Climate change is causing seas to rise — and threatening cities along the West Coast. At the current rate of greenhouse gas emission, scientists estimate that global temperatures will increase by an average of 8 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century, melting polar ice sheets and upping sea levels by a meter. According […]
As seas rise, cities retreat
Posted inApril 18, 2011: Muddy Waters
A deadly fastball in Denver: A review of The Ringer
The RingerJenny Shank 304 pages, hardcover: $28.The Permanent Press, 2011. The slaying of a Mexican-American immigrant triggers parallel experiences of personal anguish, family discord and cultural dissonance, seen alternately through the eyes of the dead man’s widow and the cop who shot him. “His thoughts were a confusing jumble of elation, dread, relief and fear,” […]
Posted inSupport
Covering the issues that matter
Watch contributing editor Matt Jenkins, as he explains the importance of water in the West!
Posted inRange
Rants from the Hill: What would Edward Abbey do?
“Rants from the Hill” are Michael Branch’s monthly musings on life in the high country of Nevada’s western Great Basin desert. One crisp, blue day late last fall I dodged work in order to climb my home mountain with three friends who were also shirking their adult responsibilities that day. My Silver Hills buddy Steve […]
Posted inWotr
Just call me a RAC star
I got a note from Ken Salazar the other day. I was glad to hear from him. It had been a while since we had visited. Well, OK … we’ve never visited. The secretary of Interior doesn’t know me from Adam’s cat. But still, it was nice to hear from him. I don’t get all […]
Posted inArticles
Can bandits: Recycling fraud hits California
In February 2010, criminal investigators tailed a pair of Penske rental trucks more than 300 miles, from a self-storage facility in Phoenix, Ariz., to a small house on the outskirts of Perris, Calif. They watched as the drivers transferred their loads to two handyman’s vans. Then they drove the vans across town to a set […]
Posted inBlog
Jobs vs. the environment?
A few weeks ago in this space, I bemoaned the slow pace of green energy development in the face of nuclear disaster in Japan and oil-spill devastation in the Gulf of Mexico. As a consumer of both these dirty fuels, I feel complicit in and mostly helpless to change this unsustainable state. I have steadfastly […]
Posted inGoat
Rid(er)ing into the sunset
Last week’s heavily wrangled 2011 federal spending deal brought with it some unexpected baggage. Along with $38 billion in budget cuts, unrelated riders attached to the bill derailed the controversial Bureau of Land Management Wild Lands order and yanked Northern Rockies gray wolves from the endangered species list. Deep cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency […]
Posted inHeard Around the West
Defense mechanisms
COLORADO “Plants can’t run and hide” in the world, so over time, some have evolved the ability to alter their structure when they perceive a threat. That’s the mechanism now being exploited by Colorado State University biologist Jane Medford, as she and some 30 undergraduate and graduate students genetically engineer plants to signal the presence […]
Posted inWotr
Don’t blame it all on global climate change
Recently, I was astonished to read a paper published by a prestigious institution that stated — without qualification — that Colorado’s current bark beetle epidemic could be pinned on the donkey of climate change. More amazing yet, this paper said that Vail Resorts now seeds clouds because of the unreliable snow caused by climate change. […]
Posted inRange
The hard drinkers aren’t in the West
The West has the two-fisted image as a land of hard drinking, but it may not deserve that reputation, according to statistics compiled by America’s Health Rankings. The survey looked at “binge drinking,” defined as the percentage of population over 18 years old which has, in the preceding 30 days, had more than five drinks […]
Posted inArticles
Uncommon Westerner: Bevan Frost crafts custom guitars
Wyoming native and luthier Bevan Frost discusses how he started making guitars, shows some works in progress, and tells how living in the rural West shapes his craft.
Posted inGoat
Bison back-and-forth
A century ago, the federal government took a tribal bison herd and a chunk of tribal land and created the National Bison Range. Roughly 350-500 bison still roam 18,000 acres north of Missoula, Mont., and after years of negotiation, in 2005 the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes finally won back the right to share management […]
Posted inApril 18, 2011: Muddy Waters
Scapegoating Sarah
Folks like to bash Sarah Palin because she is well-known and an easy target, but predator control was going on in Alaska way before Sarah became governor (HCN, 2/21/11). As the chairman of the Alaska Board of Game, I would like people to realize that predator control in Alaska is driven by state statutes that […]
Posted inApril 18, 2011: Muddy Waters
One thumb up, one thumb down
After seeing the cover of HCN in February — a fear-stricken cow moose and a defenseless calf surrounded by wolves — I was pleasantly surprised by Tracy Ross’ article (HCN, 2/21/11). It was a fair assessment of the politics behind the increasingly controversial and risky methods that Alaska is employing to rid the state of […]
Posted inApril 18, 2011: Muddy Waters
Cleverly clean
Kudos to Lake County, Ore., for its support and promotion of renewable energy (HCN, 3/21/11). They clearly have a joint vision, a marketing strategy, and are working together in a collaborative manner. Oregon has become a national leader in the field of clean energy and sustainability. Even with tight budgets, a myriad of agencies continue […]
Posted inApril 18, 2011: Muddy Waters
Air quality and equity
Lee van der Voo’s article on renewable energy development in Lakeview, Ore., was well-balanced and informative (HCN, 3/21/11). There is one energy-related issue in Lakeview that was not mentioned, however: air quality. As in most of the rural West, many folks in and around Lakeview use wood heat. But the area is prone to winter […]
Posted inApril 18, 2011: Muddy Waters
Consumers feel Big Beef’s squeeze, too
Thank you for covering the harm to Western ranchers from consolidation in the cattle industry (HCN, 3/21/11). It’s worth adding that this trend has terrible consequences for consumers as well. Since four corporations control 80 percent of the beef slaughtered in the U.S., in addition to paying ranchers poorly, those companies can charge consumers higher […]
Posted inGoat
New Mexico Exhibit Redefines Landscape Photography
If gallery goers at the opening of Earth Now: American Photographers and the Environment expected mantel-ready frames of distant peaks and sinuous canyons, they would have been surprised by a collection that stands nearly in defiance of traditional landscape photography. “Landscapes can be boring,” said Kate Ware, the exhibition’s curator at the New Mexico Museum […]
Posted inRange
Who’s afraid of the big, bad wolf?
By Heather Hansen, Red Lodge Clearing House As darkness blanketed the land, two cunning predators made their move. Their thirst for blood was intense and, when the opportunity presented itself, they sunk their canines into the soft underbelly of their prey. This eager hunting pair–Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) and Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID)–have doggedly pursued […]