By John Abbotts As we’ve noted before, scientists say that climate change could create quite a water supply problem east of the Cascades. Warmer winters are already melting mountain snows earlier in the spring, leaving streams and rivers short on water in mid-summer—just when the salmon, farms, and homes really need it. And many scientists […]
Leave it to beaver?
Posted inGoat
If you can’t catch it, you can’t cut it
Let’s get this one thing straight: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s plan for regulating greenhouse-gas emissions from stationary sources under the Clean Air Act — a “tailoring rule,” which goes into effect January 2, 2011 — is nothing radical. States may be suing, a bipartisan swarm of senators may be politicking to stop it, energy […]
Posted inRange
HCN reader photo – Outside Taos
This reader-submitted photo was taken on Highway 68, approximately 10 miles southwest of Taos, New Mexico. We loved the bright sky and the contrast of dried flowers. The photo comes from Flickr user and HCN group member Justin Morris. Add your photos to the High Country News community photo pool on Flickr! We feature selected […]
Posted inBlog
A new article of faith: don’t make the poor balance the budget
There is a political article of faith: “Don’t raise taxes during a recession.” Just Google the phrase and you’ll find some 2.5 million results. The popular idea is that deeply embedded into our political thinking. Of course it makes economic sense: You want people to spend their money on goods and services. Then producers will […]
Posted inHeard Around the West
That bites!
ARIZONA As foreclosures increase throughout the West, ex-homeowners slamming the door on the way out sometimes abandon cats, dogs and other pets, including exotic snakes. And then there are the native snakes that slither back to reclaim their turf once the humans are gone. The variety of poisonous and non-poisonous snakes co-existing with subdivisions can […]
Posted inNovember 8, 2010: Dr. No
The windhover
Wildlife biologist Travis Booms tracks remote Alaska gyrfalcons
Posted inRange
Promoting forest biomass
Jodi Peterson’s succinct report – “Burning questions about biomass” — in High Country News’ November 8th edition — summarizes the many issues which surround efforts to develop biomass energy production in the West and elsewhere. Once viewed as a panacea for the region’s energy needs, a way to reduce carbon emissions and a solution for […]
Posted inGoat
How Big Oil won California
Count these among the things that will get more difficult after the midterm elections: passing a federal energy bill, being openly gay in the military, and governing California. It’s already hard enough. This is the state that has been pronounced “ungovernable” almost since its inception, and has been confirmed so in recent years by Forbes, […]
Posted inRange
Rants from the Hill: Customer Cranky
“Rants from the Hill” are Michael Branch’s monthly musings on life in the high country of Nevada’s western Great Basin desert. Some of you may remember the novelist William Faulkner’s famous Yoknapatawpha County, which, though fictional, was based upon the Mississippi town in which Faulkner lived. Well, I’m now ready to give a fictional name […]
Posted inBlog
Go play outside
An article in the most recent edition of New Scientist about a fascinating study conducted at the University of Washington offers yet more evidence that investing in community green space can pay off in significant public benefits. The University of Washington study tracked the Body Mass Index of 3,831 children over two years, New Scientist […]
Posted inNovember 8, 2010: Dr. No
Dr. No
How Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn — and his colleague, Sen. Jim Inhofe — run roughshod over the West
Posted inRange
Colorado Democrats shouldn’t celebrate too much
Although Democrats held on to the Colorado governor’s office and a U.S. Senate seat in this year’s election , that may have been more of a fluke than a validation at the polls. The first fluke was the gubernatorial race . On the Republican side, early favorite Scott McInnis (former state legislator and six-term congressman) […]
Posted inGoat
Mer-cow-ski?
The Anchorage Daily News has been gamely reporting on the Great Alaska Senate Race Write-in Campaign Spelling Snafu with updates on challenges to poorly-penned appellations inscribed in the blank space on the state’s ballots, mostly in favor of write-in Senate candidate Lisa Murkowsi. Huffpo riffed on the many misspellings, and we thought we’d jump into […]
Posted inRange
Another Tesoro Flare-Up
By Eric De Place Earlier this week we learned that Tesoro — an oil refiner with nasty politics and a rap sheet a mile long — will be facing a criminal investigation for the April explosion at its Anacortes, Washington facility that killed seven workers and earned it the largest L&I fine in state history for “willful disregard of safety […]
Posted inGoat
Canyoneering, four ways
Ever wondered what it’s like to don harness and wetsuit and delve into one of southern Utah’s deep, cold, water-filled slot canyons? A new documentary called Gorging, due out next summer from DFS Films, follows notorious guidebook author Michael Kelsey and three other canyoneers (a photographer, a guru, and a weekend warrior) into the twisting, […]
Posted inGoat
Pop quiz: What national conservation land is nearest you?
The National Landscape Conservation System — America’s youngest permanently protected collection of public lands — celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, and grassroots organizers and BLM managers are meeting in Nevada to plan for the next 10 years in the “sportsman’s park service.” Before the upcoming meetings in Nevada, you might brush up on the […]
Posted inRange
HCN reader photo – fall colors
It’s almost winter — time for the obligatory shot of autumn leaves and impending clouds. Reader photo of Depuys Spring Creek in Livingston, Mont. from Flickr member Daryl Hunter. Add your photos to the HCN Flickr group!
Posted inRange
Wolverine: Chasing the phantom
Rebecca Watters researches wolverines (gulos) and other large carnivores for the Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative. She recently lent her expertise and tracking skills to the new PBS documentary Wolverine, Chasing the Phantom. Here, she presents a review and overview of the film, which airs on PBS November 14, 2010. When PBS Nature called Gianna Savoie […]
Posted inBlog
When Shelton met Oprah
Yosemite National Park Ranger Shelton Johnson was as surprised as anyone. “I was more than surprised,” he said in a recent phone conversation. “I was shocked. When the EMTs resuscitated me I was pretty much flat-lined.” Standing outside the south entrance to Yosemite National Park, Johnson thought he was awaiting the arrival of six African-American […]