Two stories about mining projects in California that crossed my path last week remind me that some narratives just don’t seem to go away. Whether it’s taking advantage of gold’s record high prices or carving away at river-side hills for rock and stone, it seems a given that economic boons obscure questions about associated environmental […]
What’s old is new again
Posted inNovember 22, 2010: Hardrock Showdown
A divine business
Montanan claims uncanny ability to locate water — and just about anything else
Posted inBlog
Cobell, settled at last
Federal government finally accounts for money mismanagement of tribal nations.
Posted inWotr
Living with wolves takes some practice
I paddle to a favorite meadow with my friend, Solan. It’s late summer in southeast Alaska, when the tall grasses are turning yellow and the mountaintops are lost in clouds. Coming ashore, we step over dead salmon dragged from the stream by bears. Walking toward the stream, I talk about the time I watched a […]
Posted inBlog
The fracking fracas
By Heather Hansen When the EPA sent a subpoena to Halliburton earlier this month, demanding to know what’s in the fluid used to drive their hydraulic fracturing process for natural gas and oil production, industry watchers braced for a showdown. But, less than a week later, the company (which is one of the largest oilfield […]
Posted inRange
Sunshine and transmission lines
Colorado’s San Luis Valley sits high (average elevation 7,500 feet) and dry (less than a foot of annual precipitation on the valley floor). It also gets ample sunshine, which inspires plenty of interest in solar energy, especially to generate electricity. But no matter how “green” the energy source, it’s a subject of contention in two […]
Posted inGoat
What to do with all that carbon?
Capturing carbon dioxide emitted by power plants and factories and storing it in deep geologic formations could prove a critical arrow in the quiver of efforts to combat climate change. Plus there’s a bonus: it makes coal and natural gas — and the reliable energy they produce — a whole lot cleaner, protecting them from […]
Posted inRange
Westland takes its toys home
Editor’s note: David Zetland, a Western water economist, offers an insider’s perspective into water politics and economics. We will be cross-posting occasional posts and content from his blog, Aguanomics, here on the Range. Westlands Water District has pulled out of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (via BB et al.), claiming that it is unwilling to […]
Posted inNovember 22, 2010: Hardrock Showdown
Hardrock Mining Showdown
For background on previous coverage and history on the 1872 mining law, read our Editor’s Note Geologist Jeff Cornoyer steers a Ford van over a rocky, rutted, winding dirt road, climbing the foothills of the Santa Rita Mountains on a toasty August morning. The desert here, about 30 miles southeast of Tucson, is dotted with […]
Posted inWotr
The healthiest landscapes are hidden
The healthiest wild lands in the nation cannot be found on recreation maps. The bushes in these secret spots aren’t littered with old toilet paper or empty beer cans; there are no crowds, no loud music and no admission fees. No motels, camp sites, toilets, souvenirs or asphalt paths. No gas stations, no boat ramps, […]
Posted inWotr
Growing up political
The gray November morning was framed by the windows in my parents’ bedroom. They were still in bed — it must’ve been early — and they cut short my eager question: Did Daddy win? No. Daddy lost. People voted for the other guy — the Republican. I was 5 years old, shocked and crushed by […]
Posted inNovember 22, 2010: Hardrock Showdown
Washington eco-saboteurs topple towers
Monkey-wrenching of radio station doesn’t last
Posted inWotr
The hunters called — they want their deer back
Maybe it was just a case of bad timing. First, we learn that mule deer have declined 60 percent on Wyoming’s Pinedale Anticline between 2001 and 2009. That’s not much of a surprise. It’s been evident for some time that deer and deer hunters were going to be the biggest losers in this gas play. […]
Posted inWotr
Hunting and gathering in the modern era
He wakes before dawn, moves silently from his bed. He washes and shaves according to ritual, anoints himself with powders and lotions, some to mask scent, others to enhance it. He dresses in his hunting outfit, adjusts his shirt, brushes dust from his pants. He eats a light breakfast of fruit and cereal, not enough […]
Posted inRange
HCN reader photo – Elk in Yellowstone
This week’s reader photo is of a bull elk in Yellowstone. Enjoy! This week’s reader photo comes from HCN Flickr community member Daryl L. Hunter, who shoots beautiful wildlife photos. Submit your own photos to our Flickr group!
Posted inRange
Training for Afghanistan
Back in late 2001, when we started to see Afghanistan often on TV reports after the American invasion, my mother remarked that the distant land reminded her of the Wyoming country she grew up in during the 1930s and ’40s. “No paved roads or power lines,” she commented, “and it’s dry and rugged and empty.” […]
Posted inNovember 22, 2010: Hardrock Showdown
Forest Service tackles Idaho bighorn problem
Efforts to protect wild sheep from disease gain momentum
Posted inBlog
Snoop Dogg Called To Wild
Can the power of celebrity bring more people of color into the National Parks? Yosemite Ranger Shelton Johnson thinks so, and now that he’s grabbed the attention of talk show host Oprah Winfrey, momentum is building to invite the rap star Snoop Dogg to go camping. A petition is being circulated in the hopes of […]
Posted inWotr
Mexican wolves, still strangers in a strange land
With the opening of their holding pens 12 years ago, wolves stepped into their historic home on the Southwestern desert for the first time in over 50 years. So began the reintroduction of the Mexican gray wolf into southern Arizona and New Mexico. It was a culminating moment for the state and federal agencies that […]
Posted inRange
So goes Alaska…goes Indian Country
There are three elements in successful political campaigns: money, organization and voter participation. The historic re-election of Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, had all three … generated by Alaska Natives. But 2010 was no ordinary year for a lot of reasons. The first one being a change in the election laws because of a […]