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

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

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, 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

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

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

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

Excerpts from a speech delivered by Edward Abbey at a conference in Vail, Colorado. “I say the industrialization of the Rocky Mountain West is not inevitable and that to plan for such a catastrophe is to invite it …” Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/8.19/download-entire-issue

In remote Jeffrey City, Wyoming, owned and operated by Western Nuclear, some women are determined to get out and participate in activities while others prefer the refuge of their homes. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/8.18/download-entire-issue

Though John Wesley Powell had enlightened ideas — such as dividing the West into states based on watershed boundaries — most of the reforms he proposed weren’t accepted during his lifetime. The second in a two-part series by Peter Wild. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/8.18/download-entire-issue

Until recently everyone worried about whooping cranes, whales, and bald eagles. Now, butterflies are the first insects to join the ranks of the U.S. Endangered Species List. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/8.17/download-entire-issue

John Wesley Powell told the hard truth about the West, but his advice for a more considerate approach to westward expansion was widely scorned and largely rejected. The first in a two-part series by Peter Wild. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/8.17/download-entire-issue

Residents of the tiny mountain community of Shell, Wyoming, emerged from an unlikely planning meeting with smiles on their faces, having created a land-use plan that apparently satisfied even those who were most opposed. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/8.16/download-entire-issue

The threat of the federal government designating parts of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming as grizzly bear critical habitat has some people more frightened than if they had actually met one of the awesome creatures on the trail. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/8.16/download-entire-issue