Backers of Alaska’s colossal Pebble Mine, including Republican Gov. Sean Parnell, have predicted tremendous economic benefits from developing what would be the continent’s largest open-pit mine (see map at lower left). But the actual economic forecast is not that clear, and recent events might force a recasting, or even the abandonment, of the scheme. An […]
Worst place for a major mine?
Posted inNovember 25, 2013: Ecosystems 101
California Boomin’
Longtime contributor and former HCN editor Jon Christensen is shaking up the academic world with the latest edition of Boom: A Journal of California. A native Californian and adjunct professor at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, Jon now edits the quarterly that, he says, “strives to bottle that lively mixture of what makes […]
Posted inNovember 25, 2013: Ecosystems 101
Beyond the bright lights
It’s hard to believe but, somehow, whenever I read about Native Americans and casinos in High Country News, I always hear only about the statistics citing the amazing financial boon created by these tributes to modern-day Babylon (“Whose Apache Homelands?” HCN, 10/14/13). Never do I hear but a passing reference to the damage inflicted on individual […]
Posted inNovember 25, 2013: Ecosystems 101
“Bear with me,” he said, and meant it
THE NATIONWhat combines the scents of musky dirt, grain and old-fashioned hay barn in a way that appeals to the discerning cow as well as to your typical wannabe cowboy, who imagines himself “with the sun and dust clouds casting a warm light across his weathered skin?” The answer is Farmer’s Cologne, reports Modern Farmer […]
Posted inNovember 25, 2013: Ecosystems 101
A redneck hippie in search of common ground
Being a self-proclaimed “redneck hippie” and/or “gun-toting liberal,” I really appreciated Brendan Buzzard’s essay (“The lines that bind us,” HCN, 10/14/13). As Buzzard argues, we do need to remember to be human first and treat each other with the respect that all humans deserve. The judgments that are made based on the vehicle a person […]
Posted inNovember 25, 2013: Ecosystems 101
The Latest: Teton pronghorn migration helped by overpasses
BackstoryFor roughly 6,000 years, Wyoming pronghorn have migrated seasonally between the mountains of Grand Teton National Park and the warmer plains of the Upper Green River Basin. The roughly 100-mile journey is among the longest land migrations of North American mammals. But biologists worry that roadways and new energy and housing development threaten to fragment […]
Posted inGoat
California fracking regulations proposal gets mixed response
Last week, California regulators proposed new rules to oversee hydraulic fracturing across the state, and depending on whom you ask, they are either a move toward stronger oversight of the extraction of the state’s oil reserves, or a thinly veiled capitulation to industry. The regulations come as a result of SB 4, which was introduced […]
Posted inGoat
Emerald ash borers arrive in the West. How far will they go?
Alongside the spotted knapweed and zebra mussels, the non-native species is a new unwelcome visitor.
Posted inWotr
On being away from my primal landscape
It was no secret I didn’t want to leave the West.
Posted inNovember 11, 2013: Cosmic Prospecting
A group of paddlers works to make kayaking legal on Yellowstone’s rivers
Should all national park waters be opened to boaters?
Posted inGoat
An important win for black-footed ferret reintroduction
Once a thriving predator on prairie landscapes, the black-footed ferret was squeezed out of its range by agriculture and development, and their populations ravaged by diseases like sylvatic plague, which was introduced from Asia at the turn of the 20th century. Ferrets’ main source of food, prairie dogs, have long been considered pests to agriculture […]
Posted inGoat
Will the farm bill leave private lands conservation behind?
Right now, following the farm bill’s progress seems a lot like watching corn grow. The bill is due for reauthorization and the senators and representatives charged with finding a compromise are under pressure to make progress before Thanksgiving. The major hurdle to clear right now, and that’s received a fair bit of media attention already, […]
Posted inSeptember 4, 1981: Super-trains breed super-terminals
The strategic minerals debate
Two writers debate whether the U.S. should become more self-sufficient in its extraction of minerals critical to industry. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/13.17/download-entire-issue
Posted inRange
Putting politics before science won’t save the lobo
With winter upon us and the days getting noticeably shorter, so too is the time left to speak out on behalf of Mexican gray wolves. Among the country’s most imperiled species, there are only about 75 lobos left in the wild. The ultimate fate of these iconic animals could be decided in the next year […]
Posted inWotr
We need younger hunters
Hunters are aging, and without new hunters to carry on conservation traditions, wild game and habitat will suffer.
Posted inGoat
Why it doesn’t matter whether Colorado’s fracking bans hold up in court
If anything illustrates just how contentious fracking has become on Colorado’s urban Front Range, it’s the closeness of the vote on a Broomfield ballot measure to ban the practice for five years. When results came in after the Nov. 5 election, it had lost by a mere 13 votes, triggering a mandatory recount. Last Thursday, […]
Posted inNovember 11, 2013: Cosmic Prospecting
Cosmic Prospecting in Lead, South Dakota
What happens when an old mining town recruits a physics lab and pursues Big Science?
Posted inGoat
Regulations for Native American ‘artifacts’ auctions may still be too lax
Two weeks ago, a Lakota sacred object advertised as a “Sioux Beaded and Quilled hide Shirt” was set to be auctioned off in Boston, Mass. and was expected to fetch $150,000-250,000. Minutes before the bidding began on Nov. 9, Skinner auction house pulled the item in response to pressure from attorneys and tribal officials representing […]