On Jan. 24, 1855, Henry David Thoreau sat down to his journal to reflect on all the ways his homeland had changed since the first English colonists had arrived on the shores of Massachusetts two centuries earlier. For several days, Thoreau had been reading the accounts of some of the earliest settlers. Compared to the […]
The West that was, and the West that can be
Posted inAugust 4, 1997: Vanishing habitat
A great analysis
Dear HCN, Thanks for the extraordinary stories on Wyoming (HCN, 7/7/97). The response from those I have talked with has been elation for a great analysis and critique of Wyoming; hopefully, those responsible for making public policy will learn from the picture Paul Krza put together. Tom Throop Lander, Wyoming The writer is executive director […]
Posted inAugust 4, 1997: Vanishing habitat
Trucks: Take a brake
Dear HCN, If letter-writer George Burns (HCN, 6/9/97) wants to have the whole west rim of Hells Canyon open to him and his buddies in their trucks, he ought to just say so. Even though we still wouldn’t agree, those of us who desperately cling to the last 12 miles of nonmotorized rim could respect […]
Posted inAugust 4, 1997: Vanishing habitat
‘Change is hard, change is scary’
Dear HCN, Katherine and Michael McCoy lament the lack of entrepreneurial spirit of the folks of rural Utah and chastise Westerners in general for a lack of excitement about the changes sweeping through the economies and landscapes of the West (HCN, 6/23/97). The McCoys seem to suggest that we in the rural West should put […]
Posted inAugust 4, 1997: Vanishing habitat
Don’t give up on Boulder, Utah
Editor’s Note: In a letter to the editor on June 23, Katherine and Michael McCoy of Buena Vista, Colo., expressed dismay about the lack of entrepreneurial zeal in the town of Boulder, near Utah’s new monument. This was one response to their complaint: Dear Mr. and Mrs. McCoy: We are sorry you were unable to […]
Posted inAugust 4, 1997: Vanishing habitat
You’re picking on ranchers
Dear HCN, I read in stunned amazement your story June 23 that was not only totally off-base on the premise but factually incorrect as well. When the reporter called me, I told him for the record that if he wrote a story based on the false premise that big, bad ranchers were behind the firing […]
Posted inAugust 4, 1997: Vanishing habitat
A cheatgrass antidote – maybe
The federal Bureau of Land Management wants to send the message that cheaters never win, and that goes for cheatgrass, too. The agency’s weapon of choice is Oust, a controversial DuPont herbicide. Last fall, BLM range specialists with the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area in Idaho found that in early tests, Oust […]
Posted inAugust 4, 1997: Vanishing habitat
A do-over in Telluride
Environmental activists may get a second shot at containing the ski industry in Telluride, Colo. Supervisor Robert Storch of the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison national forests has reversed his approval of a ski area expansion onto public land. “In the interest of fairness,” Storch wrote the regional forester on June 30, “I have agreed […]
Posted inAugust 4, 1997: Vanishing habitat
What’s his are mines
Some people think controversial developer Tom Chapman may have made a costly mistake. The Colorado native recently acquired two patented mining claims within the Spanish Peaks wilderness study area in southwestern Colorado, but his critics say the price he paid for 30 acres was high and the potential for mining or other development low. “This […]
Posted inAugust 4, 1997: Vanishing habitat
Jaguar limps onto the list
Activists sporting jaguar costumes and picket signs outside the Tucson office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service received some welcome news in July. After 18 years and two lawsuits from environmentalists, the agency added the jaguar to the endangered species list. “The Fish and Wildlife Service has been dragged screaming and kicking through this […]
Posted inAugust 4, 1997: Vanishing habitat
Prairie dogs beat the bullet
In Colorado, prairie dogs and other small mammals are safe from large-scale massacre in the name of sport. The Colorado Wildlife Commission voted unanimously July 10 to restrict contest shoots of small game, including coyotes and prairie dogs. Environmental and animal rights groups have expressed outrage over contests like the Top Dog World Championship Prairie […]
Posted inAugust 4, 1997: Vanishing habitat
Co-existence criticized
If five environmental groups have their way in Wyoming, grizzly bears won’t have their territory invaded by oil and gas exploration teams on 2,000 acres of Shoshone National Forest. The groups fear that the exploration will lead to road building and drilling. The leases sought are in the Brent Creek and Lava Mountain/Sheridan Pass areas, […]
Posted inAugust 4, 1997: Vanishing habitat
No-show lets roads roll
For the second time in two years, the House of Representatives has shied away from a proposal to make timber companies pay for their logging roads in national forests (HCN, 6/9/97). In July, representatives voted 211-209 against an amendment that would have slashed $41.5 million in roads funding. “We clearly had the votes to win,” […]
Posted inAugust 4, 1997: Vanishing habitat
Judge clubs Sierra donor
A San Francisco Superior Court judge has found that Ray Graham III maliciously prosecuted the Sierra Club Foundation and owes the organization $2.8 million. The judgment, made in mid-July, is the latest wrinkle in the long-standing feud between Graham, an heir to the Firestone fortune, and the foundation over a $100,000 donation he made back […]
Posted inAugust 4, 1997: Vanishing habitat
Owens Valley finally loses patience
A water grab 84 years ago that turned one of California’s largest lakes into a dust bowl and enabled Los Angeles to boom may not have been permanent. By a vote of 6-1 July 2, rural elected officials ordered Los Angeles to forego diverting 43 million gallons of water a day from Owens Lake. The […]
Posted inAugust 4, 1997: Vanishing habitat
Volunteers test county claims in potential wilderness areas
In Utah, one way counties fight a possible designation of wilderness is by claiming a road runs through it. Some commissioners in Utah who fear that wilderness will ruin local economies cite a law dating from 1866, R.S. 2477, to claim rights-of-way through Bureau of Land Management lands that might be considered roadless. But are […]
Posted inAugust 4, 1997: Vanishing habitat
The Wayward West
Two of the West’s greenest representatives in Congress have announced they will not run for re-election. One, nicknamed “Senator Public Lands’ for his commitment to environmental issues during his four terms in office, is Arkansas Sen. Dale Bumpers, who led the fight to reform the 1872 Mining Law and raise grazing fees. The other is […]
Posted inAugust 4, 1997: Vanishing habitat
A-LP looms liter
In a move that’s either desperate or practical, proponents of southwestern Colorado’s Animas-La Plata water project applied “tough love” to their aging proposal and unveiled a leaner alternative in early July. The reservoir and pumping project that was supposed to provide water for irrigators and cities in Colorado and New Mexico is also key to […]
Posted inAugust 4, 1997: Vanishing habitat
Whitewater comes roaring back
GRACE, Idaho – After more than 90 dry years, a canyon near this quiet town recently filled with the roar of whitewater. Kayakers in mid-May ran the rapids through Black Canyon while a nearby power plant went two days without the river’s water. But PacifiCorp of Portland, Ore., didn’t release the Bear River back to […]
Posted inAugust 4, 1997: Vanishing habitat
‘Thrillcraft’ leave a polluted, contentious wake
“What we ought to do is establish parks for motorized recreational use, and shove all the ATVs and all the jet skis in there and let ’em run over the top of each other and break each other’s eardrums,” says Ric Bailey, the outspoken director of the Hells Canyon Preservation Council, a coalition of commercial […]