact the National Wilderness Conference, 12730 9th Avenue NW, Seattle, WA 98177 or e-mail wildcon@twsnw.org. This article […]
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
‘Meltdown’ continues at state agency
Goodbyes are getting more and more frequent at the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. When attorney Ashley Olivero resigned from the agency at the end of March, describing a “museum of degradations inflicted upon the rank and file DEQ employees,” she joined seven other staffers who have angrily quit since the agency was formed three […]
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
Outfitter bill may be missing the boat
Guiding hunting expeditions and rafting trips is a risky business, but some commercial outfitters think that some challenges shouldn’t be part of the job: They say the changing policies of federal agencies make it difficult to get guiding permits. They’re hoping a new bill, sponsored by Sens. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., will […]
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
The Wayward West
Eleven Mexican gray wolves were released to the wilds of the Arizona-New Mexico border March 29 (HCN, 2/16/98); now one wolf is dead – shot and killed by a camper who said it attacked his family’s dog, reports the Albuquerque Journal. The wolf program faces a lawsuit filed by a coalition of New Mexico ranchers, […]
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
To burn or not to burn
Another 40-foot stick-figure totem will be set ablaze by 12,000 revelers in the desert in Nevada if a federal agency says yes to the San Francisco-based organizers. Last year the Burning Man arts get-together was moved to private land, where county fees, including $308,000 for fire insurance alone, drove the festival into debt. That made […]
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
Jet Skis: Thrill or scourge?
With 750,000 Jet Skis currently in operation, and more than 100,000 new “personal watercraft” sold annually, the industry is pushing the Park Service for access to 62 sites on national park waters – nearly double the number of sites currently available in the parks. But the Park Service and the Department of Interior can’t agree […]
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
Water in rivers is OK
Water can remain in New Mexican rivers and still be “beneficial,” says state Attorney General Tom Udall. Up until his decision last month, water rights could be lost unless water was diverted from a stream, and thereby put to beneficial use. Udall’s ruling opens the door to marketing water rights for environmental protection, which also […]
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
Bison sleek, but suspect
MONTANA Bison sleek, but suspect West Yellowstone, Mont. – It’s been an easy winter for Yellowstone National Park’s bison. Only 11 of the shaggy giants have been killed, a fraction of the nearly 1,100 that were shot or shipped to slaughter in the brutal winter of 1996-97. Protruding ribs and jutting hip bones were bison […]
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
Hanford’s full of holes
Hanford’s full of holes Whistleblowers at the Hanford nuclear reservation in central Washington now have the federal General Accounting Office on their side. Although nearly a million gallons of waste are seeping from Hanford’s underground storage tanks toward the Columbia River, the Department of Energy has long downplayed the problem, assuring critics that the soil […]
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
Cows get eviction notice
In what the Forest Guardians’ John Horning calls “evidence of an agency that’s finally getting it,” the Forest Service has agreed to begin removing cattle from 230 miles of Southwestern streams. The Tucson, Ariz.-based Southwest Center for Biological Diversity and the Santa Fe, N.M.-based Forest Guardians filed separate lawsuits against the Forest Service last year, […]
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
Smart Growth
Smart Growth Regional Partnerships, a new grant and assistance program in Colorado, gives grants of up to $75,000 to towns and counties to help address a host of growth-related issues, including rural and urban sprawl, and loss of open space, agricultural land and habitat for wildlife. To apply, write Smart Growth Regional Partnerships Program, 1313 […]
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
Philosophy, History and Ethics of the Hunt
Orion: The Hunter’s Institute and Montana State University will host a Philosophy, History and Ethics of the Hunt conference July 25-Aug. 1 in Bozeman, Mont. Writers Mary Stange and Ted Kerasote are among those who will lead workshops on the role of hunters and hunting in the modern conservation movement. For more information, call 406/994-6683. […]
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
Green and Gold
The University of California at Santa Cruz will host Green and Gold, July 31-Aug. 2, a conference to commemorate both the 150th anniversary of the 1848 discovery of gold and the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. For information call Carolyn Merchant at 510/642-0326, or check the conference Web site at www.cnr.berkeley.edu/departments/espm/env-hist/. This article […]
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
National Wildlife Federation
The National Wildlife Federation likes to recognize young people, educators, the occasional legislator and others who contribute significantly to protecting the natural world. The process is not complicated; contact the group’s Communications Dept. at 8925 Leesburg Pike, Vienna, VA 22184-0001 (703/790-4085). The deadline for nominations is July 10. This article appeared in the print edition […]
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
Sheep is Life
A celebration of Shepherds and Weavers: Sheep is Life (Dibe-Diné bi½ iina½ in Navajo) invites those interested in Navajo-Churro sheep, wool processing and weaving techniques to spend June 25-28 at San Juan College in Farmington, N.M. Speakers include Lyle and Nancy McNeal, directors of the Navajo Sheep Project, and ecologist Gary Paul Nabhan, from the […]
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
A Culture to Sustain Us: Creating a Center that Holds
The Island Institute, located in the town of Sitka on Alaska’s Baranof Island, will host its 15th annual symposium on human values and the written word, June 18-24 , this time devoted to A Culture to Sustain Us: Creating a Center that Holds. Speakers include Cecilia Martz, a bilingual Cup’ik Eskimo educator, and Ray Rasker, […]
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
Uniting Communities Concerned About Nuclear Contamination
Being neighbor to a nuclear lab or waste dump isn’t easy; Fight Back! Uniting Communities Concerned About Nuclear Contamination aims to bring activists together with scientists and radiation health professionals in Roswell, N.M., June 5-7. For details, write Center for Alternatives to Radioactive Dumping (CARD), 144 Harvard SE, Albuquerque, NM 87106 (505/266-2663). This article appeared […]
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
Southwest Citizen Mining Activist Conference
Is your community fighting the 1872 Mining Law? Grassroots activists will get together at the Southwest Citizen Mining Activist Conference in Durango, Colo., May 29-31, to share war stories and talk about community organizing, national networking and technical mining issues. The conference is free to activists, and some travel scholarships are available. Call Aimee Boulanger […]
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
Wilderness Walks
The Montana Wilderness Association will lead 93 hikes on public lands during its 36th annual Wilderness Walks program from May through September. There’s a frog safari, a wildflower walk and even a hike led by a backcountry cooking expert – samples included. Group size is limited; advance reservations are required. For more information, call the […]