Note: This article is a sidebar to one of this issue’s feature stories. For three decades, Tom Kovalicky worked his way up the ranks of the Forest Service bureaucracy until he became supervisor of the Nez Perce National Forest in Idaho during the 1980s. Once in that position, Kovalicky attempted to restrain the logging on […]
Will Dombeck sock it to rebellious supervisors?
Posted inApril 27, 1998: The old West is going under
Timber town opts for water over logs
The vast old-growth forests of the Cascade Range built the tiny town of Detroit, Ore., and kept three local sawmills bustling. Every year, residents counted on timber from the Willamette National Forest to fuel the economy much as they waited for spring snowmelt to fill the local reservoir. The Forest Service, and the spring snowmelt, […]
Posted inApril 27, 1998: The old West is going under
Forest Service seeks a new (roadless) road to the future
Note: see end of this feature story for a list of four accompanying sidebar articles. In his first major appearance as the 14th chief of the nation’s Forest Service, Mike Dombeck was summoned the winter of 1997 before the House Agriculture Committee to testify about a “forest health” bill sponsored by Rep. Bob Smith, the […]
Posted inApril 27, 1998: The old West is going under
The old West is going under
Note: this front-page editor’s note introduces this issue’s three feature articles. Think of this as a deathwatch issue, in which we hover around the bed of the extractive West, some of us administering CPR, some of us trying to yank the creature off life support so it can die a quicker death, and some of […]
Posted inApril 13, 1998: Oil clashes with elk in the Book Cliffs
Suckling refuses to listen
Dear HCN, Kieran Suckling is afraid to talk to ranchers with environmentally enhancing grazing practices. His belief is that all ranchers are destructive. He states: “Show me a national forest grazing allotment in Arizona or New Mexico that isn’t trashed, and I’ll sit down and talk about sustainable grazing. It doesn’t exist” (HCN, 3/30/98). Mr. […]
Posted inApril 13, 1998: Oil clashes with elk in the Book Cliffs
The rural West should grow up
Dear HCN, After reading Ed Marston’s column, “Show me the science,” (HCN, 3/16/98), I feel compelled to respond to your criticism of modern Western environmentalists wherein you called them “enemies of rural life and rural economies.” Why do you, and so many others, think that Western rural lifestyles and economies must be based upon traditional […]
Posted inApril 13, 1998: Oil clashes with elk in the Book Cliffs
Guns came first
Dear HCN, This is regarding your “Heard around the West” article about the closure of the Tucson Rod & Gun Club rifle range in Sabino Canyon (HCN, 3/16/98). I am a loyal HCN reader and also an avid hunter and shooter. During the late “70s through the mid-’80s, I spent many hours at the Sabino […]
Posted inApril 13, 1998: Oil clashes with elk in the Book Cliffs
Funds are routinely looted
Dear HCN, Jon Margolis often has interesting insights, but his article titled “The Land and Water Fund waits to be tapped” naively misses the bigger picture (HCN, 2/16/98). It is true that the Land and Water Trust Fund is not managed like a trust fund dedicated to conserving land and water. But the misuse of […]
Posted inApril 13, 1998: Oil clashes with elk in the Book Cliffs
A postscript from anonymous
Dear HCN, Lynne Bama’s wild horse story is an excellent introduction to many of the philosophical and practical problems attendant to management of a large, sacred, feral domestic ungulate on the public lands (HCN, 3/2/98). Although ecologically responsible management of feral horses and burros under current laws and policies is theoretically possible, censuses and removals […]
Posted inApril 13, 1998: Oil clashes with elk in the Book Cliffs
Idaho’s racists give us a choice
Dear HCN, Stephen Lyons told us in the last issue that he left hate-filled Idaho for the more progressive state of Washington (HCN, 3/16/98). Since I made that same move last autumn, here’s my response to his essay: Dear Stephen, Welcome to Washington! You’ll find excellent coffee, happy diversity and easy access to recycling. Enjoy […]
Posted inApril 13, 1998: Oil clashes with elk in the Book Cliffs
Don’t blame the messenger
