Yesterday, President Obama signed the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009. His signature ensures protection for more than 2 million acres of wilderness nationwide, and sets the long-awaited Navajo-Gallup water project in motion, delivering badly needed infrastructure and acre feet to the Navajo Nation. More than 70,000 people in the Navajo Nation do not have easy access […]
A flick of the wrist…
Posted inWotr
Tent cities and what they tell us
The blockbuster love story, Slumdog Millionaire, has brought images of a ramshackle slum in Mumbai, India, to millions of American viewers. Although the slum may have been a bit prettified, it did the trick: Moviegoers were shocked, offended and also deeply moved by how the poor of other nations live. The movie’s popularity has inspired […]
Posted inRay
Was our last wild jaguar euthanized by mistake?
Until today, this was the sad story of Macho B, the last known wild jaguar in our country: The jaguar was snared by accident south of Tucson Feb. 18. Wildlife agents decided to strap it with a radio collar to study its movements. Then they noticed the jaguar behaving strangely for 12 days, so they […]
Posted inHeard Around the West
Ode on a glue factory?
A giant statue of a rearing blue horse has welcomed drivers to Denver International Airport for about a year, and nobody made much of it — until now. Rachel Hultin, a Denver real estate broker, thought the sculpture a dud and started a Facebook page, byebyebluemustang.com, to vent her criticism. She also asked for comments […]
Posted inRay
Some ‘stimulus’ may be bad for environment
Despite their greenish credentials, Barack Obama and the Democratic Congress are bound to offer a mixed bag of environmental policies. Reality ho. Yes, they’ll push conservation deals like the Omnibus federal-lands package that Congress just passed. They’ll try to address climate change and energy and they’ll try other greenish moves. But it’s already apparent, some […]
Posted inWotr
It’s time to give up a stupid habit
What would a Martian archaeologist think of junk mail?
Posted inGoat
Outlawed…
The fruit farmers in Paonia have been a bit worried about our weird weather. Spring came early, so the trees started budding. And this week, it’s been cold – sometimes freezing. If it gets too frosty, we might be out of luck for the season. Something else that’s on farmers’ minds: H.R. 875, a bill […]
Posted inRay
Newsitos for 3/26/09
Enviros are literally popping champagne corks to christen the Omni federal-lands package. Undercover feds busted several American Indians, charging they killed eagles illegally to sell the feathers for ceremonies. Mormon Church leaders calculated their moves quietly, leading many years of political campaigns against gay marriage, says a Salt Lake City columnist. And as killer bees […]
Posted inGoat
Paranoia, helicopters, herbicides
March 25th: An association of Hispanic residents from two Texas barrios near the Rio Grande river file a lawsuit complaining that the Department of Homeland Security has acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act. The group, called Barrio de Colores, hopes to stop the Border Patrol from going forward with their plan to apply […]
Posted inRay
Western Repubs remain split as Omni wilderness deals pass
It required additional amazing tricky moves by Democrats running Congress. But finally, culminating more than a year of wrangling, today the House of Representatives approved the substance of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009. The Senate approved it most recently on March 19. President Obama will certainly sign it. Many of the Big […]
Posted inHeard Around the West
The death of No. 6
A bull elk famous for his magnificent set of antlers — and his nasty temper — died recently in Yellowstone National Park after a freak accident. The animal (known as No. 6 because of his ear tag) apparently tripped crossing a fence and somersaulted onto his back, reports the AP. “Pinned between large rocks with […]
Posted inGoat
Fire from the faucet
“Shock” and “terror:” that’s how Colorado resident Amee Ellsworth feels about her tap water. The stuff stinks, it causes strange sounds in her toilet and washing machine; and worst of all, she’s afraid it’ll blow up her house. When she turns on her kitchen faucet and flicks a lighter, foot-high flames leap from the tap. […]
Posted inGoat
Is the San Andreas slipping?
Fill the water jugs and put the wrench back near the gas valve, Southern Californians, the Big One’s about to blow! Or not. You never can tell with these things. But geologists are watching closely a “swarm” of recent earthquakes on the Southern San Andreas Fault, the largest of which logged in at 4.8 on […]
Posted inGoat
Slums and tent cities
Urban planners love the fact that slums are “walkable, high-density, and mixed-use,” as The Boston Globe recently reported about Dharavi, one of Asia’s largest slums. In the article, reporter Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow says many governments are beginning to “mitigate the problems with slums rather than eliminate the slums themselves.” The general consensus is that informal communities (read: […]
Posted inGoat
Salmon and pesticides
Research conducted by NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center and Washington State University has discovered that common agricultural pesticides which attack the nervous systems of salmon can turn more deadly when they combine with other pesticides. This development is likely to underscore requirements for no spray buffer zones along salmon waterways – a requirement which agricultural […]
Posted inRay
Newsitos for 3/23/09
Who’s the most reasonable Republican in the Interior West? The latest evidence is here and here. Obama’s Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, is this unique: He has “a Nobel Prize, a YouTube following (for his lectures on climate change) and an unofficial theme song (Dr. Wu by Steely Dan.)” For a glance at the nuclear waste […]
Posted inHeard Around the West
The burning billboard
Grand Junction in western Colorado has long had a problem separating state from Christian church. County commissioners keep trying to pray before public meetings, and public officials approve of nativity displays on public property. Now, a Wisconsin-based organization, the Freedom from Religion Foundation, is striking back with an in-your-face message for drivers. The Associated Press […]
Posted inGoat
“Suns and pulsing moons” of content
Paolo Bacigalupi, formerly the online editor of HCN and now a rising star in science fiction, was just nominated for the 2009 Hugo award (he’s been a Hugo finalist in past years, and has won other sci-fi prizes as well). His story “The Gambler“, in the Novelette category, is a tale about the sordid future […]