MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, Wyo. – Marsha Karle was right. Hang around long enough, Yellowstone National Park’s official spokeswoman warned me once, and you’ll get chased by an elk. Last week, it happened. Leaving a mind-numbing press conference in the Mammoth Hotel inside Yellowstone National Park, I stepped outside to see the sun low in the […]
Jealousy, passion, rage: It all takes place in Yellowstone National Park
Posted inOctober 2, 1995: Did Idaho libel the feds?
Congress fights to restore a filthy past
What follows sounds like a nightmare. But it’s not. It’s true. If you have a weak stomach, don’t read it. I grew up in an area of Kansas City, Kan., called Armourdale, which was bordered on the east by two meat-packing companies, on the west by two soap factories, on the north by the Santa […]
Posted inOctober 2, 1995: Did Idaho libel the feds?
BPA scapegoats fish to protect fat cats
The Bonneville Power Administration says it can’t afford to save Columbia River salmon anymore. The eight senators in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana agree. They have asked governors in their states to help write a new law effectively capping the BPA’s fish costs. Not that the BPA’s fish programs have worked. Numerous runs have gone […]
Posted inOctober 2, 1995: Did Idaho libel the feds?
Grazing reform: Here’s the answer
We are veterans of America’s longest war: the war over the public lands of the West. For the past quarter century – in a conflict that dates back to the Civil War – we have written and spoken about livestock grazing on federal lands and fought over how those lands should be governed. We have, […]
Posted inOctober 2, 1995: Did Idaho libel the feds?
We need to avoid riparian hysteria
At a recent workshop on riparian ecosystems sponsored by the Tonto National Forest and Arizona Game and Fish Department, biologists dutifully presented their litanies on the inhabitants, histories and importance of steamside environments. Although the theme of this symposium was understanding and not preservation, several speakers offered up the statistic du jour: 95 percent of […]
Posted inOctober 2, 1995: Did Idaho libel the feds?
Inside the glitter
In the past, photographers wanting to document Nevada’s workers headed for the mines, forests, ranches and irrigated farmlands. But no more, according to photojournalist Kit Miller. Today’s workforce can be found in the state’s casinos. Miller, a Nevada native, says she took on the project of interviewing and photographing this new Nevada workforce to confront […]
Posted inOctober 2, 1995: Did Idaho libel the feds?
Is the ESA being gutted in order to save it?
Like navigators of a sinking hot air balloon, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is hastily casting off heavy parts of the Endangered Species Act – perhaps before a reform-minded Congress grounds the law altogether. The latest changes surfaced in late July when the Interior Department announced new streamlined, “user-friendly” consultation procedures for federal land […]
Posted inOctober 2, 1995: Did Idaho libel the feds?
DIA jets roar over a Colorado wilderness
BOULDER, Colo. – Some environmentalists have started firing political flak at noisy commercial jets flying over a wilderness area west of here. The local Sierra Club mailed a letter this summer to federal and Denver International Airport officials complaining about the wilderness overflights. So far, the letter has been largely ignored. The problem took off […]
Posted inOctober 2, 1995: Did Idaho libel the feds?
Fund raising in parks takes a collection box, and a lawyer
When it comes to First Amendment rights, national parks operate a lot like airports. Park officials cannot discriminate against the speaker or the message, but they do have some discretion over how, where and when the delivery is made. While most decisions are left up to the park superintendent, there are some agency-wide rules, such […]
Posted inOctober 2, 1995: Did Idaho libel the feds?
Does Religion belong in national parks?
Karl and Rita Girshman, a Jewish couple from Maryland, happened to be naked in their room at Big Bend National Park in 1993 when suddenly, a lodge employee let himself in with a key. He handed the Girshmans a flier, then invited them to “join in worshipping our Lord and Savior” and to “come as […]
Posted inOctober 2, 1995: Did Idaho libel the feds?
