Will Defenders of Wildlife, the nonprofit group that compensates ranchers for livestock killed by wolves, also pay for pets that become prey? Several private citizens and government employees have raised that question since a hunting dog was killed by a pack of wolves near Fishtail, Mont., last December. The answer is no, says Hank Fischer, […]
No pay for pooches
Posted inJune 24, 1996: Catron County's politics heat up as its land goes bankrupt
Clean air victory in Colorado
The operators of the polluting, coal-fired Hayden Power Plant in northwestern Colorado have agreed to reform. The pressure began in 1995, when the Sierra Club won a lawsuit holding the plant accountable for more than 17,000 clean air violations (HCN, 11/27/95). The EPA followed this year with a notice of 10,234 additional violations. Rather than […]
Posted inJune 24, 1996: Catron County's politics heat up as its land goes bankrupt
Proposed hatchery breeds conflict
If the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has its way, a new steelhead hatchery will be built on the moss-covered ruins of an abandoned federal hatchery. But the agency’s plan for the $4 million Grandy Creek steelhead hatchery – the state’s 91st – faces stiff opposition. Many conservation and fishing groups, as well as […]
Posted inJune 24, 1996: Catron County's politics heat up as its land goes bankrupt
Twenty-something takes Sierra Club’s helm
In the midst of moving its offices from San Francisco’s run-down Tenderloin district to the trendy South of Market district, the Sierra Club elected a new president, 23-year-old Adam Werbach. Werbach will be in charge of a network of 5,000 volunteers and the club’s professional staff. He is 24 years younger than the average member. […]
Posted inJune 24, 1996: Catron County's politics heat up as its land goes bankrupt
Ranger charges ranchers with assault
When Chuck Oliver’s job with the Forest Service in Montana fell victim to an agency consolidation three years ago, he seized the chance to return to his native New Mexico. But Oliver, a range conservationist on the Gila National Forest in Catron County, found that public-lands grazing was much more contentious in the Southwest than […]
Posted inJune 24, 1996: Catron County's politics heat up as its land goes bankrupt
Marvel ups the ante
Marvel ups the ante Sporting a bright-green button that said: “I support welfare ranching,” Hailey, Idaho, conservationist Jon Marvel bid $12,000 for the right to lease a 960-acre parcel of state land. After rancher Mike Ward bid $12,050 for the 10-year lease, Marvel folded and declared victory. “We’ve approximately tripled the cost of the lease […]
Posted inJune 24, 1996: Catron County's politics heat up as its land goes bankrupt
Enola Hill report was nowhere near objective
ENOLA HILL REPORT WAS NOWHERE NEAR OBJECTIVE Dear HCN: I work as a recreation forester for the Mount Hood National Forest where the Enola Hill timber sale is taking place and the sale has no “350-year-old Douglas fir that loom,” as HCN intern Bill Taylor reports (HCN, 5/27/96): The trees are about 90 years old, […]
Posted inJune 24, 1996: Catron County's politics heat up as its land goes bankrupt
Chaining is a sop for cows
Dear HCN, HCN muddies the waters in regard to “chaining” of piûon-juniper woodlands almost as much as Sid Goodloe does (HCN, 4/15/96). Just think of it as deforestation accompanied by profound soil disturbance, habitat aridification and heating due to increased wind velocity and insolation, and destruction of virtually all extant wildlife habitat. On public lands […]
Posted inJune 24, 1996: Catron County's politics heat up as its land goes bankrupt
He’s true blue
Dear HCN, I enjoyed reading about Sid Goodloe (HCN, 4/15/96) – a fellow who applied grit and intelligence to fix his piece of the West. I didn’t exactly enjoy, but sure did appreciate, the contrast provided by the “opinions from experts.” The “experts’ certainly covered most of the type. The old forestry professor is impressive […]
Posted inJune 24, 1996: Catron County's politics heat up as its land goes bankrupt
Frog story hurt, not helped
Dear HCN, I feel compelled to respond to Todd Wilkinson’s May 2 article, “Utah ushers its frogs toward oblivion,” because it exemplifies one of the greatest problems facing contemporary conservation issues today: polarization. Wilkinson’s article does not just present the arena of opposition but pushes the fighters further into their respective corners. This article promotes […]
