The West’s native sheep scramble for a foothold
Bringing back the bighorn
Posted inJanuary 20, 1997: Bees under siege
Environmental group responds
Dear HCN, Local environmental groups aren’t very well organized and the Idaho Conservation League is an example of this, said Greg Brothers in a letter to you Dec. 23. The same day High Country News arrived in our mailboxes, our office manager called Mr. Brothers to find out what had happened. No one in our […]
Posted inJanuary 20, 1997: Bees under siege
Partnerships are already improving public lands
Dear HCN, While we take no exception with the New Mexico State Land Department in awarding the lease for several tracts of state-owned lands to the Forest Guardians and Southwest Environmental Center (in compliance with state law), we are concerned by some of the statements made by John Horning (HCN, 11/25/96). Mr. Horning characterizes the […]
Posted inJanuary 20, 1997: Bees under siege
Wildlife initiative may have hidden wheels
Dear HCN, Jon Margolis’ article on the Teaming with Wildlife initiative (HCN, 12/23/96) was ironic, coming as it did on the heels of the previous issue on the increasing political power that motorized vehicle users have developed in the West. As Margolis points out, this seems to be a benign plan, only opposed by “left-of-center” […]
Posted inJanuary 20, 1997: Bees under siege
Learn a lesson from ORV’ers
Dear HCN, ORV groups (HCN, 12/9/96) succeed mainly because they are funded by an industry that profits from increased ORV use, and because they have a one-issue focus of striving to keep and increase access to public lands. There are no one-issue groups focused on fighting them. Environmental groups all have other battles to fight. […]
Posted inJanuary 20, 1997: Bees under siege
Noise always wins
Dear HCN: I read Elizabeth Manning’s “Motorheads’ story (HCN, 12/9/96) with fatalistic mirth: I figure if people won’t let me enjoy the outdoors quietly, I might as well make some noise. It seems we live in a society driven by those who take up the most space and make the biggest mess. All the while […]
Posted inJanuary 20, 1997: Bees under siege
On motorheads and responsible dirt-biking
Dear HCN, I have been riding motorcycles for 27 years, and currently my son and I have six bikes, four of them dirt bikes. Recently, Clark Collins of the Blue Ribbon Coalition was kind enough to send me a sample copy of his group’s magazine. The coalition’s aims, such as promoting responsible use of public […]
Posted inJanuary 20, 1997: Bees under siege
Grand Canyon rafting fees inflate
For many rafters, it doesn’t get any better than a float trip down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. Would-be boaters often spend as long as 10 years waiting for one of 200 private launch dates granted each year. A new fee increase at Grand Canyon National Park may give them second thoughts: an […]
Posted inJanuary 20, 1997: Bees under siege
Silence wins in Colorado
Those who felt that the new rules governing flights over the Grand Canyon were too lenient now have something to cheer: On Jan. 3, the Federal Aviation Adminstration issued a separate rule banning all commercial flights over Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park. “This is fabulous news to bring in the New Year,” said Colorado Rep. […]
Posted inJanuary 20, 1997: Bees under siege
Dombeck takes on a new agency
Michael Dombeck spent his first hour as the new chief of the U.S. Forest Service greeting agency employees in Washington, D.C., as they headed to work. For some who had never glimpsed former Chief Jack Ward Thomas, it was a comforting gesture. But it also became clear that old guard members of the agency should […]
Posted inJanuary 20, 1997: Bees under siege
They’re still talking about A-LP
With four meetings down and who knows how many more to come, talks on Animas-La Plata, the $714 million dam and irrigation project proposed near Durango, Colo., continued this winter (HCN, 11/11/96). Ten options remain on the table – down from 70 – and some involve downsizing the project. Others propose alternatives to bring water […]
Posted inJanuary 20, 1997: Bees under siege
Money can’t buy a full season
Even though higher entrance fees in Yellowstone National Park are expected to raise roughly $7 million over the next three years, more money won’t guarantee that the park will stay open for its traditional season. That’s because Park Service officials in Washington determined that maintenance for deteriorating roads and buildings should be top priority for […]
Posted inJanuary 20, 1997: Bees under siege
Hunters get standing
Hunters in Colorado recently won a legal victory in a dispute over expanding a state prison. The hunters and their environmental allies challenged Colorado’s use of state park land in Rifle for the prison, charging that money collected from fishermen and hunters through taxes on guns and other equipment had purchased the land. The federal […]
Posted inJanuary 20, 1997: Bees under siege
Bison deaths spur lawsuit
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Mont. – As temperatures dip to 30 below, park rangers are rounding up and shipping to slaughter all bison that approach private land on the park’s northern border. It’s the start of a new management plan that has generated controversy and a lawsuit. “It’s a sad day when it comes to this […]
Posted inJanuary 20, 1997: Bees under siege
National Mining Conference and Exhibition
The 100th National Mining Conference and Exhibition will be held at Denver’s Hyatt Regency Hotel Feb. 2-5. Call Nina Marrone of the Colorado Mining Association at 303/894-0536. This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline National Mining Conference and Exhibition.
Posted inJanuary 20, 1997: Bees under siege
Santa Fe’s Forest Trust
What makes a forest product from the Southwest socially and ecologically responsible? That’s what directors of Santa Fe’s Forest Trust will try to determine at six public meetings Jan. 18 to Feb. 16 in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. The eventual goal is the creation of a voluntary “green label,” to help consumers make […]
Posted inJanuary 20, 1997: Bees under siege
Volunteer student interns
The Colorado State Senate seeks volunteer student interns for its regular session Jan. 8 through May 7, 1997. Each intern will be assigned to a senator to answer phones and mail, do research and attend some committee meetings. For more information contact Mary Marchun at 303/866-3065. This article appeared in the print edition of the […]
Posted inJanuary 20, 1997: Bees under siege
Rivers Festival
Sometimes all it takes is a fish and you’ve got a festival. California salmon and how to save them is the focus of the 17th annual Rivers Festival Feb. 7 to 9 at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. Keynote speeches by Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., writer and environmentalist Tim Palmer, and Cadillac Desert […]
Posted inJanuary 20, 1997: Bees under siege
Cowboy Poetry Gathering
The Cowboy Poetry Gathering is back Jan. 25-Feb. 1, to celebrate the ranching traditions of poetry, music, art, dance and “plain old visiting.” The 13th annual shindig in Elko, Nev., pays special tribute to Canadian cowboys, while daytime events range from workshops on ranch-kitchen cooking to multi-day classes on songwriting, saddle-stamping and rawhide-braiding. Evenings feature […]
Posted inJanuary 20, 1997: Bees under siege
Western raptors on the rise
Some birds of prey in the West are fighting back. The Salt Lake City-based group, HawkWatch International, recently compiled up to 18 years’ of data on the birds collected from sites in Nevada, Utah and New Mexico and found a fast rate of growth among merlins, ospreys and peregrine falcons. The average annual population increase […]