Dear HCN, Steve Stuebner’s article on the Idaho Training Range (HCN, 1/24/94, p. 5), a proposed Air Force bombing range that will turn approximately 3 million acres of southwest Idaho into a virtual battle zone, accurately reflects the stakes for Idaho’s environment. Environmentalists in other Western states ought to pay close attention to the Pentagon’s […]
Watch out for the military
Posted inApril 18, 1994: The salmon win one
Blah, blah, blah
Dear HCN, I don’t care much for Jeffrey St. Clair’s writing. This was my reaction to the first essay of his that I saw in your paper; and the feeling is only reinforced by his second essay (HCN, 3/21/94). Both pieces seek to validate accusations with such meaningless generalizations as “ecological cleansing” and “intellectual venereal […]
Posted inApril 18, 1994: The salmon win one
Environmentalists are revolutionaries
Dear HCN, As an environmentalist, I was surprised at Ed Marston’s conclusion in his recent HCN, essay (-How to turn lemonade into lemons,” March 21) that “the goal of environmentalism was never to achieve a cultural revolution.” Silly me. I thought I was part of a social movement with a goal of enacting fundamental social […]
Posted inApril 18, 1994: The salmon win one
We pay for a “nice way of life’
Dear HCN, It is hard to realize that less than 29,000 ranchers in the West can have such an unreasonable political influence over public lands. Some major industries have laid off more employees than the total number of ranchers in the West. We doubt that condominiums will ever replace ranches. The isolation, severe weather, lack […]
Posted inApril 18, 1994: The salmon win one
Bring back real estate ads
Dear HCN, I just noted your new policy of not running real estate ads and wanted to say that this was one of the features I really enjoy about HCN. Why not limit the wording in some way? Your readership is an excellent target audience for environmentally unique properties. Also, if they buy it, your […]
Posted inApril 18, 1994: The salmon win one
Observations from a cattleman
Dear HCN, I read your paper with interest, amusement and sometimes disgust. First, I want to inform you that I am a 73-year-old cattleman as well as a staunch environmentalist. Despite your beliefs to the contrary, a man can be both and many are. I’m even in favor of the reintroduction of wolves. The majority […]
Posted inApril 18, 1994: The salmon win one
They’re still cutting and running
Dear HCN, Kudos to HCN and writer Sherry Devlin for the timely piece on Western timber issues (-Timber companies export logs – and jobs – to Asia’) (HCN, 3/21/94). During research in 1988 for my book, Cut and Run: Saying Goodbye to the Last Great Forest in the West, I learned how successful the timber […]
Posted inApril 18, 1994: The salmon win one
Sacred places revisted
Dear HCN, Rob White in his essay “Sacred Places’ (HCN, 3/7/94) offers no alternative to what he sees as the evil of “making” places sacred. He states that it’s wrong, spiritually. Then what is right? Self-imposed exile from all non-urban places? Purely scientific investigation, excising any spiritual “response’? Absolute secrecy and muteness about what may […]
Posted inApril 18, 1994: The salmon win one
Talk wild
This summer some 330 high school students will build trails in parks and national forests as volunteers for the Student Conservation Association. But their minds require a workout, too. The non-profit SCA needs people to visit backcountry crews and spend time talking to them about natural resource issues. Previous “Educators Bureau” speakers have shared information […]
Posted inApril 18, 1994: The salmon win one
Recylcing service goes regional
Recyclers in the Rocky Mountain West will soon have the opportunity to link up by computer. RecycleNet, an electronic bulletin board based in Colorado, plans to expand services this summer to Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, thanks to a $10,000 federal grant. The service encourages those in hands-on, day-to-day recycling programs […]
Posted inApril 18, 1994: The salmon win one
Heroes and zeroes
Western politicians rack up some of the worst environmental voting records, according to the Washington, D.C.-based League of Conservation Voters. Scoring below 11 percent were Republican senators Dirk Kempthorne, Idaho; Conrad Burns, Montana; Pete Domenici, New Mexico; Bob Packwood, Oregon; Malcolm Wallop, Wyoming; and Larry Pressler, South Dakota. Experts from 27 environmental groups chose the […]
Posted inApril 18, 1994: The salmon win one
Consensus on tape
The consensus approach to public-land grazing is like ecosystem management: a largely undefined process. To ground matters, Oregon State University has produced a 29-minute video titled, “The Miracle at Bridge Creek.” It examines how the Oregon Watershed Improvement Coalition brought together the various players on public-land grazing to improve several Oregon watersheds. The video is […]
Posted inApril 18, 1994: The salmon win one
From driveways to watersheds
Suburbs and ranchettes sprouting across the Western landscape often add pollution to already burdened watersheds. Residential pollution comes from oil, pesticides, and fertilizers washed off driveways and yards. The University of Nevada Cooperative Extension in Reno has launched an effort to reduce nonpoint pollution of the Truckee River by educating residents about sources of pollution […]
Posted inApril 18, 1994: The salmon win one
A word for the wild
The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act protects rivers and streams – no matter how small – from development and pollution. In Colorado, the Cache la Poudre remains the only river protected under the act. The non-profit Colorado Environmental Coalition would like more free-flowing rivers designated, but needs help to identify the most remarkable in Colorado. […]
Posted inApril 18, 1994: The salmon win one
Charisma counts
Although Americans want a balanced and healthy ecosystem and favor the right of all species to exist, turtles and otters are valued above rodents and insects. Donald Coursey, public policy specialist at the University of Chicago, says his national survey “showed a difference between the public’s walk and their talk.” Conducted last fall, the survey […]
Posted inApril 18, 1994: The salmon win one
Northwest forest watchers
Who says writing letters doesn’t work? Last fall Okanogan National Forest in Washington received over 700 letters protesting a draft environmental impact statement for the Granite Mountain Roadless Area. As a result, forest officials dropped plans to build at least 30 miles of new roads and log 15 million board-feet of timber. Leaders of Methow […]
Posted inApril 18, 1994: The salmon win one
A leaking public lands fund
The Clinton administration recently proposed spending $254 million of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The amount – less than anything proposed by the Bush administration – shocked some environmentalists. They hoped Clinton would tap more of the $900 million that flows each year into the fund, primarily from offshore oil drilling royalties. Environmentalists calculate […]
Posted inApril 18, 1994: The salmon win one
Wildlife advocates stand firm
Despite pressure from Idaho Gov. Cecil Andrus not to testify against the proposed Owyhee Canyon bombing range, both the Idaho Fish and Game Department and its appointed commission came out against it (HCN, 1/24/94). At a recent public hearing, department representatives opposed the northern portion of the bombing range, saying it seriously threatens the protection […]
Posted inApril 18, 1994: The salmon win one
Recovery plan bearly there
Seventeen environmental groups said March 16 they will sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service because its Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan will fail. The announcement follows a similar notice filed by three other groups in late January (HCN, 2/21/94). All say the federal plan needs to include more specific standards for the protection of core […]
Posted inApril 18, 1994: The salmon win one
South Pass reconsidered
A Wyoming environmental group has been successful in getting the Bureau of Land Management to reconsider the route of a natural gas pipeline over historic South Pass. Following a tour of the area last year, the Wyoming Outdoor Council convinced former BLM chief Jim Baca to reconsider the route. Council founder Tom Bell and other […]