A simple idea: Eliminate the trees, stabilize the levees, save a town. But things are seldom what they seem. Ask officials of Benewah County, Idaho. In February, they cut down hundreds of cottonwoods to stabilize levees on the St. Joe River in the town of St. Maries. They wanted to prevent a repeat of last […]
County caught in cottonwood quagmire
The West braces for the big melt
The West is shaking off one of the wettest winters ever, and the snow keeps falling. Instead of April showers, a spring blizzard hit Wyoming early in the month, killing thousands of cattle and sheep trapped in fence-line snowdrifts. Record snowpacks are piled up in the high country, aided by late April storms: Parts of […]
Dick Randall, a fighter for the West
Staff was sorry to hear of the death of Dick Randall in Rock Springs, Wyo., at the age of 72. A fervent conservationist, Randall in his youth worked as an aerial coyote-gunner for the federal Animal Damage Control agency. Suffering from the effects of several air crashes, and more important, a change of heart about […]
Dear friends
Spring visitors Subscriber Ed Moreno took the scenic route from Denver, where he was visiting his parents, to Santa Fe, where he is an assistant commissioner in the New Mexico State Land Office. His boss is Ray Powell – one of the West’s most innovative public land commissioners. Freelance writer Peter Shelton, a resident of […]
Three voices on Lake Tahoe
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. “The battle between the environment and business was really joined at Lake Tahoe in the 1970s. We’ve only recently learned to cooperate.” – Steve Teshara, Lake Tahoe Gaming Alliance “We’ve transcended partisanship. We work closely with the casinos and ski resorts now.” – Rochelle […]
Here come Clinton and Gore
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore are coming to Lake Tahoe in late July for a summit on the lake’s environment and development. It will be the first time that a president has ever visited the area for policy or pleasure while […]
The mission is simple: restore Lake Tahoe
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency was created in 1969 by a compact between California and Nevada that was ratified by Congress. The TRPA governing board is made up of 15 members: seven from California, seven from Nevada, and one non-voting presidential appointee. Six members […]
Planning under the gun: Cleaning up Lake Tahoe proves to be a dirty business
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Joe Thiemann stormed out of a meeting of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) with murder in his eyes. The powerful agency had finally pushed him too far. The quick-tempered 45-year-old entrepreneur had been running cruises aboard the Tahoe Queen, a 500-passenger Mississippi-style riverboat, since he was 20. The paddle […]
Some hook and bullet magazines hit the mark
The key to understanding outdoor magazines – which I both read and write for – is that they exist to sell advertising. This is neither an indictment nor something unique: Virtually all periodicals except nonprofits depend on ad sales for their survival. The advantage of a large circulation comes not from income, but as bait […]
Wolves will be wolves
When the federal government restored wolves to Yellowstone National Park two years ago, it anticipated that the surrounding states would ultimately take over management of the predator. Now, Wyoming has taken the first step in that direction by producing a draft wolf-management plan. The plan’s preferred alternative calls for allowing six wolf packs to move […]
Pacific Northwest Environmental Directory
From Puget Sounders to Trout Unlimited, you can find it in the 1996/97 edition of the Pacific Northwest Environmental Directory. It’s a good resource for job-hunters, researchers and anyone interested in environmental groups and agencies in Oregon, Washington and the Canadian province of British Columbia. The 230-page softcover book costs $18.50. Write to National Environmental […]
Wetland Restoration in the Landscape
The destruction of wetlands may have dropped out of the headlines, but they are still disappearing at a rapid rate across the West. Whether it’s possible to restore wetlands will be the focus of the conference, Wetland Restoration in the Landscape, May 5-7 in Corvallis, Ore. The Society for Wetland Scientists and the Society for […]
Transportation partnerships
Transportation Partnerships, a May 1-2 symposium at the Hotel Colorado in Glenwood Springs, Colo., will highlight solutions for the state’s growing transport problems. Communities that have received grants – sponsored by the governor’s Office of Energy Conservation – will share what they’ve learned, including reports about trying to relieve traffic congestion in Boulder, and developing […]
Wise Use Leadership Conference
Green infiltration of the Christian right and Endangered Species Act reform, are just some of the topics that will be covered at The Wise Use Leadership Conference at the Nugget Hotel in Reno/Sparks, Nev., May 2-4. The gathering includes workshops and talks by private-property advocates such as Kathy Benedetto of People For The West. For […]
Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts
How do you keep land open and out of the hands of developers? The Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts will detail methods at its spring meeting May 1-3 in Colorado Springs, Colo. Workshops and talks will cover easements, stewardship, and funding opportunities for land trusts. Continuing legal education credit is available. Call 970/259-3415 or write […]
Night of the Living Beanfield
Come hear “how an unsuccessful cult novel became an unsuccessful cult film after only 14 years, 11 nervous breakdowns and $20 million.” That’s how New Mexico writer John Nichols, author of the Milagro Beanfield War, describes his upcoming visit May 1-4 at Father Dyer United Methodist Church in Breckenridge, Colo. In two lectures, Night of […]
The Forest Service cares in New Mexico
Dear HCN: Many different voices have been raised in northern New Mexico of late. While Sam Hitt expressed his opinion in “Green Hate” (HCN, 2/3/97), typical of what we heard and received is the letter sent by Tim Mylet, who had earlier presented a petition with 250 signatures to us expressing frustration over firewood restrictions. […]
Guns are good
Dear HCN, I’m dismayed at the anti-gun propaganda in your recent issue on hunting (HCN, 3/3/97). Elizabeth Manning’s NRA-bashing diatribe was out of line. The ignorance of those extolling gun control is amazing; the matter of bullets capable of penetrating body armor is a non-issue; many hunting bullets are capable of this. No policeman has […]
Locals don’t own public land
Dear HCN, I am writing in response to Jane Braxton Little’s article regarding the Quincy Library Group legislation (HCN, 3/31/97). Little incorrectly characterizes the struggle over the legislation as one between grassroots and national groups. That is not true. A host of grassroots groups, many of them based in the Sierra Nevada, have signed on […]
When scary is a compliment
Dear HCN, In your issue devoted to the sadly divisive but, I fear, century-old conflict between conservationists and environmentalists – preservationist John Muir couldn’t stand conservationist John Burroughs, and vice versa – Ted Williams quoted one of my cultural heroes, Roderick Haig-Brown, who described the faults of the outdoor press as timidity and conformity: “It […]