Dear HCN, Stephen Lyons’ finely crafted bull’s-eye prose on Idaho will no doubt draw the ire of people who love the state (HCN, 3/16/98). His frank assessment of the neighborhood is as welcome as an empty larder to starving children. Keep in mind that all of Mr. Lyons’ examples are quite current. Keep in mind […]
Posted inApril 13, 1998: Oil clashes with elk in the Book Cliffs
Getting it right: a policy agenda for local population activism
Getting it Right: A Policy Agenda for Local Population Activism is the topic of a provocative paper by Judith E. Jacobsen, a member of the President’s Council on Sustainable Development. She advocates adding issues of natural resource consumption and unwanted pregnancies to community development agendas. Copies of the 56-page paper are $5 from University of […]
Posted inApril 13, 1998: Oil clashes with elk in the Book Cliffs
National Audubon Society biennial convention
The National Audubon Society will hold its biennial convention July 6-11 in Estes Park, Colo. The conference theme is “Celebrating Successes” and sessions will address topics such as sanctuary management and wildland preservation. There will also be several birding field trips, including a seven-day “Grand Tour of Western Colorado.” For more information, write to the […]
Posted inApril 13, 1998: Oil clashes with elk in the Book Cliffs
Hells Canyon benefit float trip
Join the directors of the Hells Canyon Preservation Council and the Northwest Ecosystem Alliance June 1 for a benefit float trip down the Snake River through Hells Canyon in wooden dories. Oars/Dories guides will pilot the five-day whitewater trip, prepare meals and donate all proceeds to the organizing groups. Contact the Hells Canyon Preservation Council […]
Posted inApril 13, 1998: Oil clashes with elk in the Book Cliffs
The Western Ancient Forest Campaign
Join the directors of the Hells Canyon Preservation Council and the Northwest Ecosystem Alliance June 1 for a benefit float trip down the Snake River through Hells Canyon in wooden dories. Oars/Dories guides will pilot the five-day whitewater trip, prepare meals and donate all proceeds to the organizing groups. Contact the Hells Canyon Preservation Council […]
Posted inApril 13, 1998: Oil clashes with elk in the Book Cliffs
California Water Map
It’s not quite Cadillac Desert, but the updated California Water Map goes a long way toward explaining the state’s complex network of water projects. The large color map, published by the Water Education Foundation, shows the location of dams, reservoirs, aqueducts and wild and scenic rivers around the state. The nonprofit educational foundation also publishes […]
Posted inApril 13, 1998: Oil clashes with elk in the Book Cliffs
Outdoor Recreation: Promise and Peril in the New West
The Natural Resources Law Center at the University of Colorado will hold its 19th annual summer conference, Outdoor Recreation: Promise and Peril in the New West, June 8-10. Panelists will talk about conflicts among visitors to public lands and the effect of outdoor recreation on Native American sacred sites. Speakers will include Agriculture Department Undersecretary […]
Posted inApril 13, 1998: Oil clashes with elk in the Book Cliffs
Mine your jewelry box
The Missoula, Mont., group Women’s Voices for the Earth has an alternative to a proposed gold mine on the Blackfoot River: Mine Your Jewelry Box, Not the Blackfoot. The group started collecting gold jewelry last May to support public education and lawsuits aimed at stopping the McDonald gold project (HCN, 12/22/97). So far, people have […]
Posted inApril 13, 1998: Oil clashes with elk in the Book Cliffs
Playing by the rules
When Steamboat Springs, Colo., snowmobiler Christian George was airlifted out of the backcountry in January after being lost for four days, he said he had survived with two cigarette lighters and a candy bar. Next time, he told the Denver Post, he’ll take more lighters. Jackson, Wyo., film producer Sava Malachowski adds a few more […]
Posted inApril 13, 1998: Oil clashes with elk in the Book Cliffs
Partial measurements
Nothing is more elegant and simple than a Parshall Flume. The concrete or sheet metal devices, when properly built, measure how much water flows through a ditch. While water courts adjudicate, it is Parshall Flumes that actually measure out the water. Unfortunately, they’re unlikely to do an accurate job. According to Colorado State University, only […]