Plans to construct a new road and railroad tracks through the Narrows of southeastern Idaho’s Blackfoot River to transport personnel, materials and ore for new phosphate mining operations could severely damage cutthroat trout habitat. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/7.25/download-entire-issue
Newest threat to Idaho’s fish — phosphate mining
Ranchers challenge Montana reclamation study
Montana ranchers whose land is likely to be stripped mined for coal are doubtful of a study that found that stripped-mined land can be effectively reclaimed. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/8.25/download-entire-issue
Mercer County, N.D., approves rezoning for gasification plant
In a sudden decision that shocked the community of Hazen, North Dakota, the Mercer County Commissioner granted rezoning of 1,575 acres for a giant coal gasification plant. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/8.25/download-entire-issue
Domestic technology offers low-income people opportunity
At a time when energy prices are making it increasingly difficult for people to make ends meet, Malcolm Lillywhite shows people simple technology that they can use to produce quality food and shelter at low cost. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/8.25/download-entire-issue
Utah oil shale boom: not if, but when
Unknowns are plaguing oil shale development southwest of Vernal, Utah, but the burst of optimism for oil shale in the early 1970s has many local residents saying that extraction of oil from their abundant rock is inevitable. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/8.24/download-entire-issue
Steven Mather rescued languishing national parks
Steven Mather entered the Interior Department before the National Park Service existed, and helped consolidate the national parks under a strong mission of preservation. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/8.24/download-entire-issue
Camp fosters environmental awareness
In Colorado, the High Trails program, which brings students into direct contact with nature in small groups, is fast gaining attention as a leader in environmental education. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/8.24/download-entire-issue
Grizzly critical habitat — what will be excluded?
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has released its suggested boundaries for grizzly bear habitat in the Lower 48 States; many high country residents are up in arms because activities like logging, according to the FWS, may have to be “modified” in critical habitat. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/8.23/download-entire-issue
Eleen Williams: preserving the past
Ellen Williams, the postmaster general in the town of Dutch John in northeastern Utah, has spent the past several years attempting to preserve and restore the historical remnants of nearby Browns Park, an Old West ranch outpost and outlaw hideout. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/8.23/download-entire-issue
Boulder adopts plan to slow growth
Boulder, Colorado, has become the first community in the Rocky Mountain West to attempt to slow down its growth rate by city ordinance, which will limit the amount of new housing. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/8.23/download-entire-issue
Uranium experiment moves into northeast Colorado
Residents of Weld County, Colorado, are worried that proposed uranium mining in the area will destroy farmland. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/8.22/download-entire-issue
The boom town — after the statisticians fo home
Rock Springs — Wyoming’s best known boom town — has become a symbol of what happens to a town when development hits suddenly, leaving local officials unprepared. HCN chatted informally with Rock Springs oldtimers about the continuing effects of the boom. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/8.22/download-entire-issue
Alunite-to-alumina plant proposed for southwest Utah
Unstable supplies of bauxite — the main raw material of aluminum — have prompted the government and industry to search for new bauxite substitutes such as alunite. Southwest Utah has that resource and residents there are apparently welcoming the industry. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/8.22/download-entire-issue
Wyoming ag water loans aid energy industry
Several energy companies in Wyoming are managing to provide for their water needs with the aid of state loans allocated for the development of agricultural water supplies. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/8.21/download-entire-issue
Telluride blues, a hatchet job
Telluride, Colorado, formerly an honest, decayed little mining town of about 300 souls, is now a bustling whore of a ski resort with a population of 1,500 and many more to come. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/8.21/download-entire-issue
Politics prevent fair nuclear initiative contest
Events in the months preceding Montana’s election have convinced nuclear initiative proponents that Montana is a state where large corporate interests still have an unusually strong hold on state government. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/8.21/download-entire-issue
Rocks, rivers, snakes, solitude — Owyhee
Two spectacular river gorges in southwest Idaho — the Owyhee and the Bruneau — are being considered for study as possible national wild and scenic rivers, with surrounding primitive areas. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/8.20/download-entire-issue
Denver growth demands more dams
The Denver Water Board proposes to construct the $350 million Two Forks Dam on the South Platte River to meet Denver’s growing water needs. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/8.20/download-entire-issue
Congress preserves new wild areas
A summary of the bills that passed and failed in the scramble that occurred before Congress adjourned, including legislation concerning strip mining, wild rivers, synfuels subsidies, wilderness, water pollution, and more. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/8.20/download-entire-issue
Sheet metal firm sells ‘Sun Grabber’
Don Erickson is a modest, cautious man. These qualities set him apart from most other solar energy equipment manufacturers eager to build a market for a new product. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/8.19/download-entire-issue
