Even the federal government has a Web site these days. Check out http://www.fedstats.gov to find out how many people moved to your state last year, how many tons of coal were burned or where the fastest-growing job market is. Easy to use, even for Luddites, the cyberspace site highlights often-requested data and offers key word […]
Federal government web site
Posted inOctober 13, 1997: The land is still public, but it's no longer free
Environmental, Economic and Legal Issues Related to Rangeland Water Developments
Arizona State University’s Center for the Study of Law, Science and Technology hosts a symposium with 39 speakers Nov. 13-15 on Environmental, Economic and Legal Issues Related to Rangeland Water Developments, in Phoenix, Ariz. Symposium coordinator Rosalind Pearlman hopes the conference will attract staffers from state and federal environmental agencies as well as members of […]
Posted inOctober 13, 1997: The land is still public, but it's no longer free
Forest fragmentation in the Central Rocky Mountains
Forest Fragmentation in the Central Rocky Mountains is the theme of a two-day conference at Colorado State University Nov. 12-13. From scientists to environmentalists, all-terrain vehicle drivers to timber industry representatives, everyone interested in forests is invited and no registration is needed. For more information, contact Rick Knight at 970/491-6714, or by e-mail: knight@cnr.colostate.edu. This […]
Posted inOctober 13, 1997: The land is still public, but it's no longer free
Let rivers heal
A report from the Oregon State University Department of Fisheries says that current salmon habitat and river restoration efforts will fail unless they focus on entire watersheds or landscapes, rather than on a single process or species. For such a holistic approach to work, the report says, overgrazing, pollution and too much water consumption must […]
Posted inOctober 13, 1997: The land is still public, but it's no longer free
A timber country memoir
It’s hard to make straight lines stick to the earth, writes Robert Leo Heilman in Overstory: Zero; Real Life in Timber Country, and even harder in hilly Douglas County, Ore. In his book of 32 essays, Heilman returns to this theme again and again; he likes the earth’s reluctance to bend to blueprints, whether he […]
Posted inOctober 13, 1997: The land is still public, but it's no longer free
Who will save our animals?
Greenpeace may no longer be going door to door, but another group continues its long-time canvassing, often stressing environmental issues. It distributes millions of copies of its material in about 60 languages, including Pidgin, Hiligaynon and Zulu. The July 8 issue asked on its cover: “Who Will Save Our Animals?,” with a story inside that […]
Posted inOctober 13, 1997: The land is still public, but it's no longer free
The more remote, the better
Residents of isolated Stehekin Valley, Wash., population 70, believe their community is frozen in time, and they want to keep it that way. On the northeast end of Lake Chelan, bordering North Cascades National Park and within the Lake Chelan Recreation Area, the town features a post office, hotel and bakery. But there are no […]
Posted inOctober 13, 1997: The land is still public, but it's no longer free
Least loved beasts
-A coyote danced. Perhaps not. Reason tells me that he was catching his breakfast. Voles, moles, meadow mice, ground squirrels, chipmunks, and other rodents abound in the Sierra meadows. But still, his dance was a study in grace and sinuous acrobatics: A leap to clear the grass, a pounce, a toss of the head and […]
Posted inOctober 13, 1997: The land is still public, but it's no longer free
On the road
Hitting the road could be one way to protect roadless lands. Starting Oct. 9, the Montana-based Native Forest Network is on a road trip to communities in the Northern Rockies to call attention to 10 threatened roadless areas. Among them are the Gallatin Range and Rocky Mountain Front in northern Montana, the headwaters of the […]
Posted inOctober 13, 1997: The land is still public, but it's no longer free
Mountain bikers in Moab pay to ride
MOAB, Utah – Mountain bike pilgrims who come to ride Moab’s Slickrock trail find something new these days: a tollbooth. Next to the booth, a sign reads: “Welcome to Sand Flats. All fees are used here for improvements.” A visit to this mecca of mountain biking now costs $1 per person if you’re walking or […]
Posted inOctober 13, 1997: The land is still public, but it's no longer free
Paying to play in the Sawtooths
KETCHUM, Idaho – Buying a recreation pass for the ranger district here and the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, two popular parts of the Sawtooth National Forest, is easy. The hard part is remembering to do so. For the first time ever, a walk across the Sawtooth’s mountain meadows isn’t free. On July 1, the Forest […]
Posted inOctober 13, 1997: The land is still public, but it's no longer free
Barbara Sutteer: Fees draw fire from two public-land users
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. Barbara Sutteer, a career National Park Service staffer, has roots in both the Northern Ute and Cherokee tribes. She is former superintendent at Little Bighorn National Monument and now works as a tribal liaison officer for the Park Service in the agency’s Denver office. […]
Posted inOctober 13, 1997: The land is still public, but it's no longer free
Guy Clark: Fees draw fire from two public-land users
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. Guy Clark is an avid hunter who lives in Crawford, in western Colorado. He grew up on a ranch bordering the West Elk Wilderness, a place he calls “my back yard.” The Bureau of Land Management plans to impose a user fee on another […]
Posted inOctober 13, 1997: The land is still public, but it's no longer free
The Mountain West: A Republican Fabrication
How Republican is the Mountain West? That’s sort of like asking, “How wet is the ocean?” Many readers of High Country News weren’t even born in 1948, the last time a Democratic presidential candidate carried every one of the eight states in the Mountain West – Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and […]
Posted inOctober 13, 1997: The land is still public, but it's no longer free
Wyoming’s heroes celebrate a birthday
LANDER, Wyo. – The Wyoming Outdoor Council, another creation of High Country News founder Tom Bell, held its 30th birthday party here last week. Back in the 1960s, Bell, a fourth-generation Wyoming native raised on a ranch and trained in wildlife conservation, became incensed at the abuses he saw on the land, especially the illegal […]
Posted inOctober 13, 1997: The land is still public, but it's no longer free
Sierra Club moves to fortify its ‘drain Lake Powell’ campaign
The only people who love the idea of draining Lake Powell more than Sierra Club board member and former executive director David Brower are in the West’s congressional delegation. They jumped on the idea with glee, holding a House hearing in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 23, issuing press releases, and generating hundreds of letters to […]
Posted inOctober 13, 1997: The land is still public, but it's no longer free
Fake healers plague Navajo Nation
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – When a group of Navajo traditional healers met here June 1, things went badly right away. An elderly woman arrived, grim-faced, and the men knew what was coming. She was the latest person to be conned by a fake medicine man, a charlatan. “What she wanted,” says Daniel Deschinny, secretary of […]
Posted inOctober 13, 1997: The land is still public, but it's no longer free
Forest Service acts to preserve ‘the Front’
AUGUSTA, Mont. – Locals call it “the Front,” a name that conjures up a battleline between armies. But for now, the fight is over between environmentalists who want to protect the wildlife that flourishes here, and oil and gas executives who want to drill for up to 3.6 trillion cubic-feet of natural gas that may […]
Posted inOctober 13, 1997: The land is still public, but it's no longer free
Dear friends
The Research Fund The real burden of the Research Fund falls on the “gang of five,” a tenacious crew that is sitting in our central area putting together the letters that will determine HCN’s fate over the next year. It’s an especially tough job because ours is an open office, and so they can’t listen […]
Posted inOctober 13, 1997: The land is still public, but it's no longer free
Heard around the West
Imagination is a wonderful thing. Conjure up this scenario: It is a hot summer day at Yellowstone National Park, and hundreds of tourists await an eruption of the Old Faithful geyser. Everyone checks watches, wondering about a delay. What is Old Faithful if not relatively faithful? What no one knows is that beneath the heaving […]