Within hours of the Jan. 8 shopping-mall shooting spree in Arizona, there was already a journalistic term for it: Tucson, as in “How can we prevent another Tucson?” Tucson is a city with 544,000 residents where lots of things happen besides 19 people getting wounded, six of them fatally. People live, work, play and worship […]
The peculiar geography of tragedy
Posted inGoat
The Visual West — Image 4
Though the days are slowly lengthening, the orchards in Western Colorado still sleep under a blanket of snow. In this shot, two kids on the way home from school cut through a pear orchard outside Paonia, Colorado. Hard to imagine that in just a couple of months this scene will be awash in white petals […]
Posted inJanuary 24, 2011: Serendipity in the Desert
Challenges pile up for avalanche mitigation on mountain highways
Backcountry skiers complicate slide control
Posted inGoat
A “New Era” for Indian Country?
“The Indian Nations can do the work–if the federal government will clear the way for us to exercise our liberty and thus make a new era and a more perfect union.” That was Jefferson Keel yesterday, President of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), in his State of Indian Nations Address. His point, very […]
Posted inJanuary 24, 2011: Serendipity in the Desert
Depth afield
Why is the Western image so appealing?
Posted inRange
When emotion drives the wolf debate, research suffers
By Steve Bunk, 1-27-11 All the information out there, informed and uninformed, surely has raised awareness that wolves are important to many of us, whether by their presence or absence. But how good are we at recognizing and using accurate information to shape our opinions? As a former science journalist, what’s become clear in the […]
Posted inGoat
Of beetles and borders
The mountain pine beetle’s red hand of death (see photo below) continues to plunder Rocky Mountain forests, according to a report released last week by the U.S. and Colorado forest services. The rampant pest chomped through another 400,000 acres of pines in Colorado and southern Wyoming last year, for a grand total of four million […]
Posted inHeard Around the West
Llamas and coyotes and bears, oh my
THE WEST We’ve always relished the anecdote about the brand-new Wyoming congressman who made the mistake of bringing his border collie to Washington, D.C. Border collies originally hail from the English-Scottish borderlands, and they are super-smart and quintessentially alert: They live to round up animals, including ducks and people — virtually anything that moves if […]
Posted inRange
HCN reader photo – chariot racing!
This week’s stunning image comes from photographer Daryl Hunter. It’s from a horse-drawn chariot race (the horses pull a cutter) in Jackson, Wyo.
Posted inJanuary 24, 2011: Serendipity in the Desert
Small poultry farmers grapple with lack of slaughterhouses
Producers in Oregon and beyond can’t find places to butcher chickens
Posted inGoat
Sexual assault on the rez
Will the Obama administration’s efforts in Indian Country help end a decades-long epidemic of sexual violence and abuse against women on reservations? One can only hope that the momentum spurred by the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 and the work of a new Department of Justice task force to streamline prosecution of violent […]
Posted inGoat
When deer mice attack
Graying, skeletal aspens and fluid-filled lungs. No connection, right? Wrong. This little guy is a deer mouse. Cute, sure. But deer mice are the primary vectors for the “sin nombre” form of hantavirus — a nasty bug transmitted primarily through the rodent’s feces and urine which causes flu-like symptoms and, in later stages of infection, […]
Posted inBlog
The State of the Union and the environment
When President Obama delivers his State of the Union address tomorrow night he’ll likely focus much of his attention on the economy and jobs — and the lack of them in this country. It’s also expected that the President will further signal a centrist drift. It’s unlikely the President will spend much time discussing the […]
Posted inRange
Is Recreation in the Rockies Becoming a Bigger Forest Service Priority?
By Steve Bunk, 1-25-11 The West’s outdoor recreational industry—including ski resorts, outfitters, and others—is on track to have a stronger say in how national forests are managed in coming years. A vigorous lobbying effort, in which recreational groups and politicians of Rocky Mountain states played key roles, has had a big impact on new regulations […]
Posted inRange
Health cuts and Indian Country
Journalists like me have played the role of Chicken Little for many years. We have written dozens of stories about the consequences of an election, predicting what will happen after Republicans win and fulfill their promises to drastically cut government. Only very little happened. Sure, there were significant budget cuts and restructuring of programs under […]
Posted inRange
The return of nullification
The “Doctrine of Nullification” may be known only to American history buffs, but that could soon change, for Idaho is about to resurrect it and several other states — mostly in the West — appear poised to follow. Put briefly, the Doctrine holds that states have the authority to declare a federal law unconstitutional and […]
Posted inGoat
Mud Woman Rolls On
Coming January 30, the Denver Art Museum will open the doors to its freshly renovated American Indian galleries, featuring the well-known Santa Clara Pueblo sculptor Roxanne Swentzell among other fine artists. “People think there are no artists on our floor,” curator of native arts Nancy Blomberg says, referring to the stereotype of American Indian artists […]
Posted inJanuary 24, 2011: Serendipity in the Desert
Ronald Reagan: The accidental environmentalist
Expect to be hearing plenty about Ronald Reagan: The centennial of his birth is coming up soon. Our 40th president was born on Feb. 6, 1911, in Tampico, Ill. A commemorative postage stamp is in the works, along with traveling exhibits, academic symposiums and sculpture unveilings. Few Western environmentalists will be celebrating — but maybe […]
Posted inJanuary 24, 2011: Serendipity in the Desert
Utah’s Sagebrush Rebellion capital mellows as animal-lovers and enviros move in
Kanab, UtahOn a crisp June morning in the heart of Sagebrush Rebel country, a steady stream of rental cars, minivans and SUVs flows north from Kanab on Highway 89, heading toward the serene, red-rock walls of Angel Canyon. As the highway curves, the landscape flickers through sun and shadows, the sandstone glowing like embers in […]