Only an estimated 1,500 wild Snake River spring and summer chinook salmon returned to Idaho to spawn this summer, the lowest count on record. That compares to a 10-year average of 10,000 returning adults. “We’re going rapidly down the track to zip,” says Dexter Pittman of the Idaho Fish and Game Department. Meanwhile, the U.S. […]
Salmon spiral down as allies challenge barging
Posted inAugust 22, 1994: Whose fault? A Utah canyon turns deadly
‘Takings’ takes a hit
The state can block development that threatens Native American burial mounds, the Iowa Supreme Court has ruled. The court rejected an argument that to block such developments would weaken property rights, reports AP. The dispute began when developers bought a 59-acre tract in rural Story County, Iowa, to develop a pricey subdivision. When developers sold […]
Posted inAugust 22, 1994: Whose fault? A Utah canyon turns deadly
Cattle kicked off salmon range
To protect spawning salmon, cattle on four allotments in Oregon’s Wallowa-Whitman National Forest have been shifted away from streams. The Forest Service reacted to a federal appeals court injunction that banned all grazing, logging and road building in parts of the Wallowa-Whitman and Umatilla national forests. The appeals court had found that the Forest Service […]
Posted inAugust 22, 1994: Whose fault? A Utah canyon turns deadly
Ranchers face competition
In a break with precedent around the West, conservationists in Oregon will now be allowed to bid against ranchers for leases on state-owned land (HCN, 7/25/94). By a 2-1 vote, the Oregon Land Board gave the okay July 29 to competitive bidding and specified that state land can be leased for “conservation use.” Some parcels […]
Posted inAugust 22, 1994: Whose fault? A Utah canyon turns deadly
A man of integrity
Dear HCN, It was with considerable personal interest I read the article “Forest Service dunked by its own witch hunt” (HCN, 8/8/94) as the mention of Paul Senteney provided a personal link to the national story. As a wildlife biologist for the San Juan National Forest in 1971, Senteney was one of the initial people […]
Posted inAugust 22, 1994: Whose fault? A Utah canyon turns deadly
We aimed for Russia and hit the West
Former Arizona congressman Stewart Udall served as Interior Department Secretary during the 1960s when landmark bills such as the Wilderness Act and Endangered Species Act became law. When Udall returned to Arizona, however, he took on a cause that would change his life. With a team that included members of his family, Udall investigated what […]
Posted inAugust 22, 1994: Whose fault? A Utah canyon turns deadly
Bruce Babbitt in the lion’s den
Elsewhere in this issue (page 4), writer Michael Riley describes how Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt attended a ranchers’ barbecue. At the barbecue, as Babbitt knew they would, speaker after speaker tore into him. Throughout the talks, Riley reports, Babbitt chatted quietly with ranchers and local officials. Babbitt’s visit to the barbecue was another example of […]
Posted inAugust 22, 1994: Whose fault? A Utah canyon turns deadly
Mothering a good forest fire isn’t easy
MEEKER, COLO. – The helicopter flew us toward the smoke. Even in the air, we wore heavy leather boots, jumpsuits and gloves made of Nomex – nothing that would ignite or melt easily. We had to be prepared in case of a forced landing. The Nomex felt surprisingly lightweight: thin protection. We topped the ridge, […]
Posted inAugust 22, 1994: Whose fault? A Utah canyon turns deadly
‘Poor man’s legacy’ may be preserved in Jackson Hole
It is perhaps one of Jackson Hole’s most photographed scenes: A weathered barn in a green meadow rises up against the Tetons. “They say it has angles that correspond with the mountains,” Clark Moulton says of the barn his father started building in 1913. For 81 years, Clark has lived in sight of the Tetons […]
Posted inAugust 22, 1994: Whose fault? A Utah canyon turns deadly
EPA hands off Superfund tailings to Idaho
BOISE, Idaho – In a deal hailed as a first nationwide, the Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to let Idaho environmental authorities take the lead in cleaning up old mine tailings in Triumph, near Sun Valley. The question is, will the state be any more successful than the EPA in devising a cleanup plan for […]
Posted inAugust 22, 1994: Whose fault? A Utah canyon turns deadly
Ex-rancher heads Wilderness Society