Dinosaur’s monumental quiet is threatened
Visitors to remote Dinosaur National Monument first marveled at the huge dinosaur bones exposed in its Utah quarry back in 1915. In the years that followed, other attributes surfaced. Rafters and hikers visiting the monument straddling the Utah/Colorado border discovered winding river canyons and quiet high desert. But Dinosaur’s serenity may not survive another year. […]
Posted inOctober 2, 1995: Did Idaho libel the feds?
Dear friends
A Beltway correspondent High Country News has just opened a bureau in Washington, D.C. It will be manned by Philip Shabecoff, the creator and publisher of an electronic publication named Green Wire and a 32-year veteran of The New York Times. He spent 1977 to 1991 on the environmental beat out of Washington, D.C. Before […]
Posted inOctober 2, 1995: Did Idaho libel the feds?
Rocks, invective, and generosity
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story, Did Idaho libel the feds? SALMON, Idaho – Until a wolf was shot on Gene Hussey’s ranch south of Salmon in January, he was just “Hussey,” a prankster with a sharp tongue who lived without a phone. Since the wolf’s killing and Hussey’s confrontation […]
Posted inOctober 2, 1995: Did Idaho libel the feds?
Wolf killing will never be solved
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story, Did Idaho libel the feds? The wolf shot on Gene Hussey’s remote ranch south of Salmon, Idaho, trotted to her death just nine days after federal biologists set her free in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness. B13 parted from 14 other transplanted […]
Posted inOctober 2, 1995: Did Idaho libel the feds?
Did Idaho libel the feds?
Three federal agents involved in a celebrated tangle with an Idaho rancher were packing more than pistols when they investigated the case of a shot wolf on private land. They also had a tape recorder. The tape reveals a dramatically different picture of the agents from the thug-like characters lambasted by Idaho lawmakers in the […]
Posted inSeptember 18, 1995: The West's fisheries spin out of control
Some rocks need a makeover
Dear HCN, I am very disappointed that High Country News, just as many other newspapers, has fallen for the news releases of Rep. Jack Metcalf, R-Wash., regarding rock “painting” on national forest lands along Stevens Pass Scenic Byway, as portrayed in your Barb (HCN, 8/21/95). You need to check the facts. The rocks were to […]
Posted inSeptember 18, 1995: The West's fisheries spin out of control
A teensy addition
Dear HCN, I have been reading your latest issue and, as always, enjoying the heck out of it. I do have one request: You refer to your “1 million-square-mile beat.” So what would be the harm in a teensy addition? The California Sierras. They are (1) high; they are (2) West. Thank you in advance […]
Posted inSeptember 18, 1995: The West's fisheries spin out of control
10th Annual Wild Rockies Rendezvous
Salvage logging and grizzly bears take center stage at the 10th annual Wild Rockies Rendezvous, Sept. 29 – Oct. 1, sponsored by the Alliance for the Wild Rockies. Speakers include John Weaver, leader of the federal grizzly bear team, Hank Fischer, from Defenders of Wildlife, and Seth Diamond, Intermountain Forest Industries. Contact the Alliance for […]
Posted inSeptember 18, 1995: The West's fisheries spin out of control
Challenging Federal Ownership and Management: Public Lands and Public Benefits
Are people best served by keeping public lands in federal hands? That and other questions will be aired at the University of Colorado School of Law conference, Challenging Federal Ownership and Management: Public Lands and Public Benefits, to be held Oct. 11-13. Registration is $425 before Oct. 3 and $475 thereafter. Contact the Natural Resources […]
Posted inSeptember 18, 1995: The West's fisheries spin out of control
Sheep Country
Sheep territory stretches from Florida to Alaska, and now there’s a trade magazine for the 100,000 people in all 50 states who raise the animals. For a sample copy of Sheep Country, contact Janice Grauberger at the magazine’s publisher, the American Sheep Industry Association, 6911 S. Yosemite St., Englewood, CO 80112-1414 (303/771-3500). This article appeared […]