Posted inJune 24, 1996: Catron County's politics heat up as its land goes bankrupt
We need both
Dear HCN, Thanks to Mike McCloskey for sharing, and thanks to you for printing, his memo on the limits of collaboration. This is a very important issue: To what extent can environmental problems be solved through collaboration of interest groups at the watershed level? I believe the bottom line is that the environment needs both […]
Posted inJune 24, 1996: Catron County's politics heat up as its land goes bankrupt
Consensus breaks out in Idaho
Dear HCN, Your May 13 special issue on Westerners talking together was timely and thought-provoking. Two such efforts are under way on north-central Idaho’s Clearwater National Forest. It’s too soon to know if they will be a success, but it is worth noting that the Forest Service has been an honest and energetic proponent. The […]
Posted inJune 24, 1996: Catron County's politics heat up as its land goes bankrupt
Alarmed by consensus
Dear HCN, I am alarmed by the collaborative approach described in the May 13 issue and praised by Karl Hess Jr. in the May 27 issue. Though born and raised in the Rocky Mountain West, I moved East to work and live here happily, though I return West as often as possible. As a supporter […]
Posted inJune 24, 1996: Catron County's politics heat up as its land goes bankrupt
Development plan breaks consensus on grizzlies
The pact worked out last year between Plum Creek Timber Co. in Montana’s Swan Valley and some federal and state agencies looked like a good deal for both bears and loggers. Then this May, the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund served notice it will file suit to negate the agreement. What’s changed is Plum Creek’s […]
Posted inJune 24, 1996: Catron County's politics heat up as its land goes bankrupt
Pact promises cleaner canyon air
GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK – As thunder rumbled in the distance and a hawk wheeled overhead, Grand Canyon Park Superintendent Rob Arnberger stood on the canyon’s rim and stared into a bank of television cameras. He said what a year ago he doubted he would ever get to tell the world: “Today we are saying […]
Posted inJune 24, 1996: Catron County's politics heat up as its land goes bankrupt
Idaho air base guns for more space, again
If cats have nine lives, how many lives do bombing range expansions have? Air Force officials hope their plan for an air training and dummy bomb range in southwest Idaho has at least three. In a series of meetings early this month, Mountain Home Air Force Base unveiled its third training-range expansion plan. Air Force […]
Posted inJune 24, 1996: Catron County's politics heat up as its land goes bankrupt
Predator control: more pain than gain
A lot of cows die every year in Montana, most often in a slaughterhouse on their way to a hamburger bun. Others succumb to weather, disease and calving problems. Then there are predators – the lions and coyotes and bears so often scorned as the scourge of the range. The federal Animal Damage Control agency […]
Posted inJune 24, 1996: Catron County's politics heat up as its land goes bankrupt
Ski industry masters the sneak attack
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Legislation often resembles siege warfare back in the days of the battering ram and the catapult. The attackers figure that the more stuff they throw at the walls – rocks, spears, little guys – the better the odds that something will get through. They’re right, because the defenders tend to relax after […]
Posted inJune 24, 1996: Catron County's politics heat up as its land goes bankrupt
State lands: money isn’t everything
Pockets of land exist all over Colorado where locals hunt, hike, farm and ranch. They look like public land. But these 3 million acres of trust lands, established by the federal government in 1876, usually have one purpose – to make money for public schools. And increasingly, in these boom times, the state land board […]
Posted inJune 24, 1996: Catron County's politics heat up as its land goes bankrupt
Wyoming climbers win equal footing
CASPER, Wyo. “There are nearly 200 separate climbing routes up the granite face of Devils Tower National Monument, and Andy Petefish will be able to guide you up any one of them this month – thanks to a ruling by a federal judge. Petefish and other climbing guides have won the first round in what […]