Review of ‘Water to the Angels’ by Les Standiford.
The man behind the monumental aqueduct
Posted inAugust 17, 2015: Little Big Bird
The Latest: San Carlos Apache lobbies to protect lands threatened by copper mining
Resolution Copper company engineered a land swap with the feds, but locals oppose it.
Posted inAugust 17, 2015: Little Big Bird
The Latest: Boulder-White Clouds in Idaho becomes wilderness
Congress gives the highest protection to the area — to avoid an even-larger national monument.
Posted inAugust 17, 2015: Little Big Bird
The hammer that never fell
Twenty years ago, I got into an argument with a wildlife biologist over the Endangered Species Act. Environmentalists, he said, were abusing the law in their quest to create an ecologically pristine West devoid of loggers, ranchers and other salt-of-the-earth Westerners. By relentlessly pushing the federal government to protect ever more species and habitat, and […]
Posted inAugust 17, 2015: Little Big Bird
How Utah benefits from the national parks it neglects
Sometimes you get your heart’s desire, and it’s too much. On May 23, the Utah Highway Patrol had to close the entrance to Arches National Park after traffic got backed up for five miles on the highway into nearby Moab. Southwest of Arches, Zion National Park and its gateway town of Springdale also suffer from […]
Posted inAugust 17, 2015: Little Big Bird
Sea lions feast on Columbia salmon
Fishermen, tribes and environmentalists flummoxed as predator numbers swell below Bonneville Dam.
Posted inAugust 17, 2015: Little Big Bird
Photographs of the sagebrush sea
Review of ‘Sage Spirit: The American West at a Crossroads’ by Dave Showalter.
Posted inAugust 17, 2015: Little Big Bird
Dreaming where I walk
An Indian writer becomes an American citizen — and finds herself.
Posted inAugust 17, 2015: Little Big Bird
Climate showdown, increase in driving, where the wildfires are this season, and more.
Hcn.org news in brief.
Posted inAugust 17, 2015: Little Big Bird
Tracking grazing’s impacts on bugs
A Montana biologist studies how livestock influence a favorite sage grouse food source.
Posted inAugust 17, 2015: Little Big Bird
Timeline of the sage grouse saga
One step forward, two steps back, starting from 1995.
Posted inAugust 17, 2015: Little Big Bird
The Endangered Species Act’s biggest experiment
Will an unprecedented collaborative effort and lots of tax dollars be enough to finally save sage grouse?
Posted inAugust 17, 2015: Little Big Bird
Beekeepers vs. invasive species rules on federal lands
Should apiarists be allowed to place hives of non-native honeybees on public lands?
Posted inAugust 17, 2015: Little Big Bird
Accolades and visitors
Reporter Doug Fox wins a big award for his HCN story, ‘Dust Detectives.’
Posted inAugust 17, 2015: Little Big Bird
A biker starts a fire and tourists still underestimate bison.
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inArticles
A military proposal to use more public lands riles locals in Washington
Residents worry about helicopters landing regularly near trails, campgrounds and wildlife.
Posted inArticles
Wyoming town wants low royalties for coal companies
In Interior Department listening session, Gillette miners air fears of new regulations.
Posted inArticles
Shell exacerbates housing shortage in Alaska port town
Nation’s largest fishing port was already short on housing. With Shell in town, locals say things are getting worse.
Posted inArticles
Nevada’s gold mining industry is hanging on — for now
Gold producers in Elko see job growth, despite an international price drop.
Posted inArticles
Former Montana official: Coal companies must pay their fair share
Every few decades, stories erupt in the press over waste, corruption and abuse of the management of federal minerals. While never fully tallied, the revenue lost by the American people and Indian tribes is undoubtedly huge, running into billions upon billions of dollars. The latest scandal involves the failure of coal companies to pay fair […]