It’s been a good year for wilderness. In March, the Omnibus Lands Bill designated over 2 million acres of wilderness in nine states. In September, President Obama declared a month-long celebration of the Wilderness Act, and this November, the United States, Canada and Mexico signed the world’s first international agreement on wilderness conservation. Perhaps because […]
Setting the record straight on wilderness
Posted inDecember 21, 2009: Wind Resistance
The messy mix of energy and sage grouse
Will turbines deal a deadly blow to the imperiled bird?
Posted inDecember 21, 2009: Wind Resistance
How big is your backyard?
The first time someone called me a NIMBY to my face was more than a decade ago, at a public meeting. The town council was expected to vote in favor of planting a new cell tower at the top of Cedar Hill, my favorite semi-wild place on the edge of town. The mayor at the […]
Posted inWotr
Bring back the rattlers
One morning, my wife told me she’d seen a rattlesnake on a knoll behind our house in southern Utah. Nestled under a bush just 25 yards up the hill, it didn’t look aggressive. It lay circled in the shade as if taking a nap, its diamond pattern strangely enhancing the scene. We decided to leave […]
Posted inDecember 21, 2009: Wind Resistance
Wind Resistance
Will the petrocracy — and greens — keep Wyoming from realizing its windy potential?
Posted inDecember 21, 2009: Wind Resistance
Battle for the core of Wyoming
Sage grouse concerns have pitted fossil fuels against wind
Posted inGoat
Well wars
With water rights dating to 1865, you wouldn’t expect Joseph Miller to worry about the security of his water supply. But to Miller, the new homes and subdivisions popping up in Montana’s Gallatin Valley, where he owns a 500-acre ranch, are plenty of cause for concern. Miller suspects those developments, which pump groundwater from permit-exempt […]
Posted inGoat
An official state microbe
Colorado may not hold the record for “Official State Whatevers,” but it’s got to come close with both a state rock and a state gemstone, two official state songs, a state insect and a state reptile, as well as the usual flower, bird, fish, tree, mammal and the like. But Wisconsin may […]
Posted inGoat
Feels like teen spirit
Yesterday, the High Country News interns (Ariana Brocious, Cally Carswell and I) trekked to nearby Delta to speak to a journalism class at the local high school. After getting lost in the “big city” (Delta has about 6,500 residents to Paonia’s 1,500) we were greeted by five bright and eager young journalists. Well, sort of. […]
Posted inDecember 7, 2009: Dueling Claims
Erratic behavior
Giant Rock has inspired extremes of human reverence and abuse
Posted inGoat
Climate change by any other name …
In towns from Pocatello, Idaho, to Las Cruces, N.M., local governments are responding to the West’s changing climate. They’re cutting energy consumption, insulating homes, reducing water usage, and more — but often without ever mentioning “global warming” or “climate change”, loaded terms that can trigger heated debates. Instead, they’re promoting their policies under the auspices […]
Posted inRange
How to Deal with a Deer Invasion
My mother has a tough decision to make. Her recent city newsletter informed her that the deer must die, and it’s up to her to decide how they croak. Bountiful, Utah has a mule deer problem—they’ve invaded. When I visited home this summer, I’d probably see at least one deer every week. They’d dart across […]
Posted inGoat
Desert Rock on hold
The proposed Desert Rock power plant on the Navajo Nation near Farmington, N.M., will need to find a new source of cash after the U.S. Department of Energy denied a $450 million stimulus funding bid for carbon-capture controls last week. The funding would have covered about 43 percent of the cost of those controls. The […]
Posted inGoat
A golden ruling
It’s not often that the world’s largest gold mining company doesn’t get what it wants, especially in the nation’s largest gold-producing state. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that Barrick Gold’s proposal to dig a 2,000-foot deep open pit at the Cortez Hill mine on Mount Tenabo lacks sufficient environmental review. The […]
Posted inDecember 7, 2009: Dueling Claims
When the sacred becomes toxic
In 1680, the Pueblos of New Mexico organized a revolt against the Spaniards who had colonized the region. The uprising, which involved Pueblos from Taos to Zuni, successfully chased the Spaniards back to El Paso, where they would stay and sulk for the next 12 years. The Puebloans had plenty of grievances: The invaders had […]
Posted inGoat
The fight over cap and trade
The carbon emissions trading scheme known as cap-and-trade is on the global table as the United Nations Climate Change conference gets underway this week in Copenhagen. Cap-and-trade is also a feature of the Waxman-Markey bill currently being reshaped by the U.S. Senate after passage in the House in June. Hailed by supporters as “an important […]
Posted inDecember 7, 2009: Dueling Claims
The ghost of Tulare
Reviving an ancient lake may help solve California’s water woes
Posted inRange
Indian Trust, settled at last
By Courtney Lowery, Newwest.net guest blogger, 12-08-09 The Obama Administration today announced that it will settle in the landmark class-action lawsuit against the Interior Department that alleged gross mismanagement of American Indian trust accounts. In a press conference, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Attorney General Eric Holder said the settlement will mean $1.4 billion will […]
Posted inRange
Seek bliss … and work together
What do we want in a health care system? It’s a question Dr. Donald Berwick asked an audience of 5,000-plus people at the Institute for Health Care Improvement’s National Forum in Orlando, Fla. on Tuesday. Such an easy question. I can quickly rattle off answers: I want health care for my family. I want to […]