Last May, Russell Carr crammed his possessions into his 4Runner and drove 30 hours to North Dakota, seeking a new start. The strapping 22-year-old had just earned a degree in civil engineering at the University of Nevada, in his hometown, Reno, but the local firm he’d been courting offered a starting wage of only $17 […]
Oil boom spurs a rush on extractive education programs
Posted inJanuary 21, 2013: Special issue: Natural resources education
Gratuitous hand-wringing
We can’t help the animals unless we understand their needs (“Wildlife Biology Goes High-Tech,” HCN, 12/10/12). In a world of ever-increasing human encroachment on the last pristine habitats, denying people their “God-given right” to property ownership requires justification, and that is why studies such as those cited in Robbins’ story are invaluable. I have marked […]
Posted inJanuary 21, 2013: Special issue: Natural resources education
Education includes people, naturally
When I was 20, I joined a college-abroad program in Kenya, Africa, to study the country’s magnificent wildlife reserves. But my most memorable experience wasn’t the night I nervously watched a herd of elephants crash through our campsite (though that was pretty cool). It came in the dusty, colorful markets of Nairobi. There, walking through […]
Posted inJanuary 21, 2013: Special issue: Natural resources education
Collared collateral damage?
My father pioneered research on California quail in the 1940s, long before telemetry technology of any kind was available (“Wildlife Biology Goes High-Tech,” HCN, 12/10/12). I served as a small-aircraft pilot to monitor collared wolves, and to count animals from the air. More recently, I volunteered to help with a greater sage grouse study in […]
Posted inJanuary 21, 2013: Special issue: Natural resources education
A room with a view
I wanted to thank you for your column “If not here, where?” (HCN, 12/24/12). In mid-October, a 12-panel solar array came online in my backyard. It turns out I love to generate my own power! But there was one problem. The best place for locating the array was in the middle of my backyard — […]
Posted inJanuary 21, 2013: Special issue: Natural resources education
A review of Utah’s Wasatch Range: Four Season Refuge
Utah’s Wasatch Range: Four Season Refuge Howie Garber 211 pages, softcover: $39.95. Peter E. Randall, 2012. Most people in Utah live within 20 miles of the Wasatch Range, whose peaks and canyons provide water for the valley while offering a welcome retreat for those seeking solitude. In Utah’s Wasatch Range: Four Season Refuge, nature photographer […]
Posted inJanuary 21, 2013: Special issue: Natural resources education
Experiential natural resource education thrives in the West
The environmental conundrums facing the West have never been more complex. How do you manage global problems like climate change locally? Is there any way to stop the cheatgrass invasion? Can the forest help our economy while protecting our watershed? And what’s going on with those bears east of town? The next generation must tackle […]
Posted inJanuary 21, 2013: Special issue: Natural resources education
A big thank-you to our supporters
We’re growing! Congrats to the many readers who recently stepped up to nourish the HCN community. You helped us blow the doors off our holiday gift-giving goal of 500 new subscribers. As we go to press, you’ve given at least 750 new gift subscriptions to family members, friends and colleagues, who, like you, care about […]
Posted inGoat
Get used to the new normal
There’s fine dust in the tire ruts now Along the old feed road They’re workin’ on a six year drought Just so you know -James McMurtry, “Six Year Drought” If it seems like there’s less snow on the ground than there used to be, it’s not your imagination. This year, the folks at the Natural […]
Posted inWotr
When road hogs get really, really big
I love living in rural Montana, where every census confirms out-migration. But much as I enjoy it, there are a few disadvantages, such as spotty cell phone service, access to only two free television stations, wilted produce at the grocery store, and lately, incredibly huge loads of equipment that clog our narrow, two-lane highways. Recently, […]
Posted inArticles
My low-impact life
My low-impact life did not grow out of my concern for the environment, or anything the least bit altruistic. It sprang from my desire to get an education without falling into debt. Just back from caretaking an isolated Canadian fishing camp, I faced the challenge of finding an inexpensive place to rent in Bozeman, Mont., […]
Posted inRange
Target shooting on public lands: still an issue
So another year has arrived, and yet again we’re mired in a nationwide debate about the role of guns in American society. Let me note right away that this blog post is about guns and public lands, not guns in general. However, some context is in order, and, I think, relevant. As usual, a terrible […]
Posted inGoat
FDA ruling on GMO salmon worries Alaska fishermen
On January 2, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game released its annual fisheries forecast for the Copper River region, famous for its prolific runs of succulent salmon. The forecast, awaited each year by fisherman living in the region’s port towns, makes predictions based on the previous years’ harvest, weather patterns, and a variety of […]
Posted inWotr
The Wild and not so gun-loving West
On summer evenings in the former mining town of Silverton, Colo., the staccato sound of gunshots used to echo through otherwise quiet streets. A cast of stereotypical Old West characters riddled one another with bullets, as the legendary gunfighters did once upon a time in the West. Except that those kind of shoot-‘em-ups didn’t happen […]
Posted inRange
What’s the rush?
By Heather Hansen, Red Lodge Clearing House For about a year I’ve been avoiding writing about a potential environmental catastrophe that’s been nagging at me. My hesitation is due primarily to a concern over telling sovereign native tribes what to do. But it’s a new year, and this is a big deal, so I’m wading […]
Posted inArticles
Protecting culture in the ancient Sky City
About an hour west of Albuquerque, N.M., a sandstone bluff rises above the high desert floor. For more than 800 years, the people of Acoma Pueblo have lived there, protecting their culture, language and many traditional ways. Archaeologist Theresa Pasqual, the director of the Acoma Pueblo’s Historic Preservation Office, works with state and federal agencies […]
Posted inWotr
Admitting ignorance can be a good thing
At the risk of sounding like I’m a bubble or two off plumb, I’d like to ask our natural resource decision-makers to try something new as we start 2013. I’d like them to decide things based on what they don’t know, rather than on what they do. If it seems counter-intuitive to plan the future […]
Posted inGoat
Reorganization or regression?
The New York Times made news last week when InsideClimate News reported it was dismantling its nine-person environmental news team. The reporters and editors on the environment desk, which has been around since 2009 and has its own section heading on the Times’ website, will not be laid off, but shuffled to other areas of […]
Posted inRange
A “tail” of two kitties: jaguars and ocelots on the comeback trail
By Matt Clark, Defenders of Wildlife Many people are surprised to learn that both jaguars and elusive wild cats known as ocelots are native Arizonans, and still roam the U.S.-Mexico borderlands to this day. They are even more intrigued to learn there is a breeding population of jaguars only 125 miles south of the border […]