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Wilderness Society’s new president says he knows firsthand about life in a small rural community, which is why he opposes Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt’s consensus approach to grazing reform. Babbitt’s advisory councils “lend themselves to responding too much to local biases,” Jon Roush said in an interview last month. “I’ve lived […]
Posted inAugust 22, 1994: Whose fault? A Utah canyon turns deadly
Babbitt thrives in crossfire of industry, environmentalists
CASPER, Wyo. – After Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt testified before a U.S. Senate field hearing here on July 15, Sen. Malcolm Wallop, R-Wyo., invited him to attend a lunchtime barbecue and rally lambasting Interior’s grazing policy. Wallop added jokingly, “We’ve reserved a spit for you.” Perhaps to Wallop’s surprise, the Clinton administration’s top public-lands manager […]
Posted inAugust 22, 1994: Whose fault? A Utah canyon turns deadly
Oregon paper clearcuts a tough reporter
When newsroom staffers at the Portland Oregonian arrived at work Aug. 8, they found the empty desk of Kathie Durbin, the paper’s lead environmental reporter since 1989. The only thing remaining on her desk was the new book Clearcut, which Durbin left behind as a cryptic metaphor to what happened to her. Durbin had resigned, […]
Posted inAugust 22, 1994: Whose fault? A Utah canyon turns deadly
Wildlife among the victims of drought
From New Mexico to the eastern slopes of the Cascades, the West is suffering from a sixth year of drought. Various combinations of thin snowpack, hot weather in spring and summer causing premature runoff, and scant summer rain are to blame. The drought is a contributing factor to wildfires which have burned over 2 million […]
Posted inAugust 22, 1994: Whose fault? A Utah canyon turns deadly
Dear friends
Energy efficient The U.S. Department of Energy has decided that High Country News walks its talk. HCN is one of seven recipients of the agency’s National Energy Awards. The newspaper was selected because its retrofitted building – once a feed and auto parts store – demonstrated admirable energy efficiency. The building was designed by architect […]
Posted inAugust 22, 1994: Whose fault? A Utah canyon turns deadly
Whose fault? A Utah canyon turns deadly
They set out on a bold hike that was meant to build character. Their hike will end as a case number in some climate-controlled courtroom, with lawyers arguing technicalities and trying to cross-examine the dead. Survivors and the two women widowed by the expedition through Kolob canyon, Utah, have inventoried the hell they went through, […]
Posted inAugust 8, 1994: Glitz and growth take a major hit in Santa Fe
Talk about pejoratives
Dear HCN, A recent letter criticized Ed Marston’s review of Rangeland Health (HCN, 4/4/94) in which he described range science as “a handmaiden of the livestock industry.” Marston stands accused of political incorrectness for pejoratively using a female gendered word. At least he was civil. Agriculture faculty in the West’s land-grant universities are often accused […]
Posted inAugust 8, 1994: Glitz and growth take a major hit in Santa Fe
The problem and the solution
Dear HCN, Yellowstone National Park faces a terrific dilemma. Enhancement for recreational visitors or management as a diverse ecosystem? What ecosystem? The pre-Columbian system or the modern system which is a result of endless human tinkering? Of course, this kind of dilemma faces not only Yellowstone, but every place. The overriding goal, which researcher Fred […]
Posted inAugust 8, 1994: Glitz and growth take a major hit in Santa Fe
Outward Bound and Canyonlands
Dear HCN, The reasons the Colorado Outward Bound School is opposed to the Canyonlands Backcountry Management Plan are far greater than group size limits as implied in Florence Williams’ article, “Outdoor Groups Fight Camping Limits’ (HCN, 6/27/94). In fact, the plan proposes to eliminate permits for commercial and educational backpacking groups altogether, thus denying public […]
Posted inAugust 8, 1994: Glitz and growth take a major hit in Santa Fe
Give Smokey Bear a vacation
Dear HCN, Here in my driveway on Carrizo Valley Ranch, I’m sitting on the tailgate of my pickup watching the most vicious forest fire I have ever seen. The entire Patos mountain range is ablaze, producing smoke thermal clouds that can probably be seen from 150 miles away. Flames are visible through the smoke leaping […]