In an attempt to clear the craziness clouding the health care debate and drum up support for a public option, President Obama parachuted into unfriendly territory last Saturday—and not for the first time. It was his second visit to Grand Junction, Colo., in conservative Mesa County, where John McCain spanked him last year, 64 to […]
Why West?
Posted inWotr
Off the road again
Jack Kerouac wrote his entire novel “On the Road” in just three weeks. He used a continuous roll of teletype paper, as if pausing to put in a new sheet of paper would have caused a pile-up on his imagination’s highway. Lawrence Ferlinghetti said that Kerouac provided us with “a vision of America seen from […]
Posted inAugust 17, 2009: From Corn to Cabernet
Affirmative actions
Homer Lee Wilkes. Ignacia Moreno. Hilary Tompkins. Each is a member of a racial or ethnic minority. Each has been nominated by Barack Obama — the first black president — to a high position with power over environmental issues in the West. And each has faced skepticism from environmentalists. On May 5, Obama picked Wilkes […]
Posted inWotr
A sucker punch to the stomach: When trees turn red
Colorado’s bark beetle epidemic is unlike anything in the state’s still-brief recorded history. Foresters say 95 percent of our lodgepole pines will be dead within just a few more years, with beetles likely to burrow next into the ponderosa pine along the urbanized Front Range corridor. To some people, this has been like a sucker […]
Posted inRange
Clearcutting and climate change
Late last week the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit in California challenging approval of 400 acres of clearcuts in Northern California’s Sierra Mountains. In the press release announcing the lawsuit, the Center claims that approval of the clearcutting by California’s Board of Forestry violated California law which requires that state agencies analyze […]
Posted inAugust 17, 2009: From Corn to Cabernet
The spirit of the place
The Wild Marsh: Four Seasons at Home in MontanaRick Bass384 pages, softcover: $26.Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009. The Yaak Valley in the northwestern corner of Montana is one of the wildest places in the continental United States, home to grizzly bears and mountain lions, wolverine and elk. Nature writer Rick Bass, who lives there, has devoted […]
Posted inAugust 17, 2009: From Corn to Cabernet
Meet the makers
Please wait while the player loads. Note: you must have javascript enabled and the Adobe Flash Player installed. Read more about Colorado wine in our recent feature, But is it any good? This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Meet the makers.
Posted inAugust 17, 2009: From Corn to Cabernet
How yuppies killed, and saved, the family farm
When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time on what we called “The Farm,” my grandparents’ place in the Animas Valley in southwestern Colorado. We ate corn right off the stalk and green peas out of the shell. We gobbled the feral asparagus that sprang up each spring alongside the fences. We […]
Posted inAugust 17, 2009: From Corn to Cabernet
Hikers and bikers
Summer brings many visitors our way. Rod Vanderwall of Boulder, Colo., stopped by our Paonia office to renew his subscription and pick up a snazzy HCN T-shirt on his way to Cortez in southern Colorado, where he’ll be reviewing the energy conservation needs of a community college. As head of energy management for the Office […]
Posted inAugust 17, 2009: From Corn to Cabernet
Grousing about wind
In the topical and informative article about wind impact on sage grouse, I do take exception to the comment “At this point, no one really knows how turbines affect grouse” (HCN, 6/22 & 7/6/09). While it’s true that wind farms pose a negligible direct mortality threat, sage grouse do avoid vertical structures and are negatively […]
Posted inAugust 17, 2009: From Corn to Cabernet
From Corn to Cabernet
A burgeoning wine industry takes Colorado agriculture uptown
Posted inAugust 17, 2009: From Corn to Cabernet
Desperate people
The Mechanics of Falling and Other StoriesCatherine Brady227 pages, hardcover: $25.University of Nevada Press, 2009. In 11 deftly rendered short stories, Catherine Brady’s latest book, The Mechanics of Falling, introduces us to fragile people whose precarious lives are unraveling. Most of the book takes place in California, especially in and around San Francisco with its […]
Posted inAugust 17, 2009: From Corn to Cabernet
Catch and share alike
I found Matt Jenkins’ take on catch shares balanced and engaging (HCN, 8/3/09). He covers the benefits of catch shares and fairly points out some of the challenges this fishery has faced. Among Alaska crab fishermen, safety, economic stability and resource sustainability have all improved. And while crew pay has doubled, there are fewer crew […]
Posted inAugust 17, 2009: From Corn to Cabernet
But is it any good?
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story, “From Corn to Cabernet.” Colorado wines are higher in acid than the California wines that Westerners are most familiar with. They bear more resemblance to the wines of central mountainous Europe, such as Austria and northern Italy, than to West Coast wines, says Kansas […]
Posted inAugust 17, 2009: From Corn to Cabernet
A ‘consummate community collaborator’
As a career National Park Service employee and former superintendent myself, I know Jon Jarvis to be a dedicated public servant who cares about the future of the national park system and strives to make good decisions on behalf of it (HCN, 8/3/09). A recent opinion piece in High Country News suggested that a conflict […]
Posted inRay
Obama does Montana … and vice versa
Preparing to be in a Montana town hall with the president of the United States on August 14, 2009: First think about what to wear. Faded jeans? That would be Montana-ish. But notice a hole worn right though the old denim. So not the faded jeans. Maybe the dark blue jeans that haven’t faded yet […]
Posted inGoat
Obama in Grand Junction
Promoting his health care package, President Obama will appear Saturday, August 15 in Grand Junction, Colorado, where some of Western Colorado’s angry natives are primed — by right-wing talk show host Glenn Beck and others — to vent their opposition, not just to Obama’s health care proposal but to his presidency as a whole. Some […]
Posted inAugust 17, 2009: From Corn to Cabernet
Mission critical
Can natural gas help save us from global warming?
Posted inRange
Necessary Journeys
Yesterday my friend C. crossed into Nogales to help deported immigrants deal with their staggering doses of bad luck. A river runner and wilderness guide, she possesses advanced first-aid skills that come in handy along the border. While coyotes and drug runners circled the open-air humanitarian aid station looking for new recruits, C. wrapped ankle […]
Posted inWotr
Too much bling
Last week, the teenagers among our dinner companions started talking about “bling.” An older man at the end of the table asked, “What is this bleen stuff?” “No,” the kids said, giggling. “You know, bling.” Well, no, he didn’t know. “Really?” Hilarious laughter; then definitions: “It’s like, shiny. Glittery. Sparkly. Jewelry. Like, fancy stuff. Rhinestones. […]