Earlier this month, the Environmental Working Group — the D.C.-based nonprofit that helps the green-conscious decide which sunscreen to wear and what to wash their dishes with — was rallying California followers to contact state legislators in support of a bill to regulate fracking. The sun was about to set on California’s 2012-2013 legislative session […]
Environmentalists turn on California’s first real fracking law
Posted inGoat
What IS glamping, anyway?
Retired Associated Press editor William Kronholm and his wife recently spent six days on the Salmon River in Idaho, rafting during the day and enjoying a gourmet meal with wine each night before retiring to their tent, complete with a mattress, fluffy pillows and floor rug. Kronholm, whose previous standard for wilderness luxury was simply […]
Posted inSeptember 2, 2013: Of Sparrows and Sodbusters
The story of Gimpy
An injured black bear draws sympathy from the community.
Posted inRange
Fight the Green River nuclear reactors project in Utah
Drive south from Price, Utah for about an hour until Route 6 intersects with I-70. On your right, toward the west, the stunning San Rafael Reef rises. And on the left, the eastern Book Cliffs rise. And, just there, to the east of Route 6, if the energy development company, Blue Castle Holdings, and Utah […]
Posted inGoat
The wilderness therapy industry seeks to reinvent itself
In the basement classroom where the first Wilderness Therapy Symposium was held in 2002, event director Jim Lavin put out a plate of cookies and a bowl of Doritos and hoped for the best. Today, the event is held at an upscale hotel in Boulder, Colo., and Lavin spends a couple thousand dollars on hors […]
Posted inWotr
Why don’t you relax, already?
Some vacationers take days before they finally notice the natural world and truly let go.
Posted inWotr
In Alaska, fishing can be a true harvest
Fishing on the Kenai Peninsula and realizing what we’ve lost in the Lower 48.
Posted inSeptember 2, 2013: Of Sparrows and Sodbusters
New musical celebrates the nation’s first openly transgender mayor
‘Stu for Silverton’ debuted this summer in Seattle.
Posted inGoat
Montana takes another step toward restoring free-roaming bison herds
When 34 Yellowstone National Park bison bounded off a trailer into north central Montana this August, their century-long absence from Fort Belknap Reservation ended. The repatriation comes at a time when Montana is making gradual progress towards fostering free-roaming bison herds. While hundreds of thousands of bison live in Montana, most are commercial stock carrying cattle […]
Posted inGoat
House Republicans give ground on immigration reform a bit too late
Last fall, many read Barack Obama’s victory over Mitt Romney – who, according to Reuters, had advocated “ ‘self-deportation,’ … essentially call(ing) on the government to make life so miserable for the nation’s 11 million undocumented immigrants, most of whom are Hispanics, that many would leave on their own” – as a sort of mandate […]
Posted inSeptember 2, 2013: Of Sparrows and Sodbusters
Of Sparrows and Sodbusters
Western and Mexican conservationists race against time to save grasslands — and the species that depend on them
Posted inGoat
Forgiving Winslow, Arizona – not just another Marfa
Winslow, Ariz. has been described as sad, depressed, quiet, dead and creepy. Buildings once housing bustling businesses were abandoned and not even secured, left to the pigeons. A local gas station reportedly had spelled out “God Hates Winslow” on its sign. That’s probably not fair: The reservation border town of 10,000, once the economic and […]
Posted inGoat
Planning for drought while in one: Colorado is a model for the region
In the spring of 2002, Colorado temperatures were averaging four degrees above normal. Snowpack began disappearing at an alarming rate, and rain was scant. Then the fires started. The Hayman Fire, 215 square miles southwest of Denver, tore through nearly $200 million in firefighting costs alone. “(That summer) was hellacious,” remembers Reagan Waskom, co-chair of the […]
Posted inSeptember 2, 2013: Of Sparrows and Sodbusters
Joshua Zaffos on the Front Range fracking wars
The debate over the drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing is heating up this fall, as several cities along Colorado’s Front Range prepare to vote on fracking bans or moratoriums. In a story in the current issue of High Country News, Joshua Zaffos documents the groundswell of Front Range opposition to fracking, and he also describes […]
Posted inWotr
When it comes to our natural resources, we’re all in the same boat
Sen. Michael Bennet assembles a diverse group for a float – and talkfest – on the Green River.
Posted inGoat
Canyonlands National Park adds backcountry poop restrictions
Starting Sept. 22, the phrase “Pack it in, pack it out” will have a new meaning to visitors at Canyonlands National Park in southern Utah. When nature calls, backcountry campers will no longer be able to simply dig a hole to leave their organic deposit. The park’s remote southeastern Needles District is joining a growing […]
Posted inSeptember 2, 2013: Of Sparrows and Sodbusters
Front Range drilldown
In the fight over oil and gas regulation, local control gains ground.
Posted inGoat
Lynn Scarlett, top Bush official, joins The Nature Conservancy
It’s no surprise that federal officials often end up employed by various think-tanks, nonprofits and trade groups once their stints on Capitol Hill are over. For example, here’s where some George W. Bush administration folks have gone: Dale Hall, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service director, is now CEO of Ducks Unlimited. Dave Tenny, who headed […]
Posted inWotr
Ski mountains move to stop climate change
Winter recreation is just one potential casualty of a changing climate.
Posted inSeptember 2, 2013: Of Sparrows and Sodbusters
Idaho Power is waging war on renewable energy. Is it winning?
One of the West’s great old-school monopolies and its multi-pronged attack on wind and solar.