Readers voted in our bracket-style tournament to crown the West’s best public lands on which to recreate.
Battle of the Lands: Denali wins
Outfitters seek exemption from new federal minimum wage
Bill would allow recreation businesses to operate on federal land without paying staff $10.10 an hour.
HCN forum: Local control in a federal West
Hear a panel of experts discuss whether communities should have more authority over federal lands in their backyards.
Senate committee votes to block Obama’s clean water rule
Republicans say new rule would give the federal government too much authority over waterways and wetlands.
Prairie dog case challenges ESA
District judge rules ESA has no say over species that don’t have multi-state presence or economic impact.
Mad Max rides into the West
Last Thursday, I emerged from a movie theatre weak-kneed and sweaty-pitted, nerves fried and brain buzzing, simultaneously terrified and exhilarated by the sight of my own car in the parking lot. I had just seen Mad Max: Fury Road, George Miller’s deranged ode to vehicles, explosions, and maybe, just maybe, the importance of environmental advocacy. Most […]
BLM advances solar project that will harm bighorn sheep
The Bechtel Corporation’s Soda Mountain solar farm will undo decades of conservation in California.
Bipartisan weather emerges in the Northern Rockies
Blustery winds that tear at your exposed skin and clothing day after day, keeping you on edge. Outbursts of bone-rattling thunder and lightning strikes on top of you, followed by pounding rain and barrages of hailstones that force everyone to scurry for cover. Mud galore. But occasionally, through magical openings in the clouds, sunlight beams […]
Natural gas leaks are dangerous and exacerbate climate change
Plus, enough gas has escaped infrastructure since 2010 to heat 170,000 homes for a year.
EPA says fracking could contaminate drinking water
Feds identify no widespread problem but concede to insufficient data.
Wetland clarification
A little clarification is needed to better understand the setting of “The Wetland Wars” (HCN, 5/11/15). The Los Angeles River did not flow continuously through the Ballona Wetlands previous to the calamitous flood of 1825. A flood that had occurred 10 years earlier caused the river to shift westward, away from the hundreds of square […]
Trade imbalance
There is something missing from “Trade winds blow through the West” (HCN, 5/25/15). There is much talk about poor Rifle and other communities suffering from depressed natural gas production, and the hopes that the Trans-Pacific Partnership will once again increase production and, therefore, jobs in the West. This is undoubtedly true. But what about the obvious […]
The precious common
Imagine a white burqa crossed with a beekeeper’s suit. At the end of one arm protrudes a pterodactyl-esque puppet head with a long bill, a blazing red pate and cheeks streaked a vivid black. But its golden eyes are flat and unmoving, like those of a specimen in a museum diorama. If you’re a whooping […]
Southwest rain, Endangered Species Act, school-to-prison pipeline and more.
Hcn.org news in brief.
Shallow understanding
Reader Brandt Mannchen takes issue with rainwater harvesting as presented in a recent article (“Letters,” HCN, 5/25/15; “Tucson’s rain-catching revolution” HCN, 4/27/15)). He deplores local Tucson water expert Brent Cluff’s belief that “water harvesting could support unlimited growth.” I know of Brent Cluff but have never heard of and certainly do not share this opinion. […]
Remembering ‘the creek’
“The Wetland Wars” struck a chord with me. I went to Loyola Marymount University from 1960 to 1963. The campus was above and just to the east of Ballona Creek. In that era, it was known as “the creek.” After a long day, I often walked around the area to capture some of the tranquility […]
New perspective from Edward Abbey on the river
Review of ‘The Hidden Canyon: A River Journey’ by John Blaustein
Senate approves major reform of the chemical safety law
The biggest bipartisan environmental legislation to pass the Senate in decades.
Lust for fungi
A writer has a holy experience while mushroom hunting in southern Oregon.
Latest: Toxic fumes inhalation added to list of oil & gas worker dangers
Center for Disease Control investigates recent deaths.
